1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: It is July two, twenty twenty four. Forty eight days 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: remain until the Democratic National Convention and one hundred and 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: twenty five until election day. But two hundred and forty 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: eight years ago today was a momentous event, the passage 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: of the Lee Resolution, which called for the independence of 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: the thirteen British colonies that became the United States of America. 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: This is the warning the birth of the United States 8 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: overthrew the king. Deeply embedded in the American tradition was 9 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: the concept and the idea that nobody, not even the president, 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,319 Speaker 1: was above the law. Richard Nixon famously said that if 11 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: the president does it, it can't be illegal. Well, President Nixon, 12 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: wherever he may be, is certainly feeling vindicated today as 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court has laid out a roadmap for a 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: president of the United States to assert power absolutely. It 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: is an extraordinary day in American history. Today the president 16 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: became emperor or king or Caesar. Let me ask a question, 17 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: is this an official act? Desecrating the Bible in front 18 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,199 Speaker 1: of Saint John's Episcopal Church, the Church of Presidents, after 19 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: ordering a gas attack on the rectory inside, Episcopal priests 20 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: at worship gassed people beaten outside the White House gates 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: by federal police, without badges, without ideas, without name tags, 22 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: without any identifying markings whatsoever. This is Eric Prince, former 23 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: Navy seal CEO of Blackwater. Let's imagine this scenario. The 24 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: President of the United States, acting in his official capacity, 25 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: invites mister Prince to join him for a discussion in 26 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: the Oval Office, and what he says is that here 27 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: is a list of people who have dared to speak 28 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: out against me, who ran ads against me, who opposed 29 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: my candidacy, and is a matter of national security. I'd 30 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 1: like them surveiled. I'd like Blackward to tap their phones, 31 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: and maybe it escalates. Let's imagine that it does. Let's 32 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: say there's a journalist Trump doesn't like, or a former 33 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: member of Congress like Liz Cheney or Adam Kittsinger. If 34 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: the President says, as an official act to Eric Prince 35 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: in the Oval Office, go beat that person or kill 36 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: them because they're a threat to national security, and I've 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: made a finding that authorizes you to be able to 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: kill them. The reason is I'm not telling you because 39 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: I'm the commander in chief and I don't have to. 40 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: Absolute power is a concept that was rejected by the 41 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: American founders. And this is so important to understand about 42 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: these days that we celebrate now one hundred and twenty 43 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: five days from an election. The American people are called 44 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: upon to stop something terrible that is gathering. What Donald 45 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: Trump has promised is retribution, is vengeance, and now he 46 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: is given a roadmap by the radical United States Supreme 47 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: Court that has long ago lost its legitimacy under a 48 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: haze of corruption and extremism. But he has been given 49 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,239 Speaker 1: a roadmap to persecute, to prosecute, to even kill, all 50 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: of it sanctioned so long as there's a claim that 51 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: it's an official act. The American president has become a caesar. 52 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: That's what the ruling is. Interestingly, conservatism as a tradition 53 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: is about conservation, preservation. Yet what the Roberts Court has 54 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: done isn't just awful but utterly radical. They have in 55 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: a stroke undone court preceps so the American revolution in 56 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: a day. It is all undone, uh fundamental core value 57 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: of the country gone. And it happens at a moment 58 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: where Donald Trump says an election is only legitimate if 59 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: I win, if my side wins. What was his first 60 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: reaction to being given a license to kill should he 61 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: come back to power, it was to promise a military 62 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,679 Speaker 1: tribunal for Elizabeth Cheney. Donald Trump means business. He keeps 63 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: telling us over and over again what he intends to do, 64 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: and it appears there is no defense. He's ahead by 65 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,239 Speaker 1: five points. He is today in the strongest political position 66 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: that he has ever been in the nine years since 67 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: he descended the escalator in Trump Tower. There is no 68 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: plan to oppose him. There is no plan to stop him. 69 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: The tens of millions of dollars of ads against him 70 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: have been ineffective. His poll numbers have gone up after 71 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: the conviction, and there is no argument that has hit 72 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: and in fact, as we know, no argument that has 73 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: been made. Donald Trump has stumbled into a situation where 74 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: the stars seem to be aligning for him, and something 75 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: is different. Now different than twenty sixteen, different than twenty twenty. 76 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: A radical concept has been sanctified. If Trump does it 77 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: and he's president, it's legal, It's an official act. The 78 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: man who is always in a suit will claim that 79 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: whatever he does is an official act. And what will 80 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: be the basis to dispute the president from claiming his 81 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: action was an official one while he's President of the 82 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: United States. Justice Soto Mayor said this and heard a 83 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: sent read it. It's true. It is exactly so. This 84 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: is a day where the Supreme Court has vandalized faith 85 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: and belief in what the United States was constructed around 86 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 1: the core premise no man is above the law, that 87 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,239 Speaker 1: we don't have a king. Well, thanks to the robbers 88 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: Court and to the radical justices, we do we do 89 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: have a king. Now. Most presidents, if they had the 90 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: power of a king, because they have character, would be 91 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: benign kings. But there will be a malign king, a 92 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: menacing king, a malignant king. That king is Trump, and 93 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: every day he's a little bit closer to the throne, 94 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: and there doesn't seem to be much standing in his 95 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: way anymore. This is the warning. I'm Steve Schmidt. This 96 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: is the warning, and I invite you to join. Subscribe 97 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: on our sub stack, on our YouTube channel, follow us. 98 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to the community.