Sunday shows preview: Jan 6. panel to hold hearing on Trump inaction; inflation picks up speed

The upcoming hearing that the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is set to hold next week, which will focus on former President Trump’s inaction while the attack was underway, and “unacceptably high” inflation numbers out this week are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday shows circuit.

The House panel will be holding its next hearing on Thursday during prime time, in which it will examine the actions, or lack thereof, that Trump took on Jan. 6 between finishing his remarks at his rally that day and making a statement later online telling the mob at the Capitol to leave.

It’s not immediately clear who might be testifying during the Thursday hearing, but committee members Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Elaine Luria (D-Va.) are expected to lead the proceedings.

“Mr. Kinzinger and I plan to go through that 187 minutes. What happened between the time that he [Trump] left the stage and gave these inflammatory remarks and gave people the impression … that he was going to himself march with this crowd to the Capitol?” Luria told ABC News’s “GMA 3” on Wednesday.

“What happened between that moment and then around 4:17 in the afternoon, which is 187 minutes later, when he finally made a statement to the nation, to the people at the Capitol to go home?” the Virginia Democrat noted. 

The special committee’s chairman, Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), has said that he hopes it will be the final hearing, but the possibility of other hearings has not been ruled out.

The Thursday hearing will follow one that committee held earlier this week on Tuesday where it examined how a tweet issued by the former president on Dec. 19, 2020, caught attention among far-right circles and extremist groups, with some interpreting it as a call to action to go to Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot.

The hearing also featured recorded testimony from witness, including former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, about a heated Dec. 18, 2020, meeting where White House lawyers and Trump allies clashed over proposals to seize voting machines and appoint Trump attorney Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate alleged voter fraud.

Several committee members will be on Sunday shows, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) on ABC’s “This Week,” Kinzinger on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and Luria on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The Labor Department released data on Wednesday showing that inflation was rising higher and faster than economists expected, with the consumer price index increasing 1.3 percent in June and 9.1 percent over the past 12 months, the highest rate of annual inflation since November 1981.

Economists had anticipated that annual inflation would reach 8.8 percent and monthly inflation about 1 percent.

Both President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the inflation rate “unacceptably high.” Biden argued, however, that some of the data released on Wednesday was not reflective of developments from the last month.

“While today’s headline inflation reading is unacceptably high, it is also out-of-date,” the president said in a statement on Wednesday. “Energy alone comprised nearly half of the monthly increase in inflation. Today’s data does not reflect the full impact of nearly 30 days of decreases in gas prices, that have reduced the price at the pump by about 40 cents since mid-June.” 

The inflation comes against the backdrop of supply chain issues driven by the pandemic and the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine. 

Jason Furman, former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein is scheduled to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday.”

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.); White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Preempted by coverage of the British Open.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.); Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser; Amos Hochstein, senior advisor for energy security at the State Department; Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner; Jason Furman, former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz); Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.); White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein.

“Fox News Sunday” — Bernstein; Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” – Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas); Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas); Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.); Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters (R)