00:04:35.000Well, the thing I like about Willie, you know, and he told me this before, but, you know, he was the speaker of the state assembly, right?
00:04:43.460Or is that what you call it there in California?
00:04:45.240He said every election he was elected by more Republicans than Democrats in that body.
00:04:52.220It's, you know, because the way they do the vote in that assembly, it's not by caucus.
00:04:56.620So that's a pretty amazing. So he had to be a pretty balanced guy. And then I said to him, who was your favorite governor when you were in the legislature? I know you're obviously his favorite governor of all time, but he said to me, Duke Majin.
00:05:11.180i mean duke majin as you know republican he actually went to saint john's here where i went
00:05:17.960to university in new york but i was always i i didn't know i met met duke majin but i was you
00:05:24.980know thought he was a great governor of california republican he said duke majin would call him all
00:05:31.000the time and say you know what do you think about this willie give me give me where you think i
00:05:35.760should be going on this and he said you know he won two terms and it's amazing as governor you
00:05:41.340look back i mentioned it majors names to people and they they it's like he never existed do you
00:05:46.660know this like it's so bizarre the governor of california it's the one that's i mean it's it's
00:05:51.980completely unfair um but he is the one if you ask people name the last five governors it's the one
00:05:58.700they would skip they'll remember schwarzenegger they remember davis recall uh they'll remember
00:06:04.660uh pete wilson uh but uh and then you know duke majin it starts and then they skip back to pat
00:06:11.160brown it's as if duke didn't exist i think pete wilson was such a strong polarizing figure in
00:06:19.800some ways that he sort of gets all the attention and that turning point yeah because it's really
00:06:24.320after him the republicans lose really any influence in the state i mean schwarzenegger
00:06:29.900was an anomaly a hollywood star and he quickly sort of embraced democrats getting into
00:06:34.480Sacramento. So. That's interesting. We have, you know, and for Pete Wilson, and it's an interesting
00:06:39.700story. I mean, in so many ways, as a tenets to today, it was Prop 187, peak of 1994. A lot of
00:06:48.160that sort of nativism, those tendencies, xenophobia was alive and well. There was affirmative action0.80
00:06:53.680debates at the UC regions, which are alive and well in 1993. And people forget the UC regions
00:06:59.380eliminated affirmative action back then. But it was Prop 187 that had to do with just providing
00:07:05.420basic health care and education for the undocumented. And it became the polarizing
00:07:12.620issue that helped organize a counter movement that ultimately led to California, as you suggest,
00:07:18.940becoming blue with the one anomaly. You're right, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
00:07:23.600Reagan had a much more embracing approach, right? He's the last guy to do amnesty.
00:07:28.460yep people forget and the republicans love the hispanics love reagan after that i mean and it
00:07:35.080was a you know a really positive thing i think at the time um we don't always do well as republicans
00:07:42.260when we are sort of focusing on keeping people out i sort of get a kick out of all these people
00:07:47.440against immigration only a nation of immigrants would have people that don't like immigrants like
00:07:53.900think how insane this is and um and you know there's the president i think had president
00:08:01.060trump has a set when you chat with him he's like yeah we should be bringing in you know
00:08:05.440high quality immigrants or people that have skills are not necessarily just coming here
00:08:09.960on the social welfare system um and but at the end of the day the policies usually are
00:08:16.740rather draconian against any immigration and it's it's not only bad on just a lot of societal
00:08:23.900it's deadly lethal for the republican party on elections yep but it's bad now in the competitive0.98
00:08:30.840world dealing with china that we are losing the race for technology and the future of the control1.00
00:08:39.940of the dominance over the next century it's like so clear it's it's happening and we need more0.98
00:08:45.440brains. We need more people in the U.S. We talk about the formula for success here in California
00:08:50.400and in talking those terms about getting the vernacular of sports, getting first round draft
00:08:55.320choices behind the rest of the world, getting the best and the brightest. You know, our efforts,
00:08:59.900I mean, we dominate, we're 18% of the world's R&D. China and Germany are the only two jurisdictions
00:09:05.900ahead of us. Part of that formula, but it is getting the best and the brightest and conveying
00:09:11.360them through that conveyor belt for talent, the CSUs and the UCs. And I do think, I mean,
00:09:17.040where I get substantively frustrated with the direction of this country is the attack and
00:09:22.420assault on those NIH dollars and NSF dollars and the impact, the chill on legal immigration,
00:09:29.660not just the impacts of obviously some of these policies on illegal immigration. But
00:09:35.940those are challenges that remain. And it's interesting, you have those conversations,
00:09:40.600right with trump i mean you you've known him for decades chris i first met him in the 90s and then
00:09:47.820got to know him in 98 so that's 28 years ago but i had met him once before the opening of a
00:09:54.740play but i don't think he remembers that but i met him and he was giving a speech in west palm
00:10:01.400beach i had just moved from new york to florida to start newsmax there right and i i didn't know
00:10:09.680donald trump i knew of him i knew his very famous guy he had yet to start the apprentice so he
00:10:15.540wasn't super famous but the circles i moved in i certainly knew who he was and a friend said hey
00:10:21.860you got to come to this lunch the palm beach funders i said why he said donald trump's coming
00:10:26.120to talk about his presidential run i said what what what presidential run is this about
00:10:31.480he's thinking about being the reform party candidate and taking over for ross perot
00:10:38.600and i said oh okay and he said you know he'll come he's going to talk about that we're not
00:10:45.880going to have him talk about his clubs because the palm beach people were not in love with his club
00:10:51.120initially and i said okay i get to the i get to the it was sellout crowd 400 people everybody's
00:10:58.780on the edge of their seat he gets up trump says you know alan manning asked me to come here it's
00:11:03.680really important, this presidential run. It's so important for me and the future of America
00:11:10.080that I'm going to devote my whole Q&A to the presidential run. My speech, I really want to
00:11:16.980tell you about my new club, Mar-a-Lago, my new golf club I'm building and how you can be members.
00:11:23.160And there was a groan that went through the audience. And for a half hour, he spoke maybe
00:11:29.120less about his clubs and why you should become a member and um and i still remember the an elderly
00:11:37.720lady stood up and um she said you know mr trump i've lived here for 50 years my husband general
00:11:45.220armstrong founded this club i get a letter that says they want 150 000 to join your golf club
00:11:53.360and i don't understand why someone like me from palm beach would have to pay that type of money
00:11:58.740and Trump said Mrs. Armstrong I want you to know and every single person in this audience if you
00:12:05.760write me a check for $25,000 before you leave this event I will give you a membership to the
00:12:11.480golf club so always selling right did she do it did she do it I have no idea but I wouldn't be
00:12:19.600surprised a few people afterwards it was actually a steal at $25,000 it was a steal I can't what
00:12:25.920what is it a multi-million now right something crazy what is it well i'm not sure the golf course
00:12:32.220i think it's been reported that mar-a-lago and i have full disclosure i'm a member of both
00:12:36.340that that mar-a-lago is a um it was two million dollars or something north of a million come on
00:12:45.040i think the golf club is is south of a million probably but they are world-class clubs i mean
00:12:51.160they're incredibly remarkable places. So it does have a very eclectic group there. And,
00:12:57.780you know, it's an interesting place. No, well, as it is an interesting history,
00:13:03.640the two of you, and I'll dance around that without overly indulging or over-indexing,
00:13:07.980but I think for folks that, you know, you've built something, what, the fourth largest
00:13:12.280product on cable right now, which is pretty extraordinary considering you're right behind
00:13:17.960CNN. And you, you know, you just went public a little over a year ago. You've obviously built
00:13:25.140this thing from nothing, 25,000 bucks reported. You put in to this originally and it just hustled
00:13:31.580and you had a big email list and you were out there, you know, the old Newsmax.com days
00:13:36.640and built this thing with your, as you say, with your own bare hands. But your history is
00:13:44.120interesting because you got a little bit, obviously, the background in media, starting
00:13:48.460with the written word, a little time in New York Post, and obviously some high-profile
00:13:55.540endeavors. You wrote a book that got a lot of attention. But tell us a little bit about it
00:14:00.400because I'm interested, just your background. You're a Long Island kid. You were a teacher
00:14:04.060for a brief period of time. The idea that you're sitting where you're sitting today,
00:14:08.720was that part of the was that was that the map that was originally sort of mapped out by mom and
00:14:14.080dad early on i'm not one of these guys that my parents were certainly not making plans for me
00:14:19.720they were busy but um working and doing things but um the uh i didn't plan out you know it sort
00:14:27.300of happened accidentally i guess the things happen you sort of this type of person like if something
00:14:33.580you meet somebody then you should talk to them because you're meeting them right and there's
00:14:36.920Some you just sort of like take divine presence as a real thing
00:14:41.280and just sort of act on the things in the world as it happens.
00:15:04.600yep so you took more of a public service route that's great but um yeah so i i you know newsmax
00:15:12.900success it is i think a great story and we're now a public company on the new york stock exchange so
00:15:18.380you can check us out there um we i always say are a 28 year old overnight success story i mean this
00:15:25.960started in 1998 right and so it's not these things take a little time and effort too and
00:15:32.580patience and I've gone through that whole internet technology now we're going through this AI thing
00:15:39.780and just I never know exactly people say what are you going to do in five years in your business and
00:15:44.660I said how would I even know you know I remember when we started the internet who would think that
00:15:49.520wi-fi would be like and this would and tremendously make availability the internet
00:15:54.680or that we would be operating the internet so much on our phones it was all laptop and desktop
00:16:00.520And so all of that's changed. My background was my father was a Nassau County policeman, World War II vet, served in the military and then went into, thought it was going to be a Great Depression again because his father told him that.
00:16:16.660He went into the police for job security, and he liked being a policeman, I guess.
00:17:48.680I think charter schools are the way to go and giving people opportunity and
00:17:53.600letting parents be more involved in the process. You know,
00:17:57.680we both look at the same problem oftentimes, like, you know,
00:18:00.380we both know that there's a brain and competition problem in America.
00:18:04.380We were talking about that before, right?
00:18:06.120But your answer is more government grants. We got to give more government grants.
00:18:09.400My answer is just open up the doors to American brains around the world. Let people come in. Private companies will take advantage of that. The individuals that will come will do it. We'll go on to great things. We don't necessarily need so many.
00:18:24.400And I think that the idea, they sound well-intentioned, the government helped to pour people on welfare or whatever, but it creates more dependency.
00:18:33.880So that probably made me more than anything else interested in conservative politics.
00:18:39.580And then I accidentally ended up in journalism and started writing for a publication that got the notice of Rupert Murdoch.
00:18:47.520I was hired at the Narrow Post in my mid-20s.
00:18:51.860I was his lead investigative reporter.
00:18:53.880As you know, I covered the Clinton White House, a friend of yours.
00:26:54.860Well, there have been many states that do it. I know Florida just started a program, I think, last year.
00:27:01.320Yeah, we'll see. And there's just no place that's really proven.
00:27:06.460Well, I can tell you the data of, there's been data and studies here in New York where the public school system had, let's say, a million students and the archdiocese had, the Catholic schools had a quarter of a million, 200,000.
00:27:19.900their test scores were higher, their attendance, their graduation rates were higher. But what was
00:27:25.460the unbelievable thing was the cost per educating per student was so dramatically lower. And so
00:27:33.640there's benefits to the public where if you can get somebody educated at a less expensive,
00:27:40.480I'm in favor of keeping strong support for public schools. But I also think the alternative system,
00:27:46.320much like we do with the universities. I think you have some great public universities, but you have
00:27:52.480fantastic private ones. Competition is good. And you break up some of the monopolies.
00:27:59.220As a Catholic school kid, I appreciate this conversation having done both and
00:28:04.300and my middle and high school, public school, but started those elementary schools at Notre
00:28:10.960Dame des Victoires with Madame Berger and making sure I was learning a little French,
00:28:17.000which is useless. Right there on Bush in San Francisco?
00:28:20.740How the hell do you know that? I'm impressed. Well, I've been in that church a number of times.
00:28:25.720I had an uncle. My uncle Tony lived in San Francisco, and he always insisted we go to
00:28:30.700Notre Dame des Victoires. Wow. So I usually stay when I'm in town around there, and I pop in.
00:28:36.220And there's the old cathedral church up the road there, too.
00:30:53.640and what i like about him is i know sometimes people think he's this or that or i think he's
00:31:00.040actually you know his ideas he's not like just takes rnc talking points on things he actually
00:31:05.600thinks things through and ask questions and you know he's not an insider you know rush ultimately
00:31:12.240became the ultimate insider it's an interesting way to describe michael i agree with that and so
00:31:17.020by the way if for all your all your talent on newsmax they want to really go after me with
00:31:23.140research. They should pull up some old photographs of me at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires and my
00:31:28.000sailor outfit with knee-high black socks. That should bury me politically with my Dutch boy
00:31:35.020haircut. Well, you still have a halo that's still there. Is that right? Yeah, cute. Very cute. But
00:31:40.680people don't know. And I went to Santa Clara University. The Jesuits raised me. I mean,
00:31:45.380big part. I mean, that's a big part. And look, that whole Irish Catholic,
00:31:48.280Like, that's, you know, once, you know, that's born and bred, that's who you are, that doesn't, you know, that's hard to sort of pull away.
00:31:55.420When the Pope, you know, St. Francis, that was a big moment, city of St. Francis, San Francisco.
00:32:00.680And, you know, my son was just there kneeling, praying at his site where he is buried and turned and as a special moment for dad.
00:40:31.200So, I mean, without, you know, speaking of swing, I mean, the idea that you have a relationship, people don't know this, and I appreciate you bringing it up and illuminating.
00:40:38.920You've got a relationship with Bill Clinton. You were, I mean, that did not start off well.
00:40:43.960You didn't mention that your New York Post days, what you were investigating.
00:40:47.540I mean, you made a name for yourself for many things, but some of the efforts on Vince Foster ultimately led to a book and his suicide, the investigation related to that.
00:40:56.860And so I imagine the Clintons weren't particularly fond of you early on, but you developed a relationship with them and actually led you to what?
00:41:04.720you went to five countries in uh africa uh together yep they weren't fond of me i think
00:41:12.160i wasn't fond of them either at the time so i think looking back you know i miss miss uh
00:41:18.660i think people misinterpreted clinton a bit and uh and certainly now the proof is in the pudding
00:41:26.000right the democrats really don't want much to do with him i mean the the democratic party the old
00:41:31.560old establishment Democrats love him, right?
00:41:35.040You talk to them, but the MSNBC crowd,
00:42:26.260And he and I, he asked me, he actually wanted me to meet Hillary Clinton back in 2006. And I said, I think, you know, I'll take a pass on that one. She's running for president. I really don't want to become, you know, too close and friendly.
00:42:42.460but no i i never agreed with her policies i thought during her time in the senate she became
00:42:48.260something of a hawk on defense stuff which i liked and um and bill was that way but and then he said
00:42:56.220well you know let's meet bill clinton i said okay let's do it so we had lunch a brief lunch turned
00:43:01.000out to a three-hour get together um at the time my business partner was richard melonscafe
00:43:07.560um who was a very famous conservative oh yeah you know and and so he um he was really the guy
00:43:17.160before all of this and anyway we had we really hit it off and i like bill clinton i loved his
00:43:23.500insights on things and and um you know we still continue to keep in touch um but obviously you
00:43:31.520You know, politics makes strange bedfellows.
00:43:33.800I wouldn't describe us as bedfellows, but people mutually respect each other.
00:43:39.700And, you know, that just shows you the American system works, right?
00:43:49.540And I personally don't like the polarization that goes on in America because I think it's harder to get things done.
00:43:56.340And it's actually frustrating that things don't get done because of it.
00:44:00.600So what, you know, it's interesting on that basis, you know, even with Trump and your relationship going back decades with Trump and the fact that you consistently see him, you know, obviously they're together at the club and elsewhere.
00:44:13.960But to your point, you haven't, you call balls and strikes with the administration.
00:44:18.340I mean, it's not a beef necessarily directly with Trump, but indirectly.
00:44:22.900And it's a beef that I have that we share with Brendan Carr and what's going on in terms of the media.
00:44:29.080that is creating a lot of anxiety, not just for you,
00:44:33.660but I think for all of us about the future of the media
00:44:37.100and the fact that we had this cap of FCC of 39%
00:44:40.760that Brendan Carr and the FCC have lifted.
00:44:44.000And they're now promoting a $6.2 billion merger
00:44:47.340with Nextstar and Tecna that could get penetration
00:45:05.360But tell me what led to that conclusion and your concerns.
00:45:08.320Well, this is it was a great entry point where you talk about people that there is ways that both parties can agree because there was a long held consensus that started with Ronald Reagan in the 80s that said, we don't want the big networks, ABC, NBC and CBS.
00:50:31.780I mean, it's even getting important, like in saying,
00:50:34.580like, you know, the bigger companies are coming in, by the way,
00:50:37.280for football, like Amazon and whatever,
00:50:40.320and the broadcasters don't have as much money to pay for those.
00:50:44.660So the marketplace is saying, we'll pay for football on our systems, YouTube or whatever.
00:50:52.380And Brendan Carr is actually saying, well, we should look at that because he's protecting the broadcasting industry.
00:50:59.020So they can, like, why would we, the purpose, if you believe in laissez-faire, we shouldn't be working overtime to protect, he'll say, well, the big tech is coming and we have to, TV's hurting, it's ailing, it's dying.
00:55:18.740What do you make, and because it's so topical, I bring it up, and obviously its tenets are very different, and there's litigation with the Paramount deal.
00:55:31.100But at least as it reflects to CNN, CBS, I mean, as you look at that from your vantage point, what does it mean?
00:55:41.160What does it not mean from your perspective?
00:55:42.720well when i look at the merger of those companies it doesn't seem to me the big thing is that
00:55:49.480the merger of the video app system of warner brothers with the merger of the app that paramount
00:55:56.880plus has and i looked it up and i think it's something like the market share will be about
00:56:01.84030 percent of the what they call the svod market that to me is not a not a um not a monopoly
00:56:10.700situation um so and david ellison i think very highly of him i just saw him uh a while back at
00:56:20.340the state dinner for king charles i think he's done an amazing thing um by coming into the media
00:56:27.480i think his interest is largely entertainment it's not so much news but like cbs they're just
00:56:34.080trying to bring a little balance there from what i can see i don't see him i don't see him ever
00:56:38.740turning cnn or cbs into a conservative network i think he will try to make sure that they have
00:56:44.760more balance and the establishment media is so used to just being so heavily left
00:56:49.700that just even a little movement like hey well you know how about we have a conservative on the
00:56:54.820cbs evening news that's like alarm bells like you know you know just crazy stuff everybody goes
00:57:01.220insane and i think um i think it's a breath of fresh air so i'm not so much worried i am worried
00:57:07.800about the merger that fox is doing of to be with roku big deal they're going to own 70 to 80 percent
00:57:15.780of the avod streaming market i mean we have a streaming channel fox is going to have dominance
00:57:22.460over my streaming channel now and then and then um they'll have i'm told a huge amount of share
00:57:29.760over the streaming advertising market and i i know that some estate attorney generals apparently
00:57:35.960taking a look at that we've raised some concerns with the department of justice about it but you
00:57:41.640know that frankly they're in a rubber stamping mode over there i think it's it's dangerous and
00:57:47.240um you know we're and i don't dislike uh rupert murdoch i think he's a an american hero in many
00:57:54.680ways because he was came in and did something that nobody else here in the country had you know took
00:58:00.380an australian to come in and say hey why don't we have like a balanced media in america and
00:58:05.640And he's first with the New York Post and later with Fox and the Wall Street Journal.
00:58:31.620And I'm looking forward to depositions with many of their talent because of the lies that they've continued to perpetuate.
00:58:39.240And I think that, you know, beyond broader perspective I have around the toxicity, but the outright lies that continue to come out of that network.
00:58:50.780The Hard Rock Bet Casino app is here, Ontario.
00:58:53.740And with a name like Hard Rock, you know you're in for an experience you can only get here.
01:06:29.640your history with murdoch at the post and your relationship um to um uh that past but
01:06:37.300how the hell you take those guys on i mean how is it was the idea and you've done it remarkably
01:06:44.440successfully because you're we're here together the fact that you know i imagine these guys have
01:06:49.440wanted to take you down uh and uh and level you uh but well you know and they play they play rough
01:06:56.420when they play dirty yes you know i'm not just saying i mean they have a long history of course
01:07:02.020of doing that you know the hacking thing and then things here in america the news america thing that
01:07:09.060they got caught on and then and then there's things that have been in the public record about
01:07:14.040going after newsmax that they've tried and um and then you know i i think that it was they've tried
01:07:21.680You know, they've tried to do things. I'm in a lawsuit against Fox currently for antitrust because we found out that they were going to the virtual cable operators at the very least and doing things in their agreements.
01:07:34.900If you got Fox, you couldn't put Newsmax in the basic tier, essentially. They were blocking us in the basic tier. And we think for any number of years, this was going on, causing us a lot of harm.
01:07:48.420and they have had a dominant media position the center-right news market you know that's their
01:07:55.160audience the center-right news market right and they have control let's say 100 for a long time
01:08:01.760and now 90 that's going down because of us but they obviously felt quite threatened Rupert Murdoch
01:08:08.360in fact sends an email to his staff at the after the 20 election and our ratings started rising he
01:08:15.080is, you know, basically watch Newsmax, be careful of them.
01:08:19.180And there were other evidence that they saw us as a tremendous threat.
01:08:51.240What you, but for folks that, you know, many are familiar with, with 2020, many are familiar
01:08:58.900with the reference you just made of Murdoch and, and, and, and those emails in terms of
01:09:02.900the competitive landscape that really started to take shape in 2020, but you, you went all
01:09:07.560in in 2020 for Trump and with clarity and conviction, there was a sense that Fox wasn't
01:09:13.980necessarily is deferential. The fealty that we used to see there wasn't necessarily taking shape
01:09:20.560during the primary as much. What, I mean, give me a sense of, am I wrong in that analysis or
01:09:25.960what, you know, what. When you say, so 2020 we're talking about, you said the primary, you mean
01:09:31.640before the 20 election. Before the 20 election and then coming, then culminating in 2020.
01:09:39.020Yeah. I mean, I think when you say all in, I think the president would say we were pretty
01:09:43.500fair to him and good to him but that we were not always uh i wasn't always on his hit parade
01:09:49.540because i i would go on shows i went also on other shows at the time talking about him and
01:09:54.540his presidency and i think he was an a-plus president i think he uh deserved re-election
01:09:59.460and i think he would have been re-elected if covid didn't happen a couple other things but
01:10:05.460and the mail-in ballots and um but i think fox was equivocating and where you would see on msnb
01:10:13.480I remember the study that was done of CNN and MSNBC. They had Republicans. 90% of the Republicans that came on those networks as contributors endorsed Joe Biden. 90%. I mean, how can they be really Republicans?
01:10:32.400And so Trump would look at that and say, well, why is Fox like not, why would they have people
01:12:06.040And, and that's the type of guy you are because you came from, you, you believe you're confident in your own positions and views that you can handle some incoming.
01:12:15.540If it's a little different, disagreeing.
01:19:34.320Look, it's interesting because what's happened is there was a Cato Institute poll that came out, Morning Consult. And I'm looking through it and it says, what's the greatest threat for the future of America? And, you know, you think economy, this immigration. No, no. Number one was threats to democracy.
01:19:52.580so i saw that cato institute's libertarian conservative thinking wow that's i had never
01:19:58.720seen like that many people in the public think that's a big issue right the emerson poll came
01:20:04.260out about a week ago and i look you look at the cross tabs of the other stuff like you probably
01:20:10.500doing your people not just like what the approval number is and there was a question there what what
01:20:15.180is the number one threat in your life for the that you see as the country's major issue usually
01:20:21.120it's economy or jobs or jobs or economy. Third, could you usually be crime or immigration or
01:20:27.040healthcare or something, right? Number one was corruption. And I don't think the Republicans
01:20:33.940fully appreciate how the Democrats have saturated social media now with these allegations and
01:20:42.280they're building up whole careers now. You're talking to one right now. The last year I've
01:20:47.900been relentless on this it's no wonder that i have my friends in the doj knocking on doors
01:20:53.760that's the response well i know you've gone on social media in a very big way and you're you're
01:20:59.380one of the leaders on that and you're certainly aggravated my friend yeah well he's he should
01:21:05.840behave more presidential but that's just my my humble well you know he he has redefined the
01:21:14.200presidency in a lot of ways it's a fact and he sees it more as you know something he's just
01:21:19.860going to be who he is i think i think certainly he's heard you could have higher poll numbers if
01:21:26.220you do it this way but he prefers to do it his way right i mean it really is that frank sinatra
01:21:32.380my way song and um you know i i i don't always agree with him on everything he knows that you
01:21:39.340know that like i don't work for him i'm just running a media company i am openly a supporter
01:21:45.840of the president's i say that but i hire people that don't support the president right there are
01:21:51.500people here we have people on that come on the network and i think it's part of our mission
01:21:56.120doesn't make everyone always so happy but it is what it is and uh i think the president you know
01:22:03.100you don't need bill buckley used to say this you don't we don't want a conservative media
01:22:07.360we want just media that takes both sides he says let people decide that's why the media don't have
01:22:13.760conservatives on a lot of these shows because they can't because conservatives have the better
01:22:18.740argument he would say 80 of the time you're going to win the argument with the public if they were
01:22:24.440to hear both sides and i believe that that's been like an operating principle of me is just give
01:22:30.220people both sides let them decide and and um sometimes you lose some of the you know you don't
01:22:36.880win every vote, but the country works better that way. And it's consistent with the democratic
01:22:44.900process. The future of cable, I mean, you're streaming is, I mean, streaming numbers going
01:22:51.440through the roof, cable numbers continue to decline. We began, you made the point, and I
01:22:57.540think spot on, who the hell knows where you'll be in five years. You talked about AI. I know you
01:23:02.340to deal with meta and AI and just a lot of interesting things happening in that space
01:28:25.120And, you know, I watched Abdul yesterday, the Senate nominee, and then Jesse Waters show yesterday on Fox.
01:28:32.300It was just interesting, the punditry pro and con for going on those networks.
01:28:36.720I remember even on your networks, not an indictment, but I remember when I started this podcast, a lot of folks on your network criticizing me for even starting the podcast, et cetera.
01:28:44.280it. So just interesting from your perspective and, you know, in the prison, the world that
01:28:49.240you're seeing in the trend lines as well, you mentioned Democrats have gone on. I know Bernie
01:28:55.340Sanders and Warner and many others have been on your network pretty consistently over the years.
01:28:59.440I have been as well in the past. I mean, is this, you know, what's, I'm not looking for advice or
01:29:05.040counsel necessarily, but perhaps I am. I mean, what's, what do you recommend? Both parties are
01:29:11.480better served by going on these networks cross polliniti i think there's a bunch of things right
01:29:18.180one is we actually have there was the mri study showed we had like a third independence a third
01:29:26.500democrat and then like 40 well it was probably 40 conservative but the majority actually were not
01:29:34.240so you have people because the way cable is right a lot of people are flipping through to just hear
01:29:38.620points of view thought the cnn and ms cnn for sure msnbc too they have like a third republican
01:29:46.600audience right so you'll find republicans you meet when you go on cnn or yeah they'll say they
01:29:52.180saw you on there right because they they're going they're watching fox but they're news junkies
01:29:57.180they're also tuning in occasionally to see what's going on so you have a passerby audience um when
01:30:03.340we bring people on i think a lot of democrats always feel like we don't ambush them we're not
01:30:08.900setting them up we're not we're let really letting them tell their story so there's a positive view
01:30:14.260on that we have a huge social media reach you know 26 million followers that story then gets
01:30:20.680repopulated there yeah and then everybody hits share buttons you're going to have people that
01:30:25.720don't even aren't into politics aren't hearing from you yeah right just because of the share
01:30:30.160buttons and then i think you know you're making a positive contribution to a free and balanced
01:30:37.080society right by you're showing that the the polarization if we don't i go on liberal networks
01:30:42.620i've always gone on liberal networks if they have i mean i think they're fair
01:30:46.400uh npr i've been on msnbc in the past cnn um and so forth so i i don't see them as necessarily the
01:30:56.540enemy but i i see them as people that i disagree with like they're not going to always agree with
01:31:01.740me but as long as i can speak what do i care if like the host is liberal like as long as they
01:31:08.660give me an opportunity right so i think you're the governor of the state of california you know
01:31:14.520i i know it's becoming like hey i'm really the governor of the party or the president of the
01:31:19.860party but you're really the governor of all the people right so you also want to reach
01:31:24.920we're making a big issue because these liberal media monitor groups like newsguard you know
01:31:31.440they masquerade as journalistic endeavors it's run by steven brill everybody knows steven's been
01:31:37.860a democratic donor activist for like 30 years but was a mouthpiece for the clintons for a while other
01:31:44.300people obama now he's an independent journalist to rate everyone and telling everyone not to give
01:31:50.040us advertising not to rank us because we're conservative uh you know they're used by major
01:31:57.020ad agencies governments depending on everybody buys contracts from these ad agencies and the
01:32:03.460ads are only going to liberal media it's in so we've now had three states in the country have
01:32:09.800written laws no state funding to any ad agency that uses media monitors and that's the state
01:32:16.500of florida south carolina west virginia and there's more coming the pentagon has a rule um that they
01:32:22.800can't use it for recruiting they spend 500 million dollars in ads a year so it's going to have an
01:32:29.700impact but um your your should be for all the people i i i wouldn't want to block liberal
01:32:36.040messaging messaging as a governor amen amen well if i start showing up you'll get a you'll uh you'll
01:32:42.860Your mutual friend will certainly give you an earful if he pays attention.