WEBVTT - The U.S. Report | 24 April 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:06.160 This is the US Report with James Moroar. 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.760 Good evening and welcome to the program. Here's what's coming 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:16.560 up tonight. Democrats are attacking You'll never guess democracy in 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:18.320 where else but Virginia. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:20.360 Plus over in New York it. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.480 Looks like zirod Moom Donnie voters are finally getting what 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.920 they voted for. Oh, this one is delicious and is 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.240 the Iran war in a stalemate? And what can break it? 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:37.199 We'll talk to John fun to find out. But first, well, well, well, friends, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.080 have I got a story for you, and let me 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.720 tell you you're going to love this one. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:45.040 Now. 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:50.040 Remember this the infamous white dashalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.519 in twenty seventeen, which was supposed to prove that in 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:58.680 Donald Trump's America, racists and klansmen were emboldened to go 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:02.280 out and shout Nazis slogans while carrying Yeah, I know 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.520 this is really terrifying tiki torches from the local gardens 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.800 supply shop. I mean this story, you'll remember it made 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.280 headlines around the world. It was the source of the 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:17.200 completely debunked very fine people hoaks. The left loved to 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.600 push about Trump, claiming that the President called neo Nazis. Yes, indeed, 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.280 very fine people. And this was to listen to Joe 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.560 Biden tell it. Well, this was such an important event, 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.160 this march. This was part of the reason why he 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:35.680 ran for president in twenty twenty. 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.360 I ran for president in twenty twenty because of what 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:46.960 I saw in Charlottesville in August of twenty seventeen. Extremists 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:53.640 coming out of the woods carried torches, they're vains bulging 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:59.840 from their necks, carry Nazi swastikas and changing the same 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:04.160 exact anti Semitic bile that was hurt in Germany in 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:05.080 the early thirties. 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.120 Well, guess what it looks like. 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.680 The real hoax wasn't what Donald Trump said about the march, 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:18.680 but instead the hoax was the march itself. According to 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.520 an indictment just handed down by the US Department of 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.480 Justice and a grand jury, the real instigators of the 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.800 march were not neo Nazis, but people, some of them 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.960 actual neo Nazis, paid for by an outfit called the 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:37.200 Southern Poverty Law Center. Now this was once a proud 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.400 civil rights organization, but in recent years it has become 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:47.400 a massive race baiting grift designed simply to stir up trouble. Yes, 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:52.079 you heard that right. A group dedicated to fighting racism 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.960 in the United States found that there was so little 0:02:55.400 --> 0:03:00.080 overt real racial hatred in society that they had to 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.440 go out and pay contractors or as they call them, informants, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.520 like there's some sort of law enforcement body to go 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.120 out there and whip it up, thus giving the Southern 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:17.399 Poverty Law Center a justification to campaign for more donations. 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.280 The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:28.200 manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:34.280 to stoke racial hatred. The indictment describes as conduct in detail, 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.720 but one troubling example is that the SPLC was paying 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.240 a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:47.520 the Right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia in twenty seventeen that 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.840 resulted in the death of one person and injured dozens more. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.920 You mean the whole thing was fake. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.440 These are the depths the left will go to to 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:04.760 just smearing conservatives and scaring in people into voting only 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.920 for the left. I mean, look, I thought it was 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.760 supposed to be the right that was always trying to 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:15.360 divide America. But if these charges hold up, well, it 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.599 looks like what we are seeing is at least a 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.800 ten year long campaign pushed by the Southern Poverty Law 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:26.000 Center and amplified through the media collapse as. 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:26.960 A total fraud. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.800 And again, before anyone says that this is a political 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:35.080 witch hunt by the Trump administration, remember this is not 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:38.400 just the Department of Justice saying this, but this is 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:42.920 a grand jury and it implicates a lot of people 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.640 and institutions like the FBI under Joe Biden, which became 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.520 little more than a crack squad of rent cops targeting 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:49.920 the right. 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:51.880 Well, you know, they. 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:56.120 Had partnered with the SPLC, and according to the indictment, 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.640 this is amazing. Between twenty fourteen and twenty three, twenty three, 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:06.760 the SPLC secretly funneled more than three million dollars in 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:12.799 donated funds to individuals associated with violent extremist groups, including 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:17.480 the Ku Klux Klan, the United Clans of America Unite 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.760 the Right, which was spoken about before, the National Alliance, 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:27.480 the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nations affiliated Sidistic Souls 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.120 Motorcycle Club, the National Socialist Party of America aka the 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:37.480 American Nazi Party and the American Front. That's what the 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:45.200 indictment says. And really, seriously, the Klan Nazis, the sidistic souls. 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.760 I didn't even know they existed, but my god, millions 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.640 of dollars sent in, much of it by Americans thinking 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.400 they were doing the right things, standing up to hate, 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.440 seeing their money being used to in fact stoke hate 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:04.360 and run oh so very organic hate marches like this 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:09.240 one when a Patriot Front group marched last year in Washington. Now, 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:11.799 I remember when this happened, and everybody watched that footage 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.640 and everybody assumed this was such a bit of gaslighting 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.560 that it must have been an FBI false flag operation. 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.440 Well turned out it was just one of the FBI's. 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.720 Partners that was behind that one. 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:28.000 Now there's a lot more in the allegations too, including 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.000 claims of wire fraud, fake bank accounts, and all the 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.880 other sort of things you'd expect. But meanwhile, it's important 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.599 to note that the SPLC has over the years become 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.160 a real clearing house for who are the goodies and 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.000 who are the baddies in society as they see it 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:47.479 as the progressive left. 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:47.919 Season. 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.279 One of the things that they did was maintain lists 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:55.160 of hate groups, but weirdly, all the hate groups were 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.880 always on the right, never on the left. And in 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.920 twenty twenty two they teamed up with PayPal to determine 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.960 which groups, again always groups on the right, should be 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:11.800 denied service because they allegedly pedaled hate or some such. Now, 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:17.320 all of this, again was happening while allegedly funding extremists. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:19.320 And the whole thing is so nuts. 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.320 I mean, if you were to write this in a novel, 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.800 people would say the editor would say, oh, not take 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.600 it out. That's just too far out there. There's no 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.360 way anyone would ever believe that. But of course, remember 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:34.160 too that the SPLC also played really hardball politics. They 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:38.119 tried to drive the Democrat Party agenda. In July twenty 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:42.080 twenty four, they endorsed Kamala Harris for president, and not 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.680 long after that Harris returned the favor. 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.800 Let's remember Charlottesville where there was a mob of people 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:57.080 carrying tiki torches spewing anti Semitic hate, and what did 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.920 the president then at the time say, there were fine 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:02.160 people on each side. 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.240 Ah, yes, I don't know what's more ridiculous, the terrifying 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.640 tiki torches or the Fine People hoax. Now, remember, if 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.200 Kamala Harris had won that election, we would never have 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.680 found out about any of this. Harris would still be 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.480 repeating the hoax. The SPLC would still be gaslighting hate 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.200 and helping to d bank and d platform conservatives while 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:29.080 partnering with the FBI and neo Nasensen Klansmen. Well, they'd 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.760 still be getting money to g up hate, where of 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:39.760 course none existed. Okay, let's get straight into it with 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.480 our first guest tonight, political journalist and great friend of 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.520 the program, John Fund. John, Welcome to the US Report. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.439 We are talking about the war and Iran, how that's 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:52.480 going about the latest John Fund. 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.599 Give it to us straight. Has this thing reached a stalemate? 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.040 It sure has the appearance of that book. The problem 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.120 is this. The United States is a democracy and it 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:08.880 responds to public opinion. Iran is a dictatorship and the 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:14.080 worst thugs in the world, the International Revolutionary Guard, are 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.560 in charge. They don't care about the people, they don't 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.079 care about killing them, they don't care about their being bombed, 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.160 and they have more staying power, at least in the 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.800 short term, than the democratic forces in Israel or in 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:26.560 the United States. 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.920 So The question then becomes John, You know, Trump keeps 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.160 talking about talking to people in Iran. He's talking to 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:39.520 supposedly moderates. One question I have though, is if Trump 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.960 is dealing with a moderate wing, the political wing, not 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.320 the revolutionary wing of the government, does that risk that 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.560 he might wind up giving up too many concessions to 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.360 people who might not be actually in a position to 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.320 give them over to him in any sort of ultimate settlement. 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.920 Well, actually, I think we don't have a problem with 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.319 that because look, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament resigned 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.439 from their negotiating team today and the moderates have basically 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.440 been pushed aside. There's no mystery to it. So the 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.040 hardliners don't even want to talk to the United States. 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.240 They want to weigh us out, and their friends in 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.079 Somalia are now claiming that they're going to blockade the 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.960 straits down there. So I have to tell you, I 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.120 think this war is winnable, but it is a long 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:27.880 slog because we frankly did not estimate properly, and I'm 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.920 talking to you Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon did not 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.120 estimate properly the ability of the Iranians to use the 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.080 straits of Hormus and their leverage there over the world 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:38.400 economy well. 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.600 And so the question then becomes, you know, what does 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.640 the administration do next? Because you can keep this sort 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:49.000 of stalemate or semi stalemate running for a while. Everybody 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.520 has to suffer through the oil prices, although I guess 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.719 the US does well out of that as well as 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.320 the other oil producing nations. But at some point does 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.800 Trump say, look, we're going to do something kinetic again 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.720 that whether it's carg Island or another round of targeted 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:07.320 attacks on the leadership, Where is the next kind of 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:08.880 military move do you think. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.400 Well, it's a big step the first one you take, 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.120 because if you go to carg Island, that's putting boots 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.400 on the ground, and from there you may be tempted 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.200 or forced to by events to go further and to 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.679 go on to the mainland to try to establish a 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:30.160 cordon senetaire so that they can't mine the straits of Ramuz. Look, 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:32.440 I'm not a military strategist. I'm glad I'm not a 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.760 military strategist because right now there is no easy solution. 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:40.160 There's just toughing it out, and that requires patients, which 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.959 sometimes democracies or white houses don't have. 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:47.080 Well, that's an interesting thing, you talk about patients and democracies. 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.760 It strikes me that right now it seems like Trump 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.200 has a higher tolerance for patients on this than a 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.720 lot of the media and obviously the Democrats who want 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.120 this whole thing to fail and for it to be 0:11:58.160 --> 0:11:59.719 a weapon that they can use against Trump in the 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.920 middle terms. But earlier today Trump was talking about, Hey, look, 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.800 World War II lasted, however long it lasts before five years. 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:09.559 Vietnam lasted ten. Is it dangerous for Trump to start 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.400 talking after having said this is going to be wrapped 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:13.559 up in six weeks, to say, oh, look, this is 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.960 still short by comparison to these other wars, which lasted, 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.040 you know, five or ten years, and one of which 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:21.600 ended rather ignominiously. 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.320 Look, I'm generally in favor of the goals and the 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:30.640 guidelines for this conflict. But let's be honest. Donald Trump 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.120 has not been a good communicator with the American people. 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:36.559 He has been contradictory. He has said there's good news today, 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.440 then in a few hours later, there's bad news. He 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:42.720 has not given any speech other than one brief one 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.480 which I don't think moved the dial, and Donald Trump 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.280 has not communicated the way that the commander in chief 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.040 would if they wanted to carry a majority of the 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.280 people behind him for an extended period of time. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.800 So, John, if you were in the White House right now, 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:58.679 if you were his chief of staff, if you were 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.600 his chief speech what would you tell him to be 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.559 telling the American people and by extension of the world, 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:09.319 get on TV? Do the big address behind the resolute desk? 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:10.520 Is that what you'd be saying. 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.679 Look, I think that time has passed temporarily, I would 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:19.960 say talk less and let people who have more credibility 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.880 and have not, shall we say, miscommunicated as much to 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.560 take the lead. I'm looking at Marco Rubio, I'm looking 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:28.760 at the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I'm 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:32.800 looking at key senators who have credibility. Obviously, the president 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.640 can step in if there's something important to announce or 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.839 something important to convey, But I would say, right now, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.440 bring your best secondary messengers out and let them at 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.080 least temporarily speak for your administration. 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:45.880 Yeah. 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.040 Finally, John, you know I mentioned how a lot of 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.360 Democrats seem to be almost cheerleading a loss, but we 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.120 had We had a terrible example of this week when 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.520 Democrat Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy, Well, he's come on 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.600 a fire for a social media post which he called 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.000 reports of Iranian ships slipping past the US naval black 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:08.360 blockade quote awesome. Now he was pressed about this by 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:10.760 Fox News and he said he didn't have any regrets. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:11.280 Have a look. 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.840 Twitter has become kind of obsessfool. I probably should give 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:16.720 up on sarcasm on Twitter. 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:17.280 Obviously. 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.280 Anybody that's seen anything that I have said about Trump's 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.880 war knows that I think it's bungled, mismanaged. You should 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.320 end it as quickly as possible. But sarcasm is not 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.640 something I guess that's allowed on Twitter any longer. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:30.640 Do you regret the post? 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:32.040 Are you planning on taking it down? 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:34.200 I mean, I guess I just have to be more 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.480 careful about sarcasmn on Twitter. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:39.800 I don't know, John, I'm not sure it was really sarcasm. 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:41.480 There was your take on that. 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:47.440 My take is that Trump derangement syndrome is understandable for 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:52.200 some people, but what it verges into American derangement syndrome, 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:57.680 which is effectively and indirectly wishing American armed forces and 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:02.600 American military operations ill. Well, that is a peculiar form 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:04.520 of mental illness, which I didn't expect. 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.280 And finally, John, I just want to ask about the 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.520 latest two on the Lebanon Israel cease fire. We see 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.600 that that's been extended three weeks here that part of 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.480 this whole operation does look fairly promising, or that there 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:19.560 could be some good results out of this. Finally, what's 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:20.120 your take on that. 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:25.160 Well, it's good news, but that's primarily affecting Israel, and 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:28.320 it's not affecting twenty percent of the world's oil supply, 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.000 which goes through this strait of our moves. So yes, 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.200 Libranon is good news, but it's a sideshow. It's not 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:35.000 the main event. 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:41.160 John, fun thanks so much, Thank you. Okay, let's move 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.000 on to Virginia. Now, this is a wild story where 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.800 Democrat governor, the new Democrat governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.960 has already gone back on her earlier promise not to 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.840 redraw the congressional districts in that state to the Democrats' 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:58.440 advantage here she. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:15:59.120 Was last year. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.920 Certainly, Virginia, by constitutional amendment, has a new redistricting effort 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.600 that was put in place and first utilized after the 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.200 in the twenty twenty one redistricting. Certainly, I've been watching 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:16.480 with interest what other states are doing, but I have 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.040 no plans to redistrict Virginia. 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.560 Well, as Maury Povich once said, that was a lie, 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.920 And they held a referendum this week instead in Virginia 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.560 to give the state a new map, a new congressional 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:34.760 map that would wildly disadvantage Republicans, possibly shifting the balance 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.040 of their eleven congressional seats from six to five in 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.160 favor of the Democrats to ten to one. This all 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.960 has a huge implication for the midterm elections. In House 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:51.320 Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries was gloating about the result last night. 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:55.960 Was a big victory for the people of Virginia, a 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:01.760 big victory for America, and a big victory democracy. Donald 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:07.880 Trump and Republicans launched this gerrymandering war, and we've made 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.240 claire as Democrats that we're going to finish it. 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:12.760 Well. 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.520 Ask for Donald Trump, he's called it rigged, and not 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:17.840 for the first time he's used that word. Let's bring 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:19.520 in to talk about this and a lot more. The 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.320 New York Post Editor at Large Kelly, Jane Towards Kelly, 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.920 thanks so much for coming on. What is your reaction 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.879 to this incredible story out of Virginia. I couldn't believe 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:31.879 it that they were going to try this, and I 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.119 can't believe that they managed to get away with it. 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:36.120 Tell us about it, well. 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.080 I always great to be here, James, thanks for having 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.639 me on. Uh, they barely did it. You know, this 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:46.359 referendum wand fifty one point five percent. It was extremely close, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.040 and not nearly as close as that twenty twenty when 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.560 they put it to the people in a Virginia in 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.960 twenty twenty asking them what a constitutional amendment to get 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:01.720 partisanship out of redistrict thing that passed with two thirds 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.720 of Virginians voting in favor. So clearly, you know, when 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.119 Hakeem Jeffrey says this is victory for America, for Virginians, 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.359 for democracy, it was not a victory for any of 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.440 those things. And in fact, it was horrible for all 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.239 of those things. And it's just incredible that you know, 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.720 you had it on tape. You know the governor now 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:23.560 governor said I have no plans to well, I guess 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:25.119 you have to worry when a politics because they have 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.159 no plan, because they're not actually saying I'm definitely not 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.840 going to it's like I'm thinking about it. Maybe I will. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.360 But now this is just outrageous, James. And it's amazing 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.119 because right now, you know, Virginia is actually a purple state. 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.159 It's not you know, blue or red anymore, and it's 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.520 it's you know, make up reflects that it's got eleven seats, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.080 you know, five for one party, six for the other. Well, 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:50.200 this redistricting would give them ten give Democrats, of course, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:55.640 ten out of eleven, so clearly not at all democracy. 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.960 It has nothing to do with restoring fairness to Virginia, 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.760 which was some of the language used in the amendment 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.160 that they just voted on. They actually had the words 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.479 restore fairness, which obviously it wasn't. But you know, you 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.320 can fool you know, a voter anytime, I guess, and 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:13.919 it's certainly when Donald Trump's in the White House it 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.240 becomes much important to try to fool the voters. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:16.640 Yeah. 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:18.439 Well, I mean, I think you know, we all know 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.000 that Trump can speak in hyperboles sometimes. I think he 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.920 is right when he called this read because it really 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:25.480 does stink to high heaven. Hey, let's go to the 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.120 other side of the country, to California, where the race 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.880 for governor is really heating up. Now, it'd be hard 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.520 for whoever takes a job to do worse than Gavin Newsom, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.679 but some people think it could be done. 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:36.040 Now. 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.280 I did notice one interesting endorsement though, for the current 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.800 front runner, and by the way, billionaire Tom Steyer from 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:49.640 the anti billionaire progressive group Our Revolution. This is well, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.840 I mean, who says already is dead? But this really 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.359 sums up California. The billionaire being endorsed by the anti 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:57.159 billionaire politicians group. 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.600 Talk about a revolution. James, Yeah, and it's it's funny 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.240 because you know, actually, at one point Bernie Sanders was 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:08.040 railing against both millionaires and billionaires. But then Bernie Sanders 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.320 became a millionaire thanks in part to a best selling book, 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.800 and now you only hear complain about billionaires. But yes, 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.600 there the irony is just you know, it's all over 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.879 the place. And of course, this guy Tom Sperry uses 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.840 his billions to try to influence politics here in America's 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.000 been doing it for years, funding a lot of outside groups, 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:32.120 funding outside protesters at a lot of events. So it's 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.040 quite amazing for you know, the Bernie Sanders progressive movement 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:39.320 to be putting their arms around this fellow who is 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.440 you know, represents everything they hate normally. 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.320 Well yeah, I mean, you know, billionaires. I thought they 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:47.040 were the enemy, but apparently not. But I'm glad you 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.560 mentioned fundraising because there's another story this week that really 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:53.320 shocked me. There's a group called Act Blue and for 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.560 probably about twenty years now, they have been raising what 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:58.399 would amount to billions of dollars. 0:20:58.480 --> 0:20:59.560 Since two thousand and four. 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.680 They are now under investigation for alleged donor fraud, and 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:07.720 it's been revealed that in depositions with congressional committees investigating this, 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:12.960 every hect Blue employee who they questioned invoked their Fifth 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.720 Amendment right a total of one hundred and forty six times, 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:22.159 protecting themselves from self incrimination. Kelly, we've spoken about this 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.320 group before. I think on this program, it really does 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:28.600 stink to high heaven, this, doesn't it. 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:31.840 It's amazing, James, that they've gotten away from away with this, 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:35.520 and you know, their own lawyers told them, you know, 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:39.040 it appears that you have been violating the law. Now 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.840 the big thing, of course, is that you cannot accept 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:45.760 foreim donations in elections in the United States. But hey, 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:49.560 you know, for the Democrats, it's I mean remember Bill Clinton, 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.000 you know, selling access to the Lincoln Bedroom, you know, 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.800 which some cases taking Chinese money. It was alleged and 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:00.679 pretty strong evidence for it. So it's just incredible, like 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:06.000 they actually made you know, their their standards lower because 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:10.080 they wanted this money and you know, didn't investigate. People 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:13.439 have investigations using fake identities, as I think the New 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.520 York Times did, and we're able to donate without problems. 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:20.000 They don't check their actual donors' identities, and of course 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.760 this is a big no no under federal law. So 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.600 I'm anxious to see if they'll actually get punished for it, 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:28.760 because you know, as we know, a lot of this 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:32.080 stuff happens and it ends up going unpunished. So but 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:34.119 you know, when you when you evoke the Fifth Amendment 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.920 one hundred and forty six times, which is of course 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:40.320 you know right not to self incriminate, there's something going 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:40.760 on there. 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:43.520 Yeah, I mean, there is a bit of a perception 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:46.280 that there might be something untoward happening there in act 0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:48.040 Blue because as we're talking about we're talking billions of 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:50.960 times being funnled to Democrats from god knows where into 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:53.720