Bill Maher Admits He was Wrong About Trump’s Tariffs: ‘I Gotta Own It’

HBO comedian and podcaster Bill Maher had to admit on his recent podcast that he was wrong about the effect Trump’s tariffs would have on the economy.

Maher said that he has thought all along that Trump’s tariffs and threats of the same would destroy the U.S. economy and drive inflation to new heights. But on his recent Club Random podcast, he is now admitting that, at least so far, he has been wrong about the effects that Trump’s tariffs campaign.

“I remember I, along with probably most people, were saying at the beginning, ‘Oh, you know, by the 4th of July’ — somebody had a thing — how the economy was going to be tanked by then,” Maher said to his far left guest Brian Tyler Green. “And I was kind of like, ‘Well, that seems right to me.’ But that didn’t happen. Now, it could happen tomorrow. I’m just saying that’s reality.”

“[T]he truth is, I don’t know what his strategy is. But look, the stock market is at record highs. I know not everybody lives by the stock market, but I also drive around,” Maher continued. “I don’t see a country in a depression at all. I see people out there just living their lives. And I would have thought — and I gotta own it — that these tariffs were going to fucking sink this economy by this time — and they didn’t.”

But Maher didn’t just rely on the rising stock market to prove out his point. He also noted that manufacturing is up, too.

Indeed, the economic indicators in Trump’s first six month are nearly all positive. Unemployment is down, inflation is down, the stock market has been strong, retail sales are strong, and consumer faith in the economy is ticking upward. And this week is kicking off with a series of amazing new trade deals with several countries and the European Union.