What Does The SOTU Mean For The Midterms?

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: What Does The SOTU Mean For The Midterms?

Date: February 26, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Featured Guests: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Jessica Anderson (Sentinel Action Fund)

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Overview

This episode of Ruthless dives deep into the political and electoral ramifications of President Trump’s latest State of the Union (SOTU) address, particularly focusing on its impact on the 2026 midterm elections. The hosts offer their signature blend of sharp political insight, unfiltered conservative opinion, humor, and commentary on the Democrats’ reactions, Republican messaging, and current Senate primary races—especially in Texas. The episode features extended interviews with Texas AG Ken Paxton and Jessica Anderson, President of the Sentinel Action Fund, and announces a new interactive candidate resource for listeners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of the Union’s Impact on 2026 Midterms

• Theme: Trump’s State of the Union served not just as a traditional address but as a strategic, unfiltered campaign event to reframe battleground narratives (02:25–05:41).

• Renewed GOP Optimism: Many Republicans left the chamber energized, seeing new opportunities in historical midterm headwinds (03:30).

• Contrast as Strategy: The SOTU starkly contrasted Trump’s platform (crime, immigration, economy, taxes) with Democrats' policies (00:13, 41:02).

  “The contrast that he drove between what he is fighting for and what Democrats will take us back to was stark. On crime, on immigration, on taxes, on a whole host of issues.” – Duncan (00:13)

2. Effective Moments & Memorable Clips

a) Congressional Stock Trading

• Trump called for an end to congressional insider trading—eliciting uncomfortable reactions from figures like Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren (05:52–08:12).
• Hosts mock Pelosi’s “insane” stock returns and hypocrisy (07:56).
• Quote:

  “She tries to destroy business by day and capitalize by night.” – Host (08:11)

b) Immigration & “Somali Pirates” in Minnesota

• Trump linked immigration and fraud in Minneapolis; hosts doubled down, criticizing Democrats’ alleged misplaced empathy for perpetrators over taxpayers (08:24–12:57).
• Camera cuts exposing Democrats’ reactions became “TV drama” moments (09:34–10:04).
• Quote:

  “...this is a little window into Democratic politics.” – Host (11:01)

c) “Stand Up for Citizens” Line

• Trump’s demand that Congress stand to affirm Americans come before illegal immigrants became a visual messaging coup (13:16–16:26).
• Democrats stayed seated—a fact ruthlessly mocked and reframed as an unequivocal “binary choice” (15:07–15:34).
• Quote:

  “That’s 10 seconds right there. That President Trump...very simply said, stand up if you agree...and Democrats sat. Incredible.” – Ashbrook (13:39)

d) Democrats’ Emotional Disconnect

• Hosts focus on Democrats’ refusal to honor victims of violent crime and American heroes recognized during the SOTU (17:55–18:42, 37:13).
• The “you get a medal, you get a medal” reaction to Medal of Honor awards is called profoundly unserious (37:16–39:14).

e) “Performative” Democrat Reactions

• The Democratic response is mercilessly mocked: “Fuck ICE” Tlaib button (28:15), alternative “State of the Swamp” furry events (32:05–35:19), and general “theater kid” outbursts.
• Quote:

  “If Sun Tzu was alive today... don’t pick a fight with a guy who has the microphone.” – Holmes (28:46)

3. New Ruthless Candidate Resource

• Announcement: Ruthless launches a clickable, interactive candidate map at ruthlesspodcast.com/map, allowing listeners to hear direct interviews with Senate and House contenders, starting with Texas (20:03–24:42).
• Criteria:

  “Can you hang with the fellas?” – Candidates must connect, show personality, and convince the audience they’ll fight for them (21:28–22:27).

4. Interview Highlights: Texas AG Ken Paxton

(52:34–78:51)

• Paxton’s Three Missions: Taking on Obama, Big Tech/Pharma, and then the Biden administration (“107 lawsuits in four years”).
• Takes us inside his election integrity battles during COVID, vigorous opposition to mass mail-in ballots, and maneuvers against CCP influence in Texas.

  “We sued five different Chinese companies...because I have data privacy laws that help me. Stealing our data and stealing consumers’ data...that we feel are going back to the Chinese government.” – Paxton (61:38)

• Describes how legal challenges, impeachment attempts, and attacks (including from GOP circles/Karl Rove) only strengthened his resolve to fight for Texas values.
• Primary Race Outlook: Paxton’s confident he’ll win; “put it in big, bold type, I’m going to win this” (70:06).
• Personal Side: Texas BBQ aficionado, loves sports (“would have been QB for the Dallas Cowboys”), motivated by the thrill of victory.

5. Interview Highlights: Jessica Anderson (Sentinel Action Fund)

(93:10–109:32)

• SOTU as a Rallying Point: Treated like a Super Bowl for activating voter registration and organization.
• Ground Game Strategy: Detailed how Sentinel Action's focus groups have identified the economy (especially inflation and direct savings) as the key to mobilizing swing and “low propensity” voters in the midterms.

  “You have to connect the ground game for the Senate directly to the President. Right. And those Senate states where President Trump won, but that Senate candidate fell up short. They didn’t have a specific ground game.” – Anderson (97:23)

• Challenge Without Trump on the Ballot: The messaging is that all of Trump’s policies are on the line, and turnout can be driven through effective ground operations and policy contrasts (99:08–104:52).
• Voter Tool: One-stop shop for voter registration at sentinelactionfund.com.

6. King of the Hill (Podcast Game Segment)

(81:15–92:19)

• Hosts pit the “wildest” political tweets from pundits/figures against each other for laughs and social critique (“Bill Kristol vs Smokin Joe Walsh”), highlighting the derangement and unseriousness of much elite political discourse.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “He made the State of the Union a binary choice.” – Holmes (47:20)
• On Democrat failings:

  “Biggest liability is their own mouths.” – Donna Klein, listener (50:33)

• On Pelosi’s stock market prowess:

  “Even in finance, it’s like a punchline...some of the most successful hedge fund managers on earth can't outperform Nancy.” – Ashbrook (07:56)

• On Democratic response:

  “All our supporters that are left, they’re all just insane. So that’s it.” – Ashbrook (36:12)

• On the new candidate map:

  “It’s the only place in America that you can go to get that.” – Holmes (110:09)

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:00–03:00: Opening framing; SOTU and its stakes for midterms.
• 05:52–12:57: SOTU highlights dissected – Congressional stocks, immigration, Somali fraud case.
• 13:16–16:52: “Stand up for citizens” riff – the power of visual, binary moments.
• 20:03–24:42: Launch of Ruthless’ interactive candidate resource/map.
• 52:34–78:51: Extended Ken Paxton interview – litigation history, election integrity, campaign strategy.
• 93:10–109:32: Extended Jessica Anderson interview – grassroots GOP strategy for the midterms.
• 81:15–92:19: “King of the Hill” game segment.

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Episode Tone & Style

• Unfiltered, humorous, and irreverent: The hosts blend sharp conservative analysis with cutting jokes and memes, often at Democrats’ expense.
• Insider political savvy: Dissects media narratives, campaign tactics, and D.C. culture in a casual, “in the know” voice.
• Audience-focused: Multiple interactive prompts (question of the day, candidate map) encourage listener participation.

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Takeaways for 2026 Midterms

1. Trump’s SOTU was a pivotal, visually resonant campaign event.
2. Midterm messaging will focus on binary contrasts: American citizens vs. illegal immigration, law & order vs. leniency, economic gains vs. taxes, hyper-patriotism vs. “crazy” Democrat behaviors.
3. Republicans are betting on authenticity, direct communication, and aggressive contrast with Democrats’ “performative” left-wing activism.
4. New digital tools (candidate map), sustained grassroots ground games, and unfiltered interviews aim to empower and inform conservative voters in key races.

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For more candidate info, interviews, and to “see if your candidate can hang with the fellas,” check out ruthlesspodcast.com/map.

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Closing Reminder:
Let the hosts know, Will the State of the Union make a difference for the midterms? Comment on YouTube and be part of the next interactive segment!

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Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

Donald Trump acknowledging every single Democrat in this room wanted to raise your taxes. That is why Donald Trump is so critical to this midterm. If he's out there and he's selling it that way, we're going to do pretty good.

[Michael Duncan]

The contrast that he drove between what he is fighting for and what Democrats will take us back to was stark. On crime, on immigration, on taxes, on a whole host of issues. He went hard into the paint against these Democrats to show people how bad it can be if Democrats take power again.

[John Ashbrook]

Everyone who's in office, your first duty is to American citizens, not to illegal aliens. And Democrats sad disrespect you so much

[Michael Duncan]

that they won't even lie to you to try to get your vote.

[Host/Moderator]

I've worked at Coca Cola for 21 years.

[Sponsor Representative]

We're delivering Dr. Pepper from our brand

[Michael Duncan]

new facility in Dallas, Texas.

[John Ashbrook]

We're really proud to still make Pepsi products in America.

[Host/Moderator]

You don't need a college degree to work here, but I put four kids through college by working here.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a great place to work with great people and great American brands.

[John Ashbrook]

Grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, they all depend on us. We deliver great paying jobs.

[Josh Holmes]

We deliver beverages people love. We deliver for our community.

[Michael Duncan]

Washington politicians are always getting in your wallet. Now they're messing with your credit card. Your credit card and the security it offers are under attack. The Durbin Marshall credit card bill would change the nation's payment system to benefit corporate megastores like Washington, Walmart and Target at the expense of everyday Americans. Credit cards keep your payments secure and provide rewards that families use to help make everyday purchases more affordable. The Durbin Marshall mandates would let corporate megastores cut corners on credit card processing, routing transactions over cheaper, untested networks with weaker security and fewer protections. That means higher risk of fraud, greater chance of stolen personal data and the loss of rewards programs, just so corporate megastores can pocket billions of dollars in higher profits. Tell Congress to guard your card. Visit guardyourcard.com to take action and learn more.

[Sponsor Representative]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

Keep the fate, hold the line and own the lids.

[Host/Moderator]

It's time for our main event. Good Thursday to you. Welcome to the Ruthless Friday. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left right across your radio dial. It's been a very big week in Washington, D.C. one in which it may very well impact the future governance of the United States of America. A lot of midterm implications based on the State of the Union, a resetting of the dial and the arguments that the president laid out. You've got a very motivated Republican Party and I've talked to a number of them who came out of the State of the Union with a renewed sense of optimism about Republicans ability to compete in midterms that are historically very, very difficult for a party in power to do. And I think, look, there's a lot to discuss. We've got a huge episode in front of us. We've got a couple of big interviews here. Ken Paxton is here on the program. He's the currently leading candidate in a Senate primary with the incumbent John Cornyn and of course Wesley, our boy down there, who honestly it's a three way race and depending upon the poll that you look at in Texas, which is coming up next Tuesday, we don't know which way it's going to work. And if you don't get to a 50% threshold, there's a runoff, period. Huge implications in the great state of Texas. We promised you we were going to have everyone on in every single one of these races. Well, the first one out of the gates we've delivered and we're delivering. I think Wesley's going to be on Friday. Friday's episode Fun time. We also have a huge announcement from the ruthless variety program that we'll get to at the end of this segment about Big Deal, a new website. It is a big deal. A new website, new information for all of you devoted listeners who are looking for a little bit of information about who you're voting for that we're going to get to. But we want to start with a little candy up front. Little candy. I mean, by now you've seen basically all the highlights of State of the Union. What we have chosen, what we have picked out is not necessarily where you're going to see on the news, but

[John Ashbrook]

they usually can't air the stuff that we do.

[Host/Moderator]

True. And it breaks down to there's funny stuff, there's dumb react stuff that we think has some import about the way that the midterm campaigns are gonna be prosecuted. And then there's basically the president's message and how Republicans have amplified that and what is going to be basically the prosecution of the 2026 midterm election. So you've seen a lot of recap on the State of the Union and the events of D.C. this week. We're going to take a little different angle and look at it as to how it may impact the next six, seven months and ultimately control your federal government in one way or another. So should we just jump off and get right into it.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's do it. All right.

[Host/Moderator]

So let's laugh. Yes. Should we laugh? Let's laugh. One of our favorite clips right off the job. Clip 1.

[Clip Narrator]

Let's also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information.

[John Ashbrook]

This is surprising. Is for the first time Elizabeth Warren's like, well, I guess I agree with that.

[Host/Moderator]

Except.

[Clip Narrator]

They stood up for that. I can't believe. I can't believe it. Did Nancy Pelosi stand up if she's here?

[Host/Moderator]

Amazing.

[Clip Narrator]

Doubt it.

[Josh Holmes]

Classic.

[Host/Moderator]

And she went from like Elizabeth Warren clapping if you're an audio only listener to her as soon as he drops a Nancy Pelosi bomb to her, just looking like it just stole shit right out of the back door.

[John Ashbrook]

Put me in witness protection.

[Josh Holmes]

He's a world class comedian and he does two things there that are incredible. Number one, he becomes commentator Trump where he's like, oh, can you believe it? The Democrats, they stood up for that.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, look at this.

[Josh Holmes]

And then he breaks the fourth wall and he's like, Nancy Pelosi, maybe she's doing the insider trading.

[Host/Moderator]

Totally right. But it's been a big thing and it's something this administration has put a priority on. Republicans in Congress have tried to put a big priority on, which is the idea that these stock portfolios of members of Congress have been unbelievably outperforming the

[Josh Holmes]

S and P. This is the stock act, right?

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, well, that was the initial one, which is basically just a disclosure component. What they're talking about is an outright ban of people day trading and basically making trades based upon information that they get on a day to day basis by virtue of just being in Congress, which of course, of course that's what you should do. But it's been somewhat controversial about members of Congress, obviously, and Nancy Pelosi is the foremost defender of outperforming the S

[John Ashbrook]

and P and not just like the sp, like even in finance. It's like a punchline like we're talking some of the most successful hedge fund managers on earth can't outperform Nancy. She puts up insane numbers.

[Host/Moderator]

She does insane numbers. A businesswoman.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's right.

[Host/Moderator]

She tries to destroy business by day and capitalize by night. So that was funny. Clip 2 if you don't mind, we'll balance our budget.

[Clip Narrator]

The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception. Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings Those problems right here to the US it is the American people who pay the price in higher

[Host/Moderator]

medical bills, as if she's the fucking victim.

[John Ashbrook]

Seriously, dude.

[Host/Moderator]

So what he says, in case he didn't hear it very clearly, is the Somali pirates, which, by the way, very funny. The Somali pirates. I feel like we have pride of options.

[John Ashbrook]

I think that's a fair term to use for people who've been commandeering and stealing from taxpayers.

[Host/Moderator]

But the facts are not in doubt here. Nobody disputes the facts. The facts are that there are. The mass of fraud that was happening in Minneapolis was happening from Somali immigrants. And his point is there's a cultural problem here and that you've got a bunch of people who think it's like, basically part of the job description to try to. If you can get somebody to give you a fraudulent dollar, that's fine.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and I got to say, special shout out to C Span for the wonderful camera work.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, Their cameraman.

[Josh Holmes]

They always have a good. They always have the good cut.

[Host/Moderator]

CBS did the pool, right, Jimmy?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, cbs. Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

What would that. Well, shout out CBS for that. Yeah, because it was like high drama. It was like Days of Our Lives. Like, any time Trump said anything, it was like, perfect villain. Let's cut to them.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right, But. But like, when you made a comment about men and women's sports or like some kind of trans controversy, they went right to the trans member.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, but like. And then you get the member, and I don't know who that was, but, like, grabbing her hand as if she's a victim, seriously, of this discussion. $8 billion of taxpayer money, that's what's now over. 19 was stolen. Stolen. And we can identify it to the group that President Trump is talking about. And because she represents the thieves, she's the victim.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's the thing. Like the misplaced attempts at empathy that has become just emblematic of the Dems and the left. Now she's like, I need to hold your hand. Are you okay? I know that your net worth has skyrocketed over the past few years, and there's a lot of questions about that. And you're like, husband's business. Had to, like, first issue a correction on the website and then hide the website, which explains, like, how's all this money showing up? You're the victim.

[Host/Moderator]

I'm so sorry.

[John Ashbrook]

Not the taxpayers who were fleeced. It's infuriating to see that it's a

[Host/Moderator]

little window into Democratic politics. It is.

[Michael Duncan]

The misplaced empathy here is absolute bullshit. Because, like, we're supposed to feel sorry for these Somalis who got super rich stealing money not just from taxpayers, but like from other poor people. There are poor people who are American who need Medicaid to share the cost of a wheelchair, for example. So that's not an option for them because the money is stolen and taken to Somalia in these briefcases. We talked all about it on the

[Host/Moderator]

show earlier this week, but take a step back and realize what's happening here. These are funny vignettes, but they're also unmasking larger truths. Gotta remember that when it comes to President Trump, almost every American consumes every word he says through an information silo. Much of it is filtered through a mainstream media that is gonna try to present it in the most unflattering way possible and try to mask any unflattering opposition, in this case Democrats, that their point of view is right. So, like you don't get to see this part of the conversation. You know that they're claiming 8 billion. You can agree or disagree with what they did in Minnesota with attempting to try to crack down on the fraud. But the story is about the clash between the protesters and whatever. But you hear President Trump say, these people stole your money and she's sitting there shaking her head and getting consoled by her friend. All of a sudden it's opened up this binary discussion that the American people are not privy to on a day to day basis. This is the genius of what President Trump does in the State of the Union. He shows you because it's the only opportunity you're gonna see, not filtered through the mainstream media, what the reaction to this kind of thing is. They don't give a shit. They're not concerned about the fraud. They're consoling each other.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's the thing that's 100% right, is this was the opportunity that President Trump had to present the case in the State of the Union. And what this midterm is going to be shaped by live and unfiltered. And he completely took advantage of that in the next clip.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, the next clip is what puts the fine point on all this.

[Ken Paxton]

Clip 3.

[Clip Narrator]

Agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.

[John Ashbrook]

And the devs sat here, dude, this is that shot.

[Michael Duncan]

Stunning right there.

[John Ashbrook]

I said it the other night and I'll say it again, every Republican running for Congress did. Free ad right there. That's 10 seconds right there. That President Trump very simply said, stand up if you Agree. Everyone who's in office, your first duty is to American citizens, not to illegal aliens. And Democrats sat. Incredible. And how he. How he caught them in this trap that's so visual and visceral and crystal clear of where the Democrats stand on the side, not with Americans, but with illegal.

[Michael Duncan]

But, you know, Democrats in their heart disagree with what he said. But they disrespect you so much that they won't even lie to you to try to get your vote. Seriously, they hate you. They hate American citizens. They just want people to come in from everywhere. They do not care about the people in this country. And that was shown in stark relief last week.

[Host/Moderator]

But again, take a step back. Right. We had an election in 2024 that was litigated along these lines about who can secure the border and who thinks that's important. President Trump won that overwhelmingly. Now you gotta break a couple of eggs to make an omelet. And the enforcement of trying to get to what it is that he is. Messy. It's messy. And we saw that in Minnesota. And it's difficult. And people don't like difficulty, particularly swing voters, voters who matter in midterms. They don't like it.

[Michael Duncan]

It's true.

[Host/Moderator]

What he did there was reset the dial. We're not talking about protesters in Minnesota, who we're talking about as a fundamental question about whether you think you represent Americans or illegal immigrants. And if you can't figure out a way to stand for the fact that your very job description is to stand up for the American taxpayers and voters who put you there, well, you got a lot of soul searching to do.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

And that's the framework by which we're working off of for this entire episode is that this guy reset the D. He did a bunch of things that you saw on Wednesday and everything on a SO2 recap of like, oh, he did great. Oh, we thought he was terrible. This, that, and the other thing. Here are the clips. What matters is what happens from here on out in terms of the arguments that are being levied.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, because there will be for the next few months, I'm assuming, in the Senate, in the House, a lot of what we would call messaging votes.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. Votes where you put stuff on the floor to force these Democrats to admit that they have a crazy agenda, that they can't support common sense legislation, things like that. We call those messaging votes. And it doesn't have the same visual appeal of something like this. Like, this is the State of the Union version of messaging votes.

[Host/Moderator]

And now those messaging votes are Affirmation to what you saw with your own eyes in a standing or seated position. When it comes to a very basic thing that you would hope anybody who takes the oath of office would subscribe to, they couldn't do it. All right, another clip. And this is where he just sort of, like, says what you're all thinking. And this is Trump's thing, right? I mean, he's going to say it because he's just a dude.

[Clip Narrator]

Clip for Nobody stands up. These people are crazy.

[Host/Moderator]

Crazy.

[John Ashbrook]

That's it. Bottom line. That is it.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[Clip Narrator]

Amazing, gentlemen. Boy, oh, boy. We're lucky we have a country with people like this. Democrats are destroying our country. But we've stopped it just in the nick of time, didn't we, dude?

[Michael Duncan]

What a showman.

[John Ashbrook]

That's it right there.

[Host/Moderator]

He's a showman and he's doing it. But again, it's not just for the show. He's saying what you're thinking.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Host/Moderator]

Which is, how can you not stand up and applaud? There was a number of them that didn't stand up and applaud the Olympic team. There's a number of people who can't understand why you would stand up and say, I represent Americans. If you get to those threshold questions, what other description can you get than these people are crazy.

[Michael Duncan]

They wouldn't stand up to honor Irina Sirutska's grieving mother.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it was unbelievable.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, that was just. It was one of the most emotionally difficult moments of the entire night. And you can't even get a moment of respect out of Democrats for a victim of violent crime.

[Host/Moderator]

And why? Because you're dealing with a combination of illegal immigration, you're talking about repeat offenders, a unwillingness to prosecute crime, or put people in jail who deserve to be there. And they will all say, of course criminals, throw them in jail. Like, yeah, we're tough on crime, too, until you get to a threshold question. And they can't stand up. Why? Well, President Trump has demonstrated they can't because it's not part of their DNA.

[Josh Holmes]

And I think it's the most important thing he demonstrated because I think in the era of Donald Trump, State of the Unions don't have as much import because he's ubiquitous. He's out there with this message in front of the American people, in front of the press, on Twitter, every single day in a way that a lot of presidents typically were not right like they were when they spoke to the American people. It was in a primetime address or a State of the Union or a Very controlled media environment. Donald Trump's out there all the time, seven days a week, talking directly to the American people. So I think what he has to say in the affirmative about himself is less important. What is extremely important is the contrast, what he showed the Democrats want to do. And he showed that in Technicolor.

[Host/Moderator]

Yep. Very well said. Absolutely. So the way we approach this in this entire show is through the lens of a midterm that is. Is vitally important. I mean, unless you want to just deal with impeachment and the death of the Trump agenda, the midterms are incredibly important. And one of the things that we promised you as a listener to the program is that we were gonna provide to you interviews to get to know every single candidate that matters in every single one of these pivotal races. And it starts with the primaries.

[John Ashbrook]

This is so huge. Everyone listen to this. This is very important.

[Host/Moderator]

So we decided that we were going to come up with a website. And Michael, you know, he's our digital.

[John Ashbrook]

He knows what he's doing. This is beautiful. This is a work of art.

[Host/Moderator]

He just sits at home and does the 1 0, 1010 thing the old fashioned way. The old fashioned way. Coding, just like our forefathers. And while he's knitting, he's knitting me

[Josh Holmes]

on my digital loom.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, he's knitting and 1 0ing, weaving, Internet. So we came up with this website called ruthlesspodcast.com map and what it is designed to do is provide all of you who are listening throughout the country a real time, totally accessible opportunity to click on your state and look at the candidates who are attempting to represent you, where you can make more informed decisions about, ultimately how you cast your ballot. We understand that everybody in the mainstream media wants to shade one or shade another. And, you know, that's not just in general elections, although it's very pervasive there, but in primary elections as well, they'll tell you exactly who it is that they think you ought to vote for based on the tenor of the coverage of one candidate or another. We approach this a different way here in the Ruthless Variety program, which is you come down, you sit with the fellas.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Host/Moderator]

And we have basically one litmus test, and that litmus test is, can you hang with the fellas? Like, can you convince an audience that you can hang with the fellas and be a decent human being?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, because, I mean, unlike the mainstream media, we will not. You're not facing, like, a firing squad of liberals who are trying to help Chuck Schumer win a race we're providing a platform. If you're a Republican candidate running in a primary, come to the show and you talk to the voters directly. Our audience is huge. Our audience is engaged. These are the people that you want to talk to. And so frequent, like for years now, we've always invited on Republicans running in primaries because we wanted every candidate make your case directly to the people. And we would have folks like in the comments or something be like, what about this guy who's running in that race? We'd be like, oh, that was actually like four episodes ago. If you want to go check RuthlessPodcast.com map, they're all there, one click away. So you don't have to be like, oh, what episode was it? Do I need to ask someone to reply?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, what's the timestamp?

[John Ashbrook]

There it is right there.

[Josh Holmes]

And we've got a lot on there as well. As Holmes said, you know, we've got corn and we got Paxton on, we'll have Wesley on. So the Texas primary, that's on Tuesday, we have all of those candidates. So you're going to have all of that at your disposal before you cast a ballot. And we've got a lot of other interviews on there and over the next eight, nine months, we're going to have a lot more. So it's going to be a huge resource.

[Host/Moderator]

We'll have all of them. And where you're able to access the map here on RuthlessPodcast.com map, you can click on it, you can see all of those interviews and you can take some time to not just get to know them through the wedge questions that the media asks to try to put people on defensive, but a little bit about their personality, who they are. Because ultimately what you're doing, particularly in Republican politics in primaries, is there are shades of differences in globally recognized facts within a Republican party. But you gotta know that the guy or the woman that you're sending there is ultimately gonna represent your point of view. And there are many things that you all vote on that there are personality components. You can tell whether somebody's willing to fight for you, whether somebody's just sort of mailing it in. And we think through the course of the Ruthless interview you're going to get that. And I think time's on our side with that and we've done a whole ton of interviews and that the one thing you can pull out is who these people are.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, because I mean, over the last few decades you're getting one of two things from political candidates. You're either getting paid 30 second ads or you're getting brief interviews with journalists who are political journos who over the years have mistaken themselves as the most important thing in the story. They've forgotten that the reader is actually the most important thing. The voter is the most important thing in the story. And all these politicians, they're politicians for a reason. They have a personality. They got a sales pitch. They got something that they're trying to sell. And in the course of a normal conversation that people listening to the show would have with that person if they were sitting right here, they're going to hear a lot of the things that they would want to hear. And you're just not going to get that anywhere else.

[Host/Moderator]

You're not going to get it anywhere else. So you go to RuthlessPodcast.com you'll see an interactive map where you can click on your state. The first one out of the box is the great state of Texas, where we already have Senator John Cornyn, Attorney General Paxton, and we will have Wesley Hunt on Funtime Friday for your decision next Tuesday. And there's a whole host of others who have either come in or about to come in in the months ahead before you get to those votes. You got to go there and check that out. When we come back, it turns out like Trump's claim that these people are crazy. Well, Democrats didn't do a ton to dispel anyone. We'll show you that their unhinged takes in reaction to the state of the Union. Coming up next.

[Sponsor Representative]

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[Host/Moderator]

So you can't really characterize how insane Democrats are without starting with these two ladies. Clip five.

[Clip Narrator]

You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself. That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases drug lords, murderers all over our country. They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself.

[Ken Paxton]

That's right.

[Host/Moderator]

Should be ashamed. You should be ashamed. If there was any justice in the country, they would be ashamed and they wouldn't have the audacity to do what they were doing. You notice the Rashid Tlaib there, wearing a button on her left side that says Fuck ICE on primetime television with children potentially watching. And this is the message that they're selling to people. Fuck ice. And then they're screaming at the President, United States, like this is.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also just dumb. Like if Sun Tzu was alive today and writing the Art of War. If he was writing the Art of War today, one of the key tenets of the book would be don't pick a fight with a guy who has the microphone.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, it's a fair point because you're

[Josh Holmes]

at a huge disadvantage when you're shouting something no one can actually hear. And then he just two hand dunks on your ass for 30 seconds, you're gonna lose that argument.

[John Ashbrook]

And I think that's a critical thing is I feel like Trump really welcomes this kind of stupid dynamic that the Dems find themselves in. And that Dems. I know the like higher ups in that party like Schumer, you know, those people are like facing their hands of being like, I hate this shit. Because there is this like crazed. They're gonna find of the Dems who want to see performative shit that turns voters off. They want to see this kind of performative shit that does not move the needle, just makes them look stupid and foolish. And that's why they act like theater kids and children. It just makes them look bad. But they can't do anything. Stop it. Because the grassroots of that party is nuts.

[Josh Holmes]

Hakeem Jeffries, that was his main message ahead of the State of the Union was, guys, you gotta chill out. Because if you make all these interruptions to the speech, then Trump's going to win their whole theory to the case. And I did a little research in this by watching MSNBC's preview. You gotta do that sometimes.

[Michael Duncan]

Thanks for doing that.

[John Ashbrook]

Putting on a helmet.

[Josh Holmes]

But it was just very, very funny because they were previewing what Hakeem Jeffries had said to his whole conference. And the whole theory the case was don't act out, cuz then Trump will hang himself.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, Jesus.

[Host/Moderator]

And then what happened? Yeah, I mean, because they can't help themselves. And like, look, we've served in leadership positions before in Congress and seen this movie before. And what happens when your message to your conference is don't. It's really saying, boy, I'd really prefer if the American people didn't know who we are. And that's what's happening.

[Michael Duncan]

Really good point.

[Host/Moderator]

Within the Democratic Party is that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries sit on top of this combustible powder keg of left wing activism and they're saying like, let's continue the Abigail Spambrucker routine.

[John Ashbrook]

They want the Trojan horse. They're like, it worked in Virginia. We just trojan horse them. We act like we're reasonable, then we get in and do the Looney Tunes shit. Don't do the Looney Tune shit ahead of the election.

[Host/Moderator]

Don't show them how insane we actually are.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Host/Moderator]

And Rashid Tlaib and Ilan Omar are like, nonsense.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, well, we're actually insane 24 7.

[Host/Moderator]

We're going to be insane and you're going to see it. And that's what was drawn out. So in addition to just what was happening there, this happens every single time the party out of power does some kind of an alternative State of the Union.

[Josh Holmes]

Sick.

[Host/Moderator]

Where they put together this just absolutely horrible alternative programming. Nobody watches.

[John Ashbrook]

No one.

[Host/Moderator]

And you're gonna see this here for the first time because I guarantee you, you haven't seen it. Check out clip six. I'm fresh out of an ice prison in Minneapolis.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy's in a giraffe costume.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

For our audio listeners, this is like the Democrats alternative State of the Union is called the State of the Swamp. There's a guy in a giraffe furry costume.

[Clip Narrator]

Get rid of Brown people for me.

[Host/Moderator]

I'm Arian White.

[Clip Narrator]

There ain't no place I'm going to.

[Sponsor Representative]

Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

That is so. That's the state of the modern Democrat Party. Can I say one thing real quick? We talk about. We're having a Texas primary. Beto was, like, way early of his time. He was at the forefront of the Democrat furry movement. We're seeing it in real time. He was just the first. They're all a bunch of furries now.

[Michael Duncan]

They've got a guy responding to the President of the United States, you know,

[Host/Moderator]

giraffe, Giraffe up with a harmonica full maid, which was supposed to be either funny or melodious, and it was neither.

[Josh Holmes]

Neither.

[Host/Moderator]

And. But that's. This is alternative.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I say something about that alternative program? This isn't just a bunch of, like, wingnuts, you know, the, like, pod Bros. Crooked was involved in that event.

[Host/Moderator]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

Are you kidding me?

[John Ashbrook]

I'm being dead serious. That's how deranged that they have gotten.

[Josh Holmes]

George Soros is going to ask for his money back.

[Host/Moderator]

So the estate. The establishment Democrat is. Is looking at the draft guy and they're like, yeah, it's our best stuff. Let's.

[John Ashbrook]

It was unbelievable.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, I mean, it's just incredible. All right, so you guys remember Maxine Dexter.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

Is the one who said. She's the one that was like, we have to.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, what?

[Host/Moderator]

Which everybody was like, well, you're not exactly his type. Yeah, well, she's got. She's not dumb. It's equally awkward.

[Ken Paxton]

Clip 7 I'm a mother.

[Jessica Anderson]

I am a physician.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, my God.

[Host/Moderator]

My God.

[John Ashbrook]

For audio listeners, it's a bunch of furries on stage for Oregon's 3rd congressional district.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, I did see this on Twitter.

[John Ashbrook]

This is the same event like. And tonight, just a parade of furries

[Jessica Anderson]

defy Trump and his authoritarian projects.

[Host/Moderator]

She had to read this by standing

[Jessica Anderson]

in joyful, radical, peaceful resistance with the Portland Frog Brigade.

[Host/Moderator]

The Portland Frog Brigade.

[Michael Duncan]

Somebody tweeted. I think Alex Jones was right about the frogs.

[John Ashbrook]

Amazing, amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, joking.

[Michael Duncan]

Over left.

[Host/Moderator]

She is a member of Congress trying to provide alternative programming to something as significant as the State of the Union. She shows up with eight inflatable frogs behind her, and they're all like, yes, this is it. This is the image. But this is the seriousness by which they take their jobs.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, but it's profoundly unserious in that way, obviously. And it's easy to mock. But then also think about it like this. These are the same people who call Donald Trump an Authoritarian, A fascist. A guy who's running the Ice Gestapo to. To kill people. Yeah, right. How can it have the tenor of that sort of seriousness when this is what you bring on. That's exactly such an incredibly dissonant.

[Host/Moderator]

They believed any of you.

[Michael Duncan]

They wouldn't show up with frogs or giraffe.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's again, that's just a constant underlying theme that we've seen now for years from Trump. I remember it's awful to have to say the first time they tried to assassinate Trump, the first time. Remember, there was like a 24 hour period where Dems tried to act like, we should probably stop calling him authoritarian and stop calling him a threat to America and stop calling him a dictator. Because, like, we're encouraging a lot of our criminally insane supporters into doing these kind of shenanigans. And, and, and they have no backstop anymore. Now the insanity is them through and through is.

[Host/Moderator]

And you're clearly dealing with a mentally unstable. Like, if you're showing up in the

[John Ashbrook]

frog costume and a giraffe costume, it's like they have come to terms with. Yeah. All our supporters that are left, they're all just insane. So that's it.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, that's it. All right. So they're not done quite yet. You all watched the ceremony. The incredible weaving of inspirational stories. Heroic Americans. Trump recognizing everybody from the Olympic hockey team to the Korean War veteran to this incredible dude. Just an absolute unit that went to Venezuela central casting. That cat, he's like the final boss in any video game you've ever played.

[John Ashbrook]

I said he looked like if AI drew. Like a real life gigachad. This guy, like his jaw, like 45 degree jaws. He even had like the dimple.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, he's like guile from Street Fighter.

[John Ashbrook]

Seriously?

[Host/Moderator]

Well, this is how Democrats react to that clip bait. I was there.

[John Ashbrook]

I was there.

[Host/Moderator]

And it was as horrific as I

[Sponsor Representative]

thought it would be.

[Josh Holmes]

Horrific.

[Host/Moderator]

Absolutely. It was like an award show.

[John Ashbrook]

You get a medal, you get a medal, you get a medal.

[Jessica Anderson]

That's literally Mo just said, you get a car, you get a car. Y' all are on the same page.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay, so these old bags are sitting around.

[John Ashbrook]

That's a member of Congress who's saying that like, you got a medal. About two gentlemen receiving the medal of Honor, one of whom was taking multiple bullets.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

People who fought for our shot four

[Host/Moderator]

times, times in the leg.

[John Ashbrook]

Got the helicopter landed and didn't flinch or move. As he's. His leg and his hip are full of bullets. The description I read was his blood was running down the aisle of the Chinook helicopter as he landed it while the other guys were jumping, getting to work.

[Host/Moderator]

Yep. And they're like, you get a medal. You get a medal. As if it's an Oprah Winfrey television giveaway, which is the inspiration for the way that they characterized. Is just so far removed from how your average American views these things. How about the Korean War, guys? 100. This guy's an American hero. He's not been recognized as such. He was. It's gotta be the moment of his life, late in his life where you can just appreciate a human who's done everything to try to protect our way of life as Americans. And they just see it as like Donald Trump giving away Monopoly money, But

[John Ashbrook]

also like, for him to have to wait so long to get recognized, but to get that medal of Honor from Melania is like, okay, well, if you're gonna get it, yeah, you're gonna get it. The biggest win possible. He got amazing. And everyone, every single person who's. I think this is almost like a Rorschach test. Are you a normal person? Do you think this is cool? Yes or no? And if you're one of these Democrats who are mad about that, like, you have a significant character flaw, because that was like, just a moment. To be proud as an American, be proud of this country and be. To be proud of the great Americans who we have keeping us safe and protecting our. It just felt incredible. And I just can't understand how these Democrat members of Congress could denigrate those accomplishments.

[Michael Duncan]

Can't even say thanks.

[John Ashbrook]

Can't even say thanks.

[Host/Moderator]

Incapable of doing it. They try to just dismiss it as just Donald Trump giving away stuff. So part of this that we just went through was the separation. Because, look, we've done this for a long time, and anytime there's a referendum on a party in power in a midterm, it gets extremely tricky because no one is ever in the history of this country satisfied with status quo. It's like, where are you going from here? So your challenge as an incumbent parties try to make it a choice election about whether you want to go the direction they want or the direction that we've charted out. And we now have some evidence as to where we're going. I think he did a pretty good job of that. But what you saw us just covered was the direction they want us to go. Here's Donald Trump on the other side of the coin in clip nine.

[Clip Narrator]

You've seen nothing yet. We're going to do better and better and Better. This is the golden age of America. When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world. But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before. And a turnaround for the ages. It is indeed a turnaround for the ages. A short time ago, we. We were a dead country. Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world.

[Host/Moderator]

The hottest.

[Clip Narrator]

I say tonight, members of Congress, the state of our union is strong.

[Michael Duncan]

Look, man, we've talked a lot about the quality of his showmanship and about how well written the close was and everything that goes into that. But from a campaign practitioners point of view, the contrast that he drove between what he is fighting for and what Democrats will take us back to was stark. On crime, on immigration, on taxes, on a whole host of issues. He went hard into the paint against these Democrats to show people how bad it can be if Democrats take power again.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's important. And I think we always do a poor job of this as Republicans. We've talked about this before. Democrats are always better at being like, what I inherited was terrible, yada, yada, yada. Rhetorically, it's a very effective strategy. I think we don't do it a lot because, like, it's not in our ethos. Like, Republicans were like, all right, how do I fix the problem? You know, we don't talk enough about how the other guy screwed it all up. He did that not just on immigration and not just on crime, but on taxes. We don't talk about that enough.

[Host/Moderator]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

We talk about all the money we're saving your average American family. Fantastic, wonderful. But Donald Trump acknowledging every single Democrat in this room wanted to raise your taxes.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. And they sat.

[Josh Holmes]

And in the negative, it's much more rhetorically impactful for your average voter. And that is why Donald Trump is so critical to this midterm. If he's out there and he's selling it that way, we're gonna do pretty good.

[John Ashbrook]

A quick thing I want to add about specifically Trump's State of the Union and what he accomplished. And what was critical is we had started seeing there's a lot of conservatives who are more in this for the clicks than the cause and who had been trying to spread this black pill doomerism among conservatives ahead of a midterm. The worst thing you could do, especially given all the accomplishments. And I think Trump did an incredible job of showing the contrast between what would happen if Dems take over in this midterm. We all know it's going to be endless impeachment, endless bullshit trying to stop President Trump's progress. But he made the case of all the things that we've accomplished, how great America is where our future is headed. That was terrific. And there's no space for the doomers anymore aboard this train. Get on board for the big win.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, dude, listen, well said. I think where I approach this from the context of where we're at in the cycle is anytime you get beyond that 12 month mark in the first year of a presidency and replacement Republican majorities, you're gonna get what you're talking about. The doomerism, the what you didn't do everything that I wanted you to do. The yeah, if you don't do this, it's all for not type nonsense. Which again, I think you are right. He properly contextualize that is nonsense. But there are core pieces to this, and we'll hear this from Jess Anderson later in the show who runs Sentinel Action Fund, that if you look at the midterm electorate, they're convinced that the economy is the thing. It always has been as long as I've been involved in politics, with maybe one exception. And what he has done is provide a personal context to all of that in a way that you're either sitting down on no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security on an average $2,500 savings this year, or you're not. And there are people who didn't want that. And those are the people who are standing. And the people who did want that, well, they're sitting. And it resets a dial on what has been nine months of accumulated damage from Democrats and their negativity towards the economy. That just builds a callus around your optimism. You don't have to be terribly effective from a messenger standpoint to just the cumulative weight of negativity over a period of time that has weighed down this administration. You can see it in their poll numbers on his approval on the economy, for example, his approval versus where the economy actually is a distinct difference and that is as a result of that accumulation. What he did is shake the barnacles off of this sucker and reframe that debate in a way that you're now able to see in a binary way about what it is that somebody wants versus what it is that we're doing. And it resets that midterm debate in a way that gives Republicans real ammo. You're not selling something that's sullied. You're not selling something that the accumulative weight of negativity has just rounded the edges on. You're selling something that is against a choice of $2,500 less in your pocket that they're going to go send to some state where some smiley pirates going to figure out how to take it. You're talking about, right, you're talking about no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. All the things that you're going to see in less than 60 days in your tax return that you now know because of this State of the Union. You have one party that didn't want it. It's not rhetorical anymore. You saw them sit. It's physical, it's visual. You can see it. And I think that makes a big difference. Did the same thing on immigration. You can talk about the execution of the ICE raids in Minnesota. Maybe that wasn't your favorite thing in the entire world. Maybe you really hate the fact that there has been, you know, what has been described, and I don't think this is necessarily the case, but it's like a quota system where it's just as many people that we can round up and get out of here rather than prioritizing the dangerous criminals around us. Whatever that is, whatever you thought that debate was, the dial was reset in a way where these people couldn't stand at the precipice question about whether or not you represent the American people or people who are here illegally. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

He made the State of the Union a binary choice.

[Host/Moderator]

It's a binary choice again.

[Michael Duncan]

He did the same thing on violent crime. You know, and thinking about a victim of violent crime who was murdered by someone had been let out of jail 15 times for previous violent crimes, they couldn't stand up. They can't get it. I don't understand what is going on.

[Host/Moderator]

So the rhetoric, the shading, the corporate media promotion of a. Well, it's all a messy fight with different visions for the same goal is all bullshit because you just saw it. There's one party who's gonna sit. They're gonna sit while this mother had her daughter slaughtered on closed captioning television that you've all unfortunately seen. And they don't think that she deserves justice. They think everything that led up to that is just fine. Your Soros prosecutor, your illegal immigration prose, all of it. They're good with because they sat. They've shown you physically and that was the genius of this whole thing and how it affects the midterms in a very real way. So if you go to ruthlesspodcast.com map you can keep up with all of your candidates where you can see them speak to all of this. And they now have to because that's the vision that we're taking into this, that you've got a jumping off point Republicans. There's no looking back. You now reset the dial. Nine months of barnacles have been shaken off the hole. Drive that fucker as fast as you possibly can because the alternative as presented to the American people is catastrophic. All right, so it leads us to our question of the day. And our question of the day is, do you think this will make a difference? You heard our opinion on this. It has the capacity, in our view. But do you think the state of the union and the resetting of the dials will make a difference? When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program, we read all of your responses, particularly interested in this one because it does matter an awful lot. And you probably have regional perspectives and issue perspectives on all of this. But put in your comments, we'll read them all and get back to the very next episode, in this case, Funtime Friday. So if you want to throw a little flair, make it funny, we certainly would appreciate that. When we come back, your comments from last episode when we asked what is the Democrats biggest liability in the upcoming elections? Your response is ready for this?

[Sponsor Representative]

They closed President Trump's accounts. Now the big banks want to destroy Trump, Trump's affordability agenda by putting tolls on your data.

[Clip Narrator]

I have no higher priority than making America affordable again. That's what we're going to do.

[Sponsor Representative]

The banks that went after Trump now want hidden fees on every transaction, making everything more expensive. But President Trump can stop them. Tell President Trump, keep big bank fees out of the open. Banking rule.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay? When you like and subscribe, we invite you to comment. Our question of the day and Tuesday's question was, what is the Democrats biggest liability heading to these midterm elections? To do that, we always start with a voice.

[Michael Duncan]

First one comes from Donna Klein. And Donna writes, biggest liability is their own mouths. The most succinct answer I can come up with, Donna wisdom out of Donna Klein there.

[Host/Moderator]

It's so true.

[Ken Paxton]

We've talked about this a lot.

[Host/Moderator]

Like if you were a party leader in the Democratic Party, you'd be like, just shut the fuck up.

[John Ashbrook]

Just shut up for God's sake, please.

[Host/Moderator]

It works for Joe Biden in 2020.

[Ken Paxton]

So true.

[Host/Moderator]

Comment too. Dunks, runks.

[Josh Holmes]

This is from Christy Benars. Christy writes, if they don't know which is the opposite position of Trump and haven't been spoon fed a canned answer, they don't know what to say.

[Host/Moderator]

That's reading the tea leaves there, because that's. That's exactly right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's Gretchen Whitmer at the Munich conference.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

I have no idea because I don't know what to say about Donald Trump.

[Host/Moderator]

Let me outsource this to ambassador nominee that none of my party would confirm as Attorney General.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Host/Moderator]

Because we none of us thought he was qualified, but he's clearly more qualified than I am to answer this question.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

Incredible.

[John Ashbrook]

All right, Smuggles, Comment three is from a Hamilton script. They write the Democrats biggest liability literally is the 20 million of debt the Kamala Harris presidential campaign incurred despite raising 1 billion. Figuratively. It is their lack of ability to stop spending money we don't have.

[Michael Duncan]

That is.

[Host/Moderator]

It tied it all together.

[John Ashbrook]

Tied it together.

[Host/Moderator]

Tied it together. A Hamilton script. I love it. All right, so we've got a big game of King of the Hill coming up, but we have to get to this incredible interview that we have with the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, part of our ongoing RuthlessPodcast.com map project that we're gonna continue. I think you'll enjoy. Very excited about this interview. It is a incredibly important Senate race that is coming up first. The primary is next week, next Tuesday. And we have the Attorney General, Ken Paxton. How are you, sir?

[Ken Paxton]

I am doing really well. It's great to be here with you guys.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, it's very nice of you. You're up here for the State of the Union.

[Ken Paxton]

Came up here with Troy Nells. Invited me and I thought, what a great opportunity to be here, kind of previewing, you know, my future. And also during the President deliver another State of the Union.

[Host/Moderator]

Have you been to one of these before?

[Ken Paxton]

So I came to. I think it was his first one when he was in his first term with the Congressman Sam Johnson, who is my. Okay, my congressman. I don't know if you guys familiar with.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Ken Paxton]

Such a legend, man. He was one of my clients when I practiced law and.

[Host/Moderator]

Is that right?

[Ken Paxton]

He was a good friend of mine. So he invited me and got me a pretty good seat.

[Host/Moderator]

I can imagine.

[Ken Paxton]

I think he was well liked.

[Host/Moderator]

It's smaller venue than you think. You see it on tv, it looks like a stadium. Then you walk into the place and

[Ken Paxton]

I Just felt I was, you know, I'm sitting alone, they're down. I was up in the gallery in the very center, and I was just like, it was just kind of a cool feeling to be there.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, no, I mean, no question. It's a one on one experience. So listen, you've had a very long, successful career, huge base of support within Texas. You decided to run for Senate. Why now?

[Ken Paxton]

So I'd served three terms as Attorney General. I had. Each time I felt like I had a mission and I come from the state Senate and I really didn't want to leave. I just, I just got into the Senate. I was practicing law, making a lot more money than I do as ag and I was not just that I was home and I was around my kids and family and I liked it and lots of friends and I didn't really want to leave, but I felt like my mission was to take on Obama and if Texas didn't do it, that no one was really going to have the resources or the desire to do what I wanted to do. And nobody was running that I thought could do it the right way. So I ran and won. And my second term, I had a different mission. It was take on big tech, big pharma, and I've been pretty successful that. We also had a lot of election issues that we took on. We stopped all that craziness that happened all the other states. We fought it. We had 12 lawsuits and in very liberal counties trying to mail out ballots illegally. And I knew if they got them out, we'd lose. And I told Trump, you're gonna lose if I don't, if I don't stop this, if I don't win all 12 lawsuits in all these liberal counties and we're losing every lawsuit, we're going to have to get to the Supreme Court or the fifth Circuit or both. And we won those and Texas was saved. And then my third term was to take on Joe Biden. And that was an unexpected twist. When he got that election and we did that, we sued him on his third day in office for saying on the first day that he would not deport people anymore. He was not following his legal responsibility. So we sued him, got an injunction on day six, and when he left office, the last day when he transitioned to Trump, we sued him one more time for offshore or banning offshore drilling. And that was our 107th lawsuit.

[Host/Moderator]

So we started a lot of paper makers over there.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah, so that's a lot of, a lot of lawsuits against Joe Biden. It was 107 in four years.

[Host/Moderator]

Let me ask you this. So listen, you've been incredibly successful in the state of Texas, as I mentioned, huge base of support. The narrative about you in D.C. and federal politics is that you are a real live wire, right? And that you've got liabilities, you've got all kinds of controversy that follows you. I mean, I've talked to you several times over the last few years. You're a personable guy. Why do you think that this narrative exists?

[Ken Paxton]

Do you know a guy named Donald Trump? Does that sound familiar? It does. It's, it's just goes with the territory. I mean, I think if you're, if you're intruding into actually being effective and getting things done, there's a lot, it ruffles a lot of feathers. And they come after you. They use the lawfare system. Like, I went through a lot of different things, like 15 different things while I was in, in the Attorney General's office. Before that, you know, before I got to the AG's office, you know, you know how many problems I had? I had none. I had never even gotten a speeding ticket or a traffic ticket. I got nothing. I've got no parking ticket. I was like free of all liabilities. I get into this job and suddenly I'm like inundated with problems, and suddenly I'm a problem. That was just, you know, honestly, that was, that was Karl Rove in that little world coming after me because I was, I was beating their guys and I wouldn't, I didn't know I was beating their guys. I was just doing what I thought I should do. I wouldn't try to like, go after anybody in particular. I was just trying to run for office. And I didn't realize when you, you, you do that, people get mad.

[Host/Moderator]

I look at this. It's a good answer. I look at this from a standpoint of, you know, most well adjusted human beings, when they've been through what it is that you've been through, you're like, man, give me the hell out of this politics game. You know, people all over your personal life, your professional life that tried to impeach you, everything else. This doesn't seem to bother you.

[Ken Paxton]

You know, I just, I want to, I wasn't going to go out on their terms. I mean, I just wasn't going to let the people of Texas, for instance, the impeachment. They just elected me four months ago, all of this stuff. I was hit with $30 million with the ads and in a close race with George P. Bush. I beat him by 38 points. And I felt like, you know, the. That was a joke, 38 points. So, I mean, the people of Texas overwhelming me a lot. And then I ran in the general election and they said I couldn't win. I won by, you know, 10 points. And I spent no money, like $6 million. And I just felt like I owed it to people of Texas because it was four months after I got elected that they decided, the politicians decided that they didn't want me in office. I'm like, this isn't the way it's supposed to happen. I won this election. I'm not gonna. Those guys, I'm gonna make them vote me out. If they're gonna do this, they're gonna have to take me to trial. And they. I told my attorneys, I said, I don't care what they say about me. I don't care how bad it is, is you guys are going to trial and you're going to win.

[Host/Moderator]

I mean, that's an amazing thing though, right? I mean, most of us, we talk about this all the time because we've kind of been public for a long period of time. But I think the average Texan or American around the country who's been through and had people say the things that they've said about you would be like, all right, I'm cool. I'm cool with them.

[Josh Holmes]

I can go back to the law for make money.

[Ken Paxton]

Go back to the law firm.

[Host/Moderator]

You don't have it. You just. You're stepping back up into perhaps other than President of the United States, the most consequential in the most chaotic election you could put yourself in.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah. And believe me, I mean, after three terms of being Attorney General, which has been, you know, challenging and hard work, you know, we have 40,000 cases going right now. It's a lot of stuff to manage, a lot of people to manage. I just felt like. I looked at John Cornyn. He'd been in office since I was in College and I'm 63. He's been a U.S. senator for 24 years. He's running for a fifth term. No one in Texas history has ever done that. Not Sam Houston, not Phil Graham, not John Tower, not LBJ. No one's ever run for been 30 years. And I looked at his record and I've watched him and I've asked this question everywhere. I've been like literally every meeting from one person to 3,000. Can you name. Let's give him the whole 40 plus years back to when I was in college. He was District Attorney, I mean, district district judge. He was Supreme Court, Supreme Court. He was attorney general for one term. And he's been 24 years in Senate. Can you name one major accomplishment of John Cornyn? And in my meetings, I've never gotten an answer to that question. And my argument is, hey, we need a change. We need something that will actually do something other than side with Joe Biden on restricting Second Amendment rights. Something that will actually accomplish what Texas, we're not Maine, we're not Delaware. We deserve a little more than maybe what they would expect.

[Josh Holmes]

So what does that do? Something that you want to do? I mean, we're in the closing days now of this primary. You've been hearing from a lot of Texans across the state. I have to imagine if you had to like, bumper sticker the thing, what is it that the primary voters of Texas are?

[Ken Paxton]

First, I have to say, first of all, what I wouldn't do, because the thing that I went on stage right after him at the Republican convention 30 years ago. He goes on stage with his wife. This is the base of the party. It's like 10 to 12,000 delegates. He is booed for 10 straight minutes. She walks off. He speaks for 20 minutes, never changes his speech, never adjusts, talks about how much he loves the Second Amendment. He gets booed the entire 30 minutes. It was like cringeworthy. I knew then he was in trouble because I walked on stage after him. I was the next speaker. And this is one month after he called me in embarrassment right before my runoff with George P. Bush, where I beat him by 38. And he walked off. I stepped away so I would not say anything like I was thinking. And I walked on stage and got a standing ovation. And I knew his time, he was done. He had disappointed the voters enough. You know, he'd been anti Trump every election. He was fighting us on the boardwalk, all the things that Texans care about. He's on the other side. And that's just time we get some. It's on our side, Johnny.

[Michael Duncan]

So something that our listeners are very interested in is, and this is back toward your AG list of accomplishments. Something our listeners are very concerned about is the rise of CCP influence in our country. They have a huge concern about the money that is flowing into these left wing NGOs, everything that they've seen in Minnesota and all of these people who aren't necessarily from the neighborhood, but then they show up and they protest and we all know that those people are paid. I know that you hit have gone after CCP influence in this country. And I wonder if you could just tell us about those cases.

[Ken Paxton]

So I can only do what I'm authorized by law to do. Legislature can pass things and pass whatever they want. I do what I'm allowed to do. And one of the things I've been doing is using our Deceptive Trade Practices act to go after Chinese companies. So in the last week, we sued five of them. Every day we sued a different Chinese company that we'd worked on from. I can't even pronounce other names, Sheen and Tamu, and I don't even know how to say all their names, but we sued five different companies, telecommunications companies, different companies that we feel are stealing data from our. Because I have data privacy laws that help me stealing our data and stealing consumers data without their permission. And it's going back to the Chinese government, which I consider a security risk. And so we're going after those companies if we can. If we think that they are doing that, we are suing them and we're going to have discovery and we're going to find out what they're doing.

[Michael Duncan]

The state of Texas is bigger and more influential than most nations on the face of the earth. I mean, that must really send a message to these.

[Ken Paxton]

I am trying to send a message. I mean, obviously the Chinese are going to continue to try to do what they can to steal data, steal our technology, steal everything and steal our country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, IP too, is a big component.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah, they used to force companies over to China and make them give some of the company to the Chinese and they steal our IP and then. And then we're out of luck. So I think, I mean, I view China as a major threat. I've spent some time in the last year trying to understand that. I went to Honolulu and met with Indo Strategic Command, the Air Force and Navy to discuss what they're seeing. I flew to Taiwan to meet with leaders in Taiwan so I could understand what's going on in Taiwan. And the day I got there, probably not me. Chinese surrounded us with ships. And I just recently went to Tokyo and went to our largest Air Force base. Our largest base outside of the United States is in. Is in just outside of Tokyo. And I wanted to meet with leaders so I could start getting a flavor of what I would view as our biggest threat.

[Michael Duncan]

Is that something that you feel like you can continue on in the Senate, just sort of sticking it to the ccp? I mean, are there ways that you.

[Ken Paxton]

Yes, and I love that Trump's the first president I know of that actually has recognized this problem and is actually fighting them on an economic front and realizing that they are a threat to our country. I think Texans generally view it as a threat and we've taken it more seriously than a lot of states. And I think if we don't take it seriously, we're going to find ourselves with China running the world.

[Josh Holmes]

So on the election integrity stuff, you mentioned these liberal jurisdictions in Texas were trying to do mail out ballots and all this sort of stuff.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah, let me explain what they're doing. It was totally illegal because of COVID There's different ways you can get a mail in ballot, but the way it works is if you're over 65 years old, you're going to be out, or you're out of the county, or you're disabled, or you're in prison, but you're not a felon. You can apply for a ballot.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you're opting in.

[Ken Paxton]

You. You have to sign about. You have to sign an application. They, you send it and they send you a ballot and they send you an envelope. You fill out your ballot, you stick in the envelope, you sign the envelope and they compare signature.

[Josh Holmes]

Because there's a chain of custody to that process.

[Ken Paxton]

If you mail them out, which. Which all the big liberal counties want to do. And the judges were like, oh, we got Covid. We don't. The state law doesn't matter anymore because we, the judge have just decided not to follow it.

[Josh Holmes]

What a wild time.

[Ken Paxton]

They, they mailed them. They were going to mail them out in all the liberal counties. That seems like a bad idea for all elections to just mail out ballots because then there's no idea who's filling them out. You don't know what their signature looks like. Anybody can grab them. And they were saying, well, you can't prove fraud. You're right, we can't, because you guys set the system up for us to make it impossible to prove fraud. So I was like, we're going to lose.

[Josh Holmes]

Almost like that was the point in the beginning.

[Ken Paxton]

So when everybody's saying there's no fraud, I'm like, no, wait a minute. No, they are going to steal this election because he only won. He won Texas by what it was 680,000 votes. I'm trying to remember in 16, whatever that was, there's enough votes in just one of those counties to overcome that. They just have to figure out how many votes they need and they're going to have all these mail in ballots that we have no idea where they came from. So I mean, I told the person I got to stop this. And I was in 12 different lawsuits. And I figured I knew it was going on in other states. If they were doing it that big in Texas, we. I had to figure out creative ways because what was happening is we would lose every single case in all these counties because all liberal judges, we'd go to the Court of appeals, which were all liberal, all Democrats, and they would hold it up. And so they were going to let the mail ballots go out. The genie's out of the bottle. And I lose. I don't care if I win the case, I lose because they're going to count those ballots. So I told my team, I said, look, you got to figure out some way, I don't know what it is. Make it up. We got to get to the Supreme Court and the fifth Circuit, and we got to get rulings on these before these ballots go out. We're dead. And they did it. First time. We figured out a creative way that had never been done before. We got it to the Supreme Court. Court. They got it because three of them were going to lose if we didn't fix this because three of them were on the ballot. So I thought if they were that stupid and don't see it. And they did. They saw it and they. They stopped it. And then I actually in Harris county, just in case because I was worried

[Host/Moderator]

that the Harris County's a problem.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah. And they had appointed Biden, had a guy there from Yale Law School. I'm like hella lectures is from Yale Law School. That doesn't make sense. So I put my law enforcement. I couldn't like, take the ballots. They had all these mail in ballots in the. And so during voting, I had the building surrounded by law enforcement. So if they tried to violate the court order, I was going right back to court and hold them in contempt. So I didn't want them to get the ballots out. We were going to watch them. And so we did.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[Ken Paxton]

And guess what? He won by like, what, 7 or 8%. Georgia, which four years prior had the same margin of victory for Trump. Guess what? They just need one county. Fulton county, just like in everyone. Maricopa county in Arizona, Wayne county in up in Michigan, Milwaukee county in Wisconsin, Philadelphia. You'll need one Democratic county to pull this off. And when they stopped counting ballots on that election, I was with a bunch of my people. It was at 10:30. Trump was ahead in every battleground state. And I said, I'm going home. This thing is over. He's going to lose. They're going to stop counting until they figure out how many votes they need, and then they're going to have all the mail in ballots they need and no one's going to know who signed them. And that's exactly, exactly what happened.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to ask you about the general election and you mentioned one of your primary opponents, but I want to ask you about one of the general election opponents, this guy James Talarico. You have a long career as an attorney, and I wonder if you could make the case to our audience to disqualify James Tallarico.

[Host/Moderator]

We've had a lot of fun with him here on the Variety Program.

[Ken Paxton]

Well, the crazy thing is, like, I've been in politics a long time. I can't tell you anything he's ever done other than being in the House. But what does he actually accomplish? Accomplish? Like I, I know nothing about this guy. Like what? Name one thing.

[Josh Holmes]

And he's been on the View. Okay.

[Ken Paxton]

He's got all this, you know, deeply.

[Host/Moderator]

He's a deeply religious.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ken Paxton]

Deeply religious pastor. Doesn't believe anything in the Bible. Yeah, I, I, I mean, it's ridiculous to me. He doesn't seem qualified. I mean, I can't name anything he's accomplished. I don't view him as a threat either way because what has he done? It's just name.

[Host/Moderator]

I'm glad you raised this because this, this is the case that your primary opponents are making against you in that Talrico is somehow, no, only one primary

[Ken Paxton]

opponent is really making this. It's the guy that can't win in the primary. Cornyn.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. Okay.

[Ken Paxton]

He's the one making this, making the

[Host/Moderator]

case that somehow a matchup between you and Tal Rico means an investment of 100 million-plus from the Republican Congress offers.

[Ken Paxton]

What's your, Here's a guy that's saying that and he's already spent 70 or 80 million in the primary that could have been used in Michigan. So I would have saved, I would have said, save your money. Let's just duke this out. Instead, Corn says, no, I'm going to take the 100 million now, but I'm going to need the 100 million later. He's still going to need that 100 million later either way. So he's just wasting our money. He's wasting money that Republicans thought they were using for Democrats and they're using it on me. Second, how many statewide races have I won?

[Michael Duncan]

Three.

[Ken Paxton]

How much money have I spent on the statewide total? Maybe an average of about 4 million. Almost nothing. And I've got three statewide wins. And when we polled it and when I've seen other independent polls, guess who does as well or better? Me. I do as well or better than corn. So this is a great talking point, but it's just like his whole campaign, it's all fabricated because guess what? The guy doesn't have anything to tell Texans that they care about that he's running on.

[Host/Moderator]

See, look, we all see the numbers. Chances are this is a runoff situation.

[Ken Paxton]

Maybe.

[Host/Moderator]

What's your.

[Sponsor Representative]

What's your maybe?

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, no, no, I want you to ballpark this out because we don't know. We're not there. All we know is we get these national polls and nobody knows how to pull. Yeah, I know. Nobody knows how to pull taxes in a way that you all have sort of understood. Like, what do you anticipate next Tuesday and is runoff?

[Ken Paxton]

Let's say put it in. You remember when Jimmy Johnson said we're going to win the Super Bowl? Put it in. Big, bold type. I'm going to win this. And whether I win without a runoff, you know, I'm playing basketball. There's eight candidates, right? So I'm playing basketball against all seven. They're all get to score. They all get to play defense. However, I got a shot. I got a shot of winning this other runoff. There's no doubt about it. I don't know how the numbers are going to fall, but I can guarantee this, nobody else is going to win without a runoff. The only person has a shot at it, and I've got a shot is me.

[Host/Moderator]

Huh. That's interesting. Yeah, that's interesting. Okay, well, you hear first. So every time somebody comes in here for the first time, we ask them three questions. And these are like the.

[Ken Paxton]

Whatever the. Whatever the question is, the answer is Texas barbecue. Texas barbecue, beer and football. What else? What are the questions?

[Host/Moderator]

But if we're talking. Yeah, if we're talking Texas barbecue, there's a lady. Last meal on earth, obviously. Oh, I can tell you exactly Texas barbecue. But let's get specific about it.

[Ken Paxton]

No, I'm going to tell you. Okay, so it depends on what location I'm in. There's two really good places that I love in Texas. One is called Hutchins. It's in McKinney and Frisco. There's two locations. I. I had an office in downtown McKinney when I practice law, and I go there every week. And it is the best. Like, it's the best beef ribs. It's better than a steak. It's better than a steak. It's beef ribs, and they're their brisket, their sausage and other things are great, but hutchins, amazing.

[Host/Moderator]

You know what you're doing.

[Ken Paxton]

Or if I'm in Austin, it's Terry Blacks. And they're also in Wake Waco.

[Josh Holmes]

I love Terry Blacks. I mean, well, in every good Texas barbecue is judged ultimately by their brisket.

[Ken Paxton]

I feel like brisket, but the beef rib, too. You had the beef rib. That is like a brontosaurus thing.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, I know.

[Ken Paxton]

It's. And the thing about hutchins, they have. That's different. They have this thing called the Texas Twinkie.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, gosh.

[Ken Paxton]

Okay. That is brisket wrapped in bacon with cream cheese and a jalapeno wrapped around it.

[Josh Holmes]

Come on.

[Ken Paxton]

So the bacon is wrapped around the jalapeno and then stuffed with brisket and cream cheese.

[Josh Holmes]

See, that's perfect for last meal.

[Ken Paxton]

I'm telling you, I'm eating everything, and I don't even need sides at these places. No barbecue sauce. If you put barbecue sauce on that, you should be kidding.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that.

[Host/Moderator]

All right, second question. You've been doing this successfully for a lot of years, but at some point in your life, you encounter things that you think you're good at, that you're motivated by you like that you didn't get a chance to go do. And with the benefit of retrospect, you look back and you're like, man, a very different life in a very different direction. Maybe I could have been really good at that. What would that be?

[Michael Duncan]

What Ted Cruz said he would have played in the NBA. So it can be.

[Host/Moderator]

Anybody knows that that's not going to be a possibility with Ted, But.

[Ken Paxton]

But, you know, it would have been some sport. I mean, I loved sports growing up. I played baseball, I played football, I played basketball. I played tennis. I, you know, I love playing golf now. So if you just put me out on any of those fields, I'm middle

[Host/Moderator]

relief pitcher for the Rangers, or.

[Ken Paxton]

No, probably ideal. I'd be quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Yeah, I know.

[Host/Moderator]

No, no, it's not.

[Ken Paxton]

I'm not saying it's ever possible, but you said if I could do whatever, that would have been ideal, because I think. I mean, I was pretty good athlete, but I wasn't like, you know, six four and Troy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I'm not sure which you got to be in Texas.

[Host/Moderator]

I mean, it's such good fun in your sophomore year.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Ken Paxton]

Or you got to be able to run a 4:3 or whatever, like RG3 from Baylor.

[Host/Moderator]

All right, so I think. I know the answer to this. But our last question is which one?

[Ken Paxton]

Beer or.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, this one. I wish it was that one. We can get to that in a second. But our view is that every successful person is motivated in some part by the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. And it's not that anybody doesn't like to win or they do like to lose. It's what motivates them to just keep charging.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Host/Moderator]

They just take it to the next level. And like Michael Jordan's the ultimate agony of defeat person who used to just invent slights in order to take his game to the next level. We like to think, like Phil Mickelson, your sports guy. Phil Mickelson is like the thrill of victory guy where he's up three shots, but he decides to take the two iron over to 180 yards of water just because he's hit that chop before and he thinks he can do it again. Like, where do you find.

[Ken Paxton]

That's probably me. I mean, like, I love to win. So it's. I'll take that extra. I, I'll just take the shot if. I'll just, if I can. If it's there, I'm not playing it safe. I'm going for it. Yeah. It's just the, it's very similar.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. To what you're doing right now. That is the 280 yard shot.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah. I'll take it. Even if I'm. Even though I'm not. Like, I'd start playing golf. Golf at 55, I'll still take the shot because in my head, I know I can do it.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[Ken Paxton]

Whether I did it or I know I can.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

As your attorney general and you're just starting to play golf, is there an element of like, geez, I hope nobody's filming this?

[Ken Paxton]

Oh, unfortunately, some people have filmed it and they have, they have video evidence of some very bad defeats. And for some reason they don't have any film of the victories. I do occasionally have a good shot.

[Host/Moderator]

Nobody has the birdie putt on tape.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[Ken Paxton]

And there was, there has been a recent one that was a really nice one, actually. I, I was on a team that played. I was just, I wasn't playing. You know, I'm playing four or five times a year right now, but I played on this team out somewhere very nice, and we had two guys that could hit the ball like a mile, so I never had to worry about the drive. So. But they, I was putting really well that day and we ended up finishing first because I sunk 265 foot and putts, 65, including one on eight.

[Host/Moderator]

Eighteen.

[Ken Paxton]

Eighteen.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you know what they say. You drive for show, you putt for dough.

[Ken Paxton]

Well, they let me putt last because I was. That was a good day. The last. The last putt got us in the finals. We were all. We were nine under because that putt went in.

[Host/Moderator]

Wow.

[Ken Paxton]

So I didn't contribute in any other way because we were on. We were on the Evergreen and too, by the way, these guys would just crush it.

[Host/Moderator]

You had two good partners.

[Ken Paxton]

I had some really good parts, so I just had to putt.

[Host/Moderator]

I love it. All right, so listen, no question, given the rhetoric that's been coming out of D.C. nRSC leader's office, SLF about your candidacy, if you were to win this thing. This thing needs to come.

[Ken Paxton]

No, no, no.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. Well, you're gonna. It's gonna have to come back together at some point. If you get that opportunity to just sort of make your case that this is ridiculous, I'm gonna win this thing to Leader Thune or to NRSC Scott or whatever. Like, what do you say to these guys?

[Ken Paxton]

I say, you know, look, you spent your money. Let's go 70, $80 million for primary. Whether there's a runoff or not, you're going to see the numbers and you're going to see the results. And this is. This is. I mean, I'm going to spend like two and a half million to 80. That's just look at the margin of victory with the spending and just realize, look, the people of Texas are speaking. It's all great that you can spend money from DC and try to help your friends get it, but at some point, just stop the game and take a note of reality. The people of Texas do not want John Cornyn. They're going to choose me. You're going to see it, and let's just work together. I don't have any bitterness about it. I'm not mad at anybody. I'm just trying to get rid of a guy that people in Texas clearly don't want and let us have our say. Once you see it, then come help me.

[Host/Moderator]

That's a good message. It's a good message. It's the kind of thing. For 15 years, I spent my life trying to get people like you to not run for Senate. So not having that hat on and getting a chance to talk to you about this is a fascinating thing for me. And the message that you just said, I think it resonates at some level and that I'm not here to disrupt your World. I'm here to represent the people who are ultimately going to cast a definitive ballot one way or the other.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Host/Moderator]

And if I win that thing, it's no offense taken, but that is what it is.

[Ken Paxton]

Right? It's their choice. As much as you want to influence it, you have every right to try. But in the end, you don't get to vote. The people of Texas decide. And you may not like their choice. You may just think John Corn was the best senator in human history, but the people of Texas disagreed. And so just give me a chance. Give me a chance to come up here and prove myself. Don't make it, don't make it hard for me now. Just acknowledge what the vote has said. That's all I ask. Just acknowledge reality, and the reality will be true on Tuesday. Whatever you'll see whether I said what I said is true or false.

[Host/Moderator]

It is. It is what it is.

[Ken Paxton]

You're going to see it.

[Host/Moderator]

It's going to be demonstrated by elections. It's the beauty of elections. Votes count.

[Ken Paxton]

Yes. They should be paid attention to.

[Host/Moderator]

So if people want to help you out who are listening to this, where do they go?

[Ken Paxton]

Kenpaxon.com that's where you can donate. We need all the help because I don't have these special committees helping me, but I'd love to. And then Paxton TX is our Twitter handle on Facebook.

[Host/Moderator]

Awesome.

[John Ashbrook]

Awesome.

[Host/Moderator]

I can't thank you enough for coming in. It's fantastic you had somebody from the great state of Texas traveling all the way up here. Yeah. You're welcome anytime. Ken Paxton, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah. Thank you, guys.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, fellas, very interesting interview. I think this guy has, look, I think this guy has a shot to win.

[Host/Moderator]

Boys leading.

[Michael Duncan]

I think he's got more than a shot to win on Tuesday.

[Host/Moderator]

You mean outright?

[Michael Duncan]

I, I do, I do. And I could be wrong.

[Host/Moderator]

Just as a, just a reminder to people, Texas works in one of those primary systems where you have to have a majority above 50% in order to avoid a runoff. If you have a plurality, meaning you're winning by 10 points but you're under 50, it's going to go to a runoff no matter what. And they just eliminate the third candidate. It's basically a head to head mano a mano. You're saying there's a chance that this guy gets 50?

[Michael Duncan]

I think if there's a shot, he gets to 50. Is he going to be in the fort? I think he's, he could be in the 40s too. I just, he seems like he's getting momentum at the right time.

[Josh Holmes]

He seems confident.

[Michael Duncan]

He does seem confident.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

It's interesting because, I mean, he's definitely spent the least money, but he does have a base of support that lasts, you know, a long time now. I mean, people in Texas have been all over Campax, and despite the fact that he's run into impeachment problems, questions about his, you know, own social and personal life, business and everything else, I mean, he's overcome all of that because of that giant base of support that he's got. I think he kind of took all those questions head on in that interview and had answers, which I assume is what the people of Texas have been hearing. I just don't know where this thing is going. It's been a long time since we've had a big statewide that has had. Well, nobody's ever spent more money than is being spent in this primary, but I just don't. I don't know how to ballpark it.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, look, and I think that's fair and to your point about the amount of money that's being spent, I think there's a brand new ad campaign that has gone up here in the closing days against Ken Paxton. So we'll see if maybe that peels some of his vote back ahead of next Tuesday. But it's going to be very interesting to watch. Really looking forward to talking to Wesley Hunt.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, the good news for all of you is you can see Wesley Hunt, John Cornyn, and ken Paxton on RuthlessPodcast.com map because we've got all of them, as we promised you we would. Time for a game, fellas. Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

It's Thursday, and that can mean only one thing. King of the Hill. And I'm the defending champion with Bill Crystal.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, I was robbed. Okay, so I'm now a bailiff.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't think you were robbed. I think smug. And I successfully bullied Ashbrook.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, it was an activist court for sure.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the good type.

[Host/Moderator]

With an outcome in mind.

[John Ashbrook]

Ashbrook's a challenger this week. Who's your.

[Michael Duncan]

I got Smoking Joe Walsh.

[John Ashbrook]

Joe Walsh. Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

And I'm the judge, and I will not whine to you.

[Ken Paxton]

Judge, I'd love to hear that.

[Josh Holmes]

That's nice.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay, well, let's go ringside. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. It's time for King of the Hill. And now, in the blue corner, a fighting from a webcam in Illinois, smoking Joe Walsh. And now, in the red corner, once

[Michael Duncan]

again, fighting from Pierre Omadeir's checkbook and

[Host/Moderator]

current champion of the world, Bill. War now. War forever. Well done as always, Mr. Ring Announcer. Okay, well, I will extract. Instruct the champion to proceed.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, we're gonna start with exhibit number one here from Bill Crystal.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, gosh.

[Josh Holmes]

Bill writes, fascism is making a comeback. I grew up in a post 1945 environment.

[Host/Moderator]

Tell it yourself.

[Josh Holmes]

Fascism had been discredited. It had also been stigmatized. But stigmas wear off. Fascism was popular once all over. I suppose there's no law saying it can't be popular again.

[John Ashbrook]

I love this for so many reasons.

[Host/Moderator]

I love this other reason. I just have to say, as a bailiff, the idea that he's gotta, like, post date himself to, like, 1945 is completely hilarious. But second of all, fascism. Fascism is not popular. Fascism is what happens when you can overrule the popular.

[John Ashbrook]

The thing is that, like, he. I'll say one thing about Crystal he's been incredible at is like duping idiots with money on keeping him living his life.

[Host/Moderator]

Very good at it.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that is his actual. It's not being a writer, it's not being a thinker. It's not clear. Not being an editor of a magazine. He hasn't succeeded at any single one

[Host/Moderator]

of these duping dumb lips.

[John Ashbrook]

Duping dumb people in general to fund him.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, that's good. All right, challenger, what do we got?

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, exhibit number six, please. Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, with his no Kings label, writes, last night doesn't matter at all. November matters. Keep resisting. I didn't watch his speech. I spoke at the State of the sword. He was there.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my God, he was there.

[Michael Duncan]

Put on by defiance, Doug. That is the giraffe frog event that we talked about earlier.

[John Ashbrook]

He was there.

[Michael Duncan]

Democrats as a whole should have boycotted the speech. He lied and stoked division and then linked to his video with, oh, I didn't link to.

[John Ashbrook]

In his image. He's even got, like a little no Kings scene there.

[Michael Duncan]

No kings. And a picture of his name in the back.

[John Ashbrook]

I gotta say, there's a lot that's hilarious about. Can we get that back up there? The fact that he's admitting to being at the most embarrassing event possibly in our lifetimes. He's like, I spoke at the Furry convention. But he also makes a good point. He's like, democrats should have boycotted speech. If they had just not been there, they would have looked a lot better than, like, oh, yeah. Sitting when they were asked if they stand with American citizens. Sitting when, like, American heroes are being given the medal of Honor. And sitting when the mother of a Murder victim was being recognized.

[Host/Moderator]

So he's not wrong.

[John Ashbrook]

He's not wrong about that.

[Josh Holmes]

No, but like. But, like, also, it seems really selfish to be like, I was at the alternative State of the Swamp event. I wish more Democrats would have came to that.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, he owns himself trying to deal with these fucking ways. It's amazing. And you know what? I think that was a great pick. First round goes to Smokin Joe.

[Host/Moderator]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I can't argue. You know, you're a fair judge.

[John Ashbrook]

Just trying to be fair here.

[Josh Holmes]

And I respect.

[John Ashbrook]

I did.

[Host/Moderator]

I did. I will say, just as an addendum, that the popularity of fascism did capture me. I would have. It would have been hard. Not a great judge to overlook that.

[Michael Duncan]

Round two challenger, Your honor, Question for the court.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, boy.

[Michael Duncan]

Is a video permissible in your court?

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, I'm a strict constructionist.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, okay. So he's reversing precedent.

[John Ashbrook]

We're not going to have a video.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, that's fine. You guys are missing out, though.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you.

[Michael Duncan]

Your honor is missing out.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's a bit much.

[Michael Duncan]

Listeners.

[John Ashbrook]

For as long as this game has existed, it's been like one tweet screenshot. Before we had video component. It used to be just like, describe it. That's it. That's all you get. We're not going to make any special concessions here.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, no. He's reversed and remanded.

[Michael Duncan]

I respect the ruling. I just want to be clear for our audience that they.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we get to the content? Robbing you of content.

[John Ashbrook]

Bailiff, I need you to hurry this up.

[Michael Duncan]

Robbing you of content.

[Host/Moderator]

I disagree with the court's decision.

[Josh Holmes]

Dead air.

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit nine. I said Exhibit 9. While I was being interrupted by the whiner. Whiner in chief over here. He's the most divisive president we've ever had. It's not even close. He lives on division, fear, and cruelty.

[John Ashbrook]

That's tough because that didn't even crack. 10,000 views.

[Michael Duncan]

754.

[Host/Moderator]

I feel like the video must have been the doing the paddle.

[John Ashbrook]

I think he had a lot of hopes pinned on that. Let's go to Duncan.

[Josh Holmes]

Exhibit number two, please. Exhibit number two here from Bill Crystal. He writes Trump's. Trump's politics may in fact be popular on the men's hockey team, at least enough for the athletes to attend his speech. There may be some dissenters and others may be going out of respect for the office, but they don't appear to share his misogyny.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, I love how Dems are trying to cling to this Issue. And I think again, Bill Clinton or Bill Kristol sounds like an absolute idiot whenever he tries to sound like he's thoughtful or whatever. I will say, first of all, as judge, my duty is to the fairness of this court.

[Host/Moderator]

But.

[John Ashbrook]

But number two, it's to the audience of the show. And when you have like a bunch of dead air like Ashbrook did, not knowing what you're doing, not knowing. Flipping through like, yeah, like you've had all day to figure out what exhibits

[Host/Moderator]

are gonna use, he's ruling not on substance.

[John Ashbrook]

You show up to this court, you be ready because we owe our audience a class content. When you sit around like he's robbing

[Michael Duncan]

you from that content, he's telling you you're not allowed to hear that content.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you.

[Michael Duncan]

Thank you.

[John Ashbrook]

So this is going to around three.

[Host/Moderator]

He ruled on a technicality.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you.

[Host/Moderator]

I'm not sure that's been done.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it is. This video is.

[John Ashbrook]

He's just a Rob three for the champion.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

I love this next one because he's. It's like earnest posting.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like I love when Bill Crystal. Earnest posts.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's just such warmed over. Exhibit number three, please. Bill Crystal writes sometimes what's interesting, sometimes what's interesting is what isn't. Said a few terms Trump never uttered last night. Equality.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh my God.

[Josh Holmes]

Rights. Rule of law, Constitution, republic, Democracy. Opportunity. Parenthetical. Used once, not thematically.

[Host/Moderator]

Amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

Justice. Used twice. In a narrow sense.

[John Ashbrook]

Amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh my God, it's a masterpiece.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, he's the guy who would complain at the end of class. Teacher, you didn't assign homework. All right, Ashbrook, what do you got?

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit 8. Nothing he said last night matters. He took the strongest post Covid economy in the entire industrialized world and single handedly fucked it up. Put lawless masked federal thugs on our streets to terrorize immigrants and citizens. Nothing he said last night matters. I can't believe you're not playing my video.

[John Ashbrook]

So there's also something we said about having a poor attitude.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, we. Technicality again.

[John Ashbrook]

We owe it to our listeners, to our viewers, to give them the top shelf stuff. I come here with a ton of energy and you got to entertain these people and you're starting to take us for granted. You're going to be boring like that. Not in my court, you're not.

[Host/Moderator]

Play the video, judge.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, play the video.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

A double tech. He got a double tech.

[Josh Holmes]

He's out of here.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, my God.

[Josh Holmes]

He's out of the game.

[Host/Moderator]

I've never seen anything like it.

[John Ashbrook]

This court, this.

[Josh Holmes]

If we, if we were at a basketball game right now, they'd be playing Hit the Road, Jack.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, can we just play video afterwards? I mean, can't people hear?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, we can hear now. We can, you guys. Now let's play the video. Let's see if it was just good content.

[Ken Paxton]

Let's see.

[Clip Narrator]

He's going to try to screw with

[Host/Moderator]

another one of our elections. Him.

[John Ashbrook]

There's a furry in the background.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, he's jumping.

[Host/Moderator]

Beat after me as loud as you can.

[Clip Narrator]

I apologize.

[Ken Paxton]

But you know what?

[Clip Narrator]

I don't apologize.

[Host/Moderator]

This is an unprecedented moment. So repeat after me.

[Sponsor Representative]

Trump.

[Host/Moderator]

The midterms are happening.

[Clip Narrator]

Oh, my gosh.

[Host/Moderator]

Give it up for Joe Walsh.

[Michael Duncan]

It always happens this way to conservatives like me because the judge and the vice president of the court would never have the courage to do the right thing. And that's why votes come in at the end and you just don't.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I love about that?

[Host/Moderator]

I caught a stray.

[Josh Holmes]

What I love about that video. You remember Selina Meyer in Veep when she's running for president again? She tries to do a slogan and it's too long. Just like this slogan. It's something nobody. Hers is like, we begin the hard work that we started four years ago, you know, or something like that. And it's like that's what he did there, which is hilarious. But I maintain, and this is not a bit like, we can't play videos in King of the Hill because the artistry is in the written words. And if we play videos from deranged

[John Ashbrook]

people, you're just outsourcing the work.

[Josh Holmes]

We're going to just encourage more deranged behavior.

[John Ashbrook]

And the thing is that like, like Ashbrook was just being lazy. Like he wanted to hit play on a video, he wanted to take a nap, and he thought he could get away with it. And you don't get away with that kind of stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you, judge.

[John Ashbrook]

We respect our audience.

[Michael Duncan]

Spoken like a Democrat. Vote counter

[Host/Moderator]

outcome based judicial rulings right there. It's fantastic. We have to get to another interview. You're gonna learn a lot here. Jessica Anderson, one of the key cops, I would say to successful elections on the Republican side over the years has now really ingrained the Sentinel Action Fund in a bunch of stuff that you really have to learn about. Want to welcome back to the program a good friend, an old friend of the old variety program, Jessica Anderson. You're the president of Sentinel Action Fund, and that is a awful lot of grassroots hefty behind what conservatives across this country are trying to get done in a midterm election. We noticed a big ad they had.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

With Senator Haggerty during the State of the Union. Great ad, Great senator. One of my favorites too. And exactly the message we need to get out there. We gotta get the votes out there in the midterm to support President Trump. And that's what you do.

[Jessica Anderson]

That's exactly what we do. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me back. It's timely to be together again. I feel like the State of the Union was like the rest of the country waking up to the midterms, being

[Host/Moderator]

like, got a thing here.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah. And like, time to, time to get to work, time to write some checks, time to engage with some voters. So it was good. And you know, Senator Hagerty, he just has like such a commitment and a vision for the Senate. I mean, he is truly like, I am here to be in the majority, to grow the number of seats. Like, what's the plan to get to 60? That's always what he's asking me. What's the plan to get to 60? 60? Well, sir, we got two, we got two big pickups on tap for November and we've got some holds, but we're gonna get there little by little.

[Host/Moderator]

You're like, hey, you know that Republicans have never had it in the history.

[Jessica Anderson]

It's best not to speak. It's best not to speak like that. Right now we're in pure, we're in pure optimism and work mode. There is no hedging, there's no room for failure. This is pure optimism and work. And we kind of treated the State of the Union like you would like a Super bowl ad. Right. We were like, let's find the one ad that exists between the super bowl and the Dem response because everyone's gonna keep watching. But then five minutes into Spamberger.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, you gotta get out of there.

[Jessica Anderson]

You gotta get out of there. So you can't have an ad roll later in the night. We wanted that sweet spot in the middle. And he delivered. And he talked about the President's accomplishments, he talked about his economic agenda. And then he said, you know, voters, if you want to stay in the fight with the President, you have to get out and vote. And the first thing you got to do is make sure you're registered and that it's updated. Right. All these people that have been moving, you got to check your registration. And so we built this. Basically it's a one stop shop where you can, you can log in Drop your information and confirm your registration. If not, update it. And you don't have to toggle between all the different state websites which are a pain. And the best part is it's, it's within a conservative ecosystem.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[Jessica Anderson]

So you're not dropping your stuff at,

[John Ashbrook]

you know, it's not being given to and I'm not, you know, trying to make anyone nervous. It's not being given to a board of elections where it might be a Democrat having a bad day. Like you can trust because this is so important. That's the building block all of this midterm election is built on is right there is the voter activation making sure they're registered and make sure they know to vote.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah. And you have to feel confident that your vote isn't going to be stolen, it's not going to be tampered with, it's not going to be held back and it's actually going to like go to the, go to actual registration. So when you show up or if you do absentee or early vote, however you vote, we want people to vote, vote any way that suits them just one time. And you need to have confidence in that. And that starts with getting your registration right. For the state you currently live in.

[Host/Moderator]

So we've been talking to you for a long time about all of this and I know Johnny pointed this out to me. Look, we know what you do for the benefit of our audience in the 24 election. Talk a little bit about what you all did there and how this has grown to what you're going to do in these midterms.

[Sponsor Representative]

Sure.

[Jessica Anderson]

So when we launched Sentinel Action Fund, it was a tough time for absentee ballot, early vote. If you can remember back to people didn't trust it, people didn't trust it, they didn't want to do it. And I think there were just a lot of myths out there. And what's happened as the election integrity movement I think has been taken more serious. That's allowed us to get a lot of reforms done at the state level. And so in those red states, tighten up the laws as much as possible. But in the states that we don't run, Republicans don't run. The rules for you have to take advantage of every way possible to vote, otherwise we're going to lose because the Democrats push out their people any which way. So Sentinel Action Fund was a first of its kind, ground game, Senate specific super pac. And so we engage with the voter all the way from their first time voter registration to the first time they vote second time, all the Way up until they become a Perfect voter, a 4 out of 4 voter. And this last election, we went big for Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, Tim Sheehy in Montana, and Bernie Moreno in Ohio.

[John Ashbrook]

All three WW right there.

[Jessica Anderson]

Three fabulous senators today. They were there last night. It was felt awesome to see them there. And when you look at the numbers, I mean, specifically Pennsylvania, you know, Senator McCormick. And it's so nice to say that now Senator McCormick knew he had to take advantage of the permanent absentee list, so we started in April for him.

[John Ashbrook]

Wow. Good for you.

[Jessica Anderson]

And moving people onto that permanent list, then they're in the system, they're easier to capture. And then when you're driving a ground game, you need all that time to talk to them about where to vote, why to vote, how to vote, and then you connect the dots back where, you know, back to the candidate. And so our biggest thing that we're excited about Is I think 2024 showed that you have to connect the ground game for the Senate directly to the President. Right. And those Senate states where President Trump won, but that Senate candidate fell up short. They didn't have a specific ground game. We're changing that now in 26. This White House is an awesome partner because they think like this, too. They believe in the ground game. They know the value of going door to door. And so we have a great partnership there. We have a great partnership with S.S.L.F. and the NRC. And I just feel like the kind of the, the, the wilderness of absentee ballot, early vote is behind us.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Jessica Anderson]

And we're fully embracing it. And I think that's what puts me so optimistic for 26, because there's a lot of battleground states ahead.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. You know, Jess, you had so much success in 2024. I mean, everybody is proud of what you guys did. One of the people benefits that Republicans had in 2024 was President Trump at the top of the ticket. And I know it's on the top of every Republican's mind right now. How do you keep that ground game energized when it's a midterm election and Trump's name is not on the ballot?

[Jessica Anderson]

It's the question that keeps me up at night, and I wake up, like, every morning thinking. And we've been thinking about it for a long time, and we think we have a pretty good answer for it. So President Trump's not on the ballot, but every single one of his policies really are, and every single candidate, both in the House and the Senate, they have to answer for it. Are they going to be a partner to President Trump or are they going to limit him? And then they have to talk specifically about what's next. It's not enough to just talk about the border being secure and inflation being down. There has to be a plan for what's to come. And so we spent the last few months with about a dozen, probably 15 at this point, focus groups in the six battleground states. Everything from a swing voter to a Trump voter, to a 404 perfect voter, to those low prop voters that have low propensity voters that have only voted once of the last four elections, probably for Trump last time. And we've asked them, like, what makes you tick? Like, why are you getting up in the morning? Are you happy with how things are going? And the thing that ties all these different groups together, it's not the border, it's not immigration, it's the economy. And we've been talking, I think collectively a lot about that. But the difference between the swing voter and the low propensity voter on the economy is they're actually like miles apart.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, interesting.

[Jessica Anderson]

The low prop Trump voter is like, we want to give Trump more time. We know that the economic hole that Biden put us in is going to take a while to dig out of. We believe in him, we wanna give him another three years. We're gonna be there in November come hell or high water. The swing voter's like, I'm not totally convinced yet. Has he been doing enough? I wanna know what's next. So that's why I loved last night, because the State of the Union really opened, I think the aperture for what's coming on the economic side to answer those swing voters to say it's not just no tax on tips and no tax on overtime. Like, look what he just rolled out with the Trump retirement account, building on, you know, the Trump savings accounts for babies and now offering a way to have long term savings. I mean, he is, he's such a market guy, right? You know, he's such a pro economy guy. He's like, okay, all of these gig workers, these entrepreneurs, these part time workers, they don't have access to a 401k. Social Security is not enough for them. Pensions don't really exist for the Uber driver. So how do we give them a long term savings plan as part of an equity of options. So now you've got the American worker, the backbone of the American economy, having a piece of the engine that they themselves are driving. And that's what swing voters want to hear.

[Michael Duncan]

The Other thing that he really drove home in his State of the Union was the contrast between not only the message that you were talking about, but also what's possible if Democrats were to take power again. And I just wonder, you know, you've done all these focus groups. What are people saying about the threat of a liberal takeover of Congress?

[Jessica Anderson]

They think it's a waste of time because they're afraid that they're gonna go straight for impeachment. So in every state, especially North Carolina, what are we gonna get with Dems? A circus of impeachment. Like, there was not even a policy thing of like, oh, we're gonna get Obamacare 2.0 or something like that. Again, it was straight to, this is a waste of time. We're gonna have impeachment for two years. And that contrast is real. I mean, the people in that rotunda last night stayed seated. They didn't get up at all. So it is very clear that the Democratic vision is never Trump, and it's anyone but Trump, and there's no serious policy alternative. And I think swing voters get that. And so they're gonna come around to realizing that Trump has made their life better. And we really need the summer and I think the early fall to give them the courage. Right. To get up and vote in a November election, break the odds for a midterm year and deliver the House and Senate for the president.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, I mean, this is the great challenge the Republicans have faced since President Trump went down the golden escalator, Right. And won his first term, is that midterms have not been terrific for us. In large part part, you've got this shifted base demographic of supporters of the Republican Party that show up in droves and are absolutely terrific in presidential elections, but take a pretty significant step back in midterms. I mean, when Johnny and I got started in politics, Republicans dominated midterms in large part because we had that higher propensity voter that was paying attention kind of all the time, and that has flipped on its head. And so. So I think what you're saying, which makes a lot of sense to me, is probably no way to repeat the enthusiasm of President Trump on the ticket. But building the infrastructure and having consistent contact with those lower propensity and swing voters gives you a much better chance at delivering people who otherwise, I gotta take the kids to school. I gotta go do. Do something else. But re emphasizing the importance on their own daily lives.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah, that's right. And giving them the options to vote. So, you know, if you've got. If you've got school duty the day of the election. Aren't you glad you voted early and banked your vote the week before? And I think the Senate candidates, the president, I mean, he's been out there saying, you know, vote early. So it's too big to rig.

[Michael Duncan]

Too big to rig.

[Jessica Anderson]

We love that. That's great. I mean, if I could, you know, put a bumper sticker in my car. Not allowed. But if I, if I, if I was, that's what it would say. Right? Too big to rig. Because that's what motivates these low propensity voters that, you know, they, they need to be encouraged to vote early because we can't rely on them just on election day.

[Ken Paxton]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

Nah, it's a really good point. And you guys have been doing incredible work, I imagine. Fair amount of travel is involved.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

Going to talk to people all over the place.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yes. We would love to get out of D.C. it's like the best thing for the team because you actually get to live and breathe the issues that, that matter. And the other thing that's been, been really, I think, interesting to see is the President and this administration haven't shied away from like, kind of really wonky policies like Trump. RX is really specific on how it's handling healthcare. It's not like the whole thing. It's this one little sliver. Same thing with the, you know, kind of conversation of not disallowing and not allowing private companies to buy up housing. That's a really technical.

[John Ashbrook]

Americans are concerned. Even though it's such a minute, it seems like such a technical.

[Jessica Anderson]

It comes up all the time. And these interesting in these focus groups, like, it's like the, one of the first things that people are saying that they love about Trump. Like, he's not, he's fearless. Right. He'll go after everything, including, you know, Wall street, and say no. Well, this is, this is meant to help Americans be able to afford houses and not feel like you're priced out of the market, especially for the middle class. I mean, it's so hard to buy a house in the, the, the greater D.C. area under a million dollars. Like you just can't even do it. So I'm really loving that and I think it's going to give us a lot of headwinds heading into November.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

So when you look at these focus groups, I mean, look, midterms are about the economy. They almost always are. There are weird things that pop up from time to time, once a decade that make it something else. But it really Is the economy. And what you're hearing from these focus groups is like, no, the dollars here that matter.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah. And you really have to bank the win that's the most clearest, which is inflation.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah.

[Jessica Anderson]

So trade is tough because some are divided.

[Host/Moderator]

We still don't have a full final answer on.

[Jessica Anderson]

And there's questions like, are we getting money back now after the Supreme Court? So trade is not as clear cut as the inflation is. I mean, that is a black and white difference. The price of goods you can turn to. Right. You can look at eggs, gas, bread, milk. So that's, that's like the first win to bank. And then you can start having a conversation about trade, about deregulation and the savings that are coming from that. About no tax on tip, about how you can save more with your, with when everyone files their taxes here in a couple of months. Like, I think I'm really interested to go back to these groups after April 15th, because then I think they're first

[Host/Moderator]

chance to look at your tax return.

[Jessica Anderson]

Exactly. And they would have, they would have felt it. So now we're like reminding them about it and telling them about it. They're going to feel it when they get that return back. And then they can take that thousand dollars and go on a trip or pay off debt or, you know, whatever they do with it to take care of their family. And, you know, a lot of them, they're small businesses. So I think we have a lot of time to build on the economic message, which is great. Love a campaign with a big starting. Big, big road to start on. I think that helps us. And for the most part, all the Senate battlegrounds are settled. There's a couple that aren't. Texas is not. Kentucky's not. There's some primaries out there, but as soon as those get settled, everyone's gonna be on the same sheet of music heading into November, which is, which is really helpful.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, no kidding. Well, listen, if people want to help out, where do they go?

[Jessica Anderson]

Well, we'd love the help. It's never too early to commit to knocking on doors. The snow's getting ready to melt in Maine. Got a big great with Susan Collins. We'd love to have your help. Lace up your New Balance sneakers and head up there with us. You can find [e-mail] we're all on X and Twitter. We'll share updates from the road. And the last thing I would just say, and I can't believe I forgot the best part about the Senate map is not only are we back in presidential battlegrounds that President Trump just won. And a lot of these states will be back in 2018, back in our path to 2030. But at least 12 House battleground races also run through these Senate seats.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, it's great.

[Host/Moderator]

Infrastructure built, double up.

[Jessica Anderson]

So the efficiencies and talking to the voters that are gonna matter for Trump's partners in Congress on both sides are key. And we're tracking that really closely. And we're gonna do our part to help and deliver, deliver the Senate for President Trump again.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, you're doing the Lord's work. Jessica Anderson, thank you so much for joining us. Keep us updated.

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah, you know it. I will do. You're coming to Maine, we're going to

[John Ashbrook]

get you out of there.

[Jessica Anderson]

Maine or New Hampshire.

[Host/Moderator]

Can we do like in a late June?

[Jessica Anderson]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

Great idea.

[John Ashbrook]

The weather's nice after the snow's gone for sure. No snow.

[Jessica Anderson]

Those blueberry fields. Come on, it'll be great.

[Host/Moderator]

All right, that sounds good. Thanks so much for joining us.

[Jessica Anderson]

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. Every time she comes in, I feel like I learned something new. And I was really interested to hear her answer to the question about what they're doing in the environment where Trump is.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, totally.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the million dollar question.

[Host/Moderator]

Totally. And they think they have an answer for it. But honestly, that is the question that everybody in town and around this country is asking, is whether or not you can reverse what is a 10 year trend of underperforming midterms and they think that they've got some secret sauce there. I certainly admire the effort.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

To be honest.

[John Ashbrook]

And they got a great track record, too.

[Host/Moderator]

They really do. So listen, you gotta remember this map that we're talking about, I'm telling you, we've provided a lot of value here on Ruthless over the years. We made you laugh, we've made you think. I'm not sure we've done anything that's better than this. Ruthlesspodcast.com map has given you a clickable map. You can get it on your mobile, you can get it on your laptop, you can get it wherever you want. You click on your state. We're going to show you the interviews that we have done with the candidates where you can judge for yourself about whether or not you want to cast a ballot for them. It's the only place in America that you can go to get that. And you know the kind of conversations that we have with these people. So you know exactly what it is that you're getting. Go to that map. We're very, very proud of it. Good work, old man.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't take the credit. Drew and Mark from the team did all the hard work.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a wonderful resource. Ruthlesspodcast.com map. Go there, check it out. It's wonderful.

[Host/Moderator]

And remember our question of the day, will the State of the Union make a difference when it comes to the midterms? Give us your opinion when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless variety program. We read all of your answers and we get back to the very next episode with that. Fellows, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much, Texas AG Ken Paxton. And thank you, Jessica Anderson. And thank you to the listener. Remember, remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube and hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith. Hold line and on the libs. We'll see you on Friday. Stay ruthless.