Red state Republican issues stark warning for Trump: Voters are 'hurting' in his economy

Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Mo., told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday that his constituents are “absolutely” suffering as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“I've heard clearly from small and large manufacturers as well as agricultural producers that these tariffs are hurting them,” Hurd told Raju in a post shared on Twitter/X.

When Trump’s tariffs were challenged on Wednesday with a bill that would have repealed his levies against Canada, Hurt was one of six Republicans to vote against it. The other Republicans were Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) Although one Democrat supported Trump, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, the Republican defections sufficed to pass the House bill by a 219-211 vote.

Because that bill is unlikely to become law — Trump will almost certainly kill it in the Republican-controlled Senate and, barring that, would veto it at the White House — the Republicans’ opposition is primarily symbolic. Nevertheless, it speaks to the growing concern among many Republicans that Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy… and therefore their party’s political prospects.

“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” Conservative columnist Mona Charen wrote for The Bulwark on Thursday. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, an economic think tank based in Germany, reported on the same day that Trump’s tariffs are primarily hurting American consumers and importers. Foreign exporters cover only 4 percent of the $200 billion in tariff payments caused by Trump’s policies; the remaining 96 percent is covered by American consumers and importers.

“This finding has profound implications,” the study authors wrote. “If foreign exporters do not reduce their prices in response to tariffs, then the entire burden of the tariff falls on US buyers. The tariff functions not as a tax on foreign producers, but as a consumption tax on Americans. Every dollar of tariff revenue represents a dollar extracted from American businesses and households.”

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