White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt snapped at a star CNN reporter when pressed on the affordability crisis the president has repeatedly called a “hoax.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noted that President Donald Trump’s messaging on the economy has been all over the place—from claiming all is well, to recommending that parents simply buy their children fewer Christmas gifts this year.
The heated exchange began with Collins, 33, asking, “If the economy is as strong as the president has said it is, then why is he telling parents two weeks before Christmas that they should only buy two or three dolls for their children?”
Leavitt, 28, answered that the administration wants more dolls made in the United States, suggesting Americans will just have to stomach higher prices indefinitely, as there is little evidence that manufacturing is returning to the U.S. in droves.
“Maybe you’ll pay $1 or $2 more, but you will get better quality, and you’ll be supporting your fellow Americans by buying American,” Leavitt said of toys for Christmas, adding that inflation has dipped ever-so-slightly from this time last year.
That was not sufficient for Collins.
“Grocery prices have been up,” she reminded. “So we’ve covered the economy, but there are mixed signals in terms of what that looks like.”
Leavitt cut the reporter off again, repeating the inflation figure and stating that it is lower than under the Biden administration.
Collins still pressed, “Nobody said it was not higher under Biden, they’re just saying—”
Leavitt interrupted her yet again.
“Nobody reported on it being high under Biden,” Leavitt said. “My predecessor was standing at this podium, but now you want to ask me a lot of questions about it, which I’m happy to answer, but I will just add, there’s a lot more scrutiny on this issue from this press corps than [under Biden].”
She continued, “My predecessor stood up at this podium, and she said inflation doesn’t exist. She said the border was secure, and people like you just took her at her word, and those were two other lies. Everything I’m telling you is the truth backed by real, factual data, and you just don’t want to report on it, because you want to push untrue narratives.”
That was the end of the tense back and forth. However, later in the briefing, Leavitt cited the exchange as a reason that CNN needs new ownership, as Trump has pushed for.
“I think the president’s comments on CNN and new leadership are evidenced by my exchange with a CNN reporter in this room,” Leavitt said.
Collins’ line of questioning would likely be seen as valid by most Americans. After all, Trump’s approval rating has been plummeting in recent months because voters, especially those who identify as independent, are unhappy with the direction of the economy.
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