Two Republicans on a CNN panel – including "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O’Leary – found themselves at the opposite end of a stinging reality check delivered by the network’s global economic analyst.
The moment unfolded Wednesday during an exchange about the economic uncertainties spawned by President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff plan – which inevitably devolved into a full-blown debate about the state of the economy under former President Joe Biden, versus the current occupant of the White House.
“I think the president is right to attempt a reset as it pertains to our trade,” Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton said.
But business expert Rana Foroohar, an associate editor at the Financial Times, quickly jumped in when Singleton hurled blamed at “liberal outlets” for what he claimed has been a flip-flop over the last decade or so with them “talking about the disaster free trade has had on middle class America,” and now reporting “it’s in decay.”
“It’s a little more nuanced,” Foroohar told viewers.
If the country wanted to change the global trading relationship, she said, “You need to have your allies with you, and that’s what Biden did.”
She then brushed off Singleton's claim that the economy under Biden’s four years in office “was a disaster.”
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“Oh, please,” she fired back, referencing the resurgence of semiconductors during the Biden administration – “that’s no small thing.”
She next expressed doubt that Trump could achieve an “end game of rebuilding the industry.”
But Foroohar’s biggest frustration came when O’Leary proclaimed the CHIPs and Science Act a “total waste of money.”
“I, as a private investor, would never give Intel a dime – it’s being sold for car parts," the Shark Tank investor said.
Foroohar wasn’t buying the argument.
“Absolutely not,” she said as she shook her head. “That’s ludicrous.”
“Horrible bill!” O’Leary declared as he, Foroohar and now CNN host Abby Phillip all chimed in. “Horrible bill and I hope it gets shut down," O'Leary repeated.
