Sandra Smith Catches Former Harris Adviser Flat-Footed With Basic Question About Inflation Rate

Fox News host Sandra Smith stumped former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Senior Adviser Mike Nellis by asking him what the current rate of inflation is.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.7% year-over-year in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 15. However, Nellis asserted it was around 3% or 4% when Smith asked him if he knew the rate.

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“e need to get back to basics on how we’re going to deal with inflation and other issues and telling it in a much more simple way, talking about our accomplishments. But look, it isn’t going to get fixed overnight,” Nellis said. “And right now the president of the United States is Donald Trump. Republicans are in control of Congress. They’re currently in recess rather than doing anything about inflation. Donald Trump was in front of the White House today claiming that he’s crushed inflation, which is objectively false.”

He then asserted that beef and alcohol prices were at record-highs during the July 4 weekend.

“Do you know what the inflation rate is?” Smith asked.

“Yeah, it’s like about three or four percent,” Nellis claimed, before Smith corrected him.

“No. It’s below three. And it’s been a long time since it’s gotten there,” she said. “I mean, you’re looking at 2.5% percent inflation now.”

CPI rose 2.4% on an annual basis in May, a slight uptick from a 2.3% rise in April, according to the BLS. The CPI was also 2.4% in March and 2.8% in February, according to the BLS.

“Donald Trump promised to make grocery prices go down on day one,” he said, responding to Smith’s statement. “He promised to make housing prices go down on day one. We’re six months in and everything’s more expensive.”

“Prices have definitely come down,” Smith said. “They can go down more. I’ll give you that.”

“They haven’t come down. Inflation is still going up,” he said. “And it’s rising, according to the latest stats.”

“That’s not the case. Inflation has come down,” Smith replied. “Inflation by nature is growth in prices, but the growth has slowed.”

The Democratic Party’s official X account on Thursday posted a graphic demonstrating drastic increases in grocery prices from 2021 to 2024 on, with the caption “Trump’s America,” even though former President Joe Biden and Harris were in office at the time, an archive of the now-deleted post shows. The White House responded to the mishap on X by posting a version of the graphic with the years 2021 through 2024 labeled “Biden.”

Inflation in the U.S. reached 9.1% in June 2022, the highest in 40 years.

Summer gas prices reached a four-year low in June, according to the American Automobile Association.

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