'We need to acknowledge that': Fox panelist says Trump's policies hurting small businesses
05 December 2025
Camping World co-founder Marcus Lemonis on Fox Business' 'The Big Money Show" on December 5, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via Fox Business)
President Donald Trump's policies are hurting small businesses in the U.S., and one Fox Business commentator thinks it's time they start talking about it.
Marcus Lemonis, the co-founder of Camping World and chairman of Bed Bath & Beyond, appeared on Friday's episode of "The Big Money Show" for a segment about the increase in bankruptcies for "mom-and-pop businesses" during Trump's first year in office. They increased to 2,221 businesses, up 8 percent from last year.
The discussion was about a new way to file for bankruptcy created in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-host Dagen McDowell argued that it had only gone up in the past four years because people are only now discovering that this is an option for them.
"It enabled people to go bankrupt easier. So, by the very logic, it would go up because of the creation of this category," she argued.
But host Brian Brenberg pointed to other types of bankruptcies, such as Chapter 13 filings, which are also up from last year's numbers.
Lemonis argued the fault lies, in part, with Trump and it's time they start talking about it.
"We need to acknowledge high interest rates and tariffs have affected small businesses," he said. "We need to acknowledge that. We also need to acknowledge that this subchapter 5 is an easy, quick, less-expensive, keep ownership of your entire business, flush the toilet, and move on process."
He explained that typically, when a company files for bankruptcy, creditors ultimately "end up owning the business" to pay back what is owed.
"In a subchapter 5, small businesses keep ownership, so there is trouble in small-business land around high interest rates and tariffs, that's a fact. And when those small businesses deal with higher prices, elasticity is an issue for consumers, they go other places," he continued.
It will ultimately change the way banks lend money to small businesses and who is willing to sell to small businesses, "because it's so easy to flush the toilet," Lemonis argued.
He agreed that starting a business shouldn't ultimately destroy someone's life, but it "shouldn't be so easy" and that there should be "some consequence" to file for such a bankruptcy.
Watch the segment below: