BUCK: As promised, we now have David McCormick with us. He is running for Senate. He’s in the GOP primary right now in the state of Pennsylvania. David, thanks for joining us again. Great to talk to you.

MCCORMICK: Hey, great to be with you guys.

BUCK: So, if I could get you… I’m just curious. If I could get you in a room — I would usually just say “with Biden,” but let’s say – Biden and his top advisers who some people think are actually making a lot of the decisions anyway on how they could start…? What are they doing wrong, and how could they turn the economy around? What would you tell them?

MCCORMICK: Yeah. Well, listen. I think the Biden policies for the economy have been an absolute disaster. And we see it in a 40-year high in inflation, we see it in all sorts of challenges in our supply chain. And there are three things — and, listen, I know something about this because I’m a guy who’s run two companies and created — worked in a company and led a company that created — 600 jobs in Pittsburgh.

And so I know what it takes to create jobs. And there’s three things. First, the spending that’s happening right now is unprecedented. The last 15 months… Now, in the last two decades, both Republicans and Democrats haven’t exercised the kind of fiscal restraint they should, but what Biden’s done in the last 15 months and what the Democrats have done is incredible, and that’s the main driver of the inflation. That’s one.

Two, we have to unlock our energy industry. The energy industry in Pennsylvania and the country is a huge driver of economic growth. It’s a huge driver of our security abroad — and by unlocking that energy sector, that’s a big driver of our economy. And the fact that we’ve restricted our energy sector is a big driver of inflation, because it’s driven up fuel prices.

And the third thing we need to do is condition the America First, pro-growth economic policies to make permanent the tax cut and the deregulation, because a big driver of the economy is job creation that happens in small businesses and large, but small businesses in particular. And the regulations that the Biden administration put in place in energy and elsewhere have really made it difficult for businesses to grow.

Those three things would make a huge difference in turning around our economy. And the problem they have is they’ve got the wrong kind of leadership in these key positions — including the president but also Treasury and Fed and so forth — and they’ve got that are aligned with this extreme ideology, which is taking our country and our economy in the wrong direction.

CLAY: Yesterday, Senator Schumer said the best way to combat inflation was with tax increases.

MCCORMICK: (laughs)

CLAY: You know business well. Your response to that argument would be what?

MCCORMICK: Yeah. It’s literally it’s madness. The key to getting inflation in check but the key to a vibrant economy is a combination of two things at the same time. The most important thing is to grow the economy, to have policies — pro-growth economic policies which are lower taxes and deregulation — that unlock or economy and grows. When we grow the pie gets bigger and we have more opportunity for everybody.

The second thing is fiscal constraint. And so rather than raising taxes to pay for more government spending, we need to reduce government spending, and as I said, the Biden administration has been a huge driver of an increase in government spending. So it’s like opposite day. (chuckles) We should do exactly the opposite of the things that Chuck Schumer’s saying and that Joe Biden is doing.

BUCK: Speaking to David McCormick. He’s running for Senate from the great state of Pennsylvania. David, why do you want to be a Senator? I mean, you’re a guy who run one of the besting hedge funds in the world. You were a West Point graduate; you served, I believe, as an Army Ranger. What pushed you into this now? What do you want to accomplish if you actually get the job?

MCCORMICK: Well, couple things. I mean, I’ve been blessed. I’ve been blessed by everything Pennsylvania and America has to offer. So I grew up in Bloomsburg. You know, my folks had a family farm. My mom and dad were teachers. My dad worked at the college. And, you know, I baled hay and trimmed Christmas trees and played sports like most rural Pennsylvania kids, and I got into West Point.

And then from West Point I went to the 82nd Airborne Division, and I went to the first Gulf War. And then I came back to Pennsylvania after grad school and I went to Pittsburgh. And I ran a company there that created 600 jobs. I didn’t start the company, but I helped to grow it — and it was a huge part of the renewal of Pittsburgh.

And then I went on to serve at the highest levels of government working in the National Security Council in the Bush administration, and then went on to run one of the greatest investment firms in the world. So I have received everything this great country has to offer, and during that whole time, I’ve been deeply connected to Pennsylvania. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania more than half my life.

I’ve only left twice — in both cases to serve our country — and I have a family farm there that’s been at the core of my family since I was a kid. And so I want to run to this office to fight to make sure that that American dream I’ve lived is available for my kids and all the kids in Pennsylvania and America. And that’s what the Founders (audio drop) and then they’d served the public. They had no idea of career politicians. And so I’m an outsider that’s running to be able to go make a difference on behalf of Pennsylvanians.

CLAY: You didn’t get the Donald Trump enforcement. I know you either hoped to get it or that he would sit out of the election. What impact do you think Donald Trump will have in who the selected nominee is for Republicans in Pennsylvania?

MCCORMICK: Well, listen, Donald Trump is very popular in Pennsylvania, and he’s popular because his America first agenda made a difference for millions of people that have been forgotten in Pennsylvania and across America. So his popularity is well earned, and I appreciate it and respect it. But Mehmet Oz isn’t popular.

And the reason he’s not popular and the reason he’s not growing in the polls — despite endorsement — is that his positions over 20 years as a media personality on everything from the Second Amendment to pro-choice to his support for a ban on fracking to his support for Obamacare to his show which he had which was very supportive of transgender transitions for kids.

Those positions are completely out of line and out of whack with Pennsylvania Republicans and conservatives. So I don’t think his endorsement will be enough to convince Pennsylvanians that Mehmet Oz is gonna go to Washington and represent their values. And so as I’m running in this campaign, I’m running first and foremost a campaign about the future of Pennsylvania and America and how my experiences and my conservative values line up best with Pennsylvania and the ability to make a difference.

But I’m also trying to draw the contrast with Mehmet Oz in this campaign because I think the stakes are so high. And that’s what politics are about. It’s really about choices. And so I’m trying to make those choices stark and clear for our voters.

BUCK: In what ways would you say, David, you…? If someone just posed the very basic question to you, “Are you a conservative,” and maybe throw in “Why,” how would you answer that? ‘Cause that’s obviously become a big point of contention in your primary.

MCCORMICK: Yeah, I think I’m a conservative and have demonstrated that I’m a conservative because my entire life I put a huge premium on the exceptionalism of America. I’ve put America first. (laughing) I put America first in my service. I’ve defended and fought for our basic rights of individual freedom. I’ve been a leader in free enterprise.

I recognize the role that the government can play in screwing up businesses. I’ve been someone who has been a social conservative all my life. Fate has played a big role in my life, and it’s played a big role in my wife’s life, who is a Coptic Christian who emigrated to this great country so she could have religious freedom. So in all the ways that are genuine and authentic and line up with Pennsylvania voters, I’m a conservative.

And again, in contrast, I don’t think Mehmet Oz is, which is important, because the goal here is not to win this seat for me or anybody else, in my opinion. The goal is to win this seat and then go to Washington and fight for great conservative principles and values that will push back on the extreme direction that the left is taking us, both the weak policies but also the wokeness that we see in our institutions.

CLAY: You’ve got a real strong connection, obviously, in your career to business. What in the world do you think Walt Disney, the corporation, is thinking with stepping into so many issues of a woke nature like they are? We were just talking with Senator Rick Scott of Florida, and I’m sure you’ve been in a lot of boardrooms in your career.

What is the conversation like when Bob Chapek, the CEO, goes in and they talk about losing the Reedy Creek special treatment, basically that he’s walked into a hornet’s nest and he’s now getting stung on every different direction? What do you think that conversation is like? And based on your knowledge of business, what’s motivating it and how do we change it?

MCCORMICK: Well, I think it’s emblematic of a trend — and, you know, I’ve been in business, I’ve been a CEO for 10 or 12 years, and I’ve been in business for 25. And it’s become a dramatically different business environment over the last four or five years. And the thing I’d point you to is about 24 months ago or so there was a statement made by the Business Roundtable, which is a bunch of the most important CEOs in the country, 25, 30 CEOs.

And it essentially talked about “stakeholder capitalism,” and it made the case that CEOs need to take on a much broader set of responsibilities in society beyond just taking care of their employees and their shareholders. And I think it wasn’t a really dangerous statement, because it essentially opened up this idea that CEOs are gonna start to opine and be participants in promoting a whole set of social issues, of political issues.

Which inevitably take them further and further away from the primary focus on creating value for shareholders and customers and their employees. And I think what’s happening at Disney is it’s just an example of that where that agenda has hijacked smart, basic thinking where the CEOs are kind of like they need to get themselves into the middle of these discussions around public policy — and opposing, in essence, what the Florida legislature and the Florida governor did.

I think it’s a very bad trend, and I think that it’s not in business alone. It’s in our schools, it’s in our military. And so when I say, “I’m running to fight back on the wokeness and the weakness,” I’m someone who’s been successful as a CEO. I’ve been in the boardrooms, as you say, and I’ve seen that trend take off in a dangerous way over the last couple years.

And it’s something that we have to stand up and fight against. It’s we have to have real conversations about, and even cancel culture makes it hard (chuckles) to push back on these things the way we should. And I think we’re hitting a point here where everybody sees the wokeism is gone over the cliff.

And everybody I talk to across Pennsylvania when I go to these diners or fire halls or police stations or VFWs and I ask them and we talk about what’s going on, they point to this. They point to these woke policies in our schools and in business and so forth as one of the things that’s concerning them most about the direction of our country.

You know, you started with the question of economic policy. But the extreme left is not just screwing us up economically or in energy policy. It’s really reinforcing this cultural focus on wokeism, which I think is really dangerous.

CLAY: Thank you, David McCormick. We’ll talk to you again soon. The primary is in May and it’s gonna be a battle. Encourage Pennsylvanians to get out and vote and we’ll talk to you again soon.

MCCORMICK: Great to be with you. Thanks so much.