GOP Senator Defends Trump Hurting Americans with Tariffs Because It’s Better Than Dying in an Actual War

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton defended President Donald Trump‘s tariffs by noting that while “some” Americans will be hurt by the trade maneuvers, their sacrifices are “minimal” to those of U.S. servicemembers who are killed in war.

Cotton appeared on Monday morning’s edition of CBS This Morning to promote his new book, “Sacred Duty: A Soldier’s Tour at Arlington National Cemetery,” but was first asked to weigh in on the trade tariffs that are roiling the stock market. Cotton, however, found an ingenious way to tie the two together.

“Senator, I want to ask you about the trade negotiations that are going on right now,” co-host Norah O’Donnell said. “There was just recently a University of Arkansas study from your home state that said retaliatory tariffs by China could end up hurting many farmers in your state.”

“Is President Trump hurting the Americans that he promised to help?” O’Donnell asked.

“So, these tariffs are going to end up hurting both the Chinese and some Americans, I’ll grant you that,” Cotton said, adding “I think they’ll ultimately hurt the Chinese more than they will Americans, in part because Chinese companies and their government have been cheating the United States for so long.”

“There will be some sacrifice on the part of Americans, I grant you that,” Cotton continued, “but I also would say that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to this sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas, that our following heroes who are laid to rest in Arlington make, that I write about in ‘Sacred Duty’.”

“Well, you can’t compare those two sacrifices,” co-host Gayle King said.

But Cotton insisted that “when I’m home in Arkansas, I hear from farmers who are worried about opening up new markets and getting their products tomorrow, but they also understand the China is a serious competitor to the United States and wants to display us around the world, and they look at the sacrifices that soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines make around the world, and they are willing to bear some of those sacrifices in the short-term to hopefully in the long-term ensure our long-term prosperity and security.”

Just like the ones he writes about in his book, “Sacred Duty,” which he has just written.

Another recent study says that Trump’s tariffs, and China’s retaliation, could cost American families $2,200 a year and kill 2.1 million jobs. But to Cotton’s point, that is not as bad as being killed in war.

Watch the clip above, via CBS.