Mike Rowe on Elitists and the Rest of America: ‘The Gap Right Now Is Extraordinary’

Given his experience with many tough, blue-collar gigs as the television cameras rolled, it’s no surprise that former “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe can relate to the struggle of working Americans.

With his experience in the television industry, Rowe, who is currently the host of Trinity Broadcasting Network’s “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” has noticed what he calls an expanding divide between “elitists” and ordinary Americans.

The television host recently discussed the issue on “The Ben Shapiro Show” with Ben Shapiro, editor of The Daily Wire. On the podcast, Shapiro asked him what could be done to bridge the gap between Hollywood and the media, and — as he put it — “people who are actually working the jobs that are actually getting things done across the country.”

Rowe responded by saying this “disconnect” has to do with a lack of appreciation for the wonders of life itself.

“If we’re not blown away by the miracle that occurs when we flick the switch and the lights come on; if we’re not gobsmacked by flushing the toilet and seeing all of it go away; when we start losing our appreciation for those things, the gap deepens. And I think the gap right now is extraordinary,” he said.

Shapiro joined Laura Ingraham, host of Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” on Monday night to discuss that gap in the country between what seems like two warring factions.

“The culture war in the country that has been raging isn’t between the elites and non-elites — it’s between ‘elitists’ and everyone else,” he said. “The ones who think jobs lost at the New York Daily News is a national tragedy, but jobs being lost in the steel industry are fine because those are a bunch of rubes in the Rust Belt, anyway. What President Trump does better than any other politician on the American scene is he conveys that he really does care about people who are in these industries, the people who are working the so-called dirty jobs, that people on the coasts tend to think only the illegal immigrants should do.”

“The bottom line is people in the middle of the country are doing work that is as important [as] or more important than people who are on the coast, who are sitting in their coffeehouses writing scripts.”

He added, “The bottom line is people in the middle of the country are doing work that is as important [as] or more important than people who are on the coast, who are sitting in their coffeehouses writing scripts.”

As Shapiro pointed out, the mainstream media said that 40 people losing their jobs at the Daily News was a tragedy — while the fact that over 50,000 steelworkers who lost their jobs in America in this century alone hardly receives coverage.

“If you understand the plight of the regular working person. and think that they have a role in our economy, you’re not an elitist,” Ingraham said.

Related: Mike Rowe Dispels This ‘Dangerous Myth’

Speaking to Shapiro on his podcast on Sunday, Rowe indicated he would like to see the gap closed between elitists and the rest of America. However, he also seemed to think the coastal elite and Middle America will not be seeing eye-to-eye any time soon.

“I think there’s great common sense that is still alive and well in a lot of people, and I think that, as they look at the headlines, they’re frustrated,” Rowe told Shapiro. “And, to be fair, I think people on the coasts are coming at it from their own bias, and they’re frustrated, so a lot of frustrated people are talking really loud past each other and a lot of truths are inconvenient for a lot of people, so it just gets noisy — which is a long way of saying no, I don’t think that gap will ever close.”

Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, and other outlets.