After their most recent attempt to disparage President Donald Trump’s trade policy backfired, CNN is now receiving criticism. With a so-called “conservative economist” from the American Enterprise Institute serving as the voice of reason, the network ran a story Tuesday morning accusing the Trump administration of using “bad math” to support tariff hikes.
However, there was only one issue: Dr. Stan Veuger, the expert, has a lengthy history of supporting ActBlue and Joe Biden and is a Democrat donor. As Veuger blasted the Trump-era tariff formula live on television, CNN’s Chyron proclaimed, “Conservative Think Tank Says Trump Tariffs Have A Math Error.”
To increase the legitimacy of the criticism, the host excitedly presented Veuger as a member of a traditionally right-leaning research organization. The focus of the episode was a purported “math error” in the tariff formula that the Trump administration employed.
According to Veuger, the administration chose the incorrect coefficient for its trade model. The variable φ (phi), which gauges how import prices vary in response to changes in tariffs, was set at 0.25 rather than 1, as he claimed. Veuger stated, “They chose the incorrect number.”
“That figure ought to be near one.” Naturally, 1 is now four times larger than 0.25. Therefore, all of the tariffs that they computed using this formula are four times higher than they need to be.
After their most recent attempt to disparage President Donald Trump’s trade policy backfired, CNN is now receiving criticism. With a so-called “conservative economist” from the American Enterprise Institute serving as the voice of reason, the network ran a story Tuesday morning accusing the Trump administration of using “bad math” to support tariff hikes.
However, there was only one issue: Dr. Stan Veuger, the expert, has a lengthy history of supporting ActBlue and Joe Biden and is a Democrat donor. As Veuger blasted the Trump-era tariff formula live on television, CNN’s Chyron proclaimed, “Conservative Think Tank Says Trump Tariffs Have A Math Error.”
To increase the legitimacy of the criticism, the host excitedly presented Veuger as a member of a traditionally right-leaning research organization. The focus of the episode was a purported “math error” in the tariff formula that the Trump administration employed.
According to Veuger, the administration chose the incorrect coefficient for its trade model. The variable φ (phi), which gauges how import prices vary in response to changes in tariffs, was set at 0.25 rather than 1, as he claimed. Veuger stated, “They chose the incorrect number.”
“That figure ought to be near one.” Naturally, 1 is now four times larger than 0.25. Therefore, all of the tariffs that they computed using this formula are four times higher than they need to be.
Observe:
Veuger’s calculations show that tariff rates under Trump’s policies should have been significantly lower, typically less than 14%, rather than the 50% levels that were anticipated. Veuger, however, acknowledged that “we are not at all endorsing this approach” when guiding viewers through the calculation and referred to the entire concept of basing tariffs on trade imbalances as “bad economics.”
But according to public records, Veuger has made numerous donations to Democratic groups and Biden’s campaign.
On X, formerly Twitter, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “CNN attempted to mislead viewers into believing they had a ‘conservative’ economist on, but in reality @stanveuger is a dummy who is also a Democrat and Biden donor.”
https://x.com/StevenCheung47/status/1909642592096014482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1909642592096014482%7Ctwgr%5E739f94240789e652c89f654a8443415b71c4e8b9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftrendingpoliticsnews.com%2Fcnns-latest-stunt-backfires-a-democrat-and-biden-donor-mace%2F
Indeed, while working at the American Enterprise Institute, Veuger made many donations to ActBlue, the left-wing fundraising website, and Biden for President, according to screenshots from the Federal Election Commission. The internet took notice of the fact that he is hardly a “conservative” voice or an impartial economist.
President Trump has dramatically increased tariffs over the last week, escalating trade tensions around the world. He said on April 2 that all imports will be subject to a 10% universal duty, with higher rates for particular nations, such as a 34% tariff on Chinese goods.
China responded by levying a 34% tariff on American goods, which went into force on April 10. Trump stated on Monday that if China did not withdraw its retaliatory actions by Tuesday, he would impose an extra 50% tariff on Chinese goods, potentially increasing the total U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to 104%.
The tariffs’ proponents argued that they would only impact around 1% of the economy and bring in about $300 billion a year for the US Treasury.