'McConnell is right': MSNBC panel smacks down Trump on tariffs

13 February

Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)

In an op-ed published by the Louisville Courier-Journalon February 12, conservative Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) was vehemently critical of President Donald Trump's tariff proposals — which, he warned, will cost both businesses and consumers a fortune if they are implemented.

"Blanket tariffs make it more expensive to do business in America, driving up costs for consumers across the board," the former GOP leader in the U.S. Senate wrote. And he laid out specific ways in which the tariffs Trump is proposing will hurt his state, Kentucky, economically.

The next morning, on Thursday, February 13, MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski applauded McConnell's op-ed, quoting it extensively and agreeing with him that tariffs are "bad policy." The "Morning Joe" host also quoted an anti-tariffs editorial from the Wall Street Journal.

To illustrate her points, Brzezinski brought on financial analyst/investor Steve Rattner — who agreed that high tariffs will hurt the U.S. economically.

When Brzezinski noted that former President Joe Biden left Trump with "an economy that was moving in the right direction," Rattner agreed but added, "There was still work to do. The deficit is high, inflation is high…. We've got work to do, and the work is in conflict with the policies (Trump) has espoused so far — particularly the tariffs."

Rattner got into specifics, telling Brzezinski, "I need to put a new roof on my house. And the guy said to me: you better order these right now, because when those tariffs go into effect, the cost is going to go up 25 percent because those materials, those shingles,. all come from Canada. So that's what we're looking at."

Ratter argued that Trump, with his real estate background, is an "easy-money guy."

"Real estate guys are easy-money guys," Rattner told Brzezinski. "They like and they need low interest rates to finance their buildings. That's a large part of how they make money. And Trump doesn't really understand economic policy and monetary policy…. The Journal is right, Mitch McConnell is right. The Trump Administration keeps talking about bringing down prices…. And now, they've got a set of policies that certainly not going to make it better, and could arguably make it worse."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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