Fox’s Chris Wallace Fact-Checks Trump Official With Data: ‘I Don’t Believe This is a Free Lunch’

Fox News’ Chris Wallace pressed President Donald Trump aide Peter Navarro on the cost of tariffs to the American consumer, using data from the Trump administration to fact-check Navarro.

“Look at this chart from the Trump Labor Department. That shaded area is period of time since the president, early 2018, started imposing tariffs. The yellow line shows that consumer price of tariff goods has risen dramatically, since the president’s started imposing that. The blue line, non-tariffed goods, their cost has fallen,” Wallace said,

“That is the Trump Labor Department Peter,” Wallace said.

Navarro pivoted to attacking Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “Ironic that Powell would blame trade tensions when Powell is singularly responsible for losing a point of growth on GDP by raising interest rates,” he said.

Navarro and Wallace then got into a back and forth about the data, which Navarro later admitted he had not reviewed.

“What do you think that chances that China will keep the trade war, going until after after the 2020 election to see who is elected?” Wallace asked.

“I think what is important is we continue the negotiating progress,” Navarro said. “I think the best thing to do is to negotiate behind closed-doors and not get caught up in the hype.”

They later moved back to arguing on the subject of tariff costs.

“You say I don’t have to pay anything, that it is a free lunch, and I don’t believe it is a free lunch,” Wallace said.

Watch above, via Fox News.

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