Jared Golden = Judgy Gaslighter
Our Federal Correspondent on tariffs, vests and the return of #FloridaMan LePage to Maine politics.
Jared Golden won his first congressional race in 2018 by beating Bruce Poliquin, the incumbent millionaire former Wall Street investment banker with a reputation for ducking questions. (Rich guy Poliquin darted into a bathroom to avoid a reporter from Slate with the temerity to ask if the then-sitting congressman would vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.) Poliquin’s inquiry avoidance got so bad that people put up “Missing” posters. In contrast, Golden looked like a straightforward person with normal financial needs and worries.
But now Golden is the one appearing increasingly disconnected from peoples’ lives. These days, he's frequently patronizing and judgy. All too often, he gives off gaslighter-vibes, insisting what’s bad for you is actually good for you.
Take Trump’s tariffs. While some are defensible, Golden’s hot takes are seriously out of touch. Consider his reaction to Trump slapping 46% tariffs on Vietnam, a major clothing producer. (Then he lowered the duties to 10% for 90 days, which still sparked higher prices.) You don’t have to be an economist to understand those costs are passed onto consumers, making clothes more expensive. Which means Maine’s working families will pay more at the cash register.
It’s no secret that kids get bigger every year. When my children were young, they were constantly growing out of clothes and shoes. And hand-me-downs only go so far, requiring regular purchases of garments, snow boots and winter coats. Too small skivvies, swimsuits and socks also need replacement. Not to mention that kids occasionally need costumes, dress-up outfits and sportswear.
So what was Golden’s response to Mainers’ clothing bills getting more expensive due to Trump’s Trade War? Commiseration and understanding?
Nah. What he said during an interview made me wonder if Golden ever takes his two daughters clothes shopping or if he leaves that job to his wife.
During a chat with Matt Gagnon earlier this year, the head of the conservative Maine Policy Institute (which publishes the MAGA-boosting Maine Wire), Golden suggested Mainers buy fewer, more costly U.S.-made clothes rather than more affordable garb from overseas. About 21 minutes into their conversation, Golden brought up his own sartorial stylings and suggested that people who didn’t follow suit don’t possess good values or sensible style.
Golden: But what kind of life is worth living is part of this. And, like, for instance, you open up your closet like and you got all these like clothes. But do you really need a different outfit every day, all thirty days of the month? Some people make fun of me, I heard. My parents bought me a vest, not like a dress up vest, just like, uh…
Gagnon: A vest.
Golden: A vest. For Christmas. And they were like, so we saw on social media some people commenting whether or not you ever wash your vest.
Gagnon: (Laughs)
Golden: And it’s true. I pretty much wear like the same four or five outfits in rotation, all the time. And I guess apparently it’s become like a bit of a joke. But like, ok, do I lack style? But like why do I need thirty different outfits? Is it important to be stylish? Well, it’s not to me.
Gagnon: That’s a very dude argument
Golden: Sure. But like, what kind of life is worth having?
Golden’s take on clothes is patronizing and condescending. Heck, I’m no fashionista, love thrift shops and infrequently buy new clothes. But especially before retiring, I needed to buy different accoutre for teaching, gardening, kayaking and attending weddings, conferences and funerals. Not thirty outfits, like Golden suggests, and I doubt that many people have one outfit for each day of the month. Or, conversely, very few folks follow Golden’s fashion-sense by cycling through five or fewer ensembles.
Besides kids’ clothing needs, Golden seemingly doesn’t recognize that workers need a mix of clothes. When my husband was active with his carpentry business, he’d end his day filthy with demolition debris, plaster dust, sheetrock mud, tile adhesive and gross effluvium from cleaning out abandoned crawl spaces. Plus, sometimes his clothes got ripped and torn. At the end of the day, though, he was always dirty. Like many working class Mainers, that meant a nightly shower and clean clothes when he got home from work. Which translates into lots of laundry and prevents actual laborers from mimicking Golden’s 5-day supply of plaid shirt, distressed denim, scuffed boots and brown vests.
Also condescending is Golden pontificating about “what kind of life is worth living.” Not sure what he means, but it doesn’t sound like a populist in touch with the populace.
Golden’s disdain and his dictate to buy fewer, more high-priced clothes is even more striking when considering how much more money he and his wife make compared to the typical person in Maine’s Second Congressional District. Annual Congressional financial disclosures aren’t terribly revealing, but the 2023 report Golden filed showed his family income was about a quarter of a million dollars.
Meanwhile, according to the Census Reporter, the median family in his congressional district is $61,748,. Admittedly, Jared Golden is not wealthy compared to most of his colleagues. But, compared to his constituents, he is doing quite well. And considering the Trump tariffs are estimated to cost families $4000-$8000 a year, the financial impact hits average folks harder than people with higher incomes. Six thousand dollars is nearly 10% of the average family income in Golden’s district, but just 2% of Golden’s family annual earnings.
Tariffs will squeeze folks, making it harder to buy way more than just clothes.
Golden also doesn’t seem to have considered how Trump tariffs harm Maine enterprises. In considering opening an OSB (aka a particle board-type of plywood) manufacturing plant at the former Androscoggin Mill in Jay, John Godfrey noted they will need to get equipment from abroad and tariffs make those purchases much more expensive. “So the tariffs represent a double whammy of raising the cost of building the factory,” he told Maine Public, “and perhaps diminishing the market’s desire for our product.”
Businesses, unlike many of our elected officials, recognize that tariff costs are passed on to consumers. Maine sawmill owners near the Canadian border, for instance, aren’t pleased, as lumber prices have already shot up. The new president of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bangor said recently that he’s concerned the Trump Trade War will raise prices on medical supplies.
Meanwhile, economists are expecting a slowdown, with chances of stagflation -- inflation plus a recession -- way up, along with looming supply shortages. Families in Golden’s Second District can’t wait for the hypothetical tariff-related future savings and gains. (The financial benefits are expected to be realized in decades, at the earliest. Or, possibly, never.) And they, not Golden, have to decide for themselves what defines “a life worth living.”
The politics of tariffs will take an interesting turn with #FloridaMan Paul LePage preparing a run against Golden.
(Editor’s note: As of noontime, May 5, 2025, LePage was still a registered Florida voter, according to the Florida Department of State.)
LePage has long been popular among Second District voters which means Democrats in the district may be forced to hold their nose and block their ears in order to vote for Golden to stop the former governor from going to Washington. While LePage’s election record in ME-2 gives him real advantages, his age and the 2026 political environment, plus Golden’s incumbency would make the race competitive.
There will be plenty of contrasts between these two candidates, assuming they both are on the ballot. (Golden is rumored to be considering a bid for governor.) Health care will be a big issue in 2026, considering the cuts coming from Trump and his GOP Congress. LePage blocked MaineCare expansion many times, even after Mainers voted for it in 2017, while Golden once supported universal health care and backed Biden policies lowering health insurance and prescription drug prices. Both men also have different views on reproductive rights, labor rights and tax cuts for the rich. LePage is marginally worse on voting rights, having tried to end same-day voter registration soon after becoming governor in 2011, although Golden twice voted for the SAVE Act, a voter suppression measure.
Tariffs add a wrinkle to the battle. Congressional midterms are usually bad for the party of the president. With an economic downturn on the horizon, conventional wisdom would expect Republicans to do poorly at the ballot box. Thus, there's likely a national blue wave coming. But tariffs will provide fuel for the fire for the families, businesses and institutions hurt by Trump’s economic antics. And since Golden is on the record spouting higher prices as a life lesson and learning experience, he will be in a poor position to blame Republican opponents for the lost jobs, inflation, shortages and slow growth caused by Trump and his minions.
Amy Fried spent many years as a political scientist at the University of Maine, teaching and mentoring, earning multiple awards and her current title of Professor Emerita, and publishing research in numerous academic books and articles.
From Amy: Know anyone who has or had cancer? If so, I hope you will read and share my recent opinion piece published by the Portland Press Herald at this gift link: Trump, Musk and RFK Jr. are hurting people with cancer, including me. ALSO: Here’s my piece with Luisa Deprez, published by the Washington Monthly, Trump’s Throwing Everything at Maine.
Links:
China's Xi inks Vietnam deals as tariff war deepens; Trump says they’re trying to 'screw' US Financial Disclosure Report, Jared Golden, August 2023 Census Reporter, Congressional District 2, ME Trump's tariffs: How American families, parents will be impacted Parental woes: How tariffs could affect baby formula, diapers and other essentials Project at former Jay paper mill uncertain after tariffs Many Maine sawmill owners are not cheering Trump’s lumber tariff St. Joseph won’t cut services despite ‘choppy waters’ for health care, new president says Paul LePage files to run for Maine’s swing 2nd District
 | A guest post by
|
What a nightmare election, LePage and Golden are both self promoting ranters.