Mark Cuban joined many critics on Saturday who derided Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after he falsely claimed tariffs “don’t affect our country.”
In a meandering campaign speech, the former president promised to bring jobs “home” as part of an effort to generate “billions of dollars” by imposing tariffs on foreign goods from China and other countries.
“Tariffs are a tax on foreign countries. Like it or not, that’s what it is. A lot of people want to say, ‘Oh, that’s a tax on us.’ No, no, no,” Trump told a crowd at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
He later added: “It’s a tax on a country that is cheating us and stealing our jobs. And it’s a tax on a country that doesn’t have any impact on our country.”
President Trump has continued to make false claims about tariffs, despite multiple media outlets pointing out that the tariffs are costing American consumers and industries a lot of money.
Several economists recently told Newsweek that President Trump’s tariff proposals would raise prices for American consumers and that the plan would also hurt American businesses.
Cuban, a billionaire and frequent Trump critic, took to social media to question the former president’s tariff claims.
“Is there anyone among the importers who would like to explain how they handle tariffs on food or agricultural products?” he wrote to X.
Robert Shrum, director of the University of Southern California’s Center for the Future of Politics and a speechwriter for the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), called Trump’s comments “simply economically illiterate.”
“It’s no wonder he did so mediocre at Wharton,” Schrum wrote.
Check out more reactions to President Trump’s comments below.
