'People are freaking out': Fox fumbles for upside to Trump 'crisis'

US President Donald Trump departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, October 3, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

On Monday, Fox Business was trying hard to convince its viewers that President Donald Trump’s economic “crisis” is a good thing, actually. The logic: as long as you’re a “high earner,” things won’t be “so bad” – unless AI doesn’t end up “paying off on the bottom line of America's corporations,” in which case, “we’re in trouble.”

This is the good news according to Fox financial analyst Stuart Varney and his guest, UBS managing director Jason Katz. “So,” asked Varney. “You say you've got a generational opportunity when it comes to bonds?”

“At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, in crisis comes opportunity,” replied Katz. “You need to buy from the fearful and sell to the greedy.” According to Katz, “People are freaking out about bonds.” Indeed, there has been a steep sell-off of Treasury bonds as skepticism toward the country’s ability to pay its debts has grown. “The price is painful,” admits Katz, asserting, however, that the situation is “not as bad” if you're a “high earner” who can afford to invest in bonds and wait out the crisis. In other words, the economic calamity that is hammering American pocketbooks is a good investment opportunity for those who can afford it. “It wouldn't be so bad,” agreed Varney. While Katz noted that economic “headwinds that are out there,” he declined to go into detail, saying, “We don't need to bore your viewers.”

Katz went on to claim that the upcoming third-quarter earnings report will show growth like the previous report, though he did admit that the bulk of that increase came from one sector that happens to be increasingly unpopular with voters. “Essentially,” explained Varney, “what we want to see is AI paying off on the bottom line of America's corporations.” Katz emphasized this point, asserting, “It's not what you want to see. It's what you have to see.” Varney concluded, “And if we don't, we're in trouble.”

Currently, AI accounts for roughly a third of U.S. economic growth and a third of the stock market’s value, and many experts warn that the AI bubble could burst. “The economy is increasingly reliant on AI gains and the corresponding wealth effects boosting higher-income households’ spending power to fuel recent growth,” Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told Fortune. “The economy remains sensitive to a sudden reversal of optimism on AI.” And in recent weeks, there has been much discussion about growing public opposition to AI data centers, with polls showing that between 60-75 percent of voters oppose them. And according to Forbes, even if the AI bubble doesn’t “burst,” it may “deflate,” leaving a lot of economic “losers” in its wake. For his part, Trump has argued that the country should “let Data Reign,” saying that the only reason people oppose them is because they "want to end up being backwards and poor.”

While Katz and Varney may see a positive upshot to the “crisis” for “high-end earners,” their optimism is not shared by most Americans. According to the latest polls, only 17 percent of voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 65 percent say his policies have made the economy worse, and consumer sentiment is at an all-time low. As a result, polls consistently show that the economy is voters' top consideration in the upcoming midterms.

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