CNN’s Dana Bash grilled National Economic Council director Brian Deese on how the administration got it “so wrong” on inflation during Sunday’s episode of “State of the Union.”

“Let’s talk about inflation,” Bash said. “It is still near the highest levels in four decades. I want to play what President Biden said about this issue almost a year ago compared to what he’s saying now.”

Bash then played a clip from Biden in which he said “the overwhelming consensus, it’s going to pop up a little bit and then go back down.”

“I want every American to know I’m taking inflation very seriously, and it’s my top domestic priority,” Biden said in another instance.

“How did the administration get that so wrong?” Bash then asked Deese. (RELATED: ‘That’s Not How You’re Going To Solve Inflation’: CNBC Host Calls Out Pete Buttigieg To His Face)

“Look, a lot of things have changed over the course of the last year and we’ve dealt with a lot of unexpected challenges,” Deese said. “The delta wave of COVID, omicron on top of that. More recently, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine which has sent gyrations through global energy markets. What’s most important for the American people to understand right now is they have a president who is making clear, as you just played, that inflation is his top economic priority.”

“And that means a couple of things. First, we need to give the fed the space and the independence to do its job, which is to get inflation under control,” Deese continued. “Second, we need to lower costs for families, make things more affordable for them during this economic transition. Third, we need to reduce the federal deficit. If we reduce the federal deficit, we’ll help to reduce price pressures on the economy. We’ve made a lot of progress on that because of the president’s policies, but we can do more.”

Deese said the administration was looking at all possibilities to ease inflation, including that of a federal gas tax holiday.