Barack Obama played up to the unions in both his presidential campaigns. He promised he would fix NAFTA that cost so many Americans their jobs. For eight years, he made the same promise but did nothing. In 1 1/2 years, President Donald Trump got it done.
He would have done it sooner, but he was busy defeating ISIS, cutting taxes, getting North Korea to the bargaining table, and cutting the crap out of regulations. As well as reviving the economy and creating a boatload full of jobs. But, do you want to know what the sad thing is? In 2020, the union bosses would endorse Obama over Trump if they could.
In a June 20, 2008 conference call with reporters, Obama surrogate Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat, said he was “absolutely confident Barack Obama will reopen the negotiations on NAFTA. I have been assured by him and his top economic advisers there is no question his position is constant and will stay that way on the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
But would Obama do so “unilaterally”? In a June interview with Fortune magazine, he indicated he would not.
“I’m not a big believer in doing things unilaterally,” he told the magazine of his plans on NAFTA. “I’m a big believer in opening up a dialogue and figuring out how we can make this work for all people.”
Another Politifact article from 2017 said Trump’s plans for NAFTA were stolen from Obama. For the record, Obama never even started negotiations. Trump did. Also, he got it done. But liberals have always placed a high value on intentions. Whereas we conservatives prefer results.