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Democrats are sharply divided over trade. But Donald Trump is helping them paper over those rifts.
The steep, sweeping tariffs the president unveiled in recent days have largely united a party that has for years undergone bruising internal battles over trade. From populists in the Rust Belt to free-trade champions in blue states, Democrats are lining up against the levies.
In interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers, congressional aides and strategists on the left, Democrats on Capitol Hill almost universally denounced them, even as many stressed they didn’t categorically oppose tariffs as part of policymaking.
“The problem is not tariffs, generally. It’s the way that Trump is doing them,” said Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), from a swing state that relies heavily on car manufacturing. “Trump tariffs are bad, and the American people are suffering. It’s a pretty easy message.”