November 1, 2024 • 10 mins
The US Presidential Election is coming in hot, with Election Day set to arrive on November 5th.
Jack Tame is over in New York at the moment, and this week, instead of sharing his own thoughts, Kevin Milne decided to pick Jack’s brain about the race and the current state of US politics.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack tame podcast
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Sixteen minutes past nine on newstalks 'bu with Jack Tamee
forroadcasting live out of Washington, d C. This morning, Get Ajack.
I've put one thousand dollars on the fact that Donald
Trump is going to win on Tuesday, says Ben. So
there's been Ben is one of these people who's feeling
a whole lot more confident in making a call than
I am. I certainly would not be putting any money
on this race so far. Jack, really enjoying your reports
from the US. Feels like a really, really tense time.
(00:34):
How does it feel on the ground in DC? You
know what is interesting. I was here four years ago
for Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and at this stage,
right before the election, all throughout central Washington, d C.
Crews were going around boarding up all of the windows,
so all of the businesses, all of the hotels, everything
in downtown Washington, d C was boarded up ahead of
(00:56):
the election because they were expecting potential civil unrest. Now,
nothing eventuated in the immediacy of the election four years ago,
but it's interesting because this time round despite what on
January sixth, after the last election, there is very little
in terms of additional security that's obvious for businesses. So
I think I've seen like two businesses that have been
boarded up, but apart from that nothing at this stage.
(01:18):
If you want to send us some message ninety two
ninety two as the text number Jacket News talks, he'd
be dot co dot in z's the emailageries. Don't forget
that if you are texting me that standard text costs
supply blah blah blah. Right now, though Kevin Milne is
with us this morning more than a Kevin.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Head Morning Jack, I thought we should stick with the
with the US elections actually, and rather than bore everybody
with my in my opinions on the matter, it would
be much more important, I think to have more of yours.
And I've put together a few questions, and I'd just
like to ask you on behalf of the listeners. Are
(01:53):
you are you happy to Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Absolutely absolutely, I'll do my best. I'll do my best.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Right. The first one, is Trump's popularity still a mystery
to Democrat lined Americans or do they now at least
get why he's so popular?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, great question. I think many of them have a
better understanding of why people voted for Donald Trump in
the first place. And I think what's interesting to me
in this election is how much people are talking about NAFTA.
That's a name that might be familiar to some people.
That's the North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed
by Bill Clinton. Came into force thirty years ago, and
(02:35):
it fundamentally changed the manufacturing industry in the US, and
that all of a sudden, it made sense for big
companies in the Midwest to send their factories overseas, send
their manufacturing overseas, and all of those middle class jobs
in the Midwest disappeared. Now, I think for decades people
basically forgot about the people who had been working in
those factories, and all of a sudden, when Donald Trump
(02:57):
was elected for the first time, there was a bit
of a aha, wake up moment for lots of Democrats
who were like, you know what, Actually, we haven't supported
the tens of millions of peace people for whose lives
are materially worse off than their parents' generation. So I
think democrats understand that now. That being said, I reckon
a lot of Democrats still don't understand how Donald Trump
(03:20):
supporters can reconcile some of his personal qualities, some of
his character qualities with his leadership. I think a lot
of people are still totally perplexed by that.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, yes, would you accept that Trump's popularity is still
a mystery to most New Zealanders who see him as
little more than a buffoon. I mean, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, good guy. I mean, I think if you were
a pole New Zealanders, a majority probably wouldn't support Donald Trump.
But I think you'd be surprised actually by the number
of Donald Trump supporters. And you know, like there are
a lot of people who really support his policies, a
lot of people who think that, you know, has trade
policies make a lot of sense. They think the leadership
is strong, and you know, one of the most interesting
(04:06):
conversations I've had this week, I think it's a view
that lots of Kiwis would hold as well. It was
with a guy, really educated guy who's supporting Donald Trump
because he said, this is the only president in the
modern era who hasn't had any major wars start on
his watch. And that's true. You know that that's totally true.
I think there are a lot of Kiwis who would
agree with that.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You've sort of answered My next question really was, which
is have you talked to intelligent Trump supporters, you know,
good people, and got any new insights from them?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, I mean to take my friend for example. You know,
first of all, there are lots of really intelligent Donald
Trump supporters, and I think that there's a real danger
for those people who who don't like Trump or find
him a bit of an odious character to you know,
compare Donald Trump supporters to garbage for example, or or
you know, or to try and you know, belittle them.
(05:01):
You know, I think talking talking to the really educated,
find loving friend of mine who's a big Donald Trump supporter.
It just brought his fourth Trump T shirt the other day,
I think I think he was in a different information
ecosystem than me. That's one way I'd put it delicately,
Like the places he was going for his media that
(05:25):
the friend circles he's interacting with, they probably didn't have
the same crossover or any crossover with some of the
information networks that I'm coming across. So yeah, I actually
think that, you know, people support Trump for a whole
range of reasons. And yeah, that does definitely include you know,
(05:45):
really intelligent, educated people who might just think that Trump has,
you know, for whatever personal qualities he might have, he
has really effective policies and actually he's elevating the US
on the international stage.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Do you think the New Zealand media has explained that
well enough to.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, I reckon, I reckon. We haven't experienced the same
hollowing out of a manufacturing base. Like if you think
about the post World War II era in the US,
it was a period of massive prosperity, right because you
had all of this incredible manufacturing that took place, and
the baby boomer generation really benefited from that. Now I
don't think New Zealand's ever had the same level of
(06:26):
manufacturing base, but it's comparable to the UK. Like think
about how the northern parts of the UK, you know,
areas like Newcastle, you know, have have seen so much
of their industry move away, and how there's been a
kind of a political and economic retaliation to that. I
(06:47):
think fortunately, we probably haven't haven't relied on manufacturing in
the same way, and haven't relied on industry in the
same way that the US and the UK, And I
would like to think that we've done a better better
job of kind of of helping different parts of our
economic based transition through change over the years than they
have over here.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Yes, as I was thinking about whether the media had
explained to New Zealanders why Trump is so popular, so
that we've got a kind of a round of view
of the guy. I mean, the last tight is at
the Kingdom of Bling, the new Richard O'Brien satirical musical
(07:28):
all based around Trump. I mean, O'Brien hates Trump, and
and of course it went down extraordinary well with the audience.
But given that there are so many intelligent Americans voting
for him, there's got to be much more to him.
And I just don't feel I've been confronted with why
(07:51):
that would be the case.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean, there are definitely economic policies that a lot
a lot of Americans would agree with. And you know
they always say that people think about their about their
you know, their hip pocket voters, right, they think about
their their paycheck first. And and you know Trump, I
was at as rally the other day. He starts off
by coming out same thing every single rally. He comes
out and says a simple question, are you better off
today than you were four years ago. And there are
(08:17):
heabs of Americans who would immediately say no, I'm not.
And you can debate who's responsible for that, but I
reckon he really taps into that message.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
You've already touched on. In fact, made a big point
of the gender divide in the selection, given that Kamala
Harris is obviously a woman and Trump's position on abortion rights,
could an increased female vote keep the Democrats on power?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yes, yes, I mean one of Donald Trump's big supporters
tweeted out yesterday that if men don't vote, Donald Trump
loses and Karmela will be president. I just think it's
really easy to understate or to gloss over how significant
it is to have a sixteen or seventeen point difference
between the ways in which men and women are voting.
(09:06):
It was just that's an historic difference, you know, So
something like fifty six to thirty seven percent men versus
women supporting Trump and supporting Kamala Harris, and I mean
that is extraordinary. What would be amazing is if Kamala
Harris were to win that the extent to which Donald
Trump's past moves on abortion rights in the Supreme court
(09:30):
ultimately cost him the presidency this time round.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Right, Okay, so I'm not going to ask you who
you think's going to win. But according to the experts
I've heard, Trump appears to be a very narrow favorite
to win the election. Just from the sort of the
experts point of view. I hear your view that you're
too hard to tell.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I don't think even the experts, no, Kevin, I honestly,
I mean I reckon the experts who are saying that
are saying that because they don't want to be embarrassed
by calling Kamala Harris the favorite and then Donald Trump
being the winner. I just think there are so many
different ways you can read this. I mean, you're looking
at the polls, like I say, it's so hard to
interpret them without the underlying modeling. I really think it's
a toss up.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah, thank you very much, Jack, that's great information.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
My pleasure, Kevin. Great to chat with you.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
As always.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'll get to borrow your feedback in a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack tame podcast
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Sixteen minutes past nine on newstalks 'bu with Jack Tamee
forroadcasting live out of Washington, d C. This morning, Get Ajack.
I've put one thousand dollars on the fact that Donald
Trump is going to win on Tuesday, says Ben. So
there's been Ben is one of these people who's feeling
a whole lot more confident in making a call than
I am. I certainly would not be putting any money
on this race so far. Jack, really enjoying your reports
from the US. Feels like a really, really tense time.
(00:34):
How does it feel on the ground in DC? You
know what is interesting. I was here four years ago
for Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and at this stage,
right before the election, all throughout central Washington, d C.
Crews were going around boarding up all of the windows,
so all of the businesses, all of the hotels, everything
in downtown Washington, d C was boarded up ahead of
(00:56):
the election because they were expecting potential civil unrest. Now,
nothing eventuated in the immediacy of the election four years ago,
but it's interesting because this time round despite what on
January sixth, after the last election, there is very little
in terms of additional security that's obvious for businesses. So
I think I've seen like two businesses that have been
boarded up, but apart from that nothing at this stage.
(01:18):
If you want to send us some message ninety two
ninety two as the text number Jacket News talks, he'd
be dot co dot in z's the emailageries. Don't forget
that if you are texting me that standard text costs
supply blah blah blah. Right now, though Kevin Milne is
with us this morning more than a Kevin.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Head Morning Jack, I thought we should stick with the
with the US elections actually, and rather than bore everybody
with my in my opinions on the matter, it would
be much more important, I think to have more of yours.
And I've put together a few questions, and I'd just
like to ask you on behalf of the listeners. Are
(01:53):
you are you happy to Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Absolutely absolutely, I'll do my best. I'll do my best.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Right. The first one, is Trump's popularity still a mystery
to Democrat lined Americans or do they now at least
get why he's so popular?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, great question. I think many of them have a
better understanding of why people voted for Donald Trump in
the first place. And I think what's interesting to me
in this election is how much people are talking about NAFTA.
That's a name that might be familiar to some people.
That's the North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed
by Bill Clinton. Came into force thirty years ago, and
(02:35):
it fundamentally changed the manufacturing industry in the US, and
that all of a sudden, it made sense for big
companies in the Midwest to send their factories overseas, send
their manufacturing overseas, and all of those middle class jobs
in the Midwest disappeared. Now, I think for decades people
basically forgot about the people who had been working in
those factories, and all of a sudden, when Donald Trump
(02:57):
was elected for the first time, there was a bit
of a aha, wake up moment for lots of Democrats
who were like, you know what, Actually, we haven't supported
the tens of millions of peace people for whose lives
are materially worse off than their parents' generation. So I
think democrats understand that now. That being said, I reckon
a lot of Democrats still don't understand how Donald Trump
(03:20):
supporters can reconcile some of his personal qualities, some of
his character qualities with his leadership. I think a lot
of people are still totally perplexed by that.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, yes, would you accept that Trump's popularity is still
a mystery to most New Zealanders who see him as
little more than a buffoon. I mean, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, good guy. I mean, I think if you were
a pole New Zealanders, a majority probably wouldn't support Donald Trump.
But I think you'd be surprised actually by the number
of Donald Trump supporters. And you know, like there are
a lot of people who really support his policies, a
lot of people who think that, you know, has trade
policies make a lot of sense. They think the leadership
is strong, and you know, one of the most interesting
(04:06):
conversations I've had this week, I think it's a view
that lots of Kiwis would hold as well. It was
with a guy, really educated guy who's supporting Donald Trump
because he said, this is the only president in the
modern era who hasn't had any major wars start on
his watch. And that's true. You know that that's totally true.
I think there are a lot of Kiwis who would
agree with that.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You've sort of answered My next question really was, which
is have you talked to intelligent Trump supporters, you know,
good people, and got any new insights from them?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, I mean to take my friend for example. You know,
first of all, there are lots of really intelligent Donald
Trump supporters, and I think that there's a real danger
for those people who who don't like Trump or find
him a bit of an odious character to you know,
compare Donald Trump supporters to garbage for example, or or
you know, or to try and you know, belittle them.
(05:01):
You know, I think talking talking to the really educated,
find loving friend of mine who's a big Donald Trump supporter.
It just brought his fourth Trump T shirt the other day,
I think I think he was in a different information
ecosystem than me. That's one way I'd put it delicately,
Like the places he was going for his media that
(05:25):
the friend circles he's interacting with, they probably didn't have
the same crossover or any crossover with some of the
information networks that I'm coming across. So yeah, I actually
think that, you know, people support Trump for a whole
range of reasons. And yeah, that does definitely include you know,
(05:45):
really intelligent, educated people who might just think that Trump has,
you know, for whatever personal qualities he might have, he
has really effective policies and actually he's elevating the US
on the international stage.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Do you think the New Zealand media has explained that
well enough to.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, I reckon, I reckon. We haven't experienced the same
hollowing out of a manufacturing base. Like if you think
about the post World War II era in the US,
it was a period of massive prosperity, right because you
had all of this incredible manufacturing that took place, and
the baby boomer generation really benefited from that. Now I
don't think New Zealand's ever had the same level of
(06:26):
manufacturing base, but it's comparable to the UK. Like think
about how the northern parts of the UK, you know,
areas like Newcastle, you know, have have seen so much
of their industry move away, and how there's been a
kind of a political and economic retaliation to that. I
(06:47):
think fortunately, we probably haven't haven't relied on manufacturing in
the same way, and haven't relied on industry in the
same way that the US and the UK, And I
would like to think that we've done a better better
job of kind of of helping different parts of our
economic based transition through change over the years than they
have over here.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Yes, as I was thinking about whether the media had
explained to New Zealanders why Trump is so popular, so
that we've got a kind of a round of view
of the guy. I mean, the last tight is at
the Kingdom of Bling, the new Richard O'Brien satirical musical
(07:28):
all based around Trump. I mean, O'Brien hates Trump, and
and of course it went down extraordinary well with the audience.
But given that there are so many intelligent Americans voting
for him, there's got to be much more to him.
And I just don't feel I've been confronted with why
(07:51):
that would be the case.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean, there are definitely economic policies that a lot
a lot of Americans would agree with. And you know
they always say that people think about their about their
you know, their hip pocket voters, right, they think about
their their paycheck first. And and you know Trump, I
was at as rally the other day. He starts off
by coming out same thing every single rally. He comes
out and says a simple question, are you better off
today than you were four years ago. And there are
(08:17):
heabs of Americans who would immediately say no, I'm not.
And you can debate who's responsible for that, but I
reckon he really taps into that message.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
You've already touched on. In fact, made a big point
of the gender divide in the selection, given that Kamala
Harris is obviously a woman and Trump's position on abortion rights,
could an increased female vote keep the Democrats on power?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yes, yes, I mean one of Donald Trump's big supporters
tweeted out yesterday that if men don't vote, Donald Trump
loses and Karmela will be president. I just think it's
really easy to understate or to gloss over how significant
it is to have a sixteen or seventeen point difference
between the ways in which men and women are voting.
(09:06):
It was just that's an historic difference, you know, So
something like fifty six to thirty seven percent men versus
women supporting Trump and supporting Kamala Harris, and I mean
that is extraordinary. What would be amazing is if Kamala
Harris were to win that the extent to which Donald
Trump's past moves on abortion rights in the Supreme court
(09:30):
ultimately cost him the presidency this time round.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Right, Okay, so I'm not going to ask you who
you think's going to win. But according to the experts
I've heard, Trump appears to be a very narrow favorite
to win the election. Just from the sort of the
experts point of view. I hear your view that you're
too hard to tell.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I don't think even the experts, no, Kevin, I honestly,
I mean I reckon the experts who are saying that
are saying that because they don't want to be embarrassed
by calling Kamala Harris the favorite and then Donald Trump
being the winner. I just think there are so many
different ways you can read this. I mean, you're looking
at the polls, like I say, it's so hard to
interpret them without the underlying modeling. I really think it's
a toss up.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah, thank you very much, Jack, that's great information.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
My pleasure, Kevin. Great to chat with you.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
As always.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'll get to borrow your feedback in a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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