Tension erupts on Fox and Friends sofa as hosts clash over Trump tariffs

Fox News’s shift in tariff reporting continued Wednesday – with a fierce debate seen on Fox and Friends.

The discussion saw co-host Steve Doocy dramatically declare that Republican donors are ‘terrified’ due to greater political implications brought on by the tariffs, putting him at odds with his fellow, also-conservative co-hosts.

As he spoke, the Dow and S&P were both still tanking following days of losses – during which Fox News faced criticism for removing its trademark stock market ticker on a day when the market dropped drastically.

Before bringing up China’s widely anticipated tariffs that have been issued in retaliation, Doocy highlighted a story from the New York Post detailing the struggles of a small business owner whose livelihood is being threatened by the tariffs.

Referring to Idaho’s Casey Ames, a toy importer who spoke to the paper Tuesday Doocy explained: ‘He’s been paying a tariff because he gets stuff from China, $26,000 a year.

‘His tariff bill went from $26,000 at midnight to $346,000,’ the early morning news co-anchor went on. ‘That’s money he’s gonna… [it’ll] have to come out of his pocket.’

Some verbal sparring ensued, where Doocy found himself not only pushing back against with his fellow hosts, but the current administration.

Before that, though, he said of Ames: ‘It sounds like he’s going to have to go ahead and close down part of his business.’ He added how the 34-year-old has tried to make toys in the US, but prices he’d have to charge made doing so so far unfeasible.

Fox News ‘s tariff freak-out continued Wednesday – with a fierce debate seen on Fox and Friends. Pictured, host Steve Doocy (second from left) arguing against Trump’s tariffs with fellow anchors (l-r) Lawrence Jones, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade

The discussion saw co-host Steve Doocy dramatically declare that Republican donors are ‘terrified’ due to greater political implications brought on by the tariffs on 60 countries, revealry last Wednesday in what Trump dubbed ‘Liberation Day’

Doocy then explained – as Ames did the day before – how despite Trump’s insistence that tariffs as paid by other nations, they are in fact paid by U.S. importers like himself, as well as big box ones like Walmart or Amazon.

However, people like Ames are much less likely to cover such costs – a clear recipe for stagnancy, some have said.

‘So when you look at the big numbers and they look good, just remember that, according to this guy, half of the small businesses – and half of the tariffs – are being paid by Americans,’ Doocy said.

Lawrence Jones, one of Doocy’s co-hosts, responded by saying he was ‘holding back’ such judgments.

‘I’ll say this,’ he said, a day after one of Fox News ‘ most respected business experts, Maria Bartiromo, reluctantly conceded the country could be on the cusp of a recession.

‘I feel like we may be missing something here,’ he said, seemingly giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.

‘The way I look at it is I have two groups of friends,’ the conservative continued. ‘I have my more wealthy friends, the ones that are on Wall Street and all that.

‘And then I have friends that are in the farming community, middle class – they’re cheering it on. Meanwhile, my friends that are more rich and wealthy are ticked off.’

As he spoke, the Dow and S&P were both still tanking following days of losses – during which Fox News faced criticism for removing its trademark stock market ticker on a day when the market dropped drastically.

Before bringing up China’s widely anticipated tariffs that have been issued in retaliation, Doocy highlighted a story from the New York Post detailing the struggles of a small business owner whose livelihood is being threatened by tariffs, 34-year-old toy importer Casey Ames

Doocy explained: ‘He’s been paying a tariff because he gets stuff from China, $26,000 a year. ‘His tariff bill went from $26,000 at midnight to $346,000,’ the early morning news co-anchor went on. ‘That’s money he’s gonna… [it’ll] have to come out of his pocket’

Unlike Doocy, he painted the pushback as primarily coming from ‘the elites’, whom he insisted ‘have gotten used to a certain lifestyle and what we were invested in the market and all that.

‘But he’s [Trump] fighting for though the little guy right now,’ Jones, 32, concluded.

Ainsley Earhardt, another Fox & Friends host who is engaged to Sean Hannity, chose to stand by Trump as well.

‘It may be challenging at times,’ Earhardt, 48, argued. ‘[This is] a moment of drastic, overdue change.’

An unconvinced Doocy, frustrated they had not heard his point, shot back: ‘Well, the problem is, you know, like that guy in Idaho, he might have to go out of business.’

Brian Kilmeade, one of Fox News’s longest-serving talkers, at this point interjected to also disagree with Doocy.

‘I think that people are not going to be remembering these 2 weeks if we can set up the next 20 years by reconfiguring trade and being smarter in the future,’ he proclaimed, days after Mike Johnson said the House will provide Trump with ‘space’ to carry out his ambitious, polarizing plan.

The statement was given as he left the House floor Tuesday, amid pronounced losses on Wall Street and frustration toward the president.

The other hosts all appeared to disagree, choosing to stand by Trump as his policies continue to put Republicans to the test

On Tuesday, one of Fox News ‘ most respected business experts, Maria Bartiromo, reluctantly conceded the country could be on the cusp of a recession

‘I’m afraid,’ Jesse Watters said on the set of The Five Monday, while still promoting the idea that the tariffs will come at the expense of other countries

Stars on Fox News, once one of the conservative’s kindest critics, have since begun to question Trump’s policies for the first time.

‘I’m afraid,’ Jesse Watters said on the set of The Five Monday, while still promoting the idea that the tariffs will come at the expense of other countries.

‘For all of President Trump’s talk of a new “golden age,” this huge tax increase will inevitably result in higher prices for American families, lower growth and business investment, and diminished exports and manufacturing output as the country’s factories face retaliation abroad and costlier inputs (roughly half of all imports) at home,’ they said in a statement after Trump announced the tariffs.

“With today’s announcement, US tariffs will approach levels not seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930,’ it added.

The act ‘incited a global trade war and deepened the Great Depression,’ both agreed.