← The Tony Kinnett Cast
The Tony Kinnett Cast
Ep. 503 - Democratic Congresswomen Encourage Trans Violence, Mamdani Raids Retirement Funds
01:29:25
After two back-to-back transgender shooters in the U.S. & Canada, Democratic Congresswomen fall over themselves to endorse transgender violence. Rep. AOC humiliates herself in Munich. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces he's out of money and has to raid retirement funds and raise property taxes to make ends meet.
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Tony Kennett
Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett.
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Matt Davis
Tony Kennett.
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Tony Kennett
Tony Kennett. Tony Kennett.
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Matt Davis
Tony Kennett.
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News Reporter
Tony Kennett, host of the Tony Kennett cast.
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Tony Kennett
Let's get down to business. You're listening to the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC on CYTV here on the Daily Signal. Good evening and welcome to the Tony Kennett cast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated wibc where we'll be getting started this evening with some information surrounding a horrible shooting by another transgender individual over the weekend. Because that really does encapsulate so much of this, the disgusting rhetoric that is continuing to fuel these particular events. Of course, I'm talking about Robert Dorgan. The man thinking he was a woman, got gender reassignment surgery in 2020, then killed his family at a soccer game in Rhode island over the weekend.
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News Reporter
What I can confirm now is that the suspect was Robert Dorgan. His date of birth is July 15th of 1969. One of the victims was his ex wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and also his son, adult son Aiden Dorgan. Rhonda succumbed to her injuries on scene at lynch arena and the son, Aiden succumbed to his injuries after being transported to the hospital. We have three other individuals, Linda Dorgan and Gerald Dorgan, which are the parents of Rhonda. They are at the hospital now. They are in critical care and we continue to receive updates about their status. The final victim was Thomas Jerusso. He, he is a family friend of the family and he is also in critical care at the hospital and we continue to monitor his progress. What I can tell you is that they were all at the event for a son, a juvenile son who was playing hockey. It was their senior night and there was no expectations or any indication that there was going to be any type of violence yesterday at the arena.
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Tony Kennett
That's not true, and here's why. So again, respect the law enforcement investigation. Obviously, I know there's a lot that's being carried out. However, and I do want to make this clear that we have put a little however at the, at the tag here. There were numerous reasons to suggest that he would commit violence in the immediate future. All right, so looking at the live stream side of things, we've got photos of this individual very just unhinged. Andy Ngo has done a lot of excellent cataloging. Of course he keeps track of a lot of this particular transgender violence over at the post Millennial. Just a real creepy, real creepy dude. Just, I mean, weird blonde hair, the fake boobs, the. Just the weird stuff. Kevin Sorbo put up a tweet on Valentine's Day saying, Tim McBride. He's referencing the representative from Delaware who goes by the name Sarah. Tim McBride is a man. Community Note this if I'm wrong. And Robert, Robert posted underneath that, keep bashing us, but do not wonder why we go berserk. And then he did, because this kind of transgender violence is absolutely predictable. Now, of course, he made excuses for other transgender violence, of course, in my home state of Indiana, when last year in Madison, Indiana, a trans activist woman stabbed her girlfriend to death and attempted to murder three family members. Roberta responded, gay Asians are more likely to commit crime. Post that stat. Nope, not even remotely a case. In fact, when you look at per capita crime, transgender individuals are now rocking extremely high rates of violence. And the public issue is an entirely different matter. But we'll get to this. We'll get to this because the entire transgender narrative, which the left kind of started to leave after the 2024 election, they have now desperately started clinging to it with all that they are. So on the day of a different transgender shooting up people in Canada, a story that we had covered earlier, Pramila Jayapal got out in front of the country and announced a major new focus for the Democrats to pass trans rights legislation, whatever, to trans people everywhere. I also want you to know this. Those people are threatened by your strength, by your joy in being fully who you are. Those who fight against trans people are just jealous of the freedom that they.
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News Reporter
Have taken to be fully who they are.
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Tony Kennett
Okay, I understand that a lot of individuals are very, very, very passionate about how they feel about various things. But there are some objective realities that you cannot escape. If you are schizophrenic, for example, you were suffering from schizophrenia, you believe you can hear the toaster talking, even if you truly, deeply, passionately, wholly believe you can hear the toaster talking. And therefore, because you can hear the toaster talking, I have a responsibility to make some kind of broad, wild effort to affirm your delusion that the toaster is talking doesn't mean that the toaster is actually talking or that it's necessary for your freedoms. You have some kind of right for me to agree with you. In the same way, if you really, really, truly believe that you are the opposite sex, you believe it deep, deep, deep down. That does not even in a slight legal, moral, societal, in any sense give you the right to then commit acts of violence, to threaten violence against others, or of course, to harm any of those around you because simply because they won't affirm your gender, and then have again, leftist middle aged ladies like this one saying, well, if you don't do everything I tell you to do, then you're full of hate, not love or whatever.
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News Reporter
And so those people just want to.
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Tony Kennett
Destroy that rather than imagine what it would be like to be fully who they are.
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News Reporter
Wise words from our young people.
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Tony Kennett
Whenever you have individuals that are going to the youth for quotes, you know that they are very, very much on the downside according to public opinion. But again, we'll get to some of the public opinion shifting on this in a moment. Again, amidst the transgender terror attacks and mass shootings, you have individuals like Tim McBride in Delaware flying out to Munich for a security conference, a defense conference, where really you should not have any members of the House of Representatives or the United States Senate at this. It should be a delegation from the State Department. That's it. Why are other individuals going? Well, because they're, they're kind of sussing out, feeling out donors and potential runs for higher office. So Tim McBride sat down with Hillary Clinton and Speaker Emerita, whatever that made up title nonsense, Nancy Pelosi, and was just so full of himself, he just wanted to take all of the victory laps about how wonderful it is that he pretends not to have a penis. Here you go. So much for those incredibly kind words. It's an honor to be here with you, Secretary Clinton. It's an honor to be here with another trailblazer, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. And of course, it's an honor to be here with my fellow panelists and the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu as well. Once politicians start naming other politicians in a room, it never stops. Yeah, that was the entire Munich Security Conference, by the way, in case you're wondering, like glad handing and slapping each other on the back. It's all about the virtue. That's what all of this is about. They don't care if people die. They don't care if individuals who are mentally unstable are pushed over the edge. It doesn't matter if you have an individual who has a, let's say a lack of testosterone, they are low on testosterone, or you have a young lady who is low on estrogen or another female relative or male relative hormone, depending on the sex. Have you ever wondered why we don't simply fill the amount of whatever hormone it is that the individual is lacking? Why do we then give them the opposite sex as hormone? There is nothing to that plan that makes sense. And then we send those individuals out completely mentally unstable, their endocrine systems further destabilized and then act what? Surprised? Shocked. When they commit acts that mentally unstable individuals often commit. And again, whether it's this or we'll talk about Zoran Mandani here in a minute. Doesn't matter if people die because they're busy feeling virtuous and going to these conferences and patting each other on the backs at Harvard University and the Munich Security Conference and whatever London fancy event they've got strolling up next week. And again, he made every bit of the transgender argument. Again, this is about foreign policy and national defense. The Munich Security conference. Instead, Tim McBride gender corrected himself on using the term boogeyman. Here you go. And a strong man's greatest asset is scarcity. When there is scarcity in jobs, when there is scarcity of opportunity, they pick boogeymen or in this case, bogey people. And they blame them. Incredible, nonsensical, stupid, silly. And the public on Just to make things very clear, the public is not in this country enthusiastic about this fight at all. They're not. The current polling shows right now 50% of the country strongly opposes gender surgery from minors. Another 12% somewhat oppose it. On the flip side, banning or excuse me, I should say requiring transgender K12 athletes to complete with their birth sex, 60% of the country is either strongly or somewhat supporting supportive of those particular policies. The trans issue in this country has completely turned against the virtue signaling nonsense of the 2010s. Radio crew, we have to send you over to the commercial side. We're going to continue on the live stream because there were a lot of stupid people at this conference. It's the Tony Knitcast here on the Daily Signal. Now in the meantime, while the radio crew is off in their wonderful FCC regulated commercial land and my goodness, are we going to be talking about some FCC nonsense and Stephen Colbert a little bit later in the show, it's good to know that the individuals that go to these conferences over on the left who are again trying to glad hand each other and, and suss out, feel out other opportunities for running for higher office, it is good to know that they are just as stupid overseas as they are here. So of course, one of the big stories from the weekend, Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, who people keep telling me is somehow really, really super smart because occasionally she has some kind of a clapback moment on Twitter. She was asked very clearly during one particular panel, again going to a national security conference to talk about international security and defense issues. And she was asked a very basic question, would the United States defend Taiwan if China who is threatening this every single day of the week if they invade Taiwan as the United States going to stop it. She went through a full Kamala Harris moment. It was beautiful. It was impressive. It was like watching a bird take flight and then get hit in the head with a coconut. Would and should the US Actually commit US troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?
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Policy Analyst
You know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, this is of course a very long standing policy of the United states.
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Tony Kennett
Oh, wow. 28 seconds to get to that. It's a long standing policy of the United States.
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Policy Analyst
And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point.
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Tony Kennett
Oh, we're just going to pray it never happens. Oh, incredible. Incredible. Excellent work, aoc. I just like the, the Iraq and I really think that China, you know, it's like, it's like a place in time in history. Incredible. Great stuff. And by the way, I still do believe she's the front runner to become the next Democrat nominee for president. And of course her intelligence is not just limited to southeast and general Pacific Asian cooperation and general defense policy. She's also an expert on South American policy.
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Policy Analyst
You know, we look at what happened in Venezuela, for example.
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Tony Kennett
We look at what happened in Venezuela. You know, you just look at what happened in Venezuela. Conchilos tela waya. Sorry, I got, got a little fake Spanish accent in my throat there.
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Policy Analyst
It is not a, it is, it is not a remark on who Maduro was as a leader. He canceled elections. He was an anti democratic leader. That doesn't mean that we can kidnap ahead of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator and.
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Tony Kennett
It, and by the way, south of the equator. Now I, I am, you know, a little more loathe to do this because I understand, you know, things get a little bit tense and exciting. There's. If you do pull out the globe and you look at the equator, that big fancy line on, you know, the earth, what you'll find is that Venezuela is north of the equator. It turns out that South America doesn't just mean like south of the equator. So again, incredible stuff from aoc. Exciting. I'm, you know, thrilled. There are a couple of videos of individuals in the audience who appear to be like checking their phones to triple check. Wait a minute. Venezuela is not below that, that's not below the equator. So she's an idiot. Uh, she did run to the New York Times and cry big whiny. Crocodile tears, uh, that everyone was dunking on her repeatedly. Uh, I mean, just full on. Harlem Globetrotters vs. The Washington Generals dunking and yeah, I hate to break it to you boys, girls and squirrels, she ain't getting out of this one. We gotta bring the radio crew back from commercial. Lots more to cover. It's the Tony Kinnid cast. Don't y' all go anywhere. This is the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC. Ah, a lot of wonderful beach themed news on the show this evening. Welcome back to the Tony Kennett cast. Sponsored by the equator, you're north of it. This has been a public service announcement on the coastlines, which someone should probably let AOC knows is what borders the ocean. You know, in case she's looking to pick up a few tips before her next speaking engagement. There's a couple of disasters currently underway. So the Potomac river in Washington D.C. is currently under more sewage than the U.S. capitol building, which is incredible. We're going to get to that, however, in a minute. Zoran Mamdani is having a full on crisis. And I do mean he's having a full on crisis. So he has just proposed a brand new fiscal budget for 2026, 2027 for New York City. It is $127 billion. Now you say, well Tony, it doesn't really mean very much to me. A lot of money. The entire budget for the state of Florida is $117 billion. That's a lot of money. But it's okay because Zoran Mandani said that they were just going to have this money just ready to go right around the whole budget out.
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Immigration Official
Sure.
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Tony Kennett
You know, during the transitional campaign, they had no money and had to ask people to donate again. But it's not like he's gonna come out and announce before the public, you know, that he's ransacking retirement funds and raising property taxes on.
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New York City Official
Everybody would rather do is ensure that they remain as they are so that the city can be on firm financial footing. However, in order to get to this point of closing the gap on both this fiscal year and the next fiscal year, we are forced to to raid the rainy day fund, the retiree health benefits trust reserve and to increase property taxes across these other years.
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Tony Kennett
Hmm, excellent. Exciting. So here's what we've learned together. Number one, we really wish we didn't have to spend money. But it turns out that announcing universal childcare, universal maternity paternity leave, universal health services, universal grocery services, universal. All of these random things that, that costs money and it turns out when things cost money, you got to get the money from somewhere. So Mamdani announced he wants all landlords to stop raising prices. Stop. Stop it. Stop raising rent. Also, he's going to increase property taxes. So now all landlords have to cough up way more money, which is going to jack up the rent. Excellent. And because he knows he's not going to be. He knows he's not going to be able to get enough money out of that, he has decided to double down by rating retirement funds for the city. Yeah, that. That's good. That's good. Push the elderly off of cliffs. And by the way, in case you thought earlier that I was joking, that is, in fact his planned budget. The Department of Education, 40%, 26%, Social Services, 12% to uniformed agencies, 5% to health. It really is incredible watching him push this major social services forward budget that he also promises are going to be available for all illegal immigrants in New York City. Now, of course, at the same time, he has homeless people dying left, right and center because he ordered the New York Police Department to cease any standard policy or precedent that they had of if a homeless person who's, you know, out in negative 10 degree weather says, which was roughly translated to, I'm fine, I'm totally mentally healthy, please don't move me, then the cops would used to be able to say, hey, well, sorry, we're going to pick you up and either drop you off at a hospital in some type of a warm shelter, a staging area, even the lobby of several police precincts if they have to. Mamdani said, no, that's not good. What people need is a social worker to come up and ask them if maybe they should have been born as a girl instead of a boy or something like that. And it turns out that doesn't save you from the cold. The warmth of collectivism did a whole lot of nothing and a lot of people died. So again, it doesn't matter if individuals die as a result of these horrible policies regarding the mentally unstable, regarding the homeless, regarding the police department, regarding the budget. They'll raise your taxes on you and they'll blame you for being generationally racist or something, and they'll call it good. Oh, but his priorities are in the right place. Lest you think Zoran Mamdani doesn't have his priorities in the right place. He's concerned about the most important thing to New Yorkers. No, not the budget. No, not security. The beaches.
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New York City Official
New York's lifeguards keep us safe around the water. While you might Think about lifeguarding as a summer job. We actually start hiring for them in the winter. It's a great way to make a difference in.
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Tony Kennett
In New York City.
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New York City Official
And we need lifeguards. Lifeguard qualifying tests are held across all five boroughs throughout the winter.
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Tony Kennett
Yeah, he's recording ads for lifeguard requests for recruitment. Yeah, that's it again. People, you know, dying from exposure and trash piling up on the sides of the road. Looks more like Uganda than New York City. It's a mess. It's disgusting. Crimes on the rise in the city. They're raising fares for transportation, but you gotta pay those social media staffers to make videos recruiting lifeguards. Crisis averted. Now, I'll give Momdani this. At least when he asks questions, he does address them. There was a lot of, obviously, backlash to his proposed budget. He did come out and answer a question by making another produced video. A little straight to cam on his budget plan.
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New York City Official
At the heart of. Of this path is a property tax increase. This would effectively be a tax on working and middle class New Yorkers who have a median income of $122,000.
- [21:02]
Tony Kennett
Now, hang on. I was told by this. This former rapper in an apron, Zoran Mamdani, that he wasn't going to raise taxes on those. It was going to be the billionaires and the big super extra earners in New York City, all the businesses. That's what he told me. He didn't lie. Maybe he means a different middle class. Let's keep watching.
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New York City Official
The second path also requires us to raid our reserves. It would mean withdrawing $980 million from our city's rainy day fund.
- [21:32]
Tony Kennett
Okay, good. Sure.
- [21:34]
New York City Official
In fiscal year 2026. And $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefit Trust in fiscal year 2027.
- [21:41]
Tony Kennett
That'll show them, you know, good work. So, all right, here's our plan. We're going to screw the middle class, screw the old people, and then just to make everyone extra happy, anyone left outside is going to freeze to death. All right, good. Good work, everyone. All right, let's call it a day. Excellent. Democratic socialism working Exactly. Exactly as intended. Now, again, I complimented Mamdani for at least answering questions. Mayor Brandon Johnson's team in Chicago, if you ask him a question, one of his staffers will just beat you up and throw you out of the room.
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Immigration Official
Well, the real Chicagoans that I talk to, that I communicate with, mostly black and brown, actually tell me that you don't seem to know the difference between illegal aliens and real Chicago citizens. They feel that you are siding with the illegal aliens over them in their communities, and sadly.
- [22:38]
Tony Kennett
Let's get to the question.
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Immigration Official
Yeah, let's get to the question. The real question is simply this. I don't know how to make it any more direct. An illegal alien from Nicaragua grabbed a woman on the north side last night. Question. Bashed her head into the sidewalk, knocked her unconscious, and raped her. If that had been your wife's station.
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Rob Bluey
Okay.
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Matt Davis
All right.
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Tony Kennett
We're not gonna answer that.
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Rob Bluey
Thank you.
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Immigration Official
Thanks.
- [23:01]
Tony Kennett
All right.
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Immigration Official
Would you want ICE to deport her?
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Tony Kennett
Let's move on. Oh, okay. Good. Yeah. So ask questions. I look at, you know, people getting their heads bashed in on the north side in Chicago, the South side, the west side, the east side, outside of Wrigley, I, you know, Chicago staple. What about your family? You have, like a whole platoon and a half. Well, you know, really, two or three platoons of security officers. 100, 150 guys for you, for your wife. What about the rest of Chicago? Again, illegal immigrant violence is continually on the rise in the country. Any. Any comment? No, no, we don't answer those questions at all. That brings us to a story, yet another in a long string of news stories that do infuriate me, as well as a lot of Americans around the country. Radio crew, we got to send you over to the commercial side. We're going to cover this on the live stream. It's the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal. A traffic stop in Savannah, Georgia, turns deadly after an illegal immigrant decided that he doesn't have to abide by any of the laws around traffic stops. He gets to just do whatever he wants because obviously, traffic stops only apply. Only sometimes. I before E, except as in a and neighbor and way. It's really kind of hard to get one of these individuals on the record saying what the rules should be regarding traffic stops. But he sped off and ended up killing an elementary teacher in Georgia. Here's the original news report on this.
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Immigration Official
This morning, new information about the suspect who killed a beloved educator in Savannah Monday. Authorities say the crash occurred near the Truman Parkway as a man fled a traffic stop involving immigration enforcement. Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect as Oscar Vasquez Lopez of Guatemala. Officials say he was issued a final order of removal by a federal judge back.
- [24:55]
Tony Kennett
That would be his due process, by the way. The final order of removal. You've gone through the process. You've been given a nice, firm no, and then you are told to leave the country. Now let's find out when his Removal order was maybe, you know, he started in Maine. He was driving down to the border, and on the way down there, he just got lost in Savannah. Georgia's a beautiful state. Understandable. Let's see when his removal order was. Maybe a couple days ago.
- [25:22]
Immigration Official
Issued a final order of removal by a federal judge back in 2024.
- [25:27]
Tony Kennett
2024. Unless you are walking with the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you spent some time goofing off. You didn't walk there. You weren't taking the ring to Mordor. Okay. I mean, why are you still around again? Traffic stop takes place.
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Immigration Official
They say he entered the US Illegally at an unknown time and location. Lopez now faces multiple charges, including vehicular homicide. Investigators say he drove away from ICE officers before the crash. In a statement, Homeland Security's assistant secretary saying these dangerous tactics are putting people's lives, lives at risk. Fleeing from and resisting federal law enforcement is not only a crime, but extraordinarily dangerous.
- [26:11]
Tony Kennett
When the left gets in front of Americans and says and promises, these secret police, these Gestapo, they're gonna come, they're gonna kick in your house door. They're gonna arrest pregnant women and throw them all in buses and concentration camps and disappear them. You encourage individuals to commit very, very, very stupid crimes and make very, very bad decisions. Believe it or not, this doesn't even appear to be one of those cases. This is a guy who had a final order of removal. He went through due process. He just chose to flee law enforcement illegally, resisting arrest. He had no right. There was no extra leftover due process for this individual. And in fleeing because he has no idea how to drive safely or follow the law, he then crashed into. Linda Davis, K8 teacher out of Georgia. We'll go ahead and put her picture up here on the screen here. Now, the media came out as well as several members over on the left and said really gross stuff. Just bold lies from Faith Jackson. Quote, ice killed a teacher in Georgia today when they chose to chase a man who posed no danger and had no criminal history. Linda Davis was killed by ICE today. A black woman, a beloved teacher, killed by ICE in Savannah, Georgia. That's not only really bad race baiting, that's just a very, very stupid lie. It's disgusting. Again, you want to reduce a lot of these incidents. Don't violate the law. Very simple, very basic. You don't violate the law, Innocent people don't die. It's amazing how often that particular solution comes up. It is a tragic situation which could have and should have been avoided. Another situation today in which a an 18 year old Carter Camacho of Smyrna, Georgia charged the U.S. capitol today with a loaded shotgun. A gas mask and helmet were spotted inside his vehicle. Now the House and senator on recess this week and and the US Capitol police were able to apprehend him before he was able to do any damage. Yet another situation of this increasing violence. Don't go anywhere. We got a lot. Speaking of Washington, D.C. it's the Tony Kinnit cast here on the Daily Signal.
- [28:38]
News Reporter
Bingo.
- [28:39]
Tony Kennett
It's the Tony Kennett cast with special guest Rob Bluey. All right, you've heard the music. It's time to go over to Rob Bluey, president of the Daily Signal. Good to see you, sir.
- [28:51]
Rob Bluey
Good to see you, Tony.
- [28:52]
Tony Kennett
All right, let's dive right in. State of the Union address it's coming up one week from today. The theatrics are going to be exciting, but we're just coming back off of the Munich Security Conference in which we heard some of the most takes that some of the Democrat colleagues like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York have ever displayed on the international stage. As congressmen start to trickle back into Washington, D.C. now, do you think that there are a few balloons on the Democrat side of the aisle that are popped hearing some of their colleagues talk foreign policy?
- [29:30]
Rob Bluey
Probably, yes. I mean, it just goes to show, I mean, this is one of those issues where Donald Trump has done such a masterful job that it's hard for the Democrats to keep pace with, with, with what he and Secretary Rubio and so many of the others of his administration are, are grappling with. Remember, Tony, if we, we rewind go all the way back to 2009 and the time when Barack Obama was president and then of course famously went on this apology tour all over the, all over the world in which he was apologizing for one thing or another that the United States did got us into that terrible Iran deal. We had more of the same during the four years of Joe Biden because a lot of it was just the leftovers from the, the Obama years who had taken up those old jobs at the State Department or wherever they were. So what Donald Trump has done is really, yes, he's popped a lot of balloons and, and he's not necessarily one who is, is going to follow the traditional path even of, of past Republican presidents for that matter, when it comes to diplomacy. The Munich Security Conference was the same event last year where J.D. vance went and put Europe on notice. Now, a lot of people are saying that Marco Rubio had a much more polite way of saying things, and that's why the Europeans gave him the standing ovation. But it was still the tough talk that Europe needs to step up and be a strong ally.
- [30:44]
Tony Kennett
So to actually have allies, one would hope you're going in the same direction. And I've got to wonder, because going into the midterms, obviously heading into the State of Union address, the president is about to essentially set the game plan for the midterms. That's what the State of the Union midterm year does. So you'll expect them to be singing the same tune. But Democrats, I don't really see them having a fulsome, cohesive message. I mean, even at Hillary Clinton out there praising to a degree, strong borders and warning of the dangers of mass migration, what in the world are they going to do as far as unifying or gluing together any kind of a message?
- [31:21]
Rob Bluey
You and I've talked about this before. I mean, it seemed like the Democrats had decided last fall to make health care and affordability their, their, their big issues. That was what they attributed the success of the elections on. And yet these, these Democrats get in office and what do they do? They run as far away from affordable policies such as the case with the 50 plus tax increases that Democrats have proposed in Virginia. And it seems that Governor Spanberger is willing to go along with a lot of these ideas. So I'm not sure that the, the message has really resonated beyond what it is maybe testing in very well at the polls. We'll see what I, what I think about the state of the Union. And to your, to your question is going back two years ago, remember, Joe Biden delivered that State of the Union in which everybody said, wow, this is a completely different Biden that we normally see nine to five. I mean, how did he get so much energy and enthusiasm? Maybe he really will be be somebody that Trump is going to have a challenge taking on. And that lasted for, you know, a little bit of time. But certainly I think that it speaks to the importance of the address and why we take it seriously at the Daily Signal, why you'll be doing live coverage that night. It does set the tone for, for the year and what the president has decided to focus on. And I think it's largely going to be on some of those big economic issues. The American people still feel that the cost of living is too high no matter what Donald Trump does or says or what the one Big, beautiful bill will, will ultimately deliver. It's, it's going to be, I think, the, the number one challenge for President Trump and Republicans to, to grapple with.
- [32:57]
Tony Kennett
There's the other side of policy that is the, the concession side. And we look at this election loss or kind of a big culture shift in the polling in which we'll see the other side go, okay, maybe you have a little bit of a point. We'll tamper, we'll temper a little bit of our particular policy proposal. And John Fetterman is a great example of this, right when he talks about borders or something, he says, look, I want DHS to be funded. I think shutting the government down is dumb. Republicans have a couple of points here. The Democrats sort of, kind of almost did this regarding the trans issue kind of for about 15 seconds after the election. And now here we are after yet another case of horrible trans violence that we've seen this continuing pattern and the questions are starting to be asked, so what moderate, what moderations, you know, what actual concessions are you willing to make for this? Yeah, maybe guys shouldn't be body slamming girls in sports. And like in the case of Zoran Mandani and a lot of Democrats, they don't really have anywhere to budge or move on this. And I'm starting to wonder if that kind of inability to make a policy concession, as opposed to just saying, okay, yeah, maybe we were too aggressive on this, isn't gonna start to be the boat anchor dragging him across the lake.
- [34:12]
Rob Bluey
That's right. You make a great point, Tony. And typically Democrats are given a pass by the news media when it comes to a lot of these issues. And in many cases, Republicans are held to a different standard. Only Republicans pounce, Republicans pounce, and then Republicans are the ones that are expected to compromise.
- [34:28]
Tony Kennett
Right?
- [34:29]
Rob Bluey
I mean, it's like Jesse Helms, the former senator from North Carol, Carolina famously said, compromise, hell, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to do it. And, and, and this is where I think you see particularly people like Senator Mike Lee, Congressman Chip Roy really holding their ground when it comes to the Save America act because they're like, this is one of those issues where Republicans are not, cannot give in to the Democrat demands on this issue. And, and ultimately, I think that that's probably where the, the Trump voters want to see, see the base rally around. Because let's face it, if things go badly in these midterm elections and President Trump winds up with a Democrat run House and possibly a Democrat run Senate, there's not going to be the possibility of anything like a Save America Act. So now is your chance to actually take action on these bills that are pending before Congress before it's too late.
- [35:19]
Tony Kennett
So we see Trisha McLaughlin. She is stepping down from the Department of Homeland Security as their kind of chief of comms. She was planning to leave in December, but she stuck around through some of the really big events at the beginning of this year. A lot of speculation on that. Of course, there's a lot of kind of micro movement on the inside of agencies and organizations in Washington. The question that I have kind of on the back of that is someone who actually spends all of his time there. Does Washington, D.C. carry kind of the, the weather, maybe the climate right now of change and uncertainty, or does it feel as it did at the beginning of the Trump administration, where the administration is 15 steps ahead and everyone's just trying to catch up?
- [36:02]
Rob Bluey
Probably a little bit of both, to be honest, Tony. I mean, there's always going to be some movement and change. I mean, this happens at the White House. These are 24, 7, 365 jobs. So you don't really get a break if you're in some of these positions, particularly a comms position because you're just being bombarded all day long every day. And so there's only so much that probably an individual can take before they want to get back to spending time with their family or doing other things. And so there's that element of it. I think where you have seen remarkable stability, though, is when it comes to the president's cabinet and, and particularly the front office, the chief of staff, at least compared to the first term. This is, this is looking very strong for, for President Trump. And he's probably said, as so often presidents do, that I want you to stick through the midterm elections. I want you to make at least a two year commitment. And then if you decide that you want to part ways after the midterms, then you can certainly do so and maybe there will be some shakeup and change at that point. Yeah, I think that by and large, Donald Trump and his team are staying a beat ahead of where the rest of the rest of Washington is just, just their nature.
- [37:08]
Tony Kennett
Rob Bluey, president of the Daily Signal, appreciate getting you on for a couple of the insights that it's a little bit easier to get from a guy who's in that festering sewer than one whose air smells a little bit cleaner out here.
- [37:20]
Rob Bluey
Well, and, and sewage is a problem, Tony. We didn't get to talk about it. But the Potomac, the Potomac is.
- [37:25]
Tony Kennett
Oh, no.
- [37:28]
Rob Bluey
It'S quite literally. You ended on a good note.
- [37:31]
Tony Kennett
You know what? Well, we're gonna cut away and talk about this. I haven't even thought about covering this story with the audience. So we'll send you off again, a clothes pin for the noses of you and your family. We'll talk at you real soon. Thanks, Tony. All right. So this situation regarding the Potomac is truly just. I mean, I'm getting messages from friends and family who say that the stench there is beyond unbearable and it is indeed. February 17th, radio crew, we're gonna send you off to the commercial side of things. We'll talk about this stinky situation in a more isolated environment. It's the Tony Kennedcast here on the Daily Signal now. So that, you know, here's kind of the details so far. A section of the Potomac Interceptor. It's a major six foot wide sewer line which was built in the 19. It collapsed on January 19th along the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Maryland. It's near the Lock 10 area. It's up to it's upstream of Washington, D.C. so the estimates vary slightly by the source and the date, but so far, roughly 200 to 300 million gallons. Of untreated wastewater and raw sewage have overflowed into the Potomac river and the nearby C and O Canal. So just beyond, beyond disgusting. Here's a clip of one of the breaking points here. Look at that. That's raw sewage, ladies and gentlemen. Yikes. Okay, so the festering crap of Washington, D.C. no, not the ones you elected. So right now, D.C. water, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority is supposed to be the independent public utility that owns and operates the Potomac Interceptor sewer line. But its oversight, while it is the D.C. department of Energy and Environment in the federal EPA, it's the Washington, D.C. council and the Virginia and the Maryland government that handle how these particular lines of the sewer run. A bypass system was installed on January 24 to reroute most of the flow around the break, but it's instead being pumped pretty heavily into the C and O Canal, which if you're in the mid, if you're basically from western Florida or excuse me, western New York down through the Midwest, you understand the importance and often the stagnation of canals and so just horrible, horrible mistake. Now, lest you, you know, desist into terrible tragedy, the D.C. department of the Environment director has assured the crowd that he would eat fish caught in the Potomac river in D.C. now, it's according to NBC Washington, who attended one of the meetings of this absolute crap fest disaster. Now, if you're interested in flushing your ratings, you know, down the toilet, well, then I can't think of any any quicker way than telling everyone, oh, you're just imagining the nasty, festering, awful, horrible stench, tons of sewer filth streaming into the Potomac. You know, don't, don't worry about it. It's not, it's not really a big, big issue. You could still eat the fish fresh caught daily in the Potomac. So again, just a really disgusting situation over in Washington. We're going to cover a few more things here later on. Democrat leadership when it comes to managing cities is just as bad as always. We're going to talk a little bit about Stephen Colbert and his magical, just outright lie about why he didn't air a particular interview on cbs. And then a little bit of Kilmar Abrego and some culture stuff. Don't go anywhere. It's the Tony Kenneth cast here on the Daily Signal. We're gonna pick up the radio crew one last time. This is the Tony Kennett cast on 93 WYBC. Now, if you've joined the show any small amount of time, you've likely heard me either in jest or in seriousness, talk about the fcc. So the Federal Communications Commission has rules for stations that are what is called on Spectrum. Spectrum is radio, AM&FM radio and then TV. Used to, we would say analog TV, so not cable, but digital signal that is sent out, that is picked up by any TV with an antenna. Essentially, if it is radio or TV which can be picked up by an antenna, it is on the spectrum, that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which those things reside. Now, those rules are often varied. They come from, you know, you're not allowed to say extra naughty or describe in lurid detail sexual acts. You're not allowed to use really nasty, horrible, bad, no, no words. But also, you have a couple of responsibilities around election time. Now, again, cnn, msnbc, ms, now whatever we're call Fox News, Axios, Vox, all the, they don't have to follow these particular rules. They're not on Spectrum. But some of these crews do, especially those who are syndicated to various stations around the country, like News Nation, for instance. We're gonna talk about that. So Stephen Colbert, who is really not happy that he's lost a lot of the attention from being ultra super duper, canceled or something because his late show was not getting any viewing, any ratings at all. He got out and threw a really huge fit along with James Talarico. So James is a Interesting individual in that he is running as a Democrat candidate for Senate in Texas. He's in a primary versus Jasmine Crockett. We've talked about this at length. He got out to do an interview with Colbert. Colbert invited him on the show James Talarico. So James Talarico did this big recorded interview and then, oh then just then, then the Colbert show didn't air it. The Late show. Instead they made a very weird little announcement kind of through James. So James got out on X, which again is usually a very, very, very bad move. And he announced that the interview for that Donald Trump didn't want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we're about to flip Texas from red to blue. Okay, so cool little starter here. The FCC does not agree to air things. That's not. The FCC doesn't air it. I get a call or an email from the FCC if I break certain rules, but they don't air my content. They don't air Colbert's content. CBS airs Colbert's content. Now here's where things get a little interesting. All of these media aficionados, for example like Kurt Bardella over at News Nation said by blocking the broadcast of this interview, all the Trump, fcc, cbs, he like links them together did was give more attention and eyeballs to the segment. If it had just aired like normal, no one would be talking about it. Instead they've elevated James Talarico even more. So the argument that was initially made from some individuals out there was that they were going to likely either violate or set themselves up to be be held to equal time rules regarding elections. Meaning this they if you invite on James talarico for a 23 minute interview, Jasmine Crockett, Wes Hunt, Ken Paxton and John Cornyn Also all get 23 minutes on your show or an equivalent on the network. That's kind of the understood precedent regarding the fcc. But CBS came out and announced that no, that's not even the case. So Brian Stelter got out there and clarified later after like a lot of people running around saying Trump had banned this and this is all going to backfire. CBS announced the Late show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Representative James Talarico at all. The show was provided legal guidance that said, hey, if you have him on, you could have other candidates like Jasmine Crockett who's invited on and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. The Late show decided instead to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on air promotion rather than broadcast that, which would essentially lock them down to equal time stuff. Here's the kind of genius little neat trick here. They get on the show and say we can't air this interview, but if you go over to our YouTube page, you can watch it, cuz we don't want to get slapped by the fcc. They make the audience think Trump is going after them and it's just a complete gaslighting lie. So by the way, not only do you have a bunch of the media sphere who falsely ran with this narrative that the FCC and CBS and, and Trump said don't air the interview. Now I'm not seeing a lot of people, you know, make redactions. Now the reason that's interesting, the reason that I, that I point that out to you, is that again, regarding James Talarico, Kurt Bardella is over on News Nation, or at least he was very recently. So if News Nation, which is on Spectrum, is out here making statements which are verifiably untrue and not making any kind of a redaction, not making any kind of a correction, just going out there and saying things that are untrue that could open up nexstar, the owner of News Nation, to a lawsuit. Now why do I bring all this up? Well, first of all, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Number two, there is a lot of gaslighting that just is a constant stream of sewage, like a sewer into the Potomac in Washington D.C. that is passed off to you as some type of a noble fight for whatever. And it's just not. It's not whether it's Stephen Colbert or whether it's some pseudo fake Catholic grifter saying, oh, they canceled me because I don't like Israel. Whenever someone gaslights you like that, you're being spoon fed raw sewage and being told that it's actually something that's going to make you braver, smarter, stronger, that if you just tell the person they're trans, you can also hear the toaster talking, then therefore that sewage will actually be really good for you and them and everybody. We have to raise prop, we have to raise taxes. Whether you're in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, of course, as Rob Louis mentioned, or whether we look up in the situation of Zoran, Montana and as long as that's continually brought in front of Americans, that will be the last taste in their mouth come election season. This is the real secret right now. Trump's big pitch for 2026 hasn't kicked in yet. It's going to deal with so far. Q2, I don't even think the State of the Union is as big of a deal. Although it is a pretty big deal. We're going to be doing a lot of huge special coverage for it. It's not as big of a deal as the Q2 end of tax season economy taking place. Not to mention this go to decision on the tariffs. The Democrats right now they are running with the counter the vision where to go so far that's AOC going or I guess one of the other possible contenders for 2028, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan who went to a foreign policy conference about foreign policy with other countries. You know cause she's in Munich for a security conference and was asked one of the basic questions, one of the most basic questions of all time. What does victory in Ukraine look like? And here was her incredible answer again. Front runner for the democratic ticket in 28 on Ukraine. What does victory look like? Ambassador? No, please.
- [49:46]
Rob Bluey
I'd love to hear your answer.
- [49:47]
Tony Kennett
So again you're here at the foreign policy conference. Here's a foreign policy question. Gretchen Whitmer laughs awkwardly. Great. Then pitches it over to the ambassador who smartly goes you asked for this, you signed up for this. There home slice. You take it away. It is. The two that I am on the panel with are much more steeped in foreign policy than a governor is. Then why is a governor at a foreign policy conference? I've been to education conferences. If you show up and start talking about advanced monetary theory, if you start showing up to an education conference and start telling everyone what the micro minutia, miniature levers and pinpoints for foreign policy situations are, you'd be either laughed out of the room, ignored or hopefully spat on. You don't want to ask be asked foreign policy questions. Don't show up to the foreign policy show radio crew. We'll catch you guys later. We're going to continue on the live stream. It's the Tony Kinnit cast. Don't be dumb. Okay. Ignoring my advice completely, Gretchen Whitmer of the great Michigan Democratic Party continues. But you know, I do think that Ukraine's independence keeping their their landmass and having the support of of all the allies I think is is the goal. Ah, here we go. It's the same leftist like just wish casting again. They don't actually have an example or any data that shows why telling someone they're transgender and that you can also hear the toaster makes them mentally healthier. Why shoving a child full of hormones makes them healthier while raising property Taxes is going to bring business into New York City. They can't tell you that. They just hope it's going to happen. You're going to know it, you're going to see it. A real shooting star. It's going to be right there. You're going to see it. You're going to be amazed. Foreign policy, what do you see as the solution for victory? Cause someone's gotta get out there and do something. Something has to change. Do you see economic levers being pulled, Diplomatic levers being pulled? Ally manipulation, enemy manipulation? Do you see it being a lever through resource use? Do you see it through strangling Russia's secondary or tertiary economy, the imports, the exports? What about leveraging China? What about leveraging other military options? What about making them nervous about other borders other than just the ongoing fight with Ukraine? What about different regions or the Donbass?
- [52:10]
Rob Bluey
Or.
- [52:10]
Tony Kennett
Is Crimea going to be more difficult? Crimea would be more difficult. Is the answer to that question. See, you can read books, you can follow the news, you can learn these things. Beautiful. Or, or, or if you're asked a question at a conference you chose to go to and then you are mocked relentlessly for being a big dumb goober, goofball moron, rightly so. You've earned it. It's yours. Congratulations. You went to a foreign policy conference and were asked a basic foreign policy question about Taiwan or Ukraine and you couldn't come up with an answer. Hmm. I mean, you know. Well, well, well, how the turntables up next, I'm gonna go to an economic convention and when they ask me about the Dow Jones Industrial Average, I'm gonna start speaking Italian, you know, Cause I, Well, I mean, I'm all the financial experts around here. Why show up for the conference? You know, just, just cool tips for the kids at home, I think, you know, a little something there for you. So that, that said, and aside, I do want to move to a couple of things before we cut over to some. Whatcha watching with Steven Kent. Oh, yeah, we may have ended yesterday or not done. The show yesterday for President's Day ended last week after some, you know, a few technical issues here and there. Yeah, tonight's show is going to be longer. It's going to be great. The bonus tone is, is here and it is excellent. So first and foremost, from the New York Post, the Los Angeles Police Department has given a grave warning to students and parents after a pack of teenagers viciously attacked federal law enforcement and as they called it, quote, a wild anti ice melee. So the LAPD Announced school attendance is mandatory in the city of Los Angeles and there may be legal consequences for parents and students. Essentially, LAPD is going, please don't commit the violent assault that you all have been encouraged to commit. Please don't do that. Now, again, I have a hotter take. You know, stay in school and don't with your infinite childish wisdom that Pramila Jayapal is drawing quotes from. Go out and protest and yell and scream. It was dumb when they did it during the Vietnam War. Yeah, it was dumb when they did it during the Gulf War. Yeah, it was dumb when they did it in the early aughts. It was done during the Occupy Wall street movement. It was dumb in the 2000 teens. Regarding the trans. Regarding the BLM and regarding all the other nonsense. And it's stupid. Now, your children, you don't need to get out there and give everyone your super hot, amazing, incredible ultra takes. Now, moving on from that, speaking of, California Governor Gavin Newsom is also having a real rough time. He's struggling. He also went out to the great Munich conference, and he's upset because Ted Cruz, and I quote, called him historically illiterate. End quote. Now, you and I know this. You know that historically illiterate means you don't know anything about history. You're historically illiterate. You don't understand historical events in society. Now, again, that's because Gavin Newsom got out there and told the people of Germany, hey, you're Germany. You understand secret police. That's what we have in the United States. And all of the survivors of the Stasi and the few remaining survivors of Nazi Germany looked at him as though he had just done enough crack to open up shop in Minnesota. But alas, Gavin Newsom, after saying that Ted Cruz, senator of Texas, calls him historically illiterate. Gavin Newsom's response, quote, ted Cruz, calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him. Wow. I mean, pay attention to me. The. The attention. Whoring as a child of dyslexia. How could. How could you. The pearl clutching. I love it. Quick, get the pearls. He's all out here, ready to play. He is upset. He's mad. I honestly thought that this was the edge Gavin Newsom had over Tim Walls, because Tim Walls would get out there and go, you know, they drive by my house and call me highly retarded. It's real sad. People make fun of me when I go to the supermarket. And I thought, well, at least Gavin Newsom doesn't get out there. But Gavin Newsom going, you know what dyslexics are? Teeple poo. It's not my fault I can't spill to save my loaf. How would you feel if you were so handicapped you had to rely on the spilt lock on your computer? Hmm. I bet it'd make you think rice, wouldn't it? Now, incredible stuff though that may be. Uh, it. It really doesn't appear as though any of the current Democratic candidates, possibles for 2028 are gaining any kind of momentum. But on the counter, there is an interesting debate which is opening up regarding J.D. vance and Marco Rubio as if history started five minutes ago. I'm gonna explain why in a second. Because, of course, Vice President J.D. vance at. Regarding the Munich Security conference, as Rob Bluey mentioned in our interview, of course he was there last year, kind of lowered the boom and, you know, shook his fist at a lot of Europe. Here he was talking about Representative aoc, you know, regarding Taiwan and her other numerous foibles.
- [57:43]
Vice President J.D. Vance
Well, I think it's a person who doesn't know what she actually thinks. And I've seen this way too much in Washington with politicians where they are given lines and when you ask them to go outside the lines they were given, they completely fall apart. Because, look, does aoc. Does anybody really believe that AOC has very thoughtful ideas about the global world order or about what the United States should do with our policy in Asia or our policy in Europe? No. This is a person who is mouthing the slogans that somebody else gave her and it should.
- [58:15]
Tony Kennett
No one gave her one for that one.
- [58:16]
Vice President J.D. Vance
I guess not.
- [58:17]
Tony Kennett
Now, this is an interesting line from Vice President Vance. I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to be real with you guys here for a second and perhaps be a little bit more political than might be wise. But again, trying to, in the interest of Transparency. Vice President J.D. vance, before he entered the Trump administration, he. There was a little bit of a concern that his foreign policy was isolationist along some of the same lines that were given from the hyper isolationist crew. And it was a very interesting thing because that's not Trump's foreign policy style. However, unlike aoc, again, there's nothing wrong with not knowing all of the talking points or all of the ins and outs of an issue. Since Vice President J.D. vance has assumed office and been working with the Trump administration every day, his foreign policy appears to have changed. Now, if he turns around after the Trump administration and then announces, you know, all of a sudden that he's a hyper isolationist when running in 2028. Then this particular line, half of it, I'll say the second half, not knowing what to do when you're caught on in a talking point. J.D. vance is very, very charismatic. He can talk his way around the barn and back again and you know, very highly skilled in that, you know, and I'm not just saying that as his lookalike here, but as far as the vice president is concerned, I think that if he continues the current trajectory that he has, he is a great example of kind of the counter aoc Maybe you don't know everything about a certain issue and then when you get into the situation, you learn a lot about it over a longer period of time and you become, if not an expert on it, you become more accustomed to how certain issues are talked about and how to accomplish the goals of an administration, which is the entire opposite of kind of the entitled I already know everything kind of rhetoric which is pitched by people like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Now, from that jumping point off, a lot of people are speculating because Rubio's speech, which is fantastic, I know I haven't covered it really here tonight on the show, there's other news. One of the top 10 state of Secretary of State speeches of all time. A lot of individuals out there were concerned when Trump nominated Marco Rubio to be the Secretary of State. I said it was a phenomenal pick, shocker. I know I was right. But more importantly, I have said over the last couple of months that Secretary of State Rubio had consistently been using the term New American Century because that was what he ran on in 2016. Rubio is forward thinking, one of the big issues in the Republican Party right now, People don't think forward. Vice President J.D. vance and Marco Rubio have a fairly unique gift in the current climate for looking forward and saying here's where we could be on down the line. Most of the Republican leadership, they can't really look forward past the next election. Now, Trump has done some of this as well. And I think that I'm, well, I have some expectations and, you know, some hopes for the State of the Union address that aren't going to come true. But Vice President Vance did get a chance to comment on Rubio's speech. And amid all of the whispers that, oh, it's going to be a Vance versus Rubio primary, I doubt it. Rubio has said quite clearly and definitively that advance declares he ain't running. But I mean, hey, you know, I, I, I, we'll see what happens. I think that they still make a pretty powerful ticket. Here is the Vice President on the announcement and speech. And then of course the follow up Q and A from Secretary of State Rubio. Rubio, Secretary of State was there, gave a speech that had a lot of similar underpinnings to it, but they were applauding and they thought it was great. So what happened with that? Why is that the outcome?
- [61:46]
Vice President J.D. Vance
Well, I heard somebody say that I was the bad cop so that Marco could be a good cop. I mean he gave a great speech but he drove home, I think a very important point that the Europeans have largely forgotten or at least had largely forgotten over the past year. Is that the reason why the President or Marco or me talk about borders, the reason why we talk about them spending more, the reason that we talk about them more becoming a vibrant economy again is that we want Europe to thrive and we want Europe to succeed. The problem that we have with Europe is not that we.
- [62:16]
Tony Kennett
That's not why specifically. I think that Vance was a big fan of the speech. I'll explain why in a second.
- [62:23]
Vice President J.D. Vance
Don't like Europe, even though you hear that from the European press. It's not that we don't respect our allies. It's that they are doing a lot of things to sabotage themselves. We would like that to stop. We would like them to be an ally in the true sense of the word.
- [62:36]
Tony Kennett
Now, interesting stuff here because Vice President J.D. vance took a card from the what some would call establishment or I would argue Rubio more of a traditionalist conservative. Not even kind of the pseudo, let's not be hasty George Bush crowd because Rubio isn't. But Vance took a line kind of from Rubio and used a lot of the ally speak, a lot of the high minded diplomatic. What we want are these allies and we are in favor of these. They talked about it like he spoke of Europe. He said I liked what Rubio said because he reiterated that Europe is making decisions that are bad for them. We want them to be happy and healthy. We want them to eat Cheerios every morning and have all that good health that comes out of, you know, wonderful, amazing, that kind of a thing. That's kind of usually something that Rubio was expected to say. Rubio in his speech pulled more of a nationalist cultural framework line than than Rubio normally says. He identified the common Christian fundamental moral structure of Europe and encouraged a refounding of cultural norms and a therefore a guarding of borders. Usually that's what Vance does. So again, I'm not Trying to make any big, wild, crazy predictions here. It's the same that I've said before. I think that Rubio and Vance are trying to learn how to. To build with each other, though they do differ slightly on kind of some fundamentals of what drives them. And that to me speaks volumes. Because if that's their plan, if that's the plan, if that's the plan, that they are going to essentially temper each other and then run as a combined ticket. Yeah, that's a pretty powerful ticket. It is a very, very powerful ticket indeed. Now, on the cultural side of things, speaking of kind of the immigrant run again, the. The libs do continue to trot out individuals who openly promise that the left will say people are only coming to America because they love it. You know, the only reason people are migrating to Europe is because they love it. As long as we continue to see videos where immigrants admit that they're only here for the money and that they hate the country, that's not going anywhere.
- [64:39]
Policy Analyst
Let me hold your hand when I say this. We do not move to America because we think it's a better country. We move here because it's a little less worse than our other countries. Because you're stupid to think that we moved to this country for some hot dogs and some baseball. We have better vibes, music, food, culture, history.
- [65:02]
Tony Kennett
It just didn't produce a better country. Interesting how that works out.
- [65:08]
Policy Analyst
Literally all of the above.
- [65:10]
Tony Kennett
No, not all of the above. It would be a better country if it were all of the above.
- [65:13]
Policy Analyst
We just move here because we are looking to make more money and offer a better chance for our family.
- [65:20]
News Reporter
Families.
- [65:23]
Tony Kennett
There you go.
- [65:25]
Policy Analyst
Did you know that the minimum wage a day, not an hour a day in Mexico is not even 15American dollars? Why not even 15American dollars? Why right now with $15 in San Diego, I could go maybe buy a matcha and half of a granola bar, honey.
- [65:46]
Tony Kennett
So, I mean, first of all, LOL. That that's like, oh, $15. Oh quick, someone get my matcha in my granola bar. On. On the other side of. Of that particularly hilarious nonsense. The reason that minimum wage is garbage in Mexico is because it is a corrupt, awful country run by corrupt, awful people. And again, you know, people make this interesting. Oh, the United States stole land from Mexico. The Mexico that existed for all of five minutes. And again, the United States winning two wars against it. Excellent stuff. You do realize that the former Mexican air quotes emphasized part of the United States is flourishing and doesn't have those issues. Why is it because Mexico doesn't have access to the same resources the United States. No, Mexico's like jam packed with a lot of resources. It's got more silver than the United States could ever shake a stick at. They just weren't developed because the country's in constant civil war and strife and is run by the cartels. The idea that, well, man, my country sucks. I need to come to the United States and make my country the United. Like, I need to turn the United States, a country that works, into the crap fest that I just left. I mean, this is like people from California who leave because of awful policy, moving to Texas and then going, I know Jasmine Crockett who hates everything that Texas is. That's who we need to go for. I mean, that's, that's, that's some logic. I, I don't think that it's good logic, but, you know, it's the same kind of logic that announces that, you know, men get periods if they say they're trans.
- [67:29]
New York City Official
Fun fact. Trans women also get periods.
- [67:31]
Matt Davis
Really?
- [67:32]
New York City Official
Yes.
- [67:32]
Tony Kennett
You get a period?
- [67:33]
New York City Official
Yes, I get monthly. I get monthly cycles.
- [67:38]
Tony Kennett
Survey says. No, no, if you're a dude, you don't, you don't get cycles. You have mental instability issues. Now, believe it or not, not all gloom and doom, not all sad and sully shenanigans. I am happy to say that we brought Stephen Kent back for a little whatcha watching. And there's actually something pretty stinking stellar going on in the entertainment space. And then the betting market stuff, which, you know, kind of frustrates me a little bit, but it's really, really good. Having a little bit of whatcha watching is just worth it. So we're gonna swing out to the commercial break. We're gonna come back in, do a little whatcha watching. It's a fantastic Tuesday. Tony Kinitkast here on the Daily Signal, The Tony Kennett cast on 93 WIBC. As we get ready for the State of the Union, it's expected to be a rather intense, perhaps a verbally metaphorically bloody affair. Verbal fists thrown at the audience, booze standing, ripping of paper, almost as violent as a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. So we're gonna bring on Stephen Kent with the greatest and not at all forced segue of all time for a little whatcha watching. Stephen, how's it going?
- [68:58]
Stephen Kent
Well, I was gonna say it was neither great nor forced. You are clearly mastering the art of radio. Tony Kennett to make a seg Politics. And what is going on in the world of jousting in night of the Seven Kingdoms. Well done. Good on you.
- [69:12]
Tony Kennett
Well, I gotta ask, how do you like it so far? I've heard mixed things, but most of them good. I feel like we're getting a kind of a small revival of kind of the medieval fantasy genre at the moment. And I'm here for it.
- [69:25]
Stephen Kent
It's not just the medieval fantasy genre, Tony. This is a bringing back of optimistic virtue based storytelling that sort of rejects the cynicism that Game of Thrones itself was a big part of promoting. You know, so if you go back to the 2010s, you see house of Cards and Game of Thrones sort of rising in the culture around the same time. And both of these stories are emblematic. They are both reflecting and driving a culture that believes that politics and human nature and is always going to be bad. And you don't have good. Unblemished heroes. Bring in Night of the Seven Kingdoms. This story about just a guy called a hedge knight, his name is Dunk, who wants to be a virtuous and noble knight in Westeros and his young child sidekick named Egg. And you're getting a story that is unblemished by cynicism for the first time in so many years, Tony. It's actually a remarkable thing to see on tv.
- [70:32]
Tony Kennett
So I've been waiting to bring up this comparison since you pitched this to me this morning. You know how you and I often talk about the doom and gloom of the American culture at the end of the Vietnam War era when all of the heroes were these anti heroes. You couldn't actually have like an unblemished copy was a dirty cob, a dirty hairy kind of. Every hero had his dark side. And then what then came out of that was a revivification of the virtuous hero. It's where we get, for example, a lot of Star wars in the original trilogy, Sir Duncan the Tall is not cringy. He is not considered some sprightly, totally naive, everyone else mocks him kind of a guy. He actually is a guy that you kind of want to get behind. You're like, yeah, finally. I haven't had a hero like this that was written in a way that again, doesn't drag my soul through the eye rolling thorn fields in ages.
- [71:24]
Stephen Kent
Sure. I mean, just from the storytelling standpoint, I recommend this, this show so strongly to your audience because you. It's not that you have a hero here who isn't mocked. He is mocked actually by the people of this jousting tournament where he's of course competing against other knights because he's competing against the great houses of the world of Westeros. And they think virtue is dead. They think honor and dignity are just story, tale or stories and fairy tales that people tell to themselves to make them feel good about where they live. But this guy Dunk actually believes the fairy tales and stories of knights that he grew up on and he embodies those even when he is being made fun of. And he changes people's hearts and minds in this show. Now, it is a low budget show. This is only a quarter of the operating budget of House of the Dragon or even some of the ending Game of Thrones episodes. And yet, Tony, these are the highest rated episodes of Game of Thrones storytelling since the first couple of seasons of Game of Thrones originally came out. So these are top notch viewed television shows. I mean, and even down to the practical effects, this is just mud and fog and swords and good acting. It's not about crazy, overly animated dragons and war scenes. This is bare, basic storytelling and it's just so enjoyable. As a consumer of this stuff to.
- [72:57]
Tony Kennett
Watch again, I'm here for it. And I'll say the same about some of the narrative tones. Also, over in the Daily Wire's Pendragon cycle. Yeah, how again, the idea of the Christ being the God who gave his life for you as being seen in the eyes of other cultures is weak and undesirable. And that kind of I don't want to be so. I don't want to be so immature. As I said, the vibe of it, you know, like the feeling that it exudes is incredible. So we're going to pivot away from that to talking about something that gives me the opposite of those feelings. I'm getting so tired of the way betting markets have taken over every facet of news, political and entertainment culture. Now, you know, I've been a grumpy stump on this for a very, very, very long time. But you've got some new updates on this that might be of, of import.
- [73:50]
Stephen Kent
Yeah. So Mike Selig, he is Trump's pick to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He got on X today and announced that the CFTC is launching a a bid against state lawsuits that are trying to take down prediction markets. So think Calshi, think poly market, even Coinbase and crypto.com are sort of down, you know, prediction markets for betting on event contracts. Now that's ranging from everything from Will Cardi B perform at the super bowl, which we saw last week in the Big Game. And it also amounts to like, Will you know, the, the Ayatollah of Iran be taken down by March of this year? Or how much rainfall will we see in the latest storm in the Southwest? Now, I understand your position. This sort of feels like the sports betting commodification of everything. But what I think it's important to understand is that event contracts, which is what this is, they have been around since the 1990s. This was, this was, you know, solidified in 1992 when the CFTC ruled on the Iowa electronic markets issue about whether or not you could bet on elections and corporate performance. So there's some past precedent here which we're sort of seeing bear fruit now a couple decades later.
- [75:14]
Tony Kennett
It's really interesting to see play out because I want people to have the choice to bet on these things. I do. And obviously, given your role at the Consumer Choice center, you guys spend a lot of time looking at how these kind of policies flesh out and the, you know, the kind of secondary and tertiary actors that are affected when these kind of policies or commissions or decisions are put into place. I just don't care for the attitude that they have brought about the culture. For example, the amount of betting already that appears to be flowing into predictions on the State of the Union and people are putting decently sized amounts of money on is, you know, Donald Trump gonna come up with a new nickname for Gavin Newsom during the State of the Union? I mean, yeah, I want people to be able to bet on that, but the amount of advertisement that is trying to encourage people to get into this type of predictive gambling, I just don't know if long term that can be good for society.
- [76:10]
Stephen Kent
Yeah, I think there are some, going to be some, some valid advertising questions to take on. But at the end of the day, critics of gambling, and I think you're making a, you know, a gambling critique argument here about sort of the pettiness of the market. They will always object to consumers throwing their money into the wind, whether it is on slot machines or picking the super bowl winner or betting on how many songs Bad Bunny is going to play at the Super Bowl. It is all trivial. Yes, but it's also trivial for consumers to spend gobs of money on customizing their cars or buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of podcasting gear, which, like I'm surrounded by in this room, who's to say whether that is right or wrong if I have $30 and during the super bowl that I don't want to spend on a sports outcome because I don't care about sports. But I actually have a lot of opinions and maybe even inside knowledge about how long the Super BO halftime performance is reasonably going to run. You're out. You're actually able to get knowledge out of these markets, these prediction markets, because people are putting their knowledge and money on the line. And when someone makes some sort of insider trade, right, about what might be in this, in the State of the Union address, you're able to see that. You're able to see that somebody put thousands of dollars on what's going to be in the speech that's allowing you to look at that and go, all right, there's, you know, some actual serious knowledge here, skin in the game. This might actually be reasonable. It's not like it's hidden from us.
- [77:49]
Tony Kennett
Oh yeah. It's not something that I think should be banned and it's not even something that I think should be perhaps micro regulated. It's something. I think this is an important distinction between moral and legal would be. My kind of argument here is that I don't believe that a lot of these particular betting markets have a moral virtue to them. I still believe that you should have the full right to participate in them and that if you want to do this with your money, sure, go ahead because that's supposed to be one of the wonders of this thing. Even though you and I may not agree particularly on it, you know, not to sing the whole Schoolhouse Rock song on it. We can actually get out and, you know, I mean, again, you can do your thing. I can call it dumb. That's my right. Or I can call it great and participate or neither. I mean, that's one of the good things of this whole thing, even if I think that or, you know, we disagree on the moral virtues of it, no matter what it may be.
- [78:40]
Stephen Kent
Absolutely. You know, Mike Selig of the CFTC is making an argument doing the media rounds today talking about how the news media, as arbiters of information and knowledge across the country, they have lost so much cachet that we often don't even know when people are on air saying things that are true. They're following editorial directions, but you can actually learn and make predictions and understand what is going on in foreign affairs by watching things like prediction markets, even if you don't choose to participate in it. You know, Glenn Beck's number two guy, Stubergary left the Glenn Beck show after 20 something years this week to launch his own venture focused on knowledge that we can derive from prediction markets because he sort of believes that punditry and news commentary the kind of thing that you and I are so well acquainted with. You never know when people are telling you the truth versus whether or not they're following a line. But if you know where they're putting their money, that's how you know what is most likely true and something that people believe. It's not a perfect solution. I definitely understand some of the moral concerns that you're wrestling with and that I am wrestling with as well. But we live in a republic of ignorance and we've got to figure out how to live in a republic of knowledge. And even if that is a financial market around knowledge, I think that might be preferable.
- [80:08]
Tony Kennett
It's an interesting, it's interesting concept. Again, I'm, I'm, I am only held up by the amount of times that. Because I obviously see, you know, prediction markets are being held even more sacrosanct than a lot of the polling. And I'm looking at some of the incentive structures in a lot of these particular betting markets and how many times they are consistently wrong compared to like some kinds of traditional polling, even though traditional polling is often again in a lot of ways wrong. But when you look at these kind of predictive, whether they be markets, analyses, studies, surveys, I still, and I say this as someone who has worked with polymarket before because they have a really nice crew over there. We know we've been friendly for quite a long time. Time. I'm still looking at the veracity of some of this stuff. I just, I think the jury for me is still out kind of in the long term.
- [80:59]
Stephen Kent
Yeah, I think one of the main issues that they're going to have to figure out on the regulatory level is the issue of age. Gating federal derivatives markets allow 18 year olds to participate in trading because you know, we're talking about financial contracts based on the market. So I think they had in mind a couple of decades ago turning 18 and being able to legally participate in the economy. But you know, when it comes to sports betting and betting on a, a game outcome, you have to be 21 plus. But if you hop onto polymarket or cow, you can bet on the super bowl at the age of 18 and call it an event contract. So there's an obvious inconsistency here with the way that the law and regulatory bodies are shaping this. But the big question that we have to answer, and I think, I think we can probably leave it here, is whether or not this is state or a federal solution that we're going to have to figure out. I don't think you can have a state based patchwork here when it comes to regulating. Very online app driven because they're everywhere. Yeah, you're going to have to have the CFTC and the federal government come up with some sort of national solution.
- [82:10]
Tony Kennett
Yeah, I think that's true. The modern neo federalism argument is really going to be an interesting one. Stephen Kent, Consumer Choice Center. Geeky stoics, the man. Always glad to have you.
- [82:19]
Stephen Kent
Thanks, Tony.
- [82:21]
Tony Kennett
All right, as we wrap things up tonight, I do want just one final, one little final news bit here. That does crack me up quite a bit. It cracks me up. It gives me. It gives me a good chuckle and a half. That would be that the View, the lovely ladies of the View have now discovered that of the bajillion anonymous tips that are uncovered in the continuing dumpster fire, that keeps a lot of those rock and strong tinfoil, the Epstein file stuff. Apparently Whoopi has been accused by some anonymous whatever. And her response is really great because if you think about the stuff the ladies on the View have said about Trump, for example, and any, any mainstream Republican over the last couple of decades, Whoopi Goldberg, now saying the exact opposite is truly one of the most hilarious things in history. Again, she is someone who has said, like, you know, Gene Carroll, take her at her word, all this other extra bad stuff. But. But now, now she's ready to sing a bit of a different tune. We do have, have Whoopi ready to go, don't we? Come on. Whoopi Goldberg losing her mind. Did that not? Get ready for tonight. You guys may have been spared the arduous horror of Whoopi Goldberg. Oh, nope, I don't think so. Here you go.
- [83:43]
Whoopi Goldberg
Now, in the name of transparency, can you put up. My name is in the files.
- [83:53]
New York City Official
Yes.
- [83:54]
Whoopi Goldberg
And what does it say? It says, Whoopi needs a plane to get to Monaco. John Lennon's chair. It should say Julian Lennon's charity is paying for it. They don't, they don't want to charter, so they're looking for private owners. Here's the info. And they give all the information and they're saying, do you want to offer your G2?
- [84:17]
Tony Kennett
And it looks like they said, no, thanks.
- [84:19]
Whoopi Goldberg
Yeah.
- [84:19]
Stephen Kent
So in other words, anybody can be on this. Anybody's.
- [84:21]
Whoopi Goldberg
Well, this is my point, because.
- [84:23]
Tony Kennett
Oh, anybody. You mean when they post every single email or communication that anyone related to Epstein had? Because again, the FBI has collected all this information, all the anonymous tips, anyone's name can be in there. It doesn't mean anything. It could mean things. It doesn't have to. I mean, there's kind of a lot to it. No way. Wow. Incredible. Just you're telling me this for the first time.
- [84:46]
Whoopi Goldberg
I'm telling you when I tell you people are trying to turn me into. I wasn't his girlfriend. I wasn't his friend.
- [84:53]
Policy Analyst
You were too old for him.
- [84:54]
Whoopi Goldberg
I was not only too old, but it was at a time, you know, where this is just not. You used to have to have facts before you said stuff, but Trump is.
- [85:05]
Tony Kennett
Oh, you need facts before you say stuff now. Joy Behar, immediately, you can see her pulse rising because this very clearly means. Oh, well then this doesn't confirm that Donald Trump is evil super Hitler pedo Satan V on the list 38,000 times. That's true. Trump is one of the wealthiest men on the face of the planet and did no FC a lot of records. It's what they say kind of matters.
- [85:27]
Whoopi Goldberg
Well, I can't speak to him, but I'm speaking about me because I'm getting dragged. People actually believe that I was with him. It's like, honey, come on. Every man that I've ever been with, you've known about him because either the Inquirer wrote it about it. People wrote about this stuff. So no, I never had this, you know, and no, I didn't get on the plane.
- [85:50]
Tony Kennett
And by the way, she goes on to say that there used to be a standard of meeting evidence in this country, which is hilarious coming from the ladies of the View. That's like, that's hearing, like, that's like hearing Alexandria Ocasio Cortez accurately cite where Venezuela is. You hear that and you're just like, hey, whoa, hang on, hang on. Did that just come from you? Whoopi Goldberg did go on to say, look, you kind of need some evidence before you go out here again. That's why there are defamation situations in which you're not allowed to get out on spectrum media or on some kind again in public facing media and make bold accusations without evidence that can cause punitive specific monetary or cycle like depending on the court damages. You can't do that. Not allowed. But, you know, it is funny to watch kind of the shoe be on the other foot. You know, how the turns table that kind of a thing. I, I do, I do enjoy that. I mean, you know, there's just something about that that, you know, I certainly, I, I certainly do enjoy. I don't know. And again, again, the longer that people continue to try to cling to this and the theories get weirder and stranger. I mean, I'll give it to the ladies of the View. At least they don't mispronounce half the words that Candace does. But I. I'm. I'm sorry. I. I don't. I don't want to, you know, fall prey to hyperbole. So that all said, have a wonderful evening. It's the Tony Kenneth cast here on the Daily Signal, nationally syndicated, first on 93 WIBC. See you tomorrow, 7pm Y' all. Take care.
- [87:13]
Matt Davis
I'm Matt Davis, CEO here at Maranatha Baptist University, and I'd like to invite you personally to Maranatha's fourth annual Leader to Leader conference on March 5th and 6th here in Watertown, Wisconsin. This event, sponsored by our School of Business, offers two days of practical insights, valuable connections, and leadership development that will impact your career, no matter your field. This year's conference includes keynotes from Ken Barbic, a Maranatha graduate and former Senate confirmed assistant secretary of Agriculture and currently serving as a senior lobbyist and Advisor to Fortune 500 companies my friend Tony Kennett, another Maranatha grad who now serves as a national correspondent and syndicated radio host for the Daily Signal, and Adam Morgan, president of Majesty Music and a former member of South Carolina's Legislature. Becoming a more intentional, effective leader starts here. Take the next step in your leadership journey and join us March 5th and 6th for two days of learning, networking and growth that will set the tone for the rest of your year. To learn more, visit MVU. Eduardo Leader 2 Leader can't wait to see you here on Maranatha's beautiful campus March 5th and 6th for the 4th annual Leader to Leader Conference.
- [88:41]
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