Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) insisted President Donald Trump showed “strength and leadership” with an apparent call to ration dolls as his tariffs hit U.S. consumers.
During a Sunday interview on Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker noted that Trump recently said young kids could get by with fewer toys.
“I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls,” the president explained. “They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”
“Senator, what do you say to people who hear those words and feel like the president is telling them to ration their goods?” Welker asked Barrasso.
“Well, the president, I think, is very effective at using the bully pulpit, and he is using it, I think, to show strength and leadership of America,” Barrasso replied.
The senator pointed to trade discussions with Britain and China as evidence that Trump’s tariffs worked.
“The president is very effective at using the bully pulpit,” he insisted. “What people are concerned about here at home is, and they’re happy about, is that the price of gasoline is 50 cents cheaper a gallon now than it was at graduation time last year, $10 cheaper to fill up the truck.”
“That’s what the American people are concerned about: their own pocketbooks.”