Romney Says Biden Should Ditch ‘Woke Advisers’ Amid Rising Inflation Rates, Recession Risks

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week claiming that the Biden administration is one of three factors that have combined over the past two years to “create the perfect economic storm.” He also called on the US to reduce its dependence on foreign products and expand domestic gas and oil production.

The US senator for Utah doubled down on his WSJ op-ed while meeting with members of the Utah Trucking Association on Wednesday, echoing a call for US President Joe Biden to “ditch his woke advisers,” nix his stalled “Build Back Better” Act, and place more focus on repairing record levels of inflation.

“The president coming into office did almost all the wrong things,” Romney told Utah-based Deseret News. “He sent out $1.9 trillion dollars that the economy didn’t need, told people they could stay in their apartments without paying rent, did not deal with immigration in a way that would be helpful.”

In his recently published piece, Romney argued that three primary factors contributed to the current levels of inflation: COVID-19 mitigation measures–including pandemic-era eviction moratoriums–prolonged supply chain delays over the past two years, and an aggressive central bank.

“Almost everything he did, unfortunately, added to inflation,” the US senator claimed.

He also railed against Biden’s recent decision to tap into the US’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve to curb “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s gas price hike at the pump.” The US president’s release, over six months, is expected to represent some 5% of American oil demand, and 1% of that demand globally.

“I don’t believe that what the administration is doing will have much impact at all,” Romney told Deseret on Wednesday, adding that the White House should “say something to make it look like they’re doing something.”

Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate who could return to the campaign trail in 2024, believes Biden should stop “nominating doves to the” US Federal Reserve, and instead search for “hard-nosed economists.”

Four Biden nominees were advanced to the Senate for confirmation after Republicans held strong in a weeks-long boycott of a fifth nominee.

“President Biden needs to ditch his woke advisers and surround himself with people who want to get the economy working again,” Romney wrote in his op-ed. “As for the upcoming midterm elections, remember Bill Clinton’s 1992 mantra: It’s the economy.”

A team of Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius warned in an April 19 analysis that, from a historical standpoint, patterns appear to suggest the US’ central bank is treading into territory that will raise the odds of a recession to 15% in the next 12 months, and 35% within the next 24 months.

Meanwhile, the White House is also expecting the US to observe negative economic activity over the next several months, but sees positive GDP growth for the nation later this year.

As Biden claimed in his State of the Union address, the White House is once again claiming these domestic losses are directly linked to the situation in Ukraine.

“We are facing real risks and some challenges,” a senior administration official told CNBC this week. “One risk is the war that Putin has started in Ukraine. That has real effects on the U.S. economy, largely through energy prices and food.”