Candidates for Tennessee’s redrawn 5th Congressional district took the stage together Wednesday for what is likely the final time before the Nov. 3 election. Republican Charlie Hatcher and Democrat Chaz Molder clashed on President Donald Trump’s handling of international tariffs, but agreed on the importance of constituent services and an urgent need to reduce the cost of living. Independent candidate Micheal O’Leary – an immigrant and Irish pub owner who formerly served as a local official in California – also participated in the forum hosted by the Spring Hill, Maury County and Williamson County chambers of commerce and sponsored by lobbying firm Jigsaw.
The Democratic and Republican parties are pushing hard to win the race to represent the 5th Congressional district, one of three newly drawn districts that split liberal-leaning Memphis and Shelby County. Tennessee’s Republican supermajority redrew the districts in May in an attempt to stack the odds in Republican candidates’ favor to win all nine of the state’s Congressional seats.
Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, walks into Wednesday’s forum with his wife, Elizabeth.
On tariffs Molder, who has served as mayor of Columbia since 2018, said getting rid of tariffs is one of his top priorities to reduce the cost of living. “They are wrong, and they are at the wrong time,” he said. “It’s causing the cost to go up at a time when people are hurting. We’re using them the wrong way. We’re putting tariffs on our longtime trading allies that are hurting us here at home, and then we’re waiving tariffs on foreign farmers, but are hurting our farmers here in the United States.” Molder also said that Congress is not heeding its constitutional duty to authorize tariffs, allowing Trump to control tariff decisions. “I will be a check and balance on tariffs,” Molder said.
Hatcher, a dairy farmer and former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner, described tariffs as a tool that “can be used effectively, sometimes badly, and the first ones that take the brunt of it are farmers.” Quotation We need to support American industries, and we need to support American agriculture so that we can … not have other countries hold us hostage. – Charlie Hatcher But Hatcher said that Trump has used tariffs to strike deals with countries that were “taking advantage of us” under former President Joe Biden’s administration. He said effective use of tariffs include putting a tariff on Canadian dairy products coming into the United States and on imported Chinese steel to encourage production within the U.S. “We need to support American industries, and we need to support American agriculture so that we can … not have other countries hold us hostage,” Hatcher said.
Hatcher said Molder’s statement that Congress is shirking its duty to approve or disapprove tariffs is “talking points.” When asked if he had a problem with the president announcing tariffs without Congressional approval, Hatcher again said tariffs are a “tool in the toolbox.” “The international (agriculture) trade is better than it was during the Biden administration by a long shot … tariffs can be very effective,” he said. “I’m not saying they were used effectively every single time, but they’ve been used very effectively in many cases.”
