FLASH
Shkruar nga PamfletiAfter the Supreme Court ruling, tariffs are increasingly proving to be a backlash. Polls have fallen to their lowest level since 2021.
For Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Supreme Court was wrong. Not because, unlike constitutional judges, she considers the White House's tariffs legal, but because "the best way to get Trump to do something is to tell him he can't do it." The Arkansas governor knows the president well: she used to be his spokeswoman. Many Republican lawmakers, who have long been anxious about polls showing them losing in the November 3 midterm elections, also know him well and think the same, fearfully. Representatives and senators are convinced that the tariffs are one of the most serious burdens that are making Trump unpopular: so far almost all have remained silent, fearing political retaliation from a president who has promised to take away the mandate of those who oppose his policies.
Now, however, the scenario is changing: lawmakers in swing constituencies are starting to raise their heads. If they remain silent, their chances of reelection are becoming increasingly slim, in light of the changing mood of many independent and even conservative voters, irritated by a very tough policy on immigration, by the lack of promised improvements on the price front and also by tariffs. The latest is the Ipsos-ABC-Washington Post poll: Trump's supporters have dropped to 39%, while those who oppose him have reached 60%. Such a negative level had not been recorded by Ipsos-ABC since the day after the attack on Congress in January 2021. And among the various sectors assessed from immigration to foreign policy – respondents gave him the lowest marks precisely for tariffs (64% negative ratings) and inflation (65%).
The Supreme Court's decision and Trump's insistence, determined to bypass it to prove that he actually has almost absolute powers, are increasingly putting those who have to defend "borderline" mandates in difficulty and could wake up a hitherto silent Congress. The reason is explained by Nebraska Representative Don Bacon, one of the six Republicans who about ten days ago voted in the House of Representatives for the Democratic resolution aimed at blocking Trump's tariffs on Canada. Bacon admits that the president could veto it, but explains that the political climate is changing: Republicans who have so far been hiding, silently enduring the extortion of their legislative competence by the White House, will now have to come out in the open in the face of a Supreme Court with a conservative majority, which solemnly emphasizes that only Parliament can impose tariffs and taxes, except in some extreme cases.
In fact, it is Trump's first move to involve Congress: the new universal tariff of 15% could last a maximum of 5 months. After that, it would need a parliamentary vote. It is unlikely that Republicans will support it as a bloc if they have to vote on unpopular tariffs in the summer, just weeks before the election. And the Court's decision has led even influential conservative figures, such as Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, as well as senators Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, John Curtis and Rand Paul, to come out against the tariffs.
Until now, Trump has always relied on his political instinct and ability to harmonize with the right-wing electorate, to the point of convincing him to accept some obvious untruths. But since the Epstein case, his credibility seems shaky even among his most loyal supporters. Regarding tariffs, he has continued to say that other countries pay for them, but there are now numerous research institutes that have proven that, in reality, they weigh 90% on American businesses and consumers. Data recently confirmed by a Federal Reserve study. And when Kevin Hassett, head of the White House Economic Council, tried to ridicule this study, even demanding disciplinary measures against its authors, he received strong refutations from many economists, while The Wall Street Journal, the voice of the conservative economic world, responded with contemptuous tones in an editorial to Hassett's threats.
A real gift for the Democrats, who have not yet digested their defeat in the presidential election and do not have a leader. They have already begun, with California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Elizabeth Warren, to demand that compensation for unfair tariffs be given to individual citizens, consumer-voters who have paid more for products burdened with illegal taxes. Technically impossible, but the argument is popular: it will become an electoral battlehorse. Meanwhile, Republicans are having a hard time swimming against the current: in the absence of a Democratic leader, they have no clear target to attack./ Corriere della Sera
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