Republican presidential debates raise huge Trump question as candidates jockey for nomination

The first Republican primary debate will be on August 23, fewer than 12 weeks away. Will former President Donald Trump play ball and mix it up with a growing number of challengers? Could the debates undermine his formidable lead? 
 
The Republican National Committee has just announced the criteria candidates will have to meet in order to participate. For some, appearing on the debate stage will be their first chance to speak to a national audience, for free.

The stakes are high, especially when the front-runner seems to be running away with the race. If you’re a Republican vying for the presidency in 2024, it’s hard to draw breath; Trump, as ever, is sucking all the oxygen out of the room. 

GOP PRESIDENTIAL FIELD EXPANDS, BUT WILL IT HELP OR HURT TRUMP IN FIGHT FOR 2024 REPUBLICAN NOMINATION?
 
The debates, consequently, loom large. The first will take place in Milwaukee and be broadcast by Fox News. The second will be staged at the Reagan Presidential Library in California; it has not been announced which network will broadcast that forum. 

To appear alongside their rivals in these slugfests, candidates must meet various polling and money-raising targets, such as polling at a minimum of 1% in three nationwide non-affiliated polls and taking in donations from at least 40,000 unique supporters. Those hurdles should be relatively easy for most of the folks in the race today.
 
More problematic: candidates will also have to sign a loyalty pledge, vowing to support the eventual nominee. Would Chris Christie agree to support candidate Donald Trump? Would Trump agree to back anyone at all? He refused to make that commitment in 2016. Will he be more accommodating now? 
 
More important to the entire undertaking, what if Trump, who is leading by a wide margin, decides not to participate? In late April, he said that no one had obtained his approval before scheduling the debates.

Moreover, he asked, “When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the ‘questions,’ why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?”

From Trump’s perspective, it’s a reasonable question; what’s the upside? 
 
Trump’s appearances so far in the campaign have been largely before friendly audiences, including the CNN town hall moderated by Kaitlan Collins; that’s where he’s at his best. 
 
Meanwhile, Trump’s debate history is checkered. Some (including myself) argue that he lost his 2020 presidential bid by torching the first presidential debate against Joe Biden. I have been told that his coaches (including Chris Christie) pushed him to get aggressive with Biden, hoping that he could draw an angry outburst from the former vice president, which might have cemented the view that he was too old to run and undermined his “nice guy” image. 
 
It was a disaster. Instead of boasting of his many accomplishments as president, Trump showed himself antagonistic, humorless and unlikeable. 

On the other hand, during the 12(!!) primary debates, Trump was able to translate his TV-era notoriety into an ever-stronger candidacy. He was sharp, combative and on top of the issues. Can he do that again? 
 
At present, Trump has everything to lose and little to gain. After all, he would be facing off against a slew of very capable candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramasamy and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott.

Also, Trump may (probably correctly) reckon that he personally would be the biggest draw for audiences and wonder why he should deliver millions of viewers to his opponents. 
 
These are reasonable concerns, except for this: his lead is not necessarily “insurmountable,” and voters won’t like his refusal to participate.

Today, Trump has about a 30-point lead over DeSantis, No. 2 in the race. But while that gap had been widening, it has recently narrowed as the Florida governor has taken to the campaign trail.

Polls fluctuate; circumstances can change, missteps occur. Trump engaging in juvenile name-calling against his rival and suggesting (falsely) that DeSantis did a worse job managing the pandemic than disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are not winning tactics.

Meanwhile, DeSantis is not the only GOP hopeful spending time in the early primary states. The GOP bench is deep; any one of several attractive candidates could suddenly challenge Trump’s lead. 

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And, voters want debates. A survey last month showed a whopping 79% of Democrats who voted for Biden want the DNC to hold primary debates; at present, there are no debates planned which is customary when an incumbent is running. A similar number of Trump voters also want the candidates to confront each other.

Doing well early on is no guarantee of the nomination. Remember that in 2020. Current Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders led the Democrat Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary; Joe Biden placed a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.

It was in South Carolina that Biden’s campaign took off; boosted by Black voters, the former vice president crushed his opposition.

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Biden Weaponizes the Government’s Terrorism Prevention Program to Attack Conservatives

The Biden administration is using a Department of Homeland Security anti-terrorism grant program to target Americans with conservative and Christian beliefs. It’s a shocking discovery that came to light in recent weeks thanks to the Media Research Center .

The Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program provided $352,000 to the PREVENTS-OH initiative at the University of Dayton. Included in the grant application was a chart, “The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization,” which links well-known conservative organizations to neo-Nazis.

>>> Biden Admin’s Grants to Left-Wing Projects Aim to ‘Destroy’ Conservatives, Watchdog Says

Dan Schneider, vice president of the Media Research Center’s Free Speech America, MRC Business, and the external affairs division, joined “The Daily Signal Podcast ” to explain what his organization discovered.

“They held a conference even before grant funding was provided, where they specifically used this chart and additional charts to train people on how to subvert organizations like The Heritage Foundation,” Schneider said. “And this sounds like such a conspiracy theory. It sounds crazy that this is happening, but it really is.”

Listen to the full interview on “The Daily Signal Podcast ” or read the lightly edited transcript below.

Rob Bluey: Dan, thanks for revealing this important story.

Dan Schneider: Thank you. It’s a sad, tragic story. Rob, if I could just amplify one point: This grant program is in fact targeting conservative Americans, but specifically the nation’s premier think tank, The Heritage Foundation, by name, by logo.

It’s just shocking that our own taxpayer dollars that are supposed to be used to apprehend terrorists at the border has identified, in its sights, its purpose, its goals for eradication, The Heritage Foundation.

Bluey: And thank you for mentioning that, Dan. There are a significant number of notable organizations, including Heritage, on “The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization.” Tell us what that is and what your reaction was when you first saw those names on that list.

Schneider: We got these documents through a couple of different sources, but it reflects the Department of Homeland Security’s priorities in this grant program that, again, is supposed to be targeting big gang violence efforts and terrorism. The Biden administration, following his instructions when he was on the campaign trail, Joe Biden said he was going to reform this entire program, and he has.

But if you go online, the DHS website, it’s very vague what this program really is about. It has some nice buzzwords, makes people feel good, but what are these grantees actually doing, it’s starting to look really ugly. It really looks like they’re identifying regular, everyday Americans as the bad guys and looping them in with militant Nazis and neo-Nazis.

Bluey: It’s truly concerning. Obviously, Congress has a new committee that’s focused on the weaponization of government. What are some of the things that you’ve uncovered that we should know. How are our tax dollars are being used by this government to target conservatives?

Schneider: This [“The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization”] graphic image shows that Heritage and the Christian Broadcasting Network and Fox News and the Republican Party and PragerU are part of this terrible giant conspiracy of hate to attack America.

Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth, but the grantee, the University of Dayton—and there are 80 grantees nationwide, each with its own specific goals and mission statements. This grantee in particular included somebody from the University of Cincinnati and other radical academics, and this was part of their grant application. This was, “Hey, DHS, fund us because this is the kind of work we want to do.”

They held a conference even before grant funding was provided, where they specifically used this chart and additional charts to train people on how to subvert organizations like The Heritage Foundation. And this sounds like such a conspiracy theory. It sounds crazy that this is happening, but it really is.

And I’m reading from the conference itself where this University of Cincinnati research admitted, and I’m quoting here, “A lot of things we’re doing are illegal. A lot of it involves breaking the law.” And he instructs people on how to actually create dummy accounts on social media platforms like Rumble, particularly the conservative platforms, to infiltrate them, to disrupt these organizations, to manufacture infighting—this false sense of infighting, of course, to create infighting.

If somebody were to hear that Dan Schneider said, “Rob Bluey is a dirty little jerk,” well, you’d be offended and wonder what’s going on, and then that false infighting creates infighting. It’s just one of the many tactics they’ve employed.

Bluey: You had mentioned earlier that Biden at one point, when he was campaigning for president, promised to reform this office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention. It certainly seems that he’s transformed it into something completely different from what the Trump administration was doing. What does it tell us about how the administration is using the Department of Homeland Security, or maybe other agencies, to advance its political agenda?

Schneider: We’ve seen a number of stories come out now that reveal how this administration, and a number of agencies, is attacking conservatives with federal dollars, our taxpayer dollars, attacking conservatives and how they communicate and what they can say.

But let me just point this out—and The Daily Signal has written on this in particular. President Biden stood on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia a few months ago, sitting president of the United States, and announced that half of Americans are, and I think the term he used, are semi-fascists. His administration is simply following his lead and on the campaign trail he did point out this program in particular to say he was going to reform it and change it.

[Alejandro] Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, is following his boss’ instructions and his lead. They have revamped this program so it’s not focusing on terrorism. It is focusing on people who disagree with the president politically.

And they’re very clever. Some of these grant programs, they’re going after children, teaching children on how to think and how to reject certain ideas. They call that resiliency, prebunking. NPR a couple of years ago started to use the phrase “prebunking.” That’s part of this initiative. “If you hear anything about this false Hunter Biden laptop story, we’re going to prebunk it, we’re going to create resiliency so you don’t believe it and you reject it.”

The Left is so much smarter, more sinister than we are. They attack us on every level.

Bluey: Of course they never probably expected you to get your hands on this information and reveal it to the American people in the way you did. Tell us about this new initiative on the part of MRC to engage in this type of work, whether it be [Freedom of Information Act] requests or other means in order to make sure that you’re exposing what this administration is actually doing.

Schneider: Lots of good organizations have these FOIA efforts. Of course, Heritage has a very strong effort itself, so we are trying to do this in a different way than other organizations do because it doesn’t make any sense for every organization to do it the same way. Then we’re all just getting the same documents.

We don’t have enough resources like the Left does to duplicate. We’ve got to be really smart and each organization do things in the way that they know best to do.

So we are doing this. Maybe the best example I can think of is like the Navy SEALs or Delta Force. How can we go behind the scenes in rifle shot approach to get documents that … DHS doesn’t think we’re going to be able to get? How do we go around them to get these things?

And so far we’ve been successful and we’ve got more documents that we’re going to reveal soon. We’re just trying to fill in gaps and holes to make sure we know what we’re talking about.

I was a political appointee in the Bush administration and I used to run a big agency that awarded grants, so I know what the grant process looks like.

Under U.S. government rules to award grants and contracts there’s a certain amount of specificity that is required and goals that have to be stated, and grant applications have to include specific plans for how they’re going to meet those goals and reporting requirements.

As I’ve looked at the applications for this particular DHS program, none of that exists and the language is all very fuzzy.

They’re going to address misinformation and disinformation, engage in media literacy campaigns, create community resiliency, just these very vague phrases that in some respects don’t sound objectionable at all. But then you start to wonder, “Well, how are they going after terrorists? How does this all relate to terrorism?”

It’s all vague and fuzzy, which suggests to me that all of these grants, or many of them, were wired in advance. DHS knew the organizations they were going to award grants to because the applications are so weird and fuzzy and vague, there’s no way to evaluate. On the merits I think they were prewired.

Bluey: Both the Department of Homeland Security and the University of Dayton have downplayed the significance of the MRC report, yet you are pressing for answers. You delivered this to [House Judiciary] Chairman Jim Jordan in the U.S. House of Representatives. What are your expectations for Congress?

Schneider: DHS did not merely downplay this. They issued a statement within two hours after our release saying that we were—I don’t know if they used the word lying, but they certainly said we were wrong, and they specifically said, “These materials, this chart, these graphs were not included in any successful grant application.” It was objectively false, and Fox News broke the story, and in the story itself, Fox News had the link to the application where all these documents are included.

DHS, they think they can get away with these things because, of course, the legacy media, the corporate media is not going to report these things so they can misstate the truth, they can lie and get away with it.

That’s why it’s so important that people like you, Rob, are reporting the truth. Americans need to have a trusted source where they can go and get the facts because they’re not going to get it from ABC, NBC, CBS, and certainly not NPR and PBS.

Bluey: There’s a movement afoot in Congress to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable. The Heritage Foundation has called for him to be impeached. What can conservatives do about it, though? What do you advise supporters of MRC or our listeners on “The Daily Signal Podcast” to do now if they’re outraged by what you’re reporting today?

Schneider: So many times—and, Rob, you and I have been in Washington, D.C., a long time, so we’ve seen people who often say, “Well, contact your member of Congress.” And so often that’s just used as a throwaway line. This is one of those times. Contact your member of Congress. DHS has to be held accountable.

Mayorkas, he has lied to Congress, he has lied to the American public. He has got to be impeached and he has got to be removed from office. His sort of behavior is appalling. He may be a nice man behind the scenes, I don’t know, but as a government official, he has been so contrary to the Constitution, he has serially broken our nation’s laws. He has got to go.

Bluey: It’s incredible to see just how badly he has bungled the situation of the border. Obviously, we’re talking about this grant program here and his efforts to steer the department in a political direction.

Dan, before you go, I want to give you a moment to talk about the Media Research Center, the work that you do there. Obviously, it’s much more comprehensive than just the topic we’re talking about today.

Schneider: When I think of Washington, D.C., and the conservative movement in this city and in government, relating to government, I do think of a few organizations that are the pillars of the effort. And, of course, Heritage stands right there, chief among them. But the Media Research Center also is one of these strong, traditional, conservative groups that have been fighting in this city, this town, for our nation for a long time.

Brent Bozell founded it in the mid-1980s. He comes from two stellar political dynasties within the conservative movement. His mother is a Buckley, as in Bill Buckley, William F. Buckley Jr., and Sen. Jim Buckley, and his father, Brent Bozell II, both great traditional conservative families. So it has a great founding and a great mission and purpose.

I’m old enough. I remember when it was founded in 1987. And I was so happy because Dan Rather was a horrible, horrible anchor of CBS News, and Brent Bozell and us, we are going to prove media bias and then we’re going to try to stop it.

So mission accomplished on the first part, and we still have to try to stop media bias. I think the best way to do that is not to change NBC or CBS. That’s not possible. It is to help launch and support other media outlets, conservative media outlets, where people can actually get the truth, like Daily Signal.

Bluey: Certainly we have seen tremendous growth in just the last decade for conservative media, thanks to the work of the Media Research Center. How can our listeners support your work, find more information about the organization?

Schneider: Well, you can go mrc.org . That’s the mothership. I’m with Free Speech America, but if you go to mrc.org, you can find the other entities within MRC.

Bluey: Excellent. Dan Schneider, thanks so much for being on “The Daily Signal Podcast.”

Schneider: Thanks, Rob.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

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I was an FBI agent when two top agents were murdered. Bureau was focused on social justice

Every law enforcement officer’s family’s worst nightmare is losing their loved one to an act of violence in the line of duty. That nightmare came true the morning of February 2, 2021. FBI special agents Laura Schwartzenberger and Daniel Alfin were shot and killed by a child pornography suspect while executing a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida. Laura was not only my colleague, she was a close friend. In addition to the two veteran agents murdered, four agents were wounded. That was horrible enough. What made things even worse is when it appeared to many agents that the FBI prioritized politically motivated cases and social justice movements over addressing issues surrounding the deadly shootout.

After serving with honor as an FBI special agent for over a dozen years, I recently walked away because of the change in the FBI’s trajectory. The FBI’s handling of Laura and Dan’s deaths was the tipping point in my decision to leave as it was emblematic of the shift in the FBI’s priorities.

Americans are appalled with the current state of affairs at the FBI. Countless current and retired FBI employees and I share in the frustration. It’s heartbreaking that our legacies have been tarnished by those who inappropriately use their law enforcement authority to push their political agendas over fidelity to the law.

OVERSIGHT CHAIR COMER TO HOLD FBI DIRECTOR WRAY IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS OVER BIDEN DOC ALLEGING CRIME SCHEME

But trust me, you would’ve loved Laura. She was the antithesis of all the recent FBI scandals. Her integrity was impenetrable. Laura did not mince her words as she saw the FBI changing; we explicitly discussed how we would have no part in any politicization. 

She was highly decorated; she won multiple awards over her career, but she was never about the accolades or fanfare. She humbly did the heaviest lifting in the FBI protecting children from predators and sexual violence. She personified Super Woman as she successfully juggled being a wife, mother, sister, friend, devout Catholic, youth Sunday school teacher, top-performing FBI Agent, artist, scuba diver and CrossFit enthusiast.

Laura’s two young sons were her pride and joy. Although they inherited her fiercely competitive nature, as seen when they take the field for lacrosse, her top priority was to raise them to be good citizens and followers of God.

Laura was tough as nails but tender-hearted. She had a beautiful aura and light about her countenance. Her laughter was contagious, beloved by all. Rarely in law enforcement do we discuss the evil we combat but Laura and I confided in one another as we processed dark things we witnessed. As fellow women of faith, we regularly spoke about how God would carry us through.

The evening of Sunday, January 31, just 36 hours before Laura was murdered, she and I spoke on the phone regarding a variety of topics. As a former member of FBI Albuquerque’s SWAT team, she questioned the FBI’s recent use of SWAT nationwide for some operations she perceived to be a display of force to intimidate for political reasons. Yet, sadly, a day and a half after sharing her perspective, SWAT was not present for her and squad mates executing a search warrant on one of the most heinous, a child pornographer. 

Experienced law enforcement officers know those committing crimes against children can be extremely dangerous and violent – regardless of their prior criminal history. These subjects are desperate and know when caught, they will be in prison for a long time, so they have nothing to lose.

In August 2004, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) Deputy was shot and killed in the line of duty while executing a warrant in a child pornography raid – the same crime and same county where Laura and Dan were killed. As a result, BSO learned lessons and enacted the “Todd Fatta Protocol” utilizing SWAT to varying degrees for operations.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but I wish SWAT or a swarm of agents had been sent out the morning that Laura and Dan were murdered like the FBI deployed for the arrests of Roger Stone, Mark Houck, etc. If they had, would we be left picking up the pieces of shattered lives and families? 

When I commented recently about how people within the FBI were very concerned about speaking out due to potential retribution. The Bureau defended itself in a statement that said in part, “The FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures.” 

That doesn’t address other problems at the Bureau. When I left the FBI, almost two years after their murders, The FBI director had not presented an after-action review regarding what happened. Agents in Miami and across the country wanted answers to understand what went wrong. We were left to unofficial chatter and speculation. It was difficult for agents to mitigate future risks when we didn’t even know what transpired. There was no closure.

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Yet on a weekly basis, our FBI email inboxes were flooded with messages regarding various diversity matters. But not one correspondence advising lessons learned from Laura and Dan’s tragedy.

Agents often commented that they did not sign up to be social justice warriors or political pawns. They joined the FBI to protect and serve Americans and wanted assurance from leadership at the top that coming home alive was of preeminent importance.

I was contacted by retired, highly decorated, 28-year veteran special agent Michael Anderson. He supports my recent commentary regarding the FBI. His father, FBI special agent Terry Ray Anderson, was shot and killed May 17, 1966, in pursuit of a kidnapping suspect. He said both his and his father’s legacies had been “destroyed” by the Bureau’s current leadership. The FBI is no longer respected like it once was, he added.

Laura and Dan were murdered seeking justice for innocent children who had been victimized. In that effort, they left behind their own children. Despite the current state of the FBI, they made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve our admiration, honor and respect. 

For the FBI to be an effective law enforcement agency, the Bureau must regain the trust of the American people. Frankly, this will require drastic changes. I am hopeful and pray the FBI will return to its original roots as a law enforcement agency and make all our fallen heroes proud. 

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GREG GUTFELD: Why does no one want to talk about the war in Ukraine?

So let’s talk about war. Well, would you rather we do trans? All right, because that’s later in the show. War is a great topic. It’s so great, in fact, that no one wants to talk about it. It’s like bringing up 9/11 at a baby shower. Yeah, that landed – That’s proof. So we’re sending billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine but you wouldn’t know it judging by the press. Because when we spend blood and treasure, someone winds up with that treasure. What if Russia bombs a shipment? I guess we can debate that after World War III. Instead, all we get from the press are competing stories about who’s winning or losing and none of it makes sense. And do we care? We love to talk about war in this country. When it’s the war on drugs, the war on poverty and so on, but not real war. It’s a half a world away. Both sides talk funny. And those slobs on “The View” never talk about it. So I don’t get to make fat jokes.

But why is that? Well, war is like a 401K – don’t check on it until you cash out. Maybe people will care when our army doesn’t have any bullets left. But it’s worth pointing out that amidst this silence, there are two men on opposite sides of politics who are actually speaking up, saying that the war’s got to end. The moment you say that, of course, though, somebody is going to call you a Putin puppet. To which you should respond, well, you’re a puppet of a puppet, and you both have your hands up each other’s asses. A year ago, I said that unless you mitigate the war at the start, it becomes background noise like CNN while you’re waiting at gate C7. Someone gets it. Here’s RFK Jr.

VIDEO OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR: My own son Connor joined the Foreign Legion and fought in the Ukraine. And during the Kharkiv offensive, we were told initially that the objective was humanitarian. In recent times, President Biden said that one of our objectives, at least, is regime change of Vladimir Putin. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin validated President Biden’s statement by saying that our objective in the Ukraine is to exhaust and degrade the Russian army. That is completely antithetical to a humanitarian mission. 

WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘NO INDICATION’ OF MISUSED UKRAINE FUNDS AFTER MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE CALLS FOR AUDIT

So first, I had no idea that his kid went to fight as part of the Foreign Legion. I thought the Legion only existed in Cary Grant movies. Also, a Kennedy fighting somewhere else other than in a bar just doesn’t sound right. But that’s pretty damn brave fighting in Ukraine, considering you might run into Randi Weingarten. She is there. 

But it makes RFK the most important person to listen to. Unlike most, he has more than skin in the game, his own flesh and blood. Although maybe he’s biased because he selfishly doesn’t want his son to die needlessly. So is he a Putin puppet too? Do you have the guts to say that to him? I don’t. And if I don’t, you really think someone like “Morning Joe” does? So what are the Dems going to do about RFK Jr? Create another Russian hoax to falsely smear his principled stance? You know, it’s funny. These hoaxes, they’re like feds at a Trump rally– they all start to look alike. That’s a Democrat running for Prez. Here’s a Republican. 

VIDEO OF VIVEK RAMASWAMY: What I think we need to do is end the Ukraine war on peaceful terms that, yes, do make some major concessions to Russia, including freezing the current lines of control in a Korean War-style armistice agreement. 

ABC’S MARTHA RADDATZ: WHICH UKRAINE REALLY WOULDN’T WANT TO DO. 

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Which Ukraine wouldn’t want to do, and also a permanent commitment not to allow Ukraine to enter NATO. But in return, Russia has to leave its treaty and its joint military agreement with China . That better advances American interests and actually further deters China from going after Taiwan, which I think is a much higher priority for the U.S. 

So he wouldn’t spend another dime on this war because all it does is push Russia to China. Maybe he’s right. All Paul, George and Ringo did, attacking John was push him to Yoko. So what’s this mean when two oppositional candidates happen to agree? Well, maybe it’s time for the rest of us to listen to this guy. 

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If I’m president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours because I’ll meet with Putin, I’ll meet with Zelenskyy. I want Europe to put up more money. We’re spending $170 billion for far away land and they’re right next door to that land. Right now, we want to get that more settled. And I’m not talking about the money either. I’m talking about all the lives that are being… the number of people being killed in that war is far greater than you hear. 

Exactly. But that’s nothing new. Trump hates war for reasons all of us do. It’s a waste of young life. And he thinks America should keep its F-16s, which is really crazy am I right? Yet CNN claims that Trump is politicizing the war. Well, duh you **** morons he’s running for president. It is politics. 

And he’s always been like this except thinner and less orange. But he knows the loss of blood and treasure makes no sense if there’s another way and I think there was – the people in the know saw this war coming and still it happened. And why is that? Well, you can’t speculate, or again, you’ll be a Putin puppet. Fact is, two things can be true at once: war is a waste, but a war may be had to be fought. The problem is when a war starts and gets sponsorship, it loses the spotlight. “Gutfeld!” gets preempted for a few days, but then people just want to hear brilliant jokes and analysis from a hot stud again. But we all pay for this. We don’t see the bill, so it keeps going. It’s like sponsoring a starving child overseas, the one you saw in those ads decades ago. We’re sponsoring a war that we never have to see. But if you got a pic of that child that you’re sponsoring and say every six months, he’s looking more and more grim, you got to ask, what the hell are they doing with the money? 

UKRAINE IS READY TO LAUNCH LONG-AWAITED COUNTEROFFENSIVE, ZELENSKYY SAYS

But there is the other truth that when a country invades another country, you got to act against the aggressor even if you know the outcome is going to be awful or invasions will continue. And it’s not our country, it’s Ukraine’s. And you can’t tell them not to fight. Except now we’re bankrolling the fight and bodies are piling up like a Cuomo-run nursing home. Joke. And now we may be prolonging the agony, just like people who vote for Gavin Newsom . So now it feels less like a war and more like a demolition of an old apartment building to make way for a casino with the people still in it. So is that what this election should be about?

For us, it’s about four more years of a mindless, feeble robot programmed by the left with no desire to connect our financial support to thousands of dead Ukrainians. Ten years ago, Joe Biden could find Ukraine on a map. Now he can’t find his own front door. 

So as long as he stays, the war goes on as he haplessly sits and waits for further instructions from his handlers or the visiting angel to come powder his feet. I’d be happy if a Republican beats Biden to end this war. But if a Democrat does it first, awesome. Because maybe that shows that common sense can cross all lines, even politics. And if you want to fight about it, join the Foreign Legion. 

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