Republicans quietly admit Trump policies could 'prove disastrous' in their areas

05 December 2024

President-elect Donald Trump isn't known for making a lot of political comprises. Many times, he has doubled down on his most controversial positions — for example, vowing to impose across-the-board tariffs of 25 percent on goods imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico as soon as he returns to the White House.

Trump's tariff proposals have drawn blistering criticism from countless economists and business leaders, yet he isn't backing down.

In an article published by The New Republic on December 5, journalist Greg Sargent details a variety of Trump proposals that are worrying Republicans even in GOP-dominated areas.

According to Sargent, "Republicans or GOP-adjacent industries" have "already begun to admit out loud that some of his most important policy promises could prove disastrous in their parts of the country."

"These folks don't say this too directly, out of fear of offending the MAGA God King," Sargent observes. "Instead, they suggest gingerly that a slight rethink might be in order. But unpack what they're saying, and you'll see that they're in effect acknowledging that some of Trump's biggest campaign promises were basically scams."

Sargent continues, "In Georgia, for instance, some local Republicans are openly worried about Trump's threat to roll back President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into incentives for the manufacture and purchase of green energy technologies, from electric vehicles to batteries to solar power."

The New Republic journalist goes on to describe a variety of other Trump proposals that Republicans are quietly worried about, from mass deportations to abandoning green energy programs.

"NPR reports that various industries (in Texas) fear that mass deportations could cripple them, particularly in construction, where nearly 300,000 undocumented immigrants toiled as of 2022," Sargent explains. "Those workers enable the state to keep growing despite a native population that isn't supplying a large enough workforce. Local analysts and executives want Trump to refrain from removing all these people or create new ways for them to work here legally."

Sargent continues, "Even the Republican mayor of McKinney, Texas is loudly sounding the alarm. Meanwhile, back in Georgia, Trump's threat of mass deportations is awakening new awareness that undocumented immigrants drive industries like construction, landscaping, and agriculture, reports The Wall Street Journal. In Dalton, a town that backed Trump, fear is spreading that removals could “upend its economy and workforce."

Greg Sargent's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.

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