President Donald Trump's top economic adviser Kevin Hassett claimed that American consumers are "optimistic" in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, prompting people to push back online.
Hassett was responding to reports that skyrocketing gas prices amid the Iran war and the rising cost of living have sent consumer confidence plummeting. Earlier this month, he praised how credit card spending was "through the roof" for higher-priced gasoline.
"The thing that I've seen when I look at credit card data and other things that I can get for the private sector, is that while people have been spending more money at gas stations they've been spending more money on everything else, which means that they're very, very optimistic about the state of the economy — and they should be — if you look at GDP right now it's north of 4 percent," Hassett said. "And so despite this disruption, all the momentum that we've built with the Big Beautiful Bill and AI and everything else is really what the main economic story in the U.S. is."
The internet didn't hold back from responding to Hassett's comments, with several political, economic and media experts weighing in.
"Americans are optimistically choosing between food and medicine," attorney and writer David R. Lurie wrote on Bluesky.
"Probably a top 5 entry in the Kevin Hassett hall of fame," reporter Jake Lahut, who covers the White House for New York Magazine, WIRED, Columbia Journalism Review and other outlets, wrote on Bluesky.
"When we stop beating you up, it's gonna feel GREAT," Village Voice writer Roy Edroso wrote on Bluesky.
"It is a day that ends in 'Y' so Hassett is out there lying on a national broadcast that consumers *love* the economy," Tahra Hoops, Director of Economic Analysis at tech industry trade group Chamber of Progress, wrote on X.
"Kevin is a firm believer in TALE: Trumpers Always Lie about Everything," Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote on X.
"Sometimes I wonder how these people sleep at night being such shameless creatures with no self respect. It’s truly remarkable stuff," content creator and political commentator Chris Mowrey, who has more than 83,000 followers, wrote on X.
sometimes I wonder how these people sleep at night being such shameless creatures with no self respect. It’s truly remarkable stuff https://t.co/GsFq56k3pT
— Chris Mowrey (@chrisdmowrey) May 26, 2026