Speaker 1: This is the US Report with James Moroar.
Speaker 2: Good evening and welcome to the program. Here's what's coming
Speaker 2: up tonight. Donald Trump says his blockheade against Iran is working,
Speaker 2: but how long can that regime hold out? Plus Democrats
Speaker 2: in the Senate, Well, they're trying to hinder the war.
Speaker 2: But in the process are they taking the side of
Speaker 2: the Mullahs? Would it be the first time? And Michelle
Speaker 2: Obama says America is janky?
Speaker 3: What does that even mean?
Speaker 2: But first, you know, they say you should never discuss
Speaker 2: religion or politics for well, pretty obvious reasons. But tonight
Speaker 2: I think we need to talk about both again for
Speaker 2: pretty obvious reasons. Now, as you know, this week, the
Speaker 2: headlines have been dominated not just by the war in Iran,
Speaker 2: but the at times bizarre media grudge match between US
Speaker 2: President Donald Trump and his Holiness Pope Leo the fourteenth
Speaker 2: aka Robert Francis Prevost. Now, the whole thing has at
Speaker 2: times seemed almost comically bizarre, with Trump posting and then
Speaker 2: deleting memes of himself done up to look his critics said,
Speaker 2: like Jesus healing the sick. But I wanted to highlight
Speaker 2: the key counterpoint in this argument between Donald Trump and
Speaker 2: Pope Leo, and suggest that this might be more than
Speaker 2: just two powerful figures.
Speaker 3: Poking each other.
Speaker 2: Now, of course, the fight kicked off at the start
Speaker 2: of the week when Leo tweeted quote, God does not
Speaker 2: bless any conflict anyone who is a disciple of Christ.
Speaker 2: He said, the Prince of Peace is never on the
Speaker 2: side of those who once wielded the sword and today
Speaker 2: drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom
Speaker 2: or times of peace, which comes only from the patient
Speaker 2: promotion of coexistence and dialogue amongst peoples. The Pope tweeted, well, really,
Speaker 2: your Holiness, with respect, God is never on the side
Speaker 2: of those who wield the sword. I'm sorry, but perhaps
Speaker 2: His Holiness ought to go tour his own Vatican museums
Speaker 2: and see such works as this magnificent painting commemorating the
Speaker 2: sixteen eighty three victory over the Turks at Vienna, who
Speaker 2: had laid siege to the city and indeed all Christendom.
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty three, Pope now Saint John Paul the
Speaker 2: Second marked the three hundredth anniversary of the battle, and
Speaker 2: he paid tribute to quote the admirable courage and even
Speaker 2: heroism of the defenders of that city, and those who
Speaker 2: took strength from their faith, from prayer and the conviction
Speaker 2: that they fought not only for their country, but for
Speaker 2: Europe and for Christendom. I don't know what Leah would
Speaker 2: say about that. He would probably just call it islamophobic. Anyway,
Speaker 2: Trump responded, and by the way, I think he was
Speaker 2: unwisely to Leo's provocation with a long truth social post that,
Speaker 2: among other things, called Leo weak on crime and terrible
Speaker 2: for foreign policy. Well yes, but then, of course there
Speaker 2: was all the controversy over Trump's Jesus postings, but that's
Speaker 2: sort of a shide show to a bigger controversy. But
Speaker 2: I must say here Trump's critics do have a point
Speaker 2: on this one. I mean, there's a war on Iran.
Speaker 2: In Iran that people are pretty freaked out about, prices
Speaker 2: are going up, and the President is range tweeting the Pope.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, mister President, it's time to focus. But I
Speaker 2: also think we need to be alive to a very
Speaker 2: real possibility that there is another angle to this, namely
Speaker 2: that Pope Leo has jumped along with his faithful into
Speaker 2: a political campaign. He should have nothing to do with
Speaker 2: Here's why I say this will The Catholic Church is
Speaker 2: or should be deeply hostile to the Democrats social liberalism.
Speaker 2: In recent years they have found common cause together on
Speaker 2: certain issues like immigration. Indeed, has turned into the business model.
Speaker 2: Catholic charity has reaped tens of millions of dollars, perhaps
Speaker 2: more from the Biden administration to help quote unquote resettle
Speaker 2: the millions of migrants and Democrats moved into the country
Speaker 2: when they were in power, giving the Church a financial
Speaker 2: stake in open borders beyond whatever they are saying scripture
Speaker 2: says on the subject. And Pope Leo himself has a
Speaker 2: long history of tweeting Democrat talking points from before he
Speaker 2: became the Pope. He retweeted attacks on Donald Trump's so
Speaker 2: called anti immigrant rhetoric, and he also attacked JD.
Speaker 3: Vance.
Speaker 2: Oh, and then there was this last week, Pope Leo
Speaker 2: met with David Axelrod, a key player in the Barack
Speaker 2: Obama administration, which of course orchestrated the Iran deal that
Speaker 2: brought the world to its presidence crisis. Now Axro denies it,
Speaker 2: but there is plenty of speculation that he put Leo
Speaker 2: up to coming out against Trump. Now we'll never know.
Speaker 2: That's between David Leo and the Swiss Guards. But ultimately,
Speaker 2: I think this effort by Democrats to lock in the
Speaker 2: Catholic and more broadly, the religious Christian vote by capitalizing
Speaker 2: on this controversy is doomed to fail for one simple reason.
Speaker 2: While the social justice wing of Christianity may have a
Speaker 2: similar agenda as the left when it comes to things
Speaker 2: like welfare and borders on the big questions, the philosophical,
Speaker 2: the metaphysical questions, they remain light years apart, not just
Speaker 2: on the biggie of abortion, but when it comes to family, sex,
Speaker 2: the meaning of life. Are we all just living in
Speaker 2: a material world or is there something more there?
Speaker 3: Pulls apart and remember.
Speaker 2: Has throughout the modern era been at odds with the
Speaker 2: left because the Church presents a moral framework whose authority
Speaker 2: is alternately alternate to and infinitely superior to, the state,
Speaker 2: which the left has always seen as a stand in
Speaker 2: for both family and God. This is why, from the
Speaker 2: horrors of the French Revolution to the Russian Revolution, to
Speaker 2: the Spanish Civil War, and through countless other tragedies, churches, clerics,
Speaker 2: and the religious have always been the target of the
Speaker 2: worst abuses by the Left, allegedly in the name of liberation,
Speaker 2: but really because they didn't want the competition. Today's Democrats,
Speaker 2: who are trying to open the door are the heirs
Speaker 2: to this tradition, even if they are less violent. Brack
Speaker 2: Obama's Justice Department, remember, dragged the Little Sisters of the Poor,
Speaker 2: a Catholic order of nuns who take care of the
Speaker 2: elderly and the poor before they die, tried to force
Speaker 2: them to buy an Obama care package that covered contraception,
Speaker 2: a big no no for countless reasons. Joe Biden, who
Speaker 2: when he was president talked himself up as this big
Speaker 2: time Irish Catholic, was so selective on this that he
Speaker 2: sicked his FBI on traditional Catholic groups, including weaponizing worshippers
Speaker 2: who attended Latin services, saying that they were extremists. And
Speaker 2: of course, the cultural left is deeply suspicious of the Church,
Speaker 2: regarding his teaching on sexuality as bizarre, slandering its priests' pedophiles,
Speaker 2: and mocking them at every turn. It is in a
Speaker 2: perfect world, of course, politicians would stick to politics and
Speaker 2: the Church would stick to saving souls. I mean, remember
Speaker 2: America was founded on separation of church and state, and
Speaker 2: two thousand years ago Jesus Christ said to render unto
Speaker 2: Caesar what is Caesar said? Unto God what is God's
Speaker 2: In other words, the founders of both institutions were pretty
Speaker 2: clear about everyone staying in their lane. Perhaps both the
Speaker 2: Pope and the President should go back and heed that advice.
Speaker 2: Here endeth the lesson. Well to talk more about this
Speaker 2: whole teta tete between the Pope and the President and
Speaker 2: how it's being received across the US and the wider world,
Speaker 2: and please be joined by Ashley Maguire from the Catholic
Speaker 2: Association in the US. Ashley, thank you so much for
Speaker 2: joining us here on the US report. How is this
Speaker 2: spat between the president and the Pope being received politically
Speaker 2: in America? And there's been a lot of talk about
Speaker 2: this splitting Catholics away who might have been Republicans and
Speaker 2: magusupport and Trump supports away from the president.
Speaker 3: Is that happening?
Speaker 4: Well, I would say first of all that I think
Speaker 4: Catholics are pretty unanimously disappointed and hurt by the President's
Speaker 4: comments towards the Pope. About the Pope, there's not really
Speaker 4: any precedent for this in American history as far as
Speaker 4: I'm aware. It's also confusing politically. You know, President Trump
Speaker 4: has made great overtures to Catholics. He boasts strong support
Speaker 4: from Catholics. Catholics were the deciding difference between the twenty
Speaker 4: twenty and the twenty twenty four election. So why he's
Speaker 4: suddenly gratuitously attacking the Pope is not just hurtful but
Speaker 4: confusing to Catholics.
Speaker 2: Well, actually, I suspect what the President would say to
Speaker 2: that is that he's feeling like Pope Leo attacked him first.
Speaker 2: Now it sounds a bit schoolyard, but he's also said
Speaker 2: that the Pope has been a lot harsher on the
Speaker 2: US than he has on Iran, which, of course, let's
Speaker 2: not forget, kills its own people by the score. And
Speaker 2: Trump highlighted this a little while ago at a press conference.
Speaker 3: Have a look, I want to ask you for more protectors.
Speaker 1: What are we pulling the first woman protector?
Speaker 5: What do you tell you what?
Speaker 3: I'll tell that to development?
Speaker 6: Been talking?
Speaker 3: What are you saying how that to the develop?
Speaker 2: Is there a legitimate case to be made that the
Speaker 2: Pope has been a little too silent on the question
Speaker 2: of Iran versus the United States.
Speaker 4: All I've ever heard the Pope do is speak out
Speaker 4: about how heinous war is and the cost of vulnerable,
Speaker 4: innocent lives. And so I think, look, the Pope, he's
Speaker 4: the ficker of Christ. He's a spiritual leader. He's not
Speaker 4: a politician. Trump is treating him like a political enemy.
Speaker 4: The Pope's job is to preach the Gospel, and the
Speaker 4: gospel is one of peace. I mean, Jesus Christ himself said,
Speaker 4: blessed are the peacemakers. That's the message that the Pope said.
Speaker 4: He's not trying to micromanage US geopolitical relations. That's not
Speaker 4: his job. And he's well with the his authority and
Speaker 4: well within precedent to be speaking out about the horrors
Speaker 4: of war and the loss of innocent life. This is
Speaker 4: this is somebody who's who's given his life to promote
Speaker 4: the cause of the Gospel, but also to defend the
Speaker 4: dignity of all people, especially innocent human life.
Speaker 2: So what do you make then, of the connections between
Speaker 2: Barack Obama's UH chief former chief of staff David Axelrod
Speaker 2: going over to the Vatican meeting with the Pope. So
Speaker 2: close to all of this, you know, blowing up. People
Speaker 2: are saying that there may be a connection here, that
Speaker 2: there may be, you know, some Democrat politics at play
Speaker 2: here between the Democrat Party in Chicago, and of course
Speaker 2: Pope Leo himself is from Chicago and he has in
Speaker 2: his previous life before becoming elevated to Pontiff said some
Speaker 2: fairly you know, Democrat friendly things. Is there a political
Speaker 2: connection here though.
Speaker 4: I don't think so. It's hard to say, but these
Speaker 4: meetings are they're put on schedule long before they happen.
Speaker 4: And David Axelrod, I know, has a severely disabled daughter
Speaker 4: who's in the care of a Catholic home. And I
Speaker 4: also know that the Pope seems to have a policy
Speaker 4: of meeting with everyone, and so I think it's getting
Speaker 4: a bit conspiratorial to suggest that this is some sort
Speaker 4: of political operation that's happening. But I can't say for sure.
Speaker 4: I'm not in charge of a schedule.
Speaker 3: Sure, sure, sure, of course, of course.
Speaker 2: Hey, I wanted to also just get your thoughts because
Speaker 2: this was a sort of a weird week when religion
Speaker 2: and politics kind of mixed a fair bit in America.
Speaker 2: On the now deleted picture of Donald Trump depicting himself
Speaker 2: as a sort of a Jesus or Jesus like healing figure,
Speaker 2: and when he was asked about it, he said that
Speaker 2: it was a mistake. Have a look at that.
Speaker 6: I did post it, and I thought it was me
Speaker 6: as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross.
Speaker 6: It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.
Speaker 1: And I do make people better. I make people a
Speaker 1: lot better.
Speaker 2: What were your thoughts on that and some of the other,
Speaker 2: shall we say, sacramental memes that the President posted this week.
Speaker 4: Look, when I first thought that he was actually posting
Speaker 4: it as himself as Jesus, I shared in all Christians
Speaker 4: dismay at the mockery of Christ. Beyond that, I have
Speaker 4: to say that it's part and parcel with a long standing,
Speaker 4: unfortunate issue we have in America where religion is mocked.
Speaker 4: So I sincerely hope that Trump is telling us the
Speaker 4: truth when he said that he did not know that
Speaker 4: he was mocking Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Ashley, We're going to have to leave it there. Thank
Speaker 2: you so much for your time, really appreciate it. Well,
Speaker 2: let's move over to the war in Iran and bring
Speaker 2: in our next guest. Senior advisor at the Foundation for
Speaker 2: Defensive Democracies, Miad Malechid. Thank you so much for joining
Speaker 2: me on the show here, and I wanted to ask
Speaker 2: you first of all about the latest news about this
Speaker 2: potential cease fire with Iran that we've heard about with
Speaker 2: between sorry Israel Lebanon, that we've heard about in the
Speaker 2: last few hours. Tell us about the implications of that
Speaker 2: and does this suggest that Iran is losing its control
Speaker 2: over its Hesbola proxies.
Speaker 7: Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's that's a really complicated issue and and
Speaker 5: you know, you can make the argument that the Iranian
Speaker 5: regime can argue all day long that they have there's
Speaker 5: to continue to play a herole in the politics in
Speaker 5: Lebanon through their proxy group has Bowlah.
Speaker 7: But but but I think it's.
Speaker 5: I think the Islonomic Republic has really lost, you know,
Speaker 5: following the twelve year war, and also that the current
Speaker 5: economic situation in Iran and the conflict that they've been
Speaker 5: managing with the US and Israel.
Speaker 7: It's you know, it's.
Speaker 5: Debatable if Iran continues to really maintain that level of
Speaker 5: influence through has Bulah in the politics of Lebanon. However,
Speaker 5: it can continue to cause instability and destabilized Lebanon and
Speaker 5: the neighboring country through has Bulah. Now, I understand that
Speaker 5: one of the one of the points that was discussed
Speaker 5: during Islamabat talks were the conflict in Lebanon and Iran
Speaker 5: support to proxies and surrogates. You know, the isigner to
Speaker 5: public they've never come out UH during the negotiations admitting
Speaker 5: to this support UH. They always said that their support
Speaker 5: is UH spiritual, is not financial. But but in reality
Speaker 5: we know the support is financial and it's it's through
Speaker 5: weapons and arms and fonts at the same time. So
Speaker 5: I don't think it's it's a really sticky point. I
Speaker 5: don't think it's a major issue that the Iranian is
Speaker 5: going to have to deal with during the next round
Speaker 5: of negotiations. If there is one, they can easily just
Speaker 5: do what they've done with Saudi Arabia in recent talks.
Speaker 5: Just we're not supporting these groups even in sign a
Speaker 5: piece of paper or agree to something, and then can
Speaker 5: it still continue to.
Speaker 7: Provide that store covertly.
Speaker 5: But again, I think some of that influence that we're
Speaker 5: hearing about Irani Lebanon could be exaggerated these days. Now
Speaker 5: it used to be real and they dangerous, but I
Speaker 5: don't think that's still the case.
Speaker 2: Andriand you mentioned a moment ago the economic situation in Iran.
Speaker 2: I understand the currency is in free fold collapse. I
Speaker 2: think it's approaching two million real to the US dollar.
Speaker 2: The blockade is starting to bite that Donald Trump has
Speaker 2: threatened to impose. Tell us about where that blockade. You've
Speaker 2: done some very interesting analysis on this. Where this blockade
Speaker 2: leaves Iran and its inability to a raise foreign currency,
Speaker 2: but b what happens when they don't have any way
Speaker 2: to get rid of all the oil that's coming out
Speaker 2: of the ground. What happens to them and they're oil infrastructure.
Speaker 5: Those are all great points. So let's look at the
Speaker 5: pre war state of economy. Iran's had an inflation rate
Speaker 5: somewhere between forty percent, you know, thirty percent, fifty percent.
Speaker 5: You know, the numbers come out of Iran from the regime,
Speaker 5: so they're not always that edible. But if you kind
Speaker 5: of bring all these numbers together, you get to somewhere
Speaker 5: between forty fifty percent. Iranians have lost their purchasing power
Speaker 5: by ninety percent in the course of one year, and
Speaker 5: the food inflation year.
Speaker 7: On year is about one hundred and four percent.
Speaker 5: It's unemployment rate pre war was somewhere between twenty to
Speaker 5: thirty percent, but I think it's way more than that,
Speaker 5: and the war situation with the closure of the economy,
Speaker 5: has for sure increased that number, probably somewhere above fifty
Speaker 5: percent within the younger population in Iran. So now we're
Speaker 5: coming out of this war, the metal production petrochemical reductions
Speaker 5: have significantly declined, and those are the type of commodities
Speaker 5: that Iran would export through land to Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey.
Speaker 5: And with the decline in the production of metals and petrochemicals,
Speaker 5: Iran is not.
Speaker 7: Going to be able to export.
Speaker 5: It's going to have to only meet the demand domestically.
Speaker 5: And now it relies more and more on the trade
Speaker 5: that goes through the Persian Gulf and straight off Foremost,
Speaker 5: And now we have the blockade coming through and if
Speaker 5: implemented effectively, it can cut off Iran's export and import
Speaker 5: and an economy that relies ninety percent or more on
Speaker 5: the trade that goes through the straight of Foremost, that's
Speaker 5: about two hundred and sixty seven million dollars a day
Speaker 5: in exports and about one hundred and I believe fifty
Speaker 5: six million dollars a day in import. Blockade is going
Speaker 5: to cut that completely. Now to a second point, you know,
Speaker 5: the export exportation of oil really is done in a
Speaker 5: way that oil needs to be extracted, it goes to
Speaker 5: the storage facility and or get put some tankers and
Speaker 5: out to to to the receiving side. If they can't
Speaker 5: get this oil out and if they run out of
Speaker 5: the storage, which my assessment is somewhere between.
Speaker 7: Two weeks to three to four weeks.
Speaker 5: Depending on how much they refine how much their output
Speaker 5: extraction has declined because of the strikes, that storage capacity
Speaker 5: is going to go away in a matter of two
Speaker 5: to four weeks, and.
Speaker 7: Then they can't take the oil out.
Speaker 5: They're going to have to drop extraction and that means
Speaker 5: damage to their ability to extraction.
Speaker 2: So with all with all of this, then Miad, how
Speaker 2: does the IRGC regime manage to survive? They'll have no
Speaker 2: currency nowhere to put their oil now damaging their infrastructure.
Speaker 2: Are they going to have to make some sort of
Speaker 2: deal in Pakistan to make some sort of survival or
Speaker 2: do they collapse entirely. I mean, we've already heard talk
Speaker 2: about potentially them giving up their uranium. I think Trump
Speaker 2: has made this claim. Does this mean that the war
Speaker 2: is effectively almost over?
Speaker 7: It all depends. We've heard that a lot in the past.
Speaker 5: You know, Iranian say something, you don't know who is
Speaker 5: saying it from Iran. You don't know if US is
Speaker 5: getting in from the right person in the country.
Speaker 7: Let's not really count on that.
Speaker 5: Let's see, let's see what actually happens if there's another
Speaker 5: round of talks in Islamabad.
Speaker 7: But just very quickly on.
Speaker 5: An RGC point, so, one third of Iran's oil export
Speaker 5: bunds the RGC directly, so in addition to the budget
Speaker 5: that they get from Iranian regime every year for their
Speaker 5: operations for armed forces, including the RGC, Islimic Republic gives
Speaker 5: the RGC one third of its oil to go sell
Speaker 5: in the market and pay for its operations. If that
Speaker 5: oil is not leaving the Persian Gulf, the RGC runs
Speaker 5: armed forces is not going to be able to generate
Speaker 5: revenue to pay for its operations.
Speaker 7: It might run into problems with paying salaries.
Speaker 5: These are all at pressure on the government and one
Speaker 5: quick point Internet has been cut off for forty seven years.
Speaker 7: It runs.
Speaker 5: E commerce is extremely large, and taxation is about forty
Speaker 5: percent of government revenue. If they're not cutting if they're
Speaker 5: not collecting taxes on internet businesses, on metal spectrol chemical production,
Speaker 5: government is not going to be able to have funds
Speaker 5: to pay salaries either. You put all these pressure together,
Speaker 5: you would think they're going to come cut a deal.
Speaker 5: But Islamic Republic has been its own worst enemy. They've
Speaker 5: been put the best options in front of them, and
Speaker 5: they have rejected them over and over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and me had finally, you know, given that there
Speaker 2: is the need to keep that pressure up, what do
Speaker 2: you make of these pushes in the United States Senate
Speaker 2: by the Democrats to shut down the war have votes
Speaker 2: on holding military action. This would seem counterproductive. Now that
Speaker 2: you're this far down the road, What are your thoughts
Speaker 2: very quickly on that.
Speaker 5: Well, you know, my quick reaction to that is, you know,
Speaker 5: we have a historical achievement against is Islamic Republic.
Speaker 7: Iranians are watching.
Speaker 5: The Iranian regime is closely monitoring the domestic.
Speaker 7: Pressure here against this war.
Speaker 5: You know, look at Golibov that the chief negotiated the
Speaker 5: spokesperson of Iran's parliament tweets the other day and right
Speaker 5: after the failure of Islamic Islama boat talks, he tweeted
Speaker 5: a screenshot of the gas prices gas stations across the
Speaker 5: White House. So they're really counting of domestic pressure here
Speaker 5: in the US for an end to the blockade, and
Speaker 5: that gives them encouragement to continue to wagh up the
Speaker 5: pressure here domestically and hoping that the US government is
Speaker 5: going to pull back out of the domestic pressure and
Speaker 5: economic pressure global gas prices, and that will give them
Speaker 5: a relief that they're desperately need.
Speaker 2: M Well, all right, that's been disturbing to hear me on.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me, Miad Malucky from
Speaker 2: the Foundation for Defensive Democracies. Now stick around because after
Speaker 2: the break we're going to be getting deep into the
Speaker 2: Eric Swolwell scandal and who in the Democrats had it
Speaker 2: out for him. But first, continuing the religious theme of
Speaker 2: this segment, let's not allow Trump's papal beef to overshadow
Speaker 2: this incredible moment on the view. Yes, listen to the
Speaker 2: ladies on this program. Great theological scholars one and all
Speaker 2: discuss not whether Jesus was the Messiah, but whether he
Speaker 2: called himself the Messiah. I mean, surely even joy Behar
Speaker 2: would know the answer to this question.
Speaker 8: Right, Jesus himself did not run around saying I'm the Messiah,
Speaker 8: I'm the Messiah.
Speaker 7: A little bit. She just said I knew Jesus.
Speaker 9: Jesus was not narcissistic like this guy.
Speaker 7: To say it, yes it is.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think joy Behar may have watched a little too
Speaker 2: much Life of Brian.
Speaker 3: Now you listen here, it's not the sast. He's a
Speaker 3: bay by.
Speaker 2: Now go away, all right, stick around because after the
Speaker 2: break we've got Gregg Swinson to talk about Eric Swalwell
Speaker 2: in a tick. Welcome back to the program. Well, Eric Swalwell,
Speaker 2: who was a Democrat representative but has now resigned over
Speaker 2: sexual assault allegations, allegations which, by the way, he denies,
Speaker 2: has now faced some fresh accusations this week.
Speaker 9: He raped me and he choked me, and while he
Speaker 9: was choking me, I lost consciousness and I thought I died.
Speaker 9: I did not consent to any sexual activity. My delay
Speaker 9: in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt,
Speaker 9: fear of his political power, now.
Speaker 2: Of course, again, Eric Swawell denies each and every sexual
Speaker 2: misconduct allegation that's been made against him, but it's not
Speaker 2: a good look given that just weeks ago he accused
Speaker 2: Republicans of not being on the side of women.
Speaker 1: My Republican colleagues do not trust women. You don't trust women?
Speaker 7: Do you all ever talk to women?
Speaker 4: They deserve better?
Speaker 2: And all of this comes just weeks after he posted
Speaker 2: this California campaign video with his wife where he's looking
Speaker 2: to be governor of the state.
Speaker 5: What I see pross state is people are optimistic and
Speaker 5: there's a way for us to get through it.
Speaker 10: Think you just got my endorsement.
Speaker 7: You ready to do like Apublican Converssi vida help me
Speaker 7: eating mine?
Speaker 2: Well, that aged like fine milk. Hey, let's bring in
Speaker 2: to discuss this and more Republicans overseas UK Chairman Greg Swinson.
Speaker 2: There have been stories about Eric Swalwell's behavior with women, infidelity, rumors,
Speaker 2: all sorts of things for an awful long time. Journalists
Speaker 2: are now saying, yeah, we've heard this stuff for ages.
Speaker 2: But the big question is A why didn't they have
Speaker 2: a report on them? And B why does it seem
Speaker 2: like the knives suddenly came out on this with this
Speaker 2: big series of really serious, heavy duty accusations now which
Speaker 2: seemed designed to completely torpedo has been for California governor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so two part answer.
Speaker 6: I mean, the reason that they didn't ever investigate or
Speaker 6: publish anything about him even though everyone knew it is,
Speaker 6: you know.
Speaker 1: He's a complete creep. But he was very good for
Speaker 1: the Democrats. He was like their bulldog.
Speaker 6: He would you know, he went after Brett Kavanaugh, he
Speaker 6: went after President trumpet on as many occasions as he could,
Speaker 6: and so you know.
Speaker 1: He was their useful idiot.
Speaker 6: But the second part of the answer is that he
Speaker 6: was running for governor in California. The Republican Steve Hilton
Speaker 6: is doing very well there in the polls, and I
Speaker 6: think that you know that they were afraid the Democrats
Speaker 6: would split the vote, even though he was the leading Democrat,
Speaker 6: but he had so much baggage. So better to torpedo
Speaker 6: him now. Better to shoot him in the back of
Speaker 6: the head now than wait till the general election where
Speaker 6: it would be really damaging to the Democrats. So look,
Speaker 6: this is power politics. The Democrats are horrible in this way.
Speaker 2: I mean, it just sort of does bring to mind
Speaker 2: my old saying that anybody who calls himself a male
Speaker 2: feminist ought to be on a watch list.
Speaker 3: But I mean this really does? This? Really? Does?
Speaker 2: Those show the nature of Democrat politics that as soon
Speaker 2: as you were not useful to them anymore, as you say,
Speaker 2: they shoot you in the back of the head. But
Speaker 2: will American voters, will California voters note this behavior of
Speaker 2: the Democrats and say, hang on, I'm not sure this
Speaker 2: is the right place I'd want to park my vote.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think the independence will the people in the middle.
Speaker 6: You know, the Republicans always we've always known that Eric
Speaker 6: Swalwell is a creep. You know, he was shacking up
Speaker 6: with a staffer who happened to be a Chinese spy.
Speaker 6: You know, that should have been the end of his career.
Speaker 6: But again, the Democrats don't mind that because most of
Speaker 6: them like the Chinese Communist Party. They actually like the
Speaker 6: fact that you know that they don't or I should say,
Speaker 6: they don't mind the fact that he was having an
Speaker 6: affair with a staffer. So you know that in many ways,
Speaker 6: you know this, they tolerated Eric swall Well because he
Speaker 6: was their bulldog. Again, he was a useful to criticize
Speaker 6: anything the Republicans did. Now, the campaign in California could
Speaker 6: be interesting because Steve Hilton is actually getting a lot
Speaker 6: of support that it would be a miracle, I admit,
Speaker 6: But this is the state of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 6: It was a red state for a long time. There's
Speaker 6: hope for California. I'm not sure that it's completely over.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a really interesting question, though you bring up
Speaker 2: that history. I mean, it was such a Republican state
Speaker 2: for so long. What has happened to California that the
Speaker 2: Democrats have locked in such a hardcore vote that everybody
Speaker 2: looks at California and sees where it's gone and sees
Speaker 2: all the toros of San Francisco and La and everything
Speaker 2: else in the state of the economy.
Speaker 3: How is it that they're still able to win.
Speaker 6: We could do it a thirty minute show just on
Speaker 6: this question. It's really incredible. What's happened and a few things.
Speaker 6: There's a few moving parts which has been kind of
Speaker 6: the perfect storm for Democrats in the state. One is
Speaker 6: it is a very large state. It would be the
Speaker 6: seventh biggest economy in the world. If a country and
Speaker 6: the teachers unions, the public employee unions have massive control
Speaker 6: and they've they've grown so much in the last twenty
Speaker 6: thirty years. So it's sort of displaced the private sector
Speaker 6: from having any any control, any any input into the government.
Speaker 6: And so, you know, that's that just and that's really
Speaker 6: hard to defeat because once the unions elect Democrats and
Speaker 6: then the Democrats pay them back with you know, with
Speaker 6: better union contracts and better pensions.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of this slippery slope.
Speaker 6: The second thing is, you know, you think about what's
Speaker 6: changed since the end of the Soviet Union, and you know,
Speaker 6: when the when the Berlin Wall fell in eighty nine
Speaker 6: and the Soviet Union evaporated in ninety one, you know,
Speaker 6: the defense industry in California was a major part of
Speaker 6: the economy, mostly Republican, most you know, red state working
Speaker 6: class engineers. They all left, and then of course, once
Speaker 6: the taxes started to rise, you know, then more people left.
Speaker 6: So there's been this mass exodus out of California of
Speaker 6: you know, Republican voting people. Again, I'm not saying all
Speaker 6: of them. I mean, it's still a sixty forty state
Speaker 6: or of you know, sixty five thirty five. But you know,
Speaker 6: there's been these these demographic changes, and then of course
Speaker 6: you had the illegal migrants coming in consistently, and they
Speaker 6: tend to vote Democrat because they're on benefits, and so
Speaker 6: you have an open border state that's also a massive
Speaker 6: welfare state, so you have a natural constituency to support Democrats.
Speaker 2: I tell you what, Greg, You know, I know you're
Speaker 2: talking about California, but it sounds like you're talking about
Speaker 2: the Australian state of Victoria when you're talking about this,
Speaker 2: because the patis actly the same. I want to move
Speaker 2: out to the East coast though, too, because it's a
Speaker 2: story here that really fascinated me out of Virginia, where
Speaker 2: Abigail Spanberger, who ran as a real moderate but is
Speaker 2: not anything, but she's being slammed for signing a bill
Speaker 2: to award the state's presidential electoral votes to the winner
Speaker 2: of the national popular vote. Now this means that if
Speaker 2: California and New York go all in for a Democrat,
Speaker 2: but Virginian's vote Republican, they're electoral votes could wind up
Speaker 2: going to a Democrat. This seems like the most anti
Speaker 2: democracy thing I can imagine from the people who say
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, we've got to defend democracy.
Speaker 6: You're absolutely right. And it's really sickening. I mean not
Speaker 6: only that you know she wants to, you know, to
Speaker 6: try this.
Speaker 1: I don't think it will work.
Speaker 6: It's unconstitutional, but she's also trying to jerrymander the state,
Speaker 6: which you know, voted for Kamala by four or five points,
Speaker 6: voted for Biden by ten or eleven points, elected a
Speaker 6: Republican governor in twenty twenty one in Glen Youngkin.
Speaker 1: This is a purple state.
Speaker 6: I mean, I'm not suggesting it's ever going to be
Speaker 6: a red state again in the near term, but you know.
Speaker 1: They vote for Republicans.
Speaker 6: It's a fifty what is it like, a fifty five
Speaker 6: forty five, and yet she wants to gerrymander the state
Speaker 6: so they'll have all but one seats for Democrats. It
Speaker 6: would be it's I forget if it's either eight to
Speaker 6: one or ten to one. And you know that's so,
Speaker 6: you know, that's talk about undemocratic, right. Forty five percent
Speaker 6: of the voters voted for President Trump, a majority of
Speaker 6: the voters voted for Glen Youngkin in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 6: a great Republican and yet to they want to swing
Speaker 6: you know, the congressional seats to a to one or
Speaker 6: ten to one. It's it's really immoral in many ways.
Speaker 6: And you brought up a good point. She ran as
Speaker 6: a moderate. Wow, what a head fake. That was unbelieva.
Speaker 6: She painted herself as a moderate, talked about kitchen table issues, affordability,
Speaker 6: got herself elected, which isn't difficult in Virginia. But you know,
Speaker 6: she's gone full mom damie communists in her short you know,
Speaker 6: tenure in office. And that's why she's pulling. It's been
Speaker 6: a remarkable drop in her polling numbers in the short
Speaker 6: time she's been in office.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but once she's in she can do a lot
Speaker 2: of damage. Hey, on to another story of democracy under
Speaker 2: attack too. The ABC in California has done some brilliant
Speaker 2: investigative journalism and uncovered, I know, ABC uncovered a left
Speaker 2: wing group called Building Better California that, according to their report,
Speaker 2: appeared to be paying homeless people five dollars a signature
Speaker 2: to sign petitions for ballot measures using other people's names,
Speaker 2: particularly a ballot measure around blocking government audits and also
Speaker 2: blocking a billionaire's tax. Ho have look at this.
Speaker 11: I'm gonna touch this guy broke out his martial arts
Speaker 11: skills after I asked about the petition spread across the
Speaker 11: hood and dashboard.
Speaker 3: Of his car.
Speaker 1: I'm at ABC seven.
Speaker 11: I'm looking at the petitions.
Speaker 3: Stay right there.
Speaker 5: One.
Speaker 11: I've had difficulty identifying the gentleman and woman with a
Speaker 11: young child, but I saw them give money to homeless
Speaker 11: people who signed petitions at their car.
Speaker 3: Have you find outs for doing it?
Speaker 11: The couple offered five dollars for signing ten petitions.
Speaker 1: Right, that's not illegal, That's not right.
Speaker 11: Smith tells me he has seen different groups over the
Speaker 11: past few weeks offering cash for phony signatures on petitions.
Speaker 2: Greg, We've only got thirty seconds here, but i'd love
Speaker 2: to get you quick thoughts on this, all right, quickly.
Speaker 1: I'm from Chicago, where that's just normal.
Speaker 3: Okay, So I'm not.
Speaker 1: Good for ABC as we are.
Speaker 6: Friends in Australia would say, another bloody communist. I'm so
Speaker 6: proud that ABC, which is you know, main stream media,
Speaker 6: actually did this good for them. And then look, this
Speaker 6: is this is obvious, and it happened in Minnesota, it
Speaker 6: happened in California. The Democrats want to keep the fraud
Speaker 6: because that's their people, that's their voters, that's quorders. They
Speaker 6: don't want to get rid of fraud. Fraud is what
Speaker 6: works for them. And so I'm not shocked at this
Speaker 6: at all. I hope that ABC will stay at it.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we're gonna have to leave it there,
Speaker 2: Greggs Winston, thank you so much for your time. Always
Speaker 2: great to have a chat. And yeah, I want to
Speaker 2: see more about that story. Now stick around, don't go anywhere,
Speaker 2: because it's time for a quick break. And when we're back,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be joined by Stephanie Hamill to hear
Speaker 2: about New York's latest attack on the rich. But first,
Speaker 2: how good is Joe Biden. Let's check in on the
Speaker 2: perfectly capable, mentally fit former president. Not long ago, was
Speaker 2: they said running rings around staffers half his age.
Speaker 1: I turn around one guy and say, Barack, what are
Speaker 1: you doing?
Speaker 5: Come come here?
Speaker 11: I feel like he should be standing right and I
Speaker 11: should be standing on the left.
Speaker 2: Hey, you candas look at Brock anyway as I say,
Speaker 2: you've done good, Well, you're gonna try.
Speaker 3: It, Dora.
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, Joe. That guy looks just like Obama. Can't
Speaker 2: wait to see who he mistakes for Michelle, don't go
Speaker 2: away because Stephanie Habit will be around after the break.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to the program.
Speaker 2: Well, in New York City, Democrats socialist mayor Zeron Mom
Speaker 2: Donnie says New York City is going to begin programs
Speaker 2: to start a government run grocery store, where he claims
Speaker 2: everything will be cheaper.
Speaker 3: I mean, hey, what could go wrong?
Speaker 12: We will use government to respond to rising prices and
Speaker 12: unaffordable groceries. The city will subsidize a core set of staples.
Speaker 12: A private operator will run the store, but the answer
Speaker 12: to the standards that the city will set. These standards
Speaker 12: include requirements that at our stores, bread will be cheaper,
Speaker 12: eggs will be cheaper, grocery shopping will no longer be
Speaker 12: an unsolvable equation.
Speaker 2: Ah, the bread will be cheaper. Where have I heard
Speaker 2: this before? Anyway, this comes as the week marked one
Speaker 2: hundred days with the Mom Dottie administration. And if this
Speaker 2: latest clip from his office anything to go by, I
Speaker 2: think is the New York City is in for a
Speaker 2: rough one hundred or more days to come.
Speaker 3: When I ran for mayor, I said I was going
Speaker 3: to tax the rich.
Speaker 12: Well, today we're taxing the I'm thrilled to announce we've
Speaker 12: secured a peda tear tax, the first in New York's history.
Speaker 12: This is an annual fee on luxury properties working more
Speaker 12: than five million dollars whose owners do not live full
Speaker 12: time in the city.
Speaker 2: I feel like I've seen this movie before, but to
Speaker 2: discuss it and more or let's bring in plute commentator
Speaker 2: Stephanie Hammill. Stephanie, thank you so much for joining me here.
Speaker 2: And boy, the hits just keep on coming. It's one
Speaker 2: hundred days now since mom Donnie took office. What sort
Speaker 2: of report card would you give him on his first century?
Speaker 10: It's not looking good.
Speaker 8: I mean, everything that he's promised so far isn't coming true.
Speaker 8: You almost have to feel bad for the people who
Speaker 8: voted for him or still are hoping to see some change,
Speaker 8: because it's really looking like he's a scammer. I mean,
Speaker 8: just look at the details of these government run grocery stores.
Speaker 10: The details are so bad.
Speaker 8: So to give your audience some perspective, we're learning that
Speaker 8: just one store is going to cost thirty million dollars.
Speaker 10: Still and so yeah, three million dollars.
Speaker 8: But get this, so they don't even have a timeline
Speaker 8: of when exactly this grocery store is going to be built.
Speaker 8: They said that there's going to be five of them
Speaker 8: in the different burrows, and that they probably the rest
Speaker 8: of them won't even be built until the end of
Speaker 8: his term, so like twenty twenty nine. So this is
Speaker 8: just all fantasy, and this is what so many of
Speaker 8: us predicted.
Speaker 10: This is exactly what we thought was going to happen.
Speaker 8: So, you know, you said that the bread is going
Speaker 8: to be cheap, or he said the bread is going
Speaker 8: to be cheap, not for the taxpayers when it's going
Speaker 8: to cost thirty million dollars for just one store. But
Speaker 8: the details get even worse, James. So they're talking about
Speaker 8: that they're going to have, you know, a price control
Speaker 8: basket of essentials and goods, okay, but everything else in
Speaker 8: the store is going to cost the same, if not
Speaker 8: probably more. And I don't know where you live, James,
Speaker 8: but I've done city living before. I don't live in
Speaker 8: the city anymore, but I lived in Washington, d C.
Speaker 8: For several years. I spent a lot of time in
Speaker 8: New York City. So when you live in these apartments
Speaker 8: and condos and you do city life, you go to
Speaker 8: the store that is closest to you. So I used
Speaker 8: to walk to a grocery store, put my groceries.
Speaker 10: In a backpack, and walk home.
Speaker 8: Like that's how city people usually shop.
Speaker 10: If not, then they do the online orders.
Speaker 8: So if you have one store in one burrow, how
Speaker 8: do the other people from that area get there?
Speaker 10: If it's super far away.
Speaker 8: They're not going to take a taxi or take a
Speaker 8: train to drag around these groceries. I mean, it is
Speaker 8: absolute lunacy, as you described, Stephanie.
Speaker 2: I lived in New York the first half of my life,
Speaker 2: and I can tell you. You know, you've got so
Speaker 2: much competition between supermarkets, bodega's, ethnic food markets, delis like
Speaker 2: the idea that there's not places.
Speaker 3: You can get food. It's just ridiculous. But one of them.
Speaker 2: Are these other ideas here, Stephanie, This idea that you know,
Speaker 2: oh well, let's just in a country where you're still
Speaker 2: allowed to freely move from city to city and state
Speaker 2: to state.
Speaker 3: What do you make of this?
Speaker 2: Further idea to tax people who have luxury properties, maybe
Speaker 2: don't use them a lot, but are already paying massive,
Speaker 2: massive property taxes on them to go for services they never.
Speaker 8: Use where already taxed to death, especially like the rich
Speaker 8: people in America, they are paying the majority of the
Speaker 8: taxes that are paid out, so it's like, how.
Speaker 10: Do you tax them anymore?
Speaker 8: And these are the people who are creating jobs and
Speaker 8: giving people opportunities, and so it just sounds really anti American.
Speaker 8: You're going to follow these people to tax other things
Speaker 8: and it's just absolute insanity. So, you know, these programs
Speaker 8: at Mondani has promised, they're going nowhere. The government doesn't
Speaker 8: do things right, so let the private sector take care
Speaker 8: of it and they'll figure it out. Yeah, groceries are expensive.
Speaker 8: It's a huge concern for so many Americans. I do
Speaker 8: my own grocery shopping, so I know exactly how much
Speaker 8: things cost, and so there needs to be a solution.
Speaker 8: But having government run grocery stores is not the solution.
Speaker 8: And if you look around the world or where that's
Speaker 8: been done and tried, it just doesn't work. And I'm
Speaker 8: not trying to be negative, like it sounds good on
Speaker 8: its face, right, like we need some sort of solution
Speaker 8: for people who are struggling, but.
Speaker 10: This just isn't it.
Speaker 8: You know, you look further into some of the other
Speaker 8: plans he had, like for example, he was offering free buses,
Speaker 8: free bus rides.
Speaker 10: The bus fares actually went up in New York City.
Speaker 8: So again, I just feel so bad for the people
Speaker 8: who were hoping that this was going to be it
Speaker 8: for them, and so far it's not. Maybe something will change,
Speaker 8: but something tells me it's not going to.
Speaker 2: Hey, I want to move on from New York to
Speaker 2: Michelle Obama, where the former First Lady has claimed that
Speaker 2: the United States is going through a what I don't
Speaker 2: know this word, a yanky era under President Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: She said this on her podcast Have a listen.
Speaker 13: And you know, there are versions of the country that happened, right,
Speaker 13: and the new version doesn't make the old one bay.
Speaker 13: It's necessary for growth, and I think we're in just
Speaker 13: a yanky version.
Speaker 3: What does she even mean there, James?
Speaker 8: Can we just talk about how exhausting it is to
Speaker 8: have former presidents and former first ladies like weighing in
Speaker 8: on this administration's at every policy move. And the Obamas
Speaker 8: are the worst offenders of this. I mean, not only
Speaker 8: are they like in every turn criticizing policy, but they're
Speaker 8: also still whining about how racist America is and how
Speaker 8: horrible this country is.
Speaker 10: Yet you know, the American people.
Speaker 8: Voted them into office not once but twice, and they
Speaker 8: also made millions and millions of dollars.
Speaker 10: I think they're worth like over one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 8: So, you know, it really is just exhausting to keep
Speaker 8: up with Michelle Obama. When she's not whining about Trump's
Speaker 8: policies or how horrible America is, she starts whining about
Speaker 8: how it's our fault that she was straightening her hair
Speaker 8: while she was the first lady, Like, you literally can't
Speaker 8: make this stuff up, Like I'm just I'm done.
Speaker 10: I'm done with it.
Speaker 3: You can't.
Speaker 2: You can't make some people happy. Hey, you know who
Speaker 2: else you can't make happy are all the Democrats who
Speaker 2: are only apparently proud of America when they're in charge.
Speaker 2: Because there's all of this stuff going on around the
Speaker 2: being two hundred and fiftieth anniversary or the Fourth of July,
Speaker 2: America's big birthday coming up this year, but there's been
Speaker 2: a huge Fourth of July fireworks display canceled. In Long Beach, California.
Speaker 2: They've scrapped their Big Bang on the Bay for the
Speaker 2: first time in fifteen years. After the California Coastal Commission
Speaker 2: said they should stop it because of climate change. This
Speaker 2: comes after, of course, our friends are on Mom Donnie
Speaker 2: stopped a stopped at a big public event in Times
Speaker 2: Square for July fourth. It's gonna be ticketed, Stephanie. Is
Speaker 2: there a left wing war on the fourth of July
Speaker 2: to try and shut down this big celebration that Donald
Speaker 2: Trump is planning for two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
Speaker 8: I think you're onto something, James, Like, I think this
Speaker 8: is much more than just the environment to the left,
Speaker 8: because as you've seen over the years, every single American tradition,
Speaker 8: our pride, they're just picking it away at it, just
Speaker 8: trying to get rid of it. And so to me,
Speaker 8: this doesn't seem like a fireworks thing. You could make
Speaker 8: the argument that maybe fireworks aren't the best for the environment.
Speaker 8: There are probably toxins and bad things in there, but
Speaker 8: this is just like a once a year thing, and
Speaker 8: then compared to actual horrible toxins that are in the environment,
Speaker 8: like this is like a needle and the haystack, a
Speaker 8: drop in the bucket that the impact it just isn't
Speaker 8: huge as they're suggesting it is. So I have a
Speaker 8: feeling that this is more about you know, just just
Speaker 8: attacking our two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and it's really
Speaker 8: just an attack on tradition.
Speaker 2: Indeed, Stefanie Hant, we're gonna have to leave it there,
Speaker 2: but thank you so much for your time. As always
Speaker 2: loved to see you here. Now we're gonna take a
Speaker 2: short break before Early in America. But first let's go
Speaker 2: to Wisconsin, where Democrats Secretary of State Sarah Godlisky has
Speaker 2: brought us a weather report.
Speaker 4: Republicans say, we don't have climate change, but this is.
Speaker 8: Goal full sized hail in my front yard. This is
Speaker 8: not normal, and we can keep ignoring our environment.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's hailing in Whiskey constant. Jeez, Like
Speaker 2: that's never happened before. Oh except for that the largest
Speaker 2: tailstone in Wisconsin, measuring nearly six inches, fell in nineteen
Speaker 2: twenty one.
Speaker 3: So there you go.
Speaker 2: The more you know, stick around because Only in America
Speaker 2: is coming up next. Welcome back to the program, and
Speaker 2: now it's time for a little segment we like to
Speaker 2: call Only in America. Well, what does the song say,
Speaker 2: Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to
Speaker 2: the crowd, take me out to Seattle, Washington, which I
Speaker 2: guess is so woke now that the statues are tearing
Speaker 2: down themselves. Check this out at the local T Mobile
Speaker 2: ballpark in Seattle, where they try to unveil a statue
Speaker 2: of Seattle Mariner's legend Ichiro Suzuki keep an eye on
Speaker 2: his baseball bat.
Speaker 12: Why the statue of one of the greatest players in.
Speaker 1: The interim of the game.
Speaker 2: Well, that's embarrassing, but you know, I'm sure that's the
Speaker 2: first time that ever happened before. Anyway, I hope you
Speaker 2: have a more upright weekend. That's all our time for now.
Speaker 2: See you next week for more US report and bright
Speaker 2: and early Sunday morning for outsiders. Bye bye.