Economics professor rips Biden’s inflation response: President ‘wrong that he can’t do anything’

Biden tells reporters admin 'can't take immediate action' to lower gas, food prices

Reacting to President Biden’s claim there’s no "immediate" fix to record-high gas and food prices, Fox News contributor and The King’s College Executive Vice President of Business professor Brian Brenberg called Biden on his bluff during "Varney & Co." Thursday.

"The president is wrong that he can't do anything. He is dodging this issue," Brenberg told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney. "He could have been doing things for months. He could still do things."

"The fact that he can't stand up to his own party is absolutely no excuse for not doing anything in this critical issue," the professor continued.

Brenberg's comments come as the national average for a gallon of gas hit $4.71 on Thursday, according to AAA, and the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose 4.9% in April.

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He believes federal policy action is needed to ease the core inflation number.

"That overall number could come down a little bit if the Fed really gets aggressive raising rates," Brenberg said. "But that doesn't matter so much when these key areas are going through the roof."

Joe Biden crosses his arms and frowns at a White House press conference

Fox News contributor and The King's College professor Brian Brenberg ripped President Biden for being "wrong" that there's no immediate fix to surging gas and food prices on "Varney & Co." Thursday, June 2, 2022. (Getty Images)

When Varney asked whether U.S. inflation levels could reach 8% this summer, Brenberg predicted Americans will see worse than that.

"I think it's going to be higher than that in the key categories that really hit a lot of Americans when you're talking about fuel prices, when you're talking about food," he noted.

He stressed that the headline inflation number is what matters most to families right now. 

"We're still not talking about how much inflation is yet to come in that area that's really going to nail families," the economist said. "I don't think on food or fuel, things are going to get better any time soon."

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Senior adviser to President Biden Gene Sperling was repeatedly pressed on Biden’s response to inflation and soaring gas prices on "America Reports" Tuesday, where he asserted the administration was not in the business of "berating" or "second-guessing" the Fed board’s independence.

When asked to provide an economic forecast, Sperling replied he’s "not a forecaster," and that the president has a "top-class" council of advisers.

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Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.