While the Trump administration has received plenty of criticism from the left, not to mention some naysayers in his own party, in the wake of his “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, at least a few Democrats were willing to take an honest look at the trade policies being implemented.
One such bipartisan thinker was Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who praised some of the key details of Trump’s proposal.
As the Daily Wire reported:
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who hails from a hotly-contested district and has a track record of cooperating with Republicans, endorsed the 10% baseline in the new tariff plan. The lower-end rate matches the one Golden put forward in a bill earlier this year, the congressman noted.
ADVERTISEMENT“President Trump has introduced a number of new tariff policies, and I and my team are already digging into the details. I’ll have more to say on the specifics in the next few days,” Golden said in a statement.
“What I can say now is I’m pleased the president is building his tariff agenda on the foundation of a universal 10 percent tariff like the one I proposed in the BUILT USA Act,” he added. “This ring fence around the American economy is a good start to erasing our unsustainable trade deficits.”
Many congressional Democrats have spent the past day criticizing the new tariffs, which impose rates up to 50% on imports from dozens of countries.
Needless to say, any form of appreciation for a Trump policy is rare within today’s Democratic Party:
Democrats:
2 years to
flatten the curve. Vs. 2 days of tariffs. pic.twitter.com/JnYsvhS9Vw— Angela 💭 (@ms_babyrussell) April 4, 2025
But a number of previous clips have surfaced in which today’s party leaders were singing a different tune:
It’s funny watching the Democrats have heart attacks over tariff policies that the Democrats have been talking about doing for decades and we’re too afraid to go after Wall Street.
President Trump fears nothing! And Democrats are going to be sorry because this is going to work,… pic.twitter.com/lqAIUHRnxh
— Moni 💕 (@MoniFunGirl) April 4, 2025
Nancy Pelosi is talking about tariffs and China in 1996. So why is there such an outrage that President Trump does it? Why is everything a double standard?
I'm betting it's because the democrats sold our country out to China. Imo. pic.twitter.com/1b0xriTLrn
— Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84) April 4, 2025
Show this to your liberal friends.
Democrats Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Bernie Sanders all praising tariffs. pic.twitter.com/faHhOPIUOQ
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) April 4, 2025
Fox News also covered Golden’s recent comments:
When asked how his stance on tariffs has been received by fellow House Democrats, Golden said, “Well, I think that they are moving in the wrong direction when it comes to trade.”
“I think it’s been a knee-jerk reaction to the president,” the Maine Democrat explained of the more recent furor.
Golden said the Democratic Party he joined in his “formative years” was “the party that was warning about things like the World Trade Organization or [the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)].”
“It has kind of, I think, had a sudden movement in the opposite direction, and that’s unfortunate,” Golden said. “You’ve got to look beyond, you know, who the president is… to ask themselves what would be good for rural communities or working-class people, or cities like Detroit, whatever it may be — those who have been hit hardest by the existing trade regime.”
He added, however, “I think that this debate has been brewing since the ’90s, so it’s not only about Trump.”
Here’s what the lawmaker had to say on the matter earlier on in Trump’s second term:
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