MAGA Candidate Blasts Trump’s Trade Bullies as ‘Children’
MAGA congressman John James has pleaded for an end to Donald Trump’s bonkers—and escalating—feud with Canada as the president’s latest crusade becomes another headache for Republicans on the ballot.
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James, a MAGA warrior who Trump, 80, has endorsed for governor in Michigan, likened Trump’s trade war to a childish squabble while taking care not to directly knock the president during his appearance Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation.
Trump, 80, dragged the U.S. into a spiraling trade war with the country’s second-largest trading partner after negotiations collapsed earlier this month. He signed an executive order last week renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America in an attempt to land a petty dig.”
Asked about the trade war by Margaret Brennan, James stressed the “crucial” partnership between the U.S. and Canada and urged both sides to stop trading shots.
“We need the negotiators to go back to the table, stop acting like children, and negotiate a fair, mutually beneficial, reciprocal deal that will benefit the United States of America and the state of Michigan,” the 45-year-old Michigan congressman said, before making his pitch: “As a governor, I will be able to work with the president, be able to work with the prime minister to make sure that we can do this.”
James continued walking a fine line between criticizing the tariff tit-for-tat and staying on Trump’s good side, claiming that “the status quo isn’t working” and at one point taking a swipe at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“He should not be bullying Michigan because the negotiators can’t come to a deal. We need to stop the bickering—” he said, before Brennan noted that Trump had initiated the tariff fight.
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After a brief pause, James replied: “Well… well, you know what? I have kids, and I recognize that when you have people who are fighting, you just want people to fix it. And these are adults. The negotiators need to get back in the room and negotiate, and not leave until they have a deal.”
Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on approximately $20 billion in Canadian goods after negotiations collapsed, prompting Canada to respond with tariffs on more than 700 American products.
Canada’s counter-tariffs appear to target products made in hotly contested Republican-held congressional districts that will help determine which party controls Congress after November’s midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported.
James, who is trailing his Democratic opponent Jocelyn Benson in polls, came under fire in April after he was caught lounging in Turks and Caicos as Washington remained locked in the partial government shutdown.
James’ attempt to contain the fallout from the vacation backfired when a photo he posted to prove he had returned to Michigan turned out to be old.
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