Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire 'Over' as Platner Goes Dark

Your education is more than a path to a degree. At Regent University, it's an important step in God's plan for your career. It's where you'll be equipped to lead and serve with purpose. It's where 40,000 graduates have prepared to fulfill their callings, and so can you. Choose a top-ranked program from over 150 areas of study on campus or online and watch what God will do. Learn more at regent.edu. That's regent.edu. Welcome to today's podcast, sponsored by Hillsdale College, all things Hillsdale at Hillsdale.edu. I encourage you to take advantage of the many free online courses there. And, of course, I'll listen to the Hillsdale Dialogues, all of them at Hugh for Hillsdale.com, or just Google, Apple, iTunes, and Hillsdale. Morning glory, and grace, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt on this Wednesday. Boy, what a day full of news. But the biggest news is the fact that we pounded Iran last night, and President Trump in Turkey today said there may be more tonight. Talk about this development. I'm joined by Walter Russell Meade. Walter is the author of The Ark of the Covenant. He's the dean of American foreign policy analysts. You may read him in the Wall Street Journal. He's a Hudson Institute scholar. Walter, welcome back. What do you make of what has happened in the last 24 hours? Well, it's not a huge surprise. You know, the Iranians have never really bought into any of the important ideas in the MOU that the Strait of Hormuz would stay open, that they wouldn't build a nuclear weapon, that they would give up on supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the United States isn't willing to accept the Iranian veto. So we're in a sticky situation. I think the president may have done the right thing. Now, Walter, the president said maybe we do it tonight. Maybe we don't. He's not sure we're going to go back to the full-scale war. Do you see anything short of a D, basically a dysfunctional regime ending, meaning we take out the dual-use power plants, we take out the dual-use bridges, we take out any dual-use infrastructure and really bring the pain to the regime? Anything short of that going to change their behavior? Yeah, I think President Trump is calculating a lot of different things. Probably what you're saying is true in that nothing short of that is going to move the regime. But I think Trump is also hoping that economic pressure will gradually force the regime to realize how much weaker it is than it would like to be. So we're, you know, so the Iranian oil is back under the sanctions. And the U.S. in effect is asserting a right to blockade Iranian oil, even while it keeps the straight open for everybody else. That may force the, that will force at least some people in Iran to think about maybe a compromise. But President Trump is not, I think, looking to escalate to a crisis if he can help it, but he knows that. that Iranian intransigence will ultimately leave him with very few choices.

You know, Walter, when you saw the funeral of Hamini, I'm sure you saw the same thing I did, and the president remarked on it today. They've got him marked for assassination. They've got our friend Mark Dewitts from the Foundation with the Defense of Democracies, marked for assassinate. They got a whole bunch of people. I don't know. You might have been in the parade. Who knows? We didn't see the whole parade. What do you make a regime that allows that? It's not a regime that you can trust no matter what they sign, is it? I don't think so. I don't think so. And this has been America's problem since 1979. We actually want good relations from Iran with Iran. We don't really, as a nation, it's not our business to tell Iran what kind of government it is. But we want good relations. Iran does not want good relations with us. That, I think, is the key to the whole problem. Now, yesterday I had on Haviv Redi Gore, and he's been on a lot. He makes a study of Muktau, the martyrdom theology of Iran. Do you agree with his assessment that their theology and their fanatical attachment to it doesn't really allow them to change their behavior unless they repudiate their theology, which is a difficult thing for a regime that sacrificed millions of people in the Iraq-Iran war and the 47 years since? Yes, it is in their theology, and yes, it's hard to change. I'll note that we saw after the death of Stalin, the Soviet Union de-Salinized, and other countries have kind of slithered away from things that we thought were eternal. So I don't rule out the possibility. that at some point you could see in Iran some people who were still kind of using the old slogans and the old ideas, but we're interpreting them differently. But we're not there, and we're not close to there. I'm not saying this is going to save us from the current crisis, but there are possibilities. I just think too many American presidents have been kind of – insorcelled and believed that the moderates were about to emerge and change everything when, in fact, they weren't. Yeah, I'm not a believer. They were booing Abbas Araghchi at the funeral, so that kind of tells me where the true believers are. Let me ask you about two distinct issues that I don't know enough about. I know that UAE and Saudi Arabia figured out, we need pipelines, we need more pipeline. I don't know how long it takes to build them. I don't know if they're underway. In your omniscient view of the Middle East, and I do think it is omniscient, are there bigger and better pipelines under construction as we speak? They are, well, under construction, certainly they're moving the pieces to get them going. I would not overestimate how much they would change things, though. You know, if Ukraine can destroy Russian oil refineries at a distance of 2,500 kilometers, then I think Iran could make trouble for pipelines in the desert. So we are, you know, this will help.

But it does not fundamentally change the problem that that geography really is a source spot in world politics. Oh, that's very interesting. Do you think that Iran has the capacity to innovate the way Ukraine has innovated? There's a couple of things going on in Ukraine. One, it's an existential. They're going to go away if they don't beat Vladimir Putin. They'll be absorbed and killed. Number two, they've got a lot of advantage in terms of their economy to begin with. It might be corrupt, but it certainly is open to making money. I'm not sure that's the case with the IRGC, taking 90% of everything. Do you think Iran can innovate the way Ukraine has? I wouldn't say at the same level, but let's not forget that the Russians have been buying Iranian drones and Iranian design drones. So Iran has definitely moved up the learning curve here. And again, look at North Korea. It's a lot poorer than Iran, but it has focused its energies on its nuclear deterrent, and it's actually been very successful. So now we turn to the American naval posture. We kept the blockade forces there. I don't know if the blockade is back. The sanctions are back. And I do think that the danger to our ships is back. From what you've seen, do the Iranians have the capacity to threaten the fleet in any significant way? It depends on what the fleet is doing. If the fleet wants to do very close operations offshore and in the Gulf, you do get some risk. This is just a fact of life. But further out, you know, the U.S. can blockade Iranian commerce in and out of the strait without at this point coming into real range of what the Iranians can throw against it. So it's a little bit of a standoff. We would have to be willing to accept risk and casualties to go right in there. But on the other hand, we can do a lot from a distance. Walter Russell Meade, commander in the Navy, died this week. His helicopter went down. His body was recovered today, reminding us, of course, that's the 14th casualty of this war. But it also reminded me of the seronic, automated boat that went and got the two Apache pilots and returned them safely to their ship. That seronic boat has stuck in my mind. What's that appearance tell you about the future of warfare? You know, it says the same thing we're seeing in the Black Sea, where Ukraine doesn't really have a Navy to speak of, but between sea drones and aerial drones, they've been able to bottle the Russian Black Sea fleet up in port and even force it out of Sevastopol back farther east.

This is I think something that China has to be thinking about when it thinks about its chances of a successful invasion of Taiwan. When I was in Ukraine, I talked to a medic who said that... He has not treated a bullet wound in five months. It's all drones on the front. So the change in war is happening both by land and by sea. Obviously, it's happening by air, and it's happening a lot faster than I think just about any of us have realized. Now, my last question, I mentioned your wonderful book, The Ark of the Covenant, The History of American Israel Relations. I don't know if Israel wants to get back into the fight or doesn't want to get back into the fight. And I don't know if we want them back in the fight or don't want them back in the fight. What does Walter Russell Mead think about that four square box? I think probably right now it's best if they stay out of the direct combat with Iran. But on the other hand, having the Israeli pressure on Lebanon and on pushing Lebanon to disarm getting the agreement with Lebanon, thanks to the Trump administration, to disarm Hezbollah, is very important. So I would say the Israelis have their lane and we have our lane, and maybe we should both do our best to drive in our own lanes for a while. Well said, as always, Walter Russell Meade from the Hudson Institute, author most recently of the Ark of the Covenant. Thank you for joining me on the resumption of combat with Iran. No better person to talk to than Walter Russell Mead. Follow him on X at W.R. Mead, read them in the Wall Street Journal, and stay tuned to the Google Show.

But Ben Dominates showing up a couple of days early. Ben, of course, opinion editor at The Daily Wire. He's also a Fox News contributor, the host of the Big Ben podcast, which will drop tomorrow. Ben, you've got to follow Walter Russell Mead, which really isn't fair. Last night I was on Sean Hannity, I had to follow Senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which is also not fair. So I'm not going to make you talk about Iran first. I'm going to talk about Graham Platner with you first. If Graham Platner adopts the Hunter Biden model, what does he do? Well, Hugh, first off, I would just have to express my appreciation for having the Who walk-in music still, even though. I know. You get it. It's yours. It's yours. Thanks, Dwayne. No, the thing that is sticking out to me about this whole situation, and I realize we've seen the reports. We've seen the people saying, oh, there are people who are going to be managing him dropping out. He wants to have input on this. He wants to, et cetera. Why? Why would he drop out? What leverage do they have over him at this point? He is the standing nominee for this position, and he is going to be in a position to have a jump ball game for a U.S. Senate seat in a wave year in a blue state. and, at least according to the private polling that I am familiar with, he is a single digit down. And that's with an optimistic scenario. In fact, there's some versions of it if Democrat turnout is higher than normal, where he's still up. Why would he drop out? What isn't the lesson from the last, you know, a couple of decades that you don't drop out, that you refuse to bow to the Democratic establishment, that you turn it into? They are trying to get rid of me because of the beliefs that I have. They're in conflict with them. You wrap yourself in your progressivism. And, you know, even if you've been rejected by various, you know, people who describe themselves as such, you basically, you know, raise a middle finger to Ro Khanna and Chuck Schumer. And you say, no, I'm staying in this. I'm fighting for Maine. And I think that that's the kind of scenario that people are dramatically underestimating. Maybe he still can get pushed out because, you know, deep down, we know he's not somebody who was, you know, necessarily from the world that would fight back against us that same way, that the actual outsider world, he's kind of a fake outsider. I think, though, that there is no real leverage against him. And if he stands up and says, I'm not getting out. I'm fighting. If he does the scene from Wolf of Wall Street, he says, I'm not going on. I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving. I think the progressives will just come back to him, and they'll make a rationale for how they can support him. They'll say he's being railroaded. They'll come up with some excuses for why, and ultimately, you know, all they care about is victory. And I just, I see this situation as being very different. from the way that it's being depicted in the traditional media. You know, a couple of things that haven't been brought up yet. Number one, he can use the Brett Kavanaugh card against Susan Collins. He will walk out and say Susan Collins voted for Brett Kavanaugh, and there was a far worse set of facts. It wasn't a far worse set of facts. Of course it was. He can say it was a worst set of fact. And number two, there's got to be some producer because Hunter Biden found someone who thought he could do a podcast and make money.

Graham Platner actually still has a shot. It's very real. And for him to sort of look at the situation here and say, and just to circle back, the only reason the Democrats are lining up and all saying he has to get out right now, the pot say bros, everybody else, the only reason they're saying that is because they look at the polling trajectory and they assume that he's going to keep just going down. And that's something that I think, you know, if you're part of that campaign, you don't necessarily accept that as gospel. You say, hey, this is baked in. Also, it's the summer. Also, we have months to recover from this. Also, you know, we could have a situation where, you know, this is such a wave, again, that it could carry a lot of flawed candidates over the finish line. Ben, I think the last thing CNN told me before one debate in 2016 was, don't bring up a Seinfeld reference. Nobody gets it. I'm about to bring up a Seinfeld reference. Do you remember the episode about the switcheroo where Jerry wanted his switch dating the roommate? So the question here is, if we go, what does Morse Katz do here? Does he do a switcheroo or does he stick with his man? I mean, I don't think, I do not think the switcheroo is the right way to go here. I realize that's been, you know, the way that people have been predicting this. But, you know, part of this, too, Hugh, I just have to say. We were in a different era than we were, you know, even a few years ago when it comes to the attitude that people have towards these types of allegations. And the truth is that for all these Democrats who said, believe all women, they've now kind of gone in the reverse direction. And it's very... It is very troublesome to see on a certain level because now it's like we've gone too far. You're doing the opposite. Okay. Stand by part two of the switcheroo discussion off there. I'll be back to talking around with Ben. After the break, I'm Hugh Hugh. Back with Ben, Dominic, talking about Graham Platner here. Part two of the switcheroo, Ben. We've had the Brutus Caucus, the Brutus and Cassius Caucus. plunge knives into Graham Platner. And I mean, it's Rokane, it's Bernie Sanders, it's Elizabeth Warren. It's everybody except Richie Torreys in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and John Fetterman, who didn't endorse him in the first place. If he stays in, can they do the switcheroo back? Of course they can. And the media will help them do it. Okay, can't you envision this piece in the New York Times in just, you know, a couple of months, Graham Platner looking out of a window, you know, looking very pensive.

you know and you know he he's dealt with the problems in his past he has no memory of these acts but these horrible acts that he's accused of he's a reformed man and he's ready to represent name he's ready ready to represent that working class that he comes from By the way, you know, as a, as a guy born in Jackson, Mississippi who dropped out of college, I've just offended. I would try to convince people that grand planar is working class. It's just absurd. It's just offensive. You know, to take that personally. No, I took that personally as a comedian. It's one of these things where you look at this guy and you see someone who is just a complete fraud. He's not even a real oyster farmer. Even though with the way that they branded him. I do not think, though, that Democrats have any kind of willingness to look in the mirror and say, you know what? I just can't back this guy. It's a bridge too far. I think that they will ultimately line up behind him. And if they think that he has a shot to win, none of these people will be looking. They'll say, you know what? I'll do the double switch around. And now he's going to be a great senator. Yeah. Okay, so the next question has got nothing to anything. The Seinfeld rule that CNN imposed on me, I don't think it operates. I think everybody knows every episode of Seinfeld. Am I right? I think it's one of the last shows that is actually ubiquitous. I mean, I think everybody knows it. And in fact, I know it because, you know, at that time, you know, there was such a limited number of networks. You know, look, you know, I think you could absolutely go on air, especially on Fox and say, it was an angry sea that day, my friend. So look, there is no, no. Don't lick the postage stamps. Don't lick the envelopes. Yeah, there are things you can get away. It's all right. Stand by, Ben. We're going to come back and be very serious because it's war again. Part two, Ben Dominance will be right here. Stay tuned, America. They'll never build a nuclear weapon under our deal. But I don't know if we're going to have a deal. We may just do it without a deal, because you know what, it's easier. Because these people, they lie and they cheat, and you have an agreement, and they'll go outside. For instance, they agreed, well, we'll never have a nuclear weapon. They agreed. Then they go outside. They have a news conference where they leak that we never discuss the subject. Now... Who would believe we never discuss the subject? Because for me, that's 99.9% of what we're doing. It's denuclearization of Iran, okay? So when you ask, our guys can continue. You know, Steve is great, and Jared and all the guys, they know them very well. Yeah, actually, they're working on your stuff, too. I wonder which, I pick two beauties. You know what, we settled eight wars. I got a couple of beauties here.

But Steve's great and Jared's great. You know, there's the right guys. We'll see what happens. But I will say this. Iran... They'd misbehaved for 47 years. They've killed our soldiers. They've killed our people. They've killed a lot of people all over the Middle East and elsewhere. And the roadside bomb was their preferred. You know, the preferred weapon was by Soleimani, the roadside bomb, where it would explode under a truck. We actually built trucks with fours, steel, this thick. And then all they did was they made bigger bombs. We have young guys around, not walking around because they have no legs, but their legs were blown off, their arms were blown off, their face was blown off, and they lived because of modern medicine you can do anything. But they're living, they're living like in hell. Their whole life changed because of Iran. And that was 96% of the people that used that, they were made in Iraq. And so we have a score to settle. We have a score to settle. Ben Dominic is on the Hugh Hewitt show. Ben, I played that because I think the president is internalizing a deep hatred for Iran, and it's going to come out. What do you think? I agree with that, Hugh, and I also think that there's another element of this that we should appreciate, which is that from the beginning, and you and I have discussed this. The president seemed to be almost in terms of his cabinet and his administration the most skeptical about this deal working out. He seemed to express the most view of sort of we know who the Iranians are. We'll see if it works. Maybe it'll work. Maybe I'll be bombing them again in a week. You know, he was saying that kind of thing from the get-go, which is another reason why I felt it was so unfair. you know, not just of the vice president, but of other members of this administration have this attitude about this MOU that basically said if you're criticizing the MOU, you're criticizing the president, you're criticizing America first, et cetera, et cetera. I don't think that's true at all. I think the president was actually pretty skeptical. from the get-go about this working out because he knows history because he knows the kind of things that he just said there because he's paid attention over the years to the way that the Iranians have acted and because he does not have this naivete which is built in and was obviously the major you know, a point of criticism that you could level at the Obama administration with their ridiculous JCPOA that has animated foreign policy and the foreign policy blob in Washington for so long about the way that we could deal with Iran. We can't deal with them. And by the way, one of the lines that he said there about maybe we'll do this without a deal.

No deal at this point I truly believe would actually be better than the deal that has been drafted. No deal is better than the deal that has been proposed. It really is something that I think we need to wrap our heads around as a people, which is that there is no situation here where they should benefit from what has gone on, what they intend to do, what they are clearly intentionally still doing. They should not benefit from that in any way. And even if the money isn't coming from American taxpayers, they stand to benefit under this current MOU, which I think you can just throw in the trash at this point. It's done. It's over. The ceasefire is over. And whether the president decides to walk away or whether he decides to step up the bombing, either way, I think that this is a situation where we are moving on from that stage of this conflict. Well, we have always talked. We have talking about it. I don't think there is a deal. I think it was always just a half-time, and they're going to come back out. You were always, from day one, you were saying, this is a pot. There's a pot. And so we got one minute then. Does it go full kinetic again with or without Israel? I think that, I think at least in the short term, it does. I feel like this is the kind of situation where we're going to see a lot of things explode very quickly and then maybe go quiet. And that's something that the president, I think, almost dipped his hand on today. You know, he made a lot of news today, and a lot of it, I think, was him feeling vindicated about his perspective on the world, his perspective on Iran. It's his perspective, you know, calling them loco, you know, going after Spain rightly, by the way, I say. It's someone who wishes Spain with a lot better. You know, his view on NATO, et cetera, I think he feels vindicated about his view of the world. Oh, very well put. And we're going to be playing a lot of that audio an hour two today. Ben Dominic, thanks for coming in a couple of days early. Follow Ben on Exit B Dominic. Read everything that he's editing over at the Daily Wire and see him on Fox News. And listen to the Big Ben podcast. Stay tuned to Hugh Hill. Welcome back, America, Sarah C. Bedford. As they call him, they stand in a longtime reporter with the Washington Examiner. You can follow where on X at Sarah C. Bedford. Sarah, two prominent Democrats did not get anywhere near Graham Platner. One of them is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And the other is Rahm Emanuel. The former mayor of Chicago, the former ambassador to Japan was in Israel today, gave a long speech telling Israel how they had to clean up their act. Then he went on Channel 12 and said, quote, Israel does not have a problem with the Democratic Party. Israel has a problem in America. What do you think about Rahm Emanuel after the meltdown of Graham Platner taking this third way? Does it work? Well, I think it's really interesting because a lot of Democrats, they're either really far to the left on the issue of Israel.

You know, using language like calling Israel genocidal and siding with the Palestinians and really radical on the issue. Or they don't want to touch it. If they're establishment Democrats, they're afraid of angering where right now all the energy is and the activist wing of the Democratic Party. So for Rahm Emanuel, who we know has presidential ambitions to come out and sort of outline this middle ground that addresses the issue while leaving the door closed to anti-Semitism and radical. views on this issue is really interesting. And you mentioned that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn't get near Graham Platner. That's so fascinating to me because she was one of the last people standing defending Joe Biden. She's really worked to align herself with the establishment. And the whole establishment was behind Graham Platner. But for whatever reason, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she's got great political instincts to say nothing of her worldview was smart enough not to get on the Graham Platner train here. You know, I've talked about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with President Trump on this program. I use the word she's got sparkle, and he says, yes, she does, she got real charisma, but can't she do an interview? And, you know, Ron Emmanuel can kill the interviewer without using a blade. Do you think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can do the same thing? No, not necessarily. I think she's got a bit of the Kamala Harris word salad problem where sometimes her thoughts don't quite come out coherent to a normal person. She would probably struggle to connect with... swing voters and not just because of her policies, because the way she speaks is really wrapped in this like activist academic language where it's just not really all of that. It doesn't resonate with your average swing voters. So I think she'll struggle there. I can't remember the exact forum, but it was recently within the past year that she made this big foreign policy debut at an international conference. And she really wasn't able to articulate any clear answers to pretty basic foreign policy questions. So it's not clear that she's totally ready for prime time, but it is clear that she's positioning herself potentially for 2028. So our colleague, Byron York, at the examiner, wrote this earlier today, switching over to Graham Platner fully. Of course, Graham Platner is going to wait a few days to do anything. The air-on-fire moment is the worst time to make a big decision. See how this plays out after the initial panic. Meanwhile... Plattena can go through the charade of trying to ensure that the next Senate nominee will be true to Maine's progressive values. And then after much thought and reflection, decide that the best nominee to protect Maine's progressive values is? Here's truly, Graham Platner. And what about all the inducements and or threats he will surely receive? And usually such things involve money and jobs, but remember that Graham Platner lives on 100% VA disability and help from his mother. He'll keep those things no matter what. It seems unlikely that you'll never eat lunch in this town again. Threat works on him. So, Platinum has till 5 p.m. on Monday to decide. Of course, he doesn't have to do anything. Maybe he'll withdraw, but it seems like there's a non-zero chance he'll stay in. I'm using the same language. There's a non-zero chance. He will win, actually, Sarah Bedford. So does he get out? You know, he has ever incentive not to, right? His reputation right now is... presumably at a low point. I mean, we don't know what else is in the chamber in terms of opposition research. It could get worse. It could always get worse. But right now is probably the most intense scrutiny and pressure he'll ever be under. There was a lot of Democrats who were celebrating on Twitter last night when the executive director of the state party came out and said, you know, Graham Platner is calling us, trying to put his on the scale of what the nomination process will look like after he withdraws. And I told him, you have no leverage here. You can't.

tell us what to do. Graham Platner actually has all the leverage. He does not have to step down. It is his decision alone, and he only has to withstand, what, five more days of pressure, and then he's on the other side of a procedural hurdle that Democrats can't overcome. So the way that he's being treated by the state party and other Democrats, I don't think that reflects the reality of the situation where Graham Platner could very well hang on to that nomination and put Democrats in a horrible position of walking away from a key pickup opportunity. Or having to kind of like eat their words and sheepishly back him once again and return to this like he's a changed man narrative. So it's surprising to me that there's not more appeasement going on with the state party and Graham Platner. Well, I thought, I'm glad you brought that up. I thought that video was the dumbest thing you could possibly do if you wanted him to leave the race, which is say you're powerless and you don't matter. Get out of the way. That is, that's like guaranteed to throw gas on the fire, isn't it? Right, exactly, because the state Democratic Party has no leverage over him. It's the opposite of what was done to Joe Biden, right? In the lead up to him dropping out of the race, you had people saying the sweetest things about Joe Biden public. He's a historic president, the best president we've ever had, an American legend, and the greatest thing he'll do is step down. Like, people were really sucking up to Biden to get him to step out of the race. And that's what eventually got him over his ego. It was too late, obviously, for Democrats. not seeing any of that sort of approach in the grand platinum situation, even though they're very similar in that the decision rests with grand platinum alone, just as it did with Biden, because the main voters. have already spoken in the primary. And the problem also for Democrats is that they don't really have a lot of good alternatives to replace Graham Platner. They have a very shallow bench there. That's why you ended up with Graham Platner in the first place. It's not like there were a bunch of talented Democrats waiting in the wings. So it's a really tough position for Democrats right now. And the last question. Morris Katz is with him today as consultant. Morris Katz makes a lot of money off of this race if he stays in. What do you think Morris Katz is telling him? Pure speculation, but what do you think he's telling him? He's a crazy 28-year-old or something like that. What do you think? Yes, see, the money is a very important point. He's made a lot of money, gotten a lot of recognition because of Graham Platner. It was a huge gamble that so far looks like it's not going to pay off. But you know what? If Graham Platner stays in the race, there's still like five more, four more months. Sorry, I'm about it math till the midterm elections. It's a lot can happen between now and then. If Graham Platner were to stay in the race, I don't think. it's out of the question that he could possibly beat Susan Collins in an election year that's really tilted against Republicans. And that's the type of advice that if I were Morris Katz, I would potentially be giving to Grim Blatner. It's like, what do they have to lose at this point by staying in? Sarah C. Bedford, well put. I do think they have their reputation to lose. Morris Katz has his reputation to lose within the Democratic Party. He may not care. Follow Sarah at Sarah C. Bedford on X. Follow me the next segment on the New Zealand show.

My friends, you've probably seen the headlines are worse. Your latest bill. Big wireless is raising rates again. That means you could be paying more for the same service or getting pushed into a price here plan you simply do not need. That's not right. You can switch to consumer cellular right now and save an additional $50 when you go to consumer cellular.com slash you and use the promo code Hugh 50. And if you happen to be over the age of 50, listen to this, you can get a single line. with unlimited talk, text, and data for just $355 a month. Remember, there are numbers, $8004114454, 8004114454. Consumer Cellular ranks number one for network coverage and for customer satisfaction according to ACSI. And when you switch, you'll talk to an actual human being based right here in the United States. No long-term contracts, no hidden fees. You can keep your phone or choose a new one. Get an additional $50 off when you switch today using promo code Hugh 50. And do not forget, if you are over 50, you get a single line, unlimited, talk, text, and data for $35 a month. Visit consumercellular.com slash hue and use promo code Hugh 50. Or call 1-800-41144 and use promo code Hugh 50. The images coming out of Venezuela are heartbreaking. Powerful earthquakes have left entire community in rubble. Families are already struggling. Suddenly lost their homes, apartments, even access to clean water, the necessities needed to survive. Right now, children are sleeping in makeshift shelters. Parents are searching for food, clean water, basic safety for their family. That's why food for the poor is responding immediately. Working through trusted local partners already serving these communities. They're providing emergency food, drinking water, hygiene supplies, other life-saving assistance. Relief can't wait. Every hour matters. The people of Venezuela need our prayers, and they also need our help. From your mobile phone, text Hewitt, H-U-I-T-T-T to 5-1-555-5. Again, text Hewitt, H-E-W-I-T-T to 5155. If you send a text, you'll receive a reply with a secure link where you can make your emergency gift to help the people who have Venezuela. Together, we can be the hands and feet of Christ, bring hope, relief, God's love to families who have lost so much. I'm Hughitt, and I thank you. Somebody has to help this country, and if they don't, the country and the world are in big trouble. One of the most polarizing political figures in American history gets a full scale. defense. The America 250 film series presents Vindicating Trump. Go inside the battles, accusations, media storms, and legal fights that's shaped an historic comeback story. It's vindicating Trump this weekend. Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern on Salem News Channel. Welcome back, America. Mary Catherine Hamm, who's host of the Getting Hammered podcast, also Fox News contributor. You can see her on X at MK Hammer. Mary Catherine, I hope you had a fabulous 250. I did, but the tide of grandchildren is going out. So I'm actually regaining my balance, and I'm now able to talk again. Does that happen to your mom and dad when the whole kitten caboodle shows up? Are they exhausted at the end?

Yeah, so they have two kids with grandkids in the hometown with them. So they sort of go in and out for short period. So I think they're in a nice routine now. But yeah, if we have them up to the house with seven grandkids, you know, that's like, it's a lot. That's what I just got done doing. And gosh, I love it, but it's really difficult. I just want to stress that to all the children of grandparents out there, that the grandchildren are much loved, but don't leave them alone in the kitchen every night. There are knives and things. All right, Mary Catherine, I did not get a chance to listen to the new Getting Hammered podcast today. So I want to ask you first. Lindsay is an acquaintance of yours. She is brave beyond brave. And I admire her. Kelly Ann did not want to use her name last night on Sean Hannity because we had Graham Platner's name up there. I don't, you know, if he stays in, there's a not 0% of him winning. If he gets out, he's roadkill. So I don't, I'm not sure he's going to get out. What say you? Yeah, I'm with you. And this is descriptive, not prescriptive. Obviously, he should get out, but he's not the kind of personality who I assume would do the correct thing because, you know, I had some clues with the Nazi tattoo pretty early on that he wasn't the guy who makes good judgment calls. So look, I think you're right. The second he's out, he has no leverage whatsoever and no real job because he's not actually selling oysters to anyone. And he has gone through this upheaval and put his wife through. all of this as well and made her do selfie videos to answer for his infidelity. And now all of this is out in the open. So why would he leave now without trying to extract something from the party to ameliorate his issues? And by the way, this is a repeat of Biden almost exactly because you have a chance to deal with these things in a democratic process early. And if you catch that the guy is really problematic, you can do something to mobilize on that. But if you don't, then you've given someone the voice of the voters. He has this behind him at large numbers in the Democratic Party, frankly, from the people who voted for him in Maine. And he can say, like, I was the choice of the voters. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Now, if you study, if you're Graham Platner and you're studying the Hunter Biden arc. And that is to me, that is the four corners of Graham Platner, the Hunter Biden art. All of a sudden you have no money, no average, what do you do, podcast? How do you launch a podcast? Make sure everyone follows you for at least four months. So if I'm, I'm just being Machiavellian here, if I do a podcast today, no one will talk to him that wants, doesn't want a Graham Platner tattoo on them. But if he runs a podcast every day, He will get ratings, won't he? It's like Hasan Piker's crazy, too, but he would, he'd get an audience.

Yeah, I think he would have an audience. There's also another part of this. I just saw a statistic that his advertising, his campaign advertising, has mentioned Israel more than any other Democratic nominees advertising. And if you want the crazies to listen to you online, that's one of the ways that you get them. So I would see that potentially taking a pretty dark turn. Now, I don't think he's quite as compelling as some people give him credit for. I think the look. was more what the Democratic Party liked that he had this real dude aesthetic. And it turns out he's not a normal dude or a nice dude and, in fact, quite a bad man. But I'm not sure that the actual talking is his forte. He can do a little stump speech, but I'm not sure how long he can sustain that. We'll see. And then you bring in, if that's the case, you bring in a co-host from Morris Katz, Inc. begins to promote 2028. And what they are is they are a very effective assassin of any other campaign if they speak badly of it or or even if they draw attention to it. It's a real lethal weapon. Go ahead. I was going to say, by the way, one of the things that is worth considering about his posture and what he's going to do is that these DSA-aligned candidates are quite open about the fact they don't care about the party. They think the party has done everyone wrong. And so why would you assume that for the party, he would do this thing without getting something in return or making sure he had a soft landing? So, Mary Catherine, you're too old, but I'm wondering if in your teenage years... You're too young. If you ever saw the classic from my youth called Death Rate 2000, where you got points for running people over, and if you drove through an old person's home, you could kill more people. That was a cult classic. It made a lot of money. So Graham Platner could be the political equivalent of Death Rate 2000. He could ruin a lot of people in the next four months, couldn't he? Yeah, he probably has the potential to do so. Again, I don't think he's quite as compelling as some of the other people you mentioned, and I don't know how well he can sustain that. But I do, I think they should be quite worried about what he's going to do next. And as I keep saying, Nancy Pelosi didn't have an answer for the squad in 2019. You think a more empowered DSA wing, Hakeem Jeffries, has an answer for now. These people are going to get rolled, and they might get rolled by Graham Platner, too. All right. I want to switch subjects over to Iran while I've got you. Smuggle come on after you and we'll carry on the conversation about Graham Platner. You're very involved with the Travis Mannion Foundation. You know a lot of vets who were wounded or killed in the Iraq War, which Iran was behind and actually shaped the explosive devices that killed so many people. Do you want the president to unload on them the way I do? Yes, and I would say, look, many Americans are war-weary or war-wary. Our veterans are among them. There are good reasons to be about boots on the ground and that kind of thing. But I do find that in the veteran community, there are many who are still pretty hawkish and also are very concerned about American threat credibility. The withdrawal from Afghanistan, which diminished our credibility in so many ways, was heartbreaking.

to the people who fought there and lost blood and treasure or family members. And I don't think many of those who have experienced with this are relishing the idea that you would walk away from something while giving the message to this horrific regime that we're going to let you control the straight of her moves or we're going to let you do this. Now, I don't, these psychos were never going to concede a normal defeat, right? So you have to find a way to. get to a place that feels good, that is a strategic victory. And I think there are ways to do that, and it includes unloading. Right. A very last question, I've got to go listen to Getting Hammered, the podcast to find out the full. But how was your 250th? Did the kids enjoy it? Did Steve enjoy it? Did everyone enjoy it? Oh, we had a great 250th. We were at the lake. We were setting off some, you know, possibly questionable fireworks in our driveway. We had the little kids on sparklers. We watched the Patriot, maybe a little too intense for the kids, but you know, it's good for them. And I lost my phone in the lake because I jumped in to save a $20 bicycle cap. So. Oh, the lake phone. By the way, we showed the Patriot half of it to the 14 and 10 year old. They fast forwarded through the church scene. Did you fast forward at all? I don't think we've fast-forwarded. You know, is my judgment questionable in this case? Look, they need to understand how difficult and insane it was to fight the British at this point in history. Now I feel like they have an appreciation for that. They didn't have before. Yeah, and Colonel Terryton was real. I took my boys to see that when they were younger than my grandkids are, so I'm very proud of my children for doing the same thing. Mary Catherine, Ham, enjoy the next 250. Don't go anywhere, America. Follow around. Exit M.K. Hammer. Go listen to the Getting Hammer podcast. The podcast with Vic Madison, Mary Catherine. Stay tuned. Smug is now. Welcome back, America. Comfortably Smug is one of the hosts of The Ruthless Podcast. Your regular listening every or watching, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, do not miss it. They even had their own special on the mall where it was only about 105 degrees. I'm surprised they've rehydrated. Smug, I love your new, you're rocking some new attire today. What is that all about? Yeah, that's right. Actually, it's the Endural hoodie. It's rebuild the arsenal. It's an important message. I think Secretary Pete Hegseth is doing a great job of just that. President Trump's doing a great job of that. We are revitalizing our military, getting ready to fight the next generation of warfare. And I celebrate that. I stand with our military. I am deeply jealous. You know, Anderil is invested in Ohio. They've gone to the best state. They're building in Columbus. So Palmer Lucky said, no to California. Where he grew up, he went to Ohio. Okay, I'm deeply jealous. When you see your Anderil friends, tell him I'm deeply jealous. Let's talk a little bit about Maine. We don't have a crystal ball. We don't know what Graham Platner is going to do. But when we're talking, he hadn't done anything. You know, I just said on Fox earlier.

If he stays in, there's not a 0% chance of him winning. It's close, but it's not zero. If he gets out, it is zero. Does he get out smug? So that's the thing. And it's wonderful because yet again, this is... The doing of the Democrats, they did it to themselves. When you bring up that it is a non-zero chance he wins, it's good to remind folks there was this gentleman named Ralph Northam who had his own controversy in Virginia. And every Democrat out there said he should drop out, should go away. And he didn't. And he ended up winning that election. And so I think a lot of Democrats took a lesson from that of like, well, you know, it's never really completely over. And I wouldn't be surprised if Graham Platner State. I mean, the man had a Nazi tattoo and Democrats remained with him. In my mind, that party has become so morally bankrupt. There's nothing that an individual could do to completely get pushed out among them. Now, in the aftermath of the second victim coming forward. Lindsay wasn't enough. The second victim had to come forward, Rasekow. And they went full Julius Caesar on the way to the forum. They couldn't get there fast enough to put a blade in the grand platinum. With one exception, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had nothing to rescind because she didn't endorse. I guess Ritchie Tories didn't endorse either. Everybody else had to plunge a blade in in order to make sure everyone knew that they were trying to carve their grand platinum tattoo off. Does that make him angry? Because honestly, the political professionals should have told them, shouldn't they? You're going to get every proctological investigation. Everything is going to come out. Let's make it clear. He's got the world's worst consultants. But doesn't he get really angry now at the way they've treated him? And, you know, the funny thing about his consultants is they are like the vanguard of this next generation of truly awful Marxist left-wing lunatics. They're Zohran Mamdani's consultants. All these, like, nascent races that you're hearing of of far-left Marxists, it's the same consulting shop with their hand involved in all of it. And I think that... The problem for the Democrats is Graham Platner doesn't have to be angry. He's controlling all the cards. They're completely screwed. He doesn't have to step down. He's already got that nomination. And so when you hear these stories of how he's trying to dictate the terms of him getting out of the race, it has to be like he's the kingmaker here. It's absurd, but it's true because he's got that party caught the same way that, you know, the Hamas caucus has the Democrats caught and how, you know, at the victory party of where you. You're seeing these far-left candidates winning against incumbents in New York, and they're chanting at the TV when Hakeem Jeffries would come on that, you're next, you're next. And the next morning, Hakeem Jeffries has to send out a congratulations message. That entire party's been completely captured by these lunatics. So my theory, and it's just a theory. I don't know anything. Morris Cass is up there in the house in Maine. And he's saying to him, pretend to be willing to get out if they name a progressive, except nobody that they name, someone that they can't name, Bellows, for example, lost a...

Susan Collins, and we'll take bank. We'll make enough money from the next four months, from the crazy people at Act Blue, we'll give you half, and we'll try and rehab you. We'll go on a giant rehab to, like physical therapy for broken candidates. Do you think the consultants might have a handle here on the money? I would not be surprised if that was the situation because, you know, the left has essentially become a money machine. You look at all the NGOs and you saw all the Democrat candidates and elected Democrats. crying when Doge was having a crackdown on, where's all this USAID money going? And it's because this is all just a money machine for the left. You're seeing all the investigations happening into Act Blue. All of the consultants, the NGO people on the left, they've all seen that this derangement is a money-making operation. I would not be surprised if what you just described is an actual situation that's happening. Now, I want to go back in time to when you were... Maybe in elementary school, you may not have been in elementary. You may not even born smugged. Pennsylvania Senate race with Richard Thornburg is where James Carville made his bones in 1988 or 1990. And a big, big upset. And I can't remember. Harris, I think, Harris Woffer. I can't remember what his name was. The Democrat won. And James Carville was the hot new thing. So he got the Clinton campaign. And then we're still seeing him 40 years later. Still. ranting, because he made a lot of money. He became the it guy. Does Morris cats go down in flames now, or do the progressives say, yeah, he can work with anyone? I think he keeps going because he has these candidates. He's got Zohran Mamdani. And Zohran Mamdani is a moneymaker. He's, Zohran Mamdani has become a kingmaker among this deranged new left wing that used to be the Democrat Party. That's now just a Marxist party completely. I think Morris Katz is completely fine with this. His name is getting out. Even if it's because one of his candidates has a Nazi tattoo and flamed out, Morris Katz has his name out. It's good for his business. Yeah, he can say, my guy won the primary with a Nazi tattoo. I can help you if you're at least normal. Now, the one person who did not get close to this, as I mentioned, John Fetterman didn't get close, Richie Torrey didn't get close, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez read the room and she ran from this. Does that help her in 2028 that she had the good sense to stay away from this guy? If I had to guess in 2008, this will be long gone in the rear view. We will have seen this year, though, is the emergence of the new left, how we've seen the far left Zohran Mamdani candidates in New York, how we're seeing the Hamas caucus when in Colorado.

They are taking out incumbent Democrats. This is going to be the launch pad. I would not be surprised if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez eventually becomes the frontrunner. A lot of prediction sites now have her overtaking Gavin Newsom. when it's to talk about the 2028 presidential race. Well, that's like somebody beating me at a 10K comfortably smut. If I just can say, now remember, tell everyone over at Anderol, they've missed the old guy, and he wants that such shirt. Thank you, Smug. Good to see you. Follow him on X a comfortably smug. Listen to the ruthless podcast tomorrow. They'll bring you the latest update from Maine on Graham Platner. Stay tuned. In 2025, Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. That's why so many people are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, dark web monitoring, and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. And if you become a victim, Aura's 24-7 U.S.-based support team is there to help. Don't wait until your identity is stolen. Start your free trial today at Aura.com slash safe. That's Aura.com slash safe.