This 2024 election cycle has seen several major developments in recent weeks as the nation barrels toward November. At the end of May, a jury in New York found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts related to his alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Polling since that verdict, though, shows the conviction has not hurt Trump’s chances against Biden. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week shows Trump with a two point lead over Biden. The current Real Clear Politics avera...
Jun 22, 2024•9 min•Ep. 263
President Joe Biden announced a new plan on Tuesday that will fast track a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who’ve been living in the country illegally for more than 10 years and married a U.S. citizen. He also expanded protections for DACA recipients, according to several reports. In a statement issued by the White House, the president blamed Republicans in Congress for not securing the border and fixing the "broken immigration system."
Jun 21, 2024•9 min•Ep. 262
A New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts last week, but so far it seems to have done little to dampen Trump's electoral hopes. The conviction naturally raised the question of whether they would topple Trump’s 2024 White House bid. For now, the answer appears to be no.
Jun 15, 2024•8 min•Ep. 261
A Delaware jury convicted President Joe Biden's son of gun charges on Tuesday, marking the first-ever criminal conviction of a president's son. Special counsel David Weiss indicted Hunter Biden in September 2023 in federal court in Delaware on three counts tied to the possession of a gun while using drugs. Two of the counts involve allegations that he allegedly lied on a form attesting that he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a .38 Special Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third...
Jun 14, 2024•9 min•Ep. 260
Former President Donald Trump has kicked off a western U.S. campaign tour, stopping in Phoenix on Thursday. Though the rally was held indoors at the Dream City Church, the heat outside of the event sent several people to the hospital, according to multiple news reports. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning until Friday night for the Phoenix area, noting highs reaching near 110 degrees later in the day. Like previous events held at the church, Thursday's event, which was ...
Jun 08, 2024•8 min•Ep. 259
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced what he dubbed a border security plan – five months ahead of the November election and after at least 11 million foreign nationals illegally entered the country since his inauguration. At a news conference at the White House, Biden said, “I’ve come here to do what Republicans in Congress have failed to do, take the necessary steps to secure our border. … Today, I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using executive authorities available to me as presi...
Jun 07, 2024•8 min•Ep. 258
A Manhattan jury on Thursday convicted former President Donald Trump on all counts in his hush money case, a history-making verdict that could reshape the 2024 presidential election. Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records for disguising hush money payments to an adult film actress as legal costs ahead of the 2016 election. Under New York state law, falsifying business records in the first degree is a Class E felony that carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
May 31, 2024•9 min•Ep. 257
Lawmakers have threatened to revoke the appropriations for a federally-funded scholarship program that an audit found favors liberally leaning students over conservatives by a ratio of 10 to 1. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established in the 1970s to award scholarships to students who “demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service.” An audit of those scholarships performed by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, though, repo...
May 25, 2024•8 min•Ep. 256
Donald Trump's defense team rested, wrapping up its side of the case after calling two witnesses, including one who contradicted testimony provided by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness. Trump had said he would testify at his trial if necessary, but decided not to take the stand in the history-making trial. His defense team rested Tuesday, clearing the way for jury deliberations to begin next week. Justice Juan Merchan told jurors to return for closing ...
May 24, 2024•8 min•Ep. 255
Congress has spent more money on interest so far this year than it has spent on both national defense and Medicare. Spending on net interest hit $514 billion in the first seven months of fiscal year 2024. That's more than spending on both national defense ($498 billion) and Medicare ($465 billion). Medicare is the federal health insurance program for those 65 and older and younger people with disabilities. During the same time period, the U.S. spent $873 billion on Social Security, the federal p...
May 18, 2024•8 min•Ep. 254
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he plans to debate former President Donald Trump twice before the November election, but the details have yet to be worked out. Biden challenged Trump to debate in a video message posted Wednesday. "Well, make my day, pal," Biden said in the video. "I'll even do it twice."
May 17, 2024•9 min•Ep. 253
A judge on Monday fined former President Donald Trump for violating a gag order in his New York hush money case for a tenth time. Prosecutors had alleged Trump violated the gag order an additional four times, but Judge Juan Merchan found only one instance violated the order. In his ruling, the judge fined Trump $1,000 for comments he made during an April 22, 2024, interview with "Just the News No Noise." During the interview, Trump said the jury was packed with Democrats. Support this podcast: h...
May 10, 2024•7 min•Ep. 252
Tennessee and West Virginia led a five-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education challenging the federal overhaul of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act. The lawsuit is one of several filed nationally on the topic after Biden’s administration rewrote the Title IX statute to expand the definition of “sex” to include “gender identity.” “The U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girls’ locker rooms,” Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statemen...
May 04, 2024•8 min•Ep. 251
Former President Donald Trump weighed in online on the ongoing chaos on college campuses as pro-Hamas protesters occupy and vandalize colleges around the country. “THIS IS A RADICAL LEFT REVOLUTION TAKING PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY,” Trump wrote Thursday on TruthSocial, his social media site. Trump’s comments capture a repeated conservative argument, that conservative protesters like those on Jan. 6 were met with severe consequences while liberal protesters, like the Black Lives Matter rioters and the...
May 03, 2024•8 min•Ep. 250
A Jewish Yale student was reportedly stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag during a pro-Hamas protest on campus over the weekend, the latest incident highlighting the ongoing tensions on college campuses since the Hamas terror group attacked Israel Oct. 7 and ignited an ongoing war. Amidst ongoing calls for violence, lawmakers have ramped up calls for accountability for the taxpayer-funded universities as well as groups supporting Hamas, which the State Department has officially labeled a t...
Apr 27, 2024•9 min•Ep. 249
U.S. Supreme Court Justices on Thursday grappled with multiple questions about what a president can and can't do as they heard oral arguments in a case that could have wide-reaching political ramifications not only for the 2024 election, but well beyond. Supreme Court justices are considering a case involving former President Donald Trump and if presidents have immunity from criminal prosecutions. Trump's attorney D. John Sauer said the president must have immunity for a functioning democracy to...
Apr 26, 2024•9 min•Ep. 248
The White House Office of Management and Budget openly criticized a report from a Congressional watchdog that estimated the federal government loses up to $521 billion a year to fraud. Jason Miller, the deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, detailed OMB concerns in a 3-page letter to officials with the Government Accountability Office. He said the fraud estimate was "not plausible." Full Story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_36e9fdba-fccb-11ee-a...
Apr 20, 2024•8 min•Ep. 247
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has set up a week of controversy, political posturing and even risked his own job over federal funding for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. The Senate passed a $95 billion aid package earlier this year that combined Israel and Ukraine funding that included $60 billion for Ukraine and $14.1 billion for Israel. That bill made no progress in the House so far, but the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel have pushed the issue to the forefront. Full Story: h...
Apr 19, 2024•8 min•Ep. 246
A coalition of states has filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s latest executive effort to forgive a portion of Americans' student loan debt. The lawsuit comes after Biden on Monday announced the plan, which the states in question say is an overreach of executive authority. The White House claims that Biden has so far canceled at least some of the debt for 4 million Americans, totaling $146 billion so far. The White House said the newest effort would partially forgive debt for 30 mill...
Apr 13, 2024•8 min•Ep. 245
President Joe Biden this week touted what he called a major drop in inflation, saying prices had fallen more than 60%. Those comments come on the heels of more federal data showing prices are on the rise, raising the question: Has inflation really fallen or is something else going on? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation that has spiked recently. BLS found the CPI rose another 0.4% last month, part of a 3.5% increase over the previous t...
Apr 12, 2024•8 min•Ep. 244
The federal government reported hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in improper payments last fiscal year and trillions over the last two decades. According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023. The true number, though, is actually much higher, but federal reporting is often lacking. “GAO has found that these payments represent a material deficiency or weakness in internal controls,” ...
Apr 06, 2024•8 min•Ep. 243
Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security are demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after learning that Border Patrol agents are releasing known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) into the country. The demand comes after Republican members led the charge to impeach Mayorkas in February and after FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress expressing concerns about those illegally entering the U.S. with ties to the te...
Apr 05, 2024•7 min•Ep. 242
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., blasted the Biden administration Wednesday for cutting back on a federal effort to increase union accountability and transparency. The Center Square exclusively obtained a letter this week that was sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to 10 U.S. senators. In the letter, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja defended the agency’s decision to remove a webpage built to hold unions accountable. The federal webpage in question included data on “official time,” a c...
Mar 30, 2024•8 min•Ep. 241
(The Center Square) – Americans want states to have a role in stopping the flood of illegal immigration, which comes as the federal government and Texas grapple over who has the right to secure the southern border amidst the ongoing crisis there. According to the survey, 29% said border states, 29% said the federal government, and 37% said a combination of both should have the final say on immigration policy. The rest are unsure. This new poll comes as the Biden administration and Texas Gov. Gre...
Mar 29, 2024•10 min•Ep. 240
(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case evaluating how the federal government censored Americans’ speech online, especially about COVID-19 and other controversial topics. During the arguments, justices seemed to express doubts about a prior ruling that limited federal cooperation and coercion of social media companies, particularly when the federal government pushes those companies to censor Americans’ speech. “My biggest concern is that your view has t...
Mar 23, 2024•9 min•Ep. 239
(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump is narrowly beating President Joe Biden in a head-to-head faceoff going into November, a new national poll shows. The Center Square’s Voter’s Voice poll conducted with Noble Predictive Insights was released Wednesday, showing Trump beating Biden 46%-45% with likely voters. The rest are unsure. When you include options to vote for third party candidates as well, Trump’s lead over Biden grows. When the poll includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel ...
Mar 22, 2024•7 min•Ep. 238
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday confirmed that a smuggling organization working with the terrorist organization ISIS is funneling criminals through the U.S. border. He also said the FBI is currently investigating its operations that “we’re very concerned about.” In a U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing held on Monday on worldwide threats to the United States, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, asked Wray about threats coming through the U.S. border. “Over the last three y...
Mar 16, 2024•8 min•Ep. 237
President Joe Biden's budget proposal seeks to set aside billions of dollars to push progressive gender, sexuality and race ideology at home and around the globe. Released this week, the $7.3 trillion budget also proposes spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to train school teachers in diversity, equity, and inclusion dogma. The White House touted the spending in its announcement of Biden’s budget, which includes $3 billion to “advance gender equity and equality worldwide.” Support ...
Mar 15, 2024•9 min•Ep. 236
Former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary Wednesday and declined to endorse former President Donald Trump. "I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we have received from all across our great country, but the time has now come to suspend my campaign," Haley said during her remarks. "I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that." Haley said she has no regrets. Support this podcast: ht...
Mar 09, 2024•9 min•Ep. 235
President Joe Biden delivered a wide-ranging State of the Union address Thursday evening, touching on the economy, Ukraine, the border and more while attacking Republicans during his remarks, possibly his last time to give the address as president. “Good evening, if I were smart I’d go home now,” Biden said to begin, drawing laughs from the assembly. Biden quickly turned serious, though, saying that freedom and Democracy have not been under such great threat since the Civil War, making reference...
Mar 08, 2024•8 min•Ep. 234
