On Sunday's State of the Union, CNN host Jake Tapper hosted Kevin Hassett, director of Trump's National Economic Council. Tapper began by blaming President Trump for the 3.4% inflation which Hassett responded was 1.5% in 2021, when Biden took office.
Tapper began the segment by seeming to admit that inflation “was very high under President Biden” but "when President Biden handed over the presidency to President Trump in January 2025, it was 3 percent and it's currently 3.4 percent. I'm no economist, but it does seem like that's going up.”
Hassett responded, “Well, you know your economics pretty good, but that means you also know that, when we handed the economy off to President Biden that inflation was 1.5 percent.” Tapper loudly interjected that “it was the middle of COVID!”
Hassett corrected him that “well, it was actually the end of COVID," that the problem was the “massive stimulus” which triggered the inflation. Tapper asked Hassett that if this was a “P.R. problem, then when is gas going to be $3 again? When will inflation settle down to 2 percent?”
Trump's economist argued "ahead of an election cycle, the fact that there's possibly partisan pollsters telling us that the people are really, really depressed, it's a classic Democrat move," but the statistic of spending suggests confidence in the economy. He asked Tapper whether he believed either “the government hard data or the polls that have been wrong about every single election?”
CNN: Tapper Struggles to Stump Trump Adviser Over Economy https://t.co/pgWwEnUFQm
— Sarah (@scbpoli) October 6, 2026
CNN's inconsistent on inflation and blame. In July 2023 during Biden's presidency, Tapper’s Sunday co-host Dana Bash actually touted Biden's numbers to Nancy Pelosi, wondering why he isn't getting credit!
BASH: Inflation, it looks good when you look at the numbers. Inflation is down to just 3 percent. The labor market is steadily adding jobs. Wages are up. Consumer sentiment is the highest since September of 2021. So there’s, a lot for President Biden to tout. So the question is about why Americans don’t seem to be giving him the credit. A Quinnipiac poll this week found nearly six in 10 Americans still disapprove of his handling of the economy. Why is that? And what does he have to do to turn that around?”
After they quibbled about the low unemployment rate -- and Hassett noted that it looks better if you take out the reduction in government jobs -- Tapper pressed on mortgage rates: “President Trump said he thought he could get mortgage rates down to 3 percent or even lower” and pointing out that the rates are more than 7 percent. He asked, “Why has President Trump failed to deliver on that promise?”
Hassett confidently said that “President Trump hasn't failed to deliver at all.” He pointed out that the “economy is booming” and explained that “if you look at the housing data over the summer, then income growth is outpacing the mortgage rates, and housing starts and purchases and permits are way up.” Hassett concluded by asking Tapper to “look at the hard data. People are buying houses.”
Click Expand to view transcript:
State of the Union with Jake Tapper
10/4/2026
9:06:47-9:10:04
JAKE TAPPER: It is true that inflation was very high under President Biden, but when President Biden handed over the presidency to President Trump in January 2025, it was 3 percent and it's currently 3.4 percent.
I'm no economist, but it does seem like that's going up.
KEVIN HASSETT (DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL): Well, you know your economics pretty good, but that means you also know that, when we handed the economy off to President Biden that inflation was 1.5 percent.
TAPPER: It was the middle of COVID. It was the middle of COVID.
HASSETT: And, right now, we have got top-line inflation at 1 percent. And inflation has come back down.
TAPPER: Yes.
HASSETT: It -- well, it was actually the end of COVID. That was the problem, because COVID was right at the end, and then they did this massive stimulus, and that's where the inflation came from.
TAPPER: If this is truly a P.R. problem, then when is gas going to be $3 again? When will inflation settle down to 2 percent?
HASSETT: Well, I think that what's going on is, the American people look at what's in their wallets and then they react accordingly.
And so Americans right now are acting the way they have done in past booms. And ahead of an election cycle, the fact that there's possibly partisan pollsters telling us that the people are really, really depressed, it's a classic Democrat move. And I just don't buy it, because, if it were true, if the polls were any value for thinking about what's going on with consumers, then we should look at the consumption data and say, geez, yes, that's right, people -- people aren't spending.
But, in fact, the retailers are doing well. I talk to the banks all the time. They say that their consumers are happy and they're paying back their loans. And so -- and so the data, the hard data are radically inconsistent with the polls.
And so which do you believe, the government hard data or the polls that have been wrong about every single election since I can remember?
TAPPER: But the government hard data is that only 29,000 jobs were created in...
HASSETT: Oh, come on. And that's just last month.
TAPPER: And it was revised downwards by 60,000 July and August.
HASSETT: revised downwards by 60,000 July and August, double the forecast of the Fed, and above the forecast of everybody forecasted by who forecasted for Bloomberg.
And so we had a blockbuster number the month before, and then we had a number this month that was actually much better once you took out the decline in government jobs. So, the decline in government jobs is part of our structure to be more fiscally responsible, where we have reduced federal employment by about 300,000 workers.
TAPPER: So, two years ago, President Trump said he thought he could get mortgage rates down to 3 percent or even lower. Last week, mortgage rates had the biggest weekly jump in four years. It's more than 7 percent. Why has President Trump failed to deliver on that promise?
HASSETT: President Trump hasn't failed to deliver at all.
The economy is booming. And what you have to do is, you have to look at the whole picture. And so what happens when the economy is booming is that people feel better about their economic circumstances, and then they go out and they spend and they buy houses and they buy cars.
And if you look at the housing data over the summer, then income growth is outpacing the mortgage rates, and housing starts and purchases and permits are way up. And so, once again, absolutely true, mortgage rates have to come down. And as we get inflation down to 1, 2 percent, then that's where mortgage rates are going to head towards that, plus two or three. And that's going to happen, I think, very quickly over the next few months. But the bottom line is the that, in the end, look at the hard data. People are buying houses.
