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BONUS: US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Talks Crop Costs, Senate Run · Balance of Power

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  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news.
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  Speaker 2: I am indeed live in Dallas where the Republican Midterm
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  Speaker 2: Convention gets underway today. And we go now live to
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  Speaker 2: the convention hall as we turn to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins,
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  Speaker 2: who is joining us today in her personal capacity. Madam Secretary,
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  Speaker 2: appreciate you being here. on Bloomberg. You, of course, are
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  Speaker 2: not just a politician. You are a Texan. You were
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  Speaker 2: born in Dallas. So this is a city and a
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  Speaker 2: state very familiar to you. And I wonder what your
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  Speaker 2: take is on why exactly this state was chosen and
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  Speaker 2: how much of it is about trying to get Ken
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  Speaker 2: Paxton over the finish line in the Senate race.
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  Speaker 1: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Forgive,
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  Speaker 1: they are doing sound checks in the back, so if
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  Speaker 1: we hear a little YMCA, you and I are just
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  Speaker 1: going to power right through. What an honor to have
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  Speaker 1: this unprecedented historical event in my home state, the town
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  Speaker 1: where I was born, Dallas, Texas. Grew up about an
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  Speaker 1: hour and a half south of here in tiny little
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  Speaker 1: Glen Rose, Texas. But from my perspective, I mean, certainly
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  Speaker 1: getting Attorney General Paxton across the finish line is very,
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  Speaker 1: very important. But the larger context here, at least for me,
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  Speaker 1: is that Texas was leading the way on less government,
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  Speaker 1: on more freedom, on cutting taxes, on really job growth
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  Speaker 1: that was unprecedented until Donald Trump won that first term.
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  Speaker 1: And so in Texas, sort of our founding father's vision
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  Speaker 1: of the states being the laboratories of democracy where innovation happens.
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  Speaker 1: And that is what Texas, I believe, has meant to
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  Speaker 1: the country. I think coming here right to the bedrock
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  Speaker 1: of free market conservative values makes a ton of sense.
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  Speaker 1: And I think the next two days are gonna be really,
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  Speaker 1: really remarkable.
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  Speaker 2: Well, how do you explain to a Texan who might
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  Speaker 2: be facing higher prices at the gas pump, who are
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  Speaker 2: needing diesel to power equipment and machinery on their farms
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  Speaker 2: or ranches, who are thinking about the price of fertilizer
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  Speaker 2: or the president's moves when it comes to beef, how
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  Speaker 2: do you message to them that Republicans should still be
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  Speaker 2: in charge, that in fact they are better off than
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  Speaker 2: they were when President Trump was just coming into office
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  Speaker 2: and Republicans took over the House and Senate?
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  Speaker 1: That's right. Well, and I think, again, in my personal
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  Speaker 1: capacity and as a longtime fighter for good public policy,
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  Speaker 1: conservative policy, first in Texas and then in the first
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  Speaker 1: Trump administration and the second, it's this, that under the
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  Speaker 1: Biden four years, the average inflation was out of control.
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  Speaker 1: I think it was in the mid 20 percent. And
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  Speaker 1: that also reflected in food, that the cost of food
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  Speaker 1: went up 25 percent just in those four years. In
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  Speaker 1: the last two years, we've seen a lot of that
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  Speaker 1: come back down, whether it's dairy is way down, berries
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  Speaker 1: are down 15%, eggs, of course, are down, retail almost 50%,
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  Speaker 1: wholesale 90%, that we have seen an incredible turn of
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  Speaker 1: events with this deregulatory cut taxes, shrink the size of government,
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  Speaker 1: We know these are the fundamentals to not only unleashing
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  Speaker 1: an economy, more people working today than ever before, an
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  Speaker 1: incredible job report number just last week, but also bringing
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  Speaker 1: the cost of goods down. In just a couple of years,
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  Speaker 1: we're back to historical averages of about 2.5%, 2.7% for food,
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  Speaker 1: and we're going to continue to see those numbers come down.
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  Speaker 2: But as diesel prices on average per gallon march towards $ 6,
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  Speaker 2: is that really going to translate in lower end prices
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  Speaker 2: for the consumer? Diesel powers the economy. It feeds through
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  Speaker 2: into a lot of things.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think the first important thing is that even
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  Speaker 1: with today's diesel prices, they're still either at or even
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  Speaker 1: lower than the high price of diesel under Joe Biden.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, the same with fertilizer. Fertilizer is
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  Speaker 1: down 50%, 60%. than under the Joe Biden administration. Having
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  Speaker 1: said that, we know there's still so much more work
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  Speaker 1: to do. This president has been resolute that the idea
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  Speaker 1: of Iran having a nuclear weapon, maybe there is some
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  Speaker 1: short-term compromise in terms of bringing prices down, but keeping
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  Speaker 1: that nuclear weapon out of the hands of people that
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  Speaker 1: are willing to massacre 27, 30,000, 40,000 of their own people,
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  Speaker 1: I think from his perspective is really, really important. But again,
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  Speaker 1: having said that, those numbers are going to keep coming down.
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  Speaker 1: We've already shown we can do it and we will
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  Speaker 1: do it again.
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  Speaker 2: And finally, Madam Secretary, as you are here in our
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  Speaker 2: personal capacity, in your personal capacity, do you expect that
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  Speaker 2: we may see you running for statewide office in Texas
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  Speaker 2: for the governor's mansion or for a Senate seat yourself
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  Speaker 2: in the future? Oh, goodness.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let me say that I am here in my
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  Speaker 1: personal capacity, but there is no greater honor than I've
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  Speaker 1: ever had in fighting for the men and women in
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  Speaker 1: rural America. And I am so focused on that job.
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  Speaker 1: The most important job, of course, is wife and mom
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  Speaker 1: to my four amazing kids. And I'm just staying completely
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  Speaker 1: focused on that. But I appreciate the question. Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a no then?
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  Speaker 1: That is a no right now for sure. We've got
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  Speaker 1: way too much to do to be thinking about a
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  Speaker 1: potential run in the future. But again, thank you. I
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  Speaker 1: appreciate the question.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and I appreciate you joining us on Bloomberg today.
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  Speaker 2: That's the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, live with us
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  Speaker 2: from the convention hall here in Dallas, Texas.