A (21:54)

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B (22:26)

27 minutes past hour number one back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday evening from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of Sirius XM POTUS radio, channel 124. It's my honor and privilege to have my next guest. I've been waiting to talk to him. He's just 21 years of age, 21 year old liberal political commentator with more than 8.2 million combined followers on the social media and over 105 billion likes on TikTok alone. Matter of fact, I think the number eclipse is 9 million. His daily political and social live streams on YouTube and TikTok have made him the Gen Z face of politics. Please welcome for the first time the straight shooter with yours truly, Mr. Dean Withers. How are you, Dean? How's everything, man? Good to see you. How's everything?

C (23:11)

I'm having a great day out here in sunny Colorado that happens to be a little bit snowy today, but nonetheless, I'm enjoying myself.

B (23:20)

It's.

C (23:20)

It's good to be on. And I appreciate you for inviting me to be here, man.

B (23:24)

Please, the pleasure is all mine. I'm looking forward to learning something from you tonight, my man. You. You know, you grew up, correct me if I'm wrong, you grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado. Correct? It's an extreme. In an extremely conservative household, how did you become engaged in politics and when did your perspective shift to a more liberal ideology? Ideology.

C (23:44)

That's a good question. Because as you pointed out, I absolutely did grow up not just in a conservative household, but a conservative environment. You know, going to church two times a week and everybody around me kind of having the same thoughts as my parents. So, I mean, the branch off to liberalism for me really started first on J6 when I watched, you know, the president, who's still the president today, you know, Donald Trump, you know, caused his followers to go raid our capitol, literally smear their feces on the walls inside, which kind of in my mind sparked this thought of sparking division across the country. And at that point, maybe I still agreed with some of his policies or at least thought I did, but inevitably, because of how divisive that presidency was, it really drove me away. And, you know, since J6, of course, that's 2021, until now in 2026, I've spent my time reading, researching, and really have taken an initiative to learn more about not just the world we live in, but the government in which controls the policy that influences my life and the lives of those that I care. And to put in a nutshell, I think I'm on the left because reality has a left leaning bias.

B (24:49)

I hear what you're saying. I guess what I'm asking is, do you find yourself being on the left because you're against Donald Trump or because you genuinely feel what liberals feel? Policy wise. Policy wise.

C (25:03)

It's a mix of both. I'm on the left because I agree with how Liberals feel, and I mean, a lot of the, you know, points that we see being thrown around about the necessary nature of things like universal health care, about caring for everybody, about how social programs, you know, influence a drive to push our country forward compared to holding us back because poor people are lazy on top of, you know, the social issues that I care about, such as, you know, the acceptance of everybody, regardless of your sexual orientation, race or gender. But right now I do spend a lot of my time talking about, you know, the tyranny that we see downstream from the Trump administration. And honestly, today I feel like a what it means to be on the left does include, you know, these policy initiatives that we've been hearing people like Bernie Sanders talk about for years now. But it also includes this very deep rooted resentment for the abuse of power that we are now all watching every day, either on our phone screens, on the TV, or maybe as you are, maybe some of your producers out there.

B (26:07)

In D.C. do you blame Trump when you're talking about the abuse of power? I shouldn't say, do you blame Trump? Cuz I know you do. But I'm talking about, is it just him? Is it primarily him? Or do you have more of a concern about those who, dare we say, are lacking a spine when it comes to confronting him about some of the things that he does see? For me, I think more about that than him because I believe that anybody in a position of power, unfortunately, throughout history has shown that if they can wield it with impunity, they will do so. It's usually the checks and balances that we have in place as the United States of America, where you're checking cats and you're saying, you can't do that. We're not letting you get away with that. We saw more of that in the past. We certainly don't see enough of that now. That's where I look at when I'm looking at Congress and the Senate, obviously, when it comes to, you know, the checks and balances that I believe have been minimized, to say the least.

C (27:06)

Absolutely. I mean, I agree with you there. I think it, you know, this equation definitely includes a condemnation of those who capitulate. But of course, that all starts with what they're capitulating to. I think that two things can be true at once. I think that the primary driver of a bunch of lawlessness and as I'd call it, clearly authoritarian practices is the Trump administration. I mean, every day something new comes out about how they are illegally redacting his name from the files 950,000 times, or how he wants to breach the articles of our Constitution to possibly federalize elections, or how the 14th Amendment is now meaningless. And, you know, we don't care that in 1868 we passed this amendment that gave you a claim to birthright citizenship if you're born here. Now, if your parents are undocumented, guess what? We're going to take it away with no approval from Congress through new amendment, or no reinterpretation from SCOTUS on the basis of the 14th Amendment that already exists. But those who capitulate, they definitely embolden those proclivities, they embolden those behaviors because it absolutely tells Trump that he could get away with it. Trump is the same man today in 2026 that he was in 2017 during his first term. Right. And for the majority of his first term, with the exclusion of January six in the lead up to that, you know, we didn't see the same figure that we do now. We saw somebody who was newer to politics, didn't know how to select the right Cabinet to find the right people that are willing to place him above the Constitution, so on and so forth. So I feel as if that capitulation from his cabinet and the capitulation for many people in Congress have definitely emboldened those behaviors that existed 10 years ago that we just didn't see to the same extent because of the lack of capitulation.

B (28:44)

What about, as a liberal commentator, what about those on the right that make the argument that you kind of brought it on yourself? Not you, the Democratic Party, when they talked about how you weaponized, you know, the justice system in pursuing cases against him, you were excessive in doing so. And as a result, him being back in office and engaging in what I personally called a vengeance tour, you know, against a myriad, a myriad of people, all of whom, you know, the John Boltons of the world, the Letitia James of the world, Jack Smiths of the world and others, of course. What about the role that liberals are accused of playing in it? Because when they had power, they certainly did everything they could to try and undermine him, if not flat out throw him in jail for the rest of his life. What do you say to that?

C (29:31)

Well, I mean, if wanting to hold a criminal accountable for their crimes is now something that the riot is outcasting, labeling as bad and using as justification for more crime, I would seriously doubt the speculative basis that those on the right have been screaming and shouting about law and order. Listen, the. The claim that we see from millions of Americans that the Biden Harris administration somehow weaponized or abused the DOJ against Trump is baseless. It is a just a form or a piece, a figment of this big lie propaganda that we've seen distributed by the Trump administration in an attempt to get larger populist support for their lawlessness. And a really good example of just how baseless it truly is is what we've seen coming from the DOJ in the last year and a month with the Epstein files. I mean, there's a couple things from the Epstein files that we know makes Trump look bad. Okay, well, we know if it was present and publicly available before the 2020 election, would have had. Would have inevitably led to less people voting for Trump, should it could have even won Kamala Harris the election. But because the DOJ upheld such great respect for the independence of the DOJ from the Biden Harris administration, because that's what the Biden Harris administration upheld, they didn't dip their hand into those files and just release the ones that incriminated Trump because they respect the check, because they respect the checks and balances is because they respect that separation. And anybody who would claim otherwise, I believe, is just disseminating the propaganda that has allowed for this lawlessness to occur.

B (30:56)

What do you say about your party, in terms of them losing the election? Why do you believe Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost in 2024?

C (31:09)

I'd say the largest reason why Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election had a lot to do with people's, you know, feelings directed towards the economy that didn't perform too well under the Biden Harris administration, which of course wouldn't be, in my mind, predominantly caused by the pandemic. And a lot of people are this takeaway saying, well, the economy is really bad under Biden. It seems like the liberals are failing my bank account. They're making me stretch my money. So now I'm going to vote for this other guy that says if I do vote for him, he's going to usher in this golden era economy. It's going to be great. We're all going to win. Which of course, has been proven to not be true in the last year and a month. And then a couple other things that I'd say helped Trump win the 2020 election. 2024 election, my apologies, has to do with how late Biden stepped down and how Biden left Kamala Harris only with a little bit over 120 days to throw together a presidential campaign to run against a man who's already spent the last 10 years of his life campaigning for that same office. And it's a combination of multiple of multiple factors, those being the two primary ones.

B (32:08)

But wasn't that the party's fault? Couldn't they, I mean, if they got rid of him in July, couldn't they have gotten rid of him earlier? Couldn't they have got him to step away earlier? So again, there could have been a primary. You might. Listen, I don't want to say a better candidate because I don't think Kamala Harris ran a bad campaign. I thought her disastrous moment was on the View when they asked her, is there anything that you would change? She's like, no, I can't think of anything. I thought that was a disaster. I thought that was a huge mistake on her part. But for the most part, I didn't think she campaigned badly at all. I just thought she had to deal with the cards that was dealt to her. But many members of the party could have facilitated her getting in earlier. Are you of that belief or am I, am I stepping out of pocket by saying that?

C (32:47)

Well, I, I'm, I'm not necessarily fully opposed to that belief because I think we all remember Biden saying that he was going to be a one term transitionary president, which of course that narrative changed. He started running for a second term, then dropped out. So I'm not opposed to that belief at all. I mean, I definitely do think that the Democratic Party has a lot to learn from the 2024 election. And I think that we are learning a lot from it. I mean, just look at the new figures that are popping up all across this country with the progressive likes of Zoram Mamdani in New York City, to, you know, people down in Texas like James Talarico finally saying the truth and talking about the fact that billionaires are really destructive to the working class and it's not undocumented immigrants or trans people, which is also, you know, a little bit more progressive than the Democratic Party has been historically. I'm not opposed to those beliefs in the slightest.

B (33:36)

Dean Withers right here with Stephen A. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. You know, right now I'm thinking about you because getting back to you personally, you rose to fame through your debates on Jubilee, if I Remember correctly, a YouTube channel that hosts political and social debates with conservative figures like Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro and for videos like, you know, liberal teen or versus 20 Trump supporters. What motivated you to create political content in the first place?

C (34:03)

Well, I would say it's just the simple fact that when I've interacted with friends in my own life, when I've talked to my family members, when I've went to school, when I've sat in the classroom. There is a general lack of critical reasoning that is true of the vast majority of American constituents surrounding politics and why we vote for who we do. And I've seen the GOP primarily, primarily Trump, take advantage of this fact and, and construct harmful misinformation through the use of propaganda campaigns to convince people to believe in lies, hinging on the abuse of the lack of critical reasoning within the American constituent base. So the point of my platform and what I do is just to incentivize people to critically think more. Every day I have open discussions, conversations with people who disagree with me and I disagree with them. And I just simply request them to, to articulate the reasons why they support Trump. And I request people to value facts, reason and evidence a little bit more because I believe if we started doing that in 2015, Donald Trump never would have been president the first time around.

B (35:09)

Do you consider yourself the liberal left version of the late Charlie Kirk?

C (35:17)

Well, I've seen a lot of people say that on the Internet, but I wouldn't prefer the title of the Democratic Charlie Kirk because I think I'm a lot better at doing what I than Charlie Kirk was at what he did. Explain why? Yeah, in the sense of I saw him go campus to campus to campus, not asking people to critically think, not asking people to open a book, not asking people to use their brain, but rather just asking people to fall for the one liner gotchas and the same misinformation that's been tired and tried for years and years and years by the Trump administration. I mean, you know, I've honestly really spent a lot of time reflecting on this. You look at Charlie Kirk's Twitter, I would ask you to find me three times he ever disagreed with a single action taken by Donald Trump since 2015. You can't. I mean, I think it was just a larger part of a money making scheme in an attempt to convince more young Americans to grow up to be like your 48, your 48 year old uncle who will be with Trump until the day he dies. And starting with them young, where they're still on the college campus. And that's, that's not what I'm about. That's not what I do. I want people to be smarter. I don't want people to be sheep.

B (36:22)

Yeah, you want people to be smarter. You don't want people to be sheep. And I totally believe you on that. But my question to you would be, how willing are you to disagree with a Democrat in Trump's position? Like you said, Charlie Kirk very rarely disagreed with Trump. Did you disagree in an abundance with Biden?

C (36:42)

There actually was a handful of things that I had disagreements with Biden on. I mean, one big thing is I'm not the biggest fan of the state of Israel. And I think that it's time that we, you know, stop bound the knee to whatever Israel wants whenever they want. And it's time that we stop seeing senators and congressmen and women winning elections running on I'm going to do what is ever in the best interests of the state of Israel on top of a handful of other things, too. I'd say right now, the fruits of the work that I and other more progressive voices that don't align 110% with the Biden Harris administration or the Democratic Party have been putting in has a lot to do with immigration. I mean, 10 years ago, the notion of mass deportation maybe being wrong and mass amnesty, the idea of maybe giving some undocumented immigrants a pathway to residency or citizenship making sense was radical. But I mean anymore, today I'll have Trump supporters joining my stream and I'll explain to them, hey, listen, we would be able to reduce human rights violations. We'd be able to keep families together. We'd be able to grow and grow our own prosperous economy even more than we already are. If we just maybe made some of the undocumented immigrants here residents or citizens, and they're, then they're biting on it. They say, hey, Dean, that makes sense. And I think the only reason why we're seeing the social shift on certain policies or agendas is because of more progressive parties that have historically diverted from the dnc. And I think now the DNC is finally starting to respond pretty responsibly to that by uplifting more progressive voices.

B (38:06)

I have not heard your positions on, on immigration. Could you remind my audience what that is?

C (38:13)

Sure. So, I mean, I think that immigration is one of those topics that can't really be discussed by anybody in like 30 seconds or less. And I think if anybody tells you they can Discuss immigration or 30 seconds or less, they're just feeding you like likely partisan talking points. But, you know, in an attempt to condense it down to a nutshell, I mean, a, I think the way that we, we, we can very pragmatically reduce undocumented immigration into this country is by wiping out the incentive for 99.9% of it. I mean, I mean, look, you know, 99.9% of undocumented immigrants are not violent criminals. You know, they're not Ms. 13 gang members. You know, they're hard working mothers and fathers or accompanied unaccompanied minors. And why have they chosen to enter into this country with use of undocumented means? Well, it's because our border has a backlog of like 12 years. If you want to become a citizen, you're going to be waiting there for years and years and years just to get into the application process. You got to spend thousands of dollars. That system is unattainable. And I think that our Congress for the most part is culpable in a bipartisan nature with, you know, with this disproportionately leaning to the right with not making the legal means of entry into this country as attainable as they should be. And I think I could prove this because you'll hear people like Trump say that we have this crisis of undocumented entry, illegal immigrants, we need to stop it now. But you can't find me a single clip of that man standing in the podium with a mic in the last 10 years saying that we need to make the legal means of entry into this country easier. And maybe that would stop a lot of undocumented entry on its own. And that's just the border. I mean, this conversation doesn't even scratch the surface about the undocumented immigrants that are already here. But what I can tell you in 30 seconds or less is that we probably shouldn't be deporting them with no due process to a center for terrorists in El Salvador where they are then tortured from 9pm till 6am I think there's a lot of better, a lot of better, better alternatives.

B (40:01)

Fair enough. But what level of culpability do you throw towards the Democratic, you know, the Democratic Party, particularly the Biden administration, when they said, I don't know whether the accurate number is 12 million, 14 million, 15 million across the border illegally. What do you say to that? That people say that, that that's not sustainable, that can't happen, that wouldn't happen in any other nation. Why should we let it happen in ours and ours? What would be your response to that?

C (40:26)

I'd give the Biden Harris administration a good C minus on immigration. I think that they're a lot better than a lot of people specifically on the right think. You know, the talking points that I hear every day is are, you know, they open the border or they just left the border open. They didn't really do anything about it. And I feel like this really overshadows their attempt to push a bipartisan border bill through the American Congress, drafted by Republican James Lankford, who is, you know, one of Donald Trump's favorites. So it's crazy that we were able to find this bipartisan agreement that not only would expedited the legal means of entry into this country by funding courts along our southern border, billions and billions and billions of dollars, therefore, naturally disincent incentivizing undocumented entry, you know, but also would have given the President this very special authority that the President's never had before to just completely shut the border down, you know, once a certain amount of undocumented immigrants had crossed it on a rolling daily average for a week. And in response to, you know, this bill being propped up by the American Congress, in response to Republicans and Democrats coming together for the first time in a long time on immigration policy, I truly think people overlook how significant that was. Donald Trump turned around and told Republicans to shoot it down. So, I mean, I think we saw a good attempt there by the Biden Harris administration to do something. But, you know, of course, the reason why I'd give them a C minus instead of an A plus is because, you know, they probably could have used executive orders such as they did in their last year a little bit earlier in their administration. But I mean, that is such a smaller and more insignificant critique of their administration compared to, once again, the talking points we see from the right saying they let all these criminals, illegal invader aliens into the country because they want them to vote in elections to ensure that Republicans never get power, power again.

B (41:57)

What do you think the Democratic Party is most strongest right now?

C (42:02)

What do I think they're the most strong?

B (42:03)

Where do you think they're more. Where do you think they're most strongest right now?

C (42:08)

I'd say the strongest point of the Democratic Party today in February of 2026 would be, would be for pushing for accountability with the Epstein files. I'd say that they could do a lot more, which of course, will probably always be said about politics, and we should. By the way, it's good to advocate for more progression, but I'd say what they're doing right now is strong. You know, for the first time ever, I'm opening my phone and going on the Democrats TikTok account, which they started, and I'm able to legitimately read how the President is refusing to release all the files, is breaking law, defying Congress. I'm able to see great Democrats like Jamie Raskin like Rep. Rokhanna and many others, pressure Pam Bondi in this congressional hearing that was held with her a handful of days ago, maybe a week ago, exposing her as the fraud. She is having her pivot to talking about the economy when they're just simply trying to get her to look at the Epstein survivors. That is definitely the strongest point of the Democratic party today.

B (43:05)

You're 21 years of age. If you had to give Democratic leadership one piece of advice about reaching young men such as yourself, not that they got to reach you, but you know what I mean? If you had to give them one piece of advice, what would it be?

C (43:22)

Oh, that's a really good question. Reaching young men. Well, I would first honestly say this is the biggest piece of advice I'd give to current Democratic leaders to reach young men is to invest more in the deconstruction of the beliefs that a lot of young men in America already have, that have them firmly on the right. I think that we have seen a major capitalization of social media, of the interests that are more typical of young men, like the gym, like cars, and many other things for years now in a way that we just simply haven't seen from the left. But it's really given the right an upper hand to kind of convince young men of whatever they want to, to almost indoctrinate them into these subliminal biases or foundational core beliefs that are antithetical to the values of the left. And the biggest piece of advice for the Democrats once again, would just be to start working on deconstructing that. You know, we need to be talking more about, you know, how maybe men are also hurt by toxic masculinity. You're not just hurting women, you're hurting yourself because now you've isolated yourself from anybody who would ever, who could ever possibly love you because you're an asshole to them. How you know, it's not. It's just a complete and total lie that the left wants to take all your money in tax and then give it to low income Americans to waste away in squalor while they watch TV until midnight. And how social safety nets actually are beneficial not just to low income Americans, but to everybody, so on and so forth.

B (44:45)

Last question to you and thank you for your time, by the way. I really enjoyed the conversation. I really appreciate it. Let me ask you this question, last question. Is there one candidate, one within a Democratic Party that you can point to, that you absolutely, positively not just want, but firmly believes can beat any GOP candidate out there? For the presidency of the United States.

C (45:10)

I think that's a very complex question because when we're talking about beating somebody, it's not just what policies are they running on or what they like to talk about. It's, you know, what they can convince the people of. I'm going to be honest here, Stephen. From my perspective, it's a little bit too early for me to put all my eggs in one basket. But what I will say, God, when I listen to AOC talk, you know, there's just this feeling that I haven't gotten since Obama. When I listen to AOC talk, when I listen to people like James Talarico talk, you know, there's this feeling that I just haven't gotten for so long of intellect, of high levels of education, of legitimate care for other people.

B (45:52)

I'm not questioning that, Dean.

C (45:53)

I always hear some great people.

B (45:54)

I'm not questioning that, Dean. But I am worried about a. So I don't want to call it social all the way, but certainly some of the things that they're saying, I mean, come on, come on, D. You got to admit that. I mean, they're not traditional Democratic operatives. Are you willing to admit that?

C (46:11)

Well, I mean, traditional Democratic operatives lost the last election to a 34 count felon, held civilly liable for rape. So I think it's time we start progressing.

B (46:17)

Well, whose fault was that? Isn't that the American. Isn't that the Democratic voters in this country? 70, nearly 75 million people went to the poll. How come you didn't make sure it was over 77?

C (46:27)

Well, you asked me whose fault it is that the Democrats lost last election. We actually had a conversation about that earlier. I told you, I think it's a mixed match of people like Trump and his and convincing him of convincing the people about him being better for the economy and a lack of culpability for Biden not stepping down earlier. But listen, I think what we're seeing now, this whole socialism scare is a whole lot like the red scare of McCarthyism. I'm not a socialist. I'm not a communist. I'm actually on the foundational level, I'm a capitalist. I think that there's a way we could practice capitalism that is benevolent. Okay, I'm a social Democrat, but at the same time, there's no socialist in any public office anywhere in America that's turning around and saying that they want to take your rights away from the ownership of the privatized means of production. Look at Zoran Mamdani, somebody who proudly bring him up.

B (47:18)

I was getting ready to bring him up.

C (47:20)

Yeah. Somebody who proudly calls himself a socialist is a working social Democrat within the American political system. Because right now there just simply is no room for socialism as it stands. It's not something that people support, and that's not something that 99% of the Congress supports.

B (47:35)

Dean Withers, I would love to continue this conversation, but I got to get ready to go. I want you to know you're welcome back on the show anytime. I really enjoyed the conversation, getting to know you a little bit. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you. And you're welcome back anytime. And you're welcome to sit up there and, and, and, and check in and correct me anytime you want or whatever. You're pretty. You're smart as a whip, my man. I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much.

C (47:55)

You have a good rest of your night, man.

B (47:56)

You do the same. Dean Withers right here with Straight Shooter on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Love the conversation. No doubt about it. Said a lot of interesting things, a lot of stuff to discuss, and we certainly will after we talk to Governor Westmore. 866-996-776. You're listening live Straight Shooting with Stephen A. Back with more in a minute.

A (48:15)

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B (49:15)

Five minutes. Best album number one. Let's go to a phone call. Ken in California, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Ken?

E (49:21)

Hey, Stephen A. Yeah, you got a.

B (49:24)

Little over a minute. Go ahead, man. Make your point, buddy.

E (49:26)

Okay, Quick, quick question. Now. You had mentioned Kamala Harris and you know I don't know if you know this, but she was one of the top, you know, throwing brothers in jail when she was a district attorney of California.

B (49:39)

Well, that was. That was a debate. That was a debate they kept throwing in her face. You had liberals refuting that proclamation that she was doing that or that she was doing that as prolifically as people were trying to label her doing. But nevertheless, it certainly was a concern leading into the election that a variety of black men had with her. No doubt about that.

E (50:00)

Right. So what I try to say is. What I'm trying to say is that the Democratic Party, again, has been a fraud ever since I was in middle school. Okay, so, like, for example, Obama, you know, he was sending money to the. To the California for the high speed rail. That's going to nowhere with Gavin Newsom.

B (50:18)

Wait a minute, wait a minute. If Obama is sending money to California and the money's going anywhere, nowhere, isn't that something we need to look at Gavin Newsom about instead of Obama?

E (50:27)

Well, exactly, exactly. Obama's not in office no more. So if, like, Gavin Newsom ran twice and California. Well, yeah, he ran once. Somehow, I don't know how he won the second term around. I believe they cheated. I believe they cheated.

B (50:41)

See, come on, y'. All. Come on, y'.

A (50:42)

All.

B (50:43)

I mean, we can believe that, but listen, we can't prove it. We wasting breath, we wasting energy with that nonsense. You know what I'm saying? Just as much as Trump wastes energy by talking about the election was rigged. Look, you lost, you got removed from office, and then you came and won it back.

E (50:57)

But Steven, Steven, we not dumb. I mean, come on now, come on.

B (51:01)

I'm saying with politics. With politics, there's always cynicism and skepticism that has to be accompanied with it because we've never trusted the system. You and I both know that Ken.

E (51:14)

Vote against themselves, vote for higher taxes, who vote for. Like I'm saying, I'm in California so far.

D (51:21)

Tax.

E (51:21)

The tax ban on the back law.

B (51:25)

I got you. I appreciate the call, Ken. Thanks a lot. I'm not. I'm not dismissing Ken's claims. I'm just saying. What does it say? It's blowing the nose, whistling into the wind. Oh, we know they did this. We know they did that. Well, they're gonna deny it. Can you prove it? Come on now, let's be more substantive is all I'm trying to say in our proclamations. No doubt. Governor Westmore for the great state of Maryland. He's been in the news a lot. Lady Courtesy of President Donald Trump, who makes it a point to talk about him a lot these days. He'll respond in a minute. Governor Westmore. Up next right here with Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Don't Go Away album number two coming at you.

A (52:00)

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D (52:29)

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B (52:57)

Trade shooter with Stephen A. My guest is the 63rd governor and the first black governor in Maryland's 246 year history. And he's just the third black person ever elected to the office. An army veteran, a Rhodes scholar, and a New York Times bestselling author, please welcome back to the show and for the first time, a straight shooter with yours truly, the governor of Maryland, Westmore. What's going on? Big time. How are you, man? How's everything going?

D (53:33)

Hey, sir, I'm good. Listen, I like, I like that capital behind you.

B (53:37)

Yeah, yeah, I like that. It looks like it looks kind of nice. It's more suited for you than me. You look comfortable. You look comfortable. Not that comfortable. Not that comfortable. Listen, first things first, Congratulations. I saw the Town hall on CBS over the weekend. You did an excellent job. It was great. The message that you want to send to folks in Maryland and to the American people even days later as we're sitting here right now would be what.

D (54:04)

Would be that we should be hopeful about our future as long as we're willing to actually work together. You know, honestly, one of the things I love about being a governor is we don't get into the, the Washington food fight of the back and of the back and forth. You know, I always say this is in this seat is where I am comfortable because I remember as a soldier, you know, I never once asked my soldiers, what's your political party? It didn't matter. We had one job, one mission, one goal. And our job was to go there and fight for each other and, and, and bring home, and bring home a victory. And so I think that's the approach that we're just trying to take with this, you know, try to take with this work and try to take in this moment. And so I would just tell people that, that remember, as long as we don't give up on each other, that, that we're going to be just fine.

B (54:48)

There's a we element to everything that you say, which is what makes you the leader that you are, are. But you're in an individual fight. One could easily argue right now, every time I turn around over the last few days, the President of the United States is mentioning your name. And as of late now, he's brought up the whole sewage issue in the Potomac and what has transpired with there in terms of millions being dumped, millions of sewage being dumped into the Potomac River. He's pointing the finger of blame at you. How do you respond to that? How do you answer to that right now?

D (55:19)

Now, you know, it's, it's, it's not just absurd and offensive. If it weren't so serious, it would be comical. Because let's be clear what we're talking about. We are talking about the breakage of a DC Pipe on federal land. Maryland has nothing to do with this. Somehow he's introduced Maryland into this conversation when this is a DC Pipe on federal land. The only reason we are involved is when I first heard about this, that I instructed our teams to support Washington D.C. in their efforts to be able to stop the damage and actually start with a rebuild. The reason I did that was twofold. One is I did not want to have any contagion that would then impact the people of the state of Maryland, because again, this is not in Maryland. The second piece is I actually believe in supporting our neighbors, and if your neighbor is in trouble, you help them. And so for the past month, when the federal government. This is actually the federal government's responsibility. This interconnector is the responsibility of the federal government. And it's been like that for a, for literally a century. But when the federal government decided not to act and when the federal government was not supporting, we then contacted our partners in Washington D.C. and say, then we'll help. And so now for the past week, the overflow situation, for, for that for that pipe has now been fixed. It's been solved. However, now the President wants to get involved and say, well, if you need help, call me. Well, Mr. President, you weren't there when they actually did need help. We were. You did not do your job. We did your job. And so frankly, you know, when. When the President says, well, they should just ask me nicely. My point is this. Here's my nice ask Mr. President, please do your job so I don't have to do. Do it for you.

B (57:11)

And I'm interested in knowing the reason I asked the question is because I think it was today or yesterday. They had a press conference about. You had a press conference about the Potomac. I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute now. I mean, we can't. We've seen Caroline Levitt over there talking about the incompetence on the part of the governor of Maryland and all of this other stuff. And I'm saying to myself, okay, could it be another distractionary measure that wouldn't be of a surprise, but. Or is the fact that we're hearing the governor being mentioned more and more indication that essentially Governor West Moore is on the mind of the President of the United States because of whatever reason? I mean, what do you say to all of that right now?

D (57:50)

Well, I'd say, unfortunately, it is a distraction because while he's talking about a pipe that has nothing to do with Maryland, that is a D.C. pipe on federal land, do you know what he's not talking about? How he's actually going to address your rising energy prices. You know what he's not talking about? How he's going to address the fact that beef is up 19%. That he's not addressing the fact that you have. That you have aluminum that is up 23% or the fact that you have fertilizer for our families that is up double digits. He's not addressing the fact that you have housing, a housing crisis in this country, and people cannot afford to live close to where they work, close to where they go to school, close to where they worship. He's not talking about that. What he's talking about is why the governor of Maryland is to blame for a broken pipe in D.C. that sits on federal land. And so this is a complete distraction about the fact that he is giving millionaires tax breaks, he's giving his friends tax breaks, while for the rest of us, we're just watching the cost of everything continue to rise.

B (58:59)

With all those categories that you brought up, you talk about energy, you're talking about beef and Stuff like that. What level of culpability does the President of the United States truly have in issues like you just highlighted?

D (59:11)

Well, the President of the United States has significant responsibility because of tariff policies. So, you know, so when you talk to our farmers over in Maryland and listen, agriculture is the number one industry inside of the state of Maryland. We spend quite a bit of time with our farmers and in our farming communities and ask them about what has been the impact of tariffs on everything from soy to, you know, to all the other farming equipment that they need to the things to dish, things like fertilizer. That's all tariffs. When they're watching this jump in price, you know, when we're talking about things like, you know, supermarkets, the reason that we're watching the price of price jump in supermarkets is because we're watching the cost of goods continue to increase, which is then driving up prices. And so, you know what. But despite that fact, what we're doing, for example, in the state of Maryland is I've introduced legislation that goes against price manipulation, where we were seeing how people's data was being used against them when they went into supermarkets. And supermarkets were able to adjust prices literally by them by the second when they saw a person going for individual products that they're used to buying because they know that they would pay more for it. And so I've actually introduced legislation now in the state of Maryland that makes that illegal, that you cannot price gouge people when you know that. That especially for our working parents, they have but a matter of time to be able to shop for their families. Do not manipulate the prices on them because you know that they cannot come back at another time. And so we're doing everything we can do to try to keep prices low, to try to address the cost of living for the people in our states. But there is no doubt that people are not confused that when they're watching this jump in prices on everything from energy to the price of goods to the price of materials, that is a direct correlation to the economic policies that we're seeing from the White House and these tariff policies that continue to make it harder for people.

B (61:10)

We're talking to the Governor of Maryland, Westmore, right here with Stephen A. Straight shooter with Stephen A. Here for the first time. By the way, this is my guy, but he's here for the first time. I want to get into you specifically when I bring this up as well, because Maryland is facing roughly a $1.5 billion projected shortfall. If I remember correctly, you've cited federal workforce reductions as one factor. Yet your budget preserves major commitments to education and public safety. If revenue projections worsen, what specific areas would you consider before turning to broad based tax increases? A lot of people have asked me to ask that question. Your thoughts on that?

D (61:46)

Yeah. Well, you know, one thing I think the people of our state know is that I don't believe that being fiscally disciplined, but also having high aspirations for the people of your state, that those have to be competing ideas that, you know, we've now gone where I've introduced, you know, my, the year, all the years I've been the governor, We've now introduced four, four budgets with a balanced budget, something that no one in Washington has actually been able to do. That we have been able to preserve 8% in our rainy day fund, a very healthy 8% in our rainy day fund. So we've been able to still keep cash reserves while also still making sure that we're being smart and disciplined, that we've been able to make smart, strategic cuts. Last year, our budget had a large amount of cuts in the Maryland budget that we have seen in 16 years. And this is the fourth year in a row that I have introduced a budget that the general fund was smaller than the year before. So I've actually shown that in Maryland you can do more with less. And by the way, and as you pointed out, we did it and have not raised taxes nor fees on the people of the state of Maryland. And so, you know, I don't come from the world of politics. You know, I'm new to this political game.

B (62:55)

You know, not as new as me, but go ahead.

D (62:59)

You will be newer.

B (63:00)

You will be newer, sir, Absolutely.

D (63:03)

But, you know, but, but I, I don't, I don't come. I, I'm an army officer. I led soldiers in combat and I come from the business world. So I'm, I'm new to politics, but I'm not new to balance sheets. I know how to actually stimulate growth. And the way you stimulate growth is you need to make sure you control your spend, increase your top line and diversify your sources. And that's exactly what we're doing in the state of Maryland. And that's why I think what we're seeing and what we're doing is working.

B (63:30)

Let me transition to the redistricting issue because that's been an issue in Texas, obviously, Maryland, with what you've proposed and other places as well, you've pushed for making mid cycle redistricting a priority this session. Some Senate Democrats have expressed caution about legal risk and political Fallout and all of that stuff. But why is this fight worth pursuing now? And how do you square it with your message of bipartisan governance?

D (63:53)

Yeah, well, first I, I do want to remind people that the reason we're even having this conversation is because. That's exactly right. The only reason that anyone is having this conversation is because the President started calling individual states and saying, well, I need for Texas and Florida and Ohio and Missouri and North Carolina to go through mid decade redistricting, but they wanted everyone else to stand on our hands. Like, I don't understand how that works. And I just don't understand how someone can punch you in the face and you stand there and say, but tradition, like, nah, that's not, that's not how this, that's not how this works. Especially when you look at the fact that our state has been under a greater level of assault from this administration than any other state in this country. We've had over 20, we've had 25,000 people fired by this administration just since he has been the president a year ago. And not a single dollar of federal disaster aid, which by the way, is taxpayer dollars, but not a single dollar in disaster relief has come to Maryland or any other state that did not vote for Donald Trump. And so what we did was I said, I'm not going to, we're not going to do this the way Texas did it or one of these other states that literally just sat there over a weekend with a Sharpie penny in a back door in a back room and came up with new maps. I said, no, we're going to do it our way. So I created a bipartisan redistricting commission that spent months listening to Marylanders. Every single Marylander had a chance to have their voice heard and they listened to them and they came back with recommendations. And the recommendations they came back with showed that actually six of the eight jurisdictions in the state of Maryland actually got more competitive. And in fact, if you look at the, if you look at the seat that's held by the one Republican, what actually happened was that seat just got more competitive because what it did was that was one of the more gerrymandered seats in the entire state. And so this is what the people request and pull together. And so the Maryland House of Delegates then came back, they debated, they discussed, they made adjustments and then they voted. And the only ask I have of the Maryland Senate is let democracy win, which just simply means vote. And frankly, if you vote, I don't care what the result of the vote is, because that's the way democracy works. Sometimes the vote doesn't go your way and that's okay. But we still stand by democracy. And that's my only ask in this moment, is do not let democracy die in the free state. That's not who we are.

B (66:25)

You alluded to, if not flat out talked about how the President is, you know, essentially helping the states that supported him and obviously liberal states that felt otherwise. He's not giving any aid to that. Is that your way of saying that essentially he's not being a president to all Americans, he's only being a president to some Americans?

D (66:44)

I think that's what he's saying. You know, when, when you look at, when you look at what happened in western Maryland, that we had historic flooding in western Maryland and we put in for disaster relief after they had historic flooding there, and we just simply received a spons response saying support for Maryland is not warranted. I contacted the President personally and I reminded him, And I said, Mr. President, the area that you all turned down, they voted for you. 70% of the area that you just turned down voted for Donald Trump in the election. And they're the who he turned down.

B (67:25)

What did he say when you told.

D (67:26)

Him that he turned us down again.

B (67:29)

He just turned you down again.

D (67:31)

Just turn us down again. So this is what we are dealing with. That, that, you know, when I go places, I don't care if you voted for me last time or not. If you're a Marylander, you're good with me. I look at areas like that I was just at last week over in Dorchester County. Dorchester county voted. You know, I lost Dorchester county by 14 points in the last election. And, you know, I've been there 17 times since I was elected as governor. And a lot of people are like, you know, there's not a lot of Democrats there. And I say, yeah, but there's a lot of Marylanders, and that's all I need to know.

B (68:05)

So with that being said, why were you on CBS this week and saying that, you know what, you just love Maryland, you're happy in Maryland. You ain't thinking about running for president when clearly the President has the ability and the power to make a difference on a national and international level, not just the great state of Maryland. Westmore has an opportunity to really spread his wings and fly, figuratively speaking. But he's chilling in the town hall saying, I ain't going away. I ain't going away. I'm gonna be right here. Why is that, sir? Why is that?

D (68:34)

Because I'm still Waiting to see who else is gonna be running. Stephen A.

B (68:37)

What is that supposed to be? What's that supposed to mean? What's that supposed to mean? Governor, what is that supposed to mean? It doesn't matter because your message is better than most.

D (68:47)

No, listen, I mean, I, I, I, I love the fact that, that people are happened in Maryland. And it's true. I mean, you know, we've had, since I've been the governor, we've had amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America. Our, our violent crime rate is down nearly 50% since I become the governor. That we've gone from being 43rd in the country in unemployment to now having an unemployment rate that is consistently lower than the national, than the national average. We'd added over 35,000 new businesses, nearly 100,000 new jobs inside of the state of Maryland. Our population is growing faster than it has in a, in a decade that we are watching momentum and movement that we have not seen in a while in our state. And people are excited about that. But you know who's also excited about it? Me. And that's also why I'm really excited to run for reelection. And I, and I hope and I pray that the people of my state, you know, give me the honor of keeping this thing going back to the.

B (69:40)

Issue of the Potomac river for just a second here. DC Water owns the infrastructure, but the environmental impact obviously is in the state that you run, you know, what authority does your administration have to ensure accountability and remediation and are you prepared to pursue legal action if necessary?

D (69:57)

It's, it's a, it's a great point and that's the reason why we got involved so early is that yes, this is a, this is a DC crisis that is on federal land, but the thing that I did not want was for this runoff and contagion to start impacting the people of Maryland. That is why we intervened, that is why we got involved and that's why we wanted to provide whatever supports to Washington D.C. that, that they needed at that moment, particularly when they saw that the federal government was not providing those levels of support. So that's why we stepped up and we did their job. You know, we're, we're going to look at and examine all options to ensure that, that our people are safe and protected and also making sure that the federal government takes this, takes this seriously. And this is one of the reasons why the lies and the gaslighting and the finger pointing that we have seen from this White House is just so deeply disappointing. Not only does it show me that they don't understand the seriousness of this issue that we have been dealing with, that we've been supporting our friends in D.C. and dealing with for the past month, but it shows me that they don't even have a concern to understand, and that in many ways is even more dangerous and devious.

B (71:14)

National Governors association, that topic was in the news for a little bit because you and one other were not invited by the president. Where does that situation currently stand? I heard that was rectified and that's no longer the case. But where does that currently stand with you right now in terms of an invite for the National Governors association meeting? I spoke to Kentucky Governor Bashir, and he obviously says he's a friend of yours. He was on the show last week and he certainly said he stands by you and you ain't showing up. They ain't showing up. Well, where do you go stand right now?

D (71:46)

Yeah. Andy is a friend, and I'm grateful for him and so many other governors who have. Who have basically said that they, when they heard that I was disinvited from, you know, from this dinner, who said, listen, we're going to stand with you. And I, and I appreciate that from the bottom of our heart. You know, what I know is this, is that if. If all members are not invited, then by definition, it is not an NGA event. So if the president wants to have meetings at the White House or the president wants to have dinner, that is fine. But he also knows that it will not be an NGA event because not all members are invited. The thing that I did want to, you know, remind the president of, though, is that you, you know, you cannot disassociate me from an organization that you did not make me a part of. The President of the United States is not the reason I'm a member of the nga. That. The reason I'm a member of the NGA is because the people of Maryland elected me to be their 63rd governor, with the largest vote total of anyone who's ever run for governor in the history of the state of Maryland. That the. The. I am the vice chair of the nga, not because of Donald Trump. I'm the vice chair of the NGA because both Democratic and Republican governors elected me to serve as a leader in the organization. And not only am I the vice chair, come June, I will become the chair of the organization. We will work with anybody to be able to do what's right by the people of our states. I mean, Evidence of it. Just a few weeks back, a led delegation of Democratic and Republican governors to the White House, where we met on energy issues. And we. We signed a member, a statement of principles to pjm, which is our regional grid operator, requesting that they cap price increases for two years. Well, PJM just came back, and they've capped it for the remainder of the decade. We got that done together, Democrats and Republicans showing that we can work in unison and work with the White House on this. So it's one of the reasons why being disinvited was so disappointing and frankly, just very confusing.

B (73:52)

Last question was on a separate matter. I wanted. We had a loss this week. Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away. And obviously, there was a connection that you had to him, I'm sure. I want you to talk about that for a quick second to end this interview and talk about what Reverend Jesse Jackson meant to you, what he meant to the black community, what he meant to America.

D (74:12)

Well, you know, Reverend Jackson was a giant. You know, he was someone who reminded us that we can. We can walk unafraid because we're protected, that we can walk with our heads up and our chest out because we are covered. We're covered with the greatest of hedges, and that's God's protection. And I think about, you know, that I stand here as the governor of the state of Maryland, and there are many amazing shoulders that I stand on. Maybe none as broad as Reverend Jesse Jackson, though, because Jesse Jackson was someone who did not change a mindset for people, but he helped to change the trajectory of a country and helped to remind us that we are going to be better together and that we are going to be stronger, united. And so our heart goes out to the Jackson family. But I want to give a special thank you to them because they shared with us a great, great gift in. In the.

B (75:14)

Reverend Jesse, Governor Westmore from Maryland. Really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. I do have a nugget of good news for you. The Baltimore Ravens will have a better year next year it. Than they did this year, let me tell you. That's about it. That's about it.

D (75:32)

Mentor was a great pickup. He was a great pickup. And I'm not gonna lie. I still held out hope. I held out hope that we would be able to hire Tomlin once I realized that was not gonna happen.

B (75:44)

Really, that's what we're doing. So you was willing to take a Steeler? You were willing to take a steal. This is bad, man. That. That's just bad. A Raven is not a Raven lover is not supposed to talk about taking the Steelers coach. That's not supposed to happen, y'. All.

D (75:58)

Y' all took Patrick Queen and he turned out to be a very good player.

B (76:03)

That's after, you know. You know, he walked out. I mean, he. He wasn't of use to y' all anymore, so we took him. You know, Tomlin walked out voluntarily. He can't do that. And go to the Baltimore Ravens. Can't do that.

D (76:17)

What a beautiful story that would have been. What a beautiful story that would have been.

B (76:21)

I do like mental.

D (76:22)

I do like mental.

B (76:23)

I like mentor, too. I like mentor, too. I'll see you soon, my man. You take care of yourself, all right? Thanks for coming on the show.

D (76:28)

God bless you, sir.

B (76:29)

God bless one and only governor Wes Moore for the great state of Maryland. Right here was a straight shooter with Stephen a. Yours truly. 866-967-6887 is the number, the call to 8669-676887-86696, POTUS. I still think that man should run for president. He's certainly more qualified. A hell of a gazillion times more qualified than me, I'm here to tell you right now. But you know, he is happy in Maryland, and happiness is what makes the world go round. Go figure. Back with more Straight Shooter with yours truly in a minute. 31 minutes past hour. Number two, Dean Withers, Governor West Moore from the great state of Maryland, both guests on tonight's show. Thank you both so much, much for coming us and blessing our audience with your time and your perspectives. 866-967-6887 is the number to call up. Just 86696. Porters. For the rest of the show, it's just me and you, the callers. Let's get right to it. Let's go to Greg in Michigan. You're live with Stephen A. Greg, good day. Good evening. How are you?

E (77:35)

Stephen A. Mr. Positive. Fantastic show. Wesmore is definitely a presidential candidate in the making. And.

B (77:44)

And I think so.

E (77:44)

My Stephen A. Smith may be vice president. No, you're learning from the best.

B (77:49)

I would never, ever, ever be the vice president. I would be the president or nothing at all.

E (77:54)

Okay.

B (77:55)

I would never be a vp, but go ahead.

E (77:58)

Are you going to be on with Chris tonight?

B (77:59)

Yes, I am. I'll be on with Chris Cuomo at the top of the hour on News Nation. Yes, sir.

E (78:03)

Very good. Hey, I got to ask you. What, what happened with Colbert and Paramount. Yes, and Paramount Stifling. Colbert, maybe arguably freedom of speech. Does it give you pause that corporations can define and limit one's First Amendment and free speech?

B (78:19)

Couple of things to point to. Number one, could y' all give me that statement by Paramount, please? Because Stephen Colbert said one thing, but the CBS statement said another thing entirely. Let me read it to you, Greg. It says the Late show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Representative James Tilarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal time rule for two other candidates, including Representative Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. The Late show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal time option. That is according to cbs. So CBS is just saying they just presented the FCC equal time situation to them and then it was the Colbert show who made the decision to do what they do. And then we just read this, just so you know, Greg, because I want to make sure that I have this information right here on point for you. It says here, say goodbye to most appearances by political candidates on daytime and late night talk shows, courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter. Here's what my response to that would be. Respectfully, late night brought it on themselves and I don't support these restrictions against them. I am a fan of Jimmy Kimmel. I am a fan of Stephen Colbert. I am a fan of Jimmy Fallon. Here's all I'm saying, Greg. This is my issue. These are brilliant, brilliant late night hosts who have. Who are comedic geniuses. Why not go after everybody? See, the problem is, is that everybody talked about Trump so much that it was so one sided because it's clear, you know, the disgust and the vitriol he evokes and they felt for him. But you got to hit everybody when you're a comedian. Nobody is supposed to be safe. No one is supposed to be spared. And a real problem with our society is that because we got so politically correct and so our sensitivities have been so heightened, it actually affected the comedic world. Why do you think Dave Chappelle goes on Netflix and says what he wants? Because he knows he should be allowed to. Because once upon a time he was. And because this culture shock has hit us all and it's changed. And let's call it what it is, the left has something to do with it too, because of woke culture and cancel culture. What you see the right doing now is it is invoking its own set of standards and none of them were right. Nobody should be safe. Hell, I go. When I go into a place, I expect them to be teasing me about my hairline or something else and an audience laughing at me. So what? That's what comedians do. Late night stopped doing that when it came to practically everybody else but Trump. Not literally speaking, but primarily. So had they spared no one, Trump and his influence over the FCC clearly exist. None of that would have been enough for them to invoke their wishes the way that they've tried. Go ahead, Greg. I'll give you the last word.

E (82:07)

Hey, thank you very much. Now, real quick, you believe in civil discourse unity? Do me a favor. You've got a lot of clout. Can you tell Whoopi Goldberg on the View to say Trump's name? She always goes, you know who I'm talking about. She won't say it. She doesn't understand that that causes division.

B (82:30)

Greg, I got to let you go. I appreciate it. I actually agree with you. And I love Whoopi Goldberg. She's a friend. But he's the president of the United States. You're hosting a television show. You should say his name. You should say his name. I don't disagree with you there, but that is her right. And the View doesn't seem to mind. And so it is what it is. But I agree with you. Stewart in New York, you're live with Stephen A. How are you? Stuart?

E (83:02)

Hi. Very good. Mr. Smith goes to Washington. Good movie. Remember that question, Jesse Jackson, I've heard it said that he didn't, he didn't care for Obama. Any insight on that?

B (83:17)

The insight on it is that Obama didn't appear that receptive to the Reverend Jesse Jackson as he was running for election. And, you know, this is according to people who've said whatever it is that they've said. You know, you're Jesse Jackson, you are Reverend Al Sharpton, and some would argue you paved the way for an Obama to be in a position to capture the presidency. And for lack of a better phraseology, kissing the ring per se and making sure to pay homage to those who paved the way for you was not something that Reverend Jackson and others felt Obama was prone to do at one time. And I guess that's where the resentment lied because Obama became the president of the United States, first African American, first black man to be the president of the United States. It was something that Jesse pursued not once, but twice. But it didn't happen. Al Sharpton pursued. It didn't happen. And Obama pulled it off. And when he pulled it off. There was a lack of a receptiveness towards Reverend Jesse Jackson or at least that's how he felt. And that's where that came from. Didn't hate Obama or anything like that. Just felt that he needed to be more appreciated than he actually was. At least that's what the scuttlebutt was and that's where it comes from.

E (84:38)

All right, one other thing. If you speak to Governor Moore, unless he's listening, I watched the town hall meeting the other night and in his speaking, his speech, he went soft. He wasn't the sharp guy that I've heard time and time again. I don't know why, but he softened.

B (84:58)

Well, he was just on the show. He was just on the show for a half hour. It was a town hall meeting. And maybe he thought that that wasn't the place, the platform to quote unquote, be, you know, sharp or piercing. You know, there's a time and a place for how you present yourself in terms of your delivery and your verbiage from time to time. How you speak in one platform may be a little bit different how you speak in another platform. And that's probably where he's coming from. I get where you're coming from, but he probably felt differently. And that's all that was. Stuart, I appreciate the call, man. Thank you so much. Scott in North Carolina, you're live with Stephen A. How are you?

E (85:31)

Hi, I'm doing great. Thanks for taking my call.

B (85:34)

Thank you. Call.

E (85:35)

I just, I just wanted to, for the gentleman, the 21 year old gentleman that you had on first, he said that Donald Trump was civilly liable for rape, which ABC was not.

B (85:49)

He was. He was not. He was not. He was not. You know, but a lot, but a lot of the liberals, a lot of the liberals say like that and they talk very, very loosely about that time and time and time again. So that, that, that's something that they do and that's that.

E (86:04)

Yes. And one other point about, I, I think the whole narrative around, you know, illegals voting, I, I don't think that's the issue. I think the issue of letting so many people across the border is the census that comes out every 10 years as of right now counts illegals as population, which gives more representation to more.

B (86:30)

Representation and more dollars. And more dollars.

E (86:33)

Correct, correct.

B (86:35)

That's true. That's true. But still in all, even though it gives more representation, more dollars, the reality is, is that there's a voting block that you're trying to secure when you insist upon it too. There's no doubt about that. If you have migrants that come into this country and eventually you find themselves able to vote and what have you, and the vast majority of them believe one party favored they arrive more than another, chances are that's a voting bloc that you're going to secure. That's being. That's going to be favorable to you when it comes to filling seats on Capitol Hill. I think we all know that.

E (87:09)

Yes, I agree. And thanks so much for what you do. I've listened to you from the very beginning.

B (87:17)

Yeah.

E (87:17)

And AOC what he said that he she could beat any Republican.

B (87:25)

No. No way. No.

E (87:27)

On the world stage, she.

B (87:28)

No way. No way. Yeah. Scott, I'm not going at. You don't have to. Don't insult her anything like that. I mean, she's a smart person. She's knowledgeable enough and she articulates well enough. And it's not about that. It's just that she has socialistic views from time to time in a lot of people's eyes. And there's no way I believe she'd win a general election. I do believe that she could win the Senate seat in New York in 2028. I do believe that's plausible because the way New York is tilting and what have you, that's certainly possible. And Chuck Schumer's going to have his work cut out for him if he still wants to stay on board. No doubt about that. But in. In the same breath, I think it's it. I don't think she'd win a general election by any stretch of the imagination because I don't think most Americans vibe with her, the Mamdanis and the Bernie Sanders of the world. That's just where I'm at with it. Appreciate the call, Scott. Derek in New York, you're live with Stephen A. Derek. How are you?

E (88:21)

Good job.

B (88:22)

Do you think that John Cornyn in.

E (88:24)

Texas is going to lose his primary?

B (88:27)

I don't know. I don't know enough about Texas to speak on behalf of those voters out there. I definitely know that he's in for a challenge as pertains to what I've read. And I think Telo Rico and obviously Jasmine Crockett has a following. She has a support. So I don't think that we can underestimate the possibility of him getting knocked off. But it is Texas. It is a red state. And it's very, very hard to imagine that a Democrat is going to win one of those two Senate seats representing 31 million people in that state. I will Say that I find that to be a daunting task, but I'm not gonna say it's impossible for them to win.

E (89:02)

So you think that Ken Paxton is. He's an ally of Trump, though? He's an ally or who? Ken Patton. Ken Paxton.

B (89:09)

Yeah, of course. Of course. Absolutely. I don't think there's no. I don't think there's any denying that. That's my personal opinion, but I don't think there's any denying that. Appreciate the call, Derek. Thank you so much. Tyler in Texas, you're live with Stephen A. What's up, Tyler?

E (89:24)

Stephen, I'm very glad that you read the statement from CBS about the Colbert interview with Telarico. I thought that was really weird that Stephen, like, made that. That statement that apparently Stephen. CBS censored him, and then a day later, he released the interview on his YouTube channel. I looked at my YouTube feed, saw that, and was like, what the hell? I appreciate you showing that. Thank you very much. By the way, I am in Texas. I think there is a chance that Paxton could be corny. It's freaking weird. Personally, I'm voting for Crockett.

B (90:01)

Okay. And why would. And why. I don't mind that choice. I think that she would be a very formidable senator. Why would you vote for her, though?

E (90:11)

That's a good one. When I first saw her initially on the House floor, I didn't think much of her. As I saw her speak more, I was really impressed with how intelligent she is. Not just how intelligent she is, but the way that she's also. There's a certain way that she can communicate to make herself appealable to just regular class voters. She can take the immense amount of energy or information that's in her head. And I really hate to use the word, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. Dumb it down to where average people can understand it and be able to convey it in a way that gets people behind her.

B (90:44)

I think it's important to recognize how, how and how accomplished she is. First of all, she's not dumb. She doesn't sound dumb. She's a very, very articulate and very influential black woman who deserves to be where she is in the United States House of Representatives, and she deserves to be a candidate for the Senate. I questioned her style months ago, and we know the brouhaha that came from that. But I was only asking a question because I want her to be in a position to win a Senate seat. So she's representing 31 million people as opposed to 766,000 had the pleasure of meeting her mother, who was an absolutely wonderful woman. And when you look at Jasmine Crockett, here's what we need to know. You don't call people who have law degrees and a license to practice law in Texas and Arkansas and federally dumb. Only dummies call somebody like that dumb. She's very smart and she's fiery. I just hope it works for her and doesn't work against her in a red state for one or two Senate seats. That's what I'm hoping. We'll see what happens. But I'm certainly not rooting against her, I can tell you that much. I'd love to see on the Senate floor raising hell. It would be something special to behold, to be quite honest with you. But we'll see what happens. 866-967-6887. That's 866-96-POTUS. You're listening live to Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with your calls to close out the show in a minute. Nicki Minaj. Do we love Nicki Minaj, right? I love Nicki Minaj. She was here a couple of weeks ago. So beautiful. Her skin's so beautiful. I said, Nikki is so beautiful. Her nails, her nails are like that long. I said. I said, nikki, are they real? She said she didn't want to get into that, but she was so beautiful and so great and she gets it. You know, more importantly, frankly, she gets it. 50 minutes past album number two, back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. That was the president speaking favorably about Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj has shifted her positions. One of the times she was very, very critical of the president. Obviously, that has not been the case as of recently. You know, Turning Point usa, when she showed up at one of their conferences, obviously speaking very glowingly about the president and then showing up a few weeks ago to speak on his behalf. And then I think being granted a green card or something along those lines, if I remember correctly, a gold card. I apologize. A gold card granting her some citizenship. I guess there was some citizenship concerns or whatever. Listen, that's the card she wants to play. She has every right. I'm not going to insult her for that. It's her business, you know, quid pro quo, as they say. I don't know what it is and I don't particularly care. I know she has a right to support who she wants to support for whatever reason. And people wanting her deported and all of this stuff over that just nonsense. Just disagree and keep it moving. That's what America is supposed to be about. Be quite honest with you. Let's go back to the phones. Let's go to Gary in Missouri. You're live with Stephen A.

D (93:58)

What's up?

E (94:00)

Yes, sir. Two things, if I may, please. One, I was waiting for the minute the Maryland governor to answer the question that you gave him about, you know, what's he gonna do when he's 1.1 billion short. But I was a little disappointed because I don't think he answered it. I wish you would have, because I really wanted to, really wanted to hear what, how he was going to address that.

B (94:27)

Okay.

E (94:27)

And then the second thing is, I don't understand what it is. I guess you need to explain that to me. When the caller said something about, I don't know what the correct verbiage is as far as Trump and his being found. I don't know if the words liable or whatever.

B (94:44)

No, they were listening. All of these people. When, you know, you think about the 34 felony counts and convictions off of the money paid to the, to the porn stars, you got the liberals, every liberal throws that up all the time. And then you have conservatives that are reminding folks that it was a witch hunt. And you know, what system, the legal system was politicized and all of this other stuff. So anytime somebody brings that up, I just keep it moving. I don't live in it. Because the fact of the matter is, is that he's the President of the United States. If you think that it's beneficial to call the President of the United States a criminal while he's representing your nation, you go for it. I think it's counterproductive because he's in office. Whether you like it or not, he's our president. So let's get down to real issues that are really pertinent, as opposed to you pointing to convictions and the fact that he should be in jail and all of this other stuff that a lot of folks on the left and a lot of his detractors want to say, you can want all you want to. He's not. He's in the White House. He's the President of the United States. He's running our country. I didn't vote for him, but I respect the fact that you, if you or anybody else did, that is your right, and that's the American way. And you know what? He's doing his time as the President of the United States. I hope that he far, far more benefits this country than he hurts this country. And that's all Communities included. And obviously, as a black man, the black community, too, especially. So that's how I feel about it. But I don't live in these people that want to live in the times that these people want to point to, he's a convicted felon, blah, blah, blah. Well, damn it, what does it say about our Constitution that somebody could be convicted of a felony and still be the President of the United States? The Constitution allows it, evidently. So let's move on. That's where I'm at with it.

E (96:32)

Gary, I didn't say anything about what you just said. All asked was, was I need to have the correct verbiage. I didn't understand.

B (96:42)

I'm trying to remember, I'm trying to remember it, sir. To be honest, I don't remember the specific verbiage at this point.

E (96:48)

Well, I just, you know, he was, I thought he was found guilty of sexually assaulting that woman. And, you know, I, I, I don't know.

B (97:01)

I got you.

E (97:01)

That was the deal.

B (97:02)

I appreciate it, Gary. Thank you so much. I'm getting, I'm not going to live in it, y'. All. Where does that get us now? Whatever he was found guilty of, what does it matter now? He's the president. This doesn't matter anymore. I know there are a lot of people that does. I'm saying to me, it would matter if it prevented him from getting the presidency, but the fact that it did it and he's in the Oval Office and he's the one whose signature is required in order to pass stuff into law. He's the one whose signature is required when executive orders are being doled out. He's the one that the Republican Party, the GOP in the House and the Senate have to answer to and for and work with. It is what it is. It is what it is. John, in Missouri, you're live with Stephen A. What's up?

E (97:56)

Hey, Stephen A. Also, I think ESPN should be paying you more than 100 million. I think you're doing an amazing job, but thank you. I was going to ask about. Do you think AOC is recent? You know, some people would consider a word salad at the climate summit. Do you think that will implicate her for the future when she possibly tries to run? Because she could be running and she was a Democrat.

B (98:19)

So you're saying. So you need to repeat the question. What exactly are you asking me about aoc?

E (98:26)

Her? You know, she had a moment there where she, some people would consider, you know, a word salad. What do you think that will?

B (98:37)

I don't Know what I would tell you is that anything caught on video, particularly in this day and age, bots, and then in the ordinary amount of stuff that's. That's thrown out there on social media, anything could be held against you at the most inopportune of times. You look at a guy like Gavin Newsom, for example, I think if he shifts closer to the center, he will coast to being the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States. Then he goes. You tell him that. And then he goes out there a couple of weeks later, and he's talking about how he's in support of somebody transitioning from male to female, being able to do so not necessarily with parental consent. What? Let me tell you something right now. Forget sex changes and all this other stuff. If you want my child to go down the street and she's underage, you got to get my permission. What the hell do you mean without parental consent? We don't even have to go to the extreme. That's with anything with a parent. With a child, you answer to their parent. You don't make. You don't give a license for children to act on their own without adult and specifically parental consent. He's gonna have to answer for that because they're gonna play that video. It's the way it is. That's it for this edition of Straight Shooting with yours truly. Hope you all enjoyed the show. Thanks again to Wes Moore and Dean Wither signing off until next week. Peace and love, everybody.

A (100:13)

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B (100:40)

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