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Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.

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Speaker 1: We've had a spirited debate last night with my Republican fedor.

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Speaker 1: I was taken aback, quite frankly offended when he talked

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Speaker 1: about his solution for our southern board. His administration has

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Speaker 1: been completely hijacked by the radical el. Some Republicans want

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Speaker 1: Medicare and so security Sunset. I'm not saying it's a

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Speaker 1: majority of Bloomberg Sound On Politics, Policy and perspective from

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Speaker 1: DC's top name. I spend my time delivering results for

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Speaker 1: the people of Florida. I don't spend my time trying

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Speaker 1: to smear other Republicans. Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew

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Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio. So is that the new normal? Welcome

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Speaker 1: to the fastest hour in politics, the day after the

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Speaker 1: most unrestrained state of the Union in modern history. Will

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Speaker 1: bring you through the issues in the president's own words,

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Speaker 1: and we'll hear reaction from a number of Republicans, including

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Speaker 1: our conversation today with former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who

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Speaker 1: is considering a run himself for the Republican nomination. Later,

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Speaker 1: we'll dig into the speechcraft with Democratic strategist Jim Assina,

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Speaker 1: former Deputy White House Chief of Staff, former campaign manager

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Speaker 1: for President Obama, and analysis from our signature panel. Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Politics contributors Jeanie Schanzano and Rick Davis are with us.

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Speaker 1: So the speech ran over an hour, and it covered

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Speaker 1: a lot of ground. Because the soul of this nation

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Speaker 1: is strong, because the backbook and the backbone of this

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Speaker 1: nation is strong. Because the people of this nation are strong.

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Speaker 1: The State of the Union is strong. The line at

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Speaker 1: last from President Biden last night, what was his first

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Speaker 1: official State of the Union address, which featured open sparring

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Speaker 1: with Republicans in the House. Instead of making a wealthy

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Speaker 1: pay their fair share, some Republicans. Some Republicans want medicare

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Speaker 1: and so security sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority

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Speaker 1: of Remember the Rick Scott planned we talked about you.

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Speaker 1: Anybody contact my office, I'll give you a copy. I'll

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Speaker 1: give you a copy of the proposal. Doesn't vote, well,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad to see you now. I'll tell you I

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Speaker 1: enjoyed conversion. Well, just to taste there. As the President

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Speaker 1: referred to the Rick Scott proposals as sunset entitlement programs,

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Speaker 1: We're gonna walk through a few of the most important

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Speaker 1: issues that motivated the president's critics and his supporters. With

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Speaker 1: someone who understands how this town works and also understands

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Speaker 1: the view from heartland Republicans. That would be Asa Hutchinson,

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Speaker 1: the former governor of Arkansas, is with us, former congressman,

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Speaker 1: former director of the d e A in our Washington studios. Governor,

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Speaker 1: welcome back to Bloomberg. It's great to see you. It's

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Speaker 1: always good to be with you. I appreciate your being here.

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Speaker 1: You know, Joe Biden, what did you think of his

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Speaker 1: approach last night? Well, I thought he really started off

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Speaker 1: with a warm greeting. I think it was really good

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Speaker 1: of him to recognize and congratulate the new Republican control

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Speaker 1: of Congress and Speaker McCarthy. So I thought those were

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Speaker 1: really good touches. Uh. You know, this is an important

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Speaker 1: occasion whenever you bring the executive legislative branch and actually

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Speaker 1: the judiciary that's represented there. Uh, it's an incredibly important

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Speaker 1: exercise for our democracy, and it's a good opportunity for

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Speaker 1: the president and President Biden took full advantage of that

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Speaker 1: when he had the bully pulpit, and he used it

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Speaker 1: and it was I think somewhat of a campaign speech.

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Speaker 1: But that's okay. Uh. Now, there's plenty that I disagree

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Speaker 1: with the Republicans disagree with. It did sound a little

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Speaker 1: bit like parliament in that exchange, yelling back and forth.

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Speaker 1: I was actually watching on TV and it seemed muted

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Speaker 1: at the time, But as you play it, you see

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Speaker 1: a little bit more of the vigorousness protests. Yeah. Look,

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Speaker 1: you've been in that room before. Things have changed a

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Speaker 1: lot in the last decade since Joe Wilson. Whenever the

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Speaker 1: line was uh, and you do wonder where is the

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Speaker 1: line now? If there is one governor, I feel like

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Speaker 1: I have a sense of what your answer is going

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Speaker 1: to be when it comes to decorum in an environment

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Speaker 1: like that, did did Republicans do themselves a disservice yelling liars?

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Speaker 1: I mean, at a certain point it it sounded like

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Speaker 1: a game show in there. Yeah, it's wrong. I mean,

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Speaker 1: whether you agree or disagree with policy, he's a president

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Speaker 1: United States. You show respect to the office, you show

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Speaker 1: respect to the Institution of Congress. And no, that is very,

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Speaker 1: very disappointing. And we've seen that somewhat on both sides.

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Speaker 1: Uh uh and it gets intense. But no, that's that's

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Speaker 1: not respectful, it's not helpful. It's not bringing our country together.

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Speaker 1: And there's ways to express disagreement other than the shouting

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Speaker 1: and uh the back and forth. Can you put the

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Speaker 1: genie back in the bottle there? Or is this what

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Speaker 1: we see every year? You know, the politics has a

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Speaker 1: certain trajectory and we're in a tough spot right now

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Speaker 1: when it comes to getting along. Uh, it's hard to know.

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Speaker 1: I think it's worth trying. I believe that we need

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Speaker 1: more civil discord us uh. And it starts with leadership.

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Speaker 1: You can't expect the base of the party left and

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Speaker 1: right to be less angry if our leaders appeal to

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Speaker 1: that anger. And so it starts with leadership. And uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I I think that Speaker McCarthy did a

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Speaker 1: good job last night. Whenever you saw some uh yelling

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Speaker 1: out in the aisles, he's frustrated parents Yeah, stop stocks stop,

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Speaker 1: you know know, and he had told him advanced or

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Speaker 1: we want to be respectful on this. This is an

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Speaker 1: opportunity to to listen and we fight later on the principles.

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Speaker 1: But uh, so I hope that we as a country

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Speaker 1: can come together more can be more engaged with problem

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Speaker 1: solving rather than creating chaos. And it starts with leadership.

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Speaker 1: We always expect, well, you know America's divided, Well, you

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Speaker 1: know we are divided. I did. But leaders have to

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Speaker 1: try to bring people together, particularly on key issues. And

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Speaker 1: that's where I think it's responsibility of a president to

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Speaker 1: try to appeal to the best instincts of America and

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Speaker 1: not our worst instincts. And that's hard sometime an environment

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Speaker 1: where it is so harsh, uh, so angry, and and

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Speaker 1: so much uh back and forth. But that's leadership and responsible,

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Speaker 1: not just the presidential level, but really at the governor's

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Speaker 1: levels and Congress. We all need to lead and set

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Speaker 1: that example. Well, I left to drill down on a

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Speaker 1: couple of issues, but but first your reaction to h

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Speaker 1: to the response your successor, The now governor of Arkansas,

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Speaker 1: Sarah Huckaby Sanders, spoke after the president. Here's a taste

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Speaker 1: of that. Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or simply

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Speaker 1: too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely

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Speaker 1: hijacked by the radical left. The dividing line in America

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Speaker 1: is no longer between bright or left. The choice is

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Speaker 1: between normal or crazy. It's time for a new generation

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Speaker 1: of Republican leadership. Governor, what did you make of the

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Speaker 1: words chosen there? She clearly was comfortable, she was at home,

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Speaker 1: she delivered the message. Uh. Some thought it had a

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Speaker 1: pretty dark edge. Well, she's an effective communicator, and she

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Speaker 1: communicated in a message to uh the voters that uh

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Speaker 1: what she felt in her heart that the culture has

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Speaker 1: gone too far uh to the left, too radical agenda,

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Speaker 1: and this administration is supporting that. And there is a

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Speaker 1: basis to raise that claim. Whatever they're passing rules the

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Speaker 1: Department of Labor to uh, you know, allow companies to

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Speaker 1: use social uh factors in determining the right investments of

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Speaker 1: retirement funds. So that's just one example. But I think

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Speaker 1: she's expressing the frustrations of a lot of Middle America

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Speaker 1: as she articular aided her message. But also she she

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Speaker 1: just simply said, it's not about pro government solutions, big

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Speaker 1: government solutions, you know, it's more about freedom and how

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Speaker 1: we can come out of this together. So it was

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Speaker 1: a message that was certainly conservative, It was to the

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Speaker 1: Republican base and made her case very effectively. Well, you're

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Speaker 1: you're also the governor of Arkansas who vetoed the bill

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Speaker 1: to restrict to restrict medical procedures and other care for

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Speaker 1: trans youth. I bring that up because some saw this

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Speaker 1: as exclusive to an extent where I get a sense

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Speaker 1: that you have tried to promote the bigger tent philosophy

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Speaker 1: of the Republican Party. Are you at odds at all

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Speaker 1: with that message from last night? Well, I mean, first

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Speaker 1: and am am I being accurate there? And well there's

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Speaker 1: two ankers to questions. Whenever you look at the message

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Speaker 1: last night. I'm an agreement. Uh. You know, I think

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Speaker 1: that we uh should rightfully, Americans are concerned about our

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Speaker 1: culture and UH. To me, you fight for your cultural

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Speaker 1: values through your community, through your families, through your churches

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Speaker 1: and synagogues, uh, and through parental involvement in schools. The

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Speaker 1: response is not always, well, I disagree with a cultural

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Speaker 1: issue here, so let's pass a law and use a

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Speaker 1: federal mandate. And uh. And I think that that's where

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Speaker 1: I come down. That we as a conservatives, so we

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Speaker 1: should limit the size the government. We should limit the

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Speaker 1: role of government in our lives. And that applies both

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Speaker 1: to the left and right. And so that's a way

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Speaker 1: you approach how we consider our culture and and how

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Speaker 1: you want to fight for the values that are important

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Speaker 1: to you. Uh. In terms of of where we are

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Speaker 1: as a party and the Republican base, I think that

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Speaker 1: people are are tired of the back and forth. They're

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Speaker 1: tired of chaos. They want to have problem solving leadership

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Speaker 1: that's conservative but also looks to the needs of Americans

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Speaker 1: and say, this is a problem, let's look for a solution,

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Speaker 1: and if we can work together, that's terrific. It's widely

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Speaker 1: known that you're considering a run for president. You've suggested

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Speaker 1: you might decide by April. UH. I know that there's

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Speaker 1: a window here for these deliberations. How will you make

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Speaker 1: up your mind based on what you just said about

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Speaker 1: appealing to a national audience in this political climate, what

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Speaker 1: are the factors for you? Well, I'm about a consistent

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Speaker 1: conservative message and solving problems, and so that's why I'm

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Speaker 1: going to go to Tucson in two weeks. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to have a Border Solutions UH summit there where we're

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Speaker 1: gonna be looking at solutions for what I believe is

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Speaker 1: one of the great challenges that we face in America.

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Speaker 1: An immigration system that's broke, a border that's not protected

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Speaker 1: and fitting all coming in. So it's solution oriented. It's

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Speaker 1: a conservative message, but it's also about leaders that bring

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Speaker 1: out the best of America. Uh, And that to me

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Speaker 1: is what a president, what governor should do is not

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Speaker 1: the appeal to our worst instincts, but appeal to the

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Speaker 1: best of America. That's what great leaders do. And so

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Speaker 1: that's a message that's important to me. Yes, there's a

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Speaker 1: question as to whether that's the right message for our

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Speaker 1: country at this time my senses, yes, But that's what

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Speaker 1: I'm working on as I traveled to Iowa next week

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Speaker 1: to Tucsa on the later on and I want to

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Speaker 1: see what that response is. It sure sounds like you're

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Speaker 1: running governor. How do you beat Donald Trump, who trends

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Speaker 1: who wants to own the border issue. Well, I think

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Speaker 1: he sort of beats himself. Uh. You know, you look

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Speaker 1: at what happened on January six and what how he's

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Speaker 1: conducted himself even since he lost the election. And it's

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Speaker 1: not bringing out the best of America, not bringing out

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Speaker 1: the best of our democracy. It's appealing to our worst instincts.

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Speaker 1: And so I see his support and diminishing over time. Uh,

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Speaker 1: it's up to candidates, those who might run, to make

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Speaker 1: the case that we have good ideas, but we also

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Speaker 1: can do a better job of meeting the needs of

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Speaker 1: Americans across the board and uniting our country. So, uh,

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Speaker 1: that's a test that remains to be seen. But I

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Speaker 1: think it's important that we offer leadership that not only

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Speaker 1: is the right direction for America. That's a counter to

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Speaker 1: what we heard last night with President Biden, but it's

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Speaker 1: also a course course correction for the Republican Party, and

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Speaker 1: I believe that we need that. Think about Joe Biden

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Speaker 1: at the Speaker's rosterm last night, what that experience was.

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Speaker 1: You think about being on a debate stage with Donald Trump,

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Speaker 1: governor who wants any part of this business. It's hard.

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Speaker 1: It is hard. I think about the family and what

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Speaker 1: people have to go through, and it really demands too much.

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Speaker 1: But uh, you think also about the sacrifice have made

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Speaker 1: for our country. So those are minimal. It's certainly a

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Speaker 1: and has been good to me, And uh, I do

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Speaker 1: believe that when you're in a time of adjustment, uh,

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Speaker 1: course correction, if you've got something to offer, you all

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Speaker 1: to be in the game. We're spending time with the

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Speaker 1: former governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson. You mentioned the border.

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Speaker 1: You're on your way to Tucson. Uh. There's been enormous

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Speaker 1: criticism against Joe Biden. Every Republican and I talked to

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Speaker 1: you last night blamed him for the fentinal crisis in

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Speaker 1: this country, for supporting what they referred to as open borders.

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Speaker 1: You're the former director of the d e A. Can

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Speaker 1: I ask you just philosophically here when we consider the

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Speaker 1: experience we had in the nineteen eighties with drug enforcement,

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Speaker 1: the hunger for drugs in this country is undeniable. If

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Speaker 1: you shut down the Mexican border, that fentinyal would come

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Speaker 1: in from somewhere else, wouldn't it from China, from somewhere else?

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Speaker 1: How do you stop this problem when it's a demand

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Speaker 1: issue just as well as a security issue. Well, you're

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Speaker 1: absolutely right, and the answer is that whenever you have

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Speaker 1: have to do more to secure the border, but you

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Speaker 1: also have to do more to reduce the demand in

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Speaker 1: our country. And fentnol is exploded across the board. There's

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Speaker 1: a huge education effort that's now ongoing, but we're a

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Speaker 1: little bit late in that. Uh. And so not only

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Speaker 1: do we have to do the education side, but also

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Speaker 1: the investment in addiction counseling and trying to pull people

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Speaker 1: out of the addiction cycle that they're in because it

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Speaker 1: leads to death. Uh. And so you've got to do

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Speaker 1: all of that. Now. Last night was a real opening

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Speaker 1: because the President said, Uh, if you don't give me

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Speaker 1: immigration reform, give me the resources. And that is a

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Speaker 1: real opportunity for the Republican Congress to come in and say,

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Speaker 1: let's put more in our border patrol and in technology

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Speaker 1: to protect the border. Let's invest in that because the

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Speaker 1: President said he would support that, and so there's an

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Speaker 1: opportunity there. Comprehensive immigration reform is going to have to

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Speaker 1: wait till we secure that border. But we are a

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Speaker 1: land of immigrants, and that's an important part of the

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Speaker 1: message as well. We want to have that legal flow,

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Speaker 1: we want to have that energy in our society and

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Speaker 1: and the fabric that makes up our democracy. That's immigrants

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Speaker 1: are such an important part of There's a lot to

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Speaker 1: talk about there and I'm sure that you'll expand upon it.

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Speaker 1: In Tucson. That's an event that will I'm sure be

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Speaker 1: covering here. Governor, Thank you for coming to see us

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Speaker 1: when you make this announcement, when you make this decision,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to the conversation because we want to

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Speaker 1: follow you, of course on the trail here in this

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Speaker 1: important election cycle. Thanks for coming to join us here

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Speaker 1: in Washington. Look forward to being back. Thank you, Asa

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Speaker 1: Hutchinson with us, the former governor on the fastest hour

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Speaker 1: in politics. You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound On podcast.

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Speaker 1: Catch the program live weekdays at five pm Easter on

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio, the tune in app, Bloomberg dot Com, and

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Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business App. You can also listen love on

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Speaker 1: Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station Just Say

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Speaker 1: Alexa playing Bloomberg eleven Turkey, Bloomberg Intelligence reporting the US

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Speaker 1: debt ceiling, editors fraught stage. The headline Biden's address heightens

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Speaker 1: tension on debt ceiling spending cuts. So did it get

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Speaker 1: worse last night? That's where things seemed to turn in

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Speaker 1: the room when he got to the debt ceiling right,

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Speaker 1: and he started referring to Trump. He started talking about

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Speaker 1: sunsetting social Security, and that's when, of course he started

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Speaker 1: here in the heckling and the booing. Karine John Pierre,

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Speaker 1: the Press secretary, that they said the President called them

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Speaker 1: out when night was the President called out members right

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Speaker 1: as we're talking about Jerry and how they were responding.

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Speaker 1: He called out members out on live television in front

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Speaker 1: of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense.

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Speaker 1: That's what we did. That's what the President did, is

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Speaker 1: put them on the defense. We assembled our panel now

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Speaker 1: the day after Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeanie

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Speaker 1: Schanzano Shrilly Bleary from a late night here in Washington. Genie,

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Speaker 1: is this true? Did he actually make things more complicated

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Speaker 1: with the speech last night? You know, I don't think

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Speaker 1: he made it more complicated. I don't think it changes

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Speaker 1: the reality that this is going to be a fight

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Speaker 1: that goes down to June July when they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: to come to an agreement. But I do think the

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Speaker 1: reality is is that the Republicans have long been saying that,

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Speaker 1: you know, on the one hand, you hear from the

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Speaker 1: majority from sorry from the speaker, that you know, medicare

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Speaker 1: so security off the table, and there have been some

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Speaker 1: Republicans which was the President's point. Who have said that

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Speaker 1: that's not the case. He was trying to make that point,

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Speaker 1: and that's what set them off into this firestorm because

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Speaker 1: I believe that the Republicans in the House sink. Their position,

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Speaker 1: by and large is that it's off the table. Um.

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Speaker 1: If it's off the table, it shouldn't be much of

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Speaker 1: an issue, and the screaming makes you think that maybe

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Speaker 1: there is some difference in opinion there. Well, Look, Republicans

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Speaker 1: were offended. Rick. I don't know if you were as

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Speaker 1: a Republican, but bringing out the Rick Scott pamphlet, uh

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Speaker 1: didn't seem to work very well last night. Is this

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Speaker 1: going to create an additional trust issue between Kevin McCarthy

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Speaker 1: and Joe Biden? Up until that point in time, the

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Speaker 1: speech was going swimmingly, and there was a really generous

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Speaker 1: and and a very civil welcome to the President, which

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Speaker 1: I don't think anybody would have predicted going in. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: Speaker McCarthy was telling his caucus, Hey, I want civility

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Speaker 1: and the chamber when the president's there. But like the

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Speaker 1: President bated the chamber, bated the Republicans and and tried

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Speaker 1: to make it sound like the Republican Party was looking

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Speaker 1: to sunset social Security, and the reality is there's a

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Speaker 1: small faction of people who have absolutely no ability to

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Speaker 1: make that the policy of the party. Have been decried

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Speaker 1: by every leader within the party, and and I didn't

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Speaker 1: really see why that was necessary to to create that

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Speaker 1: kind of bait. Ultimately, it did disrupt the chamber significantly,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think that's appropriate. But uh, but then

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Speaker 1: when Joe by and said, well, you know, look, uh,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad now that we've got an agreement that nobody's

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Speaker 1: gonna touch so Security, it kind of like that was

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Speaker 1: what the Republicans wanted to hear. That's like gonna be

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Speaker 1: in every single re election commercial. You know that Joe

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Speaker 1: Biden agrees with the Republicans that we shouldn't be touching

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Speaker 1: social Security. So, honestly, don't know what they got out

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Speaker 1: of it. He's talking about it again today, so clearly

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Speaker 1: it's part of his political message. Um, but I thought

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Speaker 1: it backfired on when he got off script he's talking

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Speaker 1: about it. Of course, the road show begins. Jeannie listened

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Speaker 1: to President Biden the day after in Wisconsin. We've had

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Speaker 1: a spirited debate last night with my Republican friend, My

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Speaker 1: Republican friends, they seem shocked when I raised the plans

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Speaker 1: of some of their members and their caucus to cut

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Speaker 1: Social Security and Marjorie Taylor Grid and others. Two happens.

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Speaker 1: It a liar liar, minds me of a liar liar

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Speaker 1: house on fire. He pulled out the Rick's Got pamphlet again,

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Speaker 1: liar liar, pass on fire. Uh, Genie, you're naming Marjorie

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Speaker 1: Taylor Green. Uh. To Rick's point, is he baiting? Is

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Speaker 1: he encouraging this kind of behavior? Yeah? The reality is

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Speaker 1: he's baiting because this is what the base wants to hear.

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Speaker 1: They want to know that he has the energy and

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Speaker 1: the vigor if he's going to run again. This is

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Speaker 1: absolutely what it is to go toe to toe with

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump and the Republicans. That's how he won in

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Speaker 1: twenty That's how they did well in two. And they

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Speaker 1: are not gonna be satisfied with a candidate, even if

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Speaker 1: it's an incumbent president who can't, who doesn't have the

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Speaker 1: vigor to do that. And I would say, you know,

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Speaker 1: he was baiting McCarthy even prior. You know, Rick and

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Speaker 1: I were sitting there, you were on the Hill, we

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Speaker 1: were all watching. What's the first thing he said? When

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Speaker 1: he handed him copy of the speech, he turned around

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Speaker 1: and said, I don't want to ruin your ritation, but

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Speaker 1: I look forward to working with you. That is part

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Speaker 1: of the White Houses and the administration in the can

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Speaker 1: paints efforts to try to keep pointing to the fact

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Speaker 1: that McCarthy has a very tenuous hold on this Republican

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Speaker 1: House and that they are trying to keep inserting a wedge.

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Speaker 1: The constant references to Marjorie Taylor Green, you know, the

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Speaker 1: crazy lady in the fur coat with the balloon and

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Speaker 1: everything else. That's what we're going to hear. A prey

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Speaker 1: ski was the was the look last night, um Rick?

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Speaker 1: Was that the beginning of the goating, you know, turning

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Speaker 1: around shaking Kevin McCarthy's hand just to to get the

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Speaker 1: attention of the never Kevin's Or are we making too

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Speaker 1: much of that now? I think we're making too much

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Speaker 1: of that. I mean, that is a well worn Biden phrase.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know we can trot that out almost

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Speaker 1: all the time. Make no mistake another great one, he

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Speaker 1: used constantly. Let me say it again, how many times

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Speaker 1: we have to hear that don't say it again. Let's

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Speaker 1: finish the job. I think was so I don't read

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Speaker 1: much into that. And and honestly, I look at the

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Speaker 1: meeting the two of them had earlier in the month,

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Speaker 1: you know, to actually talk about the dead ceiling, which

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Speaker 1: actually didn't get much attention last night that I would

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Speaker 1: have thought it had um And it was very civil

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Speaker 1: and very welcoming and very gracious after all the sort

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Speaker 1: of you know, pushing and shoving in advance of it.

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Speaker 1: And so, look, I think this is a Congress he

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Speaker 1: can get business done with. There were a number of

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Speaker 1: very good bipartisan opportunities within the speech. I just don't

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Speaker 1: understand on the issue of soil security Medicare, when he

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Speaker 1: knows that there's going to be no effort in Congress

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Speaker 1: to do anything about it, why he would bring that

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Speaker 1: up in the way he did. He could have easily said,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad we all agree that we're not going to

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Speaker 1: touch it. You know, it's in the lock box, is

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Speaker 1: what the old phrase used to be. And and he didn't.

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Speaker 1: He took the opportunity to try and bait the crowd,

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Speaker 1: and and they knew what they were going to get into.

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Speaker 1: They were looking for those screams. They were hoping that

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Speaker 1: the Republicans would take them on, because that undermines and

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Speaker 1: puts Kevin McCarthy on the defensive because they know Kevin

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Speaker 1: McCarthy wanted a civil discourse. So I mean, like, you

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Speaker 1: can really make this anyway you want it. The bottom

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Speaker 1: line is, it is what we're talking about, not all

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Speaker 1: the programs, right. I mean, so it's distracting, I think

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Speaker 1: to their message. Uh and unless that indeed is the message,

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Speaker 1: which I'm ready to go fight Republicans, and that's certainly

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Speaker 1: a campaign theme. But uh, and maybe Jennie's right that

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Speaker 1: that's what they were really trying to get out of this.

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Speaker 1: It's just the idea that he's ready for a fight.

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Speaker 1: I spoke after the speech. By the way, one of

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Speaker 1: the other topics that got a lot of jeering that

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Speaker 1: got people were chanting border. There was some booing, Uh

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Speaker 1: was was border security immigration, border security reform, immigration reform,

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Speaker 1: which the President brought up and and and you heard

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Speaker 1: Asa Hutchinson talking earlier, former director of the d e

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Speaker 1: A about the federal crisis. I heard just about every

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Speaker 1: Republican in stat Hall brought this up, including Congressman Andy

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Speaker 1: Ogle's Republican from Tennessee, who was one of those new

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Speaker 1: members who decided to shout out at the president last night.

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Speaker 1: He told us flat out, he said, I said, it's

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Speaker 1: your fault, was what he yelled in the House chamber.

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Speaker 1: Here he is in stat Hall after the speech talking

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Speaker 1: with us. I was taken aback, quite frankly offended when

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Speaker 1: he talked about his solution for our southern border. You know,

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Speaker 1: the finnel that's flowing into this country is his fault.

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Speaker 1: The fact that every town in America is now a

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00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:11,439
Speaker 1: border town is his fault. The women and children they

430
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,280
Speaker 1: try to cross our border or sexually assaulted, that's his fault. Genie.

431
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 1: Among the issues last night that seemed to get some

432
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 1: bipartisan embrace, police reform, cracking down on big tech, any trust,

433
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 1: the border not so much. Well, that's right. It was

434
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 1: almost as divisive as the debt ceiling and the issue

435
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 1: of social security and Medicare. And you know, this is

436
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 1: a winning issue for the Democrats. It has been one

437
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: that has Obviously, we have a crisis at the border.

438
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 1: We've had one for a long time, goes back decades.

439
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,840
Speaker 1: The reality is this is no you know, no more

440
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,280
Speaker 1: Joe Biden's fault than the deficit is his fault alone.

441
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,680
Speaker 1: It goes back decades. That said, he is the president,

442
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 1: and we do have a problem at the border, and

443
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 1: they have not been able to push through even a

444
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 1: Democratic Congress that they had for a little period of time,

445
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: and immigrant aation reform policy, and we don't suspect we'll

446
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: get one. But you can also call out the Republicans

447
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 1: who don't seem anxious to get one either, but who

448
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,240
Speaker 1: are more content on using this as a wedge issue

449
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 1: in the election, and it is a winning one because again,

450
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 1: there is a crisis, there is a problem. Rick and

451
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,760
Speaker 1: Genie are with us for the hours we pick up

452
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,120
Speaker 1: the pieces on the State of the Union address from

453
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,199
Speaker 1: last evening, and I want to add another voice of

454
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,159
Speaker 1: experience here. We spoke exactly one week ago, as a

455
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: week before the address on crafting the speech. That was

456
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, the CEO of Messina Group, was former deputy

457
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 1: chief of staff President Obama, was the campaign manager for

458
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,919
Speaker 1: Obama's reelect in a week later, and of course the

459
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 1: day after we review what we saw and heard here.

460
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, welcome back to Bloomberg. My pleasure, Thanks for

461
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,439
Speaker 1: having me. So we talked in advance of the speech

462
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,320
Speaker 1: about the craftsmanship that goes into this and some of

463
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: the rituals at the White House. I've just got to

464
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,159
Speaker 1: start with last night. Is this the new normal for

465
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 1: the State of the Union? An interactive speech that includes

466
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 1: hecklers and booing along with the standing ovations? Gosh, I

467
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,480
Speaker 1: hope not. I mean, I don't think it was a

468
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:10,639
Speaker 1: proud moment last night for members of Congress yelling at

469
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: their president. Um. So, I hope this is not the

470
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: new normal. Well. President Biden seemed to almost enjoy it.

471
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 1: How important is that ability to kind of be able

472
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,480
Speaker 1: to manage whatever is being thrown at you when you're

473
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 1: standing up there and the speaker's ROSTERM did he succeed

474
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 1: in that way? Um? I think he didn't. You know,

475
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,679
Speaker 1: It's interesting. My reaction to it was he kind of

476
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: seemed like a happy warrior. He seemed a little Reagan

477
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: esque um in that, like, you know, the smile on

478
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,640
Speaker 1: his face, but happy to give it a little too uh.

479
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: And I thought that was a new side of Joe Biden.

480
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 1: That was new And I think, you know, pretty positive.

481
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 1: The overnight focus groups look pretty good. Yeah, That's why

482
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,120
Speaker 1: I wonder though, if you if you see that back

483
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,640
Speaker 1: and forth, if I can call it that, you might

484
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: call it disrespect as something that might have actually been

485
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 1: a positive exercise for people to watch this. Or was

486
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: it flat rude? Um? Well, just with an American I

487
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 1: think it was rude. But I do think that Biden

488
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:08,400
Speaker 1: handled it pretty well, um and kind of came out

489
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 1: on top that said. If you're just a normal voter,

490
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 1: and Joe, you and I've talked about this in the past,

491
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,880
Speaker 1: the average voter thinks about politics four minutes a week,

492
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: and I think they look at that food fight and

493
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: are not impressed with their members of Congress, And I

494
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,399
Speaker 1: think in general it's not great. That said, counterpunching is

495
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: an absolute crucial sport in American politics, and Biden proved

496
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,760
Speaker 1: last night he can CounterPunch. What way to make a living?

497
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 1: The President congratulated Kevin McCarthy on his speakership at the

498
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: very beginning of the speech. He congratulated him and turned

499
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: in the speaker's rost him to shake his hand. Was

500
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 1: that part of the strategy to rattle the the never

501
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 1: Kevin portion of the House Republican Caucus, or was it

502
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 1: simply the right thing to do. It was simply the

503
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: right thing to do. I think Joe Biden has always

504
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,480
Speaker 1: been the guy who wants to reach out across party lines.

505
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: When I was Obama's the deputy White House chief of staff,

506
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: you know, we would take Biden and aut Obama to

507
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: the Hill to negotiate with the Republicans because he was

508
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,600
Speaker 1: so well thought of, and this is his natural terrain.

509
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,439
Speaker 1: He you know, likes that kind of thing. He understands it,

510
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 1: and I think it's it was in his wheelhouse. And

511
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: I think, as you and I were talking earlier, this

512
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,120
Speaker 1: is the respect that American voters want. They want their

513
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 1: elected officials to work together. They're sick of the food fights.

514
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: The speech lasted over an hour, Jim, How well was

515
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: it crafted? Uh? We we for instance, had to wait

516
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,440
Speaker 1: till the end. Towards the end, at least for geopolitics,

517
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 1: there was more of the economic sort of victory lap

518
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 1: up at the top. How was the architecture of this

519
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: speech and how well was the time spent? I think

520
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,240
Speaker 1: it was really well spent, because you heard me say

521
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 1: this over and over and over. But American elections or

522
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: economic elections, and so it is Biden's job one to

523
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: get the economic messaging right, and focusing on that is

524
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,240
Speaker 1: absolutely a political imperative. But it's also back again to

525
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: these swing voters and these normal humans who are out

526
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: there watching this. They want to hear that stuff. They

527
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,000
Speaker 1: want to hear him say this is how we're going

528
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: to get out of this tough economic time. This is

529
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 1: why inflation is getting better, and here's why. And so

530
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 1: that was absolutely imperative, and I give the administration real

531
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 1: credit for sticking onto it and not taking the bait

532
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: and spending their time talking about Chinese balloons. Never mentioned

533
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,760
Speaker 1: the word balloon. Was that the right call? It was

534
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 1: the right call? Like, that's a side show. Um, It's

535
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: an interesting side show that you and I were obsessed with,

536
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: but it's a side that doesn't affect normal humans lives

537
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 1: over an hour? Did you push it too long? You

538
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: mentioned people talk about politics or think about it for

539
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: four minutes a week. He asked for more than an

540
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: hour of their time last night. He did. But remember

541
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 1: that the normal humans who see this are mostly getting

542
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: their reactions from from news outlets like you, Um, and

543
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: you're gonna distill it into the moments that matter. I

544
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: think he had some real work to do last night,

545
00:29:56,080 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 1: and it took a while to do some of that stuff. Um.

546
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 1: You know, I'm always for brevity because I think brevity

547
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 1: is always better. But that said, I think he used

548
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 1: his time well and did what he had to do.

549
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: Um what I've had a ten minutes shorter, sure, But

550
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 1: in the end, I don't think it was a terrible thing.

551
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: How about bipartisan promise here? And I don't mean to

552
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: be falsely optimistic, but there did seem to be some

553
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: moments last night. Police reform was one when Kevin McCarthy

554
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: chose to stand and applaud. There were others including antitrust,

555
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,040
Speaker 1: big tech for instance, where we saw, you know what,

556
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 1: there might be some paths it's actually clear legislation in

557
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 1: this new Republican lead house. Did you feel the same way?

558
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 1: I totally did. I think there's three pathways. Um. The

559
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 1: first is big tech, uh, and they're both parties want

560
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: to reiin in big Tech a little bit um for

561
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: different reasons, which is you and I can talk later

562
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 1: about whether or not they can actually get something past,

563
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: but both parties want to get something passed. The second

564
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: area is China. There's bipartisan consent is that we are

565
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,720
Speaker 1: in a global uh you know, competition with China, and

566
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: both parties want to work together, and there's you know,

567
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 1: bipartisanship on the very first vote of last a couple

568
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,480
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, when the Republicans took over the House

569
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 1: to create a special committee in China. UM, and then

570
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,720
Speaker 1: the police reform stuff. You know, I was very happy

571
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 1: to see Kevin McCarthy stand up and say that's someplace

572
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: he wants to work with the president. I think it's

573
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,720
Speaker 1: great smart to bring Tyree Nichols parents into the chamber

574
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,560
Speaker 1: for that moment. Then absolutely, and you know, this is

575
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 1: something that they came pretty close to, you know, getting

576
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 1: some bipartsit and census last year. Um, it didn't get there,

577
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: but this is someplace where you know, Republicans have like

578
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 1: no sort of game with African American voters and with

579
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: voters and cities right now. And McCarthy wants to stay

580
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 1: Speaker of the House, so getting something done on that

581
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 1: would be very helpful. And obviously African American voters are

582
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 1: the bedrock of the Democratic Party. So Joe Biden wants

583
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: to get something on here. Well, Jim Messina, you helped

584
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 1: to orchestrate the re election of Barack Obama. If you

585
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: were in charge in helping to re elect Joe Biden,

586
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: maybe you will be Uh, how do you play off

587
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,920
Speaker 1: that speech last night and knowing what the backdrop is

588
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: politically here with all the madness with China last week,

589
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 1: for instance, do you wait? Is there any rush to announce?

590
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 1: I think there is, Um, I would wait. You know,

591
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 1: Bush and Obama announced in April of the off year,

592
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 1: and I think it's worth waiting that long because I

593
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 1: think what he needs to now do is go sell

594
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: this to the American people. Last night was a good start,

595
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,000
Speaker 1: but as you know, he's on the road today. He's

596
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin, he goes to Florida after that, the first

597
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 1: or the vice presidents on the road. They're putting members

598
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,960
Speaker 1: of the cabinet out in twenty states. Um. You know,

599
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,240
Speaker 1: politics is repetition, and if there's anything you can kind

600
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 1: of criticize the administration for in the first two years,

601
00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: it's that they kind of got pulled off their economic

602
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 1: message and didn't continue to say it over and over

603
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,360
Speaker 1: and over. And I ran Obama's campaign, you know, he

604
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: would say to me, He's like, I'm so sick of

605
00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:08,680
Speaker 1: saying the same thing over and over, and I joke

606
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 1: with him, yep, and you get to do it tomorrow

607
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 1: in Ohio and you know, that's just what you do.

608
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 1: And they've got to continue to do that. They've got

609
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 1: to be looking at that ap pole, Jim. Thirty seven

610
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: percent last week and seven percent of Democrats say they

611
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:25,960
Speaker 1: would like for him to run again. How do they

612
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 1: get that number higher? Is it what you're saying? Yeah, absolutely,

613
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 1: and it's you know, it is being very clear on

614
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 1: what he wants to do with the second term, which

615
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 1: I think last night the job is not finished. He

616
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 1: said that twelve times, and I think that. I think

617
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,440
Speaker 1: that's absolutely the first step. And now it's going on

618
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,720
Speaker 1: the road and going straight at it. Jim Massina, the

619
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,920
Speaker 1: CEO of Messina Group, former deputy chief of staff for

620
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 1: President Obama, of course campaign manager for the reelection campaign.

621
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 1: It's great to have had your analysis around the speech. Jim.

622
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: We'd love to be in touch a lot more often

623
00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 1: in the year ahead. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

624
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us

625
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,840
Speaker 1: live week days at five eastern on Bloomberg dot com,

626
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app and the Bloomberg Business happen.

627
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:18,279
Speaker 1: We're listening on demand wherever you get your podcast. So

628
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,000
Speaker 1: President Biden did mention China last night. He just never

629
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,520
Speaker 1: used the word balloon. As we reassembled our panel, Rick

630
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,959
Speaker 1: Davis and Jennie Chanzano Bloomberg Politics contributors, Jim as Cina

631
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,320
Speaker 1: says it was smart Rick to not go there, not

632
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 1: not drilled down on the episode that was the Chinese

633
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 1: spy balloon, even as they're continuing to pull wreckage off

634
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 1: the floor of the ocean here. Uh, did he do

635
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,480
Speaker 1: enough on China though, this is, you know, the the

636
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:49,719
Speaker 1: great challenge to democracy over the next couple of decades.

637
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: Here we had an Air Force general recently predict war

638
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:56,920
Speaker 1: by it was. It was in the back end of

639
00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: the speech, back half of the speech, and he didn't

640
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 1: spend actually a lot time on it. Yeah. I thought

641
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 1: that the really strangeness of the speech was that it

642
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,880
Speaker 1: was all about domestic policy, um, very little about the

643
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,040
Speaker 1: rest of the world that we live in. And yet

644
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 1: these are the real, you know, challenging policies coming up,

645
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,000
Speaker 1: you know, in in in the future. So if he

646
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 1: wanted a futuristic discussion, you know, he didn't talk about much,

647
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:26,960
Speaker 1: the war in Ukraine, working on its first anniversary, amazing

648
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,280
Speaker 1: unity that he's created in in In, UH, in NATO,

649
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,920
Speaker 1: and the need to you know, bring the fight to

650
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,640
Speaker 1: more countries so that we can put more pressure on

651
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin. Didn't poke at him hardly at all. UH

652
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:42,879
Speaker 1: didn't even understand what he was saying about China in like,

653
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,319
Speaker 1: you know, who would want to be cheap um? Well,

654
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: most most of the dictators in the world wants to

655
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,720
Speaker 1: be UH would be the premier of China in a minute.

656
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,960
Speaker 1: So I just honestly didn't understand it. We've got trade

657
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,200
Speaker 1: and balances, We've got you know, infrastructure issues with China

658
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,480
Speaker 1: on a supply chain, We've got you know, human rights

659
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,279
Speaker 1: issues with China. We've got aggression in the South China.

660
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 1: See I mean, we're literally flying sorties over there and

661
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: running into Chinese. I mean, I won't even get into

662
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,600
Speaker 1: the balloon, which I believe was Marjorie Taylor's grain attempt

663
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 1: with her outfit is to be a balloon. Is that true?

664
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,879
Speaker 1: There are a lot of people who would she would

665
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: just float away. I don't understand. Let's get to that moment.

666
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 1: The thing is they tried to get some clever writing

667
00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: or at least, you know, an applause lining here. I

668
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: committed to work with China where we can advance American

669
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,239
Speaker 1: interests and benefit the world, but make no must take

670
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 1: about it. As we made clear last week, if China

671
00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 1: threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,

672
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 1: and we did. It was a little bit of an

673
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:43,799
Speaker 1: I roll for some Republicans. Their genie was that enough.

674
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,239
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think it was enough. And I

675
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,240
Speaker 1: was reminded during this speech about your conversation with Cody

676
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,239
Speaker 1: Keenan who served with Obama a speech writer you talked about,

677
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 1: I think yesterday, and he was making the case that

678
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,439
Speaker 1: as Obama got into his later year, into was later

679
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,279
Speaker 1: years of his administration, wasn't running again, he sort of

680
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,399
Speaker 1: was able to free himself and talk about things that

681
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,200
Speaker 1: he wanted to talk about. And I almost had this

682
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: sense hearing that that had Biden not been thinking about

683
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,839
Speaker 1: running for re election, we would have had a very

684
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,239
Speaker 1: different speech last night. It would have been a lot

685
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,760
Speaker 1: more focused on what he has told people like Maggie

686
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: Haberman and others is the most important issue of his administration,

687
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 1: which is the fight against Russia and Ukraine and the

688
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: confrontation with China, and I just kept imagining that this

689
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 1: would have been so different if he didn't feel sort

690
00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:35,760
Speaker 1: of shackled to the idea of running because by some estimations,

691
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,319
Speaker 1: Balloon gets fifteen words, China gets one eighty three. And

692
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,800
Speaker 1: as Rick can tell you, this thing went on really long,

693
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: so there was time to talk about it. And I'm

694
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 1: not trying to rub against Rick because I won the bet,

695
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,239
Speaker 1: but we all know I did um But you know

696
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:52,440
Speaker 1: that is the reality I think is it would have

697
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:57,080
Speaker 1: been a far more serious focus on China and frankly,

698
00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,200
Speaker 1: much more unifying because, as you just talked out with

699
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,399
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, that's something that Republicans and Democrats actually agree on. Well,

700
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 1: that's a good point as opposed to Ukraine. There's been

701
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:09,799
Speaker 1: a little bit of friction there, and I thought Rick

702
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,520
Speaker 1: that the President would would highlight this more, remembering it

703
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,919
Speaker 1: was the focus of the speech a year ago. He's

704
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:18,280
Speaker 1: got the Ukrainian ambassador to the US there in the gallery,

705
00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 1: also got to that very late. Didn't spend a lot

706
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,840
Speaker 1: of time trying to convince skeptics in the room that

707
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 1: we needed to continue to support this war effort. Yeah.

708
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't have it both ways. You can't

709
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: go out and say publicly all the time that the

710
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,880
Speaker 1: Republics are getting soft on Ukraine, which they are not.

711
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: But it's a device he's used and and and you know,

712
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,279
Speaker 1: and then at the same time not actually try to

713
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,319
Speaker 1: make the pitch for it. Um, we're spending billions and

714
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:47,040
Speaker 1: billions of dollars on this initiative, and there are issues

715
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 1: with accountability, but the reality is it is an area

716
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 1: that you have widespread unanimity on in Congress. And and

717
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,799
Speaker 1: and I'm surprised there wasn't you know, a call for

718
00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 1: more to do more, especially around uh, strengthening the the

719
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,759
Speaker 1: sanctions regime. Um. You know, a year ago he said

720
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,000
Speaker 1: he was going to bring all these oligarchs to the ground.

721
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:10,399
Speaker 1: He didn't do a victory lap on that. I thought

722
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 1: that was something that was going to be, you know,

723
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:14,319
Speaker 1: sort of the highlight of the speech a year going.

724
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,160
Speaker 1: Just left it all out this time. All right, we

725
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 1: have just a couple of minutes here in this portion

726
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:20,920
Speaker 1: of the program. I'd love to hear from both of

727
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,680
Speaker 1: you quickly on performance. Jennie, did he deliver the speech? Well,

728
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 1: there's been questions about kind of the quick pace, slowing

729
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: things down and starting to pay more attention to the crowd.

730
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 1: How was the execution? The execution was he did what

731
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,640
Speaker 1: he wanted to do, which he showed he was vigorous

732
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 1: and can confront the Republicans and seemed, to Messina's point,

733
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,279
Speaker 1: like he was enjoying it. That was a win for him.

734
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,239
Speaker 1: Was it the best speech we've ever heard? No, certainly not.

735
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 1: But he did the job he was setting out to do,

736
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 1: which is to prove he is the man for Democrats

737
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:50,719
Speaker 1: on the ground in twenty four or at least to

738
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: try to you know, stop the bleeding if you will

739
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,880
Speaker 1: that's going on in the polls. I think, well, you

740
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:56,640
Speaker 1: could do worse than happy Warrior, I think is how

741
00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 1: Jim Messina described him in the address last night, where

742
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: but I was fascinated by something you were talking about

743
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 1: earlier today on balance of power here on Bloomberg and

744
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 1: that that's the nod to applause. How did he do

745
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 1: actually executing the speech to get the most he could

746
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: out of the crowd in the room. Yeah, I thought

747
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 1: he did an exceptional job. You know, when talking about

748
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 1: you know, Bono and and Ruth Cohen and some of

749
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,280
Speaker 1: the others that he had in the the the balcony

750
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,040
Speaker 1: with um, with his with his wife first Lady Joe Biden,

751
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,040
Speaker 1: and and he would build this great story. He would

752
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:32,880
Speaker 1: talk about how it affected him personally to talk, you know,

753
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,759
Speaker 1: he interwove their stories with America. And then when he

754
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,680
Speaker 1: got to the punchline, everyone was already embracing it. And

755
00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:43,600
Speaker 1: so that was some of the most enthusiastic reactions, especially

756
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:47,720
Speaker 1: around police reform. And and I on a bipartisan basis,

757
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,359
Speaker 1: and I thought, that's the Joe Biden that's gonna hit

758
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:52,920
Speaker 1: it out of the ballpark. And then he kind of,

759
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,160
Speaker 1: you know, dimmed that light by getting into this you know,

760
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,000
Speaker 1: sort of second half of the speech, which was just

761
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,960
Speaker 1: a rundown of every lobbyist reeam in Washington, all the

762
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,840
Speaker 1: things that you chuck into these state of the unions

763
00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,520
Speaker 1: that make them actually nonsensical, you know, and just this

764
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 1: race a name, more and more policies, more and more

765
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:12,840
Speaker 1: things that frankly aren't probably ever going to see the

766
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,839
Speaker 1: light of day. When he pulls off the nod to

767
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:16,880
Speaker 1: applause or just the applause line, Genie, does do you

768
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 1: get the sense he was rehearsing this all weekend or

769
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,080
Speaker 1: this is just a good night for Uncle Joe. Oh,

770
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:24,399
Speaker 1: he was rehearsing it all weekend. I think it goes

771
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,879
Speaker 1: further back than the weekend. You know. I do give

772
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 1: the team credit, um, but something that we talked about

773
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,640
Speaker 1: last night, they left a lot of important things out

774
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 1: the Turkey Syria earthquake victims, a huge misstep I think

775
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:37,920
Speaker 1: on the part of his team not getting that in there.

776
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 1: Final thoughts from the panel straight ahead, this is Bloomberg.

777
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:47,319
Speaker 1: So George Santos showed up early try to get a

778
00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:50,920
Speaker 1: coveted aisle seat for the State of the Union, his

779
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:55,399
Speaker 1: first as an elected member of Congress. He pulled it off.

780
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:57,840
Speaker 1: He got it. He got a seat plight on the

781
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,920
Speaker 1: aisle so he would come face to face with Joe Biden.

782
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,040
Speaker 1: That part didn't work out so well, Actually none of

783
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:09,080
Speaker 1: it did. He never did come face to face with Biden,

784
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,560
Speaker 1: who found his way around him. But he did come

785
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 1: face to face with the senator from Utah, the former

786
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:20,280
Speaker 1: governor of Massachusetts, former standard bearer of the Republican Party,

787
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:27,400
Speaker 1: Mitt Romney, who has captured on video being very honest

788
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,680
Speaker 1: with Mr Santos. There were no microphones near them, But

789
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 1: it doesn't take a lot to read the lips. And

790
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 1: these were corroborated by reports on the floor. Quote, you

791
00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:43,480
Speaker 1: don't belong here, he said, you should be embarrassed. Some

792
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:45,640
Speaker 1: reports say he said a lot more than that, and

793
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,080
Speaker 1: I things I can't repeat on the air, but I

794
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,879
Speaker 1: can't speak to those quite the exchange on the floor.

795
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,000
Speaker 1: And so scores of reporters are waiting for Mitt Romney

796
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 1: as he comes off the house floor to find out, well,

797
00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,399
Speaker 1: what the heck did you say? That investigation be sitting

798
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,640
Speaker 1: in the back road and sank quiet instead of parading

799
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,040
Speaker 1: in front of the president and uh, and the people

800
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:12,799
Speaker 1: coming into the room, he says, he you know that

801
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 1: he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you've got

802
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,759
Speaker 1: an any when he had an A minus lying And

803
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,239
Speaker 1: what is saying you you graduated from college, you didn't

804
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:23,960
Speaker 1: even attend. And he shouldn't be in Congress and they're

805
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:26,000
Speaker 1: going to go through the process and hopefully get him out.

806
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 1: And uh, but he shouldn't be there. And if he

807
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,560
Speaker 1: had any shame at all, he wouldn't be there. Why

808
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,520
Speaker 1: did you make a point to say that though he

809
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 1: wouldn't I mean, it was kind of out of your weight.

810
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,399
Speaker 1: He was standing right there in the aisle, shaking hands

811
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,880
Speaker 1: with everybody. Did he respond to you, Uh, he may have.

812
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,239
Speaker 1: I didn't hear anything he said. He did seem like

813
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 1: he was responding. They're walking and talking as this happens.

814
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:49,280
Speaker 1: And George Santos making his way back to his office

815
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:51,759
Speaker 1: today after what must have been kind of a weird night. Well,

816
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,000
Speaker 1: he was greeted by reporters as well as he is

817
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:58,120
Speaker 1: every day, and he's very unhappy with Mitt rock The

818
00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:00,399
Speaker 1: first time in history that I've been told to shut

819
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:03,319
Speaker 1: up and go to the backroom, especially by people who

820
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,200
Speaker 1: come from a privileged background. Uh. And it's not going

821
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:07,839
Speaker 1: to be the last. And I'm never going to shut

822
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:09,040
Speaker 1: up and go to the back of the room. And

823
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,359
Speaker 1: I think it's reprehensible that the Senator would say such

824
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 1: a thing to me, and of the meaning way he said.

825
00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 1: It wasn't very Mormon of him. It wasn't very Mormon

826
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:19,080
Speaker 1: of him. And George Santos went on to tweet Hey,

827
00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:22,919
Speaker 1: Mitt Romney and tagged him just a reminder, you will

828
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:31,080
Speaker 1: never be president, Gene Chanzano when Rick Davis. This really

829
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,319
Speaker 1: has become the George Santos segment at the end of

830
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 1: every program Mitt Romney delivers for us today, what would

831
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,040
Speaker 1: possess Rick Mitt Romney to get involved in this one?

832
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 1: For a lot of these guys who really hold the

833
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:47,800
Speaker 1: Congress and reverence, think it's the highest form of public

834
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,040
Speaker 1: service that you can make, are offended that this pretender

835
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:54,839
Speaker 1: has made his way into the Chamber and is now

836
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:59,919
Speaker 1: using as a platform to uh, you know, basically turn

837
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,919
Speaker 1: it into a comedy show. I'm I'm highly confident. Mitt

838
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,600
Speaker 1: Romney looks at him with disdain because of the fact that,

839
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 1: you know, not only has he uh lied to get

840
00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,480
Speaker 1: his way into the Chamber, but he's not using the

841
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:19,360
Speaker 1: comedy of the Chamber at his greatest advantage to basically

842
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:24,800
Speaker 1: enhance his his his his, you know, sort of fame

843
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:27,279
Speaker 1: if you want to call it. That. Did someone need

844
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,359
Speaker 1: to say it? Genie and why the senator from Utah? Yeah,

845
00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:32,400
Speaker 1: it wasn't very Mormon, but it may have been more

846
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,279
Speaker 1: finish of Mitt Romney and he needed to say it.

847
00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:37,319
Speaker 1: And sick puppy is about as bad as it gets

848
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,920
Speaker 1: out of Senator Romney's mouth. Oh, don't start telling dog stories. God,

849
00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: not with Mitt Romney. Genie and Rick, thank you. What

850
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:48,840
Speaker 1: great analysis and smart conversation over the past twenty four hours.

851
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,960
Speaker 1: Thank you for your insights. Thanks to Asa Hutchinson and

852
00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,560
Speaker 1: Jim Messina. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg.