The trade war rift within the Republican Party was gashed wide open as Fox News Sunday demanded to know from Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow who was in the coalition of the willing to impose tariffs on China and Kudlow stammered out a denial and false answer.
Video:
Fox News Sunday showed how big the Republican civil war has gotten by humiliating Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow with what was clearly a surprise question. https://t.co/2y2V7laYeY pic.twitter.com/iQ2BamLjUB
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 8, 2018
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Transcript via Fox News Sunday:
WALLACE: OK. You said on Friday that you were going to announce a trade coalition of the willing today, other countries that were going to join us in taking on China. Who are they?
KUDLOW: Well, I don’t (ph) — I didn’t make this announcement. I’m just observing.
WALLACE: No, no, you set on Friday, between 24 and 48 hours I’m going to announce the trade coalition of the willing. Do you have them?
KUDLOW: They are coming to us.
WALLACE: Who are they?
KUDLOW: Japan, Europe, Australia, Canada. They have come to us. The president actually —
WALLACE: They are not talking about tariffs.
KUDLOW: Sure they are.
WALLACE: No, they’re not.
KUDLOW: Sure they are.
WALLACE: Japan said that they were going to join us in taking this issue to the world trade organization and to object to Chinese trade practices just as free traders have done for years.
Trump has triggered a GOP trade civil war
Fox News is caught in the middle of what is a growing Republican Party civil war on trade. The tariffs warriors like Trump are taking on the free trade Republicans in Congress. Fox News Sunday appears to be coming at this from a very clear point of view. Outside of the propaganda hours of Fox and Friends, Hannity, and Ingraham, they are opposed to the tariffs.
Fox News Sunday could have gone easy on Larry Kudlow by asking him if he had any news about tariff coalition. Chris Wallace has literally used this tactic a thousand times with friendly guests. The fact that Wallace went after Kudlow to the point where Trump’s top economic adviser was surprised by the question and fumbling for an answer is an indication that Trump’s tariff gambit is going to do more harm to his own party than any of the countries that he is pretending to target.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
