Larry Kudlow, Stephen Moore, and Pete Navarro have lied in their capacity as economic experts.
Posted by Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict7 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 45%
Platypus Economics with Justin WolfersSep 10, 2026
The claim is a sweeping accusation that three named economic advisers lied, which is partly opinion and partly an imputation of intent that the sources do not establish.
What was said
… And so, in academic life, if you're guilty of intellectual misconduct, of lying, we we drum you out. We say you're not welcome here anymore. And that, I think, is actually useful guide for thinking about all these things. So, there are many so-called experts that you'll see, um, turn up on cable TV: Larry Kudlow, Stephen Moore, Pete Navarro, who are lying lies who lie. And once they've lied to you once, they will lie to you again. Get rid of them. They're very good and very serious conservative economists. Greg Mankey was a very dear friend of mine. Doug Holtz-Eakin has enormous integrity. …
Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. PolitiFact's Larry Kudlow page lists a mostly false and a false rating, plus a Pants on Fire rating, for specific on-air statements about the deficit and the tax cut.[1]
Context. FactCheck.org examined Kudlow's May 2020 defense of his earlier claim that the virus was 'contained' and reported the claim, but it does not establish that Kudlow knowingly lied.[2]
Context. A 2025 Krugman post calls Moore's statements lies and characterizes the three as incompetent, which is opinion rather than an authoritative finding of lying.[5]
Context. Coverage of Navarro and Kudlow from 2018 to 2019 describes their economic predictions and claims as wrong or misleading, but this is characterization rather than a finding of deliberate deception.[3][6]
Context. Sources identify Kudlow as NEC director, Navarro as trade adviser and Moore as an economic adviser, so the 'economic expert' role is roughly supported, but the sources do not address whether any of them lied.[4][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 2, 1 tier 1, 4 not rated
- 1Larry Kudlow - PolitiFactpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2Kudlow's Claim About COVID-19 Spread - FactCheck.orgfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Move over, Illuminati. The conspiracy against Trump's economy is massive.washingtonpost.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 4White House offers reassurances amid recession fears as 2020 candidates sound alarmthehill.com · tier 1 · cited for: context
- 5The Political Economy of Incompetence - Paul Krugmanpaulkrugman.substack.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Trump's Horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse Predict Happy Ending to Trade Warvanityfair.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Stephen Mooresourcewatch.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 8Mick Mulvaney? Larry Kudlow? Here are the possible ...goodmorningamerica.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
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