President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies are deepening divisions within the Republican Party, GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson told CNN’s Jake Tapper. The dispute is especially pronounced regarding tariffs on key allies such as Canada, which have prompted strong reactions from conservative commentators and lawmakers alike.
Trump has repeatedly threatened, delayed, and modified tariffs on Canada and Mexico, yet continues to revisit the issue. This has led to retaliatory measures from Canadian officials, exacerbating economic uncertainty.
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During an interview on CNN, Tapper pointed to a statement from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who criticized Trump’s trade approach toward Canada.
“Kristen, podcaster, and commentator Ben Shapiro, generally a pro-Trump conservative commentator, put out a statement defending Canada, saying, quote, ‘Canada is the number one trade partner of the United States. They are not a financial or economic or physical threat to the United States, treating them as such is not a wise move.’
And this kind of gets into the fact that there are a lot of Republicans who feel the same way Shapiro does.” Anderson agreed that trade policy is becoming an increasingly divisive issue within the GOP.
“Yeah,” she responded. “Trade is an issue that divides the Republican Party, and especially when you start getting into the details of, are we talking about tariffs on China, where you can, in fact, get quite a number of Republicans to say, okay, let’s make that relationship a little more fair? But when it comes to our neighbors at the very north and very south, it’s where things get a little dicier.”
She added, “And so in some ways, it shouldn’t surprise me to see prominent conservative commentators coming out and saying this, because this has been a divide within the right for some time, and especially if it begins yielding negative economic consequences, tariffs are going to get a lot less popular, a lot more quickly.”
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Shapiro’s criticism is not the only sign of discontent. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has voiced concerns about Trump’s trade policies, warning constituents in farming communities about the negative impact tariffs could have on Iowa’s economy.
As Trump continues to advocate for protectionist trade measures, opposition within his own party may intensify, particularly if economic fallout begins to affect key Republican strongholds.
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