The Joyce Kaufman Show 7/24/26 - The failed ceasefire with Iran, Hearings over the Smithsonian, Adamson Plumbing shutdown, JD Vance facing hostility

You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to Progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary. This is the Joyce Kaufman podcast, honest, straight, and unapologelic, with your host, Joyce Kaufman. They were there, and four soldiers have been killed in the last week. and have been identified, and of course we use this time on Friday when we open the program to honor them and to honor their families for the tremendous sacrifices made. We lost private Isabella Gonzalez, age 19 of Carrollton, Texas, Army Air and Missile Defense crew member. She was killed in an Iranian missile missile and drone attack at the Mufoak Salty Air Base in Jim Jordan, She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, and was posthumously promoted to private first class. We lost 1st Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25 of Yua Beach, Hawaii, killed in the same Jim Jordan attack. Also, Angel S. Rampersad, age 28 of Ozone Park, New York, also killed in the Jim Jordan incident. And Sergeant Michael Immanuel Swinton, age 30, of Spring Lake North Carolina, was killed in northern Iraq over the weekend during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone at Air Base. These deaths follow the collapse of a very fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, leading to these renewed strikes. The Pentagon reports, at least 18 U.S. service members killed and roughly 500 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. on February 28th of 2026. Nearly 100 injuries have occurred since early July, with most returning to duty. Brigadier General Glenn Henke, commander of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Gonzalez gave the ultimate sacrifice for her country and will always be remembered as a hero. The Pentagon has not yet released full biographical details for all four, but each was serving in active duty or reserve roles supporting our operations in the Middle East. These are dangerous, dangerous times, and these are brave Americans. And I remember when the soldiers...

coffins arrive. Presidents attend that transfer, and generally the family is there as well. And President Trump said it is the absolute hardest thing that a president has to do is no matter how dignified the transfer is, it's just profoundly sad. And the loss is just devastating. But I will say this. I'm always, you know, the fact that we are engaged in this mission, and that's what it is, and everything that I read has Iran attached to it, Iranian drones, an Iranian missile and drone attack. Does anybody really think that if Iran had a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be in danger every minute of every day? It's just stunning to me that there are still people who say they don't understand. Why we're there? Well, I understand. And I'm grateful for Angel Rampasad and Michael Swinton as Isabella Gonzalez and Tyler Feehan because they gave, they paid the ultimate price, the ultimate sacrifice made by them and their families. And we should make sure that we never take that for granted. Now, there's a lot happening right now. The latest report indicates, Sentcom said that these ballistic missile and drone attacks in Jim Jordan are, this is one Middle Eastern country attacking another Middle Eastern country because America has service members stationed there. The deaths, they are killing our troops. And people, I don't understand. Why is there ambivalence? Now, I don't know where in Jim Jordan the attack occurred. I haven't seen any details about the circumstances. I do know that four other American service members were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jim Jordan, but have since been discharged. And some other personnel who were evaluated from minor injuries have returned to duty. So, as you can well imagine, the president is punishing the Iranian forces as well he should. And the fact that we have a Congress that remains divided and doesn't support the military action is really sickening to me. All politics need to be put aside. You can have a discussion about the rationale for war, but you don't have it in the heat of battle. Now the president is starting to take out the important things, the power and water desalination plants. I think they've taken out two of those. Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's fifth fleet.

said Sunday that its air defenses had intercepted an Iranian attack. Its interior ministry said on acts that citizens and residents should remain calm and head to the nearest safe place. Jim Jordan's army forces said it shot down three Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom. And the attack that killed our forces... is part of daily strikes taking place, with Iran launching ballistic missiles and drones at U.S. military positions and at our allies across the region, including Jim Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, while the U.S. forces are carrying out strikes on Iranian military targets. All you can do is hold on tight and continue to believe that this is a righteous battle, and that because it is one, the victory is forthcoming. But there are people out there who put their lives on the line, and it amazes me that anybody would want to have a debate at this moment. It's just, you know, as I said before, it's beneath contempt. But there's a lot of things. that are beneath contempt these days. It really is amazing to me. I don't know if you've been watching the congressional hearings about the Smithsonian and the leadership of the museums. Because you would want to have the best and the brightest.

We don't. We have people who can't even answer congressional questions, which are pretty simplistic. Or they pretend that they don't know anything about that in particular. I just, you know, once again, I've tried to get Mike Gonzalez on, but we've had trouble arranging that. I'm going to continue to try and perhaps get them on on Monday, if possible. I won't be talking with... My son Derek from TMZ today, he is, if my, if the email he sent me is accurate, he and his son are going to Montreal and have backstage passes to see Weird Al. Right there. You know how weird Derek is, all right? That seems like an interesting trip to be taking with a seven-year-old. But that's Derek. So it's just me and you. Got a lot to talk about. Let me take a break. Get us right on schedule. Stay right where you are. I'll be right back. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to Progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary. For a small business owner, every day is full of surprises. Some great, some not so great. Like when a client cancels their order at the last minute. But here's a surprise you will like. Progressive provides small business owners with 30 customizable coverage options to help keep their business going strong. So go ahead, surprise yourself. Get a quote in as little as eight minutes at progressivecommercial. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates and Third Party Insurers, coverage is not available in all states or for all vehicles and coverage selections. So Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York is showing absolutely no signs of easing this insane criticism of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. And I don't know if what he thinks is that anti-Semitism is a good thing, and stoking these kinds of flames is acceptable. Because, of course, the Prime Minister plans on being here for the UN General Assembly in September. And first, the mayor was going to arrest him until he found out, and actually he always knew, but he'll give him a camera and he's ready to talk. When he found out that he in no way could arrest him, he started challenging the federal government to do it.

even though we are not participating in the Hague, in the international court, and we don't have to do anything. But now he's gone a step farther. He is urging the people in New York to take to the streets when Benjamin Netanyahu comes to the General Assembly. Can you imagine what the NYPD must be thinking? It's one thing to have disagreements and to want to protest something. But if the protest could lead to actual violence against innocent people, you know, innocent Jews, are they going to be counter protesting? What is this? Anybody who feels frustrated or opposes something? doesn't have to create a scenario that could be dangerous for everybody. You know, write a letter. I don't know what to say, but he is stoking the flames of anti-Semitism, which is no surprise, really, to me. He says, oh, we respect our Constitution. We also respect our First Amendment. They always respect the First Amendment. when it's their base in the streets. You know, but if it's a conservative movement in the streets, oh, you know, right-wing lunatics. The NYPD Police Benevolent Association, President Patrick Hendry, he said the mayor is putting the police in a, quote, terrible position. So they're fuming. Imagine you're the mayor of the city and you tell the people to come out and demonstrate when you know that these anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protests have all been violent. The mayor's posturing puts police officers in a terrible position. Protests during the UN General Assembly, by the way, are nothing new. but when the mayor of the city is actively calling for a demonstration, then violent agitators, they assume they have permission to cause as much havoc as they want. The same agitators know that the NYPD's protest response is already hamstrung by the dangerous lawsuit settlement the city signed. Then the mayor add this heated rhetoric to the fire could be enough to push demonstrations over the edge. And then what have you got? You got chaos in the streets of New York. And let's face it, Zohran Mamdani is intelligent enough to understand the impact of his rhetoric. But he obviously doesn't care. He's pivoting. And now his goal is to make the prime minister as uncomfortable as possible. Why? He's a duly elected prime minister of another nation. Nobody really should care. I mean, the cops just came off a crazy six weeks between the Knicks.

and the World Cup and Tiffany's, whatever her name is, Tracy, Taylor Swift's wedding. And now he's going to subject them to more problems. Instead of governing the city, they've got a legionaire's outbreak there. I haven't heard word of what he's doing. He should be trying to keep the peace instead of inciting a riot with this rhetoric. He's basically just telling the crazy people to do what they want and there will be no repercussions. And God forbid, a police officer gets hurt. This is going to be on the mayor? And that's a... That's a... That's a serious charge. Anyway, the... library for President Obama or whatever they call those memorials they make to themselves. In Chicago, he's putting people out of business. First and foremost, it has to be the ugliest building ever. And one of the unpaid subcontractor who was working on it had to shudder his company to avoid bankruptcy. A plumbing contractor, mind you. I have some familiarity with that. It was once upon a time married to a plumbing contractor. So Chicago businessman Mike Owen, who owns the Adamson plumbing contractors, I saw him on the Fox one of the shows. He said that fallout from the center's non-payment forced him to abandon other construction jobs and left his company on the brink of collapse. Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in any industry wants to do. It's a hard thing to do, especially when you know you can finish the work and the company still make money. But they're in a pretty bad corner. His, he's pretty good with social media. He went viral for the first time about four weeks ago when he began speaking out publicly about how his company was being crushed by taking on the Presidential Center project. His company is $4 million in the red after working on the Obama Presidential Center. He said, I feel like an aluminum can that's been thrown in front of a steam roller. He has a flair for the colorful language, and that, of course, gets lots of clicks, lots of views, whatever they call him anymore. He said, our reserves have been completely drained. So then Fox News Digital did an investigation, and apparently they found... Multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming losses ranging from just thousands to millions of dollars. This is tough. It's certainly not going to make people in the city of Chicago feel safer because, you know, guess what? There'll be protests.

And their crazy mayor would probably call for them, although I'm sure he supports Obama 100%. They just don't realize that some of this rhetoric and some of the level, the volume, when they speak about such things, really draws in the sociopaths and gives them like a license. To do whatever it is they think is best. And what they think is best is messing something up. An opening, a grand opening, or something like that. And with Zohran Mamdani, it's just, it's absolute lunacy. An opening, a grand opening, or something like that. And with Zohran Mamdani, it's just, it's absolute lunacy. Anybody who voted for him... What were you thinking? I just don't understand. What did people think would happen if you elected somebody who is an ardent Israel hater in a city where I believe it's the second largest population of Jews in the world. Only Israel has more. I think, you know, major cities like New York, Chicago, they have. Plenty of Jewish residents. And these people weren't thinking if they pulled the lever for Zohran Mamdani. That's for sure. I saw a Florida story. I'll just throw this out because sometimes these stories make us embarrassed to be presidents of Florida somehow. What do they call it? Florida. An elderly Florida mail carrier just got arrested for animal cruelty after collecting cats along the route she's had since 1997. A decade. Wait, three decades. Two decades. Police in Martin County, so you're listening to me. There's probably a police cruiser driving around right now listening to the show. They found 80 cats and 12 dogs living in squalor at the residence of Gail Justino, age 77, according to Sheriff John Budensik. He said it was a severe hoarding case and unintentional abuse because, of course, she believes she's helping the cats that she's picking up along this route. Responding to a theft call. Budnaskech said police learned about Justino's situation while responding to a call about a stolen cat. He went on somewhat confusingly to say that she didn't steal somebody's pet. She was collecting feral cats. She was then issued 65 citations throughout the years from animal control and She did get some assistance installing better ventilation for the animals 10 years ago. Fast forward to today. She doesn't want to cooperate when animal control shows up.

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And that's not a good thing. You know, when you can't explain to the American people why you're doing, what you're doing, and how long it's going to take, the disenchantment is quick. I remember the Vietnam War was a great example of that. People just ran out of... They didn't have any patience. Nobody knew when the war was going to end, what victory was supposed to look like. And JD Vance has taken a big hit with this. He's under attack, and I'm not a fan of the vice president by any measure. But he's got a lot to think about. He's got to make a decision about what he's going to do in 2028. And he's being attacked all over the place, not just by Democrats and media pundits, but from within his party. And the people who support him say that it's a coordinated effort or in a coordinated attempt. to poison the well for him politically. I mean, they've already adopted a never-JD Vance slogan. I reported on that months ago. And they've been flooding social media, especially I've seen a lot of it this week, with all kinds of attacks, including that he's unfit to be vice president. because he didn't successfully negotiate this peace deal, and that he's making policy decisions that are not supported by the president. And they basically likened him to former President Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders.

which is pretty interesting. This kind of public hostility from his own side of the aisle, I don't remember vice presidents facing that in the last couple of decades, certainly not in the intensity that I'm seeing it online. Of course, we didn't have as much social media. But this is two years before the party gets to choose the next presidential nominee. It's definitely triggered by this access, this social media access, and how that plays into politics now. He's a pretty high-stakes offices we're talking about. His political team says that it doesn't bother them, he's not bothered by it. and that the Republican establishment likes him and wants him to be the candidate. I don't know that that's true. Everybody I've talked to in the establishment is eager to have Marco Rubio get the nomination, which is also not unusual, a Secretary of State in the administration. But... There are people out there talking. First, all this leaking makes me crazy because you don't know what to believe. But some of the people out there talking say that the attacks are not organic. That the people who they are talking to, that the media is talking to and that the Democrats are talking to, and I guess that... House Republicans and senators are talking to, actually will help him in a primary. Because once you start loud voices and it starts to, it doesn't even ring true, you can't make sense of it anymore, it won't remotely represent the consensus views of Republican voters. This is no, you know, it's hard to define JD Vance is I think the issue. He's a populist. He's skeptical of foreign wars. The more traditional and certainly the more business-minded Republicans see the Secretary of State as a better candidate. But Marco Rubio has said quite clearly that he will support. JD Vance, if he runs, which of course tells me that they've already had conversations, you know, and they could both be on the ticket. But the knives have been out for him since before he was even selected as the running mate for Donald Trump. They wanted him to pick, you know, there were people back then. who wanted it to be either Marco Rubio or Doug Burgum, who's now the Secretary of the Interior. But when you look at the polls, and of course now I have to start looking at the polls. JD Vance's favorability is about the same as Trump's. That's not good, you know, especially when we're in the middle of a war. Because his foreign policy views...

are really the thing that people point to and say, I can't support him over this. And this criticism is definitely running rampant with the neoconservatives and with people like me who are pro-Israel. You know, I don't like the way he speaks about Israel. I don't like, I don't call him an anti-Semite. But he certainly sympathizes with some anti-Semites, you know, Tucker Carlson. And then when he sat in for that, Joe Rogan does those incredibly long interviews. I think it was like two or three hours last week. And during the podcast, he described himself as a reasonable moderate in the debate over U.S. Israel relationship. And then he cited the Times report about an online pro-Israel influence operation that's being run by a former Trump campaign official. And he said, oh, you know, I'm being attacked in dishonest ways by paid influencers. No, I haven't seen that. These are really inside politics people who are targeting him. And he said, well, my response to that is, well, go to hell. I love the way they talk on the Rogan show, right? Everybody breaks out their macho conversation. He says, well, go to hell. I'm going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent America first. And that's the way I've tried to do this job. Oh, really? Well, I thought you didn't believe in getting involved in wars in the Middle East, which, by the way. I do believe in. There were a lot of critical posts pouring in from Ben Shapiro, Mark Thiessen, Bacha, Unger Sargon, and a lot of the right-wing influencers, as they're called, and these little-known ex-ususers who, just by posting anti-advance stuff, they get elevated. And some of the users who pledged to oppose him and support Marco Rubio in 2028 have profiles that strongly suggest they aren't even American voters. They're based in other countries. One of the advances people said it was obvious to anyone with an IQ above 70 that the barrage of attacks has been totally inauthentic and probably coordinated to a certain extent. this upsurge and online criticism? Because it's not being reflected in most of the data, but it is, of course, being reflected in the polls, and he can't deny that or run away from that. He said, this is going to be one of the more interesting elections. I'm not as personally invested in it as I've been in past elections, and I think if JD Vance is the presidential candidate. I won't be too involved. I just never thought he would be a great president. Now, if you see an organic or an authentic or an effective anti-JD Vance campaign rise up, I'll pay attention to it. But for now, you know, get back to work. You.

Mr. President, you. And let's deliver some more wins. I remember, you know, I'm supposed to be tired of winning by now. Well, I'm not, you know, I feel like a lot of the American people don't feel like we're winning. So you might want to get back to that. One of the senior advisors for JD Vance at the American Principles Project, who worked for the FTC until the beginning of the year. He put a chart on X last week that showed the vice president's favorability among Republicans was actually remaining steady, despite all this anti-Bantz opposition. And then, of course, he got attacked. John Schweppie, is his name. Now, all attacking him, attacking JD Vance, and he described the response as curious since his post. had not been shared by any high, you know, any of people in politics. Primary season, I guess it's beginning before the midterms this year, are trying to create a divide and separate JD Vance from Trump. And there's going to be folks within the party structure, within the influencer structure, who are going to try to knock him down a few pegs. because they hope that a challenger emerges that can beat them. And that's what it looks like to me. And it does look organized. No question about it. Because there's not usually this intense focus on the vice president. Even Mike Pence didn't get backlash until the final weeks of his term. And then it was only because he didn't want to do what President Trump told him to do. regarding the election results and people blamed Pence for failing to do what needed to be done. Before that, Mike Pence was one of the most widely liked Republicans in the Republican Party with very few conservatives criticizing him.

Now, don't forget, though, that for a significant part of her vice presidency, Kamala Harris faced a version of the, what do they call it, succession anxiety that now JD Vance is experiencing because the Democratic donors and the strategists and the commentators, they question, you know, she had low favorability ratings like what we're seeing with JD Vance. uneven political performance that we're not seeing with him. He's a good performer. And of course, she had problem managing people, which doesn't make one feel real confident about their ability to manage a country. And she was one heartbeat away from the old dude. So we'll see. Mark Short, the guy used to be the chief of staff to Mike Pence in the White House. said that the attacks against JD Vance are far more intense than what Pence endured for nearly four years in office, until Trump turned against him at the end. Pence, however, was adamant throughout the term not to show any distance between himself and Trump, even to staff and other cabinet officials. JD Vance has at times signaled a different perspective, especially regarding the war. And Trump has confirmed that JD Vance is philosophically a little bit different than him on Iran and maybe less enthusiastic about going to war. So we'll say it's going to be an interesting election. Don't forget, coming up after this program, you are going to have Guy Benson, followed by Will Kane, then it's Joe Pags and Lars Larson, and then we're officially in the weekend. Monday morning, Jennifer Ross and Stephen Dina will be back with the South Florida morning show at 6 a.m., followed by Brian Kilmeade at 9, Eric Erickson at noon, and I'll be back at 3. Still have a segment left in today's show, and no, Derek's not going to be on. He's going to see Weird Al in Montreal. Please, I do not understand that, but I will be back for the next segment. Stay right where you are. Speaker Mike Johnson is at his wits end. He's been dealing with one rebellion after another, and now members are about to tank a bipartisan veterans bill, and the House was scheduled to approve that bill yesterday and head out for the weekend, and it didn't happen. A handful of members, including those threatening to block the bill, he brought him into the ceremonial room across from the House chamber, and Anna Paulina Luna and Zach Nunn started yelling at each other. Well, I thank you for your time this time until next time. My plan is to be back here on Monday at 3 p.m. if it be his will, and he delays his coming. May God continue to keep a hand of protection on our troops, and of course, may God bless you.

May God bless Israel, and may God bless the USA. See you on Monday. This has been the Joyce Cowman podcast. Available everywhere you get your podcasts.