Sunday Night in America With Trey Gowdy 25/08/24 FULL END SHOW | ᗷᖇEᗩKIᑎG ᑎEᗯS TOᗪᗩY July 25/08/2024

good evening and thank you for joining us I'm Trey gy and it's Sunday night in America the Democrat convention is over and what looked like a party in disarray mere weeks ago has been rejuvenated Joe Biden was likely not only to lose the White House but take Congress down with him so it was out with the old and in with the new and vice president K Harris has provided a jolt within her party and the polls on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party race gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America so Harris talk much like Biden used to do much like Trump did in the aftermath of his near assassination about Unity but others did not seem to get the memo Donald Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own Pockets who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs there's the childish nicknames the crazy conspiracy theories this weird obsession with crowd sizes the decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024 and just plain common sense so the pep Alle are over the next scrimmage is set for September 10th in the form of a debate and early voting begins in less than two weeks so what's the current state of this presidential race Bob kusak is the editor of the hill and he joins us now welcome Bob what a difference a month makes so what's your assessment of this race as it stands right now right before Labor Day well Trey right now it's a race again it's it's very similar to the race before the disastrous Biden debate uh Trump was winning uh back then and then then he looked like uh he was going to just dominate that race and and even uh I thought win the popular vote now things have changed we we are in a very close race now either side can win there are a lot of people out there believe it or not that haven't made up their mind uh so this is going to be a very important stretch uh for both candidates and the debate could make the difference all right Republicans and others some in the media complain that Harris is short on details and she won't answer questions but unless the voters make her force her to do so she really doesn't have to does she no she doesn't I mean think about it from uh the campaign's perspective she's on this really long honeymoon that continues and she's got this momentum but why have uh you know a bad interview or really hurt that momentum especially going into the convention however as you know Trey she has committed to at least doing one major interview by the end of uh this month so that's basically over the next week but how many more is she going to do and she's got to answer so many questions about why she changed her position on Health Care energy uh compared to her 2019 bid and on guns as well uh that's going to be a difficult question for her to answer because obviously a lot of people think was for political expediency oh no it couldn't possibly be that who knows maybe fracking might come up I don't know if Pennsylvania is important or not all right Robert Kennedy is out let's listen to what he said and I'll ask you about it on the other side president Trump had been reaching out to me and I talked to him a few hours after the assassination attempt and we had a long conversation by phone I then had two extensive meetings and there there were issues the broad issues that were most important to me the ones that brought me into the campaign those are all things that President Trump also wanted to work on and he invited me to form a Unity government I I I feel dumber than I usually do because I never really thought of Kennedy as a Republican or or even a highly coveted endorsement so was he promised a role in the Trump Administration I mean there are rumors of Kennedy being CIA director over someone like John Lee Ratcliffe I mean that that stuns me what's going on here yeah the campaign is saying no there is no quid pro quo but as you know Trey I mean he Trump calls everybody if he doesn't like a story he'll call me I'm sure he calls you and he calls RFK Jr to get his endorsement and and Trump needs some good headlines uh so do I think it's going to make or break uh the Trump presidential bid probably not but it's good headlines that that he's got a Kennedy on his side uh and maybe that helps with a few independent voters all right so the DNC convention speech just talked about pain and disunity and how awful things are and I sat there wondering whether they realize who's been in charge for the last three years I mean Democrats control the White House and the Senate right now so if things are really bad why isn't it their fault it's a good question it's another question that I think Harris is going to have to answer and Trump has mentioned it repeatedly uh whether it's on the economy or inflation uh the withdrawal a botch withdrawal deadly of Afghanistan uh you know Harris was the VP was she involved in those discussions or not and why is she is she just going to blame Biden for that uh and then she gets off scott free right now uh the voters are giving her pass she's someone basically new in the race we really haven't seen much of Harris uh over the last three and a half years she's been kind of an invisible VP but now she's front and center and and she's got a shot to win this thing it's hard to hide when you are a candidate for the highest office in the world but we shall see Bob kusak from the hill thank you for joining us thank you our candidates do change positions from time to time voters understand that but they want to know the reason the motivation for change is it real or is it convenient is the change until the Wednesday after the election or is it forever Senator Harris was more liberal than current candidate Harris so where does she stand where does she really stand on energy and fracking whether the crossing of the Border should be a crime deporting criminals the wars in Ukraine in the Middle East and when it comes to military service those of us who did not serve should tread lightly but our next guest did serve so he's a good person to ask joining us is Congressman Seth Molton from the great state of Massachusetts welcome congressman and thank you for your service and uniform the military asked different people to do different things you were in combat but others are asked to serve in different capacity so in your judgment what are fair questions to ask and what's out of bounds when it comes to debating someone's military service well I think we should start by thanking everyone for their military service and we should be proud that the next Vice President of the United States is going to be a post 911 veteran that's the first time in history and as a post 911 veteran myself that's something I think we should celebrate especially at a time when we're having trouble recruiting enough people into our military so let's start there then the question is have you misrepresented your military service have you acted like you served in combat when you did not uh have you you know misrepresented the time that you were in service Tim Walls has gotten some questions about this that I think are fair but when you dig into the details the allegations are just totally spirous and that and that's those details really matter he misspoke once he used one incorrect word when he said he carried a weapon of war in war instead of during a war he's clarified that many times and he also is very clear about the fact that he achieved the rank of command sergeant major even though he didn't retire at that rank that's a very commonplace uh situation in the military a lot of Republican military veterans in Congress have the have the same situation in fact Ronnie Jackson continues to place on his on his website that he retired as a rear Admiral uh when in fact he did not well that's what that's why I wanted to ask you because you've earned the right to weigh in on it you and I did not vote alike but there was never a day I did not respect your service to our country let's listen together to a political commentator and then I'm going to ask you about it on the other side so the question is one of is the race going to be about personality if it is he loses or is it going to be about policy and if it is I think he probably wins because when you look at the data and you ask people whether they appreciate more the the I'll say the Biden Harris record or the Trump record they look back favorably on the Trump years all right Seth do you buy the argument that this race comes down to personality versus policy and are there areas in your judgment where vice president Harris and President Biden differ on the policy well I mean I think that personality and policy are going to be a part of every race but in terms of you know what weight they carry I think remains to be seen a lot of people just take Trump at his word when he says he'll do things that don't really hold up he says he's going to have massive terrorists that people think sound good but actually tariffs increase inflation so if you care about inflation and you want inflation to continue coming down it's been bad under the Biden Administration but they've done a remarkable job at bringing it down Trump is going to reverse verse that if if he follows through on his economic policies so it depends on how much people are willing to actually understand what these policy proposals mean or whether they're just going to take them at face value when the candidates get up there but I think vice president Harris has a real opportunity to differentiate herself on some of these issues you know a lot of people criticized her for being a vice president who's in the background who who wasn't involved in the day-to-day as much you can't have it both ways if you're going to believe that criticism then can't blame her for all of Biden's issues I would like to see her come out with a different immigration policy for example to say here are the things I agreed with President Biden on and and by the way fewer people are crossing the border now than they did at the end of the Trump presidency that's something that should be a positive but there are also places where she can say here's things I would have done differently so immigration is an area a great example of an issue where I hope the vice president actually differentiates her herself from from President Biden Seth I cannot have you on without asking you about a sensitive topic which is war Ukraine is now in Russia which may change the complexion of that war the Middle East seems on the brink of War what would a Harris Administration do about either or both of those Wars well actually the Harris Administration is going to start with the premise that Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree on which is the most important threat the most serious threat to our national security isn't in the Middle East or in Europe it's with China in the Pacific if China goes ahead and invades Taiwan it would not only send us into a worse depression than the Great Depression but it could literally start World War III so that has to be the starting point and that's why the Biden Administration has tried hard to avoid an escalation of war in the Middle East and it's why it's tried hard to avoid escalating the Ukraine War uh with with Russia further action into Europe if we don't stand with Ukraine then Russia could very well attack Europe and that means US troops are going to be involved and dragged into a European War if we allow Iran to get out of control and Israel and Iran start a shooting War again then that is going to potentially draw in American troops every one of those situations takes the eye off the ball which should be China Seth Molton thank you again for your service in uniform and thank you also for joining us on a Sunday night uh you you are uh one of a handful of Democrats that are willing to you are not the opponent of mine but but people may think that Republicans and Democrats can't have a civil conversation and you have proven otherwise so thank you for joining you're one of the few Republicans that I often tell my friends I get advice from and uh I appreciate the advice you gave me when I was a freshman in Congress and so so thank you for your service in Con in Congress as well and uh it's great to be on your show thank you Seth I look forward to visiting with you real soon all right take care up next a third of the Senate is up for grabs and some vulnerable Democrats are keeping their distance from the ticket so will it work back to Sunday night in America for two years Barack Obama had the White House the house and the Senate and he passed Obamacare and the American Donald Trump and Joe Biden both had two years of total control and then they didn't the American people seem to prefer checks and balances and they're reluctant to allow one party full control of government if Harris is indeed leading in the polls and impacting house races then it's going to come down to the Senate maybe the very State our next guest represents the great state of Montana so let's welcome Senator St Steve Danes from the great state of Montana West Virginia looks like a GOP pickup but the GOP is GNA need one more which could be Montana Ohio Nevada Arizona Pennsylvania Maryland which state is most likely to switch as we sit here tonight well well Tre I agree with you 100% the Senate is so critical it is the firewall for this country because remember the Senate uniquely has responsibilities for personnel we decide who's on the Supreme Court who the cabinet officials are going to be so we need that 50 first seat to make sure we've got a republican majority United States Senate and as you mentioned West Virginia is over Governor Jim Justice will be the next Senator uh from West Virginia now I think you look at Montana and you look at Ohio these are two red states where every single Statewide elected official is a republican except for John tester in Montana and Sher Brown in Ohio and in both of those States in Montana president Trump will win by about 20 points he's going to win Ohio by about 8 to 10 points so that puts Tim sheii in Montana in a very strong position to win that Senate race and Bernie Marino in Ohio to win that Senate race right now looking at polling data uh since president Trump came to Montana on August 9th we had an amazing rally my hometown of bosan Montana we had 10,000 people in the basketball arena we had 8,000 more out in the parking lot on a jumbo trong cheering for president Trump cheering for Tim sheii and since that rally we've seen Tim shei now move up in the polls he's consistently pulling about three to five points ahead of John Tes I'll tell you why he's pulling strong it's not just because of what president Trump did this is a great American hero 200 combat missions as a Navy SEAL a graduate of the Naval Academy his wife is also a graduate of the Naval Academy a US Marine they sered in Afghanistan together he's got a purple heart a bron star in Montana has the second highest per capita population of veterans he's a great business leader as well that's why Tim she is positioned to be that 51st seat to make sure we control the majority for the Republicans of the US Senate all right let me ask you about Ohio because I'm sure our viewers are wondering how Donald Trump can win Ohio overwhelmingly how JD Vance can be from Ohio and on the ticket and yet shered Brown is the other Senator because Sher Brown is not a moderate he is a full-fledged liberal he is not Joe Manion he is a full-fledged liberal so how does the same state produce JD Vance and shered brown well uh Trey I could not agree more with your assessment and this is because of money the Democrats are pouring so much money into a state like Ohio and Montana to cover up their very liberal positions the liberal votes they have taken remember kamla Harris has cast more tiebreaking votes than any other vice president nation's history 33 and that includes the massive multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages the So-Cal inflation reduction act borrowed money inflationary and remember that sherid brown and John tester have voted with kamla Harris 100% of the time and by the way if you like San Francisco politics trade you're GNA Love kamla Harris she is truly I serve with her she is truly a far-left progressive ranked the most liberal US senator when I served with her before she became vice president and so key here is going to be resources in Ohio we've got to get the resources to Bernie Marina to get his message now to combat Chuck Schumer and the massive liberal spending Avalanche happening in Ohio we have a website Senate 24.com that's a way that great Patriots around the country can help these candidates but I like Bernie's odds Bernie Marino is a great candidate he won his primary convincingly he's working very very hard another business guy he's down about three or four points in the polls at the moment but what tends to happen Trey get close to election day these Senate ballot numbers will start to match the presidential ballot if you look at the last two times president Trump's been on the ballot 68 of 69 Senate races the winner of the presidency also won their party won the senate race so the only exception that was Susan Collins in Maine where Biden won Main and Susan Collins won by nine so we like our OD in Ohio too Bernie's a terrific candidate and he just needs a resource there to put that across the Finish Line you just gave me a great idea for a debate Senator Harris versus presidential candidate Harris that that would be a fun debate to listen to because she has certainly changed her position since you became the candidate Steve Dames from the great state of Montana it will probably come down to your state and which of your hearty fellow citizens can Brave a an early November in Montana and go vote thank you for joining us on a Sunday night thanks TR coming up Public Safety Trump and Harris have different opinion to make it along with the economy inflation strong borders and energy dominance my top priority I'm including crime in America you know normally that's done locally and uh we're going to give the local people a lot of help welcome back to Sunday night in America crime is rarely the top issue but it's always lingering in the background if the economy is down ceiling is up if the border is lacked more Bad actors come if Republicans call prisoners who plead guilty hostages it sends a certain message if a vice president bonds violent protesters out of jail with are a word about the victims it matters Donald Trump knows crime as a state and local matter but he also knows the federal government has a role to play and kamla Harris should know that too because she once played that role she was a local da and the California AG but California prosecutors are different what we call tough on crime they call Smart on crime which actually isn't very smart at all in fact it's dangerous they don't believe in La prison sentences except for the police they believe in sanctuary cities they get energized when the capital is overrun but not when police stations or cour houses or retail stores are Harris wants you to reimagine or machinate a new Justice System defund the police the the the issue behind it is that we need to reimagine how we are creating safety for too long the status quo thinking has been you get more safety by putting more cops on the street well that's wrong reimagine I love that word so more cops is wrong would you would you prefer more criminals more social workers more guidance counselors what don't we try that next time a city is burning and protesters are setting things on fire let's call a social worker next time you hear something in your backyard let's call your psychologist see what happens joining us at South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson welcome sir crime should be a good issue for Republicans but the media will likely make the point that one candidate is awaiting sentencing and awaiting trial and is not KLA Harris so who does the issue of crime helped the most in your judgment well Trey first off this is a red herring talking about Trump and his legal issues is a complete red herring what I'm seeing right now is I've looked at how Biden and Harris both campaigned and governed over the last four years and what you see is is an Administration that over the last four years on day one they stopped building the border wall they repealed remain in Mexico they liberalized the public charge rule makes it easier for uh illegal aliens to remain on the public Dole um they in institutionalized Central American miners program which is an anchor parent program um every single thing that they've done to include uh relaxing the 287g program which creates Cooperative efforts between local and federal law enforcement uh in enforcing immigration laws which by the way we have three sheriffs out of 46 that actually have this program they have told me has been watered down so much by this Administration that it is not worth having because of these policies my comment to them would be you don't have to help us just don't try to hurt us just get out of our way um the beginning of this year Trey uh we seized uh 1 kilogram of meth and one and a half kilos of fenel that's enough to kill half a million people of it came from South of the Border with Mexican drug cartels working with China and it's just pouring over to the southern border and it's coming into all 50 states every state is a border state and finally I just read an IG Report with the Department of Homeland Security this week where there are nearly 300,000 unaccompanied miners who they have not sent notices to appear yet out of that number approximately 32,000 they can't find her who never even appeared when they did send them out so that number is probably higher you wonder who's feeding or what is feeding the human trafficking trade it's not being able to find these unaccompanied unaccompanied minors who came across the southern border this Administration has gotten in the way of law enforcement trying to do their jobs at the local level and we just want them to stop all right you put your finger on it and you know this because you've served your entire career most crime is state and local but the feds do play a role with funding success depends on coordination between state and federal prosecutors and cops so it does matter matter who the US attorney is and it does matter what priorities federal agents are given right well absolutely it matters who the US attorney general is it matters who the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security is we have people here who are actually working against us the the US attorney general under Obama tried to stop the State of Arizona from passing its own immigration enforcement laws that didn't contradict federal law it complimented them this attorney general under uh the Biden Harris Administration has fought Texas and trying to enforce its own border and immigration laws why are they fighting the states and trying to help them that is the question I have why do you not want local government or local law enforcement to work with federal law enforcement and securing our borders and going against a lot of the crime that's immigrating from South of the Border you know I wish I had an answer that question all I wonder that too even when I was in congress with your father we see people being raped and robbed and assaulted and killed by border crossers and feds always want your help when it comes to drugs and other crimes but they never want your help when it comes to the border and I wonder why that is I don't know I I mean obviously if you ask the questions you know why are they opening up the southern border why are they trying to include illegals in in the census you know why are they trying to bait the hook and try to create more benefits for illegals who shouldn't be here why are they doing all these things I'll let the viewers judge for themselves the answer to that question but as a cynic and a skeptic I think know why they're doing it yeah well I'm more cynical than you are and I know why they're doing it too they always want your help on everything except when it comes to immigration and the Border Alan Wilson the attorney general for the grace state of South Carolina thank you for joining us on a Sunday night thank you Trey up next Hamas took hostages last October 7th and they've had them ever since human lives being used as bargaining chips