With less than a month to go before the presidential election, former Hewlett-Packard CEO and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, is among the growing list of Republicans backing the Biden-Harris ticket.
‘[Joe Biden] is the only one who’s prepared to actually reach his hand across the aisle, sit down, listen to people who don’t agree with him, and work together to solve problems,” Fiorina told Cheddar’s Closing Bell. “That’s what our nation needs now.”
Fiorina first announced her support for Joe Biden in June. She told Cheddar it was the end of 2019 when she realized she could not support President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. “As a businessperson, I judge someone on the results they produce, their leadership, and their behavior,” Fiorina said. “I think he has honestly failed most leadership tests that have come his way.”
When it comes to the 2020 election, Fiorina says it’s more than just various issues at stake; she called it a matter of the nation’s unity. “This country has got to come back together otherwise we cannot move forward.”
Unsurprisingly, Fiorina said she doesn’t agree with everything on the Democratic platform. She also admitted she doesn’t agree with some policies “the Trump Republican Party” has pushed. Specifically, Fiorina pointed to the administration’s handling of immigration and what she described as the growing consolidation of power in the executive branch. As a businessperson, she also pointed to the country’s growing debt and deficit and Trump’s foreign policy record.
When it comes to foreign policy, relations with China are top of Fiorina’s mind. It’s one point she agrees with the president on. “I think it was right for Donald Trump to say we are going to have to challenge China.” But she did have criticisms for the way the Trump administration went about negotiating with the superpower. “If we're going to be successful in challenging China, we need to be consistent, persistent, and strategic,” Fiorina said. “Donald Trump has been extremely inconsistent.”
Fiorina highlighted China’s increased aggression in the South China Sea, its actions against Taiwan, and continued theft of U.S. intellectual property. She said the only way forward is for the government and businesses to find a way to work together. “Which we’re not doing right now,” she added.
As a former tech CEO, Fiorina knows about the power the tech industry has in the marketplace and with consumers — and the response Washington has to that kind of largely-unregulated power. She stated that the pandemic’s acceleration of trends around the tech sector's influence is concerning lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. “Big tech is not going to have an open field going forward, in my view, no matter who wins the White House.”
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
After being among the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, restaurants are still having a hard time staying afloat, with owners claiming that business is worse now due to closures from staff shortages and customer decline than it was three months ago. Mike Whatley, vice president of state affairs and grassroots advocacy for the National Restaurant Association, spoke to Cheddar News about how the sector is reaching out to lawmakers for help. "Working with Senators Wicker, Sinema, and a whole host of bipartisan leaders, we're trying to get the Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished," Whatley said.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
The memoir, "COMPROMISED: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump", tells a familiar story from a bit of a different source: Peter Strzok himself, former FBI Counterintelligence Agents and Agency Veteran who spent most of his very long career investigating some of the most controversial inquiries, most notably in recent American history. Those inquiries were Hillary Clinton's email to even Trump Russia investigations. Former FBI Agent and Author of "Compromised" Peter Strzok, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden's first year did not come to the close that he had hoped after last night's Senate vote blocked the voting rights bill, a priority that Biden has promoted since his inauguration. Joining us to discuss the voting rights bill, and many others passing through congress is congresswoman Lori Trahan, representing Massachusett's 3rd district.
