Monday on the RealClearPolitics radio show, Tom Bevan, Andrew Walworth, and Carl Cannon break down the deal reached in the Senate to take the first step toward reopening the government after a 40-plus-day shutdown. They also looked at President Trump’s appearance last night at an NFL game, and reports that the administration is considering sending every American another stimulus check. After that, a discussion about the latest round of pardons for people involved in Trump’s 2020 election challenge, and a scandal at the BBC over a deceptively edited video making it look like Trump incited violence ahead of the January 6 riot. Plus, the controversial new president of Syria is making history by visiting the White House on Monday. You can listen to the show live, weekdays 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 opened with how the political world is responding to the deal reached last night in the Senate, where eight Democrats agreed to join Republicans to pass a funding bill and reopen the government — at least through the end of January. Progressives are furious and Republicans are relieved. But will the same standoff repeat in just a few months? “You can’t have it both ways,” Bevan said about progressive critics of the deal. “You can’t argue that the American people were suffering and then criticize Democrats for opening the government.” “I’ve always thought Bernie Sanders was a socialist, but at least principled-wrong but principled. But that statement he made last night was cynical, and that disappoints me,” Cannon said. “Speaker Johnson said, ‘Our long national nightmare is over,’ quoting Gerald Ford-but I don’t see evidence that the politics have changed.” “I think the Democrats got nothing for all this!” Walworth said. “It’s a defeat for the Democrats and shows their strategy was wrong. Trump didn’t meet with Democrats. John Thune and others held firm. At the end of the day, a number of moderate Democrats-none up for reelection, and a couple retiring-broke ranks.” “It tells me we need term limits for senators. One term only! Because only those who weren’t running could act responsibly, while others feared getting primaried by far-left challengers,” Cannon concluded. *** After that, starting at minute 24, the group discussed President Trump having a little fun last night attending an NFL football game and suggesting he might give out $ 2,000 stimulus checks to all Americans with money raised from tariffs. “This is sort of bread and circuses, isn’t it?” Andrew Walworth commented. “I mean, just Economics 101? We should just put it out there: if you gave everyone in America $ 2,000, it would just be pure inflation. It would just drive up the cost of everything because everyone’s got $ 2,000 more in their pocket.” “It’s ridiculous,” Cannon agreed. “We’re running trillion-dollar deficits and spending our great-grandchildren’s money. It’s a cheap political stunt, but I’m not sending the check back, so maybe I’m a hypocrite.” *** Later, around minute 31, the White House has issued about 70 pardons to what they’re calling “persecuted patriots,” including Rudy Giuliani, who were involved in Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 election. Is the presidential pardon an adequate counterbalance to a weaponized judicial system? “Do Democrats have any standing to criticize Trump on pardons after Biden?” Bevan commented. “I’m not a fan of all the pardon frenzy that’s gone on here … but I don’t want people jailed for challenging elections.” “The pardons are a corrective to something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” Cannon said. “But he’s now going after people who went after him. You shouldn’t imitate the conduct you find reprehensible and unconstitutional. You’ve got to draw the line somewhere.” *** And then, at minute 37, the group discusses a major media scandal out of the U.K., where some of the top people at the BBC have resigned after it was revealed that producers deceptively edited a clip of President Trump to make it appear he incited violence ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. “When are U.S. media executives who deceptively edited and lied to the American people going to step down, given the way they’ve treated Trump over the last ten years?” Bevan commented. “But how much of this was about Trump, and how much was about their coverage of Hamas? “I read they were issuing two corrections a week about Hamas, Cannon said. “This has had a pernicious and destructive effect on world affairs. This once-venerated news organization just can’t cover the news fairly-and that fuels antisemitism around the world. *** Finally, around minute 45, the group discusses the new president of Syria — once an alleged member of al Qaeda — visiting the White House. “It’s the stuff of pulp fiction,” Cannon declared. “This guy was on a terrorist watch list, and now he’s walking into the White House. But if it helps expand the Abraham Accords and weakens Iran, you have to see it as a good sign.” “Trump’s willing to talk to bad actors if it serves America’s interests strategically,” Bevan added. “If this leads to a more peaceful Middle East, more power to him.” *** 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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