CSPAN - Washington Journal 02/21/2025

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Feb. 21, 2025 06:59-10:02 - CSPAN

03:02:48

Washington Journal 02/21/2025

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michael j knowles

dailywire 25:09

mimi geerges

cspan 29:59

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brian lamb

cspan 00:49

dick durbin

sen/d 01:29

donald j trump

admin 02:08

jd vance

admin 01:27

mitch mcconnell

01:19

sarah mcbride

rep/d 00:34

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thom tillis

rep/r 00:09

waylon ben livingston

00:13

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doc in indiana

callers 00:35

gary in oklahoma

callers 00:19

mark-2 in texas

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Speaker	Time	Text
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		Well, coming up this morning on Washington Journal, your calls and comments live.
		And then Michael Knowles, host of the Michael Knowles Show at the Daily Wire and the book club at PragerU, discusses his role in the Conservative Political Action Conference and President Trump's first month in office.
		And later, Sirius XM talk show host Recy Colbert discusses President Trump's first month in office and political news of the day.
		Washington Journal is next.
		Join the conversation.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Friday, February 21st.
		Yesterday marks one month since Donald Trump was sworn in as president for his second term.
		And a lot has happened.
		He has signed 68 executive orders so far, begun mass layoffs of federal employees, and declared a national emergency at the southern border, among other actions.
		So, what do you think?
		How would you grade President Trump's first month in office?
		Are there certain efforts you support, some you oppose?
		What has surprised you about his first month?
		Here's how to share your thoughts.
		Republicans, 202748-8001, Democrats, 202-748-8000, and Independents, 202-748-8002.
		You can send a text to 202-748-8003.
		Send us your first name in your city-state.
		And we're on social media, facebook.com/slash C-SPAN and X at C-SPANWJ.
		Welcome to today's Washington Journal.
		We'll start with President Trump.
		He addressed a gathering of Republican governors in Washington yesterday and spoke about his first month.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Every day of my administration, we'll be fighting to help your state succeed and prosper.
		And together, we're going to bring back the American dream, something nobody talks about anymore.
		In our last four weeks, our new administration has accomplished more than most administrations do in four years.
		And the last administration was a negative.
		I mean, it was accomplishment, I would say, negative 50%.
		It wasn't any accomplishment.
		It was a de-accomplishment.
		On day one, I declared a national emergency on our southern border.
		I sent our military to the border to secure the sovereign territory of the United States of America.
		We ended catch and release.
		We began the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than that of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
		You know, he was sort of a moderate guy, but he was very strong on the fact he didn't want people pouring into our country from all over the world.
		He was very tough.
		He had the record, we now have the records.
		Not a record I'm really proud of.
		You don't like to do that, but we have no choice.
		We can't let it.
		I mean, they let criminals, many, many criminals, hundreds of thousands, probably millions of criminals, 21 million people, I believe, is the number.
		And of that, millions of people are hard, stone-cold criminals.
		In the past four weeks, illegal border crossings have plummeted by nearly 100 percent, and the tiny number of illegals that do make it across are being apprehended and sent right back to their home where they belong.
		All countries are taking the illegal aliens back, every single one, even though they said and strongly, we're never taking them back.
		Don't even try.
		They said that during the Biden administration, it didn't work.
		They're taking them back.
		They have no choice.
		They're taking them back.
		They know we're not playing games.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That was the president yesterday in Washington, and this is the Washington Post.
		In Trump's first month, a relentless effort to remake the presidency.
		It says, In just one month, President Trump has made it clear that he sees the presidency in starkly different terms from virtually any of his 44 predecessors.
		He's not the first president to push the bounds of his authority.
		But to a degree possibly unprecedented in the country's nearly 250 years, Trump is barreling through the executive branch with the conviction that it is his to rule alone, no matter the laws Congress has enacted, even if that means destroying agencies, intervening in the justice system, or granting enormous authority to a wealthy donor.
		It continues by quoting a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin: We are in a new kind of presidency with Donald Trump.
		He is trying to make the presidency like a CEO position in a corporation.
		End quote.
		Wonder what you think about the first term, sorry, the first month of President Trump's second term.
		This is the Washington Examiner.
		Trump flexes power in a dizzying first month back in office.
		Quote, he's in command.
		It says, President Trump and his aides promised, quote, shock and awe during his first 100 days.
		And just one month back in the Oval Office, Trump has delivered an avalanche of executive actions at a pace that has gobsmacked Washington and the world.
		Trump has expanded the presidency during his first 30 days through his use of executive action and policy priorities, from reducing the size of the federal workforce to proposing that the United States, quote, own Gaza.
		But even if his executive orders and the actions taken by his administration, particularly Elon Musk's Doge, are challenged in court, Trump has still created shock and achieved awe, the White House and Republican strategists say.
		So what do you say about that?
		We'll start with Clara, who's in Garner, North Carolina, Democrat.
		Good morning, Clara.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I think that I would grade him with an F.
		I certainly understand and expect everything that he's doing is what he said he was going to do.
		And therefore, that's where we're at.
		And I absolutely, you know, when he starts to call himself king, I think that says it all.
		And I think it's everybody should not be surprised or should be absolutely not dumbfounded that I don't think there will be any more elections.
		He can suspend that from the Constitution.
		He is successfully going through and flashing through and killing all of the departments.
		I wouldn't fly now if my life depended on it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So what do you mean that he can suspend elections?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		How would that play out, in your opinion?
unidentified		Will not be any more elections.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You think he'll just stay in office indefinitely?
unidentified		Yes, absolutely.
		That's what he was after.
		Yes, and so will all the people that he has put in office in all of these different departments and in the government will support it, including the military.
		There's not stopping this.
		I mean, but I do need someone to reflect on something, and I do mean that.
		And I'm only on Social Security.
		So, you know, when they go after the Social Security and Medicare, I have a pension of $72.20.
		So take my Social Security away.
		And I've worked since I was 13 years old.
		I know nobody wants to hear it.
		Blah, blah, blah.
		I get it.
		I also take care of a brother who's a wheelchair bound, and he's 80 years old.
		And neither one of us qualify to file for taxes because our income is below poverty.
		So go ahead and slash into our Social Security.
		And please, I read the 2025 project several times.
		I mean, nobody grasped it.
		They told you what they're going to do, and they will do it.
		I have no doubt about that.
		And for him to have called the head of Ukraine, a dictator, to do the kind of things he's doing, they're not just flashes in a pan or smoke screens for anybody.
		These are things that are in fact what he intends on doing.
		And I would ask, just, and there's just one point I want to make.
		I mean, you could all, there's just two points, and I won't bother anybody any longer.
		The first point is that all these people that you are firing, including FBI agents and members of the Justice Department, where do you think these people are going?
		What do you think we're going to do?
		He didn't receive a mass majority of the vote of 150 million people.
		He didn't receive, he barely received a little over 49%.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Clara.
		Got to move on to Charles in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Republican.
		Hi, Charles.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		I would give President Trump a D minus.
		He has created a nightmare, and he should be removed from office, a dereliction of duty.
		The Democratic friend said a lot, but he is not doing what is right for this country at this time.
		That's all.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So did you vote for him, Charles?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're a Republican?
unidentified		No, I did not.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Why didn't you?
unidentified		Because of his criminal record and the mentality that he has, that it's all about Donald Trump.
		And it's not all about Donald Trump.
		Wake up, Donald.
		Smell the roses, buddy.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Phil in Orange Park, Florida, Independent Line.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		Morning.
		Donald Trump, I give him an F. Not a D minus, but a straight F. Incomplete work.
		But the reason I say that is this.
		When you have the mindset that you want to go after people just out of spite, then you have to look at this guy.
		He is doing things.
		He planned a good chess move.
		And the people they have around him are no dummies.
		They know how the government works.
		So when you start taking pieces out of the government, reducing the government so it won't be effective in size.
		I never known a family in the United States of America to have 10, 12, 15 people living in a two-bedroom house and then saying that we got a downsize.
		What you going to do?
		The American people got over 350 million people in it.
		So the government agencies that support these people have to be big enough to get them adequate and timely service.
		What's going to happen?
		So the people that say they like what they're going to say to like what Donald Trump did, ask yourself this question though.
		You know, you might like them for other reasons.
		I've been saying this since Donald Trump walked on stage.
		And people say, well, you're wrong.
		But when you, Donald Trump has a lot of tendencies, raping women, assaulting women, excuse me, like to assault women.
		Always want to criticize the least of us.
		He always pretends to be a bully.
		I'm a 23-year vet.
		If I had a sergeant in front of me, a commander in front of me, that was scared to leave, how could I follow you?
		Donald Trump was a coward to go to Vietnam and now he wants to talk about how tough he is.
		And then the people that support him, knowing that they need it.
		Keep this in mind, America.
		A lot of the cuts that Donald Trump is doing are coming from your red states.
		And then the federal government, oh, yes, a lot of Republicans in the federal government.
		Now they are seeing the exact same thing that I've seen.
		He is going to hurt this country, and we're going to be hurting along with it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Phil, and this is some response from lawmakers.
		Here's Representative Eric Burlson, a Republican of Missouri.
		One month in, President Trump has delivered on his promise to secure our homeland, reversed catch and release, resumed border wall construction, shut down the CBP1 app, deportation flights, terminated all taxpayer-funded public benefits for illegals.
		And this is Senator Tommy Tubberville.
		One month ago, the president was sworn in as our 47th president, and we haven't stopped winning.
		We are securing our border, cutting spending, ending woke gender ideology, protecting women's sports, and confirming an American first cabinet.
		Here's Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats.
		It's barely been a month, and Trump has frozen grants, undermined medical research, and fired NIH researchers for no reason.
		This is devastating for the biomedical research seeking new life-saving cures and treatments.
		And Representative Judy Hsu, a Democrat, says, Trump's first month has brought us mass funding and hiring freezes, mass firings of federal employees, and hourly chaos.
		This is not an example.
		This is not an exaggeration.
		These policy choices put us all in danger.
		And this is Sharon in Gwyn Oak, Maryland, Democrat.
		Hi, Sharon.
unidentified		Oh, how you doing, Mimi?
		Good morning to you.
		Good morning.
		I grade Donald Trump.
		I won't give him no grade at all because he has a revenge against people that, you know, he thought did him wrong.
		And I just don't understand how we got people that stand up here and let this man just tear this country down in chaos.
		And people don't realize we have children.
		You know, our children don't need to be going through this.
		And then you wonder why these young people get out here and do the things they do.
		Donald Trump is not a good representative for this country.
		He needs to be impeached, and our country needs to be put back where it needs to be put back.
		And the federal workers, I feel sorry for them because they have to run up out here to get a job, you know, to pay their mortgage and, you know, buy food and stuff like that.
		And I just feel, I just don't feel too good about it because Donald Trump is not doing the right thing for this country.
		And the spooky thing about it, he's fraternizes with Vladimir Putin, the worst person ever, evil.
		And he sat well with him to be his buddy.
		And it's not right.
		He don't care about the American people.
		So that's why I'm not giving him no grade.
		And as me being a black African-American woman, I'm doing fine because I put my faith in God and I pray to God and I ask God to pray for this country, to look out for this country, because Donald Trump is trying to tear this country up because he wants to be a dictator.
		And that's all I have to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And let's go to the independent line, Tuscumbia, Alabama.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Noah, you're next.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
		I don't know how you're scoring this.
		I won a 10.
		I gave him an eight.
gary in oklahoma ▲ ● ▼		And the reason I say that is, I mean, he took a bullet, you know, got right up.
unidentified		I mean, he won me over there, but I believe there's a moral stand.
gary in oklahoma ▲ ● ▼		But where I really agree on as a policy is the Ukraine war, we spent two or three hundred billion dollars over there, and they can't even find $100 billion.
waylon ben livingston ▲ ● ▼		Them oligarchs, you know, Ukraine was the most corrupt country in the world.
unidentified		And you can go back to the Obama administration.
		He sent them blankets.
		When Trump came in there, he gave them tanks.
		And then Biden got in there.
		Then they invaded Ukraine.
		And that's because Kamala Harris went over to Europe and said he was going to invite Ukraine into NATO.
		That's when Russia attacked.
		Now, I don't like Putin either.
waylon ben livingston ▲ ● ▼		I know he's a dictator, but he never would have tried that with Trump because Trump told NATO countries they need to step up and start paying.
unidentified		So now they're going to step up and start paying because Ukraine's running out of men.
		They're having to drag me into the front now.
		And we need that money over here.
		We need to stay out of Europe.
		I mean, we fought two wars over.
		My sons have been in the military.
		I've been in the military.
		My dad was in the military.
		And it's just time for us to let Europe take care of Europe.
		Let's guard our borders.
		And these people taking bubble baths that work for the government.
		And you can look at it up online working at home and not doing their job.
		He needs to get rid of these people.
		I'm retired from the government, state government, not federal.
		But them people in federal make a whole lot more money.
		So that's all I got to say.
		And the man's only been in there a month.
		Give him time to clean the swamp out.
		It's more like a sewer now since Biden left.
		But give him time.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, no.
unidentified		He'll get it done.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Robert, a Republican in Franklin, Indiana.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Robert.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I would give him a D.
		It's very sad to me that my party, the party of Ronald Reagan, who had a spine, who saw the defeat of Russia in the Cold War.
		Now we have, you know, the president and the MAGA group that seems to be intent on making Russia great again.
		It seems like they're more like the Kremlin than they are Republicans.
		And secondly, you know, the primary job of a president is to keep the country safe.
		And we're gutting the CIA and the FBI at a time when we have turmoil going on in the Middle East.
		Have we forgotten the lessons we learned from 9-11?
		That it's the CIA and the FBI that has kept us safe since 9-11.
		And we're judging those two agencies, putting them in turmoil at a time when we're in the most danger.
		Yeah, I think that he has failed in keeping us safe.
		That's my opinion.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Robert.
		And this is a column from Rex Hupke, printed in USA Today, yesterday.
		And he says this in part.
		He says, If your goal in voting for President Donald Trump was to, quote, own the libs and make fellow Americans you've decided to hate feel scared or miserable, then congratulations.
		The first month of the nation's first ever convicted felon president has been a massive success.
		If your goal in voting for Trump was to make your own life better, perhaps by lowering the cost of eggs and other groceries, or entrusting a Republican to fiercely battle inflation, I have bad news for you.
		You were conned along with millions of others, and Trump's first month in office has demonstrated how little he cares about you or your day-to-day existence.
		That is in USA Today.
		If you'd like to read that opinion piece, and this is Jack, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Democrat.
		Good morning, Jack.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		I think the piece of the article you just read sums it up.
		Donald Trump has been a resounding failure from everything beginning with his cabinet picks, with his partning of the J Sixers, with his systematic destruction of the federal government and gutting the federal workforce.
		Inflation is on the rise again.
		Food prices are creeping back up.
		I mean, egg prices are ridiculous at this time.
		Everything, in his mind, is still Joe Biden's fault, even though he's the president.
		So, yeah, it's been a resounding failure.
		His foreign policy has been a disaster.
		He's spitting in the face of all our allies, our allies to the north and Canada.
		He started a trade war.
		Our European allies, he has absolutely no regard for.
		This country is in trouble.
		And if you don't believe me, just look at what's happening when these Republican congressional members are going back home and holding these town halls.
		People are upset.
		And there seems to be this idea that Republicans or red states won't be affected by what Trump is doing with all these cuts to our federal workforce or the federal government.
		National parks are suffering.
		You name it.
		It's a problem.
		And hopefully what will happen is these Republicans who vote for Donald Trump will wake up and see that they have been conned.
		Donald Trump is a con man, and he's conned his way back into office.
		And unfortunately, we're all going to suffer from it.
		And the only thing that will help is in two years, these Republicans vote for these congressional members who just abdicate their responsibility and get them out of there so we can get somebody in there who will hold President Trump accountable.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jack.
		Let's hear from Vice President JD Vance.
		He was at CPAC yesterday morning talking about the administration's accomplishments for the first month.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		I think that what the president has tried to do is recognize that we have a historical mandate on a few issues.
		We have to secure the southern border.
		And thanks to his actions, border crossings are down well over 90%, and we're just getting started.
		I think he recognizes that we have to really unlock the engine of American growth.
		We've got to get back to having a growing economy that creates good jobs and high wages for the American people.
		And a lot of that goes back to drill, baby, drill.
		We've done more on energy under President Trump's leadership than I think any administration in history.
		And that's not an exaggeration.
		And of course, we're going to do more.
		And then I think the third thing that he's tried to do, of course, with the help of Elon and all the great folks at Doge, is ask, what are we doing with all of the American taxpayers' money?
		And why are we wasting so much of it on garbage that the American people either aren't aware that we're spending it on or don't want to be spending it on in the first place?
		Like, for example, the stuff that we've figured out, Mercedes, is unbelievable.
		Why are we spending money on progressive modern art projects centered around toilets in Afghanistan?
		That's actually something that your tax dollars were funding until very recently.
		And I think all of us are sitting around and asking, what the hell have we been doing with the American people's money for the last four years?
		Let's turn off the spigot and spend the American people's tax money on the American people's priority.
unidentified		And that's, of course, been a big focus in the administration, too.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That was the Vice President from yesterday at CPAC.
		C-SPAN's coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference continues today this morning with remarks from Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, also former Arizona Senate candidate Carrie Lake, and White House Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorca.
		That gets underway live at 10 a.m. Eastern this morning on C-SPAN 2.
		And more from CPAC this afternoon with Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, HUD Secretary Scott Turner, and others.
		That's also live on C-SPAN 2 starting at 3:15 p.m. Eastern.
		Additional coverage on our free mobile video app, C-SPANNOW and online at c-span.org.
		Then tonight, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam gives the keynote remarks at the annual Reagan, Ronald Reagan dinner hosted by CPAC.
		That live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern here on C-SPAN, also on the app and online.
		And we'll get back to your calls now to Jeff in West Virginia.
		Democrat, hi, Jeff.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
		I'm calling from West Virginia, which was a red state for Donald Trump.
		And they have a place called down here, Public Debt.
		And a lot of my neighbors with voting for Trump, they're walking around scared, crying, nervous, and they were forever Trumpers.
		But on a personal note, I'm a diabetic and I'm on Medicare.
		And when Joe Biden was in there, my insulin was $6 for a 28-day supply.
		I just went to CVS to get my new supply.
		It went back up to $80, they said, because the American Recovery Act was canceled.
		So it went from $6 to $80.
		So I don't know if anybody else out there on Medicare and a diabetic, did their insulin shoot up from $6 to $8.
		But this is sad.
		You call Shelly Bacapkino and all these offices, Jim Justice office, new senator.
		Nobody calls you back.
		You get a record.
		And everybody's down here now protesting out front of their satellite offices, and they're not even reporting back and saying anything.
		So I don't know, but I get Donald Trump and F into America.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Jeff, when you say that your neighbors that voted for Trump are walking around scared, what are they scared of?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What are they telling you?
unidentified		Because the biggest provider down there outside of coal and DuPont industry is a place called Public Debt.
		It's a government office that a lot of people work at.
		It is good paying jobs, but they're nervous that their job is going to be in jeopardy.
		That's what they're scared of.
		Younger people that just first-time home buyers just closing on a home like a neighbor across the street.
		They just closing the home.
		Her and her husband works at public debt.
		They don't know if they just want to have a job because they don't know if that's going to get, if that's under the cuts or whatever.
		But that's what they're saying.
		They're nervous.
		They're scared.
		They forever Trumpers flying his flags when he was running.
		Now they're nervous and scared.
		So I'll give him an F. All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here is Edwin in New Bern, North Carolina, Independent.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Let me try to educate your listeners.
		Okay.
		I give shout outs to Senator Rand Paul.
		This is how it goes.
		The Senate is about to pass a bill for $341 billion more in funding.
		We take in $5 trillion in income and we spend $7.5 trillion this year.
		That's a $2.2 trillion deficit, okay?
		If we don't watch it, we're going to be broke in this country.
		And the party of fiscal responsibility, Republicans, are not showing me.
		Because, do you know all the funding that Doge has found, that could be a rescinding spill back to Congress, okay, and be reallocated to cover the $341 billion that they're trying to pass.
		Secondly, the most successful program is PAYGO.
		And this year they're about to stop it.
		$1.2.7 trillion in cuts.
		And that was done by Bill Clinton and John Kasichs.
		And it goes like this.
		Any program that started, it's going to be killed.
		Okay?
		I don't know, this is crazy, but to think about giving $5,000 in checks to everybody, it ain't going to happen.
		It's not in the blueprint.
		I want every person in America that has a congressman to contact their congressman and ask him the money that was saved on Doge, put it as a rescinding spill back in Congress.
		They can vote on it.
		And they don't have to right now, $341 billion.
		Money's going to Coast Guard and to the border.
		And this is crazy.
		We are going to kill each other from within.
		And people and Social Security, in 2032, they only get 20% of their money.
		And for all my fellow employees, I was a federal employee for 31 years.
		You have rights.
		If you're not a probationary employee and you're a career competitive service, you need to get up with the U.S. Merit System Protection Board, file a claim, get a lawyer, and your activity has to show you why they're letting you go.
		If it's not for misconduct or performance, you got a case.
		Because I helped somebody, they sent home for a year.
		They fired her unwillingly.
		She went to the American System Protection Board.
		She got a year's worth of back pay and her lawyer's fees were pay.
		I just don't understand.
		The party that's supposed to be fiscally responsible is not showing me anything.
		And with Doge, I'm going to tell you right now, every agency, all those items are showing.
		And the 14 appropriations that cover the budget this year, everybody in Congress needs to redline every single item.
		That way Doge is not involved.
		I don't understand this.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So Edwin, I want to Edwin, I want to show you The Guardian with the headline, because you were talking about this.
		Trump floats idea to give Americans 20% of, quote, savings from Doge cost cutting.
		And it says Elon Musk suggests $5,000 checks to U.S. households if targets are met, sparking concern over a potential rise in inflation.
		So you would reject that idea of sending checks out to Americans.
unidentified		Of course, it's inflationary.
		You know why?
		During COVID, when money was given out and approved by Donald Trump, guess what happened?
		Okay?
		And I guarantee you, today the unemployment numbers are going to rise and it's going to affect the stock market.
		You know why?
		Because all the probationary federal employees are sent home.
		Judges sent home.
		Inspector generals that inspect activities go home.
		I don't understand this.
		And I'm just explaining to you, we're in a $2.2 trillion deficit.
		All the money that Doeser's saving, it can go as what's called a rescingence bill.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It goes back to the USA.
		We got that, Edwin.
		And I do want to update people that early this morning, the Senate did vote.
		So here's Politico.
		Senate Republicans just approved their budget resolution after a more than 10-hour voterama.
		For now, it's the GOP's, quote, plan B, as Trump's preferred budget may not have the support to move ahead next week in the House.
		It says there is some Republicans grumbled about having to go through the exercise.
		Senator Josh Howley told reporters he spoke to Trump on Thursday evening, relaying that while the president did give a quote little nod towards the Senate budget in a Truth Social Post, quote, he made clear to me he wants one big, beautiful bill.
		He said that two or three times on the phone.
		So we'll be following that.
		We'll see what happens in the House next week.
		This is Conrad, Farmington, Maine, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Morning.
unidentified		I would give Donald Trump an A.
doc in indiana ▲ ● ▼		And most people don't understand that the chief executive officer of the United States of America is the president.
		And whenever a CEO comes into a business or is hired to take over a business, he has to make decisions based upon all the different departments.
		And he has to go and analyze all the different problems within the system.
unidentified		And that's what Donald Trump and his team is doing.
		And the second time around, he has a lot better idea of what's going on.
		That's why he has such a diverse group of cabinet picks.
		And with all these different problems, America has been going down the tubes for a long time, since probably the early 1900s.
		And what people are going to have to understand is that this is not going to be an easy task.
doc in indiana ▲ ● ▼		And we have a person that's willing to take all the heat and all the conflict from every party, every group of people, class, whatever you want to call it.
unidentified		And the federal workers, they're upset because they've had a gravy train for a long time.
		They get high pay, great benefits, and all those different things.
		They don't have to necessarily produce.
		They just live off the grift of their money and they don't have to worry about any consequence for not producing.
		Now, America's viability in the past was because they could produce and they could actually make something so that we could actually create wealth.
		And when we have just everybody living off the tax base, there's nothing created.
		And if you don't create something, you don't make any wealth.
		And that's where we are today.
		And people are going to have to stand up.
		And the sad thing is there's a lot of people that are on Social Security.
		And the only way that that's going to, we're going to be able to take care of those people on Social Security, the old elderly and the actual real disabled people, is if we actually create some wealth.
		And I think Donald Trump is doing the best job because he's willing to stand for what is right.
		And it's not going to be easy for any of us.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Conrad, let me ask you about this article and get your reaction to it.
		So this is NPR is reporting the headline, IRS cuts over 6,000 jobs in the middle of tax season.
		Do you worry at all, Conrad, about the IRS not having the staffing required to process tax returns and tax refunds?
unidentified		Not a bit.
		If you look into the actual audit that's been done on IRS agents that have been delinquent on paying their taxes, it doesn't scare me a bit.
		And if people go and do their research and look up when income tax was actually implemented and actually see if the actual legality of actually being taxed, and people would be really surprised.
		And those are the things that people don't want to hear, but that's the reality.
		And that's why there was a congressman or congresswoman, I believe, that said taxes are voluntary.
		Last time I knew, there's nobody that believes that our taxes are voluntary.
		And these are the things that people need to look into and not just believe the three new letter news agencies that are telling you their little talking points and their people saying these things.
		And so Conrad, I got to move on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here is Jerry in Erie, Pennsylvania, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Jerry.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just wanted to say that I would give Trump a D.
		Okay, why?
		Because whenever I see him on TV, he's patting his own self on the back.
		And there's one thing I hate.
		I like for somebody else to give me, you know, to praise me, not praising myself.
		Whatever he's doing, he's not doing a good job, so he has to pat his own self on the back.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And here's Ron in North Miami Beach, Florida, Republican.
		Good morning.
		Yep, go ahead, Ron.
		You're on.
unidentified		Oh, okay.
		Yeah, this is something.
		I'll give him a B because we've got a long way to go.
		He's been amazing.
		I've never seen anybody in my lifetime like him.
		I'm 75.
		I've owned my own business for 40-some years.
		I never minded paying taxes.
		If I paid taxes, that meant I was doing well.
		I was making money.
		And here's a businessman that's known that for his whole life.
		He grew up in a pretty tough city, New York.
		He knows his way around the whole world because of it.
		I think you ought to give him a chance to get the job done here.
		We're in trouble.
		You know, there's one big factor that most of our listeners don't even consider.
		They're worried about losing a little here and there because of some benefits.
		But we're in a situation where if our dollar is devalued, we're going to be out of business.
		It's just that simple.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Ron, I'm curious why, since you said he's doing a great job, why give him a B, not an A?
unidentified		Well, because we've got a long ways to go.
		There's been some mistakes made.
		We've got to admit that.
		Last night I listened to Kevin O'Leary, Mr. Wonderful, and he hit it right on the head.
		He says if he buys a company and he goes in there and cleans house, he says somebody that may get fired by accident, they can hire him back.
		And that's what's happened already.
		We got a lot to do in a short time to do it.
		We are in big trouble.
		This debt is mind-boggling.
		It hasn't been that many years that we've gotten into this trouble.
		Don't forget in Clinton, they balanced the budget.
		We had money.
		We got nothing.
		We got nothing.
		It's hard to believe that we have to pay the interest is more than we spend on our military.
		We need to build ships.
		We need to build planes.
		We need to build our systems.
		We're not going to have the money.
		We're going to be in trouble.
mark-2 in texas ▲ ● ▼		You're going to see countries that care less about value of their dollar like China.
unidentified		They can do whatever they want.
unidentified		They own the country.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Ron, when you said that some people will be laid off by accident, so the AP reports a few days ago, Trump administration tries to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers in Doge Reversal.
		My understanding is that they were having trouble finding those workers since their government emails were terminated.
		But we will follow that story as well.
		Here's Ryan, False Church, Virginia, Independent Line.
unidentified		Hi.
		I'm pretty pleased with the job President Trump is doing so far.
		I guess I'll give him about a B. In particular, with the layoffs.
		And yesterday there was a federal employee called in calling himself Washington, and he was very upset and distressed about the layoffs.
		And apparently he and his colleagues, they just worked so hard and are so dedicated.
		But I'm going to call myself America.
		And this is a message from me, America, to Washington, so that Washington can better understand what's happening.
		A federal agency is supposed to provide some type of public service.
		And the people that are hired to affect that service are public servants.
		They're paid with tax dollars.
		And that's my money.
		My money, Washington.
		You're taking it from me, and you're telling me you're going to provide a public service.
		And here's the problem.
		Your service sucks.
		That's why this is happening.
		It sucks across the board.
		Your Postal Service, it sucks, Washington.
		America can't count on the Post Office to be open on time, for the mail to be delivered on time, for the inspection department to do anything when something's lost.
		The Postal Service sucks.
		We had a presidential candidate almost get assassinated twice because of service from the Secret Service.
		It sucks.
		You had an article, 6,000 people got fired from IRS.
		They had 6,000 extra superfluous people and they couldn't even answer the phone because the service sucks.
		The FBI and the DOJ can't successfully prosecute an Olympic doctor for raping gymnasts.
		They got him dead to rights.
		The service sucks.
		NASA abandons astronauts in space.
		The service sucks.
		U.S. Marshals and the Prison Bureau can't protect an inmate in a maximum security prison.
		The service sucks.
		We can't win wars because the service our general provides totally sucks.
		The Social Security Administration was supposed to manage all our retirement funds.
		They got squandered and lost because the service sucks.
		And it's over and over.
		It's everywhere across the federal government.
		I see Tom Holman on TV running his mouth about how great Border Patrol is.
		I don't know if Washington noticed, but CDP failed to provide that service for four straight years.
		And Washington's going to go with some cop out.
		We're just dedicated to the mission.
		Well, if that were true, then CDP agents would have been quitting in droves over the last four years to join Texas DPS and Texas National Guard because those were the only institutions that were fulfilling the mission of securing the border.
		I think two-thirds of the federal workforce in D.C. is a joke anyway.
		I mean, we call them non-essential.
		I was in D.C. when that city shut down because only essential people were working.
		I mean, why are we paying the salary of superfluous people who've done nothing to deliver any public service?
		We are sick and tired of crappy public service and even crappier public servants who confuse working hard with working long hours, namely because of a D.C. commute.
		Your service sucks, Washington.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		John in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, Republican, you're next.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call.
		I would definitely give President Trump an A.
		I think he's doing exactly what he said he would do, just like he did in the first four years of his presidency.
		Promises made, promises kept.
		One thing I'd like to point out is you brought up an article from USA Today, which is a paper only because they have contracts with hotels to lay them in front of people's doors or they wouldn't even be in business.
		But the gentleman had to bring up the eggs.
		And you keep bringing that up every day on here, and it's getting really old.
		There's a bird flu, and a lot of farmers are really hurting because they had to kill their chickens because of the bird flu.
		And that's caused the shortage.
		And I really wished you would have pointed that out after you read the article.
		The other thing is, is all the Democrats that call in every day and want to see him impeached.
		Well, go ahead and impeach them.
		Bring the articles of impeachment and impeach him.
		Oh, that's right.
		You guys don't have the House and you don't have the Senate.
		So there's no way you can impeach him right now.
		So I don't know why people keep calling in and saying they want to see this, they want to see that.
		We, the American people, voted.
		He is our president for the next four years, and everybody's just going to have to put up with it.
		And I'm loving it.
		We win every day with Trump and Yvonne around.
		And I guess the Democrats don't like to win.
		But thank you and have a great weekend.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And a few days ago, somebody was, a caller asked about Elon Musk's security clearance and whether he had a top secret clearance.
		I mentioned that he has said on X that he does have a and has had a top secret security clearance, even though there was reporting that he was not able to get one because of previous drug use and contacts with foreign nationals.
		So CNN did put in a FOIA request to see Elon Musk and the people around him what their level of security clearance was.
		So CNN, it says the Trump administration has quietly fired multiple members of the privacy team and other officials from the office that oversees the hiring and firing of the hiring of federal workers, a move that limits outside access to government records related to security clearances granted to Elon Musk and his associates.
		CNN was first notified of the firings at the Office of Personnel Management in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for records related to the security clearances of Musk and anyone from the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, who had been granted access to sensitive or classified government networks.
		And here's what they got in response from an OPM email address.
		Quote, good luck with that.
		They just got rid of the entire privacy team.
		In addition to the privacy team, members of OPM's communication staff and employees who handle FOIA requests were also fired.
		And this is Sherry in Clayton, Ohio, Independent Line.
unidentified		Hi.
		Okay.
		So I'm trying my best to try to hurry up and get everything in.
		First of all, to all the people that keep on talking about federal workers, this is a sad thing.
		It's a sad thing where you hear people say that federal workers are lazy.
		I'm a federal worker.
		I'm not lazy.
		I serve my veterans every day.
		Agencies, there are so many agencies or agencies under the government.
		And what happens is people hear the word government.
		Heard the one caller talking about as of, yeah, you know, the age doesn't mean the worker sucks.
		Well, he's probably on some type of federal program, but doesn't won't even say that, okay?
		If it sucks, there's a reason why, as of it's so understaffed.
		Our, where I work at, it's so understaffed.
		Really, everywhere in the government is so understaffed.
		And people don't realize that.
		You know, that's why I wish the news would go into the agency to see what agencies do.
		It's heartbreaking.
		It's heartbreaking because you have a workload and you don't, you hardly never try.
		You try to your best to get it done.
		And people think that you make all this money.
		We don't make no, well, I know I don't make no money.
		And, you know, so people got to start educating themselves as of quit thinking as a federal worker, they something against them.
		There's nothing wrong with a federal worker.
		We work our butts off just like private sector.
		Okay.
		I worked in private sector and I know as going into federal as a federal worker, but no one's lazy.
		Okay.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So Sherry, can you tell us what agency or department you work for?
unidentified		I work for the Veteran Affairs.
unidentified		I serve the veterans.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Have there been any layoffs in at the VA?
unidentified		Yes.
		Yes.
		And we cannot afford any layoffs.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So Sherry, what are the job functions of those people that have been laid off?
unidentified		You have crisis line where people attend the veterans that want to harm themselves or, you know, the crisis line.
		You have people where as the nurses, they got their contracts rescinded, whereas the doctors also got their contracts rescinded, not contracts, where they're when they try to go for the job, they got rescinded.
		So you have all these doctors and nurses, medical staff getting their offers rescinded.
		And this hurts these veterans.
		And people don't realize this.
		People don't realize that all these agencies that where you have an immigrant, because Elon Musk is an immigrant, okay?
		A billionaire immigrant going in, slashing things, and not really taking a look as of, okay, what's going on here?
		Let's go in a little bit at a time as of what we need to cut.
		But you cannot just go in and gut something.
		Everybody's going to feel the effect, okay?
		All these agencies, and like I said before, people really need to understand the government has a whole bunch of agencies to make this world go right.
		And you thinking that people sit back and just don't do nothing, eat bomb box?
		No, they do not.
		Okay.
		And that guy that stated that, like, you know, he's happy about this, you have people that lost their jobs.
		They are basically worried about their mortgages.
		They are basically trying to figure out how they're going to take care of their kids.
		But who does that?
		What American, what human being would feel as of happiness for someone to lose their job?
		It's sick.
		This world is sick, Republican and Democrat.
		We need to stop doing this.
		This is why I get so upset about politicians because everybody, it's like two parties, and you have these two parties that are acting crazy instead of just one.
		We should, as a human being, you know, you should be that good human being as of wanting your fellow American, as of doing, you know, hoping they're okay, hoping they're doing right.
		But instead of saying that, you know, you're happy that they're getting fired, are you happy to be locked up?
		People lost jobs.
		It's not just federal.
		There's a lot of people are losing jobs in the private sector.
		There's going to be inflation.
		It's going to go high.
		People are going to be unemployed.
		This man, I gave an F. All right, Sherry.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Got that.
		And this is Mary Allen in Fort Washington, Maryland, who sent us a text.
		This radical human being that claims he is president needs to be removed.
		This country will be isolated.
		We will be attacked again.
		He needs to be removed swiftly, all lawful means necessary.
		He's taking away people's livelihoods.
		How long do you think people will tolerate that?
		And this is James in Richmond, Virginia.
		Trump's doing a wonderful job.
		It's not layoffs, people.
		It's called waste and fraud.
		No one is 190 years old receiving a social security check, especially thousands of people.
		All this money is being wasted, and all he simply is doing is stopping the waste and fraud, which we know that the Democrats are using the money against the American people.
		He's only been here for 30 days, so I would give him a B plus.
		Let's talk to Earl in Canton, Georgia, Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		You know, I was calling about the, I was drafted in June of 1969.
		I'm a baby boomer.
		And I was sent to Fort Cavill, Kentucky, which is airborne.
		I didn't volunteer for it.
		I decided I wasn't going to volunteer for anything in the Army.
		But I should have been drafted in 1967, but I had some trouble getting through school, got drafted in 69.
		And I've seen a lot of reports on a lot of things.
		And, you know, the people that actually people that were, I never met a Hispanic or a Latina person.
		I never even saw a person like that before I went into the Army.
		And here we were, half the company was Hispanic and Latina.
		And while we were in our training, we were in Doctor, the airborne recruiters came around trying to recruit people for the airborne that you had to volunteer for.
		But the whole company I was in, we only had two volunteers, and they went A1 because they didn't like what they got.
		But nearly every one of the Hispanic and Latino people, they volunteered for the airborne, which when we got through with our training, we got our orders, they got 52B, which was infantry.
		Every one of them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Earl, regarding the first 100 days of the president's term, what are you thinking as far as the deportations, the action at the border, the building of the wall?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What are your thoughts on that?
unidentified		I think he's all wrong there because, you know, it's ridiculous.
		It's just that's the only, what I think, well, there was a guy that called in yesterday.
		He was from Georgia or from Texas.
		I think it was Georgia.
		I can't remember.
		But he was talking about picking up arms and having a war.
		Apparently, he doesn't know what he's talking about.
		And I'm sure that's what Donald Trump would like to see.
		Then he can say, oh, well, martial law, and I'm going to be the president forever.
		And he'd just keep it going.
		And you all know it.
		Everybody listening here knows that.
		If they don't know that, they need to volunteer for the Army because they don't even have a draft anymore.
		But, you know, I just, I just think this, you know, and I went to Germany.
		I didn't go to Vietnam.
		Thank God for that.
		But Nixon had his little invasion of Thailand.
		And when I was in Germany, the airborne folks that did that, they came through Ryan Main Air Base.
		And Bob Hope was tailing along right behind them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Earl.
		And this is Charles in Claremont, North Carolina, Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		How are you doing?
		Good.
		Give us a smile in North Carolina.
		You look very nice today.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thanks.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Charles.
unidentified		I give President Trump an A.
		I think he and some of his people really know how bad a shape our country is in.
		Most Americans are unaware of it.
		But if you look at the price of gold, it kind of gives you an indication of what the world thinks about the dollar.
		And they're only cutting costs because they realize that it is the seventh inning or the ninth inning here.
		We don't have time to waste to try to keep this country on the financial footing that it needs to be to go forward.
		We can't continue to be the bank for the world when we borrow the money to do those things.
		And our revenues and our expenses have to come in line somewhere or another.
		Someone earlier mentioned the post office.
		I'm a firm believer that the post office could not break even if they took the mail in and shredded it and didn't deliver it.
		They have their cost for their facilities.
		Their leases are so high, higher than market rates in every city.
		It's just pure pork that they have distributed to people.
		I tried to get a lease for a post office years ago, and I was outbid.
		They bid higher.
		I offered no cost for the land and didn't get it because someone thanked somebody and gave them the opportunity.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hey, Charles, I just wanted to make sure you know about this.
		This is on the front page of the Washington Post this morning with the headline, President is expected to wrest control of USPS.
		It says that President Trump is preparing to dissolve the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and absorb the independent mail agency into his administration, potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions into turmoil.
		So you would welcome that, I'd take it.
unidentified		I think that they should take each zip code and auction it off to mailboxes, R Us or UPS, and let them deliver it because with the fax machine and the computer, most of the stuff that the people depend on for payments and things, the post office is obsolete.
		They try to do overnight packages, but FedEx and UPS beat them every time.
		The staff, every time I go to our post office in Claremont, North Carolina, the hours are cut.
		They have good people in there, but they can't handle all the work.
		They get so much junk mail, and the rest of anything important comes another direction.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Charles, here's Mary, a Republican in Dudley, Pennsylvania.
unidentified		Good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Morning, Mary.
unidentified		Boy, this is frustrating.
		First thing I want to say is: may God bless America.
		Donald Trump has been the best light shown since Jesus Christ.
		He is, in my opinion, wonderful.
		Look at the fraud, the waste, the insanity that he is showing the country right now.
		I was a Democrat in the Kennedy era I started voting because I believed he was a good man.
		I knew very little.
		I was a teenager.
		Now, since Trump, maybe a little bit of Reagan, but since Trump, I have been educated on what is going on.
		I am sometimes astounded of how this country is in where we are right now.
		Well, right now, we're coming out of it.
		If we back a man that loves this country and those behind him that finally, finally got behind him, I am a military wife.
		My husband put 20 years in the Marine Corps.
		Very proud of the man.
		He's a Republican all of his life.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Mary.
		And wanted to show you some results of a Washington Post Ipsos poll.
		And they asked this question.
		It says, since taking office, do you think Trump has acted within his authority as president or gone beyond his authority as president?
		This dark red line is gone beyond his authority.
		And overall, U.S. adults overall, it's 57%, so the majority there.
		And this light color is at 40% acted within his authority as president.
		And Randall, North Dakota Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		A lady earlier called about she apparently thought that there won't be an election in four years.
		And frankly, there's not going to be any midterm elections.
		And you looked surprised when she said it and confused.
		It's not hard to figure it out.
		He's got the AG.
		He's got the FBI.
		Who are you going to call when he declares an emergency a month before midterm elections because of some made-up fraud or something and says we're going to delay elections?
		And this is going to happen.
		And there's nobody, like I said, there's nobody there to answer the phone.
		And I just wanted to throw that in to that lady.
		And there was a guy who also called about that.
		But you're thinking too far out.
		It's going to happen in midterms.
		Thank you for your call.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And coming up here on Washington Journal, more on President Trump's key actions during this first month from two perspectives.
		So up first, we'll have Michael Knowles, host of the Michael Knowles Show at the Daily Wire.
		And later, we'll be joined by SiriusXM talk show host Recy Colbert.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		American History TV, Saturdays on C-SPAN 2, exploring the people and events that tell the American story.
		This weekend, at 2 p.m. Eastern on the Civil War, Harry Labor, a military history professor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, on the role of African American soldiers in the Union Army in their efforts to gain civil liberties.
		At 7 p.m. Eastern, watch American History TV series First 100 Days as we look at the start of presidential terms.
		This week, we focus on the early months of President Franklin Roosevelt's first term in 1933, including actions taken to relieve economic conditions during the Great Depression.
		And at 8 p.m. Eastern on lectures in history, Yale University professor Marlena Dowd talks about the life and legacy of slave revolutionary and king Henry Christophe and how the United States and other foreign powers reacted to the 1791 Haitian Revolution.
		And at 10:15 p.m. Eastern on the presidency, National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen leads a discussion of presidential historians on inaugural addresses and how they shape a president's legacy.
		Exploring the American story.
		Watch American History TV Saturdays on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history.
		Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.
		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 4 p.m. Eastern, Luis Miranda Jr. With his book Relentless, talks about his life as a political activist and organizer in the Latino community.
		Then, at 6.45 p.m. Eastern, Nicole Turner-Lee, with her book, Digitally Invisible, How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass, contends that lack of internet access is creating economic disparities in poor and rural communities.
		And at 10 p.m. Eastern on afterwards, Professor Eve L. Ewing, with her book, Original Sins: The Miseducation of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, argues that the United States education system reinforces racial inequality at the expense of black and native children.
		She's interviewed by associate press editor Aaliyah Wong.
		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
		Journal continues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to Washington Journal.
		We're joined now by Michael Knowles.
		He's host of the Michael Knowles Show on the Daily Wire.
		Welcome to the program, Michael.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Thank you so much for having me.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Wonderful to be here in the studio.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So first, tell us about the Daily Wire and about your show.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		So the Daily Wire has now existed for 10 years, which makes me feel very, very old.
		In my mind, it started about five minutes ago.
		My show has been on the Daily Wire for coming up on eight years now.
		And I got my show through a strange series of events.
		I published a book called Reasons to Vote for Democrats, A Comprehensive Guide.
		I say published because it didn't have any words in it.
		This was just a joke to irritate my liberal friends and relatives.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It was 266 empty pages.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		That's right.
		There are no words in it, or very, very few words.
		And I published it, self-published it, and then it hit number one on the charts.
		And so I think I'm the only person in political media history who got a show for not writing a book.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Or for writing a blank book, right?
		You spoke at CPAC yesterday, and you had first attended in 2011.
		Tell us about the difference between what you saw in 2011 and today.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		CPAC has changed many times.
		I mean, it's an institution.
		It's been around for many decades now.
		2011, of course, was the height of the Obama years.
		Everyone was a little bit more depressed.
		I don't know.
		Maybe people were drinking a little bit more in those days, you know, to get through those difficult years.
		Now, people are exhilarated.
		And I think the feeling is actually different even than it was in 2016.
		And I think the reason for that is that this time around, President Trump won the popular vote.
		So there is a real sense of excitement that there's a new voter coalition.
		Huge swaths of voting demographics that have been pretty secure for Democrats for decades have come on over in this election.
		So there's just a feeling of vibrancy around town.
		It's always fun to be at CPAC, but it's especially fun when your side wins.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And you spoke about there being a disconnect between what the popular vote wants and what the establishment delivers.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Talk about that disconnect.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I think a great example of this is on immigration.
		For pretty much my entire life, we've been told we have two options on immigration, more illegal immigration or more legal immigration.
		But actually, if you look at public opinion polls, Gallup last summer and Harvard Harris back in 2018 had a famous poll, it shows that the vast majority of Americans want to drastically reduce all immigration.
		Not because we don't like immigrants, not because we have anything against people from various countries.
		We just happen to have right now the largest foreign-born percentage of the population ever.
		It's very difficult to assimilate people, and I think a lot of people believe we just have to put the brakes on this, especially with illegal immigration as such a serious problem.
		So I think this new coalition is formed in part because people just feel that neither major political party has really represented them in recent decades, which breeds opportunity.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You believe that immigrants are not assimilating in the United States?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I think I don't even really blame the immigrants.
		think that there's been a multicultural push for some decades now not really to assimilate immigrants, to view America less as a melting pot and more as a salad bowl, as I was taught in school actually.
		And so this is just reflected in public opinion polls.
		The Harvard Harris poll came out and said that most Americans want the cap on legal immigration to be 500,000.
		Now when you drill into the numbers you realize we take in between a million and 1.2 million people per year.
		That's a lot of people.
		The movement of people into the country over the last 60, 65 years is the largest movement of people in recorded history.
		So it's no knock.
		I like people from all over the world.
		But at a certain point you need to make sure that you maintain some kind of social cohesion.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And do you believe that that would impact the economy negatively?
		In other words, we've got a very low unemployment rate right now.
		Do you think having less legal immigration would make that worse and make it much harder to find people for those jobs?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well even reducing illegal immigration will have an effect on the economy, of course.
		And this has been the way that mass migration has been sold, not just in the United States, but in Europe, which is that the economy will collapse if we don't take in people from around the world, which is why I think you're seeing more of a focus now on family policy, on encouraging people to get married, to have children.
		And so it's a thorny social problem, without question.
		It has to be done carefully.
		It has to be done in an intentional way.
		But as JD Vance said the other day, this was at the Munich Security Conference, he said, you know, the United States is not merely an economic zone.
		Our chief goal is not merely to tick up the GDP.
		We're a nation.
		We're citizens with rights, with traditions, with a way of life.
		And so we need to balance that as well and make sure we don't put the cart before the horse.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		If you'd like to join our conversation with Michael Knowles, you can do so.
		Our lines are 202748-8001 for Republicans, 202748-8000 for Democrats, and 202748-8002 for Independents.
		The Washington Post, Ipsos, has put out a poll, and I wanted to share the results on the question, do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?
		And right now, his approval of U.S. adults overall is 45%, 53% disapprove.
		Why do you think that is?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		In a country as divided and bizarre as those numbers actually aren't all that bad, it seems to me.
		But in part, I think it's because there is so much that there is to do in the first month of this presidency.
		You know, the situation was quite dire.
		This is how Trump won the popular vote as a Republican for the first time in 20 years.
		And so it's going to take a while to unify Americans.
		There's no question about that.
		But I think when they see the results beyond the first month in office, I think most Americans are going to be quite pleased with what they see.
		People have been attacking Elon Musk and Doge for consolidating and trimming down the federal government.
		And my advice to Democrats, not that they've asked for it, is, you know, if you want to run on a federal bloat and bureaucracy, be my guest.
		I look forward to the midterms.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So you approve of how Doge is going about cutting the federal workforce?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Oh, without question.
		I think Doge is doing a great job.
		I think it's a really important initiative.
		You know, some people have made the argument that Doge is unprecedented, somehow upending the American tradition.
		That is not true.
		The precedent for Doge goes back to the Wilson administration, well over 100 years.
		And in fact, Wilson himself created, through executive action, the Bureau of Efficiency.
		So it was almost the same name as Doge.
		He was followed by FDR, had the Brownlow Commission.
		That had created the executive office of the president, a major reform.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And did they do the same things?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		They did the same things, except in FDR's case, of course, they're growing the government.
		But then you had Truman, had the Hoover Commission, that was the same point.
		Reagan had the Grace Commission.
		But I think the clearest analog, even in recent decades, comes from the Clinton administration.
		This was when Al Gore, so not even president, but vice president, established the National Partnership for Reinventing Government.
		The National Partnership for Reinventing Government got rid of something like a quarter million federal jobs, consolidated some 800 federal agencies.
		I mean, it really took a big slash to the government.
		That's the one nice thing I'll say about Al Gore ever.
		But surely you couldn't say that what Elon is doing now is unprecedented.
		In fact, there's a lot of precedent, and most of it historically has been from Democrats.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And you don't think the American people will see any impact to all those positions that are being cut?
		You know, we had a call in the last segment from somebody in the VA, and she said, yes, there are nurses having their contracts revoked, doctors.
		So she said, the veterans will feel that impact.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, I don't know anyone who defends the current state of the VA, and I have a lot of friends who have served in the military.
		So there's obviously a lot of reform that is required there.
		But I guess the question is, do we maintain the status quo, especially in the executive agencies and the bureaucracy?
		That was a question that was put on the ballot box in November, and the majority of voters said, no, we do not.
		Say what you will about President Trump or Elon Musk or anyone else.
		You can't say that Trump hid the ball here.
		I mean, he was campaigning with Elon Musk.
		This was a major campaign promise.
		And so if people are upset, I'm not upset with the government becoming more efficient, slimming down, you know, reducing the size and scope.
		But if people are upset, you know, the only people to blame are the majority of voters.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let me ask you about the war in Ukraine.
		President Trump has said that Zelensky is a dictator and that Ukraine started the war.
		Why do you think he's using that kind of language when clearly Russia started the war?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, Russia invaded.
		Of course, it's an even longer standing conflict that goes back not just to the Biden administration, but to 2014, to the Obama administration.
		I suspect he's referring to Zelensky as a dictator because Zelensky has suspended elections and has instituted martial law for all intents and purposes in Ukraine.
		So there's a kind of funny argument right now for the people who want to continue the war ad infinitum.
		They say that this is a war for democracy and there's a great fear.
		Newsweek had an article about this just last week.
		So there's a great fear that if Ukraine holds elections, the voters might kick out Zelensky.
		I think that is democracy.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It's strange that President Trump hasn't called Putin a dictator who has been in power for 25 years, holds sham elections, and all of his critics end up poisoned.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, President Trump has been tougher on Vladimir Putin than any president in my lifetime.
unidentified		How so?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, just to use the example of the last 20 or 25 years now, Trump's administration is the only administration during which Vladimir Putin did not further invade another country.
		He invaded Georgia under Bush.
		He invaded Crimea under Obama.
		He went into Ukraine even further in 2014.
		Then under Trump, he kind of stopped.
		And then under Joe Biden, of course, he launched this massive invasion.
		So I think President Trump's most precise comment on Ukraine is that the war would not have started on his watch.
		And people say that Trump boasts or he exaggerates.
		In that example, though, we have clear historical evidence.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And you believe that ultimately President Trump will be able to negotiate a fair and a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Certainly.
		I'm quite confident in his abilities.
		The man's quite good at the art of the deal.
		But what I'm even more confident of is that Joe Biden could not do that.
		What I'm more confident of is Barack Obama could not do that when this war broke out in 2014.
		So I'm willing to give President Trump a chance here.
		And the question for the people who don't want President Trump to try to broker a peace is, what is your idea for the end of the war?
		You know, as of right now, it seems to me the American grand strategy, stated explicitly by many people within and without the government, is to allow Ukraine to remain a meat grinder so that we can reduce the capacity of the Russian military, which is a euphemism to just kill more Russians, and to sacrifice an entire generation of Ukrainians in order to do it.
		This does not seem to me a moral view of the war, and it does not seem to me sustainable when we're talking about a conflict that could easily expand.
		It could even lead to potentially a global conflict when we're dealing with a major nuclear power.
		So President Trump here has a realistic vision of foreign policy, and I think he's much more interested in peace than many people in Washington.
		And I think a lot of Americans voted for him because of that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's talk to callers.
		We'll start with Al in Watertown, Tennessee, Independent.
		You're on with Michael Knowles.
unidentified		Thank you very much.
		I'll first ask the question to make a couple of comments.
		I would like the guests to address the bifurcation of the Republican Party.
		You have the MAGA Trump crew versus the GOP establishment.
		You see that even in the call-in categories.
		About 40% of people are independents, about 30% Democrats, and 30% Republicans.
		But of the Republicans, I would say half of those are MAGA.
		So only 15% of your call-ins are MAGA Republicans.
		The next thing, the moderator brought up the Putin being a dictator in his election records.
		Well, I'll remind everyone that people in Washington, D.C. vote for Democrats about 94%.
		That's only matched by African dictators.
		And the format where we have the New York Times, Washington Post, as a fact check in the topic generation, you know, the New York Times took $29 million from HHS, and they used that to forward government narratives and cancel people.
		The Washington Post took money from USAID.
		Politico took USAID money.
		So when you spread all of those newspapers out, understand that that's not news.
		That is regime propaganda.
		We all know it.
		Now we've quantified the dollar value.
		So, you know, have some introspection at C-SPAN.
		I think your programs would be a lot better.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, I think most of his comments are directed at the media and at C-SPAN.
		But inasmuch as this involves me, I think he makes a really, really good point about the Republican Party.
		There has been a big split between the older Bush-Romney wing of the party and this new Trump wing.
		And the way that this is often presented in the establishment media is that this is a hostile takeover of the Republican Party or somehow the true Republicans have been rejected.
		It's a great threat to the party.
		However, I can't help but notice, Trump has grown the party.
		So when you look at 2024, first popular vote win in 20 years, that is an expansion of the party.
		When you look at Trump getting one in five black male voters, 46% of Hispanics, something like 48% of women over 45, and then the most shocking number to me was 40% of women under the age of 30.
		We were told this was the voting group that was most inclined to vote for Kamala, a huge portion of them, that's a number from the AP, that they voted for Donald Trump.
		I think, I don't know.
		I totally understand that Trump has changed the Republican Party.
		But if I'm looking at those numbers and I'm a GOP strategist, it's pretty clear he's changed the party for the better.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I just want to bring up, since you did mention Newsweek and the caller mentioned the New York Times, here's a fact check that says the U.S. government did not give the New York Times, quote, tens of millions of dollars.
		Just to clarify that, let's talk to Pat in Huntington, West Virginia, a Democrat.
		Good morning, Pat.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I want to kind of put a little comical air on it.
		The Republicans, every election cycle come up with some kind of a make America great again or some kind of a mantra that they go through, that they use.
		And uh, i'm reminded of uh uh, uh Andy Griffith Show where uh Marney makes a u-turn and he gives a ticket to uh Gomer for making a u-turn and you Gomer tries to stop Marney and give him a ticket and he says uh, citizens arrest, citizens arrest.
		Well, the Republicans mantra this time has been waste fraud and abuse, and if you listen to it it sounds quite a bit like waste fraud and like citizens arrest.
		Waste fraud and abuse, waste fraud and abuse, and it's all nonsense.
		Thank you for your time.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What do you think, Michael?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I think there's a lot of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.
		I think most Americans would agree.
		In fact, I think most Democrats in this town, especially those who are familiar with the government, would acknowledge, uh yes, there are some inefficiencies that could be corrected and that's what's being corrected now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Stephen in Lawrence Kansas, Republican.
unidentified		Good morning Stephen, hey guys, hey Michael, enjoy the program.
		Going to be a great weekend.
		I I have a two-part question.
		Um, do you think that Trump is kind of underrated and that he's destroyed every political dynasty in existence.
		And and do you think he should be on Mount Rush More at The end of his term?
		And should he serve a third term?
		I guess there's a possibility they could.
		Steve Bannon says they could elect two placeholders and then appoint Trump speaker of the House, and then he.
		There's no constitutional uh law that says he cannot serve a third term.
		So uh, do you think he's he?
		He should serve a third term?
		Uh, if he succeeds at The end of the second one.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Thank you, i'll take your questions in order.
		Uh, Trump is more than welcome to have his face on Mount Rushmore, though I think it would be more fitting to put his face on Mount Mckinley.
		He's taken a great interest in president Mckinley.
		He's renaming that mountain back to Mount Mckinley.
		So you know Trump's an American original.
		He shouldn't be up there with those four other guys.
		He needs his own mountain.
		Uh now uh, also in unrealistic scenarios, there's this question that's been raised as to whether or not Trump will serve a third term.
		He's obviously a term limited by the constitution.
		It's worth pointing out however, that president Reagen, Great St. Ronald, did campaign in his last year in office and after he left office to repeal the amendment that term limits the president, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.
		It seems a little bit like a Rube Goldberg political machine, for Trump to become the Speaker of the House and then, I don't know, the other two guys leave and he becomes the president.
		It reminds me of people in 2018 who said, here's one weird trick for Bernie to get the Democrat nomination.
		You know, I think that's not going to happen.
		And, more importantly, for Trump's legacy getting back to what we were talking about a little earlier, Trump has legitimately changed the Republican Party.
		I think he's done this for the better and I think, in many ways, he has restored some of the best aspects of the Republican Party, and so the For his legacy is going to be what happens after Trump does leave office.
		And I think there are a number of contenders who could pick up the mantle for President Trump.
		But I think you're going to see his legacy not merely through Trump installing himself as Caesar and remaining president until he's 500 years old.
		I think you're going to see it in his political successors, and there are many of them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I want to just ask you about some things that some of our callers in our last segment said, that they're worried that President Trump will announce some sort of a national emergency, state of emergency, and suspend elections, that there won't even be elections after this.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I take it you, number one, disagree with that, and number two, believe that the Republican Party would stand up to that and refuse to go along with that.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I think the hypothetical is totally ridiculous.
		You know, what Trump has done most conspicuously in his first month in power is reduce his own power because he is streamlining the federal government.
		He is reducing the size and scope of the government.
		He's trying to get all of those inefficiencies out of there.
		So very few future dictators would remove their own powers, their first acts in office.
		But furthermore.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So you believe the executive, the president now will have less power as a result of President Trump's actions?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		By slashing his budgets, by slashing the scope of the executive branch, I think that's exactly what will happen.
		And in fact, that's the stated goal of President Trump's actions.
		Now, you get back to this question of elections and the peaceful transfer of power.
		I'm old enough to remember Bush v. Gore 2000 when Democrats did not accept the results of that election.
		Hillary Clinton referring to President Trump's first election as illegitimate.
		I think Stacey Abrams is still pretending to be governor of Georgia somewhere.
		So if anyone is going to question the results of elections or to hold on to power illegitimately, I would have a greater fear that that would come from Democrats than from Republicans.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here is David in Flemington, New Jersey, Independent.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi, David.
unidentified		Good morning, and thank you.
		I think an area where Republicans and Democrats could come together to really stop abuse would be in the community action programs that stand in the middle of the money stream between the federal government and Head Start.
		Head Start is a highly emotional issue because it is iconic from Lyndon Johnson.
		And it's in Project 2025 because it is such a red flag.
		But the bipartisan piece is that these community action programs around the United States collect, I don't know, in the range of a billion dollars a year, and they are not monitored by either Republicans or Democrats for how they use the money.
		Here in Flemington, the minute Flemington dropped below the federal poverty line, the community action program headquartered in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, rushed into Flemington and filled it with programs, including Head Start and Early Head Start.
		And I'm not debating the lives of children, okay?
		That's cruel.
		I'm not debating who should get it, how long you should be here, et cetera, et cetera.
		But what this community action program in Phillipsburg and what they do around the country, they treat those federal dollars as their own.
		They pay their executives whatever they blame well, please.
		And I know, as a matter of fact, they pay poverty wages to the employees who are not federal employees.
		They are employees of these private community action programs.
		And they pay them such a low wage, but just above the poverty line themselves, where they can't get Medicaid or food stamps, they are outrageous in terms of benefits.
		They work them like.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay, David, let's get a response from our guest, Michael Knowles.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, I totally agree.
		is a lot of graft in these programs.
		That's one of the big issues.
		You know, when you zoom out to the 30,000-foot view, nobody in the country objects to educating children.
		When you zoom out to the 30-foot view, nobody in the country objects to the efficient and just use of the government and some kind of staff or executive office to carry that out.
		The devil's in the details.
		So of course that is the case.
		I think a lot of what you've seen from the cuts at USAID are just highlighting for people how absurd some of the uses of their taxpayer dollars are.
		One example that came out last week was Rory Stewart, the former UK politician who's now a professor at Yale.
		He recently picked a fight with JD Vance.
		Rory Stewart was complaining that his wife's non-government organization had a contract with USAID and they were going to stiff this NGO, Stewart's wife, for a million dollars left on the contract.
		And he was quite upset about this.
		And we asked, okay, well, what does the organization do?
		And it turns out that one of their initiatives is to teach Afghan citizens about the modern art of Marcel Duchamp, the man who called a urinal a great work of art.
		And I thought, look, I'm all for interesting art, but it seems to me there would be better uses of that money, both for the people of Afghanistan and for just that lesson, for one lesson?
		USAID cut the contract and withheld a million dollars that was still owed to the organization.
		Many, many more dollars have gone to that organization and organizations like it over time.
		Though I don't know the precise cost of the one lecture on the urinal.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Stephen in Indiana, a Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Stephen.
unidentified		Hello.
		Good morning, Arn.
		Morning.
		Okay, I just have one simple comment.
		Straight missed tough on me.
		Trump won the presidency both times because of his opponents.
		A woman for president is going to be very difficult.
		I'll probably see my lifetime, but I'm 63, but probably in my grandson's lifetime.
		A woman for president is not going to happen.
		It's not how great Trump is.
		And that's the facts.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What do you think of that, Michael?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I don't know.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		We've had women in pretty prominent positions of power in the United States.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Never president.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Never president, but the Democrats keep putting up women who are very bad candidates.
		So Hillary Clinton was one of the most detested figures in American public life.
		And Kamala Harris was an extremely weak candidate.
		She was at a disadvantage in part because she never had a real primary to go through.
		In fact, the one time she ran in a primary, the previous presidential election, she was out almost immediately.
		She was the first candidate out.
		So nobody really wanted her.
		You know, conservatives like plenty of women figures in politics.
		Maggie Thatcher across the Atlantic is probably the clearest example.
		But we have lots of great governors.
		There are plenty of very strong, powerful women in the Trump administration in particular.
		But the two candidates that the Democrats put up, well, let's just say, as President Trump says of some of the countries sending illegals here, the Democrats are not sending their best.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Who do you think is going to be the first Republican woman president of the United States?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, if you just judge by the past election cycle, Nikki Haley would probably like to do that.
		Christy Noam is now at DHS.
		It seems to me that she might be eyeing that job.
		I think Sarah Sanders, who was so prominent in the first Trump administration, now she's governor of Arkansas, I think she's got a real shot at it.
		It would probably drive some of our friends on the left side of the aisle crazy if the first woman president were a Republican.
		But there are a lot of good candidates if they want the job.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And this is Gary in Newport, Kentucky, Republican.
		Good morning, Gary.
unidentified		Good morning.
		$77 million and some change.
		Kind of says it all.
		Trump said the people wanted things done, and Trump is getting things done.
		So I kind of think it kind of sums it up, this ping-pong match that Democrats and Republicans have been playing with immigration.
		They wanted that to stop.
		And as far as Ukraine, Colin Powell said one time, I had to shake hands with some pretty bad people.
		So just I think that's what Trump is doing, shaking hands and trying to get things done over there.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Gary.
		I want to ask you about Kash Patel.
		He was confirmed yesterday as FBI director.
		What kind of changes do you think you will see at the FBI?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, I think the first order of business is to stop the abuse.
		I say this as a Catholic myself.
		I was perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was certainly quite scandalized to see that during the Obama, or during the Biden administration, rather, the FBI was spying on Catholic parishes.
		And then the FBI came out and lied about it and said it was only one field office.
		We later found out through memoranda that it was multiple field offices viewing Catholics as extremists, traditionalist radical ideologues, whatever nonsense euphemisms they used.
		That is completely unacceptable to spy on Christians simply for practicing their faith.
		The traditional faith of this very country, as a matter of fact.
		You also need to stop the abuse with the FBI and the DOJ targeting parents who have legitimate questions about how their children are being educated, in particular being exposed to leftist ideologies, sexual ideologies in some cases.
		That has to be cleared up.
		Selective prosecutions, weaponizing the government to go after one's political enemies, all of the things that we were told to fear from President Trump that really, I think, came to pass under the Biden administration.
		That's going to be the first order of business.
		You've got to clean up the abuse before you can move forward.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And you're in favor of any FBI agent that worked on the January 6th cases to have been let go.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		The January 6th cases, I think, were preposterous.
		We know that, well, not just the FBI, but Capitol Hill withheld a lot of information about that.
		The whole federal government had a lot of egg on its face when we were told that that man in the horn hat, that sort of eccentric fellow, was about to lead a coup d'état and shred the Constitution.
		And then video, which had been withheld by the government, came out showing that he was escorted around the Capitol Rotunda and even into the chambers by police.
		So there was obviously, I mean, the video is available for anyone to see.
		So I think that's important.
		And then most importantly, in terms of upending precedent, the fact that the Biden DOJ sent its agents to raid the home of a former president and at that time the leader of the opposition, now we found out a future president as well.
		That is completely unacceptable.
		That degrades the United States to the level of some kind of tinpot dictatorship or banana republic.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		These are the classified documents that the former president would not give back.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, these are the, this is the raid when federal agents showed up to raid the home of a former president and leader of the opposition because President Trump had some classified documents, which many of his predecessors did as well.
		Joe Biden was later found out to have had a box of classified documents next to his Corvette going above the market with his drug addict son having access to it.
		Completely absurd.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Going back to Kash Patel, I want to show you Senator Dick Durbin on the floor of, he's a member of the Judiciary Committee, speaking out against Kash Patel, and then I'll get your response.
unidentified		Yeah.
dick durbin ▲ ● ▼		...the many red flags in Mr. Patel's record, probably because they fear retribution from the president and Mr. Musk.
		Let me be clear.
		This is not a partisan issue.
		During my time in the Senate, I have voted for four FBI director nominations before this one.
unidentified		Thank you.
dick durbin ▲ ● ▼		Each one was clearly a Republican, and I voted for them nevertheless.
		Historically, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been apolitical.
		I oppose Mr. Patel because he is dangerously politically extreme.
		He has repeatedly expressed his intention to use our nation's most important law enforcement agency to retaliate against his political enemies.
		Even before President Trump took office, Mr. Patel announced that he would force out FBI Director Chris Ray, who he nominated in his first term before firing the former FBI Director Jim Comey.
		The director is the only political appointment at the FBI.
		Congress took steps to ensure that this agency remains as apolitical as possible by providing for a single term of 10 years for a director and subjecting the appointment to the advice and consent of the Senate.
		50 years ago, we made this reform.
		We may see it all fall to ashes today.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Michael Knowles, your response.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, that is quite rich coming in the age of James Comey, even the first Trump election, when the FBI colluded with Democrats and with Russia, ironically enough, to cook up a disinformation dossier that suggested that Trump were some kind of sleeper KGB agent or something, which was used to undermine the Trump campaign and to undermine President Trump's first administration when he was the duly elected president.
		Give me a break.
		The hand-wringing over the supposed politicization of the FBI as Joe Biden's FBI sends jack-booted thugs to raid the home of his political rival.
		Spare me the crocodile tears.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Michael in Denver, Colorado, Independent Line.
unidentified		Yeah, hi, thank you.
		Michael Knowles, thank you so much for your work.
		First of all, I think it holds immense significance in just promoting free speech and dialogue.
		And I'm a fellow millennial, so I appreciate what you do, first of all.
		And then my question, absolutely.
		And then, so I wanted to ask you about some comments you made on your show a few days ago.
		You said Trump in many ways is our Napoleon.
		You said he is a product of the revolution, and he's also the undoing of the revolution because he rides this wave of the revolution into power like Napoleon did.
		And then, you know, he becomes the enemy of all these excesses.
		And I think, you know, Mr. Knowles, when you use the word revolution in this context, it is a very serious word to use.
		It's, you know, by definition, a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.
		And so, you know, when you say Trump is undoing the revolution, because you can say Biden introduced, you know, green energy policies or environmentally friendly policies or DEI, but I think, you know, to justify saying Trump is undoing a revolution should have more context than just those typical kinds of talking points alone.
		And so I'm curious to kind of just know to you, what justifies using that phrase in terms of like undoing Biden's revolution?
		And how would you categorize or explain just the rationale behind kind of making that statement?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Michael?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I'm speaking in more of a cultural context here.
		I'm not speaking of a literal, you know, armed revolution with a coup d'etat or anything like that.
		I'm speaking of this cultural revolution because President Trump had this winsome and I think somewhat ironic self-comparison to Napoleon.
		And I thought, you know, that's a profound comparison in that Napoleon is both the child of the revolution and the undoing of the revolution.
		And so Trump comes out.
		He was not formed in a petri dish in Brooks Brothers or the conservative movement, okay?
		This is not a guy who attended CPAC every year of his life.
		This was a man very much of the mainstream, even broadly liberal culture, a billionaire, a television star, a real estate mogul, famously a playboy.
		He's a larger-than-life kind of figure.
		And so in many ways, he participated in the cultural revolutions that we saw in the latter half of the 20th century.
		He was a big figure in it.
		Now that he has become a political figure, he is undoing a lot of those excesses.
		And so if you had told me 20 years ago that President Trump, sorry, that Donald Trump, the reality TV star, was going to be the leading figure in restoring standards, norms, the traditional American way of life, pro-family policies, social conservatism.
		I would have said, hold on, you're talking about the billionaire from New York.
		There's no way.
		And yet, there's a kind of paradox to his career that I think is, well, quite delightful.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We talked about how divided the country is.
		You mentioned that when I showed you the poll.
		What do you think is the reason for the country being so divided right now?
		And what's the solution in bringing us back together?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, speaking of the cultural revolution, a big cause were the fissures that came up in the mid to late 20th century, especially the 1960s, which were a huge time of political division.
		I don't think we've really recovered from that.
		I mean, to use an issue that has been talked about ad nauseum in recent years, the transgender ideology, I think, is a clear example of Americans not even being able to agree on the basic definition of what a man is and what a woman is.
		So we have divisions that don't merely pertain to, you know, I don't know, wishing to slightly increase the tax rate or decrease the tax rate.
		We are disagreeing on questions of ontology, anthropology, epistemology, you know, pretty fundamental stuff.
		And so how do we reconcile those divisions?
		I think, look, we can either all sit in a philosophy seminar and debate these questions abstractly.
		I think the better issue for politics, which is very much a practical science, is we just get back into the swing of a normal way of life.
		You know, President Trump, paradoxically enough, because he's such a larger-than-life figure, I think he was elected because people just want to get back to normal.
		And they don't want some nerd with a 10-point manifesto.
		They don't want some radical ideologue on the left or the right for that matter.
		I think they want a guy who just kind of wants to get back to normal, have a flourishing economy, have strong families, enforce our basic immigration laws, have borders which delineate countries.
		I think that's what they voted for.
		And I think that's the only way we're going to heal these divisions is in practice, you know, living out a normal way of life.
		Let the ideology sort itself out later.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's talk to Christine and Chevy Chase, Maryland, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Christine.
unidentified		Hi, thanks for taking my call.
		Thanks, Michael, for being here.
		I've watched your videos for years, so it's cool to talk to you.
		Two quick questions.
		I always identified as a Democrat just because that's who I was surrounded by, but recently realized my identified, sorry, my values actually are more conservative, so I've switched to Republican.
		One of the two places I still kind of stay on the liberal side is that I want there to be peace with Palestine.
		So I'm wondering first, is there a place for me within the Republican Party to have that view and without being called an anti-Semite?
		And also, unfortunately, all of my friends and family, anytime I try to bring up what I think is a reasonable, logical argument, they look at me with disgust, which I find to be very sad because I wouldn't do the same for them, even though we disagree.
		So I'm wondering, you know, just from that human perspective, how to navigate with people you care about.
		Thank you.
		I appreciate it.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Really good question.
		Glad to hear that you identify more now on the right side of the aisle.
		I think there are many people like that who are disaffected liberals and Democrats who say, you know, this party just doesn't represent me anymore.
		As to your family being mean to you about this switch, there was some research that came out some years ago.
		I think it was from Jonathan Haidt, which showed that Republicans tend to understand the Democrat point of view better than Democrats understand the Republican point of view.
		And I'm not saying this is because of differences in intelligence or anything.
		I think it's just because we live in a popular culture that is broadly liberal.
		So if you're a conservative, if you disagree with that culture, you are exposed to the alternative point of view.
		If you're on the left, you aren't necessarily exposed to the right-wing point of view.
		So maybe a little patience, a little grace, and a little grit for your family.
		You know, you keep just telling them what you think, and hopefully you'll persuade them.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		She did bring up Gaza.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Yes, yeah.
		As for peace in the Middle East and Palestine and Israel, I think that President Trump, if anyone is going to solve the Middle East, I think President Trump is quite a good contender to do that because you had the historic Abraham Accords during his first term, which was a really promising development in the Middle East.
		It all fell to pot in the next administration, and we saw the breakout of this massive war that has just been so horrific, now has dragged on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So there are critics that say that those Abraham Accords were one of the causes of the October 7th attack, leaving the Palestinians completely out in the cold and them feeling like they needed to make a big statement, obviously with very tragic consequences.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I wonder if those critics would say that the moon is also made of green cheese.
		I find it to be totally outlandish because what President Trump did, not just in the Abraham Accords, but in re-reorienting U.S. policy, is President Trump cut off the chief funder of the terrorism that has created so many problems, not only for Israel, but also for the people who live in the Palestinian territories.
		So during the Obama administration, famously, they went much softer on Iran.
		They tried to normalize relations with Iran.
		President Trump killed the top Iranian general.
		He restored, I think, a more sensible U.S. foreign policy under Biden near the breakout of war, not just in...
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And just real quick, are you totally on board with the president's idea to own Gaza and forcibly remove the Gazans that are living there?
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Well, President Trump raised this point.
		He said, where are they going to live now?
		Gaza has been reduced basically to rubble.
		So if there is to be a rebuilding effort, they have to go somewhere, at least temporarily.
		And that, I don't think, is really controversial.
		As for the United States having a role in rebuilding Gaza, the United States is the global hegemon.
		We've had the best success, I suppose, at establishing at least temporary peace in the Middle East.
		So I don't know who else it's going to be.
		Are we going to turn to France or something to do it?
		Probably not.
		But in a direct answer to your question, is there room in the Republican Party for people who have sympathy for Palestinian Arabs or any people in a global conflict?
		Yes, of course there is.
		But the question has to be: what will the policy be that is most conducive to the flourishing of those people elsewhere around the world and for the United States?
		I think Trump has a much better record than his Democrat predecessors and successors.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Can I get one more call in, Democrat, Yucca Valley, California?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		John, if you can make it quick, please.
unidentified		Sure.
unidentified		Yeah, first of all, art history considers Marcel Dutrump as a serious contributor to art.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		I don't know which historians you're reading.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Anyway, go ahead, John.
unidentified		Yeah, because what I wanted to call about was being isolated.
		So I feel like I'm being corralled as a United States citizen here as everything is being dismantled and all that.
		But more broadly, C-SPAN is listened to globally.
		If Ukraine is frozen right now, the way the Russians want it, they'll have a port that they can access.
		And you think all of the Europeans, the European Union, NATO, their concerns are unfounded, that they're not concerned that Russia will go further.
		You know, I really think you've got to take another look at your position with Donald Trump because he is not helping us.
		He's hurting us with his policies.
		This is a month in.
		Let's look 100 days in or a year from now.
		And those people in the rest of the world that are listening right now, I apologize to you personally for this mess that we have in this country right now.
		And you can, all your talking points are bent toward isolationism, and we need the rest of the world.
		I don't agree with your positions.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Last.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I think our caller's memory is a little hazy.
		I mean, I just about 30 seconds ago referred to America as the global hegemon, so I don't think I'm advocating an isolationist position.
		As to blaming President Trump for the war in Ukraine, it's probably worth remembering that the war in Ukraine broke out in two discrete incidents, one during the Obama administration and one during the Biden administration.
		It did not escalate during the Trump administration.
		And a reminder that Joe Biden literally invited the Russians to invade when he said that if there were only a minor incursion from President Putin into Ukraine, then there would not be serious consequences from the United States.
		So I think while we're talking about the history of Marcel Duchamp, we should look at the history of the Ukraine war as well.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Michael Knowles, host of the Michael Knowles Show on the Daily Wire.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thanks so much for coming in.
michael j knowles ▲ ● ▼		Thank you so much for having me.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Up next, another look at President Trump's first month in office with SiriusXM talk show host Recy Colbert.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We'll be right back.
unidentified		All this week, watch C-SPAN's new Members of Congress series, where we speak with both Republicans and Democrats about their early lives, previous careers, families, and why they decided to run for office.
		Tonight, at 9.30 p.m. Eastern, our interviews include Delaware Democratic Congresswoman Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress.
		From those first moments after his diagnosis, Andy and I knew how lucky we were.
sarah mcbride ▲ ● ▼		We knew how lucky Andy was to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life.
		And we both knew how lucky we were to have flexibility with our jobs that allowed him to focus on the full-time job of trying to get better and me to focus on the full-time job of caring for him, of loving him, of marrying him.
		And eventually when he found out that his cancer was terminal, to walk him to his passing, and I decided to run for office because I do not believe that in Delaware, our state of neighbors, or here in the United States in the wealthiest, most developed nation on earth at that time and that ability to get care should be a matter of luck.
unidentified		I believe it should be the law of the land.
		Watch new members of Congress all this week, starting at 9.30 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN.
		Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.
		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 4 p.m. Eastern, Luis Miranda Jr., with his book Relentless, talks about his life as a political activist and organizer in the Latino community.
		Then at 6.45 p.m. Eastern, Nicole Turner-Lee, with her book, Digitally Invisible, How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass, contends that lack of internet access is creating economic disparities in poor and rural communities.
		And at 10 p.m. Eastern on afterwards, Professor Eve L. Ewing, with her book, Original Sins, The Miseducation of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, argues that the United States education system reinforces racial inequality at the expense of black and native children.
		She's interviewed by associate press editor Aaliyah Wong.
		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		100 years ago this past August was the beginning of what's often been called the Great War.
		World War I had military casualties of over 9 million and millions more of civilians.
		Professor Sean McMeekin of Bard College, located in New York State, has written nine books since 2003 on subjects that include German history, Russian history, the Ottoman Empire, communism, World War II, and one titled July 1914.
		This last book will be the focus of our conversation with Professor McMeekin.
		World War I was triggered in late June of 1914 by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
		They were gunned down by a Serbian 19-year-old by the name of Gavrulo Prince.
unidentified		Author Sean McMeekin talks about his book, July 1914, Countdown to War, on this episode of BookNotes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb.
		BookNotes Plus is available on the C-SPAN Now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.
		Washington Journal continues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to Washington Journal.
		We're joined now by Reese Colbert.
		She's host of the Recy Colbert Show on SiriusXM Radio.
		Welcome to the program.
unidentified		Thank you for having me.
unidentified		It's an honor to be here again.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Tell us about your radio show and the things that you talk about.
unidentified		My radio show is on SiriusXM Urban View.
		I call it like the cookout because it's a Saturday afternoon program.
		It's a mix of politics and pop culture.
		So it's a very fun show, but we get a lot of serious topics and we take live callers like on this show.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I was going to ask you about that.
		So what are you hearing from your audience?
		What are the big issues that they're calling you about?
unidentified		Well, you know, my show is on like basically the Black Talk Radio Show.
		So they are not surprised at all about what we're seeing.
		This is what my community largely voted against.
		And so we're having more of an I told you so kind of dialogue on my program.
		But there are some people who do support what's going on, mostly because they are looking at things like what they believe are Guatemalan sex changes that were being bandied about, the kind of disinformation that's out there.
		So, but it's largely an anti-Trump crowd.
		I'll be perfectly honest about that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So then why do you think that so many black men voted for President Trump this time?
unidentified		Well, I think that, first of all, I think that we had a lot of people who sat out.
		So the proportion of black men who voted for Trump went up slightly, but I think it's because our overall turnout was lower.
		But he did say some things that resonated with some of these, with some of the black men, which was about immigration.
		I thought that Republicans, you know, strategically were smart, even though it was cruel, obviously, in shipping migrants to predominantly black cities like Chicago and New York City.
		And so some of Trump's rhetoric around immigration resonated, as well as some of his rhetoric around the trans issue really resonated.
		And there were some people who felt like he was stronger on the economy, but I think those kind of culture war issues resonated with that section of the population who voted for Trump.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And what are you hearing from them specifically now one month in?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Are they pleased with this past month?
unidentified		Yes.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Or not.
unidentified		They definitely are.
		I had to ban one caller because he went way off the deep end.
		After, you know, my show is in its third year now.
		We've had dialogue for the past several years, which has been fine, but I think he's feeling even more emboldened by the types of acts that Donald Trump has taken, particularly when it comes to the LGBTQ community.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I want to show you a portion from the White House yesterday.
		There's a celebration of Black History Month.
		And of course, this is amid all the rollbacks and DEI efforts and observance of Identity Month.
		So I'm going to play a portion and then have you respond.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		I'm proud to say that we received, listen to this, more votes from black Americans than any Republican president ever.
unidentified		Not even close.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Almost 40% of the vote.
		Now, I'm not, I won't be happy the next time.
		Should I run again?
		You tell me.
		There's your controversy right there.
		There's your country.
unidentified		There's your country.
unidentified		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts?
unidentified		That was appalling.
		That may play well in that room, but that is not going to play well with black voters at large.
		He did not win 40% of the black vote by any stretch of the imagination.
		He did improve slightly with black men, but I would also point out that that was largely in part of the disinformation that is targeting our communities, especially online.
		And so I think that he's definitely feeling himself in that clip and he's getting egged on by the crowd.
		But that's a curated crowd that is not representative of the black community.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So let's talk about the rollback in DEI.
		What do you think the effects are going to have?
		And what are you hearing from your audience members?
unidentified		Well, I think the effects are obviously very widespread.
		I think DEI is more of a pretext for a wider array of cuts that are being done.
		And it's just something that gets people more on board without actually asking the specifics about why these programs are being cut.
		I mean, when you're talking about in the health sector, when they're doing a search on things like the word woman, how is that something that's going to move the country forward?
		So I think that it's a smart play on the part of Republicans to couch everything as DEI, particularly when you have one group that believes that it's only black people that benefit from DEI.
		And then you have black people that largely have seen that white women are the primary beneficiaries of DEI.
		So you have two sides who are viewing the issue from different lens, and that's really working in the Republicans' favor.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		If you'd like to join our conversation with Reese Colbert, you can do so on our lines by party.
		So Republicans are on 202-748-8001.
		Democrats are on 202-748-8000.
		And Independents 202-748-8002.
		You have spoken out against Doge efforts.
		Tell me why.
unidentified		Well, I think, first of all, Doge is a prime example of why we need DEI.
		When you have a group of people who are mostly from one sector, which is the technology sector, these are all cronies of Elon Musk, and they're almost entirely white young males.
		They do not have the capacity to make the decision for 330-something million people what has value and what doesn't.
		And so they're taking, like Elon Musk literally had a chainsaw on stage yesterday, a chainsaw to the government without any regard for the fact that maybe the things that aren't important to them have value to other communities.
		And they're just sloppy, and it's cruel.
		It's cruel.
		It's what the people voted for, though, in terms of the Republican voters.
		They voted for this kind of cruelty, but I don't think that they expected this cruelty to be so widespread and hit communities that they weren't expecting.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Now, there are a lot of people that believe that there is a lot of waste in the government and that there's a lot of abuse of taxpayer money and that it needs to be audited, it needs to be looked at, and it needs to be cut.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So what do you say to them?
unidentified		That was already happening.
		I think that having this discussion, framing it around the notion that there is widespread waste and fraud in our government is actually playing to the Republicans' benefit.
		We should be having a discussion about how our taxpayer dollars and the fees, because it's not all taxpayer dollars that fund these agencies, are an investment, not just in our federal workforce, but in our economy, in our society.
		Alzheimer's research is an investment for our future.
		We're all going to get old one day, and we can be so lucky we won't have to deal with that.
		But there are people who are suffering from it.
		So all of this stuff being framed as though the default is waste and fraud is really doing a disservice, not only to the people who are patriotic servants of this country, but to our society.
		Because now things are being stripped away that we really do need and people have taken for granted.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to callers and we'll start with Jeff, a Democrat in Indianapolis, Indiana.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Jeff.
unidentified		Good morning, ladies.
		And to your guests, you're the first time I heard of you, but I'm going to try to find your program and listen to it because I really support what you're saying.
		I follow Dr. Rashad Ritchie and Reese Waters, and I'm pretty sure you're aware of those gentlemen, but you are absolutely correct.
		You know, DEI has become the new N-word, just like woke and critical race theory.
		And yes, DEI is just not black people.
		It's veterans.
		It's women.
		It's the handicap.
		And it has become the new N-word.
		And, you know, I always say this.
		Kamala didn't lose.
		Fascism won.
		Misinformation won.
		Misogyny and bigotry won.
		I'll give you two a great example.
		This is an election where so many voted against their best interests.
		You got people in Dearborn, Michigan, the Arab-Palestinian community who couldn't deal with a black woman, but they voted for Zionism.
		They voted for God to be destroyed.
		And now they're having second thoughts.
		The Hispanic community who couldn't deal with a black woman, but now voted for mass deportation.
		So now these people are, what's the old saying?
		You messed around, now you're finding out.
		Yeah, just a lot of just a lot of people regretting their vote.
		So, you know, that's just a fact.
		You know, factory workers, unions, white women.
		Oh, my God, you thought Roe v. Wade was going to be the solution.
		No, once again, you know, they voted for male patriarchal society, and now they want to be steppered-wise and hand-made.
		So, you know what?
		People just need to feel the consequence of this election.
		All right.
		This election.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jeff, let's get a response.
unidentified		Well, the elections do have consequences, and I think we're seeing it.
		A lot of people did vote against their interests because they thought that the harm that was going to be inflicted was going to be on somebody else, on migrants, on trans people, on, you know, take your pick.
		But they're seeing that with the lack of precision and how Doge and Trump and the complete complicity of the Republicans in Congress have no regard for any particular community.
		This is really something that's impacting people far and wide.
		And people are starting to see that.
		And the polling for Donald Trump is starting to show that people are not so happy with the direction that he's taking things.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Jeffrey in Montgomery, Alabama, Independent Line.
		Good morning, Jeffrey.
		Jeffrey, yep, go ahead.
unidentified		I got one question.
unidentified		If Trump and Leon Musk are finding all this fraud money, why can't they find enough money that they don't have to raise the deficit?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		Well, he makes a good point.
		A lot of the money that they're claiming to find is just them not understanding what the systems are.
		Elon Musk claiming that 150 roads are getting Social Security is absurd.
		He just doesn't understand coding.
		He claimed that $8 billion was saved when it was really $8 million.
		And so a lot of what they're doing is really just marketing as opposed to governing.
		And that's why they're putting or they're trying to push for a debt ceiling increase in this new Republican bill.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So what would a better way be to go about getting that waste out of the federal government?
unidentified		Well, for one, it would have been not firing the OIGs.
		It's understanding what the processes are and putting in place better processes and procedures.
		The government is very, it's full of bureaucracy, which can help and hurt us.
		And so I think that they should have been more respectful of the fact that there are decades of things that have been put in place to protect taxpayers as opposed to thinking that they know better than all of these career servants.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Randy, Wichita Falls, Texas, Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yes, I was going to ask you, back in 1993, 94, when President Clinton balanced the budget, he laid off 273,000 federal workers.
		Do you consider that disinformation?
		And that's to be my question.
		Thank you.
		Well, I'm not familiar with that specific number that you quoted, but there is a difference between laying off federal workers and just doing a search and seeing who doesn't have, who hasn't completed their probation, and then lying on these workers and saying that they have performance issues just so that they can get around the laws that are there to protect our civil servants.
		And so there's a difference between actually analyzing where things should be cut and just going from agency to agency with the hacksaw.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		It says here, I was able to bring up a Snopes fact check.
		Clinton initiative cut over 377,000 federal jobs in the 1990s.
		It is not comparable to Trump's effort.
		So if you just go to Snopes, you'll be able to read about what our previous caller just talked about there.
		Misty, Clearwater, Florida, Independent Line, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Well, more like Grand Rising.
		And first off, I want to say I really love you, Reese Colbert.
		We need to start putting a little bit more respect on your name.
		Thank you.
		But my question is, you probably heard from me, I say it's the illusion that causes the confusion.
		Can you expound on why DEI, why don't we just say the word diversity, inclusion, and equity and stop calling it DEI?
		Because I think by us giving it those letters, we allow people to diminish what it means.
		And if more people hear the entire word, I don't think people will be against diversity.
		I don't think people are against inclusion.
		But you're going in and out, Misty.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sorry, but I think we got the point.
unidentified		Yeah, yeah.
		I mean, I think that it's like CRT.
		But I think when there are most people, most Americans are not against diversity, equity, inclusion.
		And then the other part that people leave out is the A, which is accessibility.
		We are for those things.
		But when it's framed in a way as though it's the boogeyman, it's something that even if in your heart you agree with it, because of this tribalism that we have in this country, people are more willing to sell it down the river.
		But I mean, it's disappointing, and I think that we should be leaning more into DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, as opposed to falling for this argument that that is the opposite of meritocracy.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Mike in Elmont, New York, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Mike.
unidentified		Good morning.
		First, from what I heard, the statistics on the DEI, like 60% of the hires were white females.
		I'm not sure if that's a fact or not, but I'm sure it's close to it.
		You know, if we can go back to when they brought up Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton raised taxes too, and we had a balanced budget.
		And then George Bush came along, and the Republicans came along and started two wars, made up all sorts of lies.
		Congress abdicated their duty at that point.
		That's when it started.
		And we spent $8 million on those two wars.
		Now they want to take away health care for the vets who have PTSD and stuff.
		They're taking away research from NIH for cancer research.
		I mean, all sorts of stuff.
		Once upon a time, I used to sell to government agencies, and the USID was the most efficient.
		They watched every penny when I went there, and they made me explain everything, every benefit that they got from what we were trying to sell.
		It's just amazing.
		All the BS.
		There's a lot of BS.
		These kids that Elon Musk have, they don't know old programming languages.
		I think you had mentioned that before.
		And which is pretty silly.
		These guys are not the cream of the crop.
		And they are just going in there and putting in keywords and making cuts to programs and stuff.
		It's going to backfire.
		I mean, you've got swine flu jumping from bird to cattle to humans now.
		If you want to save money, maybe Trump doesn't have to go to Super Bowls.
		Daytona 500.
		They just dropped Elon Musk's investigations, eight of them or so.
		I mean, he has conflict of interest because there's a lot of competition with SpaceX that we could use.
		There's just so much waste.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Mike.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What do you think?
unidentified		There was a lot in that.
		But, you know, listen, Elon Musk is, they can't even keep their story straight on what Elon Musk is.
		And the court filings are saying that he's not part of the administration, and yet he's walking around like he's the co-president with Donald Trump.
		But yeah, I think that what we have to realize is that some of the framing is really to distract people.
		It's to get people caught up on one small portion, like when we're talking about DEI, when really this is a civil rights rollback.
		It's a rollback of the investments that we've decided are worthy in this country.
		And so I think that people are starting to see that the DEI was cute for the first week or so, but now they're starting to see that this is going far beyond that and they don't like it.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here is Edie in Montrose, Minnesota, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		I just, I don't quite understand where people are coming from.
		If we're cutting the fat and the waste in the government that's been going on forever, I think that's a really good thing, really good for our young people coming up in the world.
		And these kids that are working for Elon, they are so computer savvy.
		They're finding things that have been hidden.
		Why do you think all of the people that have been in the government that have been doing a lot of these waste programs and profiting from are all of a sudden jumping ship like rats?
		They're selling their homes.
		They're checking into criminal lawyers.
		I think it was like 400% high on criminal lawyer checks on the computer and offshore banking and some of these programs they've got going on that are stupid.
		Why would we want to see if frogs meet during the day or at night?
		Who cares?
		I mean, it's just ridiculous, the amount of waste.
		And anybody objecting to finding the waste, you know, they're not looking out for the future.
		I think that's really, really important.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Edie, let's see what Recy has to say.
unidentified		Well, first of all, I just want to point out that the things that are, these programs are funded by a House majority that's Republican-ran.
		Anything that is keeping the government going right now has passed with Republican votes.
		And so these are congressionally appropriated programs that Elon Musk is unilaterally canceling without congressional appropriate, without congressional approval.
		So to describe everything that's been congressionally appropriated as waste, I think is ridiculous.
		And then, if we're talking about the future, the Republicans right now are putting forward $4.7 trillion of tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy, at the expense of Medicare, SNAP benefits, and other things, student loan relief, other things that are actually going to help most of society.
		And so, I think that it's a little bit hypocritical to call what Doge is doing something that's better for the future when they're really just disregarding the other branch of government, which is a congressional branch.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here in Covina, California, line for Democrats, Jacinto, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yes, I was calling regarding Trump's White House reception with black Americans.
		It's so hypocritical when he didn't even allow them to live in his apartments.
		And also, I'm a proud Mexican-American.
		And he mentioned about us being rapists and criminals.
		I think it's just a farce.
		He doesn't like people of color.
		And that's my call.
		Thank you.
		Whether he likes people of color or not, his policies are hostile to people of color, period.
		When he, one of his first orders of business, is to undo a Lyndon B. Johnson civil rights executive order, that shows a hostility there.
		And so I'm looking at the policy.
		I don't care what's in his heart.
		I want to see what he's implementing and everything he's implementing is detrimental to people of color and to women.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		There's an article here in the Grio with the headline, Can Democrats' message on DEI convince white women to dump Trump?
		You're quoted in this article.
		What did you say?
unidentified		I said that Democrats need to stop trying to convert white women that are with Trump.
		They need to focus on the base.
		There are white women that are part of the base, but too often Democrats are trying to get this mythical white woman voter that is appalled with Trump and is going to dump the Republican Party as a result of it, the Liz Cheney voter.
		And that's just such a small slither.
		And they do that at the expense of galvanizing the people that are sitting on the couch but would come out to vote if they were being spoken to.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What would galvanize those people that are sitting on the couch?
unidentified		I think they have to talk about things like the economy in a way that shows that Democrats do grow the economy.
		I think that they need to talk a lot about, they need to talk more about prices of food, of inflation and things like that, of job growth, wages, and talk about the difference between Democratic policies and Republican policies.
		And if they get that message through and they break through all the disinformation, then we can get more people galvanized.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Gwen in Jacksonville, Florida, Independent Line.
		Hi, Gwen.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning.
		This is my first time calling.
		And I'm calling, I'm kind of sick and tired of as black, like a black person speaking on behalf of, get blacks, I want to speak on behalf of all blacks.
		I'm sick and tired of we just keep on going back.
		You know, in other words, we want to have a separate this and separate that.
		We want to have a separate, we want to do our own separate black national anthem.
		We want to, we got a month, February of black history.
		Come on, we want to be American.
		Let's be American.
		I mean, sick and tired, just keep on trying to put us in this box and everything.
		I mean, let's move forward.
		I mean, thank the Lord that we do have a president that's going to hear the people.
		I mean, and the Democrat, I mean, I'm serious.
		And a lot of black who's in a Democrat Party claim to be Christian.
		Then when time comes to voting time, don't matter what that candidate stands for, abortion, homosexual, everything, they're going to go put their approval regardless of what God's word said.
		So I'm sick and tired of it.
		Let's be American.
		Stop being putting blacks in this box and everything.
		Let's move ahead.
		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		What do you think, Reese?
unidentified		I'm a proud black woman.
		My blackness is not in opposition or mutually exclusive to being American.
		And so it's unfortunate that she feels that that is somehow hinders her ability to identify with or assimilate or be accepted as Americans.
		But I don't share that view.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here is Joseph in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Joseph.
unidentified		Hey, how are you, Mimi?
		I just got a couple points.
		If you just let me finish to your guest, I just want to let her know I'm ultra, ultra MAGA, okay?
		Okay.
		And that's not a bad thing.
		And you just said about 10 minutes ago about this country's too tribalism, too much tribalism.
		All I hear you talking about is African Americans.
		This and being American, I look in the mirror.
		I don't look at myself as a white, Irish, Italian kid.
		I'm an American.
		And I just, I think that causes a lot of problems.
		Second, the guy that is in the White House now, they were going to put in jail if he didn't win this election because of a bookkeeping error.
		So you're telling me that President Trump, as the chief executive, can't look at agencies that are wasting money and could be getting kickbacks?
		And a lot of that money, miss, could be used.
		If he saves money, a lot of that money, I grew up in New York City, not too far from Bed Star and Newark, New Jersey.
		That money could be given to inner cities to help African American kids.
		And you want to give it to other countries?
		I just don't understand what your thinking is.
		I know you don't like Trump, but he's fighting for all Americans.
		That money could be used for inner cities, not for cities and countries that can't stand us.
		Thank you.
		Very interesting.
		Well, you know, let's talk about kickbacks.
		This administration is trying to roll back foreign bribery rules.
		And so I think that when we're talking about kickbacks, let's not go there when it comes to the Trump administration.
		But as far as this whole notion that we can't talk about race, we can't talk about gender, we can't talk about sexuality, that is somehow un-American or that's divisive, is part of the reason why we're in this mess because people are uncomfortable with the idea of diversity and inclusion and people of different backgrounds having value and having pride in that.
		And because of that narrow-minded thinking, now we're seeing an expansive usage of DEI to roll back things for all kinds of people.
		I haven't just talked about black people.
		I talked about the fact that this is impacting all communities and not just black people.
		But I understand your position.
		I respect people who are MAGA because at least you voted.
		I have a bigger issue with people who don't vote than people who vote.
		Everybody has a vote.
		If you use it, use it how you see fit.
		But I have a bigger issue with people who don't vote.
		But I don't think that the fact that I'm talking about black people is an issue.
		If you have a problem with it, I think that's something you probably should deal with.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		He also talked about funding for foreign countries instead of going to the inner cities here in the United States.
unidentified		Right.
		Well, I think that the thing about it is that a lot of time when people are talking about foreign funding, they don't understand that a lot of that funding is actually going to American businesses.
		Look at what's happening right now with USAID.
		And farmers, U.S. farmers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars of money that they were expecting.
		And even though the products were being shipped overseas, that was something that stimulates the American economy.
		A lot of the funding that went to Ukraine was actually going to defense contractors in the United States.
		And so sometimes we have to realize that even though, you know, we should be worried about our stage, our status in the world, but there is a benefit.
		There's a tangible benefit to Americans, even when foreign funding is happening.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's talk to Sandra, Brooklyn, New York, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		My name is Sandra.
		And I am a Democrat.
		I'm looking at what's going on in this country.
		This country is so divided.
		And the Republican Party, they're responsible for it.
		What they have done, they have slashed Medicaid, Medicare.
		They're talking about getting rid of all these other agencies.
		Meanwhile, you've got planes going down.
		You think that one day you're looking at one plane, it's another plane going down.
		What about households that both families, the mother and father working for the federal government, today don't have a job.
		So how do they pay their mortgage?
		How do the children go to school?
		How do they put food on the table?
		You've got Trump talking about Gaza and talking about what's going on in Ukraine, but you've got California looking like Ukraine.
		You've got floods going on here.
		And yet he's talking about making Canada the 51st state.
		What about what's going on here?
		The people are struggling.
		As I said, I'm a Democrat.
		I didn't vote for Trump, and thank God I didn't.
		But what's going to happen?
		You've got elections that's going to be coming up.
		Let the Democrats, let the Republicans cut their own throat, put people in place to take those positions so that this way the three-party government becomes one and that the Democrats and the independents take over so that this way Trump can be held accountable because our allies are afraid of us.
		They can't trust us.
		They don't know what they're going to do.
		And I'm hoping and praying that NATO does take in Ukraine because I'm proud to be an American.
		But right now, what I see as an American, it is truly making me sick.
		Making me sick.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Sondra, let's get Recy.
unidentified		Yeah, I'm glad she brought up so many of those points because the previous caller talked about we're sending money overseas instead of fixing what's happening here.
		And yet Donald Trump is talking about cutting FEMA.
		He's talking about, you know, Republicans are talking about making disaster relief in California conditional upon implementing their policies, which go against the policies of the California voters.
		And so we're seeing time and time again where Republicans are not talking about making more investments in our country, handling or taking care of the people here.
		They're talking about putting more money in billionaires' pockets.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is Mike in Madison Heights, Michigan, Independent Line.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yes, good morning.
		I'd like to know with all this fraud and waste of our tax dollars, how come no one's got indicted?
		If Mr. Musk has any knowledge of this fraud and stuff, he should give the people's name and make it public.
		That's my question.
		Why wouldn't he make it public if it's fraud?
		Fraud's illegal.
		Right.
		I mean, there's always been ways that fraud has been detected and it has been prosecuted.
		I mean, how many people went to jail for PPP loans that were fraudulent?
		And so, and hey, Elon Musk's businesses, a lot of them have been under various investigations.
		The person that was pushed out of the air traffic controller, FAA, had had a battle with Elon Musk over a fine for one of his businesses.
		And so I still don't like the discussion around fraud because it just assumes that there is fraud in the government, which there is to some very, very small degree.
		But the vast majority, a very, very vast majority of the spending in our federal government is valid based on congressional appropriations.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here is Terry in Rogers, Minnesota, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Terry.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'd like to just correct a couple of things.
		First off, the tax cuts for the billionaires, that tax cut benefited the middle class the most of any group.
		That's just a fact.
		It also created more tax revenue than any other tax cut in history.
		Secondly, when you get into the issue of whether or not it's, you know, whether or not we should be in Ukraine or Gaza, he's doing something about it.
		He's trying something.
		He's offered up something different.
		I mean, the idea that we just continue with the process that hasn't worked for 67 years that just ends up in another war and another war.
		Something different has to happen in Gaza.
		And when you say, well, it's helping us build bombs.
		It's good for America.
		That's your stance.
		That's where you're at.
		I'll say, you know, it just, I think you've got to understand something.
		And this is it.
		The American people elected a president, a house, and a senate.
		And you're right.
		They fund the government.
		They give block grants.
		And then the executive branch and the bureaucrats under them determine where it's going.
		There was no line item that said, we're going to fund transgender theaters.
		There wasn't one.
		That was a bureaucrat that picked it under the executive branch.
		We had an election.
		We have a new executive leader.
		We have a new executive branch.
		That's why they got cut.
		And they should be cut.
		I think you just got to come to the acceptance that the American people don't believe what you believe anymore.
		Liberalism has been killed because it was lunacy.
		A lot of it was.
		Have a good day.
		You too.
		There was a lot of that.
		I just want to point out that Donald Trump did not win a 50% majority of the vote.
		He just was under 49%.
		Kamala Harris, Vice President Kamala Harris, received 75 million votes.
		So the idea that liberalism is dead is just mathematically untrue.
		It's funny that Republicans want to talk about America first.
		Colonizing Gaza is not America first.
		Colonizing El Salvador, which is essentially what we would be doing by shipping migrants who are undeportable anywhere else, is not America first.
		Buying Greenland is not America first.
		Making Canada the 51st country, our 51st state is not America first.
		And so there are all these contradictions in this so-called America first policy.
		I don't think doing something different in terms of just completely disregarding the sovereignty of a nation like Ukraine or disregarding the humanity of Palestinians by forcibly dislocating them, saying that they can't return because America now owns Gaza is something different that we need for this country.
		The something different that we need is more investment in the American people, more investment in our health care, more investment in our schools, and more investment in fighting this climate change that is running rampant across this country.
		Those are the kinds of investments that we need.
		And then the last point on the tax cuts, I believe 80% or more went to the top 1% in the country.
		It ran up trillions of dollars of deficits.
		And even though middle-class people and working people initially got a cut, with each year, our tax bills went up.
		I got killed personally by Trump's tax cut.
		And so as much as I despise Republicans right now, I hope I get a little bit of relief in this tax bill.
		That would be one small consolation for me.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And just to make sure about the percentage of the popular vote, here is CNN.
		And it's got the percentage of the popular vote by Donald Trump is 49.8%.
		There are the number of votes there.
		And then Kamal Harris got 48.3% of the popular vote.
unidentified		Right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here is Stephen in Niagara Falls, New York.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, and good morning, Reese.
		I like what you say and everything about the Trump situation.
		I'm concerned with the people that I hear calling in, the Republicans and other people, talking about what a great job he's doing when this Musk deal is going around and they're willy-nilly laying people off like that watch the nuclear stuff, whatever.
		And then about also the people that take care of the veterinarians and everything that take care of the bird flu and stuff like that.
		They just willy-nilly got rid of those people and everything.
		I mean, just down the line that they're just willy-nilly getting rid of people all of a sudden.
		Now they're trying to find some of these people that they let go because they realize that, oh man, we made a big mistake on this.
		So I agree with you.
		And I just want to make one comment towards C-SPAN.
		And I listened to the gentleman you had prior to her, Tarisi.
		I wish that C-SPAN would do in the future, because I was listening to this guy spew a lot of nonsense when he's calling jack-booted thugs going into go after Trump and everything, after those documents, whatever, when the National Archives were practically begging Trump to give some of that, get that stuff back, whatever, and he was ignoring them, whatever.
		So I would appreciate it if, like, say, Reese was sitting across the table from him when he started talking some of this absolute crazy nonsense that they could come back and say, wait a minute, what this guy's saying is not true, whatever, or he's lying, whatever.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, Stephen, we do like to do roundtables, but not all the guests agree to that.
		Yeah.
		Is that it, Stephen?
unidentified		People on the Democratic side, whatever, do that because these Republicans come out of there and they don't care about lying.
unidentified		They'll lie about anything.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Reese.
unidentified		Well, let's talk about Project 2025.
		I haven't mentioned that yet.
		What they talked about and what Steve Bannon has talked about for years is deconstructing the administrative state.
		And so part of the point of all of this woolly-nilly stuff is the chaos that it creates.
		It's about the new OMB director, Russell Vought, said that they want to traumatize federal workers.
		And so they're haphazardly doing things because they don't really care about a functioning executive branch.
		To the extent that it doesn't function, they hope that the American people will continue to turn against it.
		But it's really starting to backfire because they are hitting so many communities and so many populations that did not expect to be impacted by it and who were actually formerly and in some cases still Trump supporters, like I mentioned earlier, the farmers.
		And so this is part of the point.
		The chaos, the cruelty is part of the point.
		And it's incumbent upon us as the American people to push back.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is NBC News with the headline: USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them.
		Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are, quote, working to swiftly rectify the situation.
		And here is Tim in Gasville, Arkansas, Independent Line.
		Good morning, Tim.
unidentified		Good morning, Amy.
		We're 40 trillion in debt.
		And you look at all the U.S. AID projects.
		These are slush funds for corrupt officials to use.
		And I'm surprised C-SPAN hasn't put out a list.
		Come on, give us the list so we can see more.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Tim, we're trying to find that, but USAID's website has gone down, and we are having trouble finding.
		If you have that information from a credible source, please do send it to us.
		Tim?
		Tim?
		No, I guess we lost him.
unidentified		So this is the problem that I have.
		So much of what's being done now is based in disinformation.
		It's based in these imaginary problems, these drastically exaggerated problems.
		We do not have widespread fraud in the government.
		And yet, that's the basis of making these cuts.
		The idea that all of these federal workers are just moochers who sit at home and collect money is ridiculous.
		Most of Donald Trump's policy right now is based on disinformation.
		What he's doing in Russia and Ukraine, parroting Russian talking points is disinformation.
		And it really, really distresses me that we are having real policy changes that can have generational impacts when we're talking about doing away with Alzheimer funding based on disinformation and people not understanding the way our government works and what we need to make investments in.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Recy Colbert, host of the Reese Colbert Show on SiriusXM Radio.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thanks so much for joining us.
unidentified		Thank you.
unidentified		That was fast.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Up next, it's Open Forum, and it's your turn to talk about any public policy issue or topic you'd like to talk about.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You can start calling in now: Republicans 202-748-8001, Democrats 202-748-8000, and Independents 202-748-8002.
unidentified		We'll be right back.
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		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 4 p.m. Eastern, Luis Miranda Jr., with his book Relentless, talks about his life as a political activist and organizer in the Latino community.
		Then, at 6:45 p.m. Eastern, Nicole Turner-Lee, with her book, Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass, contends that lack of internet access is creating economic disparities in poor and rural communities.
		And at 10 p.m. Eastern on afterwards, Professor Eve L. Ewing, with her book, Original Sins: The Miseducation of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, argues that the United States education system reinforces racial inequality at the expense of black and native children.
		She's interviewed by associate press editor Aaliyah Wong.
		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
		Democracy.
		It isn't just an idea.
		It's a process.
		A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles.
		It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted.
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		This is your government at work.
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		Washington Journal continues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We're in open forum, and we will take your call shortly.
		Wanted to make sure you knew about this news.
		Here is the Courier Journal that says Senator Mitch McConnell, former GOP Powerhouse, won't seek re-election.
		And here's a portion of his announcement from the Senate floor yesterday.
mitch mcconnell ▲ ● ▼		And yet so often I've watched colleagues depart venting their frustration at the confines of the institution or mourning what they perceive to be decline of its norms.
		Regardless, regardless of the political storms that may wash over this chamber during the time I have remaining, I assure our colleagues that I will depart with great hope for the endurance, the endurance of the Senate as an institution.
		There are any number of reasons for pessimism, but the strength of the Senate is not one of them.
		This chamber is still the haven where the political minority can require debate.
		It's still the crucible in which jurists are tested for their fidelity to upholding the Constitution and lives and laws as they were written.
		The Senate is still equipped for work of great consequence.
		And to the disappointment of my critics, I'm still here on the job.
		I yield the board.
unidentified		Mr. President.
unidentified		Senator North Carolina.
thom tillis ▲ ● ▼		Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the members and staff and spectators in the gallery be allowed to applaud for a period not to exceed 30 seconds.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And to the calls now, Mike in Racine, Wisconsin, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Mike.
unidentified		Good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		I kept hearing from the Democrats after the election about how they need to do a better job of messaging.
		Well, all through the campaign, we were ostracized and called garbage, Nazis, fascists.
		And it's not just the messaging, it's the messengers because guys like me that live in rural Wisconsin, how can we relate to somebody who's screaming and shrieking like Ayanna Presley or Chuck Schumer or any of the Democrats that just are going on and on?
		They need a total reboot on their policies.
		And I just want to say thank you for taking my call.
		Goodbye.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here is Jason in Williston Park, New York, Independent.
unidentified		Yes, hi.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		I think that, as the previous caller mentioned, you know, we've got 50% of the country feeling the same way about each other.
		And I'm an independent.
		I've always been an independent, but I skew to the left.
		I'm on the coast.
		And I think what we've got is a fetty to communicate, as they say, and going both ways.
		And I think that, you know, I have a conscience and it makes me feel a certain way.
		I grew up in a Judeo-Christian household, and I think that I know what's right, and then the other 50% of the country thinks that they know what's right.
		And I think we've come to a conclusion here that I think that really what it comes down to is fear.
		And I think that everybody feels that if somebody gets ahead, that means somebody has to lose something.
		Somebody's not going to get something.
		And I think that we're in a situation where white heterosexual males really are feeling threatened.
		And that's really what it comes down to: is that people feel that in order for somebody that doesn't look like me, somebody that doesn't feel the same ways, somebody that feels that the America that our parents felt that they were going to get, and truthfully, that never really existed, that is going to change.
		And it's the fear of change, fear that we're not going to get something that we thought we should have gotten, fear that we're not going to see the people that look like us living next door to us, that we're going to lose something.
		But you know what?
		The American dream isn't a finite thing, in my mind, in my humble opinion.
		And everybody can get what they want and not lose what they think they're going to get.
		And it's that fear that's driving everybody right now.
		All right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Jason, and this is Rita, also in New York, Line for Democrats.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Is it Napanak?
unidentified		Rita?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You there, Rita?
unidentified		Yes.
unidentified		Yes, I'm here.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yep, go ahead.
unidentified		Okay, so I am a Democrat, but like George Washington said when he was elected president, that the two-party system would be the demise of our government.
		And I really believe that the Republican Party is using the headlines like our education system is broken.
		We're spending too much money.
		We're not doing what we're supposed to be doing for the country as a whole.
		No good medical insurance.
		Those are all headlines.
		And what the Republican Party is doing is using those headlines to make their followers believe that they're actually doing something about it.
		And what they're not doing is anything about it.
		They're using those headlines to destroy our democracy and to create an authoritarianism government that will ruin the United States of America.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Walter, a Republican in Capac, Michigan?
unidentified		Yes.
		Hi.
		Yes, this is my first time calling.
		And I was a former Democratic voter, and I switched to the Republican Party because of all the weaponization of our government.
		And the reason why I'm calling is I want to send a message to the Republicans and the rest of America.
		While we're on this waste fraud and abuse investigation, we need to look carefully at our foster care funding system.
		The federal statute that incentivizes the seizure of children from their family members for placement in private adoption situations is nothing short of waste fraud and abuse.
		And I myself just filed a complaint with the Office of Investigative General because I'm involved and entangled in such a situation.
		And as a grandparent in America, I have had to spend $100,000 of my grandson's inheritance to try to get him out of a foster care system.
		My representative, Jamie Green, isn't doing anything for me, even though she's a Republican.
		Okay.
		And until we start holding the states accountable for the billing submissions that They submit to the federal government, and we start checking to make sure that the CPS workers and the foster care workers in the court system in the local state and government isn't defrauding the federal government.
		We're never going to correct this problem.
		So, when I hear that 150-year-old Social Security claimants are getting payments, and I don't know if that's true or not, because I don't know anybody that has lived to be 150 years.
		But seriously, we need to look at the foster care system.
		That is one of the biggest things for every state.
		If you look online, there's repeated complaints about the corruption at the state level, and the federal government and its program incentivizes that abuse.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here's Manuel in Houston, Texas.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Minnie.
unidentified		You're looking lovely as always.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
unidentified		Let me see if I can get on this real quick without getting on a long rant.
		I was trying to get in so hard to talk to Mr. Knowles.
		I mean, this Mr. Knowles is a Trump sickle fan.
		I mean, he has his, he looks through the scope of a Trump kaleidoscope.
		That's what his vision is.
		Now, I want to remind America to wake up to what's going on.
		What Enon MS is doing is basically from the hit Nazi playbook.
		When the Nazis first got into office, they started going after that.
		Oh, we're going to save the government money.
		We're going to save money and this and that.
		We're going to look into these programs.
		Well, it's the same thing they did.
		They started going, getting rid of people, getting all the yes men sickle fence in there to do Trump's bidding.
		Now, what I'm afraid is what's already happening, America has turned into a fascist country.
		And Trump and the Republicans are going to help.
		The Republicans are going to help Trump facilitate it.
		Trump is just, in my opinion, salivating for demonstrations so he can send out the troops because it's coming.
		It's coming.
		This guy, he wants to be a dictator.
		It's all in the writing.
		Look at what he's doing.
		Trump concentration camps are coming.
		It's already happening.
		It's already started.
		When Tomano Bay, he's going to take the immigrants there, start putting them in camps.
		This guy, America, this guy is going to destroy America from within.
		As far as Russia, what are you doing with Russia?
		All the trillions, let's say gazillions of dollars that we spent over decades keeping Russia in check.
		This guy's going to hand everything over to Russia because he is owned by Russia.
		He looks up to dictators.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Manuel.
		Well, there was a hockey game yesterday between the United States and Canada.
		And before that game, President Trump said this on Truth Social, calling Team USA, quote, to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which will, with far lower taxes and much stronger security, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished and very important 51st state.
		Well, Canada did beat the USA 3-2 in overtime.
		That was in Boston.
		And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on X just after that game: quote, you can't take our country and you can't take our game.
		And let's go to Michael in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Independent.
		Hi, Michael.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'm calling to advocate for more representatives in the United States House.
		So initially, when When the Bill of Rights was first proposed, it was proposed that we have a cap on the size of House districts.
		And I believe that around 1913, it was basically fixed at 435 representatives.
		And I'm advocating that the size of the House be expanded to be more representative.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Do you feel like there isn't enough representation for the amount of population in a given congressional district?
unidentified		Correct.
		The House was supposed to be the chamber that is representative of the people in very Democratic.
		And I believe that the fact that House districts are so large forces House representatives to spend all their time fundraising to be able to afford media to outreach to a very large district.
		And if House districts were smaller, it would be a way of limiting the effect that money has on the, I guess at least the House of Representatives.
		And I think that would have an overall beneficial effect on the entire political system.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Got it, Michael.
		Here's Holly in Dawsonville, Georgia, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Thanks for having me on.
		I agree with that previous caller.
		I think maybe he should run for office.
		He seems pretty reasonable.
		I wanted to mention Recy, your guest.
		Boy, the gaslighting that the progressives utilize is truly an art form.
		I mean, it's almost as if they all went to a special school that only they are invited to and really perfected this craft.
		I mean, two examples that I heard, and I hear this all the time, it's not just her.
		And I truly believe that the way that they're speaking to people, so dismissive, so belittling and condescending and twisting their words in this acrobatic way, this is a big reason why they're losing people.
		When the black woman called in, who was a Trump supporter, she was expressing her frustration with being put in boxes, but being put in this black box as this, you're speaking for me, and I'm supposed to think this sort of way.
		And she was expressing that frustration.
		And Recy's response, part of her response was, well, my blackness is not at odds with being an American.
		Wow.
		Wow.
		Gaslighting 101.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You don't believe that, Holly, that you can be black and American at the same time?
unidentified		Oh, of course.
		But do you not understand how disrespectful that implication is to the woman that called?
		As if she was trying to say that her, oh, well, good for you.
		Your blackness is, sorry that your blackness is at odds.
		I mean, what a joke.
		And then let me finish with the second one.
		The MAGA gentleman who called afterwards.
		He didn't say anything about race, by the way.
		He was touching on some other points.
		But she, after he got off the phone, one of her responses was, you know, if you have a problem with me talking about black issues, that says more about you than me.
		Why did that come from?
		Again, gaslighting.
		I mean, it's just amazing.
		And it's amazing to me that it's become pathological.
		And you guys, I'm sorry, maybe not you, but they don't even notice that they're doing it.
		It's amazing.
		And you know what?
		People are seeing through it, and they're sick of being spoken to like that.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Margaret in Santa Maria, California, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Margaret.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I want people to think about after World War II, if Germany had been allowed to keep parts of the countries they had captured.
		Isn't that what the U.S. is negotiating with Russia right now?
		Just something to think about.
		Oh, and people should stop referring to Ukraine as a territory.
		It's a country.
		That's why I called in today.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And that's Margaret, and this is Lori in Las Vegas, Independent Line.
unidentified		Hi there.
		So I was going to call for one thing, but I have to agree with your previous guest, not the one that was just on, but the one before that with Reese.
		As a black woman, I found what she said very offensive.
		It's degrading.
		It's belittling.
		I'm not a believer in DEI at all because things should be based on your merits, not the color of your skin or the gender, because it's nonsense and they do gaslight people really, really bad.
		It's nonsense.
		On top of that, everything she said, talking about the tax, the Trump tax cuts did not help her.
		They did help the middle class.
		But she's probably not middle class, which is probably why she did not feel it, but the rest of us did as a country.
		70% of people in this country voted for Trump because we like what's happening and we think it should be done.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		70% of the country, sorry, 77 million.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yeah.
unidentified		77 million.
		So when people who are so against what is happening, I don't understand how people can want their money to be wasted or not used for American people.
		All these frivolous programs, and you can go right to the government page and see everything that's being spent.
		So I'm sorry, I don't want my tax dollars spent that way.
		It's ridiculous.
		And there was a woman who called in talking about the schools and the Department of Education.
		Well, in the paper, a report that I read talked about how the American report card was horrible because kids fourth through 12th grade, 60% of them cannot read at a proficient level.
		So our schools are absolutely failing.
		I feel like all these agencies need to be gutted.
		And I hope that Trump, Kash Patel, all of them do more.
		Thank you.
		Have a good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Lori in Pennsylvania, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Lori.
unidentified		Good morning.
		So just one month back in public office, I give President Trump an A ⁇ .
		Promises were made and promises were kept.
		And I don't even know where to start, from border control to tariffs and on and on.
		But I'd like to speak about Doge.
		It stands for Department of Government Efficiency.
		Let me repeat that.
		Department of Government Efficiency.
		Elon Musk was appointed by Trump to eliminate all the fraud, waste, and corruption in the government.
		This has been needed to be happening for decades.
		I mean, we're finally here.
		Trillions of dollars have been uncovered so far in government fraud.
		Are you listening, America?
		Doge isn't coming after your money.
		They're going after the people that are stealing your hard-earned money.
		It's a purge and a downsize of government.
		This isn't rocket science.
		And the money uncovered will come back to the people.
		We just need to be patient.
		It's only the start of how to fix America and everything else needed that we're looking for, we're hoping for, will follow.
		It's the takedown of all that evil that we've had to endure the last four years.
		Indictments will come.
		Anyone not awakened, not on board with this, is a complete disgrace to this country.
		I'm sorry.
		This is why we're in this predicament to this very day.
		So a great awakening is needed to move forward to the golden age.
		You've had five years to research and figure everything out for the sake of all humanity.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And NBC News reports that Trump floats giving 20% of Doge savings to American citizens.
		It says the amount of any payments, an idea that Trump said was still under consideration, would depend on figures from Doge, which has had some of its savings claims debunked.
		Here is Steve in Brilliant, Wisconsin, Independent Line.
unidentified		That would be correct.
		I've heard a lot of comments made by a lot of people.
		One thing that bothers me is that when Doge or Musk and his Muscovites go around and fire people, okay, or they try to do other things with them, and then you've got a fallout where, say, they fire the head of a department, and then the number two, the number three, the number four person quits in disgust.
		Instead of doing that, why don't they stand there, stand their ground, and fight back?
		It would make more sense to me.
		It would probably send a message back to Musk and his little Muscovite crew.
		They're doing silly things.
		He's going after the cutting with a hacksaw or a chainsaw.
		And yeah, there might be some waste in everything, but damn, use a scalpel instead of a chainsaw.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		When you say that they should stay and fight back, you're talking about the federal employees, the high-level.
unidentified		The high-level federal employees or the heads of some of these departments that are how would they fight back?
		What authority would they have?
		Well, what authority does Musk have?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I guess he's been given the authority from the president.
unidentified		Well, does the president have that authority to begin with?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We'll see.
		I guess the courts are going to have to determine that.
		Kendall in Cincinnati, Ohio, Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		One of the problems that I see with DEI is that it is a substitute for reparations for African descendants of slaves.
		My ancestors were not paid for their labor.
		We had Jim Crow laws that just strictly dealt with African American people.
		And so this whole thing by including everyone, it just blurs the whole issue.
		Now, I think that federal tax exempt status for African American descendants of slaves should be on the table.
		As a matter of fact, there's a Hollywood actor, I believe, Terence Howard, he is contesting his tax, perhaps saying that he should have tax-exempt status because our ancestors put hundreds of years blood and work and were never paid.
		They were not allowed to create an estate, pass down generational wealth.
		Our parents were subject to Jim Crow laws.
		And so instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, federal tax-exempt status, that was in a book called Economic Revolution, federal tax exempt status for African descendants of slaves would be an equitable way.
		You're not giving anyone anything.
		If someone doesn't work, they don't get paid.
		But at the same time, it allows people to get their hands out of the pockets of the people who are often pushed out and show that we're downtrodden and poor.
		And the reason why is because we've had hundreds of years just taken out of our pocket and they're still paying it taken out of our pockets.
		So federal tax exempt status.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Got it, Kendall.
		And here's Charles in Washington, D.C., Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hey, how you doing?
		I hope all is well out there in C-Span Land.
		There was a gentleman called some time ago from Sarasota, Florida, Tony, I think his name was, and he mentioned that blue states should pay more in taxes.
		News alert, blue states do pay more in taxes, but more than paying more in taxes.
		We are linked together.
		So the taxes that the blue states pay, red states get a bigger benefit from it.
		And we are the United States of America.
		And one thing affects the other, and the other affects the other person as we live here in this United States.
		I'll say it again: United States.
		When the states are united, we're stronger.
		When you start dividing them by politics and red and blue, you dilute the power of the whole because you're separating yourself from yourself.
		As we sit here together talking on the phone and I listen to all of these people talk, nobody's talking about where you coalesce together or how you make this a better situation as human beings on this very small planet in this place that we call the United States of America in the part that we put together a better world for our children by making better decisions.
		And I'd just like to say this to all that's listening.
		As we stand together, we do better together.
		The same dog that bit me will bite you.
		They came for the blacks, they came for the Jews.
		Then they'll come for you.
		The gentleman talked about Germany or the lady after World War II breaking up Germany and letting them have more land.
		It's happening right now in front of our face.
		Everybody needs to wake up and know that a lie is a lie.
		Tell the truth about the history of America, African Americans, Native Americans.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Charles will stay in Washington, D.C.
		This is Sophia Independent Line.
		Good morning, Sophia.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Really appreciate this program and really appreciate this show and the opportunity to contribute.
		But I'll just say this: you know, I think Trump 1.0 was defined by offensiveness.
		But Trump 2.0, you know, is just organized and really truly about dismantling, I think, democratic institutions.
		And Trump 1.0, we all watched, I think, in disbelief as Trump, you know, threw his hands up and imitated a disabled reporter.
		That ugly moment in my eyes, you know, was a blatant display of disrespect.
		And I still, you know, really haven't forgiven him for that.
		But these attacks that he's making on DEI programs are alarming.
		I think as a black woman, I think they're dangerous.
		And also, we're watching the impact that they're having on the corporate world that completely undermines efforts, I think, to promote and ensure that we have representation.
		I don't think we can sit here and say that we live in an age of color blindness whenever we see the impacts.
		And when you look at the disparities for representation amongst minority groups, not just black and white, but other minority groups as well, who are not accounted for, certainly as we look at education and we look at opportunities in different careers.
		And then let me not just focus on race.
		His attacks on our LGBTQI plus brothers and sisters, I think, are equally concerning.
		He's issued several anti-LGBTQI plus executive orders and really trying to erase the existence of transgender people, curbing the government's efforts to protect and support that community, which I am an ally of, of course.
		And then, you know, I certainly am astounded as somebody who lives in Washington, D.C. on his coordinated attack on the federal workforce, really him and Elon Musk coming together to reduce the size of the federal government and people comparing, you know, on Twitter and all over the place, even on this program, of course, where they have the right to, you know, espouse their beliefs.
		But the federal workforce is not, you know, does not need to be privatized, essentially.
		So, you know, I'm going to show it up because I know.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We're running out of time.
		So let me try to get Alan in, Silver Spring, Maryland Independent.
		Go ahead, Alan.
unidentified		Thank you so much, C-SPAN, for all you do.
		I just want to remind Democrats that they can be the party of truth and lie at the same time.
		If we start speaking the truth only when we want to support a certain group, we will end up falling into the same trap the other side is using against us.
		So we should only speak the truth and then we can hold ourselves accountable and hold other people accountable.
		That's all I have to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And that's all the time we've got for today's program.
		Thanks to everybody who watched.
		We will see you again tomorrow morning, 7 a.m. Eastern, here on Washington Journal.
unidentified		C-SPAN's coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference continues this morning with remarks from Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, former Arizona Senate candidate Carrie Lake, and White House Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka.
		It gets underway live at 10 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 2.
		And more from CPAC this afternoon with Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, HUD Secretary Scott Turner, and others.

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