‘Pain and Disruptions’: CNN’s Sara Sidner Clashes With House Republican Over Trump’s Tariffs
It was an economic showdown on cable TV as CNN News Central host Sara Sidner and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) went toe-to-toe over the “pain and disruption” all but promised by the White House ahead of President Donald Trump’s imminent “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
As Sidner confronted Donalds with “pain” that could be inflicted by the steep tariffs, the congressman interrupted, repeatedly saying she was “making an assumption.”
“I’m not making the assumption,” Sidner shot back, reminding Donalds that the Trump administration has warned economic “pain and disruption” could result from the tariffs.
Various Republicans, White House officials, and even Trump himself have warned that the historic tariffs may hurt Americans initially, but insist it’s a must to reduce inflation and cut the national debt.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump posted: WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!). BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
“The American people elected this president to have monumental reform and change,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters following Trump’s speech to Congress in February, adding, “That requires a little bit of disruption.”
Earlier this week, Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) admitted on CNN that the Trump tariffs will lead to “short-term pain,” but he supports them anyway.
Check out the full exchange here:
SARA SIDNER: Are you okay, though, with people feeling pain? They voted Donald Trump in because they were tired of dealing with the inflation that was there during the Biden administration. Are you okay with your constituents feeling more pressure and more pain when it comes to the economy, as these tariffs are put in place and then the retaliatory tariffs are also put in place? Are you okay with pain being on their shoulders for a while as this all gets worked out?
BYRON DONALDS: Nobody wants pain for their constituents. I don’t want pain for the people of Florida.
SIDNER: But Donald Trump said there will be some pain and disruptions.
DONALDS: Hold on, but you are making an assumption without knowing the details.
SIDNER: I’m not making the assumption. Donald Trump himself said there was pain and disruption that was going to happen.
DONALDS: You’re making an assumption. You are making an assumption, an economic assumption right now. Let’s be very clear. The real pain economically has been the massive inflation coming from bloated overspending here in Washington, D.C. That is the real pain that the American people have felt the last four years. What President Trump is trying to do now is bring industries back to the United States.
So it’s not so much pain. You might have some some temporary adjustments in our economy, but that is for the growth of the American economy. Long term stability and jobs over the long term for the American people and American workers. And that is actually a good way to take our economy, as opposed to following the same terrible policies of the previous administration and the Democrats at large, who are just subsidizing industries and raising raising the debt of the United States.
That is not the way that you can that you actually build an economy. There’s an old saying in finance: You can make markets jump, but you can’t make them fly. And when you follow the old
way, the Biden-Obama way of just subsidizing industries, yeah, you make them jump. You can make people feel good in the interim, but it’s not sustainable over the long term. Donald Trump is looking at the long term financial outlook for every American, and that’s why we’re starting today with Liberation Day.
SIDNER: Right now, the markets are lying down. They are not jumping or flying. Congressman Byron Donalds, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Watch above via CNN
