Politics

WATCH: CNN Host Tries To Challenge Howard Lutnick On Tariffs, Quickly Regrets It

Published

5 days ago

April 4, 2025

Another CNN anchor swung and missed against Trump economic advisor Howard Lutnick on Friday as she grasped at straws while trying to argue that the administration’s new tariffs are only going to cause pain for millions of Americans.

Pamela Brown sounded certain of herself while facing off with Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who sat to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to levee sharp new tariffs on more than 60 countries around the world. The CNN anchor cited past research by Goldman Sachs that tariffs have historically led to runaway prices.

“We did see prices rise” on tariffed goods go up during Trump’s first term, Brown said citing the bank’s report.

Lutnick chided her for ignoring “the lowest inflation” rate “ever” that resulted from those actions.

The reporter’s claim is at odds with bipartisan praise for tariffs that the White House points to on its own website. Janet Yellen, former treasury secretary under Joe Biden, predicted no meaningful increase in prices would occur after the Democratic administration slapped new tariffs on China in 2024.

Unbowed, Brown argued President Trump sent the manufacturing sector into a “mild recession” through the past use of tariffs.

“What gives you so much certainty that this is going to work and isn’t going to hurt the everyday American?” she asked.

Lutnick patiently explained that the administration’s tariffs are simply a response to those already in place by affected countries.

“The largest trade barrier country in the world is China,” he said, “and they don’t have inflation. So these things don’t occur the way people suggest they do.”

Only a “reordering of global trade” will be able to permanently reset a system that has been set up for decades to take advantage of American innovation, the Trump advisor went on.

“These people have all been living in our house,” he said. “They’ve been driving our car. They come by and open our fridge and eat our food whenever they want. They’ve taken advantage of us. Today was the day of the beginning of saying, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t just live for free off of us. You have to pay.'”

“What’s going to happen is, the United States of America is going to get stronger. Our economy will grow much, much faster than the rest of the world.”

WATCH:

Lutnick was joined on cable news by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who urged Wall Street to “trust in President Trump” amid the turbulence.

“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term… this is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it,” she said one day after Trump’s tariffs were announced.