LEMON DROP | MAGA On MAGA Crime: Musk vs. Navarro

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The Don Lemon Show 9 min 6 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 1 month ago
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Don Lemon 0:00
Black-on-black crimes. All right, you've heard that before, right? I'm sure you've seen a Fox News host or a conservative pundit rant about it ad nauseum. It's one of their very favorite phrases, one of their favorite BS obsessions. Well, I just want to chat about something a little bit different today, and that is MAGA-on-MAGA crimes. Recently, it has exploded on social media. Trump's disastrous tariff policies have split his cult in two. And I don't just mean the base. Even White House officials have been caught up in the Civil War and it's getting really ugly.
Unknown 0:34
There's been some public sparring between Elon Musk and the president's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, on some of these tariffs. Musk actually referred to Navarro today as being, quote, dumber than a sack of bricks. Are you, or is the administration, the president, all concerned that this is maybe impacting the public's understanding of these tariffs? It might be messing with the message on it?
Caroline Leavitt 0:54
No, look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs.

What does Don mean by 'MAGA-on-MAGA crimes' and why introduce it now?

Caroline Leavitt 1:01
Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue. And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history. And I think it also speaks to the president's willingness to hear from all sides, that he has people at the highest levels of this government in this White House who have very diverse opinions on very diverse issues. But the president takes all opinions in mind, and then he makes the best decision based on the best interests of the American public.
Don Lemon 1:27
Boys will be boys? Sure. Okay, Caroline, that's the best you can come up with? Trump's press secretary can try to spin this as some sort of playground beef all she wants. But anyone with eyes can see just how nasty this fight is getting. And it all started with Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, saying this.
Peter Navarro 1:48
When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House and the American people understand that Elon's a car manufacturer. But he's not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler in many cases. If you go to his Texas plant, A good part of the engines that he gets, which in the EV case is the batteries come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan. The tires come. What we want, and the difference is in our thinking and Elon's on this, is that we want the tires made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis.

How did Elon Musk and Peter Navarro publicly clash over tariffs?

Peter Navarro 2:27
We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here. It's like this business model where BMW and Mercedes come in to Spartansburg, South Carolina, and have us assemble German engines and Austrian transmissions, that doesn't work for America. It's bad for our economics. It's bad for our national security. We want them to come here. And with Elon, it's fine. He's a car man. He's a car person. That's what he does. And he wants the cheap foreign parts, and we understand that. But we want him home. We want him home for our national security and economic security. And everything's good with Elon.
Don Lemon 3:07
Elon's a car assembler? That phrase right there appears to be what set this whole thing off. Apart from the tariffs themselves, of course. So Elon Musk can be described in many ways, a billionaire, a businessman, an innovator, an engineer, but not many people would dare dismiss him as a mere quote unquote car assembler. Now, I can understand why that might have irked him, because when you couple it with what Trump and Navarro's tariffs are doing to his business as well, I mean, come on.

What did the White House spokesperson say about the Musk–Navarro sparring?

Don Lemon 3:38
So as you heard from Caroline Levitt, Musk responded by calling Navarro, quote, dumber than a sack of bricks. And then he went even further than that. Musk said describing Navarro in such a way was a mistake because it's an insult to bricks. And then he bestowed upon Navarro a new nickname, Peter. Well, I can't actually say the second half. But it's a play on Navarro, but with the R word slipped in there. And the whole brouhaha has naturally gotten a lot of press attention.

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