It was a classic media “gotcha” moment. On ABC’s This Week on Sunday, host Jonathan Karl was going to show that President Donald Trump is a liar on costs and prices.
He hit his guest, Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, with the much-reported-on Walmart Thanksgiving price list, which showed a less expensive dinner menu with fewer items than last year.
Trump has touted the lower price, but Karl said, “Does he know that’s not true?”
Boom, right? No. Hassett had his own list showing the prices are down on other items, such as gas and homes, and he fired back that it is unrealistic to expect Trump to “fix the hole that [former President] Joe Biden dug right away.”
Our choice for the weekly Liberal Media Scream from Sunday’s This Week on ABC:
JONATHAN KARL: So, the president claims that Thanksgiving costs are down 25%. I mean, does he know that’s not true?
KEVIN HASSETT: Well, if you look at Walmart and the few places that put out their prices, Thanksgiving prices–
KARL: Wait, wait a minute, I got to stop you because the Walmart comparison’s like not a thing — I mean, Walmart had a Thanksgiving package last year. They’ve got a Thanksgiving package this year. The one this year contains much less than what the one last year it took. So that’s why the price is less.
Look, we got a chart here. Last year, with 21 total products. This year, it’s 15. Total number of items in those products was … 29, now it’s 22. There’s more generic brand stuff. So, I mean, Thanksgiving — if you’re going to the store to buy groceries for Thanksgiving, it’s going to be more expensive this year.
HASSETT: You know, I really don’t understand where you’re going in the sense that Joe Biden gave us 20% inflation–
KARL: He’s not president. Donald Trump’s president.
HASSETT: No, and you’re– you want us to fix the hole that Joe Biden dug right away.
KARL: No, I’m just saying, why does the president tell–
HASSETT: I mean, the prices went up so much under Joe Biden, and inflation is way down. Inflation is about half what it was in December. This is something that’s being fixed fast, and real incomes are up after dropping about [$]3,000 under Joe Biden. And so, sure, you could find a few things where the price is higher, but there’s a whole bunch of stuff where the price is lower, like gasoline, like mortgage rates.
KARL: When are we going to get the Republican plan to–
HASSETT: You understand that mortgage rates have gone way down, and it’s much cheaper to buy a home now than it was when President Trump took office?
KARL: Because interest rates have come down, right.
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Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Talk about missing the forest for the trees. Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal package this year is cheaper than the one last year, and the inflation rate for food is way down from the Biden years, but Karl chose to sandbag his guest, with an obviously pre-planned hit, in order to once again demonstrate his well-earned anti-Trump bona fides.”
Rating: THREE out of FIVE screams.