Valuetainment - March 19, 2026


“Iran Was NOT A Threat” - Joe Kent's Resignation BLAMES Israel For U.S.-Iran War


Episode Stats

Length

32 minutes

Words per Minute

186.01286

Word Count

6,129

Sentence Count

430


Summary

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

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 getting ready for a game means being ready for anything like packing a spare stick i like to
00:00:09.580 be prepared that's why i remember 988 canada's suicide crisis helpline it's good to know just
00:00:15.760 in case anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a trained responder
00:00:20.540 anytime 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in canada
00:00:25.500 so let's go let's go to something that happened yesterday okay joe kent not jeff kent joe kent
00:00:35.240 yesterday out of nowhere puts out a tweet and by the way before we read this rob can you do me
00:00:41.260 this is a director of national intelligence national counterterrorism center rob can you
00:00:45.380 do me a favor and first go to the tweet that he has pinned to the top of his twitter account
00:00:49.160 um at the top of his twitter account he has a tweet from the president it's pinned
00:00:54.720 Thank you, President. It's an honor to serve our nation again.
00:00:59.180 Time to keep our nation safe and strong.
00:01:01.420 It is my pleasure to nominate Joe Kent as the Director of National Counter Terrorism Center.
00:01:07.040 As a soldier, Greenberry, and CIA officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire life.
00:01:11.340 Above all, Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism, losing his wonderful wife, Shannon,
00:01:16.100 a great American hero who was killed in the fight against ISIS.
00:01:20.380 Joe continues to honor her legacy by staying in the fight.
00:01:23.160 Joe will help to keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism from the jihadists around the world to the cartels in our backyard.
00:01:29.960 Congratulations, Joe.
00:01:31.240 It's February 3rd, 2025, okay?
00:01:34.120 A little over a year ago.
00:01:35.720 Then yesterday, he puts out this tweet.
00:01:38.740 Rob, can we first show how many views this tweet got?
00:01:40.560 He puts out this tweet.
00:01:42.880 Zoom in 784,000 likes, 234,000 retweets, 67,000 comments, 87 million views.
00:01:51.240 Let's read the letter.
00:01:52.440 Here's what the letter had to say.
00:01:54.240 After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position.
00:01:58.180 I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war with Iran.
00:02:01.080 Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it's clear that we stated this war,
00:02:05.600 started this war due to the pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.
00:02:10.240 And by the way, that quote right there is what's gone viral.
00:02:12.680 I support the values in a foreign policy that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024,
00:02:19.780 for which you enacted your first term.
00:02:21.240 Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap
00:02:25.900 that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots
00:02:30.180 and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.
00:02:32.420 In your first administration, you understood better than any modern president
00:02:36.340 how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars.
00:02:41.700 You demonstrated this by killing Hassan Soleimani and defeating ISIS.
00:02:45.340 Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials
00:02:47.600 and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign
00:02:51.240 that wholly undermined your America First platform
00:02:54.340 and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war against Iran.
00:02:58.560 This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
00:03:04.140 and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory.
00:03:10.100 This was a lie and is the same tactic that Israelis used to draw us into a disastrous Iraqi war
00:03:14.420 that cost our nation the lives of thousands of men and women.
00:03:17.700 We cannot make this mistake again.
00:03:19.500 As a veteran who was deployed to combat 11 times
00:03:22.520 and a gold star husband who lost my beloved wife, Shannon,
00:03:25.340 a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support
00:03:27.160 sending the generation off to fight and die in a war
00:03:29.760 that served no benefit to American people,
00:03:31.340 nor justifies the cost of American lives.
00:03:33.760 I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran
00:03:37.040 and who we are doing it for.
00:03:38.540 The time for bold action is now.
00:03:40.520 You can reserve course and chart a new path for our nation,
00:03:44.200 and he can allow us to slip further and to decline, you hold the cards.
00:03:48.560 It's an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.
00:03:52.300 Now, this is what he said.
00:03:53.100 The response to it after this went out.
00:03:56.440 Rob, can you go on the tweet and let's just read the top 20 comments
00:04:00.060 and see who responded to it just to see what the market is saying under his tweet
00:04:04.680 because the market is reacting to it.
00:04:06.140 No, just go under his tweet.
00:04:07.220 Yeah, there you go.
00:04:08.300 So, Cenk, make note of everyone criticizing his patriot.
00:04:11.000 it's a good way of separating who works for israel who doesn't every israel first neocon will now
00:04:16.180 either call him a traitor or that trump's fault okay great that's his position next interesting
00:04:21.700 what is that uh joe kent's tweet i personally think we should have crushed their ballistic
00:04:27.100 and nuke capes but trump has a plan he has definitely earned the confidence of any clear
00:04:32.240 eyed observer january 8 2020 six years ago go a little bit lower uh now the most toxic voices
00:04:39.940 Okay, keep going, Lord.
00:04:40.780 That's the family.
00:04:42.160 Dan, we got that.
00:04:43.180 Just keep going.
00:04:43.780 Just leaving this here.
00:04:44.740 Okay, keep going.
00:04:46.720 Well done.
00:04:47.540 Keep going.
00:04:47.920 A little bit lower.
00:04:49.520 Nothing else major.
00:04:50.440 Okay.
00:04:52.080 Boom.
00:04:52.540 Keep going.
00:04:52.940 Keep going.
00:04:53.300 Keep going.
00:04:54.460 Keep going, Rob.
00:04:55.340 Keep going.
00:04:56.020 Okay.
00:04:56.700 So then if this is the stuff that we're seeing, I think right afterwards, there was a lot
00:05:01.220 of different people that responded.
00:05:02.960 We have a few of them.
00:05:03.780 So let's go through a few of these things that he said.
00:05:05.920 This is him three months ago on Sean Ryan.
00:05:09.700 What does he talk about here on this one, Rob?
00:05:11.700 This is where he talks about,
00:05:12.540 I believe it's the threat to America that Iran poses.
00:05:15.920 So this is just three months ago,
00:05:17.900 or this is like three years ago?
00:05:19.480 I believe it was three months ago.
00:05:20.840 Okay, let's listen to this.
00:05:22.180 Go forward.
00:05:22.980 They're still registering for the draft, aren't they?
00:05:24.880 Like, that's the logical conclusion
00:05:26.940 to the direction that we're heading in right now,
00:05:28.600 unless we make some serious changes.
00:05:30.400 I mean, it's already,
00:05:31.880 I've already heard rumors that fifth group
00:05:34.300 is going to be sending guys to Iraq because of the escalated situation with Iran now.
00:05:42.360 Yeah. I mean, most Americans aren't aware of it. Our troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked
00:05:47.500 150 plus times by Iranian proxies. And when we say Iranian proxies, we got to be clear on what
00:05:52.540 that is. That's the Iraqi government that we pay. Because after the Iraqi military we spent
00:05:57.320 $2 trillion on surrendered to ISIS, we had to go back in there in very short order and stand
00:06:01.840 military back up again and guess who filled the breach the shia militias controlled by iran did
00:06:06.280 and the iraqi government's controlled by iran now streaming on paramount plus my center my soul
00:06:13.940 is gone from academy award nominee taylor sheridan mine is not a family designed to withstand
00:06:21.120 tragedy starring academy award nominee michelle pfeiffer and golden globe nominee kurt russell
00:06:28.260 The worry is what you do next.
00:06:30.680 You will have as much life to live as you allow yourself.
00:06:33.980 The Madison.
00:06:35.280 New series now streaming only on Paramount+.
00:06:38.520 Okay, so in this part, he is saying that Iran is still a threat.
00:06:43.540 How does the president respond to it, Rob?
00:06:45.620 Do you have that clip?
00:06:46.420 I do.
00:06:46.900 Okay, so let's go.
00:06:48.140 Guys, I'm going to come to you.
00:06:48.880 We've got a few other things.
00:06:49.660 Speaker Johnson, there's a bunch of different guys that reacted to it,
00:06:52.180 and we can process it together.
00:06:53.820 Go for it.
00:06:54.280 Your director of national counterterrorism, Joe Kent, he just resigned today.
00:06:59.340 He said he can't support your conflict with Iran.
00:07:02.400 What's your reaction to that?
00:07:03.760 Well, I read his statement.
00:07:05.220 I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.
00:07:12.040 I didn't know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy.
00:07:17.320 But when I read his statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out,
00:07:21.840 because he said that iran was not a threat iran was a threat every country realized what a threat
00:07:29.280 iran was the question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it and many people
00:07:34.240 many of the greatest military scholars are saying for years that presidents should have taken out
00:07:39.360 iran because they wanted a nuclear weapon they were uh if we didn't do the attack or if i'll
00:07:44.880 go a step further if i didn't terminate the iran nuclear deal given to us one of the worst deals
00:07:50.800 ever made by Barack Hussein Obama. Remember when they sent Boeing 757s over there? Loaded with
00:07:57.500 cash. Hundreds of millions of dollars. You would have been very happy. This was a wonderful. They
00:08:03.700 sent hundreds of millions. People forget that. Does anybody remember? Right? You remember.
00:08:10.140 Hundreds of millions of dollars in a Boeing 757. I think that two of them loaded. They took the
00:08:16.180 seats out and they put cash and it was so much that there wasn't a bank in virginia maryland or dc
00:08:23.140 that had any money left they stripped them of all their money put it into place sent it to iran
00:08:29.140 almost as ransom that's not going to happen with trump and nobody ever you can pause it right there
00:08:36.260 you can pause it right there so joe kent uh uh with his letter with what he said tom where you
00:08:42.840 with it? The guy changed. You see people, there's a lot of people in American media, American
00:08:50.000 government appear to be shifting. And he is clearly shifted. You can't say Iran wasn't
00:08:58.420 arming and funding Houthis, Hezbollah. You can't say that. How do you possibly say that? And he
00:09:06.920 himself gave statistics about the number of attacks on our bases and our interest in the
00:09:13.260 reason. Not just interest, not like an oil refinery, oh, I'm interested in that. These
00:09:17.420 were our men and women in arms that were attacked. How can you say Iran is not a threat? You can
00:09:25.820 debate the nuclear, was it four days, was it four months, or was it a year until they had
00:09:30.980 nuclear weapon well they were sure testing missiles they were building larger inner they
00:09:36.440 were building ballistic missiles so you can talk about that even if you want to debate how close
00:09:42.060 were they with centrifuges and refining the uranium but to say that iran wasn't a threat
00:09:47.900 after you go back and everything i do know this the guy's a patriot he's a decorated soldier
00:09:54.060 he endured one of the most horrible losses you can endure but you i really i don't understand
00:10:00.160 what appears to be a radical change in position?
00:10:03.600 Jeff?
00:10:04.120 Yeah, there's a couple things here that really stick out.
00:10:06.580 One is to parse his statement, which, I mean, what else are we going to do, right?
00:10:11.180 We're going to parse every last word.
00:10:13.120 But he says imminent threat.
00:10:14.800 I tend to agree with him because, you know, we talked about this a couple weeks ago.
00:10:18.220 Mark Moss had that wonderful chart that showed missile production going faster than our ability to destroy it.
00:10:23.860 So I think the idea, this is, I don't want to say this is, you know, Iraq WMD,
00:10:28.800 But I think that was the same kind of idea here, that the Trump administration said, yeah, I don't believe that there was a plan by Iran to attack everybody overnight.
00:10:38.000 It wasn't an imminent threat.
00:10:39.540 I think the idea was if we're going to attack Iran and get rid of their leadership, we have to do it now.
00:10:45.200 It was the imminent threat maybe wasn't a – it wasn't an explicit threat, which, I mean, you can argue about that.
00:10:54.360 But if you want to read his statement charitably, there probably was not an imminent threat.
00:10:59.860 Of course, I have no idea.
00:11:01.160 I'm not a security expert by any means.
00:11:03.500 But just going off the language of what we've been talking about, I don't think there was an explicit imminent threat that said we need to go attack Iran.
00:11:10.160 If that's your problem, obviously, he was in favor of doing something about the Iranian leadership.
00:11:15.060 Maybe he doesn't like the strategy that Trump has chosen to do something about it.
00:11:20.280 We could give him the most charitable view.
00:11:21.900 However, I have a problem with right there in the first quote, the first paragraph, bringing in the Israel and Israel lobby.
00:11:29.860 That changes this entire character to something political.
00:11:33.280 So if it was just an analytical statement where he left that part out, I would say, look, I mean, yeah, maybe he's probably right.
00:11:39.320 There's something to the statement.
00:11:40.840 By bringing in this whole Israel-Israel lobby, it changes the character of what he's trying to say.
00:11:45.740 And it makes it.
00:11:47.480 I have a lot of thoughts on this.
00:11:49.020 Brent, I want to hear your thoughts.
00:11:51.900 Yeah, I mean, I could totally see the side of people being upset about another foreign war.
00:11:56.260 I mean, we're $30 trillion in debt because of the last foreign war in the Middle East that we got stuck in.
00:12:02.500 So, I mean, we see that, but also Iran's been something that we've probably had to deal with for the last 47, 48, 49 years.
00:12:10.020 Like, it's always something that we were going to have to face at some point.
00:12:12.540 I don't think that they have the enriched uranium that people are saying they do,
00:12:15.500 But I do think that they're probably the biggest problem in terms of world instability, in terms of Middle East instability that we did have to address at some point.
00:12:23.620 If any administration was going to address it, I'd want this one to be the one to do it because I think Trump actually listens to the military generals and chooses the best plans to go forward with instead of kind of putting handcuffs on the military the way that a lot of other presidents have.
00:12:37.640 So I don't know if it's been executed perfectly.
00:12:40.700 I think a lot of his other military attacks or military missions have been done pretty perfectly, meticulously.
00:12:46.900 But, yeah, if any way he was going to be doing this, I'm glad it's him.
00:12:50.380 But, yeah, I could see the argument where it's not the best thing for America because it could cost a lot of money and lives.
00:12:56.300 So I could see both sides of it.
00:12:58.200 Yeah, Rob, do you want to pull up the tweet by Tulsi?
00:13:01.720 There you go.
00:13:02.000 Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our president, commander-in-chief.
00:13:06.580 As our commander-in-chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat
00:13:10.460 and whether or not to take action.
00:13:11.960 He deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people, and our country.
00:13:18.160 The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate
00:13:23.080 all intelligence to provide the president and commander-in-chief with best information available to inform his decisions.
00:13:29.960 After carefully reviewing all the information before him,
00:13:32.720 President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat
00:13:38.380 and he took action based on that conclusion.
00:13:41.100 So the way I read this, I don't read this as supportive.
00:13:47.680 I read this as, you know, he is responsible if he sees an imminent threat.
00:13:55.840 And whether or not to take action, he deems necessary to protect the safety.
00:13:59.920 He, in the office of the director of national intelligence, is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the president and commander in chief with the best information available to inform his decisions.
00:14:12.620 After carefully reviewing all the information before him, the president concluded that the terrorist Islamists were so.
00:14:19.460 It's almost a neutral towards Trump statement.
00:14:25.000 It's not fully towards Trump.
00:14:27.060 It's written so delicately to create possibly an opening
00:14:32.660 in case she gets fired or she steps out.
00:14:35.120 She's saying, I'm on the team, but I didn't do this.
00:14:37.280 That's kind of how I take it, right?
00:14:38.960 Because to me, you know, Tulsi's an independent centerist.
00:14:42.880 Some people may even say she's a center-leftist,
00:14:44.940 but I think she's a center-right today, a little bit more, she's moved.
00:14:48.760 This is my challenge with all of this stuff that you're hearing
00:14:54.460 with what Joe Kent just said.
00:15:00.600 There are a lot of things that came out
00:15:02.400 with tweets that he's made about Iran, okay,
00:15:06.660 and about the president.
00:15:07.640 That's very supportive.
00:15:08.560 Rob, which clip is this?
00:15:09.820 This is Caroline Levitt.
00:15:10.940 She was just asked a few minutes ago.
00:15:12.480 Okay, go for it.
00:15:13.120 This is good if it's recent
00:15:13.940 because then I'll get into what I'm going to say.
00:15:15.740 Go for it.
00:15:16.580 Tulsi Gabbard's job in Jeopardy right now,
00:15:18.760 giving Joe Kent stuff.
00:15:20.320 Not to my knowledge.
00:15:21.440 I haven't heard the president say that,
00:15:22.780 nor have I heard him say that.
00:15:25.020 So obviously that's a question for him,
00:15:27.420 but I haven't heard him say that at all.
00:15:31.620 What's that? She said what?
00:15:33.540 That she hasn't heard President Trump say
00:15:35.320 that Tulsi Gabbard's job is in jeopardy
00:15:37.440 over Joe Kent's resignation.
00:15:38.580 But it's also not a firm.
00:15:41.180 Played one more time, Rob?
00:15:42.460 Her body language is weird, the way she answers that.
00:15:45.280 Played one more time?
00:15:46.160 Tulsi Gabbard's job is in jeopardy right now,
00:15:47.860 given Joe Kent's job.
00:15:49.420 Not to my knowledge.
00:15:50.600 I haven't heard the president say that,
00:15:51.900 nor have I heard him say that.
00:15:54.140 So obviously that's a question for him,
00:15:56.540 but I haven't heard him say that at all.
00:15:59.000 Okay, all right.
00:15:59.840 So, Rob, can you pull up this one tweet?
00:16:04.240 I don't know if you have it or not.
00:16:05.720 This is a tweet from Joe, okay?
00:16:08.220 This is a tweet from Joe, if you want to pull it up.
00:16:12.780 He said this a year and four months ago.
00:16:15.220 Not this one, Rob, the other one.
00:16:17.460 I just sent it to you, Rob.
00:16:18.360 Just look at your phone.
00:16:19.580 I just sent it to you.
00:16:20.260 He said this retweeting a tweet from the president, okay?
00:16:25.920 Iran has been, after Trump since January of 2020, after he ordered the target killing of terrorist Ghassan Soleimani.
00:16:34.840 This isn't a new threat.
00:16:37.560 The Secret Service consistently failing to secure Trump is new.
00:16:42.060 We need to figure out exactly why these failures are happening.
00:16:46.880 So he said some stuff that he's making it clear that Iran is a threat.
00:16:51.600 Now, here's my challenge.
00:16:53.240 My challenge is you say that, you've backed him up.
00:16:59.780 Now you're saying you think people are buying him and, you know, not buying him.
00:17:04.100 Israel is kind of getting involved and doing some things like that.
00:17:07.040 And then you want to come out and say it publicly becomes the most viral tweet of the day.
00:17:12.360 Who did that benefit?
00:17:14.120 Who did that tweet benefit the most?
00:17:15.800 while while we're in war who does that tweet benefit the most kent kent yeah okay so that
00:17:23.200 tweet benefits kent the most yeah who else does it benefit i would have to say it benefits one
00:17:28.420 other person as well tucker i think it also benefits tucker guess who's the first podcast
00:17:33.140 he's doing tucker with tucker and there's some rumors that while he was working there he was
00:17:38.880 sharing intel with tucker okay and that was past that now listen say what you say about laura loomer
00:17:45.460 If you want to pull this up, Rob, Laura Loomer had this one thing that she said about the exchange between the two.
00:17:57.800 And let me see if I can find this.
00:18:00.700 And as reported, you know, Trump hater and federal Jew hater.
00:18:08.580 I'm trying to see which one it was because it was something that there was a communication saying that maybe allegedly
00:18:13.680 some of the stories were being leaked from him to tucker so if there is a connection with how
00:18:23.260 tucker makes the video the other day saying i don't know why the ci is coming after me
00:18:29.200 and then now you're saying this okay that you're stepping down the day after then you're going on
00:18:38.600 tucker there's an alignment there okay between the two it's very obvious tucker just announced
00:18:43.020 right now that he's going to be uh going live with them tonight or something like that um
00:18:48.340 yeah his statement was political it was obviously political yeah and and and and to me again so but
00:18:55.000 but but even even above that just go a little bit lower up go a little bit lower even with the
00:18:59.460 israel stuff actually i'm not you know with the israel comments that he's making you know fine
00:19:04.140 if you have that this is a bigger challenge for me so we're in it you decide to resign
00:19:10.960 all the timing of it is a little bit weird okay you all of a sudden decide to resign
00:19:17.260 and after resigning you go out and put the tweet and then you go do the podcast
00:19:23.700 you're definitely not making Trump look good okay you're definitely not making him look good and
00:19:31.140 where he's at so I just have a hard time with that I think the timing of it you accepted the job you
00:19:36.540 went into the job now you're getting out to do this now look this kind of stuff happens this
00:19:40.640 the risk of hiring people and they can't get out and it's not like you know how typically there's
00:19:45.020 a what is the disparagement clause tom like you know if you're leaving no yep defamation
00:19:50.480 and that's not defamation no social media obviously that stuff doesn't apply to here so
00:19:56.100 i don't know what's this rob which one is this uh this is the tweet that laura loomer put out
00:20:01.260 yesterday claiming joe kent was leaking information according to many white house staff
00:20:06.260 leaking to john hudson who's john hudson can you go to it in post so john hudson is a wapo not a
00:20:14.700 coincidence that hudson chose to run to cnn during prime time tonight to attack president trump for
00:20:19.740 less than 12 hours after kent resigned who told hudson that wapo that uh joe kent and tulsi gabbard
00:20:26.720 met with jd vance to show him the resignation letter ahead of time wow okay so there you go
00:20:32.700 So, guys.
00:20:34.180 That's crazy.
00:20:35.080 But we talked about this as well last week.
00:20:37.620 I haven't seen this tweet.
00:20:38.620 Did the vice president agree with the blood libels in Joe Kent's letter in which he blamed Israel for his wife's death?
00:20:44.720 Kent's wife was tragically killed by Islamic terrorists.
00:20:48.040 Do you believe Joe Kent told Buckley Carson to tell his father he sends his regards when he met with J.D.?
00:20:54.700 Wow.
00:20:55.100 It's only one big family affair.
00:20:56.700 Anything to blame the Jews and destroy President Trump?
00:20:59.660 Why was J.D., Tulsi, and Kent's first stop at the White House?
00:21:04.020 Interesting choice.
00:21:05.780 I don't know.
00:21:06.480 I mean, look, one thing about Laura, you don't know what Laura's going to be saying,
00:21:10.300 but a lot of people have gotten fired over Laura Loomer's tweets,
00:21:13.740 and somehow, someway, she tends to get a lot of news from a lot of different people.
00:21:18.660 But you're seeing the connections.
00:21:19.900 And gets it right a lot.
00:21:20.940 And she gets it right a lot.
00:21:22.680 She gets it right a lot, and then people can come back and say a lot of stuff about her.
00:21:26.400 um just this is the pro and the con about x debate it out go to but but if there is a
00:21:32.740 if there's a connection the person that gets negatively impacted the most by this is who
00:21:37.860 trump no no not true trump's gonna move on it's a this is a 24-hour news cycle
00:21:43.420 trump's trust me trump knows 24 hours you've moved on okay mike waltz how long did that last
00:21:51.060 boom you moved on this is not that big of a deal you move on but guess who was negatively impacted
00:21:56.980 by this a lot short term jd jd vance jd vance if it's true who which by the way how are you as the
00:22:08.340 vp meet with him if that's not hard to document and find out right if there was a meeting
00:22:16.140 with Kent, with J.D., with Tulsi.
00:22:26.420 Tulsi's tweet is already a safe tweet.
00:22:28.960 Right.
00:22:29.660 That's a bulletproof tweet.
00:22:32.020 And I'm a fan of Tulsi.
00:22:33.700 So even when I interact with Tulsi,
00:22:36.340 she's always very calculating on what she's going to be saying.
00:22:38.960 She's brilliant.
00:22:39.780 It's why she does so well.
00:22:41.920 But Tulsi's tweet is a protection in case she does get fired that that helps her for 2028.
00:22:50.320 Because you've got to also realize, if I'm Tulsi, I'm sitting there saying I'm not being used.
00:22:54.240 How often do you see Tulsi being used?
00:22:55.980 Never.
00:22:56.420 How often do you see Trump using J.D.?
00:22:58.520 Not a lot.
00:22:59.000 No more.
00:22:59.480 Why not?
00:23:00.040 Maybe he gave him the Minnesota thing or California fraud or some of that stuff that we're reading about.
00:23:03.640 But this could lead to one thing.
00:23:05.600 If this leads to, you know, J.D. being a top candidate in 2028 or Tucker, because Tucker went from 2% to 4%, and he's now ahead of DeSantis on the odds.
00:23:19.120 But if, let's say, J.D. runs, which the world now knows what J.D.'s positions would be, he would need a VP like who?
00:23:26.280 Believe it or not, a DeSantis, because J.D. and Tucker is too much of the same thing.
00:23:30.560 And so DeSantis would be the VP because you need the pro-Israel.
00:23:35.780 You need those guys.
00:23:37.000 So DeSantis will play that role because we know how strong he is, you know, freedom of protecting.
00:23:43.420 You can't comment anything on Israel.
00:23:45.140 And then J.D. does to DeSantis what Trump did to J.D.
00:23:49.680 Trump hired J.D. for a very good position.
00:23:52.360 You need a J.D.
00:23:53.360 But he doesn't use J.D. that much.
00:23:55.040 You think J.D. is in the inner circles of the inner circles?
00:23:57.200 I don't believe so.
00:23:58.620 Again, we're purely speculating, but while we're speculating,
00:24:02.920 the 2028 Republican nomination for president on Calci, $22 million,
00:24:07.000 Rubio is now at 29%.
00:24:09.560 Look at third.
00:24:11.100 Look at third, 5.3 out of nowhere.
00:24:14.280 That's Tucker.
00:24:15.160 But if you go on the bottom, the ones you have to look at that are critical VP positions,
00:24:19.260 DeSantis is the one.
00:24:21.180 DeSantis is the one.
00:24:22.120 DeSantis is a very, very, very safe, solid VP position
00:24:28.580 that is useful not to Rubio, that is useful to J.D. and Tucker.
00:24:34.820 Right.
00:24:35.840 Again, if it gets to that point.
00:24:38.940 But this is all purely speculation conversations that we're having.
00:24:42.840 So which one of you guys has the thoughts on this?
00:24:45.000 Because I'll come to any one of you guys if you have anything to say.
00:24:46.700 Look, I think there's, setting aside the politics of it,
00:24:50.120 I think there is – the reason we're talking about this and the reason this is such a big issue is that there is a legitimate debate about all this.
00:24:55.480 Let's face it.
00:24:56.860 The Iran conflict makes us uncomfortable, as it should.
00:24:59.660 We should not be happy about this.
00:25:01.740 So there is room for legitimate dissent.
00:25:04.820 There is room for legitimate debate.
00:25:06.860 Is the Trump administration executing and prosecuting the war with a correct strategy?
00:25:11.240 Obviously, we don't know that because we don't know what their strategy actually is, nor should we.
00:25:14.920 He's right when he says – every time they ask him, what are you going to do next?
00:25:17.860 I don't know.
00:25:18.280 I'm not going to tell you.
00:25:18.840 Why would I tell you?
00:25:19.600 So we're sitting in the fog of war.
00:25:23.340 It is understandable why people would vehemently object to the idea of something like this
00:25:30.720 because we went through Iraq.
00:25:32.180 We went through Afghanistan.
00:25:33.340 We don't want to go through those things again.
00:25:35.300 And there's every reason to believe that we shouldn't be doing those things.
00:25:38.880 So the reason this is such a hot-button issue is because there should be a legitimate debate
00:25:42.840 about this entire thing.
00:25:44.340 Yes, we should be positive and hopeful, but let's be honest here.
00:25:48.500 The history here isn't great.
00:25:50.360 The history isn't great whatsoever, but also at the same time,
00:25:54.680 alliances are being built, and right now it's in the open.
00:25:58.960 Everybody's watching.
00:25:59.920 That's the part that gets lost in this.
00:26:01.420 There's opportunity here.
00:26:02.960 I think that's what the Trump administration is.
00:26:05.140 Say that again?
00:26:05.920 That's why I think Ken left.
00:26:07.320 I mean, we're talking about Tucker being a candidate.
00:26:09.780 I think Ken made himself VP.
00:26:11.440 I know they're two similar in that regard,
00:26:13.180 but I think there was an angle for why he left.
00:26:14.940 I don't think he just did a principle.
00:26:15.980 I don't think until yesterday's letter, Joe Kent, you know, I don't know if he has been that, you know, big of a name that you know.
00:26:25.540 If I ask you right now who Joe Kent was last week, I don't know.
00:26:27.800 You're going to say, is he a second baseman for the Giants?
00:26:29.340 I was typing in Jeff Kent last time I was looking this up.
00:26:31.900 No, exactly.
00:26:32.500 You would have brought it up and said, but you remember the guy that interfered with the FBI investigation making comments after Charlie Kirk was assassinated?
00:26:40.040 And you would have said, oh, that guy.
00:26:41.740 Oh, OK.
00:26:42.360 But there was nothing else.
00:26:43.460 Good looking guy.
00:26:44.760 Solid guy.
00:26:45.760 Yeah.
00:26:46.920 All of this leads to 2028, my opinion, AOC being the frontrunner.
00:26:54.240 If this goes the way it's going, if AOC gets the right people around her,
00:26:59.900 AOC could be the president of the United States in 2028.
00:27:02.600 And when people are like, you're crazy.
00:27:04.700 I know.
00:27:05.740 I'm not telling you I'm not.
00:27:07.400 You're out of your mind.
00:27:08.940 Oh, the Republican Party.
00:27:11.180 Can you imagine?
00:27:12.020 Let's just say it's a Rubio and give me a good VP.
00:27:14.560 Pick a VP for Rubio.
00:27:16.780 Not DeSantis.
00:27:19.220 Rubio?
00:27:20.160 Give a VP for Rubio.
00:27:21.820 Pick a VP for Rubio.
00:27:23.660 Okay.
00:27:24.740 A VP for Rubio would need to be who?
00:27:27.520 Tulsi?
00:27:28.900 No way.
00:27:29.740 That's not going to work.
00:27:31.040 That won't work because Tulsi's telling you what camp she's a part of.
00:27:34.120 Yeah.
00:27:35.240 Tulsi's with JD, with Tucker, quietly.
00:27:39.080 She is—
00:27:39.800 You think so on the Israel stuff?
00:27:41.640 Oh.
00:27:42.460 Yeah?
00:27:42.980 Not saying 100%.
00:27:44.260 Yeah.
00:27:44.560 I think she's there, okay?
00:27:46.880 She's definitely an anti, you know, non-interventionist, yeah.
00:27:50.300 So she's definitely there.
00:27:51.380 But to me, camps are being made, and this 27-28 election will be very different.
00:27:57.840 There's going to be so much disruption that Trump knew how to handle it.
00:28:03.760 We won't know if, you know, the Rubios and all those guys will be able to handle the chaos
00:28:10.220 and inside the tornado of media at that level.
00:28:13.680 We don't know yet.
00:28:14.300 And the right split, too, which is a weird dynamic.
00:28:16.200 The right is split.
00:28:16.940 Yeah, I mean, listen, even, you know, it's, but.
00:28:20.500 Rubio, Mark Wayne, Mullen.
00:28:22.960 Okay, so let's just say if that is, okay?
00:28:25.560 Say if that's who it is, huh?
00:28:28.060 Pauly?
00:28:29.200 Josh Hawley, if he does, right?
00:28:30.960 Hawley.
00:28:31.380 If the GOP gets her fingers in it, they'll be pushing for, like,
00:28:36.280 Stefanik or Huckabee Sanders.
00:28:39.820 Not going to happen.
00:28:40.440 No, but they'll be, the GOP money, Pat, will be pushing.
00:28:44.020 Rhino? Rhino money?
00:28:45.320 Yeah, they'll be pushing for a female.
00:28:46.860 That's the most boring ticket in the world.
00:28:48.360 I know.
00:28:48.700 Zero chance.
00:28:49.620 I don't disagree with you strategically.
00:28:51.520 Zero chance.
00:28:52.060 But I'm pointing out that the GOP money machine that's in the middle that will dictate the conventions, the order of the primaries, and buckets of money will severely attempt to influence it.
00:29:04.280 And they'll be saying, what about Stefanik?
00:29:07.120 You know, you need a female.
00:29:08.500 That's what you're going to hear.
00:29:09.580 Yeah, yeah.
00:29:11.240 But I agree with you strategically.
00:29:12.740 Issues vary every four years, and we're going to see.
00:29:15.920 By the way, here's the reality of it.
00:29:18.340 We also don't have a clue what the hell is going to happen with this war.
00:29:20.860 Is it going to end good or bad for Trump?
00:29:22.360 We don't know.
00:29:22.780 If it ends good, guess what?
00:29:24.760 You know, they have to eat their words.
00:29:26.360 If it ends bad, you know, Trump's got to eat their words.
00:29:29.120 We're like, oh, shit.
00:29:30.220 So we don't know anything yet right now.
00:29:32.520 We don't fully know what's going to be happening and how it's going to be handled.
00:29:35.880 All we know is NATO said no, China stepping out, playing quiet.
00:29:41.520 We got USS Tripoli that's on its way to Somalia.
00:29:44.880 We don't know what's going to happen next Monday, Wednesday.
00:29:46.960 It's going to be very revealing how Iran's going to attack.
00:29:50.260 We don't know what's going to be happening the next few weeks.
00:29:53.720 And if it ends up being done less than three to six months,
00:29:58.200 then the guys that said this is the next Iraq, the next this, the next that,
00:30:02.100 they have to sit there and say, well, it's not.
00:30:04.380 But they're still going to come back and say, yeah, but, yeah, but.
00:30:07.440 There is no winning, you know, a certain 5% of people that no matter what you do, you're not going to win it.
00:30:12.200 But, you know, all along, Rubio's coming up, okay, and Tucker's coming up as well.
00:30:17.300 Look at Tucker here, you know, 7, 28%.
00:30:20.520 He is coming up.
00:30:21.580 I called this three years ago when I said Tucker is either he's campaigning for 2028
00:30:29.220 and he wants to run Churchill type of thing, you know, a media.
00:30:34.680 I called this three years ago.
00:30:35.940 Rob, I don't know how many clips did I say this to, Rob, that we did this.
00:30:39.020 We almost have to cut it.
00:30:40.660 Eventually we'll do it when it becomes a reality.
00:30:42.780 And I think he's playing that card.
00:30:44.220 And he's playing it well.
00:30:45.160 He's constantly in the news.
00:30:46.060 Now, if anything happens with CIA coming out and arresting,
00:30:49.940 it changes the game a little bit.
00:30:51.340 It may even help him ten times more, by the way.
00:30:53.500 It may even increase the popularity to the rules.
00:30:55.520 What happened when the Dems got mug shots of Trump?
00:30:59.900 It became the campaign.
00:31:01.300 The look that he gave.
00:31:03.260 He may almost want it.
00:31:04.380 I do want to talk to you guys about something.
00:31:06.120 A lot of you guys DM me and message me and say,
00:31:08.860 hey, you know, how do I become a member of the Cigar Lounge,
00:31:11.140 the boardroom that you have here?
00:31:12.800 Last night, I can't tell you how many people were here
00:31:15.540 watching the great game of Venezuela against U.S.
00:31:19.020 when Bryce Harper hit the home run.
00:31:21.580 I mean, it was beautiful.
00:31:23.860 And I'm like, this is the moment.
00:31:25.760 My son Dylan called it that he was going to hit the home run.
00:31:28.480 He hit the home run.
00:31:29.640 But then we fell one short, and the score ended up being 3-2.
00:31:34.660 Congratulations to Venezuela.
00:31:36.140 I know how much this means to Venezuela.
00:31:37.660 Venezuela's had a great 2026.
00:31:40.380 Some may call it the greatest year, 90 days Venezuela's had in 20, 30, 40 years
00:31:46.720 is what people are talking about, the way they're celebrating.
00:31:49.560 So congrats to the Venezuelan team.
00:31:51.740 As much as I was rooting for America, I want a judge to hit that home run
00:31:55.640 and have that victory, but you got to recognize it.
00:31:58.460 A ton of people were here watching it.
00:32:00.540 You know, just yesterday I did a podcast with Joey Merlino here, the allegedly, Rob, we have to say this correctly, the allegedly boss of the Philadelphia crime family.
00:32:10.960 That podcast will come out.
00:32:12.520 We had Eric Trump here.
00:32:14.220 We've had Stephen A. Smith here.
00:32:15.380 We had Tate here.
00:32:15.940 We have a lot of people here that come to the club, the boardroom.
00:32:18.760 So if you want to be a member, it's by invitation only.
00:32:21.900 Everybody goes through background checks.
00:32:23.380 You can't bring a cell phone inside.
00:32:24.700 If you want to learn more to come in here and network with others in South Florida at Fort Lauderdale at a high-end premier cigar lounge, we'll do Louis 13th events.
00:32:36.280 We'll do different kind of events here that you'll come in and be involved.
00:32:39.440 Go to BoardroomCigarLounge.com, BoardroomCigarLounge.com.
00:32:44.040 Rob, if you want to put the link below, click on Become a Member, and one of our representatives will reach out to you.
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