Stephen Moore, nominee for governor of the Federal Reserve board and former advisor for Trump’s 2016 election campaign, began his talk Wednesday by giving three pieces of advice to students: do what you love, question both experts and “scientific consensus” and read the Wall Street Journal editorial page no matter one’s political affiliation.
Moore prefaced the talk by polling the room for attendees’ opinion of President Trump and warned the audience he wasn’t there to persuade them that Trump was “the greatest president ever.”
Moore said that upon first meeting Trump during the primary, he was not impressed. “I thought he was kind of a blow hard,” Moore said. “I thought [his campaign] was a publicity stunt.”
However, after sitting down for three hours with Trump and Larry Kudlow, appointed by Trump as Director of the National Economic Council in 2018, Moore became convinced that Trump had potential to win the election.
“Bill Clinton is the best politician I’ve ever met in my lifetime,” Moore remarked, explaining that Trump reminded him of Clinton’s ability to connect with the average American. Former presidents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan were also mentioned in comparison with Trump.
Discussing the idea of “Trumponomics,” Moore explained that the basic idea is that problems are better solved by economic growth. He cited the $3.1 trillion dollar growth disparity between Obama and Reagan during their respective presidencies.
According to Moore, they both inherited extreme economic crises, but tackled the issue in very different ways. “You probably couldn’t find two presidents who were more ideologically opposite,” he said.
Moore explained that Reagan believed government regulation was not the solution to the economic crisis, and instead enacted his well-known “Reaganomics” policies focused on deregulation and reduction in taxes.
In contrast, according to Moore, Obama heavily favored more government programs and regulations to try and fix the issues facing the country, limiting economic growth and therefore recovery.
Moore heavily criticized liberals in metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., and Hollywood for thinking Obama had fixed the economy, citing stagnant wages that persisted under both Obama and President George W. Bush.
He claimed that in states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania — all of which swung for Trump in the 2016 presidential election despite backing Obama in 2008 and 2012 — the reverberations of the 2008 financial crisis were still being felt throughout Obama’s presidency, and this was one of the reasons for Trump’s victory in 2016.
Trump’s election “unleashed the animal spirits of the economy,” according to Moore, citing increased small business optimism, consumer sentiment remaining high and the economy being rated good or excellent.
Trump won the working man’s vote, in Moore’s opinion, because Trump has brought back jobs in mining, construction and manufacturing.
In addition, Moore cited that despite Trump being a so-called “racist,” he has lowered unemployment among African-American and Hispanic demographics.
Moore responded to criticisms of being a “sycophant” and “Trump loyalist,” stating that he did disagree with Trump on the issue of trade.“Trump was absolutely wrong when he attacked NAFTA,” Moore said, in reference to the president calling the North American Free Trade Association the “worst trade deal ever struck.”
Moore covered various items on Trump’s presidential agenda during the talk, discussing issues of reducing taxes as well as going into particular detail on the issue of climate change and oil production.
“We’re not running out of oil and gas production, we’re running into it,” he said, citing that for the first time in 50 years the United States has become a net energy exporter.
He criticized the Paris Agreement climate accord, saying that none of the countries who signed the agreement were even close to meeting their promised commitments, while America had reduced its carbon emissions significantly over the last couple of years.
One reason in particular Moore felt had aided in this effort was the usage of natural gas. He claimed that natural gas was “wonder fuel” and “clean burning.”
“I don’t understand why anybody would be against natural gas,” he said.
Moore said he wanted to end his talk on a positive note, and criticized the growing trend of “glumness and gloominess” today such as the panic about global warming.
“You’re facing the most awesome future,” Moore said. “Stop the gloom. There is no time or place better to live than the US. You’re living a charmed life.”