Mike Johnson
Appearances
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
In your estimation, what crime did Mahmoud?
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
Let me tell you something. I went face down the angry mob at Columbia at the height of that stuff when the pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas protesters were there. I'm telling you, this is my own observation, not something I read in a newspaper. It was dangerous.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
I met with Jewish students before we went to campus who were hauled away off campus because they were instructed by the administration not to come to class. which they paid for, for fear of their physical safety. The administrators there refused to take control of that campus. They refused to allow the PD to come, the police department to come in and take control. And it turned into a chaos.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
The president has since been removed. And now they got the same problem again, Columbia and other universities. They have to keep control of campus. The first responsibility of an administration is ensuring the safety of the students who are paying tuition to be there, for crying out loud. This madness has to stop. We have to get control of it.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
This guy apparently was a mastermind of those very things when the gnashing of teeth and the ripping of clothes and the people screaming at me wanting to rip me limb from limb because I was there talking about moral clarity and how there's a right and a wrong. They were doing that. They disrupted the campus. They were threatening physical violence of their fellow students.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
If you're on a student visa, I'm going to say this clearly, if you were on a student visa and you're in America and you're an aspiring young terrorist who wants to prey upon your Jewish classmates, you're going home. We're going to arrest your... And we're going to send you home where you belong. And this is just getting started. So, look, I appreciate free speech. I used to defend it in courts.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
But this is far beyond the pale of that. When you are threatening your classmates and spewing anti-Semitism and all this hatred, it's enough. And I think the American people understand that. They're supporting it. And I'm glad we have a president who's strong enough to lay down the law. Thanks a lot.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
We believe in free speech, including online and including on campus.
Candace
Should We Feel Bad For Blake Lively? | Candace Ep 157
They want our dollars, and we give it to them by the billions. They've got to allow people like Hayden and many other great young people and old people... to speak.
Global News Podcast
Sudan’s army retakes Khartoum airport from paramilitary RSF
Zwei Wochen vor, war Basel Adra neben Hamdan Balal in Hollywood, um den Oscar für Best Documentary zu holen. Heute war er außerhalb seines Co-Directors Haus, wartet auf Nachrichten und berichtet, was er hier gesehen hat.
Global News Podcast
Sudan’s army retakes Khartoum airport from paramilitary RSF
Mr. Balal war einer von denen, die verhaftet und gefragt wurden, nach dem, was die israelische Militär sagte, war eine gewaltige Konfrontation zwischen lokalen Israelis und Palästinensern. Die IDF sagte, die Palästinensern seien verhaftet worden, um Röhrchen zu heilen.
Global News Podcast
Sudan’s army retakes Khartoum airport from paramilitary RSF
Aktivisten aus einem Anti-Okkupation-Grupp sagten, dass ein Grupp von 15 bis 20 Besitzern sie vor der Militärreise attackiert haben. Das geschah auf den dünnen Hüften um Susia. Es gibt hier ein Auto, das alle Wände zerstört hat, die Reifen zerstört hat und die Windschutzwiper zerstört hat. Und die Menschen, die hier leben, sagen, dass das die Art von Gewalt ist, die sie immer mehr erleben.
Global News Podcast
Sudan’s army retakes Khartoum airport from paramilitary RSF
Dan Johnson in the West Bank.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
In Gaza, even collecting the dead can be dangerous. A UN team recorded this last week, witnessing civilians under fire whilst they were searching for the missing emergency workers. When they reached the area, they found 15 bodies buried, along with the mangled remains of their ambulances and a fire engine.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
Israel says the vehicle has moved suspiciously towards its soldiers with their lights off in the early morning darkness. But what happened here is being described as a massacre and a possible war crime. Muntha is the only survivor, a volunteer medic and a witness who's now bearing testimony.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
He survived, he says, by throwing himself to the floor of the ambulance. And his account challenges Israel's justification for opening fire.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
Gaza's paramedics carried their own colleagues to their funerals earlier this week. The UN says more than 1,000 medical workers have been killed in this conflict. The cries here are of grief, but also for accountability. When aid workers have been mistakenly killed during this conflict, Israel has apologised and promised answers. But now there's none of that.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
It is defending its actions in this incident and justifying this loss of life by saying it was targeting Hamas fighters. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was questioned about the killings and said soldiers did not open fire randomly on the ambulances.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
But that name is not on the list of those killed. there is international outrage at the use of such indiscriminate deadly force. Sam Rose is the acting director for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza. One of their employees is amongst the dead.
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
Munther says he was questioned for 15 hours. But what of Israel's claim Hamas may have used the ambulances as cover?
Global News Podcast
President Trump announces sweeping tariffs on US imports
We put Munther's account to Israel's military. They haven't yet responded. Israel's offered few details of these deaths, no substantial evidence of the threat its soldiers faced. And some fear those answers may never emerge from the mass grave dug in Gaza's sand.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
This was a rescue team that was caught in Israeli firing early last Sunday morning in Rafah. These were rescue workers who'd been sent to the scene of shooting involving the Israelis and Hamas vehicles. And the Israeli military has admitted that it regarded these vehicles as suspicious as they approached the troops following that firing on the Hamas vehicles.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
Israel's military has admitted that it did target these ambulances and a fire engine. And it's not just the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who were caught up in this. Eight of them, whose bodies have now been recovered, but also five members of the Gaza civil defence and one UN worker. So all those bodies have been recovered today.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
They said that they found them buried in sand, some of them showing signs of decomposition. There is a ninth paramedic who was caught up in this, who was believed to have been arrested and detained by the Israelis. The Hamas authorities have described the killings as a war crime. It is something that Israel is still investigating.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
Yeah, there's been intensifying military activity around Rafah over the last week, but that comes on top of the renewed airstrikes by the IDF that we've seen across Gaza for the last 12 days. More than 900 Palestinians have been killed since the end of that ceasefire and the renewal of those airstrikes.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
There is hope, perhaps over the next few days, of a new ceasefire deal that could see more hostages return to Israel and Israel, Palestinian prisoners being released in return for a 50-day ceasefire. It's something that the Hamas leadership has signalled its willingness to accept. The Israelis have confirmed it's something they are looking at, but they haven't made an agreement yet.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
They've put some counter proposals, which we don't have the detail of. Part of the deal would also see... aid returning into Gaza, because that's something that's been blockaded for the entirety of this month, and we're told the aid situation on the ground is getting desperate.
Global News Podcast
Trump 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine
Benjamin Netanyahu has been saying that he will only negotiate under fire now, having returned to military action in Gaza. He wants to put pressure on Hamas and on the Palestinians, but the hope is that they can now get round the table with the negotiators from Qatar and Egypt and reach a deal that would at least see a ceasefire for the next six weeks or so.
Global News Podcast
Five dead and 200 injured in Magdeburg Christmas market attack
I was in constant contact with President Trump throughout this process, spoke with him most recently about 45 minutes ago. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well. Elon Musk and I talked within about an hour ago, and we talked about the extraordinary challenges of this job. And I said, hey, you want to be Speaker of the House? I don't know.
Global News Podcast
Five dead and 200 injured in Magdeburg Christmas market attack
He said this may be the hardest job in the world. I think it is.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
What we're proposing now is just simply, as President Trump likes to say, a return to common sense. And he's exactly right. That message resonated across the country. I am very thankful, personally, that this body is filled with men and women who are committed to that change, to return to common sense. We can do this together. We should. It is our responsibility to do so.
Global News Podcast
Trump tariffs trigger steepest US stocks drop since 2020
A statement from Israel Defence Forces says it targeted a site being used by Hamas militants to launch attacks on its soldiers. But Gaza's civil defence agency says a school sheltering displaced Palestinians was hit in Tufa, northeast of Gaza City. Video from a nearby hospital shows children being rushed in in cars and trucks with very serious injuries.
Global News Podcast
Trump tariffs trigger steepest US stocks drop since 2020
More than 100 people are reported wounded and the number of dead keeps increasing. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 100 people have been killed in the last 24 hours after Israel expanded its military operation in the north of the territory.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
When I was a sophomore in Congress, my second term, I got elected chair of the Republican Study Committee, largest caucus of conservatives in Congress. Actually, it's the largest caucus at the time. We had 158 House Republicans. I should not have been elected that I didn't have the seniority, but it was really more about, you know, skill set, whatever. So I became the head of that party.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And I remember this is this is 2019. We're going through a sea change as a party. We're midway through the Trump administration. These debates and the things you just articulated are percolating up and everybody's kind of talking about it in their own way. And it felt like we were in some ways almost losing our identity as a party.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And so what I try to do is wrangle all that back together, harness the energy, and not have us stray too far from our founding principles as a party. So I tried to come up with a summary.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I was traveling around the country doing campaign events, and I was talking to my colleagues, and it occurred to me that many people who identified as conservatives were not able to articulate in a concise manner what that meant. So I stood in front of all the RFC members after having been elected chair, and I said, y'all, we're kind of at an inflection point.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
What does it mean to be an American conservative? And I said, listen, Let's say you're in an elevator downtown here in Washington and you get on an elevator and you have a young progressive there and you have just a couple of months, maybe three minutes to talk with this person about their philosophy and they tee you up for it. Why? Because they're wearing a t-shirt that says proud progressive.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Okay. So you're in the elevator. How do you summarize for them what we believe? What do you believe? Why is it better for them?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, sort of, but it's more detailed than that. I boiled it down to what I call the seven core principles, and it's individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity. Under each of those things are subcategories, but those are sort of the fixed points on the horizon. Those are the things that define us.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I told my colleagues, I said, if you had to condense all conservative thought, I think that list pretty well crystallizes it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Tariffs. Yeah, he told me that a couple days ago.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
No, no, I get in a lot of trouble for that. One big beautiful bill, that's what we're going to do.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
No, don't make me do it. More! No, no, no.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Oh, yeah. I need a backup plan. I've got to do SNL.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
No! Okay, look, what we're doing right now is a fusion. It's a new fusion, okay? We're taking classic Reaganism.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, let's see if it works. What Trump did in 2015, 2016, is he recognized some blind spots in the party. So he started talking about things like the threat of China, right? It wasn't really big on the radar, not to the point it is now. He saw it first. Tariffs, trade policy, the American worker. I think the party in some ways had lost focus of that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Now Reagan did it so well because he brought all these people into the party in the early 80s, but You know, we had mission drift in some way. So the populist aspect of this is a good sort of shot in the arm. I don't think we abandon who we are as a party. I don't think we ever can. I will be fighting for us not to abandon the core principles.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Thanks, Barry. It's a great delight. That's a very unique introduction. I haven't had one like that in a while.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
But at the same time, recognize, I mean, populism is defined different ways by different people. But at its essence, what I think we're getting at is what are the desires and needs of the people, the common sense needs that they have?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I think I fall where Reagan did, but with this caveat. I have a lot of colleagues. Some of them are defined as isolationists, but they're not. They're anti-interventionalist, right? So there's a sliding scale here. They're not saying it should be America only. When they say America first, what they mean is we take care of our own house before we take care of the neighborhood.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It's just really, again, a return to common sense. At the same time, we have the biggest, most powerful house in the neighborhood. And we have to maintain that perception because that's what keeps peace in the neighborhood. So you have to have an adequately funded and prepared defense. We've strayed away from that in the last few years.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Pete Hegseth, the reason he's a nominee, unconventional as he is, is because he understands that we have to have the strongest military in the world. A strong America is good for everybody around the globe. One thing I've learned, Barry, over the last 15, 16 months since I've been Speaker,
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
The only international trip I had time to take as speaker is I went to Italy for the G7 speakers meeting, and I had to go because it's G7. And I met there with my counterparts. I recognized, I've always understood the importance of America on the world stage, but it never resonated with me as it did when I walked into that room.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Because when America walks, it's not me, it's who I represent in that setting. And you walk in and people go, it's almost like the Lion King, like, oh, you know, it's America. That's what we have to do.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I am not Mufasa in this metaphor. I'm more like the cub, I think. But anyway, but I represent the great power. And we have had that stature since World War II. Reagan used to say so eloquently, he said that, The leadership of the free world was placed upon the shoulders of America after World War II. I think it was Pope Pius XII who articulated this so well. We have a responsibility.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Great question. This might sound hokey to you, but I feel called to it. It's not an easy job. I mean, Newt Gingrich, who was a predecessor, of course, the most famous speaker still in my mind of the modern era, wrote an op-ed a few months back and said, poor Johnson has the most challenging speakership since the Civil War. And he noted all the reasons for that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It does not mean that we need to be nation builders and interventionalists and have boots on the ground.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Yes, but Israel, for example, because this is a live-fire exercise right now. We were talking about this morning. I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. He called me to give me an update, and I wanted to encourage him. They're having a struggle right now, whether you just take out the threat of Hamas or whether they – acquiesce and do this peace deal.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, maybe both. I mean, we have to see. They believe they've got to eradicate that threat, and they need America, sort of the big brother in this scenario, standing over their shoulder to ensure that they can. Israel wants to do it. They will do it on their own. That's the kind of activity we want to encourage, but they have to know that we will stand resolutely with them.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
See, Hamas had calculated that the American and Israeli relationship was being weakened because Biden and Blinken and the team were equivocating. We don't do that. We have a new sheriff in town. When the president stood at Mar-a-Lago a week ago and said, there'll be hell to pay if you don't get those hostages back. That's the kind of thing that we need.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It does not mean we're sending American troops to go be boots on the ground in a conflict, but the presence, the perception, the power of America being projected in that way is critical, not only for our role to maintain our status as the last great superpower and keep our edge over China and other competitors, but because it sort of broadcasts peace around the globe.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
That understanding, you've seen all the world leaders making their pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago over the last couple of months since the election. They understand the necessity of us being in this strong position and what that means for all of them and their own countries around the globe. That's a really important role that we cannot ever surrender because the consequences of it are too great.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Oh, it's Trump's. I mean, look, they wouldn't even be having a conversation. It wouldn't come to that inflection point without his making the open threat like that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Israel is very concerned about that. The leadership is very concerned, and so are we. The terms of that deal is something they've got to negotiate and be comfortable with. We should not be intervening in that. I don't think it's our place. But as I told the prime minister yesterday, I said, you know the Speaker of the House stands with you. We will stand resolute with you.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It's a challenging time, but it's also a time of great opportunity for the nation. And we feel the weight of that, not in a burdensome way, but we understand that we're at a precipice as a nation. This election cycle was a big, Turning point, I think. I think we have an opportunity to fix things, to get back to common sense. And I'm excited by that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And I believe that is going to be President Trump's first admonition and his commitment when he comes in. He understands our role in the world, and he wouldn't be out using that strong language like there'll be hell to pay if he was not willing to back it up, and that's really important for us to project.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I wish I could. I have the same concern and question. We have to walk very circumspectly in these places. You want to believe the best about these other countries in that region and that they're doing it in good faith and for the right reason. And restoring peace to that region should be good for everyone. It is good for everyone. They should recognize it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
But as Ronald Reagan said, you know, trust but verify.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Yeah, maybe we distrust and verify at the same time. I have real concern about it as you do, and I don't have the answer, but it's something we've got to divine.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
No, no, I do stand by it. And I say this without any personal animus at all. I mean, you know, in some ways, I actually kind of feel sorry for Joe Biden. I mean, he's in the twilight years of his life. He is not obviously has not been in charge for some time. And I know this by personal observation, and now the whole world knows it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And it's been very concerning to me over the last year and a half since I've had this position.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It's public now because the Wall Street Journal got it and put it on the front page. January a year ago, almost exactly a year ago, I became speaker in October 2023. And there were all sorts of big national security concerns and everything going on. And I started requesting a meeting with the president because, you know, I'm kind of old school. I'm a constitutional law guy.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
The Speaker of the House should be able to talk to the President, especially in times of great national interest and calamity. But they wouldn't let me meet with him. And his staff kept getting excuses. This went on for like eight or nine weeks. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, he doesn't have time. What are you talking about? I'm second in line of the presidency. He has time. I need to talk to him.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
We had, I can't say the classified parts, but we had some big national concerns at the time that I was losing sleep over. Finally, I just went to the Hill Press Corps and I said, the president is not being allowed to meet with the speaker. There's a problem. So they started putting pressure on him. Long story short, they finally relented. They invited me to the White House.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I show up and I realize it's actually an ambush because it's not just me and the president. It's also... Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem, the CIA director, everybody. So I walked in the Oval, and oh, I know what this is. They're going to hotbox the Speaker on Ukraine funding. That's what it was. This is probably the third week of January. We sit down. We're in the midst of it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And the whole conversation, and I'm going, we don't need to have this conversation. The president reaches over just like this. We're sitting right next to the fireplace in the Oval, and he grabs my arm, and he says... the speaker and I just need a couple minutes together. Would y'all just leave us alone?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
So there are great challenges, great opportunity at the same time. But I'm convinced we're going to be able to deliver on this and we're going to do well for the country. So that's why we're here.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And I looked up on the faces of some of the staff standing around the wall and they're like, no, he did it. So he called it. He's the commander in chief. So everybody leaves and he and I are standing awkwardly in the middle of the Oval Office right over the rug by that coffee table. And I said, Mr. President, thanks for the moments. This is very important.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I got some big national security things I need to talk to you about that I've heard and I think you know, and what do we do? But first, real quickly, Mr. President, can I ask you a question? I cannot answer this from my constituents in Louisiana. Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe? You know, liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Because you understand, we just talked about Ukraine. You understand you're fueling Vladimir Putin's war machine because they got to get their gas from him, you know. And he looks at me, stunned, and he said, I didn't do that. And I said, Mr. President, yes, you did. It was an executive order like three weeks ago. And he goes, no, I didn't do that. And he's arguing with me.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I said, Mr. President, respectfully, could I go out here and ask your secretary to print it out? We'll read it together. You definitely did that. And he goes, oh, you talk about natural gas. Yes, sir. He said, no, no, you misunderstand. He said, what I did is I signed this thing to, we're going to conduct a study on the effects of LNG. I said, no, you're not, sir. You paused it. I know.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I have the terminal, the export terminals in my state. I talked to those people this morning. This is doing massive damage to our economy, national security. It occurred to me, Barry, he was not lying to me. He genuinely did not know what he had signed. And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, we're in serious trouble. Who is running the country?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Like, I don't know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn't know.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I wish I could tell you. I get asked this question all the time.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
She certainly had a lot of influence, but I think it is a group of people. This is the way I have reasoned this. When he was on the stage and he had whatever, 15 or 16 different Democrats on the first debate and they were trying to get the nomination. They were dropped off one by one and they settled on Joe because they thought he'd be the most electable because some of them were too far left.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, each of them, I think, sat down with him as a condition of dropping out and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie and the rest and said, fine, but you're going to take my person to run this and you're going to take this person and here's my list of demands. And he just agreed to all of it because he wanted to be president so badly.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
So over the next four years, they made good on those commitments and he brought in people and he signed things incongruous as they were, as dangerous as they were, counterproductive. He just fulfilled the commitments. And he had people around him doing it. And it led us into absolute chaos. And every metric of public policy is a disaster. And that is not an uncharitable description.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It is objective fact. I think when it's measured, I think the results are going to be that he was the worst president, certainly in the modern era, maybe in the whole history of the country.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
About everything. About everything. The economy's great. Bidenomics is awesome. Your family's doing great. Wokeness is the new way of the future. And you should buy, you know, all of it. Everything they did was just, they were defying common sense. They were trying to defy gravity. They ignored the people's real sentiments. No one liked any of that stuff. And they got fed up with it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I mean, in layman's terms, that's what happened. That's what the election was about. It was a full repudiation of that nonsense. And when President Trump says we're going to restore common sense, people stand up and cheer because that's a low bar, but that's where we are. We've got to get back to just reason and thought and not group think. And they did that to their detriment.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I think the Democratic Party, they're doing the autopsy now and they recognize they went too far. They're in a real problem because they don't have an identified leader of the party. They don't have a real vision right now. They're going to have to do a whole cloth rewrite of their platform.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And it gives us a great opportunity to demonstrate common sense and that our principles is what is going to lead us back. The things that made us the greatest nation in the history of the world are the things that will make us great again. And we don't need to reinvent the wheel here.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Actually, it's a Reagan phrase. I mean, he said it.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
You know, that's a really good question. We had a big election cycle, and so every day that we were not in session, almost literally, I was on the road. So I did over 350 campaign events, 250 cities, 40 states, logged enough miles to circle the globe five and a half times, campaigning to keep the majority. And we did by a narrow margin, but it was a success.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Oh, that's nonsense. I'm an exceptionalism guy. I believe it is objective.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, look, there's no question that we've been tarnished. I mean, the shine has come off. We're not the shining city on a hill right now. We're divided. We've gone through a valley, a dark valley. But the beauty of America is... I think we are going to have a new morning in America because we can always return to those principles. And we do need to return.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
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We have strayed away and tried to become something that we're not. America is the greatest nation in the history of the world. It's not even subject to rational debate. Look, we're the strongest, the freest, the most powerful, most successful, most benevolent nation that's ever been. And there's a reason for that.
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I do. And I think what he was trying to do, it was intended to be jarring. It was definitely jarring. Well, it was. He had to shake everybody out of their malaise. It wasn't a Reagan speech, right? But it was like pumping the heart back into action, right? It was jarring. It got everybody's attention. And then it set us back on the course to do what we're doing now. And now his language.
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is much more lofty and optimistic. He's talking about a new golden age in America. And that's not campaign rhetoric. We can actually do that because we know how. And if we have unified government and if we can keep the Republicans rowing in the same direction, that's what we'll do.
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It's both. Elon is the private sector, the free market, unleashed. a great entrepreneurial spirit and great creativity and everything that's allowed in the private sector, unencumbered by government regulation, even though they are having the regulation, we can remove some of that red tape and make it even better. That's the hope. That's why he's so deeply invested.
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But then here's government in California. I mean, it's just illustration A. I mean, it's government on steroids, radical progressivism. I mean, they're doing everything that defies common sense, and there are real consequences of that. It was so phenomenal to me. The LA Times last week retracted their endorsement for Mayor Karen Bass and said, oh, gee.
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The recognition of, Gosh, competence may actually matter in a mayor's race. Oh, wow, in a governor's race. And they're talking about recalling the mayor and the governor. You know, look, they need to.
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But no matter where I was, coast to coast, this is a common question. How come? How come the Democrats stick together and Republicans don't? And here's my answer, and I think it will make sense to you. Democrats really are consistent in their philosophy. They think very much and operate very much like a union. They're very collectivist sort of in their worldview and their ideology.
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We're working on it. Elon and I were flying. This is going to sound like the opening of a bar joke, but flying back from the UFC fight at 3 a.m. back to Mar-a-Lago.
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Yes, RFK was eating the, he really did eat it and enjoyed it.
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Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Yeah, I was standing right behind him.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
That was like some hazing ritual. On his own volition, enjoyed it. Really?
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Oh, the whole thing. Because when you're on Trump Force One, which is the finest plane in the world today. Everybody's saying it's the finest plane. When you're on there, you don't give an order. You are served. And you get, I guess it's a quarter pound with cheese or a Big Mac with cheese. You get fries and the nuggets and a big giant Diet Coke. Wow. It's fantastic. Wow. Yeah, I know.
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On the finest plane in the world. And so we're sitting there in this surreal moment. We had been at UFC. I'm hanging out ringside with Kid Rock and Jelly Roll and all that. We did a round trip from Mar-a-Lago to the UFC deal. We landed back in Palm Beach at like 4.25 a.m. or something. But anyway, it's the middle of the night. Everybody's up like it's afternoon. It's so much fun.
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Anyway, I'm sitting in the plane talking to Elon about that question. How do we integrate all this great thing in government? And we're talking about Doge and the incredible potential and possibility that's there. And he's applying his like unique physics analytical mind to like government. And it's a totally new paradigm for him and for all of us.
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One of the challenges we have right now is to answer that question, to marry all these things together, to leverage the Doge insights and he and Vivek and everybody who's working on that. And he's, by the way, he's asked for resumes for people who want to work for this non-governmental agency that's going to inform a lot of what we do.
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It's good to have fresh eyes on that and to have private sector individuals look at this like a business. That's one of the appeals of Donald Trump, why people voted for him. He thinks of government with the mind of a businessman instead of a politician.
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I love it. I have some epic selfies of the three of us hanging out on the plane. I really enjoy getting to know Elon. He's a fascinating guy. He's humble enough to know that while he's an expert in things I can't even begin to fathom, he doesn't know a lot about government. It's just not his thing. He's never been into it.
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But he's one of the smartest guys on the planet, obviously, and he can learn it quickly. So we've been talking about that. I've been on the phone with him talking about the legislation and the components that go into it and why it's so important and all that. I've really enjoyed that relationship, and he's just a unique figure.
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I mean, he's brilliant, and he can do things that we couldn't have imagined, catching a pocket with chopsticks, as you said, and so much more that we're capable of that will help us in the defense space and everything else.
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Now, how it works, it's a blank canvas on which we are painting now, but you've got two entrepreneurial spirits there at the top that are thinking about that in very creative ways. We're going to try to pull it all together, and I think we can.
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I came off the judiciary committee where immigration was in our jurisdiction. We wrestled over that because they're both right. They're both right in certain respects. It's one of the hardest things. Comprehensive immigration reform is so complicated.
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They move together as a pack. It almost is kind of a – they're all sort of social animals. It's socialism in some real respect. Whereas on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans are by nature more independent, you know, rugged individualists and deeply rooted in our philosophy and you can't tell me what to do and all that stuff. And that's great. I mean, there's great blessing to that.
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And we spent my sophomore term in Congress, we spent almost a year and a half trying to forge a consensus on how to fix the mess because we had a border problem then. We were trying to build the wall and do all these other things. Nine or ten months into it, we produced, remember the Goodlatte 1 versus Goodlatte 2 drama?
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We had two competing bills, and the president said, I kind of like both of them.
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Oh, man, I'm going to write a volume about that one, too. But ultimately, both bills failed because we couldn't get everybody together on those issues.
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They're not harmonious as described, but we're in the process. The conservative movement went through a fusionist sort of era a few decades ago. We're doing it again.
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You had like the sort of the John Birch Society, you know, almost libertarian sort of wing. And you had the three legs of the stool of the Reagan era. Remember the, you know, bringing all those people together. Matthew Continetti wrote a book recently, The Right. Yeah, it's phenomenal. Yeah. And he chronicled a lot of that. But there are others who have.
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But putting all that together is how we forge the consensus. We have new demographics in the party. We have new folks there. They're bringing all these new perspectives in. And we've got to gear this, again, holding fast to the core principles, not losing, because that's what anchors us, but then also appealing to and hearing from the American worker.
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The nationalism, it comes from an honest place. They want to take care of their own house first. I think it makes sense. But it doesn't mean that you can turn your back on everything else happening. How we marry all that together is the question of the day. And I think that the weeks and months ahead are going to be instructive on that.
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Oh, I love them both. I have to love everybody. Oh, wow. You're so good. Yes, yes, yes.
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Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Yeah, you can call it conditions or safeguards or accountability. We owe that to the American taxpayer. We're in dire fiscal straits right now with $36 trillion in federal debt. And they're saying this disaster may be $150 billion or more, right? But why? Why is that? I think if there's culpability, there ought to be conditions. And what do I mean by that? Well, they're natural disasters.
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I live in a disaster-prone state of Louisiana. Gavin Newsom tried to call me out on social media 48 hours ago, and I hit back and said, go tend to the fires, dude. Get off social media, right? Like... All I was saying is common sense. Again, taxpayers around the country should not be funding crazy leftist policy choices that exacerbated the effects of a natural disaster.
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I'm one of those people as well. until you have a one vote margin and then you need everybody to move together. And so that is the challenge every day. I mean, the modern speakership has evolved to where the margins are so small and they're going to be for the foreseeable future, no matter who has the majority. You can't spare hardly any votes or sometimes no votes.
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We understand there are people in terrible situations there. We've got to take care of American people. But When they made decisions to not have the reservoirs filled, to not have hydrants that work, to go to DEI and the fire service and not have capable persons at the helm to decide that you're going to protect the smelt fish instead of the taxpayer.
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I mean, it set the conditions to make it much worse. Somebody sent me a video. It was produced in 1962, one of those old school documentaries. that chronicled exactly what we just saw happen in 2025. They chronicled this big fire that happened in almost that same area in California because of the Santa Ana winds.
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And they said, these are policy prescriptions that will prevent it from happening again. They defied it.
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If the Red River overflowed because I was down there with dynamite blowing up the levees, then Hakeem would have a great point. That's the effect. That's what we're talking about in California. They almost literally did that, and they set up the conditions for this calamity. Look, the Congress is going to take care of its obligations. There is a federal role in things like this. But
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It would be foolish to say that we're going to send blank checks to Gavin Newsom so they can squander it and continue their crazy policies. This is not unprecedented. After Katrina in my state, when we did have floods in the Mississippi and all the rest, there were conditions placed on the money that came. You had to build up higher.
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If you're at low elevations, you got to put it on stilts, all those things. And everybody thought that was reasonable. After Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, same thing. So we're not talking about some new concept here. And it's not a slight to the people of California. It is an admonition to the leadership or the lack of leadership in California. And I think we have an obligation to do that.
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How much time do we have? So quick summary. I wrote the famous, infamous brief to the Supreme Court to point out the very obvious fact that in the 2020 election, we had unprecedented irregularity and we had unconstitutionality. Why is that? Because Sometimes in good faith, sometimes in bad faith. All the different states started adjusting their election laws.
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You had governors, election commissioners, sometimes state district court judges. They changed all the rules. Hey, let's send paper ballots to everybody. Let's do that. Let's do this. Let's put unmanned ballot boxes in public parks for six weeks. All this crazy stuff. Well, here's the problem.
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They changed the rules, and it was not constitutional. Why? Because it was not ratified by the state legislatures, which is specifically articulated, very black letter, plain language in the Constitution. Only the state legislatures can choose the manner by which electors are chosen for a presidential election.
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And when the legislatures did not ratify all these crazy changes, it led to the chaos, it led to the questions, the lack of faith in our institutions, and it violated the Constitution. We pointed that out plainly, like I pointed it out in a brief to the court. Very simple, very clear legal question. Did they ratify it with the legislatures or not? Here's what the Constitution says.
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And so you have to operate sort of like a mental health counselor. I mean, no kidding. I spend the large share of my day sitting down with members, working through their issues, helping them come to consensus. And so we have to bury our personal preferences sometimes because we're in a deliberative body. That's the nature of the beast.
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Here's what didn't happen. What do we do with that? Supreme Court punted. They said there was no standing. It was the Georgia versus Texas thing. So the question was never answered, but no one can answer that question.
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I mean, look at Georgia. They sent paper ballots to everybody, and some of these states, they sent paper ballots, and there was no way, as soon as it was received back in the mail, once you separated the ballot from the envelope, you couldn't even identify who submitted it. They changed the laws in many jurisdictions in ways that were untraceable.
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It would be impossible to prove if there was fraud. That's what diminished the people's faith in the election system itself, and that is a great threat to a constitutional republic, right?
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Well, I had to answer that question on the campaign trail over the last year all around the country.
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Yes. Well, this is what I told them, and I meant it in the depths of my soul. It's not a talking point. There was unprecedented irregularity and problem in the 2020 election, but I want to tell you that that's never going to happen again. I said this on The Campanario because, look, everybody recognized that problem. And in early 2021 and in the months and days after,
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All the red state legislatures, almost all of them got deeply involved. Over 400 pieces of legislation were passed through the legislature, signed into law by the governors to clean up their systems and make sure that all the unprecedented irregularity of 2020 was never repeated again. We have election security measures going on around the country.
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We passed the SAVE Act in the last Congress to try to make sure that illegal aliens cannot vote in elections. That's also federal law, and there was no mechanism to prove it. We have a lot of improvements that we'll continue to make. The SAVE Act was never signed into law because Chuck Schumer killed it in the Senate. But we're going to keep doing that.
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And we've got to keep restoring the people's trust. Because if we do not have a free and fair election that people trust, that undermines the entire system of our government. It is the premise of our government and our republic.
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It was a sad day in America. I mean, I was on the floor when it happened. And I, honest to God, I did not know what was happening. We heard voices coming down the hall because it echoes around the marble. I was on the floor making the argument about my electoral count, you know, my brilliant constitutional argument. No one heard it because it was so crazy.
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But I'll never ask anybody to compromise their core principles. And that's the fine line where you've got to sort of navigate. Come with me. You're not going to get all that. None of us are. But you've got to be part of the team. And that's a great challenge some days.
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And I just yielded the floor to Lauren Boebert, your favorite person. And she was giving an impassioned plea. And suddenly the Capitol Police come in. They grabbed the vice president and moved him out of the chamber as soon as we heard the noise. And we all thought... My first thought was, it's a terrorist attack. I thought they were terrorists, you know, invading the building.
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I didn't even know there was a rally or anything. I was so deeply involved in the legal aspect of what we were doing that day. And then everything that happened, you know, volumes had been written about it. And maybe I'll write about it one day as well. But it was just surreal. And I was walking from the chamber to the secret hold place. They ushered us through in the tunnels and all that.
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And somebody, I can't remember, one of my colleagues was walking in and he said, you do this. And he hands me the phone. I said, who is it? He says, Fox News Live. I can't do it. He was too shaken. So, hello, it's Bill Hammer. So I go live, real time. This is still on my Facebook page, January 6th. You can go see it.
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And it was just the raw emotion of what I was feeling at the time and how just in my soul it was so disturbing because to have this in the chamber during that thing when we actually had real legal arguments. What it meant to the country and the whole thing, it was just a really sad day. And I just said, like, we're better than this. You know, our people are better than this.
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Our nation is better than this. We did it better January 6th this time. That's the way it should be done. The peaceful transfer of power is an important part of our republic. And that's something conservatives and everybody should support. And we do.
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I'm pro-IVF, yeah. I mean, we have a lot of friends and family who have beautiful families because of that. And they had trouble conceiving. And I regard that as a great blessing. Now, here's the thing. It can't be unrestricted.
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Because they have the same concern that I do. If you have it in a state that has no restrictions, then you wind up with frozen embryos that are stored in freezers. And if you believe, as I do, that life begins at conception, that's a serious problem. Those are, you know, that's life. What do you do with that? Do you just dispose it like, you know, yesterday's trash?
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I mean, that's a real heavy moral ethical dilemma. And some of the states haven't wrestled with it at all. They just allow this unrestricted. So my state in Louisiana, I think, has struck the balance right. There's a limited number that you can have, and there are limitations on all that. I think you've got to be very careful about it.
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But I don't think you throw the baby out with the bathwater, no pun intended. You don't just get rid of IVF, because it's been a great blessing to a lot of people.
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For the right price. No, I'm kidding. I don't know. I understand strategically it could be a great thing for us, but I'm not sure we have the money to do that right now. That's my concern.
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Well, this is really genuinely how I sort of operate in my worldview is that you have to actually have love for your colleagues. You know, love everybody. This is a biblical admonition. I'm one of those guys. If you really take hold of what that means, it allows you to have a lot of tolerance for people, a lot of empathy, sympathy, whatever is occasioned of the day.
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House but not Senate. No, I'm just kidding. I'm very concerned, really. This is a real thing. I don't want to have two more Democrat senators joining the chamber. I mean, really. So call me a protectionist in that regard.
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Well, I've gotten better at it. The most money I've ever raised in a cycle, I think, is like $1.2 million before I became speaker. Last year, by some miracle of God, I raised $332 million. And I didn't think that was possible, but people were very motivated, and I had to leave it all in the field. But I genuinely enjoyed meeting what some people call the donor class.
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Some of the greatest Americans are those of means who are self-made, who come from humble beginnings, and they care so much about the country, and they'll open the checkbook and write large amounts because they care about the principle and living in the greatest country. It was so rewarding.
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Well, because they'll cheat. No, I'm just kidding. No, I'm just kidding. No, really, this is a serious thing. ActBlue, I believe, is a money laundering organization. I really do. And there's some evidence now that's being developed. I think there'll be some investigations, probably litigation, maybe prosecutions.
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There are examples that have been proven that there were some large checks probably taken from overseas. I don't know. That's the conjecture. And then they broke it down into smaller denominations and sent it through their system by using false identification. They grabbed names of, this is allegedly, okay, but I think it could be proven.
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that they took names of people off photo rolls in various states and said they were ActBlue donors when they had no idea. They started a website called CheckMyDonation.org, and people were running it through, and I've been informed. They have thousands upon thousands of people who are supposedly donors that never had any knowledge of it. That's a serious problem.
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So we'll see how the investigations come out, but I mean, that's a big allegation, and if it is proven... That would be a sea change in the election cycle because ActBlue is truly, I mean, they raise billions and billions of dollars.
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Yeah, sure. I mean, I think transparency is very important and government's too big and it hides too much.
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Well, I like that. No, I'm just, look, Ronald Reagan was described this way. He said he, I think it was Jim Baker. Give it to Reagan. No, no, because he's the motto for me. He was described, he said he's like a silky soft pillow with an iron bar in the middle. Is that you? I mean, I like to try to do that. I mean, you know, he was unshakable.
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But he was a happy warrior because he genuinely loved everybody. And Mike Huckabee said something one time. He was running for governor of Arkansas many years ago. And he said, you know what? I'm a conservative, but I'm not mad at anybody about it. You know, like that's kind of my ethos, you know.
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Well, the open border. I mean, it was reflected in the election. Everybody knows that.
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This conflict in Israel, I think. We've got to resolve it the right way.
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I got a lot of Democrat friends in the House. I mean, well, I spend the most time with Hakeem Jeffries right now. And you know what? We have a great relationship of trust, and we're trying to change the atmosphere. Instead of the two leaders of the parties killing each other every day, we're trying to model civility again.
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And you can see past their frustrations and peccadilloes. And even when they come after you personally, you can forgive it and not keep a record of wrongs. These are all biblical admonitions. If you follow that, it's a very liberating way to live. And because I genuinely love all my colleagues, I understand what they bring to the table.
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It's a great question. I don't think they can answer it themselves. They're looking for a leader, and we'll see how it evolves. They've got a short bench, you know?
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Yes. Yeah. And I've talked to him a lot about the hand of providence and how I'm convinced that God spared his life twice on the world stage, two assassination attempts within 65 days or whatever it was. And right after the second assassination attempt, this is interesting footnote in history, but I arrived at Mar-a-Lago right after that event. We were scheduled to meet and
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Everything was shut down. My motorcade came in the same time his did, and we sat. My wife and I and he and Susie Wiles, chief of staff, sat there for two hours and 45 minutes in a hold room. He's still in his golf attire, and he's processing the fact that he almost had his second assassination attempt in that amount of time. And it occurred to him, and it would shake any man, any man.
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He's one of the strongest people I've ever known. But he was very contemplative in that moment. I talked to him again that day about providence. And like, this is not an accident. I don't believe in coincidence, sir. I think, you know, this is a phenomenal thing. And I believe God's going to raise you up. You know, the Bible is very clear. God raises up those in authority.
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I get accused for all, you know, criticized for saying this all the time. But I mean, it's my worldview. I don't believe there are accidents in this arena. And I think he's been raised up for this time. And that's a profound thing for anybody to contemplate. I think he does that. He's been talking about it. He talks about providence. He talks about how he believes in God more than ever.
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And I think anybody would be in his situation.
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Bless those who persecute you. That's the one I'm practicing the most these days.
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Um, I reread The Firm about a year and a half ago. I have no time for leisure reading at all, but it was one of my favorites when I was early in my career. I was just doing it for leisure and it took me like six months to get through it because I don't have any time.
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It's always on the news, you know, sadly.
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Quarter pound with cheese, no onions.
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Don't even really regard seed oils. I don't know.
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We're going to define what that means, but yes.
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I like him. I didn't know what to think, but after hanging out ringside at UFC fight, I got to like the guy a whole lot.
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No, it's not. The explanation, it may actually make sense. Mayorkas said it, and I don't believe anything he says, but he might be right on this one. He said, the regulations changed and you can now fly drones at night and people are just now seeing what was always there, but we didn't allow them to fly at night. I'm not buying that part, but I don't think it's China or an international threat.
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I appreciate their skill sets, their life experiences, all these things. And I'm trying to leverage that because I want them to be of their highest and best use for the cause and the country and our caucus, our conference. But also, they've got to be able to work cohesively with the team. It's easier with some than others, but that's the job.
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I just think it's probably largely hobbyist enthusiasts and stuff, but I'm still trying to get a real briefing on that. And we might not know until Trump comes in and we have new authorities.
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I'm still trying to find out.
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Maybe. He said he's going to. I mean, it's time, right? It's been time. We should know.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, I don't manage them. I work with them as a family. We're kind of like a big family, and families can be messy sometimes. And dysfunctional. And dysfunctional sometimes. But at the end of the day, everybody has the same objective. We're trying to do best for the country. Those you named are all friends. I love and value them all, even when we disagree.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And we can disagree in an agreeable manner. That's what allows you to navigate through it. So I understand where they're coming from. Chip Roy, for example, is a very good friend of mine. We disagree on tactics, but not necessarily on philosophy or principle. And so that tactics is we're in the deep south. We say intense fellowship. We have a lot of intense fellowship.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And Chip is very, he gets very animated. He's very passionate about his principles, which I actually love and value about him. So we're not at odds personally. I'm not at odds personally with anybody. And my job at the end of the day is take Chip and Thomas on this side and my colleagues who are elected in Kamala Harris districts, right, from New York and New Jersey and California and other places.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
and get them to the point where we can find consensus with the whole group. And it takes a lot of patience, a lot of time, but we can get everybody there, and we will.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
We have a great relationship. It's been forged over and developed over about eight years. We came to Washington at the same time. I was a freshman in Congress in 2017 when he was introduced to Washington. We've had a lot of experiences along the way. One day I'll write a three-volume set about all of this. It's been developed over a long time.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I was one of his impeachment defense attorneys on the House side, helped with all that. We had disagreements along the way when he was president over a couple of pieces of legislation and things. But even when we disagreed, he evaluated early on. He's a great judge of character. And he understood that what I was telling him was in good faith.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I was telling him what I genuinely believed was for his best interest and thus the country's. I was resolute enough that I didn't just, you know, fold. I told him what I thought he needed to know. He appreciates that. And so we've become very close over the last, you know, certainly in recent years and during the campaign over the last year. We talked all the time.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I mean, now we talk almost constantly. And I think that's a really important thing for the country. It's very important for the President of the United States and the Speaker of the House, certainly of the same party, to have a close working relationship and one of trust. And I think that's what this is based upon. He's had my back and I've had his.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And I'm humbled and honored to have had his endorsement and support. It's a great working relationship. I think it's really important for the country. It's different in many ways. And the relationship he had, for example, with Paul Ryan, who was the speaker in 2017, they really didn't know one another. And so they were sort of being introduced at a very important time for the country.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
No one thought we would have unified government in 2017. So he surprised everyone, including the leadership in the House and Senate. So they had to forge that relationship through fire, through the process. We don't have that hurdle right now. And he and I think very the same. We're going to work the same way. to deliver that America First agenda. And that's what the country needs.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, they said that about me. I didn't say it about myself. That's how it was characterized. I wouldn't discount anybody's previous relationship. McCarthy was very close to the president. All I know is that the relationship I have with him right now, we're very much aligned on the principle and the policy. And I think it's going to be very important for us to deliver.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I mean, he got a big mandate in this election. Let's not forget 77 million votes. The House Republicans got 74.7 million. That's the highest vote total popular vote we've ever had for House Republicans. And some would say, well, you rode the president's coattails. I think it was a combination of things. Certainly, he delivered for the party. He helped deliver for us.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
We had a demographic shift in this election cycle. We have a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters and black and African-American voters, Jewish voters, union workers, all that. He almost did a reset in a way, not unlike what Reagan did in the early 80s.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And now he's presented, we're all presented with this great opportunity to embrace the new folks who have come into the party and to demonstrate for them that it is our policies that actually lead to human flourishing. Our policies are what's best. It's common sense. It's what's best for individuals and families and communities and the states and the nation itself. I'm so excited by that prospect.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
The president is as well. And he's going to restore common sense. And I think that's the continuing theme that you'll see in our agenda.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I think it's both. I think President Trump is a symbol to so many people, especially some of these demographics of just unabashed strength again. I mean, you know, there's a lot of men who have felt like the Democratic Party went so crazy woke progressive. It's as if the pendulum was swung so far to the left so fast and aggressively that it went too far and it clicked.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
It's almost like it's, in my mind, it's sort of coming back. And so President Trump represents the force that's pushing it back in so many ways to so many people. Because what is he? You know, he's brash by some people's description, but by others, that's a strong leader. That's a strong man. He's, you know, he's unafraid to say what he thinks.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And it can be a blessing and a curse because sometimes he says things that rub people the wrong way, but he's not afraid to do it. And I think that resonates with a lot of men, some of these demographics. I think they want to see that again. They want to see us restore peace through strength, for example, in foreign policy. And the Biden administration did exactly the opposite.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
They appeased our enemies. I mean, look at Israel, the thing with Israel. I mean, they were appeasing Iran. They refused to confront Iran. And so what that did was it empowered them, Iran and its proxies like Hamas, whereas they were encumbering Israel at the same time. They had it exactly inverted. And people see that in so many examples in so many policy arenas. And they said enough is enough.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And so President Trump comes back with his style and bravado, and he represents a strong America again in many ways. And the country needs that desperately.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, I can't judge these men's hearts, but I would tell you that they've done a 180 real quick. Like, look, obviously this is about profitability. You know, they run companies, right? So they've got to make sure that they're on steady footing with the new administration. But there was some incredible abuses in those spaces over the last four years.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I came from the Judiciary Committee before I was elected speaker. And we were having hearings and we were collecting the data of all the abuses just in the tech space, on the social media platforms. There was a court opinion that came out from my state, the Western District of Louisiana Federal Court, July 4th, I think of 2022. And the judge detailed all this.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
He documented all the abuses from the tech platforms where Zuckerberg's talked about this in recent days. The Biden administration officials were cursing at him on the phone. He was talking about vaccine mandates, for example. Any negative information about side effects from vaccines was scrubbed from the internet. The court looked at all this.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
They realized that Elvis Chan in the FBI office in Silicon Valley was meeting regularly with the big tech platform execs and giving them pages of people to censor in silence and viewpoints. It's a dangerous thing. The judge said it was dystopian, Orwellian. He said it was the greatest abridgment of free speech since the First Amendment was drafted.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I mean, that's big language for a court, but they just said how crazy this was. So there's a lot of things.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Well, maybe. I mean, clearly, Elon broke the gates open in a way. But I've been out to Silicon Valley. I had fundraisers in San Francisco over the last cycle. I never thought that would ever happen. And all the big tech executives were around the table saying, we're in. You know why?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Um, I don't know if I should, I was at David Sacks house.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I'll tell you that he's now out, you know, so we can say that there was a bunch of people and it would surprise you, but some who have been kind of in conservative circles for, you know, Lonsdale, for example, Joe Lonsdale and, uh, Mark Andreessen came and spoke at a big event I had at Jackson hole, Wyoming with all the biggest donors in the party.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
And he held a master course on blockchain and crypto and AI and why, if you would love freedom, you better be for blockchain. And they all got, went out, you know, cheering. It was great.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Yeah. This probably didn't help with that. It probably got him out sooner. But here's what I think the dynamic was. It wasn't just red pill. They woke up and realized, wait a minute. The Democratic Party is trying to smother innovation in our industries. They're trying to regulate us almost out of existence. Their tax policies are crazy. Our profitability is suffering.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
Oh, and here's this other group over here, and they're for the free market, and they want us to innovate, and they believe in entrepreneurship and risk-taking and job creation. I think I'm with them.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I think a lot about this. In fact, for about two years, I don't have any free time at all, but I'm dabbling and trying to finish my first book, and my wife is like, finish it or you're done. It's called The Seven Core Principles of American Conservatism, and it's got several subtitles. Let's work on the title.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Inauguration Day with the Speaker of the House
I know. I'm kind of a nerd about this stuff. I have always considered myself a Reagan Republican. I came up in the 80s, and I believed in everything he stood for. And as I got old, I was a constitutional law attorney. I really dug in on this stuff. I started studying the history of the conservative movement. And I'll tell you a quick story because it'll illustrate what I'm talking about.
Morning Wire
RFK Jr & Gabbard Advance & Netanyahu Visit | 2.5.25
I think President Trump is looking at this from a humanitarian standpoint. You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordnance and piles of rubble. At some point, we have to look realistically. How do you rebuild Gaza? What's the timeline? We're talking 10, 15 years.
Morning Wire
Trump-Zelensky Fallout & Tariffs Hit Canada, Mexico | 3.4.25
He's not ready to talk peace at all. But here's the problem. Time is not on his side. Time is not on the side of just forever continuing this conflict. The American people's patience is not unlimited. Their wallets are not unlimited. And our stockpiles and munitions are not unlimited.
Morning Wire
Car Maker Invests Big & Snow White Bombs | 3.25.25
62%, for example, of the federal injunctions that have been handed down in the last century were handed down against President Trump. And 92% of those were done by partisan Democrat appointed judges.
Morning Wire
US-Russia Talks Begin & DOGE Targets IRS | 2.18.25
They may not like some of the sequencing that is going on in these negotiations, but I have to push back on any notion that they aren't being consulted. They absolutely are.
Morning Wire
Palisades Fire Rages & Wildfire Fallout | 1.9.25
170 voted against it. And I think they put politics ahead of principle. And we're going to find out where they stand on this now. We welcome with open arms any Democrat who wants to help us solve these problems because the American people demand to deserve it. It's overdue. And we'll be looking for that and we'll see how it shakes out.
Morning Wire
Ukraine Mineral Deal & Trump’s Gold Card Program | 2.27.25
We presented the Ukrainians really an incredible and historic opportunity to have the United States of America co-invest with Ukraine, invest in its economy, invest in its natural resources, and really become a partner in Ukraine's future in a way that's sustainable, but also would be, I think, the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.
Morning Wire
House Scraps Spending Bill & Mangione’s Extradition | 12.19.24
So any bill has to have Democrat votes. They understand the situation. They said, it's not directed to you, Mr. Speaker, but we don't like the spending. I said, guess what, fellas? I don't either. We gotta get this done because here's the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the America First agenda.
Morning Wire
House Scraps Spending Bill & Mangione’s Extradition | 12.19.24
That's what we're gonna run with gusto beginning January 3rd when we start the new Congress, when Republicans again are in control. And all of our fiscal conservative friends, I'm one of them. we'll be able to finally do the things that we've been wanting to do for the last couple years.
Morning Wire
Budget Battles, Billion-Dollar Bets & ICE Busts | 5.15.25
Less government, lower taxes, so we can allow the free market to flourish. I think that's what we're going to achieve in this bill.
Morning Wire
Budget Battles, Billion-Dollar Bets & ICE Busts | 5.15.25
We're checking all the boxes. He promised no taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security, no taxes on, for example, interest on car loans that are made in America. A number of those things are woven into this bill, and we've made all the math work so we can do that.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
admitting our mistakes and sharing the frustrations with the viewer that come along with making content. I've always done that, and so I'm certainly doing that again here. The project itself... will be familiar to anybody who saw my last project, which was called Returning the Favor.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Old man came in. wanted to know where the shovels were. Guy was about 85 years old. This kid takes him back to the tools, gets him to the right shovel, asks him what he needs it for, learns that the man's dog died, his best friend, and now he's alone. So what's the kid do? This 19-year-old clerk says, you know what? Give me your address. I'm going to come by your house. I'll dig your hole.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I'll help you bury your dog. What do you do for that kid? How do you acknowledge that kid, right? So some of the stories are impossibly modest and just rooted in a basic good Samaritan idea. The story I was telling you about with Care Portal, that's big. Care Portal,
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
came to me through an organization i've worked with for years called stand together that's a stand is obsessed with bottom-up solutions and scaling them and so you know normally i i wouldn't i wouldn't spend time with my crew telling a story about a big successful non-profit that was already killing it but when you hear lindsay's story you realize you can spend the day with her with one person
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And then you can tell the story backwards in a way that's good for Care Portal, good for Stand Together, and most of all, good for anybody who watches the show. Because when it's over, people are going to go log on to see how they can participate in their own community. And that's the final point about extraordinary people.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I realize, you know, when I talk about ordinary people, what I mean is extraordinary. Anybody who's watching can relate to the circumstances of the individual we're highlighting. There's nothing extraordinary about who they are. There's nothing extraordinary about their gifts, their skills, their talent, their wealth.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Nothing except for an absolute commitment to give a damn and then do something about it.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
All that good stuff. Yeah, it's on my YouTube channel. It's The Real Mike Rowe, or just Google People You Should Know Mike Rowe. The first episode is up right now. I shot six. We basically bootstrapped this ourself with some help from Stan together. And it's the old Kevin Costner thing, right? If you build it, they'll come.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I know the audience is there, but I'm putting six out there to see what the universe thinks about it. And if the audience shows up, I'll do 60. So yeah, that's where it is.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I've seen it. My foundation, MicroWorks, started on Labor Day in 2008, and it started for this very reason. We were seeing a skills gap widen with every passing year, along with a will gap. by the way. Even at record high unemployment, you're looking at two, three million people who are not working and not even looking for work. Today, honestly, it's as bad as it's ever been.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And this is kind of interesting because I don't think it's really happened in entertainment before, but Returning the Favor aired exclusively on the Facebook Watch program. And it was one of the first things Mark Zuckerberg did in an attempt to decide if he wanted to compete with Netflix.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
There are 7.6 million open jobs, most of which don't require a four-year degree, and 6.9 million able-bodied men who are not only not working, but not looking for work. That's
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
So throw $1.7 trillion in student loans on top of that and the steady drumbeat to get everybody a four-year degree, and you can see how all of that combined to create the stigmas and the stereotypes and the myths and the misperceptions. that lead people to conclude you can't make a great living being a plumber. Well, bull crap, man. You can kill it.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I've got 2,200 people who have gone through MicroWorks. Many are plumbers. Most are making six figures. Some are making a lot more than that. Double that for electricians and welders. So I talked to the foundation administrator, and we're right in the middle of an enrollment cycle now. And I said, how many applications do we have?
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
As of this morning, we have 10 times the number that we had a year ago today. So Gen Z has got the memo. They are looking at the millstone of one hundred thousand dollars in debt around their neck to start a career that probably and statistically won't mirror their major. And they hate that. And they're starting to look for other ways. And so, too. are the biggest employers in the country.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I just got off the phone with a guy at Blue Forge Alliance who oversees the Maritime Industrial Base. Those guys, that's 15,000 individual companies who are collectively charged with delivering three nuclear-powered submarines to the Navy every year for the next 10 years. This guy calls to say, we are desperate, his words, desperate to find tradesmen. Can you help us? I said, how many do you need?
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
He said 140,000. Wow. So that's one company in one vertical that most of your listeners have never even heard of who are looking to hire 140,000 welders, electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, and so forth. That is incredible. Throw the automotive industry on top of that. And it's just every single company that relies on skilled labor has just got the memo, especially the energy industry.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
They're in a full-blown. The data centers, AI, all of this stuff trickles down to who's going to build them. And if we don't do something to reinvigorate the trades... Good luck, President Trump, with the two million manufacturing jobs you hope to create.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
It's the same challenge Obama had in 2009 when he talked about three million shovel ready jobs and the Highway Infrastructure Act to a country that had virtually no interest in picking up a shovel. So there's lots unpacked there. But, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't tell your listeners, we have the money. It's earmarked for anybody who wants to learn a skill that's in demand.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
So we had this idea to elevate and reward the neighbors that most people wish they had, regular people doing something nice in their community. We'd show up under the auspices of making a documentary about the topic. And then surprise them with an elaborate gift at the end. And the talent would come out and there'd be a parade and people would cry.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And it was just really a fun, honest celebration of basic decency, right? So we do 100 episodes of this thing. I win an Emmy for it. And the show's canceled a week later when... When Facebook decides... I'm sorry. Well, look, I mean, it's extraordinary because they decided, look, they spent a billion dollars learning that they didn't want to compete directly with Netflix.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
But that's what they needed to do to get to that place. And so for the first time in my life, and certainly with everybody involved in the project, a hit show was canceled at the height of its popularity. I've just never seen it happen. And so... It took me a couple of years, but there were a couple million people on a Facebook page who were just rabid supporters of this project.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And they've literally been nagging me, bugging me, threatening, I dare say, for the last two years to get this show back. So I don't own Returning the Favor, but the format is anybody's. And so we changed the title to People You Should Know. We're picking up where we left off, and it'll be on YouTube. It's on my YouTube channel as we speak. And yeah, I'm entering a brave new digital world.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Late to the party, perhaps, but nevertheless, I'm in.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And honestly, I don't expect to because, you know, Mark was super decent with me about this. We had really candid conversations at the beginning of it. And one of the things I said was, look, there are no new ideas, right? I mean, we can all agree on that. TV is just TV. And this kind of format, it's... It's really dirty jobs.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
It's a crew and I going out into the world to meet a real person without a script, without casting, without any writing, without any second takes, and a documentary camera that films the whole thing. I've been doing that for 22 years. In fact, every seven years or so, I just changed the title of the show. I've been doing the same show for my old my old career. And I'm not kidding about that.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Literally, if you boil it down, all I do for a living is tap the country on the shoulder and say, what about him? What about her? Get a load of that. And, you know, where where Dirty Jobs was a rumination on vocations and somebody's got to do it was a rumination on avocations. People you should know and returning the favor. Those are ruminations on decency, on decency.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
on kindness, on bloody do-gooderism. And all of those things, in my view, are apolitical. They're agnostic. I don't think anybody can hold a copyright on them. I'm not a lawyer, obviously, but who in the world is going to object to a show that elevates and celebrates the neighbors that you wish you had? It's impossible to object.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I think, I don't know when it happened, but I think in media we left the age of authority and entered, call it the age of authenticity. I, it probably started with the advent of reality TV and nonfiction programming in general.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And there was a brief, uh, shining moment when reality really did mean that like the, the early days of reality TV were, were refreshingly honest and blisteringly authentic. And I'm super proud to say that dirty jobs was, you know, on the vanguard of that. Um, and, Why is it so important today?
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I think because today, trust in institutions overall is at an all-time low, which means in my world, there's never been a less, there's never been a time where it's been more unpersuasive to say things like, trust me, or take my word for it, right? The trope
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
of the traditional host the traditional narrator and a crisp well-modulated baritone telling you a story about a thing people have become suspicious of all of that i think you know and so what do you do if you're a host and a spokesman working in a world where nobody believes hosts and spokespeople anymore i think Part of what you have to do is show them the warts and all of your process.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And if you take them for a ride and if you show them the truth of whatever it is you're trying to get at, whether it's a commercial campaign or an entertainment property, I don't think it really matters. You can see how that's impacting news. Like you can see the impact. the numbers fall off the cliff for most, for a lot of traditional local news, for a lot of national news.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And part of the reason I think is because those guys are still clinging to those old tropes, live, local, late breaking. I mean, you want to be believed, right? And so what do you do? You slap a bunch of pancake on your face and you sit there in front of a prompter that you pretend not to read while you're reading it. It just feels to me like the whole underlying construct is rooted in a pretense.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Likewise. Thanks for having me back. We're virtually back or whatever we call this these days.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And that pretense is designed to fool you. Viewers somehow got the memo. They know this. That's a long way of saying, I think the most honest way to do a show in the nonfiction space is to cling to the actual definition of the words non and fiction.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I love it. You process it, your brain processes it in a completely different way, whether you're conscious of it or not. I think, you know, it's got something to do with the Heisenberg principle, the uncertainty principle, right? The act of observing a thing changes the thing. But the act of observing the observers observe a thing somehow reorients the the equation.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And what comes out the other end, I think, is some some new version of authenticity.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
Sure. The episode that's up right now features a woman named Lindsay Phillips. Lindsay was hopelessly addicted to methamphetamine. Somehow she beat it. She nearly lost her kids, but the reason she didn't is because she accessed an incredible organization called Care Portal. This is a virtual portal that anybody can go to on the internet and see at a glance who in their neighborhood is struggling.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
There's a lot of connective tissue, sometimes churches, sometimes civic organizations, but be that as it may, it's a virtual network of bloody do-gooders who want to help. And the real goal behind it is to keep families together. Our foster care system is busted in any number of ways.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
But if study after study proves if you can somehow keep a family together, it's going to be so much better for the kids. Anyhow, Lindsay goes through this. She comes out better for it. She's utterly rehabilitated. And now she's working full-time for Care Portal. We show up under the auspices of making a documentary. Lindsay doesn't really know why we're there.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
And in the end of the episode, we surprise her with a pretty elaborate gift that allows her to do more of the good work she's already doing. So you can see what I mean, how that... Like, if I were pitching you this project, it would sound impossibly earnest, and you would hear, move that bus in your mind, and it would be some version of Extreme Home Makeover.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
But the way we do it is a warts and all look at the, you get to see what it is we're going to try and do. And you get to experience our successes and failures along the way. You still meet Lindsay. You still learn about the Care Portal. And you still laugh. And you still cry. And you still, hopefully, will go to your internet and check out the underlying foundation. Because...
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
All they're doing is changing the world. And it's, you know, like you say, you can point your cameras at anything you want. I'll tell you another one that's coming up that really got me. The Black Horse Forge. PTSD is a horrible thing. You've heard the stats. Right now it's 17, 18 people a day, service people, kill themselves. This guy, Steve Hotz, hit rock bottom.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
It's really the making of a feel-good show. There's certainly a feel-good component at the heart of it, but what I've always tried to do, whether it's Dirty Jobs or Somebody's Gotta Do It or any of the projects I work on, is bring the viewer along for the ride and really try and make them a fly on the wall. We spent a lot of time...
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
He was an interior designer who volunteered, joined the 82nd Airborne, broke his back as a paratrooper, lost an eye, came home, rock bottom, opened up a forge, started making knives, and realized the therapeutic benefits of bending metal into something useful were enormous. So he opened his forge to other vets who were struggling.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
22,000 vets have gone through the Black Horse Forge with zero suicides. Wow. This is, I think, headline news. It's incredible. It's an absolute game changer. So, yeah, to go meet that guy, to see what he's doing, to make some knives with him, to hang out, to spend a day in Fredericksburg, and then to put that out there into the ether in an honest way...
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
You know, what else am I supposed to be doing with my misspent career other than point people toward these stories?
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
I can't believe it. How is this not a national scandal that's in the headlines every day?
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
That's what's shocking, you know. And so, yeah. Yeah, we've highlighted on Returning the Favor, we did 14 different non-traditional approaches to treating this disaster. We've hunted pythons in the Everglades with veterans. We have built motorcycles from scratch with vets who are struggling. And in every case, you see that what...
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
What moves the needle is getting these men and women out of their heads and focused on a task that involves or requires a kind of platoon mentality. So you've got the camaraderie, you've got the band of brothers, you have a new mission. And then in the end, you've got a motorcycle that works that didn't, or a python that was captured that needed to go, or a knife that...
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
you know, a day earlier was a railroad spike and a piece of trash. So, you know, the metaphors are steep with this one. And I've just, all of those organizations, by the way, work. I've just never seen one work to the degree the Black Horse Forge has.
Morning Wire
Mike Rowe: Forging Hope & Fixing America
It's really fluid. Sometimes it's just super modest. Sometimes it's just the story of a kid who shoveled the sidewalks after the blizzard that wound up saving the life of the shut-in because the ambulance came when it came and there was a way to get her out. You can tell little stories. There's a story I want to tell of a kid who worked for Ace Hardware up in the Midwest somewhere.
Morning Wire
January 6th Certification & Trump Sentencing | 1.6.25
Well, I hope we have full attendance. We got a big snowstorm coming to D.C. And we encourage all of our colleagues, do not leave town, stay here. Because, as you know, the Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6th at 1 p.m. So whether we're in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.
Morning Wire
Trump’s Title 42 Plans & Apple’s US Jobs Pledge | Afternoon Update | 2.24.25
This gives Trump the leverage to say to other companies, Apple can do this. Apple is bringing these jobs into the U.S. Apple is investing in the U.S. Why can't you? Why won't you?
Morning Wire
Trump’s First Month & Social Security Whistleblower | 2.21.25
I find it frankly ridiculous. So many people in Washington that were just demanding, pounding the table for a ceasefire in Gaza are suddenly aghast that the president would demand one and both sides come to the table when it comes to Ukraine, a war that has been arguably far greater in scope and scale and far more dangerous in terms of global escalation.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
I think that the president's agenda is the one the American people wants to see accomplished.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
I think getting his team in place, helping move quickly. We confirmed his cabinet at the fastest rate in 20 years. We kept the Senate in session for 10 consecutive weeks for the first time in 15 years. And we hit 200 votes in the Senate for the first time at this point going back to the Reagan administration. But then we've got to start delivering on the legislative agenda.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
And that's where you get into energy independence. It's where you get into rebuilding the military, securing the border, providing tax relief for the American people, and reducing spending and getting our country on a more sustainable fiscal path. Those are the things that the president campaigned on and we need to deliver on for the American people.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
I think the president has brought a brand new style of leadership that actually focuses on fixing problems that our country has, which is a refreshing relief after the last four years of the Biden administration. And you can start, obviously, with the Biden border policy and how the open border policy of the previous administration. It created so many problems for our country.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
And so when Trump came in, he immediately took leadership on that issue. And you've seen a dramatic, and I say dramatic, a hugely consequential drop in the number of people coming across the border illegally. I think it's been an incredibly successful, eventful, and consequential first 100 days. And I'm looking forward to what's ahead.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
I think that the president's agenda is the one the American people wants to see accomplished. They want us to be good partners with him. And I think in the end, if we can succeed on the things the president campaigned on, the American people voted for, they're going to want to continue to see Republicans in majorities in the House and Senate and a Republican in the White House.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
So I think the president's agenda on national security is important. There wasn't a single year in the Biden administration where their commitment to the military kept up even with the rate of inflation. So we've fallen behind in a lot of areas. And President Trump recognizes that, recognizes that we live in a dangerous world and we've got to be able to defend America and American interests.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
And so that's a priority. And the border security, I would argue, is right up there with that because that's also, in my view, a national security issue. And then I think on the economy, it's getting rid of burdensome Biden regulations, extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, and then creating an energy policy that makes America energy dominant.
Morning Wire
National Security Shakeup & Abortion Pill Dangers | 5.2.25
I think those are all issues that feed into a strong economy that creates better paying jobs and makes the lives of Americans more prosperous.
Morning Wire
Budget Bill Passes House & Rise of Teen “Sextortion” | 4.11.25
We adopted the Senate's amendments to the resolution, holding in place all of the commitments and the instructions, the guidelines that the House originally enacted. And that was a big step because that will allow us now to move forward to have our committees actually drafting the one big, beautiful bill.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-21-2025 8PM EST
Already, we're seeing people being released from prisons and jails, including Enrique Tarrio. He's the former chairman of the far-right Proud Boys group, and he had been serving a prison term of 22 years. He's now free, according to his lawyer, Naeem Hassan.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-21-2025 8PM EST
Several other members of the Proud Boys also won pardons, and some had their sentences commuted.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-21-2025 7PM EDT
I think that all of our colleagues here will really like this final product. We're excited. I believe we are going to land this airplane.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-07-2025 7PM EST
President Carter's life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable. Whether he was in the White House or in his post-presidential years...
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-25-2025 4PM EDT
This one in particular, I've never met, don't know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-24-2024 12AM EST
A restroom and construction equipment also toppled into the water during the collapse. Here's Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley at a press conference this afternoon warning residents to stay out of the water.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-24-2024 12AM EST
The wharf is currently closed until further notice. For NPR News, I'm Sydney Johnson in San Francisco.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-24-2024 12AM EST
Three people fell into the water when the wharf broke off around 12.45 p.m. Two of them had to be rescued, according to the Santa Cruz Fire Department. The portion of the wharf that broke off was undergoing repairs from previous storm damage. The people who fell in included a Parks and Rec project manager and two contractors working on the wharf recovery project, according to authorities.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-18-2025 2PM EDT
Chief Justice Roberts issued a statement emphasizing that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreements with judicial decisions. Carl Tobias is a law professor at the University of Richmond.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-18-2025 2PM EDT
Tobias says the Chief Justice's statement underscores the longstanding principle that judicial decisions should be subject to appellate review rather than political retribution. Windsor Johnston, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-18-2025 3AM EST
Martin has no prosecutorial experience, but he has defended people accused of crimes at the U.S. Capitol four years ago. As interim U.S. attorney in D.C., Martin's attracted attention for bombastic social media posts where he promised to investigate people who intimidated billionaire Elon Musk and his Doge team.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-18-2025 3AM EST
Martin's already fired a couple of dozen prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases and launched a review of how the office used an obstruction statute against January 6th defendants. The U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. is one of the largest in the country. It often handles sensitive cases about political corruption and national security. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 5AM EDT
Aside from chasing lucrative business deals in this oil-rich region, President Trump is likely to focus on several turbulent topics, from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to nuclear negotiations with Iran. Persuading Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel was one of his big objectives, but that currently looks too big an ask, with Israel set against any progress towards a Palestinian state.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 5AM EDT
But it's hoped that Mr Trump's brief presence in the region could yet push Hamas and Israel towards an elusive and lasting ceasefire deal in Gaza.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-11-2025 3PM EDT
I think as a result of this positive step forward, the president has decided to lift the pause on aid and on our security assistance to Ukraine going forward.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-07-2025 6PM EST
Judge Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, ordered the DOJ not to share Jack Smith's final report until a federal appeals court resolves the legal fight. Smith had been set to transmit his report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, with an eye toward releasing it to the public as soon as this week.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-07-2025 6PM EST
But Trump argues the special counsel was appointed unlawfully and that any public report would be legally invalid and hurt his transition into the White House. Federal prosecutors dropped two criminal cases against Trump after he won the 2024 election. And the final report by Smith may be the last chance for prosecutors to explain their decisions. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-03-2025 7PM EST
WHO will step in to provide resources for those functions.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-03-2025 7PM EST
We do need our U.S. colleagues out there working on these issues.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 7PM EDT
We worked as a team, and I think that today is a pretty historical day for the entire conference. It's showing that the body has decided that parents deserve a voice in Washington and also to the importance of female members having a vote in Washington, D.C.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-22-2025 5PM EDT
House Democrats voted against all of that. So everything that I just said, they voted the opposite. clearly proves they actually, they must want the largest tax increase in U.S. history on the American citizens. They must want open borders. They've proven that over and over. They must want Medicaid for illegal immigrants.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-10-2025 10AM EDT
We are committed to funding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people while also preserving our essential programs. The Democrats are out right now trying to make hay out of the fact that we're going to gut Medicaid and all these other things. It's simply not true. We're going to protect the essential programs for everybody who's eligible to receive those.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-01-2025 3PM EDT
The nonpartisan group of former judges were appointed by presidents from both political parties dating back to the era of President Ronald Reagan. They want to educate people about how the federal courts work and why they matter, and respond to attacks on judges because of how they rule in particular cases.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-01-2025 3PM EDT
President Trump and his allies have harshly criticized judges who have ruled against some of his sweeping executive orders and immigration actions. and some GOP lawmakers have even proposed impeaching judges. The group of retired judges working with the nonprofit Keep Our Republic says the system of checks and balances represents, quote, a beacon of light at home and abroad.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-25-2025 11AM EDT
I met with the Senate Republicans, all my colleagues over there, last week on Tuesday at their weekly luncheon, and I encouraged them to do their work, of course, as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible because remembering that we've got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-25-2025 11AM EDT
And I have a very delicate balance here, a very delicate equilibrium that we've reached over a long period of time, and it's best not to meddle with it too much.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-29-2025 4PM EDT
Judge John Bates said the idea the Trump administration may have tried to retaliate against the big law firm because of its pro bono work is troubling. Bates issued a temporary pause on Trump's executive order against Jenner and Block after the firm argued the order violated its rights to free speech and due process.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-29-2025 4PM EDT
Trump yanked the security clearances of Jenner's lawyers and threatened the government contracts of its clients. He also called out a former Jenner partner who investigated him personally over Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-20-2024 8PM EST
He knew exactly what we were doing and why, and this is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-20-2024 7PM EST
Johnson expressed satisfaction with the measure. We are really grateful that tonight, in bipartisan fashion with overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025. This is a very important piece of legislation. It funds the government, of course, until March of 2025. That was a big priority for us.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-20-2024 7PM EST
This is America first legislation because it allows us to be set up to deliver for the American people.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-31-2025 6PM EDT
Already, though, some big firms have cut deals with the administration to head off the threat. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-31-2025 6PM EDT
Lawyers who served in the Justice Department under Presidents Ford, Reagan, and George W. Bush all signed on to the new letter. They say the White House campaign to retaliate against attorneys and big law firms that challenge the Trump administration undermines the rule of law.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-31-2025 6PM EDT
The job of lawyers who represent the United States is not to win cases, but to see that justice is done, their letter says. and the adversarial system ensures courts hear all sides of an argument. President Trump has blasted lawyers and firms for investigating him and doing pro bono work for immigrants. So far, judges have blocked his efforts to punish law firms.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-27-2025 6PM EST
Trump campaigned on a promise of retribution, and his appointees to lead the DOJ and the FBI have talked about wanting to investigate the investigators. Jack Smith resigned before he could be fired, as did another senior national security lawyer. But many more career prosecutors and agents on his team remained on the job. Both cases against Trump were dropped after he won last year's election.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-27-2025 6PM EST
More than a dozen Justice Department officials who worked alongside Special Counsel Jack Smith have received firing notices, according to two sources inside the building. Acting Attorney General James McHenry wrote they could not be trusted in, quote, faithfully implementing the president's agenda. The termination letters were first reported by Fox News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-23-2025 7PM EST
I don't know how that's necessarily feasible. Obviously, a lot of federal employees are under a union contract.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-23-2025 7PM EST
As the Department of Government Efficiency moves ahead, what they are seeking to do is ensure that every agency and department is effectively and efficiently doing their job.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-05-2025 8PM EST
The Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6th at 1 p.m. So whether we're in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
He told NBC News, Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-28-2025 5PM EDT
The Jenner firm says Trump's executive order threatens its clients and the legal system itself. In a new lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the big law firm says Trump's order violates First Amendment protections for free speech and association.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-28-2025 5PM EDT
The president called out Jenner and Block for employing a prominent Trump critic who once investigated Trump and for its pro bono work to help immigrants and LGBTQ people. A spokesman for the firm says they expect to prevail in court and quickly. A pair of other prominent big law firms have sought to reach settlements with the White House, but Jenner says capitulating is not in its DNA.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-14-2025 6PM EST
Sheinbaum says more than 70 percent of the guns used by cartels come from the U.S.,
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-14-2025 6PM EST
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten resigned his post in Manhattan after sending a letter to say prosecutors cannot use their vast power to lean on elected officials. Scotten earned two bronze stars in military service and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-14-2025 6PM EST
He wrote that he expected senior leaders at justice would eventually find someone who's enough of a fool or a coward to file a motion to dismiss the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but it was never going to be me. Ultimately, it's up to Judge Dale Ho to formally dismiss the corruption case.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-14-2025 6PM EST
The judge may decide to hold a hearing to explore the pressure acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bovee put on line prosecutors. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
Pod Save America
Will the GOP Hold Disaster Relief Hostage?
And before we put funds into place, we've got to find out exactly how we're going to hold these leaders accountable and what sort of policy changes are required. There's going to be hearings. There's going to be requests of Congress. There can't be a blank check on this.
Pod Save America
Trump's Petro-Fascist Sugar Daddies
The reason that many people refer to the Bidens as the Biden crime family is because they were doing all this stuff behind curtains, but in the back rooms, they were trying to conceal it and they repeatedly lied about it. Whatever the President Trump is doing is out in the open. They're not trying to conceal anything.
Pod Save America
Trump's Petro-Fascist Sugar Daddies
I don't know anything about the meme coin thing. I don't know. I can just tell you that, I mean, President Trump has had nothing to hide. He's very upfront about it.
Spotlight: Snitch City
Coming Soon… Snitch City
They didn't know what was going on. Nobody did. There's no way they're telling the truth. I am 1,000% sure I am the informant.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2149 - Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting GOES TOTALLY NUCLEAR
I think Vladimir Putin is an old school communist, a former KGB agent. He's not to be trusted and he is dangerous. No, they're not abandoning Ukraine. I was with the president a day before that meeting and he was excited about this mineral rights deal. He believed it and we all believed it to be in the best interest of both countries.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2149 - Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting GOES TOTALLY NUCLEAR
We understand that he is a dangerous adversary and he is the one that provoked the war. Well, something has to change. Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country to do that.
The Bulwark Podcast
Peter Hamby: The Politics of a Firestorm
I think we've got to have a serious conversation about that. Obviously, there's been water resource mismanagement, forest... management mistakes, all sorts of problems. And it does come down to leadership. And it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects. So that's something that has to be factored in.
The Bulwark Podcast
Peter Hamby: The Politics of a Firestorm
I think there should probably be conditions on that date. That's my personal view. We'll see what the consensus is. I haven't had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend because we've all been very busy. But it'll be part of the discussion for sure.
The Bulwark Podcast
Peter Hamby: The Politics of a Firestorm
There's some... Some discussion about that, but we'll see where it goes.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Beating Hollywood's War on Christians
Well, I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek and I are on a text chain together. And I was explaining to them the background of this. They understand the situation. They said, it's not directed to you, Mr. Speaker, but we don't like the spending. I said, guess what, fellas? I don't either. We got to get this done because here's the key.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Beating Hollywood's War on Christians
By doing this, we are clearing the decks and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back. with the America First agenda. And all of our fiscal conservative friends, I'm one of them, will be able to finally do the things that we've been wanting to do for the last couple years. Right now, Democrats still control the pens, and that's the problem.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Beating Hollywood's War on Christians
So we've got to get this thing done so we don't have the shutdown, so we get the short-term funding measure, and we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That's when the big changes start, and we can't wait to get there.
The Headlines
The Scramble After a White House Showdown, and R.F.K. Jr.’s Measles Response
We are re-exerting peace through strength. President Trump has brought back strength to the White House.
The Headlines
The Scramble After a White House Showdown, and R.F.K. Jr.’s Measles Response
I hope and pray, frankly, that President Zelensky will come to his senses, come back to President Trump, apologize for his behavior there.
The Headlines
The Scramble After a White House Showdown, and R.F.K. Jr.’s Measles Response
And finally... And the Oscar goes to... Oh, Anora.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
Had I known that Trump was going to take over the job, I would have never done the job.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
He promised if we did a good job, we would get paid.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
The man didn't pass because he didn't have the money, bottom line.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
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The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
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The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
Just answer a series of questions on their site and a medical provider will determine the right treatment option. If prescribed, your medication ships directly to you for free. No insurance is needed, and one low price covers everything from treatments to ongoing care. With hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers, HIMS can help you find the ED option that works for you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash Midas. That's H-I-M-S dot com slash Midas for your personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash Midas. The products mentioned are chewable compounded products, which are not covered by or verified for safety or effectiveness by the FDA.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
Prescriptions require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for details and important safety information. Subscription required. Price varies based on product and subscription plan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Destroys Vegas with Biggest Scam Yet
The truth is more important than ever. Check out our new Truth Over Lies collection at store.midastouch.com. All 100% USA union made.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Gov Walz PUTS THE SCREWS in Trump for GOV FREEZE
Let me clarify for a sec what you were saying before. Medicaid. It wasn't clear to me whether you were saying that no Medicaid would be cut off. Obviously, a lot of this goes to states before it goes to individuals and so forth. So are you guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the policy?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
president. But I don't text him. He wasn't on my phone. And we're going to figure out how this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Well, look, a staffer wasn't responsible. And look, I take full responsibility. I built the I built the group. My job is to make sure everything's coordinated. I mean, I don't mean to be pedantic here, but how did the number have you ever had? Have you ever had somebody's contact that shows their name and then you have and then you have somebody else's number there? Those mistakes. Right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
You've got somebody else's number on someone else's contact. So, of course, I didn't see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical mean is something we're trying to figure out.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Yeah, I can tell you who will is Elon Musk. He's going to get to the bottom of it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
Mr. President, you asked about lessons. I think there's a lot of, the lesson is there's a lot of journalists in this city who have made big names for themselves. making up lies about this president, whether it's the Russia hoax or making up lies about Gold Star families.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
And this one in particular, I've never met, don't know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room. But I'll tell you what, the world owes President Trump a favor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
There was no classified material that was shared in that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
It's not what the founders intended. So there's a natural tension between the branches of the government, and we're working through that. The Judiciary Committee is looking at alternatives. One of the bills that I really like that's already been through committee was authored by Representative Daryl Issa.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
And that would limit the scope of federal injunctions, the ability of one individual judge to abuse the system in this way. And it would be, in my view, a dramatic improvement on that. So we'll be moving, I think, that piece of legislation and some others to address it because we have an Article I authority.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump in Fear as Signs of Disaster Surface
under the constitution to do that we do have authority over the federal courts as you know we can we can eliminate an entire district court we have our funding over the courts and all these other things but desperate times call for desperate measures and congress is going to act so stay tuned for that thank you
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Crack on Live TV as Pressure Grows
Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency at the direction of President Trump is to find efficiencies and savings and make sure that our federal workforce is doing their jobs and doing it effectively. We have many, many, many people who do a phenomenal job on behalf of the American people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Crack on Live TV as Pressure Grows
But I think, ultimately, in any government, when a new administration comes in, whether it's a state government, whether it's a local government, and I've served at every level of government, you know, a new administration is always going to do a review and try to find efficiencies across the board. When you're staring down $36 trillion in debt and counting,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Crack on Live TV as Pressure Grows
Obviously, something has to give, and I think that's what we're seeing right now, a comprehensive forensic audit of every department and agency in the federal government.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Instant Karma as His Failures Accelerate
Okay, let's talk about this. Let's talk about this. So your proposal to solve this is to tax the rich.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dem Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Trump Plummeting Approval
Seen this movie before. George Soros funded groups and others, literally pay protesters. And, you know,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Terrified Trump Folds in Panic Amid Economic Collapse
Losing money costs you nothing. This is just the reality of life. Like were you young and dumb? How much money did you lose? Everyone loses money. Everyone loses money. It costs you nothing. In fact, it builds quite a bit of character. In fact, you learn a lot of lessons actually by losing money.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Blows Up Key Program in Ultimate Betrayal
No. Well, I've met with Elon about this multiple times. We meet late into the night in his office and we've looked at that. What he's finding with his algorithms crawling through the data of Social Security system is enormous amounts of fraud, waste and abuse.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Blows Up Key Program in Ultimate Betrayal
We need to target that. The American people want us to. No, no, Kristen, do not, don't put words in my mouth. What I am saying is we have a moral responsibility to ensure that those programs are conducted in a way that does not allow for this massive fraud and abuse. And that's what he is finding. He's finding...
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Congressman Garcia on Trump’s Harmful Tariffs
Everybody in the world wants an end to this war. We need to restore peace there. President Trump is fiercely committed to that. Now, he operates in a certain way. He is a great dealmaker, as everyone will have to acknowledge, whether they like it or not. He wrote the book, The Art of the Deal, right?
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Congressman Garcia on Trump’s Harmful Tariffs
And I think of this, I liken this to my former law practice, where we would be engaged sometimes in arbitration or mediation between two Parties that were at war, metaphorically. And when you begin an arbitration proceeding, you don't bring both parties into the meeting for that first table set because they're at odds, right? That wouldn't be productive.
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Congressman Garcia on Trump’s Harmful Tariffs
We do have authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court. We have power funding over the courts and all these other things. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act. So stay tuned for that. Thank you.
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Congressman Garcia on Trump’s Harmful Tariffs
So he's made very clear that he's doing this in the executive branch under his executive authority, and it doesn't involve Congress in that way. Look, you have to trust the president's instincts on the economy, okay? Why? This isn't blind faith. Remember what he accomplished in the first administration.
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Congressman Garcia on Trump’s Harmful Tariffs
Before COVID, we had the greatest economy in the history of the world, not the U.S., the whole world. Every demographic was doing better. Because we cut taxes, we cut regulations, and we made a better economic environment for everybody to succeed. And he is going about that same plan to bring that about. And tariffs is a component of that. And we'll see how it all develops.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
Yes, sir, we are. We have our technical experts looking at it. We have our legal teams looking at it. And of course, we're going to keep everything as secure as possible. No one in your national security team would ever put anyone in danger. And as you've said, we've repeatedly said the attack was phenomenal and it's ongoing.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
But the media wants to talk about everything else except for the hostages you're getting out of the Middle East, Iran on its back foot, sea lanes getting reopened, peace in Europe. As we just saw today with the Black Sea ceasefire we were just on with Iran.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
Steve Witkoff, myself, our team in Saudi Arabia, they wanna talk about all this other stuff except for your amazing successes and the successes of your team.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
Do you think that Mike Waltz made a mistake and does he need to apologize now?
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
Sir, I agree with you. Let's get everybody in the room whenever possible.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
Mr. President, you asked about lessons. I think there's a lot of the lessons. There's a lot of journalists in this city who have made big names for themselves. making up lies about this president, whether it's the Russia hoax or making up lies about Gold Star families.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
And this one in particular, I've never met, don't know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room. But I'll tell you what, the world owes President Trump a favor.
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Trump First Presser on Leak Scandal Ends in Disaster
So look, this journalist, Mr. President, wants the world talking about more hoaxes and this kind of nonsense rather than the freedom that you're enabling. And a key part of our sovereignty is open sea lanes and knocking the crap out of terrorists, which is exactly what your team and Pete Hegg said, a good friend and fellow veteran. is leading the charge on. And it's an honor.
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MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/20/25
One other question. Recently, Stephen Miller at the White House made some comments about considering suspending habeas corpus. And I'm curious if there's any update on how the White House is exploring that option to enact the president's agenda.
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MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/18/25
Now we have President Trump back. He has a great team in place. He has willing partners in the House and Senate, unified government. The adults are back in the room, okay? And we are going to turn this economy around. We need a little runway to do it. I keep using this metaphor of an aircraft carrier. You know, it took decades to get into the mess that we're in.
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MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/18/25
You don't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime, but you need miles of open ocean to do it. But we have begun that turn.
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MeidasTouch RESPONDS to MAJOR Breaking News
I think we've got to have a serious conversation about that. Obviously, there's been water resources management, horse management, mistakes, all sorts of problems. And it does come down to leadership. And it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects. So that's something that has to be factored in.
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MeidasTouch RESPONDS to MAJOR Breaking News
I think there should probably be conditions on that date. That's my personal view. We'll see what the consensus is. I haven't had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend because we've all been very busy. But it'll be part of the discussion for sure.
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GOP Freaks Out as Dem Intros Impeachment Against Trump
Well, I'm still seeking to get more clarity and information on it. I think obviously from the president's standpoint, you know, he wants to be able to have a plane that meets the needs of him and his administration. But obviously we don't want to be straight up accepting any type of
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GOP Freaks Out as Dem Intros Impeachment Against Trump
gift from any foreign government, certainly not one that can be viewed in a way that obviously has been presented here. So a lot more information that I think needs to come out on it.
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Trump Throws Tantrum as Bad News Grows
Certainly an absurd notion, but they're standing by that.
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Trump Throws Tantrum as Bad News Grows
If, well, we haven't negotiated that yet, but if it's a CR, it may be an entire year long CR with some anomalies on it. You know how all this works, but it's not what we prefer. We would like to do individual appropriations bills, but it takes both parties to negotiate that. And right now the Democrats are trying to, it looks like trying to set up a government shutdown.
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Trump Throws Tantrum as Bad News Grows
We can't allow that to happen. And we won't.
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Trump Throws Tantrum as Bad News Grows
No, look, that's why I say you add anomalies to a CR. You can increase some spending. You can decrease some spending. You can add language that says, for example, the dramatic changes that have been made to USAID would be reflected in the ongoing spending. It would be a clean CR, mostly, I think, but with some of those changes to adapt to the new realities here.
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Trump Throws Tantrum as Bad News Grows
And the new reality is less government, more efficiency, better return for the taxpayers. And I think that's something everybody should welcome.
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Trump Has Disaster Morning as Approval Plummets
Why we're getting this pushback and certainly this kind of, as the vice president said, bad mouthing in the press for all the the administration has done in his first term as well and all the United States has done for Ukraine is just it's unacceptable. They need to tone it down and and and take a hard look and sign that deal.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
So it is absolutely true. We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor. I mean, there are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which, of course, it is not.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
Vladimir Putin having made it very clear, both publicly and to his own population, that his view is that this is a conflict of a much broader claim of Russia to Eastern Europe, including claiming all of Ukraine territory as Russia's. To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle, which is what it is.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
President Xi of China, Vladimir Putin himself have identified it as such. We need to stand up for democracy. We need to make certain that that we know that authoritarian regimes never stop when they when they start in aggression. Ukraine needs our help and assistance now. And this is a very critical time for the U.S. Congress to step up and provide that aid.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
Well, I obviously differ in a great deal in a number of areas with both her judgment and her background and experience. But what I do trust is the Senate process. And I think the senators are going to put her through a process. She has been nominated. She will go through the process, and I think there'll be significant debate and evaluation.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
I think that Donald Trump has put together in his last term, and I think he will in this term, a great national security team. I think CIA Director Radcliffe, I think Mike Waltz as national security director are both great examples of people who are going to be foundational. I think we're going to see a great national security team.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
I do. And I expect it to pass. And by the way, Donald Trump had said on the humanitarian, the other, the support to the Ukrainian government, on the weapons, the military support, everyone has been very much on this side of understanding that we're at a critical point. Russia is beginning to gain ground. Ukraine is beginning to lose ground. the ability to defend itself.
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GOP House BLOWS ITSELF UP as MAGA Mike FIRES Top Member
The United States must step up and provide Ukraine the weapons that they need. And I think we're going to see overwhelming support for that in the House this week.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
I mean, it's just people just make a reasonable decision as a family. on whether or not they can come and move to Washington, have a residence here, residence at home, and do all the things that are required. So the counterargument is, and I have some sympathy, look, at least let them engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to take care of their family.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
Look, there are authorities that
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
police executive branch ethics rules i'm not an expert in that my expertise is here in the house okay i'll say that the are the reason that many people refer to the biden's as the biden crime family is because they were doing all this stuff behind curtains but in the back rooms they were trying to conceal it and they repeatedly lied about it and they set up shell companies and the family was all engaged and getting all on the dole um whatever the president trump is doing is is out in the open they're not trying to conceal anything the investment in the meanwhile
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
I don't know anything about the meme coin thing. I don't know. I can just tell you that, I mean, President Trump has had nothing to hide. He's very upfront about it, and there are people who watch all the ethics of that. But, I mean, I've got to be concerned with running the House of Representatives, and that's what I do.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
Well, look, there's three possible disciplines. disciplinary actions that the House can take. You can censure a member, and that probably does seem appropriate here. You can kick them off committees. That's a new tradition begun by the Democrats in recent years. And you can expel someone from Congress. Now, expulsion requires a two-thirds vote.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
That's not likely because the margins are small on both sides. But, you know, we're looking at what is appropriate. Look, I think it's pretty clear that the law was violated. You might have noticed the Wisconsin judge that was trying to conceal the illegal alien that was going to be apprehended by ICE. A federal grand jury indicted the judge. I think that was late yesterday.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
And I'm told that she'll be brought up on charge, maybe facing potentially six years in jail and $350,000 in fines because she obstructed the proceedings obstructed justice and was engaged in other activities. So look, what these House Democrats did is in that same lane, the same vein of what the judge is being indicted for.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
So I think there's some legal ramifications to play out here, and we'll see how it works. We're talking through all the possibilities. Yes, ma'am.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
Look, I've been a little busy on reconciliations. I'm not following all the twists and turns of the Qatar jet. I've certainly heard about it. My understanding is it's not a personal gift to the president. It's a gift to the United States and other nations give us gifts all the time. But I'm going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details of that.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
OK, I'm just it's not my lane. Yes, sir.
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MAGA Mike in Panic Mode as Bill Starts Blowing Up
Well, look, the salary of Congress has been frozen since 2009. When you adjust for inflation, a member of Congress today is making 31 percent less than they made in that year. It goes down every year. And over time, if you stay on this trajectory, you're going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress.
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Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
I think of it metaphorically. I get up every morning and I have this giant sort of control panel. It's got 219 dials on it. And I got to make sure everybody's, you know, okay, this one's, you know, and then I got the President Trump dial. And now I have the Elon dial, okay?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
Because Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally, and if he goes on and says something that's misunderstood or misinterpreted about something we're doing, he can blow the whole thing up. So I spend a lot of time working with all these dials and all these folks, and I just run around all day and make sure everybody's happy.
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Fed Up World Leaders Smack Down Trump in Public
I actually happened to be giving a speech in Florida the other day, and I looked at the beach at Mar-a-Lago, and I thought this was a fantastic place if you wanted to resettle millions of people from from the Middle East. Obviously, beautiful. Lots of space here. But it's not going to happen because somebody else owns it.
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Fed Up World Leaders Smack Down Trump in Public
And Gaza is, in law, owned and occupied by people who have a right to be there. So, That is not going to happen.
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Fed Up World Leaders Smack Down Trump in Public
It's destabilizing. But what Hamas did, frankly, was destabilizing.
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MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote
productive discussions. Everybody's moving forward, and I'm really pleased with the dialogue. That sounds like you're short. I'm not going to tell you what the number is, but I'll tell you I'm optimistic, as I always am, and we're working towards that final consensus.
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MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote
Look, I don't think so. There's a lot of good faith dialogue and discussion going on between leaders in both chambers, and that's been very productive. It's a one-team approach, and I think we're going to continue that for the next couple of hours, and we'll see where we land tonight.
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MAGA Mike Gets Humiliated by His Own Party on Vote
Congress will weigh in on it, but with the president, with the administration in tandem. And I think you've got to give the president the latitude that the the runway to do what it is he was elected to do. And that is get this economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries. So I think mostly American people understand the necessity of that.
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MAGA Mike Could Be Toast as GOP Deal Implodes
No, no, there's no way, because again, unfortunately, President Trump chose the one big, beautiful bill. What he should have done is the multiple step process. I suggested three steps. Get the border funding. Second step, just extend current tax law. So we take an automatic.
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MAGA Mike Could Be Toast as GOP Deal Implodes
Not if we don't come down with a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending. There's enough of us in the Senate that will not agree to that.
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MAGA Mike Could Be Toast as GOP Deal Implodes
Hell no. New York is a donor state. We pay more into the federal government than we get back. I'm adamantly opposed to changing the FMAP floor from 50% federal share to 45% federal share. That will be a hard no.
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Trump Plan BACKFIRES IN HIS FACE as World ERUPTS
We're trying to get the details of it, but I think this is a good development. We have to back Israel 100%. And so whatever form that takes, we're interested in having that discussion. But it was a surprising development, but I think it's one.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Plan BACKFIRES IN HIS FACE as World ERUPTS
Look, there will be more details forthcoming on that, of course. The initial announcement yesterday, I think, was greeted by surprise by many, but cheered by, I think, people all around the world. Why? Because that area is so dangerous. And he's taking bold, decisive action to try to ensure the peace of that region.
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Congresswoman Clark Responds to Trump’s Market Crash
And now the same American media that covered for the Biden administration after the untimely death and the unnecessary death of 13 brave Americans is really, really interested in forcing the president of the United States to fire someone because of a signal chat, because of a signal chat. That is not. honest behavior from the American media.
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Congresswoman Clark Responds to Trump’s Market Crash
And if you think you're going to force the President of the United States to fire anybody, you've got another thing coming. President Trump has said it on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday. And I'm the Vice President saying it here on Friday. We are standing behind our entire national security team.
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Congresswoman Clark Responds to Trump’s Market Crash
That's what this is about. There is no amount of bullying, no amount of obfuscating, no amount of confusing the issue. Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people.
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Congresswoman Clark Responds to Trump’s Market Crash
That has to change. And because it hasn't changed, this is why President Trump's policy in Greenland is what it is.
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House Republicans TANK Trump and Musk Bill and SHAME THEM
makes no sense, watch this. We know what we are to do, we're determined to do that. And even though this vote would push the debt limit to 2027, it in no way reflects any lack of enthusiasm on our part to get about those serious cuts for the American people. We have to have fiscal responsibility as a core principle of our party.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
House Republicans TANK Trump and Musk Bill and SHAME THEM
So that's what the House Republicans are committed to, every single one of them. We will get together and do that work and it begins in early January.
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House Republicans TANK Trump and Musk Bill and SHAME THEM
This is Washington. This is how the lawmaking is done. It's a long process. Sometimes it takes a while to reach consensus, but we're going to do the right thing here tonight.
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Fox News Is Terrified On Air as Trump Betrays His Voters
Sean, no surprise. You're not wrong in any of that. And what's important is that we are discussing all of those things with both sides. We are having those discussions with our counterparts, with the Russians. We are having those discussions with our counterparts, with the Ukrainians. And we are pushing both sides together with President Trump, the dealmaker in chief.
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Rep. Brendan Boyle on Trump’s Big Disastrous Budget
arguing over additional tax provisions and getting down to a reasonable pre-pandemic spending level. But that's not the path we chose. So I think the sooner we acknowledge the fact that this current effort is doomed to fail. I'm sorry. I've got to disagree with the president on this. It's doomed to fail. I'm not going to vote for it. I know a number of senators who will not even come.
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Rep. Brendan Boyle on Trump’s Big Disastrous Budget
We're not even contemplating. This is not a start. Right now, as it's being written, we would actually increase the deficit. I don't think many people realize that we would actually increase the deficit. That's a complete non-starter. So, no, we're not even close.
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Congressman Suhas Subramanyam on Trump Fallout
No, I don't. Because the videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places. These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats.
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Congressman Suhas Subramanyam on Trump Fallout
One Republican acknowledged they were his constituents. That's fantastic.
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Dem County Legislator Beth Davidson on Flipping NY-17
Basically, defense spending, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, that's about 90 percent of it right there. You can't cut from the rest of the budget to balance things.
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Dem County Legislator Beth Davidson on Flipping NY-17
This this this has been the whole challenge, right? Because we're blocking off roughly 87, 90 percent of federal spending and saying we can't touch that. Can't touch it. So we're arguing over roughly 13 percent of federal spending, you know, in terms of trying to find savings. And it's just not realistic.
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Dem County Legislator Beth Davidson on Flipping NY-17
So the issue long term that we all have to grapple with, Republicans and Democrats, and we have to get serious about is how to tackle our national debt. Most of our debt is accrued by mandatory spending. There are savings to be had in the Defense Department. No question about it. There are savings to be had across every agency and department in the federal government.
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Speaker Johnson BOOED ON STAGE by GOP…He RUNS AWAY
So we, I was in constant contact with President Trump throughout this process, spoke with him most recently about 45 minutes ago. He knew exactly what we were doing and why, and this is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well.
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Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
Here's what Democratic Congressmember Mike Levin has to say. Let's play it. I had the opportunity as a member of the Appropriations Committee to have a hearing with the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, you know, they were the ones that ultimately let that 2 billion gallons of water flow from those dams down to a dry lake bed where a lot of that water just evaporated.
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Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
It never made its way to LA. And we now know that the Army Corps knew that it was never going to make its way to LA. And that water is needed for our farmers, our agriculture, particularly if we have a dry next few months. So the other thing you should know is that the LA wildfires were 100% contained. when Trump made that decision, that very reckless and irresponsible decision.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
So the concern that I have is that the Army Corps of Engineers, who are good engineers, that they will follow the science, the engineering, and common sense, and actually listen to the community. We're going to continue to fight to get answers from them.
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Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
But you've never talked to him before, so how's the number on your phone? I mean, I'm not an expert in any of this, but it's just curious, how's the number on your phone?
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Trump Supporters have LIFE RUINED by HIM INSTANTLY
And here's another clip of Huckabee. Let's play it. My feeling personally, and I'm speaking only as a person, I think Israel would only be acting on the property it already owns. I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria. There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There's no such thing as a settlement.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Supporters have LIFE RUINED by HIM INSTANTLY
They're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation. that they get out of their minds that people are living in lean-tos and tents, sleeping in cars, circled around a tree. They're living in very well-designed and beautiful cities and communities. Can't wait to get back. I'm going to take an extra hat. I'm going to get it to President-elect Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Supporters have LIFE RUINED by HIM INSTANTLY
Build Israel great again. Who knows? We may see him wear this out there in one of his rallies somewhere. I don't know. Can't promise that. I can only promise he will get a copy of the hat. Thank you very much.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Canada PM Destroys Trump and Calls Urgent Election
Mr. Prime Minister? Mike Myers? What are you doing here? I just thought I'd come up and check on things. You live in the States? Yeah, but I'll always be Canadian. But you live in the States? Yeah, so... Do you remember Mr. Dress-Up? The children's show on CBC? What were the names of Mr. Dress-Up's two puppet friends? Casey and Finnegan. Budda. Spud. Howie. Meeker. Capital's Saskatchewan. Regina.
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Canada PM Destroys Trump and Calls Urgent Election
Tragically. Pip. You're a defenseman, defending a two-on-one. What do you do? Take away the pass, obviously. What are the two seasons in Toronto? Winter and construction. Wow. We really are Canadian. Yeah. But let me ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, will there always be a Canada? There will always be a Canada. All right. Elbows up. Elbows up.
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Trump Gets Nightmare News as World Elections Crush Him
Well, I think first we've got to remember who Qatar is. We've got a military base there. I have members of our immediate family that have deployed to the region. But Qatar has a long history of playing both sides. They support Hamas. They supported Al-Qaeda. Qatar has actually financed pro-Hamas protests on American campuses across the United States.
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Trump Gets Nightmare News as World Elections Crush Him
And so the very idea that we would accept an Air Force One from Qatar, I think is inconsistent with our security, with our intelligence needs. And my hope is the president reconsiders it.
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Trump Gets Nightmare News as World Elections Crush Him
Christian, I've never been a fan of American presidents criticizing America on foreign soil. And to have the president in Saudi Arabia questioning America's global war on terror and describing it as nation-building and interventionist, I thought was a disservice to generations of Americans who wore the uniform, who took the fight to our enemy in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Nightmare News as World Elections Crush Him
particularly giving that speech in Saudi Arabia, where 15 of the 19 9-11 hijackers hailed from, and not including Osama bin Laden, I thought was unfortunate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Yeah, Ben, thanks for having me here on Midas Touch Network. We just saw in those clips who Mike Lawler is. Now, he's up here in our district outside of New York City, Rockland County, Westchester County, Putnam County, Dutchess County. Mike Lawler pretends to be a moderate up here while he votes. MAGA down there.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
He has allowed our Social Security office to close and then had to beg the dear leader to reopen it here in Westchester, where I live with my two young children. He's failed to combat threats to Medicaid and is now saying, yes, we have to find some cuts to Social Security in order to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy and the billionaire best friends of Donald Trump.
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This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
He's let Trump ram through tariffs that would raise prices for families here in the Hudson Valley. Tariffs that just Trump on his own whim said, OK, never mind. Well, still 10 percent across the board and 125 percent on China. But still. Congress could have stepped up at that moment. and said, no.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
You heard the senators in that ad, Republican senators in that ad, saying this is a tax that raises costs on everyday Americans. And Lawler saying, well, it's worth checking out to see how this goes.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
That is someone who's not willing to use the power of the purse and the people's voice in the house to stand up to a personalist autocrat in the White House, who's willing to give the power and the purse and the voice of the people in the people's house wholesale
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
over to the White House so the dear leader, Donald Trump, can do whatever he wishes and ultimately tip off his best friends to make billions on his saying go right before the tariffs themselves, the big ones he'd announced he decided to cancel on his own whip. Meanwhile,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Lawler's failed to do a damn thing about veterans losing their livelihoods thanks to Trump and Musk's chainsawing federal jobs, and that's affected veterans in this district as well. So no, he has played moderate up here, but he's clearly voting MAGA down there. He's MAGA, not moderate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Right. I mean, this was something that Trump did.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
tariffs at least he promised and people were just like la la la la they didn't realize what's going to happen musk talking about social security being a ponzi scheme people were warned but still even with those warnings what doge has been doing which was not what doge had announced it was going to do in the first place when it first took the pages of the wall street journal
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
And what it was proposing then was bad enough. But Trump's and Musk's chainsawing through its proposed supposed waste, fraud and abuse. We heard the congresswoman talking about that on the CNN clip you played.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
in a way that no one asked for. Not a single person who voted for these people asked for it. It's not waste, fraud, and abuse. When Lawler is saying, can you identify one thing of waste, fraud, and abuse? It is clearly not anything of the inflated millions or billions or whatever of non-existent numbers that Elon's claiming to have cut.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Secretary of Defense James Mattis would say he'd go line by line through the defense budget and he'd find actual waste, fraud, and abuse. None of that is what Doge is doing. So people did not ask for this. And people are not waking up to that here in this district. People see Lawler and they see that's MAGA, not moderate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
People are seeing what he says and they don't trust him or believe him anymore. And I think there's going to be a lot of people, even beyond the Democratic primary, people who are mad as hell up here. The Democrats in this district are mad as hell. But even beyond that, people who thought they were voting for something and got something very different from these people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
billionaires who are stealing their voice and their power to enrich themselves at all of our expense and laughing all the way to the bank with it and think that we won't do anything about it, that is going to be the main dynamic driving this coming election.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
What's happening is not only that Lawler's letting that happen, but it's more than, it's knocking it down. It's leaving rubble and wreckage in the people's house. And that's the one part of the federal government in 2026 that democracy lovers, not just Democrats with a small D, but also small, or big D, but small D Democrats,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
People who believe in fighting autocracy in this country and cutting this vicious cycle where the rich just keep making themselves richer because they've hijacked our country. This is what's going to be left in rubbles because Lawler's letting it happen.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
And we need someone with the vision to match this moment where people are rising up, taking to town halls, going on marches, doing the hands-off rallies. Someone who is willing to take that energy, bring it to the people's house, build back from the rubble of what Trump, Musk, and Lawler will have left us into a newer house.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Something that can rebuild our country into something better, bigger, stronger, more secure, freer, and more prosperous. A democracy that represents all of us, not just the billionaires who've hijacked it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
Yeah. Everyone watching, you can go to MikeSacksForCongress.com. You can check out what I'm all about, which I've got two young sons here in the Hudson Valley, and we are looking for a better life for everybody. We're looking for a way that all of us can prosper.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
People here in this New York 17th District, we can see our children be able to afford housing up here in ways that is vanishing for those who've grown up here. We can make sure that those who have been deeply affected by this in our freedom, in our pocketbooks, in our democracy, that we rescue that. We build back from that rubble.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
This Vulnerable GOP District Just Got Blown Wide Open (Mike Sacks Interview)
The reproductive freedom, which has been gutted by this long-term right-wing movement, we can restore it. We can build a vision coming back from the House. that we can make sure that come 2026, come 2028, come 2030, we are setting our country back to be stronger, more prosperous, more secure, and freer than ever before.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Biggest Promise QUICKLY CRUMBLES Before Day 1
Well, we would like to see a ceasefire any minute, any day. I think that would be an incredibly positive first step on both sides. And that would then allow us to enter into the framework of some type of negotiated solution here. Everybody knows that this has to end somehow diplomatically. I just don't think it's realistic to say we're going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Biggest Promise QUICKLY CRUMBLES Before Day 1
Even Crimea, President Trump has acknowledged that reality and I think it's been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Look, I think the Canadian people, many of them would love to join the United States with no tariffs, with lower taxes. And I have all kinds of neighbors down in Florida that are Canadians that are escaping many of the liberal policies and have moved in. But look, what we're talking about here is reintroducing American leadership in the Western Hemisphere.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Well, I don't think there's any plans to invade Canada, if that's what you're talking about. But there is a lot of people that like what we have in the United States and do not like the last 10 years of liberal progressive governance in Trudeau. But really what you're seeing is a reassertion of American leadership in the Western Hemisphere from the Arctic all the way down to the Panama Canal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
And that's what we're talking about from Greenland. to Arctic security, to the Panama Canal coming back under the United States. America has avoided our own hemisphere where we have the energy, the food, and the critical minerals for way too long. And you're seeing a reassertion of President Trump's leadership.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Structure that the Palestinians, regardless of where they are, pose a security threat that there is no path to a two state solution. No one is currently working toward it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Swing Left Executive Director Yasmin Radjy on Fighting Back
Surplus, but we're $2 trillion away from balancing the budget. So from my standpoint, I'm certainly concerned about what's happening right now in the markets. And I hope the administration is looking at that as well. The Democrats.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
It's worth noting the Social Security Administration's internal watchdog found that less than 1% of benefit payments were improper. I do want to get to my final question, though, which is about the shutdown. Don't believe it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
Comparing our alliance with Stalin during World War II to Trump's support for Putin is a really bad take, and here's why. In World War II, we partnered with Stalin out of necessity to defeat Hitler. We didn't share values. We didn't admire Stalin. And when the war ended, we immediately pivoted to containing his authoritarian regime in the Cold War.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
What Trump is doing with Putin isn't about necessity. It's about admiration. Trump has repeatedly praised Putin's leadership, echoed his propaganda, and undermined our own intelligence and military. There's no global emergency forcing Trump to align with Putin. It's a choice, and it's a choice that betrays everything the Greatest Generation fought for.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
Putin is attacking democracy, and our job, just like in World War II, is to stand up to that, not cheer him on.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 2/28/25
How many of you know that bureaucracy was not forthcoming, right? They're not transparent. That's the whole point. That's the problem. That's the deep state we talk about. So they were hiding from Congress. We didn't know that USAID was funding drag shows in Peru or whatever, you know, transgender operas in Colombia or whatever. You know, it's madness. But Elon has cracked the code.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 2/28/25
He is now inside the agencies. He's created these algorithms that are constantly crawling through the data. And as he told me in his office, the data doesn't lie. We're going to be able to get the information. We're going to be able to transform the way the federal government works at the end of this. And that is a very exciting prospect. It is truly a revolutionary moment for the nation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
But then he gave this weird press conference also where he said, well, I don't like this stock trading, but I have sympathy. I get it. Members of Congress, they're not making enough money. They need this. They need stock trading. I get it. Here's what he said. Let's play it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
Well, look, his goal, Peter, is to bring this war to an end, period. And there has been ongoing fighting on both sides. It is World War I-style trench warfare. His frustration with President Zelensky that you've heard is multifold. One, there needs to be a deep...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
appreciation for what the American people, what the American taxpayer, what President Trump did in his first term and what we've done since. So some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable. Number one. Number two, our own secretary of Treasury personally made the trip to offer the Ukrainians what is can only be described as a historic
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
President Trump is on what we call Trump warp speed. We are all honored to be really serving under his leadership and his vision.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
And truly, You know, when we all say, and the president himself says, he is a president of peace. He is a president focused on restoring stability.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
Well, I'll take the second question first. If there's anybody in this world that can go toe-to-toe with Putin, that could go toe-to-toe with Xi, that could go toe-to-toe with Kim Jong-un, and we could keep going down the list, it's Donald J. Trump. He is the dealmaker-in-chief. There is no question that he is the commander-in-chief.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicked White House Holds Disaster Mid-Day Briefing
And I, for one, and I think all Americans and around the world should have no doubt about his ability to not only handle Putin, but to handle the complexity of driving this war to an end.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
Can you see yourself voting for this big, beautiful bill at all?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
not not in the current structure no yeah i i refuse to vote for something that's going to actually increase the deficits exacerbate the problem from the current situation again we we shouldn't be talking about this right now we should have been doing all the work like you say the multi-step process we'd already have the border funding we'd have defense we'd have 850 billion dollars of real savings banked already
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
Plus, we could have extended current tax law, taken tax increase off the table. We could have had all that done, but unfortunately, decisions were made to do one big, beautiful bill. It's not beautiful, I'm sorry. It's not a big, beautiful bill. That's called rhetoric. It's mislabeling.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/14/25
think of it metaphorically i get up every morning and i have this giant sort of control panel and it's got 219 dials on it and i gotta make sure everybody's you know okay this one's you know and then i got the president trump dial and now i have now i have the elon dial okay um because elon has the largest platform in the world literally and um if he goes on and says something that
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/14/25
that's misunderstood or misinterpreted about something we're doing. He can blow the whole thing up. So I spent a lot of time working with all these dials and all these folks and I just run around all day and make sure everybody's happy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 2/13/25
Brett. I actually happened to be giving a speech in Florida the other day, and I looked at the beach at Mar-a-Lago, and I thought it was actually a fantastic place if you wanted to resettle, you know, millions of people from from the Middle East. Absolutely beautiful. Lots of space here. But it's not going to happen because somebody else owns it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 2/13/25
And Gaza is in law owned and occupied by people who have a right to be there. So... That is not going to happen.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 2/13/25
Well, but what Hamas did, frankly, was destabilizing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/9/25
No. No, there's no way because, again, unfortunately, President Trump chose the one big, beautiful bill. What he should have done is the multiple-step process. I suggested three steps. Get the border funding. Second step, just extend current tax law so we take an automatic tax increase off the table.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/9/25
Not if we don't come down with a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending. There's enough of us in the Senate that will not agree to that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/9/25
arguing over additional tax provisions and getting down to a reasonable pre-pandemic spending level. But that's not the path we chose. So I think the sooner we acknowledge the fact that this current effort is doomed to fail. I'm sorry. I've got to disagree with the president on this. It's doomed to fail. I'm not going to vote for it. I know a number of senators who will not even contemplate this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/9/25
Right now, as it's being written, we would actually increase the deficit. I don't think many people realize that we would actually increase the deficit. That's a complete non-starter. So no, we're not even close.
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
E557 The Inauguration
I don't think so. Are you looking for a voicemail?
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
E557 The Inauguration
You made a point you post on Instagram about how you think we need more than two parties. That was interesting.
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
E557 The Inauguration
I didn't. I just thought it was kind of a beautiful moment. It did feel like things are changing, good or bad.
Up First from NPR
House Budget Plan, DOGE Resignations, Battle Against Bird Flu
So again, the agency heads will determine the best practices for their employees at their specific agencies. Again, this was an idea that Elon come up with. Doge worked with OPM to actually implement the idea and the secretaries are responsible for their specific workforce.
Up First from NPR
House Budget Plan, DOGE Resignations, Battle Against Bird Flu
We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are going to deliver the American First agenda. We're going to deliver all of it, not just parts of it. And this was the first step in that process.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Education Department Layoffs, Spending Bill
It falls on the desk of Chuck Schumer. He is the leader of the Democrats on that side, and he must determine whether he wants to fund the government, do the responsible thing, or whether he wants to shut the government down.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
Yeah, our generation is incredibly resilient. We were young people through the COVID pandemic. We're now young adults during this extremely tumultuous time in the federal government. And still, I see people continuing to push
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
I'm Melissa Johnson. I am a senior at Purdue University studying wildlife.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
This has definitely not been the semester or like the graduation plans that I thought it was going to be. So I thought I was going to go to graduate school to get a PhD, but everything that's been going on has kind of changed my life plans.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
Yeah, so originally I was going to pursue a PhD in amphibian disease ecology. So I have been researching how contaminants affect amphibians and their disease dynamics for the past four years. So I was going to continue that work.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
At this time was when a lot of like the federal funding cuts towards academic institutions were going through and the funding cuts from the National Science Foundation were happening. And so graduate admissions across the whole entire country have gone to a very low point because universities and institutions and professors need to protect the people they already have.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
The research that I was doing, there were some concerns about the funding source because it had both climate and diversity in the title.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
Yeah. This is quite a strange thing that's going on with the National Science Foundation and like Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, is that they're using either people who maybe don't have a lot of expertise towards reviewing these grants and understanding the scientific terms behind them to screen through the names of grants for words like diversity, equity, climate change. And so
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
With that throughout the whole entire country, regardless of whether you're qualified or not, you're seeing either offers going out and then being rescinded or, you know, everybody being put on some kind of wait list. And so that's kind of what ended up happening for me.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
I would love to be a public servant if academia didn't work out for me. But I think the reality is that the shifts that are happening right now are making it incredibly difficult for that to happen. And they're not going to recover for a very long time, if not ever. Like Liam was saying, it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time. It takes decades to get these institutions set up.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
usually once those things go private or if they're shut down, they don't come back. So I wasn't very tapped into that until recently because, I mean, maybe this is ignorant of me, but I just felt like I didn't have to. It felt like the funding was always going to be there.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
Yeah. I mean, you hear a lot of, I'm so overwhelmed right now. I feel so depressed. I feel so horrified by what's going on. I just don't know what to do. I'm just going to delete Instagram or I'm just going to delete my news apps.
Up First from NPR
The Class of 2025
And I feel like one thing that I've been trying to do and that I feel like a lot of young people are starting to shift towards is this is so horrifying and it is so scary and it is so frustrating and it makes me so angry, but I can't look away.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Those are precious taxpayer dollars.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Yeah, so look, let me clarify what we're talking about with Medicaid. Medicaid is hugely problematic because it has a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse. Everybody knows that. We all know it intuitively. No one in here would disagree.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Our true and honest intention is to ensure that every Medicaid beneficiary who is in that traditional community of folks, you're talking about young, pregnant mothers and the elderly and disabled, those folks are covered and no one loses their coverage.
Up First from NPR
Trump's US Steel Reversal, Court Win For Harvard, Musk Leaves DOGE
No matter how the government and or the non-answers from U.S. Steel want to position this, Let me be very clear. This is an acquisition. It's very clearly an acquisition.
Up First from NPR
Tariff Fears, Trump Budget Plan Passes House, Deportation Ruling
That will allow us now to move forward to have our committees actually drafting the one big beautiful bill.
Up First from NPR
Tariff Fears, Trump Budget Plan Passes House, Deportation Ruling
That was a big step because that will allow us now to move forward to have our committees actually drafting the one big, beautiful bill.
Up First from NPR
Tariff Fears, Trump Budget Plan Passes House, Deportation Ruling
No one has talked about cutting one benefit in Medicaid to anyone who's duly owed. What we've talked about is returning work requirements. So, for example, you don't have able-bodied young men on a program that's designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled.
Verdict with Ted Cruz
Bonus Pod: Democrats hold Government Hostage plus Trump vs the Department of Education
They're planning to vote down this simple bill. They are going to try to shut the government down. Every House Democrat will participate in this, it looks like. That would be a shame if it's true. I hope some of them will have a moment of clarity themselves and do the right thing, but it looks like they're going to try to shut down the government.
Verdict with Ted Cruz
Bonus Pod: Democrats hold Government Hostage plus Trump vs the Department of Education
It's a striking new posture for Democrats who have always said they've just been apoplectic about the prospect of government shutdowns.
WSJ What’s News
Big, Beautiful Bill Nears Tense House Vote
I've seen lots of conjecture out there, but I wouldn't put much stock in that. I told all the members on a conference call this morning that this is a consensus-building operation. It's been a bottom-up process.