Recap Of Trumps Interview With Joe Rogan

Recap Of Trumps Interview With Joe Rogan

– By Lisa Rutherford –

My last article published on October 27, focused on young men gravitating to the Republican party and Joe Rogan’s influence through his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience. In my article, I mentioned that Rogan planned to interview Trump, which he did on Friday, October 25, after I’d submitted my article. I listened to the nearly-three-hour interview of Trump. I don’t know what I was expecting from a man who had rejected Trump in the past, called Trump a “polarizing figure” and an “existential threat to democracy,” and refused to have him on his show. But what I watched was an amazing 360.

It was a true “lovefest.” Rogan appeared starstruck. Trump and Rogan – surprisingly, given past comments about Trump – agreed virtually on everything. Rogan would ask him a question and then nod and agree, if not enthusiastically, at least amusedly, during Trump’s long, drawn-out answer. Rogan seemed absolutely mesmerized by Trump, who frequently told Rogan how great Rogan is and how wonderful his show is. In fact, Trump controlled the entire interview often talking over Rogan, as is his style.

Their discussion covered a plethora of topics: MMA fighting; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., vaccines, and unhealthy foods; farmers’ challenges; poor forest management and fires; Elon Musk’s EVs and Starlink; problems with windmills; Afghanistan evacuation; perfect-looking Air Force One pilots (I kid you not!); tax cuts, tariffs and the deficit; immigrants and cartels; Trump’s appearance at the Al Smith Dinner benefit event; men playing women’s sports; purported increase in crime and police defunding; and more! It was a real mixed bag.

With such a broad array of issues, I focus on those pertinent to the election, not in an effort to change minds at this late date, but rather to delve into some of Trump’s assertions.

Tax cuts, deficits: When asked by Rogan about the deficit, Trump said that the increased deficit during his term was not caused by his tax cuts. He said it was caused by covid and that tax cuts would have paid off the national debt because “money was rolling in.” So here are some facts.

In 2009 (Obama), during the Great Recession, the deficit (difference between what the government spends and what it takes in) hit a high of 9.8%. By 2014 (Obama), the deficit was down to 2.4%. By 2018 (before covid), after Trump’s tax bill was passed, it was up to 3.8%; by 2019 (still before covid) it was up to 4.6%. After jumping to a high of 14.7% in 2020 during the pandemic, it was down to 6.2% in 2023 (Biden), still higher than when Trump passed his tax cut. In August 2018, Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, insisted “this tax plan will not only pay for itself but in fact create additional revenue for the government.” So much for all that “money rolling in”!

What “money rolling-in” tax plan will Trump try to pass if reelected and what will its effects be?

Tariffs: Trump had plenty to say about the value of tariffs for our economy, but Rogan did not question him about the cost of goods going up for average citizens. Trump asserted that tariffs worked well during the 1800s and praised Republican President McKinley’s efforts.

Early in our nation’s early history, tariffs were the only option for revenue since there was no income tax and tariffs were used to protect the nation’s “infant” industries, which hardly needed protection by the early 20^th century but instead were creating great wealth – the Gilded Age – and rising inequality. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which Trump referenced, had some rates as high as 50% — highest in history – and Americans suffered under the tariffs which affected their cost of living. The McKinley Act was not the only bad tariff law. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 enacted to protect American businesses and farmers came at a particularly bad time. The Great Depression hit and the Act created international retaliation and stopped international trade.

The tariff battle has always been between the working class and business that stood to profit on the backs of consumers. So, tariffs became seen as based on an outdated political and social theory. In spite of this, the hard-fought 16th Amendment , which laid the ground work for our income tax system to replace tariffs was not ratified until 1913.

Now, Trump says he would replace income tax with tariffs if he’s elected. He’s “called for a 20% across-the-board tariff on all imports, a 60% duty on Chinese goods, and a punitive tax on U.S. companies that ship jobs overseas.” What Trump misses is an understanding of what led to the end of favored tariffs and creation of an income tax system. His economic policies, as shown by economic experts, would hinder economic growth, increase inflation, harm the working class, balloon the deficit, lead to more wealth concentration and possibly a new trade war.

As noted, tariffs have been favored by business while working class pays more for goods. It’s reasonable, then, that both Trump and Musk would favor tariffs. Musk certainly doesn’t want affordable Chinese EV undercutting his Tesla profits!

Elon Musk, Starlink and Tesla: Speaking of Musk, Rogan and Trump both praised Elon Musk and his Starlink satellite internet provider engineered by his company SpaceX. They both agreed that this is a very good thing for rural communities as opposed to Biden’s plan for cable service for those areas. On June 2023, under Biden, funding for high-speed internet infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for each state, territory and the District of Columbia was announced by the Department of Commerce.

According to Forbes, a well-respected business organization, Starlink’s cons outweigh the pros including that service is not available in many rural areas, not to mention expensive equipment fees and long-term viability issues. Most of its availability is in urban areas. SpaceX and Tesla have already received a lot of money from the federal government. Is this another way of Musk worming his way into more of our tax dollars?

Both Rogan and Trump gushed over how brilliant Musk is – until they got to his EV, Tesla, when they both had nothing good to say about it. Of course, that was because Tesla ties into Biden’s “Green New Deal” agenda and Trump wants no part of that – Rogan, too, apparently. So, Musk is brilliant but that only goes so far, I guess.

Trump also wants to stop Chinese EVs which would be affordable to Americans who are now suffering under the cost of expensive EVs. He spoke excitedly about the cancellation of a Chinese car plant in Mexico because of his tariff efforts. Music to Musk’s ears!

Increasing oil production: Trump asserted that the U.S. has more oil and gas than any other nation, and we should be producing more. He was proud of his effort to open drilling in ANWR, a controversial area in Alaska. Trump has put the price of gasoline center stage in the presidential campaign. He said, “When I left office … gasoline had reached $1.87 a gallon.” In fact, when he left office on January 20, 2021, the average gas price was $2.40.

The U.S. does hold the most “recoverable” oil reserves – thanks to “unconventional resource plays” – but ranks 10^th (9^th by some accounts) in the world when it comes to “proven” oil reserves. Volumes conflict depending on who is reporting and what they’re considering. In any, case, it seems clear that the U.S. is the more efficient country when it comes to oil production, and produced more during the last six years in a row than any nation at any time, averaging 12.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2023.

Has America’s stellar oil production had a major effect on gasoline prices? During Obama’s two terms, average daily oil production was 219,173 barrels (bbls) and the price of gasoline fluctuated from $2.50 in July 2009 during the recession to $2.23 in July 2016 with a high of $3.68 in July 2011.

Average daily oil production during Trump’s four years was 334,484 bbls. Prices fluctuated from a high of $2.85 in July 2018 to a low of $1.77 April 2020 (during Covid).

Average daily oil production during Biden’s nearly-four-year term has been 372,467 bbls – with 7 days over 400,000! The average price per gallon during this time ranged from a low of $2.39 in January 2021 to a high of $5 in June 2022. The average in October has been $3.14.

It seems clear to me that the price of gasoline has little to do with the amount of oil that’s produced. So, “drill, baby, drill” as Trump asserts is not necessarily the answer to help those who are crying for cheaper gas or need for more energy generally. The cry for more energy to meet the perceived growing energy need should be met with the question: “Are we using our energy wisely or wasting it through poor decisions?”

So, with only two days left to the election on November 5, if Trump is reelected, remember what I’ve said. Because I don’t think he will greatly improve the situations of those who think the economy is worse under Biden or would be under Harris. The economy is performing well with GDP (value of all goods and services produced in the U.S.) at 2.8% in the third quarter (Trump averaged 2.5% over his “pre-pandemic” years) and consumption has increased at an annual rate of 3.7%, above second quarter.

Happy voting – and good luck!

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