You're arguing income inequality has worsened in spite of free trade, which is fine, but I think the original comment's point was that free trade carries some

You're arguing income inequality has worsened in spite of free trade, which is fine, but I think the original comment's point was that free trade carries some benefits, which is a separate argument altogether (that is, they are not asserting free trade is a panacea). It could be the case that some other cause has led to increased income inequality, which then would not affect the free-trade-has-benefits argument. Here is a Brookings report that explores whether global trade has directly contributed to worsening income inequality: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/worsening-american-income-inequality-is-world-trade-to-blame/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/worsening-american-income...