Fox News’ Peter Doocy grilled White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the “wild swings in the stock market” during a briefing on Tuesday.
The Trump administration has christened Wednesday “Liberation Day,” as it prepares to impose a number of tariffs on imports into the United States, and the market has reacted volatilely.
Doocy asked a series of probing questions about the consequences of President Donald Trump’s trade policy at Tuesday’s briefing:
DOOCY: When the president goes down to Florida on the weekends, does he ever hear from — there are so many retired folks down in Florida — does he ever hear from any retired Americans who are stressed about these wild swings in the stock market because of the tariff uncertainty and they’re sitting there on fixed income, or living off of 401k, and they don’t know how much money is going to be left?
LEAVITT: Well, certainly they are legitimate concerns, and the president takes those concerns very seriously, and he’s addressing them every single day. And tomorrow’s announcement is to protect future generations of the senior citizens you mentioned. It’s for their kids and their grandkids to ensure that there are jobs here in the United States of America or their children to live the American dream, just like they presumably did. And as for their worries about their 401Ks, their Social Security, I just addressed Social Security. This President is always going to protect it for our tax-paying senior citizens. As for their 401ks, look at what President Trump did for you in his first term. He is working on implementing that economic formula every single day by lowering inflation, lowering energy prices, massive deregulatory efforts, while simultaneously effectively implementing tariffs and they’ll hear more about that announcement tomorrow.
DOOCY: And you said that the president right now is with the trade and tariff team. They are very confident that this is all going to work. But what if they’re wrong?
LEAVITT: They’re not going to be wrong, it is going to work, and the president has a brilliant team of advisors who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focused on restoring the golden age of America and making America manufacturing superpower. And again, Peter, I would point you to the investments that have already trickled into this country. And the president hasn’t even made his tariff announcement yet tomorrow. There have been billions of dollars in private investments from around the world pouring into American communities. What does that look like for those watching at home, for the people you mentioned, worried about their own economic circumstances? It means more jobs in your communities, which means more money, more investments, more money in your pocket. That’s what the president is committed to. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the president’s commitment to tax cuts, which we are counting on Congress to do, especially on Social Security.
DOOCY: And one more, are the special elections today a referendum on the president?
LEAVITT: I think the, first of all, as you know, I’m a government employee now, so I’m not very much allowed to comment on elections that are taking place. That’s something to get used to having just been on the campaign trail for quite some time. But the president is the leader of the America First movement and the MAGA movement. And that was made very clear on November the 5th when he received nearly 80 million votes. I could also say that it is the constitutional right of every law-abiding American in these places where these elections are being held, to vote. And every American should exercise their constitutional rights.
Watch above via Fox News.
