During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on Speaker Johnson (R-LA) to call a vote on a Senate Resolution undoing President Trump's tariffs on Canada.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. President, yesterday Donald Trump made one of the dumbest decisions he has ever made as president.
00:08And that's saying something.
00:10The tariffs Donald Trump approved yesterday are far, far worse than we thought.
00:15It's the largest tax hike on families since World War II.
00:21Yesterday was not Liberation Day, it was Tax Day.
00:25Middle class? Pay more taxes, Donald Trump is telling you.
00:30That's what the day is all about.
00:32This morning, naturally, the markets are plunging.
00:36The Dow was down 800 points, the S&P is already on track for its worst day in years.
00:42Donald Trump has single-handedly created a financial forest fire.
00:48Trump called yesterday Liberation Day.
00:51Nobody was feeling even close to liberated.
00:54Quite the opposite.
00:56American families are learning the hard way that Donald Trump has them right in the middle of a pincer
01:02and is squeezing them on both sides.
01:05On the one side, Donald Trump is pushing tariffs that will cost working families an extra $5,000 a year.
01:12And by his own admission, he quote, could not care less.
01:17On the other side, Donald Trump is working with Republicans
01:21to gut vital programs working families rely on, like Medicaid, Social Security, veterans programs.
01:28So there's a pincer.
01:30Trump's tariffs raise costs and pick people's pockets on one side.
01:39And Trump's budget, and his budget cuts,
01:43are taking away health care and benefits and veterans care on the other side.
01:49Now, there are smart ways to use tariffs, and there are dumb ways to use tariffs.
01:54Donald Trump is using tariffs in the dumbest way imaginable.
01:59In fact, Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin.
02:06Trump sanctioned the Heard and McDonald Islands, only inhabited by penguins.
02:10And that's what happens when you don't have a clue as to what you're doing.
02:14You fire air traffic controllers, dismantle disease outbreak monitoring,
02:19sabotage Social Security and VA operations, censor climate data,
02:23defund public schools, an ND trade war on penguins.
02:30What is going on?
02:34Prices on groceries, prices on electronics, appliances, metals, beer, furniture, fertilizer,
02:42and so much more will go up.
02:45People's retirements are in peril, as markets are in turmoil across the globe.
02:50And Donald Trump says, I couldn't care less.
02:55That's his quote, America.
02:57You're getting squeezed on both sides by his tariffs and his budget.
03:03And he says, I couldn't care less.
03:07The American people are learning quickly that Donald Trump is breaking all the promises he made
03:12in the campaigns, and he's not on their side.
03:16He couldn't care less.
03:18It's truly unbelievable to watch the sheer destruction Republicans are inflicting on Americans.
03:25We aren't even 100 days into President Trump's second term,
03:29and the Republicans this week will plow ahead to take away people's Medicaid.
03:36They're letting Elon Musk sabotage Social Security.
03:41He says it's a Ponzi scheme.
03:43He says it's okay if it's eliminated.
03:46What do these rich people know about how middle-class people struggle?
03:51It's a little coterie of billionaires that's running policy,
03:54and as I said, the middle class is getting squeezed by the pincers on both sides.
04:02What are they doing firing tens of thousands of epidemic responders,
04:06health care workers, food inspectors, abandoning veterans?
04:11And now on top of all of that, it's been bad enough before, quote, Liberation Day, which is tax day,
04:20that Americans are going to pay $5,000 a year through his tariffs.
04:25For what?
04:26Why are they doing all this?
04:28Why would they do all this?
04:29Why would they hurt people, so many people, in so many ways?
04:32Why would they have that pincer squeeze them?
04:35I'll tell you why.
04:37One thing, one reason.
04:39Tax breaks for the billionaires.
04:41As I said, this is a coterie of billionaires running the government.
04:45Trump and Musk and Lutnick and so many others.
04:49You've heard the net worth of his cabinet.
04:54It's incredible.
04:56Cutting taxes for billionaires makes them squeeze the American people.
05:00It's utterly disgusting.
05:03President Trump should reverse course on his disastrous tariffs immediately, immediately,
05:10or else he risks plunging America into a recession.
05:15Some of the leading banks, the leading financial analysts, with no axe to grind,
05:21have greatly increased the odds that we will have a recession because of what Trump is doing.
05:25What president walks mindlessly into a recession,
05:30which means it's harder to get a job, harder to keep a job, harder to pay the bills?
05:35What president does that?
05:39So I am calling on the House and Speaker Johnson,
05:43given how bad Trump's tariffs are, they now know it,
05:47to come back into session and vote the Senate's bipartisan bill
05:53undoing the tariffs on Canada, the bill we passed yesterday with bipartisan support
05:58because a few Republicans had the courage of their convictions
06:01and voted against the president and for Senator Kaine's very, very timely and needed bill.
06:09If the Speaker really cares about the American people
06:13and the costs they would bear by these tariffs,
06:17he should call back the House and take up the Senate bill immediately.
06:21The American people care about one thing above all, and they care about a lot of things,
06:26but at the top of the list is inflation.
06:29That's the number one thing on people's minds.
06:31We've heard that over and over again on last November's election day and ever since.
06:38And Donald Trump said in his campaign he'd reduce prices on day one when he got elected.
06:44He's doing just, just the opposite.
06:46He's not just reducing prices.
06:48He's dramatically raising $5,000 a year on the average American family,
06:53and by his own admissions, quote, Donald Trump said, I could not care less.