Yet Another Shocking Case of Blue State Fraud

Okay. Let's get an example of the kind of fraud that they were able to charge today. Two health home aides and a lot of false claims to Medicaid. This is your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars. And we hear about this coming out of California, New York. Philly. It's everywhere. The bottom line is this. There's rampant fraud. Wherever you have the government handing out huge sums of money, you're going to find fraud. We saw that with COVID, and now we're seeing with all these government programs. And the reason why it's important today on primary day is because if the commies and the socialists claim power, they're going to expand all of these systems. Remember, their goal is to get Medicare for all. which is a translation that's universal single payer health care. That's their goal. So the more that you have the government in these areas, the more you're going to have fraud. Bottom line, because people know how to build the system and the government is not equipped like the private sector to go after it because it's not the government's money. It's your money. Whereas a private company has an incentive to make sure people are not ripping them off because they don't want to lose money. That's that's the reality. So this is one example that he gives cut two. In one case, we charge two home health aides and two purported patients with causing over 400,000 in false claims to Medicaid for services the AIDS supposedly performed. When, get this, they were actually hospitalized, working at other jobs, and even in jail. Yes, the allegations include a scheme that build taxpayers for home care services provider provided when the person supposedly doing that work was sitting behind bars. That, of course, is not health care. It's just pure theft. It's just pure theft, exactly. If they're going to elect today or nominate today, I should say, L. Said in Michigan, who claims he's a capitalist but endorses absolutely 100%, absolutely 100% endorsing single payer health care. If he gets a nomination, if Francine Hogg gets the nomination to be governor of Michigan. All of these programs are going to be expanded. This is what the battle is all about right now. This is what it's about. So let's jump at Dr. Oz talking about personal health care is becoming a jobs program, which is on the one hand good. On the other hand, not good because then people can can rip the system off. Let's start with cut five. In California and New York, the number one job in the entire state is personal care services. Unbelievable. Guess what? It's good to be home because it's true in Pennsylvania, too. 50% dramatic, many more people serving in the personal care services space, that's home care, than it's in retail. That's where Pennsylans are going. It's becoming a jobs program. Medicaid fraud in the state is costing taxpayers.

for care that was never delivered or even worse, harmful. It's costing patients their health, their trust in a system, a system that was built in a high trust environment, a place we all thought that we would be able to be safe because who would steal from the poor? Right. Democrats, that's who. No, it's people who see an opportunity and they know that it's going to be very difficult to track them down. How do they even track this stuff down? You know what happens, essentially? Somebody makes a mistake. They make, or they go too big. They wind up doing something that just cannot be ignored anymore. But typically it goes undetected. It's only because this administration, and I give them tremendous credit for it, has decided to go after this, whether it's California or it's New York or it's Pennsylvania or wherever it is. They've decided to make cracking down on fraud part of their agenda. And as a taxpayer, I say thank you for that. Thank you. Because we want to make sure that the services actually go to who needs it and not to somebody who's dead or in jail or doesn't need it because they're perfectly fine and perfectly healthy. Cut number six. Today's defendants included an aid who build Medicaid for care claimed to be delivered while they were in jail or while they were being arrested or while they weren't in the country. This goes on and on one more disbelievable than the next. And it's not just individuals. There's a home care agency, two owners who are charged with billing Medicaid hundreds of fabricated clock ins. Again, care that was never delivered at all. Fabricated clockins. It's like an episode of The Sopranos, right? Fabricated clock ins. No work jobs, no show jobs. Hey, you just go. You fabricate the clock in. Then you're going to get all this money, this government money. It's the same thing with Zohran Mamdani's grocery stores in New York City. I view all of this together. Zohran Mamdani is proposing, as you know, up to five state-run, city-run, grocery stores. You only have to look at countries like Venezuela where they did this. Rampen corruption, black markets, the people who were in the inn, they got the good stuff. The regular people, the schlubs, they got the moldy bread, if they were able to get bread at all. So the longer you turn around, And you say, let's get the government into this area or that area. Let's do that. The more you're going to find examples of people finding holes in the system that they can exploit, either as the individual or as a provider themselves. Dr. Oz said this. He was up in Maine where they're investigating home support services, just as a tease a little bit later in the show. I'm going to talk to Steve Robinson, the editor-in-chief of the main wire because the Democrats nominated a guy named Troy Jackson. who loves his cousin, literally, in fact, fathered children with his second cousin. But that's not the only problem Troy Jackson has. Troy Jackson's got a lot of baggage as he takes over for Graham Platner, who had, as you know, a lot of baggage and Nazi tattoos and P-Hustle and allegations of rape and everything else. But Troy Jackson's got some baggage that's going to come out involving him and, well, there's questions about fraud.

from his time as a state senator in Maine. We'll get to that. Here's Dr. Ross Cut 9. Today I was in Maine. We're investigating home support services, just like you're seeing here for adults in that case who have autism. Medicaid spending of the top 10 providers there has dramatically increased over the last six years. Across the board, if you look at fraud and health care, all gone up in the last six years. What happened in 2020 that has catalyzed this? What has allowed this corruption to be weaponized? It's COVID. COVID appears to have unleashed massive fraud through grifters because criminals knew the federal government would not follow up on the money that was spending out. We told the world we were open for fraud and they could start harpooning us with their spears. No mas, no more. No mass, no more. Why is it so high in Pennsylvania, though? ranks fifth nationally in average monthly payments for beneficiary and provider. Look, Pennsylvania is the must win state for the White House. You want to be president? You got to win PA. It has two senators right now, one who has basically been thrown out of the Democrat Party, John Fetterman. And to his credit, he is siding with Senator Dave McCormick on the issues that matter on getting nuclear power and natural gas. And he is leading the charge on battling the socialists and the commies within his own party. I don't know how much longer he stays a Democrat. But my fear is, even if he becomes an independent, he's going to wind up caucusing with the Democrats. So you might as well still be a Democrat. And John Fetterman's no fool. He knows his communist stuff doesn't sell with the blue collar union guys and the steel workers and the people of pipe fitters and the dock workers in Philly. And he knows that. He's smart enough to know that. A lot of these people who may win primaries today hopefully will lose in the general election. Like if they nominate that whack job Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, that guy's going down in the general election. But what they're doing is they're forcing the so-called mainstream Democrat candidates to sound more and more like the commies. Haley Stevens, who's expected to win, who's the choice of the party elites, she's also now about defunding ICE. One of the main arguments for having voter ID for ensuring that we know who's voting is that there can be rampant fraud within the voter registration system. Last time I filled in for Guy Benson was when the news broke about New Jersey, where New Jersey had registered due to a quote unquote software glitch, and I don't believe that for a second, 6,600 non-citizens, 400 of whom voted. It's the same way you're able to rip off the taxpayers in places like Pennsylvania, cut number eight. This is the federal government's data on Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania ranks fifth nationally in average monthly payments, both per beneficiary and per provider. That is way out there. Be number five in both those categories.

More expensive, that is, than 45 states. Over 96% of personal care claims here are illness unspecified. That's how they're titled. So we can't track them. It doesn't help if the U.S. Attorney or the Attorney General can't possibly find the fraud because people aren't actually telling us what they're really doing. We have to change that history that's evolved here into the norm. And finally, average payments per beneficiary, more than $50,000. Yeah, it's ridiculous. We got to get to the bottom of it. We got to find ways to get government out of businesses, not expand government's role in these businesses. And that's where the battle against the commies takes us to Michigan, to Wisconsin, to every area around us. Because I'm here to tell you this, as a guy who lives in New Jersey and broadcasts out of Philadelphia and also my podcast, the Rich Ziole podcast, I'm here to tell you it's not just the cities. And when we get back here on Guy Benson, you're going to hear that firsthand. This is not just about the cities. They are coming to a town near you, the Democrat Socialists of America. After they finally take over their own party, the DNC, they are coming to the Burbs and the swing states. Do not doubt me on this. We'll be right back. It's great to be with you. Don't go away.

We will definitely get into all these races today. In fact, we're going to talk to... Former congressman from Michigan, a little bit later in the show today. We're loaded up here on the Guy Benson's show. It's great to be with you. I just want to make this point, though, regarding the socialists and the communists because, you know, Ben, people yell me. They're like, come on, Zioli, they're not socialist, they're communists. It really is the same thing. It honestly is. And I appreciate the fact that President Trump has said, they're not socialists or communist. But if you look at it, if you read the Karl Marx's little handbook there, the Communist Manifesto. The ultimate goal of communism is socialism. It's just kind of ironic because I think that there are people who have the communist ideology who have been able to get away by saying Scandinavian style socialism, even though countries in Scandinavia are not really socialist, but that's for another show. They've been able to kind of go along with this, but at this moment right now, the Democrat Party has done this to itself. Bernie Sanders, they stopped him in 2016. They stopped him in 2020. They wouldn't let him go near a microphone in 2024, but they let him in. Remember how he said earlier? I said, John Fetterman made caucus with the Democrats, even though he'll be an independent at some point. Guess who was caucusing the Democrats, his entire career as the United States Senator? Bernie Sanders. And then turn around and say, we don't want a Democrat socialist caucusing with us. They were more than happy to have Bernie. Still are, by the way. When you let socialists in, this is inevitably what's going to happen. So I just find that amusing when people like James Carver are like, I'm out. I'm out of the party. This guy Hasan Piker, who's a vile, vile human being, who hates Jews. He thinks America had a coming on 9-11, hates Israel, blames A-PAC for everything. And James Carverill, the Rageon, Cajun, the man who helped get Bill Clinton elected, and many Democrats elected, actually, now says, this is the line, I'm out, it's me or him, you pick, cut 16. To talk about the larger Democratic Party post-the-election in Michigan going for. I am not going to be in the same party with Hasan Piker. I can tell you that right now. If he becomes a force in a Democratic Party, I'm out of here. I have no intention of ever being in the same political party with that guy. Now, I think that a majority, overwhelming majority of Democrats agree with me. But this idea that we're going to seize the means of production and just go look at the DSA platform. You don't have to look any further than that. And, you know, JJ, it may be that the two-party system is just going to be under tremendous stress.

here in the coming months. I mean, you see it in with Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene and on the Rutherland side. You see it going on right now. And I can't sit here and tell you for certain the audience is going to turn out. But the one thing I can tell you for certain, Hasan Piker and James Carville are not going to be in the same political point. I got news for you. They don't care, actually. They really don't. Old boomer, they don't care. They really don't. Here's cut 17, Hasan Piker and Abdul El-Sayed, who's on the ballot today in Michigan, who stands a very good chance of becoming the nominee. I hope he is, because I think he's the easier of the two to beat in the general election because he's so far out there. And Michigan is still a purple state. It's a state Trump won. It's a state that Republicans can keep and hold, in my opinion. Let's hope Abdul El-Sayed is, in fact, a Democrat candidate. But if he wins, even if he loses in the general, it is a big victory for the DSA. Here's cut 17. Now James Carvel's talking about leaving the party. We got John Fetterman, James Carvel fantasizing about leaving the party. I'm like, you're sweetening in the deal. Partway's like, why does anybody still listen to James Carver? He said one smart thing once, which he seems to have forgotten, which is, it's the economy stupid. Oh, would that, yeah. I'm like, my buddy, is the economy stupid? Some of us step in and be like, hey, maybe if we didn't take money from the corporations, maybe we could actually show up for the people, maybe we could actually solve some of these problems. And he's like, well, I can't accept that in my party. I'm like, it's the economy stupid. Yeah, it is the economy stupid. And what these people want to do with the economy is turn it over to the commies. That's what they want. That's what they're doing. There's no doubt about that. That is exactly what they're doing. All right, we're going to continue to dive into Michigan a little bit. I do think it's a state we can keep. However, it is going to be a battle if Haley Stevens becomes the nominee. But what does it mean if Abdul El-Sayed is able to score a win today? We'll break it down for you here on Guy Benson. It's me, Rich Zioly, and for Guy. Glad you're here.

for Guy Benson. It's Rich Zioli. Great to be with you. All eyes are on Michigan today. where a crazy person named Abdul El-Sayed is hoping to become the nominee for the Democrat Party in the race for the United States Senate. Here to talk about it with us on Guy Benson. It's great to have him, former Michigan representative. Army veteran, Peter Péter Magyar, served in the United States Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq as an intelligence advisor during the Iraq War. Congressman Meyer, thank you so much for joining us here on the show. How are you? Rich, a pleasure. I am doing wonderful. How are you today? Doing very well, but a little nervous about Michigan. It's a state I love. It's a state President Trump won. Obviously, a state you represented in Congress. Are you surprised that Abdul El-Sayed has been able to get as far as he's gotten, whether he wins or loses tonight? I'm not. Abdul is a very smart retail politician. You know, unlike a lot of the other kind of DSA candidates of this moment, you know, Abdul really goes back more to kind of the Bernie Bro era. He was in the race for, in the governor primary back in 2018 that the incumbent governor of Gretchen Whitmer ultimately won. And really, he spent the time since then going around the state. going to meetings, going to events, talking, creating kind of a bit of a brand for himself. I mean, I've been at events with Abdul. Like, he has just chosen to be omnipresent. And I think the biggest, you know, the biggest opportunity that he has right now is just the weakness of the Democratic Party writ large, the fact that nobody can really articulate what they stand for. And that if you're a progressive voter right now, you look at the incumbent Democrats and you say, What the hell are you guys doing? You know, why should I vote for you? I'm sick and tired of things. And then Abdul is well positioned to capitalize on that anger. You know, you served our country, and thank you for that. We appreciate it very, very much. I mean, for a guy to run around with Hasan Piker, who said America deserve 9-11, to say such terrific things about our friend Israel, to, you know, to accuse his opponent of basically being on the take for Israel and for A-PAC. I mean, it's one thing to have disagreements on foreign policy, but to go to such a dark conspiratorial place is very disturbing, I think. Yeah, I think the strongest knock against Abdul, and this is something that if he wins, will be the dominant message of the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers. It's going to be, look at the company this guy keeps. Look at the folks who are in his camp. You know, Haley Stevens just got, you know, absolutely pilloried. Again, Haley Stevens is a totally unremarkable, normal Democrat. You know, this is not somebody who is...

constantly picking fights with her own side. You know, she is what in any normal cycle will be viewed as a very strong, you know, contender for this. And you have you have establishments that are apologizing for hosting, you know, Haley Stevens because she went there and got a beer. Like they are just so far gone with viewing this as an existential component. And then meanwhile, the folks who were in. Abdul's corner. I mean, you have folks who are apologists for the Bashar al-Assad regime, you know, who are, which by the way, order million dead Syrian civilians thanks to some of these people in their camp. I mean, it's. It is hard to not be overly hyperbolic when saying, you know, Abdul may not be an out-and-out communist, but by God, some of the folks he traffics with absolutely identify as communist. Yeah. In their words. Yeah, no doubt about it. And the fact that more Democrats are not coming out and denouncing his positions and trying to say, no, like we're shutting the door on this guy. I mean, you were a Republican in Congress. I don't know if you were there when David Duke was running, but I mean, that's the famous example of when Republicans said, if this guy runs, we're not going to back him. We don't want him as part of the party. Democrats are not doing that with people like this. And I want to play a clip for you of this is former representative Debbie Dingell or current representative Democrat Debbie Dingle. This is avowing Abdul El-Sayed's. platform but saying she still supports him. She said this on Fox News yesterday. Take a listen. Just in the last month, Syed has said Israel should not exist as a Jewish state. I've known you a long time. Can you support that? And if so, how? No, I categorically won't support that. Israel has a right to exist. Then how can you endorse him if he is the candidate in November? Bill, I'm going to be very blunt. There are going to be a lot of things that I don't agree with Mike Rogers on either. And I have told, I have told him exactly what I think. He then says, well, this, this or this. I'm going to get him on record. I mean, how do you support him? Bill Hemmer asked a great question there, Congressman. How can you possibly support this guy in the general election? How can any Democrats support this guy? I mean, it's going to be the same kind of political expediency argument, which, by the way, to be fair, it's not uniquely Democrats, but you know, you end up locking arms with folks. And, you know, I'm... I give a lot of credit, even the Democrats who say, you know, who push back on him, but ultimately are, you know, ultimately fold and accommodate, you know, I give them more credit than the people who agree with those statements don't push back and ultimately are just trying to save their own Ibs. And I think you're seeing a number of Democrats look at the results back in Colorado's third district when dying to get was primary by DSA candidate. Look at what happened.

in the primaries in New York City were two, you know, or another two sitting incumbent, you know, Democrats were very progressive, were both ejected and replaced by DSA nominees. You know, they're looking at that and saying, I could be next. How do I make sure I'm not next? So I save my harshest criticism. for the people who are keeping their mouth shut, even though they vehemently disagree with what they're seeing. Fair enough, fair enough. This clip was unearthed, I believe earlier today. I think it only helps him as voting begins. This is Abdul El-Sayed from 2018, referring to giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Beyond that, I look forward to pushing forward legislation that would preempt localities from participating with ICE and using their local resources. To do the same. Beyond that, we've also got to make sure that in this state, we are not discriminating by documentation status. Right now, if you're undocumented, you don't get access to a driver's license. So you're stuck. You don't get access to a lot of the basic things the state offers everybody else. And I think that's ridiculous. And so we've got to stop discriminating that way. Defund ICE, abolish prisons, defund the police. I mean, it goes on and on. So let's break down the general election. If he does become the nominee today, I kind of hope he does because I think he's easier to beat. I think Mike Rogers is a better shot of taking him down. But I've also noticed that Haley Stevens has drifted further left as this campaign has gone on, which even now she talks about, she may not say defund or abolish ICE, but she talks about moving money around, different things with that. much further left than Democrats used to sound on this issue. So break it down for us general election if Syed wins, if Stevens wins. Yeah, I mean, I think Haley Stevens, you know, she has just kind of tacked to where. I don't think she said anything that would have been surprising for a democratic, you know, kind of a normal democratic person campaigning and, you know, a primary in 2024 or 2022 or 2020 would say, you know, the biggest difference, you know, with Syed and with some of the other DSA candidates is some of the things that, you know, In 2024 and 2022, Democrats were starting to run away from that they're like, hey, this stuff is toxic, all this defund the police nonsense, all this talking about abolishing prisons. Come on, the voters hate this. You know, Normies who maybe towed that line like a James Talarico, you know, they're putting a lot of distance between 2026 versions of themselves and the kind of peak woke version. The DSA candidates are not. They're leaning into it. They're saying, hey, like, this is my core belief. This is where I stand. You know, they're not moderating from those positions, if anything, they're embracing it. I think that's where the Republican messaging will be, hey, you know, believe these people. You know, they are on the wrong side of 80, 20 or 90, 10 issues. This is what they're saying now. Imagine how they will govern if you give them power, if they have the ability to then implement laws, if they will then bring some of the most staled and catastrophic policies of Democratic majority cities and states.

and try to apply that nationally. Let's flip over to a state that you also know quite well at Wisconsin, where they have a race for governor right now, a very radical candidate. Her name is Hong. She's been out there saying crazy things. A lot of audios come out about her. I mean, she hates Thanksgiving. She hates the Fourth of July. She hates America, colonialism, all of it. I mean, they're just very, very radical positions. But I look at this, as I look at the map, I think Wisconsin purple swing state, I think Michigan purple swing state, I think to myself, these are these are the states that are going to stop this and be able to save the republic. If they start winning in the purple states, we already have blue states where they're going left of where they ever were before, California, for example. Where's our firewall? That is a great question. You know, I think this is where, you know, as much as I dislike the Democratic Party, I would much prefer a sane, you know, competent Democratic Party than whatever this alternative is. And right now we have a system where the excesses of either party, you know, don't encourage, you know, it gives that permission structure where then the crazies are like, oh, look, they have their crazies. We can do ours too. Except on the Democratic side, they are, they're effective at pushing these policies. I mean, as a great example of somebody where you're like, okay, you know, let me, I'm a friendly interviewer, let me let you answer this question because, you know, you posted this crazy thing back in 2018. But, you know, tell us what you really think in the clear light of 2026. And then they just doubled down. And it's, you know, being the. Being opposed to Thanksgiving or thinking that you need to somehow, you know, give a nod to the anti- Thanksgiving constituents. You know, like, are you literally, that's the thing that I think voters have to look at and say, are the heck are these people listening to? Who do they think they're representing here? And, you know, a lot of this is partially thanks to our primary system. You know, you have. There's been a pretty concerned effort, especially in the Wisconsin gubernatorial Democratic primary, for more of the kind of incumbent establishment folks to lock arms around who they view as the strongest candidate. And, you know, the voters just aren't having it because they don't want normal. You know, they want revolution. And I get that on both sides of the aisle. There's a lot of frustration at the status quo. People want things to change, but a lot matters. who you trust to lead that revolution. And if it's somebody like Francesca Hong, God help us.

Yeah, God help us is right. No doubt about that. And I think that it's, you made a comment before about you want a strong Democrat party, so do I. I think that a strong Democrat party will make the Republican Party better. It will force them to flesh out the fakes among us, you know, the phonies that are around us. It's important. It really is. I think a two-party system, we have a two-party system in this country. We always will. I think it's healthy to have two strong political parties. If this socialist Communist Party moves to Democrat Party so far to the left that they're just absolutely unelectable and people just say they're Republicans just to get elected and they're not really true conservatives or they don't have real philosophy, that's not a good thing for America. No. And there's no, then you're no longer arguing about ideas. You know, you're no longer having to, having to prove that your policies work. You know, I think one of the best things that could happen to this country is if we had so much more local control, especially at the state level compared to the federal government, so that if you believe your policies, you know, will lead to flourishing among the communities you represent, great. Implement that. But when they fail, let people exit and hold you individually responsible. Because the more that there's a blurring of the lines between the state government and the federal government, you know, the more, and we'll see this in New York, the more somebody like a Zohran Mamdani will point and say, oh, no, no, see, it would have worked if not for Albany, if not for Washington. Avoiding that accountability and that ultimate electoral consequence of the failures of your own policy just allows failed policies to. continue to propagate and continue to expand and continue to be ruinous to the voters who were misled into believing them. Well said, my friend. Well said. Listen, it was great having you on the show today. I appreciate you speaking out. I appreciate your service to our country. And I know that you're a great friend of guys. So thank you very much. Former representative, Michigan Army veteran, Peter Meyer. Thank you so much. Thank you. Always a pleasure, Rich. And as we continue here on the show, there's a couple other candidates who are running that also scare the bejesus out of me. But there's some good news out of Capitol Hills. It looks like Todd Blanche will be confirmed as Attorney General. That's a good thing. But where do things stand on Iran, Iran, however you say it, I say Iran personally. We'll find out with KT. McFarland a little bit later in the show. She is a former... Deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump served under four presidents. She'll be joining us. And on my mind right now, oil prices, gas prices, the great Taylor Riggs will be joining us. Co-host of the Big Money Show. So we've got a great show still ahead. And if you want to find out everything you never wanted to know about marrying, dating, and reproducing with your cousin, we've got a great guest on that too as we look at Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson who did that very thing. So don't go away. It's me, Rich. In for Guy. We'll be right back. Miss a minute. Miss a lot. Guy Benson. Well, here on Guy Benson, it's me, Rich Zioli, filling in for Guy. It's great to be with you on Primary Day. This is my Super Bowl. I live for this stuff. I love it.

You've heard about the big names in socialism. You haven't heard about all the names in socialism, though, like Donovan McKinney out of Detroit. who is a DSA-backed Michigan congressional candidate. What is the DSA, you ask? It is the Democrat Socialists of America. And these are people that hate this country, and these are people that want to radically transform this country. Let's not forget something. And I made this comment yesterday in America's newsroom, there is this big debate that's going on between capitalism and socialism. And you hear the polls all the time. They go, well, you know, socialism is more popular than with young people. You cannot separate. The fact that with the DSA, with socialism, comes the radical transformation of America. As in, abolish the Senate. Pack the Supreme Court. Kill the filibuster so that there's no way to stop them. Make D.C. and Puerto Rico states. You get four more Democrats senators. and ultimately you just have, you just run rough shot and do whatever you want, abolish the electoral college so that the popular vote wins and that the big blue states theoretically will be able to pick the president of the United States of America. Now, it didn't help Kamala Harris in 2024. She lost the electoral college and the popular vote, but she's out there saying these things. So think about this now. The mainstream, so-called mainstream candidate of the Democrat Party, the 2024 nominee. is now embracing the architecture of the Democrat Socialist of America as she gears up to run in 2028. And she's the frontrunner. Allegedly, I don't know if I believe that. I think a lot of people lie to pollsters about that stuff because they don't want to sound racist or sexist or whatever else. But I don't really know if she is. She's certainly not within the DSA. That's for sure. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is. But she looks at her competition in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and she turns around and she says, I got to make sure that I win the kook vote, so I'll be just as crazy as they are in terms of radically transforming our country. So you can debate whether or not a certain economic philosophy is popular or not, but what you can't get away from is the America that you know goes away, period. Here's one of those candidates. Donovan McKinney running in Detroit, cut 14. They're talking about this movement is just the coastal elites, right, that are in New York, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and California. They don't think this movement come here in Michigan. And I want you to warn and prove them that they're damn wrong. Yeah, he's not wrong, by the way. He's not wrong. I know this because in New Jersey, two suburban districts went with socialist candidates. Outside of Philly, you have a candidate there named Chris Rab. He's also an anti-American socialist communist. These are radicals. I want sane Democrats. We need sane Democrats. It's important for the Republican Party. But that's not what we're getting here.

Not in the least. All right, we've got a big second hour to come here on Guy Benson. Please don't go away. A new generation of conservative talk. Right here, right now. Fair. and backed by the trusted voices and reporting resources of Fox News. Fox News. You're listening to Guy Benson. And now, here's your host, Guy Benson. And this is a big hour because the market is officially closed and the numbers on Space X are out. KT. McFarlane is here to tell us the latest on the Iran War. What's going on? We're going to have Taylor Riggs on the show a little bit later. We are just getting started. But first, Fox News Alert. As we enter the middle hour here on Guy Benson, the Dow closed. Pop, 907 points. That's great. The great news, finishing the day at 5485, that's great news too. And what we're finding out about space X is that the company revenue 7.81 billion versus the expectation, the expected 6.93 billion. Loss per share, loss of 9 cents. That's not comparable to the average analyst estimate of a loss of 26. So I look at that as very good news for space X. And this market update is brought to you by Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity's mission is based on timeless principles of expanding freedom and opportunity for all. Join the largest grassroots group in America. Go to Americansforprosperity.org slash guy. to find an AFP chapter near you. So let's turn our attention to the Middle East and what is going on there. There's no one better on the topic than KT. McFarland, former Trump Deputy National Security Advisor. She has served under four presidents, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Trump. KT., welcome back to the show. How are you today? I'm just great. And thank you so much for having me on. Absolutely. So the latest is the president is saying that we're going to give them one more chance. We're going to give Iran one more chance. A lot of people are turning around and saying we've heard this before. Why is this time any different? I don't think it is. I think that we're going back and forth. We'll give them one more chance. They violated. The talks are not going anywhere, and they're probably unlikely to go anywhere unless somebody escalates, and that would be us to escalate or them to escalate. Now, why is this not a bad thing? It's not a bad thing because the price of oils remain pretty steady, below $4 a gallon, because the longer this goes on, the more countries are buying American oil and natural gas.

than Middle Eastern oil and natural gas. The longer this goes on, the more squeezed Iran is economically. And that's where the real pressure comes, is the economic pressure. Is stuff getting through, or tankers getting through the Strait of Hormuz? Yeah, they are. As many as before, no. So to me, unless there's some political reason that the president or his advisors think that, well, we have to hurry up and end this because of the midterms, The objective evidence is that we're not doing too badly as a result of this. The stock market has never been better. The dollar has never been stronger, and that's in spite of the fact that we're in a war with Iran. It's a really good point. So I guess part of the president's bluster, I mean, you've been in the room with him during these situations you would know. Many times. Yeah. Is the bluster then to make Iran very nervous to keep them at the table because we don't want them to just, I guess, disappear? From the table, I mean. Yeah, I mean from the negotiating table? No, I think he's trying to do a delicate balance between taking more military action, taking military action potentially against their economic targets, like their energy targets. And at the same time, not wanting the war to get bigger. Our allies in the region, particularly the Saudis, They're nervous if the United States goes to, quote, finish the job, that somehow Iran will attack them, retaliate against their water desalinization plants or their energy infrastructure. So they'd love Iran to be dealt with. They don't want to have to deal with Iran, but at the same time, they're nervous that it expands. It's a very delicate balancing act, but as the longer this goes on, the better it is for us. in the sense that Iran gets more and more degraded. And we've taken out their nuclear sites. If they rebuild them in the same place, we take them out again. If they build nuclear sites in another place, fine, we'll take those out. So we stopped Iran's capability of making nuclear weapons. What I think that... We need to look now is, do you change the regime? Not that we change the regime, but that the regime becomes so fractured within itself that, you know, a regime that's at war with itself is not a strong regime. And so potentially, then you have the same thing that you had with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that the countries themselves push the communist aside. And that's what you hope happens. Right now there's a... fight between the people we're negotiating with who, you know, are they bad guys? Yeah, of course they're bad guys. But they're at least willing to make a deal. between the fight is between them and then the revolutionary guard who wants no deal with the united states at no time nothing's going to stop them from wanting to sabotage a deal to not agree to a deal or if they agree to a deal to back out of the deal and so can we get those two fighting with each other and there's an old expression you know if you've got two enemies that are fighting each other whatever you do don't stand and try to stand up and try to stop them

K.T. McFarman's with us. Great to have her former Trump deputy, national security advisor. All right. So let's talk about some of the allies in the region. The president was saying going into the weekend that this was it. It was going to bomb Iran epic proportions. It would end. And then all of a sudden, he said it would give negotiations more time. That was after a call from the Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed. Yes. So let's talk about the allies in the region. Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Where do they all stand in all this? Well, you know, the interesting thing is that you and I had this conversation two years ago. And I said to you, well, guess what? The Gulf Arabs, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, maybe even Saudi Arabia, are all going to be working with us and Israel on the same side against Iran. You would have laughed because no way the Gulf Arabs would have gotten involved. They never get involved. They always stand on the sidelines, wait to see who wins. Or as the expression is that they'll hold our coat while we do the fighting on their behalf, but they're not going to do their own fighting on their behalf. This time around, they actually have been working with us militarily. And that's a big deal, because the ultimate goal is not just to stop Iran's nuclear program or to open up the Strait of Hormuz, but it's a reconfiguration of the entire Middle East. If you have a Middle East... where the Arabs and Israel and the United States are working together and the one outlier, the isolated country on the outside is Iran, that's a much safer Middle East. And that's the expansion of the Abraham, of course. And that's worth a lot because the Middle East has been fighting, gosh, go back to the Bible, biblical times. They've been fighting each other. Those tribes have been fighting each other before Muhammad, before Jesus. These people fight each other. a situation in the Middle East where they're not fighting each other, where they're trading with each other, where they're competing with each other economically, but not trying to kill each other. I think it's worth a lot for world peace and for our economy, for our stability, for everything. And the president's saying that the strike would have been the largest since World War II. I mean, as a region, and I think your point, KT. McFarland is really something to take a moment and think about if these other Gulf state nations, you know, the fact that they're siding with us and Israel, it is remarkable. It's also a testament to how the region has changed economically where now you've got hotels. casinos, theme parks opening up. I mean, I would imagine the other countries want this to end, but they also want Iran to kind of go away, not come back in the same way. So they want to make money. I mean, let's be honest here. They want to make money.

And the only way they make money is if there's peace in the region. And that was the genesis of the Abraham Accords. So countries in the region, the Arabs, realized they couldn't rely on high oil prices to fund their societies. They knew that they had to diversify their economies, and they wanted to go into tech. But the only way to do that to get investment was peace in the region. Nobody's going to invest in a war zone. And so what did they do? They needed peace with Israel. And I think that's the forward – that's how it ends if it ends really well, is that these regions – this region of the world is no longer the one tinderbox that's brought everybody into every conflict for generations if it becomes the one region where they're competing and trading with each other, as the Abraham Accords have done. So the reconfiguration of the Middle East – It's a subtle point, but it's a hugely important point. Let me ask you about the cyber attacks. So seven states have reported cyber attacks, KT McFarland, on their water supply control systems. There's been some suggestions that Iran could be behind this. What do you make of that? Here's the thing. The cyber attacks are the ultimate weapon. They're the perfect weapon. Why? Because we don't know who's behind them. They're very difficult to track down. Is it a country? Is it a rogue actor? Is it, you know, a terrorist group? We're not sure. In this case, it's probably these attacks are probably coming from a state sponsor of terrorism. And there's that list of what countries could pull that off. It's pretty short. And Iran would be on that list. One vulnerability that I'm very concerned with. is the GPS system. So that the Chinese, for example, they can hack into GPS. And we rely on GPS for everything, not just for Google Maps, but we rely on it for targeting, for our military relies on it, our communications all rely on it. That's another vulnerability. Now, the new wars of the future are not going to be with tanks and airplanes. They're going to be fought with drones, and they're going to be fought with cyber weapons. And that's an area where I think the United States is we've really... We haven't really kept up with what we need to do to defend ourselves from cyber attack because, you know, those water systems you're talking about, they're privately owned or they're owned by the municipality. Those companies aren't going to say, okay, well, now we're going to double our budget to protect ourselves from a cyber attack from Iran. So that's something where I think the national government does have a role to play. And, you know, on the note of China, since you brought it up, KT, is China still enabling Iran? Probably, but not in a big way. China's all about China. China doesn't care what happens to Iran. China wants access to cheap oil, cheap energy. And as long as Iran provides that, which it has been doing to China at a discounted price, China's happy with that. But if Iran starts to be a problem for China, China will buy the oil someplace else. So are they cooperating? Yeah, they're probably sharing intelligence with Iran. China providing them with military equipment, offensive military equipment. I doubt it. If they do, that's a real leap up for the Chinese to get more committed in a war where the Chinese, again, they don't want to get involved in any where they want their cheap oil. And they're buying it, right? They're buying the cheap oil. They're buying. They're buying cheap Iranian oil. But if it gets too expensive in the sense of the price they have to pay because of the uncertainty, because of the war zone, they'll buy it someplace else.

And where does Russia fit into all this, KT McFarland? Well, that's where China buys its energy. So China buys energy. China is one of the only major countries in the world that has no energy of it if it's not. It has dirty coal. But it doesn't have oil. It doesn't have natural gas. It's not really conducive to windmills or solar panels. They'll build them for us to buy, but they don't really work in China for a whole lot of reasons I won't go into. Chinese don't have shale oil or shale natural gas. So they're completely dependent, especially for their manufacturing sector, and most particularly for their high-tech sector, which takes a lot of energy to rental those computers. They're dependent upon importing energy, oil and natural gas. So if they can't get it from the Middle East, this President Trump has said to them, hey, buy our stuff. We've now become the world's largest exporter of crude oil. of refined oil and liquefied natural gas. And a lot of that is because countries around the world have said, look, I'm not going to bother with the Middle East. That's so uncertain. There's always a war. It's just not worth it. We're going to start buying from someplace safe like America. All right, there's a very important question on everybody's mind right now, KT McFerlin. It's this. Rosie O'Donnell is set to come back to the United States to host the view. Do you think, and would you advise President Trump to threaten Ireland with bombing them into the Stone Age if they don't keep Rosie O'Donnell?

You know, that's a deaf one. I think let her go on with you. She's crazy. And the more people who see how crazy she is, you know, the thing about crazy people is there's one attitude is, well, let's just suppress them so they don't get too crazy. The other attitude is let it rip. The crazier they are, the faster we get rid of them and just realize that they're not anybody we want to pay attention to. I mean, you see it with some of these candidates, right? The way they talk about Israel and how they, you know, they blame Israel for everything. I mean, there's a lot of crazy in this country right now. But I think your point is valid. It's, you know, let it get out there. Let it be aired out so people can hear it and then realize it's nuts. You know, the American people have a lot of common sense. And when they see really, really crazy, they're not going to want that. So true. Katie McFarlane, thank you so much for joining us here on Guy Benson. Really do appreciate it. And your expertise and your analysis, it's very calming and very soothing because I think a lot of people keep... hearing the media say Trump has called this off, called this off, called this off, if it's a bad thing, you've reiterated today why it's a good thing and why these negotiations continuing are really the best outcome for everybody. And thank you for doing that because it's really important. Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it very much. And I'll just add, too, to that point, the president also deserves great credit for not escalating the situation by putting ground forces in or anything else. So that's also something that we should all recognize and give him credit for it. No question about it. It is Guy Benson. It's me, Rich Zioly. Don't go away. Filling in for Guy Benson, it's Rich Zioly.

Guy Benson's show, these are crazy times we're living in. When a guy gets nominated for the United States Senate, turns out his baby mama is his cousin. We'll talk about Troy Jackson in Maine in our next segment with Steve Robinson, who's the editor-in-chief of the main wire. And a little bit later in the show, the great Taylor Riggs will join me. We'll talk about data centers and oil prices and gas prices and where all things stand with that. But Rosie O'Donnell, returning to The View. But only as a guest. She's coming out of her isolation in Ireland, her self-isolation in Ireland because she couldn't tolerate being in America because of Trump. And she'll be making her way back to the states to terrorize all of us and go back on the view for season number 30. Now, it's interesting because... That show gets nuttier every day. I mean, it really does. It's nuttier every day. I reject clips now because I can't, something about their voices really gets to me. I just can't play it. That's just women. But is it though? Well, you have a nice voice, producer, Christine. Oh, thank you. Yes. And I'm not hitting on you. But tell me about. Tell me about what it is about women in the voice. You know what it is? I think that that show, like all they do is debate. So when we get upset or hyper or we want to make a point, our voice just tends to go up in octaves. Interesting. Yes. I think that's sexist. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. Okay, Rich. I've heard women with deep voices who go like, you want to come take me? Of course, they all play for the WMBA. I was just going to say, they're gone on the view. No, they want to play for the WMBA, I should say. All right, so how does she do on the view, you think? I just don't think it. I think that that kind of maybe gotten overblown. I know she's going back because they were doing the 30th anniversary. Yeah. I would be surprised. I thought she was leaving the, I thought she was. She did. She's in Ireland. She's on a self-imposed exile. Yeah. So like that would make no sense for her to come back because Trump's still in office. You know who gave her the idea? Who? The people of Ireland. That's who. They want her gone. Could you imagine those poor people in Ireland? They're sitting there with the Guinness, little Jamesons. They got to deal with Rosie at the dinner at the bar whining about Trump. Oh, goodbye, Rosie. Where's me, Lucky Choms? You should go back to the view, Lassie. I don't do an Irish accent. No, I don't either. Usually it turns into some sort of pirate.

That's what happened. That's how they got her back. They just wanted her out of their country so bad. Now, the only question is when she gets back to U.S. soil, will the Irish revoke her passport? I'll give her one thing. She does look much better. The facelift actually worked. Hmm. You don't think so? I think it's filters on her phone. Oh. Yeah, that's what I think. I don't think there's enough plastic surgery in all the world for that. All right, but I digress. The question is this. Will a guy who birthed children with his cousin become the senator for Maine? Let's talk about it straight ahead here on Guy Benson with me, Rich Zioly. Guy Benson, sponsored by Previgin. Previgin, made for your brain. And as we continue along here on Guy Benson, I'm very happy to welcome. By the way, Rich Zioly filling in for Guy today. Steve Robinson is the editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire, a native of Dexter, a graduate of Boydard College. Robinson has previously worked as an executive producer for the Howie Car Show and Barstool Sports Kirk Minahan Show. Steve, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us today. I appreciate it. How's the view in Maine? Are you seeing Troy Jackson's cousins anywhere? Well, I mean, Maine's a small place. His cousins are everywhere. It's not comforting. We're trying to decide whether there are more pelleteers or Mohammeds in Maine these days. But I actually haven't had a chance to run into Troy yet because as it turns out, he's in Washington, D.C. At the time the story broke, Matt Foldy captured him having a nice luxe dinner. at a, you know, a very expensive restaurant in Washington, D.C. So I hope he was able to explain his bizarre relationship to Chuck Schumer. I would like to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. Well, you, I mean, you broke the story, and that's great and good for you. Troy Jackson's longtime lover is a second cousin, Mainwire.com, Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of that. So that's a big deal. And then it became a national story. Has he explicitly commented on that yet? Yes, he did. He actually confirmed the story. He gave a comment to Fox News saying that this was just Susan Collins attempting to distract from the issues of the oligarchy or something. But his statement effectively confirmed every bit of our reporting. You know, Troy over the years has liked to. refer to us as the main liar, but he's never been able to find an instance of reporting that we've gotten wrong about him. He just doesn't like the fact that we're not, you know, slavishly promoting, you know, the socialized programs that he advances at the state level, like some of the other papers here. And it's hard to deny your family tree. You know, those things are...

set in stone, like literally set in stone. So it'd be a tough one for him to deny. I mean, the fact that he fathered two kids with his second cousin, that's just gross for all humanity. That's just nothing helpful comes from that, in my opinion. Well, let's just say, I've met at least one of the kids, and it explains a lot, knowing that the family tree is more like a Christmas reef. But I did do some research into this. You're probably talking to the leading expert on cousin marriage in the state of Maine. The state of Maine did not make it unusual. And by the way, you never wanted to be the expert on cousin marriage. This is not something you aspired to, Steve Robinson. No, just like I never wanted to learn about tribal politics and Somalia, but hey, here we are. In 1985, the state of Maine made it illegal to marry your first cousin. But two years later... A lawmaker by the name of John Martin pushed an amendment to that prohibition that said you could marry your first cousin, but only if you sought the counseling of a genetic counselor. So we have an exception to our ban on first cousin marriage. And it turns out that Joe Martin just happens to be from a rustic county, just like Troy Jackson, and is, in fact, his longtime mentor. And second cousin marriage is totally legal in Maine. And there's a handful of states that do prohibit it, though. Well, and there's a reason for that, obviously. No, no question about that. But very interesting. Now we know all about cousin law in the state of Maine. All right. But these are other baggage as well. You guys had a piece July 29th by John Featherston at the main wire. From mortgage questions to Graham Platner loyalty, Troy Jackson carries political baggage into the Senate race. Is there more stuff that's going to come out on him? I mean, I hear rumors, but rumors are rumors. Do you expect more to come out? And if so, then why didn't they vet him like they didn't, why didn't they vet Graham Platner? It's the same question. Well, I think that for one, they didn't have time. The way Graham Platner exited the race in the terms of the state constitution made it clear that they were operating under a time crunch. Properly vetting a candidate takes a minimum of $70,000, skilled investigators. You've got to go up and you've got to really do your homework to properly vet them. Didn't happen with Graham Platner, and it also didn't happen with Troy Jackson. 100% I can tell you more stories are coming out about Troy Jackson, and I'm confident because I'm going to be the one publishing them. We have just in our back pocket stories that we're working on about Jackson, but the ones that we've already laid out there and have been reporting on for years are, frankly, devastating for both his character, as well as how we could expect him to...

operate as a United States Senator. Just to give you one example, Troy Jackson was a pro-gun Democrat for 20 years. For 20 years, he had an A rating from the NRA. He talked about, you know, his love of the sportsman's culture in Maine. And then in 2023, his son's lobbying firm got a $50,000 contract with the Maine Gun Safety Coalition. And within a month... Choi Jackson flipped his position on gun control, voting in favor of an assault weapons ban, voting in favor of expanded background checks, and voting in favor of extended waiting periods. The same three pieces of legislation that he had voted against just one year before. That's, so the flip-flopping is one thing, too. And then there's questions about his character and his temper, right, Steve? Well, that, but I mean, you know, the flip-flop just happened to coincide with his son's lobbying firm getting $50,000. Gotcha. His son has made, in one year, I think, last year, $200,000 as a lobbyist. And, you know, I'll say he's a couple of French fries short of a happy meal. He's not the guy you would expect to be making $200,000 a year as a lobbyist. However... If you're paying his Chase's firm $50,000 and suddenly the president of the Senate flip-flops a vote on a position he held for 20 years, well, that starts to make a lot more sense. So the question is, is Troy Jackson's family business running a pay-to-play operation through his son's lobbying firm? And that's not even the most scandalous piece of baggage that Troy Jackson's carrying around. Well, you've got to tell us what it is. You can't tease us like that, Steve. Come on. Steve Robinson is with us, editor-in-chief of the main wire, and it's great to have him here on Guy Benson. I mean, that's a, we have to wait for the reveal. Are we working on a story right now, or is it public information? It's public information. This is the story that we published, I think, two years ago, but the U.S. attorney at the time was appointed by Joe Biden, and so never bothered. to pursue an investigation into very credible evidence that Troy Jackson committed mortgage fraud. So the story first requires an understanding that Troy Jackson's district and his alleged home is in Alighash, Maine, up at the very top of the state on the Canadian border. It's 240 miles away from the state house in Augusta. In 2019, Troy Jackson sought a FHA loan to purchase a home in Augusta. An FHA loan is typically for first-time home buyers, for poor people. You get a lower interest rate in exchange for agreeing to certain terms like full-time occupancy of that home. So Maine's Constitution requires you to be a resident of the district you represent. So at the same time, Troy Jackson was serving as a state senator for Alligash at the top of the state, he was also benefiting from a low interest rate loan to purchase a home in Augusta 240 miles away. So he could not honor the occupancy clause of that FHA loan and the state constitution requirement that he maintained residency in his district.

So he either committed mortgage fraud or he lied on his campaign finance documents. And when this entire thing was reported, it led to an ethics hearing in which Troy Jackson swore up and down that he had always been a resident of Alagash, which also means he said over and over again, he never honored the terms of his FHA loan for the home. He's committed mortgage fraud. The statute of limitations hasn't run out on that. And right now, there's a different U.S. attorney who was appointed by President Trump. So any moment now, Troy Jackson could be indicted for committing mortgage fraud. The same exact crime, by the way, that Letitia James, the former AG of New York, committed. And Adam Schiff is also alleged to have committed. Right, in Maryland. Steve Robinson, you have a story of the Jackson 5, a slew of shady Troy stories you're about to slam into the news cycle. So we've covered Alagash in Augusta, the gun flip. That leaves us with potatoes and B.I.W. Yeah. Well, the potato saga and the BIW saga are very similar because they're both stories about... Troy Jackson trying to bully people into doing things that are beneficial for him politically or financially. In the case of the B.I.W. story, B.I.W. is Bath Ironworks. They're the fourth largest employer in the state of Maine. They build ships. They're a defense contractor owned by General Dynamics. A very big deal. And they have some unionized employees. And Troy Jackson actually put his name on a letter. to the president of B.I.W. telling him that if he didn't hire more unionized workers, then maybe the Senate was going to revisit a tax credit that BIW had received a few years later. Basically, a cartoon version of a mobster threat. He actually wrote in the letter, it would be unfortunate if we had to revisit this tax credit. So, of course, the president of BIW sent it right to the newspapers, and Troy Jackson ends up looking like a fool, even though he probably should have been criminally investigated for trying to abuse his political position. In the case of the- It sounds like a thug, right? Like, nice tax break here, be ashamed if something happened to it. I mean, that's how my boss is. That's what it is. And Troy Jackson, of course, now being the Democrat nominee for replacing Graham Platner for the United States Senate seat in Maine. So all this stuff, I would hope, is going to be under a gigantic spotlight, Steve. But go ahead, tell us about the potatoes. Well, just to close the loop on the BIW thing, because that gets worse. At the time he was doing that, not only was he the Senate president, he was also under contract with the union that would have benefited had BIW hired more union employees. So he's abusing his office for the benefit of his employer with these shady mobster-style shakedown letters. And apparently he didn't learn his lesson because just a few months later...

He found out that a Republican woman by the name of Sue McCrum had taken out papers to run for the state senate in a district in a rustic county. And in Troy's mind, you know, that's his territory. Only Democrats should be holding those seats. He didn't want Sue McCrum running. So according to multiple sources who have talked with me when we reported this at the time, Troy Jackson called Sue McCrum's wife. and had a variation of the same conversation he had with B.I.W. Because Troy Jackson had given Pinobscott McCrum, this large potato processing company, a beneficial tax package worth something like $15 to $30 million over a decade, a very valuable tax credit package. And Troy's threat to the McCrums was... Sue withdraws from this race or we revisit that tax package. And it was successful. Sue McCrum within 24 hours, she declared she was running for state senate and then she backed out and withdrew from the race. And it was kind of a mystery at the time why she had done that. And eventually the story emerged that it was because Troy Jackson threatened to take away this lucrative tax package. for Pinobscott McCrum, which, by the way, allowed them to build this massive facility in rural or rustic county that provides thousands of good jobs for people in the area. So here again, this guy wants to be a United States senator, wants to take Susan Collins job, and he's really just a small-time bully. Yeah, no doubt about it. And if he gets on the national stage, it sounds like he'll become a big-time bully, not just a small-time bully. Well, Steve Robinson, keep this up because people need to know this as we head into the general election. Obviously, it's a little quiet now in August. But post-Labor Day, this election is going to go in a full swing. And this is a seat. Republicans are going to try very, very hard to keep. And Jackson just pretends he's just a simple loggerman, you know, who just happens to be with his second cousin, you know, reproducing with her. all these financial scandals and the bullying and intimidation, people need to know about all this stuff. So thanks for joining us here today. Keep up the good work. And the main daily wire will keep everything, I'm sure, updated and posted for us. What's the best site, Steve, for people who track it? People can find us at the mainwire.com or find us on social media at the mainwire. Thanks, Rich. Thanks, Steve. We'll be back for more. We got a big show still to come. It's Rich Zioly in for Guy Benson. Great to have you with us. In the swamp, not of the swamp. Guy Benson.

All right, here on Guy Benson. A big update today. Todd Blanche advances as Attorney General of the United States of America. He will be confirmed. That's a great thing. But not everybody's happy about this. I'm happy about this. I think he's doing a terrific job. The big hold up was over this weaponization fund. This was a fund of over a billion dollars, $1.6 billion to essentially now compensate people who are victims of the federal government's weaponization. There were some holdouts in the Republican Party, a couple of moderate Republican senators who were not going to go along with this. And they said, if this drops, we'll go along with confirming Todd Blanche. If not... He's toast. Well, they said, fine, we'll drop it. And then now you can support him. So he is now going to go forward as the Attorney General of the United States of America. But the weaponization fund, which sounds like the kind of thing that is a good idea, $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, but there were a number of Republicans who were kind of holding their nose and going along with it. And then there were a couple that were also very outspoken, including John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis, of North Carolina. And, you know, Thom Tillis, in his case, he's on the way out. He doesn't want to be there anymore. And he said, it's done. It's been rescinded. I'm satisfied. But one person who is not is Spartacus Cory Booker, Count Grand Stangelo, Cory Booker, who's very, very upset by all this. And he had a meltdown today over this. Take a listen. We are, this is the Judiciary Committee. We're supposed to be checking and balancing this nation. Why have people on both sides of the aisle given up on any trust in government? It's because we're surrendering any shred of integrity left. And now we're letting an attorney general become the highest law enforcement officer in the land and putting no holds whatsoever. I had hope for two weeks that we would get something. Two weeks that we would have something substantive to stop the world's greatest presidential tax cheat from cheating. And we've done nothing. And this man is going to now sail to the floor. He has tears of rage again. I think the problem is when you constantly have tears of rage and you're outraged about something and you have your Spartacus moments. about everything. It becomes like a kid who has fake tears or cries wolf and nobody believes you anymore. It's like, well, we know Cory Booker's going to be outraged over this. We know that. But it's just a pattern with Cory Booker. But nevertheless, Todd Blanche will be confirmed. He'll be moving on. And I think it's a good thing for the country. I really do. Because number one, the president should be able to get his nominees through. These people will serve the pleasure of the president, but the president should be able to appoint his cabinet with people who he wants. And he's going to clash with them sometimes. We see that with the U.S. attorney, Gene Piro in D.C. over the reflecting pool. President's clashing with her over that. You're going to have those conflicts, but the president has the right. I'd say this about either party.

Whoever is the president gets to have their cabinet, should be able to get their nominees through, and that's the way it should be. So good for that. All right, as we continue along the show here today, here on Guy Benson, we get a lot more to cover. And I'm glad you're here. It's me, Rich Zioly, host of the Rich Zioly podcast with you. Coming up, the great Taylor Riggs is going to join us. I've got lots of questions for her on data centers, so don't go away. Raise your glass to Guy Benson Happy Hour. Brought to you by the Finnish Long Drink. Finland's most popular alcoholic beverage is taking America by storm. Visit the longdrink.com. And now, here's Guy Benson. Well, I couldn't be happier this happy hour because the great Taylor Riggs co-anchor the Big Money Show is in studio with me today here on Guy Benson. We've got to start meeting like this. I love it. It's my favorite thing. By the way, you know, the finished long drink, I was thinking about this. I saw a story of their day in the Wall Street Journal about how Gen X is saving, single-handedly saving the alcohol industry. I know. You see that? Because Gen Z is not drinking. They're not drinking. And Gen X still is. They're still partying. Yeah. So they also have the ones with the money. So I think bars are like, okay, fine, we'll just cater to Gen X because we're not going to do Gen Z because they don't have a lot of money and they're not drinking. Personally, I love this trend. I don't drink. I haven't had a drink in like. I don't know, 15, 16 years. I'm trying to be healthy. I want to put clean things into my body. My worry is, is Gen Z giving up alcohol, but they're all doing edibles. Right? Right. I'm not doing edibles. But hey, you know what? If it brings drunk driving down, if it brings all that stuff down, sounds good to me. I love that mocktails are making a comeback, though. Mocktails are like $15 in New York City. It's fruit juice. Yeah. With a little bit of shelters sometimes, sometimes, not all the time, right? So what do the alcohol companies do then to offset the loss and revenue? Have they experienced that? Have they felt it? They have, and they're being smart and nimble and going into like hard seltzer, super hot with some of these big alcohol companies. And even you see this with tobacco, where the big tobacco companies, everyone stops smoking. And so they go into... Not dips. Pouches. Pouches. Like Zinn pouches. Yes, exactly. So I actually just did an earnings thing about Philip Morris a couple of weeks ago because they said all of their growth is coming from Zin pouches. They're making enough like doubling down on their investment in manufacturing for Zin. And so I think it's the same thing. Smart companies will pivot and be nimble and follow the customer where the customer is. If the customer long term is saying we don't want. alcohol, but maybe we want like seltzer or sparkling this or sparkling that, they will go there. The same way companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola have gone from, you know, fruit snacks to... What am I trying to think of? Or a soda into sparkling water. Sparkling flavored water, right? Exactly. So you have companies that pivot, they'll acquire a new brand. Pepsi, I believe, or Procter & Gamble just bought Thorne. So you see these consumer brands pivoting and buying and growing to meet the customer where the customer is up.

And you know what I love to is that there's still a market for these kind of niche, niche, however you say it, little startup food companies that are healthy and thriving. And then I would imagine for a lot of them, the goal is to get bought out. I know. And then there's really fun Maha moms who track, who sold their soul to big food. So I still use. You know what? I won't name them. There is a product that I love and we use. And then I saw on Instagram that the Maha people said, oh, they just sold their soul. They sold out to big food. Cross them off your list. They're not an independent startup anymore. But absolutely. I mean, I think it was a couple months ago I interviewed the CEO of Poppy who sold out to. I believe it was a Pepsi or a Coca-Cola that sold for billions of dollars. That's awesome. That's every entrepreneur's dream. That's the American dream. You start a little soda company or sell out. And then obviously it's up to the consumer to decide, you know, if Procter & Gamble bought you. Or is that do you still have the beliefs that I value? You would hope that in those deals when these small companies sell out, they make a deal with the big companies. Like, please maintain the integrity of the manufacturing. Please maintain the integrity of the ingredient. But, you know, that's up to the market to figure that out. Consumers can decide that big food will figure that out. But I always want to root for the entrepreneur who gets to. sell out, if you will. Yeah, I agree with you. And I think that that is what people strive for, is to find an area, find a hole in the marketplace, fill it, and then cash out. Yeah. You know, I mean, and that's America and that's great. Taylor Riggs is with me, host, co-host of the big money show, of course, Fox Business, and follow her at Riggs Report, where she always posts great videos about her day, which goes for 18 hours. I don't know how you do it, but talk to me about data centers because I saw in Texas. Governor Greg Abbott just put a stop on data centers or temporary halt. Everywhere you're hearing stories now about angry residents coming out to town, council meetings, counties, whatever, and they're yelling. We don't want these things anymore. We don't want them. And then you have people like Elon Musk and others who say, if you say no to these, you're letting China win. Yeah. That's just something similar that was said by, I think it was John Fetterman too. So break it down for us and how you see all this playing out, Taylor. I want to say yes and yes to both sides. I am pro-A-I. I'm pro-Data Center. I'm pro-taking on China. I'm pro-winning the AI race. I'm pro-A-I American technology. That said, I do understand that there was major backlash against these AI data centers. What I like is we're having the debate. is we're hearing from people on the local city council or at the town hall who are angry and they have every right to be heard. What I want to see more of is some of the representatives from big tech to go to those local councils and say, all right here, let's talk about this. Here is what we're not promising to do, but here is what we will do in writing via a contract to give back power, to help the integrity of the grid, to give back water.

I think if big tech did more of that talking and communication, there would be more. acceptance of these data centers. But Big Tech has been silent. They thought that we don't have to, we're just going to come build it. We're going to sneak it in your backyard. You're going to complain and too bad. And they didn't come and speak to the community. So I think shame on Big Tech. I don't blame people for not trusting Big Tech. I don't trust Big Tech. No one trusts these people. So they pissed off people on the right. Now they're pissing off people on the left. Now everyone hates them. That's their problem. They're going to have to figure it out. But I do like, and I'll channel my coworker who I love, Brian Brenberg, where he says, the best thing is that this is federalism. Every state is going to compete. And then 10 years from now, we can look back and say, which policy got it right? I think in New York, when they banned fracking 10 years ago, they lost. Our power prices are higher. We're importing power from Pennsylvania, blah, blah, blah, because you ban fracking in New York. Now you want to ban data centers. Okay. Let's see in 10 years. How that policy turns out. Other states are going full throttle ahead. Do they get more energy, more power, more tax revenue, more jobs? Maybe, maybe not. So I think the best news is we're going to see this play out. Every state's going to compete and we'll find it out. I guess I am surprised by Texas as well, though someone often reminds me on my show, populism is a horseshoe. So populism on the right. is meeting populism on the left and both sides are meeting in the middle where we're very angry about this specific issue because big tech is pissed off people on the right and the left and so um Yeah, big tech allowed with the censorship during COVID. Totally. I mean, no question about that. And saying that I'm not allowed to speak out about COVID. I'm not allowed to question a vaccine or just have an opinion about it. That is anything negative. And the way that they just like carelessly spy on people. I mean, people are waking up to the flock cameras in their towns and their communities too. I live in Jersey. I was active in Jersey politics for most of my career until I got into radio. And I, as somebody who was a former local county official, I just. how these things snuck into our towns and our I mean it's just happened almost overnight yeah but and you know that there's money attached to that where they're hiring lobbyists who were going to the towns and the counties and they're saying here yeah get these big contracts that's the kind of stuff that really makes people angry much like the data centers because all of a sudden it shows up and they go you didn't ask us consent to the governed here Yes. Right. And like, are you getting, I'm also, and you and I may have spoken about this. I don't want tax breaks or kickbacks for anyone. No. I don't need you to say, well, if you come build a data center here and invest this many billions of dollars, I'll give you a break on property taxes for the first three years to get you started. No. No. Let's do a level playing field. No one needs a tax break except the people. Right. So.

I will create a good business environment where you can come. We have low property taxes to begin with. We have low corporate taxes, low business taxes to begin with. Come, build and invest. I have a business friendly environment, but you're not getting any promise beyond that or a tax credit or an incentive. All the studies have shown that most incentives don't really work when you try to do that in the long term. I think just having a good business climate environment to start with is the way to go. So we'll see this play out. I haven't seen Governor Greg Abbott's letter. I did read Kathy Hochul's letter where she was pretty adamant in the op-ed that she wrote about why they were banning. Data centers, I think our frustration with that is like you've seen your record on fracking and now you're double down. Yeah. And being really now anti-business. I want to look into what the Texas governor has to say. But again, pausing for a year, China just last month put a data center on the floor of the sea. And they're using the cold ocean water to cool off the data. Like, we've got to go. on this stuff we do not want to be behind people wait till though people at the jersey shore lose their freaking minds if you tell them you're putting a data center off like the jersey shore for example imagine they would be no way they would they would not want it i mean there's i so there's that aspect of it but elan Elon Musk may save a day by putting it on the moon or putting them in space we'll find out at four p m tonight he's going to be talking about space x earnings and we'll get to hear from him for the first time he wants data centers in space Look, I'm joking with you. That's like a 20-year goal, maybe a 10-year goal. But it's something that they've said is actually a legit goal. So Pennsylvania is going all in on data centers. They are. Senator McCormick just had his big summit on AI in Pennsylvania. The president came. Governor Josh Shapiro was there. Senator John Fetterman was there. And they're going all in on nuclear, natural gas, AI. From a political analyst perspective, I don't know how that helps him necessarily going into a primary in 2028. But it is the right thing to do for the state. For the Commonwealth. It's what people want. It's they want the jobs. They want all this. But again, you do run into the NIMBY problem. And I see this from covering Pennsylvania. Like there are people who want, we want it, but we just want it in our backyard. So what's the biggest concern that people have with it being in their backyard, you think? I think there's a few things. One is visual. I think that even though you can put up like fake hedges. Did I talk to you about this? No. If I put it fake hedges. We talk about a lot of things. We haven't talked about fake hedges yet. Fake plastic trees are my favorite. Exactly. So I can put that around the data center, but when you're driving down the street, you're like, I can still see that's not like a real bush. And then someone told me it's like when you build a windmill, but then you rot the windmill in green shrubbery. Like it's still a windmill. You know what I mean? That's a cell phone tower. You're not fooling me. Yes, totally. So I think it is visual. But I think people have very real concerns about water and power. Power bills right now at your home. And I just got mine. And I guess it was a warm summer. We used more air conditioner than not. It only went up $70. But I looked at my husband and I said, we've got to tone down how much air conditioning we're using. I can afford to pay that. I keep my house at 82 degrees now.

Yeah. No, I'm kidding. Oh, well, I'm at 75 because I can't afford to live at 68. I would love to, but I live in New York. And we just are importing our power because we refuse to build our own. Same with Jersey. I mean, until we get the nuclear down on the grid in South Jersey in Salem County, for now the last governor did the same thing. He said, we're going to shut down all the coal-fired power plants. We're going to complete. And then now everybody's paying more. And they wonder why. So I think they're worried that AI data centers. don't. The studies that I've read show that these AI data centers contribute they don't take. And I actually think this is a great backdoor way to privatizing utility grid systems because I don't like how it's this like big monopoly. Like you only get two choices, heavily, heavily regulated. So I would like that I could have five tech companies come in, build their own power. And now that sector is privatized. That's sort of, again, a five or a 10 year issue. So I think they're a real concern. about power. The companies have signed a pledge, but again, I don't want a pledge. I want writing in a contract that says I will not use from the grid. I will contribute to the grid or I'll be self-sustaining. A lot of companies, I think the third NIMBY issue is about water. A lot of these companies can build sort of water cooling plants so that they're not taking from this system. So again, I think it's mistrust and I think it's bad information all around. People don't know what is true and what's not. As a maha mom. Are there any concerns, health concerns that worry the maha mom community? Because Taylor is our bridge to the maha moms. I know. I think my problem on this, though, is I'm in New York City. Yeah. So I'm not in the suburb. But I have heard some concerns. I don't know what state it was about water pollution from the, allegedly from the AI data center. And it kind of felt like this Aaron Brockovich moment. of is this going to be where there's big pollution? So I think people have legit concerns. I like that we're having concerns. I want big tech to respond. Yeah. I want instead of, I don't know what they're doing behind the scenes lobbying or not with New York and Texas governor, but I need more of them to come to these local meetings and talk to me. Tell me about it. Tell me what you're doing or what you're not doing and let's have a conversation because every American wants AI to succeed. Yeah. We want to beat China. Like we love this country. But you have to tell me more about what you are and are not doing to help support local communities. Take a quick break. We come back. I want to ask Taylor about gas prices. And if they are here to stay, high gas prices. Here on Guy Benson, it's me, Rich Zioly, in for Guy. The great Taylor Riggs is with us. Don't go away. Same issues, but with a fresh perspective. Guy Benson.

All right, welcome back to Guy Benson. Taylor Riggs in studio with me, co-hosts of The Big Money Show on Fox Business and follow her on social at Riggs Report. We get great financial news and also a peek into the life of Taylor Riggs, which is an amazing life. Is it? From the banana at 5.30 in the morning or 4.30 in the morning to... All right, to talk to me about gas prices. Are they here to stay? What's going on? Yeah, so we're at 409, I think on average right now. And I think we just did a report today. That's up 45% since the beginning of the year. That feeds into the affordability conversation. I don't know. I mean, oil prices were down today because there were conversations that Iran would let Europe mine, demine, the Strait of Hormuz, come in and take out all of the mines that Iran had planted. That would be helpful because I think the U.S. has looked around NATO and everyone else and said, you guys going to step up or you want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and come destroy you. The choice is yours. So if Iran would allow that, I think that would be really helpful. I think the UK in particular has really good technology around demining the straight. Oil prices were below 80 at that point. I mean, you got down to 79 on Brent, 73 on WTI. So. Does that bring down prices at the pump? Yes, slowly, but surely. One thing I will say, didn't love how the president came out and was criticizing big oil. I want to just set a few things straight. I know he's just poking and prodding because he wants people to know that he cares about affordability. And I appreciate and respect that. But telling ExxonMobil or Chevron that they have to, that they're price gouging or that they need to give price their profits back to the people. That sounds like socialism and communism and I don't like that. Also, I want to be really clear, big oil does not set the price at the pump. Who sets the price of the pump? Your local neighbor whose franchise it is at the local shell station, that's who sets the price of the pump. And so I don't like this whole price gouging thing because then that turns me against my neighbor. I know in my hometown in California, I have two guests. I think it's a Chevron and a shell, and they're on competing corners. And they watch each other. And when one dips, the other one has to dip because they know I'll just go to the next corner. They set that. And the guys who own that are local franchise people who live in our community. And so I think it's a little bit of a myth to say it's big oil price gouging people. They don't set. the price. They're making money as they should, but they're making money because the oil price is high. And that's because we're in a conflict with Iran. So I'll kind of leave that there for what it's worth. But look, affordability is the issue. We're going into primaries tonight in Missouri we talked about on our show. In Michigan, we talked about. And we are really looking at socialism in this country. And I think we need to understand how we got to this moment. And if we wanted things to be affordable and they're not affordable, people will go in another direction. Taylor Riggs, a great Taylor Riggs.

report and watch the big money show every day on fox business you're the best thank you taylor we'll be right back here on Guy Benson Guy Benson, it's Rich Zioly. Welcome back to Guy Benson. It is Rich Zioly, host of the Rich Zioly podcast with you today, filling in for Guy Benson, and great to be with you. Earlier today, we had KT. McFarlane on the show, former Trump Deputy National Security Advisor. KT. has worked under four presidents, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and President Trump. Here's a part of that interview. So the latest is the president is saying that we're going to give them one more chance. We're going to give Iran one more chance. A lot of people are turning around and saying, we've heard this before. Why is this time any different? I don't think it is. I think that we're going back and forth. We'll give them one more chance. They violated. The talks are not going anywhere, and they're probably unlikely to go anywhere unless somebody escalates, and that would be us to escalate or them to escalate. Now, why is this not a bad thing? It's not a bad thing because the price of oils remain pretty steady, below $4 a gallon, because the longer this goes on, the more countries are buying American oil and natural gas. than Middle Eastern oil and natural gas. The longer this goes on, the more squeezed Iran is economically. And that's where the real pressure comes, is the economic pressure. Is stuff getting through, or tankers getting through the Strait of Hormuz? Yeah, they are. As many as before, no. So to me, unless there's some political reason that the president or his advisors think that, well, we have to hurry up and end this because of the midterms, The objective evidence is that we're not doing too badly as a result of this. The stock market has never been better. The dollar has never been stronger, and that's in spite of the fact that we're in a war with Iran. It's a really good point. So I guess part of the president's bluster, I mean, you've been in the room with him during these situations you would know. Many times. Yeah. Is the bluster then to make Iran very nervous to keep them at the table because we don't want them to just, I guess, disappear? From the table, I mean. Yeah, I mean, from the negotiating table? No, I think he's trying to do a delicate balance between taking more military action, taking military action potentially against their economic targets, like their energy targets. And at the same time, not wanting the war to get bigger. Our allies in the region, particularly the Saudis, they're nervous if the United States goes to, quote, finish the job. that somehow Iran will attack them, retaliate against their water desalinization plants, or their energy infrastructure. So they'd love Iran to be dealt with. They don't want to have to deal with Iran, but at the same time they're nervous that it expands. It's a very delicate balancing act, but as the longer this goes on, the better it is for us in the sense that Iran gets more and more degraded.

Then we've taken out their nuclear sites. If they rebuild them in the same place, we take them out again. If they rebuild nuclear sites in another place, fine, we'll take those out. So we stopped Iran's capability of making nuclear weapons. What I think that... We need to look now is, do you change the regime? Not that we change the regime, but that the regime becomes so fractured within itself that, you know, the regime that's at war with itself is not a strong regime. And so potentially, then you have the same thing that you had with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that the countries themselves push the communist aside. And that's what you hope happens. Right now, there's a fight between the people we're negotiating with. Who, you know, are they bad guys? Yeah, of course they're bad guys. But they're at least willing to make a deal. The fight is between them and then the Revolutionary Guard who wants no deal with the United States at no time. Nothing's going to stop them from wanting to sabotage a deal, to not agree to a deal, or if they agree to a deal, to back out of the deal. And so can we get those two fighting with each other? And there's an old expression, you know, if you've got two enemies that are fighting each other, whatever you do, don't stand and try to stop them. KT McFarman's with us, great to have her, former Trump deputy, national security advisor. All right, so let's talk about some of the allies in the region. The president was saying going into the weekend that this was it. It was going to bomb Iran epic proportions. It would end. And then all of a sudden, he said it would give negotiations more time. That was after a call from the Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed. Yes. So let's talk about the allies in the region. Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Where do they all stand in all this? Well, you know, the interesting thing is that you and I had this conversation two years ago. And I said to you, well, guess what? The Gulf Arabs, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, maybe even Saudi Arabia, are all going to be working with us and Israel on the same side against Iran. You would have laughed because no way the Gulf Arabs would have gotten involved. They never get involved. They always stand on the sidelines, wait to see who wins. Or as the expression is that they'll hold our coat while we do the fighting on their behalf, but they're not going to do their own fighting on their behalf. time around, they actually have been working with us militarily. And that's a big deal, because the ultimate goal is not just to stop Iran's nuclear program or to open up the Strait of Hormuz, but it's a reconfiguration of the entire Middle East. If you have a Middle East... where the Arabs and Israel and the United States are working together and the one outlier, the isolated country on the outside is Iran, that's a much safer Middle East. And that's the expansion of the Abraham, of course. And that's worth a lot because the Middle East has been fighting, gosh, go back to the Bible, biblical times. They've been fighting each other. Those tribes have been fighting each other before Muhammad.

Before Jesus. These people fight each other. So if we could get a situation in the Middle East where they're not fighting each other, where they're trading with each other, where they're competing with each other economically, but not trying to kill each other, I think it's worth a lot for world peace and for our economy, for our stability, for everything. And the president's saying that the strike would have been the largest since World War II. I mean, as a region, and I think your point, KT. McFarland is really something to take a moment and think about if these other Gulf State nations, you know, the fact that they're siding with us and Israel, it is remarkable. It's also a testament to how the region has changed economically where now you've got hotels. casinos, theme parks opening up. I mean, I would imagine the other countries want this to end, but they also want Iran to kind of go away, not come back in the same way. Because they want to make money. I mean, let's be honest here. They want to make money. And the only way they make money is if there's peace in the region. And that was the genesis of the Abraham Accords. So countries in the region, the Arabs, realized they couldn't rely on high oil prices to fund their societies. They knew that they had to diversify their economies, and they wanted to go into tech. But the only way to do that to get investment was peace in the region. Nobody's going to invest in a war zone. And so what did they do? They needed peace with Israel. And I think that's the forward, that's how it ends if it ends really well, is that these regions, this region of the world is no longer the one Tinderbox has brought everybody into every conflict for generations if it becomes the one region where they're competing and trading with each other, as the Abraham Accords have done. So the reconfiguration of the Middle East is a subtle point, but it's a hugely important point. Let me ask you about the cyber attacks. So seven states have reported cyber attacks, KT McFarland, on their water supply control systems. There's been some suggestions that Iran could be behind this. Well, what do you make of that? Here's the thing. The cyber attacks are the ultimate weapon. They're the perfect weapon. Why? Because we don't know who's behind them. They're very difficult to track down. Is it a country? Is it a rogue actor? Is it, you know, a terrorist group? We're not sure. In this case, it's probably these attacks are probably coming from a state sponsor of terrorism. And there's that list of what countries could pull that off. It's pretty short. And Iran would be on that list. One vulnerability that I'm very concerned with is the GPS system. So that the Chinese, for example, they can hack into GPS. And we rely on GPS for everything, not just for Google Maps, but we rely on it for our military relies on it. Our communications all rely on it. That's another vulnerability. Now, the new wars of the future are not going to be with tanks and airplanes. They're going to be fought with drones, and they're going to be fought with cyber weapons. And that's an area where I think the United States is we've really...

We haven't really kept up with what we need to do to defend ourselves from cyber attack because, you know, those water systems you're talking about, they're privately owned or they're owned by the municipality. Those companies aren't going to say, okay, well, now we're going to double our budget to protect ourselves from a cyber attack from Iran. So that's something where I think the national government does have a role to play. And, you know, on the note of China, since you brought it up, KT, is China still enabling Iran? Probably, but not in a big way. China's all about China. China doesn't care what happens to Iran. China wants access to cheap oil, cheap energy. And as long as Iran provides that, which it has been doing to China at a discounted price, China's happy with that. But if Iran starts to be a problem for China, China will buy the oil someplace else. So are they cooperating? Yeah, they're probably sharing intelligence with Iran. China providing them with military equipment, offensive military equipment. I doubt it. If they do, that's a real leap up for the Chinese to get more committed in a war where the Chinese, again, they didn't want to get involved in any where they want their cheap oil. And they're buying it, right? They're buying the cheap oil. And they're buying. They're buying cheap Iranian oil. But if it gets too expensive in the sense of the price they have to pay because of the uncertainty, because of the war zone, they'll buy it someplace else. And where does Russia fit into all this, KT McFarlane? Well, that's where China buys its energy. So China buys energy. China is one of the only major countries in the world that has no energy if it's not. It has dirty coal. But it doesn't have oil. It doesn't have natural gas. It's not really conducive to windmills or solar panels. They'll build them for us to buy, but they don't really work in China for a whole lot of reasons I won't go into. Chinese don't have shale oil or shale natural gas. So they're completely dependent, especially for their manufacturing sector, and most particularly for their high-tech sector, which takes a lot of energy to rental those computers. They're dependent upon importing energy, oil and natural gas. So if they can't get it from the Middle East, this President Trump has said to them, hey, buy our stuff. We've now become the world's largest exporter of crude oil. of refined oil and liquefied natural gas. And a lot of that is because countries in the region, around the world have said, look, I'm not going to bother with the Middle East. It's so uncertain. There's always a war. It's just not worth it. We're going to start buying from someplace safe like America. All right. There's a very important question on everybody's mind right now, KT McFarland. It's this. Rosie O'Donnell is set to come back to the United States to host the view. Do you think, and would you advise President Trump to threaten Ireland with bombing them into the Stone Age if they don't keep Rosie O'Donnell? You know, that's a tough one. I think let her go on the view. She's crazy. Yeah. And the more people who see how crazy she is. And for the full interview, listen at Guy Benson's show.com, Fox News Podcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. Coming up next, the home stretch. And that's producer Christine's favorite part of the program. Obviously, don't go away. Filling in for Guy Benson, it's Rich Zioli.

And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home Stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. All right. So let me bring in producer Christine, since this is her favorite segment, and we don't want to deny her of that. Here's a topic that I have here on my show sheet here today. The bald-faced truth about beards. And I don't mean the kind of beards. I mean like actual facial hair, beards. I love that you had to clarify. I had to clarify that because, you know, just felt like they need to do that. So JD Vance has a beard. Yes, he does. But he's really the only, and Markwayne Mullin has a beard, but JD Vance is the only really prominent 2028 candidate for president in the United States of America with a beard. We have not elected a president with a beard since like 1860 or something like that or 1885, whatever it is. Went to Lincoln president. Right, exactly. Might have been a couple guys of mutton shops after him, but what's your take on the beard? Should more guys have a beard or not have a beard? Okay, here's the thing. There are people on television, especially, I'm not going to name names, but that looks so good in the news with the beard. Name a name. I'm not gonna. Oh, come on. Is it Guy Benson? It's Guy Benson. Guy Benson looks so handsome with a beard. There might be a very tall man named Nate Foy. That's very good. It just might be. And if Nate Foy shaved, it would not be the same. Oh, no, no, no. For him, it would be fine. Okay, all right. Maybe that's not the best example. So it's not the beard that's doing it then. Gotcha. All right. But I'm just, I'm not, I'm not, yeah, my husband doesn't have a beard. Do you want him to grow one? Would you love him more if he did? Okay. If we're going to do it, we're going to do like a very, very short one, you know, like almost scruff looking. We're not like, I don't like, there's a lot of people. Like, I can't grow a beard or scruff. I am an Italian who cannot do facial hair. I have no chest hair. Yeah, you look good without the, I'm not hitting on you. Sorry, I just came on. Nobody thinks that. Well, I was just producing Jimmy's. I've known you for years and I've never thought that you were hitting on me ever. You know what? I produced Jimmy's show for three hours today. And you know. Yeah. And did you take your top off as a question on Fox of Ross America? That's what we all want to know. I literally said. I was a guest on there listening to Jimmy tell you. not to take your top off when we did the Aaron Rogers segment. I know, I know, something that I don't. But the entire Guy Benson audience wants to know, did producer Christine, end up. Nope. Nope. Nope. I was warned about this before. I've been here many years. And, you know, the last couple times I did it, that HR wasn't happy. So they just said, please stop. One and done. But I've been filling in for a guy for what, five or six years now on and off. I mean, I couldn't for a while because I had my own afternoon drive show and competed technically with the show. We don't do that anymore. So I'm free to do it again. We're doing a whole week.

week and August together. Yes. But I've never once at any point thought you were hitting on me. So why would that thought even cross your mind? You know, your mind gets all whacked out over there. Over there. Yeah. And now you feel like you need to say all these things in case HR is paying. Correct. Really like if Maria or John is really listening in. I mean, they're probably a coming. So. Yeah. I just am trying to put it out there to make sure I don't get myself in any more trouble. But I do, I do like a scruff. I do not enjoy the men with the really long. And look a lot of. Like a zizi top beard? Yeah, I don't like that. My buddy Jay has one of those. You don't like those. No. Joel is going to grow one out. He's going to grow one. I can't. Physically, I cannot grow a beard. It's going to take him years. The most I can get is a five o'clock shadow, which is what I'm sporting right now. That is it. Anything else looks like peach fuzz, and it's a disgrace of facial hair for me. What about Dylan? I've had a beard since I was 17 years old. I still have a beard. I have been, I have looked 25 since I was about 16. So, I mean, it's, it's aged me up. But I like it, I feel like it, it's kind of like a comfort. It's kind of like a comfort blanket, I suppose. Like. If I were to get rid of it, I might actually have a mental breakdown, a mentee. Why? Why are men so attached to their beards? I don't know. You know what, Dylan? I've never met you. So I wouldn't know. That's true. Yeah. And at this rate, we never will. And you know, here's the other thing, too. In every superhero movie or action movie, what does the protagonist do at the start of the movie? Think about it, Christine. What does the hero do after he's been a little bit set back? Could you get me the definition of protagonist? Yeah, it's like the hero, the hero. So in all these movies, what happens? He shaves his beard. It's like, right? He gets back into it. The hero was sidelined, kicked out of the military, whatever it is. That guy, the first thing he does when he's ready to get back on the horse and ride it, for whatever reason, is shave. I've never understood that because most of the heroes in these kind of like Western military movies have beards. But that's what they do. In fact, I remember Team America World Police, the movie that was done by the South Park guys, they actually had a joke, like a song in there about shaving. A montage, like first you got to shave before you can go save the world. So. Does that apply to women, too, if they have a beard? I hope they don't have a beer. They're working at a circus. You're Italian, you understand. Last thing I'll ask you is this, JD Vance, the beard helps, because if not, he'd have a big, fat baby face. Am I right? I agree. Yes, I do. And if I, he just needs, like, he's a really good-looking man. I'm not hitting on him. I think it's important. You clarify that. Thank you. Because Usha was very, very jealous just that. I'm not hitting on him, but we got to work on the hair. He needs a better hairstyle and then like... To go with the beard. Hubba, hubba. My prediction, he shaves for the 2028 run. That's my prediction. Yeah, you heard it here first. I just dropped the ball. I just dropped the hammer on that.

All right, we can see it. All right, thank you so much for joining us here on Guy Benson. It's been always fun to fill in and hang out with you. And I hope you have a great rest of your day and night and evening. It's Rich Zeoli, host of the Rich Zeoli podcast where you can get that in every podcast platform. Thank you for listening. Yeah, you look good without the, I'm not hitting on you. Sorry, I just came on. Nobody thinks that. Listen to the show ad free on Fox News Podcast Plus on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music with your prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.