On October 27, 2026, Paula Newton introduced CNN reporter Kyung Lah’s PBS Amanpour and Company segment about struggling workers at Il Toro E La Capra, a Las Vegas restaurant Trump visited during his 2024 campaign.
Chef Fernando Perez explained why employees were riding scooters to work:
“They’re taking a scooter, yes. Because the gas price is really, really high.”
As if this were the first time Chef Fernando had seen a non-English-speaking coworker riding a scooter to work.
Lah even walked outside to show viewers his scooter, as though it proved Trump’s economy was failing.
Pedro Hernandez said he sold his car because it cost too much, and described a 40-minute scooter commute.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for him? I feel more sorry for him that he can’t speak English yet he understood her question as she pretended to ride a scooter. LOL. What a stupid fake news show this is.
Scooters travel much slower than cars, so 40 minutes doesn’t necessarily mean he lives far away. Maybe he should get a bicycle. That would cost even less. Since when did a non-English-speaking busboy on a scooter become a national economic news story?
Here’s something Lah could have investigated: Nevada’s taxes and local policies.
Nevada’s gasoline excise tax is 23 cents per gallon, plus fees. Clark County adds fuel taxes, including an inflation-indexed tax increased in July 2026. Combined federal, state, and local gasoline taxes and fees total approximately 82 cents per gallon.
County commissioners voted in November 2025 to extend those inflation-based increases through 2036.
Nevada has no individual state income tax, but sales tax rises from 6.85% statewide to 8.375% in Clark County, including on restaurant meals.
Nevada raised its minimum wage to $12 an hour on July 1, 2024, even for tipped workers.
Higher wages increase payroll costs, and sales taxes on supplies and equipment add to expenses. Sales taxes also increase customers’ bills. These policies can squeeze restaurant owners. Where’s that discussion in Lah’s report?
Then Lah said:
“Among the policies that impacted Nevada workers was no tax on tips.”
The second time in about seven minutes Lah mentioned No Tax on Tips, as though Trump’s tax relief is the problem.
Immediately afterward, Lah interviewed bartender Kevin Banda.
She asked:
“How much are you working per week? Over 100 hours a week?”
Banda said yes, then explained:
“I know I have to get a second job just to, like, be caught up with payments and stuff like that.”
Lah followed up:
“Did any of the policy changes that the president made impact your life?”
Banda answered:
“Not really.”
He just told Lah he was working more than 100 hours a week between jobs because he couldn’t keep up with his payments! So they clearly impacted his life, if he is telling the truth.
At Nevada’s $12 minimum wage, 100 hours is $1,200 a week, before tips or applicable overtime.
Indeed estimates Las Vegas bartenders average $178 a day in tips. Seven days at that average would add $1,246 a week, hypothetically bringing Banda’s gross pay to $2,446 weekly, $10,599 monthly, or $127,192 annually, before taxes and any overtime pay.
Under No Tax on Tips, an eligible worker receiving the full $25,000 deduction could save roughly $5,500 a year, or $458 a month. How about Trump puts those federal income taxes back on Banda’s tips? Then PBS can interview him about how that hurts his ability to pay his bills. Maybe he’d notice the difference then.
A non-English-speaking employee rides a scooter because gas is too expensive. A bartender works over 100 hours a week but says Trump’s policies haven’t impacted his life. And a restaurant owner may close his business, yet Lah never asks how Nevada’s taxes, regulations, and operating expenses affect them.
It’s almost as though everyone was given the same narrative to repeat: They’re struggling financially, nothing is getting better, gas prices are high, and Trump’s No Tax on Tips policy isn’t helping.
Trump has been back in office just one year and nine months; his tax law has been in effect even less time.
Reducing federal income taxes on tips and qualifying overtime is a real accomplishment. Meanwhile, Nevada’s 2024 minimum wage increase raised payroll costs for restaurant owners, while state and local gasoline taxes, sales taxes on supplies and equipment, licensing fees, and regulations add to the cost of doing business. Trump’s deportations can also affect restaurants that have relied on lower-paid illegal immigrant labor.
There’s so much more to these stories that we’re not being told. Yet PBS gave viewers a one-sided report that made it seem as though Trump was responsible for the financial struggles of Las Vegas workers and restaurant owners, while ignoring the state and local policies that also contribute to their expenses.
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