The Adam Mockler Show - Trump is DECLARING WAR on America's Children

Starting point is 00:00:00 There is absolutely no shot. I can't tell you how many times at Trump rallies, I had his biggest supporters tell me that they voted for Donald Trump because he will protect our children or protect our little girls and lower prices on day one. Yet Trump is now waging economic warfare on Barbie dolls. I'm not even joking. It is a bizarre headline and it's a result of Trump's economic policy bleeding into our culture to a new degree. So Mattel, which is the company that makes Barbie, like many other companies, manufactures the majority of its products overseas, specifically in China. And that's basically where this all starts. I'll play this clip in one second, but a few days ago an article came out that read, Barbie dolls become new victim of Trump's

Starting point is 00:00:43 terror war. Quote, well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. The U.S. President shrugged last week. Now, prices are indeed going up. Here's Mike Pence, slamming Trump for the same point. I'm here at the JFK Library in Boston, where Vice President Mike Pence just received the Profile and Courage Award last night for refusing to overturn the 2020 election results. I sat down with him to talk about how he thinks the second term of Donald Trump's presidency is going. We talked about tariffs, also something that happened in the first term, but on a much more limited basis than what we're seeing play out right now. And Vice President Pence talked about his concerns with what this could mean for the American people.

Starting point is 00:01:23 One argument he's been making lately is that maybe children will have to make do with fewer toys, fewer dolls. I'm just saying they don't need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don't need to have 250 pencils. They can have five. Do you think the American people buy that argument? I have two grown daughters.

Starting point is 00:01:40 I have three small granddaughters. And, look, keeping dolls affordable, keeping our kids' toys affordable. That really is part of the American dream. It's such a dumb point from Trump. It's not about each individual girl having 30 dolls. Part of the American dream is upward. upward mobility, the idea that there's no ceiling to what you can reach, but now Trump is

Starting point is 00:02:02 basically using the communist remark where it's like, you will own what I tell you to own and you will be happy. People always say that's what communism is as a joke, but that's what Trump's saying right now. You will own what I tell you to own and you will be happy. But to continue this, this Barbie is about to get more expensive and you can thank U.S. President Donald Trump. Not long after Trump repeatedly suggested kids lay off dolls and slap tariffs on toys manufactured in China and elsewhere, Mattel came out saying that it plans to hike up its prices in the U.S. The company said in a statement that it scrapped its financial forecast for 2025, blaming U.S. tariff landscape for making it, quote, difficult to predict consumer spending,

Starting point is 00:02:43 which is just basic economics. Trump has created an entirely unpredictable economic policy within the U.S., which has hurt the ability for other countries and other companies to invest in the U.S. in the way that they need. It's had the adverse effects of what Trump wanted and the adverse effects of what Trump promised, which is lower prices on day one. But we've heard multiple, multiple stories of toy companies, toy manufacturers based out of New York, based out of L.A., having to close down or slow down, or just bite the bullet and basically buy an extra $100,000 worth of toys. Let's scratch that. Buy the same amount of toys for an extra $100,000 because of the duties imposed by, the tariff so again

Starting point is 00:03:25 Mattel the toy making giant an inventor of the iconic Barbie plans to hike up its prices in the US they said in a statement and remember when Amazon Trump thought that Amazon was going to be putting a tariff indicator on their website he said that it was essentially

Starting point is 00:03:40 an enemy act or whatever the hell just insane insane stuff from Trump he hates when people call him out for his tariff policy by the way I just got back from a four day DC trip where I did a lot of panels I met Obama. We have some more cool content coming, and I'm very, very tired. I can't even focus today. So it makes you drop some blue hearts. And I don't know if I'm going to be putting out

Starting point is 00:04:02 much content until tomorrow, but to continue, President Donald Trump has threatened to place a 100% tariff on Barbie maker Mattel. Listen to this clip. Mattel, I don't know, I'm not so sure. They also said, they're the only country I've heard. They said, well, we're going to go counter. We're going to try and go in someplace else. That's okay. Let him go, and we'll put 100% tariff on his toys. And he won't sell one toy in the United States and that's their biggest market. I heard that. I mean, I watched this guy talking about how I'm going to go counter. I said, well, I wouldn't want to have him as an executive too long.

Starting point is 00:04:33 I love it. Trump is declaring war on the same little girls across the country or grown girl. Whoever wants to play with Barbies, little boys, he's declaring the same war across the country that he thought the Democrats were waging on young people. Mattel manufactures about 40% of its toys in China, which the Trump administration slud with 145% tariffs. arguing Beijing treats the U.S. unfairly on trade, which you can't argue that. You can argue that Beijing and China trade the U.S. unfairly, steal IP, have human rights abuses. You can argue all of that,

Starting point is 00:05:04 but that's not really what Trump's doing. Trump has a deeper instinctual obsession with tariffs that you see. That's why he has 145% tariffs. It's not a coherent number that incentivizes China to change the way they trade. No, no, no. It's just incoherence, incompetence, and unpredictability. The Toymaker Mattel said Monday it would move some of its production out of China in a bid to diversify, yet Trump keeps on attacking them. Yet in a memorable comment last week, Trump downplayed concerns that his so-called reciprocal tariffs would jack up the cost of goods and lead to shortages. Quote, well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. Maybe the two dolls will cost a thousand bucks more than they would normally, he said. Trump has since doubled and tripled down on those anti-materialistic remarks.

Starting point is 00:05:48 A survey last month of 400 American toy companies by the the Toy Association found that almost half believed Trump's tariffs would put them out of business. Wow. Half of toy makers believe that Trump's tariffs would put them out of business and he continues to just relentlessly push it. So overall, if Trump's defenders or his supporters try to say this is tough on China policy or whatever the hell, China isn't the one paying these tariffs. American companies are paying the tariffs when they import the goods.

Starting point is 00:06:16 This isn't really hurting China. It's kind of just disrupting the global supply chain with no real end goal. And Trump doesn't really seem to care. He doesn't care that he imposed a massive tax on childhood. He's doubled down over and over with these like cartoonishly dystopian lines by saying that little girls don't need that many dolls. You only need a few dolls. Again, you will own what I tell you to own and you will be happy is essentially what

Starting point is 00:06:40 Trump is saying. And it's a part of his broader pattern of just sweeping tariffs across industries without a coherent long-term strategy that affects day-to-day consumers. The average American family doesn't have $500 to cover an emergency, yet Trump is asking them to spend $2,000. Some estimates say $3,000 more here. I'm his tariffs with no coherent end goal. So Mattel's CEO responded with a very reasonable response, as I said earlier. He said, we'll move a little bit of production back to the U.S.

Starting point is 00:07:08 It's not really realistic. It's not really efficient. But he said we can't move any production back into the U.S. It's not efficient. It's not realistic. But we will try to diversify from China. That's what responsible companies do. He adjusted, he diversified, he kept prices competitive, but under Trump, even neutral business decisions become political flashpoints because he wants

Starting point is 00:07:29 people to be sucking up to him constantly. So just to end this off, remember, when Trump says he stands with the American worker or stands with the American consumer, he doesn't. He doesn't care about small business owners or entrepreneurs or the average American family who doesn't have enough to cover a $500 emergency. And tariffs like these don't help workers. They raise prices on consumers. So I'll leave it at that. Make sure you drop a like. Subscribe if you appreciate my videos. I am beat today. And by the way, if you made it this far in the video, I have two asks. Number one, comment, hi Adam, so I know you made it this far. Number two, go watch the last video on my channel. It's a 30-minute panel of me and DC talking to other creators. I think it's

Starting point is 00:08:07 worth a watch. Again, go watch the last video on my YouTube channel about my panel. It'll link, first link in the description. First link in the description. Love you guys. Peace out.

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The Adam Mockler Show - Trump is DECLARING WAR on America's Children

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