We explore the Democrats’ strategic $20 million dollar initiative to attract young voters, a plan steeped in innovation and shrouded in skepticism. Meanwhile, the discussion turns to media funding as NPR battles against proposed cuts, challenging presidential actions in court. From Doge spending to local politics, we cap off the week by catching up with Frank Marano, former radio host and now a voice in New York City Council, offering insights into balancing public service with personal goals.
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It’s Friday, May 30th, 2025. I’m Eric Hansen. This week, the big, beautiful bill makes it out of the House. Democrats try to bring young voters back into the fold, and the president drives his critics nuts with a Memorial Day speech. Let’s begin at the House of Representatives, where the GOP majority finally passed the budget bill.
SPEAKER 04 :
Maybe the big political bombshell was the story from the New York Times. how Donald Trump has remade America’s political landscape. The New York Times did an extensive, lengthy, deep dive into the political makeup of America. And the Times claims that Trump’s victory in 2024 was not an outlier. It was the culmination of continuous gains by Republicans in much of the country each time he has run for president. A sea of red that amounts to a flashing warning sign for a Democratic Party out of power and hoping for a comeback. The steady march, and I’m quoting right from the pages of the New York Times, the steady march to the right… at the county level, reveals not just the extent of the nation’s transformation in the Trump era, but also the degree to which the United States now resembles two countries charging in opposite directions. The New York Times analysis is America is lurching dramatically to the right. That Trump is remaking the country dramatically. in his image. And I call BS on this article, and let me tell you why. I think the New York Times, which is committed to the utter defeat of President Trump’s agenda, as they all are on the left. Look, I mean, it is what it is. We want their agenda to fail. They want our agenda to fail. We get it. We’re a two-party nation. But I call BS on this claim that the New York Times is throwing in the towel and claiming that Trump has turned the country red. We’ve always known that if you look at a map… of counties and states in America, we’ve always known that it’s a sea of red. We are a conservative majority country. The left is loud, but they are in the minority, especially the far left. You’ve got pockets of Oregon and New York City and San Francisco and L.A. and Chicago. You’ve got big blue cities, of course, that have a Democrat stronghold. But you look at the country overall, we are a Republican country. Now, they hate that. The Trump opponents don’t ever want to acknowledge it, but they know it’s true. However, however, look at elections that have taken place in 2025. Special elections. One-offs. Have you seen who’s been winning? Even in elections that the Republican was expected to win? Don’t look now, but the Democrats have been winning. Now, there’s all kinds of anecdotal evidence that things are going in the right direction. Rasmussen came out with a poll today, first time in their polling history, that a majority of Americans feel that we are finally on the right track. It’s a slim majority, but it’s a majority nonetheless. I trust that that’s true. Normal people like what’s happening. Normal, ordinary Americans are very pleased. with the direction of the country. The hysterics are not. The people who are the loyal opposition to Trump and Republicans, they’re mortified. They’re angry. They’re bitter. They’re irate. They’re complaining about Trump’s speech at West Point because he had his red MAGA hat on. They couldn’t believe that he had a hat on. I saw some goofy woman on MSNBC whining about how inappropriate it was that he wore his red MAGA hat. Michael Steele over on MSNBC, I’m very offended. I’m very offended. I’m continually offended at Donald Trump. Well, we know that. You guys are in a state of perpetual offense. You’re bitter. You’re miserable. You’re mean. You’re angry. We get that. But when I see this big article in the New York Times, and the media was breathlessly reporting on this, even conservative media, oh, oh, look at the New York Times, how Trump has remade America’s political landscape. Oh, isn’t this great? It’s a sea of red, county after county, community after community turning Republican. Uh-huh. Look at elections in 2025. If we screw up this big, beautiful bill, we’re going to be in big trouble.
SPEAKER 05 :
President Trump gave a few speeches over the holiday weekend, coming as a surprise to absolutely nobody. His critics were very upset.
SPEAKER 04 :
President Trump spoke at Arlington National Cemetery. He also gave a rousing commencement address to West Point. They were offended. They were very offended at his speech at West Point. You want to know what they were offended by? And the speech was just powerful. Pete Hegseth’s speech was magnificent. I hope you treated yourself to some of the… the oratorical skills of the 45th and 47th president and the defense secretary. Because both Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump gave magnificent speeches and addressed the nation in a patriotic, powerful way. But they weren’t happy, as I know you won’t be surprised to hear, but maybe you’ll be a little surprised a little flummoxed, a little mystified at what it is they’re upset about. I give you Amy McGrath from MSNBC.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s very – it’s shameful, first of all. Not only his words there, the rambling, the talking about trophy wives and – like Al Capone, but the inappropriate attire. I just mentioned the ball cap. Donald Trump either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about what’s appropriate for the military, and he is not surrounded by anyone like Mattis or McMaster or Kelly anymore to simply say, hey, sir, take the ball cap off. And that’s really unfortunate. And I wish that we had, you know, the superintendent of the military academy perhaps could have said to him, hey, take it off, sir. Please don’t do a pass and review in front of the Corps of Cadets with a campaign attire on. Is it unconstitutional? No. Is it totally inappropriate in a politicization of our military? Absolutely. And it’s never been done before. So it’s not just the words. It’s just his actions there at West Point. Terrible.
SPEAKER 04 :
They really are offended by Make America Great Again. They take that as a pejorative. And that’s his superpower. He gets people like that bitter, angry, retired lieutenant colonel. a Trump-hating ex-military woman named Amy McGrath, and baits them into saying, I’m offended that the president would wear his familiar red baseball cap because they are repelled by that red cap. The red cap sums up everything that’s wrong in America right now. They think that everything that’s wrong with America is summed up in those four words. Make America great again.
SPEAKER 05 :
President Trump continues to win on nearly every political front, and all Democrats can do is whine about it, but they’re not sitting still. They have a new plan to draw voters, and they are spending big bucks to do it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Have you seen that the Democrats are spending $20 million in an effort to court young male voters? The Democrats have determined that their problems stem from young voters becoming more conservative. And there’s all kinds of data, all kinds of evidence to suggest that that is indeed really happening. That young people are turning more and more to God, to faith. They’re leaning into their faith. They’re praying. And they’re becoming politically more conservative. I want you to hear a report from CNN. on the Democrat Party’s $20 million effort to court young male voters.
SPEAKER 02 :
The prospectus for one new $20 million effort obtained by The Times aims to reverse the erosion of Democratic support among young men, especially online. It is codenamed SAM, short for Speaking with American Men, a strategic plan, and promises investments to study the syntax, language, and content that gains attention and the virility in these spaces. It recommends buying advertisements in video games, among other things. man here, I will not mansplain you. All I will say is, duh.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I know. Look, they should have probably recognized this a couple of cycles before when this trend was growing very apparent. This was a huge problem for them in the past election cycle. And they they need to figure it out because right now the Democratic message is really all over the place. What are they exactly they stand for as they head into the midterm elections? But right now it’s a hope really among the Democratic leaders that that voters will recoil what they view as overreach from the Trump administration. They will make the argument that they need to be checked on Trump’s power and use Trump’s push to move ahead with this so-called big, beautiful bill, which… rail about the tax cuts and for that do benefit probably wealthy taxpayers also other taxpayers too but that does have an impact for them that in the impact on lower income working class voters the health care cuts that they can face can they make that effective argument to win back the majority that’s we’ll see that’s cnn how about that huh
SPEAKER 04 :
Here’s the New York Times from over the weekend, how Donald Trump has remade America’s political landscape. The Democrats’ problems, reports the Times, run deep nearly everywhere. Now, I don’t know if I fully buy the New York Times reporting on this. I think it’s a little bit of a deepfake. I think they’re using reverse psychology in an effort to goad their voters into showing up. But as Mark Mitchell over at Rasmussen reports, for the first time in Rasmussen’s polling history, a majority says the country’s on the right track. Do you feel that? Brought to you by my friend Mike Lindell at MyPillow. And look, these sheets are going, they are flying off the shelves like hotcakes. I’ve been bragging about the Giza Dream Sheets for years. They’re made from the finest cotton on earth, Giza. The cotton is unbelievable. The sheets are smooth and luxurious and silky. And they’re not cheap, okay? But I said to Mike, can we do a crazy price to thank our audience for their support for MyPillow over the years? He said, you got it. How about $49.98 for any size and any color? I said, Mike, that’s crazy. He said, do it. When they’re gone, they’re gone. And there’s no limit on how many you can order. And for a limited time, when you order over $100, you’ll get $100 in free digital gifts, too. Now, I’ve seen a couple of comments from people who can’t figure out how to get the $49.98 price. And I finally realized I know… why they’re not getting it. You’ve got to go to the Mike Gallagher Specials box to get that price. So go to MyPillow.com. Find the Mike Gallagher Specials. You’ll see a picture of Mike Lindell and me. Click on that box. You’ll see the Giza Dream Sheets for $49.98 with the promo code MikeG. Click on that. When you place your order, enter the promo code MikeG, and you’ll see the price of $49.98. And I mean any size. Kings, Split Kings, California Kings, Queens. Any size. Any colors, 11 colors to choose from, $49.98. Go try to find a great set of bed sheets at a high-end department store for $49.98. Good luck. So this isn’t going to last long. Again, when they’re gone, they’re gone. MyPillow.com. The Mike Gallagher Special Square. Click on that box. And then when you order, enter the promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. Like we love to sing. For the best night’s sleep in the whole wide world, visit MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes! This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. I’m Eric Hansen. We’ve wondered about it for years. Why do millions of taxpayer dollars fund PBS and NPR? President Trump wants to end the flow of cash to these left-leaning broadcasters. So now National Public Radio has filed a lawsuit against the administration to fight its defunders.
SPEAKER 04 :
I always worry that this NPR story and public broadcasting is very inside baseball. I take it personally because I’m a lifelong broadcaster. And I’m an entrepreneur. I know what it means to make a budget. I look at a spreadsheet every morning of my life to make sure I’m hitting my numbers and doing what my company expects me to do. So it’s close to me. But I’m dead serious. I’ve asked you this question a million times. Why does NPR think that any taxpayer should support them in any way, shape, or form? NPR and three public radio stations, Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and KSUT Public Radio, filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging Trump’s executive order that would cut off all federal funding to NPR and PBS. NPR claims that Trump’s decision is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association. Now look, I’m a simple guy. I never claim to be the smartest man in the room. You’ve got to tell me where in the Constitution it is prescribed that taxpayers have to fork over any of our hard-earned dollars to all things considered on NPR. You’ve got to tell me why there’s a First Amendment protection that we have to pay for the history of the tsetse fly over on public radio. Please tell me. It’s unbelievable. The lawsuit says it is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 member stations, which are locally owned, non-profit, non-commercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. I’m dead serious. I want to talk to the biggest NPR fan on the planet. I guarantee you somebody listening to me right now likes NPR. And I get it. They do some good work. They’re good broadcasters over there. They’re left-leaning. They’ve got an agenda. But I admit it. I’ve heard some of their stuff. They do good work. Now you tell me why taxpayers have to fund any of it. Dead serious. No one can give me an answer to that very simple question. So now NPR is actually suing Trump over making sure taxpayers aren’t on the hook for To NPR. I’m blown away by this. The audacity. The gall they have. The arrogance they have. They think it’s a constitutional… What’s the constitutional right for taxpayers to fund public broadcasting? I’m all ears. Please tell me. One open line. 800-655-MIKE. 800-655-6453. The arrogance that they have. The audacity, the condescending way the left thinks that we all owe them something blows my mind. And I don’t want to pick a fight. You tell me why there’s a constitutional right for taxpayers to fork over a portion of our money to NPR or Sesame Street. Or, you know, Masterpiece Theater. Or whatever other show they do over on PBS or NPR. You want to support them, support them. Buy a bunch of tote bags. Donate to them. Let them sell advertising, like they do already. And now they’re suing Trump?
SPEAKER 05 :
You’ve got to be kidding me. Meanwhile, as the so-called Big Beautiful Budget Bill heads to the Senate, many conservatives worry that all of the work Doge has done will be lost.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’ve got people on social media who are screaming to the mountaintops, claiming that the doge cuts are never going to take place. And I don’t believe that for a minute. I don’t accept that with this president. Do you think Donald Trump’s going to drop the ball? You think he’s just going to move on and pretend that he doesn’t want to slash all this waste and fraud and abuse? Give it time. We’re in the first few months of the presidency. We’re not even into June yet. We’re not even six months into year one of Trump’s second term. Everybody needs to calm down. And even Elon Musk in this interview doesn’t appear to be, like, angry. He seems to be a little bit perplexed, but nonetheless somewhat jovial in telling the correspondent, well, it may be called a big, beautiful bill, but I don’t think it can be both.
SPEAKER 09 :
You know, I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending vote, frankly. which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and it reminds the work that the Doge team is doing.
SPEAKER 06 :
I actually thought that when this big, beautiful bill came along. I mean, like, everything he’s done on Doge gets wiped out in the first year. I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful.
SPEAKER 04 :
All I’m saying is, everybody needs to just take a breath. And, you know, when I say trust Trump, I know it sounds… I get that. If you don’t like me or agree with me or if you don’t like my beliefs, you hear me say, trust Trump, and you think, well, there he goes again. He’s just blindly – I saw a vicious email the other night from somebody in, I think, Oregon, a shocker, just railing on me because I said, trust Trump. Boot licker and blank, blank, blank. You’re in a cult. And look, if you want to accuse me of that, I get it. I’m not going to push back. I mean, I’m not. But I do trust the guy. That’s why I voted for him three times. I believe in him. In fact, I believe majority of Americans believe in him. I mean, here’s a text I walk into the studio today on the MyPillow text line. Do you want to know why I trust Trump like you do, Mike? Because if we can’t trust Trump to fix things now, then we cannot trust anyone. We need to give him a chance. Our country’s in trouble. And I completely agree with that sentiment. Our country’s in trouble. Do you trust the guy or don’t you? I’ve been asking if you’ve noticed a number of critical callers that question this week. And if you’ll notice, the ones who are critical of him are wavering in their trust of Donald J. Trump. And I believe you’ve got to trust him. I believe we have to believe in him. I believe that he is the master negotiator who’s going to get most of what we want. I don’t think we’re going to get everything we want, but we’re going to get a lot of it. We may not get all of it, but I’ll bet we get most of it. We’re going to get doge cuts. We’re going to see fiscal sanity. We’re going to see tax cuts. We’re going to see lower historic unemployment. We’re going to see a surging, roaring stock market. We’ve got to give it time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Social media influencer and Dilbert creator Scott Adams are among those who believe the Senate will send a bill back to the House that will upend all of the savings Doge proposed.
SPEAKER 04 :
I want you to hear Scott Adams’ voice. I’ve been following his journey on social media. He is, of course, the creator of Dilbert, the famous cartoon strip. Scott is a big, big-time social media influencer, a conservative, a Trump supporter, and he revealed that he is fighting late-stage prostate cancer. And he has shared the very grim news that his life expectancy is only a few more months. Now, miracles can happen. And I saw that he got some good news a couple of days ago about a new form of treatment that he’s experiencing. So, you know, we’re praying for Scott Adams. He’s a very important voice. And I’m trying to put a bunch of voices together for you today to talk about the spending and the deficit and this bill. There’s a lot of voices on this and a lot of people I like and respect, like Scott Adams. Let me share with you what he said from his very popular podcast.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’ve been following on X Matt Van Swall, who’s doing a great job of talking about the Doge situation. Here he summarizes it this way. Doge is literally one of the most popular government initiatives in history. 73% of Americans say they support cutting government waste. Trump brought in the smartest man on earth to do it. And then the left had destroyed Elon for it. And the GOP won’t vote on it. I can’t believe this. And then Elon responded to the Post. Three words. Did my best. Wow. There’s almost nothing I can say about that. You know, you probably heard me early on in the Doge process, and I was saying, you know, I love everything Doge is trying to do, but when it gets to Congress, they’re just going to spend his savings. But it’s even worse than that. They’re never going to even codify the savings. Not the Democrats, not the Republicans. They’re not even going to vote on it. So all that work, all that sacrifice that Elon Musk did to get that right, Congress is going to own it. And I’m almost losing my mind that we can just watch this happen. Now, it’s not everybody, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to get it codified, etc. But the fact that all that effort, it looks like, you know, some portion of it anyway is going to be thwarted by your own Congress is such a. It’s such a tragedy. It’s almost impossible to understand. It’s like we’re running as fast as we can toward a cliff, and we even have the smartest people in the world trying to prevent it. And even that doesn’t help. What is going on here?
SPEAKER 04 :
What is going on? He’s right to ask that question, and it’s okay to be impatient. I’m an impatient guy. I would just suggest to you that the game isn’t over yet. In many ways, the game is beginning. And I would say that about his tough struggle with cancer. And we’re praying for him. We need his voice. He’s an important American voice, respected, beloved.
SPEAKER 05 :
And finally, we catch up with an old friend and radio personality who now sits on the New York City Council. Here’s a sample of our lengthy conversation with Councilman Frank Marano.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, Frank, how difficult was it to pull the trigger and say, I’m going to run for city council?
SPEAKER 08 :
Honestly, and I don’t want to be overly melodramatic here. It was the most difficult personal and professional decision that I’ve ever that I’ve ever made. And I really agonized over it. And again, not to be not to act like my decisions have the fate of the weight of the world on them, but I prayed over it. Honestly, and ultimately, I thought of my son Carmine. I loved doing the show that we were doing, The Other Side of Midnight, in the middle of the night. To me, there’s nothing more fun than doing radio in the middle of the night.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s always been kind of my fantasy because the intimacy, right, Frank, the way to connect with people overnight is very different from a daytime show.
SPEAKER 08 :
And it’s really the only place where you could spend a half hour on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by a half hour on what’s your favorite pen and asking people to call it their pen preferences. And I love that versatility. I love being able to tell a story about my difficulties planting some sort of flower that my wife wanted me to plant and the difficulties with car trouble and still be able to do alien topics or geopolitical topics. To me, it’s the best day part in the world because you have that kind of versatility and the audience likes that. So the I honestly it all came down to my son, Carmine. You know, we have a three year old and almost everybody that I grew up with moved out of New York and off of Staten Island. And I just wanted to be able to tell my son, Carmine, that when he was an adult, that I did everything that I could to keep him here. And I thought this was a good way to do it. So I figured both during the campaign and if I’m fortunate enough to be elected. And so far, you know, at least for the special election I have, although I have another election coming up right around the corner. I wanted to be able to tell him that I left it all out on the field and that I did whatever I could to keep him here.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I have such a deep personal admiration for this because the truth of the matter is I can joke about, oh, why would I run for politics? I couldn’t afford the pay cut. Ha, ha, ha. I liked my gig. I liked the few hours a day. The truth of the matter is you put your money where your mouth is. You love New York. You love Staten Island. You are committed to your community in a way that – It just speaks volumes of you. It doesn’t surprise me, knowing your character, but it just speaks the world of you promising to little Carmine, I’m going to make New York City a better place by being a part of the inner circle, by being part of the legislators who can make a difference. Look, we like to think we’re important, us big-mouth talk show hosts, but the real power comes in the city halls. and in the state legislatures and the county commissions and the gubernatorial offices and, of course, federal office. So I don’t want to minimize what you did. Let’s talk about the challenges that you have to face because on June 24th, you’ve got the Republican primary coming up, right?
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. So I was elected April 29th, and I basically will get to serve for the end of the year, finishing the term of my friend Joe Borelli, who held this seat before me. And now if I win the Republican primary and the November election, I’ll be able to serve for another four years. So I am hopeful that we’re going to be able to do that. And so far, the response is pretty favorable. Most of the most of the south shore of Staten Island doesn’t seem to think I’ve screwed up anything too badly yet. And they’re not ready to throw me out of office yet.
SPEAKER 04 :
So who who’s challenging you for on on on the June 24th primary?
SPEAKER 08 :
So there’s two candidates on the ballot. One of them is one of the fellows that just ran in the special election, Griffin Fasella, who’s the son of a very prominent, very well-respected politician in the New York area, Vito Fasella. And the other one is another gentleman who has a great resume and seems like actually a pretty nice guy. His name is John Buthorn. He’s a retired cop, and he’s been in the military as well. So look, I Neither of these guys are slouches, so I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m working very hard, just as hard as I did during the special election, to try and convince as many Republicans as possible to vote for me on June 24th. And by the way, whether people live in Staten Island or not, if you want to check out our website at moranoforcouncil.com, you can see some of the ideas that I have that I think people around the country will relate to. And if people wanted to help our efforts, you can make a campaign contribution as well, moranoforcouncil.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I’ve been to moronoforcouncil.com, and all of your ideas are splendid. Again, no surprise, but Staten Island knows what they’ve got with you.
SPEAKER 05 :
And that wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, May 30th, 2025. I’m Eric Hansen. Of course, you can hear the entire interview with Councilman Morano when you subscribe to the Mike Gallagher Show podcast. So be sure to subscribe to all the podcasts and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like the show, be sure to share it with a friend. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
