A Democrat running for Congress in Michigan is campaigning on a “Made in America” platform, but has a history of outsourcing jobs and products at his own companies.
Matt Maasdam is under scrutiny for expressing a desire to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. from overseas while relying on offshore production during his time at Under Armour and at two other companies he helped found — one of which is credited with making “Joe Rogan’s favorite jeans.”
The Navy SEAL-turned-businessman is running in a crowded primary to take on Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., who flipped the seat in 2024 after Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., vacated to run for Senate.
Maasdam’s campaign website says one of his top priorities if elected to Congress would be “making more essential goods here in America, ensuring jobs pay fair wages, and keeping our manufacturing and food supply chains strong so we’re not dependent on countries like China.”
PECOS Outdoor — a portable work table company where Maasdam is CEO — sought to use products from a Chinese vendor, according to a 2022 shipping record obtained by Fox News Digital. The record denoted that PECOS received a container of samples from the Nanjing Tuchun Import and Export Co. in 2022.
Additionally, both Under Armour and Revtown, which he co-founded, outsourced production of their clothing to foreign countries.
Emma Grundhauser, Maasdam’s campaign manager, argued in a statement to Fox News Digital that he took the opportunity to build a company that makes things in America, “because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s easy.”
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“A one-off shipment of samples doesn’t change that record,” Grundhauser said. “Matt has been clear since day one: as a congressman, he’ll fight to keep the Michigan dream alive by making more things here in America so we’re not dependent on countries like China.”
“Michigan’s labor unions are standing with Matt because they know he’ll fight to bring jobs home — unlike Tom Barrett, who voted for Trump’s reckless tariffs that have killed nearly 100,000 American manufacturing jobs,” she continued.
During a candidate forum in Michigan earlier this month, an audience member asked Maasdam about his private sector record after he highlighted endorsements from local labor unions. He insisted it was impossible to manufacture jeans in America as an excuse for why the apparel companies found work outside the U.S.
“I worked for Under Armour. They made a lot of their stuff overseas. I wasn’t in charge of Under Armour, right? As much as I would like to make that stuff here, we didn’t,” Maasdam admitted.
After serving as a military aide to former President Barack Obama — often spotted carrying the nuclear football during his administration — Maasdam entered the private sector and worked for sportswear company Under Armour. He later started his own apparel company, Revtown, best known for producing jeans branded as podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan’s favorite.
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Under Armour relies heavily on outsourcing, and similarly Revtown sourced denim from Italy and manufactured its clothing in Guatemala.
“There were two good denim mills in the world — one is in Italy, one is in Japan. There are none in America. So when you talk about how to get denim to America, we don’t make it,” Maasdam said at the forum. “We don’t actually make the material, right? And so we would bring that to Guatemala, then it got cut and sewn, and we brought it here to sell it.”
Maasdam later co-founded PECOS Outdoor, a Texas-based outdoor table company that touts its commitment to making and sourcing products in the U.S.
“I got poached from that company to start another company, and everything in that company was made in America and assembled in America,” Maasdam said. “And so, from the perspective of like where is my heart and mind in terms of that stuff, it’s here, in the United States. So, that’s what we did.”
But the 2022 shipping record obtained by Fox News Digital shows PECOS received a shipment of sample materials from a Chinese vendor, meaning none of the companies Maasdam has helped lead are free from foreign outsourcing.
PECOS Outdoor and Revtown did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republicans are hoping to maintain control of the Michigan seat to preserve their narrow majority in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, Democrats are eyeing the district — which has proved flippable before — as a pickup opportunity in their bid to regain a majority in the House.
“Millionaire Matt Maasdam lined his own pockets by shipping jobs overseas,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital when asked about the revelations. “Maasdam has proven he will put his own bank account ahead of hardworking Michiganders.”
