One top Democrat just came to Donald Trump’s defense in this big fight
If Donald Trump is for something, Democrats reflexively oppose that something.
But now there is civil war on the Left.
And that’s because one top Democrat just came to Donald Trump’s defense in this big fight.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the last Democrat anyone would expect to say something nice about President Trump.
Whitmer was one of the biggest tyrants during COVID and kept schools and her economy locked down for more than a year.
Whitmer is also a fanatical supporter of the woke agenda and abortion-on-demand.
Whitmer is also one of the most talked 2028 Presidential prospects in the Democrat Party.
The media, Democrats and establishment RINOs painted President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs as backwards economics and poison politically.
But Whitmer – a swing state governor eying a general election in 2028 – knew the real losing ground to stake out was defending the pre-Trump globalists status quo of unfettered so-called “free trade.”
In a speech, Whitmer said she agreed with Trump’s overall goal with the tariffs of bringing manufacturing back to America and to force other countries to renegotiate fair trade deals that benefit U.S. workers.
“Here’s where President Trump and I do agree,” Whitmer said. “We do need to make more stuff in America. More cars and chips. More steel and ships. We do need fair trade.”
Whitmer thought the safe zone politically as a Democrat was to support tariffs but say she didn’t like how Trump implemented them.
“As I’ve said before, I’m not against tariffs outright, but it is a blunt tool,” Whitmer added. “You can’t just pull out the tariff hammer to swing at every problem without a clear, defined end goal.”
But Whitmer ultimately said she wasn’t sure how she would have done tariffs differently than President Trump.
“I don’t know how I would’ve enacted them differently,” Whitmer continued. “I haven’t really thought about that. What I have thought about is that tariffs need to be used like a scalpel.”
Trump’s ultimate approach was more nuanced where he threatened massive tariffs to force other countries to negotiate and then paused the tariffs and on all nations except Communist China to allow a 90-day period to hammer out new trade deals.
Some of Whitmer’s expected 2028 rivals pounced on her comments and staked out the same globalist, pro-free trade position that Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris did in their campaigns against President Trump.
“The “tariff hammer” winds up hitting your own hand rather than the nail. Tariffs are bad outright because they lead to higher prices and destroy American manufacturing. Trade is inherently good because both parties emerge better off from a consensual transaction. While sanctions (Russia, Iran) can have a geopolitical national security role, it should always be considered eyes wide open that sanctions harm both ourself and others,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis wrote on X.
Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro posted that “Pennsylvania business owners are worse off because of President Trump’s tariffs. It hasn’t been long, but it’s clear: this tax increase on Pennsylvania families and businesses is hurting our economy.”
Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin twice in large part because Trump campaigned on using tariffs as a tool to restructure trade deals to reshore American manufacturing and end the ability of foreign countries to rip off American workers.
Gretchen Whitmer understood that Trump’s tariff position is politically popular and tried to stake out a middle ground that would allow her to remain viable in both a general election and a Democrat primary.
But the force of the blowback against her shows that Democrats are heading into 2028 with the same unpopular pro-globalist trade position of their losing candidates of the past.
