The StoneZONE with Roger Stone

00:00:00.000 Rural Americans deserve access to the best of what our nation has to offer, especially health care.

00:00:06.280 Across every state and every community, America's rural hospitals are the first line of defense,

00:00:12.120 protecting our families, neighbors, and loved ones.

00:00:15.020 No matter where you live, hospital care doesn't clock out.

00:00:18.100 They're there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

00:00:23.160 Each year, America's over 5,000 hospitals care for millions of patients,

00:00:28.520 providing 24-7 emergency care, delivering babies, cancer treatments, and other life-saving care that patients rely on.

00:00:35.940 Behind every one of those patients are doctors, nurses, and caregivers working tirelessly to keep people healthy and safe.

00:00:44.540 Hospitals are our community's lifelines.

00:00:46.680 They employ our neighbors and keep our families healthy.

00:00:49.380 But now, some in Congress are threatening access to care.

00:00:53.040 Tell Congress, protect patient care to keep America strong.

00:00:56.940 Don't. Cut. Rule. Health care.

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00:01:08.520 Tuesday, February 24th, and Wednesday, February 25th.

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00:01:14.160 This is the Stone Zone with Roger Stone.

00:01:30.100 Roger Stone, who's a very, very, one of the smartest political minds.

00:01:34.000 Roger Stone was persecuted.

00:01:35.220 People forget he's actually a brilliant, brilliant political analyst.

00:01:38.280 Now, get him a zone.

00:01:40.100 It's the Stone Zone.

00:01:41.640 Here's Roger Stone.

00:01:45.180 Welcome.

00:01:46.120 You are diving head first into the Stone Zone.

00:01:49.060 Well, Bill and Hillary Clinton are not very happy because for the first time in their long political careers,

00:01:56.320 they're being held accountable and responsible.

00:01:58.980 They have been subpoenaed to appear next week before the House Oversight Committee that is probing their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

00:02:07.660 And Hillary Clinton is whining about it in an incredible interview with BBC.

00:02:13.780 Let's listen to this.

00:02:14.600 What we're seeing, I think it's fair to say, is a continuing cover-up by the Trump administration.

00:02:21.160 In fact, when the attorney general testified last week, it was quite a scene because she refused to answer questions.

00:02:30.540 She diverted attention away from the matters at hand.

00:02:35.180 She refused to look at the survivors.

00:02:37.720 So there's something about this administration's attitude toward this, which I think really leads us to conclude they have something to hide.

00:02:48.540 We don't.

00:02:49.580 We have been willing to say whatever we know.

00:02:54.000 We've even done it under oath.

00:02:56.940 But they want us to testify, not everyone else who's mentioned many, many times, hundreds of thousands of times in these files.

00:03:07.460 So we've said, fine, let us do it in public.

00:03:09.980 And we will appear in public and we'll answer all your questions.

00:03:12.740 And we'll get to that in just a moment.

00:03:13.900 But just to be clear, do you regret the links that there have been?

00:03:17.540 You know, we have no links.

00:03:19.860 We have a very clear record that we've been willing to talk about, which my husband has said.

00:03:27.280 He took some rides on the airplane for his charitable work.

00:03:32.560 I don't recall ever meeting him.

00:03:35.380 Did you ever meet Elaine Maxwell?

00:03:36.940 I did on a few occasions.

00:03:39.440 And thousands of people go to the Clinton Global Initiative.

00:03:42.320 So it, to me, is not something that is really at the heart of what this matter is about.

00:03:52.040 They are accused and, in both cases, were convicted of horrific crimes against girls and women.

00:04:01.060 That should be the focus.

00:04:02.780 And we are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes.

00:04:12.560 And we want to do it in public because let's make this transparent.

00:04:17.080 The survivors deserve that.

00:04:18.860 The public deserves that.

00:04:20.320 But, you know, the Republican member of Congress who is running this hearing or this investigation is trying to protect the president.

00:04:29.020 So let's get to what's really at stake here.

00:04:32.780 That is an extraordinary act of dissembling and deflection.

00:04:37.820 I guess Hillary Clinton would like us to forget that after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted in Florida of sex crimes,

00:04:44.320 he provided the seed capital for the foundation of the Clinton Foundation as well as the Clinton Global Initiative.

00:04:52.320 She said Bill was on his plane a few times.

00:04:54.720 It's more like 27 times.

00:04:56.980 And until weeks ago, Bill Clinton had publicly denied ever being on Epstein's island.

00:05:03.020 But the sworn testimony of Virginia Roberts Giffray, one of Epstein's victims, and two other victims whose testimony I read,

00:05:13.440 these are women who didn't settle with Epstein but went forward with their lawsuits against him,

00:05:19.820 both insist that Bill was seen.

00:05:22.740 In fact, Virginia Giffray said that on this particular occasion,

00:05:30.280 Jeffrey Epstein had flown in two 17-year-old twin sisters for Bill's amusement.

00:05:37.980 Doug banned the president's chief of staff also on the island.

00:05:43.200 Look, Hillary Clinton is a short-tempered, foul-mouthed, entitled kleptocrat, 1.00

00:05:49.300 and she's extraordinarily bitter about losing the election to Donald Trump,

00:05:53.720 so bitter that she and her cohorts invented the Russian collusion hoax.

00:05:59.800 And let's remember, not long ago, Tulsi Gabbard declassified intelligence from the Russians,

00:06:06.580 who had learned that Hillary Clinton had to be heavily medicated because of her mental stability,

00:06:13.060 because of her rages, mostly over losing the election. 0.96

00:06:18.100 It will be nice to see the Clintons held accountable.

00:06:21.500 It is not lost on me that I wrote probably the most important book exposing the Clintons' corruption,

00:06:28.860 the Clintons' war on women,

00:06:30.160 and that every single member of the Mueller prosecution team who came after me

00:06:35.720 had previously worked for Hillary Clinton.

00:06:39.160 In the meantime, Steve Bannon has even more problems.

00:06:43.880 News today that Bannon was hit with an investor-class class action lawsuit

00:06:49.700 over his administration of a Bitcoin company, the Let's Go Brandon Coin, LLC.

00:06:57.940 I think they also were the progenitors of the F. Joe Biden coin.

00:07:03.980 Now, that is, of course, only an allegation,

00:07:05.980 but this is the same Steve Bannon who pled guilty in New York

00:07:10.840 to having bilked donors to the Build the Wall Foundation out of $15 million.

00:07:18.220 What bothers me is that Steve Bannon's co-conspirators served long prison sentences,

00:07:25.120 while Steve pled guilty and served no jail time at all.

00:07:31.680 Here on The Stone Zone, we have meticulously analyzed the mountain of evidence

00:07:35.920 that Stinky Steve Bannon's collaboration with Jeffrey Epstein

00:07:39.680 has been incurred favor with Epstein, according to these shocking emails.

00:07:44.500 This first came to my attention in 2018,

00:07:47.040 when I saw an item in the New York Post that said that Steve Bannon was seen

00:07:52.480 entering Jeffrey Epstein's palatial home in Manhattan.

00:07:57.340 I believe it is the largest, most expensive single-family home in all of Manhattan.

00:08:04.860 Today, Bannon is out with his cover story.

00:08:07.200 It took him four days to come up with it,

00:08:08.660 but it was all about his being a journalist.

00:08:11.340 So he, in emails with Jeffrey Epstein, he denigrates Trump as stupid.

00:08:17.260 He calls for Trump's removal under the 25th Amendment.

00:08:20.980 He brags about undermining President Trump's trade policies with China.

00:08:28.880 He says that he, Steve Bannon, is the center of the America First MAGA movement,

00:08:34.680 not Donald Trump.

00:08:35.900 Now we're supposed to believe that he was sucking up to Epstein.

00:08:40.860 He was coaching Epstein on how to erase his public image as a pedophile,

00:08:46.900 as a child sex trafficker, in an effort to cozy up to him in order to make a documentary.

00:08:55.020 Frankly, it just doesn't really fly when you see the text of these actual emails.

00:09:00.940 The emails show Bannon being offered favors by Epstein, including travel and medical services.

00:09:09.220 It is very, very odd, but anybody who reads these would recognize that Bannon is coaching Epstein,

00:09:16.280 supposedly, for what he says today, is some upcoming documentary.

00:09:20.640 Now there's 15 minutes of film between this disheveled, odorous, gin-soaked blob, 0.96

00:09:28.060 Steve Bannon, and Jeffrey Epstein.

00:09:30.520 Only two hours have been released by the Department of Justice, which I find curious.

00:09:35.840 Why not release all 13 hours of the video?

00:09:40.440 I suspect that Michael Wolfe, the author who is cozy with both Bannon and Epstein,

00:09:46.360 is correct when he says that Bannon was preparing Epstein for a 60 Minutes interview

00:09:53.540 that was scheduled two days after Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport

00:09:59.660 while arriving on his private jet from Paris.

00:10:05.140 Particularly disturbing here to me is Bannon's advocacy of removing Donald Trump under the 25th Amendment.

00:10:13.000 So while he's on television or on his podcast claiming to be the last Trump loyalist,

00:10:20.380 he's undermining Trump, believing that he is somehow the centerpiece of this movement,

00:10:26.660 when the centerpiece of this movement is only one man.

00:10:29.540 The man who elected Donald Trump is not Roger Stone, it's not Steve Bannon, certainly,

00:10:34.880 nor is it Paul Manafort.

00:10:36.060 The man who elected Donald Trump, well, that would be Donald J. Trump.

00:10:40.600 He had his own way of going about this.

00:10:44.360 The first presidential campaign in American history not to spend hundreds of millions of dollars

00:10:49.180 on broadcast television and cable, but a one-man public relations machine

00:10:55.480 who simply outworked his Republican opponents for the nomination and then outworked Hillary Clinton.

00:11:02.040 We will keep you up to date on the Bannon scandal as it appears to be get only deeper.

00:11:10.620 There are some questions about Bannon's very shady Chinese financier.

00:11:17.740 There's a fellow by the name of Miles Guo.

00:11:21.080 Interesting case in which he's under oath and pleads the fifth 55 times

00:11:26.380 when asked where the source of his money is, the money that he is using to fund Steve Bannon.

00:11:34.340 Of course, there are also reports, we believe credible,

00:11:37.280 that Bannon was paying a very large number of so-called influencers,

00:11:41.240 which is why you don't see everybody doing what I have done,

00:11:44.720 which is to call Steve and Bannon out for his outright treachery against the president.

00:11:51.580 It's interesting, Bannon became a bit of a martyr because he went to prison

00:11:57.060 rather than testify under subpoena for the January 6th committee.

00:12:02.760 This is unnecessary theatrics.

00:12:05.160 I was subpoenaed by the January 6th committee, so was General Michael Flynn.

00:12:09.600 I fulfilled my legal obligations by showing up and asserting my Fifth Amendment right

00:12:15.420 not to answer questions.

00:12:16.660 Not because I had anything to hide, not because I particularly knew anything,

00:12:20.900 but because I had extensive experience of how House Democrats take innocuous things

00:12:26.800 you say under oath and twist those into a process crime.

00:12:31.540 So Steve Bannon, I don't know if he just got bad legal advice

00:12:35.260 or if he was trying to position himself as some kind of martyr,

00:12:40.140 he refused to testify for which he was, not surprisingly, charged and sentenced.

00:12:45.460 Now the Department of Justice, very strangely, is trying to vacate Steve Bannon's conviction,

00:12:54.100 to which I say, okay, that's great, but are you also going to vacate the conviction of Peter Navarro,

00:13:01.520 who I think was rather brutally arrested in public for the same crime, alleged crime,

00:13:07.460 of refusing to testify for a House committee.

00:13:10.080 Of course, when Eric Holder was the Attorney General and he was sent a subpoena on the Fast and Furious scandal,

00:13:16.700 he thumbed his nose to Congress and told them to stick it, and there was no effort to prosecute him.

00:13:23.260 We're going to be watching this issue very carefully.

00:13:25.980 Bannon is out there today with his spin.

00:13:28.260 It was all about journalism.

00:13:30.100 It was all about my documentary.

00:13:33.440 That's why I was unctuously sucking up to one of the greatest criminals and sex criminals and pedophiles of all time.

00:13:43.260 We'll have more on the other side about politics today.

00:13:46.120 Jesse Jackson, a giant in the civil rights movement, a good friend, oddly enough, of Donald Trump, dead at 84.

00:13:53.260 We'll talk about that on the other side.

00:13:55.980 Jackson and Trump had a very interesting relationship.

00:13:59.180 Donald Trump gave free office space to the Rainbow Project when Jesse Jackson was on his way to making history

00:14:06.400 as the first black American to run for president of the United States.

00:14:10.860 We'll be right back with some memories about Jesse Jackson and more politics on the other side.

00:14:16.380 Thanks for tuning in to The Stone Zone right here on the Red Apple Audio Networks.

00:14:21.400 This is The Stone Zone with Roger Stone.

00:14:24.940 He likes politics and he's a professional at the highest level.

00:14:29.900 Roger Stone.

00:14:31.100 Where's Roger?

00:14:40.160 Did you know that St. Luke's University Health Network has been recognized by the U.S. government

00:14:47.180 as the highest performing health system in the United States for quality?

00:14:51.620 You heard right.

00:14:52.460 St. Luke's number one recognition affirms our status as the top leader among the most respected

00:14:58.420 health care providers in the nation, including Houston Methodist and the Mayo Clinic.

00:15:03.760 To state it simply, if you want to receive the best care when you go to a hospital, come to St. Luke's.

00:15:11.420 Rural Americans deserve access to the best our nation has to offer, especially when it comes to health care.

00:15:17.460 Across every state and every community, America's rural hospitals are the first line of defense,

00:15:23.100 protecting our families, neighbors, and loved ones.

00:15:25.700 No matter where you live, hospital care doesn't clock out.

00:15:28.440 They're there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

00:15:33.060 Each year, America's over 5,000 hospitals care for millions of patients, providing 24-7 emergency care,

00:15:40.060 delivering babies, cancer treatments, and other life-saving care that patients rely on.

00:15:44.860 Behind every one of those patients are doctors, nurses, and caregivers working tirelessly to keep people healthy and safe.

00:15:51.920 Hospitals are our community's lifelines.

00:15:54.400 They employ our neighbors and keep our families' health.

00:15:57.700 But now, some in Congress are threatening access to care.

00:16:00.760 Tell Congress, protect patient care to keep America strong.

00:16:04.960 Don't cut rural health care.

00:16:07.520 Rural Americans deserve access to the best our nation has to offer, especially when it comes to health care.

00:16:13.600 Across every state and every community, America's rural hospitals are the first line of defense,

00:16:19.060 protecting our families, neighbors, and loved ones.

00:16:21.660 No matter where you live, hospital care doesn't clock out.

00:16:24.400 They're there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

00:16:28.920 Each year, America's over 5,000 hospitals care for millions of patients, providing 24-7 emergency care,

00:16:36.000 delivering babies, cancer treatments, and other life-saving care that patients rely on.

00:16:40.920 Behind every one of those patients are doctors, nurses, and caregivers working tirelessly to keep people healthy and safe.

00:16:47.880 Hospitals are our community's lifelines.

00:16:50.380 They employ our neighbors and keep our families' health.

00:16:53.700 But now, some in Congress are threatening access to care.

00:16:56.540 Tell Congress, protect patient care to keep America strong.

00:17:01.100 Don't cut rural health care.

00:17:13.220 This is the Stone Zone.

00:17:15.760 Now, get him his own.

00:17:17.700 It's the Stone Zone.

00:17:19.680 A man who's gone through hell, but he's kept going, and he's smart, and he's strong,

00:17:25.380 and people love him.

00:17:26.780 Not everybody, but people love him and respect him.

00:17:29.220 Roger Stone.

00:17:30.280 Where's Roger Stone?

00:17:31.540 Here's Roger Stone.

00:17:34.760 Civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84.

00:17:41.900 Jackson, of course, rose to national prominence in the 1960s,

00:17:45.640 first as an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King,

00:17:48.180 and later became one of the most recognizable figures in modern liberal politics.

00:17:52.860 Over decades, he organized protests, voter drives, and corporate pressure campaigns

00:17:58.480 through his Operation Push and the Rainbow Push Coalition.

00:18:03.920 Jackson, of course, historically ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988,

00:18:10.500 being the first African American to do so,

00:18:13.320 helping reshape the party's coalition politics

00:18:15.740 and emphasizing identity-based organizing that would later define modern progressive activism.

00:18:22.760 Supporters credit him with expanding political participation among minority voters,

00:18:27.560 while critics argue his confrontational tactics and racial rhetoric deepened the divisions rather than healed them.

00:18:34.300 President Trump, very graciously writing on True Social,

00:18:37.380 the Reverend Jesse Jackson is dead at 84.

00:18:39.920 I knew him well, long before becoming president.

00:18:42.980 He was a good man with a lot of personality, grit, and street smarts.

00:18:47.080 He was very gregarious, someone who truly loved people.

00:18:50.340 Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics on the radical left,

00:18:57.400 all Democrats,

00:18:58.000 it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.

00:19:01.060 I provided office space for him at 40 Wall Street,

00:19:05.000 responded to his request for help in getting criminal justice reform passed,

00:19:10.440 that's the First Step Act and the Second Chance Act,

00:19:13.180 and signed it when no other president would even try.

00:19:16.060 I also single-handedly pushed and passed long-term funding for historical black colleges and universities,

00:19:23.000 which Jesse loved,

00:19:25.080 but also with other presidents would not do.

00:19:27.760 I also responded to Jesse's support for Opportunity Zones,

00:19:31.460 the single most successful economic development package yet approved for minority business,

00:19:37.360 men and women,

00:19:38.360 and much, much more.

00:19:39.780 Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him.

00:19:43.260 He had much to do with the election of a man he didn't particularly like,

00:19:47.720 Barack Obama.

00:19:49.120 He loved his family greatly,

00:19:50.700 and to them I send my greatest sympathies and condolences.

00:19:54.180 Jesse Jackson will be missed,

00:19:56.000 signed President Donald Trump.

00:19:57.520 What he says is true.

00:19:58.360 Jackson tended within the Democratic Party to be aligned with the Clintons,

00:20:02.940 where his arch rival,

00:20:04.520 the Reverend Al Sharpton,

00:20:06.220 tended to be much more closely aligned with Barack and Michelle Obama.

00:20:11.500 It's amazing how all of these civil rights leaders loved Donald Trump

00:20:17.100 until he climbed into the political arena

00:20:20.160 and decided to make America great again.

00:20:23.660 Yet he was the president who gave us criminal justice reform when Democrats talked about it.

00:20:30.000 He is the one to sign that bill.

00:20:32.440 We'll talk about it when we come back right here in The Stone Zone.

00:20:35.220 It's The Stone Zone with Roger Stone.

00:20:38.780 And he's a great, great person,

00:20:41.000 Roger Stone.

00:20:42.860 The Stone Zone.

00:20:44.300 This is The Stone Zone.

00:21:08.920 Now, get him a zone.

00:21:10.580 It's The Stone Zone.

00:21:12.460 A man who's gone through hell,

00:21:14.840 but he's kept going,

00:21:16.780 and he's smart,

00:21:17.740 and he's strong,

00:21:18.680 and people love him.

00:21:19.920 Not everybody,

00:21:20.760 but people love him and respect him.

00:21:22.360 Roger Stone.

00:21:23.420 Where's Roger Stone?

00:21:24.680 Here's Roger Stone.

00:21:26.260 Now, while it's true that President Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs,

00:21:32.260 the War on Drugs under Nixon was aimed at drug traffickers and drug kingpins.

00:21:36.900 It was Joe Biden as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and President Bill Clinton who weaponized the 1994 crime bill to go after the end user.

00:21:50.200 In other words, to prosecute people for the first time, nonviolent crime of possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

00:21:59.200 Now, for many decades, the House Black Caucus objected to that and wanted it changed, wanted it reformed.

00:22:06.480 It was not until President Donald Trump became president that you did change that, the First Step Act and the Second Chance Act,

00:22:15.240 changing this rubric in which people convicted of first-time nonviolent crimes are sentenced to these harsh mandatory penalties where a judge has no ability to take into consideration other factors.

00:22:28.460 So, the single mother of three who gets caught with a small amount of weed in her purse is not looking at a 10-year sentence.

00:22:38.440 This is the hypocrisy of the Democratic left because members of the House Black Caucus voted against President Trump's reforms,

00:22:47.800 not because they were opposed to them in concept, but simply because President Trump himself proposed them.

00:22:54.420 It is among his greatest accomplishments.

00:22:56.780 Meanwhile, newly released Justice Department records are tying Jeffrey Epstein to fresh questions about the Obama administration's handling of a 2012 Secret Service prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia.

00:23:11.980 The documents reveal extensive communications between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Catherine Rummler,

00:23:20.460 who was President Obama's former White House counsel, who would later become Goldman Sachs' top lawyer.

00:23:27.000 Rummler would step down this week after questions regarding her relationship with Epstein emerged from these emails.

00:23:33.980 The emails reportedly show that she maintained a long-term relationship with Epstein, calling him Uncle Jeffrey, accepting gifts and even seeking his advice on legal and reputational crises.

00:23:46.740 The controversy traces back to the Summit of the Americas in 2012, when Secret Service agents and personnel were caught hiring prostitutes to entertain them.

00:23:56.660 Investigators also uncovered hotel records indicating a White House advance team volunteer had a prostitute checked into his room.

00:24:05.820 The White House later declared there was no indication of misconduct by any of its personnel.

00:24:10.960 But in 2014, a Washington Post investigative story revived the entire thing, reporting officials possessed evidence at the time that they did not fully disclose.

00:24:21.660 According to the new emails, Epstein advised the White House counsel on how to respond to reporters and contain the fallout from this prostitution scandal.

00:24:34.360 She even shared a draft response with him before publicly pushing back on the allegations.

00:24:40.400 Shortly afterward, Rummler withdrew from consideration to be Attorney General.

00:24:45.160 The revelations come as she stepped down this week from her role at Goldman Sachs following the release of the Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice.

00:24:55.600 Critics say the issue goes well beyond scandal.

00:24:59.040 It raises serious ethical concerns about a top White House lawyer consulting a notorious convicted criminal while managing a politically damaging investigation.

00:25:09.500 Epstein's influence was seen in Democrat presidential administrations spanning decades.

00:25:15.800 Look at the number of times he visited the Obama White House.

00:25:19.940 I believe it is more than 12 times.

00:25:22.720 More must be uncovered about all of those who colluded with Epstein.

00:25:26.560 That's why I'm in favor of full and complete disclosure.

00:25:29.980 I'm sick of reading online about reports on 4chan that some chauffeur saw Roger Stone on Epstein's Island.

00:25:40.020 We knew it was him because he had his shirt off and we could see his Nixon tattoo.

00:25:44.420 That is completely and totally false.

00:25:47.240 It's defamatory.

00:25:49.220 I'd be laughing about it except for it gets repeated with such irregularity.

00:25:54.120 In fact, I'm the first American journalist, I think, or the second, to expose Epstein and his relationships with the powered elite like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, the billionaire Bill Gates, the Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, and others.

00:26:18.580 All of this in my 2014 book.

00:26:22.160 I'm in favor of full disclosure.

00:26:25.160 I want the U.S. Justice Department to release all of the emails.

00:26:28.680 The only thing I want to see redacted are the names of the victims.

00:26:32.020 I do think the victims should be protected.

00:26:34.480 But beyond that, there's no reason to, for example, release two hours of Jeffrey Epstein's interview with Steve Bannon and sit on the other 13 hours.

00:26:45.420 Full disclosure, I have nothing to be concerned about either.

00:26:49.680 Just President Donald Trump.

00:26:50.960 So I would like to see everything released.

00:26:53.600 And I have installed word about that from the beginning.

00:26:56.840 Meanwhile, Kentucky Republicans are preparing for a major turning point as their longtime senator, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, plans his retirement after four decades in Washington.

00:27:09.820 The primary to replace him has quickly become a referendum on the direction of the party, establishment conservatism against the newer America First movement shaped by President Donald Trump.

00:27:21.420 It's odd because Mitch McConnell headed off the impeachment of Donald Trump in the U.S. Senate, but today he refuses to vote for the SAVE Act.

00:27:34.260 The SAVE Act is not complicated.

00:27:36.200 It's a federal law that says you must be a U.S. citizen in order to vote for a federal election.

00:27:42.100 And you must have an ID in order to prove it.

00:27:44.560 No big deal, right?

00:27:45.760 Well, except for Senator Mitch McConnell is against it, former Republican Senate Majority Leader.

00:27:52.420 The candidates vying for his seat in Kentucky include former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Congressman Andy Barr, and a wealthy businessman, Nate Morris.

00:28:03.480 But they're all trying to distance themselves from McConnell, who denied any election fraud, who constantly spoke out against the MAGA agenda during his time as the Senate Majority Leader.

00:28:15.580 It appears that Morris, the businessman, has positioned himself more aggressively as a break from the past, while Congressman Barr highlights his work for Trump's campaign, and Cameron stresses his independence from party power brokers, despite being seen as McConnell's hand-picked successor.

00:28:34.840 The shift reflects broader changes going inside the Republican Party, where loyalty to the American First agenda increasingly outweighs seniority and institutional influence, despite declining approval rating among some conservatives, McConnell's allies argue that his overall results, judges, tax policy victors, and funding for military bases and law enforcement strengthens both Kentucky and the nation.

00:29:02.040 And certainly there were some accomplishments by McConnell, but he joined the U.S. Senate as a county judge with nothing to his name.

00:29:10.380 He leaves the Senate worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

00:29:15.800 So I have an obvious question as to how that could possibly be true.

00:29:21.600 We will see in Kentucky where this party is headed, whether we're going to be a country of endless debt, countless war, and repeated violations of the Constitution, meanwhile outsourcing our best jobs, or whether we're going to put America first.

00:29:38.780 America became much weaker under Mitch McConnell's watch, and as such, his legacy is considered toxic to those candidates who want his seat.

00:29:49.400 Nobody wants to identify as Mitch McConnell's candidate.

00:29:53.820 Whoever wins the primary will almost certainly win the seat in this deep red state, and hopefully the Kentucky voters will choose real MAGA over fake MAGA when they're making decisions as who to support to be their nominee.

00:30:07.620 Meanwhile, Russia is signaling it would pause airstrikes on Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to hold national elections, a proposal that is putting fresh scrutiny on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky's, continued suspension of voting under martial law.

00:30:25.800 So when those on the left tell you the war between Russia and Ukraine is about democracy, with a small d, point out that Zelensky has not allowed there to be any general election, that he prosecutes journalists, that he shuts down newspapers, radio stations, that he's even outlawed the largest church in the country.

00:30:48.680 No, this is not in any way about democracy.

00:30:54.600 Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Moscow would ensure no strikes would be allowed to occur on an election day, echoing similar comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting the Ukrainians should be allowed to determine their leadership despite the ongoing war.

00:31:15.260 After all, we had multiple elections during World War II, we re-elected Franklin Roosevelt in 1944 during the middle of World War II.

00:31:27.640 So why hasn't Ukraine scheduled an election?

00:31:31.860 Zelensky has repeatedly delayed elections since this conflict began, citing security concerns.

00:31:38.340 But the truth is, democratic governments are defined precisely by holding elections during hardship, not suspending them indefinitely.

00:31:46.700 It seems pretty hypocritical to me that the U.S. and the West are giving aid to Ukraine, billions of dollars, while they openly flout the concept of a free and fair election.

00:31:58.000 Perhaps Zelensky realizes that if he had an election, well, he would probably lose.

00:32:03.340 Ukraine claims a parliamentary committee is still reviewing whether security guarantees could make a vote possible today.

00:32:10.180 Russia also insists millions of displaced Ukrainians living in Russian-controlled regions should be allowed to participate if there is a vote.

00:32:20.280 Kiev, that's the capital of Ukraine, has rejected similar proposals in the past over alleged concerns of voter manipulation.

00:32:28.960 The Kremlin claims it held voting near combat zones during its own 2024 election.

00:32:34.420 Despite Ukrainian sabotage attempts, Ukrainian officials counter that safety and international monitoring must be assured before any vote can proceed.

00:32:44.320 The deeper issue, I guess, here is legitimacy.

00:32:47.860 More evidence is mounting that the Ukrainian people are sick of Zelensky and his corruption. 0.97

00:32:52.560 Members of his administration are dropping like flies as his cronies are exposed for embezzling.

00:32:58.240 No doubt, much more of the aid has gone up Zelensky's nose as well.

00:33:02.600 The time for excuses is over.

00:33:03.980 However, we deserve free and fair elections in Ukraine.

00:33:07.940 Most Americans still don't understand that when East and West Germany were allowed to unify, and the Russians agreed to that,

00:33:15.540 we, the United States, agreed in return not to push Ukraine into NATO.

00:33:22.060 Ukraine is, of course, on Russia's borders.

00:33:24.100 That means we agreed not to put NATO-based missiles, paid for by American taxpayers, on the ground in Ukraine, pointed at Russia.

00:33:33.980 We actually codified this in the Budapest memorandum signed by Secretary of State James Baker on behalf of the United States.

00:33:42.100 And again, later in the Minsk Accords, another set of agreements.

00:33:46.820 But Joe Biden violated that pledge.

00:33:49.740 This is very much like the situation in 1962, when Nikita Khrushchev, the Russian dictator,

00:33:57.060 put Russian thermonuclear missiles on the little island of Cuba.

00:34:02.700 President John F. Kennedy did not react well, and we were told America came closer to nuclear war than any time in our recent history.

00:34:12.340 You can understand that this has always been Putin's line in the sand,

00:34:18.760 and that if we continue to push for the inclusion of Ukraine in NATO, this war will never end.

00:34:27.360 The U.S. media has done a pretty good job of trying to convince us that Ukraine can still win this war,

00:34:33.580 but that does not seem likely, according to any of the military experts that I respect.

00:34:40.300 In the meantime, the NATO nations, who Donald Trump had to call to account for not paying their fair share for their own protection,

00:34:48.560 continue to goad Zelensky on in ignoring the peace overtures of both Donald Trump,

00:34:55.520 who seems to get the Russians lined up and then Zelensky falls up.

00:35:00.300 Then he seems to get Zelensky lined up and the Russians fall away. 0.90

00:35:04.000 Trump is, above all, a dealmaker, and he understands that history has no higher position.

00:35:12.920 There is no greater honor, no greater title in history than that of peacemaker.

00:35:19.160 He is intended to end this strife, and I thought he handled it very well during the debates when he was asked in a town meeting

00:35:27.480 whether he wanted Russia to win or whether he wanted Ukraine to win.

00:35:32.820 And he said, I want the killing to stop.

00:35:36.180 And there you have it.

00:35:37.340 There you have Donald Trump, the man, peacemaker.

00:35:39.560 Still think he will reach an agreement here.

00:35:42.060 He is certainly trying.

00:35:43.500 I pray for peace every day, as I know you do.

00:35:46.240 The president understands the importance of his record on the foreign affairs, whether it is Venezuela,

00:35:53.920 what is the new pressure he's now putting on Cuba.

00:35:56.300 But he also recognizes that the 2026 elections will be about the economy, dropping food prices, dropping gas prices,

00:36:05.660 greater availability and affordability of housing, a record stock market, record low unemployment, record low inflation.

00:36:15.800 These are the conditions that will oversee the 2026 election.

00:36:21.960 And those who say the Republicans have already lost don't understand that in American politics,

00:36:27.220 with the volatility of our electorate being the way it is today, a week is a lifetime.

00:36:32.900 We'll be right back with the Roger Stone portion of the Stone Zone right here on the Red Apple Audio Networks.

00:36:39.800 It's the Stone Zone with Roger Stone.

00:36:45.020 And he's a great, great person, Roger Stone.

00:36:49.080 The Stone Zone.

00:37:01.640 Spring break isn't what it used to be.

00:37:04.020 It's better.

00:37:05.060 This spring, stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card.

00:37:09.120 Life's a trip.

00:37:10.100 Make the most of it at Best Western.

00:37:12.040 Visit BestWestern.com for complete terms and conditions.

00:37:26.940 This is the Stone Zone.

00:37:29.360 Now, get him a zone.

00:37:31.300 It's the Stone Zone.

00:37:33.280 A man who's gone through hell, but he's kept going and he's smart and he's strong.

00:37:39.000 And people love him.

00:37:40.380 Not everybody, but people love him and respect him.

00:37:42.840 Roger Stone.

00:37:43.880 Where's Roger Stone?

00:37:45.140 Here's Roger Stone.

00:37:48.220 Welcome back into the Stone Zone.

00:37:50.660 Well, New York City homeowners are about to learn that elections have consequences.

00:37:53.920 Socialist Mayor Zoran Mamdami is proposing the city's first property tax hike in more than 20 years to close a roughly $5 billion budget gap, even after Albany already pledged billions in additional aid to New York City.

00:38:09.900 City officials say that the plan relies not only on higher taxes, but also on extremely optimistic revenue projections and reserve spending.

00:38:19.240 The mayor has also pushed for higher income tax on top earners and increased corporate taxes, part of a broader agenda that includes rent controls, universal child care, free transit and a $30 minimum wage.

00:38:32.540 Mamdami makes all of these lofty promises, just as weeks ago the administration warned of a $12.6 billion deficit.

00:38:42.400 Then rising Wall Street bonuses and tax receipts suddenly shrank that shortfall, yet taxpayers are still being asked to pay more.

00:38:50.980 Homeowners already saw assessed property values jump over 5%, generating additional revenues before any rate increase even takes effect.

00:38:59.580 Critics say this reflects a familiar pattern in big city governance, expanding spending first, then look to taxpayers to cover the difference.

00:39:08.420 Socialists like Mamdami argue that the wealthy should shoulder the burden, but property taxes rarely stay targeted.

00:39:15.680 They cascade through rents, housing costs, and down to small businesses, hitting middle class residents actually the hardest.

00:39:22.520 This will then lead to more socialist solutions that will only lead to more problems and more unintended consequences.

00:39:30.040 It will also lead to capital and businesses leaving New York to go to more business-favor locations.

00:39:38.160 They don't seem to understand that higher taxes merely give people the opportunity to leave.

00:39:43.760 After many years of socialist promising affordability, New York will instead get higher living costs and slower economic growth.

00:39:52.720 Americans need to look at this mess in New York City as a template for what we do not want to do in the nation.

00:39:58.840 Particularly troubling is a new law pushed by the mayor that says if you're a private property owner and you choose to sell your property,

00:40:07.180 you must first offer that property for sale to the city government.

00:40:12.580 Only after the city government elects not to buy your property are you allowed to put it on the open market.

00:40:19.780 But if you do put it on the open market and you get an offer, you must now give the city of New York kind of a second look.

00:40:29.240 I think this is unconstitutional, a violation of private property rights.

00:40:37.040 But many, many people in this most recent election voted for hope and change without really focusing on what Mamdami's policies would really mean for the average New Yorker.

00:40:48.440 A combination of high tax policies and soft on crime policies are going to continue the mass exodus of what's left of the middle class in New York City as they move to the suburbs or even out of state.

00:41:03.800 Many of them coming to my home state of Florida.

00:41:07.000 I said when Mamdami was elected that there would be a silver lining and that silver lining is that the entire country will be able to see what happens when you elect a radical Muslim jihadist socialist as a mayor. 0.92

00:41:24.520 This can only help boaster the Republicans in the 2026 election.

00:41:29.660 Thanks for joining us today on the Stone Zone.

00:41:31.760 I'm Roger Stone.

00:41:32.660 We're right here on the Red Apple Audio Networks.

00:41:35.220 Until tomorrow, God bless you and Godspeed.

00:41:39.080 It's the Stone Zone with Roger Stone.

00:41:42.040 And he's a great, great person, Roger Stone.

00:41:46.040 The Stone Zone.

00:41:52.560 Rural Americans deserve access to the best our nation has to offer, especially when it comes to health care.

00:41:58.740 Across every state and every community, America's rural hospitals are the first line of defense, protecting our families, neighbors, and loved ones.

00:42:07.000 No matter where you live, hospital care doesn't clock out.

00:42:09.720 They're there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

00:42:14.360 Each year, America's over 5,000 hospitals care for millions of patients, providing 24-7 emergency care, delivering babies, cancer treatments, and other life-saving care that patients rely on.

00:42:26.140 Behind every one of those patients are doctors, nurses, and caregivers working tirelessly to keep people healthy and safe.

00:42:33.200 Hospitals are our community's lifelines.

00:42:35.680 They employ our neighbors and keep our families' health.

00:42:38.980 But now, some in Congress are threatening access to care.

00:42:41.860 Tell Congress, protect patient care to keep America strong.

00:42:46.440 Don't cut rural health care.

The Stone Zone ｜ 02-17-26

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