Forbes chairman and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes told Newsmax TV he does not agree with his magazine's editorial in which businesses were warned of repercussions should they hire press secretaries from President Donald Trump's administration.
Randall Lane, Forbes chief content officer, wrote an editorial entitled, "Truth Reckoning: Why We’re Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable." In it, Lane says businesses that hire any of Trump's former press secretaries would result in Forbes assuming "everything your company or firm talks about is a lie."
"[Lane] is expressing his own opinion and I myself, I have a dim view of history where we had blacklists, 'The Hollywood Ten' and the like, so I do take a different view," Forbes told host Rob Schmitt on Saturday night’s "The Count."
"But you see, at Forbes, we believe in diversity of opinion unlike Twitter. And I think that's an example of it. We have a dearth of opinions, of philosophy, people vigorously debating and this is an example of it."
In the article, Lane insisted he was not suggesting a "cancel culture," a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles.
"It's one thing to point out where somebody has not spoken the truth, that's part of the example of what the press is supposed to be about," Forbes said. "But again, we believe in diversity of opinion and he says he's against 'cancel culture,' I’m against 'cancel culture.' And I think we have to keep in mind, in terms of blacklisting which happened in the '50s during the McCarthy era, harm the culture, harm the politics, we don't want that again."
Forbes said he was hopeful the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20 will usher in an era of 'calm debate."
"One of the things we have to look forward to in the future is trying to get a calm debate on where this country goes in the future," he said, "and hopefully, with this new administration, we'll get that atmosphere, where we can get honest, vigorous debates about issues like taxes, regulation healthcare and the like. That's what I'm looking forward to."
That's not to say Forbes was optimistic about polices likely to come out of the Biden administration.
"[Democrats] have a genuine belief that government spending stimulates the economy," Forbes said, "not realizing you get the resources for those spending binges from we the people. They don't come out of thin air."
With a relief stimulus worth trillions already being discussed, Forbes predicted the next few years could see both inflation and higher unemployment.
"On the tax side, they're going to try and increase taxes," he said. "They may try to get big state support for it by allowing more deductions for local taxes but I think you're certainly going to see the top income tax rate go up, other tax rates go up.
"So, you put it all together, you may get an initial boon but then you're going to get a real bad hangover in the morning — more inflation, more unemployment, and less new business creation, which is going to be bad for people who want to start businesses which is where our future lies.”
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