'Special Report' All-Star panel on inflation looming over midterms

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Biden says we have one of the best inflation rates? It’s not true: Guy Benson

‘Special Report’ panelists Ben Domenech, Mara Liasson, and Guy Benson discuss Biden claiming the U.S. economy is better positioned than most.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report with Bret Baier" on October 24, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know, we know a lot of folks are struggling with inflation, driven by Putin's war in Ukraine and a global pandemic. It's little solace, but we have a lower inflation rate than most any other nation in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, if you look at the stats around the world, the inflation rate is not the lowest. The U.S. is right there at 8.2 percent. Japan at three percent. But the president is making his pitch, and that was to Democrats in a DNC staff meeting here in Washington.

Let's bring in our panel, Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com, host of "The Guy Benson Show" on FOX News Radio, Ben Domenech, editor at large of "The Spectator," host of "The Ben Domenech Podcast" on FOX News Radio, and Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio. You don't have a podcast on FOX, Mara? Everybody has got one.

(LAUGHTER)

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Hey, where is my podcast?

BEN DOMENECH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Come over, the water is warm.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: What do you think about that? He was pitching staffers, Democratic staffers. We're told he's going go back to Pennsylvania, but he's not doing a ton of campaigning.

LIASSON: No, he's not, but it almost doesn't matter where he is. He's going to be on TV and you're going to hear the message.

But this is very hard. When you hear the party in power and inflation is as high as it is, who cares if we are above or below some other country. It's bad. Inflation is the most important economic indicator politically because it eats away at wages and wage gains, and every single time an ordinary person, anybody goes to the store, they feel it. So it's really, really hard. There's not a great message against inflation. There's just not.

BAIER: Which is why maybe he is not getting asked to be in all these campaigns or appearances.

GUY BENSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM: Especially if that's the best he has got, saying that we are one of the best countries in the world when it comes to the inflation rate when it's not true. In the developing world, I just wrote down here, Japan, Switzerland, France, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Brazil, India, Singapore all have lower inflation than we have. And part of his argument seems to be, well, it's beyond our control. This is a global phenomenon. True to some extent, but that's not the full picture.

And there are whole slew of Democratic aligned economists from Larry Summers to Steve Rattner who said the huge spending binge that the Democrats engaged in, especially earlier in the Biden administration really fueled what we're experiencing right now. And for them to try to kind argue, well, it's really not so bad and look at what we have achieved on the economy, there's a "Politico" story out just a few days that quoted a Democratic pollster saying that is our worst performing message. Like, you're welcome, America is their worst performing message. And it seems to be one that the president is clinging to.

BAIER: Yes. Meantime we talked to Lee Zeldin, Ben, on the show, and he's within striking distance for governor of New York, which is shocking in New York. But crime does seem to be moving the needle in that race in particular.

DOMENECH: Look, I think one of the things that we are underestimating about this current election is how many different subjects have long tails to them. We saw, for instance, the reporting coming out from the Education Department today regarding the terrible ramifications of school closures for school children across America in terms of how much they have been set back by the decisions that were made largely at the behest of both Democratic politicians and teachers' unions who even took the additional step of helping rewrite policy within the CDC in a way that I feel like is a complete scandal.

I think that when it comes to the crime issue, when it comes to these education issues, the Democratic Party has really been unable to reset the narrative in a way that would allow them to compete in this election, and it's one of the reasons why I think that we are headed now toward historic wave as opposed to one that, perhaps, even four weeks ago seemed to be more of just a modest normal midterm.

BAIER: The other issue, especially along the southwest border, are these numbers, Mara. Fiscal year 2022, you've got known got-aways 599,000, 2.4 total encounters, and then some 90 plus that are on the terrorist watch list.

LIASSON: Yes, look, this is the Republicans' issue, immigration, crime, inflation, all of them are going in the wrong direction. And for people who really care about that, they don't even have to be in a border state, they can just be worried about illegal immigration in general, these are very good issues. These are issues where Republicans have big advantages. The issue where Democrats had an advantage, which was abortion, was very salient right after the Dobbs decision but has receded.

BAIER: New York is like Lucy and the football with Charlie Brown.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: Republicans think they are going to get it and it's pull away at the last minute. Sometimes Nevada is like that, too, which I mentioned the culinary union and that firewall. Is this changing, though, the dynamic, you think?

BENSON: I think New York is still tough statewide for Republicans, maybe closer than anyone expected. Even if it ends up being a single digit race, that has implications down ballot in half a dozen important House races in the empire state. Nevada, so far, you talk to the people out there, you look at the numbers, the Republicans are pretty excited about where things are going in terms of early balloting and that sort of thing. But Nevada is definitely one of those states where it's like I will believe it when I see it for the Republicans. But I think we might see it this time.

BAIER: To your point, just to make sure that everybody knows you are accurate, Biden's worst performing message, quote, "I'm stunned about how much of the Democratic commentary is winging it," he said in an interview. This is Stan Greenberg. "Republicans are hitting us on crime, border, and inflation. That has huge power. And we have this self-satisfied message of how much we have accomplished rather than being focused on what's happening to people."

Last word, Ben, is it -- is the messenger in Joe Biden helping in any of these races?

DOMENECH: I don't think he is, and I think the conversation about how much he has been a drag and an anchor on their message is going to take over the conversation right after Election Day.

BAIER: We shall see. Panel, thanks so much.

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