Something Suspicious Is Happening At The Pentagon | Episode 27

Summary

VINCE – Episode 27: "Something Suspicious Is Happening At The Pentagon"
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Host: VINCE (Cumulus Podcast Network)

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1. Introduction

In this special edition of VINCE, host Vince Coglianese delves into significant political developments, including insights from a recent Washington Free Beacon report, escalating tensions within the Pentagon, the passing of Pope Francis, internal conflicts within the Democratic Party, and a heated public exchange involving Congresswoman Nancy Mace. Vince also teases upcoming exclusive interviews from the White House with key Trump administration officials.

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2. Washington Free Beacon Report on Kamala Harris's Campaign Spending

Vince begins by highlighting a Washington Free Beacon report that scrutinizes Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign expenditures. The report alleges substantial financial transfers from Harris's campaign to various Democratic celebrities and organizations, suggesting potential money laundering activities.

Key Points:

• LeBron James: Harris's campaign reportedly paid LeBron James's production company $50,000 following his endorsement, contradicting his claim it was a personal decision for his children (Timestamp: [03:15]).
• Oprah Winfrey & Beyoncé:
  • $1 million was allocated to Oprah's company for a high-profile but criticized interview.
  • $165,000 was paid to Beyoncé's team for a brief rally appearance that disappointed attendees (Timestamp: [04:40]).
• Cardi B & Al Sharpton:
  • $58,000 was directed to Cardi B, who previously denied receiving compensation.
  • Half a million dollars went to Al Sharpton's nonprofit, raising concerns about potential coercion (Timestamp: [05:55]).
• Other Expenditures: Funds were also routed to Jennifer Garner for event production and the Obamas' shell company for campaign appearances (Timestamp: [07:22]).

Notable Quote:

"Kamala Harris's campaign quietly paid LeBron's production company $50,000 after his declared personal endorsement." – Vince ([03:15])

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3. Turmoil at the Pentagon and Pete Hegseth’s Position

Vince transitions to discussing the escalating chaos within the Pentagon, focusing on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's precarious position amid staff resignations and public criticism.

Key Points:

• Resignations: Three senior staffers—Dan Caldwell, Darren Selnick, and Colin Carroll—have resigned amid accusations of leaking sensitive information, which the Pentagon denies (Timestamp: [09:10]).
• John Oyat's Op-Ed: A former Pentagon spokesperson, John Oyat, resigned and publicly criticized the department's dysfunction and Hegseth's leadership, implicitly calling for his removal (Timestamp: [10:45]).
• Hegseth's Response: At the White House Easter Egg Roll, Hegseth attributes the staff departures to media "hit pieces" and defends his efforts to reform the Pentagon (Timestamp: [12:24]).
• Vince’s Analysis: Suggests deeper, undisclosed issues within the Pentagon and urges listeners to maintain cautious skepticism regarding media reports (Timestamp: [13:30]).

Notable Quotes:

"President Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account." – John Oyat ([10:45])
"This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees..." – Pete Hegseth ([12:24])

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4. Interview with Teresa Tomeo on the Passing of Pope Francis

Vince interviews Teresa Tomeo, a Catholic talk show host and Italy expert, to discuss the recent passing of Pope Francis and its implications for the Catholic Church.

Key Points:

• Pope Francis’s Passing: Teresa expresses sadness but not surprise due to the Pope's health issues, highlighting his final public appearance during Easter celebrations (Timestamp: [19:44]).
• Church Leadership Transition: Discusses the role of Cardinal Farrell and the Roman Curia in managing the Vatican's affairs post-Pope Francis (Timestamp: [20:26]).
• Future of the Church: Anticipates the conclave process to elect the next pope, emphasizing trust in the Church's traditions and apostolic succession (Timestamp: [24:36]).
• Divergent Views Within the Church: Teresa and co-host J.D. Vance acknowledge internal debates regarding the Church’s direction, particularly on issues like immigration and charitable giving, while maintaining confidence in unified Church teachings (Timestamp: [25:46]).

Notable Quotes:

"The Church is His. It was founded by Christ Jesus on the rock, St. Peter." – Teresa Tomeo ([21:13])
"There is nothing to separate the Church’s teachings; they work in unison to balance each other out." – J.D. Vance ([26:37])

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5. Internal Conflicts Within the Democratic Party

Vince addresses the emerging conflicts within the Democratic Party, particularly focusing on the animosity between strategist James Carville and activist David Hogg.

Key Points:

• James Carville vs. David Hogg: Carville criticizes Hogg’s strategy to primary Democrats, referring to him as a "contemptible little twerp," while Hogg advocates for aggressive measures to challenge Democratic opponents (Timestamp: [35:44]).
• Party Strategy Disputes: Highlights the lack of leadership and effective strategies within the Democratic Party, suggesting the infighting detracts from their electoral success (Timestamp: [36:32]).
• Vince’s Take: Emphasizes the detrimental impact of internal strife on the party’s cohesion and voter support, reinforcing the need for accountability and stronger leadership (Timestamp: [37:41]).

Notable Quote:

"The Democratic Party is actively trying to subvert their political opponents from even appearing on the ballot for electoral contests." – Vince ([37:41])

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6. Nancy Mace’s Confrontation in a Makeup Store

Vince recounts a viral incident involving Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who faced a hostile confrontation in a makeup store with a Democratic customer.

Key Points:

• The Incident: Nancy Mace was approached by a visibly upset individual who criticized her support for gay marriage and attendance at town halls (Timestamp: [46:10]).
• Exchange Highlights: Mace responded assertively, challenging the individual to attend her town halls and firmly stating her stance on gay marriage (Timestamp: [47:05]).
• Vince’s Commentary: Uses the exchange to illustrate the growing polarization and confrontational tactics within political discourse (Timestamp: [48:07]).

Notable Quote:

"You are a disgrace. You voted for gay marriage twice. It absolutely has everything to do with you." – Nancy Mace ([49:00])

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7. Conclusion and Upcoming Content

Vince wraps up the episode by reiterating the significance of the discussed topics and teasing forthcoming exclusive interviews from the White House, promising deeper insights into the Trump administration's strategies and responses to current political challenges.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Vince on LeBron James Payment:
  "Kamala Harris's campaign quietly paid LeBron's production company $50,000 after his declared personal endorsement." ([03:15])

• John Oyat Criticizing the Pentagon:
  "President Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account." ([10:45])

• Pet Hegseth Defending Against Media Attacks:
  "This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees..." ([12:24])

• Teresa on Church Leadership:
  "The Church is His. It was founded by Christ Jesus on the rock, St. Peter." ([21:13])

• J.D. Vance on Church Unity:
  "There is nothing to separate the Church’s teachings; they work in unison to balance each other out." ([26:37])

• Vince on Democratic Party Infighting:
  "The Democratic Party is actively trying to subvert their political opponents from even appearing on the ballot for electoral contests." ([37:41])

• Nancy Mace’s Confrontation:
  "You are a disgrace. You voted for gay marriage twice. It absolutely has everything to do with you." ([49:00])

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from Episode 27 of VINCE, providing listeners with a clear understanding of the episode's critical topics and the nuanced perspectives shared by host Vince and his guests.

Transcript

[Vince]

Hello there. Welcome to the Tuesday edition of vince. Great to have you with us. This is a special edition of our show. And the reason for that is because I am spending today, this Tuesday, doing a bunch of interviews at the White House with a bunch of really important Trump administration officials. And I will bring you the fruits of those labors as the Vince show continues later this week. So tune in for all of that. That said, I decided what we'll do is we'll share a collection of some of the great radio conversations we're having this week with you on today's episode while I'm at the White House gathering all of these really important things. So I hope you enjoy today's special edition of vince. A lot of big live conversations coming up with you this week. Before we get into the content, I have to thank our sponsors. Are you a yo yo dieter? Do you diet? Do you lose weight and then you gain it all back plus a few extra pounds? You know this is dangerous. 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And it's not a substitute or alternative to care from a health care provider. You know, Kamala Harris spent a lot of money on losing the presidential race last year. $1.5 billion to lose. What a tremendous and hilarious waste of money. But when she was spending all of that cash, she was dumping it meant much of it directly into the coffers of Democrat celebrities. Surprise, surprise. And the Washington Free Beacon has a brand new report on the subject which just tickles me to death that LeBron James had said that endorsing Kamala Harris was a, quote, personal decision for my kids. But the Free Beacon has discovered new disclosures show that Kamala Harris's campaign quietly paid LeBron's production company $50,000. After the post where LeBron declared, I'm endorsing her. I'm doing it for my kids. No, he was doing it for $50,000 is why he did it. That he took from the Kamala Harris campaign. And that was just one check. The Free Beacon explains. They also dug through all of the finances of the Kamala campaign and they found that Kamala gave $1 million to Oprah's company in exchange for that. Remember how that ridiculous sit down interview that they did where. Where Oprah sits in the middle and then says, you're so great. And then she would throw to like different people in the crowd and they would go, you're so great. And they all just did that for I don't know how long. It's like an hour of just miserable content. And that apparently cost $1 million to get that out of Oprah. Also $165,000 to Beyonce's team. They got Beyonce in for 165K. They got a. They got a four minute rally speech out of Beyonce. Do you remember the stunts that they had with Beyonce during the campaign? Oh, she's going to be at the dnc. Oh, she's going to perform. It's going to be the end of it. None of that happened. And then they finally get her on a stage in Texas where she goes out, she says hello to the crowd, and four minutes later she leaves. And then the crowd, which had expected a performance, they left to the crowd started heading for the exits because there was no Beyonce performance. Hilarious. Also, Kamala's campaign dumped $58,000 to Cardi B. Who at the time claimed that she wasn't paid at all. They also gave half a million dollars to MSNBC host Al Sharpton's nonprofit. That's the blackmail operation. You either pay Al Sharpton or he calls you a racist. So Kamala said, I'll pay half a million dollars. That was weeks before she appeared on msnbc. Oh, is that a conflict, anybody? Any problem there with an MSNBC host taking a half million dollars from a guest in order to appear on the network? Yeah, that's fine. Al Sharpton will not be held accountable for that or else he'll call MSNBC racist. 35,000 to Jennifer Garner for event production and Travel and another $100,000 to the Obamas and their shell company for campaign appearances. Obama, who refused to endorse Kamala Harris, remember at the outset instead wanted an open primary so that Democrats could battle it out because Barack Obama knew how, how terrible of a candidate she was. And so how did Kamala earn Brock's favor? Oh, by paying him and Michelle $100,000 for their campaign appearances. So excellent work again by the Washington Free Beacon as they dig in here on all of this money that flowed through the Kamala Harris campaign into the left. The left is a gigantic money laundering operation. Isn't it everything? And it's not just their own money. It's your money oftentimes. What do you think USAID is? USAID has been a gigantic money laundering operation, mostly for the left. Now, there have been Republicans who have gotten in on the action, but mostly this is for Democrats to launder taxpayer money to their pet projects and their friends and to get fancy dinners out of it, all at your expense, while introducing a lot more chaos to the planet. So that's what's actually been going on. So again, a great report from the Washington Free Beacon this week. Hey, I do want to bring up something that's going on today. Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth is now once again in the hot seat for the American press. A lot of scandals being kicked up around Pete Hegseth. And last night there was a Pentagon spokesman who ran a piece in Politico who just quit. He just quit his job. And he ran a piece in Politico and said that it's time for Pete Hegseth to be fired, to go. The spokesman for the Pentagon is doing this? Yeah, they say former top Pentagon spokesperson. He's a spokesman. Details month from hell inside the agency. Politico reports it's an op ed written by a guy called John Oyat. He's a former chief Pentagon spokesman. He led communications on the National Security Council and the Department of Veterans affairs back in President Trump's first term. He just resigned from the Pentagon and he starts his op ed this week with it's been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon from leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings. The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president who deserves better from his senior leadership. This guy says President Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. This is him sucking up the Trump in this op ed. Think about what he's doing. He just quit the Pentagon and then he's instantly crapping on the secretary of defense in public. And he's sucking up the Donald Trump in the second paragraph right away to justify his behavior and hopefully induce the firing of Pete. Hegseth that's what his goal is here, he said. Given this, it's hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer. The latest flashpoint is a near collapse inside the Pentagon's top ranks. On Friday, Hegseth fired three of his most loyal senior staffers, Senior advisor Dan Caldwell, Deputy Chief of Staff Darren Selnick, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. In the aftermath, Defense Department officials working for Hexath tried to smear the aids anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as a part of an investigation ordered earlier this month. This guy says, yet none of this is true. While the department said that it would conduct polygraph tests as a part of the probe, not one of the three has been given a lie detector test. In fact, at least one of them has told former colleagues that investigators advised him he was about to be cleared officially of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Hegseth team has developed a habit of spreading flat out easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on the way out the door. And then, he says. On Friday, Politico reported that he sets chief of staff, a guy called Joe Casper was also leaving his role. Casper had requested the investigation into the Pentagon leaks, which reportedly included military operational plans for the Panama Canal and a pause in the collection of intel for Ukraine. All right, so there's, there's a lot going on here, including a lot of things that are out of our sight right now. And so let me, let me do something. Let me just do a basic thing which is to urge caution as you are fed a bunch of different stories that may not be the truth. You're being fed a bunch of different stories that may themselves not be the truth about what's actually happening inside of the Pentagon right now. For instance, just to give you a perspective on one of the things that's going on in Washington right now, there's a meaningful battle about how militarily engaged the Trump administration should be with Iran. That's a real fight. That's, that's going on apparently inside of the Trump administration right now with people taking different sides of that issue. How aggressive should we be? Should we be ready for military strikes? Should we be striking nuclear facilities? Should we, to what extent should we engage in what they call kinetic action on Iran? Is it worth it to go to war with Iran? What will the second and third order effects of that be? Well, of course, those are all deeply reasonable questions that you should raise. And so as A result, as you know, that that debate is going on, it has to color your perception about the way that these stories are being told in public. Dan Caldwell, the senior advisor that just left the Pentagon, and apparently Darren Selnick and Colin Carroll, too, were both much more cautious about military engagement with Iran than other people in the administration are. Is that an animating factor for why they were just ejected? Was their position on trying to prevent a war with Iran the reason why they're being sidelined? Oftentimes, what you see in Washington, when you get stories like this, there's a lot of scandal around it. You're being told they're leaving for one reason. It's not entirely clear what's going on. There's infighting. Oftentimes the explanation for that is you have two ideologically warring sides that are jockeying for power, and people are being ejected. There are casualties as a result of those fights. Now, is it possible that these guys are leakers, that they've just been speaking out of school, that they've been leaking operational plans and that they've been giving up information that they shouldn't have in violation of the law and a violation of their obligations to the Pentagon? Yeah, it's possible. And that's the case. They should. They should face consequences for that action. But I am telling you right now that you should hold your breath before you jump to real conclusions about any of this and what all these guys are doing now. Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth did speak a little bit about this today at the White House Easter egg roll. He was there with his family and with some of the kids, and he was asked about this by a reporter earlier. Listen to Hegseth's response here.

[Pete Hegseth]

You know, what a big surprise that a bunch of. A few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hopes won't give back their Pulitzers. They got answers for a bunch of lies, Pulitzers for a bunch of lies. And on hoaxes time and time and time again. And as they pedal those lies, no one ever calls them on it. See, this is what the media does. They take it.

[Vince]

I gotta be honest. I'm always honest. So I'll just. I'll just give it to you straight. The way I view it here, this is a good posture, the fighting posture. You know, fight back against the press, people are lying, that kind of thing. I got it. But Hegseth sounds a little rattled here, doesn't he? I. From my perspective, I'm Listening to him say this, I, I agree with him vehemently about this critique of the press. How many times does the press serve you lies? But I. There is a deeper story. This is my human intuition picking this up. There's a deeper story going on here that is not fully visible to the public right now. There's something even about Hexess tone that sounds like there's a deeper story that's not yet told.

[Pete Hegseth]

And on hoaxes time and time and time again. And as they peddle those lies, no one ever calls them on it. See, this is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputation. Not going to work with me because we're changing the Defense Department. Putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters and anonymous media from disgruntled former employees on old news. Doesn't matter. So I'm happy to be here at the Easter Egg Roll with my dad and my kids because, you know, this is what we're doing it for. These kids right here. This is why we're fighting the fake news media. This is why we're fighting slash and burn Democrats. This is why we're fighting hoaxters. Hoaxters.

[Teresa Tomeo]

This group.

[Pete Hegseth]

No, no, this group right here, full of hoaxers that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind. And then you put it all together as if it news story. And what we know. We know exactly what it is.

[Vince]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah. There's a trumpet going on in the background there. There was some music playing at the, the White House Easter Egg Roll. And just to give you a sense of the theater of it, if you, I mean, if you've ever seen a White House Easter Egg Roll, it's just kids everywhere. It's like thousands of children because it's an Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House. It's a very neat occasion for all these people to visit, but some reporters there getting a microphone into Pete Hegseth's face and he was trying to navigate. Well, how do I deal with this right now? Because it does seem like he has something very, very big on his plate in front of him. Look, I, I, here's what I can say about the Iran stuff. I just hope that the coolest heads prevail, the coolest possible heads prevail, where military action is required for America's interests. I'm all for it, but there better be a deliberative process to inform that. And it can't be the kind of garbage that got us into Iraq. And it can't be the kind of garbage that perpetually left us in Afghanistan and of course got us into so many other foreign conflicts at the loss of so many American lives without adequate justification to the American people. I know and you know that those days have to be over, that every time you want to engage in American military action, you have to approach the American people with humility, given the failures of Washington, at the expense of the troops, at the expense of the American people, over and over and over again. And so if there are voices in the administration right now who are urging caution, who are urging a deliberative process, and among those, it seems pretty clear based on the reporting who those people are. Those are people like, well, it should be Pete Hegseth. Those are definitely people like Tulsi Gabbard, who is been victimized by the intel community and is doing good work on behalf of the President of the United States right now to hold that intel community accountable, to make transparent things that have been kept secret from you. And that also includes the Vice President of the United States, J.D. vance, one of the single most brilliant members of the entire United States government. And we are lucky that he is serving right now as Vice President of the United States. He's wise. He's a Marine veteran. He knows what it means to serve, to deploy. And so again, just to to make sure that I'm clear on this subject, whatever is going on right now at the Pentagon with Pete Hegseth, as you're seeing story after story, scandal after scandal, this is a big thing. This is a big thing. You know and I know that you are only being served some distorted vision of the truth, that the truth isn't being put in front of you. And whatever we can divine from all of this that we find, that is the truth, well, our job here is to share it. And we will. All right, more of our special edition of Vince coming up. And as you probably know by now, I'm currently at the White House. I'm recording a bunch of really important interviews, all to be delivered to you this week, perspectives directly from the Trump administration. But before we do that, I just wanna tell you about our great sponsors. Just because we've driven the woke crowd out of power in Washington doesn't mean they actually went away. They still run most of the public school systems. Sadly, most public schools are failing our children. So many kids just can't read. They can't write, they can't do math at grade level, forcing colleges to dumb down curriculum just to keep enrollment up. Well, Freedom Project Academy has perfected online learning for 15 years, offering live anytime and homeschool courses for students in kindergarten through high school. Built on Judeo Christian values, Freedom Project Academy is dedicated to mastery of subject matter where students read full books, write in cursive, study the full scope of history, and graduate with knowledge years above their public school peers. To celebrate 15 years, Freedom Project Academy is offering their largest discount ever. Just go to freedom4school.com and you can save 15% off all courses when you use the code Vince15. That's Vince1 5 for 15% off of all live anytime and homeschool courses. We can't afford to keep dumping. We can't afford rather to keep dumbing down our Nation. Go to freedomforschool.com that's freedomforschool.com and take back your child's education. For more on this, on the passing of Pope Francis and what the next weeks will look like as the Vatican decides on who the next pope is going to be. I want to bring in my next guest, who is Teresa Tomeo. She joins us on the phone. She is a Catholic talk show host and is on ewtn. She's also an Italy expert. She's got a lot to say on this subject. Teresa, thank you for joining us today.

[J.D. Vance]

Hey, Vince, a belated buona pascua to you, my friend.

[Vince]

Happy Easter.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Well, thank you.

[Vince]

Thank you very much. And happy Easter to you as well. Just get your initial reaction to the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday.

[J.D. Vance]

It was very sad, but as you said, given all the medical complications, I don't think it was very surprising. I was watching a lot of our coverage on EWTN Catholic tv, and even when he was greeting the people yesterday on the loggia, that famous balcony in the center of St. Peter's Square, I don't think he looked like he had improved all that much since he had been back at his residence at the Casa Santa Marta. I thought he looked very weak. It was beautiful to see him there to greet the pilgrims in St Peter's a beautiful sunny day in Rome, the most important day on the Christian calendar. So it was very special. So I think mixed feelings. I really, really sad, but not surprised.

[Vince]

Right. And how was and who was kind of running the church in the last few weeks, in your view? Was it, I mean, was Pope Francis, do you think, actively involved in things or were kind of the cardinals around him running the operation?

[J.D. Vance]

It's a combination of both. He's been very weak Although he has been doing some writing. He did write the Meditations of the Stations of the Cross, the Way of the Cross, from the Coliseum for Friday evening, even though he wasn't there. He also wrote some messages for his weekly audiences and his messages for the Angelus on Sundays. Just putting those messages out there. Those events weren't actually held, but usually what happens in this case is there is a group, part of the Roman Curia, that would run things for him. And so, for example, Cardinal Farrell, the one who made the announcement, is considered. There's a fancy Italian name for. But basically he's the administrator of the Vatican, so he's been very involved in that, as are the other cardinals who are there based in Rome.

[Vince]

Okay. So the fact that he died on Easter Monday, that strikes me. I mean, it's impossible for us to know God's timing on all of this, but it does strike me as meaningful. Lent concludes, we get Easter Sunday, and I think that there's been a lot of debate about the direction of the future of the Church and the Pope here passing and now, of course, opening a door for what might come next, right?

[J.D. Vance]

Well, absolutely. And we say, as my mother used to say, we offer everything up to God and put it at the foot of the cross. The church is his. It was founded by Christ Jesus on the rock, St. Peter. And we. We trust in the process. We trust in the apostolic succession. And, you know, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, and the cardinals will be getting together after the time of repose and where folks can pay respects to the Pope over the next several days, then the funeral, then the conclave. So we'll see where it goes. But I do think this is going to be a very different week for people heading to Rome, for example, from my archdiocese, the Archdiocese of Detroit, we have hundreds of people, events on their way, because this weekend is a huge event, or was going to be a huge event, the canonization of what's considered the first millennial saint, a young man by the name of Carlo Acutis. So their plans are all being altered. And so they're finding that their pilgrimage is going to look much different. So they'll be going to pay respect to the Pope. They'll be part of a huge event. It'll be very different for them, but I think very powerful and beautiful at the same time. We will see. We trust in God's providence. And for Christians, as you know, this is it. This is the week. I mean, this is the most important week on the calendar. Easter is it. That's who we are. We're an Easter people. And it was beautiful that he passed away. If you have to pass away, what a great time to go and be with the Lord. Right. On Easter Monday, the day after, the most important day in the year for Christians. So, again, mixed emotions, but it's always a tough time. I mean, for Catholics, this is our. We call him our Holy Father. This is our Pope, the Vicar of Christ. So it's always a challenge to see the chair empty or the seda vacante.

[Vince]

Yeah. I found it interesting that JD Vance appears to be his last major foreign leader visit yesterday, Vice President Vance paying him a visit that followed kind of an open and certainly implied debate between the Trump administration and Pope Francis earlier this year in February about how we secure our borders and to what lengths we go. And yet the two men seem to have a very cordial exchange yesterday, just hours ahead of Pope Francis death.

[J.D. Vance]

I thought it was a very strong sign of openness on both part of the Pope and the vice president to meet together, even though they disagree on this issue of immigration. In the Catholic Church, what's beautiful about the faith is there are things that we have to agree on as Catholics. There are certain morals, certain things, faith and morals. When the Pope is teaching us from the chair, from the chair of St. Peter. Right. We can't disagree with that. But the issue of immigration is something upon which Catholics can disagree. We have to care for the poor, care for the immigrant. But the way we do it, we can discuss that, and there could be different ways. So there's a mutual respect. I think J.D. vance being a Catholic and the Pope being who he is, who he was, the Pope. So J.D. vance recognizes that. But, you know, we also understand, and the catechism itself is very clear, the teachings of the Church say that a country has a right to protect its borders and that the people who are coming into a country have to respect the laws of that country. So the Catholic Church is clear we have to help the people in need, but that countries have a right to protect themselves and protect their borders. So I think it was a good sign, a good step in the right direction, even though there obviously is some strong disagreement there.

[Vince]

Well, yeah, that's right. And J.D. vance, to his great credit earlier this year, his rationale for why we need to take care of the people within our country first, he said that it was going back to a theology that was spoken by St. Augustine, Ordo Amoris, that it's about the order of love, the priorities that we have to give, and the duty we have to the people who are closest to us.

[J.D. Vance]

Right, right. And again, the Church is very clear on this teaching. And I think people will do themselves a favor. And I know for a long time I didn't do this, but see what the Church actually says about these issues. And JD Vance is very well, very well versed on the church teaching. And I do think it was a really good sign that the two met, though, and how special it must be for JD Vance, as a Catholic, as a vice president, to have met with the Pope right before his death.

[Vince]

Yeah, big time. All right, Teresa Tomeo, tell me about what comes next here. I'm already starting to see, because the news cycle moves so quickly, this idea that there are competing factions within the Vatican, that whether or not we're going to get a more left wing pope or somebody who's going to be more interested in restoring the tradition of the Church. What do you detect at this early hour?

[J.D. Vance]

Well, here's the thing. And you and I know this, right, because we're both Catholic. We're raised in the Catholic faith, we know the faith. And from our perspective as journalists, as covering these things, it always intrigues me. And I spent 20, half of my career in the secular media. It always intrigues me the way that secular media want to cover this. They want to split us in two. Now, when you look at the teachings of the Church, some people may look at some things, such as immigration or social justice or things like that, as those teachings that may appear to lean toward the left and then other issues, such as life issues, marriage, sexuality, leaning to the right. But at the end of the day, the Church's teachings don't conflict and the Holy Father's responsibilities uphold those teachings. And despite the way Francis did express himself maybe differently than other popes have in the past, he was so clear on marriage. He was so clear on abortion. I mean, his language on abortion was among the strongest in recent popes.

[Vince]

I mean, he was clear on gender, too.

[J.D. Vance]

On gender. Very clear on gender, absolutely. On the whole gender ideology issue. So at the end of the day, whether a pope may, from the world's view, seem more left of center or more right of center, we don't look at it that way in the Church because the teachings don't break away. They work all together in unison to balance each other out. So I do think that there's some interesting people that have been brought up and, you know, there's this list that's been floating around since Pope Francis went into the hospital back in February. And I don't know where they got it. It could be from one of the main reporters, Nicole Winnfield, who cover has been covering the Vatican for years. I don't know if it's her list or not, but it's all over the map with the popes. There are some popes that they're describing as very liberal. Some popes are just describing as very conservative. At the end of the day, the church is the church, and God is going to put in that position the person that he thinks is right for that position right now in time. So I have faith in the Church. I love the church. I came back to the church after being 20 years away from it. I just think it's beautiful the way we have this. I don't want to be so technical, let's call it a system, but this beautiful way that it's handed down over the centuries. And I trust that process.

[Vince]

But you do know that, I mean, like, if you talk to, say, the average Catholic priest, you can sort of tell where priests are and what they think of the Pope. It's like, who's your favorite recent pope? And then typically the encampments are Benedict or Francis. They'll divide up between the two. And I think that those divisions are meaningful. They represent sort of a real difference of opinion in the church based, based on, certainly, priorities. And the extent to which, when a pope engages in politics, as Francis Wood, the extent to which we suggest that, say, charity should be outsourced to collectivist systems, that governments should impose charity on people, rather than that they should rise to the occasion themselves. It does seem that there are meaningful differences here in terms of these ideologies.

[J.D. Vance]

Oh, absolutely. But I think that shows that a healthy church, that we can have that and we can have those discussions. And I think those discussions will continue again on these issues, especially in the area of immigration and as you mentioned, charitable giving. There are teachings that we can look at and go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church for this, that we can have healthy discussions on these things. And I think that's what's great about the one holy, Catholic and apostolic faith. I mean, if you look at the body of teaching in the Church, it's massive. And there really is something for everybody at the end of the day.

[Vince]

So how soon until we see the white smoke emerge from the Vatican? When will that occur?

[J.D. Vance]

That one, my friend, will have to consult the Lord on that, but the process itself. So right now, we are the Pope. I just checked with my sources in Rome. The Pope's body will be at the Vatican. It will be moved there on Wednesday at St. Peter's and so people who are going there, maybe on pilgrimage already had planned to be there. Maybe people who are coming in just to pay their respects. They will be able to pay their respects to the Pope. And usually they have a period of mourning. It could be as long as nine days. When I'm hearing it's going to be a little bit shorter than that, then they'll have the funeral and then after that, the conclave will convene. Usually it's in about two weeks. So within two weeks they'll convene and there's 90. It has to be at 90. Cardinals have to approve in order for the next Pope to be chosen. And I don't know, I mean, it really is up to the Holy Spirit, up to the Lord. But we'll see this white smoke. And when we see the white smoke, we have a Pope. Black smoke means there's indecision at that point.

[Vince]

Okay, Then it goes to another round after that.

[J.D. Vance]

Right.

[Vince]

Over and over. All right, well, Teresa Tomeo, thank you very much. Appreciate you being here to talk about all this breaking news. A big week for the Catholic Church in the world. Definitely. Really appreciate you helping us navigate through it.

[J.D. Vance]

Yeah, thanks, Vince. And just to let you know, I'll be in Italy. My husband and I live there part time and I'll be going over next week and I'll probably be reporting from Rome. So I'm happy to answer any other questions you have and be on again.

[Vince]

Okay, good. We'll check back in with you. Thank you. Teresa, nice to talk to you. That's Teresa Tomeo with ewtn. Great radio host, great perspective on what exactly is happening in the wake of the death of Pope Francis. Stay with us here on the Vince Show. This special edition of Vince will continue in just a moment. But first I have to tell you about our great sponsors. With the Maha movement in full force, I've been very inspired to make my own health and fitness a total priority again. And this is why I've been so excited to be working with Don and his incredible team at Jacked Up Fitness, an amazing American company. Their commercial grade Power Rack Pro has everything that you need to get a full body workout right from home. It's got a cable crossover system, integrated 200 pound weight stacks, and a Smith machine allowing you to do hundreds of exercises. Basically everything that you can do at the gym. My family loves it. My Power Rack Pro has been a total game changer in my life. My wife adores this thing and even my kid, she's 10 years old, she's a little swimmer, she actually works out. She's all sorts of on land workouts on the Power Rack Pro. And it's great with our busy schedules and I know it's going to be good for you too. Having a badass all in one Power Rack Pro right here in the house is a game changer for my family and we are super excited about getting on that machine each day. And they've got that great Get Jacked up program as well that has full body video workouts. So good. And it's led by celebrity trainers Kim Lyons and Clark Bartram. You just press play and then you follow along. This is great, especially if you're just getting started. So listen, I've been doing this. You should do it too. Let's do this together. Go to getjackedup.com, sign up to access the program right now for free. And when you're ready to order your Power rack Pro, save 10% by using my promo code, Vince. No more excuses. It's gonna be epic. Go to getjackedup.com and this podcast is sponsored by MD Hearing. It feels like everything has gotten so much more expensive these days. But not top of the line hearing aids from mDhearing. Maryland Hearing recently cut their price in half. Maryland Hearing just made their Neo rechargeable digital hearing aids. Only $297 a pair. That's over 90% less than clinic hearing aids. The Neo fits inside of your ear so no one will even know it's there. Plus, MDHearing just launched the Neo XS, MD Hearing's smallest hearing aid ever. $297 for a pair of hearing aids this good is actually a crazy good deal. MDHearing has sold over 2 million hearing aids and they offer a 45 day risk free trial with a 100% money back guarantee. So get the high quality affordable hearing aids you deserve with MDHearing. Go to shopmdhearing.com use the promo code Vince and you will get a pair of hearing AIDS for just $297. Plus they're adding a free extra charging case, a $100 value just for listeners and viewers of Vince. That's shopmdhearing.com use our promo code Vince and get a pair of hearing AIDS for just $297. That's shopmdhearing.com all right, look, we've got some more news popping out now. It's all this drama around Pete Hegseth continues. NPR is started reporting about 52 minutes ago. Now on the nose that the White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense to replace Pete Hegseth. After all that they're gonna replace him, huh? The White House, by way of its rapid response account, responding within five minutes to that claim by npr. All capital letters. Wrong fake news. Wrong fake news. So that's the, that's the position today. President Trump was asked about Hegseth today, I believe, and said that he continues to have confidence in the guy. And he said, Pete's doing a great job. Everybody's happy with him. Take a listener to the president as the hoodies.

[Donald Trump]

How much dysfunction is his son? Pete's doing a great job. Everybody's happy with him. We have the highest recruit recruitment numbers I think they've had in 28 years. No, he's doing a great job. It's just fake news. They just bring up stories. I guess it's sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people and that's what he's doing. So you don't always have friends when you do that.

[Vince]

Should he stop using the apps? Yeah, there he goes. Right. So that was at the White House Easter egg roll today. The president responding to the drama around Pete Hegseth, much of it truly media created and the President saying, no, this guy's doing great. Ask the Houthis how much dysfunction there is. They're not gonna be able to tell you that, cuz they're dead. Well, well, we've got Democrats acting crazy and acting dangerous too. There's a Maryland congressman by the name of Jamie Raskin who with each passing year gets even more nuts, if you can believe it. And he's got a piece of audio out now where he's talking about what's gonna happen if Democrats regain power. And he's not really hiding his intention here at all. He straight up says if we regain power, we are going to punish our political opponents. Take a listen to this guy.

[Jamie Raskin]

I like that idea. And it's a compliment to something that we need to be doing right now, which is engaging in far more work of transnational democratic solidarity with the democratic governments and the democratic movements and peoples and parties of the world.

[Vince]

Well, this language means globalism. Everything you're hearing him say right now is we need to reinvigorate globalism, we need to abandon our national sovereignty and we need to hand over power to international governing bodies and away from American citizens. This is Jamie Raskin, a sitting United States congressman, comes to us on the same week that we see. Klaus Schwab, by the way, is stepping down as the head of the World Economic Forum, and he and his villainous accent can't leave soon enough.

[Jamie Raskin]

Democratic solidarity with the democratic governments and the democratic movements and peoples and parties of the world to try to prevent the spread of the lawlessness and the fascist chaos that's been unleashed against us. But implicit in it should be the idea, the.

[Vince]

What does he say? The fascism and the lawless chaos that's been unleashed against us. Of course, what you have detected, I mean, when he talks about these democratic movements, the people he's speaking out against include President Trump and the voters in our constitutional republic who put him in office. That's what he's talking about. And he says that that has introduced chaos, which, of course, this is projection. It is designed to redress chaos. The reason people vote for Trump is to bring about order in a system where there is none because of Jamie Raskin's party, Jamie Raskin's party, which actively tries to subvert their political opponents from even appearing on the ballot for electoral contests. This is not a party that's a great believer in democracy or a constitutional republic in any sense of it.

[Jamie Raskin]

Prevent the spread of the lawlessness and the fascist chaos that's been unleashed against us. But implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power, and we will, we are not going to look kindly upon people who facilitated, to use a word of the day, who facilitated authoritarianism in our country. That's an assault on our Constitution and on our people.

[Vince]

This is a perversion of language that you're listening to. But his intent is crystal clear. His intent is crystal clear. We're not going to look kindly upon our political opponents. That is not in any way subtle. That's him declaring outright, you think our persecution of you was bad before? Wait until we get the levers of power back again. Wait until we can do it again. So what is this? Well, first of all, it's a call to action right now, if we're being honest on the part of the Trump administration, to hold these villains accountable as quickly as possible. The left is promising to hurt people without any just cause. The response by the Trump administration should be to hold lawbreakers accountable. If you hurt American citizens while you were serving. Serving, I use that word generously in the Biden administration. You should be prosecuted for that. You should be held accountable for that. If you broke the law in the service of hurting your fellow American citizen, you need to be held accountable for that. And that accountability is a deterrent for future Jamie Raskins to take those weapons up against American citizens without cause yet again, the only cause being that they disagree with them politically. So this is. That audio you just heard is a very stark reminder to the Trump Justice Department, to the Trump FBI, to all of the Trump law enforcement agencies that where you encounter criminality, you have to confront it and hold it accountable, or else they'll just continue it. That lesson is really clear on the border, isn't it? That's a perfect. That's a perfect example of where the Trump administration has had immense success by sending the message of consequences really aggressively. Every time I see a video of illegals who are put onto a train and put onto a bus and brought to an El Salvador in prison and then have their heads shaved, and then you've got law enforcement guiding every step of that perp walk, that message gets out to the whole planet. We are closed. We are not open for your kind of business, which is illegal immigration into the United States of America. That strategy of stopping future bad behavior in our country should be applied across the board. Now, I'm not saying it won't be. I'm saying that this is an encouragement to make sure that that happens, because Jamie Raskin represents a very dangerous stream of thought within the, the upper echelon of the Democrat Party, which is get control, crush our political opponents. Jamie Raskin wanted to try and disqualify President Trump from ever being, remember, ahead of, ahead of January 6th of this year. Jamie Raskin last year was one of the head conspiracy theorists to say, if President Trump wins the election, we should block the account on January 6th. That's what he said last year. He was already gaming it up. He was working with his allies in the media to begin offering a justification for that. In the end, they backed down. They didn't object to the Electoral College count this year. They didn't. They thought that that would represent some sort of so some sort of virtue victory for them. That, oh, if we don't object, that makes us look better than Trump. Okay, fine, I prefer that outcome. Go for that. You do whatever play acting you want. But last year, Jamie Raskin was the head idiot advocating for that position, which is, let's steal it on January 6th. That's crazy. The man is a danger and he keeps promising to abuse power, and he does abuse power when he has it. So this is a, this is a, this is a Big warning. And I'm glad he said this out loud in a, in a position where they don't have power right now, where they're not running the House, where they're not running the Senate, where they don't have the White House. Go ahead, keep saying it like that. Meanwhile, the left is fighting amongst themselves right now about what the future of their party looks like because they are leaderless. They don't have anybody offering good ideas. A lot of their most public demonstrations are ludicrous and are turning off voters campaigning for Ms. 13 guys. Turns out voters don't like it. It's drive it. It's driving them even further into President Trump's arms. And so one of the civil wars that's now breaking out among these Democrats is how much should we fight amongst ourselves. David Hogg, the child prodigy of the left, he has replaced Greta Thunberg in that role is, is now out saying that he wants to use Democrat Party resources to primary other Democrats to attack Democrats. I love this. James Carville is furious about it. Carville. Carvel's. What are you doing? He's screaming about it. And so here's how that's playing out. Right now he's being paid to run against other Democrats. I think it's an outbreak. I don't know if I have standing, but I might give the DMC $10 and sue him. He's a contemptible little twerk. The well known Democratic strategist James Carville said in response to this announcement of this plan that you have to primary Democrats. He's said that the DNC should sue you and called you, quote, a contemptible little twerp. What is your reaction to that?

[Teresa Tomeo]

Right? That is my reaction. I would also say James Carville has not won an election since before I was born. I think it's time to have new leaders in our party that are ready to meet this moment. Because a lot of the people that are most critical of this plan are the same ones that had $2 billion to win an election and still lost. So I think the experts can save it because it's time for some new ideas.

[Vince]

Oh, man. Little soy sauce from him, huh? Going after, going after James Carville. I'd like to see those two arm wrestle. I want to. Let's get this fight going, don't you think? Put them in the octagon. The raging Cajun versus the, you know, what do we call, what do we call hog? I don't know. What's his nickname? That guy's weird. Is it? He's a soy boy. You know, that's the chat. The chat says he's a soy boy. Yeah. So the soy boy versus the Raging Cajun. Let's see it. Let's. Let's see him square off. They're now fighting in public. Little torp, little tarp, says Carvel. I. I adore that, but it's pretty. Pretty funny. So right now, the fighting is. Is breaking out, and again, it couldn't happen to a better party, as James Carville and David Hogg are now at each other's throats and very weakly strangling one another at this moment. We'll see where that goes, and we'll gleefully cover the infighting that continues within their party. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, you see the video that she was in over this weekend? She. She filmed it herself. She was standing in a makeup store. They were one of these. What are the makeup stores? The big ones. The Sephora and Ulta, I think, are the big ones. And she was out there. I don't know which one she was standing in, but she was in a makeup store. And there was a sassy gay dude dressed up in Daisy Dukes who was in the aisle with her, and he did not like her because he is a Democrat. And so he was being emotionally incontinent while standing there, and he began screaming at her. He was holding makeup in his hands. Obviously, he was in a makeup store, and he's yelling at her. Here is the exchange that happened again in a cosmetics aisle in South Carolina. Here's Nancy Mace. Take a listen.

[Nancy Mace]

I do them. I do them every year.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Every year.

[Nancy Mace]

You want to keep going? Do you want to keep going and keep harassing me? You could have gone to a dozen town halls last year.

[Teresa Tomeo]

I asked if you're doing more this year. It was one simple question. Yeah, are you doing.

[Nancy Mace]

I've already done one. I'll do plenty more this year.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Was a simple question.

[Nancy Mace]

You're always invited.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Okay, sweet.

[Nancy Mace]

Well, and by the way, I voted for gay marriage twice. So I'm just. It has to. Everything to do with you.

[Vince]

It has everything to do with you. See, I could see her hand in my head just like. Just like gesturing broadly towards him. It has everything to do with you in particular, are going to be very interested in my position on this issue. I'm for gay marriage, says Nancy Vase. And the guy's like, what does that have to do with me? She goes, everything. It is literally everything to do with you. I love where this is going.

[Nancy Mace]

So I'm just Saying it has to do everything to do with you.

[Teresa Tomeo]

You think everything about me has to do with gay marriage?

[Nancy Mace]

I do.

[Vince]

Absolutely.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Speak with me. Absolutely.

[Nancy Mace]

If you want to get in my face about town halls, you should have shown up to one last year.

[Teresa Tomeo]

You can talk about me just saying, oh, I support gay marriage.

[Nancy Mace]

Yeah.

[Vince]

You know, there are a couple options. You see, when, if you're confronted, if you're, if you're a public official and someone comes up to you, goes, I hate you. I think you're stupid. I, I, your vote was stupid on that issue. You have some options. You can treat them nicely. You know, they're constituent. You can, you can say, look, one of the favorite, one of the most famous versions of this is I love your passion. You just say, you just respond. You know, I love how passionate you are about this. It's kind of, it's a little patronizing, a little bit acknowledging, like, oh, you've got, you're saying something. I'm like, I don't want to seed the point, but I recognize the emotion that you're wielding right now. She just went straight for. You're a ridiculous human being. You should have come to a town hall last year. And by the way, I support gay marriage, which is, like, obviously your thing.

[Nancy Mace]

Because you're getting in my face about a town hall. You could have gone last year.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Would you like me if you have any plans to have more towns all this year?

[Nancy Mace]

I have town halls every year. I have over a dozen every year.

[Vince]

Great.

[Teresa Tomeo]

That was my entire question.

[Vince]

And his entire question is dedicated to when can I come and disrupt your town hall? That. The point of this particular line of questioning is when are you holding a town hall so I can ruin it? That's my plan. Because he, that guy does not want to engage in a town hall. He's like, oh, a chance to question my congresswoman and ask her about what's going on in Washington and see if she can give me some answers. It's not going to be like that. No. These lefties are craving opportunities to appear on more cameras so that they can screech and disrupt it and make it seem like there's a real big groundswell coming out against the Trump agenda.

[Nancy Mace]

Yeah, you could have, you could have come to any of them last year, and I had over a dozen.

[Teresa Tomeo]

20, 24.

[Nancy Mace]

Where were you the year before that or the year before that?

[Teresa Tomeo]

It was a simple.

[Nancy Mace]

Oh, because you know what? Because you people on the left are crazy. You're absolutely crazy.

[Teresa Tomeo]

I'm absolutely crazy.

[Vince]

You are.

[Nancy Mace]

And get out of my. Get out of my face. Goodbye.

[Teresa Tomeo]

You're insane.

[Vince]

You.

[Teresa Tomeo]

You're going to.

[Vince]

Oh, my God.

[Teresa Tomeo]

Voted out so fast this year.

[Nancy Mace]

I. I won by so much.

[Teresa Tomeo]

You're a disgrace.

[Vince]

This state.

[Teresa Tomeo]

That's what you are. You're a disgrace. I ask you a simple question and you just go on this tirade and tell me.

[Nancy Mace]

Yeah, get out of my face. Get out of my face. Try it again. What's your name? What's your name?

[Vince]

It's unbelievable. So I think, if I had to summarize that I don't think they like each other. If I, I just, just, I, I don't think it's recoverable. I, I don't think that relationship is going to work. She tried. She did say, like, I know there's at least one issue you're obsessed with. I'm kind of on your side. It ended in a lot of cursing, though. Well, that about does it for this special edition of Vince, Always so great to have you with us. Of course, as always, if you're listening to the podcast, get it on rumble.com. vince, occasionally you can watch us live every day at 10am Eastern, and we've got that whole great Rumble chat going. And if you're watching it live, yeah, of course you can get it in podcast form as well. Take me anywhere you like at any place, anytime. I don't need to know any details, but take me with you somewhere. And lastly, again, today was a special edition because we are in the midst right now of conducting interviews at the White House. As you watch this live. All of those interviews with top Trump administration officials will be coming to you this week on Vince and on Wednesday's edition. We've got a lot to get to, including the latest with the president, the latest with the economy, the latest with the border, the latest with Pete Hegseth. Yeah, we have a lot to get to. Always so good to talk to you. Thanks for watching, Vince. Be back with you tomorrow.