Pollster Frank Luntz said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that President Joe Biden claiming inflation was zero in July was “Orwellian at its worst.”
Wednesday, the White House, Biden said, “Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July, zero percent. Here’s what that means while the price of some things went up, the price of others went down by the same amount. The result zero inflation last month.”
Luntz said, “It’s cynical. It is a destruction of the meaning of words. It is Orwellian at its worst. It is the kind of job that I do as a language guy, as someone who tries to find the words and phrases to connect to the American people, but as a pollster, I know how much it plays into our belief that we cannot trust our elected officials and we cannot trust our institutions. We have been pulling this issue, and the American people think it is harder now to make it and get by. More than 70% of Americans have trouble making ends meet. One out of four literally have trouble paying the bills the end of the week or the end of the month because of inflation. For Joe Biden to redefine what that means and to attempt to define what that means is one the things that they should be angriest about.”
He continued, “For him to claim the inflation rate is zero, saying that it’s going to be one of those issues that we remember the Biden administration playing games with the English language.”
Luntz added, “To say that the inflation rate is zero is the height of hypocrisy and a president has a responsibility to tell the American people the truth.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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