Despite a court stepping in late Thursday and reviving Donald Trump's campaign of tariffs against U.S. allies, one political strategist predicted it will all fall apart in the long run and Republican lawmakers won't be there to bail the president out.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "Way Too Early," former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) adviser Jonathan Kott told host Ali Vitali that GOP members of Congress won't want to admit to voters they made a "stupid vote" and will instead leave the president to fend for himself and take the blame for the economic chaos.
"I think there was a Democratic theory of well, at some point, the market turmoil will just be so bad that either Trump will have to make a u-turn on this –– TACO –– or someone will have to step in, whether it's the Senate or advisers saying, 'Alright, we can't keep doing this,'" Vitali prompted her guest. "But it does feel like the markets are starting to factor in the unpredictability. So is that the end of the Democratic plan there? Like, have they presupposed the wrong notion here?"
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"No," Kott replied. "Look, Treasury Secretary Bessent stepped in, he helped. Congress is not going to step in. Republicans have already said we don't want any part of this. They're not going to step in on tariffs. They have said, we don't want to take the votes on this because they know at some point Donald Trump's not going to be on the ballot, and those senators are going to have to face voters and say, 'Hey, I took this stupid vote and raised prices on you, and Donald Trump's not going to be there to defend me.'"
"Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) has already said we're not adding this to reconciliation, even though Trump has said this will be billions and billions of dollars. Nope. We don't want any part of this," he added. "So, I think all of Congress has said 'President, this is on you,' and Democrats are happy to let him make this fight –– watch the markets go up and down. The uncertainty is what's killing him."
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