Are King Soopers Workers Right To Strike? - podcast episode cover

Are King Soopers Workers Right To Strike?

Feb 19, 202535 min
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Episode description

In the second hour of today's edition of The Dan Caplis Show, Dan interview the leader of the King Soopers strike to debate whether or not the workers are right to strike and make the demands that they're making.

Transcript

Speaker 1

This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast edition of The Dankplas Show. Please be sure to give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind, and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every single day on your favorite podcast platform. And a lot of fun fighting for the American way these days. Right, We're always going to fight, whether it's fun, whether it's not. But we are on a roll right now, so let the celebration continue. Want to get back to the phone lines.

We're talking at the end of the last hour with a gentleman, Dean from Arvada. He tells us that he's a small business owner and he takes some bridge with the King superstrike. We had the union president on earlier to talk about the resolution of the strike, so Dean,

thanks for hanging in there. Then we have a lot more to get to this hour, including very prominent restaurant owners in Denver sending a letter to Mayor Mike Johnston saying the city is falling around a part around us, the city is falling apart around us, and giving very graphic examples, and they are right. So how courageous and how important for them to be speaking truth to power since bag Dad Mike, you know, just just loves to stand up there and say all these things that aren't true.

So I want to get into that letter from the restaurant owners. But Dean, thanks for hanging in there. Man, please say your piece.

Speaker 2

Okay, Phil, just the last couple of things. So I used to be a union curpenter, and you know, the union would come out and blah blah blah and all this that and the other thing, and I never got any more help. They just want more members to pay union dues. So now I own two construction companies, one in Border and one here, and I don't like people. I'm not a union contractor. I don't want someone from the outside coming.

Speaker 3

Hey, you got it.

Speaker 2

You need to hire ten more curpenters do that job that you know five are doing right now.

Speaker 4

Like, well, my.

Speaker 2

Overhead's going to go up and I'm gonna make less profit. Well, King Summer is going to be in the same boat. If they have to hire a bunch more staff, their fables are going to go down and your prices are going to go up. Now, if you don't like the customer service there, your option is to go somewhere else. In shop and then then the thankingsomers will say, guess what we need better STRECS service, so we as we actually have to hire more people.

Speaker 5

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's all I got to say, Daan, thanks for having.

Speaker 5

Yeah, but please stay with us, Please stay with this team, because I agree as a business owner myself who built it from the ground up with a lot of great people, I completely agree with everything you said there in the beginning, because yeah, you don't want some outside organization coming in and forcing you to do things that don't make any sense just because it benefits that organization. I agree with you completely. I think the question is whether here that's

what's happening. So the way you look at things, you're looking at this and saying you believe King Soopers is not understaffed, and you think the workers are not underpaid, et cetera. You may be right in the end. I'm not sitting here telling you, but I have the facts to know whether the union is right or wrong in its claims. Not at all. What I'm relying on is I don't know.

Speaker 2

I don't know if they're overpaid or underpaid. They might be underpaid, that's one thing. They might deserve a pay increase I'm not arguing at that point.

Speaker 5

Yeah, But all I'm saying is and I'm just one guy, right, I'm not calling on public policy or the public to follow me or anything else. All I'm saying is one guy who shopped at King Soopers for a lot of years and really like the people who work there. If the people who work there decide it's worth walking out of work, then for me personally, I'm going to go buy my peanut butter somewhere else. I'm just talking as one guy. I can't possibly know who's right or wrong

on the underlying facts. I'm just basing it on that.

Speaker 2

I don't either. I mean, all I heard is the union rep. I don't know the underlyings either, and I'm not going to point fingers and say all the doings wrong. But I just think what she said and maybe me kind of turning me out and like pretty more statlite. No, you're not the ones running the puff and lost statements and running the store. You're you're running the union. So I'm just kind of being the devils auvogate myself.

Speaker 5

Yeah, and you know, I'd love to hear from actual King Supers workers. The reason I supported the strike was not to support the union. I think unions are like people. There are good ones, there are bad ones, there are ones in between. So I didn't support the strike to support the union. I supported the strike to support the workers that I come in contact with in King Supers. But but no, man Hey, really appreciate your perspective and hope you call again.

Speaker 2

Well, I'd like talking to you. I mean, you're you're a great radio host. So I've just listened every day and ninety nine percent of stuff one hundred percent agree with Well.

Speaker 5

I sure appreciate that. But be sure to call me when you think I'm wrong, okay, because I may be.

Speaker 2

Well, you like a fight, and I can't call and fight with you.

Speaker 5

It is it is your verbal bites.

Speaker 2

Well, I know that.

Speaker 5

Thank you, man Hey, really appreciate the kind words. Call again soon. You take care. Yeah, and I know we have some text on the strike as well. We were talking to the union president as I'm sure you picked up on this text or kind of echoing Dean. As a small business owner, I have a hard time with Kim Cordova and unions in general. I think they're doing an admirable job trying to ensure the hard working people at King Soopers aren't being taken advantage of. But it's

tough for all of us. I've been working much harder, says the Texter, and much more for a third less pay since twenty twenty one. Nobody is working on my behalf. I need to do what I need to do to survive, which I am doing. Miss Corde, who's talking points are a hollow to a lot of us, Wow, what a compelling text. So how do you react to that? Right? I mean the logic there and I had the texture is one thousand percent correct. There are so many people working harder in the last few years for less so

that made this texture less sympathetic to workers. It probably makes some other Texters, I think, more sympathetic to the King Soupers workers.

Speaker 6

I'll give you my only experience working as part of a union, Dan, and it was interesting because it was my very first job in broadcasting right out of college. It was for TV nine to ten in Cadillac Traverse City, Michigan. And I was sitting down with my boss at the time, John Michael Carter, and he says, this is the position, this is what you'll be paid.

Speaker 4

He goes, I might want to pay you more.

Speaker 6

I think you're good, but this is what your union's negotiated for you, and so that's the wage.

Speaker 4

We can't negotiate it.

Speaker 6

So he kind of framed it like, Hey, I'd like to pay you more, but that's just not in the cards for you here. I didn't like that that was negotiated.

Speaker 4

On my behalf. I felt like I was my own.

Speaker 6

Best advocate, even at that young age, and I still feel that way now.

Speaker 4

Dan.

Speaker 6

I would not want to be a part of a union here. I know it's different in different professions. Things like the IBW, I think are tremendous because they're certified and you know that they're guaranteed quality and the standard of the work is assured for those that are purchasing it. But when it comes to King Supers, I described it this way, Dan, like we were kids either in a

divorce or mom and dad weren't getting along. It wasn't our fault as consumers as shoppers there, and I didn't really want to take sides, like you said, unless I knew the nitty gritty details, which I didn't know.

Speaker 4

And it's not like I want to take sides.

Speaker 6

Against King super Workers, but I don't want to automatically default to a union position that that might not be fair either.

Speaker 5

And I think for me, the key at least is that for me, it wasn't a pro union position. It was a I like the people I've run into at King Soupers over the last forty years. Sure, and if they think it's worth going out in the cold in front of the store and leaving work to do that, then you know, I'll go shop somewhere else. So that's just me. But in terms of unions, Ryan, you know,

I don't think I've worked a union job. I supported United farm Workers Union in Chicago when I would as a high school kid, I told you be the shill who would pretend to honor the picket lines at jewels and stuff like that. I really really was happy that my dad had the protections he had with the Chicago Police Department, and I believe that was through a union. So I was really glad that he had that, and I think the police officers needed that From everything I

remember that. I look around right now, and obviously I have a big problem with those teachers unions that at this point, you know, obviously put other things ahead of the kids. Even though there are a lot of great people in those unions. The unions themselves, I don't think the kids are their priority for a lot of these teachers unions. So yeah, I a King super Strike. I don't have a broad approach to unions overall. King Superstrike. It just came down to the people, the people who

work at King Supers, who I've really liked. But as I've said over and over again, and you know me, I don't try to straddle the fence on anything. I hate that for obvious reasons, especially if you're a male. But on the King super Strike, I like King Supers. I like the operation. I like the way they run their stores. I like the stuff they have on the shelves. So I like King Supers the company. I know it's Kroger,

but I also like the workers. And I just in the end, if hard working people are willing to walk out that then I'm just going to support them. I know a lot of people don't agree with that. Texter Dan, the head of King Soupers, said the exact opposite of what this union rep is saying. He says there are not staffing problems or taking money from their retirement plans. And so who is lying? I think the Union says this Texter. For me, I don't know. I don't have

subpoena power. It's not one of my cases. I don't have the ability to go in and drill down and get to the bottom of it. For me, it's as simple as what I just explained eight five five for zero five eight two five five text d an five seven seven three nine.

Speaker 4

And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.

Speaker 7

Do you think Jesse that establishment media figures like Brennan are laying the groundwork for further speech restrictions under the guise of preventing harm.

Speaker 8

They tried and failed, and now Trump is gonna usher in a golden age of free speech in America, whether the Democrats like it or not. The Nazis abolished free speech. You weren't even allowed to criticize the Nazi Party. You couldn't even make a joke about Hitler, and he had a stupid looking mustache and one testicle.

Speaker 4

Plenty of material there.

Speaker 8

Books were burned, radio stations were censored, newspapers were shut down. You actually got put to death in Germany for listening to the BBC. That happened a couple of times.

Speaker 5

Boy, I'll tell you know who's in a golden age or phase is Jesse Waters. I mean, he just really keeps getting better. Don't agree with everything single thing he said, but boy, and Ryan, it seems like yesterday. You know, he was the kid just starting at Fox booking for Bill O'Reilly. I'd get these calls from Jesse and everything else. But even back then you could tell he had a spark.

But the critical substantive point there is that, Yeah, the entire left depends on censoring free speech because they can't win a fair fight. They can't win a fair argument, and so Trump one of the many lasting gifts from Donald Trump is defeating this effort to cens for us. Now, obviously people saw it, which is one of the reasons they voted for Trump. But yeah, the left cannot win if there's true free speech and freedom of religion, particularly

if people actually vote their faith. Let's go to the phone lines. We've had just an explosion of calls and text surrounding the King superstrike. The end of the strike. I had the union president on in the last I want to get to some really thoughtful, compelling texts, all of which by the way oddly disagree with me. But let's start with Holly in Aurora. You're on the Dan Kaplos Show.

Speaker 9

Welcome Holly, Yeah, Man, thanks. I'm thinking that the Team Troopers union workers are in a unique situation that like the caller before and yourself we're talking about, they have to deal with the public and so when there isn't enough staff, Yeah, they find themselves hurting for being able to see what the what the public is doing, mostly a ka theeft and and shop lifting and that sort

of stuff. When there's not enough staff on the floor there, it's just harder to see if somebody is trying to steal things, where if there is some staff available, kids much easier.

Speaker 5

Yeah, that's so interesting. And you know, we had a number of members of the King Supers five who, in my opinion, were treated so horribly by King Supers after they stopped that. Robert, thank you Holly for your call. Let's go to Keith in Denver, Colorado. You're on the Dan Kaplis Show. Welcome, Hi, Dan.

Speaker 2

I had an opportunity to talk to one of the strikers when they first went out, and he said that he said two things. One they were fighting for more hours. And two they were fighting for more security. And one of the things that King Supers was not allowing them to do is hire more security guards. So if they had one officer in the store, the officers themselves said, we want a second officer. We don't want to be here alone. And you know, and I thought, well, those

are fair things to argue for. But my point is, and this is what my response to him, was, well, have you voted Democrat because the Democrats undermined all of your all the security issues that you're voting because of the Democrats? Then I said, I said, you wouldn't have the security problem if you didn't defund the police and if you didn't constantly basically enable criminal behavior.

Speaker 5

So what a great point.

Speaker 2

And when it comes to the and when it comes to the working hours, I said, these you know, these stores work on you know, they're operating on two to three percent margins, like you know, I think it's been reiterated a thousand times. But they wouldn't they wouldn't let you work more. They'd let you work more hours if they if you weren't voting for more and higher wages all the time, which is cutting into their bottom line, I said, this is entirely your fault if you voted Democrat.

Speaker 5

What a great point about the Democrat thing. Hey, thank you man. Appreciate that call from Keith in Denver. And that ties into something else. On Thursday Show, we're going to have John Kellner. He was recently, up until recently, the elected DA of Arepo, Douglas, Lincoln, and Elbert Counties and had been the GOP candidate for Attorney General in Colorado.

John is now my law partner, and he wrote a very compelling piece that was published in Sunday's Gazette going to our last caller's point about how the Democrats that the legislature once again have now given criminals a gift and have undermined the efforts of local municipalities and towns to strengthen the penalties against theft, etc. And the lefties at the state level are stepping in and saying, no, Aurora,

no you other cities, you can't do that. So you've got all of these local governments trying to protect their communities, protect their people by toughening the theft laws and other laws, and now polis in the left are saying, oh, no, you can't do that, so it's so wrong, but it ties into the last caller's point. And John Kellner will

be with us Thursday. He'd be with us tomorrow, except tomorrow is this annual father daughter thing the Caroline and Caroline, our daughter and I do together every year and been looking forward to it all year. We'll be doing that together and Christy Burton Brown will have the show tomorrow. I want to get to some of these texts as well. Three oh three seven one three eight two five five the phone text d An five seven seven three nine.

Texter says DAN, unions have outlived their purpose. In the beginning, it was about worker safety and forty hour weeks all achieved. Safety is now the purview of OSHA. Now unions are nothing more than democratic money machines based on outdated ideas Texter. And by the way, that text is echoed by many others, Dan, I was in the restaurant industry for fifty years. People don't work harder today, not compared to the sixties, seventies

and eighties. Would love your thoughts on that. And obviously you know different people, different stuff, But what do you think, Brian, in general? People working harder now or harder ten years ago.

Speaker 6

Well, I know that people are working for less now in terms of the spending power, the buying power of the dollar and what you're earning and how that measures up against the consumer price indexes et cetera. As far as it's hard to gauge you know, what craft you're in, what line of work you're in.

Speaker 4

I'm sure there are a lot of people are listening.

Speaker 6

Audience right now that would say they work very hard or just as hard as they did that amount of time ago. But general work ethic, Dan I would say this, I think a lot of younger people coming into the workforce have a lot more in terms of entitlement and expectations about what they're going to get rather than what they're going to contribute and how they're going to earn it.

Speaker 4

Kind of the old JFK thing. What are you willing to do?

Speaker 6

You know, as not what your country will do for you, but what you will do for your country. I think it applies to your endeavors in the workplace. Are you willing to work hard, to excel, to achieve and to be excellent? And I don't know if there's that amount of dry that maybe we saw that time ago.

Speaker 5

Now, Ryan, are you saying ask not what King Soopers will do for you, to ask what you will do for King Supers.

Speaker 6

Well, I think that's the whole point of this conversation that you had with Kim Kordova. And I'm not saying I disagree with everything she says. I generally am very hesitant to support unions because I wanted to negotiate on my own behalf. But you're right, I think there's there's something to be said on both sides of that one.

Speaker 5

Well, and when we come back, we've got more calls and text on the King super Strike will take those. We have much more to talk about as well, locally and nationally, and have to comment on this pivotal moment in Ukraine. You're on the Dan Kapla.

Speaker 4

Show, you're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.

Speaker 2

Ukrainians and the Europeans suggested that they go very sidelined without the process has laid out so far.

Speaker 10

How you intentionally address their concerns equality?

Speaker 3

Well, the comment I would have on that is that for three and a half years while this conflict is raged, or three years while it is raged, no one else has been able to bring something together like what we saw today, because Donald Trump is the only leader in.

Speaker 5

The world it can. So no one is being sidelined here.

Speaker 3

But President Trump is in a position that he campaigned on to initiate a process that could bring about an end of this conflict, and from that could emerge some very positive things for the United States, for Europe, for Ukraine, for the world. But first it begins by the end of this conflict.

Speaker 5

Oh, beautifully said by Rubio. Yeah, all this griping now from Europe. Yeah, where was Europe for the last three years? Because this should tick you off, It should take everybody off, because Putin is evil. Putin is evil. And you know, Trump is doing a tremendous service to the world right now. He's doing the best he can with this horrific situation,

which is not of his making. This horror, this horror, this unleashing of raw evil in the form of Putin, was brought to you by so Biden and the Left and their weakness and their weakness in Afghanistan and their weakness with Putin. Trump is just stopping the bleeding. But my goodness, the way Europe abandoned Ukraine. Putin knew from day one right, Putin is looking through the lens of evil, and so morality doesn't factor in. Nothing factors and accept

evil devouring, evil, raping, evil, pillaging. And Putin looked at Europe and he sized Europe is weak. He sized Biden is weak. And he went and he devoured and he sized them upright. So Europe, as someone earlier today said, you know, Ukraine needed warriors, and they got cheerleaders. Right, the brave people of Ukraine fought valiantly, historically brave. But what did Europe give them, you know, just applause and cheers and a little bit of money. Putin knew from

day one. If Europe would not put boots on the ground, Putin would get whatever he wanted. And Europe would not put boots in the ground. There should never be an American boot on the ground in Ukraine. That was Europe's fight. America should support it financially in ways it makes sense because it serves the world to stop evil in the form of Putin. But it was Europe's fight. They wouldn't do it, they wouldn't put boots on the ground. So

Putin was destined to win. And now what Trump's doing is serving the world by just stopping the madness and to the extent listen, to the extent he had kind of good relations with Putin, that then further America's interest and prevent further wars. Then yeah, sure, don't compromise our values, don't compromise our principles. But what do you want to do with that sort of wild animal who threatens the

peace and stability of the world. If you contame him, if you can bring him under control, then you want to do that. If you can, you don't just want to run off to war. You want to end wars where you can. So, yeah, Europe abandoned Ukraine, so evil now wins to a certain extent, and Trump heroically now will stop the bloodshed eight five five or zero five A two five five text d an five seven seven

three nine. You know, it's like somebody said earlier, Ryan, I think it was Mike Waltz, the National Security advisor. He said, before Trump was elected, everybody was just talking about is there a way to end the war? Now that Trump's been elected, everybody's talking about when the war will end because they know Trump's about to end it. Have we seen in our lifetime? In our lifetime an individual have is immediate and dramatic effect for the good

on the world. Obviously, John Kennedy probably saved America in the world in the Cuban missile crisis. You know, Ronald Reagan did a great service or peace for strength. But in terms of one individual this kind of impact, I don't think we've seen that in our lifetime.

Speaker 6

If I may present Dan to you, Woodrow Wilson, we won't go down that road yet. Good, but apostulate from a guy that I respect in this industry but is a liberal and is comparing what's going on right now with the bilateral talks that the United States, Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz and others are having with.

Speaker 4

Fidermir Putin in Russia.

Speaker 6

Comparing that to Neville Chamberlain and Great Britain trying to negotiate a piece with Adolph Hitler before he invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Speaker 4

What would you say about that comparison?

Speaker 5

Total bs, total, totally false. But that's what we get from the left right. That's why they want to silence free speech because they lie all the time, and if people are free to point out that they're lying, the left loses utter garbage. Trump comes to the table with consummate strength, consummate strength, and Putin knows that if Trump came in whole hog on the side of Ukraine right now, it ends one of two ways, either Russia losing or

a nuclear war. So Trump comes to the table with strength, right and there's not going to be any appeasement whatsoever here. What there's going to be is a practical recognition of what the weakness of the left and the weakness of European leadership has wrought. And there's going to be a practical recognition of that that the choice now is World War III or cut a deal that maintains Ukraine's sovereignty,

keeps its government intact, and ends the bloodshed. That seems like a pretty easy choice, doesn't it.

Speaker 4

It does.

Speaker 6

And my counter to that, for my friend online would be, Okay, what does victory look like? To find that and describe that, you can't get the left or one of these Ukraine.

Speaker 4

Hawks to answer that question.

Speaker 6

And then secondly, as a means of achieving that end, are you willing to put American forces boots on the ground in Ukraine to help win that war?

Speaker 4

You got to answer that one way or the other.

Speaker 5

Yeah, and of course they wouldn't be. But this just goes back, right, This just goes back to the Trump derangement syndrome. And how now it is shortening the lifespan of the left because the people look at all this success from Trump and they look at increasing lunacy and irrationality from the left and guess which direction more people are moving. You don't have to guess, just look at the poles. And now it's just up to the rest

of the GOP to get it right. But I think the rest of the GOP is doing a pretty good job with that. Now we have to see if Colorado can start to turn right. And I know they'll be the subject of other shows and other guests, but I want to get to some of these great texts. And isn't this going to be one of the great moments ever when the left to has to watch Donald Trump get the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, now, who knows. If he doesn't get it, it's just a total farce.

But he's been subjected to those total farce as many times before. But if he does get it, which he should, yeah, that'll be a very fun moment. First of all, because there will be this. I don't know if you'll be able to call what's coming peace or just cessation of war, but whatever it is, it'll be far better than what we have right now, Dan your guest. And this goes back to the King super strike issue that we've been talking about. We have the union president on talking about

the conclusion of it. Dan your guest said, most of our members are part time. Oh you mean they aren't the bread winner in the home. They need to stop demanding higher wages and benefits on a part time job. I think the Texter probably misunderstands. I think there are probably a lot of people who want to be full time, but the only jobs they can get are part time. There are some really compelling Texters who disagree with me here. Let me get to one longer than we like, but

it's so well done. I'm afraid you're looking at this whole King super Strike through your rose colored Chicago Democrat big labor glasses. Labor unions have long outlived their usefulness and now are just a tool to extract more from businesses that are already tight. Nobody is holding a gun to these people's heads to make them work. There. If I have a job and don't like the work environment, I can go talk to my supervisor, and he talked to his supervisor to either get it resolved or I leave.

We're not in the days of Upton Sinclair the Jungle meat packing businesses, where businesses were giving away with just about it, getting away with just about anything. There are already way too many restrictions and controls in place for labor, with OSHA and the Labor Relations Board. My guess is Ryan, probably about ninety nine percent of our audience agrees whole hog upunintended with that. Texter and De Texter appreciate that. Dan.

Two questions for your guest. Is it appropriate or inappropriate for strikers to stand right in front of the doors? Is it appropriate or inappropriate for a striker to tell me to shop elsewhere? Ryan, what do you think I honored the King super strike, as I've mentioned on air, because I've always liked the people who worked there, and if they were going to strike, I'll go shop somewhere else. I wasn't doing it to support the union. I wasn't

doing it because I decided King Soupers was wrong. I was doing it because I liked the people who worked there. But I went to a liquor store next to my local King superstore, and I did notice that the strikers were lined up right in front of the store, right in front of the store entrance. And I also noticed there were almost no cars in the parking lot. So how do you feel about folks who are picketing lined up right in front of the entrance.

Speaker 6

They got a little belligerent with Kelsey, and I wasn't a fan of that.

Speaker 4

And that was kel No, my fiance, Kelsey.

Speaker 5

Oh, your fiance. Nobody would be ware.

Speaker 4

There was a woman who did that much.

Speaker 2

Oh.

Speaker 6

They brought out a security guard. I'm going to try to keep this short because I know we got to go to break.

Speaker 5

Do you want to do it in the next segment? I could sum it up the secure Kelsey story people.

Speaker 4

No, no, no.

Speaker 6

The security guard told me that he simply explained to the strikers that you know, you can pick it outside, but don't try to intimidate or yell at the customers coming in. And by the same token, I'm going to make sure that I protect you from any customers that might be harassing you. And he said that that had been happening and reversed. There's some shoppers are on the way in yelling at the strikers. I just think tempers were short, that's to be sure.

Speaker 5

Hey, when we come back, lots more to talk about. Want to preview a really important story for tomorrow here on The Dan Caplas Show.

Speaker 4

And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.

Speaker 10

Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to entuct a genocide, and he met with the head of a political party that has far right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it, and you know that that the censorship.

Speaker 3

I disagree with you specifically about the right. Now, I have to disagree with you.

Speaker 4

Boy.

Speaker 5

I'll tell you that is one of the top five stupidest things ever said on television anywhere right. And Margaret Brennan is not a stupid person. She has a lot of bad ideas, bad leftist ideas, but she's intellectually very gifted. So why would somebody smart say something that's stupid that it was free speech that caused the Holocaust? Of course it was not. But the reason she said that is

because the left is they're saying the quiet part out loud. Now, the left knows that free speech means the end of the left. That's why they've worked so hard to end free speech in America. Cancel culture. If you speak an opinion they don't like, You're a racist, you're a bigot, you're a sexist. You have to be canceled, driven from normal society because the left knows if people are free to speak the truth, the left loses. And now they are driven to this absurdity. Oh, it was free speech

that caused the Holocaust. So the encouragement in that is that one of the great lasting gifts of the Trump victories is the preservation of free speech in America. And as long as we have it, the left will lose. And she's just now displaying it for all to see. That is their platform. Free speech equals evil unless it's their free speech. Hey, let's go to the phone lines. Welcome Kathy to the Dan Kaplis Show. Hey, Kathy, Oh, she just dropped. I hope she's okay. Technical term dropped, right.

Speaker 6

She called nine one one, did not physically drop that I could call her Paul drop from the phone unfortunately.

Speaker 5

Good, excellent, excellent. Let's get back to our texters here Dan, with the last couple of hours, Trump said Ukraine should never have started the war with all the great work coming from this administration. This is a black mark, extremely ignorant, and a complete embarrassment. And I am a DJT supporter. I saw that text come in during the break. I'm checking the news feeds. I never take what a CNN

or NBC report as true. The initial reporting appears to be that President Trump did say something along those lines. It was more in the context of firing back at Zelensky, who was criticizing President Trump today, which is really bizarre, right, But it was more in that context. So I am very very confident that President Trump does not perceive Ukraine as starting this war, and that if he made some comments on the fly that came across that way, that

those will be clarified. And again, I think Trump deserves a lot of credit for soon ending the bloodshed, because it's not Trump Trump's fault that Putin, who is Satan on Earth, went into rape and pillage Ukraine. That's Biden's fault. It's the left's fault. Putin did not go into Ukraine when Trump was president. He went in when Obama was president, he went in. When Biden was president, he didn't go in when Trump was president. If Trump had that second term,

then Putin would not have gone into Ukraine. I think any honest person would have to admit that. So Trump deserves none of the blame for its starting. He deserves the credit for it ending because, as one of his people said earlier today, before Trump was elected, people were talking about is there a way to solve the war? Now because of Trump, they're talking about when it will end, because it's certain now it will end. Why because of Trump?

So yes, if he made a comment in anger when he was responding to Zelensky's bizarre criticism, then yeah that I'm sure he will clarify that over the next few days. There is no question that this war was completely unnecessary. It was invited by Biden's weakness and the Left's weakness. But the cause of it is the evil of Vladimir Putin and Europe being unwilling to step up and put

boots on the ground in Ukraine. And I didn't want World War three, obviously, but if Europe was not willing to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, and there should never be American boots there. Then Putin was destined to win. The only way to stop Putin was Europe putting boots on the ground. The people of Ukraine fought heroically and bravely, beyond all measure, but they were not going to be able to defeat Russia without Europe being

willing to put boots on the ground. And hopefully Europe being willing to put boots on the ground would have deterred Putin, but Putin saw it clearly early. Biden was pathetically weak. European leaders, pathetically weak and evil took advantage of that. Thank god, Trump's going to stop the bloodshed now. Ryan, great job, Kelly, you as well. Great to have you back. Kelly and Christy Burton Brown in the house tomorrow. Thanks for being here today on The Dan Caplis Show.

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