August 26, 2024 • 38 mins
CNN Political analyst, Scott Jennings discusses the current political landscape and the upcoming presidential election. He emphasizes the importance of being informed and avoiding information bubbles. He also highlights the need for a balanced and well-rounded debate in order to make informed decisions. Jennings expresses concerns about the media's coverage of Kamala Harris and the lack of scrutiny she has faced. He discusses the challenges faced by Donald Trump in shifting the momentum and explores the potential strategies he could employ in the upcoming debates. Jennings also touches on the polarization of America and the war on Western civilization, urging vigilance and defense of democratic values. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I don't know about you guys at home, but it
feels like we live in two different Americas. You watch
Kamala Harris's version of events of the country, you look
at their belief system, the belief system of Tim Walls,
the even just the mere fact of allowing Minneapolis to
burn to the ground, and then Kamala Harris coming in
and encouraging people to bail out rioters. That's just something
(00:24):
as Republicans we can't wrap our heads around. So how
did we end up here? I want to have someone
on the show today who works at a network that
I think most people could agree Lean's left to me.
He's one of the lone voices of reason at the network.
His commentary Rightfully So has really garnered a lot of
attention to date. I mean, he's always been an excellent commentator.
(00:46):
He's been there since twenty seventeen. I met him forever ago.
It's finally just getting the attention it deserves. I'm sure
you've seen some of his clips commentary like this.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I think the idea that you could run an entie
your presidential campaign based on the idea of vote for
me to find out what's in it.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Wait a minute, America.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
You have to trust the pilot of the plane in
the first place. And the problem right now is that
Donald Trump is not a trustworthy pilot. And what these
guys are winning, they're winning the babysitter contest.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Who do you want?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Whose values?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Do you want to be in charge of the plane
before we get where we're going? And I think, and
I think you're getting smoked on that, and I think,
my brother.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
My brother, I have to tell you, please, the current
pilot of the plane, it's Kamala Harris. Donald Trump is
not the pilot.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Just nails it on CNN, you know, bringing a Republican side,
bringing a you know, more pro Trump side. And his
role is so important because there's a lot of people
watching Sanna that don't hear that side of the argument,
that don't know about that side of the equation. And
we have a consequential election and in front of us,
so it is paramount. It is imperative that Americans hear
(02:05):
from him. So Scott is someone who's been around politics
for a really long time. I mean he's worked on
four different presidential campaigns, numerous US Senate races, congressional, state, local,
you name it. He is the founding partner of run
Switch as well. He also has a podcast called Flyover Country.
We're going to dig into all of it. He went
to the Republican National Convention also the Democratic National Convention.
(02:28):
We're going to talk to him about the side by
side these two different americas we live in. We'll talk
about the state of the twenty twenty four presidential race.
Where do things stand now and where does Flyover Country
stand with this race. I can tell you that I've
interviewed a lot of interesting people. I've been very blessed
to interview a lot of really interesting people, and I
will tell you this is one of my favorite interviews
(02:48):
I've done today, and I think you're going to feel
the same way. Stay tuned for my friend Scott Jennings,
a brilliant guy, CNN commentator, podcast Flyover Country. You're going
to want to tune into both of those things, and
he's on Stay tuned for Scott Jennings. Well, Scott Jennings,
it's great to have you on the show, my friend.
(03:10):
You've been crushing it lately and it is fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, Lisa, it's great to hear your voice and be
with you again. I've enjoyed watching your rise and I
was honored to be asked, and it's fun to be
covering this presidential election together. So looking forward to this conversation.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Today, Well, you've been in politics for a long time,
You've been a contributor at CNN since twenty seventeen, but
you've just been killing the game lately. Every comment is
just so spot on. You really are kind of a
lone voice of Stanity over there, if I say that kindly.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
So, yeah, it's been interesting because, as you pointed out,
I've been there for over seven years and it's just
now though, I think an election, and this election is
different than twenty twenty because as you remember, you know,
there wasn't really a campaign, right, you know, we were
all stuck in our houses. Everything we were doing on TV,
we were doing from little boxes in our in our houses,
(04:05):
and it was not the same. This year, I'm having
my first ever, full fledged, full blown, out in the
world campaign experience with this gig, and it has been amazing.
Over the last two months, We've had three live events,
we had the debate, we had both conventions, spent a
week in all three places, and it's just afforded us
all the opportunity to deliver some greade a content on
(04:27):
the air. We've had some great debates and I'm just
really trying to focus on that aspect of it. You know,
there has to be half the country has to be
represented in these debates, and so I'm trying to trying
to bring it every day and and appreciative of CNN
forgive me the chance to do it. I have to say,
they they don't censor me, they don't tell me what
to do, they don't tell me what to say. They
(04:48):
just tell me to go out and do my thing.
And that's what I'm trying to do every day. So
I appreciate, appreciate your your compliments on it.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, I think it helps because you're just a really
likable You're you're a very nice guy. Obviously, you know
it's really smart. But it seems like your colleagues really
respect you and even though they probably don't, you know,
they don't agree with you, but you kind of talk
about how you know, this is sort of like the
full blown election cycle. I mean, it seems Scott that
we're increasingly living in two different Americas.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Do you feel like that more today than in the past.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Well, I feel like a lot of people do live
in information bubbles. Truthfully that you know, they don't. They
just don't necessarily see information about issues that might puncture
their priors, you know. And I, in all the years
I've been doing this, and you know, I've taught some
classes in college and you know, talk to people about
(05:42):
these issues. I always stress you need to take in
information that might challenge your assumptions or your priors. And
so I think, I think when we don't do that,
it does cause us to live in two different Americas.
It does cause us to see the world in ways
that has totally divorced from how someone else might see it. Now,
I will say this, in all this summer travel I've done,
(06:03):
with the three events, I have met a ton of
people that I don't know. And even in Chicago at
the DNC, I met a ton of very very good people,
clearly care about the country, clearly care about the future
of our democracy and the future of our government. And
I actually walked away from the experience feeling pretty heartened
about it. But it is kind of interesting though, when
(06:26):
you when you meet people and you realize there's just
a lot of information about some of the politicians they
revere they just have never seen you know, they've been
totally walled off from it. It just not it's never
made made it into their algorithms or their feeds or whatever.
And that's kind of worrisome to me, honestly, because I
think it makes us less informed when we're not getting
well rounded debate and information about you know, the big
(06:47):
topics of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And and I don't know if we've seen that more
than we do today with you know, Kamala just really
being protected by the media, you know, not just not
sat down for you know, a proper press conference or
even a full blown sit down interview with even friendly
people in the media. And so you know, we talk
(07:11):
about Americans, you know, not really getting both sides of
the equation.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Well, this is going to be a fascinating thing about
her campaign this fall. How much are they going to
really try to minimize any risk? I mean, they're doing
a good job of it right now, just from a
pure cold political calculation. You know, what are you trying
to do when you run a campaign? Minimize risk, maximize results.
And they're not even minimizing risks. They're taking no risks,
(07:37):
but you know, they're getting away with it because people
really aren't pushing her. I mean, I've been saying on
the air that the next time she gets questioned, and
maybe the only time she actually gets really questioned, maybe
this September, the tenth debate she's got coming up with Trump.
No one's going to help Trump. It's all on his shoulders.
He's going to have to show up that night and
tell the American people things they may have never heard
(07:59):
about her, you know, so that she was for defund
the police, that she was for decriminalizing border crossings, that
she did co sponsor Medicare for All with Bernie Sanders.
You know, she has been to the left, way outside
the mainstream for most of her career. And this speech
she gave, which you know, she's good behind a podium,
she's gotten better at the theatrical part of it. But
(08:19):
they are totally wiping the canvas here and trying to
reinvent her as a centrist, as a moderate, and that
is not at all what her record is. I don't
know what you think, Lisa, but it's all on Trump.
He's going to have to show up and tell this
story at this debate because I don't think the I
don't think anybody else is going to help him do it.
I think there's a lot of investment in making sure
she becomes the president with minimal speed bumps along the way.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So how does he do that?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
You know, I mean talk about you know, an adversarial media.
I mean, we've not seen this kind of propaganda ever
probably or this kind of you know, cover for the
Democrats ever. I mean, it's always been bad as you know,
working Republican politics, but you know, this is this is bad.
So what does he do? You know, how does he
shift the momentum? You know, what should he do?
Speaker 5 (09:04):
I don't know what he can do between now and
the tenth honestly, you know, he's going to have to
keep doing his events, and they're going to have to
keep running their political play. But at the debate, you know,
I really think there's two vectors he's got to take.
One is the exploration of who Kamala Harris is via
her own voting record and statements when she ran for
this office fully back in twenty nineteen. It may be, though,
(09:25):
that the most productive vector is to just continue to
ask the same question over and over again. And I
fear for this about this, for Trump because he gets
bored with things. I think. But to me, every time
she says something at the debate, there is one great response,
and that is either why haven't you done it already?
Or why don't you be honest about how you cause
(09:45):
the problem? You're the sitting vice president. They cannot permit
her to pretend like she just landed here on a
spaceship six weeks ago and said, oh, I've been part
of American life and American public affairs for the last
several years. I'll take it from here. You can't let
them do That's you listen to her speech last night,
I'm not sure you would have really known she was
the vice president. I mean, she she just sort of
(10:06):
glosses over it. She goes right from prosecutor in California
to hey, I'm running for president right now, totally glossing
over everything in between. If you were hiring someone at
a company and they handed you a resume with a
gap like that, it's the first thing you would notice, like,
what were you doing for all these years? There's no
explanation for these years. That's what he has to do.
He cannot get bored with it. He has to focus
(10:27):
on it. At this debate and really make her answer
for it, and hope that the moderators do their job
as well. I'm not you know, I don't know what
they will, but he can't assume that they will. He's
going to have to play all the parts, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
And he made this point so succinctly earlier in the
week when you pointed out that Democrats have controlled the
White House for the last twelve of the last sixteen years.
And you can kind of see the thought bubble on
your colleagues like, Oh, that's true.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But you know, but I don't know if Americans see
it that way.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Well, I think that we have been conditioned in our
political conversations to believe that Donald Trump is the root
of all things. You know, I've joked before on the
air that there are a lot of people that American
history doesn't exist for them before January twenty, twenty seventeen,
you know, like that's when all history started, and all
kinds of things are said about Trump in the superlative
(11:22):
when it's just not true. There was a history before Trump,
and the history before Trump was eight years of Obama,
and the Obama presidency is in part what gave us
Trump because people were kind of sick of it and
they wanted to do something different. They wanted an outsider
who was going to come in and kind of smashed
the elites in Washington who'd lost touch with them. And
(11:42):
if you look at the totality of where we sit
as a country today, a lot of it tracks back
to the Obama years and also this Biden presidency, which
is an extension of the Obama years. That's why I
think the Obamas are so invested in this campaign. I
think they feel responsible for Trump. They know that they're
presidency gave us Donald Trump, and so they're embarrassed by that,
(12:03):
and that's why they're so invested in Harris. And I
also think it's why they were so embarrassed of Biden.
They work so hard to get rid of Biden because
you know, what he did as president kind of squandered
I think, in their eyes, their legacy, and so now
they need to redeem themselves again. But it's true, if
you're worried about the condition of the country. Democrats are
in charge most of the time twelve of the last
(12:23):
sixteen years, and they've had control of Congress for a
chunk of that time. And certainly they have control also, Lisa,
of other institutions. They control the universities, they control most
of the mechanisms through which we communicate about politics in
our country. So you know, they have a lot of
institutional ball control. And where we sit today is the
American people are not really satisfied with the conditions in
(12:44):
the country. Two thirds to seventy percent think we're off
on the wrong track. They cannot let Kamala Harris pretend
like she had nothing to do with this, because she
has had everything to do with it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
We've got a quick commercial break more with Scott Jennings
on the other side. You kind of talked about how
you know the world changed since you know Donald Trump
for many Americans. Have you ever seen a politician invoke
this kind of emotional reaction in people? And why do
you think he invokes that kind of emotional response from people,
(13:15):
positive and negative.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Well, no, because he exists on a plane that is
not normal. I mean, you look at all the presidents
of our lifetime. You know, they all sort of flowed
from within the institutions of politics that were used to
He came totally from outside of it, and he also
said things about it that no one was. Everybody sort
of knew, but no one was willing to say out loud.
(13:37):
I think that was appealing to voters. And he also, remember,
you know what he won. But the thing that Republicans
I think really appreciated about him was that he took
on two things that people Republicans had wanted to smash
for years, the media and the Clintons. I mean, if
you went to a Republican Lincoln Day dinner anytime in
the last twenty years, what's the first thing anybody ever
(13:58):
said to you? What are we going to do about
the media? And then the second thing was what are
we going to do about the Clintons. I mean, those
were the two biggest, you know, death stars, you know
for Republicans, and this guy shows up out of nowhere
and says, I'm going to smash him both and win
the presidency and the process, so no matter whatever happens
to him. That sort of helps explain why Republicans love him,
(14:18):
and it also helps explain why Democrats hate him so much,
because he kind of took on two things that Democrats
loved very dearly, and that's, you know, having control of
the press and having the Clintons out there as they're
two big celebrities. He also controls both political parties. You know,
he certainly is the top of the Republican Party, but
everything the Democrats do is calibrated around Donald Trump. He
(14:40):
is like the first guy in American history to run
two parties at the same time.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's also interesting, you know, to hear the various speakers
throughout the week try to distance themselves from being part
of the elite. Yeah, like Oprah, Oh, listen, listen, listen.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
You're like, dude, this is so crazy. I don't understand
Tim Walls attacking jd Vance for going to Yale. It's
like Tim Walls wants to present himself as this small
town champion for the little guy. I'm going to help
every student in my school get an education whatever, And
in the same breath he'll turn around and take JD.
(15:18):
Vance who grew up poor and decided to work as
hard as he could and improve his station life and
he winds up getting a great education. He also went
to o Issue by the way for part of his education.
And so he takes this guy and denigrates what he's
supposed to stand for. He's supposed to stand for people,
you know, getting the best education, the best opportunity they
(15:38):
can and instead he presents JD. Vance like he's a trader,
like he's somehow abandoned his roots by going off and
getting an education and providing a better life for his family.
Isn't that what we're supposed to be selling. So that
was weird to me at the convention. The other thing
that was weird was the billionaire schizophrenia at the convention.
So you know, you have Bernie Sanders come up and
(16:00):
decry the billionaires, and literally the next speaker was JB. Pritzker,
who you know is the third generation trust fund guy
from Illinois worth three and a half billion dollars. Then
you have the next speaker is Michelle Obama who decries
the affirmative action of generational wealth. Then the next day
of OPRAH, major billionaires show up. So we're booing the billionaires.
(16:23):
We're cheering the billionaires. We're booing the billionaires like this,
like these democrats have no idea, you know, who they're
supposed to be for or against? Are we supposed to
be for the IVY League? Were supposed to be against it?
Are we supposed to be for the billionaires, we're supposed
to be against it. I found the whole spectacle kind
of comical because you'd have somebody come up with these
traits and get cheered, and then the next person would
(16:43):
come up and crap all over it, and they would
cheer them as well. It's like, what are you cheering for?
Do you know what you're what are your values? I
don't know what you're doing here.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Well, it's also a little rich considering the fact that
you know, billionaires and millionaires as well as the party elite,
like whacked Joe Biden and then installed it one who
hasn't received a single primary vote.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Yes, so you know that's eledism.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
It was the Obamas and Pelosi and the billionaire donor
class decided they were done with Joe Biden. I mean,
think about this. If you had done a job or
been in a profession for fifty two years and all
of a sudden, one day, a handful of folks show
up and say sorry, you're done, and not just like
done in a way that is going to feel good,
(17:26):
You're going to be done in a way that's going
to be humiliating. That's what they did to the President
of the United States. Look what they did to him
on Monday night. They pushed me in, they pushed him
past midnight. They cut James Taylor. I sat in the
convention hall on Monday and listened to James Taylor rehearse
for an hour singing for Joe Biden. They cut the
whole thing. They had a video tribute to Joe Biden,
(17:48):
they cut that too, And instead of getting Joe Biden
in primetime, what do we get Kathy Hochel, Jasmine Crockett
and a whole bunch of other anonymous mediocrates who stood
on the stage and ranted for hours while poor Joe
Biden had to sit backstage. I mean it is it
is amazing what the elites in the Democrat It's audacious
(18:08):
what they did to their own guy. Just absolutely flipped
him right to the curve. It's incredible. I don't think
it's made. If I'm telling you this, if Kamala Harris
doesn't win, the public reprisals from the Biden people are
going to be epic and I am here for it.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
What it's also just like the gaslighting, like we're just
being gaslet like left and right. It's it's you know,
I feel like we're living in like opposite day.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
It's upside down day. You know, what's up is down?
Down is up? Uh, It's wild.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
I love all the people who were dedicated to the
proposition that Joe Biden was in the Oval Office on
a regular basis, writing Unix cycles and juggling knives and
doing you know, complicated trigonometry all at the same time
on a daily basis. Those same people are now on
my TV every night telling me that Donald Trump is
too old to be president. I mean, it's amazing, it's
like amazing. But they would what they were willing to
(19:01):
lie about for Biden, and now that he's gone, they're
now saying all the things about Trump that we used
to say about Biden. It is incredible the amount of
shameless gas lighting that we have been that we have
been subjected to by these Democrats. But we know we
are where we are. They did what they did, and
it's a It's a real race. I mean, I don't
know who's going to win. I don't know what you think,
but it feels like a toss up race to me.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah, I feel like it's a coin flip.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So your podcast Flyover Country, where do you think flyover
country will come down this selection.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
You know, I think that people are hurting in fly
over country, and I think a fly over country is
everything you know west of the A Cella Corridor, basically,
and I and I think people are hurting, and I
think they have been hurting, and I think they are
still pretty mad about what was done to them during COVID.
I think they're pretty mad about what was done to
(19:51):
their kids. That's why I was so disgusted to see
Randy Wineingarten on the stage at the DNC on Thursday night.
I mean, what she and the Democrat radiculites did to
kids all over the country is despicable. I think they're
still mad about that. And I think, honestly, what they're
mad about is that none of the people who did
it to them, none of the people who inflicted the
(20:11):
inflation on them, have taken an ounce of responsibility for
it or shown an ounce of humility for it. So
I still think Trump has a lot of strength in
flyover country. I think there's a lot of people in
the suburbs and the exerbs and the rural parts of
America who are feeling real economic anxiety. You know, that
feeling every day like it could all fall apart this week.
(20:32):
That's a terrible feeling to live with. Back during the
Trump years, they felt like, Hey, I'm actually getting ahead,
and today, at best, they think I'm just treading water.
The best thing I can hope for is treading water.
No one wants to tread water. Everyone wants to get
ahead and think. I think they're looking for someone to
apologize to them and say, we went overboard, we did
too much, we spent too much money, We caused this pain.
(20:55):
But you're not going to get that. That's what makes
the Harris Economic Agenda to me so outrageous. She cast
the deciding votes to shower the economy with all this
money that caused the inflation, and now she wants to
tell you that it's corporate price gouging. Don't lie to me,
just take respons She might actually politically be better off
if she just said, you know what, live and learn.
(21:17):
We did too much. I wouldn't do that again. It's
called experience. I've learned from my mistakes. I think she'd
be better off if she did that. I don't expect
her to, but I think she'd be better off if
she did well.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's also interesting to see even liberal media with the
price control as being like, Okay, well, well this is
too bad.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
I've got the Washington Post, the New York Times. I
mean there's I don't think there's like a single you know,
even democratic economist, even like Jason Furman. I don't think
any of these people think it's a good idea that
uh Catherine Rampell, who writes for the Washington Post, I
mean she said something like, you know, if you don't
want to be accused of being a communist, maybe don't
implement their economic policies. I mean, I couldn't have said
(21:52):
it better myself. And she's one of the most liberal
columnists they have over at the Washington Post. I do
some TV with her from time to time. It's not
only is the economic policy terrible, but it is just
laughable that they would say to the American people, all
the inflation, the twenty percent across the board, increase in
your cost of living, it's all price gouging. And by
(22:13):
the way, all price gouging started three and a half
years ago, at about the same time all these policies started.
But don't worry, it's not the policies, it's price gouging.
They actually think we're that stupid. They believe people are
that stupid. I don't think they are, and I don't know,
I think, you know, you ask me how people in
Flower Country are feeling. I think when they know they're
being gas lit like that, it makes them even angrier
(22:35):
than they already are.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Well, and that's kind of, you know, I find myself often,
you know, trying to figure out what's real and what's manufactured.
As you pointed out, you know, Joe Biden was the
most competent man in the entire world until he wasn't.
Like it's like Kamalarias was a terrible vice president and
now she's, you know, the smartest, most remarkable woman that
has ever existed, you know. And then you look at
(22:59):
some of these man on the street interviews, like even
Don Lemon when he was in Atlanta City, New Jersey
recently and walking around, and he even seems surprised at
some of the responses of people being like, no, I'm
with Trump, you know, and sort of explaining why and
so do you ever kind of you know, thinking in
your head, you know, what what is real the selection
(23:20):
cycle versus you know, what is being manufactured by the media.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Well, you know, what is real is what people are
willing to believe. And that's what's so kind of shocking
to me about a lot of a lot of voters,
a lot of Democrats out there. I mean, they were,
you know, willing to believe certain things about Joe Biden
that we could all see with our own eyes were
not true. I mean everybody, look, we've known for years
there was something wrong, but everyone was willing to believe,
(23:44):
or willing to look the other way, or willing to
just accept the lies about what was wrong with him.
It was a parent what was wrong with him? And
then it finally came crashing down after the debate. And
now you know what's true about Kamala Harris. I mean,
what we know about her record is that in her heart,
she's a very very liberal person. And that's okay. I mean,
they're liberals in the country, and they can fight for
(24:04):
their positions. But are you really going to believe that
this person who in the who was a liberal their
entire life, is now in the blink of an eye,
transformed themselves and their heart and their values into being
a moderate or a centrist. I just I mean, are
you really willing to believe that, and I guess some
people will be. I'm certainly not going to be one
(24:25):
of them. But I think that's part of the challenge
of Trump to try to sell that. Don't let these
people lie to you. Remember when they got elected what
they say, we're the adults in the room. We're moderate.
Where deal makers were consensus builders, they've been editing. But
any of that, and Harris is now essentially selling a
continuation of that. I'm an adult, I'm competent, I'm moderate.
I'm going to govern from the center. That's what Biden
(24:47):
told you, and he lied and you hate it. He's
been a failed president. Don't fall for the same parlor
trick again. That'd be my advice for Trump.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
You know. I also think one of the challenges for
this election cycle is like we've just seen so much chaos.
I mean, July thirteenth assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and
then you had Joe Biden dropping out of the race
shortly thereafter VX and then installing an entirely new candidate,
and then a new vice president, you know, vice presidential
(25:16):
nominee pick for her with Wallas. So it's like there's
just been so much chaos and it's kind of hard
to find your footing in the midst of that.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Yeah, a lot of chaos and a lot of the
center of gravity of media attention. You know, that was
with Trump from the assassination, and then the RNC immediately
just drained away. And I'm sure you've noticed this and
all the coverage that you track, it just completely drained away.
And the Democrats have dominated the national conversation since they
(25:46):
forced Joe Biden out of the race, and so you know,
it has kind of sidelined Trump in some way. It's
amazing to me. It was just a few weeks ago
this man came a quarter of an inch from being assassinated.
I mean, it would have been a cataclysm for our country.
We still don't really know what the motivations of that
guy were. I mean, we you know, I think we
know he was kind of a crazy person and obviously
had some of the characteristics of these people who go
(26:08):
on these shootings freeze, but we really still don't know,
and there seems to be no curiosity about it. I mean,
today we learned some of the Secret Service agents involved
are being suspended. But you know, if any other person
had survived an assassination attempt like that, who had a
former president, a current leading contender for the presidency. You'd
(26:29):
think there'd be like more dogged skepticism and more dogged
determination to find out exactly what happened. But I feel
it feels like that just all evaporated because everybody was
chasing the tale of Joe Biden being out in Kamala
Harris being in it. It's fascinating to me how quickly
it drained away from the public consciousness.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
It's very strange. And then we still have sentencing, Yes,
you know, he still has sentencing coming up in September.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Yeah, he's got that. I don't know how that's going
to play. I'm you know, I guess there's a non
zero chains this guy tries to throw him in jail.
I mean, I don't know what's going to happen. And
it would be crazy to me that they would over
these sex, paperwork crimes or whatever they've got him. I mean,
it'd be crazy to me that they could do it.
But I don't know. I guess there's a non zero
chance they might try. I mean, I guess, given every
other crazy thing that's happened, in this cycle. Would it
(27:16):
surprise you if they tried to throw Donald Trump in
the slammer? Maybe we wouldn't be surprised or shocked anymore.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
I think he will just because Judge Marshan, I mean,
he donated to stop Republicans as well as Joe Biden,
and so I think that he has every intention on
helping Joe Biden and stopping Republicans.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Well. If he tries to throw Donald Trump in jail,
I think the country will be outraged. I mean, look, obviously,
the hardcore anti Trump left and the Democratic anti Trump coalition,
they'll love it. They'll think it's great. I mean, they
were chanting to lock him up at the Democratic Convention
this week while Hillary Clinton spoke That's been their deepest
dream is to see Donald Trump in handcuffs in an
(27:55):
orange jumpsuit. That is like they're you know, once they
achieved that, I don't know if they'll ever be able
to achieve that kind of emotional satisfaction ever again in
their entire lives. That's what they want, but I think
the country would reject it because that case is a dog,
it's a dumb case. It shouldn't exist, and I think
everybody kind of knows it. I mean, even a lot
(28:16):
of Democrat legal minds on TV that we're on with
have admitted this case should have never been brought in
the first place. So, you know, for the sake of
the country, I hope he doesn't try to do that.
I hope he doesn't try to satisfy these people that
have been desperate to throw Trump in jail for the
mere crime of running for president in the first place.
But I guess we'll see what happens. We need, we
(28:36):
need the focus. If you want to see Trump win,
if you want to see Republicans win, we need the
focus to be on Harris. Harris has to be explored,
her record, her statements, what she would do as president.
We cannot run the next seventy days with like no
exploration of Harris and just chasing every China. There has
to be focus on Harris because I'm quite certain when
people do focus on it, they're going to be pretty
(28:56):
skeptical of it.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Quick break more with Scott. You went to both conventions,
how would you what's the side by side? You know,
how would you comparing to trast them?
Speaker 5 (29:08):
You know, it was obviously one existed in one reality
and one existed in the other. I mean, one existed
in the before Harris times and one existed in the after.
I actually think both parties are coming out of the
convention feeling happy, feeling like they had fun, feeling like,
you know, they're optimistic. You know, coming out of Milwaukee,
Republicans were believing Donald Trump was going to win in
a landslide, that he had it in the bag, that
(29:30):
Biden was spent, and that you know, they were there.
They were getting ready to feel the vindication for twenty
twenty that they've always wanted. Obviously, now we're in a
different race. And for Democrats I kind of likened it
to you know, for most of the year, you know,
their favorite baseball team was down six or seven runs,
and then all of a sudden in the eighth inning,
they've now scored five or six runs and it's either
(29:50):
tied or down one. And and so the feeling of
there's no way we can win goes to hey, we're
actually in the game. Now, you know, there is a
there's a sense of like hope, an optimism. That's a
real human emotion that comes with that kind of condition,
and so that's how they feel. That's what I sensed
in Chicago people who thought they were totally going to
(30:11):
be beaten to a pulp by Donald Trump now all
of a sudden feel like they have a chance to win.
And so I think both both parties exited their conventions
in different realities, but with the same kind of emotion. Hey,
we can and probably will win this thing. I don't
know who's going to be right, but I think they
both feel that way.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
It talked about exploring Harris's record. If Republicans want to win,
what do you think Kambala harris presidency would look like.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
Well, I think the best predictor of future behavior and
politics is what have you done in the past, and
whenever given the chance to make policy at the federal
level in the past, what has she done? She co
sponsored Medicare for All, She tried to decriminalize border crossing.
She wanted to shut down illegal immigrant detention centers. She
got in bed with the defund the police movement. She
(30:58):
tried to bail violent people out of jail. She wanted
to ban fracking in Pennsylvania. Those were her instincts. I
don't think your instincts really change, uh, And why does
she have those instincts, because that's probably who she listens
to in her party. That's where the energy is in
the Democratic Party. So what and then and then on
top of that, her only policy thing she's rolled out
(31:18):
in her campaign has been this far left, you know,
quasi socialist price control idea, uh in an effort to
control price gouging, which doesn't exist. These grocery stores exist
on very thin margins. So my guess is she would
default to those views. How would she be as an administrator? Well,
how has she acted as Vice president? She was incompetent
(31:40):
when given the task of working on the border, and
she just saluted Joe Biden when he told her to
go up to the Senate and cast the deciding votes
on all the bills that caused massive inflation in the
US economy. She just said, yep, absolutely, I'll do it.
So as an administrator, she took orders to go execute
a far left agenda, or she was totally incompetent on
the things that she was given to do by Biden,
(32:03):
her boss. So I look, I think it's a continuation
of Biden. And if I were Trump, that's how I
present it. You're unhappy with the condition of the country.
Why would you leave the same people in charge, putting
Harrison for Biden. She's different, she's younger, different background, but
the policies, the instincts, and the administration is all the same.
So if you're happy with the results you're getting right now,
(32:24):
keep it going, keep it going by all means, keep
it going. But I don't think people are. And so
my guess is as president, it'd be just like Joe Biden,
except maybe even a little more liberal. And he's been
pretty darn liberal, maybe the most liberal president we've ever had.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
H Scott, before we go, is there anything else you'd
like to leave us with?
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Well, I'm anxious about this election because I do think
there are things going on in our world that are
bigger than just the policy and political fights we're having.
I do think right now there is a war going
on on Western civilization. I don't know how outrage you were,
I assume pretty outraged, But watching these college campuses over
(33:04):
the last several months, watching what happened, the anti Semitism,
the burning of the American flag, the brandishing of the
Palestinian and Hamas and Hesbula flags. You know at UCLA,
you know this court case going on where they're trying
to ban Jewish kids from going to certain parts of
the campus. You see this happening, and I think what
(33:24):
I have come to realize is just there's a war
on Western civilization, and that inherently means there is a
war on the foundations of our democracy, of the underpinnings
of the United States of America, and the ideals that
we built this country on. I think there's a group
of people in this country and in this world who
are dedicated to tearing it all down. Now, Kamala Harrison,
(33:45):
the Democrats tried to wipe that away at the DNC.
They don't want you to see all that. They don't
want you to think about all that, and they want
you to believe that they're going to try to, you know,
put that away, that they're going to end it. I
don't think that's true. I think these people exist. I
think they're motivated. I think they're enthusiastic, and I think
they feel like they have momentum. And I think we
all need to be vigilant that our country and what
(34:07):
we know as the foundation of Western civilization is not
for sure. And there's a whole bunch of people in
this country that love to do away with it and
in this world that we love to do away with it,
and I think our foreign adversaries are are floating it along.
So however you feel about the election is one thing,
but keep in mind there's larger forces at play here
and we cannot let them win or our country and
(34:27):
our world will be changed forever.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I think that was incredibly well said, and I share
that sentiment wholeheartedly. I really do believe believe this selection
is about, you know, the future of the country and
the world, yes, or and civilization, as you pointed out.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
I mean, there's there's just so much that the value
set that we rely on as Americans, the idea that
we have free speech, you know, the idea that you know,
just the fundamental religious freedoms that we that we have.
I mean, I am mortified at the anti semitism we
seen in the United States. It's crazy what has happened
(35:03):
in this country and around the world since October the seventh.
I honestly can't believe it, and that we have politicians
in the US government who actually take the word of
Hamas over the word of our democratic ally Israel. It's
crazy to me that that's happening, but it is, and
everybody needs to pay close attention. These aren't gadflies. Okay,
there's more than a handful of gadflies who believe this stuff,
(35:23):
and they really don't have a place in our political culture.
And I hope the American people don't normalize this by
voting for it November. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
I mean, there's just a complete ignorance that Hamas controls
of the government and Gaza, you know, the Gaza ministry.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
I know, and you have politicians, even Joe Biden. I mean,
in the State of the Union, Joe Biden was quoting
Hamas statistics. Hamas supplied statistics made it into the Joe
Biden State of the Union. This is this is ought
to chill you to the bone to know that that happened.
And so, I don't know, it's a story as old
(35:58):
as time. You know, when something's going on, was blame
the Jews, and I hate it. I hate it because
we're better than that. We've lived through this, you know,
as a culture, we cannot let this happen again. But
at the heart of it is getting rid of the
fundamental tenets of Western civilization. And this is just part
of that hatred that goes into that. So I really
hope people wake up to it and we all work
(36:19):
together to defend our democracy and defend our value system.
It's more than just our system of government. It's the
fundamental tenets of Western civilization that we all rely on
to exist in this culture. Together. It can go away
if we're not vigilant. I really believe that.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Scott Jennings, You're awesome. This has been one of my
favorite conversations to date. I really appreciate you taking the
time to come on the show and just so happy
for your success and glad that people are paying attention
to how talented you really are.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
So just appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Well, Lisa, I love you. We've been friends for years.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, you're raising.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
You're terrific on the air. You know, I knew you
when you were a upholster. Now you're a big celebrity
and a big star. Now look at you. You do
an amazing job on TV and in all your commentaries.
So I was really really honored to be invited onto
your podcast and glad that we got to have got
to have this conversation at such a pivotal time in
our nation's political history.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Well, you're just a really great guy, and so it's
just it's it's always it's always good to see people
succeed who are just really good humans.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
And you are just a good human. You're a good person.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
So it's just awesome to see people paying such close
attention to what what you have to say. So really
proud of you and your success and going to keep
retweeting the things that you say, so.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Tweet smash the retweets. So let's say we'll save democracy
via one, one retweet at a time.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Well, you've got her and John, you've got to retweet
from me and my producer, John, who's a big fan too.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I iwa was telling you.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I think he's more. He was more excited for you
to come on than news for me. So thanks John,
I'm just kidding. I like job.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
You guys are too kind. I love you both. Thank
you very much.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
You're awesome. Scott, love you too.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
That was Scott Jennings. I really appreciate him taking the time.
It's just a really good guy and he's just crushing
it at CNN.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
So it's awesome to.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
See appreciate you guys at home for listening every Monday
and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. I
want to thank John Cassio and my producer for putting
the show together.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Until next time,
I don't know about you guys at home, but it
feels like we live in two different Americas. You watch
Kamala Harris's version of events of the country, you look
at their belief system, the belief system of Tim Walls,
the even just the mere fact of allowing Minneapolis to
burn to the ground, and then Kamala Harris coming in
and encouraging people to bail out rioters. That's just something
(00:24):
as Republicans we can't wrap our heads around. So how
did we end up here? I want to have someone
on the show today who works at a network that
I think most people could agree Lean's left to me.
He's one of the lone voices of reason at the network.
His commentary Rightfully So has really garnered a lot of
attention to date. I mean, he's always been an excellent commentator.
(00:46):
He's been there since twenty seventeen. I met him forever ago.
It's finally just getting the attention it deserves. I'm sure
you've seen some of his clips commentary like this.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I think the idea that you could run an entie
your presidential campaign based on the idea of vote for
me to find out what's in it.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Wait a minute, America.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
You have to trust the pilot of the plane in
the first place. And the problem right now is that
Donald Trump is not a trustworthy pilot. And what these
guys are winning, they're winning the babysitter contest.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Who do you want?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Whose values?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Do you want to be in charge of the plane
before we get where we're going? And I think, and
I think you're getting smoked on that, and I think,
my brother.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
My brother, I have to tell you, please, the current
pilot of the plane, it's Kamala Harris. Donald Trump is
not the pilot.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Just nails it on CNN, you know, bringing a Republican side,
bringing a you know, more pro Trump side. And his
role is so important because there's a lot of people
watching Sanna that don't hear that side of the argument,
that don't know about that side of the equation. And
we have a consequential election and in front of us,
so it is paramount. It is imperative that Americans hear
(02:05):
from him. So Scott is someone who's been around politics
for a really long time. I mean he's worked on
four different presidential campaigns, numerous US Senate races, congressional, state, local,
you name it. He is the founding partner of run
Switch as well. He also has a podcast called Flyover Country.
We're going to dig into all of it. He went
to the Republican National Convention also the Democratic National Convention.
(02:28):
We're going to talk to him about the side by
side these two different americas we live in. We'll talk
about the state of the twenty twenty four presidential race.
Where do things stand now and where does Flyover Country
stand with this race. I can tell you that I've
interviewed a lot of interesting people. I've been very blessed
to interview a lot of really interesting people, and I
will tell you this is one of my favorite interviews
(02:48):
I've done today, and I think you're going to feel
the same way. Stay tuned for my friend Scott Jennings,
a brilliant guy, CNN commentator, podcast Flyover Country. You're going
to want to tune into both of those things, and
he's on Stay tuned for Scott Jennings. Well, Scott Jennings,
it's great to have you on the show, my friend.
(03:10):
You've been crushing it lately and it is fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, Lisa, it's great to hear your voice and be
with you again. I've enjoyed watching your rise and I
was honored to be asked, and it's fun to be
covering this presidential election together. So looking forward to this conversation.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Today, Well, you've been in politics for a long time,
You've been a contributor at CNN since twenty seventeen, but
you've just been killing the game lately. Every comment is
just so spot on. You really are kind of a
lone voice of Stanity over there, if I say that kindly.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
So, yeah, it's been interesting because, as you pointed out,
I've been there for over seven years and it's just
now though, I think an election, and this election is
different than twenty twenty because as you remember, you know,
there wasn't really a campaign, right, you know, we were
all stuck in our houses. Everything we were doing on TV,
we were doing from little boxes in our in our houses,
(04:05):
and it was not the same. This year, I'm having
my first ever, full fledged, full blown, out in the
world campaign experience with this gig, and it has been amazing.
Over the last two months, We've had three live events,
we had the debate, we had both conventions, spent a
week in all three places, and it's just afforded us
all the opportunity to deliver some greade a content on
(04:27):
the air. We've had some great debates and I'm just
really trying to focus on that aspect of it. You know,
there has to be half the country has to be
represented in these debates, and so I'm trying to trying
to bring it every day and and appreciative of CNN
forgive me the chance to do it. I have to say,
they they don't censor me, they don't tell me what
to do, they don't tell me what to say. They
(04:48):
just tell me to go out and do my thing.
And that's what I'm trying to do every day. So
I appreciate, appreciate your your compliments on it.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, I think it helps because you're just a really
likable You're you're a very nice guy. Obviously, you know
it's really smart. But it seems like your colleagues really
respect you and even though they probably don't, you know,
they don't agree with you, but you kind of talk
about how you know, this is sort of like the
full blown election cycle. I mean, it seems Scott that
we're increasingly living in two different Americas.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Do you feel like that more today than in the past.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Well, I feel like a lot of people do live
in information bubbles. Truthfully that you know, they don't. They
just don't necessarily see information about issues that might puncture
their priors, you know. And I, in all the years
I've been doing this, and you know, I've taught some
classes in college and you know, talk to people about
(05:42):
these issues. I always stress you need to take in
information that might challenge your assumptions or your priors. And
so I think, I think when we don't do that,
it does cause us to live in two different Americas.
It does cause us to see the world in ways
that has totally divorced from how someone else might see it. Now,
I will say this, in all this summer travel I've done,
(06:03):
with the three events, I have met a ton of
people that I don't know. And even in Chicago at
the DNC, I met a ton of very very good people,
clearly care about the country, clearly care about the future
of our democracy and the future of our government. And
I actually walked away from the experience feeling pretty heartened
about it. But it is kind of interesting though, when
(06:26):
you when you meet people and you realize there's just
a lot of information about some of the politicians they
revere they just have never seen you know, they've been
totally walled off from it. It just not it's never
made made it into their algorithms or their feeds or whatever.
And that's kind of worrisome to me, honestly, because I
think it makes us less informed when we're not getting
well rounded debate and information about you know, the big
(06:47):
topics of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And and I don't know if we've seen that more
than we do today with you know, Kamala just really
being protected by the media, you know, not just not
sat down for you know, a proper press conference or
even a full blown sit down interview with even friendly
people in the media. And so you know, we talk
(07:11):
about Americans, you know, not really getting both sides of
the equation.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Well, this is going to be a fascinating thing about
her campaign this fall. How much are they going to
really try to minimize any risk? I mean, they're doing
a good job of it right now, just from a
pure cold political calculation. You know, what are you trying
to do when you run a campaign? Minimize risk, maximize results.
And they're not even minimizing risks. They're taking no risks,
(07:37):
but you know, they're getting away with it because people
really aren't pushing her. I mean, I've been saying on
the air that the next time she gets questioned, and
maybe the only time she actually gets really questioned, maybe
this September, the tenth debate she's got coming up with Trump.
No one's going to help Trump. It's all on his shoulders.
He's going to have to show up that night and
tell the American people things they may have never heard
(07:59):
about her, you know, so that she was for defund
the police, that she was for decriminalizing border crossings, that
she did co sponsor Medicare for All with Bernie Sanders.
You know, she has been to the left, way outside
the mainstream for most of her career. And this speech
she gave, which you know, she's good behind a podium,
she's gotten better at the theatrical part of it. But
(08:19):
they are totally wiping the canvas here and trying to
reinvent her as a centrist, as a moderate, and that
is not at all what her record is. I don't
know what you think, Lisa, but it's all on Trump.
He's going to have to show up and tell this
story at this debate because I don't think the I
don't think anybody else is going to help him do it.
I think there's a lot of investment in making sure
she becomes the president with minimal speed bumps along the way.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So how does he do that?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
You know, I mean talk about you know, an adversarial media.
I mean, we've not seen this kind of propaganda ever
probably or this kind of you know, cover for the
Democrats ever. I mean, it's always been bad as you know,
working Republican politics, but you know, this is this is bad.
So what does he do? You know, how does he
shift the momentum? You know, what should he do?
Speaker 5 (09:04):
I don't know what he can do between now and
the tenth honestly, you know, he's going to have to
keep doing his events, and they're going to have to
keep running their political play. But at the debate, you know,
I really think there's two vectors he's got to take.
One is the exploration of who Kamala Harris is via
her own voting record and statements when she ran for
this office fully back in twenty nineteen. It may be, though,
(09:25):
that the most productive vector is to just continue to
ask the same question over and over again. And I
fear for this about this, for Trump because he gets
bored with things. I think. But to me, every time
she says something at the debate, there is one great response,
and that is either why haven't you done it already?
Or why don't you be honest about how you cause
(09:45):
the problem? You're the sitting vice president. They cannot permit
her to pretend like she just landed here on a
spaceship six weeks ago and said, oh, I've been part
of American life and American public affairs for the last
several years. I'll take it from here. You can't let
them do That's you listen to her speech last night,
I'm not sure you would have really known she was
the vice president. I mean, she she just sort of
(10:06):
glosses over it. She goes right from prosecutor in California
to hey, I'm running for president right now, totally glossing
over everything in between. If you were hiring someone at
a company and they handed you a resume with a
gap like that, it's the first thing you would notice, like,
what were you doing for all these years? There's no
explanation for these years. That's what he has to do.
He cannot get bored with it. He has to focus
(10:27):
on it. At this debate and really make her answer
for it, and hope that the moderators do their job
as well. I'm not you know, I don't know what
they will, but he can't assume that they will. He's
going to have to play all the parts, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
And he made this point so succinctly earlier in the
week when you pointed out that Democrats have controlled the
White House for the last twelve of the last sixteen years.
And you can kind of see the thought bubble on
your colleagues like, Oh, that's true.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But you know, but I don't know if Americans see
it that way.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Well, I think that we have been conditioned in our
political conversations to believe that Donald Trump is the root
of all things. You know, I've joked before on the
air that there are a lot of people that American
history doesn't exist for them before January twenty, twenty seventeen,
you know, like that's when all history started, and all
kinds of things are said about Trump in the superlative
(11:22):
when it's just not true. There was a history before Trump,
and the history before Trump was eight years of Obama,
and the Obama presidency is in part what gave us
Trump because people were kind of sick of it and
they wanted to do something different. They wanted an outsider
who was going to come in and kind of smashed
the elites in Washington who'd lost touch with them. And
(11:42):
if you look at the totality of where we sit
as a country today, a lot of it tracks back
to the Obama years and also this Biden presidency, which
is an extension of the Obama years. That's why I
think the Obamas are so invested in this campaign. I
think they feel responsible for Trump. They know that they're
presidency gave us Donald Trump, and so they're embarrassed by that,
(12:03):
and that's why they're so invested in Harris. And I
also think it's why they were so embarrassed of Biden.
They work so hard to get rid of Biden because
you know, what he did as president kind of squandered
I think, in their eyes, their legacy, and so now
they need to redeem themselves again. But it's true, if
you're worried about the condition of the country. Democrats are
in charge most of the time twelve of the last
(12:23):
sixteen years, and they've had control of Congress for a
chunk of that time. And certainly they have control also, Lisa,
of other institutions. They control the universities, they control most
of the mechanisms through which we communicate about politics in
our country. So you know, they have a lot of
institutional ball control. And where we sit today is the
American people are not really satisfied with the conditions in
(12:44):
the country. Two thirds to seventy percent think we're off
on the wrong track. They cannot let Kamala Harris pretend
like she had nothing to do with this, because she
has had everything to do with it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
We've got a quick commercial break more with Scott Jennings
on the other side. You kind of talked about how
you know the world changed since you know Donald Trump
for many Americans. Have you ever seen a politician invoke
this kind of emotional reaction in people? And why do
you think he invokes that kind of emotional response from people,
(13:15):
positive and negative.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Well, no, because he exists on a plane that is
not normal. I mean, you look at all the presidents
of our lifetime. You know, they all sort of flowed
from within the institutions of politics that were used to
He came totally from outside of it, and he also
said things about it that no one was. Everybody sort
of knew, but no one was willing to say out loud.
(13:37):
I think that was appealing to voters. And he also, remember,
you know what he won. But the thing that Republicans
I think really appreciated about him was that he took
on two things that people Republicans had wanted to smash
for years, the media and the Clintons. I mean, if
you went to a Republican Lincoln Day dinner anytime in
the last twenty years, what's the first thing anybody ever
(13:58):
said to you? What are we going to do about
the media? And then the second thing was what are
we going to do about the Clintons. I mean, those
were the two biggest, you know, death stars, you know
for Republicans, and this guy shows up out of nowhere
and says, I'm going to smash him both and win
the presidency and the process, so no matter whatever happens
to him. That sort of helps explain why Republicans love him,
(14:18):
and it also helps explain why Democrats hate him so much,
because he kind of took on two things that Democrats
loved very dearly, and that's, you know, having control of
the press and having the Clintons out there as they're
two big celebrities. He also controls both political parties. You know,
he certainly is the top of the Republican Party, but
everything the Democrats do is calibrated around Donald Trump. He
(14:40):
is like the first guy in American history to run
two parties at the same time.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's also interesting, you know, to hear the various speakers
throughout the week try to distance themselves from being part
of the elite. Yeah, like Oprah, Oh, listen, listen, listen.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
You're like, dude, this is so crazy. I don't understand
Tim Walls attacking jd Vance for going to Yale. It's
like Tim Walls wants to present himself as this small
town champion for the little guy. I'm going to help
every student in my school get an education whatever, And
in the same breath he'll turn around and take JD.
(15:18):
Vance who grew up poor and decided to work as
hard as he could and improve his station life and
he winds up getting a great education. He also went
to o Issue by the way for part of his education.
And so he takes this guy and denigrates what he's
supposed to stand for. He's supposed to stand for people,
you know, getting the best education, the best opportunity they
(15:38):
can and instead he presents JD. Vance like he's a trader,
like he's somehow abandoned his roots by going off and
getting an education and providing a better life for his family.
Isn't that what we're supposed to be selling. So that
was weird to me at the convention. The other thing
that was weird was the billionaire schizophrenia at the convention.
So you know, you have Bernie Sanders come up and
(16:00):
decry the billionaires, and literally the next speaker was JB. Pritzker,
who you know is the third generation trust fund guy
from Illinois worth three and a half billion dollars. Then
you have the next speaker is Michelle Obama who decries
the affirmative action of generational wealth. Then the next day
of OPRAH, major billionaires show up. So we're booing the billionaires.
(16:23):
We're cheering the billionaires. We're booing the billionaires like this,
like these democrats have no idea, you know, who they're
supposed to be for or against? Are we supposed to
be for the IVY League? Were supposed to be against it?
Are we supposed to be for the billionaires, we're supposed
to be against it. I found the whole spectacle kind
of comical because you'd have somebody come up with these
traits and get cheered, and then the next person would
(16:43):
come up and crap all over it, and they would
cheer them as well. It's like, what are you cheering for?
Do you know what you're what are your values? I
don't know what you're doing here.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Well, it's also a little rich considering the fact that
you know, billionaires and millionaires as well as the party elite,
like whacked Joe Biden and then installed it one who
hasn't received a single primary vote.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Yes, so you know that's eledism.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
It was the Obamas and Pelosi and the billionaire donor
class decided they were done with Joe Biden. I mean,
think about this. If you had done a job or
been in a profession for fifty two years and all
of a sudden, one day, a handful of folks show
up and say sorry, you're done, and not just like
done in a way that is going to feel good,
(17:26):
You're going to be done in a way that's going
to be humiliating. That's what they did to the President
of the United States. Look what they did to him
on Monday night. They pushed me in, they pushed him
past midnight. They cut James Taylor. I sat in the
convention hall on Monday and listened to James Taylor rehearse
for an hour singing for Joe Biden. They cut the
whole thing. They had a video tribute to Joe Biden,
(17:48):
they cut that too, And instead of getting Joe Biden
in primetime, what do we get Kathy Hochel, Jasmine Crockett
and a whole bunch of other anonymous mediocrates who stood
on the stage and ranted for hours while poor Joe
Biden had to sit backstage. I mean it is it
is amazing what the elites in the Democrat It's audacious
(18:08):
what they did to their own guy. Just absolutely flipped
him right to the curve. It's incredible. I don't think
it's made. If I'm telling you this, if Kamala Harris
doesn't win, the public reprisals from the Biden people are
going to be epic and I am here for it.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
What it's also just like the gaslighting, like we're just
being gaslet like left and right. It's it's you know,
I feel like we're living in like opposite day.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
It's upside down day. You know, what's up is down?
Down is up? Uh, It's wild.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
I love all the people who were dedicated to the
proposition that Joe Biden was in the Oval Office on
a regular basis, writing Unix cycles and juggling knives and
doing you know, complicated trigonometry all at the same time
on a daily basis. Those same people are now on
my TV every night telling me that Donald Trump is
too old to be president. I mean, it's amazing, it's
like amazing. But they would what they were willing to
(19:01):
lie about for Biden, and now that he's gone, they're
now saying all the things about Trump that we used
to say about Biden. It is incredible the amount of
shameless gas lighting that we have been that we have
been subjected to by these Democrats. But we know we
are where we are. They did what they did, and
it's a It's a real race. I mean, I don't
know who's going to win. I don't know what you think,
but it feels like a toss up race to me.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah, I feel like it's a coin flip.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So your podcast Flyover Country, where do you think flyover
country will come down this selection.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
You know, I think that people are hurting in fly
over country, and I think a fly over country is
everything you know west of the A Cella Corridor, basically,
and I and I think people are hurting, and I
think they have been hurting, and I think they are
still pretty mad about what was done to them during COVID.
I think they're pretty mad about what was done to
(19:51):
their kids. That's why I was so disgusted to see
Randy Wineingarten on the stage at the DNC on Thursday night.
I mean, what she and the Democrat radiculites did to
kids all over the country is despicable. I think they're
still mad about that. And I think, honestly, what they're
mad about is that none of the people who did
it to them, none of the people who inflicted the
(20:11):
inflation on them, have taken an ounce of responsibility for
it or shown an ounce of humility for it. So
I still think Trump has a lot of strength in
flyover country. I think there's a lot of people in
the suburbs and the exerbs and the rural parts of
America who are feeling real economic anxiety. You know, that
feeling every day like it could all fall apart this week.
(20:32):
That's a terrible feeling to live with. Back during the
Trump years, they felt like, Hey, I'm actually getting ahead,
and today, at best, they think I'm just treading water.
The best thing I can hope for is treading water.
No one wants to tread water. Everyone wants to get
ahead and think. I think they're looking for someone to
apologize to them and say, we went overboard, we did
too much, we spent too much money, We caused this pain.
(20:55):
But you're not going to get that. That's what makes
the Harris Economic Agenda to me so outrageous. She cast
the deciding votes to shower the economy with all this
money that caused the inflation, and now she wants to
tell you that it's corporate price gouging. Don't lie to me,
just take respons She might actually politically be better off
if she just said, you know what, live and learn.
(21:17):
We did too much. I wouldn't do that again. It's
called experience. I've learned from my mistakes. I think she'd
be better off if she did that. I don't expect
her to, but I think she'd be better off if
she did well.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's also interesting to see even liberal media with the
price control as being like, Okay, well, well this is
too bad.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
I've got the Washington Post, the New York Times. I
mean there's I don't think there's like a single you know,
even democratic economist, even like Jason Furman. I don't think
any of these people think it's a good idea that
uh Catherine Rampell, who writes for the Washington Post, I
mean she said something like, you know, if you don't
want to be accused of being a communist, maybe don't
implement their economic policies. I mean, I couldn't have said
(21:52):
it better myself. And she's one of the most liberal
columnists they have over at the Washington Post. I do
some TV with her from time to time. It's not
only is the economic policy terrible, but it is just
laughable that they would say to the American people, all
the inflation, the twenty percent across the board, increase in
your cost of living, it's all price gouging. And by
(22:13):
the way, all price gouging started three and a half
years ago, at about the same time all these policies started.
But don't worry, it's not the policies, it's price gouging.
They actually think we're that stupid. They believe people are
that stupid. I don't think they are, and I don't know,
I think, you know, you ask me how people in
Flower Country are feeling. I think when they know they're
being gas lit like that, it makes them even angrier
(22:35):
than they already are.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Well, and that's kind of, you know, I find myself often,
you know, trying to figure out what's real and what's manufactured.
As you pointed out, you know, Joe Biden was the
most competent man in the entire world until he wasn't.
Like it's like Kamalarias was a terrible vice president and
now she's, you know, the smartest, most remarkable woman that
has ever existed, you know. And then you look at
(22:59):
some of these man on the street interviews, like even
Don Lemon when he was in Atlanta City, New Jersey
recently and walking around, and he even seems surprised at
some of the responses of people being like, no, I'm
with Trump, you know, and sort of explaining why and
so do you ever kind of you know, thinking in
your head, you know, what what is real the selection
(23:20):
cycle versus you know, what is being manufactured by the media.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Well, you know, what is real is what people are
willing to believe. And that's what's so kind of shocking
to me about a lot of a lot of voters,
a lot of Democrats out there. I mean, they were,
you know, willing to believe certain things about Joe Biden
that we could all see with our own eyes were
not true. I mean everybody, look, we've known for years
there was something wrong, but everyone was willing to believe,
(23:44):
or willing to look the other way, or willing to
just accept the lies about what was wrong with him.
It was a parent what was wrong with him? And
then it finally came crashing down after the debate. And
now you know what's true about Kamala Harris. I mean,
what we know about her record is that in her heart,
she's a very very liberal person. And that's okay. I mean,
they're liberals in the country, and they can fight for
(24:04):
their positions. But are you really going to believe that
this person who in the who was a liberal their
entire life, is now in the blink of an eye,
transformed themselves and their heart and their values into being
a moderate or a centrist. I just I mean, are
you really willing to believe that, and I guess some
people will be. I'm certainly not going to be one
(24:25):
of them. But I think that's part of the challenge
of Trump to try to sell that. Don't let these
people lie to you. Remember when they got elected what
they say, we're the adults in the room. We're moderate.
Where deal makers were consensus builders, they've been editing. But
any of that, and Harris is now essentially selling a
continuation of that. I'm an adult, I'm competent, I'm moderate.
I'm going to govern from the center. That's what Biden
(24:47):
told you, and he lied and you hate it. He's
been a failed president. Don't fall for the same parlor
trick again. That'd be my advice for Trump.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
You know. I also think one of the challenges for
this election cycle is like we've just seen so much chaos.
I mean, July thirteenth assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and
then you had Joe Biden dropping out of the race
shortly thereafter VX and then installing an entirely new candidate,
and then a new vice president, you know, vice presidential
(25:16):
nominee pick for her with Wallas. So it's like there's
just been so much chaos and it's kind of hard
to find your footing in the midst of that.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Yeah, a lot of chaos and a lot of the
center of gravity of media attention. You know, that was
with Trump from the assassination, and then the RNC immediately
just drained away. And I'm sure you've noticed this and
all the coverage that you track, it just completely drained away.
And the Democrats have dominated the national conversation since they
(25:46):
forced Joe Biden out of the race, and so you know,
it has kind of sidelined Trump in some way. It's
amazing to me. It was just a few weeks ago
this man came a quarter of an inch from being assassinated.
I mean, it would have been a cataclysm for our country.
We still don't really know what the motivations of that
guy were. I mean, we you know, I think we
know he was kind of a crazy person and obviously
had some of the characteristics of these people who go
(26:08):
on these shootings freeze, but we really still don't know,
and there seems to be no curiosity about it. I mean,
today we learned some of the Secret Service agents involved
are being suspended. But you know, if any other person
had survived an assassination attempt like that, who had a
former president, a current leading contender for the presidency. You'd
(26:29):
think there'd be like more dogged skepticism and more dogged
determination to find out exactly what happened. But I feel
it feels like that just all evaporated because everybody was
chasing the tale of Joe Biden being out in Kamala
Harris being in it. It's fascinating to me how quickly
it drained away from the public consciousness.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
It's very strange. And then we still have sentencing, Yes,
you know, he still has sentencing coming up in September.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Yeah, he's got that. I don't know how that's going
to play. I'm you know, I guess there's a non
zero chains this guy tries to throw him in jail.
I mean, I don't know what's going to happen. And
it would be crazy to me that they would over
these sex, paperwork crimes or whatever they've got him. I mean,
it'd be crazy to me that they could do it.
But I don't know. I guess there's a non zero
chance they might try. I mean, I guess, given every
other crazy thing that's happened, in this cycle. Would it
(27:16):
surprise you if they tried to throw Donald Trump in
the slammer? Maybe we wouldn't be surprised or shocked anymore.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
I think he will just because Judge Marshan, I mean,
he donated to stop Republicans as well as Joe Biden,
and so I think that he has every intention on
helping Joe Biden and stopping Republicans.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Well. If he tries to throw Donald Trump in jail,
I think the country will be outraged. I mean, look, obviously,
the hardcore anti Trump left and the Democratic anti Trump coalition,
they'll love it. They'll think it's great. I mean, they
were chanting to lock him up at the Democratic Convention
this week while Hillary Clinton spoke That's been their deepest
dream is to see Donald Trump in handcuffs in an
(27:55):
orange jumpsuit. That is like they're you know, once they
achieved that, I don't know if they'll ever be able
to achieve that kind of emotional satisfaction ever again in
their entire lives. That's what they want, but I think
the country would reject it because that case is a dog,
it's a dumb case. It shouldn't exist, and I think
everybody kind of knows it. I mean, even a lot
(28:16):
of Democrat legal minds on TV that we're on with
have admitted this case should have never been brought in
the first place. So, you know, for the sake of
the country, I hope he doesn't try to do that.
I hope he doesn't try to satisfy these people that
have been desperate to throw Trump in jail for the
mere crime of running for president in the first place.
But I guess we'll see what happens. We need, we
(28:36):
need the focus. If you want to see Trump win,
if you want to see Republicans win, we need the
focus to be on Harris. Harris has to be explored,
her record, her statements, what she would do as president.
We cannot run the next seventy days with like no
exploration of Harris and just chasing every China. There has
to be focus on Harris because I'm quite certain when
people do focus on it, they're going to be pretty
(28:56):
skeptical of it.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Quick break more with Scott. You went to both conventions,
how would you what's the side by side? You know,
how would you comparing to trast them?
Speaker 5 (29:08):
You know, it was obviously one existed in one reality
and one existed in the other. I mean, one existed
in the before Harris times and one existed in the after.
I actually think both parties are coming out of the
convention feeling happy, feeling like they had fun, feeling like,
you know, they're optimistic. You know, coming out of Milwaukee,
Republicans were believing Donald Trump was going to win in
a landslide, that he had it in the bag, that
(29:30):
Biden was spent, and that you know, they were there.
They were getting ready to feel the vindication for twenty
twenty that they've always wanted. Obviously, now we're in a
different race. And for Democrats I kind of likened it
to you know, for most of the year, you know,
their favorite baseball team was down six or seven runs,
and then all of a sudden in the eighth inning,
they've now scored five or six runs and it's either
(29:50):
tied or down one. And and so the feeling of
there's no way we can win goes to hey, we're
actually in the game. Now, you know, there is a
there's a sense of like hope, an optimism. That's a
real human emotion that comes with that kind of condition,
and so that's how they feel. That's what I sensed
in Chicago people who thought they were totally going to
(30:11):
be beaten to a pulp by Donald Trump now all
of a sudden feel like they have a chance to win.
And so I think both both parties exited their conventions
in different realities, but with the same kind of emotion. Hey,
we can and probably will win this thing. I don't
know who's going to be right, but I think they
both feel that way.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
It talked about exploring Harris's record. If Republicans want to win,
what do you think Kambala harris presidency would look like.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
Well, I think the best predictor of future behavior and
politics is what have you done in the past, and
whenever given the chance to make policy at the federal
level in the past, what has she done? She co
sponsored Medicare for All, She tried to decriminalize border crossing.
She wanted to shut down illegal immigrant detention centers. She
got in bed with the defund the police movement. She
(30:58):
tried to bail violent people out of jail. She wanted
to ban fracking in Pennsylvania. Those were her instincts. I
don't think your instincts really change, uh, And why does
she have those instincts, because that's probably who she listens
to in her party. That's where the energy is in
the Democratic Party. So what and then and then on
top of that, her only policy thing she's rolled out
(31:18):
in her campaign has been this far left, you know,
quasi socialist price control idea, uh in an effort to
control price gouging, which doesn't exist. These grocery stores exist
on very thin margins. So my guess is she would
default to those views. How would she be as an administrator? Well,
how has she acted as Vice president? She was incompetent
(31:40):
when given the task of working on the border, and
she just saluted Joe Biden when he told her to
go up to the Senate and cast the deciding votes
on all the bills that caused massive inflation in the
US economy. She just said, yep, absolutely, I'll do it.
So as an administrator, she took orders to go execute
a far left agenda, or she was totally incompetent on
the things that she was given to do by Biden,
(32:03):
her boss. So I look, I think it's a continuation
of Biden. And if I were Trump, that's how I
present it. You're unhappy with the condition of the country.
Why would you leave the same people in charge, putting
Harrison for Biden. She's different, she's younger, different background, but
the policies, the instincts, and the administration is all the same.
So if you're happy with the results you're getting right now,
(32:24):
keep it going, keep it going by all means, keep
it going. But I don't think people are. And so
my guess is as president, it'd be just like Joe Biden,
except maybe even a little more liberal. And he's been
pretty darn liberal, maybe the most liberal president we've ever had.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
H Scott, before we go, is there anything else you'd
like to leave us with?
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Well, I'm anxious about this election because I do think
there are things going on in our world that are
bigger than just the policy and political fights we're having.
I do think right now there is a war going
on on Western civilization. I don't know how outrage you were,
I assume pretty outraged, But watching these college campuses over
(33:04):
the last several months, watching what happened, the anti Semitism,
the burning of the American flag, the brandishing of the
Palestinian and Hamas and Hesbula flags. You know at UCLA,
you know this court case going on where they're trying
to ban Jewish kids from going to certain parts of
the campus. You see this happening, and I think what
(33:24):
I have come to realize is just there's a war
on Western civilization, and that inherently means there is a
war on the foundations of our democracy, of the underpinnings
of the United States of America, and the ideals that
we built this country on. I think there's a group
of people in this country and in this world who
are dedicated to tearing it all down. Now, Kamala Harrison,
(33:45):
the Democrats tried to wipe that away at the DNC.
They don't want you to see all that. They don't
want you to think about all that, and they want
you to believe that they're going to try to, you know,
put that away, that they're going to end it. I
don't think that's true. I think these people exist. I
think they're motivated. I think they're enthusiastic, and I think
they feel like they have momentum. And I think we
all need to be vigilant that our country and what
(34:07):
we know as the foundation of Western civilization is not
for sure. And there's a whole bunch of people in
this country that love to do away with it and
in this world that we love to do away with it,
and I think our foreign adversaries are are floating it along.
So however you feel about the election is one thing,
but keep in mind there's larger forces at play here
and we cannot let them win or our country and
(34:27):
our world will be changed forever.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I think that was incredibly well said, and I share
that sentiment wholeheartedly. I really do believe believe this selection
is about, you know, the future of the country and
the world, yes, or and civilization, as you pointed out.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
I mean, there's there's just so much that the value
set that we rely on as Americans, the idea that
we have free speech, you know, the idea that you know,
just the fundamental religious freedoms that we that we have.
I mean, I am mortified at the anti semitism we
seen in the United States. It's crazy what has happened
(35:03):
in this country and around the world since October the seventh.
I honestly can't believe it, and that we have politicians
in the US government who actually take the word of
Hamas over the word of our democratic ally Israel. It's
crazy to me that that's happening, but it is, and
everybody needs to pay close attention. These aren't gadflies. Okay,
there's more than a handful of gadflies who believe this stuff,
(35:23):
and they really don't have a place in our political culture.
And I hope the American people don't normalize this by
voting for it November. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
I mean, there's just a complete ignorance that Hamas controls
of the government and Gaza, you know, the Gaza ministry.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
I know, and you have politicians, even Joe Biden. I mean,
in the State of the Union, Joe Biden was quoting
Hamas statistics. Hamas supplied statistics made it into the Joe
Biden State of the Union. This is this is ought
to chill you to the bone to know that that happened.
And so, I don't know, it's a story as old
(35:58):
as time. You know, when something's going on, was blame
the Jews, and I hate it. I hate it because
we're better than that. We've lived through this, you know,
as a culture, we cannot let this happen again. But
at the heart of it is getting rid of the
fundamental tenets of Western civilization. And this is just part
of that hatred that goes into that. So I really
hope people wake up to it and we all work
(36:19):
together to defend our democracy and defend our value system.
It's more than just our system of government. It's the
fundamental tenets of Western civilization that we all rely on
to exist in this culture. Together. It can go away
if we're not vigilant. I really believe that.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Scott Jennings, You're awesome. This has been one of my
favorite conversations to date. I really appreciate you taking the
time to come on the show and just so happy
for your success and glad that people are paying attention
to how talented you really are.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
So just appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Well, Lisa, I love you. We've been friends for years.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, you're raising.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
You're terrific on the air. You know, I knew you
when you were a upholster. Now you're a big celebrity
and a big star. Now look at you. You do
an amazing job on TV and in all your commentaries.
So I was really really honored to be invited onto
your podcast and glad that we got to have got
to have this conversation at such a pivotal time in
our nation's political history.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Well, you're just a really great guy, and so it's
just it's it's always it's always good to see people
succeed who are just really good humans.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
And you are just a good human. You're a good person.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
So it's just awesome to see people paying such close
attention to what what you have to say. So really
proud of you and your success and going to keep
retweeting the things that you say, so.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Tweet smash the retweets. So let's say we'll save democracy
via one, one retweet at a time.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Well, you've got her and John, you've got to retweet
from me and my producer, John, who's a big fan too.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I iwa was telling you.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I think he's more. He was more excited for you
to come on than news for me. So thanks John,
I'm just kidding. I like job.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
You guys are too kind. I love you both. Thank
you very much.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
You're awesome. Scott, love you too.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
That was Scott Jennings. I really appreciate him taking the time.
It's just a really good guy and he's just crushing
it at CNN.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
So it's awesome to.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
See appreciate you guys at home for listening every Monday
and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. I
want to thank John Cassio and my producer for putting
the show together.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Until next time,
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