‘You Know It, Kristen!’: Scott Bessent Calls Out NBC Host’s Cherry Picking Economic Numbers

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called out NBC host Kristen Welker for cherry-picking inflation data during a Sunday interview on “Meet the Press.”

Welker pressed Bessent over persistent price increases for a selection of everyday goods, pointing to coffee, beef, and bacon costs. Bessent countered by arguing the Biden administration left behind a severe affordability crisis and that overall inflation has eased under President Donald Trump’s leadership.

“Mr. Secretary, coffee prices are up 19% from a year ago, beef is up almost 15%, and bacon is up almost 6%, just to name a few. So when are all grocery prices going to come down, as President Trump promised?” Welker asked Bessent.

“As much as I like you, you like to cherry-pick. You know, when we came in, it was ‘eggflation, eggflation, eggflation.’ Egg prices are down, gasoline prices are down, and overall inflation since President Trump has come in has come down. We inherited this terrible affordability crisis from the Biden administration,” Bessent responded.

Bessent then said the Trump administration’s first priority was reining in the affordability crisis.

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“The first thing we had to do was get it under control, and this month’s inflation number was actually below the consensus number. If we look at core inflation, it was 0.2%, which is the lowest it has been in a long time,” Bessent noted. “Rents are coming down, so you know it, Kristen. You don’t get to cherry-pick. Inflation is a composite number, and I am confident that in the coming months, inflation is going to continue to ease.”

Inflation reached a record high