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Did Trump really say he ‘saw Lee Iacocca on TV today’? Here's the truth
Donald Trump referenced Lee Iacocca during his reciprocal tariffs announcement on Wednesday. Here's what Trump really said about the late automobile executive.
US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India, China, Brazil, Japan, and the European Union, on Wednesday. During his address, Trump referenced the late automobile executive Lee Iacocca, saying, “I watched a gentleman today on television who used to work with Lee Iacocca, a very respected automobile person.” He described the man as “an older guy, real pro, really top guy with Lee Iacocca.”
POTUS claimed the man was asked by the interviewer what he thought of “what Trump is doing from the automobile standpoint.”
According to Trump, the man responded, “I never thought I’d see the day when this would happen, where somebody had the courage to go and do what has to be done. This is transforming our nation. Our entire nation is going to be transformed not only with the cars, but on every single other item that's built. We're going to become an industrial powerhouse.”
However, some people mistakenly believed Trump claimed he “saw Lee Iacocca on TV today praising him,” leading to criticism.
“Donald Trump just said on live TV that he saw Lee Iacocca on TV praising him this morning. That's amazing, considering Iacocca died over five years ago. Someone please put the genius back in the stable. Better yet, put him out to pasture,” one person wrote on X.
Another added, “Uhhhhh. Trump knows Lee Iacocca has been dead for 6 years, right? He just claimed he was talking about how great his tariffs are on TV....”
A third person said, “Wait…did Trump say Lee Iacocca is alive…and said he supports the tariffs?!? WTAF is going on with dementia Don?”
Another person wrote, “He said [on live television] that Lee Iacocca was interviewed today and he said the tariffs the were great…Lee Iacocca died in 2019. We’re so cooked, bro.”
Who was Lee Iacocca?
Lee Iacocca, known as the “Father of the Mustang”, was one of the most influential figures in the automobile industry. He was instrumental in the creation of the Ford Mustang and was also credited with rescuing Chrysler from near-bankruptcy in the 1980s. Iacocca passed away of natural causes in 2019 at the age of 94.
