The Matt Walsh Show - September 25, 2018


Ep. 110 - Republicans Need To Stop Being Cowards


Episode Stats


Length

18 minutes

Words per minute

175.1401

Word count

3,198

Sentence count

266

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Kavanaugh's interview on Fox News did not go well and I think he needs to change his approach for Thursday's hearing. I think it was not a good performance and I hope he does not repeat the same mistakes he made in the interview.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 So Kavanaugh did Brett Kavanaugh did an interview on Fox News last night. And look, obviously, as you know, by now, I think that he's innocent. I think he's being smeared by a bunch of disgraceful opportunists in the Democrat Party.
00:00:15.660 OK, that said, he didn't come across well in his interview, in my opinion. It was not it was not a great performance. And I really hope that he changes his approach for Thursday. OK, it's very important.
00:00:32.240 So and I know I was talking about this on Facebook last night and most people were saying, oh, I thought he did really well. He's a wonderful. He did a wonderful job. And maybe some of them really do think he did a wonderful job.
00:00:43.580 But I think a lot of those people, a lot of the conservatives are saying, oh, it's a great interview. I think a lot of them are they're just saying that because they support Kavanaugh and they feel bad for him for good reason.
00:00:52.700 You know, but so for that reason, they don't want to be critical. But we do need to be critical here because it's really important that he changes his approach for the hearing on Thursday.
00:01:01.080 Now, I understand. Look, to be to be on live TV is disorienting, especially if you're not used to it.
00:01:07.360 To be on live TV under these circumstances is I can't even imagine how overwhelming that is.
00:01:12.800 So you're going to be nervous. And and I also know that, of course, he's got PR people around him.
00:01:19.020 He's got his team around him and they're they're coaching him. They're they're helping him.
00:01:23.920 They're you know, they're they're giving him advice. Doesn't mean that he's guilty.
00:01:26.960 The fact that you've got people helping you, that just means that you're in a very high pressure,
00:01:30.460 high stakes situation and you're not used to being in this kind of situation.
00:01:34.640 You're not used to being on TV. You're not used to this kind of scrutiny.
00:01:37.760 And so you got people advising you, you know, like anybody would.
00:01:41.660 But I think the advice that he's getting is just is just it's not good advice.
00:01:46.160 It's in my opinion. You know, for one thing, he sounded very scripted and he was repeating the same lines over and over and over again.
00:01:54.840 And I was watching with my wife and we were both just cringing like by the fifth time that he repeated himself,
00:02:01.020 the exact same line verbatim like he was literally like there was a teleprompter.
00:02:05.540 But it was it was. We were cringing.
00:02:10.220 I think the worst thing now is to sound scripted. That's the worst thing.
00:02:16.040 It is it is much. I mean, if you're worried about, well, if you don't you know, if you don't stick to a script,
00:02:19.920 then you might go you might get angry and go off the rails a little bit and get away and run, you know, run away with your words.
00:02:25.920 Well, I think it's much better to err on that side of the spectrum than on the side of the spectrum of sounding of sounding scripted.
00:02:34.220 For another thing, you know, he tried I think he tried to run too far in the other direction by saying that because he was trying to combat the image of this image that's being painted of him
00:02:48.640 as being this kind of high school and college frat bro kind of guy who's going around getting drunk all the time and just being a jerk and obnoxious.
00:02:57.480 So he's trying to come. He's trying to dispel that notion.
00:03:01.360 And so he said in the interview that, well, the main thing he was worried about in high school was doing his service projects.
00:03:06.520 He said that multiple times about his service projects and going to church and getting good grades.
00:03:12.040 That was the only thing he was worried about. And maybe that's true.
00:03:15.320 I mean, it's possible that he really was that straight laced in high school, but the vast majority of high school kids aren't like that.
00:03:23.780 The vast majority of high school kids, even if they do service projects, that's not their main concern in life is, oh, I just want to do my service projects.
00:03:31.180 OK, I certainly wasn't like that in high school. I wasn't anything. I wasn't even close to that.
00:03:36.600 And you don't need you don't need to be that way. And he doesn't need to portray himself that way.
00:03:42.260 I think it's OK to be a little bit more real and say, you know, look, I was I was a kid.
00:03:49.420 But making that admission that, yeah, look, I was a kid. I mean, I did dumb things to make that admission.
00:03:54.920 That's not the same thing as admitting that, oh, I I tried to commit sexual assault. Right.
00:03:59.020 And then the last thing is Kavanaugh. And this this was the main thing to me. Kavanaugh.
00:04:05.980 He was he was trying to be very restrained. Like I said, that was obviously the advice that he'd been given.
00:04:11.300 And so he was trying to hold back his anger. He refused to criticize Democrats.
00:04:16.860 He refused to criticize the media. He was given multiple opportunities.
00:04:19.740 He was asked. He was asked, where do you think this is coming from?
00:04:24.320 Why do you think they're coming after you? Do you think it's politically motivated?
00:04:28.200 And he was asked, you know, the New Yorker ran this this article about you.
00:04:32.800 There are no witnesses. There is no corroboration.
00:04:36.100 Do you think it was the right decision for them to run the article?
00:04:38.860 And in both cases, he went back to the script and said, I'm not going to comment.
00:04:42.240 I'm not going to comment on motives. And I know that that's look,
00:04:45.640 I know that in D.C., for whatever reason, the PR people, that's how they advise.
00:04:50.680 That's how they advise politicians to behave. That's that's the response.
00:04:54.000 Oh, I'm not going to comment on that. I just think it's bad advice.
00:04:57.660 I think you need to be a human being and react like any other human being would.
00:05:02.680 You're angry. You're ticked off. You're indignant.
00:05:06.140 And obviously, you know that, yes, this is irresponsible, reckless journalism.
00:05:11.340 The Democrats are obviously politically motivated.
00:05:15.640 We all know that he knows it. It obviously makes him very angry.
00:05:19.680 So just say it. Why not say it?
00:05:22.500 What are you worried about at this point?
00:05:24.420 You're worried that if you say it, that the Democrats won't like you?
00:05:27.380 I mean, come on. They already hate your guts.
00:05:30.080 They're trying to destroy your life.
00:05:31.940 There's nothing you can say that's going to make them more aggressive towards you.
00:05:36.020 They're already as aggressive as they could possibly be.
00:05:38.840 So just let it rip is what I would say.
00:05:45.640 That's what Clarence Thomas did.
00:05:47.220 I really hope that Judge Kavanaugh, before the hearing on Thursday, he should go.
00:05:51.500 I mean, I'm sure he's seen it before, but maybe go again and watch that clip of Clarence Thomas in his hearing when he was confronting the bogus allegations against himself.
00:06:00.840 And he launched into this three-minute monologue, which was very aggressive.
00:06:06.620 He went on the offensive. He was angry.
00:06:09.160 He called these people out. He called it what it was.
00:06:11.740 And I think Kavanaugh needs to have another moment like that, a raw, real, angry moment where he's just acting like any human being would in this situation, where you're being lied about, and your reputation is being destroyed, and your family is being attacked.
00:06:31.220 All right. So here's the main thing I want to talk about.
00:06:40.620 All of the—when you look at Washington, D.C., and you see all the incompetence and all the chaos, all of that is primarily fueled by two things, maliciousness and cowardice.
00:06:54.260 And Democrats will generally contribute the maliciousness, the malice, and Republicans will contribute the cowardice.
00:07:01.000 And you can really see how all this works when you look at the Kavanaugh situation. It's all been illustrated for us.
00:07:06.460 Let's remember that this whole—and I don't think this can be emphasized enough—this whole Kavanaugh circus could have been avoided from the very beginning if not for GOP cowardice.
00:07:15.780 GOP cowardice is what got this ball rolling, because President Trump was advised by, you know, by his people, by Republicans, to nominate Brett Kavanaugh rather than Amy Barrett.
00:07:28.560 Amy Barrett, who is the extremely conservative woman, and he was advised, though, to go with Kavanaugh because Republicans were concerned that Barrett's social conservatism might upset the Democrats.
00:07:43.660 But, of course, the Democrats have no power, so it doesn't matter if you upset them.
00:07:50.980 Yet Republicans still decided to go with the more mild figure in hopes of avoiding any kind of nasty altercations with the powerless opposition party, which is the kinds of decisions that they're always making.
00:08:04.480 Republicans are always doing—they're always doing kind of like what I do when I shop for wine.
00:08:09.440 Okay, because I don't know a good wine from a bad wine, so I always just buy the second cheapest wine.
00:08:16.100 Not the cheapest, because I figure the cheapest is probably bad, but not the most expensive, because I don't want to pay for that.
00:08:21.300 So I just go for the second cheapest.
00:08:23.160 That's always—that's just always what I do.
00:08:24.960 And I actually do that when I'm shopping for most things, because I don't know—I don't know what any—you know, I just—I have no idea what I'm doing in life.
00:08:30.840 I'm clueless.
00:08:31.240 So I always just go—I just go one step up from the cheapest.
00:08:37.160 And Republicans do the same thing all the time.
00:08:40.300 They rarely go and make the worst decision, but they don't make the best decision either.
00:08:47.160 So with the Supreme—so with the Supreme Court nominee, that's kind of what they did.
00:08:51.920 There were obviously worst—there were worse people they could have chosen than Brett Kavanaugh.
00:08:56.400 I mean, Brett Kavanaugh was a good choice, don't get me wrong.
00:08:59.180 But he wasn't the best choice from a conservative and constitutional perspective.
00:09:05.900 He wasn't the absolute best home-run choice.
00:09:08.820 That would have been Amy Barrett.
00:09:10.960 And so they go for this kind of intermediate route, hoping that it will appease conservatives and liberals at the same time.
00:09:18.740 But what they still don't understand somehow is that Democrats will never be appeased, ever.
00:09:24.380 They will be vicious no matter what.
00:09:26.240 They will treat every Republican measure, every Republican legislation or appointment as the end of human civilization.
00:09:32.020 No matter what.
00:09:33.660 No matter who it is.
00:09:34.880 No matter what it is.
00:09:35.800 No matter the situation.
00:09:37.080 They are permanently stuck on DEFCON 1 setting.
00:09:40.320 No matter what.
00:09:41.980 So if they're going to panic regardless, you may as well give them something to panic about.
00:09:46.380 Remember, that's what you're, that's the famous line that everyone's dad used to say.
00:09:52.440 Stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about.
00:09:55.600 Which I don't think of my dad, I don't know if my dad ever actually said that.
00:09:58.240 But that's what Republicans should say to Democrats.
00:10:01.880 Okay, you want to cry?
00:10:03.160 I'll give you something to cry about.
00:10:04.460 That should have been their, that should have been their strategy, their approach for the last two years.
00:10:10.340 Oh, you guys are going to panic over everything?
00:10:12.280 You're going to freak out?
00:10:13.020 Well, I'll give you something to freak out about.
00:10:14.820 Here you go.
00:10:17.000 But they don't.
00:10:18.700 Republicans have the power to shove whatever they want down the Democrats' throats.
00:10:23.140 But they're too scared to use that power for some reason.
00:10:26.640 They compromise even when there's no reason to compromise.
00:10:32.120 And even though the other side has no power, and so they have no leverage.
00:10:36.680 And even though the other side really won't accept anything but complete surrender anyway.
00:10:44.680 And that's what brought us to the Brett Kavanaugh situation.
00:10:49.360 And again, don't get me wrong.
00:10:51.040 I think Kavanaugh is a very solid choice.
00:10:55.640 I've thought that all along.
00:10:57.680 And obviously what's happening to him now is horrific.
00:11:01.880 He doesn't deserve any of it.
00:11:05.240 But, you know, if they had put Amy Barrett up for the court, Democrats, they would have freaked out.
00:11:15.280 They would have lost their minds.
00:11:16.600 They would have said, oh, they're going to overturn Roe v. Wade.
00:11:19.820 But I doubt they would have been able to conjure up.
00:11:21.880 They couldn't have gone this route with a woman. 1.00
00:11:23.780 I mean, I guess you can't assume anything.
00:11:29.640 But nothing is beneath them.
00:11:32.480 But most likely with a woman, they would not have tried to conjure up sexual assault allegations.
00:11:39.300 So they would have had to just freak out the whole time about, you know, it's going to be Handmaid's Tale and all that kind of stuff.
00:11:44.420 But they did that anyway with Brett Kavanaugh.
00:11:48.340 You see, so it didn't make a difference.
00:11:52.320 Republican cowardice made all this possible, got the ball rolling.
00:11:56.720 And Republican cowardice has kept it going, sustained it.
00:11:59.240 Leftist liberals, Democrats are complaining that the GOP leadership has been bullying the Kavanaugh accusers, claiming that they've been bullying Christine Ford.
00:12:12.380 But the truth, as usual, is the opposite of that.
00:12:16.800 Republicans have spent the last week groveling at Ford's feet, making concession after concession, begging her to come to D.C.
00:12:27.740 and tell her unsubstantiated, uncorroborated story on national television.
00:12:31.280 I mean, they've been begging her.
00:12:33.740 They said, come here, we'll go there, we'll do anything you want, anything, please, Dr. Ford, please.
00:12:38.720 They've been begging her.
00:12:40.580 And the back and forth was all in bad faith.
00:12:42.900 Democrats were simply stalling as they rooted through Kavanaugh's closet for any other skeletons, real or imagined, that they could find.
00:12:50.260 And now, and Republicans very generously gave them the space and the opportunity to conduct that search.
00:12:56.720 That's what this was all about.
00:12:57.820 It was obvious to anyone with two brain cells in their head.
00:13:00.600 The past week, as Republicans have been negotiating, trying to get her to come and testify, it was clear to everyone that they were just stalling in order to give themselves more time to dig up more dirt.
00:13:15.240 And for some unbelievable reason, the stupid Republicans let them do it and said, okay, fine, yes, we'll give you more time.
00:13:24.360 I mean, you absolute idiots.
00:13:26.840 Just hold the vote.
00:13:27.860 What are you doing?
00:13:30.600 Republicans could put an end to this at any time.
00:13:34.680 All they have to do is confirm Kavanaugh.
00:13:36.660 They could have confirmed him last week.
00:13:38.060 They can confirm him now.
00:13:39.420 There's nothing to be gained by waiting unless the continued character assassination of Brett Kavanaugh is something that they consider to be a gain, which it is a gain for Democrats.
00:13:48.840 And it's a gain not only because it destroys this particular Supreme Court nominee, but also because it serves as a warning to any other potential conservative judges.
00:13:59.260 What Democrats are doing is they're cutting off Kavanaugh's head.
00:14:03.280 They're putting it on a on a on a on a spike.
00:14:05.520 And they're kind of putting it on the on the edge of the town and saying, abandon all hope, you who enter here.
00:14:12.700 This this is what happens if the Republicans nominate you.
00:14:16.340 This is what we're going to do to you.
00:14:18.980 And Republicans are allowing them to do this.
00:14:21.400 I mean, I mean, Mitch McConnell gave a nice speech yesterday and and he was very aggressive and and he called all this what what it was, what it is.
00:14:34.840 He said that this is a smear campaign and on and on and on.
00:14:40.160 But if that's how you feel, why are you allowing it to?
00:14:43.800 Why don't you just hold the vote?
00:14:45.740 But if you know that it's a smear campaign, why are you humoring it?
00:14:50.900 Why are you entertaining it?
00:14:54.100 Do you know what Democrats would do in this?
00:14:56.060 You know what Democrats would do?
00:14:57.120 We all know what Democrats would do in this exact same situation.
00:15:00.820 Do you know how they would respond if they controlled Congress and it was their Supreme Court nominee being slandered?
00:15:08.340 They would flip a middle finger to the Republicans and to the conservative voters, and they would confirm their nominee without hesitation.
00:15:14.680 They wouldn't be holding a hearing.
00:15:16.580 They wouldn't be doing an investigation.
00:15:18.620 They wouldn't be doing anything.
00:15:20.260 They would say, oh, you don't like it.
00:15:21.620 Try and stop us.
00:15:22.480 Oh, you can't stop us.
00:15:24.120 Well, too bad.
00:15:25.720 I mean, you guys can cry about it, but we're just going to do what we're going to do.
00:15:28.840 We don't care if you cry about it.
00:15:30.480 It doesn't matter to us.
00:15:33.440 And and Republicans would cry and they would stomp their feet and conservative talk show hosts would would would would would be sent into a into a rage about it.
00:15:40.780 And and I would rant about it right now in my car screaming like a madman and and conservatives everywhere would complain about how unfair it all is.
00:15:50.120 And Democrats would just laugh.
00:15:52.480 They would say, you suckers.
00:15:54.520 I don't care.
00:15:56.200 You think we care that you're upset?
00:15:57.700 They wouldn't care how we feel because they got their guy on the Supreme Court. 0.79
00:16:03.080 And that's the only thing that would matter to them.
00:16:06.520 They would see all the rest of the hysterics and the outrage as irrelevant, a sideshow, unimportant.
00:16:14.280 And you know something?
00:16:15.320 They would be absolutely right.
00:16:17.700 But it's time for Republicans to take a page from that playbook.
00:16:24.180 The play is very simple.
00:16:25.660 It's called use the power that you have been given.
00:16:30.780 Use it.
00:16:32.620 You absolute wimps.
00:16:34.660 Use the power.
00:16:35.800 We gave it to you for a reason.
00:16:39.960 I mean, there's you're on the football field.
00:16:43.140 You got the ball in your hand and there's no one else on the field.
00:16:46.660 The other team hasn't hasn't fielded in it.
00:16:50.060 All you got to do is just run to the end zone.
00:16:52.020 That's all you have to do.
00:16:54.340 But Republicans are they're afraid they might hurt.
00:16:56.820 They might hurt the other side's feelings if they score a touchdown.
00:16:59.520 So instead, they just run in circles and then they take a knee.
00:17:03.360 And they wait for the clock to expire.
00:17:07.500 I mean, it's unbelievable.
00:17:09.900 It just makes me even more ticked off that Republican politicians are out there saying
00:17:16.240 that this is a smear campaign.
00:17:17.580 It's in bad faith.
00:17:18.320 It's dishonest.
00:17:19.380 There.
00:17:19.640 This is slander.
00:17:20.600 It's terrible.
00:17:21.160 Oh, my gosh.
00:17:21.680 It's horrible.
00:17:22.440 They're saying all that stuff.
00:17:23.920 Yet they're allowing it to continue.
00:17:26.640 And they're actually going to they're going to do this stupid hearing,
00:17:29.320 even though they they they themselves have said that it's all in bad faith.
00:17:39.180 How did we get cursed?
00:17:41.000 I mean, as conservatives, how did we get cursed with this with this party of nincompoops and
00:17:46.920 spineless, gutless cowards?
00:17:49.420 How did we end up this way?
00:17:50.740 I mean, this this is.
00:17:54.920 Well, we ended up with this because these are the people that we vote for, guys.
00:17:58.020 I mean, that's how we end up this way is by voting.
00:18:06.260 All right.
00:18:07.760 I need to cut it off there before I have an aneurysm.
00:18:11.540 Have a good day.
00:18:15.300 Godspeed.