Hey there LemoNation! Join Don this evening to dive into all the biggest news stories of the day. The real election is about to begin, with the first ballots going out this Friday. What can we expect from Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the final days of their campaigns? What are the latest polls showing? Will next week's debate bring any major changes? Tune in for a discussion you won't want to miss!
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Hello hello everyone welcome welcome welcome to the Don Lemon Show we're so glad that you are here is everyone back and ready to work it's like back to school for adults so welcome to Lemon Live at 5 as you know yesterday we did sort of a special show because of it was Labor Day and you know Labor Day is usually people sort of relax and have the day off but I wanted to come on and talk to you yesterday so I want to come on and talk to you today and welcome you all back I hope you didn't have the Sunday night scaries on Monday night last night so good evening welcome to the show where we talk to you where you our subscribers are really the people we who get to lead the show sort of so I hope you had a really wonderful holiday weekend I really do remember I'm just getting over covid you know Labor Day serves a very special marker in America yes it recognizes the critical importance of unions union workers the people who have made sacrifices for this country and it signifies really the unofficial end to summer but in American politics this marks when presidential campaigns enter the final sprint to the finish line this is like actually when it begins okay so after this summer of historic political tune off the paths of the presidency for both Vice President Kamala Harris and for the former president Donald Trump this fall is becoming really much clear Democratic Vice President Vice President and the Republican former president they're going to devote almost all of their remaining time and resources to seven states they're gonna spend hundreds of millions of dollars targeting voters who believe it or not have only just begun to pay attention to the election and I know that because I was out talking to people today with the lemon can and people are still undecided some of them not many of them but some of them their campaigns though they're gonna try to focus their messages on just a few key issues those issues will be the economy immigration abortion and democracy remember a few key states and a few key issues so it's gonna be a heck of a mad - November 5th it's gonna be here before you know it as a matter of fact the debate is going to be here really before you know it so we have so much to break down I'm grateful to be joined by a fan favorite guest on the show friend of the show Billy Ray is here Billy is an award-winning filmmaker film producer director Rida whose credits include Captain Phillips the Hunger Games and a project in development titled J6 about the assault on the U.S. Capitol he also works with Democratic candidates to improve their messaging specifically as they relate to independence and disillusioned Republicans Billy Ray thanks for joining how are you doing sir it's a privilege to be here I hope you had a good Liberty I did so you know I call you Billy Ray like people call me Don Lemon very rarely do people say hey Don I don't know if you did but do people just call you Billy Ray or is that it was particularly obnoxious in the 90s when a freaky heart was a thing oh come on that was true that was it that was a problem that was problematic you say yeah so Billy Ray we're gonna talk about the mad - November we've got a lot to discuss including the polling okay so let me get you guys just the latest on the polling I want to give you an update on where we are the vice president Kamala Harris is leading Trump by four points these brand-new USA today polls set the county poll by two points in a new Wall Street Journal survey our recent polls of key states that Biden narrowly won in 2020 including Michigan so Wisconsin and Pennsylvania show a close race with a narrow Harris edge which is surprising because you know the president Joe Biden wasn't polling so well right part of the reason that he's out in addition to being competitive in those blue Wall States Harris has put the Sun Belt states of Georgia Arizona Nevada and North Carolina which were falling away from Biden back in play so that is huge however because of Republicans advantage in the Electoral College a race that Harris leads nationally by between two to four percentage points on average is equivalent of a really a night fight at the at the phone a night fight in a phone booth I should say a night fight at the polling place so as it puts James car that's how James Carvel puts it so and it's set to decide a very smaller than usual number of states okay so now that I said all of that Billy Ray based on the polling where do you think Harris should be investing her resources should she be in you know should she go big on Pennsylvania should she force Trump to play defense in North Carolina what do you think well she needs to be everywhere of course but if I were Trump I'd be I'd be very very worried about a couple states that he thought he had locked up if you look at where he's spending money his big spend down the street will be in Pennsylvania and Georgia he's not spending in Wisconsin or Michigan I think he knows he's gonna lose those and he seems not to be spending North Carolina because I think he thinks he's gonna win that I disagree with him by the way and your friend James Carvel will tell you he thinks that the Democrats are going to do better in North Carolina than in Georgia but it seems like the Trump strategy is to count on North Carolina put all the money into Pennsylvania and Georgia and eat out a win I don't think he will succeed the numbers that I'm looking at are very very encouraging for the vice president how do you can you how do you explain this because by all measures Democrats Joe Biden then that was either I don't even know if it was a little bit ahead but behind which was as I said in the beginning of the show which was a reason that he's not in it now that she's made up so much ground and I know that folks are saying that she didn't really get a big bump coming out of the convention but this is certainly remarkable that she's in the place that she is with national polling and even the polling and battleground states as those Sun Belt states you know more importantly I think there are two reasons one and the biggest is that for three years 85% of Americans kept saying don't give us a choice between these same two old guys again don't give us this choice 85% and the Republican Party responded that by saying screw you here's the same guy that we've rolled out now for the third election in a row you're gonna get MAGA and you're gonna like it and the Democratic Party instead said oh we'll be the part of the listens there's something new I think the voters rewarded the party and are going to reward the party for listening this is now the party that listens that's a big part of it the second part of it is she's spectacular candidate she hasn't made a fall step walls was a brilliant choice I thought she was gonna pick Markelle walls was a fantastic choice her messaging has been so strong she has been she has gone right where the folks are in in the big middle she's talking about the things that people care about you know my amateur analysis of this having really really spent a lot of time under the hood for the last eight years since Trump's election is that all elections come down to two things what do people want what are they afraid of people want freedom and the ability to buy house what did that what are they afraid of chaos and she has gone right at those two things and her messaging has just been consistent very very disciplined while he is all over the place and it's completely lost sight of what made him electable in 2016 and the conference just couldn't be more clear you know it's interesting to me because you know I heard even conservatives now not be not necessarily that you know the MAGA right-wing not necessarily on Fox News as well that interest rates are coming down right that people are starting to feel better about the economy that gas prices are down from Labor Day to Labor Day and so then and also border crossings as well then what and violent crime down by 30% since the Trump administration so then what is going to be their argument are they just going to continue to lie about it and rely on this false information or information that that is no longer relevant are they going to keep leaning into that what is going to be their play and and if all of these things are happening number one what's going to be the Republicans play and how should the Kamala Harris campaign the the Harris Walls campaign what should they do should they lean into this of course I think they should so how do they react to it okay so a couple things are it working first when Donald Trump ran in 2016 they did a study of what were the most effective campaign lines of his I don't 16 month campaign and by far the one that was the most effective was I will be your voice it absolutely spiked off the charts it was a spectacular lie by the way but it was good messaging it was him saying you're not just a vote to me I actually care about you and I will go be your voice his campaign now is you will be my revenge it's just a bad message it's just a terrible message and it's why when you see him now at rallies you see people leaving because it's boring and it completely ignores what got him there in the first place which was making feel like they mattered which is such a primal need so that's the first problem the second problem is he has no ideas like go listen to a JD Vance rally go listen to a Trump rally you're not gonna hear anything about policy they are absolutely devoid of ideas when you have no ideas you can only play the politics of division he's got one one shot just to make everybody hate each other in that sort of broth there's a possibility for him to get enough people to stay home that he can so yeah he's gonna go negative he's going to try to make us turn on one another but she is out there pitching community over chaos and so over violence and laws over lies and books over bands and truth over tantrums and and grace over grievance it's a much more powerful argument and if she just stays on message especially on September 10th when the debate he's got nothing to say he's got nothing to offer the American people and by the way all of a sudden he's the candidate who's in diapers and tolerating and not making any sense so you know youth versus senility all of a sudden is a great issue for the Democrats that was another gift that President Biden gave us having said that let's talk about favorability unfavorability right because you're saying he's going to go negative I'm not sure if that's gonna help him with favorability and we have some more interesting news this morning it was courtesy of our reporter friends over at MSNBC regarding Trump's the team's thoughts on another set of data and that is the favorability numbers that we discussed more context and ABC News Ipsos poll released on Sunday found that 46% of likely voters viewed Harris's favorability versus 43% favorably I should say versus 43% unfavorability favorability and she's a versus unfavorability 43% while Trump's ratings were 33% to 58% so she's doing better that situation is bad apparently Trump's team it's so bad that they are giving up trying to reform his image they're not even gonna they're just saying you know as you said they're gonna go negative watch this somewhere in there okay so the carriage to risk all the things that Donald Trump was ahead of before Harris got in the race he's now behind and I think the most striking thing Mika that that when you're looking and people are trying to sort through this race and yeah what direction it's going you just look at the favorable unfavorables Donald Trump way up upside down by you know close to 20 points in the in the 30s for for likable and then you have a Kamala Harris actually upside I think it's like 46 43 that is a huge gap and the Trump campaign has said and if you see some of just the absolute crazed behavior and it's just it's really it's really almost too much to get your arms around and I understand that's the idea of it that there there's so the claims are so outrageous they're there they're so disconnected from the truth Trump moving all over the place on issues from abortion to immigration now saying we need more immigrants in the United States all all of this stuff the crazy stuff at Arlington they're just they're absolutely desperate and the campaign is said internally they know they can never bring Don they can't make people like Donald Trump there you go so their goal is to make they're gonna go negative right their goal is to make Kamala Harris look try to look worse but again I screwed up those numbers so let me say this is what the polling found for ABC News Ipsos and it was released on Sunday 46% of likely boaters viewed Harris favorably versus 43% unfavorably Trump's ratings were 33% to 58% so I wonder what you make of that and what Joe and Mika said over on on morning Joe do you think Harris's favorability advantage can persist over the next 63 days Billy I do and this was the thing that was such a critical number when that when Biden had decided not to run like Carmel had not yet become the official nominee of the party one of the things that we were noticing is we were looking at the numbers was the 22% of Americans had no opinion of Kamala Harris which meant she had a willing to grow she had a great life Trump has a very real ceiling and it's low and he hit it when his ears started bleeding that was his peak but you don't want to peak in July right you want a peak in November and he bumped up against his ceiling and what we found was that it used to be Trump was at 45 and Biden was at 40 now Trump is still at 45 because that's his ceiling and there's Kamala at 52 she had room to grow he didn't and part of that is because there are things are unique about the American electorate and by that I mean and this is the most unofficial research ever 30% of this country has always been crazy go back and look at what people were writing before the Civil War 30% of this country was nuts right before World War 2 that the America first movement Lindbergh all of it 30% of the country completely nuts the day that Richard Nixon left office his approval rating was a 29 and you look at Trump's numbers they're always hovering right around 30 it's that block of people that cannot be moved that's okay because it means that 70% of the country came and that 70% of the country is clearly trending towards the vice president and again it's because her message has been consistent it's been really smart and it has been it has invited people in the big middle to reject the nonsense about her you know at the same time that they were saying that she was a San Francisco liberal which is a joke she was also saying oh yeah yeah she was too long ornery so so black people should like her they were saying the same thing at the same time like pick one or the other either she's a sad just a liberal or she's too tough on crime but you can't make and they will try to get away with that shit and it just doesn't work the audience is tired of it well maybe that's a new definition of a San Francisco liberal is that you're a tough on crime and I mean it seems to me as I am listening to Democrats they not seem to be I believe that they are stealing the messaging of Republican things that we usually hear from Republicans this what you do you specialize in helping Democrats sort of refine their message try to connect with independence and disillusioned Republicans that's what you do I want to play this clip of Tim walls for you he's speaking at a union event on yesterday okay and he's attacking Republicans seemingly using traditional Republican talking points here it is I know we all know this I remember a time when Republicans talked about things like freedom they meant it they would never turn their back on our allies but that's not these guys Trump advanced when they talk about freedom means government should be the freedom to invade every corner of our life they talk about small government small enough to be in your bedroom small enough to be in your exam room small enough to be in your library telling you the things that you should make decisions about so let's be very clear where I come from and where you come from his neighbors we respect differences that's your opinion look we're sitting here together brewers and twins fans Vikings impact look we respected but on things like health care and what books I read and democracy we all live by that very simple golden rule mind your own damn business mind your own business Wow Billy he's good and do you think that that sort of mess as you said you thought he was a brilliant choice well that messaging work on independence and disillusioned Republicans absolutely you know we've been my colleagues and I've been screaming about this for eight years and talking about this kind of messaging for eight years if you poll Americans on what values mean the most to them freedom is number one and it's not close as a value freedom out polls justice in America by 22 points which will come as no shock to any African-American who has been saying justice justice while white America has been saying well yeah justice it's important but what I really want is the freedom to say stupid shit and not be called a racist okay and by the way if America thinks of equality it's 10x down from justice okay freedom matters freedom is everything when guns stopped being a safety issue and started being a freedom issue a person could walk in the sand hook shoot 20 kids and the law didn't change right when masks and vaccines stopped being a health issue and started being a freedom issue it all of a sudden got very very strange Americans don't like to have their freedoms taken away it's why reproductive rights are such a huge issue for Democrats because it is a freedom taken away by Republicans and of course that means something to independent voters because independent voters are suspicious of both parties but independent voters for a long time believed I believe by 22 percentage points the Democrats were more likely to restrict their freedoms and Republicans were that's no longer close to true it's not close to true because the Republican Party all of a sudden is the party that's taking away everybody's freedom and by the way I just want to throw one set of numbers at you just as I happen to learn it today about the favorability ratings in swing states among Latino voters it used to be Biden and Trump dead even it's now Harris at 55 Trump at 36 in terms of the polls and in terms of favorability Trump is underwater he's minus 4 with Latinos in those battleground states and Kamala Harris is plus 14 every number is going in the right direction that guy is dead in the water you know you think do they know are they panicking or are they just you know I'm wouldn't presume to tell you what's going on inside that campaign I can't imagine anybody can can talk sense into that guy I think they probably told him 2016 he was in trouble too and he kept saying no no no I'm fine look at the rallies look at the rallies I'm gonna win and he wound up being I guess technically right although he did lose by two and a half million votes you have a look at the rallies look at the rallies now but in this case the rallies are not looking good and and all the interviews look terrible and he knows JD Vance was a dumpster fire and that is the reason for don't you think that's the reason for RFK junior arcade junior is really the de facto VP right because he's one he's the one that's like hugging they're hugging each other he's out with him more than I think Vance is but he doesn't help it's too late the the the RFK voters respond too crazy right and those kind of voters tend to be Trump voters anyway RFK wasn't going to take any votes away from Kamala Harris because Kamala Harris voters aren't crazy hmm hmm speaking of disillusioned Republicans I want to play two clips that are going around today that making around today the first one is a son of former GOP presidential nominee John McCain now you usually hear a lot from his daughter what's a mega mega mega mega McCain we don't hear a lot from him and so here is John McCain's son so I mean this has been as you know Donald Trump has said a lot of things that have offended people in the veterans community it may have started actually when he said that your dad wasn't a war here because he was captured that was back in 2015 and then there are all the other things that he has said and done including what former Marine General and Chief of Staff John Kelly said that he said behind those doors and suckers losers etc you were a political independent for years and you just recently registered as a Democrat why the switch and how much of you moving not into the Republican Party but starting as an independent now moving to the Democratic Party how much of that is because of Trump and his effect on the Republican Party and his attitude towards towards veterans I mean to begin you know what Trump said about my father is irresponsible I mean it's I've never forgotten it and you know to remind everyone you know John McCain was my father as well and you know he was the guy I went to when I skinned my knee you know so to hear those things said about him I could never forgive you know the one thing about John McCain is that he cared about his country and he lived his life that way so as we moved on and I you know I was gone for a year so I didn't have a chance to to change but as soon as I was back I see you know I care about my family I care about equal rights of everyone in this country I care about all this and you know as much as I stayed as an independent I decided that you know it was time to move on and and do what I believe in you know the point of the fact of the matter that he said it constantly is country first you have to think about your country first however that is care about your country care about how making it better not being divided but being together as one to continue to be the greatest country in the world so I'm Billy I'm sure I thought he was very articulate there well what I wonder what you think of that and I wonder what you would make what you think John McCain would make the Republican Party today although I think we had some idea of how he felt about the Republican Party especially MAGA and Donald Trump look there's a there's an ad for a congressional candidate out here named Will Rollins that I helped with he's running in Palm Springs against Trump being dinosaur named Ken Calvert who in 32 years in Congress has enriched himself by 20 million dollars not not an atypical story but what that ad essentially says is my great speaking for Will Rollins because it's true of Will Rollins he said my grandparents were Republicans they were fans of Eisenhower and McCain and Reagan and they taught me that the Republican Party stood for personal accountability small government law and order and hawkishness on Russia and the reason that I'm a Democrat speaking as Will Rollins is because the Republican Party is none of those things anymore the Democratic Party is much closer to those ideals than the Republican Party is because the Republican Party has been not just co-opted but but hijacked corrupted poisoned by MAGA and by Trump and I don't believe that John McCain would have stayed in that party I know he wouldn't have done what Lindsey Graham did no way zero chance that he would just look the other way and and accept it that that MAGAism is now Republicanism zero chance it's interesting to me because I hear you know Kamala they'll say Kamala right oh she's just too far left moving too far left I feel exactly but I feel like now you know at once many many moons ago I was a Republican I'm an independent now and I've been for decades but this feels almost like the old Republican Party rather than the Democratic Party and I don't don't you think that's really smart on the Democrats part this time that the Republicans have moved so far to the right that Democrats moving to the right and becoming much more sensible right taking back the Republican message taking back the sort of the idea of limited government not being in women's bedrooms and or anyone's bedrooms and or in women's you know personal business with their doctors and so on and so forth those used to be Republican ideals or ideas either one but they're not I think it's very smart messaging on the Democratic Party it's almost as if it is I wouldn't say it's flipped but people talk about the Democratic Party moving to the left I think the Republican Party has moved so far right that Democrats are looking more sensible and even somewhat like Republican light first of all there is no Republican Party anymore we just have stopped saying that it's the radical right okay right when I when I work with a candidate or an elected and this is been eight years afraid years now I've said to them I'm gonna help you learn how to sound like a Democrat so that you can make arguments that independent voters can actually hear and that's what the Democratic Party is doing and the reason that they're able to do that the reason that that door is open is because one store public party decided that all that mattered was Trump that the the fealty and the loyalty was to him and not to a party once they decided they didn't even want to have a party platform anymore it was just whatever Trump wants that's what we're doing and whatever his whim of the day is that's what we're going to go out there and preach well then you actually have no belief system anymore you you have no ethos as a party anymore there it's all just a cipher and and into that void since we know that nature abortes a vacuum into that void steps the Democratic Party and all of a sudden the Democratic Party is talking about values that we had once had surrendered to the Republican Party I don't know how many times work freedom was used at the DNC but I'll tell you about that that's my next question after the after this one but I just want to I like to talk to the subscribers because they're weighing in and some people are surprised that many moons ago was young and then I you know I grew up again because I'm not a member of the and I'm not ashamed of that as Republican I don't know if I ever became a Democrat I'm not sure but then I think I became a Democrat and then I became an independent because I don't believe in it but I think that is a sign I'm not saying that I'm you know Einstein or anything of an intelligent person and someone with humility when you can change your mind when you get new facts right when you can say I was wrong about certain things and then you know which is what I think Kinzinger has done which is really the former lieutenant governor of Georgia has done which is what my friend like an anavaros that she's gonna kill me with Jesus what anavaros that and many other sensible people a delaying pep 22 in the comments is I used to be a Republican my first president was Reagan it's not the same trump and his minions ruin that very similar experience plain pep 22 is mine Reagan was my first Republican president and then after the whole debacle about HIV AIDS or whatever it is I started moving away from that Linda SS my dad was a Republican that was not the same party that he claimed to Wacko yes and the Republican Party especially in the South was a bit different as well MAGA and normal people aka DIMS says Winky Campbell so listen I want to know what you guys how you guys feel about this in the comments tell me how you feel about this conversation because I think that the I think it's very smart with the Democrats have done and I think honestly I don't know if it's a wink and a nod to Democrats where many of them haven't caught on to what the party is doing especially with messaging especially when Kamala Harris says look my morals and my deals have not changed right I'm the same person at my core meaning I'm in a general now for the most part I've sort of been a primary right when it was it I'm in I'm in a general now and so I'm gonna have to moderate well let me just slightly different that I didn't mean you're up I'm sorry no you're not the thing about what the Democrats are doing it's not just that it's smart it's that it's truthful it's it's where Democrats actually are collectively as a party and individually as candidates but let me give an example when we talk about the environment okay it used to be that the Republicans radical right was able to paint the Democrats as crazy on the environment you know who is most concerned with the environment in all of America it's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff hardly a bunch of tie-dye wearing hippies okay because they know that if the seas rise all the able bases will have to be jumped and rebuilt that's a couple trillion dollars right and that if you keep having catastrophic global weather events around the world you're gonna have global destabilization right you're gonna have more people competing for fewer resources and my friends if you don't like it when 12 people cross the Mexico Texas border wait until there are a million climate refugees trying to get to the United States because they have nowhere else to go that's chaos that's what the Democrats are trying to prevent and that's what the Republicans I'm sorry the radical right cannot prevent because they won't even admit that it's a problem but that's an example of where the Democratic position now just looks very sensible it looks completely independent and sort of devoid politics and the radical rights position which is there's no such thing as climate abnormality at all and we shouldn't be talking about climate rescue conceptually they look extreme they look crazy have you read Project 2025 I spent the weekend reading it I need I read it I try I wanted to read the whole thing but again as I said I had COVID but I think it before the election I'm gonna read the whole thing and I just could not have just exhausted yeah it's pretty shocking and and it describes a blueprint for a government that is outside of the American experiment it is it is so antithetical to what we all believe you know one thing that the last eight years have proven is that democracy is a decision it's not automatic like gravity or the Sun rising in the east democracy happens because Americans decide that must happen and if they don't decide that it must happen democracy goes away that's what Project 2025 is there to do and I think that in listening to your show people are making that decision in knocking doors and volunteering in postcarding and doing phone banking in sending five dollars you're making that decision and we'll save the country well the folks are loving you Lanza says 100% Billy Ray and there are a lot of Billy Ray lovers and someone told me it may not be politics say again they could just be hundred games changed yeah all right well you haven't done wow no I haven't read dance Sabo asked me I haven't read the entire 900 things I know I can tell you I haven't read the whole thing let me just ask quickly where you say that play right we I think a very important poll that we have up and I would like to learn about you it says how do you identify politically Republican independent Democrat please about 400 almost 500 of you have voted can you vote in that also make sure you hit the thumbs up like and subscribe it affects the algorithm go ahead Billy sorry no no I'll wait for the next question I'll find oh here's what I want to say about about Project 2025 one of the things that is most stunning about it is the number of times that it refers to wokeism which it calls cultural Marxism but also the number of times that it talks about transgender people you would think that every other person in America was transgender that it was just onslaught of transgender people and that all of government needs to change in the way that we're dealing with it here's the thing okay I through the political work that I've done I've gotten to know many many congressional districts in this country and I've talked to a lot of people and what they want to talk about when candidates knock on their doors when candidates meet them on their front porches or in their living rooms or at a fish fry or at a county fair or at a town hall what people want to talk about we want to talk about the cost of living right they want to talk about social security and Medicaid they want to talk about can we afford to buy a house is my child's future gonna be secure the quality of our air the quality of our water they want to talk about all of that right nobody is talking about the trans issue nobody nobody's thinking about it it's not on anybody's radar but Jim Jordan Marjorie Taylor Greene Ted Cruz Josh Hawley they've all decided that instead of focusing on all of those issues can people buy a house can they afford to live they've decided that their job since 1979 tirerack.com has been helping people find the right tires for how what and where they drive they sell only the best like the full line of bridge stone tires test results ratings and reviews are there to assist or try the tire decision guide to get a personalized tire recommendation tires ship fast and free to you or one of over 10,000 recommended installers in many areas they offer mobile tire installation that comes to your home or office shop bridge stone tires at tirerack.com is to follow a bunch of middle schoolers into their locker rooms to inspect their genitals that's what they think they should be doing as elected officials that's a desperation that's done or as you and I now know they are so fixated on this issue when you read Project 2025 you will be shocked how many times it's mentioned it is it is an obsession that borders on paranoia it it speaks of such a a mental and emotional state of unease I literally I those people they don't need an election they need a fucking hub it's really really sad if there is we had a sound bite yesterday and I don't know if we can get it now Donald Trump talking about the trans issue at a he was on age at some sort of talk if you can cue it up or get it just run it when you can if you find it I Nikki producer Nikki and I'm surprised by how many people I hear discussing this issue with really no knowledge of this issue they're never talking about it because it's not it affects so few people but also young people I was talking to a bunch of college kids who by the way I want to ask you about this they're saying that they're going all of them are going to vote for Donald Trump and they said all of their friends are going to vote for Donald Trump because they you know it's bad that that you know this trans issue thing and blah blah blah and they had these ideas about the trans issue they think that you know you can go in as a kid or whatever and you can get you know medication or you know that you can get gender reassignment surgery at such a young age and that their schools are indoctrinating kids it was shocking to me that they were so misinformed part of it they say it's because they get their news from TikTok or whatever but part of it is because they hear their parents talking about it that message is spreading okay but again again when candidates knock on doors and they ask people what do you really think about what is going to determine your vote in this election okay it's who's gonna go to bat for me who's gonna fight for me who's gonna help bring down the cost of living so that I can provide more from my family who's gonna help my 26 year old kid by a house and get into that game who's gonna protect our skies who's gonna protect our water so we don't have flint again who is going to protect Social Security who is going to protect my right to choose who's going to who's going to keep my kids safe from insane levels of gun violence there are so many lies in American politics but the biggest by far and it's not close is that we are a divided country we're not we just make the point I'm sorry I'll go fast when they put minimal wage on the ballot in Florida got 60% when they put it on the ballot in Arkansas got 62 when they put on ballot in Missouri got 67 this very democratic idea in states where Democrats always get their asses care Americans by two-thirds agree with us on minimum wage abortion guns climate protecting Social Security protecting Medicare legalizing cannabis it's incredible how much they agree with the Democrat Party about if we keep those issues in the forefront of the American voters mind not only will live in we will destroy and it will be the end of Trumpism forever and the Republican Party will have to rebuild itself well this is what I want to play this because they again it's a lie they're leaning into lies and I feel like they're running I've said this many many times a campaign from a time gone by it feels like 2024 version of Willie Horton but this is Donald Trump on stage speaking into speaking to a large crowd giving lies and misinformation about the trans issue watch this great somebody is no one's the way they hate 590% of the country doesn't want to be there but the transgender thing is incredible thing that you can't use the school and comes home a few days later with an operation the school decides what's gonna happen with your child and in a many just 15 years later what the hell happened who did this to me that is your your child goes to school and then comes comes home a few days later with an operation I don't know how that's even possible and that the school is deciding that is just a flat-out lie okay I'll just give you a little bit of just mathematical perspective here okay if you take kids between the age of 6 and 18 in America that's 63 million children okay do you know how many of them sought counseling for gender issues last year 420,000 and you know what percentage of them actually took a pill 10% so 40 I can't do the math and math but 42,000 kids out of 63 million and this guy running for president is gonna talk about it as if it's a five alarm fire this is this is such massive fraud it is such political malpractice but for me let him keep talking about it because I know that it doesn't move the needle for independent voters it only makes him look more scattered more insane and and less like a policy guy so I'm good with it do you think that there is a hidden again I was a little it was a little surprising coming from these kids do you think there's a hidden college vote young people vote because I don't know if you read the New York Times article and we know that Donald Trump is going after these sort of 20-something the 30-something you're old white guys right going on these obscure podcasts some of them very popular podcasts etc trying to get that vote and also appealing to college kids and it seems to be penetrating I'm wondering if there's a hidden college vote there's a hidden vote among African Americans especially men and they may be a hidden vote among women or do you think it's all baked in look I'm trying not to go for Trump in favor of Trump I'm trying not to see this through the lens of my own personal perception of him but again if we go back to those two basic drives that make people vote what do they want and what are they afraid of okay what do people in their 20s want okay it's economic they want to know that there's a chance that they can be relieved of their student loan debt and buy a house it's really that simple Kamal Harris is talking about that every day Donald Trump hasn't mentioned it once okay what are they afraid of they afraid of like chaotic work in which the climate has made life unlivable and they never get the chance to have with their parents had we just have kids and play on a beach right take a vacation when they when they can afford it they're afraid of chaos Kamal looks unbelievably centered and Donald Trump says another chaotic thing every time he opens up his mouth so for me the greatest news for for the Democrats is it Donald Trump is out there campaign he could be doing a bigger service to the Democratic Party or to democracy more more broadly I'm gonna say look I I'm gonna have to disagree with you a little bit not on that I think that there's an appeal I do think that there's a hidden vote these kids are telling me that they're afraid to say they're who they're going to vote for they're afraid to say how they feel politically and they said I wouldn't say it in class I wouldn't say in school because you can't because you'll be ostracized a teacher you know I'm afraid that my grades will be lower because I guess they feel they said well I'm not really a conservative but I don't like the pronoun thing I don't like you know some of the things they call wokeism so maybe they are closet conservatives I don't know so I think that there is a boat there that's not being counted as I am out I know that this is unscientific just speaking to people on the streets I come across more black men than not who say that they are going to vote for Donald Trump so I think that there is a maybe an undercounted or an underrepresented part of the electorate there and also women as well who say the same thing and they they won't say it they tell me the kids when the college kids said I can't say this to my teacher I can't say this to my professor I would never say it in class this those people told me the same thing when I was out speaking to them Don I'll say this to you because I know you they wouldn't say it to a pollster if a pollster even approaches them they wouldn't say it to someone who does a focus group because they don't know them and they don't feel comfortable enough but when I walk up to people on the street they go oh my god it's done them and then I'll ask them a question you know I don't want to talk but all right if you really want to know how I feel this is how I feel so I I'm just saying be cautious we need to be cautious of course and you know and I'm not in any way dismissing your your anecdotal experience in my experience yeah okay in the polling we asked people how do you identify politically 74% said Democrat 17% said independent I'm not affiliated with any says 6% Republican 1% we don't have a lot of Republicans so it was about almost 700 people who voted on that so let's move on because I want to talk about some other things and it's gonna have to be a lightning round okay mr. Billy alright I'm gonna use shorter answers yeah shorter answers so we heard from John McCain's son former senator John the late John McCain son I want to play another prominent Republican saying that he will not vote for Donald Trump today and that's from Pennsylvania and that is to me tattoo me yeah here it is residential race you know I you guys like you guys like Paul Ryan did tell me yet I mean they give me a list of reasons why Kamala Harris would be the worst thing to ever happen but still won't vote for for Trump and say something like well it's not really a vote for Harris and it's I'm not really I just so yeah because it is a binary choice so a vote so not for Trump is a vote for Harris so a couple of things first of all I voted for Donald Trump I know you did but 16 we're not talking about but when you lose an election and you try to open the results we all are familiar with power we're all are familiar with me well lose me okay then then so so you prefer Kamala Harris hold on hold on you would prefer I acknowledge that the outcome is a binary situation but my choice is not my sure I have the choice and you and I just can what if they came down to one vote it and it was yours to put Kamala Harris and then it is your it is it is an acceptable position for me to say that neither of these candidates can be my choice right now 28% corporate taxes 45% I get it so unrealize that the gains is Republican control of the Senate and that is absolutely essential if the other side runs the table then Katie bar the door they will repeal the filibuster and they will go they will be dragged by their left wing which clearly is in charge now and I think Kamala Harris proved that with her vice presidential election and its huge tax increases it's probably some version of Medicare for all it might even get to an expansion of the Supreme Court because there will be no breaks but the good news is I think Republicans are going to take the Senate right well perhaps but there's plenty of okay there's plenty of regulatory moves as we've seen from from Biden is sort of executive orders okay but let me just I wonder and I'm not sure Pat to me is right when he says that they're being led by the the left wing because I believe that the squad right and all those things that they have an outsized influence in Republican they they you know or live rent-free in Republican media's heads but the actual power that they have in Washington is minimal you hear a lot about them 0 but the Democratic Party does not govern with you know laws and ideas that come from the squad but the Republican Party does so I'm wondering how would you think that he said my the election result may be binary but my choice is not that's a powerful message for disillusioned Republicans no and I don't know again you can talk about whether you think Pat Toomey is right on what he said look the left is a part of my party but it's not the sum of my party and it's never been the face of my party it's the boogeyman of my party for a radical right insane propaganda look Pat Toomey's I don't know the man but he's in a tough spot because he knows that Donald Trump is incompetent and inept and hate to use the word evil because evil sounds like there's there's some sort of ideology there and I don't think Donald Trump has one but he but he certainly is he certainly is authoritarian authoritarian and anti-democratic so He cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump but because he still wants to be invited to cocktail parties he has to then trash vice president Harris but it didn't really look to me like his heart was in it yeah so listen I wanted to say this because I thought you know when you're thinking about the you know the former of the Republicans now at least John Kingston I think I think he said he's an independent but he needed to step forward and say something and then you know you got Pat Toomey and you also have other Republicans this is up the fascinating mortifying I'm so sorry you have to turn off you have to turn on the do not disturb sir so do you know how many times Ronald Reagan was mentioned at the RNC convention no how many so by my producers count only three he was mentioned bad politics that's just dumb but he was mentioned the same number of times positively at the DNC convention do you know how many times John McCain was mentioned at the RNC less than three not once perfect do you know how many times he was mentioned again positively at the DNC many four times that's what I say messaging messaging messaging is changing okay I want to pivot to something else that is just again to me that these folks are operating it's ridiculous what they're I don't know what they're doing and I think they don't know what they're doing I think they're just sort of flailing and grasping I want to pivot to this latest outrage du jour being promoted by Fox News and conservative media building they're claiming that Kamala Harris is quote faking a black accent or as we call it a black cent while speaking in a predominantly black audience and I'm gonna remind the audience that they did this with Barack Obama - apparently white Republicans have no idea what code switching is and how black people do it all the time as a matter of fact most people do it all the time and I'll explain that but watch the clip and then we'll talk about it oh she speaks here what it's like a Southern accent it sounds like she must have got the blueprint from Hillary Clinton I don't know what's up with that accent but I mean even the union workers are united with us where they do not want this prop price fixing the price fixing it'll never work Nixon tried it for a second he realized it didn't work it is Venezuela Cuba all rolled in the one she really needs to realign her thought process as far as business goes the free market while we fix everything and if she's watching which I hope she is just drill baby drill if you bring back the energy sector this problem goes away okay billing let me tell you that some bullshit because everybody code switches let me let me explain to you how right so you're talking if you're in a professional environment blah blah blah blah when you see your boys at the gym you go out to them what's up brother how you doing what's up man all right bro bro bro that's code switching right does that mean that you're faking being a dude I find my when I'm in the south with my family or if I'm around them hey y'all what y'all doing that's how I talk with them whatever if we're talking about somebody who's in church on Sunday you know you heard that reverend he said you better get your behind it whatever you are just sitting on Saturday and going to church on Sunday people do that white people do it my my country Western friend my people my my my friends who live in the south and you know listen to country Western music blah blah blah when they're with their friends and and speaking to people they're like hey you know they do the accident you hear the country music and do the same thing if you watch them at a music awards show they don't necessarily get on stage and do it right so everyone code switches to me it's some racist bullshit from that Maria Bartiromo show trying to pretend I guess come up with something or she's just ignorant about code switching because I'm sure she does it herself okay first of all let's just talk about the idea that Michael Raleigh of whom I was unaware until five seconds ago that he thinks that Kamala Harris is been tuning into Fox News to take campaign advice from him okay that's adorable let's just start right there okay like Michael to take it easy nobody gives a shit what you have to say about anything but least of all the vice president of the United States who's about to ascend to the presidency again how is that criticizing Kamala Harris and the way she talked at a union rally and by the way she's ahead with union voters of Donald Trump so it's all just sort of slow our role but how is complaining about her accent going to help the average American with the price of rice right how does that deliver for the average American voter on what they want or holding back what they're afraid of and the answer is it doesn't this is a party that has no ideas all they've got with the politics of division that's it and the politics of personal destruction the next is it 62 days whatever it is are going to be so abhorrent they're going to be so ugly from the Trump after September 10th when he gets stomped like a narc at a biker rally in that debate if you think that guy is gonna wake up the next morning and go positive sorry that's okay he is going to get as racist and as down and dirty as any politician ever has and it will blow up remember lightning round building okay it just drives me crazy because even I don't know if they're being deliberately racist or they just don't know because you know I I'll talk to my friend I said would you do oh my girl is me we went for brunch and oh my gosh we right and that's like there's a form of code switching that every single person does when they're around people that they're familiar with or when they're with their tribe it is to me it's to me it's just it's ridiculous okay yes and I think it's gonna get worse Michelle Obama warned us at the convention that it's gonna get worse and they're gonna double down on ignorance and hatred okay so Fox News is doubling down this is White House correspondent over at Fox News Peter Ducey pressing Karine Jumpier on this BS earlier today watch since when this vice president have what sounds like a southern accent I have no idea what you're talking about well I mean this is she was talking about unions in Detroit using one tone of voice is this something the same line okay Peter that she she's the same line in Pittsburgh and it sounded like she at least had some kind of a southern call I mean do you hear the question that you maybe do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question they care you know what they care about they care about the economy they care about lowering costs they care about health care that's what Americans care about so that's what they want you care about your colleague just asked me about the mark what basically we talked about went back and forth about democracy and freedom that's what they care I'm not even going to entertain some question about the press it's just it's just hearing it sounds so ridiculous well but hearing it is the question I'm talking about the questions is just insane is that how she talks in meetings I'm just it Peter we're moving on we're so moving around go ahead of me I mean I did Peter Peter Peter Peter Peter come on I you know I know what that voice was that was what my mom would do boy shut your damn mouth shut up yeah what's wrong with you and then that's what she wanted to say I would not have I would just be like really and then you know next question but I can't believe he even asked that I mean what do you think is he going to ask about gone what is he going to ask about he has no substance to talk about this is the thing that they're gonna jump on today let's see what kind of legs it has let's see if they're still talking about it not only a week from now let's see if they're still talking about it two days from now no there'll be some other equally unimportant distraction that they're gonna try to blow up into an issue but they've got nothing they've got nothing on the issues again minimum wage a woman's right to choose by the way on guns do you know if you stop calling it universal background checks which is the term everybody hates and you start calling it violent history checks 95% of America comes with you including 73% of NRA members okay protecting social security protecting Medicare decriminalizing cannabis on every issue two-third of the country is with the Democrats yeah you're damn right they're gonna talk about Kamala's accent when she was you know having fun at a rally because that's all they've got but ultimately the American people when they go into the polling place and they got to pull a lever they're going to ask themselves who's gonna make my family's life better you honestly believe that the majority of Americans think that Donald Trump is that candidate doesn't everybody remember what the fuck happened the four years he was president I would just like that I'm sorry it's a lightning round but I would just like to set the table again in 2016 Donald Trump asked for the votes America based on four promises I will bring that manufacturing your health care will get better and cheaper I will drain the swamp Mexico will pay for the wall none of those things happen yeah but he had a Republican house Republicans in it Republican Supreme Court and went 0 for 4 which either means those were bad ideas or he was the wrong executive but either way the American voter deserves better and the American vote got better in 2020 they actually voted for Joe Biden who did break back manufacturing who did actually make their health care more affordable who did drain the swamp nobody from his administration has been even accused of a crime much less gone to jail and then of course the Mexico pay for the wall was a dumb argument in the first place because there's not gonna be a wall yeah you know my my folks here know how we're gonna end we always in this program but I agree with you on that and I that's why I like to sort of inform people when they are misinformed about the election or about what's happening here so Billy I thank you for joining us and I hope that you will when you're talking about you know what has happened in the election and what people need to know before they go to the polls it is in this book this book releases on September 10th and I really want you guys to buy it I was actually out talking about it today I had an interview with the New York Times I did a photo shoot with the New York Times and I was out talking to people about the book really the publishers read this this book was supposed to come out after the election and published strongly that people needed to read this book before they went to the polls by the way today is the first day that I actually kind of look at like the book because it's I actually am in better lighting and back in my apartment in New York City I'll be back in the studio soon so you know I want everybody to buy this book pre-order it and I want you to read it Billy I will sign you but I speak about a woman's right when would someone a college kid that the college kid that I was speaking to on Sunday asked me well what's the most important thing for you in the election and I said women's reproductive rights and he goes really I said yeah and I said because that is that means that I care about the Supreme Court because if they take a woman's right away they could take my right away as a gay man for a marriage they could take your right away for whatever is it is that you feel that you that is important to you and I said and I would it would be shocking to me that young women especially in college would not want to support you know those ideals and then today I got stopped by the Daily Mail on the street and they said who are you voting for I said well I don't like to say who I'm voting for but I will tell you that I'm voting for democracy so I think you can figure out one issue for me that mean yeah democracy and and and making sure that my kids get to vote for the rest of their lives Donald Trump said explicitly we won't ever have to vote again if we vote for him that doesn't interest me who do you think is gonna win the debate oh comma of course you don't think he's gonna try to steamroll her he can try to steamroll all he wants she's ready she's a prosecutor she's she has dealt with white collar criminals before and that's all this is gonna be when people there was a it's a narrative out there the other day or they were trying to right-wing media saying oh she's ignoring the press she's putting in her headphones so that she has to ignore the press look I don't know if that's true or not but I only I felt like when she was listening to those headphones the rocky theme was going in the headphones and she's pumping herself up and getting ready for it so let me let me use this for one second as a platform to speak to those right wing I can't call them journalists but TV personalities or creator or podcasters or whatever needs and all the rest of them okay shame on you you know this guy doesn't believe in democracy you know this guy doesn't give a damn about America you know that this guy represents everything that's wrong with this country and you go out every single night and you tell lies to try to make him seem more electable and maybe it's because you're just making money doing it maybe it's because it makes you feel popular with your friends but it's bad for your country it's unpatriotic and it's shameful you got to knock it off Billy you're the best man thank you so much I hope you enjoyed this conversation I hope you'll come back I love it how do I see the comments what do I do they're up on if you go on YouTube I mean that they're live ones up now and then after we after the live show ends the comments that were in the live comments will go away for a minute and you have to wait and what the re-uploads into YouTube you'll be able to see the live comments just look for comments there'll be some the regular comments as usual but if you watch the show back there I think there's a like a button or something that you click on to look at the live comments but folks like you people like you anytime thank you Billy Ray I appreciate it I'll see you soon thank you pal okay you can get out here I'm gonna talk to the subscribers for a little bit so anyways thank you guys Billy Ray is a great great great guest a very smart man and again I was out and about and I got as I said I was stopped by the by the Daily Mail today and they asked me who I was voting for and a number of other things and then I was out talking to people actually went down to Wall Street which you'll see on social and some of it I think you'll we'll put it here on YouTube so that you can see the shorts very interesting conversations about what people were thinking or are thinking about the debate and about the election most people except for a couple of the Trump supporters said you know they said the debate the mic shouldn't be on that's that was previously agreed upon but just about everybody else said no the mic should be left open there should be fact-checking and there should be an audience most people said there should be an audience even the ones even the the Trump supporters thought that there should be an audience I can't wait for the debate to see what happens I do think that Kamala Harris is preparing herself and that's why she's like gone in and she's studying and she's listening to in her headphones or whatever it is but I also believe that Donald Trump is obsessed with Kamala Harris he doesn't know how to deal with her doesn't know how to deal with her it is driving him bananas and that's why he's going crazy it's obvious to me that he's looking at old tapes of her because he brings up the 2020 debate and he think he really remembers that so I think he's looking at old tapes studying it he's obsessed and he is you know doesn't know how to deal with it so we will see what happens I'm so glad that you guys tuned in make sure you get the book pre-order please it's at the top of the comments I once was lost my search for God in America wow starting to look like that again it's about time all right guys thank you so much I will see you tomorrow okay bye bye
