Imagine stumbling across an old VHS tape labeled “Pelosi: 1996 Floor Speech.” You pop it in (after Googling how to work a VCR), and there she is—Nancy Pelosi, not the wine-swishing, Botox-browsing Pelosi we’ve come to know, but a sober, serious legislator… and she sounds a lot like Donald J. Trump.
Yes, folks, long before she was clinking glasses at fancy fundraisers and calling border walls racist, Pelosi was going scorched-earth on China, railing against unfair trade, job losses, tariff imbalance, and intellectual property theft—all things that Trump has been shouting about since the ‘80s.
But now that Trump’s actually doing something about it? Suddenly, tariffs are economic terrorism and Pelosi’s doing cartwheels to oppose them.
1996 Pelosi: Tough-on-China Patriot
Let’s rewind to 1996. Pelosi was passionately opposing Most Favored Nation (MFN) status for China, claiming—correctly—that the trade relationship was a massive hoax on American workers.
She rattled off stats like a caffeinated CNBC analyst:
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A $34 billion trade deficit with China that had grown 1,000% since Tiananmen Square
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U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods: 2%
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Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods: 35%
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Only 2% of U.S. exports allowed into China
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U.S. imports supporting 10 million Chinese jobs, while U.S. exports supported just 170,000 American jobs
And she wasn’t done. She warned about:
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Slave labor
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Forced tech transfer
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China demanding factories be built on their soil
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Boeing moving tail section manufacturing to China
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And yes, the hollowing out of American manufacturing
Pelosi even warned that the U.S. was exporting technology jobs, not just “low-tech textile work.”
Where was this Pelosi during the Biden administration? Buried beneath piles of hypocrisy and selective memory.
Trump: Same Message. Still. Always.
Here’s where it gets awkward for the Left: Trump has been consistent on this issue since Studio 54 was still cool.
He said China was eating our lunch—they were.
He said NAFTA was garbage—it was.
He said tariffs are a tool to fix imbalances—and he’s actually using them.
The fact that Trump is the only guy in Washington who hasn’t changed his position with the political winds is exactly why Pelosi, Schumer, and the rest of the Swamp are in full-blown meltdown mode.
2025 Pelosi: Tariff Panic Mode
Fast forward to today: Trump imposes tariffs, and Pelosi turns into a doomsday cultist with a press pass.
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“Reckless!”
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“Chaotic!”
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“Biggest tax hike in American history!”
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And the fan favorite: “Recession Day!” (Shoutout to Hakeem Jeffries for the drama.)
Apparently, when Democrats push for accountability, it’s leadership.
When Trump does it, it’s a constitutional crisis.
Congress Rushes to Stop Trump From Doing Their Job
The bipartisan establishment is scrambling to “rein in” Trump’s tariff powers like he’s gone rogue. Spoiler alert: he’s just doing the job they all said someone should do—just not him.
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Chuck Grassley and Maria Cantwell introduced a bill to strip presidential tariff powers.
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Tim Kaine got four Republicans to help push through a Senate resolution targeting Trump’s Canadian tariffs.
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Over in the House, Rep. Gregory Meeks is trying to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson by using a discharge petition—because nothing says “representing the people” like using procedural gymnastics to keep trade lopsided.
Meanwhile, the Market Has a Tantrum
After Trump’s tariff announcement, the stock market did what it always does when someone disrupts its cozy status quo: it had a hissy fit.
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S&P 500 dropped 4.8%
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Nasdaq fell 6%
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Dow lost over 1,600 points—its worst since 2022
Naturally, media headlines screamed “economic collapse” while completely ignoring the decades of devastation caused by inaction.
But Trump? He didn’t flinch.
“The market will boom,” he said.
And frankly, he’s got a track record of being right—especially when they say he’s wrong.
The Real Threat: Accountability
Let’s be honest: this isn’t about economics. It’s about control.
Washington doesn’t fear tariffs.
It fears Trump using power competently.
Pelosi and her pals were just fine pretending to care about American workers while letting China eat us alive. But the moment someone with actual backbone does something? They scream.
Trump called their bluff. And now they’re scrambling to flip their own record and gaslight the public.
Final Thoughts: Pelosi 1996 Would’ve Voted for Trump’s Plan
This resurfaced clip is more than just a gotcha moment. It’s proof that Trump is the most consistent figure in American politics. He’s saying the same things now he said back then. Meanwhile, Pelosi has flipped, spun, and twisted herself into a pretzel so many times she’s become a meme.
If Trump had proposed free ice cream, Democrats would start screaming about lactose intolerance.
So the next time someone calls Trump’s tariffs “reckless,” just point them to Nancy’s 1996 floor speech.
She made the case better than anyone—and she was sober.
WE’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS! PLEASE COMMENT BELOW.
JIMMY
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h/t: Steadfast and Loyal
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