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Democratic lawmakers sidestepped questions about why the stock market has fared under President Donald Trump despite their bleak predictions about the administration’s tariffs as they spoke with Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill.
Some downplayed the importance of the market’s success, noting that it had no impact on the country’s real economic pulse.
When asked by Fox News Digital why the stock market is still doing so well if Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy, Sen. Katherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., responded: “The stock market is not the economy.”
She insisted that because of the tariffs, “Americans feel the price crunch when they go to the grocery store. Prices are high.”
“Tariffs are the reason for this,” she said. “Tariffs or taxes imposed on Americans.” “That’s why these prices are so high. That’s why I fought against it.”
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Rep. Paramala Paramala, Democrat of Washington, President Donald Trump is on Monday. Katari Cortez Masto, D-Nev. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images; Jacqueline Martin/AP Photo; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told Fox News Digital that she believes the stock market is only doing well “because billionaires continue to do well.”
“Companies received massive tax breaks, amounting to $7 billion in tax breaks in the big treason bill,” Jayapal said. “That’s why the stock market is doing so well, because stocks are really, you know, a lot of those big companies are feeling good, and they continue to get huge tax breaks.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Democrat of Maryland, said that “no matter what the stock market says, [Americans] We see that the cost of groceries has not decreased. They see that health care costs have become really prohibitive. They can’t afford it. They can’t afford the goods.”
“This is what they expect us to respond to, is how this affects them and their daily lives. This is what I am here and focused on doing,” she continued.
“Everyone in America knows that the prices of goods subject to tariffs are higher,” Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, told Fox News Digital.
“The stock market matters to a lot of people, but prices matter to people more,” he said. “Right now, people are hurting because of Trump’s economic policies, including tariffs.” “That’s not what the Democrats are saying. It’s just the fact that the tariffs are costing consumers thousands of dollars.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration blamed the Biden administration for continued price hikes at grocery stores rather than tariffs.
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White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt attacked the media over its reporting on affordability under the Trump administration during a bilateral meeting between President Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (Saul Loeb // AFP via Getty Images)
On Friday, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt posted on X urging Americans to “have confidence in Trump,” saying the president’s “pro-growth policies are a proven formula for making America affordable again. They worked in his first term, and they are working now, slowly but surely.”
“President Trump and his entire administration, from the NEC to Treasury to the USDA, are working hard every day to address the affordability issues created by Joe Biden, who has unleashed the worst inflation crisis in modern American history — one that the liberal media has barely blamed on Democrats over the past four years.”
“The prices of eggs, butter, ice cream, fresh fruit, grains, fish, seafood, rice, pasta and pork are all falling,” Leavitt wrote, adding that “the best is yet to come.”
Back on Capitol Hill, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., echoed that sentiment, saying: “The point is… [Democrats] Missing is that [Trump] “It’s trying to get us better terms from all the countries we export to, trying to get a level playing field, trying to grow our exports.”
“You have to separate the short term from what will happen over time,” he explained. “They’re trying to make the case in the short term because of some of the challenges of convincing other countries to play fair.”
“You have to work through the process,” Hoven continued. “The president did that in his first term, and we ended up with huge sales to China and other places, and that helped our agricultural markets and our other exports. And so, it’s the same thing again; he’s working to make sure we get better trade terms for all of our manufacturers, processors, farmers, and everyone else. But it doesn’t happen in one day, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Senate Republicans reject Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods
US Senator John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) walks to vote at the US Capitol on October 08, 2025 in Washington, DC (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)
Trump’s tariffs are not universally disgusted by Democrats. “I agree with some of the definitions, especially with China,” Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital.
He continued: “But I did not agree to go after Canada and our allies.” “In some circumstances, such as steel, it is appropriate. In other circumstances I don’t necessarily agree.”
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Fetterman added, “It now looks like the Supreme Court might vote against it now. So, at the end of the day, their opinion is much more important than mine.”
Faced with the question of why the market continues to do well despite the tariffs, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., responded: “The one thing I’ve learned is not to try to predict or analyze the stock market.”