All Midterm Roads Lead To...

This episode is brought to you by Claude by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter and finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.ai slash Spotify. This episode is brought to you by San Pellegrino Chau. A gift from Italy to your home. San Pellegrino Chau is a flavored sparkling water made with real fruit juice. Finished with a pinch of Sicilian salt for a perfectly balanced taste. So which flavor will you choose? Peach, lime, blood orange, cherry, or maybe the all-new limoncello. Crafted in Italy with zero grams of added sugar. San Pellegrino Chau. Buy it now. Hey guys, finding the perfect gift for the food lover in your life is easy. Thanks to Goldbelly. Goldbelly ships America's most iconic foods, straight from world famous restaurants, right to your door. So if you want to treat someone to Joe's Stonecrab from Miami, Franklin Barbecue from Texas, or desserts from famous foodies like Ina Garten or Martha Stewart, Goldbelly has you covered. Just go to goldbelly.com, and for a limited time, get 20% off your first order with promo code gift. That's promo code gift.

From the heart of our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., backed by the trusted voices of Team Fox, a clear, fresh voice cutting through the noise to tell the truth. It's Guy Benson with Guy Benson. Welcome to Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joel. Harry Hurley filling in today for Guy Benson. Thank you for the opportunity to pinch hit on a busy news day. And I think we could say this about every day because we are truly living in very significant times. Today was a very consequential day and it's still not over. United States Senator Bill Cassidy rose above politics and did the right thing. And you see many times in this era, this very divisive era that we live in, where if someone does you wrong and then you have the opportunity to do them wrong and then it doesn't serve the American people. but it has become the political meat grinder of today. Bill Cassidy had the ultimate opportunity to stick it to President Trump, probably permanently, and Todd Blanche's opportunity. to be confirmed as the Attorney General of the United States. And as you know, you can only serve in the acting capacity for a certain period of time. And then that's it. And then President Trump would be forced to have another acting attorney general. And then we don't know how the midterm election is going to turn out. A lot of people are very concerned, especially about the House, although really there is actually pretty good news there. And people are also concerned about the Senate. If Democrats hold serve in the seats they're defending and they can pick off Susan Collins and a few others, then they think they could be in business. So really, this is it. They're going to go into recess. This is last ditch, last gasp time. And when Senator Susan Collins a day or two ago came out and said that she would vote no against Todd Blanche, then Lisa Murkowski came out, not even a full day ago, hours ago, announced she would be voting no. Senator Mitch McConnell is recovering at home from a fall and pneumonia. He's not going to be voting. So literally it took it to one vote. Big as you know, John Fetterman even. I'm a little surprised in John Fetterman because Todd Blanche is qualified and John Fetterman usually votes.

for qualified people, whether they're Republican or Democrat. I'm surprised at John Fetterman. Who knows? Maybe he just, this is a bridge too far. I mean, maybe he's just catching so much grief that, and yeah, yeah, and you're probably going to vote for Todd Blanche, too, right? Right, John? So maybe he just couldn't vote for him. But. Every single Democrat, that's 47 if you count the independents because they're not all Democrats, but they organize and work with the Democrats. So call them 47. And now look where you are. The Republicans are at 53. But if you take Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell, now you're down to 50. That leads to Senator Bill Cassidy, who if he votes no. Remember, these votes, Susan Collins goes to the Democrats. Lisa Murkowski goes to the Democrats. That now becomes 49. Now it's 49-49 with Mitch McConnell not voting and only Bill Cassidy. Because I don't think anyone else. If you were voting, nobody could surprise. But if Bill Cassidy votes yes, Todd Blanche gets confirmed. If he votes no, he's defeated. And it doesn't get to the vice president to break a tie. There is no tie. It's either a 50 to 49 win or a 50 to 49 loss. The vice president doesn't get to vote to make it a tie. The vice president, the president of the Senate only gets to vote if it's equally divided as I believe exactly how it's worded in the Constitution. For those who didn't know, the vice president of the United States is the president of the United States Senate. specific it's like a lot of lieutenant governor positions they don't really have much of a job description they're they're a placeholder in case something happens to a governor or to a president so really the only thing in the constitution delineated for the vice president of any substance is of course there's all kinds of things about the president is incapacitated the vice president becomes acting president if the president dies the vice president becomes the president, I think initially acting president immediately and then becomes the president after taking the oath of office. So this was it. Bill Cassidy, and his floor speech was much anticipated, and I'm sure, except for maybe a handful of people that knew, a real stressful moment until... We found out would he be voting for Todd Blanche or would he be voting against Todd Blanche? Because time is running out here in this session and especially before recess, which I don't think they should take, but they're going to take it. So a good place to start is the beginning because this gives you a little bit of color on that Bill Cassidy does not ignore President Trump.

in his decision making here and his thought process. Joel Cut one. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to the nomination of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General. Over the last several days, I've heard from lots of people sharing their views on this nomination. And most of the time it's clear. Mr. Todd Blanche has become a referendum on how people feel about President Trump. If you don't like the President, you don't like Mr. Todd Blanche. If you do like the President, you do. I have not approached it that way. This process should be about Mr. Todd Blanche and how he will go forward in a difficult job and how the American people can be best served. I have a history with Mr. Trump, but that history does not matter one bit. Got to give him credit, and he showed that because he did something that a lot of people in politics would not do. If a president went against you and supported your opponent and you lost your seat. or any variation like that, where someone felt that they did not get the support from the president, you would think, and especially in petty politics, that they would take a golden opportunity. Look what he could have done today. And that would have been a crisis because there is a very, very big difference between an acting attorney general and one that is confirmed by the Senate. This is a very big deal. And it is not easy with the numbers being as close as they are. And Mitch McConnell has been six and the numbers are even closer. And then you have a couple of Republicans that are in states that unless they vote a certain way, then their position is on the line. So you can understand. I don't like it, but you can understand why Susan Collins, who has to do certain things in order to be able to win in the state of Maine. Ditto for Lisa Murkowski, but Bill Cassidy easily could have done the wrong thing here. But he didn't let this go without some drama and without some tough talk to make you not know as this speech was building. which way he was going to go. Joel cut two. Mr. Todd Blanche showed poor judgment in approving the anti-weaponization slush fund and exempting the president from IRS audits. No American should be unfairly targeted by the law, but no American should be above the law. Mr. Todd Blanche said these were mistakes, and he has made efforts to kill the slush fund. I am particularly concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare. DOJ bringing suits against political enemies. Both parties. Presidents of both parties have been guilty of this. It must stop. It should stop now. A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law, degrades the public's trust in our institutions, and makes our politics more extreme when we need to unite to solve the big problems of our time. So you're listening to Bill Cassidy just a few hours ago on his Senate floor speech. So he's criticizing... the acting attorney general, but then he's also mitigating and saying, you know, that both sides do it and this and that. And he continues, and he continues to be fair by also acknowledging that there are things that Todd Blanche gets criticized about that he has no direct control over. Bill Cassidy, Senator Bill Cassidy, continues, Joelle Cut 3.

I will also note that Mr. Todd Blanche is criticized for things over which he has no control. He points out that he has been criticized for presidential pardons given to January 6 rioters, some of whom assaulted police officers. Many of us were here then. But this is a presidential prerogative, and he is not the president. He also points out that he can advise the president, but the president is not obligated to take his advice. That is the same thing that former Attorney General Barr said in a separate conversation. And Mr. President... I can absolutely believe that President Trump at times would not take advice. And I give former Attorney General, twice Attorney General, by the way, for President George, I believe it was George H.W. Bush and also for President Trump in the first term, and that is former Attorney General Bill Barr. I give him credit. He's supporting Todd Blanche. He's been enthusiastically supporting him, and he's been extremely objective. And again, not looking to take a cheap shot at the president by derailing his qualified pick. You see, you have to understand this is all about these 47 Democrats that are going to vote no. They're voting no. on a qualified nominee. And that's where things have gotten really bad. And also, I note that Republicans, it's a different standard. The former Attorney General for former President Obama, Eric Holder, on the record that he was President Obama's quote-unquote wingman. Yet Republican attorney generals get grilled that you're going to be a yes man. Well, Holder said he was a yes man. He was his wingman. And that's okay, though. It's all good. And they all voted for him, but they won't vote for Todd Blanche. Bill Cassidy covers these accusations in cut five, Joel. Barr specifically addressed the allegation that Mr. Todd Blanche would be a yes man for the president. He said that any attorney to represent a client well has to have tough conversations and confront a client with difficult truths. That because of his previous attorney-client relationship with President Trump, Mr. Todd Blanche would be precisely the person to push back on President Trump. But that ultimately, and here Barr echoed what I heard from Todd Blanche, decisions are made by the president. Mr. Todd Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this. But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Todd Blanche. It is between Mr. Todd Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who, indeed, may not be as good as Mr. Todd Blanche. And it's going to be tough to pick up because it's one of those things where you have to see it. But it will pick up a little bit if I tip you off that you'll hear a pause because this is the part you've been waiting for. And he brings it home and he brings it home with significant emotion.

He did not, and he was not acting. He did not take this lightly. And he demonstrates it in this important final comment, Joe Alcott's six. This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Todd Blanche in very specific circumstances. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Todd Blanche. I'll be criticized for this vote, what's new. But people of Louisiana. And be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision. With that, I yield. And that was not a cadence thing. That was he was choking up. And he had to catch himself. And he is doing the right thing. And Todd Blanche, by what will likely be a vote of 50 to 49, either later today, tonight, or tomorrow, the Democrats can delay at 30 hours. He will be the Attorney General confirmed Attorney General of the United States. When we come back, we're going to tell you about two executive orders today where President Trump is addressing the issue. of birthright citizenship. We'll talk about it right here on Guy Benson. Filling in for Guy Benson, it's Harry Hurley. This episode is brought to you by Claude by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. And finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.i slash Spotify.

Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dylan and Joel, Harry Hurley, filling in today for Guy Benson. Now, some are thinking, hey, what's President Trump doing? Is he going road? The Supreme Court ruled on the issue of birthright citizenship, didn't they? Well, they did, but President Trump in a two different... Executive orders on the topic is addressing narrow areas where they believe, the Trump White House, they believe that these executive orders are legal. Now, you know, the usual Trump haters are going to say, the dictator, he's going against the Supreme Court. Look. They got a Democrat court to order today for the White House ballroom to stop the construction. Oh, by the way, there's also a rather secret military installation. That's a part of that. And that's not going to continue either. There is a stay for a short period of time to give President Trump the opportunity to appeal it to the full United States Supreme Court. But this U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, two of the judges, surprised, appointed by Obama and Biden, it was a two-one decision. They can appeal it to the full D.C. court or they could go right to the United States Supreme Court, which is what I would think that they would do. So on this matter, the reason I'm not conflating, the reason I bring up the other thing that happened today is because in no time at all, they will find a Democrat judge or a Democrat court to immediately shut this down. Remember all the Obama orders. They're all good. Even ones that expire with the president, if they're not renewed by the next one, courts have ordered that President Trump this administration must keep them. That's never happened in American history. So it's really, it is a bad time with respect to the politicization. of our judiciary. It's at a level. I'm not saying the politics hasn't always been there. You know, anything that gets you there because of politics, there's going to be a degree of politics suspected, but this is at a level that we've never seen before. So basically what you have is you have the belief that it should not be birthright just by coming into this country illegally and having a child. The belief is that the 14th Amendment that is always brought up was about slavery and people that would be discriminated against and not be given the right to vote. That this was never about just anybody who comes in here having the ability to be a natural-born American.

I mean, it would seem so logical that if you could just take politics out of it. That's how a reasonable person would interpret it. However, the 14th Amendment has been interpreted, has been treated very, very differently than what I just said. They've been treating it like if you're here, no matter how you got here, then you're a natural-born American. President Trump is bringing up two areas in these two executive orders where he thinks that should not be the case. We'll be back. Much more on a busy news day. This is Guy Benson.

This episode is brought to you by Claude, By Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter, and finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.ai slash Spotify. Filling in for Guy Benson, here's Harry Hurley. Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joelle. I'm Harry Hurley. Going in today for Guy. Pleasure to be here. Thanks, team Christine, for having me. On Guy Benson Newsmaker hotline is Liz Peek, one of the greats Fox News contributor and a columnist for Fox News.com. You can follow Liz at L-I-Z-P-E-E-K, simple enough, at Liz. Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. It is a pleasure, and you deserve this one. Before the primary, you wrote, and I quote, Michigan can stop the socialist fever rage or watch it swallow the Senate. I read the piece, but even without reading the piece, I knew what that meant. That meant if you go with Abdul El-Sayed, you know, you're going to get this, even though he says he's not a socialist. He says he's a capitalist, Liz. Ha, ha, ha, ha, very funny. And now he's talking about his brothers and sisters. in Israel. I mean, it's just getting pretty wild. Just like Francesca Hong wanted to cancel and Thanksgiving. And now, presto, it's Hong's favorite holiday. So we're getting the magic, Liz. You saw it coming. Tell us. I know. You know, the men in black moment seems to happen with regularity on the left. They say something and then, whoop, it's gone. And honestly, it's pretty stupid because some of these things that these crackpots and honestly some of them are crackpots have said uh turn out to be you know two years ago it's not like when they were four or before you know before they went to school or something so yeah i think you have to sort of take these people uh on at face value and if they have said something repugnant which by the way this person Francesca Hong who's uh running for the governorship of Wisconsin, I think you have to believe her. And I do believe her. And I think what happens then is somehow, because they have been so outrageous and generated so much social media furor, they get sort of swept up with enthusiastic young people who then promote them as a candidate. And then, presto, they have to start repudiating everything they've ever said. So it is a sort of unvirtuous circle. But here we are.

You know, these, again, Abdul El-Sayed, actually, I think is... sort of scary in the sense that he's much more cautious than Zohran Mamdani, who became mayor of New York. Zohran Mamdani has gone out of his way to alienate and offend almost every group in New York City. And I say that as a New York City residence. I watch. I keep a log of everything he does. And he's offended Jews, of course, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Catholics. I mean, you kind of go through the list, and I can give you a chapter and verse on what he's done to really sort of make those people angry at him. El Zayed is more cautious. He hasn't declared himself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. You know, he says he's a capitalist. We wonder if that is actually true. And he has been more careful in what he talks about. But make no mistake. What he talks about is complete. phoniness. He's not interested in working class Americans. And boy, oh, boy, they are certainly not interested in him. That's not who voted for him. Who voted for him are the young college students in Ann Arbor and other college towns in Michigan. And that's exactly the pattern of these DSA candidates and socialist candidates across the country. That's who's driving this bus, not the people who actually are on the assembly lines. at the Ford Motor Company or other people working with their hands. They don't trust these people and they're right. As I usually do, I'm buying what you're selling, but I would double down on one point. Abdul El-Sayed. He's arm in arm with Hasan Piker. He is not hiding that brotherhood that he has with him. He is elbow, elbow with a man that said that Israel should not exist, that America deserved the hit that we took on September 11, 2001. This Hasan Piker, you know, when you get the rage in Cajun, James Carver saying he'll leave the Democrat Party. What's he been a member for 65, 70 years, that he'll leave if Hasan Piker becomes prominent within the Democrat Party. This just in, Hasan Piker is prominent within the Democrat Party. Now, did you ever think in such a relatively short period of time? Because that's why I love... interviewing with you, you cover this stuff so well, so intellectually honest, so dispassionate, it's just terrific. But did you ever believe, Liz Peake, that we could have this conversation that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not seem radical anymore. Hakeem Jeffries seems normal. I mean, how did this happen like this?

Really excellent question. There's just so much rage it appears on the left. And I got to say, I do think part of it is Donald Trump. And it isn't because he has done things that are so offensive to people, although that is sometimes the case, certainly there's some group of people. I think it's because they've embarrassed them. He embarrassed the Democrats in 2016. like unforgivably by defeating Hillary Clinton. And he has shown the weakness and the intellectual frailty of the Democratic platform. Think about this. Really, since he became president in 2016, maybe even before, all that they have talked about, literally their platform is hating Donald Trump. Yes. So, you know, you have had tremendous disenchantment with Democrats, even though Trump's approval ratings aren't very good. Democrats are worse. And even in this period, they're worse. And why is that? Well, there's a good segment of the party. It doesn't feel that the party has fought back hard enough against Donald Trump. And then there's, you know, so that really created an opening, I think, for something new and radical and different. And I've got to say, Harry, I also think that. You've had just years of young people being indoctrinated in schools. By left-wing faculties, we know this is true in the humanities. 80% of the faculty, if not more, are registered Democrats. Most of those people self-identify as liberals. This is not a balanced institution writ large, our educational establishment, and they're turning out kids who are appallingly ignorant, not just about socialism and capitalism, although they've clearly been fed a... a bunch of baloney about how socialism is so virtuous and capitalism is so exploitative. It's also about Israel. I think the really most shocking thing in our lifetimes right now is the anti-Semitism that is actually condoned and almost welcomed on the left and by party people like Chuck Schumer. Liz, why did anybody except in Israel? I mean, really. Liz, why did Democrats, and I'm talking about the political ones in office, why did they turn on Israel the way that they did? Yeah, good question. Again, I think it came from young people. That's really sort of where all this excitement, white young liberal people with college degrees and a lot of them with advanced degrees. That's who's showing up in these.

rallies, there's pro-Palestinian rallies, right? They're not being held outside of assembly plants in car territory, auto territory. They're showing up at Columbia University and other universities. This is sort of the big movement amongst young people is that Israel is a terrible country that they deserve the horrible attacks on October 7, that Hamas. is simply a group of people working to better the lives of Palestinians. Can you imagine actually believing that for a single minute? If you do five minutes of reading, you will discover that Hamas is a group that has been withholding aid from the Palestinian people. They are welcoming starvation such as it exists in Gaza because it furthers their political ends. It's a pretty staggering thing. It's funded by a lot of people. I don't understand George Soros. He is a Jew. He left a totalitarian regime. I have no idea why he thinks this is the way his money should be. spend, but, you know, it's his privilege as an American to do that. It's craziness, in my view. And, Liz, a super majority of Jews in America vote for Democrats, even with this. Yeah. Oh, 70%. Yeah. Yes. So it's crazy. We're visiting with Liz Peek, Fox News contributor, columnist for Fox News.com, follow Liz at Liz Peek, P-E-E-E-K, Liz Peek. Can Abdul El-Sayed defeat a four-star? Admiral of the United States Navy, Mike Rogers, right now, right before the election, the last poll that I saw before the primary election on each side, when these two nominees have now won their respective spots in the general election, it was Mike Rogers up by four tenths of one percent. So no lead, statistical dead heat. Could Abdul El-Sayed beat Mike Rogers in Michigan? Well, it's obviously possible. I think it'll come down to turnout to campaigning. Does Mike Rogers have – he'll have lots of support. And there are a couple of things about this race that are pretty interesting. One is the UAW came out and endorsed Abdul El-Sayed over Haley Stevens, the establishment pick, who actually under Obama in the Obama White House had been part of the – task force that supposedly saved Detroit. If you remember, the carmakers almost went under after the financial crisis. And Haley Stevens is one of the people who identifies very heavily her time as helping the auto industry. That's one of the things she campaigned on. So you have to say, what in the world was the UAW thinking? Else I add, the closest he's ever come to the auto industry is probably owning a car. I don't even know if he does that. But anyway, it turns out. The UAW in recent years, because their membership was declining, they went out and sought new members in different kinds of trade groups. And one of the groups they brought in is like 100,000 young people, mainly working in higher education, graduate students, graduate teacher aides, things like that. And in fact, they then changed the rules in the UAW said that that group gained ascendance. I don't have to tell you.

what the political leanings of that upper education cadre is. It's very left wing. And so much so that one of the really loony people elected recently in New York City in a Democratic primary, who is really nuts, wants to abolish everything that we all think about as the sort of architecture of our society, she is a member of the UAW because she had a part-time job at Columbia University. What I will tell you is don't read that because I read that. But the UAW endorses all said. And I thought, wow, that is really weird. He was going through the alphabet with his endorsements with unions. It was every letter in the alphabet. Yeah. So I just think, I don't think working people are going to support them. They didn't in the primary. And I think probably, I hope a lot of those people will simply stay home. Remember. Rogers is only up a tiny fraction, to be sure. On the other hand, he hasn't really had to campaign. He hasn't been out there. He doesn't have a divided party. You have now the Haley Stevens wing of the party that are not happy at all. You know, I think she also got cheated once again by bad polling. There were polls from 10.5 points to 15 points. that Abdul El-Sayed was winning. Can you imagine how that depressed the Haley Stevens vote? I mean, these bad polls that come out like this, they do such a disservice, Liz. Yeah, I agree with that. He barely won. Her, but her, it was only one percentage point difference. That's exactly right. And some polls had him up by 10. One by 15. Yeah, but her group, her team should have pushed back on that. But, you know, the problem is if you get a lot of union people, you get a lot of young people, those are the kinds of groups, the teachers unions and stuff that go around knock on doors. And that's very effective in driving turnout. And so, you know, we'll see. I think Rogers is a very good candidate. People who know him, I don't know him, but they... And he barely lost by 19,000 votes two years ago. Liz, I want to dramatically put the breaks on because we have one minute, and I want to get your take. I wish we had at least five, but we don't. The latest cook political report favors, it shows Republicans leading... 212 House races, Democrats 205 with 18 toss-ups. That means if the landscape stays as it is, Republicans only need to win six of 18 to keep the majority. Now, I say it's redistricting and these wacky socialist candidates that are the nominees of the Democrat Party in some cases, they're giving Republicans in a midterm election an opportunity. to keep the majority. Quick, your thoughts. Yeah, no, I think that's exactly right. They've opened the door. They should be, this should be a very one-sided election. It doesn't look like it's going to be that, particularly because President Trump is not very popular and the war is not popular. Price of gasoline is over $4.

If he can bring this war to an end, and we all hope for many reasons he can, and the economy stays strong. I know we had not a strong jobs report today, but most of the loss was entirely government employment. I say hooray for that. The answer is the Republicans could end up eking out a small advantage in the House. because the Democrats are shooting themselves to the foot. And I think that is true. Which would be amazing. I mean, other than September 11th, it's never happened. So this would be remarkable. Liz, great to be with you. Thank you very much for having me. Take care. You're welcome. Enjoyed it a whole lot. And Liz, right there, fortuitous, because we're going to be talking about these bad job numbers. And Liz raised a very good point. You know, Biden job numbers had a whole lot of government jobs. That's not been the Trump philosophy of governance. They've been not filling positions and contracting with government hiring. So it's a fair comment. We'll talk about it next. on Guy Benson. It's Harry Hurley. This episode is brought to you by Claude by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter and finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.i slash Spotify.

Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joelle. I'm Harry Hurley filling in today for Guy. So the job numbers were not good. We won't sugar-coded. Here on Guy Benson, there was an expectation of more than 80,000 jobs, and it came in at negative minus 23,000. So you're looking at more than 100, what, 103,000 negative. And there had been a number of very positive months. And that was a surprise. This is a surprise to the analysts. They did not expect it. They expected 80,000, got less than, you know, less than zero by tens of thousands. And then. You look back at the last month, and usually the month before that, and you see if there are any revisions. And so not only is this month not good job-wise, but also the last two months have been revised downward. Inflation ticked down from 4.2 to 4.1, but for all the wrong reasons. And even though wage growth is healthy, up over 3%, It's completely wiped out by inflation that's also up by more than 3%. So you have about a 3.2% increase in wage, but then you have a 3.4% inflation, so actually all of it is gobbled up. Giving an update on the president and what he's doing right now, the president, President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others. They're at the State Department. The theme is American mining, American jobs. Joel cut 34. Half of our current mining workforce is set to retire within the next three years. Well, that's why my administration is making an unprecedented financial commitment to our nation's mining schools. It's going to keep us nice and young and vibrant. The schools came to us seeking $10 million per year in funding. Instead, I'm thrilled to announce that we're delivering $100 million to train the next generation of American miners. There is much more. Stay with us at President Trump from the State Department. This is Guy Benson. We'll be right back.

This episode is brought to you by Claude by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter and finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.i slash Spotify. generation of conservative talk right here right now fair fun and backed by the trusted voices and reporting resources of fox news you're listening to Guy Benson and now here's your host Guy Benson Welcome to Guy Benson with Christine, Dylan and Joel. This is Harry Hurley filling in for Guy Benson. And this is a Fox News alert. As we enter the middle hour of today's Guy Benson, the Dow Jay Jones Industrial Average closed up 151 points, up just under, fractionally, just barely under 3% up for the week. Closing at 54,036.52 for the day. Also, just a fun fact and an important end to see a record high closing today for the S&P 500 as well. 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 Americans for Prosperity.org slash guy to find an AFP chapter near you. Now it is my privilege to be joined by one of the most talented writers, one of the most talented broadcasters in America, New York Post columnist. Michael Goodwin, you can follow Michael. and I will give you his handle, M. Goodwin, and that is G-O-O-D-W-I-N, so traditional, just like he's a winner, M. Goodwin underscore-D-N-Y Post. Michael, welcome to Guy Benson. Good afternoon, Harry. Thank you. Great to be with you. There's no question in my mind that this mayor is Zohran Mamdani. Now he's getting booed off the stage. You know what's going on. You see it. You write about it. His act, and you and I have had conversations about this, we knew he was going to win, and we knew that he would become universally popular very, very quickly. It is happening, isn't it, Michael? Well, look, I think that he is a talented politician. No question about that. Very good at social media. But he's having a hard time translating that to governing because you run on all these promises, but then you have to implement them to keep your followers radicalized and happy.

And some of this has turned out to be a lot trickier than he thought it would. So you mentioned getting boot off of the stage. There have been other situations where he just looks out of place where he looks like he's still campaigning instead of governing. And I think that is beginning to take hold now. There is a sense that he's somewhat embattled because... A lot of his big ideas, the socialist ideas, tax and spend ideas. are not universally popular. Don't forget, he won the election with slightly more than the majority. It was not a blowout. He had a fairly big margin of the second-place finisher, but altogether he got just over 50% of the total vote. So there was a lot of suspicion and doubts about him, and I think we're seeing him come to the four. more and more as he tries to do. more of these radical things that he campaigned on. Let me bring up one that you're well-versed on Michael, and it's Michael Goodwin visiting on Guy Benson. Michael Zerramm Zohran Mamdani decided I'm going to call doxing. He put out all these people like 950,000 people, and some of them don't even qualify for this $5 million luxury tax, but he put them in there anyhow. Like people coming out of the woodworks, hey, this is my primary home. You know, this is not a second home. And so he put them... all out there, some of them, obviously very influential, are not happy with him at all for doing it. You know, they bring up the insurance executive that was gunned down, and they feel like, you know, he put a target on their back. Hey, look at us. We're rich. And oh, by the way, here's my name. Here's my street address. And here's where you can come and find me. I can't blame them for being very ticked off about this. Your thoughts? Well, I think those are very good points. And his taunting of King Griffin, the head of the financial, taunting, standing outside his apartment saying, we're taxing the rich. And the letter that you mentioned from the finance department paints us a broad brush and includes, as you say, many people. who's not even apartments are worth that or houses. So it's mystified how many of those people got on that list to begin with. But even worse is it says you will be taxed.

Unless you can prove you are innocent and that you are, in fact, a full-time resident. You are guilty. Michael, you are guilty in our New York City, America. You are guilty until you prove to us that you are innocent and will decide whether you've proven it satisfactorily or not. It is terrible. Yes, and the fact is I spoke to one friend of mine who got one of these letters, he's lived in the same house for 40 years. And as he points out, the city has my tax returns. I am at New York City full-time resident. The city had my returns. So they're making me prove it now, even though they have the documentation themselves. So the same people who put out this list. and wrote these letters, they already know the answers. And yet they're making people scramble to pull together the evidence that they are innocent when the city already has that document. Michael, the Zohran Mamdani administration forgot that the script of the socialist Democrats of America and the Democrat Party in general on this one, there's not an inch of separation between the two on this one, where they say it's racist and misogynist and any criticism or any label you want to tag somebody with for photo ID, but in their wonderful socialist. grocery store where you get 30% off of the regular price they wanted photo ID their their hypocrisy is is delicious isn't it michael Yes, I mean, Pogo ID for me, but not for me, right? For my causes, but not for yours. Right. And I think this is a classic kind of situation, Harry, because you have somebody who's very young, he's at 34, he's never had a real job in his life. He was in the state legislature for four years. That's not a real job. He's a Nepo baby. His parents are wealthy. And so, Here he is, he's a piepiper of the socialist, but he gets into office, and it's more complicated than it seemed to be on the campaign trail. And so translating all of that great idea that got to applause, you know, on the campaign trail, now you try to turn it into governing. And the holes in it, the problems in it become apparent to everybody. So this is a very important example. And one of those turning points, I believe, along the road, every new politician faces it. But he faces it in spades because of the grandiose promises. There you go. It's true, Michael. The big smile at all times, the soaring rhetoric, and now the crash.

to the ground in actually having to govern, and he is really experiencing how difficult it is to actually try to accomplish, like, you know, free transportation. How's that going, Michael? And I predict, I predict this food setup, and you know it too, Michael, this food setup is going to be an absolute disaster. abject failure, no question about it. And give us your take, and then I want to pivot to the midterm elections before we run out of time. Another example of the same thing. He promised free child care for city employees. The first couple of places that he plans are hoping will cost the city double what private... providers would charge. So there you get, there's a government waste twice as much. You care for your child if the government is doing it versus what a private operator would charge that family. So that's the kind of thing. That's not sustainable. You cannot have, we all know government is inefficient, but more than doubling the price for child care. It's an example of how these ideas are not translating smoothly from the campaign to City Hall. And by the way, going back to the food store thing... The poor food store owner that doesn't have the 30% subsidized discount, imagine competing with someone that's selling a 30% less than you are. And you know, you know better than anyone, Michael. The margins in the food business, they're like 3% maybe. They're not big. Yeah. You can't compete against that. He would show, you think about that. So let's assume he got these stores up and running and puts people out of business. How has that helped the city? What about the workers, right? What about the taxes that business will not be paying because it's no longer functioning? I mean, all those kind of things. It's like there was no thought given. It's like, let's just have Santa Claus give us everything every day. But this is a socialist mindset. We all know that it's never succeeded anywhere. So why do we have to try it in New York? Because enough voters were hoodwinked by this young man. There you go. Michael Goodwin, visiting on Guy Benson, two-minute drill. The Charlie Cook political report, which I think is pretty good. I don't think it ever wildly favors Republicans, but I think it's pretty good. And it's what we've got for the moment. I saw this yesterday. Cook has it that Republicans are favored right now to win 212 House seats. Democrats 205, 18 are toss-ups, meaning the GOP, think about this, only if they can hold serve and keep what they've got. They only need to pick up six seats to win the majority, which, as you know, other than September 11th.

of 2001, which altered that midterm just a few months later, this has never happened. Republicans just might keep the House, Michael. Closing comment. You're right. I mean, historically, the president in the first, in the midterm of this term, which is where we are now, has lost upwards of 40 feet often. Yes. Two years, and people say, time for a change, we want this, we don't like that. So the fact that it's closed, according to the polls now, is really quite an accomplishment for the Republicans. Michael, I think it's stunning. I think it's more an indictment of the Democrats. Me too. I totally agree with that. Let me put a fine point on it for your quick closing comment about 30 seconds, Michael. I think the redistricting is huge that the Democrats tried to pull that, and Republicans just beat them silly with that game. And that's a big number that's helping Republicans. I think that's a dozen seats or more. And also these wacky. Democrat, Socialists of America candidates, I think there's your secret sauce that's going to keep the House Republican. Closing comment. Yeah. I think, I mean, the ultimate outcome is going to defend on the Iran war. and if it can be concluded with anything like a victory, and that, therefore, should bring down energy prices again and maybe even some food prices. I think the president can win or will win or lose this election. There are the individual candidates in the district. But I think what President Trump does from now until November is going to be a huge factor in the outcome. Michael, great to be with you, my friend. I always enjoy our time together. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you. We'll be. You're welcome, Michael. We'll be right back because this is Guy Benson. Stay with us. Filling in for Guy Benson. It's Harry Hurley. This episode is brought to you by Claude by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter and finds connections you might have missed. For problems worth solving, get started at clod.a.i slash Spotify.

Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joel. My name is Harry Hurley. It's an honor today to fill in for the great Guy Benson on a busy news day. Well, well, well, a lot of us predicted this. So on behalf of everyone that knew that this day would come, it has. The United States Appeals Court has blocked President Trump. Because that's what it is. They don't care what the issue is anymore. Democrat judges just say no. to everything. If Trump was going to put a relative in a life-saving state, they would rule against Trump. It is derangement at its lowest level. And look, this project is under construction. The White House ballroom, every president in modern history has said, we need a ballroom. I mean, ladies are out there in long heels and the wet grass. And it's just, it's not safe. The world is more dangerous than ever. And now we have drones and all kinds of things. And they need a ballroom. And the president was very smart. He has an entire, it should be secret, but because we have so many disloyal leakers in this country is not a secret anymore. There's a whole military installation of sorts. that's down below the ballroom. So no surprise, a U.S. Federal Appeals Court has ordered President Donald Trump's administration today to stop construction on the $400 million ballroom on the site of the White House's east wing. Now, it's way under construction. What are we? To leave it? So they come up with some rationale that Trump is merely a temporary tenant. He's not the owner of the White House. Never said he was. Hey, do you think when they tore the front down and they put the balcony up? Do you think some loser judges said, stop, you can't put the balcony, you're just a tenant? I mean, look at when they put the east wing on, did anybody say, no, no, no, you're a temporary tenant. You can't put the east wing on. So understand, it's never about the issue. It is always about trying to stop whatever President Trump is doing, no matter how good it is. This was a two to one split decision. They could go to the whole U.S. Federal Appeals Court, and you can appeal like that and have the whole court vote on it. Not sure what that would mean. The court is an extremely liberal one. And of course, they always know where to go, Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that is always standing by to thwart President Trump.

I would hope that he would try to get an emergent. appeal to the United States Supreme Court, which I have to believe would say that the president is within his executive authority to make this approval that's already underway, and we shouldn't even be talking about this. The appeals court, and this is just perfunctory, it's normal. They put the ruling on hold for 14 days. This allows the President Trump administration to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which I assure you, I do not speak. for my former boss, but I am sure that they will appeal it to the full court. It is just a shame that we now live in a bizarro world where this kind of just unnecessary political retaliation takes place even on the most mundane type matters. Why would you want to stop a secure ballroom from being created? What sense does that make? We'll be back. This is Guy Benson. Stay with us. Guy Benson, sponsored by Previgin. Previgin, made for your brain. Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine, Dylan, Joel. I'm Harry Hurley filling in today. Poor Guy. And this is an important conversation that Americans all over this rooted plane need to be having in the run-up to the midterm election because the stakes, they couldn't be higher. You hear cornball comments like, it's the most important election in my lifetime and all these things. This is... if not the most, one of the most significant elections of all of our lifetime, because there is a radical fringe element that has taken control of the leadership of one of the two major parties and is the Democrat Socialists of America. And remember, they're proudly proclaiming other than Abdul El-Sayed. And I believe it is completely strategic with him. And we'll get to him in just a moment. But he says, I'm not a socialist. I'm a capitalist. But you look at everything that he has said and done. And he is right there with the playbook. He just realizes in the state of Michigan. You can't play it like they can in some of the deep, dark blue states where if the radical socialist candidate wins and becomes the nominee, then they're the Democrat nominee and most of the Democrats will vote for that person, even if most disagree with that person. So there is a lot, a lot to unpack here. First, let's start with.

When you hear this term so that it's not just jargon, democratic socialists of America, liberals used to not even want to, did not want to be called liberal. They would fight to say, I'm not liberal, I'm not liberal. Now they proudly boast that they're socialists. In some cases, they're actually full-blown communist, and they won't admit that yet. But given the opportunity to gain more power, to consolidate it, and have more people with their philosophy of governance coming on board in congressional seats, governor seats. For example, you have Francesca Hong in Wisconsin. She is the leader right now in this upcoming Tuesday's Democrat primary. She's likely going to be the Democrat nominee. And she went from saying that Thanksgiving should be canceled, ended, to Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This is how crazy. This is going to get over the next couple of months. So what is... a Democrat socialist in America today. It's important to know. It is someone who wants to eliminate the United States Senate, even some of them who are running for the United States Senate, which is kind of hilarious because they're running for an office in their doctrine, if you will. They're, if you will, their institutions and you know the DSA, if you haven't heard it, they want candidates to sign on to every single plank of the platform. That means you have to be for eliminating the Senate. What would they do then? They want to have what I would call a communist Congress that would be in control of everything. because the electoral college would be gone, the presidency would be gone, the Supreme Court would be gone. They say dark money, super PACs, and all of that. But look at the money that, take, for example, in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, I think he had like $14 million, something like that. His opponent, I think, had about $12 million, Haley Stevens. And as you know, the polls in the, I think you know, in the run up to that election. They said, oh, my God, it's over. Abdul El-Sayed is winning by 10 and a half to 15 points over Haley Stevens. Just it's over almost like don't even have the election. And I think when every vote is counted, because she was picking up one-tenth of one percent of the vote towards the last 10 percent of the vote with every single percent of the vote that came in. She got one-tenth of a percent. It was clockwork. So I think she's going to be under one percent. She's going to lose. The race is called. And Abdul El-Sayed is going to be the Democrat nominee running against. Imagine this. You've got this guy running against a four-star admiral of the United States Navy. I mean, it is.

You could not have. Sometimes people complain, I can't tell the difference between the two candidates. That's not this one. This is going to be amazing, this race. It's going to cost a lot. And Al Sayyad is going to have to pretend that he's not who he is. He's going to pretend that he's moderate. because he thinks that if he shows the whole game plan, he won't win. And he's right about that. When on election night, he's right there with Hasan Piker. Hasan Piker is a deal breaker for James Carville, who's been a Democrat for like 65 years, maybe more, who said if he becomes prominent, I can't be in this party. Hasan Piker was with Abdul El-Sayed. on their election night victory, talking profanity that had to be bleeped out, nasty in so many ways, and don't forget. This is a guy who says Israel should not exist, which means he is for their extermination and other horrific things that he has said, such as America deserved getting hit by the terrorist enemy. Although he doesn't call him a terrorist enemy on September 11, 2001. Think about that. Is that radical? Is that crazy? But that's what they're trying to sell. And that's who they're hanging around with. I'm not done yet with what the DSA, the Democrat Socialists of America, would do. They want to eliminate immigration and customs enforcement ICE. They want to eliminate all prisons. They want to eliminate all policing. They want to eliminate all national borders. So did you see Spain earlier this week with more than 60,000 people pouring in, some people dying in the madness and the stampede? No national borders. Imagine what that would be. Long time, which they mean permanent amnesty for what they call undocumented immigrants. You might call them illegal. They want to end capitalism. They want to dismantle private corporations. They want to take over all major industries. What could go wrong here? And remember, there are usually people that have never had a job. They've never run a lemonade stand. They've never had a paper route. And they want to take over all major industries, still not done. They want to eliminate the Pentagon. They want to eliminate all military operations. They want to defund our military. So think about that. And of course, they want to also close all of the overseas U.S. military bases. So what would be left if we did not have the supreme, we have the supreme right, but if we did not have the ability? to defend ourselves. What do you think would happen? We are known throughout the world as really the nation that most normal people wish was their home. And we were the ones that were blessed by God to be born in this great country that I can tell you the Democrat Socialists of America. They don't like America. I love America.

I don't speak for you, but I think you love America. Not only don't they like America, I think they hate America and they want to change it. So look at that. And of course, I want to lift anything that we're doing with economic trade if we have either blockades, sanctions, or anything in effect with anyone, Iran, anyone, Venezuela. So if you think about it, what could possibly go wrong with this amazing new philosophy of governance, which, oh, by the way, has failed all throughout recorded history 100% of the time. Socialism cannot succeed. And there are many reasons for it. First of all, we are born with a desire to be free, to not be controlled. Socialism is about control. They live well, and you live with whatever they permit you to be able to have. So right there, one of the biggest inspirations that people have is that equal opportunity in this country, but equal results are not promised because if you work harder than I do, you have an opportunity to grow to incredible levels and achieve so many things that under socialism, by definition, it's not permitted, period. Take a listen to Abdul El-Sayed. the Democrat nominee for the United States Senator from Michigan that as of a couple of days before this past Tuesday, if he were the nominee and it hadn't happened yet, Mike Rogers was going to be, Admiral Mike Rogers was going to be the Republican nominee, but it had not yet officially happened. The polling showed that Rogers was ahead 44.4. to 44.0. Four-tenths of 1% with this man's radical agenda. So it really shows you, I feel good about Mike Rogers' chances. He only lost by 19,000 votes two years ago, and this is a much more radical candidate that he's going up against. However, we have to be honest, things have changed a lot in the last two years. These Democrat socialists, you know, I don't want to say I want to give them their due, but you have to be at least mindful of what they've been able to accomplish. Take a listen to this. Abdul El-Sayed on this horrific channel, MS Now, about Israel. Joel cut 21. I just think we need to treat Israel the way we would treat any other country who behave the way that Israel is behaving. I understand that Benjamin Netanyahu is a big reason why they've gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty under his reign. But I also understand that it's impossible for us to say that we want a two-state solution while we've been aiding, arming, and abetting the very people who have been trying to foreclose on the possibility of a Palestinian state. Can you believe this guy? So he loves Palestine.

probably loves Hamas, hates Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and with the United Kingdom and Israel, our number one in one A, closest allies in the world. And this man wants to be in the one of 100 club, and it's the way he speaks. We continue. Abdul El-Sayed on MS Now, cut 22. As I've always said to my Jewish sisters and brothers, I'm looking forward to fighting the fight against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia with you. I'm looking forward to joining you. If you open the door for me, I'm happy to come in. I'm looking forward to building relationships. I hope that you'll join this movement. Who was it? The great Maya Angelou who said that if someone tells you who they are, believe them. He told us who he was long in the past and even recently during the campaign when he was going for the radical vote of the Democrat Party to try to carve out a win in the Democrat Party primary against Haley Stevens. Then he won this squeaker. He got it done. Got to give that to him. He got through. And he is going to be, and he is the nominee. It's not a certified election yet, but he is going to be the nominee. And he won the election. And there was his message after becoming the nominee for a general election campaign. I say believe the former and not the latter. They go from those horrible words that we just played on Guy Benson to now they're his brothers and sisters. Check that out. We'll take a brief time out. We'll be right back much more. This is Guy Benson. Billing in for Guy Benson, it's Harry Hurley.

Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joel. I'm Harry Hurley. Honor to fill in today for Guy. Now, when we last left you just a little bit ago, we were talking about the Democratic Socialists of America. And beyond the words of a monologue about how radical they are and all the things they want to end and all these things that would tell you they have no chance of winning. Treat them as a very significant threat because they are winning. Now, the key is going to be they cannot win in a conservative state. If the Democrats put up someone is too far left, this is why, for example, and this is not political, this is objective, and I'll give you a counterpoint, which will prove it. You take Susan Collins in Maine. She can win in Maine because the voters in Maine do not look at her, even though she's never let in a poll and yet she's never lost an election. She can win in Maine and she will win again. And that's why strategically, I believe she announced yesterday that she would not be voting. for Todd Blanche to be the next Attorney General of the United States. And if you haven't heard the news today, both for initially bad, but then good, it was going to be very, very close because Todd Blanche lost another senator, another Republican senator. However, Bill Cassidy, who easily could have if he just wanted to stick it, you got to give Bill Cassidy and he almost cried at the end because I knew he knew how weighty that was. And he voted. He voted. He will vote, and it will hopefully take place later today, no later than tomorrow, but before they leave for this recess. So it's got to be real soon. Democrats could hold it up 30 hours, but I don't think they will. The bare number of votes are going to be there for Todd Lance to be Attorney General. I got to give Bill Cassidy a lot of credit because he didn't take a political shot back at President Trump. He did the right thing because Todd Blanche is qualified. He should be confirmed, and he will be confirmed. Let's listen to Van Jay Jones, who's actually been fairly objective as of late, because he used to be thought of as so, like these guys, like the Democrat Socialists of America, he used to be looked upon as the hardest of the hard lefties. Listen to Van Jay Jones on CNN. Joe Alcott, 23. Look at these numbers. If you are an Arab kid in America right now, If you're a Muslim kid in America right now, and you're looking at this, this is one of the biggest nights of your life. This is Barack Obama. This is Hillary Clinton. So, you know, whenever there's a first, you have real hopes and you have real fears. There's real fears in some Jewish homes tonight. But this is a big deal. And I think no Muslim has gotten this far in American politics. He should speak to that and not any of the divisions in our party. I mean, to be a healing force and put those kids first.

So there's that side, but also Van Jay Jones has been very critical of Abdul El-Sayed and some of his positions that he is concerned about for how far left he has gone. So you have both from Van Jay Jones. We're going to take a brief time out. We will be back. This is Guy Benson with Christine Dillon and Joel. I'm Harry Hurley filling in today for Guy. And when we come back... We will be visiting with United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who heads up the House Judiciary Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committees. A wide-ranging discussion coming up with the Congressman right here on Guy Benson. Stay with us. 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 thelongdrink.com. And now, here's Guy Benson.

Welcome to Guy Benson with Team Christine. That is Christine Dylan and Joel. I'm Harry Hurley. Filling in today for Guy Benson. It's a pleasure to do so. Joining us on Guy Benson Newsmaker Hotline is United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew, the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey's second congressional district. He is a member of the Judiciary and Transportation Committees, and this is a really important assignment that... Congressman Jeff Van Drew has earned. It's a very big deal, and we've seen consequential things coming out of this committee throughout Congressman Jeff Van Drew's tenure as the chairman, where he is the chairman of the Judiciary Oversight Committee. So you know when there's things going wrong... This is a very powerful committee of oversight. And before we get into some of the topics that we know, you want to know about our listeners on Guy Benson, maybe talk about that for a moment. I always mention that you're chairman of the Judiciary Oversight Committee. But for example, Anthony Fauci gets up there and 11 times takes the fifth when he has like an 11 year. preemptive pardon uh that's a thing that you've announced you did it you announced it on Guy Benson in fact it was a breaking news story a week or two ago when we were here with guy and christine dillon and joel tell us about the judiciary oversight committee what you do First of all, it's a pleasure to be on with you, Harry. I appreciate it. And what I love about the Oversight Subcommittee is that we are able to delve into anything. So there are a number of subcommittees of judiciary. And yes, you're right. It's a very important committee, the Judiciary Committee of the Whole itself. And Jim Jordan is a great guy, a good friend, a colleague I work with a lot. He shoots straight, he's honest, and he's a good man. And we just deal with those things that you hear about and say, this can't be right, particularly as they relate to the Department of Justice, we relate to the FBI, the Attorney General, and then what's going on in some of the various states and cities with the prosecutors and attorneys general that they have locally. We deal into all that. And what do I mean? Why do we need to look at this stuff? We need to know. And hopefully there will be a day that this won't exist anymore, that local communities, cities like New York City, Philadelphia, don't have prosecutors that release out, released known felons out on the street over and over again until they do something so vicious, so horrible, that finally they're in prison for a long period of time or hopefully for life. We need to talk about that because it's happening in our urban areas. We have some really bad, like Letitia James and others, bad attorneys general and bad prosecutors. We've delved into that before. Delaney Hall is one that we are working on now in September. We're going to have a hearing about what really is going on in the detention centers.

Not the made-up stuff, the lies, the fabrications that the Democrats are making. And as you know, Harry, I went into Delaney Hall in Newark myself, got into the weeds, looked at every part of that facility, talked to some of the people who are in there, and what the Democrats are saying is not true. They're treated very well. In fact, I've got to be honest with you, some of your taxpayer citizens and listeners. would be quite aggravated if they saw how they are treated. They would think it's perhaps a bit too much. They don't need soccer courts and they don't need a law library and the lending library. But we're a humane society, so we try to treat people well. But I'm disappointed in colleagues that have gone there on the left and just out and out told untruths and not really told how it was. After September, we are going to go into... Another hearing we're looking into now, and this will be fascinating and it is upsetting as well. And so all of the violence, I guess, is the word to use that's related to politics and the body politic and what's going on. And all of the plots and assassination, particularly assassination plots and plans that are out there. that have been foiled, but the ones that we still worry about, and a lot because we just let people into the country and provide that were some terrible people, not all of them, but many of them were terrible who were granted amnesty, who were, it was catch and release, catch them, put them right back out onto the street events, so we're going to look into that. And then the last thing, besides just the work that I do in committee, as you know, we've had hearings locally. People cannot afford to live easily in this country right now. And when I see some of, not all, but some of these big utilities, and I think of one particularly in my neck of the woods in South Jersey, that does probably more than half of the state, Atlantic City electric, again. put out a notice that they're increasing some of their fees and taxes and costs and people's bills are going to go up yet against. How unconscionable is that? How long is that? You know, the electric company and some of these utilities record profits, you know, they could tighten their belts a little bit as well. We are visiting with the United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew on Guy Benson. This is a very big deal. Predictably, Senator Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski announced that they would be voting no on the nomination of Todd Blanche to be the Attorney General. I know you know from your positions for a long time on judiciary and your chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Judiciary. The difference between an acting attorney general. and someone who has Senate confirmation. It's not a small difference between the two. It's a very big deal. So this all came down to Senator Bill Cassidy, who I'm proud of him, because obviously President Trump went against him. He could have stuck it to President Trump, like John McCain, stuck it to President Trump on the Obamacare. And I give Bill Cassidy a lot of credit.

He rose above it. Let's take a listen. There's a lot that he said in a preamble before this, but this is the salient part where he announces what his vote will be. Joel cuts six. This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Todd Blanche in very specific circumstances. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Todd Blanche. I'll be criticized for this vote. What's new? But people of Louisiana. Can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue. And to make the right decision. With that, I yield. And I do want all of the listeners of Guy Benson to know that Senator Bill Cassidy, and I'm not saying he's not a sensitive person, an emotional type person when something is so incredibly important. But I had not seen him like that before. He had to pause a couple of times at the end because he was ready to cry. This was a very consequential vote. This is the difference between... Todd Blanche, possibly never being the Attorney General confirmed, and a vote that could come as early as later today. Your thoughts, Congressman Jeff Van Drew. Well, you said it so well, Harry, and I just want to echo what you said. I am proud of them as well, not because it was a yes voter and no vote, because he rose above it. And it's hard. We're human beings, or emotional. But we are capable and should be capable in the positions that we hold, particularly when you're a member of Congress or a U.S. Senator, you're at, you know, quite frankly, a very high level of government, and you have to act in a way. that is appropriate at that level of government beyond emotions or tips for tat or, you know, the kind of thing that you see sometimes. It's so unbelievably disappointing. Two things here. This is why I get so disappointed when I see a member of Congress and they behave very petty. And they don't realize the importance that the gravitas of what they are doing. These are big decisions. He rose against it. He has a president that did not support him. And yet because he thought it was the appropriate and right thing to do based upon the hearings, the questions that were asked, the questions that were answered, he exhibited in this particular case a profile of courage. And I am proud of them as well because it would have been so much easier to do the other. We're visiting with the United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew when we come back more about this important issue of non-citizens. not only registered to vote in New Jersey, but hundreds who have voted, Congressman Jeff Van Drew is suggesting he believes it's even more than what they have admitted to. We continue that important discussion on Guy Benson next. It's Harry Hurley.

Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dylan and Joelle. I'm Harry Hurley filling in today for Guy Benson on Guy Benson Newsmaker Hotline is United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey's second congressional district. Congressman Jeff Van Drew... Representative Jim Jordan, Stile, and also Laurel Lee, sent a letter to New Jersey's lieutenant governor. You've been all over this, the 6,600 non-citizens who are registered to vote, the maybe 400 or thereabout that actually did vote. It really proves something that we always knew was true, that this was happening. The Democrats always said it wasn't. This is a big deal. Tell us about the letter, and where does this stand presently? Look, we want more information. Now, it's going to be interesting to see if we get it or not, because quite frankly, the governor has not been cooperating with the FBI. Much... you know, cast some concern whether she's really going to cooperate with, you know, chairman of the oversight subcommittee. But nevertheless, we're going to go forward. I don't know we're looking into if we have the subpoena power here. It's very specific and based on very specific cases. So we will look into this more. We're going to work at it. As I said, we're going to have a hearing on this as well. and the hearing is going to go into all the details. In fact, that hearing will be coming up in September as well. We're going to go into all the details of what happened here, get into the weeds. Here's the deal. And it's not that complex. First of all, I feel justified, rectified, whatever the word is that you want to use here. Vindicated. Vindicated. Thank you, Harry. You're right. That's the word. Yeah.

said a number of us were a real concern. Something doesn't seem right. We were, it was, you know, and what we're doing with our votables. Oh, it's a conspiracy theorist. You're a racist. You're xenophobic. You're a liar. I mean, there were so many negative adjectives. I don't even remember them all. But I soft them off because I just really believe there was an issue here. And sure enough, after, you know, berating us and beating us up, and when I say they, the left, turns out it was true. And quite frankly, they have a lot of egg on their face to clean up because they look like jackass is here because they swore absolutely impossible. Not one single illegal ever votes in the state of New Jersey. Guess what? It's not only the state of New Jersey. It's in many states around the country. They are voting. And it's more than it's being admitted because those that we know of and the 6600. and the 400, those are ones who freely admitted it. Right, they self-reported. They didn't lie. And yeah, they told the truth. They said, we're illegal. We are, we don't worry. We're not legal here. And yes, we are registered to vote. How about all those who wanted to vote and were illegal, some of whom very well possibly are criminals, and said, well, we're not going to tell the truth, especially criminals. They're not worried about telling the truth. We're not going to tell the truth so we can vote and make a difference. And when I think of places like Patterson, New Jersey, and I know we're national, but just to let it be said that this is a town, and I know the town well, that used to be a great town. that now has a big sign in town, New Palestine. You don't think there are people there who want to vote and change the fabric of America and the fabric of the state and their town? Of course there are. So we've got to try to get into this. We've been working hard at it for years, which shows why you don't give up, and the pressure that the department has called me and put on this to make this happen because they were pointing out. that they had lists that showed that were people who were illegal and were registered for vote. And so finally, the truth is coming out. The truth shall set you free. And you know what, Harry, we want to be free. Absolutely. And here's my belief system, and I know it's yours, Congressman, for elections to have finality, and we have to have finality, or there's not a trust in our system. And then we lose our country. If there's not a belief that winners won and losers lost, They told us for years and years it was zero. I don't even have to repeat. You said it all, and you said it so well. all the names that we were called for saying that this was going on. They said it was zero and that we were all these horrible things. Well, now they admit that it's 6,600 and that about 400 voted. I can't believe that number because it comes from the same people that said it wasn't happening and that it was zero. And unless they remove the cloak of secrecy off of this, Congressman Jeff Van Drew, there will be no confidence in our elections.

And that's the shame of it. And that erodes our republic. You have to believe that every vote that is valid is counted, that votes that are not valid are not counted. And it's really, again, we know that the other side wants to make this complicated and get in the weeds and make up all kinds of nonsense. It's real simple. If you want to vote in an American election, you need to be in America. No more, no less. Doesn't matter what color, race, creed, what you believe, whether you're liberal, whether you can. No, but you need to be an American. And if you're not an American, you shouldn't be able to vote in an American election. I don't think we're asking for too much. And I like it that Congressman Jeff Van Drew said that and feels that way, but our United States Constitution says that. Most importantly, absolutely. Now, in our two-minute drill, in our two-minute drill, because you have been all over this, and this is the save. America Act. It's just stunning to me that the Republicans would even think in the Senate of going to recess. I love what Mike Lee is doing. Cancel the recess. Till you pass this, you can't leave. They should be doing it like that. And I can't believe, or I can believe, actually, Zohran Mamdani wanted photo ID. for the grocery stores that are going to go bankrupt in the first six months anyhow. Also, they want New York City photo ID two forms and your Social Security card to shovel snow, but these Democrats fight tooth and nail against voter ID for voting. Is that not crazy? It is insane. I don't know how to articulate how to articulate how crazy it is. It is wrong. You want to vote in an American election. You need to be an American. But here's why they're doing it. They want to change the substance, the structure, and the fabric of the United States of America forever. And if we lose this country, the world loses everything. We need to exist. Congressman, great to be with you. Keep up the good work. Thank you, Harry. I always appreciate you. Keep getting the word out. Appreciate you back. Good stuff, good content, important information. Just let that sink in, though. New York City Mayor Zonan Mbani wanted photo ID for the grocery store. And as I mentioned, New York City, it's still in place to shovel snow for the city. They hire people when there's, you know, big snowstorms. Two forms of photo ID and your Social Security card. But yet it is some, and of course the Obama Library and to go to the NAACP Convention, to go to the DNC annual convention and the presidential convention every four years. You need photo ID. But none of that. All that's fine. But yet if you want photo ID to vote, the sanctity of one person, one vote, it is all these terrible things that they say racist and all these other things. Quite extraordinary. We'll be back. This is Guy Benson.

Guy Benson, here's Harry Hurley. Welcome back to Guy Benson with Christine Dylan and Joelle, Harry Hurley. Filling in for Guy. Earlier in the program, we spoke with Liz Peek, Fox News contributor and columnist for Fox News.com. Here's a part of our interview. Before the primary, you wrote, and I quote, Michigan can stop the socialist fever rage or watch it swallow the Senate. I read the piece, but even without reading the piece, I knew what that meant. That meant if you go with Abdul El-Sayed, you know, you're going to get this, even though he says he's not a socialist. He says he's a capitalist, Liz. Ha, ha, ha, ha, very funny. And now he's talking about. his brothers and sisters in Israel. I mean, this is getting pretty wild. Just like Francesca Hong wanted to cancel and Thanksgiving. And now, presto, it's Hong's favorite holiday. So we're getting the magic, Liz. You saw it coming. Tell us. I know. You know, the men in black moment seems to happen with regularity on the left. They say something and then, whoop, it's gone. And honestly, it's pretty stupid. because some of these things that these crackpots, and honestly some of them are crackpots, have said, turn out to be, you know, two years ago. It's not like when they were four or, you know, before they went to school or something. So, yeah, I think you have to sort of take these people at face value. And if they have said something repugnant, which, by the way, this person, Francesca Hong, who's running for the governorship of... Wisconsin, I think you have to believe her. And I do believe her. And I think what happens then is somehow, because they have been so outrageous and generated so much social media furor, they get sort of swept up with enthusiastic young people who then promote them as a candidate. And then, presto, they have to start repudiating everything they've ever said. So it is a sort of unvirtuous circle. But here we are. You know, these, again, Abdul El-Sayed, actually, I think is sort of scary in the sense that he's much more cautious than Zohran Mamdani, who became mayor of New York. Zohran Mamdani has gone out of his way to alienate and offend almost every group in New York City. And I say that as a New York City residence. I watch. I keep a log of everything he does. And he's offended Jews, of course. Puerto Ricans, Italians, Catholics, and then you kind of go through the list, and I can give you a chapter and verse on what he's done to really sort of make those people angry at him. El Zayed is more cautious. He hasn't. declared himself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. You know, he says he's a capitalist. We wonder if that is actually true. And he has been more careful in what he talks about. But make no mistake. What he talks about is complete phoniness. He's not interested in working class Americans. And boy, oh boy, they are certainly not interested in him. That's not who voted for him.

who voted for him are the young college students in Ann Arbor and other college towns in Michigan. And that's exactly the pattern of these DSA candidates and socialist candidates across the country. That's who's driving this bus, not the people who actually are on the assembly lines at the Ford Motor Company or other people working with their hands. They don't trust these people and they're right. As I usually do, I'm buying what you're selling, but I would double down on one point. Abdul El-Sayed. He's arm in arm with Hasan Piker. He is not hiding that brotherhood that he has with him. He is elbow, elbow with a man that said that Israel should not exist, that America deserved the hit that we took on September 11, 2001. This Hasan Piker, you know, when you get the Rage and Cajun, James Carver saying he'll leave the Democrat Party, what's he'd been a member, for 65, 70 years, that he'll leave. if Hasan Piker becomes prominent within the Democrat Party. This just in, Hasan Piker is prominent within the Democrat Party. Now, did you ever think in such a relatively short period of time? Because that's why I love interviewing with you. You cover this stuff so well, so intellectually honest, so dispassionate. It's just terrific. But did you ever believe, Liz Peek? that we could have this conversation that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not seem radical anymore. Hakeem Jeffries seems normal. I mean, how did this happen like this? Really excellent question. There's just so much rage, it appears, on the left. And I got to say, I do think part of it is Donald Trump. And it isn't because he has done things. that are so offensive to people, although that is sometimes the case, certainly some group of people. I think it's because they've embarrassed them. He embarrassed the Democrats in 2016, like, unforgivably, by defeating Hillary Clinton. And he has shown the weakness and the intellectual frailty of the Democratic platform. Think about this. Really, since he became president in 2016, maybe even before, All that they have talked about, literally their platform is hating Donald Trump. Yes. So, you know, you have had tremendous disenchantment with Democrats, even though Trump's approval ratings aren't very good, Democrats are worse. And even in this period, they're worse. And why is that? Well, there's a good segment of the party. It doesn't feel that the party has fought back hard enough against Donald Trump. And then there's, you know, so that really created an opening, I think, for something new and radical and different. And I've got to say, Harry, I also think that you've had just years of young people being indoctrinated in schools by left-wing faculties. We know this is true in the humanities. 80% of the faculty, if not more, are registered Democrats.

Most of those people self-identify as liberals. This is not a balanced institution writ large, our educational establishment, and they're turning out kids who are appallingly ignorant, not just about socialism and capitalism, although they've clearly been fed a bunch of baloney about how socialism is so virtuous and capitalism is so exploitive. It's also about Israel. I think the really most shocking thing in our lifetimes right now is the anti-Semitism that is actually condoned and almost welcomed on the left and by party people like Chuck Schumer. Liz, why did anybody except in Israel? I mean, really. Liz, why did Democrats, and I'm talking about the political ones in office, why did they turn on Israel the way that they did? Yeah, good question. Again, I think it came from young people. That's really sort of where all this excitement, white young liberal people with college degrees and a lot of them with advanced degrees. That's who's showing up in these. rallies, there's pro-Palestinian rallies, right? They're not being held outside of assembly plants in car territory, auto territory. They're showing up at Columbia University and other universities. This is sort of the big movement amongst young people is that Israel is a terrible country that they deserve the horrible attacks on October 7, that Hamas is simply a group of people. That was a part of our interview with Liz Peek, the Fox News contributor and Fox News.com columnist. For the full interview, go to Guy Benson.com. Coming up next, it's the home stretch. Team Christine will be talking about hot dogs in the happy hour, in the home stretch right here on Guy Benson. Always fresh, always fair. Guy Benson.

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. And I will never argue with executive producer Christine. Never, never, never. This is Guy Benson with Team Christine. That's Christine Dillon. Joel and yours truly Harry Hurley filling in today for Guy Benson. Now, what a topic. A $100 hot dog. And before you scoff at that, which it does sound ridiculous on its face, when you learn what's in it, there's a lot of value within this 100-hour hot dog. It still sounds ridiculous to me, Christine, your thoughts? Well... I can't, I mean, it's obviously some sort of novelty. I can't imagine most people paying that amount of money. Let me guess, though. Is there caviar on this hot dog? Yes, there is. Yes. Is there gold flakes on this hot? I'm just making this up. You are so on point. Is there some crem fresh on this hot dog? There is. Am I missing anything? You have done your show prep. No, I think you've got it covered. It's just, why would you waste that to put it on a hot dog? Like if you're going to have caviar, you know, like have caviar, I don't understand why we would spend all this money other than just like it's fun to say, hey, I spent it. It's actually embarrassing to say, hey, I paid a hundred dollars for a hot dog. It is the $100 golden glizzy. The caviar dog, a lot of names for it. You know, you think about hot dogs. I think about baseball games. And a hot dog seems to taste the best at a baseball game. And there's just something about that. Now, we know the things have gotten even expensive at professional sporting games, but my goodness, a $100-hour hot dog. Now, I will say this. I would not pay... for this 100-hour hot dog. Christine, would you? Absolutely not. Dylan, would you? I mean, I wouldn't, but I mean, I'm surprised Christine. I mean, Christine loves hot dogs. She's been known to flout around Times Square in a hot dog costume for fun. Oh, Dylan, okay. Hold on a second. Okay, I see what's going on here. It took me a second to catch up. Harry, I'm going to explain to you what's going on here. Yeah, you're getting picked on. As... You know, I was over producing Jimmy Phala's show this afternoon. So Dylan had taken it, you know, he was taking over the rundown for our show and he was picking the home stretch topics. Now I see what we did. He literally found an article just to bring the words hot dog.

On to Homestretch, so then he could jump in because he knew you're going to go to him, and he was going to just randomly tell you that I dressed up as a hot dog. Now, Harry, it is a true story, but I may have to explain some things to you. Please. I lost a bet. Oh, I remember this, the guy, correct? No, this was my old radio show, the John Gibson radio show. Okay, yeah, yeah, I knew John. And... If you remember back in the day, Anthony Wiener was, I think, thinking, or did he run for mayor? He did run. He did run. Okay. So this was a long time ago. And I had made a bet to John saying that I believe Anthony Wiener was going to be our mayor. And he said, okay, if you're wrong, which of course you are, you will dress up. as a hot dog and you will go into Times Square. What a bet. And you will buy hot dogs and then you will ask anybody if they want your wiener. Oh my gosh. Now, I took the bet because obviously we know here I always take the bet. And I lost. I lost. I have to say there was a point in time where Wiener was in the race. Wiener was the leading Democrat candidate, which meant he was the leading candidate also to win the general election. And there was a moment in time where you had a shot. And this was after all of his, you know, photos and all that embarrassment. Yes. of Anthony Wiener's pictures. I'll just leave it at that. Do you know right now, we were talking about this on a Jimmy's show because like what constitutes as something where a candidate would have to drop out or would be a disgrace? I honestly think now if that happened to him, it would not be that big of a deal. No, no, just like who's the guy, he was a comedian, Al Franken. Al Franken would not have had to leave for what he did. But then when people were getting canceled and it was really sensitive and he just, he had no chance. He was gone. He would be still here today. I totally agree with that point. And even with that scandal, until they really worked him over during the campaign, he was leading the race to be governor, to be the mayor of New York City. You had a real legitimate shot of pulling that out. He was in it and he was leading. Well, he lost, Harry. He did. And you had to wear the suit. And I, it was the most. Now, I got to know, because I know you, you know, you are a very strong woman. You're a leader. You're a classy, elegant lady. Pillar of the community, Mary. Yes, respected. Everywhere. I mean, and here you are in this wiener suit. Correct. Were you totally mortified? Yeah, because I had to put it on. while we were on air in the radio studio. And then I had to get into the elevator and go down to the lobby. And it just so happens, I wound up on the elevator with a very, very high up person at Fox News. I'm talking like the suits, you know, like pretty, really high up. Like the worst luck you could have. Completely. And I looked at him and I go, hey, you know, I lost a bet. Isn't this funny? And he looked at me, I swear, hand to God, he looked at me and he goes, I don't do hot dogs.

I wanted to die. You wanted to melt. I wanted to melt. But I did it. Some big girl. I made a bet. And I went out to the middle of Times Square. I took some pictures with people. Yeah. Yeah. So. Don't let Dylan fool you. He tricked you just to make fun of me, Harry. Do you feel used at this point? I feel, I don't feel abused. I feel slightly deceived, but I have to say in a delicious funny way. But am I wrong, Dylan? Exactly. I was looking at home stretch topics today, and I just saw the word, I saw the word hot dog in an article, and I was like, you know what? This is a perfect... segue for me to throw this story back on air. It really took me a second, Dylan. It's funny, you probably heard the wheels in motion on air and live. I did, as I usually do. I heard the wheels. I heard the gears. They got a little WD40 and they started to turn. We got there eventually. Yeah, I did. Hey, Dylan. Dylan, you want to play Truth or Dare with the guest host? Sure. All right. Here we go. If you were staying for six years or 60 years and not six days, would you have done this to the executive producer? Oh, a thousand percent, yes. Oh, yeah. I could have answered that. Love, love, love it. And I'm just kidding, too. Of course. Oh, this is so good. We're off the rails, officially off the rails, because this is not a serious topic, but it does qualify as happy, happy hour. It is the home stretch. We do have a $100 hot dog, but I do have to ask Joelle, Joel, would you pay $100 for the golden glizzy? Harry, listen, my man, I know times are tough in his economy right now, but $100 for a golden glizzy ain't it. It's a no. We have a unanimous four-for-four that we would not be customers for the 100-hour golden glizzy. Christine, because of the abuse that you took during the segment. I want to take back my vote. Oh, you would buy it now? No, I don't want anything to do with it now. You're going to abstain. Yeah. I'm annoyed. Thank God it's Friday. I mean, normally I don't do this, Harry, but it's been a day and I might just have myself a cocktail. I know. It's a little crazy of me. So the official vote for Team Christine is three, nay.

No one voted yes and one abstention. One, not angry, but one disgusted abstention. Yes. Can we go home now? We can go home now. You're the boss. It's, it is the end of the show. Thank you for listening. And Christine, thank you for having me. This is Guy Benson. Hand to God, he looked at me and he goes, I don't do hot dogs. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get a head start on your Christmas shopping? That's right. Check one more gift off your list with the Fox News Wine Shop Advent Calendar, featuring 12 festive wines inspired by the holiday magic of Fox Square. You can reserve yours for just a 1999 deposit. We'll deliver it free right to your doorstep in time for the holiday season. Quantities are limited, so visit foxnewswineshop.com today. 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.