Massie's CATASTROPHIC LOSS, Israel in US Elections, Trump endorsements, & Ken Paxton Willing to walk AWAY??

I missed a big news day. I feel like every newsday is a big news day in this current cycle. I keep waiting for it to slow down after the election, like all the guys told me it would, and it never has. I would say they lied to me, but I think that they were unaware that it wouldn't slow down either. We got some stuff to get to today. Apparently, we're going to be making a move on Cuba soon. Cuba. We also got some Iran updates. I actually like the Cuba stuff. I'm not going to lie. If you want Americans to support a war, how about we deal with things in our hemisphere? I would like, I think that we should go into Mexico and do it there too. And then I think that we should also liberate Canada. So I think there's a lot of things that we could do. Who would say no? We can liberate Canada. Let him stay there. Well, we're not going to, like, move them here. I don't know. Build a wall. Build a wall. Make the Eskimos pay for it. We'll talk about that. I do. I think the Cuba stuff is interesting. And I think it's going to be a lot easier than this Iran stuff. Are we still doing the war thing with Iran? Does anybody? I think it's still allegedly on hold. Okay. Allegedly. Also, yesterday, there was a lot of talk about the Super Bowl in Nashville. Nobody's excited about it. Like I keep feeling like everybody is like, this is going to be so awesome. It just feels so forced. Yeah. Like across the board. Across the board. Even I saw a video yesterday. I was just like laying down on the couch and Secretary of State, Trey Hargit came across my timeline. And he's like, we got the Super Bowl. And I'm like, okay, lame. This is not going to be fun for anybody. And I'm not going to pretend it is. I don't think anybody should be pretending that it's fun. It's not going to be fun. Everybody knows that, right? Like, it's going to be two weeks of just the biggest pain in the ass that this city has ever seen. Yeah. Sorry. So much traffic, more than we already deal with. Like, I'm just, I'm not excited. Yeah, I didn't know I was going to have to feel dread for the next three years. But we have impending doom. Impending doom. What ruins Nashville first? Is it Democrats like Freddie O'Connell or the Super Bowl? Could be both. We'll talk about that. Plus, we got some, we got some updates on Thomas Massie. He took it in the shorts. I mean, let's be perfectly honest. Thomas Massie absolutely took it in the shorts. But there's two narratives that's happening online today and yesterday for the most part. And I think that I think both are partially true. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. And then there's also a third narrative, which I think is just absolutely insane. And it really moves the conversation away from. where I think a lot of these voices should be. But so the three, there's three narratives, right? The first is that Donald Trump's endorsement is still worth its weight in gold. It could be very true. The second narrative is that foreign lobbying and APEC poured in a ridiculous amount of money into this race, which is absolutely true. Then the third, outlandish narrative, which I'm seeing on the internet now is it was a stolen election.

But there's no evidence to support any of that. And the people that glom onto that, I'm sorry, they're just, they're idiots, they just are. And they're like, this doesn't look right. There was, you know, 50,000 votes, the last election cycle, and now there's 100,000 votes. What? That's weird. That's strange. And it's like, yeah, there was also $20 million in ads paid for by APEC. Maybe that helped move the needle. I think that there's a lot at play here. Does Donald Trump dislike Thomas Massie? 100%. Does APEC dislike Thomas Massie? 100%. Did both of those things work together to unseat Thomas Massie? I think so. Now, there are some things that we have to point out. That are just matters of fact in this election with Thomas Massie. For starters, he didn't, he didn't just lose. He got the floor mopped, okay? 55 to 45. And does anybody really know who Ed Gowryne is? No, not really. I mean, I didn't know about him until before this. And I would say the name recognition, that battle would have been won by Thomas Massie. But you also can't discount the money that was involved in this race. It was the most expensive U.S. House primary in history. The total ad spend went above and beyond $32 million. That's crazy. Like, let's just be honest. That's insane for a primary. Now, there was pro-Israel involvement, and you cannot get away from that. In fact, you know, the A-PAC Twitter accounts are like, yeah, we did this because he's anti-Israel. Okay, well, but he's not supposed to represent Israel. He's supposed to represent Kentucky. That's just fact. APEC super PAC and other pro-Israel groups spent anywhere, the estimates are $16 to $20 million on opposing Thomas Massie. You could make the argument that they were supporting Galrine, but let's be perfectly honest, they were opposing Thomas Massie. Major donors included Miriam Adelson and others with strong pro-Israel records, and they say that this money, this infusion of cash... really was the driving factor in the attack ads, particularly highlighting Thomas Massie's votes against certain Israel-related aid resolutions and criticisms of U.S. foreign policy in Middle East. Okay. Thomas Massie's position that drew opposition were consistent votes against unconditional foreign aid to Israel, other countries as well, but the main driving force here was Israel. I think the question needs to be asked.

was a seat purchased. Now, I also think that when you take a step back, Donald Trump has had an unbelievable endorsement record over the past months, weeks. And on Tuesday night, his MAGA endorsements went 37 and O. 37 and O. In Pennsylvania, 10 and O, Alabama, 6,0, Georgia, 9,0, Idaho, 5 and O, Oregon, 1,0, So there's some truth to the endorsement of Donald Trump holding a lot of weight. But there's also some real questions that we need to ask about how much money is too much money for Israel and APEC to be injecting into our elections. And I think both of these conversations can be had at the same time. A lot of people don't want to have these conversations because they lose their minds the minute you say anything one way or the other on the Israel topic. And I happen to think that there's a lot of nuance in the conversation and there's a lot of gray area. But people just take hardcore stances on either side. Does the record outside spending in a safe local district undermine full voter sovereignty? Is that a fair question to ask? When you're spending upwards of $35 million on ads, the most expensive U.S. House primary in history, roughly 15 to 20 million coming from pro-Israel groups and aligned donors like APEC, the Republican Jewish Coalition, Miriam Adelson, et cetera, does this show... that well-funded external interests can influence and effectively override local voter preference and incumbency advantages in solidly Republican districts? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, again, Trump went 37 and 0. Does Ed Gowryne win with just Trump's endorsement and without the $20 million? I think that's a tougher race. I do. Thomas Massie's been there for a while and a lot of people like them. When you look at the voter break, though, I think that you can make the argument that the ad spend helped because older voters who are more likely to be watching TV where those ads were running, they broke for Gowryne. Younger voters who are spending more time on the internet, they broke for Thomas Massie. But I think that we have to ask the question, just in general, is this a good thing? And while Israel is an ally, would we tolerate that kind of an ad spend from China or Russia? And is it hypocritical if we're going to be upset if a foreign nation like that does it, but we're going to be totally chill if an ally does it? I think these are serious questions. I think they're fair questions. And I don't think that asking these questions are...

or out of bounds. At least they're not anymore. This kind of stuff used to be third rail in politics, but this is the way the conversation is trending, not only in local races, but nationally. Does this create a chilling effect, too, I think is a good question to ask? Like, are other members of Congress going to be scared to speak out or vote their district if people don't want endless aid to foreign countries? Not even just Israel, but just in general. Jim Rome takes on sports. Part of what makes this show, the show, is the show within the show. The biggest topic on the show always seems to be the show itself. This is a way to give you clones a way to interact with one another. Yes, we will be going through the chat. Yes, it'll be a part of the program. The only thing that could ruin the show are the old school clones spitting up the same bull crap that they always have. The jungle is out taking names and ready to dominate. Let's get it. The Jim Rome Show podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. form. We're $39 trillion in debt, guys. 39 trillion. Should we be funding any country? I would say no. I think we should cut off all foreign funding until we get our own affairs in order. We've got to put our oxygen mask on before we help anybody else on the plane. But if you know that a lobby like APEC is going to inject $20 million to unseat you, Does that make you go, yeah, you know, I'll vote for the funding? Probably, right? Like, probably, I think that that's fair. And will this loss by Thomas Massie then be used as an example to show these other members of Congress? This is what happens. If you F-A, you will F-O. And is that okay? Is that fair? Is that right? Is that wrong? And I know ever there's a lot of people that are very pro-Israel and I get it I'm not I'm not against you being pro-Israel I think you have every right to be pro-Israel I think especially We have a large evangelical Christian audience and I go to an evangelical Christian church I hear it and I'm I'm not against it Like I that that's cool That's great But when it comes to politics If we wouldn't allow another country to do it, like if we wouldn't, like say it was, I don't know, say it was Columbia, right? And there was, there was a guy that was very pro-narco strikes versus a guy that was very anti-narco strikes. And Columbia decided to inject $20 million. A pro-Colombia pact decided to inject $20 million into the race. How would you feel about that? What? Would you be okay with that or would you be against that? I mean, just, just, I think that these questions are fair. Now, again, does Thomas Massie win without the $20 million from APEC? Maybe not. Again, Trump went 37 and 0 on Tuesday night. So there are people that are like, no way Thomas Massie wins. I mean, no way Thomas Massie loses without that money. It's like, okay, well, now explain the other races where they didn't inject the money. People will say, you know, Gal Rhine only got through because of Trump's endorsement. I think that there's some truth in that. But I don't know. Galrines, a campaign, name recognition. It seemed rather low, rather low energy. I didn't hear much from Galrine beforehand. It seemed like the entire race was a referendum on Thomas Massie and APEC. And, I mean, we saw the results. But they...

You have to ask yourself, does Kentucky benefit from this? I mean, seriously. Does Kentucky benefit from having a pro-A-PAC guy in there versus Thomas Massie in there? Kentucky taxpayers contribute a lot to annual U.S. foreign aid Israel, as do every taxpayer in the country? And you could make the argument that there's not a lot of net positive for the people of Kentucky. So when you have a guy like Thomas Massie who is arguing to prioritize those funds, prioritize domestic Kentucky needs over foreign policy, and then a foreign lobbying group comes in and oust him. It raises some questions. Again, if Russia or China orchestrated a $20 million campaign via Chinese or Russian-aligned groups to flip a congressional seat, would it be labeled election meddling? Election interference? I think so. I think we would see that. I think we would see it treated like a threat. So does it, is it hypocritical to not view this the same way? even though Israel is an ally. Should we have the same rules for all the players in the game, or are we going to have different rules for different countries? If the standard is going to be no foreign country should be pouring millions into U.S. elections and U.S. primaries to force policy conformity, then shouldn't that apply universally? I think it's a fair question to ask. I just got a text from a friend. He's pro-Israel, and that's totally fine. I think that's fair. My friend said, hey, just to clarify, Israel is forbidden from donating any money to a PAC as a foreign entity. Six million Americans donated to a PAC. That's where they get their funds from. So it'd be on the same premise as the NRA. I said, well, technically correct. But the way the PAC works is for Israeli interests, full stop. And we've seen them unseat other members of Congress that don't vote the right way, Jamal Bowman, Cori Bush, not that I'm sad to see them go. But if there was a pack doing this for China with Chinese Americans donating to advance Chinese interests, people would be losing their mind. And everybody knows it. Everyone knows it. So there's that. Again, I don't necessarily, like, it's $20 million in ad spends. And there's a lot of people that say there's no way Thomas Massie loses if that ad spend isn't there. I think it would have been a lot closer. At the same time, it's also true that Donald Trump went 37 and O on Tuesday night with his endorsements. And not every one of those races had an injection of $20 million. But it is absolutely true that APEC targeted Thomas Massie because he's not as pro-Israel as he needs to be. And I don't know, it just feels off. It feels wrong. It feels wrong. I get that they're an ally. I get that they're one of the ones in the Middle East that we count on. But it just still feels ick. It feels ick to me. And I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't. And I'm not even a guy that like I don't really love Thomas Massie. I don't hate him.

I'm kind of just like whatever to Thomas Massie. But this is absolutely going to change the calculations for other members in Congress. Are we voting for the interests of the people that we represent? Or are we voting for the interests of a foreign lobby because we don't want $20 million injected into our primaries? I really don't care about Thomas Massie. I don't. Like at the end of the day, I mean, he's just... He wasn't like a, like, he's not this example, this strong example of an America first fighter by any stretch of the imagination. He spoke out on some things, but he also pissed a lot of people off in the meantime. You can't obstruct everything and think things are going to go your way. And I don't, I really don't care about Thomas Massie. But I do think that there needs to be a larger conversation about some of these super PACs and this lobbying money. and how it's being spent in American elections. And I think if we can get anything out of the unseating of Thomas Massie, it's that. I do. I think it opens the door for a national conversation, and I'm here for bigger conversations than just Thomas Massie. Did he even go as hard as he could have? Did he? No, probably not. Probably not. You know, I mean, you probably could have gone a lot harder. Oh, hey, by the way, Monty Fritz is going to be joining the show at 1035. He is a friend. He's a friend of the show. And we've liked Monty for a long time. And he wants to give an update on the campaign trail on his quest to become governor of the state of Tennessee. Any of the governor candidates are always welcome. John Rose, Marsha Blackburn. I heard Marcia on. with Dan this morning. I thought she did a fine job. I wish that we could get the votes to nuke the filibuster. She says she's in support, or excuse me, the Save America Act. She did, she said on my show that she's in support of nuking the filibuster, but she says they don't have enough votes. They don't have enough votes for the Save America Act. They don't have enough votes for nuking the filibuster. You need 50 plus one, which would be the vice president of the tiebreaker. We got 53 Senate Republicans. And then we got, what was it, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, and Mitch McConnell, who are opposing this. Mitch McConnell, fun fact, got a Trump endorsement. And there's a lot of endorsements that the guy will hand out where you're like, eh. Eh. I'm not so sure about that one. Like, was it a couple months back when he endorsed Lindsey Graham? And everybody's like, ugh, right? Yuck. Well, the endorsement that came down the other day when it came to the Texas Senate race was not yuck. It was the right endorsement to make. And I feel like it was a backhand to Senate Republican leadership. He hasn't been very forceful against John Thune when it comes to John Thune's weakness and ineffectiveness as the Senate Majority Leader. I don't know. It's felt like we're in the minority since John Thune has taken over with his unwillingness to bring bills to the floor, his lack of fight, the way he can't get everybody on the same page.

And it's infuriating. But they got, you know, listen, time is a commodity, and they got to use that time for Thom Tillis' dog shows actually happened. They actually had a stupid dog show. I was watching it, and it's like, it felt like, you've seen the movie The Campaign with Will Ferrell and Zach Kopenakis? It's like there's a very low testing dog. We tested that dog with focus groups, and that's not a strong dog. So, but there's, there's been endorsements that you go, what in the world is this? And there's other endorsements who are like, okay, this is, this is the America first candidate that we're looking for. And that happened just a couple days ago when Donald Trump came out and he effectively put the nail in the coffin. of John Cornyn. He did. I mean, when he came out and endorsed Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General in the Senate primary, that is a massive endorsement. And again, this goes back to the Thomas Massie conversation where, like, I think both things are true. I think that $20 million injected from APEC is a huge hill to climb. But I also think a Trump endorsement is a huge mountain to get over as well. And the Trump endorsements help. whether you think that's good, bad, or other, they help. And on the endorsement side, endorsing Ken Paxton, I think it's a backhand to John Thune because everyone knows that John Cornyn, who has gotten Trump endorsements before, super tight. He has one half of the heart necklace that says BFF forever. And John Thune has the other one. And they put him together because they are BFFs forever. And when you come out and endorse Ken Paxton, I think that that is as close as we're going to get. to a smackdown of John Thune, at least in the near future. Now, it's important to point out, Ken Paxton is so America first that he had said he would have dropped out of the race if they could have got the Save America Act passed. That's how America first Ken Paxton is. Like, listen, if we can get something this beneficial done for the country, I'll bow out. I'll take my ball and go home. And he explained that on Fox News just yesterday. Scrolling with Haley. I'm Haley Kareenia. I scroll with the homies here in the live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok. Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

And at least my lifetime, if you get his endorsement, it's better than it. It's the gold standard. And so, you know, people have a lot of respect for that, especially in the Republican primary. Did you speak to the president today? I sure did. Yeah, he called me this morning. He said, he didn't say exactly what was going to happen. He just said, I think you're going to like what I'm doing today. I bet that was that a short conversation? Was it a longer conversation? No, we talked about it. Did he tell you why? Yeah, he suggested that he thought I was the best candidate. I don't want to get into the details about everything he said because it was a private conversation. But yeah. He probably said John Thune's a piece of crap. So is John Cornyn, right? Maybe. Hopefully, wishful thinking. Maybe it's wishful thinking. He thinks I'm the best candidate and that I will actually help him get some of these things done, like the Save America Act, which I have been... promoting since they first passed it in the U.S. House. So it's something that I've been disappointed in that the Senate hasn't gotten done, that John Cornyn has not been successful. And, you know, I even challenged him right after the prime. I said, look, he hasn't accomplished anything in 42 years of anything good. No one's been able to tell me what that is over the last 14 months. I'll give him a chance. Maybe he can get this one really important thing done, and I'll consider dropping out, and sure enough, he couldn't get that done. I mean, listen, the guy was willing to walk away from this primary if Senate Republicans could have done the right thing and got the Save America Act passed. They couldn't. They had a golden opportunity. If John Thune wanted to save his boy, he could have. Ken Paxton would have walked away. John Cornyn couldn't get it done. John Thune couldn't get it done. It's also important to point out, John Cornyn, man. He's got ads out, and they've been unearthed all over X. And I think that you see a huge divide in who's getting their news from TV and who's getting their news from the internet these days. And that divide is only getting bigger. And it's like if you're on the internet, you're seeing all these unearthed ads from John Cornyn where he's talking about amnesty for the dreamers. And it's like, dog, I thought we were doing mass deportations. What's this? And it's just gross. It's like, this isn't, that's not America first. It's not. It never was. And these old guard of the Republican Party, they need to be shipped off. It's time for you guys to pack up and leave. And it's going to happen whether they like it or not. I mean, let's just be perfectly honest. Things are changing in the Republican Party. Things are changing in the conservative movement. And at a certain point, the power structure is going to be flipped completely upside down. And there's nothing that they can do to stop it. It's only going to take time or it's going to take some awareness from some of these Senate Republicans that, like, we're not playing games anymore. And you're not going to just get a vote because you have an R next to your name. You actually have to do things. John Cornyn hasn't done anything. He had an opportunity to do something, couldn't get it done. So now Donald Trump is endorsing Ken Paxton. John Thune completely beside himself.

He found a podium a couple days ago and was reacting to the endorsement news. Given that you've spent months trying to encourage, persuade the president to endorse John Cornyn in the Texas primary, and given that the NRC has invested heavily to help John Cornyn and win that primary, how personally disappointed or frustrated are you with the president's decision to endorse Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? Well, I would just say they have invested heavily. And this is another issue with the Republican Party. It's how they're spending their money. They spent $20 million on the referendum in the Commonwealth of Virginia when it came to those redistricting maps. 20 million. They've spent 95 million last check. It's probably over 100 million now to get John Cornyn over the Ken Paxton primary. They're just wasting money. Just, and it's disgusting. This is the same Republican Party. It's like the same problem that we had when Mitch McConnell was in charge of the Republican Party. Ruben Gallego and Arizona was a defeatable candidate. They put no money behind Kari Lake. Why? I think it's because Kari Lake was more interested in the president's priorities than she was in upholding the Senate tradition and the Senate Republican norms. And nobody wanted that. I mean, well... At a certain point, the money doesn't mean anything. And in Texas, Ken Paxton is the perfect candidate where he can just defy the odds when it comes to the money. John Thune beside himself. Well, I think you all know my position on this issue. I've made it very clear for months now. John Cornyn is a principal conservative. He is a very effective senator for the state of Texas, but I don't, none of us control what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn't change the way I feel. And I am certainly supportive. I will continue to be supportive of John Cornyn and his reelection. How much harder he made it to give the majority? How much harder the president's decision here made it for you? The number one job to keep the Republican majority, given your concerns about Ken Pecks' viability as a candidate. We look at, you know, lots of races around the country. And the majority runs through a lot of different states. We have 24 seats up this time. The Democrats have only nine. So we've got a lot more ground to defend. We also have a couple of offensive opportunities. So that, you know, one state doesn't determine the outcome of this election. I mean, I also think it's just bovine scatology. If you think that Ken Paxton is going to have a tough time defeating James Talarico when it comes to the Senate race in Texas. Donald Trump was asked about this yesterday, and he's like, you know, you know James Talarico's a vegan, don't you? Do you think a vegan is going to get elected in Texas? We have a great candidate, I believe, in Texas, and I believe the Texas candidate, who's Ken Paxton, I think he'll win.

I think probably he'll win very substantially. And I think he'll go on to defeat a very defective candidate, a candidate that believes in six genders. And he takes hits to Jesus Christ. And he's wearing a mask six months ago. Where's anybody wearing a mask six months ago doesn't get it? And he's a vegan. He's a vegan in Texas. And you can't get elected as a vegan in Texas. That's the president on James Talarico. We get a couple of callers waiting to weigh in. Let's go to our friend R.D. in Colombia. What's up, R.D.? Good morning, Chris. I'd like to switch theories, if I may. Yeah, what do you got? Concerning the infamous Congresswoman Omar. Do you think that the DOJ is... presently conducting a investigation into her finances and all those millions of dollars that she once had that has suspiciously disappeared and to the possibility that That money was kicked back from fault money. I think so. Yeah, I mean, no, I think that's public knowledge at this point, RD, and I appreciate the call. I'll answer offline. JD Vance filled in for Karoline Leavitt on, was it Tuesday at the White House press briefing? And while he was filling in for Karoline Leavitt, he said he only did it because she promised to fill in his vice president when he goes on paternity leave, when Ushah has the new baby. which was pretty funny. You know what? I think it actually would be a good move because then we could have a new best female vice president ever, at least if only for a short period of time. But I will say that JD Vance, during that press briefing, confirmed that the DOJ is probing Ilhan Omar and they're at least investigating the claims of immigration fraud. Okay. I figured out finally how the seating chart works. I want to ask me about the anti-fraud task force. You previously mentioned that Ilhan Omar seemed to have committed immigration fraud. Do you anticipate an indictment against her, an indictment related to that situation? Yeah, so Reagan, I don't want to prejudge an investigation. I mean, you read the things about Elon Musk Omar and about who she married and whether she didn't marry this person or that person. It certainly seems like something fishy is there. everybody's entitled to equal justice under the laws. So we're going to investigate it. We're going to take a look at it. If we think that there's a crime, we're going to prosecute that crime. And that's something the Department of Justice is looking at right now. Something the Department of Justice is looking at right now. I mean, that's confirmation, right? With the Ilhan Omar stuff, I always go back to the old thing, like when you're in high school. If a rumor doesn't go away, it's probably because it's not just a rumor. It's true. And these allegations of her marrying her brother. They have persisted for years. And then her ties to these fraud circles also not going away at all. And when she's asked about it, she doesn't answer any questions. She'll put a statement here or there, but she runs away from reporters anytime it gets brought up, which to me seems like a red flag. Like if you're not guilty, you would stand and you would answer those questions. And I think you'd be a little pissed. And you fight back against those allegations. All she really does is scream racism.

But to answer your question, long winded, I know. Yes, there is an investigation going on. JD Vance confirmed it. on May 19th. Hey, I'm Chris Van Fleet. Go behind the scenes and beyond the headlines with the biggest names in pro wrestling and beyond. Jeff Jarrett, great to see you. In this business, the story behind the scenes, so much more entertaining than what you see on camera. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman. Mr. Heyman. You are a master at the little things. That's how you turn good into great. What does it take to achieve greatness? Whatever it takes I'm willing to do. That's an Emmy wedding performance. How about it? Insight with Chris Van Fleet. and listen on your favorite platform.