00:01:45.300And, of course, three conventions with the great Ronald Reagan working on his 76, 1980 and 1984 campaigns.
00:01:52.400And, of course, all of the Trump conventions.
00:01:55.580I have not missed Republican National Convention since this one.
00:01:58.660President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance are headlining the two-day RNC gathering joined by cabinet officials and candidates emphasizing border enforcement, tax cuts, manufacturing, trade and public safety.
00:02:12.460Organizers expect about 30,000 attendees. They've budgeted roughly $40 million.
00:02:18.380President Trump's coalition includes working class and lower propensity voters who have not turned out strongly in non-presidential years, but have turned out in years in which Trump himself is on the ballot.
00:02:30.580So by putting President Trump at the center of the spectacle, Republicans are trying to gin up some presidential energy for an off-year contest.
00:02:37.500This I can tell you. Despite the fact that some in the mainstream media may not provide the coverage that this event deserves, it will get a disproportionate amount of coverage in the crucial state of Texas, Texas, where a U.S. Senate seat and the governorship are both up for grabs.
00:02:55.520The governor's race is closer than expected, and the Senate seat, of course, being one of the most focused races in the country, where Ken Paxton, the sitting attorney general, who came from behind to win President Trump's endorsement over a rhino in that state's primary, faces James Tallarico, a far-left progressive, if not Islamic Marxist Democrat, who's now trying to pass for a moderate.
00:03:21.380Nationalizing the election around Trump's record will have the potential to energize voters who might otherwise stay home.
00:03:27.560The Republican brand is highly unpopular nationwide.
00:03:30.940There's still too many rhinos in the fold.
00:03:32.880Republican President Trump is the unquestioned leader and the crown jewel of the GOP.
00:03:37.860There are a subset of voters out there, most of them blue-collar, working families, middle-class voters who aren't Republicans but will vote for Trump.
00:03:48.220This is why Mitt Romney and John McCain did not win, and Donald Trump did.
00:03:53.200He should be, in my opinion, featured as much as possible to energize this MAGA base,
00:03:57.380because if they decide to stay home, well, we lose the midterms.
00:04:01.460With Republicans to fail to pass measures like the Common Sense Save America Act,
00:04:07.240President Trump has to bail out the feckless, weak Republican establishment yet again.
00:04:13.400He's very effective trying to place his agenda on every Republican line without listing himself.
00:04:17.660This is the key to getting as many Republicans elected as possible.
00:04:21.180And we have to do a better job, frankly, of communicating his record, whether it is the drop in violent crime, whether it is the sealing of our borders, whether it is the low inflation rate, whether it is the new jobs numbers.
00:04:34.500On so many fronts, the president is breaking through and keeping his promises.
00:04:40.000Is everything ideal? No, we don't claim that it is.
00:04:42.700But just the fact that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff are on a mission for peace, having just met with Putin in Russia and then with Zelensky in Ukraine, demonstrates that the volatility here in the political sphere is really extraordinary.
00:05:01.840Almost anything could happen, and any breakthrough, either here or less likely but possible, in Iran would have an extraordinary effect on the off-term elections.
00:05:13.200By the way, the new Harvard-Harris poll, no one's idea of a biased or Republican-leaning poll, shows that generically Republicans actually lead Democrats 51-49 on the ballot.0.92
00:05:24.140So for those panikins who are ready to throw in the towel in the midterm elections, I say right here in the Stone Zone, not so fast.0.90
00:05:33.820Meanwhile, President Trump has floated another geographic rebranding, this time suggesting that New Mexico could become New America.0.92
00:05:41.880He posted maps showing the state with Mexico crossed out, replaced by America, and the White House amplifies the image.
00:05:48.680President Trump called the proposed name prestigious and beautiful.
00:05:52.400Democrat New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is the son of the great Manuel Lujan, a longtime Republican congressman, rejected the idea immediately, noting that the name predates the United States.
00:06:05.140Spanish explorers were using Nuevo Mexico centuries before statehood.
00:06:09.720But unlike federal names for geographic features, the president actually doesn't possess unilateral authority to rename a state.
00:06:17.160And the White House has not announced a process to attempt it.
00:07:34.180is expected to begin within weeks on a
00:07:36.080roughly 250-foot structure planned near Memorial Circle across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial.
00:07:44.340Renderings show a monumental white arch topped with gilded statuary, including wing features
00:07:50.260and eagles with an observation deck incorporated into the design.
00:07:54.460The administration presents the project as a memorial to America's military service
00:07:58.960and part of a broader effort to reshape and beautify prominent federal spaces in Washington.
00:08:04.600Last time I was in the Oval Office, the president was lamenting the fact that the federal government has all of these statues of our founders, our forefathers, and other national heroes, and they're all crated up in warehouses.
00:08:17.420And he wants to beautify our nation's capital, and he certainly is doing that, because he is, at heart, of course, a builder and a developer.
00:08:24.900And he understands the majestic beauty of D.C. if it is kept up or even improved.
00:08:30.320This project arrives before all of its legal and planning disputes are settled, which are expected to be numerous from leftist obstructionists who live to impede President Trump's vision for the country and the Capitol.
00:08:42.860Final approvals remain outstanding, and opponents have challenged the administration's ability to proceed, of course, arguing that the arch could disrupt historic sight lines, inquire additional reviews.
00:08:54.540The planned height exceeds Washington's usual building limits, which could easily, of course, be exempted.
00:09:00.320The monument is a deliberate return to grand civic architecture at a time when much federal design is favored restraint and abstraction.
00:09:09.860Modern buildings are brutalist and erected to be eyesores, in my opinion.
00:09:13.960This is a way to demoralize the public and dull them down to the perception of true architectural beauty.
00:09:20.300President Trump is pushing back against this movement.
00:09:22.980The argument is about far more than stone and steel.
00:09:26.040America's monuments have always been statements about what the country chooses to honor and how
00:09:30.860power wants to be remembered. President Trump is proposing something unapologetically monumental.
00:09:36.920The courts and the planning agencies must stand aside and allow President Trump's vision to
00:09:41.780finally be realized. Put me down as being in favor of the Ark de Trump. Meanwhile, Secretary of State
00:09:48.700Marco Rubio begins a three-county Latin America tour Tuesday with a premise that Washington has
00:09:55.760neglected for far too long, competition with China, which starts much closer at home than
00:10:00.820South China Sea. Rubio opens up in Colombia, where nearly elected President Abadalardo Diaspralia
00:10:07.240has replaced Gustavo Petro, a leftist, and moved quickly towards closer security cooperation with
00:10:13.760the United States. Colombia has joined the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas Initiative against
00:10:19.400drug trafficking and resumed joint military operations. Rubio will also then travel to
00:10:25.260Ecuador and Peru, both led by conservative governments that are happy to work with the
00:10:29.680Trump administration. State Department says counter-narcotics cooperations is one of the
00:10:34.520central purposes of the trip. No one has missed the fact, however, that this trip by the Secretary
00:10:39.860of State means he will not appear at the Republican National Convention in Dallas.
00:10:44.900So for those who say that Rubio was planning to run for president, this would argue against it.
00:10:50.040Of course, it doesn't mean that he couldn't run, but it is interesting that J.D. Vance
00:10:54.000And President Trump will headline the convention in Dallas while Secretary of State Marco Rubio is fighting narco-Marxism in this hemisphere.
00:11:04.580The broader context here is about influence, infrastructure, and political alignment across the Western Hemisphere.0.55
00:11:10.340China has spent years expanding relationships through trade, telecommunications, ports, loans, and construction projects, dumping many yen into the region.
00:11:20.660The Trump administration is answering with security partnerships, anti-cartel operations, investment, and more explicit assertion that this hemisphere is strategically central to the United States.
00:11:32.860This is, of course, the core of the president's so-called Don Roe doctrine, based on leverage rather than occupation.
00:11:41.180Rubio's advantage is that geography and shared security interests are real, and conservative governments are happy to receive the help.
00:11:48.340The administration has the opportunity to build durable partnerships to help to influence the Latin American renaissance that's currently underway, and together we can make the Americas great again.
00:11:58.040It is not a coincidence that since the shutdown of USAID flooding millions of dollars into the region that was being used for politics, that pro-American, pro-nationalist, pro-freedom, anti-Marxist, anti-narco governments have won in Chile, in Peru, in Honduras, and again here in Colombia, as I said.
00:12:20.100Meanwhile, Huawei, the Chinese internet giant, is going to trial in New York City on criminal charges and shadowed the Chinese telecommunications giant for a number of years.
00:12:29.780Jury selection is beginning in a federal case accusing Huawei and several subsidiaries of racketeering, theft of trade secrets, bank and wire fraud, sanctions violations, and other misconduct.
00:12:41.540Prosecutors allege the company stole American technology,
00:12:45.120conducted prohibited business involving Iran and North Korea,
00:12:48.680and helped install surveillance technology used by Iranian authorities
00:12:52.740during the anti-government demonstrations.
00:15:51.240And if they want to change perceptions, perhaps they can start by rooting out terrorism within their own communities.
00:15:57.220Islam is a global religion practiced by about 2 billion people.
00:16:01.060And it is just a fact that the 9-11 hijackers should be a part of that religion.
00:16:05.500Explaining Al-Qaeda without mentioning radical Islam is whitewashing the record and the truth.0.97
00:16:10.180That will only make us more vulnerable to threats in the future.
00:16:13.800Texas is choosing explicit language where other school systems dominated by liberals would prefer broader terms such as terrorism or violent extremism,
00:16:22.700while not really mentioning the ideology behind the attacks.
00:16:26.880The choice will shape textbooks, classroom materials, and how students understand the attacks.
00:16:32.320The left has dominated the school systems for too long, and using the classroom as a proving ground for ideology has to stop.
00:16:38.760Now it's time for common sense to take over and start promoting the truth as well as the greatness of America and the values that will move our civilization forward.0.95
00:16:50.200I say calling out radical Islam is what happened on 9-11.0.94
00:16:55.240And I'm among those, along with Governor George Pataki, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the former president of the Port Authority Policemen's Association, John McDivitt, and others, calling on Mayor Zoran Miamdami to skip the 9-11 Memorial Services celebration, or I should say dedication, this coming September 11th.
00:17:22.920The mayor has ignored this and has, after handing a pen for which he signed the declaration over to a radical Muslim lawyer who represented people connected to the 9-11 attack, has announced that he's going to attend.
00:17:38.200I think that is a mistake. And I predict to you right here in the Stone Zone that there will be peaceful protest if the mayor shows up at the 9-11 ceremonies at the end of the week.
00:17:49.460I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to The Stone Zone. We'll be right back with more.
00:17:53.340When we come back, we'll talk about what's going on in the Ukraine-Russia situation where the president has just sent his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his longtime friend, Steve Witkoff, who have been successful in the past.
00:18:06.480Jared Kushner deserves credit for the Abraham Accords in the first Trump administration.
00:18:11.080Perhaps he can bring us peace in this war, too.
00:18:14.380Roger Stone on The Stone Zone. Be right back.
00:18:19.460The Stone Zone, entertaining and informative
00:19:17.260Well, as President Trump has dispatched his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his longtime friends, Dave Witkoff,
00:19:24.040and shuttled diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine and yet another bid to end that costly and deadly war.
00:19:31.240The people of Ukraine are growing increasingly tired of President Volodymyr Zelensky's corruption scandals and his internal disputes.
00:19:38.180A recent SOCIS survey, that's a polling company in Ukraine, conducted in late July and early August, found substantial public dissatisfaction at the diminutive administration seems to fall apart.
00:19:54.840Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned this week,
00:19:58.860amidst an anti-corruption investigation involving a subordinate accused of facilitating a bribery and Monday laundering scheme within the Zelensky administration.
00:20:08.500Kravchenko has not been charged yet, but earlier this summer,
00:20:11.840Zelensky's dismissal of popular defense minister, Mikhailo Fodorov,
00:20:17.160figured rare wartime protests in Kyiv, and previous attempts to weaken anti-corruption
00:20:22.000bodies also produced public demonstrations before the government was forced to change course.
00:20:27.740Now, of course, that means the Ukraine has turned against the war effort as they remain
00:20:31.140united against the Russian aggressors. Reuters reports continued strong opposition to
00:20:36.160territorial concessions by Ukraine. A recent poll found that 57 percent preferred waiting until the
00:20:43.080war ends before holding an election. But still, they're getting sick of Zelensky's shenanigans.
00:20:48.260Corruption investigations, unpopular personnel decisions, and fatigue after more than four
00:20:53.820bitter years of war are creating pressure that can no longer be suppressed. History is, of course,
00:20:59.780replete with men in power who thought they were completely untouchable, who were then humbled and
00:21:04.000dragged into the streets and brought to justice by their own people. Perhaps if Zelensky does not
00:21:08.400want to join this list, he should consider stepping down or holding an election while he's still able
00:21:12.640to Brussels or some other globalist hub where he could still be welcomed.
00:21:18.480Meanwhile, Bad Bunny's halftime show collected seven Emmys.
00:21:22.700I can't believe it, but his ghettoized, third-worldest Super Bowl halftime show0.97
00:21:27.840has won seven Emmys, including one of the year's most argued-over cultural spectacles of all time,0.90
00:21:34.200turning into one of television's most decorated live productions.
00:21:38.200Television Academy says the show won all seven categories in which it was nominated,
00:21:41.880including outstanding variety, special, directing, choreography, music direction, lighting, sound mixing, and technical direction.
00:21:50.640The predominantly Spanish-language performance drew widespread outrage as NFL spit in the face of its most dedicated fans yet.
00:21:59.380Once again, it should come as no surprise the Emmys would reward this sort of vulgar display.
00:22:04.380It's kind of their way of telling President Trump supporters this country is no longer theirs,
00:22:07.880that the invading hordes have conquered and that, well, the American people like us were powerless to do anything about it
00:22:41.360It demonstrated that a substantial alternative audience exists for entertainment built around patriotism,
00:22:47.540country music, and themes that leftists would rather bury.
00:22:51.100In a fair and just world, of course, it is the All-American Half-Time Show that would have won all these awards.
00:22:57.880But just by competing and fighting back against the NFL,
00:23:00.840Well, they show that there is a market for wholesome programming.0.56
00:23:04.040We have to continue to fight back and can never accept that we will be replaced by, in our country, no matter how many awards they give to Bad Bunny or any other vulgar cultural trash merchants out there.
00:23:16.020Meanwhile, the Southern Poverty Law Center's federal criminal case will stay tied to the case of former senior official Heidi Barich after a judge rejected the organization's attempt to split the two trials.
00:23:28.560A federal jury has charged at the Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy offenses, while a later superseding indictment added Behrich as a defendant on conspiracy counts.
00:23:41.360If I have to remind you, the Southern Poverty Law Center is the operation that would essentially fund neo-Nazi and Klan activities so that they could go out and then raise money to oppose them.
00:23:52.480It was a massive financial political scam.
00:23:55.560scam. Prosecutors allege the organization actually used fictitious entities and financial
00:24:01.380arrangements connected to payments involving extremists involved with groups like, oh,
00:24:05.880the American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Reminds me of something a retired FBI agent once
00:24:11.300told me. He said if you went to a Klan meeting and there were 10 people, eight of them would be
00:24:15.340federal FBI informants. The Southern Poverty Law Center says those payments were legitimate
00:24:20.540informant activity intended to combat extremism, but very few, including me, are buying that
00:24:26.460rationale. Both the organization and the former CEO, Bayrich, have pledged not guilty to the
00:24:32.720charges. U.S. District Judge Emily Marx ruled that a joint trial would reduce the risk of
00:24:37.400inconsistent verdicts and move that trial to February 1st so that Bayrich's lawyers would
00:24:42.500have adequate preparation time, in my opinion, just delaying the inevitable. The Southern Poverty
00:24:47.840Law Center has spent decades influencing public debate by labeling organizations and individuals
00:24:53.120they disagree with as extremists or hateful. I know, I ended up on their list. So did Charlie
00:24:58.840Kirk. So did many patriots. They said that Christian conservative groups were, by definition,
00:25:04.500extremists. Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA are a perfect example. They fanned the flames0.63
00:25:10.080while allegedly giving aid and support to the worst of the worst. Prosecutors still have to
00:25:14.860approve of the financial scheme they describe in a court of law, of course, and the defense will
00:25:18.860have the opportunity to explain those payments in accounting. But they've already been deemed
00:25:22.480guilty in the court of public opinion. Their entire operation has been exposed to the public
00:25:26.700and they will never again get back that lost reputation or that ability to scam the little0.61
00:25:32.640old ladies who are sending in 25 bucks to fight the Klan. Trump administration has defined one
00:25:38.060of the most despicable leftist groups in existence and they frankly deserve kudos for this tremendous
00:25:43.500accomplishment let the trial proceed. Nearly a four-hour documentary about Elon Musk has
00:25:50.500premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and its framing leaves little doubt that director Alex
00:25:55.480Gibney is yielding a hatchet and wants to bring Musk down a few pegs. The film, entitled Musk,
00:26:01.840examines Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter X, government contracts, and Musk's political evolution,
00:26:07.820including his support for President Donald Trump. Gibney has described Musk as an extraordinarily
00:26:13.160powerful figure, argues in the film that much of his influence comes from his ability
00:26:17.320to sell ambitious visions of the future. The documentary
00:26:21.180includes sharply critical commentary, of course, including descriptions of Musk as a man
00:26:25.420who has, quote-unquote, lost his mind. Musk wisely
00:26:29.060declined to participate and has called the project a hit piece. I have
00:26:33.160some experience with Mr. Gibney. He once tried to do a
00:26:36.560documentary extolling the virtues of Elliot Spitzer, the governor
00:26:41.280of New York who was later disgraced in a prostitution scandal. So my view, Musk was probably
00:26:48.200wise not to cooperate because this was a hit piece. This conflict is built into the film's
00:26:54.360marketing. Musk is one of the most consequential entrepreneurs of the century with companies that
00:26:59.380have transformed electronic vehicles, commercial spaceflight, and satellite communications. But
00:27:04.580he's also a political actor, owner of a major communications platform, and a government
00:27:09.500contractor whose business intersects repeatedly with public policy. In my opinion, Elon Musk has
00:27:15.440done more for free speech to the First Amendment than anyone other than the founding fathers
00:27:19.700themselves. By the way, you can find me at Roger J. Stone Jr. That's Roger J. Stone Jr. I'm over
00:27:25.780there at X, only because Elon Musk gave me my voice back. Elon Musk is one of the most consequential
00:27:32.120men of our generation and frankly deserves the respect. The documentary's framing will be
00:27:36.280evidence that the verdict is well written and well in advance. It's a hit piece. Musk committed
00:27:41.420the cardinal sin in the eyes of the leftist cultural movers. He supported President Donald
00:27:46.200Trump and now be dragged through the mud for the rest of his life. But here's the good news.
00:27:50.580He has announced that his America PAC will spend at least $100 million on the upcoming 2026
00:27:57.760midterm elections. And because he is the richest man on the planet, it could end up being
00:28:02.940substantially more. He's already poured a substantial amount of money into the Texas
00:28:07.040Senate race between Ken Pexton and James Tallarico. That was just this week. I think there's more
00:28:12.980where that came from. So if you don't have to go see this documentary on Elon Musk, frankly,
00:28:20.600I wouldn't recommend it. Nearly one year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley
00:28:25.580University, his widow, Erica Kirk, has written about it and how it has impacted her family life.
00:28:30.460In an essay for the New York Times, she recounts returning to their children, avoiding parts of the home she shared with her husband and learning to endure grief in small increments.
00:28:40.020One piece of advice came from Usha Vance, wife of our vice president, who told her to focus on getting through the next 15 minutes rather than imagining the rest of her life at once.
00:28:51.040Charlie Kirk was a very good to me. He was taken, as you know, taken out by a shooter in Utah.
00:28:59.220Kirk has since, Erica Kirk has since taken over the leadership of Turning Point USA while
00:29:04.340raising their children as the first anniversary of her husband's death rapidly approaches.
00:29:09.280She's been a lightning rod for controversy since that day, with many reprehensible conspiracy
00:29:14.160theories blaming her for her husband's death. I find that despicable. While criticism of
00:29:19.580Turning Point USA's direction in the post-Charlie Kirk era is warranted, perhaps dragging a grieving
00:29:24.760widow through the dirt is low, even for today's politics. The truth of the matter is that Charlie
00:29:30.140Kirk was assassinated. It was done to shut him up and to make sure his influence on politics
00:29:34.940would no longer be felt. The MAGA movement feels the weight of his absence every single day,
00:29:39.800as do I. I didn't even know Charlie Kirk until he reached me and became an advocate that I be
00:29:45.000pardoned when they sought to frame me in the Russian collusion hoax, in which they wanted
00:29:49.500to send me to prison for seven to nine years for covering up the Russian collusion that we now,
00:29:54.380of course, no, never really happened. But nobody hurts more over the loss of Charlie, of course,
00:30:00.160than his widow. Their family will never be the same. Years of memories have been robbed from
00:30:04.720them. Children will grow up without a loving father. And the left had their way. They would
00:30:08.680do it to each and every one of us. Let's be candid. That's why we must stand up and fight for our
00:30:13.420beliefs. Because if we do not fight for our beliefs, we will curse ourselves later when
00:30:17.320these socialists are in control. Meanwhile, King Charles, who is a great dresser, even though I
00:30:23.160don't care for his politics, has sent the royal equivalent of a carefully worded office memo to
00:30:28.800Prince Harry and Meghan that they should remain members of the family, but they aren't to come
00:30:34.160back on the staff. A letter issued the king's direction to senior British government and
00:30:39.180military officials reaffirmed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are non-working royals and should be
00:30:44.660treated as private citizens in their commercial and charitable activities. Their HRH styles remain
00:30:52.280unused, their charitable work is not official royal work, and the letter questions involving
00:30:57.080public resources or formal representation and how they'll be rooted through the palace.
00:31:02.140Harry and Meghan are reportedly surprised how little advance note they received, given
00:31:13.360Unfortunately for them, it appears that King Charles holds a grudge.
00:31:17.140The modern monarchy survives by drawing a bright line between the crown as a public institution and relatives of the monarch who pursue private lives.
00:31:27.220Harry and Meghan chose financial independence, commercial freedom, and they distanced themselves from their official duties in 2020 when they thought that was going to help their rise to stardom.
00:31:39.320Turns out those calculations were wrong.
00:31:41.120Now they're learning that independence does not preserve the privilege of representational authority attached to being a working royal.
00:31:48.580The principle underneath the royal soap opera is kind of old-fashioned.
00:31:52.600Public status comes with obligations, restrictions, and accountability.
00:31:57.240Once somebody steps away from those obligations, the institution has an interest in preventing private celebrity from being confused with official authority.
00:32:05.560And considering how quickly that celebrity has waned,
00:32:09.020Harry and Meghan Markle in recent years,
00:32:11.620they might be willing to cut their losses
00:32:13.420and be living their lives in less privileged obscurity.
00:32:18.260Meanwhile, President Trump has signed out Bombardier
00:32:20.920in the escalating child fight with Canada,
00:32:23.160saying that the Canadian aircraft maker
00:34:42.580Well, self-described Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:34:47.040Notice how Bernie used to criticize millionaires and billionaires, but he no longer criticizes billionaires, millionaires.
00:34:55.180He just criticizes billionaires. That's because Bernie Sanders and his wife became millionaires by skimming media placement fees off his two presidential campaigns, which, by the way, is not illegal.
00:35:07.200The fact that he did not disclose it to his donors, I think, is immoral or at a minimum dishonest.
00:35:13.180But Comrade Bernie, who talks constantly about wealth and oligarchs, attacks Elon Musk for being successful and wealthy, well, he's driving the top of the line Mercedes, and he's got at least three homes, including one vacation home in Vail, Colorado.
00:35:29.320He now has announced a new legislation that would ban artificial superintelligence.
00:35:34.740It's called the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act legislation to permanently ban the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence.
00:35:43.900The measure would also pause advanced AI until a cabinet-level regulator writes new rules and threatens companies with so-called corporate death penalty and individuals with up to 20 years in prison.
00:35:55.500The full text of Senator Sanders' bill has not yet been released.
00:36:00.640This goes well beyond the AI oversight path already taking shape inside the Trump White House,
00:36:05.760which includes voluntary pre-release federal reviews and talks about a government-supervised independent organization to conduct these reviews.
00:36:14.160President Trump actually discussed this idea last month with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
00:36:18.940That was widely reported at the time in Politico.
00:36:21.660The Trump administration's stated goal is to keep the United States ahead of China, not to freeze the field while America invents a new bureaucracy.
00:36:30.540Private American companies have already poured enormous sums into advanced chips, computing, and frontier models, and this administration's stated game is to keep that lead, not freeze it.
00:36:40.560Sanders is reaching for a familiar play from the socialist playbook.
00:36:44.140Take a emerging technology, declare the private sector too dangerous to be trusted, and hand power over some new federal agency.
00:36:53.500His Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would outlaw systems said to surpass human intelligence, threaten government overthrow, or resist a shutdown command.
00:37:03.000Terms that are eased still fiercely consistent, even among some researchers.
00:37:07.260The office summary also covers systems that match human-level performance across a broad range of tasks.
00:37:13.460And that can easily be modified to get there, not only system, but already surpass humans.
00:37:18.900Politico has noted that obvious political problems defining superintelligence, getting ambitious legislation through a Congress that is barely in session, and the near certain opposition of the labs whose models now drive their valuations.
00:37:31.880Actually, Daniel Castro, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation,
00:37:37.780slammed Sanders' proposal as a profound mistake that would only benefit communist China.
00:37:44.320Advanced AI presents real questions that policymakers should continue to take seriously,
00:37:48.500but its benefits are already tangible, while many of the most dire risks remain.
00:37:54.880Totally speculative, he said in a statement.
00:37:57.120America should lead in advanced AI instead of trying to ban it.
00:38:00.240This is not Sanders' first attempt to hit the brakes. He was one of the first members of Congress to call for a national moratorium on data center construction, an idea later written into legislation along with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That idea has stirred bipartisan friction.