When speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union last Sunday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett replied to a simple question about unemployment numbers in an incredibly cringe-worthy—and revealing— way. Bash asked if Hassett thought unemployment numbers would stay in double digits (which is where they are now) through November. Hassett replied by breezily referring to people as “human capital stock.” Mind you, “stock” usually refers to farm animals, and as pointed out by The Independent, the term “human stock” has been associated with eugenics.
“Our capital stock hasn’t been destroyed, our human capital stock is ready to get back to work, and so there are lots of reasons to believe that we can get going way faster than we have in previous crises,” Hassett said on CNN.
Here is that clip.
Surprising no one, Hassett also dismissed calls for additional funding from state and local governments as “kind of absurd” and used the term “bailouts.” Hassett has suggested the economy will turn around enough that a Phase Four economic relief stimulus won’t be needed. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently went viral for reminding the Republican-controlled Senate that “hunger doesn’t take a pause,” urging legislators not to dawdle on the next phase of coronavirus relief.
People on Twitter are horrified by Hassett’s language.
Mind you, Hassett himself said, “It is scary to go to work” in the White House, adding that he thought he would be a “lot safer if I was sitting at home” when speaking to CBS during a Face the Nation interview in early May.
In terms of the original question of unemployment numbers, Hassett suggested that next month’s numbers will be “quite a bit higher,” but will start to trend down after June. "So of course, he stated, “you could still not be back to full employment by September or October.”