A.J. Pesciuti details the GOP's California surge, spotlighting Spencer Pratt's viral AI campaign against Karen Bass and Steve Hilton's race versus Javier Becerra. The segment exposes alleged Democratic primary manipulation via Eric Swalwell's sexual abuse allegations, which split votes to aid Republicans, alongside backfiring attack ads portraying Pratt as pro-police. Discussing the "Trump factor," potential election integrity volunteers, and Voting Rights Act changes, Pesciuti argues these variables could shift control despite current polling, suggesting a fundamental realignment in West Coast politics driven by strategic errors and cultural shifts. [Automatically generated summary]
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Open Primaries and Republican Wins00:11:20
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If you've ever wondered what combat actually feels like, not the headlines, not the movies, but what it was like to be there, this is Combat Story.
I'm A.J. Pesciuti, a retired Force Recon Marine and Scout Sniper, and this show is for anyone who wants to understand the human side of war through the people that lived it.
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In Los Angeles, Spencer Pratt, running as a Republican, is taking the city by storm.
With massively viral AI campaign ads and actual campaign ads, people are cheering for this guy who had his home destroyed in the Palisades fire as he's challenging the Democrat establishment machine.
Recently, they put out an attack ad, and it's hilarious because the attack ad is like Spencer Pratt doesn't want to spend your tax dollars on housing for homeless people, and he wants more police officers.
And people in LA are like, Yes.
Okay.
And he's called for arresting criminals and drug users and traffickers.
And still, they think this is an attack here.
But it's not just Spencer Pratt.
We're having a good time watching his AI videos as he calls out the Democrat machine in California.
But it's also at the governor's level, with the number one polling candidate being the Republican, Steve Hilton.
And the best attack they've come up with, he called a Del Taco Taco a street taco.
I'm not even kidding.
Now, at the governor level, Something interesting had happened for a while until they destroyed Eric Swalwell.
And that is the two top polling candidates were Republicans, meaning with an open primary, when this goes to the election in November, your choice will be Republican A or Republican B.
But with a Democrat machine coming knives out for Eric Swalwell and basically removing him over serious sexual abuse allegations, it's now looking like it's going to be Javier Becerra and Steve Hilton, which means it may actually still go Democrat.
But We are seeing an epic fight.
Californians rallying behind prominent conservative voices in LA and the state as a whole.
I gotta say, it's pretty dang shocking to see.
Well, maybe not surprising actually, because this state has been so horribly mismanaged.
Los Angeles has been so horribly mismanaged that people are breaking and saying enough.
And now, while Spencer Pratt doesn't have the prediction markets claiming he is going to win, he is climbing steadily.
Perhaps he might be the guy to actually do it.
Now, again, I don't want to come out here and just pretend like, oh boy, Republicans are going to win everything, things are going to change.
But it is interesting to see that in Los Angeles and at the state level, people are standing up and saying, enough.
There still is one big factor, my friends, that we must consider, and that's the Trump factor.
You may have seen the news that Donald Trump says he will be deploying an army of election integrity.
Volunteers to make sure that everything is done properly.
Could this be the hammer that changes the game for the country and for California?
Now, of course, liberals are going to say this is Donald Trump sending in his goon squad to steal an election.
The Republicans are saying this is Donald Trump ensuring the Democrats don't steal an election.
Either way, Trump's efforts as it pertains to this midterm election will be a massive advantage for Republicans.
And thus, could this be the moment they buck the trends, they stand up, and California actually switches back, maybe temporarily, maybe for a long time, maybe permanently, switches back Republican.
Probably not, but maybe.
Seriously, I have to factor in that Trump variable.
We can look at the tremendous polling and prediction markets favoring Spencer Pratt as well as Steve Hilton.
And while some people say, yeah, but if things go the way we expect them to, it's going to be Democrat, except once again, that Trump variable, that Harmite Dillon DOJ variable, that Voting Rights Act variable could change the game everywhere.
So let's dive in and take a look at the latest that's going on with Democrats throwing a Hail Mary in an attempt to stop.
Republicans from winning the state.
Indeed, they're trying to revert their election process to a pre 2010 system to make sure Republicans can't win.
Well, how about that?
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Let's jump to the news.
We've got this from the New York Post.
Terrified Democrats plot massive voting change to stop all Republican governor primary.
Indeed, they knew they couldn't muster it up, so they had no choice but to just change the rules.
Now, I will throw this in there.
I think it's funny.
As we're looking at these redistricting battles, Democrats are apoplectic.
Because the Virginia Supreme Court said you can't unconstitutionally eliminate four Republican seats.
In the meantime, in many Republican states, they're doing just that and they're winning.
Both sides determined to win, both sides justifying what they do and why they do it.
Now, you know my bias, right?
I think that Joe Biden started this and it's his own fault.
He blocked Texas from their standard redistricting, claiming they were racist.
Then, when Trump gets in, removes that DOJ lawsuit, allowing Texas in 2025 to finally implement their new map.
Democrats then say, Oh, how dare you?
It's 2025.
You can't do that.
And then California, Utah, they start making these changes.
They claim Republican gerrymandering is an affront, except they've been doing it in blue states forever.
The Northeast, which is 30 to 40% Republican, has not a single Republican member of Congress.
So, spare me.
But I'm going to say it again.
Guys, it's a battle.
Okay?
If you want to win, you are going to do whatever it takes.
So, Democrats in California saying they're going to change the rules, I'm not surprised in the least.
For those that aren't familiar with how it works, it's an open primary.
So, everybody runs and the top two candidates advance to the general election, to the runoff.
The problem is, for a while now, the top two polling individuals were both Republicans.
Then, the Democrats went knives out for Eric Swalwell.
By eliminating Swalwell, the people who were going to back him split their votes among other Democrats, boosting them in the polls, taking Chad Bianco out of the top running.
We now see Steve Hilton and Javier Becerra as the top two likely candidates.
Indeed, they're not done yet.
Democrats are now proposing eliminating the open primary system because, whoopsie, it's going to make all Republicans the winners.
Well, what's really fascinating is how they try to do these schemes to steal elections and they blow up in their faces.
Poor Swalwell.
Not really, I think he's a bad guy.
But let's not forget the interstate, the popular vote interstate compact, where blue states.
All go to each other and say, pass this law, which says, in the event the compact has 270 electoral votes or more, then we activate.
And whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote, we give our electoral votes to.
The funny thing is, everybody's complaining and has for a while that this would be a Democrat scheme to make sure they always win.
And the Democrats laugh, saying, So you admit you don't win the popular vote.
And they say, Well, yeah, it's because most of the people are in your dense blue cities, but I got to push back.
I've argued the possibility that.
Because it is true there are more Republicans who don't vote in blue states than Democrats who don't vote in red states, a popular vote system would actually benefit Republicans.
California, they say, is two to one Democrat to Republican.
But the truth is, many of the Republicans there don't even vote because they feel it's a foregone conclusion.
Imagine what would happen if you went popular vote and all of those Republicans lit up and voted.
California, which should still, it might be 50 to 60%, meaning Still a Democrat majority, they'd be forced to give their votes to the Republican because the Republicans would start winning the popular vote.
None of that matters because with Donald Trump's changes, I say Trump, but with the Trump administration, the VRA, all of these things, it's looking like it's going to be a Republican majority for some time.
Understanding this, that with these Republican districts, this is the Electoral College as well.
So when they're talking about giving red states plus 12, plus 20 seats, that means the Electoral College all the same.
And with these states, and we're talking not about redistricting.
This is the immigration effort.
Internal immigration in the U.S. from blue to red states will give the Republican candidates more easy votes, making it more likely for them to win.
But also, the deportation issue and removing illegal immigrants from the census is going to eliminate a lot of electoral votes from Democrat jurisdictions.
It's going to get interesting.
The New York Post says in California, the primaries dubbed the jungle primaries work in a way where two candidates, regardless of party, Who secured the top two positions in June advanced to the general election.
Now, a newly filed application is aiming to change that.
Political consultant Steve Meviglio filed a petition with the state officials last week seeking a return to the pre 2010 traditional primary system, where separate primaries are held for each party and two candidates, one Republican, one Democrat.
In a Democrat stronghold, where nearly 50% of registered voters are Democrats compared to 25% of Independence Republicans, the current system has long been viewed as favoring Democrats.
And that's why they did it, really.
They thought they couldn't lose.
It was extremely scary to envision the November ballot for governor with Republicans on it.
The only real smear they have against Steve Hilton, California governor candidate destroyed over referring to Dell Taco as a street taco, instantly disqualifying.
This is the game they're playing.
So Steve Hilton goes to Barstow Street Taco, right?
It's a Dell Taco fast food chain, but it's very famous in California.
And he says, Why am I holding a Barstow Street Taco right now?
Because I just bought it at a historic location.
Dell Taco opened in 1964 as the chain's first ever restaurant.
Here's the thing.
They said, that's not a street taco.
That's a Dell taco.
Looks fantastic, by the way, I might add.
And I really do want one.
He calls it a Barstow street taco, instantly disqualifying.
He protested, it's what they call it.
Indeed.
This is the game they're trying to play.
We all know what a street taco is.
They're delicious, they're amazing, maybe a little dirty.
But if you've ever lived in LA, and I have, I love the street food so much.
You know, they take a cookie sheet, put it on a laundry hamper, and then they put.
They put like candles under it to heat it up, and they will fry sausages and green peppers and onions, and they will put on a tortilla for you or a bun, or you can get the tacos or shredded beef or whatever, or ground beef.
I'm a fan.
I love the tamale guys, by the way, too.
Man, that's what I really love about Texas and California a guy shows up with a cooler, and they do it in Chicago.
I mean, they do this everywhere.
Hanging out in Chicago, and a guy walks in, and it's like some five foot four Mexican guy being like, Hey, we have the tamales for you to buy.
And I'm like, Let's go.
I'm like, What do you got?
El Pollo, you know, I love those.
And Elotes, man, I'm telling you.
The point he's making is that OG Dell Taco Tacos, they're called the Barstow Street Taco.
They're called that.
He's not referring to literal street tacos all over the place.
He's saying this is what people call it in the area.
And that's the best they could do.
It's because he's right.
But you know what?
Don't take my word for it.
Let's take a look at Spencer Pratt, who is taking Los Angeles by storm.
Now, I don't know that he's going to win, right?
We got the prediction markets over here.
Currently, he's sitting around, what do we got for him?
For those that don't speak Spanish, that means garbage.
He's got these AI videos.
They're amazing.
Let me pull up.
So we've got Karen Bass.
She's backing out of a debate.
I mean, this is absolutely nuts.
Take a look at this.
Karen Bass cancels appearance at televised LA Mayoral Forum because she knows she can't.
Handle it.
She's got to dip out.
Now, take a look at this.
This is an attack ad.
The LA County Federation of Labor has a new committee lined up to go after Spencer Pratt, and they are dropping an initial $221,000 on this video and digital ad.
You got to see this.
This is one of the most, the funniest things ever.
unidentified
Republican Spencer Pratt is the last thing Los Angeles needs for mayor.
Pratt opposes using taxpayer money to build brand new houses for unhoused neighbors.
Saying it's time for the homeless to get help or get out.
Pratt thinks LA needs thousands more police officers rather than more social workers.
And Republican Spencer Pratt thinks public employee unions should have less power, not more.
LA is on the right track and needs to stay the course.
I lived there for like, what did I live there for?
Two years, and I moved, then I came back for like a year or something like that.
I think.
I don't know.
Lost track of time.
But I was there for several years.
And I frequent there periodically.
And it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
It's our most beautiful state.
I think it's fair to say.
To be fair, Washington's pretty beautiful, but it's too bad that these woke.
Lunatic commies are so destructive to it.
I actually worked in the homeless sector.
We call it the homeless sector, the homeless industrial complex in LA.
I have tremendous experience with many of the homeless.
I met many good people who fell into hard times and they found a way out.
But you know what I found?
Having worked with these circumstances, most of the people who are homeless choose to be.
Indeed, they do.
And it's funny when I say this because liberals lie.
And that's why I say they're evil.
These liberal pundits are like, Tip Pool thinks they want to be homeless.
Have you ever met these people?
I'll tell you stories.
There's a guy outside, and I asked him his questions.
I was like, Do you want, is there anything we can get you?
And he was like, Oh, you got any money?
And I'm like, Can't give you money.
Got clothes, got food.
And he's like, I don't know.
I'm fine, I guess.
Maybe some food.
What do you got?
It's like, We have sandwiches.
And I asked him, I said, Do you want to come to a shelter?
You can get cleaned up.
You can live there.
There's a bed.
It's comfortable.
There's TVs.
You can hang out.
And he goes, Nope.
And I asked him why.
And he said, You can't do drugs there.
And I'm really paraphrasing.
They lock you in.
You can't do drugs.
It's miserable.
It's like jail.
They don't want it.
Several people told me that they wanted to be homeless.
They didn't say, I want to be homeless.
They say, I'm happy here.
They're like, my friends are over there.
I get to do whatever I want.
I did meet some people who fell in hard times, who fell in hard times and said, I'm trying to find a way back.
And you know what?
Those people get out in like a week or two.
They go to the shelters.
God bless them.
And the shelters, both of them.
They get cleaned up, they get clean shoes, they get clean clothes, they get a bed.
People like that get advanced to long term shelters where these homeless shelters, and this world gives them credit.
They actually own houses, like a five bedroom house.
And I guess you can call it like a halfway house ish kind of thing for homeless people.
So there's a guy, he was working, he didn't have family, he lost his job.
He said, I'm trying to get back on my feet.
They put him in the shelter, he stayed there.
He said, I love, thank you so much.
They said, We don't want you.
So they had the, so one of the shelters, and I'm not going to speak for all of them, it was like a big open room with a bunch of beds and there was like a bathroom.
And he's there for like a week.
And they said, We've actually got open rooms in our houses.
You can live there and they'll help you find a job and get food.
And he goes.
And that's it.
Off the streets in an instant with the help of legitimate work from these homeless shelters I respected.
The only problem is many of these shelters, they lie.
They claim they're full when they're not.
People don't want to go there.
That story I told you was rare.
A lot of these people were on drugs.
I watched a fat black woman pull her pants down and defecate in the middle of the street.
These people don't care what you think, they don't live in your world.
Stop projecting on them.
And Spencer Pret is correct.
It's time for them to get help or get out.
Because the truth is, the people who want help get it, it's there.
But see, the thing is this LA has great weather year round.
And so people come from all over to go live there, live on the street.
They don't care about anything else.
So long as you keep providing resources, they'll keep taking it for free.
So he's called them out.
Now, I don't know if you've seen these videos that he's been sharing.
This guy, Charles Curran, has been posting.
He's a filmmaker.
And I'll play one for you because you want to play all of them?
You can watch them.
unidentified
Ha Please, I'm begging you.
There's homeless drug addicts in front of the schools.
My children aren't safe.
Look, if you were a transgender migrant, I could get you a free pussy.
So, anyway, what ends up happening is they play copyrighted music and then they throw tomatoes at Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom while Rubio DJs and everybody runs away.
AI is crazy.
I mean, it's really getting nuts here.
So, there's a bunch of these.
They're all funny.
Spencer Pratt actually released a real ad where he talks about his family.
They live in a trailer.
And the funny thing is, I saw this interview with Spencer Pratt, and the guy's like, Well, you don't really live in a trailer.
And he goes, What do you mean I live in a trailer?
And he's like, Well, but you have access to housing.
And he's like, No, I don't.
He's like, Well, you are wealthy.
He's like, No, I'm not.
His house burned down in the Palisades.
Many people lost their homes.
And the government has been stopping them from going there, getting their things, rebuilding.
It's insane.
There's videos of Spencer Pratt with his hummingbird farm.
He used to go outside with his kids and he'd hold up those little, those little, like, you know, gadgets that the hummingbirds can drink from.
He made this video for Mother's Day.
Mother's Day is every day, showing his life, his wife, the work that they've been doing.
And they got a trailer now.
It's supposed to be temporary.
Now, why do you think this guy's mad?
But wait, don't worry.
The Daily Show can insult him.
unidentified
Or Spencer Pratt.
Finally, a candidate who makes white women over 40 go.
Oh, yeah, that guy.
Ew.
In case you don't remember Spencer from the golden age of basic cable reality TV, here's a quick refresher of his consensus building approach.
This idea that everyone, if you let everyone do drugs and do whatever they want and let the criminals make the outside asylum with no guards, if you let them do that, they're going to do that.
But if you, so when I'm mayor, my plan is first three weeks, Signs up across the city.
I don't know if you guys heard the story, but the drug addicts in California will inject their drugs into dogs to make sure it's not tainted because they don't want to die.
That's how insane it is.
Now, for governor, Javier Becerra is the favorite.
Steve Hilton is not projected to win.
Tom Steyer, he's a way underdog.
Spencer Pretz is actually doing much better, despite the fact I think actually Hilton is a better shot of winning with the structure of the governor's race as opposed to LA mayor.
But who knows?
There are a lot of people in LA who are just fed up.
Now, I think the important thing people to understand is that Los Angeles is a county.
The Los Angeles city is actually like a.
It's a bunch of other different cities.
It'll be interesting, my friends, to see how all of this plays out.
I love this meme.
Murray Hill guy says, Be Spencer Pratt, grow up in LA, go to USC, become Brodie Jenner's menace friend on MTV, get cast on the hills, steal Lauren Conrad's friend, marry beautiful Midwestern mid angel Heidi Montag, become the most hated man on TV, blow millions on fame, crystals, and elite delusion, disappear for a decade, come back as hummingbird conservative dad.
LA turns into tense crime and $22 matcha.
Everyone who hated you now looks insane.
Chad, run for mayor, somehow become the most normal guy in the race.
I remember I went to, it was an old semi abandoned, I call it semi abandoned.
It was a factory, but it was like a printing press, I think it was, like a big building.
And the guys were using it.
There were people using it for a variety of things.
It was like, it was rented out to the people who owned it, and it was just like effectively abandoned.
I say semi abandoned, all the business was gone.
What was in it was people just using the space for random stuff, storage or, you know, largely that, I guess.
These guys brought me upstairs and they were showing me around the building, which was, they said was haunted, by the way.
And they said, don't go on the roof either because the radiation is really high.
Yikes.
Second floor was a, what appeared to be like an eating area, an area for, you know, like the workers back in the day used to go and sit down.
It was like a nook with like picnic benches.
Only now it was a nook with chain link fences.
Put over the nook, blood stain on the ground.
And the dude told me that, this is the south side of Chicago, by the way, gangs would kidnap young women and bring them there and chain them up in there to use as sex slaves to abuse or even kill people.
And I'm sitting there thinking, like, how is that a thing?
Like, don't get me wrong, I know like the mob exists and all that stuff, but man, really?
I don't know how people vote for this kind of stuff or they ignore it.
They just hope to care about their lives and just let it happen.
Something's got to give.
We need men of action.
Maybe we'll see it in California.
I'll wrap it up there, my friend.
Smash the like button, share the show with everyone.
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