Wednesday on the RealClearPolitics radio show — weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, and here on our website — Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Andrew Walworth start the show discussing the remarkable display of President Trump’s unique brand of diplomacy today, ambushing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office with a video presentation about claims of a “genocide” of the white population. “Diplomacy is usually done quietly, and then you come out and announce the good or bad news. We are seeing something really different here,” Andrew Walworth commented. “But people might be sort of catching on to Trump’s game. Ramaphosa knew he had one assignment: get through the press availability without becoming the story himself.” “This is not a figment of Trump’s imagination, or the Afrikaners’ imagination. The country of South Africa has a very poor record on crime, but the best statistics say about 50 [white farmers] are being killed every year,” Carl Cannon said about Trump’s “genocide” claim. “But I don’t know that it’s a genocide — the word genocide has been thrown around a lot lately, but genocide isn’t the legal standard for refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. because they’re being persecuted.” “Maybe that country needs land reform, but those Dutch settlers have been in South Africa longer than whites have been in North America. That’s their country, and if they’re made to feel unwelcome because of the color of their skin, you’d think that’s something the American media might report on honestly,” Cannon said. *** After that, at timestamp 6:20, Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio gave a passionate defense of the administration’s new foreign policy at a second day of congressional hearings today. “Back in 2016, Trump called him Liddle Marco… but now he’s become one of the stars of the cabinet,” Bevan said about Secretary Rubio. “He was going toe-to-toe and even taking shots at Sen. Van Hollen, he had this exchange with Sen. Kaine over the Afrikaners. Rubio is winning points with MAGA world.” “And then he also spoke about USAID, we put that clip on the site where he was saying only 12% was going to the actual aid organizations,” Bevan continued. “He defended the administration’s position very well, saying the State Department had to change.” *** In the next segment, at timestamp 12:20, they talk about Maryland Gov. Wes Moore vetoing a bill to set up a state commission on slavery reparations. “This makes me think Wes Moore is running for president,” Carl Cannon commented. “He’s one of these governors running on competence and knowing how to speak to both sides. They don’t needlessly pick fights, they’re not virtue-signaling. They’re not conservative or even moderate, they’re progressive, but they’re going to use government in a constructive way, building consensus and majorities.” *** Plus, at minute 19, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division announced they’re opening an investigation into Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after public statements that he prefers to hire black Chicagoans to work in the city government. Is he taking the opposite route from Gov. Moore? “Johnson made this comment that he hires black people because they’re ‘the most generous people in the world,’ talking about this construction project at O’Hare that he gave to this black owned firm. It’s not legal to do that, to discriminate on the basis of race, but he has,” Chicago resident Tom Bevan reported. “He’s constantly talking about reparations, about righting the wrongs that previous administrations have done to the people of Chicago. And oh, by the way, the city of Chicago has been run by Democrats for 120 years, including African Americans, most notably Harold Washington, but also Lori Lightfoot, his predecessor.” “He calls it the blackest city in America, and says he has the blackest administration. It is always all about race. And when he’s criticized, he says, ‘You’ve never seen a mayor like me! I’m a black man raising black kids in Chicago!’ He’s not speaking to all Chicagoans at all. As a mayor, governor, senator, or president, you have to represent all of your constituents. And that’s the reason he has a 6% approval rating,” he continued. *** Next, at minute 22, Tom Bevan talks to RCP White House reporter Phil Wegmann about behind-the-scenes negotiations among House Republicans as Speaker Johnson struggles to get President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful” budget reconciliation bill over the finish line. “Among all of the ugly sausage-making, we’re seeing something about the nature of the Republican Party. Trump has absolutely remade the party in his image, but there are still these parochial concerns from coastal Republicans who want to see a bigger SALT deduction. And there is still principled concern from these fiscal hawks who thought the party was about fiscal responsibility and limited government. I think we’re about to find out what Republicans actually believe by what goes across the finish line, and whether you can take seriously any Republican complaint about debts and deficits ever again,” Wegmann reported. *** Finally, starting at minute 34, Carl Cannon and Democratic strategist Dan Strother break down how the Democratic Party is responding to the flood of revelations about the Biden presidency. How can they turn the page, reset, and get excited about the next election? “The fact that you and I are on this podcast right now, still talking about that, proves what they’re doing isn’t working,” Strother quipped. “It hasn’t been a bad week, it’s been a bad year.” *** 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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