Democrats label Trump's tariffs 'corruption'

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. It's tax season, and we're all a bit tired of numbers. But here's one you need to hear. $16.5 billion. That's how much the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud last year.

Now here's a good number. 100 million. That's how many data points LifeLock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com slash podcast.

Terms apply. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kill Mead vacation.

Well, no, not really. He's always working. He's like the hardest working guy in television and radio that there is. I'm Jason Chapitz filling in for him. Brian will be back tomorrow.

No way he's taking a day off. No, no way.

So, but I'm in with the show today, and I appreciate you having me because there's a lot of stuff going on. There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere, so we got plenty of that to talk about. We got Jonathan Turley coming at near the bottom of the hour. He's going to give us his brilliant legal analysis as he always does. But there's a lot happening out there.

Everything from Terrace to Gretchen Whitmer, that's my favorite thing. When she holds that little binder in front of her face and she's just like, nobody can see me. I don't know if you've seen that photo, but it is hilarious. Go look it up. Foxnews.com.

You can find that. It is really amazing what is going on. Then, of course, you have the, you know, somebody decided to light up the governor's mansion there in Pennsylvania. I'm glad they have a suspect at hand, but we're going to talk a little bit more about that later on in the show. But right now, we're going to kick things off with somebody I'm a big fan of.

I was a fan back when he was playing football. Burgess Owens is the congressman from Utah.

Now, I happen to be from Utah. I used to be in the United States Congress.

So, honor and privilege to know and call a friend Burgess Owens. But as we get going here, I want you to know you cannot bump into Burgess Owens. Without a couple things happen, one you're going to get a picture taken because he loves he loves doing that. He's so nice. If you see Burgess on the street, say, Hey, Burgess, I want to get a picture.

More often than not, not everybody, but he will take off his Super Bowl ring and make you put it on. And the thing is just huge, it's massive. But more importantly, now he's doing some great work on behalf of the country. He serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure and Education Committees. And Burgess Owens, Congressman Burgess Owens, joins us now.

Thanks for joining us, Congressman. Jason, looking forward to chatting with you, my friend. Absolutely. No, no, it's great. I saw you kind of recently.

We unfortunately had the funeral. Mia Love, who was one of our colleagues there in the United States Congress, she passed away at a very ripe young age of 49. She battled brain cancer for three years. And unfortunately, that's the last time I got to see you, which was just what, the week before last. And it was a sad situation.

But it was, let me just say, Mia has left a remarkable legacy. And I think that the day we all celebrated her passing, we saw that her family and what she did for our country. And it says a lot. I'm just so thankful. I consider myself a friend also in that regard.

Yeah, it was a sad situation. But all right, let's talk. You're on the TNI committee, Transportation Infrastructure, but you're also on the Education Committee. And having gotten to know you over the last multiple years, I know. Your passion is really, really into education.

Explain to us why. And then let's talk about this bill that you most recently introduced, the Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025.

Okay, well first of all, you're right. It's interesting because I never saw myself getting to a steel out of this feel of politics. But one thing I've always had a passion for was education. I was fortunate enough to be raised on a time when segregation back in the sixties. But as a community, our focus was how do we gain a command respect and ideas to be educated, to work hard, to be successful, to be able to articulate ourselves.

And so I understood the power of it and I saw it light up for real time. My dad again was an educator. I've watched it the last 50, 60 years as that process has changed. And one of the things that our founder said, Thomas Jefferson, ignorant free can never be, to summarize. And if we're not able to think, if we're not able to articulate and have pride in who we are, to respect those who brought this concept of freedom to us, we're going to lose it.

And that's what I thought I saw happening to our country.

So I'm excited about the fact, Jason, we're now talking about basic things, like basic common sense about what freedom looks like. We have a young generation now that I think is gathering, kind of getting back to the patriotism and proud of what our country has always been about.

So what I've realized also over the years is that this attack on us has always been through the educational system, through our college system. Uh we have Marxist Running things and actually changing our curriculum so that we take for granted that things that are antithetical to our country is normal. And I think what happened with COVID is we began to kind of reset, look back and see what's going on. Our parents began to look over the shoulders of their kids and realize this is not what our country should be about.

So we're back on track now. I'm excited about that. The ACE Act accreditation just basically says. that the creditors cannot uh b go woke. expect our colleges to go in that direction and accept the fact that that's the accreditation they have to go through to actually move forward or to have our kids coming through and getting their degrees and therefore.

So we're getting back to good old common sense, my friend, and I'm excited about it. And it's something that the country is expecting at this point. They are expecting. I mean, with the mandate that I think President Trump demanded and got and received at the ballot box, it's unbelievable. And I think this is one of the key components.

It's getting rid of this diversity, equity, and inclusion, doing things on merit, and teaching our kids the basic things.

Now, one of the things. That I feel like we fail at is teaching people how to think. It's not so much they get a diversity of inputs. It's teaching kids how to How to think and putting in front of them challenges so that they walk out of there better in terms of their cognitive capabilities and seeing a wider array so they can make the best decisions possible. But when you have DEI getting in the way, that's not the goal.

That skews what they're doing. And well, you know, you think about it, Jason, when you think about what our current About this tenets that no matter which community, and again, I grew up in a time where we were not assimilating, but every community had a couple things that we were fighting hard for: the tenets of faith, family, the free market, and education. And if every community did that, merit has to be the very core of that process. What we have to understand is for decades, we've been fighting against Marxists, and Marxists hate faith, family, the free market, and education. And the best way to actually get us going sideways is to dumb us down.

If we cannot think, if we don't have confidence in ourselves, we'll be able to have conversations in which we might not agree, but we still respect each other enough that we feel that with time, if I just continue to talk, we'll some way come to this point in which they might see my way a little bit better. That's the way that we've always been, and that's where we started. You know, think about the Constitution and how difficult that was for all these different men to sit in a room and come together with this remarkable presence that this gift has given us.

So, we have to understand. that the Marxist ideology is divisiveness. Is hate of faith, family, free market education. And if they can get us not to be able to think, to talk to each other, to go sideways, to hate each other based on our skin color, our religion, whatever, they have one. We have to come as a country to where we realize we're not going to be defeated by these guys.

We now understand who they are, and we're going to grab our country back, give our kids a remarkable legacy of love for those who came before them. And I'm excited about that because it's been way too long. And to be in this window, Jason, that we're seeing this real time, something that our country's needed so much. And President Trump is leading the charge. And because of who he is, we're finding even in Congress, we're beginning to work together.

And you know how this works. As a Republican Party, it's very difficult sometimes for us to come together with just. Team, the concept of team, and we're finally getting that done with President Trump leading us and our speakers, Mike Johnson. Oh, yeah, I can't underscore that last point enough. I mean, the conference, we'd have a meeting in HC5 in the basement of the Capitol.

We'd get there, and somebody would bring in Chick-fil-A, and then somebody would complain, Oh, how come it's not donuts? You know, it's like, will you just shut up and eat the Chick-fil-A for goodness sake? It's not going to. It's amazing to me how, but you know, that's also human nature. You get 200-plus people in a room together, they're going to come up with different conclusions.

I get that.

Well, you know, you know, think about it. Again, as a Republican Party, we are entrepreneurial in a sense. We're not going to just fall in line and follow the lead the way the Democrats do.

So, of course, there's frustration that normally comes with that. Think about this the last three weeks, though. We're able to pass with losing one vote, and you know how this is. Of all people, you've been there, you know, you know how this works, to lose only one vote on a budget resolution, to actually pass a CR. And that by the The CR last term, that's how we lost our speaker because of a 30-day CR.

And now we just this last week got the Senate pass the Senate budget resolution. This is remarkable, it's a miracle to experience this. And for those of us who played in sports, it's nice to feel momentum, it's nice to feel teamwork and to have respect for each other. To kind of believe we're going to have a little trust, we might not get everything we want, but we want to get the long game, want to make sure we win the game at the end of the day. And that's what we're feeling here.

It's kind of exciting and unique experience, to be honest with you. Yeah, well, again, I think you hit it on the head, Drahar. It takes some people a little while to realize that if you're in the house, it's team ball. This is not a group where everybody gets to go out and call their own play. Imagine a football team with just 11 players on the side.

Out there, everybody.

Well, I don't want to run a wide out. I want to I want you know, I that's not what I'm gonna do. Like, oh, okay, good luck with that. We'll see if we can actually throw the ball to you. It's probably not gonna happen.

So, things like that. Let's go back to the Department of Education as a whole, because I had long advocated and I'm really excited to see the prospect of the Ending of the Department of Education. I don't think it should have ever been there. We spend something like $265 billion. I'm probably getting the number wrong, but I'm really close.

A year through the Department of Education, we had thousands of bureaucrats. I've long wondered why can't we just let the money follow the kids? But I think that's where Donald Trump is taking us. A lot of talk about it, but to actually do it, don't we need to pass legislation in order to embed that into the law? And that is what we're doing.

We're going to follow up. We obviously have the executive orders that get things moving in the right direction. But at the end of the day, first of all, it's $3 trillion since it was brought in place. And our grades have gone down ever since. We're getting kids out to have less intelligence, less ability to think.

And so this is something we've needed for a long time. And at the end of the day, it comes down to one simple thing we're focusing on right now. Across the country, how do we give kids more choice? How can we push more revenue down to the parents, down to the district so they can do their work and hold people accountable at that level? Because at this point, when you push things from the centralized process of the Department of Education, you get a mess.

And that's what we're dealing with right now.

So yes, we're going to bring merit. We're going to bring accountability, choice, all those things that every other industry has. Think about this, Jason. Every industry has the opportunity to see what the best return on investment is. We choose what restaurant we go to, whatever we want to put our money into.

We've not done enough education. It's time to bring it into place. And those who give choice has always been the place we have the best opportunity, the best outcome for our kids.

So we're going to have that happening. And I'm excited by the president who gets it. And our secretary of department, the Department of Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, she's right on target with this. And it's going to be a good four years for us to kind of reset with this particular, very important industry for sure. Yeah, Linda McMahon, as the Department of Education Secretary, she was a brilliant choice because I think conceptually her heart is really in the idea that, yes, we have to do this and we have to get rid of this.

And I thought that Betsy DeVos, as the previous secretary under President Trump, was also in that camp. But now the momentum, like the House, the Senate, the presidency, the mandate that the president has, I think people are really expecting this because in some of our hardest, most difficult areas. Areas, it's stunning the numbers that come out of, say, Baltimore or Detroit or Washington, D.C. I mean, you know. Washington, D.C.

spends, and again, it's been years since I've looked at the number, it was something like $22,000 per student. That's what they're spending, and you get terrible results.

Well, when you think about it, first of all, what we're doing is bringing innovators to the table. And that is what a country has always been about. Let's folks who can think outside the box, figure out that this could be a better way of just bringing in a different way of looking at it. And we have to recognize, first of all, we have failed our kids in a big, big way. You look at the state of California.

This goes back a few years, but 75% of the black kids, the black boys in the state of California, could not read and write. And you look at Baltimore, zero proficiency in mass in a district of 2,000 seniors. This is what the results were getting, and nobody was paying attention or even cared about it. This is going on for decades.

So, to say the least, to have a president who brings innovators around him, people who truly love our country, and the best way to show that I love our country is to make sure our kids are ready to compete, to go out and prepare themselves and think and allow them to pursue their dreams.

So, we have a president and this team around him. You know that it's not just education, but every aspect of this process. I've never seen such a sharp, young group of folks that have it right. They're already close. And this is really what it takes to get a winning team.

You bring those core people in that understand teamwork, and it's going to be an exciting process for us.

So, it's going to be a good four years for us, no doubt about it.

Well, Burgess. Owens, Congressman from Utah's 4th Congressional District. Thanks so much for joining us on the Brian Killmead Show. I got one last quick question for you. I don't know.

I mean, you're I know you're a sports fan, right? You you you you won the Super Bowl. Yeah. You won the Super Bowl. You're not a golfer, are you?

But Rory McElroy pulling off the Grand Slim, that's pretty big. It is. It is. And you're right. I'm not too much of a sports guy.

But the little bit I've heard, this is the power of a dreamer. If you dream hard and you work hard, no matter where you start, there's always that chance of getting there.

So I'm hoping folks take an example of all these guys in whatever profession they are and realize the work ethic, the teamwork, the dreaming. That's all it comes to the plate at the end of the day.

So I host a podcast, Jason in the House. Type in Jason in the House, wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out the one I did with Burgess Owens. A remarkable human story. Wonderful story.

Burgess Owens, Congressman, thanks so much for joining us on the Brian Kilmean Show. Stay with us. Thank you, my friend. All the best. Giving you everything you need to know.

You're with Brian Kilmead. Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates Podcast, Evil Next Door. Exploring the life and crimes of five serial predators from across the United States. It's a very disturbing case. Never before heard interviews and first-hand perspectives.

Described as pure evil? That's a good description. The Fox Nation Investigates Podcast, Evil Next Door. Listen and follow now with Amazon Music. Must listen to podcasts from Fox News Audio.

The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmead. I'd like to start this press conference with a question myself. What are we all going to talk about next year? Yeah.

Um it's uh Look, it's a dream come true. I have. I've dreamt about that moment for As long as I can remember, I mentioned it out in the prize ceremony, but. Watching Tiger here in 1997. Do what he did and winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did.

You know, there were points in my career where I I didn't know if um I would have this nice garment over my shoulders. That is Rory McElroy putting on the green jacket, winning the biggest of the big, and also completing the Grand Slam. I mean, it's just unbelievable, right? He wins the Masters year after year after year. He's gotten close.

But for him to actually achieve it is one of the inspirational stories. Um, because the perseverance and you know, show you know, showed a human really human, you know, nature, right? He has that putt. On 18, it's a tough putt. It's not an easy putt.

And he misses it just so close, which means he goes to the playoff. He's up against Justin Rose, who's been out on the practice green. They're at 11 under. And then they come, then they have to play that hole again. But this time he birdies it with a solid putt.

That approach shot. In regulation, you know, he hit it into the sand, then he had to come out. This time he hits the green. Brilliant shot, makes it happen, brings home the green coat. Unbelievable to me that guys can play that well.

They play four rounds, right? 18 holes each, and then it comes down to a single stroke, a putt. That's why I will never, ever be in that realm because I can't putt. But I do love golf, and it's one of great sporting events in this country. The Brian Kilmeid Show will return right after this.

From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Killmead. Almost, Brian. Hey, this is Jason Chief. It's I'm filling in for Brian. Brian will be back tomorrow, but thanks for joining us.

We've got one of my favorite people, at least one of my favorite attorneys. I heard this great attorney joke when uh when I was uh much younger. Rex Lee, who's the former solicitor general for He was the solicitor general for Ronald Reagan. He also happened to be the president of Brigham Young University, BYU, when I was a place kicker once back upon a time, like back in the late nineteen eighties. He was the president and he would come in and he needed a place to put his coat during the games.

And so he he and I became friendly and he'd hang his stuff.

Now, I was a place kicker, right? I wasn't exactly dirty and sweaty and everything else. And so, you know, we got to become friends and everything. And then he also, by the way, happens to be the father of. Little trivia, Mikely, Senator Mikely.

Who is like a spitting image of his dad, the inflections, the voice, and everything.

So, little tie-in there with Senator Mike Lee from Utah. His dad, Rex Lee. And I remember him speaking once at some event in Salt Lake City. And he stood up and he said. You know, I think it's so wrong, just fundamentally wrong, that an entire class of people, a whole profession, is tainted just because of, you know, three or four hundred thousand bad apples.

I've always appreciated that. I had it back in my mind. But one of the good apples out there is a guy named Jonathan Turley. He's joining us today. He is the J.B.

and Maurice C. Shapiro, Professor of Public Interest Law at Georgetown, George Washington University Law School, and author of The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage. Great book there. And he's also written an article. The guy's always writing, but he's also almost always right.

And thank you for joining us today. Jonathan Turley's on the line with us. Thank you, Jason. What a wind-up. Yes.

Now, you can't mess it up from there after that's. You know, when I was in Congress, I was faking being an attorney. I was the token non-attorney on the House Judiciary Committee. I loved it. It was like one of my favorite things.

But it drove, you know, like John Ratcliffe and particularly Trey Gowdy nuts that I would be on that committee asking these probing questions. And he turned to me and said, you have no idea what you're talking about. I said, that's exactly why I'm on this. That's exactly why I'm on this committee. I'm here to decipher it for the rest of America because you shouldn't have to be an attorney to understand the laws of our country, right?

And we had a lot of back, but you testified multiple times, and we did have a lot of fun with it. And you were exceptional in your ability to synthesize something down.

So let let's jump in. I want to talk. About your article here, right? This one's Biden in Biden's administration may have suppressed COVID evidence contradicting Chinese claims. That's kind of a big issue.

It is a very big issue, and it is an astonishing disconnect. We had over a million people in this country die from COVID. Millions of Americans lost their loved ones. For them, this is not some academic question. They would like to know who killed their loved ones.

And there are over 7 million people and hundreds of millions, 7 million people dead, and over hundreds of millions. That were laid low and sickened by this around the world. They also don't view this as some academic exercise. And yet, every time experts or researchers came close to the Wuhan lab, They were set upon by this flash mob in academia and the media, calling them racist and really cutting off any debate.

Well, now it turns out that we've had a couple of reports come out from the Congress in the last couple months. That were suppressed by the Biden administration. One was the work of some experts in the administration. That concluded that the lab theory was the most credible.

Now we know now. that agencies like the Energy Department, the FBI, CIA, had come to that same conclusion.

So when all these scientists were being blackballed, targeted, censored, fired for raising this, the Biden administration didn't say a word that actually federal agencies were coming to the same conclusion. But then most recently on a on the defense side, a really odd report popped up. And the reason it it attracted a lot of attention is because it's twenty twenty five, but the report was from twenty twenty two. Right. the US personnel that went to the Wuhan Games, as they were called, All not all of them, but many of them came down with what appears now to be COVID.

Now, the reason that's important is because Congress had been pressing the Biden administration for years, saying, We heard that other countries, France, Germany, their military personnel came back from Wuhan and were also struck down. By what appeared to be a mysterious virus.

Now, the reason this is important is for three reasons. One, it blows away the narrative of the Chinese government, because this was it could be months before the supposed release from the wet market. Two, it's suggests that that COVID was not just released, but raging. In Wuhan. There was one participant who said the place looked like a ghost town.

And then three. it would mean that the Chinese government knew there was a virus out there that was transmitted to humans. And and did not tell anyone for months.

So we lost those months and millions may have died because of it.

So what did the Biden administration do? Apparently, they withheld the report and others denied that there was evidence that U. S. military personnel had contracted COVID. Yeah, I remember President Trump getting excoriated because he was going to shut down travel from China.

And you're right. But this is the nature of science, right? It's an imperfect, it's imperfect. And so you've got to be able to have a discussion and ask questions. And I also remember Senator Tom Cotton, you know, issuing trying to put an op-ed in the New York Times only to have it rebuffed.

And it was amazing what we went through and how, in the name of science, everything like our First Amendment rights were so suppressed. Yeah, and you know, the troubling thing for me is in my book, The Indispensable Right. I there's a section of it on COVID and academia. And what it talks about is that COVID is the best example of the cost of censorship. Because what happened is that the Biden administration worked with the social media companies to censor anyone raising the lab theory.

The New York Times and others called it a racist theory. And so these experts who are very credible were stomped down.

Some of them were fired. They were all marginalized.

Some of them were signatories to the so-called Great Barrington letter. And so we never had that debate as and we never had the debate about the six foot rule, the efficacy of masks, the efficacy of natural immunities. None of that debate occurred because of the censorship that was imposed in this alliance of academia, the government, media and corporations. Yeah, it bothered me to know in Dr. Fauci, his approach.

I think this is my take on it. I don't know that you've written about this, but I read a book when I was, I see, Trey Gaudi would jump in and say, okay, that's breaking news. I read a book, but I read a book when I had just gotten out of college. It's called, It's Not the Big That Eat the Small, It's the Fast That Eat the Slow. That's the name of this business book.

And what it talks about is the need for turnover. You can't allow somebody to sit so long in one particular seat that if you do, you're new, you're innovative, you look at things differently. But then after a few years, you start to defend the fort. And you stop asking probing questions and you spend the rest of your time defending the decisions that you made earlier. And when I saw, you know, you learned that Dr.

Fauci was in this essentially the same role for like 40 plus years, then you get this mentality that just. You know, nothing can be wrong from him. And that permeates throughout the department and the agency. Oh, I think that's right. And I've not been one of those that have trashed Fauci.

My son's in med school. He just attended a class with Fauci and was impressed. But my criticism of Fauci, I've got a number of them. But my biggest one, and I say this in the indispensable right, is that Coachie My problem with him is that while all of these scientists were getting hammered and fired and abused publicly. For even talking about the lab theory or questioning the need to shut down all businesses and schools.

Fauci remained absolutely quiet. Quiet. And he knew that, that was that lab theory was a credible theory. He knew that there were questions being raised about the need to shut down, and he knew that there was no science backing up the six foot rule or the use of those blue surgical masks, which were largely ineffective. He knew all of that.

Now, my problem with him is not just he didn't stand up and say, hey, we should study this more. My problem is that he watched other scientists across the country destroy. When he could have gone on the air just once and said, wait, wait, hold it. These people are saying something here that is really credible and we should have that debate.

So my problem with him is his silence. Because these scientists lost a lot. I I spoke at the University of Chicago when the book first came out, and in the front were a lot of these signatories from the Great Barrington Declaration. And I went up to them and said, because many of them have now been vindicated, and I asked, how many of you have been restored to your associations or rehired? Not one.

Some of them were not fired and they were able to to sort of c stay on faculty. But they all continued to be shunned. I mean, that's the amazing thing is they've been vindicated, right? I mean, even if you disagree with the lab theory, it's now viewed as as if not more credible than the natural theory. And so they've been vindicated in what they wrote, but they're still being shunned because they broke from.

The herd.

Well, and that's what's scary because When you have an emerging threat, you want to be able to ask questions. You know, I think, particularly in the area of science, they haven't. Totally figured it out yet. And those that spewed some things, like I remember some saying, oh, if you take the, you know, you take the. You take the vaccine, then it's dead.

You can't pass it to anybody else.

Well, that wasn't true either. Look, I don't want to belabor just COVID. Let's talk about some other free speech. And I want to, I really wanted to ask you about Columbia, what's going on there. Where are students right in terms of?

Free speech. I mean, we have the right to peacefully assemble. There's nothing more American than. protesting your your government, but to do so peacefully, yet the suppression and the what I consider terrorist type activities to try to go after, in this case, Jews because they're Jewish, just steps over the line. And I I'm surprised there haven't been more arrests.

Yeah, it was very interesting to see what happened in the Khalil case because I was quite frankly disturbed when the administration made a pivot because originally they said we're deporting him for his conduct, we're deporting him because he played a role in that process that took over the Hamilton building and trashed it. And I wrote a piece saying, look, I'm one of the biggest voices for free speech. But if they have evidence that he helped coordinate that That protest that he furthered those crimes from being committed, then the night is over because that's conduct, not speech. And he can obviously be deported. The administration made an interesting switch right at the end where they said it doesn't matter 'cause we can actually deport him for anything this stuff that would otherwise be lawful if we f still think that it's not good for the national security.

And they said that includes basically indicated that includes their viewpoint. it at first I I could I I couldn't understand why they were doing that, and I still wish they had not done it because it gets it makes me feel uncomfortable in terms of free speech. I think they should have focused on where they began. But I think it was a str tactical move. They saw Khalil's case as the strongest case.

that they had going forward, and they have a lot more cases.

So they decided to take the three point shot. They wanted to try to get the court to say, yeah, even if this is based on what he was saying in the protest, you can still deport him. And they sunk that shot. And I think that was their intention. No, I think it clearly was because we are testing the bounds of who can be deported and for what.

Um You know, can you simply be deported if you're not being a A good visitor here on a visa. And how we define that, I think, is an interesting question. But certainly, if you are. Trying and acting and trying to p suppress somebody's civil rights, I think these people should be prosecuted. I I mean, I just can't imagine that they don't do that more often.

Well, I think that they can in terms of the conduct. That's what I've stressed. I would prefer that to be the basis. I did have concerns over the argument involving content of speech, because you are allowed in this country to protest in favor of Palestine. And we don't want to convey the idea that we are deporting people because we don't like their views.

Now, on campus, I saw these attacks.

Well, let me ask you this, Professor, because we're running out of time. It's one thing to be to advocate for Palestine, but what if you advocate for. Amas. A designated terrorist organization. Yes, the only question I have with that is the ambiguity of what constitutes advocating for Hamas.

Because now we get into you don't want the free speech lives only with bright lines, right? You need bright lines because you can't chill the speech of people not knowing what they can or cannot speak about. And so I like many people in the free speech community, I don't like ambiguous. Rule. That's why we prefer to focus on conduct.

And there's plenty of conduct here. You know, there's a real-advocating for. A terrorist organization. Isn't that does that step over the line? I've got like 20 seconds.

No, advocating for a terrorist organization directly would step over the line. There's no question about that. It's just what constitutes advocacy and defining that term. Jonathan Turley, you're the best. Really, truly do appreciate it.

No, I really, truly do appreciate it. We really, we really do appreciate it. Stay with us. We'll be back with more on the Brian Kilmead show. Increasing your intelligence quotient.

What the hell did you say? It's Brian Kilmead. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. What if I was a young student at Columbia, they're on a green card, British, come in, happy to be here, do all my paperwork, get to Columbia.

And I start leading a group which is a bunch of white supremacists, and we start terrorizing black students in the way that they're terrorizing Jewish students. Why not? In that circumstance, would we all be as comfortable with this? Or is it the reality which was exposed by the mobs at Columbia, which is that for some reason, Jews get treated differently to anybody else when it comes to this kind of thing? Because if that had been, honestly, white supremacists treating black students like that, they would be out the country in terms of it.

Yeah, that's right. Piers Morgan making a great point on the Bill Mayor Show Mayor Show, however you say his last name, and making a great point. Look, if you're violating somebody's civil rights, you're here as a guest, you're here on a visa, you're gone, you're out. Jonathan Trilly talked about actions as opposed to speech. I would say: look, if you're advocating to suppress somebody's civil rights, if you're trying to You know, you're advocating for a terrorist organization or white supremacy, then you're violating somebody's civil rights.

And of course, you should be locked up, then you should be deported. Why do we do this? It should be a privilege to be in the United States of America. You could protest your government. You can do free speech, but not when you advocate for things like that.

You just can't do that. Stay with us. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian. In Kill Mead.

All right.

Well, thank you for joining us on the Brian Kilmead Show. You'll recognize the voice is not Brian Kilmead, but he is going to be back tomorrow. I'm Jason Chaffetz filling in for Brian. I really do appreciate him letting me do this. I love it when they ask me, and it's a lot of fun because I always get these great, amazing guests and lots of fun stuff to talk about.

There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere, and there's always a lot of news happening. And this bright and early Monday morning, Monday, I should say, things are happening.

So thanks for joining us. Joining us right now is Michael Goodwin. He's a regular on the show, New York Post columnist, one of the best. You can find him on exit at m Goodwin underscore New York or NY Post. He's got a new article about out.

Trump, Israel have Iran shaking in their boots. Iran leaders shaking in their boots. Michael, Goodwin, thanks for so much for joining us. We really do appreciate it. My pleasure, Jason.

Thank you.

So tell me about this article. What prompted you to write about it?

Well, I think the this of course, the meeting on Saturday was coming up. with between uh America and Iran, the first direct talks in some years. Iran, of course, insisted they be indirect, meaning a mediator, stupid. you know, the the the way they wanted to do it. But in the end, the uh American delegation American uh Witkoff representing the United States and the Iranian Foreign Minister did meet face to face.

and agreed to continue the conversation in a week or so. But I think what's really significant about it, Jason, is President Trump's position going in. which is Um as I write in the column um exclusively that The United States is telling Iran, either you destroy your nuclear facilities or we will destroy them. And that the significance, of course, is That means There's no deal where there are inspections and all of that stuff that happened under the Obama deal that Biden tried to revive and thankfully didn't happen. Trump had killed it in twenty fifteen or twenty sixteen by withdrawing from it.

And I think it really turns the page on history in a lot of ways. Neither the European Union nor the United Nations nor anybody else was going to confront Iran in this way. And I think from President Trump's perspective, you know, he he tore up that initial agreement. He reimposed sanctions on Iran in his first term. He used the attack on Soleimani, the head of the Iranian terror network, to take him out.

So he is really approaching it from a different perspective than really any other recent leader in the United States or anywhere else other than Israel, which is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if they don't agree, then we will do it ourselves. We will make sure. That's going to be a very tough pill. for Iran to swallow.

But I have to say, I think that Right now, Iran, we have two factors here. One is Donald Trump is really at the height of his political power and strength. And Iran is really at one of its low points. Um it has lost large chunks of Hamas and Hezbollah. The Houthis, its other terror proxy, is getting smashed to smithereens by American bunker buster bombs.

Uh in Yemen. The fall of Assad in Syria was a setback. And Iran's economy is at a low. And they're having trouble with electricity. They can't even provide electricity.

They're having trouble with water. Their currency is collapsing.

So these are, and of course, Israel, by taking out Hezbollah and Hamas the way it has, and it stripped Iran of its much of its air defense system.

So Iran is kind of a sitting duck right now. It's very weak. There's all and according to an interesting New York Times report over the weekend, the Ayatollah has been told that if you don't meet with Trump, the United States is going to bomb us. And we could very well the regime could be toppled.

So I think this is an incredibly important moment when you've got these two forces coming together and one of them so weak that Trump uh is likely to to I think more likely to get an agreement than he would at any other time.

Now nobody wants to see a war. It would be great if Iran would destroy its nuclear facilities. But I think his threat and his strength is having an impact already. No, I I I think you're absolutely right because um uh look Iran has tried to do everything it could to put their finger on the side of Hamas, Hezbollah, you're right, the Houthis, and that hasn't gone well. I remember when Iran tried to attack Israel by sending all those.

Missiles over, and they were all pretty much rebuffed. And that could not bode well for them. And also, the thing I would add to that, you talked about the Iranian economy. Look, Donald Trump is, again, I think taking the forefront of saying, drill, baby, drill, and making sure that we're energy independent. And when you do that, when you unleash the energy prowess of the United States, it drives down the cost of oil.

You drive that down, and both Russia and Iran start to really start to affect them because they start to lose money with their energy production. Yes.

That it really hits them. In the one source of international funds that they can count on.

So that's why I think this is a perhaps a unique moment In ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the American hostages and all of that. And so I think that this is a crucial time. And I think that by taking the strong approach that we're not going to compromise here, this is not going to be like 2015 with Obama. It's not going to be like any other time. This is different now.

And Iran has to recognize that. And so, I mean, even for example, Foreign Policy Magazine. Has a piece suggesting that the regime could fall. And I mentioned the New York Times talking about that, Homini has been told. That the regime could fall.

I mean, we have not heard this kind of talk for a very long time.

So that's why I'm optimistic that something good is going to happen here. It would be nice if it didn't take American military action. But I suspect Iran is not going to voluntarily give up its nuclear program because it's invested so much in it. It's identified so much of it as proof of its supremacy in the region. It has caused all kinds of ramifications throughout the Mideast.

So I would hope that they would come to their senses and recognize that Trump means business, but There's no way to predict that they will do that with any confidence. Look, Peace Through Strength has its abilities, right? And Donald Trump personifies that. It's much like Ronald Reagan. I think people knew those two presidents meant business, and what they said.

Was foreshadowing what they're actually going to do.

So rather than. The approach of appeasement that Joe Biden took by selling and Obama by sending him pallets full of cash that suddenly we're going to say, No, you can't do that. If you want to be a responsible person, a responsible country, I should say, on this planet, then you're going to have to play by some rules of decency. And I don't think that's too much to ask. And I think the left, at least the Democrats here in the United States, would do well to find something they could find with the Trump administration to agree on.

And it would make our country safer if they also would join in concurrence. Because what's the alternative? We've tried the alternative and it didn't work. And the world's less safe because of it.

So I don't know. That's probably me wishing for too much, right?

Well look. Yeah. I do go back to the fact that this is something very different. We haven't seen this. I mean, Obama and Biden tried the sweet talk, the incentives.

right, to have inspections of the nuclear facilities, et cetera. It didn't work. And they used the money, much of the money, they used it to fund terrorism.

So as I say in the column, Henry Kissinger asked back around two thousand six or so, almost twenty years ago, Iran has to decide whether it's a country or a cause. And I think if we look back over the last two decades, we would say they've made that decision. They're a cause. They're not a normal country. They suppress their own people at home to create this adventurism, military aggression abroad, all about subjugating their neighborhood and eliminating Israel and the United States.

Remember, we are Israel's the little Satan, we're the great Satan. And so Israel was for them a speed bump on their way to conquering America. I mean, this sounds crazy, but that's who their le what their leadership believes and teaches and insists is their policy. And so if we can end that, I mean, I think there are all kinds of benefits that flow throughout the region to the Lebanese people, for example, to even the Palestinians, because Hamas would have no sugar daddy.

So I think that there are all kinds of benefits that flow from this, which is why I think President Trump has approached it this way. Like, this is the end. And don't forget, they tried to assassinate Trump. They have contracts, supposedly Mike Pompeo, and others from John Bolton, from the President's first term, because of the Soleimani strike.

So this is a bad country. These are bad people. And the sooner we can remove them from power, one way or another, I mean, the ideal way would be the people of Iran themselves. would rise up and remove them from power. But we may be getting there because i according to these other accounts, the the regime is really in uh in a very weak and dangerous spot.

All right, Michael Goodwin, I got one more question for you. Hopefully, you've seen this. It's the picture of Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, attending an office, an oval office event, but then holding up a. I don't know what it is.

Some piece of paper or some folder in front of her face as if we can't see her. Oh, you know, as somebody else pointed out, it's like your two-year-old, you know. Oh, oh, peekaboo. Oh, I can't see you. Where is she?

I wonder who that is. I can't see you. You can't see me. You're in the Oval Office. If you don't want to have your picture taken, don't go into the Oval Office.

But it was so immature. What's your take on this? I think that, of course, yes, it was immature and silly, but I also think there's a darker message, which is that. What is she afraid of? She is afraid that Democrats will not approve of her.

Doing business with the President of the United States. You've got to resist. And if you don't resist, you're a turncoat. And what, we're going to bomb your house? What are we going to do?

I mean, there's just something sick staying. happening in the far left of the Democratic Party that you that a governor is afraid to be seen with the president. I mean this is insane. I mean she was there to get help and he was offering the help. Um they were talking about uh the the the invasive species in the in Lake Michigan.

I mean, uh other kinds of things. The President of the United States is helping. He's invited you to the White House to talk about these things. And you're afraid to be seen with him because the nut jobs on the left of your party will primary you or something? I mean, he really has reached a stupid stage for the Democrats.

Well, like I like to say, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere, and she personifies that today as our leading candidate. Michael Goodwin, New York Post Columnist, thank you so much for joining us on the Brian Killmeat Show. Stay with us, we'll be right back. Giving you everything you need to know. You're with Brian Kilmead.

A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead. When I got there, that guy wasn't living there.

Now, does Trump want respect? Of course, who doesn't? My friend said to me, what are you going to wear to the White House? I said, I don't know, but I'm not going to dress like Zelensky, I'll tell you that. He's much more self-aware than he lets on in public.

Look, I get it. It doesn't matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. It matters who he is on the world stage. I'm just taking as a positive that this person exists because everything I've ever not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent, at least on this night with this guy. I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him.

And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama. But I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump. That's just how it went down, make of it what you will. Me, I feel it's emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days. Bill Maher, HBO, sharing what it was like to meet with President Donald Trump.

And I think he's absolutely spot on. I've had the honor and privilege from time to time to be able to sit with the President and have discussions. And he's amazing. He's just He's very self-aware, very knowledgeable, funny, engaging. I mean, he's just an amazing personality.

I don't think anybody necessarily really understands Trump on the left. I think they've ignored him. I think they have taken every opportunity to try to destroy him, be the resistance in everything he does. But I think that Bill Maher, what he says at the end, is that's just how it went down. Make of it what you will.

I feel it's emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days. Yeah. That's exactly right. They never took the time or the effort to get to know Donald Trump. And inevitably, there's something somewhere that they disagree with, but there's something somewhere that they do agree with.

And they they do themselves a huge disservice, for instance, going after Doge and and making that so unpalatable. Oh, we are going to get a rid they're getting rid of rid of waste, fraud and abuse. Ugh, how dare they?

Well, what does that tell America? That means they're unserious. They are in favor of waste. That's what it appears as if. And I.

If you're going to be opposed to everything Donald Trump says, even in the joint session of Congress, he said, hey, even if I cured cancer, they're still going to be opposed to it. That is not a serious adult approach. To actually solving the world's problems and dealing with all of the issues that are before us today. What they should do, but I don't think they will do, but what they should do is reach out to President Trump and say, Here are a few things we'd like to do with you, because I think you'd be met with an open hand. And I think they would do everything they can to try to bend over backwards to actually come together and do something that's going to unite the country and move the ball forward and make this country better.

If they're just simply going to spew lies, like I heard AOC talking about, oh, they're just grabbing power and they're just trying to make it for billionaires. And no, they're not. They're trying to save this country financially. They're trying to get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse with Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these things.

So there is money to be out there that people need.

So I'm glad Bill Maher gave us an honest view of what he was talking about. And again, I still expect them to disagree with the president, but on policy, but on personality. Yeah, I think what you can find is that Donald Trump sticks out his hands, he is the president, shows some respect, and you can actually get a lot of things done. I'm Jason Chaffetz. Stay with us.

The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Killmead. Hey, this is Jason Jaffets filling in for Brian. Brian's not here today, working as hard as ever. He'll be back tomorrow.

So thrilled to be filling in for Brian. A lot's happening. I always like to say there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. We're going to start with that. But we're going to do it with a friend, a colleague, and somebody who's one of the smarter people in the world.

And that's Liz Peak, Fox News contributor, columnist for foxnews.com and The Hill. You can find her at Liz Peak. At Liz Peak, if you go to X. She's got a couple new articles about Out and About. We're going to talk about those.

But I want to start Liz with Governor Whitmer in the White House, in the Oval Office, making a show of things by putting that little binder up in front of her face as if, oh, we couldn't see her, Liz. I know really, what a ridiculous, ridiculous situation this was. Look, Governor Whitmer was legitimately in the Oval Office to ask Trump for help because some people in Michigan had been hurt by an ice storm. This is what governors do, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, you petition the White House for help when you need it. But for her, because she has political presidential aspirations, this was mortifying.

And she did not want to be photographed. In the awful office with President Trump. But what's worse? Being photographed with a president? Yes, I get that could be a difficult thing for your woke liberal followers.

Or showing up with this folder in front of your face, which just is being mocked so widely on social media, and rightly so. I mean, as one person said, it's like my two-year-old, you know, pretending you can't see them because they have their hand in front of their eyes. No, it doesn't work that way. It was really sad, I thought. Like all good.

Stupid moves. Then you try to come back and cover it up. We have some new sound of the Governor Whitmer trying to explain what she was doing. Let's listen to this and then I want to get your reaction. My presence was not an endorsement of any of the actions he took or the comments that were made.

I wanted to be very clear about that. I was going in for a meeting and they walked me into a press conference. I stayed in the room because I needed to make the case for Michigan, and that's my job. All right, so they just walked me in. I don't know where I'm going.

I've never been to the Oval Office. They just walked me in. What did I know? And fortunately, I had this binder that I could put up in front of my face so there would be no photos. But you're right, it's now one of the, it's such a meme.

It's just unbelievable. It really is. I mean, it's sort of, anyway, look, it was just one of these sort of dumb moments. I don't think she is a particularly bright person, to be honest. I say that with all due respect.

She's a governor of a great state, but this is not her first sort of idiotic move. I'm sure it won't be her last. But, you know, you can be pretty sure that if she wants to run for president, these pictures are going to be held up pretty darn often, you know, as she avoids the press. Ha ha, not really. Yeah, exactly.

Oh, my goodness. All right.

Let's talk about some of these articles you got. First one I want to talk about is the one that says Trump and G go manu-e-manu on tariffs. Who will back down first? What's your take on where we're at today?

Well, look, this is a really important issue, and President Trump has been talking to his credit about China and their illicit activities, their breaking trade rules left and right for decades. And finally, someone has had the temerity to stand up to China. And boy, you know, taking on President Xi is no mean thing because he's a tough guy, too. But he has no cards here. I mean, everyone has written about the greater impact on his economy from kind of cutting back exports than it has on our economy.

Obviously, that's very, very true. China is still an export-driven economy because they've been utterly unable to get Chinese consumers to step up spending.

So they can't rely on a vibrant consumer, as the United States does, to grow their economy. It's all about exports. I think the fact that Xi is going to visit Vietnam. Cambodia, other countries right now, I would interpret that as trying to shore up relations with countries that frankly also are more worried about the United States than they are about China. You know, he's going to try and browbeat Vietnam, for example, into not acquiescing to American demands for lower tariffs.

And I don't think he'll be successful because Vietnam, which if you remember, came right out of the gate saying zero tariffs, we'll go to zero tariffs. You know, they have been guilty of providing China with trans-shipping activity. In other words, China, to avoid tariffs, to avoid bad publicity, has been shipping stuff 99% made to Vietnam. Vietnam does 1% of the manufacturing process, and then it's made in Vietnam, which circumvents a lot of trade restrictions, not just from the United States, but other countries too. I don't think that'll work.

I think Xi is on his back foot here. He's scared that his total dominance he took over running the economy several years ago, and he's made a total hash of it.

So he's in trouble, and Trump is taking advantage of that to push him very hard. And I think rightly so. Yeah, it's about time that we do this. And you're right. Donald Trump has talked about this for decades.

This is not some new flash in the pan. He has been talking about this for a long period of time, and we're in a position of strength. And the president has a man. Mandate, I'd like to say that China needs the United States, but the United States doesn't have to have China. And we do have the upper hand here.

And I also, as you pointed out, I don't think it's any coincidence. Maybe the first, if not, is one of the first nations that G is going to is Vietnam. Because I remember when Nike, I went and visited North Korea. I didn't. I've been to North Korea, but I went to Vietnam.

I went to the north of Vietnam. I went down to the south of Vietnam. And one of the things that happened along the way is Nike moved much of its manufacturing, I don't know what percentage of it, to Vietnam. And it's been a great relationship. And that happened years and years and years ago.

And I think Vietnam signaled when you see the countries that have reached out almost immediately. A place like Vietnam came and said, hey, we want to be first in line here to figure out how we do this. And, you know, it's a smaller market for U.S. goods, but I think the dominoes will start to fall one at a time as these countries strike individual deals with the United States. Yeah, well, Kevin Hassett said this morning on Mornings with Maria that there are deals kind of ready to go from a whole host of countries.

And really the big decision for the White House is do you do them one by one? Do you do them all and sort of announce that we have deals with six countries? I think you are going to see tremendous progress. And by the way, you had a big announcement today about NVIDIA manufacture deciding to manufacture stemnistern products in the United States. I think we'll see more of that also, Jason.

I mean, I have to say, nobody likes the disruption in the markets and all the turbulence. But I think what the President is doing Onshoring manufacturing, bringing home production to the United States is totally possible. And the reason is twofold: one, cheap energy, which is right now a very big component of a lot of manufacturing and production analyses, if you will. We have abundant cheap energy, and most countries, particularly for example, China, do not.

So we are a favored nation in terms of energy supply. And the other thing is, You know, historically, we've had very high labor rates compared to other countries. That hasn't really changed. What has changed is AI and robotics and the ability to manufacture with fewer workers.

Well, that is too bad for labor, but the reality is you would still rather be manufacturing in the United States, even if technology reduces labor as a component, because you're creating wealth here in the United States. Fewer workers, but there's wealth being created which benefits all Americans.

So I'm actually. I'm not optimistic this happens tomorrow. I think it happens over the next two or three years. Joe Biden, after all, Democrats should be applauding this. He talked for years about onshoring manufacturing, bringing home.

He just failed to do it. I think what Trump is doing is like a blunderbuss approach. It's uncomfortable, but I think it actually will pay dividends. Yeah, I think, again, Democrats missed opportunity. You have video of Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talking about this very topic.

They could have politically taken the opportunity to say, see, I told you we should have been doing this a long time ago, but they would never do that. And it does cause a little disruption. But remember, you do it in the United States, then there are zero tariffs. In fact, you have another article out, Trump Risks It All, Takes On the World with Tariffs, and Puts America First. Let me play this clip.

This is clip number four. This is Kevin Asset, National Economic Council Director on CNN.

Now, in the trade policy, the whole point of the trade policy is to address the national emergency that we're too dependent on foreign products in the US, especially if we were at a time of conflict. And we're doing something about that. And the reciprocal act was basically: guys, if you come to the table and negotiate with us and treat us the same way we treat you, then we'll. You'll get your rate really low. And so right now, 130 countries, 130 countries have responded, and we're negotiating with them, and they've got their rate down to 10%.

Amazing, right? But it is Donald Trump, you know, America first, baby. That was his mantra, America first. And he's doing it. I mean, what's admirable is obviously he really is risking everything because if this doesn't go right, if the media, which by the way, is working overtime to scare Americans about the outcome of all these tariff battles, if indeed consumer confidence gets worse and we have a recession, you know, that's going to be very bad for the GOP in the midterms.

It's going to be very bad for President Trump. But I think he is so convinced that this is the right thing to do for the country for two reasons. One, kind of the wealth impact that I talked about. You know, our companies have been really hurt by not being treated fairly on the world stage. No one talks about that, but that is a real problem for an awful lot of manufacturers, but also providers of services, et cetera.

You know, and their employees and their shareholders. The second thing is, you can't fight a war if all you're doing is creating fine cuisine and movies, right? I mean, that is a reality.

So, there is really a national security issue here. If we don't make steel, we don't make aluminum, then we can't make tanks, we can't make ships. And by the way, we're not making many ships. This is something that Mike Walsh, National Security Advisor, is very hot on. And he's totally right.

The Chinese are building gazillions of ships, commercial and warfare. We're not building, but like four or five a year.

So all these things have to change. How do you change it, Jason? You just kick somebody and you kick the economy with a big, heavy boot and make it change. And it's not going to happen otherwise. Yeah, the Democrats, they got the memo.

Memo goes out. They all say the same thing. Let's listen to this montage, clip six, of Democrats complaining about the chaotic tariff policy. There is no tariff policy. It's just all chaos and corruption.

To the global chaos right now and unpredictability, his tariff strategy is wrong. Look at what the chaos is doing. It is tanking our economy. Yeah, of course, they don't offer any solutions themselves. They just want to call it chaos, and hopefully, that sticks.

That's the word of the moment. Yeah, that's what they want to tell people. But worse than that, I mean, they really are. Look at the headlines of the last week. We're going to lose our reserve currency status.

The United States is no longer going to be the dominant economy. I ask you, who else is taking our place? Have you looked at Europe lately? Europe's a catastrophe. Two of their biggest countries can't form a government that lasts more than five minutes.

Germany's in the third year of recession. I mean, if you go one by one, they have the problems that our country will have if we continue down the liberal thought processes and policies of Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and all the rest. The green policies, labor rules that are just completely impossible, have landed Europe in a really bad place. And thank God for Donald Trump, because we have cut those things off right now and we're taking a very different tack. Is it risky?

Yes.

Could it pay enormous long-term dividends? I believe it really can. I think you're right. I think Donald Trump is all in on it. I think he foreshadows it.

I think the world is, you think we're worried and that the Democrats are, oh, there's chaos. Imagine if you're one of the other countries, you don't have access to the United States markets, right? There's another side of that coin. And look, Donald Trump, I'm convinced at the end of the day, you may take a while. But one at a time will start to see that the United States has a better deal than they did than the day Donald Trump walked into office.

And at the end, that's what ultimately I think the markets are trying to see just tomorrow. But I think the overall economy will thrive under that scenario. Liz Peak, Fox News contributor, columnist for FoxNews.com and The Hill. Thank you so much for joining us on the Brian Killmeat Show. Hey, thank you very much for having me.

Have a great day. She's the best. All right, stay with us. We got more. We'll be right back.

Learning something new every day on the Brian Killmeat Show. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. Sponsored by Previgen. Previgen, made for your brain.

I have no choice because I've had elected officials and I'm not going to give their names, elected officials coming up to me. I've had folks who are pundits come up to me. I've had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others that have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature. I'm not a politician. I've never had a desire to be a politician.

But here's the reality. People, literally, people have walked up to me, including my own pastor for crying out loud, who has said to me, you don't know what God has planned for you. At least show the respect to the people who believe in you, who respect you, who believe that you can make a difference in this country, to leave the door open for any possibilities two to three years down the line. That is Stephen A. Smith on ABC.

Look, he's a respected voice, particularly in sports. But when you lead with the idea that, hey, maybe I'll run for president, and you lead with, I have no choice, you immediately discount your credibility. I have no choice. What do you mean you have no choice? Of course, you have some choices.

And if you look at it that way, boy, the ego is large in that one. I think we already knew that. But the suggestion and the idea that you have no choice, yeah, you do have a choice. Look, I served in elected politics for a while, served in the United States Congress. And I've always felt like I had a choice.

In fact, I left Congress early because, well, there's a lot of reasons, but I felt like I had a choice. And you've always got a choice. And suggesting that I have to do this because I have no choice is sort of an absurd thing. Look, we need good people running for good offices. If he wants to have his voice in.

Into the mix. I think he would be formidable given his ability to speak, his ability to carry a message. His name recognition serves him well. But You know, you have to go out and make the case why I want to do this. Why would you give up all those other things?

Not just because, hey, somebody whispered in my ear and showed up on the, you know, while I was walked outside and said, hey, we got to do this. Or, oh, you got a billionaire. Oh, so you're just going to do what they tell you to do. That's not really a winning strategy.

So he may be getting a dose of reality, a hard dose of reality, right out of the gates when you say, I have no choice because I don't think that's really a compelling message. But hey, it's up to him. We'll see if he can do it. I think he likes being in the mix.

Well, we'll see. I watch him on Hannity. I see him out there, but I don't think he has the appeal. But we'll see where that takes us. I'm Jason Chafe.

It's filling in for Brian Killmead. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. Well, almost Brian Kilmead. I am Jason Jafets Billing It from Brian.

Brian will be back tomorrow. But man, we've got a lot to talk about here because there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere, like, you know, throwing. You know, fiery devices into a governor's mansion, doing other things like that. Big news out there on tariffs. We're about to have a really, really good guest here for that, Anthony Esposito.

So hang tight with us on that. But I just wanted to mention: hey, big congratulations to Rory McElroy. I don't know if you watch the Masters. Maybe you don't. Maybe you're not into the Masters, but it is for golf the tournament.

I mean, there are tournaments and there are important tournaments like the Players and that sort of thing, but there's nothing like the Masters. And, you know, this has been elusive for him. But boy, and he almost blew it. He had a putt to win it and regulation missed that putt. Can you imagine the nerves that are going through somebody?

And then goes into the playoff with Justin Rose and Manny manages to birdie that Justin Rose, one of the best players in the world, real class act. You know, took off his hat and congratulations to Rory, but congratulations to him and his family. That has been a long time coming. By every estimation, Rory is like one of the nicest guys in the world, but one of the best players in the world, because to pull off what he pulled off. Unbelievable.

So, a lot of other things. I think one of my favorite things in the news is this picture of Gretchen Whitmer at the White House holding up that folder in front of her face. I just can't, like, I just can't get enough of it. Like, it's just the funniest, most immature thing. Like, nobody can see you, governor.

I mean, it just cracks me up that that is going on. Um, but unbelievable that she would do that. And then you got a President Trump who is just non-stop, right? He goes over the weekend, he's out there, he's just going to the fight, and then you know, getting on Air Force One and having a press availability at what is it, two o'clock in the morning or one o'clock in the morning, something like that. Brings out his granddaughter, starts talking to the press.

The guy is unbelievable. And that comes on the heels of Donald Trump doing his physical. And that is just, you know, he's there now shown to have the cognitive capability, acing his cognitive test at 100%. I saw Dr. Mark Siegel earlier in the day today talking about how, yeah, he's got, you know, his cholesterol is under control.

He takes a little cholesterol medicine, but man, who doesn't these days?

So, for a guy who is really, really fit, he demonstrates that every single day.

Well, one of the big fights that he's got on his hands right now, and you know, he's doing things that a lot of presidents wouldn't do, quite frankly. A lot of politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer talked about this, but Donald Trump's the first one to do it with using the power of the tariffs.

So, joining me now is Anthony Esposito, CEO and founder of Island Capital Investments, one of the smarter guys on the planet. Anthony, thanks for joining us on the Brian Kilmead Show. Good morning, sir. Thank you so much for having me. All right.

So, give us an update. Where are we at? There have been a lot of gyrations back and forth. This is on, this is off. Where are we at right now, here today?

What do you think is happening? Yeah. I think President Trump is using tariffs masterfully. To not only get better trade deals, but to create a lot of confusion.

so that we can get partners to the table, which is absolutely fine with me. That confusion is causing a lot of turmoil and stress in the markets. But that's really gonna be part of the process of fixing a system that is broken and that has been broken for a long time. This morning, the biggest news is that President Trump has now put a 90-day pause on certain tariffs with China. pertaining to mobile phones, computers, and electronics.

That has created a little bit of a bid or a further bid off of the recent low in the market.

So we're seeing names like Apple up 6%, Nvidia. Dell all getting a little bit of a bounce here, which is fine. It shows some good intention by President Trump to be able to use that. I would say use a stick, but it's more of a sledgehammer in negotiating tariffs, but also be able to come to the table and say we can pause here and we can talk about the right way to do this, where I'm not breaking the system, we're just fixing the system. And I think that's where we are now.

Well, what's interesting to me here about all this, you know, I feel for somebody to say, let's say you're in the telephone business. Let's say you're, you know, and it's more than the telephone business, right? But you're in the you're Apple, you're in the device business, and you're making these things in large part, I don't know what percentage in China. It's not as if you could just flip the switch and say, oh, okay, now turn on the machine in Canton, Ohio, and let's build them over there. I don't know how quickly you can pivot to get up to speed to actually build something in the United States, where I'd like to point out there are zero tariffs.

Yeah, I think the production part of it and the shifting of supply chains, there's an effort there that needs to happen. But I think President Trump has shown himself, in particular, if we can talk about the auto industry, he's shown himself willing and understanding that issue and that dilemma. He's willing to work with these companies as long as they're moving in the right direction to get them to the right spot. And I would say, again, with autos, I think Ford, in particular, would be happier taking on some expenses and getting production moved to the U.S. versus burning the trillions of dollars that they've burnt with these ridiculous EV mandates over the past two years.

They've been dismantled by those expenses and losses under the Biden administration. I think working on fixing your supply chain. and moving to the US. with a president on your side and with a goal and an agenda, a clear agenda in place, is something that all of these companies, whether it's Apple or Ford, can be on board with and can survive. And I think President Trump is willing to do that.

He's not looking to hurt U.S. industry. He's not looking to hurt the U.S. consumer. He's not looking to hurt the U.S.

economy. But the gap between his implementation of policy and fixing of broken policy and actually the positive effects of those policies, that gap is going to be painful, but I think that we can move through it. And that goes for individuals as well as corporate America. Let's go to cut three. This is Howard Luttnick, our Commerce Secretary.

He was on ABC.

So what he's doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two.

So these are coming soon. You shouldn't think this is really outside of it. Really think of it as being included in the semiconductor space, much like pharmaceuticals required.

So you're saying that the big tariffs on things like smartphones. And laptops. iPhones, all those iPhones built in China. uh that those tariffs are temporarily off but they're going to be Coming right back on in another form in a month or so? Or what are you saying?

Correct. That that's right. That's right. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals will have a tariff model in order to encourage them to reshore to be built in America. That was Howard Luttnick interacting with Jonathan Carl there at ABC.

What's your reaction to what the Commerce Secretary said? I think the word there is encouraged. And they're encouraging industries to fix their supply chain and to fix their production. And the idea, again, that they're putting a pause on to give some breathing room to have the conversation is fine. But don't take anyone's feet from the fire is my view.

As painful as this can be, I think that they are encouraging industry. To move back towards the U.S. and figure it out and figure it out as quickly as possible.

So, with that, you want those tariffs overhanging. You want some pain. The best way to grow, the best way to fix, the best way to become better is through pain. And that's with anything in life. And I think that that's the approach that the administration is taking here.

Industries being encouraged, quote unquote, to move back to the U.S. to onshore into fixed supply chains, whether it's pharmaceuticals or semiconductors or autos or consumer electronics. And I think we'll get there.

Well, and the president has also foreshadowed and thrown out, if people would just listen to Donald Trump before, I think you'd find that he really does foreshadow things. One of the things Howard Lutnick mentioned at the very end of his comments was pharmaceuticals. But President Trump was on Air Force One coming back from a fight, and he teased tariffs on pharmaceuticals as well. Let's go to cut two. The tariffs will be in place in the not distant future because, as you know, like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum, which are now fully on, we'll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips, and numerous other things.

And that'll take place in the very near future. And I will tell you, another one is pharmaceuticals, drugs and pharmaceuticals. We want to make our drugs in this country. Wow, that's going to play a big role because we've had a lot of things that are produced overseas. I think people would probably be surprised.

The pharmaceuticals, the OTC, the over-the-counter medicines that we enjoy on a regular basis, a lot of that's produced overseas. Jason, I think it is, and there's a concern, right? The first concern is obviously, can we continue to get those goods when we need them? If there is a global pandemic, if there is a shortage of Of pharmaceuticals or medicines, can we get them? Because we don't really have control of that supply chain.

The second concern, which for me is a major concern, is what's the quality of the product that we're getting. Whether it's the chips that are being put in the motherboards for our private industry or defense or aircraft or electric grid, or it's the medicine that we're putting into our bodies or our children's bodies, what's the quality of that product? And can we really trust it? If we're receiving products from states that we consider to be adversaries. Is that really the strongest place for the United States to be?

I would say no, and I think President Trump fully understands that and is moving down the path of putting us in a safer, more secure. Place. What do you think's going to happen when Donald Trump is able to announce a deal with even just one country? Let's just hypothetically say Vietnam, you suddenly have this deal. Will the market then will that have let a lot of air out of the balloon?

Like, hey, we're just going to go down each one of these countries one at a time. They're each going to negotiate their own deal and the markets will obviously will they react favorably? Or did they already price that in? That's absolutely a great point. The conversation for the markets, if we move away from the economy and we just look at the market.

I was calling for a bear market and a topping pattern back in December and January, and I was extremely vocal about it. And I've managed the fund that way. And this move down has actually been a very productive move for me at Island Capital. The markets have priced in to a large degree the tariff turmoil. Uh going away.

At this point, so if we start to see some of the countries that have come to the table or stepped up and said we'd like to have a conversation, I think you may see a little bit more of a pop. You may see an initial pop on that news, but a lot of that's been priced in. The market is now, to your point, discounting and looking forward to what's the next step. The tariff conversation is just part of a larger conversation. The markets were already over-levered, overextended, overvalued, and really ready to fall back in December and January.

There was very narrow breadth. I can go through a number of reasons why I've written in my morning note that this was breaking down, in addition to the fact that my technical model was showing. breakdowns in every timeline. daily, weekly, monthly as I look out. Uh What I would say is the tariff conversation will most likely be reconciled one country at a time, and that will become almost a waterfall motion where everybody will kind of fall into line.

This headline will move to the side. And what we're going to start to do is we're going to start to look at, again, just talking about the markets, we're going to start to look at earnings because we are kicking into earnings season. We're going to start to look at real GDP growth, which has been a smokescreen under the Biden administration. We're going to look at real employment. And very importantly, we're going to start to look at the consumer.

consumer spending has been propped up. By transfer payments from the government under the Biden administration, which essentially was using our tax dollars. And printing of money to create fake consumer spending.

Now we have the real consumer that's overextended. Consumer credit at all-time highs, and we have those transfer payments and that waste of money, which was very inflationary, by the way, going away, being pulled back. the consumer is going to be an issue.

So the headlines will change. tariffs being straightened out will start to help the market. But as we get over that hurdle, there are additional hurdles to come. And that's why I believe we'll see, along with my technical model, which is paramount for me, we will see lower lows overall in the market from where we were. There's definitely additional in my opinion, there's definitely additional downside to come.

We we don't have much time left here, but I do believe as the deportations increase, they've locked down the border, the pressure on the low end hou low end housing will be alleviated, there'll be more low end housings. I mean, if you have millions and millions of people here illegally, they're Highly consumptive, you know, they consume a lot of low-end housing that I think it would also go away. But also, it's usually in the top two or three in terms of employment growth is government. And I see that number also coming down, and that would be a positive. It was stunning, right?

Month after month, they'd go, oh, they have 50,000 new government jobs. Like, who, what? How do we exponentially keep growing government? We got about 35 seconds.

So. Wrap that up for us there, please. Yeah, housing should improve. And as we get those tenure yield rates lower, which Secretary Besson's been on, and he's actually he is completely perfectly correct. We'll start to see the cost of those 30-year fix coming down.

Credit card rates will come down, car loan rates will come down. That's the first part of it. The second part of it: yeah, we need to see private job growth. About 80% of jobs created over the Biden period.

Okay. Biden administration were actually funded directly or indirectly by the government or low paying services. We need to see manufacturing jobs come back. We need to see real private growth To generate GDP, to generate some real income for the American people. That's right.

Actual real growth as opposed to government growth propped up by our government dollars. Anthony Esposito, CEO and founder of Island Capital Investments. Thank you so much for joining us on the Brian Kill Meet Show. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

Diving deep into today's top stories, it's Brian Kilmead. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmade. We're here. Because an extreme concentration of power, greed, and corruption.

Is taking over this country like never before. Oligarchy. in America. We do not want a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class. We want a government that represents all of us, not just the one per cent.

We don't want The richest sky on earth. running all over Washington, DC. Throwing tens of thousands of dedicated federal workers out on the street. All right, let's break that down for a second. That was AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders out on the road with their little road show.

Hey, if you've got a different viewpoint, you've got a different viewpoint. But to suggest that, as she said, That it's an extreme concentration of power, greed, and corruption. Greed and corruption. Are you kidding? Oh, they're cutting government.

They're rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. They're saving billions of dollars for Medicaid and for Social Security and others. And they have the guts to actually go out and say, oh, what this is really about is greed and corruption and encompassing more power. They're trying to cut the size and scope of government. That is why their message, they may get some fruit loops out there just, you know, cheering and rooting them on.

But I tell you, at the end of the day, That ain't going to hold water because it's not rooted in truth. That was the problem with the last election. They were not rooted in truth. You got to be rooted in truth. People understand authenticity.

They may want to believe it, but there's no facts supporting that. They're cleaning up what Biden did. Stay with us. There's more to come on the Brian Killmead Show. Radio that makes you think.

This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, I'm Jason Chaffetz filling in for Brian. He'll be back on Monday. One of the hardest working guys, television, radio. He is always on the go, always doing things.

Hey, I want to. Just put in a quick plug for my podcast, Jason in the House. Fox News produces it. Anywhere you listen to a podcast, just type in Jason in the House. And you can find podcasts.

And my podcasts come out once a week. A lot of profile stuff, a lot about the news, and somebody doing something stupid somewhere. And one of them I did a while ago, it was probably a year ago, but is really insightful, is about our next guest, which is Griff Jenkins. You know, Griff, he's everywhere. He's all over the world.

He's always in a tumultuous place. Got a fascinating background. And if you go to my Jason in the House podcast, then you any. Search for Griff Jenkins. You want to hear his story and how he got to Fox and how he made things happen at Fox.

It's really fascinating. But Griff Jenkins, thanks for joining us on the Brian Killmead Show today. Jason, it's great to be on. And, you know, literally, I'm going to sound like a shill plug-in for Jason in the house, but our viewers and listeners, if you haven't listened to Jason's podcast, you should, because what you do so well, Jason, is just have a conversation with the people that you see on our air. I mean, they've got me on a story every day as a reporter from the border to, you know, what's happening on Capitol Hill and the White House.

And, you know, you don't really see much about the people you see, but like you're very good at just having a casual sort of conversation about where are you from? How'd you get your start? How'd you get there? And so I would encourage, it's a great podcast, and I would encourage everyone to tune in because, you know, we live in like this. Time and day and age now, maybe because the advent of reality programming on television and stuff some 10 years ago, but now people really want the authentic, real human side of the people they see every day.

And you do a great job of bringing that out. Hey, producers, let's make sure we give Griff some extra time on the show. That would be great. You can go on. You can keep going if you'd like, Griff.

No, I'm just teasing. Thank you.

I really do appreciate it. I think it was one of the better ones because you have an amazing story. You have a fun story.

So, in the spirit of Griff Jenkins Does Everything, I'm going to go around the horn. We're going to talk about a lot of different subjects because we have a few minutes, and that's what radio is all about.

So, I want to get your take first and foremost on a story, at least today, I just can't get over it. It just. I just cannot leave my brain. I just will always look at this person and think, Gretchen Whitmer, where are you? She goes into the Oval Office and holds that little binder in front of her face, or little pamphlet, or whatever it was.

Like, oh, we can't see you, Governor. Who might that be? I mean, it's the most childish thing I'd seen in the Oval Office, for goodness sake. What's your take on this, Griff?

Well, I mean, listen.

So that photo, a little bit behind the scenes here, that photo is taken by, you know, the the press pool that's in there, right?

So so the skilled photographers, whether it's AP or Reuters or whatever, that that shoots The still shots in the Oval Office and White House moments are really there to capture history. I mean, like, you know, when Peter Doosi and Jackie Heinrich and reporters are in there, they're to make news, get a soundbite, get Trump to say something. But the photographers are there to really capture moments in time that are historical. And what's crazy about that shot of Whitmer is everybody talked about Whitmer, Whitmer, Whitmer's the sleeper, Whitmer can win. Whitmer comes from a very battleground state that could have possibly made a difference in the election had she been chosen instead of Kamala Harris.

And in fairness, you know, we've all seen her. She's pretty good on a debate stage. She's a pretty polished. politician But yet, that holding a binder in front of her face just flies in the face of why AOC and Bernie Sanders and this fight oligarchy tour, it's like the Grateful Dead show going around everywhere, drawing all the old hippies and some young people perhaps that want to, you know, just stand up against everything Trump for no other reason than just to stand up against everything Trump, despite the success we're having at the border and in other areas. But it's just a contrast because really the Democrat Party that's just lost Any sort of focus direction and certainly lack a message.

I think it's really a damning photo for a potential future star of the Democrat Party to literally be trying to hide her face in the Oval Office when the few Democrats left in the base that really don't want to give up, despite being down eight touchdowns, want to see Democrats just simply fight. And that message was not sent holding a binder in front of your face. No, no, she was there supposedly to fight for the people of Michigan, of which she represents all of them. This is not an election, but whatever. It was just such, it's just a meme that just writes itself.

I can't wait to see how many times that's used into the future. I saw just moments ago the president of El Salvador is now having a meeting in the Oval Office, which is great because they've been a great ally, a huge help. They have cracked down on crime and done a lot of things. But again, I'm. Look, he's dressed up, but...

I'm still I'm still mystified why people can't wear a tie into the Oval Office at this point. I mean, it's a very trendy look. The president looks. He looks good, but he's not wearing a tie. And I don't know.

Is that just me? Am I too old school? No, you're not. And I'm with you. I mean, look, Nae Bukele is really a significant world leader right now because the White House, literally, as Bukele arrived, the White House, they put out a press release and a statement just moments ago saying, you know, criminal aliens will not find safe harbor in the U.S.

You'll be sent to places like Seacot in this historic agreement between Trump and Bukele to send the hardest to the hardest. And they list a whole slew of people that have been sent there. Many trendy Aragua gang members that have raped, assaulted, murdered, and just carried out horrific crimes, which is why people wanted them to go. But I will say, you know, even as you're a rising world leader on the biggest world stage, In the White House with President Trump, you know, you might want to learn, pick up a few photo op tips from how it went for Zelensky and say, you know what, guys, let's pop a tie on, even though we normally don't do it down in El Salvador. Maybe it's just a good bet.

So I'm working on it. Maybe I'm putting too much on the attire, but I think it goes to the respect of the Oval Office. Look, they're a great ally. The President is obviously very much in favor of what they're doing. They're doing a great help to the United States.

Can't say enough about that. But President Trump is also one that wore a tie to a UFC fight and brought his grandkids. Do a UF would you bring your grandkids to a UFC fight? I mean, maybe I've never gone. Have you been to one?

Like, we have to go together and document it. I mean, it's like. Do I have to wear a tie? I'm not going to wear a tie if that's okay with you. No, we're not wearing ties to the UFC fight, but it really is, you know.

Just sort of stepping aside a little bit on that, you know, I was watching over the weekend the the Kind of social media play that his appearance at that fight got. And the announcers for UFC were, he has, when the president comes in to these things, they play a kid rock song, and they're talking about like, You know, this image of a president and the strength and the entrance with the rock and kid rock fight song really captures all of the energy and adrenaline of when the top prize fighter comes in, but even more so because it's Trump and they're all cheering for him and they all love him and support what he's doing. And then you start looking around that arena and you know what they are? They're young people. And that really tells the story of how we went from the most liberal voting bloc of young people traditionally for decades.

to now what appears to be just a massive shift with all of these Trump supporting, I don't know if they're fully conservative or not. They're certainly Republican if they voted for Trump, young voters. And this is how he's done it. It's a far cry from, you know, Joe Biden fighting with the short stack of stairs, the back of Air Force One, to President Trump walking in with a fight song with everybody on their feet in the standing novation. It just, and it wasn't like a championship.

It was just Friday night UFC fight. Yeah, look, it's all about authenticity. And this is not a made-for-television moment. Donald Trump's been going to fights like these and boxing matches for decades. I mean, Don King, his relationship with Don King, the boxing promoter, the relationship he has to UFC fighting is just.

He's gone multiple times. This is not like, oh, hey, I bet the kids would love this. I'll show up. And the enthusiasm, you're right, the welcoming, that's also authentic. And this is what I think the Democrats just have never fully understood.

They somehow, you know, you have this billionaire president. Who ascended to the presidency, but he appeals more to the working class, more to the working men and women of this country. Uh than than anybody the Democrats can put up at this point.

Well, no, you're one hundred percent right. And what he's doing in these appearances with working class voters is he's meeting them where they are. That's why he went to a barber shop in Brooklyn, and that's why he went where they are. And to be quite honest, With the virtue signaling woke policies that the Democrat Party really embraced. in the last four years is what caused that rift Between the Democrat Party and working class families.

And as we watch this tariff thing play out, the theme you're really hearing is it's going to work. We'll find out. It's too early for anybody, honestly, to render a judgment because you don't know how it's going to turn out. But it does send a message that this is geared towards working class. This is Main Street, not Wall Street.

I'm not worried about the hiccups. Uh, and ups and downs and volatility on the market because ultimately the end goal is working-class jobs, manufacturing back in the U.S., and in meeting Main Street and putting them in the driver's seat. And it's going to be fascinating to see how it plays out. Yeah, absolutely. All right, I'm going to shift gears on you, Griff, just a little bit.

Um, I'm going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, uh, a horrific event where the governor there, Josh Shapiro, um, he was going to celebrate Passover. And posted up a picture on social media. But then the governor's mansion was attacked, and the images of the fire that was created were much more dramatic, much more real than I think the initial report gave credence to. Let's listen to Cut 12. This is Governor Josh Shapiro talking about what happened.

If he was trying to terrorize our family, Our friends The Jewish community who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night. Hear me on this. We celebrated our faith last night proudly And in a few hours we will celebrate our Our second seder of Passover again proudly. No one. will deter me.

or my family. or any Pennsylvanian. from celebrating their faith openly and proudly. What's your take on they did they do have a suspect in custody, um but what's your take on what happened there? You know, Jason, I'm glad you asked me.

And I don't know Governor Shapiro, but I've gotten to know him a little bit from afar because a close friend and his wife went to college with Josh Shapiro and grew up with him. And back when, you know, the campaign was going on, I was really getting a lot of insight as to sort of, you know, was Josh Shapiro the rising star? And a lot of people still, Monday morning quarterback, can look back and say, you know, 2020 hindsight, he really could have been a huge addition to the ticket. And part of the reason, apparently, in the considerations to looking at him was, because remember, he was a shortlist for Harris's pick, was that he set his Democrat label aside and was one of the only Democrat leaders that was, you know, unequivocally critical and harsh on The protests, the anti-Semitic protests, those pro-Hamas protesters in Columbia and other college campuses. And he didn't pull any punches on that.

And a lot of people surmise that that cost him the consideration. But I do think, you know, I was listening to him a little bit over the weekend, and he had another line where he simply said, I don't give a damn. What party you're from, whether it's a Republican politician or a Democrat politician, violence like this is never acceptable. And it's such an important point. And we are in an age when you've got an increased threat to politicians.

And it was good to see that he used that moment to send sort of a national message. And not just a Pennsylvania message. You know, God forbid this happened when he and his family were asleep. And it could have gotten a lot worse. Thankfully, the first responders and everybody, you know, handled it well.

But I do think he's going to be, it'll be interesting to see if the Democrat Party embraces him, but I think he's a guy that they may want to really give a hard look at because he does seem to be, as you mentioned, authenticity matters. He seems to be every bit authentic. And, you know, he handled this moment about as well as any politician could, I think. Yeah, no, it's sad that it happened. I think it was targeted based on the religion, and that should not be tolerated.

And we need more voices on both sides of the aisle calling it out for what it is. Griff Jenkins, thank you so much. You're the best. You have such perspective and great. You've just always got a positive vibe.

So I hope you get to go surfing soon. I know that's part of your passion, but thanks.

So much for joining us on the Brian Killmeat Show. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Increasing your intelligence quotients. What the hell did you just say?

It's Brian Kilmead. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, this is Jason Chaffetz. Brian will be back tomorrow.

Don't worry, he's coming back, and he'll be here before you know it. I I want to talk very briefly here about The fentanyl tariff. Have you noticed this? Donald Trump talks about it. Almost no stories are written about it or mentioned it.

But what is the fentanyl? Fentanyl tariff. And why is that focused on China? I have a guess. I have a pretty good guess, actually.

Peter Schweitzer, if you followed him along the way, is one of the better investigative folks out there. I actually have a relationship with his government accountability institute, which he runs.

So, full disclosure on that. But he wrote a book called Blood Money. Blood Money, it talks about some of the things that are going on. And one of the nefarious things that is alleged in this book is that the Chinese control a port in Mexico, and that there is this place, and it's named in this book, where there are Chinese nationals, and I think it's close to 2,000 of them, that are there operating. China is sending in the pill presses, the precursors, and they're actually making, this is the allegation, fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

Some of them are fake pharmaceuticals. And then they're handing them over to the drug cartels for distribution. And the other end of the deal is that instead of having traditional efforts like Panama and others, part of what the Chinese negotiated was: hey, what we want to do is have the money laundered through China. They use Chinese apps, encryption, all kinds of things. You go to the border, talk to Border Patrol.

It's out there. Look at this DEA report, which is out there in the public. We know that's happening. And I think the president knows that's happening. And I think the president is really trying to push the Chinese to say, hey, until you shut this down, until you get rid of it, you're going to have this tariff.

How painful is that? I'm Jason Schaffett's villain for Brian Kill Mead. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Stay with us. Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates podcast, Evil Next Door, exploring the life and crimes of five serial predators from across the United States.

Listen and follow now at FoxtrueCrime.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Listen to the show ad-free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Mm-hmm.