In today’s episode, we explore not just the significance of participating in elections but also the ongoing psychological warfare led by foreign entities seeking to unravel the very fabric of democratic integrity in the United States. The conversation further highlights the importance of being a discerning consumer of media, as misinformation is rampant. Through an engaging dialogue with expert guest Claire Lopez, listeners gain a better understanding of the strategic methods used by adversaries to influence public opinion.
SPEAKER 15 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 15 :
With your host, John Rush.
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SPEAKER 13 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Thanks for joining us today. I appreciate it very much. Claire Lopez joining us now. Claire, welcome. How are you?
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you very much. Glad to be with you.
SPEAKER 13 :
I appreciate you joining us very much. And you are a spokesperson for the United West and vice president for research and analysis at the Center for Security Policy. And are we going to witness any election interference, you know, PSYOP type tomorrow?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, quick note, I am with the United West, was a founding member with them way back, and I think it was 2009. But I have not been with the Center for Security Policy for the last four years.
SPEAKER 13 :
So previous is what I should say.
SPEAKER 12 :
Previously. Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you for that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Lopez Liberty LLC here in Northern Virginia where I work. So to your question, though, I’ve been mentioning this on some of the other – interviews I’ve been doing. And it was just about last month, that’d be in October of this year, 2024, that the NIC, N-I-C, National Intelligence Council, that’s the analytical arm of the U.S. intelligence community, put out a report. And they decided, they reported, that the potential for foreign interference and influence operations in the period between Election Day tomorrow and And the inauguration day on January the 20th was concerning. And you’ll notice that they’re talking about the period after we all vote, tomorrow being November the 5th, and inauguration day. And so it’s not about trying to influence people towards one candidate or another or for against one party or another. uh… in that what the nick is saying is they’re expecting and the name specifically china iran and russia uh… to be using uh… uh… you know the internet and social media and that sort of thing to put out all narrative uh… and to try to hype things like election irregularities but the whole point is not again for a candidate party but it’s about sowing dissension and domestic distrust in our system.
SPEAKER 13 :
Gotcha. So it’s not, again, it’s not against either Harris or Trump. It’s about things in general and getting the distrust of people up.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s it. Yeah, that is what the report says.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, I could see that happening. In fact, I think personally, Claire, I think you’re seeing some of that already happen right now.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and it’s certainly not new. I mean, whether it’s already happening or, you know, about to. This has been going on certainly those three, China, Iran, and Russia again, are top of the list for influence operations and psychological operations. Reaching people through the Internet, through social media sites like maybe TikTok with China, and swaying them in one direction or another. And the people on the receiving end may not even realize that they are being influenced or necessarily even want to be. But that’s how they do it.
SPEAKER 13 :
I can’t argue with any of that, and they will use any, this is my opinion, Clara, they’ll use any tool they possibly can, whether that’s social media, whether that’s hacking, whether it’s you name it. I mean, my feeling is they’re going to try to do everything they possibly can. I mean, these are enemies of the state, I guess we could say it that way, and the reality is the three you just mentioned especially, and there’s others, those aren’t the only countries, but those three especially would love to see nothing more than the downfall of the United States, period.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. And again, as I said, this is not brand new. This is not something they have not already been doing.
SPEAKER 14 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 12 :
But they’re choosing this period of time as a particular window of time when people might, you know, with or without their influence, might already be concerned about things like election integrity. And they’re just going to try to exacerbate that and set us further against one another.
SPEAKER 13 :
I could see that happening. I mean, by the way, I think they could do that on either side of the aisle. Again, in their case, and correct me if I’m wrong, Claire, but in their case, they don’t really care who’s doing the fighting or the unrest as long as somebody is, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s it. That’s exactly it. Tear us apart. Set us against one another. Cause dissension.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. At the end of the day, they really don’t care. And I think your comments about the period between the election and the inauguration, that’s a key time frame. And I think for everybody listening, and I was just talking about it before you came on in the last segment, be careful of what you read, what you see, what you hear. Yeah. What you watch. I mean, Claire, we live in a day and age, maybe because of what I do here daily, you know, I have to go through and disseminate a lot of that information and check it against something else and so on. And I’m very, very cautious of just taking something at face value. I mean, some things are pretty plain as day, but in a lot of cases, I just don’t take it at face value. I want to read through and back that up some other way if possible.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. And, you know, we all realize, you know, people have got jobs and families and things to do, may not have as much time as some of us might for that kind of cross-checking. But nevertheless, I think that’s a good warning, you know, to be careful of what you’re hearing. Don’t just latch on to something because, oh, that sounds right. You know, be sure to check things out as much as your time will allow. But I also will say, too, that of these three, again, that we’re mentioning, China, Russia, Iran, they really do care who wins or who is, you know, setting U.S. policy for the next four years. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, given that former President Trump, of course, has been so tough on each of those, certainly on China, but also on Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, And Russia, too.
SPEAKER 13 :
That is not the case at all. That particular country, when it comes to Trump, and maybe not the people in the country, but the leaders of that country despise the man. He’s the last person they want to see be president of the United States.
SPEAKER 12 :
I really think you’re right about that. And again, the policies of each of these three countries is very much against independent national sovereignty. Matter of fact, I would say each of these is not a country per se. Each of these, whether it’s China, Iran, or Russia, is an empire, and each of them is seeking to expand that empire in different ways.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good point. No, you’re exactly right. And again, for those of you that are out there, just a side note, Claire, before I forget, my dad taught me growing up, and I know in some cases he was probably saying this in jest, although I don’t think he was too far off. And keep in mind, I’m old, so I mean, I’ve been hearing this from him for a very, very, very long time. When I was a kid growing up, he would always say, believe none of what you read and half of what you see and you’ll be all right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Sounds like good advice to me. And, you know, speaking of advice, I would bring up the United West that I’ve been affiliated with, as I said, for so many years. Theunitedwest.org is the website. And at the homepage of that website of our organization is a chart, it’s a graph, and it shows how many millions of registered Christians there are, in particular in the sixth of those biggest swing states, the battleground states, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia. And how many of them back in 2020 did not vote? Registered citizens that did not vote. And then next to that on the graph, the little small tiny number, really, by comparison, of the margin by which Biden and Harris claimed victory back in 2021. So the point of the graph is to show how important it is for each and every one of us to get out there and vote, if we’ve not already done so, certainly by tomorrow.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, absolutely. Claire, that’s one of those topics I’ve talked about here. We have, you know, immensely, because everything you just said is spot on. I mean, the margin… of loss the last time around wasn’t that great, and if just every Christian, honestly, the majority would have voted for most likely a conservative candidate, and if they would have just done that, there’s no competing. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a done deal. And hopefully more of them will do that this time around. My fear, Claire, is there’s still too many people, not just Christians, but too many people in general, I talked about this opening up the show today, that don’t vote. And that one, Claire, when I was a young kid, I couldn’t wait to be 18 years of age to finally vote because I could participate in what was going on. And I’ve been self-employed for a very, very, very long time. I’ve always told my employees, if you don’t vote, don’t complain because you have no say at that point. So I just don’t understand people that don’t vote, Claire.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, I understand things happen and all. And that’s part of the reason why there’s been such an emphasis this time around on early voting in places where that was available earlier. So I get that part, but you’re right so much. It’s not just, you know, a civic right. It’s an obligation. It’s a duty. It’s a privilege. Being a citizen, a privilege of being a citizen of this country.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yep, you’re absolutely right. Claire, again, I appreciate you joining us. And again, Lopez Liberty LLC. What’s the best place for folks to go and find you? Do you want to go United West or do you want to go to Lopez Liberty?
SPEAKER 12 :
I’m sorry to say that I do not have my own website. But yes, please go to theunitedwest.org. I’m also on all kinds of social media from Twitter to Facebook to Truth Social. Telegram, under my own name, and also in a number of other places like American Truth Project, the Citizens Commission on National Security, and the Near East Center for Strategic Engagement, all of those.
SPEAKER 13 :
Awesome. Well, Claire, I appreciate you joining us very much. Hopefully we’ll have a good outcome tomorrow night.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you, Claire. Appreciate it very much. We’ll be right back. Hi-Fi Plumbing is next. Don’t forget, they do electrical now as well. So Hi-Fi Plumbing and electrical. Call them today, 877-WE-HIGH-5.
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SPEAKER 13 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Okay, I said in the 3 o’clock hour I would talk more about Peanut the Squirrel in this hour. And if you didn’t get a chance to look up Peanut the Squirrel, somebody even asked, are you going to talk about the squirrel? Yes, we’re talking about the squirrel right now. I talked about it a little bit in 3 o’clock. But for those of you that don’t know the story, Peanut the Squirrel – was a squirrel that had been hit by a car seven years ago. Not seven days, not seven months, seven years ago. And the particular individual that rescued him has a rescue service, you know, a rescue, what do you want to call it? Service or I don’t know what they call that, Charlie. Yeah, like a charity kind of a thing. And for the little bit that I looked up, he does other types of rescues besides just this particular squirrel. He also had a rescued raccoon at the same time, Fred. So Peanut the squirrel, Fred the raccoon. And they were kind of Internet sensations. And I hadn’t been following Peanut at all, but Peanut the squirrel was sort of a sensation. This guy, it was his pet, the family, man and a woman. And the squirrel would do all sorts of crazy things, even eat waffles for the camera. And I’m guessing Peanut probably made a little cash, which is fine. Hey, whatever. Whatever you want to do, more power to you. I could care less. But I didn’t see the videos that I saw and so on where the harm was in this family owning Peanut or the raccoon. I get that there are laws in certain states where you’re not allowed to own wild animals. And every state’s different. This is one of the weird things. Sort of like, you know, the left gets on the case of abortion and they don’t like states’ rights and they think it ought to be universal across the board. Well, we have the same situation when it comes to what animals you can own in certain states. How is that any different? Literally, how is it any different? It’s not. But back to peanut. So there was a, from what I’ve understood, I have not verified this, but what I was watching last night, And sort of trying to do as much verification as I could. There was a photographer in Texas. This peanut, by the way, and his family were in New York. But there was a photographer in Texas that didn’t like what she was seeing. And rather than just… stay in her own lane and keeping track of her own business, she decided to get into their business and called the state of New York and turned Peanut and Fred in, the raccoon and the squirrel. And so the DEC and the Chemung County Health Department raided this particular address. for peanut and fred and supposedly had to euthanize them so they could be tested for rabies because supposedly again this is all hearsay supposedly peanut bit someone now keep in mind you’re a squirrel you’ve been with your family for seven years and yes it’s a pet at that point the squirrel’s a pet you could see from the videos he’s a pet he’s not he’s not a wild animal he’s a pet And all of a sudden, you take said animal from their home and put it in probably a very tense situation. Is it possible that Peanut bit someone? Probably. I mean, is that possible? Yeah. Knuckleheads, look what you’re doing in the first place. By the way, there would have been a much better way to have handled this. Come knock on the door, hey, we’ve had a little bit of a complaint. Evidently, you’ve got some videos and things. You’ve got a pet squirrel and a raccoon. Do you realize that in New York that’s not really allowed and you’re supposed to do this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah? What can we maybe do here to see if we can’t rectify this? Last thing we want to do is create some sort of an Internet sensation by taking the squirrel, peanut, and Fred. Of course, government doesn’t do that because government’s stupid, by the way. Yes, I just said that. Government’s really stupid. They don’t think because they’re all power hungry, literally. Very, very, very, and sorry if you’re in government and you’re not one of these, please forgive me, but you probably work with somebody that’s this way, so you probably understand what I’m going to say. Most people in government are power hungry. They live for this stuff. I’m going to stick my chest out and show just how big I am. I’m going to go show up, knock on the door, and we’re taking Fred and Peanut with us. Well, that’s what happened. And from what I understand, they showed up with not just one officer, but several. They didn’t even try to quarantine them. They, I guess, just euthanized them. Now, the Internet found out about this. The Peanuts owners went on social media all over. Instagram, TikTok, other platforms, and talking about what had happened, and it blew up. You talk about things going viral. Well, Fred the Raccoon and Peanut the Squirrel went viral, more so than they already had been. And I mean, just went out of control. Now, as I said in the 3 o’clock hour, probably not the best timing for the Kamala Harris waltz campaign. And here’s my feeling as to why. This is a total overreach of government. Number one. Period. Total overreach of government. This is what the two opposing forces partly are running against. One wants more government. That’s the Harris waltz ends of things. And Donald Trump… And J.D. Vance want less government. And that’s what they’re running on. I’m not exaggerating in what I’m saying there. That literally is the part of the defining platforms of the two. One is more government, bigger government. We’re government. We’re here to help you, and we’re going to help you out no matter what. That’s the Harris campaign. And then you’ve got Donald Trump, who’s the opposite. We need less government. We need these guys out of your way so you can go live life. We want to be less involved in your lives, not more. So then this event with Peanut comes out, and the Internet, the world, blows up. Couldn’t have been worse timing for Kamala Harris over the weekend, given that your campaign stands for more of this, and Donald Trump’s is the opposite. In fact, I believe, don’t quote me again because I watched a lot of things over the weekend, I think Donald Trump even did a video about peanut. Don’t quote me. I’d have to go double check that, but I believe he did. Proving my point that he capitalized on an opportunity that she and her campaign have to be looking at thinking, oh my word, you guys could have picked any other, you could have delayed it one weekend and we would have been much better off than to have done it the way you did. Now, in defense of the folks in New York, they were going off of a quote-unquote tip from some nosy person in Texas, who, by the way, from everything I read last night, ran a photography business. That once people determined who she was, and the way they found her, by the way, is she commented on one of the videos at one point saying she was going to turn them in. Number one, if you’re going to do so, don’t publicize it. Number two, you probably should have scrubbed all of your stuff from the Internet to begin with if you’re going to do that. Number three, don’t own a business. Because the reality is, she’s probably done with business at this point. She is going to be known as the killer of Peanut and Fred, and her business will be lucky to do anything down the road. As a business coach myself, one of the first things I would have told that woman was, number one, butt out. It’s none of your business. Number two, unless you want to kill your business, stay out of it. And by the way, now that she’s ruined her business, is there any recovery from? Highly doubtful. This woman’s done. She’ll have to try to figure out a way to go to work for somebody else. Maybe you could freelance and do some pictures and things that way, but she’ll have to change her name. Anything that her name and face is associated with, she’s pretty much done. I mean, will this die down at some point? Yes, but the damage is already done. They always say that even bad press is good press. Not in this case. No, it’s not. Now, unless there’s a bunch of other busybodies that want to do business with her, maybe then it is, but that’s not how you do business. And it’s rare for that to happen. So this gal’s business is done and over with. She should have just stayed out of it. I don’t know why she didn’t. But that’s the story of Peanut and Fred. And again, total, total, total 1,000% overreach of government in what they did. But folks, let me tell you, those of you that are listening to me that really haven’t decided how to vote or if you’re going to vote or which side of the aisle you’re on or whatever, this is exactly what this race is about between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. One is total big government wanting to be in your life on every turn. And the other says you go live your life and we’ll just help you along the way if need be. We really don’t care what you do as long as you’re not breaking the law. Have fun. That’s the opposing camps knowing what happened with peanut. Why would you vote for that side? And those of you that are on the left, how do you justify this? I mean, again, how does this in your world become justified? And don’t tell me, well, it was against the law for him to have it in the first. No, sorry. Seven years he’s had this thing. Sorry, that doesn’t hold water at that point. Sorry. So, again, if you’re on the left, you’ve got to be looking at this thinking, oh, my word, what else could go bad for us? I’ll talk to my son Richard about some of this in a moment. Don’t go anywhere. Golden Eagle Financial is coming up next. Al Smith wants to help with all of your financial future. Give him a call today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 07 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason, presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five. All right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Welcome back. My son Richard joining us. And there’s an article, by the way, in Newsweek going along the lines of what I talked about with Peanut the Squirrel a moment ago, how Peanut the Squirrel became the center of a MAGA firestorm. Richard, Donald Trump did a good job of capitalizing on that. And Kamala Harris couldn’t have picked a worse thing to have happen heading into Election Day.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that was quite the… Not only Peanut the Squirrel, but the Raccoon.
SPEAKER 13 :
Fred the Raccoon.
SPEAKER 15 :
Fred the Raccoon, yeah. I mean, I’m not saying that’s an October or November surprise.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, my word. We were going to talk about this, though, Richard. I mean… They’re desperate as it is. I believe the left is very desperate. They’re doing very desperate things. And then you get something like this story that jumps out and the Internet literally blows up. I mean, if you didn’t hear about Peanut, I don’t know what you were doing over the weekend, because the reality is anybody on any kind of social media would have seen Peanut.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, well, and again, for it to happen, and I mean, again, well, I’ll just say this. Two things can be true at the same time, Dad, which is, I think it’s weird to have a pet squirrel and a pet raccoon.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, it’s a little, yeah, but, you know, in defense of this guy, that’s what he does. He rescues animals.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and obviously he decided to rescue the squirrel and raccoon. And like you say, he sort of, well, he did so in a, well, I don’t want to say a, well, honestly he wasn’t bothering anyone, right? It’s not like these things were running away, running all over the town.
SPEAKER 13 :
This guy lived in Plain City, which is 235 miles away from New York City, probably some podunk town.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, exactly. And so it’s like, why do you even need to mess with this guy? Again, sometimes Democrats don’t realize that, and the government doesn’t.
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m going to look it up really quick. Pine City is like out in the middle of nowhere. Basically, South New York above Pennsylvania. So it’s out in the middle of nowhere.
SPEAKER 15 :
So who cares? I totally agree with you. I think it’s an interesting perspective. Well, it’s an interesting thing that happened. I don’t know why it did. And like you said, some of the things that make the news sometimes is crazy. But at this point in time, it’s only helping.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Again, you have to be the Harris campaign and look at this and think, oh, geez, no, please. How can this be happening right now? Because, again, what everybody’s latched on to in a lot of the comments, total government overreach. You’ve got one camp, Kamala Harris and Walsh, wanting more government in your lives. And, you know, Trump and J.D. Vance are the opposite. Are you there? Yep. There we go.
SPEAKER 15 :
Are you back? If I lose you, just keep talking or talk whatever. I’ll pop back. But, yeah, like you said, more government versus less government. And, again, this is the prime example that conservatives sort of try to say all the time, which is this is what we’re talking about, people. Do you want more of this or less of this?
SPEAKER 13 :
Right. This is a perfect example of why you want less government, not more government. I mean, again, at the end of the day, this thing was, you know, Peanut was with this guy seven years. It wasn’t seven days, not seven months, seven years. What harm has he done?
SPEAKER 15 :
Not much. And again, regardless of your thoughts, you know, Dad, some people are going to come out and say, well, it was illegal to have these. And it’s like… You know, it’s also illegal to drive over the speed limit.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you, Richard. Yeah, exactly. It’s illegal to double park, which a lot of people do as well. It’s illegal to jaywalk in some towns. I mean, I can go down the list, Richard.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, of all the things that are illegal, and here’s the deal, it’s like, I was actually talking to someone over the weekend, it’s like, you know, you even get like, there’s certain laws on the books that make sense but shouldn’t. For example, I was talking to this guy, he’s in the security realm, right? He was talking about how when he installed security systems and he was installing a door, well, these are locked doors, right? You know, you’ve got to scan to get in. And he had a fire department inspection. The fire department inspector said, well, this door, you know, when the power shuts off, these things need to open. And he’s like, I don’t think so because it was one of the latch doors, right, where if you push the actual door, the latch mechanism from the inside, you’ll basically let you open the door.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right, it’s got a stop bar.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s what you’re concerned with. Yeah, exactly. We want to make sure that people can get out of the building. Okay, push that door for me. Push the door. And it was kind of this ringer, but it’s like, you know, this is the example of, and I’m not saying that we are selective with the laws we break or anything like that, but just common sense. And sometimes the government doesn’t have it.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, there are – and I’ve done episodes on this, on stupid laws that you even wonder why – I mean, laws that get on the books, Richard, that then stay there and stay there and stay there. And there’s been – there’s total articles written on some of these things, and they’re just stupid.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, and that’s a whole other piece of it, Dad. I think maybe everyone’s done with the election, right? We’re all tired. Some of the stuff that’s coming out right now is just… Okay, so here’s a dumb law.
SPEAKER 13 :
I just looked this up. I looked up dumb laws in Colorado. It’s illegal to mistreat rats in Denver.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, mistreat? There you go. What’s mistreating of a rat?
SPEAKER 13 :
In Pueblo, it’s illegal to let a dandelion grow within city limits.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, hey, we should get on people for that one.
SPEAKER 13 :
And Sterling, cats may not run loose without having been fit with a taillight.
SPEAKER 15 :
I’m sure, like you said, I know you’ve done this, like you say, multiple times, but it’s just funny some of the things that end up on the governmental books at times.
SPEAKER 13 :
Some of these, Richard, are just so dumb. And, you know, my feeling on, you know, if you want to own and train and handle a squirrel, you know, more power to you. That’s not in my wheelhouse, but, hey, whatever floats your boat.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I was going to say, exactly. And that’s, I think, well, and honestly, again, Trump has kind of hit his nail on the head, and obviously we’re going to see tomorrow, right? And I know part of what you’re going to talk about right now is that. And it will be interesting because ultimately, and sometimes I think Republicans, even the best of them, miss the point, which is, you need to hammer that over the head, right? Which is we want a less intrusive government. And I’m not talking about abortion and that sort of thing, Dad, right? Because everyone’s going to say, well, you want more government. And it’s like, no, that’s two entirely separate things, right? You’ve got an indefensible child versus people that are adults and that sort of thing. And what we are saying is… the government to stay out of, to stay out of decisions that affect only you as a person, right? Abortion doesn’t affect only you. And that’s where people miss it, right? And that’s a completely separate issue. We as, even Republicans, we struggle on that. But regardless of that, right? Irregardless of it. The government needs to stay out of decisions. They are not very good decision makers.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, Elon Musk is tweeting out about this, of course, or X-ing out about this because of government overreach. And you talk about a guy that knows about government overreach. He had to get a permit on one of the launch pads to wash it down in an area where there’s a tremendous amount of rain that comes from the sky anyways, but he still had to get a permit to use water for that particular reason, and they couldn’t explain to him why.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and again, because somewhere, I’m convinced that some of these laws like that are somewhere along the line, not even an elected official, a bureaucrat, decided, you know, I’m just going to stick this in here. It’s almost like a trial. See if this actually sticks. See if people actually follow this. asinine rule because that’s really what it is.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yep. Yep. Anyways, what’s going to happen tomorrow night? I don’t know. I’ve got some messages that have come in to say, you know, you guys should be celebrating now. Stop worrying. Well, Richard, my answer always is it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, you and I talked earlier about this, and folks, you can say that to me because I will say you are much more positive than I am. I am probably more – I don’t know if I’m quite as negative as I was in 2016, and obviously, you know, look what happened with Hillary. I’m less negative than I was last year because I kind of saw the writing, or not last year, last year, 2020, right? Kind of saw what was happening.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
But, man, I’m still up in the air. I just think that there’s a few troubling trends that if they continue to manifest will be trouble for Trump tomorrow, and that is, you know, I know you and I talked about earlier this Iowa poll, which if, you know, Iowa is not plus 8% like it was in 2020, even if it, you know, I don’t think it’s going to be plus three, but if it’s plus five only, well, that’s a troubling sign, Dad, because it could mean that, you know, Trump could destroy in Florida, in Ohio, but if a really solidly Republican state like Iowa only goes for Trump plus five, that’s concerning. It’ll be concerning the rest of the night, and so I’m glad some of your listeners are confident. However… There’s just a few signs, and honestly, Dad, the early vote is one of them, and the reason I say that, and I know a lot of people, maybe even yourself, are going to disagree with me, and that’s okay. The reason I find the early vote troubling is I just hope we are not, and I know you’re going to have a rebuttal, which is okay, I hope we’re not cannibalizing too much of our election day vote. And that’s my concern.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, I can’t disagree with you. What we have to hope for is that there’s been a huge turnout for Democrats and they’re a huge turnout machine on Election Day. We have to hope for the same as Republicans, because otherwise what you just said will happen.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and that’s… Again, now, I also will say this. I think that there’s some things when it comes to polls and some of that that is a little bit different, which is to say that the well i’ll just say that i think that there’s some i think republicans are a little bit underrepresented in in the polls more specifically the non-traditional voters right dad you know the people that haven’t ever voted or maybe they only vote every eight years for for whatever reason right for a variety of reasons i also thought i think it was from nate cone who does the new york times polling and all that he talked about how your Republicans are almost 20 percent, I think it was like 16 or 17 percent, almost 20 percent less likely to respond to a survey, you know, to a poll than Democrats are. And I think that’s a big thing. I think that’s something that you can’t just throw away as a, oh, well, you know, OK, you know, this overstatement, whatever it is. Those are some things I’m holding on to. But if some of this other stuff verifies that, it could be, unfortunately, a Well, a long night for Republicans and for the Trump fans, and again, Dad, I’m just skeptical. I’m optimistic, but I’m skeptical, if that makes any sense.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, we’ll come right back. Don’t go anywhere, folks. Ridgeline Auto Brokers is coming up next. They’ve got two locations to serve you, taking care of your new used vehicle needs, and they can also take care of the current vehicle you’re driving as well. RidgelineAutoBrokers.com.
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SPEAKER 13 :
All right, we do car reviews on almost a weekly basis. I’ve got one to do this week, Richard, a 2025 Infiniti QX80, the Autograph Edition. This is their larger SUV, kind of the size, think Escalade is really the market that they’re competing in you know uh the lincoln side of the fence and so on as well this one starts out at 110k 3.5 liter twin turbo v6 450 horsepower nine speed automatic transmission i averaged 19 miles to the gallon and i will tell you richard that at first i could i could fire it up i’m like oh v6 yeah, you kind of do that until you drive it. And then I’m like, holy cow, does this thing run? And I’m not exaggerating. This thing ran fabulous.
SPEAKER 15 :
Angel, it’s interesting you say that because I know that they obviously have undergone a refresh on this vehicle, Dad, and obviously not to mention the underpinnings because it used to have a V8 in it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 15 :
And actually the V8 didn’t run half bad, but it sounds like they’re going the way of some of their competitors and going with turbocharged and But it sounds like they’ve got the tuning right on this to where, because that’s a big car.
SPEAKER 13 :
It is no slouch. No, it is a big car. And for those of you listening, you wouldn’t think that this vehicle, especially at our elevation and the weight of the car, you know, to Richard’s point and so on. This thing puts out 450 horsepower, and it’s over 500-foot-pound of torque. This thing flat runs, and, again, I average close to 20 miles to the gallon. In fact, I kept watching the gas gauge thinking, this thing really isn’t moving much. Granted, it’s got a big tank, but I’m thinking the mileage must be really good. So then I’m dinking around going through the computer and so on, which I’ll get into in a moment and figure it out. Yep, I’m getting 19 miles to the gallon. This particular model comes with the ProPILOT built-in dash cams front and rear, which, by the way— I will say, very cool. I’ve never really been in a vehicle where it’s all been built in like this one, Richard. And I will tell you that I could see at times where that would be extremely handy to have. So kudos, Infinity. That part of it is really, I mean, they did that very well. That’s all I can say.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and again, especially on a larger car, right? This is meant to haul people, right? Kids, other adults, things of that nature. Having something like that is kind of a feature. Like, oh, maybe I can go without it. But like you say, it’s one of those things where… you’re not really sure you need it until you have it. Then once you have it, you’re like, man, I don’t know how I was without this.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, it’s awesome. I mean, I enjoy driving it. The ProPILOT is their self-driving feature, again, that comes on this autograph version, TriZone HVAC. And by the way, before any of you start saying, well, yeah, John, but it’s $110,000. Yeah, and so are Lincolns, and so are Cadillacs, and you get where I’m going with that, Richard. The reality is… that’s what they’re competing with and it fits right into that segment.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and especially, like you say, Matt, luxury, large SUV, because I believe this has got a third row, correct?
SPEAKER 13 :
Third row, captain’s chairs in the middle, full screens. I mean, this thing’s got all the technology. I mean, it would take me 15, 20 minutes to go through all of the technology this thing has. Best thing is just get in it and drive it. But, I mean, even adjustable, not just front, back on the middle seats, but, like, fully adjustable, like your regular front, you know, drivers and passenger seats. I mean, electric adjustable is what I’m getting at.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, and what I was going to say, from what it sounds like, and you have to have that on these top-level editions.
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Because you get a QX80 for less than this, folks. You absolutely could. Will it still haul people the same way? Yes, it could. But, again, this is competing with the best of the best, the top luxury models, all of the different things, right? And it’s meant to, right? It’s supposed to have every bell and whistle that you can imagine for the comfort of the passengers, the driver, that sort of thing. And, again, especially if you’re hauling kids, long road trips, whatever it might be, it’s got all the creature comforts that you can imagine. And be in this car for a long time and not feel like you’re… No, I know.
SPEAKER 13 :
In fact, we kept commenting. My wife, we did quite a bit of driving around over the weekend, and my wife even kept commenting that, you know, man… This is really, I mean, quiet. The ride quality, the way it draws. I mean, everything about it. I mean, I’ll just tell Infinity, you guys did a fabulous job. Your refresh of it was needed. You did a great job. Some people love the look. Some people hate the look. I’m kind of in between. It doesn’t bother me. Is it my favorite? It’s just a good, I mean. It’s a good-looking vehicle. They did a great job on the refresh of the nose and everything on the vehicle, the interior creature comforts, everything about this vehicle. If you’re in the market for a big, full-size SUV that will still get 20 miles to the gallon, running around town and probably more on the highway, Richard, at the end of the day, honestly, this thing competes right in its market with everything else.
SPEAKER 15 :
I was going to say, and it seems like it does. I’ve seen some of the newer runs running around town. It seems like, again, the refresh, it kind of had a rounded edge right before. We used to call it the football car. We did. Yeah, the color, we got it, and I think it was kind of like brown like a football.
SPEAKER 14 :
Chocolate, yeah. It seems like.
SPEAKER 15 :
Chocolate, that’s right. And so honestly, from what I can see, Dad, this sounds like a fantastic car. And if you’re in the market, again, for that large three-row SUV, which there’s not a ton of them, and there’s some three-row SUVs, but they’re not large like this one and other varieties, it sounds like this is definitely right up there and people should be mindful of it to include in their selection.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s a small segment. There’s not a lot of manufacturers doing full-size three-row SUVs. This thing’s got every bell and whistle you can imagine. So if you’re in the market, I would highly recommend, don’t just go out and drive a Cadillac. Just don’t go out and drive a Lincoln. Go test drive an Infiniti QX80 as well. You will not be surprised, or maybe I should rephrase it. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well and comfortable this particular vehicle is. And their infotainment thing, Richard, in closing, fantastic. Top notch. Finally redid all of that. Much, much better than it used to be. No more of the goofy little click wheel and some of the things they’ve done in the past. All that’s gone. Total refresh. The thing is awesome. Again, folks, if you’re in the market for one of these things, go check it out at your local Infinity dealer. Tell them that John and Richard Rush, both from Drive Radio and Rush to Reason, sent you. Okay, in closing, before we get things wrapped up here, Richard, and I know tomorrow, tomorrow night, not who’s going to win, but do you think we’ll know tomorrow night or is it going to take several days?
SPEAKER 15 :
It all depends to me, Dad. It all depends on Pennsylvania and Georgia, North Carolina, those three. Because you won’t know for a few days on Nevada and Arizona. But if Trump can get Pennsylvania and that looks good and hold North Carolina and Georgia, it doesn’t really matter. So if he can hold that, then I think that he’s in really good position. However, if he doesn’t, then it all depends on Wisconsin, too, right? Because he’s got to pick up Wisconsin, Nevada, and lots of different possibilities. I don’t think we’ll know tomorrow night, but I think you’ll have a pretty good idea.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. All right, I’ll leave it at that. Richard, have a great rest of your night. Andy and I will talk more about that tomorrow, of course, on Election Day. Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning is coming up next. If you had trouble with your furnace, your heater, over the weekend, please give Cub Creek a call today. As Hunter was saying, in the 3 o’clock hour, anything over $500, they can even help you with some financing on if needed. So call them today, klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 07 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, thank you for joining us today. I’ve got another full hour coming your way. Kurt Rogers is going to join us again at the top of the hour. Then I’ve got some things that I’m going to play after that as we go through the rest of the hour as well. I’ve got a few clips and things I want to play for you as well. And then Satya Thalman is also going to join us. She is, or he, I should say, is Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Americans for Responsible Innovation. We’ll talk to him as well. So don’t go anywhere. Another full hour coming your way. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I’m a rich guy.
Tariffs, Truckers, and Tragedy: Politics Meets the Road