Just because what you’re currently doing is a dumb thing doesn’t mean that any particular alternative to what you’re currently doing isn’t also a dumb thing. Or even a dumber thing.
Simply pointing out that the status quo is a problem doesn’t make any particular change in policy smart or defensible or at all likely to solve the problem. Just because “X” isn’t working doesn’t mean that “Not X” is a good or better idea - you need to assess the merits of any specific “Not X” on their own.
So even if you stipulate that current policy towards China is bad, it is still true that the Administration’s proposed tariff policy is phenomenally thoughtless and bad. Pointing out over and over again how unacceptable the status quo is doesn’t make the tariff policy they came up with any better. Continuing the old policy might be bad strategy, but they’ve managed to come up with a worse one - start a trade conflict with every country on earth on every product, so that instead of trade policy working to isolate and constrain China, our trade policy is going to isolate and constrain the U.S..