The Brian Kilmeade Show

Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars and Co. Makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel.

You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect. Whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out, collars and co is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day.

It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out. dollarsincode.com. Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code Brian.

Choice Hotels gets you more of what you value. Here's a little tune to help you remember. Same drive, different day. Don't you wish you were getting away? Pack your bags and come on through.

Texas, Ohio, Alaska, we're up there too. Comfort Inn, it's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim.

Well, I hope you like my little song. Book direct at Toyzeltels dot com. From the Fox News Radio studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade.

So glad you're there. It's the Brian Kilmeade show. We have the aftermath of the election, which was really a blue wave, big time. Rich Lowry is going to be on with the bottom of the hour, the National Review. But we are seeing right now the balance of power in the Senate: fifty-four, forty-four, waiting on two outcomes, too close to call.

Mississippi, and it might take some time over in Alaska, where Dan Sullivan, the real one, has a slight lead. But guess what? Just under two percent voted for the fake Dan Sullivan, who had never, no one could even find the guy.

So it could be over fifty percent had he not been there. It's a dirty trick. Mary Peltola is still in contention for that. They're going to go to ranked choice voting.

So we'll do on the House two thirty one to one thirty nine.

So it was a big wave there. They'll have plenty of they'll have plenty of room to run. They got plenty of socialist candidates that are going to give him some headaches, but most likely Akeem Jeffries will be the next speaker. And I don't know who's going to give a run at Schumer. He's certainly not that pop popular.

Well, the president was pretty magnanimous last night when he called in, but offering some instant analysis, a guy who knows all about politics, running the RNC, former chief of staff for President Trump, and also knows good highs and lows when it comes to Republicans. He had to rebuild the party after Michael Steele left it in tatters. After Mitt Romney, he did just that. Where do they stand now? Let's bring in Ryan Spribis, Ryan.

There's so many takeaways. There's so many nuances. What surprised you most about last night?

Well, to be honest, Brian, I yeah, I was surprised by the magnitude of it. I wasn't surprised that the Democrats did very well. I just was surprised they did extremely well. Number one, number two. I was surprised the most because it it was sort of the inflection point last night, and it was early.

I was at the RNC. I went in there. What I really love to do is go into the data, folks. These are the guys and gals that they're like accountants and financial experts. To be honest, that's what they're.

That's what it's like being with them. And I knew that Ashley. Moody had to win by at least six, seven, eight for this to be a decent, you know, maybe not a great night, but at least not a horrible night. And when she was barely hanging on before the Panhandle came in in Florida, I was like, guys, this is not good. And so, right then and there, obviously, there was more to it than that.

But you know, my take, Brian. And I've said this before. You've maybe heard me say this on different programs. There is something in America that I sort of labeled as middle finger politics, and people are angry. They're upset, maybe constantly angry and upset, whatever you want to put it.

But when people have nothing left but the middle finger, they will do these things in the American electorate. When Mondami won in New York, I was on with Sean, and you know we were talking about all these crazy thoughts that Mondami had, and I just said, "Listen, there's another part of this. It's not that people necessarily think they're going to get free groceries. They may not think they're going to get a free bus ride, but what they are is they're angry, and they're going to give you the middle finger and say, 'Guess what.'" I'm doing this. I'm voting this way.

So that's what I think. I'm not terribly shocked, other than the fact that it was it was just a huge victory for the Democrats.

So do you? I know the history and everything like that. I know that Bill Clinton, you know, in his final year, got swamped in the midterms, and so did Obama. But they end up with they're leaving with sixty percent approval rating. Here's President Trump's approach last night when he called in.

When it was pretty clear he's not going to have a great night. This is. He said he would do, and I thought he was very magnanimous. Cut three. I think the Democrats did a good job.

I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard. They were, you know, they've been fighting for a long time. They've been fighting me for a long time.

This fight's been going on for ages. You know, I started, and really, if you look at it, I've been doing it for. Twelve years with them, and I've come up on top all the time. And this is—I don't say—you know—I don't like to consider a defeat for me. I was on the ballot.

If you're on the ballot, it's different than if you're not on the ballot.

So, but he says he's looking to do work. He goes, "Hey, they can come to me. I've talked to five or six Democrats last night. He goes, 'They can come to me. We can work things out.' How do you think it's going to go, Reince?

You know the president very well, and you know Capitol Hill.

Well, I think that the president's shown a history of being able to work with the Democrats, with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer. You remember they cut deals on CRs, and much to the chagrin of many people in our party.

So, I do think that is the real Donald Trump. They're talking as far as what he really would like to do. I think that it also depends on the staff around him that they would also be. Willing to sort of motivate and encourage a tone of working together, I think that's smart. I agree with the president's point of view there, and you know, I also think part of his answer, which is not he didn't fully articulate, is look, people have been predicting Donald Trump or a rejection of Donald Trump.

For so long that eventually, you know, Democrats have a good night. Fine. I mean, it doesn't make you a genius that if you predict something every day for 12 years and it finally comes true. Yeah. You know.

I mean, it's going to happen. It's politics. There's ups and downs. When I was chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin before I was our in feature, we had nothing. We had no.

We had no majorities in the state house, state senate. We hardly had any Congress people. We didn't have a governor. We had nothing, and we built a party around Scott Walker, and we went forward, and we ended up winning everything. We won it all, like in three years.

Same thing at the RNC. I was twenty-six million dollars in debt. I had no employees. I took a second mortgage out of my house to make the first payroll at the RNC, and I lived in Kenosha. Trust me, the the mortgage wasn't the house wasn't that big, but I needed enough money to make the first payroll.

We had nothing, and we ain't doing. We we won constantly for six years.

So look, this stuff comes and goes. I think the president's tone is exactly right. Apologize for the long answer, but you know this is how this is how it goes, and America is strong. And sometimes you got to work together to get things done. Do you think in actual events, got to find a way to resolve Iran?

That's pretty clear, right? Because just the ripple effect is not foreign policy; it's domestic policy because of the energy.

So that has to be first and foremost, and the main thing is, unlike when you took over, there is a framework and an economic plan that will begin to pay off with the energy, the cutting of the red tape, the big beautiful bill, the impact, the the tax reform that went through.

So that could really establish a momentum, don't you? Do you think so? Oh. Totally. I mean, all the fundamentals.

I mean, you you listen to Larry Kudlow and others that are smarter than I am on this topic. But every fundamental is there. I mean, you have a couple issues that just need to be resolved. And I'm not going to dig, you know, tell President to do, but you know, resolve Iran somehow. I know that's an easy thing to say, and it's very complicated.

You got to resolve, sort of get some get some vision over the trade tariff situation. You know, you know whatever it is, the market wants some certainty and some clarity. I think those two things get resolved. The economy is going to be going bananas, and it it kind of already is. It's just that there's a few things that are just frustrating people.

Energy and the media is exploiting it, and division is profit, and unity's a loser. And so, when you put all of that together. You know, you have an angry electorate, and so those are the things I think the president should focus on. I agree with you a hundred percent.

So immigration and rights—you know, the you know the Freedom Caucus mentality. Everybody out. You hear illegal, you're gone. And you know the the independents and Democrats—they don't like the image, and some Republicans don't like the image of chasing people down in the street. Here illegally.

So the border got sealed, but there was no video of it. It was almost like, hey, it's done, and I if I go. To the border, I see it, but there was really nothing to put an exclamation point on it. That's a separate case. But what about when it comes to the illegals here, as it relates to homeland security?

What would you modify?

Well, I mean, I think that I think you have to have a program. But what would I modify? Certainly, I wouldn't be you know rounding people up on the streets, and I don't think the president liked it either. That's why he shut it down and. He made a change at DHS because he didn't like what he was seeing either.

Obviously, sealing the border is 100% the most important thing the president did, and he did it very quickly with a pen and paper. People commit crimes; they need to be deported. What level of crime is up for debate? I would personally suggest pretty much any crime if you're here illegally. You get deported, and that's pretty easy to do because you're you're arrested or detained by a police officer, and so you get put into custody and you get deported.

And I think you know Mike Lawler had a great—I don't remember the name of the bill, Brian—but Mike Lawler had a great bill. I thought that made a lot of sense, which is, you know, people that are here, they're working. They're paying taxes. They they they pay a fine. They don't get citizenship.

They get a work permit, and every seven years they've got to go in and either renew the permit or or or or not renew the permit, and then get themselves supported. But I think some level of again it is the same word again. I repeat myself, but some level of certainty and understanding. As far as what constitutes someone getting deported, what constitutes someone being safe to work, and you know where are those lines? Because I think not knowing where the lines are creates this fear.

And anxiety in a big swath of our society, and let's face it, we allowed these things to happen. We shouldn't have, but we did. And not we, not me and you, not the republic, but our country, our government, and. It's because of all of this we have a problem, and we need to solve it in an intelligent, rational way. You got to run, but I have one last question for you.

The Hispanic vote might have misinterpreted whatever you guys were at forty-five. The president was at forty-five percent, and then you began to accumulate more African American votes. That seems to have dipped. We haven't seen the final numbers. That seems to have dipped.

For the Republicans, have that that massive success of twenty-four. They got to get that back, right? I mean, they can't just maximize the conservative.

So that's got to be somewhat of a focus. And the last thing would be: Would you change? Do you expect changes at the White House? Oh, I don't know about that. This is not anyone's fault at the White House.

I mean, those guys have done a great job, to be honest. I on the Hispanic and Black engagement front. I mean, look. We, I know. I've talked to friends that are former Texas GOP chairman last night, working for Greg Abbott.

My my really close friend. When we were running that program in Texas, we were spending money every single month on Hispanic engagement, as if it was a daily effort. And we've got to get back to that. I'm not saying that's the the answer, but clearly, like I said. Certainty in the immigration front, some level of coordination and organization, and on that front, engagement in black and Hispanic communities.

This, this will all come back, Brian. I mean, this is going to come back. It's two years. These things come and go. I think the tone of the Democratic leadership and the president will set the stage for this.

And if it's done in a way that I think you know, slightly cooperative. If it's slightly cooperative, I think this this this will we will move on from this and we will come back. Right. Thanks so much for the time. We need we need your instant analysis.

A time like this would not be surprised if the president reached out too. Appreciate appreciate you talking to us. All right, thank you, Brian. You got it. We'll be right back in a moment.

One eight six six four zero eight seven six six nine. If you want to talk about last night, what you thought would surprise you most, I'll tell you. My biggest surprise is Texas, the margin of victory. My second biggest surprise is Susan Collins losing the margin of victory. There, I am shocked that Rogers was in neck and neck, especially with the latest development with El Saeed.

Shocked, shocked. I just cannot believe the people of Michigan would make that choice. And when we come back, you'll hear his, you'll hear his victory speech. It is the exact opposite of what you should do in my mind when you win. Listen to the Brian Kilmeade show.

Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmeade. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. You tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater?

If so, then you must check out Collars and Co. Makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion.

These polos are perfect. Whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out, Collars and Co is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out.

Collarsandco dot com. Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code Brian. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kilmeade Show.

My name is Abdulrahman Mohammed Saleh. And I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator elect from the great state of Michigan.

So, Mike, enjoy your retirement. JD, Habibi, there is this delicious irony. In the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.

So that is exactly how in life you're taught not how to act in victory. I'll play a different one, a different victory speech in Byron Donald shortly. But this guy is going to be a menace. I'm telling you, I cannot believe the people of Michigan. You have to explain this to me how he's a better choice than Mike Rogers.

It's absolutely nuts. You had Haley Stevens come out, and now she needs ask the ask the White House for U.S. Marshal protection because she's had so many death threats since she came out against. Saleh Sayed, who, by the way, banked oil accounts. This guy—if you think he was bad as a candidate—you had to see this meltdown.

Maybe we can find it at some point with this Sky News reporter, where the Sky News reporter asking a question, and he puts his hand on the Sky News reporter both his shoulders and say, "You don't even, no one even cares. You're from another outlet. Why should I answer your questions? You're not." He's trying to explain to him that Sky News is seen here, and you're going to be a senator, and you're going to be—you want to sit on foreign relations, and you're heard around the country. And around the world, and he didn't get it.

Just kept, just like he did with Brett, just and just like he did with Jesse, just talked over him.

Now that's one way to win.

Now here's the other way to win. Cut thirty-eight. I want to congratulate David on a hard-fought race, because the truth is, in our state, we have people who are struggling. We have people who are looking at their insurance bills. We have people who are looking at their bank accounts, not month in, month out, day in, day out, trying to figure out how they're going to make ends meet.

And my mission as Florida's next governor is to make sure that they can build a great life here in the great state of Florida. How great is that? I mean that's that's a fantastic tone to take, and that's what you do. You salute your challenger, and you move on. You told Mike, "Good luck in retirement." Number one, he's already been unbelievably successful in business.

Coming back for Mike Rogers was a service. It's not an ego thing. He's already been FBI and military, and he's already had these huge businesses, and his kids are serving overseas.

So I don't know what you're talking about. For Dan Sullivan, I hope this guy prevails in Alaska. But right now, he'd have over fifty percent. If you take the fake Dan Sullivan's one point seven percent, here he is last night cut thirty seven. We knew was going to be close, right?

We knew we probably wouldn't get final results for days, you know, given our system. By the way, I haven't looked, but I sure the heck hope yes on two is winning. I hope we got to do that. We got to do that. But I'm confident when all the votes are counted.

I will have the honor of representing you in the United States Senate again for six more years.

So what he's talking about too is to get rid of ranked choice voting.

So what happens is if you don't get fifty percent, they go to your second, your second choice. Isn't that weird? I mean, I don't know who came up with the system.

So you go to your second choice votes on the ballots, and they're redistributed. Remaining, you get rid of the bottom feeder on the candidates, get the other candidates out. The process continues to someone has a majority.

So everyone's second pick could be the number one choice in Alaska.

So if you pick Dan Sullivan. First, he could lose because of that. We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid, and they try to frighten you into calling. I'm here to tell you that Tax Relief Advocates is different.

If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's five thousand, fifty thousand, or five hundred thousand, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids. No matter where you are, visit tra. dot com. Don't lose hope.

TRA could reduce or Or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A plus with the Better Business Bureau. You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit tra dot com. That's tra dot com. Or call eight. Eight hundred five eight three five six seven five.

Once again, that's eight hundred five eight three five six seven five. Tax relief advocates, real solutions for real people. A radio show like no other. It's Brian. In Kilmeade, we just took back Texas.

We we just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. We just showed. That a politics of division is no match for a politics of love. There you go, James Talerico. Whatever you think, he's senator elect, and it was easy, judging by the polls.

Polls were right; he won by even more than the polls thought. And then you have Governor Abbott losing too, by seven or eight points, depending on what finally ends up. But the biggest story is Texas, no doubt about it. There was also Bobby Polito won that congressional seat, so that is some of the redistricting seats did not pan out. Certainly not in Florida, and definitely not in Texas.

Let's bring in Rich Lowry. Editor of Nash Review, Rich. Did you see this coming? No, I didn't. I thought Democrats would take the Senate.

I thought it was possible; it'd be a big night, but not not this big. And obviously, Texas is the most stunning, where you have Republicans, I believe, losing every statewide race in in Texas. The Supreme Court going from like nine zero to five four. It's I've never in my life seen an entire state flip that's been with one party for decades the way Texas did.

So. It's a it's a stunning stunning wipeout. Here's this is Greg Abbott conceding cut thirty four. Before coming up here right now, after looking at all the details of every county in the entire state, I made the decision to go ahead and call Gina Hinojosa and congratulate her on winning this race for governor of the state of Texas. There are still votes to be counted, but mathematically, we're not going to be able to win this election.

And there didn't. And I just don't know what he could have done different. I mean, Abbott did everything. I thought that oil and gas, he maximized the wall when the previous administration was in. He stopped the illegal immigration, and if you wanted, didn't like the way ICE was acting, I don't know if you could blame him on that.

Yeah, I just think everyone got wiped out. One of my mantras prior to this election was candidate quality matters. It didn't matter last night. It didn't matter whether you're a good or bad Democrat or indifferent. You won.

Now maybe the margins were a little lower for some Democrats in blue states than they would have been otherwise if they were moderates or better candidates. But didn't matter. They just won across the board. They may win in Mississippi, a race that no one was paying any attention to.

So the wave was. Was huge. The polls were wrong in that the they they didn't capture the magnitude of this entirely. I was listening to New York Times pollster on a podcast yesterday. He's like, you know, what we we're so worried about getting it wrong the way we have in sixteen and and twenty.

This easily could be you know plus three more points for Democrats in our polls if we had adjusted them so hard. And that turned out to be right. I I didn't believe their last wave of polls, but they they were accurate. And if anything, underestimated the Democratic vote.

So you just got to see. Right now, it's fifty-four forty-four in the Senate.

So the president was pretty magnanimous last night. Hey, listen, I could work with you. I had five or six Democrats already call me, and he noticed that seven Senate seats have already flipped.

So you know, there's going to be investigations, no doubt about it. Do you think there's going to be a turnover in his White House staff, his cabinet, anything? Yeah, I think there there usually is after this. Even when they say there there's not, I I would keep an eye on Hexath. You know, it's not the election's not his fault, but but he could be the the type of cabinet official that decides he he wants to pursue something else.

And I just don't I don't think there's much chance for bipartisan cooperation in Washington. the the They hate him so much. The investigations are he's going to absolutely hate the investigations. They're going to go right at his family and. But but one one upside here is the the Democratic wave was so big it means the DSA officeholders aren't as important they don't hold the balance of power in the House and they they and you're gonna have like six or seven relative I underline that word relative moderates from red states in the Senate so they'll be this was ironically not a great night for the DSA in that regard although obviously a huge victory in Michigan.

So when you look at the the exit policy, it was a lot about to do the economy, oil and gas. And I think the first thing first is he's going to have to resolve the Iran situation sometime before the new Congress takes over. Don't you think? Yeah, if he can. I hate to say it, this is a really good night for the IRGC.

This this was their strategy, right? They blew up the MOU on the assumption they could keep oil prices high, and that would kill Trump at the polls. That. That's right, and now Trump has less less leverage than he did 24 hours ago.

So. Another another way in which was this was a terrible night. Florida held, and you have a historic African American candidate from Brooklyn, Byron Donalds, becomes the governor. But remember, DeSantis won barely won his first time in the same the same situation with Rick Scott. Ashley Moody holds on to her seat, but it was a lot closer than anyone thought.

So she so Florida was the least damaged after this. Yeah, but that's that. That was the indication, right? It was going to be a terrible night for Republicans when the margins got a little bigger. I haven't looked at the final margins; maybe they're two or three points in those races, but they're they're basically tied for for much of the early night, which is a sign that that there was a huge wave coming, and it didn't overtop Florida, thank God, but it did almost everywhere else.

Yeah, I guess we're going to see it happen. We just see that China and Russia and Iran met last night, and I also saw that China, when it comes to the Iran situation, was pushing for a resolve because they're being hurt economically because the oil and gas coming out of there. They would have all the leverage on Iran, wouldn't they? Yeah. So I guess the likeliest outcome now would be some unsatisfactory deal where where we recognize some form of Iranian control over the Strait.

Whatever the verbiage is, in exchange for no longer shooting at stuff, so prices can go down, and then we we don't get anything you know meaningful on nukes. You know, we've destroyed a lot of their stuff, which is good, and and they get some sort of sanctions relief. I fear that's where we're we're headed. That would be if Whitcoff and Kushner got their way. That wouldn't be if I guess Hegseth, Radcliffe, Besson got their way.

Yeah, I just don't know, Brian. And thinking about this, you know, last couple weeks, what a short, impactful bombing campaign would get us that we we haven't already gotten from short, impactful bombing campaigns. Unless you're really going to do it, I mean, a sustained, really long bombing campaign, or go in on the ground. And I don't think we're doing either one. We're certainly not going in on the ground.

I don't think you're toppling the regime. If you're not toppling the regime, you're going to end up with some form of a bad or a deal. That certainly is not what we would have hoped for at the outset. And next week is going to be Ukraine, the Ukraine Russia U.S. trilateral.

I saw that Zelensky said, "Yeah, we're going to hit refineries because they keep hitting our grid. We're not going to stop. I know the president wants us to, but I'm not going to stop." That's the first time I really saw that. That's what he told Trey Yinkst. Yeah, I mean, his his country is under existential threat.

His Russia is trying to starve and freeze them out, and this is a target they have that can impose pain on on Russia. You know that they they wouldn't otherwise have is a totally legitimate target.

So I know he doesn't want to get on the wrong side. Trump, you know, it's a bad place to be, but I'm not sure he has much of an alternative. He doesn't. I think at this point he's got to just stand up because most of the American people have a good head on their shoulders and understand Russia is the problem, not the Ukraine.

So it's not even there. It's not even split. It's just a small fraction of the Republican Party that thinks that Russia is is right in this. They should probably absorb any country they want. Yeah, and I think you know the biggest thing about the the biggest thing about this election, there's a prices election.

You know, I think it was the tariffs, and it was the effects of the Iran War. And in my ideal world, you know, you find some satisfactory conclusion of the Iran War, and and you you lift the the tariffs, or at least to a significant extent. But I don't think the president is do that because he's so committed to them, philosophically, ideologically, it's such a big part of his his legacy. But prices was the big thing, and you know, he promised he was going to reduce them, and and he didn't. In fact, they they they went up again, and that was just The killer, right?

So, looking now, you look at Obama, how he handled his last two years when he lost Congress, and same thing with Clinton. What could Trump learn from that?

Well, I think he needs a real serious cost of living agenda, and he needs to realize that, you know, part of his success, secret of success, right? He creates an alternative. Reality and then so it's so convincing and persuasive about it. People begin to believe in it, and it becomes reality, right? And there's just limits to that, you know.

There's limits to that when it comes to prices. People know what prices are. They they feel it doesn't really matter whether you tell them they're they're going to be better in the future or not. If they're feeling price increases at the moment, and the same thing with the Iran War. You know, you can say it's about to end is a great success, but if it isn't, you just can't redefine that that reality.

So creating better facts on the ground. Creating fewer unnecessary controversies, but I'm just not sure. I'm not sure the latter. You know, just given the way he loves attention and the way he operates, I'm not sure whether that's that's going to happen.

So I think it's the the worst possible scenario here is Trump stays unpopular. The Republican nominee has to be totally on board everything he's done, and that's going to be a tough sell in 28.

Now a lot can happen in the next two years, but that. The scenario I fear.

So, do you think it's going to be more of an open process after this midterm, instead of a JD cut? You know, just anointing, being getting anointed, no one really serious goes out against him. Do you think it's going to be a much bigger stage? I still, I still think whoever Trump endorses will be the nominee. You got, you got to bet on that.

But I do think there's at least in theory there's an opening and at least an incentive for someone to explore if there's an opening to be a post total. Post Trump candidate, you know, I'm going to say what he's done good. I'm going to say what he's done bad. I don't care what he says about me. I'm just going out, and I think we need to turn the page now.

Will that succeed? I'm doubtful, but I think someone will be out there trying to make that case, and it could be could be Ron DeSantis.

So we're talking with Rich Larry National Review. Rich, you have a good pulse on all the different not factions, but different viewpoints on the on the right. Do you believe that? There's going to be. There has to be some type of coalescence between the traditional Republicans and the Trump Republicans and those on the extreme right that seem to have a totally different view on Israel, totally different view on our role in the world, and that might even include JD Vance.

So, do you think there should be one of those think tank type sessions where people band about what they stand for? I think absolutely between traditional Republicans and Trump Republicans, and there's no going back to the pre-Trump party. Parties don't go back; they just don't.

So. The the you know what what the shape of the post Trump party will be and how that's different from what's come in the past that that'll be the debate and I do think the the extremes you know the Candice Owens and Candice Owens and the Tucker Carlson's they they're not part of this coalition they shouldn't be part of this coalition I think they're poison. Do you think they could destroy the coalition by not being included? No, I just think that the number of Like real voters who are as obsessed with Israel and/or the Jews as as they are is is small.

Now I do think the you know the the number that don't like the Iran War and think the Trump Trump betrayed his promise on that because he said no more Middle Eastern wars. That's a bigger constituency. But they're they're not necessarily conspiracy theorists or haters or all the rest of it.

So those are people you need. They need to be part of the the coalition. And I I don't think JD. Although I wish you were more forthright in denouncing Tucker or setting out his disagreements, I don't think he's one of those guys. He he's not.

You know, he's more of a restrainer or isolationist, whatever you call him, than I am and than than you are. But I I don't think he's. Out on that fringe, yeah, we'll see. I'm not. I don't know.

I just don't know him well enough. And we, you know, we don't know how much, or you know, what is what he thinks and what Donald Trump thinks.

So, and then as a vice president, you really shouldn't be. You should be helping out the president, not getting through your agenda.

So, and I don't really know him too well. He's barely in the Senate. Yeah. So we'll see. You'll get.

You'll get to know him better. I think you know. Candidates will have to be in Iowa beginning January. February, not necessarily JD, right? He has more time to wait and kind of has to wait, right?

And so Trump gives him a nod that okay, now he can start going, going and doing it. Presuming there is such a nod, but it's it's going to start soon. Go get him, Rich Larry. I know you'll be covering on the National Review. Appreciate it.

Thanks, Brian. All right, we'll take a short timeout, and then we'll take as many calls as we can before the top of the hour. You can write me, BrianKillme dot com. Click on comments, and I'll get to them. Don't move.

From breaking news to big name guests, Brian brings you insight you won't hear anywhere else. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeade Show. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. You tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars and Co.

makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect.

Whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out, collars and coats exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out. Collarsandcode dot com.

Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code Brian. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmeade. The environment was worsened by the prices at the pump.

It's just a reminder to the American people every single day, every week, when they go to fill up their gas pump, of the economic indicators. We have strong economy, but when people are filling up their gas tank and they see four, five, six dollars a gallon in some states at the pump, that's very disheartening. And I think that played out at the polls today. I think that's definitely a factor. Gas and oil, no doubt about it.

The war. People say, "Okay, what's going on there?" Not much is happening. We'll see what happens. We know that the Canadian trade deal. A lot of it was Carney holding out, making sure that Donald Trump did not do good in the midterms.

And you make those border states like Michigan and Maine pay the price because of high tariffs, and maybe not buy American liquor because of tariffs and the trade war. And now it looks like that's coming to an end. Carney and Trump had this great conversation. Why? Because it's coming to an end, and now that the midterms are over, as you just heard, Rich Lowry said the IRGC had a good night because the IRGC.

By keeping gas and oil prices high, was able to play a role in our election because you see that most people are saying, especially people who drive a truck for a living and need diesel. I can't afford to, you know, thousand dollars to fill up my tank, and I got to go make a profit with my cargo.

So I got to charge more. But if you don't want to take my, if you don't want to take my my cargo, then there's going to be a problem when I get there.

So that's the people that were his backbone—the blue collar workers that no college education. For the most part, that's how you describe. Truckers not not negative, just just a fact. They were being hurt, so they weren't there. Also, I understand the rural vote did not come out just by nature of the position, less farmers than there are than there are you know people in big cities.

That's why the dense population controls the whole state oftentimes. But the president seems to have lost the agriculture vote, the young vote, and lost about 15 points off. Fifteen points off the Hispanic vote, so that's why you saw some huge swings. I tell you what, I don't know what's happening with Texas because electorally, if that stays blue, like most of those races did, I don't know what they're going to do to win the Electoral College. Which, by the way, most every Democrat wants to get rid of.

Here's the president last night talking about how he views the results. Cup four, I don't view it as a hit on me. I think we've done a, we've had the greatest two years. In the history of the presidency, in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we've done, look at the border. The border was an open sieve, and and within two months it was totally closed.

You know, seventeen months now with zero people coming in through the. You report the results. Zero people coming in through the southern border. That's a big deal. I ran on that, but that's peanuts compared to what we've done.

Because we have all this money all over the world that coming here. And you look at Europe; it's dying. You look at what's going on in France and what's going on in Italy and all these other countries. I mean, they are going through a terrible time. They may not even survive, frankly.

And we are thriving. And we want to keep it that way. But I say congratulations to the Democrats. They worked very hard. And the president essentially rejected the personal rebuke, defended his record, as you saw.

Says there is no cabinet shakeup expected. Said the election results had nothing to do with his cabinet. Expressed sympathy for defeated Republicans. Said felt really badly for Darlene Graham for campaigning for her brother's seat in the middle of morning. Did him a favor, but she was easily beaten by five in South Carolina, which I actually didn't think was possible.

I didn't think it was possible to lose Kansas. First time they've lost it since 1930.

So you'll hear a lot of this. The Associated Press did some exit polling. Sixty-two percent of voters blame the policies, President's policies, for higher prices, and seventy-one percent say that Congress must do more to check the President. Those are the two prevailing thoughts when people collected the vote. If they're being honest with the exit pollers, they go to BrianKilmeade.com.

I want to see you. The few seats remain over in Clearwater, Florida. It was going to be streamed on Fox Nation with the Uniting the States tour. Go grab my book. And on Sunday in Jacksonville at the Florida Theater, United States.

It's six crucial moments that forged the American miracle. It's a special that you can get on Fox Nation, and of course, you can get the book wherever you get books. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars and Co.

makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for Any occasion, these poles are perfect. Whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out, collars and collars exploding, and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones.

You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great. All day, check out collarsandco dot com. Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more.

That's promo code Brian. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sewing division. It's Brian Kilmeade from 48th and Sixth in Midtown Manhattan. Heard around the country, around the world. Brian Kilmeade show coming away.

Terry Bradshaw is going to be with us at the bottom of the hour. Take a break from politics, but we're also going to have a call Rove in about 20 minutes, and we're here with Kevin Roberts, Dr. Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation president. He is one of the conservative thinkers and and actually one of the leaders. And as we look at what's happening yesterday, as it really a disastrous day for Republicans.

Republicans not unprecedented, but you're looking at the balance of power in the Senate: 54-44, with two in the balance. Mississippi has not been decided yet. Neither has Alaska. That'll take a few days. And now, for the first time, I think Dan Sullivan is trailing, but just barely.

But no one's got fifty percent, which means they go to the rank choice voting. Who put who came in second? And in the balance of power in the House, it's not even close two twenty eight to one thirty nine. But there's a lot of seats left to be decided.

So, Kevin, I know you saw this thing unfold in front of you, had a chance to analyze it after a few hours of sleep. I think the biggest surprise to me is Texas. Senator-elect Talerico and Governor Abbott lost by why by substantial margins, not close. Yeah, if if you had told Dan Patrick too, yeah, if you had told me that, Brian, as as an adopted Texan, went to school there and lived there a long time. I simply wouldn't have believed you.

I would have taken whatever bet you would have given me, and and if you would have asked me, Kevin, could you envision a world in which Attorney General Paxton lost to Talarico by one or two points, but the rest of the statewide's were elected? Yeah, I could have seen. I thought I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that. And like I told all my colleagues at Heritage this morning via email, while I'm in New York and they're in Washington around the country, look, guys, just acknowledge what happened. Our side took it on the chin.

This happens almost every midterm. This isn't unprecedented, but this is going to be one of the the three or four most significant midterm defeats in history. The largest, as you know, were both students of histories eighteen ninety four, one hundred thirty seats gained by the Republicans during Grover Cleveland's presidency. What do we do is the question moving forward. I think we've got some answers there.

I hope we don't spend more than a few days sort of dissecting it. You have to because you're in the media. I have to because I run Heritage. What I mean by that is the American people want to get some business. Done, and I think that's where our heads need to be.

Well, a lot of it has to do with what Democrats want to do. Do they want to? Remember, you had just had Garcia, Robert Garcia, who's going to be chairman of oversight, just said, "Lawyer up." So, what do you think that? I mean, what can you possibly get done if all they want to do is investigate? No, that that's exactly right.

I think what's going to happen is if you're able to move forward or look ahead a year, a year and a half out, that while I hate the election results for conservative policy, which is our domain at Heritage, I actually think that this is going to be a boon for our 2028 electoral prospects because the left always overreaches. I mean, Robert Garcia didn't even have; we weren't even three hours into. An election night before he issues a tweet, which wasn't just bold, but lawyer up. And of course, that isn't just for Trump administration officials; that's for all of us in Washington who dare do what Brian do conservative policy. And so that's going to be an overreach, which they will lose.

The American people will come to their senses and realize, oh my gosh, why did we elect these fools? Right, but their agenda is interesting because the ones that got elected in Kansas, the one that got elected in South Carolina, the ones that get elected in Texas. Pretended to be moderates. If if they are actually moderates, there will be a push. If they were legitimate moderates, there or if they were independents, there will be legitimate push to say, no, no, I want to get something done.

If we don't get something done, we're going to get voted out of office. But if they're pretending in order to win, then we'll go and hear investigation after investigation. I feel like they're pretending. I don't think anyone can change their position so much so quickly and be legitimately unless they had a head injury or something. They're all totally pretending, and I can say that with with some firsthand knowledge of Mister.

Talarico, who entered the Texas Legislature when I was running the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and with the same sort of mindset that he was the centrist, he was an affable guy that he wasn't going to be this radical on the left.

Well, in fact, every single vote he's taken in the Texas Legislature, Brian, has actually belied that thought that he's some sort of of centrist. He's just not going to be that way. Here's Governor Ron DeSantis moments ago. Because he's one of the hottest politicians in the country, one of the most successful, I'd say.

Now he's going to get he's going to get really hot because Florida was one of the few bright spots for Republicans. Let's listen to what he said about Texas. Of the ten largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state—the state of Florida. If you look at our chief rival, in a healthy sense, the state of Texas—and I would say over the last over my lifetime, Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics. I think we've been the leader for Republicans and conservatives since I've been governor.

But if you go over the whole generation, no one holds a candle on the Republican side. To the Lone Star State, and yet, not only did they lose a very highly publicized U.S. Senate race, they lost everything—the governor, attorney general, all the other statewide. They lost four Republican Supreme Court justices on the Texas Supreme Court. They may even lose the Texas Legislature or one house or even both.

Let's just be clear that that is going to hurt not just for the next two years. That's something that can reverberate for the next decade or more, and if the Republican Party doesn't have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally going forward. Kevin Roberts is you right? He's a hundred percent right, and I'm a big fan of Governor DeSantis and his policies. He's been, I think, perhaps the most successful governor in the last ten or fifteen years.

And second would be Abbott. The second would be Abbott. I was just about to say that. I remember fondly this this event that I where I hosted both of them several years ago, and I told both of them on stage that you you guys are like you're leading the promised land. And so for Texas to have gone the other way, as DeSantis says, is awful.

I of course I think what's going to Happen soon is that people will say, "Gosh, DeSantis is leaving office." He's expanded upon the great reforms of now Senator Rick Scott, who was his predecessor as governor. As we start thinking about twenty twenty eight, I think the success in Florida means that DeSantis is back in the mix. Does he? Does he? Is he pursued by the administration if there is some changes?

I think they would be wise to do so, and he would be obviously a very competent Secretary of War. He would be a competent Attorney General. Both of those positions are filled. I am not suggesting that the men who occupy them need to be dismissed. I am just saying that if I am President Trump, Vice President Vance, and I am looking at learning the lesson from this defeat and getting the people's work done, I want to make sure that Desantis is part of that formula.

So, if if there is a change, I Would love to see Kepp McCarthy in the mix somewhere with all that experience and all that leverage. Do you think that the president likes him enough to put him somewhere? I do think that the president likes him enough to do that. The question is where, and obviously the the approach by the administration to the to Congress means that there's got to be some good legislative hands, even if McCarthy were a senior advisor. I think that could be helpful in this scenario.

It looks like there's a report right now that Mike Johnson will not run for minority leader. Jim Jordan made it clear he is. They're friends. They said they vacation together. I don't know.

You know the reality. I I know them to be friends, and I happen to be friends with both of them. In fact, I texted Mike Johnson this morning and. Thanked him effusively for what I thought was a great campaign by him. I think he was one of our best messengers.

If it's Jim Jordan who is the minority leader, I think the Republicans make a good choice. If it's Steve Scalise, I think they make a good choice. Jordan probably has more support from the grassroots, but you know this is an inside vote. I was also texting with Ben Clyne, congressman from the Western District of Virginia. He got reelected, even though he's in Virginia, and I know that he's interested in being chair of the Republican Study Committee.

I mentioned that, Brian, not just because you're a great Observer of what's going on in the weeds in Washington, but for the audience to know, they're still great leaders. In in the Republican conferences in Washington, what we're trying to do at Heritage is help them not just on the policy, but on the messaging. How do you talk about these issues on which this election turned? The other thing is Israel.

Well, now we see the president yesterday told some Fox friends, "Hey, I'm I'm not going to be giving them four billion dollars every year." Now that has to come from Congress, doesn't it? Yeah, that that does have to come from Congress. Mostly, I can tell you know my great friend and colleague, Dr. Victoria Coates Well, heads up our national security team. We're both, of course, great fans of our ally Israel.

She and her colleagues at Heritage have been working on that plan because, at the request of the Israelis, what they're trying to do is wean themselves from dependence on American money and military, so that they can prove to the American electorate that they are, in fact, a model ally. I think the timing of that that announcement was a little interesting, but I think ultimately the policy behooves both an America first and an Israel first policy. They use the money and they buy our weapons. Yes, with our money. That's that's right.

But in order to and that's been good. But I think what could be even Better is if they use, they buy our intelligence, they buy our their our ability to to develop those weapons themselves. That's not going to stop. I just think that if you read between the lines, this is actually this this Israel announcement is a really good mindset of how we can treat our allies moving forward. Yeah, Kevin Roberts, thanks so much.

Heritage Foundation always a leader in conservative thought.

Now there's going to be a lot of pressure on your shoulders, and you welcome that. I do. We're ready to roll. I think the future of America is bright. Two things going to be True, Brian.

Real quick, you can take it on the chin, and you can also learn the lesson. And what we at Heritage are doing is focusing on what we need to do—not just in the next two years, but the next twenty years for the American people. Kevin Roberts, thanks so much. Call Rove next. Keeping you informed, engaged, and always a step ahead.

It's the Brian Kilmeade Show. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out collars and go makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel.

You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are. Perfect, whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out. Collars and Co.

is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out. Collarsandco.

dot com. Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code Brian. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmeade.

Hey, we are back. Let's bring in Carl Rove. Carl, you're one of the few. You were not optimistic about Ken Paxton, but I was shocked to see the distance between Paxton and victory, and also Governor Abbott going down. Primarily, what's what's the reason with you know with the exit polls?

I've told you what your gut knows and what you've picked up anecdotally. Being you're from Texas.

Well, Paxton drew down the entire Republican ticket. He's at the top of the ticket as a Senate candidate, and for the first time since 1998, we lost statewide constitutional offices. And you have to go back to 19 let's see what would it be 1982 to have the Democrats have the kind of victory they had in Texas. And we lost to every statewide office. We lost the Texas House.

We kept the Texas Senate. It's been 51 of the vote, and you know people turned out in traditionally Republican counties like Collin County, in north of Dallas, a suburban county, and voted straight Democrat. And it was because our ticket was led by a guy who was plagued by scandals and surrounded by controversy. And a guy that you never thought should should have gotten it. Do you think Cornyn wins?

Oh yeah, Cornyn. Cornyn would have had look. Cornyn, for example, had enormous strength along the Rio Grande border because for years. He was the go-to guy for the Democratic county executives. We call them county judge in Texas and Democrat mayors.

I mean, they he's cultivated them, helped them, you know, for years on all the things that they needed the help from the federal government on. And if he had been the candidate, he would have had that support, and we would not have been plagued by, you know, the entire Democratic campaign was. Ken Paxton was the most corrupt official that Texas had seen in the modern era, and they made a convincing case. Remember, he was impeached by a Republican-dominated state house of representatives and saved in the state senate. And frankly, I think it that action, highly visible, contributed to the defeat of the lieutenant governor as well, who presided over that and.

Did everything he could to to make certain that the controversy was damped down and and Paxton was kept in office. What did I always thought that maybe Abbott would cat would help Paxton. You're saying that Paxton killed Abbott. Yeah, Abbott did better than than. Than Paxton did, but it wasn't enough.

I mean, you know, the top of the ticket mattered. It drew out a lot of people who, in a presidential election year, voted D, and it drew out a lot of people who said, "I'm a nominal Republican, but I can't stand the fact that the Republicans have nominated this this you know scandal-plagued individual who was also a terrible candidate." I don't know if you saw him any of his public appearances, but he was. You know, you know, didn't have a good message. Was terrible. He was terrible.

He was lazy. He was afraid to. If you are afraid to debate, you should not run. Yeah, and look, I mean, I thought the only way he could save himself was to debate. Sure, he'd have to deal with all this stuff.

What about the girlfriends and what about the favors for Nate Paul, the corrupt business guy who went to jail? Blah blah blah. But at least he would have had the chance to say, "Well, look, I know why you're talking about that because you don't want to talk about the fact that you, James Talarico, said the following and read him back his own comments about you know trans transgender rights and getting rid of oil and gas jobs and capitalism. You know, needs to be abolished, etc." Which was his only chance, in my mind, to have had a had an opportunity to win. Here's the president last night talking about the loss, the stunning loss of the Senate seat allowed Lindsey Graham by by his sister.

Cut to. I felt badly about Darlene. I felt very badly. She's going through, you know, her relationship with Lindsey was extraordinary. And just, just essentially mourning and and campaigning at the same time.

And then on top of it, this happens. But I'm a little surprised. I thought they'd do better. Actually, are you?

Well, yeah, I am surprised that that we lost South Carolina and that we, you know, losing six house seats in North Carolina and the Mississippi contest. Our candidate is in second place by forty-three votes. There was a lot that that surprised me, but I would say this: it was the president of the United States who short-circuited these things and didn't allow the voters to decide who the nominee of the Republican Party was going to be. His endorsement in primaries is so powerful that when he stepped in and said, "I want Darlene," despite the fact that a lot of people in the state of South Carolina said, "You know, we're concerned about her ability to mount a statewide campaign." Campaign, they fell in line. Same thing happened in Texas when the president of the United States, eight to seven days before the election, said, "I'm for Ken Paxton." What happened is the race turned overnight because Republicans said, "Yes, sir, you told us what to do, and we're going to do it." But you know that is not good.

You know sometimes a primary is good because the best candidate tends to emerge. And the president short circuiting it in places. We saw, look, we saw this in Georgia. He got a bad picker, pick, you know, picked a, you know, a former, you know, University of Georgia football hero and Herschel Walker turned out to be a terrible candidate. Mamad Az in in Pennsylvania won the primary by about nine hundred votes.

Given the president's support, but Dave McCormick came back to win two years later, while Mehmet Oz, you know, cratered.

So the president's picker is not good, and he did not do himself or the party good service by stepping into all of these races. Georgia, Mike Collins, you know, admirable member of the House Representatives, but a terrible statewide candidate. And just because he wasn't Brian Kemp's choice, he became Donald Trump's choice.

So, where you go from here? If Paskin helped you anything, Bill Clinton did had this similar situation.

So did Obama, and they end up leaving office with sixty percent approval rating.

So, if you are Trump and he says, "What's my game plan, Carl?" What do you tell him?

Well, take a lesson from them. One, they worked across lines to get positive things done, and second of all, they acknowledged that they were responsible for the defeat. You cannot move forward unless you do it. Both of those men do did, which is to say, you know what? I recognize the the American people were voting against me when they went to the polls.

The president tweets out last night that basically, if I my name wasn't on the ballot, and if it had been, I would have won big.

Well, Mr. President, that is not what the American people want to hear. What they want to hear right now is a sense of recognition that they are concerned that you're not caring about the things that they care. Namely, rising prices that are going up faster than their paychecks are. How much pressure on to get something done with Iran?

I see the supreme leader is is gloating at this hour. Oh, I bet he is. And look, the president would be in better shape on this if he as as he went forward with this. Devoted more than a couple of sentences to this, he needs to explain to the American people in detail why this is important. It's not just enough to say we don't want them to have a nuclear weapon.

He needs to tell the story, the story of why they feel they need a nuclear weapon, how they have developed a view of the apocryphal future that the hidden Iman is going to emerge when that when that when there is an apocalyptic fight between their forces and the forces of the West. And I mean, he needs to have the American people understand what what he is doing and why he is doing it. Instead of just simply passing it off with, you know, well, I'm going to annihilate them tomorrow. That doesn't that does not come across as a commander in chief. It's going to be a very intriguing time for both parties.

I think it's wide open now when it comes to a nominee on the right and the left. Yes, I hope so. Anyway, Carl Rove, always fantastic. Thanks so much, Carl. You bet.

All the best. You got it. When we come back, Terry Bradshaw joins us. We take a little break from politics. Is that okay?

Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kilmeade Show. Hey, welcome back, everybody. We're going to take a little break from the elections. I have to tell you, it was a huge night for for Democrats.

They now have a fifty-four forty-four lead in the Senate, and looks like they pulled slightly ahead by just—I mean, I think it's fifty votes in Mississippi. Mississippi, my goodness, that's known as a Republican area, and Dan Sullivan has fallen behind just barely in the Alaska race, which is going to take some time because of the nature of the topography there, and this. If you don't get fifty percent, they go to a ranked choice voting. They'll go to the second, who put who, and the second in the second slot on your ballot. Keep in mind too, one point four percent of the vote went to the fake Dan Sullivan.

Don't tell me that anybody wanted that guy to win. That has to be a total. That's a total ruse, and people got to people got to get in trouble for that. I just don't know if they can do anything for the election. One of my favorite old-time people I have a chance to meet since I got this job is four-time Super Bowl champ Terry Bradshaw.

He's got a brand new book out now. It's a brand new memoir called "Looking for Terry." Terry is taking a timeout from getting ready for Fox Fox Sports Sunday to, in order to join me. And he wore a hoodie, which just makes you that's that is the look that is the look that I expect you to have when you're not on camera. Is that you, Terry? On no, but hey, Brian, look, it says Yale.

Yeah, were you? Is that your senior? Is that from your graduate? When you got your graduate degree from there? No, no, no.

When I got my master's.

So that's your master's.

Okay, that's my my fault. I apologize. I'll edit that out. I had to put this on, man. It got cold here in Texas.

Oh wow! I was calling, and prior to you coming on, I was listening about the dogs. I got five dogs in my office. I love my dogs every morning, and I got a loud mouth African gray bird sitting over here to the right. I don't know when.

He's going to kick in, so yeah, I'm I'm kind of a pet guy, so I go to work happy. You do go to work happy. You always seem happy too, Terry. I want to spend most of the time talking about the Giants' resurgence and revival, but I do want to talk about your book too. There was a moment on, and it has to do with you being honest about about different bouts you have with depression.

The guy that's always happy with four Super Bowls seems to have it all, but some you're dealing with other ill elements. Jay Glazer talked about one of his great times on your set. He's one of your colleagues. Let's listen. One of the coolest moments I've ever had here at Fox, my entire life, is for Christmas a couple years ago, and you just walk over to me and say, "Hey, Bob." I'm struggling.

I just need to tell somebody who gets it. I want to talk about. I just need to tell someone. He felt better, and that's why I want people to understand. Did this book?

He was one of the first guys to talk about it. Open up. He talked about it. You're going to laugh, right? He's definitely a little more vulnerable.

But that for me, I didn't tell you until the other night. Yeah. Probably the greatest moment of my life at Fox, and I, I couldn't. I remember I looked at you and I turned my head away, and you said, "No, you look at me. I'm giving you a compliment." I couldn't take the compliment.

I really. I do appreciate Jay because we've all struggled with clinical depression, and I think that Jay came out with me three years ago. Was it when he talked about his book and talked about what he was going through? That must be great to have somebody who understands you on every level, professional and personal, right by your side. You know, you know, Brian.

Jay knew about my depression years before. His diagnosis, and we used to talk all the time, and then he he all of a sudden, maybe not all of a sudden, but he started having some real tough moments in his life. But we had to talk quietly, one on one, because the stigma of depression is. In our opinion, and at least in my early experience, was so frowned on. It was so, it was so personal.

People thought, "Oh my God, this! I don't want anything to do with this person." Depression.

So they actually thought they could catch it. It was the stupidest thing ever. And when you go through as much as I went through for years without anybody knowing, and all the help I sought. And then Jay, Jay knew about it, and we were able to bond. Even today, we're actually closer friends now than ever because we both are.

We both experience, and there goes the bird. And the same, the same mental illness, and we have each other to to lean on. And so he, I can't tell you the number of times. Seriously. Where Jay has come up to me and he said, "Hey, Bub, you can you pray for me today?

I'm really, I'm having, I'm having a moment." I said, "Absolutely," because I have moments too, and I don't. I I go to my wife. I don't have anybody I can walk up to and say, "Here on this ranch, hey hey, will you pray for me today? I'm struggling." My wife's the only one that knows that.

Okay, here are the signs and. He's he's starting to go into that hole, Jack.

So the relationship to answer your question between the two of us is so strong, based primarily on our depression. And the book goes through your Super Bowls, it goes through your cancer, back to cancer, being on the set, and all those years.

So let me ask him. When I talk to Jay, he's always upbeat in real life. I knew him when he was a reporter at the New York Post. And it was not a bad day that the guy had. And then you see him on the Super Bowl, and he seems like every day seems so important to him.

Look at what he's done with his career. And I look at you on and off camera. I don't think I've ever met anyone happier. Are you acting? Are you acting when I see you on television?

When I see you in the green room? Oh, absolutely not, Brian. I've said this to people because I say, "Well, how can you have depression because you're always happy? I choose to be happy." I choose to be happy. I I am a naturally uplifting guy.

I I crawl out of bed feeling great, or or or looking on the positive. I go through my life laughing and and enjoying life. But I struggle. But I I choose to fight and and to basically you learn how to hide it. But no.

What happens with depression? It doesn't rob you of your personality; it's there. And one of the things you'll find out about people that are clinically depressed, like myself, is when we get focused on something, we lock in. All right, we lock in.

So if I'm fishing, I'm locked in. If I'm judging horses, I'm locked in. No matter what kind of day I'm having, so I can I can control certain amount of it. But it's when you're not focused on something you really enjoy that's when the heaviness takes over and makes you sick at your stomach.

So. Yeah, I'm a happy guy. I'm always going to be a happy guy. Just having illness.

So when I when I I was sports fan since the day I was born, I think, and I remember watching you. You're older than me, but I watching you in your time. But I remember there were four quarterbacks in the Steelers, and it looks for a while that you weren't going to get that starting job. Right, John Gillum started for a while. Terry Handrady, Handrady started for a while.

You threw, I guess, people were saying you threw too many interceptions, took too many chances.

Well, people just remember the four Super Bowls in the dynasty, and the offense is good as a. Right, but but how did you handle knowing that you could tend to see things, depression in your twenties and thirties? How did you handle when people were telling you you weren't good enough? The problem was, Brian, I didn't know I was. Clinically depressed.

I didn't know. I thought it was just. Listen, you lose a loved one. You have something bad happen to in your life. Every human being alive is going through depression.

It's those of us that that it is a recurring thing. No matter what. No matter how our life is going, it's there and it comes upon you. Those times were hard. I went.

I actually, I actually went to prayer. And I did not know what was wrong with me. I did not know why things were affecting me the way they should. I should have been stronger, more vocal, more in control. And I couldn't.

I didn't understand it. And so I just sought solace in prayer. I felt that God—not that I was going to be great—I just felt like. That with being a Christian, I just felt like I could I could survive, I could endure. I wasn't trying to win a Super Bowl back then.

I was I was trying to figure out my life. I was twenty two, twenty three year old kid, very immature. Went to a small school, not used to not used to the media or anything like that. Everything was new to me. I didn't understand being booed.

I didn't understand being bent. I didn't understand a coach telling his starting quarterback, "If you play bad in the first quarter, I'm jerking your ass out of the game." I don't respond to that. Yeah, but if you love me, if you love me up, if you hug me up, if you If you feed me positive, man, I'll run through the wall and I'll and I'll exceed all expectations.

So, as great as Chuck Noel is, well, they say that Parcells was like that—that he could pick out that personality and say, "I can't ride this guy." But as great as Chuck Noel was, he did not he did not disseminate that maybe this is not working for Terry. Right. I I found out later. After he had passed away, I found out that he had told one of the offensive coaches, "I'm going to ride him hard. I'm going to tear him down.

You, you build him up." He wanted. He listen to Chuck's credit. He knew I was immature. He knew he had to toughen me up. He knew.

He knew I had talent. But he knew that also. I was extremely immature. He would tell me, "You got to play like Bob Griese. I want you to be like Johnny Unitas.

I want this. I want that." And I'm just like, "Why have I got to be all these people?" I'm just, I'm, I'm who I am. I'm a freelance quarterback. I play by the seat of my pants. Like Brett Farb, like the Brett Farb style.

Give me some similar. Yeah, I was a gunslinger. I liked to throw it deep. I hated five yards. Back in my era, completion percentage, Brian, was not that big a deal.

It was winning. It was not.

Well, he completed seventy percent.

Well, it's his passer rating is this. I never cared. Those things weren't brought up. What was brought up was winning. That's why.

You win, you win Super Bowls, and you're calling your own plays. And the image of being dumb, which should have been shot and thrown away, because those are tough things to do. Is call call the right play in a pressure moment, and and excel and succeed at it. And after a while, you just get you get so beat up by people. That are saying, well, now you won because of the running game.

Absolutely, you won because of great defense. Absolutely, but let me stop you right there. What great team, Tom Brady included, didn't have great people around him and didn't have great defense and great coaching? We all have the same formula. That's why I say on Fox pregame show, give me some defense, give me a running game.

Giving me a quarterback, but talent—I'm going to win ball games. Yeah, you almost get to a point too, whether you have depression or not. With so there's so many critics, you're like, "The hell with it!" Either you give up or you say, "I'm not going to listen to any of it," and I'm going to just work my way through it. And then I remember this: How much I followed your career, and I told you this on television. Then you became a play by a a color guy with Vern Lundquist before you got the studio show.

And I read how you lost all your confidence. I go, "What? You lost your confidence?" And he built you up and told you you could do this. And I go, "Wait." He's won four Super Bowls. He's an actor.

He's in these great movies. How could he lose his confidence? But it just shows you it happens to everybody. Hey, look, Brian. If your boss walks in there today and he's telling you, "Hey, Brian," oh no, man, you're doing a lousy job.

I don't know why we hired you. First of all, how did you know that doesn't happen yet?

Well, I don't. But my my point is. As everybody, I think everybody that is successful in life, with few exceptions, obviously, are are people that had to go through some tremendous adversity. And here is the credit I've said this so many times. I'm most proud of the fact that I didn't give up.

Cause I could have. Yep, I was beat up so bad emotionally. I could have. I could have given up, but I got so mad. And this is—I don't.

I'm not proud to tell you this, Brian, but I became a real jerk. Personally, I became a real jerk. I became a hateful person. Nobody knows this, but I had to find this demon inside of me that could help me fight all this negative, and I had to get. I had to put this wall up, and I had to get so strong.

And I'm so proud of the fact that I have I have that wall. I can hide behind that wall. I can use it to motivate me, and it did. And I got to a point where. Criticism doesn't bother me.

That's fine. I get it right now. Get it all the time. My wife is like, "Oh my God, I can't believe they said this," and I just start laughing. I said, "There's 350 million people in America.

If 175, or if that's 150 million, half of them like me. That's great. Another 150 are going to hate me. That's great. I mean, it's just life.

I know that. I know that feeling a lot, as you can imagine. You do. A couple of things about your business, by the way. We're talking to Terry Bradshaw, is best selling.

Book is now out. I'm sharing the bestseller list with you, so I'm a little bit angry. I'm competitive. We have very similar stories. You talk about depression.

I talk about our founding fathers in history. You can actually buy both books. I think you'd recommend that. He's the author of his brand new memoir, "Looking for Terry." So Terry, I got to say, I asked you something in the news. You know Joe Buck.

You know Troy Aikman. It looks like Buck gets a contract, and Aikman didn't, and they're not getting along. And they just basically admit it. They're not even speaking. You know.

These guys, how do you resolve that? I have talked to Buck via text and told him, "I don't. I don't assume everything I'm reading is correct." And I know Troy Aikman well; they're both real good friends of mine. I don't understand. Because Troy has a big contract now, and Joe Buck got a big contract, and I, I want to, I don't want to believe that it's the money that Buck got that's got Troy upset because Troy's making big money.

I don't. I, I have heard that. I've heard. That they were going to go into ESPN together and get a new deal together. Joe evidently got his before Troy, and that seems to be the rift.

It's about money. I find that hard to believe because Troy Aikman, Troy Aikman is, is not like that. He's not like that. And my my understanding right now, if things are okay, yeah, okay, but would it bother you if you and Howie would it bother you if you let's say that scenario, let's say you and Howie say let's stick together, and then it turns out Howie gets a contract and Terry doesn't. Who cares?

Up to Highway two or three times a week. I I could okay whatever he gets. No matter what we agreed to, we are like brothers. I'm having dinner with he and his wife Friday night when we get to Annapolis. I mean, we are brothers.

We've talked about contracts. We've talked we've talked about our life together. We have have a life together and how we built our relationship and made it so strong. And our bond is so good. Whatever he gets, no matter.

What we agreed, whatever he gets, whatever I get, he's fine with. I really don't care. It's it's none of my business. Know what I'm glad about? Know what I'm glad about?

All you guys getting paid. Because during your days, during your days, you weren't getting paid nearly what they're getting paid now.

So you were the best quarterback, making two hundred thousand dollars a year, the four-time Super Bowl champion. Brian, Brian, I was in Atlanta with with the Rooney family at a table negotiating my contract after being MVP in the Super Bowl twice and the MVP in the league once. And I looked at them and I asked for five hundred thousand dollars, and they they looked at me straight. Off the table, and they said you're not worth five hundred thousand dollars to the Steelers, and I went, oh, oh, what am I worth? Three hundred, okay.

So I signed. Wow.

So there you go. Three hundred thousand back back then is the new fifty million or whatever. I guess, but you should have been at the top of the game, and just to show you had to have a career afterwards, and you had to have a job in the offseason in many situations, right? Exactly. Congratulations on your book.

And I just want one time—if you and I go out to dinner, who pays? At this point, I do. You do? No, no, I do.

Okay, because number one, I'm older. I'm a lot older than you. And number two, I'm such a big fan of yours. There's no way I would. If I had to borrow the money, just pay for wine bill, I'll do it, brother.

Right? Because I know you're John. I know you said something about the Giants earlier. We're probably running out of time. But I love what John Harbaugh.

Is done with the Giants. Is it amazing? Just same players. It's awesome. It's just a.

Isn't it amazing when you get structure and a great. Yeah, I'm about. I'm about to get screamed at. You know what it's like. I know.

Terry, congratulations on the book. Go pick it up. Looking for Terry. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeade.

Hey, just a quick note. This this weekend, I'm going to be in Jacksonville on Sunday at the Florida Theater. United States tour, my brand new book that thankfully is number five in the country, two two straight weeks. It's these crucial moments that forge the American miracle. We're going to have a fun time, always entertaining and interesting, and we'll have a chance to talk about this election.

See you there, FrankKilmer.com. From the Fox News Radio studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade from 48th and 6th in midtown Manhattan heard around the country, around the world, is the Brian Kilmeade show. Big consequential day, big blue wave actually happened. I did not think it was going to be this convincing.

I thought it was going to be close. In one way, I'm kind of relieved, so we don't have a bunch of people saying there was a problem with the voting machines or anything like that. But Senate's 54-44 right now, with two in the balance. There are seven seats that flipped in the Senate as of right now. House is 231.

I have two thirty one one thirty now. When I got up, I didn't really update it, so it might be one or two off. We'll have to see where that goes.

So it looks like the one point seven percent in Alaska matters. Why? Because if the one point seven percent of people that voted for Dan Sullivan, you have to feel as though any vote for this guy that's not a real candidate that disappeared on election day, never campaigned one day, was put down. And you read the New York Times article or heard about it. He was he was recruited because his name.

Was Dan Sullivan? That one point seven percent of it went to real Dan Sullivan. He wins straight out and gets over fifty percent. But instead, it could be going to the rank choice voting. And we'll find out what happens, but it's not going to be consequential because the power in Washington flips to the Democrats in the House and Senate, and we'll see.

Now we hear people like Robert Garcia, who's going to be Chairman of Oversight, saying to Republicans, "Lawyer up." We see Jamie Raskin coming out and saying, "We are going to not just pursue Trump, but Hegseth as well as as well as RFK Jr." Can you imagine this, RFK Jr.? Why? Because you disagree with him. He's in too good a shape for a seventy year old. What are you talking about?

So I mean, the former Democrat who was roommates with Sheldon Whitehouse—it's unbelievable, but whatever. That would be a huge mistake. Is people going to govern? I love the president's tone last night. Cut three.

I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard. They were, you know, they've been fighting for a long time.

They've been fighting me for a long time. This fight's been going on for ages. You know, I started in. Really, if you look at it, I've been doing it for twelve years with them, and I've come up on top all the time. And this is—I don't say—you know—I don't like to consider it a defeat for me.

I was on the ballot. If you're on the ballot, it's different than if you're not on the ballot.

But nevertheless, you know, I feel badly for. A lot of very good Republicans, a lot of very good patriots that lost tonight. Because for them to lose is a tough thing.

Well, it looks like social media post. JD Vance has a different opinion. Says we lost because of the war. Whether it's worthwhile or not, cost to pay, it's what cost to. And he goes on.

And I'll look up. I'll try to get the exact tweet. But he just he was against the war to begin with.

So he's staking his claim for 28.

So when he goes around, he could say, "Yeah, you don't like the war. Join the club." Because he made it pretty clear. Also, his advice got us the war, but the worst of both worlds: the war people never got fully backing, and then the peace people didn't get fully backing. Let's do talks, but you're talking with no experience at all in dealing with the Iranians, and you delayed everything, allowed them to rebuild, so they come back. We put together the economic tranglehold, so for months we are best definitely dealing with the same.

We're definitely dealing with the the same situation with the Iranians and the Strait, and then the Houthis and their Red Sea, and all that. But Chris Christie has a different take. He believes he believes that this was very predictable. And I'm talking about the loss in Texas of governorship. I'm talking about Talerico winning in Texas.

I'm talking about El Saeed winning in Michigan and Susan Collins losing in Maine. I don't think all those were predictable. Cut seven. When you put Darling Graham losing, Paxton losing, and now Abbott losing. The Trump era is over.

It is over. You cannot lose at this level. We're we're looking at maybe 240 seats in the House. The the Democrats appear to be headed to a a majority in the Senate. And I think you're going to wind up with near 27 Democratic governors.

The Trump year is over, and when Greg Abbott, who was extraordinarily popular as a three-term governor, loses tonight in a state like Texas, I don't care what the president says on True Social. The Trump year is over. I don't think so. I think that he's got two years to accomplish a lot. He doesn't have to worry about another election, and we've seen something very similar.

With Obama and Clinton, and they ended up leaving with sixty percent approval ratings. If the president goes and gets that other gear, that gets the other gear, that gets deals done, and just kind of puts caution to the wind, I mean, there's a there's a big problem when you have another election and people are running on the right that supported you and say, "I want every single illegal alien out of this country," when we know it's not possible. Maybe there's extended work visa thing that we talked about for the meat packers and for the farmers that would make it possible to work, but don't give citizenship. Like that, he can honestly say, "Hey, listen, I got to make a decision, and in order to compromise, because I know I no longer have control of the House and Senate, this is what I have to do." I think there might be some deals there. I think the president's got another gear.

If he doesn't have another gear, I would agree with Chris Christie, but I sense that he does, and we'll we'll see what happens. We just do out some news too. When it comes to the minority leader, Jim Jordan made it clear I wanted he wants it, and Mike Johnson made it clear he doesn't, so he is now out. Britt Hume weighed in. On what this night meant, being he's got all the most experience in the building, cut nine.

It's going to be interesting to see what they do with the power that they that they are being granted tonight. And they need to remember something that presidents sometimes forget, which is it's a temporary grant of authority. Remember, George W. Bush famously said, "I didn't get 50 of the vote, but I got 100 of the presidency." That's technically accurate, but it leads you in a certain direction with ambitious agendas that come from claims of landslide. Certainly, President Trump claimed the landslide in his last election, which, if you go state by state and see how he pieces it together, it was close everywhere.

Yes, he ended up with a electoral college landslide. That's how the electoral college is structured. Be careful, Democrats, with the power you you're going to be granted tonight. Keep it in check, and that would be good. I would I would love to see politics matter less.

I mean, I like it, but there's so much other things to talk about. It's very similar to sports. It's my background, so I I kind of like it. But I, I don't want to be obsessive. Where people are walking around angry about a decision or a Democratic candidate or a Republican candidate, when it really very rarely does these type of things affect your lives directly.

Gradually, the good news is t here is like six or seven socialists, the so called block that Assange Piker controls. One of which he claims is Talarico, by the way, on the Senate side. There's such a distance now. Akeem Jeffries does not really have to be hostage, like like Mike Johnson was, to anybody that wanted to defect. He he only had the he only had as only three three or four seats to play with.

So that's the problem. That's going to be good for Democrats, if of course Akeem Jeffries not a radical. Maybe he is. We're about to find out.

So if he's an extreme, if he if he wants to be there a long time, if he wants to hold on to house for a while, the way to do it to win people over is to not go out and make yourself the enemy and make you and allow yourself to be used in attack ads. I mean attack ads because of what you do. Remember when Obama said, "I'll never forget when he got everybody around and they were talking about things they could do." When John McCain was at the table, John McCain brought up a few things about Obamacare, and the president said, "The campaign's over." And then he basically said to Eric Cantor, "Elections have consequences." So there you go. That's where he stood. Everyone said, "Okay, this is going to be ugly," and it was.

And he got shellacked in the midterms.

So this precedent for all of this. Caroline Levitt was on the was on the desk last night. Cut twenty five. The environment was worsened by the prices at the pump. It's just a reminder to the American people every single day, every week, when they go to fill up their gas pump, of the economic indicators.

We have strong economy, but when people are filling up their gas tank and they see four, five, six dollars a gallon in some states at the pump, that's very disheartening. And I think that played out at the polls today. Yeah, I think I think it's right. That's that's way way it played out. But I also wonder this.

I also wonder, in the big picture, if there was no war and there was no economic challenges, if it was just kind of flip, maybe not flip as much afterwards. Just because people want to get the sense that oh, he's a lame duck president. We want to make a change. I just don't know if Kansas gets blown out in Kansas. You get blown out in Maine, first time ever.

In Michigan, a terrible candidate, radical candidate, beats a very traditional Republican, Mike Rogers, abundantly qualified. I'm just wondering, really, you really think that these men and women running against the Republicans would have switched if gas was just a dollar less a gallon? I don't know how much was already baked in the cake the minute Trump won in 2024. We'll have to see. And I guess tomorrow starts.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday. They'll be taking a bow on the Sunday shows. I got it, but soon it's about okay. What are we gonna do?

Well, let's sue. Let's indict. Let's subpoena.

Okay, did that before, and it's back to that whole same thing. I I won, you lost.

So now it's time for me to get the hammer. All right. I thought it was interesting that Governor DeSantis comes out great. Why? Because he hands over the governorship to another Republican.

Byron Donalds makes history. Was magnanimous in his acceptance speech. I'll play when we get back. But I also thought it was important because Florida held the Senate seat. The woman that he appointed gets her full six years now in Marco Rubio's seat, and they did pretty good throughout the state.

Here's what he said about two hours ago about the election, and I think what he's trying to say is, I'm putting my stake in the ground. I'm a lame duck governor. But I know what the two years is. Of the ten largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state—the state of Florida. If you look at our chief rival, in a healthy sense, the state of Texas—and I would say over the last over my lifetime, Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics.

I think we've been the leader. For Republicans and conservatives, since I've been governor, but if you go over the whole generation, no one holds a candle on the Republican side to the Lone Star State, and yet not only did they lose a very highly publicized U.S. Senate race, they lost everything. The governor, attorney general, all the other statewide, they lost four Republican Supreme Court justices on the Texas Supreme Court. They may even lose the Texas Legislature or one house or even both.

Let's just be clear that that is going to hurt. Not just for the next two years. That's something that can reverberate for the next decade or more. And if the Republican Party doesn't have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally going forward. All right, that is Ron DeSantis, and he looks good.

Look, there's no Donald Trump to get in his way. The the deck is cleared. I think he relishes the idea of taking on J.D. Vance. I think that if money gets behind him, he'll do it.

I do, even though at a conversation with him, and I'm not going to get specific because I didn't say I would, but I was said he's not decided and he's not convinced this is the cycle to do it. But if you're out of the office so long, it's hard to come out of and say, "Well, I last had the job four, six, eight years ago, and this is what I did." Now make me president? That almost never happens.

So we'll have to see if Ron DeSantis is going to go join the administration for a while, if there's a position that opens, or is he just going to say, "Okay, in six months, I'm going to decide whether I'm going to get in or not." And I know what mistakes I made last time, and I know President Trump is not against me because we made it pretty clear there were friends down, and it's pretty clear he is friends with Trump. And I know people say it's it might not be the it is. They're done. They they fight and they're done.

So they get along, just like Ted Cruz gets along with the president. Just like Marco Rubio gets along with the president. When they clash, the president goes for the jugular, but it's done.

So those are two things he needs out of the way. Number one, does he have a message and track record? Yes. Number two, is it different from JD Vance's? Absolutely.

Would he be intimidated running against JD Vance? Absolutely not. Do you think the president would come out against him? No. Even if he says JD is my guy, I want him to win.

DeSantis will say thanks. I appreciate that, but I'm still going. Although I just don't think Marco is. You're listening to Brian Kilmeade Show. In a world of noise, get the signal sharp, informative, and always on point.

You're listening to Brian Kilmeade. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kilmeade show. I want to congratulate David on a hard-fart race. Because the truth is, in our state, we have people who are struggling.

We have people who are looking at their insurance bills. We have people who are looking at their bank accounts, not month in, month out, day in, day out, trying to figure out how they're going to make ends meet. And my mission as Florida's next governor is to make sure that they can build a great life here in the great state of Florida. And there is that—that is a magnanimous Byron Donald. The first thing he did is thank his opponent, Dave Jolly.

Said, "I got two calls: one from Dave Jolly, one from the president, and he ran a great race." That's classy, Martha McCallum. Fresh off hours of coverage, great job last night, as usual, for Fox. For Fox, historic wins almost everywhere for Democrats, but I liked Donald's approach. Hey, I won, but but now it's time to govern. Let's move on.

That's how you win with crowds.

Well, it was a slim win. Um, so he's speaking to all of Florida. Um, it was much tighter than anyone expected. President Trump said that last night to us when he called in. Uh, like like wow, that was that was, that's a whew.

In Florida, similar Rick Scott the first time is similar to DeSantis, but you have much more Republicans in the state. Yeah, but I mean, you look at what what President Trump pulled off in twenty twenty four and DeSantis, where they won big in Miami Dade County. I mean, they won places in urban Florida that had not been won by Republicans before.

So, I think everyone needs to be very clear eyed about what was said last night, and it was clearly a repudiation of the current policies by a lot of people. Across the country, some of these races are closer than other places, and I think we need to point out that margin is not big. But I think Donald's is really speaking realistically. Here is Abdul El Sayed. The opposite way to me, you should act when you win.

Cut twenty nine. Donald, look, I know you you struggled with my name.

So after J D swears me and January, you can just go on and call me Senator. To the super PACs and special interests who tried to beat us, we are coming for your system of politics. Yeah, and he also said this. Listen to this, cut twenty-eight. My name is Abdulrahman Mohammed Sayed, and I am so proud and honored.

To stand here as your senator elect from the great state of Michigan, so then he went on to call out J.D. and everybody else. But Martha, so he's right. Trump was right. His name is Mohammed.

I mean, remember he said Mohammed Abdul. His name is Rock Abdul Rahman Mohammed El Sayed.

So he's right. Yeah. So that what does that tell you?

So I listened to his whole speech again this morning. I think it was around two thirty in the morning. It was I did go to bed right before that, and I really advise everyone to listen to that entire speech. Much in the same way that it was important to listen to Mamdani's entire speech, which was interesting in a different way because it really turned about halfway through. It was sort of gracious at the top, and then it was like we're coming for your system.

In in the back half, but one of the things I notice, you know, a couple of this is a very good politician, Abdullah Sayed. He's excellent at this, and you know the fact that he has this mantra that is, you know, money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all, and people chant it back at him. If you listen to what's going on in that room, it's very organic. It's it's real enthusiasm and real support.

So to deny it and to just call him, you know, a crazy nut is, I think, to to to miss some of the messages that are out there. And I think Republicans and all Americans need to sort of absorb what's going on in this moment. And there's a lot of diversity in this group. He is clearly on the far left end of this group, as are the other members of the block, and then. Got Josh Gottheimer, who was on this morning, also won his race.

So, but but I think it would be it'd be a mistake to you know sort of to to not be very clear-eyed when you look at what. And then you see this one thing that happened before the election results were in, where this guy reporter went up to him, asking him questions. He put his hand on both of them, saying, "Nobody cares. You don't vote here." And that attitude, by the way, with his hands on the guy's shoulder, he has a huge edge, and he's angry. He's angry.

He he was like that the whole. Time through, and I think you know that that's who he is. That's who he is. I think you know some of what was said during the campaign is is maybe you know maybe was too far.

Some of it maybe was too far. Mike Rogers lost by a lot, so I thought that that would be the moment just to call him a terrorist, for example. You thought that was too much. I yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously, it didn't work with people in Michigan.

He won. The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmeade. We knew was going to be close, right? We knew we probably wouldn't get final results for days.

You know, given our system. By the way, I haven't looked, but I sure the heck hope yes on two is winning. I hope. We got to do that. We got to do that.

But I'm confident when all the votes are counted, I will have the honor of representing you in the United States Senate again for six more years. Senator Dan Sullivan is now down by a few votes to Mary Peltola, and but it's ranked choice voting.

So, Martha McCallum, our guest, Martha, as you know, ranked choice voting says if you don't get to fifty percent, we kick out the other candidate. I thought it was two candidates.

Someone said it's only one. I'd like to know from you if you know. I think they go through rounds. If they don't get to fifty, they do the the one down the line, and then the other one. But people also have a choice.

You don't have to check other boxes other than the person you you checked.

So. And that was something that I know the Sullivan team was encouraging people to do.

So the other Dan Sullivan got one point seven percent. Yeah, and if he got that one point seven, I know Dan Sullivan would have won already. Yeah, that's right.

So, so this could go on for quite a long time. I mean that that triggers the issue of fraud of all of it.

So that's the margin that the DOJ has been looking at. I had Todd Blanche, the Attorney General, on yesterday, and that is they're in the zone right now in Alaska where this could trigger something very long. But do you think the litigation just happens after? That has nothing to do with the vote. Would you say that?

Well, it takes them 15 days, I think, to certify the vote in Alaska.

So you have to go through all of that process first.

Okay.

So when the president joined you last night, would you think? You know, I was glad that he he was willing to call in. It was obviously a long night. He was very gracious. I thought about congratulating Democrats.

He likes fighters. He felt like they ran some good campaigns out there and that they won, and he gave them credit for that. I think it was such an overwhelming win that he was not. You know, he said, "I'm not going to contest these races." I think the message is pretty clear. He said that he was going to.

Veto things that he felt were dangerous for America. Here is what he said to Brett Baer about a shakeup, cut five. Do you think, Mr. President, that you're going to make changes in your cabinet as a result of this? No, I don't think so.

Had nothing to do with my cabinet. It was just a point. Honestly, look, I've been doing a lot of great things for a long time, and it's just a point in time. You think that holds up? Do you think there's changes?

I mean, people might want to move on too. Yes, I think some people will want to move on within the team. Probably, I think he's right. Actually, I don't think the cabinet is the place where where the blame lies necessarily. I think that there is a bit of fatigue, and I think there is fatigue with the war and fatigue with prices.

But I also think, you know, the one place I would say is that that the messaging. To me, around the war in Iraq, in Iran, excuse me, has not been great. We were not attacked. We have been attacked by Iran many times. We've we've lost thousands of Americans.

But I think that the argument, when you're not attacked, when you don't have that Pearl Harbor moment or that 9/11 moment, you have to really bring the country along with you, and you have to repeat and go over all the time why we're doing this, why sacrifice is necessary, why it's okay that you. You know your gas prices are a little bit higher right now. I also think, and he touched on it last night, and I've been talking about this story a lot. You know, Iran is out of oil now. The Strait is pushing out more, more oil to the world than it did before February 28th.

This, I think, this tipping point is happening already. That will eventually bring down prices.

So, you know, I think that the communication on the war was has not been great.

So they say there's three factions. There's a JD Vance faction, which is and Susie Wiles. End this. There's a faction of Scott Bessent for different reasons. I think right.

Scott Scott Bessent, Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe keep the economic stranglehold on, and the Pete Hegseth, Bibi Netanyahu is go for the jugular now. Take out the third side, the pickaxe side. Make sure the other side is devastated again, and then take out what's left of the regime. Yeah, I think that's absolutely accurate. The president mentioned General Kiyan to us last night when he was talking with us, and he talked about the difference.

You know, he's a you know there are different opinions in my in my circle about what we should do next, and he said he was considering it all and trying to figure out what he should do. I just go back to none of this ever ends without you know with the IRGC and the Ayatollah still in place. It just gets drawn out.

Now we have the supreme leader. He says the prosser just put this out on social media. The prosser of the USA's U.S.'s collapse is accelerated. This maimed Republican suffered a stunning wipeout. That many of the Trump's political advisors attributed to the war with Iran, which caused high energy prices.

He goes on to say, the current Republican held House and Senate voted this this year.

Now that didn't finish that quote. Um.

So he he goes on for a long social media post, but they the I this is a win for the IRGC too. They think absolutely, at least for now. No, I can't see any other interpretation of it. They're going to sort of see the future of a democratic leadership along the lines of Obama and Biden, who paid them tons and tons of money, unfroze their assets, and agreed to things that they were never that they never intended to stick to. They were already cheating on the nuclear program, absolutely, and they were already enriching at three point four percent.

There's got to be zero enrichment, no nuclear program, and that supreme leader now who's been maimed and his family. Wiped out is less accommodating than he might have been even to do lip service as a deal. But J.D. Vance of all people is engaging with the worst of the IRGC. He's got no experience with these guys.

I think he. Everybody knows where he stands. He just told everybody he's against the war multiple times.

So knowing that, he gives away his hand immediately. As a negotiator, I think that's true. But as you know, this this is JD Vance's political stance. He believes that this. You know, I think he makes it more clear all the time.

And with these posts today, he is in the camp of ending this, getting out of it. The question is, what do you leave behind, and are you actually solving any problem?

So you know, if we're all okay living with the IRGC and emboldening their proxies and making a deal that allows them to have more money, that will continue. To support. I mean, look at the beginning of that post. The unraveling is happening.

So this is what the IRGC wants to see. They want the United States to unravel, and they want it to end as a power structure in the world. That there's there's no getting around that. But I think Putin, like the supreme leader, they have no idea about democracy. They think we're arguing.

They think we're coming apart. They just don't get that that's part of the whole process in their elections.

Well, I mean, I I think that there. I think they understand the impact of.

Social media. I think that you know China as well has infiltrated our society in many ways, our economy, our universities, all of it.

So I think they poke at the underpinnings of of American democracy and our government structure and our values all the time. And I think that there are some signs in this election outcome that you know some of that stuff is working. And the other thing is, the president now has nothing to lose.

So and he feels like that's right.

So that's the other thing is I don't have any two years to worry about. Two years to work on his legacy and the things he really cares about, and and this seems to be one of them.

So this week you're going to be joining me on One Nation, talking about your brand new book. Can you give us a preview? Yeah, you know what? I woke up this morning thinking about the book of valor because I think as Americans, when you go through shocks like this, it's really important that we get back to who we are and what we value. You look at the Revolution, you look at the people who came over on the Mayflower, you look at the men who fought in World War One and World War Two, who came from small towns across America who fought against tyranny.

I think that more than ever, we need these stories of valor to. Remind us of who we are. We're independent. We're free-thinking. We're capitalists.

We are people who are the most generous country in the world to helping others in need around the world. And so, I think more than anything today, we need a book of valor, and we need to read it and learn the lessons. And that we go started the main fire. You work right through right the way through Afghanistan. Afghanistan.

So yeah, we're going to talk about that on Sunday, and you could order it now, right? Correct. Yeah, pre-sale is open, and the book will be. Officially released on November 10th. All right, fantastic, Martha.

More on that in a moment, and then we're going to find out who's going to be on your show at three o'clock. Back in a moment. Learning something new every day on the Brian Kilmeade Show. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmeade.

Voters wanting politicians to respond and meet them where they are. That's the lesson from this election tonight. And as excited as I am as a Democrat. I know the next two years. Tomorrow is when the hard work starts, and the next two two years are going to be important.

I do hope Democrats understand that we lost a little bit of ourselves over the last few years, talking about defunding law enforcement and demolishing borders. That's not what tonight was about, and I hope after a little celebration tonight, we get back to the business of responding to people.

So, Harold Ford, much more looking looking ahead. Martha McCallum here getting set to host her show at three o'clock. And her book, the book of valor: America's story of survival, gallantry, and grace, comes out next Tuesday. But Martha, Harold struck the right tone. The question is.

Does that echo at all? Does that resonate at all with the leadership that's about to take over in Washington? It should. Harold always strikes the right tone. He's a very sort of.

Pragmatic and gracious thinker, and he loves the country.

So I think you know his Democrat politics are perhaps not what we saw a lot of last night. But I think if they're smart, they will do that. I don't know if they're smart though. I mean, Trey Gowdy argued the other side of that equation, which is oversight investigations, anger at Trump, and that if they don't act on that, their their supporters are going to be angry.

So we'll see. We'll see what happens. I guess we. See the tone, so we'll see where it goes from here. Because we did see a lot of people talk about lawyer up, Robert Garcia, lawyer up.

Who do you think's going to be in trouble? Are they going after the staffers that make you know fifty thousand dollars? They got to go get a lawyer now. Yeah, I mean. I think you know they're talking about Peter Hegseth.

They're talking about family members, Trump family members. They're talking about RFK. You know, I think it's you know, I think it's ugly, but I think they're going to say you know that that there are parallels of from what has happened over the last few years.

So investigations. I think Americans, in many ways, are they want to be lifted up at this point, and I think if Democrats are smart, they'll probably try to do that. Will they be able to succeed with these? Policies, probably not. But if it's anger met with anger, it's going to be destructive.

It'd be very interesting to see if people start doing deals. Like we weren't working together yet when Bill Clinton was doing deals with Newt Gingrich, and they end up being Bill Clinton's deals, totally. And the people we weren't like, hey, the speaker. Welfare to work. You know, I mean, he recognized in 1994 that the message that was sent, and he started working with the other side.

President Trump told us last night he's willing to work with the other side, and one of the the only specific policy he mentioned was immigration. That could be very interesting. I mean, you know, Marco Rubio had an immigration bill with the Gang of Four, I think it was, when he was running for president in 2016, and it hurt him because voters didn't want to hear that necessarily. Who ended up voting for president? Trump, but I think there's you know there's potential to revisit that and to put this issue to bed once and for all to have a structure that works.

I don't think Democrats want it. Because they see how no, they love they yeah. I'm just saying, can I salt this away? Because he sealed the border.

Well, then make them vote on it. Make them vote on it. Make them prove that they do not want to find a solution to immigration. No, what I'm trying to say is, I think you might be right. I'm trying to say this: the Democrats go, I'm willing to take it off the table because it doesn't work for us.

It's a Republican issue. And I'm thinking, he said, "You seal the border. You did the hard part.

So now, what can I get from him? Oh, what about the dreamers? Oh, you got the dreamers. All right, what can I get from Trump? Because he's now knows even his party, the most conservative, now knows he doesn't have the power.

So what can I get?

Well, how about the meat packers and the farmers who have these guys who've been here for years? They don't. They get a extended work visa, and we look at some criteria with that.

So." You could fix this and then modernize it because they all they all the only thing I remember at twenty twenty four was pretty pervasive as we kind of blew it. We opened the border and we denied it, and then that's he came in and said, "Look at this problem." Bill Maloujin revealed it, and Briff Jenkins.

So they might be like, "Look." I'll get rid of it because we don't we don't benefit from it anymore. And then I'm going to get to then I can go for the Hispanic button and say, look what I did, right? I naturalized them. But I think you have to have you know an English requirement. You have to have assimilation as part of it in terms of the the terms of it.

I think you have workers who are needed here that could be negotiated. But on the other hand, if you steal a piece of gum. You you are out. You know there has to be a contract that does not allow any law infraction. It's like you're here.

It's a test. If you fail the test, you're out. And now, and these cities absolutely no. That's what led to so much of this crime problem in the United States.

So here's what Mark Penn had to say from what he what he picked up, and he says what Republicans have to do: cut nineteen. It's a country of unhappy capitalists. Fundamentally, as you see in this poll, people are capitalism. If you ask free enterprise, it does twenty points better than capitalism. But they're unhappy about the economy today, even though it's good.

That is the challenge for the presidency and the Republican Party above everything else. That will be the big determinant of the next election, because these these voters, swing voters, thought they would get. Better economy. Thought they would get lower prices. Maybe they were unrealistic.

Maybe they just didn't give enough enough time. But I think that they have to be turned into happy capitalists in two years. I think it's possible. I think we did it actually in President Clinton's term.

So, what do you think about that? Obviously, he was all part of that. Yeah, he was. He was a part of it. You know, it feels like such a different time in so many ways.

Can we get back to that kind of? You know, occasionally working across the lines again. I am not so sure. I would also point out the other interesting thing. I thought Mark Penn said last night.

He said, "Watch Hispanic voters because they're showing the the country that they are open to voting for Democrats and Republicans. They are relatively new voters in some ways, and that you know, in 2024 they swung hard for President Trump.

Now they swung hard for Democrats in this election, but he said, you know, the the person who can can wrap their arms around Hispanic voters in terms and their number one issue was the economy. It wasn't immigration; it was the economy. But if you can win with them in 2028, you'll win the presidency.

So, a couple of the issues on energy, both Jefferson Schumer have said they would introduce legislation to restore phased out wind and solar credits, but they would run into some opposition from industry players who want to disprove arguments from Republicans that renew. Renewables can't compete without help.

So if you go help the renewables again, you're showing that it's not you know it's not workable. And the whole more subsidies for solar and wind. Do you think that that's winning? No, you have to let the market dictate these things. You know how much money was lost on windmills in the ocean?

They break. They don't work. They were never cleared through the EPA that they aren't dangerous to the ocean, which is just so ironic. You have the same people. Pushing for the same people who wanted to save the whales were pushing for windmills in the ocean that may have ended up killing them.

So that's a fight, absolutely.

So what about health care? Because they now Obamacare, the subsidies this year need an increase of thirteen percent.

So at what point do you? What point?

Well, you have some people saying Medicare for all is a travesty and train wreck. Four point seven billion trillion dollars, never not workable. But at what point do you say this is broken?

Well, I think it is broken. I think Obamacare has failed. The premiums keep going up, but you know, even when you go back to the origins of of Obamacare, Obama used to say, "Well, ultimately, what you want is a single payer system." So it was like a almost like a setup that really would wreck the health care system in the country and. Costs would rise. Doctors all get paid less than they used to.

There's very low incentive for a doctor to go into medicine today, and that it would just collapse. And then you get Medicare for all, which may be what you know. It's certainly what El Saeed is thinking is going to happen now.

So today, three o'clock. What do we say? I'm going to talk to Megan Romer, who is the co-chair of the DSA. Our viewers and listeners may remember she was on with Shannon Bream a few months ago over the summer, and she basically said, "Yeah, abolish." Abashed, the presidency, the Senate, the police.

So we're going to see where she is today. Yep, you're going to have to bow a few commercial breaks because you're going to be your jaw is going to be on the ground with almost every statement. Mark McCallum, thanks so much. Thank you, Brian. Good to be with you.

I wrote a little song to remind you. Choice hotels get you more of the experiences you value. The Cambria hotels got it all. A rooftop bar, have a ball. Cocktails up here feel just right.

This Cambria, amazing. All right. Bring a date, your team, or even your mom. Book direct at ChoiceHotels.com. See you on the road.