Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Monday expressed gratitude that former President Donald Trump’s injuries in the weekend assassination attempt were not more serious, calling the incident a “sad day for our country.”
“Political violence has no place in our society. I condemn it in the strongest terms, I know we all do,” Powell said at an event at the Economic Club of Washington.
“We are thankful that the former president’s injuries were not more serious.”
A 20-year-old gunman aimed a high-powered rifle at former President Trump during a Trump campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, wounding him in the right ear and killing a spectator.
The gunman was shot dead by Secret Service agents and Trump’s wounds were not life-threatening. Trump is currently in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend the Republican National Convention and to be formally nominated as the party’s candidate for the November 5 presidential election.
There is tension between Trump and Powell, which is likely to come into greater focus if Trump returns to the White House.
Powell was originally appointed to the Fed by former President Barack Obama, but it was President Trump who chose him to lead the Fed, a post he took in early 2018.
Trump quickly turned on Powell, blasting the Fed for raising interest rates during his first year as chair. Powell’s current term as chairman ends in 2026, and Trump has said he will not reappoint him.
Trump also said he believes the Fed chair will cut interest rates to help President Biden’s reelection prospects.
Meanwhile, Powell said Monday that three inflation measures for the second quarter of this year suggest “further progress” is being made in returning the pace of price growth to the Fed’s goal.
“We actually made more progress in the second quarter,” Powell said. “We’ve been getting better the last three times, and on average we’re looking pretty good.”
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Chairman Powell will likely not speak again until his press conference after the Fed meeting on July 30-31.
Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Adriana Kugler, along with other senior Fed officials, are due to speak this week, and their comments could further shape the central bank’s thinking at a critical juncture in the deliberations.
Inflation is approaching the central bank’s 2% target, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the economy will slow down too much and lead to higher unemployment.
