President Biden pointed a finger at Republican states, saying inflation soared under his watch because the leaders there bungled the economy. 

In his latest interview before leaving office Monday, Mr. Biden deflected criticism on how he handled inflation. He said much of the government spending, which critics such as economist Larry Summers linked to rising prices, occurred in the GOP states that needed more funding than Democrat states because they “screwed up”  their own economies. 

“I got a lot of criticism. Understandably,” Mr. Biden told MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell. “We’ve invested more in red states than blue states … for two reasons. One, red states really screwed up in terms of the way they handled their economy and the way they handle manufacturing, the way they handle access to supply chains.” 

Mr. Biden also disputed that rampant government spending through his massive bills such as the COVID-19 stimulus package, bipartisan infrastructure law, and climate, tax and health law called the inflation reduction package fueled inflation. 

“Give the American people half a shot, they’ll step up and get the job done if you give them the opportunity. Look what they did. They stepped up in every major endeavor,” he said. “I never believed we couldn’t have a soft landing. We had a soft landing. Inflation is down almost 2%. A lot going on.”

The Labor Department said this week that inflation rose 2.9% in December, up from 2.7% in November and the highest rate since July 2024. 

Mr. Biden has offered shifting explanations for why grocery prices skyrocketed during his administration. At first, he blamed the COVID-19 recovery, then he claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine caused prices to soar and later linked rising prices to corporate greed. Now Mr. Biden says red states caused inflation.

A Fox News poll released Friday found that more than half of Americans believe Mr. Biden worsened the economy. Roughly 52% of voters say he made it worse compared with 28% who say he made it better. The same poll also found that 89% of voters say they are extremely or very concerned about inflation, an increase from 83% in 2021.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.