Trump Left Them on Air Force One | The Kinzinger Report Podcast — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Well, hey everybody. Welcome back.
2. 0:01Thanks for being here. Sorry about the
3. 0:03hiccup on yesterday's. Still on the road
4. 0:05as you can tell by the hotel. Uh I'll be
5. 0:08on the road this week, but we'll be able
6. 0:09to get a show out. It may be a little
7. 0:11late like today and uh but we're going
8. 0:13to get this done. So, our top story, the
9. 0:16fallout from the Air Force One decoy
10. 0:18operation. So, the president finally
11. 0:20faced questions about using his own
12. 0:23staff and the press corps as decoys. And
13. 0:26his answer, of course, made everything
14. 0:28worse. That was on CNN yesterday where I
15. 0:31talked about this. So, take a look.
16. 0:33>> It's just the lies that are always
17. 0:35around this thing. Remember, initially
18. 0:37he said, "I'm actually taking the old
19. 0:39Air Force One because I want the troops.
20. 0:41>> I'm just going to go to the British
21. 0:42Airbase to everyone.
22. 0:45>> The troops to see the new one." And and
23. 0:46it's just it is everything is a lie that
24. 0:49we don't even talk about anymore. I
25. 0:51mean, the lies are expected now. It
26. 0:52really is all lies. It's just constant
27. 0:55lies about everything. Also today, Trump
28. 0:59flirts with declaring a national
29. 1:01emergency so he can just take over the
30. 1:02midterm elections. The White House
31. 1:04pushes the Justice Department to
32. 1:06prosecute a 67year-old Olympian over the
33. 1:09reflecting pool for a second time. The
34. 1:12Treasury tells American companies they
35. 1:14can go back to hiding who owns them.
36. 1:17That's cool. And Wisconsin Democrats
37. 1:19pick their nominee for governor in a
38. 1:21nailbiter. I almost stayed up all night
39. 1:23to watch this and glad I didn't cuz I
40. 1:26have some energy today. Uh it's a
41. 1:28message for the whole party though.
42. 1:29We'll get into that. Do me a favor, like
43. 1:30the video, share it with someone who
44. 1:32needs to see it. Subscribe. You never
45. 1:34want to miss an episode. And this is
46. 1:36growing very fast. So I just want to say
47. 1:38thank you for that to people. So let's
48. 1:39get right to it. So our first story is
49. 1:42the Air Force One backlash because the
50. 1:44more we learn about this, the stupider
51. 1:46and worse it looks. If you read
52. 1:49yesterday's new news newsletter, you got
53. 1:51the gist of of what happened. So, facing
54. 1:53a credible Iranian assassination threat
55. 1:56leaving Turkey last month, Trump boarded
56. 1:58the old Air Force One in front of the
57. 2:00camera, snuck out the other side into an
58. 2:03airport catering truck and took a small
59. 2:06unmarked military jet. One Air Force One
60. 2:09then took off as a decoy carrying
61. 2:10reporters and White House staff
62. 2:12oblivious to the danger that they faced.
63. 2:14If you haven't seen the footage yet,
64. 2:15here, take a look. The backlash has
65. 2:17actually been fierce and the new details
66. 2:19keep making it way worse. CBS News
67. 2:22reported that the only people in the
68. 2:24catering truck with Trump were three of
69. 2:27his most loyal personal aids and that
70. 2:30the Secretary of War, Pete Hexath, flew
71. 2:32out on the secret plane with him. The
72. 2:35Secretary of State and the Treasury
73. 2:37Secretary rode the decoy. But unlike the
74. 2:38reporters sitting near him, they they
75. 2:40knew that the president was on the other
76. 2:42plane. The reporters who served as the
77. 2:45literal human shields are furious. One
78. 2:48of them told the Post that defending the
79. 2:50president is a staffer's job then drew
80. 2:53the line, "That is not my job. I cover
81. 2:56the president." MAGA World came roaring
82. 3:00back with one talking point. Bill
83. 3:02Clinton did the same thing, flying into
84. 3:04Pakistan in 2000. And yes, a decoy was
85. 3:06involved. But guess what? The Post ended
86. 3:10up digging in and found a key
87. 3:11difference. Clinton's team briefed the
88. 3:13press ahead of time. His secretary, Joe
89. 3:16Lockhart, put it this way. There was no
90. 3:18attempt to hide anything, much less lie
91. 3:22about it later. And when reporters
92. 3:24finally asked Trump why it was too
93. 3:26dangerous for him to fly on Air Force
94. 3:28One, but fine for them, here's what he
95. 3:30came up with.
96. 3:30>> Why was it too dangerous for you to fly
97. 3:33on Air Force One, but not
98. 3:35>> I think actually the plane that I flew
99. 3:37on was at greater risk. I think it was
100. 3:40at risk because that would be the plane
101. 3:42I think that we that they would be more
102. 3:44likely to go for.
103. 3:46>> So the plane he escaped on was actually
104. 3:49at greater risk because
105. 3:51that that would be that the plane that
106. 3:54they would might most likely go after.
107. 3:56Nobody on earth believes that. I know he
108. 3:58doesn't either. I mean, and it's just
109. 4:00the dumbest explanation. Of course,
110. 4:02presidents need protection, but the
111. 4:04stability of this country depends on it.
112. 4:07And so we're good. That's fine, right?
113. 4:10But we've seen presidents do this before
114. 4:12without duping and endangering their
115. 4:14staff. Doing th that is just it's plain
116. 4:17dishonesty. He told everyone that he
117. 4:19wanted the military to see the old
118. 4:21plane. Remember that one? And that was
119. 4:23why he was supposed to be flying back in
120. 4:25the other plane cuz all the military
121. 4:27members wanted to go see the new plane.
122. 4:28So yeah. Okay. Right. In reality, he was
123. 4:31just sending the White House press corps
124. 4:32and some of his own staff out as human
125. 4:34shields for him. Meanwhile, Trump though
126. 4:37isn't losing sight of trying to rig the
127. 4:40midterm elections. Late Monday night,
128. 4:42Trump sat for an interview with Wayne
129. 4:44Allen Root, who is a conspiracy theorist
130. 4:46on Real America's Voice and one of his
131. 4:49favorite media personalities. Root had a
132. 4:51pitch ready. Since Senate Republicans
133. 4:53lacked the vote to pass Trump's election
134. 4:55overhaul bill, Root said Trump should
135. 4:57simply declare a national emergency over
136. 4:59elections and impose it himself.
137. 5:02proof photo ID, proof of citizenship,
138. 5:04limits on mail and voting. No Congress
139. 5:07is required to do that. So listen to how
140. 5:09Trump responded. You declare a national
141. 5:11security emergency as the president of
142. 5:13the United States. They can't challenge
143. 5:15it. It can only be overturned by a
144. 5:18twothirds vote of both houses of
145. 5:20Congress. So if you do this in the next
146. 5:23month, we will get photo ID, proof of
147. 5:26citizenship, and a limit to mail-in
148. 5:29ballots. Let me just say that stranger
149. 5:31things have happened. Okay, I'll leave
150. 5:32it at that.
151. 5:33>> Well, that's a disturbing thing to hear
152. 5:34because he didn't say no. The law is
153. 5:36actually clear on this. The Constitution
154. 5:39exclusively gives states in Congress the
155. 5:42power to run elections. Not the
156. 5:44president of the United States. No
157. 5:46president in our history has declared an
158. 5:48emergency to run change or cancel a
159. 5:50vote. Well, the GOP has a problem with
160. 5:53elections, but it has nothing to do with
161. 5:55fraud. Mike Lindell, carrying Trump's
162. 5:57complete and total endorsement, by the
163. 5:59way, lost at Minnesota's Republican
164. 6:01primary for governor by 11 points. He's
165. 6:03still refusing to concede. He says that
166. 6:06they're investigating anomalies. Does
167. 6:08that sound familiar? Anyway, asked if
168. 6:10he'd accept the AP calling the race. He
169. 6:12answered, "Why would I listen to the AP?
170. 6:15The fraud is there when they lose, gone
171. 6:18when they win." I also tackled this on
172. 6:20CNN yesterday. Take a look. I said I
173. 6:22haven't been worried, but of late, I
174. 6:24would say I'm becoming increasingly a
175. 6:26little more worried. But at the end of
176. 6:28the day, if he does declare it, what is
177. 6:30it that he can implement? Can he
178. 6:31implement things like, you know, voter
179. 6:33ID or no mail in ballots for every state
180. 6:36across the union? Probably not. And so,
181. 6:39is it going to be deployment of ICE,
182. 6:40deployment of Homeland Security? Um, I
183. 6:43think we need to be cautious of it. But
184. 6:45the the point is even talking about it
185. 6:48damages people's faith in our elections.
186. 6:50And when you damage faith in elections,
187. 6:53that's how democracies are ultimately
188. 6:55destroyed is when people don't believe
189. 6:56their voice counts. So, I still don't
190. 6:58think an emergency declaration is the
191. 7:00most likely outcome, but I'm more
192. 7:02worried than I was a month ago. It
193. 7:04matters either way, though, because even
194. 7:06having me talk about this corrods
195. 7:08people's faith in their vote counts, and
196. 7:10that's what the president is trying to
197. 7:12do. When citizens stop believing their
198. 7:15voice matters, that is how democracies
199. 7:17actually die. That's the biggest
200. 7:20problem, even if he doesn't do anything.
201. 7:23The White House continues to pressure
202. 7:25the Justice Department to revive the
203. 7:27reflecting pool case against the
204. 7:2967year-old Olympian.
205. 7:31And they say we're obsessed. They say we
206. 7:34have derangement syndrome. After Trump's
207. 7:36$14 million renovation of the Lincoln
208. 7:39Memorial Reflecting Pool started
209. 7:41cracking and peeling this summer, the
210. 7:44administration went looking for someone
211. 7:45to blame, cuz it's never Trump.
212. 7:47Prosecutors charged David Hearn, a
213. 7:4967year-old former Olympic canoist, for a
214. 7:52felony for allegedly slashing the pool's
215. 7:54new liner. The guy says he briefly
216. 7:57touched a loose piece of sealant and
217. 8:00nothing more. Then the case collapsed.
218. 8:02On July 31st, the US attorney for
219. 8:04Washington, Janine Piro, moved to
220. 8:06dismiss the case, telling the court the
221. 8:08damage came from a rushed botch
222. 8:10insulation that we all know and that it
223. 8:13was difficult to attribute any of it to
224. 8:15vandalism. Then a judge threw the case
225. 8:17out last week. Done story, right? Should
226. 8:19have been the end of it. Wrong. Instead,
227. 8:22Trump has raged about the dismissal ever
228. 8:24since. Watch how he talks about his own
229. 8:26handpicked prosecutor.
230. 8:28>> But and I was disappointed with Janine
231. 8:30Piro. Really disappointed with Janine
232. 8:33Piro. She uh she folded like an
233. 8:36umbrella.
234. 8:37>> And here's the thing. Why Janine Piro,
235. 8:42she's successful. Why would she tolerate
236. 8:44this? Like, as a human, I would be like,
237. 8:47screw you. I'm not taking this. Anyway,
238. 8:49here she is. Now, the Wall Street
239. 8:51Journal is reporting that the White
240. 8:53House officials have asked the Justice
241. 8:54Department to consider charging Hearn
242. 8:57all over again, potentially of a new
243. 8:59misdemeanor count. This president
244. 9:01doesn't know when to accept defeat.
245. 9:02Trust me, I I know a thing or two about
246. 9:04that. The government's own findings
247. 9:06cleared Hearn and the prosecutors said
248. 9:09so in writing and the White House wants
249. 9:11him charged anyway because the president
250. 9:13is completely embarrassed over his
251. 9:15stupid pool job. That is what a
252. 9:18weaponized justice department looks
253. 9:19like. And this time it's pointed at one
254. 9:23private citizens in hope of wounding the
255. 9:27of soothing the president's wounded ego.
256. 9:31So the administration can find the
257. 9:33energy to chase a canoist over a pool
258. 9:35liner, but it just decided
259. 9:38America no longer needs to know who
260. 9:40really owns its companies. Yesterday the
261. 9:42Treasury Department permanently repealed
262. 9:44the rule requiring American companies to
263. 9:46reveal their major shareholders. This
264. 9:49rule was designed to stop criminals from
265. 9:50hiding behind shell companies. It was
266. 9:52originally passed over Trump's veto at
267. 9:55the end of his first term. I was there.
268. 9:57Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant called
269. 9:59the repeal quote a victory for common
270. 10:01sense in American small business. But
271. 10:03small business owners say that the forms
272. 10:06took less than 10 minutes of their time
273. 10:08and presented no burden to their
274. 10:09company. So what's the real reason here?
275. 10:12You know, there's a different reason.
276. 10:14Look who benefits. The database was
277. 10:17never public. It was a confidential
278. 10:18record for investigators so that a
279. 10:20company existing only on paper couldn't
280. 10:23move millions through the US on behalf
281. 10:25of people nobody could name. Those are
282. 10:28the people getting their anonymity back.
283. 10:31Foreign fortunes parked in Trumpbranded
284. 10:34real estate. Overseas billions piling
285. 10:37into the family crypto ventures. If any
286. 10:40of the president's business partners
287. 10:42registered their identities with
288. 10:43Treasury, that record is now headed for
289. 10:45the shredder. And they're, by the way,
290. 10:47getting rid of everything they have
291. 10:49collected. They're not just stopping it.
292. 10:52And finally, let's talk about last
293. 10:53night's Wisconsin primary. So, just days
294. 10:56ago, polls showed state representative
295. 10:59Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist,
296. 11:01leading the Democratic primary by double
297. 11:03digits. I had seen as high as 20 points.
298. 11:06But last night, she lost to Milwaukee
299. 11:08County Executive David Crowley in a race
300. 11:11that came down to less than half a
301. 11:12percentage point. What happened in July?
302. 11:15Crowley was struggling so badly that he
303. 11:17actually suspended his campaign until
304. 11:20days later jumping back in with the
305. 11:22support of Governor Tony Ivers. His
306. 11:24endorsement was well timed because
307. 11:26Hong's surge came with a lot of baggage,
308. 11:29including one old tweet urging America
309. 11:31to cancel Thanksgiving. And I'm sorry
310. 11:33guys, that is just not good politics.
311. 11:37That's not exactly the message that, you
312. 11:39know, Democrats need in a swing state
313. 11:40like Wisconsin, especially with election
314. 11:43denier Tom Tiffany waiting in November.
315. 11:45Ultimately, that move allowed voters to
316. 11:47rally behind someone with an actual
317. 11:49chance in the general election. And with
318. 11:51Crowley as their new opponent, it's
319. 11:53clear that Republicans are worried about
320. 11:55their odds. They spent the Republicans
321. 11:57spent three or four million promoting
322. 11:59Hong. Take a look at this.
323. 12:02>> We had about 500,000 Republicans come
324. 12:04out and vote in our primary. 700,000
325. 12:06Democrats. That's a 200,000 vote
326. 12:08differential there. That's what ought to
327. 12:10concern Tom Tiffany. And of course, now
328. 12:12he's not gonna have run against
329. 12:13Franchesca Hong. He's probably gonna
330. 12:15have more formidable opponents. Because
331. 12:17of races like these, the media has said
332. 12:19a lot about socialism taking over the
333. 12:21Democratic party, but I think they're
334. 12:22getting the story backwards. While
335. 12:24Democratic voters keep demanding a
336. 12:27fighter, for a while it looked like Hong
337. 12:29was that fighter in this race and she
338. 12:31surged. But once it became clear that
339. 12:33she couldn't win in the general, those
340. 12:35voters pivoted fast. It's not about left
341. 12:38versus middle. It's about beating
342. 12:39Trumpism. And it's about passion. People
343. 12:42want passionate folks in politics right
344. 12:44now. Still, Democratic leaders should
345. 12:47understand what these latest primaries
346. 12:49mean. I watched Republican voters decide
347. 12:52their establishment wasn't meeting the
348. 12:54moment. And I watched what they replaced
349. 12:56it with. We're living it right now. If
350. 12:59the establishment keeps playing it safe
351. 13:01while their voters demand a fight, those
352. 13:04voters will find fighters on their own.
353. 13:07So, dear establishment Democrats in
354. 13:10elected office, fight. You don't even
355. 13:13always have to win. Just fight. Remember
356. 13:16when the government shutdown happened
357. 13:18and a lot of people were ringing their
358. 13:21hands saying, "Oh, this is going to be
359. 13:23terrible." It was really good. You
360. 13:25didn't win a ton, but you fought and
361. 13:28that's what matters. Okay, that's it.
362. 13:29That's the show for August 12th. Do me a
363. 13:31favor, like this video. Share it with
364. 13:33someone who needs to see it. Subscribe
365. 13:35so you don't miss an episode. I will be
366. 13:37back in this hotel room tomorrow. Take
367. 13:40care.