Q & A’s Jack Tame is currently cooling his heels in the US waiting for the disputed results of Election 2020 to play out. While waiting he interviewed high profile New Zealander Chris Liddell, the boy from Matamata who grew up to work and speak with President Donald J Trump on a daily basis. Liddell is one of Trump’s two deputy Chiefs of Staff, appointed in 2017 and solely responsible for policy coordination.
Image credit: Jack Tame Twitter Account
Tame is fairly typical of NZ media who despise and ridicule Trump and was quickly disavowed of the notion that Liddell would dish up any dirt on Trump.
Tame’s disappointment was obvious and, lest we think he isn’t doing his job properly, he took pains to point out that some areas were not up for discussion. Working for Trump, COVID-19, a free trade reset and illegal immigration were okay topics but the election results were not.
Tame is a trier, asking Liddell, “Do you like him?”
“I really enjoy the interactions, yeah, I think it’s the most stimulating part of my day… is the interaction I have with him. He’s tough and he pushes me… and pushes everyone else around here, but at the same time he asks my opinion, he is respectful of it… and so I love the time that I have with him”.
According to Tame, Trump’s “certain type of character” distinguishes him from other presidents and so he asks Liddell about Trump’s “more colourful personality and attributes”.
Liddell doesn’t beat around the bush, he works for a man who calls a spade a spade:
“I understand the president is unpopular, particularly in NZ, and I accept that as part of the job, but I also accept that my job is to do something important and this is a blood sport.
If you are not willing to take a few punches then you shouldn’t be here.
But in terms of dealing with the president I’ve found that incredibly refreshing – and not easy because he’s difficult – but he’s hard and he’s challenging and he looks you directly in the eye and he makes sure that if you have an opinion and you have a view, that it’s solid.
And I really enjoy that interaction so my interactions internally with him and with other people have been really enjoyable, so I can only talk to the mechanics of what is here, the outside world makes it’s own views”.
The cogs in Tame’s brain grind slowly when he realises he has been betrayed by one of his own countrymen. He can’t figure out how blood sport and Liddell’s job belong in the same sentence; this is the man who has never been interviewed previously, with whom he scooped the interview, introducing him as “a direct advisor to President Trump and considered by some as the most influential New Zealander in the world”.
Tame’s failed attempts to get Liddell to flesh out Trump’s “bad behaviour” with lurid detail results in Liddell declaring “the president is fearless, he challenges the status quo, he delivers on his promises”.
Liddell praises the Trump administration for its outstanding achievements compared to previous regimes. Halfway into the interview Tame’s jaw actually drops, leaving his mouth wide open, (a look more appropriate on a school boy with less than a passing interest in his maths class).
Liddell confesses that the attraction of working with Trump is the challenge of being part of an institutional reinvention of the US government. Changing institutional capability is high in Liddell’s wish list and, not that Jack asked, draining the swamp springs to mind. What a ride he has had with Trump. Liddell’s enthusiasm for the job radiates from him.
Who says good things can’t come from a town starting with the letter M?
By the time the interview was 10 minutes in I fixated on the idea of Liddell returning home to lead the charge to retrieve us from the awful mess of another three years of failed government promises. A product of Morrinsville sent packing and replaced by an infinitely better product from Matamata is a delicious thought. Alas, Liddell has his sights set on heading up the OECD after the Americans nominated him. If anyone could improve the productivity of our government departments, it would be this man.
Matamata and Morrinsville have both produced two high profile individuals with a common desire to solve inequality but completely different views about how to go about it. Picture 2023 when “Socialist Cindy” meets “Capitalist Chris” for a shootout over the tattered remnants of what was once a thriving and prosperous nation where farming and mining once flourished, jobs were plentiful, unemployment scarce and our coffers were full of the proceeds of the sale of our plentiful resources.
The interview is worth watching for Liddell’s insight (and Tame’s lack of it). TV1 Q&A Sunday 15 November 2020.
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