Hannity Edits Trump Spokesperson’s Response To Omit Stunningly Erroneous Claims, Insists She Dominated Reporter
Fox News host Sean Hannity selectively edited a response from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to make it seem as though she had dominated a reporter. In reality, Leavitt gave an egregiously incorrect response to a question about President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
During Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Josh Boak of the Associated Press asked about Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and their impact on American consumers. When importing tariffed goods, American businesses pay the tariff to the U.S. government and typically pass on the increased cost to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Boak noted Trump’s campaign pledge to cut taxes and juxtaposed it with the president’s significant focus on tariffs. Leavitt responded by falsely claiming that exporting countries pay tariffs and bizarrely insisted that tariffs are actually tax cuts for Americans:
BOAK: When President Trump last addressed the [Business Roundtable] when he was on the campaign trail, his big push was on tax cuts. He’s going there today as he’s proposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs. I’m curious why he’s prioritizing that over the tax cuts.
LEAVITT: He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the president is a staunch advocate of tax cuts. As you know, he campaigned on no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security benefits. He is committed to all three of those things, and he expects Congress to pass them later this year.
BOAK: I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers.
LEAVITT: And ultimately, when we have fair and balanced trade, which the American people have not seen in decades, as I said at the beginning, revenues will stay here, wages will go up, and our country will be made wealthy again. And I think it’s insulting that you are trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions that this president has made. I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press.
But in Hannity’s version, however, Leavitt’s doubly wrong response was omitted entirely. As the clip played, the chryon read, “Karoline Leavitt Schools AP Reporter”:
BOAK: When President Trump last addressed the [Business Roundtable] when he was on the campaign trail, his big push was on tax cuts. He’s going there today as he’s proposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs. I’m curious–
[OMITTED EXCERPT]
BOAK: Have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers.
LEAVITT: And ultimately, when we have fair and balanced trade, which the American people have not seen in decades, as I said at the beginning, revenues will stay here, wages will go up, and our country will be made wealthy again. And I think it’s insulting that you are trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions that this president has made. I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press.
Hannity responded to the edited clip by declaring, “Check. Mate.” He then welcomed Leavitt to the show.
Watch above via Fox News.
