Republican strategist Scott Jennings said Monday that Democrats have become more supportive of free trade since President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs.
Trump, during a Wednesday Rose Garden event, announced the new round of tariffs to address import duties and “horrendous imbalances” in trade. Jenning said that dozens of countries approached Trump to negotiate after the duties were announced.
“Right now, according to the Treasury secretary, we have over 50 countries who have already come to the table and want to engage with the United States and talk about how we can have a more fair free-trade relationship with them,” Jennings told “The Arena” host Kasie Hunt. “That’s a good thing, number one.”
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“Number two, this is only part of the deal. The other part of the deal is making the tax cuts permanent and maybe even, if I were them, cut the capital gains tax and offer to slash the corporate tax rate and see if you can get any Democrats to join,” Jennings said. “Because I’m amused by the Democrats who are all of a sudden free traders and for lower taxes. Well, if you‘ve got Democrats who would like to reduce the taxation on corporate activity, let’s see how serious they are. Cut capital gains, slash the corporate income tax rate. I find it amusing that everybody talks about the `08 crash. No one ever mentions that in 2022, the S&P was down 20, and the NASDAQ was down 33, and I don’t remember any of these Democrats being in hysterics when the market fully crashed in 2022.”
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris, during the 2024 presidential campaign, said in ads and speeches that Trump’s plan to impose tariffs is a “sales tax” and that it would cost American families $4,000 a year in higher prices, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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In 2015, then-Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada opposed legislation that would grant then-President Barack Obama “trade promotion authority” for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Democrats also criticized free trade agreements sent to Congress by the Obama administration in 2011.
Jennings said that, with Trump in office, Democrats also seemed to be expanding their definition of a recession.
“I would point out the last time we went into a recession, we spent an entire year redefining the word ‘recession’ because I guess a Democrat was in the White House,” Jennings said.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
