Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Floomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: Today we received news that our economy had zero percent
Speaker 1: inflation in the month of July. He might rip it
Speaker 1: in half and throw the one we weren't using on
Speaker 1: the floor, and we would have somebody come in and
Speaker 1: take it back together. Floomberg Sound on Politics, Policy, and
Speaker 1: perspective from DC's top names. I was going to get
Speaker 1: this done, come hell or high water. We believe in
Speaker 1: the rule of law, and that's where our country is agut.
Speaker 1: I believed he was gonna run before. I'm a stronger
Speaker 1: in my belief now, Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio. It might be ridiculously hot outside, but
Speaker 1: inflation is cooling. The CPI number out this morning was
Speaker 1: eight point five. We're gonna hear more from Wisconsin Congressman
Speaker 1: Brian's Style on his reaction to that news. Plus, Donald
Speaker 1: Trump was in the hot seat again today pleading the
Speaker 1: fits during a live deposition in a New York case
Speaker 1: involved in his real estate business. And then we're gonna
Speaker 1: we had another round of mid term elections yesterday. What
Speaker 1: do they tell us about November. I'm Emily Wilkins filling
Speaker 1: in for Joe Matthew today for the fastest hour in politics.
Speaker 1: So obviously big story today, that's CPI report. Inflation is
Speaker 1: still high, but not as high as it was last month,
Speaker 1: all onta eight point five percent gas, airfares, those prices
Speaker 1: are down, but cost of rent, cost of food that's
Speaker 1: still climbing. Inflation has remained a top issues for voters
Speaker 1: throughout this year, and we know from the nonpartisan Congressional
Speaker 1: Budget Office that we can expect high inflation to persist
Speaker 1: into three with us now to discuss this and other issues.
Speaker 1: As Congressman Brian Style, Wisconsin Republican Congressman, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining sound On. Absolutely thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: I wanted to just sort of jump right into it,
Speaker 1: start talking about the big news of the day, obviously
Speaker 1: the CPI numbers, and I want to get your sense
Speaker 1: of what the takeaway is. Obviously, the report this morning
Speaker 1: showed that inflation is slightly down to eight point five
Speaker 1: Is this a good sign? It's it's good that it's down,
Speaker 1: but when we dig into the numbers, I don't think
Speaker 1: it gives a lot of confidence that long term we're
Speaker 1: moving in the right direction. What do I mean by
Speaker 1: that We look and see that energy prices are down,
Speaker 1: but not because supply is up, but because demand is down,
Speaker 1: as if we're already in a recession. And so I
Speaker 1: remain concerned about the broader impact that this is going
Speaker 1: to have on our economy, that our economy, which is
Speaker 1: contracted last quarter, we may continue to see that going forward.
Speaker 1: What we need to do is work in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: To increase supply and predict in particularly unleashing American energy.
Speaker 1: And what we're seeing from the Biden administration from one
Speaker 1: party Democratic control is further taxes on oil and gas production,
Speaker 1: which will only increase the end cost to consumers and
Speaker 1: do nothing to address the supply constraints that we have
Speaker 1: with American energy. I do want to ask about that
Speaker 1: a little bit, because you did see legislation passed recently
Speaker 1: that deals with funding for semiconductor semiconductor manufacturing. You're seeing
Speaker 1: a legislation that's going to be voted on in the
Speaker 1: House on Friday dealing with tax credits for various renewable
Speaker 1: energy sources as well as other things that are meant
Speaker 1: to lower some costs. I mean, aren't those bills meant
Speaker 1: to bolster the supply side of things. What we're seeing
Speaker 1: is government subsidies in specific industries, green energy, chips, other
Speaker 1: key sectors in the economy. But what we need to
Speaker 1: be working on in Washington is the fundamentals of economic
Speaker 1: growth to allow this to be a sustainable growth And
Speaker 1: one of the challenges we see is a refusal to
Speaker 1: unleashed American energy, which is a key component of the
Speaker 1: inflationary pressure people are feeling. Further, they're actually raising taxes
Speaker 1: on a whole host of businesses. Is going to come
Speaker 1: in impact everyday Americans, whether or not that's a that's
Speaker 1: a tax on stock buy back that's going to hurt
Speaker 1: American retirement accounts, whether or not that's the tax on
Speaker 1: domestic production of oil and natural gas, which people are
Speaker 1: going to feel when they're heating their homes this upcoming
Speaker 1: winter or filling up their car with gas this summer.
Speaker 1: And so I continue to see the policies move in
Speaker 1: the wrong direction. Simply subsidizing key sectors does not make
Speaker 1: a sustainable growth pattern in the United States. Congressman, talk
Speaker 1: with me a little bit about what Republicans are thinking.
Speaker 1: I know that right now you're working on a larger
Speaker 1: policy plan. Obviously, there is a really good chance right
Speaker 1: now that Republicans will be in the majority in the
Speaker 1: House next year and be able to implement things I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we we could be easily see inflation still
Speaker 1: at a very high level. Uh, if Republicans get the
Speaker 1: gavel and control next year. So what are Republicans going
Speaker 1: to do to address some of this inflation and make
Speaker 1: sure that that we're not going into a recession? Well,
Speaker 1: I a great question in one is unleashing American energy.
Speaker 1: We referenced that too. We need to make sure that
Speaker 1: businesses are in a position to increase supply across us
Speaker 1: the board, and so as we've seen from this administration,
Speaker 1: we've seen constraints in particular in the supply chain. We
Speaker 1: need to be allowing businesses to go out to hire people,
Speaker 1: to bring workers in from the sidelines, changing those key
Speaker 1: social policies that have left far too many workers on
Speaker 1: the sidelines. And then we need to do a broader
Speaker 1: approach here of unwinding a lot of the COVID era
Speaker 1: policies that are still impacting Americans every day. That's everything
Speaker 1: from addressing ways that we can look at the social
Speaker 1: safety net structures that were altered during the COVID period.
Speaker 1: How do we unwind those to help workers get back
Speaker 1: up and on their feet and sustainably into the middle class.
Speaker 1: How do we unwind the tax policies that this administration
Speaker 1: is moving forward by increasing their increasing taxes on businesses
Speaker 1: and all Americans. I think we should be doing the
Speaker 1: opposite of particular during a period of time of recession
Speaker 1: which we are seeing ourselves in. I'm wondering if you
Speaker 1: do think that there is something to be said about
Speaker 1: the renewable energies that we are seeing being promoted in
Speaker 1: the bill on Friday. And no, obviously that Republicans are
Speaker 1: not supporting the bill. Republicans will not be voting for
Speaker 1: the bill. But at the same point, I've spoken with
Speaker 1: with folks in your in your conference, including Congressman Garrett Graves,
Speaker 1: who feels like there is some spot for renewables. How
Speaker 1: are you thinking about that we need an all of
Speaker 1: the above energy approach. There's absolutely in need for additional
Speaker 1: sources of clean energy. There needs to be more win,
Speaker 1: more solar, and we could go down the line. The
Speaker 1: key is that market fundamentals need to be driving this movement. Forward,
Speaker 1: not simply government subsidies, and so I'm a I'm a
Speaker 1: believer that there probably will be more electric cars in
Speaker 1: the future. I don't think it's the role of the
Speaker 1: federal government to be subsidizing people who can afford a
Speaker 1: sixty five dollar electric vehicle. I think that's the wrong approach.
Speaker 1: I think that's an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. And
Speaker 1: so I'm a believer that we do need in all
Speaker 1: of the above energy approach, we're going to see more
Speaker 1: investment in the mess to clean production of energy. But
Speaker 1: simply working on the subsidy side rather than looking at
Speaker 1: how we broadened the supply generally, I think it's the
Speaker 1: wrong approach. I also want to ask you a little bit. Obviously,
Speaker 1: there were elections last night in Wisconsin. Um, you easily
Speaker 1: won your your primary, congratulations on that, but there were
Speaker 1: a number of really contested races. I know that a
Speaker 1: lot of big questions about the governor, about other other
Speaker 1: seats in the in the in Wisconsin. What were your
Speaker 1: sort of main takeaways from last night? The main takeaway
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin to me is that people are ready to
Speaker 1: move forward and talk about how do we unwind ourselves
Speaker 1: from one party Democratic control in Washington and a Democratic
Speaker 1: governor in Wisconsin that hasn't been good for workers. People
Speaker 1: want to rip the band aid off the COVID era
Speaker 1: policies that we've seen, some of the spending that we
Speaker 1: have seen this driven the inflation. People want to get
Speaker 1: spending under control. They want inflation under control. They want
Speaker 1: to make sure, in particular in schools, that children are
Speaker 1: being taught how to think, not what to think, and
Speaker 1: that we keep our community safe. And so I think
Speaker 1: we're going to have a robust national dialogue, in a
Speaker 1: national dialogue taking place in the state Wisconsin as well,
Speaker 1: about the direction of our country. And I think people
Speaker 1: are ready to put a check on the Biden administration.
Speaker 1: I also wanted to get your thoughts just on the
Speaker 1: Senate race. There's been some criticism of the Republican who
Speaker 1: currently has has a seat, Ron Johnson, just given some
Speaker 1: of the statements that he's made that have been a
Speaker 1: bit controversial on on covid uh, just on various conspiracy
Speaker 1: theories kind of flying around, And I'm wondering if if
Speaker 1: you can comment a little bit, if you think that
Speaker 1: that kind of rhetoric is helpful for the Republican Party.
Speaker 1: I think Ron Johnson is ultimately going to be successful,
Speaker 1: and I think it's because he shares what's on his mind,
Speaker 1: and so he shares the frustration. I think that a
Speaker 1: lot of voters have what's taken place in our country
Speaker 1: over the past two years, and so that frustration, I
Speaker 1: think will show up on the polls that people want
Speaker 1: to get our way of life back. They want to
Speaker 1: rip off the bandit off these COVID era policies. They
Speaker 1: want to get prices under control so they can afford
Speaker 1: the things for their families. And so we're going to
Speaker 1: have one of the major and most important U S
Speaker 1: Senate races in the country. But I think when voters
Speaker 1: walk into the polling boot, they're gonna want to return
Speaker 1: to the life we had pre COVID rather than continuing
Speaker 1: under this high inflationary environment that we've seen. I think
Speaker 1: the result of that will be Rod Johnson will be
Speaker 1: successful come November. But haven't we kind of already moved
Speaker 1: past COVID. I mean, you and I are both on
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill. The masks are off, their folks are back.
Speaker 1: You know you're not. We're not having to even even
Speaker 1: in d C show our vaccine cards that many places anymore.
Speaker 1: I mean, wouldn't you say that that COVID is already
Speaker 1: over and yet we're still struggling with this inflation. But
Speaker 1: I would say it's a lot of the COVID era
Speaker 1: policies that put us in the place that we are today.
Speaker 1: I say, there's still a lot of the spending that's
Speaker 1: related to COVID era spending policies that are still flowing
Speaker 1: through the economy and having a significant impact. The so
Speaker 1: called American Rescue Plan that was one point nine trillion
Speaker 1: dollars of new government spending authorized just over now a
Speaker 1: year and a half ago. But the reality of that
Speaker 1: is that spending is going to continue for the next
Speaker 1: eight years in front of us, and so we have
Speaker 1: an opportunity to unwind many of these policies and get
Speaker 1: spending under control. And so the fact that COVID is
Speaker 1: beyond us and I believe we are from a health standpoint,
Speaker 1: more or less. On the other side of it, I
Speaker 1: do think that a lot of the policies that were
Speaker 1: put in play beefed up social safety net programs that
Speaker 1: encouraged workers to stay on the sideline rather than getting
Speaker 1: back to work. We're still navigating through those terrible policy decisions,
Speaker 1: and that is one of the key drivers, I believe
Speaker 1: of the inflationary environment that we're in. I did want
Speaker 1: you to very quickly weigh in on the search warrant
Speaker 1: that was executed down in Mara Logo. Can you just
Speaker 1: talk very quickly about if you think that what is
Speaker 1: at this point, what should the next step be. Should
Speaker 1: there be an investigation of the FBI or do we
Speaker 1: need to really know more information about what that search
Speaker 1: warrant was based on. The rate is unquestionably unprecedented, and
Speaker 1: I think what is still challenging for myself and many
Speaker 1: people is the FBI and the d o J have
Speaker 1: not come forward and provided an update. And so what
Speaker 1: I would like to see is additional transparency. We need
Speaker 1: to understand what was the decision making process that went
Speaker 1: into this, why was this conducted? And I think the
Speaker 1: reason so many people like myself have questions is because
Speaker 1: we haven't seen that transparency yet the FBI in the
Speaker 1: d o J. And so I think step one is
Speaker 1: the FBI and the d o J need to come
Speaker 1: forward and provide the American people an update. Congressman, thank
Speaker 1: you again. So much for being with us today. Thank you.
Speaker 1: That was Congressman Brian Style, Republican from the great Midwest
Speaker 1: state of Wisconsin. In just a minute, we are going
Speaker 1: to assemble the panel for a deep dive into today's
Speaker 1: inflation numbers, what they mean for Biden and if after
Speaker 1: months and months of low approval numbers, he might finally
Speaker 1: get a break this week. And we'll look forward to
Speaker 1: what both the upcoming primaries as well as last night's primaries.
Speaker 1: This is Emily Will This is I'm em lookins, this
Speaker 1: is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg sound on on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: This is Emilin Wilkins here with sound on. Obviously, big
Speaker 1: news of today was that CPI report inflation. It might
Speaker 1: be an eight point five percent, but President Joe Biden
Speaker 1: wants you to focus on one number, that month over
Speaker 1: month change. Zero. Today we received news that our economy
Speaker 1: had zero percent inflation in the month of July. Zero percent.
Speaker 1: Here's what that means. While the price of some things
Speaker 1: go up went up last month, the price of other
Speaker 1: things went down by the same amount. The result, zero
Speaker 1: inflation last month. But people were still hurting a zero
Speaker 1: inflation last month, zero zero, zero well, let's bring in
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Politics contributors Jamie Schanzano and Rick Davis. Rick, I'll
Speaker 1: just start with you here. I mean, is it fair
Speaker 1: to really be focusing on the number zero when inflation
Speaker 1: is at eight point five? Well, I think they just
Speaker 1: picked something that they thought was sellable and wouldn't get
Speaker 1: them into trouble in the future, right, I mean, like
Speaker 1: they can make it sound really good. Hey, we had
Speaker 1: zero inflation in a month. But you know, the options
Speaker 1: are is this peak inflation or are we now seeing
Speaker 1: a drop in inflation? And and the question for them
Speaker 1: is going to be how they present this to the
Speaker 1: electorate who were going to be voting in a couple
Speaker 1: of months. And I think it's kind of a an
Speaker 1: interesting trick that they're playing, you know, by picking on zero,
Speaker 1: because it's just it's a it's a positive number, right,
Speaker 1: everybody's been talking about how much inflation has been going
Speaker 1: up and up and up, and and I think this
Speaker 1: is a number that gets them comfortable. It gives them
Speaker 1: something positive to say without getting trapped into gosh, what
Speaker 1: if it goes back up or bounces up, you know,
Speaker 1: next month, and then all of a sudden you know
Speaker 1: that zero isn't a zero anymore. Yeah, it feels like
Speaker 1: we're doing the whole transitory inflation thing again as lyrics.
Speaker 1: As you literally began talking. The White House Press Office
Speaker 1: just put out another release and the headline is a
Speaker 1: month of zero inflation. Uh, Jenny though, I mean I
Speaker 1: take Rick's point well that you know, they can message
Speaker 1: all they want on this zero number, but you still
Speaker 1: have higher inflation for voters. Are they really paying attention
Speaker 1: to the fact that inflation zero present this month? Is
Speaker 1: this actually going to make a difference to the average American?
Speaker 1: Zero has never sounded so good to the White House.
Speaker 1: That is the watchword of the day. Um, and yes,
Speaker 1: it has been a very very good week, good week
Speaker 1: and a half for this White House. And you know,
Speaker 1: if anybody had told me a year ago that this
Speaker 1: is where they would be killing the number one terrorists,
Speaker 1: the Chips Act, the Reconciliation Bill, you know, the Packed Act,
Speaker 1: you know so much. And now inflation today we get
Speaker 1: the number. It is cooling off. I mean, that is
Speaker 1: the reality. It is slowing from a year ago. We
Speaker 1: don't have to talk about this forty year high. And
Speaker 1: and you and Joe Matthew you don't have to play
Speaker 1: the number one song from forty years ago, so we
Speaker 1: can all remember how bad it was. So this is
Speaker 1: a very good day for this White House. And let's
Speaker 1: add to that, gas prices down for the fifty seventh
Speaker 1: day in a row that you know now hovering. I
Speaker 1: think nationally around four dollars plus minus four dollars. So
Speaker 1: is it perfect? No, to Rick's point, you know, should
Speaker 1: it go up, you know they're gonna have to message that.
Speaker 1: But I think that they are trying to be very
Speaker 1: careful and moderate while making the case we're going in
Speaker 1: the right direction. I want to dig into a little
Speaker 1: bit about Biden's week. Jeanie laid it out really well.
Speaker 1: You got the CPI report, you had him signing the
Speaker 1: Chips Act yesterday, you had him signed the burn Pack
Speaker 1: Act today. On Friday, the House is very likely to
Speaker 1: pass parts of his signature legislative plan. Rick, are we
Speaker 1: going to start seeing a turnaround in Biden's numbers? Well,
Speaker 1: it's certainly a better messaging right now. Um, you know
Speaker 1: the fact that they're actually getting something done on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: He's able to be seen, you know, signing important legislation,
Speaker 1: delivering financial aid to people all up and down the
Speaker 1: economic sector. But you know, then wild cards happened in
Speaker 1: the FBI raid on Donald Trump's home in mar Lago
Speaker 1: kind of blew a couple of these big announcements right
Speaker 1: out the front page of the newspaper. And so I
Speaker 1: think that he's still struggling with how to do uh,
Speaker 1: positive announcements without Donald Trump interrupting his show. And the
Speaker 1: reality is he did have a good week. He's had
Speaker 1: a good month really in August, not a month that
Speaker 1: many people are paying attention. But when Donald Trump gets
Speaker 1: to grab the headline and and he didn't even have
Speaker 1: to try to do it, it was done to him. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just an unforced atone attorney general exactly certain extent. Yeah, Jimmie,
Speaker 1: what do you think here? Is there any way for
Speaker 1: Biden to really begin to get his poll numbers back up?
Speaker 1: I mean, if if a week like this doesn't do it,
Speaker 1: what is It's tough. But I will note I was
Speaker 1: just looking at some of the three latest polls from
Speaker 1: August seven to August nine. You've got Reuters res musen
Speaker 1: An Economists. He is ticking up and now he is
Speaker 1: forty to approval. Now that may not sound perfect. He's
Speaker 1: still underwater, but you know, you look at you know,
Speaker 1: previous polls and he was down sometimes in the load
Speaker 1: to mid thirties. So he's ticking up there. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: is it going to change him completely? No? The reality
Speaker 1: is I think very important. The Democrats have been trying
Speaker 1: to show and Biden as a part of this in
Speaker 1: this last month, as Rick said that Washington is able
Speaker 1: to work, you know, narrowly, not doing as much as
Speaker 1: they wanted it to do, certainly, but they are able
Speaker 1: to talk about important pieces of legislation that are widely
Speaker 1: supported among Americans. Do I think it's going to be
Speaker 1: a game changer in the mid terms. No. I think
Speaker 1: though that coupled with Donald Trump in the news and
Speaker 1: some of these extremest Republican candidates, maybe enough to say
Speaker 1: the Democrats the House, I mean the Senate. Rather, they
Speaker 1: will lose the House, and that in and of itself
Speaker 1: is a huge win for Democrats if it happens, a
Speaker 1: huge if I mean, Rick, I do want to toss
Speaker 1: it to you do. We've got only about thirty seconds left,
Speaker 1: But you're the one with campaign experience. How difficult it
Speaker 1: is is it to take wins like this in Washington
Speaker 1: and really translate them to voters. Yeah, you need sustainability.
Speaker 1: You need to be able to do it over a
Speaker 1: decent amount of time. You can't just have one good
Speaker 1: day and then you know a series of back backlashes.
Speaker 1: So I think these guys are starting to get their
Speaker 1: their mojo back at the White House. If they can
Speaker 1: launch a good campaign post Labor Day and let it
Speaker 1: last for a while and not be interrupted by global
Speaker 1: events or Donald Trump, they have a shot. Well, Rick
Speaker 1: and Jennie stick around. We will be back to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about some of those accomplishments, as
Speaker 1: well as the week that former President Donald Trump had
Speaker 1: certainly a lot of headlines. They're coming up. We will
Speaker 1: speak to Greg Jarrow with Bloomberg Government about the primaries.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Broadcasting live from our nation's capital, Bloomberg
Speaker 1: to New York, Bloomberg eleven Frio to Boston, Bloomberg one
Speaker 1: O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to
Speaker 1: the country, Sirius XM General one nine and around the globe,
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This
Speaker 1: is Bloomberg Sound on with Joe Matthew. It is Wednesday
Speaker 1: in an election year, which means that last night another
Speaker 1: round of states held their Primariuses include set up a
Speaker 1: marquee Senate match in Wisconsin and a Trump backed candidates
Speaker 1: wound up having quite a good night. But the most
Speaker 1: interesting House primary is arguably yet to come. We're going
Speaker 1: to break it all down with Bloomberg Government Elections reporter
Speaker 1: Greg Jerow, a guru of all things elections at Bloomberg Government.
Speaker 1: Greg Jerrow, Greg, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: Obviously a lot that went on last night, numerous states
Speaker 1: holding their primaries. I wanted to get started on the
Speaker 1: major win I think for Trump last night. His endorsed
Speaker 1: candidate for Wisconsin governor, businessman Tim Michaels, defeated former Lieutenant
Speaker 1: Governor Rebecca Cleefish on Tuesday to secure that Republican nomination. UH.
Speaker 1: The Wind's gonna pit Michael's against Democratic Governor Tony Evers
Speaker 1: in November. Uh. In conceding the race, a Cleefish told
Speaker 1: supporters that the fights now against Tony Evers and the
Speaker 1: liberals who want to take our way of life. Let's
Speaker 1: listen to what Michael's told his supporters, and as governor,
Speaker 1: my number one prioritis take care of the hard working
Speaker 1: people of Wisconsin. Definitely, well, all the way with Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: all the way with Chee's Kurds. Greg Darrow, what was
Speaker 1: your takeaway from that governor's race last night? Well, that
Speaker 1: Republican primary family really accentuated the former president's continued sway
Speaker 1: and Republican primaries. Tim Michaels was probably began that race
Speaker 1: as the underdog, but he got a well timed endorsement
Speaker 1: by Trump and he defeated as he met Rebecca Cleefish,
Speaker 1: who was Wisconsin's lieutenant governor under Scott Walker, the early
Speaker 1: front runner. She had Walker's endorsement and also Mike Pences,
Speaker 1: so this was a proxy battle between Trump and Pence
Speaker 1: that Trump won. And I'd also note that the Wisconsin
Speaker 1: Republican Assembly Speaker, Robin Voss, was almost unseated by a
Speaker 1: pro Trump challenger just because Voss refused to agree with
Speaker 1: the ex presidents much debunked false claims that the Biden
Speaker 1: over Trump and Wisconsin could be discertified. So Voss held
Speaker 1: on too, barely held on to his seat against a
Speaker 1: underfunded Trump challenger. So uh, this is still still very
Speaker 1: much Donal Trump's Republican Party, especially in Wisconsin. I mean, Greg,
Speaker 1: should we should we be surprised by this? I mean Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: They've got a Democratic senator, they've got a Democratic governor,
Speaker 1: they voted for Democrats in the past. What do you
Speaker 1: make of the fact that Trump backed candidates did as
Speaker 1: well as they did? Uh, well, it's it's definitely on
Speaker 1: general elections, it's definitely a quintessential swing state. Wisconsin is
Speaker 1: the only state that was within one point for the
Speaker 1: winner of the presidential elections. Um, in Republican primaries are
Speaker 1: just a different ballgame because it's a smaller and much
Speaker 1: different ideological electorate. But now, um, you know that we
Speaker 1: have to move forward to the general election where I
Speaker 1: think you know Tim Michaels and um, he's probably gonna
Speaker 1: have to maybe modulate his strategy and maybe some of
Speaker 1: his rhetoric to compete in a fifty fifty state against
Speaker 1: the Democratic governor Tony Evers. And then we've got that
Speaker 1: Marquee Senate race where um, yesterday we had a lieutenant
Speaker 1: governor Mandela Barnes, Democrat, when the party's nomination to face
Speaker 1: Republican incumbent Ron Johnson. That's going to be one of
Speaker 1: the five or six Senate races. I think that will
Speaker 1: determine which party wins a majority in November. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was about to ask about that one. I mean, you
Speaker 1: mentioned that Michael sort of need to regulate his rhetoric
Speaker 1: a little bit. I mean, certainly, Ron Johnson has had
Speaker 1: his fair share of controversial statements, particular around COVID. Is
Speaker 1: he also going into have to change his tune a
Speaker 1: little bit if he hopes to keep his seat. I
Speaker 1: think he'll probably, I think he'll Any adjustments he makes
Speaker 1: will probably depend on the political environment. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: he's um, he's known for kind of fiscal issue conservatism.
Speaker 1: You know, I remember when I covered his first race
Speaker 1: when he upset Russ Fineld. He very much ran with
Speaker 1: the the energy and enthusiasm of the Tea Party movement
Speaker 1: as existed then. Um. He still focuses a lot on
Speaker 1: cutting regulation, cutting taxes, cutting spending. Has had some controversial statements,
Speaker 1: as you've mentioned. But this is going to be a
Speaker 1: very close race, for sure. I also see that Vermont
Speaker 1: is on the path to get its first woman to
Speaker 1: represent the state in Congress. Greg what took Vermont so long,
Speaker 1: I thought, I thought Vermont would have had this one already,
Speaker 1: I would have two. And Vermont actually has one of
Speaker 1: the best records in the country when it comes to
Speaker 1: electing women to state legislative offices. But they've never It's
Speaker 1: the only state that's never elected a woman in Congress.
Speaker 1: That's going to change in November, right thinka Becka Balance
Speaker 1: who is the UH state Senate President pro tempore A
Speaker 1: one the key Democratic primary in UH yesterday for Vermont's
Speaker 1: loan statewide seat. Peter Welsh is giving up that seat
Speaker 1: to run for the Senate, so that created an opening.
Speaker 1: One reason why women have not had really many opportunities
Speaker 1: in Vermont is that it has just one seat in
Speaker 1: the US House, as I mentioned, but also a lot
Speaker 1: of the male incumbents who have served there, including Pat Leahy,
Speaker 1: the forty eight year Senator, Bernie Sanders, and Peter Welsh,
Speaker 1: have served for a very long time, and it always
Speaker 1: is always very odd for me to think that Bernie
Speaker 1: Sanders is the junior senator from from Vermont, just because
Speaker 1: Pat lay has been there for so long. Well, Greg,
Speaker 1: I want to look forward a little bit too next
Speaker 1: week when Liz Cheney daughter of Dick Cheney, outspoken anti Trumper,
Speaker 1: is going to face the fate of Wyoming voters. I
Speaker 1: saw there was a poll recently from the Casper s
Speaker 1: Jar Tribune showing that she is trailing her opponent by
Speaker 1: twenty two points. Greg, is there any way that Liz
Speaker 1: Cheney pull this off. It's hard to see how she
Speaker 1: does it. I mean, she's a queer underdog in a
Speaker 1: state where Trump won seventy of the vote in that
Speaker 1: was his best showing nationwide. And so of the ten
Speaker 1: Republicans voted to impeach Trump, you know, four declined to
Speaker 1: run free election, and Shaney is the last of the
Speaker 1: six seeking reelection to face the primary voters. Three of
Speaker 1: those six have already lost in the primary to barely
Speaker 1: advanced and Shaney is more likely than not to lose
Speaker 1: to Harriet Hageman, who's backed by Trump. So we may
Speaker 1: have at the end of the day, one, maybe two
Speaker 1: of the ten Republicans voted to impeach Trump left in
Speaker 1: the next Congress in January. Yeah, I mean also yesterday,
Speaker 1: even though this primary happened back on August two, you
Speaker 1: saw a Congresswoman Jamie Harrara Butler, a congresswoman in Washington State,
Speaker 1: also one of the ten who voted for Trump's impeachment,
Speaker 1: also concede to her opponent. Uh, there was a Watchington
Speaker 1: as a bit of a different primary structure, but basically
Speaker 1: the top two spots, one of them was taken by
Speaker 1: a Democrat and one was taken by a Republican who
Speaker 1: Trump endorsed. Greg, we only have about thirty seconds left,
Speaker 1: but from your perspective, it seems like Trump is still
Speaker 1: the kingmaker within the Republican Party. Is that fair to say? Yes,
Speaker 1: he still has a lot of clout and as we've
Speaker 1: seen from the results of the primaries involving the Trump
Speaker 1: and peats, including Jamie Horror Butler, it really underscores how
Speaker 1: Trump and his supporters have almost completely purged the House
Speaker 1: Republican Conference of Trump opponents and skeptics. Well, Greg Darrow,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: we'll be hearing from you soon as the primaries continue.
Speaker 1: That's Greg Jarrow Bloomberg, Government election reporter. The one are
Speaker 1: the hosts of the Down Ballotcounts podcast. Definitely take a
Speaker 1: listen to that. Up next, we're going to get into
Speaker 1: burn pits legislation finally signed into law, and the wild
Speaker 1: week that former President Donald Trump has had. I'm Emily Wilkins.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg sound on on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. Usually, usually August in d C is quiet,
Speaker 1: lawmakers are gone, everyone goes on vacation. But that is
Speaker 1: not the case this week. We have all been busy.
Speaker 1: President Joe Biden among us signing. He signed legislation into
Speaker 1: law expanding care to veterans who have suffered from toxins
Speaker 1: released by burn Pits. I know that we've talked a
Speaker 1: lot about this particular bill on the show. It has
Speaker 1: now become law, but even we might not have talked
Speaker 1: about it as much as the former host of The
Speaker 1: Daily Stow, John Stewart, who camped out on the Senate
Speaker 1: steps with veterans and families were impacted to pressure the
Speaker 1: Senate to pass a bill. He was at the White
Speaker 1: House today with President Biden, and Biden made sure to
Speaker 1: give him a shout out, and John, I want to
Speaker 1: thank you again. I I wanted to come up and
Speaker 1: hang out in the Capitol steps, and the Secret Service
Speaker 1: said I would be pain the neck and wouldn't let
Speaker 1: me do so at least we did a little video
Speaker 1: on there. But but what you've done, John matters, and
Speaker 1: you know it does. You should know it really really matters.
Speaker 1: Your reshuges. Let anybody forget refuge to let them forget,
Speaker 1: and we owe your big man, We owe your big
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and bring back in Bloomberg Politics contributors
Speaker 1: Jimmy Chanzano and Rick Davis. You know, Rick, I feel
Speaker 1: like this bill could have been such an easy slam
Speaker 1: dunk right getting help for veterans. Everyone supports the veterans,
Speaker 1: and yet you had to have Jon Stewart get involved
Speaker 1: because the bureaucracy of Washington just weighed this bill down.
Speaker 1: It was bogged down by process. It was bogged down
Speaker 1: by politics. Rick, what is your overall takeaway from the
Speaker 1: movement of this bill. Yeah, I think that this is
Speaker 1: a bill that was going to happen, and as you
Speaker 1: point out, Emily, the process got in its way. I
Speaker 1: don't know any Republicans who are actually opposed to the bill,
Speaker 1: but they got characterized for voting against it because of
Speaker 1: some procedural issues, especially with where the money was coming
Speaker 1: from to fund it. It was a big, big funding
Speaker 1: item over you know, almost three billion dollars and um
Speaker 1: and and it was gonna happen. It just didn't happen
Speaker 1: along the way that that it should have. And I
Speaker 1: think that John Stewart took good advantage of the fact
Speaker 1: that sometimes making sausage in Washington, d C. Looks a
Speaker 1: little gross. But you know, they got to build out,
Speaker 1: and they got to build past and sign and I
Speaker 1: don't think that people will remember sort of the hiccups
Speaker 1: along the way. I think this will be a bill
Speaker 1: that everybody goes back after recess and says to their constituents,
Speaker 1: we took care of veterans. Ten do other advocacy groups
Speaker 1: need to take a page out of the playbook here
Speaker 1: and find a celebrity to camp out on the Capitol
Speaker 1: steps until their legislation's passed. Yeah, it's not a bad strategy,
Speaker 1: but I think it's really important to out for a
Speaker 1: moment and say this was a long term promise made
Speaker 1: to veterans. It's a critically important bill, very deeply personal
Speaker 1: to the president. He attributes the death of his son
Speaker 1: bow to these toxic pits, and so you know, this
Speaker 1: is a very big moment across the board, and it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's ric it's bipartisan. The Repulicans got caught
Speaker 1: up in the spending issue, you know, discretionary otherwise. But
Speaker 1: you know, this is a huge win for veterans and
Speaker 1: a very long time coming. And it was a very
Speaker 1: moving bill signing, and John Stuart deserves a lot of credit. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think the celebrity asside, we should
Speaker 1: underscore how important this is for veterans who have suffered long,
Speaker 1: too long as a result of this not being taken
Speaker 1: care of much earlier. Absolutely, I mean to think that
Speaker 1: these are folks you know, sacrificed um, their time and
Speaker 1: effort and work to defend us, and that they got
Speaker 1: sick on the job, and that you know, we it's
Speaker 1: taken us this song to do something. Uh. Certainly a
Speaker 1: very big moment there at the White House today. Um.
Speaker 1: We think we mentioned a little bit earlier about how
Speaker 1: Donald Trump was stumping all over Biden's week. I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and follow that trend because there's so
Speaker 1: much to discuss here. You had a federal appeals court
Speaker 1: saying that a House committee could be looking could now
Speaker 1: have Biden's sorry rather Trump's tax returns. You obviously saw
Speaker 1: that really unprecedented search warrant executed at Mara Lago by
Speaker 1: the FBI. And then today you saw Trump go for
Speaker 1: a live deposition with the New York Attorney General. They're
Speaker 1: looking into his real estate and and the amount that
Speaker 1: he claimed that it was worth. And then when he
Speaker 1: was there, Trump said, I'm just going to plead the fifth.
Speaker 1: And you think that maybe after all of this, if
Speaker 1: you're wondering how it's playing out. Uh. Senator Lindsey Graham
Speaker 1: of South Carolina has a has a big takeaway on
Speaker 1: this one. I believe he was gonna run before. I'm
Speaker 1: a stronger in my belief. Now, Rick Davis, tell me
Speaker 1: about the dynamics going on here. I mean, this doesn't
Speaker 1: sound like a great week for Trump, and yet it
Speaker 1: seems like there's a lot of enthusiasm and momentum behind
Speaker 1: him right now. Yeah, And and that doesn't even cover
Speaker 1: half of the lawsuits that have been registered both civil
Speaker 1: and federal and state against Donald Trump. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: gonna spend a lot of time in depositions. But look,
Speaker 1: I mean it does, as Lindsay say, kind of force
Speaker 1: him out right. I Mean, what's a good way of
Speaker 1: wiping out a lot of these lawsuits, run and win
Speaker 1: another terminent uh for president. So I think it's almost
Speaker 1: like an action forcing event. You know, the dial is
Speaker 1: so turned up on all this legal harangue against Donald
Speaker 1: Trump that it's almost leaving him no option but to run.
Speaker 1: And um, the legal process has to run in stuke. Course,
Speaker 1: it's going to there's no stopping it. Um, these things
Speaker 1: are all going to find their their their level set.
Speaker 1: But uh, it does kind of force don Trump's hand.
Speaker 1: And we saw him release, you know, right after the
Speaker 1: FBI rate on mar Lago, a very well produced video
Speaker 1: that was obviously done in advance, ready to start talking
Speaker 1: about him running for president. And I really by the
Speaker 1: time the three and a half minute video was over,
Speaker 1: I thought, I assume it's gonna say at the end
Speaker 1: he's running for president. Yeah, that was I think they
Speaker 1: also displayed that video at Sea Pack, the the big
Speaker 1: Republican annual conference that that took place this year. Correct, Yeah,
Speaker 1: a version of it. I think they juiced it up
Speaker 1: a little bit for this occasion. But like this is
Speaker 1: where their heads are. They are out there actively telling
Speaker 1: people keep your powder dry, uh, talking to donors about
Speaker 1: them run uh, you know, and he, of course, Donald
Speaker 1: Trump is a master at the marketing effort, and and
Speaker 1: he doesn't know anything to market better than himself. And
Speaker 1: so he's taken full advantage of the opportunities that that
Speaker 1: these lawsuits are given him to uh, to look like
Speaker 1: that this is gonna be the reason gonna run. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised to here out of his mouth. You know,
Speaker 1: if I hadn't been sued so many times, I probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't have run for president. I mean, this is this
Speaker 1: is really a kind of a grade A class in
Speaker 1: in making lemons are making rather lemons lemonade out of lemons, Jennie,
Speaker 1: I wanted to switch to you sort of for the
Speaker 1: Democratic side on this. I mean, you have seen narratives
Speaker 1: and studies that have said that when Trump tends to
Speaker 1: be in the news, it can actually be a good
Speaker 1: thing for Democrats because it really mobilizes their base and
Speaker 1: gets done to turn out. Is that something we could
Speaker 1: potentially see this time around too, Yeah, we can. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Donald Trump has had a very good, as
Speaker 1: you spoke with Greg, a very good showing in all
Speaker 1: of these primaries. Are many of these primaries, you know,
Speaker 1: there were some exceptions like Georgia for instance, but across
Speaker 1: the board, you know, I would say of his endorsements
Speaker 1: at these top levels have done very well. But Democrats
Speaker 1: are betting on the fact that the very people he
Speaker 1: is getting into these uh you know, positions of being
Speaker 1: the Republican nominee in some of these states like Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: Georgia's Senate are going to not be able to pull
Speaker 1: it through in the general election, which will help them
Speaker 1: potentially hold the Senate. So from that perspective, Democrats feel
Speaker 1: like the more Trump in the news, the better, um.
Speaker 1: You know. The flip side of this, of course, is
Speaker 1: as we look to, for instance, the raid um, as
Speaker 1: we look to the Donald Trump pleading the fifth Um.
Speaker 1: I noted the fact that both the Wall Street Journal
Speaker 1: and The New York Times have pieces today that this
Speaker 1: puts real pressure on the Attorney General Merrick Garland to
Speaker 1: put up and show why they had to take this
Speaker 1: unprecedented step. And it is truly historic and unprecedented. Um,
Speaker 1: why not, for instance, couldn't they cooperate? Why not do
Speaker 1: this via subpoena? Why this sort of dramatic what Donald
Speaker 1: Trump called falsely raid on his compound or his Mara
Speaker 1: Lago estate, So that I think puts real pressure on
Speaker 1: the Attorney General, who of course is you know, works
Speaker 1: with then and for the Democrats and Joe Biden, and
Speaker 1: in turn it does energize Republicans. So I think this
Speaker 1: can split both ways in that perspective, and I think
Speaker 1: that's really something to watch. And as Rick said, Trump
Speaker 1: is saying, now he's there after me because they're worried
Speaker 1: I'm going to run. So he's marching himself right into
Speaker 1: a potential run. No, And I think, Jennie, that's such
Speaker 1: a great point to break up, because now I think
Speaker 1: there is this big question, well, what prompted this search
Speaker 1: of mar logo? What were they looking for? What's actually
Speaker 1: the takeaway? I mean, we know that there were some
Speaker 1: boxes that the former Trump administration gave over to the
Speaker 1: National Archives willingly. I think it was about fifteen boxes
Speaker 1: of information. This is before the search, and it's a
Speaker 1: kind of a question now, like, well, was you know
Speaker 1: what was missing? Was there something in those documents? I
Speaker 1: do want to pivot quickly to the deposition today for
Speaker 1: the New York Attorney General. Trump went ahead and pleaded
Speaker 1: the fifth Rick what does that actually mean in terms
Speaker 1: of the investigation. Well, as Donald Trump has said in
Speaker 1: the past, only guilty people take the fifth, so state
Speaker 1: applies to him. Um, you know, look, I mean I
Speaker 1: I think these are the kinds of tactics that real
Speaker 1: estate people sometimes using New York and and it's pretty
Speaker 1: clear that they think, Um, you know, these inflated valuations
Speaker 1: and diminished h insurance coverages, you know, gave him outstanding
Speaker 1: financial leverage, and he's now paying a price for that
Speaker 1: because you know, the state is looking into it and
Speaker 1: and sounds like they've got quite a case. So the
Speaker 1: fact that he even had to do a U a
Speaker 1: subpoena and and talked to the case officers was a
Speaker 1: victory for the stake and lots of investigations that we
Speaker 1: will be keeping our eye on here at Bloomberg. Jamie Schanzano,
Speaker 1: Rick Davis, thank you so much for joining us, as
Speaker 1: well as Greg Darrow and Republican Congressman Brian Style. I'm
Speaker 1: Emily Wilkins, and for Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg