MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” panel on Wednesday tore into Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s suggestion that the Trump administration could take a cut of revenue generated by patents developed at U.S. universities, saying the move reeked of “socialism.”
Host Joe Scarborough led the panel’s confusion in response to Lutnick’s remarks, after he told Axios’ Mike Allen on “The Axios Show” that “the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit” if a scientist at a university receiving federal funding develops a patent.
“This is just full, blown-out socialism,” Scarborough said.
The “Morning Joe” namesake referenced former President Barack Obama’s patent reform measures, speculating what the GOP reaction would be if Obama had demanded the government take a cut.
“I don’t know Howard, but I can’t believe he is so stupid as to not understand that when we, since World War II, gave universities that money for research, that spread out,” Scarborough said, noting how the funds went toward improvements in biomedical research and the creation of the Internet.
He further ripped the proposed idea as “the most socialist thing.”
“I mean, who’s worried about Mamdani?” Scarborough asked, referring to New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who describes himself as a socialist.
Panelist Willie Geist then noted that Lutnick’s remarks may have been less geared toward the U.S. consumer than toward his boss: President Donald Trump.
“Remember, the job for most of these guys, ‘Make the boss happy,” Geist said. “They think this is something that Donald Trump likes, and it’s something that he will hear in this interview, maybe on this show, and they’ll be in good standing with the boss.”
But Geist also said that, unlike the U.S.’ investments in Intel and its decision to take cuts of Nvidia’s chip sales in China, this endeavor would be “just straight socialism.”
The White House did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
