WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt explains what Ron DeSantis’ campaign tells us about Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>Florida Governor Ron de Santis has issued a campaign promise

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<v Speaker 1>or a threat. I guess it depends on how you

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<v Speaker 1>look at it. He promised that on day one, when

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<v Speaker 1>he becomes the president, he'll start slitting throats. You heard

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<v Speaker 1>it correctly, Florida Governor Ron de Santis is running for

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<v Speaker 1>president to slit throats. I guess my response to that

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<v Speaker 1>is lighting up Francis. The simple truth is American politics

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<v Speaker 1>is profoundly broken, and the evidence of that is the

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<v Speaker 1>Florida governor who isn't home in his state tending to

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<v Speaker 1>the massive leprosy outbreak, but instead threatening to slit the

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<v Speaker 1>throats of American citizens in forty nine other states. That

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<v Speaker 1>puts him a good stead against Donald Trump, who is

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<v Speaker 1>promising his campaign will be a force of retribution and revenge.

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump promises to smite all of his enemies, the

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<v Speaker 1>people that have held him to account, the criminal justice system.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, every American that opposes Donald Trump, according to

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump, is a threat, is a member of the

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<v Speaker 1>deep state, and therefore deserves political punishment, revenge imposed on them,

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<v Speaker 1>and just retribution from the MAGA extremists. Because how could

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<v Speaker 1>it be that any American could fairly look at the

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<v Speaker 1>situation at hand and come to any conclusion other than

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump should be president for life and that we

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<v Speaker 1>should discard our elections process. A lot of headlines are

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<v Speaker 1>filled with reports that seek to characterize what is that

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump has done. This dilemma has confronted the American

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<v Speaker 1>media since the moments the insurrection began. Nobody knew what

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<v Speaker 1>to call it. On CNN in the early hours, it

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<v Speaker 1>was referred to as a riot, and then it became

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<v Speaker 1>an insurrection, which it certainly was. But more than that,

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<v Speaker 1>what we witnessed on that day was a premeditated, organized

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<v Speaker 1>conspiracy to topple the United States government. Yes, abstractly, it

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<v Speaker 1>was an assault on democracy. Yes, in an abstract, it

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<v Speaker 1>was an assault on pluralism. Yes, in an abstract it

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<v Speaker 1>was an assault on the Declaration of Independence and the

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<v Speaker 1>Constitution of the United States. In reality, though tangibly, it

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<v Speaker 1>was an attack of the United States dates of America,

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<v Speaker 1>incited by a president, by senators, by governors, and by

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<v Speaker 1>the news media who lied and lied and lied, and

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<v Speaker 1>convinced in this country through those lies millions of people

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<v Speaker 1>that the most fair and legitimate election in American history

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<v Speaker 1>was in fact fraudulent, that, in fact the person who won,

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<v Speaker 1>Joe Biden, was an illegitimate president. What Donald Trump did

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<v Speaker 1>over and over and over again, with no small number

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<v Speaker 1>of allies, is inject this poisonous lie into America's body,

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<v Speaker 1>the body politic. He poisoned faith and belief. He divided

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<v Speaker 1>the country. He ended the peaceful transition of power in

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<v Speaker 1>a hand handed attempt to make himself dictator. America's presidents

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<v Speaker 1>are the only people in the country who swear an

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<v Speaker 1>oath that is written in the Constitution of the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>the same oath that Donald Trump and Joe Biden took,

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<v Speaker 1>or the same oath that Miller Fillmore, John Adams and

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<v Speaker 1>George Washington took. The only American president and we've had

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<v Speaker 1>some bad ones over the years that desecrated that oath,

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<v Speaker 1>that burned it to the ground, that sought to rip

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<v Speaker 1>up the Constitution of the United States so that he

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<v Speaker 1>could be in power, is Donald Trump. People died during

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<v Speaker 1>the attempt. Police officers were bludgeoned with American flag. The

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<v Speaker 1>insurrectionists invaded the capital. They defecated on the floors of

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<v Speaker 1>the United States House of Representatives and the United States

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<v Speaker 1>Senate hundreds of people are serving jail sentences. Thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>Americans have been convicted for their participation in those events

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<v Speaker 1>that were commanded by Donald Trump. And now Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>has been held to account, he has been charged with crimes,

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<v Speaker 1>yet he remains the overwhelming front runner for the Republican nomination.

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<v Speaker 1>The Republican Party is the third oldest political party in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, and it is imposing on the country a

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<v Speaker 1>proposition that is unacceptable. Thomas Jefferson referred to Americans with

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<v Speaker 1>passionate differences who were aligning into two factions, two parties,

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<v Speaker 1>the very parties that Washington had warned about. In his

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<v Speaker 1>farewell Jefferson talked after a divisive election in eighteen hundred

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<v Speaker 1>to those parties, and what he said matters today. He

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<v Speaker 1>said that they were brethren of the same cause. And

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<v Speaker 1>they are, and they were, and it is true today.

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<v Speaker 1>The cause of American politics is the preservation of the

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<v Speaker 1>American Revolution. That's not about democracy. The American Revolution wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>about democracy. It was about liberty. The only system of

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<v Speaker 1>government that has ever been successful at securing man's rights

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<v Speaker 1>and man's liberties is democratic government. Government that accepts the

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<v Speaker 1>proposition that people human beings are above the state, that

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<v Speaker 1>they create the state and not the other way around.

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<v Speaker 1>This is elemental to understand. This is what keeps us safe.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what keeps the jackboot off of the citizen's neck.

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<v Speaker 1>When democracy collapses, when the rule of law expires, when

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<v Speaker 1>elections don't matter, what that looks like is the chaos

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<v Speaker 1>and mayem of January sixth, because politics devolves in that

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<v Speaker 1>moment to a contact, yes, between the strong and the weak.

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<v Speaker 1>If you can punch and kick harder, if you can

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<v Speaker 1>beat with a lead pole your opponent harder, if you

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<v Speaker 1>can kill instead and bring your opponent to physical submission, well,

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<v Speaker 1>then shouldn't you be in charge? That is the proposition

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<v Speaker 1>of January sixth. That is the Maga proposition that strength

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<v Speaker 1>makes right, that power is good, and that absolute power

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<v Speaker 1>is best and if you can, you take it. There

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<v Speaker 1>are no sentiments that are more Unamerican than these. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for listening to my political commentary. If you like

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<v Speaker 1>what you've heard today, please also consider subscribing to the

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<v Speaker 1>Warning Daily newsletter on substack. Our democracy hangs in the balance.

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<v Speaker 1>The twenty twenty four presidential election is the most consequential

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<v Speaker 1>in America's history. It's not hyperbole, it's a fact. That

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<v Speaker 1>is why the mission of the Warning with Steve Schmidt

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<v Speaker 1>is to help readers orient to the currents that are

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<v Speaker 1>shaping our times and the unseen forces driving politics that

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<v Speaker 1>are very rarely discussed on cable news. Please sign up

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<v Speaker 1>at Steve Schmidt st e ve E, S, C, H, M, I,

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<v Speaker 1>d T dot substack dot com again Steve Schmidt dot

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<v Speaker 1>substack dot com, or at the link in the show

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<v Speaker 1>notes section below. Thank you to each and every one

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<v Speaker 1>of you for listening and watching. The Republican Party has

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<v Speaker 1>a lie in itself with Donald Trump's magafaction. The party

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<v Speaker 1>has been consumed by it, and Donald Trump controls the party.

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<v Speaker 1>He controls its apparatuses, He controls the institution of the

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<v Speaker 1>Republican Party at a national level, at a state level,

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<v Speaker 1>and at a local level. That party serves Donald Trump's ambitions,

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<v Speaker 1>and Donald Trump's ambitions do not serve the United States

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<v Speaker 1>of America. Donald Trump's ambitions are in conflict directly with

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<v Speaker 1>the Constitution of the United States of America. Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>is running to rip it up, and the answer from

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<v Speaker 1>every loyal American must be no. This has nothing to

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<v Speaker 1>do with whether you're a conservative or a progressive, whether

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<v Speaker 1>you're a person of the left or the right, whether

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<v Speaker 1>you are pro choice or pro life, whether you support

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<v Speaker 1>school vouchers or not. We the people get to decide

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<v Speaker 1>these issues. We the people get to debate that, and

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<v Speaker 1>we the people pick our leaders in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>of America. That will not be taken from us by

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<v Speaker 1>Donald trump that will not be taken from us by

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump's thugs, and that will not be taken from

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<v Speaker 1>us by lie after lie after lie. Because here's the truth.

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<v Speaker 1>The United States of America isn't just an experiment. It

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<v Speaker 1>is the most noble experiment in world's history, and it

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<v Speaker 1>is a miracle. We are not a perfect nation. We

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<v Speaker 1>are a nation that is made up of all of

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<v Speaker 1>the peoples of the world, so in that there is

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<v Speaker 1>great hope. We are the only nation. We are somewhere

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<v Speaker 1>today in this land, every language of the world will

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<v Speaker 1>be spoken. This country, made up of all of the

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<v Speaker 1>people of the world, has fed, cured, liberated, and done

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<v Speaker 1>more good in the world than all of the other

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<v Speaker 1>nations put together since the beginning of time. Our young

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<v Speaker 1>nation has so much to be proud of. And soon

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<v Speaker 1>it will be two hundred and fifty years old. Will

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<v Speaker 1>this generation of Americans allow the United States to slip

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<v Speaker 1>into the darkness, into the abyss. Will the American people,

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<v Speaker 1>upon the occasion of two one hundred and fifty years

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<v Speaker 1>of our independence, put into the White House a man

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<v Speaker 1>who tried to take it from us? They will not.

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<v Speaker 1>But Donald Trump is betting on something. He is betting

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<v Speaker 1>that his faction, which is committed, extreme and fanatical, plus

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<v Speaker 1>their opposite, the Americans who don't give a shit at all,

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<v Speaker 1>don't care, can't see the difference between Joe Biden and

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump, can't see the difference between a democratic party

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<v Speaker 1>that supports democracy and pluralism and a fascist party that

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<v Speaker 1>has succumbed to the sirens on of power, to the

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<v Speaker 1>lies of a demagogue who seeks to become a dictator.

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<v Speaker 1>Because those people, plus the committed Trump fanatics, in a

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<v Speaker 1>close election, just may be enough to get to two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy electoral votes, and so we shouldn't have

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<v Speaker 1>any questions, any ambiguities, any confusions around what it is

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<v Speaker 1>they plan to do. Listen to them. Ron DeSantis has

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<v Speaker 1>made it clear he's going to slit your throat and

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<v Speaker 1>he's the gentle one between him and Donald Trump. The

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<v Speaker 1>answer to these people and their sick ambitions is very simple,

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<v Speaker 1>very American. Summon some of the defiance that would have

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<v Speaker 1>been recognized by our ancestors, and let's pass it on

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<v Speaker 1>to our descendants, because the answer to their power fantasies

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<v Speaker 1>is this no. Thank you for watching. Make sure you

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<v Speaker 1>subscribe to our channel so you never miss a video. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>description below.