Michael Knowles, who the Trump campaign bragged had endorsed Donald, is infamous for opinions like,
“surrogacy and IVF are immoral,”
“transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,”
“divorce should basically be outlawed,” and
“I support Christian nationalism.”
Buuuut, he owns a cigar company, and would pretty-please like an exemption from Trump's tariffs.
Could the premium cigar smokers please have a break?
Video and transcript via Media Matters:
MICHAEL KNOWLES (HOST): One minor point I want to bring up. It's a major point for me.
When it comes to these trade policies, I have an inside view on only one industry, and that is the cigar industry because I'm an owner of Mayflower Cigars. I'm the founder of this boutique cigar company. And even though it's a very large cigar company, thanks to all of you who smoke Mayflower Cigars — but it's still a relatively new, relatively boutique company.
And cigar tobacco generally comes from Latin America. Sometimes from Africa, sometimes from the South Pacific, sometimes from Connecticut and Pennsylvania as Mayflower is incorporating into maybe some new blends that we'll talk about later. But the vast majority, virtually all the premium cigar tobacco comes from Latin America. And there are these massive tariffs right now, relatively massive compared to other Latin American countries, on Nicaragua, which has become the cigar capital of the world after the communists took over Cuba and messed up that cigar industry. And it's where a lot of American investment has gone. It's where a lot of American cigars come from. And I think the tariffs are 18 or 19% right now.
I think that while Trump is creating exemptions, I'm not just asking this because, you know, it helps Mayflower cigars. I'm looking at it more from a political angle. Premium cigar consumers, they're basically all Trump supporters. Not — 80% are Trump supporters. The premium cigar industry, the actual manufacturers who are getting walloped, not only with these tariffs, but with decades of horrible burdensome regulation going back to Obama with s-chip, hiking up all these taxes, all these different shakedowns to bring cigars into the country. The cigar manufacturers are 90%, 95% probably Trump supporters.
This is a small industry, it's an artisanal industry, handmade product, accessible luxury good. Seems to me, while we're carving out all of these exemptions on the tariffs, if we're not gonna onshore cigar making, because that's not possible in the United States, not certainly not possible at scale, but it's just not — you can't. That's just not how cigars work. If we're not gonna get a lot of revenue, really, from the tariffs as a matter of our US budget, and if we want to maybe be a little nicer to our friends and a little tougher on some of our political opponents, it seems to me a great carve out for the Trump administration. Anyone listening right now in the admin, a great little carve out would be for all of the patriotic Americans who have been oppressed for too long, who work in the premium cigar industry, and for all of the premium cigar smokers. Just like the image that you have of the conservative man might be worth — we're talking we're talking real politics here, folks. Friends and enemies. OK? Come on. Come on.
FAFO!!!!
You voted for him, endorsed him, and it's time to suffer for him, Michael.
