Kansas Republicans told to 'own it' as they beg Trump to reverse course

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to fix an improper attribution.

In a late Tuesday morning post on X, formerly Twitter, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) vowed to save more than 1,200 Kansas jobs with Bombardier Inc. — a Canadian company that is based in Montreal and manufactures business jets. But his tweet is drawing a lot of negative reactions on X. And Marshall's attempt at damage control generated a passionate discussion on a CNN panel.

"I'm going to fight to keep Bombardier's over 1,200 Kansas jobs," the Republican senator posted. "I've already taken that concern inside the Oval Office. We agree on the mission: bring more good-paying manufacturing jobs back to Wichita. America buys more than half of what Bombardier sells. If that's the market, more of those planes should be built here. Wichita has one of the nation's top skilled manufacturing workforces and is a leader in aerospace manufacturing."

Marshall continued, "I remember when my classmates' parents worked at Learjet — later Bombardier — when it employed well over 3,000 people. Bombardier is obligated to grow that footprint in Kansas again."

Marshall's post comes at a time when President Donald Trump is ramping up his trade war with Canada. And it didn't take long for negative reactions to start appearing on X.

Tim Jenkins, co-founder of Point B, Inc., wrote, "This shouldn't even be an issue — there is no rhyme nor reason to a trade war with Canada. If Republicans like you would all do your jobs and stand up for common sense and the American people, Trump's increasingly bizarre ideas would be marginalized to a much greater degree."

X user Jorge Ribas posted, "when you say 'taken that concern inside the Oval Office,' to whom exactly? Did someone inside the Oval Office say something about Bombardier that could threaten those 1,200 Kansas jobs?"

X user Larry Guengerich wrote, "You have such strong support for the person making these declarations. Surprised you don't stand with him no matter what he does. Own it."

Marshall's promise to save blue-collar jobs in Kansas also drew analysis on CNN, where NPR's Tamara Keith and CNN host Dana Bash weighed in with their colleagues.

Keith noted that GOP lawmakers are trying to "show some separation between themselves and their president."

Bash told Keith, "So, I mentioned at the top of the show that Roger Marshall, who has a more of a competitive race than anybody probably would have imagined, considering the fact that he's a Republican in Kansas, just put out a statement saying: I'm on it. His Democratic opponent was pretty tough in his statement, and he did so yesterday. The decision to ban Bombardier from selling in the U.S. is a direct attack on Kansas workers and Kansas jobs. Yet Roger Marshall is notably silent. OK, he's not anymore. But then, (Adam) Hamilton went on to say: We cannot allow this chaotic economic policy to continue to hurt Kansans — they deserve so much better."

CNN's Patrick Svitek, also on the panel, noted that because Trump's trade war is a "political liability for a Republican incumbent," one "strategy" of GOP lawmakers is saying that "at least they are in touch with" the Trump administration and "have an open line of communication."

The panelists noted specific Kansas Republicans who are sounding the alarm about Trump's trade war, including comments from Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and others. Bash quoted Moran saying he "reached out to the Trump administration to make certain the president is aware of the significant contributions of bombardier to Kansas and the importance of its presence in Wichita to many Kansas workers."

Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) also called Bombardier "critical" to the "region's dominance," urging the president to exempt "aviation and aviation parts ... from all tariffs."

Another panelist, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tia Mitchell, commented, "The problem for these Republicans is, you know, yes, they can use these private channels to try to influence. And even if they dare create some separation — like Sen. Marshall has to some effect with his statements saying, you know, he will fight for Bombardier — at the end of the day, they still have to deal with the fallout. They have to deal with the fact that the president that they support is now threatening thousands of jobs. They have to deal with the fallout from farmers and businesses who are dealing with the effects of the tariffs."

Mitchell continued, "They have to deal with the fallout from voters who are saying Trump keeps doing things that affect the economy and affects the bottom line and affects the price of goods. They are dealing with the effects of what Trump says and does, and they don't have a lot of power to control what he says and does."