Anatomy of a Flip Flop
Congressman Cramer may not be a master of many things, but he has perfected the art of the flip flop. Cramer has flipped and flopped positions on the trade war – from giving wishy washy answers about the president’s tariffs, to briefly taking a stand against them, to making a complete turnaround and becoming a rubber stamp for the trade war.
From Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL: “At best, Congressman Cramer is ambivalent to the needs and concerns of North Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, and businesses who are hurting under the trade war. At worst, he is turning a blind eye in order to be a rubber stamp to the president to curry political favor. And North Dakotans? They’re left to deal with the detrimental results of Cramer’s do-it-all-for-politics strategy.”
See for yourself:
CRAMER’S WISHY-WASHY POSITION.
March 2: Cramer doesn’t denounce the president’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports, even though it is known that a trade war would harm North Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, and businesses.
CRAMER (VERY) BRIEFLY TAKES A STAND AGAINST THE TRADE WAR.
March 7: Cramer joins other House colleagues in asking the president to reconsider his plan for “broad” tariffs and work with Congress to draft “a more targeted approach.”
March 10: Cramer claims he isn’t “over the moon” about the trade war and would like to see them “more narrowly defined.”
CRAMER’S FLIP FLOP.
April 4: China announces retaliatory tariffs on $50 billion worth of U.S. goods, including soybeans. Reminder: North Dakota is a major exporter of soybeans.
April 4: Cramer posts on Twitter citing his opposition to the trade war, claiming they have “the potential to harm North Dakota’s agricultural sector.”
THAT SAME DAY, APRIL 4: CRAMER DELETES THE PREVIOUS POST AND REPLACES IT with a statement claiming the president is “right to stand up to China” with regard to the trade war.
CRAMER BECOMES RUBBER STAMP FOR PRESIDENT’S TRADE WAR.
Since then, Cramer has refused to forcefully speak out against the trade war, claiming he doesn’t know whether tariffs will have any real impact and stating that such concerns are “hysteria.”
April 5: Cramer applauds the president’s goals on trade.
April 9: Cramer says concerns over the trade war are “hysteria.”
April 20: Cramer’s campaign says he will “support” the president’s position on the trade war in the Senate.
May 17: Amid soybean tariffs, Cramer says it’s not “all doom and gloom” for North Dakota producers.
June 7: Cramer says farmers need to have a higher “pain threshold” in the trade war.
July 16: Cramer encourages other DC politicians to “rally behind the administration[‘s]” trade war.
Read more about how the Cramer-endorsed trade war is threatening the livelihoods of North Dakota farmers and ranchers here and watch here.
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