Amid GOP Sen Backlash, Trump Tweets McCarthy Quote Of Support For Tariffs

on May 4, 2017 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump greets House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) during a Rose Garden event on May 4, 2017 at the White House. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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As more and more Republican senators speak out against the President’s proposed tariff on Mexico, which he thinks will force the country to stop illegal immigration into the U.S., President Trump tweeted a quote in support of the measure from the top House Republican.

“House Republicans support the President on tariffs with Mexico all the way,” Trump wrote, apparently quoting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “And that makes any measure the President takes on the border totally veto proof.”

It’s unclear when McCarthy made this statement, but the tweet comes just as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters there was “not much support in my conference for the tariffs,” after a long lunch discussion with Republican senators on Tuesday.

Senate Republicans have been unusually vocal about their opposition to Trump’s plan to slap far-reaching tariffs on Mexico in order to force the country to slow the influx of migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico illegally. Trump’s administration has already declared a national emergency on the border in order to get funding for his border wall, a move that some Republicans feared might set a dangerous precedent.

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