Scott Jennings hosts a riveting conversation on the Mike Gallagher Show, tackling the latest in political controversies, from Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden to Trump’s supposed plans for military action within the states. Delve into the narratives that dominate today’s political landscape, and unpack the reality versus fan fiction among left-wing circles. Featuring insights from Congressman James Comer and a focus on the implications of Biden’s controversial pardons, this episode sheds light on the political maneuvers at play and what they mean for the future of America.
He’s the happy conservative warrior. From the Relief Factor studios, sitting in for Mike today, here’s Scott Jennings.
SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Jennings in for the great, legendary Mike Gallagher. So glad to be here with you all today. Wasn’t it great, by the way, to wake up in the United States of America today, the greatest country on earth? I woke up early today in Manhattan with a full heart because I woke up in a nation that embraces and protects free speech. I woke up in a nation full of free thinkers. I woke up. in a country full of people who love freedom and understand the essential nature of freedom and liberty. Our founding fathers knew it. They devised the greatest system of government ever known to man, codified in our Constitution. It protects our rights, and the first right is freedom of speech. And we have to fight. We have to fight to protect these things. We have to fight against the people who believe that America… And the fundamental way of life here in America is somehow rotten at the core. That Western civilization should be dismantled. And that’s what our project here is today. Let’s save Western civilization. Let’s protect speech. Let’s protect freedom. And let’s fight for the America that we want. I’m so glad to be in for Mike Gallagher because he’s such a warrior. for that viewpoint. I’m Scott Jennings, and I live in Kentucky. Normally, I spend a lot of time in New York. You may know me from my job at CNN, where I am CNN’s senior political commentator. I handle the conservative political analysis on the network. I do shows across the network. You see me a lot at 10 o’clock at night on the Abby Phillip Newsnight show. I was there each of the last two nights, which I want to talk about in a second. When I’m not in New York, when I’m not fighting the good fight on CNN, I live in Kentucky with my family. I have four boys, 30 backyard chickens, three dogs, Elvis, Fiona, and Baxter. And like 20 Christmas inflatables. This is the great Scott Jennings trivia for this morning. I have like a Christmas village in my front yard. We have Santa. I have a nine-foot-tall inflatable rooster. True story. It’s an homage to the backyard chickens, but it’s a nine-foot. I got it at Tractor Supply. It’s like a nine-foot Christmas chicken. And I have a great life back in Kentucky, out in middle America. To me, part of my punditry on CNN, it’s not just that I’m the conservative voice on CNN, but I feel like I’m trying to represent what’s going on outside of the urban core, outside of the Acela Corridor. What are people talking about? How are people feeling about the world in middle America? So as much as I feel like a representative for conservatives, on CNN. I sort of feel like I’m I’m red America. I’m middle America’s representative on CNN. And I have to say about my employer, good for CNN for encouraging this debate. We’re having real debates. You watch a 10 o’clock show at night with Abby and we’ve got conservatives and liberals at the table having real debates. Now, as you’re going to hear in a minute, sometimes people say objectively crazy things. But but We are having actual debate. And so what I think we’re accomplishing. is getting people to listen to things that are outside of their bubble. It’s real easy these days to live in a bubble and only hear things that you want to hear that confirm your priors. And I think what we’re accomplishing with these debates is introducing people to points of view that maybe, just maybe, they haven’t heard or haven’t considered just yet. So let’s talk about the last couple of nights here. In New York City, boy, it was interesting. One of the things, I mean, I meet some characters and I meet some fun people and I meet some interesting people. But one of the things that I’ve learned lately, and this is really since the election, it’s really amplified. I feel like people on the left are living in a super weird bubble. And I know we joke about it. You call it TDS, Trump derangement syndrome. That may be a mild term. That may not be going far enough. But I have met people and listened to people who have constructed this entire made-up narrative in their mind about what is going to happen under a Donald Trump presidency. Now, never mind the fact that we already had one. And never mind the fact that over half the country, if you look at the polling, believes it was a pretty good presidency. He’s got over 50% job approval retrospective to his first presidency. Never mind all that. What people are doing now is sort of projecting what they think the next four years will be. It’s this dystopian fan fiction of just how badly Donald Trump is going to change America. Let me play a couple of things for you. Let me start actually with Monday night. The breaking news on Monday, of course, was that Joe Biden had decided to pardon Hunter Biden. Terrible decision, by the way. We’ve been talking about it in America, obviously, for the last couple of days. But this set off a round of people who were doing a couple of things. Number one, denying that Joe Biden had lied about this when he clearly had. And number two, coming up with reasons about why he needed to do it despite his repeated assertions that he would not. And so on Monday night, I was debating a liberal commentator named Lee McGowan. She’s sort of a social media influencer type, calls herself I am politics girl on social media. But she said, and let’s listen, that Trump is planning to institute firing squads and therefore Hunter Biden needed a pardon. Let’s hear it.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don’t want to be bringing back waterboarding. I don’t want to be a country that tortures people, especially for the kind of country that’s going to be using the military against our own citizens. This kind of thing concerns me.
SPEAKER 04 :
What do you mean use against our own citizens?
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m talking about sending states.
SPEAKER 04 :
What do you mean? What are you talking about?
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m talking about sending the military into blue states to make them behave. Getting Gavin Newsom under control, getting J.P. Pritchard under control.
SPEAKER 05 :
What are you making sure? What are you talking about? Sitting in the state capitol to commandeer the state government?
SPEAKER 13 :
I mean, I hope not, but I’m definitely he’s definitely talked about that.
SPEAKER 12 :
I don’t know why you’re using the military to to suppress in the Black Lives Matter era. Those protests in the street. He he was there.
SPEAKER 05 :
I just make sure I understand your position that you believe Donald Trump is going to use the military. to set up effectively, like, coups in state capitals of states that he didn’t win?
SPEAKER 12 :
Scott, I think you’re taking it a step or two too far.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, she said make blue states behave, and she also said round up immigrants. That’s not true. It’s deport illegal immigrants.
SPEAKER 12 :
Scott, Scott, I don’t know why you’re acting.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. Okay, well, I’m sorry. Hold on. Hold on.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, look. Let’s I think you’re right. Let’s be precise. Trump has wanted to use the military to do things domestically that actually the military is not allowed to do. I think that’s the point that she’s making. Like what? Like deport illegal immigrants. That is actually not a function of the military.
SPEAKER 05 :
The military can absolutely be used to work with local officials. to provide military resources, but working with other parts of the federal government and local officials. We already send the National Guard to the border.
SPEAKER 13 :
But you’re not against the will of the local officials or the will of the state government. We have a federalist government here.
SPEAKER 11 :
The military is not supposed to take up arms against American citizens. They’re not. You keep saying that.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is about illegal immigration. You all keep saying American citizens. How do we know whether the people are illegal or not? We know after they’re shot. We know after they die. We have 1.6 million people in this country who have already received deportation orders from courts.
SPEAKER 11 :
They are here illegally. It’s always back to illegal immigration with people who support Donald Trump. It’s always back to illegal immigration. But that’s not the only thing that we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the American people. We’re talking about taking up arms against them with a military that’s supposed to be protecting them.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is not right. You cannot say Donald Trump is sending the military to round up.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s what he said. That is what he is saying, Scott. That’s not what I’m saying. Totally false.
SPEAKER 05 :
He said that. Totally false. That’s what he said.
SPEAKER 12 :
Scott. Scott. Trump, we’re in the fever swamps.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 12 :
What is your dispute here?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m not even really because they’re saying that he’s sending the military to shoot or and or round up American citizens.
SPEAKER 13 :
Not we did not say shoot.
SPEAKER 11 :
I think the issue, the issue, he said, he just said, I said, I mean, I did say take up arms because when you send the army in, that’s what they’re that’s what they’re doing.
SPEAKER 05 :
So that was actually Tuesday night. That was last night. And again, constructing this idea that Donald Trump’s going to send the military to take over state capitals to shoot American citizens Monday night. Let’s hear the debate Monday night about the firing squads. And this is what necessitated the Hunter Biden part. This is give you a little idea of the dystopian fan fiction we’re dealing with here.
SPEAKER 12 :
But wasn’t, to Scott’s point, I mean, wasn’t it a lie? I mean, you can defend it, but wasn’t it a lie that he was not going to pardon him?
SPEAKER 13 :
No, I believe the circumstances have changed. I think that we now have a president coming into office who’s talking about firing squads, who’s talking about running people around the country and making sure that everyone who’s his enemy is going to be punished. And Hunter Biden lied about his drug use on a government forum when he was buying a gun. And he failed to file and pay taxes when he was a drug addict. He paid back those taxes with interest. Donald Trump himself was indicted for 17 counts of criminal tax fraud, more than Hunter. And he’s going to be the president of the United States.
SPEAKER 03 :
11 years. You’re missing a few things here. 11 years.
SPEAKER 05 :
This – I just – what I have been thinking about so much over the last couple of days is how is it that these folks became radicalized to the point where they believe in this reality that doesn’t exist? And I’m interested to hear from you about it today. This is the Mike Gallagher Show. 1-800-655-MIKE. Mike, 1-800-655-6453. We’re going to continue to talk about that. We’re also going to talk about a little breaking news today. The Pete Hegseth nomination for Secretary of Defense. His mom was on Fox & Friends this morning. We’re going to hear from her. And then… At the bottom of the hour, Congressman James Comer, House Oversight Chairman, is with us. This is The Mike Gallagher Show. I’m Scott Jennings, sitting in. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Mike Gallagher.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Jennings in for Mike Gallagher today and glad to be here in Manhattan. Before we get to our guest, Congressman James Comer of Kentucky’s First District and the chair of the House Oversight Committee. I just read a little breaking news here in New York City today. This is kind of a shocking thing. I’m just seeing it come across. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed. in manhattan this morning by a man in a black mask the fifty-year-old ceo of united health care was outside of the hilton hotel in midtown when a man came up to him and shot him in the chest the mass man this report says head on a gray backpack and fled into a nearby alley thompson was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead united health care group was scheduled to start its annual investor conference at 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning, according to the company. But numerous news outlets are reporting just a terrible situation. The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, shot and killed on the streets of New York City this morning. Sad news, and we’ll follow that today. Let’s get back to politics here on the Mike Gallagher Show. Scott Jennings sitting in for Mike, and I’m glad to have with me my old friend. And one of the most important Republicans in the country, Congressman James Comer of Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District is with me. Jamie, Congressman Comer, the oracle of American politics for all that you brought to light about Hunter Biden and the Biden crime family. Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show. Thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me, Scott. You were on top of this before anybody. You got a hold of this chairmanship and you dug in on this. And oh, my goodness. I listen to the media. Poo poo this. There’s nothing there. This is all made up. This is all fabricated. Well, Congressman Comer, if it’s all made up and there’s no there there. Why does Hunter Biden need a blanket pardon going back 11 years to just about the time when he started getting involved in Ukraine? You tell me.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, that’s the key, Scott. It’s a blanket pardon for anything that might arise. Because our investigation started in 2014. That’s when we subpoenaed bank records, starting from 2014 all the way to 2020, to the time Joe Biden was elected president. And it’s just a coincidence. The pardon goes all the way back to 2014, all the way to December the 1st of this year. So 11 years. At the end of the day, the Bidens have committed so many financial crimes that what he was charged for was just the tip of the iceberg. Right. I would argue 90 percent of the crimes, the money laundering, the violation of Foreign Agents Registration Act, The tax evasion for all this income that that wasn’t reported to the IRS, according to the IRS whistleblowers. I mean, that that would account for 90 percent of the other financial crimes. And I’m not even getting into what was on the laptop and the and the, you know, the salacious stuff, because all I investigated was was the money was the money that the Biden took in. And this is the question everyone should ask. What business were the Bidens in? What did they do? to justify depositing $27 million from our enemies around the world.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you always ask the greatest question here on this. What was the product? What was the product? Why was money changing hands? Why were they hiring Hunter Biden? What was the value of it? What was the product? It’s pretty obvious now what the product was, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 09 :
The product was Joe Biden, and we had some of the former associates like Devin Archer and Tony Bobulinski. They testified to this under oath. They said the product was the Biden brand. They were buying access to Joe Biden. That’s exactly what they were doing. And if you look at Jim Biden, who, by the way, Scott, will get a pardon too, the reason that Joe Biden pardoned Hunter early was because he was fixing to be sentenced to prison next week. He’ll pardon Jim Biden on the way out the door. Jim Biden’s business – was much like Hunter’s, except Jim Biden, the money he took in were from criminals in the United States, domestic criminals who were needing pardons, who were needing government contracts, who were needing casino licenses, some of the most shady of the shady things that government does. That’s what Jim Biden’s business was entailed. So this is a family that’s been influenced peddling for decades. Our investigation proved that. And I think that Joe Biden’s pardons validated that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Let me ask you a question about – by the way, you talk to Democrats about Jimmy Biden, Joe Biden’s brother. They say things like, oh, you think Hunter Biden was bad? Just wait. I mean they say – you talk to Democrats. They’ll tell you. People who know, people in their party who know, they’ll tell you. Let me ask you a question about Hunter Biden. So the lawyers tell me that because he got this pardon, which is objectively outrageous, one of the consequences of this is that he can no longer – claim the Fifth Amendment as a defense against testifying, I guess that means to Congress or in a court of law, A, do you believe that? And B, if yes, are we planning to bring Hunter Biden back to answer more questions about the corruption?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, first of all, are we bringing Hunter Biden back? That’s going to be left up to Attorney General Bondi. We’ve completed the investigation. We have all the financial crimes outlined in a very extensive report that we published that very few people in the media read. But obviously, Joe Biden read it or he wouldn’t have issued that big blanket pardon. That’s right. You know, at the end of the day, you know, it doesn’t. matter to me. We’ll bring him in if Bondi wants him brought in. But Hunter Biden didn’t plead the fifth when we brought him in for deposition. He just lied. And one of the things that we referred to the Department of Justice was charges of perjury because he lied under oath to us. The Bidens are very good at lying. Joe Biden lied during the debate when he said the laptop was Russian disinformation, when he knew it was Hunter Biden’s laptop. And he lied when he said he wasn’t going to pardon Hunter Biden, when he knew he was going to pardon Hunter Biden. And everything he said about the Biden influence peddling schemes, Joe Biden lied about. So they’re very good at lying. And Jim Biden is right in there with them. I mean, he can lie to you and smile and pat you on the back on the way out. I mean, some people are skilled at that. People wonder what Joe Biden’s skill is. It’s like and Hunter inherited that skill very well, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s amazing when you consider how Democrats talk about Donald Trump and talk about and when Joe Biden says the words of a president matter and I’m going to restore the soul of the nation and. so on and so forth. The reporting on this pardon is amazing. NBC News says that Biden and the top White House aides got together over the summer and decided two things. They were going to leave the option of a pardon on the table, but then they were going to simultaneously lie to the American people and say, no, no, no, we weren’t going to do that. It’s really quite despicable. And I really do hope that Hunter Biden in some venue is forced to answer more questions. Let me ask you one more thing about about Hunter Biden. Is it your belief based on everything you know and all the investigations you’ve done, that had he not received a pardon, that it was likely he was going to face further possible indictments for some of the issues you mentioned surrounding the corruption, foreign agent stuff, money changing. Do you think it’s possible or even likely that he would have faced more prosecutions over the way he had conducted himself in his business?
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. I mean, he was definitely going to be charged with FARA violations. He could have been at any point. In a new Trump administration, that very likely was going to happen. He could have been charged with more tax evasion. Remember, the IRS whistleblowers testified that they let the two things, they let the statute of limitations run out on a lot of the Burisma money that he took in, which was to the tune of $5 million. But then the IRS never received any information about the money we found he took in from Romania, that he took in from Kazakhstan, some of the money that he took in from China. So he still owes the government taxes on that income. Not only did they take the money from our adversaries around the world and lie about it, according to the Irish whistleblowers, they never paid a penny of taxes on it. So Hunter Biden was only charged for tax evasion for about $5 million or $4 million. He could have been charged for tax evasion $27 million in addition to FARA violations, in addition to money laundering. And that’s not my word, money laundering. That’s six banks. They issued SARS reports on him for money laundering.
SPEAKER 05 :
Romania, Kazakhstan. It’s like the plot of a screwball comedy except there’s nothing funny about it because we’re literally dealing with the president of the United States. Let me twinge topics. You are raising some concerns, and I think a lot of people are going to have concerns. About it sounds like some of the federal government workers unions are cutting deals with the Biden administration on the way out the door here to let all these federal bureaucrats work from home for years and years and years. I think people would be shocked if they went to Washington, D.C. and went into some of these office buildings. People don’t come to work. And now they’re cutting deals that will let them. What is going on with this and what are we going to do about this? People need to go to work, don’t they?
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. The American people may have thought that Joe Biden’s pardon to Hunter was the last middle finger from Joe Biden to the American people. But no, the last middle finger happened yesterday when Joe Biden issued an executive order granting more federal employees the right to work from home. And you’ve already got a majority of the federal workers in Washington, D.C. They don’t even come to work. Some of these big buildings in Washington, D.C. are only 8 percent occupied.
SPEAKER 04 :
Unbelievable.
SPEAKER 09 :
If you try to call someone on the phone and get someone on the phone in a D.C. office, it’ll be a miracle if that actually happened. No one is coming to work under Joe Biden. So the American taxpayers that work hard every day, many of whom have two jobs, paying taxes to the federal government, the last thing they want to see are more fat cat, big government employees sitting at home in their pajamas all day, sleeping until noon, not providing any service to the American people. And that’s what Joe Biden just did. He is doing everything he can to burn it down on the way out. And I think that one of the goals of DOGE is to trim the federal workforce. The first thing we need to do is get the employees back to work, and then we can figure out who’s actually working and who needs to be let go. So it’s a disaster with the federal workforce right now in Washington, D.C. They’re not coming to work. Even the mayor, Muriel Bowser, supports my efforts to bring the federal workforce back to work because all these retail outlets and restaurants have shut down in Washington, D.C. because there are no federal employees going to work.
SPEAKER 05 :
Before we let you go, Congressman, I assume that your engagement with the Doge effort and looking into this federal workers not coming to work, this is going to be at the top of your list when Congress comes back in January. Can you give me a little snapshot? What else is on Jamie Comer’s mind when the Republicans come back and you chair the House Oversight Committee? What else can we expect out of you and the Republican majority on the oversight front?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’m meeting with Elon and Vivek tomorrow, but I can tell you we’re going to be working very closely with their efforts to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse in the federal government. That’s what our committee is supposed to do. We didn’t have a majority of senators willing to go along with many of the good government bills we passed out of the House, and we sure as hell didn’t have a White House that wanted to have good government. Now we do. Now the pieces are in place. I love the two-point people on this Doge thing. I think we’re going to look at unnecessary government programs, wasteful grants. We’re going to look at unneeded federal bureaucrats and just going to start taking the ax out and trying to chop waste, fraud, and abuse at every corner of the federal budget. There’s no shortage of opportunities to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, and that’s what my number one priority is going to be in this next Congress.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s Congressman Jamie Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the oracle of American politics. He was on to the Bidens before anybody. He has been totally vindicated. And a little news. You’re meeting with Elon and Vivek tomorrow about cleaning up and shrinking the federal government. Jamie, thank you for your efforts. Thank you for representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky and my ancestral congressional district, Kentucky One. You do a terrific job for the people of the Commonwealth and the people of the United States of America. Scott Jennings in for Mike Gallagher. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Jennings sitting in for Mike Gallagher. Got a text from my old friend Marty in West Kentucky. I knew when I turned on the Mike Gallagher radio show, I recognized that voice, Marty. I love you. Thank you for the text this morning. And it is fun to be in for the legend Mike Gallagher. And it’s really fun to have my friend. My old friend, I’ve known this man for over 20 years, and he’s an American hero. Chris LaCivita, the campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for president 2024. The man, the co-campaign manager, along with Susie Wiles, who led the greatest American political comeback ever in our history. Chris, welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show. Hey, Scott. Man. Great to be here. I tell you, bro. Well, you look good. You look rested. The stress is gone.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I just want to start with one simple question.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, one too many cheeseburgers at 10 o’clock at night on the plane, so I got to work that off.
SPEAKER 05 :
I know how it goes. I know. I’ve lived that life, and it is hard on the scale. I know. I’ve been there. Let me ask you a question. How did you do it? I mean, when you look at what happened, 16, he wins a presidency, but doesn’t win the popular vote. Biden wins. And you take this thing and win not just the electoral college, but the national popular vote for the first time for Republicans since 04. What is the secret sauce?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I mean, it’s it’s it’s easy. The secret sauce is Donald Trump. I mean, look, you know, when when Susie and I started this. Two years ago, we had a candidate who had at this point – at the starting point was running for president for the third time, had been president. And, you know, you don’t go through that process without clearly learning something, which he did. You know, in 2016, he never, you know, had never run for political office before. Of course, 2020 was the incumbent that was completely hijacked by the virus and changed everything. But starting this campaign as we did, the boss was very determined. I mean, I’ve never seen anybody work as hard As he does. I mean, it’s 20 it’s 23 hours a day. You know, I have this story of the flight back on the last night or the camp, you know, before Election Day, November 4th. We left Michigan at two thirty in the morning and we’re flying to Palm Beach and the entire course, the plane is packed. And the entire time, you know, the boss is up. I mean, he’s he’s he was up the entire night. I don’t think he slept. Yeah. So his energy is determination, his focus. And, you know, and what people didn’t see was all the times that. All the rallies and everything that the president had done, what they didn’t see was in between all of those rallies, whether he was in the limousine in the Beast or whether he was on the plane, he’s doing these teletown hall rallies, which are exhausting. We were always worried about him losing his voice. But, you know, look, we put together a professional operation. The boss wanted a professional operation that was there to support – His candidacy. And, you know, we we were very confident in the people that we had surrounded ourselves with. The boss was very confident. And, you know, we put together a great operation that supported him and gave him the confidence. you know, to, to work those 23, 24 hours a day. So it just, it was, it was just, it was from top to bottom minus a few hiccups, which everyone has. It was really, we’re just very well run, very well executed. And we had the confidence of the boss and that’s all you need when you have the confidence and he sets the tone, it really makes things a lot easier.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. You you had a hard job, not just because of the normal hiccups of a campaign, but you started running against one person and wound up having to run against somebody totally different. How shocked were you when Joe Biden did drop out of the race? I mean, obviously, the debate was a shock.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah. Honest. Honestly, I’m not surprised at all. You know, as a matter of fact, you know, the the the debate in June. Tony and I and Susie, Tony Fabrizio, the pollster, and a brilliant guy. And we’re literally in the back room, in the green room, watching the debate. And we’re five minutes into the debate, and we’re like, he’s not going to last. And that was the realization that someone was going to try a coup. And, of course, they did. But, no, we weren’t the least bit surprised at that. I mean, we just weren’t. I mean, it was such – Just horrific, you know, experience to to bear witness to. It was like a slow moving train wreck.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I was sitting I was sitting in the at the debate outside on the CNN panel with David Axelrod and Van Jones and some others. And I mean, it was just universal. It was kind of crazy. They tried to hang on for like three weeks, and it was amazing they tried to hang on. It was amazing how they – ultimately the party bosses and the billionaires sort of defenestrated the president of the United States. But you all transitioned seamlessly into running against Harris. I mean it was really brilliant the way you handled it because no one has ever had to deal with this before. I mean it’s totally off the script. And what was it like inside the campaign?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
I mean, look, and that would be a great title for a book that I’ll never write, but it really is a campaign of firsts, and those firsts are defined by so many – massive events i mean you know first it was it was let’s keep him off the ballot through the use of the 14th amendment so we had to put together you know uh campaigns legal campaigns in the states that battled through state supreme courts and battled secretaries of state um who were literally trying to to keep him off the ballot then you know we had the legal battles in new york And the bogus use of the criminal justice system in indictments and convictions and then, of course, assassination attempts too.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you did have some of the most unusual circumstances, and I’m not done with this conversation, so I’m going to ask you to stick with me through the bottom here. Because it’s unprecedented what you did, and you deserve a full chance to explain it. I’m Scott Jennings in for Mike Gallagher. Our guest is Chris LaCivita. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Utah Carol, spill the air and chill.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
The Mike Gallagher Show.
SPEAKER 05 :
I did not expect Hitler to get so many meeting requests, first from Joe Biden, now from Mika and Joe. It’s amazing that literal Hitler is getting all these meeting requests. And what it tells me, Professor, is that all the rhetoric that came from the left, from the Democrats, from the White House, from Kamala Harris and everyone else before the election, all of the rhetoric, the fascism, the Hitler, the Nazi rally, it was all a bunch of BS.
SPEAKER 07 :
In the ReliefFactor.com studios, here’s Mike.
SPEAKER 05 :
Scott Jennings sitting in for the legend Mike Gallagher today. And boy, isn’t it true? They called him Hitler. They said he’s having Hitler rallies, fascism. It was all a lie. It was all politics. It was all just made up rhetoric to try to scare the American people into electing Kamala Harris. But the American people were not having it. Donald Trump was elected. And lo and behold, now that the election is over, Donald Trump He’s running a transition. He’s meeting with the outgoing president. He’s getting people all the way from Morning Joe to Justin Trudeau or trekking down to Mar-a-Lago to pay their respects. So just remember, folks, remember who told you what in the run-up to the 2024 election. And also remember this. Remember who led the Republican Party in 2024 to a House majority? None other than the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. And he is our guest this morning on the Mike Gallagher Show. Speaker Johnson, first of all, it’s an honor. to have you here. We’re very appreciative of your time today. What you’re doing is incredible. You’re amazing. Everybody likes you. Mitch McConnell likes you. Donald Trump likes you. Everybody in the Republican Party likes you because you’re doing a great job. So I just want to congratulate you on you’ve only been speaker for a little over a year. But boy, what you and the Republicans have accomplished is amazing. And what I really want to ask you this morning is what do we have to expect out of the first hundred days? Because I think it’s going to be great.
SPEAKER 02 :
A lot, Scott. Thanks for that very kind intro. Everybody likes you, my friend. I just wanted to say before we get started, you’re killing it on CNN. I mean, look, I flip through there on occasion. I want to see what’s happening. And I’m so glad you’re holding the line for our side. And sometimes you have to do it on your own. And that’s not an easy assignment. So I hope everybody doesn’t underestimate the job you’re doing. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Honored to hear that. Thanks for that. Yeah, look, we did achieve a big thing in this election. You know, everybody in the media, the Democrats, they were all mocking us all year. As I was traveling around the country, I wound up going to do campaign events, over 360 campaign events in more than 250 cities across 40 states last year, logged enough miles to circle the globe five and a half times. We left it all on the field, and all of us did. All the House Republicans did the heavy lift, and we got it done. So we kept the House majority. We, of course, got the majority in the Senate. And Donald J. Trump is being returned to the White House. So we will have unified government beginning in January. And my goodness, what a blessing this is for the country, because we got to we got to turn this thing around. We got to save the country and fix everything. So it will begin right out of the gates. That reconciliation process is very important. And people will hear that term a lot in the coming months. But what it means in layman’s terms is that there’s a there’s one mechanism that. in the United States Senate that allows a party to advance its priorities without having to get the 60 vote threshold. That’s been a killer for so many things, policy changes that we’ve wanted over the years. But the budget reconciliation process is the way to do it with a bare majority vote. We have 53 Republicans in the Senate now. We can do it with 51 votes and we should have all of them. So what we do is when you’re reconciling a budget that has been passed by Congress and you’re working to reduce inflation, or expenses or cut regulations, that kind of thing. So long as it’s related to the budget and to that fiscal policy, it can fit through that window. So we’ve been working on this for about a year, Scott. We’ve been developing, forgive me, I’m from Louisiana, so I explain everything in a football or a hurricane metaphor. Let me give you the football metaphor. We’ve been designing the playbook, understanding that we, and believing that we would be given the ball back in January through Congress. And so the playbook is well designed. We’re integrating that with the new head coach in this analogy who’s been elected, Donald J. Trump. I’m the quarterback in this metaphor, and the team is going to be ready to take the field. And you’ll see lots of things right out of the blocks because that first 100 days is going to be critical for us turning the country around.
SPEAKER 05 :
So you’ve got 220 Republicans, 215 Democrats. You feel unconfident. that the Republicans who’ve come back to Washington in your conference are going to stick together. I mean, to pull off this plan, we have to have party unity. And I hope what the people in the conference are interpreting the election results as is a mandate from the American people for the Republican Party to be unified and to act on behalf of the American people. Do you feel that spirit? Is that the vibe in the conference right now?
SPEAKER 02 :
It is the vibe. Look, I’m talking to you just about an hour and a half after our weekly gathering of the House Republicans. Yesterday, I spent about an hour with the Senate Republicans. And this is a bipartisan, I’m not a bipartisan, a bicameral effort, right? The House Republicans and the Senate Republicans working together as one team because we have to do that. When we have this moment, this rare moment in history of unified government where we control everything, The White House, the Senate and the House, we have to maximize the opportunity. So to your point, yes, with small margins, we have to keep everybody rowing in the same direction, you know, working off the same sheet of music or running the same plays in my football metaphor. Right. So it requires a lot of teamwork. It requires a lot of preparation to get to that point. where that can be implemented and we’ve been working on this for like i said almost a year um building up to this anticipation now we’ll have 31 new republicans in the house we’re excited about the incoming freshman class to we flipped some seats out there and we we got those who retired those seats replaced the republicans And they’re being integrated right now into the team as well. So we’ll come right out of the blocks and do some big things for the country. I mean, you know, the priorities of the American people in that mandate you talked about are very well defined. The American people demand and deserve border security. So we’ll come right out of the blocks to do that. And President Trump, of course, made it a top priority. priority on the campaign trail and we got to deliver on it. We will get right to energy policy. If we can restore American energy dominance again, and we can under President Trump’s leadership, that’s the key not only to our economy, but to national security as well. We all know the reasons why. And then we’ll be reducing inflation and ushering in a pro-growth economy. We’ve got to make sure that the largest tax increase in U.S. history doesn’t happen at the end of next year because that’s when the Trump-era tax cuts would expire. So we’ve got to make sure all that’s taken care of. And we unpack it from there. There’s lots of… uh big priorities that we have for the people and we’ll roll it out methodically a lot of this will happen in the first 100 days as i said with the reconciliation process but we’ll have a couple of different uh shots at that and we’ll do it throughout the year so expect big changes and i think these cabinet picks by the way are going to be part of that as well
SPEAKER 05 :
So energy, unleashing American energy, extending the tax cuts, getting the border under control. I mean my view is that the Republican Party working with Donald Trump gets all this done. As you all look ahead to the 2026 midterm, I know it’s sort of obscene to keep talking about elections all the time. But you’re in the House. You’re always in cycle. But it strikes me that if the Republican Party can – that’s how he won. I mean the stuff you laid out is how he won. If we can deliver on that – The Republicans are going to have no trouble in 2026 because people are crying out for leadership. We’ve had a weak president and a Democratic Party with priorities that are so far afield from what people are actually worried about. I just – what I love hearing out of you this morning – is the focus, the absolute focus. And so my hat’s off to you for focusing the conference. We got about 30 seconds left here, Speaker Johnson. What should we be looking for between now and January 20th? I know the new Congress takes over at the beginning of January, but between now and when Donald Trump comes in, anything people should be looking for out of the House Republicans?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. Look, we’re going to work hard from the very first day. We begin on January 3rd in the House before the president takes office on the 20th. So we’re going to send some things through and have legislation ready for him to sign. And, of course, he’ll come in with a flurry of executive orders as well. Lots of stuff on the horizon. We’re excited. We’ve got to also, by the way, restore peace through strength. He’s already beginning that before he even takes office. And we’ve got to slash regulations to get the economy going again. Lots will be happening, Scott. It’s going to be an exciting time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Mike Johnson hitting the ground running. Mr. Speaker, thanks for being with us. I’m Scott Jennings in for the great Mike Gallagher. Last half of the show, last quarter of the show coming up. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’re going to find out.
SPEAKER 01 :
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Scott Jennings Hosts The Mike Gallagher Show
Scott Jennings hosts a riveting conversation on the Mike Gallagher Show, tackling the latest in political controversies, from Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden to Trump’s supposed plans for military action within the states. Delve into the narratives that dominate today’s political landscape, and unpack the reality versus fan fiction among left-wing circles. Featuring insights from Congressman James Comer and a focus on the implications of Biden’s controversial pardons, this episode sheds light on the political maneuvers at play and what they mean for the future of America.
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