A televised argument over who owns the American economy turned into a running interruption contest on Sunday, when NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker refused to let Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) hand responsibility for rising prices back to former President Joe Biden.
The segment aired at a raw moment for President Donald Trump’s trade agenda. Last-minute negotiations between the United States and Canada collapsed, and Trump’s 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports were set on Saturday — a step that has already drawn public unease from within his own party.
A Tariff Question, a Biden Answer
Welker opened by framing the issue around household budgets, noting that American families are paying more in the wake of the president’s taxes and tariffs. She then read aloud a written statement from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who warned that moving forward with the tariffs would raise costs for Maine families because most businesses would have little choice but to pass the expense along to customers.
Asked whether Collins had it right, given how earlier rounds of tariffs played out, Scott did not answer directly. Instead, the South Carolina Republican reached back several years, telling Welker that the roots of high costs in America belonged to Biden and asserting that inflation rose 21% under his watch.
Welker cut in almost immediately to point out that Trump has now been in office for two years. Scott kept going, finishing his sentence over her — a pattern that repeated for much of the interview, with both of them talking at once.
Dueling Numbers on Live TV
Demanding room to finish his thought, Scott argued that Trump had pulled inflation down from what he characterized as a sky-high 21% during the Biden years to under 5%, and said it was now hovering near 4%.
Welker interrupted with a different set of figures. Inflation stood at 3% when Biden left office, she said, and sits at 3.4% now. The average household, she added, has paid $1,000 more in 2026 because of the tariffs.
Scott pressed on, telling the host that Trump took over a weak economy and has since built a resilient one, with wages climbing and costs finally leveling off. He also accused Senate Democrats of having voted last year to pull money out of the pockets of senior citizens, among other charges he leveled during the exchange.
Gas Prices and a Day One Pledge
After several rounds of cross-talk, Welker took back control of the conversation and delivered a rapid-fire list. Inflation was 3% when Trump took office and is 3.4% now, she said. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon, up more than $1 from a year ago. Trump’s tariffs, she said, have cost American households nearly $2,000. Then came the question: Trump promised to bring prices down on day one, so did he break that promise, given that prices have gone up?
Scott answered by pulling Biden back into the discussion, saying Welker had not disputed that the former president added 21% in costs for American families. Welker was blunt in response. “But we’re not talking about Joe Biden, though. The Biden administration is over,” she told the senator, noting that the country is two years into the Trump administration.
“It’s a contrast, Kristen. At the end of the day, the American people need to see the contrast,” Scott replied, adding that voters are already seeing it.
A Pivot to the Ballot Box
From there, Scott swung toward the Democrats, describing the party’s Senate candidates as dangerous, radical and weird, and saying voters will soon get the chance to tell both parties which one they prefer. He predicted Republicans would not only hold the Senate but might have an opening to expand their majority.
Welker steered back to the man in the Oval Office, pointing out that Trump himself has said he owns the economy — that it is now the Trump economy — and that with two years in office, the conversation is about the sitting president, not his predecessor.
Scott did not dispute that, but said he wanted voters to have a clear picture of more than just 18 months in office, arguing that what came before those months still matters. He closed the thought by praising Trump for putting more money in the hands of working-class Americans and casting Democratic votes against that as harmful.
Welker began circling back to the 3% figure one more time as the exchange wound down. The trade fight that set it off — the collapse of talks with Canada and the 50% tariffs that followed — ranked among the top stories in the days after the broadcast, with the U.S.-Canada trade war and what one headline called an Economic D-Day leading the news agenda.