During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about Elon Musk referring to Peter Navarro as a 'moron' for advocating for President Trump's tariffs.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'd like to begin by reading a quote from Bill Ackman, the billionaire well-known for his support of Donald Trump.
00:11We are headed, he said, we are headed for a self-induced economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.
00:21Preston Caldwell, excuse me.
00:30Preston Caldwell, a senior economist for Morningstar Research, likewise said,
00:36if they're maintained, this is his quote, if they're maintained, the tariff hikes announced April 2nd represent a self-inflicted economic catastrophe for the United States.
00:49Meanwhile, Larry Fink of BlackRock says most CEOs he has spoken to would say we have already entered a recession.
01:00The damage of Donald Trump's tariff tax has already been done.
01:06And regardless of what the markets say from one hour to the next, there are no signs that the chaos is changing at any time soon.
01:15Americans are anxious.
01:18Nobody looking at their retirement accounts today is feeling anything close to liberated.
01:23It has been a hellacious few days for people worried about their 401ks and their savings and their kids' future.
01:35And that's not changing anytime soon.
01:37Before things get worse, Donald Trump should immediately reverse his reckless trade war.
01:44He should halt his tariff tax at once.
01:47And he should start focusing more on America's actual trade adversaries like China,
01:52instead of picking a fight with the entire world and causing chaos and steering us towards a recession in the process.
02:00The chaos within the Trump administration was shown a few minutes ago when Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, the chief architect of these tariffs, a moron.
02:12That's Musk's word.
02:13He called him a moron.
02:14Their plan is so crazy, so controversial, that this administration cannot get its act together,
02:20with them calling names about each other, two against one another, about this tariff plan.
02:28This is perhaps the most significant task for the Republican congressional leadership since Donald Trump became president.
02:37The choice in front of Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson is simple.
02:41Choose Donald Trump or choose American families.
02:47Stand up to Donald Trump or watch him trigger a recession.
02:53So this morning, I am writing to Speaker Johnson, urging him to put the Senate-passed resolution undoing Donald Trump's tariffs for a vote in the House.
03:04Let me quote from the letter.
03:06Quote, plain and simple, the Trump trade war is a Trump tax on families raising their costs.
03:11By nearly $4,000 per year in devastating small businesses, forcing them to raise prices or lay off staff.
03:20It is a dangerous, foolish exercise that is wreaking havoc on the American economy and could very well tee up a recession.
03:27If the president doesn't back off, Congress must take action.
03:31The Senate has already taken action to provide relief from tariffs on Canada, and the House should follow immediately.
03:38Remember, this resolution affects Canada.
03:42Nobody understands what the heck the president is doing with Canada.
03:46It was bipartisan.
03:47It got four Republican votes and passed the Senate.
03:51So the Senate has done its part.
03:53Now the Speaker must act if he cares about avoiding a recession, if he cares about American families.
03:59I am confident that if Speaker Johnson were to put the Senate's Canada resolution on the floor, the bipartisan resolution we passed, that it would pass the House as well.
04:10In an additional matter, this morning, I am proud to be joining Senators Wyden, Cain, as well as Senators Shaheen, Welsh, Warren, and Senator Paul, to introduce another resolution that would put a halt on all of Donald Trump's global policies.
04:27The letter I'm sending, the resolution we passed dealt with Canada.
04:31This deals with all of the global tariffs.
04:34I'm very proud to co-sponsor this legislation.
04:38The Senate has the power and authority to stop this madness, and we have a duty to act in a bipartisan way to repeal these tariffs.
04:46As you know, the previous resolution by Senator Cain got four Republican votes here in the Senate.
04:52Our resolution, this resolution, would terminate the emergency that Donald Trump has declared in order to slap tariffs on 49% of products Americans buy from other countries.
05:05It would terminate that.
05:07Again, instead of picking a fight with the entire world, Donald Trump should be focused on going after America's actual adversaries.
05:15The Senate has the power and authority to stop Donald Trump's tariff madness.
05:19We Senate Democrats intend on making sure the Senate gets the chance to exercise that power.
05:30Senator Wyden's resolution is privileged and will be able to go to the floor of the Senate.