WASHINGTON — A Sunday op-ed under the byline of Democratic Rep. Ami Bera backing President Obama's pitch for fast-track trade authority — an issue that has split progressives from the White House — appears to crib from pro-trade talking points posted online by business groups and conservative Democrats.

The op-ed, headlined "Rep. Bera backs giving Obama authority to negotiate trade deal," ran in Sunday's Sacramento Bee. The public endorsement of Obama's pitch for fast-track authority is rare among Democrats these days, and opponents of the White House trade agenda among the president's base said the language similarities in Bera's op-ed and talking points from the Business Roundtable and moderate Democratic Third Way group — groups that back the president's trade agenda — prove their point that the deals are bad for the activist left.

"I don't know if this cut-and-paste job rises to the level of plagiarism," said Jason Stanford, a top official at the Coalition To Stop Fast Track, a labor-backed effort to pressure Democrats to vote against the White House on trade, "but Congressman Bera sure comes across like someone whose spending more time listening to corporate lobbyists than speaking for the thousands of his constituents who have asked him not to vote for fast track."

Bera's staff said the op-ed resulted from meetings with people on all sides of the trade debate.

"He's met with many different people, with many different opinions about this very important issue. He of course has spoken with the president and the White House. He's also spoken with local and national representatives from labor unions, think tanks and advocacy groups like Public Citizen and Third Way, environmental organizations, and many other constituents, policy experts, and stakeholders from all sides of this issue about how TPA will impact Sacramento County and this country," Alison Teixeira, spokesperson for Bera, told BuzzFeed News in an email. "Rep. Bera made his decision to support giving the president the authority to negotiate a trade deal with strict requirements from Congress after many hours of research and deliberation, and based on what he believes will grow our economy, create good-paying American jobs, and protect workers and the environment. His piece encapsulates his views on the issue."