‘Vance and Trump say what people are thinking’, says Republican

We were joined by Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas UK.

Matt Frei: Are you okay with the direction that your party is travelling in, because you represent Republicans overseas. You know all about global trade. You know all about the image of America abroad. This is becoming an isolationist, populist, nationalist party, isn’t it?

Greg Swenson: I don’t think so. There’s that wing of the party for sure, and I think what we have to hope for, and I’m optimistic that we can do this, is just bring together the sort of country club Republican circuit. You’re going to see Nikki Haley here tonight speaking with the new populist working class right, and I think that’s healthy to have a big tent party. It’s known as the party of the big tent.

Matt Frei: Can that coalition hang together? It doesn’t make economic sense. You’ve got 10 per cent tariffs on all goods coming to the United States suggested by this convention. That kills free trade, doesn’t it?

Greg Swenson: It’s a mistake.

Matt Frei: So you are not in favour of that?

Greg Swenson: No, I’m not in favour of that.

Matt Frei: 100 per cent tariffs on goods coming from China?

Greg Swenson: I think what’s important is that we look at China and that’s not free and fair trade. So they don’t deserve favoured nation status with us or favourable trade arrangements. So I think that’s a bit of a stretch to say, let’s slap tariffs on our trading partners and on…

Matt Frei: But that’s the end of free trade isn’t it?

Greg Swenson: I wouldn’t say it’s the end of free trade and I’m not sure it’s going to work that way. But I don’t think it’s an isolationist party. In fact, if you look back at 2019-20, we had peace and prosperity. You had peace movements around the world.

Matt Frei: I’m talking about the party now. You’ve got JD Vance, and the president to some extent as well, saying we don’t need to support Ukraine. Let’s just call it a day. Let’s broker a peace. The Europeans are terrified of that.

Greg Swenson: What JD Vance has said is he would hope that the Europeans step up more, so that the United States can focus on Asia, and you’ve heard that over the years. You heard a lot from Obama, the famous pivot, and so what the Europeans and the UK should want is a return to defence spending and security.

Matt Frei: That’s already happening, isn’t it? The Europeans are spending more than what they were before…

Greg Swenson: Which is fantastic.

Matt Frei: …because of Ukraine, partly because of Trump. That’s going to carry on, but the fear is that they will pull the plug on Nato altogether.

Greg Swenson: No, not at all, in fact, and both of them have said they won’t, and I talked to Mike Pompeo about this last night. Not a chance that’s happening. What the Europeans should want is that the US gets back to their defence spending. We’ve had three years in a row of 3 per cent cuts to defence spending in real terms, and the US is still half of Nato. So that’s a 4.5 per cent cut of Nato spending. That’s really dangerous.

Matt Frei: What about the comments from the man who wants to be vice president, ‘the first Islamist nuclear power could be Britain under Labour’. That is bunkum, isn’t it?

Greg Swenson: You could argue it’s an exaggeration, right.

Matt Frei: Oh, come on.

Greg Swenson: There’s only four Islamist MPs right now.

Matt Frei: You could argue? You can be stronger than that Greg.

Greg Swenson: But let me answer the question. It’s a concern that a lot of people have, and you’ll notice that both JD Vance and President Trump say what people are thinking. Not all people, but they say what people are thinking. So they’re very unfiltered that way.

Matt Frei: Are you correcting them, do you personally believe that we’re going to be an Islamist regime?

Greg Swenson: It’s an exaggeration.

Matt Frei: But then it’s your job to go and talk to people like JD Vance.

Greg Swenson: I haven’t met him yet. I look forward to it, we’ll have that conversation.

Matt Frei: Will you tell him that this is just nonsense?

Greg Swenson: Like President Trump, he’s unfiltered. It might have been a bit of a wisecrack. He also had a meeting with David Lammy and was very complimentary.

Matt Frei: I’m sure David Lammy is not delighted by his comments.

Greg Swenson: But nor was President Trump delighted about David Lammy’s comments about him. So let’s all be grownups, kiss and make up, right? And I think JD’s already done that, with David Lammy complimenting him on the fact that the UK is the only real power in Europe spending 2 per cent or more on defence.

Matt Frei: But briefly, isn’t that the problem, Greg Swenson? The grown ups are missing?

Greg Swenson: No, they’re grown ups. They have a different flavour. It’s refreshing. They appeal to a different group of people, a much broader group of people. And so they’re going to do what’s best for the people that vote for them. And all Americans, not just the people who vote for them. Again, peace and prosperity. And so you look back at 2019 and that’s what people miss, you know, 6.3 per cent wage growth in 2019, and now we’re down four per cent.