Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: We've had a spirited debate last night with my Republican fedor.
Speaker 1: I was taken aback, quite frankly offended when he talked
Speaker 1: about his solution for our southern board. His administration has
Speaker 1: been completely hijacked by the radical el. Some Republicans want
Speaker 1: Medicare and so security Sunset. I'm not saying it's a
Speaker 1: majority of Bloomberg Sound On Politics, Policy and perspective from
Speaker 1: DC's top name. I spend my time delivering results for
Speaker 1: the people of Florida. I don't spend my time trying
Speaker 1: to smear other Republicans. Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio. So is that the new normal? Welcome
Speaker 1: to the fastest hour in politics, the day after the
Speaker 1: most unrestrained state of the Union in modern history. Will
Speaker 1: bring you through the issues in the president's own words,
Speaker 1: and we'll hear reaction from a number of Republicans, including
Speaker 1: our conversation today with former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who
Speaker 1: is considering a run himself for the Republican nomination. Later,
Speaker 1: we'll dig into the speechcraft with Democratic strategist Jim Assina,
Speaker 1: former Deputy White House Chief of Staff, former campaign manager
Speaker 1: for President Obama, and analysis from our signature panel. Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Politics contributors Jeanie Schanzano and Rick Davis are with us.
Speaker 1: So the speech ran over an hour, and it covered
Speaker 1: a lot of ground. Because the soul of this nation
Speaker 1: is strong, because the backbook and the backbone of this
Speaker 1: nation is strong. Because the people of this nation are strong.
Speaker 1: The State of the Union is strong. The line at
Speaker 1: last from President Biden last night, what was his first
Speaker 1: official State of the Union address, which featured open sparring
Speaker 1: with Republicans in the House. Instead of making a wealthy
Speaker 1: pay their fair share, some Republicans. Some Republicans want medicare
Speaker 1: and so security sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority
Speaker 1: of Remember the Rick Scott planned we talked about you.
Speaker 1: Anybody contact my office, I'll give you a copy. I'll
Speaker 1: give you a copy of the proposal. Doesn't vote, well,
Speaker 1: I'm glad to see you now. I'll tell you I
Speaker 1: enjoyed conversion. Well, just to taste there. As the President
Speaker 1: referred to the Rick Scott proposals as sunset entitlement programs,
Speaker 1: We're gonna walk through a few of the most important
Speaker 1: issues that motivated the president's critics and his supporters. With
Speaker 1: someone who understands how this town works and also understands
Speaker 1: the view from heartland Republicans. That would be Asa Hutchinson,
Speaker 1: the former governor of Arkansas, is with us, former congressman,
Speaker 1: former director of the d e A in our Washington studios. Governor,
Speaker 1: welcome back to Bloomberg. It's great to see you. It's
Speaker 1: always good to be with you. I appreciate your being here.
Speaker 1: You know, Joe Biden, what did you think of his
Speaker 1: approach last night? Well, I thought he really started off
Speaker 1: with a warm greeting. I think it was really good
Speaker 1: of him to recognize and congratulate the new Republican control
Speaker 1: of Congress and Speaker McCarthy. So I thought those were
Speaker 1: really good touches. Uh. You know, this is an important
Speaker 1: occasion whenever you bring the executive legislative branch and actually
Speaker 1: the judiciary that's represented there. Uh, it's an incredibly important
Speaker 1: exercise for our democracy, and it's a good opportunity for
Speaker 1: the president and President Biden took full advantage of that
Speaker 1: when he had the bully pulpit, and he used it
Speaker 1: and it was I think somewhat of a campaign speech.
Speaker 1: But that's okay. Uh. Now, there's plenty that I disagree
Speaker 1: with the Republicans disagree with. It did sound a little
Speaker 1: bit like parliament in that exchange, yelling back and forth.
Speaker 1: I was actually watching on TV and it seemed muted
Speaker 1: at the time, But as you play it, you see
Speaker 1: a little bit more of the vigorousness protests. Yeah. Look,
Speaker 1: you've been in that room before. Things have changed a
Speaker 1: lot in the last decade since Joe Wilson. Whenever the
Speaker 1: line was uh, and you do wonder where is the
Speaker 1: line now? If there is one governor, I feel like
Speaker 1: I have a sense of what your answer is going
Speaker 1: to be when it comes to decorum in an environment
Speaker 1: like that, did did Republicans do themselves a disservice yelling liars?
Speaker 1: I mean, at a certain point it it sounded like
Speaker 1: a game show in there. Yeah, it's wrong. I mean,
Speaker 1: whether you agree or disagree with policy, he's a president
Speaker 1: United States. You show respect to the office, you show
Speaker 1: respect to the Institution of Congress. And no, that is very,
Speaker 1: very disappointing. And we've seen that somewhat on both sides.
Speaker 1: Uh uh and it gets intense. But no, that's that's
Speaker 1: not respectful, it's not helpful. It's not bringing our country together.
Speaker 1: And there's ways to express disagreement other than the shouting
Speaker 1: and uh the back and forth. Can you put the
Speaker 1: genie back in the bottle there? Or is this what
Speaker 1: we see every year? You know, the politics has a
Speaker 1: certain trajectory and we're in a tough spot right now
Speaker 1: when it comes to getting along. Uh, it's hard to know.
Speaker 1: I think it's worth trying. I believe that we need
Speaker 1: more civil discord us uh. And it starts with leadership.
Speaker 1: You can't expect the base of the party left and
Speaker 1: right to be less angry if our leaders appeal to
Speaker 1: that anger. And so it starts with leadership. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I I think that Speaker McCarthy did a
Speaker 1: good job last night. Whenever you saw some uh yelling
Speaker 1: out in the aisles, he's frustrated parents Yeah, stop stocks stop,
Speaker 1: you know know, and he had told him advanced or
Speaker 1: we want to be respectful on this. This is an
Speaker 1: opportunity to to listen and we fight later on the principles.
Speaker 1: But uh, so I hope that we as a country
Speaker 1: can come together more can be more engaged with problem
Speaker 1: solving rather than creating chaos. And it starts with leadership.
Speaker 1: We always expect, well, you know America's divided, Well, you
Speaker 1: know we are divided. I did. But leaders have to
Speaker 1: try to bring people together, particularly on key issues. And
Speaker 1: that's where I think it's responsibility of a president to
Speaker 1: try to appeal to the best instincts of America and
Speaker 1: not our worst instincts. And that's hard sometime an environment
Speaker 1: where it is so harsh, uh, so angry, and and
Speaker 1: so much uh back and forth. But that's leadership and responsible,
Speaker 1: not just the presidential level, but really at the governor's
Speaker 1: levels and Congress. We all need to lead and set
Speaker 1: that example. Well, I left to drill down on a
Speaker 1: couple of issues, but but first your reaction to h
Speaker 1: to the response your successor, The now governor of Arkansas,
Speaker 1: Sarah Huckaby Sanders, spoke after the president. Here's a taste
Speaker 1: of that. Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or simply
Speaker 1: too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely
Speaker 1: hijacked by the radical left. The dividing line in America
Speaker 1: is no longer between bright or left. The choice is
Speaker 1: between normal or crazy. It's time for a new generation
Speaker 1: of Republican leadership. Governor, what did you make of the
Speaker 1: words chosen there? She clearly was comfortable, she was at home,
Speaker 1: she delivered the message. Uh. Some thought it had a
Speaker 1: pretty dark edge. Well, she's an effective communicator, and she
Speaker 1: communicated in a message to uh the voters that uh
Speaker 1: what she felt in her heart that the culture has
Speaker 1: gone too far uh to the left, too radical agenda,
Speaker 1: and this administration is supporting that. And there is a
Speaker 1: basis to raise that claim. Whatever they're passing rules the
Speaker 1: Department of Labor to uh, you know, allow companies to
Speaker 1: use social uh factors in determining the right investments of
Speaker 1: retirement funds. So that's just one example. But I think
Speaker 1: she's expressing the frustrations of a lot of Middle America
Speaker 1: as she articular aided her message. But also she she
Speaker 1: just simply said, it's not about pro government solutions, big
Speaker 1: government solutions, you know, it's more about freedom and how
Speaker 1: we can come out of this together. So it was
Speaker 1: a message that was certainly conservative, It was to the
Speaker 1: Republican base and made her case very effectively. Well, you're
Speaker 1: you're also the governor of Arkansas who vetoed the bill
Speaker 1: to restrict to restrict medical procedures and other care for
Speaker 1: trans youth. I bring that up because some saw this
Speaker 1: as exclusive to an extent where I get a sense
Speaker 1: that you have tried to promote the bigger tent philosophy
Speaker 1: of the Republican Party. Are you at odds at all
Speaker 1: with that message from last night? Well, I mean, first
Speaker 1: and am am I being accurate there? And well there's
Speaker 1: two ankers to questions. Whenever you look at the message
Speaker 1: last night. I'm an agreement. Uh. You know, I think
Speaker 1: that we uh should rightfully, Americans are concerned about our
Speaker 1: culture and UH. To me, you fight for your cultural
Speaker 1: values through your community, through your families, through your churches
Speaker 1: and synagogues, uh, and through parental involvement in schools. The
Speaker 1: response is not always, well, I disagree with a cultural
Speaker 1: issue here, so let's pass a law and use a
Speaker 1: federal mandate. And uh. And I think that that's where
Speaker 1: I come down. That we as a conservatives, so we
Speaker 1: should limit the size the government. We should limit the
Speaker 1: role of government in our lives. And that applies both
Speaker 1: to the left and right. And so that's a way
Speaker 1: you approach how we consider our culture and and how
Speaker 1: you want to fight for the values that are important
Speaker 1: to you. Uh. In terms of of where we are
Speaker 1: as a party and the Republican base, I think that
Speaker 1: people are are tired of the back and forth. They're
Speaker 1: tired of chaos. They want to have problem solving leadership
Speaker 1: that's conservative but also looks to the needs of Americans
Speaker 1: and say, this is a problem, let's look for a solution,
Speaker 1: and if we can work together, that's terrific. It's widely
Speaker 1: known that you're considering a run for president. You've suggested
Speaker 1: you might decide by April. UH. I know that there's
Speaker 1: a window here for these deliberations. How will you make
Speaker 1: up your mind based on what you just said about
Speaker 1: appealing to a national audience in this political climate, what
Speaker 1: are the factors for you? Well, I'm about a consistent
Speaker 1: conservative message and solving problems, and so that's why I'm
Speaker 1: going to go to Tucson in two weeks. I'm going
Speaker 1: to have a Border Solutions UH summit there where we're
Speaker 1: gonna be looking at solutions for what I believe is
Speaker 1: one of the great challenges that we face in America.
Speaker 1: An immigration system that's broke, a border that's not protected
Speaker 1: and fitting all coming in. So it's solution oriented. It's
Speaker 1: a conservative message, but it's also about leaders that bring
Speaker 1: out the best of America. Uh, And that to me
Speaker 1: is what a president, what governor should do is not
Speaker 1: the appeal to our worst instincts, but appeal to the
Speaker 1: best of America. That's what great leaders do. And so
Speaker 1: that's a message that's important to me. Yes, there's a
Speaker 1: question as to whether that's the right message for our
Speaker 1: country at this time my senses, yes, But that's what
Speaker 1: I'm working on as I traveled to Iowa next week
Speaker 1: to Tucsa on the later on and I want to
Speaker 1: see what that response is. It sure sounds like you're
Speaker 1: running governor. How do you beat Donald Trump, who trends
Speaker 1: who wants to own the border issue. Well, I think
Speaker 1: he sort of beats himself. Uh. You know, you look
Speaker 1: at what happened on January six and what how he's
Speaker 1: conducted himself even since he lost the election. And it's
Speaker 1: not bringing out the best of America, not bringing out
Speaker 1: the best of our democracy. It's appealing to our worst instincts.
Speaker 1: And so I see his support and diminishing over time. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's up to candidates, those who might run, to make
Speaker 1: the case that we have good ideas, but we also
Speaker 1: can do a better job of meeting the needs of
Speaker 1: Americans across the board and uniting our country. So, uh,
Speaker 1: that's a test that remains to be seen. But I
Speaker 1: think it's important that we offer leadership that not only
Speaker 1: is the right direction for America. That's a counter to
Speaker 1: what we heard last night with President Biden, but it's
Speaker 1: also a course course correction for the Republican Party, and
Speaker 1: I believe that we need that. Think about Joe Biden
Speaker 1: at the Speaker's rosterm last night, what that experience was.
Speaker 1: You think about being on a debate stage with Donald Trump,
Speaker 1: governor who wants any part of this business. It's hard.
Speaker 1: It is hard. I think about the family and what
Speaker 1: people have to go through, and it really demands too much.
Speaker 1: But uh, you think also about the sacrifice have made
Speaker 1: for our country. So those are minimal. It's certainly a
Speaker 1: contact sport, but you know, our country is so great
Speaker 1: and has been good to me, And uh, I do
Speaker 1: believe that when you're in a time of adjustment, uh,
Speaker 1: course correction, if you've got something to offer, you all
Speaker 1: to be in the game. We're spending time with the
Speaker 1: former governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson. You mentioned the border.
Speaker 1: You're on your way to Tucson. Uh. There's been enormous
Speaker 1: criticism against Joe Biden. Every Republican and I talked to
Speaker 1: you last night blamed him for the fentinal crisis in
Speaker 1: this country, for supporting what they referred to as open borders.
Speaker 1: You're the former director of the d e A. Can
Speaker 1: I ask you just philosophically here when we consider the
Speaker 1: experience we had in the nineteen eighties with drug enforcement,
Speaker 1: the hunger for drugs in this country is undeniable. If
Speaker 1: you shut down the Mexican border, that fentinyal would come
Speaker 1: in from somewhere else, wouldn't it from China, from somewhere else?
Speaker 1: How do you stop this problem when it's a demand
Speaker 1: issue just as well as a security issue. Well, you're
Speaker 1: absolutely right, and the answer is that whenever you have
Speaker 1: coach the problem of drugs coming into our country, you
Speaker 1: have to do more to secure the border, but you
Speaker 1: also have to do more to reduce the demand in
Speaker 1: our country. And fentnol is exploded across the board. There's
Speaker 1: a huge education effort that's now ongoing, but we're a
Speaker 1: little bit late in that. Uh. And so not only
Speaker 1: do we have to do the education side, but also
Speaker 1: the investment in addiction counseling and trying to pull people
Speaker 1: out of the addiction cycle that they're in because it
Speaker 1: leads to death. Uh. And so you've got to do
Speaker 1: all of that. Now. Last night was a real opening
Speaker 1: because the President said, Uh, if you don't give me
Speaker 1: immigration reform, give me the resources. And that is a
Speaker 1: real opportunity for the Republican Congress to come in and say,
Speaker 1: let's put more in our border patrol and in technology
Speaker 1: to protect the border. Let's invest in that because the
Speaker 1: President said he would support that, and so there's an
Speaker 1: opportunity there. Comprehensive immigration reform is going to have to
Speaker 1: wait till we secure that border. But we are a
Speaker 1: land of immigrants, and that's an important part of the
Speaker 1: message as well. We want to have that legal flow,
Speaker 1: we want to have that energy in our society and
Speaker 1: and the fabric that makes up our democracy. That's immigrants
Speaker 1: are such an important part of There's a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about there and I'm sure that you'll expand upon it.
Speaker 1: In Tucson. That's an event that will I'm sure be
Speaker 1: covering here. Governor, Thank you for coming to see us
Speaker 1: when you make this announcement, when you make this decision,
Speaker 1: I look forward to the conversation because we want to
Speaker 1: follow you, of course on the trail here in this
Speaker 1: important election cycle. Thanks for coming to join us here
Speaker 1: in Washington. Look forward to being back. Thank you, Asa
Speaker 1: Hutchinson with us, the former governor on the fastest hour
Speaker 1: in politics. You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound On podcast.
Speaker 1: Catch the program live weekdays at five pm Easter on
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Speaker 1: Alexa playing Bloomberg eleven Turkey, Bloomberg Intelligence reporting the US
Speaker 1: debt ceiling, editors fraught stage. The headline Biden's address heightens
Speaker 1: tension on debt ceiling spending cuts. So did it get
Speaker 1: worse last night? That's where things seemed to turn in
Speaker 1: the room when he got to the debt ceiling right,
Speaker 1: and he started referring to Trump. He started talking about
Speaker 1: sunsetting social Security, and that's when, of course he started
Speaker 1: here in the heckling and the booing. Karine John Pierre,
Speaker 1: the Press secretary, that they said the President called them
Speaker 1: out when night was the President called out members right
Speaker 1: as we're talking about Jerry and how they were responding.
Speaker 1: He called out members out on live television in front
Speaker 1: of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense.
Speaker 1: That's what we did. That's what the President did, is
Speaker 1: put them on the defense. We assembled our panel now
Speaker 1: the day after Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeanie
Speaker 1: Schanzano Shrilly Bleary from a late night here in Washington. Genie,
Speaker 1: is this true? Did he actually make things more complicated
Speaker 1: with the speech last night? You know, I don't think
Speaker 1: he made it more complicated. I don't think it changes
Speaker 1: the reality that this is going to be a fight
Speaker 1: that goes down to June July when they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to come to an agreement. But I do think the
Speaker 1: reality is is that the Republicans have long been saying that,
Speaker 1: you know, on the one hand, you hear from the
Speaker 1: majority from sorry from the speaker, that you know, medicare
Speaker 1: so security off the table, and there have been some
Speaker 1: Republicans which was the President's point. Who have said that
Speaker 1: that's not the case. He was trying to make that point,
Speaker 1: and that's what set them off into this firestorm because
Speaker 1: I believe that the Republicans in the House sink. Their position,
Speaker 1: by and large is that it's off the table. Um.
Speaker 1: If it's off the table, it shouldn't be much of
Speaker 1: an issue, and the screaming makes you think that maybe
Speaker 1: there is some difference in opinion there. Well, Look, Republicans
Speaker 1: were offended. Rick. I don't know if you were as
Speaker 1: a Republican, but bringing out the Rick Scott pamphlet, uh
Speaker 1: didn't seem to work very well last night. Is this
Speaker 1: going to create an additional trust issue between Kevin McCarthy
Speaker 1: and Joe Biden? Up until that point in time, the
Speaker 1: speech was going swimmingly, and there was a really generous
Speaker 1: and and a very civil welcome to the President, which
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody would have predicted going in. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Speaker McCarthy was telling his caucus, Hey, I want civility
Speaker 1: and the chamber when the president's there. But like the
Speaker 1: President bated the chamber, bated the Republicans and and tried
Speaker 1: to make it sound like the Republican Party was looking
Speaker 1: to sunset social Security, and the reality is there's a
Speaker 1: small faction of people who have absolutely no ability to
Speaker 1: make that the policy of the party. Have been decried
Speaker 1: by every leader within the party, and and I didn't
Speaker 1: really see why that was necessary to to create that
Speaker 1: kind of bait. Ultimately, it did disrupt the chamber significantly,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that's appropriate. But uh, but then
Speaker 1: when Joe by and said, well, you know, look, uh,
Speaker 1: I'm glad now that we've got an agreement that nobody's
Speaker 1: gonna touch so Security, it kind of like that was
Speaker 1: what the Republicans wanted to hear. That's like gonna be
Speaker 1: in every single re election commercial. You know that Joe
Speaker 1: Biden agrees with the Republicans that we shouldn't be touching
Speaker 1: social Security. So, honestly, don't know what they got out
Speaker 1: of it. He's talking about it again today, so clearly
Speaker 1: it's part of his political message. Um, but I thought
Speaker 1: it backfired on when he got off script he's talking
Speaker 1: about it. Of course, the road show begins. Jeannie listened
Speaker 1: to President Biden the day after in Wisconsin. We've had
Speaker 1: a spirited debate last night with my Republican friend, My
Speaker 1: Republican friends, they seem shocked when I raised the plans
Speaker 1: of some of their members and their caucus to cut
Speaker 1: Social Security and Marjorie Taylor Grid and others. Two happens.
Speaker 1: It a liar liar, minds me of a liar liar
Speaker 1: house on fire. He pulled out the Rick's Got pamphlet again,
Speaker 1: liar liar, pass on fire. Uh, Genie, you're naming Marjorie
Speaker 1: Taylor Green. Uh. To Rick's point, is he baiting? Is
Speaker 1: he encouraging this kind of behavior? Yeah? The reality is
Speaker 1: he's baiting because this is what the base wants to hear.
Speaker 1: They want to know that he has the energy and
Speaker 1: the vigor if he's going to run again. This is
Speaker 1: absolutely what it is to go toe to toe with
Speaker 1: Donald Trump and the Republicans. That's how he won in
Speaker 1: twenty That's how they did well in two. And they
Speaker 1: are not gonna be satisfied with a candidate, even if
Speaker 1: it's an incumbent president who can't, who doesn't have the
Speaker 1: vigor to do that. And I would say, you know,
Speaker 1: he was baiting McCarthy even prior. You know, Rick and
Speaker 1: I were sitting there, you were on the Hill, we
Speaker 1: were all watching. What's the first thing he said? When
Speaker 1: he handed him copy of the speech, he turned around
Speaker 1: and said, I don't want to ruin your ritation, but
Speaker 1: I look forward to working with you. That is part
Speaker 1: of the White Houses and the administration in the can
Speaker 1: paints efforts to try to keep pointing to the fact
Speaker 1: that McCarthy has a very tenuous hold on this Republican
Speaker 1: House and that they are trying to keep inserting a wedge.
Speaker 1: The constant references to Marjorie Taylor Green, you know, the
Speaker 1: crazy lady in the fur coat with the balloon and
Speaker 1: everything else. That's what we're going to hear. A prey
Speaker 1: ski was the was the look last night, um Rick?
Speaker 1: Was that the beginning of the goating, you know, turning
Speaker 1: around shaking Kevin McCarthy's hand just to to get the
Speaker 1: attention of the never Kevin's Or are we making too
Speaker 1: much of that now? I think we're making too much
Speaker 1: of that. I mean, that is a well worn Biden phrase.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know we can trot that out almost
Speaker 1: all the time. Make no mistake another great one, he
Speaker 1: used constantly. Let me say it again, how many times
Speaker 1: we have to hear that don't say it again. Let's
Speaker 1: finish the job. I think was so I don't read
Speaker 1: much into that. And and honestly, I look at the
Speaker 1: meeting the two of them had earlier in the month,
Speaker 1: you know, to actually talk about the dead ceiling, which
Speaker 1: actually didn't get much attention last night that I would
Speaker 1: have thought it had um And it was very civil
Speaker 1: and very welcoming and very gracious after all the sort
Speaker 1: of you know, pushing and shoving in advance of it.
Speaker 1: And so, look, I think this is a Congress he
Speaker 1: can get business done with. There were a number of
Speaker 1: very good bipartisan opportunities within the speech. I just don't
Speaker 1: understand on the issue of soil security Medicare, when he
Speaker 1: knows that there's going to be no effort in Congress
Speaker 1: to do anything about it, why he would bring that
Speaker 1: up in the way he did. He could have easily said,
Speaker 1: I'm glad we all agree that we're not going to
Speaker 1: touch it. You know, it's in the lock box, is
Speaker 1: what the old phrase used to be. And and he didn't.
Speaker 1: He took the opportunity to try and bait the crowd,
Speaker 1: and and they knew what they were going to get into.
Speaker 1: They were looking for those screams. They were hoping that
Speaker 1: the Republicans would take them on, because that undermines and
Speaker 1: puts Kevin McCarthy on the defensive because they know Kevin
Speaker 1: McCarthy wanted a civil discourse. So I mean, like, you
Speaker 1: can really make this anyway you want it. The bottom
Speaker 1: line is, it is what we're talking about, not all
Speaker 1: the programs, right. I mean, so it's distracting, I think
Speaker 1: to their message. Uh and unless that indeed is the message,
Speaker 1: which I'm ready to go fight Republicans, and that's certainly
Speaker 1: a campaign theme. But uh, and maybe Jennie's right that
Speaker 1: that's what they were really trying to get out of this.
Speaker 1: It's just the idea that he's ready for a fight.
Speaker 1: I spoke after the speech. By the way, one of
Speaker 1: the other topics that got a lot of jeering that
Speaker 1: got people were chanting border. There was some booing, Uh
Speaker 1: was was border security immigration, border security reform, immigration reform,
Speaker 1: which the President brought up and and and you heard
Speaker 1: Asa Hutchinson talking earlier, former director of the d e
Speaker 1: A about the federal crisis. I heard just about every
Speaker 1: Republican in stat Hall brought this up, including Congressman Andy
Speaker 1: Ogle's Republican from Tennessee, who was one of those new
Speaker 1: members who decided to shout out at the president last night.
Speaker 1: He told us flat out, he said, I said, it's
Speaker 1: your fault, was what he yelled in the House chamber.
Speaker 1: Here he is in stat Hall after the speech talking
Speaker 1: with us. I was taken aback, quite frankly offended when
Speaker 1: he talked about his solution for our southern border. You know,
Speaker 1: the finnel that's flowing into this country is his fault.
Speaker 1: The fact that every town in America is now a
Speaker 1: border town is his fault. The women and children they
Speaker 1: try to cross our border or sexually assaulted, that's his fault. Genie.
Speaker 1: Among the issues last night that seemed to get some
Speaker 1: bipartisan embrace, police reform, cracking down on big tech, any trust,
Speaker 1: the border not so much. Well, that's right. It was
Speaker 1: almost as divisive as the debt ceiling and the issue
Speaker 1: of social security and Medicare. And you know, this is
Speaker 1: a winning issue for the Democrats. It has been one
Speaker 1: that has Obviously, we have a crisis at the border.
Speaker 1: We've had one for a long time, goes back decades.
Speaker 1: The reality is this is no you know, no more
Speaker 1: Joe Biden's fault than the deficit is his fault alone.
Speaker 1: It goes back decades. That said, he is the president,
Speaker 1: and we do have a problem at the border, and
Speaker 1: they have not been able to push through even a
Speaker 1: Democratic Congress that they had for a little period of time,
Speaker 1: and immigrant aation reform policy, and we don't suspect we'll
Speaker 1: get one. But you can also call out the Republicans
Speaker 1: who don't seem anxious to get one either, but who
Speaker 1: are more content on using this as a wedge issue
Speaker 1: in the election, and it is a winning one because again,
Speaker 1: there is a crisis, there is a problem. Rick and
Speaker 1: Genie are with us for the hours we pick up
Speaker 1: the pieces on the State of the Union address from
Speaker 1: last evening, and I want to add another voice of
Speaker 1: experience here. We spoke exactly one week ago, as a
Speaker 1: week before the address on crafting the speech. That was
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, the CEO of Messina Group, was former deputy
Speaker 1: chief of staff President Obama, was the campaign manager for
Speaker 1: Obama's reelect in a week later, and of course the
Speaker 1: day after we review what we saw and heard here.
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, welcome back to Bloomberg. My pleasure, Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me. So we talked in advance of the speech
Speaker 1: about the craftsmanship that goes into this and some of
Speaker 1: the rituals at the White House. I've just got to
Speaker 1: start with last night. Is this the new normal for
Speaker 1: the State of the Union? An interactive speech that includes
Speaker 1: hecklers and booing along with the standing ovations? Gosh, I
Speaker 1: hope not. I mean, I don't think it was a
Speaker 1: proud moment last night for members of Congress yelling at
Speaker 1: their president. Um. So, I hope this is not the
Speaker 1: new normal. Well. President Biden seemed to almost enjoy it.
Speaker 1: How important is that ability to kind of be able
Speaker 1: to manage whatever is being thrown at you when you're
Speaker 1: standing up there and the speaker's ROSTERM did he succeed
Speaker 1: in that way? Um? I think he didn't. You know,
Speaker 1: It's interesting. My reaction to it was he kind of
Speaker 1: seemed like a happy warrior. He seemed a little Reagan
Speaker 1: esque um in that, like, you know, the smile on
Speaker 1: his face, but happy to give it a little too uh.
Speaker 1: And I thought that was a new side of Joe Biden.
Speaker 1: That was new And I think, you know, pretty positive.
Speaker 1: The overnight focus groups look pretty good. Yeah, That's why
Speaker 1: I wonder though, if you if you see that back
Speaker 1: and forth, if I can call it that, you might
Speaker 1: call it disrespect as something that might have actually been
Speaker 1: a positive exercise for people to watch this. Or was
Speaker 1: it flat rude? Um? Well, just with an American I
Speaker 1: think it was rude. But I do think that Biden
Speaker 1: handled it pretty well, um and kind of came out
Speaker 1: on top that said. If you're just a normal voter,
Speaker 1: and Joe, you and I've talked about this in the past,
Speaker 1: the average voter thinks about politics four minutes a week,
Speaker 1: and I think they look at that food fight and
Speaker 1: are not impressed with their members of Congress, And I
Speaker 1: think in general it's not great. That said, counterpunching is
Speaker 1: an absolute crucial sport in American politics, and Biden proved
Speaker 1: last night he can CounterPunch. What way to make a living?
Speaker 1: The President congratulated Kevin McCarthy on his speakership at the
Speaker 1: very beginning of the speech. He congratulated him and turned
Speaker 1: in the speaker's rost him to shake his hand. Was
Speaker 1: that part of the strategy to rattle the the never
Speaker 1: Kevin portion of the House Republican Caucus, or was it
Speaker 1: simply the right thing to do. It was simply the
Speaker 1: right thing to do. I think Joe Biden has always
Speaker 1: been the guy who wants to reach out across party lines.
Speaker 1: When I was Obama's the deputy White House chief of staff,
Speaker 1: you know, we would take Biden and aut Obama to
Speaker 1: the Hill to negotiate with the Republicans because he was
Speaker 1: so well thought of, and this is his natural terrain.
Speaker 1: He you know, likes that kind of thing. He understands it,
Speaker 1: and I think it's it was in his wheelhouse. And
Speaker 1: I think, as you and I were talking earlier, this
Speaker 1: is the respect that American voters want. They want their
Speaker 1: elected officials to work together. They're sick of the food fights.
Speaker 1: The speech lasted over an hour, Jim, How well was
Speaker 1: it crafted? Uh? We we for instance, had to wait
Speaker 1: till the end. Towards the end, at least for geopolitics,
Speaker 1: there was more of the economic sort of victory lap
Speaker 1: up at the top. How was the architecture of this
Speaker 1: speech and how well was the time spent? I think
Speaker 1: it was really well spent, because you heard me say
Speaker 1: this over and over and over. But American elections or
Speaker 1: economic elections, and so it is Biden's job one to
Speaker 1: get the economic messaging right, and focusing on that is
Speaker 1: absolutely a political imperative. But it's also back again to
Speaker 1: these swing voters and these normal humans who are out
Speaker 1: there watching this. They want to hear that stuff. They
Speaker 1: want to hear him say this is how we're going
Speaker 1: to get out of this tough economic time. This is
Speaker 1: why inflation is getting better, and here's why. And so
Speaker 1: that was absolutely imperative, and I give the administration real
Speaker 1: credit for sticking onto it and not taking the bait
Speaker 1: and spending their time talking about Chinese balloons. Never mentioned
Speaker 1: the word balloon. Was that the right call? It was
Speaker 1: the right call? Like, that's a side show. Um, It's
Speaker 1: an interesting side show that you and I were obsessed with,
Speaker 1: but it's a side that doesn't affect normal humans lives
Speaker 1: over an hour? Did you push it too long? You
Speaker 1: mentioned people talk about politics or think about it for
Speaker 1: four minutes a week. He asked for more than an
Speaker 1: hour of their time last night. He did. But remember
Speaker 1: that the normal humans who see this are mostly getting
Speaker 1: their reactions from from news outlets like you, Um, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna distill it into the moments that matter. I
Speaker 1: think he had some real work to do last night,
Speaker 1: and it took a while to do some of that stuff. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm always for brevity because I think brevity
Speaker 1: is always better. But that said, I think he used
Speaker 1: his time well and did what he had to do.
Speaker 1: Um what I've had a ten minutes shorter, sure, But
Speaker 1: in the end, I don't think it was a terrible thing.
Speaker 1: How about bipartisan promise here? And I don't mean to
Speaker 1: be falsely optimistic, but there did seem to be some
Speaker 1: moments last night. Police reform was one when Kevin McCarthy
Speaker 1: chose to stand and applaud. There were others including antitrust,
Speaker 1: big tech for instance, where we saw, you know what,
Speaker 1: there might be some paths it's actually clear legislation in
Speaker 1: this new Republican lead house. Did you feel the same way?
Speaker 1: I totally did. I think there's three pathways. Um. The
Speaker 1: first is big tech, uh, and they're both parties want
Speaker 1: to reiin in big Tech a little bit um for
Speaker 1: different reasons, which is you and I can talk later
Speaker 1: about whether or not they can actually get something past,
Speaker 1: but both parties want to get something passed. The second
Speaker 1: area is China. There's bipartisan consent is that we are
Speaker 1: in a global uh you know, competition with China, and
Speaker 1: both parties want to work together, and there's you know,
Speaker 1: bipartisanship on the very first vote of last a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, when the Republicans took over the House
Speaker 1: to create a special committee in China. UM, and then
Speaker 1: the police reform stuff. You know, I was very happy
Speaker 1: to see Kevin McCarthy stand up and say that's someplace
Speaker 1: he wants to work with the president. I think it's
Speaker 1: great smart to bring Tyree Nichols parents into the chamber
Speaker 1: for that moment. Then absolutely, and you know, this is
Speaker 1: something that they came pretty close to, you know, getting
Speaker 1: some bipartsit and census last year. Um, it didn't get there,
Speaker 1: but this is someplace where you know, Republicans have like
Speaker 1: no sort of game with African American voters and with
Speaker 1: voters and cities right now. And McCarthy wants to stay
Speaker 1: Speaker of the House, so getting something done on that
Speaker 1: would be very helpful. And obviously African American voters are
Speaker 1: the bedrock of the Democratic Party. So Joe Biden wants
Speaker 1: to get something on here. Well, Jim Messina, you helped
Speaker 1: to orchestrate the re election of Barack Obama. If you
Speaker 1: were in charge in helping to re elect Joe Biden,
Speaker 1: maybe you will be Uh, how do you play off
Speaker 1: that speech last night and knowing what the backdrop is
Speaker 1: politically here with all the madness with China last week,
Speaker 1: for instance, do you wait? Is there any rush to announce?
Speaker 1: I think there is, Um, I would wait. You know,
Speaker 1: Bush and Obama announced in April of the off year,
Speaker 1: and I think it's worth waiting that long because I
Speaker 1: think what he needs to now do is go sell
Speaker 1: this to the American people. Last night was a good start,
Speaker 1: but as you know, he's on the road today. He's
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin, he goes to Florida after that, the first
Speaker 1: or the vice presidents on the road. They're putting members
Speaker 1: of the cabinet out in twenty states. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: politics is repetition, and if there's anything you can kind
Speaker 1: of criticize the administration for in the first two years,
Speaker 1: it's that they kind of got pulled off their economic
Speaker 1: message and didn't continue to say it over and over
Speaker 1: and over. And I ran Obama's campaign, you know, he
Speaker 1: would say to me, He's like, I'm so sick of
Speaker 1: saying the same thing over and over, and I joke
Speaker 1: with him, yep, and you get to do it tomorrow
Speaker 1: in Ohio and you know, that's just what you do.
Speaker 1: And they've got to continue to do that. They've got
Speaker 1: to be looking at that ap pole, Jim. Thirty seven
Speaker 1: percent last week and seven percent of Democrats say they
Speaker 1: would like for him to run again. How do they
Speaker 1: get that number higher? Is it what you're saying? Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, it is being very clear on
Speaker 1: what he wants to do with the second term, which
Speaker 1: I think last night the job is not finished. He
Speaker 1: said that twelve times, and I think that. I think
Speaker 1: that's absolutely the first step. And now it's going on
Speaker 1: the road and going straight at it. Jim Massina, the
Speaker 1: CEO of Messina Group, former deputy chief of staff for
Speaker 1: President Obama, of course campaign manager for the reelection campaign.
Speaker 1: It's great to have had your analysis around the speech. Jim.
Speaker 1: We'd love to be in touch a lot more often
Speaker 1: in the year ahead. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us
Speaker 1: live week days at five eastern on Bloomberg dot com,
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app and the Bloomberg Business happen.
Speaker 1: We're listening on demand wherever you get your podcast. So
Speaker 1: President Biden did mention China last night. He just never
Speaker 1: used the word balloon. As we reassembled our panel, Rick
Speaker 1: Davis and Jennie Chanzano Bloomberg Politics contributors, Jim as Cina
Speaker 1: says it was smart Rick to not go there, not
Speaker 1: not drilled down on the episode that was the Chinese
Speaker 1: spy balloon, even as they're continuing to pull wreckage off
Speaker 1: the floor of the ocean here. Uh, did he do
Speaker 1: enough on China though, this is, you know, the the
Speaker 1: great challenge to democracy over the next couple of decades.
Speaker 1: Here we had an Air Force general recently predict war
Speaker 1: by it was. It was in the back end of
Speaker 1: the speech, back half of the speech, and he didn't
Speaker 1: spend actually a lot time on it. Yeah. I thought
Speaker 1: that the really strangeness of the speech was that it
Speaker 1: was all about domestic policy, um, very little about the
Speaker 1: rest of the world that we live in. And yet
Speaker 1: these are the real, you know, challenging policies coming up,
Speaker 1: you know, in in in the future. So if he
Speaker 1: wanted a futuristic discussion, you know, he didn't talk about much,
Speaker 1: the war in Ukraine, working on its first anniversary, amazing
Speaker 1: unity that he's created in in In, UH, in NATO,
Speaker 1: and the need to you know, bring the fight to
Speaker 1: more countries so that we can put more pressure on
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin. Didn't poke at him hardly at all. UH
Speaker 1: didn't even understand what he was saying about China in like,
Speaker 1: you know, who would want to be cheap um? Well,
Speaker 1: most most of the dictators in the world wants to
Speaker 1: be UH would be the premier of China in a minute.
Speaker 1: So I just honestly didn't understand it. We've got trade
Speaker 1: and balances, We've got you know, infrastructure issues with China
Speaker 1: on a supply chain, We've got you know, human rights
Speaker 1: issues with China. We've got aggression in the South China.
Speaker 1: See I mean, we're literally flying sorties over there and
Speaker 1: running into Chinese. I mean, I won't even get into
Speaker 1: the balloon, which I believe was Marjorie Taylor's grain attempt
Speaker 1: with her outfit is to be a balloon. Is that true?
Speaker 1: There are a lot of people who would she would
Speaker 1: just float away. I don't understand. Let's get to that moment.
Speaker 1: The thing is they tried to get some clever writing
Speaker 1: or at least, you know, an applause lining here. I
Speaker 1: committed to work with China where we can advance American
Speaker 1: interests and benefit the world, but make no must take
Speaker 1: about it. As we made clear last week, if China
Speaker 1: threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,
Speaker 1: and we did. It was a little bit of an
Speaker 1: I roll for some Republicans. Their genie was that enough.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think it was enough. And I
Speaker 1: was reminded during this speech about your conversation with Cody
Speaker 1: Keenan who served with Obama a speech writer you talked about,
Speaker 1: I think yesterday, and he was making the case that
Speaker 1: as Obama got into his later year, into was later
Speaker 1: years of his administration, wasn't running again, he sort of
Speaker 1: was able to free himself and talk about things that
Speaker 1: he wanted to talk about. And I almost had this
Speaker 1: sense hearing that that had Biden not been thinking about
Speaker 1: running for re election, we would have had a very
Speaker 1: different speech last night. It would have been a lot
Speaker 1: more focused on what he has told people like Maggie
Speaker 1: Haberman and others is the most important issue of his administration,
Speaker 1: which is the fight against Russia and Ukraine and the
Speaker 1: confrontation with China, and I just kept imagining that this
Speaker 1: would have been so different if he didn't feel sort
Speaker 1: of shackled to the idea of running because by some estimations,
Speaker 1: Balloon gets fifteen words, China gets one eighty three. And
Speaker 1: as Rick can tell you, this thing went on really long,
Speaker 1: so there was time to talk about it. And I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to rub against Rick because I won the bet,
Speaker 1: but we all know I did um But you know
Speaker 1: that is the reality I think is it would have
Speaker 1: been a far more serious focus on China and frankly,
Speaker 1: much more unifying because, as you just talked out with
Speaker 1: Jim Messina, that's something that Republicans and Democrats actually agree on. Well,
Speaker 1: that's a good point as opposed to Ukraine. There's been
Speaker 1: a little bit of friction there, and I thought Rick
Speaker 1: that the President would would highlight this more, remembering it
Speaker 1: was the focus of the speech a year ago. He's
Speaker 1: got the Ukrainian ambassador to the US there in the gallery,
Speaker 1: also got to that very late. Didn't spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time trying to convince skeptics in the room that
Speaker 1: we needed to continue to support this war effort. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't have it both ways. You can't
Speaker 1: go out and say publicly all the time that the
Speaker 1: Republics are getting soft on Ukraine, which they are not.
Speaker 1: But it's a device he's used and and and you know,
Speaker 1: and then at the same time not actually try to
Speaker 1: make the pitch for it. Um, we're spending billions and
Speaker 1: billions of dollars on this initiative, and there are issues
Speaker 1: with accountability, but the reality is it is an area
Speaker 1: that you have widespread unanimity on in Congress. And and
Speaker 1: and I'm surprised there wasn't you know, a call for
Speaker 1: more to do more, especially around uh, strengthening the the
Speaker 1: sanctions regime. Um. You know, a year ago he said
Speaker 1: he was going to bring all these oligarchs to the ground.
Speaker 1: He didn't do a victory lap on that. I thought
Speaker 1: that was something that was going to be, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of the highlight of the speech a year going.
Speaker 1: Just left it all out this time. All right, we
Speaker 1: have just a couple of minutes here in this portion
Speaker 1: of the program. I'd love to hear from both of
Speaker 1: you quickly on performance. Jennie, did he deliver the speech? Well,
Speaker 1: there's been questions about kind of the quick pace, slowing
Speaker 1: things down and starting to pay more attention to the crowd.
Speaker 1: How was the execution? The execution was he did what
Speaker 1: he wanted to do, which he showed he was vigorous
Speaker 1: and can confront the Republicans and seemed, to Messina's point,
Speaker 1: like he was enjoying it. That was a win for him.
Speaker 1: Was it the best speech we've ever heard? No, certainly not.
Speaker 1: But he did the job he was setting out to do,
Speaker 1: which is to prove he is the man for Democrats
Speaker 1: on the ground in twenty four or at least to
Speaker 1: try to you know, stop the bleeding if you will
Speaker 1: that's going on in the polls. I think, well, you
Speaker 1: could do worse than happy Warrior, I think is how
Speaker 1: Jim Messina described him in the address last night, where
Speaker 1: but I was fascinated by something you were talking about
Speaker 1: earlier today on balance of power here on Bloomberg and
Speaker 1: that that's the nod to applause. How did he do
Speaker 1: actually executing the speech to get the most he could
Speaker 1: out of the crowd in the room. Yeah, I thought
Speaker 1: he did an exceptional job. You know, when talking about
Speaker 1: you know, Bono and and Ruth Cohen and some of
Speaker 1: the others that he had in the the the balcony
Speaker 1: with um, with his with his wife first Lady Joe Biden,
Speaker 1: and and he would build this great story. He would
Speaker 1: talk about how it affected him personally to talk, you know,
Speaker 1: he interwove their stories with America. And then when he
Speaker 1: got to the punchline, everyone was already embracing it. And
Speaker 1: so that was some of the most enthusiastic reactions, especially
Speaker 1: around police reform. And and I on a bipartisan basis,
Speaker 1: and I thought, that's the Joe Biden that's gonna hit
Speaker 1: it out of the ballpark. And then he kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, dimmed that light by getting into this you know,
Speaker 1: sort of second half of the speech, which was just
Speaker 1: a rundown of every lobbyist reeam in Washington, all the
Speaker 1: things that you chuck into these state of the unions
Speaker 1: that make them actually nonsensical, you know, and just this
Speaker 1: race a name, more and more policies, more and more
Speaker 1: things that frankly aren't probably ever going to see the
Speaker 1: light of day. When he pulls off the nod to
Speaker 1: applause or just the applause line, Genie, does do you
Speaker 1: get the sense he was rehearsing this all weekend or
Speaker 1: this is just a good night for Uncle Joe. Oh,
Speaker 1: he was rehearsing it all weekend. I think it goes
Speaker 1: further back than the weekend. You know. I do give
Speaker 1: the team credit, um, but something that we talked about
Speaker 1: last night, they left a lot of important things out
Speaker 1: the Turkey Syria earthquake victims, a huge misstep I think
Speaker 1: on the part of his team not getting that in there.
Speaker 1: Final thoughts from the panel straight ahead, this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: So George Santos showed up early try to get a
Speaker 1: coveted aisle seat for the State of the Union, his
Speaker 1: first as an elected member of Congress. He pulled it off.
Speaker 1: He got it. He got a seat plight on the
Speaker 1: aisle so he would come face to face with Joe Biden.
Speaker 1: That part didn't work out so well, Actually none of
Speaker 1: it did. He never did come face to face with Biden,
Speaker 1: who found his way around him. But he did come
Speaker 1: face to face with the senator from Utah, the former
Speaker 1: governor of Massachusetts, former standard bearer of the Republican Party,
Speaker 1: Mitt Romney, who has captured on video being very honest
Speaker 1: with Mr Santos. There were no microphones near them, But
Speaker 1: it doesn't take a lot to read the lips. And
Speaker 1: these were corroborated by reports on the floor. Quote, you
Speaker 1: don't belong here, he said, you should be embarrassed. Some
Speaker 1: reports say he said a lot more than that, and
Speaker 1: I things I can't repeat on the air, but I
Speaker 1: can't speak to those quite the exchange on the floor.
Speaker 1: And so scores of reporters are waiting for Mitt Romney
Speaker 1: as he comes off the house floor to find out, well,
Speaker 1: what the heck did you say? That investigation be sitting
Speaker 1: in the back road and sank quiet instead of parading
Speaker 1: in front of the president and uh, and the people
Speaker 1: coming into the room, he says, he you know that
Speaker 1: he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you've got
Speaker 1: an any when he had an A minus lying And
Speaker 1: what is saying you you graduated from college, you didn't
Speaker 1: even attend. And he shouldn't be in Congress and they're
Speaker 1: going to go through the process and hopefully get him out.
Speaker 1: And uh, but he shouldn't be there. And if he
Speaker 1: had any shame at all, he wouldn't be there. Why
Speaker 1: did you make a point to say that though he
Speaker 1: wouldn't I mean, it was kind of out of your weight.
Speaker 1: He was standing right there in the aisle, shaking hands
Speaker 1: with everybody. Did he respond to you, Uh, he may have.
Speaker 1: I didn't hear anything he said. He did seem like
Speaker 1: he was responding. They're walking and talking as this happens.
Speaker 1: And George Santos making his way back to his office
Speaker 1: today after what must have been kind of a weird night. Well,
Speaker 1: he was greeted by reporters as well as he is
Speaker 1: every day, and he's very unhappy with Mitt rock The
Speaker 1: first time in history that I've been told to shut
Speaker 1: up and go to the backroom, especially by people who
Speaker 1: come from a privileged background. Uh. And it's not going
Speaker 1: to be the last. And I'm never going to shut
Speaker 1: up and go to the back of the room. And
Speaker 1: I think it's reprehensible that the Senator would say such
Speaker 1: a thing to me, and of the meaning way he said.
Speaker 1: It wasn't very Mormon of him. It wasn't very Mormon
Speaker 1: of him. And George Santos went on to tweet Hey,
Speaker 1: Mitt Romney and tagged him just a reminder, you will
Speaker 1: never be president, Gene Chanzano when Rick Davis. This really
Speaker 1: has become the George Santos segment at the end of
Speaker 1: every program Mitt Romney delivers for us today, what would
Speaker 1: possess Rick Mitt Romney to get involved in this one?
Speaker 1: For a lot of these guys who really hold the
Speaker 1: Congress and reverence, think it's the highest form of public
Speaker 1: service that you can make, are offended that this pretender
Speaker 1: has made his way into the Chamber and is now
Speaker 1: using as a platform to uh, you know, basically turn
Speaker 1: it into a comedy show. I'm I'm highly confident. Mitt
Speaker 1: Romney looks at him with disdain because of the fact that,
Speaker 1: you know, not only has he uh lied to get
Speaker 1: his way into the Chamber, but he's not using the
Speaker 1: comedy of the Chamber at his greatest advantage to basically
Speaker 1: enhance his his his his, you know, sort of fame
Speaker 1: if you want to call it. That. Did someone need
Speaker 1: to say it? Genie and why the senator from Utah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it wasn't very Mormon, but it may have been more
Speaker 1: finish of Mitt Romney and he needed to say it.
Speaker 1: And sick puppy is about as bad as it gets
Speaker 1: out of Senator Romney's mouth. Oh, don't start telling dog stories. God,
Speaker 1: not with Mitt Romney. Genie and Rick, thank you. What
Speaker 1: great analysis and smart conversation over the past twenty four hours.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your insights. Thanks to Asa Hutchinson and
Speaker 1: Jim Messina. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg.