In an interview on Tuesday (October 11), President Joe Biden acknowledged that the U.S. could experience a recession but attempted to calm fears saying it would only be a “slight recession.”
Appearing for an exclusive interview with Jake Tapper, which aired on CNN on Tuesday, when asked if Americans should prepare for a recession, the President confidently responded, “No.”
However, he would qualify his statements later in the interview, saying the recession “hadn’t happened yet,” and that his prediction was there won’t be a recession, before conceding, “If it is, it’ll be a very slight recession. That is, we’ll move down slightly.”
Biden also claimed that, economically, the U.S. is doing better than every other major while admitting “we still have real problems.”
He pointed to how the COVID-19 relief plan — officially, the American Rescue Package — and the Inflation Reduction Act have helped better position the U.S. economy, pointing to these bills as what has been accomplished.
Biden, however, resigned that in public perspective, “there’s an automaticity to a recession, and it’s just not, it’s bust not there… They’ve been predicting this off and on.”
Tapper then reminded the President that earlier in the interview, he had acknowledged the possibility of a recession.
Biden acknowledged his earlier remarks, explaining that “Look, [a recession] is possible,” but added that he doesn’t “anticipate it.”
The exclusive interview with Tapper touched on several topics, including a potential reelection bid, investigation into his son Hunter Biden, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “rational actor” that “miscalculated” the invasion.
