Sen. John Kennedy slams White House for blaming economic pain on Biden: ‘The economy belongs to President Trump’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) on Thursday criticized President Donald Trump for blaming economic issues on the previous Biden administration.The Louisiana Republican slammed Trump’s No. 2, Vice President JD Vance, for blaming the GOP’s midterm losses last week on the Iran war. Kennedy suggested that he believed voter perceptions about the economy were more to blame for the losses, and he rebuked Trump for focusing on attributing cost-of-living pains to the Biden administration.“I’ve heard President Trump say before, ‘Well, you know, this inflation started under President Biden,’ and that’s true,” Kennedy said during a CNN interview. “But the economy belongs to President Trump. He might not have fathered this child, but he’s got to raise it. And people are hurting.” “I think the Democrats did a better job, much better job, of acknowledging the economic pain that the American people are going through,” the senator added.Democrats made affordability their top issue on the campaign trail during the 2026 elections, and it resonated with voters who said they were feeling economic pain.Trump fought back.“I hope everyone realizes that price increases throughout America were caused by Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, not by ‘TRUMP,’” he wrote in a September post to Truth Social.Is the economy getting worse? Wage growth, the inflation rate, unemployment rate, real GDP, and the labor force participation rate are some of the barometers by which the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department measure economic health.In February 2020, people in the United States made an average of around $28.50 an hour in the final month before the COVID-19 pandemic upended norms. In December 2024, the last full month of Biden’s presidency, the U.S. average rate was $35.69. As of October 2026, the average rate is $38.00.The target inflation rate is 2%. Inflation reached a high of 9.1% during the Biden administration in June 2022. It is now at 3.7%, up from 3% when Trump took office.The U.S. unemployment rate in February 2020 was 3.5%. The unemployment rate in December 2024 was 4.1%. The unemployment rate as of October 2026 is also 4.1%.U.S. real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019, the final period before COVID hit. GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, the last period of Biden’s presidency. Real GDP increased at 3.4% for the third quarter of 2026, which ended in September, and marked the most recent period recorded since Trump took office again.LUTNICK EMERGES AS FAVORED NEXT-TO-GO IN TRUMP’S POST-MIDTERM PERSONNEL SHUFFLEWhile there are over 7.5 million jobs open in the U.S. as of this fall, fewer people are choosing to work.The U.S. labor force participation rate in February 2020 was 63.4%. The labor force participation rate in December 2024 was 62.5%. The labor force participation rate was 61.9% as of October 2026.