On ABC's This Week, White House NEC Director Kevin Hassett struggled when Jonathan Karl challenged President Trump's claim that Thanksgiving food costs dropped 25%. An infographic showed the cheaper Walmart bundle contained six fewer products, seven fewer units and about 15% more generic items, undermining the comparison. Hassett deflected to criticism of Joe Biden and cited lower gas and mortgage rates, but did not directly answer whether groceries will be more affordable. His credibility was further questioned after he suggested officials might "concoct" figures because the October household survey was not conducted.
Hassett Put on the Spot Over Thanksgiving Grocery Prices — Deflects to Biden and Missing Data
On ABC's This Week, White House NEC Director Kevin Hassett struggled when Jonathan Karl challenged President Trump's claim that Thanksgiving food costs dropped 25%. An infographic showed the cheaper Walmart bundle contained six fewer products, seven fewer units and about 15% more generic items, undermining the comparison. Hassett deflected to criticism of Joe Biden and cited lower gas and mortgage rates, but did not directly answer whether groceries will be more affordable. His credibility was further questioned after he suggested officials might "concoct" figures because the October household survey was not conducted.
12:20 PM, 11/17/2025Politics
White House Economic Director Challenged on Thanksgiving Price Claims
On Sunday on ABC's This Week, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett faced persistent questioning from host Jonathan Karl about President Trump's claim that Thanksgiving food costs are down 25% this year.
Karl directly asked whether the president knew that figure was incorrect. Hassett initially said he "didn't understand" the line of questioning and reiterated a frequently cited example: a Walmart Thanksgiving bundle priced lower this year.
"The president claims that Thanksgiving costs are down 25%. I mean, does [Trump] know that’s not true?" — Jonathan Karl
Karl produced an infographic showing why the Walmart deal was not an apples-to-apples comparison: the cheaper bundle contained six fewer products, seven fewer total units and roughly 15% more generic-brand items. Karl summarized the finding: "If you are going to the store to buy groceries for Thanksgiving, it’s going to be more expensive this year."
Rather than directly addressing whether Thanksgiving groceries are more affordable, Hassett repeatedly shifted the conversation to the prior administration, blaming former President Joe Biden for inflation. When Hassett misstated the current president during that exchange, Karl corrected him: "He is not president. Donald Trump is president." Hassett continued to emphasize broader economic improvements, citing lower gasoline prices and reduced mortgage rates and claiming that real incomes are rising after having fallen under Biden.
The adviser’s credibility drew additional scrutiny after comments he made about missing government data following a brief shutdown. Speaking on Fox's America's Newsroom, Hassett said the household survey was not conducted in October and remarked: "We’ll maybe be able to concoct something, but we’ll never actually know for sure what the unemployment rate was in October." That remark prompted criticism about the prospect of manufacturing or filling gaps in official statistics.
What this means
The exchange highlighted two concurrent issues going into the holiday season: public confusion over price comparisons (bundled vs. full-item lists) and political disputes about which administration is responsible for current economic conditions. Journalists and viewers pressing for clearer, verifiable data on prices and employment numbers suggest the debate may continue as consumers plan holiday budgets.