A break down about Trump's visit to Minnesota

[00:00:00] . Welcome to The Breakdown with Brodkorb and Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics,

[00:00:16] policy and current affairs. I'm Becky Scherr. And I'm Michael Brodkorb. We are pleased to

[00:00:21] kick things off a little roundtable about all things Trump and Minnesota. We're welcoming

[00:00:26] back John Rouleau to the podcast. John is a longtime GOP strategist and operative here

[00:00:30] in Minnesota. He currently serves as the executive director of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition.

[00:00:35] We are also joined today for the first time by Kip Christensen. Kip has been an activist

[00:00:39] and political operative with the Republican Party and campaigns up and down the ballot

[00:00:43] over the years. In 2020, he led various coalitions for the Trump campaign in Minnesota. With

[00:00:48] John and Kip, we will discuss recent polling in Minnesota and if Trump really has a

[00:00:52] path to victory here. And we will break down how Trump's visit this week will

[00:00:56] benefit the state party and local Republican candidates. We will end today by breaking

[00:01:01] down a recent commencement speech by NFL kicker Harrison Butker that has us both

[00:01:06] in a bit of an uproar. Thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoy the show.

[00:01:09] We are excited to have yet another conversation about the 2024 presidential campaign and race.

[00:01:18] We have President Donald Trump, former President Donald Trump coming here to Minnesota this week,

[00:01:23] just in a couple days. And so we are excited to have Kip and John with us today

[00:01:28] to discuss all things Trump, if he can win his path, what things that are looking like

[00:01:34] and what we're hearing. So Kip, I want to start with you. We haven't had you on the podcast yet.

[00:01:38] So I want to get a little bit of insight on what your thoughts are on President Donald Trump

[00:01:43] coming to Minnesota and once again believing that and having part of his strategy that

[00:01:48] Minnesota is in play in 2024. Sure. Thank you, Becky. Thank you, Michael as well.

[00:01:53] This is a really big deal and a massive get for Whip Emmer for the party,

[00:02:00] for the state of Minnesota to get President Trump here at this time.

[00:02:04] Obviously, the language going around is that Minnesota is in play. I think there's some

[00:02:08] really interesting polling that has shifted significantly in the last couple months

[00:02:12] that gives some evidence behind that. And then on top of that, there are a lot of other

[00:02:18] esoteric factors that I think that we can point to that make that a credible argument

[00:02:24] going forward. We can get into that over time, but this coming right now in May is a really big

[00:02:31] deal both in terms of the attention that it draws, the money that it brings, as well as the

[00:02:38] kind of breaking of narratives that it's going to propagate.

[00:02:43] John, we just saw a KSTP poll come out that has neck and neck Biden 44, Trump 42.

[00:02:49] KSTP also did a similar poll a year ago. Same results. What's your thought of this being?

[00:02:55] Are you seeing and feeling it really be that close? And do you think there is a shot for

[00:02:59] and path for President Donald Trump to take Minnesota?

[00:03:04] I think we've seen a number of these polls that have Trump within spitting distance in

[00:03:09] Minnesota. And the interesting thing to me is that they all seem to have Biden and Trump

[00:03:15] down in the low forties, which feels about right if you have conversations with everyday

[00:03:21] Minnesotans, but there's a not insignificant chunk of the electorate that really isn't sure what

[00:03:27] they're going to do in this whole thing. That they may have been third party voters in 2016.

[00:03:35] Maybe they were Trump curious in 2020. He solidified his support a little bit and

[00:03:40] improved his numbers. But a lot of that kind of third party support shifted and was more of an

[00:03:46] anti-Trump vote in 2020. I think we're back to a place where a lot of those voters are trying

[00:03:52] to decide, do they care more about mean tweets or do they care more about the fact that

[00:03:56] inflation remains out of control? It's stubbornly high and we're not moving in

[00:04:01] the right direction that the economy isn't working for everyone. And that Joe Biden's

[00:04:06] promises that it would be a return to normalcy, that everything would be hunky dory and everyone

[00:04:13] would get along really hasn't come to fruition. We're seeing an America that is weakened on the

[00:04:19] global stage where our allies are beginning to wonder if we're going to be there to have their

[00:04:24] backs. And we're seeing a border that remains completely out of control with migrants

[00:04:31] flooding across the border into our country. All time record high border encounters. It's

[00:04:38] having a real cost and taking a real toll on the cities that are seeing those migrants arrive

[00:04:44] in their communities. And I think there's a lot of people who are trying to decide,

[00:04:48] are the mean tweets worth it? Are the rantings and ravings about stolen elections worth it?

[00:04:54] And that's a real consideration for people as they try to make these decisions. So I'm not

[00:04:59] surprised that there's a large number of undecideds, but that kind of seems to be that

[00:05:04] they both have their base there. And now it's a race for who can get the 20% of disaffected,

[00:05:10] disillusioned, really undecided voters. I did not vote for Trump in 16 or 20. He will not

[00:05:19] get my vote this time around, but I do want to see Republicans succeed in the state.

[00:05:24] My question to you is how does Trump coming to Minnesota help Republicans

[00:05:29] overall in the state? Question for both of you or all three.

[00:05:35] I can jump in on that and I will say that one of the things that I was most surprised about

[00:05:40] when I saw the invitation to the Lincoln Reagan dinner, the forms on that are the disclaimers,

[00:05:47] that it is a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Minnesota. And really it breaks a

[00:05:52] lot of narratives about Donald Trump that he's completely self-interested.

[00:05:56] This money is not going to Donald Trump. This is not going to a JFC. The first $10,000

[00:06:04] goes to the state party's federal account. The remaining dollars that are raised above

[00:06:09] and beyond that are going to the Republican Party of Minnesota state account. This has a

[00:06:14] chance to probably be the largest grossing Lincoln Reagan dinner in state history

[00:06:21] for the Republicans in Minnesota. And it is a huge coup by David Han and Whip Emmer to pull

[00:06:26] this off. So regardless of whether or not Trump is in the news and our Republicans

[00:06:31] going to get bashed for going to a fundraiser with him, this is a lot of money that's going

[00:06:36] into a state party that direly needs it. You're absolutely correct. Kip?

[00:06:41] Yeah, someone who's served extensively on the candidate side at the local party side,

[00:06:46] state party side, and also on the IE side. John said it perfectly. This influx of money into

[00:06:52] the state party, which can be the funding vehicle across all that and can deploy resources where

[00:06:58] it has a comparative advantage. And Becky, this is a former executive director very well.

[00:07:04] This is a game changer for getting momentum inside the actual party vehicle. And then there

[00:07:11] are a significant number of other changes that have occurred recently federally that have really

[00:07:17] freed up the ability for soft dollars to play extensively with a recent FEC advisory opinion,

[00:07:23] to go alongside the hard dollars on the candidate side, alongside what can be done

[00:07:29] with 501C4s and other outside organizations. All of these pieces come together to your point

[00:07:35] in a very unified package that really has shifted the landscape, shifted the foundation

[00:07:41] of how we can prosecute this campaign effectively with President Trump at the

[00:07:46] top of the ticket. Yes, but also for all of the other races across the state and federal.

[00:07:51] As John said, a lot of the money coming from this fundraiser is flowing into the

[00:07:57] state account. It's excess funds above that federal. And we're going to pretty quickly here

[00:08:02] exhaust any federal debt that has encumbered the party over the past. And there's a lot of

[00:08:08] momentum happening here on the party side for the candidates. This is a real coup.

[00:08:13] It frees up caucus money to do what's really necessary for the House candidates inside their

[00:08:18] districts. And we don't have to worry quite as much as we have in very recent history

[00:08:25] about where we're going to spend the necessary resources and at the right time,

[00:08:31] because I think the right pipelines are getting filled.

[00:08:34] One of the points that I've raised is that Trump is the nominee, that there will be not much of a

[00:08:41] team player and that there's going to be an effect of where he just drowns out the other

[00:08:47] candidates and it's difficult for them to get visibility. The presentation and how this event

[00:08:51] is occurring in Minnesota really undermines that point that I made because it's very

[00:08:55] collaborative. It's helpful to the party and having listened to me say that for so long,

[00:09:00] I'm really in agreement with what John and Kip are saying as to how value added and much of a

[00:09:05] team atmosphere this event on Friday is happening is occurring. And it also does undermine

[00:09:12] a point that I've made, which is that Trump is all about himself. He's not going to work

[00:09:16] in a collaborative way. And that's blowing up. My point is blowing up in a pretty significant

[00:09:21] way because as those two men just are gentlemen, just articulated, this is a real team event on

[00:09:26] Friday. That is very humble of you to admit, but I agree with what you said and what these

[00:09:31] gentlemen have also shared. This event aside, all Republicans up and down the ballot are going

[00:09:37] to be tied to former Donald Trump. That's going to be something the Democrats are going

[00:09:41] to use regardless of he steps foot in the state, regardless of he mentions any candidate

[00:09:46] or Minnesota as a whole. That's going to be a strategy. So with him coming here, tickets

[00:09:51] are start at 500 range up to $100,000 for a VIP table. This is a huge boost to the efforts

[00:09:59] of what the Republican Party of Minnesota is going to be able to do with mailers,

[00:10:03] with events, with digital text messages, with surveys and polling, with everything across the

[00:10:08] board of moving that needle. Because as we talked about in the, we've had conversations

[00:10:13] about how close the legislative race is. 12 votes here, four votes here would have flipped

[00:10:18] what our legislative makeup looks like this cycle. And so with the House on the ballot,

[00:10:23] it's really imperative that we do pick up two, four, six votes across the board.

[00:10:29] Is it going to flip for Donald Trump? That's yet to be seen. But I do think

[00:10:32] with having these extra money, extra dollars in play to be able to hit more households,

[00:10:38] communicate with more voters exactly what John said, reiterating where we were four years ago

[00:10:44] and what the price of gas is now, what the price of eggs are, what our mortgage interest rates are,

[00:10:49] all of these things that people know and feel but reminding them that it's happened

[00:10:53] under the charge of Joe Biden and the Democrats. And it really is, again, I don't

[00:10:59] know where I'm going to cast my vote this year. I voted for Trump in 16, not in,

[00:11:04] I'm sorry, not in 16. I did vote for him in 20. So my vote is I'm one of those undecideds here

[00:11:09] yet in the middle of May. But when we look down ballot, which I know we've been critical

[00:11:15] about before, we thought that it might be a hindrance having President Donald Trump on the

[00:11:18] top of the ballot. This really has the opportunity to give us the resources to make

[00:11:23] those down ballot races closer, close that gap and flip some of those seats that we

[00:11:28] really need to do to make sure we don't have a single party rule going into 2025.

[00:11:33] And I will just say that part of the reason I wanted to have this episode, and I'm so appreciative

[00:11:37] that Kip was able to join us and John is because one of the discussion points that I've raised

[00:11:42] when we were doing analysis on earlier in the presidential cycle in terms of North

[00:11:47] Carolina, South Carolina and Iowa and the other states, and John was offering his analysis

[00:11:51] about where the race was shaping up. One of the questions I posed him is if Trump is on

[00:11:56] the ticket, if he's the nominee, how does he help Republicans win in Minnesota? And John

[00:12:01] offered, I think a very clear answer on this. And so to hear Kip and John both articulate,

[00:12:06] I think in very understandable terms for our listeners how this is a team effort

[00:12:11] and Trump coming here to Minnesota is value added to the entire Republican team.

[00:12:15] I think it's a really good message and it's a good pushback on some of the narrative that

[00:12:19] I've offered in the past, which is that I thought Trump would dig foot into these states

[00:12:24] and he wouldn't be much of a team player and that's not showing itself out in Minnesota.

[00:12:28] And I'm glad we're getting some clarity on that from all three of you on why I was wrong

[00:12:33] in my points earlier in the year. Kip, I want to start with you on this.

[00:12:37] To what Michael just said, with seeing this kind of team player Trump,

[00:12:41] what do you think has changed? We look at Donald Trump as this esoteric, very selfish

[00:12:47] kind of gentleman. I don't necessarily know that's been the case. I know that he

[00:12:52] obviously does travel around. He campaigns for himself. He brings up other candidates

[00:12:56] and party chairs and that all across the country. But why do you think that this is something

[00:13:01] that we are seeing maybe a little bit more of now? Do you think there is a mindset change?

[00:13:05] Do you think he recognizes that he does want to work cohesively or is this just a one-off

[00:13:12] here and there and we're still going to see the rallies where it's all Donald Trump,

[00:13:15] all the time? I'd like to push back against the narrative as you've laid it out.

[00:13:22] Well, Michael here and frankly the media broadly, this all Donald Trump,

[00:13:27] all for himself. That just simply wasn't the case. That wasn't the case in 2020.

[00:13:33] Working on the campaign, we were elevating candidates all across the map. In 2018,

[00:13:40] Trump championed candidates across this country in house races in the off-cycle election,

[00:13:47] traveled a whirlwind tour to elevate people who were not him. Those were not purely selfish

[00:13:53] things that he wanted other people to compose a majority and be loyal to him. Loyalty,

[00:13:58] obviously, he brings that up from time to time. But there is and everybody's to think

[00:14:04] that there's a self-interest there. Sure. There's a governing interest there. You need

[00:14:10] to have a governing coalition to succeed. And so when we were here in Minnesota in 2020,

[00:14:17] he shared the stage and elevated candidates consistently at the congressional level,

[00:14:22] even down to the local level on any of his stops in this state down in Georgia. My gosh,

[00:14:28] the resources that were dumped after he got beaten, the resources that were dumped into

[00:14:35] Georgia to try to save Kelly, Kelly Leffler and David Perdue by the Trump campaign through the

[00:14:41] RNC were absolutely Herculean. And then you continue this effort through 2022. The same

[00:14:49] has been said despite the despite of the fights that he's been waging on a personal front

[00:14:54] against the weaponized judiciary by the law enforcement, which is turning out to be a

[00:14:58] series of duds. And the people are starting to see this. The left has forced a narrative

[00:15:05] that has divided Americans not only against each other, but against what we see with our own eyes.

[00:15:14] And that narrative is starting to break. Whether it's the narrative of a selfish

[00:15:19] Donald Trump in a political landscape or whether it's the endless stream of narratives that

[00:15:26] are starting to fall apart before our very eyes. People are starting to wake up, as you said, Becky,

[00:15:32] on inflation, on economics, on pocketbook issues, on safe streets, on ongoing Democrat failures,

[00:15:40] on the fragmentation of the DFL's out of control, far left wing of its caucus that

[00:15:46] currently has the DFL caucus captive to its far progressive ideology. These things cannot be

[00:15:53] hidden by the media machine anymore. And people are starting to wake up and you're seeing it in the

[00:15:57] polls, and you're certainly seeing it in the national polling and what's happening nationwide.

[00:16:03] Now, Minnesota is a hard place. Minnesota is incomparable, a difficult territory to win as

[00:16:09] a Republican for president. Historically so. That you're fighting for a state that

[00:16:18] we've struggled to gain 50% for my entire lifetime on statewide tickets as Republicans.

[00:16:25] However, he's choosing to fight here and I take great encouragement in that. And he's not

[00:16:31] fighting just for himself as we've already said. He's fighting for what's possible in this state.

[00:16:38] John, I want to go to you and just hit on messaging a little bit. So we know that with

[00:16:43] Trump's way of speaking, he gets a lot of news, everything that he says when he comes to Minnesota.

[00:16:48] And just as we see him on the campaign trail going forward a little bit, what do we need from

[00:16:53] him to help sway some of those folks like me that were maybe on board at one time,

[00:16:58] a little undecided or just as you talked about a little bit before, those folks,

[00:17:01] a large swath of the population, maybe not a large swath, but consistently 9 to 11% that kind

[00:17:07] of sit there in the middle. What do you think he needs to do? Or what do we need to hear

[00:17:12] from him to sway them, to bring them over to his side, to our side?

[00:17:16] John McAllister I think one of the most difficult things

[00:17:21] that you encounter when you're working in the orbit of Donald Trump is you have a candidate

[00:17:31] and an individual who is very receptive to the positive kind of feedback loop that he

[00:17:37] gets from his hardcore supporters, from his base, the people who flood these rallies whenever

[00:17:43] he speaks and the biggest applause lines that he gets from there oftentimes are the things

[00:17:49] that turn off those voters like you. And it's this fine line that he has to walk

[00:17:54] between wanting to keep his base energized and to make that outreach to the more,

[00:18:03] I would say the more undecided voters. One of the things that a lot of people make the

[00:18:08] mistake in believing is that kind of moderate middle-of-the-road voter is a moderate on every

[00:18:16] issue. We hear about the moderates in the middle and the reality is that people aren't

[00:18:22] quite that simple. Some of them might hold moderate views on an issue or two or some

[00:18:26] of them, but it's equally likely that they hold competing views that aren't necessarily

[00:18:32] moderate on those issues. And what we need to see from Donald Trump is a focus on

[00:18:38] those issues that resonate across the board. There are certainly things that he can say

[00:18:42] to his base that will rile them up, but will appeal to the voters who he needs to

[00:18:48] win back in order to get up to the place that he is. And if you look historically

[00:18:53] in Minnesota, a Republican is usually pretty much good for 44 to 45% statewide.

[00:18:59] That just is what it is. It's been that way going back to Tim Pawlenty. If you look at

[00:19:04] Jeff Johnson's numbers, if you look at Donald Trump's numbers, if you look at all of those

[00:19:09] numbers across the board, 44, 45%. The question is what happens with Joe Biden?

[00:19:15] Hillary Clinton was in kind of that 46 and a half, 47%. Joe Biden was up over 50%.

[00:19:23] And what I'm waiting to see is where does that batch of voters go? What do they look like?

[00:19:29] But I think that's always the hardest thing, right? Is what do you focus on? And I would say

[00:19:34] economy, crime, immigration. Those are three things that he can very easily talk about

[00:19:40] without alienating kind of that 15, 20% that are stuck in the middle. If he starts to branch

[00:19:47] out into kind of more of those base red meat issues that he's accustomed to speaking

[00:19:53] about when he's in front of his base, that's where you start to see it.

[00:19:56] But campaigns are long. He's got a big microphone, but they're also one

[00:20:01] in TV points and direct mail pieces and digital ads. And he has a team of professionals

[00:20:07] around him who are working to craft those messages and make sure that the people in

[00:20:12] the middle are hearing what they need to hear, especially with so many people just tuning politics

[00:20:17] out and being burnt out after the last 10, 11 years of what this is going on.

[00:20:24] So I think finding a way to talk to those voters who have tuned the process out is

[00:20:29] really going to be the key. Yep. Before we wrap here, Donald Trump famously said in 2020,

[00:20:36] if he doesn't win Minnesota, he's not coming back. He obviously is coming back. Do you think this

[00:20:41] is the last we're going to see? Or do you think we're going to see him once, twice,

[00:20:46] half dozen more times between now and November? I was actually there when he said that.

[00:20:50] That will remember that moment quite well. I think that Ken Martin is having a little bit of

[00:20:57] fun time with that quote and saying, here's yet another broken promise. That's just simply

[00:21:02] not the case. It was a joke. He's here. He's coming back. And I think that the campaign in

[00:21:09] either hard dollars, soft dollars, some combination of that is very much going to be deployed here

[00:21:15] in Minnesota. Probably with a couple of visits. Certainly there's dual purpose in coming to

[00:21:20] Minnesota regardless of what polling or actual success in Minnesota has from a purely strategic

[00:21:25] standpoint. If you're going to deploy assets into Western Wisconsin, it happens through the

[00:21:30] Minneapolis DMA. If you're going to attract rural Wisconsin voters, a lot of that happens

[00:21:35] near here as well. And so with Wisconsin entirely as competitive as it is with 20%

[00:21:42] of black voters in Milwaukee polling for Trump at this time, that doesn't just stop at the

[00:21:49] St. Croix River. There's not an imaginary border where that happens. We're talking not

[00:21:54] only about breaking other narratives back here, but there's uncommon coalitions that this

[00:22:00] campaign in a completely asymmetric warfare type of way can deploy into Hennepin and

[00:22:05] Ramsey County to target populations that the DFL is losing left and right. Whether it's

[00:22:10] winnable Somalis, whether it's the Karen, whether it's these other coalitions,

[00:22:14] and that's going to happen. And I think he's going to deploy those assets,

[00:22:18] whether that's in person or just campaign assets is yet to be seen.

[00:22:24] Gentlemen, I want to thank you both for coming on. And we're going to do this again. We're going

[00:22:28] to try to do it as this election goes forward. We're going to want to bring in

[00:22:32] people who can offer some outside of who can give some analysis on my takes in particular

[00:22:36] about the race for presidents are good to have some smart people adding some analysis

[00:22:42] and commentary to the discussion. And we appreciate you guys coming on. Where can John,

[00:22:46] where can people follow you on social media and keep the same for you?

[00:22:50] They can follow me on Twitter for my rare tweets at john underscore Rulo.

[00:22:57] And as well on Twitter for probably even more rare tweets and sometimes just healthy sarcasm,

[00:23:03] kip underscore mm. Thank you both for joining us today and offering your analysis and your take

[00:23:09] and offering some good responsible pushback on where I was wrong previously. I appreciate

[00:23:15] that. Becky, we just interviewed kip Christiansen and John Rulo to offer perspective and analysis

[00:23:25] on Trump's former president Trump's visit to Minnesota and whether Trump in is whether

[00:23:31] Minnesota in play or not really for the Trump campaign. Your take?

[00:23:35] Yeah, I always think it's interesting to have here in this situation. Kip has been on on

[00:23:41] working directly for President Donald Trump's campaign and efforts here in Minnesota. John

[00:23:47] has long worked for down ballot tickets, working to win the majorities and in the House and the

[00:23:54] Senate and on that level too. So to get the perspective of folks that have been or are

[00:23:59] currently on the ground hearing and seeing how this plays, I think is a great thing to have

[00:24:04] because you and I are no longer on the ground in these roles. And so it's a good perspective

[00:24:09] to bring to the table. And so very appreciative of that. And I think obviously it's the big

[00:24:14] race of the year, right? We're going to be talking about this quite a bit going forward. And so

[00:24:19] to really get the perspective of folks who are talking to the voters, who are talking to the

[00:24:23] candidates and what they think and feel is huge. It's a balance for me because I'm not a Trump

[00:24:29] guy and I'm not going to be a Trump guy this election cycle, but I simultaneously want

[00:24:34] Republicans to succeed and do a better job. So hearing how this he's threading this type

[00:24:38] of needle in terms of the support for the party, this is a big coup for the party. And I

[00:24:43] think John and Kip laid it out from operationally. And then you added to how this benefits the

[00:24:49] entire Republican team, which I think is good. It's going to be interesting conversation because

[00:24:54] again, we're doing a podcast that breaks down politics. This is going to be the marquee

[00:24:59] presidential race. And so it's important that we have people on the podcast who can offer

[00:25:05] some analysis and perspective that are purely in kind of that Trump world. And it was good

[00:25:10] to get that analysis and it's perspectives that we're going to have to continue to have

[00:25:14] a discussion on. But I do think, I really do think this is a real pivot opportunity

[00:25:20] for the Trump campaign, particularly in Minnesota. And as I've told some media outlets just this

[00:25:24] week, I believe Minnesota is in play because the Democrats are invested in here. They've

[00:25:30] invested in Minnesota. President Biden has come a few times. The vice president, Kamala Harris

[00:25:36] has come. The first lady has come. And now former president Trump is coming this Friday

[00:25:41] for a big event with the Republican party in Minnesota. It's clear that both sides

[00:25:46] view Minnesota in play and we'll see how this race shapes out. But I was really

[00:25:50] appreciative for the discussion. And thank you, of course, not rubbing it in too much

[00:25:54] related to my wrong takes about Trump previously. You were kind. You were generous today.

[00:25:59] Hey, I don't necessarily think there are wrong takes. I think things have just evolved

[00:26:03] significantly since we've started talking about this. And so I think that in the next six,

[00:26:08] seven months, we're also going to see that continued evolution. And so I'm excited to

[00:26:12] continue to talk and see how this shapes up. And one thing I did want to hit on

[00:26:17] in the same case, the people that we mentioned that came out just this week,

[00:26:21] they asked registered and likely voters who they were pulling for those who say they

[00:26:26] support Trump if their support would shift away from him if he was found guilty in

[00:26:30] this hush money case that is dominating the news right now. 88% said they would still vote for

[00:26:36] Trump. 0% said they would shift to Biden and only 5% said they would consider shifting to

[00:26:42] another candidate. Does the 88% surprise you? Did you expect it higher or lower?

[00:26:47] The 88% does surprise me. It does not surprise me. It surprises me only that it's that low.

[00:26:55] Interesting.

[00:26:56] Only that it's that low I expected it to be. So from that standpoint, I think Trump's,

[00:27:00] I think the cake is baked in regards to Trump. People have, there's really not much more content

[00:27:05] or material you need to find out in order to make a decision. I think his support is strong

[00:27:12] and unwavering. And I think the poll results reflect that. I think ultimately it comes down

[00:27:16] to the margins. And having reviewed the poll and then watched the coverage, when you get into

[00:27:21] the 5% would consider shifting to another candidate. When you're talking about a

[00:27:26] presidential race that Trump lost in Minnesota by 45,000 votes or 1.5%, when you have 5%

[00:27:34] of people willing to consider going to another candidate, that could truly impact it. So to

[00:27:41] say that a conviction for Trump doesn't hurt him, it doesn't hurt him in I think the larger

[00:27:48] context. But when you get down to some of these individual states and in terms of in Minnesota,

[00:27:54] him losing 45% of his support because of a conviction, if it works out that way,

[00:27:59] I don't want to be overly simplistic, but that could really impact a very close race

[00:28:03] here in Minnesota. And so it's something to watch.

[00:28:06] Absolutely. My take on that is these are folks that I think we've seen over the years that

[00:28:12] people like to lie to pollsters, right? We've seen that they don't always tell the truth.

[00:28:16] I think that some folks here like to think that they have a moral high ground and have a moral

[00:28:21] compass that they get asked on the phone. If he's convicted of this big deal here, are you still

[00:28:27] going to support them? Whoa, nope, that's my line. I'd consider shifting somewhere else,

[00:28:31] but not to Biden. So you've got Robert Kennedy is your person here, right?

[00:28:35] I don't know that it's really going to be that high. I think you're right. I think

[00:28:38] the 88% sounds low. I believe it's going to be higher. I don't know that 5% are really

[00:28:42] going to shift, but what do we know? I think your take is spot on though that if it is 5%,

[00:28:48] that is the winner of the loss right there. I do think it's going to be,

[00:28:51] the margin is going to be smaller than it was in 2020. I think it's going to be

[00:28:55] within three, four vote percent here. One other thing I did want to mention.

[00:28:59] So this Lincoln Reagan dinner that he has coming to for the Republican party of Minnesota

[00:29:03] is right along with the MNGOP state convention this weekend. So we have state

[00:29:09] central on the 16th, the state convention on the 17th and 18th. We not as much,

[00:29:15] I guess there's still a decent amount of business that's being conducted. They are going to

[00:29:19] nominate the presidential electors. They will nominate the state at large national delegates

[00:29:25] and alternates. And then they are also going to be doing a U S Senate endorsement.

[00:29:30] I embarrassingly don't know how many candidates are even up for the endorsement right now.

[00:29:35] I think two, is it just the two gentlemen that are running for the endorsement?

[00:29:38] There are four candidates listed on the party website. I think it's ultimately,

[00:29:42] I think Joe Frazier is the front runner to get the endorsement this weekend and we'll see what

[00:29:45] happens. Will you be going to the convention? I will not be going to the convention.

[00:29:49] I will be at a baseball field somewhere watching, watching athletics, but I will not be at the

[00:29:54] convention, but I'll be watching monitoring it closely on social media to see what happens.

[00:29:58] And again, we'll see what the president does when he's here.

[00:30:01] I'm excited to hear all about his speech. That's right.

[00:30:08] All right. Moving on, speaking of speeches. Oh, look, nice job.

[00:30:12] I didn't even plan that one. That's really good.

[00:30:15] Yes. So this last weekend, a speech from Harrison Butker, who is a new name for me,

[00:30:23] maybe less so for maybe you are a little bit more familiar being a little bit more

[00:30:29] into the, to the whole football world than I can say that I am. He is the kicker for

[00:30:33] the Kansas city chiefs. He gave a commencement speech and this really rubbed me the wrong way.

[00:30:42] So I'm going to read the part that rubbed me the wrong way. So bear with me as I get through

[00:30:46] this, I think it is to, I think it is you, the women who have had the most diabolical lies

[00:30:51] to you. Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would

[00:30:56] venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the

[00:31:01] children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife,

[00:31:05] Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she became living her vocation

[00:31:10] as a wife and mother. I am on the stage and able to be the man I am because I have a

[00:31:14] wife who leans into her vocation. I am beyond blessed with many talents. God has given me,

[00:31:19] but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in

[00:31:24] band class, he tears up very adorably. One would think back in middle school could convert

[00:31:29] to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all

[00:31:33] homemaker. And he really kicked this off by saying, you ladies are probably thinking

[00:31:38] sitting here at graduation, thinking about your promotions and your careers,

[00:31:42] but you've been told lies. Oof. Now let me start by saying the best and most rewarding

[00:31:48] thing and the thing I'm most proud of in my life is being a wife and mother.

[00:31:52] I totally get that. However, I, oh, it just irks me. Here are women who, and men there,

[00:32:02] but he was speaking to the women who have spent the last four years educating themselves,

[00:32:07] working towards a degree so that they can go out in the working world. Are some of those

[00:32:11] women potentially just going, potentially looking, maybe don't go out in the working

[00:32:15] world. Maybe they do become a wife and mother immediately after graduation. And that's their

[00:32:20] prerogative. But the concept that he is talking to this class of educated women who are looking

[00:32:29] and striving for what their life is going to be, what their career is going to look like

[00:32:34] and saying to them, y'all are stupid. The most important vocation as a wife and mother

[00:32:40] disregard. I feel like it just completely disregards all of their efforts, all of their

[00:32:45] sitting there and just really makes me sad for what these young girls, I was in college almost

[00:32:51] 20 years ago. These are young women who have their entire lives ahead of them. And I feel

[00:32:57] like being poo pooed on the fact that they want to go out and be successful in whatever

[00:33:02] it is, whether it's, they want to be a kindergarten teacher or they want to be a CEO

[00:33:06] or everything in between. That's an important vocation. They should be able to do that and

[00:33:11] they should be applauded for wanting to go out and contribute to their career, to their

[00:33:15] future success in that way. And oh my gosh, I was just, it felt like an SNL skit. I felt

[00:33:21] like something that I had to watch it on a couple of different places just to see that

[00:33:25] this was an actual true thing that a man was saying to women at a graduation ceremony.

[00:33:32] You have young women in your family. You have two young daughters. What's your take on this?

[00:33:38] It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible. It is back. It's just a horrible commentary for

[00:33:45] a commencement speech in any context. I think it's a bad feature, but a commencement speech,

[00:33:52] it's a bad message, but particularly a bad message at a commencement address

[00:33:56] because it seems as if he's going up there and saying, if you're a woman in this crowd,

[00:34:01] you're a woman in this crowd and you've pursued an academic career and you've graduated now,

[00:34:06] the best thing you could do is basically rip up your diploma and go back home and go home

[00:34:11] and be subservient to your husband. That just blows my mind that someone would get up at a

[00:34:16] commencement address and say that. Now, I would not be supportive of that message being delivered

[00:34:22] in any venue, but I'm really trying to focus here on the commencement address aspect of this

[00:34:27] because that's, I think was a double whammy in terms of the speech because I don't think

[00:34:32] that's a good message to give to someone, but it certainly isn't at a commencement address

[00:34:38] when it's such a moment of accomplishment and something that should be celebrated.

[00:34:44] To have someone come into the venue and to talk down to women and in essence say,

[00:34:49] you've been lied to, you've had an essence, you've been conned and in essence,

[00:34:54] the existence of them being there on stage, he's almost poo-pooing them and saying,

[00:35:00] you shouldn't be here today. It just blows my mind why someone would think of doing that and

[00:35:06] in that type of venue, achieving a college degree and being in that type of moment,

[00:35:13] that is a moment you're not going to get back and for someone to come in with that type of

[00:35:18] message to a graduation class in any capacity, if it was just a male school, it would be an

[00:35:26] inappropriate message. But with women sitting there in the audience, and I will say to you,

[00:35:32] and it is something that I am so concerned about with my daughters and so concerned about

[00:35:40] with my daughters is their mental health, their ability to feel good about themselves.

[00:35:44] That's why I'm so concerned about social media and limit their use of social media.

[00:35:48] We talk about social media, not, and I talk to them and one of the things my wife and I

[00:35:54] both do is teach them to advocate for themselves and to be strong and to advocate. I've had to

[00:35:59] explain to my children, and to my daughters in particular, advocate means standing up.

[00:36:04] If you think I'm wrong, speak up and say that I'm wrong and advocate doesn't mean

[00:36:08] going along with things and pushing back on stuff. Boy, oh boy have my daughters taken

[00:36:14] that to heart because they've pushed back on me when we're discussing politics or other things

[00:36:18] and they disagree. This is backwards thinking. This is the type of repressive thinking that I

[00:36:25] absolutely do not believe is appropriate. And I will say this would not be something that

[00:36:32] a conversation that I think would ever necessarily happen with a man.

[00:36:37] Has anyone ever said to me, and I'll just speak to myself for a second,

[00:36:40] I don't think anyone's ever said to me at any point in my life,

[00:36:42] how do you balance being a dad with your career? That's never something that I've

[00:36:47] ever had that expectation of. But still in 2024, there is still that implied expectation

[00:36:54] that if a woman has a career that it needs to be balanced with taking care of children and being

[00:37:00] a homemaker or being supportive or having those types of household duties.

[00:37:04] And I think it's just backwards thinking. Do I believe that in my particular circumstance,

[00:37:11] do I believe that my wife and I being at home together parenting our kids works for us?

[00:37:17] Absolutely it does. Does it work for everyone? No, it doesn't. Are there situations where a woman

[00:37:23] can choose to be a CEO or anything in life and should she be judged by what she's not doing?

[00:37:30] I think women have that additional expectation on them. And I think it's so disappointing.

[00:37:37] And I want my daughters to be whatever they want to be in life. But they can be,

[00:37:42] it's just funny you mentioned that I was talking to them. My daughters might be

[00:37:46] embarrassed that I'm bringing this up, but I'm going to bring it up anyways. My daughters were

[00:37:48] taking their an AP test this week for math. They were explaining to me how they're working

[00:37:54] towards this test and they're kind of the layout of their tests. And we were driving back

[00:37:58] to the house and I leaned over to the, I paused for a moment. I leaned back and I said,

[00:38:02] you two kids are so fucking smart. You two kids are so fucking smart. Don't ever let

[00:38:08] anyone tell you that you can't do anything in life. I can't even begin to comprehend the

[00:38:13] test you're taking. You two kids are so fucking smart. Don't ever let anyone tell you can't be

[00:38:18] anything. Now, that being said, you probably aren't going to be in the NBA because you're

[00:38:23] not that tall. But aside from that, don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't be anything

[00:38:28] that you want. And aside from maybe being in the NBA, there's nothing you can't do.

[00:38:33] And that's the type of message I think girls, young women should be hearing. They can be

[00:38:38] anything they want. And to sit there and stand up at a graduation ceremony is just

[00:38:42] astounding and appalling to me. Absolutely. I'm not going to leap out the F words.

[00:38:46] And that was the moment where I wanted my daughters to know they can be fucking anything

[00:38:50] they want in life. And when they're describing me a test that they're taking,

[00:38:53] that I couldn't even comprehend how they're taking it and they're doing as well as they

[00:38:58] are academically, they don't need a man telling them anything else other than do what

[00:39:02] you want to do in life, be what you want to be. And you're going to be great at it. And

[00:39:06] don't allow people to shut you out and limit what you do. And that dumb son of a bitch,

[00:39:12] when he gave that commencement speech was delivering that message both to the women

[00:39:16] in the audience and when it was broadcast out. And it's just shameful.

[00:39:20] And I think it also perpetuates this conversation and allowing younger men

[00:39:26] to think that kind of conversation and that way of thinking is okay. I am very grateful

[00:39:32] my parents and support system for allowing me to dive head first into my career, to

[00:39:37] jump around and quit a job for a job that is 90 days because I thought it was going to

[00:39:42] further my career working on a campaign, going out to Washington, D.C., where the sky is

[00:39:47] truly the limits of what you want to do in the political world. That was something I

[00:39:52] wanted to work hard and I wanted to do that because I knew that I always wanted to be

[00:39:56] a wife and mother and I knew that was going to be on my agenda. And I'm so grateful I had the

[00:40:01] opportunity for more than a decade to work and live my dream and then come home and now I'm

[00:40:07] able to, like you said, balance that out. And I have a husband who Joe says all the time,

[00:40:13] if I had a job and a salary that allowed for it, he would be happy to be a stay-at-home dad.

[00:40:18] And I want to make sure too that this is not at all speaking negatively at anybody who

[00:40:24] decides to be a stay-at-home parent. More power to you. That is an incredible job and undertaking.

[00:40:29] But again, these are young folks who have their entire life and career ahead of them,

[00:40:35] who are looking forward to building on what that is going to be in one year and five year,

[00:40:41] what their 10-year plan is going to look like. And if that includes being a homemaker,

[00:40:46] that is their prerogative and their choice. But it is just an incredible way. It reminds

[00:40:52] me of one of my favorite movies is Mona Lisa Smile and it's about Wesleyan college for women

[00:40:56] and how it's just a preparatory school for homemakers. It literally feels like we're going

[00:41:01] back to the 50s of this kind of way of thinking. And it's just, it's wild to me that it was real

[00:41:07] and there's the change.org petition to get him fired from the chiefs and there's a lot

[00:41:12] of backlash. We haven't seen anything from the chiefs responding to this or Buck Hurl. So he

[00:41:19] said other inflammatory things against the LGBTQ community as well, calling them living deadly

[00:41:26] sins. Essentially it was, I guess I just, it's crazy to me that in 2024 speakers are brought

[00:41:34] forward that obviously he has tweeted these things and similar things in the past, but

[00:41:39] do they not vet? Do they not say, Hey, hand over your speech. We want to review this.

[00:41:44] It, it's just pretty insane and really disappointing. And I hope all those women understand

[00:41:52] how great their future can be if they want to have a nine to five, if they want to stay at

[00:41:58] home, if they want to work part time, or if they want to take the role of some folks like

[00:42:02] myself who sometimes, you know, work for five years, 18 hour days jobs, and working on call

[00:42:09] all the time. You can do, like you said, you can do whatever you want to do. And that's the

[00:42:14] joys of living in 2024 as a woman that we have that capacity. And it's so unfortunate

[00:42:21] that these kinds of things and this way of thinking still exists. And it blows my mind.

[00:42:26] I'm glad you wanted to discuss this subject because I think it's important that we discuss

[00:42:32] these issues. And it's so frustrating. It's so frustrating because I think it is,

[00:42:39] it just continues to perpetuate a narrative, particularly. I mean, I will just have to say

[00:42:46] to you that I don't understand what the target audience is. The internet's on the computer.

[00:42:54] This was going to get out and to think that this was now, I absolutely believe

[00:42:59] there are families out there right now who there are women and men who, and a whole collection of

[00:43:06] families, but let's just start in that dynamic for a second, of women and men who have those

[00:43:11] types of relationships where the woman chooses to stay at home and the man goes out to work

[00:43:16] in that type of old fashioned somewhat model. If that works for them, great. If that works

[00:43:23] for them, great. Okay? But to go there and to say that and to preach that, to go there and

[00:43:28] say that's the best way in which to do things. I absolutely believe just on my personal level

[00:43:34] that the dynamic of having two parents at home makes sense. It makes sense for my family,

[00:43:40] but it may not make sense for every family. There may be situations where having one parent

[00:43:45] in the home and having a situation where there's a spouse outside is a better dynamic.

[00:43:50] There are so many ways in which families can be raised. Traditional, non-traditional ways

[00:43:56] that produce wonderful contributing members of society. I think the less we lecture and tell

[00:44:03] people how it needs to be and be supportive of the way they're doing things, I think the better.

[00:44:07] What a horrible message. What a horrible message to deliver to women. I hope I've talked about

[00:44:13] this speech with my daughters and I told them, I said, if you ever are on the receiving

[00:44:19] message of someone sitting in front of you and preaching that, feel free to just walk up

[00:44:24] and leave. I said, feel free to sit there and listen, feel free to walk away, but feel empowered

[00:44:29] to do whatever you want to do to communicate either if that's sitting and listening or

[00:44:35] getting up and leaving. Advocating for yourself is so critically important. I teach it to my

[00:44:40] son. My wife and I are big advocates in teaching our kids to advocate and advocate

[00:44:44] doesn't mean agreeing. It's telling your dad, hey, I think you're wrong. Telling mom,

[00:44:49] I think you're wrong. But standing up and having their own choices. And this is just,

[00:44:54] it was so depressing. The other thing, can we just mention he took a swipe at Taylor Swift?

[00:45:01] Yes. Okay. Now, again, can we just, again, can we talk for just a second about

[00:45:08] the football dynamics? Can you explain that to our listeners? He's picking, he took a shot

[00:45:12] at Taylor Swift. He's on the team. Right. You want to go through that for a second?

[00:45:16] Yeah. So he quoted one of Taylor Swift's songs and thinks that he thought it would

[00:45:23] win some folks over, but he didn't. It was obviously a swing. He's trying to bring in,

[00:45:29] Taylor Swift is dating one of his teammates and I don't know if he feels weird about

[00:45:34] that or what, but we want to talk about one of the hardest working women who has had one

[00:45:40] of the most insanely successful careers. That's Taylor Swift. This woman is working tirelessly,

[00:45:49] like her or hate her. You can't deny the fact that the amount of effort she puts into her

[00:45:54] songwriting and her music writing and her tours and every little Easter egg that she

[00:46:00] puts in there of like her show in Paris, that was the 87th show, which is the number that

[00:46:06] her boyfriend wears. She came out wearing a red and yellow outfit and it's just bonkers. I know

[00:46:12] this is my word of the podcast lately, but every thought and effort she puts in this.

[00:46:18] And here's the deal. If you were going to, what's your audience of swinging at Taylor Swift,

[00:46:23] who was probably one of the most popular and well-regarded person in the world?

[00:46:29] Yes. Is he just looking for headlines? Is that really what it is? Is he trying to,

[00:46:36] I don't know what he's looking for here, but I think he missed the mark.

[00:46:40] So I saw the speech first and then I figured out, wait, he's the kicker for the Kansas

[00:46:45] city chiefs. And then I found out the part about the Taylor Swift and it led me to believe

[00:46:50] that it was, the speech was entirely designed to generate headlines and to pick a swing.

[00:46:56] And look who he's attempting to generate headlines on the back of the women who are

[00:46:59] in that audience. That's who the speech was delivered to women who had graduated,

[00:47:04] that condescending message to them. And then he decides to take a swing at Taylor Swift.

[00:47:09] Now I've been clear about Taylor Swift. The only thing I'm frustrated with about Taylor

[00:47:14] Swift is she's living my dream. She gets to go to stadiums and watch football games

[00:47:18] and she gets to be on the field when her boyfriend wins the Superbowl.

[00:47:22] I thought maybe you were talking about your dreams of being in

[00:47:24] sikundatayar dancing on stage. Look, I got to tell you something.

[00:47:28] I had a boyfriend that was in the NFL. I'd want to make sure he won the Superbowl.

[00:47:32] But the point I'm saying is it's just a condescending. What I'm saying is we're looking

[00:47:36] at this a little bit and if we can for just a moment, we're looking at this also from

[00:47:39] the comms perspective. We discussed it from the standpoint of how you felt about it

[00:47:42] in the message room. But from a comms perspective, from a PR perspective, this looks

[00:47:46] like a speech that was constructed to be like, okay, I'm going to construct a speech

[00:47:50] that's going to piss off as many people as possible and let's deliver it.

[00:47:54] And what I'm frustrated with, Becky, is that when a lot of times they're done,

[00:47:58] when people want to get headlines, how do they get headlines? They choose to get headlines on the

[00:48:03] backs of targeting people. And that's what I think is frustrating. He didn't go there

[00:48:08] and give a message talking about men. He took it about the role of men, but he gave the

[00:48:13] speech about what he expected women to do, not about men obligating their oath and men

[00:48:19] being needing to stand up and treating women better and being more supportive of what they

[00:48:24] do. That is a message. I guarantee you that's a message I deliver to my son and that's a

[00:48:28] message out there that needs to be delivered to a lot of men about how they treat women

[00:48:33] and the relationships that they have with women. And as someone who has had to deliver

[00:48:37] that message and had it delivered to me, it's an important message that young men hear.

[00:48:41] I think right now that's a message that's more important to be delivered at a commencement

[00:48:45] address about young men being supportive and understanding and respectful of changing roles,

[00:48:51] particularly that women are having in this country and being supportive of them rather than

[00:48:56] jumping on their backs. Completely agree. Thanks for letting this be part of the show. I

[00:49:02] think we both feel very strongly about it and it just really blew my mind. I will be interested

[00:49:09] to see if we hear any statements from the chiefs on this eventually. I would argue that

[00:49:14] we're four or five days past it now. If we haven't heard anything, they're going to

[00:49:18] hope that something, practice camp or whatever glosses over and it goes away soon.

[00:49:24] It's called training camp.

[00:49:25] Training camp, dang it.

[00:49:26] Not practice camp.

[00:49:26] Man, I really just made myself sound very ignorant on football.

[00:49:31] No, it's okay. Just be careful. But everyone knows you're ignorant on

[00:49:34] football because of how you got in our fantasy league last year.

[00:49:38] It's true. It's true. Great time. Thanks for the good conversation.

[00:49:43] We will next week. Can't wait to hear about Trump's speech and hopefully he does not take

[00:49:49] the Harrison Booker route of just doing things for headlines. And I'm cautiously optimistic

[00:49:55] that we get some good message points out of him that can help Minnesota Republicans.

[00:49:59] Sounds good, Becky. Thanks for doing this.

[00:50:03] We want to thank you for listening to The Breakdown with Broadcobe and Becky.

[00:50:07] Before we go show some love for your favorite podcast by leaving us a review on Apple

[00:50:11] podcasts or on the platform where you listen. You can leave a review or give us a shout out

[00:50:15] on our website or across all social media platforms at BB Breakpod.

[00:50:21] The Breakdown with Broadcobe and Becky will return next week. Thank you again for listening.