Republican strategist Scott Jennings clashed Thursday night with Washington Post columnist Katherine Rampel over border security and tariffs on Mexican goods.
During the November 25 presidential election, President Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada. post Truth Social argued that both countries should do more to stop illegal immigration and drugs from crossing the border with the United States. Rampel complained that avocado prices would rise because Mexico supplies 90% of the supply to the United States. (Related: ‘He saved the steel industry’: Steelworkers in key battleground states explain why they support Trump)
“I’d like to talk to you about what President Trump is going to do about this and how he’s not only not going to fulfill his promise to lower grocery prices, but he’s going to probably raise prices for a variety of reasons. One, he is our agricultural worker, most of our labor force. I mean, we want to deport people, not just people who are here without permission, illegal immigrants, but actually a lot of workers who are here on visas and on temporary basis. is essentially a seasonal agricultural visa, and he wants to eliminate this visa program,” Rampel argued. “He wants to deport a lot of people from other sectors of the food processing system, people who work in meat packing plants. Again, people who are here legally and people who are not here legally. is.”
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“Beyond that, he wants to raise tariffs on the food we bring in from other countries,” Rampel continued. “Ninety percent of our avocados come from Mexico, and about two-thirds of our fresh tomatoes come from Mexico. These things drive prices up, so it’s just hard to bring them down. It’s easy to raise prices instead.”
Lampel, former Democratic state Rep. Bakari Sellers of South Carolina, and host Abby Phillippe discussed Trump’s economy with former Republican Senate candidate Jeff Barts before Jennings interjected. There was a collision.
“It’s not just a negotiating tactic, it’s going to result in tariffs being imposed,” Phillip said, prompting questions from Jennings. Drugs and whatnot? What is it worth? Does that mean you’re not willing to pay a quarter more for avocados to fix this?”
Mr. Jennings and Mr. Lampel then exchanged opinions after Mr. Lampel insisted that Mexico was cooperating.
“A year ago, the Mexican government poured more resources into its southern border, stopping migrants on their way. Why are you shaking your head? This is the absolute truth. Here’s why – —” Mr. Rumpel argued before Mr. Jennings interjected, “It’s a mess.” (Click here to watch the Daily Caller documentary “Cartelville USA”)
“That’s why border crossings are down 75%. It’s like when President Trump was in office,” Lampel said, to which Jennings repeated, “It’s a mess.”
The two went back and forth after Ms. Lampel said she “didn’t care” that Ms. Jennings called the border a “chaos.”
“Punishing our own consumers is not going to help Mexico –” Mr. Lampel said, and Mr. Jennings interrupted. “Avocado toast. That’s a big problem. We have to fix this.”
U.S. Border Patrol has encountered more than 7.4 million illegal immigrants since the start of fiscal year 2021, according to statistics released By U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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