Scott Jennings calls out CNN panelist to his face over Trump tariffs

Republican strategist Scott Jennings reminded CNN International host Richard Quest on Wednesday night of previous claims Quest had made about tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

Trump announced reciprocal tariffs to address import duties and “horrendous imbalances” in trade with most other countries during an April 2 Rose Garden event, before announcing the pause via an April 9 post on Truth Social. Jennings reminded Quest of his comments during an April 7 appearance on “CNN NewsNight,” where the two sparred over Trump’s tariffs.

“I would just like to go back — I would like to build a DeLorean and go back to April, when everybody here was predicting ‘likely to cause a recession, investment stops and a recession happens, they‘re not talking about a U.S. recession, they‘re talking about a global recession, lead to recession, eventually, there will be a recession,’” Jennings said, referencing the sports car used for time travel in the “Back to the Future” film franchise, as Quest responded, “So, very cleverly, very cleverly — hang on a chosen. If he’s chosen to use my words, I just want to point out — just a second, sir.”

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“I just want to point out, you called the recession. You called it. You took your shoe off,” Jennings responded, with Quest asking, “Would you like to see that again?”

Since July 22, Trump announced major trade deals with the European Union and Japan, while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3% during the second quarter of 2025.

“You took your shoe off. You brought cookies out here,” Jennings said, with Quest interjecting, “15% shoe!”

“You took your shoe off and you said there was going to be a recession,” Jennings reminded Quest.

After further back and forth, Quest claimed it was “too early” to render any judgement on Trump’s tariffs.

“Richard, I am just a journalist and all I can do is read the economic data: 3% GDP. Trade deals. Record high in the stock market. Cooling inflation,” Jennings said as Quest interjected with, “No you’re not!”

“These trade deals are garbage!” Quest claimed, with Jennings responding, “Garbage? Oh, brother.”

Economist Steve Moore described the economy as “cooking” during an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Wednesday.

“Oh my gosh, what a day. I cannot believe these numbers that came out today, Charlie. Trump is just hitting it out of the park,” Moore told the Turning Point USA founder.

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