Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / LA Voters Burned Out & Fired Up plus The Expanding War on Narco Power

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LA Voters Burned Out & Fired Up plus The Expanding War on Narco Power · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: You remember those wildfires that started in LA. Remember how
0:04
Speaker 1: the reservoirs were empty, and remember the incompetence because of
0:08
Speaker 1: the leadership in LA, including an incompetent fire chief, and
0:12
Speaker 1: the bickering and fighting back and forth as houses.
0:16
Speaker 2: Burned to the ground.
0:18
Speaker 1: Well, you would think they would have learned from those
0:21
Speaker 1: empty reservoirs. Apparently they've learned nothing at all, because some
0:25
Speaker 1: of them are still bone dry as we speak. And
0:29
Speaker 1: that's having a real impact on the election in LA.
0:34
Speaker 1: The political liberal radical establishment in LA is facing a
0:39
Speaker 1: nightmare scenario that they never thought was even possible. A
0:43
Speaker 1: conservative outsider is surging in one of the bluest major
0:47
Speaker 1: cities in America, and Democrats they're openly panicking and now
0:54
Speaker 1: they're worried they may lose control of the narrative in
0:57
Speaker 1: a city that they've dominated for decades and destroyed with
1:01
Speaker 1: crime and drugs and pretty much every other liberal idea
1:05
Speaker 1: that's been a disaster. Now, let me also explain to
1:09
Speaker 1: you exactly who's in this race. You have a guy
1:12
Speaker 1: by the name of Spencer Pratt. He's a former reality
1:16
Speaker 1: TV personality. By the way, LA makes a lot of those,
1:19
Speaker 1: But they want you to think that that means he's
1:21
Speaker 1: not a serious candidate, And how did he turn himself
1:24
Speaker 1: into a political insurgent.
1:26
Speaker 2: Well, it's pretty simple.
1:28
Speaker 1: His house burned down in those fires, and that irritated him.
1:33
Speaker 1: Because this race has become much bigger than just Los Angeles,
1:37
Speaker 1: it's also getting a lot of attention. It's becoming a
1:40
Speaker 1: national warning sign for Democrats who are mismanaging cities with
1:44
Speaker 1: high crime and high poverty and failing schools. For years,
1:49
Speaker 1: Democrats treated La like an untouchable political territory. It's a
1:55
Speaker 1: city where progressive politics dominated nearly every institution, city hall, media,
2:00
Speaker 1: Hollywood academia, activist organizations, and most local elections. Republicans weren't
2:07
Speaker 1: even expected to compete seriously there anymore. Ever, and then suddenly,
2:12
Speaker 1: according to the recent polling, Prautus surge in second place
2:16
Speaker 1: in the mayoral race, ahead of major establishment back candidates
2:20
Speaker 1: and within striking distance of the woman in charge of LA,
2:24
Speaker 1: Karen Bass. This could be a political earthquake. Democrats understand
2:30
Speaker 1: something very clearly. If a conservative populist style candidate very
2:35
Speaker 1: much like Donald Trump could become competitive in La, then
2:39
Speaker 1: no democratic run city in America is truly safe. Anymore,
2:43
Speaker 1: especially after there's a major moment like a wildfire or anarchy,
2:49
Speaker 1: riots or things like that. And that's exactly why it's happening,
2:53
Speaker 1: because voters in La, well, they've had enough of the
2:57
Speaker 1: politics and they're furious. What are they angry over? Out
3:02
Speaker 1: of control homelessness, They're angry over crime. They're also angry
3:08
Speaker 1: over the costs of living, and they're furious over the
3:12
Speaker 1: failed leadership that very much caused those wild fires to grow.
3:16
Speaker 1: They're furious over government incompetence even after the fires happen,
3:22
Speaker 1: and they're especially furious over the aftermath of realizing that
3:27
Speaker 1: the people that claim they were going to be there
3:29
Speaker 1: to help them rebuild have done.
3:31
Speaker 2: Anything but do that.
3:34
Speaker 1: In fact, they've showed no effort to follow up on
3:37
Speaker 1: rebuilding a city that's been destroyed. The Palisade fires show
3:42
Speaker 1: just how bad the democratic machine actually is, and that
3:46
Speaker 1: is the issue that has now changed everything.
3:49
Speaker 2: Now.
3:49
Speaker 1: Proud has aggressively positioned himself as the candidate of anger, frustration,
3:54
Speaker 1: and revolt against city hall. He's telling voters what many
3:58
Speaker 1: residents already feel that the political class running LA has
4:02
Speaker 1: not only failed the city, but has failed them. And
4:06
Speaker 1: what's fascinating is how he's doing it. He's not running
4:09
Speaker 1: like a traditional Republican either. He's running like a populist
4:14
Speaker 1: who said enough is enough and are you with me?
4:17
Speaker 1: His campaign style mirrors what we've seen nationally in outsider movements,
4:22
Speaker 1: social media dominance, viral videos, anti establishment rhetoric, blunt language,
4:29
Speaker 1: and direct attacks on city leadership. He's also had a
4:33
Speaker 1: constant focus on quality of life and the failures of
4:37
Speaker 1: the Democratic Party. He's talking about homeless encampments that are
4:41
Speaker 1: out of control. He's talking about the federal crisis and
4:44
Speaker 1: the dead bodies. He's talking about public safety and how
4:48
Speaker 1: really no one feels safe in La anymore. He's also
4:51
Speaker 1: talking about urban decline, something Democrats don't want to admit.
4:56
Speaker 1: And he talks about taxpayers feeling totally abandoned the political
5:00
Speaker 1: elite lecture them and take their money. Remember, LA is
5:05
Speaker 1: insanely expensive to live on top of the out of
5:08
Speaker 1: control taxation, and Democrats they're deeply uncomfortable because there are
5:13
Speaker 1: issues where voters increasingly believe conservatives actually have an advantage.
5:20
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5:23
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6:52
Speaker 1: exposing the widening disconnect between progressive activists, you know, the
6:57
Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter movement that then turn into bolish the police.
7:01
Speaker 1: They then turned into burn down cities. Yeah, an ordinary
7:05
Speaker 1: working class voters, many of them that were Democrats who
7:09
Speaker 1: simply voted for them over and over again until now.
7:13
Speaker 1: And this is what really should terrify Democrats nationally. Pratt's
7:18
Speaker 1: support is not just coming from Republicans. Even Democrats are
7:23
Speaker 1: supporting him. As Jesse Waters put on his show, LA
7:27
Speaker 1: is thirsty and they still don't have the water they
7:31
Speaker 1: need to fight the next big fire.
7:34
Speaker 2: As he described on his show.
7:36
Speaker 3: You know who could use some water?
7:38
Speaker 2: La.
7:39
Speaker 3: Nine months after sixteen thousand homes burned to a crisp
7:42
Speaker 3: the reservoirs are still dryer than the Sahara.
7:46
Speaker 2: The reservoir's empty right now.
7:48
Speaker 3: I was literally just up on the hill and we're
7:51
Speaker 3: just flying the drone over the reservoir and it's bone dry.
7:55
Speaker 4: Here's the best part. You can go up in my street.
7:57
Speaker 4: This is the reservoir that they also drained. When they
8:00
Speaker 4: were fixing the other one, they said, let's drain this one.
8:04
Speaker 4: There's actually two reservoirs that were draining, the Palaces Zebra
8:07
Speaker 4: and the Santienees.
8:08
Speaker 3: Two reservoirs, both empty during peak fire season. Why well,
8:12
Speaker 3: the city drained them to use for drinking water, not
8:15
Speaker 3: for fighting fires. Now the repairs cost twenty mil and
8:18
Speaker 3: Bass doesn't have the cash. So LA finds the money
8:21
Speaker 3: for needles, crack pipes, hotels for illegals, but not twenty
8:26
Speaker 3: mil to keep Malibu from turning into a brisket or
8:29
Speaker 3: the taps from running dry. Pratt's breathing down pink pantsuit's
8:33
Speaker 3: neck in the poles but come up short. Well, he's
8:36
Speaker 3: taking his trailer to Texas.
8:38
Speaker 4: If care Bask gets re elected or Nitia gets elected,
8:44
Speaker 4: I will be done with trying to live in LA,
8:47
Speaker 4: and I'll go find somewhere that my kids will not
8:49
Speaker 4: have to see naked zombies, and I can have the
8:52
Speaker 4: last American dreams somewhere. But I will not rebuild if
8:56
Speaker 4: these people are in charge, because what would I be
8:59
Speaker 4: putting money into.
9:00
Speaker 3: Oh glad you asked, Bence, Because maybe a set of
9:03
Speaker 3: government grills for every tweaker on skid row because Bass
9:07
Speaker 3: wants to put the tooth fairy.
9:09
Speaker 2: On city payroll. Also on homelessness at the pentry.
9:12
Speaker 5: Earlier this week, you were talking about comprehensive health care
9:16
Speaker 5: for the unhoused, and you talked about how many of
9:19
Speaker 5: the unhoused, because of their meth use, lose their teeth.
9:23
Speaker 5: That's right, Who would pay for the dental care for
9:27
Speaker 5: the unhoused?
9:28
Speaker 6: When I say comprehensive healthcare, it's actually what people can
9:31
Speaker 6: get from medical. The problem is is that the linkage
9:35
Speaker 6: isn't made with the people and the services in ferl
9:39
Speaker 6: texas well. We already pay for it. It's already paid for.
9:43
Speaker 6: It's the linkage that hasn't happened.
9:46
Speaker 3: Empty reservoirs, free teeth for meth addicts, barbecue bands, migrant
9:51
Speaker 3: breast implants.
9:52
Speaker 2: No wonder, ballots are booming. When we got.
9:55
Speaker 4: Coffy and in the line we have a ballot, gets
9:58
Speaker 4: your balance in it.
9:59
Speaker 6: Thank yourself much, Oh let's go.
10:02
Speaker 3: Democrats tried to roast Pratt for crashing at the hotel
10:05
Speaker 3: bel Air after they deep fried his house. Big mistake,
10:09
Speaker 3: because they just gave him a brand new title, and.
10:13
Speaker 4: What's Los Angeles palisading in my backyards while I spent
10:17
Speaker 4: most of my day, He's eating humming birds, relaxing all them,
10:20
Speaker 4: avoiding all the bombs outside of the school win a
10:23
Speaker 4: double boats. Since the World of No Good started making
10:26
Speaker 4: trouble in my neighborhood, I.
10:27
Speaker 2: Got in one little fire.
10:28
Speaker 4: My mom got scared and said, you're moving in with
10:30
Speaker 4: Harvey Levin and bel Air.
10:33
Speaker 3: The Pratt Factor's red hot moms are storming the poles
10:36
Speaker 3: for the Prince.
10:38
Speaker 7: If you're a mom and you have been listening to
10:40
Speaker 7: what he's been saying, you should know that he is
10:43
Speaker 7: advocating for the safety and security of our families and
10:47
Speaker 7: specifically for mothers to be able to walk their against
10:49
Speaker 7: the school into party. And if you have any voting power,
10:53
Speaker 7: please exercise that power, because moms should be supporting Prime.
10:58
Speaker 3: Chelsea Handler didn't get an invite to the Pratt Party,
11:00
Speaker 3: so she hopped on Insta and tried to crash it.
11:03
Speaker 2: Watch you're seeing this video.
11:04
Speaker 4: This is a reminder that a straight white male former
11:07
Speaker 4: reality star.
11:08
Speaker 8: That has no previous experience in government should not.
11:11
Speaker 6: Be a legitimate political candidate.
11:14
Speaker 2: Have we learned anything yet?
11:16
Speaker 3: The backlash has Pratt picking up allies by the hour
11:19
Speaker 3: TMZ transitioned. They're telling the straight white lady to wise up.
11:24
Speaker 2: What the hell is Chelsea Handlers the straight white male that.
11:33
Speaker 1: Makes somebody disqualified?
11:35
Speaker 2: What the hell is this is? Her point was privileged right,
11:40
Speaker 2: You're not supposed to wop there's straight white males. It's ridiculous.
11:43
Speaker 2: I mean, it's ridiculous to say that. It is absurd to.
11:47
Speaker 3: Say this is white people hate the left right now?
11:51
Speaker 2: Well, and George Washington, a straight white male.
11:54
Speaker 3: Bass couldn't take on the straight white male by herself.
11:57
Speaker 3: Pratt says she cooked up a back room.
11:59
Speaker 2: Deal with Ramen, the noodle guys.
12:02
Speaker 4: Nythia Ramen is conspiring with Karen Bass. Remember when Nythia
12:05
Speaker 4: shocked everyone and jumped into the mayor's race at the
12:07
Speaker 4: last minute, inexplicably.
12:09
Speaker 2: Just days after endorsing Karen. Why would she do that?
12:12
Speaker 2: Why is it Karen upset? Why do they never attack
12:15
Speaker 2: each other?
12:15
Speaker 4: Because Karen saw that I was a serious threat, she
12:17
Speaker 4: made Nythia jump in the race to block me out
12:20
Speaker 4: from the number two slot.
12:22
Speaker 3: The ladies toward the city got fleeced by fraudsters, handed
12:26
Speaker 3: out needles to homeless junkies and then pointed their fingers
12:28
Speaker 3: at Trump like the voters wouldn't notice. Even other Democrats
12:33
Speaker 3: are like girls.
12:33
Speaker 9: Enough, but we can't put everything on Donald Trump. We
12:38
Speaker 9: have the highest homelessness in the United States of America,
12:42
Speaker 9: the highest gas prices, the highest utilities, the highest home
12:45
Speaker 9: prices people can't afford rent, and those happened under Democratic policies.
12:51
Speaker 1: So now you understand why not only is LA and
12:54
Speaker 1: major race, but also the California governor candidate's race with
12:58
Speaker 1: Steve Hilton. They Repopublican at eighteen point five percent, the
13:04
Speaker 1: billionaire Democrat liberal Tom Steyer at sixteen percent, Chad Beyonco
13:09
Speaker 1: a Republican at thirteen percent. Yes, two of the three
13:13
Speaker 1: top leading California gubern toro candidates are Republicans right now
13:17
Speaker 1: because it's not just LA, it's literally the entire state
13:21
Speaker 1: they have destroyed. And that's exactly why the Democratic Party
13:27
Speaker 1: is freaking out right now, trying to figure out how
13:30
Speaker 1: do they hold on to a place they never thought they.
13:32
Speaker 2: Could possibly lose.
13:35
Speaker 1: Yesterday I played for you Kamala Harris and how she
13:39
Speaker 1: wants to completely destroy the fundamentals of this country. She
13:42
Speaker 1: wants to pack the Supreme Court, even kick justice off
13:46
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court when they give rulings she doesn't like.
13:48
Speaker 1: And then she wants to get rid of the Electoral
13:50
Speaker 1: College all together. Now you may be asking yourself this
13:53
Speaker 1: question why all of this is coming because they didn't
13:57
Speaker 1: get their way.
13:58
Speaker 2: Donald Trump won, Conservatives won.
14:01
Speaker 1: And when you hate the other side and you don't
14:04
Speaker 1: respect the law or the wishes of the citizens of
14:06
Speaker 1: this country, well that's exactly what you would do, especially
14:10
Speaker 1: if you're a communist and Marxists are a socialist. Stacy
14:13
Speaker 1: Abrams is now coming out explaining why Democrats are so
14:17
Speaker 1: distraught over the Scotus ruling against racially gerrymander districts. She
14:24
Speaker 1: also is upset at the power that the Democratic Party
14:27
Speaker 1: is going to lose. Now, before I play her comments,
14:31
Speaker 1: I just want to go back and set the stage
14:33
Speaker 1: to how we got to the point where we are
14:35
Speaker 1: right now. Democrats have been acting like they're the victims
14:39
Speaker 1: of gerrymandering for decades, but the reality is that's not true.
14:45
Speaker 1: Democrats have actually been masters of jerrymandering, especially in deep
14:50
Speaker 1: blue states where Republican voters are essentially a race from
14:54
Speaker 1: congressional representation altogether. And if Americans want proof, just look
15:00
Speaker 1: at the states where there are literally zero Republican members
15:05
Speaker 1: of Congress in the US House representing the Conservatives in
15:10
Speaker 1: those states right now. States include Connecticut zero republicans, Delaware
15:17
Speaker 1: zero republicans, Hawaii zero republicans in Congress, Massachusetts zero Republicans
15:24
Speaker 1: in Congress, New Hampshire another zero, Rhode Island zero, Vermont zero,
15:31
Speaker 1: and effectively Maine has no Republican representation in Congress whatsoever. Now,
15:36
Speaker 1: if you just think about that for a second, that
15:38
Speaker 1: is millions of Americans that have been disenfranchised living in
15:43
Speaker 1: those states that vote Republican and presidential elections, governor races,
15:48
Speaker 1: Senate races, and local elections. Yet somehow, when it comes
15:52
Speaker 1: to congressional districts, Republicans are entirely.
15:56
Speaker 2: Wiped off the map on purpose.
16:00
Speaker 1: In fact, this has been part of a long term
16:02
Speaker 1: political strategy in blue states. Democrats perfected the art of
16:07
Speaker 1: concentrating Republican voters into a few districts as possible and
16:11
Speaker 1: then spreading them so thinly that they can never actually
16:15
Speaker 1: win representation. Meanwhile, those same Democrats are going on television
16:20
Speaker 1: every day now pretending that they are defenders of quote
16:24
Speaker 1: fair maps and democracy. Yeah, the hypocrisy is quote unquote unbelievable,
16:31
Speaker 1: but it's really not if you've been paying attention to
16:33
Speaker 1: what's been happening all over the country for decades.
16:36
Speaker 2: Just take Massachusetts for example.
16:39
Speaker 1: Republicans routinely receive hundreds of thousands of votes statewide, yet
16:44
Speaker 1: Democrats hold every single congressional seat. The same thing happens
16:49
Speaker 1: in Rhode Island, the same thing happens in Connecticut, the
16:52
Speaker 1: same thing happens in Hawaii. Republicans may as well not
16:56
Speaker 1: exist according to the congressional representation. And this isn't just
17:01
Speaker 1: about geography. It's also about power because congressional districts determine
17:08
Speaker 1: who controls the House of Representatives. That determines who has
17:12
Speaker 1: the committee chairmanships, who is in charge of the investigations
17:16
Speaker 1: or impeachments, who's in charge of spending, border security, taxes, regulations,
17:23
Speaker 1: literally everything. That's why the Democratic Party has been doing
17:28
Speaker 1: this and that's why now Republicans are fighting over the
17:32
Speaker 1: map so aggressively. But here's what Democrats never want to admit.
17:37
Speaker 1: They were perfectly fine with aggressive redistricting when they controlled
17:42
Speaker 1: the process and for decades, Democrats used urban political machines,
17:48
Speaker 1: court systems, state legislatures, and activist groups to shape districts
17:53
Speaker 1: in their favor. In many states, they created maps so
17:56
Speaker 1: lopsided that competitive congressional races effectively disappeared altogether. Now suddenly,
18:04
Speaker 1: when Republicans fight back in states like Texas and Florida
18:07
Speaker 1: or Tennessee, Democrats scream from the hilltops and yell racism.
18:13
Speaker 1: The media narrative is well always as saying, if Republicans
18:17
Speaker 1: redraw maps, it's called an attack on democracy. But when
18:21
Speaker 1: Democrats literally implement the same maps, it's called protecting representation
18:26
Speaker 1: and minorities. Americans they're tired of the double standard, especially
18:31
Speaker 1: if you're a conservative, and the numbers, by the way,
18:34
Speaker 1: they don't lie. Just look at Illinois, one of the
18:37
Speaker 1: most aggressively jerrymannered states in America. Republicans regularly receive forty
18:44
Speaker 1: five percent in statewide votes, yet Democrats dominate the congressional
18:48
Speaker 1: delegation because the maps are perfectly engineered to maximize democratic seats.
18:56
Speaker 1: Maryland became infamous for bizarrely shape district's designed specifically to
19:02
Speaker 1: weaken Republican voters. New York Democrats openly laughed and attempted
19:08
Speaker 1: aggress a mid decade redistricting to gain more congressional seats
19:11
Speaker 1: before the courts were forced to step in, and California
19:16
Speaker 1: system may technically involve a commission, but the end result
19:19
Speaker 1: is still a delegation overwhelmingly tilted towards the left, towards Democrats,
19:25
Speaker 1: and state where millions and that's not exaggeration. Millions of
19:30
Speaker 1: Republicans live and vote. And here's the broader point Americans
19:34
Speaker 1: need to understand. Jerry Mannering is not some unique Republican phenomenon,
19:39
Speaker 1: if you even want to call it that. It is
19:41
Speaker 1: a bipartisan political weapon. Republicans are decades.
19:45
Speaker 2: Late to the game.
19:46
Speaker 1: The difference is Republicans are finally fighting back and it's
19:50
Speaker 1: about time after years of taking it on the chin
19:54
Speaker 1: watching Democrats dominate the process. Even major media outlets are
19:59
Speaker 1: now for to admit that redistricting wars are escalating nationwide,
20:03
Speaker 1: both parties aggressively pursuing partisan advantages ahead of the midterm elections.
20:08
Speaker 1: And let's be honest about why this matters so much.
20:11
Speaker 1: Right now, the margins in Congress are raizor thin. You've
20:16
Speaker 1: got a handful of districts that can determine who becomes
20:18
Speaker 1: Speaker of the House, which party controls investigations, whether tax
20:23
Speaker 1: cuts survive, whether border security legislation passes, and whether Donald
20:28
Speaker 1: Trump's agenda that America clearly voted for moves forward or
20:32
Speaker 1: gets buried. Now, that's why Democrats are panicking. That's why
20:36
Speaker 1: people like Stave c Abrams are coming out on TV
20:40
Speaker 1: playing the race card and also warning about what Republicans
20:43
Speaker 1: are about to do and how it can be so
20:45
Speaker 1: damaging because they've been the masters of it for years.
20:49
Speaker 1: Take a listen to Stacy Abram on MS now talking
20:53
Speaker 1: about Mike Johnson saying redistricting brings back fairness and what
20:58
Speaker 1: she now says is the problem.
21:00
Speaker 8: Stacy, could you talk a little bit about how this
21:02
Speaker 8: ruling will affect black representation not only at the federal level,
21:06
Speaker 8: but at the state level. I'm thinking state lawmakers, county commissions,
21:11
Speaker 8: city councils. To what extent will this ruling affect representation
21:17
Speaker 8: and the representation, particularly of voters of color at the
21:21
Speaker 8: levels below the federal level.
21:23
Speaker 10: Absolutely, And that's why I think this is such an
21:25
Speaker 10: important conversation to have at this moment in a competitive
21:28
Speaker 10: authoritarian nation, which is what America is now. Democracy is
21:33
Speaker 10: about ensuring that we have shared power and shared voices.
21:36
Speaker 10: It does not guarantee you victory, but it guarantees you access. Authoritarianism,
21:40
Speaker 10: especially competitive authoritarianism, attempts to diminish your ability to use
21:45
Speaker 10: those same democratic institutions to your benefit. With these new maps,
21:50
Speaker 10: we know that analysis by fear Fight and Black Voters
21:53
Speaker 10: Matters show that we could lose nineteen to twenty congressional seats,
21:57
Speaker 10: but we could lose up to one hundred and ninety.
21:59
Speaker 2: One state legislative seats.
22:01
Speaker 10: And in the South, those state legislators draw city council districts,
22:06
Speaker 10: county commission districts, school board districts, and they draw state
22:10
Speaker 10: legislative lines. And so if you want to know if
22:13
Speaker 10: your child is going to have fair and equitable access
22:15
Speaker 10: to education, that will be diminished if your families can't
22:19
Speaker 10: participate in elections and elect leaders who value your education.
22:23
Speaker 10: If you want healthcare in the South, it's the state
22:26
Speaker 10: legislature that decides whether you have access. All of the
22:29
Speaker 10: things that disproportionately harm communities of color will now be
22:33
Speaker 10: decided by people who disproportionately dislike and vote against the
22:37
Speaker 10: needs of people of color. But what we have to remember,
22:40
Speaker 10: and this is why I started the Ten Steps campaign,
22:42
Speaker 10: this is a national fight. It may start in the South,
22:45
Speaker 10: but as national implications progress, that serves the most disproportionately
22:50
Speaker 10: harmed communities lifts everyone.
22:53
Speaker 2: But if we do not.
22:54
Speaker 10: Do so, if we allow the suppression of black and
22:58
Speaker 10: brown votes, we are harming their names and we're harming
23:01
Speaker 10: the US. And that's why we cannot allow the South
23:04
Speaker 10: to be left behind.
23:05
Speaker 1: There it is the South cannot be left behind. The
23:09
Speaker 1: same Democrats who've been gerrymannering for decades are now playing
23:13
Speaker 1: the race card. So let's not be lectured by the
23:17
Speaker 1: Democrats on fairness while they maintain states with zero Republican representation.
23:22
Speaker 1: Don't pretend Parson maps are evil only when Republicans are
23:26
Speaker 1: the ones drawing them now, and don't act like millions
23:29
Speaker 1: of conservative voters in blue states somehow deserve no voice
23:32
Speaker 1: in Congress, because that's exactly what they've been doing for
23:36
Speaker 1: the last twenty plus years.
23:38
Speaker 2: The left.
23:39
Speaker 1: They spent decades building political fortresses in blue states and
23:44
Speaker 1: accusing Republicans of doing precisely the same thing elsewhere. And
23:48
Speaker 1: now the country's waking up to it. At the end
23:50
Speaker 1: of the day, this debate is really about political power,
23:53
Speaker 1: who has it, who keeps it, and who controls Washington.
23:57
Speaker 1: And if Democrats know that if republic can continue gaining
24:01
Speaker 1: ground with working class voters, Hispanic voters, union households, suburban parents,
24:07
Speaker 1: and independents, then the only way to maintain power is
24:10
Speaker 1: in some places, is through district maps designed to protect
24:14
Speaker 1: incumbents and lock in those advantages. Well, now that seems
24:19
Speaker 1: to be all over and Republicans are doing exactly what
24:22
Speaker 1: they should do fighting back. We are watching right now
24:27
Speaker 1: President Donald Trump's war on narco terrorism expanding across multiple
24:32
Speaker 1: fronts and multiple countries at the exact same time, and
24:37
Speaker 1: in sending shock waves throughout Latin America. While so many
24:41
Speaker 1: are focused on what's happening in Iran, the President's doing
24:44
Speaker 1: an awful lot right here at home and very close
24:46
Speaker 1: to home as well. Now this is no longer about
24:49
Speaker 1: drug smugglers running cocaine or fetanol across our borders. According
24:54
Speaker 1: to US prosecutors and intelligence officials, this is now about governments, elites,
25:01
Speaker 1: cartel protection networks, money laundering operations, and corrupt officials who
25:07
Speaker 1: are allegedly helping the criminal organizations operate like shadow governments
25:13
Speaker 1: or even shadows states. Mexico freezes the accounts of governor
25:18
Speaker 1: wanted in US on drug charges. The president there defending
25:23
Speaker 1: his innocence. Is a perfect example of what the president
25:27
Speaker 1: is actually up against.
25:29
Speaker 2: Now you can also remember how all this escalated in Venezuela.
25:33
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just a couple months ago that
25:35
Speaker 1: Nicholas Maduro, the socialist strongman who ruled Venezuela for years,
25:40
Speaker 1: was captured in a dramatic US operation, then brought to
25:44
Speaker 1: New York to face narco terrorism charges. US authorities accusing
25:49
Speaker 1: Maduro and members of his inner circle of helping turn
25:52
Speaker 1: Venezuela into what critics called the narco state, where cartel activity,
25:57
Speaker 1: the corruption around it, and political power became deeply intertwined.
26:02
Speaker 1: He really couldn't have one without the other. Maduro, of course,
26:05
Speaker 1: and his wife and those around him are denying all
26:08
Speaker 1: those allegations, and we'll see exactly just how bad it
26:11
Speaker 1: is when he goes to court. But the crackdown on
26:15
Speaker 1: people like Maduro is widening. Perfect example is this week
26:19
Speaker 1: one of Maduro's closest allies, the man often described as
26:24
Speaker 1: Maduro's moneyman was suddenly deported to the United States of
26:27
Speaker 1: America as well.
26:28
Speaker 2: We've talked about him before.
26:30
Speaker 1: His name is alex sob, the Colombian Bordon businessman quote
26:34
Speaker 1: unquote businessman who allegedly handled billions of dollars directly tied
26:38
Speaker 1: to Venezuela's regime's financial operations and obviously the narco terrorist money.
26:44
Speaker 1: For years, Venezuela's socialist government treated Sab like royalty. They
26:50
Speaker 1: called him a diplomat, They portrayed him as a hero.
26:53
Speaker 1: Marduro's regime fought aggressively to protect him from US prosecution,
26:58
Speaker 1: But now the regime is effectively throwing him overboard to
27:02
Speaker 1: save themselves. And here's what makes his story even more shocking.
27:07
Speaker 1: After defending Sab for years as a loyal Venezuelan official,
27:12
Speaker 1: members of Venezuela's government, same ones that protected him are
27:16
Speaker 1: now reportedly claiming as Venezuelan identification documents may have been fraudulent,
27:23
Speaker 1: meaning Maduro's own top financial operator may have been using
27:28
Speaker 1: fake credentials while operating at the highest levels of government power.
27:32
Speaker 1: At least that's what they're trying to sell to the
27:34
Speaker 1: world now. Now, if you really think about how incredible
27:37
Speaker 1: that is. This was not some random businessman. This is
27:41
Speaker 1: a man tied directly to the president, to Maduro, to
27:44
Speaker 1: his inner circle, a man accused of helping move billions
27:47
Speaker 1: and billions of dollars, a man sanctioned by the United
27:50
Speaker 1: States of America, and a man who allegedly helped the
27:53
Speaker 1: regime of ade sanctions and move money internationally. And now
27:57
Speaker 1: the same Venezuelan officials are suddenly saying, actually, this guy
28:02
Speaker 1: may not have even been legitimately Venezuelan in essence taking
28:05
Speaker 1: away his citizenship. That tells you exactly how these corrupt
28:09
Speaker 1: systems operate. Loyalty only lasts as long as it's useful,
28:14
Speaker 1: or as long as all of you have power, because
28:17
Speaker 1: once the pressure starts building, that's when the insiders start
28:21
Speaker 1: turning on each other.
28:23
Speaker 2: Now, according to.
28:24
Speaker 1: US prosecutors, SAM allegedly help orchestrate money laundering schemes connected
28:31
Speaker 1: to Venezuela's food subsidy programs and oil transactions. They're using
28:37
Speaker 1: shell companies and fraudulent financial structures, they said, to move
28:40
Speaker 1: money throughout the international banking systems. And now many analysts
28:45
Speaker 1: say SOB could become one of the most important witnesses
28:49
Speaker 1: in the broader US case against Maduro and his network
28:52
Speaker 1: of corruption. But here's why Americans should really pay close
28:56
Speaker 1: attention to this story. This is not just happening in Venezuela.
29:01
Speaker 1: At the exact same time the Trump administration is tightening
29:04
Speaker 1: the screws on Maduro's network. We now have news out
29:07
Speaker 1: of Mexico, and Mexico is now facing its own corruption
29:10
Speaker 1: scandal tied directly to the president and the cartel. This week,
29:16
Speaker 1: Mexican authorities froze bank accounts link to officials wanted in
29:19
Speaker 1: the United States of America on drug related charges tied
29:23
Speaker 1: to cartel investigations. Among the names drawing enormous attention is
29:28
Speaker 1: the Sineloa governor. According to reports, US investigators believe officials
29:33
Speaker 1: tied to the Cineloa cartel may have used political protection.
29:38
Speaker 1: This is not a shock and their networks to facilitate
29:41
Speaker 1: cartel operations. Again, this is a standard operating procedure for
29:45
Speaker 1: the cartels. And what happened next is well the political
29:49
Speaker 1: part that is actually explosive. Instead of immediately distancing herself
29:54
Speaker 1: from the accused officials, the Mexican president publicly defended roc
30:00
Speaker 1: Moya's innocence and question the basis of the US allegations.
30:05
Speaker 1: Now that may sound familiar because it follows the exact
30:08
Speaker 1: same script we've seen over and over again and corrupt
30:12
Speaker 1: systems across Latin America. First comes the denial, then accusations
30:18
Speaker 1: of the United States is interfering politically, Then the claims
30:22
Speaker 1: that prosecutors are exaggerating, then rhetoric about you know, sovereignty,
30:27
Speaker 1: and only later, when the evidence piles up, do insiders
30:31
Speaker 1: begin abandoning one another. And that's exactly what we now
30:34
Speaker 1: appear to be seeing, not only in Venezuela with alex SOB,
30:38
Speaker 1: but also what seems to be happening in Mexico. And
30:42
Speaker 1: this is where President Trump's narco terrorism strategy becomes critically
30:47
Speaker 1: important for you to understand. The administration is no longer
30:51
Speaker 1: treating cartels as isolated criminal gangs. The argument now coming
30:56
Speaker 1: from many within the national security world, is that these
30:59
Speaker 1: organisms function more like transnational terear networks with logistics and
31:05
Speaker 1: money laundering systems. They have armed enforcement wings that are
31:08
Speaker 1: large and dangerous. They have corrupt political protection at the
31:12
Speaker 1: highest levels, and international financial operations that have tentacles all
31:17
Speaker 1: over the world, including the US, and that changes everything
31:22
Speaker 1: because once governments themselves become compromised by cartel influence and direction,
31:29
Speaker 1: it stops just being a law enforcement issue. It does
31:32
Speaker 1: actually become a national security issue. That's why these cases
31:37
Speaker 1: matter so much. You have fetnyl flooding into American communities,
31:41
Speaker 1: and that does not happen in a vacuum. Human trafficking
31:44
Speaker 1: does not happen in a vacuum either, and money laundering
31:47
Speaker 1: does not happen in a vacuum as well. These operations
31:51
Speaker 1: they survive because corrupt officials allegedly protect them at all costs.
31:56
Speaker 1: And now the United States under Donald Trump's leadership, appears
32:00
Speaker 1: to be targeting not only cartel operations and operatives, but
32:05
Speaker 1: also the political and financial structures that prop them up.
32:09
Speaker 1: That is the major escalation, and you can already see
32:13
Speaker 1: the panic beginning because people like Alex Sab know where
32:16
Speaker 1: the money moved, They know which officials signed deals, they
32:20
Speaker 1: know how sanctions were bypassed, and they know which shell
32:24
Speaker 1: companies are being used or were being used in the past.
32:28
Speaker 1: And they know which governments literally look the other way,
32:31
Speaker 1: and they know which leaders in those governments. Maybe we're
32:35
Speaker 1: even getting the kickbacks needed to give them the protection,
32:38
Speaker 1: and if SAB cooperates with US prosecutors, the implications could
32:43
Speaker 1: be enormous. Now you apply that same exact logic to Mexico.
32:48
Speaker 1: If officials directly tied to cartel investigations begin cooperating with
32:53
Speaker 1: American authorities, investigators could potentially uncover deeper financial networks, relationships
33:01
Speaker 1: that involve the highest levels of their government protection schemes
33:05
Speaker 1: and corruption pipelines tied to organized crime in America. That
33:10
Speaker 1: possibly alone is enough to shake governments and politically, it
33:14
Speaker 1: also places leaders like the President of Mexico in a
33:18
Speaker 1: difficult position every time she publicly now defends officials accused
33:23
Speaker 1: in cartel linked investigations before those investigations are even resolved,
33:28
Speaker 1: are basically barely started. Then people start to ask even
33:32
Speaker 1: more questions, making it appear that political loyalty matters more
33:36
Speaker 1: than rooting out corruption, which has been a long problem
33:39
Speaker 1: in Mexico. It's pretty fair to say you don't get
33:42
Speaker 1: any power in Mexico without the Cartel's blessing it, or
33:45
Speaker 1: funding it, or financing your political campaign or career. That's
33:49
Speaker 1: what many have said about the president in Mexico right now.
33:53
Speaker 1: To be clear, accusations are not convictions. Everyone deserves due process.
33:58
Speaker 1: But Americans also on your send something else. When multiple
34:02
Speaker 1: high level officials across multiple countries are suddenly facing allegations
34:07
Speaker 1: tied to narcotics, trafficking, corruption, money laundering, and organized crime
34:11
Speaker 1: at the same time, this is not random coincidence. This
34:15
Speaker 1: is part of a much bigger regional battle that the
34:18
Speaker 1: White House said they were going to war with. So
34:21
Speaker 1: that battle is escalating, and the Trump administration's making it
34:25
Speaker 1: clear that the error of treating cartels as ordinary criminals
34:30
Speaker 1: and criminal enterprises, well that's over. The message now is
34:35
Speaker 1: this to government officials and financiers and political protectors who
34:40
Speaker 1: enable narco terrorism networks, Well you're going to face pressure
34:44
Speaker 1: from the United States of America like you've never seen.
34:47
Speaker 1: And if these investigations continue expanding, well this story is
34:52
Speaker 1: only beginning. With Donald Trump in charge, We'll keep following
34:56
Speaker 1: this story. I can promise you that we've got a
34:58
Speaker 1: lot more that's going to happen in the days ahead.
35:00
Speaker 1: So make sure you don't forget Grab our podcast, The
35:03
Speaker 1: Ben Ferguson Podcasts wherever you get your podcasts as well,
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Speaker 1: hit that subscriber auto download button. So you don't miss
35:10
Speaker 1: any of the breaking news