The silly meme at the left is something Donald Trump is campaigning on. He is trying to get white working class votes by claiming that Bill Clinton is responsible for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and that Hillary Clinton supported Bill doing that.There only one thing wrong with that -- it's an outrageous LIE! NAFTA was originally a Republican idea, and it was started, passed, and singed into law by Republicans -- and it was done before Bill Clinton ever took office.
The idea of NAFTA had its roots in the Reagan administration. In fact, Ronald Reagan actually campaigned on the idea of a "North American common market" (i.e., free trade agreement).
Then in 1984, the Republican Congress passed the Trade and Tariff Act. This law allowed the president to begin negotiations with Canada and Mexico on a free trade agreement.
The negotiations actually became a reality in 1990, under President George H.W. Bush. The negotiations resulted in the agreement we call NAFTA in 1992 -- and the agreement was signed by President Bush in December of 1992 -- at least a month before President Clinton was sworn in for his first term. Both houses of Congress than ratified it in 1993.
Trump is lying when he blames Bill Clinton for NAFTA. If any presidents are to blame, it is Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush -- both Republicans. We can debate whether NAFTA was a good idea or not, but it is simply not the fault of Bill Clinton either way.
