JEFFRIES: Democrats' Plan Is to "Break Their Spirit" of 77 Million Voters

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-24

[00:00:26]primary battles between anti-Trump GOP candidates and the president unfold dramatically again last night. JD Vance takes to the White House podium and puts on a show. and Democrats are flat out of ideas for election season. It's Wednesday, May 20th, and this is news and commentary from America's Heartland.

[00:00:46]Glad you're with us. You're watching Heartlander News.

[00:00:52]Hello and welcome in to this edition of Heartlander News. My name is Chris Stigall. You know, a lot of last night's news focuses on primary fights inside the GOP, and we will here in a minute.

[00:01:02]But something to keep a sharper eye on, in my opinion, is what's happening in the Los Angeles mayor's race right now, as well as the California gubernatorial race at large. While the GOP may be battling for its identity, and I think that's a healthy thing, the Democrats, they've completely lost their ability to connect or sell anything to voters except rage and vengeance. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the big American Center for American Progress Confab or whatever it's called, Hakeem Jeff, one of the featured speakers there. Take a listen to what he's selling.

[00:01:38]>> I guess part of how we as House Democrats view this moment. Either MAGA extremists are going to break the country or we're going to break them.

[00:01:46]And our goal is to break them. We will defeat them.

[00:01:52]We have to beat them electorally. and then we have to break their spirit because of the extremism that's being unleashed on the American people. That's completely and totally unacceptable.

[00:02:01]>> So the if you're following that, the minority leader of the United States House of Representatives says that their goal is to break the spirits of 77 million people who voted for Donald Trump and the Trump agenda.

[00:02:18]Interesting strategy there.

[00:02:20]Meanwhile, out in Los Angeles, as we were mentioning a minute ago, what does Karen Bass, one of the big party bosses and current sitting LA mayor, have to sell? Nothing but destruction. And her chief opponent, a man named Spencer Pratt, is taking Karen Bass on. And Pratt is reminding voters just what she and Democrats have wrought on their city.

[00:02:41]>> I'm Karen Bass and I'm running on my accomplishments.

[00:02:48]Los Angeles on fire. Mayor nowhere to be found.

[00:02:52]>> We were so prepared for wildfires. I didn't [music] even have to be in the country when the town burned. I've addressed the homeless problem. Now, [music] most of them won't stab you as long as you don't make eye contact.

[00:03:08]Our climate change policy is so strong, we've brought down energy use in the Palisades [music] by 99%.

[00:03:20]Almost none of the needles in children's playgrounds [music] have AIDS on them.

[00:03:24]If you like the last four years, you're going to [music] love the next four.

[00:03:29]Vote Bass.

[00:03:30]>> Boy, I got to tell you that AI is starting to get really good, which of course that ad was made courtesy of AI.

[00:03:38]That wasn't actually Karen Bass. For the less sophisticated viewer, you may not know that, and you'd be forgiven if you didn't, because AI is getting pretty good. In fact, it's getting good enough that Democrats uh and this is a story from Axios today. While you took a look at that, I just thought it interesting to throw in here. House Democrats plan to push legislation regulating the use of AI in political ads if they retake power next year. One satirical ad in Kucky's fourth district accused Thomas Massie of being in a throppple with Alexandria Kaziocortez and Elon Omar.

[00:04:09]So, Democrats are uniquely threatened and upset at the creativity being deployed by Republicans and uh allies of the presidents. Uh and they want to outlaw ads like that. But Pratt is also having fun not just using AI, he's also using pop culture as a big campaign weapon.

[00:04:30]Now, this is a story all about [music] how my life got flipped turned upside down and I had to take a minute to [singing] run for mayor. I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bair [music] [music] in West Los Angeles. Palisades in my backyard is where I spent most of my days. Feeding hummingbirds, relaxing all cool, avoiding all [singing] the bombs outside of the school. When a couple politicians, [music] the world's no good, started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fire.

[00:05:05]My mom got scared and said, "You're moving in with Harvey Le in Bair.

[00:05:17]I pulled out from my lot about seven [singing] or eight." And I yelled to the rubble, "Yo, ho, smell you later." I moved to my kingdom. I [singing and music] was finally there to sit on my throne as the prince of Belair.

[00:05:31][music] Pretty clever stuff. Spencer Pratt catching fire, at least online. Could that be the key to victory in the mayor's race?

[00:05:45]We'll see. Meanwhile, current polling shows that Steve Hilton um is leading in the race right now as one of the top two in California next to the uh former Biden official Javier Basera who it's unbelievable that Californians are even entertaining Basera. But nevertheless, Steve Hilton, a Fox News personality formerly, um is really gaining a lot of traction out there. and you could see a Republican uh in a runoff, a legit Republican for the first time in a long time in California.

[00:06:17]Listen, whether it's California or Los Angeles, it this really is a time for Californians where they stand at a fork in the road. As Yogi Bara famously said, when you come to a fork in the road, take it. And right now, Los Angeles has lived through two completely different catastrophes that expose the exact same leadership failure. First look at co residents were ordered to shut down their businesses, close their churches, mask their kids, and just trust the experts. People like Dr. Fouchy and the rest contradicted themselves over and over on masks, lockdowns, school closures, and where the virus even came from to begin with. Democrats issued sweeping mandates with absolute certainty. Then quietly, they changed the rules whenever reality caught up with them. The damage was incalculable.

[00:07:10]A whole generation of kids lost years of learning. Small businesses were wiped out. Mental health problems and addiction exploded. Inflation spiked.

[00:07:22]And trust in our institutions utterly collapsed.

[00:07:26]Los Angeles has become the poster child for elite overreach and social and societal decay. And then there was the disastrous Palisades fires. As Spencer Pratt's parody ad refers to, officials once again stood up and insisted everything was under control, but it wasn't. Chaotic evacuations, slow responses, failing infrastructure, and fires that were allowed to burn for reasons that were widely reported. Whole neighborhoods in one of the wealthiest parts of America were reduced to ash.

[00:08:02]Families lost everything. And now, well over a year later, there's been almost no rebuilding. Permits are still stuck in bureaucratic limbo. Private property rights have been ignored or steamrolled, and it's left homeowners unable to take back and rebuild what was theirs.

[00:08:22]That's the heavy-handed communist streak that's showing through in Southern California. government treating people's homes like assets it can control or stall forever.

[00:08:35]And look, these weren't random failures.

[00:08:38]They were stress tests. A virus and an inferno. They don't have much in common except the governing philosophy that botched both of them. Narrative control came first. Competence that was a mere afterthought.

[00:08:56]Spin became more important than the truth. Blameshifting became the norm over accountability.

[00:09:04]Image mattered more than results.

[00:09:08]And this is where the La La Land disconnect hits hardest. Hollywood makes its living selling fantasies. And for years now, Los Angeles has been living in a fantasy. a dystopian political fairy tale where ideology and optics always win no matter what reality is actually screaming. The same city that turns out makeelieve on screen has been governed by makebelieve at city hall pretending the systems are working.

[00:09:38]While schools are crumbling and homelessness explodes, businesses are fleeing, trust totally evaporates and entire neighborhoods are still sitting in ruin.

[00:09:48]A healthy government does just the opposite of these things. It tells the truth early. It prepares seriously. It acts decisively. And it respects private property rights most of all. Los Angeles has been running the opposite model for entirely too long. The city that once symbolized American ambition and hustle.

[00:10:13]It's now defined by the widening gap between the Hollywood script and the smoking reality on the ground. This spiral didn't happen by accident. It's exactly what you get when you let fictional political storytelling replace actual governance for years on end. But Los Angeles finally has a chance. And California, by the way, at large has a chance to break the cycle. Kick Mayor Bass out of office. kick the likes of Gavin Newsome's governance out of office and choose a genuinely different direction with people like Spencer Pratt or Steve Hilton. After two major failures that proved the same broken approach and years of massive corruption, the city of Los Angeles deserves leaders who put competence, truth, and private property rights first. No more dystopian narrative management. Thank you very much. The fork in the road. The fork is right here. And as Yogi said, for you Californians, it's time you take it.

[00:11:21]Meanwhile, last night in more primary dustups, President Trump has weighed in and been winning the fight. I don't know if you watched it. Undoubtedly, you did.

[00:11:31]Many people were wondering. And yesterday was an interesting day.

[00:11:34]President Trump did a couple of different things. He won another victory in taking out the sitting senator or excuse me, sitting congressman from Kentucky, Thomas Massie. But before he did that, before he did that, he really dropped a bomb. Something that many people didn't think he'd actually do. He weighed in on the Texas Senate primary. Yes. Did you see it? Ken Paxton, the current attorney general of Texas, who said, "I'll get out of this race. I'll let the sitting senior senator from Texas, John Cornin, have it. let him walk right back into the office. All I ask is that you pass the Save Act. Now, Cornin, I think to court President Trump's endorsement, has taken a decidedly harder line than he traditionally does. He said yes, not only does he come out for the Save Act, but he's even come out and supported blowing up the filibuster. But for now, [clears throat] excuse me, Paxton seems to be leading in both the uh the horse race in in the vote tally and maybe even in money depending on who you hear reporting. But John Thun, the leader in the United States Senate and a Cornin ally, was asked for the first time what he makes of President Trump finally weighing in yesterday and endorsing Ken Paxton. After staying out of this, he chose the attorney general over the sitting senior senator from Texas.

[00:12:52]Here's the leader of the Senate a little discombobulated uh in reaction to the news.

[00:12:58]>> Given given that you've spent months trying to encourage persuade the president to endorse John Cornin in the Texas primary and given that the NRSC has in invested heavily to help Cornin win that primary. How personally disappointed or frustrated [snorts] are you with the president's decision to endorse Ken Paxton today?

[00:13:14]>> Well, I think you all know my position on this issue. I've made it very clear for um months now and um Senator Cornin is a principal conservative. He is a very effective senator for the state of Texas and uh but I don't none of us control what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn't change the way I feel. Um and uh I am certainly supportive of continue to be supportive of Senator Cornin and his re-election.

[00:13:42]>> Yeah. Um well, here's the thing. I don't know what Texans are ultimately going to do, but what John Thun, the senator from South Dakota, thinks of what Texans should feel, nobody does anybody, I mean, all due respect, what does anybody in Texas care about what Senator Thun thinks of John Cornin or anybody else for that matter? Texans are speaking loud and clear. President Trump sees it and it doesn't seem to be going Cornin's way. As for Cornin, here's his reaction to President Trump finally weighing in and endorsing Paxton. And they're all saying the same thing. They're trying to malign Paxton as someone that is dangerous and ultimately can't win because of his troubled past or some such thing. Here's Cornin trotting it out.

[00:14:24]>> Well, you know, we we've always had these family fights uh within the Republican party and then we unify in order to win the election in November and uh we'll do that again. Uh but I believe that in terms of our success in November, uh that Ken Paxton would be an albatross around the neck of our candidates and would likely lose to James Terico. I think we've come too far and worked too hard uh to risk that.

[00:14:52]>> Okay. So, just so you understand, and we've covered this here pretty extensively, but it's important that you know this. James Terico, the phony preacher, the betto with a Bible in the pulpit. um he's coming on and people believe that he's a real threat because a guy like Ken Paxton I guess has some and I I to be perfectly clear I don't really know all that's involved in Ken Paxton's personal life or his pecadillos or his personal foibless or what have you. Uh we're all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. I certainly do every single day. So I'm not really interested in the personal failings of Ken Paxton. But the Republican establishment is very clearly trying to convince voters that because of Ken Paxton's f personal failings, he can't be a good conservative. And I think I think we've moved past that. I mean, yes, character counts and we all care about that. But if a conservative agenda and saving this country from ruin, saving this country from becoming Los Angeles from coast to coast means tolerating people that are maybe lagging a little bit when it comes to their personal lives or their fallen nature. I think the Republican electorate has said we'll choose fighters who are principled conservatives when it comes time to vote over people with blemishfree personal lives.

[00:16:11]I think no more is that's no more evident than in the president of the United States who in my view has won election three times with the voters.

[00:16:19]President uh Trump they believe in endorsing Paxton on the left. They think this helps Telerico. Here's little Chucky Schumer the Senate minority leader very very confident now that Betto with the Bible James Terico going to win because President Trump has chosen Paxton.

[00:16:36]Take a listen.

[00:16:37]Can I ask you, do you feel that the Democrat's chances of winning in Texas got better today for the end of >> Look, Texas is a huge mess for the Republicans and uh I believe that we're in much better shape uh taking back Texas uh than we were a few days ago and I think we're going to win Texas.

[00:16:55]>> Peter Shimmer, look, you know how expensive Texas is. It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Is the DSC and S&P willing to spend as much as it takes to win in Texas? Let me say Terar Rico is talking to people about their real needs. Uh Paxton and Cornin, both of those people are talking about things that that Texans don't care about. And so we are going to win Texas.

[00:17:18]And we are going to win Texas, whether it's Cornin or Paxton. [laughter] And I hope, as I'm sure all of us who are conservatives hope, that the Democrats continue to blow millions upon millions upon millions of dollars chasing the great white whale that is Texas for them. They did it before with Betto. Looks like they're set to do it again to push all their chips in on Terico. If in fact Paxton becomes the uh the winner of that primary fight, I hope they do. I see no evidence to suggest that Texans are about to embrace a man who believes Jesus is trans or whatever crazy thing that lunatic believes. Just because he wraps himself in a preachers's robe, don't make him a Christian. Not in my view. Anyway, meanwhile, to Kentucky we go. Now, this is on the heels, by the way. All of this activity is on the heels of what we just saw happen in Louisiana with Bill Cassidy. We talked about that on Monday. Bill Cassidy, the sitting senator in Louisiana who came in third in a primary after President Trump and he locked horns. Cassid's pouting now and he's voting against President Trump on his way out the door in the Senate, but that's neither here nor there. So, that's so far uh we've seen some devastating results in Indiana where a spate of Republican sitting state senators have been kicked to the curb after they refused to redraw congressional boundary lines. Now, we have seen him weigh in on Ken Paxton over John Cornin, an establishment Republican. We've seen him take out Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. And we move on to Kentucky now, where a guy called Ed Galrin, endorsed by Donald Trump, running for the House seat currently occupied by Thomas Massie. And Galin wins it last night over Massie. Here's some reaction in 114.

[00:19:12]Coach Walt Heath from Franklin Simpson just sent me a note. And I could go on, but the kind of people that shaped me into the young man I was and never realized so many years later, you know what they've done, including my FFA teacher, Mr. Hammers, World War II veteran, sniper. Wonderful man. Humble as the day is long. I want to thank my teammates from FFA as future farmers of America for you out oftowner folks.

[00:19:33]That's a big deal in Kentucky. Okay. FFA to football to SEAL team and the joint special operations team that I've served on all over the world. Thank them for they made me the better person that I am. And the more I was promoted, the more awards I got, the more humble I came. Now my focus is on advancing the presidents and the party's agenda to put America first and Kentucky always.

[00:19:59][cheering] I'm going to keep this simple because again I speak fluent Kentucky because for the same reasons I joined in 1983 to serve our nation. Remember I didn't join to be a Navy Seal. I joined to make a difference and being a Navy Seal was a path to do that. Weren't no books or movies never met one. I learned to swim in the Ohio River. That's ill advised but that's what I did on the farm.

[00:20:26]Would have got a whooping had I found out at the house or I did that. But for the same reason I entered as a Navy Seal officer in 1983 because I had the audacity to think I could make a difference and I did. I will serve this district, my party and my nation with that same audacity to make a difference for them, their families, our district, our party, and our nation. God bless America. Thank y'all.

[00:20:52]>> Pretty darn wholesome. I don't know about you, but when I think about Kentucky, granted I don't live there, but when I think Kentucky, I think of guys like Mr. Gallerin. I think of service and selfless service to country.

[00:21:05]I think of him. Thomas Massie, on the other hand, think of him whatever you will. Um, to take this shot in his concession speech tells us a lot about the kind of character Thomas Massie is last night in 115.

[00:21:27]All right.

[00:21:31][cheering] >> Listen, >> I would I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Galrine in Tel Aviv.

[00:21:44][cheering] I did get to call three though. I have I have called and conceded the race. Um we've been honorable the whole time and we're going to stay that way. [cheering] >> You know, welcome to the most expensive congressional primary ever in the 250 year history of this country. It's not just the most expensive. This thing went on longer than Vietnam.

[00:22:18]It started nine months ago and they they didn't even have a candidate and they decided they want to take me out, >> you know. Well, uh, Mr. Massie, uh, I don't know who they is, but the voters clearly had their say. And so, if by they wanted to take you out, you mean the voters, your constituents in your district, well, that's what they did. And it's sad really that he doesn't have enough respect for his voters to actually just recognize that that's what his voters decided. That it wasn't about a they that it wasn't about an other.

[00:22:52]That it wasn't about Tel Aviv or whatever underhanded backdoor kind of disgusting snide slap that is and glancing flirtation with anti-semitism that that is. This is the kind of stuff that I'm thrilled to say is actually getting beaten back inside the GOP right now because it deserves to be beaten back. And I don't know what's in the water there in Kentucky, but Rand Paul's son recently who uh I guess has now apologized and said that he's going to go take time to recover and get his mind right or whatever, but he got all liquored up as you probably heard recently and screamed a bunch of anti-semitic epithets at a uh member of the House while out at a bar in Washington DC recently. You can look it up. I'm not going to get into it. But this undercurrent of anti-semitism in the Republican party uh really unsemly and it's led by the likes of Massie. And look, you don't have to have a fondness for the government of Israel. You don't have to even respect the government of Israel, but to take on this same biblical historical hatred for Jews and Israel. And that's what it is. It's a hatred. It's a scapegoating.

[00:24:11]It's been historically documented and I'm sorry to say it's rearing its head, not just on the American left, but there are some little pockets in the right.

[00:24:18]And I think for a while we were all trying to figure out how prevalent is it? How big is it? Thankfully, with the defeat of Massie last night, we realized it is still a minority point of view inside the electorate, at least in Kentucky. And for that, I'm grateful.

[00:24:33]Also, it's worth noting that Thomas Massie, um, one of the first to take to the camera or to the mic or to the phone and wish him the very best and offer condolences, is a Democrat.

[00:24:46]Now, what does that tell us? Well, the Republicans in Kentucky understood what it tells us. When the Democrats seem more upset to see Massie go than the Republicans, that tells us a lot. Here's Democrat, California Democrat, no less Roana.

[00:25:01]>> My good friend Thomas Massie lost tonight. I'm angered by the smears on his character. He lost because he had the guts to take on the Epstein class.

[00:25:12]He lost because he had the guts to stand up against the war in Iran. He worked with me to pass the most consequential and popular piece of bipartisan legislation in recent history in the Epstein Transparency Act.

[00:25:27]Many young voters under 50 voted for him. He was winning them by over 30 points. And today I say you may not have a home in the Trump coalition, but there is a new generation of populist Democrats. And we welcome you to help us change this country, change the rotten system, and have a politics that puts the working class ahead of the Epstein class.

[00:25:49]>> Yeah. Um, look, the class of populist Democrats that Mr. Kana is talking about quite frankly are the Trump coalition. I mean, President Trump was, as we all know and recognize, a classic traditional Democrat. You know, back in the 80s and 90s, he supported Democrats. He voted for Democrats. And look, even in places like Missouri where I sit today, Democrat governors existed, Democrat senators existed. Today, Missouri is ruby red. And why? Because it's the Democrat party that left the Democrat populists like Donald Trump. There used to be some modicum of moderation and normaly in the Democrat party. who used to fight about things like labor or wage hikes or certain policy, but that's not what the Democrat party is today. Again, the Democrat party today is Hakee Jeff, who we played off the top, saying that anyone that opposes them deserves to have their spirits broken.

[00:26:54]It's an odd choice of words. They're offering nothing but vitrial and hatred, not a vision for the future, just anger that you dare oppose them. And the amazing analysis on cable news continues to miss this. They think it's just because Donald Trump is that effective and we're all mind-numbed robots following our dear leader. Here is the vaudevilian Harry Anton over at CNN.

[00:27:19]Everyone very stunned and surprised at this Thomas Massie loss in Kentucky. and uh they continue to sell this idea that again everyone who votes the way Donald Trump suggests or endorses we are all walking off a cliff with him >> surprised at all because the bottom line is this Donald Trump is the general of the Republican party and the Republican primary v voters are his soldiers and if you look at Thomas Massie you can see it very clearly you look in 2020 2022 2024 he was getting 75% upwards of 81% of the primary vote in 2020 and today he gets less less than 50% of the vote. That's the story.

[00:27:57]>> That is incredible because you look at it so consistent time after time after time and then wow, look at tonight.

[00:28:03]Donald Trump, thank you very much.

[00:28:05]>> Wasn't surprised at all because the >> Yeah, you know, Shawn Davis at the Federalist actually explained why Thomas Massie lost. And it is not because Kentucky voters are mind-numbed robots following their leader Donald Trump and they are their loyal foot soldiers of Donald Trump's. Why did Massie enjoy such support once upon a time and last night was shellacted? Here's why. And I agree with Shawn Davis at the Federalist's assessment here. Massie went from principled libertarian during COVID to GOP leadership lap dog under Andy uh excuse me u under McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker. And then he turned into an anti-Trump Epstein obsessive in 2025 after tweeting about the issue a whopping three times for the entire decade prior. The nail in the coffin for him was voting against the big beautiful bill in 2025 because according to Massie, it did too much to secure the border.

[00:29:02]Trump mercilessly trashed Massie in 2020, calling him a disaster for America and Kentucky and saying he should be thrown out of the GOP entirely. But Massie easily swatted away and he won 81 to 19. So you can't say he only lost because of Trump because once upon a time voters ignored President Trump and supported him overwhelmingly. He went toe-to-toe with Trump on CO in 2020 and he won overwhelmingly.

[00:29:31]Massie lost last night, writes Shawn Davis at The Federalist, because he went from being perceived as a quirky but lovable nerd who seemed to genuinely believe everything he said to looking like a cloutchasing influencer who cared more about getting TV time with Democrats on an issue he clearly never cared about until 5 minutes ago. And he cared more about it than he did representing his voters. Now, we'll never know, writes Davis at the Federalist. What caused the apparent personality change in Massie? Maybe it was the death of his wife. Maybe it was the Kevin McCarthy race followed by Kevin McCarthy's ouster as House Speaker. Maybe it was a desire for notoriety or media acclaim or a lucrative podcast career outside of Congress. But the drastic change was undeniable for Massie, as was the seeming lack of interest in much of anything happening in Kentucky.

[00:30:26]You can blame Trump, you can blame Israel, you can blame Epstein, you can blame the tragic death of his spouse. I don't care, writes Shawn Davis. But you can't just wave away 2020 Massie going face to face with Trump's machine and winning in a route only to then get smoked last night, six years later.

[00:30:47]Massiey's voters didn't really change all that much. Massie changed and Massiey's voters noticed. I think that's hard to argue with Shawn Davis at the Federalist and his analysis. Britt Hume over at Fox News.

[00:31:03]Take a listen.

[00:31:04]>> Brit, I only have 10 seconds, but we have a long way to go to November.

[00:31:08]>> We do. We got a a Democratic party, a Republican party which is by and large afraid to buck Trump and a Democratic party that's afraid not to. And that describes our politics.

[00:31:18]>> There you go. I knew I can count on 10 seconds. Thank you all.

[00:31:24]>> Yeah. um a Republican party that's afraid to buck Trump.

[00:31:31]I don't think that's true. I actually don't agree with Brit Hume. I don't think Republicans are in lock step with Donald Trump at all.

[00:31:39]I think that the Republican voter sees that the Republican party has been virtually unwilling to fight. And President Trump has been willing to quite literally be shot at, have his home raided, dragged through courts, his family name, his family fortune, all of it put at great personal risk. And he's doing it anyway because he loves the country. And I think most voters believe that. And they see him fighting. They don't see the GOP fighting. And so when they see people inside the GOP ranks fighting against a guy who's weathered more than any of their candy asses have, sorry, but that's just true. Members of Congress have not even had a modicum of opposition to the likes of Donald Trump.

[00:32:17]And the voters in this country who voted for Donald Trump know it. So, if you're choosing as a voter to stand with a Republican right now and you voted for Donald Trump and you're looking at your current member of Congress in the House or Senate and your current member of the House or Senate is in regular opposition of Donald Trump's agenda, the guy you deem as the greatest fighter in the party and your House or Senate member is an opposition. How can you expect that voters are going to do anything other than punish the Republican for opposing Donald Trump?

[00:32:51]And as for Democrats, I do agree with that. Their only plan, their only play is to quote, "break that spirit."

[00:33:00]That's all they've got. In fact, it's worth hearing Hakee Jeff say it again.

[00:33:04]Let's go back to Hakee Jeff. This is what Democrats are offering. Republicans voted for Donald Trump and his agenda, and they want it carried out, and they're punishing Republicans who will not help carry out a fighter's agenda.

[00:33:17]What are the Democrats offering? Brit Hume is correct about that. Not policies of their own, not a forecast or a prescription for the future that they've authored. No, they just want to punish you, break your will, and break your spirit. How dare you try to resurrect and reclaim this government for yourself as a we the people movement. How dare you? Democrats are warning, we're going to work to break your spirit. I guess part of how we as House Democrats view this moment, either MAGA extremists are going to break the country or we're going to break them. And our goal is to break them. We will defeat them.

[00:33:57]We have to beat them electorally and then we have to break their spirit because of the extremism that's being unleashed on the American people. That's completely and totally unacceptable.

[00:34:06]>> So there you have it. That's what the Democrats are offering offering. Again, guys like David Axelrod, the axe over there at CNN, um, in clip 119 here, again, much like Hume, just totally missing it. Their their obsession with Trump and their attitude that voters in this country who support Donald Trump are lmmings, totally misses everything we've just talked about. But here's the problem for Republicans. They can't live in the Republican party without Donald Trump. and they can't live outside of the Republican party with Donald Trump because he's an epically unpopular president who is popular among his own tribe and his own tribe is not big enough to win elections. He's got a 23 or something percent approval rating among independents. He's got virtually no support among Democrats and it's in some ways it reflects the way he's governed. Donald Trump has governed to be president of the Republican party, the to be president of MAGA. This country is bigger than that. So, if you're in a swing district, if you're in a swing state, you're kind of in a bind here. But here's >> Okay. I mean, if if [snorts] you're going to bet on a horse right now, do you bet on the voice of Hakeem Jeff who's pledging to just punish and break the spirit of anyone who opposes him? or do you stand with a guy like Donald Trump who actually has a vision and is taking action to achieve goals on behalf of the country? It's it's clear nothing has changed in over a decade. Nothing has changed. The establishment of Washington DC hates this man's guts.

[00:35:39]Hates the change that he's bringing.

[00:35:41]Hates the realworld aggressive fundamental generational shift that he's ushering in in Washington DC. And they'll do anything to stop him. And they will tell you that he is unpopular.

[00:35:51]and they will tell you that uh Republicans are afraid of him and that he's just a big bully and gosh uh everything would be so much better if he'd just go away, but everybody's too afraid of him. No one's afraid of him.

[00:36:03]His voters support him. There's a big difference. And these people just don't they don't they don't want to believe it. They they refuse to acknowledge it.

[00:36:11]Uh, and just like the January 6ers before, um, this idea that people that show up and convene on the National Mall to support him, they're all criminals.

[00:36:21]And that was absolutely the attempt that was made by the left and the Biden administration and Obama before. Anybody that supported this guy, anybody that dared show their support for Donald Trump, you were you were to be punished.

[00:36:34]January 6th and all of the political prisoners that were taken and rounded up and all the surveilling of all of us that went on on social media, FBI folks coming and knocking at your door, FBI folks coming and uh spying on parents at schoolboard meetings, the FBI and and uh other law enforcement officials being ordered to raid the homes of prolifers like Mark Hal in suburban Philadelphia.

[00:36:58]All of that was to send a message.

[00:37:01]Raiding Donald Trump's home. I believe the assassination attempts on Donald Trump. All of it was to send a message.

[00:37:07]You're next. President Trump always said it.

[00:37:11]They're just trying to get to you. This really isn't about me. This is ultimately about trying to get to you.

[00:37:17]And his voters believe that. I believe that Donald Trump represents a movement in this country that wants to take the country back and be governed by we the people, a re a truly representative republic. And there's nothing organized crime in Washington DC hates more than hearing those words.

[00:37:37]So you can continue to malign Donald Trump and his voters, but trust me, you're only stealing their resolve. And if Democrats have nothing more to offer than we're going to break their spirit, if you haven't broken it by now with impeachments and home raids and attempted assassinations, you ain't breaking it. Sorry, Democrats.

[00:37:59]Um, Axios talking about Trump's revenge spree, stunning Senate Democrats. Again, it's not a revenge spree. Axios Thun called it Trump's decision, but it's Thun's problem to pass Trump's agenda with a trio of senators the president can no longer hurt. Tom Tillis has been unbowed from North Carolina since announcing his retirement after clashes with Trump. Bill Cassidy, who we mentioned earlier from Louisiana, voted with Democrats uh to advance in Iran war powers vote.

[00:38:35]And John Cornin now has that runoff May 26th, but will enter it with Trump backing someone else.

[00:38:42]Adding to Thoon's degree of difficulty, a president sick of the Senate and its rules and rank and file Republicans seething over Trump's knifing of Cornin.

[00:38:53][laughter] [gasps] So yeah, the Senate voted yesterday or [clears throat] I guess early this morning to take up a measure to force President Trump to end the Iran war. Uh not going to happen. it won't ultimately end up going anywhere, but the media is very excited about it. A couple of Republicans weren't present. I think uh uh Tommy Tubberville was not present. I think Cornin was was not present. Uh and he probably wouldn't have gone along with that, I would guess, at least for now. John Federman, interestingly, voted with Republicans on this um in opposition to force a u a war powers resolution. So, uh, certainly interesting. Federman is on Trump's side on this situation with Iran and we'll of course continue to watch that. It looks like President Trump is not getting, uh, anywhere with Iran. That is, Iran's not willing to compromise even a little bit.

[00:39:41]And so, it sounds like we're starting to build up a little bit and President Trump is going to turn the screws even tighter. Uh, some recalcitrant Republicans who are ticked off at him uh, now want to try to make trouble for him, but I don't think that's going to go anywhere. Also news yesterday that President Trump has reached a settlement with the government to end IRS tax tax audits of him and his family. Now, you're going to hear a lot about this today and I am sure um that the American left thinks they've really got him again. This is I I I'll give you a little story as a backdrop.

[00:40:16]Years ago, back in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was the Democrat's nominee, rigged against Bernie at the time, uh, and Donald Trump ended up being the Republicans's nominee.

[00:40:30]Do you remember, I'm sure you do, famously when Hillary Clinton called Trump voters a basket of deplorables?

[00:40:37]could take Trump's voters and put them in this basket of deplorables. Remember that? I happened to be a guest on Don Lemon's CNN show. The night Mrs. Clinton said that. In fact, that news had just broken. I went live on CNN with Don Lemon. He begins to interview me about Donald Trump. And his jumping off question for me about Donald Trump was, "Don't you have a problem, Stigall, with the fact that Donald Trump has not been forthcoming with his taxes?"

[00:41:10]And I remember laughing that I'm on a supposed news network and the news, the biggest news of that evening was not the tired old story of Donald Trump's taxes. The biggest news of the political night anyway was Hillary Clinton calling the voters that don't agree with her deplorable. And so I brought it up. I said, "Don, I know you'd like to talk about President well then candidate Trump's taxes, but um I think it's worth noting that Mrs. Clinton, the Democrat candidate for president of the United States, just called half of the country that won't support her deplorable. I think that's worth talking about, don't you?" And Don Lemon sumearily tossed me off the show. He didn't want to hear it. Didn't want to talk about it. And uh that was the last time I appeared on CNN, by the way.

[00:41:56][laughter] Well, they're doing it again. The reason I tell you that story is they're back.

[00:42:03]Everything old is new again. They don't know how to take him out. They've done everything they possibly can and it hasn't worked. And so now they figure, well, let's try the tax angle again.

[00:42:13]President Trump's extraordinary agreement with the federal government, writes the Wall Street Journal, expanded Tuesday to end all pending tax audits of him and his business. In the document signed by acting attorney general Todd Blanch, the government said it would quote forever bar and preclude government from pursuing certain claims against Trump, his businesses, and family matters. The agreement specifically blocks the government from taking any action regarding tax returns that have already been filed.

[00:42:43]That agreement extends the settlement amount announced on Monday in which the government agreed to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim to have been victims of the so-called weaponization of the government. So-called, says the Wall Street Journal, so-called weaponization of the government. So, here's what this is. And the media is going to try to make hay about this. They're going to try to make it sound like President Trump will never ever ever be allowed to be audited again. That the federal government, Todd Blanch, has now been banned from ever looking at Donald Trump's finances again. Again, trying to build the narrative that Donald Trump has something to hide. And Todd Blanch, uh, his henchmen in DOJ are protecting him forever. He can enrich himself and the IRS can never look at it. Not true.

[00:43:28]That's not what happened yesterday. Todd Blanch settled with the president of the United States who was actively suing the United States because of the way his taxes were handled previously in that they were leaked. It is illegal to leak tax information to the press and the someone inside the IRS did it and President Trump sued over that and was going to win. So instead, Todd Blanch issued a settlement, a$ 1.8 8 billion dollar fund and that fund is going to be something from which anyone who feels they have had the government weaponized against them particularly through the IRS can use. Again, the settlement with Trump is only regarding the taxes that he has currently filed.

[00:44:14]It does not preclude him from being analyzed in the future and that's a distinct difference that everyone should be aware of. We're all perfectly comfortable. If you're sane and you're fair, we all understand no one has had a rectal exam like Donald Trump. Period. Full stop. There can't be anyone in the country who's serious and not a lunatic partisan who actually thinks Donald Trump hasn't been analyzed inside and out, up and down. Every facet, every corner of his life dating back for decades has been combed over and looked through. If there was something to find from this president, including most of his private information leaked, his homer raided. If they had the dirt on Donald Trump, they'd find it.

[00:45:00]And they haven't found it. Not to a court's liking, not to a jury's liking anyway. And so ultimately what this is is an attempt to try to sell the narrative that Donald Trump has something to hide. Even though we've been through this over and over and over again. Of course, no he doesn't. And now this settlement allows others who've been abused by this government to to possibly cash in. I love it. And of course the American left hates it.

[00:45:28]They're deeply concerned about it. Top Treasury lawyer resigns as the Trump settlement is announced. And that's good. The Treasury Department's chief legal officer resigned Monday following the Department of Justice's launch of a $ 1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that could provide payouts for uh those connected to January 6th and others who claimed they were wrongfully targeted under the Biden administration. Now, I personally think this is a master stroke. And do you know why? The media is going to start pushing the IRS into the media spotlight again. They're going to start making the American people stare down the barrel of the IRS and how the government has been weaponized against Donald Trump and other citizens. And who's uh whose side would you like to put money on in winning that fight? The media always this is like it's like Roadrunner and Coyote. The American media thinks they've got a hook. They've got a real angle here. Donald Trump is a scallywag.

[00:46:26]He's he's trying to get away with something. He's trying to pull one over on the IRS. And furthermore, he's going to take this pot of money and he's going to pay it off to January 6th riers.

[00:46:37]Here's the problem with that storyline and that whole idea. People hate the IRS. Who likes the IRS?

[00:46:45]I mean, that that's that's I don't know.

[00:46:47]That's like saying I'm I'm I'm uh it's like cheeseburgers versus artichokes. I mean, are you kidding me? Who's a fan of the IRS? Don't you understand the American public feels taken advantage by the IRS? Don't you understand that the federal government feels like the enemy of the American public? Don't you understand that when President Trump wins a victory against the IRS and there's a fund established to pay restitution for people that have been victimized, don't you understand that voters cheer that, they're not cheering big government. They're not cheering the IRS. Voters are not excited about big government. Voters are excited that the federal workforce has shrunk to a 50-year low.

[00:47:28]Voters are excited about Doge. Voters are excited about J. D. Vance and this fraud task force that the American uh president and his cabinet have established to comb through all the big bloated bureaucratic offices of government and find the theft in places like Medicare and Medicaid. Voters are excited about taking a hatchet to this government. And the media wants to elevate the IRS as though it's the victim.

[00:47:57]Good luck. And so you've got some Treasury lawyer who said, "I'm leaving.

[00:48:01]Oh, this is going to Oh, no. Another bureaucrat is leaving in protest.

[00:48:05][clears throat] How will we ever deal with that? They always report that like that's supposed to make you sit up and take notice. Oh, a top treasury lawyer is leaving, so that must mean there is real dissension." No. Or it means there's an institutionalist who just doesn't like the direction this is going and decided he didn't want to be a part of it anymore. That's okay. Let him walk. Let them all walk. A few more attorneys at Treasury or any other department in government are fine with me. I don't know about you.

[00:48:32]They're obsessively writing about this, too. Just so you know, Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund echoes Obama's tactics that sent billion to left-wing allies. Yeah, they're trying to liken this to Obama.

[00:48:46]The Obama Justice Department would sue large banks for discrimination and then divert settlement funds to left-wing organizations.

[00:48:54][laughter] Well, if you can prove that the federal government actually violated your civil rights, and you can prove that in a court of law and get a settlement, I'm all for it. Barack Obama held private industry hostage, just shouted the word discrimination, and shook down banks and financial institutions to just start stroking checks because they didn't want to fight it. See, this is the difference. This is not an Obama era uh shakeddown.

[00:49:27]This is justice for the American voter and the American taxpayer. Donald Trump is taking it to the government, to the bureaucracy, to the apparatus that has been running roughshot over the voters.

[00:49:38]Barack Obama wanted to grow that apparatus and use it as a blunt force instrument against private business.

[00:49:45]There's a distinct difference here. So Barack Obama was creating a fund by attacking private industry and forcing them to settle using the full force of the federal government to do it and then giving the money out to leftwing groups. I see that as a huge distinction.

[00:50:02]I don't know about you.

[00:50:05]So that's just some of it to keep a sharp eye on. Meanwhile, at the White House podium, JD Vance has been criss-crossing the country and speaking on behalf of not just the president, the White House. He took Caroline Levit's post for the day yesterday. always entertaining.

[00:50:19]Give me number 121.

[00:50:21]>> It's It's cool to be here. I'm going to give a shout out, of course, to the person I am replacing today, Carolyn Levit, who hopefully is at home enjoying uh some time with her beautiful kids. I told Carolyn I would stand in for her today for the White House press briefing on the condition that when Usha has our baby in July that she would be vice president for a couple weeks. So, thank you guys.

[00:50:42]>> Pretty good, he continued. and it started to get rough.

[00:50:46]>> You and your administration argue to Americans that you're cleaning up corruption. You're preventing fraud.

[00:50:54]You're fighting the sorts of things that harm people and people's financial situations when the president seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them and enriching himself.

[00:51:05]>> Okay. So, here let me let me let me answer your question here. That was a doozy. Before I answer your question, I want to just observe. There are different ways to ask a question. Okay.

[00:51:14]You could just ask a question and try to get your answer. Or you could do like a speech where you say, you know, Mr. Vice President, every, you know, you're you're you're a terrible human being and so is the president, so is the entire cabinet. And then I'm like, what's your question? And then your question is, how dare you? Come on, man. Have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions because there were a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn't actually get asked. Okay. Number one, the president.

[00:51:43]>> You see, this is why communication is so important and why President Trump values great communicators like JD Vance all around him to use the media as an opportunity and use this platform as an opportunity to explain to viewers and consumers of the very BGE that's being pumped into their homes to use their own airwaves, their own cameras, their own microphones to explain to their viewers the game, the gotcha game that's played.

[00:52:08]I love this. I'll take it every time.

[00:52:10]The American electorate is getting smarter and smarter and smarter every time guys like JD Vance explain the game. Caitlyn Collins from CNN tried her best with the vice president. I tell you what, none of these people can hang with him and they all know it. But I'll give him credit. They show up and they try.

[00:52:25]God love them.

[00:52:26]>> You last week denied that the president said he was not taking Americans financial situations into consideration when he's making decisions on the Iran war. He was asked about that again. and he stood by it, called it a perfect statement, and said he would make it again. Do you believe that Americans financial situations should be taken into consideration when you're making decisions as an administration?

[00:52:46]>> See, Caitlyn, what you did is you misrepresented the question that I was asked and then you misrepresented the answer that I gave. What I said is that a question that was asked where the president allegedly he allegedly said that he didn't care about Americans financial situations. He never said that. What he said is that when he it was totally taken out of context. What he said is that when he is negotiating with the Iranians, he's focused on the national security objectives that he's trying to achieve. Of course, the president has a mandate to to to be focused on a number of things. And I guarantee you, every single day, I have conversations with him about it. Every single day, he's worried about his fellow Americans. He wants them to be prosperous. He wants them to thrive. He wants them to have good jobs. That's why we've done the things and taken the steps that we've taken.

[00:53:31]>> That That's precisely right. And people like Caitlyn Collins know it.

[00:53:34]Fair-minded people understand, of course, the president of the United States does not dismiss and not care about the financial struggles of the American public. That's absurd.

[00:53:43]What President Trump was saying to JD Vance's point is tough decisions have to get made and there are things that you can't take into consideration when you're making tough decisions like a nuked Iran. You can't you can't do it.

[00:53:56]And that's actually what I admire so much about President Trump. As a matter of fact, the easy thing for him to have done was just to keep gas prices low to help Republicans win a midterm election and not deal with Iran. Something that people like uh Marco Rubio and others analyzed and said, "These guys are close to getting a nuke and they're close enough to getting a nuke and weaponized enough that we're not going to be able to do anything about it and the globe will be held hostage forever if we don't strike." Now that was the president's assessment and I am certain I know in fact we read that um the joint chief chair raisin Kaine amongst others said to President Trump look man you do this just so you know gas prices are going to go through the roof because they're going to close the straight and President Trump ultimately took all of that information into an account and said I I get it but we've got to do it and frankly I think that takes brass and again back to what the American people see in Donald Trump even though it hurts And believe you me, I know I fill up my own gas tank. The my my pickup truck is like a hundred gallon or 108 dollars to fill up the the 30 gallons it holds, I think, right now, which is cheap, by the way, here in the heartland as as opposed to maybe out west. I'm mindful of that.

[00:55:10]But, uh, most people that I talk to, as uncomfortable as it is, understand why we're here. Now, do they have patience for it to go on a infinitum? No. Neither does the president.

[00:55:22]But everybody understands why we're here. JD Vance explaining the Paxton endorsement. He had a busy day yesterday. Can you imagine being him? So he he does this little gimmick where they take to the White House podium on behalf of Caroline Levit. It's something cute that all members of the administration are taking turns doing.

[00:55:39]And he gets the day where President Trump finally weighs in on that Senate race among other things. And here's how he handled it.

[00:55:45]>> Well, I'd say a couple things, Nick. F.

[00:55:46]First of all, I think the president's very gratified by the response that he's heard from the base and from a lot of voters. I think we're passionate about Ken Paxton. We think Ken Paxton is going to be a great senator for the people of Texas, but most importantly, a great United States senator who can work on solving the problems that all of us confront as a country together. Um, I've known John Cornin for a long time. Um, but unfortunately, you know, when when it really counted, Ken Paxton was there for the country, was there for the president, and that's why he ultimately earned the president's endorsement. He thinks he's going to be a better senator. Uh, thinks he's going to make a better candidate. And so I I do think it sends a message, but really not just the endorsement, but one of the things the president has done very effectively going back 10 years in his leadership of the Republican party and the country as president of the United States is he said, you know, I want people who fight for the good. I want people who can't be bought by corporate lobbyists, who can't be bought by Wall Street, who can't be bought by special interests, who are going to go to Washington and fight for the people who actually elected them to those positions. And I think one of the things we've seen in the Republican party, while I can't say that all of our representatives are perfect or all of our senators are perfect, we have seen a much better crop of talent come into Washington since Donald Trump has been the leader of the party and the leader of the movement. I do think we're going to continue to see that happening. But I think the message that people should take from this is fundamentally you have got to serve the people who sent you.

[00:57:14]And if you don't do that, you're going to find yourself out of step with voters or out of step with the president of the United States. And that's not a good place to be politically.

[00:57:21]>> He's good and it's hard to argue. And before we close today, uh to my point, JD Vance explaining exactly where we're sitting right now with high gas prices and other things. Uh the media, another gotcha. And JD Vance, he's the guy that's supposed to go across the country. Uh he was just here in uh the Kansas City metro area in America's heartland talking about manufacturing returning a trillion dollars of reinvestment from the Trump administration driving business from overseas coming back home going to take a minute or two though this stuff takes time and most voters most soberminded people understand this is not something that happens on a dime and so the media is trying to frame this as President Trump and JD Vance they're not adhering to the promises they made to the voters and so here's a guy who u again explained well President Trump's endorse of Paxton. Here's how he explains this accusation that he and the president and the administration aren't making good on their promises.

[00:58:18]>> Go to the polls in six states today. You and the president ran on a platform that included no new wars, cutting gas prices, cutting inflation. What do you say to the people who are going to the polls today and who feel like those promises are unkempt? Well, >> I'd say a few things. First of all, we've delivered great wins for the American people. We ran on delivering tax cuts to the American people, which we did. The largest tax cuts in American history. Uh we ran on cutting taxes, particular on people who were working on overtime, working on tips. We cut taxes for those Americans. We ran on the promise of bringing investment back into the United States of America. That rather than factory closures, we were going to have factories opening. And we've seen both construction jobs and manufacturing, but also manufacturing jobs have great rebounds under the Trump administration. And under our leadership, we are very aware that because of what's going on in the Middle East, gas prices have gone up and a lot of Americans are are struggling because of that. Our view is that it is a temporary increase. We're taking a number of steps to try to push back against it and try to ensure that Americans are paying as little at the pump as possible. But I feel quite confident after we've taken care of business in the Middle East, those prices are going to come down. And there have been a lot of prices, as you know, a lot of prices from rent to housing where we still got a lot of work to do, but we do see some real progress made across the economy on pricing, but also on people's jobs.

[00:59:40]>> And we'll leave it at that. That'll do it for us today from America's Heartland. Be sure to stay close by subscribing to Heartlander News here on YouTube. And for every new show, uh, you'll always get alerted when you do.

[00:59:53]Be sure to give us a like, comment if you like as well. We're sure glad to have you along. We'll see you next time right here on Heartlander News.