Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes never met a Trump lawsuit she didn’t like. And her latest move, enjoining a multistate suit to halt Trump’s use of tariffs, proves the point. Even before the election, which Trump won by achieving an electoral and popular vote majority, Democrats tried to instill public fear over Trump’s promise to impose tariffs, claiming it would be a “tax” on consumers (it’s not) and that it would “crash the economy” (it didn’t).

Now, they are attempting to use lawfare to stymie his tariff strategy, one which seems to be working. The tariffs are having their desired effect by bringing companies and countries to the bargaining table to make better deals with the United States. In addition, they will likely bring good-paying jobs with them, not to mention protecting existing American industries and jobs from being outsourced.

So the question comes down to “why?” Why would they want to prevent the use of the one tool that the President can wield to bring nations to heel and improve the economic relationships we have, and to address many wrongs that previous administrations (yes, many administrations – both D and R) allowed to continue and grow? If any of those advocating against tariffs had studied history, they would know that tariffs have been used throughout history to correct trade imbalances, and in some cases, to fully fund government operations at the exclusion of collecting taxes from citizens. So again, I ask, why?

If you read the nature of Mayes’ most recent complaint, you’ll see that she and her cohort AGs from (you guessed it) other “Blue” states claim that his use of tariffs is “unconstitutional.” It states:

“These edicts (imposed tariffs) reflect a national trade policy that now hinges on the President’s whims rather than the sound exercise of his lawful authority. By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy.”

Tell that to the millions of Americans who lost their jobs due to shuttered manufacturing facilities and steel mills because foreign labor works for pennies a day and, in many cases, under ungodly conditions. Tell that to the thousands of small business owners who’ve closed or scaled back their operations because countries like China and India, to name but two, manipulate their currencies and subsidize their industries to unfairly and intentionally undercut American businesses.

I’d like to say that Mayes and the other AGs simply represent misguided folks unable to see the long-term benefits of a stronger U.S. base of manufacturing and production, opting for short-term “quick” savings. I’d like to believe that they speak for people who are simply looking out for the needs of their constituents, because they believe that such long-term benefits are too vague or too distant to provide help in the present. I’d like to do those things, but I can’t. Because I don’t believe they’re true.

What I do believe is that President Trump is on to something – something that will reinvigorate the working class and the forgotten men and women of what we used to call “fly-over country.” These are the people who needed a champion to provide for their needs rather than the needs of coastal elites and multinational corporations, which seems to be the heart and soul, or at least the financial foundation, of the Democrat party these days.

A weak American economy has allowed an erosion of our national strength by undercutting our global industrial and financial dominance. America was once the world’s undisputed superpower, but greed and globalization have eaten away at that power, and our leaders allowed it to happen. President Trump is trying to do something about it. You may not like him, but you can’t deny that he is starting to make a difference. That scares the left. They have used lawfare to great effect over the years and hope to continue doing so. I’m one Arizonan who does not support AG Mayes’s latest efforts to thwart the President’s agenda. I fervently hope there are others.