Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin admitted the truth about tariffs in an interview with CNN, making the correct point that tariffs are taxes “passed on to consumers,” a fact that President Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge.

Mullin’s remarks, made to anchor Kaitlan Collins, are significant because he is a staunch Trump loyalist who has historically defended the administration at every turn.

“We need certainty in the business world. Tariffs is a tax and it will be passed on to consumers. But it also allows us to have open markets so if you have open markets and you want access to other markets … then the president’s going to say, ‘We’re gonna have recipropocal taxes on you, tariffs on you.’

“If you’re gonna charge us 36 percent, we’re gonna charge you 36 percent. If you want to charge us zero, we’ll charge you zero. Every one of these other countries want access to the strongest and greatest economy in the world, that’s the United States, and we don’t necessarily need to have a market but if they want access to us then we need access to them.”

Collins commented:

“What you just said is important: that a tariff is a tax that is passed on to consumers.”

“Of course it is, everybody knows that.”

But Collins reminded him:

“That is something the White House does not acknowledge.”

And Mullin was firm:

“That is something the president, who is a businessperson, understands that completely. Nobody understands the economy better than this president. There has never been a president that understands this economy better than this president.”

Mullin replied: