White House economic adviser puts inflation blame on Putin and COVID: 'Unexpected challenges'

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Director of National Economic Council on inflation: Putin and COVID were 'unexpected challenges'

Brian Deese suggested Sunday during CNN's "State of the Union" that Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the delta and omicron variants of COVID were reasons as to why the administration got inflation so wrong.

Brian Deese, the Director of the Biden Administration's National Economic Council, suggested Sunday during CNN's "State of the Union" that "unexpected challenges," like the war in Ukraine and new COVID variants, are why the Biden administration got inflation "so wrong."

CNN's Dana Bash played a clip of President Biden from 2021, during which he said inflation was going to "pop up a little bit and then go back down." The program also showed another, more recent clip of Biden saying inflation was his "top domestic priority."

President Joe Biden has blamed Putin and COVID-19 for the nation's inflation woes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 

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"How did the administration get that so wrong?" Bash asked Biden's chief economic adviser. 

Deese said that "a lot of things changed over the course of the last year." 

"We've dealt with a lot of unexpected challenges, as I mentioned, the delta wave of COVID, omicron on top of that and more recently Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which has sent gyrations through global energy markets," he said. 

He emphasized that the most important thing was that the president is taking it seriously. He said that the Fed needs "space" to do its job and get inflation under control and noted that lowering costs for families is a huge priority as well. 

White House economic adviser Brian Deese was pressed on inflation and the administration's response during an appearance on CNN. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

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"We need to reduce the federal deficit. If we reduce the federal deficit it will help to reduce price pressures in the economy. We've made a lot of progress on that because of the president's policies but we can do more," he continued. 

Bash also pressed Deese on the possibility of a recession. The economic adviser said while there were always risks, "We feel very good about where the United States is, particularly when you look on the global landscape."

Democrats and members of the administration have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin, COVID and corporate greed for inflation and increased prices. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in March that inflation was a result of the pandemic and "companies that recognize that because they don’t face a lot of competition can goose those prices up."

Brian Deese appeared on CNN's "State of The Union" on Sunday to talk inflation and more.

"I want us to be crystal clear about the problem," Biden said on May 11, following the release of the April inflation report. "There are two leading causes of inflation we’re seeing today. The first cause of inflation is a once-in-a-century pandemic. Not only did it shut down our global economy, it threw the supply chains and the demand completely out of whack."

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"The second big reason for inflation is Vladimir Putin. Not a joke," Biden continued. "Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world."

In April, the Consumer Price index came in at 8.3%. Although it was a slight decrease from March, prices across America remain near 40-year highs.