Tuesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight wasn’t a typical political debate. It turned into a full-on tariff fight. What started as a calm talk about Donald Trump‘s trade policies quickly went south, turning into a loud, messy TV scene.
Voices were raised, sharp words were exchanged, and a shoe made its cameo for some added drama!
All this drama happened when Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator who supports Donald Trump, tried to back the president’s sometimes-changing tariff tactics. He was up against CNN’s Abby Phillip and the ever-dramatic Richard Quest.
In April, Donald Trump made a big deal by declaring April 2nd Liberation Day. He also promised steep tariffs (some even over 100%) on dozens of countries. He said these were meant to get back at countries for unfair trade. However, that story quickly fell apart when experts realized Trump had confused trade deficits with tariffs, and most of those tariffs he talked about never happened.
And so, here we were on Tuesday, facing off at a roundtable discussion.
While Jennings remembered all the “doom and gloom” predictions from April, he tried to tease economists by saying that a recession was coming. He joked, “I’d like to build a DeLorean and go back to April,” bringing a little Back to the Future vibe.
But Phillip wasn’t about to let that slide.
“What was happening in April, Scott?” she asked, getting right to the point, which started a heated argument that picked up steam.
So, Jennings accused Richard Quest of predicting the recession way too soon. And in a bizarre turn, he said that Quest had taken his shoe off to make his point. And right on cue, Quest took his shoe off again in the middle of their debate just like that!
Meanwhile, Phillip didn’t miss a beat and stayed right on topic, pressing her questions even harder.
She pressed Jennings about whether Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs were implemented. But Jennings tried to sidestep the question, saying, “They were different for different countries.” Still, Phillip wasn’t about to let him get away with that.
“Did those tariffs go into place?” she asked once more.
Jennings finally had to admit: not all of them did.
Jennings: I don’t think that there’s any problem with the president telling the justice department, I think things need to be investigated here..
Phillip: It’s quite an extraordinary acknowledgment. After four years of saying the justice department has been wrongly weaponized… pic.twitter.com/Ra4rQ9h7ta
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 28, 2025
As the tension grew and the conversation started to get loud, Phillip delivered the final point: “It is completely disingenuous to suggest that what economists said would happen if [Donald] Trump imposed 50 and 60 percent tariffs (…) Those levels never happened, which is why there has been no recession. It’s not that complicated.”
Ouch!
Though that segment quickly turned into an economic debate and a reality TV reunion, there was substance behind the shouting.
Donald Trump plans to hit us with another round of tariffs on August 1st, with some of them as high as 50%. These new moves might affect dozens of countries and heat up the trade tensions that have already been simmering.
Many of the tariffs Donald Trump first discussed (some extremely high, over 100%) never happened. This was partly because other countries objected, and there were concerns about how it would affect markets back home. But things might be different now with the upcoming deadline looming. If these new tariffs get approved, they could shake up prices and mess with supply chains.
Yes, they could finally put to the test those dire economic predictions that Jennings used to laugh at.
“You took your shoe off… and said there was going to be a recession.”
CNN got wrecked live on air.
Scott Jennings absolutely torched CNN’s “economist” Richard Quest for fearmongering back in April — claiming Trump’s tariffs would collapse the economy and cause a recession.… pic.twitter.com/0qlPBKb3fT
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) July 31, 2025
Even after all the drama on CNN this past Tuesday, people still strongly disagree about whether these tariffs will benefit or harm the economy. One thing is for sure, though: this argument isn’t going away anytime soon.
And if that panel discussion was anything to go by, people’s tempers aren’t cooling off either!
