CNN reporter Elle Reeve got some pushback while interviewing a man at a recent MAGA Boat Parade who claimed his biggest concern is the economy after she questioned how someone who is hurting financially could own a boat.
Reeve was on the ground in Panama City, Florida at the time when she asked an attendee named Joe what his âmost important issueâ was in the upcoming election.
He replied:
âThe economy. Getting interest rates down, getting it where we can afford to live in America. Right now, itâs too expensive.â
Reeve then asked the question of the hour:
âOkay now, let me maybe ask like a slightly impolite question, but you know, if you can afford a boat, youâre not hurting so bad, right? Because a boat costs a lot of money and itâs a lot of upkeep.â
Joe then got defensive:
âListen, nobody gave me s**t! I earned everything that Iâve got. Iâm retired military, retired power plant, and I am successful and retired with boats, jet skis because I got it right, and everybody has that chance. Whether they choose to or not, thatâs up to them.â
Reeve responded:
âI would never try to take anything away from you in that way, but what Iâm asking is... groceries are probably a smaller part of your budget than say, you know, someone whoâs like a little worse off. I think itâs interesting that people who are a little bit more comfortable are still so concerned about the economy."
"Do you see what Iâm saying?â
But Joe stood firm and suggested his money doesn't go as far as it used to:
âBecause I want my money to go further. I want inflation to go down, I want interest rates to go back down. I want all that, but that covers everybody in the economy."
"Not just me, not just the poor, not just the rich. It covers everybody.â
You can watch what happened in the video below.
Many were critical of Joe and other attendees.
Chief among the issues MAGA fans complained about was immigration, and Reeve also spoke to a woman who claimed she's had to "call the police" due to illegal immigrants who've caused problems in apartment buildings she owns.
While "most people" conceded that Trump did not perform well during last week's presidential debate, they nonetheless defended his debunked claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating their neighbors' pets.
One woman said that she doesn't believe Trump's claim at all but nonetheless said that the issues in Springfield and elsewhere are an indication of a larger issue: towns unable to "absorb" people from different places with different customs, implying that there might be some truth to the matter due to "demographic" changes.
When Reeve pointed out to one man that Springfield officialsâincluding the mayor, the city manager, and the police departmentâhave confirmed no cases of immigrants eating pets and even Googled the information for him, the man scoffed and accused the authorities of "passing the buck."