UNPACKING THE US ELECTION RESULT.

[00:00:01] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5. We turn our attentions and say good morning to this gentleman that is joining us on Freedom 106.5 FM. I am not certain if I pronounce the name correctly, but I will start off with calling you Mr. Henry. Good morning. You're muted. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Good morning. Good morning, Freedom Radio. Good morning to you, sir. Mwali is the name. [00:00:29] Speaker A: Mwali. I did get it correct. Mwali Henry. [00:00:31] Speaker B: Yes, sir. [00:00:32] Speaker A: And let's I will allow you the opportunity to tell the citizens of Trinidad Tobago your position and what you do. [00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, good morning to your viewers on Morning Rumble. So I am a chief strategist, a lead strategist. Just a little bit about myself. I've been able to work with so many different corporations and organizations from Walmart to Clanson, the White House to Wall Street. And one of the key things that I do is in my behavioral scientist role is to really identify historical trends, support companies, businesses and organizations in making data driven decisions. And my firm is based in Atlanta, Georgia and I'm excited to give some insights on the election. And it's in park US Election and it's in park to Trinidad as well. [00:01:22] Speaker A: All right, beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. You know, you talk about behavioral insight. All right. You talked about that and which is past. Right. You talk about past behavioral insights. Let's talk a little bit about Donald Trump and what we know about him. Tell me about this astute businessman that eventually turned politician. [00:01:44] Speaker B: Oh, great question. So Donald Trump is definitely a political enigma. He doesn't fit into what we call the traditional type of politics, politician. As a matter of fact, if you look at Donald Trump as a politician, you'll be sadly mistaken. This US Presidential election is historical in three key reasons. It's historical in its candidate, its candidacy and its campaign. And Donald Trump became the first president who was never a politician. Now, when you think about the role of a commander in Chief since 1789, they've never elected someone who was a non politician. 31 presidents were in the military and 44 of them were politicians. Donald Trump was neither. So he's definitely a political enigma. And he has disrupted the politics. And that's why a lot of polls were not able to really track and to measure his supporters. [00:02:41] Speaker A: You know, it's very interesting that you shared that. I now realizing because I was saying all the time that Kamala Harris was poised to take the presidency. And I thought to myself and I thought and I said it out to my listeners and those are viewing us online and streaming, that America was poised to create history yet again. We would have seen that what would have appeared to be only in the movies such as Fifth Element and others are seeing a black man in the White House at the commander in Chief. We saw it in 2008 and we got eight years. So history was created. And I thought to myself, a black woman, a woman at that, in the White House, it could happen. The possibility could happen. She was running and campaigning. It could have happened. However, I did not realize, I did so much research and I did not realize that outside of him just being a businessman, he never was a military man either. And that that in itself is history. And he would have, and this is his second term, 47th President elect and soon to be sworn in President of the United States of America, leader of the free world. So based on his behavioral stats in the past, would you say that he runs America as a business? Because his experience in politics may have been in a room chatting with them or even supporting funding and financing, helping to ask different governors for policies, maybe to help his own business. Many people have the consensus that he's a failed businessman. Is he really? And if so, does he run America like a business or as a politician? Based on his past stint as the president? [00:04:29] Speaker B: Well, to the question about his experience and what he applied in his Last presidency in 2016, this campaign was definitely a comparison and a measurement of past performance. And usually past performance points to future behavior. So even though Kamala Harris would have tried to run from the weight of incumbency with with regards to high taxes, high inflation, high gas prices, high food prices, high mortgage rates, etc. They remember the economy of Donald Trump. They remember the days of low taxes, low inflation. They remember the days of low food prices, low gas prices. They remember the days of energy independence. So he has given that track record of how he would run his administration, even from a foreign policy perspective, showing power through peace. So from his experience of running a business and his experience of just running governance, he has a track record of providing that type of success. And that's why, you know, I argue with a lot of my colleagues on pollsters that this race was not about race, ethnicity, or even gender. This race was really about kitchen table issues. And because it was about that type of experience, people decided to make a decision simply based on their pockets and not based on a cultural war argument. [00:06:01] Speaker A: And I have to agree with you there, because a lot of persons right home here in Trinidad and Tobago have the same consensus that they did not vote on race. They voted for, as you say, kitchen table policies or needs of the kitchen table, as it were. Remembering his first stint now, let's talk a little bit about his charges very quickly. What you know of it and what he was convicted of. We are getting that. I'm getting words, bits and pieces that it would be done away with, removed off his office of his name. Let's talk a bit about that very quickly. [00:06:40] Speaker B: So as I mentioned before, Donald Trump is definitely a unique candidate, historical. He's been the first president to run for election who is under conviction and is facing sentences. So he has about two civil cases, four criminal cases, 91 criminal counts, found guilty on 34 counts due to a hush money scandal. But he's proven to be Teflon Dunn. And why do I say that? Because a lot of the voters would have viewed a lot of his legal problems as of the Justice Department and democratically led attorney generals and prosecutors from Georgia to New York. So the rule of thumb when it comes to the practice of the charges from the DOJ side, which falls under the executive branch, the rule of thumb is a lot of those charges and the customary practices, you don't indict or pursue charges against a sitting president with the immunity decision of the Supreme Court would have shown that Donald Trump or any president, not just Donald Trump, but any president, will be immune of charges. So the practice of the DOJ would be not to pursue charges against a sitting president. So many of the legal luminaries are saying, naturally these cases will not be pursued. The only question is on the state level, vis a vis New York and Georgia, with, with Fannie Mae in Fulton county, where he's facing some charges with regards to election interference, if they will pursue those charges, and that is yet to be seen, and we will see what decision shall be made. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Just to get clarity, was he ever convicted on any, he was convicted with. [00:08:36] Speaker B: Regards to a hush money scandal. I think that was a civil case. And also he was convicted with regards to criminal, I think it was criminal counts with regards to business financing, I think reporting business finance. And that was in New York. So those cases. But even that case is on appeal. Presently. It's before the New York Appeal Court. And from the preliminary arguments, the justices on the Appeal Court of New York is having a dim view of the approach of the attorney general in terms of one, overreach and number two, the severity of the case, because the conviction of the case, there was none. There was no precedent set before. So they believe it's definitely an overreach. So there's a high possibility, even though that charge will be reversed as well. [00:09:33] Speaker A: So basically, Trump will be exonerated. That's basically. So had he not, had he not secure the presidency this term, those cases would have been pursued and he would have been sentenced eventually, whether custodial or otherwise. But could a former president get a custodial sentence handed down to them, especially with the type of charges that was given? Because I was hearing some talk that they can't really do it, et cetera, et cetera. But could it be done? [00:10:07] Speaker B: Well, the debate is still there. You know, even if he was the president, him facing charges did not prevent him from running as a candidate. And, you know, there were speculations that he might be the first president who might be running the country from a jail cell. Right. So the argument is neither here nor there. If you look at many of the cases in aggregate, many are presently being appealed and with a high possibility of being dismissed. Some of the charges in terms of election interference in Georgia, that has gone through a colossal, you know, confusion in terms of not just the appeal, but the, this RICO case or RICO charge that occurred in Georgia, many of the counts were dismissed upon not only appeal, but upon examination by a judge. So even if Democrats were hoping that, number one, the legal troubles that he would have faced would have caused him to be unattractive politically, that failed. And number two, even if he had lost elections, him facing those same charges that were on appeal, he had stand a high possibility of winning those things on appeal. Similarly to his case about document interference, I think that was in Florida while he was a candidate that was thrown out by a judge. So the American judicial system has proven to be rigorous even on the intervention of politicians and political, you know, political affiliations or politically motivated pursuits. The American judicial system has proven to be judicious and robust for a former president, for a candidate, and even for a sitting president. [00:11:58] Speaker A: Excellent. Now, I listen to what you would have talked about in terms of how Donald Trump would have ran his campaign, what persons would have remembered from his last stint, what they saw of Kamala Harris when she was governor or DA of other states and stuff like that. Now, do you think that they did not pay attention to the American people while they were running the campaign? This is on the Kamala Harris side. We're talking about these stats and the polls. Now, when it comes to Kamala Harris, do you think she missed the button, missed the ball or dropped the ball, as it were, in her campaign to really be in touch with the American people. Because, I mean, when we look at Obama, Obama's stint in office, he would have gotten two. And people remember Obamacare. That is, it's a household thing. Everybody talks about Obamacare and all these things. He would have done stuff. Well, Obama was backing Joe Biden. They were always friends. Both of them backed each other. And even now, Obama was on the slate to back Kamala Harris. So I'm asking, do you think they missed the ball in terms of being in touch with American people on the ground and how they feel about food prices? [00:13:09] Speaker B: You know, to your question about missing the ball, you know, I want to make this statement really clear that Donald Trump did not win the elections. The American people won the elections. Where Kamala Harris's campaign missed it is that the victory that Donald Trump experienced was a multiethnic coalition of black voters, Latino, Arab and Muslim Americans, and surprisingly, a larger percentage of Latino voters, legal migrants ushered Donald Trump into a second term as the 47A president. The names and the groupings that I just called are usually high supporters for the Democratic Party. Just today, just today, I saw a release from Bernie Sanders who said that the Democratic Party left the working class people. And because they left the working class people, the working class people left the Democratic Party and supported Donald Trump and they joined the Republican Party. So this election was not about being bullish or talk about him being a Nazi or him being a racist or a sexist, or even a prominent media personality is being sued by Donald Trump, who even called him a rapist. These highfalutin charges by insiders, you know, could real insiders, I want to use the term insiders, I'm talking about political insiders. They miss the sea change of the general society whereby the Democratic Party was not speaking to their priorities. And Donald Trump was chosen to be a champion of their priorities. [00:15:03] Speaker A: And that's most important, that the American people, they really voted. When we look at the stats and what happened, as you said, it was really for country rather than for race or personal ill will. Donald Trump was also known to push back against immigrants. And yet the immigrants embraced him, the legal ones, that is. He's always been an advocate for illegal immigrants and trying to rid the US of them coming in. But however they felt the need that he will, whatever he was doing benefited them. And that was, to me, was most important. Now fast forwarding a little bit. I was looking at the US News this morning. I saw some tariffs already. The president, the president elect is talking about tariffs in other countries. With the president elect now first and foremost, let me just ask you this one question. Is Donald Trump a war man, a man of war? He said he isn't. What are your thoughts? [00:16:05] Speaker B: Well, Donald Trump's policy is peace through strength. So he isn't a war hawk. As a matter of fact, he would have broken away from the traditional, what we call the Rhino Republicans of those who would have advocated for war. That's why you would not have seen Nikki Haley, who challenged him in the Republican primary. She did not come. He did. She did not campaign on the campaign trail because he would have identified of someone who would have leaned towards a proponent of war and conflict because of that. That's why Kamala Harris would have lost Michigan, because Michigan has over 200,000 persons who are Muslim Americans. And the conflict in the Middle east with Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Palestine, Hamas, you name it, that entire conflict conflagration has created such a disdain and left us our taste in the mouths of Arab Americans that they turn to Donald Trump in numbers. So he isn't a person who is a proponent of conflict. He boasts about being a president who started no new conflicts under his presidency in 2016. And I think it will fare well. It will definitely fare well for us in the Caribbean and in the region where we are a region for peace and we stand on UN's charter of non intervention and non interference. So I think from his track record, we definitely can find common ground to his foreign policy. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Well said. And I couldn't agree with you more. Now, I know we have a few minutes with you again. Somebody was now messaging on WhatsApp talking about the sexual offenses offense conviction. Was Mr. Trump exonerated of those matters? [00:18:01] Speaker B: As I said, with regards to the. It wasn't. I think it was. That would have been a civil case. And that civil case, what is called a hush money scandal. And that hush money scandal, he would have lost that case. [00:18:20] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Moving forward, you mentioned the Caribbean. And it will be remiss of me if we didn't talk about it with his being in office. We know there are sanctions against Venezuela and other countries. How would the Caribbean region fear on that? And I don't know if you have any insight as to the Dragon Gas deal that we were trying to get here in Trinidad with Venezuela. How would that affect our relationship between both nations? [00:18:53] Speaker B: Well, Trinidad and Tobago and US Relations is very, very critical. You could just reflect on the honorable prime minister's recent congratulatory remarks to Trump where he admits that the American trusts in Trump's vision for the future. So it's our destinies in terms of our relations are instructively linked. We have over 13,000American residents living in Trinidad. We are part of the un, os, imf, World bank, idb. The list goes on. So there are a lot of key areas that this elections will impact. And from my analysis, preliminary analysis, it will be four key areas. The areas of trade, regional security, energy, and I even predict health because Donald Trump has brought on board rfk, who will be leading a revolution in the area of health where he talks about make America healthy again. So a lot of questions and evaluation about vaccines and chemicals in food is going to be revisited. So you talk about the drag and gas deal and I will say we must not rush to care or rush to quick judgment or rush judgment. Because if we look at Donald Trump's stance, he talks about make America great again, which some people will argue it's an isolationist policy. But what he really promotes is countries focusing on their prosperity. So presently on the area of trade, we have about $5 billion that we import from the U.S. and export to the U.S. and about $3.5 billion that we import from the US so in terms of our balance and trade in aggregate isn't disadvantageous to the US So I don't see any major disruptions coming into conflict with Donald Trump because he talks about where there's an imbalance of trade, like with China, he will implement tariffs. However, to your major question about the Dragon Gas deal, I do see an intersectionality between migration and his energy policy because this is if this would be a first time for us in the region. Donald Trump directly blames President Maduro for adding to US illegal migration crisis. According to US Boston Custom and Border Patrol, they have seen over 10 million migrants coming into the US and migrant crime during the campaign was a major issue. I'm talking about Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, you know, charging into apartments, murder of citizens. I think there were two undocumented Venezuelans who were charged, you know, for capital murder for killing a 12 year old girl in Houston. So I think Trump's policy of energy dominance and his shared peace and shared prosperity is good for Trinidad. However, we will experience some crosswinds when it comes to Trump's concern about illegal migration. And that's yet to be seen. [00:22:02] Speaker A: Well, that's yet to be seen. And one of the things I wanted to ask you very, very quickly. Yes, two things. One, see how we could summarize it. What are tariffs? For the benefit of my listeners, message me. They don't understand the tariffs and the other thing is, what would it mean for us as a nation if we engage in businesses or in business with countries that the US Are in stark opposition with and they have issued sanctions on? [00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah, well, in summary, tariffs are just simply tax or duties to be paid on particular class of imports or exports. So tariffs are used to increase duties on a product that is being imported into our country. So if you want to protect, let's say for instance, Trump's position on, on the car in the manufacturing industry, in terms of cars, he will add high tariffs of foreign vehicles attempting to come into the country. So once it's no longer economically viable, countries cannot import foreign vehicles into the country and that will encourage them. The purpose of a tariff is to encourage them to bring their manufacturing sites into the US So that they can manufacture the vehicles in the US So that US Workers can be hired and US Economy can be stimulated. So tariffs are used as a tool to protect your local industry and at the same time attract foreign investment in your country. So as I said earlier before, we don't have the challenge of unequal balance of trade. We are not threatening US Manufacture in the US So that doesn't arise in from Caribbean context and from our local context as trimmedians. [00:23:51] Speaker A: All right, I wanted to take one phone call with you here this morning as I give one lucky one listener the opportunity to call and have a getting on the conversation very quickly. Hello, Good morning. Good morning. [00:24:05] Speaker C: It is said that the economy that Donald Trump is boasting about was actually Obama's economy, which he inherited because during Obama's time, America virtually again, hydrocarbon independence, whereby they were virtually exporting oil when they used to import a lot of it. [00:24:24] Speaker A: Very quickly, please, Eric. [00:24:25] Speaker C: All of that and that was Obama's economy. I want your comment on that. And last, let me ask you this question. When I go run for president of the Republic, the Republican Party told him if you only put Bill Clinton on that platform in relation to Monica Lewinsky and all of that, we will bury you. Today we have a president of the Republic who really and truly could be compared to Italian President Silvio Berlusconi. I want to hear your comments. [00:24:53] Speaker A: All right, thank you so much. [00:24:56] Speaker B: Yes. So to the question about, in essence, he's saying that Donald Trump inherited Obama's economy and it could be argued that way. But let's go down to the numbers. We could also say that Donald Trump, President Obama inherited George Bush's economy. So the argument is cyclical and circular. And if you look at the macro building blocks of the US economy from 2016 all the way up to 2020. Save and accept the intervention of COVID There was a direct correlation in terms of low taxes, not only low taxes, but high drilling exports that took place. So it is true under President Obama. I think Trinidad would have been impacted by that whereby the energy drilling and exploration increased under the two terms of President Obama. But under Donald Trump they went from energy independence to energy dominance whereby they were doing mass levels of exploration. And you could look at the export figures on that in that regard. So I think it's a circular argument to talk about who inherited what economy. You have to look at it in the aggregate across the entire administration. And I'll close on this point when the reason why Kamala Harris and I want your viewers to be really, really aware of this because Davey, when I would have made that stark prediction that Donald Trump would have won a 300 plus electoral college and also would have predicted carefully that he would have not only win the electoral college, but he also would have win the popular vote and also he would have dominate in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. And most of my polls of friends and analysts said, you know, why would you make such a prediction? And I said this. Kamala Harris was uniquely tied to the inflationary experience of the United States. In fact, she was casting vote for the inflation Reduction Act. So because of such an act, it would of course inflationary experience that President Obama's former Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers. This is not a, this is not a conservative hack, right? Larry Summers, who was Obama's Treasury Secretary, said it was the worst and most irresponsible. I'm quoting him. The worst and most irresponsible economic policy in 20 years. So the demise of this election was definitely not about a cultural war, but about an American people were hungry for an economic change. [00:27:53] Speaker A: And that I can agree with you on. But remember, do not negate the fact that Obama is against renewable energies. He doesn't believe in climate change. I don't know if you have. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Oh, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, you said yes. Yeah, well, I think I would say yes on the renewable side. He has softened his position and his softened position actually works in our favor as Trin Begonians because we are pursuing a robust carbon driven energy policy driven on natural gas. So the climate change has been curtailing and stamping down on developing countries who are now accessing their own resources. And Donald Trump is saying that we should pursue a mixed bag of energy, nuclear, wind and also fossil fuel. So I will say definitely that would be in our interest for the market to be open and for us to be a major player. [00:28:58] Speaker A: It's always great talking with persons like yourself and my final thought with this this morning is that the constitution is definitely when it comes to politics it takes on a morale of its own. We have persons on sex, sexual misconduct behavior and persons you know proven to go because with politicians we want you to be squeaky clean which we could never get. We want you to be a saint with any politician which we don't get. But we see now that even though you have your misgivings against with the law and what have you once your policies are for the people they will vote for you. I thank you very much Mr. Henry for chatting with me this morning. I do wish you a very safe productive day. Thank you so much. Have a good one. [00:29:41] Speaker B: Cheers. [00:29:42] Speaker A: All right. The best insight instant feedback accountability the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5.