Rep. Madeleine Dean's Banana Burn Against Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Goes Viral

It happened during a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, where the former stockbroker insisted the major effect of the president’s controversial tariff proposals would be teaching self-reliance to American businesses.

But then the congresswoman asked Lutnick about the tariff on bananas, adding, “Americans, by the way, loooove bananas. We buy billions of them a year. I love bananas. What’s the tariff on bananas?”

Lutnick responded that the tariff on that fruit “would be representative of the countries that produce them,” which he said was “generally 10%.”

Dean then pointed out that Walmart has already increased the cost of bananas by 8%.

Lutnick claimed prices would go back down as countries continue to make new deals with the U.S.

However, Dean was focused on the very real present and not Lutnick’s nebulous future predictions.

″But the cost is on the American consumer now, and on the businesses with the confusion now,” she said. “Mr. Secretary, I believe you know better. I believe you recognize that a trade deficit is not something to fear. I believe you know that predictability, stability, is essential for businesses. I wish you would show that truth to this administration.”

Lutnick then added one more point: “There’s no uncertainty that if you build in America and produce your product in America, there will be no tariff.”

Dean then held up a banana and noted to Lutnick: “We cannot build bananas in America.”

Although bananas can be grown in parts of the country such as Hawaii and southern Florida, the current domestic crop isn’t nearly enough to satisfy the cravings of Americans, who eat an average of 26 pounds of the fruit each year.

You can see the complete exchange below.

Dean later commented on the exchange on her X account, expressing surprise that “as a former writing professor, I would be giving economic lessons to the Commerce Secretary, but here we are.”

She followed up with a post noting that “not everything can be produced in the U.S.”

Other people also went bananas over Dean’s exchange with Lutnick.