Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Neil Cavuto Has Knock-Down, Drag-Out Verbal Fight With Harris Economic Adviser Over Inflation Culpability

Neil Cavuto and Gene Sperling

Fox News host Neil Cavuto and Gene Sperling, a former Biden administration economic adviser working for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, got into a lengthy shouting match over who is to blame for high prices Thursday.

Vice President Kamala Harris proposed allowing the Federal Trade Commission to impose “harsh penalties” for “price gouging” by grocery stores during an Aug. 16 speech in North Carolina. Sperling dodged Cavuto’s question about Harris’ proposal before the Fox News host asked him about who is to blame for inflation under the Biden administration, which peaked at 9% in June 2022.

“Do you think it is wise to point fingers at others when a lot of it could’ve come, innocently or not, from this administration, of which she has been a key part, and a lot of the spending initiatives had a habit of bringing up prices, do you think that’s possible?” Cavuto asked Sperling.

WATCH:

Sperling responded by asking if Cavuto listened to the speech, prompting a back-and-forth with Sperling refusing to answer if inflation was the fault of the Biden administration’s spending initiatives. Larry Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary under then-President Bill Clinton, and former Obama administration economic adviser Steve Rattner both warned of the potential for inflation resulting from President Joe Biden’s proposed spending.

“Do you or the administration take any blame, do you take any blame, Gene? Gene, I love you dearly, but I think it’s a simple question. I have no agenda, the right and left both hate me,” Cavuto said as Sperling tried to talk over him. “Let’s settle that. Let me ask you this: Is it possible that this administration should take some blame for the double-digit run-up in food prices alone? Any blame at all? Do you accept any blame at all? Should she accept any blame for that?”

“No,” Sperling responded, claiming that supply chain issues and the COVID-19 pandemic were to blame.

Since Harris and President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, prices have increased by over 20%.

“So you guys did nothing wrong, nothing wrong,” Cavuto said. “And you’re right, inflation has come down dramatically from those high levels in 2022. But when it did go up, and it did spike double digits and food prices rose to the degree it did, do you think your spending had anything at all to do with that — anything at all?”

“I do not think it was a significant factor, and I think we are also hurt by some of the food prices by the invasion of Ukraine. Several things happened,” Sperling claimed. “Neil, I just want to say something. [Harris] did not say that the whole reason that prices were higher was because of this, she said that when somebody takes nefarious action, when somebody exploits, she wants the power as she did as a prosecutor and attorney general, and as 40 state attorney generals have right now to go after that. I want to make that clear, we are not using any price mechanism, we are not using any automatic price mechanism. But when you go back to your initial question, what is she doing when she speaks to the American people? Is she showing she is on their side? Is she just bragging about numbers or feeling their concerns?”

Cavuto and Sperling argued some more about the factors behind high prices before Cavuto closed the segment.

“We saved a lot of time talking over each other, but best of luck, we will see what happens,” Cavuto said.