Biden admits Inflation Reduction Act had 'less to do with inflation' than he originally sold to Americans

President Biden admitted Thursday that Democrats' signature Inflation Reduction Act wasn't as much about actually reducing the then-record-high inflation facing the nation as he originally touted to the American people.

"I wish I hadn’t called it that. It has less to do with inflation than it does providing alternatives to economic growth," Biden said during an appearance at a campaign fundraiser in Pary City, Utah.

"Even when there is inflation there is a way to provide breathing room," he added, citing negotiating medical prices as one example.

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President Joe Biden speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden's comments are a sharp turn from what he said in July 2022 ahead of the Inflation Reduction Act's passage through Congress on a party line vote.

"The Inflation Reduction Act is the strongest bill you can pass. It will lower inflation, cut the deficit, reduce health care costs, tackle the climate crisis, and promote energy security," he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

At the time, as the country faced an inflation rate near the highest level in 40 years, multiple analyzes said the bill would not reduce inflation. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill will have "a negligible effect" on inflation in 2022, and in 2023 its impact would range between reducing inflation by 0.1% and increasing it by 0.1%.

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Fox News' Kaitlin Sprague and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.