Tom Cotton Tells Farmers To Suck It Up: At Least You’re Not Fighting In A Real War

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) downplayed the “sacrifice” that farmers will have to make to adjust to tariffs on Chinese imports by calling the offering “minimal” in comparison with what soldiers and “fallen heroes” make.

“There will be some sacrifices on the part of Americans, I grant you that, but I also would say that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes that are laid to rest in Arlington make,” he told “CBS This Morning” as Gayle King pushed back, saying “you can’t compare those two sacrifices.”

“When I’m at home in Arkansas, I hear from farmers who are worried about opening up new markets and getting their products to market, but they also understand that China is a serious competitor to the United States and wants to displace us around the world,” he said. “And they look at the sacrifices that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines make around the world and they’re willing to bear some of the sacrifices in the short term, to hopefully in the long term to ensure our longterm prosperity and security.”

The baffling comparison comes as Trump continues his escalation of the trade war with China, hiking tariffs on Chinese imports that most predict will spark retaliatory tariffs from China that will hurt farmers, a large swatch of President Trump’s most loyal voting base.

"There will be some sacrifice on the part of Americans, I grant you that. But also that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes or laid to rest," @SenTomCotton on trade war with China pic.twitter.com/lqlEZtaeBs

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 13, 2019