Even Fox News is skeptical of claims coming from President Donald Trump's administration, according to one recent exchange on the conservative network.
During a Thursday interview with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Fox host John Roberts pointed out that Trump's claim during his Wednesday night address that he had lowered prescription drug prices by up to 600 percent was "mathematically impossible."
"If you cut something by 100 percent, the cost goes down to zero. If you cut it by four [hundred], five or six hundred percent, the drug companies are actually paying you to take their products," Roberts said as Lutnick laughed. "So it raises the question, how much of last night's speech was hyperbole, and how much was fact?"
The commerce secretary pushed back, giving a hypothetical example of a drug that previously cost $100 dropping to $13, and saying that while that is an 87 percent drop, it could also be understood that the drug would have to increase in price "by 700 percent" in order to return to the old price.
"It all depends on how you look at it," Lutnick said. "Basically what he's saying — and we all know what he's saying — is we are hammering the price of drugs down."
Lutnick's explanation didn't go over well on social media. Journalist Greg Sargent of the New Republic observed that "Lutnick actually laughs at Trump's math here before quickly catching himself."
"I’m glad this is on record so Lutnick can look back at how STUPID he sounds," tweeted actor D.K. Uzoukwu.
"A middle school student should be kicked out of class for the ridiculous explanation," wrote management consultant Eric B. Lewis. "There is a literal war on education."
Tahra Hoops, who is the director of economic analysis at the Chamber of Progress, took issue with Lutnick saying "we all know what he's saying," countering "no we do not!"
"It is not normal for the president to fabricate, to hyperbolic percentages, the amount he would be able to bring down a specific price!" Hoops exclaimed.
