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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, August 29th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. After an uphill battle to get on the ballot, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now fighting to take his name off in battleground states.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Our polling from the beginning showed pretty consistently that if I got out of the race, 57% of the people who were supporting me would vote for Trump. Why are some states forcing Kennedy to remain on the ballot against his will?
--:-- John Bickley: Let's dive into that. Special Counsel Jack Smith revises and refiles his indictment of former President Trump in the election interference case.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Let's face it, the Democrats only ever brought this in order to have an impact on the election. And Vice President Harris is backpedaling, embracing several of Trump's positions that she once opposed.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm not sure that this is a woman who knows what she actually believes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: In the wake of his Trump endorsement, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now fighting to remove his name from ballots in at least two key battleground states.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So, first, for months, Kennedy was fighting an uphill battle to get on these ballots. Why is he now trying to remove his name?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, since his Trump endorsement, this is his strategy to help Trump beat Harris in November.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: In about 10 battleground states where my presence would be as a spoiler, I'm going to remove my name. And I've already started that process and urged voters not to vote for me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: But so far, he's unable to do that in Michigan and Wisconsin. Now, why are those two states refusing to remove him?
--:-- John Bickley: OK, well, first of all, this has everything to do with politics, unsurprisingly.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: As RFK cited himself, polling shows that he would hurt Trump in battleground states more than Harris.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In fact, six recent polls cited by the Washington Post showed Harris outperforming Trump nationally when Kennedy is on the ballot.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: This is why we're seeing this push from Democrats to now keep his name when they were, you know, just weeks ago fighting to keep him off ballots.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. So in Michigan, Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Kennedy can't withdraw because he filed as a minor party candidate through the natural law party.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And they already chose their electors and it's too late to make a change. But simultaneously, Benson is currently working to keep left-wing independent candidate Cornel West off Michigan ballots.
--:-- Georgia Howe: West would potentially siphon off votes from Harris and hurt the Democrats. A judge just over this past weekend ruled against Benson and said West will stay on the ballot.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Benson has promised to appeal that decision.
--:-- John Bickley: What about Wisconsin?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The request was put to the state Elections Commission but that was deadlocked on a party line vote three to three Democrats for keeping RFK on and Republicans for allowing the removal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The measure did not move forward and Kennedy's name will remain. The commission cited a state law that says a candidate must stay on the ballot once he's filed, except in the case of a death.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So what's the status in the other battleground states?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, there's a chance his name stays on ballots in North Carolina since Kennedy's name has already been printed on ballots in more than half of the state's 100 counties.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: RFK filed under the We the People party and the elections board said on Tuesday that they still hadn't heard from the party about removing Kennedy's name.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the clock is ticking down and it's unclear how the state is going to handle that.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Some states have already approved Kennedy's request to remove his name like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona.
--:-- John Bickley: And he also won't appear on Georgia ballots since he never qualified in the first place.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So most of the polling now suggests that RFK on the ballot hurts Trump, but does it soften the blow a bit now that Kennedy is openly encouraging his supporters to vote Trump?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, possibly.
--:-- John Bickley: Morty Weyer actually spoke to Brent Buchanan, president and founder of Signal Polling Group, and he shared with us his initial findings in Michigan.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I am in the field right now on a survey in a district in Michigan, not the whole state. I just looked at the partials this morning and he's getting less than 1% within this district.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So I think voters are smart enough to know that he has come off the ballot and is not running because that number was definitely not 1% in the last survey.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, I also think independent candidate voters tend to be a little more politically engaged than maybe your average voter.
--:-- John Bickley: So it's possible some of them have gotten the memo at this point not to vote for him.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for reporting.
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--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That's shopify.com slash morningwire.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has responded to the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling by regrouping and filing revised federal charges against Donald Trump.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us now to discuss is former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: Hey Andy. So we've had some new developments in the lawfare effort against Donald Trump. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has revised and refiled charges against him for election interference.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What exactly did we just witness here?
--:-- Andy McCarthy: Well, I think what we've witnessed is probably, from a prosecutor's standpoint, the cleanest and most efficient way to deal with the Supreme Court's opinion in the immunity case.
--:-- John Bickley: Remember that when the court decided the immunity decision on July 1st, which held that the president has absolute immunity for core executive actions and at the very least presumptive immunity for everything he does within the ambit of his executive power.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: The court basically directed the lower court, which be Judge Tanya Chutkin in Washington, to do a searching examination of the allegations in the indictment to sort out what allegations are based on or implicate official acts of the presidency and which ones don't.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Long story short Smith was supposed to by this coming Friday make his submission about what he thought the case would look like going forward.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: And I think he decided rather than make a submission on Friday, he would simply supersede the indictment on Tuesday.
--:-- John Bickley: And what he's done is take out some of the allegations that can't stand after the Supreme Court opinion.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: I should be clear, he hasn't taken out any counts, like he hasn't taken out any charges, but there were certain aspects of the evidence that can't withstand the Supreme Court's opinion and had to go, so he pared them down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that's because it relied on evidence connected to Trump's official duties, is that correct?
--:-- Andy McCarthy: Not just his official duties, but his duties at the core of his Article II constitutional executive power.
--:-- John Bickley: What Chief Justice Roberts said in the majority opinion was that Trump's control over his subordinates in the executive branch exercising law enforcement authority, which is a plenary power of the executive branch, is something that Trump has absolute immunity for.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: So those allegations had to come out of the indictment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So where does that leave things now? What are the next steps for this case?
--:-- Andy McCarthy: The first thing that everybody is most concerned about, and I think rightly so, is what's the impact on the election?
--:-- John Bickley: We're seven weeks to go. We're going to have a new president on January 25th, whether it's Trump or Harris.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: So I think this is really a big nothing because immunity is one of the few issues in federal criminal law that a litigant is allowed or a defendant is allowed to appeal pretrial.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So whatever Judge Chutkin decides, even if she leans in Jack Smith's direction, Trump is going to be able to appeal that to the D.C. Circuit and then ultimately to the Supreme Court.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: So there's no way that happens between now and the end of next January.
--:-- John Bickley: Alright. So certainly no movement on that case before the election.
--:-- Andy McCarthy: Andy, thank you so much for talking with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Look for the release of our full interview with Andy McCarthy over the holiday weekend.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: With Election Day fast approaching, Kamala Harris has reversed her stance on a number of far-left positions she once supported, and she's now embracing numerous Trump proposals, including funding for a border wall.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the string of policy reversals is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, Cabot, quite a bit of attention this week on Kamala Harris's rightward drift. What issues did she flip on?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, it really is striking to compare Harris's current campaign platform with that of her 2020 campaign or her time as senator and vice president for that matter.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Harris has long been considered one of the furthest left lawmakers in Washington, something she's touted in the past, but has clearly made an effort to distance herself from many of those positions that she's held for years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For example, Harris has for quite some time been a champion of Medicare for All, even co-sponsoring a Medicare for All bill with Bernie Sanders when she was senator.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here she is defending that plan back in 2019, telling CNN she supported eliminating private health insurance plans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The idea is that everyone gets access to medical care and you don't have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the delay that may require.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Let's eliminate all of that. Let's move on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But now, according to campaign surrogates, Harris no longer supports Medicare for All.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And here she is in 2019 calling for a ban on fracking in the United States.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I am committed to passing a Green New Deal creating clean jobs and finally putting an end to fracking once and for all.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Again, despite being one of the most prominent voices on the left for years on this topic the Harris campaign now says that she no longer supports banning fracking.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The list really does go on. Harris has in recent days reversed her position on mandatory gun buybacks.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: She's reversed her stance on electric vehicle mandates, which, again, she co-sponsored legislation for in the Senate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And perhaps most notably, she has reversed her position on funding for the southern border wall.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. Now, that was the big one. What are we seeing on immigration from Harris?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, to put it bluntly, we are seeing a reversal of epic proportions.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Kamala Harris is now promising to pass the so-called bipartisan border security bill that failed in Congress earlier this year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, that bill would, among other things, expand the number of Border Patrol and ICE agents and, most importantly, allocate around $650 million in funding for construction of a border wall.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That is quite a noticeable turnaround for a woman who four years ago campaigned on free health care for illegal immigrants and said illegal entry into the country should not be a criminal offense.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's even more remarkable when you look at her past comments on Trump's calls for that border wall.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: She said the wall is a, quote, stupid waste of money that, quote, ain't going to stop illegal immigrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She's called it unnecessary, un-American and a vanity project for Donald Trump.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We don't need to build a wall. This is a crisis of his own making.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And by definition, just plain speak, basic English language definition, it is not an emergency.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, this isn't even the first Trump policy that the Harris campaign has embraced.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. So this month, the VP famously adopted Trump's no tax on tips proposal, as well as a child tax credit increase that her campaign slammed J.D. Vance for supporting in the past.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's worth noting J.D. Vance actually predicted earlier this month that Harris would, quote, soon propose that we finish the border wall.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He held a large rally in Michigan this week where he poked fun at Harris's new positions.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Her advisers are considering just copying all of Donald Trump's policies. They're more popular.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In fact, I've heard that for her debate in just a couple of weeks, she's going to put on a Navy suit, a long red tie and adopt the slogan, make America great again.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The back and forth from Harris has prompted a new nickname from Donald Trump, copycat Kamala.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, for their part, Republicans say Harris still wants to enact many of those radical positions that she's now denouncing, but is taking a more moderate approach in hopes of winning over voters.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But that strategy could alienate voters who feel she's going wherever the wind blows.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For example, a New York Times poll this month found that 54 percent of voters feel she, quote, flip flops on the issues that matter, while a recent CBS poll showed that more than a third of voters say they still do not know what she stands for.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, those are some concerning numbers considering we are just weeks away from the election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: And now, a word from our sponsors. Men, it's time to take charge of your health with Emerson Multivitamins by Responsible Man, a new Daily Wire Ventures company.
--:-- John Bickley: The Emerson Multivitamin is packed with 33 key ingredients that support your immune system, sharpen your brain, while also keeping your heart and muscles strong.
--:-- Georgia Howe: American-made and designed for men who mean business, the Emerson multivitamin separates the men from the boys.
--:-- John Bickley: Right now, take advantage of their Labor Day sale. Visit ResponsibleMan.com and use code WIRE for 50% off your order. That's ResponsibleMan.com, code WIRE.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And don't forget to text WIRE to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit from Birch Gold.
--:-- John Bickley: Qualifying purchases will get an exclusive GOLDEN Truth Bomb.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. We'll be back after this break.
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