Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a pro-Trump lawmaker from New York, tried to shift blame for a potential recession in 2025 away from President Trump’s policies, instead pointing the finger at Joe Biden during an interview on CNN.
Anchor Kate Bolduan discussed the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff policies, which some experts warn could lead to inflation and a recession. She reminded Malliotakis that Trump had recently expressed doubt about avoiding a recession in 2025, asking her if the risk was worth it.
Malliotakis responded, saying, “Well, there’s been talk about a recession for well over the past year. This is something that has been a threat going back to the Biden administration. We were anticipating some type of recession and slow, slow growth. Why? Because of a lot of the inflationary spending, a lot of the dismantling of energy policy in this country that really drove up the cost of doing business, I think, and also the regulations that the Biden administration have put in place. So I think that we have a real opportunity here to stop the recession that was supposed to be coming for the past year. And I think the most important thing right now.”
Malliotakis continued, emphasizing that the damage done by the Biden administration’s policies could not be ignored: “You can’t disregard the damage that the Biden administration did to our economy with their regulations, with their inflationary spending, with the the the interest rates that have skyrocketed because of his policies,” she said. “You can’t, you can’t negate that. What we’re trying to do right now is rightsize government bureaucracy. We’re trying to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which is the reason probably why we never had the recession that was being predicted.”
While Malliotakis blamed Biden’s policies for inflation and economic uncertainty, many analysts have credited the American Rescue Plan, the COVID relief package passed under the Biden administration, with helping to avoid a recession over the past four years.
Watch the exchange from CNN below:
