MSNBC host Chris Hayes surprised viewers with a rare compliment for Maria Bartiromo, praising the Fox News host for boldly confronting President Donald Trump‘s controversial trade policies.
The political commentator shifted his stance during Friday’s episode of All In With Chris Hayes, crediting the conservative journalist for challenging Trump’s tariff policies that he says has left the nation in ‘economic uncertainty.’
‘Maria, I got to say,’ Hayes said. ‘I’ve been a critic, but when you’re right, you’re right.’
The 78-year-old president has found himself in hot waters over his tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, prompting some conservative news outlets to push back against the recently announced policies.
Bartiromo sat down with Trump in the White House for a Fox Business interview on Friday.
Citing an earlier interview, the Fox anchor recalled Trump’s explanation for the tariffs, in which he said: ‘I did it because I could. I put an amendment in there. And I said in six years, I can change it.’
Bartiromo insisted that CEOs want to see ‘predictability’ on international trade presented by the current administration rather than being left in the dark by fluctuating tariff decisions.
Trump responded: ‘Well, I think so. But you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by and they may go up. And you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability, I think-‘
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MSNBC host Chris Hayes surprised viewers with a rare compliment for Maria Bartiromo on Friday, crediting the Fox News anchor for challenging Trump’s inconsistent tariff policies that has left the nation in ‘economic uncertainty’
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The 78-year-old president has found himself in hot waters over his tariffs against Mexico , Canada and China , prompting several Trump-friendly news outlets and journalists to publicly oppose the recently announced policies
The conservative journalist sat down with Trump in the White House for a Fox Business interview on Friday and boldly confronted President Trump’s controversial trade policies and lack of clarity
However, before the president could even finish his sentence, Bartiromo abruptly interjected: ‘That’s not clarity.’
‘I think that they say that you know it sounds good to say. But for years the globalists, the big globalists, have been ripping off the United States,’ Trump said in defense.
‘They’ve been taking money away from the United States. And all we’re doing is getting some of it back, and we’re going to treat our country fairly,’ he added. ‘This country has been ripped off from every nation in the world, every company outside the world.’
‘We’ve been ripped off at levels never seen before. And all we’re going to do is get it back. We’re going to get a lot of it back. We’re not going to let people take advantage of us anymore.’
During his recap of the ongoing economic trade drama, Hayes took special note of Bartiromo’s recent interview on his show’s Friday segment.
‘In a safe-space interview with Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo, the Trump-friendly host gently pressed him for just the tiniest bit of clarity on his erratic trade policy and the harm it is causing American businesses,’ the host said before airing the clip.
Before the segment came to an end, Hayes offered his seemingly genuine reaction toward Bartiromo’s bold comments, stating: ‘Maria, I got to say – I’ve been a critic, but when you’re right, you’re right. That’s not clarity.’
‘Here’s the thing, she’s not wrong about what CEOs want to see,’ he continued. ‘I mean every business person thrives on some stability and most people generally hate this type of chaos.’
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Before the episode of All In With Chris Hayes came to an end, the left-leaning host offered his seemingly genuine reaction towards Bartiromo’s bold comments, stating: ‘Maria, I got to say – I’ve been a critic, but when you’re right, you’re right. That’s not clarity’
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In a civil manner, Bartiromo insisted that CEOs want to see ‘predictability’ on international trade presented by the current administration rather than being left in the dark by Trump’s fluctuating tariff decisions, questioning the president on whether the business community will get clarity
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Before the president could even finish his sentence, Bartiromo abruptly interjected, firmly stating: ‘That’s not clarity,’ seemingly unhappy with his flip-flop response
‘I mean, the major reason being unpredictability makes it nearly impossible to plan and invest and hire and do anything!’
Hayes has made headlines dozens of times over recent years for blasting Trump’s handling of major events and nationwide issues.
In January, both Hayes and his co-host Rachel Maddow launched blistering attacks during the network’s coverage of Trump’s inauguration after figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook were invited.
While Maddow took issue with the tech billionaires in attendance, Hayes found fault with the president’s mostly impromptu speech.
Enraged after seeing Cook next to Trump’s pick for head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, Maddow infuriatingly reacted with a question posed to the American public.
‘How is this happening in America?’ she asked aloud.
After Trump took his oath and gave his speech, Hayes likened him to a ‘cult leader’ because of his fervent fanbase and rhetoric.
The commander-in-chief issued a brutal takedown of the network just days later, vowing that Maddow would soon ‘be off the air.’
‘MSNBC IS CLOSE TO DEATH. CNN HAS REACHED THE BOTTOM. This is a good thing. They are the Enemy of the people!’ Trump wrote in a late-night post to his Truth Social account.
Hayes also reacted to Trump and JD Vance’s attack on Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last month, declaring on-air on MSNBC that the president had ‘irreparably destroyed’ world older during the blowup.
‘Today, Donald Trump irreparably destroyed the 80-year-old post World War II international order,’ the host said.
