CNBC Anchor Calls Out Trump Over Election Bloodbath: ‘He Ran On’ Lowering Prices

CNBC anchor Sara Eisen called out President Donald Trump over his promises to lower prices as she pressed Trump White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett about last week’s Democratic blowouts.

Last week, Republicans lost big on Election Day in an electoral bloodbath thatTrump chalked up to factors that included “affordability” — which he then repeatedly claimed to have already solved. During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to lower prices on day one, but inflation has continued to rise.

On Tuesday’s edition of CNBC’s Money Movers, Eisen followed up an exchange about inflation by asking Hassett to interpret the election results in light of Trump’s promises:

SARA EISEN: I wonder how you read the message from the elections that we just had, the big wins for Democrats, not just the New York mayoral election, the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey.

Because there is this feeling that people, I know that inflation has come down from the Biden era, but it’s still elevated.

And those cumulative gains in things like beef prices and coffee prices, the everyday items that people face are still high. And that is something that President Trump ran on.

I do wonder what… What sort of economic takeaways you have from the Big Dem wins.

KEVIN HASSETT: Oh, sure. You make a really great, great point, Sarah. And the thing is that under Biden, because the inflation spiked so much, that real incomes, which is like the real purchasing power of ordinary folks, on average, went down by about $3,400.

And since President Trump took office, real incomes have gone up. That means purchasing power has gone up by about–.

(PICTURE FREEZES)

SARA EISEN: Oh, no, we lost your camera. Oh, I was waiting to hear the answer on that one…

Oh, wait, you’re back. You’re back! Kevin Hassett, are you there? Yeah. Sorry, the shot froze for a little bit.

KEVIN HASSETT: I was just about to make my best point in history, sir.

SARA EISEN: I know, I know. I was like hanging on everywhere, so talk to us about the inflation story and the pain that people are still feeling.

KEVIN HASSETT: Yeah, then again, I don’t know where I got cut out, so apologies if I’m repeating myself, but because people’s purchasing power dropped by so much because of inflation under President Biden, where it went up to almost 10 percent and averaged 5 percent, then real incomes, real purchasing power, dropped by about $3,400 over the entire Biden term.

And since President Trump has took office, we’ve been focusing on affordability and helping purchasing power go up, and it’s gone up by $1,200 right now already this year.

But people are right that we haven’t actually closed the gap. We haven’t filled the hole that Biden dug yet.

And they’re right, if you go to the grocery store, I’m the shopper in my family, and I was looking around at prices of hamburger and milk and everything just this weekend.

And they are still way higher than they were when President Trump left office. So that’s something that we’re working really hard on.

Watch above via CNBC’s Money Movers.