President Joe Biden in an exclusive interview Wednesday sought to reframe perceptions of the American economy, touting strong job growth and efforts to combat corporate greed while questioning surveys showing voters still pessimistic about the country’s direction.
“We’ve already turned it around,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in Racine, Wisconsin, where he was promoting new economic investments that could result in thousands of new jobs.
He was responding to a question on whether, less than six months before Election Day, he was running short on time to improve his standing among Americans on his handling of the economy.
Biden pointed to surveys showing many Americans view their own economic situation favorably, even as they look negatively on the nationwide economy.
“The polling data has been wrong all along,” he said, questioning the effectiveness of phone surveys.
And he said his own record on job creation following the Covid-19 pandemic was as clear an indication as any that conditions had markedly improved for American workers.
“The idea that we’re in a situation where things are so bad that folks – I mean, we’ve created more jobs. We’re in a situation where people have access to good paying jobs,” he said.
Still, he acknowledged there were good reasons for Americans to worry, including the cost of goods and housing.
“The last I saw, the combination of the inflation, the cost of inflation, all those things, that’s really worrisome to people, with good reason,” he said.
“That’s why I’m working very hard to bring the cost of rentals down, to increase the number of homes that are available,” he went on. “Let me say it this way – when I started this administration, people were saying there’s going to be a collapse to the economy. We have the strongest economy in the world. Let me say it again – in the world.”
Biden has spent much of the last year working to promote his economic accomplishments, including new investments made possible by infrastructure and manufacturing legislation.
That includes in Wisconsin, where he spoke Wednesday at a site where his predecessor Donald Trump once promoted an investment by the Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn that later failed.
But surveys have shown voters giving Biden little credit for the record.
In CNN’s most recent poll, Biden’s approval ratings for the economy (34%) and inflation (29%) remain starkly negative, as voters say economic concerns are more important to them when choosing a candidate than they were in each of the past two presidential contests.
Biden said on Wednesday that “no president has had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation.”
“It was 9% when I came to office. 9%. But look, people have a right to be concerned. Ordinary people.”
Inflation actually peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. In January 2021, when Biden was sworn in, it was 1.4%.
He touted his efforts to combat fees — including on bank accounts and credit cards — that the White House has said will lower Americans’ bills.
“The idea that you bounce a check and you get a $30 fee for bouncing the check? I changed that – can’t charge more than eight bucks for that. Or your credit card. Your late payment. $35. I mean, there’s corporate greed going on out there and its got to be dealt with,” he said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
