MAGA Rep. Rudy Yakym was cornered on whether it is a good idea for the GOP to be trying to blame the state of the economy on Joe Biden.
During a Monday appearance on NewsNation’s Morning in America, the Indiana Republican was pressed on his response to previous remarks from Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters about the current economic situation.
“This is Biden’s prices that we’re still dealing with, and we’re still getting under control,” Gruters told NewsNation’s The Hill on Sunday.
As noted by The Hill on Sunday, host Blake Burman and Morning in America’s Markie Martin, the GOP is simultaneously trying to suggest that the economy is strong and that this is all due to Donald Trump, while also suggesting that it is in a bad place because of the president’s predecessor, who left office a year and a half ago.
“Congressman, do you think that’s a winning message to just say it’s not our fault? And 18 months in, is it not Trump’s economy yet?” Martin asked Yakym.
“You know, President Trump was certainly left with a mess to clean up,” Yakym replied. “But when you’re left with a mess, what you do is you roll up your sleeves and you go to work. That’s what President Trump has been doing since day one. That’s what House Republicans have been doing, working with President Trump.”
Biden’s term in office was plagued by decades-high inflation in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the oil crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, the current rate of inflation during Trump’s second term stands at 3.5 percent, higher than the 3 percent rate when Biden left the White House in January 2025. The national average price of gas, which Trump’s deeply unpopular war in Iran has helped drive up, is just over $4, which is also higher than the average $3.12 recorded when Biden left office.
“We just do what we do in the Hoosier State. We roll up our sleeves, we go to work, and you’ll find me and the Hoosiers that I serve to be happy warriors in that endeavor,” a desperate Yakym added.
“That’s why we’ve done things like deregulation. So many of the problems within our economy are caused by federal government overreach and federal government regulation. President Trump has certainly worked hard to roll that back, and we’ve done a lot of that working with him in Congress as well.”
Trump’s dire handling of the economy and plummeting approval ratings could have disastrous consequences for Republicans in the midterms. The GOP is widely expected to lose control of the House in November, with backlash to Trump’s second term meaning the Senate could also be in play for the Democrats.
