2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Officials from the Trump Administration discussed the President’s reciprocal trade plan to counter global economic policies perceived as harmful to American workers.
👥 Who’s Involved: Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, National Economic Director Kevin Hassett, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Senior Counselor Peter Navarro.
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📍 Where & When: Various news shows aired discussions on Sunday, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and Sunday Morning Futures.
💬 Key Quote: Scott Bessent remarked on tariffs, “A 20 percent tariff on China led to a 0.7 percent price level increase over four years. I think that’s pretty good.”
⚠️ Impact: The administration aims to reduce reliance on foreign goods and protect American industries, citing national security and economic stability concerns.
IN FULL:
Several Trump Administration officials appeared on major news programs Sunday to outline its tariff strategy, intended to change the economic landscape to favor American workers and industries and mitigate distorted trade imbalances.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent recalled the tariffs imposed during President Donald J. Trump’s first term, noting that a 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods resulted in only marginal price increases and net real wage growth for American households. He added that the COVID-10 pandemic exposed the fact that “[America’s] supply chains are not resilient,” explaining that “President Trump has decided that we cannot be at risk like that for our crucial medicines, for our semiconductors, for shipping.”
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also emphasized the national security risks involved in outsourcing critical manufacturing: “We don’t make medicine in this country anymore. We don’t make ships. We don’t have enough steel and aluminum to fight a battle,” he warned.
Kevin Hassett, National Economic Director, explained that cheap foreign imports come at a cost, recalling how, in the years since China was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), “real incomes declined about $1,200 cumulatively… We got the cheap goods at the grocery store, but then we had fewer jobs.”
Peter Navarro, Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, emphasized that many of America’s so-called trade partners have adopted practices beyond tariffs “that are designed, explicitly, to cheat us”—such as currency manipulation, to strengthen their export potential, and regulatory barriers against American produce —and that President Trump has determined to draw a line against this.
“We’re headed towards a strong America that makes things again,” he added.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) reportedly accepted approximately $400,000 from Political Action Committees (PACs) despite previously claiming to have taken no money from such sources.
👥 Who’s Involved: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and various PAC donors, as well as telecom companies like AT&T and labor unions.
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📍 Where & When: The financial disclosures relate to contributions between July 5 and December 31, 2020; Crockett ran for state representative and subsequently for Congress.
💬 Key Quote: Professor Matthew Foster remarked, “Democrats are more sensitive to this. They know people look at their contributions and use them against them.”
⚠️ Impact: The revelations raise questions about Crockett’s campaign financing claims.
IN FULL:
Far-left Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is being accused of having lied while serving in the Texas state legislature, publicly claiming in a 2020 post on Twitter (now known as X) that she does not accept campaign contributions from corporate Political Action Committees (PACs). However, the recent disclosure of campaign finance documents reveals Crockett has received nearly $400,000 in campaign contributions from PACs. Notably, in 2020, while Crockett publicly declared that she didn’t take corporate money, campaign filings show she received contributions from at least 22 entities described as PACs.
While serving in the Texas state legislature, Crockett received contributions from numerous corporate PACs, including telecom giant AT&T and a Wholesale Beer PAC. More recently, as a member of Congress, the Texas Democrat has more openly accepted corporate cash, with over $370,000 in federal PAC contributions since she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. Among her corporate backers are major pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie and Gilead Sciences, powerful financial firms like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, and even defense contractors like Lockheed Martin.
Even more concerning, Congresswoman Crockett has accepted numerous overseas junket trips financed by foreign governments and business consortiums. In February 2023, Crockett participated in a foreign junket to Doha, Qatar, costing around $17,500. The junket and expenses were covered by the U.S. Qatar Business Council, a Qatari entity that advocates for increased trade and investment between the United States and the Persian Gulf state, which is accused of being a major financier of Islamist terror groups, including Hamas. Similar trips, sponsored by Indian and Emirati authorities, were also noted in her financial disclosures for that year.
Crockett’s reversal on accepting corporate PAC contributions could become a political liability for the Congresswoman. In a recent media interview, American University professor Matthew Foster noted, “Democrats are more sensitive to this. They know people look at their contributions and use them against them.” He added: “Clearly [Crockett] thinks that issue is a big deal and a way to resonate with voters—so if what they put out there was false, it’s a great opportunity for the opposition to run on that.”
More recently, the Texas Congresswoman has faced significant criticism from both Republicans and Democrats after she made derogatory comments about Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (R). The National Pulse reported last week that Crockett, while speaking at a Human Rights Campaign event in Los Angeles, referred to the disabled and wheelchair-bound Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels.”
Subsequently, Crockett has dubiously claimed the derogatory nickname for Gov. Abbott was in reference to his use of buses to send illegal immigrants from Texas to Democrat-run cities like Chicago and New York. However, it is widely reported that the far-left Texas Democrat has referred to Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels” for years and well before he began bussing illegal immigrants out of his state.
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