GOP senators blast White House aide over trade remarks
Republican senators hit back on Monday at White House aide Peter Navarro after President Trump’s trade adviser said there was a “special place in hell” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Navarro’s comments, made over the weekend, add new fuel to long-simmering tensions with Senate Republicans, who take a fundamentally different approach to trade than the top White House staffer.
Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Republican senator, argued that the comments were inappropriate.
{mosads}”I think if Mr. Navarro worked for me I would probably give him a stern talking to. I think that’s — attacking a foreign leader like that directly and being a staffer is to me inappropriate,” Cornyn said.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) told CNN that Navarro’s remarks were “completely unhelpful.” Meanwhile, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a former U.S. trade representative, said “yeah, I don’t think it’s effective,” when asked about the comments.
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Navarro told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), a vocal Trump critic who is retiring after 2018, said in a tweet over the weekend aimed at Republicans that: “This is not who we are. This cannot be our party.”
After the latest dust-up with Trudeau, Hatch told reporters on Monday that Navarro “should’ve kept his big mouth shut.”
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