Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Carl Cannon, Tom Bevan, and Andrew Walworth break down what to expect from President Trump’s much-hyped primetime address tonight, how confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Todd Blanche have gone, and yesterday’s Senate hearing on waste and fraud with Nick Shirley and James O’Keefe. RealClearPennsylvania editor Charles McElwee joins the show to talk about the future of Pennsylvania politics, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s chances in 2028, and why the Keystone State is going to be more purple than ever. Plus, a look at the new platform published by the Democratic Socialists of America calling for abolishing the Senate. Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms.

00:00 – Opening: Trump’s Big Speech Walworth, Cannon, and Bevan look forward to tonight’s televised address by President Donald Trump, where he reportedly will reveal new information about the 2020 elections, what it has to do with his months-long effort to pass the “SAVE Act,” and Democrat Rep. Ocasio-Cortez saying the news shouldn’t air Trump’s remarks. Watch: Trump Expected To Allege Democrat Collusion And Coverup Of Chinese Interference In 2020 Election “What AOC said was, ‘I don’t think we should be contributing to any platforming of lies about our elections.’ So when a president speaks, and you allow his speech to be covered by the news media, you are ‘platforming.’ I just hate that word; it makes me want to bulldoze our universities,” Carl Cannon commented. “He’s the president of the United States. He’s going to give a speech. You cover it.” “Who gets to decide what’s lies and what’s not? Joe Biden told tons of lies,” Bevan added. “This idea that AOC is going to decide, or wants someone at the network to look at an advance copy of his speech, line by line and be like, ‘Oh, this is a lie, so we’re not going to cover it.’ It’s ridiculous.” *** 13:30 – Blanche Confirmation Hearings The panel turns to Todd Blanche’s two-day confirmation hearings for attorney general before the U.S. Senate, and which Republican senators he needs to get on board to be confirmed. Watch: Sen. Whitehouse To Acting AG Blanche: “How Long Do You Intend To Put Up With That Kash Patel Character”? “It is an obnoxious question. That’s what these hearings have become,” Cannon said. “This is the kind of hyper-partisanship that has made so many Americans turn off politics.” Watch: Acting AG Todd Blanche Senate Judiciary Committee Confirmation Hearing “Jesus couldn’t win over Democrats,” Bevan joked. *** 21:1-0 – Pennsylvania Politics RealClearPennsylvania editor Charles McElwee joins the show to discuss Sen. John Fetterman drawing a line in the sand for the Democratic Party’s support for Israel, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s chances in 2028, the politics of data centers, energy and land use in the 2026 Pennsylvania midterms, and why the Keystone State is going to be more purple than ever. Watch: Sen. John Fetterman Says He’s Done With Democratic Party If They Become “Anti-Israel” “Fetterman has favorable polling, especially among older Republican voters in Pennsylvania. That’s his base: the 65-and-older Republicans, basically the conservative boomers,” McElwee said. “He’s not up until 2028, and he’ll have opposition… The challenge for Fetterman is that he’s not engaging Pennsylvania voters. So when he talks about issues, it’s in the abstract, and his positions are not in alignment with Pennsylvanians right now, whether it’s the Iran war or data centers.” “He is for data centers. He said Democratic opposition to data centers is ‘lunacy.’ Meanwhile, three-quarters of Pennsylvanians oppose data centers,” he said. Watch: Trump: Gov. Josh Shapiro Is Totally Overrated, “Does Not Have What It Takes” “Gov. Shapiro is cautious; I think he knows his own limitations,” McElwee said. “I don’t think that his style would work well on the national stage, because Shapiro works well among suburbanites, among older voters, and Pennsylvania is an older state.” “These regions have memories of extractive industries that were environmentally devastating,” he said about the opposition to data centers. “It’s a rare bipartisan consensus… Everyone is in agreement.” *** 27:08 – Fraud and Abuse Hearing The panel breaks down yesterday’s Senate Homeland Security hearing on fraud and abuse featuring investigative journalists Nick Shirley and James O’Keefe. Watch: James O’Keefe and Nick Shirley Testify on “Fraud in America” at Governmental Affairs Committee “Nick Shirley is like 24. He’s a young, young kid, and he has literally done more, single-handedly in the last nine months to uncover fraud in this country than the entire media complex,” Bevan said. “That’s why he won two Pulitzer Prizes,” Cannon joked. “It’s astonishing how effective he has been at doing this stuff. He obviously started in with the Somali daycares, but then he did some stuff in California. Now, apparently, he’s uncovering it in New York,” Bevan said. “Where’s The New York Times?” *** 42:23 – DSA Platform The episode ends with the release of the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform, which includes abolishing the U.S. Senate, open borders, full voting rights for non-U.S. citizens, and public ownership of major industries Read: Democratic Socialists of America 2026 Program They want a 32-hour workweek, Medicaid for All, universal rent control, tuition-free public college, open borders, full voting rights for noncitizens and people with criminal records, and to abolish the House and Senate and replace it with what they call a single proportional federal legislature. “This is the problem for Democrats, right? There will be 11 of them in the House of Representatives,” Bevan said. “These guys never say why they think their economic theories will work this time when they’ve failed every other time,” Cannon said. “But I guess they don’t know anything about economics, so maybe they can’t talk about it.”

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