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Vulnerable Senate Republicans “Twisting Themselves Into Knots” As Trump’s Tariff Threat Looms

As President Trump’s latest trade war threat stands to decimate America’s economy – raising the price of goods, hurting consumers and hardworking families, and devastating agricultural communities in battleground states – vulnerable Senate Republicans have found themselves in a “tough spot.” Unwilling to take any real action to stand up to the president’s reckless tariff threat, Republican senators facing tough re-election battles are “twisting themselves into knots” to try to protect themselves from fallout with their constituents back home while not challenging Trump.

Some spineless Republicans are “voicing concerns” while refusing to commit to actually doing anything:

  • Senator Gardner “told Bloomberg News Monday that tariffs are ‘a bad idea, plain and simple.’ His office declined to comment about whether his opposition would include any efforts to overturn the President’s authority”
  • Senator Ernst “declined Thursday to say whether she would vote with other Republicans to oppose President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on Mexican imports.”
  • Senator Collins said: “I think that the next step will be that a group of senators…will go the President and talk to him about it.”
  • Senator Cornyn would NOT commit “to supporting a measure to overturn Trump’s Mexico tariffs.”

Some GOP senators are all in… no matter how much it’ll hurt their state:

  • Senator Tillis offered “unequivocal support for Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexico”
  • Senator Perdue has signaled his support for Trump’s trade strategy, saying: “‘I think the president’s doing what he has to do to get a level playing field on the trade issue.”
  • Senator Graham endorsed Trump’s threat to use tariffs after previously saying tariffs on Mexico are “a big-time bad idea.”

And then there’s unelected Senator McSally in Arizona, who is equivocating as much as possible:

  • Senator McSally: “I’m all for putting pressure on Mexico to do their part.”

Read more about how President Trump’s reckless tariff threat is playing across the country:

And in key 2020 battlegrounds:

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