Scott Bessent Admits ‘Prices Are Too High’ After Fox Host Confronts Him With Bad ‘Cost of Living’ Poll

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted “prices are too high” after Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade noted that half of Americans believe the cost of living is too high for them.

Bessent joined Kilmeade on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, where he blamed both an “energy shock” from the Iran and Ukraine/Russia wars and former President Joe Biden for inflated costs hitting Americans.

“47% of the country says the cost of living is too high. What can the secretary of Treasury do about that, knowing you have the Canadian deal that they have walked away [from] that was just about done and ready to go over the goal line two Fridays ago?” Kilmeade asked.

Bessent argued that tariffs against Canada, which were announced by President Donald Trump amid an increasingly tense trade war, will have “virtually no effect” on prices for Americans.

He said:

Well, Brian, let’s walk backwards from that. First of all, the Canadian deal has virtually no impact on American prices. No impact. And Prime Minister [Mark] Carney has made a political decision. The deal was on the one-yard line, he blew it up at the last minute. President Trump offered our northern neighbors the most favorable deal, and he will have to come back and I’m not sure that the deal will be that good again.

And, look, prices are too high. The American consumer got blown away under Joe Biden, 21.5% stated inflation, probably much higher for working Americans, and we are going through an energy shock right now due to both the war in Ukraine because, you know, Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refined properties.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say the cost of living is the most important issue to them going into the midterm elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

The ongoing Iran war has helped fuel inflated costs, including gas prices. While the national average sat below $3 a gallon before the U.S. strikes on Iran, the average now sits at over $4, according to AAA.

Bessent insisted prices will smooth out once the Iran and Russia conflicts end. He also noted wage increases and inflation rates slightly cooling. The inflation rate for July was 3.4%, a decrease from the previous month’s 3.5% and more-than-4% in May, which marked a three-year high.

“We are helping Americans slowly get back on their feet,” he said. “The Iran conflict will end, but the wage gains will stay, because the wage gains are what Americans did not have in the Biden administration.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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!