The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently launched a new podcast, and the first episode was largely devoted to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue heaping praise on President Donald Trump with the help of former White House press secretary and current Fox News contributor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. During the 20-plus-minute podcast, Perdue and Sanders spent much of their time celebrating Trump for loving America, fighting “for what he believes is right,” having “genuine, sincere affection for our farmers” and “an amazing instinctive ability to make decisions,” and being “incredibly smart,” “a tough New Yorker,” and “one of the most fun, engaging, charming, charismatic people.”

Though the USDA website describes the podcast’s focus as “the issues facing America’s farmers,” there was almost no discussion of farm policy. In one instance where farm policy was actually discussed, Sanders called Trump’s trade war with China that is devastating American farmers a “minor economic hit.”

The first episode of The Sonnyside of the Farm was released on October 4. According to the USDA website, Perdue will be talking to guests “about the issues facing America’s farmers, ranchers, producers and foresters today.” The USDA encourages people “from USDA or out in the country” to “tune in the first Friday of every month to hear from Secretary Perdue himself.” The inaugural episode is available on the USDA website and YouTube channel, and it’s being promoted by the USDA’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. 

For the first episode, Perdue traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to talk with Sanders, who is now a Fox News contributor and is reportedly mulling a run for governor of Arkansas.  

Anyone tuning in with the hopes of hearing about issues facing farmers -- and there are a lot at the moment -- would have been disappointed with the first episode. The vast majority of the podcast featured Perdue and Sanders taking turns complimenting Trump. Among the over-the-top praise:

• Perdue on Trump and his family: “One of the things I think I appreciate about President Trump, and one of the things I really learned to respect him when I saw the relationship that he did have with his children, as well. And I think those are very important. You talked about a wholesome healthy family relationship. Your mom and dad, your husband, and your children and your siblings, that’s really what America is about.”

• Sanders said Americans “may not always agree with the president’s style or the way he approaches things, but they love that he loves this country and they love that he wants to do good things for it.”

• Sanders on Trump’s children: “You can’t fake good kids, and he has amazing kids who are very active, and not just in his political life, but they all were very active in his professional life. … They’ve all had tremendous independent success and could easily avoid a lot of the criticism and not go through the pressure that comes with being in the public eye.”

• More from Sanders on Trump’s children: “They believe in their dad and they believe in the country and they want to see great things continue to happen under his leadership.” 

• Perdue: “The one thing I appreciate other than being a good father, I think again, this guy loves America. I mean, he doesn’t apologize for America. That inspires me as a citizen. As a United States citizen of the United States of America, that inspires me.” 

• Perdue on Trump and the press: “You mentioned something I also admire, his willingness to fight for what he believes is right. … I don’t think the other side is used to having somebody stand up and unapologetically declare what he’s for in the United States of America. … I don’t think I’ve ever I’ve seen a president catigated so unfairly in the press and publicly as this president has been.” 

• Sanders on Trump and the press: “When the country’s doing as well as it has under this president, yet 90% of the news coverage about him and his administration is negative, it’s hard to argue with that type of information that the media is not completely biased and out to get this president. And I think that’s sad. I think it’s sad that the media would rather attack and see the president fail than they would see America succeed.”

• Sanders said one of the reasons Americans are smart is because they elected Trump.

• Sanders on Trump’s personality: “In terms of the president, I think he is one of the most fun, engaging, charming, charismatic people I’ve ever been around. Even on a bad day he seems to make things exciting and fun. And he’s incredibly smart. … He seems to really be able to take a lot of information quickly and make a decision -- I think that is one of the reasons he’s been successful.”

• Sanders on Trump as a businessman: “He is certainly tough. I think he gets a little of that from being a tough New Yorker who’s fought in the real estate business for a long time.”

• Perdue on Trump and farmers: “How in the world did a guy who grew up like that, that kind of career in business, have such a genuine, sincere affection for our farmers and ranchers? … It amazes me how he identifies with our agricultural community out here.”

• Sanders on Trump and farmers: “The president loves people who are just good hard-working Americans, people who make things, create, who build. He can relate to people who are building something whether it’s a building or a crop for the season.”

• Perdue on Trump’s decision-making skills: “He does have an amazing instinctive ability to make decisions in much time with less than perfect information. But his intuition, his instincts seem to me to be well-honed, well-practiced in that regard.” 

• Perdue on Trump’s leadership: “What I’ve also admired is he has this little back door there. If you go in and continue with the facts and the data, he’s also willing to change his mind. That’s the sign to me of a good leader.”

The only farm policy discussed during the episode was the ongoing agricultural trade war Trump has been waging against China since he imposed additional tariffs on the importation of $34 billion of Chinese goods in July 2018. In response, China placed tariffs on U.S. agricultural products such as soybeans and dramatically reduced importation of U.S. soybeans in favor of increased purchases from other countries, in particular Brazil. The trade war is causing serious additional financial problems for soybean farmers; the price and market for U.S. soybeans has tanked as a direct result of Trump’s policy. (Disclosure: This author’s family farms corn and soybeans in Illinois.) Overall, Trump’s trade policy with China has been absolutely devastating for U.S. farmers. 

On The Sonnyside of the Farm, Sanders dismissed this reality and instead praised Trump’s China trade policy, falsely saying it has only resulted in “minor economic hits.” Sanders also took a shot at previous presidents by saying Trump “is willing to take on some of those political battles that his predecessors weren’t willing to do” in regard to China.

Sanders’ comments echo recent statements by Perdue that have enraged farmers by downplaying the serious economic concerns they face. 

There are, of course, many interesting farm-related topics that could be discussed on Perdue’s podcast, but instead he and Sanders chose to make the inaugural episode almost entirely about praising Trump. Beyond the trade war with China, one major recent issue is that, in a highly unusual move, U.S.-based companies are importing corn, which typically is supplied by American farmers. One of the major importers is Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), which is selling corn to Chinese-owned, but U.S.-based, Smithfield Foods. (As agriculture secretary, Perdue has sided with big pork companies like Smithfield over family hog farming operations.) When Reuters reported on the deal, ADM declined to comment. But Perdue has a relationship with ADM. As recently as 2017, a grain trading company Perdue controlled at the time was doing business with ADM. And just last year, ADM CEO Juan Luciano traveled to Washington, D.C., and shared a laugh with Perdue at USDA headquarters. If The Sonnyside of the Farm is really about “the issues facing America’s farmers,” it would make a lot more sense to bring on a guest like Lucianio than to devote the podcast to extravagant praise of Trump. Instead, Perdue hosted Sanders, giving her an opportunity to ingratiate herself to Arkansas farmers and giving both of them a chance to reiterate their loyalty to Trump.