During a fiery debate on CNBC, Elizabeth Warren found herself in a defensive position as MSNBC’s Joe Kernel criticized her for defending Kamala Harris’s recent endorsement of price controls reminiscent of those seen in the Soviet Union.
Kamala Harris made a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina to introduce a price control plan that has been likened to communist policies, aiming to address the inflation crisis she is being held responsible for.
Harris cast the deciding vote on the ‘Inflation Reduction Act,’ which has made life difficult for Americans due to soaring food prices caused by the policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Harris asserted her intention to crack down on businesses that are allegedly raising prices unlawfully, claiming they are not abiding by regulations.
This proposition has been strongly criticized by former President Donald Trump, who took to Truth Social to caution Americans about the serious repercussions of Harris’s proposal.
“If you think things are expensive now, they will get 100 times WORSE if Kamala gets four years as President. Under her plan, Kamala will implement SOVIET Style Price Controls. She will abolish private health care and make California’s ridiculous tax policies the law of the land, meaning EVERY American will be taxed up to 80% of their income! If you want more CASH and less TAX, VOTE TRUMP!!!”
During the interview, MSNBC host Joe Kernen grilled Warren on the flaws in Kamala’s proposal.
Joe Kernel: For 40 years, companies didn’t know how to price gouge until three and a half years ago when President Biden was elected. Where was the price gouging? We had 40 year highs in inflation. Where was the price? They just learned how to do this three and a half years ago?
Elizabeth Warren: No. The difference is prices were not going up. As I said, prices started going up for a whole host of reasons. Prices went up because of the pandemic. Prices went up because of supply chain kinks. Prices up because of the war in Ukraine. Prices were going up.
Kernen pointed out that even liberal-leaning publications such as The Washington Post have criticized the concept, emphasizing that price controls may hinder competition and innovation, potentially causing more harm than good.
Joe Kernen: Look at The Washington Post. If you lose The Washington Post as a Democrat, you’ve got some serious problems. This is what they said about the price gouging or the price control legislation: it was really pilloried from both sides of the aisle.
Even Jason Furman—I don’t know if you saw some of his comments—said it’s not good policy and could actually do more harm than good. I can paint you a picture of how that would work.
We’ve talked in the past about how, when we’ve tried to artificially hold prices down, competition doesn’t come in. If beef is too high, people don’t move to chicken. Competitors don’t come in to undercut where the beef prices are. Nothing works when you try to artificially control prices. It’s just a supply and demand issue, a flawed idea.
Elizabeth Warren: So, did you have a question here?
Joe Kernen: Yes. Why would you propose a flawed idea when the real problem—so let me ask the question. If you really want to help the middle class, if you really, sincerely want to help people having trouble at the grocery store, it’s not price gouging that’s the issue. If you look at it seriously and really want to help them, then let’s do something about it together.
When Kernen pressed Warren on the true reasons for inflation and the lack of effectiveness of price control tactics, she found it challenging to offer a clear justification. Instead, she redirected the discussion by referencing state-level laws against price gouging, a comparison that Kernen promptly discredited as inaccurate and deceptive. The confrontation intensified as Kernen accused Warren of employing “sophistry” and distorting data to defend a severely flawed policy.
Joe Kernen:
Can I tell you why those are fallacious and misleading at best? And your Kraft analogy is even worse… Why can’t I tell you? Please let me tell you. Kraft, you say, had a 440% profit increase. The example you used was from the prior quarter of the year before, when they had a charge of $1.3 billion, an accounting change that wiped out profits. Then they earned what they normally would. Look at the data. Let me finish now.
Elizabeth Warren:
You didn’t let me finish. Look at the data. Come on. We have economic study after economic study.
Joe Kernen:
…This is the way it always goes.
Elizabeth Warren:
When there is more concentration—
Joe Kernen:
Senator, 40 million eggs were destroyed because of avian flu.
Elizabeth Warren:
When there is more concentration in an industry, we have seen much greater increases in the profit margins.
Joe Kernen:
Do you attribute the inflation to that? Is that what you think we need to do to solve it?
Elizabeth Warren:
They’re not random one-offs. It is part of the problem. When you’ve got companies that are gouging consumers on prices, consumers need to know they’ve got somebody on their side.
Joe Kernen:
Senator, we’re trying to help… We’re trying to actually do…
Elizabeth Warren: Where are you in the 36, 37 states that currently have price gouging laws?
Joe Kernen:
This is why you never lose an argument—because no one can ever say anything back to you, Senator.
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