Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds called out CNN Thursday for its double standard in its coverage of high prices during the Biden-era versus President Donald Trump’s administration.
Following the postponement of tariffs on Mexico, CNN host Pamela Brown asked the congressman about the negative impacts that Trump’s tariffs are having on the markets and U.S. businesses. In response, Donalds accused CNN of allowing the former President Joe Biden administration “to get away with” inflation and high prices throughout his presidency, but is now heavily focusing on the possible economic impacts of Trump’s tariffs on Canada and China.
“Well look, I’m gonna repeat myself a little bit here. It is important that we stabilize not just our economic relationships around the globe, but also the fact that we gotta secure our border and stop the flow of fentanyl,” Donalds said. “Give Donald Trump the opportunity to actually negotiate with the Mexican president and with Canada and with China, you ought to give them that opportunity. Because when prices were rising in the United States, I didn’t hear CNN talking about that much, in fact, you ignored most of it while it was hurting the American people. So let the president negotiate on tariff policy and it’s going to work out.”
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Brown pushed back, saying that CNN did in fact cover inflation under the Biden administration.
“You didn’t cover it the way it needed to be covered, let’s just be perfectly honest,” Donalds said. “You let the last administration get away with it and the American people suffered as a result.”
“That is your opinion, but we did,” Brown said.
“Oh no, it’s not my opinion. That’s a fact,” Donalds said.
Trump implemented 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and a 20% tariff on China on Tuesday over the nations’ involvement in allowing illegal immigrants and fentanyl to pour into the U.S. The president announced Thursday that he postponed the tariffs on Mexican imports covered by the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade deal between the North American states, until April 2 as an “accommodation” for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
When Trump initially announced the tariffs in February, Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau caved to the president’s requests by strengthening their efforts to combat illegal immigration and the fentanyl epidemic. Mexico deployed 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, while Trudeau promised to invest $1.3 billion in shoring up Canada’s border and appoint a “Fentanyl Czar” to help stop the flow of the drug from entering the U.S.
During the Biden administration, inflation soared from 1.4% when he first entered office to its peak of 9% in 2022. Democrats and corporate media outlets who attempted to defend Biden as inflation soared to record highs have now become increasingly critical of Trump over high costs of goods.
CNN published an article in Aug. 2021 attempting to “fact-check” Republicans who blamed Biden for rising costs, while ABC News called the blame on Biden for inflation “misleading” in June 2024. In May 2024, CNN’s Erin Burnett did not push back against Biden when he falsely stated that inflation was already at 9% when he entered office, suggesting that inflation was at record-highs during Trump’s first term.
In June 2022, “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg claimed Biden was doing all he could to lower prices, while co-host Sunny Hostin claimed that the president had little control over the matter since inflation was a global issue.
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