Scott Jennings Mocks Richard Quest: You Called a Recession Last April, You Took Your Shoe Off

JENNINGS: “Well, I would just like to go back — I would like to build a DeLorean and go back to April, when everybody here was predicting ‘likely to cause a recession,’ ‘investment stops and a recession happens, ‘they‘re not talking about a U.S. recession, they‘re talking about a global recession, ‘lead to recession,’ ‘eventually, there will be a recession.’”
PHILLIP: “Scott, Scott, hold on — Scott, hold on a second — “
[Cross-talk]
QUEST: “So, very cleverly, very cleverly — hang on a chosen. If he’s chosen to use my words, I just want to point out — just a second, sir.”
JENNINGS: “I just want to point out, you called the recession. You called it. You took your shoe off.”
QUEST: “Would you like to see that again?”
JENNINGS: “You took your shoe off. You brought cookies out here.”
QUEST: “15% shoe!”
JENNINGS: “You took your shoe off and you said there was going to be a recession.”
QUEST: “Listen, Scott — “
JENNINGS: “GDP is 3%.”
QUEST: “It’s too early to give a final verdict.”
JENNINGS: “He called it.”
PHILLIP: “All right, Scott, Scott — “
QUEST: “It‘s too early. Just a second, Abby. He‘s basically calling me — calling me out here. It‘s too early to give a final verdict on the tariffs. You may wish to, but at the moment, it can‘t be said what the long-term effect is going to be.”
JENNINGS: “Richard, I am just a journalist — “
QUEST: “No, you’re not.”
JENNINGS: “ — and all I can do is read the economic data.”
PHILLIP: “Scott, it‘s a bit of a stretch, but — “
JENNINGS: “3% GDP. Trade deals. Record high in the stock market. Cooling inflation.”
QUEST: “These trade deals are garbage.”
JENNINGS: “Garbage?”
QUEST: “Yes!”
JENNINGS: “Oh, brother.”
PHILLIP: “Hold on a second. It‘s much simpler than this. Just one second, because I think it‘s super important to understand. Scott, what was happening in April of this year, 2025? What was happening then?”
JENNINGS: “The president — “
PHILLIP: “What did the president announce on that week, the first week of April? What did he announce?”
JENNINGS: “The president was implementing — “
PHILLIP: “What did he announce, Scott?”
JENNINGS: “ — his tariff agenda.”
PHILLIP: “And what were those tariff levels?”
JENNINGS: “And — well, they were different for different countries.”
PHILLIP: “Okay. So — “
JENNINGS: “But every single person predicted calamity. Calamity! Calamity!”
PHILLIP: “Scott, you can’t skip steps here. What were those tariff levels?”
JENNINGS: “They were different. He had a chart.”