Wesley Wildman says he misses tariff talk on American Family Radio
>> Ed Vitagliano: Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Welcome back. Welcome back to Some Things Considered, right here on American Family Radio.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm your host, Tim Wildmon of A Few Things Considered.
>> Tim Wildmon: Ed Battagliano, the quiet Italian sitting to my left. All right, Wesley.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I prefer tariff talk.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I, miss tariff talk. Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Miss that.
>> Tim Wildmon: We had so much good stuff and fun with Tariff Talk as long as it lasted.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: But we haven't had the opportunity. We haven't been mentioned.
>> Wesley Wildmon: We got about three weeks out of that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, a good three weeks of that talk. Wesley Wildmon joining us, Steve Paisley. Jordo. Hey, Everybody is in the house.
>> Steve Jordahl: Hello.
>> Tim Wildmon: If I can go full 90s on you. Hello in the house.
>> Whoopi Goldberg: Huh?
>> Tim Wildmon: Huh?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Raise the roof, baby.
>> Tim Wildmon: Let's raise the roof. Is that 90s too?
>> Steve Jordahl: Because I can do the FM thing. This is. This is Today's Issues.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's good. What was it Arsenio hall made popular?
>> Ed Vitagliano: raise the roof in the House pump. Did he do the house fist pump?
>> Tim Wildmon: Remember Arsenio?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.
>> Steve Jordahl: Oh, he's still Bill Clinton playing the saxophone.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. Good morning, Steve.
>> Steve Jordahl: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: How are you?
>> Steve Jordahl: I'm doing well, thank you.
President Trump tweeted that big oil companies are not dropping prices commensurate
>> Tim Wildmon: okay, well, what do you got leading your story stacked right there.
>> Steve Jordahl: President Trump has been tweeting again,
>> Wesley Wildmon: and
>> Tim Wildmon: all America goes silent in anticipation of this morning. please be.
>> Steve Jordahl: Or actually, last night, he tweeted out this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Tweeted he truth Social.
>> Steve Jordahl: Put a truth out.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Is that the verb?
>> Steve Jordahl: I think this. Yeah, you truth.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You truth.
>> Steve Jordahl: You truth things.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Truth out.
>> Steve Jordahl: Well, he, posted, the big oil companies are not dropping their prices at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they're paying for oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock. In other words, customers are being gouged. I've instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing pretty President D. jt. So he sounds a little bit like
>> Tim Wildmon: a Democrat of that. Okay. I will. I will. I would like to hear that from President Trump if that holds true in a month. What he's just said right there. Yeah, I don't believe.
>> Steve Jordahl: You don't believe the DOJ is going to look into it?
>> Tim Wildmon: No, I do. You knew the answer to that before you asked.
>> Steve Jordahl: What you don't believe,
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't believe. I'm not calling President Trump a liar. Don't. It's okay. I'm saying that the price of Gasoline has a process.
>> Tim Wildmon: And it takes about probably four to six weeks for the price at the pump to catch up with the supply chain. So just because oil prices dropped in the last three days or four days because of good news from the Iran U.S. negotiations doesn't mean tomorrow morning the gas goes back to where it was four months ago. Is that fair?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think that's, I think that's fair and I think that's accurate what you're saying because I didn't know this till several years ago when I saw some interview with some, folks who owned gas stations. They were asked this question. It was somewhere around, you know, in the post.
>> Steve Jordahl: They do seem to go up quicker than they go down.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. And that was what they were asked. And here's the explanation they gave because they said, listen, we do, we kind of get attacked when the, you know, the prices go up quicker than they come down. He said, here's what's at play. He said, I own a gas station. If it looks, if the, if the supply of oil looks like it may be endangered for, by a war, for example. Example.
>> Tim Wildmon: Or a hurricane.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Or a hurricane. He said, that means what you're talking about, Tim, the price of gasoline is going to go up. I have to set aside money to pay for that. A more expensive gas, I have to pay, set aside money to pay for that. Now I can't wait three weeks.
>> Steve Jordahl: You don't know what's going to happen
>> Ed Vitagliano: because the price is going to be higher when it's time for me to pay for it. So what these folks were saying, saying is if there's a hurricane or a war or something, I will raise the price immediately so I can start getting the money in hand so I can pay for the more expensive gas when it gets here in a month. But that's not the way it works in reverse.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And you remembered all that?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I, it just made sense to me because I was, I was with President Trump. I was saying somebody is not playing the game the right way. So I'm guessing also that there is still some insecurity about whether this goes through this. I'm talking about the negotiations and the
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, it doesn't help that the straits open and close and then. Yes, why is it, yeah, they
>> Ed Vitagliano: open, closed, open, close. And so I'm guessing some of these gas people who own these gas stations are going. I'm not sure how much gas is going to cost in a month. So I'm raised. I'm not coming down as quickly.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think President Trump is doing what. What a lot of politicians do. he's not the first one.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, you got to blame the oil. Oil companies for the price of gasoline. Let me tell you. And listen, this is not in the Bible, so we can disagree, right? Still. Still be friends. Why can't we be friends?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Why can't I know some people that find it?
>> Whoopi Goldberg: The Bible?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Whatever you're about to say, Okay. I know some people.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It has to do with the antibody.
>> Tim Wildmon: They can find a Bible verse for gas prices.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes, they can.
>> Tim Wildmon: Ah, I'd like to hear it. Not really. So, I would just say this, too. when I drive down the street and I go five miles, there's going to be 10 options for me to get gasoline. M. Okay. And guess what? All those stores want me to come in.
Ed Battagliano: President Trump says gas stations are colluding
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: They don't make any money off gasoline hardly. They want me to come in and buy a candy bar and a Coke or sandwich or maybe they got chicken strips. Chicken strips, whatever. So they want to get me in the store. Right. Why do they want to gouge people and be $0.10 higher than the next guy just to, For what that is?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, you think President Trump blaming people in your stores, he was blaming the oil companies, I think. Not the people who own the gas.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm saying. Yes, true. But I'm saying for people who, say, yeah, the people in our town are colluding to keep the gas prices up. And I'm going like, well, what evidence do you have for that? But I would go to. I think most convenience store, owners, be they a chain or a mom, and pop, they want people in their store. So they don't want to show a gasoline price that's $0.10 higher than the next guy down the street. When people have to consider where they're going to go to get their gas and then go into the store and get other things. You understand what I'm saying?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Absolutely.
>> Tim Wildmon: So I don't believe in. I don't believe inclusion. now if you do, that's fine. As I said, please, we can still be brothers and everything. But Trump here is doing what. It's the old card. It's the old. Blame the oil company, CEOs or whatever he said. This is what President Trump said. The big oil companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for oil.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I will say this. I agree with what you're saying with gas stations and all that, that you just Laid out. I do believe there is some collusion when it comes. And I've been saying this for a while. Okay, so this is. I'm not new to this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Spiracy theory alert.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, straight ahead.
>> Tim Wildmon: Brought, to you by Ed Battagliano.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think grocery stores have been keeping their price is artificially high.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right. Because I think they believe Americans will gripe about it, but they're going to come in and pay the higher prices. And the reason I say this is because the amount of inflation, quote unquote, that I saw post Covid during COVID and after Covid is not. Doesn't line up with the actual inflation rate in our countries. Far higher. Okay. and also when big companies, not the mom and pop thing, but big companies. Well, I'm not going to start naming them. I don't want to pick on anybody. When they get a cash infusion and a cash stream, they don't like turning off that spigot. And I can prove it. You remember when we used to be able to fly and have our luggage go free? You remember? And then they started charging 25 bucks a bag. All right, that was supposed to be temporary. Well, guess what? It's not temporary anymore because that was a revenue stream for major airlines that they liked.
>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And I think big, big grocery stores like this revenue stream with the extra cost to consumers, and they're probably not going to lower those prices unless they're forced to by economic reality.
>> Steve Jordahl: I would think that grocery, stores are a lot more, habitual. in other words, you shop at the same grocery store. You don't shop around for grocery stores like you probably do for gas. I don't have any loyalty to any particular gas station, but I do go and buy my. I buy my groceries at Walmart or I buy my groceries at Kroger or wherever. It's just the way it is. And I don't even, you know, so that's.
>> Tim Wildmon: Isn't that on you then, to not shop around for better prices?
>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. And so let me just give you the proof. Okay? Most people who watch this show, boy, Ed's getting serious.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's pointing his Diet Coke.
>> Ed Vitagliano: My Diet Coke.
>> Tim Wildmon: Your Diet Coke.
>> Ed Vitagliano: During COVID I could buy a six pack of these 16 ounce diet cokes for under $3. Okay, $3. A six pack. They're now six or seven dollars. That is far above the inflation rate. And I just think that these stores, they're all like this. They just said, you know what? Ed wants his Diet Coke. He's going to pay whatever we charge.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I agree with Ed, on this one. Hey, by the way, so I was paying our ins. What do you. Pesticide bill. Oh, yeah. They come by and pray for bugs every. Everybody, every three months, they come by. Well, I was online paying the other day, and I didn't need to see this, but I clicked on my. Accidentally, clicked on, previous statements.
What's the answer? Price controls? No, no. No, I'm not in favor of price controls
>> Tim Wildmon: Ah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: and in 2020, 2021, 2022, it was, $62. And, as of yesterday, when I paid it, it was $89. That's in three years. You can't just going up almost 25 or $30. That's like dollars a year.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And I'm sure, though, I'm sure all these outlets will say, hey, it's more expensive for us too. And there's some of that to it.
>> Tim Wildmon: M. But what's the answer? Price controls?
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, no. I, I'm just.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So the answer is quit. is. Is don't have coven.
>> Tim Wildmon: Grow your own food.
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, no.
>> Wesley Wildmon: When people, When Covid comes, you don't. You just. You don't shut down the economy?
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, I, I, I think. I think. No, I'm not in favor of price controls. I'm just. I'm just diagnosing the problem. I, don't have a treatment for it. They'll keep doing this until the economic reality is I stopped buying Diet Cokes, and then the prices will come down.
>> Tim Wildmon: What if you're addicted?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I'm not addicted. I could quit anytime I want.
>> Wesley Wildmon: The same one he's pointing at you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Anyway, about every. About every once, every six or seven months, I have this soapbox moment. And now I feel like I have vented.
>> Tim Wildmon: You have.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And I can go on.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: And the bidding followed you. You did take a break for a month or two or three with the Diet Cokes, didn't you? With about a month.
>> Ed Vitagliano: This. And this also happens about every two, three years. I tell my wife I'm quitting Diet Coke, and I'm going to have one Diet Coke, and then I'm. And I've done better.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But you did.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I have two Diet Cokes, and then I drink water. but I can feel its grip tightening. I'll probably go back to throwing away all said quit.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So you didn't tell her for how long, though you did quit?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, I never said. I never said I would quit completely.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know what? The spirits willing, but the, taste buds are weak.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That is. That is absolutely correct. Absolutely correct.
Tim Free Enterprise Wildman talks to Steve Paisley about politics
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. Steve is Here. Steve Paisley durd with Ed.
>> Steve Jordahl: Ah, I'm enjoying the discussion, Ed.
>> Tim Wildmon: Price control. Vitagliano and Wesley. I agree with. Ed Wildmon is here with us. and then I'm Tim Free Enterprise Wildmon here. I believe in the free market, and so, you know, and the American way. Go ahead, Steve. What's your next story?
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, Tim. Robert Baron Wildmon colluding.
>> Tim Wildmon: Colluding with the billionaires. Mess up the little man.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right. M. We got to get our own little man.
>> Tim Wildmon: Time to unionize.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, brother, where art thou? That was an old brother, where art thou?
>> Tim Wildmon: What was that line?
>> Ed Vitagliano: We got to get our own little man. You remember the. The, politician? Yeah, I'm with the little man. And he actually had a little man there and sweeping out. And then the other. The. The incumbent, his son was saying, maybe we need to get our own little man.
>> Steve Jordahl: anyway, sorry, Steve, when you take political advice, do you like to get it from your celebrities?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Absolutely.
>> Steve Jordahl: Isn't it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They're brilliant.
>> Steve Jordahl: Is it important to you what a, country music star or an actor or an actress has to say about politics?
>> Whoopi Goldberg: You.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You betcha.
>> Steve Jordahl: Well, it is to the.
>> Tim Wildmon: I personally look to Jack Black. Well, that's the first source I go to.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Robert De Niro fan.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, go ahead.
>> Steve Jordahl: Well, I mean, it does matter to the women on the View. I can say that, right? so Kenny Chesney, who's a country music superstar, he was visiting Bill Maher on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, and they got to talking about, do you do politics? And it. Chesney said this quote, I've never felt like it was my place. I never saw it to be my place, to use my stage or platform, no matter where I'm playing, to tell people how to think or how to vote. Like, they get that everywhere else, everywhere, on every device, every network. They're there here at his concerts as an escape from all that stuff. Well, that didn't sit too well with, the women. Some of the women on the View. This is what they had to say. Cut 13.
>> Whoopi Goldberg: So this is his choice to stay silent on politics. But what's wrong with people who want to speak up and who do speak up? I mean, don't they vote also? Yeah, like. Like Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen walks the walk. He. He talks about politics. He's a great talent. He can afford it. I don't know if, Kenny Chesney has
>> Tim Wildmon: one of the large.
>> Whoopi Goldberg: Well, I think that when you. If you can afford it, you certainly should spend. Speak up it's an American obligation in a certain way. Yeah, but it's not for everybody. It's not everybody's ability.
Wesley Small: Kenny Chesney has been outspoken about politics
>> Tim Wildmon: I think two things can be true at the same time here. We've talked about this before. Listen. Kenny, Chesney is, you know, is a country music superstar with a lot of crossover appeal to the general public. I mean, he's been around 30 years with hit after hit after hit. So I'm kind of surprised he did an interview with Bill Maher, because that's not. I've never seen him out there doing those kinds of political type interviews. He's mostly just stuck with his music and everything. but listen, both things, as I say, can be true. Bruce Springsteen is a rock superstar. M. Everybody knows his songs and his career. he's a left wing, you know, guy. I don't care, That I, still like Born in the USA I'm not gonna. Personally, I'm not gonna take him, he hasn't crossed the threshold to me to take him off a playlist or anything like that or cancel him. Bruce Springsteen, I'm talking about. And I vehemently disagree with a lot of things that he's been saying, lately, especially his take on Ice. But we still live in a free country where people have the right to express their opinions. And if Bruce Springsteen wants to go out there, you know, he's beyond canceling right or left. Kenny Chesney's beyond canceling right or left. You may be able to cancel somebody who's emerging as a artist or a singer or a movie star if they say the wrong thing politically. But those two guys, you know, you can't. You're not gonna be able to cancel. So I don't have a problem with Bruce Springsteen doing what he wants to do. And people don't want to go to his concerts or buy his albums or whatever, that's fine, too. Kenny Chesney, on the other hand, I kind of more respect him, his view, and agree with his view. I do agree with his view more. I think when people look to enter singers and entertainment and concerts, for example, they go to be entertained. They go to, as Kenny Chesney says, escape the rhetoric and the news and the politics of the day and just have a good time listening to music. For example, at a Kenny Chesney, concert. And that's what he's saying. He said, I don't feel like it's my job to tell people how to think or who to vote for. When they came to hear me sing songs. so. And they pay good money. I know Ed wants price controls on concert. I know that's where we're headed with this, but, I think, So I. You see what I'm saying by saying, two things can be true at one time. I think Bruce Springsteen, go for it. But Kenny Chesney, I think, is the. Is the approach that most people would prefer.
>> Steve Jordahl: The, the Micah Jordan, wisdom is appropriate here, too. When he was asked why he doesn't do politics, he says Republicans buy tennis shoes, too. and all kinds of different stripes go to Kenny Chesney concerts. I wonder if the people. The. The gals on the View would be so generous if they were talking about Jon Rich or Jon Voight.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, Jon Voight. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, for them, it probably depends on what cause they're speaking out on. Jason Aldean is also a superstar country music, and he's been pretty outspoken. linked with President Trump and supporting conservative causes. Go ahead, Wesley.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hasn't he.
>> Wesley Wildmon: He has, but if you notice, in almost all of these cases, he is being forced to take a stand because the media will interview him and ask him about that. And now he obviously taken a stand. My point is, it seems to me like the liberal media always wants to get well.
>> Tim Wildmon: But when you sing songs like Try that in a Small Town. Yeah, that's true. That's a political message. He intended to get out, and he's asked about it.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I would also. I agree with what you guys are saying. The only thing I would add is to kind of underscore, what you're saying, Tim, is no one's going to listen to Kenny Chesney just because he's conservative. They. If he sent. If he's allowed.
>> Tim Wildmon: If he is.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't know. I'm saying if he's a lousy singer.
>> Steve Jordahl: Oh, I know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You listen to artists because you like music.
>> Tim Wildmon: Absolutely.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And then the politics is a secondary set.
Steve Martin says he cannot look at Robert De Niro without thinking about character
>> Tim Wildmon: We've talked about this. In our show prep meeting, you said you canceled, Robert De Niro from your movie list. Right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I. He's probably the only one that. And it's. But it's not really. It's not really.
>> Steve Jordahl: Who.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Jim Carrey.
>> Tim Wildmon: Jim Carrey. So you've canceled Jim Carrey in your. In your playlist. Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It's not really. I don't. I don't know if it's canceling or not. Here's the thing that I said this morning, and I'll be happy to say it on the air, is. I understand that the people who are acting on a screen, in a movie, they're probably their private lives. Their beliefs are not mine. But I set that aside because their character in the movie or the TV show is compelling, what have you. But with Robert De Niro, I can't set it aside. I can't. I can't look at him as you're drinking Diet Coke. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Doesn't matter.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I can't look at his character and not see Robert De Niro.
>> Tim Wildmon: I got you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And that when you cross that line, I can no longer pretend you're the character. I'm going, you're Robert De Niro, and you hate my guts, and you hate President Trump. And I can't. Like you said, Steve, I cannot see that. I cannot hear it. And to me, that's the danger that a celebrity. Okay, that's the danger that a celebrity runs the risks when they're politically outsourced.
>> Tim Wildmon: You cancel Robert De Niro. Wesley's canceled, Jim Carrey. And you've canceled who, Steve?
>> Steve Jordahl: I'm not. I've stopped listening to, like, Barbra Streisand. She was such a beautiful voice.
>> Tim Wildmon: Why?
>> Steve Jordahl: Well, she's very leftist.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so you cancel Barbara Stroud.
>> Steve Jordahl: Kind of. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's just.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It's just hard to. It's. It's hard to. To. To leave reality.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But hold on. Let me admit. Let me confess, though. I'm a hypocrite, though, because there's other ones I do listen to.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. But he's Jim Carrey just. But makes it, You get a burned. You. Saddle.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I just. I've seen too many of his interviews. That's the problem. It's one too many.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, well, what about you? I've had to take Wind Beneath My Wings off my playlist because I can't listen to Beth. I can't.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Bette Midler, She's.
>> Tim Wildmon: I've canceled her.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Beth Midder. Actually, the truth is, I never had.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: I never had Wind Beneath My Rings on Wings on my playlist.
>> Ed Vitagliano: On your playlist.
>> Tim Wildmon: But it's a great song. Yeah, but Bette Midler. Yes. She's, I just. I don't know. I don't want to. But she's not out there anymore, hardly. She's like Pat, way past her prime. I don't know if she knows it or not.
>> Steve Jordahl: Barbara, She's Robert De Niro.
>> Tim Wildmon: De Niro.
>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Jim Carrey's hanging on maybe we got Ace Ventura, number six coming out sometime.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I hope not, because I'm gonna be one. I'm gonna want to go see it.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think.
There's a chance you've had those gloves the whole time
I think he peaked with Dumb and Dahmer. He did, yeah. so saying you've had those.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So you're saying there's a chance you've
>> Tim Wildmon: had those gloves the whole time? The whole time. Yeah. We're in the Rockies. All right, we'll see you tomorrow, everybody. Have a good day. Keep listening to AFR.
