More than half of America voted to re-elect Donald Trump as President of the United States, without properly understanding the price our country would pay.
Last time, Trump won because he was an outsider, and the voting public was sick of the established political parties and their soulless candidates. Fair, if not for all the insane things be did both ahead of, and on, the campaign trail. But for those not paying attention or burying their heads in the sand, it’s hard to blame them for not realizing how badly he suited the presidency.
But this time, we’ve already seen who Trump is as president, and everyone who graces social media sites like TikTok have constant access to information about him. He’s a grifter, a megalomaniac, and an absolute toddler, and he doesn’t know the first thing about running a household, let alone a country. The decisions he makes over the next four years will affect us for decades, and it seems the supporters who secured him another term are just now figuring that out.
A major culprit behind Trump’s 2024 victory, if you listen to those who voted for him, is the economy. They think the man born with a golden spoon between his teeth understands money — he doesn’t — and that that is enough to cure an economy spiraling the drain. Tariffs, a word tossed around by Trump with nearly as much frequency as “the border,” have become a rallying cry among the MAGA crowd, but a video from Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) showcases exactly how much understanding Trump supporters have where tariffs are concerned.
Masterson was out chatting with Trump supporters when he stumbled across a small business owner convinced that Trump is going to “take America back” and cure his financial woes. The man explains that his business — he sells T-shirts — is going to see a financial windfall once tariffs are introduced, only to learn in real-time what those tariffs will actually mean for his business.
It takes Masterson several tries to explain in a way the man understands, but he outlines that “we pay the tariffs,” not the countries we’re buying from. So this man, who presumably gets his blank shirts from China, would be footing a higher bill next year than he is this year. “We pay the tariffs,” Masterson explains. “China doesn’t pay the tariffs, we do when they come in.”
You can see as realization starts to dawn on the Trump supporter, but he continues to argue that tariffs will ultimately benefit his business. That’s when Masterson taps someone he simply refers to as “Jolly” to help explain the situation, summoning his dry, fed-up sidekick to drop some knowledge, which Jolly does spectacularly.
“I sell you something for $10, right?” Jolly asks. “You’re going to sell it to him for $20. But then I make you pay me $15 for it. Are you still going to sell it to him for $20?”
The man looks confused for a moment before realization strikes him like a lightning bolt. “Oh it’s going to have to go up,” he says, clarity painting a painful truth across his face. “The consumer foots the bill.”
That’s exactly right, you poor uninformed fool, and the man you voted for will ensure we’re footing all the bills for the next four years at minimum. It’s not just tariffs that will see the American recession deepen, it’s a million decisions that — just like last time — will benefit the wealthy while leaving regular Americans out to dry. That’s the Trump way, after all.