Mayor Pete Buttigieg argued at the Democrat debate in Atlanta on Wednesday that President Donald Trump should have never started holding China accountable with economic tariffs that sparked a trade war.
“We shouldn’t have to pay farmers to take the edge off a trade war that should not have started in the first place,” Pete Buttigieg said during the fifth Democrat debate.
The South Bend mayor commented in response to a question from MSNBC debate moderator Rachel Maddow, who asked him if he would keep President Trump’s subsidies in place if elected president.
“I don’t think this president cares one bit about farmers,” Buttigieg claimed. “He keeps asking them to take one for the team … they’re not going to benefit from business as usual from the president.”
A November survey from Iowa State University showed that farmers largely view the trade disruption from Trump’s fight with China as short-term pain for long-term gain.
Buttigieg went on to discuss how to help farmers combat climate change by building “climate-neutral farms” before he was interrupted.
Maddow pressed Buttigieg to say whether or not he would still support Trump’s subsidies for farms.
“Yes,” he replied. “But we won’t need them because we’re going to fix the trade war.”
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