‘Why would he do this to us?’: Trump's foreign beef push is hurting his base, Republicans warn

Republicans are warning President Donald Trump that his decision to flood supermarkets with foreign ground beef is hurting a key group in his base as the midterm elections near their climax.

Voters in beef-industry-heavy states, like South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, supported Trump in his bid for a second term.

Now, lawmakers from those states say his decision to lift tariffs on hundreds of thousands of tons of foreign beef is putting the very people who elected him in a bind.

Sen.

Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who is running for re-election, said his voters in South Dakota "love the president," and view him like a member of the family, but the beef import order feels like the administration "pulled the rug right out from underneath" them.

TRUMP WANTS CHEAPER BEEF.

REPUBLICANS IN KEY RACES WARN HIS PLAN GOES TOO FAR "They're hurt.

I mean, they feel like they've been let down," Rounds said.

"Like, how could, you know, our friend, this guy that's as close to us as they've ever been to a president, how could he do this to them? I mean, that's the way they feel," he continued.

"And that's the expression they're giving me is, ‘Why would he do this to us? Doesn't he understand ag?’" Republicans are searching for an economic message to bring to voters as grocery bills, gas prices and other day-to-day necessities grow more expensive.

Some argue that kneecapping ranchers and farmers, some of Trump’s most loyal supporters, in the name of affordability runs counter to that.

"I think people want an explanation," a House Republican granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital.

"We want to be able to go to the ranchers, who are big Trump supporters, right, to be able to go to them and say, this administration is fighting for you." THE UNEXPECTED FORCE KEEPING BEEF PRICES HIGH AND WHY THE PRESSURE COULD LAST FOR YEARS Trump signed the order last week with the intent of flooding the market with 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef , with the idea being that it would lower costs for consumers thanks to a commitment that the product would be sold at 25% below current market prices over a 90-day span.

He also contended that it would allow ranchers to regrow the nation’s herds, which, thanks to a combination of drought and the invasive New World screwworm, has dwindled to historic lows not seen since the 1950s, according to data from the U.S.