CNN’s John Berman Calls Out Republican Rep Claiming Inflation ‘Lower’ Under Trump: ‘Congressman, No, It’s Not’

CNN’s John Berman called out Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) after he claimed President Donald Trump has lowered inflation rates during his second term.

Sessions joined Berman on Wednesday after Berman ran through the latest consumer prices inflation. According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Economics Analysis on consumption expenditure index, prices are up 3.7% annually and .2% from last month.

When Trump took office in January 2025, inflation was sitting around 3%. That rate had fallen before Trump launched strikes against Iran in February.

Berman asked Sessions about the “stubborn” inflation numbers and whether Trump has followed through on his promise to lower prices.

“John, the president was in reference to where it was when we took office, when he took office a year and a half ago it was lower,” Sessions said.

“Congressman, no, no, it’s not,” Berman responded. “Inflation was lower when he took office than it is now. It just is. Inflation is higher now than when he first took office. It’s gone up.”

Sessions chalked up higher prices to the ongoing Iran war inflating gas prices.

“It was coming down. It was. So let’s get right to your point. your point. Has the president done things economically that would lower the cost of doing business? And the answer was we were until the war started. And once the war started, as you know, the gasoline prices have increased and the increase in gasoline prices have had a large effect on not only travel, but upon doing business. And that would be correct,” he said.

Berman added one final correction before moving onto another topic, noting prices are up across the board, not just fuel costs.

“I will only note that the core PCE, which strips out food and energy, is also elevated at 3.3%,” he said. “So prices are high even without the fuel prices high.”

Watch above via CNN.

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