While former President Donald Trump has been known for wavering policies and his infamous “concepts of a plan,” regarding healthcare, there’s one thing he’s set on: tariffs.
On the latest episode of Capitol Gains, Michael Medved, host of The Michael Medved Show, joins Yahoo Finance’s Rachelle Akuffo, Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul, and senior columnist Rick Newman to discuss Donald Trump’s tariffs and why his supporters and economists aren’t pushing back on misinformation about their potential effects on the economy as well as everyday Americans.
“Generally a Republican brand means you’re more fiscally responsible,” says Medved regarding the economy. However he counters that according to new analysis from The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “Trump would more than double the amount added to the national debt with his [economic] changes, including the tariffs.”
Newman even says, “According to polls, half of America doesn’t think that Trump’s tariffs would be a tax on them.” It would be.
So why aren’t more people pushing the presidential candidate on the matter? “Why not the people in Washington,” Werschkul asks. Medved thinks there’s a lack of push-back because the economic policy makers don’t believe Trump would ever be able to get these policies through Congress.
To learn more, listen to Michael’s thoughts in the full episode of Capitol Gains here.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch more Capitol Gains.
This post was written by Lauren Pokedoff.
Video Transcript
One of the ones that I focus on and we really care about here at Yahoo finance is the tariffs.
Tariffs are taxes that are gonna raise prices for, for, for everybody.
They’re gonna raise prices for everybody.
Almost no politician ever runs on a campaign to raise your taxes and, and gets away with it.
I can understand, you know, so some small portion of the electorate that doesn’t quite understand what he’s talking about.
But I mean, according to the polls, you, you know, like half of America doesn’t think that Trump’s tariffs would be a tax on them.
Do, can you understand why so many people seem to believe these lies because they don’t want to spend the time digging into it.
I mean, one of the lies that we’re having right now is the notion that Trump is fiscally responsible.
Generally Republican brand means you’re more fiscally responsible.
There were pieces in both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times about the projection of the economic changes that Harris and that Trump were making and that Trump would more than double the amount added to the national debt with, with his changes, including the tariffs.
So the idea that we’re going to be deeper in debt, that we’re going to have a less viable Social Security and Medicare system, uh, that we’re going to have this wildly irresponsible orgy of spending while charging people more money for everything because of a 20% tariff across the board.
That should be something that should get attention from Vice President Harris and from the Democrats before the election.
Yeah, I, I really agree with you on sort of voters, why voters are sort of tuning out tariffs, Michael?
But why, and why not the people in Washington?
Why are we seeing a lot of bigger response?
You know, we see these long lists of former Trump national security folks that are now against him but we don’t see a similar economic one.
What, what, why, why isn’t there more speaking out about the tariffs specifically amongst economic policymakers?
Who know what this would would entail because nobody believes that he’d get it through Congress?