US Trade Rep fires back at GOP House member who said she has 'too nice a smile' to do her job: 'I don't need your pity'

Nicole Gaudiano
Fri, March 24, 2023 

US Trade Representative, speaks during the Senate Finance Committee Hearing on the Presidents 2023 Trade Policy Agenda at the U.S. Capitol on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC.

• A US House member said the US Trade Representative had "too nice a smile" to do her job.

• Now Katherine Tai is winning kudos on Twitter for her quick response.

• "I don't need your pity. I stand up for the American people," she said.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is winning kudos on Twitter for her response to inappropriate remarks from from a GOP House member, who said during a congressional hearing that he feels "sorry" for her and  has "too nice a smile" to do her job.

"Well, let me just take off the nice a little bit," Tai said. "I don't need your pity. I stand up for the American people. And when I speak people listen because I represent the interests of the United States."

During a House committee hearing, Republican Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina told Tai that Republicans are frustrated because the US is distracted, China is advancing and it "just does not appear we are moving the needle on trade."

"I personally think you're too nice a person to be in the job that you're in," he said, adding that she's "handicapped" by administrators that she must report to. "Negotiators are usually very, very tough and sometimes mean people. They aren't nice people like you are. And if you look at what's happened with us, we are absolutely handcuffing the United States because we worry more about green things."

The US is at a disadvantage, he said, and "personally I feel sorry for you. You're stuck in the middle of that."

 

Tai laughed at first and said she knows to be nice to members of the House Ways and Means Committee. "I've never been faulted for being too nice," she said.

Then Murphy responded, "You have too nice a smile."

Tai replied, "I also don't need you to feel sorry for me. So, please don't."

Female members of Congress responded to the clip as it made the rounds on Twitter.

"I sat in the room with @AmbassadorTai as we negotiated the strongest labor, environmental, and enforcement provisions in U.S. history. No one is a tougher and more capable negotiator on behalf of America's trade interests and values," tweeted Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, wrote: "You tell 'em sister."

"You don't need his crocodile tears," she added. "Thank you for your tireless work on behalf of our country."

A member of Biden's Cabinet, Tai is the principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy.
She previously served as chief trade counsel and Trade Subcommittee staff director for the House Ways and Means Committee and as chief counsel for China trade enforcement at the Office of the US Trade Representative, according to her biography.

She earned degrees from Yale University and Harvard Law School and is fluent in Mandarin.