Suppose you Googled Donald Trump’s discussion with Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago today. In that case, you’ll see that everyone in the opposition press thought he crumbled at the forum. Kamala Harris was invited, but she declined, likely because she lacks the intelligence to engage in an economic discussion. We’re at a point where you know to think the opposite of whatever the establishment press writes about Donald Trump.
I’m watching this guy question President Trump in Chicago ostensibly about economic policy and virtually every question out of his mouth is screamingly hostile and his attitude is condescending and off putting. A perfect illustration of the corrupt media aggregated into this…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 15, 2024
Things got heated between Micklethwait and Trump, where the former hurled loaded questions at the former president, notably those about a peaceful transfer of power. When Trump folds his arms, you know the interviewer is about to get cooked, which he did when he lambasted Micklethwait for being wrong about a host of issues when the Bloomberg editor brought up The Wall Street Journal’s criticisms of Trump’s agenda (via Fox 32 Chicago):
Just 2 days after the Kamala campaign launched an effort to label Trump a "weak" man who's "hiding" mental decline, he went at it for a solid hour — live and unscripted — with a hostile journalist.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 15, 2024
Kamala declined the same interview.
Total victory. pic.twitter.com/sLvUb14lUQ
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "What does the Wall Street Journal know? They've been wrong about everything. So have you, by the way... you've been wrong all your life on this stuff." 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kg8LlYcpF0
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024
President Trump just COOKED the Federal Reserve:
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024
"It's the greatest job in government. You show up to the office once a month and say, 'Hmm, let's flip a coin,' and everybody talks about you like you're a god." pic.twitter.com/S2xsrqbosO
PRES. TRUMP: I want a lot of people to come into our country but I want them to come in legally.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024
Bloomberg: You are talking about deporting 11 million people.
PRES. TRUMP: 425,000 people who are horrible criminals and 13,099 criminals were let in during Kamala's administration. pic.twitter.com/s8Tgd1fLOy
TRUMP: "Gavin Newscum. He's the Governor of California."
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024
BLOOMBERG: "Newsom."
TRUMP: "Newscum, I call him."
BLOOMBERG: "There are CEOs out here if they said things like that about a rival CEO..."
TRUMP: "They don't have to go through what I have to go through." pic.twitter.com/UTuNzsXYNF
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "You had a peaceful transfer of power."
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024
Interviewer: "It was by far the worst transfer of power in a long time."
*Crowd boos* pic.twitter.com/C9wFi2qBpE
President Trump just cooked the neo-lib Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg on using tariffs to protect America
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 15, 2024
"It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong."pic.twitter.com/TCKavJbWFx
In front of a crowd of business leaders, the forum largely focused on economic issues. Moderator John Micklethwait of Bloomberg News challenged Trump’s economic plan.
"People like the Wall Street Journal, which is hardly a communist organization, they've criticized you as well. You’re running up enormous debt," Micklethwait said.
"What does the WSJ know? I’m meeting with them tomorrow. What does the WSJ know? They’ve been wrong about everything. And so have you, by the way. You’ve been wrong about everything," Trump responded.
Security inside the ballroom was extremely tight, with Chicago police officers lining the walls. Outside, a number of streets around the Fairmont were closed to traffic.
Trump also faced questions about his support for tariffs.
"To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff," Trump said.
Most economists say tariffs will dramatically raise prices and inflation, hurting American trade.
"The higher the tariff, the more you're going to put on the value of those goods. The higher people are going to pay in shops," Micklethwait said.
"Ready? The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff," Trump responded.
"That will take many, many years," Micklethwait added.
"No, it will go quickly," Trump said.
Democrats responded by calling Trump a racist. It doesn’t work, fellas. We know it’s not true, and it’s no longer effective. Also, everyone who isn’t Trump-deranged or a soy-boy socialist knows that the Left will call anything and accuse anyone of racism if they disagree with their worldview. Keep screaming into the void. Nobody can hear you. Nobody cares, and nothing will come of it.
Trump got a standing ovation at the end of the event.
The vast majority of this crowd was against Trump going into this interview.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 15, 2024
He sparred for an hour with an unfriendly journalist, and won many of them over.
Even those who disagree respect that he showed up, while Kamala bailed.
This is a leader.pic.twitter.com/YjObBTNi8X