During a rally in Superior, Wisconsin today, Presidential candidate Donald Trump ripped into the North American Free Trade Agreement and warned the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is “a total disaster for our country.” Trump said the TPP will “make NAFTA look like a baby.”
Trump blasted his opponents’ support for the trade deals, implying they were selling out the American people to follow orders from corporate donors. He urged Americans to reject the latest trade deal, saying “you shouldn’t allow it.” Here’s a portion of Donald Trump’s comments from his rally today:
I will tell you one thing about Kasich. He voted in favor of NAFTA. He’s in favor – which is a disaster that sucked the businesses from Wisconsin and every place else. You have to see New England. Just took them away. He voted in favor. And what he wants now is TPP. Trans-Pacific Partnership, a total disaster for our country, led by special interests, led by the lobbies, led by countries that want to rip us off and take our jobs, led by people – this is going to make NAFTA look like a baby, folks. And you shouldn’t allow it.
It’s a bad thing for our country, believe me folks, a really bad thing.
– Donald Trump
Trump’s latest attack on free trade sounds similar to many progressive and liberal fears about the TPP, which is being pushed by President Barack Obama and many Congressional leaders. Senator Bernie Sanders has been one of the most vocal leaders rallying Americans to defeat the TPP. “Enough is enough. If we are serious about rebuilding the middle class and creating the millions of good paying jobs we desperately need, we must fundamentally rewrite our trade policies,” Sanders wrote in an op-ed titled The TPP Must Be Defeated last year. “NO to fast track, and NO to the TPP.”
The TPP and trade in general will likely become top issues in the general election.
