Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) became the latest Republican lawmaker to face furious questioning from his constituents over President Donald Trump's economic policies during a town hall held at the Calvary Church in Jupiter — and only inflamed their wrath as he tried to justify Trump's tariff regime.
"As a retiree, I just saw 20 percent of my net worth fall as a result of tariff-on, tariff-off, tariff-on, tariff off," said the man. "You know, stocks go up and down, that's fine, we deal with that, but these huge takes on things are driving all of us crazy. All of the experts are struggling with knowing where is this going? We know that tariffs generally bring more costs to us ... so please, can Congress do someting about the volatility?"
At this point, the audience roared its approval and began applauding, with some people shouting, "Stand up to Trump!"
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"You want free trade, right?" said Mast. "You want free trade. So to give you specifics on why tariffs are going the way that they are, I can give you specifics in agriculture, I can give you specifics in manufacturing. In the last year, the United States of America imported roughly 800,000 vehicles from the E.U. The E.U. imported roughly 50,000 automobiles from the United States of America. That's a trade imbalance."
He went on to complain that in Norway, a Chevrolet Tahoe "for the most basic sticker price" costs $100,000.
The crowd, though, wasn't having it, shouting back and continuing to demand he reverse the tariffs.
Republican lawmakers around the country have been inundated with furious questions and demands at town halls as constituents implore them to resist some of Trump's most unpopular policies — with some even being accosted in heavily GOP-favoring districts. House leadership has begun advising members to avoid doing town halls altogether, which Democrats have seized on by holding their own town halls in place of absent GOP lawmakers.
