MINNEAPOLIS I.C.E. SHOOTING; DERRICK VAN ORDEN (R-WI); ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA)

Summary

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The Stephen A. Smith Show (SiriusXM POTUS 124)

Episode Summary: "Minneapolis ICE Shooting; Derrick Van Orden (R-WI); Eric Swalwell (D-CA)"

Date: January 8, 2026
Host: Stephen A. Smith

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Episode Overview

Stephen A. Smith’s first show of 2026 goes far beyond the world of sports to tackle an explosive week in American politics and law enforcement. The headline: an ICE agent fatally shot a 37-year-old protester, Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, igniting a national firestorm. Smith hosts frank conversations with Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), a former Navy SEAL, and Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California. The result is a candid, emotionally charged examination of law enforcement, political rhetoric, immigration, sanctuary cities, Trump's policies, and American identity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Minneapolis ICE Shooting: What Happened and Why It Matters

• Incident Outline: Renee Nicole Good, a protester blocking a snowy street, was shot and killed by an ICE agent after allegedly attempting to drive off as officers sought to detain her.
  • Smith describes both the legal and moral dimensions, expressing his profound discomfort with the necessity of lethal force.
  • Smith’s Framing (00:41):
    • “From a lawful perspective as it pertains to a law enforcement official, don’t expect him to be prosecuted. He was completely justified, from a humanitarian perspective—why did you have to do that?”
    • “She didn’t have to die. That’s the country we’re living in now. Some people more often than not are becoming lawless and law enforcement officials ... are not just about enforcing the law ... but they’re also taking lives.”
• Legal vs. Moral Perspective:
  • Legally, ICE agents likely shielded from prosecution, but morally, Smith sees preventable death.
  • Smith points to historical disparities in law enforcement’s use of force, noting comparable cases where suspects lived.

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2. Political Reactions: Escalating Rhetoric and the Federal-State Divide

• Federal Response (Kristi Noem, DHS Secretary) [07:42]:

  • Labels the incident “an act of domestic terrorism,” emphasizing officer safety and the administration’s hard stance on attacks against law enforcement.
  • “These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We’re working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such.” (Kristi Noem, 07:42)

• Minnesota’s Pushback (Gov. Tim Walz) [08:58]:

  • Rejects further federal involvement, asserts Minnesota’s sovereignty, warns Trump and Noem against making the state a “prop in a national political fight.”

• Local Outrage (Mayor Jacob Frey, as broadcast by Smith) [10:07]:

  • Blunt condemnation of ICE presence: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.”

• Sanctuary Cities & Crime Data:

  • Smith cites Minneapolis crime statistics: violent crime, shootings, robberies, and burglaries have all substantially fallen since 2021.
  • Questions the real intent of the ICE and National Guard presence: “What is the need for the National Guard? What is the need for ICE?” (Smith, 12:00)

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3. Trump’s Role and GOP Strategy: Chaos Versus Law and Order

• Trump’s Statement (Read by Smith) [16:20]:
  • Trump blames “professional agitators” and the “radical left,” asserts the agent was acting in self-defense, and frames anti-ICE sentiment as a Democratic incitement to violence.
  • Smith calls out Trump for exaggeration: “Respectfully, the President’s lying his ass off. That’s not true.” (Smith, 17:40)
• Broader Political Context:
  • Smith connects the current environment to earlier cycles of chaos and protest, referencing the racial reckoning post-George Floyd, the economic record under various presidents, and the GOP’s vulnerability to blowback from these actions in the upcoming midterms.

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4. Interview: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) — “This Tragic Death Never Had to Happen”

(26:07–37:42)

• On the Shooting:
  • Van Orden puts blame on Democratic rhetoric: “This woman would still be alive if the left had allowed our federal law enforcement officials to do their job ... [Their] defund the police buffoonery ... that propaganda works.” (Van Orden, 26:55)
  • Frames the protester’s actions as domestic terrorism and stresses the left’s messaging as a source of violence against law enforcement.
  • Declines to “second-guess” agents’ on-the-ground decisions but equates media/academic anti-Trump rhetoric to Nazi propaganda.
    • “The most powerful ministry in Nazi Germany was the ministry of Truth and Propaganda ... If you look at the legacy media ... they’re putting out the constant message that these ICE agents are ... Gestapo.” (Van Orden, 31:47)
• Smith’s Rebuttal:
  • Acknowledges excessive left-wing rhetoric but also emphasizes the humanity of law enforcement’s dilemma: “Did you have to kill her? Could that have been avoided?” (Smith, 29:00)
• On Trump’s Venezuela Operation:
  • Van Orden applauds “exquisite, complicated and eloquent” US military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, rebuking those who criticize Trump for not consulting Congress beforehand: “The only thing that leaks more than Congress is a sieve.” (Van Orden, 37:16)

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5. Interview: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) — “This Was Not Law Enforcement With His Back Against the Wall”

(50:07–73:41)

• On the Shooting:
  • Swalwell personalizes the loss: “She has a name, right? Renee Good. A mom of three ... It’s awful, but it feels like this is where it was always going to go with the President flooding the zone with ICE agents.” (Swalwell, 51:27)
  • Blames the administration’s policing strategy for precipitating violence. “It feels to me like the intent was to draw the foul ... create an environment where someone would resist an ICE agent and then they would find the justification to use force.”
  • Stresses that, as a cop’s son and brother, he supports law enforcement, but: “What I saw today was not an officer with his back against the wall ... there has to be consequences ... this guy committed murder today.” (Swalwell, 52:49)
• On Sanctuary Cities and Immigration:
  • Defends sanctuary jurisdictions as protecting only non-violent people, stating that “there should be no sanctuary for a violent criminal—period,” but ICE should not have authority to raid churches, schools, or go after non-criminals.
  • Dismisses the conservative claim that any undocumented status is by default criminality.
• On January 6 and Trump’s Broader Threat:
  • Criticizes the White House’s effort to recast January 6 as peaceful, reaffirms Trump’s culpability: “There’s really only three days in American history [since the Civil War] ... December 7, September 11, and January 6. They’re not just dates. They’re scar tissue for all of us.” (Swalwell, 57:35)
  • Frames the Trump agenda as targeted retribution against blue states, including pulling cancer research funds from California: “This isn’t about red team vs blue team ... If he’s going to pull the cancer research funding ... he’s going to have to go through me.” (60:10, 68:25)
• Swalwell’s Gubernatorial Pitch:
  • Focus on addressing California’s cost crisis through aggressive housing policy, fraud reduction incentives, and business tax holidays.
  • “California’s a blue state held down by red tape, and I’m going to get rid of the red tape, particularly as it relates to housing.” (Swalwell, 65:06)
• Sports Coda (Light-hearted conclusion):
  • Smith teases Swalwell for his sports optimism as a 49ers fan, blending policy and personality in closing.

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6. Listener Calls and Open Forum (Selected Topics)

• Rhetoric and Responsibility:
  • Several callers and Smith debate the origins of political vitriol, with Smith arguing Trump and his followers feed off mutual antagonism.
    • “You can’t just put it on him. It’s the hatred for him.” (Smith, 41:02)
• The Paradox of Trump:
  • Smith explores Trump’s unique appeal as an anti-establishment firebrand—even while lamenting his “classlessness” and divisiveness.
  • “To them, Trump’s not even a Republican. He’s a guy that’s a total renegade raging against the system.” (Smith, 42:15)
• Affordable Care Act & Health Care Battles:
  • Robust debate on federal budgets, health care, and the impact of political cycles on practical legislation.
  • Smith calls out both parties for contributing to the national deficit.
• Sanctuary Cities & Law:
  • Smith and callers question how sanctuary cities are permitted to “usurp” federal law.
  • “If there’s federal laws that mandate that ... you can’t cross the border illegally, there shouldn’t be sanctuary cities saying yes, you can ... which laws?” (Smith, 96:18)
• Moral Direction:
  • Closing theme: What kind of country do we want to be? Smith repeats that Americans must choose between “law, order, and humanity” in a divisive era.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:41 | Stephen A. Smith | “She was blocking the road ... she decides to drive off ... [The agent] moves out the way and draws his gun and shoots through the front windshield and took her out. But it wasn’t necessary ... you could have spared the woman’s life. You didn’t have to kill her.” | | 07:42 | Kristi Noem | “These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We’re working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such.” | | 10:07 | Mayor Jacob Frey | “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.” | | 17:40 | Stephen A. Smith | “Respectfully, the President’s lying his ass off. That’s not true.” | | 26:55 | Rep. Van Orden | "This tragic death never had to happen. But the left wing of the Democrat party have been demonizing our law enforcement ... this woman would still be alive if the left had allowed our federal law enforcement officials to do their job." | | 31:47 | Rep. Van Orden | "The most powerful ministry in Nazi Germany was the ministry of Truth and Propaganda ... they're putting out the constant message that these ICE agents are the American Gestapo." | | 51:27 | Rep. Swalwell | “She has a name, right? Renee Good. A mom of three ... It’s awful, but it feels like this is where it was always going to go with the President flooding the zone with ICE agents ... the intent was to draw the foul.” | | 52:49 | Rep. Swalwell | “What I saw today was not an officer with his back against the wall and nowhere else to go. I saw a guy who just scooted out of the way and then started firing into the car ... there has to be consequences. And good police officers should want to hold accountable bad police officers because this guy committed murder today.” | | 57:35 | Rep. Swalwell | “There’s really only three days in American history since the Civil War ... December 7, September 11, and January 6. They’re not just dates. They’re scar tissue for all of us.” | | 68:25 | Rep. Swalwell | “The President ... is using taxpayer dollars to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after his enemies. That’s fine. I can handle it. ... But what I want Californians to take away ... is that I’ll always be on offense on their behalf.” | | 79:50 | Caller “Mindy” & Smith| “He’s only spoken to us with hatred. And I’m a moderate who’s never once been acknowledged by my president.” ... Smith: “That’s true. But Mindy, 77 million people knew it and voted for him anyway ... we have to decide what kind of country ... we want to be.” | | 91:04 | Stephen A. Smith | “When you look at Trump, in all fairness, you can’t disagree with all his policies ... What really bothers you is the classlessness with which he executes, because that is what is causing the division.” | | 96:18 | Stephen A. Smith | “I don’t understand how sanctuary cities are allowed in this country ... If there’s federal laws ... there shouldn’t be sanctuary cities saying yes, you can ... which laws?” |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:41 – Smith's monologue, description and immediate reaction to the ICE shooting
• 07:42 – Kristi Noem statement: federal response
• 08:58 – Tim Walz: Minnesota rejects further federal involvement
• 10:07 – Jacob Frey: Blunt condemnation of ICE
• 26:07–37:42 – Interview: Rep. Derek Van Orden (R-WI)
• 50:07–73:41 – Interview: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
• 79:50–83:14 – Caller “Mindy” and Smith: Trump’s rhetoric and appeal to 77 million voters
• 96:18 – Smith on sanctuary cities and the law

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Tone & Style

Stephen A. maintains his trademark blend of fiery directness, razor-sharp analysis, and openness to complexity. The conversations are at times testy, passionate, and deeply personal, reflecting the stakes of national division, law enforcement, and political identity.

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Takeaway

This episode exemplifies the polarized, almost existential debates for America in 2026—showcasing raw, uncensored reactions to a tragedy, competing visions for law and order, the enduring appeal and peril of Trumpism, and the daunting work needed to bridge divides. As Smith repeatedly asks: “What kind of country do we want to be?”

Transcript

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[Stephen A. Smith]

I was supposed to start off this show by saying Happy New year because it's 2026 and this is the first show that I'm doing in 2026. Good evening to this audience. Straight Shooter with George Truly Stephen A. Smith coming at you every Wednesday night over to airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. Number to call up as always is 86696 POTUS. 86696 POTUS. That's 866-967-6887. Again, I was supposed to say Happy New Year because this is the first show, but there's nothing happy about it right now because of the lead story for tonight. Sometime today, a 37 year old woman by the name of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota was shot and killed by an ICE agent. She was protesting. She was sitting in her car. According to reports, she was blocking the road. An ICE officer got in front of the vehicle, another officer came up to the side of the vehicle, the driver's side, at which time she decided to drive off. And when she drove off, obviously the ICE agent was in front of her so he had to move out the way otherwise he would have gotten run over by her. Subsequently, he pulled out his gun and took her out. There's no other way to slice it. Now be clear, I saw the video on numerous occasions and seeing what transpired from a lawful perspective as it pertains to a law enforcement official, don't expect him to be prosecuted. He was completely justified from a humanitarian perspective. However, why did you have to do that? If you could move out the way, that means you could have shot the tires. That means you could have got her a few feet away after you shot the tires. And if you were unsuccessful in doing that, you could have got her down the road. You didn't have to do that. She wasn't driving down the road coming at you 90 miles an hour. She was parked in the middle of the street and rather than get out the car. She wrongfully tried to drive off and wrongfully disregarded law enforcement official, which is exactly what ICE is, and as a result, lost her life because of it. At some point in time, this opening monologue is going to ask you to answer a simple question, and we can spend the show doing that. We're going to have a representative from Wisconsin who was a Navy SEAL because he spent a lot of time throughout his life in Venezuela. So he knows a thing or two about what transpired as it pertains to Nicolas Maduro and what have you. And at some point in time, we're going to have Representative Eric Swalwell out of California, the 14th district of California, who's running for the gubernatorial seat in that state, but obviously has had a lot to say about President Trump, about ice, about tactics that have been used, et cetera. I'm here to tell you that at some point in time, you got to ask yourself, what damn country do you want to live in? At some point in time, you're going to have to ask ourselves that question. And I think the time is sooner than later, because, again, from a legal perspective, don't expect this ICE officer to be prosecuted. I'm telling you right now, she was in the car. Renee Nicole Goode, 37 years of age, protesting, blocking off the streets. ICE wanted her to move. An officer got in front of the car, another officer got to the side of the car, and then she tried to take off. And in their eyes, the Kristi Gnomes of the world for the Department of Housing of Homeland Security. I'm sorry. And other folks on the right are saying, oh, they consider it an act of domestic terrorism because she tried to run over an ICE officer. It's not going to be prosecuted. My point is, let's not focus on that for a second, okay? She was wrong to drive off. She should not have done that. Should have got out of her car to prove that she was not going to be any harm. Or she should have asked the officer, I'm pulling over. Could you move out the way, please, instead of trying to disregard him totally to the point where you're going to take off and potentially hit him and he moves out the way and draws his gun and shoots through the front windshield and took her out. But it wasn't necessary. You could have arrested her. You could have spared the woman's life. You didn't have to kill her. We've seen plenty of incidences throughout the United States of America, historically and frequently and recently, where people who committed crimes or People whose behavior weren't indicative of law abiding citizens who were simply obeying law enforcement officials. We've seen them walk away alive. We've seen them walk away cuffed, but they walked away alive. So even though the law, from a literal perspective might be on his side, the reality is, is that your humanity comes into question because you didn't have to kill her. She didn't have to die. But that's the country we're living in now. We're living in a country where. Some people more often than not are becoming lawless. And law enforcement officials are not just about enforcing the law while serving and protecting, but they're also taking lives. At least in this case, that was the case. I believe it was totally unnecessary. But that's me talking. There's some people you need to hear from. The first order of business, the secretary for Homeland Security, the one and only Kristi Noemi. She spoke about this in the aftermath of the shooting. Here's what she had to say.

[Kristi Noem]

You asked about a shooting that we just had in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened was our ICE officers were out in enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot to protect himself and the people around him. And my understanding is that she was hit and is deceased. We're continuing to gather more information, but this goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day. These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We're working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them. As such, we will continue to protect our ICE officers and in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies as well. You've seen me in the last couple of days deploy over 2,000 more officers to the Minneapolis area.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That was Kristi Noem, problem of Homeland Security. She had her say. Governor Tim Walsh, former vice presidential candidate on the Democratic side under Kamala Harris. He is the governor of Minnesota. He had something to say about it as well. Listen to what he had to say.

[Tim Walz]

And from here on, I have a very simple message. We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem. You've done enough. There's nothing more important than Minnesotan safety. I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks. And these National Guard troops are our National Guard troops. They're teachers in your community. They're business owners. They're construction professionals. They are Minnesotans. Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight. We will not take the bait. We will continue to update you, Minnesota, as we get more information.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That was his way of putting it, which I would say is a bit tepid and diplomatic compared to what you're about to hear next. Listen to the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Jacob Frey. Had this to say. I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have.

[Derek Van Orden]

A message for ICE to ice.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety and you are doing exactly the opposite. This is what's getting interesting about listening to this right here. Because I want everybody to be careful. I want everybody to know this because I looked this stuff up. One of the things that President Trump and his administration has used this justification for the need for the National Guard, particularly in sanctuary cities where they fend off federal laws, federal law enforcement officials to try to do their own thing as it pertains to migration and immigration. Illegal immigrants entering respective cities in the United States. Some of these sanctuary cities, of course, it's what they do. I asked somebody to look up Minnesota crime rates by the numbers. Overall, in the year 2025, there was a decrease in crime in Minnesota. It's very, very important that I read some of this to you guys because it's important that you understand what's transpiring here. 64 homicides in Minneapolis in 2024. 2025, I'm sorry, that was down from 77 in 2024. That's also 32 fewer than than when violence peaked in 2021. Gunshot wound victims were down 18% from 2024. There were 68 fewer shooting victims in 2025. Three hundred and forty seven fewer shooting shootings compared to 2021. Gunshot victims were down 33% in the third precinct in 2025 and 42% in the fourth precinct. The fifth precinct, if not for the Annunciation shooting, would have been seen as a decrease in gun violence as well. Remember, in 2021, Minneapolis was the only major city in the country to have more shooting victims than there were sworn officers within the department. That was 2021. That's no longer the case. In 2024, no longer the case in 2025. So improvement has definitely taken fold. 2025 also marked the lowest number ever for shooting victims in north Minneapolis. There were 1,085 reported robberies in 2025. That was down 50% from 2021. Carjackings were down 73% in 2025. There were 2,401 reports of burglaries in 2025, but that was a 10% drop from 2024. And aggravated assaults were down 9%, resulting in 148 fewer victims than in 2024. So considering the trajectory, considering the improvement, one could easily argue what is the need for the National Guard? What is the need for ice? Now, ICE will tell you, we appreciate those statistics. We thank you for it, but that don't have anything to do with our agenda. That has nothing to do with our agenda. We're there to make sure folks who are here illegally are caught, captured, deported. Minnesota is saying, wait a minute, we don't need y' all here. We don't need y' all here. ICE is not listening. The Trump administration is not listening. And as a result, there's a divide that's taking place before our very very eyes. And at some point in time, we gonna have to make a decision as a country, because I would like to remind y' all that prior to Covid, regardless of what people were feeling about the Trump administration, the country wasn't doing so bad because the economy was looking good and it was thriving, purportedly. And as a result, he was en route to reelection before COVID hit, and some people thought that was mishandled. And then the riots took place throughout the streets of America in the aftermath of the George Floyd shooting, when this country had a, quote, unquote, racial reckoning. And that ultimately was what booted Trump out of office, because you had millions upon millions of Americans that said, I don't want this noise. I don't want this noise. I don't want this noise. Now Trump is back in office as the 47th president instead of number 45. And initially, what we were seeing, whether it was GDP in a good place, whether inflation wasn't as dramatic as we thought it was going to be, whether a recession hadn't officially kicked in. The economy was supposed to crash, but it didn't. The border was secured, unlike open borders under the Biden administration. Somebody needs to let Donald Trump know you in danger of messing it and mucking it all up for the gop. Because at some point in time, the noise and the chaos is going to be on him. But here's the thing. The only way you can do it is to make noise for the midterm elections because Trump ain't circumventing the 22nd Amendment and running for a third term. At least most people don't believe that. So you believe whether it's Ron DeSantis, whether it's JD Vance, the current vice president, or whether it's Marco Rubio, the current Secretary of State and national security advisor, the bottom line is going to be one of those three. In most people's eyes, this is what they're saying. So at some point in time, the noise has to be curbed. Otherwise the GOP may suffer in the midterm. We haven't forgotten that Affordable Care act subsidies issue has not been addressed. That the GOP still hasn't had a plan that's formidable enough and attractive enough to be adopted, that the Democrats themselves ain't even talking about it that much. But you got people on the verge of losing, of seeing their premium spike sky High, and 24 million Americans being in a position where it's going to be a struggle for them to afford health care. We ain't forgot about that. Incidents like this might make you think that momentarily, but that ain't the truth. So all of that's going on and at some point in time, the noise that's reverberating might mirror what we were hearing in 2019 and 2020. And as a result, who's gonna pay for that? Somebody will. Somebody will. Evidently, Trump doesn't believe it's him. Here he is with a post on his truth social platform. I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was obviously a professional agitator and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting. Who then violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self defense. Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive but is now recovering in the hospital. The situation is being studied in its entirety. But the reason these incidents are happening is because the radical left is threatening, assaulting and targeting our law enforcement officers and ICE agents on a daily basis. They are just trying to do the job of making America safe. We need to stand by and protect our law enforcement officers from this radical left movement of violence and hate. That's their position. Now, let me say this. I watched it five times in this part where the President talks about how violently willfully and viciously ran over an ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self defense. Based on the attached clip, it's hard to believe he's alive. Respectfully, the President's lying his ass off. That's not true. That's not true. Okay, the officer moved out the way and shot her. How's he in the hospital? For what? What am I missing? Somebody help me out. That's not what I saw the five now six times I'm watching this video. President, that's a lie. The other stuff he said, however.

[Eric Swalwell]

We.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Got a man and woman up and ask ourselves, does the President and the GOP have a point when they talk about the verbiage, the rhetoric that's being spewed on the opposite side of the aisle when it comes to ICE agents and how they're being talked about? And is there any truth to the notion that that serves to exacerbate a situation and incite people to go out there in respect of sanctuary cities throughout this country, whether it's la, it's New York, it's Chicago, it's Minneapolis, et cetera, Portland, Oregon, whatever. Does it incite people to go out there and engage in lawlessness against ICE agents? We all have to concede the fact that ICE agents are doing their job. When Biden was in office, they didn't bother folks that much because you had open borders when Obama was in office and over 3,000 people were deported. You're a Democrat. You got to make sense out of the fact that you didn't say anything about it then. I am not defending Trump. I don't like the way he's doing things. And I think in certain respects he's mirroring what he did during his first administration, which I think will serve to hurt the GOP more than he realizes in the months to come the midterms. If the Democrats play their cards right and don't engage in histrionics or acts of stupidity to get in the way of the momentum they might be building? I say might because I don't know, but the other side to it that can't be escaped. When did sanctuary cities begin? When did they start? Why did they start? And if it's such an affront to us as American citizens, particularly people on the left and what have you, how come you didn't say anything when Obama deported over 3,000? I'm just asking because the right got an argument against you that you're going to have to defend. Are you prepared to answer that question? If you're complaining about Trump and his administration doing it. Now, how come you didn't complain when Obama did it and he deported more people than Trump deported in his first term? You got to answer that question. Now, that doesn't mean you look at this incident and you think ICE was right to shoot that woman down. That doesn't mean you don't look at them and say, they ain't wrong, they're wrong. It doesn't mean any of that. What it means is that you have to be prepared to make these arguments and you also have to be prepared to fend off the accusation aimed at the left that the rhetoric being spewed, particularly in a time when everybody was swearing to dial it back, dial it back, dial it back, because we don't need our country as divisive as it is. Look at the stuff that you're hearing in the streets being spewed at law enforcement officials, whether it's ICE or anybody else. These are the things that come with it. These are the questions. I've got two special guests coming on the show. Representative Derek Van Orden, who's a former Navy seal, served a lot and or was in Venezuela for an inordinate period of time, and is very, very familiar with what's going on there and his feelings about Donald Trump and the Department of War entering Caracas and grabbing Nicolas Maduro and his wife, supposed leader of that country. Nevertheless, a man who had a bounty on his head. That is definitely something that Representative Derek Van Orden will speak about. And if you remember, I spoke about it yesterday. I got a problem with Trump in this damnation building. Let's focus on here. Let's not tryna run the country. Clearly going after the oil. That's what this is all about. No. Yeah. We were born at night, not last night. Know what the hell you doing. But in the same breath that I say that and I lament the thought of us putting troops on the ground and trying to engage in nation building and running another nation when we got problems here that need to be resolved. I'm not gonna knock the president for going in there and getting Nicholas Maduro. I don't want to hear that from Congress. I don't want to hear that from the. You had a $15 million bounty on his head when you were Trump in the first administration. Biden comes in and put a $25 million bounty on Nicolas Maduro's head when he was in office in 2025, right before he left. And then after that, Trump arrives and adds another 25 million on top of it to make it a $50 million bounty on his head. You wanted to get him. Well, he went and got him without one single American citizen, one single American soldier, one single individual. Whether it's Delta Force or anybody else that was killed. Not one. I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that criticism about Trump, the nation building, sure. Not him getting Maduro when we all wanted him. You wanted him, you got them. Both sides, Republicans, Democrats, everybody agreed with Trump and Biden, they wanted his ass. Well, you got them. I don't want to hear that now. No complaints. The nation building, that's a different story. Don't like that at all. Don't like that at all. Don't know what the hell Trump thinking with that. That's bad. Sends a bad message throughout this world. You complaining you do something like that, no wonder why the Russia, Ukraine war hasn't been resolved. Evidently you don't have that big of a problem with it since you going up in there taking over Venezuela, even though I know it's not the same situation. Please don't get me wrong, I'm speaking facetiously, but still, it shouldn't be happening. 86696 POTUS is the number to call up. 86696 POTUS. That is just a couple of things that I'm talking about that I'll likely bring up with Representative Derek Van Orden, of course, in our number two, top of hour, number two, Representative Eric Swalwell from the state of California, 14th district gubernatorial candidate for the state of California as well. He'll be on the show with us as well. We got two sides, two different sides, the Republican and the Democrat in the House to talk about these very issues and then some. So stick around. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Right here on SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back to Straight Shooting with George Truly. My guest was a 26 year US Navy Seal who retired as A senior chief and conducted counternarcotics operations in Venezuela. He NOW represents Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district and serves on the House Agriculture Committee, House Veteran Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee as well. Please welcome to the Straight Shooter with yours truly, Representative Derek Van Orden. Good afternoon, sir. Good evening, actually. How are you, sir? How's everything? I'm well.

[Derek Van Orden]

It's great to see you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Great to see you as well. I'd be remiss in starting in a different direction. I didn't intend to start this way. But in light of what transpired in Minneapolis today where ICE agent ultimately shot and killed a 37 year old woman, I wanted to know your reaction to that upon hearing that news.

[Derek Van Orden]

Sir, here's my reaction. This tragic death never had to happen. But the left wing of the Democrat party have been demonizing our law enforcement officers for an extended period of time. They're calling them American Gestapo. So this, this woman would still be alive if the left had allowed our federal law enforcement officials to do their job. And we, we've learned this through the defund the police buffoonery that they were doing. That propaganda works. And every single day the left is pounding the fact that, or, excuse me, they're pounding what they think is a fact. And then this is an unlawful action by the federal government and it is not. President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are doing a very good job helping to protect American citizens. And this tragic death is a direct result of the lefts demonizing our law enforcement officers. It's shameful.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Representative, I will tell you, I will tell you this right now. Again, I'm not going to belabor this point because that's not why I brought you here today. And it's unfair for me to just come at you with it because this is fresh news and stuff like this. I want to be fair. I don't know, but I appreciate that. But what I wanted to say to you is this. I agree with you that I don't like ICE agents being labeled the way the left has been labeling them. You and I are on the same page. I think it's excessive. I think it's unnecessary. I think it's wrong. I think you're absolutely right about that. But here's the other side to this. I'm looking at a woman that she had no business doing what she was doing. There was an officer right in front of her. There was another officer on the side of her. Obviously she used a vehicle. Obviously the vehicle was used as a weapon. We get that part, I guess. What I'm thinking about is from a legal perspective, obviously there's nothing we can say to the ICE agent. The flip side to it is that the officer was able to move out the way and still shoot into the windshield. I don't want to say whether you could have shot the tiger or anything like that. I'm thinking about the humanity element of all of this. Did you have to kill her? That's where I'm coming from. Could that have been avoided? We can get left and right and all of that stuff from a political perspective, but trained officers know how to detain somebody. Again, I don't want to say suggest shooting out the tires or something specific like I know any better than them. I'm just saying, was there not a way for the woman to walk away with her life, for crying out loud? That's what I'm asking you, sir.

[Derek Van Orden]

Well, listen, I'm the longest serving enlisted member of the United States military to ever be elected to Congress in the history of our country.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay?

[Derek Van Orden]

I have multiple combat tours starting in 1996 going up to 2014. And do I want to see an American citizen killed? Hell no. I risk my life repeatedly over a period of decades to protect American citizens. So I don't want to see American citizens die. This is also what I learned as a senior enlisted person and a combat leader. It's incredibly difficult to put yourself in the shoes of somebody that is standing there potentially being run over by a vehicle or getting shot at or getting blown up. So I am not going to as a professional, and I'm a professional second guess what's going on. And what I will do is wait until we have a complete and thorough investigation. But it sure as heck looks like this was an act of domestic terrorism by this woman trying to run over a federal agent. And he was acting out of self defense. So again, I'm not going to second guess these guys on the ground that leads to nothing but hardship across the board. And I am very sympathetic. I do not celebrate the death of any American citizen ever. I don't condone political violence. This, this appears to be an act of political violence. I just don't. Man, listen. I love my fellow Americans. I fought for this country and for you and for the rest of your listeners, I did. And so right now what we're going to do is allow this process to play out. But it sure as heck looks like this woman was trying to run over a federal officer when he was in conducting officially sanctioned operations. And that is unlawful. That is actually a, A that meets the definition of domestic terrorism.

[Stephen A. Smith]

My last question on this subject is really not a question about this subject per se, but it's more along the lines of what you said when you talked about the left and their rhetoric and what have you. One of the things that we've been talking about over the last several months as it pertains to the rhetoric on both sides of the aisle, was that that needed to be dialed back. We've heard Republicans and Democrats alike saying that this is something that needed to transpire. Considering what you just said in terms of the left and their rhetoric and how that directly impacted what transpired today, one could argue, or one could ask, does that really help the situation? Does it really help? What do you say to that?

[Derek Van Orden]

This is what I say to that. The most powerful ministry. And I want to be crystal clear, crystal clear. I'm not calling my Democrat colleagues Nazis. I am not.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This.

[Derek Van Orden]

I'm going to have to run upstairs and vote here real quick, but this is what I'm saying. The most powerful ministry in Nazi Germany was a ministry of, of Truth and Propaganda that was run by a guy named Joseph Goebbels. To my knowledge, Joseph Goebbels never pulled the trigger and killed anybody, but he's responsible for the deaths of millions of people, including six and a half million Jews. Why? Because when the Nazis took power, they took over all the newspapers, they took over all of the radio stations, and they actually had their own film studio and they, they, they pushed out a consistent message over all mediums that were available at the time, and that led to the Holocaust. So propaganda works. And if you look at, I'm not talking about you, my brother, but you look at the legacy media and radio stations, Hollywood stars, the movies, television shows, cable, they're putting out the constant message that these ICE agents are the American Gestapo. They're saying that President Trump was literally Hitler, that he was going to lock up LGBTQ folks into concentration camps, that he was going to destroy democracy, and he got shot in the head because of that. If you think about what are the commonalities between a 19 year old Pennsylvanian and a 56 year old Hawaiian, there's two things. Both of them tried to kill the President of the United States. And the other thing is that they both, for over a decade, have been hearing that Donald Trump was literally a Nazi. So this messaging has got to stop. And I do not equivocate and nor should you, sir. If you look at the volume, the sheer volume of what the left puts out versus what some People on the far right put out. There's absolutely no comparison. 90 plus percent of all journalists identify as Democrats. It's the same percentage for college professors. They identify as Democrats. And so when you have college professors teaching children journalism, they're not teaching them journalism, they're teaching them activism. When you have. I went to law school 50.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That part.

[Derek Van Orden]

Went to law school of 50. Finished my first year and then I decided to write law. So I got elected to Congress, but the majority of my professors in law school were leftists. They were. And so when you take over the schools of journalism, you take over the schools of law, you're going to have an issue. And the issue is this. We have folks on the left that are pushing an agenda that is not good for America. It simply is not in these instances. Charlie Kirk getting assassinated, what did that young man hear? For an extended period of time, nothing but horrible things about Charlie Kirk, which turned out to be lies. Then I mentioned the guys that tried to assassinate President Trump. What did they hear? A bunch of lies about President Trump. No one's. No one's locking up LGBTQ people. That's just silly. And, you know, is he a dictator? No, he's not. Is he a king? No, he's not.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But they.

[Derek Van Orden]

If you constantly put out this message that it's. A 37 year old suburban woman from Minneapolis, the city that I happen to have been born in, decided to go on a Wednesday morning and drive her car around in a manner that appears to be reckless and attacking, using it as a weapon against federal agents. How did that happen? How did that happen? It happened because she's heard over and over and over and over again through every available form of media that Donald Trump is a Nazi and that these ICE agents are American Gestapo, that's what's got to stop.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm going to move on from this particular subject, but I want you to know before I even do that, you're going to come back on. Yeah.

[Derek Van Orden]

Thank you. I just have a couple minutes. I got. I have to run upstairs.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I want to get to Venezuela. Your thoughts about what happened, I want to invite you back on when you have more time because I'm interested in talking and I know you got a busy schedule, but your thoughts about President Trump capturing Nicolas Maduro and the noise that has reverberated throughout Capitol Hill because he did so what is your position on that, sir?

[Derek Van Orden]

Let me tell you this. As a former Navy seal, retired Navy seal, that was one of the most exquisite, complicated and eloquent military operations that has ever taken place in the history of warfare. So being able to tie together surface vessels, fixed wing aircraft, rotoruing aircraft, space based systems, electronic jamming systems, all the way down to an assaulter, a barrel chested, freedom fighting American badass with a rifle in his hand to get into that building and capture this man alive, read him the rights, by the way, by an FBI agent and then remand them to custody in the United States is nearly miraculous. And it's okay to celebrate that. It's okay to say, you know what, our military is awesome. Our men and women that put themselves in harm's way are great. So that's really where I'm at with that man. And everybody, look, all of these, these senators that are going on, on the shows this last weekend, every single one of them, if you go back historically and look, they're like, Donald Trump loves dictators because he's not getting rid of Maduro. Remember that? Apparently they forgot.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I know you got only two minutes, so I got to get you out of here. Here's the question, okay. Was it illegal? Number one, was it illegal in your estimation? No. Was it illegal?

[Derek Van Orden]

Absolutely. President Trump was acting completely within his Article 2, Section 2 enumerated constitutional powers 100%.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Your thoughts about the fact that she didn't consult with Congress before he did it, along with him talking about nation building, because now he's going to run Venezuela for the foreseeable future until the right person is placed in charge. Your thoughts about that, particularly without consulting Congress?

[Derek Van Orden]

The reason that this operation was able to be conducted is because he didn't consult Congress. The only thing that leaks more than Congress is a sieve. And I'm not offended by this at all. I'm a professional. I know what the hell I'm talking about with these operations and Congress. Someone, someone would have disagreed with the policy here in this office, not my office, obviously, but in Congress. And they would have leaked it to the press. They would, that would have happened 100% guaranteed. But I got a scrap.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You got to go. Thank you so much for your time. You're invited back on when you have more time.

[Derek Van Orden]

Thank you, sir. God bless you and your family. Happy New Year.

[Stephen A. Smith]

God bless. Happy New Year. Representative Derek Van Orden. Listen, he's not running from anything, ladies and gentlemen. He was, he was planning on staying here a lengthy period of time, but he has to go and vote. That's why this interview was cut short. We were planning on, on having him for more time than that, but he has to go vote. That's why you heard that sound in the background. He's not ducking at all. So I appreciate him coming on the show and I'm looking forward to talking to him in the very, very near future and having a far more extensive conversation than we were ever we were able to have at this particular moment in time, even though I appreciate the time that he was able to give me because he promised him, he promised us he would do just that. Your calls and more coming up next. Don't go away. It's Straight Shooter with Stephen A. In the house right here, right now. Talk to you back in a couple of minutes.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

48 minutes past hour. Number one. Back here, straight shooter with Stephen a Sirius XM POTUS radio channel 124. Number to call up, as always is 866-967-6887. That's 866-967-68 87. That's 86696, POTUS. You're listening to yours truly, Stephen A. Thanks again, the Representative Van Orden out of Wisconsin. Again, I have to apologize to my audience. He did not have much time, but he took time out of his busy schedule to come on the show. But he had to. He was called for a vote, so he had to literally had a hard out, which is something none of us knew about until he got on the call and he was informed by Congress. That's what he has to do. He's a congressional figure. That's what he has to do. So that's what happens. But he'll be back on. Clearly, he likes to talk and I like listening to him. I want to hear what he has to say. There's a few things I disagree with, no doubt, but I definitely want to hear what he has to say. Somebody's willing to be that candid that, you know, forward with his, with, with his verbiage. I want to hear what they have to say. Let's get to the phones at 866-96-POTUS. Let's go to John in New York, you're live with Stephen A. John, good evening. How are you?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen. Good evening. How are you today?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm doing all right. Thank you for calling. What's up?

[Caller]

All right, so listen, I just want to get into something really quick. Who is the biggest megaphone out of everybody in the world right now?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Trump.

[Caller]

Okay. Is it safe to assume that all this negative rhetoric that's been going on for 10 years has been fostered by this gentleman?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Can anybody like. Has been there has been fostered by Trump?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I would say to you he's responsible, partially, but the other side is the hatred for him. So in other words, you can't just put it on him. It's the hatred for him.

[Caller]

Right. And excuse me, who started the hatred? Where did it come from?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, time to my. Well, you could say he started it because he won the election. You could say he started it because he debunked conventional wisdom and what they were doing politically on Capitol Hill. And he was just a renegade raging against the system. Can I share with you a really, really quick story that I tried to tell people about Trump years ago because somebody asked me to crystallize his appeal with voters on the right. Okay. And even some independents who veered in his direction. John, I'd like to share with you, if you don't mind, what I told people about him. So let's say, for example, John is running for office. Right. And I consider you a decent, respectable human being that believes in decorum, speaking respectfully to people you can agree without being disagreeable, those kind of things. Right. John, can you hear me?

[Caller]

Yes, sir.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And I said to these folks, Trump is the kind of person that says, bump that they can kiss my ass. They ain't worth shit. They ain't worth a damn. People are. Yeah, yeah. You know why? Because it's not enough for them to hear that a politician or somebody running for office agrees with them. They want the vitriol and the venom in the verbiage aimed at officials on Capitol Hill, because that's how disgusted they are with our government officials who they believe has played us like suckers for decades and has served to diminish the quality of this country. So to them, Trump's not even a Republican. He's a guy that's a total renegade raging against the system. And one of their favorite moments is when he was asked during one of the initial debates in 2016 about filing for bankruptcy and using the system and blah, blah, blah. He said, of course I do. I use the Same system as she does, he said. And she if you got a big problem with it, change the system. But you won't, because the same donors are the ones you use. I would know because I was one of them. It shut the place down. Dave Chappelle talked about it on Saturday Night Live years ago when he said, ladies and gentlemen, that's where a star was born. Because never before had we seen somebody who was in that house lying and doing everything else in between, being as corrupt as hell, who came out of that house and told you everything you think we're doing in that house, we're doing. And then went back in the house and kept doing it. We've never seen that before. And they love them for it. That's what I'm saying. That's what's going on.

[Caller]

It's not wwe, though. This. This is the real life, man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No, hold up. I'm not. I'm not saying it. First of all, it wasn't the WWE. I'm simply making the point. That's how 77 million American citizens feel. See, y' all keep focusing on Trump. I'm focusing on the people voting for him. They clearly don't have a problem with it. I'm thinking about the representatives on Capitol Hill who are supposed to be showing a spine and standing up to him, and the vast majority of them don't. Do you not see, John, how they fawn over this man? Every single thing they do before they say anything, just want to give thanks to the great Donald Trump, the greatness of his leadership, we've got a real leader now, and blah, blah. Everything is preceded by deifying this man, showering him with praise and compliments at every turn before they even other their own damn names. That's what you're dealing with. You can't bitch about it and not accept it. You can bitch about it and accept it and then plan accordingly to offset it, but you can't bitch and not accept it because you're not living in the real world. That's what they feel about him, period. And there's no way around it. And those elected officials who don't feel that way about him but support him anyway is because they recognize he has the power of influence to get them booted out of office. That's what's going on. When are you going to accept that? I'm not meaning you, John, directly. I'm just speaking in general.

[Caller]

Yeah, I get it. It's about power. It's all it's about. But this is the government of the United States of America. This isn't WWE and. And nonsense. Nothing's getting done. People are hurting out there. They're killing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But they're not saying that, John. They're not saying nothing is getting done. They're saying inflation is limited, the economy is better. A recession hasn't kicked in. The unemployment hasn't even reached 5%. They're pointing to these things. Our borders are secure. It's safer in the streets of America compared to what it once was. They're pointing out these things. In their eyes, the country is far, far, far better than what it was under the leadership of. Of Joe Biden and the left. And they're deducing that no matter how bad you may think it is, it would have been 10 times worse if Kamala Harris had won. That's what they're saying. And everybody that I've run across that has voted for him will die on that sword. They firmly believe it. They're not joking. They believe that.

[Caller]

I know, but there's. There's mental illness in some of these people, Stephen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, not all of them. Nope, nope, nope. You don't get to do that. Don't talk to me about mental illness on the side of the right. But you had people talking about transgender without parental consent and men transitioning to women and playing in women's sports and thinking that that was okay and people could be incarcerated and they could have sex changes and stuff like that. Oh, no, no, no. You don't get to sit up there and just point to the right about that and not act like there wasn't craziness on the left too. I'm a moderate. I'm a moderate who primarily votes Democrat. And I'm here to tell you something right now. I. I don't recognize this left or not this one. Not the one that I've been seeing over the last few years. I'm a moderate who will lean left on everything but dollars, meaning taxes. I can't stand high taxes in California, New York, New Jersey. Okay? I'm a fiscal conservative with my money. I'm liberal with everything else. And I'm still appalled by how far left the left has leaned. It's disgraceful. No common sense. And, oh, by the way, when you talk about woke culture and cancel culture, don't come to me with the Republicans. It wasn't the Republicans that was trying to get people fired for pronouncing the wrong pronoun. That's the left. And you're appealing to a community. And in the meanwhile, you're turning your back on black folks who supported you since the 60s. Don't get me started with all of that. I got a lot of problems with Trump. I got a lot of problems with some of the things that I've seen from the Republican side most recently and in more immediate is the Affordable Care act and the fact that they still haven't had a plan all these damn years. You had an opportunity to have a plan and we still wait for the GOP to have a damn plan. You holding up everything. You ain't got no damn plan. That's disgraceful. But I'm not going to act like it's just them. Oh, hell no. The left, the extreme left is what I'm talking about, not the moderate left. The extreme left is a damn problem. And that's why 77 million people stood up and said Donald Trump is closer to normalcy than some of those folks. And I don't blame them for feeling that way. I put myself on Front street. I voted for Kamala Harris, but I didn't like it at all. I just didn't trust Trump because I thought what would happen, what has been happening would happen in terms of stuff in the streets. That's the subject for another day. Representative Eric Swalwell. Swalwell. He's up next. Stick around. Stephen A. In the House Straight Shooter.

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Straight Shooter with Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome to hour number two of Straight Shooting with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airways of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. It is my honor and privilege to have my next guest on the line. Had the pleasure of meeting him and talking with him and getting to know him over the last few months. Lot of respect for this man. Looking forward to talking to him. He's represented Northern California's 14th congressional district for more than a decade. He is now a candidate for Governor of the state of California. Please welcome Representative Eric Swalwell himself to the show for the first time. How Are you, sir? How's everything?

[Eric Swalwell]

I'm doing all right, thank you. Thank you. And I'm thinking of our mutual friends in Los Angeles today. It's a tough day in la, a.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Year after those fires, no question about it. Definitely thinking about them. You know, I know who you're talking about as well, along with everything, everybody in California that suffered with that. So our hearts go out to them and their families and we just hope that everything can be rebuilt and things of that nature. Let me get right to it with you, Representative Swalo. First things first. What happened in Minnesota today? The shooting of a 37 year old American citizen, by the way, by ICE agents. Your reaction when you heard the news? Your reaction as the details come forth more and more with each passing hour? Yeah.

[Eric Swalwell]

You know she has a name, right? Renee Good. A mom of three, you know, you're a dad of two, I'm a dad of three, and it's awful, but it feels like this is where it was always going to go with the President flooding the zone with ICE agents, sending 2, 000 ICE agents to Minneapolis this week. And it feels to me like the intent was to draw the foul, to create an environment where someone would resist an ICE agent and then they would find the justification that they would. They were looking for, you know, to use force. And now you have a dead mom who should be home with her kids. And the question I have is, will it happen again? Does anyone think this is the last time this is going to happen with the policy that's in place?

[Stephen A. Smith]

What level of culpability do or should the left absorbed when you hear the right? Like I just had Representative Derek Van Orden on a few minutes ago, and he talked about the rhetoric on the part of the left, how Trump has been described, how ICE agents have been described by the left, and how that kind of rhetoric has served to incite people to be a bit belligerent and acerbic at the very least towards law enforcement officials, including ICE agents or what have you. What do you have to say about that?

[Eric Swalwell]

There's no room in our community for violence or threats of violence. And I say that, you know, as the son of a cop. And I'd worry about whether my dad would come home when I was a kid. I'm a brother to two police officers and I worry about them every day. And when I get a call from a family member, the first thing I always think is like, is one of my brothers in danger? And so I get it and I'm always going to have the Back of law enforcement. But what I saw today was not an officer with his back against the wall and nowhere else to go. I saw a guy who just scooted out of the way and then started firing into the car, you know, to. Against a mom of three years old. And so there has to be consequences. And good police officers should want to hold accountable bad police officers because this guy committed murder today. And I don't see any justification for what he did. And he actually harms good police officers. So my brothers have a target on their back now because some asshole may want to go get revenge for what happened today and just take it out on any ordinary police officer. And my brother could be at risk. And so that's what I worry about, is that you're just giving all cops a bad name by what you just did to this innocent woman.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What about the issue involving sanctuary cities? Because essentially you have the, you know, sanctuary city. You're going to fend off federal officials and some of their laws as it probably pertains to immigration. You're not trying to follow that. You're not trying to assist police or anything like that, which is one of the biggest complaints that we've heard from Kristi Noem when we've heard from Tom Holman, et cetera, et cetera. What about the issue of sanctuary cities and the role that they play in such incidents ultimately taking place? Yeah.

[Eric Swalwell]

So there should be no sanctuary for a violent criminal, period. And when I was a prosecutor, I put a lot of bad guys away. I didn't look at what their immigration status was when I had their case. If you hurt somebody, I was going to come at you and make sure that justice was served. And I've talked to our police chiefs in my district and across the state about bad guys in our community. I've said to them, do you hold back or not go after people who've committed crimes because of their immigration status? And across the board, the answer is, of course not. If you hurt somebody, we're coming to find you. We want to put handcuffs on you. We want you to go to jail. So this idea that you could commit a crime and be protected because of your immigration status is nonsense. What these sanctuary cities are saying is that we are not going to allow you to just go into our churches, into our schools, into our communities, and go after hardworking, innocent people who have not committed crimes. And I don't think that's what anyone signed up for. People were with the president when he said he wanted to go after the most violent people in the World. I'm with the president to have more security on the border. I'm with the president to reform our asylum process so there's more judges and there's more certainty so it doesn't take so long. But to go after innocent people, to chase people to the fields where they work, to shoot a mom in her face who's a US Citizen, it's gone too far.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm of the mindset, Listen, I totally agree with you on that, by the way. But you listen to Tom Holman and his attitude is if you've crossed the border illegally, you're here illegally. That makes you a criminal. It's that simple. No matter what. Are you of that mindset?

[Eric Swalwell]

No. No. If you cross the border, you're in our country and you're hurting somebody here. I want you gone. And by the way, I voted, and I was one of the few Democrats to vote to remove undocumented people who have committed driving under the influence offenses and have been convicted of that, because I do believe if you're going to be here, you can't put others at risk. The American people are clear on this. Like, we have an immigration crisis in our country. We have a hospitality shortage. We have a food and restaurant shortage. We have, you know, agriculture shortage of jobs in this country. And where we can meet that shortage, we should fill it with people who want to do jobs that most Americans won't do. The crisis has been at the border that it has been so easy to come across the border. And that's where I've been willing to work with the president to surge resources at the border, you know, to put in place barriers at the border and technology at the border to reduce crossings. But to go after people who are a part of our community have not hurt somebody that's not American.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I want to transition to January 6, the Insurrection 2020. We get all of that. I got to get to that, and I definitely want to get to that, and I want to get to Venezuela because I want to get that out the way, because I got to get to you as the gubernatorial candidate for law for California, I got to get to that. But before I do any of that, obviously, Yesterday was the first fifth anniversary of January 6th of January 6th insurrection. You come from a law enforcement family, as you've articulated. I want to know what your thoughts are on a website the White House released characterizing rioters as peaceful protesters and accusing Capitol Police of escalating tensions. This is what we're talking about even in the year 2026. Now, your reaction to that.

[Eric Swalwell]

We're not going to erase the honor and the heroism of the police officers that day. And this president has tried to. To convince you that the villains are the heroes. And the heroes, like Harry Dunn, Mike Fanon, Sergeant Gannell, Danny Hodges, that they are the villains and what you just described. He's blaming the Capitol Hill police officers for what happened that day. Look, only one people could have convened the mob that day. That's Donald Trump. I don't know, Stephen, where you were on September 11th. I know where I was. But imagine if 10 minutes before the first plane went into the first tower, George Bush was in Battery park urging people to hijack airplanes and run them into buildings. Five years after that, would you still remember it? I would, and that's why I don't want to. I want to make sure we don't forget this, because there's really only three days in American history since the Civil War that Americans saw with their own eyes and will never forget. That's just seven. 1941, September 11th and January 6th. And they're not just dates. They're scar tissue for all of us.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here's my problem. I'm not concerned about this for you because of the state of California and how it's pretty much considered a blue state. Okay. I am concerned about other elected officials who may have a national voice or are looking for national recognition, national support, potentially running for election in 2026 with the midterms coming up, et cetera, that believe this is an issue that's going to help them. I think that 77 million people already said that as unfortunate and catastrophic as it was to this country, we got present issues right now to deal with. That's their mentality, the economy, the affordability and everything else in between. That's what they're concerned about. And I'm not sure that issue will work for the Democratic Party moving forward. What do you say to that, Stephen?

[Eric Swalwell]

I would say he's not just, you know, had one branch of a government attack another branch of government, which he did on January 6th. Now, what we saw today in Minneapolis, he's using, you know, his officers to go into our communities. He's putting troops in the streets, a woman was shot in the face. He's pulling cancer research funding from blue states that don't agree with them. So this is a part of a broader theme, and the question is, who's going to be the fighter and up against him?

[Stephen A. Smith]

So basically what you're saying is he's just going after blue states. He's not going after issues, he's targeting blue states. That's what you're saying he's doing. And that's really, really why he's not being fair minded and engaging in fair play at all. Is that what you're saying?

[Eric Swalwell]

If you are a blue state governor and you stand up to him, he's going after you. And what we've seen in California, by the way, we've got the best medical research in the country, ucsf, ucla, and he's polling federal funds from them. He's targeting us. And to me, you know, someone who lost his best friend last year, my mom, from cancer, to go after cancer research funding, it's not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It's just something 40 of Americans are going to learn in their life that they're diagnosed with. It's the dumbest thing in the world. And, and a budget is not just a moral document, it's an IQ test. And this guy, in a punitive way is pulling back and canceling cancer research funding in California. And someone has to fight and protect that. And it's not about red team versus blue team. It's just 40% of the people in my state are going to be diagnosed with cancer. And you're either with them in their fight or you're with this guy in his, you know, idiotic approach that's punitive toward anyone who stands up against him.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You, you, you know enough about this show and you've heard enough about the people that have been on this show, the Mike Johnson's, the Jim Jordans, the, you know, representative, you know, Senator Cotton and others, Tom Cotton and others that have been on this show. And one of the things that they would argue in terms of pushing back on what you just said is they don't want to hear about him being petty and him going after folks because the Democratic Party went after him. So they're like, they're like, you know, those who live in glass houses can't throw stones. That's essentially what their position would be if you were to confront them with that kind of position. What do you say to that?

[Eric Swalwell]

Yeah, look, it was clear. In fact, Jack Smith, a Republican, by the way, is the one who investigated Donald Trump. Right. It was Robert Mueller who was a Republican and James Comey who was, you know, a Republican, who said that, you know, what he did with Russia prior to the campaign was not what we'd want someone to do. It was Jack Smith who said he was the one who convened the mob, he was the one who kept the Classified documents at his house. Also investigating Biden and Pence for the same thing. Donald Trump loves to draw these comparisons. But at the end of the day, what he's doing is he's not just going after his political enemies, he's going after cancer patients in blue states. And what did the cancer patient, what did they do to investigate him? They're just counting on the federal government and the National Institutes of health. And the 40% cut that he just took, that took. So that takes away their hope.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's go back. Let's go to you, actually, you're running for governor of the state of California. Tell us why.

[Eric Swalwell]

I think the next governor has two jobs. First, to keep the worst president ever out of our home streets and lives. And two, which I'm most excited to work on because it means seen beyond Trump is to write a new form affordable California story. I grew up in California and I was a part as a planning commissioner and a city council member of putting a city in renaissance called Dublin. It was low income, lower expectations. People weren't going to college. I was the first in my family to do that. And when I came back after college and law school, I saw this town that only had fast food restaurants and not much else. And I worked with folks to bring developers, builders, labor to the table to have an onslaught of houses like we built houses like crazy in Dublin. We brought in high end employers. We had incentives for small businesses. That high school that I graduated from in 1999, where 25% of us went to college, today, 96% went to college. They called us scrubbling when I was a kid. They don't call us scrubbling anymore. It's one of the best turnaround examples in the whole country. And it's what I want to do for the whole state. And so I want to take on the cost crisis on housing. The current governor has declared an emergency in Altadena and the Palisades. I'm going to do that in all 58 counties. And we're going to have a surge of new housing in California so that you can have your first home before you're 40. Right now, Steven, the average home age, the home buyer age In California is 40 years old. And I think we should be a state where you can take your first job, have your first kid and buy your first home in the same decade. And so that's going to be the focus on day one.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Should anybody believe that's possible with the state of California? I mean, I'm not blaming you, Representative. I'm not blaming you, you know that. But my God, the affordability issue in California, Homelessness in California, crimes in the streets, homelessness in la, crimes in the streets. I mean you think about the cost of living, I mean prices, inflation, everything. I mean and then, and then we're hearing billions of dollars still wait for the rail, the rail system, don't get me started with that. There's so many different damn issues going on in the state of California. It's almost worth asking why do you want to be the Covenant of California, as bad as it seems right now? What do you say to that, Stephen?

[Eric Swalwell]

California is a blue state held down by red tape and I'm going to get rid of the red tape, particularly as it relates to housing. Every agency is going to have 90 days to make an up or down decision. That means Coastal Commission, CEQA, Fish and Wildlife, 90 days to make an up or down decision on all existing home applications so that we can surge new housing on some of the fraud that you described. Of course I want to reduce fraud, but I'm going to ask state employees to be partners with me and give them a 10% fraud finders fee. So if you find fraud in a state program, I want you to have 10% of what you save the taxpayer. Small business growth. We have the small, the slowest small business growth rate in the country right now for new small businesses. I want a tax holiday for every new small business in California so that you're focused on hiring, you're increasing business to business revenue for those around you. And then we have a permanent stable base of revenue for the state beyond that three year holiday. And then finally on pensions right now to your point, if it's so expensive, most small businesses cannot offer pensions to their employees. My plan is a prosperity plan is if you offer a three and a half percent pension that's matched by your employee, I want the state to match up to 2% so that when people retire they have 1500-2000 dollars more every month that the state's not spending on your health care, on your long term care. So my goal is to make California open for business and a new California that can thrive and address that cost crisis.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It sounds simple enough. You're a Democratic representative, the Mayor of Los Angeles is a Democrat, the Governor of California is a Democrat. Have you talked to these people about these ideas? Did you share with them? Have they listened to you over the last few years? Where the hell have they been? Cuz it sounds like something that's worth executing to me. Where have they Been. Have you been listened to at all?

[Eric Swalwell]

Look, I'm a get shit done Democrat, and if you, you know me, I'm an aggressive guy. And when I say something, I mean it. And so I can't speak for the others. I know what I'm going to do on day one. And I know. Who cares about it? We love to rattle off as Californians, we're the fourth largest economy in the world. Everyone has heard that trope. My goal is, when you say it as a Californian, it means something to you because you're a shareholder in it, that you're doing better. And because right now you can't pay your rent by saying I'm the fourth largest economy in the world. You can't pay your groceries by saying that. But if you have a stake in it because we're all doing better under the economy that I want to create and extend to everyone, then that's success to me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do you believe. And I asked this question respectfully because, I mean, when you talk about some landmines that could potentially exist for you as you're running for the gubernatorial seat, you know the axis report from 2020 involving the Chinese intelligence operative. That didn't amount to anything. That didn't amount to anything. That didn't amount to anything. I ain't even asking you about that. I'm just saying that that's what people discomfort. People go, they're gonna. But you know, they're gonna mention it, all right? And then you got this mortgage fraud referral dispute reported by ABC News. When you talk, talk about both of those things. First of all, just for clarification purposes, so the audience knows, and then tell me whether or not you think that can serve as an impediment to your aspiration to be the governor of California.

[Eric Swalwell]

So my, My wife Brittany loves to say defamation is the highest form of flattery. And she'll tell me, you know, the second they're not lying about you and going after you, you should wonder if you're doing your job with this president. And so the President, as you referred to, he has gone after Adam Schiff and Tish James and Lisa Cook on the Federal Reserve for their mortgages. He's done it against me. It's nonsense against them, it's nonsense against me. But it's because we've been vocal critics against this guy. And so he's using taxpayer dollars to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after his enemies. That's fine. I can handle it. I'm going after him. I sued them for A First Amendment and privacy law violation for doing that. I'm going to stay on offense because I think that's the only side of the ball you have to be on. But what I want Californians to take away from that, because this is about them, is that I'll always be on offense on their behalf. So if he's going to chase you through the field where you work, he's going to have to go through me. If he's going to put troops in the streets where you live, he's going to have to go through me. And if he's going to pull the cancer research funding that you depend on, he's going to have to go through me. And I think I'm the only candidate in the field who's in the arena now, but has a record of taking on this guy when he crosses the line.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is that how you're going to win? Is the strategy to win, is that you're going against Trump as opposed to the people that you actually have to compete against directly for the gubernatorial seat in California?

[Tim Walz]

You.

[Eric Swalwell]

My, my approach with the president, Stephen, is I will put my hand out first and I'll work with you where we can. By the way, this might surprise you and your viewers. He just signed one of my bills into law a couple weeks ago. It was one of the, like, 20 bills that he signed into law in his whole first year. So I can work with this guy when he wants to work with you, but I'm, I'm not Pollyannish about this. I, I went to his inauguration. I was one of the only Democrats that went to his inauguration. This last time, I went to the first one as well, and I saw Joe Biden at the inauguration, and I thought, that's big of Joe Biden, because Donald Trump didn't go to his. And then I watched Trump filet Biden in front of Biden and his family. And I thought, okay, that's what you get for showing grace and honor and dignifying the circumstance. So I know who this guy is. Again, I'll work with him where I can work with him. But if he wants to go after the most vulnerable, I think people in California know that I will stand up with them and for them against this guy.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Will you be the next governor of California?

[Eric Swalwell]

Yes. Winning is a decision. Nancy Pelosi taught me that. She told me, when the 49ers take the field, they've already made the decision to win. I've made the decision to win. 49ers have made the decision to kick The Eagles ass this weekend. And so. Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do you realize what you've just done? You've just contaminated yourself. Represented.

[Eric Swalwell]

I do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The 49. The 49ers just got their ass kicked a week ago. How are you going Less than a week ago. How are you going to sit them and use them as the example about kicking ass? I mean, you know, they're in trouble. I know you want to talk some football. We could do that for a minute here. You do understand your 49ers are in a world of trouble this weekend at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Do you get that?

[Eric Swalwell]

Look, we're going to get Trent Williams back. He's going to give more protection to our quarterback. Brock Purdy's footwork gets better and better every week. He's another threat. And the yards that he can gain, especially, you know, on second and third down for us. McCaffrey made one mistake this this season, right? That interception against the Seahawks. We held him to 13. How are the Seahawks going to go far in the playoffs if they can only win with 13 points against us? Stephen, I don't know if you know this, but the 49ers, I think over the last 35 years, they either don't go to the playoffs or if they do, they go to the NFC Championship. One other thing. Over the last 30 years, every time the 49ers and the packers have been in the playoffs together, right? Every time. Except once they've ended up facing each other, which means 49ers, home game, NFC championship against the Packers.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, my Lord. So not only are you picking the 49ers to win, you acting like Green Bay going to beat Chicago. Right? You understand? And then whoever else they playing. Really, why are you doing this to yourself? I mean, to me. You're getting in the way of your aspirations to become governor by putting your money on them. You ever heard of Vic Fangio? You've seen that Eagles defense with Jaylon Carter and the crew? Do you understand that Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown and Devontae Smith and Ghata and Saquon and the crew are coming? I mean, do you understand that it's.

[Eric Swalwell]

Insulting that we have to play a road game against a team that has fewer wins than us? That's insane.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I agree with that. I agree with that. But nobody is nobody. Nobody's worse. Look at the Los Angeles Rams having to go to Carolina. They weren't even 500 teams. They need to fix that. They need to change. The NFL needs to change it to the top seven seeds. Go one down to seven and do it that way. And stop worrying about this division winner. I don't care. Home field advantage. Listen, I got you that part. That last part. Excuse me.

[Eric Swalwell]

Bang, bang, niner gang. That's what we say in the bay.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. I'll give you that much. Representative Eric Swalwell. Appreciate the call, man. Appreciate you coming on the show. Rather. Thank you so much and good luck in your gubernatorial aspirations. I wish you luck. The state of California needs a whole lot of help, and I'm hoping you can. You can be the guy that provides it to them. Thanks so much, man. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed it.

[Eric Swalwell]

Thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right. Representative Eric Swalwell, 14th District, California. Right here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. 866-96-POLIS is the number to call up this 86696, POLIS. Back with more of your calls in a minute. I see the calls on the line. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Don't go away. 32 minutes past album number two. Back here on Straight Shooting with Stephen A. Smith. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm East Coast Eastern standard Time. Number to call up, as always, is 866-967-6887. That's 8669-676889-86696. POTUS. Let's go to the phones for the rest of the show. Let's go to Schmall in Florida. You're live with Stephen A. How you doing? Shmuel? Hello. You're live on the air. You're live on the air. Go ahead.

[Caller]

The what I saw from the video, and it wasn't easy to see, is the ICE officer got out of the way, got to safety, and then executed the woman. She can't be tried. He can't. He can't be brought up on charges. No, I mean, I know what it's like to get shot at. On October 7, 2023, I woke up in the morning and there was missiles coming down on me. And in Israel, my son fought Hezbollah. Gaza. In Gaza and Lebanon. This was a United States law authority.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Jamal, your signal is terrible. I gotta get. I gotta let you go. I understand you disagreed. I don't blame you. I do too. Your humanity, where is it? You didn't have to shoot that woman. You didn't have to kill that woman. That was completely unnecessary. You moved out the way when she took off. One driver down the road, 90 miles an hour or whatever, she was trying to get away from ICE officers. I understand that she should not have done that, but you did not have to kill her. He killed her, period. There's no way to slice it. And, you know, from. From a lawful perspective, he's a law enforcement official, and you moved your vehicle and you put a law enforcement official in harm's way, which gives them the automatic right to defend themselves. But based on the video that we saw, there was just no need to kill her. It was wrong. And it's a damn shame that it's happened. And it's a damn shame to hear the Republicans talking about it was a domestic terrorist act. My God, we've seen people trying to bomb us. We've seen people trying to engage in mass murder and stuff like that. Can we save that verbiage for stuff that really, really counts? A woman trying to get away from ICE officers and takes off after being parked right in front of you does not equate to domestic terrorism. That hyperbole is just utterly ridiculous. It really, really is. Sean in Missouri, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Sean?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen A. I do see what you're saying on, you know, I get that the ICE officer didn't have to shoot the woman, you know, obviously. But when are people going to open their eyes and realize that they can't just harass ICE officers doing their jobs? And when are Tim Walls and Jacob Frey going to wake up and stop defending criminals, regardless of political affiliation? When are they going to let them, you know, do their jobs?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, that's fair. You could make the argument, however, if you're a sanctuary city, it gives you the right to not assist law enforcement in trying to do their jobs because you don't want them there to begin with, with as it pertains to migrants. And so that's the position of sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, like Chicago, like Portland, like, you know, New York City, of course, and now Minneapolis. This is what we're seeing. And I'm certainly not here to defend people. You know, just the verbiage, the vitriol that they've aimed in the direction of ICE officers and what they've compared them to and what they've called them. Inexcusable. I'm not going for that. We're a nation of laws. We live in this country. If you cross these borders illegally, I'm not one of those people that believes in having to arrest people at every turn. But when the Biden administration engages in open borders, looks us in the face, spits in our face, essentially, and tells us it's raining by telling us there's no crisis at the border when over 12 to 14 or 15 million people were let into this country illegally. The fact of the matter is, is that a lot of them have to go. That's just the reality. And so because of that, you know, you've got American citizens here not wanting to go for that and they want to assist in any way that they can. But it's not supposed to be by engaging in lawlessness yourself. And so I don't disagree with you, but in the same breath, your humanity needs to kick in and to pull out the gun and instead of shooting the tires to make sure she couldn't get away and instead electing to shoot her, that's really, really bad. And there's no way around that. No way around that.

[Caller]

Sean, thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you. Appreciate the call. Mindy in Washington, you're live with Stephen A. How are you?

[I]

Hi, Stephen, thanks for taking my call.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you for calling.

[I]

You were telling, you told the previous caller story about President Trump. And I just wanted to talk about that for a second because I do understand people craving the unfiltered, you know, really aggressive language coming from Donald Trump because they're sick of the sugar coating and the political correctness. And I can see that even with D.C. and about government officials, even the media. But he has never once acknowledged Americans who did not vote for him or support him. He only referred to them. And that feels like me as evil, stupid, criminal and the enemy there. He just makes, he makes, makes no difference between the people in power and the citizens of the United States. He's only spoken to us with hatred. And I'm a moderate who's never once been acknowledged by my president.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's true. But Mindy, 77 million people knew it and voted for him anyway. And so we have to decide what kind of country, as I started off this show saying we have to decide what kind of country we want to be. What I mean by that is not just making sure that we're okay, you know, with ICE officers shooting somebody under the conditions that, you know, this young lady, this 37 year old out of Minneapolis was shot today, but it's also pointing to the fact that if 77 million people said that they want him to be their president and it outnumbered people on the Democratic side, then you gotta go out there and win an election and make sure you get him up out of there or make sure you get alkalites of his out of there. And the reality is is that the Democratic Party had biden in office with Kamala Harris as his vice president. And instead of focusing on the issues that they needed to focus on to win a sure election, they blew it. And they blew it by allowing themselves to be prisoners to the extreme left, knowing that a vast majority of American citizens weren't going for that, and trying to get on a moral high ground and give the impression that anybody who didn't agree with them, there must be something wrong with your soul. These are the kind of things that get you in trouble. Because when you stand on a moral high ground, but then we're able to point to things that you've done that has compromised your position and your verbiage that you spew, then we don't want anything to do with you because we consider you a hypocrite. That's why they lost the damn election. And so now you have an opportunity to gain momentum again. There's Affordable Care act issues. There's him operating extensively with stuff overseas and not doing enough here locally in a lot of people's eyes. There's issues with the economy, there's issues with affordability, there's issues with safety in the streets. There's clearly issues with health care. There are an abundance of things that the Democrats could use as ammunition, Mindy, to get at him if they got their head screwed on straight. And they're focused instead of coming to us on their moral high ground, trying to get us to see things as it pertains to culture wars woke culture, cancer culture and everything else. And trying to get them to see their way of thinking. They'll lose again if they try that and they take their highs off the ball. This is what I've been telling them.

[I]

Mindy, I understand and I agree with you 100%. My point was just with the rhetoric in terms of only the left does this rhetoric and that Trump is not responsible. My feeling is just. I agree with a lot of his policies, actually. But the way that he's classless hatred all the time.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He's classless. Yeah, he's classless and it's annoying as hell because it actually gets in his way because you can't focus on his policies, cuz you're too busy focused on him and the nonsense he does to draw attention to himself. But I was once told, because as you well know, as I'm sure you've heard, I knew Trump before he ever ran for election, as most sports figures did. And we were all fine with him. But the one thing that we knew about him is that there's crack there's cocaine, there's alcohol addiction, and then there's what Trump has an addiction to the camera, an addiction to attention. That's him. And so it is what it is. And we can't lament but so much what we can't change until 2028.

[Eric Swalwell]

Right.

[I]

And I just hope the Democrats are smart enough to get out of their own way, because if they don't, we have no chance.

[Stephen A. Smith]

There you go. I totally agree with you, Mindy, 1,000%. And I really, really appreciate your call. Feel free to call back anytime. Thank you so much. Paul in Georgia, you're live with Stephen A. What's up?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen, can you hear me?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, I can. How are you? How are you, my brother? How's everything?

[Caller]

Hey, I'm just fine. I was listening to Representative Smallwood while ago when he was talking about the cuts in the cancer programs out in California at the universities.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir.

[Caller]

I told you, screener, you know that Trump's cutting on these Democrats programs cost. When the Democrats get control, they're going to go in there and they're going to cut on those Republican programs. As long as they don't refund them later, that might be a good way to cut the budget.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, that's, that's the game. That's the game that both sides play. In other words, I'm going to cater to what my constituency would want and what I campaigned on, because that's what's going to keep me in office. That's what's going to keep me in office as a representative, as a senator, as the president. That's just what. And listen, for him, it's not about reelection at this particular point, unless he truly, truly plans on circumventing the 22nd Amendment and running for a third term. And we certainly shouldn't allow that to happen. But what it really is about to me is him making sure he keeps the GOP in power so he can get what he wants over the last two years of his tenure and also ensure that he remains in power come 2028. Because whoever his successor is going to be, if it's somebody on the Republican side, they're going to be at the mercy of Trump because he's going to be the one with the influence as it pertains to their constituency to make sure he gets what he wants. That's his agenda. To me, I think it's as clear as day.

[Caller]

I don't know. I just think it's good that he's cutting on the budgets in certain places. And I hope he keeps on. You ought to create more pain so they'll cut the Republicans like crazy when the Democrats take it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, it can't be. It can't just be. It can't just be about cuts. You gotta be governing and you gotta be running the country, and you gotta be doing things that's in the best interest of the American people and not yourself. We all know that healthcare is an incredibly important thing, not just in blue states, but red states. What the hell is wrong with these people that they have not reached an accord on that matter? There is no excuse for the Affordable Care act subsidies to still be an issue that is unresolved. There is no excuse. You got a couple of weeks left, you understand? You're going to see a spike in people's premiums. You're going to see people having medical bills that were once about two, $300 a month, and it's going to escalate to 2,000. This can't happen, Paul. That's not good for the country. That's not good for the American citizens. And that crosses party lines because everybody needs health care.

[Caller]

Look, nobody lives forever, Steven.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You still need health care while you're live, Paul. You still need health care while you're alive. Paul, stop that.

[Caller]

Nobody lives forever, Steven.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So, Paul, let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question, Paul. How old are you, man? How old are you, Paul?

[Caller]

I'm 67.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, you're 67 years old. Hold on. I'm 58. Let me ask you this question, Paul. Have you taken Tylenol before? You taken ibuprofen? Have you taken stuff when you had a. When you. When you had a stomach virus or if you had diarrhea or something? If you. Or whatever. What? Have you taken medicine before?

[Caller]

Of course.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's health care. That's health care, sir. So what do you mean, everybody dies someday?

[Caller]

Well, what I mean, you know. What was that lady, Joni Ernst, the senator from Kansas, the one that got in trouble for her comment in front of her people last year?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't remember who that was. I'll find out, though. I'll find out, though. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Okay. But she. I think she was referring to the government. I'm not sure I'm right. But, you know, the government's just taking care of. Trying to take care of too many people and too much stuff, and we're getting in debt because of it. And people don't have to get real and realistic. None of us live forever, and we can't rely on government to solve all our problems.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's true. I'm not arguing with that, Paul. The government can't resolve everything.

[Caller]

That, that includes health care, too. And if I don't know what the budget is on it. But if it's busting the budget, I mean, it's causing, it's causing the time.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And I know we got to go. And I appreciate the call, Paul, and we could talk about this another time. But let me tell you something. Obamacare, for example, was a coast was supposed to cost about 950 billion. It's cost us about 1.5 trillion. And the Democrats were looking for an additional $1.5 trillion. And Trump was like, no way in hell. And the Republicans were like, no way in hell. And that's fine if you're not spending money on a bunch of other things you shouldn't be spending money on. But if we look at the spending habits of the Republican Party as we take into account that a $38.4 trillion deficit is what this country is facing at this particular moment in time, you'll see that Republicans and Democrats are guilty of escalating the deficit. That's why you've got people on the right that have raised holy hell about Rhinos. Republicans in name only. They called them because of their spending habits. George W. Bush, H.W. said, read my lips, no new taxes and then raise taxes. Ronald Reagan spent. Clinton was the one that gave you a surplus courtesy of Newt Gingrich in the 1994 Congress. The fact is, is that they've all spent. It's not just one party, one side of the aisle. One administration is responsible for this deficit that has been accumulated over decades. All of them are greedy. All of them have been spending. All of them. It's just who you allocate the dollars to. That's the issue. So be careful when you say that. Just be careful because it's not as simple as Paul as you tried to make it. 86696, POTUS. That's the number to call into last segment. A Straight Shooter with yours truly coming up. Don't go away. It's, it's your boy, Stephen A. Smith in the House. POTUS radio, Sirus XM channel 124. Nine minutes left in our number two. Before I pass it off, Stephen A. Smith, Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Coming at you. Potus radio channel 1248-6696. POTUS. Let's go back to the phones. Let's go to Doug in Minnesota. You're live with Stephen A. Doug, I would ask how are you? But I can't even imagine right now. My brother, how are you? I'll ask anyway.

[Eric Swalwell]

How are you?

[Caller]

You know, you know, it's been a crap day. I'm not gonna.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Caller]

You know, I look at Trump as the ultimate dichotomy. And the reason I say that is he's smart like Napoleon Bonaparte, but he executes like Napoleon Dynamite. He, his ideas like Doge to me is a great idea. Nobody wants waste, fraud and abuse, but how they went about doing it was ham handed, to say the least. Now you take the same look at the immigration issue that we have. He closed the borders. That's great. Okay, but how do you. I'm going to answer the question you asked earlier. You know, why, you know, how do you justify Obama deporting 3,000 illegal immigrants, which is more than Trump? It's because of how he did it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Caller]

You didn't hear.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He didn't, he didn't stick out his chest, he didn't send ICE in the streets snatching folks the way Trump did, bragging about it and stuff like that. Yeah, you're absolutely right. How you do things matter.

[Caller]

Exactly. And you know, you didn't hear any stories about somebody, immigration hearing getting popped by ice. That's ridiculous. Our citizenship process is so broken that, I mean, it is hard and expensive to become a US Citizen.

[Eric Swalwell]

Embarrassment.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here's the problem. When you look at Trump, in all fairness, you can't disagree with all his policies. There are some things that he's doing that's right and that's working. And by the way, that's justified. Not everything, because there's a lot of things that he does that I don't like. But here's the thing. What really bothers you is the classlessness with which he executes because that is what is causing the division. When you talk about Obama and ice, you barely saw anything, you barely heard anything. Now what they'll do is tell you it's Legacy Media because 90%, as Representative Orden said, 90% of media in the country are recognized as Democrats. So they weren't telling the true story that's going on in America. That's what they'll say. Rather than give credit where credit is due to somebody like an Obama that had a bit more class. To predecessors like George W. Bush, he didn't appear to be the brightest candle on the birthday cake sometimes, but he cared about this country, he cared about decorum, he cared about how things looked and he didn't violate those kind of things. And because of that, that contributed to more peace being in the streets as opposed to riots like we witnessed in 2019, 2020, that kind of thing. These are not the kind of things that Trump thinks about. He'll talk about fake news, he'll talk about how everything is rigged. He'll talk about all of these things. And by going, there's nothing about him that says, you know, what country first this is. This is like Al Gore, if you remember, Doug, when he loses the election to George W. Bush. We know it was controversial, we knew about the hanging chads in Florida, but Al Gore ultimately said, I need to step aside. It's in the best interest of the country. It's not good. It's time to step aside. That's not Trump. And he thinks about how he feels, and he's not thinking about the fallout it will cause, or he's thinking about the fallout and could give less than a damn. And that's the problem. I don't even think about policy. Some things I'm going to like, some things I don't like in any administration. I get that part. But that class, that decorum that a position like the commander in chief of this country requires, I wish I starve for him to show it, but it's not going to be him. Remember, it's just not going to be him. Representative Elijah Cummings passes away and what does Trump do? Well, he was never complimentary about me, so why would I be about him? Man just died, but that's Trump.

[Caller]

Great show. Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Appreciate it, Doug. Thank you. Andy in California, talk to me. You're live.

[Caller]

Stephen A. Glad to be on and glad you're feeling better.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Thank you so much.

[Caller]

With regard, the thing that bothers me today, other than death, okay. It goes without saying, I don't want to see anybody die. But when you hear the mayor of May, Minnesota, Minneapolis, the government mint. Yeah, Minneapolis. Telling government officials to get the F out. And it just so reminds I'm old. I'm almost 80.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yep.

[Caller]

And I remember governors standing in the schoolhouse door and Eisenhower stopping them and people putting, you know, the. Trying to put the federal government down when they're doing what our Congress and former presidents have enacted as law. And this guy says, I don't have to follow that law. Well, that's B.S. that's. That's when I hear that, it. It frosts me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You talk about the mayor of Minneapolis. Yeah, yeah, but I'm just saying. But, you know, listen, it's not just him. It's people in sanctuary cities, you know, they're not going to be. They're not going to facilitate cooperation with federal law enforcement when it comes to ice. And so their position is that we're not going to obey these laws. We have our own laws. When it comes to migrants coming into our country, we're not going to listen to that. I don't understand how sanctuary cities, honestly speaking, I got to educate myself in it. I don't understand how sanctuary cities are allowed in this country. Country. I really don't. I don't get it. If there's federal laws that mandate that, that's that, you know what, you can't cross the border legally. There shouldn't be sanctuary city saying yes, you can. It just shouldn't be. I mean, one way or another, pick one. Either can or you can't, but it shouldn't be. Federal government says no, but you say yes. So you get to usurp the authority of the federal government and we're still calling ourselves a nation of laws. Well, which laws? It makes no sense. That's where I'm coming from, Andy.

[Caller]

I live in Los angeles.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You got 30 seconds. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Or voted once or was given the offer to vote for or against sanctuary city or state. I think it's a bunch of baloney.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, I don't blame you for feeling that way that way because the American people should have an opportunity to vote on it. You're absolutely right. I didn't even know that was the case, Andy, until you just told me. You understand how you a sanctuary city just by declaring yourself to be a sanctuary city. But the citizens in the city didn't even vote on it. That doesn't seem to be the American way. I'm telling you, we got problems in this country. We got to make a decision about what kind of country we want more moving forward. Seriously. Because it's bad. It's bad. Be back next week. More to talk about straight shooting with Stephen A. Until then, peace of love, God bless. Be safe.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

And keep an eye on your kids.

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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With guardrails in place, sign up for Greenlight [e-mail] podcast.