Four senators at the forefront of America’s crypto policy debate joined Townhall and Larry O’Connor for a discussion about what Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) called the “binary” between America and China.
Moreno was joined by Sens. Steve Daines (R., Mont.), Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), and Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.) for the event. The Ohio lawmaker lamented that when it comes to crypto, Europe is “lost.”
Each senator on stage, Moreno added, represents a state where coal was big. Under President Donald Trump, America is able to “drill baby drill” on resources like coal, but Moreno cautioned that his fellow Bernie in the Senate could pose a huge problem for America’s crypto agenda.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is the “canary in the crazy coal mine” of Democrats, Moreno said. Sanders “wants to ban AI in America. I don’t think he knows what that means.” In contrast with Sanders, President Donald Trump created a nationwide AI action plan shortly after returning to the White House. That plan, created with Executive Order 14179, has three main components: infrastructure, innovation, and international diplomacy.
The final component, international diplomacy, has been a master class from the Trump administration, as far as Daines is concerned. The Montana senator was at the Munich Security Conference for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s widely-heralded speech, which Daines praised for taking on the European “climate cult.”
“If you want a case study of what not to do,” look at what Europe has done “for the last 25 years,” he cautioned. Closer to home, Daines wants both judicial and permitting reform to get done, but he called the latter move “necessary but not sufficient.”
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, laid out vision vision, and said that when it comes to AI, “the existential threat is not China; it’s our own government.”
Both the right and the left have anti-data center factions, he said, but he particularly criticized the Democrats for “wanting to protect salamanders” at the expense of America’s ability to defeat China. Both the SPEED Act and GENIUS Acts were essential, Sheehy added, especially because he’s seen “Europe [] become an economic backwater” due to its anti-competitive regulation. “What underlies our ability to have the best systems and the best trained warfighters is our economic engine,” he explained.
Lummis, whom Daines referred to as the Senate’s “crypto queen,” wants America to “do more training” for workers to adjust for the massive economic changes that are inbound.
An example that she pointed to is Mike Rowe: America, she said, needs “to get more plumbers, electricians, computer workers…we have to understand that the work of an architect is going to change.”
But Moreno added that data centers will need to stand on their own two feet. “The time for tax incentives to build data centers is over,” he added. these companies have a lot of money. In the crypto realm, Moreno sounded bullish about both market structure reform and about the possibilities of Stablecoins, which he said “are not a threat to any bank.” He also predicted that “we’re going to get market structure done by the end of May.”
Following the event, Storm Paglia, Townhall Media’s vice president of news and operations, told the Washington Reporter that “the first Townhall Live event successfully brought together industry stakeholders, lawmakers, senior hill staff, and media for a lively discussion on the future of AI and crypto, and the need for America to lead the way with four of the most prominent America First senators.”
“We look forward to hosting many more,” Paglia added.
O’Connor also told the Reporter that the event that he emceed “embodied exactly what Townhall has represented for over 30 years in the right of center media world.” O’Connor, whose media career remains ascendant with a new national deal on the horizon, explained that it featured “intelligent, impactful and influential conversations about the most important issues facing our country from an unapologetic pro-american freedom-loving perspective. To bring the ‘virtual’ town hall experience we deliver everyday online to this live audience of influential Washington decision makers was a game changer for our organization and we can’t wait for the next Townhall Live event.
Among those spotted at the Townhall event at Butterworth’s were Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.), Harmeet Dhillon, Garrett Huizenga, Corey Inganamort, Lindsay Wigo, David Santrella, Jonathan Garthwaite, Kevin McMahon, Bri D’Apuzzo, Chris Plante, Matt Vespa, Storm Paglia, Kenny Cunningham, Alex Swoyer, Meredith O’Connor, Anna Laudiero, Ford O’Connell, James Blair, Sean Spicer, Mike Davis, Jason Thielman, Josh Arnold, Collin McCune, David Spady, Colin Rom, Ben Napier, Betsy Klein, Andrew Olivastro, Eva Berg, Jordan Carpenter, Katie Pavlich, Blayne Clegg, Bryce Segat, Reese Gorman, Darin Miller, and Nate Brand.
