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GOP 2nd Presidential Debate Chaos: Winners and Losers · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Fireworks and debate number two, and it wasn't so much
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: about Donald Trump being there as it was about the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: people on stage trying to take each other out. How
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: nasty did it get? Well. If there's one clip to
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: sum up the debate last night, it was this one.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: dumber for what you say.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: That was Nikki Haley talking to Wamaswami Vivic Wamaswamy about
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: back and forth on different issues, and that was one
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: of the things that she had to say. Then there
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: was also Ronda Santis, who had a very good night
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: last night. I actually think he probably was the winner
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of the debate last night because he had a lot
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of things that he said that made sense about what
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: he would do if he is a commander in chief.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: One of those examples was this, that is.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Why everything he said I view, that is why is
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: commander in chief. I'm going to use the US military
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: to go after the Mexican drug cartels. They are killing
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: our people. And the stories that I've see in Florida,
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: we had an infant eighteen months parents rented an airbnb
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: and apparently the people that had rented it before were
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: using drugs the infant was crawling. The toddler was crawling
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: on the carpet and ingested a fentanyl residue and died.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Are we just going to sit here and let this happen?
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: This carnage happened in our country. I am not going
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: to do that. So I guarantee you on day one,
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: this border is going to be a day one issue
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: for me as president. We're going to declare it a
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: national merchan Yes, we'll build the wall, we'll do remain
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: in Mexico. But those Mexican drug cartels are going to
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: be treated like the foreign terrorists.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Organizationsident They're going to be treated like foreign terrorist organizations,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: which they are. Chris Christie also trying to get into
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the action. One of the things Chris Christie said was
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: a lot about actually drugs and cartels in Mexico and China.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: But then he had to take a shout at Donald Trump.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: It didn't go over well.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: Listen, Governor Christie as governor of a non border state
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: in twenty ten and you supported a path to citizenship,
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: but when you run for president in twenty sixteen, you
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: flipped saying immigrants.
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: Should be trucked life edis packages where do you stand
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: now on a path to citizenship for eleven million of
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: the community immigrants.
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: Well, the problem is that since no one has done
• 2:20
  Speaker 6: anything since we first had this discussion thirteen years ago,
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: we're not in a position to be able to do
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: any of that anymore. What we have to do now
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: is first treat this like the law enforcement problem.
• 2:31
  Speaker 7: It is.
• 2:32
  Speaker 6: Our laws are being broken every day at the southern
• 2:34
  Speaker 6: border every day, and Joe Biden and his crew is
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: doing nothing about enforcing that law. They are letting it go.
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: And by the way, they announced during the presidential race
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: that we're going to let it go. And we need
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: to have a president who acts like I did as governor,
• 2:51
  Speaker 6: enforce the law first and foremost. And that means what
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: I'll do on day one is sign an executive order
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: to send the National Guard to partner with Customs and
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: Border Patrol to make sure that we stopped the flow
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: of fentanyl over the border, but also to make sure
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: that we send a much different message. We want you
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: here in this country to fill the six million vacant
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: jobs we have, but only if you come here to
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: follow the law, and only if you come here legally.
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: If you come here illegally. We will apprehend you and
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: we will send you back across the border from which
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: you came. And the fact is that until we set
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: a lawn order agenda in this country, not only now,
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: but in the future, we won't be able to continue this.
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: And I'll look, I'll tell you this. Donald Trump failed
• 3:36
  Speaker 6: on this as well. He said he was going to
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: build a wall across the whole border. He built fifty
• 3:41
  Speaker 6: two miles a wall and said Mexico would pay for it.
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: Guess what I think if Mexico knew that he was
• 3:46
  Speaker 6: only going to build fifty two miles, they might have
• 3:48
  Speaker 6: paid for the fifty two miles.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: That was a line that was supposed to be a
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: cheap shot. It came across as a cheap shot. I
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: don't think it helped him in the debate. I don't
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: think it helped him with the American voters. Now, you
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: take a look at what was said last night, and
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: there was a lot of things that were admitted from
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: the debate. There were some big mistakes by everybody on stage.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: They were not talking about the Biden crime family, they
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: were not talking about the two hundred and fifty thousand
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: dollars wire transfer which I spoke about yesterday coming from Beijing.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: While Joe Biden was running for president of the United
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: States of America in the summer of twenty and nineteen,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: they were not talking about the fact that the address
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: used for the wire transfer was his residence, referring to
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the President of the United States of America's residents. These
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: were missed opportunities there. Now. There was a lot of
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: back and forth, all right, Tim Scott, for example, who
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: landed a pretty big blow. I thought the biggest loser
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: last night was Vivid Ramaswami. It was clear that people
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: on stage they had done their research, they know a
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: lot more about him, and there was a lot of
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: people that were pointing out some of the big question
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: marks about Vivic and hey, we don't really trust you.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: It was to a point where Vivic even said, I
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: know you don't know me right, and I know I'm
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: the young guy, and I know you're gonna have to
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: get to know me and you're gonna have to learn
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to trust me. But the reason why he had to
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: say that is because the facts are starting to come
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: out about who he is. Listen to this pivotal moment
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: from Tim Scott going after a VIC and his relationships
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: with China. In fact, his relationships with people in China
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: that had relationships to the Biden crime family. One of
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: those relationships is with an individual that gave five million
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: dollars to the Biden crime family if the VIC was
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: doing business with him.
• 5:37
  Speaker 8: Listen, So doubt the fact that that when you think
• 5:39
  Speaker 8: of the Constitution in the fourteenth Amendment, it was certainly
• 5:41
  Speaker 8: written as it relates to slavery or not as it
• 5:43
  Speaker 8: relates to illegal immigration. It's been applied to illegal immigration.
• 5:46
  Speaker 8: So the challenge that we face is in fact one
• 5:47
  Speaker 8: that has to do with whether or not the people
• 5:49
  Speaker 8: that come here are under the jurisdiction of our laws.
• 5:52
  Speaker 8: And frankly, if you come here illegally, you are not
• 5:54
  Speaker 8: Now surviving a Supreme Court argument is something I can't
• 5:59
  Speaker 8: tell you. From a perspective of the Constitution, I think
• 6:03
  Speaker 8: it's simple that clearly it was designed for slavery and
• 6:09
  Speaker 8: not for illegal immigration. I'll go one step further though,
• 6:12
  Speaker 8: when we have a conversation about the things that are
• 6:13
  Speaker 8: happening on this stage, we think about the fact that
• 6:16
  Speaker 8: a bag just said we were all good people, and
• 6:18
  Speaker 8: I appreciate that because last debate.
• 6:19
  Speaker 7: He said, we were all bought and paid for. And
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: I thought about that for a little while and said,
• 6:24
  Speaker 7: you know, I can't imagine how you can say that
• 6:27
  Speaker 7: knowing that you were just in business with the Chinese
• 6:31
  Speaker 7: Communist Party, and the same people that funded Hunter Biden
• 6:36
  Speaker 7: millions of dollars was a partner of yours as well.
• 6:39
  Speaker 7: It's not nonsense.
• 6:42
  Speaker 9: Respond These are good people who are tainted by a
• 6:45
  Speaker 9: broken system, and it's not the fault of anybody who
• 6:51
  Speaker 9: Thank you for speaking while and interrupting you said you
• 6:58
  Speaker 9: can on both sides, gentlemen, you'll have your time.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: One of the business and China. Everybody knows that if
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: Joe Biden able, that's what.
• 7:10
  Speaker 7: We need to be.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: I actually agree with Rondant.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Speaking at the same time, no one can understand exactly, so.
• 7:16
  Speaker 9: If I met, I agree with rond de Santas on China.
• 7:18
  Speaker 9: When every other CEO expanded into the Chinese market. You
• 7:21
  Speaker 9: know what I did with my first company, We opened.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: The By the way, Vic there tried to explain why
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: he went into China, he also is working with a
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Chinese medical company. Uh, not with with Chinese medicine uh
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: and pharmaceuticals instead of with America that also came out.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: He also was in business with the individual that was
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: working with Hunter Biden and the Biden crime family. You
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: combined all of that, you put it all together, and
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: what you get from this is the VIC had a
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: very tough night. If you want to know who I
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: think the loser was, it was probably him. Now I
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: want to take a moment and last night, right after
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: the debate, center, Ted Cruz and I set down to
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: do our podcast Verdict, and I want you to hear
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: what he had to say about the debate last night,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: especially being a former candidate on a stage with Donald
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Trump and others, and his reaction to who he thinks
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: won and lost. Take a listen.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: So you and I are recording this at is eleven
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: forty one pm East Coast time.
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: I'm in DC.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: So the debate just ended a few minutes ago. I
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: got to say my reaction to it. This was a
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: bumpy debate. There were a lot of rocky moments. I
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: think most of the candidates did not help themselves. But
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: my clear conclusion from tonight is the big winner was
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Ron de Santis.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Why is that?
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: Well?
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: I did not think that in debate one so remember
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Debate one. We came together and I said, the winners
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: in Debate one were Vivek Ramaswami and Nikki Haley and
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: a little bit Mike Penson. The real winner was Donald
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Trump because all three of them were elevated, and that
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: hurt DeSantis, and DeSantis needs to make it a two
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: man race with Trump. And so that was my take
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: on Debate one. I think going into tonight, Dessanus needed
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: to do well, and I think he rose to the occasion.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: I think he did by far the best of anyone
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: on the stage several reasons. Number one is just the
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: behavior of the others. I think they bickered like children,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: and I don't think it helped them. I think when
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: they were just yelling at each other, back and forth,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: and back and forth and back and forth. When you
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: see a bunch of people screaming at each other, they
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: don't look like presidents. They're not behaving like presidents. Presidents
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: don't have to yap at each other. And I thought
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: there were times, particularly in the early in the debate,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: when the debate kind of got away from the moderators.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: As the debate went on, the moderators did a better
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: job of getting a little bit of control of it
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: and having a little bit more discus Ushan, But DeSantis
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: had several He had the best answers of the night.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: The single best answer of the night was his answer
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: on education, and he was the topic came up about education,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: It came up about school choice, and he gave a strong,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: powerful answer about school choice about how number one Florida
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: implemented universal school choice. Florida's led the country in school choice,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: so they've got a heck of a record to talk about.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: He was asked about the attacks on their efforts to
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: root out critical race theory in Florida, and he directly
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: confronted that, and I thought it was a tight, crisp
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: answer that was strong. A second answer that was very,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: very strong is where he talked about having victories and listen,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: the reason people got excited about Dissantis when he launched
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the campaign is the victories that he had in Florida,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: big policy victories. He emphasized that. The third answer that
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: was really strong is where he talked about winning, and
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: he talked about winning in Florida even as nationally we
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: were getting clobbered. In twenty twenty two, he won by
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: nineteen points, and I think he did an effective argument
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: in many ways. His strongest argument against Trump is that
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: he won by while many other candidates that Trump had
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: supported nationally did not win that cycle. And his argument,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: you want a winner, you want someone who can beat
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: the Democrats, I'm that guy. I think he articulated it
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: much much better tonight than he did in the first debate.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: That that's why I think Ron de Santus won tonight.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: You know, he mentioned that, you know, we've lost the
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: last three times. As he described it, right, we were
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: supposed to win in the last midterm elections. We were
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: supposed to win the election before that and the one
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: before that, and we didn't. And and he he also
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: compared in contrasts as you mentioned, I think extremely well,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: and it clearly clicked I think with people watching. As
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I was watching it live, just like you were there,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, this is one of those quasi
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: moments where he was reminded people of history, like not
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: only did we win when the nation was losing, when
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Republicans are losing on nights, we should have won, but
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: we want it expanded in Florida. That was a potent
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: moment to remind people that we should have control of
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the Senate right now, and we don't because we had
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: some bad candidate selection. Let's just be honest.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Look, Republicans desperately want to win. The Biden record is
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: an absolute train wreck. And I got to admit I
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: lay awake at night in cold sweats that we will
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: see the Democrats re elected in twenty twenty four. The
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: damage they've done to the country in the last two
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: and a half years, Holy cow, if they get another
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: four what a bad outcome for the country. So as
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I'm looking for a candidate, I want someone to can
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: win the damn race. And in many ways that is
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Desantus's strongest argument. And in the first debate he didn't
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: really make it, and he came a lot closer to
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: making it tonight, so I think he did better as
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: a result.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the poll numbers coming out of this
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: real quick, give me your predictions of who rises and
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: who falls. We had already had one candidate out of
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Arkansas who's fallen off the debate stage, did not qualify
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: for this one. Everybody's goal is to make it to Miami,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: to the next debate. In what four or five weeks.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: That's obviously the center goal. But who helped themselves, who
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: is going to go backwards, and who could be in
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: real trouble.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Look, I think the ends of the debate stage we
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: saw Asa Hutchison fall off. I think the ends of
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the debate stage are at real risk of being eliminated
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: from the stage. Doug Bergham his numbers. It's not clear
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: that he qualified for tonight, but they allowed him on
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: the stage. But I think his numbers, he's going to
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: have to do a whole lot of movement to qualify
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: for the next debate stage. I think Mike Pence, he's
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: the vice president, the former vice president of the United States.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: He's a good man, he's a friend, but I think
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: he's right at the edge of not making the next debate. Also,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: narrowing the debate stage is a good thing this race,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: if there's going to be a real race. Look, in
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: many ways, this is sort of like a basketball playoff,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: where it's a playoff to see who goes gets to
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: go against Donald Trump. And I guess you can sort
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: of think about it that Trump gets a bye. He's
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: the former president, he's decided to skip the.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Debates at the end of tonight. Was it also the
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: right strategy for him to skip debate number two?
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Maybe?
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: Maybe not.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Look, I think he's enough ahead in the polls, the
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: national polls. He's up forty plus points. I mean that's
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: a strong lead. And I think his analysis, and it's
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: not a crazy analysis, is he's so far ahead, why
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: would he go and from his perspective elevate the other candidates?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: You know, you think about in twenty sixteen, you had
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: two debates. You had the main debate and then you
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: had what everyone called the kids table, which were the
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: candidates that were at one and two percent, and very
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: few people watch the kids table. What Trump has effectively
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: done by skipping the debate is he's trying to turn
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: everyone else into the kids table, like this is not
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: the real candidates, He's the only candidate. I understand that strategy.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: That is a perfectly rational debate strategy. I will say,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: you know, Trump got popped a little more tonight than
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: he did on the first night, And in particular, I
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: think dessanis hitting him on abortion in life. Look Trump's
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: answer where he said it was a terrible thing that
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: the state of Florida passed a law protecting life. That's
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: an answer if you're talking to pro life activists in Iowa.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know how you defend that answer. And I
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: think Trump did a good or rather Dissantis did a
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: good job of really holding Trump to account for it. Now,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: if he'd been there, Trump could have given an answer.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Trump would have presumably said, look, I'm the guy that
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: appointed three justices that overturned Row versus Wade. I mean,
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: he would have made a forceful response. But he wasn't there.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: And that's one one of the consequences of not being
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: there is someone can take a swing, they can hit you,
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: and there's not anyone there who's going to respond or
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: defend you. So there were several shots at Trump. I
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: think that's the the two that hit in any material
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: way where I think DeSantis's point on abortion hit. And
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: I also think the general point about we want to
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: win and what desanis argued is that he won in
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Florida while Trump supported candidates elsewhere we're losing. Those were
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: two shots that scored some blood. Now do I expect
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: major movements in the polls.
• 16:39
  Speaker 7: No.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I think the polls will be very similar next week
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: to where they are this week. So I don't think
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: you're going to see a dramatic move, but I think
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Desanis took a meaningful step towards making this a two
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: man race. And the only conceivable way anyone has a
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: shot at beating Trump is for this to be a
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: two men race, and I think this was a step
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: in that direction.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I want to talk to you center about age on
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: the stage. There was a very interesting dynamic on the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: stage where the elder statesman at the far right was
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Mike Pence. If you were watching the instant responses on
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: social media, there were some people that felt that he
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: came across as maybe a little bit too condescending to
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: others on the stage. Some referred to it as the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Washington know it all arrogance. And then you had the VEK,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: who had a pretty good debate last time. I don't
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: think he had as good of a debate this time,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that's my opinion. And you know, he was getting hit
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: from all sides tonight, a lot of people attacking him
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: on maybe some of his naivete on things like China,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: and he even said, look, sometimes I come across as
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: a know it all, almost accepting that about him. Your
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: reaction to that dynamic of two very different people at
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: very different stages in their career.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Look, the Vek had a much rougher night tonight than
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: he did in the first debate. First debate did excellent.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: He surprised a lot of people. He got on a
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: lot of people's radar. He really did well tonight. Look,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: the other candidates don't like Vivec and they did not
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: hide that they were taking shots at him, and it
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: was that there was some pretty sneering moments. I do
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: think that the shot that scored the most was the
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: argument that that several candidates made, that that Nikki Haley made,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: that Tim Scott made about Vivek being in bed with
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: communist China, and and they made some pretty specific allegations
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: of him being paid by the same players that paid Hunter.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Biden five million, by the way, paid to Hunter Byden
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: five million dollars, the same people, which when when you
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: hear that on stage, that's a that's a big for me,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a red flag, right, And Vivek.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Did not have a good answer to that. He he he,
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: he just he didn't respond on the substance. He just said, well, well,
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: we need to follow Ronald Reagan's eleventh commandment, So don't
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: criticize me, and and and I got to say in
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the ass debate, Viveik did not follow Ronald Reagan's eleventh commandment.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: And I will say, to Tim Scott's credit, Tim's best
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: moment was when he turned to him and said, hold
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: on a second, Vivek, you said every one of us
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: is bought and paid for. Who the hell are you
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: to say that? That was a good moment for Tim
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: because it really was a pretty obnoxious thing for Vivek
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: to say to allege that the other candidates are bought
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: and paid for. And if you're gonna do that, if
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: you're gonna if you're gonna say to the other candidates,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: you guys are all prostitutes, you don't get to complain
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: moments later, Hey, don't criticize me. Be nice to me.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: We shouldn't be be criticizing each other. And so I
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: think that, uh, that.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Was almost one of the big inexperienced moments when I
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: laugh when people say I want a new face who
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: hadn't done this before, and I'm like, until you don't.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: And my point is sometimes experience in politics is actually important,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: and it's important, especially when you get elected it's really
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: important when you're dealing with foreign leaders and world leaders
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: at a va very high level, when you're dealing with negotiations.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: If you've never been there before, this whole idea of oh,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I'm the new guy in the block, it's cute until
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: it's not.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Look, I think the job of president of the United
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: States is a very serious position. I think the burdens
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: of it are enormous. There's a reason why just about
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: every president who's ever served seems to age about twenty
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: years in the job. It is an insanely difficult job.
• 20:23
  Speaker 7: You know.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I'm reminded of when Trump was newly elected, and I
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: think it was March of twenty seventeen. Trump had hiding
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: in me and the girls to the White House for dinner,
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: and it was a marvelous time. It was very nice
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: of him to invite them, and we brought our girls
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: there and as we're walking, we're walking by the Rose Garden,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Trump looks at me and says, Wow, who knew this
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: job was so tough? And I got to admit I was.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: I am rarely at a loss for words. I was
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: genuinely flabbergasted. I was like, yeah, yes, some of us
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: kind of had that idea. I mean, it was really
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: a kind of And listen, I don't take that comment wrong.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: I think when Trump was president, we accomplished an enormous amount.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: But I also think this is a job that requires
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: a seriousness of purpose, a seriousness of execution, on ability
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: to communicate, to motivate, to get the job done, and
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: it is a I am generally skeptical of any candidate
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: who's never served in in any government position waking up
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: and saying, you know, I should be president of the
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: United States other than generals who won World wars, that
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: there's not a great history of that.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: When you look at this moving forward, and you sit
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: there and you go, okay, I'm Donald Trump tonight afterwards,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I'm obviously going to watch this thing. He did his
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: counterprogramming with you know, uaw et cetera. But afterwards, eventually
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: you're gonna sit down, You're gonna take a look at this.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Are you uneasy or do you still feel very confident
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: that you're still going to have a forty point lead
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: after all this?
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Oh look, I think Trump will still have a big,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: big lead, But he's not happy that DeSantis did well.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Trump would have been very happy if if Ron de
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Santis had sucked tonight, because as long as they're a
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: bunch of candidates. It's why in Debate one, I said
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: the biggest winner in Debate one was Donald Trump, because
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: if there are two or three or four people on
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: the stage that are gaining a point or two, he's winning.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: As long as that field is fractured, he's winning. If
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: DeSantis gets some real momentum, if he makes it more
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: of a two man race, that's not ideal for Trump.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: And so I'm confident Trump is not happy about that aspect.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I do think the next debate we will see one
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: or two people eliminated from the stage. I think the
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: smaller it gets, the more of a threat it poses
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: to Trump and everyone in the media who was saying
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: this race is over. Listen, that is at least a
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: historical at this point. At this point in the race,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: we're still in September before the election. At this point
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: in the race, Jeb Bush was still the dominant leader.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: He was starting to fade, and Scott Walker was becoming
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: the dominant leader. In twenty sixteen, after Walker, you had
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: a Ben Carson moment where he sizzled for about two
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: weeks he had a huge surge, and then after that
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: you had Marco Rubio. And at the end of the day,
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: if you look at twenty sixteen, Trump and I went
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: head to head, we were one and two in almost
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: every single state. No other candidate won more than a
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: single state. Kasikuad Ohio, Rubio one Minnesota, and Trump and
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: I won every other state in the country. I won
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: twelve states, He won the rest of them. So my
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: point is, the people who were dominant leaders in the
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: polls today in the twenty sixteen cycle didn't not win
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: a single state. So the world can change a lot.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: That being said, Trump is still in a very strong position.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, a forty point lead in the polls is
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: not nothing. It just doesn't mean the race is over,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: as some in the media.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Are wont to say, let's talk about foreign policy. I
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: actually was a little bit disappointed in the depth of
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: that conversation, and I want to get your reaction to it.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: There was obviously a lot of talk about China, specifically
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: with Vivek, but then you deal with Ukraine and you
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: deal with the border issue, for example. It didn't seem
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: to have a lot of depth there that I think
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: many people were hoping for.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of substance. There wasn't
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: a whole lot of analysis of what caused the border crisis.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: I don't think any of those candidates have spent significant
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: time at our southern border. I didn't get the sense
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: that any of them fully understood it. You didn't have
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: an explanation as to the real human tragedy that our
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: crisis of the southern border is and why Joe Biden
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: is directly responsible for it. Look, I will say Chris Christie,
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Chris Christi is the one candidate on that stage who
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: attacks Trump and does so repeatedly. I don't think he
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: helped himself a whole lot tonight. So for example, one
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: of his big attacks on Trump, and he's been doing
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: this on Twitter before, is he says Trump didn't build
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: the wall and he didn't make Mexico.
• 25:26
  Speaker 8: Pay for it.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Now, look, I get that's probably a pretty good line
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: if you're dealing with hedge fund owners and donors, but
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: it's a stupid policy attack. Look, there are things that
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I wish Trump had done differently as president, but on immigration,
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: his record on immigration is excellent. And when Trump left
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: the White House, we had the lowest rate of illegal
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: immigration in forty five years. He negotiated the Remain in
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Mexico Agreement. The Remain in Mexico Agreement worked, It worked
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: spectacularly well. Joe Biden inherited an incredible success on illegal immigration,
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: and Joe Biden deliberately blew it up within days of
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: becoming president. And so I think Christy attacking Trump. Look,
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: do I wish he'd built more border wall, sure, but
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: not acknowledging that on securing the border. Donald Trump did
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: more to secure the border than any president we have
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: had in our nation's history, and in any candidate. Not
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: saying that is being dishonest. So if you want to
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: find grounds to disagree with Trump, fine, but that attack.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: I don't know of a Republican voter who's persuaded by
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: that attack, unless it's someone that already hates Trump. And
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: then they're like, yeah, yeah, Mexico didn't pay for it,
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: And it's like, come on, guys, I mean, he did
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: more than anyone else has ever done and the results
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: were really good.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: And look, yeah, he was clearly trying. Chris Christy was
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: clearly trying to have a moment. I want to play
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: that because it was a very interesting part of the
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: debate you just mentioned it. Here is Christy in his
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: own words.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: Governor Christie, as governor of a non border state in
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: twenty ten, you supported a path to citizenship, but when
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: you run for president in twenty sixteen you flipped saying
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: immigrants should be trucked.
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: Lie fetis packages. Where do you stand now on a
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: path to citizenship for eleven million of on the communited immigrants.
• 27:23
  Speaker 6: The problem is that since no one has done anything
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: since we first had this discussion thirteen years ago, we're
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: not in a position to be able to do any
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: of that anymore. What we have to do now is
• 27:34
  Speaker 6: first treat this like the law enforcement problem.
• 27:37
  Speaker 7: It is.
• 27:38
  Speaker 6: Our laws are being broken every day at the southern
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: border every day, and Joe Biden and his crew is
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: doing nothing about enforcing that law. They are letting it go.
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: And by the way, they announced during the presidential race
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: that we're going to let it go. And we need
• 27:53
  Speaker 6: to have a president who acts like I did as governor,
• 27:57
  Speaker 6: enforce the law first and form.
• 28:00
  Speaker 7: And that means what I'll do on day one.
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: Is sign an executive order to send the National Guard
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: to partner with customs and Border patrol to make sure
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: that we stop the flow of fentanyl over the border,
• 28:11
  Speaker 6: but also to make sure that we send a much
• 28:14
  Speaker 6: different message. We want you here in this country to
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: fill the six million vacant jobs we have, but only
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: if you come here to follow the law, and only
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: if you come here legally. If you come here illegally,
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: we will apprehend you and we will send you back
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: across the border from which you came. And the fact
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: is that until we set a law and order agenda
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: in this country, not only now but in the future,
• 28:37
  Speaker 6: we won't be able to continue this. And I'll look,
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: I'll tell you this. Donald Trump failed on this as well.
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: He said he was going to build a wall across
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: the whole border. He built fifty two miles a wall
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: and said Mexico.
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: Would pay for it.
• 28:49
  Speaker 6: Guess what I think if Mexico knew that he was
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: only going to build fifty two miles, they might have
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: paid for the fifty two miles.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: But by the way, let center, if he would have
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: just stopped before he took the cheap shot at Trump,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: which I don't think land with anybody that was watching,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: certainly not Trump supporters, it would have actually been a
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: pretty decent response to the question.
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: Look, there is not a single human being on planet
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Earth that thinks Chris Christie would be better on stopping
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: illegal immigration than Donald Trump was. But there just isn't.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: The question began with, gosh, you flip flopped and you've
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: embraced amnesty repeatedly in your career, and Chris Christi built
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: his career as a blue state governor and a liberal,
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: demoderate Republican and so the attack. Look, I think in
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: debates and in politics, truth and authenticity matters that when
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: you have when you make a point that's from the heart,
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: that's real, that can land. And so it's why I
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: think Dessantus's point about we need to win and we
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: didn't win the way we should have in twenty eighteen,
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty and twenty twenty two, that's a real argument.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: That's something primary voters are like, holy crap, we can't
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: lose four And I'm a little bit nervous. I don't
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: want us to lose. Like that's an argument that has
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: some teeth. The argument that Trump didn't care enough about
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: securing the border, it's just not true, and I don't
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: think it hurts any of the candidates to acknowledge truth
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: and reality to say, yeah, look, I mean we had
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: some real successes on securing the borders. There're more to do, sure,
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: but you didn't have anyone explain what caused this crisis
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: was the decision one decision from Joe Biden, which is
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: to embrace catch and release, so that now when illegal
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: immigrants are apprehended, they let them go and they don't
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: deport them. As long as you do that, you cannot
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: solve the problem. That means the next president if you
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: simply say, if you cross into this country illegally, we
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: will catch you, we will put you on a plane,
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: and we will fly you back to your damn country,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: that's the answer. That's how you secure the border. And
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: and you know, I didn't have anyone with that clarity.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: But I think Christie's answer on that it didn't land
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: because it was hitting Trump in an area of strength
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: and not an area of weakness.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: All right, make sure you share this podcast on social
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: media to help us grow, please, so we can reach
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: other people and write us a five stary review. If
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: you would take a moment to do that, it helps
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: us reach more people. And I'll see you back here tomorrow.