John Kirby comes to President Biden’s defense after Jeff Bezos accuses him of ‘misdirection’

Defending President Joe Biden from criticism by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who accused Biden of “misdirection” when it comes to dealing with inflation, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said the president “is working very, very hard across many fronts.”

Kirby made his statements during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Anybody who knows President Biden knows he’s plainspoken. And he tells you exactly what he’s thinking and in terms that everybody can understand. So I think we obviously take great exception at the idea that this is somehow misdirection,” Kirby said.

Bezos’ criticism came after a Tweet by Biden on Saturday, which read: “My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.”

Bezos responded, Tweeting: “Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.”

Defending Biden, Kirby on Sunday reiterated statements from Biden, who said in February: “The American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost,” in regards to aiding Ukraine in their fight against Russia.

“The American people are facing pain at the pump, clearly. Now we’re, what, at five dollars a gallon? And the president is working very, very hard across many fronts … to try to bring the price down,” Kirby said.

“If everybody cooperates on this, we can bring the price down at least by about a dollar a gallon,” Kirby added. “…so he’s working very, very hard to do this because he knows the impact that high gas prices have on the American household.”

This is not the first time Bezos has blamed Biden for America’s troubles. Bezos similarly Tweeted on May 15: “In fact, the administration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy and only Manchin saved them from themselves. Inflation is a regressive tax that most hurts the least affluent. Misdirection doesn’t help the country.”