Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - The Swamp Runs Deep but Thankfully Senator JD Vance is Standing in Their Way | TRIGGERED Ep.137

00:00:00.000 you you

00:18:27.000 hey guys what's going on with Welcome to another huge, with a capital Y, episode of Triggered.

00:18:56.000 I'm gonna take a couple comments.

00:18:57.000 I apologize for a little bit of the late start, obviously with all the craziness going on today in court in New York.

00:19:06.000 Like, I was like, I just want to make sure we have it all so that we can compile it because, you know, we're not going to get to it otherwise till Monday.

00:19:12.000 It looks like, looks like Michael Cohen, let's just say, really bombed.

00:19:17.000 You know, I know he's been, you know, plotting his revenge for not getting the Chief of Staff position.

00:19:26.000 I know, it's laughable.

00:19:27.000 I guess he thought he was going to be the Chief of Staff for some reason.

00:19:32.000 No one, no one in our world at that time thought it was realistic.

00:19:35.000 It was like one of those things were like we didn't even want him on television because every time you know this is the guy that was like you can't rape your wife on national television I mean he actually said that I'm like Michael this is not uh this is not uh not helpful not helpful at all so I used to you know I'd get calls from guys like Sean Hannity were like, Hey, Michael says he really, you really want him to go on TV tonight.

00:19:54.000 Are you sure?

00:19:55.000 I was like, I never said any of that.

00:19:56.000 Like, I, I, I promise you, like, zero, like, no, I've said the opposite.

00:20:01.000 I told him specifically, like, I don't want him to be on television anymore because he's no good at it.

00:20:04.000 It's, uh, like, like he's really bad at it.

00:20:07.000 Like every time he goes on, it's negative for us.

00:20:09.000 It's not a positive, but you know, some people, Well, some people fall in love with that stuff, right?

00:20:15.000 They fall in love with the limelight, whether they're good at it or not.

00:20:19.000 You know, that's what it is.

00:20:22.000 Fancy Mimi looking so... I assume that's a red sweaty person emoji in that white shirt. 1.00

00:20:28.000 So, apparently I look hot in the white shirt.

00:20:31.000 Thank you, I'll take it. 0.99

00:20:33.000 My old ass, I'll take whatever compliments I can get. 0.99

00:20:36.000 So, thank you very much. 0.99

00:20:40.000 Lemonade says, the implosion was awesome.

00:20:43.000 I figured I'd do a couple minutes of, you know, questionnaire before I get into the sort of news of the week and then JD Vance, I know a lot of you guys love JD, probably my favorite senator, someone who literally fights for what we actually believe in.

00:20:58.000 But just because of the little bit of the delay in the timing and just kind of compiling all of the clips that I was getting last minute, I didn't want to go live and then not have it.

00:21:08.000 Health613 also says I'm hot.

00:21:10.000 I'll take it.

00:21:11.000 I'll take it, guys.

00:21:11.000 You know, listen, could be worse.

00:21:13.000 Could be worse.

00:21:14.000 I figured I got like a year or two left before. 1.00

00:21:17.000 They're like, Don, you look like shit. 1.00

00:21:19.000 Actually, that's what most of the commentary. 1.00

00:21:20.000 Don, you look tired today.

00:21:21.000 It's like, well, you know, this isn't like this is my full time job.

00:21:24.000 Like I do this for fun.

00:21:25.000 Usually, you know, like I said, after six o'clock and sometimes I'm up 12 hours of other work before I go live and you get a little bit, a little, little tired.

00:21:32.000 So, uh, let's see.

00:21:36.000 What do we got here?

00:21:38.000 Announce JD Vance for VP already?

00:21:39.000 Yeah, listen, that'd probably be my pick, because, you know, you watch him, like, he goes on CNN, and he just tears these, like, intellectual lightweights apart, you know?

00:21:49.000 He doesn't just do the, they're like, don't you believe January 6th was an insurrection?

00:21:54.000 Like, he doesn't just take what they say as gospel, and then, well, yeah, but, you know, he just gives it right back to them.

00:22:02.000 So I think he's one of those guys that's, That's really good at it.

00:22:06.000 Red Lobster, I know, Red Lobster's going, you know, going chapter 11, I guess it seemed like.

00:22:10.000 So, I imagine that's...

00:22:15.000 Someone wrote it down four times, so it must be a very big deal to them.

00:22:19.000 You know, I don't know much about it, but I always hate when I see American businesses like that go out, because I understand there's a lot of jobs created with this.

00:22:27.000 But, you know, by dynamics and otherwise things probably help that.

00:22:32.000 Molly from Alaska, hello.

00:22:33.000 God bless you, you too.

00:22:34.000 JD is a good pick.

00:22:36.000 Okay, that's good.

00:22:41.000 Well, I hope JD is less soy than Mike Pence.

00:22:43.000 JD is a lot less soy than Mike.

00:22:45.000 Like, I don't know if you've, if you, you know, you'll see him tonight.

00:22:47.000 I'm sure he'll be, uh, you know, measured and not off the cuff, but the best is you watch him like when he does like the CNN interviews and like, you know, when he's really up in there against, uh, You know, the enemy and the spokespersons for the other side.

00:23:02.000 He literally just takes all of their stuff and he just tears them apart.

00:23:07.000 So he does that so well that my logic for like a J.D.

00:23:10.000 Vance, it's partly why like, you know, a J.D., even like a Tucker, someone like that you put in there early, like while they're trying to keep my dad on the stand or, you know, in court forever so he can't campaign.

00:23:21.000 It's just election interference.

00:23:23.000 You need someone You know, who is going to be able to, like, aggressively prosecute the other side and do that, you know, with like a master class, you know, level of talent.

00:23:35.000 So I think JD is one of those.

00:23:38.000 Yeah, let's see.

00:23:41.000 MGO, blue girl.

00:23:43.000 He's so smart and scrappy.

00:23:45.000 Yeah, he's all of those things, but he does it with a good, incredible background.

00:23:48.000 I don't know.

00:23:50.000 I read his book Hillbilly Algae a while ago.

00:23:52.000 I mean, he grew up in like Appalachia, like dirt poor, like, you know, just an incredible American success story.

00:23:59.000 And so, you know, it's just an injury.

00:24:03.000 Ohio loves JD Vance.

00:24:04.000 I love JD Vance.

00:24:05.000 I voted for him.

00:24:06.000 I'm from Ohio.

00:24:07.000 Yeah, he's one of those guys, one of the few guys in the Senate that like literally like lived up to all the stuff he campaigned on.

00:24:15.000 You know, that's a big deal.

00:24:19.000 Someone wants a Peter Navarro for VP?

00:24:20.000 That's fair.

00:24:21.000 Peter's a fighter.

00:24:22.000 I mean, listen, Peter's in prison standing on principle right now.

00:24:26.000 I visited him, for those of you who missed Monday's show, I visited him on Saturday at the federal penitentiary in, you know, south of Miami.

00:24:36.000 I got there, you know.

00:24:38.000 Left here at like 5 a.m.

00:24:40.000 and got there and like just, you gotta support those who stand on the stuff that we believe in.

00:24:45.000 So I thought that was really important.

00:24:46.000 So yeah, Peter's incredible.

00:24:49.000 Focus on the Attorney General.

00:24:50.000 Yeah, that's another, obviously that's going to be a very, a very big one.

00:24:58.000 JD's the only one still speaking out for East Palestine, Ohio.

00:25:01.000 Yeah, no, it seems like Palestine over in the Middle East, you know, The place known as, you know, even if it's... I haven't quite been able to find it on an accurate map, but minor details.

00:25:12.000 Yeah, JD's still fighting for that.

00:25:13.000 Obviously, that's his home state, but like, when that happened, like, he was the guy that... I went up there with my father when that tragedy happened, and we were there before the Biden administration and all that stuff.

00:25:22.000 And like, uh, you know, we got there on the ground.

00:25:26.000 JD was there.

00:25:26.000 He was fighting.

00:25:27.000 He's, you know, he's that guy.

00:25:29.000 Like he's doing this for the right reasons.

00:25:31.000 Uh, and he didn't just get absorbed by the swamp.

00:25:33.000 Like so many of the people in there.

00:25:35.000 Deb with 17.

00:25:36.000 What about Doug Mastriano?

00:25:38.000 I don't know.

00:25:39.000 I like Doug, but I don't know about that for VP.

00:25:42.000 You need someone, I think, that's out there showing that they're in there with that experience in government, that's actually taking that on.

00:25:50.000 But I like Doug from PA a lot.

00:25:54.000 Um, you know, I don't know that, you know, I, well, I know that he's not on, you know, on that shortlist, uh, you know, or anything like that.

00:26:02.000 So, you know, of the guys that are, uh, there's some good choices.

00:26:04.000 Uh, JD's probably my personal favorite, but, you know, there's, there's a lot that goes into this.

00:26:09.000 I'm of the mindset you gotta pick someone now because you need to be out there fighting when they're trying to clearly keep my father away from the fight.

00:26:17.000 And I'm sure they'll bring up other stuff or try to push other things forward so that even when this thing's over, you know, they'll get the next thing going.

00:26:24.000 So, you know, let's see what happens with that.

00:26:28.000 But who for AG?

00:26:31.000 That's a good one.

00:26:32.000 I don't know. 0.99

00:26:33.000 We gotta find, you know, someone who's a freaking animal. 0.96

00:26:36.000 You know, these guys have been so, you know, Mike Davies for AG. 0.95

00:26:42.000 I know that won't happen, but you put him in as temporary AG so you can get something else.

00:26:46.000 Mike's always on the show.

00:26:47.000 He gets it.

00:26:48.000 He understands it.

00:26:49.000 He headed up the defense of Kavanaugh and these things.

00:26:53.000 He worked in a lot of the Senate stuff, understands those things.

00:26:58.000 Don Jr.

00:26:58.000 for VP.

00:26:59.000 Watch the left explode.

00:27:01.000 Trump.

00:27:02.000 Yeah, Trump, J.D.

00:27:02.000 By the way, There is an argument to be made that Don Jr.

00:27:08.000 as VP would be the, like, the greatest insurance policy for my father ever.

00:27:13.000 Junior for 28.

00:27:14.000 I appreciate that.

00:27:15.000 Thank you, Don Jr.

00:27:16.000 for VP.

00:27:16.000 Uh-oh.

00:27:17.000 Now we've started something.

00:27:19.000 Dan Bongino for AG.

00:27:20.000 I don't know.

00:27:21.000 Dan's not a lawyer, though, so I think you probably, you know, if you're gonna be the Attorney General, you probably have to be a lawyer, but he would actually... You may not.

00:27:29.000 I mean, I think Dan Bongino would do better than, you know, probably better than, you know, anyone we had in there, so...

00:27:36.000 Uh, let's, you know, we'll see.

00:27:38.000 But yeah, uh, Don Jr.

00:27:40.000 for VP would be like, maybe the great insurance policy from my father.

00:27:43.000 I think I'd have to move out of the state of Florida.

00:27:44.000 That's, that's sort of a, there's a residency problem.

00:27:46.000 Something in the constitution about, you know, not being from the same state.

00:27:49.000 I guess there's probably ways around that.

00:27:50.000 I have other residences.

00:27:51.000 I don't know if I want to...

00:27:53.000 You know, move to my cabin in New York and pay New York taxes anymore.

00:28:00.000 I'm sort of done funding the insanity of the radical left.

00:28:04.000 But, you know, who knows?

00:28:07.000 Dan Ball for AG, that's Tom Fitton in his role.

00:28:11.000 Grinnell for DHS.

00:28:17.000 Scratch your nose if JFK Jr.

00:28:19.000 is alive.

00:28:19.000 Come on, guys!

00:28:22.000 I don't know.

00:28:23.000 That one's always been a long shot for me, but you know, hey, you never know.

00:28:27.000 Junior 28.

00:28:27.000 Yeah, you know, make the debate for VP a shooting competition.

00:28:33.000 Well, I...

00:28:35.000 Badger, I win that then.

00:28:37.000 If I'm in the mix.

00:28:39.000 But you know, maybe, maybe not.

00:28:40.000 But I do pretty well in those.

00:28:44.000 Let's see.

00:28:46.000 Don Jr.

00:28:46.000 Gates, 2028.

00:28:47.000 That would drive people crazy.

00:28:50.000 Turley for AG.

00:28:51.000 That's interesting.

00:28:53.000 Stephen Miller for AG would be great.

00:28:55.000 I don't know that he'd be able to get, you know, the problem is you still have to get through the Senate process.

00:28:59.000 But that's why you put like a Mike Davis in there.

00:29:02.000 You put an absolute animal, let him just run as like a, you know, acting AG for a little while.

00:29:09.000 And then they'll probably give you whoever they want to get, you know, to get those guys out of there.

00:29:14.000 But it will be good.

00:29:19.000 Let's see.

00:29:22.000 Yeah, so yeah, we'll get to the Cohen stuff now.

00:29:25.000 JD Vance is great.

00:29:26.000 Totally MAGA.

00:29:27.000 Yeah, now I think, listen, that would be, I think that's probably my choice, you know, off the record.

00:29:33.000 I'll keep it off the record.

00:29:34.000 We won't tell too many other people other than, you know, thousands of people watching right now.

00:29:40.000 But Kimberly for press secretary. 1.00

00:29:42.000 Perfect.

00:29:42.000 You know what?

00:29:42.000 That'd be great.

00:29:43.000 She can do like six days a week in Washington, D.C.

00:29:45.000 I get peace and quiet.

00:29:46.000 Everyone wins.

00:29:50.000 Don't tell her I said that.

00:29:51.000 That would be trouble.

00:29:53.000 But yes, I appreciate the honor.

00:29:56.000 Don Jr., come back to Turnbull County, Ohio before the election.

00:29:59.000 Your dad did a rally here at their base in 2016.

00:30:02.000 I've been there.

00:30:04.000 I've been there.

00:30:05.000 Cash for H.E., Kim for Press Secretary.

00:30:08.000 Yeah.

00:30:09.000 Hey, I think Kim for Press Secretary is a great idea. 0.96

00:30:12.000 Okay?

00:30:13.000 You know, she moves up to D.C. 1.00

00:30:15.000 I get like four years of peace and quiet.

00:30:17.000 Like I said, everyone wins.

00:30:19.000 Everyone wins, but... Alright.

00:30:22.000 Maybe you guys want to get down to the rundown?

00:30:24.000 We'll talk a little bit of the news of the day, and then we'll get to JD?

00:30:28.000 Kimberly is not too wishy-washy, yeah.

00:30:31.000 If there's one thing Kimberly is not, it's that.

00:30:33.000 So, uh, Don Jr.

00:30:35.000 sleeping on the couch tonight?

00:30:36.000 Fact check, true.

00:30:37.000 But, hey, listen.

00:30:38.000 Sometimes you sleep on the couch and it's just worth it, because it's just worth it.

00:30:43.000 Uh, you know, so, yeah.

00:30:45.000 If Kim is watching, I'm probably in trouble.

00:30:46.000 If you guys know her, you're probably texting her right now.

00:30:49.000 Maybe, hopefully she's not watching.

00:30:51.000 Uh, Kim has a great voice. 0.98

00:30:53.000 Yeah, Kim's an animal. 1.00

00:30:53.000 Like, she'd be... She'd be good at that, you know? 1.00

00:30:56.000 She's one of the, you know, and she does her, like, she's a worker also, so she'll do the homework to, uh... Tanjun, you're digging a hole.

00:31:05.000 Yes, I... Thank you, Ratchet.

00:31:06.000 I'm aware.

00:31:08.000 Kimberly's a fighter.

00:31:09.000 She takes it on, says, I agree.

00:31:11.000 Uh, you're a riot.

00:31:12.000 Uh, listen, we gotta have some fun, right?

00:31:14.000 I mean, like I said.

00:31:16.000 I think she'd do a great job at the job. 1.00

00:31:18.000 I get peace and quiet.

00:31:20.000 Everyone wins.

00:31:22.000 You think she's tough? 1.00

00:31:23.000 You think I don't have to put up with that shit? 1.00

00:31:24.000 Like, you know, I do. 1.00

00:31:26.000 That doesn't just turn off, you know, when you're not on a show or you're not on TV.

00:31:32.000 Kim is a gem. 1.00

00:31:32.000 Look at you guys kissing ass. 1.00

00:31:34.000 Now you're trying to make me look bad. 1.00

00:31:38.000 Yeah, so, could be fun.

00:31:40.000 We could make Kim an AG. 1.00

00:31:40.000 If she's a lawyer, she's an undefeated prosecutor. 1.00

00:31:44.000 Again, and I still win because she's in D.C.

00:31:46.000 for four years.

00:31:49.000 Come on, weekends will be great.

00:31:50.000 It's fine.

00:31:52.000 Your husband wants Ben Carson for VP.

00:31:55.000 Listen, I think Ben would be great.

00:31:57.000 Ben is actually a great, great human being.

00:32:00.000 I think he's a brilliant guy.

00:32:02.000 And it's not a negative.

00:32:06.000 I wish all people in D.C.

00:32:07.000 were just good people, but they're not.

00:32:09.000 I feel like Ben may be too good a human being for that role.

00:32:13.000 You know, you watch these animals in the media.

00:32:15.000 You know, he's gonna be a Trump guy.

00:32:17.000 They're gonna savage a guy that, like, has just a storied career.

00:32:21.000 So, you know, I don't know.

00:32:24.000 You know, Ben would have been a great choice, probably.

00:32:27.000 Honestly, like, the last time around, it could have, you know, been like, you know, where you needed sort of a calming force.

00:32:33.000 The logic of Pence was like, you sort of had a pirate, you needed someone to calm that.

00:32:37.000 Now, We're living in an insane world on the brink of World War III. 0.97

00:32:41.000 You may need someone who's just an absolute killer. 0.99

00:32:46.000 You need an axe murderer. 1.00

00:32:50.000 I love Ben. 0.97

00:32:51.000 I'd love for him to be in that position.

00:32:52.000 I'd love for him to be in that administration.

00:32:54.000 I literally cannot speak more highly of the individual other than, again, in this day and age, in this time, he may be too nice to deal with the insanity of all of that stuff.

00:33:08.000 Wear sunscreen, Don.

00:33:10.000 Am I that?

00:33:10.000 Like, I guess it just looks brighter because the windows are open, but am I that?

00:33:15.000 I don't know.

00:33:15.000 I didn't think I was out all that much, but maybe I was.

00:33:18.000 I don't know.

00:33:20.000 I don't think so.

00:33:22.000 I saw a couple of those.

00:33:23.000 And I don't wear makeup.

00:33:24.000 I'm probably a little sweaty because it's kind of hot down here right now.

00:33:28.000 But, you know, I don't really wear the makeup on TV.

00:33:33.000 So, we'll see.

00:33:35.000 This is AIG.

00:33:36.000 I look like a lobster.

00:33:38.000 Okay.

00:33:39.000 Maybe.

00:33:40.000 You're burnt.

00:33:41.000 I'm not burnt!

00:33:44.000 Okay, everyone's saying I'm Orange Junior.

00:33:46.000 Okay, relax.

00:33:48.000 Markers.

00:33:50.000 Orange man, good.

00:33:52.000 But I'm not orange.

00:33:53.000 I don't even think I've been in the sun in the last couple days.

00:33:56.000 So that's kind of weird.

00:33:58.000 Yes, you're very red, Don.

00:34:00.000 You look great.

00:34:01.000 Ignore the trolls.

00:34:02.000 Thank you, 2AChickens.

00:34:04.000 You look fine, Junior.

00:34:06.000 Yes, you're very red.

00:34:07.000 Rosie O'Donnell for Preston. 0.62

00:34:11.000 Rosie O'Donnell for deportation. 0.71

00:34:13.000 How about that?

00:34:14.000 He's blushing.

00:34:15.000 Maybe that's what it is.

00:34:16.000 I'm blushing.

00:34:19.000 I doubt it, but let's see.

00:34:20.000 Okay, I don't know.

00:34:23.000 Let's get to work.

00:34:25.000 Also, hey, while I got you guys, while you're tuned in, while you're making fun of me for being Orange Man Jr., make sure you guys are hitting the like button.

00:34:33.000 Like, share, subscribe.

00:34:35.000 Let's make sure we get the message out.

00:34:37.000 Let's make sure we grow the movement.

00:34:39.000 The rest of big tech is stacked against us.

00:34:41.000 We need to work harder, faster, better.

00:34:45.000 More perfectly to make sure we break through all of the noise that we can actually grow this movement.

00:34:50.000 Don't forget, guys, you can also get Triggered, this podcast, you can get it on Spotify, you can get it on Apple Podcasts.

00:34:56.000 So if you miss the show here on Rumble, if you, you know, if you get your podcast, perhaps when you're, you know, Driving, or traveling, or whatever it may be in other formats.

00:35:05.000 Don't forget to download it on there as well.

00:35:07.000 Share it with your friends, if perhaps that's where they get their podcasts.

00:35:11.000 For all of the headlines that we'll spotlight right here on the show, go over to my news app, MXM News.

00:35:16.000 Like, minute by minute.

00:35:17.000 MXM News.

00:35:19.000 Where you can get the mainstream news without the bias.

00:35:22.000 You know, all these guys, they all say, hey, you don't like it, you know, build your own, build... So, guys like me actually do that.

00:35:29.000 We put in a lot of money.

00:35:30.000 We put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

00:35:33.000 So if you guys can help support us, help get the word out that way, it's the best way that we can really get that message out there.

00:35:39.000 Don Jr.

00:35:40.000 has the best show on Rumble.

00:35:41.000 Thank you.

00:35:41.000 I appreciate that.

00:35:44.000 Harry, Amanda, I appreciate that.

00:35:48.000 We try to have some fun.

00:35:49.000 We try to tell it how it is.

00:35:51.000 But let's get into some of those top headlines.

00:35:53.000 And I'll probably keep going in and out of the commentary because it seems Actually seems really- I like sort of- you guys like when I do the warm-up Q&A just to get things going a little bit or not?

00:36:04.000 Little change of pace, we tried something a little different.

00:36:06.000 You know, I kind of screwed up with you guys at the time a little bit, so I wanted to make sure everyone could tune in.

00:36:11.000 But, you know, I think a couple minutes of that is good, because sometimes I feel like I get to it and it's like, you just see people building, but it takes 10-15 minutes for them to kind of get in there to full effect and they miss half of what I say.

00:36:23.000 You're handsome and don't worry, Kim, I'm closer to Trump senior in years.

00:36:29.000 Oh boy.

00:36:32.000 Kim's got some competition apparently. 1.00

00:36:34.000 I don't know.

00:36:35.000 I don't know.

00:36:36.000 I don't want to know.

00:36:37.000 Warm up is great.

00:36:38.000 Love the chat.

00:36:39.000 Warm up.

00:36:39.000 Love it.

00:36:40.000 Yes, warm up on Q&A.

00:36:41.000 Absolutely.

00:36:43.000 When's your wedding?

00:36:44.000 Relax.

00:36:46.000 Relax, people.

00:36:46.000 Just calm down.

00:36:47.000 We got elections to win.

00:36:48.000 We got to save Western civilization, there's a lot of stuff we gotta worry about first.

00:36:54.000 Yes, warm up and Q&A.

00:36:55.000 Okay, guys, I think we have a mandate.

00:36:59.000 Yes, I enjoy having a conversation with you in the chat.

00:37:01.000 Of course, happy freedom.

00:37:02.000 You have our attention.

00:37:03.000 Okay, I got you.

00:37:04.000 Jeff Clark for AG.

00:37:05.000 Hey, that'd be a good one too.

00:37:07.000 Um, that'd be a good one.

00:37:09.000 Uh, he's an animal.

00:37:10.000 Uh, the Tucker, spacey thing though.

00:37:13.000 Uh, Tucker, yeah, the Tucker would be, Tucker would be great.

00:37:18.000 Um, love what you're doing the show, as always.

00:37:21.000 Okay, let's get going.

00:37:23.000 First, I think we're gonna start by saying... 0.98

00:37:28.000 It was not exactly a great day for Alvin Bragg and his bullshit case in New York. 0.99

00:37:34.000 Michael Cohen was a disaster. 0.81

00:37:36.000 It looks like he bombed and we'll get into more details on just what happened in a moment, but I want to begin by playing Some of the reactions from the media, because I think that's important, right?

00:37:47.000 And I don't mean conservative media, I mean like, you know, when you're losing CNN, it's a problem.

00:37:52.000 It went so poorly for the prosecution today that even deranged, insane, Radical leftist never-Trumpers are having to face actual reality.

00:38:06.000 They're having to face the facts.

00:38:07.000 For example, here's unhinged Trump hater and The View co-host Alyssa Farrah saying even she wouldn't or couldn't vote to convict.

00:38:21.000 I couldn't today convict beyond a reasonable doubt.

00:38:24.000 Michael Cohen is just such a problematic figure.

00:38:27.000 And in this own cross, I was just waiting to see somebody who was above board, didn't step in it, didn't lie, didn't end up getting kind of hostile and pushing back in some of these challenges.

00:38:37.000 And it's hard for me to believe him when he's misrepresenting something as fundamental as having wanted a job in the White House.

00:38:44.000 Now guys, my father's lawyer, Todd Blanche, caught Cohen in such a lie on the witness stand today that Even Anderson Cooper realized it was a disaster for the Democrats' case.

00:38:58.000 Witness that piece of cross-examination.

00:39:01.000 Do you have doubts that that conversation happened the way Michael Cohen testified on his direct examination?

00:39:06.000 That he called Trump insular?

00:39:09.000 Absolutely.

00:39:10.000 Absolutely.

00:39:11.000 I think it's devastating, I mean, for Michael Cohen's credibility on this, I mean, on this one particular topic, whether it's, you know, he just didn't, I mean, it's hard to I don't know.

00:39:22.000 Yes.

00:39:23.000 I think if I was a juror in this case, watching that, I would think, this guy's making this up as he's going along, or he's making this particular story up.

00:39:33.000 You know, Todd Blanch is pointing out, you were testifying just on Tuesday in this court, you know, and all morning long he's been pointing out You know, inconsistencies in Michael Cohen's testimony, or at least questionable aspects of Michael Cohen's testimony, but nothing that you would necessarily, as a juror, think, OK, that's clearly a lie.

00:39:56.000 Maybe he was misunderstanding, or he was bragging, or whatever.

00:40:02.000 This one, Todd Blanch clearly saved this to right before the lunch break, I'm assuming, because it was just so well crafted.

00:40:12.000 And just point by point walking through this story, which at first seemed, you know, why, why this seems like a ridiculous story.

00:40:19.000 Some 14 year old is sending him, you know, nasty text messages and he's going to call a Keith Schiller about it.

00:40:25.000 And then you realize you look at the, he showed the phone logs that the prosecutor had shown.

00:40:30.000 And it's the phone call that, that, that, that Michael Cohen had previously talked about.

00:40:34.000 I think it is severely damaging to Michael Cohen's testimony.

00:40:39.000 And we've actually been busy right here on the show doing some real investigative reporting, getting inside details on what went on in the courtroom.

00:40:48.000 These are some nitty-gritty details, but it's important to understand them all because, again, this is the stuff that won't even make CNN.

00:40:57.000 It's certainly not gonna make MSDNC.

00:40:59.000 These are the places.

00:41:00.000 If you've lost them, just understand it's probably so much worse than they'll ever even allude to.

00:41:07.000 So we're told that before court broke for lunch, my father's attorney, Todd Blanche, went over call logs.

00:41:13.000 Anderson Cooper started talking about this, but the call logs were between Cohen and my father's former bodyguard, Keith Schiller.

00:41:20.000 Cohen testified earlier this week that he made a call to Schiller in October 2016 to speak to my father and confirm the so-called hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.

00:41:30.000 But Blanche questioned Cohen about a series of harassment calls where Cohen claimed he received around the same time, referring to text messages between Cohen and Schiller.

00:41:40.000 Blanche pointed to a message exchange where Cohen said a 14-year-old prank called him.

00:41:45.000 In the message exchange, Schiller asked Cohen to call him.

00:41:49.000 And according to the call logs, the call Cohen made to Schiller was less than two minutes long.

00:41:54.000 Blanche made the argument that the call was too short for Cohen to have explained both the prank call and shared confirmation about the payment with my father.

00:42:05.000 So here's the big picture.

00:42:07.000 What my father's lawyer is saying is that the call Cohen claims was him informing my father about the payments was actually a call about him dealing with a prank caller.

00:42:16.000 And that he never actually spoke to my father at the time about this payment.

00:42:20.000 We understand also, obviously, the DA's office, they misplaced, you know, call logs with Stormy Daniels.

00:42:26.000 They misplaced all these things that seem to magically disappear, yet you heard about, and it all starts to make sense.

00:42:33.000 Of course, they're covering this stuff up.

00:42:35.000 As Todd Bland said to Cohen today, I quote, that was a lie.

00:42:40.000 You did not talk to President Trump.

00:42:42.000 Translation, Cohen is caught red-handed and it appears that he's only helping to sink Alvin Bragg's sham prosecution against my father.

00:42:51.000 And if all that wasn't bad enough for Bragg, Biden, Michael Cohen, the Democrats, Michael Cohen's former attorney, Bob Costello, His former attorney, okay, went on TV and laid out how Michael Cohen told him he had no evidence of my father being involved in any crimes.

00:43:10.000 Think about that.

00:43:11.000 His own attorney, Michael Cohen's own attorney, said Cohen told him that these things didn't happen.

00:43:18.000 Costello even made it clear that Cohen is lying right now to help out the Democrats' lawfare.

00:43:24.000 Check this out.

00:43:26.000 ...seeking, according to his own words, an escape route.

00:43:30.000 I want you guys to tell me how I can get out of this, because he saw these enormous legal problems coming his way that were so bad in his mind that he was willing to kill himself.

00:43:40.000 And so I kept on going back and suggesting to him, listen, Michael, if you have something truthful on Donald Trump, Now is the time to cooperate.

00:43:50.000 And he kept on saying over and over again, 10 to 20 times, I swear to God, Bob, I don't have anything on Donald Trump.

00:43:57.000 I even said to him, Michael, think about this.

00:43:59.000 Isn't it easier to cooperate against Donald Trump if you have truthful information than it is to kill yourself?

00:44:06.000 Well, the answer is obvious.

00:44:07.000 That was his moment in time.

00:44:09.000 If he had something truthful, To say I'm willing to cooperate.

00:44:13.000 But he didn't take that.

00:44:14.000 He kept on saying, I have nothing on Donald Trump.

00:44:18.000 And then when we got into the discussion of the Stormy Daniels NDA, he said specifically, and I cross-examined him on this, this was my idea.

00:44:28.000 It was his idea to take care of the NDA because he had been contacted by a lawyer for Stormy Daniels who said she was going to claim that Donald Trump had sex with her.

00:44:38.000 Cohen said, I didn't believe the allegation. 0.83

00:44:41.000 Yeah, I mean, that's Michael Cohen's own lawyer talking about Michael Cohen being a liar. 0.59

00:44:45.000 I mean, think about how insane that is.

00:44:47.000 Now, Michael Cohen, he can go out and he can do his podcast and he can sell merch and try to pitch a reality TV show.

00:44:53.000 He can be the most biased human being in the world against Donald Trump.

00:44:56.000 Strangely.

00:44:57.000 Shockingly.

00:44:57.000 I'm shocked, guys.

00:44:58.000 I'm totally shocked.

00:44:59.000 He is not under a gag order.

00:45:01.000 He can just say whatever he wants about Trump.

00:45:03.000 He can continue his perpetual lies that he's already gone to prison for.

00:45:07.000 But, you know, I guess, hey, if you're lying about Trump, I guess you can keep doing it and that's okay.

00:45:12.000 Only Donald Trump is not allowed to talk to defend himself against this insanity.

00:45:16.000 Only Donald Trump has his First Amendment rights stripped away from him.

00:45:21.000 But Alvin Bragg is living in an alternate reality.

00:45:25.000 He wants to bring a baseless case he doesn't even have the power to enforce for violations that don't actually exist.

00:45:32.000 He hasn't even said what the actual crime is.

00:45:34.000 It's just this is in preparation of these crimes and I guess they wait till see what the rest of the testimony comes and maybe maybe they'll tell my father what he's actually accused of at the end.

00:45:44.000 I don't know.

00:45:45.000 Seems to Seems to be a little bit crazy.

00:45:47.000 We'll talk to J.D.

00:45:49.000 about that.

00:45:49.000 J.D.

00:45:50.000 Vance about that shortly.

00:45:51.000 Obviously, you know, he, you know, is a lawyer and yada, yada, yada.

00:45:54.000 We could get into the details.

00:45:55.000 And he was in the court, I guess, Monday or Tuesday.

00:45:58.000 And so, you know, he saw some of this stuff going down in real time.

00:46:01.000 But meanwhile, guys, Joe Biden has apparently agreed to presidential debates.

00:46:07.000 He wanted to hide in the basement, but he just can't.

00:46:09.000 His polling numbers are too bad.

00:46:11.000 Biden will be forced to defend his awful record and his agenda at this bait, but he's going to have to answer for a record of high inflation, a bad economy, and a crisis that he caused at the southern border.

00:46:23.000 And that's before we even get into the wars.

00:46:26.000 We just got new numbers showing how bad the border has gotten under Biden.

00:46:31.000 The Border Patrol keeps stats on so-called gotaways.

00:46:35.000 These are illegal immigrants who avoided agents but were detected by forms of surveillance such as cameras, sensors, drones, whatever it may be.

00:46:43.000 And new data released this week shows that a number, the number that got away, has ballooned heavily under Joe Biden.

00:46:52.000 For example, in 2018, there were just 128,000 gotaways.

00:46:58.000 In 2023, there were 670,000.

00:47:03.000 Almost three quarters of a million.

00:47:06.000 Here's another way to illustrate how many more illegal immigrants are pouring in under Joe Biden.

00:47:11.000 There were more gotaways in the first three years of Joe Biden's presidency than in the entire decade of the 2010s.

00:47:20.000 In the entire decade, we have no clue what these gotaways are up to.

00:47:25.000 We do know that many illegal immigrants are caught and released by Joe Biden and have been committing crimes.

00:47:33.000 Here in Palm Beach County, police just arrested an illegal immigrant that was released into the country this year.

00:47:40.000 Authorities say that the illegal raped an 11-year-old girl.

00:47:44.000 Here's the local news.

00:47:49.000 covering the case.

00:47:51.000 The case is being reviewed.

00:47:53.000 The case is being reviewed.

00:47:55.000 girl. Lopez is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala.

00:47:59.000 According to authorities, he left Guatemala in early January, crossed through Mexico, turned himself in to Border Patrol, and was given a court date for some time in 2027 and then released.

00:48:11.000 He found his way to Florida at the end of January this year.

00:48:14.000 And now he commits a crime where he held an 11-year-old girl against her will, sexually assaulted her, That's a capital crime.

00:48:24.000 We grabbed him.

00:48:25.000 He's confessed to the crime.

00:48:27.000 So why was he given a court date for 2027?

00:48:30.000 Immigration attorney Richard Huber says he knows the answer.

00:48:34.000 So the courts are overwhelmed for sure.

00:48:35.000 That's the answer.

00:48:37.000 He says vetting at the border is poor.

00:48:39.000 That they will get a hearing date many years from now.

00:48:43.000 And during that time, you know, just with that hearing notice, for example, they can get a driver's license.

00:48:48.000 If they seek asylum, they can then also get a work permit.

00:48:51.000 And nobody's actually looking at the merits as to whether they actually have a legitimate or a valid asylum claim.

00:48:59.000 Honestly, it's so sad.

00:49:00.000 It's so easily avoidable.

00:49:03.000 It's so preventable. 1.00

00:49:04.000 Other countries are literally sending us their shit. 1.00

00:49:08.000 Their criminals. 1.00

00:49:09.000 They're emptying their prisons.

00:49:11.000 They're sending every freakish animal To America, so they don't have to pay for it. 0.80

00:49:18.000 And we're going to have to live with this.

00:49:19.000 And this stuff's going to happen times a thousand as more and more come, as they get more and more comfortable, as time goes by and there's nothing the Democrats want to do about it.

00:49:30.000 Crimes like this are happening every single week.

00:49:34.000 Joe Biden is directly responsible.

00:49:37.000 Biden's also responsible for the inflation crisis that's making life more difficult for everyday Americans to afford.

00:49:42.000 And now you'll have the privilege of also paying for all of these illegals, many of whom will never, ever be able to take care of themselves. 0.89

00:49:50.000 They'll always be a drain on our coffers, and in many cases, on our society.

00:49:55.000 The new inflation data released yesterday shows that overall prices have increased 19.9% since January 2021.

00:50:04.000 I'm gonna call it 20%.

00:50:07.000 They'll fact check me and probably throw me off the internet because that's what they do.

00:50:11.000 If you look at gas, It's up over 55% since Biden got elected.

00:50:17.000 But they don't care.

00:50:18.000 Guess what?

00:50:18.000 We'll send another $160 billion to Ukraine.

00:50:21.000 Biden has recently been lying about inflation.

00:50:25.000 He claimed in two separate interviews this past week that inflation was at 9% when he was elected.

00:50:31.000 That's a lie.

00:50:32.000 It was at 1.4%.

00:50:32.000 1.4 percent. Not 9 percent, Joe. 1.4 percent. No one's gonna fact check that because it's true.

00:50:40.000 They're just going to ignore it like they do all the other facts that don't look so good for Democrats.

00:50:46.000 Even Biden's surrogates are pushing this lie.

00:50:49.000 Here is one of them on Fox this week, and let's just say it didn't go so great.

00:50:56.000 Welcome to both of you.

00:50:57.000 Robert, what was inflation when Biden took office?

00:51:04.000 I'll tell you if you don't know.

00:51:05.000 I think it was probably 9-10%.

00:51:09.000 No, no, no.

00:51:10.000 Come on! 0.61

00:51:12.000 Come on, Robert!

00:51:13.000 It's 3% now, so it's down by two-thirds.

00:51:16.000 I set you up.

00:51:17.000 I apologize.

00:51:18.000 I put you on the spot there.

00:51:20.000 It was 1.4%, and that is fact.

00:51:22.000 So Doug Holtz-Eakin, these are the claims that- You guys, I know Robert. I know him from New York.

00:51:27.000 I know he's a Democrat, but I also know he's not stupid. 0.97

00:51:31.000 And he knows that. 0.97

00:51:32.000 But they're more than happy to still get on TV and push that lie to save Democrats.

00:51:39.000 I guess, I don't know, guarantees you a spot on TV as a Democrat surrogate, whatever it may be.

00:51:44.000 But it's nonsense.

00:51:45.000 If you notice at the end of the clip, the guy was pretending like his earpiece was broken.

00:51:50.000 Again, I know Robert, I've had dinner with him.

00:51:53.000 It's just, it's classic.

00:51:55.000 But there are plenty of other programs where they can just get away with that.

00:51:58.000 They can just say it and it's the gospel.

00:52:00.000 No one's gonna correct it, you know, online because big tech won't do that.

00:52:05.000 They'll continue to run the Democrat narrative.

00:52:07.000 While Joe Biden is lying about inflation at home, his Secretary of State is abroad in Ukraine trying to pretend he's a rock star or something with guitar diplomacy. 0.99

00:52:16.000 Watch this crap. 0.98

00:52:18.000 This is a video of a man who was trying to get his car fixed. 1.00

00:52:20.000 He was trying to get his car fixed.

00:53:01.000 That's our Secretary of State. 1.00

00:53:03.000 He's a clown. 1.00

00:53:04.000 Okay? 0.99

00:53:05.000 This is the guy that thinks, and it was shocked and dismayed, that the Taliban didn't install a diverse and inclusive government in Afghanistan.

00:53:12.000 I mean, you know, I don't know, probably not.

00:53:16.000 Something that was ever going to happen.

00:53:18.000 If he's shocked and dismayed about that, I got bridges all over the place I could sell him and, you know, waterfront property, oceanfront property in Arizona, and all sorts of other stuff. 1.00

00:53:29.000 This guy's an idiot. 1.00

00:53:31.000 But instead of providing any oversight to the hundreds of billions of dollars we're blowing in Ukraine, he goes there and does a crappy job playing guitar. 1.00

00:53:40.000 They're literally partying in Ukraine.

00:53:42.000 I thought it was a war zone, but hey, What do I know?

00:53:47.000 Apparently they just send what they call their peasants over there to die on the front lines and everyone else can have a party in Kiev.

00:53:55.000 Finally, Joe Biden is asserting executive privilege to stop the Justice Department from giving Congress the audio of his interview with Robert Herr.

00:54:04.000 That's the interview in which Joe Biden forgot the year his son died.

00:54:08.000 After conducting that interview, Herr wrote that Joe Biden is an elderly man with poor memory that is unfit to stand trial.

00:54:16.000 Doesn't stop him from having the nuclear codes, but he's apparently unfit to stand trial according to someone put in place by his own DOJ.

00:54:24.000 The transcript of the interview is already released, so the only reason to block the release of the audio is that Joe Biden knows, or the people that are his handlers know, That the delivery of his answers would destroy his already failing presidential campaign.

00:54:42.000 Joe Biden wants to hide the evidence that he is publicly unfit for office.

00:54:47.000 Don't forget!

00:54:48.000 The debates that we're doing, they're going to be hosted on CNN by ultra-liberal hosts.

00:54:53.000 They don't want to have a live audience.

00:54:55.000 I'm hearing that they want to negotiate so they can have earpieces in their ears.

00:54:59.000 So, you know, there's a reason Joe Biden wants to debate under those rules, because they're going to do whatever they can to rig them, to give Joe Biden, to give someone an earpiece in a debate so that, like, I don't know what, Obama can whisper to him what he wants his little puppet to say?

00:55:16.000 Well guys, the good news is that today, House Republicans moved to hold A.G.

00:55:22.000 Garland in contempt of Congress over this abuse of power.

00:55:26.000 But the real question is, will there ever be any actual accountability?

00:55:31.000 It's one of the many things we'll talk about with Senator J.D.

00:55:34.000 Vance.

00:55:35.000 So we're gonna get to that in a couple of seconds, but before we get to tonight's interview, a quick word from some of our incredible sponsors.

00:55:42.000 I really appreciate you guys doing what you can to support them.

00:55:46.000 It allows me to have the team to put this stuff together, to be able to get it to you guys, and I want to support companies who support us, who support our movement.

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00:56:23.000 They're not just an online store, they're also a community of like-minded patriots who understand the importance of the Second Amendment, of self-defense, and preparing for a time of crisis.

00:56:33.000 And honestly, guys, if there's ever a time of crisis, it looks like we are living it, or at least the precipice of it, because it's insane what's going on in our country.

00:56:43.000 See some of the stories we just talked about.

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00:57:21.000 Again, PublicSquare.com or download the PublicSquare app.

00:57:25.000 Check them out.

00:57:26.000 Support those great patriotic small businesses that are on there.

00:57:30.000 Give them your money.

00:57:31.000 Take the extra second to support those businesses rather than big woke corporate conglomerates that are out there.

00:57:37.000 You'll be glad you did, and you can start actually voting with your wallet. 0.99

00:57:41.000 Also, guys, remember to protect yourself from Biden inflation, stupidity, and insanity with the Birch Gold Group. 0.99

00:57:49.000 Our country's $34 trillion in debt. 0.99

00:57:53.000 The inflation is only making it worse.

00:57:56.000 The Fed just keeps printing money.

00:57:58.000 That means your costs go up and your quality of life goes down.

00:58:01.000 In just the last week, we've seen gold surging as Americans look to guard against economic disaster.

00:58:07.000 So like I always said, I just want you to be prepared.

00:58:10.000 Don't bury your head in the sand.

00:58:12.000 Actually be proactive and do something about it.

00:58:15.000 Diversify a portion of your savings into gold with the Birch Gold Room.

00:58:19.000 Gold is your hedge against inflation, and Birch makes it really, really easy to own.

00:58:25.000 They'll take you through the process step by step.

00:58:27.000 They'll answer all of your questions.

00:58:29.000 You can educate and inform yourself, and they'll help you convert an existing IRA or a 401k into an IRA in gold, tax and penalty free.

00:58:39.000 That's a big deal.

00:58:40.000 That's a great option for you.

00:58:42.000 So learn about it.

00:58:44.000 Don't pay a penny out of pocket by doing that tax and penalty free.

00:58:48.000 Inform yourself.

00:58:49.000 Make the right decision for your family.

00:58:51.000 So to learn more, text Don Jr, D-O-N-J-R, to the number 98-98-98.

00:58:58.000 That's text Don Jr.

00:59:00.000 You see it right there in the bottom?

00:59:01.000 Text it to 98-98-98 three times.

00:59:06.000 Learn more.

00:59:07.000 Educate yourself.

00:59:09.000 Inform yourself.

00:59:10.000 And, you know, I think it's what we need to do to take on this insanity, to diversify a portion of your portfolio.

00:59:18.000 It's a huge thing.

00:59:18.000 So again, Don Jr.

00:59:20.000 to 9-8-9-8-9-8.

00:59:22.000 And with that, joining me now, the great senator from the state of Ohio, J.D.

00:59:28.000 Vance.

00:59:30.000 What's up, man?

00:59:30.000 How are you?

00:59:31.000 I'm good, man.

00:59:32.000 How are you doing?

00:59:32.000 Pretty good.

00:59:33.000 I guess you had a little bit of an untraditional week.

00:59:37.000 You made the journey to downtown New York to sit in the courtroom on this, you know, Bolshevik trial.

00:59:46.000 What did you see there, J.D.?

00:59:48.000 What was that like?

00:59:49.000 I haven't even been yet.

00:59:49.000 They're already starting.

00:59:50.000 Don Jr.

00:59:51.000 no longer likes his dad.

00:59:52.000 It's like, I had knee surgery.

00:59:53.000 I couldn't go.

00:59:54.000 I'm going to go next week.

00:59:55.000 Like, you know.

00:59:57.000 But when I called my dad like, hey, how are you doing?

00:59:59.000 He's like, what are you talking about?

01:00:00.000 I'm like, I don't think he needs the moral support, but you know, you'll do it anyway, I guess.

01:00:04.000 Yeah, yeah. 0.98

01:00:04.000 Well, so this conversation is very dangerous for me, Don, because I feel like if we just, you know, shoot the shit like we normally do, then I'm going to say some things that are going to get me in trouble. 0.98

01:00:12.000 So I'm going to try to be careful here. 0.95

01:00:15.000 Okay, so here's my initial take on it, right?

01:00:18.000 So I'm sure you've like been to this, you know, this building a million times.

01:00:21.000 It was my first time being in like the residence at the top of Trump Tower.

01:00:25.000 Yeah.

01:00:26.000 So, you know, like beautiful view of Central Park.

01:00:28.000 It was like a very nice morning in New York City.

01:00:30.000 Very understated decoration.

01:00:33.000 Very understated decoration.

01:00:34.000 And then you hop in the car and you go to the most depressing place in the world, which is this courtroom that's ugly and old.

01:00:43.000 It's not like these grand courtrooms that make you think of the greatness of the American legal system.

01:00:48.000 It actually makes you think like you're in a sham trial in a sham courtroom.

01:00:52.000 And then, you know, the testimony of Michael Cohen is like so dry and so ridiculous that I look over the jury a few times and they're clearly getting bored with it. 0.90

01:01:04.000 I'm getting bored with it. 0.87

01:01:06.000 Everyone's getting bored with it.

01:01:07.000 It sort of hit me.

01:01:08.000 The purpose of this thing is twofold.

01:01:10.000 First of all, it's like psychological torture for Donald Trump, for your dad. 1.00

01:01:15.000 Because, you know, they yank him out of, like, a beautiful place and force him to sit in an ugly place for eight and a half hours to listen to, you know, Cohen, who's an obvious scumbag. 0.97

01:01:23.000 And then the second thing is, their entire legal strategy, such that it exists, is to just wear the jury down, right? 0.96

01:01:31.000 If you're a juror, you would do anything to get out of this situation.

01:01:36.000 Just tell me what I have to do, and I will get out of this situation.

01:01:39.000 And I think that's actually their only hope for a conviction, even as far left as New York is.

01:01:45.000 And even if you judge by the statistics, probably every single juror voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

01:01:51.000 Even with those circumstances, my assumption is that these guys, they see how ridiculous this whole thing is, and they just want to get the hell out of there.

01:02:00.000 And I hope that they do the right thing, but I actually don't think it matters, but neither here nor there.

01:02:04.000 Yeah, so, I mean, you tweeted sort of funny.

01:02:06.000 You were there on Tuesday.

01:02:07.000 There was no court yesterday.

01:02:08.000 They're back in.

01:02:09.000 You know, sort of discuss some of the craziness that's breaking today, because we're finally on cross-examination.

01:02:16.000 But you tweeted, basically, hey, I've been here for about 10 minutes, and when they write stories about Donald Trump sleeping, like, you can understand why, because it isn't exciting.

01:02:25.000 There was nothing there.

01:02:27.000 Like, you're sitting there for eight hours with nothing.

01:02:30.000 He can't speak about it.

01:02:31.000 He can't talk about it.

01:02:31.000 Later on, like, he's gagged.

01:02:34.000 I mean, it really does reek of a show trial when you look at even the basic facts of what's going on.

01:02:41.000 No, that's right.

01:02:42.000 So, you know, so President Trump sort of sits there, and except for when something is actually going on, that's interesting, you know, because most of it, it's, you know, Michael Cohen, I worked at this place from 10 years ago to eight years ago, and this place from eight years ago to six years ago, and it's just incredibly dry, sort of basic foundational testimony.

01:03:02.000 I was there Monday, and that was sort of the original prosecution hit.

01:03:06.000 on Michael Cohen.

01:03:08.000 So, you know, President Trump's sort of sitting there like this.

01:03:13.000 And I saw some media report from, you know, a few weeks ago that said, well, Donald Trump

01:03:19.000 is falling asleep at his own trial.

01:03:21.000 And you know the game that they're trying to play here, right?

01:03:23.000 One of the main issues- He's not energetic.

01:03:25.000 Joe Biden is a vibrant guy, a great orator, the leader we need.

01:03:30.000 Like, yeah.

01:03:31.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:03:32.000 So they have to hide Joe Biden walking from the helicopter because his gait shows that he clearly just isn't the same guy that he was even 10 years ago.

01:03:40.000 And they're trying to sort of draw this false comparison.

01:03:43.000 And I'm sitting there.

01:03:44.000 My initial thought is I've been here for 25 minutes.

01:03:47.000 I'm 39 years old, a pretty high energy guy, and I'm already about to fall asleep because of how dry and boring this is.

01:03:54.000 And again, man, you realize that the purpose of the trial is to neutralize Trump's strengths.

01:04:02.000 And to try to eliminate Biden's weaknesses, right?

01:04:05.000 So no, it's not about Biden being old and feeble. 0.98

01:04:07.000 It's that Donald Trump, you know, is allegedly falling asleep in his own trial, which is ridiculous. 0.76

01:04:13.000 Or, you know, obviously Trump engages and, you know, it's like one of his strengths as a candidate is that people like him, right?

01:04:19.000 He has a lot of energy and he's funny and people like to sort of be around him.

01:04:23.000 But they can't do that, right?

01:04:25.000 Because he's stuck in this trial for five, six, maybe even seven weeks.

01:04:28.000 So it really is just obviously political.

01:04:31.000 So I will tell you this, Don.

01:04:33.000 We went out and did like a little press conference and it was one of the things I wanted to do by being there.

01:04:38.000 One, just provide some moral support.

01:04:40.000 But second, like actually get out there and make as good of a case as I could make to people that this was ridiculous and that they should reject it by voting for President Trump in November.

01:04:50.000 And, you know, so some, like, random journalist yells out and says, well, you're not allowed to violate the gag order either.

01:04:59.000 What gives you the right to violate the gag order? 0.99

01:05:01.000 And I'm just, I think to my head, you know, well, the answer is the First Amendment, you dipshit. 0.98

01:05:07.000 But I don't say that. 0.97

01:05:08.000 You wouldn't voice with me if you say that.

01:05:14.000 I was on message and I did not, you know, answer the ridiculous questions, but the legal case itself, man, and I, you know, like I went to law school, but I sort of, as you know, sort of went to the business world right after law school.

01:05:28.000 The legal case is really crazy.

01:05:30.000 Yeah.

01:05:31.000 Because the basic argument is he committed a paperwork violation in service of some broader crime.

01:05:37.000 Which they haven't even articulated yet.

01:05:39.000 That's what people don't understand.

01:05:40.000 They're like... Exactly.

01:05:41.000 It's like they're gonna get to the end of the thing and in summation they're gonna say, and this is what he did, so that you can't actually prep for whatever it is.

01:05:49.000 It's almost like they don't know.

01:05:51.000 They're trying to back into an answer which seems to defy... I'm no lawyer.

01:05:55.000 I took some basic, you know, real estate law classes at business school, but like...

01:05:59.000 Doesn't seem to jive with literally anything that you'd have in a democracy or certainly in our republic.

01:06:07.000 Yeah, exactly right.

01:06:08.000 You're supposed to give the witness or the defendant proper notice.

01:06:12.000 You're supposed to actually tell them what they're allegedly being charged with.

01:06:15.000 And you're right.

01:06:16.000 It's like, look, if you think that he committed a paperwork violation in service of some other crime, then tell us what the other crime is.

01:06:24.000 Right.

01:06:24.000 Nobody cares about the paperwork violation.

01:06:26.000 People care about the other crime.

01:06:27.000 It just isn't there.

01:06:29.000 That's why they can't tell us what it is.

01:06:30.000 It just isn't there.

01:06:31.000 One other thing, Don, just about this whole deal.

01:06:34.000 So this happened probably four or five months ago.

01:06:36.000 You know, like I like to do a lot of opposition media because I think, you know, it's important to sort of take our message.

01:06:41.000 You do it well.

01:06:42.000 Not just the friendlies.

01:06:43.000 I appreciate that.

01:06:44.000 But I was in a scene in Green Room, you know, four or five months or so ago, and it was right after the brag thing had come down.

01:06:54.000 And it was funny, like, all of these guys, and these are sort of, you know, almost everybody else in that room was like anti-Trump, and they were mad at Alvin Bragg.

01:07:03.000 And why were they mad at Alvin Bragg?

01:07:04.000 Because the case was so ridiculous that they thought it actually increased the argument that this is all a witch hunt, right?

01:07:13.000 This is all about getting Donald Trump. 0.84

01:07:14.000 This is not about justice. 1.00

01:07:15.000 So they were actively mad at Alvin Bragg for being such an idiot and bringing this case. 0.97

01:07:20.000 And now that all the other cases have fallen apart, and this is the only one where you have a political judge and a political prosecutor, so it's still going to trial, this has become the thing the media is focused on. 0.97

01:07:31.000 Yeah. 0.96

01:07:31.000 And I kind of just want to talk to these people and be like, you guys recognize this was bullshit a few months ago. 0.96

01:07:36.000 And I will say, Don, even CNN, to their credit, some of their people are recognizing that this is absurd. 0.99

01:07:42.000 Yeah, well, one of the clips, you know, I played in the intro is, you know, Anderson Cooper being like, if you're the defense, you better put the witness in a box and, like, make him look like an ass. 0.98

01:07:51.000 And he's like, and they did that today with Michael Cohen.

01:07:53.000 You know, you saw the beginning of that, but even still, I mean, the whole thing, the paperwork thing is that An assistant in the accounting department like Mark next to this expense, you know legal expense like He didn't do that.

01:08:07.000 He was in DC.

01:08:08.000 He wasn't having communications This wasn't even a high-level person that I bet he wouldn't know the person's name You know in there and yet they're still trying to make that link But then you have you know, two days of Stormy Daniels on the case and none of it is about accounting It shows that it was just they're just there to try to embarrass We're just gonna talk about all these things that aren't germane to any case that we'd be making or otherwise, but we have a free venue and a hometown media that will just try to use this to, I guess, hurt Trump's credibility.

01:08:44.000 These are not people that talk about Joe Biden or the Hunter Biden laptop or the umpteen millions that the Bidens have made from foreign governments, our adversaries and enemies.

01:08:56.000 They won't have that conversation, but it seemed very much like that.

01:09:00.000 Yeah, that's exactly right.

01:09:02.000 So today's Thursday, yesterday was Wednesday.

01:09:05.000 We actually did a fundraiser for your dad in Cincinnati.

01:09:07.000 And it was sort of, I think, the only day that week he actually had, at least during the work week, to get out there and campaign.

01:09:13.000 And when you realize, to run a national campaign in this day and age, you need 750 million, maybe a billion dollars to actually run a competitive national campaign with all the grassroots and organizing and the TV ads and everything that goes into it.

01:09:30.000 And, you know, you just realize like what an unbelievable advantage this is for Joe Biden to have the leader of the opposition stuck in this courtroom for three or four days a week, right?

01:09:42.000 He gets one day to go out there and fundraise, one day to get that out there and go engage with voters and actually gin up enthusiasm.

01:09:51.000 And, you know, again, the case is so absurd.

01:09:55.000 It makes you realize it actually has two purposes.

01:09:57.000 Again, one is the psychological torture and the other is the election interference.

01:10:01.000 And that's all this is really about.

01:10:02.000 It's been all that it's about from the beginning.

01:10:06.000 And good news, and I'm sure you made this point, I've made this point a number of times, but we make it because it's true. 0.60

01:10:10.000 I actually think that it's backfired.

01:10:13.000 Oh yeah, I think without question, because each one of these cases has so much shade around it, right?

01:10:17.000 It's not like one's legit, and this guy's a prosecutor with a great record who's beyond reproach.

01:10:22.000 It's like, you would choose Jack Smith because he had questionable dealings in the Hague, right?

01:10:28.000 You had, you know, during Mueller you have Andy Weitzman because he was a scumbag and they knew that he would do anything he could to win even if it meant, you know, violating the law or breaking norms of, you know, decency. 0.87

01:10:40.000 You have it with Fannie Willis down in Georgia. 0.93

01:10:43.000 You know, you have two cases with Jack Smith.

01:10:45.000 I mean, you may, obviously, this is Alvin Bragg, but, you know, they don't point out that, you know, Matthew Colangelo is Biden's number three in his Department of Justice, the same Department of Justice that thinks, you know, Catholics are terrorists and concerned mothers at PTA meetings are domestic terrorists, but actual domestic terrorists aren't.

01:11:01.000 That person gets sent to Alvin Bragg's office.

01:11:04.000 Alvin Bragg himself and the prior DA turned down this case.

01:11:09.000 But Biden's number three shows up, and then two weeks later, all of a sudden, they're prosecuting it.

01:11:14.000 You know, I think people get it, but do you think the jury understands that, like, you know, again, whether it's Stormy Daniels, whether it's Michael Cohen, you know, that these aren't exactly credible witnesses.

01:11:26.000 I mean, these are not people that you would choose to defend yourself in any way, shape, or form.

01:11:33.000 Do you think they get that, or does it even matter in New York, because it is so lopsided?

01:11:38.000 Yeah, well, so Don, what are my grandmother's most important bits of wisdom to me?

01:11:43.000 And I called her Mamaw.

01:11:44.000 Mamaw would always say, never give a person an important job if you wouldn't trust them to babysit your kids. 1.00

01:11:50.000 And let me tell you, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, not getting anywhere near my kids, right?

01:11:55.000 No babysitting of the van's children from those two people.

01:11:59.000 So the fact that they're like the prosecution's star witness is really bad for their case.

01:12:03.000 I mean, look, I'm of two minds of this, Don.

01:12:06.000 On the one hand, the case is so absurd.

01:12:08.000 The jurors, as I saw it, were not super engaged.

01:12:11.000 They were not like blown away by Michael Cohen.

01:12:14.000 These are not people who are like watching him thinking this is a really believable person who's talking about a very serious crime.

01:12:22.000 On the other hand, the reason they did this in South Manhattan is because the pool of people is so heavily tilted against Donald Trump.

01:12:31.000 And I just don't know.

01:12:33.000 I mean, my guess here take this for what it's worth is the jury's not buying it

01:12:38.000 because it's so absurd.

01:12:39.000 But maybe that's like, maybe I still have too much faith in humanity,

01:12:43.000 at least in the jurors of South Manhattan. But man, it is such an absurd case.

01:12:48.000 Well, because I can see where you could be like, I agree with Trump.

01:12:53.000 Trump's right, but I'm not willing to not be able to show up to my kid's school because I'm the guy that hung a jury that could jail Donald Trump.

01:13:02.000 It's not worth the social stigma, which I feel like it's clear.

01:13:07.000 All these places, they were designed this way.

01:13:10.000 They were venue shops.

01:13:11.000 Even the Florida case, the grand jury happened in D.C.

01:13:14.000 Because you know you're gonna get an outcome.

01:13:16.000 In New York, you could have a couple people on that jury that are like, you know, Trump's totally innocent, this is insane, and yet, I don't know, I'd like to be able to go out to dinner again in New York, and you may not be able to do that.

01:13:27.000 You can't stack a jury when it's 95-5, you know, ultra-liberal to conservative.

01:13:32.000 You know, you only get so many people that you can strike on our side, and you do that long enough, eventually you run out, and you could have a 100% stacked jury, and you know, That was a made-to-order jury in a made-to-order venue with a made-to-order judge.

01:13:45.000 You know, it's all by design, but it may not matter.

01:13:48.000 Yeah, well, that's exactly right.

01:13:50.000 It reminds me, one of the great sources of power that the left still has, right?

01:13:56.000 I mean, I think most people roll their eyes at the craziness and the alphabet people and the purple-haired pro-Palestinian protesters on campus.

01:14:05.000 Um, but like the one thing that the left still has kind of going for it is they're able to exert incredible social stigma.

01:14:13.000 And it's less, I mean, it's less frankly, uh, thanks in large part to your family than it was six years ago, but it's still very much there.

01:14:20.000 And I, you know, I have this like buddy in Silicon Valley, you know, he's, nobody really knows who he is, younger guys, but sort of has made a fair amount of money.

01:14:27.000 And, you know, he's like having this internal debate and I think he's, he's going to come out on the right side of it where he's like, Should I come out publicly for DJT and give the campaign a lot of resources?

01:14:37.000 And he's like, on the one hand, I'll lose a lot of friends.

01:14:40.000 On the other hand, like screw those people if they're not your real friends.

01:14:43.000 I'm sure you're friends with people who don't share your politics.

01:14:48.000 I can't imagine.

01:14:49.000 ruining a friendship over politics. 1.00

01:14:51.000 But some of these people are that crazy.

01:14:53.000 And that is the dynamic I worry about with that New York jury is, you know, you can't go to your kid's soccer game anymore, because you voted to acquit Donald J. Trump, even if it's the right thing to do.

01:15:04.000 So, you know, let's be honest here, it will take some courage from the jurors to come down on the on the right side here.

01:15:10.000 But I still am somewhat optimistic because the case is so bad.

01:15:14.000 Yeah, I'm hoping so.

01:15:15.000 And I had that.

01:15:16.000 I mean, politics, getting into it as a guy from New York City, as a real estate developer from Manhattan, it was interesting.

01:15:22.000 Because, you know, you had a couple of friends that were just, hey, I may not agree with you, but I'm dying.

01:15:26.000 I had friends that wrote checks to the campaign.

01:15:27.000 He's like, I just believe in you.

01:15:29.000 I don't believe in most of the power, you know, whatever it may be.

01:15:31.000 But like, you know, I'm friends.

01:15:33.000 Then I had the friends that were like, texting me like love what you guys are doing it's great but then they're posting on Facebook like the woke like these guys are fascists it's like like wait a minute like what like what do you mean so for me it was cathartic because it's like that guy was out of my life and then he called like hey man you know the obligatory like you know once a year lunch like hey we haven't caught up in a while like yeah i'm good

01:15:52.000 What do you mean?

01:15:52.000 It's like, dude, like, you don't think I'd see?

01:15:55.000 Like, what am I, an idiot? 1.00

01:15:57.000 And so, you know, that's the problem. 0.98

01:15:59.000 It's the, you know, the people who may not even believe the stuff but are still willing to virtue signal because, you know, there's enough, you know, social credit Attributed to that in New York, you know, that's at least still a big deal, although you're right.

01:16:12.000 I think people are sort of waking up to it.

01:16:13.000 There's, you know, the things that were cancelable a few years ago, people are having those conversations.

01:16:18.000 They're saying those words that were verboten, you know, not all that long ago.

01:16:22.000 And I think that's a step in the right direction. 0.97

01:16:24.000 I just don't know if we're getting to a point where the critical mass is there to overwhelm the amount of bullshit that's in there. 0.94

01:16:31.000 Yeah, I feel like the scale is close to tipping, but it hasn't quite tipped over yet. 0.99

01:16:37.000 But yeah, I think it's really important, Don, for those of us who have achieved anything in our lives, to just say to that entire social pressure, social credit system, you put it well, like, screw you. 0.91

01:16:50.000 I'm not playing that game.

01:16:52.000 I don't care if you vote against the guy that I'm supporting, but if you're not going to be somebody's friend over politics, Uh, or if you're going to say one thing about them publicly and another thing privately, you're not a good friend to begin with.

01:17:03.000 And we, we really, I think this is maybe the most important thing that we can do is just to push back against this like left wing narrative that you're a good person if you share their politics and you're a bad person if you share somebody else's politics.

01:17:17.000 It's a very new thing in our country.

01:17:19.000 It's incredibly destructive and it's how the left I think has been able to maintain power without really making a good argument.

01:17:26.000 Right?

01:17:26.000 Like, like if you're, if you're, Joe Biden right now, right?

01:17:30.000 Can you run on lowering inflation?

01:17:31.000 No.

01:17:32.000 Can you run on securing the border?

01:17:33.000 No.

01:17:34.000 Can you run on keeping the fentanyl out of our communities?

01:17:36.000 No.

01:17:36.000 Can you run on, like, world peace, right?

01:17:38.000 God, no.

01:17:39.000 There's a new war in nearly every continent in the world, but the thing they still have is, well, we're the good people.

01:17:45.000 Well, hell, if you guys are the good people and it produces higher inflation, you know, on the verge of world war and a ton of other bad outcomes, then give me something else.

01:17:54.000 Yeah, good people don't produce poverty and death.

01:17:57.000 That's not the outcome of good people.

01:18:01.000 I'll take mean tweets and world peace literally any day because just because a tweet is mean doesn't mean it's not also accurate.

01:18:09.000 And us pretending that that's not the case doesn't do anyone any favors.

01:18:14.000 Yeah, and being direct, right?

01:18:16.000 This is just something that, you know, Our country's really lost this, where we need to be comfortable actually disagreeing with one another.

01:18:24.000 And there's no way to solve a real dispute if you just pretend that you agree with somebody.

01:18:29.000 And I'm sure you saw this in Manhattan real estate world.

01:18:32.000 I certainly saw this in Silicon Valley tech world, which is what I did before I started to get into politics.

01:18:39.000 It was like, look.

01:18:41.000 You are allowed to actually have a difference of opinion, right?

01:18:45.000 And different people are going to have ways that they express it, but you shouldn't fall all over yourself pretending that you agree with somebody when what they're saying is obviously crazy because that's how you end up disservicing the country and going down this weird spiral we're in right now.

01:18:59.000 Yeah, the Wuhan Lab League, clearly, it didn't come from the lab.

01:19:02.000 It came from two feet outside of the lab that studies the exact virus in question.

01:19:06.000 Trust the science.

01:19:08.000 I feel like you sort of do yourself a major disservice if you're the boy who cries wolf every time because it's like why would you have any faith in your government?

01:19:15.000 Why would you have any faith in the institutions that are supposed to protect you when they fail to do so and it's so flagrantly obvious like you didn't need to be an epidemiologist to be like yeah that makes no sense whatsoever like of course it came from the lab like there's there's literally no other plausible answer but It didn't matter.

01:19:32.000 Yeah.

01:19:33.000 Option A, it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is doing gain-of-function research on coronaviruses.

01:19:40.000 At ground zero.

01:19:42.000 Option B is that a bat got too close to a pig and then fell into a soup in a wet market Come on, guys.

01:19:51.000 Common sense here.

01:19:53.000 Just accept the common sense.

01:19:55.000 But no, it's so much from the gender stuff to the inflation stuff to, you know, like the trade, the war question.

01:20:03.000 There are so many issues where like basic common sense.

01:20:06.000 OK, here's an idea, Don.

01:20:09.000 Let's send all of our industrial base to China and then let's like fight a war against China. 1.00

01:20:15.000 OK, that's really stupid. 1.00

01:20:17.000 That's really stupid. 1.00

01:20:18.000 And so, you know, you have like these people where they seem to want to do the obviously dumb thing each time. 1.00

01:20:27.000 And again, I think just calling it out is really important.

01:20:29.000 Like, here's a solution, Don.

01:20:31.000 How about we rebuild our own industrial base and rebuild our own country, and then maybe the Chinese won't be so aggressive because they'll be afraid of us. 0.98

01:20:40.000 And then you get peace on the one hand, and prosperity on the other hand, and you have options.

01:20:44.000 JD, you're such a radical.

01:20:47.000 It's such a radical concept.

01:20:48.000 I can't believe you'd say something.

01:20:49.000 It's probably also racist, right?

01:20:50.000 Because everything's racist.

01:20:52.000 But so I guess, listen, hey, you and I agree a lot on this stuff when we talk, you know, foreign policy.

01:20:56.000 Like, I love that you're one of the few guys in the United States Senate actually talking about this.

01:21:00.000 But like, let's say, you know, speaking of just the utter lack of credibility, you have our Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken over in Ukraine.

01:21:08.000 You know, he's jamming out on a guitar, you know.

01:21:12.000 Do you have any faith in this?

01:21:13.000 Don't do this to me.

01:21:14.000 Don't make me watch the Anthony Blinken rock and roll.

01:21:17.000 Let's just say he goes to a bar in Kiev and he's playing like rock and roll guitar.

01:21:20.000 I mean, it's nice that he plays guitar, but like, you know, this is the same clown that got on a world stage after the Afghan withdrawal and said that he's shocked and dismayed that the Taliban didn't install a more diverse and inclusive government in Afghanistan.

01:21:34.000 So like, I guess my question to you is like, if you're shocked, That the Taliban didn't install a more diverse and inclusive government there.

01:21:42.000 If you're jamming on a rock guitar in Ukraine when you're on the brink of, you know, World War III with the world's largest nuclear superpower, you know, 160 billion dollars, you know, with nothing to show for it. 0.60

01:21:53.000 Do you have any faith?

01:21:55.000 Uh, in this administration's ability to handle these things. 1.00

01:21:58.000 We were told the adults are back in charge, and it feels like, like the morons are in charge. 0.99

01:22:03.000 Like, it's not, there's not an adult in the room. 0.98

01:22:06.000 It's just, you know, again, either virtual signaling or like, well, you know, the electric guitar is wonderful. 0.87

01:22:11.000 I mean, I, you know, shit, I wish I could play classical rock guitar, but like, I don't know, doesn't seem all that relevant to ending the war. 0.79

01:22:18.000 No, not at all. 0.99

01:22:19.000 And it's all vibes, man.

01:22:20.000 These people, they don't have any governing success to go on, so it's all vibes, and they'll put the Ukraine flag in their bio, and they'll talk about defending freedom and democracy, and it's like, oh, by the way, you guys have gotten millions of people killed with nothing to show for it.

01:22:36.000 The Ukrainians, by the way, it looks like wanted to sort of negotiate a year and a half ago.

01:22:41.000 The Biden administration stopped them from doing it.

01:22:43.000 That was when Ukraine was actually at its strongest, right?

01:22:46.000 Like if you want to help the Ukrainians as much as possible and preserve their territory,

01:22:52.000 you would actually say, well, let's let the Ukrainians negotiate

01:22:57.000 from a position of strength rather than from a position of weakness.

01:23:02.000 But look, here's the craziest thing about our posture in Ukraine, Don,

01:23:07.000 is you talk to these guys and you realize that they're listening to all of the rejects

01:23:15.000 who left the Republican Party when Trump became president, And like, you sort of know my background.

01:23:21.000 I was like a Trump critic back in 2015 and sort of... I heard a little bit about this in the past.

01:23:27.000 Listen, I'd say, great turnaround player, but maybe the best turnaround player.

01:23:32.000 You know, when I was talking to DJT about, hey, we got to go in for JD, like he's become a friend.

01:23:38.000 You know, I got to hear some of those clips.

01:23:41.000 Not the easiest, but you know.

01:23:43.000 But you've been a rock star.

01:23:44.000 I mean, I used you as the example.

01:23:46.000 I was like, hey, this is the one guy in the United States Senate.

01:23:49.000 Quite literally, the one guy that's conservative in the United States Senate that'd be like, I want to fight with this guy because he gets it.

01:23:56.000 He's doing what his constituency wants and no one else does.

01:24:00.000 Yeah, and look, let's take Bill Kristol and everybody who was wrong about everything for 20 years and put them in the Democratic Party, and it's like, what are you guys doing?

01:24:12.000 You know, when you're sort of like recruiting for a football team, it's like you don't recruit the rejects, right? 0.99

01:24:18.000 You recruit the smart people who have actually gotten some things right.

01:24:22.000 And the entire Biden approach to foreign policy, man, is listening to, like, take the 10 most wrong people for the last 30 years, put them in positions of power, and that is like who the Biden administration takes as their foreign policy advisors.

01:24:37.000 It's just preposterous.

01:24:39.000 You know, the thing that I kept coming back to, Don, when I was talking about the Ukraine conflict was, okay, like, set the moralisms to the side, right?

01:24:47.000 Ukraine good, Putin bad.

01:24:50.000 I agree with you.

01:24:50.000 I like Ukraine.

01:24:51.000 I don't like Putin.

01:24:52.000 Like, we're not making a moral judgment about the Ukrainians being bad by saying we shouldn't write these guys $160 billion in blank checks.

01:25:01.000 They do, by the way, have a corruption problem.

01:25:03.000 nothing they were ranked more corrupt than Russia like prior to you know prior to Zalinsky becoming 0.87

01:25:08.000 like you know the modern day deity of the left right he became like god i guess he replaced

01:25:13.000 Fauci who had replaced Greta Thunberg as like the high priestess of the left. The holy trinity.

01:25:20.000 The holy trinity.

01:25:22.000 So what are we getting out of the billions that we spend though, JD?

01:25:24.000 We're 160 billion in, you know, and every time, like, the Ukrainians shot a Russian tank today.

01:25:29.000 Like, that's a big story.

01:25:30.000 But when they lose, like, a quadrant of the country, it's like, it was a strategic withdrawal.

01:25:34.000 I'm like, Yeah.

01:25:35.000 You know, how much of this is being... I heard there's more millionaires being created in Ukraine, you know, than ever before.

01:25:43.000 Like, 10x... I don't even know what the number is, but like, stupid numbers. 1.00

01:25:46.000 I mean, it's just, it's grift. 0.99

01:25:48.000 I mean, they're, you know, one of these towns, they lost one of these towns because the money that was designated to defend the town was stolen by the general in charge of the town.

01:25:57.000 It's like, well, I'll pocket the money and you guys can have the town.

01:26:01.000 I mean, what's going on here?

01:26:03.000 Yeah, so I made a comment, Don, that really pissed off the left a while ago.

01:26:08.000 And most of your colleagues on the right in the Senate, because let's say 40 over the 50 are probably pretty much in line with the left on this one.

01:26:16.000 Yeah, a lot of neocons.

01:26:17.000 And it was something to the effect of, look, these people want to cut Social Security so that they can send Ukraine more money.

01:26:25.000 And I'm not throwing my grandparents into poverty so that we can buy Zelensky's ministers a bigger yacht.

01:26:32.000 People went ape about that particular quote.

01:26:35.000 They were very pissed off about it.

01:26:37.000 You know why I said that?

01:26:38.000 Because it happened.

01:26:39.000 Well, because yeah, because a couple of weeks before I made that observation, we were talking to

01:26:45.000 an energy company that does a lot of work all over the world

01:26:49.000 and they told us this story of corruption in Ukraine where I was like, what is this?

01:26:53.000 How is this not like the biggest story in the world?

01:26:55.000 But like basically they were talking about bidding for various energy contracts.

01:27:00.000 And these energy contracts of course are being paid a lot of them with American taxpayer dollars, right?

01:27:05.000 Because so much of our money is going to the country.

01:27:07.000 So these energy contracts are going to...

01:27:10.000 People, not who are providing the lowest, highest quality bid, but to friends of the ministers and the government, right?

01:27:18.000 It's the definition of corruption is you do these contracts, paid for with American dollars, and then you charge more money and give the contracts to your friends, right?

01:27:28.000 So everybody gets rich, of course, except for the Ukrainian people, who are the ones who are actually suffering because of the conflict.

01:27:35.000 And then I was like, okay, so let's look at some of the energy conglomerate oligarchs in Ukraine, and a couple of them are people who are literally buying superyachts.

01:27:45.000 So I'm like, wait a second, our taxpayer dollars are funding corrupt energy oligarchs who are then You know, putting that money to yachts. 0.98

01:27:55.000 Okay, that's bullshit. 0.99

01:27:56.000 Yeah. 1.00

01:27:57.000 And we should not stand for this in the Republican Party.

01:27:59.000 We stand for anything.

01:28:00.000 It's that we put the interests of American citizens first.

01:28:03.000 And it's telling, that's maybe the thing I've said about Ukraine that has made people the most angry.

01:28:09.000 It's always the true things you say that get people the most pissed off.

01:28:13.000 And that, by the way, is the lesson of the Trump presidency.

01:28:16.000 Yeah.

01:28:16.000 Is when he said something that was true and you're not allowed to say it, that's when people went nuts.

01:28:23.000 Yeah, no, 100%.

01:28:23.000 I mean, the underlying other aspect of that is that it's those elites, whether they're American elites that are part of the sort of industrial military complex, big war, so to speak, or the elites in Ukraine that are those cabinet ministers.

01:28:40.000 They're getting rich, but the people that are dying are not those guys.

01:28:44.000 Zelensky's not at risk of anything happening to him.

01:28:48.000 Uh, they're sending, you know, the people that they view as, you know, the peasants to go die.

01:28:52.000 I mean, it's hundreds of thousands of, you know, young men sent to a front line as cannon fodder.

01:28:57.000 Uh, and no one's even talking about that, right?

01:29:00.000 It's sort of interesting.

01:29:01.000 You know, you hear about, you know, the Israelis hit, you know, Hamas, a terrorist organization, and, you know...

01:29:08.000 They're hiding behind children, so there's going to be casualties.

01:29:11.000 I think that's terrible.

01:29:11.000 I think it's horrible.

01:29:12.000 I wish it would stop.

01:29:13.000 But, like, maybe, you know, don't use children as a human shield if they... Absolutely.

01:29:17.000 You know, minor details.

01:29:18.000 But it seems like that's a real problem.

01:29:21.000 But, you know, essentially committing genocide on both sides, you know, here, where it's just, you know, unlimited death for Russia. 0.77

01:29:27.000 Take out... Might as well take out all of Russia. 0.98

01:29:29.000 Who cares?

01:29:30.000 Let every, you know, peasant Ukrainian that's sent to the front lines, oftentimes against their will, because half of them are ethnic Russian anyway. 0.96

01:29:36.000 Why is there that disparity there?

01:29:38.000 Why is it okay just to perpetuate the death there?

01:29:42.000 But, you know, you go a little bit, you know, further to the west, in the Middle East, and all of a sudden it's like, well, that's different.

01:29:50.000 We gotta stop this right away.

01:29:51.000 Yeah, and I'm going to steal somebody's line.

01:29:54.000 I forget who said this, Don, but they were, I think it was one of my maybe Senate colleagues who was talking about, you know, when the Biden administration, when the Democrats talk about Russian lives, they're like, you know, they're, they're like real tough guys. 0.87

01:30:06.000 It's like, they've all taken, you know, like, like a bunch of steroids because they're like, oh, we're going to kill every single Russian. 1.00

01:30:15.000 Who cares? 1.00

01:30:16.000 We'll, you know, we'll bleed these guys dry. 0.99

01:30:18.000 And yeah, a lot of Ukrainians are going to die, but it's worth it to bleed the Russians dry. 1.00

01:30:22.000 And it's like, okay, well, aren't we supposed to be like helping the Ukrainians and you're talking about bleeding them dry so that we can bleed Russia dry too? 0.94

01:30:28.000 Like that doesn't make a ton of sense.

01:30:30.000 But then they talk about Israel and Hamas, and all of a sudden,

01:30:35.000 these guys turn into big humanitarians, right?

01:30:37.000 Every drop of innocent blood that is spilled is a tragedy.

01:30:41.000 And I actually think that every drop of innocent blood is a tragedy.

01:30:45.000 I can just hold that principle consistent across different wars,

01:30:48.000 and also recognize that like, yeah, when you hide behind innocent women and children,

01:30:54.000 as the Hamas terrorists are doing, it is unfortunate and terrible 1.00

01:30:58.000 that people are going to get killed.

01:30:59.000 I just tend to blame the people who are hiding behind the children more for that than anybody else.

01:31:05.000 Yeah, no, I mean, they sort of have, you know, for Hamas, it's almost, I don't want to say perfect in that I agree with it, but they have this sort of perfect excuse because they're made to be the victim somehow, you know, in the mainstream press. 0.74

01:31:16.000 So when you've won the PR war, you can actually do that.

01:31:19.000 You hide behind children.

01:31:20.000 No one calls you out for that.

01:31:22.000 But then if children are unfortunate collateral damage, when you're going after literally people who would, you know, killed and murdered children and raped them in the streets, I mean, it's sort of the perfect cover.

01:31:35.000 It's totally irrational, but that's the environment that today's media has created that sort of lets them get away with that entirely.

01:31:44.000 Yeah, that's exactly right.

01:31:45.000 And it's, again, it's a total double standard.

01:31:47.000 And I think the basic answer here, Don, is the left is so obsessed with this oppressor versus oppressed narrative, and everything gets fit into that box.

01:31:57.000 And if you're the oppressor, according to the left, then it doesn't matter what you do, you're always the oppressor.

01:32:04.000 And poor little innocent Hamas, they're always the oppressed. 0.99

01:32:08.000 Even when they murder women and children, they're still the oppressed.

01:32:10.000 And I think that that is like the dynamic.

01:32:13.000 I really hate this, right?

01:32:15.000 Because I think that like a classic American understanding of the world is that, you know, yeah, sometimes you can get dealt a crappy hand in life, but you still try to persevere and do something with whatever, you know, make lemons out of lemonade, right?

01:32:30.000 Like a classic American phrase.

01:32:32.000 And this is like a real sickness, I think, of the modern American left where they want to turn everybody into a victim.

01:32:38.000 And then they want sort of people to promote their like victim status.

01:32:41.000 Yeah.

01:32:42.000 And when I think about watching these college protests or just watching university students in classes and talking to people, there is this weird desire to just overstate how hard and how bad your life has been.

01:32:58.000 So my theory on this, in the same way that you have a bunch of politicians who lied and said that they served in Vietnam and they really didn't, because that was the thing to do. 0.99

01:33:06.000 Yeah, Don Heng, Dick Blumenthal, I guess.

01:33:11.000 It wasn't really there, but it sounded good at the time.

01:33:14.000 The thing to do was to serve your country.

01:33:16.000 Set aside whether the Vietnam War was a good idea, of course it was a terrible idea. 0.98

01:33:20.000 People were proud to serve their country.

01:33:22.000 I'm telling you dude, in 10 years, Washington is going to be filled with congressmen and senators who talk about how if they grew up in like a one-room shack in the in the in the basement of you know a Hamas encampment and it's gonna turn out that they were like the son of the Sultan living in Qatar flying around on a private jet like this is people are so warped by this by pretending to be a victim that I think that like the next generation of Americans

01:33:52.000 The smartest thing you can do, the wisest thing you can do is break free of that and not see yourself as a victim because it's going to screw with your whole psychology.

01:34:00.000 Yeah, I mean, listen, you have an incredible story about that.

01:34:02.000 I mean, your life.

01:34:03.000 I mean, you wrote, you know, the New York Times bestseller, Hillbilly Algae.

01:34:06.000 I mean, talking about like growing up, you know, in that sort of, you know, Appalachia and having, you know, a, let's call it, you know, fairly broken family and how the opportunities that you had and took got you out of that mindset.

01:34:19.000 You know, you wrote a book about how you got out of it, not how you perpetually maintain, you know, Maintain that victim status you actually achieve and that seems to me like to be you know That's the American dream is you know being born into that and being able to get out of it Not permanently sort of resort to this is this is who I am to try to leverage some sort of other nonsense

01:34:42.000 Yeah, absolutely.

01:34:42.000 And the other thing, Don, is like, yeah, you know, I didn't always have the easiest life, but I feel incredibly grateful for all the good stuff that's happened to me.

01:34:51.000 And I'm sure you've seen this and you've seen it with rich people and poor people. 0.98

01:34:55.000 Like to me, like one of the biggest differences from whether somebody is a piece of shit or not is whether they have a sense of gratitude. 0.98

01:35:02.000 And if you've got a sense of gratitude, man, like that is just such a powerful way to walk around is feeling like, you know, like, like people helped you. 0.99

01:35:09.000 And you ought to be grateful for it.

01:35:11.000 You shouldn't just constantly look in the mirror and whine about how terrible everything is. 0.97

01:35:14.000 Yeah, no, I sit there and listen, I bitch a lot too. 1.00

01:35:17.000 But like, you know, I constantly try to reinforce how I understand how blessed I've been and I want to make sure that that exists for other Americans because the American dream is real.

01:35:27.000 The people who oftentimes bitch about it most, whether it's some professional sports player who's worth a billion dollars and somehow still manages to be super oppressed.

01:35:37.000 You know, it feels sort of nonsense, and I think, you know, the whole idea of why we fight like this is to preserve, you know, the ability for others to be able to do that in America, because I think it's probably the only place in the world where you can still do that with regularity, and that's such an important foundation for what we all stand for as a country.

01:35:56.000 Absolutely, and it's one of the things the media says about your dad that really bothers me.

01:36:00.000 It's like, if you know Trump, right, and you talk to him, he talks about his dad, and he talks about his mom, I guess your grandparents, he talks about his kids, and all the workers that he dealt with, union workers, non-union workers, and there is just this sense, and he talks about the country, right?

01:36:18.000 He's grateful for all of these various forces That have been there, that have made this such a good country to live in, that have made it possible for him to build this real estate empire.

01:36:30.000 The media never tells that story.

01:36:35.000 I think it's actually one of the reasons why more people haven't come around is they have this very warped media impression.

01:36:46.000 And if we could just get the truth out, sometimes I feel like we're going to win a landslide in 24.

01:36:50.000 We just have to tell the truth.

01:36:51.000 It's so crazy.

01:36:51.000 You just have to tell the truth.

01:36:53.000 It's so easy, but there's so many insurmountable forces against us.

01:36:57.000 A trillion dollars of big tech.

01:36:59.000 You came from the tech world.

01:37:01.000 You're one of 100,000 people that actually isn't looking at it through that warped lens.

01:37:09.000 Speaking of warped lenses, you've been in the Senate now for a year and a half.

01:37:14.000 What about the Senate has surprised you?

01:37:16.000 What do you like?

01:37:18.000 What do you hate?

01:37:19.000 You know, it always shocks me.

01:37:20.000 I see, you know, there's guys in Congress that fight.

01:37:23.000 There's so few in the Senate that don't just get absorbed by the swamp, don't become, you know, oftentimes probably the thing that they hated about Washington, D.C., but they get there and it's like they get enveloped.

01:37:35.000 What is it about the Senate that you've noticed that happens there?

01:37:39.000 Well, it's interesting.

01:37:41.000 I just came from lunch a few hours ago, and I was talking with Ron Johnson at lunch, and one of the things about Ron Johnson is when he talks about Wisconsin, when he talks about the plumbers and the electricians and the manufacturers, because he has this sort of business background, his face lights up, right?

01:37:59.000 And Ron is funny.

01:38:00.000 He's kind of like a grumpy guy on the one hand, but on the other hand, he has this real sense of passion and affection for the people of Wisconsin.

01:38:08.000 I think the biggest problem in Washington, man, especially in the Senate, is that not enough people feel any attachment to the people who actually elected us, right?

01:38:17.000 This is fundamentally a service business, right?

01:38:19.000 You are sent to Washington to do a job, to save the country, to try to fix the problems that exist out there, and you're sent there by people who have very real issues.

01:38:31.000 It doesn't mean they're victims, it just means they have problems and they want their government to address those problems, and there's not enough of that recognition.

01:38:39.000 And I think a lot of people, you just think about like, Why is Washington broken?

01:38:44.000 The fundamental question, it goes back to the social credit issue on the left, is whose opinion do you really care about, right?

01:38:51.000 Ask yourself, and this is, if I could give you or anybody else advice, in who goes Native, corrupt in Washington, and who actually, like, stays true to the state that sent them, it's whose opinion do they care about? 0.89

01:39:07.000 Because if they really care about the opinion of the people who sent them, they might be wrong on some issues, or I might disagree with them on issues, but they will always have that inner core, because they're always going to listen to the voice that they should be listened to.

01:39:19.000 Whereas the people who care about, you know, what they say at Davos, or what they say at the Munich Security Conference, or what they say at all of these, like, summits, and journalists and everybody else who has influence in this town, if you care more about what those people think about you, you will eventually stab your voters in the back.

01:39:36.000 Yeah, because it is one of those things.

01:39:37.000 It's like, at least the Democrats, when they're doing this crazy stuff, it's like, well, you know, if they're from Manhattan, it's like, maybe that's where those people actually are.

01:39:44.000 But it's the Republicans where I see that just that huge dichotomy between, you know, those who elected them to represent them in D.C.

01:39:53.000 and D.C.

01:39:54.000 You hear it like with Mitch McConnell.

01:39:56.000 Ukraine funding is the number one issue for Republicans across the country.

01:40:00.000 It's not.

01:40:00.000 It's not even close.

01:40:01.000 And I know because I've spoken to more Republicans across the country than Mitch McConnell has ever in his entire 476 year career in the United States Senate.

01:40:08.000 It's just not.

01:40:09.000 It's not a top 10 issue for that.

01:40:10.000 I literally do a survey every time I speak in front of a large group and it's like 55,000 people I think I've probably done it to in the last 18 months and it's like One, the guy who happened to be from Kiev.

01:40:23.000 So I was like, okay, it wasn't even a top 10, it wasn't even a top 10 issue.

01:40:27.000 Sorry, it wasn't even a top three issue.

01:40:29.000 Is it top three?

01:40:30.000 Is it top 10?

01:40:31.000 So far, one guy.

01:40:33.000 There was another guy that was from DC that, you know, presumably he was a military contractor, but like 55,000 people, two people, actually it was three people, but the one guy, he heard the question as a double negative.

01:40:42.000 So he changed his mind, you know, so two out of 55,000.

01:40:46.000 In terms of polling, that's a very large sample set.

01:40:50.000 That is not a strong thing.

01:40:52.000 And the two people that were, it was only a top ten issue.

01:40:55.000 And yet...

01:40:57.000 Doesn't matter.

01:40:57.000 Like for him, it's number one.

01:40:58.000 It's the only thing that matters. 0.99

01:40:59.000 And I guarantee you, no one in Kentucky gives a shit. 0.99

01:41:02.000 And yet, that's his thing. 0.99

01:41:05.000 Absolutely.

01:41:05.000 So first of all, I've seen you do that at a number of different events, like in front of big crowds.

01:41:11.000 And I remember like three months ago, you texted me, dude, I finally got the one guy who thinks that you...

01:41:18.000 Yeah, I was shocked.

01:41:20.000 I was like, wow.

01:41:21.000 I was like, hey man, like, have that conversation.

01:41:23.000 I had it at Rockbridge a couple weeks ago.

01:41:26.000 He was another guy.

01:41:27.000 He's literally wearing a suit and flip-flops.

01:41:30.000 And he comes up and he just, you know, it's like, well, what about this?

01:41:33.000 I was like, well, okay, so what's your answer?

01:41:35.000 I was like, we're just gonna keep giving unlimited- and it was like, you could see it.

01:41:38.000 Like, they clearly had no idea, so I literally engaged with him back and forth at the point.

01:41:43.000 It was like, you haven't done anything to win me over.

01:41:45.000 The whole crowd is like, being like, okay, stop.

01:41:47.000 We heard your point, but you're not making a good one.

01:41:49.000 Like, there was no answer.

01:41:51.000 Is it- is it- do we- do we cut it off at a trillion?

01:41:53.000 Ten trillion?

01:41:54.000 Do we- I mean, we're paying Ukrainian pensions, you know.

01:41:58.000 I don't know, I'd say unfunded pension liability in the United States is a real problem, whether it's for the people of your home state in Ohio, you know, car workers, steel workers, you know, teachers, whatever it is, it's a serious problem that we have no answer for, but we're funding pensions in Ukraine, so they're taken care of. 0.53

01:42:15.000 I'm like, it's lunacy, I've never seen anything like it.

01:42:19.000 Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, and you're exactly right.

01:42:21.000 Nobody's identified how long does this go on, how much money does it actually cost, and this is what's interesting, Don, is to get a little bit into the weeds of political polling.

01:42:31.000 Tony Fabricio, who's my pollster and he's your dad's pollster, he's a really, really smart guy, You can't ask people, well, what do you just think about this issue?

01:42:41.000 Because that doesn't tell you what they're motivated by, right?

01:42:44.000 You gotta ask them the issues they're motivated by.

01:42:45.000 And right now, what people are motivated by is, you know, if you're a young person, good luck buying a home because mortgage interest rates are through the roof.

01:42:53.000 Good luck going to the grocery store and actually staying in budget for a middle-class family because food is crazy right now.

01:42:59.000 Then you talk about energy costs.

01:43:00.000 Then you talk about the fact that they're worried about sending their kids to a school where they're not going to get a good education.

01:43:07.000 They're going to get indoctrinated.

01:43:08.000 That's true at their elementary schools.

01:43:10.000 It's also true, of course, at the upper levels too.

01:43:13.000 There are real things that actually motivate and piss people off.

01:43:16.000 Even if they disagree with me on Ukraine, it is almost never the main issue they're voting on.

01:43:21.000 And like, you know, again, politics, you gotta stand on principle, right?

01:43:26.000 And you remember this, because you were right there with me.

01:43:28.000 Our Ukraine view is not necessarily the most popular view two years ago, but we made that argument because I think that we were right. 0.99

01:43:38.000 Yeah, because no one ever articulated an endgame.

01:43:41.000 Like, no one told me, like, I still have, like, we're 160 billion in, what's a win?

01:43:46.000 Like, you know, I don't know.

01:43:48.000 You're in the Senate.

01:43:48.000 What do your colleagues tell you?

01:43:49.000 Because you're asking the same question.

01:43:51.000 You're with me.

01:43:52.000 But, you know, they're voting on these things as, you know, they're absolutes.

01:43:55.000 We've just got to do it.

01:43:56.000 But, like, what does a win look like?

01:43:57.000 Is it you lose half the country, but we're $3 trillion in?

01:44:01.000 If that means that a family can't feed themselves in America, like, is that still a win? 0.96

01:44:08.000 And that's what we're talking about.

01:44:09.000 Because, you know, It's not like we're doing great.

01:44:13.000 I mean, we're $34 trillion in debt.

01:44:15.000 We're sending, you know, here's another $25 million to Pakistani trans education programs.

01:44:21.000 I'm sure that's not being stolen.

01:44:22.000 You know, we're like the piggy bank of the world for like the dumbest things, and yet You know, this is an unlimited thing, and not a single person in DC has said, what's a win look like?

01:44:33.000 And by the way, or what's a win look like even within the realm of reasonable?

01:44:37.000 Meaning, it's not like, you know, Russia doesn't have the upper hand right now because we let it go so long, we didn't get to the table when we could. 0.77

01:44:47.000 The sanctions that we put on have jacked up energy prices so much that Russia's basically net neutral.

01:44:51.000 They're paying for it with this while simultaneously building their economy, because that's what happens in war, especially when you're selling oil to others.

01:45:02.000 At this point, it's almost like a win for them.

01:45:05.000 And I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

01:45:08.000 And when I talk to my colleagues, I do ask this question, I do have conversations, and I like most of my colleagues, right?

01:45:14.000 I'm a pretty friendly guy and I get along with most people.

01:45:17.000 The thing that they will tell me is...

01:45:19.000 Well, we don't necessarily know what a win looks like, we just know that Ukraine will definitely lose if we don't write this additional check.

01:45:27.000 But that logic is going to have you writing a $60 billion check in a few months, and then a $60 billion check a few months after that, and it's just going to get us further and further down this rabbit hole, and a lot more people are going to get killed, and eventually an adult is going to have to stand up and say, What are we trying to accomplish?

01:45:44.000 How long does it take to accomplish?

01:45:46.000 How much money does it take?

01:45:48.000 And I think when we get to that point, what we're going to realize, Don, is what the Ukrainians realized two years ago, which is negotiate a peace, accept that it's going to suck, but that we stop the killing, we stop the risk of escalation into a broader war.

01:46:02.000 I mean, these people, they say that they care.

01:46:05.000 The Biden people, they care.

01:46:07.000 Ukraine is like the most important issue in the world to them.

01:46:11.000 And yet, they're pushing Germany to adopt green energy policies that's turning Russia into the distinct energy superpower of the world.

01:46:19.000 Like, you can't on the one hand say, we've got to fight the Ukrainians, or fight the Russians to the last Ukrainian, and with the other hand say, we're going to pursue energy policies that make Russia one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

01:46:31.000 It doesn't make an outcome.

01:46:32.000 But they do that, right?

01:46:33.000 That's what they did with NATO.

01:46:34.000 That's what they do.

01:46:35.000 Trump's like, well NATO's got to, and Germany's like, we're not going to pay our 2% or a fair

01:46:38.000 share, but it's like contractually written.

01:46:41.000 But we want you, America, to step up and defend us more against Russia while simultaneously

01:46:46.000 opening up the Nord Stream pipeline.

01:46:48.000 So we're going to enrich the enemy that we want you to protect us from. 1.00

01:46:52.000 We're not going to even contribute our fair share because you guys are schmucks. 0.99

01:46:56.000 And you know, that's just the way it is. 0.99

01:46:58.000 And we're like, we're supposed to be like, oh, this is great.

01:47:00.000 My father says like, uh, no, no, like you're congratulations.

01:47:04.000 You want to do that?

01:47:05.000 You're on your own.

01:47:06.000 I can't believe Trump.

01:47:07.000 He's pro-Russia.

01:47:10.000 It's insane.

01:47:11.000 It's totally crazy, and here's the thing.

01:47:14.000 The Germans will say, on the one hand, that if you guys don't stop the Russians in Ukraine, they're going to march all the way to Berlin. 0.74

01:47:24.000 And then you go to Berlin, and it's like, they're sure as hell not acting like they're about to be invaded by the Russians.

01:47:29.000 There's no sense of urgency, and they're still, to this point, not at 2% of GDP.

01:47:37.000 If you really thought the Russians were about to invade your country, you'd be spending 10% of GDP on defense, not us begging you to spend 2% of GDP.

01:47:48.000 And I mean, all of this stuff is built on a house of cards and contradictions that doesn't make any sense.

01:47:54.000 We want to fight the Russians, but we want to empower the Russian economy by our ridiculous energy policies. 0.99

01:47:59.000 You know, we need to manufacture more weapons so that we can take a bigger role in our self-defense.

01:48:03.000 But Germany is de-industrializing because this green energy stuff, Don, you can't make anything.

01:48:08.000 You can't manufacture stuff with like energy generated by solar panels and wind farms. 0.99

01:48:13.000 So the whole thing is utter bullshit. 0.98

01:48:17.000 Nobody believes it. 1.00

01:48:18.000 But again, you have to kind of repeat the lie.

01:48:21.000 You know, it almost would have been easier to walk this back six months ago or two years ago.

01:48:27.000 Now people are so invested in it, they have to just keep on repeating it.

01:48:32.000 And I fear, unless we get your dad back in office, this is going to totally go off the rails.

01:48:37.000 Yeah, but they're trying to make it harder for him, right?

01:48:39.000 They're trying to say, well, if we commit this amount of money for the next three years, if you try to roll that back as president, you're going to be impeached.

01:48:46.000 And I'm like, wait, the one guy that they know that could actually create peace there, that could actually get both sides to sit at the table, they're trying to take away the ultimate leverage he has, which is the money.

01:48:57.000 Because if the money goes away, Ukraine's at the table in about 0.2 seconds. 0.84

01:49:02.000 Uh, but why stop the death?

01:49:05.000 If the people are making decisions, they're not at risk, and they're buying their yachts, that's never gonna happen.

01:49:10.000 And, you know, again, you're just literally creating death and mayhem.

01:49:14.000 Yeah, and you're eliminating negotiating leverage from the one president who's actually, to your point, delivered some measure of peace in the world for the last 20 years.

01:49:25.000 He's the only president who hasn't started a new war, by the way, in the past 20 years.

01:49:30.000 And he's the only president who actually successfully dealt with guys like Putin and Xi.

01:49:36.000 So, okay, here's like a pet peeve of mine, Don, about your dad's foreign policy.

01:49:40.000 People always said, and this is right, right?

01:49:42.000 They would always say Trump is strong.

01:49:44.000 And Trump was strong on foreign policy, right?

01:49:46.000 There was a certain amount of respect.

01:49:48.000 But the more important thing is that Trump was smart.

01:49:51.000 He actually recognized that when you're sitting across from an enemy or an adversary or a competitor, whatever word you want to call them, you have to recognize, well, they have interests.

01:50:02.000 They're trying to accomplish something.

01:50:04.000 We have interests.

01:50:05.000 We're trying to accomplish something.

01:50:06.000 Like there's a whole interplay that happens there.

01:50:08.000 It's not just like, I'm going to beat my chest and be the tough guy. 1.00

01:50:11.000 You have to not be a total idiot. 1.00

01:50:13.000 Yeah, it's the art of the deal. 1.00

01:50:14.000 You can't have someone, they're trying to negotiate world peace where they've never negotiated a car lease.

01:50:20.000 Like it, you know, you just, there's other considerations. 0.82

01:50:23.000 And that's why when they're like, well, Trump, Trump didn't call Putin an impotent cuck on national TV in front of the world.

01:50:30.000 It's like, because what would it accomplish?

01:50:32.000 Like, you know, fine.

01:50:33.000 Oh, he stroked his ego?

01:50:35.000 That doesn't mean he doesn't recognize who he is exactly.

01:50:38.000 It just means that it serves no purpose to demean him on a world stage, because then one day when you do have to make that phone call, you do have to have an uncomfortable talk.

01:50:45.000 Like, there's at least a rapport.

01:50:47.000 He did the same thing with North Korea, and they were like, it's so terrible.

01:50:49.000 I'm like, it's so terrible.

01:50:50.000 Like, what have you done? 0.99

01:50:51.000 You've been in charge for 40 years, and jack shit has happened. 0.97

01:50:53.000 Like, You know, we changed the game. 0.96

01:50:56.000 Like, you know, these guys were doing Einstein's definition of sanity, you know, doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.

01:51:02.000 And strangely enough, it never happened.

01:51:04.000 Trump comes in, changes the game, actually accomplishes something.

01:51:07.000 It's like, well, he's doing it all wrong.

01:51:08.000 I'm like, based on your total lack of accomplishment, it makes no sense.

01:51:13.000 Yeah, Biden called Putin the worst names in the book and then Putin invaded Ukraine anyway, right?

01:51:18.000 Like, this is not what matters in foreign policy.

01:51:21.000 You have to have a strong country and you have to have a leader with some wisdom and intelligence in negotiating these things.

01:51:28.000 We don't have either, of course.

01:51:29.000 I think we have a weaker country. 0.99

01:51:30.000 We also have a complete dimwit as president and that is a big, big problem, man. 0.98

01:51:35.000 And I think, you know, this is like, this is where You know, the neocons get on my nerves is they talk like it's all about strength, right? 0.98

01:51:42.000 You know, there's the Reagan Doctrine, the Roosevelt Doctrine, the Trump Doctrine.

01:51:47.000 All of these people were strong, yes, but they were also intelligent and they recognized like, you know, Kissinger, love the guy or hate the guy. 0.75

01:51:55.000 Kissinger was a smart dude and he was one of the most successful diplomats we've had because he wasn't an idiot. 0.63

01:52:02.000 Yeah. 0.73

01:52:02.000 So listen, lastly, I got to ask you, because you're believed to be on the shortlist for VP. 0.73

01:52:08.000 Oh man.

01:52:09.000 Believed may be, you know, a weak word.

01:52:12.000 I think I'd probably have some inside knowledge on that.

01:52:14.000 But, you know, if you get that call, what's the answer?

01:52:19.000 Well, look, man, I've told you, I've told everybody, I want to help your dad however I can.

01:52:23.000 And so certainly if he asks me, I want to help him.

01:52:27.000 Now, here's the thing.

01:52:29.000 You know, as much as the media is reported on this, I mean, I think you certainly know more about this than I do.

01:52:35.000 Because I, you know, I saw your dad yesterday.

01:52:36.000 I was with him all day, or half the day, and we didn't talk about vice president once.

01:52:40.000 And I've never talked with him about the VP thing.

01:52:43.000 And so, you know, my assumption is like, this is a little bit of media speculation.

01:52:46.000 Maybe it's a little bit real, but He'll make his decision.

01:52:50.000 I'm sure that whoever he picks will be a good vice president, and I'll cross that bridge if I have to.

01:52:56.000 But look, man, I want to help him because, as you know, I think he did a good job, and I think that we really need somebody who is both strong and smart.

01:53:04.000 And if we had that for four years, I think we could have it again.

01:53:06.000 Well, listen, I've advocated for you for all the reasons you're not afraid to take this on.

01:53:11.000 You go on, you know, CNN.

01:53:13.000 I really want to see, like, the J.D.

01:53:14.000 Vance Kamala Harris vice presidential debate because, like I said, you know, there's some other nice people that could be vice president, I guess, but, like, I'm like...

01:53:22.000 There's not many, especially when they're trying to hold him up in court, right?

01:53:25.000 There's a portion of that.

01:53:26.000 You said it earlier.

01:53:27.000 They're keeping Trump off the playing field because they know Trump on the playing field is bad for Joe Biden.

01:53:32.000 They'll keep Joe Biden in a basement because you put him in front of even a teleprompter and it's an abject disaster.

01:53:38.000 So while they're keeping him on the sidelines, I think we need someone like yourself who can actually go out there and fight, not just take the... Well, Jake Tapper said January 6th was an insurrection.

01:53:48.000 It was, I guess, kind of the first unarmed insurrection in the history of the world, but I'm going to accept your premise, Jake.

01:53:55.000 I mean, what I love about you, J.D., is you just give it back to them in their face.

01:53:59.000 You do it respectfully and calmly, much more calm than I am with these lunatics.

01:54:03.000 But, you know, I think that's an important thing that we need out there right now.

01:54:06.000 So, you know, hopefully that happens.

01:54:08.000 I say we should choose sooner than later because I want that to be out there right now.

01:54:12.000 I don't want to be relegated to sort of, you know, the basement like Joe Biden, but, you know, We'll play that out and see how it goes.

01:54:20.000 Well, I appreciate it, man.

01:54:21.000 And you're, of course, a good friend.

01:54:22.000 But I will say, on the vice presidential debate, you know, I'm really worried about Vice President Harris.

01:54:28.000 She's very smart and very eloquent.

01:54:29.000 So, you know, I don't know if I want to take that on.

01:54:34.000 You're so afraid you actually wanted to go on for 24 hours so that we can give yourself some runway to build up and maybe be able to come up with a good one-liner somewhere in there to be able to take it on.

01:54:45.000 Yes, I'm with you 100%.

01:54:47.000 Let's maintain proper expectations, J.D.

01:54:50.000 That's right, that's right.

01:54:51.000 Alright man, thanks.

01:54:52.000 It was fun.

01:54:53.000 Guys, Senator J.D.

01:54:54.000 Vance, check him out.

01:54:55.000 Follow him.

01:54:55.000 One of the true warriors out there, J.D.

01:54:57.000 Thanks so much.

01:54:58.000 Really appreciate it.

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01:55:31.000 Remember you can find us on, uh, you can actually download the Rumble app on your big screen TV so you can watch us On the full screen, again, you can check us out on Apple Podcasts, you can check us out on Spotify.

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01:56:00.000 Vance from the state of Ohio.

01:56:02.000 A great friend, a good patriot, one of the guys actually really fighting out there for everything that we're doing.

Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - May 17, 2024

The Swamp Runs Deep but Thankfully Senator JD Vance is Standing in Their Way | TRIGGERED Ep.137

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