Far Left Democrat Abdul El-Sayed Duels With Haley Stevens in Race That's a Key Test of Left's Power

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Far Left Democrat Abdul El-Sayed Duels With Haley Stevens in Race That's a Key Test of Left's Power"

The Morning Meeting | Host: Mark Halperin (with Kevin and Larry), 2WAY
Date: July 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into one of the most pivotal political contests of Summer 2026: the closely watched Congressional primary between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in Michigan. But as with any edition of The Morning Meeting, the discussion rapidly widens to cover the President’s consequential schedule, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and Ukraine, media coverage bias, the enduring Dr. Anthony Fauci drama, and the structural drift of American politics toward celebrity and spectacle. Engaged listener questions drive incisive dialogue on institutional rot, political celebrity, and the real risks and stakes in U.S. global conflicts.

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Key Segments and Insights

1. The President’s Unusually Busy Day & Foreign Policy Fronts

[03:02 – 13:35]

• President's High-Stakes Schedule

  • President's day includes televised hits, back-to-back closed-door meetings with Zelensky (Ukraine) and Netanyahu (Israel), and a speaking role at Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral.
  • Discussions about potential media access and the intricate choreography of presidential logistics.

• "Chin Music" and Diplomatic Tensions

  • Mark frames the President’s public rebuke of Netanyahu on Fox & Friends as unusually candid:

    “The president United States saying he doesn’t think that Bibi Netanyahu should be telling the media what he plans to say to the president United States…” ([09:05])

  • Michael notes the U.S. already has deep intelligence on Iranian nuclear developments, reducing the impact of Bibi "telegraphing moves" to the press.

• Middle East Policy Stalemate

  • Panel laments lack of effective options:
    • Military escalation deemed too risky.
    • Economic reprisals (reopening Strait of Hormuz) simply enable Iran’s oil sales.
  • Larry:

    “If the whole point is to drain every last dinar from their coffers, it doesn’t matter if they’re selling at a discount. They made a lot of money because we let them…but we can’t open [the Strait] for a day again.” ([13:03])

• Ukraine Strategy

  • Zelensky’s objectives: secure defense tech, avoid being pressured into premature settlement with Russia.
  • Kevin:

    “Zelensky is going to come to the Oval with solutions…in this new modern age of war fighting, especially on the drone front. … He’s coming from a point of strength.” ([14:54])

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2. Media Accountability: Fauci Diaries & the Press

[16:03 – 24:37]

• Dissecting the Fauci Diaries

  • Mark rails at mainstream media's kid-glove treatment of Anthony Fauci’s revealed obsession with fame and proximity to power.
    • Mark:

      “He [Fauci] talks openly in his diaries about how people blocked him from TV. And he acts like being blocked from a TV appearance is like someone trying to strangle him underwater.” ([17:51])

  • Critique of Brian Stelter's defense of Fauci as missing the real story, showing industry-wide self-protection.

• Democrats’ Loyalty to Fauci

  • Larry connects the hero worship of Fauci to the political fallout of COVID, linking media bias to 2020 campaign dynamics.

    • "They decided they would be part of the story... Everything Fauci says is gospel. We're going to hang our entire reputations on it... and if you disagree with us, you're anti-science." ([23:35])

• The Biden Tapes Parallel

  • Parallels between coverage of Fauci and the media’s minimization (or avoidance) of reporting on Joe Biden’s mental acuity and handling of classified documents, versus excess scrutiny applied to Trump.

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3. The Michigan Senate Primary: El-Sayed vs. Stevens

[29:42 – 31:19]

• Debate Fallout

  • Both candidates held their ground; no decisive shifts.
  • Kevin:

    “I think the momentum’s on her [Stevens’] side.” ([30:16])

  • Larry flags difficulty polling El-Sayed’s base, indicating hidden variables at play:

    “A big chunk of Dr. El-Sayed’s base don’t show up on polls… This is a hard one to poll.” ([30:24])

• Party Unity Challenges

  • Mark is skeptical about post-primary unity due to negative attacks in the campaign—especially on big-money influences.
  • Larry:

    “How does he endorse her after telling voters that she’s bought and paid for by AIPAC…?” ([31:03])

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4. Senate Races Down South: South Carolina Focus

[31:16 – 33:57]

• Analysis of GOP field composition, coalition-building peculiarities, and the unpredictability of “caretaker” candidates morphing into serious contenders.

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5. Listener Segment: Politics as Performance, Systemic Rot

[41:25 – 47:38]
Notable Question:
Matthew in Warsaw:

“Who are the ideal people to do these kinds of jobs? Are you just a product of the system? Is there room for integrity? … How do we uncouple [celebrity/power] from actually making policy for people?” ([43:38])

• Larry:
  • The problem is an 80-year accretion of a “permanent political class”—people who never leave, even as administrations turn over.

    “You start to knock down that permanent political class by taking its power away… that goes a long way.” ([43:44])

• Kevin:
  • Congressional life incentivizes celebrity, not deep policy work; podcasting, social media, and fundraising outweigh old-fashioned legislative priorities.

    “Gone are the days of the Mr. Smith’s of Washington here that are in it for the right reasons for a lot of these folks.” ([47:02])

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6. U.S. and Allies in the Middle East

[47:58 – 54:08] Zach (Boilermaker, Indiana):

“I don’t like us wasting our time and treasures on other people’s problems… If the Europeans aren’t going to help, if the Middle Eastern countries don’t want to solve this problem, I’m almost at the point where I’d say we should walk away...” ([49:02–50:43])

• Kevin:
  • Acknowledges U.S. frustration with allies' reluctance to contribute meaningfully in regional security efforts.
• Larry:
  • Suggests White House shares this frustration, and may pivot to broader coalition approaches – “sharing the load” – or “declare victory and come home” if partners don't step up.

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7. Ukraine-Israel Interconnectivity & Democratic Strategies

[55:07 – 60:29]

• Listener question: Will U.S. Democrats meet with Israeli opposition leaders during the campaign?
• Discussion on complexity of Democratic positioning—support for Israel constrained by base anger at Netanyahu and the Gaza war.

Kevin:

“It’s becoming more and more clear how interconnected the situation with Iran and Ukraine is—not just in terms of Iran supplying drones to Russia, but also Russia giving directed intelligence back the other way…”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On U.S.-Israel Relations:
  Mark:

  “The more I think about it, the more wow it is. It's the kind of thing the president might say in private, but he said it in public…” ([09:05])

• On Dr. Fauci & Media:
  Larry:

  “The narcissism he displays in his constant focus on what celebrity or what media outlet is saying wonderful things about him is really only valuable in juxtaposition...” ([19:04])

• On Congressional Careers:
  Kevin:

  “The incentive structures are there now…I remember Madison Cawthorn… two [legislative] staff on his office and the rest were communications and public engagement staff. That’s not right.” ([45:21])

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• President’s day/book & schedule: [02:32 – 05:56]
• Netanyahu public spat/Foreign Policy: [09:05 – 14:06]
• Ukraine policy & Zelensky meeting preview: [13:35 – 15:33]
• Fauci diaries/media criticism: [16:03 – 24:37]
• Michigan primary analysis: [29:42 – 31:19]
• Listener Q&A (Matthew): Careerists in politics: [41:25 – 47:38]
• Listener Q&A (Zach): U.S./Middle East & Isolationism: [47:58 – 54:08]
• Ukraine-Israel linkage, Democratic dilemmas: [55:07 – 60:29]

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

Language/Tone:
Candid, irreverent, and fast-paced—the hosts blend insider knowledge, open bias critiques (especially against mainstream media), and a darkly comic, sometimes sarcastic edge.

Overall:
This episode exemplifies The Morning Meeting’s unique blend: hard-to-find interplay between daily news, strategic analysis, and a community of listeners bold enough to ask weighty questions about the incentives and soul of American politics in 2026.

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For Listeners:

• Episode essential for understanding 2026’s D.C. mood: skepticism of legacy media, disillusion with elites, disgust with politics-as-brand.
• Reflective of the cross-pressured moment where foreign entanglements, Democratic Party direction, and the commodification of government service are live, unresolved questions.

Transcript

[Larry]

Foreign.

[Mark]

Ladies and gentlemen, in the last hour, the following people have appeared on cable news. Troy Jackson on Ms. Now, Ron John on Fox News Channel to President Ron Johnson, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, President Trump on Fox News, Fox and Friends and John Fetterman on cnbc. You could dial around other, other programs. Really. Until you could have a thousand monkeys on a thousand YouTube TVs, you will not find another program that will bring you all three of those in just a moment. I'm actually not sure we have Ron

[Kevin]

John, but monkeys included.

[Mark]

I'm going to tell you what he said. Kevin and Larry are here. I'm here and you're here. Romper Room family. I see Alan, I see Matthew, I see John, I see all of you. Please, if you're here on the platform and I can see you and you'd like to raise your hand, do it. If you've never raised your hand, do it. Matthew Campbell, Hands up. You know, right from the get go, don't think we had new people yesterday. Let's get a new person today. If you're watching on X or YouTube. My regular reminder, no smack in the chat. Kevin, what does that mean to you? No smack in the chat.

[Kevin]

Only medium smack. It's like, you know, Trump on the war, you know, fighting in the Middle east, you know, just a little detente would go a long way.

[Larry]

And Larry, I. Yeah, Mark, I constantly. This is our biggest conflict actually. I'm an OG conservative right wing Internet guy. I bring all the smack you want. I'm used to it.

[Kevin]

You engage with it sometimes on YouTube.

[Larry]

I love the smack.

[Mark]

Oh, Larry, I'm used. I'm used to it. But it fights the ethos, Larry, what's our ethos? Do you even know what it is?

[Larry]

Peace, love and understanding. Peace loving.

[Mark]

You know what that, that's a nick. It's a Nicklo song or a throwaway live. It has no connection to his actual mentality. Anyway, I'll run through the day book and then we're going to get to it. We have a lot to talk about.

[Kevin]

What a day book too.

[Mark]

Always looking here.

[Larry]

Have you seen a busy. My last segment on my radio show was. I have. I cannot remember a busier day on the president's schedule.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Larry]

Than what we're seeing.

[Mark]

And so and so. Very.

[Larry]

And a consequential one. Yeah.

[Mark]

I wish you were meeting with like the Purdue Boilermakers fencing theme or something. That would spice it up. Larry, in the pool today in the new media pool is Envoy Media. Larry, tell everybody who's on who or what? Well, R is Envoy Media.

[Larry]

I go way back with Envoy Media. In fact, one of my first jobs in town. I have no idea who Envoy is.

[Mark]

Kevin, any idea? Somebody Google?

[Kevin]

No idea. No, but I'm sure they're great and

[Mark]

I'm sure they're new media. They're not printing anything on newsprint. Michael, tell us what Envoy Media is when you find it. Here's the President's aforementioned schedule and it's quite something. He was already on Fox and Friends and spoiler alert, he didn't really make news with the exception of throwing high and tight at the chin of the Prime Minister of Israel, who presumably was watching it live and, and fell back and asked the umps if he could go to first base and they said no, no, no, it didn't hit you, but the chin music was played.

[Haley]

Did.

[Mark]

Already did that. He's meeting with Mr. Zelensky in this hour. It's scheduled. 9:30. It's scheduled to be closed press. It's Dr. Phil. Is Dr. Phil's. Envoy Media used to be called something else.

[Larry]

Oh, yeah, I know what that is. Yeah, yeah.

[Mark]

Merit Street Media. All right, Meets with Zelensky at 9:30. And then, uh, then they change the linens. Uh, they get rid of the trafe. Uh, this lenski is gonna have shrimp and whole milk. And then they get rid of that and they bring in all new dining wear because then Prime Minister of Israel comes in at 11 also right now. Closed press. Gentlemen, your predictions. Will either of those be open to the pool?

[Kevin]

I don't think so.

[Larry]

Maybe. No.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I don't think so. Honestly.

[Larry]

Okay.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Kevin]

He's going to have some tough conversations with both.

[Mark]

Yeah, I think. I think he'll open one of them

[Kevin]

up because he likes.

[Mark]

He likes to gab. Then he goes at 2 o' clock to the National Cathedral. That is a. That is an incredible drive. The number of streets that will be closed. He just shoots up Connecticut Avenue and then I don't know how they'll go.

[Larry]

Then jogs to Mass. Well, Connecticut to Dupont Circle. Dupont Circle to mass.

[Kevin]

Construction going on.

[Mark]

I don't think. I don't think you want the motorcade going through Dupont Circle. That's messy. They'll find a way.

[Larry]

How else do you do it?

[Mark]

Rock Creek Park. I don't know.

[Kevin]

Chopper him in.

[Mark]

Yeah, he's. And then he's speaking at the. He's one of the. Turn that. Turn that thing off.

[Kevin]

Past and future. Right.

[Mark]

He's one of three scheduled speakers along with along with Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham's niece who are speaking at the service. And then he comes back to the White House and he's doing a Tele rally at 6:30. Guys, any idea what that's a boot. There is a prime. There is a primary today in I think a mountain state. I can't remember where. Maybe it's about that.

[Zach]

I don't know.

[Mark]

JD Vance, according to some reports is going to the BB meeting but not the Zelinsky meeting because he'll be on the Hill doing at the Capitol service for Lindsey Graham. Jay Clayton is supposed to get confirmed tonight by the full Senate, which will end the reign of Mr. Pulte, which in which he's been quite active in the last few days. Again, the Graham service this morning it says in the daybook 10pm but it's 10am at the Capitol Rotunda and then 2 o' clock at the National Cathedral.

[Larry]

Mark, are you, are you surprised that Senator Graham will not be speaking at the funeral?

[Mark]

No. She's too bereft and she's probably too busy meeting with her campaign team. No, I don't know. I don't know enough about the Graham family dynamics.

[Larry]

Okay. All right.

[Mark]

Maybe she thought she'd cry. I don't know. Her niece. Her niece will be blockbuster. I can guarantee that. Representing the family. The Fed meeting starts today and I'm changing my posture. I had said 0% chance that they would raise rates or lower rates. I now think there's, there's a non zero chance they're going to raise rates tomorrow. That'd be nuts if they did.

[Kevin]

I think it's at like 40 thing.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

In terms of watchers.

[Mark]

Yeah. Either of you think they might raise rates tomorrow?

[Larry]

No. Absolutely no.

[Kevin]

I don't think so either.

[Mark]

All right. And Ro Khanna kicks off his new economic patriotism tour in Philadelphia today. Today, Larry regularly reminds those of us who forget that Rokhan is originally from Pennsylvania because Larry has a great memory.

[Kevin]

Son of the Commonwealth.

[Mark]

The markets, as Lindsey Graham would say, are faka. They're up, they're down. There's various reasons. Chip stocks, blah, blah, blah. Gas is only $4.09, Larry. Buy all you can. It's currently a bargain. $4.09. You got any place like the Iranians to store it? You put it.

[Larry]

I think it's going garage.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Larry]

I think it's going down.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Mark]

Might go down. Anyway, let me do a quick word from a sponsor and then we're going to dig in a little bit on the President's day. Starting with the thing he said this morning on TV about Bibi, which the more I think about it, the more wow it is. It's kind of thing the president might say in private, but he said it in public first Sponsor of the day is our friends at Cozy Earth who

[Kevin]

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[Mark]

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[Kevin]

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[Mark]

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[Andre]

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[Mark]

All right, here's the sound bite heard around the world, or at least in portions of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The president United States saying he doesn't think that Bibi Netanyahu should be telling the media what he plans to say to the president United States about Pickaxe Mountain or whatever it's called. This is the president from Fox and Friends. You say that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. There are reports now that Netanyahu is going to talk to you about ongoing excavation at Pickaxe Mountain. Construction vehicles entering and exiting tunnels, paving new access roads. Satellite imagery and intel indicates that Iran is actively constructing and fortifying Pickaxe Mountain. How will we respond?

[Michael]

Well, I don't need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved. I mean, I don't necessarily. We have the finest, because the Space force, we have the greatest cameras in the world focused. We know exactly what's going on. But no, I heard Bibi announced that. I said, why don't you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world? I know exactly what's going on at Pickaxe. It's not a big problem. We took out their nuclear site.

[Mark]

Yikes. Kevin, what's up with the president? This is first meeting with Bibi since the war started, face to face, which I sort of didn't focus on what's going on there.

[Kevin]

Why is the first face to face meeting since the hostility started over there five months ago? It's going to be a little frosty. Of course, you know, I think the president doesn't like when other world leaders get out in front of their skis and telegraph things to the media. But the Bibi has been masterful about engaging with our media, too, to move presidents and Congresses in the direction that he wants. You could forget the joint session during the Obama years. So obviously President Trump doesn't like anyone kind of meddling with his press. And I think it's going to be an interesting meeting. We'll see if they, you know, Larry, to Larry's point, if they actually take this one live to some degree in the Oval with the two of them sitting together.

[Mark]

Larry, what's the best case for Bibi coming out of this meeting? Is there Anything he get from the President.

[Larry]

I don't know what the get is necessarily, other than what you already projected, which is to keep the President involved and keep him focused on sort of continuing whether it's going to be this war of attrition or whether it's escalating the war. I think that right now there's no political downside, huge political downside for the President to have this sort of public sniping with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Because when push comes to shove at any given moment, the President has been pretty solid in his support for the state and for the Netanyahu government. Despite his public utterances, he will get some flack from the far right in America. Well, I don't know what is the far right these days from those who are huge supporters of the special envoy Laura Loomer now, but there's no real downside. Listen, I think it's important for the President to project to the American people on the right and the left that our policy in the Middle east is our policy in the Middle East. Sometimes it aligns perfectly with Israel, sometimes we're at odds. And I don't think it harms him to just say, yeah, you know, listen, I wish he'd just talk to me and leave it to us and that sort of thing. I don't think that there's real any harm there.

[Mark]

Here's what I think is the craziest thing in the, in the, in the U.S. grappling for a policy on the way forward. Right now everybody's saying, well, let's go back to economics. Let's go back to squeezing them economically. We're not. The Pentagon says we can't squeeze them with more strikes. We don't. Limited strikes. We don't want an all out war. We can't walk away. So, so let's go back to economics. And then the thing that's being negotiated is to reopen the strait. The last time we opened the strait, how long was it open? How long was there between the MOU and it being closed down?

[Larry]

Two weeks.

[Mark]

Three weeks.

[Larry]

Two weeks, yeah.

[Mark]

During that time, Iran at a fire sale of oil. They made millions and millions of dollars. We can't open it for a day again.

[Larry]

Wait, are you sure about that? I thought nobody was buying. I thought there was no one buying there. Only China bought their oil. China bought it at a discount.

[Mark]

A discount. But nonetheless, if the whole point is to drain every last dinar from their coffers, it doesn't matter if they're selling at a discount. They made a lot of money because we let them. We took the sanctions off. We let them sell oil. We can't let that say that again.

[Kevin]

We can't say nothing again. All the Russians, the Russians buying Iranian drones and filling their coffers, too, to use them against Ukrainian cities.

[Mark]

Makes no sense. All right, let's go to the speaking of Russia, Russia, Ukraine. Let's talk about that meeting, which is actually first and again may well happen in this hour.

[Larry]

It's supposed to, it's supposed to be 9:30.

[Mark]

Larry, what's the best thing Zelensky can get out of that thing? Because, because all the reports are he's at the peak of his relationship with the president. The president likes the winner. The president likes how gutsy he's been. All of a sudden he's a plucky, you know, he's a former actor, Larry. I don't know if you know that.

[Larry]

I've heard about that comedian. I've seen the clips. It's not my kind of humor, but it's pretty good. It's right. He's like, you know what he is? He's the Benny Hill of Ukraine.

[Mark]

He is, he's, I consider him the red skeleton of Ukraine, but to each his own, Larry. What can the red skeleton of Ukraine get out of this thing?

[Larry]

I think President Zelensky needs to get what President Trump said in Turkey with regard to sharing technology and licensing technology. He needs to get that in writing on the bottom line so he can go back and be able to rearm his military with that new agreement with the, that shared the licensing for those weapon systems. And I think he can. The best case scenario is for the president to not keep pressuring him to reaching. I think Zelensky is feeling his oats right now, and he thinks that he's got the upper hand in the conflict and he does not want to be forced into a settlement right now. As we've often noted, he doesn't want to be forced into a settlement when he's, when he's losing the war or when he's winning the war. Kevin, those two things, license for those systems, have it in writing and go back to Kyiv with it in his hand.

[Mark]

Kevin, do you agree with that?

[Kevin]

Yeah, I do. I think it's going to be on that military assistance front. You know, we, a year ago it was reported that the Ukrainians came to us with a lot of drone technology that we really didn't engage with them on. From a Department of Defense war perspective, I think Zelensky is going to Come to the Oval with solutions for the president in this new modern age of war fighting, especially on the drone front. And I think he's going to hopefully get a lot of praise from the President. 40% of Russian oil production has been halted because of these attacks far into Russia. And to Larry's point, he's coming from a point of strength.

[Mark]

Yeah, Larry's sweatsuit, jacket, no tie jacket and tie jacket.

[Kevin]

And tie lessons have been no tie, no tie jacket.

[Mark]

I'm with Kevin, but we all agree no sweatsuit. Lastly, will the president use a prepared text? I know he'll deviate from it. Will he even have a prepared text at the Graham service or will it just be all weave? Kevin?

[Kevin]

Oh, he'll have prepared text, but he'll weave from that.

[Mark]

Larry?

[Larry]

Yep, 100.

[Mark]

I'm going pure weave. He doesn't even have it.

[Kevin]

Do you, Mark, do you think, I mean you spent a lot of time with the president. Do you think there's a moment where he gets emotional up there?

[Mark]

I was, I was going to be one of my other questions, I would say, I would say based on what he said on Fox and Friends today. No, because he's, he's prepared. He doesn't want to, doesn't want to get. He doesn't want to. But I think he, I think, I think he's feeling it, but I think he'll, he'll, he'll hide it. That's my guess. We'll see. All right, ladies and gentlemen, full coverage on all of these three stories tonight on two way tonight. Now the Fauci diaries. Tomorrow Rand Paul's having a hearing with Dr. Fauci. I could spend this entire hour talking to you about the media coverage of this thing. If you read the stories in the so called mainstream press about the Fauci diaries, you will see an exact parallel to the Biden acuity situation. They were present at the creation of the COVID up. They were present engaged in non stop bias, pro foushee, anti Trump and they're just sustaining it. There's no consciousness raising there. No seems to be no awareness. And, and this goes across a range of things. It goes across the question of whether Dr. Fauci lied, whether Dr. Fauci and help fund the gain of function research. And it also goes to Dr. Fauci's insane obsession with fame and celebrity. There's no other way to describe it. Yes, there is because it's not the way it's described in the Washington Post, New York Times or Wall Street Journal news stories about this they kind of say, had kind of a fascination. The, the. The epitome, the, the app. The, the. The high point or say, low point of how you can understand how, how the mainstream press is thinking about protecting Dr. Fauci still, even after reading the diaries, comes from Kevin's close friend Brian Stelter of cnn, who writes about the media.

[Kevin]

I don't claim him. I don't claim him.

[Mark]

111 Brian Stelter should be.

[Larry]

Should.

[Haley]

This should be.

[Mark]

This should be Christmas for him. This should be the greatest day of his life to get to write about all the connections between Fauci and the media here and the ethics involved in, in people secretly being friends with him and helping him and then praising him on tv. There's so much rich stuff here. And, and, and Fauci's obsession with the celebrity. Again, I don't know how many of you have read them. He's obsessed. He talks about. He talks about Julia Roberts, he talks about Cher, he talks about covers. He, he talks openly to his diaries about how people blocked him from tv. And he acts like being blocked from a TV appearance is like someone trying to strangle him on underwater. Okay, this guy, this guy has a problem. And, and by the way, if you've covered him in the last 50 years when he's been in Washington, this comes as no surprise. Here's what Brian Stelter writes about, about the. The diaries. He says, while MAGA media ridicules Foushee's quote, unquote obsession with fame, the diary entry should read more like someone documenting the objectively wild speed at which a government immunologist became internationally famous for. Brian Stelter, in his career has written many corrupt sentences to protect the liberal side of the house. Many. But Larry, can you think of a more extreme example than that characterization of these diaries?

[Larry]

I think you said it very well, Mark. It's absolutely. And yes, MAGA media, whatever the hell that is, did spend some time on his obsession. But there's a whole lot more in this diary that goes well beyond his obsession with the media. The narcissism he displays in his constant focus on what celebrity or what media outlet is saying wonderful things about him is really only valuable in juxtaposition with his admissions to what was really going on with this pandemic that he withheld from the American people. This is. I spent over two hours on this on my radio show this morning, Mark, and it is shocking when you look at how much it was discussed on cable news. I don't want to complain about it because when they Ignore what real stories are and what real impact to the American people and our government is when they don't hook, speak truth to power and hold powerful people like Anthony Fauci accountable. It's just another reason why they come here. It's why they're coming to shows like ours. So go ahead and whistle past the graveyard. I think the problem is they're part of the story.

[Mark]

The people who run the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal who edited those stories, meet me at camera one. You should be ashamed of yourself. Not only are you doing a disservice to your readers and not accurately describing what's in those diaries, but you're continuing the alienation of 50% of the country that looks at either the lack of coverage or the minimalization of what's really in there. Not just regarding his obsession, as Larry said, but his failure to do his job well. And you are asking half the country to say, yep, once again, these people do not get their responsibility. Kevin, I asked a number of Democrats, why do you guys like Fauci so much? Like, why are you still defending this guy? And I got great answers and I'm going to share them on next up because my whole monologue is about this. Why Democrats, Kevin? Why are so many Democrats still not just kind of neutral on Fauci or be like, yeah, whatever. They're, they're, they're vociferously pro Foushee even after what was revealed?

[Kevin]

Well, he was a compelling figure. It's clear that he became a legend in his own mind in terms of this attention. You know, he, this guy was a longtime bureaucrat, right. George H. Sobey Bush gave him the medal of Freedom back in the early 90s based on his HIV.

[Mark]

HIV with the Reagan's.

[Kevin]

And doctors already have big egos, God love them. I know I have a lot of doctors in my family and friends, but there is a God complex around them already. And then you magnify that completely in terms of his role that he took on. And I think he was an object of kind of pushing back on Donald Trump for those two years or a year and a half. And that I think gave so much of the rise. They had Fauci, Fauci drinks in D.C. in these bars and clubs, candles. You had Golden Girls votive candles. Now you had Dr. Fauci votive candles and stuff like that. And I think it just magnified this Persona. And then he fed into it. He fed it, you know, he then had a, an eight person security detail driving it because of the threats. And when you then get that rise, it affects your mentality and how you interact in the world.

[Mark]

I think I grew up in Washington. I covered Fauci for a lot of my early career. I'd spend time with him. I get why people find him appealing. He's a doctor with a great bedside manner. He's available to be on tv.

[Kevin]

I get he comes across authentic.

[Mark]

He comes across as authentic. But, but, but even before these diaries, but especially after them, how any journalist or anyone in the national town square could not force themselves to think and knew about this guy, I just can't understand it. Larry.

[Larry]

Mark.

[Mark]

Larry, what's going to happen in the hearing tomorrow?

[Larry]

That's a great question. You know, he has an opportunity to come clean and actually explain the discrepancies between his public statements, his under oath testimony to Congress and what he was telling himself in his diary. And I don't know, I don't think he can plead the Fifth because he's got immunity.

[Mark]

Let me ask you a question about that. Can. Can someone say, I, I won't accept the pardon? If you want to indict me. I, you can. You sure?

[Larry]

I, I think so. Why, why couldn't you? I'm not sure.

[Mark]

I think they should say to him, Dr. Fauci, if you did nothing wrong, renounce the pardon. Yeah, because it's pretty clear to me he perjured himself.

[Kevin]

I mean, the amount of money that he would have to spend in legal fees and things like that, he's not going to do that.

[Larry]

I'd like a venture guess to your question about why liberals love him and why the left and the media love him. It has to do with Trump. I'm sorry, but Trump was going to win reelection. COVID 19 did not hurt him. The lockdown hurt him. Shutting down our economy, shutting down our schools and making people's lives miserable and demonizing any governor like Kristi Noem or, or Greg Abbott or Ron DeSantis who started questioning the advice from Fauci and the federal government. They were demonized. All of that fed into the chaos of 2020 that led to the election and led to Donald Trump not winning a second term, and they love him for that. And they decided that they would be part of the story, the media, that is, and Democrats. And they said, everything Fauci says is golden. Everything Fauci says is gospel. We're going to hang our hat on it and stake our entire reputations on it. And if you disagree with us, you're anti science. And then years later, when you find out what the truth is. They're too all in on it. They cannot objectively step back and say, oh, maybe we were wrong.

[Mark]

Yeah, more, more for me on this, on about this on next up. I just, I've got a whole monologue with a lot of video elements to show you about the trajectory of how we got to this point with Dr. Fauci. Parallel to this, in the same news cycle, the release of the audio tapes of Joe Biden talking to his ghostwriter before he was elected president. As you know, I've told you, when I saw Joe Biden in 2017 at a public event, I said, thank goodness he'll no longer do anything in public ever again because he's so. He's so diminished. Well, these tapes illustrate that, too. And they also, they illustrate two things. They illustrate how far diminished he was in it's 2019, I believe, when those tapes are from. And it shows how cavalier he was about sharing, taking classified information secretly and then sharing it with someone who wasn't authorized to have it. I'm not excusing what President Trump did with classified information at Mar a Lago at all, but that guy did something he shouldn't have done, and he didn't pay a price for it because the independent counsel said A canceled at B, he was too far gone to be indicted. But you will look hard to try to find any coverage of those tapes today. CBS wrote a story to their credit. The New York Post wrote a story. There's not a word about it in the New York Times. The Washington Post. Yeah, and it's the same thing. It's the same thing. It's the same thing. They just, they don't want to acknowledge that they were wrong to love Foushee. They don't acknowledge that they helped cover, tried to cover up Joe Biden's loss of mental acuity. In both cases, 50% or more of the country saw the truth. They saw Joe Biden's loss of mental acuity. They saw what a fraud Dr. Fauci was in a fame whore. So it didn't work, but yet they continue to do it. Either of you want to say anything about the Biden tapes?

[Larry]

Well, real fast this, by the way. The tapes were released by the House Judiciary Committee, and they claim that these recordings took place in 2016 and 2017. Mark. So it's even worse than what you laid out.

[Mark]

It couldn't be 2019. Yes. Thank you.

[Larry]

Yeah. And. And he specifically says in these tapes, oh, this document's classified. I just found these classified Documents. He was a vice president. He had no business having any classified documents in his possession, in his home, without any security, without anything. He couldn't declassify them as vice president, only a president could they remain classified. They didn't find anything in Mar? A Lago with their FBI raid that rose to the level of what Joe Biden was. Obviously not only did he do, but he was fully aware that he had broken the law here. And you're right, the other insight here is to how he was already sort of meandering, couldn't remember things and this is when he was still vice president or right after being vice president. It's that the fact that the media is uninterested in this story, again, I think is because, as you mentioned, the same players just looked the other way and decided that they had a bigger mission. Not to tell the truth, not to report on the truth. Their mission was partizan, their mission was political.

[Kevin]

And I mean, Larry, the FBI, the FBI and the archives came to Trump multiple times and said, you have these. Bring, give them back. So no former the President was fully aware of what was in Mar? A Lago. I think we have a long history of a casual relationship, especially with presidents and vice presidents with classified material. It's the case that we have an over classification problem in this country.

[Mark]

Certainly, Kevin, you're right, Kevin.

[Larry]

Right. I did not make an excuse for President Trump's speech.

[Kevin]

But you said Trump had no idea that he had that material. He was told.

[Larry]

No, no, no. What I said was what is revealed in these 10 tapes pales in comparison to what they didn't find at Mar? A Lago because there is no comparison. A former president who does have the power to declassify documents. Having documents within a locked room, within a secure facility like Mar? A Lago with Secret Service patrolling because he's a former president is not the same, Kevin, as a former vice president who has it in his basement in Delaware. I say this not the same.

[Mark]

I say this not as a throwaway line. Literally. Literally, you're both correct. Now, I'll say in closing, imagine if Stephen Miller was on tape talking about being a fame whore like that at a time when he was one of the primary people responsible for one of the biggest national security and public health issues in the country. Imagine the stories that would be written if Steven Miller said, oh, I was hanging out with this person, I really wanted to be on this show. Imagine what the coverage would be like. And then imagine if Donald Trump were on tape talking to his GhostWriter about an $8 million project in which he cavalierly talked about classified information. Imagine what the coverage would be like today if they had those audio tapes. And then look at what we have today and ask yourself why people in my business have no credibility with the public. Thank you for your attention to that matter. Michigan Senate race debate last night Mr. Elsad. Dr. Elsa man, that guy's message discipline too. He just said the same thing the entire debate. NAN OF URBAN APAC I didn't talk to anybody. I watched the whole thing. I didn't talk to anybody or read anybody's account of it that suggested changes the race up at all. Kevin, do you see anything in that debate that changes the race?

[Kevin]

No, I think, you know, it was both of theirs to lose and I think they held their own effectively. You know, Stevens was out there talking about, you know, the endorsements of the, you know, the governor, the attorney general, EL Said's attacks on women, kind of couching in that, which again, there's far many more women in the Democratic primary vote universe than there are men. So we'll see how that plays to it. But this is, I think the last opportunity before I think it's August 4th. Is that right? So next Tuesday, it's one week from

[Mark]

today, one week from today.

[Kevin]

And I think the momentum's on her, on her side.

[Mark]

And look how smart I'm going to be when the Obama's endorsed. Larry, did the debate change anything?

[Larry]

No, I don't think so. This is going to be fascinating to see what happens. And I'm told that a big chunk of Abdul's Dr. El Said's base don't show up on polls the way the typical voter in the Democrat caucus would show up. This is a hard one to poll. She does look like she has the momentum. Kevin's right there. I hope you're right because I don't want him anywhere near the Senate. But either way, I still maintain that the real winner here is Mike Rogers. This is, it's going to be hard for the party to recover. No matter who wins, I still predict

[Mark]

the loser endorses the winner. I'm so. He's a great political athlete. In the first 10 minutes he was spectacular, but he's got no second gear. He never really changed anything up.

[Larry]

How does he endorse her after telling voters that she's bought and paid for by AIPAC and all the, all the corporations that she's corrupt?

[Mark]

Larry, do you want to see the quotes about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama or British Hillary Clinton?

[Kevin]

Larry, you're Likable enough.

[Mark]

Happens all the time. All right, quote, quickly on South Carolina Senate, buried in the AP story about, about the latest in the, in the race. There's about 10, I think the filing period's now closed. There's like 10 candidates in this race. Four or five of them have a chance to win. Kevin, I hadn't seen this before. It said that Governor McMaster, according to a source, had no idea she would possibly run for the full full term. He thought she was just a caretaker. And it came as a great surprise, joined the club when she suddenly ran. Any change in your thought, Kevin, about, about where this race stands now?

[Michael]

Now?

[Kevin]

No, I still think, you know, we're starting to see ads down here. I'm in Charleston right now.

[Mark]

Who's on the air? Who's on.

[Kevin]

We saw Russell Fry's ads already targeted to.

[Mark]

What's that about that ad?

[Kevin]

I think it's smart to go up.

[Mark]

What's the content of it?

[Larry]

The content?

[Kevin]

Oh, the content is MAGA Warrior kind of almost endorsed by President Trump with the video footage because again, we know that that's who, you know, the president wanted.

[Mark]

Are people doing.

[Kevin]

To run?

[Mark]

People doing it?

[Kevin]

Yeah, they're, they're out there. Russell Fry had something. Ralph Norman had something as well. He has an ad just straight to camera a la Christine o'. Donnell.

[Mark]

And is she. But she doesn't have an ad on yet, does she?

[Kevin]

I haven't seen anything from her yet down here. Yeah. Or any kind of events. And she didn't even really take questions when she filed.

[Mark]

You know, when it's the first. When is the first thing? Three weeks away.

[Kevin]

August, August 18th, I think is like three elections. 17.

[Mark]

It seems like this should be underway now. Maybe after today and tomorrow they'll get going.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I think there was some, you know, obviously focused on the funeral today.

[Larry]

Yeah, obviously Kevin's on the ground in South Carolina. He's got certain insights. But as from a right of center media observer, this is a very weird coalition that's sort of stitched together right now for Ralph Norman. Some people who have come out for Ralph Norman sort of surprise me. And it's not what you think. It's not, you know, Trump anti Trump or Republican establishment. Nikki Haley types. You've got pretty far right, you know, Freedom Caucus types. Turning point USA has endorsed Ralph Norman on this thing. This is a really interesting coalition that he's trying to put together and it might work. And President Trump is not a big fan of his.

[Andre]

I think so.

[Troy]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

Yeah. Endorsements. Really, you Know, no one gives a crap about Mike Lee or Rick Scott in South Carolina.

[Larry]

Well, Turning Point us or maybe Turning

[Kevin]

Point with their turnout operation.

[Mark]

I really think Mark Sanford could hurt Governor Senator Graham, the new senator.

[Larry]

I agree.

[Mark]

I think he could take a lot of her vote.

[Larry]

He's got money to spend. Yeah. Depends on how.

[Kevin]

He's a very effective communicator. His ad straight to no one reads a script to camera better than Mark Stanford.

[Mark]

Yeah, he's good on the trail. They say no one's out there. Thank you. Thank you, Larry. Thank you, Larry. Troy Jackson was on Ms. Now this morning on Morning Joe. I probably in part to raise money. He only gave his URL once, which surprised me. I felt he could have worked it in a few more times. And it's not on the sign behind him, which seems, Kevin, like a massive mistake. Right. If you're standing in front of like a step and repeat sign, shouldn't that have the campaign URL on it for people to give money?

[Kevin]

At least, at least on the podium.

[Mark]

I guess people can Google. Anyway, one of the things I've been interested in is as he's moved more to the center or more to the left, rather, whether the left trusts him. If you're a guy saying I'll protect abortion rights and used to be pro life, can the pro choice community trust you? I'm curious to know if he'll say he'll only vote to confirm Supreme Court nominees who pledged to restore Roe versus Wade. He wasn't asked that, but he was asked a very good question, which is tell us about your journey from pro life. Adamantly, pro life with no exceptions to pro choice. Gentleman at the back side of this, I want you to rate his answer for efficacy. Here it is.

[Troy]

You know, early on, you know, I wasn't, you know, real clear on reproductive rights. But, you know, I had a lot of conversations over time, a lot of conversations with women doctors, community members. I mean, you know, just people that I came to trust. And it became, you know, more and more clear to me that abortion access was healthcare. And really that's always been, you know, people in Maine see me as a labor guy and I am. But the reason why I really ran for the legislature is because I was upset that people in my community couldn't get health care. And so that's been a big issue for me. So when I understood, you know, it came clear that abortion access is health care, you know, it just changed for me. And over the last decade or more, you know, Planned Parenthood has had a 100 record for me, you know, endorse me. You know, when Susan Collins was helping overturn Roe vs Wade, even Mika isn't buying it.

[Mark]

I think she did.

[Troy]

I co sponsored one of the most progressive reproductive rights bills in the country. Fought incredibly hard for it. I made sure that low income women had access under main care to abortion access. And you know, now, I mean, yeah, I was wrong.

[Mark]

Kevin, how do you rate that one

[Kevin]

delivery? Not great. Something's fairly good. Pivoting back to Susan Collins in the Supreme Court. That's what he has to do. And remind folks about Brett Kavanaugh and others and Roe versus Wade going by the wayside. But he's got to stare into the camera more and not be looking up in the sky in terms of delivery. It's authentic. He comes across as authentic. We'll see how that plays.

[Mark]

Larry, right before we. Right after we cut the clip off, he said two minutes to Wapner, by the way. Larry, what did you think of that answer

[Larry]

from somebody who is pro life? You know, if you think that life begins at conception and you believe that that life deserves to be protected from being destroyed, it's kind of hard to change your position on that without addressing that fundamental reality that life begins at conception. And he didn't address that.

[Mark]

Totally agree.

[Larry]

What he told him to. Unfortunately, the answer was a recitation of the checklist that you've got to fill out and get approved by. For Narol and Planned Parenthood and the various lobbying groups he delivered in that regard. But it was a highly political. You know, I changed my mind because I realized that if I want to ascend politically in this state, the. This is what I have to say. And he said it. Yeah, that might be enough.

[Kevin]

Mark. Mark, do you remember covering the president, you know, who was famously pro choice? Did. Was he what. What was his answer in terms of how he became conservative and pro. I think he's pro life, the president.

[Mark]

I think he had a story about seeing a sonogram of some friend's baby, if I, if I remember correctly.

[Kevin]

Okay.

[Mark]

I mean, he told it. He didn't tell it in a compelling way, but I mean, I think he solved his problem with judges. You know, he just picked a bunch of pro life judges.

[Larry]

Oh, I can tell you.

[Kevin]

And releasing that list ahead of time

[Larry]

in 2016, pro life Republicans who remain skeptical were bought in when he released that list of the judges that he,

[Kevin]

he would end with Mike, I'm sure.

[Mark]

And you were calling a huge misstep with Chris Matthews when he said women who get abortions should go to prison. And he had to walk that back, right? Yeah, so he didn't.

[Larry]

But it is. I mean, to be fair, it's a lot easier, I think, to sound genuine when you were once pro choice and then you can go pro because it's like, you know what? I really gave it some thought and I realized I was lied to when I was told that life doesn't be like life obviously begins at conception. That's a scientific reality that you have to deny to be pro abortion. So it's easier for people to go from pro choice and pro life, I think, than the other way.

[Mark]

Quick word from a sponsor and then to your questions right away. Please raise your hand. If you've never raised your hand before. We have some new hands up. We'll get to you all first. Larry, quick word. And then to our community, Weight loss

[Larry]

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[Mark]

Thank you, Larry.

[Matt]

I started with one shop. No college degree, no big investors. It was just a willingness to work. Over time, that one shop turned into a multi billion dollar business called Crash Champions. All the lessons I learned along the way came from the grind. And that's what my show Pod Crash is all about. We have real conversations with people who've built things the hard way. We talked to founders, athletes, and blue collar Leaders who kept going when things got tough. You'll hear stories of grit, leadership and growth, plus real world lessons you can take back to your team and your life tomorrow.

[Mark]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas. That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[Zach]

I was at Harvard Law School.

[Michael]

I was.

[Andre]

Blah, blah, blah.

[Zach]

I looked up.

[Michael]

Let me tell you something.

[Zach]

There's kids in my neighborhood putting in

[Mark]

Sheetrock that are smarter than you. AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff. It is never going to disrupt physical blue collar trade skill. And the guy just looked at me

[Kevin]

and he said, it's bloody impossible.

[Mark]

So I asked him this question.

[Kevin]

I said, it's impossible.

[Matt]

Unless that's. Podcast with me, Matt ebert. Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mark]

All right, ladies and gentlemen, time for your participation. You'll unmute. You tell us where you are, what you have on your mind. And Matthew Campbell's coming in first. I know some of you think, is this the famous Canadian darts player Matthew Campbell? No, no, it's not. But he was born in 1989. Our guest, born not that exact year. Matthew Campbell. There you go. Tell folks where you're from. Thank you for being here and what's on your mind for Larry and for Kevin.

[Matthew]

Well, thanks, gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm from Denver, Colorado, originally, but I'm in Poland now. I tune in usually on vacation. No, I live here. I've lived here about seven years. I usually turn into the. To the morning show on the podcast in the evening and the evening show in the morning.

[Mark]

Well, thank you.

[Kevin]

But where in Poland are you? Where do you live?

[Matthew]

Warsaw.

[Kevin]

Warsaw capital? Yeah, yeah.

[Mark]

Best pierogies outside of Cleveland.

[Haley]

That's right.

[Mark]

Probably Pittsburgh begs to differ with all these.

[Matthew]

With all the talk about Fauci and some of these Senate candidates and. And I listen quite often and hear about the horse race. And I have some students that I've turned onto the show, too. And I know that a lot of people here, they wonder about these candidates and these characters, and maybe you all can provide some insight on this. Who does this and who are the ideal people to do these kinds of jobs? And at some point, Fauci or some of these Senate candidates, even if you want to do the right thing, are you just a product of the system? Do you work to just protect the system? Is there room for integrity? Is there room for real leadership? And knowing that there's a mix of constituent work, a lot of fundraising, and now brand building and celebrity behind this. How do we uncouple that from actually making policy for people and for citizens that matter? And how did we ever let the horse race of it take over the policy of it? It seems insane.

[Mark]

Spectacular question, Matthew. Thank you, Larry. Take, take a whack at that PhD thesis, please.

[Larry]

Well, yeah, good luck from getting it from uneducated o' Connor over here. But I think what you're describing there so eloquently is what a lot of people sort of fall back on and call the permanent political class, that this has become this machine in Washington, D.C. and Fauci is a great example. As presidents come and go, as administrations come and go, and majorities come and go, they still survive. And so much so that in many people's thoughts, they become part of the system itself. And I think that the way you start to knock down that permanent political class is do you take its power away? That's why a lot of us conservatives are thrilled with one of the data points of the first two years of this second Trump administration that doesn't get a lot of attention, which is the reduction of the federal workforce. That didn't help the president party in the Virginia governor's race. But when you take, when you start reducing the federal workforce and you start removing their influence on our elections, that that helps and it goes a long way. But it also translates what the size of this permanent political class translates to people getting into office and staying and never leaving. And that that's on both sides of the aisle. It's part of the reason why I lament the fact that we're going through this bizarre escapade with Mitch McConnell's health right now. I wish we didn't have to do it. He should have not run for another term. And so I hope I'm addressing the issue. But it's, this has been about 80 years in the making, frankly, and it's not going to correct itself overnight. But there needs to be a concerted effort to, to sort of take the power away from, from that permanent political class. And I hope I addressed what you were getting at. Kevin yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Kevin]

Yeah. MATTHEW I'll just add, I think, you know, to one of the aspects of your question, to the incentive structure in terms of why folks are now running for office. They want to be famous, they want to grow their Instagram following, you know, they want to go the AOC route with massive social media followings and the real work of Congress. And I've been up there for a number of years back in the day is not sexy, is not fun. It's markups, it's committee hearings. Now even our committee hearings have turned into points of ridicule and social media engagement when before it was the real work of oversight, markups, hearings, budget negotiations, things like that. And I think, you know, there's a route now for people that think they can become instantly famous if they run for office and do this. It's one of the line of attacks you saw from Haley Stevens against El Sayed in that debate yesterday where she goes, I'm here to do the real work and to roll up my sleeves. You just want to be famous and do podcasts. And now every politician has a podcast. And again, the incentive structures are there now. I remember Madison Cawthorn who served a tournament, I think from North Carolina and he announced that he had two legislative staff on his D.C. office and the rest were communications and public engagement staff. Right. That's not right. Again, the vast majority of time for a member of Congress, it's either fundraising, calling people for money if they don't personally are wealthy, or two in committee hearings. That should be boring for the most part in terms of oversight of government agencies and things like that. I think, you know, gone are the days of the Mr. Mr. Smith's of Washington here that are in it for the right reasons for a lot of these folks.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

And that's a bipartisan problem.

[Mark]

Yeah. What kind of, what kind of students do you have, Matthew?

[Matthew]

I teach like professionals. I teach English, conversational English to professionals, lawyers, politicians, news people.

[Mark]

So. And how'd you find, how'd you find two way

[Matthew]

through the coverage from the last election and, and through. Through you, Mark. I just following you in politics for a long time. So it's a great forum and I, and I love it. I recommend it to a lot of people. It's just, it's a great spot for discourse. So appreciate it.

[Mark]

And how scary is it to raise your hand for the first time and talk?

[Matthew]

Oh, I've been thinking about it for a while, so.

[Mark]

Okay. Thank you.

[Kevin]

For a living, he teaches people.

[Mark]

Grateful to you for being part of two Way. And thanks for coming on and bring some students next time. Zach, welcome in. Thank you for being here. Unmute. If you would tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for Larry.

[Larry]

Go Boilermakers.

[Zach]

Well, it's funny, usually I'm a YouTube guy and this morning when Mark called out Purdue Boilermakers lacrosse team, I'm like, okay, this is, this is karma. I have to join. I'm off work Today. So I'm like, I'm calling in.

[Kevin]

Awesome.

[Mark]

Thank you, sir. So are you, are you an alum?

[Zach]

I am, yes. My wife and I both, we just went back to a Purdue game last fall. Got destroyed by Ohio State, but all fine.

[Mark]

Who's the finest university president in American history?

[Zach]

Mitch Daniels, with no question whatsoever.

[Haley]

No question.

[Zach]

And I was not there. He was, he was after my time, but of course I still followed him. I saw him on CNBC a lot talking about the miracle of Purdue. So they're doing great. Thanks for all for having me. So my thing is kind of simple. Three time Trump voter. I'm a shy Trump voter. I don't talk about politics. The, the job I have is a public job. I stay neutral. My strategy for life is pretend I don't know what's happening and that's how I live my life. So I do appreciate this.

[Mark]

I do the exact same thing, by the way.

[Zach]

Yeah, thanks.

[Kevin]

It helps with my in laws. It helps with my in laws at the Thanksgiving table. Yeah, well.

[Zach]

And I work in an environment where everybody is politically the opposite of me. So, you know, take that for what it's worth. So with, I want to circle back to Iran because philosophically I agree that the Iranians are particularly the government are hostile. They've been that way for my entire life and more. I think what's been disappointing to me is as somebody who is anti war, just philosophically, I don't like us wasting our time and treasures on other people's problems. And my big problem with this entire conflict is the fact that there has been little to no participation by the Middle Eastern countries. Now there are token things they'll do, little strikes here and there. They, the Europeans have been almost non existent. You know, there's talk about the British joining us in these hypothetical things, but it's all talk. And what would make me feel a lot better about this whole thing, if you're going to try to get somebody like me who is philosophically willing to participate in this, if he sees the view that we're actually getting somewhere. But if the Europeans aren't going to help, if the Middle Eastern countries don't want to solve this problem, then I'm almost at the point where I'm willing to go along with somebody like Chris Hollins and say walk away. And that's, that's a, that's a stretch for me to agree with somebody like Chris Hollins because at this point we don't need them. We don't. And if you're not going to step up a little bit and show some participation here, then you're, you're going to have a hard time convincing me that we should do this alone when the benefit to us is not negligible.

[Mark]

Well, so I guess you speak for tens of millions.

[Kevin]

KEVIN yeah, exactly.

[Mark]

I mean, did you, did you want to button that up with a more specific question or.

[Zach]

Well, well, what I was going to say. I mean, do you guys see the same thing I'm seeing? And do you think that it's possible that behind the scenes we are trying to rope these others in and we just haven't been public about it, which to me would be weird because we're public about everything nowadays.

[Mark]

So, great, great question, Jack. You speak for tens of millions.

[Kevin]

KEVIN yeah, Zach, great, Great points all around. And again, you also saw Secretary Rubio in the region, I think, a month ago, going to kind of three of our key allies, Kuwait, uae, and I think Saudi Arabia could be wrong. But you're right in that, you know, a lot of those allies, we've sold multiple, Multiple weapon systems, F35s, what have you, only for them to sit on the tarmac and not be engaged. And again, you also saw, you know, what has Iran been doing? They've been attacking our Gulf allies in response to the war over the past five months, hitting hotels, hitting power plants. And to not see them respond militarily has been not surprising, unfortunately, because I think a lot of countries want us to do their dirty work with the COVID of not, you know, having to participate. But again, I think that's also becoming untenable at this point,

[Larry]

LARRY Zach, first of all, please don't let this be your last appearance on the program. Otherwise we're gonna have to, like, move the show to West Lafayette and, like, entice you out all the time with our.

[Zach]

I even had my dog ready for camera, but, you know, because I knew the rules, dogs and kids first, so.

[Larry]

And it's another reason why the YouTuber should swing over to Two Way TV. Not only do you speak for tens of millions, but you speak for a lot of people in the administration who have the President's ear right now. And I think that the President agrees with you, by the way. He does not want to have a long, protracted, go it alone kind of strategy in Iran. I think that he genuinely, genuinely believed that this would have been over by now and that they would have made some real change and reached either a negotiated settlement, or they would have cleaned out, moved down to this third or fourth string of leaders in Iran that they can work with and they'd actually be on their way to some sort of lasting involvement in the Middle east. That ain't happening. And I think that what you're envisioning here with other countries participating and actually doing something, if the president gives the go ahead to further engagement and increasing our military activity, that's what you're going to see. There's going to be other countries who are sharing the load and being a part of that. There are military leaders who frankly don't want the Arab nations involved too much just because they're, I've been told that in other engagements they've sort of gotten in the way because as skilled as they are, they're, they're not as skilled as the American troops.

[Michael]

They're.

[Larry]

But I think just for the, the effectiveness internationally of this effort, so it doesn't look like it's America going alone and nation building. That's what needs to happen. So keep your eye on this summit between the UK and the US this week. What is it? Thursday? I think they're meeting to talk about this Strait of Hormuz strategy. Not clear yet exactly when, because that, that might be where this is headed. And if they don't reach some sort of understanding where other nations are going to be involved in the next military step and securing that area, then don't be surprised if the president does basically say, all right, we've done as much as we can be expected to do and now we're going to declare victory and come home.

[Mark]

Zach, please don't be a stranger. Love having you on. Please come back. If you've got a sense of history or how to write narrative nonfiction. It's a pretty big day if you're writing a book about President Trump's wars or the wars occurring while he's president, I should say, because right at this moment, President Zelensky has just arrived at the White House. And on Capitol Hill, people are gathering moments from now for the ceremony there honoring Senator Graham. There'll be one on the Capitol and then this afternoon at the National Cathedral. Of course, Senator Graham spent much of the later years of his life dealing with Bibi Netanyahu and President Zelensky, both of whom are in Washington today to pay honor and respect to their friend, but also to meet with the president, who's support for them often was egged on by their mutual friend who's now past Senator Graham. Fitting and proper, therefore, that we bring in together Haley and Andres to talk about, presumably Ukraine and Israel. Thank you both for being Here, two fan favorites and repeat Jeopardy. Champions. Haley, you first.

[Kevin]

Dream Team right here.

[Haley]

Wow.

[Michael]

Have at it.

[Mark]

Haley.

[Kevin]

I just have a really quick question. It is regarding Israel.

[Zach]

I do want to know if you guys think anyone in the administration or

[Kevin]

perhaps even Democrats are going to possibly meet with the leading opposition leader, which happens to be Gotti Eisenhower at this point, or do you think they're going to stay completely out of it?

[Mark]

A great question how U.S. democrats were interacting with that. Audrey, why don't you ask your question and then, and then Kevin and Larry will respond to both.

[Haley]

Well, checking with Ukraine's bestie, Laura Lortmer this morning, she confirmed that that vice president is only going to be in the Netanyahu meeting, not the Zelensky meeting, as apropos, possibly. But one of the things that has been mentioned and maybe in relation to the following the previous question about where are the allies is bringing up the Ukraine had a strike with its long range drones at the Caspian Sea trying to attack those methods of, of resupply between Russia and Iran, leaving the port of Ostraca in Russia, going down to the Iranian port. So talking of, you know, that's one of the things that Ukraine has tried to demonstrate. You want an ally, we're there for you. Whether it's, you know, sending troops over to Africa, whether it's helping our allies in the Middle east by sending them interceptor drones, we're ready to do it. But the question at the end remains what happens with that $400 million that is sitting on the table? It was approved in December by the President that could be used for patriots or anything else that Ukraine could need right now.

[Mark]

Larry, address them both, if you would. Thank you.

[Larry]

All right. Yeah, you're right about the $400 million and, and that that certainly will be on President Zelensky's agenda and it'll be interesting to see what they come up with and whether there's going to be any action there. But both of these questions have to do with whether there's going to be any congressional involvement or congressional commentary. And I frankly, based on how the senators have been performing recently, I don't think they're going to make the trek down Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't think they'll participate and I don't think they'll have any statements and they'll be able to use the fig leaf of the Lindsey Graham funeral to just say, yeah, we're just focused on this today. But that's my hunch because frankly, right now at least the Senate appears to be a do Nothing. Senate. And I don't think they're interested in moving the ball right now politically, because they're so scared about November. I could be wrong. Maybe I'm being cynical.

[Mark]

And what about the prospect of American leaders, including Democrats, meeting with Israeli opposition folks in the run up to the election?

[Larry]

Oh, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I could see some Democrats doing that, but frankly, that'll be interesting, Haley, because Democrats like to say, oh, we love Israel, we support Israel, we just don't like Netanyahu and the Netanyahu government. But I don't think that's exactly where their base is right now. I don't think the base's opposition to Israel has to do with the Netanyahu government. So they've got to thread a needle there. And I don't think they have any interest in even engaging with Israel until after the election, other than to condemn Israel whenever it's politically opportunistic for them.

[Mark]

Kevin?

[Kevin]

Yeah, number one, I'm glad to have Haley and Andre together on this element, because it's becoming more and more clear how interconnected the situation with Iran and Ukraine is, not just in terms of Iran supplying these drones to Russia to kill innocent Ukrainians, but the fact that there's more reporting that Russia is actually giving directed intelligence to, to Russia and Iran to, in terms of going back and forth in terms of attacking military outposts for the Americans.

[Mark]

Sorry to interrupt, but two things. Don't forget Netanyahu's oddly close relationship with, with Putin. And also we're watching live here scenes from Capitol Hill of the casket of Senator Graham being led into the rotunda. Kevin, apologies.

[Kevin]

Yeah. So that interconnectedness, of course, on the oil situation, the fact that I think, as I said earlier, I think it's up to 40% capacity, has been targeted and, and decimated in terms of oil exports from Russia. Andrei notes how far deep Ukrainian operations have gone, which is extraordinary. And also to the fact that Zelensky had an incredible visit to the Middle east, to our Gulf allies in these partnerships. On the drones front, in terms of the interceptors and the drone technology, to Haley's question on opposition, I think this actually is the one guy, potentially because of his military background, I think he was the head of the IDF at one point. Is that right, Haley? So, again, I think if you come from the more liberal persuasion in Israeli politics, you know, the best ones that I've seen that have run Yitzhak Rabin, others have that military background, so you can attack their patriotism or their support of the IDF and Mossad and other groups. And now polling, I think suggests that they're neck and neck right now. This is the most difficult, I think, campaign season that Bibi's encountered in a long time because of the popularity of this opposition figure.

[Larry]

You're right about it. But with regard to the Democrat domestic support for him, he was in favor of the incursion into Gaza.

[Mark]

Right.

[Larry]

I mean, he didn't criticize Netanyahu when the military strikes in Gaza were going on. They were no, they were showing.

[Kevin]

He lost. I think he lost his son too, in. Right.

[Larry]

So I don't know if that helps him here with the Democrats in America. That's, that's my point.

[Mark]

Got to jump, guys. Thanks, Haley. Thanks, Andre. Thank you both.

[Kevin]

Great questions.

[Mark]

Both great questions. So I've got four dream bookings for all my shows. Putin, Taylor Swift and then two gentlemen who are handsome and sophisticated. And I've bagged the latter two for next up today. Joining me on next up, Larry and Kevin and and then my reported monologue on Fauci, which I'm just as you know, fired up about. Two way tonight, five o' clock Eastern time. Al Modor Mater and David Winston. David Winston is a great Republican pollster, one of the best. We'll talk about the midterms and all the days news there. And of course, head over to Sirius xm Reinheaded now for the second hour of the morning meeting. Gentlemen, I'll see you in a little bit. Grateful to you both.

[Kevin]

Have a great looking forward to it. Thanks everybody.

[Larry]

Kevin, Taylor Swift and me, Putin. That's about right.

[Kevin]

I think so. Thanks everybody.