Monday on the RealClearPolitics radio show, Andrew Walworth, Carl Cannon, and RCP senior elections analyst Sean Trende discussed the political implications of the record-breaking ICE raid in Georgia last week. They also looked at President Trump’s “declaration of war” against Chicago, polls looking good for Democrats in this year’s gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, and NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya endorsing Florida’s plan to do away with all vaccine mandates, even those in public schools. Later, George Condon discussed his reporting on the legacy of Duke Cunningham, a war hero-turned-congressman who was caught taking bribes, and Dr. Matthew Bunson from EWTN discussed how the first American pope is doing and the canonization of the patron saint of the internet. You can listen to the show weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** First, a Hyundai factory in Georgia was the site of the “largest single enforcement operation” in the history of DHS on Friday, with 475 people — mostly Koreans — detained by ICE. This calls into question a lot of the claims about foreign investment making American manufacturing great again, but it also raises diplomatic questions for countries that might want to make further investments here. “The president has gone around boasting about all these deals that South Korea is doing here… to, know, make American manufacturing great again,” Carl Cannon explained. “The presumption was that those plants would use foreign money, but they’d be hiring American workers.” “But why is this the way this is enforced?” he said. “Why go arrest these people and handcuff them and take them out of their workplace and force them? It beggars belief.” “If you want to play devil’s advocate, apparently these people are in the country and don’t have their papers,” Trende added. “If we go through the murderer’s row of outrages from the Trump administration, I’m not sure that deporting people who are, in fact, in the country illegally cracks the top 100.” *** Also, 6 minutes into the conversation, they turn to President Trump posting an “Apocalypse Now” meme declaring war on Chicago. “It’s strangely appropriate because, of course, Apocalypse Now is based on Heart of Darkness, which is about a man’s slow descent into madness in pursuit of goals,” Trende joked. Carl Cannon talked about President Trump slamming NBC reporter Yamiche Alcindor for taking this joke seriously, and said: “I have defended the motivation behind the policy-that crime in these cities is simply out of control, and Chicago is the poster child of that. But when Trump does things like that, he pulls the rug out from under himself.” *** Next, around minute 10:30, a review of the RCP poll averages for gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. “Democrats look like they’re going to have a pretty good November,” Trende said. “But to a certain degree, they’re supposed to, right? New Jersey is a traditionally blue state, and Virginia has been a blue state since 2008.” Meanwhile, Zohran Mamdani appears to be cruising to victory in New York City’s mayoral election, sitting on a 15% lead with only 38% in the four-way race. “To get 38% as the Democratic nominee in one of the most Democratic cities in the country shows people have some real concerns about him,” Trende said. “I think he’s going to win more than 38%. I just kind of have that gut. Look, the guy’s a charismatic politician. He’s not boring. He’s something young and fresh.” “He’s not gonna lose a four-person race, but he might have lost a two-person race,” Cannon added about Mamdani. *** In the next segment, starting at minute 18, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya lent his support to Florida doing away with all vaccine mandates, citing places like Sweden with higher vaccination rates and no mandate. “You have overwhelming levels of social trust in places like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Those are the things that allow you to build a welfare state like those countries have, without resentment,” Trende said. “There is no social trust in America. You need that high level of social trust, uniformity, and the willingness to do the right thing without being mandated, before you can loosen up the mandates.” *** And then, staring at minute 22, George Condon, the White House correspondent for National Journal, joined Carl Cannon to talk about his new piece on Duke Cunningham, a Vietnam war hero who ran for Congress and ended up in jail for corruption. “The Navy was so desperate for a hero in that war that when he became an ace, the next day they brought him to a briefing in Saigon, brought him onto the Today Show, had him out there for 270 days giving speeches,” Condon explained. “Republicans cleared the way for him and got him elected… Once he started raising money for Republicans, Newt Gingrich wanted him to be a star.” “Then he began charging the lobbyists,” Condon said. “Part of the investigation found what was later called the bribe menu, written on congressional stationery: the amount of money he’d get you in an earmark, and what bribe you’d have to pay to get that earmark.” *** Finally, at minute 35, Dr. Matthew Bunson from EWTN joins Walworth and Cannon to talk about his new book, “Leo the 14th: Portrait of the First American Pope,” and the canonization of two new saints, including a “patron saint of the internet.” “Carlo Acutis was a young man who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15,” Bunson reported. “He created, for example, a website documenting Eucharistic miracles around the world. All of this while being a very normal kid.” “We continue to be amazed by the serenity with which he has settled into the pontificate and the comfort level he seems to have as our Holy Father,” he said about Pope Leo. *** 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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