MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle set the facts straight on Tuesday’s “The 11th Hour,” after Donald Trump’s National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett tried to downplay the effect the Iran war is having on American consumers.
During an interview with CNBC, Hassett said the U.S. economy was “fundamentally sound” and that if the war continued, it “wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all.” While he acknowledged that a prolonged conflict would “hurt consumers,” he said that was “the last of our concerns right now.”
“We are now in the third week of the war,” Ruhle said after playing a clip of the Trump official’s comments. “Kevin Hassett says the war would not disrupt the economy very much at all. But for facts’ sake, it already has.”
“Everybody from Wall Street to Main Street is trying to navigate the growing economic risks created by the war with Iran,” she said, noting that while markets finished strong on Tuesday, the price of oil was still climbing.
“If you have been watching this show, then you already know what it means for your wallet. Higher oil prices translate to higher prices for gas, diesel and even jet fuel, all the things that keep our economy — not just our economy, but the global economy — humming along,” she explained.
If Trump officials want to understand the reality many Americans are facing, the MS NOW host advised them simply to “walk outside.”
“Look at gas prices,” she said. “We have had farmer after farmer on this network warning what increased diesel prices do for their tractors, what increased fertilizer prices do. And not to mention, there’s loads of businesses that have nothing to do with the Strait of Hormuz, but they’re in this moment where they’re like, ‘I’m not hiring, I’m not growing. We’re at war. I don’t know what’s ahead.’”
While Ruhle assured viewers that the U.S. economy is “resilient,” she said the war comes as many Americans are already struggling with inflation due to Trump’s tariffs. “When you have this kind of stress, even strong economies can start to buckle,” she warned.
You can watch Ruhle’s full analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”