The United States reached 40-year highs in inflation during the Biden administration.
Said by Lex Fridman, Checked Updated
- Sources
- 3 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 40%
Bulwark TakesSep 5, 2026
The sources consistently show US inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022 (AP, Politifact, White House), and that high came during Biden's term. However, the passage only says 'we just saw 40-year highs on inflation' and never ties them to the Biden administration, so the extracted claim adds that scope and departs from the passage, which makes the verdict unverifiable.
What was said
… He said Trump did win. There was election fraud. This is disgusting, and we cannot allow America's election to be corrupted. All weekend long, the White House leakers have been running around saying that Putin is going to invade Ukraine this Wednesday. So is it all a ruse, that they are really going to invade this Wednesday, or are they trying to create all of this drama because we were getting this Durham information and because we just saw 40-year highs on inflation? Joe Biden telling us, Get out of Ukraine immediately. Was this a ruse? Was this whole thing an effort to take everybody's attention away from what Hillary Clinton did? Two gentlemen approached her. One had tattoos all over his face. …
Bulwark Takes · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reported in February 2022 that inflation hit its highest rate in four decades, with consumer prices up 7.5% year over year.[1]
Supports. Politifact (2024) states inflation peaked in 2022 at about 9%, the worst year-over-year figure in 40 years, and the White House 2026 economic report says inflation hit 40-year highs under Biden.[2][3]
Context. The passage refers to '40-year highs on inflation' without naming Biden as the period or cause; the 'during the Biden administration' scope is the extraction's addition, not the poster's statement.
Sources
3 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary
- 1US inflation highest in 40 years, with no letup in sightapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Fact-checking Trump on the scale and causes of inflationpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3e c o n o m I c R e P o R t - The White Housewhitehouse.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Checked 5 times
Each check reads the sources again. The newest verdict is the one this page states.
- · latestCan’t tell
- True
- True
- True
- True
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- JD Vance stated that the United States saw the highest inflation in 50 years in 2022.Can’t tell