♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, january 24, 2024. donald trump defeated nikki

haley in the first in the nation primary. it continues the former president's march to the presidential nomination. nikki haley declared the race far from over. this morning on "washington journal," we are getting your reactions. democrats, it is (202) 748-8000 to call in. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a text. that number is (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media on x, facebook at facebook.com/c-span. very good wednesday morning to you. you can go ahead and start calling in. here is where the associated press has the latest results from new hampshire at this hour. 88% reporting. donald trump has defeated nikki

haley by more than 11%. 54.5% of 43% for the former governor of south carolina. tuesday's democratic primary was unnconed by the national party, and president biden relied on right in votes -- writ e-in votes. he sti wonanly. it is fair to assume he will pick up the lions of the 14% of unprocessed write-in ballots that are still being recorded. we can talk about either race in the first hour of "washington journal." go ahead and start calling in now. last night on the republican side, donald trump was declared the winner of the new hampshire primary shortly after 8:00 p.m. eastern, but it was nikki haley who took the stage first to talk to her supporters. this is some of what she had to say. [video clip] >> i want to congratulate donald trump on his victory tonight. he earned it and i want to acknowledge that. now, you have all heard the chatter among the political

class. they are falling all over themselves saying this race is over. i have news for all of them. new hampshire is first in the nation. it is not the last in the nation. this race is far from over. there are dozens of states left to go. and the next one is my sweet state of south carolina. at one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running and we were at 2% in the polls.

well, i am a fighter. and i'm scrappy. and now, we are the last ones standing next to donald trump. and today, we got close to half of the votes. we still have a ways to go, but we keep moving up. host: nikki haley last night in new hampshire. she mentioned the south carolina primary coming up. the republican primary does not take place until february 24. back to new hampshire last night. donald trump later that evening came out and addressed some of what nikki haley had to say. here is the former president from last night. [video clip] >> let me just tell you we had an unbelievable week last week

in iowa. we set a record. it was the best in the history of the carcass. in the history. i remember i sort of had the same feeling. i am up and watching and said she is taking a victory lap. we beat her so badly, but ron beat her also. ron came in second, and he left. she came in third, and she is still hanging around. the other thing, she only got 25% of the republican votes. i don't know if you saw that. tremendous numbers of independents came out because in this state you have a governor that doesn't frankly know what he is doing in the state. in the republican primary, they accept democrats to vote in fact, i think they had 50 democrats vote. they only vote because they want

to beat me look as bad as possible. we won in 2016 and if you want to remember, we also won in 2020 by more. and we did much better in 2020 then we did in 2016, but as they said, we lost by a whisker, just buy a whisker. no, no, but we can't let that happen. you have to have people that speak up. i said i can go up and say to everybody thank you for the victory, it is wonderful, or i can go up and say, who the hell was the imposter that went up on the stage before and claimed a victory? she did very poorly actually. host: former president trump just a few hours ago in new hampshire after that race was called by the associated press and the former president up by more than 11% at this point with close to 90% reporting.

getting your reaction to the first in the nation primaries in new hampshire. (202) 748-8000 for democrats to call in. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as the number. let me show you some headlines first from today's paper the day after the much anticipated new hampshire primary. the new york their front page, done it again, trump won new hampshire. surging haley vows to fight on. some political analysis from various papers, first from the washington post this morning. a general election rematch against biden brought into focus, the headline of his piece today. from the wall street journal this morning, it is all over but the general election. one more from the "washington post" as well.

the republican primary is over. get ready for a grim rematch. we will go through some of that analysis this morning, but we mostly want to hear from you on phone lines as usual. democrats, republicans, and independents, especially looking for new hashire voters and residents as well call in, but we are hearing from members across the country startinin wisconsin. this is harvey on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. it seems to me iretty apparent that a lot of tim' im scott, vivek ray, they are pandering for later. they are not looking out for the average person but it is about personal movement. thank yofor taking my call. host: that is hvey in wisconsin. paul is in the bronx in new york. good morning. caller: i don't want to say it

is a foregone conclusion trump will win again but it looks like it. he never had a chance to go against the other primary contestants, but everybody seems to be dropping out, so at this point, it is looking like trump and biden in 2024. host: what do you think happens in trump versus biden 2 and 2024 if that is the case? caller: another close call to where it comes down to a handful of states that either remain blue or turn purple once again, such as arizona and georgia. i don't see anybody who voted for biden last time jumping away from voting for biden in 2024. it might come down to we just have to keep trump out again. this time, the numbers will probably even bigger, which will cause trump to suddenly say election fraud this and that, but it will be more people

coming in to say we don't want this guy back here again for another four years. host: you think that will be the biggest thing driving democratic voters in 2024, not having trump again? i ask because this is a week in which democrats highlighted the abortion issue, the anniversary of the roe v. wade decision. and a lot of expectation around that being a key campaign issue. caller: for me, abortion will be the main campaign issue. i don't see just democrats coming out to support that but i see republicans coming out. same with independents. this was his whole campaign. we did not like it. people in various different states -- trump was spearheading most of that, so this will be another chance for them to say we don't want that. i don't immigration will come up as another issue, but that more or less will come down to what

will trump do differently he did not do during the first four years? host: that is paul in the bronx. president biden was the write-in campaign. it was an unsanctioned primary in new hampshire and of him for deciding to move ahead with its first in the nation primary anyway. the president did not campaign in new hampshire ahead of this primary. yesterday, he was in manassas, virginia, talking about abortion rights at a 2024 campaign rally. here is the headline from "the wall street journal." in a state where democrats took control of the legislature in november following a campaign that focused on the issue of abortion access, this was the president yesterday at that rally in virginia. [video clip] >> did anyone think this is where america was going in 2024? i can go on. look, let there be no mistake,

the person most responsible for taking away the freedom in america is donald trump. listen to what he says. trump says he is proud he overturned roe v. wade. he said "there has to be punishment woman exercising reproductive freedom." he describes the decision as a miracle. for american women, it is a nightmare, so let's be clear what trump is bragging about. the reason there are 21 states with abortion bands, no exception for rape or any other or incest is donald trump. the reason women are forced to travel out of state -- >> four more years. >> this will go on for a while. they got this planned.

[laughter] the reason women are being forced to travel across state lines for health care is donald trump. the reason their family members tried to get help with threat of prosecution is because of donald trump. the reason their fundamental right has been stripped away is donald trump. because of donald trump, doctors are fleeing their home states, sitting up practices in other ates because they are afraid they will be put in prison if they exercise their responsibilities. in states like texas, doctors can get a life sentence for providing the care they were trained to provide. it is outrageous. host: president biden yesterday in manassas, virginia. you saw him pause and address the crowd and the chants of "four more years."

that is because during that speech yesterday, the president repeatedly interrupted by shouts from roughly a dozen protesters against the president's support for israel and its war in gaza. that happened yesterday in manassas, virginia, just outside of washington, d.c. back to your phone calls in the wake of the new hampshire primary, getting your reactor this morning on "washington journal." this is moses, an independent in brooklyn, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i think abortion is going to be a big issue. in this election. and i think maybe somebody should ask the democrats why margaret sanger founded planned parenthood to exterminate black people, ok. and someone should ask harris why her family owns plantations. she is always blaming white people for slavery when her own

family owns slaves and plantations. host: that is moses in brooklyn. this is rodney in indiana, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing, sir? host: good. what were your thoughts on new hampshire last night? caller: trump got the win. nikki haley needs to step aside. need to get america back on track, and i believe donald trump will be the man to do it. host: rodney, with some $31 million according to reports that nikki haley spent in new hampshire, and this was marco rubio yesterday just after 9:00 p.m. eastern sagan will be trump as the nominee but we don't know how much donor money will be wasted over the next month. what are your oughts if nikki haley takes this to south carolina four and a half weeks from now and if she continues

through more and more states? caller: i remember they were saying she had some big -- i don't think she will get the backing that she needs. i think she wrote in her own state. host: you think this is as far as this will go? caller: i believe so. i think south carolina will be the end of the line for nikki haley and i highly doubt she will come forward and endorsed trump herself, but i am hopeful. that is all we could do is hope right now. our nation is in disarray. our borders are open. we are being flooded with fentanyl and illegal aliens that we don't know who they are or where they come from. it is pretty scary. there could be sleeper cells all over these united states just waiting for the phone call. you know, all we could do is pray and prepare. host: that is rodney in indiana.

donald in west virginia, independent, good morning. caller: good morning, john. no big surprises last night. the attacks will come hot on trump now. they hate him because he showed how corrupt it all is, and no better proof of that then the story blowing up on twitter about the gop chair of arizona trying to bribe terry lake. but what strikes me more than anything is what cnn and msnbc are not reporting. you would think they would be drooling over a story like that. that is all i have to say this morning. host: what do you think happened with this -- happens with this republican primary weaving forward with nikki haley vowing to stay in? caller: i don't think she will win south carolina.

she is wasting her time. my honest opinion. host: donald in west virginia. this is carl in west virginia via our text messaging service saying, i will vote for nikki haley in the primary. if it comes down to a rematch, god help us. i willefitely vote for donald trump. this from dave on facebook saying a good win tonight. time for president trump to ignore haley and put his energy towards november. this from mark on facebook. great to s hey get under trump's skin. would love to see her destroy him in debate. ruses to debate anyone. he spends all his time reading teleprompters at his rallies and still flipping his lines. a few of our comments from social media. facebook, x formerly known as twitter. and it is (202) 748-8003 if you want to send a text message this morning.

the story that the caller from west virginia was referring to, the hill newspaper with this headline. to relate called on the arizona gop chair to resign after reports of leaked audio. this up late last night on the hill's website. a recording surface of the chair appearing to offer money in exchange for not running for office. he has to resign. we can't have somebody who is corrupt and compromised running the republican party. the recording first was referred to the daily mail and purports to capture do with offering lake money in exchange for her staying out of politics but two years but the authenticity of the recording not verified by the hill newspaper. that story breaking overnight, with the caller was referring to. to tennessee, this is jerry in

livingston, democrat. good morning. caller: yes sir. thank you for taking my call this morning. i think donald trump is going to close it out pretty quick, but the problem is it is not donald trump, it is the whole issue taking women's rights away from them. if donald trump is reelected, women's rights and social security are the two first things on the chopping block. people cannot survive that kind of stuff so if you vote for donald trump, you vote against your wife and your girls. that is all i have to say about it. i was so disappointed in him last night to stand up there. i thought he was a pretty good man, but this is unbelievable what they are doing.

i thank you very much, and have a good day. host: that is jerry in tennessee. from new jersey, independent, good morning. caller: thank you. i just really wanted to say propaganda versus reality. that is how great he is. we have to follow that line. if the economy was so bad, there would not be five supermarkets. there would not be seven gas stations full of people filling of gas. all the casinos are full of people. the sky is not falling. government runs by the people. not like donald trump will come in and everything will magically happen. it happens because of taxpayers and people sitting there getting the job done. the lasting i want to say about immigration is if we did not

have immigration, so at least these people do bring something to america. thank you. host: i take if you are not a fan of the campaign slogan make america great again. caller: it is hollow rhetoric. we know that government is running when you don't hear about it. every time we have to hear more and more a loud voice going on is because they are not bringing anything to the table. government runs when it is a quiet think in the background. it is your neighbors. it is your neighbors, your family members. these people are like the scientists and engineers and administrators. this is how we landed people on the moon. in my town right now, we are building. we got new sewers coming in to

handle the rainwater. they are replenishing the dunes so we are not flooding. this is what government does. that is not just mussolini sticking his chin up there. it is qualified people making things happen. host: that is edward out of new jersey. again, here are the numbers from the associated press. 88% at this hour. i'll trump winning new hampshire 54% to 43.2%, just more than 11%. some of the polls heading into new hampshire had the president in the upper teens or even 20's ahead of nikki haley. the final margin looking to be closer than originally expected. the new york times notes no republican candidate ever won the first two states and not ultimately succeeded in securing the presidential nomination. one other stat from james pinto

on twitter last night, no nonincumbent gop candidate for esident has ever won the iowa caucuses and new hampshire primary until last night, until donald trump. gary in jacksonville, florida, democrat. good morng. caller: good morning, john. o talk to you again. i have three points. i will never be a republican. everyone talks about the border. in 2017, donald trump -- they had it on the senate. donald trump squashed it. donald trump squashed it. that is on the republicans. number two, john, the assault weapons. when they rescinded the assault weapons that president clinton had signed, they have blood on their hands with all of these deaths. th of children now, these assault weapons and rifles. it is a national disgrace.

number three, the leading candidate from the republican party a convicted rapist, tax fraud, who stole documents, shared them with individuals in a staff member. he said he does not believe in the constitution. no nothing republicans, john. thank you. host: your first point was on the border issue. let's talk about what's happening in the senate right now. ongoing negotiations. we keep getting told a final deal is close on border security, a deal that could unlock additional aid for ukraine. what are your thoughts on that? caller: well, john, biden had a proposal on day one. the republicans did not want to come to the table. they don't want to compromise. they don't want to solve the

crisis because they want to use it politically in november. host: that is gary in jacksonville, florida. leaving new hampshire for a second, coming up here to capitol hill, it was at the weekly tuesday press conference that mitch mcconnell was talking with the congressional press corps. he was asked about the border security deal and aid for ukraine. here is about a minute and a half of what he had to say. [video clip] >> politics eating -- election-year politics heating up. at what point does this ukraine aid package after get done? >> months ago. obviously, i think you know how strongly i feel about the international challenges we have an ever need to address them. i feel we have a southern border . we are working hard continuously to try to get a solution on the border part of it.

i think this is the ideal time to do it. i think all of you know the politics around here. if this were not divided government, we would not have an opportunity to do anything about the border. in fact, i don't think we would get 60 votes for any border plan if we had a fully republican government, so this is a unique opportunity. we are a divided government -- a divided government has given us an opportunity to get an outcome. virtually all of our members have said to their constituents for a long time we need to fix the border. this administration is not going to do it unless we force them to, and we are going to continue to press and try to get an outcome that we can put on the floor of a majority up with all of these other problems that need to be addressed.

the number one country in the world who elects its own leadership's. host: mitch mcconnell yesterday on capitol hill. becky new hampshire. that is the topic of the first hour on "washington journal." the first in the nation primaries. both the republican primary and the unsanctioned democratic primary, unsanctioned by the democratic national committee. it was a writing campaign that president biden won handily. jay in mississippi is next, independent. good morning. caller: yes, sir. good morning to you. i hear people calling in and getting on number 45 there. they don't like the kind of drinks he drinks, the diet coke. they got a problem with everything a man does, but the man is going to be the next

president, so he will be 45 and 47, too. that is just the way i see it. have a good day. host: to paul from across the pond in england this morning. good morning to you. caller: good morning to you. host: do occasionally have called in in the past, correct? caller: i called in the past. host: a watcher of u.s. politics. thank you for calling this morning. caller: i follow the politics. especially the war is going on, but regarding the election results, i think donald trump might win the next one. it looks like he could win the election. you never know. you think he will win the next election? host: what do you think? caller: i think so. he might do it.

looks like he is on the way to the white house. the others don't stand a chance to be honest. host: was the double trump presidency good for our relationship with trump? caller: i think it was before because there were not any wars the last time donald trump was in power. you just don't know, but if he kept the peace -- but he kept the peace last time he was in the office. you never know. host: donald trump has said he could be the one to end this war in ukraine. you believe that? caller: he could do it. he could. yeah. nothing is being done.

the thing is happening and there is no breakthrough. host: how much attention are your neighbors in england paying to this 2024 election? caller: they are concerned about the wars, obviously. and the cost of living also. it concerns people when it comes to the cost of living and these wars. the cost of living in the shops and that. host: thanks for the call from england. appreciate when you call it. caller: thank you. host: evelyn a bit closer to home from baltimore, maryland, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, john. about this new hampshire and trump won him hampshire, but you don't have to win iowa or new hampshire to win the presidency. everybody is putting everything in to these two, the carcass in new hampshire -- caucus in new

hampshire. every four years when there is an election, republicans use certain things to campaign on. abortion, homosexuality, and the border. all the time, they do it every four years. the president cannot do much of nothing without the house and senate. so he will say what he will do will not work. has anybody heard of jim jones at the kool-aid he got people to drink because they were so up into him? it is hitler's all over again. host: how much attention are you paying to the democratic primary? there were other candidates running against joe biden last night new hampshire, including dean phillips, the democratic congressman from minnesota. what were your thoughts on the democratic primary? caller: the democratic primary -- i always think it seems like

the incumbent, it is a democrat incumbent that nobody wants to run against him. if anybody is out there to run, i think they all should run. i don't think it should just be given to the incumbent. host: it is a good thing the president is facing a primary is what you are saying? caller: yes. host: that is evelyn out of baltimore, maryland. dean phillips made his remarks to supporters last night after the race was called for president biden. here is about two minutes of what he had to say. [video clip] >> solutions to president biden, who absolutely won tonight, but by no means in a way that a strong incumbent president should. but he won. i want to congratulate former president trump for winning tonight as well haley just said she has been here working for a year. we have been at this for 10 weeks, my friends.

and we just got -- [cheering] we decided to weeks before the october 27 deadline to come up to concord, right a 35,000 dollar check. so we became a presidential candidate. we just got 20% tonight and nobody knew we were weeks ago. nobody. thank you, everybody. i got to say, man, if we had 20 weeks, watch the heck out. i am not going to tell you what i am going to do next until the end of my remarks but i also want to send some love to all of you. all of you. i have to tell you the last 90 days of my life have been reinvigorating, re-inspiring, energizing, and also. you greatest leaders practice democracy like no other state in this entire country.

and the fact that the party i represent would have the audacity to take that from you and would have the audacity to say that this was meaningless, no. your votes tonight were the most meaningful votes you ever cast in your life and i will make a promise to you because i will use them going forward. and no party in this country, democratic, republican, or otherwise, no party should ever receive a letter from one of our 50 states attorney general them a cease and desist for the unlawful suppression of voters. they did not suppress you, thank goodness, but they sure did a lot of people. so i am here to say, you ready to keep this baby going? i sure as heck am. host:, dean phillips -- dean phillips, representative from minnesota.

again, the president was running a write-in campaign or at least his suoges were. 87% reporting from the associated press. the president with over 50%. see that line at the bottom, processed write-ins. it is fair to assume pres biden will win the lion's share of those numbers. those are write-in ballots that the name has yet to beecded of who they wrote in for, but again, you cou eect that with this pretty extensive wr campaign by the president's supporters. the majority of those will eventually go into theoeiden category. you can read the associated press numbers. bit confusing. this year, it is different. getting your reaction as well to last night's vote new hampshire in the granite state. this is charlie in minnesota, independent. good morning, you are next. caller: how is it going there?

host: how is it going for you? caller: not too bad, buddy. you know, dean phillips did a good job there for the little time he was. yeah, he is out of minnesota. don't really know the guy, but i would rather vote for him over biden my will tell you that right now. host: why is that, charlie? caller: if anybody can't see, including all democrats and all the independents, joe biden has done absolutely nothing good for this country, period. i listen to your show nonstop. i listen to everybody. i don't know if they have a chip in their head or what the heck is going on with this world. two roe v. wade. -- we will go to roe v. wade. biden used that to death tonight.

he had the calculus in there at all he could say was four more years. they should have got the lady up and let her talk of why she does not believe in abortion. 15 weeks is plenty enough if you were raped or you were in a bad situation. a lot of people that get abortions are young girls that don't want to face their parents. all parents need to take their kids, their girls, not their boys -- well with any to tell their boys to stay away from the girls obviously, but they need to take their girls, bring them inside, and say a something like this would happen to you, i want you to be able to come to me. tell me that you are pregnant. we will handle this the right way. instead of aborting this child. we are bringing in all of these aliens into this country consistently, and it is just

overwhelming and it is all biden's fault. he wants to blame everything on trumped nonstop. everybody on the democratic side just don't like trump. i don't get why. host: that is charlie out of minnesota. to maryland. angie also on the in the line. caller: good morning. how are you? thank you for taking my call. i will follow up with what the last guy said. it is totally unbelievable to me. i was not surprised about rhode island last night. host: new hampshire. caller: i'm sorry, new hampshire. that is just where we are with the trump crew. the sky is falling and the bogeyman is going to get you. i am from the maryland area, and i watched sometimes i call at the propaganda channel, fox news.

i see how they display people of color from the area. and folks not from here will not leave our young blacks are going out and doing snatch and grab at the target area where the truth is we are the most educated, wealthiest group of people in america, people of color, black. our kids are educated. our kids are doing great things. while they are watching that, even in my own family, we have kids from the ipo lead to the university of michigan doing well. it just blows my mind the things i hear on this channel, and i decided to call him because i had to say something. the belief that some folks have, wondering why everybody -- it is not that trump is republican. as a criminal. that she is a criminal. the hypocrisy. but trump has done everything

under the sun. i have people that work in corporate federal government. i have people that were on the hill on january 6 saving democracy. host: a police officer, angie? caller: yes. i am not going to give the name but he was one of the ones who received a congressional medal of honor. they were so shortstaffed, everybody had to go. i will just say my house smells like hairspray for weeks. i don't know who is driving this. you can say it is not racism, but we have deducted that it is racism because the people who believe in trump, the man -- come on. host: you are independent but it seems like you have made your choice in 2024. caller: yes. let me say this real quick because i have to say this. iowa, he wins, the next morning

we are getting up and watching him in court. evangelists vote for him but he is in court for sexual assault and defamation. it doesn't mix. you have to come to the conclusion that has to do with his isms, racism, sexism, all of that. a guy was on your show yesterday from michigan. he was absolutely right. it makes no sense, and you can only go to that. you like someone who is just wrong in every way. it is unbelievable. host: got your point. that is angie in maryland this morning. the headline of the peace in "the wall street journal today," it is all over for the general election. for all practical purposes, the general election has begun, he writes. he ends his piece, there is not much joe biden could do to change the minds of voters who decided he is too old to serve a second term, but mr. trump will have an equally difficult time persuading swing voters is not too dangerous to serve a second term.

the outcome may depend on which is stronger in america in november. little elm, texas, thomas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? i read the star charts on quite a few candidates. and guess what. the star charts absolutely show that donald trump will be the next president. host: star charts, thomas? caller: yes. i am heavy into the star charts. i learned how to read those correctly. they don't lie. host: the predicted donald trump the winner in 2024? caller: yes. i also told the governor of texas, abbott, that he would win after his first election and he was campaigning for his second

term. i said, you are going to win, and i proved it to him. host: thomas in texas. this is rose in james bill, wisconsin. good morning. caller: hi. good morning, john. host: good morning. caller: i love your show but i can hardly watch anymore because of the negativity about trump running in all this stuff. i don't understand what is going on in our country right now. everybody is fighting. people are for trump. good for you. i am a democrat, but i am not really a strong democrat right now because the way the country is going, it is going in a bad direction of hate. everybody is againstthis is ridd trump because before he was even

into the politician mold, he went for stormy daniels. he would not give his taxes when the government asked him for his taxes, and that was what he did not give them, because he knew what kind of trouble he would get into if he released his taxes, and that came to a head. the man is still lying. he has all of these followers, and these people are so, i don't know. i don't want to use the word stupid, but they are following a man into the cemetery, and i wish they would quit doing this. i don't want to even vote. this country is so evil and so negative, so racist because of this man. host: rozen wisconsin. when it comes to some of the neck of headlights about donald trump, some of the left-leaning media with their headlines in the wake of his victory in new hampshire. this is huffington post this money. trump under criminal prosecution

for his coup attempt, wins new hampshire anyway. the possible future president's margin of victory seems to be considerably narrower than the latest polling had indicated. for the daily beast this morning, the new hampshire take away, we are not a serious country. this is the gop chance to choose the lane back to respectability and sanity and now they are right or die with trump probably forever. that was with his piece from the daily beast. bill in tampa, florida, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, i just want to say to all the people out there when trump was in office, did we have any wars going on? gas prices. look what the man did when the democrats from day one tried to stop him from doing everything. they can't see this. only blind. that is basically what i want to say. host: back to baltimore, this is michael.

good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say, sir, can you tell everybody what the definition of an insurrection is? donald trump has not been convicted of any crime. the democratic party started slavery with jim crow after the slaves were freed in 1865 and the civil rights act of 1864. the democrats, they brought margaret senior into abortion and stuff like that. i am african-american. they don't see the tricks. they keep bringing up race. this is america. people can choose what they want to choose. they don't want to be that -- they don't want the person to be president, that is democracy. the last thing i want to save his people have to get the facts straight in this country. it is crazy with so much racism and democrats stirring things up all the time. donald trump is not racist.

don king and mike tyson and a lot of other people. i don't understand where the racism starts. you have to see where information comes from but it is said we also blunted. we are supposed to be an educated nation. we can't take care of the entire world. that is why people are losing so much money. we don't have any money because we have to take care of people coming to our country from all parts of the world somebody has to pay for that. somebody has to pay for the wars. he has a good point there, you know? thank you for taking my call. host: that is michael in baltimore, maryland. here is more from former president trump last night at his victory rally in new hampshire. [video clip] >> we are going to win this. have no choice. if we don't win, i think our country is finished. i do i believe our country is finished. we have an opportunity to do something so amazing, and the good news and the reason we have such support, the best numbers i

have ever had, the reason we have support is because they are so bad at what they are doing and so people, and they are destroying our country, so i want to thank everybody for being here. i want to think this group of people. we will never forget you. we will never forget. i made a pledge. i made a pledge to your estate that you have the highest energy costs in the country. in the first year, they are going to be reduced by 50% because we are going to drill, baby drill. drill baby, drill. inflation is going to come way down, but in the first year, your energy costs are going down by 50%. thank you very much. we love you. thank you very much. see you soon. host: donald trump last night in new hampshire.

about 10 minutes left in this first segment of "washington journal." getting your reaction to last night's results in the first of the nation primary. this is charles, staten island, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing today? host: doing well. caller: it amazes me how republicans can vote for this man and not nikki haley. he refused to debate the republicans that were on stage. as far as the energy in the united states go, the united states is producing more oil than any country in the world right now, so as far as our energy goes, we are energy independent. we just produce the oil and ship it out to other countries. get the facts straight. also, if you listen to donald trump speak, donald trump is just like history repeated it

before with hitler. hitler. people to jump on his side and turned around to run the world. host: good morning. caller: yes, thanks for taking my call. i am a democrat, but i also have my eyes wide open. i have seen president trump when he was attacked about his dossier right from the very beginning. the same people that are bringing the charges against him now are the ones that lied about the dossier they told us three years of unbelievable problems. i don't believe i can vote for our current president, but we have a unique situation this election to be able to look at each president and know what they did last time they were in

office, so you can look at any subject you wish to pick. you can take it and say, abortion, i don't like abortion. what did biden do about it? what did trump do about it? the both have histories. we have the best situation we have to vote this year. you just look at what they did and vote on that. host: is that creating a more informed electorate the cycle, you think, the fact that we have such an extensive record on two ministrations we can look at before we head to the polls? caller: i think you can open your eyes and say, here is what he did. did this work for him or did not work for him? you figure out what worked well permit if you did not work -- well. if you did not work for him, you can say he put the

wrong person and try to i believe biden put the wrong person in charge of the border and i think it is obvious. host: i guess the question was more about the voters themselves than the candidates and what they did or did not do. we have the record to look at. do you think americans will do that? caller: i hope they do because if you look, it is easier to make a choice. now, i am in kansas. i have been to a few meetings with roger marshall, and he says everything you see on tv is staged. he said everything you see on tv is usually staged or theater. so you have to take a little bit of that and what it is, fear. he is just like trump's first line when he said i will be a dictator the first day. that was a joke. it is a joke.

it is his way of joking. he has a different way of joking that a lot of people. i know a lot of people with dry humor and they are usually fairly intelligent people, but that is what i feel. thank you. host: mark, you are an washington, d.c. good morning. you are asked. caller: good morning. great to call in. i suggest everyone should take a deep breath. we live in a democracy and the voters are showing that it is likely they want donald trump to be their candidate. i have personal experience similar to the caller in maryland working with top political appointees. i worked in the government at a pretty high level, and my experience was as time went on to you have republican previous political appointees who worked for bush and as time went on, you started to notice or i started to notice, excuse me, that they were more so a bit

more radical republicans working, especially after the insurrection. quite a lot of trump appointees left, and the few call themselves trippers -- trumpers. host: you are talking with days left in the administration at that point. caller: that's right. people saying the election was stolen and they didn't want to turn in their badge. that was their view. i am not political so i just do my job but in terms of the policy issues, the border is a big issue. the caller who was a republican mentioned gas. to me, if the democrats want to win the election, they should address those issues. as an independent, i will continue to work with political appointees regardless of their party affiliation, and i am also going to bulk up on my understanding of eeo so if i am discriminated against, i can protect myself. everybody should take a deeper breath. host: you are one of those

career government employees, yes? caller: that is right. you can call me the deep state, but i don't think i am. host: that is what i was going to ask, what do you think of the term deep state? caller: i think some of the rhetoric on the republican side is actually eroding democracy. i am not political get our find this my way to serve our country. based on some of what i experienced, i will bulk up on making sure i understand eeo so i can protect myself if there is another administration, but i think some of that is rhetoric. i don't think people believe it. there are people i've met who deeply believe that and want to implement things like schedule left about which would erode democracy. host: for folks who are not ndc or are not familiar, what is eeo? caller: the equal employment office. host: so employee protection for government employees essentially? caller: that is right.

that is right. there are several different classes that fall under that protection. age, sexual orientation, gender, so again based off of my experience, i will make sure i am aware of my protections just in case i need to file a case. host: mark, how many years have been a federal -- have you been a federal government employee? caller: five years. i served two years of the trump administration and the full term of the biden administration. host: you plans to come your of it -- you plan to make a career of it? caller: i do. i am an optimist. it can be stressful at times, but i intend on making a full career out of it. host: i understand if you don't want to see what agency you work for, but what are your general issues that you focus on if you don't mind? caller: yeah, so i work for the executive office of the

president and not to get too specific here, but pretty broadly, there are various components under the executive office of the president, so of course you have the white house, which is pretty well known. those are typically political appointees, and you have other components. some of the components have general schedule staff. some of them have administratively determine staff. i say that to say there are a lot of people who stick around. i have colleagues who have served several different administrations and we are all nonpolitical and support the office of the presidency. host: what was that tradition like for you serving in some form of the executive office from the trump administration to the biden administration? caller: i think it was a typical. some of my colleagues who i worked with who experienced transitions were very open with me and what to share what

transitions looked like. it was very atypical. maybe you will remember or some of the headlines will show that because the former president contested the election, that caused some issues with gsa allowing legally and also from a funds perspective transition dollars and transition timelines, so what a lot of people i worked with experienced was having to expedite the transition process, which again kind of causes issues with democratic norms, but i am not there to comment on what happened. i am just there to support operationally. host: mark, thanks for the call from d.c. this is terry in minnesota. republican. good morning. caller: good morning get good morning, john. how are you i think -- go ahead.

caller: nikki haley will have to drop out. you can't be beat by 12 and go to your home state and suffer a 30 point loss which will happen. that's too bad, she is a good candidate but i would also like to address something how everybody calls in and the huge problem with the country is this -- when people complain about racism, it is a whole group is being judged as one yet the same people that complain about it call in here and say every republican is a nazi, a fascist. that's the kind of thinking. dean phillips said something really good yesterday. he said i went to a trump rally and i interacted and i really like those people. the problem is, you can't disagree, you can't have a different opinion and not be hated now. that's crazy. that's the problem with the country in a nutshell.

we no longer accept any other persons ability to make up their own mind on anything. if they make up their mind different than ours, we hate them. they are nazis, they are fascists, they are destroying democracy. host: you talk about dean phillips, how much did you know about dean phillips before this primary season? caller: he is actually my congressman. i disagree with him but i like him. i disagree with his policies but i think he is a good man. it is possible. until we reached on kind of degree where people are calling in and saying boy i hate their guts and they are horrible people, they are not. when people get together in a bar or a social event, none of this happens. none of this happens. you get on a phone show or you get where you don't have to be

responsible face to face to another human being, you shoot off your mouth. that's just bad and that's where we are at. host: terry is ourt caller in this first segment of the "washington journal." there's plenty more to talk about. we will talk about last night's results in new hampshire with the veteran political observer joining us. stick around for that conversation. we will be right back. ♪ >> discover the heartbeat of democracy with c-span's voices 2024 as we engage voters nationwide asking what issue is most important to you in this election and why. >> the most important issue to me is a cohesive congress because nothing is getting done and the debt ceiling keeps getting postponed because no one

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>> c-span now was a freak mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of its happening in washington live and on-demand. keep up with floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for c-span's tv networks and c-span radio, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. download it for free today. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. â♪ ♪ "washington journal" continues. host: as we continue to reflect on last nights results in new

hampshire, we contemplate what's ahead for 2024 we are joined by two veteran political analyst this morning. we want to start with rich lowry. after tuesday, donald trump is down to one opponent and that opponent came in third in iowa and lost by more than 11 points last night. is this primary race over at this point? guest: yeah, i think it's effectively over. i would expect nikki haley, maybe i'm wrong, to be like ron desantis. he was disappointing in iowa and i'm still -- and he still saying it will happen for me and he will wait it out. it's hard to keep up with the presidential campaign. they invest in incredible amount and work themselves to exhaustion. it probably won't be days but it might be weeks and it will be

uncomfortable for her as we saw and how trump reacted to her last night. the media will savage her and it's hurting the presumptive nominee when he will need everything. he will need unity as much as he can muster to be joe biden. it will be tough for her and terrible for south carolina unless a miracle happens but it's hard to see how this trajectory will change. there will be no debates but the mainstream media will be asking her when she will drop out. i think it's incredibly uncomfortable and difficult. she told me three months ago she would be at 43% in new hampshire so i was shocked. she ran a much better campaign than ron desantis. this does not have wide enough appeal in the party and she cannot be donald trump. independents play big role in new hampshire but when you get 25% of the vote, it's not a very promising path ahead and just in the more difficult terrain she

will encounter after new hampshire. host: strategically for democrats, if it's going to be donald trump and joe biden again, do democrats want joe biden to wrap this up as soon as possible so they can focus on the general election? guest: i would think not -- i agree with rich, i like finding agreement whenever i can. there is not much of a path forward for nikki haley. it's because republican voters have been tremendously radicalized in 80% of them last night told pollsters of trump voters that is that they don't believe joe biden won the election. these are people not tethered to reality. they make up the bulk of the republican party and in a party like that, nikki haley or ron desantis can't find any footing. desantis tried to run to the right of donald trump, like donald trump but not as radical.

nikki haley tried to run as a moderate trump and republican voters in new hampshire said no thank you. we will stay in our bizarre alternative reality. that's how it will stay. if you look at the democrats, i don't think they need to get to trump immediately. let him show how deranged he can be by dealing with nikki haley over the next few weeks. last night, i lost track of how many tweets on his performance on the stage, it was entirely ungracious and he usually is. he raised conspiracy theories about her and he made misogynistic comments about her. i want that on display for as long as possible. that's good news for the democrats. if you look at the results last night, it looks like trump will lose new hampshire handily to biden. if you extrapolate the biden victory to match the number of voters who came out who are

republican and you say 43% of nikki haley voters said they would vote for joe biden, that means trump loses new hampshire. new hampshire is not good news for trump or the republicans who let this go on for a while. host: i want to get to the point on the voters that showed let -- shut up last night and republican primary. exit polls seem to indicate that 46% of those who voted in the republican primary last night where those undeclared, those independent voters. what should we extrapolate from that in terms of what that means or donald trump? guest: i'm not sure how much it means for trump. those independents are swinging to the republican primary with big numbers because there is no effective democratic race. his complaint is that this is a terrible process. in 2016, he won the independents

in the new hampshire republican primary in the voters thought that was a great thing. it is a good thing to win the independents. you need to be strong among both. you want to be strong among republicans as he is now. he explained -- the main calling card against them should be he lost to joe biden. he was never an impressive politician to begin with and now he lost and is losing more as we speak. he explained that away with deceptions and certain stories and some legitimate complaints about the 2020 election but mostly absurd. some of the republicans believe everything and something twitter should suppress the hunter biden story and that was unfair. that should have been the main case that desantis or nikki haley could make against him because so many republicans felt offensive about the election and thought it was rate and it became impossible to make the case against him. he was probably never beatable

to begin with but he got put on a different level. joe biden's -- this is the strongest donald trump is ever polled nationally. in 2020, he never led in a. there was one pole that he led. he is losing to joe biden the whole time and lost the election. this is extraordinary. it's a sign of his weakness of not pulling stronger against joe biden because he is the most evil incumbent running for reelection since george h w bush or jimmy carter, somewhere in there. a republican without trump's vulnerability would beat him handily. by the same token, if democrats switch out to someone who's not clearly losing it mentally and hasn't had the terrible record joe biden does, they be donald trump handily. it will be just like 2016, match

up a two guys with 35% approval in the country and hated or disrespected by a broad swath of the saying who will finally be the weakest when november comes. host: most people incumbent running for reelection i want to get your thoughts on that. we invite viewers to join this conversation this morning. our guess or with a sense on 9:00 a.m. eastern and the phone lines, democrats (202) 748-8000, republicanss independent (202) 748-8002. on that description of joe biden heading into this election year? guest: joe biden is old and donald trump is old and i understand why people look at both of them and say this is not what i want in the leader of our country. joe biden's polling numbers are

depressed. i would say this compared to george h w bush or jimmy carter, i think biden is more accomplishments behind him whether it was bipartisan infrastructure bill or the chips bill, the economy has gotten better on his watch, inflation is coming down. he has more to rally behind the jimmy carter for george h w bush. while the numbers look the same at this point, if you look at, if they are smart and they started doing this, what rich calls his feebleness is on a stronger foundation than either of the past incumbents when they had weak political numbers. he has more potential for enough of a comeback, not a full comeback but enough of a comeback to defeat donald trump particularly if donald trump

keys going off the rails. i hope we can get to a point that engages me about rich and the national review. if you weeks ago, they didn't editorial basically saying vote for anyone but trump in the republican primary. they called trump, they said trump had can -- had committed serious offenses against our contusion order. if it's going to be trump, i'm wondering where constitutional conservatives like rich will end up. will they advocate in a race against biden that voters and americans should put back into office, a man who on their own terms committed serious offenses against our constitutional order? it's a dilemma for them. host: rich lowry, you have the floor. guest: we obviously want anyone else. his conduct after the 2020 election was disgraceful. it was literally infamous.

i don't think it was a crime the way jack smith is alleging in the january 6 case. joe biden has legislated on his own in an unconstitutional manner with the loan forgiveness program, engaged in serious dereliction of duty at the border, the black-and-white letter of the law as you come into this country illegally, you should be detained until you are removed or your case is settled. he's just letting people in. it's deliberate. this is a crisis that he totally made up by ripping up the trump policies that were working for no reason. if he had the votes in the senate, would they pack the supreme court? of course they would. these are people who think the constitution is an endlessly living document that can be totally ignored or reinterpreted to your own preferences.

joe biden has committed and will commit and if he had the power, serious offenses. guest: i've never heard this case. in your own peace come you put the vice president at risk and tried to pressure people he shouldn't have done. you're talk about policy issues. guest: the president of the united states, the basic foundation of our system, the congress legislates. the president doesn't legislate on his own. that's the point of it. joe biden did it with the forgiveness program. he did. he didn't literally incite a riot. i don't defend his behavior but if you care about the constitution, do you oppose what joe biden did on the loan

forgiveness program? guest: every president on the war powers or anything else, you can find an argument that they violated the constitution. that's why we have the supreme court and things get resolved there. none of the stuff rises to the level of doing nothing while your own people are attacking the u.s. capital. come on. host: let me bring in the callers. this could go on for a while. tim is up first in tampa, florida, republican, good morning and welcome to the conversation. caller: good morning, how are you? host: what your question or comments? caller: my question and comment for the panel and give me a moment, i will pull over to the side of the road. mike comment is that even though i am a republican, i would have voted for nikki haley if i was in new hampshire.

tim scott just made every person look foolish especially black men like me -- when he dropped out of the race, he said donald trump would unite the country but yet donald trump stands up there last night and said you must hate nikki haley. tim scott had an opportunity to say no, i don't hate nikki haley, i just support you. another thing for those two gentlemen, please tell me slavery went from 1765 to 18 625 a jim crow went from 1865-1965. when was america ever great for everyone? someone please answer that question and you gentlemen have a great day. host: that's tim in florida. guest: yeah, it was a preposterous spectacle last night. for the first time ever, since

the system has been set up to have an iowa caucus, no republican had done that before. he won over 50% and was clearly in a rage and described himself as angry. he says i don't get angry, i get revenge. all he needed to do was thank nikki haley and pivoted joe biden and he didn't do it. on discipline and how selfish he is and how he can luta joe biden which is shocking. it would take a major level of incompetence and unpopularity to lose to joe biden. it's possible he could. it's about a 50-50 proposition. the caller hits on major sins in our past, slavery and jim crow. what made america different, unfortunately, the world would have been a better place of the founding fathers had invented racism but they didn't. these are persistent features

throughout world history and what made america different was the ideals, the system of government that was meant to create self government and the executive was powerful but not all-powerful or controlled by the legislature, an idea we carried from the british. the founders did not put the words slavery in the constitution because they said it would go away and it would be an embarrassment to be in there. the media aftermath is the revolution look like they were right. there was a liberalization relative to the time on questions of slavery and racism. certainly in the north and there was backsliding. then you get a terrible civil war after that. we failed to live up to our ideals but when the civil rights movement prevailed, it was by

associating itself with those ideals and what was best in america. martin luther king was very eloquent on that. the ideals have inspired moves toward liberalization and democracy and self-government around the world. our system is a model and that's why we should be highly protective of it and proud of it. guest: we still argue over slavery. nikki haley said america was never a racist country. that was a racist principal. it's been a racist country until officially until the civil rights act and unofficially there are still problems with racism since then and i don't understand why conservative republicans cannot come out and acknowledge that fully and they had to talk about these great ideals and we are going to get rid of savory -- of slavery. guest: i love the contempt in

your voice. i heard the contempt. guest: we were not leading the way. republicans and conservatives have never really come fully to terms with this and they still argue the point now and they attacked affirmative action and diversity and equity. it's out there still. guest: i see why you speak of the ideals with contempt because you support discriminating against people based on race. even today. that shocking you still do that. host: let me bring in conrad in bethesda, maryland, line for democrats. caller: hi, i want to make a comment about these claims of election fraud in the republican primary. the elites let trump win.

how could they let them win if they are rigging things? trump is a liar and obviously his supporters know it. they just want to use it as an excuse to intimidate officials and people they don't like. there was the attack on january 6 in the attack on nancy pelosi's husband and a candidate sent hitmen against election officials. these people are pathetic. host: we got your point. guest: it's kind of funny, donald trump only says elections are rigged when he loses yet he goes on about the deep state and about the democrats tied to the commies and radicals and they are stealing elections in all these republicans, elected republicans echo him. when they win, then there's no

problem. if the deep state is so powerful, it can deny him election victories but they didn't do so in 2016. there is no logic to this. for tens of millions americans, he put together a conspiratorial narrative that overlaps qanon and has hung out with anti-semites. they are buying this and republicans from top to bottom are going along for the ride but most don't. i think they are there for the power and the ambition. it is dividing the country and creating issues so that rich and i can't come out here and talk about what's the best tax policy or what we should be doing or not doing about climate change. we are being sucked into this black hole the donald trump is created that republicans have enabled him and are encouraging as we head toward the next election. guest: obviously, the only says

elections are rigged when he loses. he is working his way up to nikki haley. the exit polls seemed more encouraging for her than the final result. if he had been beaten in new hampshire, he would've said it was stolen. it's appalling but let me throw out more with david after a brief moment of unity about nikki haley. i think what's happening with these prosecutions especially the january 6 one is it will give him a legitimate -- if used tried and convicted, a legitimate claim that the election was rigged if he loses. these are political prosecutions. the january 6 case is highly novel and the prosecutor is clearly working on a political timetable and away you are not supposed to. why do we need to decide the day before yesterday the question that is never truly been addressed by the supreme court,

whether a former president has criminal immunity. doesn't make sense to me that he would. it's a broad question that we should think about and consider carefully. instead, he's rushing this through to decide now because he needs to -- he wants to get this thing done in time to try and convict donald trump and a d.c. jury that will not be highly fair to him because they are aware of the polling in the polling is abysmal for trump in theory if he is convicted of a felony. they want to convict him of a felony in the supreme court is taking up the question of how you interpret the instruction statute, this appeal from january 6 defendants which affects half of the cases. this -- if you're going to do it, it should be moved to july until you get the ruling on the law and then you do up three month trial? it's crazy. you're handing donald trump, among other things, his rigged

argument. guest: it's years after january 6. i don't think justice has moved too quickly in this regard. jack smith was a nonpolitical prosecutor and spent years prosecuting war crimes in kosovo, not a tremendous career or political move for someone in his line of work. you can say this will help donald trump but accountability is one of the bed rocks of our constitutional order. there is also the trial with him swiping classified information. his campaign against hillary was about not being careful enough about females but he never really showed that anything was amiss because of her mishandling of emails at the state department. people turned away from that. that trial is still happening and going forward. one in georgia is obviously more complicated because what's

happening with prosecutors. in some ways, trump has gotten lucky in that he wasn't indicted and it goes back to the senate republicans saying he should be prosecuted, not impeached. now these being prosecuted, they are saying this is a terrible affront to justice. guest: you're making my point for me. they had all the time to do it and now they are rushing before the election to do it area host: let me bring in jeannie from manassas, virginia. jeannie is an independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am independent and i have voted for reagan and obama. the media is misleading the americans in the global viewers who are watching our elections

carefully. iowa and new hampshire do not have that many electors. new hampshire only has four electors in the electoral college. iowa has 60 doesn't mean a lot to the general election in november. when you make a lie that trump is winning, the voters came out in iowa in a low way and is not winning there. host: we got your point. we have headlines today that the republican primary is over get ready for the grim rematch, calling the sing over already. guest: yeah, the fact that this is a case the candidates running

behind of lost iowa and new hampshire they always make. they have longer to go. you do in theory. it's a process where the prior results are heavily influencing what is the next result. there are usually patterns in the demographic. if nikki haley is weak among republican voters, unless a meteor strike gives us a sign, she will not win going ahead. that is just the reality. i wish it was otherwise but that's the reality. guest: i feel the callers's pain and if you look at iowa and the number of voters who came out on the composition of the state demographically, it's not representative of the country and it has republican nominees r any nominees let alone the winners. new hampshire also was a monochromatic state. it's small but more interesting in some ways.

looking at the process of how we start picking nominees in both parties, these are not ideal. generally, if you look at what republicans do in iowa and new hampshire or democrats in the primary, gives a good indication. in years past, we tend to wait to super tuesday. it usually seems to be more competition. then you have more states and bigger states and representative states. this may happen again, super tuesday is march 3. the big question is whether nikki haley will make it there were not. by that point, the math usually becomes undeniable. the pace stays the same, trump will be corn dated on that day. guest: with one exception to what we are saying -- you lose early and its hard.

i thought joe biden was totally dead in 2020 but he had a demographic group that hadn't spoken yet that he won over and revived his campaign. the other contenders were not really considered suitable candidates. that's an instance where he lost, lost, lost and miraculously one but i don't think that's nikki haley's future. host: we haven't talked about joe biden's performance last ni votes are still being counted, over 50% he will probably win the lion share of the 14% of unprocessed right in voters. about 90% ing so far. did he do well enough to show strength? guest: yeah, he did well enough. dean phillips and marian williamson are not the strongest challengers. dean phillips people did

everything -- the dean phillips party did everything they could to freeze him out. you had gene mccarthy in the 60's as an example of a fascinating antiwar candidate. it didn't have the kind of ideological case that would catch people's imagination. they are right about how old joe biden is. can democrats disqualify donald trump? they did it in 2020 when they had less material. that is obviously a plausible theory but what's different than 2020 is three quarters of americans don't think, for obvious and understandable reasons, don't think joe biden is fit to serve another four years. not for terms, we do a constitution. we don't know how seriously people take that at the end of the day and maybe they say donald trump is disgraceful

after 2020 and says ridiculous thing but even though he is an old thing, he's vital and robust and can actually do the job in a way that we don't think joe biden can. it will not get better for either but after biden, who -- he doesn't know how to get off the stage. guest: let's take both guys out to a parking lot and give them a bicycle and see what happens. guest: [laughter] guest: the idea that joe biden is less fit than donald trump physically or mentally to do the job, that's just propaganda. come on, trump is better at being mean and angry them joe biden is. it strikes some people as vitality but he could not get on a bicycle. that's the test i want to say. guest: they have to use different stairs to get them into air force one safely. guest: trump can't walk a golf

course. host: clearwater, florida is next, republican. caller: good morning. i would like to comment this is aimed at the democrats who don't understand why we vote for trump with all the crazy stuff he does. i've got a list of reasons here. they are so radical now for the past eight or nine years that we feel they are the biggest threat to the country. also, they tried to get rid of trump before he was even in office, they were investigating him and that's all they did the whole time. the democrats judge people from 100 or 200 years ago by today's standards. that's not right because slavery was worldwide for 5000 years or something. like when black lives matters

right across the country all summer, they just kept saying it was mostly peaceful and then they are all over the january 6 thing like it's something special and they arrested everyone and they are spending unlimited time and money to track them all down. the other thing is, the democrats want to give illegal immigrants free health insurance. i'm 61 now and i'd retired when i was 52. i pay for my health insurance. it's $1153 per month. they want to give it to someone who broke into our country illegally and hasn't done anything to earn it. they want to give it to them for free. that personally drives me crazy. host: let's let david corn take up some of those points. guest: i don't think the biden campaign should spend too much time on scott. if he thinks the january 6 was

not a particularly dire thing, then i think he's living in a different universe than the people biden is aiming at. the notion that donald trump has been persecuted which as a narcissist, that's the case he always makes. he was the one running in 2016 with locker up and promising to put hillary clinton in jail on ill-defined charges throughout his whole campaign. then he complains that there was an investigation of the russia attack on the united states which didn't happen. the attack did happen, there was an investigation and if you look at the senate intelligence report in 2020, they said there was contact between the trump campaign and russian intelligence officers. the idea that it was a hoax and nothing was there and it was all made up, that's bunk.

yet, this is the narrative that trump wanted people to believe and he's finding people who buy it. host: let me give you dorothy in baltimore, maryland, line for democrats. caller: on the to give to comments and i want to ask a question. if you look at oil prices and nobody brings this up. i went to delaware and it was $2.84 a gallon. it's about the same in maryland. that's the same price it was when trump was in office and it only went down because of covid. abortion is not where they will end it, they are going for birth control. who is testifying against trump? democrats or republicans and who's giving the evidence against trump, democrats or republicans, it's all republicans work in his administration and his lawyers being investigated. they are all republicans who are testifying against trump. all of the evidence in the videos have been turned over by

republicans. host: let me give it to rich lowry. guest: that's true. the majority of the case will cothey had people were standing next to donald trump and they just lied. they lied about the election. it was disgraceful. i want to come back to david's prior point -- this is the huge irony area i totally reject trump selection denial. if trump wins in november and it's a 50-50 shot my gut says he wins but i don't know with certainty and i don't think anyone can know but democrats in the left will find another reason to deny the legitimacy of his election. it will be worse and after 2016. they spun up some russian facebook post for russia having stolen the election. hillary clinton couldn't say i was a terrible candidate and i was beaten by someone i thought

i should have defeated myself and i didn't. that's bad on me. she came up with all these excuses. it was deranged american politics for two years? you had mainstream media journalist saying the walls are closing in and the evidence was never there and it was never going to be there but they wanted to damage his presidency at the outset for understandable reasons. you get an investigation going and let's get a special counsel because that will screw him. that would be times two or three if trump wins this time around. the best way to beat him would need to have a better candidate than joe biden. that's with the democrats should have done. joe biden can fall down any moment and you can shuffle across the white house but you beat trump in 2020, let's find a relatively moderate image candidate that doesn't have your radioactive reputation and

various issues with the border crisis you created the afghan debacle or everything in between and get someone who will lead trump by five or 10 points and do that. if the future of the country and democracy as at stake, they are trotting this tired and wounded dog out there hoping for the best and maybe it will work out but it's a huge risk. host: about 15 is left in our conversation. as folks continue to call in, i want to talk about ron desantis who's no longer in the race. he is the subject of michael bender's political memo in the new york times today. let me get your reaction.

guest: and ron desantis endorsed trump. he didn't wait. he didn't even give nikki haley a clear shot. he waited until the day before the new hampshire primary. it was funny, a few days prior to dissent is dropping out, he would go to a campaign rally and decried republicans who kissed donald trump's ring so they would say a few nice words about him and literally the rest of the week, a guy who wrote a book with the title courage and it, a

guy whose super pac was called never back down is out there kissing donald trump's ring. i did not understand the self-loathing here within the republican ranks. donald trump would not endorse nancy mace and campaigned against her and she's out there now kissing his ring again. she's the congresswoman from south carolina. this party is not a party, it's a cult. it acts more like a crime family with a mob boss that you can't go up against him and if you do and if you don't kill him, you basically have to pledge undying loyalty to him. that's what trump has done to the republican party and republican party poobahs, not a single person elected office who have stood up to him. i am taking bets on this. tell me what day nikki haley is

going to endorsed donald trump. give me the day, next week after super tuesday or before the convention. i don't see anything less than a 95% chance of that happening. guest: sometime before south carolina. i'm skeptical she will make it all the way through south carolina. on desantis, the main thing with trump being stronger than a lot of us hoped he could be beaten thought after the 2020 midterms, that was the biggest factor and the indictments put them on a different level. the electability argument went away because he was pull -- it was polling stroke -- so strongly against joe biden. i'm not sure it was the trump campaign against him in mockery of him so much as those things. the biggest factor i think is ron desantis is a leaden performer.

you can get away with that in a major state like florida but the national stage is different. he never had a light moment, maybe one but never said anything funny, not naturally a people person and you get away with that in politics sometimes. not at this level and going against the show men like donald trump in the final thing that gets to the mockery that played a role, trump will say whatever he wants. he will sate about a judge or a clerk even though he will be held in contempt of court. you can abuse these people and post whatever he wants at 1:30 a.m. and these things are ultimately that is the reason why he could lose to someone this week like joe biden but there is a freedom in that and therefore republicans see that is a strength. desantis, you can feel the gears almost at all times over what he would say. he was afraid of saying the

wrong thing. that's understandable because he says the wrong thing in the republican will not forgive him. trump says the wrong thing and people laugh or shrug it off. there is no fight in that regard. the last thing is his strategy ended up being flawed. i thought it was a rational strategy that i supported but his strategy was go to the middle of the republican party. he's running to trump's right on things but the middle of the party in terms of maga and trump supporters. he was going to establish that beachhead and grow it in the middle of the party and all the people on the never trump side would flake off in the non-trump voters, you wouldn't have to court them. they've got a pretty good plurality, maybe a majority, who knows. after the indictments, you such trump voters were not that soft.

they felt bonded to him is ever so nikki haley comes and vacuums up the non-trump voters. then he got this extremely small showing and that's a you get 20% in iowa and why you are polling at five or 10% in every state and get out and endorsed trump. it's not great to do it immediately but he will do it eventually. that's the way politics works. everyone gets behind the presumptive nominee eventually. that's my version. host: republican from texas, good morning. caller: good morning. c-span has the donald trump absolute hater. you say that trump breeds fascism. if anybody supports the constitution more so than donald trump -- i believe the 2020

election was rigged and stolen. i've got a question and i will get off here. for rich lowry, the national review, are they currently covering the georgia elections for the investigation of the 17,000 missing ballots and the duplicate ballots from the 2020 election? will the national review jump on this audio recording of the gop, mr. dewitt, he's probably a friend of yours mr. lowery, a never trumper. he is trying to bribe kari lake not to run for the senate. that's amazing. host: let's give rich lowry a chance to respond. guest: i've never said donald trump breeds fascism and we are not covering those allegations about the various alleged frauds in georgia.

it's been recanted over and over again. it's just not there, he lost georgia. i'm not familiar with mr. dewitt and i am not friends with him. he thinks it's a bad idea for kari lake to run in arizona. she totally threw away a good gubernatorial race. she chose to attack john mccain no reason. she campaigned with steve bannon in the run-up to the general election so she narrowly lost and has been lying about the fact that she didn't win. she is a terrible candidate. host: do you want to weigh in on this kari lake story that broke yesterday? guest: anyone who thinks that donald trump is a defender of the constitution after what happened on january 6's i think beyond reasonable persuasion and donald trump himself has called for the suspension of the u.s.

constitution so he can be restored to the presidency. that's not a defender of the constitution. host: massachusetts, this is mike on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you guys today? host: go ahead. caller: i heard the remark of david talking about trump can't walk across a golf course. i've seen job biden write a bike and follow-up. he can't even walk off the stage. everything about january 6 that is right and we are fascists deaths that was -- that was due to pelosi not bringing in people and that was a scam. i watched it. i might have been there. this is all do to biden keeping the border open.

he is not a patriot. guest: i really don't know what to say to someone. we were there, we watched, my reporter was there and i watched on tv. thousands of trump supporters -- police. they sprayed them, they used american flags to bash these people, they went into the building shouting hang mike pence. donald trump sat by and did nothing because he thought this would be a benefit to him because it was part of the strategy of putting off the certification. he was on the phone that day with people, jim jordan and others and we don't know what they talked about. rudy giuliani as well. it was a crisis of the constitution. for anyone to say the fbi did this, i don't know how they would do this. how do you get 2000 people -- the republican party is the party of law and order? there are videos of them

climbing this -- the scaffolding and attacking cops, they were put up to this because an fbi guy was in the crowd? this is ludicrous and it shows these people are not tethered to reality. it's cultlike behavior. it's incumbent on the rest of the country whether you're a democrat, republican or in between to come together and say we need to protect democracy, we need to protect reality and get to a point where it's seen that this was wrong and we can move past this, move passed donald trump because he was responsible and get to fighting over the things rich and i used to have fun fighting over. host: you bring up topics in your book, the historical investigation of how the republican party went crazy. about five minute left in this segment. bradenton, florida, democrat, good morning.

caller: good morning and i was listening to mr. larry and he said it pretty good. he said donald trump is a show man. he started this whole thing being a show man. he tried to continually lie, cheat and find a way to discredit and discourage and that's been his plan all the time. now that he's in all this trouble and he has the congress and senators, he has them pushing these kind of things to cover for what he has not done. you keep talking about the age of biden. the reality is, biden writes, reads, studies and works. trump just shows. it doesn't do anything but play and show up.

the only reason he started this early thing is to keep himself from going to jail. he has -- he is playing hard to make sure that they do not have trials and things so that -- i don't see how, since people know that, they allow him to get to the point of saying the only reason they are doing this is because he's running for president. no. host: we got your point. guest: there is a lot in there. we disagree on these. the mishandling of classified documents is where people get in trouble. hillary clinton was guilty of it and joe biden at a different level guilty of it. maybe they will prosecute him on that and it's legitimate. certainly obstruction related to that is a serious matter.

we would all be in deep trouble. that one seems legitimate to me. these intelligent cases are complicated. they don't go quickly and you will not have that before the election. the alvin bragg and the well-meaning folks on the left consider it a joke. cindy willis is a stretch. it turns out she is totally unethical. she might be in huge legal trouble herself. that leaves the january 6 case but to get a crime out of it, the main thing that they are trying to do and david referred to this earlier, he should have impeached and convicted by the senate so they are trying to find a way to make up for that ever since and they will stretch the laws to do it. defending democracy striking him

from the ballot is an outrage against democracy. it's reading of the 14th amendment. it would help to defend democracy and if he says -- it biden says he will defeat trump at the ballot box, he should be on the ballot box in every single state. what was that caucus? you might think he's sincere about this. he will be in favor of democracy even when it hurts. we need to defend democracy by keeping him off the ballot? he won't do that. guest: everybody is in favor of the constitution when they think it helps them. legal scholars who believe the 14th amendment does apply in this case. any constitutional principle or

application often is up for debate. there are serious minded conservatives who believe there is a strong case here that if someone commits insurrection, and there is accountability for that. i think this is open to a good solid argument but it cannot be dismissed out of hand. guest: shouldst trump be struck from the ballot in all 50 states? guest: what we have here is a situation where the leader of the republican party, ex-president, you don't think he incited and encouraged? he certainly tried to overturn an election. he tried to get the justice department to fraudulently claim the election was bad. it was an attempt to defraud the government and defraud all of us. then he did nothing while this violence raged.

you think it's a joke? there are a lot of people who think it is not. i am 50-50 on disqualification. guest: you are a defender of democracy? david: people out there saying people should never be supported or elected. the biggest affront to democracy we have, bad prosecution and judges making decisions is what

donald trump did. rich: do you think you should be struck from the ballot everywhere? david: i'm happy to see what the judges say and i will abide by the supreme court decision. what will you do to prevent donald trump who committed serious offenses against the constitution? rich: you need to give me a better alternative. you can even say you want him off the ballot as a defender of the constitution. david corn and rich lowry, thank you for your time.

coming up in two minutes we will ve an open forum. any political issue you want to talk to you about. the numbers are on your screen and get the calling and now and we will get to those calls after the break. as we engage voters nationwide what issue is most important to you and why? >> i am a candidate of the president of the united states i want to defeat donald trump. other than that what i am

hearing from his cost and chaos being unaddressed and there is a time for a new generation to take the torch. >> i am running for president because our country is bankrupt. i am the ceo of an investment bank and the pastor. it's time to balance the budget. health care, not welfare. the most important issue in 2024 is making america more affordable right now the average family is financially strapped we need to turn it around so people can actually get excited about their future in their children's future. c-span's election coverage 2024,

be a part of the conversation. the famous and influential men and women who occupy those seeds have a lot to say about friedman's view of our nation. c-span will offer free to choose on milton friedman. it first aired on public television on 1980. they also wrote a best-selling book they advocated free-market principles and limited government intervention. other topics include welfare, consumer and worker protection. watch free to choose on american

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products, books, home to core and accessories. help support our nonprofit organization. shop now or at any time at c-spanshop.org. host: it is time for open forum. here is so you can enjoy the conversation democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. this is how we will end washington journal with open forum and at 10:00 a.m. the house will gavel in. also today at 2:30 a senate hearing on artificial intelligence experts said to

testify on the use of artificial intelligence on prosecution and investigation. with that, we will turn the conversation over to you. jerry from idaho falls, and independent. caller: my name is jerry and i have an undergraduate degree from brigham young university. i serve my country in vietnam and then i got my mba and i think the most important criterion in this election is whether or not the candidates are going to support our constitution. as much as has been noted, trump

has a crass personality but he did follow the constitution especially when it comes to the amendment that limit the powers of the federal government because the founders realized that too much power in the federal government as noted in the 10th amendment powers relegated to the federal government like controlling interstate commerce. host: do you think joe biden follows the constitution? caller: i think he place with the grossly specifically with his policy regarding this

southern border and declaring war on fossil fuels and trying to forgive student debt going through congress. in my synopsis i think donald trump would be the better candidate for president. i wish we had someone else. but it just doesn't look like that will be an option for us. host: this is brian in vancouver, washington, a republican. caller: good morning, how are

you doing? i have been listening to the guys on the show this morning about the election, the 2020 election, the next day on cnn, msnbc and fox they are saying the most free and fair election. how would they possibly know that? votes were still being counted. there is no way they could possibly know that it was the most secure election in history. host: how do you know about the security of the 2024 election? caller: shaky. we will be watching a lot closer but that is what the democrats do, they cheat.

they don't have any other way. it is the deep state to the worst degree. host: this is walter and west palm beach florida. on the line for democrats. caller: i just want to make a couple of points in one of those has to do with what i am hearing on c-span. there are a lot of errors people make about what is in the constitution and what is happening in our election and who was responsible for what and how decisions are made. part of that has to do that our education systems have broken down across the country.

regardless of its choice people just don't understand our government and the way in which it is structured. the constitution has evolved over the 200 years of the republic. after the civil war there were changes made in the constitution allowed a much broader role for the federal government over and above the states. are we americans or are we people from idaho, washington ians? what brings us together how can we say that what happens in

florida impacts north dakota? host: why do you bring that up? caller: what brings us together is our collective security and we have to agree on some things. i grew up in the 1960's and there were three major networks on television and all of those networks agreed on what were the facts that were significant to being able to collectively understand what was going on in the country. i know a lot of people think the three networks were in collusion . but if we can agree on what is truth than there is no way for us to collectively agree that i am responsible for you and you

are responsible for me. that's a difficult thing for many of us to accept because we buy into too much individualism. if these missiles started to rain on this country they will not decide who was a democrat or republican, we will all go down if we don't work together. host: this is chuck in new york, and independent. caller: good morning. the amount of people who call into c-span, 95% are over the age of 30 i'm not sure what the percentage is of people who don't vote under the age of 30

because looking at the folks running. donald trump, he looks younger and joe biden looks old as he can be. the democrats are foolish as far as putting candidates up. in terms of donald trump in the election being stolen, donald trump stole the election in 2016 and no one ever brings it up. the democrats made a mistake of having hillary clinton as a candidate he was despised before she made deplorable comments.

as far as people supporting trump there was an article talking about how hispanic and blacks are getting behind donald trump. i am not black or hispanic but in terms of the things that trump has said in the fact that he went after obama not so much because he had a muslim name but because he was african-american. that garnered support for donald trump because we had an incredible amount of racism that existed. number two, the evangelicals the support throughout. i'm not sure he knows the lord's

prayer or has any christian values that evangelicals would appreciate except for putting people on the supreme court. if you look at all of the women he's been involved with, would anyone be surprised if he got a girl pregnant who had an abortion? would it be surprising? in light of all the surprises that have come out. the democrats have always been fools. we have the wrong type of system. you have more people who would probably be an independent if we

had a system like other systems around the world. we have a crazy system. host: back to our republican mind this is ulysses in georgia. caller: good morning, i appreciate the opportunity to speak. i am a disabled veteran. i used to be a democrat until i heard donald trump. i hear so many negative opinions about donald trump. the way of life in america is supported by the military and keeping the borders closed. if we don't go through the

process of doing things legally. donald trump is the best thing that has happened as far as the borders. i love donald trump and i voted for him the last three terms. i know my vote is going to donald trump. host: we have been watching the deal coming together in the senate and we will turn to ursula solano, what is the latest on the status of the border talks.

>> we could see movement on the border bill including in the senate but we saw those numbers, they say that they are close to the finish line and they are feeling optimistic about the pending agreement. right now they are waiting on the numbers. that process could take a while. it's not clear when we will see this happen and in the meantime you're starting to see members get a little grouchy hoping to get this across the finish line. there is a lot of unrest in the senate because the house does

not seem on track to get anything passed the senate at all. host: how much has the house been weighing in on this? what do we know about the attempt to win this over in the house and get this past? >> says that meeting with the four congressional leaders it doesn't seems to have been a lot of additional negotiation between negotiators in the house speaker except senator langford he said that he had spoken to speaker johnson. it doesn't seem like there is much active communication which is worried people. the senate is looking that can

address their needs and be bipartisan and can be tacked onto these other priorities. with ukraine a and israel aid it is getting very complicated but there are factions that would be entirely happy. host: what are the things that matter most? >> conservatives don't want more ukraine ater spending and that category. you will also be looking at the anti-trump republicans and people will be counting on them to get the deal through and negotiators who will be holding out they will all be competing

with each other to figure out what can get in through the senate and house. how much will president trump weigh in on this deal. he thinks he can do it better he said he recently spoke to president trump and believes he can handle the border but if he wins another term. how much of what they have seen will weigh in on this. host: what is the expected

timeframe and how much of a ticking clock? when will you expect to get that language? >> there is a lot of couching nests but we are hearing a lot that they haven't had a chance to sit down and discuss it and they want that. whether the members will have time to get through it and whether leadership will allow amendments. amendments could be tricky when you are looking at a bipartisan bill that is complicated and highly litigated going through the process could risk slowing

down passage or potentially changing it to where it loses that majority 50 votes before reaching the senate. host: you can read more at politico.com and if you want to follow her on twitter she could also be found there. back to the open forum, darren has been waiting in st. charles, missouri on the line for democrats. caller: this is the first time i have ever called into a radio program or a tv program. i was thankful you had this so i jotted down some things i wanted to touch on.

how they could declare it is a free and fair election we don't live in the 30's and 40's anymore. i'm sure there was fraud back then and the lady that you just had on, it will be dead in the house. there are those people, marjorie taylor greene that will never let anything go through as long as biden is in the white house. it is up to their district to eliminate them. i don't have my glasses on. jamie raskin, he put it all out there. there was a gentleman in the

house on the republican side this said he will never give joe biden a win in order to make him look good. one thing i wanted to touch on, our state representative. the school district i live in is predominantly white and they tried to get a thing past where they would eliminate an elective course on black history. they were going to eliminate that option. 3000 predominantly white people came together and showed up at the board meeting and forced them to resend it.

host: the rules then you can call and once every 30 days and on the phone line that identifies you in terms of political inclination will talk to you down the road. this is mike from four lauderdale, florida. caller: everyone forgets about john mccain when he served his country and trump disgraced him that he was not a war hero. i have been a veteran for over 30 years and i'm trying to figure out why they are not looking at that. he slept all the military in the face saying john mccain wasn't a war hero when he got captured and got tortured. in my book, he is a war hero.

everyone talks about his treatment of veterans but it seems like they have forgotten what he did to john mccain. it's sad that americans don't really care about americans. host: mike in texas, a republican. caller: hello? donald trump is going to be your next president, get used to it. host: geoffrey kent from ohio, a republican. caller: good morning and thank you c-span. i am a republican and i will vote for donald trump.

last nights victory speech i did not understand it. he had an opportunity to go after the sitting president and he went after nikki haley. i love his politics but he has a tendency to snatch defeat out of the jaws of the erie. i don't know why he does that and the people around him let him squander opportunities. and lastly, we lost two brave navy seals on january 11. pray for them and their families they will never see them again. and live a little bit of a

better life. host: did you know them? caller: i did not but i have a son serving now. host: what do you think of the reaction to it on capitol hill by the white house? caller: i think the president and his wife issued a letter saying that these things are dangerous and these missions are dangerous and they ask people to do these things and they do it and again, i really don't know if they could do more than they have done already. that is where i am out with that. everybody let's get our act together. there are bigger fish to fry

than some of the things we worry about on a daily basis. host: jeffrey in ohio who began talking about donald trump. after being declared the victor in the nation's primary here are some of his statements. [video clip] >> let me just tell you, we hadn't unbelievable week last week and i would. we set a record. the best in the history of the caucus and i remember i have the same feeling. she is taking a victory lap and we beat her so badly and braun beat her. he came in second and she left but she came in third. she only got 25% of the republican vote.

independents came out because you have a governor who doesn't know what he is doing. in the primary they accept democrats to vote. they are only voting to make me look as bob as possible. we wanted 2016 and we also won in 2020. and we did much better in 2020 than we did in 2016. but as they say we lost by a whisker. we can't let that happen. i can go up and say to everybody thank you for the victory or i could go up and say who was the

imposter? she claimed a victory but she did very poorly. host: donald trump a new hampshire. this is grover in springfield, missouri, and independent. caller: the open forum i am bringing up is the physical award for civil service in the united states. if you go back to 1964, there was a cost of living boost for everyone in the military. it is been accumulating at the same percentage if you look into

it, there is no way we can continue because the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting much poorer. it is arcane that no one ever looks back at this and says we have to change the percentages to help those at the bottom catch up. does this make sense to you? host: are you talking about a cost-of-living increase? caller: the cost of living increase has been doing this on a straight-line basis ever since 1964. host: are you talking about federal workers do you think e cost-of-living when it comes to people on social security?

caller: i'm not knocking social security. i am just pointing out that everyone at the top has been getting the same percentage as the ones at the bottom. go back to 1964, thus a lot of years and the accumulation is stunningly different. the people at the top or will to do and the people at the bottom are just hanging on. the bottom is really getting soaked. host: this is sharon and delaware, a republican. caller: just a couple of quick

points, as far as i'm concerned there should be no deal as far as this border is concerned. this is our. this is an illegal activity going on at her southern border and these illegal migrants are coming in here just like the people on january 6 were ushered into the capital. you how to caller wondering why nobody is talking about the way trump talked about john mccain. why not joseph biden did the funeral for the kkk wizard robert byrd.

we could have some real discussions and i agree we should. do i like everything that donald trump says? the whole thing last night was ridiculous. that does hurt him with voters but as far as the illegal activity coming in here and illegal migrants, they are collecting welfare benefits. for lower income families, primarily minority groups, the foodstamp programs was allowed to expire. how does everyone feel about that? host: considering your comments you would agree with the washington times.

david bossi is the president of citizens united there is nothing conservative about the amendment if it was charles schumer would not put his name on the bill. there is nothing about a border wall or cracking down on sanctuary cities or increasing the number of border ages. that was said in the washington times op-ed pages. this is sean and saint augustine. -- in saint augustine.

caller: the first question, the young lady that was on earlier, ursula. i think part of the problem we have here is the lack of facts. a lot of people don't want to deal with the facts they want to make up these make believe facts and reinforces their argument. the young lady came on referencing donald trump as president trump. we'll know the election wasn't stolen it has been factually proven but when you allow people to come on and reference donald trump as president trump. host: but they are referring to the former president.

he was reporting on the border security saying that former president trump has influence on what lawmakers will eventually vote. i think that's what she was trying to say there. caller: it sounded like to me that she kept referencing to him as president trump. host: i don't think she was saying he was the current president. but is not the first time it ih. i feel the hate in this country over skin color is so dominant. one caller said if there were bombs being dropped on us skin color should matter. we are willing to ignore the facts.

another caller said the things that donald trump has done if it was a block person or another ethnicity he would not be running for president, he would be in jail. it is a gross misrepresentation of what this country could really be. my perspective but i wanted to talk to about, a lot of people say the economy under trump was good. that is simply not true. donald trump's administration inherited a good economy from the previous administration which was the obama administration, we started to

receive the benefit of that. when he came into office we had an economy that was driving and he took credit for. when you look when his term ended how the economy took a nosedive. when you start putting things in place you don't see an immediate return. host: of what plaintiff does economy become the sitting presidents economy? is it a year in, two your sin? isn't joe biden's economy now or donald trump's? caller: we are in biden's

economy and it is taking a turn for the better. inflation has gone down. the economy is starting to make a turn. when you inherit 8 trillion in debt that came from the trump administration it will take time to get out of that. it's like your own finances. host: this is janet, with about 15 minutes left, from illinois, a democrat. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: what's on your mind is open for him. caer: that republican, it reminded me of jim jones. do you remember him? host: i remember him.

caller: in 1978 900 people followed him and they drank poison punch. in these maga republicans remind me of those people who follow jim jones. that's all i have to say. host: independent line, robert. caller: good morning, i keep hearing these republicans over and over all of these people must've graduated from trump university. i guess he didn't get a good education. donald trump should be in jail. he is still trying to undermine the united states of america, he is trying to hurt us and he is bragging about dictators and the

people he seems to like the most are the worst people on the planet. wake up everyone. this is our last shot. host: elaine is next, maryland, a republican. caller: my name is a lane, i'm 83 years old. the president we have now and all of my years as the worst i have ever experienced. i have been voting since i was 21. he is taking our country and it makes me sad what you all are doing. i pray every day that the

president and vice president are the worst. host: this is walt, a democrat from indiana. caller: i have a question for you. trump is out walking the streets and we know he has raped at least two women. why is he out walking the streets instead of being in prison? host: to bradley in michigan, a democrat. caller: i can't believe there is a single military person who

support strong. he has discredited all of the veterans that have served over time. what i would like to get to is how trump has played the legal system. he has been involved in 4000 court cases over the span of 30 years. he is comfortable in that setting. if every defendant across the united states employed the tactics that donald trump said in court, tried to discredit the judges and mouth off and do everything wrong. host: in north carolina, nancy, a republican.

caller: my first issue has been the right to life from conception to old age. you brought on a pro-abortion representative who used the term who didn't give the theme. host: are you talking about the reporter? she has been covering the movement for years. caller: she used the word pro-life one-time everything else was anti-abortion. and when she covered the two bills, she called them antiabortion.

the first bill was to assure that money was not denied to crisis pregnancy centers and enable women to make wise choices. tanf. the second one was to inform students under title ix related to pregnancy. we believe all life should be protected and abortion is not in our constitution but life is. at the right to life. host: we have c-span cameras, did you watch the coverage? caller: i watch the washington journal and it was a disgrace. some people are stuck on washington journal so when you

have something like that. bring on an actual representative of the movement. host: you can actually watch her coverage of the march for life at c-span.org and representatives of that movement including the speaker of the house speaking for that body on the national lawn. the president and vice president in virginia marking the end diversity of roe v. wade and kamala harris addressed reporters yesterday and here's what she had to say. [video clip] >> women are suffering and let us be very clear about who is responsible.

former president trump handpicked three supreme court justices because he intended for them to overturn roe. he intended for them to take your freedom. he is the architect of this crisis. and he has not done. and the extremist or not done. in the united states congress are trying to pass a national abortion ban. to outlaw abortion in every state. but what they need to know is that we will not allow it. the american people will not allow it.

and here is some evidence of the point, tense and millions of americans marched to the polls and demanded fundamental freedoms. the voice of the people has been heard and it will be heard. host: that was the vice president yesterday outside of washington dc and manassas, virginia. we are taking your phone calls and open forum (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans and for independents (202) 748-8002.

from alexandria, virginia, charles. caller: i agree with what you said except for the fact that race place into everything in this country. i would say to you that if donald trump was a black man with all of these indictments and all of these court appointments he would not be allowed to run. i get so tired of hearing about this man. for those folks who pray. you are praying for a rapist to be back into office and a man who wants to be a dictator. who wants to be victor orban,

a man who could touch your relatives private parts and get away with it. a man who doesn't like veterans who died in combat. i am a veteran. he is disgusting and we want to put him in office? it baffles me how americans think about this man. and tim scott, i am embarrassed. if you want this kind of man i guess this is what we will get. i hope america wakes up and sees what is coming for us. we don't need another four years of this. host: debbie is next, a republican from massachusetts. caller: good morning, this is debbie.

the love for joe biden and they don't see the wrong in him that they see it all and donald trump. use take what is good for each one. you don't constantly condemn someone because you don't like him. no one is condemning by then even though they don't agree with him. but with trump they have given them so much publicity, it's unbelievable. it is getting ridiculous. host: randy in louisiana, and independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have never seen so many useful idiots calling and bashing trump

. if he is evil he is the lesser of two evils. i have been voting for the lesser of two evils since 1973. these people ain't got a clue. they are brainwashed, demoralized and everything in between. kari lake, she had a recording on a religious channel in the head of the arizona republican party to get her to go to their team. and she did not take the bride. this is what is going on in this

country and these people are out of their minds. i am amazed at how people think. host: who is the best president you have voted for? caller: donald trump. if i had to say anybody else besides trump i guess it would be reagan. i lost my job because of him. i was a merchant seamen. host: how did you lose your job? caller: when he came in the office they laid off three ships.

it was the way they worked in the marine industry. those are catalog companies if you can work with them. hang in there, don't leave them. host: you liked that job? caller: oh yeah, i get a small retirement from them. these people, i just don't understand. we are going to hell in a hand basket and they don't even know it. it is a shame, it really is. host: time for maybe one more call this morning. susan has been waiting in florida, a republican. caller: i have been listening to

this and it doesn't surprise me. people want vote for trump. but when you vote for joe biden, you are really voting for kamala. he is not going to last. it seems like they turn a blind eye. i was reading the report where the immigrants who are coming in, they don't have to show any identification. they are the only people who don't go through the tsa. on flights like delta and american. it's just crazy. we are bending over backwards to a group of people.

everyone wants to have the american dream but not the way it is being done. i live in florida and is ridiculous, the insurance. that's what i have to say. host:host: that is susan in flo, our last color today. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific. in the meantime, have a great wednesday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> a look w at our live coverage on c-span.

at 1:30 president biden offers remarks at the united auto workers conference in washington, d.c. and at 2:30 senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on the use of artificial intelligence and criminal investigations will feature testimony by regulatory and law enforcement officials. coming up at:00 this evening, nikki haley campaigns in her home state of south carolina after finishing second to former president trump in the new hampshire primary. live coverage on c-span, our c-span app, and online at c-span.org. >> for c-span's voices 2024, we are asking voters what issue is most important to you in this election and why? >> the most important issue is immigration. >> economics. >> i think homelessness is an issue that needs to be addressed. >>