Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams says Gov. Brian Kemp should be held responsible for soaring consumer prices, prompting those on the right to point out that Mr. Kemp doesn’t occupy the White House.
“In Brian Kemp’s Georgia, rent is sky high, inflation has destabilized our economy, and the price of groceries is increasingly out of reach,” Ms. Abrams said in a Tuesday tweet. “He can point the finger as much as he likes, but either this is the economy he created or it’s not.”
Leading the pushback against Ms. Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor who also lost to Mr. Kemp in 2018, was Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican.
“A Democrat discovers inflation is skyrocketing in America,” tweeted Mr. Cruz. “Of course, she has no idea why.”
Seattle radio host Jason Rantz tweeted: “Stacey Abrams is complaining about the inflation crisis that Democrats caused, but will try to blame on Brian Kemp.”
The conservative site RedState ran the headline: “Stacey Abrams Commits a Disqualifying Self-Own in Desperate Attack on Brian Kemp.”
“I’m no economics expert, and I certainly haven’t won a Nobel Prize for it like Paul Krugman has, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how any of this works,” said Sister Toldjah on RedState. “I mean had she put ‘Joe Biden’s America’ where she put ‘Brian Kemp’s Georgia’ she would have been 100% correct because last I checked, Gov. Kemp – no state governor, in fact – is in the business of printing his own money, nor does he have control over federal monetary policies.”
A Democrat discovers inflation is skyrocketing in America.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2022
Of course, she has no idea why.#Bidenflation https://t.co/JMl2MV4e6O
Ms. Abrams’ attempt to pin the rising cost of living on the governor comes with Mr. Kemp hammering the “Biden recession” and the “Biden-Abrams agenda” while touting the state’s economic performance under his tenure.
“Last year, Joe Biden said inflation was TEMPORARY. Now, they’re saying the recession is the economy in transition. Hardworking Georgians can’t afford the disastrous agenda of Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams!” said Mr. Kemp in an Aug. 3 tweet.
Ms. Abrams announced Tuesday that she wants to spend the state’s budget surplus on items such as expanding Medicaid, and that she supports the legalization of casino gambling and sports betting to spend more money on education.
The latest polling average by FiveThirtyEight posted Tuesday shows Mr. Kemp leading Ms. Abrams in the gubernatorial contest by 49% to 44%.
The inflation rate dropped from 9.1% in June to 8.5% in July, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, prompting President Biden to claim Wednesday that the U.S. had “zero inflation last month.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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