Some of President Trump’s most outspoken allies in the media are warning of “pain” from his wide-ranging tariffs – with one arguing the president’s remarks that kids can go with fewer toys is a “tremendous commercial for Democrats.”
Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro took aim at Trump for shrugging off American consumers’ fears that the tariffs – including a 145% tax on China – could reheat inflation.
“That is a ‘let them eat cake’ approach to politics,” Shapiro said during his show on Thursday.
He rolled a clip of Trump’s controversial comments on the tariffs, when he said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more.”
These offhand remarks about the potential of empty store shelves across the country won’t do Trump any favors, Shapiro argued.
“That is a tremendous commercial for Democrats. President Trump should be avoiding language like that, obviously,” he said, arguing that Americans who have to pay more for their kids’ toys won’t feel as carefree about inflation.
“That is not a dog that is going to hunt in any sort of future election for Republicans,” Shapiro added of Trump.
Fox News host Sean Hannity, meanwhile, warned that consumers will feel some pain as Trump’s sweeping tariffs settle in. Analysts have warned the import taxes could send supply chain costs soaring across several industries.
“It would be unfair if I didn’t acknowledge that there’s going to be some pain associated with the transition,” Hannity said during his show on Thursday.
He praised the president, however, for clinching massive investments from foreign and domestic companies in US manufacturing, including a $500 billion project from tech giants SoftBank and Oracle and vows to boost production efforts from automakers like Hyundai.
Hannity assured he feels “more confident than ever” in the trade plan, especially after interviewing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
