Biden admits he should have called Inflation Reduction Act 'what it was'—a massive climate spending bill

On Thursday, President Biden announced a $7.3 billion investment in rural electrification, as part of the administration's contentious Inflation Reduction Act, which critics have said is more along the lines of a boondoggle package for green energy than an act to curb inflation.

Biden appeared to suggest that the bill was something else not having to do with inflation, or misspoke, during a speech in Westby, Wisconsin while announcing the Biden-Harris administration's new project. He admitted that he "should have called" the Inflation Reduction Act "what it was." 

"I'm proud to announce that my investments, through my investments, the most significant climate change law ever - and by the way it is a $369 billion bill - it's called the, we should have named it what it was," the President said Thursday. It's unclear what he meant by that comment.

The $7.3 billion investment from the act will be distributed across 16 cooperatives that will provide electricity in rural areas across 23 states, as per the AP.

In Aug. 2022, the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law after passing in Congress along party lines. According to the White House, the project from the act will generate 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs and allocate approximately $13 billion to rural electrification through various programs.

Congressional Republicans have strongly condemned the Inflation Reduction Act as a whole and all GOP House and Senate members voted against it. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote for the 2022 bill. Many have slammed the bill for providing funding for green energy projects and critics have argued will not be effective in bringing down inflation or providing energy to the country. 

Economists have also criticized the bill, telling PBS News that the "IRA has just not been a significant factor" in bringing down inflation.

President Biden made similar remarks to those on Thursday during a past 2023 speech in Utah. During the speech, Biden said that he shouldn't have called the bill the Inflation Reduction Act because "it has less to do with reducing inflation than it has to do with providing alternatives that generate economic growth."