Loading summary
Transcript56 lines
- [00:00]
America 250 Announcer
This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human
- [00:04]
this July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
- [00:14]
Experience music, performances by major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
- [00:24]
It's more than just fireworks.
- [00:26]
Join this landmark celebration and get your America's Block Party Tickets now for $17.76 at america250.org LA hi, it's Karen in
- [00:36]
Jack Armstrong
Georgia from My Favorite Murder.
- [00:37]
Podcast Narrator
We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
- [00:43]
Joe Getty
Want the full story?
- [00:44]
Podcast Narrator
Take a listen. She starts dating Howard Hughes and in fact, she helps him design a faster plane. So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy and Lamarr and Billie
- [01:07]
Jack Armstrong
Jean King, presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
- [01:10]
Joe Getty
Goodbye.
- [01:11]
Jack Armstrong
We're taking on big money. We're taking on billionaires, we're taking on bullies. And we are delivering for the working
- [01:18]
Joe Getty
people of New York City.
- [01:20]
Jack Armstrong
Palestine is on the ballot. Tenants are on the ballot. Abolishing ICE is on the ballot.
- [01:29]
Podcast Narrator
And we have a world because when we fight.
- [01:34]
Joe Getty
So you had three socialist Mamdani backed candidates win against more establishment Democrats in primaries in New York City yesterday. And I normally think these, you know, somewhere in America a race people, I don't know, their issues are way overblown in terms of being national stories. But three Democratic socialists beating incumbent Democrats has got to mean something. And in some of the cases, like the one woman who WON, she believes 911 was America's fault. She's a Muslim woman, she believes 911 was america's fault because of our system of capitalism, racism, white supremacy and Islamophobia. You got this other guy, Goldman, who lost. He got kicked out of a coffee shop. Dan Goldman got kicked out of a coffee shop in Brooklyn because he's a Jew and took money from aipac, the Israeli lobby. You got and this might be the same person as one of the others, but is for abolishing prisons. I mean, some crazy, crazy stuff. What does this all mean? Well, let's talk to Gary Dietrich, who we often talk to whenever we talk about politics. Gary, welcome to the Armstrong And Getty Show.
- [02:56]
Jack Armstrong
Hey, Jack, good to talk to you again, buddy. And, yeah, I think you're onto something here, Jack. I mean, this is starting to get to be this whole sort of Democratic socialist. Maybe too early to call a wave, but it is certainly a trend line. And believe me, political watchers are watching it closely. Most importantly, those inside the Democratic Party itself. And Mandani, too many people, you know, okay, an outlier in New York City, whatever. But now you got three members of Congress who presumably. And by the way, all three of these districts, you hadn't mentioned this, but I know you're aware of this, are so Democratic leaning. These people who won these primaries as Democrats, they almost certainly are going to be elected to Congress, and there's going to be three votes that Democratic leadership is going to have to deal with in the House caucus.
- [03:41]
Joe Getty
Right. And if it ends up being really closely split, I mean, I think the Democrats will have control. But if it's pretty close, like it has been, as we know, three votes can make a big difference. Can. Can hold up legislation and you gotta.
- [03:53]
Jack Armstrong
Absolutely. And, and, and, Jack, they can. They can exert a lot of leverage. I mean, that's what we've seen with Mike Johnson trying to corral all his Republicans. Right. I mean, in other words, 3, 4, 5 votes blocked together can say, well, listen, you know, we're gonna block this legislation unless you put this through. I mean, there's a lot that can happen. And of course, the biggest concern, I know you and Joe talk about this, the biggest concern amongst Democrats is what does this mean for the rest of us.
- [04:19]
Joe Getty
Right.
- [04:20]
Jack Armstrong
In other words, do we get, you know, sort of called tarred and feathered with this? And are they going to force us to make votes that we don't want to have to make back in our districts? I mean, there's so many implications to this. You hit on something else, I think that is really interesting about these races, Jack, and that is these underlying issues. For example, Goldman. Yes, you mentioned he's a Jew, but so is his opponent. But the problem was Goldman, as you rightly point out, took money from the Israeli lobby. The whole Israel support factor is becoming a real litmus test for or against inside the Democratic Party.
- [04:52]
Joe Getty
Wow. And I don't remember which one of the socialists that won, but they put up Hakeem Jeffries on the screen and the crowd booed. They booed the guy that's most likely going to be speaker of the House here pretty soon.
- [05:05]
Jack Armstrong
Well, and you rightly pointed out, I mean, the thing to me, that was perhaps most telling about each of these races is that the. You call them the Democratic establishment. Hakeem Jeffries, you're right. Quite possibly going to be speaker of the House. Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York. In one case, even Attorney General Letitia James endorsed one of the candidates. And so you're talking the full weight of New York politics against these upstart socialists. And the Democratic Socialists won. Now, admittedly, you know, AOC Bernie Mamdani were behind these candidates, but you're beginning to see the beginnings of something inside the Democratic Party that apparently is not just a flash in the pan, is not going to go away and is going to be a challenge for them to deal with. By the way, one of these incumbents that lost was the actual chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
- [05:58]
Joe Getty
Right.
- [05:59]
Jack Armstrong
So these aren't people who are just. No names that got beat. These are people who. Oh, and Goldman, by the way, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, which, you know, you could say, well, that really helped him in terms of campaign financing. Yeah. But you heard in those leading comments that you played, Jack, you know, billionaires aren't playing well right now amongst certain elements of the Democratic Party.
- [06:19]
Joe Getty
Well, and he ran the impeachment against Trump. You'd think he did. Anyway. Was it. Oh, so Mark Halpern is right in his newsletter today that this kind of reminds him of the Trump takeover there of the Republican Party, that the establishment Republican Party ignored a lot of discontent in the Republican Party until it got, you know, blindsided by Trump. And he makes the point that if the Democrat, the leadership hadn't rigged the system, Bernie would have been their nominee in 16 and 20. I mean, they should have seen this coming. That's where the energy was. But because. So they were like, okay, we stopped Bernie. Phew, no problems here. Well, the problem still exists. The discontent in their party still exists.
- [07:06]
Jack Armstrong
I think that's a really important point, Jack, that this is not just. And this was a problem, as you're pointing out, with the Trump thing, people. Oh, it's just Trump is flashing the pan. Whatever. No, this had been brewing for a while, and the people felt like Bernie was done dirty by his own party and rose in the polls, as you rightly point out, many people thought he could have been the nominee quite easily. But there's been other things that people who are Democrats say, wait a minute, you guys are rigging the game and you're not listening to us. You're not paying any attention to us because you think we're going to be a Net drag on your whatever ability to take control of the House, whatever. But the problem now is this swell has been building. Mamdani is the most recent manifestation of it. But again, you put three members of Congress in there who are going to be speechifying every day on the House floor, casting votes, making demands, you know, and in these kinds of districts, by all accounts, who knows how many times they could get reelected. They could create real challenges. Because you know what's gonna happen, Jack? This now is gonna be picked up by Republicans. They see, we told you this is what's coming. If you vote Democrat, they're gonna try to use the broad brush nationally to really, you know, scare people into saying, you want this in your neighborhood? Here's what's coming.
- [08:18]
Joe Getty
Boy, what these two parties look like in 10 years is anybody's guess. Where does the working class finally end up? Is the Democratic Party officially the party of college graduates the way the Republican Party used to be? I have no idea.
- [08:32]
Jack Armstrong
Well, the thing about New York that I think people need to remember is, you know, sort of I try to take a step back at this and look at not just politically, but a little sociologically and say, look, the people that they are appealing to, Bernie's constituency is one of his core audiences, as you know, has been young people. But how could this guy, People are always asking, asking me, how could this really old guy attract him? Well, because he's scratching where they're itching. He's saying, look, you can't afford to buy a house in New York anywhere in there you got jobs that are low paying, and so AI and this. And the billionaires don't care about you. In other words, in a strange way, as your point now, Jack, there's a similarity between Trump's message of the elite rich people don't care about you, and the Democratic socialist message, which in many ways is very similar.
- [09:18]
Joe Getty
Armstrong and Getty here. For himss, there are all kinds of great weight loss approaches that fit into your world out there. They've got them at hims with a wide range of affordable GLP1 options. You've got weight loss goals, but hitting them is another story. Check out Weight Loss by hims. It's designed to support you in losing the weight and keeping it off. And Hims now offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications, including the Wegovy pill and the Wegovy pen. Through hims, everything happens online. You'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment's right for you. And then if prescribed you, your medication is delivered right to your door. No insurance necessary. Ready to reach your goals? Visit hims.comarmstrong to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you that's H I M S.comarmstrong hims.com Armstrong weight loss by hims is not available in all 50 states. Wegovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk. As to get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy clinical study information and restrictions, visit hims.com so switching gears as we broadcast from California, our governor is Gavin Newsome and he is one of the leading perhaps candidates to be our next president for the Democratic Party. Coming out of the Democratic side of things, how big a trouble is he actually in the the California Post? You know, the New York Post now has the California Post. California Post has had several op EDS in a row that make it sound like Gavin and his wife are in actual trouble, like there's an actual scandal there. This just isn't lawfare from the Trump Justice Department. What are you hearing?
- [10:56]
Jack Armstrong
Well, I think you're that's important. There's two things I'd say right now about Gavin Newsom. First off, we know, yes, he's been running for president forever. Anybody who lives in California or even watches California knows that. And he's only got a few more months left to deal with his legislative business. And then, as I like to say, he's firing up the 28 bus and away they go. But the thing about it is, on what you're talking about, let's just stick for a second on the DOJ investigation, regardless of what is actually there. The thing about the DOJ at the federal level, as you know, Jeff, they can wreak a lot of havoc. They can call a lot of people, they can do a lot of investigating. And this can take a long time. In other words, you know, beginning of next year, sooner than that, right after the November midterm election here, these campaigns for 28 are going to be revved up. And you don't want to be in the middle of what could easily be a year long or longer investigation where this is the drip, drip, drip of things. And this person gets called in and these documents get subpoenaed. That's not what you want, not only for not winning the general election 28, but to win your own primary. And then on the other side of things, how about what Fareed Zakaria of CNN came out with? I don't know if you guys touched on this in the last week, 10 days, an absolute evisceration of what he called failed governance in California. And as you know, J went on for five or six minutes detailing all the issues that too, from a what would be considered to be typically a, you know, Democratic friendly kind of media outlet. That's problematic.
- [12:27]
Joe Getty
So the piece in the California Post today is Gavin Newsom. Donors landed plum state posts after shelling out thousands to his PACs and his wife's nonprofit. And they've got, you know, it's pretty easy because you have to report all this stuff and then you can look at when they got hired. And donors who wrote big checks to Gavin Newsom's political action committees, campaigns and charitable causes, including his wife's, have frequently received gubernatorial appointments with some landing influential state posts days after the money arrived. I mean, see, got the check and then you get the job two days later.
- [13:00]
Jack Armstrong
Well, and it didn't help him, as you know, Jack, that his former chief of staff has pled guilty to federal charges as it relates to the misuse of Xavier Becerra. Thank you. Our new Democratic candidate, as you know, going into the fall. So he's already had his chief of staff pled guilty. There's just too many planets swirling around his, you know, his son right now that, you know, are going to cast long shadows. There's no getting around that. And he's been out front as you know, sort of in many polls, either the leader, he's right up there with Kamala Harris and others in the early, early polling. But this is going to be used, this is going to be used as opposition research by the dozen or more opponents in his primary, let alone in a general election.
- [13:43]
Joe Getty
So I was on a panel yesterday, a bunch of big wig political consultants in Sacramento at a fancy hotel and I had to put on jacket and everything. Anyway, we were talking about influencers and AI ads and all that sort of stuff. And man, what a, what an interesting area that is. What is, what are the next couple elections going to look like? You know what we saw Spencer Pratt pull off where he can get any college kid with a little bit of knowledge of a computer to put together an ad that goes viral without spending any money.
- [14:14]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, this is to me, Jack, the next step of the democratization small d of our political process. People thought it was a huge deal when all of a sudden presidential level candidates were raising millions and millions of dollars through tiny donors online. Remember when the online donation thing became a thing and you just didn't sit in smoke filled rooms and have fat cats write you half a million dollar checks and People like, wow, this is going to really change politics. Well, to me now, this is the next wave of that. No, you don't have to hire. Pratt showed this. You don't have to hire massively expensive, you know, consultants and PR firms, et cetera, to produce these ads or make
- [14:54]
Joe Getty
an expensive ad buy.
- [14:56]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. And you throw it up online, somebody produces it. Those, those apparently the Pratt campaign didn't even pay for.
- [15:03]
Joe Getty
Right.
- [15:03]
Jack Armstrong
Somebody just made them. So we are, we are clearly moving in a brave new world. And of course, that doesn't even include all the questions that come to the content of those ads, which with AI, that's kind of the wild wild west right now.
- [15:17]
Joe Getty
Although we still recommend you make those major ad buys to whatever radio station you're listening to currently.
- [15:24]
Jack Armstrong
Well, those aren't going to go away. And the reason is because. The reason is because, as you know, still the largest demographic of people that vote is middle aged to older age people. And yes, those people still very loyal radio listeners, as you know. Thank you very much, Gary.
- [15:40]
Joe Getty
Just realized I, you know, hand bite, the one that feeds you that whole thing. Wanted to watch out for that. I don't even know what I'm supposed to label you as. Gary, before I let you go. What are you now? Other than a Homo sapien?
- [15:52]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I am a human. I am officially CBS television's political analyst based in Sacramento as well as iHeartradios, both based out of Sacramento.
- [16:04]
Joe Getty
Good. Good for you. Well, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it.
- [16:06]
Jack Armstrong
Okay, buddy, we'll talk soon.
- [16:07]
Joe Getty
You bet. Yeah. The conversation we had yesterday with all the political consultants and everybody's guessing with the AI stuff of where it's going is like trying to verify what's true. Somebody puts out a really great ad that's full of misinformation and you didn't have to pay them for it, they just made it and it went viral. Is there any stopping that? You don't have to have a Paid for by the Johnson campaign because he didn't pay for it. And just how's that whole thing going to work anyway? Lots of stuff on the way. Stay here.
- [16:37]
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty.
- [16:45]
America 250 Announcer
This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
- [16:55]
Express Experience music, performances by major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
- [17:04]
It's more than just fireworks.
- [17:06]
Join this landmark celebration and get your America's Block Party Tickets now for $17.76 at america250.org LA hi, it's Karen in
- [17:16]
Jack Armstrong
Georgia from My Favorite Murder.
- [17:18]
Podcast Narrator
We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
- [17:24]
Joe Getty
Want the full story?
- [17:25]
Podcast Narrator
Take a listen. She starts dating Howard Hughes, and in fact, she helps him design a faster plane. So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy and Lamarr and Billie Jean King.
- [17:48]
Jack Armstrong
Presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Goodbye.