WEBVTT - Ron DeSantis WINS Second Debate 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:01.520 Welcome. 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.840 It is verdict was center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:09.119 and it is our debate show. If you watched the 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:14.200 Republican debate, you saw some lively moments. Senator, you watched it, 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:17.439 I watched it. Give me your overall takeaway. Who was 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.000 the big winner and was there any even a second place? 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.400 So you and I are recording this at is eleven 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:26.479 forty one pm East Coast time. 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:27.160 I'm in DC. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.200 So the debate just ended a few minutes ago. I 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.800 gotta say my reaction to it. This was a bumpy debate. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.280 There were a lot of rocky moments. I think most 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.680 of the candidates did not help themselves. But my clear 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.760 conclusion from tonight is the big winner was Ron de Santis. 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:47.519 Why is that? 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.120 I did well? I did not think that in Debate one? 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.600 So remember Debate one. We came together and I said, 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.600 the winners in Debate one were Vivek Ramaswami and Nikki 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.160 Haley and a little bit Mike Pens and the real 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.080 winner was Donald Trump because all three of them were elevated, 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.840 and that hurt DeSantis, and DeSantis needs to make it 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:07.720 a two man race with Trump, and so that was 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.840 my take on debate one. I think going into the night, 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.640 Dessantus needed to do well, and I think he rose 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.880 to the occasion. I think he did by far the 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:22.520 best of anyone on the stage several reasons. Number one 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.080 is just the behavior of the others. I think they 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.560 bickered like children, and I don't think it helped them. 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:29.440 I think when they were just yelling at each other, 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:31.639 back and forth, and back and forth and back and forth. 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.880 When you see a bunch of people screaming at each other, 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.000 they don't look like presidents. They're not behaving like presidents. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.600 Presidents don't have to yap at each other. And I 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.920 thought there were times, particularly early in the debate, when 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.320 the debate kind of got away from the moderators. As 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:51.320 the debate went on, the moderators did a better job 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.120 of getting a little bit of control of it and 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:57.960 having a little bit more discussion. But DeSantis had several 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.600 He had the best answers of the night. The single 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.000 best answer of the night was his answer on education, 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.800 and he was the topic came up about education, It 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.600 came up about school choice, and he gave a strong, 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.520 powerful answer about school choice. About how Number one Florida 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.040 implemented universal school choice. Florida's led the country in school choice, 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:19.919 so they've got a heck of a record to talk about. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.560 He was asked about the attacks on their efforts to 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.480 root out critical race theory in Florida, and he directly 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.480 confronted that, and I thought it was a tight, crisp 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.800 answer that was strong. A second answer that was very 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.760 very strong is where he talked about having victories and listen, 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.520 the reason people got excited about Dissantis when he launched 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.080 the campaign is the victories that he had in Florida, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:50.680 big policy victories. He emphasized that. The third answer that 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.280 was really strong is where he talked about winning, and 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:56.680 he talked about winning in Florida even as nationally we 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.560 were getting clobbered. In twenty twenty two, he won by 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.320 nineteen points. And I think he did an effective argument 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:08.200 in many ways. His strongest argument against Trump is that 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:11.360 he won by while many other candidates that Trump had 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.560 supported nationally did not win that cycle. And and and 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.480 his argument, you want a winner, you want someone who 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.880 can beat the Democrats. I'm that guy. I think he 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.320 articulated it much much better tonight than he did in 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.320 the first debate that that's why I think Ron de 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:27.160 Santus won tonight. 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.480 You know, he mentioned that that you know, there's we've 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.840 lost the last three times. As he described it, right, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.000 we were supposed to win in the last midterm elections. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.200 We were supposed to win the election before that and 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.080 the one before that, and we didn't. And and he 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.960 he also compared in contrast as you mentioned, I think 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.200 extremely well, and it clearly clicked I think with people watching. 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.440 As I was watching it live, just like you were there, 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:51.280 I was like, okay, this is this is one of 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:55.280 those quasi moments where he was reminding people of history, 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.040 like not only did we win when when the nation 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.040 was losing, when the Republicans are losing on nights, we 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:06.120 should have won, but we want it expanded in Florida. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.200 That was a potent moment to remind people that we 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.280 should have control of the Senate right now and we 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.400 don't because we had some bad candidate selection. 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:15.440 Let's just be honest. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.400 Look, Republicans desperately want to win. The Biden record is 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:22.920 an absolute train wreck. And I got to admit I 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.000 lay awake at night in cold sweats that we will 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.120 see the Democrats re elected in twenty twenty four. The 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.320 damage they've done to the country in the last two 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.480 and a half years, Holy cow, if they get another 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.800 four what a bad outcome for the country. So, as 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.800 I'm looking for a candidate, I want someone to can 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.760 win the damn race. And in many ways that is 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.640 Desantus's strongest argument. And in the first debate he didn't 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:49.960 really make it, and he came a lot closer to 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.280 making it tonight, so I think he did better as 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:52.760 a result. 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.720 Let's talk about the poll numbers coming out of this 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.599 real quick, give me your predictions of who rises and 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.360 who We had already had one candidate out of Arkansas 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:07.280 who's fallen off the debate stage, did not qualify for 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.280 this one. Everybody's goal is to make it to Miami 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.680 to the next debate in what four or five weeks? 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.240 That's obviously the center goal. 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:19.360 But who helped themselves, who is going to go backwards 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:20.640 and who could be in real trouble. 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.760 Look, I think the ends of the debate stage we 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.160 saw Asa Hutchison fall off. I think the ends of 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:31.360 the debate stage are at real risk of being eliminated 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:36.320 from the stage. Doug Bergham. His numbers, it's not clear 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.440 that he qualified for tonight, but they allowed him on 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.240 the stage. But I think his numbers, he's going to 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.400 have to do a whole lot of movement to qualify 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.400 for the next debate stage. I think Mike Pence, he's 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:49.239 the vice president, former vice president of the United States. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.240 He's a good man, he's a friend. But I think 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.279 he's right at the edge of not making the next debate. Also, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.960 narrowing the debate stage is a good thing this race, 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.800 if there's going to be a real race. Look, in 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:10.440 many ways, this is sort of like a basketball playoff, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.479 where it's a playoff to see who goes gets to 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.520 go against Donald Trump. And I guess you can sort 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:17.320 of think about it that Trump gets a bye. He's 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.800 the former president, he's decided to skip the debates. So 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.000 in some ways, ask. 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:24.640 You this real quickly. Is that still you think the 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:28.440 smart strategy? Obviously, I think was the right strategy for 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.960 debate number one at the end of tonight, Was it 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.599 also the right strategy for him to skip debate number two? 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:40.360 Maybe maybe not. Look, I think he's enough ahead in 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.680 the polls, the national polls, He's up forty plus points. 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:47.160 I mean, that's a strong lead. And I think his 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:49.720 his analysis, and it's not a crazy analysis, is he's 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:53.280 so far ahead, why would he go and from his 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.320 perspective elevate the other candidates. You know, you think about 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.320 in twenty sixteen, you had two debates. You had the 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.760 main debate and you had what everyone called the kid's table, 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:03.880 which were the candidates that were at one and two percent, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.320 and very few people watch the kids table. What Trump 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.239 has effectively done by skipping the debate is he's trying 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.560 to turn everyone else into the kids table, like this 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:14.960 is not the real candidates, He's the only candidate. I 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.560 understand that strategy. That is a perfectly rational debate strategy. 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.480 I will say, you know, Trump got popped a little 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.320 more tonight than he did on the first night, and 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:30.080 in particular, I think desanis hitting him on abortion in life. 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.080 Look Trump's answer where he said it was a terrible 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:38.640 thing that the state of Florida passed a law protecting life. 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.720 That's an answer if you're talking to pro life activists 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.040 in Iowa. I don't know how you defend that answer. 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.840 And I think Trump did a good or rather dissantis 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.280 did a good job of really holding Trump to account 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:52.840 for it. Now, if he'd been there, Trump could have 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.520 given it an answer. Trump would have presumably said, look, 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.120 I'm the guy that appointed three justices that overturn Roe 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.520 versus Wade. I mean, he would have made a forceful response. 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.560 But he wasn't there. And that's one of the consequences 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.320 of not being there is someone can take a swing, 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:13.240 they can hit you, and there's not anyone there who's 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.920 gonna respond or defend you. So there were several shots 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.240 at Trump. I think that's the the two that hit 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:23.280 in any material way where I think DeSantis's point on 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:27.040 abortion hit. And I also think the general point about 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:31.480 we want to win and what Dessanis argued is that 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.800 he won in Florida while Trump supported candidates elsewhere we're losing. 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.040 Those were two shots that scored some blood. Now do 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.199 I expect major movements in the polls. 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:42.400 No. 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.320 I think the polls will be very similar next week 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.040 to where they are this week. So I don't think 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:50.760 you're going to see a dramatic move. 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If you were watching 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:50.040 the instant responses on social media, there were some people 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.240 that felt that he came across as maybe a little 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.160 bit too condescending to others on the stage. Some referred 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:59.080 to it as the Washington not it all arrogance. And 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.920 then you had the who had a pretty good debate 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:03.800 last time. I don't think he had as good of 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.520 a debate this time, that's my opinion. And you know, 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.440 he was getting hit from all sides tonight, a lot 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.679 of people attacking him on maybe some of his naivete 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.360 on things like China, and he even said, look, sometimes 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.720 I come across as and know it all, almost accepting. 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:19.880 That about him. 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:23.600 Your reaction to that dynamic of two very different people 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:25.400 at very different stages in their career. 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:31.720 Yeah, Look, Vivek had a much rougher night tonight than 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.800 he did in the first debate. First debate, he did excellent. 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:36.559 He surprised a lot of people. He got on a 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:42.079 lot of people's radar. He really did well tonight. Look, 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.120 the other candidates don't like Vivec and they did not 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.600 hide that they were taking shots at him, and it 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.640 was that there was some pretty sneering moments. I do 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.120 think that the shot that scored the most was the 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.680 argument that several candidates made, that Nikki Haley made, that 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:02.440 Tim Scott made about being in bed with communist China, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.280 and they made some pretty specific allegations of him being 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.360 paid by the same players that paid Hunter. 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.120 Biden five million by the way, paid to Hunter Biden 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.920 five million dollars, the same people, which when when you 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.080 hear that on stage, that's a that's a big for me, 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:19.280 a red flag, right. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:21.960 And Vivek did not have a good answer to that. 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.520 He he he just he didn't respond on the substance, 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.960 he just said, well, well, we need to follow Ronald 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.760 Reagan's eleventh commandment, so don't criticize me. And and and 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:36.640 I got to say in the last debate, Vivek did 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.360 not follow Ronald Reagan's eleventh commandment. And I will say, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.760 to Tim Scott's credit, Tim's best moment was when he 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.840 turned to him and said, hold on a second, Vivek, 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.720 you said every one of us is bought and paid for. 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:50.640 Who the hell are you to say that. That was 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.400 a good moment for Tim because it really was a 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.000 pretty obnoxious thing for Vivek to say to allege that 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.240 the other candidates are bought and paid for. And if 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.760 you're gonna do that, if you're gonna say to the 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.120 other candidates, you guys are all prostitutes, you don't get 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.400 to complain moments later, Hey, don't criticize me, be nice 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.480 to me. We shouldn't be be criticizing each other. And 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:13.440 so I think that, uh. 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.079 That was almost one of the big inexperienced moments when 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:19.920 I laugh when people say I want a new face 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.600 who hadn't done this before, and I'm like, until you don't. 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:27.400 And my point is sometimes experience in politics is actually important, 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.080 and it's important especially when you get elected. It's really 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.560 important when you're dealing with foreign leaders and world leaders 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:37.120 at a very high level, when you're dealing with negotiations. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.040 If you've never been there before, this whole idea of oh, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.120 I'm the new guy in the block, it's cute until 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:42.440 it's not. 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:45.960 Look, I think the job of president of the United 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.160 States is a very serious position. I think the burdens 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.520 of it are enormous. There's a reason why just about 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.240 every president who's ever served seems to age about twenty 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.719 years in the job. It is an insanely difficult job. 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:57.920 You know. 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:03.240 I'm reminded of when Trump was newly elected, and I 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:07.120 think it was March of twenty seventeen. Trump had heiding 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.280 and me and the girls to the White House for 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:12.240 dinner and it was a marvelous time. It was very 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:14.400 nice of him to invite them, and we brought our 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.679 girls there and as we're walking, we're walking by the 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.880 Rose Garden, Trump looks at me and says, Wow, who 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.200 knew this job was so tough? And I got to 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.520 admit I was. I am rarely at a loss for words. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:33.560 I was genuinely flabbergasted. I was like, yes, some of 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:35.520 us kind of had that idea. I mean it was 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:41.080 really a kind of And listen, don't take that comment wrong. 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:45.160 I think when Trump was president, we accomplished an enormous amount. 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:49.280 But I also think this is a job that requires 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:54.080 a seriousness of purpose, a seriousness of execution, on ability 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:58.760 to communicate, to motivate, to get the job done, and 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.800 it is a I am generally skeptical of any candidate 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:10.360 who's never served in in any government position waking up 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.640 and saying, you know, I should be president of the 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:19.560 United States other than generals who won World Wars that 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:20.960 there's not a great history of that. 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:21.760 Yeah. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.240 Great point when you look at this moving forward and 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:29.120 you sit there and you go, okay, I'm Donald Trump tonight. Afterwards, 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.080 I'm obviously going to watch this thing he did his 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:36.360 counterprogramming with you know, uaw et cetera. But afterwards, eventually 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.080 you're gonna sit down, You're gonna take a look at this. 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.760 Are you uneasy or do you still feel very confident 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:43.240 that you're still going to have a forty point lead 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:43.840 after all this? 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.720 Oh, look, I think Trump will still have a big, big, lead, 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.920 but he's not happy that DeSantis did well. Trump would 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:54.000 have been very happy if if Ron De Santis had 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.000 sucked tonight, because as long as they're a bunch of candidates. 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.360 It's why in Debate one, I said the biggest winner 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.240 in Debate one was Donald Trump, because if there are 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.560 two or three or four people on the stage that 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.800 are gaining a pointer or two, he's winning. As long 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:13.400 as that field is fractured, he's winning. If DeSantis gets 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.600 some real momentum, if he makes it more of a 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:19.240 two man race, that's not ideal for Trump. And so 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.560 I'm confident Trump is not happy about that aspect. I 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.280 do think the next debate we will see one or 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.640 two people eliminated from the stage. I think the smaller 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.600 it gets, the more of a threat it poses to 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:36.560 Trump and everyone in the media who is saying this 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:40.280 race is over. Listen. That is at least a historical 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.080 at this point. At this point in the race, we're 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.000 still in September before the election. At this point in 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.440 the race, Jeb Bush was still the dominant leader. He 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.880 was starting to fade, and Scott Walker was becoming the 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:57.560 dominant leader. In twenty sixteen, after Walker, you had a 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:01.200 Ben Carson moment where he says for about two weeks 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.080 he had a huge surge, and then after that you 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.120 had Marco Rubio. And at the end of the day, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.120 if you look at twenty sixteen, Trump and I went 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.360 head to head, we were one and two in almost 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.800 every single state. No other candidate won more than a 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:21.040 single state Kasikua, Ohio, Rubio one Minnesota, and Trump and 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.160 I won every other state in the country. I won 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.639 twelve states, He won the rest of them. So my 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.240 point is, the people who were dominant leaders in the 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:35.360 polls today in the twenty sixteen cycle did not win 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.280 a single state. So the world can change a lot. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.120 That being said, Trump is still in a very strong position. 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:43.960 I mean, a forty point lead in the polls is 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.760 not nothing. It just doesn't mean the race is over. 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.560 As some in the media are wont to say. 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:51.959 Let's talk about foreign policy. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.800 I actually was a little bit disappointed in the depth 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.840 of that conversation, and I want to get your reaction 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.760 to it. There was obviously a lot of talk about China, 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.240 specifically with Vivek, but then you deal with Ukraine and 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:09.399 you deal with border. The border issue, for example, it 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.600 didn't seem to have a lot of depth there that 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:14.240 I think many people were hoping for. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.000 Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of substance. There wasn't 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.400 a whole lot of analysis of what caused the border crisis. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.120 I don't think any of those candidates have spent significant 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.280 time at our southern border. I didn't get the sense 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.600 that any of them fully understood it. You didn't have 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.040 an explanation as to the to the real human tragedy 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.720 that our crisis of the southern border is and why 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.840 Joe Biden is directly responsible for it. Look, I will 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.600 say Chris Christie, Chris Christi is the one candidate on 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:49.800 that stage who attacks Trump and does so repeatedly. I 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:51.960 don't think he helped himself a whole lot tonight. So, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.639 for example, one of his big attacks on Trump, and 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.879 he's been doing this on Twitter before, is he says 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.840 Trump didn't build the wall and he didn't make Mexico 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.320 pay for it. Now, look, I get that's probably a 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.720 pretty good line if you're dealing with hedge fund owners 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:11.800 and donors, but it's a stupid policy attack. Look, there 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.320 are things that I wish Trump had done differently as president, 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:20.119 but on immigration, his record on immigration is excellent. And 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:25.359 when Trump left the White House, we had the lowest 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.119 rate of illegal immigration in forty five years. He negotiated 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.680 the Remain in Mexico Agreement. The Remain in Mexico Agreement worked, 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:38.360 It worked spectacularly well. Joe Biden inherited an incredible success 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.320 on illegal immigration, and Joe Biden deliberately blew it up 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.720 within days of becoming president. And so I think Christy 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:49.200 attacking Trump. Look, do I wish he'd built more border wall, sure, 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:55.520 but not acknowledging that on securing the border. Donald Trump 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:58.440 did more to secure the border than any president we 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:01.440 have had in our nation's history, and in any candidate. 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:04.120 Not saying that is being dishonest. So if you want 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.400 to find grounds to disagree with Trump, fine, but that attack. 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:13.280 I don't know of a Republican voter who's persuaded by 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.080 that attack, unless it's someone that already hates Trump, and 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.760 then they're like, yeah, yeah, Mexico didn't pay for it. 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.840 It's like, come on, guys, I mean, he did more 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.640 than anyone else has ever done, and the results were 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:25.359 really good. 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:29.080 And look, yeah, he was clearly trying Chris Christy was 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:31.200 clearly trying to have a moment. I want to play 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:32.840 that because it was a very interesting part of the 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.480 debate you just mentioned it. Here is Chris Christy, in 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:36.440 his own words. 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.080 Governor Christie, as governor of a non border state in 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:44.160 twenty ten, you supported a path to citizenship, but when 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:48.119 you run for president in twenty sixteen you flipped saying 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:53.080 immigrants should be trucked like Edix packages. Where do you 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:57.080 stand now on a path to citizenship for eleven million 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:58.560 of on the commented immigrants. 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.280 The problem is that since no one has done anything 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.200 since we first had this discussion thirteen years ago, we're 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:06.880 not in a position to be able to do any 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:09.720 of that anymore. What we have to do now is 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.439 first treat this like the law enforcement problem. It is. 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.240 Our laws are being broken every day at the southern 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:19.080 border every day, and Joe Biden and his crew is 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:21.080 doing nothing about enforcing that law. 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:22.320