Stephen Miller Flips Out Over Tim's Tweet - Bulwark Takes

Summary

Bulwark Takes: Stephen Miller Flips Out Over Tim's Tweet – Detailed Summary

Release Date: May 12, 2025

In the May 12, 2025 episode of Bulwark Takes, hosted by Tim Miller of The Bulwark, a heated exchange unfolds between Tim and Stephen Miller, former Trump administration advisor. The episode delves into the complexities of Trump's tariff policies on Chinese goods, the internal conflicts within conservative circles, and the broader implications for American consumers and manufacturing.

1. Introduction to the Dispute

Tim Miller opens the discussion by addressing a recent conflict sparked by his own tweet criticizing the Trump administration's trade policies. He states:

"[00:00] ...Stephen Miller has come after me on social media over a position that I thought was like a pretty standard free market position. He's calling me, part of the left, for saying this."

This sets the stage for an in-depth analysis of the disagreement between Tim and Stephen Miller, highlighting the unexpected labeling of Tim as "leftist" by a prominent conservative figure.

2. Background: Trump's Tariff Policies and the China Deal

Tim provides context about the Trump administration's fluctuating tariff rates on Chinese imports. He outlines the progression of tariffs:

"[00:00] ...they made the announcement this morning about the deal with China where we've de-escalated the trade war down to 30% tariffs, which is a 20 percentage point higher rate than we were paying before Trump came in on tariffs from China."

Despite the reduction from an ambitious 145% complete embargo, the 30% tariff represents a significant increase, prompting Tim's critical stance.

3. Tim Miller’s Critique of the Tariff Deal

Tim articulates his dissatisfaction with the tariff strategy, emphasizing its arbitrary nature and lack of coherent economic policy. He remarks:

"[02:15] ...this madness and this uncertainty and this like, random, like putting your finger in the wind and deciding what the tariff rate should be today is just insane."

He contrasts this approach with more stable and targeted industrial policies, suggesting that inconsistent tariffs do not effectively promote domestic manufacturing.

4. Stephen Miller’s Response and Labeling Tim as Leftist

In response to Tim's criticism, Stephen Miller accuses him of aligning with the left-wing, a claim Tim finds unfounded and ironic given the right-leaning nature of their policies. Tim highlights:

"[04:45] ...this is Stephen Miller saying that I'm on the left now. I guess I don't take that as an insult if the right is Donald Trump."

This accusation underscores the internal rifts within conservative strategies and the challenges of maintaining ideological purity.

5. Tim Miller’s Defense and Further Arguments

Tim defends his position by arguing that the tariffs disproportionately affect American consumers and lack tangible benefits. He emphasizes the impact on everyday goods:

"[07:30] ...it's going to be mothers and fathers, parents who are going to have to pay more for their strollers and their car seats... clothes, electronics, it's going to be more expensive for them."

Furthermore, he criticizes the administration for failing to present a clear strategy to offset these tariffs with investments in American manufacturing, stating:

"[11:20] ...with no actual strategy associated with it, you know, with no plan to, you know, invest in America to offset it with no real decoupling plan."

6. Implications for American Consumers and Manufacturing

The discussion delves into the broader economic ramifications of the tariff policies. Tim points out that arbitrary tariffs do not stimulate domestic production but instead burden consumers and businesses:

"[14:50] ...this is like a shit throwing monkey, like throwing shit at the wall and being like, ugh, 30, 80, 140. This is not industrial policy. This is not economic policy."

He argues for more thoughtful and targeted measures to genuinely support American manufacturing rather than reactive and inconsistent tariff adjustments.

7. Broader Context: Republican Positions and Internal Criticism

Tim acknowledges that opposition to the tariffs is not widespread among conservatives, citing Rand Paul as a notable exception:

"[19:30] ...Rand Paul, Libertarian Rand Paul, who's been the one principled person talking about this over in the Senate Republican Conference. So kudos to him."

He questions whether Rand Paul’s stance now aligns him with the left, underscoring the blurred lines within conservative debates on economic policy.

8. Conclusion and Takeaways

In wrapping up, Tim reiterates his stance against the 30% tariffs, labeling the deal as ineffective and punitive to consumers without delivering promised economic benefits:

"[25:00] ...we are ensuring that people pay 20% more on goods they get from China on the one side, and on the other side, we get nothing. That's the deal. Great, awesome. Great work. That's conservatism now."

He emphasizes the importance of evaluating policies based on their merits rather than ideological conformity, encouraging listeners to critically assess the administration's economic strategies.

Key Quotes with Timestamps

Tim Miller on Stephen’s Accusation:

"[00:00] ...Stephen Miller has come after me on social media... He's calling me, part of the left..."
Tim on Arbitrary Tariffs:

"[02:15] ...this madness and this uncertainty and this like, random, like putting your finger in the wind..."
Tim Defending Against Leftist Label:

"[04:45] ...this is Stephen Miller saying that I'm on the left now."
Impact on Consumers:

"[07:30] ...parents who are going to have to pay more for their strollers and their car seats..."
Critique of Tariff Strategy:

"[11:20] ...with no actual strategy associated with it... no decoupling plan."
On Ineffective Economic Policy:

"[14:50] ...this is like a shit throwing monkey... This is not industrial policy."
Acknowledging Rand Paul:

"[19:30] ...Rand Paul, Libertarian Rand Paul... kudos to him."
Conclusion on Tariff Deal:

"[25:00] ...people pay 20% more on goods they get from China... that's conservatism now."

Final Thoughts

This episode of Bulwark Takes provides a critical examination of the Trump administration's tariff policies, spotlighting the internal disagreements within the conservative camp. Through Tim Miller's articulate critique, the conversation underscores the need for coherent and strategic economic policies that genuinely benefit American consumers and industries. The confrontation with Stephen Miller highlights the broader ideological struggles and the quest for practical solutions over partisan labeling. Listeners are encouraged to engage with these debates thoughtfully, recognizing the nuanced challenges of shaping effective economic strategies.

For those interested in the ongoing analysis of conservative policies and internal debates, subscribing to Bulwark Takes offers insightful perspectives from The Bulwark team, including voices like Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, and Bill Kristol.

Transcript

Tim Miller (0:00)

Hey, guys, it's Tim Miller from the Bulwark. Trump's top domestic policy advisor, Santa Monica gobbles himself. Stephen Miller has come after me on social media over a position that I thought was like a pretty standard free market position. He's calling me, part of the left, for saying this. I'm going to run down what happened here. Make sure to subscribe to the feed. Appreciate, I guess, that the Trump administration is monitoring what we're saying over here. We did have my colleague Andrew Egger had the opportunity to question Trump press secretary last week about his crypto grift. So they're keeping tabs on us. Here's what happened. They made the announcement this morning about the. The deal with China where we've de. Escalated the trade war down to 30% tariffs, which is a 20 percentage point higher rate than we were paying before Trump came in on tariffs from China. It is significantly lower than the insane 145% Total trade embargo that we had with China. But so I wrote this about it. Yay. So happy that we'd be paying 20% higher taxes on all Chinese goods in exchange for nothing. Great victory, Chairman Trump. Art of the deal I wrote in Chinese lettering. Stephen Miller responds to that. Fascinating to watch the left embrace the proposition that all American factories should be relocated to Asia. This is not at all responsive to my critique, to say the least. I'm not saying that anything should be relocated to Asia. I do not think there is really. Is the administration even making a coherent argument that this 30% tariff will lead to more factories being built here? I have not heard that argument. And they've been all over the place. This tariff was 10, it was 20, it was 30, it was 80. Is 140, 45. Now it's back down to 30. Like the idea that just this madness and this uncertainty and this like, random, like putting your finger in the wind and deciding what the tariff rate should be today is the way to get American factories to be built here in America is just insane. I mean, it's totally against reality. And you could maybe make some arguments that we could do some targeted tariffs on specific industries, on China, and that we could have incentives, incentives here and, you know, we could create some stability and give manufacturing businesses some confidence that could be built here. Like that's a sane industrial policy. We can, we can argue about the merits of that. I mean, Joe Biden had an industrial policy that was frankly, a little bit left from my point of view, but that invested a lot of money in factories to be built here in America and chips factories. So that is one path to building factories here. And there are a lot of different various policy levers that could be pulled to encourage manufacturing here. Having totally schizophrenic tariff rates on China, I've not even seen any America first people make a coherent argument that that is going to yield more American factories coming here. But really the thing is, the funniest thing here is that this is Stephen Miller saying that I'm on the left now. I guess I don't take that as an insult if the right is Donald Trump. But Stephen Miller saying that I'm on the left because I opposed this 30% tax they're putting on working Americans on the people that they say are their base. The forgotten, the, you know, the forgotten man who is going to pay that 30% tariff on goods coming into America, it's going to be mothers and fathers, parents who are going to have to pay more for their strollers and their car seats. You know, it is going to be anyone that was buying, you know, clothes online from China, it's going to be electronic parts. I got to tell you, I don't know if you've been to Mag America. I have. I've been to some SEC tailgates and there are a lot of folks out there that are buying big screen TVs to watch their football on. And that's fine, that's great. That's the American dream. Even though Scott Besant says that it isn't. You know, it's just going to be across the board all of these products, all of these goods, some of them, some like the semiconductors and you know, this high end manufacturing. Like we should try to bring that back to America. We should try to decouple it. There are certain things where some people are going to want to choose to pay higher prices for shirts, you know, that are made in America. And that's totally appropriate in a free market. But it's people whose budgets are tight who need to buy household goods, clothes, electronics, and the prices on all of those goods are going to be more expensive for them. You know, it is going to be a lot of these, you know, companies that, that do manufacturing that are going to be paying higher prices on the parts or the components of their product that come from China. So it's like everybody's going to be punished. And this is one of the biggest tax increases in American history that is being put in place by a Republican White House. And so Stephen wants to try to position this as like any critic of this as some leftist. It's like, no, Anybody who is not for a massive sales tax increase is against this. And up until about two minutes ago, that included conservatives, that included Republicans, that included people on the right. It includes Rand Paul, Libertarian Rand Paul, who's been the one principled person talking about this over in the Senate Republican Conference. So kudos to him. So I guess, I don't know, is Rand Paul leftist now? Are me and Rand Paul leftists? Because we don't want a random 30% increase on, on Chinese goods with no actual strategy associated with it, you know, with no plan to, you know, invest in America to offset it with no real decoupling plan. Like, it's just, this is like a shit throwing monkey, like throwing shit at the wall and being like, ugh, 30, 80, 140. This is not industrial policy. This is not economic policy. This is not conservatism. It's nothing. It's a narcissistic buffoon emoting and his little henchman, Stephen Miller, his little golemish henchman, like, defending what, whatever he does, whatever the Dear Leader does as something that it is necessary to support to stay in good standing inside the cult, inside the right. And so, yeah, guess what? Not a member of the cult, not interested in signing up for that. Stephen Miller, I'm able to assess the merits of your policies outside of the construction of whatever Dear Leader does is good. And I assess this policy, I assess your policy of trying to do a deal with China and at the end of the deal ending up with a 20% higher tariff, a 20% higher sales tax on the American consumer in exchange for literally nothing. Literally nothing. That has been your art of the deal. We are ensuring that people pay 20% more on goods they get from China on the one side, and on the other side, we get nothing. That's the deal. Great, awesome. Great work. That's conservatism now. Whatever, that's fine. You can have it. So appreciate Stephen Miller for monitoring what we're doing. I think it's important to hash these things out. It's important for people out here in the YouTube world to hear and assess for themselves. Do they think that, you know the Trump administration's policy of charging a 30% tariff on the stroller that you want to buy? Do you think that is a winner in service of some unclear future machine manufacturing plant? If that's the deal you want, that's fine. I'm not for that. I don't think that we should have an additional 30% tax on products coming from China in exchange for nothing. I think that's a very bad deal. I think it's a very stupid deal. I don't think it puts one on the left to believe that, but it certainly puts one in opposition to this administration and the really ludicrous and harmful economic policies they've been putting forth on top of the cruel and dehumanizing and un American immigration policies that Stephen Miller has been central to. So I embrace your ire, Stephen. I think it's being on the wrong side of Stephen Miller means that I'm on the right side of a lot of things these days. So appreciate your feedback. Everybody else, subscribe to the feed. We'll be monitoring what's happening and we'll be talking to you all soon.