National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett challenged the credibility of Fox News’ polling on air Sunday during an interview with “The Sunday Briefing” host Peter Doocy.
Doocy opened his segment with the Trump-appointed Hassett by citing a Fox News poll that found that only 23% of U.S. voters would call the economy “excellent or good,” only 12% calling their personal financial situation “getting ahead” and 62% of voters saying grocery prices have become a “major problem” for them. When asked whether any of those findings were of concern to Trump’s White House, Hassett quickly challenged the findings as having partisan bias.
“Polls, over and over again, harm impressions about the economy because they poll way too many Democrats,” Hassett answered. “The Democrats in the Michigan survey are saying that we got the worst economy since the Great Depression because they hate President Trump. Republicans are basically seeing what we see, which is a very strong economy with low inflation … What they want to do is talk about these jimmied polls. I’m not convinced at all.”
“No far-left media here, Kevin!” Doocy responded, putting his hands up in the air.
“No, but you’re saying what they say,” Hassett continued. “Why don’t you put up some facts? What do you think about the 5% GDP growth? What do you think about the (unemployment insurance) claims lowest ever? What do you think about drug prices biggest decline in 64 years?”
The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the second quarter, per the New York Times. Unemployment insurance claims have stayed in a historically low weekly range of 200,000 to 230,000 per week, per the Associated Press. The Trump administration has taken credit for a drop in drug prices, though PBS reporting indicates that experts cite increased competition and a law from President Biden’s term that allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies.
Affordability remains a key issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections. In a later segment of his Fox News interview, Hassett remarked that inflation is “way down,” citing that he noticed hamburgers in his local grocery store were priced 2 dollars down from weeks ago. In August, beef prices were up 7.9% year-over-year according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer prices are up 3.4% year-over-year.
