White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 20, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
"In 10 months, the president has clawed us out of this hole, he's kept it low at 2.5%, and we believe that number is going to continue to decline," Leavitt added.
"Nobody is saying it wasn't high under Biden," Collins argued. "They're just saying virtually [unchanged]."
"Nobody reported it on being high under Biden. My predecessor was standing up here at this podium, but now you want to ask me a lot of questions about it, which I'm happy to answer, but I will just add, there's a lot more scrutiny on this issue from this press corps than there was," Leavitt said.
TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN – BUT VOTERS SAY THEY'RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED
"My predecessor stood up at this podium and she said inflation doesn't exist. She said the border was secure," Leavitt continued incredulously. "And people like you just took her at her word, and those were two utter lies. Everything I'm telling you is the truth backed by real factual data, and you just don't want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives about the president."
Affordability has become a flashpoint heading into next year's midterms, with Republicans now fine-tuning their messaging on the economy after a slew of Democrats won elections in 2025 running on a platform focused on lowering costs.
President Donald Trump has insisted that the economy is going in the right direction. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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Trump told Politico in an interview earlier this week that he would give his economy an "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus" grade, but a November Fox News national survey found that some 76% of voters reported they view the economy negatively, up from the 67% who reported the same in July, and up from the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Joe Biden's term.
Fox News' Alex Schemmel contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/leavitt-accuses-cnn-reporter-trying-push-narratives-during-heated-white-house-exchange