Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) uttered the truth that has mostly been squelched by President Donald Trump and co. ― that tariffs are basically a tax that U.S. shoppers will pay in the form of higher prices. (Watch the video below.)
Mullen’s admission flies in the face of spin on Trump’s trade wars, most notably White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s false insistence that tariffs result in a “tax cut” for Americans.
“Tariffs is a tax and it will be passed on to consumers,” Mullin, a staunch Trump loyalist, told Kaitlan Collins on CNN Wednesday.
But Mullin defended Trump’s erratic tariff binge as a potential vehicle for better trade arrangements with countries.
Collins was eager to return to his surprising candor.
“What you just said is important: that a tariff is a tax that is passed on to consumers,” she said.
“Of course it is, everybody knows that,” Mullin replied.
“That is something the White House does not acknowledge,” the host shot back.
“That is something the president, who is a businessperson, understands that completely,” the senator said. “Nobody understands the economy better than this president. There has never been a president that understands this economy better than this president.”
Trump himself has repeatedly spouted false claims that tariffs are paid by exporting countries when it is eventually American consumers who shell out for them.