District 5 Congressional candidates Molder, Hatcher clash over tariffs in forum

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.

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.”

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.”

On the war in Iran

Hatcher and Molder agreed that ending the war in Iran is necessary to reduce the growing cost of everyday goods.

“The war in Iran is causing our diesel and gas prices to rise,” Molder said. “It’s hurting our farmers and it’s hurting our small business owners.”

Hatcher said the quickest fix for rising costs is ending the war, with a caveat.

“That needs to be done as soon as two conditions are met: no nuclear weapons, and they can’t have a stranglehold on the global oil market,” he said.

The long-term fix is to “unleash American energy,” Hatcher continued, borrowing a Trump administration phrase. He said America’s lack of oil refineries is “the biggest reason we don’t have enough diesel right now,” and the country should increase refineries and lean into nuclear energy.

Economists have cited a global lack of refineries as a contributing factor to high fuel prices, but have largely pointed to the war in Iran as the most significant upward pressure on fuel prices.

On border security and ICE

“When the president’s doing something right, I’ll be the first to say it, but I’ll also have the courage to say when he’s doing something wrong,” Molder said.

One of Trump’s initiatives that he agrees with? Border security.

“I think it’s important that we have secure borders … and I think the border is more secure today than it was before (Trump) got in,” he said.

But Molder also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, “is not designed to be law enforcement agents, and that’s not what they should be doing.” He would support a congressional investigation into ICE’s practices, he said.

“They should not be tearing families apart in the darkness of night,” he said. “If you’re here illegally, then there’s no place for you here if you’re committing a dangerous crime, but if you’re here and you’re working and you’re contributing to society, then you shouldn’t be stripped away from your families from a non-trained law enforcement agency.”

When asked if ICE has gone too far under Trump’s second administration, Hatcher said he could see “instances where it did,” naming Minnesota as an example.

“They’ve backed off since,” Hatcher said. “I think we’re in a good spot now.”

Hatcher said he would not support a congressional investigation into ICE.

On the Memphis Safe Task Force

Republicans have repeatedly lauded the dispatch of the multi-agency Memphis Safe Task Force ordered by Trump last September, crediting it with driving down crime statistics. But community members against the task force’s presence point to falling crime numbers that predate the task force, and highlight concerns over due process and ICE agents arresting individuals with no criminal history, separating families in Memphis’ immigrant communities. Members of the task force also fatally shot four Black men earlier this year.

Molder said his first action in office will be contacting the Department of Justice and the Attorney General “to figure out what is going on with the task force in Memphis.”

“We’re seeing violation of constitutional rights, due process rights,” he said. “This is wrong … so that’s going to be the first thing on my agenda when I get to Congress, because the people of Memphis deserve that.”

Hatcher says he’s amenable to Molder’s challenge to debate before 5th District election

When asked when the task force’s work will be considered complete, Hatcher said he would have to review the statistics. 

“I think the local government and the mayor wants that to stay in place for now, doesn’t he? So they can work that out between the local and state and federal officials,” Hatcher said.

On Tuesday night, the Memphis City Council passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of ICE and the Tennessee National Guard from the city.

On debates

While Molder said he still wants to debate Hatcher, who previously said he would be amenable to a District 5 debate, Hatcher said he was satisfied with Wednesday’s forum.

“We’ve got 13 days left, and every minute’s accounted for,” Hatcher said. “We had these three chambers come together, and they … had a really good list of questions. It was a fair environment.”

Molder said he’s hoping Hatcher will “come around” on scheduling a debate.

“At this point, there’s not one on the calendar, and I think that would be a huge disappointment for the people of our district,” Molder said.