Cue the crickets.

That’s the sound you hear from Montana’s congressional delegation — Steve Daines, Tim Sheehy, Ryan Zinke, and Troy Downing — every time Donald Trump opens his mouth and lies about tariffs. You’d think one of them might clear their throat, tug on their cowboy boots, and say, “Excuse me, sir, but that’s not how tariffs work.”

Instead, we get synchronized silence worthy of a barbershop quartet audition for “Spineless: The Musical.”

Here’s the truth Trump doesn’t want you to know (and apparently our delegation doesn’t have the nerve to explain): Tariffs aren’t paid by foreign countries. They’re taxes — on us. American consumers. Montana families. Small businesses. Farmers. You, me, and the guy trying to buy a new tractor part that now costs more than a used pickup.

Trump’s trade war has been a disaster for Montana agriculture. China stopped buying our soybeans, opting for Brazil’s instead. Prices are up, markets are down, and Montana farmers are left holding the bag — or, more accurately, the unsold bushel. And now Trump wants to fix his mess by importing more beef from Argentina. So, while our ranchers are struggling, he’s literally saying, “Let’s buy from Argentina instead.”

That’s not America First — that’s America Fumbled.

And what do we hear from Sens. Steve “Silent as a Stone” Daines, Tim “Trump’s Echo” Sheehy, and Representatives Ryan “Photo Op” Zinke and Troy “Copy-Paste Talking Points” Downing? Not a whisper. Not a peep. Just the faint hum of ambition and fear — fear of offending the Mar-a-Lago Monarch who pretends tariffs are like magic money falling from the sky.

If these four men were truly honoring their oaths of office, they’d be correcting the record, not cowering behind it. They’d tell their constituents that Trump’s tariffs are one of the largest tax increases on American consumers in history — following, of course, his massive tax cuts for the wealthy. The billionaires got their bonuses. The rest of us got higher prices, a lecture about patriotism, and a larger national deficit.  It’s obscene. 

Thanks, Trump. Your lies have economic consequences. And thanks to Montana’s delegation, they’re having political ones, too — or at least they should.

Montanans value honesty, integrity and straight talk. We can smell nonsense from miles away — usually right around campaign season. But when our so-called representatives choose silence over truth, that’s not loyalty; that’s cowardice in a cowboy hat.

Maybe Daines, Sheehy, Zinke, and Downing think silence is golden. In this case, it’s more like gilded cowardice — a shiny coating over an empty core. Their refusal to speak truth to Trump’s lies isn’t just embarrassing; it’s dangerous. Because every time they nod along, the lie grows stronger, the damage deeper, and the con thicker.

Montana deserves leaders who’ll call a lie a lie, even when it’s politically inconvenient. Leaders who understand that tariffs aren’t patriotic — they’re punishing. And that silence, no matter how polite or strategic, is still complicity.

So, here’s my humble suggestion: Next time Trump starts bragging about his “beautiful tariffs,” maybe our delegation could find the courage to whisper back, “Sir, those are taxes — on us.”

Until then, Montana’s Trump Choir can keep humming their favorite tune: “The Sound of Silence (and Surrender).”