Speaking with Shannon Bream on August 9, Hassett challenged the underlying economic philosophy behind expanding government control over private markets.
“How do you think the economy is gonna work if it’s run by socialists?” Hassett asked.
He followed with an even more pointed question:
“How do you think it’s gonna be if the government gets to run all the stores, and tell you what the price of everything is?”
Hassett never had to mention Mamdani by name.
The connection was obvious.
Mamdani’s proposal for city-owned grocery stores would put City Hall directly into an industry traditionally dominated by private businesses. The promise is attractive on its face: offer groceries at prices significantly below what New Yorkers currently pay and use government resources to make food more affordable.
The harder question is what happens after government assumes responsibility for keeping those prices artificially low.
Hassett Puts the Economic Numbers on the Table
Before turning toward the broader debate over socialism, Hassett pointed to economic figures he argued demonstrate progress under Trump.
He cited real wage gains of roughly $1,000 for typical middle-class families and approximately $4,000 for workers in manufacturing and construction.
He also highlighted tens of thousands of Americans involved in constructing new factories across the country.
His broader argument was straightforward: Americans should judge economic policies not merely by the price printed on a grocery receipt, but by whether workers are earning more, businesses are investing and productive jobs are being created.
That argument cuts directly into one of the central political opportunities Mamdani has identified.
New Yorkers are angry about grocery bills.
They are tired of paying more for basic necessities, and that frustration gives politicians an opening to promise an immediate government solution.
But Hassett argued that the apparent simplicity of price intervention can conceal serious economic consequences.
The Venezuela Warning
There is a historical example that conservatives have repeatedly pointed to when discussing government price controls: Venezuela.
Under Hugo Chavez and the socialist governments that followed him, authorities increasingly intervened in prices, production and distribution. Government-controlled retail operations became part of a much broader system of economic intervention.
The result was not the permanently cheap abundance promised by socialist economics.
Venezuela eventually became synonymous with shortages, collapsing production and desperate consumers searching for basic necessities.
Hassett invoked that history while discussing the dangers of allowing government officials to determine prices throughout an economy.
His warning is based on a basic economic principle: a price is not simply a number on a shelf. It communicates information about supply, demand, costs and consumer behavior.
When government dictates a price without addressing the underlying costs of producing and distributing a product, something else has to absorb the difference.
Eventually, that can mean higher taxpayer costs, reduced supply or both.
Why Mamdani’s Grocery Proposal Matters
Mamdani is betting that New Yorkers will focus on the immediate benefit rather than the long-term economic mechanics.
If a city-run grocery store can advertise lower prices, the political appeal is obvious.
But critics are asking a different question: Who pays for the discount?
If taxpayers subsidize the stores, residents are ultimately financing the operation through government spending. If prices are held below market levels, the city must still deal with labor, transportation, refrigeration, rent, inventory and suppliers.
Government ownership does not eliminate those expenses.
It merely moves responsibility for them from private businesses to taxpayers and public officials.
That is why Hassett’s question has implications beyond one New York City policy.
“How do you think it’s gonna be if the government gets to run all the stores, and tell you what the price of everything is?”
The question goes to the heart of the dispute.
Even Hassett Acknowledges the Grocery Pain
Importantly, Hassett did not dismiss the frustration behind the demand for cheaper groceries.
He acknowledged that Americans have legitimate reasons to be angry about the cost of living.
“The prices went up so much under Joe Biden, we totally understand why people are still frustrated when they go to the grocery store,” he said.
That acknowledgment matters because grocery inflation remains one of the most politically sensitive issues in American life.
Consumers do not experience economic policy through charts alone. They experience it at the checkout counter.
A family can hear about wage growth and factory construction, but still feel squeezed when the weekly grocery bill is substantially higher than it once was.
That disconnect creates fertile ground for politicians promising a government solution.
Mamdani’s challenge will be convincing voters that government ownership can solve the problem without creating new costs, shortages or bureaucratic inefficiencies.
The Bigger Fight Over New York’s Economic Future
The debate surrounding Mamdani’s grocery proposal is ultimately about more than supermarkets.
It is about how much authority government should have over the marketplace.
Supporters see publicly operated grocery stores as a way to intervene where they believe private businesses have failed.
Critics see the proposal as another step toward an economy where elected officials and bureaucrats increasingly decide what businesses can charge, how they operate and where taxpayer money should be spent.
That disagreement is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
For Hassett, the historical record offers a warning.
For Mamdani, the high cost of living offers an opportunity.
And for New Yorkers, the choice may eventually come down to a deceptively simple question: Do lower prices created by government intervention actually make food more affordable in the long run, or do they merely shift the bill somewhere else?
That is the question Hassett put before Fox News viewers.
And it is one that Mamdani and his supporters will have to answer as New York moves forward with its experiment in government-run groceries.
