‘This Is Economic Vandalism!’ CNN Host Removes Shoe While Tangling With Scott Jennings
CNN International host Richard Quest mixed it up with network commentator Scott Jennings over President Donald Trump’s tariffs. To underscore his point, Quest, held up his foreign-made shoe.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from every country, with a baseline figure of 10%. However, he singled out dozens of countries whose goods will be tariffed at markedly higher rates. During the rollout, the president presented a table of countries and the tariff rates they allegedly impose on American-made goods. But it turns out the figures were made up using a bizarre calculation.
Markets reacted bearishly on Thursday, with the three major U.S. indexes all dropping between four and six percent.
On Thursday’s CNN NewsNight, Jennings said if the tariffs lead to economic ruin, the results will be on Trump. The remark prompted Quest, who was a guest on the show, to take exception.
“You talked about the political consequences will be on the shoulders of one man, but the economic consequences are gonna be on the whole world,” Quest said. “This is an experiment that should not have been taking place… and you talk about the Republicans who are not speaking up so far. I mean, Mitch McConnell has come out with a statement. Where was he talking about this, by the way, during the campaign when we knew that tariffs were going to be large on the agenda?”
The remark yielded the following exchange, during which Quest channeled his inner Nikita Khrushchev:
JENNINGS: You just raised an issue. You said during the campaign when we knew, because Donald Trump–
QUEST: No one expected this madness.
JENNINGS: They expected Donald Trump to enact tariffs. He did it in his first term, actually.
[CROSSTALK]
QUEST: This is economic vandalism!
JENNINGS: Well, I would think a lot of working-class Americans would say what was done to them was economic carnage.
QUEST: But the jobs that are going to come back, according to the Peterson Institute, the very jobs that Donald Trump says are going to come back are the jobs that America doesn’t need. America needs high-paying, high skilled, digital new age, A.I.-based economy. What he’s talking about bringing back is old stuff. Basically, look. Here is a shoe. It’s my shoe, right? It is made in China. You talked about these luxury products. But you take your shoe off and see where it’s made. Made in China, made in Vietnam. This is going to be 34% more expensive. It’s an ordinary shoe bought in a discount store.
Watch above via CNN.
