'Terrible outcome': Ted Cruz jabs GOP 'cheerleaders' as he warns Trump's bet may backfire

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a dire warning to American consumers still digesting the effects of President Donald Trump’s massive set of tariffs as he painted a doomsday scenario he said the country is at “a very real risk of.”

The bleak outlook from the Republican senator came Friday on an episode of his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” where he turned the tables on Trump and threw a veiled shot at his fellow Republicans.

“Virtually every trading partner of America is reeling right now,” Cruz said, adding that it would be “great” if the tariff plan leads to more American exports and doesn’t spark a global trade war.

“Let me give you the downside: there’s another way this could play out, which is other countries get p----d off, and they jack up tariffs, and they impose retaliatory tariffs on American goods, and the tariffs Trump put in place remain in place,” Cruz said.

He went on to tell listeners that if the country finds itself in a scenario in the next three months “with massive American tariffs and massive tariffs on American goods and every other country on earth – that is a terrible outcome. It’s terrible for Texas – which obviously I care about deeply – and it’s terrible for America. It will hurt jobs and hurt America and there is a very real risk of that.”

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He added that if Trump’s plan ends up unleashing a trade war that accelerates tariffs “everywhere,” that in turn “would destroy jobs here at home and do real damage to the U.S. economy.”

Cruz left listeners with a parting message as he jabbed MAGA Republicans who remain faithful to Trump despite the gloomy economic forecast and global uncertainties surrounding the president’s tariffs.

“I’m seeing a lot of Republican cheerleaders who are kind of reflexively defending what the White House is doing,” Cruz said. “But here’s one thing to understand: a tariff is a tax, and it is a tax principally on American consumers.”

The Texas lawmaker concluded that the immediate impact of the tariffs is that the prices Americans will pay for goods “will go up significantly.”

“And that is painful,” Cruz said.