CNN anchor Sara Sidner had a fiery exchange with Congressman Pat Harrigan (R-NC) over President Donald Trump saying, “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30.”
“Is that a message that your constituents are happy with?” Sidner asked.
“I don't think it's indicative of any type of long-term trend,” Harrigan said. “I think what's very clearly happening right now is President Trump is putting the American economy in a position where it can actually better negotiate outcomes for American manufacturers and American consumers long term. So I think that was taken out of context. But I will tell you, as a father–”
Sidner cut him off, “It was not taken out of context, sir.” He inaudibly continued to talk as Sidner continued, “Congressman, it was not taken out of context. It came out of the president's mouth. He told people that instead of buying 30 dolls for their children, maybe they should only buy a couple, and that they would be more expensive. What is the context that was taken out of?”
“It's a joke, right? And you've got to understand the president's sense of humor. As my sense of humor will come through,” he attempted to continue, but was again cut off.
“Congressman, would your constituents think it's funny to tell them to stop buying things and to stop buying dolls for their children while the economy is in a decline?” Sidner affirmed. “We are seeing those numbers every single day.”
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“The economy is not declining,” Harrigan pushed back. “It's in an uncertain position because the future of economic trade has not yet been hashed out in a way that is actually productive or conducive for long-term American growth and prosperity. That's exactly what President Trump is trying to do through this, and so I think taking anything out of context that should be humorous, right?”
Sidner then pressed the congressman on how he could believe this, “When we just saw brand new numbers showing that in April, we lost more jobs than were lost in the pandemic. You think the economy is good even though the GDP has actually receded for the first time in many years?”
“I think we've got to understand that core GDP actually increased by 3%.” The Congressman later added, “Real wages are up for the average middle class American, 4.2% over the inflation rate, all while inflation is down. We have mixed results out of the economy right now, but the underlying indicators, if you look for them underneath the surface, are actually really positive for long-term American prosperity.”
The two then debated more over the economy before Sidner moved on to a different segment.
Watch the full interaction below or click here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
