President Trump 'has not stepped up' in a time of crisis: Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried joins the On the Move panel to discuss Florida's COVID-19 rate and the government's response to this crisis.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Let's talk about the effect of all of this on one state in particular, Florida. Nikki Fried is joining us now. She is Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. She's joining us from Tallahassee. She also, by the way, happens to be the highest-ranking Democrat in public office in Florida. Nikki, it's good to see you again.

I was looking at some of the numbers for Florida. The Florida unemployment rate as of July-- I think that's the latest month available-- was 11.3%. The national was 10.2% in July, so a little bit higher there. So what's the status in Florida? You guys are getting that federal money as part of President Trump's executive order, that $300 extra. But how badly do you need even more stimulus at this point?

NIKKI FRIED: You know, unfortunately, tourism here in the state of Florida is our number one total economic driver. So during Q1, we saw about a 60% decline in tourism. And agriculture is typically number two, which is what I oversee, and right now is number one. So we also know, across the entire country, about 16 million people that are unemployed. So in what time that we can actually get them back employed-- we know that most of those jobs have not come back yet and one out of 10 Americans are without a job.

So until we can get our economy back and running, you know, people won't have expendable cash to come to states like Florida to spend it. And even in our own state, with unemployment being so high and at 1.2 million of our Floridians-- and a lot of them are in the tourism industry. So until we can get it-- COVID under control, this has been a failed lack of leadership because of a lack of leadership from this administration who really had a decrease in consumer confidence.

You know, there was mismanagement, misinformation that was coming out of this administration, so people didn't have the right data on top of it, especially here in the state of Florida, to really participate in the tourism industry. We have a lot of great actors here in the state that have done everything that they could-- outside seating, PPE. But until we get the virus under control here in the state and, quite frankly, across the entire country, tourism just isn't going to bounce back.

MELODY HAHM: Well, Nikki, speaking of tourism, let's talk about Disney World in Orlando, Florida-- of course, one of the top destinations globally when it comes to families and planning their summer vacations. There's a new report out from "The Daily Beast" that talks about the worrying sort of tight-lipped nature of executives there, and they're not actually openly disclosing how many COVID cases there are. Spouses and family members of employees are concerned that overall, the precautions and the way that they've reopened has not actually been safe. Can you give us any insight here and any sort of-- you know, your own personal take?

NIKKI FRIED: So as one of the regulators who oversees the parks across the state of Florida and our state fairs and other types of fair rides, you know, I've had a lot of interacting with Disney and our other theme parks, making sure that they presented to both myself as well as the governor and local leaders, their re-opening plan. And certainly, you know, I have I've been cautious to those who should not be-- who are more in susceptible communities, traveling to such things.

But, you know, as far as Disney and other theme parks they've done everything that they could as far as making sure that there are safety precautions that are put into place. But it comes back down to whether or not people feel that COVID as a whole in the state of Florida is under control and, again, if they've got the resources necessary to be able to travel. You know, we talk about stimulus and stimulus checks across-- you know, in your earlier segment.

Here's the problem, you know, that we've been practicing in this administration capital socialism. We've been taking care of our corporations and our 1%-ers. But where the stimulus money needs to go is in the hardworking hands of so many of our Americans, to our small businesses-- these are the ones who are the economic drivers-- to so many of our families that currently are unemployed and are having a hard time with putting food on their own plates. That's where the money should be going. And then that way, they'll have expendable cash to start going back to such places like Disney and other of our theme parks. They're doing what they need to be doing. But unfortunately, here in the state of Florida, COVID's just not under control yet, and people are worried about traveling out.

JULIE HYMAN: Nikki, it seems like, though, a lot of people are traveling into Florida permanently. That is, they're moving to Florida. There are some new numbers that show almost 1,000 people a day are moving to Florida. We've seen home prices there go up considerably. So one would think, if people are going out at all, that some of that spending from those people would then go to the economy of Florida. How are you seeing that play out, if at all?

NIKKI FRIED: Yeah, well, you know, those are numbers that we saw even before COVID. We were already estimating those numbers beforehand, and so a lot of the conversations was already going into, how do we make sure that we're doing it environmentally savvy, that we aren't using huge sprawl in a lot of our rural areas and making sure that we're still conserving our, you know, precious land here in the state?

So there's been a lot of conversations about how to make sure that we're growing up, you know, not necessarily growing out. And so hopefully, a lot of those individuals who are coming to the state of Florida will come with their pocketbooks. Certainly, we would love for them to help stimulate the economy. But we still have a big chunk of our state that's pretty much shut down, which is South Florida. We're starting to see some of our numbers starting to decrease, as far as percentage of positivity.

So hopefully, at some time, we'll start opening them back up. But a lot of these people are moving into our suburbs and some of our rural sprawls. So hopefully, when they finally get here, they'll be able to start stimulating our economy as well.

MELODY HAHM: Nikki, you got some primetime action during the DNC. You were featured as part of the Leadership Matters series with some of the rising stars of the Democratic party. Can you speak to the leadership, or the lack thereof, you're seeing from Washington and even in Florida? You're sort of holding down the fort when it comes to Democratic leadership. Are you-- have you been able to galvanize more folks as we anticipate the election in November? How are you going to defeat Trump then?

NIKKI FRIED: Yeah, and that's the exact message, you know? That we've had failed leadership on during the current administration, and it's seeped down here to the state of Florida. Ron DeSantis, during the pandemic, didn't do anything without the consent of the White House. So there is mismanagement of COVID, a complete lack of understanding of how this was spreading, just misinformation coming out of our Department of Health as well as also the federal government.

And so we have a clear choice here in the state of Florida that we have an opportunity to elect somebody who brings people together, who understands what it's like to have an economics-- an economy that needs to have, you know, not only fiscal responsibility, but also monetary and to make sure that we're stimulating the economy in the right direction. And that is getting money into the hands of our small businesses, our small farmers here in the state.

And you have a Joe Biden, Kamala Harris team that will come into the state of Florida and say, look, under four years, you know, that test, are you better off today. The answer is no. And so we need people in Washington and the White House that understand what it's like to rebuild the middle class, make sure that we're taking care of the American dream that has been lost under President Trump.

And so you're going to start seeing a lot more people here in the state of Florida who may have been independent or even moderate Republicans understanding that a Trump-- a second term of Trump administration is just going to be the same rhetoric, the same scare tactics that we have seen in the current administration, and a failed the lack of leadership. You know, during times of chaos and crisis, you look to the president to show hope and inspiration, to be a beacon of light not just for the country, but for the world.

And President Trump has failed. He has not stepped up in a time of crisis. He has continued to be divisive and continued to, again, take care of the 1%-ers and the corporations in the hopes that they are going to do what's right for our economy instead of having the stimulus checks sent to our citizens, our small farmers, and to the working class that are desperately needing of the stimulus money.

So I am confident that we are going to see a Joe Biden, Kamala Harris victory on November 3, and everybody knows that the road to the White House goes through the state of Florida. The election is going to be close, as it always is here in the state. But when all votes are counted, it will be a Joe Biden victory that night.

JULIE HYMAN: Nikki, thank you so much for your time, appreciate it. And of course, we'll keep in touch as we get closer to the election. Nikki Fried is Florida commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Appreciate it.