CNBC Host Shoots Down Hakeem Jeffries’s Gas Prices Claim: ‘There’s the National Average, Hakeem’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was quickly corrected during a CNBC interview in which he claimed average gas prices are higher than they actually are.

Jeffries joined CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday and at one point during a rant against President Donald Trump’s administration and the Iran war, he claimed the national average cost for gas is $4.20. Gas prices have reached that point and higher during the conflict with Iran, but they have been slowly crawling down in recent weeks with talk of a potentially permanent peace deal.

According to AAA, the national gas price in the United States sits at around $3.90 at the moment.

“First of all, the price of oil should have never skyrocketed to begin with. That’s number one. Number two, perhaps even more importantly, prior to this reckless and costly war of choice being launched by Donald Trump, the price of gasoline was $2.98. Right now it is $4.20 cents. That’s the average price, right now, as of today,” Jeffries said.

“It’s under 4,” Joe Kernen quickly said as Jeffries quipped, “I can look.”

As Jeffries continued talking, CNBC showed a graphic of AAA data showing that the average gas price sits at $3.93 as of June 24).

“There’s the national average, Hakeem. It’s $3.93 today, the national average,” Kernen said. “It’s not $4.20. We got it up.”

“The national average was $4.20 as of yesterday. This morning it’s $3.93. That’s still much higher than the $2.98 and that has an impact on working class, on middle class Americans,” Jeffries said.

It’s unclear what specific date Jeffries is referring too as the national average on June 25 (the day of his interview) was $3.90 and the average referenced by Kernen was from the day prior ($3.93). On June 23, the price also sat at $3.93. The national average fell below $4 on June 18 amid peace talks with Iran. Prior to recent weeks, though, the average price hit over $4 dollars for the first time since 2022 after strikes were launched against Iran in February. According to AAA, a month ago the national average sat at more than $4.50.

“That’s only part of the puzzle,” Jeffries said about gas prices. “Housing costs are too high, grocery bills are too, utility bills are to high, health care costs are to, child care costs to high. People are clearly struggling. And that’s what public sentiment shows, unequivocally. And Donald Trump has failed to solve that challenge, and we are going to address it decisively.”

Watch above via CNBC.

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!