Republican strategist Scott Jennings clashed Sunday night with liberal panelists on “CNN NewsNight” over President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policy agenda.
Trump is set to be inaugurated for a second term as president of the United States Monday, after he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election by campaigning on addressing inflation and the economy, as well as the Biden administration’s border crisis. Panelists Van Jones and Ashley Etienne complained about Republicans campaigning against Harris and President Joe Biden over the economy.
“So, look, Republicans and conservatives are not central planners. We don‘t believe in communist government systems where you can just adjust the price of whatever you want, like other countries around the world. What we believe in —” Jennings said before Jones interrupted with, “Trump promised to.”
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Jennings and Etienne then engaged in a back-and-forth over Trump and Republicans criticizing Biden over the economy. Trump has floated policies that include 10% tariffs on some imports, reducing barriers to energy production in the United States, renew his 2017 tax cuts and taking an axe to the regulatory state, according to The Associated Press.
“Democrats got — and Biden got beat up on this issue. You guys beat him up constantly on this issue because you wanted to win an election,” Etienne said.
“Because they spent too much money and inflation went up and although I hear what you‘re saying about the economy, the average working class American would ask you to look at how they‘ve been wrecked for the last four years and tell you they‘ll never dig out of the hole that they‘re in,” Jennings said. “But what the Republicans intend to do is enact a series of free market policies that will, if fully enacted and allowed to work, reduce inflationary pressures and reduce how much it costs to do things in this country, whether that’s on the regulatory regime, on energy.”
Since Biden and Harris took office in January 2021, prices increased by over 20%, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) soared to a high of 9% in June 2022.
“If we reduce the cost of energy inputs into how much it costs to make and move things around, that will help bring prices down,” Jennings said. “But Donald Trump promised a return to sane fiscal policy. But after four years of insane policy, no, it cannot be switched like a communist government overnight.”
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