Trump's friends on Fox News are trying to stop him from causing another economic mess.
Trump's idea to close the U.S.-Mexico border will hurt ordinary people, Fox News has now admitted on-air.
"This is going to hurt people" on "both sides of the border — Americans and Mexicans," Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said on Monday.
It is unusual for the right-wing propaganda network to accurately report the facts, particularly information that reveals the folly of Trump's decision-making. But the massive economic consequences of a border shutdown are too significant for even Fox News to cover up.
Almost $42 billion in trade passes through the U.S.-Mexico border each month and cutting that off, as Trump proposes, would almost immediately create a shortfall in revenue for businesses.
Much like his temper tantrum over the border wall that caused the federal government shutdown, a border closure would affect ordinary people. One such closure in November hurt the city of San Ysidro to the tune of $5.3 million.
Food availability and prices would also be negatively affected. Reuters has reported that nearly half of all vegetables and 40 percent of imported fruit sold in the United States comes from Mexico.
"You couldn't pick a worse time of year because Mexico supplies virtually 100 percent of the avocados in the U.S. right now," Steve Barnard, president and chief executive of avocado producer Mission Produce, told Reuters.
As usual, the White House has not thought this out. When asked about the issue, Kevin Hassett of the White House Council of Economic Advisers would only say they were "looking into" it.
Closing the border would take a sledgehammer to American trade and trickle down to small businesses and families.
It is obviously a bad idea when even the reliable shills at Fox News are raising red flags to Trump.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
