The Media Research Center became Trump Regime Media on the subject of tariffs even before Donald Trump actually became president. For instance:
- CNN: Walmart Prices Will Skyrocket 250% Under Trump’s China Tariff!
- REGIME MEDIA: The Networks Spread Terror Over Trump Tariffs
- Morning Joe—Literally—Points the Accusatory Finger at Trump Tariffs!
The MRC did even more of that once Trump actually became president. After a CNN correspondent pointed out that Trump’s tariff scheme was targeting “whose troops have fought alongside Americans in our foreign wars,” Mark Finkelstein has a weird response in a Feb. 3 post:
To defeat the Nazis on the eastern front during WWII, American’s allies in the Soviets sacrificed an estimated 27 million citizens, including 8.7 million soldiers. If CNN’s theory was that the U.S. was prohibited from taking any action against a country that has served as an ally, does the network condemn the Cold War against the Soviet Union or the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia?
Finkelstein didn’t mention that Canada has not launched a military invasion on a neighboring country the way Russia has against Ukraine.
When Trump abruptly backed off his tariff threat against Canada the next day, Joseph Vazquez rushed to his defense:
Even in a world where President Donald Trump clearly racks up foreign policy wins, CNN’s smug harpies desperately try to convince all eight of the network’s viewers that he’s really losing.
CNN anchor Erin Burnett injected a hefty amount of spin into her reporting on Mexico and Canada collectively waving the white flag on their retaliatory threats against Trump’s tariffs and agreed to increase security on both the Southern and Northern borders respectively.
But in Burnett’s Trump Derangement Syndrome-afflicted worldview during the February 3 edition of OutFront, this supposedly constituted “Trump backing down twice in a day.” Huh? So “what changed,” asked Burnett. “Were these always empty threats or not?” No, Erin, they weren’t, or else Mexico and Canada wouldn’t have made the concessions they did.
Burnett took aim at White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s “characterization” that “Canada is bending the knee just like Mexico.” “But here’s the reality,” lectured Burnett. “The reason the markets were down so much is because Trump said he was going to do something. He was firm that he was going to do it. And then he did a complete about-face.”
Vazquez was desperate to portray Trump’s backing down as a sign of negotiating genius:
In essence, by broadcasting the explicit parameters of a potential deal that would convince him to temporarily delay his tariffs to the world, Trump would have prematurely revealed his negotiation stance and compromised his own strategy. As Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni emphasized in a February 3 column: “In short, Trump holds all the cards, and he knows it.” Pointing to Canada as an example, Antoni analyzed that America’s neighbor would be absolutely crushed by a trade war, whereas the effect on the American economy would be the equivalent to running over a speed bump:
[…]Take a hike Burnett.
The MRC’s aggressive Trump Regime Media stance on tariffs continued:
- ABC’s Mary Bruce Files Incoherent Resistance Report Over Layoffs, Tariffs
- Don’t Bore Audie With Facts: She Prefers Iowa Farmer Calling Tariffs A ‘P—ing Match’
- CBS’s Kelly O’Grady Brought The Lone Voice of Calm Reasoning on Tariffs
- Commerce Secretary Lutnick SHUTS DOWN Margaret Brennan’s ‘Penguin Tariffs’ Question
- ‘WHAT I LIKE IS DATA’: Treasury Secretary Bessent SCHOOLS NBC’s Kristen Welker on Tariff Impact
- ‘Best Biden Ever’ Scarborough Boasts ‘I Told You’ So On Tariffs!
- Audie’s Idea Of A ‘Republican Group Chat’—Two Critics of Trump’s Tariffs
When Trump once again changed course on tariffs, the MRC once again ran to his defense. Finkelstein huffed in an April 10 post:
File this one under “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”
The liberal media has been leading the charge against the Trump tariffs. So what happens when Trump heeds the warning signs and pulls back? Does the MSM applaud his statesmanship, his courage in changing course given changed circumstances?
C’mon—of course not. This is the liberal media, after all.
Thus, on today’s Morning Joe, Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei, purporting to explain Trump’s change of direction, declared:
“Make no mistake: he panicked.”
For Trump, there’s no winning with the liberal media.
Tim Graham whined in his podcast the next day:
If Trump’s second term was a movie, the network news anchors would title it Trump Tariff Meltdown. In all the tariff turbulence, the networks have obsessed over economics with a very negative tone, even on the typically soft-news morning shows. Good news on inflation and employment is buried in the “meltdown” hype.
When it comes to Trump, on any issue, the broadcast network “news” shows seem designed to push a 100-percent negative narrative – or if they manage ten seconds of good news, it’s 95 percent negative.
It’s as if the stress of having to defend every single thing Trump does, no matter how stupid, is getting to the MRC.