Friday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, RCP White House reporter Phil Wegmann joins Andrew Walworth and Tom Bevan to discuss how the pro-life movement could impact the midterm elections as Washington, D.C., hosts the 53rd annual March for Life and new polling suggests a majority of Americans support legal limits on abortion. They also ask whether Vice President Vance’s speech in Minnesota helped lower the temperature surrounding ICE enforcement, and discuss the president suing JPMorgan for “debanking” him in the aftermath of January 6. After that, more on the battle about California’s new congressional map and a spicy argument over whether it’s okay to use the term “illegal immigrant.” Plus, RCP’s weekly “You Cannot Be Serious?!” roundup of entertaining headlines. You can listen to the show live each day at 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opens with the annual March For Life today in Washington, why pro-life voters are frustrated with the Trump administration, and a new Marist poll, which found 67% of Americans support some legal limits on abortion, while 88% support laws that would “protect both the mother and unborn child.” “This is one of the biggest marches in America every single year. It is in our nation’s capital where all the political journalism is centered, and it never gets written about,” Tom Bevan said. “It always comes as a surprise to people-if they even hear about it-and it was the same again this year.” “The number of abortions has actually increased post-Roe because Mifepristone is available through the mail because of the Biden administration, and pro-life frustration with this administration is bubbling underneath the surface,” Wegmann said. “This White House thinks: Look, we’ve been pro-life, and now it is up to the states to debate and litigate on their own. It is no longer a federal issue.” *** After that, around minute 14, the group discusses whether Vice President Vance’s speech yesterday in Minneapolis struck a more conciliatory tone by urging local leaders to meet the administration “halfway” on ICE enforcement. “I think it’s an acknowledgment that things have gotten a little bit out of hand,” Bevan said about Vance’s remarks. “He did go on to blame the leadership of the state of Minnesota, saying they’re not just not working with us, they’re aggressively working against us, and continuing to inflame the passions of the activists.” *** Next, 21 minutes into the show, the gang reacts to the president suing JPMorgan and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $ 5 billion, accusing the bank of dropping him as a client after the January 6 Capitol riot for political reasons. “JPMorgan released their own statement saying that they are required to debank people based on the current regulations-at least the regulations under the Biden administration,” Bevan explained. “There are obvious rules. You can’t do business with Iran if there are sanctions; you can’t be working with drug dealers and gun runners. But to move it into the political realm, that’s what the Biden administration did. They weaponized the banking system against their political enemies,” Bevan continued. “If, in fact, the government was telling JPMorgan they can’t do this, I would think they have a pretty darn good defense.” “Why now? Why didn’t this happen during the first 12 months?” Wegmann asked. “I think that between some of the past things that Jamie Dimon has said about Donald Trump and his support of Jerome Powell, Trump wants to teach him a lesson.” *** Plus, around minute 29, the group looks at new reporting from RCP’s Susan Crabtree about Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s review of whether California crossed racial lines in its new congressional map: “Supreme Court Orders California Dems To Justify Prop 50 Maps” “California Democrats are saying, ‘Look, we’re not racist. We didn’t draw these lines according to race. We just did it for political advantage. We’re just doing this for a bit of power.’ That’s the argument,” Wegmann explained. “This is the risk of that race to the bottom, where you have both sides doing off-year redistricting for clearly craven political advantage.” “The problem here is that to draw a district for racial advantage and to draw a district for political or partisan advantage is the same thing!” Bevan said. “They’re doing this because Hispanics in California vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, just as African-Americans in Texas overwhelmingly vote Democratic.” *** At minute 35, the group discusses a spicy interaction between former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and Scott Jennings about whether it is okay to use the term “illegal immigrant.” “Somebody’s jelly,” Bevan quipped. “He goes into his basement and records this video. I mean, he’s accusing Scott Jennings of being a bully while he’s bullying Scott Jennings. It was absolutely bizarre.” “I don’t know where Cuomo gets off saying that Republicans suddenly agreed that they were no longer going to say ‘illegal immigrants.’ He seems to have missed the last decade, where that’s been a cornerstone of the GOP platform,” Wegmann said. *** Finally, at minute 43, the group gives their picks for the weekly “You Cannot Be Serious?!” roundup of entertaining headlines. *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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