Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp was caught in a lie over soybeans, tariffs, and her Republican opponent Kevin Cramer when the North Dakota farm she exploited debunked her claims.
Heitkamp posted video of a pile of soybeans in North Dakota on October 27 along with the claim, “This huge pile of unsold soybeans in Casselton is what the trade war looks like. Our farmers can’t sell their beans & it’s hurting our economy. But @kevincramer doesn’t care — he’s committed to voting with his political party 100% of the time rather than standing up for ND.”
This huge pile of unsold soybeans in Casselton is what the trade war looks like. Our farmers can’t sell their beans & it’s hurting our economy. But @kevincramer doesn’t care — he’s committed to voting with his political party 100% of the time rather than standing up for ND. pic.twitter.com/pEEee0ejgi
— Heidi Heitkamp (@HeidiHeitkamp) October 27, 2018
Heitkamp’s attack plays on China’s retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. attacking the U.S. economy in industries that have the potential to politically influence the Trump administration.
Her claim was completely torn apart days later when the very farm that owned the soybean pile she used, Maple River Grain & Agronomy LLC, posted the truth to their Facebook page. The farm cleared up that the soybean pile Heitkamp used in her post said the pile would start getting picked up within a week. The farm included an image with the excavator that will be used to load it. “If all goes well it should be off the ground before Thanksgiving. Fun fact: The pile is almost exactly the same size it was last year.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed certain tariffs on imports such as steel and aluminum on the basis of national security. China has issued retaliatory tariffs on industries that are seen as having the potential to politically influence Trump. Heitkamp used an industry that China has targeted to hurt the United States to attack her political opponent and the Trump administration in the October 27 post and in a similar ad slamming Cramer. Trump’s administration, however, has issued a package of temporary assistance to industries such as the soybean industry to weather the storm of attacks from foreign attacks like China’s retaliatory tariffs.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.