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The Dan Bongino Show
The 2026 Midterms Preview, with Ned Ryun | Episode 195
00:40:14
Ned Ryun is the founder and CEO of American Majority, a conservative organization that trains candidates and activists. He joins VINCE in this special episode to look ahead to the 2026 midterms and what he thinks the GOP needs to do to win.
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- [00:00]
A
Everybody, welcome to Vince. So good to have you with us. It's Christmas week. I hope you're getting a chance to spend some time with the ones you love. That's really such a wonderful time of year. So glad to have you spend some time with us. I've got a big show for you today. Obviously we're closing out 2025 and we're looking ahead to what 2026 has in store for us, including how are we going to win these midterms. I'll discuss all of that coming up with our friend Nick Ned Ryan, who joins us on this special edition of Vince. I'm glad you're here too. But first you should know we have a great sponsor called Patriot Mobile and they've got a limited time offer for you right now. And that offer is running out. The year's running out and so is this offer. You have a once in a year chance to get a free smartphone just for switching to America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. It's a brand new phone, absolutely free only while supplies last. For over 12 years now, Patriot Mobile has been defending faith, family and freedom while giving you the same or better premium coverage on all three major US Networks. Unlimited data, mobile hotspots, international roaming. You know, they do it all. So when you switch, you don't sacrifice quality or service. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the movement to help support a company that believes in the first amendment, the second amendment, the sanctity of life, and our veterans and first responders switching super easy. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade to that free smartphone today. Their 100% US based team can activate you in minutes. Go to patriot mobile.com vince or call 972-patriot. Use the promo code Vince. Don't wait. This limited time offer ends December 31st. That's patriot mobile.com/vince or call 972-patriot with the promo code Vince. Join me. Make that switch today. Our thanks to Patriot Mobile and thank you to Birch Gold for being a great sponsor of our program. As well, you should know gold is up quite a bit this year, 40% from last. That's not speculation, that's just reality. And if a portion of your savings isn't currently diversified into gold, I mean, you're missing the boat. Here are the facts. Inflation has been still way too high. Thanks, Biden. The US Dollar has been weak and the government debt, well, it's insurmountable. This is why central banks are flocking to gold. They're the ones driving prices up to record highs. But it's not too late to buy gold from Birch Gold Group and get in the door right now. Birch Gold can help you convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a tax sheltered IRA. In gold, you don't pay a dime out of pocket. Just text my name, Vince to 989-898, claim your free info kit. There's no obligation, just useful information. The best indicator of the future. Well, that's the past. And gold has historically been a safe haven for millennia. What else can say that? Text my name, Vince to 989-898 right now to claim your free info kit on gold. That's Vince to 989-898. Protect your future today with Birch Gold. Message and data rates apply. Well, here we go. We've got Christmas any moment now and we also have 2026 any moment now. As 2026 is arriving, it is worth thinking about what do we need to do to win it? And there are few better on this subject than Ned Ryan. He's the founder of American Majority and he joins us now. Ned, merry Christmas to you. Good to have you with us on the show today, sir.
- [03:27]
B
Yeah, same to you. Merry Christmas, Vince and great to be with you, Ned.
- [03:30]
A
I, I, you know, it's funny, we've all become so accustomed to seeing you through the years, seeing you on television, seeing you all over the place talking about politics. Where did you come from? Where did Ned Ryan come from? You can't seem like you came out of nowhere. You're like talking to President Trump all the time. You're working all the angles. You're trying to figure out what's going on in politics, trying to help us win for the country. Where'd you come from, Ned?
- [03:50]
B
Still out of Kansas? Came from Kansas. My dad was in the house from 1996, 2006. Obviously the older generations will, will recognize the name. Jim Ryan, three time Olympian, world record, holding the mile. He I'll tell you a quick story. He was running the Olympic torch through his Hometown of Wichita, 1996. And at that point, Bob Dole was running for president. Sam Brownback was vacating the second Congressional district in Kansas to run for that Senate seat. And all of a sudden, about three weeks before deadline, Republicans were kind of scrambling as to who would be a strong candidate for the second Congressional district. So Congressman Todd TE Hart and his chief of staff, Matt Schlapp came over to my dad after the torch carrying event and said, hey, Jim Ryan, how are you doing? Great. Have you ever thought about running for Congress? And my dad has had said I made two pledges in life. I'd never be a track and field coach and I'd never run for public office. But on the way home, he and my mom were talking about it, prayed about it, talked with us. Three weeks later, he. He files to run for office. He comes into Congress. He's there for five terms. I came back to D.C. in 2000 thinking I'm going to try out D.C. for a year here. Here we are 25 years later, married, four kids. Had quite the adventure along the way. Started multiple non profits. Obviously, do the commentary, as you refer to, do, do a whole host of things, but it's been, it's been quite the ride. I would like to think of myself, Vince, as. Even though I've been in the D.C. area for a very long time, I'm an insider with the outsider's perspective. Yes, no, no. A lot of how the town works, whether it's Congress, whether it's the White House. And I would like to think I've been as pretty consistent, as consistent as imperfect human beings can be over the last couple decades in regards to what we need to do to be successful.
- [05:42]
A
So an insider with an outsider's perspective, that's definitely what I think of you as. In other words, a guy who knows what's going on on the inside, but has a, has a MAGA focus on, like, how to. How can we achieve the things that, that Donald Trump was elected for in the first place?
- [05:56]
B
How.
- [05:56]
A
How did you arrive at those opinions? In other words, like, how did you resist the gravitational pull of sort of the sclerotic, corrupt establishment Republican forces in dc?
- [06:08]
B
You know, it's interesting you bring that up. I was thinking about a piece I used to write for the American Spectator and wrote a piece, I want to say this is back in 2011, about Americanism, that we were in pursuit of Americanism. Not Republicanism, not corporatism, obviously not Democratism. But. But what does it mean to truly represent and prioritize the people? It was something that I always, I'd been thinking about for a very long time, and then all of a sudden this guy named Donald Trump started talking about it about four years later. I'm like, at first I. The thing that's funny, Vince, when this brash billionaire from Manhattan started talking, came down those escalators, it didn't click with me initially that this might have been the guy I was writing about that would be in pursuit of Americanism. What does it mean to have a government of buying for the people that every Day actually prioritizes the American people, which I think in many ways encapsulates America. First, it clicked with me in February of 2016, around the Virginia primaries that this might be the guy I've been looking for. But when you're in D.C. and you're looking at how it's operating on the inside again, my dad, his Last year was 2006 in the house, he was voted the most conservative member of Congress. That year, I think it was Congressional Quarterly that voted him that, I think, honor. I really look at my dad as being really an example for me where if you come into DC with your principles firmly in place and you do not waver on those principles, but use them as the lens by which you view everything that you're experiencing and having to deal with, you have the ability to have take strong stands, be able to make as many of the right decisions. Again, we're all imperfect, we all make mistakes, but be able to make a lot of those right decisions. But I will say this, there are a lot of temptations, Vince, to a lot of money to change your views on life. So I think you have to go in and realize, yeah, there's going to be hard decisions that have to be made. You're not going to make as much money, that's fine. But the ultimate goal is how do we actually, for me, how do you actually restore representative government in this country? How do you restore the Republic? How do you actually start to break apart that administrative state? So a lot of the stuff I've been thinking about writing about for a very long time, but I think a lot of it's due to my dad's influence, but also just. Just that insider's perspective and watching this and going, this has nothing to do with how we were actually founded. How do we get back to that?
- [08:28]
A
Yeah, no, that's super important. You got to be raised right. You got to raise your kids right. You gotta. You gotta implant in them a sense of right and wrong and. And hopefully when they're out in the world and they're doing their thing, they're constantly reflecting on that moral compass, you.
- [08:41]
B
Know, and as much as anything, Vince, it was. It was not only things, the conversations that I had with my dad, but it was an example. It was an example by. I'll share a quick story. It was 2003, the whole Medicare Part D situation in which the White House really wanted that. And I would remind people, again, Republican White House really wanted Medicare Part D. And there are about two dozen Republicans in the House that said Absolutely not. We don't think this is the right thing. The incredible pressure that was put on my dad, not only calls from the president while he was overseas, visits down to the White House, for them to basically have their arms twisted by Dick Cheney, and then that night of the vote, literally basically being promised anything and everything they wanted if they would just give that vote to the president, because that's what they wanted. Leading into the 2004 reelection, watching that and knowing the incredible pressure that was put on him and him being able to do the right thing and incredible pressure. I'm understating all the pressure that took place and him being able to do the right thing in those situations. I find it pretty awe inspiring. But also just one of those examples where you're like, yep, he could do it. I can do it, too.
- [09:49]
A
Yeah, amazing. So this gets to a question I've wanted to ask you for a while, and I'll ask you here. How often do you speak to President Trump? Because I feel like I've often, either in conversations with you, interviews with you, you've mentioned, you know, I was talking to the President, I told him to do this, or I suggested doing this. And so how often do you get a chance to talk to the president? Can you even count the number of times you've had chats with the guy?
- [10:13]
B
I can't. Yeah. I try to be strategic about events. There are times where I feel like it's very necessary for me to insert myself into the conversation. So it's one of those things. He'll call me after TV hits. I love it. I. I even told him the last time he called was like, sir, I love when you call. And it's. It's obviously a great privilege that you would call me. You don't have to. I'm with you. Right. I. I'm with you. I've been with you from pretty much almost day one. Not quite, but almost. And I try to be pretty strategic about events. I wanted to go in a couple weeks ago and have a conversation with him about what I thought the midterms were about. And it's not. It's not about running against socialism. It's not about foreign policy wins. Though I have to tell you, very impressed by his. His approach on foreign policy, where I think it's been absolutely the right approach, whether it's dealing with Iran. I love the resurrection of the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere. But that's not going to win the midterms for him. It's about affordability and health care and So I want to have that conversation because, you know, I'm in Virginia. I watched this disaster of a gubernatorial race here in Virginia where Winsome Sears never once really mentioned what our economic plan was. When half the electorate in Virginia said the number one issue for us is the economy, she didn't even mention it. She lost that demographic again, half of the entire voting demographic in Virginia by 27 points.
- [11:33]
A
I'm sorry, I mean, I just want to reflect on this just because the implications that for politics everywhere else but in Virginia specifically, given that you and I both know it so well. Winston Sears ran a lazy campaign. Terrible Sears. She didn't even like really get out that much. She just.
- [11:50]
B
Three campaign managers, very poorly run. Listen, I'm all for not having boys in girls bathrooms or boys competing against girls in sports, but even on that.
- [11:59]
A
Issue she wasn't aggressive. She showed up to one school board meeting. It wasn't like she was out on the road all the time on that issue. She could have actually gotten a lot of support there, but she just, she just didn't even even like the easy stuff. She didn't. And, and it just reminded me like you can get all the policies right, you can be totally right, but if you don't put the work in, you're not going to get the win.
- [12:19]
B
You know what I have found again, I'm involved, pretty involved in politics, helping identify and then obviously consulting with and encouraging endorsements and working with candidates along the way. I have noticed a very consistent pattern among people that lose. They don't view, view their campaign as a full time job. When you run for office, and this is, I will say this to anybody that's listening that's thinking about running for office. If you do not view the campaign as at least six days a week and at least 12 hours a day for those six days a week, don't even bother, don't even think about running for office. This is a full time job in which you are constantly, either on the road speaking or you're constantly raising money. And if you can't commit to that, please don't waste my time or any anybody else's time because there was a lot of money wasted in Virginia when someone clear, made it very clear she was not that interested in running a hard campaign, went through three campaign managers and at the end of the day not only sank her own campaign but everybody else, including pretty devastating losses in the House of Delegates. So yeah, there were, there were mistakes made, Vince. There were also things a little bit outside of her control. Just to add a little bit of fairness, at the end, the government shutdown absolutely hurt Winsome. I thought she was going to lose by five to seven. 30 days, 35 days out, the bottom dropped out on her campaign. And you can look at the government shutdown. About 20% of the, the voters in Virginia were either directly impacted or had a family member directly impacted by the government shutdown.
- [13:52]
A
Right.
- [13:52]
B
20%, one of every five of that demographic. Abigail Spanberger won it 88 to 12. So there was things outside of that.
- [13:59]
A
True. And it's, it's a blue terrible campaign. It's a blue state in real life. It's a lot of government workers. No question about that at all. But, but still, in a world where one of the candidates running for attorney general was a murderous psychopath and the other was Jason Miares with a good record as the incumbent, there's no excuse for Jason Mears losing. But win some. Sears proved to be a drag on him. So it's just, the whole thing is just like, it's just sad to see. But, but this, there was a, there were a lot of people who looked at what happened in Virginia and in some of these other races around the country, and they instantly, as they always do, they instantly turn them into. Well, this tells us what the midterms are going to be like. This is a huge bellwether for the midterms. Give me your sense right now, Ned, of, of how you think. What are, how is our, what does our hand look like going into the midterms right now? How are we faring at this moment?
- [14:47]
B
So I want to make a couple of points really quick. Virginia, there's about a quarter million. We don't do partisan registration here, but there's about a quarter million more Democrats than Republicans inside of Virginia. So you're playing, you were playing a stacked, a rigged game. Stacked deck, New Jersey, I think it's 600 to 800,000 more Democrats registered than Republicans. Again, rigged game. So when people say we should draw, you know, take lessons from 25 and apply them to 26, you can't really. But the lesson that I was trying to really want to communicate to President Trump was, was this. And I think it's the most important lesson coming out of Virgin in tough economic times brought on by Biden. Just so we're clear, brought on by Biden administration for the last four years, still coming out of it. People need to hear the message of, we get it. We know that you're still having, you know, you're suffering economically and on the Affordability, cost of living front. We have a plan and we are going to fix this for you. So having to address, at least address that issue, something Winsome didn't do, that Trump, Trump and his team are starting to do, which I love. I mean, JD's out there, Bessants out there, Trump's even talking about it now, in which I think they're having a meaningful conversation with the American people saying, we acknowledge that this is an issue, we didn't cause it, we are going to fix it. And I think you're seeing a lot of his policies, the underlying trends that I'm looking at. I think people need to feel it. By the summer, next summer of 26, I think you're going to see people starting to feel it in the grocery prices. They're already starting to feel a little bit in the gas prices. But again, the point I made to Trump and to others, keep domestic energy production cranked up, already increased by a million barrels of oil a day since he came into office. Can we get it to 2 million? Because you and I both know this and I feel like I'm stating the obvious. If we can drive down the cost of energy, it drives down the cost of gas, it drives down the cost of transportation for groceries and other goods, it's going to have that ripple effect through the economy. So I think that's going to be a huge issue. So now, directly to the midterms, I'll be honest, if they were held right now, we'd lose. I really do believe that, Vince. The good news is, I think by the time we hit November of 2026, there's going to be a couple things that are working in our favor. Not only I think we're going to be in a better place on the economic affordability issue. I think we're going to be a pretty good place structurally. And by that I mean going to win the redistricting wars. I think we're going to be plus 9, plus 11. Indiana was extremely disappointing. I hope all the state senators get primary, by the way, also, Cam Savage should be dealt with. Who's the consultant that, that brought that about? Who, by the way, just in case anybody missed this, Cam Savage is also Senator Todd Young's consultant. I'd like to have a conversation about him getting a primary challenge in 2028. That all to say, I think we're going to be plus nine on the redistricting. And then people should be aware of Louisiana vs Calais, the case in front of the Supreme Court that would weaken section 2 of the of the 1965 Voting Rights act that would allow us to do even more redistricting, especially in the southern part of the country. I've heard six seats at a minimum, all the way up to 19, I would say another six seats. So maybe we have 13 to 15 seats that are in our, in our column by the time we hit the midterms. That's a good thing. The other thing that I think is also going to have an impact on the midterms is people investing in the right numbers before the elections. I'm a huge believer in this fence. We need to spend a lot more time and money on voter registration and generating ballots among mid to low propensity Republicans. It's something we did very successfully in 2024 with American majority Action. We need to redouble our efforts in targeted house districts because 2026 to me is really about the House. I feel good about the Senate map, the House. The House is going to be a just absolute dogfight. But you know, Trump's going to be out there doing rallies. Elon Musk is back in the fold. You know, Trump's not only going to have spending money, spending money. Rallies are going to be great, but Trump's going to have to spend probably 3, maybe 400 million out of Maga Inc. I know other big donors are thinking about making significant investments. So structurally an investment, we need to make sure we're working on the right numbers and then, yes, fully fund these efforts in really tight House districts. So I'm, I'm not overly bullish, but there's, there's a hint of bullishness about me in regards to the House elections next November.
- [19:11]
A
So it's remarkable the extent to which the map is rigged for Democrats right now because when you talk about if the election were held today, we, we would lose Democrats win the House. I think that's right. But it's not because they earned votes. It's because they have ill gotten seats. The way the maps are drawn are just to their advantage. And there's all these illegals that are living in the country that they use the census. I'll talk about that with you in a moment because I know you know, you know a lot about this subject, but they've used the census and concealed the number of illegals within it in order to pad the number of congressional seats that they have even though they don't deserve them at all. So there's, there's clearly election rigging going on. But here, here's my big picture about going into 2025, what we have in front of us, we've got America 250. I think people are underappreciating how big the patriotic celebration of the country is going to be this next year in the role that Donald Trump is going to play as master of ceremonies. We've got a big midterm convention coming. Unusual, never done before. President Trump is going to do it to try and turn this into a presidential election. The White House, Susie Wiles and the president want to make this a referendum on Trump. Normally, it's the party out of power that's trying to do that. Instead, this time it's the party in power because low propensity voters, you just mentioned, they show up when Trump's name is on the ballot. And then finally, as we get to the midterms, my prayer and my expectation, I want to see if this is yours too, is that a lot of the Republican infighting that we are seeing at the moment, much of which is sort of a proxy fight for the presidential election in 2028, there's a lot of, like, I don't really like J.D. i prefer Ted Cruz, but nobody really wants to say that. So they're all fighting about other things to pretend it's about something else. And I think as we get closer to the midterms, some of the, some of the BS is going to slip away, at least for a little bit, because people are going to realize as we get closer what the stakes are. So my expectation is unity, patriotism, a Trump referendum, and then cartoonish candidates on the other side. If Jasmine Crockett is actually the nominee in Texas, or if you get more characters like Afton Bain, who just ran in Tennessee, running all across the board for the Democrats, who, by the way, have a rock bottom approval rating, their approval rating sucks.
- [21:17]
B
It's.
- [21:19]
A
If that's the case going into the midterms, I'm not blackpilling on this information.
- [21:24]
B
No, I think you made a couple of good points there. One, let's not underestimate their ability to implode and self, you know, light themselves on fire. I mean, they have historically low approval ratings. Democrats do. I think you made an interesting point, too, that I want to highlight to people. I've been in politics again a long time. Not too long ago, it was, we hoped for low turnout elections because that's how we would win. Completely changed under Trump. Trump brings out the mid to low propensity voters and we have to have high turnout elections to win. When Trump's on the ballot, that's A dynamic we see and the thing that guys like me are trying to solve for the midterms, how do you make those mid to low propensities more reliable voters? Well, if you can get them to request a ballot, Vince, which is not easy and it costs you money, but if you can get them to request a ballot, we can turn anyone that requests a ballot that's a mid to low propensity voter into about an 80% chance that they'll vote in that next election. And so when I talk about the underlying numbers, this is a key part to, to us being successful in the midterms for Trump. Like Trump, only voters or mid to low props actually becoming more consistent and turning up in 26. So I love the theme that Susie and Trump are saying, this is going to be a referendum on Trump and the success. We haven't even talked about his legislative successes, his policy agenda.
- [22:46]
A
Right.
- [22:46]
B
And the triumphs this year, which have been significant. But, yeah, let's, let's put him front and center because this really is about, are we going to take it all the way to a meaningful conclusion with the Trump second term and really having a lot more policy wins? You can't do that without the House.
- [23:01]
A
Okay, let's talk about more of this in just a moment with Ned Ryan. The midterms are huge, and Ned is going to be right at the center of helping us get some big victories, I think. So. More, more ahead with Ned Ryan. But first, I, I got to tell you about Helix Mattress, which is, like, the best thing. It's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. During the colder season. I'm spending a lot more time inside. And honestly, my bedroom, well, it constantly is calling out to me, that Helix mattress. It's like that's the place to be, you know, before Helix, nights were rough. I'd wake up too hot, or I'd be tossing and turning for hours, dealing with back pain all the time and thinking there's no chance a mattress is going to change my life. Boy, was I wrong. I took the Helix Sleep quiz, and then I got matched with the perfect mattress, and everything changed. And now I sleep so much better, Cooler, deeper. I wake up feeling refreshed, ready to take on each new day. And it feels like, you know, every. Every week or so, I turn my wife and I turn to each other. Like, this mattress is pretty great, isn't it? Yeah, it's actually wonderful. But the holidays around the corner. Not just around the corner here. The holidays are here. Good sleep matters more than ever. Between family gatherings, shopping, and all the chaos, don't forget to treat yourself to better rest. My my guests even ask what mattress I have and I say, yep, it's a Helix. Helix ships free across the United States. It comes with 120 night sleep trial and a limited lifetime warranty. No stress, just amazing sleep. And now helix is offering 25 off site wide. Go to helixsleep.com Vince for 25 off site wide. That's helixsleep.com Vince 25% off site wide. Make sure you enter our show name Vince into the post purchase survey so they know we sent you. Yes, indeed. Thank you, Helix. And thank you to Bone Charge. You know, Bone Charge has got the infrared sauna blanket. I love that. They've got the red light face mask. Allison loves that. We love these things. We can't recommend them enough. And I first started using the sauna blanket for muscle recovery detoxification. It's become a total game changer. Easy to use. I just wrap myself up, let the infrared heat work its magic and now I've got a sauna in the house. It's like so cool. I've noticed a real difference now. I relax and rejuvenate and feel afterward. Allison uses the red light face mask. She thinks it's amazing because it improves your skin's texture and reduces inflammation. She's seen fantastic results like having a mini spa treatment right at home. And at this moment, it is currently the Bone Charge holiday sale. So you can save a massive 25% off. Just head to bone charge b o n charge.com and your 25% off code is going to automatically be added to your order. The sale is going to end on 31st December, 2025. So hurry. Don't miss this massive chance to save big on your favorite Bone Charge products. These statements and products have not been evaluated by the fda. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.
- [25:44]
B
All right.
- [25:44]
A
Hey, so. So, Ned. Legislative wins. Legislative wins for the President United States. I gotta say, underappreciated right now. The White House knows this because we just heard from the President give this big address this past week that the big beautiful law people need to say. I don't know why people aren't saying law. It's the big beautiful law. The big beautiful law has done a million different things and it's a lot of which people don't even realize how good it is. So not only is it cutting taxes on tips and cutting taxes on Social Security and overtime, it's also like zeroing out taxes on silencers, which, by the way, I'm obviously very familiar with because I've been telling the audience I've been purchasing one. And so, like, there's all sorts of things that this bill does. Builds a wall, 10,000 new ICE agents. I mean, a lot. Do you think that the average American will be able to feel the effects of this thing going into the midterms?
- [26:40]
B
I'm hopeful that second to third quarter, they're going to feel it. You know, again, I just want to go through a few of the highlights, though. For me, first of all, tax cuts permanent. I mean, that that's a huge deal. First of all, it was self preservation. If Republicans had not done that massive tax increase might have even triggered a recession going into the midterms. You could have written off the House, maybe the Senate. So that was a huge part of it. Like, you got to make the tax cuts permanent. You mentioned border security. $175 billion for border security funding for another 701 miles of border, Wall Street. That to me is mass events because of the structural changes that the Trump administration is putting in place. Because obviously that mass invasion under Biden, you put in structural things like a physical wall is going to be harder to do some of these things if and when, because at some point we'll probably lose political power. Just knowing how history works, you're going to make it that much harder for them to do what they did the last four years under Biden, 1.4 million illegals off of Medicaid defunded, the Green New Deal. I mean, think about how devastating that would have been for our economy if some of these things were left in place. Can you imagine, as we come to the end of 2025, if we were actually closing out the year in the first year of Kamala Harris's president, the absolute devastation. So I want to remind people there's so many good things that are happening. But consider the flip side. Dear God, I, I tell people all the time when they ask what's, what's Trump's biggest triumph? The fact that he won and he stopped the hemorrhaging and he stopped the bleeding and we actually got adults back in the White House. I mean, that to me, it's like people need to understand if we had continued the trend under Biden, how, with Kamala Harris, how devastating that would have been. But also look at the domestic energy production I mentioned earlier, another million barrels of oil a day, huge, massive. You think about also, I think there's been 2 million illegals that have either self deported or been deported in the first 250 days of the first year. I mean, the first 2 million are probably the easiest ones, just to be fair. But we're on the, we're on a good path towards getting into these mass deportations. Because I'll tell you this, Vince, and I did tell Trump this when I talked to him last time, the future of this country, the future success, rises or falls off mass deportations being successful. Also, the future of the Republican Party rises or falls off mass deportations being successful.
- [29:02]
A
I totally agree with you. I have, I have a, I can smell it in the air, though. There's something I'm nervous about related to that and also related to prosecuting people like James Comey and accountability, which is, I have, I have a feeling that Republicans in Washington are going to try and shy away from those issues going into the midterms because to them, totally, they're ugly. These are ugly issues. Yeah, it's ugly to deport people, it's ugly to prosecute people. And, and they don't even bother to talk about how justified it is. Of course it's justified to deport somebody who's here illegally. Of course it's justified to prosecute someone who broke our laws. But there's a, there's a revulsion to doing tough things. There's an aversion to doing tough things. And if they, if it's like, oh, that looks, that look, that's the kind of thing the media could spin against me, so I'm not going to do it at all. That's the thing I worry about.
- [29:58]
B
No, you're absolutely right. You can always bank on Most Republicans in D.C. lacking a spine, lacking a backbone, wanting to do the hard things. You know, Trump has instilled a lot of that backbone into Republicans in his first term and obviously in his second term. But I want to make this point, and I think you're right, Vince. Too many times, Republicans, they're careerists, we just want to come and have a good career. We want to be in charge, but we don't want to do too much that might rock the boat. And, and then after a nice career, either in Congress or some big think tank, we'll go on and do something else in life. The left, when they get political power, by God, we are going to fundamentally change everything. We're going to use the law as a political weapon to crush our political enemies. If you get in our way and try and stop our, our grand vision for our total transformation of this country. And Republicans are sitting there going, ooh, that's, that's. We don't want to do that. That'd be dirty. We either figure out what time it is or you can write the republic off. And this is what frustrates me. Republicans, Trump knows what to do with political power. Most Republicans don't know what to do with political power. And this is what is one of my biggest frustrations, having been here for a very long time. Republicans, when given political power by the voters, don't know what to do with it. In fact, Vince find it kind of icky to use the political power that was actually given to them by the voters. Trump, I've been given political power to actually implement an agenda, and I'm going to use that political power to actually do that. If Republicans don't figure out how to use political power to actually achieve all of these things, which, by the way, mass deportations was absolutely on the ballot in 2024, and one of the reasons that Trump won. If you can't get on board with that and don't know how to use political power, why on earth would the American people give you political power in the future?
- [31:43]
A
A number of these Republicans in Congress do think that they can outlast Trump, that Trump is going to go away.
- [31:51]
B
Right.
- [31:52]
A
And that their world is going to go back to one where the American people are not paying attention, not that interested. They get to be called a senator or a congressman. They get all the trappings of power, and their lives will be very comfortable again, and they won't have to deal with all of this constant oversight by the American people. So what happens? What happens? Do you think they're right? Do you think they're right? Is the world going back to the way it used to be?
- [32:18]
B
I can't. If we do, we'll lose. And I mean that. I not only lose politically, we'll lose the country. If we allow a snap back to the old Republican corporatism, this slow surrender, basically kind of uniparty approach of we don't want to do this, that too fast, we'll just kind of tap the brakes so we don't go too far down that path too quickly, we'll lose, and it'll be devastating for the future of this country and for the future of our children, grandchildren. This is why I go back to the midterms being a critical part to where we go after the midterms in 28 and 2030. There's two points I want to make The RNC Finance chair this year for this, for this election cycle is J.D. vance. If J.D. can be successful in raising the kind of money that's necessary and helping point everybody in the right direction to successfully hold the house, I think he goes on a very good trajectory towards being the 2028 nominee, which I'm all for.
- [33:13]
A
I'm sorry, in really blunt terms, can you explain what an RNC Finance Chair does? What does that mean? He controls all of the money, where it's going.
- [33:20]
B
Right. He's, well, he's out there meeting. I mean, he's raising all of the money necessary to be successful in the midterms. In many ways, you take that burden upon you, you're not only doing the bulk of the fundraising to make sure the RMC is getting the funds necessary to then disperse them to the right places. Yeah. In a lot of ways there's a lot of responsibility on JD Vance's shoulders for how well the midterms go or don't go. I would also add Trump throwing in 3 or 400 million for Maga Inc. Would go a long ways towards making us successful. But JD being successful as the RNC Finance Chair and the fundraising and then making sure those resources are spent in the right places, that's a huge burden. But he, he's, he's taken it upon himself and that's why.
- [33:58]
A
But that's a two part for him is right. So this is the question I have, which is obviously you use the vice President to raise money. That makes sense.
- [34:05]
B
Right? Right.
- [34:05]
A
So there's a fundraising component. Donors love meeting the Vice president, open their checkbooks. But the other side of is the dispersal of the money, like deciding which races you apply it to. Is JD get involved in that kind of thing?
- [34:17]
B
As far as I know, he will be. There's also other people like James Blair, Deputy White House Chief of Staff, is obviously going to be involved in a lot of the political decisions. Trump's obviously hugely involved. Susie's hugely involved. So it's, it's more of a team. Like he's not going to sit there and dictate. JD is not going to be like, I want this race, this. No, it's a team effort, but he is a critical part of it. And if we win in the midterms, I think he's going to be on a really good trajectory to be the heir apparent to America First. And I think he'd be a fantastic standard bearer for America First. But I think you're right. I mean, this to me, when people were wondering Back in the summer of 2024, you know, oh, we're just gonna outlast Trump. Let's see who he picks for vp. And then all of a sudden he picks at the time, a 39 year old senator out of Ohio. It felt to me like he pushed all of his chips into the middle of the table and said, yeah, you think you're Gonna Outlast America first? I just picked a 39 year old VP. He's not going anywhere anytime soon. So I looked at Trump kind of making that bet in 24 and I'm not saying he's going to be like, he wants to wait until the midterms before he gets behind somebody for, for 2028, but it really felt significant to me because there are a lot of people in D.C. like, oh, we're just going to outlast Trump. A little hard to outlast Trump when you're dealing with somebody that young like JD if he can be the nominee.
- [35:34]
A
And it reminds me, it goes back to something you said earlier in this conversation. President Trump resisted, like you were talking about, he resisted donor pressure to compromise his values on that pick.
- [35:44]
B
Exactly.
- [35:45]
A
So there was a lot of money, there's a lot of money that was being directed towards all sorts of other running mates. JD Was not the guy with coming with a bunch of big donors to support him. JD Was coming with a vision that was America First. It was about making America great again, joining the Trump agenda. That's what it was about. He had a limited but, but mighty group of backers who were saying, this is the guy, you need him. President Trump, you're right, he, he gambled because that he was going, he was going against the entire establishment with his, within his party, including, by the way, the current establishment that, that loves him. They were just, he was going against all of them. He chose J.D.
- [36:23]
B
Can I say one last thing too on this front of if the Republican establishment thinks that somehow they're going to be successful in the future by somehow outlasting Trump, and we snap back to the, you know, old way of doing things, you know, how many people walk away from voting Republican in the future, it's significant. Trump has brought in a new coalition of voters that are not there because of the Republican Party. They're there because of Trump and America First. And I think the biggest thing that Trump has to figure out if he wants this movement to be long term, obviously a young heir apparent, but also helping make that transition for getting these voters more involved and saying, you voted for me, but you also Voted for the agenda, for this agenda to be fully successful, and it's not going to be successful in a year or two or four years or six years. But to be long term successful, you have to engage more with the next heir apparent and push this movement forward. And so I think that's going to be a challenge for Trump over the next few years of how does he hand the torch in many ways to the, to the next standard bearer, but then also galvanize that base to understand you have to stay engaged. And if you don't engage is going to be a snapback to the old ways of doing things and we're going to lose. Yeah.
- [37:34]
A
No, I'm glad you're in the fight. Ned Ryan and I always appreciate all of our conversations. They've just been wonderful. Before I let you go, it is obviously Christmas and I, and I do want to know about your Christmas prayers, actually. I want to know what you're praying for this year as you're sitting at your dinner table for Christmas. What is at the top of your list? What are the things you're praying about?
- [37:55]
B
You know, I always. So I have four kids for their future, obviously. I think, I think of a lot of things that I do now. In many ways, if I can be successful, I want them to have a successful, bright future. You know, it's one of those things that you, you feel very deeply about and you realize there's a lot of things at stake. Their future could be very different if we're not careful. It inspires me. It also drives me. You know, I pray for Trump all the time and I tell him that, pray for him for wisdom, for success. And I do, you know, beyond family and our elected officials, the future of the country, I mean, it's. I'm hopeful, Vince. There are no guarantees in life. This will not this. Any success we'll have in the future is not guaranteed. Praying for wisdom for myself, determination, perseverance, you know, it's one of those things where I know that God is in control. I know he is. I think it's required of me to be faithful in doing what he's placed in front of me, that I would have the, the courage and the ability and the determination to continue on. Gets a little tiring at times. So there's a whole host of things. Great question, by the way. Great question. If our faith does not drive us in all that we do, I'm not sure what we're doing.
- [39:31]
A
We have a lot of blessings and I always be worthy of them.
- [39:35]
B
Exactly. For sure.
- [39:37]
A
Ned Ryan, Merry Christmas to you. Thank you for coming on with me today.
- [39:40]
B
Same to you, Vince. Thank you.
- [39:41]
A
Great to see you, Ned. Our thanks again to Ned Ryan. Great to have him with us. Merry Christmas to you. It's been such a wonderful year. So nice to have you with us all year long. We, we, of course, the guys have have the holidays off. Thankfully, everyone finally gets to take a break. I'm so happy about that. But we'll be back with you live on January 5th. A brand new year, a big one. We got a big fight ahead of us. I can't wait to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as we continue all ahead on Vince.