Fox News host Jesse Watters triggered a response from Democrat strategist and fellow co-host Jessica Tarlov on Wednesday, telling her not to panic over tariffs while quoting President Donald Trump. The debate over Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on roughly 60 countries ignited after his “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, which sent the stock market into a two-day nosedive. On “The Five,” Tarlov argued that although Trump has instituted a 90-day pause on these reciprocal tariffs—except for those aimed at China—the baseline 10% tariffs will still lead to a significant rise in prices.
“You have people from small business owners to huge investors that were backing Donald Trump in the election, very publicly coming out and saying that what he’s doing is crazy,” Tarlov said. “I can’t use the expletive that [GOP megadonor] Ken Langone, for instance, used, but I think that he knows what’s going to be good for Main Street when you have Walmart coming out and say they can’t even do their normal economic forecasting because of the impact of these tariffs. That’s why it’s so important to note the fact that he took off some of the retaliatory tariffs, but he still has this 10% baseline tariff, which will jack up prices,” Tarlov added.
Co-host Judge Jeanine Pirro challenged Tarlov’s points. The Democrat strategist acknowledged that although the stock market was down, there was a “rebound day” on Tuesday. Pirro then turned to Watters and asked for his opinion. “She’s just a panickin’. You heard what he said, ‘Sit back and be cool,’ Jessica,” Watters said. “You can’t get so freaked out.” She fired back: “Do you know how obnoxious it is to tell a small business owner to ‘be cool?’” Trump on Tuesday posted on his Truth Social account, telling supporters to “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”
“Jessica, I’m telling you to be cool. I’m telling these small business owners I’ll be around Sunday, and I’ll buy the whole place up,” Watters said. “Relax. He’s doing something that needed to be done. It’s a little bit crazy right now, but it’ll end up good in the long run. We’ve talked about this all week. You haven’t been here.”
On April 2, a baseline 10% tariff was imposed on several countries, with some—like China—facing even higher tariffs due to their own measures against the U.S. Following the “Liberation Day” announcement, President Trump said on Wednesday that over 75 countries had reached out to U.S. representatives, including officials from the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate trade deals. Watters also noted that Democrat Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited the White House on Wednesday as Trump signed an executive order aimed at assisting her state with vital infrastructure updates.
“Biden didn’t do it. Obama didn’t do it. He did it. He spent the money, and he did it. Big Gretch was there to thank him. You know why, Jessica?” Watters asked. “He’s problem solving. That’s the bottom line. That’s why young Democrats are mad at their old fogies, because they had power just a little while ago, and they squandered it. They spent trillions, and they have nothing to show for it,” Watters said.