Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville was criticized after he deflected concerns about the recent stock market crash amid President Donald Trump's tariff war, claiming that it was bound to happen because the market was simply "over-bloated."
The S&P 500 stumbled as investors struggled to keep up with shifting tariff announcements from President Donald Trump. The uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policy pushed the index close to a technical correction—a 10% drop from its recent high.
The S&P 500 ultimately closed 0.76% lower at 5,572.07 after dipping into correction territory earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 478.23 points, or 1.14%, to 41,433.48, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.18% to 17,436.10.
Markets briefly rallied before Trump announced on Truth Social that tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would double to 50%, effective Wednesday, in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s 25% electricity surcharge on U.S. exports. Later, Ford announced a temporary suspension of the surcharge after discussions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
By late afternoon, top Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro clarified on CNBC that the tariff hike to 50% would not go forward — but the original 25% duty would still take effect as planned. Later, Trump announced he would no longer be doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
In came Tuberville with this bonkers excuse:
“The only problem you have with these tariffs, there’s always a scoreboard. And that’s gonna be the stock market."
"And people are looking at the stock market like, ‘Hey, this is like the highest it’s gonna continue for months and months and months.' That’s not gonna happen. We were probably over-bloated with the stock market here for a while."
“We went up quite a bit. But at the end of the day it’s about fairness, it’s about having fair tariffs. President Trump has put together a smart group of people that understand a lot about the dollar and a lot about foreign currency ... at the end of the day, it’s all going to work out and it’s all going to work out better for the United States of America."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Tuberville was swiftly called out.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday echoed Trump’s assertion that the U.S. is in “a period of economic transition” amid market turbulence.
Responding to questions about the day’s market declines, Leavitt described them as a “snapshot of a moment in time” and insisted that both Wall Street and Main Street should have confidence in Trump’s leadership. “He’s doing what’s right for this country,” she said.
Investor anxiety had been heightened after Trump, in a Sunday interview with Fox News, declined to rule out the possibility of a recession. Despite the selloff, the president told reporters on Tuesday that it does not “concern” him and that he “doesn’t see” a recession ahead.
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