Fox Business host confused why media are covering the economic pain of Trump's tariffs on Americans
Charles Payne: “This is mind boggling to me that the media is focused on pain, pain, pain”
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From the April 3, 2025, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): First thing they talked about Charles, the number one issue and that is tariffs. And one of the things that Lawrence was asking about was the pain on the average American and J.D. Vance said it can't be fixed overnight. Ultimately costs will probably go up, there will be some pain. But the big question is, do people get the idea that this is for greater good?
CHARLES PAYNE (FOX BUSINESS HOST): I think, President Trump ran on tariffs, what we just saw is a president who did what he said he was going to do. Every single day the media said, Trump is running on tariffs, and people said we know that. Trump is running on bringing back manufacturing, people said we know that, and we went and pulled the lever for them. This is mind boggling to me that the media is focused on pain, pain, pain. Listen to me, I heard someone earlier today on another network say countries send us wine, cheese and Mercedes and we give them a piece of paper, as if we are getting the better end of the bargain. People sweat, they work hard, they sacrifice families, families are broken up, people commit crimes for this piece of paper, it represents an investment, our life, our energy, it represents a lot. So we send it over there and we get all this plastic crap on this table. You know how that money comes back to this table, they buy this building, they buy our farms. This system is unsustainable. It's unsustainable, we have to figure it out. So, if the American people can make a short-term, you know hey that beach ball costs
$.50 more, I won't buy it. This is what's really amazing to me, and unfortunately I hear it on our network and a lot of networks, that somehow we all want a good GDP, we all want a good economy, but does it have to come at the expense? Is it patriotic to always stay in debt, is it patriotic to spend my entire paycheck so that the economy is good? Is it patriotic so that my kids can't afford to go to college, I don't have a retirement, I don't have a decent home, is that patriotic? Is our patriotism tied to Wall Street or should it be tied to our own personal ability to achieve the American dream? We need to rethink all of this.