Theo Von Asked Right Questions; Trump Gave Wrong Answers – Mother Jones

Last week, Donald Trump sat down with Theo Von, the former MTV reality star turned comedian and podcaster. The resulting interview was quite surreal. Throughout their conversation, Von called Trump “homie” and shared quirky remarks about his past drug experiences, saying, “You think it’s going to be easy, and then you’re go-kart racing with hookers and stuff, and it gets bad.”

The interview itself was filled with complicated and bewildering moments, with Trump often appearing confused. Nevertheless, Von managed to pose a series of probing questions about the significant presence of pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

Von noted, “One of the things I wanted to ask you about, like, the big pharma lobbyists— there’s, like, 1,800 big pharma lobbyists in Washington, D.C. There’s only 535 total representatives or senators, total, so, just the fact that there’s this whole other almost drug government… They’re, kind of pushing agendas and influencing things, like, how do we stop that, man? It just seems like, it’s obviously killing people, like, people are dying, you know, it’s like, what do we have to do that our own government won’t help us?”

Von’s concerns reflect the sentiment of many Americans. According to a recent Pew report, 73 percent of Americans believe lobbyists exert too much influence, and most lawmakers are more focused on their financial gains than the concerns of their constituents.

Data from OpenSecrets.org revealed that in 2023, there were 1,871 registered lobbyists representing the pharmaceutical industry in Washington. These lobbyists were reported to have spent $383.6 million in influencing lawmakers and regulators, although this figure likely underestimates the true costs, as it only counts specific legally defined lobbying activities.

Trump did not directly answer Von’s question on how to address this issue but did acknowledge Von’s concerns. However, he was less forthcoming about his own record with lobbyists.

Trump said, “Well, you have to stop listening to lobbyists. You know, I was not a big person for lobbyists, and if they have even a little access to a president or a senator or a congressman or woman…” Von interjected, “They’re snakes!”

Despite his claims, Trump has had extensive connections with lobbyists. From the early days of his administration, some of his closest associates became lobbyists. For instance, his long-time fixer Michael Cohen and original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski both registered as lobbyists, with Lewandowski recently returning as an adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

A 2019 review by ProPublica showed that one out of every 14 of Trump’s political appointees was a former lobbyist. By 2019, Trump had appointed 281 lobbyists to his administration, 30 of whom went to the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA.

Instead of addressing this, Trump tried to redirect the conversation to less relevant details, such as how some lobbyists work for the alcohol industry.

Trump diverted the discussion towards the idea of establishing a ban on former government officials becoming lobbyists. “You could say that if you’re an elected official or if you work in government, you can never be a lobbyist,” he suggested, while shifting topics to military contracts.

However, Trump had initially enacted such a ban when he took office, modeled after a similar Obama-era rule. Ironically, one of Trump’s final acts before leaving office was to rescind this very ban.

Bill Clinton had also canceled his lobbying ban before leaving office, but Obama had left his in place. In 2017, Trump criticized Clinton for this move, yet he did the same upon exiting his presidency.

In yet another interesting turn, before the Trump interview, Von had a conversation with Bernie Sanders, touching on similar lobbying issues. In that playful exchange, Sanders highlighted the number of pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington, echoing the same concerns about undue influence.

Though appearing out of his depth, Von’s questions provided a rare glimpse into the complexities surrounding lobbying and influence within Washington, D.C.

Source: Mother Jones, OpenSecrets.org