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--:-- John Bickley: Just before New Hampshire's first in the nation primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspends his presidential campaign. It's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. How will the departure affect the GOP primary? I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, January 22nd, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New information corroborates allegations of impropriety by Fulton County DA Fani Willis. She is in a long line of politicians who are trying to essentially take advantage of Trump to build their name ID. And she was also trying to get money in the process. Will the claims derail the DA's case against Trump?
--:-- John Bickley: And the surge of illegal immigrants into New York City is leading to an unsanitary situation that's sparking major blowback from New Yorkers. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: As voters prepare to hit the polls in New Hampshire tomorrow, the GOP primary has become a two-person race, with Ron DeSantis dropping out on Sunday. Two worth more on what's at stake this week and what we expect to see is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, the Florida governor made his announcement Sunday afternoon in a video posted to his Twitter account. DeSantis said it was clear to him that Republican voters wanted to give Donald Trump another chance and that he no longer saw a viable path to victory. I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear path to victory.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And importantly, DeSantis offered his endorsement to Donald Trump while taking a parting shot in Nikki Haley.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge. He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackage formed of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, so that leaves Nikki Haley as the only Trump challenger left. What do we expect to see in New Hampshire now that this is a two-person race?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, polling there has consistently shown a tighter race than any other state on the early primary calendar. So if Haley is going to slow down Trump's momentum, this looks like her last best shot. According to the latest CNN polling yesterday, she's sitting at 39% compared to Trump's 50%. Other polls have her trailing by around 15% to 20%. Now, DeSantis was polling around 6% to 8%. So even if Haley picks up all of his supporters, which is by no means a given, she's still facing an uphill battle on Tuesday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But it is worth noting, New Hampshire has a decidedly more moderate electorate than Iowa. While the state is home to about 300,000 registered Republicans, there are nearly 400,000 unaffiliated voters. And while it's technically a Republican primary, those independents are allowed to vote on Tuesday if they choose, which historically has benefited more moderate candidates like Haley.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But make no mistake, this is still Trump's race to lose.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So if the polling proves accurate again and Trump has another big win what does it mean for the race moving forward?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, it would certainly lend more credence to Trump's argument that it's time for the party to coalesce around him and begin focusing on Biden. But regardless of tomorrow's outcome, Haley is almost certain to stay in the race until at least February 24th, when her home state of South Carolina holds its primary. But she doesn't have much of a home field advantage, as Trump is polling around 60% there. The former president also picked up the endorsement of the state's popular Senator Tim Scott, who was actually appointed to his position by Haley when she was governor back in 2017.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, for her part, Haley has really stepped up her attacks on Donald Trump after taking more veiled shots at him throughout the fall.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Over the weekend, she questioned his mental fitness for office after Trump appeared to mix her up with Nancy Pelosi. I'm not saying anything derogatory, but when you're dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can't have someone else that we question whether they're mentally fit to do this. We can't.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, there have been rumors swirling over Trump's potential VP pick, were he to win the nomination? And those conversations have included Nikki Haley.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, in recent weeks, we've seen a number of reports regarding Trump's supposed shortlist for vice president. According to sources from Trump's inner circle, those names include Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and also Nikki Haley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Remember, Trump appointed Haley as his ambassador to the UN, and the two had a sort of up and down relationship since he left office before the campaign.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But as Haley has ratcheted up her attacks on him, Trump has appeared to cool on the idea, though he did not shut the door entirely speaking this weekend in New Hampshire. She is not presidential timber. Now, when I say that, that probably means that she's not going to be chosen as the vice president.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You can go and you can say certain things, you know, I don't like them and this. But when you say certain things, it sort of takes them out of play, right? So as Trump seemingly prepares for the general election, the question becomes if voters in New Hampshire will defy polling and make this race a bit more interesting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, we'll find out tomorrow.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Reports are continuing to grow of alleged misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who's leading a sprawling RICO and election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, sure thing. So for a few weeks now, there have been allegations that Willis hired her romantic partner Nathan Wade as special prosecutor in this Trump case. The pair then apparently benefited significantly from that arrangement. Wade was paid more than $650,000 to work on the case and then allegedly used some of that money to fund lavish vacations for the pair.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we just got more information about that over the past few days. The latest information comes from Wade's wife, Jocelyn Wade, in the pair's divorce case.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: A court filing from Jocelyn says Wade paid for Willis to accompany him on at least two trips, one in 2022 to Miami and then one last year to San Francisco. That filing includes credit card statements from a Visa signature business account that purports to show Wade booking round flights for him and Willis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This was filed on Friday. It the credit card statements that are significant here seemingly providing hard evidence of the allegations that have been swirling for weeks.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, has Willis responded since those divorce filings were made public?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So she initially responded on Thursday, and this was just days after she was subpoenaed by Jocelyn in the Wade's divorce case.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Willis, in a court filing, accused Jocelyn of harassment, trying to damage Willis' professional reputation and obstructing and interfering in Willis' Trump case.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In her filing the following day, Jocelyn's legal team rebuffed Willis and said the deposition seeks to obtain, quote, pertinent information from her husband's paramour regarding Willis' relationship with Wade and the extent of Wade's financial involvement in that relationship.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Willis has not directly confirmed nor denied having a romantic relationship with Wade. Her office did say in the past that Willis will address those allegations in a formal court response. However, Willis did allude to the allegations when speaking at a church in Georgia last Sunday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Willis, who is black, suggested she was dealing with these allegations because of racism. Here's a brief soundbite of her speaking to the congregation in a speech that lasted more than 30 minutes.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: First thing they say, oh, she's going to play the race card now. But no, God, isn't it them who's playing the race card when they only question one? Isn't it them playing the race card when they constantly think, I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I've been doing almost 30 years?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, in addition to these court filings, there's also a video of Willis from 2020 that's been making the rounds.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: What's in that video and why is it surfacing now?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, not great optics here for the DA. This video, which was uncovered first by the Washington Free Beacon, shows Willis explicitly saying that she would not date her employees and then really making the case as to why this would be problematic for her to do.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I certainly will not be choosing people to date that work under me. I think that what citizens are really, really concerned about is if you chose to have inappropriate contact with employees. I mean, there's nothing that I can say on it other than it is distracting. It is certainly inappropriate for the number one law enforcement officer in this state. And it will be very unfortunate if the taxpayers of this community have to pay for any of those lawsuits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it's not good for the case, but it also doesn't look good for President Joe Biden. Politico linked the Congressional January 6th committee with helping Willis launch the Trump election case in the first place. And then there were reports of Wade visiting the White House on two occasions prior to any charges being filed against Trump.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Wade billed Fulton County for 16 hours for those meetings, eight hours each at $250 an hour. That second meeting is notable because it happened just two days after Trump announced his bid for the Republican nomination.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Again, this doesn't help with the optics and countering the pervasive belief that this is a political targeting, perhaps with the guidance of Trump's political opponent.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, regardless of the merits of her case, behavior like this really undermines public trust.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Residents of New York City's East Village neighborhood are expressing outrage over the filthy and unsanitary conditions on their streets created by the migrant crisis. The mess is the result of a migrant intake facility for those who are looking to access the city shelter system once their 30 or 60 initial stays have run out. Here to discuss the growing frustration is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, so a real mess here. Just how bad have things gotten in the East Village?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Morning, John. Pretty bad. We aren't just talking about litter here, which honestly most New Yorkers don't even notice. But and I apologize. I know it's a morning show, but residents are being confronted with feces and urine, And things along those lines, which are obviously not only unsightly, but deeply unhealthy in as densely populated a place as Manhattan.
--:-- David Marcus: As one street cleaner told the New York Post, he went to clean up what he thought was an abandoned cup of hot chocolate. And, well, it wasn't. Cups and bottles full of urine have been left on people's stoops. It's a little third world-ish. Yikes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Aside from being a residential area, the East Village is a real tourist destination. How much could this harm businesses and restaurants in the area?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, the East Village boasts St. Mark's Place, a legendary punk rock shopping strip, as well as storied Tompkins Square Park. Along with its sibling name, the somewhat more reserved West Village, this is America's Bohemia, a place where just about every artist, writer, or musician you can name hung out. It was one of the first neighborhoods rehabilitated in the 1990s and has hundreds of bars and restaurants that could suffer not just because people are defecating on the sidewalk, but also out of safety concerns.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As we've heard from residents of other areas in Gotham, nobody really knows who these migrants are. Real concerns there.
--:-- David Marcus: This comes at a time when House Republicans in the White House are having a very public dispute over the border issue. How much could these problems facing blue cities force Joe Biden's hand?
--:-- Georgia Howe: New York Mayor Eric Adams has been openly critical of the administration on this issue, as have other Democrat mayors. But having said that, their particular focus is more on getting federal dollars to help them cope with the problem rather than closing the border itself.
--:-- David Marcus: Though in New York and Chicago, it's not clear how federal dollars would suddenly provide space for migrants that simply doesn't exist. At the very least, if Biden decides to take meaningful executive actions, such as reimposing the Remain in Mexico policy, these conditions in the cities could give him some political cover against the far left that's going to be furious at him.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, that might insulate him some. Now, it's often asked if things are getting bad enough that New York actually might choose a Republican mayor as it did when things were so bad in the early 90s. Is that actually possible here?
--:-- David Marcus: How much is too much for New York City Democratic voters is a hard question to answer. When Rudy Giuliani was elected in 1993, the city was looking at something like 2,000 murders a year. That is five times what we see today. But look, at a certain point, people will look for change. In some ways, Adams was viewed as the tougher, more moderate Democrat when he was elected after socialist Bill de Blasio.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But it's also not just local New York City and state politics impacted here. The fact of the matter is that Democrats would control the House of Representatives today were it not for the four seats Republicans flipped in 2022 in the New York metro area.
--:-- David Marcus: The Biden campaign absolutely understands that those swayable Democrat voters are crucial to him and that the border is an important issue for them. But as always, and as mentioned, Biden has the progressive base of his party to contend with, and anything he does to secure the border will be met with outrage by them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, certainly a tough crowd for him on this issue.
--:-- David Marcus: Dave, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
