The White House’s top economic adviser admitted on Tuesday that the financial toll on American consumers from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran would “hurt consumers” — then immediately waved it off.
“That’s, like, really the last of our concerns right now,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The remark lit up social media within hours, as gas prices hit $3.84 a gallon nationally, up by 24.8 cents from a year ago, and continue climbing, as the Federal Reserve prepares to deliver its March interest rate decision at 2 PM ET on Wednesday.
Hassett Says US Economy ‘Fundamentally Sound’
Hassett told CNBC that “the U.S. economy is fundamentally sound” and that an extended conflict “wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all.”
“If [the war] were to be extended, it wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy much at all. It would hurt consumers, and we’d have to think about, you know, if that continued, what we would have to do about that,” Hassett said.
“But that’s, like, really the last of our concerns right now because we’re very confident that this thing is going ahead of schedule.”
Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, said Hassett had also made clear he is “constantly thinking about short-term economic disruptions from Operation Epic Fury and is constantly examining new measures to mitigate these disruptions for everyday Americans.”
Consumers Are Already Feeling It
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz is also hitting the global fertilizer supply chain at a critical moment, just as the spring planting season kicks off — raising the prospect of food price shortages downstream. High oil prices are pushing jet fuel costs up, driving flight prices higher as well.
Some experts have raised the possibility of recession or even stagflation if the conflict continues.
Democrats Roast Hassett
Democrats moved fast. In a post on X, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) fired back directly at Hassett’s framing: “Tell that to Americans paying almost twice as much for gas as they were a month ago.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said the administration had “once again said the quiet part out loud.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) called on the White House to send Hassett to “every single swing House district” to repeat the message to voters ahead of November’s midterms. “They don’t care about the American consumer,” Lieu said. “They don’t care about people who can’t make ends meet.”
“Hassett really said this out loud. On live television,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. “It’s almost unbelievable until you remember they are both the dumbest and cruelest among us.”
Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said, “Well I’m not some sort of political expert but this feels like an unhelpful thing to say.”
Image via Shutterstock
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