Republicans are warning President Donald Trump that his decision to flood supermarkets with foreign ground beef is hurting a key group in his base as the midterm elections near their climax.
Voters in beef-industry-heavy states, like South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, supported Trump in his bid for a second term. Now, lawmakers from those states say his decision to lift tariffs on hundreds of thousands of tons of foreign beef is putting the very people who elected him in a bind.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who is running for re-election, said his voters in South Dakota “love the president,” and view him like a member of the family, but the beef import order feels like the administration “pulled the rug right out from underneath” them.
“They’re hurt. I mean, they feel like they’ve been let down,” Rounds said.
“Like, how could, you know, our friend, this guy that’s as close to us as they’ve ever been to a president, how could he do this to them? I mean, that’s the way they feel,” he continued. “And that’s the expression they’re giving me is, Why would he do this to us? Doesn’t he understand ag?”
Republicans are searching for an economic message to bring to voters as grocery bills, gas prices and other day-to-day necessities grow more expensive. Some argue that kneecapping ranchers and farmers, some of Trumps most loyal supporters, in the name of affordability runs counter to that.
“I think people want an explanation,” a House Republican granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital. “We want to be able to go to the ranchers, who are big Trump supporters, right, to be able to go to them and say, this administration is fighting for you.”
THE UNEXPECTED FORCE KEEPING BEEF PRICES HIGH AND WHY THE PRESSURE COULD LAST FOR YEARS
Trump signed the order last week with the intent of flooding the market with 300,000 metric tons of , lowering costs for consumers thanks to a commitment that the product would be sold at 25% below current market prices over a 90-day span.
He also contended that it would allow ranchers to regrow the nations herds, which, thanks to a combination of drought and the invasive New World screwworm, has dwindled to historic lows not seen since the 1950s, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Im sympathetic to what hes trying to get done,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Keloland. “Hes trying to lower beef prices, which I think were all supportive of. I just dont think this is the way to do it. And so, we have a lot of beef producers here in South Dakota; they produce the highest-quality beef in the world, and were trying to build our herds back up.”
As the blowback mounts, the administration has acknowledged that ranchers are bearing the brunt of the blow. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer huddled privately with House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon, when several lawmakers pressed him on the subject of Trumps beef imports.
NEBRASKA RANCHERS STRUGGLE TO RECOVER FROM HISTORIC WILDFIRES AS DROUGHT WORSENS CRISIS
Sources inside the room told Fox News Digital that Greer acknowledged ranchers were frustrated but maintained the import strategy was temporary. He argued it was the administrations way of easing high p
