The Social Contract with Joe Walsh
Trump Is Unfit, Yes. But To Beat Him, Harris Must Answer Unscripted Questions From The Media & Voters
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's enough people who can't stand Trump that Harris can just ride the vibe to victory. But I think she'd increase her odds if she held press conferences and town halls. And...our immigration system is broken. It can't be ignored, it shouldn't be demagogued, it must be fixed.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Broadcast on:
- 19 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
This Halloween, ghoul all out with Instacart, whether you're hunting for the perfect costume, eyeing that giant bag of candy, or casting spells with eerie décor. We've got it all in one place. Download the Instacart app and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, minimum $10 per order, service fees, other fees, and additional terms apply. Instacart, bringing the store to your door. This Halloween. Jewelry can say many things on your wedding day. As a wedding band, it can say, "This is a forever symbol of our forever love." As a gift to your wedding party, it can say, "Thanks for standing up there with us." Blue Nile can help you find the piece that says it all, and says it beautifully, with expert guidance and a wide assortment of jewelry of the highest quality at the best price. Go to blunile.com and experience the convenience of shopping Blue Nile, the original online jeweler since 1999. That's blunile.com. Hey there, it's Farnish Terabi, host of the So Money Podcast. Imagine having a super smart and reliable virtual friend to help you guide your finances. Well, besides me. Enter Claude by Anthropic. With the power of AI, Claude can help streamline your financial tasks. From analyzing data and charts to generating code for investment models or budget trackers, Claude's advanced reasoning helps you tackle the toughest financial challenges. Take control of your financial future with the right tools. Visit claud.ai today and start saving time and money. America, we got to get back to doing what's expected of us as free citizens in this democracy. That means being tolerant, being respectful, staying informed, and being engaged. I'm former Congressman Joe Walsh. Follow me here and join the millions of Americans who are renewing their social contract with each other. The social contract, it's on us. Hey, this Thursday, welcome. Hope you're having a good day. A couple of thoughts for today. Former Congressman Joe Walsh with you. This is social contract, the social contract with Joe Walsh. Thank you everybody on TikTok, jumping in, paying attention, different camera. I kind of sometimes have to look at two places because I've got everybody on all of my social channels right here. And then I've got everybody on TikTok right here. Love you, TikTok. A couple of thoughts. My take on a couple of things. And remember, look, let's get to a place where I can give you my take. You can respectfully say, Joe, you're full of shit. Here's what I think about your take and we can have a respectful conversation about our takes. So I'm just going to throw out my take number one this Thursday. And I throw out this take, as you all know, as someone who is doing all he can do to help Kamal Harris win. And I'm doing all I can do to help Kamal Harris win because I believe Donald Trump is uniquely unfit. I believe Donald Trump is a lawless, un-American psychopath. I believe Donald Trump is everything our founding fathers fear. So I'm doing everything I can in my power to help the candidate. The only candidate on the ballot this year that can keep Trump out of the White House. So I say what I'm about to say with that as my intention. I want Kamala Harris to win. And if I had Kamala Harris and her advisors in a room right now, I'd say the same damn thing. I'm going to tell you right now. Maybe, maybe. Here's my take. Maybe there are a lot. Look, here's the deal. Here's kind of my deal. Most Americans can't stand Trump. Most Americans though really don't know Kamala Harris. So I start from that. I start with that context. Most Americans can't stand Trump. And most Americans don't really know Kamala Harris. So maybe Kamala Harris can just ride this wave, this anti-Trump wave. This I can't stand Donald Trump vibe and be the difference, right? Be the joyous, inclusive, smiling, wonderful face that she is. Maybe Kamala Harris can just ride that vibe to victory, ride that vibe to the White House. My take, I don't think she can. I don't think she can win just riding the anti-Trump joyous vibe. That's carried her the past 59 days or so that she's been in this race. I think Kamala Harris to win needs to take direct questions from the media and direct questions from the American voters. I just, I just do. And look, she hasn't, yeah, we can quibble and debate the degrees upon which she's taken questions. But Kamala Harris in the 59 days she's been the Democratic nominee for President. She has not stood in a room, right, held the press conference, right, stood there with ABC and Fox News and CBS and all kinds of outlets in front of her ready to fire questions at her. Come on, fire away. She has not done that. As someone who's in her corner, I think she should do that. As someone who doesn't want Donald Trump to win, I think she needs to do that. Kamala Harris has not stood in front of 30 voters in Michigan or 44 voters in Arizona or 71 voters in Georgia, an open town hall, right, where, where she answers unscripted questions from directly from the American voter. She hasn't done that yet. I think she should do that. Again, I say that as someone who's in her corner. I think she has to do that. As someone who wants her to win, I say that. Look, the Harris campaign has made a conscious effort to keep her away from doing this, to keep her away from the press, unscripted questions from the press. The campaign has decided they're not going to do it. The campaign so far has decided we're not going to put her in front of the American voters and have her take on unscripted real questions from real voters. The campaigns made a choice not to do that. I think that's a mistake. I think that's a mistake. And I'll say this a few times. I think she's damn good at it. But I think it's a mistake. I was, I forget what state I was in last in one of the battleground states. Might have been Arizona, might have been Michigan. I had a 40-something-year-old black man come up to me and say, "Joe, I love what you're doing." We engaged in a conversation and he said to me, "Look, I'm voting for Harris." It's a 40-something-year-old black guy. He said, "I'm voting for Kamala, but I got real concerns. She's not getting out there. She's like in this protected, cocooned environment. She does these rallies where she doesn't answer questions. She does some of these very friendly, carefully scripted media interviews. This is a Harris supporter. He said, "She's got to get out there. I've got friends of mine who want to vote for her. They don't know the first thing about her. They want to see and hear her take questions from antagonistic media people. They want to see or take questions from normal Americans, regular Americans." And she's not doing it, he said. And I think she really has to do it if she wants to win this Harris supporter set. 40-something-year-old black guy, and I agreed with him. Look, you're running to be the most powerful person on the planet. You're running for the most important job on the planet. I just philosophically believe, if you're a candidate for that position, you must stand naked, alone, in front of a microphone, in front of the free American media, and answer unscripted questions on anything and everything. I believe that is the obligation of a candidate for president. I believe that. You don't. I believe that if you're running for the most powerful position on the planet, certainly the most powerful position in this land, in this country, damn it, it's your job, it's your obligation to stand in front of American voters on a regular basis and directly answer questions from American voters. I don't think any candidate for president should just put out a bunch of commercials and hold a bunch of big old rallies where everybody's smiling and you're reading some speech off of a teleprompter. I say this. I say this as someone who's going to vote for Kamala Harris no matter what. I say this as someone who's out there every day in a battleground state, every day, encouraging independents and Republicans to vote for Kamala Harris. Remember where I started. Most Americans can't stand Trump, comma. Maybe that's a period. I don't know. I was never very good at punctuation. Most Americans can't stand Trump, I'll go with the comma, comma, but most Americans don't know Kamala Harris. Most Americans really don't know where she stands on the issues. I mean, Donald Trump was his typical asshole self, stupid self, dishonest self, ignorant self, hateful self at that debate, that's who Trump is. He's utterly unfit, not talking about Trump right now, but in that debate, Kamala Harris, when you watch the whole thing, you can't tell me, I can't tell you specifically where she is on most issues. She did a damn good job of having her prepared choreographed answers in her head, but she didn't really give a good enough, decent enough job of explaining to the American voter. This is where I am. This is what I believe. This is where I stand on these issues. I think she has to do that. I think she should do that. I think she's obligated to do that. I think she ought to do that if she wants to win. I worry that if she doesn't do this, she won't win, and I can hear you now. I can hear you now, all my good Democratic friends listening to me. Joe, shut up. Joe shut up. Joe, just fine, Joe, shut up. She's out there all the time. She hasn't been. It's been 59 days and she has not held one press conference. She hasn't. It's been 59 days and she hasn't held one town hall taking unscripted questions from American voters. She's done a couple little local interviews with local media. She's done some friendly podcast interviews. She's going to be with Oprah Winfrey tonight. She was with the National Association of Black Journalists this past week. Come on. Come on. Trump's out there doing his thing, taking questions from damn near everybody. And Trump does what he does. He lies. Again, he doesn't understand. He's nuts. He lies. He gives stupid answers, ignorant answers. Did you hear what he said about? He was asked a question about lowering the prices of things out there, and he gave a rambling three-minute answer and he started talking about windmills. So Trump doesn't know anything, but see, that's the thing. Trump's out there. Trump's doing what Kamala Harris should do, and it exposes Trump as the dishonest, ignorant, hateful guy he is. So I want to keep Trump out there. But I think Kamala Harris needs to get out there. I don't think you can, I don't think you should be protected from the big bad media if you want to be president of the United States. I think American voters need to see you standing there taking questions from the media crazies, from the media vultures, whatever you want to call them. Look, we live in a democracy, ABC, CBS, Fox News, News, Max, go down the litany from right to left, these media outlets represent us. The only way we get to ask a candidate for president, a question, is if our free media is allowed to ask any and all questions to a candidate for president or unless we are directly, and you may not like the media, I may not like the media, but we have a free media in this country that runs the gamut and they in essence are our voice. And I just, I don't think it's right for a candidate to run for the highest office in the land and not have to face that music. I think American voters should see, they should have the opportunity to see Kamala Harris in front of the media, a press conference every week. Look, they see Trump do this and it's helped. Most Americans understand that he's a dishonest, ignorant, cruel, hateful guy. It serves a purpose. I really, truly do believe that if Kamala Harris did this, I think she'd do fine. If she were just herself, just her genuine self and took on all questions, this is where I am. This is what I believe. I think she'd do fine. I think generally she does fine on her feet. She did generally fine on her feet in that debate. I think Kamala Harris would excel in a town hall format. I was about to say, I've never run for president. I did run for president very briefly against Donald Trump in 2020. And in my very brief time running for president in 2020, I tried to hold as many press conferences with members of the media as I could. And when I went into Iowa and New Hampshire, I tried to set up town halls and take questions directly from Americans all the time as much as I could. Hell, when I ran for Congress, I felt it was my obligation to get in front of as many voters in my district as I could and answer direct questions from them, whether they supported me or not, and that was running for a seat in the House of Representatives. You get my point. My thesis is, I don't think she can beat him if she doesn't do some of this. Most Americans can't stand Trump. Most Americans don't know Kamala Harris. I worry that as this race comes to a conclusion, these next six, seven weeks, the number of voters in the middle who can't stand Trump, but I don't know where she is on the issue, that a certain number of them are going to say, screw it, I'm going to vote for the bad guy. At least I know him and oh my God, the economy was okay. Like I see a lot of voters making that decision. I want to vote for her. The dog on it, she just hasn't gotten herself in front of the American people. I don't totally know where she is on stuff. I know he's an asshole. I know he's a bad guy, but look, we survived four years of them to hell with it. I worry about too many Americans do that. I want Kamala Harris to take that option off the table. Take it off the table. Don't give the American people that option. I want the American people going to the booth voting in six to seven weeks saying that guy's a bad guy. He's an asshole. He's unfit. Kamala Harris has made pretty damn clear to me that she's got the best of intentions and she wants to move this country forward and I kind of have a pretty decent sense of where she stands on the issues. I'm voting for her. Kamala Harris, if you're listening, Kamala Harris team campaign, I think you're doing her a disservice. I think this narrative of after 59 days, she's not getting out there. I haven't seen her hold the press conference. I haven't seen her hold the town hall. I think it's out there now and I don't blame the Trump people for jumping all over it. You have an opportunity, Kamala Harris, to do something about that. I beseech the, please do something about that. I think you'd be pretty good at it. And oh by the way, Harris campaign, and don't get ahead of yourself, Trump people, your guy's not in the lead. This campaign, Harris supporters, not to rain on your parade, but I love to rain on people's parades. This race is tied right now. This dog gone, this dad gone race is tied. It's tied. She may be up by a few points nationally doesn't matter in every battleground state. This race ain't going to be decided in California by people in California ain't going to be decided by people in my home state of Illinois. In Wisconsin and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Arizona and Nevada and Georgia and North Carolina, then their folk are going to decide this race and then damn near every one of those states right now, this race is tied. So you know, the Harris campaign can't think, oh my God, we got this in the bag, we're way ahead. We don't need to put her up there. That ain't the case. This race is tied and this narrative of, I kind of like her, but I just don't know enough about her and like, why hasn't she been out there taking questions from all comers? Why hasn't she stood in front of those media folk for an hour and a half press conference? She hadn't done that. That narrative is sinking in. Knipped that in the butt, nipped that in the butt, Harris campaign. Thus end if my advice to the Harris campaign. Yeah, Trump is not taking California and Trump was in New York yesterday, a state he lost by 23 points, Trump's doing a rally in New York and Donald Trump said he's going to win the state New York last night. He's lying, but every time he opens his mouth, Donald Trump is lying, but he's not going to win New York. This Halloween, ghoul all out with Instacart. Whether you're hunting for the perfect costume, eyeing that giant bag of candy, or casting spells with eerie décor, we've got it all in one place. Download the Instacart app and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes, plus enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, minimum $10 per order service fees, other fees and additional terms apply Instacart, bringing the store to your door. This Halloween. It took a lifetime to find the person you want to marry. Finding the perfect engagement ring is a lot easier. At Blue Nile dot com, you can find or design the ring you've always dreamed of with help from Blue Nile's jewelry experts who are on hand 24/7 to answer questions and the ease and convenience of shopping online. For a limited time, get $50 off your purchase of $500 or more with Code Listen at Blue Nile dot com. It's $50 off with Code Listen at Blue Nile dot com. Bjork, a story, I've got time for this, don't I, gang? Do you want to talk to my therapist, combat nine vet asked me, "Do I want to talk to your therapist? Is she good?" I've done therapy. I've had some good therapists and some bad therapists. I enjoy therapy. I probably combat vet. Somebody like me needs therapy. I come from a big old Irish Catholic family of nine kids. I was the middle child. Most middle kids are fucked up, right? I was an unusual kid. So yeah, I'm always open to a good therapist, DM me, my veteran friend, DM me with the name of your therapist, always looking for some help. A story grabbed me this morning that just again made crystal clear how broken our immigration system is. Keith, can you put that headline up for me to look at right now? Chicago public school teachers say they were told by their administrators to give migrant students passing grades. Chicago public school teachers told by their administrators to give their migrant students passing grades. Thanks, Keith. A story in NPR this morning, the city of Chicago, there's something like 50,000 migrant children who have flooded into the city of Chicago and they're going to the public schools in the city of Chicago, 50,000, 60,000 migrant children. And Chicago public school teachers have been told by their administrators, ordered by their administrators to give these migrant students at least a 70% grade in every subject and pass them on to the next grade. Now, I don't know how any American can hear a story like this because you know this is being played out in cities and towns across America. I don't know how any American can look at a story like this, 50, 60,000 migrant children in the Chicago public schools and the teachers have been ordered in those Chicago public schools to give them all a passing grade and move them on and all on to the next level. I don't know how any American can look at a story like this and not think we have a broken immigration system first and foremost. Man, America, we have a broken ass immigration system. And this story is just one example of that. I mean, this is a problem. Can I get a show of hands out there, everybody listening to me right now, is there anybody raise your hand who doesn't think this is a problem? No matter where you are politically, this situation is a problem, right? It's not a good thing. I guess is what I'm saying. A bunch of migrant children in Chicago public schools, teachers are giving them passing grades and moving them on to the next level even though they didn't achieve those passing grades and even though they shouldn't be moved on to the next grade. Is there anybody out here who doesn't think that's a problem? I am looking in Keith at the show of hands from around the country and I don't see anybody with their hand up and by the way, Trace, I agree with you, giving any student grades, they have not earned is okay. Amen, Trace, I completely agree with you. It's a problem. And by the way, these migrant children don't speak English, vast majority of their teachers don't speak Spanish or any of the South or Central American variations of the Hispanic Latino languages. So there's a language big time barrier here. But look, gang, this is just one piece of evidence of how broken our immigration system is, how broken it's been for a while, a long time during the Biden administration, during the Trump administration, during the Obama administration, during the George W. Bush administration. Our immigration system has been broken for a long time because, and I say this as a former member of Congress, there has not been the political will on either side to do anything about it. Our immigration system's broken. One piece of it. In the last three and a half years, hundreds of thousands, probably a few million migrants have flooded into this country, legally, Trump and JD Vance lie about it. And by the way, can I go off on JD Vance here for a moment, back up, JD Vance yesterday, acknowledged that one of his rallies, he said, I wish I had the quote, but I've got it Keith. Don't worry. I've got it. JD Vance said, he acknowledged that the migrants in Springfield, Ohio were here legally, but he's still going to call him illegal aliens. JD Vance said that yesterday. I know they're here legally, but damn it, I'm still going to call him illegal aliens. JD Vance said that yesterday. And basically what's JD Vance saying? I'm going to lie. So that one aspect, JD Vance said, I don't give a damn what the truth is. I'm going to lie. JD Vance also, it's also JD Vance saying, I don't give a damn what the truth is. I am going to spread hate. I'm going to spread a hateful lie that they're illegal aliens. And this brings me back. So we have a situation in this country. I'm done with my JD Vance rant. But by the way, America, by the way, Trump supporters, by the way, Trump supporters, that's your VP pick telling you he's going to lie to your face. That's JD Vance telling you, I'm going to lie to my voters. And I'm going to keep saying they're here illegally. Things of migrants have come in legally seeking a better life and opportunity. Get all that, acknowledge all of that. But this can't stand. We shouldn't be here. A Springfield, Chicago, Denver, New York, towns, big and small, all made up of good, decent hearted people. And these migrants come in here are all good, decent people. But this has created huge problems. Our federal government is not doing its job. And Springfield, Ohio is paying the price for that. The Chicago public schools are paying the price for that. We've got to fix this broken immigration system. So we're not in a situation where we have 60,000 migrant children in the Chicago public schools who are being given a passing grade and sent to the next grade, the next grade level, even though they don't qualify, and even though they don't speak English. We shouldn't, they shouldn't be in that kind of a situation. We shouldn't be in that kind of a situation, but this is a problem that needs to be fixed. And the truth is, on one side, you've got Donald Trump and JD Vance and the right who just fucking demagogue the issue. They take this problem and they try to scare the hell out of people. These migrants are eating cats and dogs. These migrants are committing crimes everywhere. These migrants are bad people. These migrants are taking over our public schools, whatever. Trump and Vance lie and demagogue, the right's always done this. Listen to me. I used to do this. It pays. It pays really well when you are a right-wing radio or TV guy and you demagogue this issue and you scare your listeners and your voters, trust me, I come from the right, I did it. It works. It does really well, so that's what Trump and Vance and the right are doing. They're demagoguing this issue, lying and trying to scare voters. The left, Democrats, well, here's my criticism of you all. You haven't paid enough attention to this problem. This is a problem, our broken immigration system. This is a problem, 50,000 immigrant children in Chicago public schools being given passing grades, not speaking English, bumped up to the next level when they don't qualify for it. This is a problem. Our immigration system has been broken for a long time and Democrats generally have not paid enough attention to this problem and have ignored this problem. They have. You can tell me that Biden and Harris a couple months ago tried to pass some legislation because four or five months before the election, Biden and Harris finally realized that this is an issue Americans care about. Biden and Harris finally said we're going to do something about it and, yeah, Trump played politics with it and shut that border bill down. I acknowledge all of that. But for three and a half years, Biden, Harris ignored this problem. So we've got one side demagoguing the issue, lying about the issue, and we've got the other side that has not paid enough attention to the issue. And what we don't have is anybody trying to fix the issue. We've got Trump and Vance lying about cats and dogs being eaten, instead of Republicans and Democrats sitting down and figuring out how we can fix the real problems that the influx of migrants has created again, I'll say again, oh my gosh, the vast majority of migrants who come here. They're good, God, fear and decent folk who just want a better life. And I'll say again, the vast majority of people in Springfield, Ohio, gosh, are God fear and good, decent people who just want a pragmatic workable fix to the strain that the influx of migrants has put on their community. This isn't the problem of the migrants. The migrants are not to blame the good folk in Chicago, Springfield, they're not to blame. Our politicians are to blame. Our politicians are to blame Republicans for lying about this issue and demagoguing it and scaring voters and Democrats for not paying enough attention to it. When in reality, the problem just needs to be fixed. And by the way, the last thing I'll say, they won't fix it. Republicans and Democrats won't fix it until the American people demand that they do. As long as Trump supporters reward him for lying about shit, Trump will keep lying and the right won't do anything about this problem. And as long as Democrats don't, Democratic voters don't express, damn it, I'm a good American. I'm a loving American. I want to embrace all who come here, but this is a problem. We got to fix it. Unless Democratic politicians hear enough of that, Democrats aren't going to act on this. Democratic politicians won't. By the way, let me say this, for all of you who don't know, this is my daily podcast, the social contract with Joe Walsh. It's daily Monday through Friday. I have a conversation once a week with somebody, tomorrow I'm going to have a conversation with a really interesting guy who's written a really interesting book about Christian supporting Trump and what that means. So be sure to tune in tomorrow Friday, but the social contract with Joe Walsh every weekday on all of my social channels, 8 a.m. Pacific time, 11 a.m. Eastern time. Let me say that one more time for everybody way out there in this country. The social contract with Joe Walsh every weekday on all of my social channels, 8 a.m. Pacific time, 11 a.m. Eastern time, spread the word, spread the gospel. Thanks everybody. Have a great day. Be brave. Thank you for listening. And remember to listen, share and follow the social contract with Joe Walsh on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere great podcasts are found. And be sure to leave a five star review. This has been the social contract with Joe Walsh. Hey there, it's Varnish Terabi, host of the So Money Podcast. Imagine having a super smart and reliable virtual friend to help you guide your finances. Well, besides me. Enter Claude by Anthropic. With the power of AI, Claude can help streamline your financial tasks. From analyzing data and charts to generating code for investment models or budget trackers, Claude's advanced reasoning helps you tackle the toughest financial challenges. Take control of your financial future with the right tools. Visit Claude.ai today and start saving time and money. Need new glasses or want a fresh new style? Warby Parker has you covered. This has started just 95 bucks, including anti-reflective scratch resistant prescription lenses that block 100% of UV rays. Every frame's designed in-house with a huge selection of styles for every face shape. And with Warby Parker's free home trion program, you can order five pairs to try at home for free. Shipping is free both ways too. Get a Warby Parker dot com slash covered to try five pairs of frames at home for free. You get access to over 35,000 therapists, a match in as little as 24 hours, and that's not all. We onboard your people in days, not months, with no upfront fees and pay as you go pricing. Now that's better. Better help business. Now get back to business with that podcast of yours. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)