Roger Stone: Pillow Fight in Minnesota

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Taxi around. This is the seventy seven WABC Mini cast.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
You almost have to admire the consistency of my friend
Mike Lindell, the crazy Pillow guy, the my Pillow founder,
went into Tuesday's Minnesota Republican gubensorial primary with the endorsement
of President Donald Trump, substantial name recognition, and polling that
had given him reasonably that he could win. One Survey

(00:31):
USA poll had Mike Lindell at thirty five percent to
his opponent House Speaker Lisa Dumouth's twenty six percent. But
when Minnesota voters, Republican voters actually voted well, they delivered
a rather different result. Now this isn't really surprising because unfortunately,
my friend Mike Lindale undermined his entire campaign for governor

(00:55):
right after he was endorsed by President Donald Trump by
coming out for amnesty for illegal immigrants. With a vast
majority of people in Minnesota and America, according to every poll,
want illegal immigrants deported. I just don't know what Mike
was thinking. On the other hand, I warned Mike previously

(01:17):
that former presidential advisor Steve Bannon would ultimately be revealed
as a close revisor to Jeffrey Epstein, that Bennon had
been seen coming and going from Epstein's palatial home in Manhattan,
that Bennon had visited Epstein's island, and ultimately, when the
FBI released nineteen hundred emails that showed that Steve Bannon,

(01:43):
in his conversations with Jeffrey Epstein had advocated for the
removal of President Donald Trump under the twenty fifth Amendment,
had denigrated Trump and said that he Bennon, not Trump,
was the head of the MAGA movement. I warned Michael Lindell,
but I continued appearing on Steve Bannon's show. Now, this

(02:04):
wasn't in Minnesota one of those elections where somebody lost
by six hundred votes and everybody spends three days staring
at provisional ballots. Dumouth, Mike's opponent, received forty three percent
of the vote, Lindell about thirty three percent, with a
third candidate, Kendrill Qualls, taking roughly another twenty percent. So,
in other words, Dumouth's advantage over Mike Ndell was more

(02:27):
than forty five thousand votes on the reporting count. That's
a substantial defeat. That's not a close call. It also
represents an upset of sorts, because, well, Michael Lindell had
something that Republican candidates cover it enormously. He had the
endorsement of President Donald Trump. But unfortunately, I think he
voided that endorsement by coming out in favor of amnesty

(02:50):
for illegal immigrants. Now, if you know anything about Mike Lindell,
you probably know exactly what happened next. Michael Lindell refuses
to concede. Instead, he began to talk about possible irregularities
in the election. He told the porters that his people
were hearing about what they call anomalies. But there's a
rather different distinction here, particularly for those of us who

(03:10):
take election integrity seriously. An allegation is not evidence. As
of today, Mike Lindell has not publicly demonstrated fraud sufficient
to explain anything resembling a forty five thousand vote deficit.
And I have to admit there's something almost comically predictable
about all of this. If Mike Lindell entered a contest

(03:32):
to determine America's favorite pillow and finished second, I suspect
we'd be hearing by breakfast about irregularities in the pillow
counting machines. This is, after all, a man who spent
years making election fraud allegation, paid millions of dollars to
supposedly former intelligence agents, but has never been able to

(03:54):
present the proof. So when he loses his own election
and immediately begins questioning the count, nobody exactly falls out
of their chair in astonishment. But underneath the humor here
is a serious point. Election integrity matters too much to
become an automatic explanation for losing. If Mike Lindell has evidence, well,

(04:14):
let's see it. If there are genuine discrepancies, investigate them.
If ballots were mishandled, documented, if election law was violated,
identified that violation. Americans should insist on transparent elections and
aggressively investigate credible evidence of wrongdoing. But the burden is
on the person making the accusation to produce actual evidence,

(04:36):
particularly when we're talking about a double digit defeat rather
than a razor thin recount situation. There's another political story
here that shouldn't be overlooked. Trump's endorsement wasn't enough, or rather,
Mike undid that endorsement by coming out for amnesty for illegals.
That does not mean that Trump's influence of Republican primaries

(04:57):
has suddenly disappeared. The President remains enormously influential within the
Republican party. My phone is ringing off the hook with
various Florida candidates at all levels seeking the President's endorsement
in the next Tuesday's Florida primary. But endorsements aren't magic wands.
Minnesota Republicans had their own state House speaker and Lisa Dumouth,
and enough of them apparently decided she represented a stronger

(05:20):
choice for November. The result is particularly striking because Lindell's
national profile, of course, dwarfed hers, and November is where
this gets much harder. You see, Dumouth, the Republican will
now face US Senator Amy Klobashar, who easily won the
Democrat Farm Labor glubernatorial primary and begins a general election

(05:41):
with formidable statewide name recognition. Republicans haven't won a statewide
contest in Minnesotsan's two thousand and six so Dmouse's task
is considerable. She has to unite the Republican electorate after
the primary. She has to attract independents to persuade voters
after years of Democrat control. Role Minnesota needs a change

(06:02):
of direction. As for my friend Mike Lindell, he has
every right to examine the results. He has every right
to request information available under Minnesota law, and if he
discovers genuine evidence of wrongdoing, he should produce it. But
until then, the scoreboard says that his opponent wonted. Mike
Lindell loss. And perhaps there's a lesson here. You can't

(06:22):
defend election integrity by assuming that every election you lose
must have been stolen. Sometimes the voters simply choose the
other candidate. And therefore, for Mike Lindell, accepting the possibility
that he may have considerably lost, it will be considerably
less comfortable for him than one of his pillows. In
the meantime, I've been watching very closely the South Carolina

(06:45):
Senate race. That's got a lot more interesting. When Senator
Lindsay Graham died suddenly on July eleventh, Governor Henry McMaster,
an old friend of mine, appointed Graham's sister, Darlene Graham,
to temporarily fill the seat. Initially looked like a caretaker
appointment quickly became something more. President Trump encouraged her to

(07:05):
run for a full term. Endorsed her, and the Republican
establishment largely fallid place behind her. Yesterday was the first
round of the South Carolina Republican primary, and South Carolina
Republicans got their first chance to render a verdict, and
that verdict was decidedly mixed to see. Darlene Graham finished
first in a ten candidate Republican field with about thirty

(07:29):
three percent of the vote. Congressman Ralph Norman, a reliable conservative,
came in second with roughly twenty four percent of the vote.
Congressman Russell Fry took about twenty percent of the vote.
Former Governor Mark Sandford remember him, He's the guy who
went missing while said he was on the Appalachian Trail

(07:50):
when in fact he was in South America with his mistress.
He got an amazing fifteen percent, But well, nobody reached
the majority required for the nominations. So now the two
top vote getters, Darlene Graham and Ralph Norman, head into
an August twenty fifth runoff. Now there's two completely different
ways to read these numbers. Graham can, of course say

(08:11):
I won well. She finished nine points ahead of Norman.
Despite being a political newcomer thrown into a statewide campaign
on extraordinarily short notice. She also has the most valuable
endorsement available in South Carolina in a Republican primary, that
of President Donald Trump, and Trump isn't merely leaving his

(08:31):
name on a press release. He said Tuesday night that
he intends to go to South Carolina to campaign for her.
But Norman can look at exactly the same returns and
make a very different argument. Sixty seven percent of Republican
voters voted for someone other than Darlene Graham, the sister
of the late Lindsey Graham, so Norman, Fry, and Stanford

(08:53):
together accounted for nearly sixty percent of the vote. Of course,
you can't simply add those numbers together and hand them
to Norman. Politics doesn't really work that way. But in
a two person runoff, those voters suddenly became the entire ballgame,
and Norman only has to find enough of them to
erase a nine point first round deficit that brings us

(09:14):
to Russell Fry. That Congressman had roughly twenty percent might
now be the most valuable block for Republican votes in
South Carolina. Where Fry goes personally matters, because where his
votes go matter is considerably more. Norman needs to consolidate
Republicans who wanted an alternative to Lindsay Graham's sister. Graham's
objective is the opposite, present this from becoming a simple

(09:36):
anti Graham coalition if she can hold her first round votes,
picking up a meaningful piece of Fry's support and benefit
from a Trump driven turnout operation. While the reputip could
change very quickly. But there's another fascinating wrinkle here. There
is not a conventional Maga versus establishment race. Norman is

(09:57):
a House Freedom Caucus conservative with an actual congressional voting record,
and Graham is the candidate endorsed by President Trump. Norman's
vulnerability is that he supported Nikki Haley rather than Trump
during the twenty twenty four presidential primary, although he endorsed
Trump after Haley withdrew. But that's a significant negative in
the Trump crowd, including with Mey. His opportunities to make

(10:19):
the runoff about experience and ideological record rather than personalities
or political history. Graham's opportunities to make it about Trump's
judgment and her status as an outsider. And that's why
this next two weeks could be even more revealing. Than
the first round. You see, runoffs are different animals, turnout contracts,

(10:40):
intensity matters more, endorsements matter more, and organization matters enormously.
Norman has to persuade Republicans who voted for Fry Sandford
and the other candidates that he is their logical second choice.
Graham has to convince them that yesterday's results central the
fundamental question. She finished first, she has Trump backing, and

(11:01):
Republicans should unite behind her. Trump campaign appearance could therefore
be one of the most pivotal moments of this race.
So I would resist declaring a favorite tonight. Darlene Graham
won the first battle, but Ralph Norman may have the
more intriguing arithmetic Here. Graham has Trump, the Senate seat,
and the Graham political name, as well as the institutional

(11:21):
backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and of course
a very popular governor Henry McMaster. Norman has experience, a
Freedom Caucus record and a potentially enormous pool of first
round voters. Sixty seven percent who chose someone other than
Darlene Graham August twenty fifth will tell us which matters
more in a state that hasn't elected a Democrat to

(11:43):
the US Senate in twenty eight years. There's a very
good argument that this runoff is merely another Republican primary.
It could definitely be the contest that effectively determines the
South Carolina's next US Senator. In other words, whoever wins
this runoff on the twenty fifth is almost certainly to
go to the US Senate. Take your pick. I was

(12:06):
not particularly a fan of Lindsey Graham, but I will
not speak ill of the dead, but his sister is
in the pole position here to win this contest, while
Ralph Norman, who unfortunately for him, supported Nikki Haley, has
got to pull together an awful lot of votes. We're
talking politics with the kind of breakdown that only we
can give right here in the Stone Zone. Don't go away,

(12:27):
because we'll be back with more as I begin to
jam and whether Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman can pull
an upset and actually defeat Kathy Hokeel in the upcoming
contest for governor of the Empire State.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
The Stone Zone entertaining and informative on the Red Apple
podcast Network.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Sure welcome back in to the Stone Zone. President Trump
announced today that Caroline Levitt will be departing her role
as the White House Press Secretary to spend more time
with her young children. Now, in my fifty years in
American politics, I've known for presidential press secretaries, some of

(13:07):
them good, some of them great. But I have to
tell you Caroline Leavitt has been the best. She first
came to my attention when she ran a spirited campaign
for Congress in New Hampshire. She didn't win that, but
she gained valuable experience, and as the president spokesperson, I
think she's been enormously effective. She has been feisty when

(13:29):
of the job required that she has provided information is
necessary to a largely hostile press corps, but she didn't
put up with any guff. President Trump put out a statement.
His statement said, our wonderful White House Press Secretary and
one of my most trustless aids, Caroline Levitt will be
departing her role at the end of the month so

(13:49):
she can spend more time with a beautiful young children
and family, a decision I totally understand and respect. Caroline
will now be one of my top outside of and
an influential voice within the Republican Party as we work
to defy history and conclusively win the midterm elections. Caroline
has been a real leader in the White House and

(14:10):
has done a phenomenal job fighting for justice, liberty, and
freedom since twenty eighteen, including our historic reelection campaign in
twenty twenty four. Caroline Levin has been one of the
best White House Press secretary of the history of the office.
Thank you, Caroline for a job well done. Signed President
Donald Trump. This comes on the heels of the White

(14:33):
House Council. David Warrington also tendering his resignation to go
back to private businitsing. Dave Warrington and I have been
friends since we were in Young Americans for Freedom together,
and named as his replacement is Will Sharf. Will Sharf
is one of the sharpest young lawyers I know. Actually

(14:54):
supported his unsuccessful campaign for the Attorney General's office in
his native Missouri. By the way, my general experience in politics,
in which I have quite a bit, is that candidates
who run and lose are always better the second time around.
The very best candidates are those who learned from that

(15:16):
first experience. I think of Tom Kane of New Jersey,
who ran for governor in nineteen seventy seven lost that
contest lost the Republican primary to State Senator Ray Bateman,
who went on to lose to Brendan Byrn In nineteen
eighty one. Tom Kine came back and ran again. This
time he ran a much better campaign. He was a

(15:37):
much better candidate. In every case, candidates who have run
and lost have profited if they view it not as
a defeat but as a building experience. As my mentor
Richard Nixon said, a man is not finished when he
is defeated. He has only finished when he quits. And

(16:00):
that is the story of American politics. That is a
story of all of these kiddies. Caroline Levitt is quitting today.
She's leaving a job. But at her age and with
her talent level, I have no doubt whatsoever she will
be back in the political arena again to fight for
her country. How did the President point it, to fight
for justice, liberty and freedom. I have no doubt whatsoever

(16:24):
that in the future fight for America, Caroline Levitt will
be in the front lines. I'm Roger Stone to listen
to Stone Zone. When we come back, We're going to
look at Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and whether
he could really be New York Governor Kathy Oakle.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
The Stone Zone, entertaining and informative on the Red Apple
podcast networks.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know the best thing about summer, of course, if
you're a well dressed gentleman, is the summer alternatives available
to you. Linen, seersucker, silk, madress, and of course my favorite,
those two toned spectator shoes or a nice pair of
white bucks. Combine that with a sharp looking pair of

(17:21):
suspenders and a madress bow tie, you've got a great look.
So I love this time of year. And because I'm
a political junkie, I of course have been very carefully
watching the upcoming race between Bruce Blakeman and Kathy Hockle.
Now here's the political number we're paying attention to. Forty
nine to thirty nine. That's Governor Kathy Hokeel's lead over

(17:43):
Republican Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau accounting executive. In the New
Sea Ana pole of likely New York voters first one
morning sign, an incumbent under fifty is generally thought to
be in trouble. In this case, Kathy Hokel, with universal
name I do an enormous resource, is not breaking fifty
percent of the vote. Now, a ten point deficit is

(18:04):
obviously still a deficit in Anybody telling you that Bruce
Blakeman is presently winning this race doesn't know how to
read the poll. But here's what makes the number interesting.
Roughly this stage four years ago, Sienna had Hochel beating
Republican congressman and a good friend of mine, Lie Zelden
by fourteen points fifty three to thirty nine. Again, Hokeel

(18:25):
over fifty and a fourteen point margin. Zelden ultimately lost,
but in the end only by about six points. So
that history doesn't tell us what will happen in November,
but it does tell us not to dismiss a upset
in the New York governor's race as early as August,
remember the chronology of twenty twenty two. In August, Sienna

(18:48):
had Hochel ahead by fourteen points, but by late September
her sien elite had actually expanded to seventeen points fifty
four to thirty seven. The conventional wisdom by some said
the race was basically over them. Then something happened. New
York governors started focusing intensely on the election. Zelden hammered

(19:10):
away on crime and the economy, as well as high taxes,
and the contest tightened dramatically, even though Hookohada unlimited money
and Zelgen