The Club for Growth is mentioned in three episodes of The Bob Zadek Show, in each case as a background fact rather than as a subject of discussion. The excerpts identify it as a non-profit institution described as usually conservative-based, record that Stephen Moore was its founder and president from 1999 to 2004, and report a claim by Austin Petersen that it had signaled it was given $10 million to support his primary opponent in a Missouri Senate race. No excerpt describes the organization’s stated mission, its issue positions, its legal form, its donors, or its internal governance.
Austin Petersen’s Senate campaign
In a September 2017 episode, Austin Petersen answered a caller’s question about outside political forces in his race. Petersen said there were private and non-profit institutions that had committed to supporting both his primary opponents and his general election opponent, and that it was difficult for someone like himself to obtain institutional support because he did not make promises or set up a quid pro quo arrangement. He said the Democratic Senatorial Committee had already launched a six-figure ad buy attacking him in Missouri and was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the attack ad there Federalism and the Flat Tax: The Austin Petersen Plan (2017).
Petersen then named the Club for Growth, describing it as a non-profit institution that is usually conservative-based and would normally be at least ideologically aligned with someone like himself who is a strict fiscal conservative. He said the Club for Growth had at least signaled that they have been given $10 million to support my primary opponent in the race, which he called a very difficult challenge to surmount. He contrasted this with his own funding, saying he was entirely funded by grassroots supporters — grocery clerks, single moms, and current members of the military — and described himself as the Bernie Sanders of the Republican primary in Missouri Federalism and the Flat Tax: The Austin Petersen Plan (2017).
The excerpt does not name Petersen’s primary opponent, does not state the amount actually spent, and does not say whether the Club for Growth confirmed or denied the figure. Petersen’s characterization of the group as ideologically aligned with a strict fiscal conservative is his own; the excerpt records no statement from the organization.
Stephen Moore’s role
In an October 2018 episode, Bob Zadek introduced Stephen Moore as one of Donald Trump’s chief economic advisors, a free marketeer, and the author of Trumponomics, written with Arthur Laffer. In the same introduction, Bob stated that Stephen was the founder of the Club for Growth and president of the Club for Growth from 1999 to 2004. Bob also listed Moore’s former membership on the Wall Street Journal editorial board, his work with the Heritage Foundation, and his roles as a commentator on Fox News and chief economic commentator on CNN Stephen Moore on Trumponomics (2018).
The excerpt gives no account of what Moore did at the Club for Growth, why he left, or who succeeded him. Bob’s introduction is the only source in these excerpts for the founding and the dates of Moore’s presidency.
The Moore nomination and the Fed
A March 2019 episode, hosted by Charlie Deist filling in for Bob Zadek, revisited Moore’s background in the course of discussing his nomination to the Federal Reserve Board. Deist said that back in October Bob had spent an hour with Stephen Moore, a former president of the Club for Growth, who had recently authored Trumponomics. Deist described Moore as a supply-side economist, meaning he thinks that tax cuts tend to pay for themselves, and noted that Moore’s co-author on the book was Arthur Laffer, probably best known for the Laffer curve David Henderson on Trumponomics, Deficits, and Immigration (2019).
Deist went on to describe the nomination as appearing from the outside to be politically motivated, citing a Moore op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling the Fed and its recent interest rate hikes a threat to growth. He raised the question whether it is the Fed’s job to promote growth or to focus on price stability and a stable dollar, and said many people believed the nomination threatened the Federal Reserve’s independence because Moore had been a partisan in favor of Donald Trump’s presidency. He also said Moore had chimed in that maybe Jerome Powell should step down David Henderson on Trumponomics, Deficits, and Immigration (2019).
The Club for Growth enters this episode only through Deist’s one-line identification of Moore as its former president. The excerpt does not say whether the organization took any position on the nomination.
Across episodes: no development
The Club for Growth is touched on in the 2017 Petersen episode, the 2018 Moore episode, and the 2019 Henderson episode; the excerpts show no development in how the organization is treated, since in each case it appears only as a fact about a guest’s career or about campaign spending, and no guest or host discusses its mission or record.
What the sources do not cover
The excerpts do not state when the Club for Growth was founded, what its stated purpose is, how it is organized or funded, or what candidates and causes it has supported beyond the contested claim about the Missouri Senate primary. They do not name Petersen’s primary opponent, give the outcome of that race, or report any response from the organization to Petersen’s account. They do not say what Moore did as president, when or why he left, or whether the group commented on his Federal Reserve nomination. Nothing in the excerpts describes any Club for Growth publication, litigation, or policy campaign.