t took six months for a Trump official to be politely forced by a journalist to admit live on air what everyone - including every economist - knows to be true (but which Trump keeps lying about): tariffs are paid in the US by US importers. What an indictment of our media.
Meet the Nazi German Loanword of 2025. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichs... I can help with the pronunciation if need be but it should not be that hard since even the voiceless palatal fricative [ç] is apparently a part of standard English, more or less.
“It couldn’t happen here” has been said many times in many countries over the last 90 years. But it can and it might.
The bar is so low!😢
The Americon Media is Lügenpresse.
The MAGA Suckers are obviously dumber than dirt...
I would love if the questions were prefaced with “we know the answer to this question, and the real inquiry is how much will you debase yourself to not give a straight answer—who writes the check to pay the tariff?”
The Pedo Führer has packed WH Press with RW Tools. Zero Journalistic Skills... Parrots Reciting scripts and Pitching Softballs.
He specifically said, "the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock" which is crazy ass backwards, but he did barely agree to it at the end with a yes after being asked for the third time.
I don't know. Christine Romans says it every time she's on NBC talking about tariffs. But she doesn't get to interview Trump officials.
My take: Trump is pissed that low income earners pay little to no federal income tax. No tax on tips and overtime doesn’t really help them. But they do buy things like food & necessities. The tariffs are a hidden way to get them to pay their “fair share” of fed tax. Meanwhile, billionaires skate.
Yes, it's called sales tax anywhere else and impacts lower income sector who buy more of these cheaper imports than anyone else.
Six month is the under. How many YEARS has tRump looked straight into the camera, lied that the foreign country pays the tariff, and the Corporate Media responds in a stupor.
Pass it on or not ..not, not.
So countries who are hit with tariffs are hurt but also the American people are forced to pay the increased import costs. Trump is pissing everyone off.
You could argue that if the exporter lower their price with the tariff amount, they in practice pay for it. I suspect that is true in a very small number of cases. Most likely, the exporter eats some of it, though. Until they find a new buyer, or their shareholders demand better numbers.
It's painful watching stupid people trying to lie.
I love that @eugenerobinson.bsky.social doesn't take any nonsense.
He kinda does because bessent says "thats what were seeing" and its a lie.
He knows it's a lie but doesn't get diverted by a new lie while nailing an old one.
I think he tolerates a good bit of nonsense. Yes, the truth is buried in there, but a (typically uneducated) viewer could take away that while the tariff is paid by a US business, there are many viable ways to offset that cost. Which is a complete obfuscation and non-answer to the question.
The Trump Tax is a consumption tax.
Democracy is ☠️ Fed' in America. We need to unite in the name of Democracy. Being cruel never brought greatness. It brings shame. Treating others Equally & fighting for Justice 4 All is where we've ever really shined 🔥🗽🔥 bsky.app/profile/vlf7...
Also note, consumers who shop online may not think of themselves as ‘importers’ when they purchase from overseas. So it’s important to remind them they too ‘import’ goods and will be subject to tariffs.
You don't need to be an economist, you just have to know how to read a dictionary.
It’s basically a national sales tax. Right wingers have been pitching this for decades now.
About damned time.
Ex-newspaper man. Go Gene!
To be fair, they never really taught us about tariffs in high school civics. The assumption was that the other country pays. Unless you are an importer, you wouldn't know. Of course the media aren't exactly our best and brightest and sometimes fail to study up on a topic.
To be fairer, they never taught us in the UK either, but a decent general education combined with paying attention enables us to figure it out easily enough.
Plenty of people are taught about tariffs in school...
Not in the 80s. Lol. Sure, we learned about tariffs in that tarrifs were imposed, but we didn't learn how they actually work.
You have to pay Customs for the tariff when your stuff comes through the port. If you don’t it just sits there
Because we've seen the great track record companies have with not taking larger profit shares. What a crackpot!
(1) First, Bessent dodges the question with his "substitutions". (2) Then he slyly slips in a lie that the check is written *to* the person who receives the import at the dock. (3) He refuses to clarify when corrected. (4) He flat out lies that exporters are eating a significant part of the cost.
What a tool.
But everyone who watches MSNBC knows this. Will he go on Fox, get asked the same question, and give the same tap dance?
He won’t get the question.
Media is pretending like we will have free & fair elections at midterms. I seem to be from a different timeline than this. One where Israel is not committing genocide or the U.S. does not have orange shirts shipping people off to concentration camps.
Journalists need to stop relying on the bad guys to admit what they're doing like it's an episode of Perry Mason & simply report on what they're doing including the lies they're telling. The lie isnt a rock solid obstacle to accountability, it's a guilty act & undeniable evidence of the crime.
Yahh. They just get called fake news tho.
The words "Fake news" have ceased to magically erase reality
U want people to live in reality? Asking for an awful lot
This has been a no-brainer since Day-1. Those in the Trump administration appear to have relied on average Joe's economics illiteracy to push through their misleading and mischievous arguments to serve their political agenda.
Our mainstream media sucks
Not 100% of our media. @lawrenceodonnell.msnbc.com has been correctly describing tariffs as taxes for months.
And, honestly, Robinson could've torched him further, rather than just burn his mouth. Some have eaten the costs, but not all. They won't eat the costs in perpetuity. The eaten costs will eventually be passed on, for sure. But at least we got him to mutter some truth about who pays.
Some importers are foreign based. Most are US entities but some are not. The “Importer of Record” pays the duties.
Fumble fumble fumble
And then it needs to be taken a step further. US importers are not just gonna absorb all of the tax. They're gonna pass off some / most of it to the consumer or they will simply import less, meaning less supply and rising prices either way.
How is it not clear our MSM is all National Enquirer/Russian State shit now? Yet people still tune in. FFS 🤦♀️
When the media fails to hold govts to account and govts fails to listen to statistical data or understand the meaning of simple economic words then it’s only a matter of time until a crisis develops.
Wow, that is a truly stunning way of desperately trying to avoid answering a question by FIRST repeatedly launching into: “But here’s why my answer (assuming I’m forced to give it) might not matter.”
I'm not sure Trump is actually "lying". I think he genuinely believes what he's saying, he's just stupid and everyone around him doesn't want to say anything because then they'll lose their proximity to power, which is the only thing in the world they care about.
Possible but thats an argument for another subject
They are too stupid to even spell out that their plan is to prevent foreign goods from being imported altogether so that "jobs" are created here in the USA. That's the whole point of the tariffs, to force things to be built here.
A really great question would be: why did so many U.S. companies offshore their manufacturing in the first place?
I mean I think that's obvious, so they didn't have to pay higher wages and they were given tax incentives to do so, which is the ultimately irony when hearing Republicans talking about being for the working person since they are still opposed to higher wages and good working conditions.
I knew the answer. I meant a really good question for Bessent. Make him say that.
I think the attack on the media here is unwarranted. Every reputable outfit has said all along that US citizens will bear the cost. For months it’s been explained exactly like that. Getting the Trump suckers to acknowledge it is a different matter.
A simple google search can clear that up. Trump voters are willing participants in the scams perpetrated on them and their lives.
US's media are a disgrace. Their aims is to disinform, to sow ignorance and confusion, which are the tools of control over the masses. The less you know the more easy it is to manipulate opinions and "guide" you in the direction they choose.
While I agree that the media is failing us in this moment, I'm not yet ready to say that their aim is to misinform. Their aim is to maintain access to power, which means they play both sides even when it's plainly ridiculous. We need independent media to stop this and just report the facts.
Excruciating watching this guy have to admit a fact.
So if Best Buy imports TVs, Best Buy pays the tariffs and then Best Buy will likely increase the cost of the TV to cover that additional expense.
The trump administration plans to have every household to pay an average of $2400 annually in tariff fees. This is what trump means when he says “billions are flowing into the US from tariffs” - in order to finance the tax cut bill.
Your media is complicit in this disaster (writing from Germany where media silence & complicity re Gaza is also a scandal)
And it wasn’t the show’s namesake who did it. HE fawned and made nice and slapped the guy on the back (metaphorically speaking).
The capitulation has been one of my biggest disappointments. Just spineless parasites everywhere.
Haven't seen tapdancing like that since Lord of the Dance.
On MSNBC where nobody that needs to hear it is paying attention to or outright rejects as "fake news". Meh, I'll take it. A win is a win.
And, 1 + 1 =2 Yeah!!! He did it
Bessett:
So you’re telling me “TARIFF” isn’t a magic word that makes money appear out of thin air? 😱
The “companies will absorb it” garbage should have been shot down as soon as they tried it. No corporation is going to open themselves up to lawsuits by shareholders just because it helps the president
magats STILL won't believe it.
A real journalist
🚨How Tariffs benefit Trump💥 Tariffs diverted into Sovereign Wealth Fund➡️He retains indirect influence or gets loyalists to manage the fund➡️He diverts money to his companies➡️He buys real estate/licenses from Trump-linked entities➡️He uses SWF insider info to guide his investments Who's investigating?
Paid by USA consumers Yes, paid by consumers in USA Solution....try not buy anything new. Barter Do without Grow your own garden, even in the balcony Shop 2nd stores Lots of ways to avoid tariffs
lol still...the "importer" term could be confusing if they don't know what importer means. He shld have made it clear tht Target or Walmart writes the check. but importer sounds better for Trump if they don't know the def. I think Bessant would have fought harder if he had used Target instead.
Good job Eugene Robinson! Thank you Mehdi for posting the truth so clearly!
Americans are about to find out who pays the tariff when they go to the grocery store
Not sure MAGAts know what “importer” and “passing costs” mean, they’ll just say it’s a “hoax by the Democrats”.
The great Eugene Robinson would not let this go. ❤️ him. Thanks for sharing this, Mehdi.
Yesterday I spent $100 at the grocery store. But they didn’t buy anything from me. That means I have a $100 trade deficit with the store. So I am imposing a 50% tariff on the store. Tomorrow those same groceries will cost me $150. The art of the deal. I am a stable genius!
Eugene Robinson is a great journalist and columnist. Very thoughtful and reasonable.
Yeah, the importer is going to eat the tariff because they decided the don’t need to make a profit anymore. /s
Tariffs are a federal sales tax.
The US media didn't have a single Native Afghan journalist on English language news during the entire 20 years of the War of Terror in Afghanistan & Pakistan. There were Settler Arabs, Mongols, & even Pakistani Jatts, but not a single Pashtun. That's how tightly controlled it is by narratives.
Didn't he admit to that around "Liberation Day"?
And think how long he has been rehearsing that “non answer”. If he was not a smart guy who knows better, I might feel sorry for him. All media needs to play this over and over.
Also an indictment of Bessent, who tries to weasel out of answering the question before finally kinda admitting to the answer, and who wouldn’t voluntarily admit this to the American people for half a year.
It pained him to tell the truth
What importer in their right mind would opt for the "or not" part of passing on the tariff?
good luck for him getting coffee from argentina 😂😂😂
Trump raised taxes on every single business in this country that imports goods.
Shambolic
"We have never had a more reliably weak White House Press Corp when presenting questions to the President of the United States"." Lawrence O'Donnell
Where are today’s Helen Thomases, Sam Donaldsons, and April Ryans?
I know right.
And it took a former journalist from the Washington Post @eugenerobinson.bsky.social 👏👏👏👏
Why can't a journalist or news anchor directly ask Trump these same questions? Because they are scared to death of Trump.
They've tried and he insults them or "weaves" his way incoherently through a non answer. Often both.
Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. He DOES NOT mess around. Affable but wicked effective. Thanks Gene! 👍
I never in my wildest nightmares would have thought we'd be so completely let down by the fourth estate, and a wholesale abdication of their journalistic duties.
Anyone who thinks foreign countries pay our tariffs has either been asleep or is dumber than a brick. Or has the same IQ as Donnie Dipshit. U.S. importers pay them, prices go up, and *we* pay more. It’s Econ 101—if that’s too hard, stay out of the conversation.
Sad truth
“Yeah, but very little comes from Brazil,” I say, taking a sip of coffee.
Doesn’t the US have a HUGE trade surplus with Brazil? Means the US EXPORTS more to Brazil than it imports. Trump is such an idiotic fool! He’s punishing Brazil because they are going after the previous unlawful regime!! Trump is so petty and so vindictive!
It’s absolutely insane. Why isn’t there more pushback to this guy? I will never understand it.
And he still tried to dodge answering several times. "No one pays tariffs on Brazil products if you don't buy products from Brazil." What an asshole.
bessent looks like will farrell as a wax figure in all these interviews
I don't like Will Farrell and I'll STILL tell you not to diss Will Farrell like that. 😉
Small progress, yes, but let's agree that this is terrible interviewing - he's bending over backwards to accept absurd premises in defense of the lies.
Was he hit in the head repeatedly? Is that why he had to be hand walked into admitting tariffs are paid by the importers? Is he a moron? Or is he just another brown-nosing, sycophantic loser willing to lie his ass off? And how much is this MFer getting paid to gaslight people in the US?
I am a huge @eugenerobinson.bsky.social fan! Before he was a GOATED columnist, he was a great editor too!
OF COURSE. We can’t make someone pay us a tax in their own country.
“The importer can pass the cost on—or not” When has that EVER been the case that a company eats the cost of more expensive materials and keeps their prices unchanged to benefit their consumers?? They WILL pass on the cost and add a few percentage points to pad executives salaries. 1000%
And the exporter will NEVER lower prices to eat the tariff upcharge.
Let's say they are cornered and need the US sale. They might try to absorb part of it, but also immediately start looking for markets where they don't have to. And there is also stuff that the US needs and that will not get discounted.
I mean they do. It's not nearly enough to offset the cost but usually you'll get a concession
This is the predicate—spot on.
I mean, we all know this is Econ 101. The biggest problem is the masses didn't go to college or pay attention in high school. I'm lucky that I have degrees in business and accounting, so I can explain it all in an easy to digest format for my family members. It's just not a hard concept to grasp.
And if the same thing is made in the US, those prices would go Up to match the importing ones.
I think companies have not complained so much yet because they see this as a way to take price increases without taking a hit from the consumer—they can blame tariffs. Bottom line: profits never stay the same—they must always increase. That’s the fundamental business model.
He’s just about correct that *if* the exporter drops their prices then the US’ trade balance improves. But pretty much the entire Econ 101 argument for free trade being good for consumers is that this simply doesn’t happen because competition eliminates the sort of profit that could absorb that cut.
The brutal truth is always better than a polite lie. Something that has been ignored by far too many journalists. Thanks for always pushing the narrative Eugene! You’re one of my favourite political analysts on Morning Joe ☕️
He’ll get fired.
Along with an Art That Makes Trump Uncomfortable exhibit, we need a Sh*t That 47 Did News outlet
“The importer can pass it on or not.” In what universe does the importer eat that cost? Tariffs are a tax on consumers. This is not up for debate.
He looked nervous there at the end. He knows he’s going to have a talking to by the regime handlers who keep all the regime stooges in line.
It want even that difficult!!!!!!
And it was such basic questions. With gentle push back. Just good old journalism. Now we think it’s remarkable.
Love how he tries to declare that the exporter with a tariff will voluntarily lower its commodity price when the importer pays the cheque then admits that the importer can choose to pass along the tariff to the consumer.
Oh how Bessent slithered, wriggled and squirmed not to have to admit that yes, WE paid those BILLIONS Trump bellows are pouring in to his regimes coffers.
See you think the media's job is to ask tough questions and get at the truth. The people who own the media don't define the job that way at all. They're not in the news business, they're in the advertising business.
Deflect, deflect, deflect, obfuscate, complicate, avoid answering, avanlanche of info to bury answer. Abuser pattern.
bsky.app/profile/2a10...
Just as an aside, Eugene Robinson was brilliant and smooth as silk.
Fuck, if you can’t understand tariffs, you should never make children! Never 👎
Democrats need a lesson in branding. Stop calling them tariffs. Call them Import Sales Taxes. Everyone knows who pays sales taxes.
Not of MSNBC. THEY have been saying this since the campaign. They have been quite explicit about everything. People have chosen to tell their anchors that they are being hyperbolic.
bessent will be out on his ear tomorrow..trump don't like that shit
Fun (but also nauseating) to watch Bessent stammer as he gropes for a way to evade the question.
Bessent, Hassett and Lutnick all behave, in slightly different ways, like alien bugs in skin suits trying to act like a human. It's unsettling every time I see a clip of one of them.
First off, lowering the price of the product does not eliminate the tariff, it just makes the 50% tariff a bit lower. The exporter has nothing to do with important costs. Jesus Christ this is stupid.
Our media: bringing butter knives to gun fights since 2015. Ineffectual.
Should've been asked and settled months ago. The media in the US is feckless for that coveted Trump regime interview so wilfully chose never to press these Trump officials dipsticks on it. Shameful isn't a fitting enough word...
And he’s in a lot of ketchup splattering shit when dear leader wakes up from his nap and sees this
Yep. Bessant did his best to duck and weave at first. But he couldn’t sustain the momentum. Expect to see him sacked real soon.
He’s like all of them. So unqualified and incompetent you just have to press them and let them talk. They’re fuck ups at the end of the day after all
Buuuut, is that what we’ve seen? (It is not.)
I’ve been screaming from the rooftops about tariff’s! We know this and allowed this administration to LIE
Go get ‘em Mr. Robinson sir!!!
Critical journalism is all but dead in the US..
Convoluted way to get to the simple truth.The exporter does not pay the tariff.The importer does (usually a company) & then said importer passes that tariff cost onto the consumer, or part of it.Trump is LYING when he says billions of $$ coming into US from other countries. Reporters: tell the TRUTH
They should also change how the tariffs are framed. Instead of a tariff is levied against country “X”, the tariff applies to goods from that particular country of origin. The former allows the conversation to be easily steered to countries pay the tariff for the low information person.
Indeed!...But,Eugene Robinson has always been a true professional
The majority of our media has been replaced by outlets whose goal is to make money by sane-washing Trump. They have no interest in the truth
It’s good to remember that the Trump administration is likely pressuring businesses to eat the tariff and not raise their prices. But, many of those businesses are on the stock market so they have to make projections about their future earnings. I see them jacking their prices to keep share holders.
Trump claimed it was like a covercharge to be allowed to "shop" (sic) in the US.
The very-smooth pool of rancid pudding that fills Frump's skull must smell awful.
Scott Bessent Pretzels now available in the snack aisle.
I JUST CAN'T WITH THE USELESSNESS OF MSM. THEY SHOW CLIPS OF TRUMP LYING HIS ASS OFF THEN LEAVE IT TO THE REPORTER TO MAYBE CHALLENGE THE LIE. NO COUNTER-CLIP. WHICH DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO "STICK" IN PEOPLE'S HEADS? EVEN IN LIVE BACK AND FORTH NO REPORTER HAS THE BALLS TO JUST SAY THIS IS BULLSHIT