Brittney Griner freed in exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer

From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead. Thanks so much for being here, everybody. It's the Brian Killmeat Show, 1-866-408-7669. Just got some breaking news.

President, while we were on Fox and Friends, and about a half hour before I was done, we got word that the Roosevelt Room will be the place where President Biden will address the country. At which time we found out that Brittany Griner is now free.

So that is great news. Paul Whalen is not. That is not good news. What she went for is also different. We're going to talk to Senator Joni Ernst about that and so much more.

The Armed Services and Small Business Committee. And bottom of the aisle, Ben Dominic will put it all in perspective as editor of the Spectator World and host of the Ben Dominich podcast.

So let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three, sponsored by Crunch Fitness. Interested in owning your own business in a growing $30 billion industry? Check out CrunchFitness at Crunch.com. Number three: The RC Builds the Road. And the cars drive on it.

That's the candidates. We don't pick the cars, the voters do. But you need both to get to your destination. You need a really strong campaign and strong consultants. There you go.

Republican reboot after Herschel's runoff loss and not grabbing Senate control. And the GOP is looking at fixing what's broke, starting perhaps with leadership. Should they? And why in hell are they still blocking Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker? And I'm talking about other Republicans.

It's a self-hating move. Number two. He goes to Twitter and he's the guy who helps suppress the Hunter Biden story and says, oh, it's reasonable to assume the Hunter Biden laptop was a hack and leak operation when everyone knew that it wasn't. Ya, that is true. Jim Jordan.

Twitter files loom large and intrigue builds as questions emerge on how much of the Twitter's past has been removed or deleted without even the previous CEO's knowledge. Elon Musk must move quickly. Number one. Moments ago, standing together with her wife Sherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittany Griner. She's safe.

She's on a plane. She's on her way home. After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances.

So we've already adjusted our number one story: WNBA player Brittany Griner was freed from a Russian penal colony in a prisoner exchange for convicted arms dealer Victor Boot, also known as the merchant of death. But what about Whalen? Why did the Briden administration leave him behind? And if you're looking for a card to play, how could you play your best card and only get back Britney Griner, which is great? The six foot nine inch, 32-year-old has been held for nine months over what they allege they say is some type of cannabis oil.

I'm not even sure that that was it. Knowing them, they trumped up the charges. And if you're in a legal, if you're in a legal situation, it's not like here. Maybe it's to her best interest to admit to it. Maybe she didn't even do it because the timing is unbelievable.

You know, they begged these big-time athletes, female athletes, to come over there and play because it's not as much a lucrative opportunity. as it is in Russia, because they have to pay more to get people over there. Whether it's hockey, basketball, volleyball, soccer, whatever it is.

So, Brittany Grinder is over there as the most high-profile American, arguably, in the world, two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Next thing you know, right before the war, when our side has been totally staked out, pro-Ukrainian, she gets captured.

So, let's see what that story is when she gets back. But you don't want to jeopardize Paul Whalen's. Security by coming out being heavily critical on the Russians because maybe life gets worse for him. But this guy, Victor Boot, is as bad as it gets. He did a movie on him, roughly on his life.

Portrayed by Nicholas Cage. They did a documentary on the damage he's done back in 2014. Evidently, he took root in this big arm illicit arms dealing when the Russians, when the Soviet Union fell apart, he was able to get a lot of conventional weapons and cycle them around the world.

So suddenly, civil wars that were being fought in Central and South America and throughout Africa with machetes and knives, were now with AK-47s on both sides. That's why he was known as Merchant of Death. This guy was a full-blown killer without pulling the trigger. And he was set up in a very sophisticated sensational sting operation, taken down, I believe, in Thailand, as he was about to, he thought, sell a bunch of weapons to what turned out to be American agents, but that they thought was to FARC, this horrible terrorist group located in El Salvador or in Central America. I should be clear on that.

So having done that, selling all these weapons, evidently he had a number of Cargo planes ready to go at a moment's notice. He could fill it up with all types of arms and cycle it around the world. That's why he was so wanted. Look it up. 60 Minutes did a big feature on him.

It's online right now.

So we're happy, though, that Griner's back. Here's her wife, Sherelle Griner, cut through.

So, for the last nine months, y'all have been.

So privy to one of the darkest moments of my life. And so today I'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration. He just mentioned this work is not easy and it has not been Right.

So we'll talk about that. Nobody was better at getting prisoners out than Robert O'Brien. He ends up becoming. National Security Advisor, because of that and his loyalty to Trump, goes without saying more from Sherelle Cutforce. Today, my family is whole, but as you all are aware, there are so many other families who are not whole.

And so, BG is not here to say this, but I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today. As we celebrate BG being home, we do understand that there are still people out here who are enduring what I endured the last nine months of missing. tremendously their loved ones.

So, yeah, so we always have an unbalanced. Remember Bo Bergdahl, what we gave up to get him. You know, we got that. Oh, these guys who promised not to go back. are back now running the Taliban, running the terrorist groups.

So they promised they wouldn't.

So we did that for Bo Bergdal, a deserter.

So always give up more.

So Victor Boot, I just can't believe that we don't get whaling into along with that. Cut Six is Admiral James Starvedas, he said this on another network. The bottom line here is: the United States is a compassionate nation that cares about all of its citizens and is going to do everything it can to get them out. And sometimes that leads you to a situation like this, which no one relishes, believe me, letting Victor boot go. When I was commander of U.S.

Southern Command, I worked every day with the drug enforcement agency, the DEA. They're the ones that caught this guy. And this is not a happy day in their headquarters, believe me. Great point. I mean, if you gave your life or you gave years of your life in hunting him down and then you set him up and then you capture him and they say a sensational sting operation, and now he's out.

to if not orchestrate Tell wherever all the bodies are buried and how to go do it. It's not a good day. More from Stavitis. Cut Russia is a nation, a pariah nation. And if you're an American citizen, my advice is don't go anywhere near Russia.

Don't go to Russia. And by the way, I'm sanctioned by the Kremlin and I wear that with a badge of honor. Yeah. And just lastly, this is the end of that interview on another network, Cut Eight. Even in the midst of the war, even in the midst of these incredible massive disagreements, we can and frankly we must continue to keep open channels of communication, have a grain deal that gets the grain out of Ukraine, continue the SALT talk, the strategic arms limitations talk, do this kind of hostage negotiation.

We can't simply break off relations completely with Russia. We need to be smart about how we execute diplomacy. My hat's off to Tony Blinken in the State Department this morning. Listen, I'm glad I'm glad she's out. But as was brought up to me by a reporter on Capitol Hill just now.

Can you imagine if Trump had cut this deal? Giving up a notorious arms dealer. And they'd be talking about how the DEA was sold out by the foreign president of the United States who doesn't understand what it takes to take these guys down. I mean, convicted in 2011 to a 25-year sentence. After 9-11, we had zero tolerance for arms dealers, where in the past, we might have looked the other way.

He's accused of supporting armed conflicts, and he has. It's been proven. It's actually chronicled in a big documentary. It was featured on 60 Minutes.

So, what we had to give up to get her back, and you wonder if the Whalen family actually has less hope today. Lastly, I want you to hear Andrea Mitchell. Uh this is what she said, cut five. The Paul Whelan news is really dismaying. And let me just speak to that.

I've been dealing with Paul Whelan's family, his sister, his brother. His parents, as you know, over Thanksgiving, were very concerned because he had gotten out of touch. And then I learned last Sunday, and David Whelan confirmed this with us on Monday, that he was actually taken from the prison. To the prison hospital, even though he wasn't sick, with no explanation, on Thanksgiving Day, so that he could not call home. And of course, the parents were terribly worried, and then taken the next day back to the prison.

And according to David Whelan, and according to what Paul later told the embassy, the embassy in Moscow, he was taken because the notorious mercenaries, the Wagner group, were in that prison community trying to recruit. recruits to recruit inmates to go to Ukraine. And they did not want the American hostage to see this going on because they know he's communicating back with Washington. I mean, it is all so cruel, so bizarre. Wow.

I had no idea about all this. Andrea Mitchell going to bat for the Wheeland family. That's great. All right, when we come back sooner, Joni Arn's going to be joining us, put it in perspective and Ben Dominic. Brittany Griner back, but at what cost?

Don't move.

Okay. Expanding your knowledge base. It's the Brian Kill Meet Show from the Fox News Podcasts Network. I'm Ben Dominich, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter. And I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week.

It's the Ben Dominich Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxnewsPodcasts.com. Precise, personal, powerful. Is America's weather team in the palm of your hands? Get Fox weather updates throughout your busy day, every day.

Subscribe and listen now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin. It's Brian Kilmead. We never forgot about Brittany. We've not forgotten about Paul Whalen.

who has been unjustly detained in Russia for years. This was not a choice of which American to bring home. We brought home Trevor Reed when we had a chance early this year. Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittany's. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up.

There you go, the President of the United States talking about getting Brittany Griner out. She's on her way home. He landed in UAE. Senator Joni Ernst joins us now. Senator, your reaction to the news.

Well I am I am extremely glad that Brittany is being returned. I think it's a good thing whenever we can unify American families. But we have a lot more work to do, obviously. What about Paul Whalen? He's a former Marine who has been in prison for r in Russia for four years.

And so I would love to know what the Biden administration's plan is for Paul Whalen. Right. If you can't, Victor Boot is a pretty brutal guy. I mean, this guy is probably blood in his hands. Merchant of death for a reason.

Right. And, you know, like I said, it's always great to have an American come home. But wow, we paid a heavy, heavy price. Price for Brittany Griner, and I truly hope that she does appreciate and respect the USA now and all that this country has done for her. Because she took a knee in the past during the national anthem.

So we'll have to see.

So that's where it goes.

So let's talk about what's going on with the Republicans. Right now, people are looking for new leadership on the Republican side, perhaps, after the failure of Herschel Walker and the failure to take the Senate. Probably nobody's more directly affected than a Republican senator who has to stay in the minority. What's your reaction? What do you learn from the midterms?

Well, extremely disappointing. I have always been an optimist, Brian. You know this. And I was certain that we were going to take the Senate back, be back in the majority, get those gavels back. And unfortunately, that did not happen.

And so we're taking some time. We're dissecting the past election. But I really think we have to be able to communicate a vision to the American people that is one of optimism and how we can correct the deficiencies of this Biden administration. There are things that we as Republicans can all agree on. Things like making our federal government smaller, not bigger, like the Democrats are doing.

Things like unleashing American energy and becoming less dependent upon our adversaries. And things like strengthening the American military, which is one of the very reasons our federal government was established. There are so many things that we should be communicating and doing, and yet it just didn't come across in this last election cycle.

So do you want new leadership? I think we all have to bear the burden on this. And I do think that we have to show a different style of leadership, which is why I ran for Republican policy chair. I was elected by my colleagues, and I'm just so thankful to have their support. And so, when it comes to issues of policy, I hope that I can be out there leading the way, working with the various senators that have.

Have such broad ideas on all of these policies, working with all of them to bring a consensus to our Republican conference. It's really important that we do that. Right. I want you to see, this is what Governor Asa Hutchinson said about why he believes that you guys didn't take the Senate Cut 14. The midterm election was not a rejection of Republican principles.

It was just a rejection of certain candidates that are not addressing the needs of people and not following the Constitution and democracy. The facts do not bear that out, that Trump is a ticket to victory. As I said, there's a cost that comes with his endorsement. We saw this time and time again in the midterm elections. And whenever candidates talk about common sense conservative values and address the challenges of inflation and energy costs, they win on the Republican side because the voters trust Republican principles and ideas.

So he believes the candidate quality, but if I look at Fetterman, if I look at President Biden, those aren't great quality candidates. Senator Raphael Warnock, a quality candidate? Exactly. And again, I think it comes back obviously we have to have candidates that are strong in character and have great qualities about them. They have to be able to talk to their constituencies.

I think that's extremely important to the voters. But they also need to espouse what Asa was talking about, a love of our Constitution, someone that will embrace the Constitution and stand up for our magnificent country, but also to be able to communicate the things that were important to voters in this election cycle. Like I said, things like energy, things like inflation. What are we going to do as Republicans about these issues that affect Americans every single day?

So we'll see what happens on that front, and we'll see what happens in the lame duck session. Are you for the omnibus? Get this thing out of the way. Are you for a CR, continuing resolution to fund the government and get to the majority in the House? Honestly, Brian, I don't see a great way forward any way we go.

We know that if there is an omnibus bill that is presented, it is going to be more of a cromnibus bill. It is going to have everything thrown into it, probably including the kitchen sink. And we know that when that happens, we spend way too much as a federal government. If we do a continuing resolution and we take it into the new year, that is very detrimental to our military. And of course, I'm an ardent supporter of our military.

It would be great to have our House Republicans involved in the discussion surrounding the spending bill. But I want to know, too, that they can bring people together and get things done. And we need to see that demonstrated.

So all of these options that are being laid in front of us, not a single one is a good option. The best option for the American people is to do things by regular order and get our appropriations bills moving through the committees. Get the budget done by the Senate and the House. Make sure that we are moving back to the way our body was established. And we haven't seen that in a very long time.

We've got to go back to regular order. Then maybe we will have bills that make sense. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. We know the Republicans are still keeping the Iowa caucus, right?

Yes, the Republicans will still be shining in Iowa. Got it. Senator Joni Ernst, always great. Thank you. Thanks, Brian.

We come back. Ben Dominic puts the prisoner swap in perspective as well as Republicans' options from here. Brian Kilmicho.

So glad you're with us. Busy day. Hey, it's Will Kane, co-host of Fox and Friends Weekend. Join me as I share my thoughts on a wide range of topics from sports and pop culture to politics and business. The Will Kane Podcast.

Subscribe and listen now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com. From the Fox News Podcasts Network, in these ever-changing times, you can rely on Fox News for hourly updates for the very latest news and information on your time. Listen and download now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Information you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

Big tech, big government, big media all colluding to keep valuable information from we the people. And of course, John, we know the consequences of all this are that Joe Biden was president, became president, and we have 41-year high inflation, a border that's no longer a border, rampant crime, and all the other problems we see with this administration, not least of which is the FBI has been weaponized against we the people and is no longer treating Americans equally under the law. That to me is the big concern. And when we take control next month, we are going to focus on that political structure that now exists, unfortunately, at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

So he's going to look it over to oversight.

So let me just give you an up to date on what's going on with these Twitter files and big tech.

So Jim Baker, who's been the zealig of FBI corruption, part of the FBI, excuse me, the investigation into the Mueller report, part of leading up to planning evidence in the dossier with. The Trump campaign, who became the Trump presidency. Of course, part of the Hillary Clinton emails and then the Durham report, Jim Baker all over it as he gets Sussman to drop off information to him because he's a friend of his that talks about an alleged deal and relationship between a Russian bank, Alphabank, and Trump, which did not exist.

So Baker gets fired and goes over to Twitter. He's still there. Still there. And according to a tweet, it looks like Elon Musk Newhe was there in April.

So they find out that because Matt Taibbi has been elected and asked. And or maybe he asked Elon Musk, he said, Can you get me any information regarding any corruption that might in collaboration to keep the Hunter Biden laptop story out of the last election cycle? Let me know. And they do.

So they give it to Matt Taibbi, and then he gives it to Barry Weiss. And Barry Weiss, who's from Substack, former New York Times writer, anything but a right-winger, is publishing what they get. And then all of a sudden, it basically stops to a trickle. What's going on?

Well, it turns out Jim Baker is screening it out and deciding what's going to go forward to Matt Taibbi.

So they immediately fire him when Elon Musk confronts him. And then it gets tweeted out. From the former, the CEO, the former CEO and the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. Jack Dorsey to Elon Musk on Twitter. If the goal is transparency to build trust, why not release everything without the filter?

The filter was Jim Baker. And let people judge for themselves, including all discussions around current and future actions. Make everything public now. That Jack Dorsey to Elon Musk. Elon Musk's reply.

Most important data was hidden from you too, he put in brackets, and some may have been deleted. But everything we find will be released. It is unclear whether Baker was directly involved in the suppression of the deletion of Twitter files, but one would lead you to believe, and one logical person would think, that he's very much involved. And that's the crazy thing. Here's more from Jim Jordan, cut nine.

He goes to Twitter and he's the guy who helps suppress the Hunter Biden story and says, oh, it's reasonable to assume the Hunter Biden laptop was a hack and leak operation when everyone knew that it wasn't. And then of course we find out here the last couple days, oh, by the way, he's the guy filtering what Elon Musk is releasing to the country to uncover all this. He's still involved in it there.

So this guy's history, then you ask this fundamental question, John. This Elvis Chan, who was the agent doing those weekly briefings in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. I want to know if that FBI agent, Elvis Chan, was he talking with Jim Baker at the time? Was Jim Baker getting a readout on these briefings that were happening with big tech in Silicon Valley? How did that all play out?

So that's why we want to talk to Mr. Chan and ultimately to Mr. Baker. Very interesting. I never thought about that.

Keep in mind, Elvis Chan and Tim T-Bolt. These two guys are everywhere. They were the ones who are in on when. That Computer repair shop owner said, Listen, I got this very valuable stuff. It's clear Hunter Biden left it.

He will not return my calls, will not pay his bill.

So it's mine. I looked at it. It's dangerous. I'm bringing it to the FBI. And the FBI treats him like a criminal, holds on to the hard drive.

He had made copies prior, he's a computer guy, to make sure, in case the FBI holds on to it and doesn't get back to him.

So that's when he went to Rudy Giuliani, Miranda, Devine, and others and said, I got this laptop. It shows international business deals involving perhaps Joe Biden, but definitely Jim Biden and Tony Bobolinski and Devin Archer and others.

So that's how this got out.

So the FBI knew all about it and then got word that this was going to come forward when Rudy Giuliani got it because they were spying on Rudy Giuliani. And that was going to be given to the Post. When the Post got it, they decided to go through with it, at which time feverish briefings take place among leadership in the House and Senate. Pretty amazing, correct? Here's Britt Hume, cut eleven.

It's typical of our modern mainstream media today that this is how they behave. When the Hunter Biden laptop story broke in the New York Post, there was really no reason to believe it was anything other than on the up and up, as it turned out indeed it was. Mainstream media outlets by the bushel refused to touch it. Twitter shut it down on their site, which they later acknowledged was a mistake. But then comes the revelations about what went into the decision to shut it down.

They're not covering that either. You'd think that they would think that people would notice. And I guess some people do. But in this atmosphere, they never seem to learn. They never seem to do the right thing because they do the wrong thing over and over.

So it's pretty big perspective on what's going on here with Twitter. And I don't know what's coming next, but I worry about what was deleted and suppressed and cycled out. Because if Jim Baker is not a cyber expert, he knows so many people that are from his years in the FBI.

So did he stick around in order to cover his tracks knowing that sooner or later Musk was going to release all this stuff? Perhaps. Byron York notices what I notice, and that is more and more this is becoming about the FBI. Again, CUD 12. What's amazing about this is the quickness with which this Hunter Biden story, the Hunter Biden Twitter story, is becoming an FBI story.

And it's not just in the disclosures that are coming from Elon Musk. In a completely separate case, a man named Yoel Roth, who was Twitter's chief censor, actually made a legal declaration saying that he had met with FBI officials and other national security officials weekly in the run-up to the 2020 election, and that they warned him about the possible dump of foreign disinformation that might target Hunter Biden.

So, New York Post publishes an entirely legitimate story about Hunter Biden, and Twitter goes, wow, that must be what they talked about, and censors the story. Think about all this.

So I can't wait to find out about the shadow banning too.

So, shadow banning is really insidious. How it's, I never heard about it until 20 probably 18.

So, what, 2017, 2018? What does that do?

So, if you are Donald Trump Jr. and you have a ton of followers and everything you say makes news, or Donald Trump Sr., what you do is somehow you suppress it. You get an algorithm down there that shows it's not going to look too much traffic.

So, they're not banned, you're not outraged, but you say to myself, am I losing popularity? I'm not adding followers like I normally was. Are we just maxed out on Twitter? Are people getting turned off by me? You don't know if you're a public figure, if you're just an everyday person and not influencer, you probably don't have that many followers to begin with, and you're probably not that much of a factor.

It doesn't really affect you.

So, this is how crazy it's getting.

So, you know what's going on in San Francisco. You remember the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi. You see the homeless problem. It's just worse than ever. You see the 10 cities that are propped up, the parks where you can shoot up for free.

They provide the needles and who knows, maybe even the drugs. Narcan's given out like butter.

So, guess what they have a problem with? They have a problem with As I mentioned yesterday, but it's even worse than I thought. Elon Musk setting up beds at the office place. Why? Because, like Congress, if you spend a lot of time there, you don't want to waste a lot of money going around and go to a hotel room, you might just stay there.

And some of the people really dedicated to the transition, excited about Elon Musk, have decided to sleep.

So Musk is providing beds to some people that want to work around the clock and make up for all those fire to those people that quit or want to be part of the transition. One of, so this is the crazy thing. London Breed, the mayor, is now looking to investigate why they're bringing beds into a workplace. Amalia Ekanubi is with Prager U and big-time personality. Outraged that Elon Musk is doing that Elon Musk.

Not so much doing what he's doing, But even that it's a big deal having that in the Twitter headquarters, Cut13. It's clearly a witch hunt here. They're going after Elon Musk because of the ideology and the ideas that he represents, and they're scared of what he's going to do. I mean, the Twitter files that are coming out have some very big implications as far as corruption happening at that company. The last thing that the city of San Francisco, with the homelessness problem that they are experiencing, should be worried about is extra beds being in the city.

Instead of worrying about Elon Musk, they should be focusing on homelessness, on crime, on drug abuse, and the other big businesses that are choosing to leave their city. We're talking about Walgreens, Starbucks, Uber. All of these major corporations are choosing to take up space in other cities because San Francisco cannot support them with the way their city is being run. That's what they should be worried about. And London Breed, who's just ridiculous, says that as mayor.

What a joke. Elon Musk tweeted so much as to say so. You listen to the Brian Kilmeat Show. When we come back, I see the phones are lining up over in Michigan, over in Raleigh, over in Long Island. I'll get to all of you if I can.

I should when we come back. Again, the big news is Brittany Griner is now out, but at what price? He's out of a Russian prison, which is unbelievably great news, but at what price? And are we setting up the next hostage swap? This is the Brian Kilmeat Show.

So glad you're here. Learning something new every day on the Brian Kilmeat Show. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Killmead. Moments ago, standing together with her. Our shrill uh In the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittany Griner.

She's safe. She's on a plane, she's on her way home. After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, Held under intolerable circumstances. Brittany will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and. And she should have been there all along.

This is a day we've worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release. Right, she is now out for Victor Boot, who's one of the world's most notorious arms dealers, who is known as the merchant of death because the arms that he has provided through illicit means, through the black market, having Having cargo planes on, ready to go, a fleet of them ready to go to give arms to the most depleted country, the most horrific civil war. And We went through great lengths to arrest him. He is now out.

Harold, listening in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hey, Harold. Yeah, I hate to I hate to be the b the one to break the news, but um I could care less about Brittany Griner.

Okay, Joe Biden signed a 94 crime bill, which put thousands of black men in jail who have the same complaint she has. I was railroaded, they planted the drugs, they did this, they did that. The bottom line is when you're going to another country, you shouldn't You should know the rules. You can't take dope to another country. If you're going to be stupid, stay.

in America. Because you won't have any problems. All the problems this country has, and you're spending, he's spending that kind of time on her. What about the border? What about the economy?

Can't argue with anything you're saying, Harold. I don't even know. I would like to know for sure that it was hers because I would not doubt because this war was about to begin. The timing was just odd. The war is about to begin, and all of a sudden she goes through normal to their version of TSA, and they find this little resonance of, I guess, hash or pot or whatever it was, heroin.

And then they arrest her for nine years. And now they know she's a high-profile person, 32 years old, basketball player, 6'9 inches. And they go, okay, let's make an example of her. I worry about this. Who's going to be grabbed next?

And who else do we have around the world that could be grabbed in exchange for a prisoner swap? And why wasn't Whalen included in this? Larry in Michigan. Hey Larry, what do you think?

Well, I'm I want to agree 100% with the last caller. But if s if If she is busted with it, what I heard was a THC cartridge for a vape and or whatever. Um doesn't the WNBA Tests for THC like they do with the NFL? Or is it just you know Up for grandma. I don't think they do.

Let's just assume that she let's say she did break the law. No way she deserved nine years. How do you feel about the swap for who for who was she swapped for? That is outrageous. It should have never happened.

I mean, Let her do her nine years. With everything we went through to catch this guy. is It's it's just insane. I can't believe something stupid like that occurred. Thanks, Larry.

Tom was on WRCN in Long Island. Hey, Tom. How we doing, Brian? Great. What's on your mind?

All right. at what Brittany did.

Okay. Like the first caller said, I could care less about her.

Alright, she's just one person. But the man you let out.

Okay. He's a head bro. Of weapons all around the world. Russia? Is going to need a new supplier because, from what I'm being told, they're running out of weapons.

They're buying. They're trying to buy new Uh weapons tanks from China, from North Korea. Here's the man that's going to get it for him.

So, Biden doesn't care about Ukraine. We've gone so far with that country. And quite frankly, they are going to take one of the allies. Yeah. for China.

Away from If they defeat or make Russia walk out of there. Yeah. a fortune. China needs Russia to invade Taiwan to stave off a America, okay? Yeah.

We just sent the guy over there who's going to help Russia defeat Ukraine with any weapon he needs. And guess what's going to come next? And you know, Senator Ernst said, Well, you know, we paid a lot for it. It's astronomical what we pay. Tom, think about this.

If you're one of those agents, put your life on the line to set up this massive sting operation to take down one of the most lethal arms dealers in the world. You look around and say, Really? This is what I sacrificed years of my life for, countless hours for, and then put it all together in a flawless sting operation to give it up for a basketball player who did something perhaps that was wrong in a country that's corrupt by definition. Tom, I understand the frustration. Jeff, WDBO.

Hey, Jeff. Yeah, hey, Brian, I just wanted to call and just give you my Perspective on why I think you know, Republicans aren't doing as well as they think they should be doing. I think they should be doing better, but. I don't know. It kind of seems like you guys kind of are stuck on the same news cycle.

The whole Biden laptop, Biden's gas, Trump himself, the multiple red waves that are coming. People are getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over and over again. And I'm sus suspecting that this thing with losing the Senate seat in Georgia, they're going to blame it on Herschel Walker. And I think it needs to be blamed on Trump. you know, Trump lost you guys the house.

The presidency, the senate, and then now he's messing up the midterms. I think one way you guys learned that. It's time to move on. Then that's all.

Well, a couple of things. Not you guys. What I'm saying is, if this story didn't move, you're right. It's the same story. But it's moving rapidly.

It's moving rapidly with Matt Taibbi and Barry Weiss, not with Anybody on Fox is moving because Elon Musk, the richest, most high profile man in the world, maybe second, has now bought it and is intent on getting to the bottom of it.

So if you say from 5,000 feet or 50,000 feet, yeah, that's the same story. Not really. Because now we're actually opening up the safe. And we're seeing what's inside. And then we find out there was a guy inside trying to grind everything up and put it through a shredder.

So that's not the same story. But it is and to your point The fact that no other network's picking it up, nobody seems to be interested, it shows you that's more collusion with the Democratic Party. It's like, listen, we got caught, but if we don't admit it, don't acknowledge it, maybe it'll just go away to the so-called moderates. Independence. They've been voting for us in years past.

But I mean uh blaming Donald Trump and I mean, yeah, uh Trump some of Tr Trump's people did not win. And Herschel Walker, the best thing he could have done is make all that stuff out about abortion and everything else out before it got broken in the newspapers. and the media. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division.

It's Brian Kilmead. Thanks so much for being here, everybody. It's the Brian Kilmeech show. As we get through on this latest edition, make our way closer and closer to Christmas, and it must feel like Christmas because the prisoner exchanges have been executed. Brittany Griner is now home.

I'll talk about that with Kelly Ann Conway in a matter of moments. And Senator Bill Haggerty at the bottom of the hour, the Foreign Relations Committee, Appropriations Rules Committee. He thought he'd be in the majority. He wasn't. I'll talk about the direction of the party and more, as well as are they going to do a continuing resolution or a big Uh omnibus bill to fund government.

This uh let's get started with the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three: The RC builds the road. And the cars drive on it. That's the candidates. We don't pick the cars, the voters do.

But you need both to get to your destination. You need a really strong campaign and strong consultants. And there's Ronna McDaniel on America Reports with John Roberts yesterday. She heads up the RNC. Republican reboot after Herschel's run off loss and not grabbing the Senate control with the GOP, is now looking to fix some things and find out what's broke, perhaps with their leadership.

Should they, and why in the hell are they still blocking Kevin McCarthy's ascension to Speaker? Number two. He goes to Twitter and he's the guy who helps suppress the Hunter Biden story and says, oh, it's reasonable to assume the Hunter Biden laptop was a hack and leak operation when everyone knew that it wasn't. Yeah, it's absolutely true. Here we go.

Twitter files loom large and intrigue bills as questions emerge on how much of Twitter's past has been removed or deleted without anybody previously knowing, including The former CEO and founder, Elon Musk, must move quickly. Number Moments ago, standing together with her wife Sherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittany Griner. She's safe. She's on a plane. She's on her way home.

After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Breaking. WNBA superstar Brittany Griner was freed from a Russian penal colony and a prisoner exchanged for a convicted arms dealer, the worst in the world, Victor Boop, who was known as the merchant of death for a good reason. What he sold killed people. But what about Paul Whalen, the Marine? Why did the Biden administration leave him behind in Russia?

They said they had no choice. Kellyanne Conway, former senior counsel to President Trump, author of Here's the Deal, joins us now. Kellyanne, we're all glad Brittany Griner's home, but at what cost?

Well, there's no question. I mean, sh this was Russia. unduly detaining her, punishing her to a penal colony and Who knows what else for decades?

So I'm very pleased she'll be home with her family for Christmas, there's no question. But it's not within Joe Biden's, I think, his wheelhouse, his Ken, honestly, even his thought process to go and negotiate for Whalen as well. It's always going to be a lopsided deal because we're dealing with Russia and they're going to have lopsided punishments for Americans. Uh, look, Zelensky is time person of the year. Finally, they got it right.

And there's a reason for that. Here's a guy almost single-handedly taking on Vladimir Putin and prevailing.

So I think Putin has weakened. He saw an opportunity to use Joe Biden's weakness here, but I'm going to focus on the American who's freed in coming home to her family. True. A couple of things. Here's Andrea Mitchell.

She's behind the scenes with the Whelan family, cut five. Dealing with Paul Whelan's family, his sister, his brother. His parents, as you know, over Thanksgiving, were very concerned because he had gotten out of touch. And then I learned last Sunday, and David Whelan confirmed this with us on Monday, that he was actually taken from the prison. To the prison hospital, even though he wasn't sick, with no explanation on Thanksgiving Day, so that he could not call home.

And of course, the parents were terribly worried, and then taken the next day back to the prison. And according to David Whelan, and according to what Paul later told the embassy, the embassy in Moscow, he was taken because the notorious mercenaries, the Wagner group, were in that prison community trying to recruit. recruit inmates to go to Ukraine. And they did not want the American hostage to see this going on because they know he's communicating back with Washington. I mean, it is all so cruel, so bizarre.

So she has insight there, and they know how bad he is.

So the exchange took place. You just wonder if Victor Boot and all those agents that brought him to justice and put their lives on the line to do it, how they feel today. I just can imagine if Donald Trump did this.

Well, sure, but let's review what President Trump and Vice President Pence and Mike Pompeo and the administration did, Robert O'Brien. We, in that administration, Brian. A an almost record number for the first term for a one-term president. Detainees and hostages were brought home. We highlighted it at the Republican National Convention.

It was a An event that I was in charge with. Kash Patel helped me put it together to just showcase the number of Americans. When you have true leadership in the Oval and you have a commander-in-chief who's respected around the world and feared, you're able to do this and make these deals. And people didn't even know these detainees and hostages were coming home until the press was assembled, until we announced it sort of in the dead of the night. Remember the North Koreans at Andrews Air Force Base, I believe it was.

Remember a longtime hostage or DTE who I think she was obviously in the Middle East.

So the list goes on and on. Joe Biden is not known for this. It hasn't been as much a little priority for the Biden-Harris administration as has been visiting the border. Here's a guy who's been to Delaware 174 days of his presidency, Brian, and he's been to the border zero days of his presidency.

So it's just not a big priority for them. I think the cruelty, Andrea Mitchell's word is exactly right, you're exactly right, the cruelty and the indignity, the inhumanity that they're entreating Paul Whalen and his family. It's truly unconscionable. I hope the Biden-Howard administration keeps at it and brings him home. Right.

So let's talk about the RNC. What is your takeaway as Herschel Walker goes down by two points in the runoff election?

So 51-49, you lose ground in the Senate. You gain back the House. You still have to deal with President Biden, who now is going to run for reelection, it looks like, over the next two years.

So if you are on the right, what do you learn from this last midterm cycle?

Well you learned. Few things, most of which should be sussed out and hashed out behind the scenes in the family, not laid bare publicly. I see a lot of people looking for attention, looking for contracts. at the RNC and also with the convention. Don't forget, people make boatloads of money off these political conventions and there will be one in about a year and a half's time, about 20 months' time, Brian, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

So I know people are frustrated, but let's talk about what went right. I think the message for the Republicans was much better than the Democratic message. They had Barack Obama running around the country, pointing his finger, scolding, scaring, and shaming America. To vote. He didn't talk about inflation and crime and the border and Putin and Iran and Israel.

He didn't do any such thing, the unaffordability and insecurity of everyday life. Their message was to scare people and gin up their basement at work. Our message was to respond in kind to what Americans said for a year and a half, Brian, and everybody's polling is vexing and perplexing and keeping up at night. Messenger, our candidates are our primary messengers.

Some were great, some were not so great. But that's who the voters chose. And once the primary happened, I think Republicans, with very few exceptions, Brian, ought to. To come together, unify, and help that person win. Brian, where were the other 49 Republican senators?

who will be sworn in. In a month, where were they to help Herschel Walker? You saw the same group of five or six Macs down there trying to help them. Where were the female senators trying to help them? Why didn't they go to Georgia, Brian Killmead, and say, Hey, I serve with Raphael Warnock, he's a disaster.

He has made life less secure, more unaffordable. He's not there for Georgia. He put his lot in with Joe Biden on Afghanistan, on the Inflation Reduction Act, which doesn't reduce inflation. Oh, and when Joe Biden came to your state, Georgia, and insulted you as a bunch of racists and xenophobes with your new voting law, which Brian led to record turnout in both the general election this year and the runoff election.

Next thing, this has to be more about process. I know donors want to see their money go to the fancy ads on network TV and they want to go to the people want to go to the rallies and meet the candidates. And guess what? You have to invest in what I call the non-sexy parts of politics: the ballot access, becoming a resource to people so they know who can vote over what period of time and through what methods. I don't like this new normal, Brian, of voting in.

in drop boxes or mail-in ballots or being able to vote Months before election day and counting them three weeks after election day. But if this is the rule in your state, like a place like Arizona, you've got to play within the rules. We have to outsmart and out fox them. And the Democrats, I think, did a much better job in those states, in some of those states, than we did as Republicans in making sure that we banked those ballots early. There's also a lot of confusion created in 2020 as to whether people should vote early, late, show up on election day.

Let me just say unequivocally, as I've said before many times, let's bank the votes when we can. Stop taking a chance that everybody can get out of the house, not called away on business, not sick, stuck in traffic, not busy, not forgetful that day. Bank those darn votes. early. And also, guess what?

2024, sure, there's a presidential race that's very important, but it's a very tough year for Democrats. In the United States Senate. They've got to defend seats, Brian, in Montana, West Virginia, another one in Nevada.

So it could be as good a year for Republicans, I think a better year for Republicans as this was for Democrats. But let's, you know what? Let's hash this out behind the scenes. And not on Twitter, and not necessarily on TV all day long. If people have great ideas, you know what I've always said, because I call the Republican consultancy a walking reco violation.

It's always been I call it staff infection. The consultants always win, the candidates often lose. Oz's consultants alone, they were on the super PAC side and the campaign side, some of them. They're going to have as many houses as Mehmet and Lisa Oz now. And he didn't make it a defendant.

In fact, it wasn't a squeaker, folks. He lost by almost five points. But Federman banked those votes early. By the time Federman and Oz debated, Day 625,000 early votes had been cast, and most of them were for Federman. Folks, we need to just adapt or die.

You need to adapt to the new normal. These are the new rules. Brian, last point on this. Candidate recruitment is important. for the second sec for the second election in a row.

particularly the house level. Republicans recruited more women, more veterans, more candidates of color, and combinations thereof than ever before, two consecutive cycles. And we won the House. Many of those first-time candidates lost. I encourage them to run again.

Here's what Ari Fleischer said about the constituents and the voters as he sees it now in America, CUT19. America right now is yelling at the politicians and yelling at Washington. to be moderate and centrist. This is why everything is 50-50. If both Poles and both parties demand to have everything their way and their way only, they're out of place with our America right now.

There's a reason that things are so close down the middle. Do you think America moved? No, I don't. I don't. And I love Ari and I was on the show with him last night when he said that.

In fact, a lot of the independents didn't show up. And those who did favored Democrats 49, 47. It's the first time that, and to his point though, it's the first time in a midterm election in decades that the party out of power, in this case the Republicans, did not carry independence. double digits and over a majority but i went and looked at who the independents are so Some of them, Brian, are people who not long ago were voting Democrat.

So they're starting to edge their way over. Sure, if that's who are we talking about, centrist and moderate, sure, but they're ex-Democrats. It's going to take them a little while. I think the Dobbs decision had an impact. And the other the other impact is the money.

Herschel was outspend three to one. How in the world did he only lose by a couple of points? I think that's a big lesson as well. The left is just much more disciplined. They're unified on two things.

They're unified on staying together, on making sure their folks get elected by hook or by crook, and they're unified on dividing this country.

So, no, I don't. I actually think the country is much more, the country is much more center-right than we've seen in a while. If that weren't true, Then they would have had Biden and Harris out there beating the drums and bragging about the trillions of dollars of money they've spent. They would have had them out there talking about the Inflation Reduction Act. Do you know every single Democratic senator voted for the Inflation Reduction Act?

How many of them went out there and in swing states, Brian, and actually were bragging about it? Their ads were about abortion in January 6th and Trump. They were even bragging about something they passed two months earlier. Yeah, so real quick, Kellyanne, if you talk to the former President and what's his mindset after all these indictments are flying around in New York and threatening of other lawsuits and prosecution, what how's his mindset?

Okay. To him, and you know, look, this is a guy who said he's running for president again. He wants to right the wrongs. He's like the rest of the country, most of the country, that sees the disaster that the Biden-Harris administration have been. And he's Donald Trump, he's been under siege for a long time.

And you know, it's also this is again, this is not going to take place on Twitter or on social media where people are always promising today's the day, this is the day. Look out, everybody, this is the one. But you know, there are many active investigations, many lawyers being paid. But at the same time, he seems to be very focused. on on winning the White House.

He seems to be very focused on making sure that Joe Biden doesn't have a second term. And I think if Donald Trump and if he's not the Republican, whoever the Republican nominee is, but and he's a prohibited favorite right now, he has to talk about the future, not the past. If he wants to talk about the past, he can talk about all his great accomplishments in the four years in office. He needs to channel the 2016 slagger and hunger and happy warrior, talk about the people's grievances, not his own. He knows how to win.

The last time I was on his political team was 2016, but I've been a policy advisor and a communications advisor. For many years since, especially in the White House. But, Brian, you know, look, I don't think the average person that I think the above average person would not be able to withstand. the kind of scrutiny and constant attacks. That he has, but we saw that when he was in the White House, people would get in the way of an agenda, and he accomplished all those things anyway.

So, let's let the voters decide who our nominees are. That's the other thing. I hate the word electability, and I keep hearing it again and again: who's electable, who can win? On presidency, I can't tell. Electability is a fiction.

It pretends I know if you will or won't win two years before votes are cast. Electoral college is how you do or don't win. Let's start focusing on that blue wall on the upper Midwest. at the Rocky Mountain states, the Rust Belt states again, and win. All right, Kellyanne Conway, always great to talk to you.

Thanks so much, Kellyanne. Take care, Ryan. All right, when we come back, we open up the phones: 1-866-408-7669. Bottom of the hour center, Bill Haggerty. We'll talk about the prison release.

We'll talk about the prison swap. Also, going to talk about what's happening overseas as Ukraine is making gains, but is it enough? Don't move.

Coming to you on a need-to-know basis because Mandy, you need to know. It's Brian Kilmead. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, we're back.

I just got a quick announcement. I'm going to come to St. Louis Friday night. Everybody at KFTK has been kind enough to line up and buy tickets. I'll be signing the President Freedom Fighter speaking first.

Mark Reardon and everybody, Mark Cox, will be there.

So we're sold out. We'll have an alternative plan. There's going to be an overflow. I'm going to sign everybody's book, get a chance to meet with you after.

So if you can't get a ticket, there's an overflow opportunity. Just go to kftk.com and find out more. And if you ever wanted just to sign a book personalized for the holidays, any book, BrianKilmead.com. Ryan, you're listening on the Tune In app in West Virginia. Hey, Ryan.

Hey Brian, thanks for taking my call. I love listening to your show. Thank you. uh uh speak to the britney grinder situation as well I just think it's the latest Instance that the DIMS are showing their lack of priority for our law enforcement. in our military.

In New York City, they exempted pro athletes from a va vaccine mandate. And yet still our military is under uh similar vaccine mandate. And I think it's just Reprehensible. Uh it doesn't matter if you uh The troops, and you say greetings on Thanksgiving, if you don't step up and ask. uh and support them in situations like this and Paul William then uh truly where are your allegiances?

Uh that's just my thoughts. I can't challenge you on anything. It all bothers me to the nth degree. The vaccine mandate, the fact the House is pushing it, trying to push back, and the fact that Admiral Kirby, the fact that the Pentagon and the president are pushing back to have a vax mandate for all the military, even though we're going to lose 11,000 members and have already asked 8,000 to hit the road, is sickening, especially with us recruiting so below our threshold and everywhere except the Marines. And the same thing with the prisoner squad.

I know we got to get Britney Griner out. I know it was going to be unequal. I didn't think Victor Boot would be Britney Griner without Paul Whalen. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead.

Generally speaking, the vaccine mandate appears to have very minimal impact on recruiting, and it would impact the readiness of the force. You're more prone to getting COVID-19. Again, we've seen that the impacts of COVID, we had Millions of people die here in this country because of either not having access to the vaccine or not taking the vaccine. You know, we certainly know that the vaccine will save your life. That is The Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary saying time for the vaccine mandate to stay in place, even though we're four variants in, and we know these men and women are, for the most part, in the prime of their lives, and they should be able to make their own choice.

But instead, if they don't get the vaccine, they are kicked out. The rest of society, no. Senator Bill Haggard, he joins us now. He's with Foreign Relations Appropriations Rules Committee. Hey, Senator, how do you feel about the explanation from the Pentagon?

Well Brian, you're putting your finger right on it. These variants are continuing to advance. What we're seeing is the disease is actually dissipating in terms of its deadliness. And frankly, the concerns about the side effects of the vaccines, particularly with people that are in the age group that we're talking about here with the military, young people, healthy people, they've got much greater concerns about what the side effect might be from the vaccine than actually getting deathly ill and dying from COVID at this point. There's just research out from Britain just in the past couple of days specifically identifying and saying that mRNA side effects are of a greater concern to this age group than the threat of death from COVID.

So I think it's a very valid concern. I think it's terrible that we're treating our men and women who are willing to risk their lives to maintain our freedom and treating them in this manner the same way we're focused on pronouns at the Pentagon at this point. I mean, it really is amazing to me that the Pentagon has their priorities set in the way that they do when we are being challenged abroad, whether it be, you know, the Situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, China, and Taiwan.

Now, we need to be focused on the real job of the military, and that's defending our nation, liberty, and lethality. Yeah, you would think, Senator Bill Hagerty, our guest. Senator, here's what Rand Paul said: Cut 39. One of the discussions that we had at lunch today was whether or not an additional amendment could occur on the NDA such that we'll have an amendment to reinstate the soldiers with back pay.

So there is a possibility that we may be able to negotiate that amendment, which would be one step better than what we have in the bill currently.

So I just wish that someone could go out for the military, and I could not be more disappointed that the Pentagon and Admiral Kirby is not doing that. It is extremely disappointing to me as well. Brian, I think frankly, to most Americans, I can tell you the folks back in my home state of Tennessee feel the same way you and I do about this. It's unfair. Our military has been targeted.

Again, they are willing to risk their lives for our liberty. We need to respect that. We're at a point now where we are having a very difficult time recruiting. I don't know where that deputy spokesperson got this data. We are below force level posture that we need to be.

We're having a hard time recruiting, and they're putting more barriers in place and actually dismissing people over vaccine mandates. It's ridiculous. It is. Senator Haggerty, you are not in the majority. Not only that, you are more against it, 51-49, marginalizing mansion and cinema, two reasonable Democrats.

What is going to be your approach?

Well, I think it's going to continue to be a challenge for us here in the Senate, but we're going to have control of the House of Representatives. I think that makes a big difference. That means they pass things at the House with a majority. We've had Nancy Pelosi cramming things through over there. That's coming to an end.

And you remember, here in the Senate, we have a sixty vote threshold. for most legislation that has to get through.

So they've misused the Reconciliation process, as it's called, Brian, to that's a 50-vote threshold to pass through all this massive. massive spending packages. But I think that we've still got a situation here in the Senate with a 60-vote threshold that we can push back and hold back, and that's going to be my strategy entirely. What about working with the House? How does that change things for you?

You know, I was just meeting with Garrett Graves, a House member from Louisiana. I've known him for many years. We're all looking at ways that we can begin to work together and coordinate our activity to try to begin to put positive policies in place and try to turn back some of the ridiculous, damaging policies that have been in place for the past few years. One thing that Garrett shared with me a little bit earlier today, looking at some polling data that they had at the House. Is that there's a huge disconnect with the American public?

He said 40% of the American public does not realize that over the past two years, the Democrats have had a clean slate of the House, control of the House of Representatives, control of the Senate, and control of the White House. They are the ones that have delivered this malaise to America, yet they haven't been held responsible for it. We've got to get that messaging correct because they're the ones that collapsed the border. They're the ones that did the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. They're the ones that have waged war on the U.S.

energy industry. And they're the ones that have basically, you know. Couted. Defunding the police. And we've seen crime rise across cities in America.

We need to stand up and make that message clear to the American people. Who's accountable? And frankly, now that the Republicans are coming into control of the House, I'm going to look for ways to work with those Republican colleagues in the House to start to fix these problems that the Democrats created.

So I want you to hear what Senator Mike Braun said. I know a friend of yours in Indiana, cut 15. Candidate quality does count. And then you could never Have anything that's going to resonate generally if there's not a clear plan of what you're for. We are basically for nothing, and we complain about it along the way, and then say, Well, maybe we'll tell you after we're elected.

It's not going to work. Democrats are political enterprisers. This place is kind of there. growth business and cathedral all wrapped into one. We are flat-footed.

and we're going to keep seeing the same results if we don't do something different.

So, the one thing, Rich McConnell says, I'm not going to go on the line with the program because I don't want it to be debated. Rick Scott says, I'm going to put some things out there and end up being negative because he was able to respond that you guys want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare or whatever.

So, you guys are at odds on that.

So, what is the right way to go from Senator Haggerty's perspective?

Well, Brian, you know my background. I've been a business person my entire life. I've only run for office one time, and that was to come to the United States Senate. I was out campaigning the last ten days before the November elections. I was in seven states.

While I was campaigning on the ground, we were winning, Brian. We were up in the polls. I think a great example is Adam Laxalt. I was campaigning with him. He was up four points in the polls when I was on the ground with him there.

But what we failed to realize, and this is where I kicked myself, I know how to think about the operations. We should have learned that the rules changed back in 2020. The Democrats, with experts like Mark Wyas, with people like Stacey Abrams, they came in and radically changed the rules in a number of states. Nevada is a great example. In Nevada, they allow now mail-out ballots to everyone on their voting rolls.

And you know that they aren't great about cleaning up these voting rolls. In places like Las Vegas that are fairly transient, some households got four and five ballots delivered to the household. Then you add that to the fact that in Nevada, it's legal to continue to harvest ballots. up until Saturday after Tuesday Election Day.

So you saw Adam Laxall win on election day. And you saw his numbers come down day after day after day. They kept doing what they called a ballot dump. And every time they would dump more ballots from Las Vegas, What they would find is those harvested ballots would be more and more in favor of Cortez Masto, and they kept dumping these ballots until Friday. By Friday, they do have returned to Adam Laxoff, and Cortez Masto is now serving in the Senate.

The rules changed. We need to fight the rules. We don't like them. I don't want to just bitch about this and complain about this. I want to get in and fight it, get the same sort of legal capacity that the Democrats have demonstrated.

If we think it's unfair, and I do. But by the time the rules are set, we need to lock and load, and we need to fight by the set of rules that are in place. We can't just stand back and complain anymore. We have to figure out a plan to win and do it. We have to deliver on the ground.

I hear you. People got to just get savvy. Don't change the rules. Try to thrive within those rules. You have bad reps in the middle of a game.

You don't sit there and say, well, we're going to lose. No, you find a way to win. And that's what I think the sense is among Republicans. Senator Bill Haggerty, thanks so much. Great to be with you, Brian.

All the best. Expanding your knowledge base. It's the Brian Kill Meet Show. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Killmead.

Hey, we're back. 1-866-408-7669. We are looking at Britney Griner is out of prison, but what he was exchanged for is really stark. And it's one of Victor Boot is one of the most notorious arms dealers in the world. He would have cargo jets on the standby, be able to ship them around the world.

To whether it's a drug dealer, drug traffickers, terrorist groups, it didn't matter. That's why when he was apprehended in Thailand, I think it was back in 2010 by our agents, there was so much pride along the way there. And now he's being exchanged for a basketball player who was extraordinary, jailed, obviously, a horrible situation. We want her back. I do wish Brittany Griner had more of a history of being proud of the country because she was one of the ones taking a knee, and she is one of the most high-profile players in the world-the 32,6'9.

I believe was the first one to jam in a professional basketball game, female, obviously. But she is now back, and I just think that Paul Whalen's there. We don't have another card like that to play. It must look, it must be for the Whalen family, it must be pretty bleak today. John lists on WHIO in Dayton.

Hey, John. Hey, Brian, longtime listener, man. You did a helpful job, man. Appreciate it. Man, I gotta tell you.

That trade deal. It was absolutely ridiculous. and we're leaving a marine over there that fought for our country. Are you kidding me? For her?

On top of that, orange dealer, like the Other caller said earlier. Have you ever watched a documentary on this man? I did. He's got more contacts. than the United States, and that's saying something.

Yeah, and if you're one of these agents, how do you feel today? I want you to hear what Admiral Strav Ritas said on another network, Cut Six. The bottom line here is the United States is a compassionate nation that cares about all of its citizens and is going to do everything it can to get them out. And sometimes that leads you to a situation like this, which no one relishes, believe me, letting Victor boot go. When I was commander of U.S.

Southern Command, I worked every day with the drug enforcement agency, the DEA. They're the ones that caught this guy. And this is not a happy day in their headquarters, believe me. So I mean I that's he's basically saying what you're saying. Oh yeah.

It's sickening. It really is. I mean, yeah, I'm glad we got her out. But like everyone's saying, at what cost and what's this guy going to do down the road? You know, and then like, you know, people you're talking to, you know, Putin's looking for more ammunition, guns, weapons, and he's running out.

Well, he just got the ace in the hole there, didn't he? You really did. And again, full, I just hope she comes out and appreciates this country more. And I just feel bad for the Whalen family. Wouldn't it be great if she just says, you know, I don't realize how great this country was until I was imprisoned in this hellhole called Russia?

I hope and pray, man. I mean, if If she does anything against the flag now, taking knee or something, I mean, that's just a complete slap to the face. And especially that guy still in prison. Good morning. You know what I mean?

I I I can only imagine what their family's going through right now. Thanks. That was John at WHIO, our coveted affiliate in Dayton. Jason, listening online in Tampa. Hey, Jason.

Hey, Brian, good morning. Appreciate all you do for us with your shows. Thanks. Hey, um, The reason I'm calling is maybe you can explain to me or the callers. I know that the Republicans have taken the House and our default.

Everybody on the Fox News shows and stuff, they talk about a default of we're going to do an investigation, a congressional investigation. I've been watching these uh these um uh interviews and stuff. With Christopher Wray, Garland, Majorkis, they don't answer questions. I'll get back to you on that. And then usually the Senate, the Congression, they usually run out of time.

How are you going to hold these people accountable? How do you get them out of office? you really can't take them to court. You really can't oust any of these people out. What is the process?

It just showed, all it really shows me is that. where we're stating our complaints And then the people on the other side are just saying that's not true or stonewalling. There's got to be more we can do as Republicans. than congressional interviews. I don't really understand the process.

Could any of these people be held accountable like Majorkis for breaking the laws of the country?

Someone needs to explain that to me. I don't think Mayorka is this case, but I do think it's going to be fascinating to see what's going on behind the scenes with this Twitter and a lot of the communication on the Freedom of Information Act when it comes to Anthony Fauci, when it comes to the pandemic and what was going on there. And what you do is you don't hit him out and go, Fauci, you knew this, you knew that. You show them the documentation. Take full screen number one.

Why did you sign off on this? What were you soliciting right here when it comes to all these guys revolving around the Twitter? What's going to be exposed? I think it would be a good call to have me and you to have this call next week to see what else we get out from Matt Taibbi, from Elon Musk, essentially, and to others when we get out there. But they'll be pretty well prepared to go forward.

And also, I think there's a lot to go over. There's a lot to go over from 2020, too.

So I think that you, I don't think they should live and die on the investigation, but by presenting it out there, laying the groundwork for 2024, there's always a criminal referral when a Nancy listening to WIBW. Hey, Nancy. Hi, Brian. I have a question that I would like to hear your thoughts on. I'm setting out here.

Thank you. We negotiated for Brittany Greiner. who is an Olympic player.

Now I I that's fine. She needed to come home. And I don't like to see a woman in an overseas prison. But We turn loose of one of our most dangerous criminals and prisoners. For one Olympic player.

Why did we how are we so stupid?

So negotiate. We should have negotiated for both of them, two for one. You know what I'm going to do? By the way, I'll play to that. CBS is reporting this.

The Biden administration was initially seeking a two-for-two swap with Whalen involved, but progress was made once Whalen was taken off the table. Quote, how do you continue to survive day after day when you know that your government has failed twice to free you from a foreign prison? That according to David Whalen, the brother. I can't imagine he retains any hope that a government will negotiate his freedom at this point. I don't know who the second person was, but they've already played your ace.

Who do we have that is bigger? than Victor Boot by Resume. The guy was featured on Sixty Minutes. Check it out online. It's on Twitter.

You can watch it. This guy was awful. He was a businessman. He wasn't out shooting people, but he was giving the guns to the people to shoot people.

So he was responsible for the drug trafficking as well as the civil wars, arming both sides. Tony, listen on WABC. Hey, Tony.

Okay. How are you? Great. What's on your mind? So I just wanted to say that the Republicans have been telling us, as your guest, that a few minutes ago, how they're regrouping to understand about the voting, the change in laws.

And if you look on the books, You'll see over the past two years, that's all the Republicans have uh the Democrats have been doing, and yet the Republicans are so far behind, it amazes me.

Well, they can catch up quick. We know the micro-targeting that was done. We know what they were able to do with Facebook in 2016. We know what. Joe Trippy was able to do for uh For For his candidates early, then we know Obama moved it forward, then Trump picked it up where he left off.

Now it seems as though they've been better at mailing ballots.

Now it looks like Republicans got to answer the call. They'll have plenty of money, plenty of to protect savvy people. They've also got an excellent chance of taking back with a major majority the Senate and hold the House.

So we'll see if they learn from it. They always do. Both sides do. When one is down, they're only down for a cycle. I look for them to come back strong.

You know, Donald Trump was a traditionalist. He said, You vote on election day, that's it. I don't want to hear anything else.

Well, that was a mistake. Don't want to win election day, you want to win overall.

So you got to adjust to the game. The weather, as it's raining, you better be good in the mud. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian In Kill Mead. Thanks so much for being here, everybody.

It's the Brian Kilmeat Show, 1-866-408-7669. We have a big hour coming your way. Rick Perry is here in a matter of moments, and then we'll be able to take your calls and find out if there's more to know. Go always get the podcast, BrianKillmeetcho.com, and we'll try to go with the breaking news as well. Also, today, over at San Francisco, former Twitter employees and their attorneys addressed the media ahead of the first court hearing against Twitter.

They want to find out why they quit when they were quit or were fired when they were fired. We'll see. We also know this. This idiot mayor, London Breed, is investigating the fact that Twitter is bringing beds into their offices because so many people want to work around the clock and get Twitter back online again and up to the Musk Criteria for success.

So he brought in beds, and now she's saying that's a violation of commercial real estate. With the homeless running rampant, with people being shooting up in the public square, with crime out of control, with smashing grabs at an all-time high, let's crack down on beds on Twitter. Unbelievable. Big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. A Christmas gift that's even more alluring than lingerie? Naturally nude pajamas by Pajamagram. Sensuous and soft, they look just as seductive as they feel. Get naturally nude pajamas today at pajamagram.com.

Number three: The RC Builds of the Road. And the cars drive on it. That's the candidates. We don't pick the cars, the voters do. But you need both to get to your destination.

You need a really strong campaign and strong consultants. Uh, yeah, there you go. Ronna McDaniel saying, Leave me in charge. Republicans reboot. Herschel's lost.

Kevin McCarthy's still struggling to get Speaker. They did not grab the Senate. The deficit's greater.

So, what did they learn from this? We'll discuss. Number two. He goes to Twitter and he's the guy who helps suppress the Hunter Biden story and says, oh, it's reasonable to assume the Hunter Biden laptop was a hack and leak operation when everyone knew that it wasn't. Yeah, Twitter files loom large and intrigue builds as questions emerge of how much of Twitter's past has been removed or deleted without even the previous CEO's knowledge.

Musk must move quickly. Number one. Moments ago, standing together with her wife Sherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittany Griner. She's safe. She's on a plane, she's on her way home, after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances.

Right, breaking WNBA player Brittany Griner was freed from a Russian penal colony to a prisoner exchange for a convicted Russian arms dealer, Vic Duboot, also known as the merchant of death. But what about Paul Whalen? Why did the Biden administration leave him behind in Russia? Did they have a choice? Let's bring in Governor Rick Perry.

He's also former Secretary of Energy. Welcome back, Governor. Hey, Brian, good to be with you, sir. How are you? First off, I just know that we care more about our people, even their remains, than they do about most countries care about their people, period.

But it just seems like an unequal swap here, don't you think?

Well, I'm You know, I'm not going to make a call on that because I don't know all the details. You know, glad she's home. I hope she learned a great lesson about taking drugs into a communist country. That's the real lesson there. Again, I don't know all the details, Brian, but Um it it you know on its face um In the Putin is a brutal guy.

And uh he got one of his friends and a uh arms dealer back. In exchange for an American athlete.

So I think the key here, the lesson. that I hope a lot of young people earn is that if you're going to go into a communist country, whether you think you're untouchable or not, that you're a world known, renowned athlete, Do not. Under any circumstance. products into that company country that are illegal. Uh if it one if it wasn't Mrs.

Gran Griner, I I my bet is You would never have heard from that person again if it was just an average citizen. a lot of lessons to learn here, but I'm going to hold judgment on saying it was fair or what have you without knowing all the details and why we left why we left An American behind. And are we still trying to negotiate to free that individual. I hope so. That's what the President said he is doing.

I want to talk about the border. Yesterday, we lost a border agent on his ATV. He was pursuing an illegal immigrant, and he crashed into a fence and he died 28 years old. This on the heels of news that in November we lost three to suicide, 14 for the year. That's close to an all-time high.

It is brutal at the border. The president seems to have intentionally broke the border and is indifferent to it. Here's Henry Cueyar. Weighing in on it. He's a Democrat from your state, cut 25.

Border security is not a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is an issue that affects all Americans. I live on the border. I don't just go visit the border. I actually live there.

I lived all my life at the border.

So it is something that I understand along with our friends here. Certainly the men and women in green, the men and women in blue, the other folks.

So he gets it, but almost nobody else on the left does. Governor, you've seen it bad. Is this as bad as you've seen it? Yes, and it's going to get worse when the over the next few months as the law gets changed, And um I think fi what uh title forty-one um it gets removed then 42, thank you. It's going to be a a wave of people coming in here.

And I don't understand why. The leadership in Washington, D.C. doesn't care any more about. The border of the United States. And this isn't just about Texas.

I mean, it's Arizona, New Mexico, California. and the onslaught of people that are going to come in here, people who we don't know who they are. We don't know what their intentions are. Uh it would be so simple. To, well, I say simple.

It would take a massive Amount of boots on the ground and technology and physical barriers to stop this flood of people that are coming in. But it can happen. And at that particular point in time, start a thoughtful process of identifying people that want to come into the United States, taking their biometric data, giving them an identification card so that they can. Clearly, say I am a legal non-resident in the United States. If they want to become citizens of the United States, there's the line over there to go get in, to go through the process to become a citizen of the United States.

But know who these people are, and if and when they break the laws of the United States. They get deported. And oh, by the way, we got the border secure now, and you're not coming back in. That would be such a thoughtful way to deal with this issue. I think Americans would be safer.

The people who are trying to get in this country, it would be safer for them. There's no telling how many people died last summer coming into the United States. I mean, this is a travesty across the board. And to see President Biden. Basically, thumb his nose.

Basically, give him a nice. He said, I have other things more important to do. I I mean No offense, mister President, but the security of the American people ought to be your highest priority. And going to that border and seeing what an absolute travesty this is, what a mess this is for yourself, Would be a very good education process. Here's what I'm seeing out of this president, Brian.

This is a man who is either So arrogant. that he just doesn't give a tinker's damn what you think. He thinks he's smarter than you are. And to say that I made a mistake. I know that's a hard thing for public officials to fess up to.

But this President is as bad as I've ever seen when it comes to saying you know what, we've made a mistake, we need to change course. I was the governor of Texas for fourteen years. And there was a few times that I made a mistake and I admitted those that maybe I should have gone a different direction. Maybe I should have handled this a different way. Um, people appreciate that out of their leaders to admit they're human and that they made a mistake.

This president. knows in his heart. that this border is a disaster. It's putting Americans' lives in jeopardy, and he and his administration have made a mistake. They ought to be big enough people to stand up and say, Made a mistake.

We want to work with you guys in Texas. We want to work with you, folks. That's Congress that believe we need to have a border. All right, so I want to talk about something else. I've been reading about this: this Texas group who's pushing back and going to bat for fossil fuels responsibly.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, they're intent on shaping laws, running influence campaigns, and taking legal actions in a bid to promote fossil fuels. Instead of being the pincushion and the target, now you're becoming the aggressor. What's your role with this group? What do you think about it? Yeah, I've known them for 30 plus years, some of the brightest, most capable people in the state of Texas.

And actually, we saw uh one of the individuals who was very involved with that, Brooke Rollins, She was the executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She was my former deputy general counsel. Incredibly bright, capable young lady. She came to the White House to help President Trump with his domestic policy and has stayed on. She's the head of the America's First Policy Institute.

So, I mean, really bright, capable individuals. Focused on issues that conservative thought process, the idea that somehow or another, Texans shouldn't be able to fund. An effort to educate the public. I tell folks: I say, listen, go buy Alex Epstein's book. Fossil future.

If you want to really be wise in the importance of fossil fuels, how they are affecting in a very positive way the population around the world, why fossil fuels are incredibly important to the future of the world and bringing people out of poverty. You gotta have a black heart, Brian. To look at the people in Africa and just say, you know, sorry, you're just going to live in poverty. You're going to die early. You're going to have to burn cow dung and wood to stay warm.

You're just not going to have access to any fossil fuel-driven energy. That's a cold and a heartless message. Absolutely. And in Europe, they're burning coal again and burning wood because they're running out of options when it comes to fossil fuels. And we have not stepped up like we're capable of to help our allies because of the Ukraine war.

Governor, you haven't stopped there. You're also working with an lithium battery company. They've gotten a $200 million grant. uh to uh for clean energy Now we know that the Chinese have basically Cornered the market on rare earth, and we have shown an unwillingness to mine it here. What can you tell us?

Brian. Americans need to understand That the free market does not penetrate into China. It doesn't. the companies that are over there, particularly those that are dealing with things that require extraordinary amounts of rare earth minerals like lithium batteries, the Communist Party of China run those companies. This company, I think it's called MicroVast.

And it's headquartered, and I'm using my little fingers here to make the quotations. It's headquartered in Stafford, Texas. But this is a company that is owned by works incredibly close with the Chinese Communist Party. and they make the decisions. The idea That your tax dollars, and this is infrastructure money, this is the big omnis infrastructure bill money.

funnel through the Department of Energy to this company a $200 million grant. that is going to be used by the Communist Party of China to develop batteries to put America even farther behind the eight balls, so to speak. Here's my bumper sticker on this one. you spell this company's name. Dilendra.

Remember Salendra? This is a repeat of cylindrical. But it's also a failed American company. That's a failed American company. China.

Yeah. China. owned, China operated. But it's going to have the same outcome, I think. Congress is looking at this, both Democrats and Republicans, they're looking at this and going, whoa, wait a minute.

I'm suggesting that there are letters already en route to Secretary Granholm, if she hadn't already received them, saying, What are you doing? Tell us why you did this. Because the agency Used words. They're either incredibly ignorant Or They're in on the game here. One of the two.

You don't send two hundred million dollars to the Communist Party of China run company. and not know about it. All right, Governor Perry, great to talk to you. Thanks so much. Brian, thanks, brother.

You got it. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Back at you. 1-866-408-7669.

We'll come back and take your calls. And then we'll also get your emails, too. This is the Brian Killmeat Show. The fastest growing talk show in America. You're with Brian Kilmead.

If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. In the short term, I'm always pleased when we get an American home that's being unjustly held, and I'm happy for the Griner family, but in the long term, appeasing terrorists, appeasing dictatorships. Never works in the interests of the United States, and the whole reason. that regimes like Russia, North Korea, Iran, the Taliban, and others participate in hostage diplomacy is in the end, we always cave, we always make a concession, and we always win.

Or they always win and we and we lose. Remember Bo Bergdahl. Remember Michael Waltz was hunting for him when we didn't know he deserted yet. He was a Green Beret in Afghanistan. He heard the guy disappeared, so he's like, let me go find him.

One of his guys got wounded during that raid to try not to raid, during the on the trek to go see if they could locate him before the Taliban got a hold of him. And we ended up swapping him for the Taliban 5, remember? And they went back to leadership position within the Taliban.

Now they're back in power. That's who we swapped for. Bo Bergdole, a deserter, and Brittany Griner. I'm glad she's back. I also hold on in the back of my mind, I bet you she's not even guilty of the drug charge.

I bet you they trumped that up right before the Ukraine war.

So, and I know she didn't deny it, but maybe that's the best strategy when you're in Russia. You don't say the system's corrupt. You just try to beat it and get out.

So, we'll see about that. Let's go out to Alex and listen on WABC. Hey, Alex, you're in Brooklyn. Hey, good morning, Brian. Thanks for taking the call.

I'm just thinking that another you had this guy say about what's not going to ultimately be of interest to the American people if we give out over homes um whatever that he was saying, but 80,000 new IRS agents is also not going to benefit the American people. It's going to benefit big corporations and the government. I think that what the Democrats should be pushing for is 40,000 new cops and 40,000 new border security agents because that's what the American people care about, safety and security. And it's going to benefit for us, for the American people. But if you get 80,000 new IRS agents and you collect a couple of billion dollars more a year, they're going to be collecting it from the middle-class Americans and from the lower class, not from the multi-billion dollar corporations who know the loopholes how to get around them.

And the government is still going to leave over for them some loopholes that are going to be a lot of people. I agree with you. I mean, they're already on us saying, hey, Venmo, if you have more than $600 in Venmo transactions, we're going to tax you on it. Excuse me? I didn't know that.

$10.99, if I'm going back and forth with Alex in Brooklyn for $600, now I'm paying taxes on $600. I got to send a $1099 for you.

So we're not sure if the IRS even knows. Knows what they're doing, but what are you doing with 87,000 more agents? How could Republicans not want to go back in there and defund that immediately? I hope they do. When we come back, Ben Dominic joined us to listen to the Brian Kill Me Show.

So glad you're here. Meanwhile, KFTK listeners, even though we're sold out Friday night, Overflow, I'll be there.

So sign up still. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. We never forgot about Brittany. We've not forgotten about Paul Whalen, who's been unjustly detained in Russia for years.

This was not a choice of which American to bring home. We brought home Trevor Reed when we had a chance early this year. Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittany's. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up. Welcome back, everybody.

That is the announcement that came at eight thirty Eastern this morning that Brittany Griner is now free, sent to the UAE. And it looks like Victor Boot, one of the most notorious arms dealers ever, who is in an unbelievable spine tingling sting that they set up to get this notorious arms dealer into jail and sentenced to twenty five years. Ben Dominish, Fox News contributor, rattered at large for the Spectator World, host of the Ben Dominish podcast, joins us now. Ben, your reaction to the swap?

Well, first off, I think that we all can be Glad that Brittany Granner is free. I mean, you know, certainly we do not. want her to be such an example, a frankly embarrassing example of the Russian treatment of an American. Regardless of her political views or anything else, I think that it's shameful that this The process played out the way that it did, and that it took as long to extract her.

However, I think that we also can say. the fact that we've had to release as horrid an individual As this Russian arms dealer has been really an embarrassment for the Biden administration. The fact is that it should never have come to this. And I think that if you had a tougher posture from the beginning, That it would not have been necessary to engage in a prisoner swap of someone of such notoriety for villainy. And I think that one of the things that we can see, again, in this, is that the Biden administration just does not play hardball with our adversaries.

They do not establish a period of toughness in negotiation in any respect. Instead, what we see is that they kind of telegraph weakness from the beginning as opposed to telegraphing strength, or in the case of former President Trump, occasionally telegraphing potential chaos, which certainly achieved a lot of anger from the media in his time, but also I actually think is one of the reasons that you had the level of success that he had within the world of foreign policy. And one of the things that we know from Joe Biden to this point is that in his record, when it comes to foreign policy, when it comes to engagement both with our allies and our adversaries, he very consistently takes this tack that has more to do with, I think, his perspective as the former Senate Foreign Relations Chair than it does as a commander in chief, trying to represent the strongest posture for America in the world and to make clear that when you mess with any American, you're messing with the full power of the United States, our military, our flag and everything that we stand for. Yeah, so we'll move past that, and we'll see if we can get Paul Whalen out of there. The Marine, who deserves a better fate, but must feel really hopeless today because we played our best card.

We gave our ace to get our basketball player back. And by the way, in the back of my mind, and I've said this before, I don't even know if it's hers. Who knows if she was set up or not in Russia?

So I'm going to wait for her to come back and admit it because you don't know. It doesn't really behoove you to say, I've been framed. That makes things worse, perhaps.

So I'll leave that. I'm very much in the same mindset as you. I want to hear her story when she comes back.

So, Ben. Yeah, having said that, I just have a huge problem with getting Victor Boot out. If you want to go online and watch 60 Minutes, the feature that took this guy down, what we want to, how he was arming these drug cartels, how he was arming terrorist groups, how he was arming countries to fight each other instead of with knives, but with guns. And the shoulder rocket-fired missiles is unbelievable. But let's move on and talk about where the Republican Party goes from here.

Hami Dylan wants to run it. She thinks she should run the RNC. Listen to her pitch. Cut 23. I can understand why Lee Zeldin feels that way.

He probably ran into a brick wall of members who have been made a lot of promises by our current chair. And, you know, also members prefer another member to be the chair of the RNC. And so those two factors do make it daunting. And, you know, I'm making calls to members. I'm hearing a lot of disgruntled members who really want to see change, but they're also afraid because there's been a culture at the RNC that if you don't play ball with the chair and the frankly corrupt consultant-driven machine inside the beltway, you'll be punished.

You may not get plum committee assignments. Your state may not get transfers to their building fund. You may not get help with your congressional races and on and on and on. And like this culture of retribution and sort of transactional relationships is not what the RNC is supposed to be about.

So, your reaction to would Harmeet Dillon be somebody to bring a fresh look? Do you think that Ron McDaniel is not the problem of leadership's fine? What do you think?

Well, I think there are a couple of things going on here. First off, one of the difficulties here is that the blame for this election is not necessarily something that you can lay at the feet of any one faction or individual. There were failures, I think, in all cases. I mean, the way that you can kind of look just at the state of Georgia is to say that in the last election, you had Kelly Leffler, someone who, you know, Mitch McConnell wanted to be in that role, running a campaign according mostly to what the McConnell team wanted her to do in terms of the runoff, and she failed. And then you have this time around Herschel Walker, you know, in the opposite position, being someone who the Trump team really wanted, Donald Trump himself really convinced.

to get in there and to run and then ran it according to those principles and that was also a failure.

So it's not like you can just kind of point to one faction as being, oh, this problem is all them. And I don't think that you can say that of McNea either. I don't think that you could say that's the reason that you don't have 10 more house seats or something like that. But she is one of the few people who you could potentially replace. And she has had a very lengthy tenure for an RNC chair without having the kind of smashing success that you would like to see.

So I certainly think that Harmeet's critiques are something to value and consider. You're going to have. A potential, I think, for these members to maybe be convinced by it. But this is also a situation where I think. Changing the role from McDaniel to somebody else is not going to change the fundamental problems that this party is facing overnight.

And it's not like that's a quick fix.

Well, I think that the biggest problem that they have, quite frankly, Brian, is that they failed with independence this time around. And I think that that really is an indictment of a failure to deliver on the possibility of all of the potential problems that America is currently facing with an agenda that people were convinced would match up with those problems. You know, you can point at something like inflation all day long. You can point at the economy. You can point at the way that crime and our border policies are damaging the country all day long.

But if Americans are convinced that you have a clear plan in place that you will start putting into action when you take over that will solve all of these problems, then they're going to be more willing, I think, to listen to The exhortation from the Democrats, as baseless as I believe it is, that Republicans represent some kind of threat to democracy, that they are unwilling to accept the outcome of elections. By the way, overwhelmingly, Republicans accepted the outcome of the elections this time around. This is not something that I think is in any way a real representation of what was going on there. But I do think that what happened is that as Democrats were able to define Republicans according to their wishes, backed by the Democrat media complex, those independent voters were turned off to them and they didn't get convinced that they would do enough different to actually change the direction of a country they believe is headed the wrong way. That's a more fundamental issue than you can get at just by changing who heads the RC.

True. So let's talk about Twitter if we can.

Now we know that Elon Musk ran into Jim Baker, the Mr. Everyman in terms of corruption, from the FBI to the Durham Report to what's going on with what went on with the Republican. The Russian investigation, even back to Hillary Clinton's emails. Then he goes to Twitter. I wonder what he was up to covering his tracks when it became clear that Elon Musk was going to buy it and expose this place.

And it's just, you just wonder what he's capable of. You know, there's things, things you do physically and with the cyber world. But listen to what Byron York said about this and where this investigation is heading. See if Ben Dominic thinks it's going the same place. Cut 12.

What's amazing about this is the quickness with which this Hunter Biden story, the Hunter Biden Twitter story, is becoming an FBI story. And it's not just in the disclosures that are coming from Elon Musk. In a completely separate case, a man named Yoel Roth, who was Twitter's chief censor, actually made a legal declaration saying that he had met with FBI officials and other national security officials weekly in the run-up to the 2020 election, and that they warned him about the possible dump of foreign disinformation that might target Hunter Biden.

So, New York Post publishes entirely legitimate story about Hunter Biden, and Twitter goes, wow, that must be what they talked about, and censors the story. And they got even names. They got Tim T. Balton that's got this Elvis Chan to look at. And so what changes here?

Because CNN, I don't have to tell you, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, no one's running this story. Yeah. Well, I mean, look, this is only the most important story involving the collusion of potentially a Democratic campaign by a former vice president and now the president, a group of individuals from the FBI and law enforcement, and the most powerful people within Silicon Valley.

So why would you want to report about that, Brian? I mean, that doesn't seem all that important. Of course it's huge. I mean, this is crazy because so much of it is Things that we had suspected but didn't know for sure that we now, thanks to Elon Musk's purchase and to the fact that he wants transparency about this, that we are now learning. And I think that we're going to continue to learn more about this.

And the real question from my perspective is. what do we do about this thing that happened? But also how do we prevent this from playing out again in any way, shape or form? on the other media. Like you j you just know that they didn't they didn't write the book on On on corruption.

And you know that Facebook, and you know about the Zuckerbergs. If Zucker is going to put his money the way he did in that last election, what was Facebook doing?

Well, we have to think about this in terms of these people, not just as leading companies, but as political actors. Actors. They are serving a political interest here, not the interest of even their company or the interest of certainly their customers or the people who are on their platforms. They have a different priority system. And I think that one of the things that Americans now are, I think, gradually, slowly but surely learning this about these tech overlords.

Learning that they actually are not operating from a profit-motive standpoint anymore, you know, in so many different respects, but actually from a partisan motivation. And that's something that is a deep concern. And you're not going to get at it, I think, just by having more transparency. I think that you need to have an additional look at the kind of roles that these entities are playing and what can be done to prevent them from essentially playing hide the football again. And I want you to understand, too.

This is going to happen again. It's going to happen next cycle.

Somehow, this is going to end up coming back to bite us all over again because that's the way these things work. It's not going to just go away. And until that problem gets cracked open, And my hope is that at least with a Republican majority in the House, there'll be opportunities to crack it open. But, you know, frankly, we wouldn't know this for sure, except for the fact that we have a billionaire in Elon Musk who thinks the way that he thinks in ways that sort of defy conventional wisdom. We would not have this kind of proof already.

And even the little bit that we know thus far is of deeply concerning nature. Right. He's also trying to land on the moon, Mars, and put a chip in our brain. That's it. That's it.

Right. He's got a big things to do list. Hey, Ben, thanks so much. He's editor-at-large of the Spectator World, and he's also a Fox News contributor. Ben, go check out his podcast, too, the Ben Dominates Podcast.

Thanks, Ben. Thanks so much, Brian. All right, we come back. Your call.

So you listen to the Brian Killmeat show. Both sides, all opinions, it's Brian Killmead. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. I don't like vegans very much.

I don't think any of you are very healthy to me. I'm not surprised by that. Yeah. I think you all look pretty pasty-faced and unhealthy to me. But that's your choice.

What I don't do is I don't go running into vegan restaurants and start screaming abuse at you all and have to be pulled out by people because you're ruining everyone's fun. I love eating steak. I'm not going to stop eating steak. And the the very last thing on earth that will stop me eating steak is people like you with your pasty faces running into our restaurants telling us to stop eating steak. That's the very last thing I'm going to do.

Absolutely. You don't represent to mean vitality or good health. You just all look like you want a good bit of steak.

So What's with the pasty faces? I don't get that. I think he's just trying to rib him a little bit. But I mean, does he feel as though people who don't eat meat have pasty faces? Plus, isn't Pierce Morgan from a country known for pasty faces?

That was Pierce Morgan on Uncensored. We know this: Uncensored's been very popular of late. I know that he had Cristiano Ronaldo on it, being international news. Who is he talking to? Do we even know?

He's talking to to one of those uh vegan protesters that have been protesting uh like different art houses and stuff over uh meat. Oh. I understand he showed up eating meat at a vegan protest.

Well, this this actually he was eating the meat here. It was during during the show. He had one of his staff deliver him a piece of uh medium rare steak and he started eating it in front of his guest. Wow. Uh the other other story that I want to go over is Jennifer Lawrence, who I think is a brilliant actor.

I think she's a little caught up in herself, way to the left, and she gets triggered easily. But she says something that's just flat out untrue. Cut forty-four. I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn't work. We were told, girls and boys can both identify with a male lead.

But boys cannot identify with a female lead. Oh, absolutely. And it just. Makes me so happy every single time I see a movie come out that just blows through every single one of those beliefs and proves. that it is just a lie to keep certain people out of the movies, to keep certain people in the same positions that they've always been in.

And it's just amazing to watch it happen. I don't think that's true. Is she the first ever woman lead of an action movie? No. Yeah.

If you ignore everything that took place in the, you know, the seventies, women like Pam Greer, the nineteen eighties, uh, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton, You had the daughter Fonda's daughter. Jane Fonda herself, too. Yeah, Jane Fonda, Jane Fonda's niece, Bridget Fonda, starting point of no return. There's so many movies and and female action heroes that have been around For decades before she was ever thought of, but apparently they don't exist. Right.

So she's saying that she's overstating her role as a pioneer. Just a tad, just a tad. I mean, come on, I was in grammar school. My dad took me and my cousin and I to see Aliens with Sigourney Weaver, who was kicking Rear as the female lead in the movie. I never thought twice about it.

I think no, neither did I. It was a great action movie. I loved the movie. I loved Sigourney Weaver's character. I never thought, oh, she's a woman.

Never dawned on me. Right. I mean, listen, there was sexism in the world. It's called Until 1919, You Can't Vote. I understand it.

But please don't go search for it. And plus Hollywood. The most woke place on earth. If you can't get the roles that you want, look at Hollywood, the people that give you zillions of dollars to act. And I think, I still think she's probably known as probably the top five most bankable female stars right now.

She made $25 million. I forget the name of the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. She was upset because DiCaprio made a few million dollars more than she did. But after taxes, she has to live on $17 million, maybe? Yeah, that's nice.

Think about that, Pete. I mean, you don't have the money that Eric has.

So you have to think like an everyman. Jennifer Lawrence, you're still welcome here. Brian, Kill Me Cho. Put the power of over 100 meteorologists and the worldwide resources of Fox in your hands with the Fox Weather Podcast. Precise, personal, powerful.

Subscribe and listen now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.