Bill Maher Stunned By Trump's Common Sense

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It’s not every day that you see someone walk onto Bill Maher’s HBO set and completely shut him down with facts, but American journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon did exactly that. And what’s even better? She did it by explaining Trump’s tariff policy better than anyone in his own administration ever has.

For years, the mainstream media (including Bill Maher himself) and establishment politicians—both on the left and the right—have mocked Trump’s approach to tariffs, manufacturing, and economic nationalism. They paint it as outdated, protectionist, or even reckless. But as Batya laid out so perfectly, the reality is much simpler: Tariffs are about making American workers competitive again, preventing China from running the global economy, and ensuring that we are not dependent on our adversaries for essential goods.

She broke it down in a way that should have been obvious to anyone paying attention. In the 1970s, the largest share of America’s GDP came from the middle class. That wasn’t a coincidence—it was because 25% of that GDP was driven by manufacturing. Back then, Americans could graduate high school, get a good-paying factory job, and afford to support a family. Today? That same manufacturing is still happening, but it’s happening overseas, in countries like China, where workers are paid slave wages to produce the goods we used to make here.

When Maher smugly interjected, “For wages we will not work for,” Batya hit back with the truth: “That’s what the tariffs are for. They are to make American workers more competitive in the global market.”

That single line encapsulates exactly why Trump’s trade policies make sense, and yet, for whatever reason, his administration has struggled to sell their big picture tariff policy in such simple terms. Tariffs aren’t about punishing foreign countries for no reason. They’re about leveling the playing field. If China’s entire economic model is built on cheap labor, zero environmental regulations, and outright theft of intellectual property, then how exactly is an American worker supposed to compete? Why are we accepting that there should be a race to the bottom?

Honestly, this entire two minute exchange is more than worth watching.

This is what drives the globalists crazy about Trump—he saw through the scam that both parties have pushed for decades. They told us that globalization was the future, that outsourcing was inevitable, and that cheaper trinkets from China were worth gutting our middle class. And yet, here we are in 2024, with an economy dominated by Wall Street and tech billionaires, while the middle class continues to shrink and struggle. In fact, in contrast to the 1970’s where the largest share of our GDP was in the middle class, these days the largest share of the GDP is in the top 20% of Americans. Of course, we have nothing against successful people, but there’s no denying that America is a much healthier nation when the middle class controls the majority of the GDP!

But perhaps the most important point Batya made was about national security. If we continue to let China dominate steel, aluminum, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals, what happens when China goes to war with us? Do we seriously want to be in a position where our military is dependent on China for the materials it needs to fight them? This isn’t some hypothetical concern—it’s a real and growing threat.

Even Bill Maher, a guy who rarely concedes anything, had to admit, “At least that’s an answer.” And honestly, that’s more than you can say for most people in Washington.

The problem isn’t Trump’s policies—they’re exactly what America needs. The problem is that his administration hasn’t always done the best job explaining the big picture to the American people. Instead of letting the media define tariffs as “reckless” or “anti-free market,” the message should be simple:

Tariffs protect American jobs. Tariffs stop China from gutting our economy long-term. Tariffs ensure our national security.

To be fair to the administration, they have been doing some messaging around this, especially the national security portion of it, but they could be selling their tariff policies even better. There’s no doubt that when people buy into the long term vision of what Trump and his team are trying to accomplish, we’ll have a real shot of turning this ship around and restoring the American dream to where it once was.