'I'm a Ronald Reagan Republican': GOPer vows to defy Trump on key issues

Although Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) isn't a full-fledged Never Trumper, the self-described "Reagan Republican" is known for being a moderate conservative and doesn't identify with the MAGA wing of his party. And he represents a swing district in a deep red state.

Donald Trump carried Nebraska on the whole by 21 percent in the 2024 presidential election, but in Bacon's district, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris received more votes.

During a Saturday morning, May 17 appearance on MSNBC, Bacon discussed some differences he has with Trump — including on tariffs and foreign policy — and vowed to keep being a "Reagan Republican."

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Bacon told host Ali Velshi, "Well, I'm the Republican who submitted a bill to put tariffs authority back to Congress. Article 1 in the Constitution is clear: Congress is in charge of tariffs. So what we did in the early '70s, we gave the executive branch emergency powers for tariffs. And I feel like in this case, President Trump has abused the word emergency tariffs as doing a wholesale tariff policy change. And I don't agree with it."

The Nebraska Republican continued, "The fact is, Republicans have not supported tariffs since 1930, and it's more of a President- McKinley-Republican-in-the-1890s philosophy here. Actually, (it) was more Democrat-supported tariffs in the 1970s. We have a really weird flux of our ideologies right now, where we have some of the people in the Republican Party — not all, not me — are embracing the protectionism and isolationism. Those are 1930s Republican policies."

The congressman, with a laugh, recalled a recent conversation with a Democrat who promised to defend free trade and "stand up to Russia." Bacon remembered telling the lawmaker, "You sound like Ronald Reagan."

Bacon told Velshi, "I don't think tariffs work, Ali. Tariffs are a glorified sales tax, and it affects the middle class the most. And you're right (about) coffee. We don't we don't make coffee here…. We're going to be paying more for all this stuff because we don't even produce it…. In the end, we know free trade works the best."

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Bacon continued, "It gives you the best product at the best price in the most efficient manner possible. And it keeps your own manufacturing competitive.

When Velshi humorously asked the 61-year-old Bacon if he will "be becoming a Democrat," he responded, "You know, I'm going to be a Ronald Reagan Republican. I campaigned for Reagan in 1976 when I was 13 years old. So, I'm more interested in trying to stand up for the longstanding conservative values that I believe. By the way, that's considered being moderate today."

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