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Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. If we do not want violence on our subways, and the point of our justice system is a level of accountability to prevent a person who does not have remorse about taking another person's life. I mean, even people who have engaged in manslaughter or have taken a life accidentally express remorse.
And so the fact that a person has expressed no remorse indicates that there's a risk that it may occur. So which I found it amazing that Alexander Ocasio-Cortez in New York City, who spent a lot of time here in the subways, I imagine as a bartender. It doesn't matter how much money you have. You can't get anywhere in New York City without the subways, so you need it. She actually thinks that Danny Penny has made things more dangerous when he stood up to Jordan Neely. Nobody wants Jordan Neely to die, but he wanted to kill people on that subway if you listen to his words. Is that to take away the Democrats want to die? That's what we talk about after that case came to an end.
I think it should be about Alvin Bragg and the woke DAs hurting the party. John Reinish joins us now, Democratic strategist. John, you were shaking your head. Great to see you. Good to see you.
Thank you. You were shaking your head as you heard that. Well, I also took the subway here and the riders, commuters, tourists, it's Christmas, were crunched in the middle of the subway car because on both sides you had homeless people with their hands in their pants sleeping on the subway who looked like they were on drugs, looked like they were out of it. Look, people to your point are compassionate. No one wants to see a life lost, but when people feel threatened and when people feel the quality of life and public safety are crisis level and out of hand, they want to feel like elected officials, public safety officials are listening to their concerns, not calling them racist. Why would she say that? Would someone tell her to say that? I think this is how she thinks. I think plain and simple, AOC, the squad, et cetera, and you and I have talked about them many times, they are ideologues first and public officials second.
They don't prioritize public safety. She is going to be in a leadership position this year. Yes, she is. That's really going to improve Democrats' setting with swing voters is having AOC on the news every night as head of oversight. So we were just talking about Seth Moulton came out and said, you know, I got two daughters. I don't think they should be playing with transgender males. And he got such blowback, they're going to primary him.
The Tufts University said, we're no longer going to send interns to your office, whatever that means. But the symbolism is there. You know Seth Moulton. I do.
Very, very well. He's a great guy. He's a Democrat, ran for president, not a Trump fan.
Veteran. Would you all, yes, true, would you say he's center left? Would you say he's moderate? I would say he's a get it done guy. I'd say his temperament is moderate. His district, most importantly, is certainly very moderate.
He's from the North Shore of Boston, suburbs, etc. So this is not a guy with a super, super progressive district. Look, I think that the point of this whole argument is, again, as I said before, people are good. People are compassionate. The idea, the transgender argument, though, in that whole issue is new and foreign to the vast majority of Americans. It's not something that people know. It's a foreign concept. So the idea that Democrats are being seen as prioritizing an issue like that, as, you know, making that a litmus test of some kind, is a huge mistake to make. Bring the American people along in time the way other social change movement has, and maybe you get a shot, but why lead with it? Right. John, I don't think we're going to evolve like same sex marriage.
Probably not. We're never going to evolve on that because you're not asking people to go with horrible white males. Everybody likes to target white males because they've had it too good for too long.
But when you go ahead and target women and say that, wow, I'm not making that team, I'm not in that lineup. I got destroyed. I got slammed in the head in volleyball. I still have headaches today.
I got lost my gold medal in boxing. That's what you're talking about. Like you're you're going against a group of people that work very hard. Sure. Just 130 years ago, weren't able to vote. Right. Right.
I think that's very true. I think it also, though, goes to the point of why are we not listening to voters and meeting them where they are? When voters say the economy is bad, why are we handing them data and white papers and saying, no, no, the economy is actually really good when people are concerned about. You're talking about Bidenomics last summer. I'm talking about Bidenomics last summer. But but also it's not just Biden. The party has recently made some terrible decisions over the last several years to follow D.C. insulated elites down these rabbit holes that are unrelatable to voters. So a lot of people thought and this was a conventional wisdom after Mitt Romney lost. Republicans change your spots, man. Every time you talk about cracking down on the border, Hispanics get the message you don't like them. So they did an autopsy and he said, don't bring it up.
But then comes Trump who doesn't got to keep your autopsy. And it turns out every time he talks stuff on the border, he seems to gain Hispanic votes to the point where it's in the 40s now of approval because Hispanics are Americans first. They're proud of the way they came.
They're proud of their work ethic and their family first. So obviously, I think if Democrats realize that we could together crack down on the border and realize it's not anti-Hispanic or anti-immigrant. But again, also ask actual Hispanic voters in cities on the border what their opinions are. Don't go to the same woke D.C. groups that the party has ended up going to. Those are activists led out of touch with voters. Talk to actual voters. So Congressman Cuellar is somebody who's always had it right. One hundred percent. And he was told go jump in a lake by two Democratic administrations.
We don't want to hear from you. Instead of bringing him in. Because he was pro-life. Do you think it's more pro-life or more strong on the border? No, that was the exact issue, as you'll remember, is he was primaried by a local activist, cheered on. Elizabeth Warren campaigned down there. AOC campaigned down there. And their main anger at him was not about border issues, but about the fact that he dared to be pro-life and go against party orthodoxy.
So he got canceled. Democratic strategist John Ryan is here. So John, where do you stand or should the Democratic Party stand when it comes to illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities? I think you should listen to voters who have spoken loud and clear over the last several years who have said that they want a secure border. Period. End of story. So in Massachusetts, the mayor and governor, even though it's cost them two billion dollars, they say we're going to support sanctuary cities in San Diego. They said the same thing.
They took a vote to reaffirm and L.A. County the same thing. But listen to Chicago residents two weeks ago. You so strong about protecting those aliens, but you won't do nothing for the U.S. citizens. Here you are with an under-gritty property tax hike, trying to push the have-nots to house your precious illegal immigrants. You told Trump you ain't going to blink.
Well, we ain't either. You ain't above the law. And what are you going to run to when Trump pulls that Trump card out on you?
I will make it my duty to try to get my good diploma. Where's your great lord? 12.0 in Chicago and lock all you crooked Democrats and judges up. And it's just like that. Those inner city working class voters in Chicago. Right. So, John, you're a Democrat and you want to and you're listening to this.
And this is the time to reset soon. Both parties are going to be in their corners and getting ready for the midterms. What's your takeaway? Well, first of all, I think the Democrats should get out of their corner because sitting there in their corner, which gets smaller and smaller with every election, is not exactly serving us. We haven't had a big win in a dozen years since the second time that Obama had had a big win.
So read the tea leaves, read the room. If you're not winning big, you're doing something wrong. It's not the voters who are doing something wrong.
We're doing something wrong. And now when I listen to the clips you just played, Brian, this isn't surprising. You know, I'm not cherry picking them.
You know, I could have gone for 12 or 15 of them. Sure. I'm sure that they were fairly, you know, across the board and whatever this town hall or public event or news show was. You go out and listen to voters. Look at how black and Hispanic voters in New York City, liberal, deep blue New York City, swept for Trump. And it was largely along the lines of anger over the migrant crisis.
People are struggling and then they see migrants who are here getting $300 a week cash cards to go and spend however. And what do you expect people are going to react? People are going to be angry. There is so much anger at a broken system.
Can you bring me into the school of thought? Because you had a Democratic mayor and Mayor Adams say I need in the beginning I wear a sanctuary suit. We're so proud of it. Welcome all the buses from Texas. And then he said, wait a second, I have 67,000 illegal immigrants and no federal money. Right.
And the White House reaction was not to take his calls. Correct. So so bring me inside the thought like when you hang out with the other consultants. Who's right? I mean, when you sit around and say the other consultants would not say that I was right coming here and telling the truth on on matters like this. But look, I think, you know, for Mayor Adams, at first step, you want to think these are people who have been bust across the country, only the clothes on their back, women and children, etc. So you want to put your best foot forward. But then reality sets in and you've got to your point, 67,000 people straining law enforcement, straining the city budget, straining schools.
You have a quality of life situation playing out. And then you're hearing from your constituents and then the reality of, oh, God, what do we do now sets in. And then you turn to the White House and they say, go pound sand.
What are you supposed to do? I mean, if you had a younger, more vibrant president and maybe he got caught up in the chief of staff, it didn't get to him. But for a while, Mayor Adam says, I'm a Biden guy. He was going to be on the reelect Biden campaign.
Yes, he was. So at one point when a guy's been in this business for 50 years, why don't you go, hey, guys, they're drowning in New York. I can't let these guys twist here. I can lose. I can lose more House seats. I could lose the Senate, you know, not Senate seat.
Gillibrand was never threatened. But we could be losing ground. You saw that you saw that Zeldin got within four points. So why wouldn't they say, we've got to take his call? Like, who are the people that said don't worry about it? A big problem is that Biden was surrounded the whole time he was in office by a very close group of very, very loyal to a fault aides who put him first, access to him first, loyalty to him first. And they created an impenetrable wall around themselves and the president.
I would put in there his family also. And they were so insular and prioritize their own power of access to the president first, where they made themselves an institution that was so out of touch. And it was an us or them mentality.
And Adams ended up being them and not us. Very interesting. So everyone's focused now on retribution. Is Donald Trump going to get retribution?
Here's what he said Sunday. Are you going to do that? Are you going to go after Joe Biden? I'm really looking to make our country successful.
I'm not looking to go back into the past. I'm looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success. If we can make our success in this country successful, that would be my greatest.
That would be such a great achievement. Bring it back. And he also went on to say another great line, which was, what do you say to people didn't vote for you? I love you just the same.
I'm here for you anyway. And I talked about the MAGA movement and he went back and finished off on that. So that's the message. People keep feeling retribution. We're talking about preemptive pardons. Are you for the preemptive pardon? You know, look, if I were any of these folks who, you know, I think that someone like, you know, the former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, whatever you will say about her, she is a strong individual.
She can stand on her own two feet. Does she want a preemptive pardon from an outgoing president? Has anyone asked Liz Cheney or Adam Schiff or any of these other folks, hey, is this something that you want?
It seems performative. Right. So what is the right message? So, John, by the way, who is some of the candidates you work with? I work with, I actually have a candidate who's a young outsider candidate for DNC chair, who's someone who wins a Trump district in upstate New York by 15 points and outruns the Democratic Party in his very red district. He's coming on the show soon, actually. So I'm very proud to be working with him because he is an outsider voice.
His name is James Skoufis. He's a very interesting young guy, 37 years old, had office since he was 25, wins a very red district. That's the kind of candidate I love to work with because you're breaking new ground. So tell me, who are some of the candidates that you'd bet on? Everyone goes to Governor Shapiro. Sure.
What do you think? I actually think that, you know, again, one of the most unfortunate circumstances of the Biden-Harris administration is he was supposed to be a bridge to the next generation and then he closed the gates and he never lived up to that. There are a lot of young and talented people. To your point, everyone brings up Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Bashir in Kentucky. Those are all young, really dynamic folks.
I would also say let's look at what is the secret sauce of Elisa Sloch and Ruben Gallego. They outran Harris, won in purple states. They actually had campaigns that showed that they knew how to listen to voters and they knew how to listen to voters' concerns and talk about the economy, talk about education, talk about housing costs, choice, et cetera, school choice, affordability. They didn't talk like academics. School choice is something I thought the Democrats 10 years ago were going to be running on. They're not. They're against it. It's because of the teachers' unions.
That's it. But school choice does seem to be a Democratic ideal, isn't it? Why should people stuck in bad school districts be forced to go there? Isn't that the ultimate progressivism? Can't they take their money and go somewhere?
Isn't that perfect? You would think so until nobody wanted to get crossways with the teachers' union. But that's another example, Brian, of party leaders not listening to their constituents.
I work with another organization. They'd be great to come on the show, National Black Empowerment Action Fund. They polled in majority black districts, Cori Bush's former district, or about to be former because she's got a pink slip from her own constituents. Yeah.
And Jamal Bowman's. And they polled black voters in lower and middle income areas who said that their top concerns were jobs, economy, affordability, public safety, housing costs, and school choice. Being able to choose the public school for their kid, charter school, whatever it's going to be. The Democratic Party recently has said no to them. These are people who hear the word no a lot. John Ryan, last question. You have only a two and eventually a five vote difference in the House. What should be the approach of Akeem Jeffries?
Stop. There's a lot of people that, one, act like Republicans like Tom Suozzi in New York. A lot of these Democrats over in California came back and got their seats back in some cases.
What should their approach be? Because I'm sure you want to get the House back. Of course. And I'm sure you want to get some Senate seats back. Yeah, of course.
That's true. Look, again, I think the point should be, and I actually wouldn't say that these folks acted like Republicans. They acted like common sense, non-ideolog Democrats who listened to their constituents and got stuff done. So should Jeffries say march with me or pick your spots? I think that Jeffries should say what is right for your district and how are we going to win the House back. Let's listen to voters about what they want.
All right. That's going to be a very interesting time. John Ryan is a great Democratic strategist who wants to chart a different message and hopefully people are listening. The Fox News rundown, a contrast of perspectives you won't hear anywhere else. Your daily dose of news twice a day featuring insight from top newsmakers, reporters and Fox News contributors. Listen and subscribe now by going to Fox News podcast dot com.
