Some of the biggest names in politics joined in the conversation about America’s future over two days at the ACL Theater. The lineup was stacked with Democratic hopefuls for 2020, some anti-Trump Republicans, and one ardent Trump defender. Partnered with the Texas Tribune, these interviews at SXSW focused on where America is headed.
One of the biggest names scheduled to speak, Elizabeth Warren, made waves coming into the tech conference with an outline to break up big tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and more.
Anand Giridharadas, author, political analyst, and editor at large for Time magazine, led the hour-long discussion about Warren’s plans for her 2020 campaign.
Warren took to stage at ACL to the largest crowd of any of the other speakers, a standing-room only packed house. And Giridharadras wasted no time getting to Warren’s comments.
Warren clarified that she was not talking about a potential break up of these big companies, but that she is calling for a break up, full stop.
She added that these companies have a monopoly on the market and they’re squashing competition.
“Venture capital in this area, over the last half dozen years or so, has dropped by over 20 percent,” Warren said.
Warren said that she believes this breakup will be good for basically everyone in the company. The only people Warren claims will not have a good time with this is “the guy right at the top.”
Warren also discussed her past at UT and a bankruptcy study she worked on as part of academia. The study is what launched her into political engagement, as she says she saw folks who were going bankrupt from unfair practices, but they were blaming themselves. The lack of regulations in markets, both technological and economic, was a big theme throughout the hour.
“Markets without rules are theft,” Warren said.
Warren is one of the many Democrats currently running for president in 2020, with more announcements expected. She said the way Democrats can win in 2020 is to invest and build local movements between now and the election.
“Our one potential comparative advantage between now, as Democrats, and the 2020 election is to build a grassroots army,” Warren said.
Warren’s interview ended with a quick lightning round of questions, where she said she was a populist, Trump is a racist, and her favorite binge-able tv series is The Wire.
In a sharp contrast to Warren, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy occupied the same stage about 24 hours later. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, both reporters from Politico, interviewed McCarthy.
The tone was markedly different than previous sessions. The interviewers immediately challenged the crowd asking if attendees to raise their hand if anyone had ever voted Republican. After nearly every hand in the crowd went up, Palmer and Sherman seemed surprised.
McCarthy also traded barbs with the crow; when he asked if anyone was a Democratic Socialist, someone shouted that their definitions of Democratic Socialism were probably different. McCarthy then pivoted to talking about the dangers of socialism at a more “macro” level than Democratic Socialism specifically.
When asked how he thought Trump is doing as president, McCarthy listed a litany of successes that he believes would not have happened without Trump’s leadership.
“Criminal justice would not have gotten done without him,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said that if you were to grade Trump on his campaign promises, he gets an A.
McCarthy made some predictions for 2020 and beyond. He thinks Trump will win reelection and Republicans will retake the House. He thinks the far-left policies that many Democrats are now espousing will be damaging for the party for the foreseeable future.
McCarthy did recognize that Republicans have seen problems in the last few years, but he believes they are learning from their mistakes and will make strides in upcoming elections all across the country.
One thing Warren and McCarthy did agree on was freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When asked if AOC is overhyped or under-hyped, Warren said she was “right-hyped.” McCarthy said that AOC has mastered the “media of her time” in discussing her prominence and use of Twitter.
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