MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle admitted that high inflation rates are having devastating effects on Americans on Tuesday’s “José Díaz-Balart Reports.”
A newly released report found inflation rose by 8.3% in August compared to one year earlier. This marked a .1% increase in prices from July and fell below initial predictions for only 8.1% inflation rates. Following the announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell by more than 400 points.
Ruhle acknowledged rising prices across the board, admitting that even wage gains made over the past year would not help.
“And that’s why people are so frustrated right now. Things like eggs, milk, butter, you have to buy those things to keep your family in good shape. The fact that they are up that much even though wages are up, they’re simply not up in line. You can be saying I got this raise. Your raise means nothing if you had to spend it on milk, eggs and bacon,” Ruhle said.
In the past, Ruhle has been criticized for repeatedly downplaying and ignoring rising inflation rates. In November, she earned the nickname “Stephanie Antoinette” for arguing that Americans can afford higher grocery prices.
“The dirty little secret here, Willie, while nobody likes to pay more, on average, we have the money to do so,” she said. “Household savings hit a record high over the pandemic, we didn’t really have anywhere to go out and spend.”
While Ruhle previously reported how inflation is canceling out wage gains made over the year, she also argued that the situation was not as bleak as reports make it out to be.
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“Yes, rent is up, and it’s tough for people to get by, but we also know that wages are up. We know that childhood poverty in this country is down, and there are a lot of jobs out there. We must remember the inflationary environment is global. And the pain we are feeling here is exponentially worse in other countries, so the Fed is taking action and a lot of the contributing factors that got us here, supply chain issues, for example are starting to get better, we are clearly making our way out the pandemic. So things aren’t disastrous. We’re moving in the right direction, but it’s sluggish. It’s slow. It’s not as fast as any of us want it to be,” Ruhle said.
In July, Ruhle claimed that people who would vote based on rising inflation rates were basing their politics on feelings and not “facts.”
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“But the problem is, when your neighbor goes to the grocery store. They’re not thinking about what eggs cost in Hungary. Just like they’re not thinking about it at the gas pump. So, you have the facts on your side, but people vote based on how they feel and so you got to address that,” Ruhle said.
Fox News’ Cortney O’Brien and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
