‘Make it make sense!’ GOP strategist shut down after downplaying Trump tariff blowback

GOP strategist Scott Jennings was promptly shut down Saturday during an appearance on CNN after attempting to downplay the blowback from President Donald Trump’s trade policy and its impact on American farmers.

Trump has imposed tariffs on hundreds of nations, perhaps most notably China, which was slapped with a 125% tariff rate in April before being reduced as part of a temporary tariff truce, a truce that is currently ongoing. However, China has responded in kind by boycotting American soybeans, which, given China is the largest importer of the crop, has left American soybean farmers enraged.

“China's massive population is really not a market that we can have completely turned off, it's like 25% of the entire market!” said CNN’s Abby Phillip, the host of the network’s “Table for Five” weekly news discussion show.

Trump, after “basically admitting” to a major policy blunder, has floated bailing out farmers with billions of dollars. Responding to Phillip, Jennings pushed back on the severity of the situation by stressing the fact that negotiations were still ongoing.

“So then why are we bailing out farmers to the tune of [$10] billion?” Phillip asked Jennings.

“Because it's apparent China has played hardball with some sectors of our agriculture economy,” Jennings responded.

“While we work this out, what you hope is that the president and the Chinese government can come together on a trade agreement that encompasses everything… [China] is a market for a lot of things, and in the short run, there's no doubt some farmers have been hurt.”

Jennings' admission that some farmers had “been hurt” by Trump’s trade policy is consistent with the admission of other GOP figures, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who on Friday admitted that Trump’s tariffs had caused great harm on American soybean farmers.

In an apparent effort to downplay the damage caused by Trump’s tariffs, however, Jennings then proceeded to highlight what he argued were the benefits of Trump’s trade policy.

“Now in other trade deals, other farmers are ecstatic, the beef guys are really happy with what he's doing in Europe,” Jennings said. “But on this China deal, what you hope is, when the final trade deal comes in -- which should be soon -- that you'll get a deal for our [products]."

Jennings was cut short, however, by Phillip, who argued the United States was in a poor negotiating position, something she laid the blame for directly at the feet of the Trump administration.

“What kind of negotiating position are we in when China knows that they've put us up against the wall, that our farmers are begging for a bailout, and then we are also bailing out Argentina, which is now competing with us!” Phillip said. “We're bailing out the people competing with our farmers. Make it make sense!”