A break down on the GOP's path forward in Minnesota

[00:00:12] Welcome to The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics, policy, and current affairs. I'm Becky Scherr.

[00:00:19] And I'm Michael Brodkorb.

[00:00:20] We are nearing the end of November and snow has officially graced the beautiful state of Minnesota. And my son is thrilled.

[00:00:27] This week, we are pleased to welcome Preya Samsandar back to The Break Down.

[00:00:30] Preya is our resident Republican messaging pro who has worked for the MNGOP, the RNC, and various campaigns of all levels.

[00:00:37] With Preya, we're going to start by breaking down her recent op-ed in the Star Tribune titled,

[00:00:42] It's Time for Minnesota Republicans to Learn from Their Mistakes.

[00:00:45] We will get into some additional updates to Trump's cabinet appointments and some additional insights from the November 5th election.

[00:00:52] And we will continue our discussion on great op-eds by ending with a piece Michael wrote for the Star Tribune this week called,

[00:00:58] No Regrets from This Republican About Endorsing Harris.

[00:01:02] Thanks for joining us and enjoy the show.

[00:01:04] So, Preya, we have not chatted with you since the election.

[00:01:08] So, I'm really excited to get into all things Trump win, Republican trifecta in Washington, D.C., which you were just out visiting.

[00:01:16] But I want to start here in Minnesota and let you—I have some of my favorite parts of your op-ed.

[00:01:21] But you wrote an op-ed about Minnesota Republicans learning from their mistakes focused on the abysmal choice of Royce White for a U.S. Senate candidate.

[00:01:32] And this is something we've talked with you about, but Michael and I have chatted about time after time on this campaign—or on this podcast—and how just disappointing and frustrating that pick was.

[00:01:43] And while Klobuchar is a master at her craft and going to be tough to take down whenever—if that ever happens, it certainly won't happen with candidates like Royce White.

[00:01:54] So, talk to us a little bit about your piece, why you felt this was important to write, and how you got it out there.

[00:02:00] Yeah.

[00:02:01] So, this was actually like the first op-ed that I've written that was actually something that I crafted and put my name on myself.

[00:02:10] Becky is from being a comms person over the years.

[00:02:14] We write a lot of op-eds and LTEs and all sorts of things, but it's never in our voice.

[00:02:20] It's never for us, really, but for the folks that we work with.

[00:02:25] And so, that was a unique step that this would be the first piece that I would actually put my name to.

[00:02:32] And obviously, I worked for Joe Frazier's campaign, worked really hard to try to get him across the finish line, both with the endorsement process, primary, obviously failed to do both.

[00:02:42] And I know that there are Royce White supporters who seem to think that we're just picking on him.

[00:02:49] I think that this is a larger conversation about the things that we are doing wrong, but I used Royce White as the most recent example because I do feel like this is our rock bottom moment as a party.

[00:03:02] The candidates that we've chosen in the past were wonderful people, very nice guys, maybe not the fighters that folks would have wanted that could go toe-to-toe with some of these guys.

[00:03:13] And I understand why folks gravitated towards Royce White because he had that fighter mentality that maybe a Jeff Johnson or a Jim Neuberger didn't have.

[00:03:26] Right?

[00:03:26] I can understand that.

[00:03:27] But I think when you look at the baggage, you look at the rhetoric, it doesn't really embrace the GOP politics that we have come to know and love.

[00:03:36] It really doesn't even embrace the Trump politics that folks have gravitated towards over the last eight years.

[00:03:45] And so I think choosing him probably was a move out of desperation by a lot of Republicans who were just like, we've tried the nice guys of the world.

[00:03:55] Let's try something very different.

[00:03:57] What a way to swing that pendulum from nice guys to Royce White.

[00:04:01] But I feel like everything that we, that I had warned folks about that you and Michael have warned folks about what happened with Michael or with Royce White at the top of the ticket would happen.

[00:04:18] It did happen.

[00:04:20] We didn't lose control.

[00:04:21] We didn't lose control of the house or anything like that.

[00:04:25] We were very fortunate to have a tie, but sometimes I wonder if we had a candidate that had the ability to put more resources in, was actually cared about being a candidate and not just promoting themselves.

[00:04:38] Would that, would there be a difference maker somewhere?

[00:04:40] And so I wanted to look at this, not from a, I'm angry and I'm going to tell you that this guy is wrong for all the wrong reasons, but I actually want to look at the data.

[00:04:50] I want to look at the numbers and show you that it wasn't me pointing a finger or Becky or Michael or Pat Groffler or somebody else pointing the finger.

[00:05:01] But this was a mandate for Minnesotans who looked at Royce White as a candidate and said, you are far from walking.

[00:05:08] And I do want to get into those, excuse me, those numbers because I think it's really compelling of looking at this situation.

[00:05:14] But I do want to touch on two different things real quick.

[00:05:17] One, like you mentioned, it is hard to put yourself out there as a communications professional who has spent the last decade plus writing for other people, doing that in your own voice.

[00:05:27] I know this is something that I struggled with starting this podcast was I've spent so much time behind the scenes.

[00:05:33] So I do really applaud you because that is really tough.

[00:05:35] You say in your op-ed that from a Minnesota Republican who desperately loves Minnesota and wants to see Republicans be competitive and successful in a state that so desperately needs our voice and leadership.

[00:05:45] Here's the cycle's hard truth.

[00:05:46] In order to win a statewide race for the first time since 2006, we must do a better job at candidate selection.

[00:05:52] And I think it's really a good reminder to folks that you are a Republican.

[00:05:57] You want Republicans to be successful.

[00:05:58] This is not just a bashing of a party or principles or policies or anything of that standard.

[00:06:04] It's a desire from somebody who's been actively involved.

[00:06:08] Michael and I have been on the periphery a little bit more when it comes to Republican politics here in the state.

[00:06:13] And so from you, somebody who's been on the ground, been in a fight, I really applaud you for taking that step because it's really hard.

[00:06:20] And this kind of goes to also what we've chatted a lot about is the broken endorsement battle because I've been in those rooms.

[00:06:28] And when you sit there with the 2,000 delegates and you get a fiery speech and I have heard, I haven't watched it.

[00:06:33] I was not there in the room, but I heard that Royce White's speech was a great fire.

[00:06:39] Feel it all, those good, warm, fuzzy feelings deep in your soul from a candidate who's going to go out and fight the good fight for you.

[00:06:46] I get that draw and that allure from some of these candidates and why we get to this place.

[00:06:51] But I think it also compounds the endorsement process, which is a conversation for another day.

[00:06:57] But yeah, wow.

[00:06:59] So thank you for writing this.

[00:07:01] Thank you.

[00:07:02] First of all, let me also echo that.

[00:07:04] One of the things that I will compliment you both on is your outspokenness, which I think is desperately needed.

[00:07:10] Your introspection.

[00:07:11] Becky, you and I have sparred before publicly.

[00:07:14] And Prey, you and I have sparred before.

[00:07:16] We're publicly on some things.

[00:07:17] We have all not agreed with each other at various times.

[00:07:20] One thing I do want to compliment you both on is you have consistently, I think, been Republicans who have been willing to be introspective, particularly after elections.

[00:07:29] Republicans like to portray themselves as the party of accountability.

[00:07:32] The least responsible party officials are the ones after they lose an election.

[00:07:37] And they're the worst ones.

[00:07:38] And so this was foreseen.

[00:07:41] This has been a consistent problem with the party.

[00:07:44] And I applaud Prey for speaking.

[00:07:47] It's not easy.

[00:07:48] It wasn't easy when I did it.

[00:07:49] Becky, it certainly wasn't easy when you did it.

[00:07:52] And I will say out of all three of us, the one that I think has endured the most public scorn has been Prey by an absolute online troll bully.

[00:08:00] Royce White is an asshole.

[00:08:01] A major league asshole.

[00:08:03] And he showed that throughout the election.

[00:08:06] And I'm going to say a few things here.

[00:08:07] We like to talk about authenticness.

[00:08:09] When I was a party officer at various times, we used to say, people used to say all the time, this candidate's authentic.

[00:08:14] This candidate's authentic.

[00:08:15] Let me tell you something.

[00:08:16] My answer on authenticity has always remained the same.

[00:08:20] I went to high school with people who are authentically assholes.

[00:08:23] And so you can be an authentic asshole.

[00:08:25] There's a difference between being authentic and being nice.

[00:08:29] And being, you can be principled and be nice.

[00:08:33] You can be controversial and be engaging and polite.

[00:08:38] Royce White is a rude asshole.

[00:08:40] And he was, and that's unfortunately what happened here.

[00:08:44] And the party has chosen to embrace that.

[00:08:46] And they endorsed it.

[00:08:47] And it was a mess.

[00:08:48] And the, I thought the party's endorsement process hit rock bottom in 2022.

[00:08:53] It hit rock bottom in 2024.

[00:08:55] And I don't think the party has learned any lessons because as of today, we have a number of candidates who are at the same tier level.

[00:09:03] In fact, one of which includes Royce White, who's announced he's running for the United States Senate or governor again.

[00:09:07] I believe if the endorsement were held today, there would be no top tier candidate that would file.

[00:09:13] And one of the three rumored candidates would likely get there.

[00:09:16] And so I want to just have a lot more to say on this topic.

[00:09:19] And I don't want to filibuster, but I wanted to say a few points.

[00:09:22] Proud of Preya for speaking up.

[00:09:24] Proud of Becky when you've done it in the past.

[00:09:26] And let's kick this off because I got to have a lot more to say.

[00:09:29] All right.

[00:09:30] Preya, I want to get into some of the, like you said, the proof is in the election results.

[00:09:35] And the numbers speak for themselves.

[00:09:36] This is not us just sitting here saying, we don't like this guy.

[00:09:39] You should listen to us.

[00:09:40] The proof is there.

[00:09:42] So why don't you get into a little bit of those numbers, those election results.

[00:09:46] I've got a couple of them in front of me and they are very compelling.

[00:09:51] Yeah, they are.

[00:09:52] I think the three numbers that really stood out to me, I highlighted them in the piece, were if you look at the Trump-Royce number,

[00:10:03] Royce underperformed Donald Trump by 8.7%, which is huge.

[00:10:09] That's nearly double-digit numbers.

[00:10:11] Donald Trump lost 2020 by 7 points.

[00:10:15] And Royce White underperformed even then.

[00:10:18] When you look at the congressional numbers, Michael, you pointed this out in your op-ed that we're going to be talking about a little bit later.

[00:10:25] Donald Trump underperformed every single congressional district except the second congressional district.

[00:10:30] Royce White underperformed every congressional district.

[00:10:33] I think it was four counties entirely that Royce White did not underperform.

[00:10:39] And he underperformed by 11.5%.

[00:10:42] And the thing is, we saw this argument online after I posted the article about, it's Minneapolis, it's St. Paul, it's Hennepin and Ramsey County.

[00:10:51] And I was like, no, that's not it.

[00:10:54] When you look at it county by county, the reality is that, and this kind of shocked me too, is I literally went through and looked at every single county.

[00:11:03] It was Houston County where Royce had the biggest margins of underperformance.

[00:11:08] He underperformed Donald Trump.

[00:11:10] He underperformed Brad Finstead by 20 points and underperformed Trump by 16 points.

[00:11:19] In Houston County.

[00:11:20] Houston County.

[00:11:21] Which is in the first.

[00:11:23] Yeah.

[00:11:23] Tell people if you're looking at the map, which corner of the state of Houston County is it?

[00:11:28] It's way over to the right.

[00:11:29] It's the corner that borders on Wisconsin and I think, is it Iowa?

[00:11:33] Yeah, it would border on Wisconsin actually.

[00:11:35] Yeah.

[00:11:35] Yeah.

[00:11:36] So it's a South, it's the farthest county to the Southeast in Minnesota, correct?

[00:11:44] I believe so.

[00:11:45] Yeah.

[00:11:46] It's just, it's a very tried and true, very hardcore conservative county.

[00:11:53] And the reality is you can pick apart different numbers.

[00:11:55] There were a number of instances where both Donald Trump and Congressman Michelle Fishbach did it in a number of counties.

[00:12:02] I think Finstead did it in a couple of counties as well, where they got over 70% of the vote.

[00:12:08] Royce White didn't crack more than like 63% in a given conservative county.

[00:12:14] He was still underperforming even then.

[00:12:17] And the reality is he and his followers will say that his argument is that the reason he underperformed is because there's no voter ID.

[00:12:25] That's just ridiculous.

[00:12:27] And Michael's face says it all because the reality is at the end of the day is that if Royce White is the only one to underperform, that means voter ID didn't impact Donald Trump.

[00:12:37] It didn't impact Stobber, Fishbach, Emmer, Finstead.

[00:12:43] It didn't impact Tadjude, Dahlia, May.

[00:12:48] It didn't impact any of those guys.

[00:12:49] And it definitely didn't impact the even further down ballot races like the state house races where I think it's Elliot Engels.

[00:12:58] That was a Kamala Harris district.

[00:13:01] He managed to win reelection in the suburbs.

[00:13:05] And the reality is, Bruce White didn't want it.

[00:13:09] Donald Trump didn't want it.

[00:13:12] There are Republicans who sat on the sidelines.

[00:13:16] They voted Republican down ballot and they did not vote Republican up ticket.

[00:13:21] I think it's just wild when you said it by 11 points.

[00:13:25] I just want to reiterate President Donald Trump lost Minnesota by 4.2 percentage points.

[00:13:31] Royce White lost Minnesota by just under 16 percentage points.

[00:13:36] That means that almost 12% of these voters went and voted for President Donald Trump and either voted for Amy Klobuchar, voted third party or didn't vote in the U.S. Senate race.

[00:13:50] That's wild.

[00:13:51] Correct.

[00:13:52] And I want to point out something is that, and I want to ask you this question open-ended, but I'd like to know, I hope your answer is mine, but I'm going to throw it out there and see how it plays.

[00:14:02] There were people after Royce White got endorsed who tried to make the case that there's no such thing as a coattail effect, that Royce White being on the top of the ticket would have no impact on the down ballot races.

[00:14:15] My argument was, and it's been a consistent argument, was for Republicans to win in this state, there needs to be, there's a smaller balance beam, a smaller landing strip.

[00:14:26] Republicans have to work in concert, in synergy.

[00:14:28] There has to be some teamwork.

[00:14:29] And so in order to maximize the Republican vote, you need to have a unified team.

[00:14:34] And having a goofball gadfly candidate like that, that will impact the cohesion of the race, aside from the accepted political norm of there being a coattail effect.

[00:14:47] My question to both of you is, did Royce White, Ken from the data, is it your opinion that Royce White being nominated and being the candidate for the United States Senate hurt the overall Republican ticket?

[00:14:58] I would argue likely, yes.

[00:15:02] I don't have anything I can truly point to right here.

[00:15:07] But historically, people tend to fall off the further down the ballot they get.

[00:15:13] So if you're already falling off at U.S. Senate, what is your driver to continue down?

[00:15:20] Yep.

[00:15:21] So historical data would show it certainly did.

[00:15:26] Even if it's one, two, five votes in some of these races, that is the difference maker in the House of who won or lost a race.

[00:15:35] So I have to think that, yes, it would have.

[00:15:38] Preya?

[00:15:39] I think to your point, Michael, to argue that Royce White didn't have a coattail effect, you would have to argue the same thing for Donald Trump.

[00:15:47] Donald Trump didn't have a coattail effect.

[00:15:49] The reality is that when you were higher up on the ticket, you were going to have more resources.

[00:15:55] You were going to have more dollars.

[00:15:57] You're going to have more focus on that race that is going to help bring some of those folks down ballot with you.

[00:16:07] And we saw it with Donald Trump in Michigan.

[00:16:09] We saw it in Wisconsin.

[00:16:11] We saw it in Nevada.

[00:16:12] We saw it in Virginia.

[00:16:14] We saw it all across the country.

[00:16:16] I think with Royce White, the argument that we always made from the Frazier campaign standpoint is that, look, we know that beating Amy Klobuchar is a very tough battle.

[00:16:29] But we also knew that Donald Trump was not going to spend an unlimited amount of resources in this state.

[00:16:36] So you needed a strong top of the ticket to be that placeholder where Donald Trump was not going to be front and center or J.D. Vance was not going to be front and center every single time to help remind folks that there was an election happening and that Republicans are running and that their message, which should be a cohesive down ballot message, would spread throughout and would energize people.

[00:16:59] So you needed somebody strong at the top of the ticket.

[00:17:02] The reality is this was the cheapest race that Amy Klobuchar has ever run.

[00:17:05] I was talking with a reporter here in state maybe a couple of weeks before Election Day.

[00:17:11] And I think at that point, Amy Klobuchar only spent $500,000 on TV.

[00:17:15] I don't think she spent much more than that.

[00:17:18] I don't think she spent a million dollars actually running a race here.

[00:17:22] She probably used her war tests to go help other candidates elsewhere, which also impacted those races because where Amy was a couple of weeks before Election Day, she wasn't here battling it out with Royce White.

[00:17:36] She was out campaigning with Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin.

[00:17:39] Does Eric Hovde owe Royce White a call to thank him for losing his race by, what, 17,000, 20,000 votes?

[00:17:47] Because that could have been a difference maker because Amy was using her resources to help prop up Tammy Baldwin in her tight race in Wisconsin.

[00:17:55] It's not just the down-ballot effect here, but it's also because you allowed Amy to play and not compete here in state.

[00:18:03] She was able to help her down-ballot candidates and elevate them and then elevate other candidates who are in very tight races that could have helped us expand our majorities in Washington.

[00:18:13] So both of you think that it had an effect?

[00:18:17] Yes.

[00:18:17] Thank you.

[00:18:18] I'm going to use that as a talking point for now on because I'm telling you, I've had smart people or people who I think are smart go out there and try to make the case that, oh, you can just endorse Royce White and then we'll have no impact on stuff.

[00:18:29] Having worked on legislative races, Prairie just brought up a fantastic point, and it's a fantastic point that should be noted.

[00:18:36] And Becky, you may note this.

[00:18:39] When planning out legislative races, it's important from a strategic standpoint that maybe you ensure that the caucus leader on either side has a competitive race.

[00:18:50] So they have to remain local and they have to do things.

[00:18:53] I think one of the most important, and so by Royce White being the candidate, Klobuchar was not required to focus on the race because he was incredible and he wasn't worthy of there being an endorsement.

[00:19:06] Which afforded her opportunities to spend her time and resources in other places.

[00:19:12] The other thing that I would say is Klobuchar has a rich history of doing that.

[00:19:15] When she first went in the lead up to running for the United States Senate in 2006, as the then Hennepin County attorney, she had a political committee that donated a vast amount of resources to local party units all across the state.

[00:19:28] Amy Klobuchar has always been value added to the DFL ticket as much as Republicans are frustrated with Keith Ellison.

[00:19:35] Keith Ellison has always been value added to the overall DFL ticket.

[00:19:40] It should not surprise anyone that Republicans have not won statewide since Keith Ellison was elected to Congress in 2006.

[00:19:47] Keith Ellison has always been value added to the DFL operation and machine.

[00:19:51] And when Republicans are endorsing goofballs like Royce White's United States Senate, who then on top of it runs such campaigns that not only are they a personal drain and a liability to the Republican Party, they free up the resources and time of the DFL challenger that they're running against so they can be more value added to the DFL ticket.

[00:20:14] It's a double whammy.

[00:20:17] Completely agree.

[00:20:18] I will say that I am, from my experience working with Tom Emmer, that's something him and his office, Congressman Tom Emmer, pride themselves on doing within the six and even in some targeted districts across the state from funding and donations, but also to getting the Emmer staff goes out and does that.

[00:20:37] I believe that largely I'm going to, again, give a shout out and round of applause to David Fitzsimmons, who was the leader back instituting that back in the day, does similar things with Fishbox office and team and Finstead's campaign team.

[00:20:50] Not obviously on the campaign side, not on the official side, making that very clear.

[00:20:54] But it's something we haven't had statewide.

[00:20:57] So we can do that on the small scale, but we haven't had those leaders to be able to do that statewide.

[00:21:02] Which brings me to one of our million-dollar questions.

[00:21:05] How do we change it?

[00:21:06] How does it, how do we change this so in 2026 and beyond we can be successful?

[00:21:14] Because 2026 our constitutional officers are up on the ballot.

[00:21:17] We have Tina Smith up on the ballot, right?

[00:21:19] Tina's up in.

[00:21:20] Senator Smith, yes.

[00:21:22] Senator Smith is up in 2026.

[00:21:25] How do we do it?

[00:21:26] I simply, the endorsement process isn't going to go away overnight.

[00:21:30] So how do we get those good, viable candidates, whether it's through the endorsement process or successful through the primary process?

[00:21:38] How do we find them?

[00:21:40] How do we get them?

[00:21:41] How do we win?

[00:21:42] I think the first thing is focusing on quality control.

[00:21:46] The one thing that kind of shocked me throughout this entire process, and it feels weird that I didn't know this despite having worked for the state party and having worked in the state for the last 10 years working to elect Republicans,

[00:22:02] is that there are actually no rules on what kind of candidate is acceptable to even compete for the endorsement process in this state.

[00:22:12] It is literally, the only rule that they have is that they are constitutionally able to run for the specific office that they want to run for.

[00:22:23] And it's just mind boggling because as we all know, the constitution is very vague to begin with.

[00:22:30] But I'm sure that...

[00:22:37] You can imagine that the founding fathers never thought when they were sitting down to put the constitution together that they would have to encounter somebody like Royce White or that people would actually vote to let him into the ballot or even Mark Robinson for that matter.

[00:22:55] And so the fact that there was just this idea that, okay, because they're constitutionally able to be on a ballot, therefore we should move them through the endorsement process.

[00:23:10] I see the point you're making.

[00:23:11] That's not our role as a party.

[00:23:12] If we're saying that we have an endorsement process, we should be doing that because we're saying we as a party want to ensure that Republicans in the state of Minnesota have the best opportunity to succeed.

[00:23:25] Therefore, we are inserting ourselves, unlike other states that just have straight run to primary or endorse in very different fashions because every state party is different across the country,

[00:23:36] we are going to institute ourselves as quality control.

[00:23:41] We are going to decide how to weed these people out to make sure cranks and crazies aren't making it through the process.

[00:23:49] And I think it is incumbent on the party to take those steps to figure out, okay, we cannot just have folks sitting on a committee saying,

[00:24:00] we don't really know what constitutes a candidate to be able to go through the endorsement process.

[00:24:08] Unless we're just going to say if they are allowed to do so by the Constitution, then that's fine.

[00:24:14] Then at that point, don't have an endorsement process.

[00:24:18] Let people figure it out for themselves because you know what?

[00:24:21] They showed in 2024 that they were far more discerning than the folks making the decision.

[00:24:27] I do think I completely agree because I have sat as AD, I sat through nominations, not as a voting member of the nominations committee,

[00:24:37] but as a party observer of the nominations committee.

[00:24:41] And first, I do always want to give a little nod to the grassroots process, which I came up through and do have a special place in my heart.

[00:24:50] But there needs to be more than that because we have had candidates, and this goes for all the different levels,

[00:24:57] or party officers, U.S. Senate, Congress, whatever it might be, that have criminal records.

[00:25:03] People that have had major paths with financial issues, bankruptcy, tax liens.

[00:25:09] We've had people who were either inactive or previously were suing the party or party officers.

[00:25:15] Just these things that are like, once you get on the other side, are going to be in the media, are going to be things that get in front of voters.

[00:25:23] And so I understand the desire to want to be kind and nice and not out anybody of that.

[00:25:31] But we need to do that because the other side or the press are going to do that.

[00:25:35] That's their job. That's their due diligence is to find those things and let voters know.

[00:25:40] And so it's always been really frustrating to me that there hasn't been those checks and balances or even conversations with some seasoned campaign professionals,

[00:25:51] which I know are dirty words and people, the establishment campaign professionals.

[00:25:56] But I've had conversations pre-endorsement with candidates back when I was still working and trying to figure out who I'm supporting

[00:26:02] and if I'm going to jump on a campaign and had a candidate say, I don't like making phone calls.

[00:26:08] Well, that's enough for me.

[00:26:09] You're not going to be a statewide candidate because if you don't like making 20 to 40 phone calls a day,

[00:26:15] 20 to ask for money and 20 to ask for support, you are not going to be successful.

[00:26:20] But those are not questions that get asked.

[00:26:23] What's your Christmas list look like?

[00:26:24] Can you raise $50,000 tomorrow just by asking your friends and family?

[00:26:28] Are you comfortable calling up somebody and saying, hey, can you and your wife give me max out to me and write me checks for $11,000?

[00:26:35] If you're not comfortable doing that, there is no room for success.

[00:26:39] But those aren't questions we're asking.

[00:26:40] We're asking if you support the party platform and if you're going to support Donald Trump and these nice, squishy, feel-good Republican kind of red meat questions,

[00:26:49] which have a time and place, but not when we're trying to look about the future viability of these candidates and success of our party.

[00:26:58] It's so frustrating.

[00:27:00] Quality control, I agree.

[00:27:03] It's tough because I don't see that change being made because the people who have to make that change,

[00:27:09] aside from party officials are the ones that help with the city chairs nominate people to become on the nominations committee.

[00:27:17] So apart from some of that and having that as a placeholder to make any true changes to the party constitution or bylaws that would force that to be the case,

[00:27:30] it comes by the people who are effing up in the first place, the delegates.

[00:27:34] And I want to just make a note and a correction on something.

[00:27:37] When Prey was talking about the constitution, I thought she was going to be referring to the party constitution,

[00:27:41] but she was right.

[00:27:44] She was referring to the U.S. constitution because as then she later explained it,

[00:27:47] I understood the point she was making that I apologize for interrupting you.

[00:27:50] You were speaking that the only standard that exists was what the United States constitution requirement is.

[00:27:55] And as Becky knows and as Prey knows and as I know,

[00:27:59] there is a Republican Party of Minnesota constitution guidelines and principles that it runs by.

[00:28:04] There is party bylaws.

[00:28:07] There are rules for convention that all dictate this stuff.

[00:28:09] And so the point I would just say is to clean up my own interruption there was Prey was saying that the Republican Party only kind of requirement is that they follow the base constitutional requirement,

[00:28:22] which is age and residency in this.

[00:28:25] And that's what they did with Royce White.

[00:28:26] The problem that again,

[00:28:28] that we haven't done and I'm really proud of you again,

[00:28:31] Prey for having this because when I read your op-ed,

[00:28:34] I was like, yes,

[00:28:35] this is fantastic.

[00:28:36] I was,

[00:28:36] it was great.

[00:28:37] And I got a lot of reaction.

[00:28:38] And Becky,

[00:28:39] this is something that we've talked about for two years is we've tried to carve out a space to be thoughtful and responsible critics.

[00:28:45] But I have to say to you that this is a need.

[00:28:48] I think that we are now entered the point of some tough love and just maybe being tough because Prey's points are incredibly well-founded and they're based in logic,

[00:28:59] reason,

[00:28:59] and common sense.

[00:29:00] Becky,

[00:29:00] when you've made the same points and when I've made the same points there,

[00:29:03] but Prey is leading that charge right now.

[00:29:05] And what she needs,

[00:29:07] I think is people like us to platform her and have her on and talk about it.

[00:29:11] But also she needs support.

[00:29:12] She needs people.

[00:29:13] How this gets changed is more people in this party start listening to Prey and others who have made this point.

[00:29:18] Because here's the problem that's happening right now is that every election cycle since 2006,

[00:29:24] there has been this type of talk and it really heated up at after 2010 and particularly after 2014.

[00:29:30] And I will say to you,

[00:29:32] something happened at the 2014 convention that I will put a pin in as a point where things started to go south,

[00:29:39] which is the arrival of Philip Harris at that convention where you had candidates who you had candidates who were prepared and had done the work that I think any rational analyst of politics would say.

[00:29:53] There were multiple candidates at that convention that had done some of that base work that professionals like Becky and Prey would say need to be done.

[00:30:00] But then a guy walked into the convention and gave some type of sermon and speech and brought the house down.

[00:30:05] And since that time,

[00:30:06] what's happened is rather the state convention being a culmination of activities,

[00:30:10] a culmination of where there's been a competitive race like it was in 12 and 10.

[00:30:15] Becky,

[00:30:15] I was the deputy chair in 2010.

[00:30:17] You were working on Emmer's campaign in 2010.

[00:30:22] Prey,

[00:30:23] Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer.

[00:30:25] And it ended at the state convention.

[00:30:26] And that,

[00:30:27] but that was a culmination of work where there was a final contest at the state convention.

[00:30:32] What's happened now is the conventions in some ways have become the kickoff for these gadfly candidates.

[00:30:37] And so you have people that show up and you have activists in these seats that are thinking they're going to be entertained.

[00:30:42] And they anoint these candidates with stuff.

[00:30:45] We have to reject,

[00:30:46] we have to stop assuming and stop making the assumption that activists and the delegates in the seat are making informed decisions.

[00:30:53] They're not,

[00:30:54] they're part of the problem.

[00:30:55] And I don't,

[00:30:56] and I'm someone who was a grassroots officer and we've all,

[00:31:00] I think at various points in our life had been party activists.

[00:31:03] And I'm not trying to,

[00:31:03] to,

[00:31:04] to target them.

[00:31:05] You are part of the problem.

[00:31:06] If you sat in the convention,

[00:31:07] the day that Royce White was endorsed and Royce went up on stage and you said,

[00:31:11] yeah,

[00:31:11] I think that guy can be United States Senator.

[00:31:13] Let's endorse him.

[00:31:14] You are part of the problem.

[00:31:15] If you voted him,

[00:31:16] if you placed his name in nomination and there's people out there after he got endorsed,

[00:31:19] after he started acting up,

[00:31:21] that were people that had placed his name in nomination,

[00:31:23] that were close to his campaign,

[00:31:25] that were speaking out and didn't want to speak out.

[00:31:27] We were speaking all privately,

[00:31:28] but they didn't want to speak out publicly because they didn't want to,

[00:31:31] they didn't want to,

[00:31:32] they didn't want to speak out against the endorsement process.

[00:31:35] You want to know what's more important in the state winning elections rather than an endorsement process.

[00:31:39] The Democrats have learned to figure this out.

[00:31:41] And I just want to,

[00:31:43] again,

[00:31:44] applaud Preya for just taking a very strong leadership point.

[00:31:49] And particularly right now,

[00:31:50] as there,

[00:31:51] there are candidates running for party chair and the party ship leadership selections are coming up in mid-December.

[00:31:56] Preya's op-ed and her voice should be elevated everywhere that it can be.

[00:32:00] I'm disappointed with Preya a bit that she decided to go on AM 1280,

[00:32:04] the Patriot first rather than giving us the exclusive,

[00:32:06] but we're certainly appreciative of her coming on today.

[00:32:09] Just one last thing I will say on this,

[00:32:12] as I know I want to get to the rest of the show.

[00:32:13] We're not done, but you can be,

[00:32:14] I am.

[00:32:15] The joy of this is we have approximately another seven months before the MNGOP endorsing convention to continue these conversations.

[00:32:24] So get excited.

[00:32:26] But the last thing I will just say is I am all about working for and supporting and loving a great,

[00:32:34] passionate,

[00:32:35] fire-throwing speaker.

[00:32:36] I had the pleasure of working for Congressman Emmer for some five plus years.

[00:32:40] I managed Jason Lewis's campaign.

[00:32:42] I get it.

[00:32:43] Congressman Lewis.

[00:32:44] Congressman Jason Lewis.

[00:32:46] Correct.

[00:32:47] Wow.

[00:32:47] You're just on it today.

[00:32:48] I just,

[00:32:49] I want to give him.

[00:32:50] Hey,

[00:32:50] I love titles.

[00:32:51] I am all about it.

[00:32:52] I got to pick up my slack here.

[00:32:54] But what I will say is when we look at some of the most successful leaders on both sides of the aisle,

[00:33:02] but in particular,

[00:33:03] some of the leaders here in the state,

[00:33:05] I don't necessarily think we can look at Senator Smith and Senator Klobuchar and think,

[00:33:10] man,

[00:33:11] that's one fired up speaker or Betty McCollum.

[00:33:15] Like these are great.

[00:33:16] They're doing great things for their party and for the state and what they stand for,

[00:33:21] but they are not successful just because they're a great fire-throwing, mud-slinging speaker.

[00:33:27] They are successful because they are principled and they know how to get the job done and they're willing to talk to people

[00:33:33] and make the phone calls and do the work.

[00:33:35] And that's what we need to look for.

[00:33:36] So I understand,

[00:33:37] especially in this Trump era,

[00:33:38] how easy it is to want that and desire that and be drawn to that.

[00:33:45] But we got to start expecting more.

[00:33:47] It's not enough.

[00:33:48] It hasn't been enough for a while.

[00:33:50] And we got to look beyond and find other qualifications when picking this.

[00:33:54] Preya,

[00:33:55] I want you to,

[00:33:55] oh,

[00:33:56] Michael,

[00:33:56] go ahead.

[00:33:56] I have a quick question for Preya.

[00:33:58] What has been,

[00:33:59] there's,

[00:34:00] I want to enthusiastically,

[00:34:02] I want to enthusiastically much more than I have applaud you for you speaking up.

[00:34:06] I'm curious,

[00:34:07] what's the reaction that's come?

[00:34:09] And do you think it has,

[00:34:11] do you think there's momentum?

[00:34:12] If there isn't momentum,

[00:34:14] what more could be done to,

[00:34:16] for people to support,

[00:34:19] which we all,

[00:34:20] I mean,

[00:34:20] I think back,

[00:34:20] I don't speak for Becky,

[00:34:21] but to support what you're this and elevate this.

[00:34:24] Are you getting a good reaction?

[00:34:25] Do you think there's going to be changes?

[00:34:26] If not,

[00:34:27] what are the steps you think need to be done?

[00:34:29] I will say that I was actually very surprised at how positive the response had been.

[00:34:34] And I had gotten a lot of really good feedback,

[00:34:37] folks that were very appreciative of having someone speak out about it,

[00:34:41] both here in Minnesota and places around the country.

[00:34:45] And I've had a couple of folks reach out just asking if I would be willing to meet just to talk about what,

[00:34:51] what changes and ideas that I have that could be helpful going forward.

[00:34:55] So I really appreciate that.

[00:34:56] And definitely going to take folks up on that.

[00:34:58] But I just,

[00:35:00] the thing that I,

[00:35:03] that I really struggled with this race,

[00:35:07] particularly this year,

[00:35:08] and I just,

[00:35:09] I want folks to think about as we go ahead,

[00:35:14] is that I was raised as somebody,

[00:35:16] as a person to have integrity at the end of the day,

[00:35:18] and to be somebody who calls balls and strikes.

[00:35:22] And I enjoy Good Fight more than anyone.

[00:35:25] I think,

[00:35:25] Michael,

[00:35:26] you'd probably agree with that some days when I go back at you.

[00:35:29] So I love doing what I do and helping Republican candidates succeed.

[00:35:34] And I love pointing out all the things that I can about Democrats when they aren't meeting the standards that I think that they should for representing folks.

[00:35:44] I did it with Amy Klobuchar in 20 when she ran for president.

[00:35:47] I've done it when she ran for president.

[00:35:49] I did the same thing with Tina Smith.

[00:35:51] But I think we find ourselves backed into a corner and being like perpetually crushed by this wall that's coming at us.

[00:35:59] When we elect folks like Royce White who have the baggage that they do,

[00:36:03] because we can no longer point out those exact same flaws in the Democrats.

[00:36:08] Because if you were to take Royce White and make him a Democrat,

[00:36:11] what would the activist response be?

[00:36:14] What would Becky and I's response be if we're on a campaign and we see somebody like Royce White coming in from the Democrats?

[00:36:23] We'd have a feel to it.

[00:36:25] What was her name?

[00:36:26] Senator Burglar.

[00:36:27] Senator Mitchell,

[00:36:28] right?

[00:36:29] Just imagine,

[00:36:30] We all saw the Republican response right off the bat.

[00:36:33] The reality is that all of that kind of stopped when you pointed out,

[00:36:36] I did the same thing too.

[00:36:38] Our leverage to actually be the moral authority,

[00:36:41] which we have done successfully for years and decades past,

[00:36:47] we no longer have that authority when we make Royce White and candidates like him are a new standard.

[00:36:54] And we put him on the pedestal and saying,

[00:36:57] this is the ideal candidate for office.

[00:37:02] And so I think we also need to review it in that perspective as well.

[00:37:06] And I would challenge folks to look at it from that perspective.

[00:37:09] The reality is if you wouldn't look at a Democrat with the same exact like background

[00:37:17] and be like they're fine and fit for office,

[00:37:19] you wouldn't call on them to resign.

[00:37:21] And Lord knows we've called on Elhan Omar plenty of times to resign for her behavior.

[00:37:28] Maybe we need to,

[00:37:30] maybe we need to find our way back to that moral background and not moral authority that we once held probably.

[00:37:37] I want to say one thing that's here and then we can move on if Becky wants to,

[00:37:40] which is this.

[00:37:41] One thing that is,

[00:37:42] one thing that is very unique about what's going on,

[00:37:45] particularly with the dynamic with prayer is the fact that Royce White and some of his henchmen

[00:37:50] have targeted prayer directly,

[00:37:51] target her online and got after in crude,

[00:37:53] vicious and appalling ways.

[00:37:55] And it's,

[00:37:57] he's a bully and he's a straight up bully.

[00:37:59] And I got to just say,

[00:38:00] pray I'm proud of you for being strong and staying on social media,

[00:38:05] writing this op-ed.

[00:38:06] You knew exactly what was going to happen when you wrote that op-ed that you were going to get trolled.

[00:38:09] You're going to,

[00:38:10] and you did it.

[00:38:11] And even if in this particular situation,

[00:38:14] I agree with nearly every word that you wrote,

[00:38:16] but there are times when you and I have disagreed and I'll still be an advocate for your voice voice.

[00:38:21] And Becky and I have always been advocates for people doing long form stuff.

[00:38:25] Even if we disagree with the issues on some ways,

[00:38:27] the path to do that.

[00:38:28] And so I hope that you continue to speak up,

[00:38:31] will be advocates for you,

[00:38:32] but I want to just note that you spoke up after knowing exactly what was going to happen,

[00:38:37] which makes the fact that you spoke up and did what you did even more remarkable and worthy of praise.

[00:38:42] So I want to just applaud you for that.

[00:38:45] Absolutely agree.

[00:38:46] And like I said,

[00:38:48] we've got many months before the 2025 endorsing convention or 2026.

[00:38:54] Oh gosh,

[00:38:55] I was wrong with my years.

[00:38:56] Wow.

[00:38:56] We have a lot of time before we are endorsing the candidate for 2026.

[00:39:00] So we'll be chatting about this.

[00:39:03] Excited to see how things flesh out.

[00:39:05] And how things end up.

[00:39:08] We've got state central around the corner.

[00:39:10] We might party officers.

[00:39:12] We have to be reelected or new ones be elected.

[00:39:15] Things could change.

[00:39:16] We'll continue to have these conversations and hope that they do.

[00:39:19] But I do want to move on for the sake of our conversation today.

[00:39:23] We have some new Trump cabinet appointees.

[00:39:26] Last week,

[00:39:26] Michael and I went through the first round of appointees.

[00:39:29] There's some new ones that I want to,

[00:39:31] some that we can be quick about,

[00:39:33] some that we can dive into.

[00:39:34] So let's get to it.

[00:39:36] Starting with secretary of interior,

[00:39:38] Doug Burgum,

[00:39:39] governor of North Dakota.

[00:39:40] This is a pick that I'm a fan of.

[00:39:43] I think we,

[00:39:44] we chatted about Burgum when he was running for president as being one of the

[00:39:47] adults in the room,

[00:39:48] having a sane voice,

[00:39:50] a solid standing and just reasonable approach to things.

[00:39:54] He is going to be,

[00:39:56] we know Trump loves fossil fuels.

[00:39:57] As do I drill,

[00:39:58] baby drill.

[00:39:59] Burgum is the governor of the third,

[00:40:01] third largest oil producing state.

[00:40:04] And so I think it's going to be a good mix.

[00:40:06] Burgum also supports carbon capture.

[00:40:08] It's something that I worked on a little bit with some projects at work.

[00:40:11] And so he has been a leader in that.

[00:40:13] They're likely going to pull back some of Biden's wind farm agenda.

[00:40:17] And I like this pick.

[00:40:19] I think this is a great pick.

[00:40:20] Any issues,

[00:40:20] any love,

[00:40:21] any hate of this?

[00:40:22] I think it was a great pick.

[00:40:24] I mean,

[00:40:25] nothing flattering in North Dakota.

[00:40:27] So he's spent a lot of time managing fast,

[00:40:31] empty lands.

[00:40:32] I thought it was a great,

[00:40:33] I thought it was a great pack,

[00:40:35] a cabinet pick as it should be.

[00:40:36] Boring.

[00:40:37] Yes.

[00:40:38] Yes.

[00:40:38] In that context.

[00:40:40] Make cabinet pits boring again.

[00:40:42] Yes.

[00:40:42] I will have,

[00:40:43] I do have to give a shout out to Jeff Kolb who had a great tweet last week when it was North Dakota and South Dakota governors have both been tapped for Trump's administration.

[00:40:52] Somebody tweeted that it was a great week to be a Dakota governor.

[00:40:56] And he tweeted that it was a really rough week to be a Minnesota governor.

[00:41:00] I thought it was a funny little tweet.

[00:41:02] Sorry,

[00:41:03] Mike.

[00:41:03] For Commerce,

[00:41:04] Howard Letnick,

[00:41:05] a Wall Street guy,

[00:41:06] has been in Trump's orbit for quite a while,

[00:41:09] helping fill some of these positions or figure out who would be best.

[00:41:13] Big financer of his campaign,

[00:41:15] Bundler.

[00:41:17] I don't know enough about him personally to love or hate it.

[00:41:21] Seems like somebody that he can depend on and has been in his orbit and has been working successfully in finance.

[00:41:28] Sure.

[00:41:28] I don't like him because of his commentary that he had with Caitlin Collins.

[00:41:32] I believe it was him about RFK,

[00:41:34] which we'll get to soon.

[00:41:36] Next up,

[00:41:37] Health and Human Services.

[00:41:38] This is RFK Jr.

[00:41:41] He ran an independent campaign for president.

[00:41:44] He is very notably anti-vaccine.

[00:41:50] Pro-choice?

[00:41:51] This one was tough for me.

[00:41:52] He's pro-choice?

[00:41:54] Pro-choice.

[00:41:55] There you go.

[00:41:56] So that will be interesting.

[00:41:57] This one was tough for me.

[00:41:59] I have a lot of issues with some of the very unfounded,

[00:42:02] irresponsible things that I think he has discussed that have been proven unfounded and

[00:42:07] irresponsible and anti-science.

[00:42:10] And I think it is really problematic with a sect of our country, in particular, a sect of our party,

[00:42:19] who don't check and look into things and take it at its face.

[00:42:26] And as a mother of a young child,

[00:42:29] I can tell you,

[00:42:30] I'm all about the vaccines, baby.

[00:42:32] And it really is concerning to know that the future,

[00:42:37] whether it's the next four years or what this means for future vaccines in this country,

[00:42:42] but the possible issues it can have to transferable diseases that have been eradicated thanks to vaccines.

[00:42:52] It's just, I had to take a couple hours after Twitter after this one.

[00:42:56] I knew it was coming.

[00:42:57] We joked about it last week, but it was, this one just really irks me.

[00:43:02] Priya?

[00:43:04] I think it's interesting.

[00:43:05] And to your point, Bucky,

[00:43:06] there are a lot of issues that we're just going to need to parse through in the coming weeks or months,

[00:43:13] just to really understand what is just talk for him versus what is actually going to be like a policy implemented decision.

[00:43:25] I'm talking with some of my friends in DC.

[00:43:28] There's a lot of jokes about don't ban our diet coke saying goodbye to red diet number 40.

[00:43:34] I do think, as one friend put it,

[00:43:39] yeah, there are really a lot of really bad things that could come along with this.

[00:43:43] There are probably also some interesting things that could happen from food quality perspectives,

[00:43:48] just because I think we all know that food quality here in the United States is not as great as it is in Europe.

[00:43:54] There's a reason why Americans can eat all the pasta they want,

[00:43:58] despite having gluten intolerances and not having it here.

[00:44:01] But whether or not potential benefits like that outweigh everything else that happens

[00:44:12] is going to be the thing that we all have to watch out for.

[00:44:17] I do think it's where the man who is, like, against vaccines,

[00:44:20] does make America healthy again,

[00:44:22] is chowing down on McDonald's with the Trump team

[00:44:25] and binds in by the PACs.

[00:44:27] Maybe he's not fully bad in the way that he portrays it.

[00:44:31] So I think this is just one of those things you have to wait

[00:44:34] and see whether the words match up or the actions.

[00:44:38] I just, before we get as an entry point into the RFK discussion,

[00:44:42] I just want to remind our listeners that I once saw RFK naked

[00:44:45] in a locker room at Northwest Athletic Club in St. Louis Park,

[00:44:48] which is a reference point I should just make,

[00:44:50] which we've discussed on the breakdown before.

[00:44:52] And to clarify once again, you were fully clothed at the time.

[00:44:56] Yes, I was fully clothed.

[00:44:58] He was just as you'd think a Kennedy would be,

[00:45:00] flaunting around Camelot.

[00:45:01] And so, yes.

[00:45:02] And so, there's another thing I just would say.

[00:45:05] Way too, I, in looking back at it,

[00:45:08] I didn't, one thing I should note,

[00:45:10] that's a locker room, you expect that type of stuff.

[00:45:12] But I didn't, I moved to a different bay

[00:45:16] after he was just standing there

[00:45:17] because he was just way too comfortable

[00:45:19] talking to a stranger naked.

[00:45:21] Now, that being said, this pick is completely,

[00:45:24] I think this pick is the pick of the Trump transition,

[00:45:29] the pick that has been made so far

[00:45:31] that has triggered a lot of loudmouths

[00:45:34] that called me prior to the election

[00:45:36] to suddenly stop calling me.

[00:45:38] One thing I would like to,

[00:45:39] one thing that I frequently say to folks is,

[00:45:42] pay attention when loud people

[00:45:43] or people that are really obnoxious

[00:45:45] suddenly become quiet.

[00:45:46] And there were a few chuckleheads prior to the election

[00:45:49] who were trying to tell me that it's not that serious,

[00:45:52] democracy's not in the ballot,

[00:45:54] who tried to lecture me about pro-life issues

[00:45:57] and other types of stuff.

[00:45:58] And these are also people who I know have young children,

[00:46:01] take vaccines very seriously.

[00:46:03] The fact that you sat out the election

[00:46:05] and that you didn't raise a concern,

[00:46:09] I don't want to hear from you anymore about it, okay?

[00:46:12] Because you own this.

[00:46:13] I'm not saying people that were stuck between,

[00:46:17] there's a lot of people out there

[00:46:19] that were double haters in this election

[00:46:21] that decided to write someone in

[00:46:23] or keep the ballot blank.

[00:46:24] That's not who I'm talking about.

[00:46:25] I'm talking about the people in particular

[00:46:27] who were trying to tell me

[00:46:28] that the election of Harris and Walls

[00:46:31] was not a principled decision

[00:46:33] and things about,

[00:46:35] that I was raising concerns about,

[00:46:36] democracy and other things,

[00:46:37] and in particular,

[00:46:39] Trump's support of RFK

[00:46:40] would not manifest after the election,

[00:46:42] who I know are very much like Becky

[00:46:45] and without assuming maybe are like Priya,

[00:46:49] that are vaccinated,

[00:46:49] that embrace science,

[00:46:51] that want schools to be safe and free

[00:46:54] from this type of stuff.

[00:46:56] RFK is going to be a real mess.

[00:46:58] Here's the other thing I will say to you,

[00:46:59] and I noticed this on social media in Minnesota,

[00:47:02] of all of the cabinet picks,

[00:47:04] particularly that I think could have

[00:47:06] a political ramification in Minnesota long-term,

[00:47:09] is the selection of RFK.

[00:47:11] There are a number,

[00:47:12] there is a large Venn diagram

[00:47:14] of overlay of Republican activists

[00:47:17] who believe in a lot of the rhetoric from RFK.

[00:47:20] And without naming names,

[00:47:22] I will tell you that the introduction of RFK

[00:47:24] into Trump's administration

[00:47:25] is going to platform a lot of conspiracies

[00:47:28] that we may have to relitigate

[00:47:30] from 2000 and 2022

[00:47:32] that are going to come back up

[00:47:33] in the governor's race

[00:47:34] and other races today.

[00:47:35] And so there's a huge problem

[00:47:37] that I think both on policy issues

[00:47:39] that I have with RFK

[00:47:41] and also as a Republican in Minnesota

[00:47:44] that I think that he's going to platform.

[00:47:46] And so of all the picks,

[00:47:47] this is the one

[00:47:49] that is the absolute craziest to me.

[00:47:50] And it's a close second.

[00:47:52] And Matt Gaetz is a close second.

[00:47:54] I don't want to diminish anything.

[00:47:56] And we talked about Matt Gaetz last week, Becky.

[00:47:59] And so the reason why I'm putting this one

[00:48:01] a little bit ahead,

[00:48:01] but it's a neck and neck race

[00:48:03] between one and two.

[00:48:05] But I'm putting RFK's nomination ahead of it

[00:48:07] as for other reasons,

[00:48:10] but Matt Gaetz is a very close second.

[00:48:14] Before we move on to a handful

[00:48:16] of other ones we have here,

[00:48:18] I want to pose a question to the both of you.

[00:48:21] Between RFK Jr. and Matt Gaetz

[00:48:24] and anybody else,

[00:48:26] do you think there is potential

[00:48:28] that the Senate bucks them,

[00:48:30] that the Senate doesn't let these two

[00:48:32] or others through?

[00:48:34] No.

[00:48:35] You think?

[00:48:36] There's no reason at this point

[00:48:37] to think that Matt Gaetz and RFK

[00:48:40] are not going to be confirmed

[00:48:44] or that they're,

[00:48:46] I don't think there's,

[00:48:46] I think there's going to be a vote.

[00:48:48] I think there's going to be a vote,

[00:48:49] but Trump is not,

[00:48:50] these are not trial balloons.

[00:48:52] You don't float RFK

[00:48:53] because you're going to nominate someone else.

[00:48:57] There's no reason to think

[00:48:58] that these are trial balloons.

[00:48:59] And so I do think

[00:49:01] there's going to be

[00:49:02] some potential novel approaches

[00:49:03] on resets appointments.

[00:49:05] There, obviously,

[00:49:05] the Senate has advice and consent,

[00:49:07] but there's a couple

[00:49:09] of untested scenarios

[00:49:10] where by Trump colluding

[00:49:12] with the House of Representatives

[00:49:13] and with a Senate appointment

[00:49:15] that he could offer

[00:49:16] some recess appointments.

[00:49:17] So we'll see,

[00:49:18] but I fully expect RFK

[00:49:20] and Matt Gaetz to be,

[00:49:22] I expect Matt Gaetz

[00:49:23] to be the Attorney General

[00:49:24] and I expect RFK

[00:49:25] to be the head of HHS.

[00:49:26] Enjoy your McDonald's

[00:49:27] while you can, folks.

[00:49:29] I actually have to disagree

[00:49:31] with Michael.

[00:49:32] Of course you do.

[00:49:34] I do think that Matt Gaetz

[00:49:36] does not make it

[00:49:37] through a Senate confirmation.

[00:49:39] When I was in DC,

[00:49:40] I spent a lot of time

[00:49:41] talking with different folks,

[00:49:44] consultants,

[00:49:45] friends of mine

[00:49:46] that work in the various committees,

[00:49:48] stuff like that.

[00:49:48] And the thing that I keep hearing

[00:49:51] over and over again

[00:49:52] is that folks know

[00:49:55] that Matt Gaetz

[00:49:56] is a problem.

[00:49:57] Becky, I'm sure

[00:49:58] from your time in DC as well,

[00:50:00] you've heard stories

[00:50:01] from girlfriends

[00:50:01] about Matt Gaetz

[00:50:03] being a little creepy

[00:50:04] and all those

[00:50:05] different conversations

[00:50:06] that you have

[00:50:07] with your girlfriends.

[00:50:08] But I think that folks

[00:50:10] understood that Matt Gaetz

[00:50:11] was a problem.

[00:50:12] They understood

[00:50:13] that this

[00:50:14] house ethics report

[00:50:15] was going to

[00:50:16] come out.

[00:50:18] and they figured

[00:50:20] they would nominate him

[00:50:21] for AG

[00:50:22] because I can think

[00:50:23] of five Republicans

[00:50:25] in the Senate

[00:50:26] right off the bat

[00:50:27] that probably are not

[00:50:28] going to vote for him.

[00:50:29] And then he would go away,

[00:50:32] would resurface

[00:50:33] for the governor's race

[00:50:35] in Florida in 26

[00:50:36] because Ron DeSantis

[00:50:38] is term limited out.

[00:50:39] And then he would use

[00:50:42] the rejection of the swamp

[00:50:44] as his rallying cry

[00:50:46] for the governor's race

[00:50:48] in 26.

[00:50:49] And that just seems

[00:50:50] to be the sentiment

[00:50:52] all around.

[00:50:53] I think folks just know

[00:50:54] that this is really

[00:50:55] a non-starter

[00:50:56] and I just,

[00:50:57] I don't think

[00:50:58] he makes it through.

[00:50:59] And I think

[00:51:00] this House Ethics Committee,

[00:51:02] even if Mike Johnson

[00:51:03] wants to keep it sealed,

[00:51:05] the reality is the...

[00:51:07] Sorry,

[00:51:08] speaking for Johnson.

[00:51:11] I think he wants

[00:51:12] to keep it

[00:51:12] this House Ethics Committee

[00:51:13] report under wraps

[00:51:15] but the reality is

[00:51:16] the Roe ruling

[00:51:17] got leaked

[00:51:18] by the Supreme Court

[00:51:19] of all places

[00:51:20] and there are

[00:51:21] some outgoing members

[00:51:23] on the dumb side

[00:51:24] on the House Ethics Committee

[00:51:25] that have nothing to lose.

[00:51:28] There are some Republicans

[00:51:29] who hate Matt Gaetz

[00:51:30] that might leak it

[00:51:31] just for the heck of it.

[00:51:32] The one point I would say

[00:51:33] is as of right now,

[00:51:35] as of within

[00:51:36] the last hour or so,

[00:51:37] the vice president designee,

[00:51:39] the vice president,

[00:51:40] elect,

[00:51:41] I should say,

[00:51:42] Senator J.D. Vance

[00:51:44] was walking through

[00:51:44] the Senate

[00:51:45] with Marco Rubio

[00:51:47] and Matt Gaetz

[00:51:48] and they're putting

[00:51:50] some investment into this

[00:51:51] and so I just have,

[00:51:53] I just will go back

[00:51:55] to just very quickly

[00:51:56] is Trump was elected

[00:51:58] to a four-year term

[00:52:00] but he's got a trifecta

[00:52:01] for two years

[00:52:02] and I think he's going

[00:52:03] to push the envelope

[00:52:04] on these picks

[00:52:04] but we'll see.

[00:52:05] I hope that

[00:52:06] in this particular instance,

[00:52:07] Preya,

[00:52:07] I'm wrong

[00:52:08] and I'm fine being wrong

[00:52:09] to you.

[00:52:12] Moving on,

[00:52:13] we have

[00:52:14] Department of Transportation,

[00:52:15] Sean Duffy,

[00:52:16] former congressman

[00:52:17] from Wisconsin.

[00:52:18] Real world member?

[00:52:20] Real world,

[00:52:21] goes way back.

[00:52:22] I met him

[00:52:23] and his wife once.

[00:52:23] I was shopping

[00:52:24] at the Mall of America

[00:52:25] at Brooks Brothers

[00:52:26] and he and his wife

[00:52:27] are there.

[00:52:28] They're lovely.

[00:52:29] Fully clothed.

[00:52:31] Thank you.

[00:52:32] At the 2016 convention,

[00:52:34] I took a picture

[00:52:35] of Tom Emmer

[00:52:36] and his wife,

[00:52:37] Jackie,

[00:52:38] and Sean

[00:52:39] and Rachel Duffy

[00:52:40] and between

[00:52:40] the four of them,

[00:52:42] they had,

[00:52:42] I think,

[00:52:43] 15 or 16 children

[00:52:44] which is bonkers

[00:52:46] because I think

[00:52:46] the Duffys have eight,

[00:52:48] maybe nine now.

[00:52:50] Wild.

[00:52:51] But I like this pick.

[00:52:52] Hey,

[00:52:53] let's bring some

[00:52:53] transportation dollars

[00:52:54] back to Minnesota,

[00:52:55] the Midwest.

[00:52:56] Big government conservative.

[00:52:58] But I was just,

[00:52:59] let me go on to say

[00:53:00] there's been

[00:53:00] a lot of growth

[00:53:03] of that budget

[00:53:04] and I know

[00:53:05] that's something

[00:53:05] that they want Duffy

[00:53:06] to rake back in,

[00:53:07] bring back

[00:53:08] some of those dollars.

[00:53:09] Energy Secretary

[00:53:10] Chris Wright,

[00:53:12] CEO of Denver-based

[00:53:13] fracking company.

[00:53:15] Yeah,

[00:53:16] let's go.

[00:53:17] What are you going to say?

[00:53:18] What are you going to say?

[00:53:19] You're supposed to say,

[00:53:20] drill baby,

[00:53:21] drill.

[00:53:22] Yeah,

[00:53:22] baby.

[00:53:24] Sorry,

[00:53:25] my dog started barking.

[00:53:26] There is no

[00:53:27] mincing of words here

[00:53:28] that they're trying

[00:53:29] to be all in

[00:53:30] on the fracking.

[00:53:31] He's expected

[00:53:32] to restart

[00:53:32] some of the

[00:53:33] national gas export

[00:53:34] permits

[00:53:34] halted under Biden.

[00:53:36] I don't know

[00:53:37] enough about him

[00:53:37] personally,

[00:53:38] but let's do it.

[00:53:39] Okay.

[00:53:41] 100%.

[00:53:43] It's,

[00:53:43] yeah,

[00:53:44] my main focus

[00:53:45] has been on

[00:53:46] RFK,

[00:53:47] Gates,

[00:53:48] and by the way,

[00:53:49] can we just say again,

[00:53:50] it takes a lot

[00:53:51] of effort

[00:53:52] to have Christine Noem

[00:53:53] not be the lightning rod.

[00:53:54] They found a way

[00:53:55] to do that.

[00:53:57] I think that,

[00:53:58] I think that last week.

[00:53:59] Congresswoman Christine Noem.

[00:54:00] There you go.

[00:54:01] I should correct myself.

[00:54:02] Governor Christine Noem.

[00:54:03] Oh, governor.

[00:54:04] That's right.

[00:54:05] Former congresswoman.

[00:54:06] Sorry.

[00:54:06] I think last week

[00:54:07] I had mentioned,

[00:54:08] but I had seen a tweet

[00:54:09] that Christine Noem

[00:54:09] was great,

[00:54:10] or was pleased

[00:54:11] when Gates was announced.

[00:54:12] Gates was just waiting

[00:54:13] for RFK to be announced

[00:54:15] and they all got

[00:54:16] the stories off of them.

[00:54:18] Department of Education

[00:54:18] is a little interesting

[00:54:19] to me.

[00:54:20] Linda McMahon,

[00:54:21] my husband is a big

[00:54:23] WWE fan.

[00:54:26] Linda McMahon

[00:54:26] is the co-founder,

[00:54:28] former president,

[00:54:28] CEO of the WWE

[00:54:30] with Vince McMahon.

[00:54:31] There's a great

[00:54:32] Netflix special

[00:54:33] that he made me

[00:54:34] watch with him

[00:54:34] that's just wild.

[00:54:36] His stock is growing up.

[00:54:37] That's great.

[00:54:38] Wild.

[00:54:39] It's wild.

[00:54:41] But an interesting,

[00:54:42] she's ran for Congress

[00:54:43] unsuccessfully.

[00:54:44] She served as

[00:54:44] administrator of the SBA

[00:54:46] for two years under Trump.

[00:54:47] It's not far.

[00:54:49] This is not out of her wheelhouse

[00:54:51] to be in this.

[00:54:53] It will be interesting.

[00:54:54] It's not fall out

[00:54:55] of her wheelhouse?

[00:54:55] I mean,

[00:54:56] to be in a public service position.

[00:54:58] She's been in this arena.

[00:55:00] She's been in the WWE arena

[00:55:01] far more.

[00:55:02] That's a comparable skill

[00:55:04] to be the secretary of education.

[00:55:07] Maybe if we have a throwdown

[00:55:08] and we completely eliminate

[00:55:09] the department of education.

[00:55:10] I feel like your husband

[00:55:10] needs to be the one

[00:55:11] that determines

[00:55:12] is whether her WWE experience

[00:55:14] is foreign or so.

[00:55:16] Yes.

[00:55:17] We're going to have

[00:55:17] to get a report from him.

[00:55:18] We might have to go

[00:55:19] a little bit more in depth

[00:55:20] for this later

[00:55:20] because I was forced

[00:55:22] into watching a little bit

[00:55:23] of this special

[00:55:24] and there's a lot

[00:55:26] to this family.

[00:55:28] The VA,

[00:55:29] we have Doug Collins,

[00:55:30] former congressman

[00:55:30] from Georgia

[00:55:31] who served

[00:55:32] eight,

[00:55:32] 10 years there.

[00:55:33] He was among

[00:55:34] the eight House Republicans

[00:55:35] who served

[00:55:36] on the defense team

[00:55:36] for Trump's first

[00:55:37] Senate impeachment trial,

[00:55:39] former Air Force chaplain

[00:55:40] and served in Iraq.

[00:55:43] Any strong thoughts there?

[00:55:44] Thank him for his service,

[00:55:45] but he's a Trump loyalist.

[00:55:48] Yeah.

[00:55:49] And then the last comment

[00:55:50] I wanted to make

[00:55:51] of recent nomination

[00:55:52] or recent announcements

[00:55:53] is the new

[00:55:55] White House press secretary,

[00:55:57] Caroline Leavitt.

[00:55:57] She's 27 years old.

[00:55:59] She's going to be

[00:55:59] the youngest in U.S. history

[00:56:01] to serve in this position.

[00:56:02] She was national press secretary

[00:56:04] on his campaign

[00:56:05] and was previously

[00:56:06] assistant press secretary

[00:56:07] under Kayleigh McEnany.

[00:56:09] Seems to be doing

[00:56:11] what she needs to do

[00:56:11] in Trump world.

[00:56:12] I was gutting

[00:56:13] and hoping it was

[00:56:14] going to be Laura Loomer

[00:56:15] and then if it wasn't

[00:56:16] going to be Laura Loomer,

[00:56:17] I was hoping it was

[00:56:17] going to be Preya

[00:56:18] and that it wasn't

[00:56:19] going to be Preya.

[00:56:19] I was hoping it was

[00:56:20] going to be you, Becky.

[00:56:21] I have, I'm indifferent.

[00:56:22] I think it's great

[00:56:23] that she's the youngest

[00:56:24] and a woman.

[00:56:25] I think that's great,

[00:56:26] but I think she's

[00:56:30] totally qualified.

[00:56:31] So I don't know

[00:56:31] what more.

[00:56:32] One thing I've heard,

[00:56:33] she is a very hard worker.

[00:56:36] Last leave the office,

[00:56:38] first one to go in

[00:56:39] and she's a fighter

[00:56:41] for the Trump administration

[00:56:43] and the Trump agenda.

[00:56:43] And I think that's exactly

[00:56:45] what he's looking for

[00:56:48] as somebody who's going

[00:56:49] to be up there

[00:56:50] babbling with reporters

[00:56:51] day and day.

[00:56:52] And frankly,

[00:56:52] I think anybody at this

[00:56:54] point is better than

[00:56:54] Kiki.

[00:56:55] I haven't,

[00:56:56] I haven't heard any,

[00:56:57] I haven't been tracking.

[00:56:58] I saw the pick was

[00:56:59] announced,

[00:57:00] but I haven't heard

[00:57:00] any robust criticism

[00:57:02] and kudos

[00:57:05] for getting the job.

[00:57:06] Be a great job.

[00:57:07] Yeah.

[00:57:08] And a job I would,

[00:57:09] who wants that?

[00:57:13] And,

[00:57:14] but no thanks.

[00:57:15] Hard pass.

[00:57:16] Just a quick note

[00:57:16] on something.

[00:57:17] CNN is odd

[00:57:18] and there's a breaking

[00:57:19] news Trump transition.

[00:57:20] Trump says he's not

[00:57:21] reconsidering Gates pick

[00:57:23] as controversy builds.

[00:57:25] You need to get

[00:57:26] better talking points.

[00:57:27] What?

[00:57:27] All I'll say is this,

[00:57:28] you got to stand

[00:57:29] by your man,

[00:57:30] even if you are

[00:57:31] planning the double deal.

[00:57:33] Yeah,

[00:57:34] he can't,

[00:57:34] he can't double down.

[00:57:36] He can't say he made

[00:57:37] a mistake before

[00:57:37] he's even taken

[00:57:38] the office.

[00:57:40] I could see him

[00:57:41] doing some veep stuff

[00:57:42] and working behind

[00:57:42] the scenes to get

[00:57:44] him voted down,

[00:57:45] but then it's the Senate

[00:57:46] that chose,

[00:57:47] made that flip.

[00:57:48] It's not going to be him.

[00:57:49] But I do want to move on

[00:57:50] with the remainder

[00:57:50] of our time.

[00:57:51] Michael,

[00:57:52] you also had an op-ed

[00:57:53] that was placed

[00:57:54] just this week

[00:57:55] titled,

[00:57:56] No Regrets from This

[00:57:56] Republican About

[00:57:57] Endorsing Harris.

[00:57:58] I am sure that you

[00:58:00] have had a lot of people

[00:58:01] who have poked you

[00:58:02] and made fun

[00:58:03] and asked you,

[00:58:05] like,

[00:58:05] oh,

[00:58:05] you regret it now

[00:58:06] if you knew

[00:58:07] what you want to know now.

[00:58:08] And so I think

[00:58:09] it's great that you

[00:58:10] wrote this because

[00:58:11] you've talked about

[00:58:12] on this podcast

[00:58:12] about some of the points

[00:58:13] you shared in here

[00:58:14] in particular.

[00:58:15] I want to hear a little

[00:58:16] bit more again

[00:58:16] about your trip

[00:58:17] to Pennsylvania

[00:58:18] and what that meant

[00:58:19] with the historical

[00:58:20] significance.

[00:58:21] But you talked about

[00:58:22] how this wasn't a bet

[00:58:23] for you.

[00:58:24] You were not betting.

[00:58:25] You did not endorse

[00:58:26] Harrison Walls

[00:58:27] because you were

[00:58:28] betting that they

[00:58:29] were going to win.

[00:58:31] You endorsed them

[00:58:32] because you principally

[00:58:35] believed that

[00:58:36] they were the best

[00:58:37] choice for the next

[00:58:38] leaders of this country.

[00:58:39] So talk a little bit

[00:58:41] about your decision

[00:58:42] here with no regrets

[00:58:44] and why you wanted to.

[00:58:45] It was born from

[00:58:46] some of those conversations.

[00:58:47] I had a number of people

[00:58:48] who,

[00:58:49] as the election

[00:58:50] got closer,

[00:58:50] and we talked to this

[00:58:51] a little bit about

[00:58:52] the podcast,

[00:58:53] Becky,

[00:58:53] you and I did,

[00:58:54] where people were

[00:58:54] approaching her

[00:58:55] from a standpoint

[00:58:55] that she might not win.

[00:58:56] And I think

[00:58:58] you and I had been

[00:58:59] and Prey helped with this.

[00:59:01] We had a number

[00:59:02] of podcast episodes

[00:59:03] independent of this

[00:59:04] decision for a second

[00:59:04] where we framed out

[00:59:06] the stakes in this election.

[00:59:07] I think it was,

[00:59:08] I think one of the,

[00:59:09] you know,

[00:59:09] very,

[00:59:09] aside from Prey's

[00:59:10] commentary of offering,

[00:59:11] you know,

[00:59:12] points on right track,

[00:59:13] wrong track,

[00:59:13] everything,

[00:59:13] it was also Mark Drake

[00:59:14] who raised those points.

[00:59:15] And those,

[00:59:16] we do a lot of listening

[00:59:17] on this podcast

[00:59:17] and we have a lot

[00:59:19] of balanced discussions.

[00:59:20] We did not live in a,

[00:59:21] I don't think,

[00:59:21] Becky,

[00:59:21] that you and I lived

[00:59:22] in a political bubble

[00:59:23] related to the election.

[00:59:25] Independent of where

[00:59:25] I thought the race would be,

[00:59:27] this was the decision

[00:59:27] I was going to make.

[00:59:28] And I stand by the decision

[00:59:29] without any reservation.

[00:59:31] First and foremost,

[00:59:32] democracy was on the ballot.

[00:59:33] And there was,

[00:59:34] there's some ribbing

[00:59:35] that I got from people

[00:59:36] saying this was the last election.

[00:59:37] Now that democracy's done.

[00:59:38] You know how democracy

[00:59:39] was on the ballot

[00:59:40] is because Kamala Harris

[00:59:41] and Tim Walz

[00:59:42] accepted the results

[00:59:42] of the election

[00:59:43] and gave and bestowed

[00:59:44] upon Trump and Vance

[00:59:46] a gift that he has not

[00:59:47] bestowed upon Joe Biden.

[00:59:49] And it's a mark

[00:59:50] on our history.

[00:59:51] And so they recognize

[00:59:53] the results of the election,

[00:59:54] acknowledge the fact

[00:59:55] that they lost

[00:59:55] and without reservation,

[00:59:57] that has been

[00:59:58] an orderly

[00:59:59] and clean process.

[01:00:00] I understand that

[01:00:01] there's still some election

[01:00:02] fights going on

[01:00:03] in some Senate races,

[01:00:04] but that's not a point

[01:00:05] that rhetoric

[01:00:06] is not coming

[01:00:06] from the vice president

[01:00:08] or from Governor Walz.

[01:00:09] So yes,

[01:00:10] and that has really

[01:00:11] tampered down the rhetoric.

[01:00:12] We would be

[01:00:13] in an entirely

[01:00:14] different place today

[01:00:15] rhetorically

[01:00:16] and as a country

[01:00:17] if Harrison Walz

[01:00:18] would have won

[01:00:18] because that type of,

[01:00:20] that type of thoughtful

[01:00:21] principled response

[01:00:22] was not going to happen

[01:00:24] on the other side.

[01:00:25] And so I stand by it

[01:00:26] from that standpoint.

[01:00:27] And I will also say

[01:00:29] that was,

[01:00:31] I,

[01:00:31] the more I've gotten away from,

[01:00:33] the more,

[01:00:34] the farther I've been away

[01:00:34] from that event

[01:00:35] in Pennsylvania,

[01:00:36] the more I've realized

[01:00:37] having listened to the speech

[01:00:38] and knew that I was there.

[01:00:40] It was a very important moment

[01:00:42] politically

[01:00:43] and for this country.

[01:00:44] And I absolutely believe in it.

[01:00:46] I believe that

[01:00:47] there are times

[01:00:48] when we have to choose

[01:00:49] country over party.

[01:00:50] I was not someone,

[01:00:52] although I would be classified

[01:00:53] as a never-Trumper,

[01:00:55] none of my analysis

[01:00:56] or rhetoric

[01:00:57] or commentary

[01:00:57] was derogatory

[01:00:58] in any sense

[01:00:59] in any of the way

[01:01:00] of which J.D. Vance did,

[01:01:01] who called him

[01:01:02] America's Hitler.

[01:01:02] Hitler.

[01:01:03] We've had a lot

[01:01:04] of podcast episodes

[01:01:05] where we have platformed

[01:01:07] and wanted to get insight

[01:01:08] and perspective

[01:01:09] from people

[01:01:09] who were passionately

[01:01:10] supporting Donald Trump.

[01:01:11] And I know probably

[01:01:13] if I did a tally,

[01:01:14] the vast majority

[01:01:15] of our guests

[01:01:16] voted for Trump

[01:01:17] over voting

[01:01:18] for Harris

[01:01:19] in a particular way.

[01:01:19] And I appreciate that.

[01:01:20] But all of those conversations

[01:01:21] were well-rooted

[01:01:22] and I appreciated

[01:01:24] that perspective.

[01:01:24] But I,

[01:01:25] on many principled reasons,

[01:01:27] I stood by that decision

[01:01:28] and it was important

[01:01:29] for me

[01:01:29] to circle back

[01:01:30] and say,

[01:01:31] you're goddamn right

[01:01:32] I did that

[01:01:32] and I'm proud of it

[01:01:33] and I'm very proud

[01:01:34] of the fact

[01:01:34] that I did it.

[01:01:35] We,

[01:01:35] I do have concerns

[01:01:36] remaining about

[01:01:37] Trump and the Constitution

[01:01:39] and the rule of law

[01:01:40] on a couple points.

[01:01:41] First of all,

[01:01:42] I've checked off democracy

[01:01:43] and I think that

[01:01:43] there's some issues there.

[01:01:45] A couple points

[01:01:45] that I also make.

[01:01:46] Trump has waged

[01:01:47] a pretty aggressive war

[01:01:49] against the First Amendment

[01:01:50] calling for the licenses

[01:01:51] of television broadcast stations

[01:01:53] to be revoked

[01:01:54] through the FCC

[01:01:55] and other things.

[01:01:56] He has called

[01:01:56] for an investigation

[01:01:58] into a pollster

[01:02:00] with the Des Moines Register

[01:02:01] about a poll

[01:02:02] that was released.

[01:02:03] Now,

[01:02:03] I want to separate

[01:02:06] media criticisms

[01:02:07] which we all have

[01:02:09] and I think we should discuss

[01:02:10] more in future episodes

[01:02:11] and we,

[01:02:11] in fact,

[01:02:12] Becky,

[01:02:12] on our election night poll,

[01:02:15] on our election night

[01:02:16] live stream,

[01:02:16] we discussed with John Rouleau

[01:02:17] questions about that poll

[01:02:19] and what should be done

[01:02:20] and so there's a difference

[01:02:21] between there being

[01:02:23] a thoughtful breakdown

[01:02:24] of the methodology

[01:02:25] and how that poll

[01:02:26] was constructed

[01:02:27] and for the President

[01:02:28] of the United States

[01:02:29] who has the power

[01:02:29] of the Department of Justice

[01:02:30] under his wing

[01:02:31] to call for an investigation

[01:02:33] into a pollster.

[01:02:34] That is concerning to me.

[01:02:36] That type of weaponization

[01:02:37] and that kind of blurring

[01:02:39] of the lines

[01:02:39] that exists

[01:02:40] between the President

[01:02:41] and abiding by the,

[01:02:42] it's pretty clear to me

[01:02:44] that the only type

[01:02:45] of First Amendment

[01:02:47] that Trump appreciates

[01:02:48] is the kind

[01:02:49] that supports his cause

[01:02:51] and let me tell you something,

[01:02:52] I'm a huge,

[01:02:53] I'm a big liberal

[01:02:54] on the First Amendment

[01:02:55] and our show lineup

[01:02:57] is a reflection of that.

[01:02:59] We have people

[01:03:00] on every week,

[01:03:01] Becky,

[01:03:01] that disagree with us.

[01:03:03] In the aftermath

[01:03:04] of me endorsing Harrison Walls,

[01:03:06] I reached out to you

[01:03:06] and said,

[01:03:07] hey,

[01:03:07] if we're talking about things,

[01:03:08] let's make sure

[01:03:09] that since I've endorsed

[01:03:10] a side

[01:03:11] that we're being balanced

[01:03:12] and we're offering

[01:03:13] that full perspective.

[01:03:14] I think that Trump

[01:03:16] has a real problem

[01:03:17] with the First Amendment

[01:03:18] unless he agrees

[01:03:19] with the speech

[01:03:19] and I believe

[01:03:21] that the best way

[01:03:22] to combat

[01:03:22] the speech

[01:03:23] you don't like

[01:03:24] is to have more of it,

[01:03:26] not to call for investigations

[01:03:27] and to weaponize things.

[01:03:29] Finally,

[01:03:29] I do have concerns

[01:03:31] about some of the nominations

[01:03:33] and the process

[01:03:34] that he's going

[01:03:34] to lay into.

[01:03:36] Donald Trump

[01:03:36] has discussed

[01:03:37] using an untested

[01:03:40] constitutional theory

[01:03:41] about,

[01:03:42] in essence,

[01:03:43] doing recess appointments

[01:03:44] in a collaborative way

[01:03:46] with the House

[01:03:47] potentially

[01:03:52] and consent

[01:03:52] that the United States

[01:03:53] Senate has

[01:03:54] with confirmation picks.

[01:03:55] That is concerning to me.

[01:03:56] Finally,

[01:03:57] Donald Trump

[01:03:58] is constitutionally precluded

[01:03:59] from seeking

[01:04:00] a third term.

[01:04:01] There is something

[01:04:02] that Donald Trump

[01:04:03] has a pattern of doing

[01:04:04] which is raising

[01:04:05] trial balloons

[01:04:06] and joking about stuff.

[01:04:07] He has alluded to,

[01:04:08] and I will disclose

[01:04:09] in a joking manner,

[01:04:10] the possibility

[01:04:11] of trying to seek

[01:04:13] a third term.

[01:04:14] He floats those types

[01:04:15] of things

[01:04:16] for a reason

[01:04:17] and because he's hoping

[01:04:18] that people pick up

[01:04:19] on them

[01:04:19] and I understand

[01:04:20] there's an element

[01:04:21] of joke in it

[01:04:22] but Donald Trump,

[01:04:23] I think,

[01:04:24] is the arguments

[01:04:26] that I were making

[01:04:26] prior to the election,

[01:04:28] my concerns

[01:04:29] that I have,

[01:04:30] that I raised,

[01:04:31] still exist today.

[01:04:32] Particularly

[01:04:33] with some of the picks

[01:04:34] that he's made,

[01:04:35] particularly with RFK

[01:04:37] and HHS,

[01:04:38] there's, I think,

[01:04:38] a number of conservative

[01:04:39] Republicans,

[01:04:40] particularly those

[01:04:41] who champion themselves

[01:04:42] as pro-life

[01:04:42] Republican advocates,

[01:04:43] that should really

[01:04:45] examine RFK's record

[01:04:46] and some of his rhetoric

[01:04:48] because I could really

[01:04:49] hold them up

[01:04:50] to some inconsistent standard.

[01:04:51] The bottom line is,

[01:04:53] I stand by my choice,

[01:04:54] I'm proud of it,

[01:04:55] if I could do it

[01:04:56] all over again,

[01:04:56] I would.

[01:04:57] One other point

[01:04:58] that I wanted to make

[01:04:58] with the op-ed

[01:04:59] is this,

[01:05:00] and it dovetails

[01:05:01] a little bit in it

[01:05:02] and I want to give

[01:05:03] folks an opportunity

[01:05:04] to chime in

[01:05:05] and push back

[01:05:06] on anything you want.

[01:05:07] But in particular,

[01:05:08] Donald Trump

[01:05:09] lost this state.

[01:05:10] If you look at

[01:05:11] the election results,

[01:05:12] I endorsed Harris

[01:05:13] when there was,

[01:05:14] at a time in which

[01:05:15] it was August,

[01:05:16] it was a short campaign.

[01:05:17] Over those

[01:05:18] hundred plus days,

[01:05:19] I had a lot

[01:05:20] of conversations

[01:05:21] with a lot

[01:05:21] of Republicans

[01:05:22] and independents

[01:05:23] in this state

[01:05:23] who did not feel

[01:05:24] comfortable with

[01:05:25] Donald Trump

[01:05:25] and to this day

[01:05:27] don't.

[01:05:28] And I think

[01:05:29] that in order

[01:05:31] for a Republican

[01:05:32] to succeed

[01:05:32] in this state,

[01:05:33] Republicanism can

[01:05:34] succeed in this state.

[01:05:35] And in my op-ed,

[01:05:36] I discussed

[01:05:37] that Donald Trump

[01:05:39] underperformed

[01:05:39] the congressional candidates

[01:05:41] in every congressional

[01:05:42] district

[01:05:42] except in CD2.

[01:05:43] Kamala Harris

[01:05:44] outperformed

[01:05:45] the DFL

[01:05:46] candidate

[01:05:47] for Congress

[01:05:47] in every district

[01:05:49] except in CD2.

[01:05:50] And so

[01:05:51] there was a unique

[01:05:52] dynamic going on

[01:05:53] in CD2,

[01:05:54] but what that shows

[01:05:54] is that the margin

[01:05:56] of victory,

[01:05:56] if you were to tally

[01:05:57] up what all

[01:05:58] the Republican

[01:05:59] congressional candidates

[01:06:00] got versus

[01:06:01] all the DFL

[01:06:02] congressional candidates

[01:06:03] are got,

[01:06:03] that's a very

[01:06:04] tight margin.

[01:06:05] It's, I think,

[01:06:06] less than a point

[01:06:07] difference.

[01:06:07] But if you look

[01:06:08] at where Trump

[01:06:09] and Harris are,

[01:06:10] it's five points,

[01:06:11] four to five points.

[01:06:12] What that means

[01:06:13] is that Trump's

[01:06:14] MAGA brand

[01:06:15] is not electable

[01:06:17] in this state.

[01:06:18] But Republicanism

[01:06:19] can have a path.

[01:06:21] And in the aftermath

[01:06:22] of the election,

[01:06:23] I've seen party officers

[01:06:24] and people connected

[01:06:24] to the Republican Party

[01:06:26] go out there

[01:06:26] and try to say

[01:06:27] that if you are not

[01:06:29] a Trump Republican,

[01:06:30] you need to get out.

[01:06:31] It's a complete misreading

[01:06:32] of the election results.

[01:06:33] It's an absolute misreadingist.

[01:06:34] an absolute misreading of the

[01:06:34] election results in this

[01:06:38] state. And I

[01:06:39] want to just point out that there,

[01:06:41] one thing that

[01:06:41] I learned

[01:06:42] over the last

[01:06:43] hundred plus days

[01:06:43] and being a volunteer

[01:06:45] is that the way

[01:06:46] the DFL runs

[01:06:47] these campaigns

[01:06:48] is entirely different.

[01:06:50] They and the Republicans,

[01:06:52] I think,

[01:06:52] are behind the curve

[01:06:53] immensely.

[01:06:54] But there are a lot

[01:06:55] of Republicans

[01:06:56] in this state

[01:06:57] who believe

[01:06:58] in the Republican Party,

[01:06:59] want to support

[01:07:00] Republican candidates

[01:07:01] who do not believe

[01:07:02] in Donald Trump's brand.

[01:07:04] And Republicans,

[01:07:06] I think,

[01:07:07] in this state

[01:07:07] have to recognize

[01:07:08] in order to win statewide

[01:07:09] because the numbers

[01:07:11] are there

[01:07:11] that they have

[01:07:12] to start building

[01:07:13] coalitions

[01:07:14] and stop kicking

[01:07:14] people out of this party.

[01:07:16] I think it was

[01:07:17] a complete misreading

[01:07:18] of the election

[01:07:18] that they've had

[01:07:19] and I hope

[01:07:20] they're introspective

[01:07:21] about it.

[01:07:22] One other point

[01:07:22] I will make

[01:07:23] in closing

[01:07:23] is that

[01:07:24] Republicans swept.

[01:07:25] They have a trifecta

[01:07:27] right now

[01:07:27] because of Trump's victory

[01:07:29] and as of right now

[01:07:29] they have

[01:07:30] United States Senate

[01:07:31] and on the congressional level.

[01:07:33] Republicans in Minnesota

[01:07:34] contribute nothing

[01:07:35] to those gains.

[01:07:36] Kamala Harris won this state

[01:07:38] because of a broad base

[01:07:39] of Democrats,

[01:07:40] Republicans,

[01:07:41] and independents

[01:07:42] that supported her.

[01:07:43] Republicans lost

[01:07:44] the Congress CD2 race

[01:07:45] and they lost

[01:07:46] the U.S. Senate race.

[01:07:47] But the numbers

[01:07:48] are there

[01:07:48] if they want to

[01:07:49] see how the path

[01:07:51] to win.

[01:07:51] And the path

[01:07:52] to win

[01:07:52] is to build a tent,

[01:07:53] be a coalition party

[01:07:54] like the Democrats

[01:07:55] have come to be

[01:07:56] and understand

[01:07:57] and recognize

[01:07:58] that Donald Trump

[01:07:58] may have a place

[01:07:59] in this party

[01:08:00] but it's not

[01:08:01] to help candidates

[01:08:01] win statewide.

[01:08:05] I,

[01:08:06] with that

[01:08:07] because I think

[01:08:08] we've chatted

[01:08:09] about that

[01:08:09] a little bit

[01:08:10] even in days

[01:08:11] since the election

[01:08:12] of how

[01:08:13] Trump failing here

[01:08:15] should send a message

[01:08:17] to the Republican Party

[01:08:18] of Minnesota

[01:08:19] and Minnesota

[01:08:19] Republican activists,

[01:08:21] campaigns,

[01:08:22] everything going forward.

[01:08:24] But will it?

[01:08:26] Or how do you

[01:08:26] think we

[01:08:28] as in

[01:08:29] myself,

[01:08:31] Preya

[01:08:31] if she chooses,

[01:08:32] anybody else

[01:08:33] who is listening,

[01:08:34] how do we

[01:08:35] work to get

[01:08:36] that message across

[01:08:37] that we can stand

[01:08:40] for Republican

[01:08:41] principles

[01:08:42] and policies?

[01:08:43] We don't necessarily

[01:08:44] have to stand

[01:08:45] in opposition

[01:08:45] to Donald Trump

[01:08:46] but we don't have

[01:08:47] to embrace

[01:08:47] the MAGA

[01:08:49] world

[01:08:49] and stay

[01:08:50] in that lane.

[01:08:50] Is there some

[01:08:51] advice?

[01:08:52] Is there a way

[01:08:53] we can do that?

[01:08:54] Because I think

[01:08:56] that one thing

[01:08:56] that I've been

[01:08:57] personally frustrated

[01:08:58] with that you

[01:08:58] and I have

[01:08:58] discussed

[01:08:59] with both

[01:08:59] of our

[01:09:00] not necessarily

[01:09:01] feeling super

[01:09:02] in touch

[01:09:03] with the current

[01:09:04] Republican Party

[01:09:05] in our state

[01:09:06] is

[01:09:07] how

[01:09:08] is that frustration

[01:09:09] and the kind

[01:09:10] of internal

[01:09:11] battle of

[01:09:12] wanting to change

[01:09:13] it?

[01:09:13] But also,

[01:09:14] like,

[01:09:15] I didn't caucus

[01:09:15] this last time

[01:09:16] around.

[01:09:16] You have to be

[01:09:17] involved to change

[01:09:18] it,

[01:09:19] but it's frustrating

[01:09:20] to be involved

[01:09:21] because of

[01:09:21] who's involved.

[01:09:23] So,

[01:09:23] it's a cyclical

[01:09:25] issue.

[01:09:26] You're damned

[01:09:26] if you do,

[01:09:27] you're damned

[01:09:27] if you don't.

[01:09:28] Do you have

[01:09:28] a million dollar

[01:09:29] answer for me?

[01:09:30] I have an example

[01:09:30] but I want to

[01:09:31] give Praia

[01:09:31] an opportunity

[01:09:32] to respond

[01:09:32] on something.

[01:09:33] Probably go ahead

[01:09:34] if you'd like to.

[01:09:36] I think we just

[01:09:37] have to

[01:09:39] be more

[01:09:41] thoughtful

[01:09:41] to be frank.

[01:09:43] To your point,

[01:09:44] Michael,

[01:09:44] and I think

[01:09:45] that's probably

[01:09:47] an underlying

[01:09:48] theme of

[01:09:49] this entire

[01:09:50] discussion

[01:09:50] minute.

[01:09:51] It's just,

[01:09:52] I think,

[01:09:52] we as a party

[01:09:53] need to be

[01:09:54] more thoughtful.

[01:09:55] The RNC

[01:09:56] did this

[01:09:56] following

[01:09:57] the complete

[01:09:58] sweep

[01:09:58] that Democrats

[01:10:00] had in 2012

[01:10:01] where Obama

[01:10:03] just had

[01:10:04] this big

[01:10:05] organization

[01:10:05] with OFA.

[01:10:06] It's similar

[01:10:06] to what

[01:10:07] Democrats

[01:10:07] have had

[01:10:08] in state

[01:10:08] for years,

[01:10:09] but Obama

[01:10:10] had OFA,

[01:10:12] Obama for

[01:10:12] America.

[01:10:13] It was their

[01:10:13] big organizing

[01:10:15] efforts where

[01:10:16] they could

[01:10:17] invest in

[01:10:18] multiple states

[01:10:19] and races

[01:10:20] across the

[01:10:20] country,

[01:10:21] and it

[01:10:21] helped them

[01:10:22] really sweep

[01:10:23] in a way

[01:10:24] that forced

[01:10:26] Republicans

[01:10:26] to take a

[01:10:28] deep hard look

[01:10:29] of why they

[01:10:30] were continuing

[01:10:30] to lose.

[01:10:31] I don't think

[01:10:33] Republicans in

[01:10:34] this state

[01:10:35] have ever

[01:10:36] really had

[01:10:37] that moment

[01:10:38] where they're

[01:10:39] like,

[01:10:39] okay,

[01:10:39] it's time

[01:10:39] for some

[01:10:40] self-reflection

[01:10:40] and figure out,

[01:10:41] okay,

[01:10:42] why have we

[01:10:42] really lost?

[01:10:44] What needs

[01:10:44] to be done

[01:10:45] better?

[01:10:46] And who

[01:10:46] do we

[01:10:46] bring in

[01:10:47] to actually

[01:10:48] move the

[01:10:49] needle here?

[01:10:50] And I

[01:10:50] think until

[01:10:51] that actually

[01:10:52] happens,

[01:10:54] that change

[01:10:55] is not going

[01:10:56] to exist.

[01:10:57] And I

[01:10:57] think it's

[01:10:58] going to

[01:10:58] force more

[01:10:59] people like

[01:11:00] Michael

[01:11:02] to have to

[01:11:03] make hard

[01:11:03] stances.

[01:11:04] They're probably

[01:11:05] like,

[01:11:07] I don't want

[01:11:08] to speak for

[01:11:08] you,

[01:11:09] Michael,

[01:11:09] on this.

[01:11:10] You are

[01:11:10] not a

[01:11:11] Republican.

[01:11:11] You did not

[01:11:12] vote top of

[01:11:12] the ticket

[01:11:13] with us.

[01:11:14] Lord knows

[01:11:15] Bucky and

[01:11:16] I have

[01:11:17] had

[01:11:17] disagreements

[01:11:18] with you

[01:11:19] about why

[01:11:20] Kamala Harris

[01:11:21] and why

[01:11:22] Tim Wall.

[01:11:23] But it's

[01:11:24] a principal

[01:11:25] stand that

[01:11:25] you took

[01:11:26] that not

[01:11:27] a lot of

[01:11:27] people would

[01:11:28] have the

[01:11:29] courage to

[01:11:29] do and

[01:11:30] still vote

[01:11:31] down ballot.

[01:11:32] You are

[01:11:32] one of

[01:11:32] those cross

[01:11:33] ticket voters

[01:11:33] and there

[01:11:34] are plenty

[01:11:34] of them

[01:11:35] in Minnesota.

[01:11:36] And I

[01:11:36] think until

[01:11:37] we take a

[01:11:38] hard look to

[01:11:39] understand why

[01:11:40] cross ticket

[01:11:40] voters exist

[01:11:41] in the

[01:11:42] state,

[01:11:42] why are

[01:11:43] folks who

[01:11:44] feel the

[01:11:44] need to

[01:11:45] vote Democrat

[01:11:45] and then

[01:11:46] Republican

[01:11:46] or vice

[01:11:47] versa,

[01:11:49] we're never

[01:11:50] going to

[01:11:52] find the

[01:11:53] tools that

[01:11:54] we need

[01:11:55] to be

[01:11:56] successful.

[01:11:56] Whether it's

[01:11:57] in congressional

[01:11:58] races where

[01:11:59] we just gave

[01:11:59] up 50,000

[01:12:00] votes to

[01:12:01] Angie Craig

[01:12:01] and her

[01:12:02] largest margin

[01:12:03] of win in

[01:12:04] the second

[01:12:04] district,

[01:12:05] we're staying

[01:12:06] wide.

[01:12:07] And that's

[01:12:08] just the

[01:12:08] reality.

[01:12:09] I will give

[01:12:10] great points,

[01:12:11] Praia,

[01:12:12] and I

[01:12:12] appreciate that.

[01:12:13] I will give

[01:12:14] this example

[01:12:15] in my

[01:12:16] closing on

[01:12:17] this subject,

[01:12:17] which is

[01:12:18] this.

[01:12:18] In the

[01:12:18] final week

[01:12:19] of the

[01:12:19] election in

[01:12:21] Minnesota,

[01:12:21] someone decided

[01:12:22] that it was

[01:12:23] good to

[01:12:24] elevate Donald

[01:12:25] Trump into

[01:12:27] a congressional

[01:12:27] district race

[01:12:28] down in

[01:12:28] CD2 with

[01:12:29] some endorsements.

[01:12:30] Let me

[01:12:30] explain something

[01:12:31] to you in a

[01:12:32] position I've

[01:12:32] long had about

[01:12:33] outreach.

[01:12:33] I believe

[01:12:34] outreach is

[01:12:35] incredibly

[01:12:35] important.

[01:12:35] I remember

[01:12:37] when I was

[01:12:38] a party

[01:12:38] officer,

[01:12:39] there was

[01:12:39] talk about

[01:12:39] outreach to

[01:12:40] various

[01:12:41] communities.

[01:12:42] And one

[01:12:42] of the

[01:12:42] points that

[01:12:43] I would

[01:12:43] say is,

[01:12:44] it's always

[01:12:45] important to

[01:12:46] have

[01:12:46] outreach.

[01:12:47] Let's

[01:12:48] dial in on

[01:12:48] the numbers

[01:12:49] and let's

[01:12:50] not use the

[01:12:51] cause of

[01:12:52] outreach as

[01:12:53] an excuse

[01:12:53] to not win

[01:12:55] over where

[01:12:55] larger pools

[01:12:56] of voters

[01:12:57] exist.

[01:12:58] Outreach in

[01:12:59] some instance

[01:12:59] can just be

[01:13:00] feel-good.

[01:13:01] It has to

[01:13:02] be meaningful.

[01:13:02] And what I'm

[01:13:03] saying to

[01:13:03] you is,

[01:13:04] when the

[01:13:04] Republican

[01:13:05] Party is

[01:13:05] deciding to

[01:13:06] slap on

[01:13:07] a Trump

[01:13:08] endorsement

[01:13:08] and try to

[01:13:09] drag it

[01:13:09] into the

[01:13:09] second

[01:13:10] congressional

[01:13:10] district,

[01:13:11] they're

[01:13:11] dragging

[01:13:13] Donald

[01:13:14] Trump

[01:13:14] into

[01:13:14] congressional

[01:13:15] district

[01:13:15] race

[01:13:15] where a

[01:13:16] large

[01:13:17] number of

[01:13:17] suburban

[01:13:17] voters

[01:13:18] don't like

[01:13:18] Donald

[01:13:19] Trump.

[01:13:20] But they're

[01:13:20] doing it under

[01:13:21] the guise of

[01:13:21] outreach.

[01:13:22] It makes

[01:13:22] no sense.

[01:13:23] Outreach

[01:13:23] needs to be

[01:13:24] done.

[01:13:24] The Republican

[01:13:25] Party in

[01:13:25] Minnesota,

[01:13:26] the Republican

[01:13:27] Party needs

[01:13:27] to have a

[01:13:27] broad tent.

[01:13:28] It should

[01:13:28] have a tent

[01:13:29] in

[01:13:29] everywhere.

[01:13:30] But the

[01:13:30] bottom line

[01:13:31] is,

[01:13:32] the party

[01:13:33] exists to

[01:13:34] win elections.

[01:13:34] And if

[01:13:35] you're

[01:13:35] alienating

[01:13:36] a large

[01:13:37] swath of

[01:13:37] voters,

[01:13:38] you can

[01:13:39] do all

[01:13:39] the penny

[01:13:40] anti-outreach

[01:13:40] you want

[01:13:41] to to

[01:13:41] every other

[01:13:41] group.

[01:13:42] But if

[01:13:42] you're not

[01:13:43] winning over

[01:13:43] a larger

[01:13:44] number of

[01:13:44] voters,

[01:13:44] you're still

[01:13:45] going to

[01:13:45] lose the

[01:13:45] election.

[01:13:46] And so

[01:13:47] I would

[01:13:47] just say

[01:13:48] to the

[01:13:48] Republicans

[01:13:49] who

[01:13:49] want to

[01:13:50] act like

[01:13:51] they've

[01:13:51] entered

[01:13:52] the end

[01:13:52] zone,

[01:13:52] you haven't.

[01:13:53] You didn't

[01:13:54] win the

[01:13:54] game.

[01:13:54] You lost

[01:13:55] the state

[01:13:55] of

[01:13:55] Minnesota.

[01:13:56] Republicans

[01:13:56] in

[01:13:56] Minnesota

[01:13:57] did not

[01:13:57] contribute

[01:13:58] to the

[01:13:58] national

[01:13:58] gain

[01:13:58] state

[01:13:59] wide.

[01:13:59] And you

[01:14:00] have an

[01:14:00] opportunity

[01:14:00] to look

[01:14:02] into the

[01:14:02] data,

[01:14:03] look into

[01:14:03] the

[01:14:03] results.

[01:14:03] There's

[01:14:04] a path

[01:14:04] for

[01:14:04] Republicans

[01:14:05] to win

[01:14:05] in the

[01:14:05] state,

[01:14:05] but it

[01:14:06] ain't

[01:14:06] Donald

[01:14:06] Trump.

[01:14:11] I don't

[01:14:12] disagree.

[01:14:13] It's

[01:14:14] going to

[01:14:14] be something

[01:14:15] that I

[01:14:15] think I

[01:14:16] have an

[01:14:16] internal

[01:14:17] battle with

[01:14:17] in the

[01:14:18] coming

[01:14:18] years.

[01:14:18] I

[01:14:19] would

[01:14:20] like to

[01:14:21] get

[01:14:21] involved

[01:14:22] again

[01:14:22] and be

[01:14:23] a voice

[01:14:25] of,

[01:14:25] hopefully

[01:14:26] a voice

[01:14:26] of reason

[01:14:26] at times

[01:14:27] and

[01:14:28] changing

[01:14:29] over how

[01:14:29] things

[01:14:30] are done,

[01:14:31] whether

[01:14:31] it will

[01:14:32] be

[01:14:32] welcomed

[01:14:32] or I

[01:14:34] have the

[01:14:34] courage

[01:14:34] to do

[01:14:34] it,

[01:14:35] yet to

[01:14:35] be

[01:14:35] determined.

[01:14:36] So we'll

[01:14:36] continue

[01:14:36] to talk

[01:14:37] about this.

[01:14:38] It's not

[01:14:38] going to

[01:14:38] be something

[01:14:39] that goes

[01:14:40] away.

[01:14:41] There's

[01:14:41] going to

[01:14:41] be

[01:14:42] Republicans

[01:14:43] not

[01:14:44] supporting

[01:14:44] President

[01:14:45] Trump,

[01:14:45] just as

[01:14:46] there are

[01:14:46] independents

[01:14:47] and obviously

[01:14:47] Democrats.

[01:14:48] As Michael

[01:14:49] and I have

[01:14:49] talked about

[01:14:51] in the

[01:14:52] last three

[01:14:52] weeks or

[01:14:53] two weeks

[01:14:53] since the

[01:14:54] election,

[01:14:54] we are

[01:14:56] still cautiously

[01:14:57] optimistic

[01:14:57] and want to

[01:14:58] be supportive

[01:14:58] of the

[01:14:59] office of

[01:15:00] the

[01:15:00] presidency

[01:15:00] and our

[01:15:02] country's

[01:15:02] future.

[01:15:03] And so

[01:15:03] while we

[01:15:04] have

[01:15:04] frustrations,

[01:15:05] I don't

[01:15:05] think that

[01:15:05] fact remains.

[01:15:06] We're not

[01:15:07] wishing ill

[01:15:08] on him

[01:15:08] or his

[01:15:09] success.

[01:15:09] I hope

[01:15:10] that things

[01:15:11] can be

[01:15:12] calm

[01:15:13] and reasoned

[01:15:14] and have

[01:15:15] a successful

[01:15:16] path forward

[01:15:16] and we

[01:15:18] will see.

[01:15:19] And we

[01:15:19] have,

[01:15:20] the good

[01:15:21] news is we

[01:15:21] have a

[01:15:22] weekly podcast

[01:15:23] where we

[01:15:23] get to

[01:15:23] chat about

[01:15:24] that,

[01:15:24] either way.

[01:15:25] But pray,

[01:15:26] I really

[01:15:26] want to

[01:15:26] thank you for

[01:15:27] being with us

[01:15:28] today.

[01:15:29] Before we

[01:15:30] wrap up,

[01:15:30] I just

[01:15:31] have to

[01:15:31] do one

[01:15:32] quick comment

[01:15:32] on our

[01:15:33] weekly football

[01:15:33] update.

[01:15:35] There's no

[01:15:36] update is

[01:15:37] really the

[01:15:37] thing.

[01:15:38] Michael and

[01:15:39] I had the

[01:15:39] exact same

[01:15:40] amount of

[01:15:41] points this

[01:15:42] week.

[01:15:42] While we

[01:15:43] did have

[01:15:43] six different

[01:15:44] games that

[01:15:44] we chose

[01:15:45] different

[01:15:45] winners,

[01:15:46] we still

[01:15:47] came out

[01:15:47] tied.

[01:15:48] I still

[01:15:48] remain in

[01:15:49] the lead

[01:15:50] by three,

[01:15:50] currently tied

[01:15:51] for first,

[01:15:52] and Michael

[01:15:52] still remains

[01:15:53] tied for

[01:15:53] fifth.

[01:15:54] So it

[01:15:55] was all

[01:15:55] in all,

[01:15:56] despite being

[01:15:56] tied,

[01:15:57] an okay

[01:15:58] week for

[01:15:58] me.

[01:15:58] I'm

[01:15:59] making

[01:15:59] progress.

[01:16:00] As

[01:16:00] Preya

[01:16:00] may not

[01:16:01] know,

[01:16:02] the reason

[01:16:02] I've been

[01:16:03] slacking this

[01:16:04] year in

[01:16:04] a couple

[01:16:05] of fantasy

[01:16:05] football

[01:16:05] leagues is

[01:16:06] I've been

[01:16:06] out defending

[01:16:07] democracy.

[01:16:08] Becky has

[01:16:08] been toiling

[01:16:10] away at a

[01:16:10] fantasy football

[01:16:11] league,

[01:16:11] so she

[01:16:11] got a

[01:16:11] little bit

[01:16:12] of a run.

[01:16:12] I will

[01:16:13] note that

[01:16:13] in my

[01:16:14] family

[01:16:14] fantasy football

[01:16:15] league,

[01:16:15] I did

[01:16:16] beat one

[01:16:16] of my

[01:16:16] sisters

[01:16:16] this

[01:16:17] week,

[01:16:17] and so

[01:16:18] only by

[01:16:19] a point,

[01:16:19] and I'm

[01:16:20] really proud

[01:16:20] of that.

[01:16:21] So the

[01:16:21] comeback

[01:16:21] begins.

[01:16:22] This is

[01:16:22] where,

[01:16:23] now that

[01:16:23] democracy,

[01:16:24] I'm still

[01:16:24] focused a

[01:16:25] bit on

[01:16:25] democracy,

[01:16:26] but I was

[01:16:26] defending it

[01:16:26] pretty strongly,

[01:16:28] and fantasy

[01:16:28] football had

[01:16:29] to take a

[01:16:29] backseat.

[01:16:30] But I'm

[01:16:30] going to try

[01:16:31] to balance

[01:16:31] some of my

[01:16:32] priorities,

[01:16:32] and it's

[01:16:33] going to be,

[01:16:33] it's a long

[01:16:34] season,

[01:16:34] Becky.

[01:16:34] Plenty of

[01:16:35] time for you

[01:16:35] to still have

[01:16:36] a technical

[01:16:37] malfunction.

[01:16:37] Sure,

[01:16:38] sure.

[01:16:39] Not going

[01:16:39] to happen.

[01:16:40] I got my

[01:16:41] weekly alarm

[01:16:41] set.

[01:16:42] I'm in it

[01:16:43] for the

[01:16:43] win.

[01:16:45] Preya and

[01:16:46] Becky,

[01:16:46] I want to

[01:16:46] just thank

[01:16:47] you both.

[01:16:47] Again,

[01:16:48] this will be

[01:16:48] my new

[01:16:49] favorite episode.

[01:16:49] I want to

[01:16:50] thank you

[01:16:50] again for

[01:16:51] being out

[01:16:51] here,

[01:16:51] okay?

[01:16:52] And I do

[01:16:52] hope that

[01:16:53] you guys

[01:16:53] is,

[01:16:53] Becky,

[01:16:54] I do

[01:16:54] think,

[01:16:54] I think

[01:16:55] you'd be a

[01:16:55] very thoughtful

[01:16:56] voice.

[01:16:56] You always

[01:16:57] have been

[01:16:57] a thoughtful

[01:16:57] voice,

[01:16:58] even when

[01:16:58] you disagreed

[01:16:59] with me.

[01:16:59] You've

[01:16:59] always been

[01:17:00] thoughtful.

[01:17:00] And I

[01:17:01] think,

[01:17:01] Preya,

[01:17:02] I think

[01:17:02] you guys

[01:17:04] should be

[01:17:05] out there

[01:17:05] leading the

[01:17:06] sermon and

[01:17:06] this stuff.

[01:17:06] And Preya,

[01:17:06] I really

[01:17:07] thank you

[01:17:07] for taking

[01:17:07] the time

[01:17:08] and being

[01:17:08] a part

[01:17:09] of the

[01:17:09] discussion,

[01:17:09] okay?

[01:17:10] No,

[01:17:10] thank you

[01:17:11] guys for

[01:17:11] having me.

[01:17:12] All right,

[01:17:12] before we

[01:17:13] go,

[01:17:13] we want to

[01:17:13] thank you

[01:17:14] for listening

[01:17:14] to this

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