HOW THE DEMOCRATS CAN WIN THE MIDTERMS; ANNA PAULINA LUNA

Summary

---

Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith

Episode: HOW THE DEMOCRATS CAN WIN THE MIDTERMS; ANNA PAULINA LUNA
Date: July 16, 2026
Host: Stephen A. Smith
Guest: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13)
Platform: SiriusXM POTUS radio, Channel 124

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Stephen A. Smith returns from vacation with trademark energy and sharp political commentary, focusing on the Democrats’ chances in the upcoming 2026 midterms and what it would mean if they failed to win. Smith argues that the Democrats have a uniquely favorable set of circumstances — essentially a "silver platter" of scandals and evidence against the Trump administration — yet risk blowing it due to internal division. Later in the episode, he hosts Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna for a candid, lengthy interview about her disruptor role in Congress, her views on corruption, and the state of both parties heading into the midterms. The episode also features dynamic listener calls and Stephen A's unfiltered takes on current events, divided government, and party fractures.

---

Main Themes & Purpose

• Democrats’ Opportunity: Stephen A. outlines why Democrats have every reason to win the midterms, given evidence against Trump’s administration, but warns internal division is their Achilles' heel.
• Party Division: A consistent thread is the fracturing within both major parties, especially the Democratic divide between moderates and Democratic Socialists.
• Political Corruption & Grifting: Both Trump and Congress members (of both parties) are accused of enriching themselves through the system — with little legal recourse.
• Straight-Talk with Rep. Luna: The interview with Luna delves into her tactics in the House, corruption, foreign interference, and the challenge of being branded an “extreme right MAGA mouthpiece.”
• Audience Engagement: Significant time is given to listener calls, bringing in diverse, often critical perspectives on the main topics.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen A.’s Opening Monologue — Democrats Cannot Afford to Lose

• Democrats’ Unique Opportunity (03:00–10:00):
  • Smith returns from vacation to hammer home: “The Democrats will be seen as the dumbest, stupidest, most ignorant bunch of people that we have ever seen in American politics if they find a way to lose these midterms.” (05:16)
  • He frames the Trump administration as "gift-wrapping" the election for Democrats, referencing numerous scandals: oil and real estate deals, foreign entanglements, personal profiteering.
• Historic Parallels & Grifting:
  • Smith weaves history (Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama, etc.) into the current moment to highlight how rare this opportunity is.
  • He asserts that “Never before has evidence, profound preponderance of evidence, been gift wrapped to a political party like it is today.” (14:04)
• Division in the Democratic Party:
  • The biggest threat to Democratic success is not external enemies, but their "house divided" — moderates versus Socialists.
  • “The only way the Democrats lose the midterms is if they are a house divided, if they don't come together for the greater good.” (18:34)
  • Smith criticizes progressives and Democratic Socialists for wanting it “all or nothing” and refusing to compromise.

2. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Democrats and division:

  • “That's the problem with the Democratic Party. That's why I've been getting in their asses for the last year and a half. It ain't because I want them to lose. It's because I want them to win. But I want them to win as pragmatists and as moderates willing to work across the aisle...” (19:07)

• On America’s promise:

  • “This country can be as sorry as hell, but not because of the system. It's because of the people overseeing the system.” (23:13)
  • “Yes, we should have a system that allows you to be as rich as you can be. But what we should never have is...an individual worth a trillion dollars but homelessness is pervasive in this country. That shouldn’t happen.” (24:44)

• On Trump’s grifting:

  • “You can't have that. You can't gain billions, but come to the American taxpayer for billions of dollars. When we $39 trillion in debt, you can't get a profit, but do stuff that compromises our affordability. And I'm supposed to like you?” (25:27)

3. Caller Segment: Division and Frustration

(31:39–51:35)

• Listener Frustrations:
  • Sean in Pennsylvania explains leaving the Democratic Party, citing the far left’s dominance over substantive issues. (31:39)
  • Multiple callers share concern about Democratic Socialists’ platform, including abolishing the Senate and ICE. Smith verifies and critiques these positions, stressing that “if you're proposing that, you're not about America and the capitalist system.” (34:53)
• Border Security & Distraction Tactics:
  • Casey in Texas (former Border Patrol agent) says border concerns are cyclically exploited for political gain: “DSA is not the Democratic Party, just like MAGA wasn't the Republican Party. Even Republicans say, hey, that's not my Republican Party.” (38:20)
  • Smith: “The Democrats, the conventional pragmatists, the moderates, you got to have a backbone. And you got to look at the DSA and say, where the hell you going?...You're the majority, not them, and you gotta act that way.” (42:12–43:39)

4. Stephen A. Interviews Rep. Anna Paulina Luna

(52:10–83:57 – full segment)

A. On Being an Outsider and Disruptor

• Luna positions herself as an “independent thinker and leader,” more interested in following the rules and procedures of Congress than party leadership. (53:26)
  • “They sent us home because they didn't like that we were asking for...voter ID plus proof of citizenship...but the reality is...they could have kept us here and we could have voted only a few hours later.” (53:26–54:01)

B. On Legislative Tactics

• Luna justifies freezing House business to force a vote: “You don’t ever want Congress to appear smooth functioning because that’s not what we’re supposed to do...it’s when it’s considered streamlined that you know it’s not actually working on behalf of the American people.” (54:38)

C. On Corruption and Grifting

• Luna claims bipartisan corruption in Congress and touts her efforts to expose wrongdoing, including forcing resignations and pursuing the declassification of the Epstein files. (61:07, 61:46)
  • On Trump’s personal gain, Luna distinguishes him as already wealthy, contrasting with career politicians who “come up here and a couple of years later...worth tens of millions of dollars. A little different.” (77:09–77:31)

D. On Foreign Influence in U.S. Politics

• Luna expands at length on foreign funding, foreign networks (China, CCP, etc.), social media campaigns, and even claims that radical/progressive causes are stoked by external influence: “a lot of this crazy stuff that you’re seeing coming out of the Democrat Party right now is because of the Singham network...[and] it’s happening all around.” (65:18, 66:02)

E. Stephen A Presses on Trump’s Conduct

• Smith challenges Luna on Trump “grifting,” asking why she doesn’t condemn the President's dubious business practices.
• Luna repeatedly pivots but maintains her focus on broader Congressional corruption and party failings.
• Smith notes: “But my goodness, come on. I mean, if anybody got common sense, is you. The man has been traded...over 21,000 trades...chances are people are looking at what he's doing and saying, follow the money...” (76:36–77:09)

F. On the State of the 2026 Midterms

• Luna predicts the GOP will hold, not gain, and credits “peace talk” messaging and domestic focus as key. She denies Democratic Socialists will appeal to enough voters to win in New York or nationally.
  • “At the end of the day, if people are looking at people like Anna Paulina Luna, right, like maybe they don't like her because she's a Republican, but she's fighting for all these issues...versus someone like Graham Planter [DSA Democrat]...And unfortunately, you know it better than most, but media and branding and fundraising also comes into play. And I just don't see many people getting on board with the whole redistribution of wealth thing.” (81:28–83:39)

---

Notable Quotes from the Luna Segment

• On being disruptive:
  • “Washington, D.C. only functions on two lever pressure and pain and pressure pain.” (58:41, Luna)
• On calling out her own party:
  • “Even though my own party got mad at me for taking down the liability protections for pesticides. And I did it. And I did it because it was the right thing to do.” (55:30, Luna)
• On Democratic Socialists:
  • “You have now candidates that are Democrat Socialists of America, that have been elected, that have made certain comments that I would argue are straight up racist, or Graham Planter, who literally was accused of sexual assault and had a Nazi tattoo — that is not in any way, shape or form what any party should be encouraging.” (81:28–82:17, Luna)
• On peace deals and foreign policy:
  • “You never want to be on the side of war. We should always be leading with peace talks and not Tomahawks.” (69:15–72:55, Luna)

---

Call-In Reactions & Wrap-Up

(86:18–100:50)

• Callers Push Back on Luna:

  • Multiple callers critique Luna as a “MAGA mouthpiece” for excusing Trump and failing to directly address his own corruption, despite her rhetoric about holding Congress accountable.
    • “I still say she's a mega mouthpiece...I never heard her condemn Trump… I heard her criticize Congress, and I heard her criticize members of Congress, but I never heard a condemnation of Donald Trump.” (86:18–88:38, Josh)

• Stephen A. on Interviewing Politicians:

  • Smith addresses why he doesn't grill Luna more, noting time constraints and the value of “getting people on the record.” (91:01–92:23)
  • “The question was asked. Here’s the answer. Because no matter how much you pressing, you pressing, you pressing, in the end, what are you after? I would have loved for her to admit, yeah, the president’s a problem. I don’t like his grifting my damn self. But you know what? This is what it is.” (92:23–93:03)

• Final Calls on Two-Party System:

  • Ben from Alabama suggests the only real fix is to let both parties fracture and force new coalitions to emerge. Smith replies that, while righteous in theory, “in practice, how does it work?” because ordinary citizens would pay the price for chaos. (98:06–100:18)

---

Important Timestamps

• Stephen A. Opening Monologue: 01:00–24:03
• Deep Dive on Democratic Division: 18:00–24:03
• Notable Political History Riff: 07:00–12:00
• Callers on Party Fractures & DSA Critique: 31:39–43:39
• Start of Luna Interview: 52:10
• Verticals: Luna on Policy, Corruption, Foreign Influence: 53:26–72:55
• Luna on Trump, Insider Trading & Reform Roadblocks: 76:09–80:43
• Luna Predicts GOP Midterm Outcomes: 81:28–83:39
• Host/Critic Listener Recap: 86:18–94:15

---

Tone and Style

• Stephen A. is energized, unapologetically blunt, and occasionally profane ("dumbest, stupidest, most ignorant Asses…”).
• Luna is poised, detailed, and persistent in framing herself as a principled maverick, but pivots when pressed on Trump’s own corruption.
• Callers are a mix of frustrated, critical, and occasionally despondent about the direction of both parties.

---

Summary Takeaways

• Democrats have a rare, clear shot to win; if they blow it, history will judge them harshly — but unity is crucial.
• Corruption and self-enrichment are rampant across both parties, with little legal recourse.
• Luna presents herself as an independent disruptor but is criticized for deflecting blame from President Trump.
• Listener calls underscore deep public cynicism, especially about party leadership and the two-party system.
• Smith’s final challenge: Can Democrats seize the opportunity, or will division hand victory back to Trump and the GOP?

---

“Election's about 100 days away. You gonna come together or you gonna blow this shit? Choice is yours.”
— Stephen A. Smith (24:03)

---

Transcript

[Anna Paulina Luna]

And now, the next chapter of the SERTA Counting sheep.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hey, uncle number one, why aren't we counting anymore? Let me tell you a story. Long ago, SERTA invented the perfect sleeper mattress. Oh, no. Oh, yes. It says the all new Serta Perfect sleeper with a Q4 support system has four in one, perfectly interlinked coils that help relieve aches and back pain for perfect sleep, night out, dark night. We'll never get counted again. Uh, nope.

[Commercial Announcer]

Serta, we make the world's best mattress. Some say Odoo business management software is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk, scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say Odoo's programs for manufacturing, accounting and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite. But I say Odoo is all of it. Fertilizer, magic beanstalk building blocks for business. Yeah, Odoo. Exactly what every business needs. Sign [e-mail] that's o d o o dot com.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Straight shooter with Stephen A. What's up, everybody? Your boy is back, fresh off vacation. Coming at you live right here over The Airways of SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. Now with a call up, as always, is 866-967-6887. That's 8669-676887-86696. POTUS. It's good to be back. Took off last week, was on vacation. Took my daughters to Wimbledon to see a couple of great tennis matches and then obviously to play Hamilton. Sensational performance by Leslie Odom Jr. And the cast of, of, of. Oh, my goodness. Just brain like Hamilton. They were absolutely sensational, no doubt about it. But while I was in England, it was very, very interesting because I was running across a whole bunch of people that were very American, like, they couldn't stand President Trump's ass either. They felt the same way about him that a whole bunch of Americans are feeling in this day and age. And as we sit here tonight, stand there doing whatever you're doing, contemplating things that are going on in our government with the United States of America. I want to make a statement right here, right now, that I want everybody to hear and I want you to hold on to this. The Democrats will be seen as the dumbest, stupidest, most ignorant bunch of people that we have ever seen in American politics if they find a way to lose these midterms. I'm gonna say it one more time. The dumbest, stupidest, most ignorant Asses lost in the shuffle that we have seen in the history of politics. If they lose these midterms coming up in November, and I'm going to tell you exactly why they will be viewed that way. You can't be gift wrapped. Anything better than the Democratic Party has been gift wrapped this upcoming election by this president, this administration. I can't recall it. And I've been paying attention to politics since Reagan got in office. Second, first and second term. And nhw, read my lips, no new taxes. That's why they got his ass out of there in 92 in favor of Bill Clinton, because he went back on his word. And Bill Clinton, even with him, said, I have not had sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky. They still voted for him for a second term because he had a budget surplus. George W. Beat Al Gore with the hanging chance and then, you know, obviously won a second term. And then came Obama 1 and 2. First it was McCain and then Mitt Romney took out and then it was Trump. And they're talking about how Trump is going to give an address to the nation tomorrow night. And one of the things he's going to point out is some findings about the 2020 election. We don't give a damn. You're back in office. You won. You sound like a little whiner. Keep moaning and groaning and bitching about something that's done. It's over. It was six years ago. Nobody cares. We know you think it was rigged enough. Then I woke up and I said, it's all a distraction. Not that I didn't suspect it before, but I really, really feel that way now because I couldn't understand for the life of me how a man you've got, you've gained billions of dollars, but you tried to come to the American taxpayer for a $1.8 billion slush fund when you could have paid that your damn self to the insurrectionist of January 6th. But you ain't about giving you about taking you, about making sure your family name, your cronies, your sons, all of them are benefiting. And then I started paying attention and connecting the dots and saying, well, wait, wait a minute here. Where are they doing this stuff from? We think about the Israeli conflict with the Palestinians in Gaza, and we thinking about religious warfare. We thought about Maduro, Nicolas Maduro, and how you went and stole him in the middle of the night and you got the leader, Venezuela, you brought him over to the States and we say that's about oil. Remember Dave Chappelle said, oh, oh, who says? Something about oil, you cooking oil. That's what we were thinking. Then you would think about Cuba, or as I like to say, Cuba. And we're thinking about it being 90 miles from Miami and Florida. And we said, what's up? That's a humanitarian crisis going on there. What the hell is up? Obviously Venezuela was very, very beneficial to Cuba because of the oil and the oil reserves. And of course oil has something to do with it. And the Strait of Hormuz in Iran and you know, bombing boats in the middle of the day without congressional approval and all of this other stuff. We're connecting dots and we're like, what's up? Oil, oil, oil. Why didn't I think about this earlier? Real estate, waterfront properties. Have you seen Gaza? Have you been around Venezuela, which is considered like Caribbean territory. Have you seen Cuba? Cuba? It's waterfront properties everywhere. I'm sorry, waterfront real estate everywhere, meaning real estate opportunities equating into the billions. That's what's going on. And ladies and gentlemen, as we pay attention to all of this and we start connecting the dots and we realizing that he's already shown what a grifter he is and how exceptional he is at doing it. I'm listening to Todd Blanche trying to be confirmed as the new head of the Department of Justice and what he keeps talking about is Trump hasn't done anything illegal. He hasn't done anything illegal. He hasn't done anything illegal. Of course not. They following the rules and regulations, no doubt, but it doesn't mean they're not engaging in exploitation at the expense of the American people. And that no other elected official has been, nor probably would be able to get away with what he's pulling off. This is what's happening. Which again would make the Democrats the dumbest, stupidest, most ineffective, ignorant asses in the world if they don't win these midterms. Because never before has evidence, profound preponderance of evidence, been gift wrapped it to a political party like it is today. If the Democrats win the midterm, do you understand how effective that can be? Do you understand that by winning the midterm they can tie the administration up in one hearing after another, one investigation after another. Who gives a damn about impeaching Trump? You focus on war crimes, you focus on them doing things for their own self benefit, like bombing boats in the middle of the sea that are under a threat to our homeland. Why do you do that? Because it not just only stalls and preoccupies, the administration installs the agenda like the SAVE act, that this is number one priority because he wants immigrants, he wants everybody to have, you know, IDs, passports, birth certificates, et cetera. Because, oh my God, they're invading our nation. They're invading our nation. No, they're getting away. Again, the administration's agenda. I'm not saying open the borders. I'm not saying that was right for Biden to do. I'm not saying it was right for Kamala Harris. And I act like that was a crisis when it was a crisis. I'm not condoning the Democrats for one bit for the sorry ass effort that they put forth letting 12 or 15 million people cross the border illegally. I'm not justifying that. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is there's a method to the madness. Because by bloviating about that, you distract from the real issues. Yeah, oil has something to do with it, but real estate does too. That's why his son in law is a part of these business deals. We gotta see the forest from the trees. And if you're the Democrats, this is your time. Why would the Democrats look at this and they're sitting there drooling and salivating at the mouth? Why? Because not only do you distract him and preoccupy him, as in the President and his administration. Administration, but you also sully the name of the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in the eyes of a lot of people, the next GOP nominee for the Presidency of the United States of America. Because if you start mentioning war crimes and you start pursuing war crimes and you tie him to that position with Iran, and you tie him with Maduro and Venezuela and Cuba's next, and you do all of that, especially if you show a preponderance of evidence of grifting along the way. It positions you as a party not just to win the midterms, but to win in 2028. Now, if you're the Democrats, how are you gonna pull that off? If you're a House divided, there are moderates like Senator Chuck Schumer and Minority House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, like governors like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Westmore of Maryland, Bashir in Kentucky. Then you have the Democratic Socialist Party that call themselves Democrats now, but they're really socialists now, potentially running businesses out of states because of the high taxes that they're willing to implement as a result, convincing an audience out there that it's not going to trickle down to the middle class when it is with Trump and everything that he's been doing. The only way The Democrats lose the midterms is if they are a house divided, if they don't come together for the greater good. And that is the problem with the Democratic Party. That's why I've been getting in their asses for the last year and a half. It ain't because I want them to lose. It's because I want them to win. But I want them to win as pragmatists and as moderates willing to work across the aisle understanding and making sure everybody understands. You can't get everything. You can't get everything. But we damn sure don't want to be a socialist nation. This ain't Denmark. This ain't Finland. This ain't Sweden. This is the United States of America. You roll over to these borders with the vision and the fantasy and the passion that, yo, here I can achieve anything. I ain't trying to be like everybody else. I'm trying to be one on one. That's what this is about. In America, we don't talk about that enough when it comes to the social media. Because they're convincing folks that rather than individuals being a problem, rather than lobbyists being a problem, they're trying to convince you America's a problem. While their asses are over here profiting from the American system and the Democrats with their spineless, weak, feckled selves are allowing it to happen. What you gon do? What you gonna do? This is the decision that they have to make. Zorramadani is the mayor of New York. The candidates he endorsed won over the candidates endorsed by minority House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries. Rumor has it that aoc, assuming she doesn't run for the presidency, will run for the Senate of New York State, unseating longtime Senator Chuck Schumer. Gavin Newsom. One minute he's a Democrat, another minute he sounds like a damn socialist. Because even though he's bragging about having running the fourth largest economy in the world in the state of California, in the same breath, he talking about transgender folks that don't even make up 1% of the population and how. Yo, it's perfectly okay. I just have the heart that if a kid wants to transition from male to female, he can't help that he was born this way. And even though his body says he's a male, inside he's a female and he wants to make that transition. I'm for doing so without parental consent. You can't tell my child to go across the damn street without my permission. What the hell you doing signing off verbally or Otherwise, on the notion that a kid can do something like that, like a sex change, without the parental consent, the hell is wrong with people? That kind of verbiage has to get out of the mouths of Democrats. We got to pay attention to the fact that you zarram Alamdani and you were talking about going after Trump. And the second you got in the office, the first thing you did was go to Trump and ask for 21 billion doll. Somehow, some way, we got to pay attention to where the tea leaves are and where stuff is being dropped. You, the Democratic Party, you got to come together. You cannot listen. This is what socialists in this country on the Democratic side are doing. Their mentality is, yo flow with us. Otherwise you ain't gonna get our vote. And we gonna convince people not to go to the polls for you. Here's my point. Last time I checked, we still in a binary system. You vote one way or the other. Where you going? Where's the Democrats that's gonna look at the Democratic socialists of the party and say, excuse my language, where the fuck are you going? You ain't gonna do shit because you'll never vote with the right. I'm as close to it as you get. Where they at? That's how Biden won in 2020. Representative James Clyburn out of South Carolina saved him. Saved him and got folks to flow with him. And as a result, folks had to capitulate to Biden because he was the ideal candidate. Because Bernie, as in Bernie Sanders, the first noted socialist, we've had to deal with as much traction as he had gained, that wasn't going to win you to general. Well, now it's 2026. It ain't going to win you to general again. You have people who recognize that America is a problem, but in the same breath love the country and just want to modify and shape things in a way where more of the American citizens can benefit as opposed to the select few. And then you have people that despise America, that don't like anything about America and want to do everything they can to disrupt and ultimately fragment before completely obliterating and the American system as we know it. I'm not even here to say I blame them. I understand it. Until I achieved and once I achieved and I saw the possibilities to facilitate others achieving and others achieving and others achieving, I said, where else can this happen? This is America, baby. Ladies and gentlemen, you listening to Stephen A. Smith. This country can be as sorry as hell, but not because of the system. It's because of the People overseeing the system. If the right people are in the right positions of power, this country can truly live up to the greatest nation in the world. World. It's moniker. There is no country that is better than us. It's just that you have a lot of places with us. People are better than us as leaders. When we throw that dichotomy and we highlight that difference, we all win. How do we do that? We come together and we make sure to let everybody know. No one gets everything. Everybody's got to be deprived of something. You're adults, you're not children. If we could tell children you can't have everything, why the hell can't we tell adults that? It's about getting the vast majority of what you want. That leads to having an effective, productive and prosperous life. It doesn't mean you have to be ultra prosperous at the expense of millions upon millions of people. Yes, we should have a system that allows you to be as rich as you can be. But what we should never have is a system that has a trillion, an individual worth a trillion dollars. But homelessness is pervasive in this country. That shouldn't happen. We shouldn't have a President of the United States that has grifted and invested over 21,000 times in the stock and is engaged in cryptocurrency and has profited in excess of $5 billion, still be allowed to come to the American people and say, I want a $1.8 billion slush fund to give to my supporters out there. You can't have that. You can't have that. You see it right there. 2.1 billion in cryptocurrency and liquid assets. 1.2 billion in media and technology group. That's his money. I ain't sweating that. $1.8 billion golf clubs and resorts ain't minding that at all. 1.2 billion in real estate investments, not minding that at all. 551 million in. What I'm talking about is the American taxpayer dollars. If Donald Trump wants to conduct business, and as a result by conducting that business effectively more so than others, I'm down. Fine, do what you gotta do. But it can't be at the expense of the American people. You can't gain billions, but come to the American taxpayer for billions of dollars. When we 39 trillion in debt, you can't get a profit, but do stuff that compromises our affordability. And I'm supposed to like you? You can't campaign on no new wars and then have a couple of wars. You bombed Iran in June, swore that the nuclear capability was obliterated and then come back months later and say you did it again because they were within a month of building a nuclear weapon. You can't do that. Respectfully, that's bullshit. These are the kind of things that have to stop. It has to stop, but it can't be stopped unless they lose the midterms because Donald Trump did what Dave Chappelle went on Saturday Night Live years ago and said he did. He came out of that house filled with crooks and slick artists and said, everything you think we're doing in that house, we are doing. And then turn around and went right down, right back in the damn house and kept doing it because Donald Trump said the system has compromised all of us. To police me is to police yourselves, and Capitol Hill will never do that. We had a representative come on this show, Burchett, come on this show and said, stephen, I can't do stuff right now in this building, sitting in this chair talking to you, because that would be criminal behavior because I'm inside the Capitol. But if I walked out of these doors and walked across the street to that restaurant and did the same exact deal, there's nothing illegal about it. The illegality is the fact that I was conducting business from the walls of Congress. If I walked across the street and did it, it's no problem. Why you think Trump is always at Mar A Lago? Why you think his stooges are at Mar a Lago or Westminster or wherever else he takes them? Why do you think he got the plane from Guitar? And he loved it and he talked about, it's not for him, it's for any of his successors. You know why? Because he ain't worried about his successors. He's only worried about what he can get right now. And if he ain't on Air Force One, which is government property financed by the taxpayers, and instead it's a gift from Qatar, well, guess what? That's not necessarily applicable because it wasn't taxpayer dollars. It's not taxpayer funded, and you can get away with it. Now, some people say, wait a minute, Stephen A. It is taxpayer funded because they had to sit up there and make it up to snuff, make security measures and stuff like that. And it's going to cost anywhere from 400 billion, you know, 400 billion to even more than that to upgrade the plane. And that's taxpayer dollars. Sure, you can make that argument.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

But.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But at the end of the day, the plane wasn't provided to him by the United states. It was provided by Qatar. Qatar. You can't make it up. It's special to see. But it's also scary as hell because if the Democrats, with all this ammunition laid out for them on a silver platter, can't figure out how to come together to beat him, not impeach him, not whine and moan and bitch about what might have been or what could be, and all this I'm talking about beat him in an election, not let him rig it by putting his own folks in positions to manipulate or grease the skids. If they stop them and they win the midterms, sky's the limit. If you lose the midterms, Trump, his alkalites and eventually his successors will cakewalk to 20, 28 and beyond. Whether it's democratic socialism or its moderates. You gotta make a decision now. Election's about 100 days away. You gonna come together or you gonna blow this shit? Choice is yours. Choice is yours. Coming up, Anna Paulina Luna, Representative GOP representative. Very, very supportive of President Donald Trump. By the way. He's about to come on the show with yours truly. Straight shooter in the house. As you can tell, I'm off vacation. Don't you hear it? Don't you feel it? I know I do. Back with more. Straight shooter with yours truly in a min.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

And now, the next chapter of the SERTA Counting sheep.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hey, uncle number one, why aren't we counting anymore? Let me tell you a story. Long ago, Certa invented the perfect sleeper mattress. Oh no. Oh yes. It says the all new Certa perfect sleeper with a Q4 support system has four in one perfectly interlinked coils that help relieve aches and back pain for perfect sleep night after night. We'll never get counted again. Nope.

[Commercial Announcer]

Serta. We make the world's best mattress. Some say Odoo business management software is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say Odoo's programs for manufacturing, accounting and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But.

[Commercial Announcer]

But I say Odoo is all of it Fertilizer. Magic beanstalk building blocks for business. Yeah, Odoo. Exactly what every business needs. Sign [e-mail] that's o d o o dot com.

[Caller]

Now they DSA published their platform. I hope you're all covering. Oh, I hope you're writing in depth about their platform. I read it out at an event a few weeks ago and They've made an ad mocking me reading their platform. Now they didn't, they didn't put the clips with the worst parts of it. Representative Jimenez just told you. Carlos told you that. Well, of course they want to. They want to pack the Supreme Court and they want a unicameral legislature. They want the House to run everything. Abolish the Senate because they believe the House would be run by Marxist communists. They'll be able to run, run the table on everything. They want to remove the President. What they also want to do is abolish all borders. They don't want any borders. They want mass amnesty granted to anyone who can come onto our shores without exception, even for terrorists and hardened dangerous criminals. Okay? They don't want prisons. It's in their platform. They want to remove the carceral state. They said no prisons. They don't want to fund the police. This is not a game everybody needs to understand. These crazy little mini mamdanis who are popping up all around the country, they are, they are a danger to you and you, your family.

[Stephen A. Smith]

If that is true, because I haven't read the agenda. But if that is true, what Speaker Mike Johnson just echoed for y', all, he's absolutely right. They are a danger to America. If that is true. You want to defund the police while you want to eradicate prisons. Nah, nah. 866-967-6887 is the number of. Call this 86696 POTUS. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Back from vacation once again. Well, actually, before I say anything, let me thank Laura Coates for filling in for me last week. The wonderful, Marvelous Laura Coates, CNN Host. Every week night, 11:00pm Eastern Standard Time, she hosts her own show, her eponymous show on cnn. She does a phenomenal job and she's just a wonderful, wonderful woman, a wonderful talent. And I love the fact that she was there to fill in for me last week. And I thank her from the bottom of my heart because she is a busy woman. She did not have to do that. On a separate note, before I get to the callers, let me send my condolences to the family of Senator Lindsey Graham who passed away over the weekend. We didn't know the full details, but they were saying over the 911 call there was cardiac arrest and he died at the age of 71. I've saw people online going the hell off about him because of how non supportive he was about several issues pertaining to, to black America, to minorities and stuff like that. We can have disagreements. Lizzy Graham was a guest on this show. We didn't have time for an extensive interview where I could have drilled him on several of those issues. I know he's a strong supporter of Israel, he's strongly against Iran, strongly against Russia, stuff like that. But here's the point. No matter what you feel, you know, I'm, I'm one of those guys that I'm not going to go off on the air the day somebody dies. I'm just not going to do that. I'm just not going to do that. I saw people online who will remain nameless that were just losing it, going off about him. I'm just not going to speak ill of the dead on the day they pass away. I'm just not going to do that. And just, I'm never going to do that. So I just want to make sure that I state that my heartfelt condolences goes out to his loved ones, his family, members of the Senate who were close to him, et cetera, et cetera. There were a lot of people that dearly, dearly cared about him. And we certainly don't wish death upon other human beings. I'd like to believe we're all God fearing human beings. We don't wish death upon folks. And those who do, there's just a different place for them, plain and simple. 866-967-6887. That's 86696. POTUS to the phones. We go before. Top of the hour. Number two, Anna Paulina Luna, representative out of Florida, huge Trump supporter. It's coming on the show to start off album number two. So looking forward to talking to her, but until then, I'm gonna take some phone calls. Y' all heard what I had to say with my opening monologue. Interested in hearing your thoughts. Let's go to Sean in Pennsylvania. You're live with Stephen A. What's going on, man? Live straight shooting with Stephen A. What's up, Sean?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen A, man, love it. You're shot out of a can. Coming off vacation. Great energy. Thank you. So I'm calling in. I live in the purplest district in one of the purple estates in Pennsylvania. And this week I switched over to being independent, leaving the Democratic Party. And I just can't stand what this party has become in all the things you said for the last 10 or 15 minutes here. And you know, it's just, it's really disheartening that, you know, we were in this more or less cultural war here on things that lack real Consequence. And I'm hoping the Dems can get their act together for the next presidential cycle here and would love to see Shapiro out of Pennsylvania and Rahm Emanuel on the ticket, because I think they are.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. It's going to be a difficult time for one Jewish individual to get elected. You're asking for a Jewish ticket. There's no way on earth that will ever happen. I should say ever. But not now. No way. I would tell you, Sean, you got to pick one. It ain't gonna be two of them.

[Caller]

All right, fair enough. Pick one of those two. But it cannot be this, this, this far left faction that. That represents.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, okay. Let me ask you this, Sean. I agree with you. I agree with you. But let me ask you this. How do you feel about the far right? Because my feelings are just as adamant about, if not more so, about the far. I shouldn't say about more so, because some of the things that I saw the left do, the extreme left that I'm talking about, I'm not talking about moderates talking about the extreme left. Some of the things I saw them do. I mean, I'm not happy about that at all. So let me ask you a very simple question. How do you feel about the far right?

[Caller]

I feel the exact same way. We've got, we've got the 5%, we have 5% on either side that are dominating the news cycle, dominating these, these, these, these small issues that, that, you know, where the big issues are being left unattended to the deficit, the wars, all of the things here. And, you know, for the Republicans that proudly say that they're Republicans, you're not a, you're not a Reagan Republican. You are not a true conservative anymore. Right. The monikers of these parties have been completely devalued and have no real meaning anymore.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, I got you. Scott in North Carolina, you're live with Stephen A. What's going on?

[Caller]

Hi, Stephen A. I just wanted to comment. Yes, I agree with you that the Democrats could win this midterm on a silver platter, yet they have people in their party that are talking about getting rid of the Senate, and nobody speaking up about this whatsoever on the Democratic side. And they are winning multiple primaries.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you say get rid of the Senate? Is that what they're saying? Is that what you said, get rid of the Senate?

[Caller]

Their platform on C Span, a DSA member was talking out loud saying, yes, this is our platform to get rid of the Senate, not to have a president. Congress would pick a, a leader and hold on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I have it right here. I have it right here for you. Scott, Let me. Let me articulate what you're saying. Even more so, Democratic Socialists of America has released an updated platform that calls for a sweeping remake of the political system, including eliminating the U.S. senate and abolishing U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, which the organization has publicly advocated since 2000. The platform's language calls for replacing the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress. The Socialists argue that these changes would curb concentrated power in Washington and create a more democratic system. See, at the end of the day, if you're proposing that you're not about America and the capitalist system, you're about infiltrating America and taking over America. That's not about the capitalistic society we've been living in. There's no way in hell that is. There's no way, Scott, that's not about America.

[Caller]

Not even one bit. And then you have people that are getting elected like Graham Platner, and they're all about democracy, but yet they're going to insert another politician only because he started going down in polls, and they're going to insert someone that the people. The people knew all this stuff about Graham Platner, and they voted for him. Until he has a prosecution, he should be. He should be held to. To run. They. They keep.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You also have people that were accused of. People that weren't accused of sexual assault, but that through humiliation, humiliating tactics, sheer accusations, were forced to give up their seats. And so we have to understand that even though we don't like it, we also don't like the other extreme where you get to get away with anything and operate with impunity because people are saying, we don't give a damn how amoral you appear to be. We're going to vote for you. We don't need either extreme.

[Caller]

Right. I know. I agree. However, you know, this whole. The people voted in the primary knowing multiple accusations of. Of, you know, sexual assault. Okay? Multiple. The tattoo on his chest, you know, and they voted for him. And. And at the very last minute, they say, nope, we're pulling him. Which I agree. He should never ran in the first place. And they didn't do their background check on him. And they're saying, we're going to. We, the Democratic Party, are going to insert whoever we want because the people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Scott, I gotta go. But they're inserting whoever they want to actually run. That doesn't mean they're going to win. So I think that's important. And by the way, you know, he had beaten it. You know, Platinum had beaten the other candidates. At least he was about to. But the Nazi tattoo did it for me when he tried to say he didn't know what the hell it was. I mean, I don't have any patience for that. But I appreciate the call, man. Thank you so much. Casey in Texas. You're live with Stephen A. Casey. Good afternoon. Good evening. I'm sorry. Shooter, how are you?

[Caller]

I'm doing well. Stephen A. Thank you for taking my call, man. Hey, listen, I was a boy patrol agent for 27 and a half.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm sorry. I apologize. No, no, stop. You said you were, what, for 27 years? What was that?

[Caller]

27 and a half? Border Patrol agent.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Border Patrol agent. Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. I didn't understand.

[Caller]

So I got a lot of things on my chest. One of the things is, it's funny to me how the Republicans frame every election around somebody to fear. First it was dei. They're the reason for your problems. Let me solve them. Then it was transgender. They're the reason for your problems. Let me solve them. Then it was people coming across the border. They're the reason for your problem. Let me solve them. Now it's communists. Let me solve them. Look, DSA is not the Democratic Party, just like MAGA wasn't the Republican Party. Even Republicans say, hey, that's not my Republican Party. So why. Why Democrats letting people frame this argument around somebody else?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, let me answer that. Let me answer that. Let me answer that. Because they believe that played a strong role in them losing the last election. Because not as many people, you know, came to the polls to vote. Compared to the previous election, in terms of voting for Kamala Harris, remember, Joe Biden had 81 million votes. Kamala had nearly 75 million. That's 6. Nearly 6 million votes. About 6 million votes that you missed out on. Well, why? You know, they've deduced that not as many people came to the polls to vote in favor of that. Favor of them. Their philosophy, the ideology, et cetera, et cetera. So the point is that if you're pointing to something that legitimately compromises your ability to win an election, that would be the answer to your question.

[Caller]

But that's the reason they did that. The reason they won is because they gave them somebody to fear.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay?

[Caller]

And the guy got up there saying,

[Stephen A. Smith]

didn't the Democrats do that? Did. Ain't that how they won the election? In 20 in 2020, when they gave us reasons to fear Trump after Covid.

[Caller]

That's not how they won. I'm saying they think they are because of COVID Yeah, they think that. That's not why they want it. They want it because of COVID They

[Stephen A. Smith]

want it because of COVID because it compromised the economy. Because prior to that, the economy was flourishing. You got to give Trump credit for that at that particular moment in time. What I'm saying, however, is that 81 million people didn't show up to the polls to vote for Joe Biden. They showed up to the polls to vote against Trump because they were sick of him and the chaos he wreaked. And as a result, they said, we got to get him the hell up out of here.

[Caller]

I get that. But let me tell you something. I. I believe you're saying some of what you're saying is true. However, he wasn't. The big part of it was covet.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You're right. You're right, Casey. I'm not. I'm not disputing that you're right. I'm just saying what they were saying. We can't. We can't fail to acknowledge that that's what they believed at the time when they were blame.

[Caller]

We can't. We can. We can't. We cannot do that. Now, let's take what you said about the border.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Sure.

[Caller]

As an agent, the border has always been porous. We got a problem. Those agents do a great job. They were my agents. I get it. They do a great job. But what he did was effectively get up there, say, the borders open. You know what happened? He played that game until everybody. The borders are open and people start coming in. Going to be open. So you sent a message around the world, and they flooded the border. That happens every so many years. Why? You don't think that you hear people saying anything about the border now. It's not because nobody's coming in. I can tell you there's a rollover on the border every day.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why are people. Why people. Before I let you go, why are people not hearing about the border right now?

[Caller]

Because he's distracting you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Exactly. But understand what he's doing to distract you. He's engaging in a war. That would be a justifiable reason to be distracted.

[Caller]

One hundred percent. You're 100% correct on that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Caller]

You're 100% correct on THAT.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay.

[Caller]

But we can't get distracted with this DSA bull crap. We can't.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, no, no, no, no. I don't. I don't think that the DSA is bullcrap. Because the reason I brought up the DSA is not because of the Republicans in the gop. I brought that up because I'm saying the Democratic Party can't allow themselves to be the divided. You have to come together if you're gonna beat the other side. You can't be a House divided, was my point. Casey, you need. You need that support.

[Caller]

You're 100 right on that. You can't be divided.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You can't be divided. You got. You gotta understand. You gotta understand in order to be. You gotta understand that no matter what you feel, if you're a member of the dsa, no matter what you feel, that moderate, conventional Democrats are closer to an agenda you favor than Trump and this administration and MAGA and all those who follow them because he's the one with the power and the power to get some of them out of office, as he's shown in the primaries. You cannot. You're not anywhere near getting support from them. So the point is, the Democrats, the conventional pragmatists, the moderates, you got to have a backbone. And you got to look at the DSA and say, where the hell you going? Because guess what? You don't support us, what power you gonna have? You gotta be willing to do that, is my point. As opposed to capitulating to them. You're the majority, not them, and you gotta act that way. Casey, that's my only point.

[Caller]

I get you. You're 100 right. United we stand, divided we fall.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right. Appreciate the call, my brother. Thank you so much for calling. 866-967-6887 is the number of the call. That's 86696. POTUS, you're listening live. Straight Shooter with yours truly right here over SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. Back with your calls to close out our number one in a minute. A Beautyrest mattress gives you unparalleled motion separation, isolating movement with our pocketed coil technology while providing individualized support for every sleeping position. People at the their best get their beauty rest for 100 years.

[Commercial Announcer]

Some say Odoo business management software is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say Odoo's programs for manufacturing, accounting and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite. But I say Odoo is all of it. Fertilizer, magic beanstalk building blocks for Business. Yeah, Odoo. Exactly what every business needs. Sign [e-mail]. that's O-O-O.com.

[Caller]

Will these strikes continue?

[Stephen A. Smith]

They'll continue until I say it's enough. I mean, they'll continue. They've been there. You know, the word the military likes to use is degrade. They've been degraded to a very low level and they have fight. You know, it's like a great boxer. You have, you think you have him beat and then all of a sudden he comes back and he gives you a shot. They have some fight left, but they don't have much. President Trump speaking about Iran. They don't. They've got fight, but they don't have much fight left. How long has it been going on? Months. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous and it's costing us billions upon billions of dollars. But remember, we couldn't come up with $2 billion to pay TSA workers for a month, but somehow we spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a war that we were never supposed to be in. You know, you just, you can't make this up. And I don't want to hear about Barack Obama and his deal with Iran and how, you know what, what Trump and this administration is doing is so much better. Really, I don't want to hear it. And you have no leg to stand on. Let me tell you something though. I was right when I talked about, when they talk about fear mongering, Democrats do it too, though. Donald Trump and maga, Republicans, right wing extremists, big oil and fossil fuel companies, billionaires in the rich Supreme Court, systemic racism. A lot of people point to this is what within the Democratic Party. Voter suppression, election deniers, corporate greed, climate change. You know, accusing Republicans are frequently recently using Nazi language. I mean, Democrats engage in fairmongering too. Now, let's be fair about that. Let's stop lying, okay? Let's just be real. Jamie in Maine, you're live with Stephen. A he a straight shooter. What's going on?

[Caller]

Hey. Hey, Stephen A. Good to hear you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you. Thank you so much. What's up?

[Caller]

Big question. What do you think about a Collins and Fetterman ticket for 2028?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Collins, as in Susan Collins?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, I don't think she's formidable enough. I think that she's very entrenched in Maine. I don't think Platinum was going to beat her anyway. But I will tell you that outside of Maine, people barely know who she is. And I don't think that that. That's. That's going to work. And Fetterman, I mean, I know him a little. I met him on several occasions. I don't know him. I've met him on several occasions. I've had the pleasure of talking to him. I love his pragmatism and straightforward. But you got a whole bunch of people that don't even believe he's a Democrat because they believe he's always voting with Republicans. But he's just a common sense guy, personally speaking, I respect him. I like the fact that he stands up to the Democratic establishment the way that he does. But I don't know if he would resonate with true Democrats out there. You know, when people talked about me running, that mean they don't realize. It's like, listen, you know, I'm not gonna take that mess. We gonna make. We gonna make sure we make sense. I'm about a strong economy. I'm about strong national security. I'm about safety in the streets, you understand? And I'm not about grifting and gouging and being gluttonous. I want to do that on behalf of the American people, not myself. And I think that Fetterman is that kind of guy as well. But you also gotta look the part, you gotta act the part, you gotta compose yourself as the part. And I don't. He's not that guy. And I think that a lot of it, you know, you gotta be a serious player in the room, somebody that disseminates an imagery and a perspective that speaks to mainstream America. And you gotta do so cogently and eloquently with a passion to come along with it. And I'm not sure he has shown all of that, in my opinion, and that's why I don't feel that way. But I respect where you're coming from, and I appreciate it. Thank you, Jamie. Charlie in Chicago, you're live with Stephen A. Go ahead, Charlie, real quick.

[Caller]

Hey, hey, hey. What's going on? Stephen A. Just real quick, man. I just don't understand how people can see everything that's going on. And they always talking about the Democrats spots to the left, when all they really talk about is like just healthcare, just kind of helping out people. When you got an administration and Republicans that's literally turning back the clock, burning everything down.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. No, no, no, no. Stop, stop, stop. Right, stop right there. You'd have a point if we were comparing the two. We see what that side is about. The reason why we got into the subject about The Democratic Party, Charlie, is because we're saying you can't be a house divided. You got to come together in order to beat that side. It wasn't like we were comparing one side to the other. What we're saying is, as a Democratic party, speaking strictly about the left hand side of the aisle, you got to come together in order to beat the other side. Being divided ain't gonna cut it. What's wrong with that, Charlie?

[Caller]

Ain't nothing wrong with that. But at the end of the day, you already know. Even they can get into a room. I figured the left can get into the room and figure things out. Even if they haven't shown that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They're not showing that, Charlie. That's why Kamala lost the election.

[Caller]

But Stephen A. They're not even in power though.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But, but they, but they're pulling the left further to the left, which is turning the independents and the moderates on both sides off. You got to pay attention to that, Charlie.

[Caller]

Okay, okay, so, because, so, because they trying to figure out ways and you already know when you negotiating, they gonna start way in one end and then gonna work it out and come back to the middle. Whereas you guys.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We don't know that, Charlie. We don't know that. That's the point. I get where you coming from. I gotta go to break. I'm not cutting you off. We got to go to break. We gotta hard out. But the point is, is that, Charlie, they're not doing that. That's the concern. That's what got everybody scared. Hour number two. Up next, Anna Paulina Luna, representative out of Florida, big time Trump supporter. She's gonna be right here in front of yours truly. Can't wait for this conversation. Our number two. Up next. Don't go away. An undisturbed sleep is a beautiful thing. That's why a beautyrest mattress is designed to give you unparalleled motion separation, isolating movement with our pocketed coil technology to help help you sleep soundly no matter what's moving on the other side of the bed, while providing individualized support for every sleeping position. People at their best get their beauty rest for 100 years.

[Commercial Announcer]

Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business, none of which are connected. Some say Odoo is like a magic moonstop scaling with with you while being pretty affordable. And some now imagine programs for manufacturing accounting programs, and they're for creating a custom software platform. But I say fertilizer magic for business. Simple, efficient software that can handle exactly what every friction of the price sign up dot com. That's o dot com.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome to our number two, a Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you, as I love to do every Wednesday night on Sirius XM POTUS radio, channel 124. It is my privilege to have my next guest on. She is a US Air Force veteran now serving her second term as the Republican representative for Florida's 13th congressional district. She serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, including the Doge Subcommittee, by the way, and the Foreign Affairs Committee. She's also the chairwoman of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. Please welcome for the first time the Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Representative Anna Paulina Luna. Good evening. How are you? How's everything going?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Good. Thank you for having me on. Very excited to be here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate it. Let's get right into it. You're a staunch supporter of the MAGA movement and strongly back President Trump's attempts to pass his key legislation to Save act, even blocking House floor votes to pressure the Senate to enact the bill, which forced Speaker Mike Johnson recently to send lawmakers home for the July 4th holiday. Let me ask you this. Do you see your role in Congress as a disruptor within your party, which seems to be in chaos right now? Do you seem to have used yourself that way or not?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

I would have to say I'm more of an independent thinker and leader. And I say that because there's a lot of rules and procedures that members of Congress don't understand fully. I'm not one of those members. I've read the rule manual twice. And so, you know, they sent us home because they didn't like that we were asking for there to be based text into one of these must pass pieces of legislation that would require voter ID plus proof of citizenship. But the reality is, Stephen, is that they could have kept us here and we could have voted only a few hours later. And so what has happened previously, and this actually happened to me when I fought to allow new moms to actually vote by something called proxy. So only 14 women in Congress have ever given birth. I was told that I couldn't vote while recovering. And they did the same thing to me then. And that was not a widely supported Republican position. But with this, you're seeing that voter ID specifically is, I'd say probably an 8020 issue. And I actually even made multiple offers to House leadership and said, okay, well, if you don't want to do the full Save America act because you think bits and pieces might be controversial, which I don't. But if that's your position, or playing a devil's advocate, at least give me voter ID plus proof of citizenship. And they didn't even want to do that then. And so what I would say is that from an outward perspective looking in, you don't ever want Congress to appear smooth functioning because that's not what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to come up here, debate, argue, do what's best for the American people, and then the entire process should be messy because that means that you have more input. It's when it's considered streamlined that you know that it's not actually working. On behalf of the American people, rather

[Stephen A. Smith]

special interest representative, let me ask you this. I mean, I remember seeing Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson. This is what he said in reference to you specifically, quote, she's going to have to start being a team player here. I mean, you can't be a team of one. It's not an institution that can function with one rogue member, especially in the small majority you have, end quote. So if standing your ground jeopardizes your party's chances in the midterms, I ask you sincerely, is it worth to take such a hard stance?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Well, I don't think that I'm jeopardizing our chances. I think that I'm fighting on an issue that, again, is probably, you know, an 8020 issue. If they're talking just strictly voter ID, it's a 9010 issue. And I actually really like Mr. Jackson, but he is kind of of the old guard that believes that you fall in line with party leadership. And so I've always said that, of course, when you're leading from the front, you're going to take a few arrows. But as you're seeing, we've now managed to merge this legislation, it's called a merv, that's a procedure, onto every single piece of legislation now going from the House to the Senate. I actually met with someone earlier and I have no ambitions of running for Senate. But what I will say is that they were joking around because this is a group that raises money for senators. And they said, aside from Senator Mike Lee, you're a favorite senator. And I started joking. So look, my own party got mad at me for taking down the liability protections for pesticides. And I did it. And I did it because it was the right thing to do. And people understand that that was still a win from the Republican Party. So it is what it is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

First of all, I have no problem with Independent thinking. Let me be very, very clear. All right? I have no problem with independent thinking. I applaud your courage. No doubt about it. We want our representatives up on Capitol Hill, and I appreciate that. But you also want a level of pragmatism so effectiveness will kick in. And what I'm thinking about is I remember you helped freeze House business to force, you know, action on the SAVE Act. But in the end, what did you actually win? One could easily ask that question.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Yes. So we actually did secure action on the SAVE act to force the Senate to either go on record for working against the American people and flushing out the Senate. And also, too, we forced forward in reconciliation the budgetary changes needed to, if the full text can't be adopted as a standalone bill to provide monetary incentives for states to adopt the legislation, for example, cleaning voter rolls, voter id, et cetera. And that's currently being discussed. And then I will also say we actually fired up our entire base going into the midterms. So, look, the midterms people are focusing on affordability and they're also focusing on does the Republican Party deserve our vote for delivering on the wins that they promised and really codifying the president's agenda? I would say we're doing great, but we could always be doing better. And I think that some of the big issues where we fumbled the ball on, I literally went to war with my party on, for example, was why in the heck in a bill that's supposed to be for farmers, our ag bill, why are we putting a pesticide liability shield in there to prevent people like Monsanto or Bear? And I can say this from my official position as being sued because they're causing cancer. I will say that right now, being a part of my task force and looking into some of the government corruption, it happens on all sides. I'm also the same member of Congress that forced three members of Congress to resign for public corruption. That was both Democrats and Republicans. And it was because people come up here and they don't want to make any waves. They want to do this for 20 years. I don't. And so, you know, people might say that I'm a disruptor, but people also say that you can't argue that my tactics aren't effective. Washington, D.C. only functions on two lever pressure and pain and pressure pain.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And you don't mind using both. It's fair to say that that's clear. Representative LYNN no doubt. There's no doubt about it. But you know what? Because I was getting ready to ask that, because you got a Smile on your face while you're saying that. Pressure and pain, it doesn't bother you? Fine, I got that part. I guess I'm asking you, first of all, let me say this. You said you're represent, obviously you're a representative. You say you have no desire to be a senator. Senator six years, representatives two years. How come you don't want to be a senator?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Because, you know, I have a young, a young child. And you have to campaign the entire state. And I feel like right now that I'm doing as much as I can effectively, I'm even influencing the Senate. And then also too, I think part of my platform is also educating and really informing the masses on what's happening here. I was actually just kind of explaining to your producer before we came on. But there's rules actually. Like you could think of it like when you play a game of Monopoly, you have to kind of know the rules of the game play. And it's called our House rulebook. This goes back to Thomas Jefferson that wrote the rule manual. And then every Congress, every two years, the House will come together and kind of come up with the games and are the rules of the game, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

A lot of members of Congress don't learn that when you first get elected. They just kind of bring you up here and they tell you two things. Never vote against the party and never take down a rule, which is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They actually say that. Hold on, hold on, Representative. They actually say to you, never vote against the party. Actually say that to you?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Yeah, but it's not just us, the Democrats do it too. Which is why you see the inner party fighting. I'd say that Congress is more like a parliament than anything. But that's my two cents. I got the two party system. Yeah. But ultimately I did that within the first week of getting elected. We really fought for changes to actually take away power from the speaker and give it back to the Representative so that we could legislate. And then they'll tell you to, you know, don't, don't use the rules and techniques that you're given because then you're, you know, you're not operating, you're not, you know, going back to normal order. We need to make sure that normal order is given. Well, that just means that they want you to shut up at in color, but you can't do that. So the best advice I ever got when I ran for office is if you promise to do, you know, and you follow through on what you promised on the campaign trail, this job is actually not Difficult because you're fighting for what you believe in and your constituents will believe in you. And what I will say is I was able to successfully fill all campaign promises last cycle and then all campaign promises except for one, this cycle of which I will be doing before the cycle is over. And that was at least doing a discharge petition on term limit. And that's basically where you have to manually collect signatures.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Representative Annapolina Luna right here with Stephen A. Straight shooter with Stephen A. You brought up the word corruption on at least three occasions while you were talking. And you talked about corruption in the House. You talked about corruption in the Senate. What about corruption in the White House? Representative Luna, are we going to sit here and act like there's nothing going on with the White House right now or everything is on the up and up? How do you feel about this administration and everything that's been going on? Because there's an awful lot of people in America that believes that there's a whole bunch of grifting and there's a whole bunch of nonsense going on emanating out of the White House. What are your thoughts about that?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Well, you know, I see a very different lens and perspective because of my relationship with the president. And then also too, because of, you know, a lot of people might not know this, but I was one of the third, or I was the third member of Congress to endorse President Trump for reelection in his 2024 cycle when a lot of other members of Congress were basically hiding. What I will say, too, is that I was also literally the only member of Congress leading the charge on declassification of the Jeffrey Epstein files in January of last year. And then ultimately what I saw, and this could probably be an entire new segment between you and I on, like, what actually transpired. But, you know, we uncovered destruction of evidence under the former deputy director of the FBI. I had documented that no one paid attention. I was pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi for the release of the Epstein files, publicly calling for its release. And then at a certain point, it then became political. And then, you know, we have been conducting the investigations and oversight. But the fact is, is what the American people are not hearing is that we are never going to have the full files because there was actively a cyber attack that occurred when Galene Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were under investigation in New York. And people seem to forget that that happened. So I actually don't think that we have the full deck of cards here specifically pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein. And I was actually in the room with members of Congress Both Democrat and Republican, the speaker of the House and then some of the victims and the victims attorneys, when you had members of Congress asking, okay, well can you name names or specifically if the President was involved, of which the President was exonerated. And at that point in time they also notified us that there was a pending lawsuit with Deutsche Bank. But all that to say that it doesn't mean that there aren't going to be certain people or bureaucrats within any administration that aren't doing things wrong. But what I can tell you is at least specifically from my perspective, this administration, specifically on the declassification efforts and then also to on the public corruption stuff has been doing, I'd say a net positive job. And then I'd also go further to say though that when we're talking about issues affecting the House of Representatives, issues affecting different agencies, etc. I'm the first person that if I see something, I say something. And what gets really frustrating in this whole process is it does feel like some of this has become very partisan, of which I'm also the first person to say, look, I disagree with certain policies on Democrats here, yet I will work with them on these other issues. But the way that I've been branded by the mainstream media is that I'm some MAGA right wing extremist. And so I think at the end of the day, you know, whether or not you're new, whether or not you're considered fresh political me, if you're good for clicks and views, it really doesn't matter what you're saying because people are going to try to get the clicks and engagement. And so that brings me to my next thing. You know, there's always going to be the lens and filter and media regardless of the outlet that you're on. That just happens from personal perspective. Recently we found out though that there was a massive coordinated foreign influencer campaign specifically to undermine various negotiations with the administration and peace talks. Also finding out that this is not just on social media but also to it's targeted with bot accounts. I've been trying to raise awareness on this because people are like what's causing the divide in the country? And I would tell you, look no further than other countries that are using our own First Amendment.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I was getting ready to ask, instigated

[Anna Paulina Luna]

by who information and divide.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I was getting ready to ask, instigated by many countries.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

It's, it's, it's friends and foes. So China has been notorious for doing it. We actually, I personally as well as other members of Congress have conducted investigations into Neville. We're seeing him, who is an asset, I believe for the ccp. He's defined congressional subpoena now under investigation by the Department of Justice for funding some of these operations. Also two that have really radicalized the far left. So like a lot of this crazy stuff that you're seeing coming out of the Democrat Party right now is because of the Singham network. But then it's also happening with some of our friends. And so recently a Time magazine article came out where Brad Parscale. Go ahead.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I was going to ask you, you say crazy stuff coming out of the Democratic Party. Crazy stuff like what? Be specific.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Yeah, so you know, the party of socialism and liberation, the very what I would say, you know, whether it's like super hardcore pro trans focused ideology, we see that that's being tied to CCP networks but then also to, you know, the aspect of these anti ice rights that were all of a sudden popping up. Those are actually tied to, to. We know for a fact we have the funding mechanisms and networks tied to seeing them. Networks funneled in through the ccp. And so look, I am the first person that will tell you that the reason I got involved in politics is because I was a counter trafficking advocate. I'm a veteran, I'm Hispanic American and I'm a woman. So like clearly I'm not xenophobic, I don't hate immigrants. But like I also support law enforcement. But what we were finding is, is that some of these violent riots that ended up, you know, going from peaceful demonstration to all of a sudden people, you know, burning things down, breaking windows, all of that, those weren't just by accident. Those were actual coordinated foreign funded operations. But then it also too goes into, we know for a fact that, you know, various countries have also engaged that our allies. And going back to what I was saying earlier, specifically pertaining to what happened recently with President Trump's efforts for the Iran peace deal, you saw a lot of people that want that war to continue. There's also a lot of people that want the war in Ukraine to continue. They don't want the peace deals. And we found out recently Time magazine did an article that it stated that Brad Parscale was actually getting paid millions, I'm talking tens of millions of dollars from the Israeli government to undermine those negotiations. They hired him to help out with the issue of antisemitism. He turns around and uses it to undermine foreign policy, which is like one of the worst foreign policy blunders I think ever. So it's happening all around.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But I can counter by saying this. They weren't the ones on the record saying we've obliterated Iran last June and then months later bomb Iran again and says they were only a month away from a nuclear weapon. They weren't the ones who sat up there and after collaborating with Israel and doing what they did, okay, all of a sudden talking about building resorts and stuff in Gaza. They weren't the ones that said Ukraine and Russia would be over day one once I got into office and the war is still going on. That was the president. So what I'm saying to you is, I'm not refuting, I'm in no position to refute what you're saying. Please let me be very, very clear. And you are absolutely right, cuz that's wonderful to finally meet you and talk to you. But I gotta tell you, when people talk about you, that's exactly how they talk about you. Extreme right MAGA fanatic and all. I'm glad that you clarify. You stated what your position is. I respect the hell out of it. I'm just saying we've got a president here that seems to be guilty of what you're accusing others of being guilty about. And my personal favorite, I shouldn't say favorite, but my personal focus was when knowing that this man has enriched himself by the billions with cryptocurrency and all stuff. Nothing illegal, but still you would look at stuff like that, like, damn, when does it end to come to the American people, to try to come to the American people, to get $1.8 billion for a slush fund to play to pay off insurrectionists. That was a problem. Representative Luna, what did you say?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Well, what I would say is, you know, specifically pertaining to the disclosures that the White House has, not to even bring up the Biden admin, but specifically to keep it focused on the Trump administration. If Congress had half of the disclosures, which are all literally done with a fine tooth comb, there would not be the level of insider trading that you're currently seeing in Congress. So when this actually came up, I said, why don't we actually put the same standards that exist in the executive branch in Congress so that we can actually have the disclosures and end what we're seeing with people making. And what did they say in the stock market? They said, no, because those are stricter punishments. So then I'll get into the banning insider trading stuff because I helped lead the charge on this and I, and I think it's important for your audience to hear. So remind Me to get back to that in a second. But specifically pertaining to what happened with Iran. So we know that since 2000, the early 2000s, President Trump has been very clear on his position on Iran. I know a lot of people, too, and this is a rightful question and a concern. We're concerned that the United States was sucked into the war by Israel. What I will specifically state is on this, there's something called the nastier plan. This has now been, I guess, declassified by the State Department because we've addressed it now multiple times. But the Nasir plan was basically an Alamo plan that the Iranian government had that stated that in the event that they were attacked, it didn't matter which country did it, that they would forcefully launch on their surrounding territories, also hitting US Bases. So that was what our intel picked up on. And so the president was essentially presented with two options, knowing that BB Netanyahu was going to do what he did, which, by the way, this is a completely separate topic. But I don't think Bibi's doing the Israeli people any favors because I think that how the situation is not good. I think that that's something that people don't want to address, but it's a fact. And so the fact is that the president was presented with the assessment of here's going to be your incoming casualty rate if you do not act to protect. And we know for a fact that they have missiles launches is what our intel is saying, and they're going to hit our service members. I would never, to be clear, want to be in that position because I, that that's a very, very just, it's, it's something that weighs on your soul and something that you're going to have to carry with you forever. So he had a very clear position to make. Now, I really, I want to tell your audience this thing that a lot of people wanted the president to put boots on the ground in Iran and he won't do it. And I fully back him in that position. I think that that would be a mistake. So I think that what he's doing right now in trying to negotiate with the people that are there, and to be clear, the regime itself has been changing. I can tell you that here on Capitol Hill. We've actually, I sit on foreign affairs. And so there has been a faction of the Iranian government that's actually trying to get Congress to weigh in on who should be, I guess, the authority figure over there. And that's not what we're about either. That's not for us to decide. But ultimately there were many people that wanted the president to prolong this and he said no. So when we tried to actually engage in the peace negotiations, which by the way, you never want to be on the side of war. You we should always be leading with peace talks and not Tomahawks. And I say that even with Ukraine and Russia, we know for a fact that people were intentionally trying to undermine those efforts. And what I will continue to say is my advice to the President when I talk with him, and he has been very open and he's very been very honest with me in this regard, is that he wants to ensure that the Iranian government does not have the nuclear enrichment program, which now you can see it's been obliterated. But then also to this aspect of not having their navy, which we obliterated, and then also to ensure that they could not hit our US Bases, which has also been done. So I think the three objectives were secured, which is why we had the initial deal. But you can see that there's still factions that are still pushing back against even the leadership there that are trying to undermine the negotiations.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You come across as very, very principled. Obviously, pulling back the curtain and enlightening and informing our listeners is deeply appreciated. Thank you for that very much. But in the same breath, one could easily ask this question. You know, when you think about what transpired with Maduro in Venezuela, when you think about what's transpiring in Iran with the Strait of Hormuz, when you think about what seems to be coming down the pike with Cuba, I brought this up in my opening monologue. It's like I can't look at the President, like millions of Americans, we can't look at the president as being some altruistic individual. And you know what, everything that he's doing is on the up and up and nothing is self serving because we haven't necessarily seen that. Now, you don't seem to be the kind of person at all that's interested in that, that's interested in self serving you there to serve the people. Okay, I got that. I'm saying he don't seem that way. So when you're talking about these issues the way that you're talking about it, yes, he might have a salient point as to why he's done something like that. But I can come to and say, okay, how about talking to Netanyahu and talking him out of doing that so we didn't have to engage in this maneuver? How about that?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

I think there's been a couple of times where the president has been very public. There's the public conversations and then there's the private ones. And the ones that are shared publicly are also too probably the ones that are a little bit more cordial. And what I will say is that on many occasions, I think that the president has stated that we will not, you know, be on the same page in the event that you continue to try to undermine this. And what I will also say, though, is like speaking to Venezuela, which, you know, depending on what happens with tomorrow presidential address, it might be tied to that, I don't know, but specifically to what Maduro was doing, specifically to also understanding that this is also tied to what's happening with the Chinese influence in South America, also to understanding that Maduro and his terror network and then also to the drugs coming into the United States. I mean, you're seeing right now we didn't send over, you know, massive armies to really take over Venezuela. Venezuela is now operating. And, you know, we have congressional delegations that have been interacting, etc. Good partners, essentially. But Maduro, at the end of the day, was brought up under federal charges for what he was. And he was charged, and rightfully so, for what he did. What I will also say, though, is that a lot of focus right now, especially because of tools like X that have kind of come pulled back, the honing in of mainstream media, you're able to really engage and see foreign policy in a way, different lens and perspective. And what I will continue to say is that right now, President Trump wanted to engage in an actual war. The first thing that he would have done is engaged in a kinetic, direct conflict in Ukraine. And there are many people in Washington, D.C. that were pushing for that conflict to happen. What I will also tell you is I sit here and on a regular basis, I am seeing that members that are sitting on committees of jurisdiction are making a lot of money because they are trading in the same defense contractor spaces that a lot of these wars are being funded by. And they have no reason or incentive to actually stop and maybe say, hey, maybe we should actually.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But aren't they mimicking the president about

[Anna Paulina Luna]

an end to war?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Aren't they mimicking the president?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Right now you have the disclosures. Okay, I don't know about the president's personal stock trades, but what I will say is with the president, you have him saying, we need to actually engage in a peace talk. So, for example, bringing over Zelensky, meeting with Vladimir Putin, offering a plan that Witcock and Kushner have both pitched to Ukraine and Russia and actually saying, this war needs to end. Right. I don't see members of Congress doing that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Fair.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

But representative did try to bring them in.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hold on, let me interrupt. Interrupt. I got, I believe that I got that. But my goodness, come on. I mean, if anybody got common sense is you. The man has, the man has been traded. I mean, this dude is over 21,000 trades. I mean, think about the things that he has been doing, not just cryptocurrency. I'm just saying he's been engaging in a lot of activity. So chances are people are looking at what he's doing and saying, follow the money. You can manipulate the market.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

I think the difference between someone like President Trump who has wealth and I assets managers and I think that he's been in, you know, the stock market even previously being office versus a member of Congress that, you know, has never traded a stock in their life making $175,000 a year comes up here and a couple of years, years later is, you know, worth tens of millions of dollars. A little bit different. A little bit different.

[Stephen A. Smith]

A little different.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Yeah, a little different. And so, you know, for our efforts and now going into kind of the insider trading stuff, when I first said, look, I'm going to do discharge petition, so this is a tool and procedure that a lot of people didn't use, but you basically have to manually collect 218 signatures from members of Congress, it could be Democrat or Republican to actually force legislation to come to the floor because there's something called a Rules Committee and they control all the legislation that comes to the House of Representatives to the floor for us to vote. So it's not like that, you know, Schoolhouse Rocks video. I'm just a bill. That's actually not how it works. It goes to the Rules Committee. And then depending on what the House leadership, whether it's Democrat or Republican at the time says is what you vote on. So I'm basically saying, I will go collect the signature so that we can get this bill voted on. I actually forced, forced this issue and people said they contacted me and as well as Tim Burchett, who's another member of Congress.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, he's been on the show.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Yeah. So in text message said that we were going to prevent members of Congress from sending their kids to college if we were going after the insider trading stuff. And so I, I joked back and I said, you mean you have to make 20 million in stock trades to actually, you know, send your kids kids to college? That's a mighty expensive college. And so we were dealing with a lot of opposition. Then they said that I was just doing this for attention. And so I'm saying these people are clearly tone deaf because this is again, if you pull anyone in the country, this is a top issue. Banning insider trading, voter ID are two of the top winning issues. And so you had Hakeem Jeffrey say, okay, well, we don't this. And by the way, I didn't discharge and I didn't call up the vote on my bill. Okay. I pulled a consensus Democrat and Republican bill that had co sponsors and the Democrats that had sponsored the bill were so ticked off at the leadership for killing it in the Democrat Party that they actually went to the press and reported that he did this. And so now you have my own party that said in, in the first quarter of this year that we would get a vote on it to pacify us. They waited. They waited. They waited because there's about 20 Republican members of Congress that want to engage in stock trades and their times leadership. If, if we put the legislation on the floor that we're forcing them to take a bad vote, meaning that they don't want to actually vote to basically. Do you know what the legislation is that they're so ticked off about?

[Stephen A. Smith]

What is it?

[Anna Paulina Luna]

It would force disgorgement of profits. Meaning if you make a stock trade and you make, you know, millions of dollars on it and it's done illegally, it's. So we have the same standards that a Fortune 500 CEO would have for. If they're going to be trading stocks. We've made it the same. But if you have to discard your profits, they don't want that because in the past they didn't have to disgorge profits and the fine was maybe a couple hundred dollars. And so they can make the trade then if they got caught for it. But they don't want to do that. They don't want. They want to continue to kind of just run the cycle. They don't want transparency on this.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And you talk about both sides. You know, both sides of the aisle want this. You're saying both sides of the side.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

I'm. Yes, both sides want it, but both sides are also against it. So you're seeing actually a split with people that are more populist based in each party that are focusing on this and wanting this, or people that are just not cor. And then you're seeing the people that are corrupt on both sides working against us. And that's why something that is a top issue in this country hasn't become law yet.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Last question to you. Based on everything that you just spent, and you spent almost a half hour with me, thank you so much for your time. Based on everything that you've been saying as the midterms approach, who's looking better right now? I'm making the case that the Democrats, I mean, they're in a better position than they've been in quite a some time because of the imagery, the perspective that has been put out there about the president, this administration and some of the grifting and stuff like that that have transpired. That's my belief. What's your belief about the state of affairs right now for the gop, the right. As the midterm approaches, with the Democratic Party seemingly gaining momentum, but still coming across as a house divided between themselves and the Democratic Socialists of America. America. Last answer.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

Well, yeah, so I think that had the candidates in New York and Graham Planter not been kind of the forefront of what the New Democrat Party was or is, I think that that actually might be an accurate assessment. But because you have now candidates that are Democrat Socialists of America, that have been elected, that have made certain comments that I would argue are straight up racist, or Graham Planter, who literally was accused of sexual assault and had a Nazi tattoo that is not in any way, shape or form what any party should be encouraging. And when we had a member of Congress in it was Representative Tony Gonzalez from Texas. He was Republican. This guy had had inappropriate relationship with his staff. His staffer poured gasoline on herself and lit herself on fire.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm a lord.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

That was a result of this relationship. He was still seeking reelection. And this man had the nerve to say, you know, I've made my peace with it and God, and he still is going to serve. And we said, no, we won't tolerate that in our party. Get rid of it. And there are other members of Congress that are Republicans that are under investigation currently and they need to go. And I think that that's going to happen. But what I will say is that we've done some pretty significant things in the big beautiful bill, specifically pertaining to tax cuts, etc. I think the number one thing that President Trump can lead with right now, though, is his image for peace talking, focusing on domestic issues at home, and also to continuing to support and deliver on his promises to the American people. And so I think if that's the messaging, I think that we went, I don't think it's going to be a significant margin. Like, I don't think it'll be a wipeout. But I think that we hold what we have because at the end of the day, if people are looking at people like Ana Paulina Luna, right, like maybe they don't like her because she's a Republican, but she's fighting for all these issues and she's actually delivering on these issues versus someone like Graham Planter, who you going to vote for. And unfortunately, you know it better than most. But media and branding and fundraising also comes into, you know, to play. And I just don't see many people getting on board with the whole redistribution of wealth thing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Representative Annapolina Luna right here. Representative out of Florida, 13th congressional district spent half hour B. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Please know that you're welcome back to, to converse anytime. I really, really appreciate the knowledge you dropped on my listeners tonight. Thank you so much and have a wonderful evening and we'll talk soon. Okay.

[Anna Paulina Luna]

God bless. Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

God bless. The one and only Representative Anna Paulina Luna right here on Straight Shooter with yours truly. She heard what she had to say. What do you have to say in response? She dropped a lot of pearls there, giving a lot of information. Certainly pulled back the curtain. Can't ask for more than that. Actually, I could. We didn't have so much time, but she gave us a lot of time and I really, really appreciate it. 866-967-6887. That's 86696 POTUS. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with yours truly. Back with your calls to close out the show over the last 20 minutes or so. In a minute.

[Caller]

President Trump, just as a simple matter

[Stephen A. Smith]

of constitutional law, eligible to run for another term as president in 2028.

[Commercial Announcer]

I don't believe believe he is.

[Caller]

No.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That is a correct in my view, reading of the plain language of the 22nd Amendment. If President Trump can get away with it, he'll stay in the presidency until the day he dies. But the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution should eradicate that, as Senator Chris Coons was alluding to out of Delaware, no question about it. But we'll see. We'll see. And we'll see if people in our elected office, people in our office, officers under this administration are going to do their job. Are they going to be puppets on a string for the president of the United States? We shall find out. We shall find out. Triple eight. I'm sorry, 866-967-6887. That's 86696 POTUS. You listen live. Straight Shooter with Yours truly, Stephen A. To the phones we go. And thanks again to Representative Anapau Lena Luna. It's not about agreeing with her because I certainly didn't agree with everything she says. I certainly don't agree with her being a MAGA supporter to the degree that she is. But in the same breath, she made purpose perfect sense with a lot of things that she said. She showed a willingness to work across the aisle. She called out both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. And that's certainly a good place to start when we're thinking about politicians that we send up to Capitol Hill to represent the people. And I think that that's something that should be applauded. No question about it. Don't know her that well. First time ever talking to her, first time interviewing her. Didn't have but so much time to ask all these questions. I had to give a space to answer questions. But I really, really appreciated the time. She gave us a full 30 minutes and I thought it was productive. So thanks again. The representative out of the Florida, out of Florida's 13th district, one and only Anna Paulina Luna right here on Straight Shooter with yours truly. Let's go to Josh in Michigan. You live, Stephen, a straight shooter style. What's up, Josh?

[Caller]

Hey, my man. How are you doing?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm doing all right. Thank you for calling.

[Caller]

So I got, I, I got a pushback on apl, on Annapolina Luna just for, just for a second. Just because she said that people call her a MAGA mouthpiece. And listening to her, I've only seen her a few times on my timeline come up. And every, every time she comes up, she seems like a MAGA mouthpiece. But the more she was talking, the more she just sounded like a mega mouthpiece. Okay. And that's, I think that's, I think that's why people call that, too.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me ask you this question, let me ask you this question. Did she sound like a MAGA mouthpiece or does she sound like a knowledgeable representative on Capitol Hill who feel strongly about what she feels strongly about and told you so?

[Caller]

I would, I would agree with that if she didn't excuse almost everything Donald Trump has done. Like the, like, I would say the insider trading. With the insider trading. She said basically when you asked her the question of Donald Trump trading stocks, she was like, oh, well, Congress does it. But she didn't address, that's the point of that. The president is doing it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I agree with that, Josh. And that didn't escape me. But what, the reason why I didn't press it is because she's saying, if somebody comes up on Capitol Hill making a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year, and then Suddenly they're worth 25 and 30 million dollars. Okay, who is she to say something about a dude that walked in the office as a billionaire, that was engaging in that kind of behavior long before he ever arrived in office, and is manipulating the system to make. Continue to grift? I mean, we can disagree with it, but we can't knock her for having that opinion, because millions upon millions of Americans, what do they lament about Capitol Hill? Well, they're crooks. And so we let a lot of stuff slide.

[Caller]

I agree. I agree. But still, that's. I mean, that's why I would still say. I wouldn't say she was. I'd say she's knowledgeable on certain things, but I still say she's a mega mouthpiece. Just because it's like if, like, I, I under. I understand your point, and I agree with your point, but at the same time, you have to criticize it. I didn't hear her criticize it once. I heard her criticize Congress, and I heard her criticize members of Congress, but I never heard a condemnation of Donald Trump. That's fair.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But then again, she might need him more than she needs them in terms of getting what she wants for the 13th congressional district. Like, for example, when I sat up there and I made noise months ago when I. When I. When I addressed Representative Jasmine Crockett at the time, she's obviously a highly intelligent woman, very accomplished law degree, licensed to practice law in Arkansas, Texas, and federally. And I thought she should have been in pursuit of the Senate seat to represent 31 million people instead of 766,000. But when she went on the air and called the President a piece of shit, all I was asking was, is that gonna help you in Texas? Because it's Texas. And so what I was making the point of back then that I'll make now is that if you are a representative out of Florida and you have a good personal relationship with the president, and that could facilitate you getting something for your district, do you sabotage that for 15 seconds of notoriety by showing a willingness to criticize him when you know his skin is very, very thin and he's the kind of sensitive lad that will hold that against you?

[Caller]

Well, I agree with that. Still, I've heard. I've heard that. I. Well, no, no, I agree, but that's. But that's where I'm like, still, I don't know to Me, if I was a congressperson, even if I. Even if I wanted certain things passed, I just couldn't. I couldn't roll over and take it. Like, I think anybody who rolls over and takes it just. Just doesn't have a backbone.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, it depends on what I'm trying to get and what I'm willing to give. There are certain battles that I might be willing to fight, and there's certain battles that I won't like. I come on the air every day. There's things that happen throughout my career with my bosses. There's certain lines that ain't getting crossed. Like, yo, know, I'm not going for this. I'm not going for that. But there's certain things that, if you're a subordinate, you have to eat because the greater good is down the line, and this fight ain't worth having.

[Caller]

I'd agree, but you're. I just say your bosses aren't the. Aren't the potus. That's just. That's where I'm like, if. When it's. When it's. When it's the President of the United States, a little different, but that's my opinion.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Sure, no problem. No problem.

[Caller]

Fair.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Josh, appreciate the call. Thank you so much. David in Chicago, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, David? How are you?

[Caller]

I think. I think Josh was just making my point. I'm just stunned that we don't get more. Just, you know, digging. When a person is asked a specific question and they go all the way around the world and come back to Iran and Jeffrey Epstein and Congress, but they don't answer your question, man, you got to go in two or three times. I think you know what I mean?

[Stephen A. Smith]

And David. No, I disagree with you. Here's why. If you have somebody for 30 minutes, right? I'm just telling you what I know. If you got somebody for 30 minutes, there's many times, like, for example, you might see dudes with their podcast, YouTube shows, stuff like that. Let me just. Let me just help you out here, David. So you got guys that oppress on a particular issue, but if I got five or six issues that you. That I need to get to and you want to fill, and you gonna try to fill a bust and answer the question lengthy, and go up the hill, around the block, and all that stuff like you just articulated, right. At some point in time, I don't have time to answer all of those. Ask all of those questions, and my goal is to get you on the record. The question was asked. Here's the answer. Because no matter how much you pressing, you pressing, you pressing, in the end, what are you after? I would have loved for her to admit, yeah, the president's a problem. I don't like his grifting my damn self. But you know what? This is what it is. I would have loved for her to say that. But guess what? You ask it a couple of times, and then it takes a minute or two minutes for you to go up the hill, around the block and all of that stuff. Then suddenly the clock's ticking and you got other issues to get to. You got a lot of people that feel the way that you do, but that's why they don't necessarily host successful shows. Because what happens is, is that you're spending time trying to get that person to admit this one thing, but you got a host of other things that people want to hear about, and you got to make that judgment.

[Caller]

This last question. Do you think that the ideal of the presidency should be sank or sank? Should be, should be, should be, should be draped in morality and integrity and honor?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Absolutely.

[Caller]

Do we think that? Then why don't we ask her about that? Why don't we ask her about that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, again, in a roundabout way, when I'm bringing up the fact that the man has made over a billion dollars, that he's traded over 21,000 times, that he's talking about building resorts in Gaza and in Venezuela, and yet coming to the American people with a $1.8 billion slush fund that he wants the American people to pay for instead of himself, isn't that a different way of bringing up the same point?

[Caller]

Possibly. Possibly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Definitely. You're just frustrated. I understand, though. Your frustration is valid. Your frustration is valid. I can't afford to be that frustrated when I'm hosting the show.

[Caller]

Got it, Got it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Appreciate the call. 866-967-6887. That's 866-9-6, POTUS. He makes a valid point, and I appreciate his frustration. And I've been frustrated, too. I can express that in my opening monologue. But when I'm interviewing somebody, I gotta think about their time and the time that I have to ask the questions that I want to answer, that I think the American people want to hear. You make those choices all the time because you don't have time into perpetuity to ask what you want to ask and wait for an answer. That's what hosting the show comes with. It's just that simple. Back with your calls. Close out the show in a minute. Straight shooter. In the house. 52 minutes past hour number two back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen a. In the house. 866-967. 6887 is the number to call. That's 86696. POTUS got about eight minutes or so before we get on out of here. Let's get back to the phones. Let's go to Chris in Virginia. You're live with Stephen A. Chris, good evening. How are you?

[Caller]

Good, good. Good evening, sir. I guess I'll be short and sweet. I'm gonna have to steal your phrase from you and be a straight shooter to me. She basically wasted your time for 30 minutes. He's a BSR. She's good at what she does when it comes down to BSing. I mean, I could in fact check the living hell out of her. From the Epstein stuff to Trump's.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You could have fact checked. Hold on, hold on, Chris. You could have fact checked her talking about the inner workings inside, about what they were going through while they were trying to address these issues. I mean, she tells me she can listen. You have every right to feel the way that you do. And I'm not even saying you're wrong. I think the most important thing to understand as elections approach is to get people on the record. The sound bites ain't going nowhere. What she said ain't going anywhere. So as, as, as, as more information is divulged to and disseminated to the masses. You know, folks can come on this show and various other shows, BS and all day, every day till the cows come home, but the sound bite is there and they're gonna have to answer for it. That's how I look at it. Go ahead, foj.

[Caller]

Well, I'm just looking at the things you said as far as, like the stocks and whatnot. Trump's never done anything since he came back in office about deterring anybody from trading stocks in Congress. That's just false. You know the rug polls that he made, over 90% of the individuals, his people that actually traded with his meme coin lost every dime, millions of dollars of money from his own coins. The inside, well, the no big contracts to his family members. That's American people's tax money that he invests. Him and Lucknick invest into their company.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I wouldn't say American taxpayer money they invested. I think what the issue is is that I think he greases the skids. I think he manipulates the market and he picks and chooses when to invest because he has an idea of what's going to work and what's going to enrich him with his own money. Money. And I think that that is disgraceful. Unfortunately, it's not illegal. Here's the issue where it really, really gets nasty, Chris, and something as simplistic as I mentioned this weeks ago, we got a problem in this country, particularly constitutionally when you cannot vote. If you are a convicted felon, can't vote, but somehow you can run for president and win. Now how that makes sense. How that makes sense. You see, when Representative Burchett, Burchett rather comes on this show and literally says, I'm not speaking about myself, but for the most part, Stephen, all of us up here are criminals. We're crooks. That's what he said on camera as a sitting representative. He said, what's illegal in this house? We can walk right across the street into a restaurant and make the same dealings. And it's not illegal at all. You see what I'm saying, Chris? It's like it's bad. It's bad. But in the same breath, like Todd Blanche said on Capitol Hill today in his testimony confirmation hearings, it's legal. They say stuff is legal. They don't say it's morally correct. They don't say it's ethical, they say it's legal. That's the times we're living in.

[Caller]

Absolutely. And it's pathetic.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, it's pathetic. You're absolutely right. We agree 1000% and it's on both sides of the island. I can't get around it, but I appreciate the call, man. Ben in Alabama, talk to me.

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen, A.

[Commercial Announcer]

Thank you.

[Caller]

Can you hear me?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, I can. Thank you for calling.

[Caller]

I mean, I wanted to challenge your narrative real quick. I know we're coming up on time, but I think the best path for this country moving forward is to let both parties fracture. I think on the left side, you know, you've got to let people determine what they think is an actual woman and how much illegal immigration they're willing to tolerate. On the right side, they've got to figure out how much war they want and what type and at what depth of relationship do they want with Israel. But I think the path moving forward is to truly let this country no longer be a two party system that's put $40 trillion of debt on its citizens well and bankrupt future pensions.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't disagree. I don't disagree with you, sir. I only would say this, Ben, your point would be very, very valid and very salient if the American people weren't the ones who had to suffer because of it. See, to let the parties fracture, essentially, you're disrupting our way of government. And if you're doing that, then who the hell is running the country and how are things getting done? Nothing gets done. And where does that leave the rest of us? That's my problem, Ben. In theory, you're right. In practice, how does it work,

[Caller]

Stephen? We're $40 trillion in debt.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, I know.

[Caller]

We're running a $1.8 trillion deficit. Yeah, consistently I agree. The American people are already paying for this two party system that is broken.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Got it.

[Caller]

Let representatives stand up for what they believe and let their constituents vote on which person they want to represent them. Don't let them roll over. Don't encourage them to roll over. Whether it's. It's, sorry, Luna, who was just on. Or a Democratic representative just on. If they're willing to stand on principle and risk, like we saw up in Kentucky, getting voted out of a primary, they're going down with integrity. And that's something that will be remembered by the American people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One can only hope you're right. Now, I can't say you're wrong, Ben. I really, really can't. But we don't know that you're right. We know that you're righteous and what you suggested. But whether you're right as a. As it pertains to its efficiency and its ability to be a workable situation is a different matter entirely. And that's what we're talking about here. That's it for this edition of Straight Shooter with yours truly. I'm about to get on out of here. I've enjoyed being back on vacation, talking with y'.

[Caller]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I've had an absolute blast. Thanks again to representative Mr. Anna Paulina Luna, representative out of the 13th district of Florida, for coming on the show and giving us a full half hour of her time. Really, really appreciated that. I'll be back next Wednesday. Same bad time and channel. All right, so y' all heard what I had to say, especially with my opening monologue. Think about it. Think about what I said. Democrats, you gonna blow. This has been given to you on a silver platter. What you gonna do with it? That's the question. Signing off until next week. Peace and love, everybody. I'm out.

[Commercial Announcer]

Some say Odoo business management software is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say Odoo's programs for manufacturing, accounting and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite. But I say Odoo is all of it. Fertilizer, magic beanstalk. Building blocks for business. Yeah, Odoo. Do exactly what every business needs. Sign up at odoo. Com. That's O D O O Com.