- A “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” scene is going viral amid Donald Trump’s new tariff threats.
- The scene highlights the impact of high tariffs on the US economy post-Great Depression.
- Since Trump’s announcement, Mexico’s president has vowed to retaliate against Trump’s proposed tariffs.
A scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is having a viral moment after President-elect Donald Trump announced new tariff plans.
In the 1986 coming-of-age movie, Bueller’s teacher, played by a famously monotoned Ben Stein, recounts the impact high tariffs had on the US economy following the Great Depression to a classroom of zoned-out students.
And while the scene remains timeless, it’s now getting a boost online after Trump announced in a pair of Monday Truth Social posts his plans to “to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.”
The “Ferris Bueller” clips began going around about a week after the election, but they’re recirculating as Trump doubles down on his promise of tariffs.
“This iconic scene with Ben Stein might be 37 years old but feels like essential viewing as we all argue about tariffs,” a caption from NowThis Impact reads.
In the scene, Bueller’s economics teacher explained that the Hawley-Smoot Tariff was a Republican-backed act that raised tariffs on imported goods. It was passed in 1930 with the intent to help the US recover from the Great Depression.
Instead, it caused countries to implement retaliatory tariffs and sunk the US economy deeper as both exports and imports decreased.
Nearly 100 years later, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo responded to Trump’s announcement with a vow to retaliate against tariffs, putting “joint ventures at risk.”
“I’ve never actually processed what was being said by the teacher in this scene until this moment,” a comment under the “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” clip read on one post. Others said someone should show it to Trump before he’s sworn in.
The clip has struck a chord among social media users worried about the economy under Trump’s proposed tariffs. Economists say the plans will increase prices and inflation, and that many companies will pass the cost of taxes to consumers.
