Steve Forbes backs President Trump’s Mt. Rushmore pronouncement on communism

Steve Forbes has been a courageous defender of the American capitalist system, free markets, and sound money for decades. As president and editor-in-chief of Forbes and a presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, he became one of the nation’s leading voices on economics.

Recently, Forbes sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss the state of the American economy, New York City’s socialist turn, and the policies of the Trump administration.

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“First of all, New York City has had a reputation for electing radical candidates in the past, including the alleged sole communist member of Congress in the late 1940s. So there’s a line there, too. But more importantly, I think it shows that people, a lot of people, are dissatisfied.”

The 78-year-old scion of a publishing empire said the left was better organized than its freedom-loving counterparts.

“We have to get the message out,” he said. “And one thing the left has learned is that you’re trying to occupy the moral high ground. Even if you destroy people’s lives, even if you kill millions of people under socialism, under communism, your intentions were good.”

“So they’re trying to play the moral card. So it’s not enough to say, ‘Free enterprise will give you more prosperity.’ You also have to take into account that free enterprise is moral. It’s based on freedom, on people being creative, or as Lincoln said, improving your lot in life.”

Following Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore and his depiction of the internal threat of communism, Forbes agrees, citing another US president.

“Whatever you call it, communism, socialism, left-wing extremism, anti-Semitism, it’s all the same disease,” Forbes said. “Abraham Lincoln put it very well in the 1800s. He said: ‘It won’t be external forces that destroy the United States. It will be things we do internally.'”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the sixteenth president of the United States, was president during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. His greatest act was issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in 1863. He was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, just after the war. (Photo: © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Forbes suggested that many people mistakenly blame free markets rather than government policies:

“When governments start making mistakes and doing things that people don’t like, that hurt people’s hopes for progress, that disrupt society, they blame it on capitalism. They blame it on free markets,” he said. “So they help destroy free markets and then say, ‘It’s because of the victim.'”

Forbes said prosperity and innovation can only flourish with freedom. According to Forbes, capitalism, while imperfect, has led to inventions that improve our lives.

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“Take the handset,” he said. “If you had told me 30 years ago [that your] If grandma could run a supercomputer, you’d have a pretty weird look. We now take this for granted. The first was just 40 years ago, cost $3,995, weighed as much as a brick, was the size of a shoebox. And today we have handheld computers, which are truly supercomputers that can do anything, anywhere. And they are literally getting cheaper. This is the miracle of human creativity. And the surprising thing is that we accept it as it is.”

Forbes has long been a proponent of sound money and a leading critic of the Federal Reserve:

The Federal Reserve sets the nation’s monetary policy and affects borrowing costs in the economy. (Annabelle GORDON/AFP via Getty Images)

“Start with the Federal Reserve, the idea that prosperity causes inflation. Experience shows over and over again that this is complete nonsense. So if the economy starts doing well, you’re asking the central bank, ‘Is the economy overheating?’ You hear murmurs asking: “It’s as if the economy were a machine,” Forbes said.

“So ask yourself this: If your income is increasing, are you starting to feel overheated? Are you starting to sweat at night? ‘Take him away because I’m overheating?’ “No, this is ridiculous,” he said.

According to Forbes, the central bank’s role is to preserve the integrity of the dollar, not to manage economic activity by trying to manipulate interest rates.

“For example, most free marketers realize that rent control distorts markets and ends up costing more and earning people less,” Forbes said. “So, what is controlling interest? It’s a kind of rent control. They called it interest rent. You rent the money.”

His prescription for the Trump administration is simple:

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“On the domestic front, embark on a new round of tax cuts. Cut tax rates for individuals and businesses,” Forbes said. “Taxes are a price. So propose. Congress may not accept it, but you have something to present to the voters.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Forbes added that selling such a plan to the public could be done through deliberate marketing.

“Give examples of people who benefit greatly from taxing overtime, taxing tips, and say: Remember those old late-night TV commercials [where hawkers would say] ‘But wait, is there more?’ They might say, ‘But wait, there’s more.’ We will have big tax cuts. Everybody will benefit from this.’

“And keep deregulating,” he concluded. “If you go this route, good things will happen.”