Morning Wire - Black Friday & Kamala’s Next Steps | 11.29.24

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

Retailers depend on Black Friday sales, Trump unleashes his energy plan, and what comes next for Kamala Harris? Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Join The Candle Club! Become a Founding Member for 20% OFF, plus receive an exclusive members box with a limited-edition candle at https://TheCandleClub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Retailers are hoping for a profitable Black Friday as shoppers show increased enthusiasm from last year. As far as the deals go, we have items on sale up to 70% off our everyday prices. We anticipate excitement on Black Friday, not a craziness. We break down the holiday shopping forecast. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's November 29th, and this is a Black Friday edition of Morning Wire. I make this pledge to the great... people of America. I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates

and lower the cost of energy. We will drill, baby, drill. What is the president's plan to return the country to domestic energy sources such as oil and gas? And following her decisive defeat, Kamala Harris is looking to stay in the political spotlight. What's next for the VP? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. You know what I've discovered is surprisingly calming in these crazy times? A warm, seasonal candle. But I'm only choosing the Candle Club because they're made in the U.S. and free from the toxins used by most candle brands.

They've even partnered with Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Brett Cooper to make personalized collections with their favorite fall scents, like butterscotch and bourbon, autumn bonfire, and more. Don't wait until the holidays to unwind, live free and smell fancy with the Candle Club. Go to the candleclub.com today. A surge in Black Friday enthusiasm suggests consumer confidence is ticking up. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presti Giacomo. So Amanda, what can we expect for this Black Friday?

Hey, Georgia. Well, first, Black Friday is no longer this standalone day of shopping madness. Instead, consumers are doing a lot of their holiday shopping and deal hunting on that Friday all the way through Cyber Monday. And of course, that's because of the massive growth in online shopping. For example, last year, nearly $10 billion were spent online from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. A decade ago, online sales in that time frame were just under $2 billion. And despite Americans still struggling with cumulative inflation over the past three years,

today is still expected to be the biggest shopping day of the year. One recent survey found that 47% of respondents said that they plan on shopping on Black Friday. That's up from 31% last year, and there was a similar increase for Cyber Monday. Overall, Friday through Cyber Monday, a global consulting firm called Bain & Company has forecasted that will see 5% growth in retail sales compared to last year. You mentioned inflation still being an issue. Is that going to affect what consumers are looking for this time around? Well, Americans are wanting a deal on essentials, and they're not necessarily buying luxury.

Chains known for reasonably priced goods like T.J. Max and Walmart had particularly strong numbers heading into Black Friday. Basically, the price has to be right for the right goods. But shoppers on the hunt should really be on the lookout for supposed deals that aren't really deals. A report from Wallet Hub compared Black Friday ads against their Amazon prices just a few months ago, and they found that 41% of the items at major retailers are actually not less expensive compared to their pre-Black Friday prices. Retailers are sometimes inflating original prices so it looks like a deal. It would be wise to cross-check any deal you think you're getting. Personally, I've seen a lot of this happen online specifically.

Right, it's frustrating. Now, there have been a few headlines about how Trump's signaling around tariffs could affect the price environment. Do we know for sure that that's happening? Yeah, so as we've covered here, Trump has proposed an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% levy on all products from Mexico and Canada. He tied that to the flow of migrants and illegal drugs coming into the U.S. Some experts have speculated that this will boost sales between Friday and Monday. They think Americans will want to buy those big ticket items before they see the effects from tariffs. But on the other side of that, the markets really didn't have a huge reaction to Trump's proposed tariffs, and actually the U.S. dollar rose on Tuesday and the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar slid.

Experts say that they see the signaling on tariffs from Trump as negotiating, art of the deal style. They see it as more of a threat than something he'll actually do right away. Perhaps consumers view it that way, too. Also worth noting, some of these companies that have previously relied heavily on China are now moving elsewhere. In one example, fashion company Steve Madden said in response to Trump's proposal that it's putting a plan in motion to move production out of China. More than 70% of the brands U.S. imports currently come from China, but the CEO said he'll decrease that to just about a quarter of its business.

So companies already trying to head off those potential price increases for consumers. Well, all I want this year is a microwave air fryer. So if anyone has a recommendation, I'm interested. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. Thank you. Now that Trump's made all of his cabinet picks, the question is, what will they do? One area of particular interest, energy.

Here with a look at Trump's second term energy agenda is Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim. So it's safe to say this will be one of the biggest changes when Trump returns to the White House. What exactly will this look like? Yeah, John, you're absolutely right. Things are going to look a lot different from what the Biden administration has done. Basically, we're going to see a return to so-called traditional energy sources like oil and gas. Remember, Trump signaled this as early as election night in his victory speech when he teased RFK Jr. about being an environmentalist.

I just said, but Bobby, leave the oil to me. We have more liquid gold, oil and gas. We have more liquid gold than any country in the world, more than Saudi Arabia. We have more than Russia. Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold. That shook is honestly a pretty good distillation of Trump's thoughts on energy policy. For him, this is about global dominance as much as it's about energy independence. And if we look at the energy policy checklist, the Trump transition team began circulating earlier

this week. We'll see both of these goals reflected. Trump says that on day one, he'll sign executive orders that would expedite approvals for drilling projects on federal land and off the coast and lift Biden's ban on liquefied natural gas exports. He's going to reapprove the Keystone pipeline, which Biden canceled with an executive order on his first day in office. And he's going to roll back a lot of the Biden administration's climate and energy policies, plans to transition away from natural gas, subsidies for electric vehicle charging stations, things of that nature. So taken together, these policies basically announced to the world that the United States is done with green energy. Trump is saying we're a major energy producer,

we're going to remain a major energy producer, and we're going to start competing with Russia and Saudi Arabia and all these other countries that currently supply the world with oil. I'm sure that sounds good to a lot of people, and it certainly would send a strong signal across the globe. Is Trump planning anything beyond day one executive orders? Yeah, one of the long-term goals included in the checklist is asking Congress for funds to replenish the strategic petroleum reserve, which the Biden administration depleted to offset price hikes after Russia invaded Ukraine. That's expected to boost oil demand, which would encourage oil production. There are also some rumblings that Trump is going to withhold funding from the international

Energy Agency, the French group that's focused on reducing carbon emissions. That last one is a good reminder that Trump is going to go for some symbolic wins in addition to his more substantive policy proposals. Certainly, the IEA will still soldier on without funding from the United States, and Democrats will still point to their emission standards to justify their bans on fracking and things like that. But once again, Trump is sending a clear signal. We, the United States, and its taxpayers are not funding a foreign group whose main

goal is to undermine American energy independence. Right, it falls right in line with his messaging throughout the campaign. And who on the Trump team is going to be tasked with implementing these policies? Well, we've got Chris Wright, a fracking exec and prominent defender of the oil and gas industry leading up the Department of Energy. Notably, Wright has repeatedly said that he does think fossil fuels contribute to climate change, but that climate change isn't as big of a threat as Democrats suggest. Wright has been a major critic of the IEA and emissions caps, and said in 2020, that the world runs on oil and gas, and we need that. And in addition to running the Department of the Interior, North Dakota Governor Doug Bergam

is also going to chair a newly formed National Energy Council. Trump says the council will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance by cutting red tape and stop the radical left's war on American energy. It doesn't get much clearer than that. Tim, thanks for reporting. Anytime. After a resounding defeat, Kamala Harris has retreated to Hawaii with members, of her family and senior aides, but according to new reports, she's determined not to fade from the

political landscape. Here to discuss Harris' future plans is Daily Wire Senior Reporter Mary Margaret O'Lahan. So, Mary Margaret, what is the vice president up to right now? Well, she just wrapped up a vacation in Hawaii in a luxury estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean. And the White House has defended her absence by saying she deserves some time off after a chaotic presidential run. But she's also been doing some strategizing. Politico reported Monday that Kamala has been telling her advisors to keep her options open and that she'll be plotting her next move over the holidays. She's reportedly open to running for president in 2028 or even running for governor of California in 26, saying on phone calls and I'm quoting, I'm staying in the fight. That matches what she said in her concession speech

to supporters. One former Harris campaign aide suggested to Politico, and I'm also quoting here, the natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships. Now, what exactly that would be is unclear. And when she leaves the White House in January, it will be the first time that Harris has been a private citizen since she was elected San Francisco's district attorney back in 2003. And she does have some options. Typically, presidential election losers may run again. They might write books, teach, start think tanks, launch their own advocacy organizations, and more. But in the meantime, Harris is reportedly planning to establish herself as a Democratic

leader partially by using her platform to aggressively oppose the new president, Donald Trump. Now, how receptive are Democrats to having Harris take on a leadership role? Well, as the dust settles, Harris's alleys think that Kamala didn't do too badly in the election. She did win more than 74 million votes, and they believe she successfully portrayed herself as more moderate and that she isn't associated with the post-election talk in the way that John Kerry or Hillary Clinton were. And many top Democrats are still blaming her defeat on President Biden for not getting out of the race sooner. One Puck News poll released last week found that Harris is still Democrats' top choice to be their 2028 presidential nominee.

Gavin Newsom placed second, while Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro plays third. Bill Clinton, for example, defended Harris by saying she only had a brief period to make her case to the American people. You know, she only had 107 days to introduce herself to America. Different people, particularly people that worry about, you know, doing their work, paying their bills and raising their kids and don't have a lot of extra bandwidth for politics. It takes a long time for all this to seek in. Now, you mentioned this, but a few people have floated the possibility of her running for California governor. Newsom's term ends in 2026 and he can't run again due to term limits. Is Harris exploring that option?

Well, we don't totally know yet. polling from UC Berkeley released in mid-November found that Harris would have a very clear advantage if she decided to run in the Golden State. Almost half of voters would be very or somewhat likely to support her. She also has a long history in the state. But running for governor might impede her chances to run for president in 2028, and she'd have to start campaigning for president pretty much as soon as she got elected governor of California, meaning that if she still has presidential ambitions, she might have to wait until 2032 to run.

And that's a long time in politics. Now, we've reported in the past that Harris's campaign is in a lot of debt. What's the status of her financial situation? Well, she's still fundraising. My inbox is full of increasingly desperate fundraising emails from the Harris campaign asking for funds to, quote, fight back against Trump. Her fight fund continues to ask her supporters for money. She's reportedly $20 million in debt, though, and her campaign has denied this. but after spending $1.5 billion in 15 weeks on advertising

and influencers, rally, celebrity concerts, private flights, and one infamous town hall featuring Oprah that she reportedly paid over $1 million for. So that's put the DNC in a tough position. They reportedly laid off a large number of long-term permanent staffers just last week on one day's notice with no severance pay. And meanwhile, the DNC announced on Monday that it will hold the election for its chair on February 1st.

DNC Chair Jamie Harrison won't be seeking re-election. And so far, we're seeing people like Ken Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party or former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, throw their hats in the ring. Well, whoever they choose, it's going to give us kind of a sense of where the Democratic Party is headed post-election.

Mary Margaret, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, giving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. Thanks for waking up with us.

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