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- [00:00]
Mark Levin
America's best days are yet to come. That's because conservatives like you, know and live the values our great country was built on. The Heritage foundation exists to make sure your voice is heard in the D.C. swamp each day, shining the light on a bright future. The Heritage foundation stands for your values and won't give up the fight because they know you never will. Paid for by the Heritage Foundation.
- [00:21]
Caller
He's here.
- [00:22]
Brian Mudd
He's here now. Broadcasting from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker.
- [00:31]
Mark Levin
Somewhere under the brick and steel of a nondescript building.
- [00:34]
Brian Mudd
We've once again made contact with our leader, Mark. This upcoming tax filing season, Treasury Secretary Scott Benson is calling. 2026. Get this, the gigantic refund year when those tax cuts kicked in, withholding levels didn't adjust fast enough for a lot of workers. That means millions of Americans essentially overpaid the government all through 2025. Yeah, and there's going to be a heck of a lot more money in your pocket this year, and things are going to be a whole lot better off than even most people have realized this year. And, oh, by the way, we are set for unprecedented success in 2026. Hey, there. Happy New Year. Quite sincerely, Happy New Year. I mean, like, if you're in New York City, I understand why you might not feel as optimistic. Seattle, your new mayor is white. Yeah. You're in Minnesota generally right now. California wealth tax. Okay, so there are exceptions. There are exceptions. I'll tell you that. In my free state of Florida, things are looking pretty good right now. But now, as a country, we are set for unprecedented success this year. And one of the things that drives me nuts at times is when conservatives will look towards pessimism, when optimism is staring them in the face. And I've seen a lot of that. Hey, there. I am the. The realist who airs on the side of optimism. Brian Mudd in for Mark Levin. It is always an honor and pleasure to be here with you. Broadcasted from my home station, WJNO in West Palm beach, not too far from Mar a Lago. Can always check me out at Brian Mudd Radio socially, the Brian Mudd show podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. And I was taking a look at what we have that we're set up for this year. And it's great if we allow it to be. It's great if we don't do, for example, what we collectively did in 2018. It's great if we actually do the bare minimum that we can do to get out there and vote and Make a difference. Bottom line, this is not a complicated thing, is that if the people who voted For Trump in November 2024, they get out there and vote this year, guess who wins? Republicans. What does that mean? You're not gonna have two years of Trump impeachment stuff. You're not gonna have Democrats seeking to try to screw this country. You're going to have Trump having the maximum opportunity to create maximum success for you. It's not a terribly complicated thing. But what we get into, Trump's name is not on the ballot. And you know, I've got a rhino over here and so I'm going to go ahead and let a communist get elected in place. That's the kind of stuff that is dumb. That's the kind of stuff that Republicans have done previously. And that is the kind of stuff that if you do this year is going to lead to some ass kicking. And not in a good way. But if you want to have unprecedented success in 2026, I got the recipe. I'm going to lay it all out for you. And again, it's super simple. And if you're looking for reasons to feel really good heading into this year, I've got them for you. In fact, last Friday I shared a lot of them with you. But there's so much going on that is good because there is so much great stuff that happened last year that for the most part, we haven't even begun to see the benefit of as we're rolling into 2026. But you're going to, but you're going to. And so as I was, you know, thinking about all this, thinking about the new year, taking a look at how much opportunity there is for our country, how much opportunity there is for you, the great refund year, for example, that you're hearing about. I came back to a couple of questions, just trying to illustrate some examples for myself. And then also for you, the first what year was the best year of your life? If you look back, what year was it? And then why was it best year of your life? And why was it the best year of your life? And, and the first thing is I'm gonna say probably doesn't have anything to do with government, right? Probably not. Thinking, man, there's some really great government action going on right there that made it for the best year of my. And the reason that probably isn't the case is when you are at your best, when society is at its best, is what, and when, when we are left to do what it is that we do best, when we have the opportunity to succeed or fail based upon our own volition, when we have more money in our pocket to be able to do things, which is happening with the Trump tax policy now, we have the perfect display this year. You've got the comedy mom, Donnie, that is now in New York City. You're already seeing policies on the move, five immediate executive orders ushering in more government intervention. Most recently, you've had Mamdani getting rid of the definition of anti Semitism in New York, by the way, for any of the libtard Jews left in New York City. If you doubt it, because there have been some people like, no, no, Mamdani is going to be really good on anti Semitism. No, you're a libtard. And the bottom line is that he already has scrapped New York's definition of anti Semitism, already is scrapping synagogue security while there's a lot more government that is going on. So if you had any doubt about whether Mamdani, the commie, the Islamist, about whether he is really going to look after Jews and whether he really is somebody who's going to govern for everyone, take a look at these immediate actions, the first things he can do. Yeah, let's go ahead and scrap synagogue security. Let's go ahead and scrap the definition of anti Semitism. What exactly is that implying while he's unleashing government everywhere? But back to where I was questioning the best year of your life, why, what happened? You know, there's so many different opportunities that are presented to us, so many different moments that we can probably look back on. One of the things that most people will think about this time of year, and a year's resolution or several might be one of the things that you're thinking about. Oh, you know, I want to make this a good year. And here's why. You had some recent survey work that was done on it. You have fewer than a third of people who still do the New Year's resolution thing. And about the people that are successful at completing New Year's resolutions, what percentage of people you think that set out with a New Year's resolution last year, completed it, got through a year maintaining it? Do, do, do, do. 9%. 9%. Okay. So by the time you take a look, how many people still do the New Year's resolution thing, and then how many people actually were successful with it over the course of last year? It came down to about 3%. About 3%. And I think it's instructive as to why. To me, I've never been a Resolution guy. Because there's nothing about a date on the calendar that changes anything. Right. If you are going to be successful at anything in life, what do you have to do? You have to commit to it. Does the fact that the calendar rolls around, roll rolls around to a January 1st or 2nd, as today happens to be, does that change anything for you? Inherently, no. The only people who are successful doing that kind of thing are people that are ready to commit and like it's just a convenient time because it's the new year. And that's why it's only about 3% of people. And if you take a look at people that achieve success to significance in their life, you know, not a mistake that people who are intentional, people that stick with it are not necessarily all that many. But one of the things that's always bugged me about people that are talented, about people that are intelligent, about people that have a lot going for them, that don't achieve the success that they're capable of, is that if they only did some of the bare minimum things that are just best practices, things will work out differently for them. You ever known anybody who are like, man, that is so disappointing. That's such a waste because they're so talented, they're so smart, whatever else, and they ended up just not doing what was necessary, not following through. Well, that is exactly what Trump voters, Allah 2018 were. Trump voters were the 97%, for the most part, kind of sat back, didn't appreciate fully the opportunity that was in front of us. Didn't get out there and vote in 2018 the same way they had because, well, I mean, Trump's name wasn't on the ballot and what happened, what happened to this country. The funny thing is, as you take a look at the symmetry between the first year of Trump's administration, the first go round and what we just accomplished over the first year. This time around, it is night and day different the accomplishments. We have so much opportunity and so much success, but so many people took it for granted. We are not going to take it for granted. So as we go through some of the, some of the news of the day here, I'm also going to present to you a little bit of a recap of some of the massive successes we've had that you're going to begin to feel, because a lot of them you haven't felt yet. Going to present to you why it is that we are so much better positioned politically than at this point in 2018. And then also the bare minimum, which isn't Much largely just, it involves staying informed, staying engaged, getting out there, maybe doing a little voting, maybe encouraging somebody else to do a little voting. And what can happen if we actually do just kind of like the bare minimum to be responsible citizens. A lot of people take a look at midterm election years and they go, oh my gosh, midterm election years are just horrible for the party opposite or the president's party. And then take a look at how Democrats did in all those special elections last year. It's going to be a slaughter for Republicans. Yeah, if you talk about that, it will be. If you think about it that way, it will be. But it doesn't have, doesn't have to be. There are three times out of 41 midterm elections that we have had since the advent of the two party systems, you have had three in which the President's party actually gained. Why can't this be number four? And that's where the conversation needs to begin. Conservatives need to stop thinking about, oh, we're going to get waxed this year. That's usually what happens. Take a look at the midterms. Oh, I, I have, you know, this little difference with this, with my congressman because I didn't like how he voted on this particular issue or that we haven't made more progress here, so I'm just not going to vote. And then you get some kind of communist that wins in your district, that, that works out much better. Right? It's time to stop being the party of smart people who do stupid things. Democrats have always been aligned. It's the one thing they do really well. They stay together, they play the long game, and then eventually you end up with somebody like Obama. You know, the whole rules for radicals thing, it was a long talk about the long game. I mean, he, he was a student of Ayers. He ended up learning the rules radical radicals playbook decades later, later gets to the Senate before he's done anything in the Senate. He's running for president, gets elected president, pretends to be something he's not while surrounding himself with all of the socialists, all the Marxists, and then setting the conditions for Team Auto Pen around Biden, Biden as the puppet. And you saw how all of that long game was able to accomplish so much of the Marxist agenda during the four years of Biden with Team Auto Pen. When are we going to do something similarly and not just lean on one politician like Trump to do it all? When are we going to follow through, stay aligned, and actually make a difference by voting from our Local elections to federal elections. When are we going to stop suggesting that? Well, you know, just because typically the president's party doesn't do well, it's going to be that kind of. We are set up for so much success, success to significance. Trump is working his butt off every day. We can do a little bit ourselves, and so we're going to get into that here in just a bit. I'm Brian Mudd in for the great one. Muddle up in.
- [14:40]
Mark Levin
Folks. I have a question for you. Do you believe America's best days are still ahead? With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coming up in less than a year, My friends at the Heritage foundation are taking stock of the current situation and they input. They've launched a survey on America's future to gauge how Americans feel right now about where we are as a nation and where we're headed in the next 250 years. You know, for decades, your American values have been under attack. But now with President Trump's administration in office, we have an opportunity to turn the tide and usher in a new golden age for America. But the Heritage foundation needs to hear from you. What policies do patriots like you most care about? What do you believe are the defining principles of America? What legacy do you believe we should pass on to the next generation? Please visit heritage heritage.org Levin today and share your feedback and help shape the future of America. That's heritage.org L E V I N paid for by the Heritage foundation.
- [15:45]
Brian Mudd
That I will faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York. Of the office of the Mayor of the City of New York. According to the best of my ability. According to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Oh, there you go. Yes. The. The Mamdani Kami Dream team. You got him. You got the burn. Swearing him in. You had AOC on hand. I mean, what else could you want? Good times. Good times. So we are set for unprecedented success in the country this year. Maybe not so much in New York City. Like, if you're in New York City, it's kind of like the final boarding call for a flight if you're in New York is kind of like last call to get your butt out of there if you do not want to see how history repeats itself. You know, it's always fun when you have these. These communists. Well, it's going to be great. He talked about the private sector being toast. Yeah, we're not going to rely on the private sector anymore. Government is here. Iran as a democratic socialist, I'm going to govern as a democratic socialist. We're going to say screw all of the Jews. Oh, I'm sorry, we're not going to say that. My policies immediately are just going to reflect that as I wipe away the definition of anti Semitism in New York City and as I end up, you know, getting rid of the security around synagogues. Because why would that be necessary? Yeah, just. But again, I'm not anti Semitic and I'm not an Islamist that would like to see the eradication of Jews and Israel. No, not, not at all. Just be great. So anyway, yes, final boarding call for a lot of people in New York, this country set for unprecedented success this year. You in New York City, not so much. If you're a business person in New York City, probably not where you are going to want to be for any number of reasons, you know, and ultimately, socialism has led to the death of over 100 million people. But I'm sure it's going to be different this time in New York City because it just, it just hasn't been done quite right. That's what we always hear. If only we did it just a little bit differently. And so, yeah, good. Good times and good times and nyc. So I started by asking a question about what the best year of your life was for some people might be the year that you were married, had a kid, started a dream job, your business. The bottom line is the best year of your life, whatever it's been, was not because of the government at any level. And if it was, that's a much bigger issue. If you're the kind of person that's like, yeah, I'm just sitting back and waiting for the government to take care of me. Life has probably kicked your butt time and again throughout the duration. You're also almost certainly not a Trump voter. But too many Trump voters act too often like that person, the person that's not willing to do what's necessary to have the best year of their lives to be successful in a way that is significant. That opportunity is here, though. We're going to talk about it. Brian Mudd in for Mark Lev.
- [19:06]
Mark Levin
We're coming upon the 250th birthday of the United States. And it has me thinking, what will America look like 250 years from now? My friends at the Heritage foundation want to know what you think. What policies should America prioritize? What principles should carry us into the decades ahead as America enters a new golden age? Heritage recognizes that this is the time to take stock and to be intentional about how we shape the future of America. And they can't do it without your input. So please go to heritage.org Levin and and let them know what you think is important. Without patriots like you stepping up and speaking up for what you believe in, America as we know it can't survive for another 250 years. Please go to heritage.org Levin heritage.org Levin take the survey on America's future. This survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, but it is critical for making sure that the America we pass on to future generations is an America we're proud of. Go to heritage.org Levin today. That's heritage.org L E V I N Paid for by the Heritage Foundation.
- [20:09]
Brian Mudd
Mark Levin, America's passionately cerebral voice. Talk with that voice now. 877-381-3811. Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try. We may not ever actually succeed, which is the most likely thing. But man, are we gonna jack New York City up big time. Yeah. The era of the biggest government New York City has ever seen is here. We got it. Yes. Oh, we are set up for so much success in this country this year because what happened last year and how people voted in 24. But New York, New York City, I mean, there are exceptions to everything and yet got a tall hill to climb right there. So happy, happy New Year to you. Even the folks in New York City in, in Seattle. Happy Friday to you, the great one back on Monday, by the way. Speaking of which, remember to always catch Life, Liberty and live in. Go ahead and hit up your DVR 8pm Saturdays and Sundays, Fox News Channel. That way if you don't catch it live, you can always go back and catch on the dvr. Sometimes even if he caught it live, you're like, you know what? I'm go back and check that out again or show somebody so Life. Liberty Levin, 8pm Eastern, Fox News Channel Saturday and Sunday. Sunday. Brian Mud here with you. Always an honor and a pleasure. And I am extremely optimistic about this year with a minor caveat. Yeah, it's not a minor, it's a cat. We as conservatives, don't act like the stupid party, don't act like the adults that we're not. Don't become single issue people that are not willing to get out and and do the pragmatic and smart thing to vote for the best candidate in Every election, which is always the only smart thing, a no vote is always a vote. There should never be an election that goes by where you don't cast a vote. You should always, from local elections, federal elections, cast a vote for the best candidate, even if that means you don't like the candidate that you're voting for. Every election has consequences. Now, when we take a look at the kind of train of thought that I've been traveling down here at the open, about the really great opportunity we have ahead of us this year, but at the same time, the headwinds that we see in some places because of the heavy hand of government. He's talking about the greatest year of your life, whatever that happened to be. And I, I think a lot about, like a sports game, you have the College Football Playoff stuff going on. Right. And by the way, we continue to see that the higher seeds, the teams that had buys lose. People continue to say, oh, that's not an issue. Now. Indiana, the only winner in two years. Now, the current format, so there's something to it. But, but anyway, you're. You've never had a game that was great because of a referee or an umpire. Right. You can never have an officiating crew create a great game, but you can have them ruin it. And that is the same kind of landscape. You know, I was thinking about so much of the symmetry between the Trump policy and Reagan policy. The 80s and ultimately the, the 80s were great for this country, for the world. Right. You know, it was one of the things I kept being hopeful about and would articulate to you when we were dealing with the depths of the Biden administration was that it took Jimmy Carter to get Ronald Reagan. And because bad decisions were made yet again in 2020 and pandemic stupidity, what have you, we ended up with, you know, the, the modern version of a Jimmy Carter. But we got Trump again. It's time not to waste this opportunity. And so couple things. Reagan's leadership that led to less government influence in our lives, put more money in our pocket. That is what set the path of success that we enjoyed that decade. Then we got to the 90s, and we got to enjoy the 90s because Al Gore invented the Internet and probably AI to. One of the things I was wondering earlier today is has anybody asked Al Gore about whether he's responsible for AI or just the Internet? He hasn't. I haven't heard a lot from him since. You know, he was, like, doing. What was it, floating condom poetry. But anyway, so a couple things here. Why did the first three years of President Trump's first term lead to unprecedented success for this country, including record low unemployment for every minority group, low crime, record high wages, super strong wage growth, nearly non existent inflation. Prior to the impact of the pandemic that all happened, right? Well, it was to almost exactly to the same policies that Reagan was able to push through in the 80s. Now at the same time, how much of that was under appreciated heading into year two? One of the things I ended up doing from a point of analysis is taking a look at where we stood at this point in Trump's first term. And so after the first 11 plus months of Trump's first term, his approval rating, real clear Politics average, was only 40%. And that's pretty close to where he was when we hit the midterm elections in 2018, when Republicans were waxed and Democrats were able to be swept in and spend the remainder of his term impeaching him and just trying to screw him and screw you. But the thing was, not long after those 2018 elections where Trump was wax, people started to go, hey, you know what? This is pretty good, this Trump economy, man. Those tax cuts, all those economists and those people in the news, they lied about it. I have more money, there's no inflation, things are getting better. This is good. And we saw Trump's average approval rating rise by seven points. And you might remember that he was in such a strong position prior to the impact of the pandemic nonsense, that it was widely viewed even by the left, that he was going to be unstoppable in the 2020 election. Had it not been for the pandemic, he almost certainly would have won overwhelmingly. We remember this. But it wasn't appreciated in his second year. It wasn't until the third year that all the good work he had done really began to be felt. And this is why I am so optimistic about this year. Because when I went back and I took a look at what Trump was able to accomplish in his first year in office, in his first term, it really was a fraction of what he's managed to do this time around, because the man never stops working, works every day, including holidays, despite the Wall Street Journal. That Wall Street Journal piece, just absolutely hilarious. Trump, you know, he's, he's going to turn 80 and in a meeting his eyes, they were spotted as being closed. We think he might have blinked. And so you know what that means. There isn't one pinhead, one bonehead, one dolt at the Wall Street Journal that could keep up with Donald Trump for A day, period. The man has more energy than any of us. The man works harder than any of us, period. And it's how he was able to accomplish as much as he did during his first 11 plus months in office. And so this, much like his first term, entirely underappreciated again. He is so underappreciated yet again. This is history repeating itself. Only there's so much more to feel good about. Because if you remember, in his first term, the idiot Republican leadership at that time didn't expect Trump to win in 2016. And so Trump gets into office and they're like, oh, they didn't have an agenda, ready to go. And so Trump wins and they spend most of the year that first year just kind of like figuring out how they were going to do things. And that's why his tax policy didn't even pass until 11 months into his presidency in December of 2017. Tax cut and Jobs act, what was made permanent and the one big beautiful bill this past year, along with the additional tax cuts. So you take a look at Trump, his accomplishments from his first 11 plus months, what it's going to mean going forward, realizing that the benefit of his policy in his first term really wasn't felt until his third year. So I'm not going to go through the whole ball of wax again. I shared if you want to go back to the Mark Levin show podcast from last Friday, I did comprehensive analysis on a lot of this stuff. But just if you happen to miss it or if you could use a bit of a refresher, just some of the things, just some of the things that were accomplished, the federal government, people, you know, conservatives want less government. Yeah, but, yeah, but Doge isn't around really doing any on what we have 271,000 fewer federal government employees compared to the day that Trump took office. This term, the size of the federal government has shrunk by nearly a tenth, by over 9%. The size of the federal government has shrunk. The federal bureaucracy has shrunk by about 1% per month since Trump was in office this time. See, the thing that Trump learned in addition to working every single day, including when he was out of office, by the way, I mean, it was one of the big things that Democrats ended up paying for last year was that Trump knew how the game was played. He knew how he needed to play it. He knew how to win. And so rather than reply relying on Republicans in Congress to get the their butts in gear, he worked crafting that agenda. And it's Part of the reason that Mike Johnson ended up being so important when Trump was out of office, well before the general election in 24, he was at Mar a Lago a lot. Why they were working on the agenda that Trump was going to put in place as soon as he became president. Again, that was also why it was important that Mike Johnson was not thrown overboard like some of the malcontents wanted to deal with that. That's a whole other story. So what have we seen? Well, about a tenth of the federal bureaucracy gone in 11 plus months since Trump became president. We saw the wokeness DEI get waxed last year. 20% of companies, a lot of companies did just kind of rename DEI stuff, but a lot of them got rid of it. 20% of companies totally got rid of DEI. Another 10% of companies that had DEI programs at least reduced the spending and influence of those programs. You had 432 colleges and universities across 47 states that eliminated DEI programs last year. It's a pretty good thing the NCAA changed its official policy stance to end men pretending to be women competing as women in college athletics. You know the guys that wake up and go, man, you don't like a chick today, think I'm gonna go play ball as a girl. That doesn't happen anymore. Right. And why Trump? Massive leadership changes at major news organizations, cbs, npr, NBC, even the BBC, all that. Then you get into the success in the courts. And there have been a record number of lawsuits that were filed against the Trump administration as he has worked at record speed to try to achieve his agenda, mostly successfully. But for the cases that have made it to the Supreme Court, he's had a great track record with having gotten at least favorable opinions on 21 of those 24 cases that have gone there. So overwhelming success in the end that's allowed him to advance his agenda. You start getting to some of the real important things like the border, for example. You know, some of those things offhand. Take a look at that and begin to paint the picture about what is really going to be felt in a meaningful way, including on inflation this year because of the actions taken last year. Have that for you next. I'm Brian Mudd, in for the great one. Muddlevin.
- [34:40]
Mark Levin
Folks, I have a question for you. Do you believe America's best days are still ahead with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of coming up in less than a year? My friends at the Heritage foundation are taking stock of the current situation and they need your input. They've launched a survey on America's future to gauge how America's feel right now about where we are as a nation and where we're headed in the next 250 years. You know, for decades, your American values have been under attack. But now with President Trump's administration in office, we have an opportunity to turn the tide and usher in a new golden age for America. But the Heritage foundation needs to hear from you. What policies do patriots like you most care about? What do you believe are the defining principles of America? What legacy do you believe we should pass on to the next Generation? Please visit heritage.orglevin today and share your feedback and help shape the future of America. That's heritage.org L E V I N paid for by the Heritage Foundation.
- [35:44]
Brian Mudd
If your landlord does not responsibly steward your home, city government will step in. It's gonna be stepping in a lot. We're gonna be, man stepping in all over the place. In New York City, you're going to have the full commie experience. It's gonna be great. Remember those government run grocery stores? I mean, just coming to corner near you. You know, it is fun to think that man. So much to look forward to in New York City this year. It's also ironic as you think about the grocery store thing that was campaigning on the of the 100 million plus people that have died as a result of socialism, most commonly through starvation, economic collapse and starvation ultimately. So, but it'll be great. And it's gonna be just in New York City again. Final boarding call for anybody who has some sense to get out of New York City about now. So walking you through just some of the things again that have been accomplished through Trump's first year that are going to be paying dividends going forward, many of these that the benefit hasn't necessarily been fully realized yet or at all. So, you know, the border was, was solved. You know, people, it happened so fast that a lot of people took that for granted. You know, one of my favorite stats from last year, you had in the typical Biden day, more total illegal border crossings, including gotaways, than than happened since January 20 until now, January 20 last year, until now, more than the typical day. Under Biden, we've had the lowest number of border crossings, illegal border crossings in recorded history. But it wasn't just closing the border, right. It was two and a half plus million deportations. And so we realize, okay, well that's pretty good that we've got the deportations taking place, all of those self deportations that save Us a lot of money in the process, which is, which is good. But there's more that comes along with it. One of the big reasons why inflation ended up not being as high this year over the past year as your, your economists, your experts thought well be because the impact of getting these illegal immigrants out of there. Illegal immigrants. The illegal immigration crisis was highly inflationary. For example, where were those two and a half million illegal immigrants living? They were chewing up all the affordable housing, right? You know, they get to the, the southern border and go a sa this where I say asylum. And you'd have somebody who take a look at them Border patrol agent go, oh God, another magic a word person. Okay, here's an NGO that can set you up with it. What do you want? A five star hotel in Manhattan and go ahead and take care of that. Got everything covered for all that stuff was highly inflationary. As they go away, affordable housing opens up. What happens? Housing in general is not as expensive. One of the big pieces will continue with this next. Brian Mudd in for Mark Levin.
- [39:08]
Mark Levin
This segment of the podcast is exclusively sponsored by Pure Talk. Pure Talk offers great coverage and can save your family money on your wireless bill every single month. Go to PureTalk.com to find the plan that's right for you. Thank you again for listening and thank you so much for this sponsorship. PureTalk.
- [39:27]
Caller
He's here.
- [39:29]
Brian Mudd
He's here now. Broadcasting from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker.
- [39:37]
Mark Levin
Somewhere under the brick and steel of.
- [39:39]
Brian Mudd
A nondescript building, we've once again made contact with our leader, Mark. Love them. I had the honor of being noticed by the President of the United States who called me a very, very liberal slash communist mayor.
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Caller
Yeah.
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Brian Mudd
It's, it's nice, it's nice to feel seen. Oh, that's great. We love socialist communist mayors. Yay. Oh, Seattle screw too. I mean, he probably already knew that. I mean Bezos knew that a long time ago. One of the reasons why he made his way to South Florida, why a lot of people with, with brains that have cells that are still connected and, and reverberating have made their way out of that area. By the way, speaking of insane policies that are driving more people to my neck of the woods in South Florida, Peter Thiel Corsa, he's massive technology mind and founder, going all the way back to PayPal and so much since then. He's getting ready to abandon Silicon Valley. He just opened a Miami office. The wealth tax that California is considering, he's making his, his plans to get out of there. And so you, you do have that continued conveyor belt from California to, to Florida, New York to Florida. And again, the final boarding call for many. But yeah. So it's not just the commie mom, Donnie, of course, taking over in New York City. You've also got another communist. Oh, it's so good to be seen. It's so good to be heard. Katie. Katie Wilson. Katie Wilson. Because things hadn't been bad enough in Seattle. Gotta go full Commie there, too. It'll be great. It'll be great. So we are set up for a year of unprecedented success, just not necessarily in select cities and maybe states based upon how bad the policies will go. But most of us in this country, especially folks like me, my free state of Florida. Hey there, Brian Mudd, in for Mark Levin. Do broadcast from my home station WJNO in West Palm Beach. You can catch me socially at Brian Mudd Radio, the Brian Mud show podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Truly an honor and a pleasure to be here with you. Always is. And I think we have just so much that we can feel good about and so much to look forward to this year, but we have some things we've got to do better with. We cannot have a repeat of 2018, and way too many people seem resigned to do what we did in 2018. I'm not going to hear of it. I'm not going to have it if I have any say in the matter. And so walking you through so many of the accomplishments that happened in year one, but a lot of the things that are going to be felt. One of the big problems in 2018 in those midterms is that so much of what Trump did wasn't necessarily felt until it was too late in that election cycle. By the time we got to 2019, things were pretty awesome. But a lot of people are like, oh, okay. And then you had the Democrats that were just there impeaching Trump around every turn and then trying to screw the entire country. We can't have that again. Republicans have to stop being the stupid party, the people. I'm a single issue voter. Or this. You need to vote for the best candidate. You need to make sure Republicans hold the congressional majority. You need to appreciate what's already been happening. Like, for example, where I ended talking about the impact of the two and a half million deportations that took place. Well, I've spent a fair amount of time talking about the impact of crime with illegal immigrants on this show while guesting for the Great One. The average non citizen by the end of Biden's administration had been 914% more likely to commit a crime than you. And when I say you, I mean, yeah, you, somewhat ubiquitously, maybe you are a criminal and you're listening maybe just. But no, the, the average Native American, the average born American, you know, you nine times less likely to commit a crime than the average non citizen because of the bad hombres that Biden let in. And so we've had a lot less crime. But also the inflation piece and one of the biggest reasons that inflation ended up coming in not only lower than what Trump inherited by the end of the year, but a lot lower than what your so called economic experts thought given the Trump tariff policy was because of the impact of these deportations, the two and a half million deportations. All that illegal immigration was inherently inflationary and it started with housing, the single biggest expense. And that's one of the benefits that is just starting to be felt as these deportations continue to take place. You have more affordable housing that's opening up. That's great for getting people off the streets that are homeless. That's great for people that were pushed into housing they couldn't afford, that wasn't affordable because they had no other choice if they weren't going to be homeless. That is a real tailwind heading into this year. And the net inflation impact. And I never tried to belittle the situation because look, afforded affordability challenges are real for a lot of people. And if that's you, I hear you, I get it. But the average American is still doing better than they were a year ago. Today for the first time since Trump was previously president, when you take a look net of inflation, the average income versus the average increase in inflation, average person is about 1% better off. Under the Biden administration, the average American was about 3% worse off. Things just did keep getting worse because wage growth didn't keep up with inflation. Wage growth has been higher than the rate of inflation that's come down. And you take a look at interest rates that have been cut and that will help for affordability going forward as well. Economic growth, economic growth has been surging and the impact of that is going to be felt into this year. You know, we recently had the report of 4.3% third quarter economic growth that followed up 3.8% economic growth in the second quarter. It reminds me a lot of, you know, when Trump said, hey, we're, we're going to end up getting 3%, 4% even growth economy during his first term and the economists are like, oh yeah, you, you can't do that in the United States anymore. And then he did it. Here we are doing it again. Here we are doing it again. So what does that mean? We're going to continue to see that economic momentum propel into this year, and that's going to present a lot more opportunity and higher wages for people in the workforce. Which speaking of the workforce, without all those illegal immigrants, you got more American citizens that have job opportunities. And it's another thing that helps with wages. Speaking of the inflation piece, total domestic energy production reached record levels last year. And what did that end up doing? Well, we ended up seeing a significant increase in overall energy production. And that led to what? Lower prices at the pump? Lower prices in a lot of respects. Now, electricity, that could be a different issue. With some of these data centers and everything else, you get into AI and cryptocurrencies. There are some challenges there, but with the controllables, from the administration standpoint, all this domestic energy production reaching record levels, you've seen the benefit of and you're continuing to see the benefit of and you will going through forward throughout the course of this year. One more thing to continue to feel good about and optimistic about. You take a look at the impact of the tariff policy. What did it do for manufacturing in this country? Well, a heck of a lot, actually. A heck of a lot. Yet 59% of manufacturing companies that do business, the United States, that increase manufacturing activity here, what that mean? 244,000 plus more manufacturing jobs in this country with a lot more that were protected that would have gone away than just that. That's something that is really good. A lot of momentum. When you have a lot of money that is being invested from outside into this country going forward, then you start getting into the tax stuff. You know, at the open had the clip about this is going to be the year of the great refund. You have the administration talking this up. One of the biggest tailwinds for so many people this year. Haven't begun to realize the benefit of tax cuts yet. Where the average employee who earns tips going to save about $2,000 annually in federal taxes. Pretty big deal. The average employee who works overtime at any point during the year saving about fourteen hundred dollars in taxes and then having ninety percent of Social Security recipients, they'll have no federal income tax liability for Social Security. That'll save them $1,500 per person per year. That's a lot of extra money that hasn't been realized yet because people didn't make adjustments to withholding. And I think about that in the same context of the tax policy, the Tax Cutting Jobs act that was passed in December 2017. So many of the economists, the media, they lied about it and people believed it really was going to matter to them. And then they ended up realizing eventually, oh, yeah, this is really good, this is really good. And that was made permanent last year along with these additional tax cuts. And a lot of people, about the time they start to file their taxes, gonna go, oh, wow, take a look at that and really start to realize the benefit of it. So much of this is time released. It's going to take time to realize all the benefits, but the benefits are massive. So much to feel good about, so much that we can take a look at and think about unprecedented success in our lifetimes this year, if we appreciate it, if we don't take it for granted. Talk about all the peace, all of the peace that has been negotiated, you know, whether it's the, the ones a lot of people don't necessarily identify with, like Azure ban in Armenia, right To Israel and Iran, the eight different peace deals, the, the peace that Trump is, is still working on right now to bring an end to the Russian Ukraine war. There continues to be momentum on that front. You had Zelensky that ended up meeting with Trump in Mar a Lago on Sunday, by the way, had Netanyahu at Mar a Lago on, on Monday. You had the talks with Putin thereafter. Sounds like they, there really could be a potential path forward for peace. That's all good news. And the crime piece in particular, you know, I associated a lot of that with the decline in illegal immigration because so much of it is related. But overall, the Trump policy and the benefits that are going to continue. So crime down 17% for homicides, robberies, 25% lower. Thefts, 25% lower. Violent crimes overall, 11% lower. Property crimes, 12% lower. That's all good news. And again, since so much of that crime was attached to the previous administration's policies and a lot of those illegal immigrants, and we are continuing to see deportation activities ramp up and momentum there resume. Well, you're going to continue to see less crime. That's a real benefit. That's another real tailwind as we head into this year. Another tax cut that most people haven't realized that but will, whether they can attribute it to Trump or not, during the course of this year. Something that's going to help in terms of affordability, something that's going to help in terms of Inflation, Trump cut 646 regulations last year. The average household saving $600 a year now. So just the average cost of life, average household is going to be 600 bucks less. Something to feel good about, something that people are going to realize but maybe won't quite yet, why we can't have a repeat of what we did back in 2018. And Trump securing a total of $9.6 trillion in new US investment. And again, so much of that is over the course of time. That is going to be so powerful in so many different ways. You know, the stat there that was just incredible. You had Trump securing in just over 11 months what we previously would have accumulated in about 44 years in this country. 44 years worth of pledged investment and in just over 11 months. And again, a lot of that is going to begin to flow into this country this year. You'll begin to see and feel the benefit of it. There's so much to feel good about. There's so much that we are set up for in terms of success in this country and it's something we can't take for granted. Just some of those shortlist examples, they're huge, they're massive. They would be an entirely successful administration. And it's been just 11 plus months. So we've got a role to play in this, not to squander the opportunity the way we did in Trump's first term. So we'll get into some of that. I'm Brian Mudd and for the great one.
- [53:51]
Mark Levin
As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at Pure Talk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing Pure Talk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity. Through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership, who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed Maine in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help Pure Talk support American jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies. And with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God Bless you.
- [54:55]
Brian Mudd
This is your city. And as your mayor, I will work every single day to make that not just a phrase, but a living reality. This is your city. That means that you belong here. You have a right to be here and to live a dignified life, whatever your background and whatever your income. Yes. Whatever you're about, whether you're legal or not legal, whether you want to just set up a tent right here on the street and do some street poo, well, you're, it's, it'll be great. So Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, because Seattle wasn't enough out to lunch already, they, like New York City, have gone full commie. Although she is not quite to the level, it does not seem yet of Mom Donnie. She we have not seen the slew of executive orders that are leaving Jews hung out to dry, as is the case, for example, in New York City already. But nevertheless, there are reasons for tons of optimism and unprecedented success that we're set up for across this country, save perhaps some select locations where really bad decisions have been made, like Seattle and New York City and the like. So I've gone through some of the incredible accomplishments again that Trump has, has achieved here, the Republicans have achieved in the first 11 plus months. And a lot of this that's going to be felt maybe in time, some of it for this year's midterm election cycle. Maybe It'll be the 30 year deal again, like it was 2018 into 2019. But the question is, will we allow this year to be a repeat of 2018? Will we get frustrated? Will we stay home when it's time to vote because Trump's name is not on the ballot? That's the only time I only, you know, I support Trump. I don't support Republicans. Well, that's not very intelligent because who is it that actually helps Trump get his job done? Who is it that passed the one big beautiful bill act that was essentially Trump's entire agenda? He can't do it on his own. He needs that support. You want to see him impeach for the final two years. So it's up to you whether you want to let Democrats take control, spend two years impeaching Trump, attempting to screw Trump, attempting to screw the country too, trying to bring, you know, congressionally, their version of Mom Donnie's and Katie Wilson's into the fold. We are set for unprecedented success, but you have to control what you can control. You have to do things differently than we did back in 2018. You can't take things for granted again. Now, the good News, and there's a lot of it is that we're starting from a much better place. I've got all the analytics on this and I'm going to bring to you the roadmap. Coming up, Brian Mudd in for Mark Levant.
- [58:10]
Mark Levin
As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at Pure Talk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing Pure Talk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity. Through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed Maine in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help Pure Talk support American jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies. And with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God bless you.
- [59:11]
Brian Mudd
The Mark Levin show, live and national at 877-3818-3811.
- [59:19]
Caller
That is that when working people stand together, when we don't let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
- [59:33]
Brian Mudd
Yeah, the burn was part of the commie mom, Donnie swearing in situation there. The working people. It's always been one of my favorite things and it's always great that the burn of, of his many houses, including his summer camp. You know, he, he was asked one time on the campaign trail about his, his Florida residents in particular. I do think it's, it's rather hilarious that the burn has at least three different homes and one of them happens to be in the free state of Florida. And he said, oh, that is, that's the summer camp. The summer camp. Okay. Got. He's a very good socialist, isn't he? He has multiple properties, he has a lot of money. Even though what he's done is just been in government and he doesn't let the homeless into his properties. Has not been known to let the, the homeless or those that have less than him into his. So. But I've always wondered at what point are you no longer a working person? This is one of life's mysteries with, with socialists with communists, what point do you it, does it have to do with like the union kind of day? Like if you work more than eight hours in a day, are you no longer a working person? Because that's not like the union like laid out schedule for you. So it's how about income? You know what level of income? Like you work your butt off, you become successful in life and you make some decent income. At what point are you no longer working for that? Is it when you make a hundred ousand, is it 150, 200,000? At what point are you working longer than the average person but no longer a working person? At what point because you've worked so hard that you make some above average income, are you no longer a working person that way? These are the, the life's mysteries that these people introduce. We've been talking about the unprecedented success we're set up for this year and how we can't have this be a repeat of 2018. I'm going to show you the roadmap and where we are set up for a lot of success this year. If boneheaded decisions aren't made, if people just get out and do the bare minimum to vote and make a difference this year, what things can look like. First, Susan been patiently hanging on in New York. Susan, welcome to the show. Hey, great.
- [62:11]
Caller
I'm so glad you're like really emphasizing this growth rate that we're experiencing of the gross domestic product over the last two quarters. You know, just to like do a little, you know, history here. Obama, during his two terms, he never had one quarter or year that went 4%. In fact his, he never even had a year of gross domestic product that was 3% which was like the only president history that didn't have that. And he remember how he was saying like, oh, we can't grow anymore, we're on a managed decline. Do you remember that?
- [62:58]
Brian Mudd
Well, you bring up a very good point. And it's part of the, part of the mindset in the line of thinking that your, your mainstream economists, your, your so called whiz bang experts latched onto When Trump said, yeah, we're, you know what, we're going to grow the economy at 3%, we're going to grow to 4. And people like, oh yeah, you're nuts. You know, Trump doesn't know he's talking about until he actually went out there and with his policies achieved it. And so now Susan, thank you for the call. You make a great point. And things aren't possible when you say they're not possible. And this actually plays in very well with where I am going with the show because people be on the right, people will be of the mindset, oh, you know, a lot of these special elections didn't go well last year. You know, Republicans really underperformed, Democrats did well. History says the president's party is going to get waxed in the midterm. So it's going to be really bad. Well, it is if you have that mindset. It is going to be a bad cycle generally for Republicans if you decide we're going to do what we did in 2018 and not really vote. And so it is critical, absolutely critical, that we appreciate what we have in front of us, things will continue to get better, but also that we don't repeat those mistakes. So one of the things that I want to do from a point of analysis is kind of walk you through this roadmap and we're going to start here. So I wanted to see, after breaking down all the success we have had over the past year and the Reader's Digest version of it that I gave you just a bit ago, where we stand compared to the same time in 2018. So entering this year, to give you an idea, President Trump's average approval rating, not great. But if you take a look at the Real Clear Politics average approval rating, he's three points better off today than he was on the same date in 2018. Okay, so Trump himself is starting from a better position, three points better than at this stage in 2018. Okay, well, that's something. Well, on the generic ballot, Republicans, how do you think they're performing generally? Generic ballot Republicans compared to where they were same date, January 2, 2018, before the waxing generic ballot. The question if you were to vote today, Democrat, Republican, which way you go? Republicans are 9 points better off than they were on this date in 2018. 9 points better off. Well, that's kind of significant. Right. So there are a lot of things, and in some cases, maybe people appreciate their congressional representatives. In other cases, it could just be that the Democrats are having the worst performance as a party they've ever had. They've had record low favorability. And that continues to this point. So be it through their own legislative successes like the one big beautiful bill act, or be it through just people taking a look at Democrats and going, you know, the last thing I want to be doing is voting for that. And certainly the Mamdani kind of experience I think only highlights that further. Either way, Republicans, generic ballot, nine points better off than at the same point in 2018. Okay, so despite the many predictions of a Democrat wave this year, the numbers begin to tell a different story. But that is just some of the polling stuff there. The real clear politics, average polls. Another slightly interesting nugget on that. Consider this. As of the most recently available data, you have about 30 states that provide some voter registration information. You have 11 that provide it regularly and really good information. Did you know that in every single state that tracks partisan registration information, Democrats lost ground in 2025? Every single state. And when you think about Democrats losing ground in voter registrations, you think about this against the 2024 performance. This is last year. This is the off election year. This is after Trump won the election, overwhelmingly clung the popular vote, after Republicans assumed control of Congress and then Democrats lost ground in every single state to Republicans. Well, that matters. Did you know that Democrats had their worst year over year performance net of Republicans that they've had since 1998? No kidding. Yeah, but the special elections. Yeah, but you had people and didn't, didn't get out and vote. If people don't vote, doesn't really matter. Right. But one of the things that is huge, one of the things that is extremely important, tracking some of this information over time. And I, I'm in Florida and we are one of the 11 states that provide regular information. We have it monthly. And one of the trends that I've noticed over time, off election year trends. Now when voter registration information changes in an off election year, it has always been instructor for where the next election is heading. And when you start to see that kind of an impact in all of these states across the country, it begins to tell you something that doesn't show up in the news because you know, people don't really pay attention to this in awful action years. People only pay attention to special elections, but is showing intent if people simply turn out. So ultimately what it comes down to is you, it comes down to what you're willing to do this this year as if history is, is set to repeat 2018. Because while the political forecasting out there is, you know, suggests that it's going to be a bad year for Republicans, we have one of the single best years of successful policy that we've ever seen. A lot of that has yet to be realized. Most of it really has yet to be realized. And so this year may or may not prove to be the best year of your life. But if we all control what we can't control well, we absolutely can ensure that we have the potential to continue to have unprecedented success. For years to come, and we don't end up in that place like we did in 2019. We're like, oh, things are great. But Democrats are sitting there doing this country in Congress, and Trump's agenda was being killed, and then the vid on top of it. President Trump literally works every single day, even holidays, to achieve this stuff. This time around, we've got to make sure that we do our part. We got to make sure that we do our part in this year's election cycle, too. I mean, showing up every election, every race, every time, because voter turnout for presidential elections, it averages about 16% higher than midterm election turnout. And local election turnout isn't even close. But the bottom line is that if Trump's voters show up and vote this year the way they voted previously, this midterm election cycle, this is winnable for the gop, but most importantly for Trump's agenda that is absolutely built around unprecedented success for you. And so bonus, by the way, you start talking about getting involved. This means that you're going to have a better local government set up. You're going to have a better state government set up, which will lead to a better quality of life, too. And who knows, maybe fewer, fewer Katie Wilson's and mom dummies, you know, in a town near you as well. We got Jim in Wildwood, Florida, who wants to weigh in on this. Jim, welcome to the show.
- [71:34]
Caller
Yes. Yeah, I think the midterms will help us if Republicans keep an eye on all the fraud and the ballast ballot harvesting that the Democrats do. And I'll stick with Minnesota and all the fraud there with the Somali immigrants. But one person can just say, yeah, he's good. He, he's good and he's good. And just vouch for eight different people. I never understood that. How can that happen in any state or even in the country where someone can do to vote that just to see. No, just have someone say, yeah, that person's good, they can vote. And Mandani, I would say, just like, I'd say an alcoholic, you hit bottom, and hopefully New York will hit bottom. And then maybe somehow or other in a turn that state around, who knows?
- [72:21]
Brian Mudd
Well, I think you bring up some good points. I'll pick up with your last one first. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, you take a look at, you know, you use the example of, okay, well, it took us, Jimmy Carter to get Ronald Reagan, and okay, it took Joe Biden for people to appreciate Donald Trump. When you see that sharp of a turn at the national Level, certainly you have the potential in some of these cities for people to go, you know what, this is not good. The one thing that I've never understood, I mean, put politics wayside. If you're not safe, nothing else really matters, right? I mean, if you do not have a safe place to live, to call home, whatever, if you live in fear constantly, that's not a good way of life, regardless of what your political preferences otherwise are. So when you are in these places that welcome sanctuary policies that bring with it all of the additional crime at the base level, how can, how could you support that? And so yeah, there is a possibility that you could have a bottoming out in some of these places. If nothing else, it'll be illustrative of the failures of socialism yet again. For those who still think it just hasn't been done right, perhaps. And other parts of the country, something you mentioned in Minnesota is, is also really instructive. So Minnesota, one of these states that has had same day voter registration. And then yes, also the vouch system, which is a pretty unique system unto them where you can vouch on the same day for people that oh yeah, these, these are legitimate voters and they can go ahead and vote. There are some legitimate questions surrounding this whole Somali fraud situation and some elections going back in Minnesota. And so as part of the unraveling of this onion where every time you peel back a layer it's like, oh my gosh, on the fraud, there is a lot more that, that could be found there in Minnesota specific to elections as well. So standby for news on that one. I'm Brian Mudd and for the great one, Mud Love in.
- [74:30]
Mark Levin
As a consumer, you can carry the success or failure of businesses in the palm of your hand. Their success can depend on your decision to spend money with them or their competitor. Well, my friends at Pure Talk would like to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts for choosing PureTalk for your wireless needs. Because of you, they've had a record breaking year because of your generosity through their Roundup for charity program, they've been able to donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership who stands on the front lines of helping to prevent veteran suicide. Your patronage has allowed Pure Talk to donate a thousand hand sewed main in America flags to your fellow veterans. And when you choose Pure Talk as your wireless provider, you help Pure Talk support American jobs right here in our country. Like I said, as a consumer, you have the power to make or break companies. And with the money the big wireless guys throw around on advertising, you're inundated with offers everywhere you look. So from everyone in the Pure Talk family, thank you for your trust and God bless you.
- [75:34]
Brian Mudd
Prosecutors say this plan was in the works for about a year and it involved attacking people inside a grocery store and fast food restaurant on New Year's Eve with hammers and knives. Christian Sturtevant, 18 years old from Mint Hill, North Carolina, that's a suburb of Charlotte. Police said he planned to use these hammers and the butcher knives hidden under his bed. Gloves and tactical vests were also taken as evidence. Yeah, Fox's David Spunt on that report. And it's another one of the messes that the Trump administration cleaning up and some great police work that was done there. Do you hear about the ISIS terror plot that was broken up New Year's Eve plot where you had this guy just outside of Charlotte that was thinking that he was an 18 year old punk who was associating with ISIS that was radicalized by, by isis and, and for over a year been plotting to carry out a terrorist attack. Only he ended up communicating with somebody that was a law enforcement professional and they were able to take him down. You know, talk about the cleaning up and so many of the things that's also part of what's taken for granted. I think a lot of times when you had Trump having to clean up the Obama messes in the first go round and then also the even bigger Biden messes that he was handed this time around, in addition to all of the good policy that we are beginning to see the impact of and we'll really see it throughout the course of this year into next year. But you know, Islamic terror is such a good illustration of it. You go back to the first Trump administration, you think about this, when Obama left office, you had ISIS that had established their caliphate. We had ISIS terror attacks that were taking place in the United States that were taking the lives of people. And so Trump ran on bombing the blanket of isis. He said, if I get in office, I'll bomb the blanket out of isis. And he did. He got into office and he bombed the blank out of isis. And then you didn't hear any more about Islamic terror, did you? Until when? Oh, until Biden was back in his weakness on the world stage. And so that allowed all of that to proliferate. That allowed so much of, of what we have still been dealing with in this country. Law enforcement continues to battle like this. This punkin in North Carolina that was taken down. And so there's so many things that have been real successes that are underappreciated so far by the Trump administration. But it's time to appreciate them. Control what we can control and make sure that this year is not a repeat of 2018. Continue. Brian Mudd in for Mark Levin.
- [78:14]
Mark Levin
With Donald Trump back in office, one of his biggest adversaries, top Democrat Dick Durbin of Chicago, is leading the charge to derail President Trump's agenda at every turn. And now Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Right now, Americans have thousands of credit card options, all with equal strong security. But Durbin's plan could result in less security. That means more risk for your credit, your identity, and your financial future. Durbin's bill isn't about helping consumers. It's a giveaway to corporate megastores, which could shift costs onto you while putting your rewards and fraud protections in jeopardy. We've seen Durbin's failed policies before. His last big banking regulation backfired, leading to higher costs and fewer benefits for American families. Tell Republican senators, stop Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late. Learn more@guardyourcard.com that's guard your card.com paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
- [79:15]
Caller
He's here.
- [79:17]
Brian Mudd
He's here now. Broadcasting them from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden.
- [79:25]
Mark Levin
Bunker somewhere under the brick and steel.
- [79:27]
Brian Mudd
Of a nondescript building. We've once again made contact with our leader, Mark Love, that not only is.
- [79:38]
Caller
This a massive abuse of taxpayer dollars.
- [79:42]
Brian Mudd
But it also was incentivized because of the negligence and the inability of the Biden administration to put in proper financial control. Yeah. So that is HUD Secretary Scott Turner talking about the Minnesota Somali daycare fraud, where every time you take a look at that story, it's, oh, but wait, there, there's more. You know, last time that I was talking with you last Friday would have been a week ago. We were at potentially $8 billion in potential Somali daycare related fraud going all the way back to 2018 in just that one state. Well, now we're hearing, hey, it could be 9 billion in Minnesota. Of course, this is a story. It's been playing out over the past couple of months. And also in the, but wait, there's more category, of course, now the, the smallies are playing the victim card. There was the break in, don't you know, at one of the facilities. And look at this. All the information was stolen that might have been revealing about many of the bad actors still, though, closing in on 100 arrests that have been made, you have the Department of Justice. That is all over that. And it does beg the question that if there is that much fraud taking place in just that one state, what happens in other blue states that might be complicit, who might be involved? Is it possible that the governor, that the AG are not complicit? I mean, although, you know, for the people who take a look at Tim Walls and are like, you know, he had to know something. I don't know. I mean, the. What we saw of him running for vice president, there is some plausible deniability there, right? I mean, the guy really might be that dumb. He really is a bit of a buffoon. So, yeah, that. That one's kind of a tougher call for me. But incompetent, absolutely. At the minimum, there could be a lot more to the story, not just with the daycare fraud, but also, as one of the callers last hour brought up voting as well, because Minnesota has practices that are unusual. We've had a lot of close elections there. You know, Minnesota, one of the things about that state in particular that not a lot of people appreciate. It's always been a good trivia question. A lot of people will associate New York or California as being the bluest states traditionally. No, it's not been the case, actually. Minnesota, you have had every state vote for a Republican for president more recently than Minnesota. You have to go all the way back to Nixon. Last time they voted for a Republican. Every other state except for Minnesota voted for Reagan for president in his reelection bid. And Reagan only lost Minnesota by less than one point in that one. That was Mondale, his home state in 84. And so anyway, yeah, Minnesota, been a long, long history there of, of leftist policies. And you see the impact of it. Hey there. Happy New Year. Brian Mudd here with you. Always an honor and a pleasure broadcasting from my home station, WJNO in West Palm beach, not too far from the President in Mar a Lago, the. The free state of Florida. It always keeps me sane. Even during the darkest days, like during the Biden administration, I'd wake up thinking, you know what? At least I wake up here. Like, if I had to wake up in New York City every day in. In the depths of everything, and especially now with Mondani's, like, I don't. I don't know. I don't know that I could do it, but I do thank God daily that. That I am here. And I also am thankful to you for being there. Appreciate you listening. You can check out my stuff at Brian Mudd Radio socially, the Brian Mudd show podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. One of the things I've been talking about, how we are set up for unprecedented success this year if we don't do stupid things. And by that I mean, you know, we all have examples in life of, of smart people that do dumb things. And you'll think, how can somebody so smart be so stupid? Right. Well, that is the Republican Party or people who have been Trump voters at a minimum, because you take a look at what we did in 2018 and it was absolutely stupid. We were set up for unprecedented success back then and it was taken for granted. Well, we have the opportunity for even more success because of the incredible first 11 plus months of the second Trump administration, for success that's going to be felt throughout the course of this year into next year. We can't let this election cycle get away from us. And it starts now because you have primaries that begin, you have candidates that need to get in races, you have local elections that provide the benchmark ultimately for a lot of these political parties. So I laid out how the conditions are a lot better at this point than they were in 2018 for Republicans. The conventional wisdom out there is, oh yeah, Republicans are set to get waxed again. Even a lot of these so called Republican strategists. Oh yeah, it's going to be a bad year. Okay. Yeah, because you're a buffoon, because you're assuming it's going to be that way. And when you talk that way, what does it do? It beats down the average conservative voter, Trump voter, and they go, my vote doesn't matter. Bull crap. It doesn't. It does matter. You get out there and vote the same way he did in 24, Trump's going to have all the support he needs in Congress. History does not have to repeat. And the base that we're starting from. So I mentioned already, you take a look at the Real Clear Politics average of polls and Trump's approval rating. Not awesome, but it is three points better than it was on this date in 2018. So that starts from a better place. A big change on the generic ballot when it comes to the Parsons split. Republicans are performing nine points better today than on the same date in 2018 on the generic ballot. That is huge when you're talking about congressional midterm elections. And then I also reference something that is hugely instructive, which is in every location where we have partisan registration information available from last year, every single Location, Republicans outperformed Democrats. Now, to what extent? Well, to give you an idea, in the locations where Republicans and Democrats have, have voter registration information available, the share of the electorate the Democrats represent is now 1.4% less than it was a year ago today. So this is even after the 2024 election cycle. Even after the big Republican WINS, Democrats lost 1.4% of their voters. Where we have information available, Republicans, meanwhile, added 3/10 of a percent. Not huge, but again, that right there is what it's A 1.7% swing in an off election year after Republicans won big. What does that tell you? If people get out and vote, if people on the right, if people who voted for Trump, if people who are more closely aligning with Republican politics than Democrat politics, commie politics, if, if they get out and vote, it's not going to be a repeat of 2018. Republicans can hold and maybe even give Trump more support that he needs. And the net effect of what we have seen here is the largest single year decline since 98 for Democrats, worst year compared to Republicans. And partisan voter registration that we've had since 1998. That's kind of a big deal, not something that people are talking about. Okay, so then you start taking a look at the state. So where we have really good information, the states where you have regular updated information, it runs a cross section. You got red states, you got blue states, you got swing states. But to give you an idea, you go through a place like Arizona. Okay, so Arizona, huge swing state. Right. What happened there over the past year? Well, Republicans are now performing 100,000 voters better off than they were. Democrats lost 38,000 in Arizona. Republicans gained 62,000 over the past year. Okay, that's kind of a big deal. California, even in California, what happened there? Republicans outperformed Democrats by 113,000 voters there. I mean, still California, still deep blue, that's a lot of ground made up. Colorado, the gains for Republicans, pretty much the smallest there of any state. But still Republicans about 13,000 voters better off in Colorado than a year ago today. How about my state of Florida? The biggest showing anywhere in the country. This continues to happen. So you had a net change of 310,000 voters to the advantage of Republicans. Republicans already had a record advantage in the state of Florida, netted another 310,000 voters over this time a year ago. You take a look at another really important swing state like Nevada. What's the shift been? 30,000 voters over the past year. That's a lot of movement in a State like Nevada, New York, I mean, you take a look at New York, looks like a lost cause. You have 78,000 fewer registered Democrats in New York than you did a year ago. This time you have 14,000 more registered Republicans. A meaningful shift right there in a deep blue state. You notice the theme here, the swing states, the red states, the blue states that progress. North Carolina, a hugely important swing state. What's happened there? 41,000 fewer Democrats, 58,000 more Republicans. That's big. That's big. Pennsylvania, what's become pretty much the ultimate swing state now since Florida no longer is. What did Pennsylvania do? Huge, huge move for Republicans in the off election year. Democrats lost 68,000 voters in Pennsylvania. Republicans added 112,000. Pa. Jersey, we saw Republicans that ended up doing. What's that about 71,000 voters better than Democrats over the past year. Oregon, what goes there? Republicans 30,000 voters better off than a year ago. So you start to just does not matter. The geography doesn't matter. Red state, blue state, doesn't matter. Swing set. Everywhere we look over the past year, we continue to see the Republican gains net of Democrats. The same type of shift that was in place for the 2024 election that is continuing. We continue to see Democrats with record low favorability for that party. You have their, their new faces that are what Mamdani Gavin Newsom now the standard bearer for the party. He of the yeah, we need to have transgenderism for everybody and all taxpayers should pay for transgendered kids. And you should be able to wake up one day and go, man, I'm feeling kind of froggy. I think I'm gonna call myself an amphibian and compete. I don't know is whatever I didn't identify with that day. And in terms of athletics, that guy the leading candidate for Democrats for 20. So you continue to take a look at all this reasons to feel good about this year. Reasons not to be beaten down, not to listen to the the experts that are anything but experts not to have a repeat of 2018. Got more for you coming up. Brian Mudd in for the great one. Mud Love in foreign.
- [92:31]
Mark Levin
Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Shopify is the home of the number.
- [92:36]
Caller
One checkout on the planet and the.
- [92:38]
Brian Mudd
Not so secret secret with shop pay that boosts conversions up to 50% meaning way less cards go abandoned and way.
- [92:47]
Mark Levin
More sales going through.
- [92:49]
Brian Mudd
So if you're into growing your business.
- [92:51]
Caller
Your commerce platform better be ready to.
- [92:53]
Brian Mudd
Sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web in your store, in their feed and everywhere in between.
- [93:01]
Mark Levin
Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify.
- [93:05]
Brian Mudd
Upgrade your business and get the same checkout that Skins uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period for 3 months at shopify.com.
- [93:15]
Mark Levin
Westwood One all lowercase go to shopify.com Westwood One to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com Westwood One. We have high quality daycares and this is very sad news that one individual.
- [93:42]
Brian Mudd
Who made a false claim about fraud.
- [93:43]
Mark Levin
That is happening in the daycares. How engaged everyone else to come and.
- [93:48]
Brian Mudd
Do this to us. Yeah, yeah, we're victims here. So that is a manager of one of the daycare facilities, the one that happened to be quote, unquote broken into with records that were. So we have high quality daycare centers here. That's why did you see how we spelled learning? You see how he's very high, high quality education centers here. And yeah, no fraud were victims that worked for so well for so long. Because anytime they're like any, anybody within the state of Minnesota would take a look at them go, something seemed right here with all these Somali daycare facilities. They would go, you're racist. You're racist. And so people thought that the Somalis that were committing all this fraud thought that, you know, people are so stupid in this country that you can just continue to play that car. So now they're, they're continuing to think that'll work. Yeah, the, the nearly 100 arrests that have been made, that's all just, there's nothing to it there. There was no fraud here. Nowhere near 8 or, or now maybe $9 billion worth of fraud. No fraud. You just can't make this stuff up. So what I've been laying out the roadmap for why we are set up for unprecedented success this year if we choose to embrace it. And also how this does not have to be a repeat of 2018. And if we get our butts in gear now, this could be a great year for not just the country, but for President Trump and the Republican Party to continue the policies. And so we don't end up with the final two years, the Trump presidency similar to what we saw the first go round. One of the things that drives me back rap crazy. I can for the life of me not figure out why it is that somebody thinks it's not important to vote in an election. So for example, you take a look at turnout by election type presidential elections. You have 64% of people who are eligible in this country that actually get out and vote. I mean, it's pretty lame if you think about it, not even two thirds of eligible people make an effort to vote. But let's start there. So that's the baseline. 64%. Okay, well, here's where Republicans often get themselves in trouble in midterm election cycles. The turnout in midterm elections, 48%. So the president of the United States, well, that's an important vote. But for Congress, for the people who actually vote on the bills that ultimately will become law, for the people that are actually there tasked with funding, in this case, the, The President's agenda, that's not important. What. So that is the first piece right here. The 16% that do not vote in midterm elections have on presidential elections. The Trump voters of 24 of 20 of 16 that are not showing up to vote in these midterm elections. That can't happen. Then you get into the other part that is really nuts to me, which is local election turnout. Local election turnout is only 20%. So we go from 64% with presidential elections all the way down to 20% for local elections. Have long had a saying that it's often the elections that are closest to you in geography that'll have the biggest impact on your daily life. And the example I'll use, an overactive hoa. Anybody who's ever lived in an overbearing, overactive HOA knows the impact that geography and local elections can make, and yet, even then, still might not pay out that much attention. But local elections have a huge impact on your life. They also happen to be the bench for so many of these candidates that end up in federal office, that end up in higher state offices as well. We've got to do better in every single election and turning out and voting. The numbers are there. We're set up for unprecedented success. Take your calls. Next, Brian Mudd in for Mark Levin. This is the Nation's town hall meeting, and you can join in at 877-384-13811.
- [98:11]
Mark Levin
Unfortunately, we saw that there was important documentation, enrollment of the children and also.
- [98:18]
Brian Mudd
Employee documentation that was gone.
- [98:21]
Mark Levin
There were also checkbooks that were ripped from our check papers that were from our book.
- [98:28]
Brian Mudd
Oh, yeah, the, the, the check. So this, your, your Somali daycare manager. We were broken into because, you know, thieves would really want to target that information. You know, we're victims here. Yeah. So the evidence, somebody has made away with the, the. I'm sure it was in no way an inside job trying to eliminate evidence of the rampant Somali fraud taking place as they continue to try to play the victim and pretend as though the entire country is as stupid as Tim Pond, Walls and Ellison in Minnesota if they aren't complicit. Not going to work. Not going to work so well with the, the federal government, with the, the FBI, with the DOJ generally. Hey there, Brian. Money in for Mark Levin. Mark will be back with you on Monday. You can look forward to that. We have had a conversation about how we're set up for unprecedented success this year. And that's true of the Trump policies that are in effect that will continue to be felt throughout this year, but also can be that way when it comes to the midterm elections, too, in this entire cycle if Republicans take advantage of the opportunity in front of them. Let's go to Mike in Mississippi. Mike, welcome to the show.
- [99:54]
Caller
Hey, Brian, you didn't want to try to say Pascagoula?
- [99:59]
Brian Mudd
I will, I will say that out of the corner of my eye, taking a look at that, I'm like, it's probably not the best idea I've had tonight.
- [100:06]
Caller
No, I wouldn't be, actually, I live in Grand Bay, but I was in Pascagoula at the time. Listen, I want to first say that I'm bleed, I bleed conservative red. I mean, I absolutely do. I'm a very staunch conservative Republican, voted for Trump all three times, would vote for him again if it wasn't illegal. But what I was talking to your producer, what I was telling him about is a lot of my friends are like, why? Why do we even want to bother? Because the Republicans don't do a damn thing. They get steamrolled by the Democrats all the time. And my response to them is, and you hear this every election cycle, this is the most most important election of our lifetime, by golly, this is, this is absolutely a very important one. If you sit out, then the Democrats are going to take over. And if the Democrats take over, everything that happened for this past year is going to go to hell. They're going to open up. They'll probably be a dozen impeachments against President Trump.
- [101:08]
Brian Mudd
No doubt it's going to be a repeat, only worse of what we saw in 2019 and 2020 that way. And your point is right on point. And this is what drives me crazy about many on the right that will become complacent. The whole idea, oh, you know, it's a do nothing Republican or somebody who, you know, I don't like on this particular issue. The first thing is, and this is hugely important, it's kind of like Trump was a victim of his own success at the border. If Trump had had the border progress, you know, slowly arriving at the point where it did almost immediately, to where just the border was closed and no illegal immigrants were coming in, people might have paid more attention to it. But it was so immediately successful. It was kind of like yesterday's news to a lot of people. The same kind of thing.
- [101:58]
Caller
We want to go ahead the people out, me, me and my fellow conservatives out here, we want to see progress. We want to see things, I mean, we're seeing things happen with President Trump is doing a great job. And, and I've said it all along, from the, from the day that he said, I want to be president, I knew right then and there I didn't want a politician, I wanted a businessman, because we are a business, this country is. And you can see by him being there what a great job he's done. But we want to see progress for voting rights or not. But I'm sorry, not voting rights, but voter id, you know, stuff like that.
- [102:38]
Brian Mudd
Well, by the way, I mean, and he has signed executive action on that. There actually has been progress on voter integrity. And one of the things that, where I was going with the example of the border, I've run into this with the One Big Beautiful Bill act because a lot of people take a look. Yeah, but the Republicans in Congress, they haven't followed through. So why am I going to vote for them? Why, if I don't really like the, the Republican that I have in my district? Okay, so the first thing that is hugely important that everybody needs to appreciate. Trump's agenda was passed the same way that the border was immediately fixed, because Trump knew what to do, had the right people in the right places and took care of the job. The reason why the One Big Beautiful Bill act was that big of a deal was because it was the Trump agenda. He didn't want, you know, if you broke up his agenda into 30 different bills and so you constantly had Congress voting on stuff all the time, maybe some Republican voters would think, oh, look, my representative is doing something today that he's not a do nothing Republican. But because they put the whole thing in one massive piece of legislation, a lot of Republican voters are like, but they're not doing anything. Bull crap. They just did more last year than just about any Congress in American history. They delivered on Trump's agenda. Even the rhinos, they, Trump pulled them across the finish line. And it's true, a lot of Republicans that are in elected office, second life, a lot of them are not very good. But Trump has been able to get enough of them together when it matters most to get the job done. And that's what's important. Not, yes, it would be great if everybody was a good politician. Yes, it would be great if, if every Republican was a true conservative. But you know what? Pragmatism matters more than anything else. Pragmatism. One of the things I think about, I live in Palm Beach County. I've been here for over 20 years. When I got here, Palm Beach County, Florida, was a D + 29 district. D + 29. And I remember telling my boss at that point that they, the. The day that Palm beach county flipped, I would retire because I thought it was possible. I'm not going to retire this year, but guess what? We're going to flip Palm beach county this year for the first time in the county's history. You go back to 22. They voted for the entire Republican cabinet in the state of Florida. Trump only lost Palm beach county by less than a point in 24. And what is my point in mentioning this? Well, most of the time that I've lived here, when it's come to local elections, when it's come to, in many cases, even options for Congress, they haven't been great. They haven't been my plan A. But I always vote for the best option. I get excited if there's a candidate I actually like that I identify with a lot. But every single election has a consequence attached to it.
- [105:45]
Caller
Every single election voting anymore, we're voting for Republicans just to keep the Democrats out of office. We may not have, you know, the best candidate there, but it's like, dear God, if we put a Democrat in there, you got really going to go to hell in a handbasket.
- [105:59]
Brian Mudd
You got it. Yeah. And I appreciate it, Mike. You nailed it there. And that's the conversation you got to have. You mentioned your friends. That's the conversation you've got to have. Trump. Even if they suck, they'll suck less than the other person. But more importantly, Trump has been able to pull enough of them across the finish line to get the job done. And so pragmatism must win the day.
- [106:20]
Caller
Federal judges approved. Let's see some federal judges get approved. They're getting stonewalled in the Senate, and I'm not. I've been against lifting the filibuster. Don't want to see that happen. But then I got to thinking about it. You know, first opportunity, Democrats will lift that thing. They'll. They'll lift it to get everything pushed through that they want to get pushed through. We're trying not to do it, but we should do it to start getting some of these federal judges pushed through.
- [106:47]
Brian Mudd
Yeah, appreciate the call, Mike. You're, I mean, you very well might be right about that. Trump certainly has leaned on it. I think Democrats would, given the opportunity. You know, history suggests as much, but, yeah, pragmatism must win. And that is the really important point that I have for anybody who's like, I voted for Trump, but I'm not going to get out there and vote for whomever because I don't like them as much as I like Trump. That is a bull crap argument. That is how we end up in the same kind of situation we did during his final two years. We can't let that happen this year. This is the opportunity for it. The numbers are better. I've laid out the research for it. And also we're going to have more success than we even did coming out of Trump's first year. Two years in office, this cycle, too. So people will begin to realize that. Let's go to Ivan in Miramar Beach, Florida, my neck of the woods in South Florida. Ivan, welcome to the show.
- [107:41]
Caller
Hey, Brian, how are you? Happy New Year, my friend.
- [107:45]
Brian Mudd
Happy New Year.
- [107:46]
Caller
Listen, listen, Brian, it just kills me that, you know, that we were, we're required to keep federal election records for 22 months, and yet we do no mandatory audits. You know, we know, or at least I believe, that Democrats cheat in Democrat states and they also cheat in blue cities that are in red and purple states. And we need to audit those votes and see how they're cheating in the red and purple states controlled by Republican legislatures and Republican General Assemblies. You know, it says, like every election, we get surprised that Democrats win almost 100% of states and precincts that are close. Whenever they stop counting or recount, Democrats win because they cheat with impunity. Of course, the last general election with Trump was the exception, probably because of Laura Trump and Michael Whatley, but both of them have stepped down and Trump is not running in 2028. And every year, it's the same cast of characters. Atlanta and Georgia, Cuyahoga county in Ohio, Maricopa county in Arizona, Charlotte in North Carolina. We know where all these places are. We need to find out how they're cheating, and we need to audit these elections. You know, they ought to be required to audit. Every state ought to be required to audit their election, you know, like maybe once every seven years, you know, for Trump. Trump said the election was too big to rig and that's one paradigm. But what happens when it's not too big to rig?
- [109:19]
Brian Mudd
You bring up a really instructive point. So a couple things I mentioned that Trump signed an executive order aimed at this. What the order mandates is that for mailed in ballots, you have to prove documentation that you are a legitimate American voter. So the action has been taken that would help shore things up at the margin. Now, when you take a look at what you're talking about with the audits, you're absolutely right. And what his order also calls for is that every state must compare records, must release those records to the federal government so that they can review them. So there is more transparency that's being called for here. But there's something else that is really important that is ultimately, we know that if states are not going to be responsible, and if states are maybe even encouraging voter fraud or certain local governments, you could have it. And so this gets back to the turnout in local elections as well, in state elections as well. I mentioned that the turnout in presidential elections is 64%, but by the time you get to midterms, it drops to 48. Okay, well, those midterms also align with what, a lot of state elections. Right. Most states have elections in those midterm elections as well. And so you end up with state governments that are also inferior to what they could be. In many cases, we need better state governments that will be responsible. You know, voter fraud and having an integrity in elections should never be a partisan issue. We know that it has been. But then you get down to the local situation, because it can even come down these local governments. You bring up a good point about counties at the county level, it's always these same places. Well, local election turnout is only 20%. And so you end up with some people and that will go well. I don't have anybody any candidates that I like in this particular place. Let's say that you're in Atlanta, for example. There aren't any Republicans for me to vote for. Maybe find the Democrat candidate for mayor that doesn't support voter fraud. Maybe that just getting voter somebody who's like, you know what? I don't think we should have. Voter fraud might make a difference. I talk about my situation like in Palm beach county. There are a lot of times that I didn't like the candidates that I voted for historically here, but I found the ones that were the most honest, even if I disagreed with them on politics. This is why we've got to turn out in every single election. And people need to treat every election as important as it is, it all is interconnected. It's great point Ivan. Brian Mudd in for the great one. Mud love in. Tim Wells was either complicit or completely buried his head in the sand. If he knew that there was crime and fraud this rampant, he should be welcoming the Trump administration, calling on the FBI, calling on homeland Security investigators to come in and investigate. And so instead he's making it politics as usual. Yeah, things that make you go Trisha McLaughlin, the DHS public affairs assistant secretary talking about good old Timpon there about how something doesn't seem quite right in Minnesota. And so either extreme comp incompetence, which take a look at the guy maybe or complicit and that's absolutely a possibility. And whether the governor is complicit or not, it certainly looks like he would have had public officials at certain levels that very while may have been including some audio of the AG going back a little ways that basically said he would do his part to take any heat from the investigations off of the Somali fraud. So yeah, there could be a lot more to that particular story. Now as we've been going through the show taking a look at the opportunities in front of us this year and talking about the delay of the land this midterm election cycle, Brian in Cincinnati been patiently waiting online, wanted to get to him before the end of the show. Brian, welcome to the show.
- [113:28]
Caller
Thanks, Brian. I appreciate it very much. This kind of goes to your idea a little bit about Congress too. Not only do we have great opportunity President Trump, but President Trump's tariffs are currently from the Supreme Court. And if the Supreme Court finds them to be unconstitutional, it's likely to be because the executive overstepped its bounds allegedly. But that then puts the ball in the court of the legislature and they can very easily then take up that issue, make the tariffs legal, pass a law and now and they can correct them a little bit. You know, work a little bit around the outside and remove this potential issue that could come down the pipe later when everyone's going to be freaking out about whether it's going to hurt the economy or health economy. We'll just take it out of the Supreme Court hand, make it moot and go pass a law and legislature can run with this. I brought this to my congressman, I brought this to my senator. Nobody seems to care or understand or have any kind of foresight to work with this.
- [114:26]
Brian Mudd
Yeah, Brian, it's an instructive line of thought that you have there a couple things on it. First, I think that you have many that want to see what the Supreme Court is going to do with it, and part of it is waiting to see how this is going to play. If we're having our get real moment, we can all weigh the benefit of the tariff policy versus the cost of it. And so I'll simply throw this in front of you and anybody else to consider the impact of the Trump tariffs in terms of the inflation rate. It is there. Do things cost a little bit more because of the tariffs? My analysis, 1.3 to 1.7% of the current inflation rate is directly attributable to the Trump tariff policy. Now, we've had a lot of manufacturing activity that has been brought in, a lot of investment that's been brought back, and there is an economic case that could be made that we're better off because of it. But would the average person like the inflation rate right now is 2.7%. Would you like it to be 1% without the. So Trump today announced that he's delaying the some of the tariffs that he was going to have in effect today for another year. That's obviously an indication that he wants to get past it. So I do think that some of it is the negotiation Trump's wanted off of the tariffs. We'll see what happens in terms of how much of that tariff policy he wants to remain in place, even himself, let alone codified in law. Regardless, we are set for unprecedented success this year. But you got to get out there and make it happen. You got to vote, you got to encourage others. It's time to finish what Trump has started. It's been a pleasure. Brian Mudd in for Mark Levin.