Tony Samuel Joins!

What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Right now, your local Toyota dealer has great deals available on some of the most reliable trucks on the market, like the off-road ready Tacoma, rugged full-sized tundra, and legendary forerunner, each with the space, tech, and features to handle it all, from the work site to the trails. It means driving for less, with efficient hybrid options available, extending your overall driving range and delivering great MPGs, meaning bigger savings at the pump without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. The Tacoma and Tundra are ranked number one and number two in resale value over all vehicles, according to Kelly Boo Book, which can mean thousands more than average right back in your pocket when it's time to trade in. That's Toyota affordability. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. ShopToyota.com or your local dealer for deals and details. Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2026 model year. For more information, visit Kelly BlueBookskb.com. Toyota brand average resale value is 53% versus the average vehicle at 45%. Toyota, let's go places. Yeah, my name is Nigel, my head. Start it again? What? We haven't taken the shot yet, have we? Not yet. My name is Nigel, Jason Hammer, right over there with a very special in-studio guest. I should say for not this segment. Tony Samuel from Samuel Solutions joins us. Tony was a big part of Trump's 2016 campaign here in Indy. You can find him on television talking to Indiana politics. And every Thursday, he comes by here and we talk Indiana politics and we take a shot. We got a little wild turkey today. Is that going to be all right with everybody? Cheers, my friend. Here we go. Cheers, Tony. Cheers. Thank you. Mm-hmm. There it is. There we go. There we go. Good stuff. Thank you. So Diego Morales, this is a guy that for a long time, it's had like a cloud of suspicion for one reason or another above his head. All of a sudden, it's really come to the forefront here. How big of a problem or black eye is this for the Indiana Republican Party that kind of allowed it to get to this point? It's a little bit of a mess right now, but it's not something that can't get fixed here in the next, you know, 20-some days before the state convention, the state convention will be messy. But we're used to that. You know, we've seen this several times over the last, you know. A few conventions. I've got experience, a little bit of experience just from the folks that I've worked with office holders I've worked with since 1996. And there always seems to be, you know, there's a more conservative. There's a conservative block of delegates. Back then, it was maybe a third of the delegates. And I remember Sue Ellen Reed, who was considered a more moderate superintendent of public instruction candidate, had to go through the convention for the nomination. And she won by about a two-thirds to a third. And it always seemed like that. But that number of conservative delegates has grown to, I think, about half of the delegates you could say are more conservative and more kind of traditional establishment Republicans. What's different here?

Here is you've got so many conservatives, Jim Banks, Todd Rokita, the treasurer Daniel Elliott that are against Diego. that I think it'll really make a difference. It's not like the Indianapolis crowd versus the hinterlands, you know. And the fact that Mike Braun, the governor is not endorsing anybody. Is that a big deal? What do you make of that? I think, you know, when this news kind of broke last week and both Senator Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita withdrew their endorsements of Diego and supported Max Engling, who works for... Jim Banks, and then Victoria Sparts, Congresswoman Sparts also supported, came out with, you know, endorsing Max. And then Daniel Elliott after Diego decided he's staying in the race. I think that's enough. I really think that, you know, any more is maybe piling on and backfiring. I don't think it there's any reason for the governor to weigh in. I think, you know, like he said, it's up to the delegates. Now they've heard from, you know, several folks elected officials that they'll hear for more. and then they've got to make up their mind. They'll hear speeches of the convention. They'll get mail and phone calls and meetings from these candidates between now and next month, and that's already been happening. Do you think the Republican Party in Indiana kind of dragged their feet, waited too long to address a lot of these? allegations surrounding Diego Morales. Because again, it's not like this is just something that came out of left field. There have been a number of different issues. You know, who paid for the trip to India? Where'd you get those pacer tickets? A number of different things. Work visas. Brother. Right. All this kind of stuff going on. And it was almost like, shh, don't say anything. Let's just get him to the finish line. And now all of a sudden, there are other candidates and we got a big deal. Yeah, it would have been probably best if this kind of thing didn't happen at the last minute. But, you know, there's a filing deadline and there were discussions, I'm sure, ongoing. Not that I was, you know, privy to, but I'm sure this was going on for at least a few weeks before. But yes, it would have been cleaner if this happened, you know, two or three months down the road. There were these things piling up in everybody's minds. And, you know, there's a fall election that's going to be tough. But, yeah, definitely. But it's still not too late. And I do think by November voters will, you know. get past this and it'll be kind of in the back of their minds. Now, I'm sure at some point, Diego's people, Jim Banks people, Todd Rokita's people, had discussions with each other. You've been a part of a number of big time closed door meetings. Take me through what those are like. From...

A lobbyist perspective from a political insider perspective. Is this just a, hey, let's all meet at the bar. Let's have a quote unquote off the record conversation. and work things out. Like, take me through how these processes, how these discussions take place. I'm sure it's different, you know, for every circumstance and for every time, you know, something like this happens. But at some point, you know, it's communicated to the office holder, in this case, Diego Morales, that, hey, you know, you should really think twice about staying on the ballot going through the convention. It's going to hurt us in the fall. You know, that's the kind of the tone of the conversation is it's going to hurt us in the fall. It's going to be, you know, worse for your office, worse for you. Why not, why not, you know, get out? And then, you know, if he's listening, you know, he's looking for an off-ramp, maybe. Maybe that's, you know, the talk is that he was considering it. But there was no deal. So that's why maybe, yeah, maybe if you're doing that kind of thing and trying to persuade him to get out. you do offer him something. I don't know if that was, you know, if there was an offer or not. But yeah, I mean, it happens between staff and then... Like 2016. Let me jump in here real quick. 2016, at the time, Governor Mike Pence... endorsed Ted Cruz here in Indiana. You were working for Trump. Did you try to set up any sort of meetings? Did you have any conversations? I'm glad you asked that. Yeah. And I actually was the one that worked with one of the top Mike Pence political guys. And he's, you know, he's still around. I won't mention names, but I don't think it would, you know, he would be bothered if I did. So we set up a meeting for, uh, Trump was coming into town. for a rally, his first rally at the fairgrounds, which was April 20th. It was the day after the New York primary, which was April 19th. And we set up a meeting at the governor's residence. It was me and the Mike Pence guy. And they met at that point, Mike Pence told him that he wasn't going to endorse Ted Cruz because I was the one communicating to the Trump campaign that the... Half of the Mike Pence people were trying to get him to endorse Ted Cruz. He told Trump that he wouldn't. And then a week later, he did. And then there was, you know, he wrote an op-ed, I think, did a little tour or showed up at events with him. And that's when, I don't know if you remember this, but there was a Trump supporter up in Huntington County that called Ted Cruz a fish face. I'll never forget it because it was the funniest thing. And at the time, he didn't have. have a beard, he did look like a fish face. Then I think that's why he grew the beard. I remember it well. I'm glad you brought it up. It's one of my favorite stories. Tony Samuels with us. Does Bo buy, where does he factor in?

all this. I mean, the Democrat for Secretary of State, and he's not the only one. I mean, there's the independence, too. Blight Potter's in the mix. Yeah. So, but where does he factor in all this? Is his star on the rise, so to speak, do you think, here in this state? Well, it could be, it could be thwarted here at the Democrat Convention next week. Blythe Potter, you know, is one of those, and you see it on the Republican side, you see it on the Democrat side, one of those activists that's got a lot of support. And a convention is a totally different thing. than a general election or even a primary election. It's not, you're not, you know, trying to get the mass, the masses voting for you. You're trying to, you know, you're targeting to just a small group. And she's, from what I hear, she's working that very hard and do the buy people know how to do that, you know, run a convention floor fight. We'll see Bo Buy, if he does make it through, yeah, he's got the by name. He's got, you know, money from his dad's campaigns. But he's also, you know, his dad was kind of a stiff and kind of born. And the progressives, I call them, they're socialists and worse on the Democrat side. They're, you know, they need more, I think. They're going to have to pull him to the left, and that's going to be the real interesting thing to watch. Will he try to stay a moderate like his dad was, like the old school Democrats, or will he get pulled to the left? And I don't think you can survive in this year's, in today's Democrat Party, unless you're a crazy leftist. Abdul and I were having a little conversation in the hallway the other day. He actually stopped me when I was trying to go to the bathroom and made me listen to his propaganda. But Abdul was telling me, hey, if 2028 rolls around and Bo Bai is running for the governor, because even if he gets in the mix for Secretary of State, I think we all agree it's a stepping stone. Kind of like his old man. Yes. 2028, it's the governor's race. If Bobai is at the top of the pick, ticket. Abdul is confident and he bet me a steak dinner at Hyde Park and Nig was my witness. I heard it. He would beat either Braun or Todd Rokita or anybody the Republicans have to offer. Do you buy that? I don't buy that and here's why. I mean, it's happened obviously in the state before with his dad, Evan By being a two-term governor and then Frank O'Steve Bannon, you know, following him. But it hasn't happened since. And it's like I just, you know, saying a little bit ago, it's a different Democrat party. So it's not your Bill Clinton or before that Democrat party. It's an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez party. It's a Bernie Sanders party. So one, can he get the support from his own party when it's changed so much from, you know, where he's going to, I think, try to be. I don't think he's going to, you know, go, try to go do backflips for the socialists. He doesn't appear to be late term up until the moment. of birth type of leftist. He doesn't seem like he's that type. Yeah. It's a James Talarico party. It's a Tom and that's a party. That's absolutely right. It's not an heaven by party anymore. Absolutely right. And if he does do that, then better for the Republicans because this is a Republican Trump state. And if he doesn't do that, he won't have as much support in his own party. There's not, you know, he doesn't have experience. And so I think Republicans still win in 2028. But it will be tougher than normal. Sure. Right. And the Republicans have to get their act together, right? Like we've been very critical on the Republicans, specifically Rod Bray in the Senate. Like all the taxes have gone up.

On your watch. Like, things have gotten worse financially on your watch with a super majority. But you're right. This is going to be an interesting dynamic in the party. You know, is Bobai crazy enough to win over some of the radicals? Tony Samuels here, political insider here in the state of Indiana. But I want to talk about Texas for a moment. Their primary was the other night. And the Trump pick, Ken Paxton, beats the incumbent. which has been the trend in a lot of these primaries, including here in Indiana. But the media machine, man, they're going all in on James Talarico. It's like Beto all over again. Does James Talarico have a shot in Texas? No, I don't think he has a shot at all. Remember, James Talarico beat Jasmine Crockett in the primary. He's left of Jasmine Crockett. He's not Texas at all. Well, would you put it that way? Yeah. He's not Texas at all. And there's just no way. He's kind of a weird dude. You know, this whole thing. Kind of. Yeah, very much so. This whole thing about now he's changing things that he said. He believes there's like six sexes instead of what we all know to be the truth, too. And now he's trying to. Show that he's not a vegetarian by eating meat. Anybody that's got to take a picture of themselves eating meat, that's just kind of weird. In a Texas flag shirt. Well, holding a napkin holding the meat, too. No carnivore. Nobody goes to a barbecue and says, give me that napkin so I can hold the hot dog. Like, that doesn't happen. Like, yeah, it definitely feels like it's Beto all over again, though, because CNN, they're going to push this. And the Democrats, Tony, they're going to spend so much money on this race. Maybe that's a blessing for the Republicans, because I agree with you. I feel like this is still a red seat. I feel like Ken Paxton might be somewhat of a creepy guy from what people say, but... I think Texans as a whole relate more to this guy than they do James Talarico. Yeah, I mean, Paxons had, you know, some controversies to say the least, but he was cleared. He was impeached, but he wasn't convicted. The Senate, you know, cleared him on that. There were some other stuff that he was cleared. The John Cornyn and the primary attacked, you know, him, you know, brought his family into it. His daughter wrote a very nice letter defending him, you know. He's been through all the attacks. What more can James Talarico do? It's only going to, I think, raise the support for Paxon with Republicans. They don't want this weirdo being their U.S. Senator. And the more money they spend in Texas, Nige, that's less money they're spending in other races that may be close as well. Right. And not only that, but we should all be paying attention to this because even though this is Texas, Indiana, people in Indiana should be paying attention to this because this has ramifications far beyond just what's going on. Oh, yeah. Bobai mania will be like Talariko mania on steroids once he ultimately runs. Tony Samuel, we appreciate you, man. Thank you. Thank you. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart.

Right now, your local Toyota dealer has great deals available on some of the most reliable trucks on the market, like the off-road ready Tacoma, rugged full-sized tundra, and legendary forerunner, each with the space, tech, and features to handle it all, from the work site to the trails. It means driving for less, with efficient hybrid options available, extending your overall driving range and delivering great MPGs, meaning bigger savings at the pump without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. The Tacoma and Tundra are ranked number one and number two in resale value over all vehicles, according to Kelly Boo Book, which can mean thousands more than average right back in your pocket when it's time to trade in. That's Toyota affordability. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. ShopToyota.com or your local dealer for deals and details. Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2026 model year. For more information, visit Kelly Blue Books KB.com. Toyota brand average resale value is 53% versus the average vehicle at 45%. Toyota, let's go places.