WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt explains why Ron DeSantis' campaign is completely collapsing

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<v Speaker 1>According to Bloomberg News, this weekend has been another very

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<v Speaker 1>difficult one for the disintegrating Ron de Santis campaign. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>read from the story by Bloomberg's Nancy Cook. Ron desantists

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<v Speaker 1>promised a reset of his presidential campaign. Many of his

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<v Speaker 1>campaign staffers are still waiting. Several leagues believe the Republican

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<v Speaker 1>candidate's bid lax of coherence, strategy and message. According to

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<v Speaker 1>people familiar with the campaign, the operation is disorganized, with

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<v Speaker 1>different teams pursuing their own agendas a little communication between groups,

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<v Speaker 1>said the people familiar, who requested anonymity to discuss the

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<v Speaker 1>campaign's inner workings. There's a couple of things going on

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<v Speaker 1>in that paragraph. First, the Ron de Santa's campaign is disintegrating,

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<v Speaker 1>and the evidence is the leaks. Nancy Cook's anonymously sore

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<v Speaker 1>story makes clear that the voices from inside the campaign

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<v Speaker 1>expressing such worry are the very people who are responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for the campaign reset. The rond de Santa's staff, but

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<v Speaker 1>they feel siloed, disconnected, and disorganized. One of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that happens when a campaign starts to disintegrate is the

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<v Speaker 1>leaking starts. It marks a collapse of discipline, of teamwork,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Ronde de Santis campaign has reached that pathetic stage.

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<v Speaker 1>It's important to remember Ron DeSantis isn't running to be

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<v Speaker 1>mayor of Tallahassee. Ron de Santis is running to be

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<v Speaker 1>president of the United States. He is a micromanaging freak show.

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<v Speaker 1>To say the least, Ron de Santis has never managed anything,

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<v Speaker 1>never run anything besides the state of Florida, which he's

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<v Speaker 1>done well, let's just say, ineffectively for the last five years.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite his twenty point reelection bid. What Ron de Santis

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<v Speaker 1>has done is declared war on the state's largest employer

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<v Speaker 1>in Stoke, a jihad against the educational system in Florida. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>Florida voters may like that a bit, but it's not

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<v Speaker 1>effective leadership. This incredible paragraph details what a sorry manager

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<v Speaker 1>Ron de Santis is. Even posting an official message on

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<v Speaker 1>x the platform formerly called Twitter, is rife with bureaucracy.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the people briefed on the communication, strategy. The

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<v Speaker 1>governor and his wife, Casey DeSantis must personally approve many

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<v Speaker 1>of the messages, a process that can take two days

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<v Speaker 1>and can slow their ability to respond to campaign developments.

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<v Speaker 1>They said, some at the highest rungs of the campaign

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<v Speaker 1>leadership consider the operation flawed and worry they are watching

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<v Speaker 1>the Florida governor's chances of winning the GOP nomination slip away.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about Ron de Santis' acumen as a manager.

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<v Speaker 1>He aspires to be the commander in chief of the

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<v Speaker 1>American military, the head of state of the government of

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<v Speaker 1>the United States President. He runs an operation where it

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<v Speaker 1>takes two days two days to approve a tweet, and

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<v Speaker 1>apparently the only people that Ron Desantus trusts to approve

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<v Speaker 1>the tweet are him and his wife, Casey. What that

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<v Speaker 1>reflects is a paranoid style of decision making, a culture

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<v Speaker 1>of mistrust. He's someone who's simply not capable of leading

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<v Speaker 1>and managing Harold it is a viable challenger to front

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<v Speaker 1>runner Donald Trump. DeSantis has slid in the polls, committed

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<v Speaker 1>a series of missteps, and alarmed donors following his campaign kickoff.

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<v Speaker 1>With his spending and strategy, the candidate promised the reset,

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<v Speaker 1>but his own aides are frustrated and disappointed, and a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of gloom permeates his Tallahassee headquarters, according to people

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with the operation, Well, you don't say a sense

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<v Speaker 1>of gloom has descended on the DeSantis campaign. A fog

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<v Speaker 1>of despair, if you will, hangs over the headquarters, the

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<v Speaker 1>Fura bunker of the Tallahassee Mussolini. I wonder how the immigrants,

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<v Speaker 1>the men, the women, the children, dazed, confused, bewildered and

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<v Speaker 1>lost in a land where they didn't speak the language,

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<v Speaker 1>and they knew no one when round Desantas shipped them

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<v Speaker 1>off tomorrow at this vineyard for a freezing Christmas Eve.

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<v Speaker 1>The reset hasn't exactly stopped him from making one unforced

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<v Speaker 1>error after the other, said Wit Airs, a GOP polster

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<v Speaker 1>who worked on the sant As a successful twenty eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>gubernatorial race. His issue is just he had a hard

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<v Speaker 1>time dealing with people. Now, before continuing, isn't it important

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to deal with people just as a

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<v Speaker 1>general proposition, a human proposition. Now, if you want to

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<v Speaker 1>lead the people to be their president, to be the

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<v Speaker 1>head of state, the commander in chief of a system

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<v Speaker 1>where it is a government of the people, by the people,

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<v Speaker 1>for the people, showing the person who seeks to be

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<v Speaker 1>in charge not to stain the people. Thank you for

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

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<v Speaker 1>heard today, please also consider subscribing to The Warning daily

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<v Speaker 1>newsletter on Substack. Our democracy hangs in the balance. The

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>very rarely discussed on cable news. Please send up at

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<v Speaker 1>Steve Schmidt ste Ve scch m I DT dot substack

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<v Speaker 1>dot com again Steve Schmidt dot substack dot com, or

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<v Speaker 1>at the link in the show notes section below. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you to each and every one of you for listening

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<v Speaker 1>and watching. There is pressure to turn around the campaign

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<v Speaker 1>before the first Republican debate on August twenty third in Milwaukee.

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<v Speaker 1>Were by September, when the governor and his wife think

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<v Speaker 1>that most Americans will start paying attention to the presidential

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<v Speaker 1>raise set a fundraiser who attended a recent DeSantis retreat

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<v Speaker 1>for donors in Park City, Utah. Now Park City, Utah

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<v Speaker 1>is my hometown. And the DeSantis campaign, which is broke,

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<v Speaker 1>decided to host their comeback meeting at the thousand dollars

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<v Speaker 1>a night stein Ericson Lodge. What a why expenditure of

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<v Speaker 1>the donor's money and a perfect setup for Nancy Cook's

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<v Speaker 1>next paragraph. Dessat has fired one third of his campaign staff,

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<v Speaker 1>focused his travel to early voting states, and started holding

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<v Speaker 1>more intimate events and interacting more with mainstream media. But

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<v Speaker 1>it is not clear to supporters or campaign officials if

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<v Speaker 1>the reset has been sweeping enough. I'm going to be

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<v Speaker 1>the one to break the bad news to you. The

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<v Speaker 1>reset is not working, and the reset will not work.

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<v Speaker 1>The gloom and the despair, embrace it because the center

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<v Speaker 1>you do, the sooner that the Santas campaign will be over.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's a good thing for America. When you're losing

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<v Speaker 1>a campaign, the whining and the complaining and the poor

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<v Speaker 1>may always comes. And that was before the Republican Party

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<v Speaker 1>became a great cult of victimization. Let's listen to how Lambert,

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<v Speaker 1>a DeSantis donor, he seems particularly delusional. I think the

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<v Speaker 1>reset is going great. He's getting out in front of

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<v Speaker 1>the media a whole lot more and rolling out more

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<v Speaker 1>policy proposals in the near future, said how Lambert, a

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<v Speaker 1>donor in Texas finance executives. Some campaign officials want the

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<v Speaker 1>reboot to go further. Donors and allies are urging the

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<v Speaker 1>governor to stop talking so extensively about his record in

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<v Speaker 1>Florida and culture war fights and broaden his message to

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<v Speaker 1>appeal to the concerns of voters in places like Iowa.

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<v Speaker 1>Quite a revelation there. You don't have to be a

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<v Speaker 1>political genius to figure it out. If you live, let's say,

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<v Speaker 1>in Iowa, Carolina or New Hampshire, you really don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to hear somebody give an our speech about Florida because

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<v Speaker 1>you don't live there and you don't give a shit.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's a big part of Ron DeSantis's problem, because

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<v Speaker 1>he talks incessantly about things that no one cares about,

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<v Speaker 1>and he's very strange on top of it. But besides

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<v Speaker 1>talking about things that they don't care about, he also

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<v Speaker 1>has decided to provoke them and antagonize them with a

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<v Speaker 1>culture war that he's decided to launch against all of

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<v Speaker 1>America's culture, and you know what, no one likes it,

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<v Speaker 1>not even the MAGA voters. Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual

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<v Speaker 1>donor to the pro deosatus never back down Superback, told

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<v Speaker 1>Ruters Friday he won't give any more money He's given

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<v Speaker 1>twenty million so far unless the guy governor attracts new

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<v Speaker 1>major backers and adopts a more moderate approach. Supporters know

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<v Speaker 1>the first debate will be a critical moment for DeSantis

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<v Speaker 1>to introduce himself to Americans who are not familiar with him,

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<v Speaker 1>several donors said, and they are eager to see how

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<v Speaker 1>he stacks up. The American people do know Ron DeSantis,

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<v Speaker 1>They've gotten to know him, and they don't like him

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<v Speaker 1>at all, and for good reason. Ron DeSantis's campaign is collapsing.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all but over. It will long be remembered as

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<v Speaker 1>a national joke, a punchline about what happens when a

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<v Speaker 1>strange and paranoid fascist from Florida with his wife decides

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<v Speaker 1>that they alone can run and win presidential campaign. The

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<v Speaker 1>most amazing thing about it is a few years from now,

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<v Speaker 1>assuming the country's democracy survives, there'll likely be another Ron Deissantis,

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<v Speaker 1>and they won't learn a single lesson from this Raan

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<v Speaker 1>de Santis. That's the most amazing thing about American politics.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the arrogance, the arrogance of people like Ron and

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<v Speaker 1>Casey DeSantis. Watching them crash and burn is an awful

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<v Speaker 1>lot of fun, isn't it