District Club: Rep. Ilhan Omar Raid, New Press Secretary Debacle & Talarico’s Texas Trouble

Okay, first before we give you the facts of the day, run hide fight in Fidel's is streaming now only on daily wire. It's an ode to the great action movies of the 80s and 90s. There's even a love story which nobody expected. And you can support daily wires mission to continue making movies that people actually want to watch. Go check it out. People disagree about a lot in this country. Taxes, healthcare, education. But wherever you land politically, I think most of us agree on this. Better information leads to better decisions. That's the mission of USAFacts to make government data clear and accessible. Because public data should be easy to access trust and understand. So we can use it to make informed decisions. Read and sign our open letter to support public data at USAFacts.org. Are you noticing your car insurance rate creep up even without tickets or claims? You're not alone. That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant. Jerry handles the legwork by comparing quotes side by side from over 50 top and shores so you can confidently hit buy. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Jerry even tracks rates and alerts you when it's best to shop. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1300 a year. Don't settle for higher rates download the Jerry app or visit jerry.ai/wire today. The midterm elections have all eyes on tight races and districts across the country. But the week started with a surprise bang as federal agents conducted a pre-dawn raid on the DC area home of congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Her critics were quick to throw her own words back in her face. No one is above the law. Katie Zachariah takes over Caroline Levitt as White House Press Secretary. The president pulls the plug on the Pentagon's plan to live stream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nadal Hassan with polling showing most Americans agree. On the campaign trail, James Tallariko is back in the public eye and a CNN town hall a Catholic voter pressed him on abortion. Does his answer hold up in Texas? In Michigan, Abdul El Said says his family has no ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The post from his sister tell a different story. We've got a lot to get to. This is the district club. Welcome back to another episode of the district club. I'm Tim Rice, daily wire DC Bureau Chief. Joined as always by my colleagues Ben Dominic daily wire opinion editor and Mary Margaret Olahan, our White House correspondent. And we are so excited today to be joined by Antoine C. Wright. He is the CEO of Blueprint Strategies and a Democrat Strategist Antoine. Thank you for joining the district club. I am so happy to be with you on a great Sunday. So much talk about, but I think we should just start. Let's start with the elephant in the room. Katie Zachariah, new White House press secretary, had her first briefing. It lasted a grand total of 14 minutes. She took three questions. Critics say that she took questions exclusively from conservative outlets. Ms. Zachariah says that the daily mail is not conservative, but nevertheless. I don't even think we need to talk about how she did. I think it's sort of everyone acknowledges that it was a tough start, maybe a false start. But where do you think this leaves the administration? And what does it say that there's this very high profile public relations appointment kind of fizzled out right away? I think this is another page in the catalog of unqualified people doing very serious job. Unserious people doing very serious jobs. In the real world, my Republican friends love to compare the political world to the business world. In the real world, she would not even qualify for an interview better yet get the promotion to the job. So I think this is another page in the catalog. I think she's a DEI hire. Didn't earn it. In the sense that there are more people qualified in Trump world who have more credentials on the head and on the tail who will be better at the job. But I think she got the job for various reasons that do not meet the qualifications for the job. Mary Margaret, I figured that you have a different take. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, if we're going to talk about DEI hires, I think we're going to have to talk about Kareen Jean-Pierre, who was the exact definition of a DEI hire. When you talk about her gender, her race, all the reasons that she was chosen for the job, which the Biden administration literally said. This is why we chose her. I think you may have a misrepresentation of the facts on that Kareen Jean-Pierre, my dear friend, was chosen because she was qualified for to be able to do the job. She didn't lie about being a lawyer or an attorney. She did not get the job because she was good on TV. She ran an organization. She engaged with the press in previous roles. The other things added to that were, I think, gravy on top of the rights to help amplify the reason why she should have the job. No, but you're right. That she wasn't good on TV. She didn't get the job because she wasn't great on TV. She was terrific on television. I think look at the end of the day. I'm sorry to interrupt. That is the stupidest claim I've ever heard. There is not a single Democrat who agrees with you, the Kareen Jean-Pierre, that was good at her job, who is good at politics. I'm sorry. That's absurd. That's laughable. No one thinks she's good. I don't think you missed one. I mean, if she was not the DEI representation that she was, if she was not working for the Biden administration, she would have been lambasted on Saturday Night Live. I think the day after. This is absurd. Kareen Jean-Pierre goes down as one of the worst, okay, press secretaries in history. The simple fact is, this is a very tough job. I know so many people who've done it. I knew Tony Snow. I know Ariane Clayshaw. I know Dana Perino. I know the work that they put into it. I've worked with these people and I know the effort that they did in that job and I know how much they were respected by the journalists in that room for doing that work. Kareen Jean-Pierre never had a bit of that respect because she didn't deserve it. She was bad at her job. I think you did not inhale everything. I'll say it. Prior to doing that job, she was very good on television when she was running MoveOn.org and others. That resume is different. Resume is the reason why you get the job. You have a now a press secretary who could not for 14 minutes read a script properly in the biggest opportunity she has to be the front face. I think one thing. I'll be adding that really quickly. Look, first of all, no one's going to say that she did a spectacular job reading. She did terrible. She was very clearly nervous. She was very clearly unused to that room. But also, I'm in that room every single week. It is really high stress. The New York Times even said this week, the reporters in there can smell fear. We act like animals when we're excited. Well, I mostly smell the reporters when I'm in that room. That is absolutely great point. But just to finish my point, the reason I would say that we should cut her some slack here is because she literally turned that job around in like 36 hours. I don't have any sympathy for that. It is the hardest job in Washington. Let me tell you why as the Democrat feel a lot different. You have conservatives, supporters of the president, including those who are in the White House saying that she's terrible her job and pretty much she's on a timeline to likely be out of the job. I think that says the lot of your colleagues do not respect your cashier for doing the job more than anything else. So I'm a circle back to something though that you said earlier and that's about qualifications and things like that. When you look back at the Biden administration, it was full of people who I believe were incredibly unqualified for their jobs. One of them, by the way, is about to be probably the next governor of California. Javier Basera is the most unqualified person to ever lead HHS. He had no experience in health policy. No, no, no, no, no. This is important. The president's hiring in this second term, from my perspective, as someone who is a critic of the hiring in his first term, has been miles better. He has done so much better. Excuse me. Have you seen the current HHS secretary? Okay. I actually think that, excuse me, you don't think that RFK has a better, I mean, he's one of the most popular politicians in America. He's one of the most sick administrations in administration officials in that cabinet. You won't find a person to the team, including some of them. I'm sorry. What are you looking at? He's literally one of the most popular politicians. No, no, no. He's more popular nationally than Jeffries. Have you seen some of them? Have you seen some of the policies implemented? No, no, no, no. They're wildly popular with conservative and many Americans across the country, especially on the mom popular. You all live in a totally different universe. Maybe I'm a citizen. No, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's just not true. Like you have to prove to me otherwise because name something he's done that's been beneficial to the overall bill of health. I don't think I don't you say that I'm in a lane here. He's literally got the highest approval rating among independents of any member of this administration. And I can give you something that he's done to improve the health of Americans several days ago. I was reporting on how he's forcing these top medical organizations all over the country to stop providing what we formerly called gender affirming care, what they're now calling sex rejecting care to children. Okay, so let's start with almost 200 food recalls. Let's start with the fire. You don't think that's a win for children. Let's start with the firing of key staffers that most serious health administration health officials. How many people on the stage worked at HHS? I have the people who got fired needed to be fired. But then then we have someone in the role who does not believe in science does not believe in actually when it takes trust. Trust the science. Trust the science. I'm a big believe in science. No, you know, I believe in science too. And I also think that science is not something that is set in stone is a religion that you need to have. Have you seen, have you seen the measles outbreaks in Pennsylvania? Yeah, do you know what those people are dying? You know, they're gonna live. They're honest. They don't take any measles vaccines. How many people have? We have an HHS. Do you say to geography? I do. We have an HHS second HHS as secretary who in the over office may have made some outlanders comments and most people would be fired and banned from doing any job anywhere after they're caught. Okay, but to bring it back to you. Yeah, hold on. I think we can all agree that Caroline Levitt did a phenomenal job as press secretary and was not even slightly unqualified for her position. Would you agree? Well, no, there were tons of people who said that she was unqualified. I think she carried the water well. I think she did a great job of carrying the Trump water. And I think people respected her for that. But when you make a serious comparison, you would have to agree with me that it's night and day between the two. Well, yeah, I think that's absolutely right. But I think to your point, Antoine, I think you're getting it the one important dynamic that I think you're getting at. And I would agree with you. Correct me if I'm misrepresenting what you're saying. But whatever went into the decision making here was clearly a little bit flawed, right? Katie Zach Raya might in the same way the green jump here, perhaps was effective as a coalition builder as a policy communicator in the movement at moveon.org. But then was a little too reliant on the binder, a little too flubby behind the podium. Right, because I happened to agree with my colleagues that she was not a great press secretary. Maybe Katie Zach Raya has, look, we could all say, and yes, Republicans conservatives do tend to compare government to the private sector. But obviously, government works different. These decisions get made in different ways, right? And so, something flawed went on here. And I think it's notable considering, right? And we can see we'll talk in a minute about the president walking back the decision to live stream the Ford hood execution. This is an administration that is usually very focused on optics and very clear, especially in the second term, very intent on making sure that what goes on on camera is effective and is good TV. That, if you say nothing else about qualifications or about ideology, it was bad TV. And that is what shocks me about the fact that she ever made it to the podium. I have two thoughts for this wonderful panel. How many people you know in their job, who lied on their resume, are still in their job? You won't find many, how many conservatives you know, who goes on Fox on Hannity of all the shows and gets hammered and cannot even perform well for the Hannity audience? I think that speaks to the crisis you all have at the White House. So, I don't think it's a crisis because I think it's over. I think it's just a matter of time until it's over. And the president, I think, in this situation, made a decision that I think is uncharacteristic. It's a very Trump 1.0's decision versus Trump 2.0. I think the decisions that he made when it came to a lot of these irings and a handful of them have been terrible. Number one is Matt Gates didn't even get to the job. Number two is Kristi Nome, needed to be out from the get-go. Pambondi was a slide-in situation that was never going to be permanent. But to be honest, I mean, it doesn't really. Ambassador to Greece, who cares? But one of the things that we get to that. But my point is, those are the three mistakes that I think that he's made in terms of his hiring in this Trump 2.0 administration. Which is, I mean, you had that within the first six months of his first term in terms of people showing that they couldn't do their jobs. This, I think, is a rare miss on his front when it comes to evaluating talent and saying, "Who's going to be good on TV?" And I just don't know why it happened because it seemed to me like this was a situation that was very natural where there were a lot of qualified people. And I would just say-- It was a tough interview. And let me just say this. And I think we all would agree. Just because you're good and given commentary does not mean you'll be good behind that desk being the press secretary. And again, she has consistently lied. I mean, you want to be in an attorney and a lawyer. That's just kidding. If you want to go back on this, I mean, just to give an example of that-- George Stephanopoulos flamed out after a sort of one-time stand-in behind that podium in a way that essentially ended his career within the Clinton administration. There's tons of people who have flamed out in this job in the past. I think the difference with this one is there's so much attention on the role now. People pay so much and more attention to it during the Trump administration. You have to have someone who's willing to walk into that room and have the toughness, the thick skin, and the ability to-- You can't. Well, I think the role has changed. And what I'm hopeful-- and I say this with all due respect to Katie Zachariah, I don't wish her ill. And this is going to sound slightly meaner than I mean it. But my hope is that out of perhaps this flamed out, we reevaluate what the press secretary role looks like. Because I mean, look, Trump's-- this was a transformation that started in Trump one, but Biden continued it, right? Where it wasn't that long ago that press secretary's-- if you imagine a press secretary before Trump won, you would describe like a 50 to 70-year-old grizzled policy veteran, right? What are you talking about, Dana Perino? I'm sorry. All right. Well, I'm sorry, Ben. Two times, but one. Ben, why don't you-- Well, why don't you-- No, well, that was before-- that was Biden. I'm talking about before Trump. There are all the press secretaries that Ben just so helpfully rattled off that are, of course, his friends and colleagues. Ari Fleischer-- all I was trying to say, Ben, before you interrupted, which I know you love to do, but we can maybe let somebody finish their point. Before you jump in, because, of course, if I had finished my point, I would have said people like James Baker or like Ari Fleischer, people who have the command of the room, have knowledge of the town and of the press corps. I see you getting ready to interrupt me again. And why don't we just stop for a second? I think that the press secretary role doesn't necessarily always need to be a photogenic woman or a photogenic man, right? Jake Carney was a photogenic man. Maybe it can be somebody like we can go back to an older model. I don't know what you guys think about that. But I think maybe this is a time to reevaluate what's going on with the press secretary role as a role. I think it's an interesting point. But while we're on the point of photogenic, I think it's crazy how much attention and criticism has been given to Katie Zachariah on her appearance, on her makeup, on her clothes. I mean, it reminds me so much of the 2016 era. Like you're saying, we haven't seen this kind of shake-up since then. This kind of craziness in the Trump administration. All over online, all online. All I'm seeing is especially men on the left, criticizing Katie for how she looks, which to me is absurd and embarrassing and for everyone involved. I mean, I don't know why we've-- I'm sorry, I haven't contributed to that nor is that show for my algorithm. So I don't know anything about that. But I do think that when you play certain roles in society, we're all judged by the first thing people see. The first thing people see without a word coming out of our mouth is how I look. Look, I'm a black man. Without saying a word on anything that I do, people are going to see how I show up and how I look. That's just part of the course in the business that you're doing. Does that not happen to white people? I just said, I just said, I'm a black man. So the journey for me is twice as hard, half as much. I'm judged a lot different than other people when it comes to how we look and how we show up. Well, in terms of who we're judging right now, Katie Zachariah as a woman, I think-- my sister's and I were discussing this the other night. She is partially being judged so harshly because she is. So flamboyantly good looking and attractive. And I think on top of her air, she's getting a lot of criticism. But I would just argue, there's an argument to be made that there are a number of attractive women within the Trump administration. So that's not a new conversation. And sometimes they're judged on their body at work. And that's just an added addition to that. I think you're both right. Mary Margaret, you're right. That a lot of the undue kind of criticism is a lot of the kind of criticism of her physical appearance is unwarranted and wrong. But also Antoine, I think you're absolutely right. And a lot of these positions, certainly one where you're coming out and standing in front of the camera. And it is a lot about public image. Image is going to come up. There's obviously a fine line there. I think, but I think we can agree that there is the aesthetic matters in the same way. And they made fun of-- look, Sean Spicer. They had a tiny woman play him on SNL, right? I mean, I know it's different. But they also made fun of his appearance. They made fun of Michelle Obama and how she dressed. They made fun of Jill Biden. They made fun of Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits. I think Michelle Obama-- They made fun of Melania Trump. I mean, we can do it for them. We can do it on both sides. But Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton correct me if I'm wrong, that they got their vanity fair covers, right? Well, what does that have to do with-- Well, a lot of conservative women do not get their vanity fair covers because they are conservative, because they are held more partially in good size. They get covers of the outlets that lean conservative. Is there a conservative vanity fair? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I would never be on a government fair, but I do know they're-- Hey, don't say yourself short. I do know they're conservative publications that would essentially cover-- But do we not get-- Do we not get dibs on the legacy outlets as well as is vanity fair only for the liberals on the left? I can't speak-- I don't work for vanity fair. What I can tell you is that there are plenty of occasions where conservative women get their profile raised more so than-- Look, I think that's not true. I mean, actually, this is one of the reasons I interviewed Kayleigh McEnany as a very young reporter and the former Trump administration. Let me-- was because I said, look, you're not getting the praise you deserve because the left isn't interested in elevating conservative women. And as a very young reporter, Kayleigh McEnany let me interview her because nobody else was. Here's what he and I talked about before the show started. I'm a substance versus style. Style is maybe how you appear to look to the public eye, but how you perform on the job is more important to me. And I think that is why-- Great job. That is why-- who did a great job? Kayleigh McEnany. Oh, I thought you just had my current press lecture. So that is why I think people were given her heat. Not about her appearance. They're given her heat for how she performed on a job day 1, 14 minutes, reading a script. How long do you think she has the job? According to some White House officials, half the scare of moochie. I think everyone's got some ideas. What was that? Was it 20, 21 days? Let me just put it this way. I think that I think given the way that this election is going, I think the president's going to make some changes after the election. And I think that one of those changes could be when it comes to his communications team and that that could be-- And here's the thing. just because you're not cut out for Or the biggest show when it comes to something like this doesn't mean that you're someone who needs to be kicked to the curb, it doesn't mean that something, you know, when it comes to the resume issues and stuff like that, that's a different thing. But I just think there are some people who are just not cut out to perform at that level. I understand that this is extremely important to us because we're here in DC and it's extremely important to journalists because they care the most about the people who are in that room, allowed to be in that really smelly, terrible, dirty room with them. But I think we have to talk about some of the other things that happened in Washington this week. And one of those things, of course, was this raid that happened on Ilhan Omar's DC area House. It is attracted responses from across the political spectrum. Some people saying that it's unfair, that it's some kind of law fair from the right side, you know, versus what we've seen from the left. Others basically saying, "Hey, you know, you said nobody's above law and it seems like, you know, at the very least, they're serious questions about the forms that she signed and the things that she filled out." When it comes to this issue, I think that obviously it's a hot button issue because people know who Ilhan Omar is, where they don't know most members of Congress and they have opinions about her. But to me, I actually think this is a deeper and more serious issue because it goes to the idea and it's usually comes in fourth or fifth on all of these different priority rankings that Democrats just don't give a crap when it comes to the legality of people coming into the country. Let me say this. These claims were investigated in 2019, according to The Washington Post, and there was a nothing burger. I think that the price of beef is so high that the president need to throw out some right-wing writ meat to feed his base. This is an example. We know that this is a president who's weaponized certain departments within this administration. We also know he's been intentional about this retribution tour in his second term. >> Jackson Smith has the addresses and phone numbers of everyone who's been at her for eight to ten years now from the rent meets her. I personally think it's a dig at racism. I think this president is a bigot. I also think that he chooses the bigot into one people that actually qualify legally to come into this country. I think he chooses his fights at certain times because he knows he's going to generate a certain response from a certain group of people in this country. Why do this 20th of my days before they election? >> No. I don't think that it's racist. I think that it's a bad-- >> No. I say his behavior toward Representative Omar, Leticia James and others. >> Okay. >> Let's keep it on Ilhan Omar for a second. I don't think that it is racist for him to attack. I do think it has to do with trying to stoke the fire on the illegal immigration thing at a time when what was a winning issue for this administration kind of fell down the polls. That said, I do agree that this is tossing some red meat to the red meat side. I think it's a bad idea because what are they going to try to do? Are they going to try to deport Ilhan Omar? >> Okay. >> I think that by going after her in this way, the Trump DOJ could hinder its own ability to further expose actual corruption from Ilhan Omar. >> Before you jump in, though, before you jump in really quick, what would be wrong with discovering whether Ilhan Omar and her family committed immigration fraud? >> I just think they should wait. >> If they did find it huge win for the Trump administration, if they find out that she didn't commit it, I don't know that most of the megabase will care. >> But what happens if they find out that she did it? They're going to deport the United States Congresswoman? >> Why is she United States Congresswoman if she's here legally? >> No, I know, but Mary Margaret, I mean, that, that's good, that's good, that's good. >> Am I crazy? >> Am I crazy? >> If they deport Ilhan Omar, Democrats being the next president for election, wait a minute. Doesn't the law matter here? >> Yes, but also doesn't the politics matter here? >> No, the law matters more than the politics. >> If they deport Ilhan Omar, Republicans are never going to win another election. >> Are you serious? >> Are you serious? >> Yes, no, Ben, I'm not serious, I'm making it joke. >> I'm sorry, I'm sorry. If she violated the law and she's here illegally, she should be deported. >> Can we just do a full stop? We know, within our hearts of our hearts, she's not here illegal. >> No, I think she- >> How do we do that? >> I also don't know. >> I'm not saying that. >> In the first iteration of the Trump administration in 2019, these same things were investigated. The difference between now and then is they rate it her home less than 30 days before the election. And let me tell you when the racism part comes in. >> All right. >> The racism part comes in when Donald Trump yells, go back to where you come from. >> You need to go back to where you come from. >> No, here's what's different about it. >> No, no, no, no. >> All right. >> That's pure racism. We also know the Trump movement was built on racism when he started his political career by saying Barack Obama was that a US citizen. You see the correlation? Those two things are almost the same, identical, same language, same person. So yes, it's bigot. Yes, he's a bigot. Yes, he's racist and I think it's very dangerous precedent he's setting. >> Okay, but if it was a bigot and if he was a- >> No, no, no, because the other difference here is that two things, one, Ilhan Omar has a history of shady behavior as does pertain to legal things like marriages and citizenship. She also, more than most Democrats, does have a kind of fealty to her home country of Somalia and she talks about this. And the reason I know- >> Do you know my journey? >> The reason I- >> Yes, well, I do. I know the way that she's put it up. >> No, but do you know what I'm sorry? >> But- >> She was living next- >> But home on the reason- >> Private driver. >> The other reason, the reason that I think that we can say definitively that Trump is not bigoted in this is that he didn't do any of this with any other member of the squad. He didn't do it with Iana Presley, he didn't do it with Rashid, it's a leave, he didn't do it with AOC. But to your point, Sherry could have. >> But no, he couldn't, because again, they don't have the same story as Ilhan Omar, the bottom line. >> But if he's such a racist bigot, neither did Barack Obama, he couldn't, he couldn't need to do the same job. >> What? >> I know, and I put that with him. But so couldn't he do it again? >> Trump has been consistent in this, throwing out racist language and- >> You have to admit that Ilhan Omar has a lot of murky things on her, on her CV. >> If that was the case, Donald Trump has been president twice, she would have been gone by now. If there was something- >> Well, isn't that what we're looking at right now? >> Listen to my point, if there was something serious about Ilhan Omar, illegal, she would have been locked up and locked away now. The reason he's doing it now, because they're losing on the immigration issue, they're about to lose an election, he needs to solidify his fractured base. What better way to do it than- >> First off, if it's so clear for everyone that this president's entire base and movement is built on bigotry and racism. I think it really is an indictment of you and of your entire effort as a democratic strategist, that he has the highest percentage vote in modern history for Republicans. From African-Americans and from Hispanic voters. >> You missed my point. >> Who don't agree with you? >> What's he starting his movement by saying Barack Obama was a United States citizen? >> Look, you don't remember that. >> You don't remember that? >> You're complete denialism. >> Agree, agree with me on that. >> I know, I actually don't think that's where the political movement came from. I think he's been talking about running for president all the way back in 2000. >> What do you mean he built this movement? That was the first-- >> No, the basis of this movement was having a tough line on immigration. Which you-- >> And saying Barack Obama also depicted, by the way, as being racist. >> Did he not-- >> Remember me this. Did Donald Trump not spend a good five, six months plus saying Barack Obama was a racist? >> That is not the point. >> You're hiding this whole movement is built on you. >> I would agree with that. >> It started on this. >> But then no, we started with eight years of Obama and it started to-- >> Exactly. >> Exactly. >> No, that's different. >> And then saying Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen. >> No, because that was pre-Obama. >> He did the Bertha thing was before Obama. >> It's just farcical to say that the Trump-Maga movement is built on Obama. The Trump-Maga movement is built on-- >> I said it started. >> We're really making America great again. That's why so many people came out to vote for him three times actually now. So there is a massive movement behind Donald Trump that has nothing to do with where Barack Obama is. >> If you all cannot agree on this platform that Donald Trump started his movement, going after Barack Obama saying he's not a U.S. citizen, if you all cannot agree that saying go back to where you come from is not racist. >> Was that part of his rhetoric? Yes, he did say that, but that has nothing to do with-- >> Do you agree with racist? >> No, are you joking me? >> All right, fine. >> Are you joking me? >> If you don't believe go back to where you come from is racist? >> You know who's not a racist was Joe Biden who told Black people that he didn't vote for him. They were stupid. >> I mean, that was really-- >> I think it's really reasonable to quibble with the notion that he, the start of the MAGA movement and of the political movement that propelled Trump into office started with the Berthor thing. It absolutely did not. >> It started with the-- >> Well, most of them-- >> I think you could just as easily argue that it was Trump's attacks on Republicans that he didn't like. That was the start of the-- that was the whole thing. >> I think that was part of it. >> When he came down the golden escalator, he was like, "I'm sick and tired of all these fought me well before." >> When she Republicans-- >> The Tea Party's movement was built on attacking Republicans, the traditional Republicans. Donald Trump built his movement on saying Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen. He went across-- >> I think that's-- >> I think that's the historical-- >> What? >> And you know why Donald Trump is president right now is because massive amounts of Americans came out to vote for him, and he promised to get rid of people who were in our country illegally and who had committed fraud. >> How's it going? >> And guess what? It actually, we have a Congresswoman under investigation right now. >> How the deportation of those extreme illegals going? >> The illegal criminals? >> Asked the catered institute because he promised on the campaign trail that he was going to get rid of the worst of the worst, which I agree. We need to get rid of the extreme bad actors. But we have-- when his own reporting, own department reports that less than 13% of those who have been deported have committed these extreme crimes, then I think that's a problem. >> I write every single day about the illegal criminals that are being deported. >> So you're talking about-- >> We're talking about rapists. >> We're talking about rapists. about pedophiles what are you I don't understand what you're saying there's a report that's been printed by the Trump administration saying the people who have been deported to this point less than 13 percent of them have a criminal history a lot of them have a criminal history so you're going to disagree with their own report at you're making a point that less than 13 percent of the people deported so far have a criminal history yes there was reported by the Trump administration there are theory legally that's a criminal act and that was always the Trump administration they said they were going to proactively extreme and I think they did and I think that I think what I think what happened is 13 percent with a criminal history well I think one of the things that you're seeing yeah we're coming over something funny here because the Trump administration always said they were going to deport people who were here illegally Caroline Levitt said it from the podium if they're in our country they're here illegally they committed a crime but he promised to do the most extreme which we agreed with but the problem I you're you're making him you're holding him to some standard that you set the nobody else I also I also think that you're missing out missing a major factor here which is the fact that self deportations are actually higher than deportation that my point no no no but that that's an indication that you have people who are actually leaving the country because they know they're okay so you missed my point he promised he not self deportation he was going to get rid of the most extreme we have that hasn't happened yes it is actually happening yes and 13 percent here here's the other so you're talking about a large number of people who are extremely violent illegal criminals that are being deported you're saying you're upset because they're only I'm not upset I'm not about I'm just telling you what he probably are you happy that we're being deported out of our country to get rid of bad actions I said that three times could you just you know who that wasn't happening under Joe Biden you know who that was I read that the Biden administration could have did a better job at the border but here's where he's where he's could have done a better job at the border they didn't do anything at the board do you know how many thousands of people I personally saw crossing the border right I was down in El Paso watching these people stream across the border yeah but that was a completely different era interpretation if if if you are winning the deportation argument and what you're saying is true then why am I here down the Trump underwater on his top issue and he's not actually that's again you keep saying these things that are just not true immigration immigration is the most solid Republican issue yeah just down the Trump is underwater on immigration even fox no no no no no no no the strongest issues for Republicans in this election in every major poll have been immigration and that's not the polling I've seen I've even seen Fox News reporting saying that he's that and been reported on the network that he's underwater immigration well if he's if there's people who are angry with him in the maga movement on deportations it's because they want more it's the hard right side of the maga movement I want to speak more about part of all I know it's his face you're citing the imaginary people showing Republicans do not agree with him on the issue of immigration look you're you they voted him in the office Democrats have solid numbers when it comes to corruption gas prices and inflation and the economy top issues the top issues no you're not actually above water on the economy okay the top issues for Trump we are being crime and immigrant the polling just came out that's why they would like to get this over the past couple days polling just indicated that Americans trust Democrats more on the economy and they blame Donald Trump for the bad to come that's look that was just a couple days ago look I'm what I'm saying to you though is it seems to be shocking that you think that this is an issue that does not in some ways benefit the president you started this argument by saying that this is something that is horrible that it's racist that it's going that it's it's it's something that's you know absolutely awful but you know from my perspective this is exactly the kind of issues that the president wants to run on he wants to run on the idea the Democrats don't care about the border that they don't care about the immigration problem and that they don't care about you won't you won't disagree you won't get disagree me disagree with me with me on that because it's a real me issue and every president on the republicans that runs on immigration but yet they will not fix the problem where you and I disagree is the president is underwater according to several polls they've been released they will not fix the problem who close the border then why don't Americans agree who close the border so you tell me no no who close the border are you telling me you won't say it you won't say it who close the border yes he has tell me nobody's coming over the border yes I think he has a lot to crack down on border crossings which is one of the reasons the defecations has become he has not fixed the problem she said he fixed the problem he closed the border there have been no illegal crossing there are I think what's happening there are there are there are that's what DHS will tell you there's been no illegal cross there are two let's put a marker there are let's replay this as a seat there are two issues here which is border security and deportations and I think they're immigration right sure but there are two salient points and the success of one the success of closing the border and of stopping or totally halting illegal crosses has put more focus on deportation wait to see there's a thing zero thing border cross man if listen if we can trust if we can trust the kato number on the 13 percent we can trust the DHS I know but I'm saying the or the admin number the admin number they're citing yes then I and I know that's I'm just it's funny that it's a kato number they use but if we can take that then we can take the DHS zero border cross zero border cross yeah I can't wait to read hey guys it's Tim Rice you know with the news and politics is crazy and fast paces that is these days it can be really hard not just to keep up with the big stories but to really make sure that you're getting the full story and that you understand potential bias or limitations of the outlets that you're reading which is why I'm so happy to talk to you today about free spoke free spoke is a new app it's a private search engine that has a lot of other cool features that really allows you to not just keep up with the news but get inside these stories so let me just show you how this works let's search Ilhan Omar on the show today we talk a lot about Ilhan Omar the raid on her house whether or not that's going to be a politically viable strategy for Republicans but there's obviously so much more to that story so you pop Ilhan Omar in and again at first it looks just like a search engine you get a site for her campaign you get an AI overview pretty much what you would see on other search engines but this is where it gets cool it starts breaking down the top stories and it shows you the affiliation or bias of the different outlets so newsweek has a little blue democrat donkey for left rvm news has a little red elephant for right conservative republican democrat liberal they've also got a really fantastic election hub which is going to come in so much handy for us and I think for a lot of people as we get into the midterms they have things like personal sample ballots key race polling podcast moments and they'll be county by county results on election night I can tell you that I'm going to be using this app for the rest of the cycle and I think you should do you can download free spoke right now it's free or you can go to get free spoke dot com slash daily wire and use the code district club 30 to get 30% off an annual premium subscription so again free spoke itself is free you can download it right now and use all the cool features that I just talked about but the premium benefit is some of the best money that you can spend on apps like this you'll have unlimited podcast moments polling insights for key races and full perspective issues and breakdowns on things like ballot issues and other state specific things all ad free so whether you download free spoke for free right now in the app store or go to get free spoke dot com slash daily wire and use the code district club 30 it's going to be a great tool for you it's going to help you engage with the news on a whole new level I can't recommend it enough give it a try while we're on the subject of red meat let's talk about another red meat issue that we back that or another red meat bait that the president sort of walked back which was the the planned live stream uh. execution by fire squad of nadellas on the four to terrorist mario margarit what are you hearing from you know kind of your your time in and around the White House on what led to this decision was it the vice president saying publicly that he wasn't going to watch it was it just the the part of the religious base really saying we don't really love the idea of the live stream what's going on here I think it was a mix of everything because first of all I think it was overblown from the start when he had said announced on the u_s_s_ link and to jack so big actually in an interview that it would be live streamed he didn't say it like we will be live streaming he said kind of in passing that there would be a live stream available I think it was blown way out of proportion I don't think that d_o_d_ or do you know what we call it now uh. was planning on blowing it up in this in this massive way be that as it may uh. the vice president was quick to say that he wouldn't be watching it uh. he was actually asked about it as a Catholic and he said I am not going to be watching it uh. but he did talk about how horrific this forhood shooting was and then when the president walked it back my understanding is he did see the polling showing that I think it was eighty percent of people did not want to see this live stream we're not excited about it I didn't want to see a live stream I thought that was really morbid and disturbing I personally don't really want to see this guy executed in the first place I think life in prison would certainly do just as well as a punishment but the president what I've been hearing is he did pay attention to that polling and while he said in a truth social post that uh. he thinks it would be a good deterrent for the rest of the world he backed down on it because he didn't think it was the right move at this time I think it's sick that we we're even having this discussion I think that there are times in american politics where the democrat republican left or right certain things you just do not do when you think about even having a hint of a conversation of streaming an execution you compare that to where those things happen to the rest of the world and you make the argument of why people call Donald Trump a dictator and why people feel so strong about this administration when it comes to their aggressive behavior here's where here's what here's a good news it's not going to happen the better news is for the first time on an issue that most Americans agree with yet republicans willing to speak out like Johnson and other saying let's not do this this is not necessary I think this is all kind of ridiculous because it's playable i mean it'll be on youtube right almost immediately yeah i mean it's going to be on the internet you'll be able to watch it i'm not like why are we why are we i mean i understand like i'm i'm not in favor of live streaming something like that but i also don't get why people's immediate reaction is like we are going to be able to see but youtube is different in government channels uh. you have to you have to draw a lot government channels in youtube two - Two different things. - Yeah, that's it. - This is different. I think one thing though that I thought was interesting about this, you talk about, you know, Pete kind of just throwing it out there, my feeling is that Pete probably threw it out there thinking the president would like it. Yes. And save is it. You can say it. And I think that the president, when he even before he saw the polling, probably somebody told him, "Hey, you realize that guy's in a wheelchair? This isn't going to look good." And regardless of it, I mean, quite frankly, I'm glad that he walked it back. I think that it was the right thing to do. But again, I think that, you know, if you're going to have executions, you're going to be able to find footage of it. And this is now really important. I think this is another car in the parking lot of cars by Pete Hidship to say, "I'm going to try to demonstrate this over-amplify version of masculinity," because it's like it's a tough got thing. It's like tough got projection. Let me show this. And by the way, let me let my boss know I'm projecting tough, secretary of war, all these things. But I think it's sick. And I think it's also shows how out of touch they can be when it comes to where the American people are and where they are on the feeling of these things. Well, I think it's Pete Hidship looking at it like war, right? This is a terrorist that killed 13 people and injured 30 others. I think they believe it killed a pregnant mother. And he's looking at it like war. And I will say, Pete Hidship has done a very good job of making the public understand that he looks at war and military as a life and death situation, which is now, as a Catholic, I am not for the death penalty. I think there are only really, really extreme cases that could make sense through the death penalty, as John Paul II says. So that's kind of my guiding star on this. But that being said, I think there were people across the spectrum, but especially religious Americans who balked at this and thought that this was wrong. I think as you once question, we've had other secretary of defense first secretary of war before this is not the first time we've had this type of situation arise. I did it. They prioritize. We even hint at the idea of doing a public execution versus now. I think that's a legit. We've had Republican presidents before. We've had these types of. Well, in our past departments of war, Department of Defense's, we had drag queens doing shows on our, on our aircraft carriers, no, no, no, this is part of my point. We had drag queens doing shows on aircraft carriers. I literally interviewed one. So this is not a gotcha. I'm asking you who, because I missed all of it. I don't remember his name, but it was a duet dress up as a drag queen. We'll send you the link. Yeah. I'll link you after the show. But let me make my point. We had drag queens on our aircraft carriers. We had D.E.I., all of our service members are telling me they had to suffer through crazy D.E.I., woke ideology, dealing with this craziness in the military. They're really. You're the main thing. Because my father served. I have a number of family members who are currently anxious. This wouldn't have been going on when your father was in the military. Because this is happening under Joe Biden. I don't know how you're father is, but I have current active members in my family who are serving. You're really going to pretend you're serving with ideology, but in life. You're serving at some of the highest levels of our government. So I want you to help me understand what does D.E.I., and all those things have to do with people putting on that uniform. So you and I can do it a bit. It should have nothing to do with it. It should have nothing to do. If you won't interrupt me, though, I'll explain to you. When we had our service members dealing with all of this, they were being taught about gender ideology. And men in women's locker rooms, well, in the military, they had men in women's spaces in all kinds of places that shouldn't have been happening. They had women serving in combat roles that were very dangerous for them. They had all kinds of different D.E.I. initiatives. If you're pretending. So as D.E.I., women serving in combat roles. If you're pretending to look confused right now, because you don't want to understand. No, I don't understand what you're saying. Because again, I have family members right now who are at home and abroad with a uniform almost, and they're not D.E.I. But let's go back. No one said they're D.E.I. They said that when they had the D.E.I. And they were in the military, when Joe Biden was president, and D.E.I. was never about the conversation. It was about protecting our fundamental freedoms in this country. What are you talking about? D.E.I. This was a government imposed ideology. But it's like a lot of these words because it gets a certain response from certain artists in the country. But put them in there. You don't want them serving? No, no, no, no, no. You don't get to say. Don't be that rude. I'm sorry. I'm not. No, you are being rude. And by the way, no offense to you, I have so many family members who are in the military right now. And every single one of them is grateful for the fact that we have an administration that is addressing the amount of crap that they used to have to go through. The things that they had to train for, that had nothing to do with actually doing the job. And you have members of the military now who are saying what we're doing now under this current secretary, have nothing to do with actually what we need to be doing to keep our country safe and to keep America at the top of the scope. I'm sorry. I don't know. I don't know the range. I don't know where your people are. But I'm telling you, as someone who has left and right people who are in the military right now in both sides of my family, the one thing that they're all in agreement on is that this administration has gotten rid of a lot of stuff that they wanted to get rid of. And I have left and right friends and family who have a different opinion. So maybe it's just a different. I think it's probably good that the United States military has a political divide among it that mirrors the political divide of the country. This makes sense, right? This probably means that we have a representative of all volunteer army. I mean, to go back to your original point, though, that started this, of why other. What does it say that this administration is trying to do this and other Republicans didn't? I think that's kind of a false premise, because you're just like, why not? I don't know. I think you answered it. You're talking about the left stream. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's thinking he's being able to come back. Pete Heggseth is trying to present as a tough guy, both for himself and for the president. But I mean, that's just the answer. I don't think it's. I don't think it's like deeper than that, right? I guess I'm making a point of how we have to make certain that we're projecting the right thing as Americans, both at home and abroad, teasing at the fact that we're going to last stream of execution. I think that's. I think that's just a dangerous, unprecedented thing that we should not do. Pete. I think you might be right. But I think it is. Look, I think you have to. Not to repeat kind of the non-sequitur all the time, but I think you do have to give credit to this administration for being willing to think about new ways and different ways of doing this. But I will. Yeah. I'll never give someone credit for hinting at the fact we're going to a live stream of execution on government TV. Okay. Well, we're on the divisive topics. We've got to get to Talleriko and El Sayed, who both had big moments this week, Tim. You start us off on this abortion debate between Talleriko and I believe it's a University of Dallas professor, a Catholic professor who I thought held her own very well. What did you make of how he tried to twist around this abortion argument? I think it's. look, I think that every one of these moments that James Talleriko has, he completely had a coming because he launched his campaign as I am going to be a normal Christian Democrat. I mean, that launch video was fantastic. I got nervous when I watched that video because I thought, oh man, they finally found one. They finally. Whatever lab that the Democrat have, Democrat Party has in Texas where they're trying to crank out like that, you know, white Obama, you know, they failed with Beto. They kind of failed with Ossoff, but they're there with Talleriko. And then it just comes out that he has, will charitably say, these very heterodox beliefs, and I just don't know how, for all the pivoting that he's tried to do, for all the work that he's tried to do, at no point has he found a way to talk about his religion, which again, is in play because he put it on the table in a way that is more uniting than divisive. Every good Democratic candidate is not trying to be Barack Obama, maybe they're just a good candidate. Sure. Thing number two, I would just say that the broader conversation around freedom of choice to make your own healthcare decisions and those decisions remain between you and your doctor are one that are going to be at the bottom of the priority chart, Discycle. We have not heard the abortion conversation much Discycle because that's not what Americans are voting on. Americans are voting with their pocketbooks. And then in Texas and in Michigan and around the country, map and math, the common denominator is candidate quality. You have morally bankrupt and corrupt Kim Faxon and peace by his own party out of town on a holiday with his mistress. All the things we know about Kim Faxon, going against a young Tallerico who's by the way talking about issues that matters to Texas and holding accountable to the folks who are in charge for Republicans in the state. And that's why he's leading the polls, not because of his position on these issues that Republicans use to divide in an emergency situation. Ben, I'm sure you have something to say here, but I have to jump in here and applaud you because I have studied up on the Democrat messaging on abortion Discycle and you just did such a good job doing exactly what they told you to do to not talk about abortion, talk about freedom of choice and to talk about the economy. That is exactly what they tell you to do on this. No, but let me just stop you there. No one tells me what to do. I express my own personal beliefs and my own message. I'm sorry. I just pay so much attention to this and you just did it perfectly. The economy part. Oh, I gave the proper messaging the right way that most Americans would relate to. Thank you for telling me. I'm doing my job. Listen. We talked about abortion. We're talking about babies. We're talking about moms. You didn't say either of those words and you're not supposed to anymore because the Democrats don't want to talk about those things when we talk about abortion. I know. I just, I talk about the way I've always talked about it. And I'm a Christian, by the way. GOP does not mean God's only part of it. I just think baby and mom should be more of it. What I'm saying is I am, I am a Christian, a praying Christian, a fifth generation AME. And so I believe in God. I believe in the Bible. I read. I pray every single day. But you know what I don't do? I do not think it's a good idea for me to tell my sister, my niece or any other woman who's been in my life or who will come in my life that I should be able to tell them what they should do with their vulnerable. I'm not telling you what you should tell them, but I am saying that when you talk about this conversation, you should probably say the word baby. You should probably say the word mom and at the bare minimum, you should say the word abortion. Why? Because that's what we're talking about. Why should I have that? Well, why can't I just say what it is? A woman having the ability to make her own help to kill her baby. Make her own decision. Same way I had the same way I had the freedom to decide to come on this program the same way I have the freedom. Oh, yeah That's the same level thing. It's all the program. It's called a free. I'm sorry. No, no, no, no Maybe killing is never gonna be on the same. I'm sorry. This is not so it doesn't work So you mean to tell me that he's running away from this issue because everybody saw what happened to Wendy in Texas Okay, which is that she ran on abortion and she got blown out of the water Okay, so let me let me just say one thing on that regard people know his position But yet he's leading in every single poll in the state of Texas You know why because that's not what people are going to vote on this cycle I think that's true across the country in some of the most conservatives places So you're not out country so you're not concerned that when you look at the at the arc of his campaign Okay, that the last two weeks have been bad for him every that every single intern. He wasn't there He wasn't doing it and then he came back. You know, I don't I don't think it's bad because the numbers just came out about the amount of money He raised there's been significant polling done over the past couple weeks that keep him ahead in the race And also you see Republicans scrambling with the add-on fire Dump in hundreds of millions of dollars into the race because they know they're on the verge of losing So I don't think it's been a bad two weeks. I think it's been a very handsome two weeks for Democrats across the country Including Tel Rico. I just I'm sorry. That's just not what I see when it comes to Texas I think that he had what I don't know what out of fact I think he had a ton of momentum and I think that the last year what other factors you're looking at over the past couple weeks Because again, I just talked about polling I just talked about money and I just talked about the president having to go to Texas Rupert, Texas two or three times in one week to try to save the day So if so you're your position is that none of that's gonna make a difference. I'm not saying none of that money None of the president's president's president. I'm saying if everything was so bad about the past two weeks for Jake for Tel Rico, then why are you all doing what you're doing? Well because to your point He ran a very good campaign. It's a Ben's point. He had a lot of momentum and he lost it It makes perfect sense that the president would want to come in and try to keep a ruby red state which but that doesn't change the fact You can't say you can't say oh, oh look the Republican party is trying to keep Texas red Clearly, that's that means the James Taloriko had a great two weeks both things can be true He had a bad two weeks and Republicans were fighting to keep see you miss my point I pulled the polling in the case that he had a very good two weeks the money is indicated. He's had a very good two weeks The momentum is indicated. He's had a very good two weeks on the flip side It's had it been a bad campaign Entirely for the Republican party goes back and that is why he raised money. They oversize ever to try to save them because he's a bad candidate Run a bad campaign at a bad time in the country because of Republicans. There's a lot more money and that's currently You know register in terms of ad spending over the next two weeks Fork impacts and then there is for Taloriko. I agree. I know I'm just I raised no But but what I'm talking about is the fact that you can't have both the to Tim's point You can't have both the attitude of like oh my gosh Republicans are so desperate to save Texas and then have the attitude And none of it's gonna matter none of it's going to actually I look I think this has been a bad two weeks for Taloriko. I think it's been a bad two weeks rail say ed I think that he has had he has said I mean come on We all saw that Lama's confrontation with him you know over the past you know comments that he's made about the Muslim Brotherhood he was clearly caught in the lie his family has clearly been Invested in this and in this position that is far more radical than I think that Michigan Michigan voters maybe understood about this and he handled it very poorly as an am I would make the same argument that if the past two weeks were so bad for Say ed if the bad two weeks were bad for Taloriko the past two weeks were bad for Democrats Then why does the momentum keep shifting pole at the pole dollar at the dollar? Survey at the survey speech at the speech debate at the debate. Why does it keep shifting as if the Democrats are on the verge of doing the unexpected? I am sorry. I think Democrats strategists are actually kind of stress right now I mean there was we're a big piece in I believe it was axiosis Democrats at Democrats strategists being an axiose were expressing concerns and disbelief about the way the midterms We're going I don't know these guys. They were not on the record But that was How people start talking I mean, I'm not I'm not I understand the polls and I understand the money But this is also you have to admit this is how everyone starts talking in the two weeks for a midterm it was good It's always there's always gonna be a blue wave or a red wave or something someone's always the party that's not in power Two weeks out from a midterm election is always on the verge of doing something once in a generational and they never do Down in my home say to South Carolina. We have the saying there's no education in the second cube of the mule So I've been in before when there's a expectation that we were going to win and we did not win I've been in before so I am one of those seven competitors who applies the principle measures three times cut once when it comes to elections But I think this is different because in every single race every single circle you see the same type of Argument being made Republicans are going to lose because they're failing on every single major issue and they failed the American people including the people that voted for them I think I think Democrats are gonna lose in at least one of those states Michigan or Texas And I think there'll be a lot of questions about the amount of money that was invested there They could have gone potentially to some of these other races that are gonna be closer than they perhaps ought to be across the Midwest And I think that even though your Democrats are are going to win handling in Georgia and in North Carolina They're gonna lose in Maine. I think they're gonna lose in Alaska And I think that ultimately this is gonna be a missed opportunity where so much of that money was invested in the great-grand democratic hope of turning Texas blue That you'll be looking back and saying man, we could have used that. We as Democrats have to do this We have to treat the South as an investment not expense. You know why? Because the tide is Turner The 13 seats that were gerrymandered to that were supposed to be in favor of Republicans Republicans are scrambled to try to save those seats because the tide is Turner Demographic changes momentum changes policy failures. Those things are happening this particular cycle And I don't think Texas is in a different the same way it took time to flip Georgia the same way it took time to flip North Carolina Texas is a project we have to treat as an investment not expense. I say the same about Mississippi I say the same about my homestay to South Carolina I say the same about any of those Southern states because you know why the population numbers give us a sign of hope Well, I guess we're gonna have to wait and see but you have been watching the district club Thanks so much for being with us this week, and we'll see you next time People disagree about a lot in this country Texas health care education But wherever you land politically, I think most of us agree on this better information leads to better decisions That's the mission of USA fax to make government data clear and accessible Because public data should be easy to access trust and understand so we can use it to make informed decisions Read and sign our open letter to support public data at USA fax.org