Stocks plunge as China announces retaliatory tariffs, Trump goes on offensive
The Dow takes a dive as China announces retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods, President Trump rips Federal Reserve; Kevin Corke reports from the White House.
CNN and MSNBC had strong reactions Friday to President Trump's tweet placing blame for the massive drop in the stock market on Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., for dropping out of the 2020 presidential race.
On Friday morning, the president took aim at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for refraining from cutting interest rates and invoked his ongoing trade war with China while suggesting his own appointee is an "enemy."
“My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” Trump asked.
Many have attributed Trump's tweet to a plunge in the stock market, with the Dow losing more than 623 points when the market closed Friday.
The president, however, took a moment to acknowledge the sudden loss on Wall Street by jokingly name-dropping Moulton, who announced earlier Friday that he was withdrawing from the Democratic primaries.
"The Dow is down 573 points perhaps on the news that Representative Seth Moulton, whoever that may be, has dropped out of the 2020 Presidential Race!" Trump exclaimed on Twitter.
Both MSNBC and CNN offered live reactions to the tweet.
"In a real world, there are real people who lose money when the Dow is down 500 points," MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi said. "You don't generally expect a joke from the president over that."
MSNBC reporter Mike Viqueira also joined in the "guessing game" about Trump's "flippant comment," which he said has everyone "on the edge of their seats."
"This is for the past two-and-a-half years — the speculation and the guessing game about just what's going in the president's mind when he does things like this," Viqueira told Velshi. "People look at it as 3D chess, 5D chess. Other people have come to the conclusion, I think increasingly so, that the president's merely shooting from the hip and he enjoys this kind of controversy. Obviously, the stakes are huge."
Meanwhile, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin scolded Trump.
"I'm glad this is all funny to the president," Baldwin reacted. "Whether it's farmers losing their livelihoods or workers losing part of their hard-earned 401Ks... it's hilarious, Mr. President."
It is unclear what inspired Trump's tweet mocking Moulton but, Mediaite reported, the message came minutes after the Democratic congressman appeared on MSNBC, where he blasted the president for a tweet saying he "hereby ordered" American companies to sever ties with China.
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“The President of the United States does not give orders to our economy, to our business, to our corporations, to our people as if this is the Soviet Union, a communist country. That’s not the way it works," Moulton reacted, “He obviously doesn't understand that.
"He obviously does not understand basic economics and how tariffs work, because he’s carried on this trade war that’s accomplished nothing with China, but it’s hurt our farmers, our fisherman, our American families. So we have someone in the Commander-in-Chief spot who doesn’t know how to give a lawful order. And that’s a real problem for our economic future, for our national security, and that’s ultimately why it’s so important that we come together and defeat him in 2020."
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