You make perfect sense
It’s like the Free Traders claiming that “Free Trade with Communist China will open them up”.......of course, Communist China still is a one party state which bans Christianity, restricts speech, jails critics of the Commie govt.....and restricts the access of many US made goods with tariffs and non trade barriers
As for Pat Buchanan being a critic of Free Trade, I would gladly take him over Free Trade supporters like Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Barack Hussein Obama, Diane Einstein, FDR and the Godfather of the modern Free Trade era....John Maynard Keynes (go research Bretton Woods)......all great economists. /s
Really get a kick out of the Milton Friedman fans who totally ignore how much Keynesian he is on Free Trade
Ronald Reagan.