BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT; SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA), DONNA BRAZILE

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Stephen A. Smith Show (April 2, 2026)

Episode: BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT

Guests: Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), Donna Brazile

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Episode Overview

In this incisive and multifaceted episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith, the host steps far beyond sports, diving deep into urgent American political debates. The central theme is the national controversy over birthright citizenship—as President Trump becomes the first sitting president in U.S. history to attend Supreme Court oral arguments on his executive order restricting it. Stephen A. delivers his trademark sharp, unfiltered takes; engages in spirited dialogues with Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile; and fields a range of impactful listener calls. The show traverses issues from immigration reform and party politics to U.S. foreign policy, media polarization, and civic responsibility—all in the authentic, straight-talking style for which Stephen A. is known.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court (00:24–16:00; 39:43–41:09)

• Main Issue: President Trump's unprecedented attendance at Supreme Court arguments over his executive order targeting the 14th Amendment's “birthright citizenship” clause.
• Stephen A.’s Framing:
  • Stresses the importance and divisiveness of the topic.
  • Emphasizes his views are his own, “I am putting this all on my shoulders.”
  • Explains the 14th Amendment and the historic Wong Kim Ark case, clarifying how birthright citizenship law works.
  • Challenges claims that the U.S. is uniquely “stupid enough” to allow such citizenship (Trump’s words).
• Supreme Court Pushback:
  • Plays Solicitor General John Sauer’s argument (08:54–10:12) seeking to limit citizenship for children born to “illegal aliens” and temporary visitors.
  • Shares Chief Justice Roberts’ memorable rebuke:

    “Well, it's a new world. It's the same Constitution.” (11:19)

  • Cites Justice Amy Coney Barrett challenging the logic/consistency of the government’s argument (12:06–12:45).
• Stephen A.’s Judgment:
  • Recognizes unlikely odds of Supreme Court overturning birthright citizenship.
  • Focuses discussion for listeners not on legal feasibility, but on whether it “should” happen:

    “Do you or do you not have a problem with birthright citizenship? I do.” (17:00)

  • Expresses empathy for migrants but underscores that “desperate times call for desperate measures,” given national debt and a sense of crisis.

Notable Quote:

“If I was the president, I'd do everything I can to make sure the border was closed. But in the same breath, I wouldn't be trying to bother too many people here other than the criminals, because we're a gorgeous mosaic. Migrants helped build this country, but we are in desperate times.” (18:50)

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2. Interview: Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) (21:18–46:33)

Shutdown Politics, Immigration, and Party Dynamics

• On Shutdown & TSA Pay:
  • Kennedy describes mixed signals from President Trump regarding deals to fund TSA workers/ICE (“on again, off again”).
  • He blames Democratic “radical” factions for stalling ICE funding:

    “The loon wing, the Karen wing, the radical wing of the Democratic Party is in control now. ... Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is the head of the party.” (27:56–30:26)

• On Partisan Dynamics and 'Gut Check' Votes:
  • Kennedy recounts making unpopular votes, e.g., in favor of Ukraine aid, net neutrality, and forgoing his own Senate salary during shutdowns.
  • Emphasizes the moral cost of always choosing reelection over principle.
• On Iran and Foreign Policy:
  • Advocates a limited, strategic use of force, against regime change or “boots on the ground.”

    “I think we want to be clear into a quagmire. And once we get in, it will never get out.” (37:00)

  • Defends U.S. actions as necessary to stop Iran’s military build-up post-nuclear strike.
• On Trump and Supreme Court Reliance:
  • Kennedy sees the president’s frequent executive orders and judicial challenges as consistent with U.S. constitutional processes but warns about backfiring by pressuring independent justices.
• On Governing and Media Climate:
  • Suggests politicians of all stripes are too focused on staying in office, not on public interest.
  • Bemoans mutual demonization in American discourse:

    “We keep calling each other ignorant sluts. ... Everybody needs to take their meds and relax a little bit and try to listen to the other side.” (45:20)

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3. Interview: Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist (51:48–78:33)

Supreme Court Politics, Democratic Party Identity, and Political Renewal

• On Trump at SCOTUS & Birthright Citizenship (52:16–53:22):
  • Believes Trump’s presence was symbolic, not substantively influential.
  • Argues “the justices came in...well-prepared to ask the tough questions” regardless.
• On U.S. in the Middle East / NATO:
  • Urges President to remain focused on foreign policy, especially “strategy to end” the war with Iran.
  • Notes allies' (France, Turkey, UK) contributions despite U.S. frustrations with NATO.
• On the Democratic Party’s Future:
  • Frames the post-2024 loss as a failure of imagination and 21st-century campaign strategy.
  • Argues the party must rebuild “from the studs up,” prioritizing state/local races and practical messaging over national symbolism.
• Facing Criticism from Both Sides:
  • Shares personal experience being “cancelled” and why crossing the political aisle is necessary for real progress:

    “Sometimes you have to cross out; again, you don't have to sell out. You just have to know why you’re going to the table.” (64:03)

• “Loon Wing” vs. Big Tent:
  • Refutes Sen. Kennedy’s assertion that the progressive “loony wing” controls the party:
    • “Bernie Sanders...is not running the Democratic Party” (69:57)
    • Emphasizes the party’s ideological diversity and ultimately that “the only thing that will change the character of the party is when the voters decide...”
• Election 2024 & Black Voters:
  • Attributes the Democratic loss to turnout and messaging failures, not to Trump’s singular appeal:

    “Donald Trump went everywhere...He was everywhere, every day, 24/7. Kamala [Harris] had down days.” (73:29)

  • Chides party for taking Black voters for granted:

    “They should be coming to us now. ... Yes, black people, especially black women, we're the backbone of the Democratic Party. But don't come to us two weeks out. That's an insult. Start talking to us. What I've been saying, talk to us now. Engage with us now.” (76:07)

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4. Audience Engagement and Callers (47:03–50:45; 80:04–90:02)

• Immigration and Citizenship:
  • Listeners debate the need for law-abiding process versus summary exclusion; Stephen A. clarifies he supports migrants, but not open borders, and urges lawful entry.
• Foreign Policy & Spending:
  • Callers question funding for foreign wars versus domestic needs; Stephen A. responds that both parties have histories of unaccounted spending, not unique to Republicans or Democrats.
• Frustration with Partisanship:
  • Stephen A. repeatedly challenges callers and listeners to avoid “partisan shit”; stresses that both sides do right and wrong, and public needs to “call it straight.”
• Reflections on Leadership:
  • A listener touts Nikki Haley’s bipartisan appeal; another asks Stephen A. about vice presidential choices and is met with humorous, skeptical dismissal from Stephen A., who downplays the VP’s significance compared to positions with “real power.”

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5. Closing Reflections (90:43–end)

• Blame and Civic Responsibility:
  • Stephen A. points to Americans’ own consumption and voting habits as part of the nation’s woes:

    “If we didn't fall for the Okie doke...if we weren't so spoiled...maybe we wouldn't be bad off as we are.”

• On Honest Government:
  • Imagines a leader “with two positions for each Cabinet position, a Republican and a Democrat—work it out and come to me with a solution for the American people.”
• Birthright Citizenship Redux:
  • Supports the right for law-abiding migrants to stay, would close borders against new illegal entry:

    “I'd leave people here and just would shut the border down and say, desperate times call for desperate measures. You're here already and you're not a criminal, you're staying. That's fine—but ain't nobody else coming in.” (95:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stephen A. Smith on Political Cowardice:

  “If you’re a weak ass, pathetic representative...who's scared of the President of the United States, then your ass don't belong on Capitol Hill.” (15:10)

• Chief Justice Roberts' Zinger (on changing the Constitution):

  “Well, it's a new world. It's the same Constitution.” (11:19)

• Senator John Kennedy on Political Incentives:

  “The first thing a politician, generally speaking, wants is to be reelected. ... At some point, if you don't believe all the things you’ve got to say to be reelected, what's the point of serving?” (34:18–34:34)

• Donna Brazile on Political Courage:

  “Sometimes you have to cross out [the aisle]; again, you don't have to sell out. You just have to know why you’re going to the table.” (64:03)

• On Democratic Losses:

  “Kamala [Harris] and the Democrats lost it. ... They blew it. It was gift-wrapped to them.” (71:21)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:24–16:00 — Opening Monologue: Framing Birthright Citizenship/SCOTUS
• 21:18–46:33 — Senator John Kennedy Interview
• 51:48–78:33 — Donna Brazile Interview
• 47:03–50:45; 80:04–90:02 — Listener Calls & Audience Dialogue
• 90:43–End — Final Reflections & Closing Segment

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Tone & Style

Stephen A. mixes direct, conversational, and unapologetically candid analysis with robust, civil debate. He is blunt, sometimes humorous, and always insistent on substantive discussion over partisan talking points. Both guests—Sen. Kennedy and Donna Brazile—match his candor and often address the audience, providing context, political history, and practical insights.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a microcosm of American civil discourse at a crossroads: intense partisan division, urgent policy debates over citizenship, border security, war, and the threat to democratic norms—but threaded throughout with calls for pragmatic compromise, civic engagement, and truth-telling from leaders and voters alike. The show ends with Stephen A.’s enduring plea: “Call it straight,” demand accountability—on all sides.

Transcript

[Donna Brazile]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Senator John Kennedy]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Straight shooter with Stephen A. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night, 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. Number to call up, as always is 866-967-6887. That's 866-967-68 87. That's 86696, POTUS. I want to say this today you are listening to yours truly, Stephen A. Smith. You are not listening to anybody who works for him. You are not listening to the producers and the executives at Sirius xm. I'm putting this all on my shoulders because I'm going to engage in dialogue with the listeners right now about a subject that's going to be near and dear to a lot of people's hearts in this country, millions of people in this country, and it ain't gonna be comfortable. But I'll stand alone on this and I don't want you to hold anybody else accountable. It is not the subject of the United States versus Iran and how this quote unquote war in the eyes of millions of American citizens is ongoing. Gas prices, by the way, has elevated to $4 a gallon. It's the highest it's been for the first time since 2022. This week, as Iran's grip on the straight of amuse stokes a global energy crisis. $4 and $0.07 to be exact. That's the national average for gas prices. I don't even want to think about what the gas prices are in California. If it's $4 and 7 cents in national average, God help us all what it is in California, okay? Because we know it's two times worse than okay. That's number one. It's not about that. It's not about a war that wasn't supposed to be a war because according to President Trump last June they were completely decimated and obliterated. And they don't have, they didn't have, you know, a nuclear arsenal that we needed to worry about or wasn't even close to having one. And Lo and behold, suddenly tunes changed and we were fearful of them developing a nuclear weapon within a month. US military action against Iran going too far, according to 59% of the American population. That is not, however, what I want to talk about with this opening monologue. Because the President is set to address the Nation at 9pm tonight for an important update on the quote, unquote war. I'll leave it for another show to engage in the Iran United States situation instead. What we're going to talk about right now is the issue of birth right citizenship here in the United States of America. I want to emphasize again, the opinions about to be expressed are that of mine and mine alone. Please don't hold anybody else responsible for what I'm about to say. But there are certain things that need to be said and we gonna have a discussion today because I'm interested in the discussion. I understand that we have people coming on the show. Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist, former head of the dnc, Democratic National Committee, an outstanding voice on behalf of the Democratic Party for decades. You could also see her on this Week with George Stephanopoulos every Sunday morning practically. She's gonna be on the show at the top of our number two hour. Number one, we are going to have the senator out of Louisiana himself, the one and only John Kennedy. No relation to the Kennedys. John F. Kennedy, RFK and all that. No relation to them. But he is Senator John Kennedy out of Louisiana, staunch Republican. He's gonna be on the show as well. The issue that I wanted to get into is birthright citizenship by simply asking this question. When the President walked in to the Supreme Court today, the first time in US History that a sitting American president walked into the courts to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court, staying for over an hour, according to the reports, to hear their thoughts, their questions, their inquiry, their opinions on birthright citizenship in the United States of America. How'd you feel about that? I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, I don't blame him. He campaigned on this issue. He's been accused of not paying attention to stuff that's happening on our home soil. You want to do something politically expedient to your benefit, if you're President Donald Trump, this is the fight you fight because millions of Americans flow with him on this issue. And the reason why it's an issue that's important to tackle is because remember what the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution states. Remember what it states? Birthright citizenship ship in the United States America established by the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States, meaning if you are born on US Soil, you are a US Citizen automatically. Automatically. The president came out with a statement on his Truth Social platform saying, quote, we are the only country in the world stupid. The word stupid capitalized stupid enough to allow birthright citizenship. The claim obviously is misleading because there's at least 30 countries around the world that have it, but the US is one of the few that still grants it automatically to nearly anyone born on its soil and most of the world. Citizenship, for those of you who don't know, is based on your parents, not where you're born in the United States, you're born here. You're an American citizen. But the phrase subject to jurisdiction thereof excludes a small number of cases, such as children of foreign diplomats who are. Who aren't subject to the US Law. In the same way, here's the part that we have to ask ourselves, and this is where the conversation gets uncomfortable. Do you believe in birthright citizenship as an American citizen? Do you believe that somebody that crosses our borders illegally to give birth on American soil, that their children, their newborn, should automatically be an American citizen according to the United States Constitution? There is no argument there. That's exactly how it is. I'm not asking you that because I know with Trump's executive order to overturn such a thing, the chances of that happening are slim to none. We get that. As Chief Justice Roberts said today in court. In court, he said this when the government argued, it's a new world. Now, Roberts shot back, it's the same Constitution. So we know the chances of this being overturned are slim to none. That's not what I'm asking you. If you're listening to this show right now, what I'm asking you is, is it right should it happen? I want you to think about that for a second while I play some sound from you today at the Supreme Court. Let's start with Solicitor General John Sour speaking at the Supreme Court today about birthright citizenship and how it does not apply to, quote, unquote, illegal aliens. His words, not mine. Listen to Solicitor General John Sower.

[Solicitor General John Sauer]

The citizenship clause was adopted just after the Civil War to grant citizenship to the newly freed slaves and their children whose allegiance to the United States had been established by generations of domicile here. It did not grant citizenship to the children of temporary visitors or illegal aliens who have no such allegiance. This conclusion reflects the original public meaning of the clause When Congress used the term not subject to any foreign power in the Civil Rights act of 1866, it rejected the British conception of allegiance. Senator Trumbull explained that subject to the jurisdiction thereof in the clause means not owing allegiance to anybody else. And in 1884, this court recognized that subject to the jurisdiction means owing directly immediate allegiance. The clause thus does not extend citizenship to the children of temporary visa holders or illegal aliens. Unlike the newly freed slaves, those visitors lack direct and immediate allegiance to the United States. For aliens, lawful domicile is the status that creates the requisite allegiance, and the text of the clause presupposes domicile. For decades following the clause's adoption, commentators recognized that the children of temporary visitors are not citizens and illegal aliens lack the legal capacity to establish domicile.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here see where Solicitor General John Sauer loses his argument. In my opinion, I'm not a Supreme Court justice, but in my opinion, where he loses his argument is in the case that I research here. Biggest case in the United States was the United States versus Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark was born in the United States to Chinese immigrant parents who were not citizens. The government argued he was not a citizen. The Supreme Court ruled he was a Citizen under the 14th Amendment. That case established birthright citizenship because it applied to children of non citizens, including immigrants. That's the bottom. But the Supreme Court didn't even have to go there to make their point. As Chief Justice Roberts responded to Solicitor General John Sauer telling Sauer that you can't change the Constitution just because the world has changed. Listen up. Well, it certainly wasn't a problem in the 19th century.

[Solicitor General John Sauer]

No. But of course, we're in a new world now, as Justice Alito pointed out to where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen. Well, it's a new world. It's the same Constitution.

[Senator John Kennedy]

It is.

[Solicitor General John Sauer]

And as Justice Scalia said, I think in the case that Justice Alito was referring to, you've got a constitutional provision that addresses certain evils and it should be extended to reasonably comparable evils. He said that about statutory interpretation. I think the same principle applies here. And I think we quote that in our mess.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Chief Justice Roberts wasn't the only one that pushed back on Solicitor General. Solicitor General John Sauerkraut. So did Justice Amy Comey Barrett. She had this to say to Sara about his new. You know, tell Sarah his. His new argument about the 14th Amendment doesn't make any sense by logic. Listen to this.

[Donna Brazile]

You said in your reply brief that the children of slaves who were brought here unlawfully, you know, in, in, in defiance of laws forbidding the slave trade would in fact be citizens. And we can imagine that their parents were not only brought here in violation of United States law, but were here against their will, and so maybe felt allegiance to the countries where they were from. And you say that the purpose of the 14th Amendment was to put all slaves on equal footing, newly freed slaves on equal footing, and so they would be citizens. But that's not textual. So how do you, how do you get there? You say it in just a few sentences. So can you elaborate?

[Solicitor General John Sauer]

Sure. If you look at the, I think if you look at the 19th century sources, what you see is that even though their entry may have been unlawful, 19th century Antebellum law never treated, their presence is unlawful. In fact, quite the opposite.

[Stephen A. Smith]

See, at the end of the day, we have to get back and bring it home and go to where Donald Trump was going when he walked into the Supreme Court today. Clearly an intimidation tactic. And I'm not hating on him for it, because no president, no sitting president, has ever done this. He is clearly trying to wield some power, which in the left's eyes give justification for the no Kings protest where 8 million people were in the streets of America protesting because they think he's trying to operate like a dictator. I myself don't pay too much attention to that because my attitude is he can try all he want to. It don't mean a damn thing. Of a majority of the 435 Senate Republic Representatives on Capitol Hill did their damn job, and half of the 100 senators did the same, whatever that may be, making sure that you make decisions, that you have a spine, that you're not being somebody that forced, that's forced and compelled and pushed into doing something you don't want to do and your constituency doesn't want you to do just because this man told you to. Now, if you do it because you believe it, if you do it because you feel it, if you do it because you're representing your community, your constituency, and that's what they want, I'm down for you. I got it. But if you doing it because you have no spine, you're a weak ass, pathetic representative or Senate figure who's scared of the President of the United States, that your ass don't belong on Capitol Hill. It's that simple. But having said all of that, I have to get back to the issue at hand. If you campaigned on this issue and you are diametrically opposed to people crossing the border illegally because you believe that the inordinate amount of people that entered this country illegally in excess of 12 million, according to reports during the Biden administration, who clearly had open borders, and you think that is divisive and extremely detrimental to the United States of America and our very well being. Then, ladies and gentlemen, I gotta say to you, you do what Trump did, You show up in the Supreme Court, you look Neil Gorsuch and Amy Comey Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh in the face because you're the one that appointed them. And you do look at them, be like, yo, what's up? What you think I brought you here? What you think I put you on the Supreme Court seat for? I can't fault Trump for trying that. I can't falter. Is it kind of tacky and all of that? Sure. But I can't fault him for it. Because what's going well right now, ladies and gentlemen, tariff wars? Are we winning? Are we losing the economy? Is it flourishing or not? Has the safety in the streets issue been addressed? Yeah, you closed the borders, but it's still an issue. ICE and the kind of stuff that's been going on in the streets of America, whether it's Los Angeles, it's Minneapolis, it's, it's Chicago, it's Portland, wherever. That didn't bode too well. That wasn't a good look optically, if not far more than that. Two people are dead, so you don't have a lot going for you. And on top of that, you got Republicans who have turned against you, whether it's Tom, Phyllis, whether it's Rand Paul, whether it's Marjorie Taylor Greene who left office because she's so disgusted with you, according to her feeling like you betrayed the right because you didn't live up to your promise about America being first, because you've been fighting with isra, Israel, with Israel against Iran, and politicking in the Middle east where a billion and a half dollars, if not more, have ended up in your pocket. There's a whole bunch of American citizens that are looking at our president and they're saying, what's up? You ain't doing what you said you were going to do. What's the perfect way to remind them you are? By attacking this issue. Having said all of that, I still come back to what I said to you. What I'm asking you, as American citizens in the United States of America, do you or do you not have a problem with birthright citizenship? I do. And I'm a Brother that loves my Latino brothers and sisters. Absolutely love them. And I'm talking and I see people in impoverished areas, you know, where tyranny is reigning, and, and whether it's from Haiti or other places. And I'm like, damn, we got to help them. We're the richest country in the world. I got it. We gotta help them. To me, if I was the president, I'd do everything I can to make sure the border was closed. But in the same breath, I wouldn't be trying to bother too many people here other than the criminals, because we're a gorgeous mosaic. And folks migrants helped built this country, but we are in desperate times. And when we gonna realize that with 39 trillion in debt, our economy is not strong? It's threatening to unravel before our very eyes. Unemployment isn't dissipating, there's been crime, there's pestilence and poverty. There's a lot going on in this country, and there's a lot of evidence that gives people cause to pause and make them scared of the state of affairs that exist in, in our nation. How do you. How do you resolve that? If you're just letting people walk in, especially people who intentionally cross the border legally just to give birth to someone, to a kid on American soil to ensure that they're American citizens, and it's clear that that's the intent, what do you do then? Would I handle things differently if I were the President? You're damn right I would do. I think he's done a lot of things wrong. You're damn right I do. But not everything. Not everything. And I just had to say that about birth right, citizenship. Remember, it was originally 14th amendment, originally came into play to ensure that enslaved people brought to this country forcibly would be American citizens. But the language was vague and everybody got to use it to their advantage. And what the President is saying now is it wasn't meant for everybody. Supreme Court, or rather the Constitution wasn't definitive with that in its language, and the Supreme Court has interpreted it as such. But it doesn't mean that a compelling argument can't be made for it to address us, especially if as a nation we are in a state of emergency, which some meaning millions upon millions of people would argue we are. That is a fact. That is the reality, and it's something we need to talk about, which we will. 866-967. 6887 is the number to call it. That's 86696 POTUS. We will definitely talk about this, but not before I talk to the senator from Louisiana. He makes a lot of noise, Fox News, Capitol Hill testimony. I've watched him a lot over the years and I've said this before and I'll say it again. I invite everybody on this show. I have yet to have a Republican tell me no. And he's the latest piece of evidence about that. He is the senator from Louisiana, Mr. John Kennedy. He is up next right here on Straight Shooter with George Truly. Back with more Straight Shoot a minute.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Senator Cruz and I came up with a plan. We said, look, it's a two step process. The Democrats have offered to open up everything but ice, Ted. And I said, okay, let's accept their offer. And then at the same time, we would offer a bill for reconciliation where we don't need any Democratic votes to do whatever we wanted to do with ice. And that way we're out of the shutdown and DHS is back open. We submitted that. Senator Thune submitted that to President Trump, as is his right. He said no, no deals with the Democrats.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That man you just heard right there is my next guest. He has served as a Republican senator from the great state of Louisiana since 2017. He sits on several important committees including Appropriations Committee, Banking Committee, Budget Committee and the Judiciary Committee and has written a best selling book called how to Test Negative for Stupid and why Washington Never Will. Please welcome for the first time the straight Shooter, the one and only Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana. Good evening, sir. How are you? Thank you for being on the show. How you doing?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Even I'm. Well, I'm, I'm walking on sunshine, man. I'm, I'm out of Washington and back here in America. It's an honor to be on your show.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much. I'll get into that line later. You're away from Washington so you, you're in a good place. And it's not watched it. We'll talk about that a little bit later. Let me get to this first question for you. So you were right there speaking. You publicly suggested that Trump killed your deal to pay TSA workers. You know, a few days ago you had told Fox News that, quote, we could have had TSA pay by the end of the week, but the president said no deal. So when the Republicans say this is a Democratic shutdown, explain to us how is that possible when you acknowledge that you and Senator Ted Cruz had a deal that you presented to the president and he was the one that turned it down?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Well, it's in my judgment it's a Democratic shutdown because we approve by we, I mean the Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate approved the DHS budget, Homeland Security budget that we're fighting on. And after the Democrats, my Democratic colleagues approved it, Senator Schumer told them to unapprove it. And that's how we ended up in a shutdown. What I said in the clip you played is all absolutely true with a, with a slight modification. Yes, the president disagreed with what Ted and I proposed. He didn't kill it the very next day. He, he supported it. And frankly, then he changed his mind again based on his remarks the other day, because we were going to do just what I was talking about. But I got a communication from Senator Thune today saying the President now supports it. What we proposed will work. I understand that the House is going to change its vote or at least be asked to, and approve it. And here's what we'll do. Everything will be open except for ICE and then, and Border Patrol. And then we'll do what's called a reconciliation bill, for which we don't need Democratic support. We'd love to have it, but if we don't get it, we can still pass the bill and fund ICE and Border Patrol without them. And within, I hope, the next two to three weeks, the entire department will be open.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Educate us, Senator, about isn't ICE already funded through the year 2029?

[Senator John Kennedy]

It is. I mean, isn't that it has extra money? We anticipated that this might happen, Stephen. So when we passed the one big beautiful bill, we put in extra money for ice. It won't take us all the way through 2029. And that's what we've been fighting over. And frankly, my colleagues, I'm back in Louisiana, asked me, you know, what's going on right now in the Senate? And I tell them the truth. It looks like, imagine that the Hindenburg crashed into the Titanic. It's just a God awful mess. And I'm tired of listening to all the rhetoric. It's starting to lower my iq. But that's why Cruz, and I don't mean to blame it on Ted, but I want to share credit because it was Ted's idea, too. We came up with this procedure and it's been on again, off again, on again, off again. But now it's back on again and by God, it'll work and we'll get past this and can move on to something else.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But you've openly acknowledged that Trump has been a model of inconsistency when it comes to this issue because he didn't like it. But Then he said he was all right with it. And then he comes back, he's not all right with it or whatever. I'm wondering at what point, you know, does no deals with the Democrat with the Democrats become no leadership from the White House. At what point does that happen, you estimate?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Well, the President changes his mind. All presidents do. And, and what happened on this procedure? The President changed his mind. He didn't kill it. When I, when I gave that clip you play, when I, I gave you an interview, it was true. We took a torment. He said, no, we didn't kill it because he approved it the next day. But he changed his mind again. But now he's, he, he is, I'm told. I haven't spoken to him, that he's going to endorse our approach. Look, I don't want to do any of this without Democrats, Stephen. I don't hate anybody. When I say my prayers at night, I ask God, don't let me hate. It's not worth it. I know every one of my Democratic colleagues. I like them all. Some I like better than others, but it's also true of my Republican colleagues as well. I would love to be able to do this with Democratic support, but here's what's happening and everybody knows it. The Democratic Party has factions just like the Republican Party, and, and the, the, what I call the loon wing, the Karen wing, the radical wing of the Democratic Party is in control now. Are all Democrats members of the loon wing? No, they're not. But the loon wing's in control. And the loon wing, which is in control. I'm talking about Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez, Mayor Mamdani, for example, Bernie Sanders. They want to defund ICE just like they wanted to defund the police. Now we know how that vampire movie turned out. But that means that no Democrat, because they're scared of the lone wing of their party, is going to vote in any form or fashion, including Senator Schumer, to fund ICE in any way. There's nothing we can offer them that is their choice. I wish it wasn't their choice, but it is. And that's why we have to do it with only Republican votes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do you believe that, that the, the Democratic Party is at the mercy of the quote unquote, loon wing of the party? That. But, but I'm asking you, do you believe it's because of that they're fearful of them, or do you believe that MAGA plays a role because we live in a binary system and it's One side or the other. So they have very little choice. Because what's going on on your side of the aisle. Meaning. Meaning the right of the right wing. What about that?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Well, there's a lot of truth in what you're saying. With every action, there's an equal mon. Opposite reaction. And the Republican Party has factions as well. But if you look at the Democratic Party right now, and what a majority of those in control, not all Democrats, but a majority of those in control stand for kids being able to change genders at recess, defund the police. Right now, it's defund ice. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Seuss, Mr. Potato Head. They're all racist. That's what the Democrats in control right now stand for. This is not the party of Bill Clinton. It's not. Now that is. This is America. You can believe what you want to believe, but I think that is a demonstrable fact. And anybody that gets out of line on the Democratic side is going to be punished politically. Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez is the head of the party.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Ocasio.

[Senator John Kennedy]

She is the head of the party. And the vice chairman of the party is Mayor Mondan and. And Senator Schumer. Yeah, he's the.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You really believe that? You really believe. I was. I was. I was getting ready to ask you about Chuck Schumer. What about Chuck Schumer? What about Hakeem Jeffries? I mean, you're talking about the leaders in the Senate, the minority leaders in the Senate and the House. They're not the leaders of the Democratic Party.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Last time you saw the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, Great guy. Or Senator Schumer, who's a good friend of mine. When is the last time you saw them, Buck? Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez or Bernie Sanders? You haven't. Not in the last five years. Not on a single solitary issue. Chuck Schumer, back in the spring when. When we had a shutdown, helped us open up government. He almost got killed. Yes, by the moon wing, the Cairn wing of his party. He went through hell. He'll never do that again because he's up for reelection in 2028. I don't say this to mean spirit. Be mean spirited. Stephen. That's just honest to God's truth and everybody knows it on Capitol Hill. And frankly, I think most Americans know that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You can't blame them, though, can you? Because if you. If you want to remain in office and you're feeling. You're hearing the footsteps of Alexandria, Ocasio Cortez you know, creeping up on you. I mean, look at what Trump did. Like you said, you and Cruz, you presented a bill, you presented an option to end this shutdown. It was a good option. Trump turned it down. What does he do? He turns around, and after originally not wanting it, he's endorsing the same basic architectural structure. And that was under political pressure. So he did it under political pressure. One could argue what's wrong with understanding that Chuck Schumer has to deal with the same plights.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Look, I understand where Chuck is. And we're all politicians. I don't care what anybody says, we're politicians. And the first thing a politician, generally speaking, wants is to be reelected. I get that. I mean, I get all that. But there are times when you have to take what I call gut check votes, where, for example, I've taken gut check votes I supported over the President's objection and many of my own people's objection. I supported Ukraine. And in spite against Russia and giving money to Ukraine, I got the living hell beat out of me by a lot of people in my party for that. But it was a gut check vote. And I did it because I think Putin is a pirate and has blood under his fingernails and I want to see the Ukrainians give him a curb stomping and kick his ass. But that was an unpopular position to take. I don't want to get too technical, but a few years ago, we had a big fight over the net neutrality bill. I was the only Republican to vote for it. To me, it was a gut check vote. I mean, I could go on, and I'm not trying to be a hero, but they're just, I'm not taking my Senate salary right now. Most of my colleagues are, I'm not putting them down. But I tried to pass a bill which pissed off a lot of my Senate colleagues, saying none of us ought to get paid during the shutdown. And I couldn't pass it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I agree.

[Senator John Kennedy]

I couldn't pass it. I'm not trying to be a hero. I just, I just believe in shared sacrifice. And so I'm not taking my, my salary. There's only one other senator that I know of who's not, and that's Cruz. Maybe others aren't too, but.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Senator John Kennedy]

I'm, I, so I, I, I understand where Chuck's coming from, but at some point, if you don't believe all the things, one after the other that you've got to say to be reelected, what's the point of serving?

[Stephen A. Smith]

We're talking to Senator John Kennedy out of Louisiana, right here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. The President will address the American people on the Iran war soon. Tonight, 9:00pm Senator Kennedy with his approval rating at an all time low of about 33 to 35%. Any thoughts on what he'll say? On what he should say?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Sir, I don't know what he'll say. I know what I want him to say. I want him to say, we went into Iran because we knew we had to destroy all of Iran's air Force, his navy, its missiles, its drones, its missile production facilities, its drone production facilities, and the baby steps that it had started to take to gain a nuclear warhead. That was why we went in. We have done that. We either have done it or will be finished doing it in the next few weeks. And I hope the President will say that and say, I've accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and we're coming home now. His critics will immediately say, yeah, but you left the Strait of Hormuz closed. We didn't close the straight upon moose. Iran did. I can't control. We can't control. Americans can't control what Iran does. If it wants to leave the strait shut down and cause the world to have a recession, it can try, but I don't think the rest of the world will put up with it. The criticism will be made if the President does what I just said. Well, Iran still has fissile material, enriched uranium. Yeah. It's buried about, you know, a thousand feet deep under a bunch of rocks and we'll be able to know if they're trying to dig it out and we can send in another bomb. And others will say, well, Mr. President, you didn't, you didn't have regime change. We wanted regime change. It didn't happen. So should we send in 50,0001-000001-50000 troops to try to take over Iran? I've seen that vampire movie before. It doesn't work. It's time to come home. In my.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So. So you're clearly against foot boots on the ground. You don't want American soldiers any.

[Senator John Kennedy]

I think we want to be clear into a quagmire. And once we get in, it will never get out. That's what I'm worried about. I don't have the intelligence the President has. But, but when I lie down to sleep at night these days and I can't, that's one of the things I'm worried about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Senator John Kennedy, right here, which on Straight Shooter, you said recently that the President was ending a war not starting one by joining the conflict alongside Israel. Explain to my listeners what you meant by that, Sir.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Here's what our intelligence showed. Our intelligence showed that after the June bombing where we bombed Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran immediately started doing two things. It started taking some baby steps to enrich more uranium and try to get a nuclear war hit. But more importantly, it revved up its missile facility manufacturing facilities, and it was producing between 200 and 600 missiles a month. And their goal in Iran was to stockpile enough missiles that they could restart in a big way their nuclear enrichment, their uranium enrichment program. And then when the United States and Israel said, we're going to go back in, Iran was going to say, fine, come on back in. In the meantime, we've got the technology and the number of missiles. We will destroy the Middle East. And by the way, our missiles can reach Turkey, they can reach Berlin, they can reach London. So if you want to come in and hit us again, this time we're ready to hit back. We went into Iran primarily to destroy those missiles and their ability to make more and to destroy their navy and destroy their, their air force and to try to hurt the Revolutionary Guard, which is a big part of their army, which is in control. We have done that. And if we haven't done that completely, we're 90% done and can finish it in the next couple of months. Regime change will be a part of this.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But are you sure about that, or are you just going off of what the President and the administration is telling you in terms of how much of their armed forces you've destroyed?

[Senator John Kennedy]

I believe, I believe, I believe the President and I believe Rubio, and I believe John Radcliffe, the CIA and I believe Pete Hadseth, and they tell me that we have basically turned Iran into fish food. Not the people, but. But their military infrastructure.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Understood? The President onto the to what happened today? The President attended oral arguments at the Supreme Court today regarding his executive order to restrict birthright citizenship, the first time a sitting President has appeared at a High Court hearing. Why does his second term agenda rely so heavily on the Supreme Court with pretty much all of these damn executive orders? Could you. Do you think that's justified, sir?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Well, the President pushes the envelope on a lot of things, and predictably, he gets sued and the cases end up in the United States Supreme Court. And that's the way it's supposed to work. Our judiciary is supposed to tell us what's constitutional and what isn't. And unlike some of my colleagues, I don't think this particular Supreme Court is especially political. I've seen them agree with the President. I've seen them disagree with the President. They just struck down his entire tariff policy. Really angered the President. The President went over there to hear the oral argument today. I don't know whether. Look, he's the president. He can do what he wants. Sometimes that kind of subtle pressure backfires. This Supreme Court's very independent. Every single one of them.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes. Senator John Kennedy. I'm going to tell you this. I got a statement, a quick statement to make, and then I'll ask you a question.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Okay.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What I like about you as I listen and I watch you because I watch you a lot, because I see you a lot of times. What I like is I'm a typical American citizen. Perspective. We don't like bs and we assume that BS is coming from the politicians when it comes to you. I don't think anybody looks at you and sees what you said and think that you don't mean what the hell you said. Say you understand. That's what I like about you. Two of my favorite people to listen to on Capitol Hill is you and Senator and Senator Hawley. To be quite honest, I can't wait to have him on the show as well, along with a few Democrats as well. I preface my question to you by saying that because in all honesty, we look at both parties and it's just an absolute mess. Which you articulated at the start of this interview. How successful in Capitol Hill is just bad right now. You said before that sometimes the majority means all the fools are on the same side. I'm quoting you here. I wrote down this quote that you said once. The majority means all the fools are on the same side right now. Is your party governing effectively or making the same mistakes you've warned about?

[Senator John Kennedy]

I think we're governing effectively, but I don't think that the President is emphasizing the things that he ought to be emphasized. You. You need to talk. We need to be talking about the things that moms and dads lie down when they lie down to sleep at night and can't. That they're worried about. They're worried about a lot of stuff. Right at the top of the list, even is the cost of living. They consider affordability, the cost of living, inflation, whatever you want to call it. Affordability. And I've told the President this. I think. I think he needs to talk about it more. I think he's got a good story to tell, but for whatever reason, he doesn't like to talk about it. He's comfortable talking about immigration and the SAVE act, which is important. But when moms and dads lie down asleep at night in America today, maybe they should be. But they're not lying there worried about Iran or they're not lying there worried about, about birthright citizenship. I'm not saying those things aren't important. Please don't misunderstand me. But the American people, they're not stupid. They may not read Aristotle every day because they're too busy earning a living, but they get it and they get to make the final decision about what they, they want their government to, to, to emphasize. And I'm telling you, it's the economy, stupid. Carville was right when he told Clinton that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

My last question to you, because we've got to go and I thank you so much for your time concern, where does it lie on the media for you and the GOP right now, whether it's because of what some folks on the right would label Trump derangement syndrome or, you know, or something else? How concerned are you because of the vitriol aimed in the president's direction, in my opinion, sometimes justifies, sometimes not. How concerned are you for the GOP is the midterms approach? Well, in terms of the Republicans losing power in the House, I don't know

[Senator John Kennedy]

what's going to happen in the midterms. I'm not clairvoyant. I have to, I can't predict the future. I got to wait on it like everybody else. But I'll tell you what I am concerned about. I'm worried about the institutions of our government that we all have agreed that matter. I'll give you an example. In America, we don't sue or try to put into jail our political opponents. Now, President Biden did that with President Trump and he unleashed spirits that he couldn't control. We don't do that in America. And it's not right if President Trump, now that he's in power, tries to do it to his political enemies. That's the sort of thing that doesn't happen in America. It happens in countries whose powerball jackpots is 287 chickens and a goat. That's not America. The rule of law is supposed to control. It also bothers me when some people say the federal judges are all on the take and we don't have to abide by what they say. Yes, we do. If you don't like what a federal judge does, you can, you can cuss it, you can discuss it or you can appeal it, but you can't ignore it. That's an institution that's part of our Constitution. And that's what worries me about America and the fact that we all just. We keep calling each other ignorant sluts. It's not productive. Everybody needs to take their meds and relax a little bit and try to listen to the other side.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Senator John Kennedy. We got to run. I want to thank you for your time. I want to thank you for coming on the show. I want you to know whether I agree or disagree with anybody, you always got a place here to make sure you.

[Senator John Kennedy]

You are a rock star, man. You're a rock star. I love your show.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much, man. I appreciate it. Thank you for your time and welcome back. Anytime you take yourself one and only Senator John Kennedy out of Louisiana. I like listening to him because I know that he means what he says. It's all I can ask, really, be quite honest with you. You understand? I disagree with them sometimes, but, hey, I appreciate the candor. We need it. No question about that. And what he said in that last remark is absolutely our money. We all know it's true. Need to type it down just a little bit and learn to talk with one another. That's how it starts, y'.

[Caller]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's how it starts. Our number two up next. Actually, I'm gonna end the hour in a minute, and then hour number two will start. Donna Brazil's coming into the House. Democratic strategist extraordinaire. Can't wait to talk to her as well. You're listening live. Straight Shooter with George Truly Stephen A. Back with more in a minute. Greg in Michigan, you're live with Straight Shooter with Stephen A. What's up, big time?

[Caller]

Stephen A. Mr. Positive. Boom shakalaka. Hey, thanks for taking my call. Oh, my God, there's so much to unpack. The citizenship.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You only got a couple. You only got a minute and a half. So go ahead, take it away, my brother. Go ahead, say what you got to say.

[Caller]

Thank you. Iran getting help by Russia making them wealthy, you know, with the oil and the citizenship. Real quick, when you talk about citizenship, I agree with you, but here's the thing. We have to do it slowly and by the law. Everyone comes over to this country and they think they can become a citizen. I just don't want them to think that anymore. They have to do the process. But I think it would be uncivil if we just said without changing the law and just doing and just getting rid of the people. It would just make us look bad, my friend.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, let me tell you Something great. I'm not trying to get rid of anybody that's here legally. I'm not trying to get rid of anybody that's here, period, other than the criminals. What I'm saying is there does come a point in time where you have to understand as a nation there is a state of emergency and the status quo no longer applies. And to say for the Supreme Court to lean on the Constitution and say that no alterations could ever take place, well, then what the hell is the word amendment means? Aren't there amendments to the Constitution? Doesn't that mean alterations? Doesn't that mean there are adjustments? Of course it does. And so my point is, is that I'm not saying I agree or disagree totally because, you know, it's a lot of people that need to be in this country, man. We don't need them where they, where they came from because straits are so dire. I got that part. But outside of the criminals, I don't want to touch anybody that's here. What I'm saying is moving forward, there's nothing wrong with saying we've changed. With 39 trillion in debt, we got a lot of problems that we got to dig ourselves out of. And desperate times call for desperate measures so as in an effort to save our country. We can't do what we've been doing, whatever that may be. There's nothing wrong with saying that. And we have to recognize that. Our number two. Up next, straight shooter in the House, Stephen A. Don't go away. Straight shooter with Stephen A.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Don't send any money for daycare because the United States can't take care of daycare. That has to be up to a state. We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We have 50 states, we have all these other people. We're fighting wars, we can't take care of daycare. You got to let a state take care of daycare. And they should pay for it too. They should pay. They have to raise their taxes, but they should pay for it. And we could lower our taxes a little bit to them to make up. But we, it's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection, we have to guard the country. But all these little things, all these little scams that have taken place, all you have to, you have to let states take care of them, Russell. And you have to do it,

[Stephen A. Smith]

ladies and gentlemen, Medicare, Medicaid in a little thing, Healthcare in a little thing. And by the way, nobody wants to hear that from a president that miraculously finds 800 million to 2 billion a day all right to spend on a war. But you, you couldn't come up with a billion dollars over the last month to pay TSA workers. Ain't nobody trying to hear that. I know I'm not, but I'll talk about that on my own after I talk to my next guest. Oh my goodness. I've been waiting for her to come on the show. One of the most wonderful women I know in politics. She is a veteran political strategist, New York Times best selling author and Emmy and Peabody Award winning media contributor who previously served as interim chair of the Democratic national committee and the DNC's Voting Rights Institute. She is now a member of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and of course, and ABC News contributor. She is the wonderful, the marvelous, the incomparable, the one and only Donna Brazile right here with Straight shooter Stephen A. How you doing, Donna? Good evening. How's everything?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, you know, I've been one of your fans out loud and just happy to be on this call. I don't know if you know this, but when I, I knew one of your producers and I actually lobbied him. I have never lobbied anyone. As you well know, when you have an ABC contract, you can't really go outside the box. And when I got this invitation, I told him I want to do this. So I am so grateful to be here and thank you for all of the good work that you're doing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much. Let's get right to it. I mean, you, you, you saw Trump sat in today on a Supreme Court arguments on birthright citizenship. From your estimation, how effective, if effective at all, do you think his appearance was today?

[Donna Brazile]

I don't think his appearance made any difference in the oral arguments that I heard from both the solicitor General or the conversation that was later held by the ACLU that presented their arguments. I think the justices came in there well prepared to ask the tough questions. The precedent that we've known over the last century and a half, all of the congressional acts and also what the Supreme Court itself has done. So I don't think he made an impression on them. But maybe he just wanted to get outside the White House while it's under construction and get a little fresh air by going to the Supreme Court. Perhaps he wanted to just take a ride around the cherry blossoms that are still blooming Whatever reason, I'm not one to say what the President should do with his time, but I don't think he made a difference today.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How about this notion that he was there because he wanted to remind American citizens he's paying attention to what the hell is going on in this country, you know, on our soil, as opposed to doing business in the Middle east all the damn time or engaging in warfare? How about that notion?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, look, given the stakes right now in the Middle east and the Gulf, I think the President should be focused 247 on what's happening there. He needs to figure out what is our strategy? Will we be able to de escalate, Will Iran agree to the ceasefire, the principles that we have put forward, and essentially, how do we rebuild alliances? The President has a lot of things to answer for, and hopefully with his address to the nation, he will be able to tell us what's going on and what is the end game. You don't come in, you don't get into a war without a strategy to win and to be able to claim victory. And I think the President is willing to claim victory without a strategy to end it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He's been seeking help from NATO, and we've heard him, and to a lesser degree, Secretary of State Marco Rubio complaining about the lack of assistance they've received from NATO. And as a result, we've heard notions and, you know, just hints about pulling out of NATO and things of this nature. What are your thoughts about that? Is he justified to some degree in bringing that up? Because one would think considering the money that the United States of America has poured into NATO and the assistance has provided NATO, you would think that NATO would be more receptive to something that the United States wants, no matter who's in the Oval Office. Nevertheless, that's not the case right now, it appears. What do you think about their position with regard to NATO?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, first of all, let's, let's make sure that we understand that France has helped in some of the defensive strategies. Turkey has knocked down a couple of the drones and helping some of its neighbors. And of course, the UK allowed the United States to use Diego Garcia remote base way out in the Indian Ocean. So they have not completely sat on their hands. And after all, Zelensky has, has come forward and said, look, I know how to get those drones out the sky. I know how to do it cheaply and more effective. And the White House dismissed that and instead gave Russia the ability to sell. It's all on the market for a couple more days, 10 more days. So I think the allies really wanted to be consulted. I think the allies wanted to know the strategy. The allies wanted to understand exactly how after degrading the Iranian missile capabilities, after removing or murdering, killing the Alatola and his family, they wanted to have a better idea what, what the United States was doing and what was our plan, you know, the day after the bombs stopped falling.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Donna Brazile, the wonderful Donna Brazile, political strategist extraordinaire, contributor to ABC News, right here with Straight Shooter with Stephen A. You know, I want to get to another subject that's not near and dear to your heart and that's the Democratic Party. I mean, few are more qualified than you on the planet to talk about the Democratic Party and what's going on with them right now. How do you feel about the state of affairs within the Democratic Party at this particular moment in time as we speak, just less than a year away from the midterms. How are you feeling about your party right now?

[Donna Brazile]

You know, I was in class today. I teach at Georgetown university, been there 24 years.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, you do.

[Donna Brazile]

And I told my students that a year ago I was really feeling somewhat awful. The defeat in 2024 wasn't just a loss of the presidency and of course, control of Congress and so much more. It was a failure of imagination to understand in the 21st century you cannot run 20th century campaigns. You cannot be a candidate or a political party that continue to invest in six or seven states and expect a miracle across the country. We lost ground. We lost the ability to hold, hold together a 30 plus year coalition that the Democratic Party was able to create over the past 30 years and enable the victory of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, of course. Well, you know, I'm going to not talk about Al Gore because we lost by 537 votes in Florida. And that was our fault. And I'll talk about that one day. But look, the fact is the Democratic Party is in the process of rebuilding. We're rebuilding. It's like a car that needed renovation and it is like a house that needed to be totally, you know, built back from the studs up. The party is rebuilding and the way you rebuild is state by state. It's not a national campaign that we have to focus on right now. We got to focus on these campaigns in the states. We got to focus on the what I call some of the down ballot races. And over the last year, Democrats have been able to flip over 30 special election 30, Republicans zero. And that's because we run in better candidates and we Got to we fine tune our message, whether it's affordability or talking directly to the American people about their hopes and aspiration, we're showing up where it matters. But, you know, let me just tell you this. We're a long way from the midterms. And the midterms, as you well know. I don't want to use a sports analogy, but I love sports.

[Caller]

Sure.

[Donna Brazile]

But the midterms, it's a Super Bowl. I mean, that is the ball game. If we fail to take back one or both branches, the House or the Senate, if we fail to, you know, expand our reach in terms of gubernatorial seats, it's going to be very difficult for 2028. So this is the year that the Democratic Party has to focus on not only winning down ballot races, but focus on rebuild and retooling and rebranding the national party itself.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is it really necessary to do all of that, Donna, or can you just sit. Or could you just sit back and say, let Trump implode. He can't help himself. It'll happen. What about that strategy? You ever thought about that?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, look, we all talk about Donald Trump 24 7. We've been talking about Donald Trump for the last 10 years. And what if. What. What do we got? What have we received from just talking about Donald Trump? No, the Democratic Party has to reconnect with the voters that they want to represent. That's why it's important that we run candidates not just at the federal level, but also at the state level. We have, you know, more than 10,000 school board races. Let's make sure that we run school board races across the country. City council races, mayoral races, judicial races, not just what I call the hot, shiny, bright object, like who's running for the Senate, who's running for the House. But let's make sure that we can build something underneath us. And if we can do that, then we can replicate what the Republicans have been able to do over the last 10 years with Donald Trump as the head of their political party.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You've said publicly, when the Democrats go too far left, many voters feel left out. I got that quote from doing some research on you. You're basically publicly acknowledging that Democrats need to move a little bit towards the center. But does the party listen at this stage? Does the party listen?

[Donna Brazile]

You know, look, New York is different from my beloved hometown of New Orleans. Okay, sure. And New Orleans is different from San Francisco. San Francisco is different from St. Louis. We have to meet the moment. And when the party goes too far in one direction, as We've seen in the Republican Party, when you go too far in one direction, then it's hard to bring people from the middle to your point of view or your political coalition. So we have to meet the moment. And the majority of Americans are not registered Democrats or registered Republicans. They are independent, unaffiliated voters. And they want pragmatic, common sense, authentic politicians. They're not looking for firebrands. Now, you talk about a lot of my friends who are firebrands. They're hotter than Tabasco. But the American people are not looking for hot sauce. They're looking for somebody who can bring home, not just the bacon, the eggs, the grits, the gravy. They want somebody who can deliver. And all of this happy talk about, you know, standing this far to the left or standing this far to the right, it's not meeting the moment of the American people. We're going to fall further and further behind. And I know you care about this. I'm worried about the fact that we are engaged in a war that's going to cost well over maybe 2, 300 billion dollars at a time when we should be reskilling our workforce, focusing on the productivity growth. AI, how do we train our young people for a future that looks different from when you and I were growing up? So we got so much on our plate, but our politicians are not meeting the moment. And we don't need somebody from the far left or the far right. We need people who understand how to cross that aisle and get things done.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know of anybody within the Democratic Party who falls under that, that label, who, who, who you look at definitively and says represents exactly what you said the party needs in order to move the country forward. Is there anybody associated with the Democratic Party that stands out of your mind?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, first of all, I've seen Democrats over the last year and a half try to reach out to Republicans to make things happen. And just earlier today, I understand that Mr. Johnson, and by the way, he's from Louisiana. He's a proud LSU graduate. So am I, Mr. Scalise. A proud LSU graduate. Same here. I mean, they, they understand that they have to reopen the entire department, but they also saw what happened in the United States Senate with that unanimous vote. So the House will come back next week and they will vote on that Senate bill. That's victory. But in order for that to pass, because so many of the, quote, unquote, Tea Party, or you want to call them the Freedom Caucus or the MAGA crowd, they will vote against their own interests and so the Democrats will have to provide votes. So time and time again, the Democrats are not afraid to cross that aisle and provide the votes necessary to keep this country and to keep this economy moving and to keep the country safe. Because we also have to talk about that as well.

[Stephen A. Smith]

In your estimation, is the MAGA movement from fracturing?

[Donna Brazile]

Yes. I can't tell you. I mean, when I listen to Laura Ingram, you know, I, I spent some time on Fox News, four years, I got, I got criticized for it. But I said, you know what, if I want to talk to myself with them, I'll just go home and talk to my sisters and brothers. But I want to talk to people across style. I want to hear their ideas, I want to hear their views. And then if we have to go round the round, fine. But I spent four years as a Silver Fox and I have no regrets. But yes, I'm hearing from Joe Rogan, I'm hearing from Laura Ingraham. I'm listening to Megan Kelly. I mean, she doesn't agree with me. I'm listening to Marjorie Taylor Greene. I'm listening. Because you know what? They are fracturing Tucker Carlson, who I work with at CNN back in the day.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Be careful, Donna. Be careful, Donna. I mean, by doing that, you might be considered selling out your community. I know the feeling. You talk to people across the other aisle. You listen to what they have to say. My God, we can't even do that, Donna. Remember that. I mean, they said it about me. They would have did do that to you. You though.

[Donna Brazile]

I've been cancelled so many times. I, I've gotten fired, I've gotten kicked, I've gotten hit, I've gotten death threats. I mean, you name it, it, it has come. It has come and it's come the past. But if, when you're in politics, when you're in the fire, you know, you have to understand how to stir, how to stir the pots. And I want to be able to look at someone and say, okay, I can work with you on this issue, on this issue, but I'm not going to work with you on this issue. And I have my bottom line, I have my red lines, but also have my value system. I'll never forget, Stephen, when Hurricane Katrina made landfall, my father, who served in the military, four bronze stars, a UN medal for valor in Korea, my father told me to go and talk to George Bush. I looked at him and I said, dad, guess what? I work for Al Gore, the other guy. He said, I don't care. He said, we need somebody who can Rebuild the levees, help us bring back the people who've lost their homes. And my daddy just looked at me and he said, now go and talk to the president. And I found my way into that White House to talk to George W. Bush. At the time, I lost my black card. Now, you know when you, you use. You lose that black card when people think that you have betrayed them. I said, I'm not betraying you. I'm just trying to make sure that I can reopen the schools, rebuild the levees, and make sure that people have a road home back to the best city and the best coast in America, the Gulf Coast. And I did what my father asked me to do. And I'm proud every day, every time I go home. When I'm back home in a couple days, I'm going to be able to see that VA hospital that I was able to advocate for. I'm going to be able to see Dillard and Xavier and all those other schools that are reopened. And I'm going to be able to see my family who've been able to come back home along with other members of my community. So, yeah, sometimes you have to cross out again. You don't have to sell out. You just have to know why you're going to the table. I will go to the table with Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson, anyone else, if I can cut a deal to preserve some of the progress we've made and to make gains that will help the American people succeed.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I tell people all the time, do you want to be listened to or do you want to be heard? Because guess what? You're going to have to make a difference in order to pull that off. You're going to have to be heard, and it's going to have to be with people who disagree with you. And you got to listen to them and talk to them and show that you can walk across the aisle and get stuff done. That's just the bottom line. I have to go back to something that you said a little bit earlier because you said, you talked about prioritizing keeping our country safe.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Obviously you listen to the gop. One of the things they lament and they hang their hat on is that former President Joe Biden allowed open borders and so many millions of people to come across our border, and that's contributed so much to the chaos, and the Democratic Party did nothing but allow him to do that. What do you say about that? Particularly emanating from the, from the mouths of folks on the right when they say such things? Donna Brazil.

[Donna Brazile]

Well, I tell them, you know, criticize Joe Biden all you want, but you didn't criticize Barack Obama and Joe Biden when they deported millions of migrants who came one. Thank you. He was called a deporter in chief and quite proud of it, I think. Under the Biden administration, two things happened. First of all, there was a migration crisis all over the world. Not just the United States, but all over the world. And, you know, some of it was due to climate, some of it was. Was due to what I call activities beyond our control. But it was a failure of your imagination once again to understand that something was happening. When you have people from as far away as Africa or as far away as Asia finding their way all the way over to South America and then walking or getting transportation to the southern border, something was wrong. Democrats have fought for comprehensive immigration reform. That's been our solution to part of the problem. And because we can't find common ground with Republicans, then we have the sore point where one side, you know, essentially they're able to make the argument that we are weak on the board and the other side is saying no. But you're not treating people with humanity. You're not treating people with fairness. We need to have a better system set up a better way to have an intake and output. It was a failure. And we should just give the President credit for what he, what he's done in terms of the border security. But we cannot give him credit on the way that ICE has operated without the proper training, without the proper protocols that we give to other law enforcements. I tell people I live in Washington, D.C. and just a couple of blocks from my house, we had ICE officials from, from, I don't know, and they all had on masks. And I'm like, dude, it's hot as hell out here.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Who are you?

[Donna Brazile]

I just want to go and say thank you. Who are you? What are you doing? Where are you going? But no, they've made, I always say, just a complete nightmare the way that they went about trampling on people's rights. None of us knew who would get stopped or pulled over because we didn't know what the strategy was. So I hope we can get some common sense reforms. Look like Tom Holman made some breakthroughs with the Democrats in the Senate. Maybe we can make some breakthroughs with the Democrats in the House and we can get the votes necessary so that we can get the entire DHS backup and funding.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Just a couple of questions left before I let you go, and thanks so much for your time. I really appreciate it anytime. You know, Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana was on a few minutes ago and he called the extreme left portion of the Democratic Party the loon wing, the loony wing or whatever it is. That's what he was saying. Basically talking about how they're running the party and it's to the detriment of the country because the Chuck Schumer's of the world, the Bill Clinton of the world, people like that, it used to be that party. It's no longer. Do you believe he's right in saying that

[Donna Brazile]

he name names? I mean, is he just.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He said Bernie. He said Bernie. He did, he did. No, no, he did. He said aoc. He said Bernie Sanders. He mentioned those two specifically. I believe he mentioned one more. Who? I don't. Mom Donnie. And he mentioned Mom Donnie in New York as the mayor. He mentioned those three names. That's what he said.

[Donna Brazile]

Well, first of all, Bernie Sanders, as you well know, is a Democratic socialist who caulkers with the Democratic Party. He's not a Democrat. He's run as a Democrat twice. And we now have a rule that in order to run you must declare yourself to be a Democrat. Bernie Sanders is. I've known Bernie since my Jesse Jackson days and God knows I go back a long way. And Bernie was, you know, a progressive. He's always been a progressive. He's not going to change, but he's not running the Democratic Party. Yes, there are many followers of Bernie Sanders within the Democratic Party and I'm sure within the Democratic caucus like AOC Congresswoman, but they're elected by the American people. You may not like Bernie Sanders positions on A through X, but you know what? The people of Vermont have given him their vote and their confidence. And the same is true of aoc. I've never met her. I hope to meet aoc. So funny. People talk about the squad. I only know two of the four members of the so called squad. But they have every right to be in the caucus. And that's why the Democratic Party is a healthy party. We have a big tent. We have conservatives, we have moderates and liberals and progressives and now a few socialists. And you know what? It will not change the character of the party. The only thing that will change the character of the party is when the voters decide that we are no longer capable of representing their views and their values in the United States Congress or any other office we hold.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But, but didn't the report, didn't the voters already do that by electing Trump? Because I'm One that's been on the record, I don't think. I don't think Trump won the election in 2024. I think Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost it. And you've lamented the fact that the absence of a primary you was something that you did not like. I certainly did not like that at all. It bothered the living hell out of me. And I thought that the Democratic Party blew it. It was gifted, wrapped it to them, and they absolutely blew the election. That's why Trump is back in the White House because of all the shenanigans they were engaging in leading up to the election. Your thoughts about that?

[Donna Brazile]

Well, first of all, the American people have been in a foul mood since 2004. The right track, wrong track numbers have been totally off the radar. The American people just dislike politicians. They dislike the politics. And Trump ran as an anti establishment candidate. Remember in 2000, back in 2016, you had two anti establishment populist candidates. On the right you had Donald Trump, and on the left you had Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders gave Hillary a hell of a time before she defeated him in the primary. And Donald Trump beat all of those establishment Republicans because the American people looked at him and say, well, you know what? He has nothing to lose. He has his own money, he has his own stature, he has his own plane. So we're going to give our vote to this guy because he doesn't care. And I often tell people that same mood took place in 2008 when the American people said, I will give this Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, Senator Obama, my vote versus giving it to an establishment Democrat because we want somebody from outside of Washington D.C. to go and clean up house. So Donald Trump came across as somebody who can come into Washington and clean house. That's what he did in 2016 when he swept through the so called blue wall. And that's what he did in 2024 when he was able to. Here's what he did in 2024 that Kamala Harris didn't do. And I'm gonna just be off, you know, be on the record. Donald Trump went everywhere. He went on podcast, he went on substack, he went on radio show, he didn't duck. And by nighttime, he held big rallies. He was everywhere. He was in your face, in your ear, where he was present, everywhere, every day, seven days a week. 24, seven. He didn't have a down day. Kamala had down days. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had over 80 million votes in 2020. Kamala only received 75 million. So we cannot blame Donald. We cannot say Donald Trump was the problem. The problem was our inability to go back and talk to those voters and to motivate them to come out once again. We had turnout problems. We had messaging problems. And it didn't just come about in 107 days. It came about because over four years of governing, we spent so much time trying to get the policy right coming out of COVID that we forgot to talk directly to the American people so that they could be involved in the progress we were making. And that was our downfall. And I was sad about it. I was pissed about it. But you know what happens when you lose an election? You get up and you figure out how the other guy or the other girl did better than you and you get back on the court and you try to whip their ass the next time.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Last question. Totally off the subject, but really not. You called the late civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, quote, a pioneering figure who gave me wings and fundamentally transformed American politics by laying the groundwork for modern Democratic inclusion as the first black woman to serve as the manager of a major party's presidential campaign. When you did it for Al Gore, do you believe the Democratic Party still values the black vote?

[Donna Brazile]

Yes and no. I do believe that the vast majority of Democratic office holders, Democratic leaders, Democratic officials and donors really support the black community, but not in ways in which Jesse Jackson envisioned how. We never forget the voters who turn out and give us their vote. I don't. I still dislike the fact that Democratic candidates come to the black community six weeks before Election Day. How disrespectful. They should be coming to us now. They should be talking to us now. They should be engaging us now. They should make sure that those black voters, like white voters and any other voters that have been purged, that they get the proper identification and they get the proper information so that they can participate in the election. So, yes, there are times in which I scream at my own party. And I've said it up front, I do not like when we're taking our voters for granted. Yes, black people, especially black women, you know, we're the backbone of the Democratic Party. We're the backbone.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Donna Brazile]

But don't come to us two weeks out. That's an insult. Start talking to us. What I've been saying, talk to us now. Engage with us now. And in fact, help us run for office. Help us to, as I mentioned, the 19 city council races, the 18,000 school board races, the 6,000 state legislative races, help recruit us, help train us help us provide a new generation. What Reverend Jackson did was revolutionary because you know what he said? You have political power, and you can leverage that political power. Let me show you how to do it. That's what he did. And he led by example. And I miss him. He was my brother, my friend. And I have to tell you, Steve, when I left Reverend Jackson campaign to go work for Dick Gephard, Reverend told me I would be a branch without a tree. And I said, reverend, that's cold. That's awful. And he said, no, you can't leave me. I said, baby, I gotta leave you, because that's what you do. You trained me to go out there and to soar. And when I became Al Gore's campaign manager and later chair of the Democratic Party, not once, but twice, Vice chair for eight years, you know who called me every day to check on me to see if I need anything? Jesse Jackson.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Donna Brazile]

Good man. I miss him.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So do I. I know him. We talked often. He was a good man. And obviously we covered it. He was sore at every practice. I mean, he practically at every sporting event. My goodness, he didn't miss the big one, that's for sure. But, Donna Brazile, thank you so much for your time. It was wonderful talking to you. I appreciate the education as always. Just. Just teaching along the way is what you do. Thank you so much. You know, you're welcome back on the show anytime. And just a little birdie. I mean, I kind of know a few people at abc, so you want to come on. Don't. Don't worry about it. I. I can take care of it.

[Donna Brazile]

And look, when you're ready, when you're ready to launch your next ride or your next position, will you give me a call so I can bring you over and I can make you some gumbo and I can tell you how to chew the fl.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me tell you something. I. You don't need to tell me that. There ain't no way I'm running without coming to you. That's not gonna happen. You understand? It's automatic. But they trying to take my money down. They're trying to say the miniature equal air time. The minute you announce that you're trying to do it, we got to pull you off the airways. I can't let them mess with my money. But we'll talk about it.

[Donna Brazile]

Well, you and I the same way, honey. But that's why we can talk offline over some gumbo. Okay?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Always, always. Love you.

[Donna Brazile]

Appreciate you so much.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'll see you soon.

[Donna Brazile]

Bye.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Bye. Happy Easter. You take it easy. The wonderful Donna Brazil demonstrate. Democratic strategist, extraordinary contributor for ABC News this week with George Stephanopoulos. She is the truth and a half, make no mistake about it. So much so appreciate her. The one of the wonderful Donna Brazil to your calls for the rest of the show at 8669-6768-8786-6967-6887. That's 86696 POTUS. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with your boy Stephen A. Back with your calls and more in a minute.

[Senator John Kennedy]

RS 25 engines lit 4, 3, 2, 1.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Booster ignition and lift off. The crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the moon. Humanity's next great voyage begins. Crew of Artemis 2 just took off, just launched. Going to the moon. Taking four astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. That's what you just heard. Welcome back to Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. NASA launches Artemis 2 astronauts to the moon. Four of them going around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Big time, big time moment for us as a nation, no doubt always is. 866-967-6887 is the number of quotes. 86696 POTUS. You're listening live, Stephen a series XM mad dog sports Radio. Is that Ken in California online number one?

[Caller]

Yes, it is. How you doing, Steve?

[Stephen A. Smith]

How are you man? Talk to me. What's going on? Yes, I can.

[Caller]

I'm doing good. Okay. The question is, is the consistency meaning that when Biden and the Democrats was in charge of the money that was going to Ukraine wasn't even vetted, unmatched. No one knew where that money was actually going to. And you didn't hear the Democrats talking about facts. Only when Trump is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Ken, Ken, I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna let you continue. Okay? But please stop. Only Trump. Only Trump. Only Trump. Every administration been spending money. How the hell we 39 trillion in debt. There's always money that they spending that we don't know where the hell is going. Why you acting like that's that, that, that, that that's one party that's doing that. You know they all been doing it. Why you doing that, Ken? Why?

[Caller]

Okay, we know, okay. They all been spinning but at least we know the Republican side. We know exactly what needs to be. He asked for the money. He asked for this money. Not giving money to Ken, you can in the Sunday war that we're not even involved in.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Ken. With 30 in debt each Administration, all of them. Both sides spend exorbitant amount of dollars, some of which they can't justify, Some of it they can, some of it they can't. What administration do you know has told us exactly every dollar spent where it was going? Blame one of them. One of them. Nobody's done it.

[Caller]

You act like. But you saying it, you saying this. How long have Trump been in office? His second term? What, about a year and a couple of months, something like that, right? And you, you guys are acting like, well, the world's gonna turn over. Flip side, within a year and a month. You gotta give the man a chance.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What I'm saying is. What I'm saying is you sat up there and you talked about America first. You got all of this stuff going on in the Middle East. On top of it, all your. Your wallets have been padded at over $1.5 trillion. Some people say as high as $6 billion. Okay? In the meantime, you've got Republicans turning against him, saying he ain't focusing on America first the way he had campaigned. That ain't just Democrats saying it. It's Republicans, too. So you. And not only that, we've got a tariff war going on where the price and the cost of living is an issue. You got a senator and John Kennedy that was just on this show who vehemently supports the president that says it's the economy. Stupid. Emulating and echoing Clinton and talking about affordability being an issue. Why are you saying y'. All. Why are you saying they, it's us. Us. It's not they, it's us. The complaints are universal. The compliments should be, too. When he does something right, but when he does something wrong, you got to say that, too. You can't be a person on the right and your attitude is, there's so much against him. I'm going to agree with everything in defense of him. No bump that. You got to call it straight. Just because other people ain't doing it don't mean you should do it, that you shouldn't do it. Give him credit when he's right, but own it when he's wrong. You can't sit up there and assist Israel and Hamas and everything that was going on, whether it's in Lebanon, it's in Israel, it's in a Gaza Strip or whatever. And then you sitting up there giving press conferences, talking about building a Trump, a Trump, you know, building in Gaza, and act like that's not for your own individual benefit. You can't do that. You can't.

[Caller]

When you said it. You, you get it sounds like you're getting some of this information from a Democratic side.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I'm like, hold on, I don't want to hear that. I'm watching myself. I'm reading. Tell me I'm getting it from the Wall Street Journal. Tell me I'm getting it from the Financial Times. Tell me I'm getting it from the Washington Post or the New York Times. Why I got to be. Because I'm listening to Democrats. I criticize them all the damn time.

[Caller]

They always been there with Trumpers.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you just hear me or you just talking? Did you not just hear me say what, what I defer to and what I refer to when I'm reading stuff, when I'm watching stuff, I don't watch just one channel. I don't watch Ms. Now. I watch cnn, too. I watch Fox News, too. I watch abc, NBC, CBS on Sunday mornings. I read. I don't know everything. But I don't rely on one source and I damn sure don't rely on one party. You can't be all in on somebody so much that you're not objective about what they're doing. You can't do that.

[Caller]

Can you do me a favor where if you bring on a Democrat, ask them, you got to tell them how much money that you just had Donald Brazil on there because they, when you bring on a Democrat, ask them. Okay, when you talking about Trump spend his money on this war with Iran, what happened to all that money that you claim that you guys are sending? That was pretty much. We didn't know what it was.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You just heard, you just heard a Republican and Senator Kennedy saying he signed off on the money to Ukraine because he wanted to take Putin down. Why are you bringing up the Democrats when a Republican was just on the air saying that he supported giving money to Ukraine?

[Caller]

Right. He said. Right. He signed off. He signed off on that, which is you. Right. But he didn't have no. He was in control of the money.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, my God. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. Have a nice day. I'm not listening to you no more. The senator came on and said that he supported giving money to Ukraine. It's obvious the Democrats gave money to Ukraine because they don't want Russia having an advantage. They're not fans of Putin. And a matter of fact, you got some people, I think, possibly wrongly at times thinking that Trump is too soft on Putin. But the point is you calling up here and saying, the Democrats, the Democrats shut the hell up. I'm sick and tired of the partisan shit. I'm sick of it. You could sit up there and support the man and still say, but he's wrong about this. I sit up there. I just interviewed a YouTuber, Anton Daniels, last week. I interviewed Officer Tatum, a Republican, a couple of months ago. I've interviewed Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly, and people like that. Damn. They support him, but they disagree with him on sometimes. I mean, my God, is it a crime to sit up there and say, I support him, But I don't agree with that. Evidently, Ken, in California, you probably been contaminated by California. Actually. I apologize for being so hard on you because I just thought about something. You living in California. I know the Democrats getting on your damn nerves in that state. So it makes sense. So I forgive you. Let's go. Who's. Who wants to talk about the Vance administration? Who's this? Call agent.

[Donna Brazile]

Who?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Tate, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Tate? Talk to me.

[Caller]

What's up, Stephen A. How you doing?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Holla at me, bro. What's up?

[Caller]

I just wanted to know your thoughts on advanced Rubio administration. I know you said on Sean Hannah,

[Stephen A. Smith]

there's not going to be advanced Rubio administration because Vance is not going to run for the vice president again. Under Rubio, he's going to expect to be the president and Rubio be the vice presidential candidate. And that ain't happening because Rubio is the adult in the room. And right now, with everything that's going on, I believe that Rubio will be the GOP nominee for the presidency of the United States in 2028, and he absolutely will positively deserve it, ahead of J.D. vance. So it ain't gonna be no Vance, Rubio administration. It's gonna be Rubio, not Vance, in my estimation.

[Caller]

That makes sense to me. I think things are trending that way for sure. Who would you think would be a good vice president?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Who cares? Who cares?

[Caller]

You'd vote for Westmore?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't. I don't give a damn who's gonna be the vice president, the vice president. I don't care. I don't care. What do you do? You give speeches or you do what the president wants to do? And if there's a tie in the Senate, you're the president of the Senate, essentially, and you cast a deciding vote. That's about it. Other than that, I'm looking at. Unless you want to hear their speeches. Vice president ain't affecting nothing. If somebody came to me to be a vice president, I'd laugh. Please. Secretary of State, Defense secretary, Attorney General. Yeah. Come to me with that vice president, please. Other than giving speeches, you wait for the president to die. And I'm not saying it's not an important position when it comes to voting in the Senate and stuff like that. I certainly was proud that Kamala Harris, a black woman, was in that position. But I ain't aspiring to be no damn vice president. Why do you call? Why would you. Why would you take time out of your life to call up on a national radio show to ask about who would be the vice president? Really? You really care about that?

[Caller]

What do you think? Because I don't think Vance would run it. Do it again. I don't think so, but that's fair. There's a lot of issues.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm wondering what you're doing with your time in real. In real life. That's what I'm wondering. Wondering about calling up here, taking time out of your life to ask about the vice president. My God, you don't have something better to do? I hope you're married, got a girlfriend or something? I mean, what the hell is that? Vice president. That's what you called up here for? Stephen A. Go, go to bed, man. Go to bed. Get some sleep. Come up with a better question next time. Stephen A. Smith in the house. Straight shooter with Stephen A. Back with your calls to end the show in a minute. Lines are open. Feel free to call up 8669-676887-86696. POTUS back one more in a minute.

[Donna Brazile]

Hey, Stephen A.

[Senator John Kennedy]

My name is Hunter.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm from Utah.

[Donna Brazile]

I'm 30 years old.

[Senator John Kennedy]

I've got a master's degree in healthcare management and I work in healthcare administration.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I did what we were told to

[Donna Brazile]

do growing up to get ahead.

[Senator John Kennedy]

But my generation still looks like the first in decades to be worse off than our parents.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Housing is out of breach, debt is high, and wages haven't kept up with

[Donna Brazile]

the cost of living.

[Senator John Kennedy]

So my question is, who do you

[Stephen A. Smith]

see as accountable for this issue?

[Senator John Kennedy]

Is this the result of long term

[Donna Brazile]

policy failures or did we just prioritize the wrong things as a country? And why aren't candidates today being pushed

[Senator John Kennedy]

to give real solutions instead of talking points? Thanks.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hello, this is Carl Gammis calling from Lakeland, Florida. I just wanted to comment on the release by the Florida attorney general today in a letter he sent to the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell saying that the Rooney Rule may violate DEI laws in the state of Florida. I think it's hideous.

[Donna Brazile]

I think it's stupid.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think it's political gamesmanship that just takes away from critical issues that needs to be solved. And I pretty sure you would agree with me. It's just so stupid, dumb and backwards. There's a lot of stupid, stumbling backwards stuff going on in our country. No doubt about it. That's one of them. In terms of the first question that the caller called then to leave a voice message went to SiriusXM.com get serious. To leave that voice message. That's SiriusXM.com get serious. That's what you do if you want to leave a voicemail message to straight shoot it with yours truly. Who's to blame for a lot of the chaos? It's all of us. You know, if we didn't fall for the Okie doke, if we were not so spoiled as American citizens, understanding that we make up 5% about the world's population but uses about 25% of its resources. Last time I checked, if we weren't so spoiled, so gluttonous and learned and knew how to do without, maybe we wouldn't be bad off as we are, because politicians are there to get elected and get reelected and to stay in power and to tell us what we want to hear and give us the impression that they're doing what we want them to do. And obviously, in most instances, in order for them to pull that off, it has to involve money they've got to spend to get things done, which would explain why we have a $39 trillion deficit. Trillion. It's just that simple. Now, I started off the show talking about birthright citizenship. And I'm a person that I support folks coming into this country. I support migrants. I don't want them thrown out. I certainly don't want them separating parents from their children. And I'm partial to Latinos because I have relatives who are Latin who are Latinos. And I consider Latinos my brothers and sisters, just like I consider black people my brothers and sisters. Only reason I can't stay claimed that because, damn it, I don't know how to speak Spanish yet. But I'm gonna try because I love that language. But let me tell you something. You can't have open borders like Biden had. You got to come into the country legally. You can't have our borders flooded the way that they were. You can't have undocumented migrants in our country in the millions, not most, not all, none of that. In terms of them being criminals, I don't believe that for one second. We got criminals in every walk of life. American citizens and folks who are Here illegally. Not gonna put a point of fingers and look at migrants like that. But I do believe we are at a place in our nation right now where if the 14th amendment doesn't need to be looked at, we at least need to acknowledge that desperate times are calling for measures that would prompt the President of the United States, the first time a sitting president sat in the Supreme Court, to hear oral arguments. Is that Trump being a bully? Sure. Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Come. You know, Amy Comey Barrett, Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court. Trump appointed them. I'm certainly looking at them like, what y' all gonna do? Can't blame him for that. Because if you can come into the country illegally with the intent to give birth so your kid can be an American citizen and millions have crossed, that's going to be problematic. I don't know what the answer to that is, but it's what he campaigned on, and I can't blame him. I don't necessarily agree with it because I wouldn't do it the way he's doing it. I'd leave people here and just would shut the border down and say, desperate times call for desperate merger. You're here already and you're not a criminal. You're staying. That's fine, but ain't nobody else coming in. That's what I do, but that's me. Florida. Who's in Florida? Bruce in Florida. Go ahead. You got a minute and a half. Go ahead, Bruce.

[Senator John Kennedy]

Okay.

[Caller]

See? First recent listener, but very glad I did. I really appreciate the fact that Michael Spraconish, I love him because he tries to take the middle of the road position. I see you doing the same. You need to call out people when they're wrong and give them credit when they're right. I'm a longtime Republican, voted for Kamala Harris because I believe that we'll survive her. But I wasn't sure we'd survive Trump. But I was supporter of Nikki Haley because I believe she's very reasonable. As a governor. She ran a large organization. She reached across the aisle. So she has management experience. She as ambassador, United Nations. She had her foreign policy jobs. You know, a. As a minority and a woman, I think she would have been a fantastic candidate and I'd love to see her run for president again and let us hear her win. And I will make one more comment here. I'd like to see us elect more salesmen and less politician or less lawyers. Lawyers. Longer the argument, the more billable hours you rack up. Salesmen know if you don't sit down with people on the other side of the table and come to a compromise. Nobody eats tonight and we've lost the ability to talk to the other side and to compromise. And anyway, that's my comment.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, I got you. I appreciate the call. I'm not sure if a salesman would be better than a lawyer. Because a salesman knows how to sell anything doesn't mean they telling the truth. You know, how about just an honest broker, Somebody that'll look the American people in the face and say, you know what? This is what the situation is. If I were president, ladies and gentlemen, you know what I'd spend money on? I'd have two positions for each cabinet position, two people for each cabinet position in my administration, a Republican and a Democrat. Work it out. Everybody can't have everything. No one can have everything. Work it out and come to me with a solution for the American people, regardless what the issue is. That's what I would do just to be fair and to make sure that both sides know we're getting something and both sides know we're sacrificing, but we in it together. That's what America's supposed to be. It's what America once was. This is what America. America needs to be again. But that's me. That's it for this edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly. Thanks again to Senator John Kennedy out of Louisiana and the wonderful matriarch of the Democratic Party, the one and only Donna Brazil, for being on the show. See y' all next week. Wednesday night, same bad time and channel. Until then, peace and love, everybody. Goodbye.

[Donna Brazile]

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