Scapegoat: US govt. officials blame Russia for economic woes at home

US President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary Gina Raimondo has sought to pin the blame for the country's growing economic woes on Russian President Vladimir Putin, echoing the rhetoric pushed by the president himself.

Raimondo on Sunday linked Russia's military operation in eastern Ukraine and other “unexpected” developments to the soaring inflation in the United States, unprecedented in four decades.

“I don’t think anyone predicted (Russian president Vladimir) Putin’s war in Ukraine or various other things that have happened that have been unexpected,” the official said.

“It’s worth noting that gas prices are up $1.40 a gallon since Putin moved troops into Ukraine,” she added, exuding confidence that they will “get inflation under control.”

Raimondo's remarks are seen as part of a concerted effort by the Biden administration to deflect blame for the nation’s economic troubles away from the president who has dismissed expert advice on soaring inflation that threatens to deal a heavy blow to the country’s economy.

On his recent visit to Illinois, Biden lashed out at his Russian counterpart, blaming him for destabilizing global food supplies and pushing the cost of groceries at home.

“Right now, America is fighting on two fronts,” the president said. “At home, it’s inflation and rising prices. Abroad, it’s helping Ukrainians defend their democracy and feeding those who are left hungry around the world because Russian atrocities exist.”

Powell, Yellen say they underestimated inflation and supply snarls in US

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admit that high inflation has increased higher and lingered much longer than they expected.

This is while, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, had admitted that the Biden administration's miscalculations of the developments in 2021 were to blame for the current economic crisis in the United States.

Yellen on Sunday acknowledged that she had made an error when she predicted that high inflation poses merely a “small risk” to the nation's economy.

Meanwhile, as Democrats approach November’s midterm elections, Biden and his aides have been making concerted efforts to project the administration's economic policies as success.

The reality, however, scoffs at those claims, with gas prices touching a record high of $4.84 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The cost of groceries and services also continue to soar, and new parents scramble to find a baby formula, signaling the failure of the Biden administration's economic policies.

In his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, the embattled president said tackling the nation's economic woes was his top priority.

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