NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING; RAHM EMANUEL; JOHN KASICH

Summary

The Stephen A. Smith Show: National Guard Shooting; Rahm Emanuel; John Kasich

Episode Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Stephen A. Smith
Guests: Rahm Emanuel, John Kasich
Theme: Going beyond sports—examining critical incidents, political rhetoric, and leadership in America

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode is a deep-dive into the febrile political and social climate in the U.S., triggered by the breaking news of two National Guard members shot in Washington, D.C. Stephen A. Smith explores how political rhetoric and division may fuel real-world violence, critiques the language used by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and stresses the need for greater accountability and dialogue. The episode features wide-ranging interviews with Rahm Emanuel (former Chief of Staff, Mayor of Chicago, and potential 2028 presidential candidate) and John Kasich (former Ohio Governor, GOP moderate), focusing on leadership, governance, Democratic party direction, and the responsibilities of public figures. Listener calls and Stephen A.’s own commentary round out the show, offering diverse perspectives and a distinct "Straight Shooter" voice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The National Guard Shooting in D.C.

[00:00–06:19]

• Event recap: Two National Guard members were ambushed and shot in critical condition near the White House. The shooter, described as a lone gunman, is in custody.
• Political context: The National Guard had been deployed to D.C. as part of Trump’s “Make DC Safe and Beautiful” initiative, an order that itself was the subject of political controversy and legal challenges.
• Smith’s take:
  • He emphasizes personal responsibility, noting that violent acts rest with the perpetrators, but asserts that the “constant rhetoric, the constant vitriol…by both sides” raises the temperature and can incite impressionable individuals.
  • “At the end of the day, you’re an adult and you are responsible for your own actions...but damn it, I think it’s an educated one [that rhetoric is inciting].” — Stephen A. [03:31]

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2. Political Rhetoric and Sedition Controversy

[06:19–20:44]

• Democratic lawmakers’ video: Six Democratic officials are under FBI inquiry for a video urging military personnel to ignore any illegal orders from President Trump.
  • Names include Senators Alyssa Slotkin (MI), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Representatives Maggie Goodlander (NH), Jason Crow (CO), Chris DeLuzio & Chrissy Houlahan (PA).
• Trump’s Truth Social response: Trump posted repeatedly calling their behavior “seditious” and “punishable by death.”
  • “Each one of these traitors…should be arrested and put on trial. Their words cannot be allowed to stand…Sedition is a major crime.” — Trump, quoted by Stephen A. [07:41–08:23]
• Stephen A.’s reaction:
  • “Traitorous, punishable by death. That’s a bit extreme, Mr. President. Highly irresponsible on your part, I might add.” [09:50]
  • Fact-checks both sides: Trump’s hyperbole is dangerous, but Sen. Kelly and others were also out of line for their public calls to disobey, especially lacking specific proof of illegality.
  • “How dare you do that? You don't tell military men and women to ignore an order from the commander in chief. You don't do that.” [15:46]
• Civic responsibility theme: The show repeatedly comes back to the need for common sense, moderation, and respect for democratic processes amid extreme partisanship.

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3. Interview with Rahm Emanuel

[21:41–48:44]

Personal and Political Reflections

• Smith introduces Emanuel: Praises him as a knowledgeable Democrat, former Chicago Mayor, and Obama Chief of Staff.
• Emanuel’s reaction to the shooting: Advocates putting aside politics—focus should be on the wounded soldiers and their families first [22:54].
  • “This is not a place right now…for politics. We’ll get there…Two people volunteered for service…and volunteered on a holiday. They are not to be thought about in a political football.” — Rahm Emanuel [23:29]
• Self-awareness in politics:
  • Emanuel acknowledges his own role in escalating political tensions in the past, calls for more empathy and reflection:
    • “We have to own that and then have to be encouraging…every little contribution contributes.” [26:10]

Why Run for President?

• Emanuel contemplates 2028 run:
  • Driven by desire to improve America's trajectory, focused on education and the American dream's accessibility.
  • Cites records—improving graduation rates, free community college initiatives, healthcare expansion as mayor, bipartisan policy work [27:46–29:46].
• Challenges for the Democratic Party:
  • Democratic Party needs to embrace “middle class economics and values.”
  • “We got way off in some areas…we were talking about bathroom access and locker room access rather than classroom excellence. We weren’t solid on kitchen table issues, family room issues.” [40:15]
  • Advocates urgent educational reform ("Mississippi Miracle" for reading scores), putting "points on the board" with practical results.

On Healthcare Criticism

• Smith grills Emanuel on ACA and healthcare costs:
  • Emanuel defends his record (“Do Democrats [share blame]? No more than Republicans…It’s not a partisan problem.” [35:44])
  • Emphasizes that the underlying issue is not ACA but the excessive influence of insurers, pharma, and private equity.

Policing and Crime in Chicago

• Smith challenges Emanuel: Reconciling controversial crime record with party leadership.
• Emanuel: Stresses owning up to mistakes, learning, and adapting. “If you make a mistake, understand it, learn from it, and apply it. It’s future forward.” [45:42]

Memorable Quotes

• “The American dream's unaffordable, it’s inaccessible, and that's gotta be unacceptable.” — Rahm Emanuel [31:24]
• “The future for the Democratic Party…is that somebody had the strength to get something done, not the ideas.” [38:15]
• “My kids are going to be fine…But the American dream for others is not right. Now you got to have… guts to get it done.” [31:24]

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4. Interview with John Kasich

[55:46–78:00]

On State of the Nation and Political Discourse

• Kasich describes America as suffering from a “leadership vacuum” and a loss of a “we society” grounded in shared values and faith.
  • “When people stop thinking that the other person is made in the image of God…they lose all perspective.” — John Kasich [59:18]
• Kasich argues for respect and responsibility, alluding to his faith and the need for leaders with “character.”

Populism and the GOP

• Kasich distinguishes between “negative populism” (scapegoating, division) and “positive populism” (inclusive problem-solving).
• Critiques Trump’s approach as divisive, talks up a politics that “works together and tries to fix problems” [64:18–66:10].

Healthcare Reform

• Supports bringing together key stakeholders for proactive, preventative healthcare, not “incentivized to treat people only when sick.” [66:26]
• Reflects on his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio under ACA funds, even at the cost of political capital.
  • “When I expanded Medicaid, I think it absolutely hurt my chance to become president. And you know what? So what?”

On Leadership, Winning, and Running for Office

• Kasich claims he’d rather do what’s right than pursue power for its own sake, but also points to a “winning” record in Ohio (balancing budgets, job growth).
• Rules out a 2028 presidential run:
  • “I don’t see that that’s in the cards...I’m not going to go around and tell people what they want to hear to get the money.” [70:37]

On Timely Legislation for the Middle Class

• Calls for extension of healthcare subsidies and review of tariffs to ease economic pressure [72:46].
• Skeptical about grand investment “pledges” by government—wants tangible results, wary of government ownership in the private sector.

Memorable Quotes

• “Everyone is a leader to someone else. And how we behave...matters in the way they live their lives.” — John Kasich [63:26]
• “The Republican Party has been my vehicle, never my master.” [67:32]
• “The best job in the world is probably Vice President. You know what the best job is? Former President.” [76:54]

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5. Stephen A.’s Commentary, Listener Calls & Closing Reflections

[79:12–96:01]

On Women and Leadership

• Smith strongly disagrees with Michelle Obama’s remark that America “isn’t ready for a female president.”
  • “If Michelle Obama was running for president in 2024, she would have beaten Donald Trump.” [80:43]
• Emphasizes that attacks on “men not being ready” are unfounded, pointing to Hillary Clinton's popular vote win and Kamala Harris's own record.

On Sedition and the Military

• Caller argument: Is it ever appropriate for service members to disobey orders?
  • Smith: Only if orders are clearly identified as illegal. Senators should not publicly direct troops to ignore the President’s orders without explicit, documented illegality.
  • Service member caller agrees, noting that military professionals risk their careers for disobeying direct orders unless legal justification is clear. [93:19–95:02]

Closing Thoughts

• Smith sends prayers to the wounded National Guardsmen, reiterates a call for unity and responsible leadership.
• “Thanksgiving is tomorrow...life is short and beautiful. Beautiful moments are there if you look hard enough…through the grace of God.” [96:01]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Political Rhetoric
  • “Traitorous, punishable by death. That’s a bit extreme, Mr. President. Highly irresponsible on your part, I might add.” — Stephen A. Smith [09:50]
• On Responsibility in Leadership
  • “How dare you do that?...You don’t tell military men and women to ignore an order from the commander in chief. You don’t do that.” — Stephen A. Smith [15:46]
• On Empathy & Self-Reflection in Politics
  • “You have to be self-aware that we all one way or another…have contributed. And so we have to own that.” — Rahm Emanuel [26:10]
• On Middle-Class Focus
  • “We weren’t solid on kitchen table issues, family room issues. The only room we occupied in the house was the bathroom, and that’s the smallest room in the house.” — Rahm Emanuel [40:15]
• On Populism
  • “There’s a negative populism…and there’s a positive populism, of which I’m a positive populist. Let’s work together, let’s try to fix the problems.” — John Kasich [64:18]

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Important Segments with Timestamps

• [00:00–06:19] — Breaking news: National Guard shooting & immediate analysis
• [06:19–20:44] — Sedition accusations: Trump, Democratic lawmakers, and military orders
• [21:41–48:44] — Interview: Rahm Emanuel on politics, self-awareness, policy, presidential aspirations
• [55:46–78:00] — Interview: John Kasich on the state of the GOP, leadership, faith, and the future
• [80:04–81:45] — Michelle Obama’s “America not ready for a woman” debate
• [83:00–96:01] — Calls: Sedition, illegal orders, the military, reflections on gender in leadership

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Tone & Style

• Candid, energetic, and passionate as per Stephen A. Smith’s trademark style.
• Unvarnished, direct, yet inclusive of multiple viewpoints.
• Focus on real-world stakes—lives, leadership, and the American experience beyond just politics or sports.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode spins out from a breaking news event—the D.C. National Guard shooting—to interrogate the current landscape of American politics, the dangers of hyperbolic rhetoric, and the responsibilities of both leaders and voters. Stephen A.’s interviews with Rahm Emanuel and John Kasich offer sharp, experience-rich perspectives on leadership, party reform, and policy solutions for a divided country. Smith calls for common sense and accountability from both the political class and the public, urging listeners to think critically and aspire for unity amid chaos. The lively, no-nonsense dialogue, critical questioning, and listener engagement combine to make this a definitive example of “Straight Shooter” authenticity.

Transcript

[A]

Straight shooter with stephen a. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of Straight.

[B]

Shooter with yours truly, the one and only Stephen A. Smith coming at you, as I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. Number to call up, as always, is 86696 POTUS. That's 86696 POTUS. 866-967-6887 is the number to call up. I'm wishing everybody as we sit here on Thanksgiving Eve, a very wonderful Thanksgiving. Needless to say that tonight, however, that doesn't apply. Maybe we'll find a way to be happy tomorrow. Maybe we'll find a way to get better news tomorrow. But as of right now, the news permeating the airwaves on radio, on television, et cetera, is that two members of the National Guard have been shot and are in critical condition in the nation's capital. They were shot in the nation's capital. They are in critical condition. They are not dead. As governor of West Virginia Patrick Morrissey initially tweeted about on X, they have not died, but they are certainly in serious condition after being shot, ambushed by a lone gunman. That's the situation right now. And a lot of people are being it and people are calling it something associated with politics. They're saying it's political or what have you. We don't know for sure and we're certainly not going to imply, not going to act like we do definitively. But there is no questioning that this has happened. There's no questioning that it was in the nation's capital, just a few blocks away from the White House. President Donald Trump is in Florida for the holidays. So he was not at the White House, but nevertheless, obviously he's had some things to say about this. And there are things and there are people that are involved, and this situation is taking on a life of its own. Reading directly from the Wall Street Journal, as the headline states, a lone gunman is ambushed. Two national guard members in D.C. police say the pair in critical condition. According to the FBI, a suspect was shot and is in custody. A quote from Metropolitan Police Executive Assistant Chief Jeffrey Carroll says it appears to be a lone gunman that raised a firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard. For those of you who may not remember, uh, some 2200 National Guard members were deployed in the Nation's capital, including 925 members of the D.C. forces and more than 1200 members from other States the District's elected Attorney general had sued over their presence, uh, which was ordered by President Trump as part of an effort his administration dubbed Make DC Safe and Beautiful. That's what it is. It's a bigger story going on. Um, and it's not to imply that this story isn't serious and this story is at large and that the officer and that the lives are of two National Guardmans don't matter, because obviously we're praying for their full and healthy recovery. But it is important to pay attention to what's going on in the climate that exists and what's been going on in the days leading up to the shooting that took place today.

[A]

If you recall, there was a video.

[B]

That was put out.

[A]

And again, I'm talking both sides. This is what I mean when I sound like none of their asses, none of them, either side. I'm not getting in to specific individuals. I'm just talking about both sides of the aisle and how they've served to divide us as a nation. Because the constant rhetoric, the conscient vitriol that's in a toxic language that is thrown and bandied about by both sides ends up inciting, in my opinion. And it's just an opinion, but damn it, I think it's an educated one, inciting the Ireland of American citizens out here. Now, I'm one of those big dudes. I'm an adult. Regardless of the language that is spewed, regardless of the rhetoric that we listen to, regardless of that stuff, at the end of the day, you're an adult and you are responsible for your own actions. So this individual that shot the two National Guardsmen, okay, I hope he survives. I hope he stands trial. I hope his ass is thrown in jail for the next few decades, okay, that's attempted murder at the very least, because that. Because they're alive. Attempted murder is no place for that, no place for that in our society. Zero. So there's no sympathy for that, for that gunman whatsoever. But it doesn't mean that we sit back and we ignore the kind of nonsense that has been transpiring. We've seen it on both sides of the aisle. We saw President Trump getting into it with Marjorie Taylor Greene. We saw the rhetoric that was banning back and forth when the shutdown was going on, and how one side was accusing the other of not caring enough about American citizens when they weren't getting checks and they was having travel nightmares and they had to go to work but weren't getting paid and our folks didn't care you heard about the, you know, the whole SNAP program and how 42 million-plus people want food stamps. And then we heard elected officials being accused, being accused of not caring. And people starved. When you say this kind of stuff, when you act this way, and when you exercise in a dereliction of duty because you're not on point and you're not at work and you're not exhausting every means necessary to do everything you can to alleviate problems that permeate in our society. So they don't exist. So we don't have this kind of ruckus. So, so we don't have this kind of uproar.

[B]

Maybe, just maybe, stuff like this doesn't happen.

[A]

There's always crazies out there.

[B]

There's always somebody willing to commit a crime.

[A]

I get that part.

[B]

I understand it.

[A]

And we can't definitively blame politicians, but.

[B]

Damn it, they don't make it.

[A]

They, they don't make it hard to blame them. They don't make it hard to blame them. So let's lock in and zero in on some of the stuff that's just.

[B]

Been happened a couple of days ago alone.

[A]

Did you see the video?

[B]

I'm gonna ask y' all again, did you see the video?

[A]

A video by these six elected officials. Senator Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Representative Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, and Representatives Chris DeLuzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. Those are the Democratic lawmakers who are now under FBI inquiry because they made a video essentially encouraging military folks.

[B]

To ignore orders they deemed illegal handed down by the commander in chief, who is known as President Donald Trump.

[A]

Needless to say, Trump was not going.

[B]

To take that lying down.

[A]

So naturally he had something to say.

[B]

About that on his Truth Social platforms. I got three of them to read to y' all right now. So you know what he's saying.

[A]

President of the United states, Donald Trump, November 20, 2025. Rights. It's called seditious behavior at the highest level.

[B]

Each one of these traitors to our country should be arrested and put on trial.

[A]

Their words cannot be allowed to stand.

[B]

We won't have a country anymore.

[A]

An example must be set.

[B]

President djt, that wasn't his only tweet or post on Truth Social. Then he comes back.

[A]

Seditious behavior, all caps, punishable by. And the word death in caps. He had one more that he posted. Here it is.

[B]

The traitors that told the military to.

[A]

Disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the Fake news networks trying to explain that what they said was okay. It wasn't and never will be. It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said.

[B]

Respectfully, hold on, Mr. President, that's not entirely true. You could have said seditious language. And you may have had a point, particularly when it comes to what we saw on video from Senator Mark Kelly. I don't know if we have that video right now, but I'd like to see it if we did. My point is, you could have said seditious language. You could have said that was irresponsible. You could have said, how dare you give such a directive to our military men and women who serve under my command because I'm the Commander in Chief. You could have said that and stopped right there. Traitorous, Punishable by death. That's a bit extreme, Mr. President. Highly irresponsible on your part, I might add.

[A]

Definitely hyperbolic, beyond the realms of embellishment, and, dare I say, irresponsible on your part to be coming out with such rhetoric like that. You're calling for a United States senator to be seen as a traitor, to be arrested. You're accusing them of an act of treason, punishable by death, and you think that helps?

[B]

Before I go any further, I'd like my team to put up on the screen the credentials of this particular senator.

[A]

Who called for Trump's orders to be ignored.

[B]

I would like to remind you that this is a United States. A retired United States Navy combat pilot who served our country with honor and distinction. I'd like to remind the President this is a Nastra and a NASA astronaut, not to mention a sitting United States senator in the United States of America. That's what you just said. Respectfully, Mr. President, Mark Kelly served this country with distinction. You didn't. Not as a military official. I forgot what it was that Westmore joked about when it came to you, the Governor of Maryland. Uh, and what. What. What rationale you used to avoid entry into the United States military when you were younger. But you would think that there's a level of sensitivity that the President would have. Sensitivity, maybe not towards Mark Kelly, but towards the process, knowing our country and who we are and what we stand for. And he should not be saying something like that.

[A]

Having said that, respectfully to Senator Mark Kelly and the other five representatives in our nation's capital.

[B]

Trump wasn't entirely correct. That's true. He also wasn't entirely incorrect. Senator Slotkin, Senator Kelly, Representatives Crow, Deluzio, Houlihan and Goodlander. The President wasn't entirely wrong. He may have gone too far with treasonous, punishable by death. But was he wrong to allude to the word seditious or to say the word seditious, particularly when it comes to.

[A]

The language that emanated out of the.

[B]

Mouth of Mark Kelly? At least that's the one I saw. No, he was not.

[A]

Matter of fact, if I remember correctly looking at Senator Slotkin on television, I believe it was on ABC over the.

[B]

Weekend.

[A]

She claimed on national television National Guardsmen were going to start shooting at American civilians. That wasn't responsible. Senator Slotkin. What's that about? What's that about? That doesn't help matters. And as it pertains to Senator Kelly.

[B]

Let'S make sure we point this out too, because this is incredibly important. It really, really is.

[A]

When you look at Senator Kelly and.

[B]

What he said, I asked somebody, one of my researchers, to look this up for me because I wanted to know exactly what this was and what am I asking about, ladies and gentlemen? I'll tell you what I'm asking about. Because when he called for the military to essentially ignore orders, I started thinking back to that movie, A Few Good Men. Started thinking about Tom Cruise having the character played by Kiefer, Sutter Sutherland, I think it was Lieutenant, Lieutenant Kendrick.

[A]

And when he was grilling him and there was an objection from the da, Kevin Bacon, I remember the judge looking at Tom Cruise and saying, and I.

[B]

Will remind you, you're talking to a decorated officer because essentially it was a reminder that this isn't a normal court of law. This is the United States military. They live by a different code. They live by a different code of ethics called the Uniform Code of Military Justice. UCMJ is the federal law that governs the conduct of all US Military personnel, active duty reservists, and in some cases even retired service members. It functions at the military's legal system as the military's legal system separate from.

[A]

Civilian law with its own courts, crimes, procedures and punishments. That's what it says here. What does the Uniform Code for Military justice actually do?

[B]

It sets the rules for crimes and offenses, service member rights, court martial procedures, non judicial punishment, Article 15, by the.

[A]

Way, and command authority. Why it exists because military service requires standards of discipline and readiness beyond civilian, civilian law, essentially a consistent legal framework.

[B]

If anybody knows that, it's Mark Kelly. Respectfully, Senator, what the hell are you doing looking into the camera and, and telling military men and women to ignore the Commander in Chief?

[A]

How dare you? How dare you do that? That's right. I'm calling out. I never served in the military. That's true. I have family members who did. Some of my best friends have. Marines, Air Force, Navy, Army. I haven't heard one of them, not one of them say that was okay. How dare you do that? Is it treason? No. Is it punishable by death? It shouldn't be. So the answer is no. But you know better, Senator Kelly. You know better. How dare you do that? What are you supposed to do? You're a ranking senator. You could go to the Senate. You could go to the House. You can put up drawer paperwork. You could try to start articles of impeachment if you think there's something illegal. I mean, damn, it ain't like y' all haven't done it before. You impeach the man twice, where that get you? Got his behind back in the White House. Had you left him alone in 20, since 2020, maybe he wouldn't be back terrorizing the Democratic Party the way that he is. But you did it. You did it. And here you are again with this nonsense. How dare you do that? I'm not a military person and I know better than that. You don't tell military men and women to ignore and order from the commander in chief. You don't do that. Is it going to amount to what Trump tried to embellish and indicate? No. But that don't make you right. How dare you do that? He's the commander in chief for the United States military, Period. You have no business doing that. None. And by the way, the biggest reason is because what was illegal, you didn't tell us what it was. What laws? Why did I bring up a Few Good Men with Tom Cruise and Kiefer Sutherland in that sequence and Kevin Bacon? Why did I bring it up? Because the mere thought of you even implying that a military officer is engaging in some type of salacious or illegal activity is trouble in the military, not the court of laws for civilians. The military.

[B]

Senator Mark Kelly knows that Trump is giving illegal orders. What are the illegal orders? How come you didn't tell us? Where's the evidence? Where's the evidence? Why do you think the investigation is going on? Why do you think Trump is all.

[A]

Over Pete Hagseth, over the Department of War and the FBI with Cash Patel, and folks are looking into and probing what's going on. And how can they get to Mark Kelly? Because they know he did something wrong. You crossed the damn line. You are an elected official of the nation's capital. We have a Constitution. You got a problem. You go through the necessary process, whether it's Akeem Jeffries in the House, whether it's Schumer in the Senate or anybody else. That is the point you're supposed that's the process you're supposed to go to. You don't go in front of the cameras and give military officer or military personnel a directive to ignore their commander in chief. And you've given no evidence what his illegal orders were. And if you try to sit up there and say, oh, it was just alluded to a future reference to future situations, oh, so he's going to give you an illegal order in the future.

[B]

Ladies and gentlemen, that flies over the airwaves of Sirius XM or one of these news networks or something like that. It does not apply in our military. You can't do that. So once again, here we are finding ourselves. To all of us moderates out here, which makes up about 80 to 85% of the electorate, by the way, what does this all mean? What this all means is that there's an absence of common sense on the fringes. Extreme right, extreme left. People don't know how the hella act. And engaging in this kind of back and forth gives the impression of dissension and vitriol beyond the realms of sensibility. And something needs to be done. This is why a damn sports guy with no interest in being an elected official is being considered a presidential candidate. Because we don't trust their asses, because they don't know how to act.

[A]

This overboard.

[B]

I thought hyper, hyperbole, an embellishment was supposed to be reserved for Trump. Senator KELLY that's what I thought. Evidently, I was wrong. Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff, former mayor of Chicago, as knowledgeable as they come in the world of politics. He's up next with George Trulley right here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Don't go away it.

[A]

28 minutes, best hour.

[B]

Number one back here on Straight Shooting with your truly, Stephen A. Smith coming at you every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm over the airwaves of Sirius XM POTUS radio channel 124. I will confess to all of you that on the line with us right now is not only a Democrat based out of the state of Illinois, the former mayor of Chicago, the former chief of staff, staff for Barack Obama in the White House. He's also a buddy of mine. He is the one and only Rahm Emanuel. He's on the line with me right now. What's going on big time. How are you, sir? How's everything going?

[C]

Very good. I'm blessed. I'm real good. All kids are coming home.

[B]

So there we go.

[C]

Mama bear and daddy bear are happy as I'll all get out. The cubs are home.

[B]

I, I got you. It's good to see you, buddy. It's good to see you. Let, let, let's get right to it.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

First things first, you saw what transpired or you've heard about what's transpired in the nation's capital today. Two National Guardsmen ambushed by a lone shooter. And obviously it's being politicized to a large degree. People are saying the rhetoric going back and forth, et cetera, et cetera, led to what transpired today. Your thoughts about that, what are the thoughts that go to your mind immediately once hearing about what happened?

[C]

First of all, block politics and somebody who loves politics. This ain't a place for politics. Now I have as a mayor, I've called every mother and every parent whose kid was shot by gun violence. I visited many officers both in the hospital and at their home. Everybody. As a country, you can't say we want to come together when it requires two people who volunteered in the military volunteered on Thanksgiving. While you're going to be with your family, as I just know, and are victims of violence, focus on them. Focus on that. We will deal as we will deal with politics when it's appropriate. Now, I don't agree with the national service. That's not where I'm thinking. I have been on that hospital bedside. I have been in that family. I have been at way too many a funeral. This is not a place right now in this phone call for politics. We'll get there and we'll describe descript. Discuss that. That's not where I'm at. So you asked me what my impression is. My impression is two people volunteered for service. As I have two kids in the armed forces, they volunteer for service and they volunteered on a holiday that's reserved for their family time. They are not to be thought about in a political another football. Put that aside.

[B]

Understood.

[C]

That's my attitude right now.

[B]

Rahm Emanuel, having said that, let's stay away from the politics for just a second here while I ask you this follow up question. Do you find yourself as an American citizen, do you see those individuals and others, are you more fearful than you've ever been before about what's going on in the streets of America? That's not politics. That's just real.

[C]

I'm not. Look I'm not fearful for myself. I am fearful for a country. You know, I was reading something today about Abraham Lincoln making Thanksgiving. So he's got a more on my head than before. In 1863, responding to requests, he gave a famous obviously speech about the house divided that was about slavery versus freedom or the enslaved versus freedom. We are too much of a house divided. Have and have nots Ds versus ours, education, we have. My whole thing about politics is finding where the foundation is. So all this diversity, all this disagreement is actually doesn't turn to violence. And so when you, you ask me this, we are literally our politics. Our disagreements have become like a hunger Game. And I, you know, we fought like cats and dogs. Oh, but we have fought on politics. But now there have been other violent period of times in American history, but this is getting to a place where basically you got to step back and you got to have a little more empathy and a little more respect even when you disagree.

[A]

And I'm not perhaps, and I want.

[C]

To say I ain't perfect at this. I've made my mistakes. I've put my own blood in the water. But I know I'm self aware enough. I'm hoping where I've acknowledged that I've contributed, maybe the acidness around the politics we all play.

[A]

When did you get self?

[B]

Aware? When did you get self aware on a personal level?

[A]

When did you get self?

[B]

Aware?

[C]

When the medication kicked out. On a serious, you know, when you go ahead, maybe it comes with age, it comes with experience. Look, I mean, we have, I have done my own over my period of time, political life. But you watch what's going on. You can't sit here and say my hands are clean. Okay? You just can't. Now, I don't think I contributed other levels or I really like that. But you have to be self aware that we all in one level, if we're involved in politics, whether, you know, tangentially or right at the heart of it, know that we have one way or another, in one incident contributed. And so we have to own that and then have to be encouraging. And I say this, I said this before and I want to say this, I don't agree with Charlie Kirk. I didn't agree with what he said. But it doesn't take a lot of empathy to know that two kids are going to grow up without a father in the house. There's always going to be a seat empty at the breakfast table. And I give my full endorsement to his wife to say that she had a place in her heart for the shooter. I don't have that and I can respect that. So that's a moment of self awareness that we all I think there are bigger players. That doesn't matter. Every little contribution contributes.

[B]

Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff at the White House, former mayor of Chicago, right here with Stephen A. Straight shooter with Stephen A. You're reportedly exploring a national run in 2028. My first question to you would be based on what you just finished talking about, why? Why bother?

[C]

Why? Why bother?

[B]

Because I said why bother?

[C]

Because you have Stephen A. Because we all. I grew up in a home. You're supposed to leave the world a better place than you inherited. I did that when I was mayor for kids education, taking our graduation rates from 56 to 83% because I can keep going through the whole list of what we did on economics or most importantly to me, education. We made community college free for every child who earned a B average in High School. 20,000 kids use that now. I think we're at a critical juncture, not just knowing what has happened, but then have the guts to get it done. I took on the pharmaceutical industry, first municipality to ever sue them over opiates, took on the tobacco industry and gave 90,000 kids free eye and dental care in the city of Chicago on the minimum wage. The insurance companies get 10 million kids health care. We're at a critical juncture in this country and we can't continue a politics that's constantly looking back rather than looking forward. And you not only have to have a plan to do that where we don't have a person to waste or community overseas, but also then have the guts and the strength to get it done. I've never lost in getting those fights done, whether that's for President Obama and health care, taking on the insurance companies or taking on the banks to get financial reform done or taking on corporate America to get the minimum wage passed three times under Clinton when I was caucus chair and when I was mayor, only times happened. So to me we're at a critical point. I don't know how old your kids are. My kids are 28, 26 to 25.

[B]

17 and 16 17.

[C]

I can say this then with you, a little generation difference. They're not inheriting an American that you and I inherited and that's on us. So I got one stat back to put it right. That's why I want to do this. If I do it and do I think I can have, I can do it. I think I, I got something both on the experience the guts and the honesty to do it. Because I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I'm going to tell you what you need to hear. Sometimes that's a fault.

[B]

But, but like you said, our kids are not going to inherit what we've inherited. Well, guess what? You're not go. If you decide to run, you're not gonna inherit what you recently departed from. I know you were a two term mayor in Chicago from 2011, 2019. You served under Obama as his chief of staff from 2009 to 2010.

[A]

We get that part.

[B]

And even though that was like 15.

[A]

Years ago, bottom line is a lot has changed. And when you talk about, you talk about being listened to, making sense. I mean, these are things that could, one could easily argue, will work against you, Rahm Emanuel, not for you. How you gonna pull that off?

[C]

Oh, that's right. Well, that's, that's actually true. So as you know, Stephen A. Your strengths are your weaknesses. Those are my strengths. They're also my weaknesses. And here's, here's my thing. I have never backed away from a fight. Never. When, when our kids had the shortest school day and the shortest school year in the United States of America, city of Chicago, 7,000 school districts, a lot of powerful people told me just, I know it was campaign, don't do it. I got them a full school day and a full school year. They didn't have kindergarten, they didn't have pre K got involved that. So yes, my experience is my strength and my weakness. And the reason is my kids are going to be fine. Loving home, good education and a good slap on the back of the head. Okay, they grew up with that. But you got today the American, be.

[A]

Careful, be careful about that.

[B]

The slap on the back of the head.

[A]

They might, you might not be allowed to run. You repeat that again. Just take, I'll edit it out. I'll edit it out.

[B]

No, you don't.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. That's the world we're living in. But go ahead, go ahead, man, go ahead.

[C]

My dad always used to say, no child was, he was a pediatrician. No child was spoiled because they were told too many times they were loved. I said, well, now how come we got called a schmuck and a slap on the back of the head? Everybody else got the love part. But here's the thing, on a serious note, the American dream's unaffordable. It's in, it's inaccessible. And that's gotta be unacceptable. You got Kids making three times what their parents made into living in the basement and they're never gonna be able to get out of there. You can't, they can't buy a home. That is not right. And that's why they're angry. The American people, they have done right, played by the rules, did everything that was expected of them. And the whole system is skewed. So you and I win, our kids win, and their kids basically tails. They lose. And you know that. And so that's not right. Now you got to have what I know about leadership. You got to know why you're doing what you're doing and then the guts to get it done. Now the question is, I don't know. I haven't made that decision. But I look at where this country is and I look at where the journey it's on and I look at where the challenges are. Having been also overseas serving as ambassador to Japan, and we are spending way too much fighting each other rather than realize we got something by the name of China coming at us.

[B]

Let me come back at you with this, Rom.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

And I can tell you that, you know, I mean, we've been buddies for years. I got to ask you this though.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, Chief of Staff Obama, obviously the Affordable Care act had a lot to do with the shutdown. In a lot of people's eyes. They were holding out for, you know, for subsidies to be a bit extended, to say the least. They didn't get what they wanted. They still had an opportunity for it to exist, for it to happen, but we don't know whether or not that will happen. You talked about push helping Obama, which you did push healthcare through and what have you. So somebody would look at you and they would think about the cost of healthcare, how the subsidies are expected to balloon, blow up and get even more exponentially expensive. What do you say to people that look at the Democrats and look at somebody like yourself and say, hey, you guys destroyed health care. You didn't make it better, you made it worse. How do you respond to accusations like that?

[C]

Well, you ever have a pre existing condition used to not be able to get health insurance. Today you can get it. And thousands and millions of families have pre existing conditions and they're priced out of. You also got 28, 20 million people that are now getting health care in exchange used to be for small business or self employed never had access to health care. Okay. So we got the coverage there and it did for the first 10 years of control, control costs. Now Obamacare is not the Reason the health care system has got problems. You got basically. My dad was a pediatrician. I used to go on rounds with him. That's what I did. One Saturday a month, he would do that. He never turned anybody away that couldn't afford health care. And he still was a doctor when they used to make house calls. Today, you want a second opinion? When he was suddenly back up when he was a doctor, he called another healthcare professional. Today it's an insurance person on the other end of the line saying to the doctor or the nurse, you can't provide that. You can't do that surgery, you can't do that medication. I talk to nurses all the time. One I met in Iowa the other day, she says she spends close to 45% to 50% of her time on the phone with insurance executives. That's the mess, it's not the science.

[A]

But don't the Democrats have something to do with that? Here's my question here. My question. Hear my question here.

[B]

Go ahead.

[C]

Let me say this. Do Democrats. No more than Republicans. They both have good ideas. They both have bad ideas. Okay? Real contribution. The real problem is we got insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, private equity, all involved in a payment system and a structure that has let costs get out of control. That's the problem. It's not ACA any more than it's Medicare or Medicaid or Veterans health care benefit. That's not the problem. The problem is. So look, I get that we have a lot of problems, but it's not a partisan problem. And I think you're putting the foul on the top donkey the wrong way.

[A]

Well, I'm not. I'm not. I'm simply sitting. I'm.

[B]

I'm simply pointing out what the other side is going to say about your side.

[A]

I'm not taking a side. I've been on a record holding everybody accountable. I'm not taking sides here. What I would ask.

[C]

Go ahead.

[A]

But what I would ask you is this. Listen to what I'm saying. Okay, let's look at how much you know. Look at how knowledgeable you are. So if the Affordable Care act is putting, is being put into place, what about a critic or a cynic that.

[B]

Looks at y' all and say you didn't know that those kind of problems. You didn't know that the insurance company was going to come through the back door and find a way to make sure they got more money. You didn't know Big Pharma was going to do this. You didn't know the hospitals and private equity was going to be involved to such a degree that would force prices.

[A]

To balloon because Rahm Emanuel knows more than the typical person. What do you say to that?

[C]

Here's I'll tell you something. And I was in the room. Let me go a little farther back with President Clinton as a senior advisor negotiating the Children's Health Insurance program. There were 10 million children whose parents worked full time, made more than Medicaid but not enough for private insurance or employer insurance. We got those kids pediatric care, eye and dental negotiated. Those kids weren't the problem. Their parents working weren't the problem. It was they just the insurance companies in the place of employment. Now it was on the safe place. Employment is just too expensive. So we created a health care plan for those 10 million kids who were no fault of their own. That is not the problem. And look the Republicans still as this phone calls happen after saying we're going to president six years ago rather actually eight years ago said I have something had no plan. Let me tell you something. Fixing health care hard. I used to be 62 and £250. I'm now 148 dripping wet and I'm 5 8. But we have one thing. So when you tell me people with pre existing condition, whatever that is, can get health care, they can't get kicked off. So there are things to do to fix, adjust to expand coverage and close and control costs. But I will tell you this to all the Republicans if you want to get partisan. They have yet to present a comprehensive plan that covers people, controls costs and makes sure that insurance companies don't kick you off for pre existing conditions. It is a tough issue but it doesn't mean you don't fight to continue to do two goals. Get people covered, control costs so they don't go to the poor house just to get a cover pediatric or whatever type of care they need.

[B]

Two part question here.

[A]

If you were to run, what would.

[B]

Be your defining issue? Number one and number two, how would you answer critics who say you represent yesterday's Democratic Party.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Not today's Democratic Party.

[C]

Great question.

[B]

Democratic Party future.

[C]

Two parts. The number the kind of goalpost for my objective restoring confidence and accessibility around the American dream and make sure America's education is top notch for every child. You can't believe in equity, which is what I believe and be complacent with 2/3 of the kids not being able to read or do math at grade level. And that's what's happened. You have a president of the United States you know more about his position on windmills than, than the fact that 2/3 of our kids are not reading or doing math at grade level. You have 50 governors and nobody's called an emergency meeting. And I'm going to be going down pretty soon, in a short time, about a couple of months to Mississippi where they have actually gone from 49th to 9th in reading scores. I want what Mississippi's miracle to be a national program. They've shown us way. There's nothing wrong with this country. So to me, American dream and making sure that education for every child, regardless of zip code, address, family background is world class and we can do it. And number two, let me tell you the problem, the future for the Democratic Party is that somebody had the strength to get something done, not the ideas. You got a lot of people with a lot of ideas. Every time there's been a big fight against powerful interests, whether it was insurance companies for 10 million kids to get health care, whether it was taken on the banks to take financial reform, whether it was taking on the pharmaceutical industry and the first municipality to sue over opiates, whether it was also taken on the education bureaucracies who wanted to keep the shortest school day and short school year. I have taken on every powerful interest and got the results. And what would be new for Democrats is putting points on the board rather than having a debating society.

[B]

Interesting argument there that was leading to my next question. Because you've argued that, you've argued that Democrats have lost touch with voters.

[A]

Yeah, but so if you had focus or if you had full control of the party, give me maybe two or three of the top reforms that you.

[B]

Will implement to reconnect with the working class and independent voters out there.

[C]

Well, working class independent voters, because I think you got to have both middle class economics and middle class values. Our party has been. And if you look at President Clinton, President Obama going back to President Kennedy on the cultural issues and the values issues, we are dead center. We weren't there in 2020 and 2024. We got way off in some area. In my view that had nothing to do with where the American people, when their backs were against the wall, we were talking about bathroom access and locker room access rather than classroom excellence. We weren't solid on kitchen table issues, family room issues. The only room we occupied in the house was the bathroom and it's the smallest room in the house. I believe in fundamental both middle class economics and middle class values. And the economics is underpinned by a set of values. Knowing that if you work hard and play by the rules, we're going to do right by you. And that what is happening right now? Take a look what's happening. Donald Trump's more interested in his checkbook than your checkbook. Donald Trump's more interested in his Nobel Prize than America getting it right. And that's what's wrong with this country. It's not focused on fixing. And I'd say this, as a former ambassador to Japan, I learned a lot about America being away. We are spending way too much looking at past and battling each other than realizing what's coming to us at 120 miles an hour, which is China. And I have spent my I've got elected in the city of Chicago, the big shoulders of America. I got a Congress and to met and to mayor by and also running campaigns by connecting exactly those people, knowing that I basically am willing to say the truth even to people that friends in my party. That is what President Obama did. That's what President Clinton did. That's what President Kennedy did. I have said this is what you need to know. This is the truth may be hurt, but this is what's the core of the Democratic Party.

[B]

Rahm Emanuel right here. Stephen A straight shooter with Stephen A. Yes. Let me tell you something. A Democrat that I know that I got a lot of love and respect for, he will, he will remain nameless.

[A]

Told me a few months ago that essentially if you look at our electorate.

[B]

And you look at the voters out there, it really comes down to just about seven districts or so.

[A]

I mean that's going to decide who.

[B]

The next president is going to be.

[A]

And so if you're a Democrat out.

[B]

There and you're not saying something, power.

[A]

Up positive and forward looking at forward thinking, shut the hell up. That's basically it. Do you agree with that assertion that it's really about the Democratic Party not knowing where to shut up, when to.

[B]

Shut up and being prisoners to the extreme left at this particular moment in time.

[A]

Is that what the problem is with the Democratic Party?

[C]

Well, what I think, let me say it this way, the problem is it's not about shutting up. It's about actually articulating what's the right thing to do. It's not just about basically hiding what your real views are. I'm, I'm basing upfront about what I think we should be doing. I've said it made a lot of people upset when I said I'm tired of talking about bathroom and locker room access when we should be talking about classroom excellence. It's not about shutting up about that. It's about being outspoken about educational excellence. It's about being outspoken about the fact that you have two thirds of our kids can't read and do math. And everybody else in leadership responsibility is just shrugging their shoulders. That's unacceptable to me. What are you in office for so you can get a better table at a restaurant? You got. You can't believe in equity, which is what Democrats believe in, and be complacent with that. It's not about being quiet about something. It's about speaking up with something wrong. And to me, that's what I think is wrong. Now some people yell at me, no, you got to be talking about the most vulnerable. Look, in 2016, I dealt with bathroom access. Never took my eye off about graduation rates, never took my eye off about reading scores and math scores. Where Stanford University called Chicago the number one best educational system of the top 100 in America, beating 98% of the other school districts in the country. Because I was laser focused on what mattered. Now, some people didn't want that. That's never bothered me because I those kids, when you take basically we were now equal going at not only graduating high school, but going on to college and going on to community college. We did one thing in Chicago that I think was an example. You cannot get your high school diploma without showing a letter of acceptance from a college, a community college, a branch of the armed forces or a vocational school. First and only school district do it. Not Stephen A. Smith's kids, not Rahm Emanuel's kids. Every child in Chicago knew where they were walking to on graduation day. To me, and that was setting a standard. That's what matters. And your person who also analyzed one thing. When you really look at the seven states and you really look at that are battleground states in the presidential. And then you bear and then you drill down he or she. Whoever said that ain't wrong. It comes down to about750,000 voters in about 10 or 12 congressional districts that decide the president of the United States.

[B]

I only got about two minutes, but I got about 20 minutes of answers.

[A]

I got two minutes and I need a quick answer here, but I got.

[B]

To ask you, your record is Mayor Chicago, somewhat controversial in a lot of people's eyes, particularly on policing and crime. We all know this. If you run nationally, how do you plan to reconcile that record with a claim that you represent the new democratic vision?

[C]

Well, look, I believe like in fighting crime, I gave the speech more police on the beat, getting kids guns and gangs off the street. We got a role to do with that. I believe firmly in good community policing. I thought we had done what we needed to do. Clearly the gulf was. And the cultural problems were deeper. I own it. I spoke to the city council and the whole city about it. I never ran away from it. And in fact, I believe in good community policing and I believe that we should do what is necessary. My record will speak to it and the people that will speak to it. I'll own what I did. And guess one other thing. I used to say this to President Obama, President Clinton. If I knew in the first year, if we knew in the first year of the first term what we knew by the first year of the second term, we all be geniuses. The one thing you got to have in public life is ability to learn and have judgment and character. And if you make a mistake, understand it, learn from it, and apply it. It's future forward. You got to be able to apply forward. You don't get a do over. You get only lessons learned and apply. And I'll give you an example out of history. We are lucky as a country that the Cuban missile crisis came after the Bay of Pigs, because if they've been there, reversed, who knows how this would have happened. Kennedy learned from a failure. We all fail, we all stumble. You have the character to pick yourself up, put your left foot in front of your right foot and learn from your mistake and have good people around you to tell you the truth.

[B]

Very last question. Percentage on the possibility of you running for the presidency in 2028. And do you believe. And do you believe you will have the support from the people of Chicago?

[C]

The latter part. Yes, I hear it every day. I walk around, I was just at a grocery store today, etc.

[A]

But the 30 seconds. Okay, I got 30 seconds wrong.

[B]

Go ahead.

[C]

I got it. I mean, look, gonna have Thanksgiving with the family. We're gonna have a lot of discussion about it. I'm blessed with three great kids who are doing great in their lives, etc. I'm blessed by a great partner. Amy, we'll make a decision. I haven't gotten there. And be honest, if anybody tells you I've made a decision, you get your head and heart conflict all the time. It's a. I, you know, I don't know. I. I know what I, I want in my heart. I know where my head is and I'm just working through that issue. And do you have what the real question? I got the ideas or thoughts about this. Do you have what it takes to lead this country from where I think it's in the miles today to the fact is, listen, you got people talking about trillion dollar pay packages and we can't raise the minimum wage. Give me a break.

[B]

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. I got to get on out of here. Ron, it's good to see you. It's good to talk to you. We'll hang out soon.

[C]

Happy and healthy. New you and your family and your life like I am with great kids.

[B]

Absolutely. Love you, my man. Good to see you. Know, I'm going to talk to your brother soon. In the interest of full disclosure, Ari Emanuel, you know wme, William Morris Endeavor, that man, that's his brother.

[A]

That's also the guy that represents.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So let's let everybody know.

[C]

All he's got, he's got it to give you.

[A]

I'mma try. I'mma try. I'mma start with tickets to the Lakers game. Take it easy, Rah. I'll talk to you soon. All right.

[B]

The one and only Rahm Emanuel right here. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with more in a minute.

[C]

Straight Shooter with Stephen A.

[A]

Four minutes past hour.

[B]

Number two back here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Coming at you over the airwaves of SiriusXM Polis Radio channel 124 every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time, 3 to 5pm West Coast Time. Number to call up, as always, is 866-967-6887. That's 866-967-68 87. That's 86696 POTUS. Rahm Emanuel is a very knowledgeable individual, very accomplished individual, has been around for a while, has accomplished a lot of great things in his career. U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2022 to 2025, 2011 to 2019, he was the mayor of Chicago. So I had to ask him about crime and all of that other stuff because we all know about Chicago and all the shootings we're always hearing about. 2009 to 2010, White House Chief of staff for President Barack Obama, a congressman before that from 2003 to 2009 representing the 5th district of Illinois and obviously was a senior advisor and fundraiser for President Bill Clinton, played major role in passing NAFTA and Of course the 1994 crime bill, which some applaud and others, particularly folks in the African American community, may lament from time to time whether it was Biden, whether it was, you know, Bill Clinton itself. Disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated at that particular moment in time because of the crime bill and something that Bill Clinton himself apologized for while his wife was running for the presidency in 2020 16. In 2016. I'm sorry. I would tell you that Rahm Emanuel is obviously qualified, very knowledgeable, a seasoned veteran, a warrior. Him on the debate stage could potentially annihilate anybody because he knows his stuff backwards and forwards. I just think from a general consensus, a general election, a nationwide vote, I think that possibility of Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, getting in his way is very, very real because both of them are Jewish, obviously very supportive of Israel, similar in the eyes of a lot of people when it comes to the Democratic Party. And Josh Shapiro, I think at this particular moment in time is obviously more popular than a Rahm Emanuel would be. So I don't know. I wouldn't rule anything out, but he'd have his work cut out for him. In approximately 10 minutes or so, we'll have on John Kasich, a former governor of Ohio, former presidential candidate in 2016 as well. He'll be on the show right here with yours truly, Stephen A. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Let's get to the phones again at 866-96-POTUS. That's 866-967-6887. Let's see who we've got on the line here. Let's go to shoot. Robert in Oregon, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Robert? How are you?

[D]

How you doing, Stephen?

[B]

I'm doing all right.

[C]

Talk to me, man.

[D]

You're a much needed, you're a much needed voice on radio. Okay. Anyway, I wrote an article back in 1999 and your, your brother Bill Bradley from the New York Knicks was running for president. He got a copy of that. I actually started the top 2% movement and I've been running for president since 2000.

[B]

You've been running for president saying you've been running for president?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Why have you been running for president?

[D]

Because I believe we need a moderate right in the center to have coffee with people on the left of the right and figure things out.

[B]

I agree with you. I agree with you a thousand percent.

[D]

My campaign finance reform is $1 from every working America. That would give you some media. I believe in getting rid of the IRS and going with a consumption tax. If you want billionaires to pay more taxes, we'll do a consumption tax.

[A]

Well, I'd like a flat tax.

[B]

I'd like a flat tax, personally. A limit on how much the government can take out of your pocket. And I understand a Combination of federal, state, city taxes and what have you. If you walk at home with less than. I have a hard and fast rule. No working American citizen should walk home with less than 50% of the money of their money.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

Nobody should walk home with less than 10.

[D]

Yeah, no kidding. I agree. I think, you know, if you combine all the taxes, property tax, federal, you.

[B]

Know, Robert, I got to get ready to run. I appreciate your call, thank you for that. But you and I on the same page. I think a moderate needs to be enough. I. I'll give you an example. Let's just say hypothetically and again, I have no interest in doing this. I'm not trying to give up my hard earned money to run for the presidency and invite that level of stress to my life. But I leave the door open because that's what people ask me to do. And I'd love to be on a debate stage against some of these people personally, if I'm being totally honest with you. But I think that one thing that I'd like to say is this. If I wanted to go into the pockets of the American taxpayer to ask them for money, it would be to assemble my staff. I'd have a Republican and a Democrat for every single position I could find.

[A]

You gotta battle with one another on behalf of each party side to come to me with a salient idea that's gonna benefit the American people, period. I've got my agenda. I want a strong economy. I want to control our borders. I want the streets of America safe and I want to walk. I want every American citizen to not ever have to worry about walking home with less than 50% of their hard earned money. Okay. But in the same breath, my priorities.

[B]

Are the desolate and disenfranchised and the elderly.

[A]

If you're an able bodied, healthy American citizen, working, get out there, work and be ready to pay the price. So you could be taken care of when you're an elder. And we could take care of the very poor amongst us and the desolate amongst us. That would be me. Everybody got their flavor?

[B]

That's mine. I'm just letting you know. Anyway, my guest is waiting. Gotta pay the bill. So I'll be back after this commercial break. He is the governor, former governor of the great state of Ohio, former presidential candidate John Kasich. He's up next with yours truly, right here on the Stephen A. Smith show, Straight Shooter. I'm sorry with Stephen A. Right here on potus radio channel 124. Back with more in a minute.

[A]

13 minutes past hour number two back.

[B]

Here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124 coming at you every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time. On the line with us right now is a very, very accomplished individual, a man that I will openly confess to you, I probably would have voted for in 2016 if he were the GOP nominee. And I don't usually vote for Republicans, but I would have voted for this man. He served in Congress from 1983 to 2001, chaired the House Budget Committee, helped negotiate the 1997 balance federal budget deal with Bill Clinton. Later served two terms as governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. Ran for president in 2016 as a more moderate alternative to the one and only Donald Trump. Now, I got a newsletter on Substack YouTube channel as well. I'm talking about the former governor for the great state of Ohio, the one and only John Kasich.

[A]

How are you, sir?

[E]

Good.

[B]

Good to see you.

[E]

How's everything getting ready for that big game this Saturday? Ohio State, Michigan.

[B]

That's right. That's right. Well, look, you should win.

[E]

Absolutely.

[B]

Shouldn't be that big. You're the reigning defending national champions.

[A]

You should be able to handle a.

[B]

Michigan team that doesn't look the way they looked a couple of years ago.

[E]

Yeah, I mean, look, the offense, you know, depends whether these receivers are going to play or not. And. But the defense is suffocating for Ohio State. And Stephen, STEPHEN A. You know, the issue is, and this is something my friends here say, well, we thought we were going to win last year. It's, it's the eye of the tiger. There's an attitude right now about beating Michigan. And, you know, attitude means a lot because attitude leads to motivation and motivation can lead to victory. Like. Stephen A.

[B]

That's true. That, that, that, that is true. You're absolutely right about that. And by the way, the loss of Michigan last year almost cost them the national championship because they almost missed the playoffs because of that loss. So they should be hungry for this one. I wish them nothing but the best.

[A]

But I got to talk to you.

[B]

About some other things right now. First things first, let's get into the substack newsletter, the YouTube channel. How are you enjoying that stuff? Talk to us about that for a quick second. What you're trying to do with that.

[E]

Yeah, I created. It's called Keep Faith America. And you know, it's just really, Stephen, when I run into people all across the country just like you do, you know, people look at me and they want to know what's the truth, what's happening, because, you know, I tell the truth and, and I, I'll stand tall even with sometimes when the wind is blowing against me. And in this case, you know, I want people to know in a more intimate way what I'm thinking. Rather than watching me on, on Ms. Now and just, you know, doing little clips, I want to do more things. It's deeper. It's all that. And it, I hope it's going to design to inform people, but I also think it can give people hope. There's a young man who is a friend of my family. He doesn't live in Ohio, he's down in North Carolina. He says, I love the substack because it explains things to me, but it leaves me in a better mood. It's not like everything is so negative, but I'll call it out. Like I see it, I'll call it. When I see something I don't like, I'll talk about it and I'll talk about those things I really do like and I really do support.

[B]

How are you feeling right now on this particular day, specifically in light of the news that just came down a few hours ago that two National Guardsmen were shot in the nation's capital in critical condition. They're still alive. The shooter was shot, he was caught, he was shot, he's still alive as well. But just the climate that we're living in, and obviously, just like I said, two individuals just shot, representing the National Guard. What does that tell you? What does that say to you, if anything at all, about the state of affairs going on in our country?

[E]

Stephen, I don't, I don't know where you are in terms of your personal faith, but, you know, when people stop, when people stop thinking that the other person is made in the image of God and they get so angry and they just, you know, then they lose all perspective. And just think about this. These two National Guard guys probably didn't, didn't quite know even why they were there. And then all of a sudden the family gets a call that they've been killed. I mean, what a, what a tragedy. And then you got to wonder who did it? Who would have shot them, you know, who would have been somebody that would have carried this out? They couldn't defend themselves, you know, but, you know, we're seeing across the country in politics and so many things that if you win, I lose. And if, and if I, you know, if I win, you lose. And that's, that's, that's not the way America works. It's not. It never has worked well that way, and we've got to change it. And I think part of it is a rebirth of the fact that the good Lord up above has created an ethic where we have to respect one another. We don't have to agree all the time, but we got to have some respect for people that don't agree with us. And in our lives, we all have a purpose, and we got to use that purpose to improve the lives of everybody in our country. Improve somebody's life. Wherever you are, whether you're a politician, whether you're in sports, whether you're in business, be a leader, have character. We've lost a lot of character in this country, and we need to rebuild it.

[B]

Why do we lose a lot of character in this country?

[E]

I think, Stephen, over time, we have kind of eroded the sense that we all have a responsibility to one another. I think we've eroded what faith is or what belief in a higher power is all about. You know, here's the way I look at it, Stephen, that, you know, I think the Lord has a plan for all of us. I mean, he put you on, you know, imagine your life and what you've been able to do out of, you know, out of nowhere, right? It's like he had a plan for you. He had a plan for me as a plan for everybody. And the plan is designed to. To be positive, to be able to contribute in a positive way. None of us are saints. We all fall. But as we. As we've eroded that. We think it's all about us. We live in an I society too much of the time rather than in a we society. And let me just tell you, in the end of the last century, no, the 19th century, there was the Gilded Age. You. You've read about that and heard about it.

[B]

Yes.

[E]

Early in the 20th century, as reported by. In a book called the Upswing, a great book, it was the social gospel movement that changed our country from an I culture to a we culture. We didn't probably deal with race in the 1960s, and we've sort of lost it. And now we are back in that whole I culture where all that matters is me and not anybody else. And that has a profound impact on politics. Let me give you another one. Look at these social media companies, okay? They know that some of their stuff is affecting children in a very negative way. In fact, it's affected some families to the point where some of these young people have taken their own lives. There was A bill to try to try to help police all this. And it passed the Senate by 97 to 3 and never had a vote in the House because all these people in these big companies making lots of money, they didn't want to come up with a compromise. You know, what are you doing with your life? You know, you're not going to live forever, so do something positive. And again, we're not playing for sainthood here, Stephen. You and I aren't going to make. At least I'm not going to make there. But I know that I have an obligation to other people. And I also know that we have a leadership vacuum in this country across the board where we're not seeing character leaders. And we were talking about Ohio State, you know, it's funny, Woody Hayes, you know, that guy had character. Bo Schembechler had character. You know, some of the great Vince Lombardi, he had character. You know, people in business, they had character. Now we look around today and we go, well, where is it? Who am I supposed to follow? And remember, everyone is a leader to someone else. And how we behave and what we impart to them matters in the way they live their lives. What do you think?

[B]

Well, I don't disagree with you. I get where you're coming from. We're talking to the former governor for Ohio, John Kasich, right here with Stephen A. Straight shooter. With Stephen A. By the way, those National Guardsmen that were shot, they were not killed. They're still alive. Just want to make sure the audience is reminded of that reality because the governor of West Virginia mistakenly put out there that they were killed. And they were not killed. They're not. They're still alive, thank God. And hopefully it'll stay that way. Let me ask you this question. Let me ask you this question, Governor, because you ran for the presidency in 2016, okay. One could easily ask you how different things would have been had you won, as opposed to Trump. But I'll still ask you this question. President Trump now leads a more populous GOP than in 2016. Do you believe there's still room for traditional Republicans and fiscal conservatives? Because that's what one would describe you as being, or is this now a more permanent political realignment?

[E]

Well, well, first of all, there's two types of populism, Stephen. There's a negative populist that says the reason why you don't have something is because somebody else took it. But there's also a positive populism, of which I'm a positive populist. And that is Somebody that says, yeah, we have problems, let's work together and let's try to fix them. When I was governor, I not only got our budget balanced and cut taxes, but I expanded Medicaid because there were six. And this was a decision that came to me. People say, oh, that was a hard decision cuz it was connected to Obamacare. I said, listen, if I can provide 600,000 people who are currently either in jail or living under a bridge an opportunity to get mental health treatment and get some health care and some, and some good care, I'm going to do it. So, you know, it was not just balancing budgets and creating more jobs and not only helping people at the top, but it was also giving people. Everybody had a win. People at the bottom had to have an opportunity and a hope that they could move up. That is a politics that I think works today. And my disagreement with Donald Trump has been the fact that he was a negative populist. And I don't think we need more division. I think we need more unity. And we just, you know, some people say, you know, you're never Trumper. I'm not a never Trumper, but I know what I believe and I know it works when we balance the federal budget. Think about that. I did that with the Democrats and my team of people and Senator Domenici. We got the budget balanced. Everybody did better. The economy boomed. You know, you can have success and you don't have to leave anybody behind. So if there's no room in the Republican Party for that kind of an attitude, then, you know, this Republican Party is not a party I belong to. This is not the party that I ever was. Grew up watching.

[A]

Why not?

[E]

Because it's become too negative in some respects, too mean. I mean, we're all for controlling the borders, but I know you're not. I hope you're not for these things where we're going into churches and schools and grabbing people.

[B]

Absolutely not.

[E]

Right?

[B]

So, I mean, absolutely not.

[E]

I'm not for that either. I'm, I'm a free trader now. A fair trader, but a free trader. I mean, who the heck can be against that? Health care? I can't believe that we have an extended. First of all, Stephen, if you were president and you called me up, you said, what should we do about healthcare? Here's what I would tell you. You get doctors, you get insurance companies, you get pharma companies, you get everybody connected, lawyers, everybody else, nurses. And you put them in a room and you say, we need to have a healthcare system that is Incentivized to keep people healthy rather than incentives to treat them when they're sick, get them healthy up front. Primary care, those are the kinds of things we have to do. And it's going to require people who are of goodwill to sit in a room and get this system fixed.

[A]

But you, but in the same breath as governor, you know, you tried that. You know, if I remember correctly, you.

[B]

You expanded Medicaid in Ohio via the Affordable Care act funds.

[A]

And your own conservatives were ticked off.

[B]

At you because of that.

[A]

As you pointed out, it was working. Stephen, is that not true?

[E]

Even I'm an American. I don't. The Republican Party's been my vehicle and never been my master, my, my interest. Look, I was a guy that took on corporate welfare. I was the guy that worked with Ron Dellums, a great leader out of California, to limit the production of the B2 bomber. It was going to cost $1 billion apiece. The Pentagon wanted 132. I wanted to have 13. And we sell. We settled on 20. I was a reformer, so it doesn't matter to me what the party says. I'm a conservative, but at the same time, I'm also going to be a leader in terms of what I think and what I think my party should do.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

Yeah, a lot of them didn't like, let me tell you, I think, I think. Let me tell you this. When I expanded Medicaid, I think it absolutely hurt my chance to become president. And you know what? So what?

[C]

So what?

[B]

So what?

[A]

And see, Governor, that's where you, that's where I got to get on you affectionately.

[B]

Because, you know, I like you.

[A]

All right, I got to get on you about this. Stay with me. Because think about it. If I understand you didn't care that it upset some people, whatever.

[B]

I hear you speak, sir, and I'm with you.

[A]

I'm riding with you. I applaud your ideas. I applaud the job that you've done in Ohio. I, I've listened to you on many occasions. We've spoken on a few occasions. I got a lot of love for you. But I got to ask you this. At some point, when does winning matters? Like, for example, if you were The President, there's 300 plus million lives that you could affect with your positivity. When is the priority about getting over that finish line and winning so you can implement more of that positive change that you're talking about as opposed to just saying, I'm going to do this and I don't care about.

[E]

I took a State of Ohio, seventh largest state in the country that was dying. We were down so many. We were down 400,000 jobs. We were 20% in the hole. And you know what I said? I have a plan. I have a plan and I'm going to move forward and I'm going to implement that and I'm going to explain it to people. And guess what? When I left, we went from deficits to surpluses, from the loss of 400,000 jobs to the gain of 600,000 jobs. I knew what I wanted to do. Don't look at me as a cupcake. I don't think you want to get in my way. But I've got an idea and I got a plan and I'm going to fight for it. And if I'm going to listen to all these people on the sidelines or all these people up in the stands, I'm not going to get anything done because I know what I want to do now. I'm not going to be. I'm going to listen to what other people around me. I always had a lot of staff aides and friends around who tell me the truth. I still have them. I was on two calls with them today. So I'm gonna listen to them. But when I make up my mind, I gotta put the win together. And I was a winner there and in Washington. So, I mean, what can I tell you?

[A]

So does that mean that it's possible.

[B]

That in 2028 we may see John.

[A]

Kasich again trying to run for the presidency? That's what I'm asking.

[E]

No, I don't. I don't see that that's in the cards. Because frankly, the time is not.

[C]

Could.

[E]

You know, Stephen, the problem with running for president is you got to. You got to have about a. You got to have at least $100 million just to get started. You got to get to a billion dollars. Okay, and here's the problem. I'm not going to go around and tell people what they want to hear in order to get the money. Because, you know, at the end of the day, life is short the way that my conscience works. And there are things I could tell you someday when we're alone and on in the air, I'll tell you stories about where I had opportunities that I didn't take advantage of. You know, the fact is, I'm going to do the best. Look, I was a. I was the governor, two term governor of the seventh largest state. I was a congressman for, you know, 18 years. I got a lot of stuff done I'm a successful businessman today. What would I change? I'm not gonna change. I don't wanna change. I have no regrets. And I was in the middle of it. And I did not run in 2016 as a moderate. I ran as a conservative. And when people said we could balance the budget by taking out waste, fraud and abuse, what nonsense. Okay, the other thing, Stephen, that I think you need to understand about running for president, and this is the part I loved, the part I loved was people didn't care about all your policy ideas. They wanted to know if you cared about them. Do you care about my struggles? Do you care about my problems? And look, my problem was I didn't have enough money. I probably started too late. But look, when we went north, I finished second in Michigan. I whomped him in New. You know, that I beat Trump in New York City. I mean, it was just, you know, so I had a good run. You know, it just didn't work out. It wasn't in the cards. And he, he captured something. And I understand what he captured. He understood the challenges and problems that people had. It's just his solutions I didn't agree with.

[B]

Interest rates, housing cost inflation, obviously, they remain top concern for. Top concerns for working Americans. I think we can all. Yeah. Number one, what, what realistic legislation right now could ease pressure on the middle class before the next election cycle in the estimate?

[E]

Well, I think they've got a deal in the short term here with rising health care costs. And that means that some of those extensions of the subsidies are going to have to. That's going to have to happen. Secondly, you know that tariffs have driven up prices. I mean, okay, so you want to have some tariffs or you want to have some trade negotiations with China, fine. And by the way, don't do it alone. The other thing is we're more powerful when we work with other countries that, that respect our values than if we go it alone. But these tariffs, they were. The administration has been saying the tariffs haven't driven up prices. Well, why are they trying to repeal them all now, Stephen? I hope they do it. That would be another thing that would work.

[A]

And by the way, what do you make.

[B]

Please educate my listeners here.

[A]

What do you make of the 15 + the 20 + trillion dollars in. In pledges coming from other places to American businesses to stir our economy? I'm like, I'm not buying that nonsense. I've been on the air with Sean Hannity arguing about that for months. I'm like, please show me the money. I don't Believe it. For one thing, anybody can make a pledge. What does that mean? What does that mean to you, sir?

[E]

It's a lot of talk. I will say the President deserves credit. One, for shutting down the border. He did a good job on that one. The other thing that he's done that's been, well, is when is he been pushing the Europeans to carry more of the burden of their own defense. But we don't want to trash him at the same time. You know, you look at this latest debacle about Ukraine, we can't even figure out who the 28 plan proposal that handed Ukraine to Russia, we can't even figure out who came up with it. So, you know, you got to work with other countries. You don't trash them. You got to work with them. And the other thing I don't like, Stephen, is I don't like the United States government taking ownership of companies, getting ownership, partial ownership of companies in the U.S. you know, we.

[B]

Why not?

[A]

Educate us. Why not?

[E]

It's not the government's role to start telling a company how to function. That's how we get into trouble. So, you know, us, we have an investment in US Steel. They wanted to close some plant that was not doing well. And the government said, no, you can't do that. I mean, that's not the way that it works in the world. You know, the government starts owning, having ownership of business. What do you think happens? Rotten boroughs over time. You got to be careful.

[B]

You know, I'm thinking about how both parties have been invoking religion. And you started off saying what you said at the beginning of this interview. Do you think faith based leadership is resurging in American politics or is it headed for a new backlash?

[E]

No, what I think is that, is that faith informs you. It informs you and tells two things that are most important. One, love God.

[C]

Okay.

[E]

Whether you're Jewish, Christian, Muslim. I wrote a book called Heaven Help Us. It included all the three great Muhammad religions, but I said that wrong. But it's all the religions, okay? It's what it's all about. And what I think is those are things that can inform us, not things. I don't sit around and read the scripture to figure out how I was going to be governor. But one other thing, Stephen, I want to tell you, I think you'll like this. In my book, Heaven Help Us, all power in America comes from the bottom up, not the top down. Martin Luther King, bottom up. Women's rights, bottom up. Ending the Vietnam War, bottom up. And so these institutions, we could take our ideas and our hopes and our dreams to these religious institutions. And we can start to fix things where we live and stop worrying about all these people that live in this faraway city called Washington and start bringing change and connectivity where we live up rather than not on the top down. We'll be disappointed with the top down, believe me.

[B]

Right now, both parties are swearing up and down that they look out for the little guy and the middle class more than the other. Who's telling the truth, one side or the other or neither.

[E]

Right now, I think it's dysfunctional in Washington. And. Stephen A. When we think about politics, you know, we think about the political parties as bipartisan. You know, we need to do. We need to go over the top of them. We need to be above the fray right now. The fray. Think about what's happening down there. They can't seem to agree on anything. And the way that's going to change is when the public demands it, when the. When the public says, I've had enough. And if you get out of line on this, I'm going to vote you out the next time. Now, listen, if you want to run for president, I'll, you know, I will help you only if you allow me to be your running mate. Because the best job in the world is probably vice president. You know what the best job in the world is? Former president. Former president.

[A]

Former president. I'll tell you, I can't imagine. I can't imagine that I'll ever run for politics, ever run for office.

[B]

But.

[A]

But if I ever did, I'd tell you this much. I would call you and I would. You would definitely have a role in my administration, I can tell you that much. Cause I like the way you think.

[E]

All right, Steven.

[A]

I really, really do.

[B]

I really.

[A]

I would not hesitate, Governor.

[B]

Thank you. John Kasich right here with Stephen A.

[A]

Really appreciate your time, sir.

[B]

Thank you so much. All right. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Thank you so much. Oh, my goodness. Eli, listen, I'm not joking. I mean, the man was successful as the governor for Ohio. Now, I mean, he got a lot to brag about.

[A]

It's just the truth.

[B]

It's just the truth. You know, me personally, I mean, you know, I haven't thought about it. I mean, I don't really want to run for office. I like my money, and I don't.

[A]

Know if I can come up with.

[B]

$100 million at least to be campaigning and stuff like that. But, you know, Stephen A. For President of the United States, I do kind of like the sound of ring of that. Not bad. Not bad at all.

[C]

Who knows?

[B]

Who knows? Not like I ain't got connections. I'd have a great staff. I'd have a great administration. I'd tell you that much. I tell you that much. 866-967-6887 is the number to call up. That's 86696, POTUS. I'm only playing people. You're listening live to Straight Shoot it with Stephen A. Potus radio, channel 124. Back with your calls and more in a minute.

[A]

40 minutes. Best hour.

[B]

Number two back here. Excuse me. Sirius XM, Mad Dog Sports Radio. Before I get to the calls, back to the calls at 8669-6768-8786-6966-6887. That's 86696, POTUS right here on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. I've taken calls for the rest of the show. Let me say this real quick. I want to reiterate something that I said on my YouTube channel last week sometime, because I stand by it. I had I'm taking issue with something that the first lady, the former first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, said at an event in Brooklyn, New York, over the weekend. And I want to re air this for y' all because I think it's apropos to bring this up right here on this channel. And I want to say it right now because I'm not backing up one inch from what I'm about to say. I want everybody to hear what Michelle Obama had to say.

[E]

It is.

[A]

Do you think that that impacts the.

[C]

Room that we've made for a woman to be president? Well, as we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain't ready. That's why I'm like, don't even look.

[A]

At me about running because you all are lying. You're not ready for a woman.

[C]

You are not. So don't waste my time.

[A]

You know, we got a lot of.

[B]

Growing up to do.

[A]

And there's still, I'm sadly, a lot.

[C]

Of men who do not feel like.

[A]

They can be led by a woman.

[C]

And we saw it.

[A]

What was the question?

[B]

I just said?

[C]

Mm.

[B]

I emphatically disagree with that statement. I emphatically disagree. And any man out there who's ticked off about that, I don't blame them in particular black men, because it's coming from a black woman. I don't like it. And I'm going to say it again. I believe that if Michelle Obama was running for president in 2024, she would have beaten Donald Trump. The only time that I had trepidation about losing to Donald Trump is when he got shot, went to the ground, got up with blood trickling down his face, surrounded by Secret Service and raising his fist up and pumping it and pumping it in the air with the American flag behind him. There's not a better imagery a politician could have in his lifetime. That's the only time I had any.

[A]

Trepidation outside of that.

[B]

I thought Michelle Obama would beat him.

[A]

Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016 beat Trump.

[B]

In a popular vote by 2.9 million votes. What the hell are you talking about?

[A]

Leave talking about, folks ain't ready. Folks ain't ready. No, you don't want it. You could tell Michelle Obama right now she could cakewalk to the presidency and. And she still wouldn't want it. And the likelihood is, who can blame her because she lived in the White House. She knows what it is. She knows what comes with the job. But just say that. Just say that.

[C]

Why?

[A]

It's got to be something pointing out what men ain't doing. Kamala Harris and the Democrats, black brag about how she got nearly 75 million votes, more votes than any Democratic nominee ever had. And this is after y' all circumvented the primaries so she wouldn't have to run against anybody because you didn't have faith that she'd win in a primary, and you bypass the Democratic process to do it. And we still voted for. We still voted for her. What are you talking about? And so listen, that and her husband.

[B]

Barack Obama, who I also revered in.

[A]

And voted for it twice. This man goes up to Pittsburgh talking to black men.

[B]

I know why y' all hesitant to vote for Common House.

[A]

Really? So which one is it, y'? All? Is it lack of fathers in a home that have us loving and revering our mothers, our sisters, our grandmothers, our aunts, and those wonderful, marvelous black women who raised us? Or are we misogynistic? Which one is it? Which one is it? Where's the consistency? And don't get me started with the blackness. So in other words, we didn't want to vote for Kamala because we're hesitant about a black woman. But Obama flew to Virginia or drove to go and support Abigail Spamberger.

[C]

A.

[A]

White woman, over the Republican combatant, which was Earl Sears. Which one is it? Clearly, it's ideology. That's all. No problem with that. So say that why it always got to be us. And oh, my goodness, we're not revering. We're not looking up to and we're not respecting and we're not ready for this woman who, who it was not fault that Hillary lost. She got 2.9 million votes more than Trump. Ain't nobody tell her to get tired and stop campaigning in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Michigan. We didn't do that. Kamala Harris had all those years to be ready. Talking about 107 days. Did you run for the presidency in 2020? Weren't you the vice president? Who was. Whose fault was it that you went on a view and they asked you, is there anything that you would do differently than Joe Biden? And you was like, I, I, I, I don't think so.

[B]

I can't think of anything.

[A]

When he let 14, 15 million people crossed the border illegally, and y' all said there was no border crisis. When everybody and their grandmama would see it. Was that us? Was that us? I mean, how many men. Where are you at? How much of this are y' all gonna take? You just gonna take people just talking about us like that? Clearly false. Clearly false. He's just gonna take it.

[B]

Let me tell y' all something before I go to the calls. I'm excited. A week from tomorrow at 11:00am Eastern Standard Time on ABC. I will be on the View. I'm the guest on the View, ladies and gentlemen. I can't wait. I can't wait. I'm supposed to brace myself.

[A]

Cause folks are gonna come at me because of the things that I said and all. I can't wait.

[B]

I will be ready. I love Michelle Obama. I revere. I think she's the greatest first lady in American history. Voted for her husband twice. Unbelievably, impeccable role model. I appreciate that man, his character and everything about him. Didn't like all his policies, but damn it, I voted for him. And I ain't ashamed of it. He's a man I look up to. She is a woman I think all ladies should look up to. But I'm sick and tired of men getting the bad end of things with accusations and assertions and insinuations that can factually be disproved. It's not right. Somebody had to say it, so I'm saying it. 866-967. 6887. That's 8669-6-POTUS. You're listening to Straight Shooter with your man Stephen A. Right here on potus radio channel 124. Who do we have here on the calls? Eugene and Washington. You're live with Stephen A.

[D]

What's up hey, Stephen, A. First off, I want to say I love your show. Often listen to you. I do have happened to disagree with you today on a certain point, especially when it comes to our Democratic leaders that stood up and told the. The servicemen that they could disobey illegal orders. And the reason why is throughout history, even going back to Nazi Germany, those people that obeyed illegal orders when they said, oh, I was just obeying orders.

[A]

No, no, you stop that BS right now. First of all, don't bring up Nazi.

[B]

Germany on this show when you're talking about American politics in the year 2025.

[A]

We're not doing that to anybody on either side of the aisle. This is America. This ain't Nazi Germany. Stop it. That's number one. Number two, here's what I was saying. If you're going to quote me, quote me accurately.

[B]

Identify the illegal orders you're talking about.

[A]

You don't get to speak if you're.

[B]

A senator of the United States who served in the United States Navy as a combat pilot in.

[A]

And you just gonna throw out innuendo and assertions without factual evidence to back up your claim. That's why they're investigating it. Military officials are different. This is not civilian. This is not the civilian life. You can't just do that. That's what I'm saying. He knows better.

[B]

Now.

[A]

That doesn't mean he committed treason. It doesn't mean he should be thrown in jail. But what it does mean is that Senator Mark Kelly needs to watch his mouth. If you go to accuse the President of the United States of giving illegal orders, you need to say what those orders are. You need to be specific, and you need to make sure that you understand that as a former military man, that regular court of law don't apply. Is military. It's the military. You understand? Military justice. Code of military justice. This is what that is. You don't get to do that. That's what I said. Go ahead and speak.

[D]

Okay. What I would say, though, those illegal orders could potentially be the Mediterranean bombings of those boats.

[A]

Did he say that?

[D]

It's.

[A]

Again, did he say that?

[D]

No, he did not.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. He didn't say it. He didn't say it. You got to say it. You can't just blanketly go out there and accuse him and say, hey, you know what? Don't follow illegal orders. You can't imply that he did do it without saying what they were, and you can't imply that he's going to ask them to do it. If you're a military person. According to what I've read, you can't do that. I could do that. You, Eugene, if you didn't serve in the military, you could do that. But because he served in the military, he cannot. They live by a different code. Because why? You can't have people on the battlefield questioning orders. You think. Let me ask you a question, Eugene. Are you still there? You still there, Eugene? You still there?

[D]

I absolutely am.

[A]

Let me ask you, Eugene, you.

[B]

You think.

[A]

You think so?

[B]

You think soldiers wanted to go over to Iraq? You think soldiers wanted to go over to Afghanistan years ago?

[A]

You think soldiers want to go. I'm just saying, you think soldiers want to go to different parts of Africa.

[B]

And stuff like that? You think soldiers want to go to these places?

[A]

Do you really think that? So just imagine for a second. So just imagine for a second if.

[B]

Eugene, you serving in the Marines and.

[A]

The commander in chief gives an order, okay?

[B]

We don't like the stuff that's going on there right now. We need you to go. We need you to go over to Qatar, we need you to go over to Iraq, we need you to go over to Iran. And you went like this. Why? I don't know. I ain't trying to do that. What you think will happen to you.

[D]

Eugene, you'd be court martial. And I'm not saying they shouldn't be court martial, but what I'm, what I am saying is that there are some orders that, that when provided, if they look or sound illegal, you have every right to disobey them.

[B]

And I'm, and I'm saying to you, and I'm saying to you, for a.

[A]

Sitting senator to say it blanketly, without specificity, to point a finger at the Commander in chief because of a potential order he may give or an order he may have already given, without you being specific about what that illegal order was, is not allowed. Not in our system of military justice. That's what I've been told by every military officer I know. And the fact that they did that, that Senator Kelly did that and they did, the other senators and representative did that in a video is wrong. Just as wrong as as Trump is for sitting up there talking about treasonous, seditious, and is punishable by death, far too excessive, irresponsible on the part of the President of the United States. No excuse for it whatsoever. No excuse. That's what I'm saying. Period. Appreciate the call, though.

[B]

Thank you so much. See, I got here. Aaron in Rhode Island. You're live with Stephen A. What's going on.

[A]

Aaron.

[B]

Hold on. Calm down. Calm down. Your signal's breaking.

[A]

Make sure you're clear.

[B]

Hello? I can't.

[A]

We can't understand you. Aaron.

[B]

Aaron, we can't understand you.

[A]

Greg.

[B]

Alabama, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Greg?

[D]

STEPHEN A. It's a pleasure to talk to you, my man. I've been a big fan for you for years and years.

[C]

Thank you.

[D]

So I'm a service member and I can't really speak too much on this, but if I decide a direct order from my commanding officer, we get Article 15, right? We. There's a whole thing we do. Right. But for a senator to say, to tell us service members to defy direct orders.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Our commanders who we follow do not have a choice because if they defy those direct orders, then they lose their career.

[A]

Thank you.

[D]

So the center's asking us to lose our careers.

[B]

So, Greg.

[A]

So, Greg, So, Greg, help me out here.

[B]

Because I didn't serve in the military, I defer to people like yourself. Was I false in anything that I said.

[D]

On all night? STEPHEN A. And I appreciate.

[A]

No, I'm saying we did. We didn't hear. We didn't hear you.

[B]

You were, you went out for a second. Was I false in anything I said?

[D]

No.

[B]

Thank you. Go ahead. You may continue.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

No. And you know, I'm not going to put my career on a line for some senator in Arizona telling me I should defy direct orders. I've worked too hard. We service members have worked way too hard to get to where we are in our careers for a center to tell us to defy direct orders. I'm not losing my career over something stupid like that. I don't care who the president is.

[A]

But here's the problem. Greg. Greg.

[B]

And here's the problem. And stay on the line. Here's what I'm saying to you. What's egregious about it? Who should know that better than Senator Mark Kelly?

[A]

He's a combat pilot in the Navy. He knows. Why would you do that? And without specificity, what illegal or what illegal laws or whatever, did Trump push forward? What a legal directive, rather did Donald Trump give? If it, if there is one, say so what? And if it wasn't one, you shouldn't have said it. But what if you were talking about what he might do? Am I right, Greg, in saying you.

[B]

Don'T get to imply that he's going to do that, not when you're in the military or you are a member that served in the military? Not according to the military code of justice. Am I right, Greg?

[D]

Correct. Correct. You are. Stephen A. And I appreciate you what you said tonight in in defense of the service members tonight. I really have right. And you, you, you have defended our service members tonight, man. And I appreciate you. You have a blessed Thanksgiving.

[B]

War Eagle bless Thanksgiving to you and your family, man. God bless you. Wishing you all a happiness on this wonderful Thanksgiving. Coming up, our hearts go out to the two members of the National Guard that have been shot. Hopefully they will both survive. Thank God the shooter is in custody and they have found out who he is. So that is a. That is a good thing. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. And somehow, some way through the grace of God, we'll find a reason to celebrate tomorrow. And a wonderful Thanksgiving we all anticipate having because life is short and beautiful. Beautiful moments seem hard to come by these in this day and age. But guess what? It's always there for us to grasp. If you look hard enough, search hard enough, pursue hard enough to get it, just remember that Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Make sure you have an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving with you and yours. This is Stephen A Straight shooter with Stephen A. Signing off until next Wednesday. Till then, everybody, peace and love. God bless. Happy Thanksgiving.