Mockery abounded on Tuesday after one of President Donald Trump’s officials made a false claim about the president’s tariffs.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined CNBC on Tuesday, where he was asked whether Trump’s tariffs are regressive, meaning they disproportionately impact lower-income households. Greer claimed the tariffs are not regressive, which caused “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen to joke that they are really a tax on the wealthy, which would get a lot of support in a Democratic House of Representatives.
“Most consumption in America is done by the wealthiest people,” Greer claimed. “So the idea that it’s somehow regressive is just wrong.”
Political analysts and economists mocked Greer’s statement on social media.
“I mean, this is straight-up bulls—,” economist Tony Yates posted on Bluesky. “Tariffs are a flat tax on consumption of imports, or goods made with them. This is a regressive tax! At least ‘it’s not regressive’ implicitly concedes the argument about who is paying though.”
“It’s okay to be confused about tax incidence,” Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at The Tax Foundation, posted on X. “Tariffs are somewhat regressive. That doesn’t mean poorer people pay a larger $ amount of tariffs (wealthier people obviously earn and spend more $!), it means tariffs take a larger % share of poorer people’s income.”
“Lower-income households spend a much higher percentage of their income on food and goods, which are tariffed, than higher-income households (who spend a higher percentage of their incomes on services, which are not tariffed), so tariffs are in fact regressive,” journalist James Suroweicki posted on X.
“I think that one thing I wasn’t entirely prepared for in a second Trump administration is the sheer breadth and depth of the lying and deceit,” progressive Democrat Stephen Rhodes posted on Bluesky. “They are utterly shameless. They lie about important things and also the smallest matters too. They are brazen about it.”
“This is what happens when you hire ‘outsiders’ to ‘shake things up,’” Jen Monroe, host of the “Ambitious Crossover Attempt” podcast, posted on X. “You get absolute morons who don’t know basic concepts like what a regressive tax is.”
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on tariffs: “It’s not regressive. Most consumption in America is done by the wealthiest people. So the idea it’s somehow regressive is just wrong.” pic.twitter.com/fQPKlCME7P — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2026
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