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--:-- Host: John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- Host: John Bickley: In a historic moment, President Joe Biden drops out of the presidential race and endorses Kamala Harris. We discuss the fallout of the unprecedented move and what comes next for Democrats and Republicans. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, July 22nd, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 election sends shockwaves throughout the political establishment. It will be very interesting to see if the Democrats go into a back room somewhere and switch it out and put someone else at the top of the ticket.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: And the Secret Service faces tough questions on Capitol Hill about the attempted assassination of President Trump. She should be fired. She should resign in absolute disgrace.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: 9898. Text WIRE to 989898 for a free no-obligation info kit on gold and to get your hands on that limited edition golden truth bomb today.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: The fallout continues following the stunning announcement on Sunday that President Joe Biden would not be seeking re-election. Here to break it all down is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Hey, Cabot. So we provided a quick breaking news episode yesterday on this, but a lot has unfolded since. So if you would, catch us up to speed here.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Yeah, in a race that's been defined by historic moments, this one might be the most unprecedented of them all. With one tweet, Joe Biden rewrote the history books. We've seen presidents drop out during their reelection campaigns when it was clear they would lose their primary. But never before has an incumbent dropped out after winning their party's primary. But that is what happened Sunday when Biden said he was stepping aside, quote, in the interest of his party and the country and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Ever since last month's debate debacle, we've seen a growing pressure campaign from Democratic lawmakers urging him to bow out, but he had remained defiant, saying it would take, quote, an act of God for him to leave. And it seemed for a few weeks like he was going to run out the clock and make it to November, but that all changed this week after Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, arguably the two most powerful Democrats outside the White House, met with him and told him that he had lost the faith of his party and Democratic voters. For all intents and purposes, that was the nail in the coffin.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Apparently so. Now, a big question was answered Sunday when Biden endorsed VP Harris. How likely is it that she ends up, in fact, being the nominee?
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Yeah, within minutes of the announcement, we saw a flood of endorsements come in from prominent Democrats, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Congressional Black Caucus, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, George Soros. The list goes on. The most notable Democratic holdout at this point is Barack Obama. The former president called Biden a, quote, patriot of the highest order, but failed to mention VP Harris, saying instead that he has, quote, extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges So he is leaving the door open for someone other than Harris
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: And it worth noting he not the only one A number of prominent Democrats have called for a nominating contest of some sort whether that means a contested convention or even a mini primary. But again, as things currently stand, Harris looks to be far and away the most likely nominee.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: For her part, the vice president praised Biden for his, quote, selfless and patriotic act, saying she would, quote, earn and win this nomination, unite the Democratic Party, unite our nation and defeat Donald Trump.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: All right, so expressing clear confidence there that she will be the one on the Democratic stage come August. What have we heard from the Trump team regarding their likely new opponent?
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Well, they wasted no time pivoting from Biden to Harris, essentially saying the VP has been at the head of every major failure for the Biden administration. Among other things, Trump surrogates were quick to note that Harris has served as the White House boarders are overseeing the highest levels of illegal immigration in history. And they also accused her of helping cover up President Biden's obvious cognitive decline. Remember, just this month, she was arguing that he's mentally fit and more than prepared for a second term.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: To give you an idea of what we're likely to hear in the coming months, here's an ad that was posted by a pro-Trump super PAC minutes after Biden's announcement. Kamala was in on it. She covered up Joe's obvious mental decline. Our president is in good shape, in good health, tireless, vibrant, and I have no doubt about the strength of the work that we have done. But Kamala knew Joe couldn't do the job, so she did it. Look what she got done. A border invasion, runaway inflation, the American dream, dead. They created this mess. They know Kamala owns this failed record.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: So it's early, but what did the polls say at this point about a Trump-Harris matchup?
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Yeah, that is certainly an important caveat, as the polls are, again, almost surely going to change one way or the other once voters become more familiar with the VP. To start, Harris is one of the only political figures in the country with an approval rating lower than Joe Biden. The president sits at 39%. The VP is at 38%. So step one, we'll be reversing that trend. But she does seem to pull ahead of Biden when it comes to a head-to-head with Donald Trump. On average, she is behind right now by around 1.7% nationally, while Biden was down 3%. But the big question for Democrats is how she will fare in those must-win Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. We're still waiting for the numbers there, but keep in mind, there is a good chance Democrats will see a polling bump in the next few weeks as Democrats and some independents get excited by the idea of having someone new on the ticket, especially someone so much younger.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: We'll have to wait and see what happens a month or two from now when things settle down and she comes more into the spotlight. But a huge shakeup is now underway. Joe Biden is out. A historic shakeup indeed. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Guest: Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: As Democrats focus on moving forward with a new presidential candidate, Republicans and media analysts say there are massive implications of Biden's withdrawal that cannot be brushed aside. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with how that debate is shaping up.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Hey, Megan, so what's the GOP focusing on here?
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Well, they're zeroing in on the fact that Biden's announcement did not include why he's leaving this race. And of course, that matters for a lot of reasons. So a lot of talking heads on the left have openly focused on the polls and the fact that they showed Joe Biden was simply unlikely to beat Donald Trump It was one of the reasons the New York Times editorial board called on him to leave this race And it was also something that George Clooney mentioned in his infamous op-ed. In fact, Clooney directly said, and I'm quoting, we are not going to win in November with this president. And he and others fretted about how Biden might impact down ballot races in the House and Senate.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Well, that's a problem because 14 million Democratic primary voters had already cast ballots for Biden. And now it looks like Democratic leadership simply decided that they didn't like their candidates' chances. So you're hearing plenty of chatter that this was akin to a donor class coup, in fact. The donors versus democracy, if you will, and the donors won.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: So immediately after Biden posted his announcement that he was dropping out, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Democrats are trying to upend the expressed will of the American people in primary elections. And then only a couple of hours before Biden's announcement, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on ABC that the GOP could bring legal challenges to the Democrats last minute candidate switch. Every state has its own system. And in some of these, it's not possible to simply just switch out a candidate who has been chosen through the Democratic small democratic process over such a long period of time. 14 million Democrats voted to make Joe Biden the nominee. So it would be wrong and I think unlawful in accordance to some of these states rules for a handful of people to go in a back room and switch it out because they don't like the candidate any longer.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: So you have GOP leadership saying that the people who voted for Biden in the primaries are being disenfranchised only 100 days out from an election. And is it just Republicans who are making that argument?
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Well, I mean, they're certainly the ones who are making it most vociferously, but no, they're not the only ones. So Green Party candidate Jill Stein was out Sunday saying that Joe Biden has been removed from power by anti-democratic forces. And then independent journalist Michael Schellenberger had a really interesting take. He said that Biden's ouster creates a very unflattering contrast for the Democrats, because basically they look like a party controlled by their powerful elites, while Republicans are increasingly controlled by their working class base. And this is all the more ironic, given that Democrats have been warning that Trump is the threat to democracy.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: OK, but a lot of people who wanted Biden out of the race, of course, point to his debate performance and say that mentally he's just not up to the task of running for president. Well, yes, but that reason also comes with its own set of controversies because it does bring up some real concerns about national security. Essentially, what you have is a president who seems to have admitted before the eyes of the world that he is not mentally fit to mount a campaign, but he is still planning to continue serving as commander in chief. And so a lot of commentators are saying that this is an incredibly dangerous set of circumstances for the U.S.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: New Trump running mate J.D. Vance, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. I could go on and on here. Well, they're all saying that if Biden is not fit to run, then he's not fit for his office now and he needs to resign immediately. And some are pointing out the inappropriateness of Biden making this announcement via a statement posted on social media rather than what you would normally expect, which would be a formal address to the nation.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Fox News Dana Perino who is of course a veteran of the George W Bush administration said on Sunday that the American public has a right to know if Biden released this statement on social media because he simply too frail to give a televised address So I think it is fair to say that this is a moment that America adversaries are no doubt monitoring Unprecedented times Hard to guess what might happen next
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Megan, thank you so much for reporting.
--:-- Guest: Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: As the nation comes to terms with Biden's historic withdrawal, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle is facing increasingly harsh criticisms from both sides of the aisle. Cheadle is expected to testify on Capitol Hill today. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: So Tim, can we expect Cheadle to be raked over the coals today?
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Most likely. Republicans have been furious over the security failures that allowed a sniper to get within 130 yards of Trump with no pushback. And Democrats, too, have raised questions about the Secret Service's responsibility here. Congressman Brendan Boyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, called for Cheadle to resign on Saturday.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Real Clear Politics reporter Susan Crabtree has been one of the foremost journalists on this story. Morning Wire caught up with her, and here's what she said. I believe there's a highly good chance, there's a great chance that her opening statement will be her resignation. In the past few days, the information that has come out has only increased the skepticism around Secret Service protocols, which Cheadle, as director, is responsible for. Expect to see a lot of that skepticism raised today.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Now, based off what we know about the assassination attempt, what are some of the big questions that could be asked?
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Right. There's been new information out almost every day since the rally. And a lot more came out over the weekend in an initial report by Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson's office. He outlined some of the missing pieces in an interview on Fox News on Sunday. Senator, that was a 9 a.m. meeting on July 13th, the day of the shooting. Correct. Secret Service was there. Secret Service was there for site visits. Weren't even there. You kind of turned over some of the outer perimeter stuff to local law enforcement. Again, we had pictures of this guy. Why wasn't he intercepted?
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: There's so many unanswered questions here. Crabtree also raised questions about the allocation of Secret Service resources. The same day as Trump's rally, First Lady Jill Biden had an event in Pittsburgh, and Vice President Kamala Harris had one in Philadelphia. Were resources diverted away from Trump to cover those events? Now, the Secret Service has denied that, but can we trust what the agency says? because reports suggest that the agency has already misled the public on another aspect of this story.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Here's Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on allegations he denied requests for more Secret Service protection for former President Trump. That's a baseless and irresponsible statement and is one that is unequivocally false. Now we have since seen reports that those requests were made and were in fact denied, despite claims from Secret Service and Homeland Security that they were not.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: And then there's the claim from Cheadle that the Secret Service wasn't on the roof the attempted assassin shot from because it was sloped. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson on that. Cheadle also said the reason no one was on that roof that day was because of the slant of the roof and she was worried about the health and safety of her agents. I mean, that makes no sense to us whatsoever. I've got my own security detail through Capitol Police. Those guys would go on a roof that was a 90 degree angle.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Now, do we have any sense of how rank and file members of the Secret Service feel about the scandal?
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Yeah, here's Crabtree on what she's heard. They're outraged, completely outraged. They are so stretched thin. The permanent protected detail assigned to Donald Trump has been working around the clock, seven day shifts without any time off. So a lot of them were taking time off. I'm told that was the first thing that came to me, that they were stretched thin and they're always stretched thin. It's an agency with very low morale and the diversity, equity, inclusion policies are not helping that.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Well, the people are absolutely right to demand answers after what happened. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Guest: Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
