Fox News hosts launched a coordinated defense of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, June 3, morning, following widespread Democratic mockery over the “TACO” acronym, which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” and refers to his pattern of backing down from tariff threats when markets decline.
The acronym originated from Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong in his May 2 newsletter, where he described how stocks rallied after Trump eased tariffs following market pressure. Armstrong coined the term as shorthand for Trump’s approach to trade policy, noting the administration’s low tolerance for market and economic pressure.
Trump first learned of the nickname during a May 28 White House press conference when a reporter asked about Wall Street’s use of the term. The president initially misheard “chicken out” as “kick out” and became visibly agitated when the reporter clarified. Trump called it “the nastiest question” and instructed the reporter to never repeat it.
According to CNN reporting cited in the sources, Trump later berated his staff for failing to warn him about the term’s circulation. A senior White House official indicated the president was frustrated both by the phrase itself and his team’s oversight in not bringing it to his attention earlier.
Democrats quickly embraced the insult, with Representative Eric Swalwell of California posting a TikTok video showing him eating a taco while a staffer asked about Trump’s tariff reversals. The Democratic National Committee reportedly planned to hire a taco truck to distribute free tacos outside the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., to further mock the president.
On Tuesday’s edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy introduced a segment titled “Dems Resort To Cringe Videos As Their Agenda Fails.” Campos-Duffy, whose husband Sean Duffy serves as Trump’s transportation secretary, characterized Democrats as “really off-kilter” for embracing what she termed a “cringey response.”
Campos-Duffy argued that having to explain the acronym’s meaning demonstrated it was ineffective as a political attack. She defended Trump’s tariff negotiations as deal-making rather than backing down, while co-host Brian Kilmeade blamed the Wall Street Journal for popularizing the term, claiming the newspaper was “at war with the president when it comes to tariffs.”
The Fox News host invoked Trump’s response to the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, arguing that Trump’s courage was evident to all observers. She suggested the TACO nickname would fail to damage Trump’s image because the public recognizes his bravery, particularly after he raised his fist following the shooting incident.
Co-host Lawrence Jones dismissed Democratic mockery as ineffective, contending that Trump’s tariff reversals actually secured better deals for Americans. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, appearing as a Fox News contributor, rejected the nickname entirely, arguing that Trump’s track record demonstrated resilience rather than retreat.
Other Fox News personalities joined the defense throughout Monday and Tuesday programming. Greg Gutfeld attempted to neutralize the insult by claiming Americans like tacos, while host Harris Faulkner described Swalwell’s video as “bizarre.” Sean Hannity accused Democrats of using “hateful, divisive rhetoric” in their taco-themed mockery.
The TACO acronym has gained traction beyond Wall Street trading floors, appearing in mainstream news headlines and spawning AI-generated memes depicting Trump as a chicken or taco. Social media users have created content around “TACO Wednesday” themes, while late-night talk show hosts and left-leaning TikTok influencers have adopted the term.
Armstrong told NPR in a May 30 interview that he initially sought a catchy shorthand for Trump’s trade policy pattern rather than creating an insult. However, he acknowledged the term had evolved beyond his original intent when major news outlets began using it in headlines.
The coordinated Fox News response represents the network’s attempt to shield Trump from criticism over his tariff policy reversals. The president has backed down from threatened tariffs against the European Union, Canada, and China after initial market negative reactions, leading to the Wall Street shorthand that has now entered political discourse.
Vice President J.D. Vance responded to Democratic taco truck plans by calling the opposition “the lamest in American history,” while Republican officials have generally dismissed the Democratic mockery as ineffective political messaging.
