Donald Trump recently suggested that he may push to end the income tax if he's elected president again. Will he actually do it? And will his plan of increasing tariffs to fund the government and bring back manufacturing jobs work? Glenn explains why he's getting more and more optimistic. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris and the Democrats are looking more and more desperate as they ramp up the "Trump is Hitler" rhetoric again. But Glenn explains why Trump is the worst "fascist" he has ever seen.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: I have to tell you, I watched him last night. I mean, he is on it!
STU: No. I was told he's exhausted, Glenn. That's what I was told. Reliable sources like Kamala Harris told me. He's exhausted. This is a tough job.
He can't do this job. As if we didn't just witness you, make excuses for a guy for four years. Who actually was in that situation.
GLENN: Yeah. He is not. He is.
He is sharper than ever. And I don't say that. Because I see him backstage.
I see him in conferences. And he's sharper than ever. Trust me. And he's on stage going -- you can see it. This speech he gave last night, was so focused.
Honestly, there were times he was reading the teleprompter. I'm like, is he reading that off the teleprompter?
I've never said that.
He's usually on teleprompter. And another thing we'll do.
Then he'll go back and meander for a while. Then he'll come back to the teleprompter. He was fantastic last night.
And big vision. Optimistic, with the people.
I mean, totally right where people are, right now. He was --
STU: It's closing well.
GLENN: Game-changing stuff. If he can get in and do this stuff. Game-changing.
STU: And Rogan today.
GLENN: Good time to be on your game.
STU: I've often said, the best time Donald Trump has ever -- the best performance he's ever had campaigning was in the few weeks following the Access Hollywood tape. Because I think that shook him. And there was a moment of like, oh, my gosh. We'll lose this thing badly. And he was just buttoned up and rock solid for several weeks.
You know, he has his moments all the time. He has his strengths, obviously. As you point out, he can go off script and do his stuff. He's doing really well. Because they've put him in a position and he's decided to take a position, where he's going in and doing these podcast-type interviews.
And it's just -- it fits him, really well.
I mean, like, there's another world, where if Donald Trump doesn't decide, he wants to be president of the United States, he's just a big podcast person. That's a thing that absolutely could happen in this world.
Coming off the apprentice. A big real estate --
GLENN: Yes. I would highly recommend that, if he would lose. I would highly recommend that.
Just don't do it, at this time period. Please.
Anyway, or this country. You can do it at some other -- but, I mean, he is, he was finally someone saying, what the problems are. But not just saying the problems. Here's how we're going to fix it.
You know, when you listen to this speech last night from him, where he's talking about I -- I -- I think he's maybe even talking about no income tax.
STU: Yeah. Now, as a person who has a mug, and has been selling it for a couple of years. Repeal the 16th Amendment.
I mean, a particular fan of that particular policy. You should totally get rid of the income tax.
GLENN: Yeah. And it's almost. I mean, I think it's the right time.
Because he's talking about tariffs in a different way.
He's talking about tariffs. You build your cars, outside of the United States. Okay.
We're going to put a tariff on it. To keep cars that are made here in the United States.
Jeeper, we have to rebuild. This is the only time I think I've ever started to agree with tariffs.
We must rebuild our infrastructure. We have to have manufacturing here in America.
You know, people are under this illusion, that, oh, well, we did it before. You know, World War II. When America said sets their mind to it, they can anything.
What did we contribute to World War II? Manufacturing.
We made the planes and the Jeeps and the tanks and everything else. We made the trucks that brought the whole world into Germany. Okay?
That was our biggest contribution. We lost, what? 500,000 people? Russia lost 20 million soldiers. Okay?
We had the least on the table, as far as flesh and bone. We were important.
Don't get me wrong.
STU: Obviously.
GLENN: And everything those guys did.
Obviously. However, our biggest contribution was being able to turn manufacturing on and just produce a war machine.
Okay? We had nothing in '38. Nothing!
In '39 and '40, we started to get serious, because we were like, we're in trouble, and they started to tool.
'41, we were way behind Germany in manufacturing. We could not even keep up.
By '42, '43, I think we had almost doubled their output.
Because we had our own steel!
We had our own manufacturing plants!
All you had to do was start making this, instead of this!
Tariffs would bring jobs back, at this point, later in our life, we may not be able to do it.
But tariffs have a chance, of saying, look, you want to -- you want to sell your stuff.
Fine!
Make it in America. Big stuff.
Big manufacturing stuff.
Make it in America. We'll give you incentives to bring your company, your manufacturing here. So we have these plants.
We are producing our own steel. We're doing these things.
Meanwhile, we're also going to drill, baby, drill.
And as he said last night. Frac, frac, frac, frac, frac.
And so we will bring our energy costs down. I -- I think this is a game-changing moment. Game-changing.
STU: And I'm never going to be involved in tariffs like --
GLENN: I know. I'm not involved in tariffs either.
STU: But the size of the government that would be required for a government to be funded by tariffs is a size of a government that I like.
A lot smaller than the one we have. Does a lot fewer things. And I like that. So...
GLENN: Yes. Yes. And we were all about that, up until the 16th Amendment.
STU: Yeah. Look, get rid of that.
And it's a heck of a good step in the right direction. And I think it's also the right thing. I mean, there are really bad taxes out there.
Income tax is one of them.
GLENN: Yeah. The progressive income tax in particular.
I would go for -- I would just go for a flat tax. Everybody pays the same. We all have the same skin in the game.
STU: Yeah. And the payroll tax is another one.
Trump has talked about that before. Which is a regressive tax. Not even a progressive tax. A regressive tax.
Where people at the bottom of the income scale pay a higher percentage than those at the top, which again, you would think the progressives would be all over, but they want their money.
Anyway, you know, Trump has proposed a lot of these different tax cuts. And, look, until this election, I thought that was what everyone did in an election time. He finds out.
GLENN: But I think he's actually going to do a lot of these things.
STU: I mean, obviously, he's restricted by the -- the form of government we have.
GLENN: I know. If he has the Senate and the House.
I think we'll do a lot of this.
STU: That would be great. It certainly will not go the wrong direction for once. And that would be nice.
GLENN: If he can get half the stuff done, he says he will do, in four years.
And he has told me. Glenn, it won't be four years.
He we have 100 days. We have 100 days.
And he's right. He's got to New Jersey and go, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Take everybody's breath away.
Because he's got to turn it around. And turn it around quickly.
STU: And I think if his focus is, freeing people, to do with their money, what they want.
Rather than a centralized economic policy.
Which I don't think say good thing.
The more we industrialize economic strategy. We've seen this in country after country. That comes out poorly.
This is what Kamala Harris wants though.
She wants a House in Washington. Making the decisions for the entire country. And it's quite clear, that's not what Donald Trump wants. That's not to say, we can't find. I'm sure we can nitpick these policies. And find things we don't like.
But at the end of the day, here's a person who understands the American economy.
By the way, I don't know if anyone recognizes this. He was already president of the United States.
And things went really well.
GLENN: It's not like what it was in 2016.
We didn't know if he actually believed these things.
We didn't know. The only thing I knew for sure was tariffs.
STU: At some level, the border.
GLENN: And war. War.
GLENN: Being opposed to war.
STU: Those things, he's been consistent on.
GLENN: For like 40 years.
And those things, I knew he would do.
I didn't know the rest. I didn't believe the rest.
You know, I will make sure we recognize Israel. Uh-huh. Sure.
STU: Right. I didn't know if he would prioritize Israel.
GLENN: No way.
STU: I didn't know he would name Supreme Court justices that would overturn Roe vs. Wade. These are things that I would really -- I mean, not doubted, am somewhat sure he wouldn't do.
GLENN: Stu, I was positive.
STU: Yeah. But I think understandably. That's why I think too, you're seeing a real failure of what Harris and Walz are trying to do with this whole fascism, Hitler thing.
If in 2016, you have a guy, who is a businessman.
Who has never been in politics.
Who you don't necessarily. You can't necessarily lock down in all of his policies. You know, he's a guy who is most famous for saying you're fired to people over and over again!
GLENN: Right. Oh, I hope he becomes more famous soon.
STU: At some level in 2016, maybe you can convince some undecided people.
I don't know. Is this guy Hitler? I don't know?
GLENN:
HILARY: Was the guy. Here is the definition of fascism.
Hitler took the government, made it all regulations.
And then went to the companies, and said, I'm not going to put you out of business.
You just have to make what we want.
You have to make it how we want it.
And follow all these regulations. You can keep your company.
You can get rich.
He made public/private partnerships.
Well, that's not what Donald Trump is doing.
STU: Yeah. And I'll point out. I mean, if you want to look at the defining piece of domestic policy for Donald Trump, during his first term.
Probably, the easiest way to summarize it would be deregulation, right?
You could talk about the border.
Some of the stuff he got done. Some of it didn't.
Defining when it comes to domestic policy.
Probably is deregulation.
He did that all over the government. Adolf Hitler. Was he famous for reregulation? I'm pretty sure --
GLENN: Regulations he has.
I will completely stay out of everything!
No. He didn't say that.
STU: That was not his policy.
GLENN: We want privatized gas chambers.
What?
STU: It's dark. But it's funny. Because it's just like so inherently stupid.
I mean, a closing argument.
And I think like what -- I was thinking about this.
Because there's obviously -- a totally different strategy from the Harris campaign. Even the last couple of weeks.
Now we're going on TV all the time.
And he's Hitler.
No more joy.
It's like it's so bizarre.
And I wonder if partially.
Obviously, they know this isn't working.
Their strategy. Their piece of the argument behind the scenes is likely, there are no more undecided voters we can get. So just now charge our people.
I want the MSNBC viewer at the polls.
GLENN: Yes. That's exactly what's happening, and a setup for trouble after the election.