Kibbe On Liberty

At this year's FreedomFest in Palm Springs, Matt Kibbe caught up with legendary economic maven and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes to find out how President Trump is doing so far in terms of economic policy. They discuss the error of increasing tariffs on America's trading partners, the problems with Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and potential ideas for reforming the country's badly broken health care system. Toward the end of the conversation, Forbes offers his advice to the president on what he is doing right, what he could be doing better, and a few things he might not have thought of to unleash the power of the American economy once more.

At this year's FreedomFest in Palm Springs, Matt Kibbe caught up with noted anarchist and troublemaker Michael Malice for a short conversation about how to persuade people to support less (or even no) government. Along the way, they discuss the philosophy of Ayn Rand, whether cats are actually blue-pilled, and why libertarians ought to take themselves less seriously and embrace fun and humor in their messaging, even though they face difficult challenges in the realms of politics and public opinion.

While Matt Kibbe and the Free the People team were trying to enjoy the company of their fellow libertarians at this year’s Porcupine Freedom Festival, the Trump administration insisted on harshing the vibe by dropping bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Scott Horton, director of the Libertarian Institute, sat down for this episode of “Kibbe on Liberty” to debunk some of the neoconservative claims that are always trotted out to justify American intervention in the Middle East. The same propaganda strategy that was deployed to start the Iraq War is being used again, almost verbatim, to advocate for regime change in Iran. Despite what you may have heard, war is not in America’s best interests and needlessly puts our troops in harm’s way.

The government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was such a naked power-grab on such an unprecedented scale that even five years later, we are still struggling to hold the responsible parties accountable and to even fully process what happened. One unintended consequence of lockdowns, however, was exposing some ugly truths about who is really in charge in America. Matt Kibbe sits down with Debbie Lerman, author of “The Deep State Goes Viral,” to talk about whether our elected officials actually have the power to change things or whether someone else is pulling the strings. The word democracy means rule by the people, and we like to tell ourselves that our politicians are bound by the consent of the governed. In a post-COVID world, however, it’s becoming less and less apparent whether that remains the case in America.

As riots rage across Los Angeles and the conflicts between ICE officials and illegal immigrants escalate, why does it seem like nobody in Washington is actually interested in fixing America’s broken immigration system? Matt Kibbe sits down with Steven Olikara, CEO of Bridge Entertainment Labs and former Democratic Senate candidate, to discuss how both Democrats and Republicans have an interest in exacerbating the problem in order to use it as a campaign issue in the next election. This is yet another example of what Olikara calls “the division industrial complex,” which seeks to keep Americans polarized and at each other’s throats. Instead of falling into this trap, Olikara stresses the importance of sitting down for civil conversations with those who hold differing opinions and working to find common ground that can lead to real solutions. The political establishment wants to keep us divided because that’s how it retains its power. It’s important to understand the rules of their game.

The fight over President Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" is boiling over, shattering the White House alliance with Elon Musk. Join host Matt Kibbe in an exclusive sit-down with Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as they dissect the bill’s massive new spending and skyrocketing debt — provisions Paul warns could bankrupt America and spark runaway inflation. Plus, Paul reveals his bold plan as chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security to wield new subpoena powers, targeting Anthony Fauci and others who lied to protect the pandemic industrial complex.

As the Republicans in Congress are poised to spend trillions more, while ignoring all of Elon Musk's DOGE recommendations, some members of the administration and Trump loyalists are running defense, attempting to convince voters that their gargantuan reconciliation bill actually puts America first. Matt Kibbe tears this narrative apart, pointing to the hypocrisy of neocons who claim to care about small government while repeatedly voting for more spending to fund endless wars. Drawing on his experience as a budget economist and a Tea Party organizer, he explains that Republicans are setting themselves up for a clobbering in the midterm elections if they fail to enact any of the changes voters demanded in 2024.

For libertarians in America, there are plenty of things to be depressed about as Congress fails to cut spending or implement the DOGE’s recommendations. But one area where there is room for optimism is the school choice movement, particularly at the state level. Matt Kibbe talks to Corey DeAngelis, author of “The Parent Revolution,” about the great strides parents are making in taking control of their children’s education. After the pandemic locked down schools, forced students onto Zoom calls, and exposed parents to what is actually happening in the classroom, parents are more energized than ever to break free from the government school system. They are working with their legislatures to keep more of their tax dollars, which can be used to opt for private schooling or homeschooling. Even Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” contains some important school choice provisions that will bring more educational freedom to the country.

In the aftermath of most national disasters, such as 9/11, the Iraq War, and even January 6, the media typically spends years writing an endless series of think pieces, autopsies, and analyses of what went wrong and how to prevent it from ever happening again. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying lockdowns, we’re not seeing the same thing, and in fact most media outlets seem to want to forget the whole thing ever happened, even though it represented the most dramatic curtailing of American civil liberties in living memory. Matt Kibbe talks to David Zweig, author of “An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions,” who argues that the media wants to hide its own culpability in pushing for lockdowns and censorship of dissenting ideas. Zweig, who considered himself broadly left-wing before the pandemic, was shocked at the persistent illogic of keeping schools closed in the face of evidence that children faced virtually no risk from the virus, and his ensui

Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, came storming in this January with a mission to expose government waste, fraud, and abuse and to highlight up to $2 trillion that could be cut from the federal budget. One hundred days in, the department has made some impressive progress, but government spending remains as high as ever. Matt Kibbe sits down with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to find out where we stand in the congressional budget process, as well as the progress of the Make America Healthy Again coalition and Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs.

At the Young Americans for Liberty conference in Washington, D.C., Matt Kibbe sits down with legendary journalist and educator John Stossel to talk about his long career bringing libertarianism to the masses. Stossel reflects on how the media landscape has changed, with decentralized platforms offering more opportunities to communicate without the fear of editorial censorship, and explains how his recent projects are bringing liberty into the classroom. He also laments the fact that for as long as he has been pointing out the benefits of free markets and personal liberty, many Americans are still not receptive to the ideas of freedom. Can Kibbe cheer him up with a dose of optimism? Watch to find out!

The second Trump administration has awakened Democrats to the dangers of executive power, but they have no one to blame but themselves. Matt Kibbe goes through the history of the expansion of executive authority, in which the presidency becomes more and more dominant over the other two branches of government. A lot of what we are now seeing can be traced to Barack Obama, who boasted that he could do what he wanted without Congress because he had a pen and a phone. Since then, there has been an arms race between the two parties to see how much they can get done with the presidency alone. It’s a strategy that only harms the American people and our freedoms and will almost certainly come back to bite the very people who started it.

In a recent debate on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Douglas Murray chastised the host for platforming non-experts he claims are spreading dangerous misinformation. Matt Kibbe points out that not only has the expert class completely failed to earn the trust of the American people but that the democratization of knowledge is one of the best things about the internet and podcasting in general. The process of challenging established dogma is what leads to greater dialogue and the free exchange of ideas. This is not unlike the theories of the Austrian school of economics, which prioritizes the importance of individual action over mindless deference to so-called experts, who claim to know what’s best for everyone else.

As the Trump Administration appears to double down on protectionist trade policies, many critics have taken a sneering, condescending attitude toward those who think that tariffs might just make America great again. Matt Kibbe sits down with economist Antony Davies to try to address these concerns with empathy and understanding, while at the same time demonstrating that high tariffs actually hurt American workers by making everything more expensive. There are good reasons to be dissatisfied with the state of America’s economy, but raising taxes on consumers will only make things worse.

To celebrate the confirmation of Jay Bhattacharya as director of the NIH, this week’s “Kibbe on Liberty” features unseen footage from Matt Kibbe’s series “The Coverup,” in which Dr. Bhattacharya explains how he was demonized and attacked for his opposition to COVID lockdowns, as well as some greatest hits from Jay’s previous appearances on the show.

At the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Mexico City, Matt Kibbe caught up with the tremendously successful entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas to talk about the battle for hearts and minds being waged between the collectivists and individualists who believe in personal freedom and responsibility. Salinas explains how he is using his business empire to expand opportunities for the Mexican people, particularly in offering educational alternatives to the state-run schools. They also talk about the dangers of central banking and the potential for Bitcoin to do an end run around government control of currency.

Following the recent dust-up over the continuing resolution that maintained Biden-era levels of spending, it’s fair to ask whether the Trump administration is serious about cutting spending, reducing the national debt, and balancing the budget. The Department of Government Efficiency has identified hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending, but Congress still has to act in order to actually make those cuts. Matt Kibbe is joined by Virginia state Delegate Nick Freitas (R) to talk about the Trump administration’s diverse coalition and whether it can hold together long enough to enact Trump’s agenda.

In this special solo episode of “Kibbe on Liberty,” Matt Kibbe weighs in on Donald Trump’s threat to primary Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) over his refusal to vote for the latest continuing resolution that maintains Biden-era levels of spending and funds all of the waste, fraud, and abuse that Elon Musk and the DOGE have uncovered. Kibbe recounts his time as a budget economist and explains why the budgeting process doesn’t work as it’s supposed to and how entrenched special interests are committed to keeping it that way. Massie is one of the few congressmen who understands that and who is willing to fight for the America First spending cuts that Trump campaigned on. He’s absolutely the wrong target for the president’s ire.

Nearly a century after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spearheaded a sweeping set of economic policies known as the New Deal, the debate still rages over whether he was a hero or a villain. Defenders of the New Deal credit it with ending the Great Depression and pioneering a number of important social programs. Detractors claim it prolonged the Depression due to the reckless government spending demanded by Keynesian economics. Matt Kibbe sits down with George Selgin, author of "False Dawn," who argues that both of these viewpoints miss important details about the New Deal and its impact on the economy. In the first place, it was not particularly Keynesian in its approach to spending. Instead, it was Roosevelt's hostility toward private industry that delayed America's recovery for so long.

One of the benefits of America’s federalist system is that individual states can experiment with different policies, allowing the rest of the country to see what works and what doesn’t. New Hampshire has taken that idea and run with it, attempting to gather as many libertarians as possible in one place to create the freest state in the country. Matt Kibbe sits down with Eric Brakey, executive director of the Free State Project, to discuss why this effort is so important, how effective it has been, and why every libertarian, regardless of where they live, should be invested in what happens in New Hampshire, as it reflects the health of the movement and the prospects for expanding freedom in our lifetime.