MEDIA WINNER:
Jake Tapper CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed White House chief of staff Ron Klain on a subject of increasing criticism directed at President Joe Biden's administration; a touchy, complicated subject. Tapper confronted Klain with a Senator Joe Manchin tweet that said: “By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse. From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.” Tapper asked if indeed Build Back Better is dead due to inflation, and Klain said "quite the opposite" before attempting to make Manchin's criticism seem like support. Klain also argued that leading economists agree BBB will ease "long term" inflationary pressure, so Tapper pointed out that former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers believes Biden's "big agenda" is the reason for the inflation spike. He confronted Klain with consumer price index data showing a sharp increase just in the last three weeks, asking if it proves Summers right. And he showed Klain a poll with 42% saying middle-class families “have not benefited at all” from Biden's policies. Tough interview, but not combat. More importantly, it was revealing watching Klain try to walk the line with Summers and Manchin. The administration has not been hugely successful in managing intra-party criticism. Klain's dance here, thanks to Tapper's excellent interview, was another look at that under-construction project. | 