Senator JD Vance told Joe Rogan that Republicans should be more "pissed off" with corporations "engaged with social policy."
Vance joined the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday for a three-hour interview, where the two discussed a range of topics from transgender policies to former President Donald Trump meeting Vance's son, as well as hard work and corporations.
The Republican vice presidential nominee said that Trump has "changed the mindset of the Republican Party" to now question corporations.
He added: "What really pisses me off and frankly should piss off more Republicans because historically the Republican Party has been the more pro-corporate party, the more that these corporations are engaged in social policy, in particular left wing social policy, we should be saying 'I don't know if I want to give you everything that you want.'"
Vance and Trump have made tariffs a staple of economic plans on the campaign trail, especially for large corporations. The former president has told interviewers and rallygoers that slapping hefty taxes on imported goods will shield U.S. industry from overseas competitors. However, while the Republican presidential nominee stands firmly behind this "America First" trade philosophy, the plan has faced considerable scrutiny on both sides of the political spectrum.
Newsweek has emailed Vance for comment.
Trump has on several occasions invoked the economic policies of William McKinley—who held the Oval Office between 1897 and 1901, when he was assassinated by an anarchist—telling a Michigan crowd in late September that, "in the 1890s, our country was probably the wealthiest it ever was because it was a system of tariffs."
Trump has specifically threatened John Deere if the company continues with plans to move production of some models to Mexico.
The Pew Research Center reported in April 2023 that 46 percent of Republicans felt "some corporations don't pay their fair share." At the same time, 43 percent of them felt that "wealthy people don't pay their fair share." These numbers are a far cry from the 77 percent of Democrats who expressed the same sentiments.
"Can anybody really in 2024 say that Google's interest is America's interest?" Vance asked. "Or Apple, which employs thousands of slaves in Shenzhen, is Apple's interest America's interest? That's ridiculous. The fact that we're at least somewhat skeptical of corporate power in the Republican Party, I think is a very good trend for us."
Rogan responded that it is "kind of weird that one of the wokest companies" is Apple, even though "they have phones that are made by slaves."
"The crazy thing is all of these Progressive people are still using these devices to talk about important social issues," Rogan said.
Vance called this "distraction politics versus real politics," which allows people to ignore "that they're profiting off of slave labor."
In 2021, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China released a statement urging Apple CEO Tim Cook to transparently engage with customs to ensure that his company's supply chains were free of forced labor. Apple had said at the time that they found no evidence of forced labor anywhere that they operate.
"The mounting evidence is beyond troubling," the chairs of the commission wrote in 2021. "We urge Apple CEO Tim Cook to divest from Chinese suppliers in Xinjiang who are implicated in forced labor in China." The statement came after investigative reports were released by numerous news organizations including The New York Times and The Information, showing Apple's connections with companies operating with ties to coercive "labor transfer" programs.
Newsweek has emailed Apple's press office for comment.
Vance's appearance on the podcast follows Rogan's highly anticipated interview with Trump, which has been widely watched, generating more than 37 million views on YouTube so far. The former president's interview was largely well received by swing voters, according to an analysis conducted for Newsweek.
So far, Rogan, a podcast host, stand-up comedian and Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator, has not endorsed a presidential candidate.
His show leans more to the right and attracts a young, male audience. He often shares views with Trump, such as skepticism over COVID-19 measures, which prompted calls during the pandemic for Spotify to cut ties with the podcaster.
However, Rogan has generally avoided showing support for either Democrats or Republicans, and his comments have been more about expressing frustration at the political establishment. He did praise Harris' debate performance, though, in September against Trump, noting that "she's nailing it."
Rogan said he's still in talks to set up an interview with Harris, but that he won't agree to the terms suggested by her campaign.
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