Veteran Democratic Party strategist James Carville said that the Republican response to the consequences of tariffs has him contemplating smashing his own computer in rage.
CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked Carville what he makes of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China and the fallout.
“I‘ve come to think maybe Donald Trump hates the United States,” Carville suggested, arguing that Trump’s economic and foreign policy strategies are otherwise nonsensical. “I just can‘t get it out of my mind that I think this man – there’s some possibility – we have to consider the possibility that our president hates our country.”
TRUDEAU SAYS CANADA WILL ISSUE 25% TARIFFS ON $155 BILLION OF AMERICAN GOODS
Blitzer then played a clip of Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., speaking about the impact of Trump’s trade war.
“We all have a role to play in this, to right-size our government. And if I have to pay a little bit more for something, I‘m all for it to get America right again, to start whittling down this 36-and-a-half billion or trillion dollars worth of debt that we have. That‘s unsustainable,” Alford said.
CNN’s Manu Raju asked the Republican congressman in the same clip, “Do you think that a lot of your constituents feel the same way, they‘re willing to pay a little bit more?”
“Well, I think so,” Alford replied.
When asked by Blitzer for his response to the clip, Carville said he had to restrain himself from destroying his computer.
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“Well, I‘m trying to take a deep breath here so I don‘t come out of my chair and start punching my computer. But if I recall when he ran, he was going to bring grocery prices down from day one, and he was going to give relief to the American consumer,” Carville said of Trump. “What are we, six weeks into this? Maybe not even that. And now he said, ‘Well, you might have to pay more, but it‘s good for your country.’ Did anybody ever hear that [before]?
“Then you have what has to be one of the most colossally, I don‘t know, funny, stupid or, what‘s the word to it? The secretary of agriculture actually suggested that people grow chickens in their backyards to deal with the price of eggs.”
“So this is where we are,” Carville said as he went on to mock what he says is the Republican mindset, “’Yes, you‘re going to have to pay more, but you‘re going to like it. And if you want to help it a little bit, get some chickens and put them in your backyard.’”
“I‘m not kidding, okay,” the longtime Democratic Party strategist continued. “We‘ve seen this with our own eyes, and I‘m sitting in this chair just, you know, trying to take a deep breath and say, a couple of Hail Marys for strength to again, to not just punch the computer in frustration. But this is where we are, man. And we shouldn‘t kid ourselves.”
At his joint address to Congress, Trump warned the tariffs would cause “a little disturbance,” but it “won’t be much.”
He said, “Tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, they’re about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again.”
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