Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council (NEC), on Sunday said the economy is the “best we’ve ever seen” as the Trump administration and Republicans make their final pitches heading into the midterm elections.
“So the great big picture about the economy is that it’s about the best economy we’ve ever seen,” Hassett said in an interview on “The Sunday Briefing” on Fox News.
“Now, I’m sure there are going to be pockets that need some repairs or that, hopefully, as President Trump said, energy prices will drop like a rock, then the 3 or 4 percent growth that we have right now will go even higher,” he continued.
Hassett added that characterizing the economy “as a negative thing right now is really just misrepresenting the facts.”
Voters’ concern over the cost of living and high gas prices as a result of the Iran war has fueled a poor outlook on Trump’s handling of the economy. A Financial Times/Focaldata poll released earlier this month showed that roughly one-fourth of respondents approve of Trump’s handling of jobs and the economy, with 2 in 10 saying they approved of his handling on inflation.
Annual inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), ticked up from 3.4 percent in August to 3.7 percent in September.
Energy prices remain a sore spot for the economy amid the Iran war and Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is exported. The national average for gas in the U.S. hit $4.29 on Sunday, remaining relatively stable in recent weeks and 20 cents cheaper than it was a month ago, according to AAA. The average cost of gas this time last year was $3.06.
Trump has frequently said since the start of the conflict that prices will fall after the Iran war is won. At a rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday to stump for Senate nominee Rep. Mike Collins and gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson, Trump said he did not “give a damn” about the high price.
“I can just see the fake headlines. President Trump is talking about all the money they’re making while people are suffering at the pump,” Trump said, predicting the coverage of his rally that evening. “I don’t give a damn. We’re making a freaking fortune.”
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod blasted Trump for the remark.
“HE’s making money like he’s never made before. And he doesn’t give a damn about high gas prices. (Not a great closing message, though.)” Axelrod wrote on the social platform X.
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