In recognition of “National Flip Flop Day,” which falls on the third Friday of every June, Republican officials trolled Rep. Cindy Axne by delivering a pair of flip flops to her West Des Moines district office.
“Cindy Axne’s been putting in the footwork for a big National Flip Flop Day since the very beginning of Joe Biden’s inflation crisis,” said a Republican National Committee spokesman in a press release. “Axne began her Flip Flop Day festivities by consistently denying or downplaying inflation over the past year… Then, as inflation continued to break new records and rise as a top issue for voters in polling, Axne finally flip flopped.”
The RNC’s stunt underscores Axne’s spotty record on inflation, which has now reached a 40-year record high and has affected nearly every facet of the economy, from groceries to restaurants to energy. Up until late last year, Axne consistently downplayed growing inflation concerns. In June 2021, for instance, she claimed that “we’re not even remotely close to a point to say that we’re at rising inflation.” She later called inflation concerns a “false advertisement” and downplayed inflation as part of “pricing issues.”
Happy National Flip Flop Day, @RepCindyAxne! A little late but glad you flip-flopped in time to realize 40-year record high #Bidenflation isn’t just a “false advertisement”! pic.twitter.com/w0aQhgFluJ
— Kush Desai (@K_SDesai) June 17, 2022
Axne’s rhetoric in many mimicked the official messaging of the Biden administration. President Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, was criticized by repeatedly downplaying inflation at White House press briefings as “transitory.”
But as inflation continued to worsen and climb in polling of the most pressing issues for voters, Axne and the Biden administration finally acknowledged and began addressing the issue.
“And it only took a year of suffering for Axne to break from the Biden White House’s approved talking points,” an RNC spokesman said in a press release. “Axne is willing to flip flop on a lot of issues, but Iowans aren’t counting on her to flip flop on the ultimate source of their woes these days: her ‘great president’ Joe Biden.”
