Cenk Uygur, founder and host of “The Young Turks,” said President Trump is “blowing it” on his tariff messaging because he “lacks empathy” and has not leveled with the American public about the immediate financial pain they might feel in exchange for long-term pay off.
In an interview Tuesday on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert,” Uygur said it’s interesting that, during the presidential campaign, Trump excelled on messaging, “But here he is, blowing it.”
“And why is he blowing it? Partly because he lacks empathy,” Uygur continued. “So when somebody says to him, ‘Other people are suffering,’ he’s like, “And?’ Like, he’s so self-obsessed. He’s such a narcissist.”
“For a normal person — let alone a politician — this is a layup,” Uygur continued. “You go out there and… say, ‘Look, guys, I know the market is down, and I know we’re going to have to deal with some pain here, but let me tell you about why I’m doing this, and why it’s so important, and how it’s going to help you in your life.’”
“But he just doesn’t have the capacity,” Uygur added.
The Tuesday interview came just as Trump’s latest round of sweeping tariffs were slated to take effect. Trump last week announced a 10 percent baseline tariff, which took effect over the weekend, and higher “reciprocal” tariffs on individual countries that took effect Wednesday.
The tariffs have sent shockwaves through the stock market, which has seen days of consecutive losses following Trump’s announcement. On Wednesday, Trump sought to project calm amid the turmoil.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” Trump posted on Truth Social, arguing in a subsequent post that it is a “great time to buy.”
Uygur, a Democrat, said he could have supported Trump tariffs “if he had actually targeted certain industries” and pledged, for example, to hold drug companies accountable or rebuild the auto industry.
“That I don’t mind at all, and I would support him, even if the stock market goes down, I’m not going to go crazy over that. Sometimes you need that,” Uygur said. “But a nuclear blast against the whole world, these gigantic tariffs, there’s no exit strategy there, there’s no logic.”
