Alex Triantafilou on the debate and much more!

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Eight oh five. Here a bittyfive carec detalk station. A very happy
Friday to you, made even happierbecause we're going to get the thoughts in
comments reacting reaction to last night's presidentialdebate from Alex Gionta Filo, head of
the Ohio Republican Party. Welcome back, Alex. It's always a real pleasure
to have you on the program.Brian, the pleasure is all mine.

(00:23):
Good morning to you. I knowyou watched it. I stayed up and
watched it myself, even though Istill got up at two thirty this morning.
Well worth it to watch that momentin time Biden just basically fell apart
from the outset. What's your takeon this? And obviously what do you
what do you as if you werea Democrat and responsible for going forward into
the convention, what would you bethinking right now? Alex? The Democrats

(00:46):
should be in a full blown panic, Brian. And that's just that's not
hyperbole for me, That's just that'sa fact. There's so much I could
say, and I know we're limitedon time, but let me just say
a couple of quick observations. Firstof all, this notion Brian that they
can easily replace him at the conventionthat some people may have in their minds
is wrong. I mean we're onehundred and one days from early voting beginning

(01:07):
right here in Ohio. I meanthey would have back very very quickly.
I mean we'll be printing ballots inno time here in Ohio. You know,
early ballots get mailed in early August. So this is not a joke.
The Democrats created this mess. It'svery unfortunate. They just weren't honest
about where they were with Joe Biden. They should have replaced him sometime in

(01:30):
the middle of twenty twenty two.But they're terrified of Kamala Harris. So
we really, Brian, I mean, look is happy, I suppose as
Republicans ought to be and Trump supportersought to be. And I'm both.
You know, I'm concerned for thecountry. This man is going to continue
to lead the nation for the nextseven months. And we all saw finally
without the filter of the press,without the pundits defending him, without the

(01:55):
quote fact checkers telling us, youknow what our own eyes we're seeing.
Isn't really like they try. Ihad to tell us, you know,
every time Biden had a club youknow that the mainstream press would cover for
him and tell you that you know, this was being spun by the Republicans
and his opponents. No, theAmerican people got to see the truth last
night, front and center, andyou know there's concern. I'm concerned about

(02:15):
the country and what this man cando, you know, as president over
the next seven months. So youknow, look, it's time for the
American people to realize that the policiesof Joe Biden are even worse than kind
of his capacity for office. Thepolicies have failed them. You know,
we have record inflation, gas costsmore, raising you know, your family
costs more. You know, thecountry's just in a much worse place.

(02:37):
We have wars popping up all overthe world, so you know, you're
in a much worse place than youwere four years ago. Add in the
fact that we just have a commanderin chief who's incapable really of leading and
fixing things. So you know,look, I mean it was a good
night, I suppose for Donald Trump, but the country, you know,
remains in trouble under Joe Biden's leadership. Well, I'm glad you brought up
foreign policy and wars and the lifebecause I feel very calm, confident.

(03:00):
The leaders of those nations who havea disdain for US, China, North
Korea, Russia, Iran, theywere all watching last night. They were
seeing what the commander in chief lookslike and how he is unscripted and without
teleprompter, and any concerns that thatmight sort of, you know, cause
them to react in a well morewarlike manner, like China unleashing its forces

(03:23):
on Taiwan or Philippines or you know, there's any number of scenarios that could
play out there, including the unfoldingdeterioration of the situation in the Middle East.
Yeah, we live in a verydangerous world, and you know,
and war is real, and thethreats that you just talked about are very
very real. I mean, Ijust imagine for a minute that the you

(03:44):
know, the leader of China oreven Vladimir Putin or somebody like that,
had that kind of a public appearance. I mean, this is going to
be international news, and you know, it's something we've all known. Though
again, I guess my biggest problemwith this is that the Democrats have known
this and they've sought to cover itup. You know, Brian, when
Robert Hurr came out with his investigation. This would be the special prosecutor who

(04:06):
was investigating Joe Biden. He cameout and said, you know, there
are problems here. This was likeFebruary March of this year. Democrats fell
in line. They trotted out theChairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff,
Brian, They trotted out the Treasurysecretaries. These are some of the most
important officials in the Biden administration andsome of the leaders of our country to
all say that Joe Biden was fine, they all lied to cover up what

(04:29):
we all saw last night. Sowe don't have patriots in our government looking
out for us. We have peoplelooking out for their political leader and Joe
Biden. So we've been lied toby the Democrats, and you know,
look, it's bad for the country. And you know, again, I
think that weren't a good position todefeat Joe Biden. But you know,
again, we have seven more monthsof this presidency, no matter what happened,
So you know, again there's areason for concern. And again the

(04:53):
weakness on the international stage that youjust described as very real. So again
I pray for our safety and youknow, for the you choke the country
here in the near term. Well, and you brought up an interesting point.
I agree with you completely. Theywere aware that Joe Biden on display
last night is like that all thetime. This is the idea that you
know, yeah, you don't seehim behind the scenes, he's sharp as

(05:15):
attack, he's the smartest guy inthe room. He's all over the issues.
We've been hearing that over and overand over again. They knew Joe
Biden was struggling, they know,and behind the scenes they ended up.
Yet they put him out there anyway. I mean, is there any point
in that from a strategic standpoint thatwell, we got to pull the band
aid off kind of thing. Let'sgo ahead and roll him out knowing he's
going to fail miserably, to maybegive us an opportunity to change the dynamic

(05:38):
before the convention. I mean,you know, there are some people that
think that, you know, thisis all kind of orchestrated with the early
debate on purpose so they have achance to swap him out. But Brian,
you know again, you could probablydo a whole show on what it
would take to swap him out.I mean, it's late, I mean,
it's not just late. It's verylate. And also, mind you,

(05:59):
and this isn't point. I wantto make it briefly, Brian.
You know, the primary process selectsthe nominees of the political parties. Okay,
sometimes people don't want to appreciate this, but guess who picks the nominees
of the Republican the Democratic Party?You do. That's why New Hampshire matters,
That's why Iowa matters. If youthink an inside smoke filled room full
of Republicans would have picked Donald Trump, no chance, Okay, that would

(06:23):
have been Rubyo or Bush. TheAmerican people in the Republican primary said enough,
they were tired of the direction ofthe Republican Party, and they selected
Donald Trump in a Democrat small,de democratic process. Well, the Democrats
would be disenfranchising millions of their ownvoters, Brian, by going to essentially
a smoke filled room in Chicago,a three thousand party of the party's elite

(06:44):
insiders and picking a nominee for president. You tell me what a political debacle
that will be. As AOC andBernie are on one side, and you
know, the Joe Manchin wing ofthe Party of because they're on the other
side, it would be highly divisive. So there they have real people.
Isn't that what happened with Uh youmentioned Bernie Sanders. That's what they did
to him in the last convention.I mean, he was the favorite among

(07:09):
the Democrats themselves, yet the smokefilled room yielded Joe Biden. They had
taken Sanders back and tell him it'snot as night. I mean, yeah,
they had super delegates in their process, right, yeah, right,
So it's not without precedent. Democratsdon't seem to be bothered by their own
rules and the fact that these choicesare not made among the people in the
Democrat Party, but these these superdelegates behind the scenes in the smoke field

(07:32):
room. Yeah, oh, youmake a good point. And again,
I that being what it is,Joe Biden still had to go through that
primary process in twenty you know,in twenty twenty to be elected their nominee,
and he won some states along theway, and you know it was
close. But here again, youare literally going to disenfranchise and that is
not allow rank and file Democrats inplaces like California and New York where they're

(07:56):
chock full of Democrats, to actuallyhave a say in the process. So
three thousand people to you know,convene in August, by the way,
just you know, I mean,weeks before an election and deliver a nominee
to the Democratic Party is just itis a major crisis for Democrats and they
know it. And you know,we'll see you when the ship all shakes
out. But you know it's acrisis for them, So we'll see what

(08:18):
happens, all right. Well,going after Biden is like going after a
low hanging fruit. It's easy todo. He did a miserable job last
night, and everyone across all sectorsof media agrees with that. I mean,
when you lose MSNBC's Joy Read,you know you got a problem on
your hands if you're in the Bidencamp. That being said, it seemed
to me that Donald Trump missed quitea few opportunities to provide us with some

(08:39):
information about his direction for the country. And I was interested, most specifically
about his comments about how he isgoing to be able to end the war
between Russia and Ukraine without even beforehe's even been sworn in No flesh on
the bones of that statement, andI thought it was a rather interesting statement
and a rather bold one for himto make you have any context for that
or how he might go about doingthat, or was that just Trump being

(09:03):
a bit bit blustery. Well,I think this may be a little bit
of mix of both, But Ido I do believe this. I believe
that Donald Trump is not a conventionalpolitician. I think that's about the understatement
of the day, right, Brian. But the fact of the matter is
he has he has a capacity fordeal making that typically politicians do not have.
He comes at this with a totallydifferent, fresh set of eyes,

(09:26):
and he's like, I mean,look, he went and talked to Kim
Jong Owen. Well, guess what, I would argue that the threat from
North Korea is now a little bitdiminished. We're not talking every single day
about North Korean missiles. I knowthey're still there. But the man attempted
to make peace, and everybody thoughthe was crazy. But guess what,
we moved the ball on that.So could Donald Trump come in And I
don't have any inside information about this, but I'm speculating like everybody else,

(09:50):
But could he come in and pullZelinska together and pull Putin together and say,
guys, all you're doing is killingeach other, and let's find let's
find a way to make this work. Does that mean Ukraine get up some
land. Perhaps that's not certainly wayabove my pay grade, but I think
he's a deal maker, it wouldbe my answer, Brian, And I
think that to the extent that hecould cut a deal between Zelenski and Putin
to stop the killing and end thatwar in a way that you know,

(10:13):
both sides walk away slightly unhappy.You know, you and I are lawyers.
We've negotiated plenty of settlements, righteverybody walks away having given up something.
So from where I sit, youknow, there's a settlement opportunity here
that ends the killing. Because thiswar doesn't seem to be coming to an
end anytime soon. It doesn't seemthat there's a clear, you know,

(10:33):
winner in sight. So you know, that's what I think. I think
he's thinking. The guy who wrotepart of the deal, you know,
over thirty five years ago, Ithink wants to use that skill set to
bring a solution to that, tothat war. And that's where I think
you're hearing from Donald Trump. Fairenough, at least in terms of the
politics. I think Donald Trump navigatedthe question of abortion pretty well, but
much to the chagrin. I'm certainof the evangelical Christians out there in the

(10:56):
world who don't believe there should beexceptions for abortion, and he pointed out
he believes in the health of thewoman, rape and insects exceptions. He
also believes that the morning after pillshould be available. That runs contrary to
a lot of the very conservative wingof the Republican Party. Do you think
he's going to suffer at all becauseof that? Well, I hope not.

(11:18):
And you know, this is oneof those areas where I'm strongly pro
life. So this is an areathat you know touches a little bit of
a nerve with me. We shouldbe the party of life. We should
stand for life. We should doso unapologetically, but politically, we have
to make the case better to theAmerican people. I thought Donald Trump's argument
abortion last night was really strong.I mean, he looked at Joe Biden
said, do you believe an abortionin the eighth month? Democrats never are

(11:41):
forced to answer that question, Brian. The media is complicit and never having
making them answer that question. Allthey do is they pivot and they talk
about their talking points. But ifyou believe that terminating a pregancy in the
eighth month is okay. You're amonga very small minority of the American people,
so we as Republicans ought to betalking about, you know, shrinking

(12:01):
that window down and protecting as manylives as possible. And I thought Donald
Trump's answer was a good one.You know, I may personally differ on
the question of For me, I'ma you know, I'm a I'm a
strong pro life Republican, So youknow, it's one of those things though
we have to recognize overall that wehave to defeat Jo'biden and win back to
presidency so we can continue to putin great judges and do other things that

(12:22):
can incrementally continue this fight to protectlife. Well, since you mentioned judges,
let us move away from last nightand close on important races here in
the state of Ohio. And Iknow you're big on promoting GOP judges dot
com. We really, really,really need to take back law enforcement and
and prosecuting criminals to the fullest extentof the law. And I know that's

(12:43):
a subject near and dear to yourheart. Alex. Well, it is,
you know, and I left beinga county chairman a year and a
half ago, but I've not forgottenthe importance of a race like the county
prosecutor's race. And I know youtalk about it. Our friend Melissa Powers
is going to be on the ballot. I know, I know you're vocal
about this. We have to folks, if you're listening, you have to
tell ten of your friends Melissa Powers, Melissa Powers, Melissa Powers. We

(13:07):
have no other choice. If youwant to go the way of Chicago and
San Francisco, where you know peopleare being fifty and sixty and seventy people
are being shot every weekend, thenyou know, you can elect this other
person who's running who's got no experience, just barely got our law license back,
or you can have Melissa Powers,who has judicial experience, prosecutorial experience,

(13:28):
so that one's not even political.That's just really about the safety of
our community in Hamlin County. Soyeah, I care a lot about that,
care a lot about our judges.We have three Supreme Court races here
in Ohio. We feel strongly aboutthose as well, and we have prosecutors
running there as well, so youknow, we feel good about that.
But it is something I'm passionate about. Brian again, having a law license,
having been a judge, I feelvery strongly about these things. I
know you do, and I appreciateyour thoughts and comments and all these topics.

(13:50):
Alice Trenta feel you always have awelcome spot here in the fifty five
Case Morning Show. Keep up thegreat work and I'll look forward to further
conversations down the road. Have agreat weekend, Brian, take good care.
You do the same, my friend. It's eight nineteen right now.
If it's Drive Care CD talk station,