Jim Cramer roasted for saying Trump's massive tariff hikes announcement made him ‘feel like a sucker’

WASHINGTON, DC: CNBC's 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer has never been shy about his opinions. However, he was roasted online after he said he felt like a “sucker” watching Presidnet Donald Trump's administration roll out its massive tariff hikes.

Cramer—a longtime critic of Trump’s strategies—sat down with CNN on Thursday, April 3, to discuss the economic ramifications after the POTUS' bombshell announcement the day before—an event which was dubbed "Liberation Day" by the government. 

Jim Cramer says he felt like a 'sucker' after Donald Trump announced tariff hikes

“I’m let down because, yes, I’m not a free trader. I’m a fair trader,” Jim Cramer confessed to CNN anchor Erin Burnett.

“I always have been from the days when you worked with me at CNBC. And what I was hoping was that a coordinated thing where if you are charging us 20 percent, we charge you 20 percent. Instead of a car where we’re only making you pay 2-1/2 and you’re not letting us in, we try to get things better,” he continued.

But that’s not what happened. Trump went all-in, slapping tariffs as high as 46 percent on Vietnamese imports and a whopping 49 percent on Cambodian goods. 

Cramer was baffled. “The numbers do not make any sense,” he said, before adding, “And what bothered me, Erin, was that they really did—over and over again—the president said, ‘Listen, it’s going to be reciprocal. So, you do it, we do it.’ And that was going to be so good. And I really believed in it.”

“And I feel like a sucker tonight because I am not a free trader and I do not believe in free trade. And I was just as tough, if not tougher, than his people," he insisted.

"But they screwed it up and they really made—they did it a totally ill-advised way. And I was very let down as someone who really, truly believes that free trade is awful for the American working person. This is what they came up with? Jeez, come on! Have some gumption. Have some math,” the 'Mad Money' host further said.

Before Trump’s full plan had been revealed, Cramer took a much more optimistic approach during his own show.

“I’m going Mr Brightside,” he said, suggesting that people would overreact. “I’m doing it because I think we’ll be making too big a deal of these tariffs tomorrow, because we have been talking about how horrible they will be for ages. And regular viewers of this show know that.”

Jim Cramer mercilessly trolled on social media

Jim Cramer was brutally trolled on social media for his latest take on the reciprocal tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.

"Jim Cramer helps his Wall Street buddies win, then cries foul when Trump puts America first. Now he’s 'a sucker' because tariffs hurt the free trade scam? Nothing tops his 2007 meltdown, but this is close. Suddenly, he cares about the American worker? Please," one user posted on X.

"Where was this energy when Main Street was getting hollowed out and China was buying up our supply chains? The only thing 'free' about free trade was the cost to the American worker," another offered.

"Isn’t this the guy who gives stock advice, and the opposite tends to happen?" one person asked.

"If Jim Cramer is criticizing Trump’s tariffs, then you know it was the right move," a comment read.

"Jim Cramer is wrong more than the average person’s March Madness bracket," someone else joked.

"We are so going to boom…. Inverse Cramer incoming," another predicted.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.