Busted: MSNBC fact-checker corrects Karoline Leavitt's critical error

MSNBC contributor Jeremy Peters fact-checked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on MSNBC Reports over the principles of inflation.

Reacting to a report that Amazon is placing a “tariff price” next to every item they sell, indicating how much of the price of that item results from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, White House Leavitt described it as a "hostile and political act."

“Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years? And I would also add that it's not a surprise because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm,” said Leavitt, holding a news clip for the press room. “So, this is another reason why Americans should buy American. It's another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here.”

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Peters took umbrage at Leavitt suggesting Biden “hiked inflation.”

“First of all, a president doesn't choose to hike inflation, right? There's not a policy he can set into place today [to do that.] Yeah, it's not an interest rate, right? It's something that's determined by other forces, but Trumpis choosing to raise tariffs on Chinese goods and all sorts of other goods. So, this is, in effect, a tax.”

But Republicans are not appreciating any reference to the “T-word” in connection with the GOP or Trump, Peters told MSNBC Reports anchor Chris Jansing. “Republicans don't want you saying that. They certainly don't want to get blamed—if these costs do indeed get passed along to consumers for any extended period of time—to be associated with that,”

Inflation, he added, was something Republicans “complained about to no end during the Biden administration,” and he said he found the sudden role reversal in 2025 “interesting.”

“Remember during the 2024 campaign, you had the Democrats being rightfully criticized for saying ‘why is everyone so worried about the economy? The economy is good. Look at the Dow. Look at the gdp.’ And people weren't feeling that, and Biden was almost insisting, ‘no, what's wrong with you? Snap out of it. You should feel good about this. But now Trump is in. Republicans are basically saying the same thing right now, telling people, ‘don't believe what you read in your 401k statement, your brokerage account, or the prices that you're seeing at the grocery store or on the shelf at Best Buy. Everything is fine.’”

Peters predicted that role reversal likely extending to a similar voter reaction in the next election.

“At the end of the day, the American people did not take Joe Biden's word for it. There's not really much of a reason to think they’ll take Trump’s either.”

Watch the video below, or by clicking here.