A CNN anchor couldn’t help but laugh at President Donald Trump’s claim that he had been misquoted during a live, on-air interview with Fox Business Network.
Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo looked shocked last week when Trump admitted by phone that gas prices could be even higher by November’s midterm elections thanks to his war with Iran.
Asked if he expected prices to go down by then, the president replied, “I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same. I think this won’t be that much longer. They’re wiped out.”
Then in an in-person interview with Bartiromo that aired Wednesday, the president said he’d been “misquoted” about gas prices.
“Somehow, they misquoted me,” he said. “I think oil will be down to the levels it was. You know, they said I expected oil to be high at the midterms. I don’t expect that.”
Soon after the remarks aired, CNN News Central anchor John Berman seemed incredulous as he prepared to play the two clips side by side.
“He says he was misquoted… it turns out it was an interview—out loud—with the same Fox anchor,” Berman said, laughing.
Berman’s reaction came during an interview with Trump’s close ally, Republican Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.
The CNN anchor asked Sessions what he thought about Trump’s claims that he’d been misquoted, and where he thinks gas prices are headed.
“Well, let’s go to the big issue, John,” he replied. “The United States is involved in a high-stakes tussle with the Iranians.”
Until the “challenges” in Iran are resolved, oil and other commodities are going to be held back, and prices are going to be higher, Sessions said, alluding to Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow shipping lane has been a bottleneck for global oil supplies since the war began on Feb. 28.
The president announced this week he was blockading the strait, sending the price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, above $100 per barrel. In the U.S., average national gas prices hit $4.16.
The increased energy prices sent overall inflation surging to 3.3 percent compared to a year ago.
Reached for comment by the Daily Beast, the White House previously pointed to a statement on inflation posted by spokesperson Kush Desai on X.com.
“President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, disruptions that the Administration has been diligently working to mitigate,” he wrote. “The American economy remains on a solid trajectory thanks to the Administration’s robust supply-side agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance.”
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are worried about Trump’s handling of the war—including its economic fallout—hurting their chances in November’s midterm elections.
Earlier this week, the Cook Political Report found that Democratic candidates were more competitive than before in Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Nebraska.
