Bill Hemmer Cuts Off Trump’s Econ Chief as He Tries to Shift Blame to Biden: ‘That Was Then, This Is Now’

Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer cut off President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as the latter tried to steer a conversation on gas prices to blame former President Joe Biden.

The moment came on Friday’s America’s Newsroom as Hemmer quizzed Hassett on fuel prices after the price of gas soared past $4 a gallon earlier this week.

After noting that the national average on gas prices was at $4.09 — up nearly a dollar from last week — Hemmer asked Hassett, “Where do you see this going?”

After laying out several of the ways the Trump administration is trying to keep prices down, including the “second-largest release of the strategic reserve on record,” Hassett added a dig at Trump’s predecessor.

“Joe Biden — he’s the one who had the biggest release of the strategic reserve, and there was no supply disruption at the time. He was just trying to offset all those terrible energy prices and get gas prices down ahead of the election. And so –”

That’s when Hemmer cut off Hassett, saying, “OK, but that was then, and this is now.” He then presented Hassett with the fact that made-in-the-USA West Texas crude jumped from $67 a barrel in February to $111 today.

“How high can it go?” Hemmer pressed.

“Oh, well you can see that right now our economy has so much momentum that it’s humming along,” Hasset responded. “Don’t forget that our economy is much different than the 1970s economy where we didn’t really produce the oil. I think the energy dominant strategy of President Trump has been a real godsend right now this time. But again, these higher prices are a temporary phenomenon and it’s going to end very soon.”

Read the exchange below:

BILL HEMMER: Now to the war in Iran. Let’s look at gas prices right now. Here’s where we are today. Top line is $4.09. You see where we were a year ago, $3.26. Maybe your forecast is the place to start here. Where do you see this going?

TRUMP NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR KEVIN HASSETT: Well, in the Trump White House we always have our eyes on the horizon. President Trump has said that this is a temporary thing. And the markets now obviously agree if you look at the jobs numbers today. If people thought this was gonna be a long-term disruption you would never see a job number like this. And so our expectation is this is gonna last just a little bit longer and things will get back to normal much faster than you could expect. The bottom line is though that we have taken every possible measure to minimize the disruption along the way. We have our eyes on the horizon, but we’re also watching what’s going on in the surf right now. For example, we have released the strategic reserve. It’s the second-largest release of the strategic reserve on record. We coordinated that with a lot of foreign governments We waived the Jones Act for 60 days so U.S. Gas can easier move around in the U.S. We’ve done a lot of things. And finally I’d like to remind everybody once again that we could have had a bigger strategic reserve effect except for the fact that right before the midterm election, Joe Biden — he’s the one who had the biggest release of the strategic reserve and there was no supply disruption at the time. He was just trying to offset all those terrible energy prices and get gas prices down ahead of the election. And so —

HEMMER: OK, but that was then, and this is now. And what’s now is West Texas crude, which is what we produce here in the U.S. We’re a net exporter of oil. On February 27, It was $67 a barrel. Now we’re at $111 for West Texas crude. I think the question there is, what can our economy tolerate? How high can it go?

HASSETT: Oh, well you can see that right now our economy has so much momentum that it’s humming along. Don’t forget that our economy is much different than the 1970s economy where we didn’t really produce the oil. I think the energy dominant strategy of President Trump has been a real godsend right now this time. But again, these higher prices are a temporary phenomenon and it’s going to end very soon. President Trump just gave an amazing address about that. The bottom line is that the energy prices are going down as this quiets down, and you don’t have to believe me. Just look at the futures market which trade future contracts on these things and they’re way back headed towards normal by the fall and certainly into the summer.

HEMMER: OK, I watch the gas signs every time I’m on the road. Last question.

HASSETT: I know. One needs to be cautious about that, that’s for sure. It’s very disappointing I know for people right now, but it’s a temporary phenomenon.

HEMMER: A lot of people are going to be out traveling this weekend. They’ll take notice of this also

Watch above via Fox News.

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