Show Rewind 7-24-26

Hey guys, Lady Luck here. Are you going on any road trips this summer? I know I'm going to be going on a bunch of road trips. And being that I'm going to be passenger princess, I love playing on SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest has all of my favorite slot games, live blackjack, live craps. Head on over to SpinQuest right now and get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10.00. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio host's product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. from the state capitol this is south carolina's morning news with kelly nash good morning 603 and christopher thompson with us how are you doing this morning kelly i'm good ready for friday all right we got a lot to get to today um Jim DeMint will be on the show, updates regarding Russell Fry. You know what, before I even get into that other thing, let me just ask you right off the top of your head. Any thoughts on the announcement yesterday from one former gubernate, Mark Sanford, on his entry into the Senate race? Not a surprise based on that poll, Kelly, that you told us about yesterday, which showed a huge gathering of low country voters were undecided. Despite being given a long list of names, they were waiting to see another man enter the field. And I mean, we talked about this when the primary was held in the first congressional district. How many votes he got when he had been out of the race for more than a month? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, people. Yeah. He's a big name. Yeah. He's, he's. And, you know, in spite of his baggage, he. carries a lot of weight when it comes to talking about the finances of this country and, you know, the doom and gloom about the rising debt. I won't say the man's name because most people in this state would know who I'm talking about. But he had a falling out with Mark Sanford back when he was still the governor, literally about that scandal with his girlfriend and the Appalachian Trail. Okay. That was the falling out. point and he texted me last night that he's supporting sanford and i said despite your i mean he had a personal beef with him about that that wasn't like he read it in the paper it was sanford lied to him specifically about that stuff and he said look he's everybody's got flaws he's got his i've got mine

But I think he's right on policy when it comes to the economy. And that's the number one issue. And I want Mark Sanford to win. I was like, hmm. that I had not anticipated because he has long bemoaned Mark Sanford kind of lying and backstabbing him. Well, Sanford lied to his entire staff. He didn't tell anyone what he was doing. Lied to his family, lied to everyone until he had that ugly press conference where he told way too much about his personal life. But, yeah, Sanford still carries a lot of weight in this state. Yeah. And... I haven't had a chance to check this morning. It's like we're getting polls on the hour, but I haven't seen if there's been any updated polling since he announced, because that came out about what, like 1 o'clock yesterday? Yeah, it was pretty early in the afternoon. I can't imagine anybody's put a poll in the field yet. Yeah, factoring him into it. So at this point, it would seem, I'm just going to make an estimate. before we even get any real polling. That right now it's still going to be Ralph Norman and Darling Graham are going to be that top tier. They could be interchangeable. But then you're going to have to see. I think Mark Sanford is probably going to be. kind of alone in that number two tier and then the previous number two tiers with mark lynch and who else do we have somebody else in there and the number two buckner and yeah i'm going to put them in a different tier like duke buckner and the other crew the peter paul and mary or whatever their names were the guy who's still living in charlotte yes the guy who's still living in charlotte those people will be on a different tier um I'm interested. I'm going to be talking to Alan Wilson on Monday, I think, because they announced yesterday that he's going to be hosting like some sort of, are they calling it a debate or it's like a moderate? thing i'm not really yeah some kind of forum a forum which is different than a debate and uh so he's doing that and then like literally the next night it's like gray tv's having their debate yes have we figured out who's attending who's not attending yet they haven't announced that i don't even think they've announced a location yet only that they're having the debate All right. August 3rd. Okay, so I think it's either August 2nd or August 1st. We'll get clarification on that in just a minute. Alan will be hosting something in Lexington with the whatever candidates are invited. I don't know if they're all invited. They're calling it a Senate stump stop. The stump stop. Yes, August 1st. That's, okay, it is August 1st, yes. So it's like he's preempting.

The debate. And that one's that one's in conjunction with the Republican Party because Drew McKissick's involved with that as well. So that's a, it's not like it's Allen's out on his own doing something here. He is in conjunction with the Republican Party and having the Senate stump stomp or whatever. Stump stop. Yeah, hard to say. Say that one three times fast. Okay, well, let's see. Maybe, you know what, okay, we'll take a break here. I'll come back. We'll play a little bit of the interview with Jim Dement, who I think. I think might be influencing some people. When you hear his endorsement, I found it to be a very compelling argument. We'll play that and more. It is South Carolina's Morning News. This is South Carolina's Morning News with Kelly Nash. At one time, Senator Jim DeMint was rated by the Heritage Foundation as the most conservative senator in America. and he left that to go on later on to become the president of the Heritage Foundation. He's still one of the great conservative influencers in America, and it's a pleasure to welcome Jim DeMint back to the show. Good morning. Oh, Kelly, you're more than gracious. It's still great to be in the fight, though, and I always love the chance to talk to your listeners. You've got a great show now in Columbia and Charleston. That's great progress. Yes, yes. We're now covering the low country on 94-3 WSC, so that's exciting for us as well. Candidates are filing this week to run for the Senate. We haven't even found out exactly everyone who's running, but you've already come out with an endorsement. Well, I sure have. Kelly, a lot of people don't really understand the nature of Congress, particularly the Senate. A lot of folks will say that they vote conservative, and maybe they do, but they don't have any impact on shaping the legislation before they vote. And that's really what you need. That's what the people like Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, they're pushing against the Republican leadership. There's one person I've seen over the last five or six years in the House. who would willing to stand up against the Republican leadership, even against Trump, if necessary, to get better legislation. And that's Ralph Norman. And I know some others who are running are going to say they're going to vote, right? They're going to vote with Trump. But what you'll find out from Ralph, he's not afraid of anyone. I mean, he's a big Trump supporter, as am I. But when the big, beautiful bill came through and it didn't have enough tax cuts, mostly it just didn't have enough spending cuts. Ralph held that bill up along with Chip Roy and a few others until they got the spending cuts that they had been promised. And during that, Trump called Ralph and told him to back off and vote for the bill. And Ralph just said, Mr. President, we're going to make it better. And he did. And once he got the changes, he got it passed.

We're speaking with Jim DeMint, the former senator from South Carolina. It sounds like we still have some work to do in the Senate on the leadership side. Do we replace John Thune? Do we help coach him up? What happens here? John has potential, but he's just worked behind Mitch McConnell too long. I never heard the speech, Kelly, where the leader gets up and says, listen, this is going to be tough guys, but we need to stand together. We need to go out there and do this for the country. And even though it may hurt some of you in the election, we've got to do this together. I never heard anything like that. It was just always if we had a few senators who were afraid to vote on this, we just wouldn't bring it up. And that was the Mitch McConnell style. And unfortunately, John Thune had worked too many years behind him. What he needs is a team of people around him who are willing to fight for what is right and to make things actually happen. Jim DeMitts is on the phone with us this morning. There's other things that you fight for as well, like right here in South Carolina. You continue to fight for school choice. Kelly, I'm glad you brought that up because in Washington it's hard to make any positive move forward. But at the state level, there are many things that we can do that make a big difference. And school choice is one of them. And I helped start Palmetta Promise Institute. Ellen Weaver and I did. And now Ellen's superintendent of education and Wendy Dameron is running Palmetta Promise. And she's great. The legislature still needs to be pushed. It's open for 15,000 students this year. A lot of those are lower income or special needs or military. But if we can ever get a situation in South Carolina where the money... on public education follows the students. We will have better and better schools and students have more opportunity. And so I'm going to keep working for that. And this is something that we can get done at the state level as well as a better tax system, more energy competition, more health care competition. There's so much we can do here, in addition to getting better roads, that it just needs some people pushing for. And that's what we're doing at Palmetta Promise. We ended up going about 20 minutes with Jim yesterday on the podcast. You can get the entire podcast, and he really does rake some of the South Carolina leaders over the coals on that one as well. That's on the National Briefing podcast, and you spell that like my name, N-A-S-H. IONAL, the national briefing. And maybe we'll play some more of that later on in the show. In the meantime, the Democrats are walking back their whole voter ID situation. We'll talk about that and more coming up on South Carolina's morning news. You're listening to South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. You know, Christopher Thompson and I were here last Friday morning, and we were responding to the president's speech. And we were both, I would say, a little disappointed in how it came off. And, you know, the idea, he does have a lot of data on voter fraud and Chinese influence. And there was a multitude of different things he was talking about what was going on in Michigan. He had all kinds of, and it, but it just felt a little flat, didn't it? Got a little too deep in the weeds when you should have just really highlighted two or three key points.

I also felt like he kind of chopped his own knees by letting the media know in advance that he was going to be talking about voter ID and they kind of didn't cover it. And so it's hard to believe that that was just a week ago because everything has changed in just the last few days. I don't know what we're going to find out in New Jersey. I know it's going to be a lot more than 6,600 illegals. were on the voter rolls. Because... Wait, wait, wait, well, Kelly, that was a software issue. That was a software issue. We're not really trying to allow illegals to vote in New Jersey. I know that. I know that. That's so true. But it's interesting to me, Christopher, that they're now in this very bad position of before... this week it was there is none now it's a little bit this is james carville and by the way his podcast is getting weirder because it's on youtube i don't know he's literally lying in his bed as he's talking to some guy who's also i think in his kitchen it's a very odd podcast but again james carville still brilliant just a weirdo talking about you know the save america act but i don't know if we're not better off said, okay, we'll take that. Because for whatever reason, this shit polls at 75%. And I don't like when we say, well, look, it's a very minor problem, but you know, you got to admit it barely exists. And it's just, it doesn't make any sense. Having said that, we are not going to win the war against some kind of an ID. What do you think about that, Christopher? Well, it's more than that. It's 83% according to the Pew Research Center. 83% of U.S. respondents said they favor voters to show some form of government-issued ID. 83%. So he's undercutting himself there. But even... It's 75%. Whatever he says. He's right. At least on that issue, the Democrats are screwing themselves because Americans want to have to show ID, whether and we can make a push, I think we can make a strong case. And maybe I will make that strong case later on in the show for in-person voting as opposed to mail-in ballots. But at least show, you know, have to make a copy of your ID and mail it in with your ballot or something to that extent would secure the elections a little bit more. Again, if you're a Democrat, I'd love to hear from you. Why would that be a problem? Because what you're saying is democracy is so important. If it's that important, it's worth getting off your couch and making a copy of your ID. It's worth getting it right. It's worth protecting. everybody's vote because what happens when you get illegals voting now you're admitting there is voter fraud it's just a little bit it's just a sliver well how much can you tolerate how much of a sliver i mean look how many bank robberies do we have not many i mean it's like less than one one billionth of a of american people have ever robbed a bank yet we enforce that

We make sure that people stop doing that. And there's very few people committing voter fraud. Okay. Well, let's shore it up. Let's make sure that my vote is not neutralized and your vote's not neutralized by somebody who's not supposed to be voting. That's my position on it. I think that's Christopher's position. Sure. I think that's most people's position. I would love for somebody to give us a talk back saying that's not their position. That they think that we need to just figure out ways to make it more open. I've heard this argument. I've never heard anybody tell it to my face, though, that the idea is it's too hard to vote as it is. We need to make it even easier for people to vote. And if there is some voter fraud, it's minimal, and who cares? It's just a little bit. All right, you can use a talkback feature for that, or any of the things that we're discussing might get to that new poll coming out of New Hampshire. That is shockers. We've got other things to get to as well. This is South Carolina's morning news. Your news, traffic, weather, and information station. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5 FM, 560 a.m. WVOC, and 943 WSC. Now, Kelly Nash. 633. Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on SpinQuest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash prizes. That's at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. And I imagine that if you're a school child, you're probably not up right now, but you will be soon enough. I can't believe, Christopher, how quickly summer is ending. I'm looking... And the Midlands, we've got Richland 1 and Richland 2 will be back in school in two weeks. Oh, wow. And down in the low country and Lexington County and most other places, three weeks. So summer is quickly coming to an end. Was it always like that in South Carolina? Because I grew up in Connecticut. And we used to not go back to school until after Labor Day. Well, yeah, it hasn't always been that way. But essentially these days, after the 4th of July, it's all downhill. I mean, summer's coming to a close quickly. Well, as we prepare to go back to school, it's going to be different this year than it's ever been. Headline at the Post and Courier as AI seeps into the classrooms. Charleston School District prepares teachers for what's next. Now, it's a very long story that weaves quite a tale about how everybody's trying to be mindful.

that AI is changing everything. They're trying to implement it carefully. I did appreciate the word gradual. I don't think that any of this is possible. I don't think it's possible to be gradual with AI. I think that it's taking over at a rapid pace and like a fire could be used for good. It could also be used for bad. And so the district down in Charleston has already signed a contract with something called Magic School AI. a generative AI tool used to create and assess assignments and give students real-time feedback. That sounds pretty awesome. Other large school districts, including Greenville and ORI counties, are also signing contracts with Magic School AI. So this is going to be the first year, I think, where AI is really going to be implemented in most schools. Implemented, yes, but can you control it, especially with the older kids, Kelly? They know already. that they can write an essay or a paper much more easily by using AI. And we're already hearing reports that adults, their creativity is being... tamped down by the use of AI. Why would I write something if I can get AI to do it much better? So adults are already being affected, their creativity being affected. You certainly don't want to affect kids' creativity when it's still forming, when it's still in their formative minds. And that's my main concern with using AI in school. Sure, there are benefits, but boy, you've got to watch out for what might happen to these kids if, you know, they wind up just... simply becoming reliant on an AI. Yeah. You make some strong points, Christopher, because as a child, you're trying to wire your brain for the rest of your life. adults, we still have the ability. I know that there was for many, I guess most of history, we thought that your brain was kind of formed and done by the time he's, you know, what, 30, I guess would be the time most people figured that it was over. But it's not true. You're seeing now in brain science, they're able to. actually shift your mind is late as your 60s and 70s. You can still change how you think about things. You can still learn new skill sets and all that sort of stuff. It's harder the older you get. And the most meaningful time of brain development is while you're in school. I've heard from a lot of people who talk about this idea that... Well, the future is going to be completely different. It's going to be run by AI. And so kids today need to learn how to work with that moving forward. But I think you make some strong points, Christopher, that the creativity and other things, just the ability to critically think might be going away. I know people now, Kelly, who are in the office work, they won't even write a single email.

two years of decreases, according to people familiar with the numbers presented by the Los Angeles homeless services authority in a closed door briefing. So she's lying. She'll continue to lie. Nadia Ryman is the other lady who is running now for the nomination. And again, in L.A., it's weird. They have a thing called the jungle primary, so they don't do it by parties. So Raman is a Democrat socialist. going against a Democrat and Karen Bass. Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on SpinQuest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash prizes. That's at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. She points out, this is Rahman speaking, that it's disappointing but not surprising. The city must do something better. Results driven, transparent, and centered around the people that were trying to help, not the bureaucracy, she says, which is so funny because Raman's plan, if you've heard that, is to build more homeless encampments. And one of the things that Spencer Pratt was making a big deal out of is we've got to get them away from the general public. And Raman's plan is to literally put them, like, right across the street from schools. in every park on every corner. Yes. And, you know, if you've seen these reports out of the Los Angeles media market, they do, I mean, obviously Fox and Newsmax and others will run parts of those stories. But it is shocking the type of, I mean, and it's hard to shock me. I lived in New York City for many years, so it's hard to shock me when I see videos like this, but they are shocking what these people are doing on the streets. We'll just say they're attempting to procreate on the streets, and they're using the streets as if it was a urinal and or just a, you know, some sort of porta-potty.

But they're just doing it at, you know, noon on a Tuesday in front of traffic and everybody else. And tourists. And tourists. Well, thankfully, they're not really visiting the Skid Row section as much as the, maybe the people of Skid Row would like them to visit. But it's beyond bizarre that Nadia Rahman would think that that type of behavior, which you can't stop apparently in L.A., you're infringing upon their whatever rights it is that they have to. defecate on the streets, that she wants that across the street from schools? Spread it around. Spread the love. You know what? Maybe that's the campaign, Christopher Thompson, may have just landed on the new ad slogan for Nadia Rahman. Spread the love. Spread the love with Nadia Rahman. Or choose Karen Bass, who has increased homelessness by another 7% this year while telling you that it's on the decrease. Again, None of this is shocking because they're liberals. They're inviting drug addiction. They're inviting homelessness. They're inviting all of this. And then when it happens, they're like, well, that's not my fault. Absolutely. It's your fault. Thoughts on homelessness in L.A. or just how, I think we do a pretty good job here in South Carolina. I mean, both Charleston and Columbia, I think, are doing a pretty good job, although there is room for improvement. If you've got thoughts on how we can make that a better situation, love to hear your thoughts on the talkback feature. South Carolina's morning news is on. Shocking news for Kamala Harris. She got that yesterday. Does she have a comment about it? We'll give you these shocking news and all kinds of other stuff. This South Carolina's morning news rolls on. This is South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. 703 and shocking news for Kamala Harris. Is it shocking, though? I don't know. Christopher Thompson will give his analysis in just a second as we see that despite leading all the polls pretty much since the... Ending of the campaign last in November of 2024. She has been the frontrunner continually in just about every poll. But now in the last month or two, she has started to drop. And that dropping continues with a new poll out of New Hampshire that shows president, or excuse me, former vice president, Kamala Harris, has dropped another five percentage points. She is now in what they, what the kids would call DAL. And I'll tell you that the first word is dead and the last word is last. So she is just like a rock falling. And again, this is just the New Hampshire poll, right, Christopher? Right. So I'm wondering, why are they not polling in South Carolina yet for the Democrat nominees? Because didn't they get their... They're big push-throughs that they're going to be the first. The Democrats are going to do it first here in South Carolina, and they're going to. Is that official now? I mean, they're campaigning for it, but I'm not sure has the National Democrat Committee decided? I thought that Jim Clyburn had made that a thing. Maybe I'll have to go back and check on that. But you would think, because, again, the argument of Jim Clyburn and so many other Democrats had been, who gives a rip what Iowa and New Hampshire thinks? They're all white.

South Carolina much more representative of the Democrat Party. Exactly, exactly. But if you're going by Whitey, surprisingly, a non-Whitey is the frontrunner. And that would be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So according to the new poll, again, this is likely Democrat primary voters in New Hampshire. 22% said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is their top choice. Number two, Pete Buttigieg. Number three, and it's a huge drop. So it's 22% for her, 21% for Pete, Mayor Pete. Then all the way down to 9% for third place. How to heck? Does this happen? Mark Kelly? Mark Kelly's above Gavin Newsom? Hmm. Yes, Gavin Newsom has fallen another seven percentage points. He's now in fourth at 8%. And I don't think Bernie Sanders is even running. Let's hope not. But he's at 6%. And then Kamala Harris in DAL with 5%. Wow. Is this a surprising turn of events to you, Christopher? A little bit. I mean, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn't officially declared, but she's all but flirting with it. There are a lot of others in that poll who are flirting a lot harder. Gavin Newsom, for example, he's been barnstorming the country. He's on every outlet you can possibly imagine day in, day out, hammering Trump and talking about the fact that the country needs better. You had what, we had what, Ro Khanna? Oh, yeah, Ro Khanna didn't even show up in this point. Ruben Gallego and Andy Beshear, who have all been here in the last couple of weeks, you know, establishing campaign fronts in South Carolina. Yeah, they're way down the list. I mean, you've got a lot of people who are actively campaigning to be the Democrat candidate who are way behind someone who hasn't even declared yet. And, you know, it's maybe a little bit difficult for Christopher Thompson and myself to do this because we are not Democrats. So, again, this is just amongst Democrats. This is not how you and I feel. This is how Democrats feel. It's kind of like when Kamala Harris came to South Carolina, I'm not talking about the more recent stops. I'm talking about back in 2020. And... You know, I said, this is a very unattractive candidate, not an unattractive person, just an unattractive candidate. Word salads galore, doesn't make sense, nonsensical statements, left and right, awkward laughing, really had nothing to run on, you know, as a former district attorney, and a couple of years as a senator, she had accomplished basically nothing. why would anybody vote for her? And then I was, I guess, encouraged that the Democrats around the country said, we don't like her. And they, she got, she pulled out of the primary very early, never got an electoral vote. Then it was a surprise, you know, jam her down our throats. I think that was Joe Biden's final defiance of Obama when he.

endorsed her quickly so that when Barack Obama, basically, he was pushing for Mark Kelly back in those days for the 2024 election. He wanted Mark Kelly out of Arizona. That was a non-starter because the Democrat machine had to move and say, how can we kick a black female off of the ballot? Well, they're kicking her off right now. So this is another poll showing that Kamala Harris continues to drop. But to your point, Ro Khanna. Not doing well. I guess I'm thinking that the New Hampshire Democrats must be more moderate, I'm guessing. I've been to New Hampshire. I don't know what they're like. I know Mitt Romney did well when he lived in New Hampshire. But I'm surprised that somebody like Wes Moore doesn't pop up. governor. I like governors for president better than I like senators because a governor actually has to manage something. So the governor of Maryland, I don't agree with his policies, but I can see where he's an attractive candidate. He's a young man full with energy. Yes, he has some scandals with the medals and all that sort of stuff, but I don't think most voters are even aware of that. And I don't think that will become a big issue because he'll be able to get out in front of it. I'm surprised he didn't even show up. Wow. Gavin Newsom, like, to your point, flirting so hard. And the more he flirts, the worse he does. He should just shut up. Either that or move to the Northeast and campaigned there exclusively for the next two years. Yeah. Well, he's got issues. Kelly, what's that old saying? When they tell you who they are, you need to listen. The fact that they've got Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, top of mind right now, that tells you where the party's going. And where's, I mean. What do we know about Pete's policies other than he is, obviously, very pro-LGBQIA? Other than that, do I know anything about Pete as far as, like, does he, where is his stance on socialism? Where is his stance on capitalism? I don't really know anything about Pete Buttigieg I think that to your point, they like the socialists, and they also like LGBTQIA in New Hampshire. This is, again, the Democrats speaking, not. Christopher Thompson or Kelly Nash. Our opinion means nothing in that poll. But anyway, some shocking news there for the former vice president. We'll see how she responds to that. And boy, oh boy, we've got some more news coming out about the South Carolina Senate primaries. We'll talk about that and more on South Carolina's morning news. This is South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. 714 and I just looked it up. So South Carolina was moved to the first. state in the Democrat primary in 2024 because Joe Biden said, we got to do what Jim Clyburn wants. Now, Crystal Spain, the chair of the South Carolina Democrat Party, is talking here to CNN. I go to CNN when I need Democrat information because they're about as pro-democrat as you can get. And she says, we're trying to tell the history of South Carolina in this process how our voters have always gotten it right. In other words, You know what? It sucks to be bored. But when I get on my phone and play real casino games on SpinQuest.com, the time flies by. That two-hour wait at the DMV seems like 10 minutes. Play your favorite slots. Live blackjack, live craps with a live dealer. New players, $30 coin packs are on sale for $10.00. Play SpinQuest.com and you'll never be bored again. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details.

You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are, listening to me, which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-Ehart or go to iHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or iHeartadvertising.com. The people who win the South Carolina Democrat primary most often go on to be the nominee. Not that they win the presidency, but they... pretty much are exclusively going to win the Democrat primary. They're battling it out right now. Apparently, I think it's happening like today. They're trying to figure this out. It's Nevada who is battling South Carolina. So this is the way they have two different scenarios that what I'm seeing, Christopher. And you pronounce it Nevada, which is probably the proper way. I like to pronounce it Nevada. I don't know why. But it feels better to me to say Nevada. But you're right. I believe the proper pronunciation is Nevada, would lead the calendar, followed by South Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, and then another southern state, most likely, Virginia. They want Nevada, Nevada, because it's got a lot of Latinos. And the other one, it's South Carolina, followed by Nevada, Nevada, New Mexico. Michigan and New Hampshire. And it says moving New Mexico, which has a sizable Latino population into the early window is a consolation prize to the Latino community. So they're trying to figure out how to map this for 2028. And they're having meetings, I guess, right now. The Democrats are up in D.C. to try to figure this out, like right now. So do I care if South Carolina goes first? I don't. And I wouldn't care in the Republican primaries either. I just think it's important that we're one of the early states because I do think that South Carolina is a good representation of the country in the sense that we do have a wide, diverse population. And even though we're a small state, we're a little over 5 million people, I think you can get a pretty good snapshot of what the country is thinking by looking at South Carolina. I like... for us to go first just because of the fact that it gives us a lot of attention and the media all focuses on south carolina politics it's it's a lot of fun to see you know the national pundits reflecting on okay who's saying what and why and you know why does south carolina feel this way

They don't always get it right. You know, it was amazing in retrospect. So here we are at IHeart on Greystone Boulevard in Columbia. And I remember when Barack Obama came here in 2008. And there was a guy who we used to have on our sister station, The Beat, which is a hip-hop station. His name was DJ Frosty. And DJ Frosty came in early that day because Barack Obama was going to be here. And he... I don't think that Obama was considered the frontrunner yet. I think at that point it was still Hillary. But he wanted to meet Obama. And he got Obama to do liners for his show. So it was amazing. If you listened to the beat back in like 2010, 2011, you would hear, hi, this is Barack Obama. I'm getting down with DJ Frosty on the beat. It was like, my gosh, you got the president of the United States doing liners for the hip hop station. That was great. So you're right, Christopher. We do get a lot of attention. We get a lot of people coming into the studios. We'll be talking to. I guess if the Democrats want to bring their people by, we'll talk to them. Sure. I'll push back on there. policies, but I'm always happy to meet them. And we'll obviously be talking to the Republican candidates as well. So looking forward to that as we get closer to 2028. Right now we're talking about what's going on with the primaries here in South Carolina, the special primary for Senate. We'll be covering some of that next on South Carolina's morning news. You're listening to South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. As we roll towards this special primary to nominate a GOP candidate, in the Senate. I had not considered this. This is... This is literally the worst day of the year to have a special election, according to the Charleston County School District, as it is the first day of school in Charleston County. Yikes. And I think the person running the election says, I don't think a majority of the schools are going to be available. It's a logistical challenge already to be in schools when there's schools happening. But with it being the first day of classes, it's going to be a very chaotic day for the school as it is. Introducing an election into that would only pose more challenges of not just security, but also voting and the confusion, it would be during drop-off pickups, the traffic throughout the day. So it's going to be, but I hadn't considered that. There will, Kelly, though, will have to be a lot of alternate voting locations being used in some of these cities where school is in session. And then we got Mark Sanford also in the Charleston area announcing yesterday that he's in.

And, I mean, it's just, we're starting to pick up steam around here. Now, I also see that the Internet is continuing to do its work regarding the candidacy of, and I still am not clear. Is her name Darlene Graham or Darlene Graham Nordone? I'm seeing it referenced in two different ways by all media outlets. No one has concluded. Has she come out and said my name? I don't know that she has. We need like an Eminem rap. Hi, my name is. Hi, my name is. Even that's become controversial because many feel like she's running on the Graham name instead of using her married name. Look, I don't fault you for doing that. If that's actually a strategic move on your part, I don't think it's a bad move. Security is Strength Pack has announced a $900,000 investment to support Darlene Graham. $900,000. Now, Nick Reynolds reporter, I think he's at the state, might be at the posting courier. Gosh, I'm sorry, Nick, if I'm blowing that and you're listening. SC State House reporter with the posting courier. Okay. He says this is the PAC that formerly did independent expenditures on behalf of Lindsey Graham operated by his longtime communications director. They ended June. with $55,000 in cash on hand, wondering where those extra dollars came from. So they went from $55,000 cash on hand to putting $900,000 towards the nomination of Darlene Graham. Later on, he says, in response to where the money came from, a spokesperson for the PAC said, when the president of the United States gets behind a candidate, it's no surprise that donors across the country want to be a part of this effort. So there's, I guess we've clarified that there's just independent donors who want to stroke checks to help Darling Graham. And the best way to do so, I guess, is through the PAC, not directly to her. Maybe she doesn't have that set up yet. I'm not really sure. There is also, though, as the Internet does its work, we had heard yesterday, I think it was, that Darlene had donated. No, it was two days ago. When we had C.J. West fall on, was it two days ago? He is the chair of the Dorchester County Republicans. And he was pointing out that she's only made one campaign contribution that he's aware of to Katrina Shealy. And apparently Katrina Shealy tried to. clean that up a little bit and said it happened in 2020 before the whole sister senators scandal so to speak well the internet went and did its work and now we have uh somebody has posted darling graham posted uh two campaigns one would have been on march ninth 2020 for a hundred dollars the other one was october 19th twenty three for a hundred dollars both to katrina shilly obviously the katrina shilly

thing was happening in 2023 with the sister senators so I don't know if that factors into your opinion on Darlene Graham, the fact that she is supporting Katrina Shealy in the middle of the, I want to stop the six-week abortion ban in South Carolina, which was overwhelmingly supported in this state by conservatives. I don't know if that factors into your decisions at all, but at least that is out there now. So a lot to, and we still have more candidates to come, I'm told. There's more people filing today. Well, I mean, Russell Fry hasn't filed yet. Well, okay, funny you brought that up. I was in communications with one of his people yesterday. There is a shot. He is filing today, is what they told me. And he's coming to Columbia. So I'm softly anticipating a possible. He's going to swing by the studio. Okay, good. Possibly today at some point. So Russell Fry, if you're driving in right now listening to us, you are invited, and we look forward to hopefully having you on the show. We'll air that on Monday. All right, lots to get to still. This is South Carolina's morning news. Your news, traffic, weather, and information stations. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.m. 5.60 a.m. WV.O.C. and 943. W. W. W. W.S.C. Now, Kelly Nash. 735 as you get after it on a Friday morning. We were celebrating yesterday that the State House had finally approved at least a portion of the budget. I don't know. What's going on here, Christopher? We have many discussions still to come regarding the earmarks. I see that the Harvey Peeler... obviously Senate, not a fan of the earmarks. I said that Chairman Bannister came up with an idea that I think is worth trying, where they're going to kind of put them all into a, we're going to vote on each, well, I guess they're not going to, it's going to be a committee is going to decide whether or not each one is worthy and then put them all into a group, I'll call it a slush fund, and then eventually they'll vote on the slush fund. That, Kelly, that sums it up pretty well. And there's also this discussion about the $150 million that the South Carolina taxpayers are supposed to add to the Scout Motors site. And Scout Motors is going to be in Blythewood. We're already in for $1.3 billion. And there's apparently... Our commitment because of inflation needs another $150 million to finish this project. So I don't even know what they're voting on. Are you telling me that we're going to spend...

Not that this would be unheard of that the South Carolina government will invest $1.3 billion and then just let it be a hole in the ground. Well, I think the Senate wanted a study of exactly what went wrong there, and they want to see that study before they will vote another dollar towards Scout Motors. So that's the hold up there. They're going to have a legislative audit review. Now, Scout is pushed back and said, well, look, you're not the only one's paying more because we had committed to $2 billion. But in order to get this thing open, it's now because of inflation. Thank you, Joe Biden. It's going to go up to $3 billion that they have to pay. Well, it's not inflation on our end. It's cost overruns. They had numerous issues with preparing that site. And that's what senators are trying to get to the bottom of is exactly why those issues occurred and why we didn't see them coming. So the taxpayers, instead of being at $1.3 billion, would be at $1.45 billion. You know, this is one of those things where it's just so frustrating. But at the same time, I love it. I love the competition between states and cities and whatever to try to get business. I just think that we approach it the wrong way. And... You know, that was one of the arguments that Ralph Norman was making when he was running for governor is that our statehouse continues to make horrible deals when it comes to business that short changes the taxpayers. That didn't really apparently land with enough people, obviously. I think Alan Wilson is making a similar argument. We need to have actual business people. not attorneys for our legislators if they're going to be involved with cutting deals. It is a big deal. Anytime you land a major car manufacturer, I mean, look at Volvo in the low country, look at BMW in the upstate. Now the Midlands has its piece, but, you know, at what cost? And as Ralph Norman pointed out, who was competing with us for Scout Motors and how much did we overspend to Land Scout? And... Side note, Scout is a, at least in this capacity, an EV, right? This is an electric vehicle. That's what they're looking at, yes. So, and the future of EVs not so bright today. This is like you've gone all in on a, on some sort of free agent, and the free agent's stock is dropping. So I don't know. We'll see how the statehouse decides to handle that issue, and we'll keep you up to date on that. If you have thoughts, please use the talkback feature. That's on the IHeart radio app with South Carolina's morning news. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5 FM and 560 a.m. WVOC, Columbia and 943 WSC, Charleston. What's going on, everyone? It's Bluff here, and you know what's more American than America's 250th birthday? Supporting American-owned companies like SpinQuest, America's number one social casino with over 1,000 games like Live Dealer Blackjack and Crops. They're offering new users a $30 coin package for just $10. Go to SpinQuest.com and sign up today. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Boydware prohibited, visit SpendQuest.com for more details.

These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. Now, Kelly Nash. All right, if you go to do truth social and follow Donald Trump there, you'll see that he's now posting videos and photos with himself and Otani yesterday with the Dodgers. And very excited, I guess, to meet Otani. He's a, I guess he's still a big baseball fan. I guess. I mean, he read a couple of things out of baseball history yesterday and said, what? I don't, I'll just move on. Really? That's great. The other thing that Donald Trump has announced on Truth Social is that any damage that Iran causes to ships will now be paid for. with Iranian money that the U.S. already holds. I'm wondering how long till we get some sort of district court judge to overrule the president on that. A Biden appointed judge? Yeah. Somebody somewhere is going to say, you can't use the Iranian seized assets to pay for damages on U.S. ships or anything like that. But I think that's a great idea. But we were going into the night. We just had 13th night, I think it was, on targets. But it appears to... people far above my pay grade, that it looks like we're starting to actually increase the strikes, that we have more jets in the air. We have more planes covering things. We have helicopters. And apparently those helicopters, those Apaches are being used because, and again, I'm not that close of an Iranian conflict watcher. It appeared that for several nights the drones were not being sent up by the Iranians. They were just going all ballistic missiles. has been speculated is that several of the gulf nations had been using some sort of jamming devices to stop those drones from being able to get up in the air. It appears that the Iranians have now figured out a way around that. And last night they began using those drones. Yeah, those drones again. And apparently the Apaches are a great distraction. They can move the drones around. They can knock them out of the sky. There's all kinds of benefits to the Apaches. So they're now putting that bump over our bases. However, I'll also point out, I'm not going to speculate. You can speculate all you want. It seems as if all of the European dignitaries were ordered to leave Iran by their people. So like France said we're pulling all of our dignitaries out. Germany says we're pulling all of ours out. Do they know something that's coming now that they don't want any of their people in Iran for any reason moving forward? Possibly. I would like to see us ramp it up.

I don't like these little tick-tack attacks that we've got going on. I would like to see a major destruction happening in Iran. And Kelly, now Iran's open up a new front with their attacks, the Houthi's attacks, but you might as well say Iran, in the Red Sea on a couple of Saudi Arabia tankers there. Yes. And there was. speculation that they were actually going to do a ground assault on Kuwait. And there was a bunch of explosions happening on the Kuwaiti border yesterday. So not sure if that was U.S. military forces helping to defend Kuwait, what happened there. But the Iranians are... They're not surrendering. No, they're not. And they're not going quietly into the night. And they may say that they want to sign a peace deal, but they'll sign, you know, it doesn't matter what they sign. They want to take over the world. I'm thinking and hopeful that Trump is now understanding that and he will up the attacks. Let's. unleash the Department of War on Iran. That's my stance. Your thoughts? Please put them up on the talkback feature on the IHurt radio app with South Carolina's morning news. From the Midlands to the Lowcountry, this is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5 FM and 560 AM WVOC and 943 WSC. Now, here's Kelly Nash. It's amazing that it was just a few months ago that... Some lunatic named Cole Allen stormed into the White House Correspondents Association dinner and tried to assassinate the president and anybody else on the staff that he could get to. Anybody in the administration, that's who he was targeting. We don't really know anything about Cole Allen still. I mean, all these months later, we don't know anything really about that guy other than he was an award-winning school teacher in California. Tonight. they're going to have that White House Correspondents Association dinner. Now, they've moved it from the Hilton. They're going to the Waldorf Astoria, which is, ironically, the old Trump International Hotel in D.C., so he'll get to be back on his old stomping grounds. But, again, what a brave president this guy is. How many times have they tried to kill this guy? Like seven, eight times now? He is. I mean, it's scary. The reports that you see every day, Secret Service, and... I give the president. I give every politician these days, and that includes the judiciary. The fact that they're under attack on social media so much, but some of these threats are physical threats to harm them. And they're continuing to be out there. They put their families out there. It's, it's tough. And you remember Trump that night, it was a Saturday night that had happened when they cleared the ballroom, obviously. And he was immediately like, you know, he was talking like, we're going to finish it up right now. Yeah, let's go on. Let's keep doing. Let's keep going. What's the problem? Yeah.

What's the problem? There's a guy trying to kill you. That's the problem. Well, we caught the guy. Let's go. Yeah, there's no need to hold back. I've got jokes. Come on. He did have probably great bait. He said it probably worked out to his benefit because he was going to go so hard at the press. And so maybe he's going to dial it back a little bit tonight. They're also going to be honoring Secret Service Officer Victor Gonzalez tonight, who is the guy who actually stopped. the suspect. I guess he tackled them. And they're going to do some other things with students and things of that nature. And can you imagine how tight the security is going to be tonight? And a smaller guest list too. Yes. Well, one of the people who's going to be there. is our John Decker. We're going to talk to him coming up in the next hour, and we've got plenty more things to get to as well. Thanks for starting your day as we launch into the weekend, Friday morning style, South Carolina's morning news. Live from the state capital, this is South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. And it's an awkward time to be a Democrat because now they have to walk back what they've been saying. For decades, there's literally no signs of any illegals ever voting in any elections ever. Well, that ended this. That performative art piece had to end this week when the New Jersey governor announced that there was over 6,600 illegals registered to vote in the state of New Jersey. This after. Well, you know what, Christopher, let me play this. This is a guy who I think most of you are familiar with, Michael Smyrne Connish, and he fancies himself as a well-thought-out center. type of person. He's actually center left. But here he is on his show yesterday. He's talking to a security expert on elections. I don't know what that means, David Becker. And Smirkanis is talking about the fact that, yeah, I probably got to change everything I've been thinking and saying. Markwayne Mullin had already put a version of that on the record. 250,000 non-citizens registered in just four states. 190,000 in California, I'll underscore this, 35,000 in New Jersey, 15,000 in Nevada, and 14,000 in Pennsylvania. And in our conversations about that statement by the president and from Markwayne Mullin. You may remember me referencing initially something that came out in January of 2026 in the New York Times under the headline. Initial review finds no widespread illegal voting by migrants puncturing a Trump claim. It's one of those articles that I held and tucked aside because I knew we'd be coming back to it.

I think that the political consequences of this are significant. I'm obviously not defending it either. I'm just sitting here looking to you as the expert and wondering, do I need to modify what I've been saying in this microphone, which is this really doesn't happen. I think it's important to note this is extremely rare. It is not widespread. We know this from the data, and it's not just me saying it. It's not just Governor Cheryl saying this. It's the Trump Department of Homeland Security that says this. They release data. and part of their document dump on Thursday before the president's speech that confirmed they have reviewed 68 million voter records and compared it to this incomplete DHS data set. And yet, even though that DHS citizenship data is incomplete, they confirm 99.96% of those 68 million were documented citizens according to the data DHS had. So he wants me to not trust Mikie Sherrill or Mikey. And don't trust him. Trust the Department of Homeland Security. Okay, I will. Department of Homeland Security and that data dump said there was roughly a quarter of a million illegals in the Republican states. You notice he said 68 million voters. He didn't say 220 million voters because we don't know what they're, they won't give us their voter rolls in the Democrat states. We don't know for a, we don't know exactly what's going on in New Jersey. We don't know exactly what's going on in California. But. What they've already figured out, again, going back to what Markwayne Mullin said is he's got information on 35,000 illegals in New Jersey. Mikie Sherrill gave up 6,600 of them this week. And I what I said when she gave that up, that is her attempt to try to get out in front of a much, much bigger scandal. I have no doubt that we're going to be adding zeros to that 6,600 throughout the next couple of weeks and months. So with that being said, Kelly, do they then revise their argument that it doesn't happen? I mean, that expert says no. He says it's small now. Yeah. Now it's small. Before it was like you said, none. Sure. Now it's just very small. It's minuscule. It's like one percent tops. Well, how much, how much of the... you know, of our democracy, do you want to give away? Are you willing to give away 1% of it? Is it 2%? What is the number that you're comfortable with saying, okay, well, that amount of fraud. Because it's like when you talk about tax dollars and they talk about fraud in taxes and all this sort of stuff. Well, you know, I don't know what you pay annually, but let's just say we're all paying roughly 30% of our income to go to some sort of taxes, either at the federal or local level. Are you cool with the fact that, let's just say you make $100,000 a year, that's $30,000 that you paid into it? Then you find out later on that $5 billion was lost to fraud. Well, that's all of my tax money, all of Christopher's tax money, it's pretty much the entire city of Columbia's tax money was just thrown away in some sort of fraud scheme.

But it's so small. It's just a small percentage. Well, then why am I even paying? Exactly. And why am I even voting if you're just neutralizing it when you have an illegal vote? This is when you want to protect democracy, you have to use voter IDs. And the Save America Act, Christopher, is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we've ever had. By the way, this is James Carvel yesterday on his podcast. But I don't know if we're not better off. said, okay, we'll take that. Because for whatever reason, this shit polls at 75%. But, and I don't like when we say, well, look, it's a very minor problem, but, you know, you got to admit it barely exists. And it's just, it doesn't make any sense. Having said that. we are not going to win the war against some kind of ID. That's right. You're not. And with that in mind, if I was Donald Trump this morning, that was said yesterday, I would rename the Save America Act to the James Carville Voter ID Act or maybe even change it to the Bill Clinton voter ID Act because he was big on that as well. There was plenty of Democrats back in the day who thought that it was an important thing to make sure that democracy was protected by voter identification. And I don't know what happened in the last 15. Well, I kind of have an idea what happened in the last 10 or 15 years. Oh, yeah. In order to win elections, we needed to kind of flood the zone with illegals. Which is just what they did in the last administration. Now they've got to put that to good use and make sure they're allowed to vote. Wouldn't it be a waste? What a great waste. If all this taxpayer money was spent to get these illegals in and put them up at nice three, four, five star hotels, feed them, give them health care. And then they didn't even get a chance to vote. What a loss that would be. And Christopher, did you say we have people on the talkback feature? We do. Here we go. Hey, Kelly, Uncle Boudreau here. Listen, since I do stand-up comedy, I find myself interacting with a lot more leftist than I otherwise would. And I always like to tell them, I say, you know, we really need that voter ID so that, you know, Trump supporters and the MAGA Republicans can't cheat. That's a good point. Then I watched the gears in their head just get stuck and grind. They have no idea how to respond to that. It entertains me. As well it should. That is a great point. And again, that's part of the reason I would name it the James Carville Voter ID Act because we remember when Trump said he was upset early on with the Save America Act because a lot of Republicans were calling it the Save Act. And he was like, no, no, no. I want it to be called Save America Act so that they have to come out and say they're against saving America. And... apparently that's not a problem for Democrats. They will call it the Save America Act and then tell you that it sucks. But to James Carvel's point, Americans overwhelmingly want to show ID to make sure that my vote is protected. We don't want it thrown away. He had the stat wrong, Kelly. It's 83% of Americans in the last Pew Research poll said they want voter ID.

Well, maybe the tide is turning that this little crack in the dam from Mickey Shirel up in New Jersey, we're going to start seeing more and more pressure put on politicians on the left to ensure that the elections are actually fair. I hope so. I hope that that's something good that comes out of it. We'll be covering that and other stories. This is South Carolina's morning news. Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas-style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at SpinQuest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for 10 at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make IHeart Media a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-Eyheart. This is South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. Yesterday had the pleasure of welcoming back to the show. The former great senator from South Carolina, former president of the Heritage Foundation, and one of the still most active and great influences on conservative politics across the country from the upstate of South Carolina. Jim Dement. Oh, Kelly, you're more than gracious. It's still great to be in the fight, though, and I always love the chance to talk to your listeners. You've got a great show now in Columbia and Charleston, so that's great progress. Yes, yes. We're now covering the low country on 94-3 WSC, so that's exciting for us as well. Candidates are filing this week to run for the Senate. We haven't even found out exactly everyone who's running, but you've already come out with an endorsement. Well, I sure have. Kelly, a lot of people don't really under understand the nature of the Congress, particularly the Senate. A lot of folks will say that they vote conservative, and maybe they do, but they don't have any impact on shaping the legislation before they vote. And that's really what you need. That's what the people like Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, they're pushing against the Republican leadership. There's one person I've seen over the last five or six years in the House. who would willing to stand up against the Republican leadership, even against Trump, if necessary, to get better legislation. And that's Ralph Norman. And I know some others who are running are going to say they're going to vote, right? They're going to vote with Trump. But what you'll find out from Ralph, he's not afraid of anyone. I mean, he's a big Trump supporter, as am I. But when the big, beautiful bill came through and it didn't have enough tax cuts, mostly it just didn't have enough spending cuts.

Ralph held that bill up along with Chip Roy and a few others until they got the spending cuts that they had been promised. And during that, Trump called Ralph and told him to back off and vote for the bill. And Ralph just said, Mr. President, we're going to make it better. And he did. And once he got the changes, he got it passed. We're speaking with Jim DeMint, the former senator from South Carolina. It sounds like we still have some work to do in the Senate on the leadership side. Do we replace John Thune? Do we help coach him up? What happens here? John has potential, but he's just worked behind Mitch McConnell too long. I never heard the speech, Kelly, where the leader gets up and says, listen, this is going to be tough guys, but we need to stand together. We need to go out there and do this for the country. And even though it may hurt some of you in the election, we've got to do this together. I never heard anything like that. It was just always if we had a few senators who were afraid to vote on this, we just wouldn't bring it up. And that was the Mitch McConnell style. And unfortunately, John Thune had worked too many years behind him. What he needs is a team of people around him who are willing to fight for what is right and to make things actually happen. Jim DeMitts is on the phone with us this morning. There's other things that you fight for as well, like right here in South Carolina. You continue to fight for school choice. Kelly, I'm glad you brought that up because in Washington it's hard to make any positive move forward. But at the state level, there are many things that we can do that make a big difference. And school choice is one of them. And I helped start Palmetta Promise Institute. Ellen Weaver and I did. And now Ellen's superintendent of education and Wendy Dameron is running Palmetta Promise. And she's great. The legislature still needs to be pushed. It's open for 15,000 students this year. A lot of those are lower income or special needs or military. But if we can ever get a situation in South Carolina where the money... on public education follows the students. We will have better and better schools and students have more opportunity. And so I'm going to keep working for that. And this is something that we can get done at the state level as well as a better tax system, more energy competition, more health care competition. There's so much we can do here in addition to getting better roads that it just needs some people pushing for. And that's what we're doing at Palmetta Promise. All right, you can hear the entire interview with our former senator, Jim DeMint, on the national briefing podcast. That's spelled like my name, N-A-S-H. I-O-N-A-L, the national briefing. That's on the I-Hurt Radio app, as is the South Carolina Morning News podcast, which we, Christopher, through great effort, is able to get up every morning. About, what, 40 minutes or so after the show? Around 9.30 is when you can hear today's podcast. So if you miss any part of the show, that's there for you as well, the I-Hart Radio app, which we encourage you to take. That is the best way to listen to South Carolina's morning news and all your favorite talk stations. You've got the presets on the I-Hart Radio app and so many other.

benefits of listening and, of course, the talkback feature. So if you have thoughts, you don't have to try to call a radio station and wait on hold forever. You just talk into the microphone. Just tell us what you think. And then we'll try to get that on the air if possible. But at minimum, we'll hear what you have to say with the talkback feature. Another benefit of the Iheart radio app on South Carolina's morning news. You're listening to South Carolina's morning news with Kelly Nash. Democrats. are performative in nature. They're here to strike emotions. They're very bad at logical arguments, but they are very good at getting emotions out of you. And part of that, you know, is the fact that you've got to look good. Looking good is not easy. Looking good is not inexpensive, as we probably remember. I think most of us are old enough to remember. Bill Clinton was held up airport traffic with Air Force One while he got a $200 haircut once. That was in Los Angeles International Airport. John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat, running for president, was paying $400 per haircut in 2007. And at one point, used more campaign funds, $1,250 to fly the stylist to meet him in Iowa. Now, to his credit, Kelly, he had great hair. He did. He did. Well, now the latest to join this club of people who are paying lots of money in order to look good is Jon Ossoff. According to campaign finances, Jon Ossoff spends more money on his makeup. His makeup, then Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib combined. Wow. This guy likes to look good. So he has hired a stylist, a makeup expert, apparently. And she lives in the Atlanta area, which is good, so he doesn't have to cover airfare. And she comes in. And so far, he has spent, well, his most recent one was $900 for makeup. in order to get ready to do a TV campaign. $900. Now, ladies, maybe you know something I don't. How much does it cost you typically, if you're going to, like, even for a wedding, like, what do they spend on hair and makeup? I also don't have any hair, really. So it's all makeup. But this seems insane to me, Christopher. That's a lot of money. But, you know, it's all about looks, as you pointed out. And Kelly, we mentioned the New Hampshire poll earlier. He was listed in that poll of. possible Democratic contenders for the next presidential election. He's been everywhere. He's been blanketing the media in the last couple of weeks. Is he a shadow candidate for president? I.

I'm going to tentatively throw out there that Jon Ossoff is in the hot seat to retain his seat in the Senate. I think that in Georgia, because you have so much money behind, well, it's not behind the Georgia nominee for governor. He is the money behind himself. He is stroking. Check after check after check. He's rising the profile of the Republican Party. The Republicans, I think, have learned a lot in Georgia since 2020. And I would not be surprised, although early polling shows Jon Ossoff not with a comfortable lead, but a slight lead. It would be not surprising to me if Jon Ossoff loses his seat this year. So you're saying he's campaigning hard for his own seat. He might be trying to be the next president in 2028 as well. We've seen that play out as... But I think that Jon Ossoff's in trouble right now. And so he needs every ounce of makeup he can get. And maybe he gets a hair transplant or something to try to get that John Edwards hair. Maybe so. Bill Clinton had pretty good hair, if I remember. Back in the day. Back in the day. Did you see that video of him walking around with Hillary the other day? Oh, it's, I mean, everyone ages at a different pace. But, yeah, he. He doesn't look good. But speaking of pace, he was like eight paces behind her. Like, what was that about? I've been out with many walks with my wife. I've never been eight steps behind her. And dressed like a 100-year-old at the beach. And she was dressed like the hamburger. Hillary was the hamburger. He's dressed like in a blouse or something. I don't know what was going on with those two. But there's the Clintons on vacation in some foreign port of call. All right, when we come back, somebody who is going to be at tonight's White House Correspondents Association dinner, What's it going to be like? We're going to get the preview with our own John Decker next. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5.m. WV.O.C. and 94-3. W.S.C. Now, Kelly, Kelly, for articulating how we need the Save America Act. I really enjoyed that segment. You ought to run for U.S. Senate yourself because you sounded better than most politicians on the issue. Thanks again. Have a good weekend, guys. Well, thank you, Dustin. We appreciate you using the talkback feature on the IHeart Radio app. I could never run for Senate. Oh, my gosh. The closet that I have is so filled for my early years. It would just, oh, overflow. Tonight is going to be a big night to the White House correspondent's dinner. They're going to have it. They've moved it from what was a 2,600 person ballroom down to a 1,300 person ballroom. I don't even know if they're going to use all 1,300 seats. But it's going to be... This is going to be the first one, obviously, since the assassination attempt. And I'm told that we now have on the phone, our White House correspondent, John Decker. Good morning. How are you? I'm doing great. Hope you're having a great Friday so far. So far, you're going to be going to this thing. I can imagine that they're telling you, you've got to get there real. Like, you've got to go probably right about now to get through security. Yeah, there is enhanced security, as you can imagine, for tonight's dinner. And with good reason, given what happened at the dinner that took place in late April.

And, you know, I mean, it's also a smaller venue, a smaller number of people attending 1,000 versus 2,500. And it's going to be interesting to see the differences between this evening's dinner and the dinner that took place in late April, for sure. And I remember Donald Trump saying that it might have worked out well for him in the sense that he had some really vicious material that he was going to use on the press that night. He might have dialed it back for tonight. I don't think he's dialed it back. I think, you know, he's been working on enhancing that speech, and I would be shocked, surprised if he doesn't use this opportunity with all those journalists in the room, with all those White House correspondents in the room. to trash the media. That is what I'm expecting to come from the president's speech tonight. Talking with John Decker, our White House correspondent, as someone who's in the media, I'm sure you probably have some friends that work at some of these outlets, whether it's the Times or CNN or whatever. Do they ever talk to you privately about that? Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on SpinQuest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash prizes. That's at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make IHeart Media a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-844-I-Hart. about what, the attacks on their news organizations? Sure. No, I mean, like, I think that you have to have a thick skin. I mean, that's the bottom line. You have to have a thick skin if you're going to cover the White House. Sometimes you get incoming in a phone call, you know, that no one ever sees or hears. Sometimes it's coming from the president himself. So regardless of that, you just have to go about doing your job and not be concerned about. you know, those types of criticisms that might be leveled your way. And John Decker, they've moved the venue, as you mentioned. It was, what, the Hilton, which is, I think, the same place that Reagan had an assassination attempt. They're moving into the Waldorf Astoria tonight. Is that correct?

That's right. Yeah. So it's, I mean, I've gone, this is going to be the 31st year that I'm attending this dinner. And it's always been held at the Washington Hilton. And the reason for that is because of the extremely large ballroom that it has, you know, it can accommodate 2,500 people. This event this evening will be at the Waldorf story, as you just mentioned. And, you know, you can't get simply dropped off at the door. at the hotel when you are attending it because of the enhanced security. There's a security perimeter that's several blocks long, so that's something that any guests have to be prepared for this evening. Yeah, well, I can imagine being, you're not going to the dinner, but you're just staying at the Waldorf Astoria. That's going to be insane. I mean, there are people that certainly, you know, fit that category. Yeah, I think it would be, you know, interesting if you're just a hotel guest and all of this is going on. But the ballroom itself where it's taking place with a little bit, it's like got a separate wing. So, you know, you don't have to contend with some of the things that you had to contend with when the dinner was held at the Washington Hilton. And I understand that the cocktail hour has been either removed or diminished in some capacity. Yeah, there's no, you know, cocktail reception. So that is something that's always been a part of the Correspondent Center, but that will not be present this evening. Well, John Decker, I hope you have a great time tonight. Do you get to eat at this thing? You're going to get a belly full? Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think it's, what is it? It's steak and lobster. How about that? Wow. That puts for dinner tonight. Gosh, I wish I was you tonight. Well, John Decker, thank you. Appreciate you. I hope you have a safe night, but also a fun night tonight. Oh, absolutely. We'll talk soon, I'm sure. I'll tell you all about it. Thanks so much for having me on today. Oh, looking forward to it. That's John Decker. And, yeah, steak and lobster, not a bad way to go, Christopher. We should be so lucky. More with South Carolina's morning news next. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5 FM and 560 AM WVOC, Columbia, and 943 WSC, Charleston. Now, Kelly Nash. Just got off the phone with our White House correspondent, John. John Decker getting ready for tonight's White House Correspondents dinner. He mentioned that it has gone from the 2,500 seats or so at the Hilton down to the 1,000 seats tonight at the Waldorf Astoria. Obviously, Christopher Thompson, that's going to have some traffic concerns because the Waldorf Astoria is on a main road. And so they're going to need a couple of blocks for security. It's going to be a huge inconvenience, as we mentioned, for the hotel guests. I'm wondering if Donald Trump will take advantage of this opportunity to point out that his new ballroom would have 99 seats in it. Well, that was, that's where the ballroom idea started, didn't it? Immediately after the assassination attempt. And he said, you know what, there've got to be safer ways to do this. Why don't we do it right on the White House campus? I'm thinking that he had started this plan before them, because again, that was just in April that would have been the actual assassination attempt.

To the bigger point, it's always been a problem. The old East Wing had a ballroom that held about 250 people. And according to people who went there, it wasn't a comfortable 250. And it was leaks and it was all kinds of a mess. This is going to be state of the art. obviously security not going to be a problem there. And it's not an inconvenience for the people of D.C. because you have to get onto the White House grounds. And that's where it all take place. So once you're in on the grounds, you should be good to go. Trump has also been fairly critical of those outdoor dinners under the tents at the White House because that's where they have to do the bigger ones. Yeah. He thinks that's classless. He wants everything indoors. I was fortunate enough to go to one of those last summer. Thanks to Congressman Joe Wilson for getting me and my wife in on that. But it was filled with gnats and nastiness. But it was a lovely time. I was thrilled to be at the White House, but it would have been better if it was air conditioned and indoors. No question about it. All right. More coming up on South Carolina's morning news. From the Midlands to the low country. This is South Carolina's morning news on 103.5 FM and 560 a. WVOC and 943 WSC. Now, here's Kelly Nash. What a week it's been in South Carolina politics, and yesterday we get Mark Sanford back into the fight. How about that? It didn't come all that long after he got out of the first congressional district race. That's right. And his whole issue, I think, is just going to be how can we stop the debt? He's all about, he's a... He pointed out in his thing, every hundred days we had a trillion dollars to the debt. That is an unfathomable amount of debt. And he says it's going to crush the American dream for everybody moving forward. So that's his number one issue. We've got other people running. Hopefully we're going to talk to Russell Fry at some point this afternoon. He's supposedly filing today here in Columbia. So he'll be nearby the studios. And we can play that back. You know, I'll get it up as a podcast. If he comes in for the weekend, we'll have him on the air Monday, if that's the case. Still trying to work with Darlene Graham's people, not getting a whole lot of feedback right now. Although she got a lot of money. We talked about that earlier. A pack came up with, what, $900,000 to support her yesterday? Lindsey Graham's former security pack. Yes. And according to the reporting from, I think it was the Posting Courier, they only had $55,000 as of June. But once the president threw his name behind Darling Graham, suddenly their coffers were flooded with people who couldn't wait to support her. Well, she's still a mystery candidate until she gets in front of your microphone or some cameras. And if you missed our interview with Ralph Norman, that's up on the National Briefing podcast. You can get parts of that as well. As Christopher does a great job putting together South Carolina's Morning News podcast. Just look for South Carolina's morning news on the IHart Radio app. That'll be up in about 30 minutes after the show. Kelly, have a great weekend.

You know what? It's going to be a little cooler, maybe a little bit wetter, but hopefully we'll have a great weekend, and we can all reconvene Monday morning just after six. Until then, thanks for starting your day with South Carolina's morning news. Oh, I've had no luck lately. Wait, lady luck? Bredski, I got you. I've had so much luck on SpinQuest.com. They have all of my favorite games, slot games, live blackjack craps, and bubble craps. You can even get a $30 coin pack for just $10 bucks. $10 for $30. I'm headed over to SpinQuest.com right now. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details. You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are, listening to me, which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-Ehart or go to IHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or IHeartadvertising.com.