Democrat Infighting Over TPP Heating Up
The infighting among Democrats over the Trans-Pacific Partnership and whether to grant Barack Obama trade-promotion authority went nuclear on Thursday when Obama, during a speech at his perpetual campaign arm, Organizing for Action, took a few shots at some of his most loyal supporters.
“[O]ne of [the] policies right now that I’m focused on is new trade agreements with other countries. And if you were watching MSNBC and all this stuff, and – you’re thinking, oh, man, I love Obama but what’s going on here? … [W]hen people say that this trade deal is bad for working families, they don’t know what they’re talking about. I take that personally. My entire presidency has been about helping working families. … I’ve got some of these folks who are friends of mine, allies of mine saying this trade deal would destroy the American working families, despite the fact that I’ve done everything in my power to make sure that working families are empowered.”
For his part, here’s what Ed Schultz had to say in response:
“I supported you big time. I was the first liberal talker to support you. I’ve carried your water big time when it comes to health care, I’ve carried your water on the economy and defending your move on the automobile industry, but Mr. President, you can take shots at this network, but I guarantee you, you are wrong on this… American workers will suffer if this deal goes through, and Mr. President, your recovery of the economy, the automobile industry and health care will not be your legacy. It will be what you’re doing to the very people who put you in office, had you not had the unions, you would never beat John McCain, had you not had the unions, you would have never beat Mitt Romney and now turning your back on these people trying to convince them that they have to do this phony trade deal that’s going to ship jobs overseas. I’d love to talk to you face to face, Mr. President.”