Jake Tapper Grills WH Economic Adviser on Trump’s Boasts Of The ‘Best Economic Numbers’ Ever: ‘Is He Misinformed’ or ‘Not Telling the Truth?’

CNN’s Jake Tapper sparred with White House economic chief Kevin Hasett Sunday over President Donald Trump’s claims that the U.S. has “the best economic numbers” ever, but that “poor public relations” are to blame for a lack of consumer confidence.

“So let’s break down the economic numbers,” Tapper began. “Growth is a modest 2.2%. Unemployment is relatively low, but ticking up a bit at 4.2%. Hiring is weak, only 29,000 jobs added in September. July and August were revised down. Inflation is at 3.4%. Prices rose 0.4% in August. Wage growth is at a five-year low. Hourly wage is down 0.3% over the past year. So assessing it here, it’s a growing economy, but hiring is slow. Wages are not keeping up with rising prices. So, what is the president talking about when he says it’s the best economic numbers ever? Is he misinformed or is he not telling the truth?”

“Well, it’s true that the polls, which have gotten the president’s success wrong every time, have been saying that people are looking a little bit depressed about the economy. But if you look at their actions, the actions speak louder than words.”

Hassett concluded “that people are really, really optimistic about the future, about their future incomes because they’re spending really, really at record levels.”

“And so then the question is, are the people wrong or the pollsters wrong? And I would say the pollsters are wrong,” Hassett added.

“If this is truly a PR problem, then when is gas going to be $3 again? When will inflation settle down to 2%?” Tapper asked.

Hassett repeated that Americans are bullish on the future and pollsters are to blame for skewed data.

“The hard data are radically inconsistent with the polls,” Hassett said. “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?”

“But the government hard data is that only 29,000 jobs were created!” Tapper offered.

“Oh, come on! That’s just last month,” but Tapper reminded him that previous months’ numbers were revised downward.

“Two years ago, President Trump said he thought he could get mortgage rates down to 3% or even lower. Last week, mortgage rates had the biggest weekly jump in four years. It’s more than 7%. Why has president trump failed to deliver on that promise?” Tapper asked.

“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, they buy cars…But the bottom line is that in the end, look at the hard data. People are buying houses.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!