White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the affordability crisis is "a myth," arguing that Americans are "a trillion dollars better off" than when President Donald Trump took office after adjusting for inflation.

Hassett made the remarks Tuesday in an interview on "Kudlow" with host Larry Kudlow, who said the economy is "booming" and that high gasoline prices are not stopping it.

Hassett on Consumption and Affordability

Hassett said that, correcting for changes in prices, real consumption for American households in aggregate, as reflected in the GDP numbers, is higher than when Trump took office. "The difference is that Americans are consuming a trillion dollars more," he said, adding that consumption per household has gone up "maybe around $5,000 per household."

Hassett attributed the increase to "the income boom, the capital spending boom, the fact that people aren’t losing their jobs." He said those factors mean the affordability crisis is "a myth."

He said Americans are "a trillion dollars better off than they were when President Trump took office," and that the way the affordability issue is being presented is inconsistent with the data.

On gasoline, Hassett said Trump is "right that it’s going to drop like a rock soon."

Hassett on Factory Construction

Hassett said 120,000 workers are building factories who were not doing so when Trump took office, and that the factories will "give jobs to Americans and bid up wages for Americans coming down the road."

Hassett on Inflation and Energy Prices

On Sunday, Hassett had called the U.S. economy "about the best economy we’ve ever seen" on Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing and repeated Trump’s forecast that energy prices would "drop like a rock."

Earlier this month, Hassett told NewsNation that a "surge in energy prices" in September’s inflation report was "temporary," adding, "there’s a whole bunch of good news in the report." The Bureau of Labor Statistics said consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, with gasoline up 9.1% for the month. Hassett pointed to food prices, which were unchanged in September, and prescription-drug prices, which fell 1.2% that month. The report also showed real average hourly earnings fell 0.7% from a year earlier as inflation outpaced wage gains.