BENSON BYTE: Sen. Jon Husted on Scuffle Between Senators and President Trump - "All's Well That Ends Well"

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And he thought that was a bad sign to send to Iran right in the middle of the negotiations that maybe we were getting weak. And, you know, it's a fair point that he was making. And ultimately, though, we resolved that conflict by voting last night to give the president the authority to conduct or at least not deny him the authority to conduct those strikes. if necessary, because, look, he wants to have a strong hand in his negotiations with Iran so he can get us in the world the best deal, making sure we keep the straight-of-form moves open, toll-free, making sure we eliminate Iran's ability to have a nuclear weapon. So that was really the source of some of the contention. And ultimately, we left the meeting on the same page and then the Senate took action last night to do exactly what the president wanted. So all's well that ends well. Yeah, you know, and I think if you're going to get heated, war powers and separation of powers, this is a legitimate thing to be arguing about and debating. And I do wonder, like, moving forward here, let's say there is a deal. And there's all sorts of discussions about whether the deal shaping up is good or bad, terrible, capitulation, strong, wait and see, right? We've had a lot of different voices on this show. I've given my position on it. We talked to one of your colleagues, Rick Scott. from Florida who said ultimately he is against giving this regime any money and said absolutely congress must have a formal role in promoting supporting at least having an opportunity to weigh in on whatever deal might emerge from this process where do you come down on that question congressional involvement ratification etc Yeah, I think that that ultimately is where we need to be. The president negotiates a good deal, and Congress decides whether they want to ratify it or not. That's how our American democracy works. And there's nothing wrong with that. But the point of disagreement yesterday was over about perhaps weakening his hand during the middle of the negotiations, and that has been remedied. So look. As I talk to people out across Ohio, they want two things. They want lower gas prices and they don't want Iran to be a threat in a terrorist regime. And I think that the president understands that and is trying to thread that needle. That is something that no president has been able to successfully do in 47 years under this terrorist regime that we have there. And this is a tough task. This is an important task. And I think that they're... they're on the way to be able to get something that looks like that and i hope they do on the save america act and the president attaching that to other legislative priorities to the point that he said that he wasn't going to sign the housing bill that had Huge bipartisan support, I think catching a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill off guard. You've got Trump supporters, hardcore Trump supporters who think it's right for him to apply that pressure. Others saying, you know, we've got to do things for the public to help improve the situation on affordability and show them that we can govern. And, you know, attaching different things outside legislation to other pieces of legislation could be ultimately self-defeating.

What's your thought on that? And is there a path forward here? Because I think a lot of people want to see movement on affordability. Many people, myself included, support the Save America Act, although I understand that there are some institutional challenges in the whip count and things like that. Where does this go from here in your mind? So first of all, I support the Save America Act. I voted for it six times. And as Secretary of State in Ohio, I was part of helping make it Ohio a place where it's easy to vote and hard to cheat. So election security has been an issue that's been very important to me, making sure that boys don't play girls sports, men don't play women's sports. All of those things are, I think, core value principles that Republicans agree on. Just in this particular situation, you need 60 votes to get it done. So you need seven Democrats to go along with it to ultimately get it passed. And there does not seem to be a pathway to be able to get that done. I hope that the president will conclude ultimately that we're with him. Like we're with him on getting this deal with Iran done. We're with him on lowering gas prices. We're with him on housing affordability. And we're with him on the Save America Act. We just have to figure out if there is another way to be able to get it done. I hope it's decoupled from housing. And we can look at maybe trying to get some pieces of it done through another reconciliation process or a variety of other ways. But ultimately, you know, the Democrats, when they were in charge, tried to get elections, bills done that Republicans wouldn't go along with. Now we have a same situation where they won't go along with us. And ultimately, though, the American people... support voter ID. They support prohibiting men from playing women's sports. I think we're on the right side of the policy issue. We just can't get the votes in the Senate. In terms of procedure and Senate calendar, I know that can be sort of in the weeds and boring to a lot of people, but we were just talking with Perry Severino earlier in the hour about judicial confirmations. And those unanimous consent called to adjourn and go into recess. And some people are saying, well, with some of these outstanding questions unresolved, including some judicial nominations, including, you know, is there another reconciliation package coming? Are they going out too early, going home too early? Is that something that you share as a concern or is that overblown? So we've confirmed a record number of at a far faster pace of Trump cabinet officials and judges and things like that than even they did in the first term. And so we're at record pace. We actually confirmed Mike Hendershot to the Northern District seat here in Ohio yesterday. So I was proud to have an Ohio judge, federal judge, get confirmed yesterday.

And we're actively getting that list checked off. Those boxes checked and people are not. But, you know, look, Chuck Schumer and company have done everything under the sun to try to derail, delay, and obstruct because they don't want Donald Trump to be successful. I get that, and I'm just saying if the Democrats are going to obstruct and delay in all of that, wouldn't one tool in the toolbox be to force them to stay in Washington, D.C.? If you're going to obstruct, then you've got to do the painful obstruction. I know that's not fun for you guys. I just think some conservatives are saying, you know, why... Why reward or let them off the hook for those tactics that you're describing? And I get, look, there are members that need to get home and there are people running for re-election. And that is very sensitive, of course, to your situation right now. So there's like there's that tug of war back and forth in terms of what the priority ought to be. And I get that John Thune made the call that he did. I was just getting, taking your temperature, if you will, on that issue because I do see both sides of it. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for $12-month plan required, $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial term only, greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FN Radio 20. 20. 20%. 20% excludes. two members that haven't missed a vote. And Donald Trump was inaugurated here with, and I became a U.S. Senator. And so I'm on the job ready to do it. I also hear from people back home complaining, hey, we don't see you enough. Where are you? Well, I'm in Washington working on these issues. So you've got to have that balance. You know, get back home, talk to people, hear what's on their mind, but then also be there to get the votes done. We've been in session as much as any Senate has, I think, in 60 years. And I'm happy to work more, but I also have to get back home and see our constituents as well. So it's trying to find that balance. And I don't know what the right balance is guy, but we're trying to get this stuff done. A couple more policy questions. Number one, I see that you are big on the Invest Act. What would that do? Yeah, well, I'm a little concerned. So first of all, we are in this battle with China for the supply chain and making sure that we can do more made in America. But in some circumstances, they subsidize those businesses with government funds. And so for America to keep rare earth companies going, to keep chip companies going, the president has decided to.

Let's turn to politics, Senator, and your election fight. I think it's safe to say that if the Republicans are worried about a seat in Ohio, then that would be potentially part of a map that the Democrats could take advantage of to win back the Senate. And there's a lot at stake in November. I've seen a couple of polls where you are trailing your challenger, who's this. Lifetime politician, Jared Brown, who was voted out not long ago by the people of Ohio. He's coming back or trying to. Down eight points in one poll, down three points in another. I think I've seen some other polls where it's tied or you're maybe slightly ahead. What are you seeing in your numbers? And what is your message to Ohioans? Because I think a lot of, frankly, conservative voters around the country just say, oh, well, Ohio's become red. And so it's fine. It'll turn out fine. And I'm a little worried about complacency here. What's your message on that point? Well, it's going to be a tight race, and the Senate majority is at stake. I've got to win for Republicans to stay in the Senate majority, or Donald Trump will get impeached. That's the bottom line right there. So I feel an enormous responsibility to win, not for myself, not just for my state, but for the country. And I'm running against the guy who lost two years ago to Bernie Moreno by 200,000 votes. But he's back. He's been in public office for 52 years, the last 32 in Congress, and everything that he complains about. He thinks that energy prices are too high. Well, these are his energy prices. He thinks that health care prices are too high. Well, these are his health care policies. He was four open borders. He's 11 million illegal and unvetted people into this country, gave them Social Security benefits, gave them COVID checks, gave them Medicaid. He's too liberal for Ohio. And we've got to make sure that he doesn't come back and rejoin Elizabeth Warren. And Chuck Schumer and Kamala Harris and the Joe Biden gang to continue this march for Democratic socialism, which is what they're all after. And I feel an enormous sense of responsibility to win this race. And I'm going to need the help of all the freedom-loving people in Ohio to get that job done. Is it doable because I understand it's early on? And I see certain polls where you're down high single digits. I don't think I really believe that. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe that. But I do believe this could be a very competitive race and very much too close for comfort. At this stage, how are you feeling about it? I know that there's the public numbers. You've got your internal numbers. How are you feeling about the state of play here as we almost turn the calendar to July? Look, I will just say this about poll numbers. I expect this race to be within the margin of error during the until election day. I really do. I think it's going to be an incredibly close race because it is a midterm election. Midterm elections just are a different turnout model than presidential elections. And that's why we need to have Republican enthusiasm. He's way outraised me and way outspent on TV so far.

But we will be competitive on all those fronts, and I'm confident that we'll win. Look, this is the other thing on the ground. If you look at Ohio, we've had business groups who've never endorsed in a U.S. Senate race endorsed me. We had labor groups that endorsed him the last time that have endorsed me. We've had sheriffs, including Democrat sheriffs, that did ads for Sherrod Brown the last time. who are now endorsing me this time. So people know me in this state. He's been in Washington for the last 32 years. I've been an Ohio guy. I've been working here, creating jobs here, changing our state for the better. And I'm confident that we will win, but it won't be easy because he has so many resources coming from California and New York. And I have to rely on Ohioans for most of what I do. And so we'll get there, but it's going to be tough. Yeah, I mean, it's also just shameless for this guy who was there for decades causing a lot of the problems. Then coming back and saying, oh, wait, I don't like this. The status quo is bad, elect me like he's some outsider. No, he's the ultimate insider. It's like an arsonist returning to the scene of the fire while it's burning and saying, I'm here to help. I hope the people of Ohio are smart enough to show him the door again if he didn't get the message last time. But it's a close, close race, and Republicans cannot afford to take their eye off the ball in the Buckeye state. U.S. Senator John Hustead up for re-election in November. Senator, thank you for your time. We'll have you back. Great to be with you. That was yet another Guy Benson bite. For full episodes of Guy Benson, go to Guy Benson.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to this show ad-free on Fox News Podcast Plus on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music with your prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.