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--:-- John Bickley: America's two political parties are shifting demographically, and one of the most notable new trends is the rise of conservative Latina politicians. We talked to some of the most high-profile Latina candidates about why they're running on the Republican platform, as well as the scrutiny they're facing from Democrats and the media.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, July 18th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Amid crippling oil prices, President Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia for a controversial meeting with the crown prince. Why is the president getting backlash from his own party? And did the meeting accomplish Biden's goals?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the nation's top health agencies, the CDC and the NIH, have seen a mass exodus of staff in leadership positions amid complaints of low morale and stifled speech.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: Three Latina congressional candidates running as Republicans in South Texas are making a lot of headlines, representing a new trend in American politics that the New York Times described as the rise of the far-right Latina.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Georgia, you spoke to these three candidates. What's this new trend and what's going on in South Texas?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So as we've reported before on this show, there's a very significant trend of Latinos shifting to the right in South Texas. The three women making a lot of headlines are Cassie Garcia, who's running for District 28, Monica de la Cruz, who's running for District 15, and Mayra Flores, who recently flipped District 34. But the trend is actually a lot bigger than just those three. According to the RNC, more than 100 Republican congressional candidates this cycle are Latino, which is an all-time record. So that said, though, there are still about twice as many Latina candidates running as Democrats, which I think is important context to keep in mind.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. So what motivated these women to get into politics?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So all three of the candidates zeroed in on three things. Border security and the economy were the big two. But all three women also talked about traditional family values.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's Monica Dela Cruz. Well, in this area, we house the largest border patrol sector in the entire nation. So Border Patrol agents, they're our family, they're our friends, they're quite literally our neighbors. We see firsthand the stress that they're under, the lack of support by the Biden administration. And we also see the immigration crisis, the humanitarian crisis at a ground level.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And here's Myra Flores on what she believes Latino voters care about most. Well, the Hispanic community is no different in that we care about jobs, jobs and jobs. Under this administration and liberals in Congress, we're seeing nothing more than prices increase, gas, food, rent. Our savings are gone because of the worst inflation in 40 years and families are having to sacrifice.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, what about social issues? Did those come up?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes, but I definitely got the sense that social issues were on the back burner. Here's Cassie Garcia on that. You know Hispanics we a conservative education on social issues we pro We pro We want lower taxes religious freedom
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Monica de la Cruz actually had a slightly different take on social issues According to her, the social justice messaging just doesn't move the needle at all with Latinos. All of the other social issues and the social injustice issues just does not resonate with our area. Hispanics want the opportunity to work. They want the opportunity of the American dream for themselves and for their family. And so at the end of the day, they're not about these woke concepts.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So if you've been following the news, the media has labeled these three women as right wing. Right. We saw the New York Times do that. Yes. So I asked Monica if that label is fair and accurate. Here's what she had to say about that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What I think they saw was that we're unafraid to stand by our core values, which are family, faith, and freedom. And I will stand by them as will my associates.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I asked Myra Flores the same thing. Here's what she said. I'm a strong conservative. We stand for God, family, and hard work. That's who we are. But they call that the far right. It's truly mind-blowing to me, but they know nothing about me or the Hispanic community and how we are raised.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So what's interesting is, as the Times pointed out in their piece about these three women, historically, Republicans have attempted to court Latinos with a politically moderate message that's very soft on immigration. But when you look at the numbers, that approach just hasn't been successful. And it wasn't until Trump's 2020 run that Latinos really started breaking to the right in huge numbers. And to put in perspective just how big that swing was, there were some counties in the Rio Grande Valley that swung 20 points to the right between 2016 and 2020. And those counties are about 80 percent Latino. So it's not really surprising that these candidates have taken notice of that and what kind of messaging works in their district. And apparently that's pro-Border Patrol, pro-business and pro-America.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it sounds like a lot of what you found is kind of counter narrative. Right, it is. We'll see in November how successful they are. Georgia, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, President Biden takes a trip to Saudi Arabia. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news. And you'll get content from all of your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.
--:-- John Bickley: This weekend, President Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia for a controversial visit with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Joining us to discuss what occurred during the visit and the political fallout is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, first, let's start with the controversy. Why was this visit so controversial in the first place?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Sure. So during his campaign, President Biden had vowed to make Saudi Arabia a, quote, pariah state over their long string of human rights abuses, and particularly the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Remember, he was a prominent dissident who was killed and dismembered by Saudi henchmen back in 2018. And according to the CIA, it was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who had ordered the hit. When the CIA announced their findings, President Biden did at the time impose new sanctions on a few Saudi leaders, but not on Prince Mohammed himself. And now, as Biden is desperate to get oil prices down, he's offering the Saudis a, quote, reset in relations with hopes of convincing them to increase oil production and help rein in prices domestically. Many supporters of the president said that just how diplomacy works And sometimes you have to work with corrupt regimes in order to keep things functioning But there were a lot more people who viewed it differently and viewed this trip as America essentially bending the knee to a tyrannical regime in the name of oil
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, before the meeting even started, there was some controversy with the greeting between the two leaders. What happened there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this was fascinating. So President Biden is known for kind of old school diplomacy and campaigning. He's always shaking hands and hugging people at events. But when he landed in the Middle East this weekend, he greeted the welcome delegation with fist bumps. Now, the White House said this was an effort to reduce physical contact for COVID purposes. But that doesn't really make sense because all month he's been shaking hands, even earlier this week. So it seems like the White House was hoping to avoid the optics of President Biden publicly shaking hands with a leader that he had in the past promised to make a pariah. So sure enough, when he greeted the prince on Friday, he went with a friendly fist bump. And that did not go over well. Critics on both sides of the aisle feared that it would basically help Prince Mohammed rehabilitate his image on the global stage. And to that point, Saudi state-sponsored TV outlets immediately promoted photos and videos of that greeting. And again, that did not go over well, including among the president's own party. For example, Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff tweeted, quote, If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continuing grip oil-rich autocrats have on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today. One fist bump is worth a thousand words. Senator Bernie Sanders also had harsh words for the president. You have a leader of that country who was involved in the murder of a Washington Post journalist. I don't think that that type of government should be rewarded with a visit by the president of the United States.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, there were also questions about whether the president actually addressed the killing of Khashoggi. What can you tell us there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, during the initial public portion of the meeting, it was not brought up. But afterwards, President Biden told the media that he was, quote, straightforward and direct in telling the crown prince that America held him responsible for the murder. Respect to the murder of Khashoggi. I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now. And it was exactly I was straightforward and direct in discussing it.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So to the big question, was the visit successful? Did we get anything out of it?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So there were no immediate victories. As we mentioned earlier, the main goal of the visit was convincing the Saudi government to open up oil production. But as the trip came to an end, there were no announcements made on that front. President Biden did try to strike a more optimistic tone, though, saying, quote, I expect we'll see further steps in the coming weeks. But according to most experts, the Saudis just don't have a huge incentive right now to help lower prices. And they can wait things out. President Biden is not so lucky. As the longer gas prices stay high, the lower his approval ratings seem to fall.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, there was a lot on the line here, so it's not surprising there's been so much scrutiny of the president's handling of the visit. Definitely. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- John Bickley: Low morale and stifled speech at the nation's top health agencies have resulted in a mass exodus of staff, especially in leadership positions. Johns Hopkins Dr. Marty McCary joins us to discuss what's happening at the CDC and the NIH.
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Thanks for coming on. Great to be with you.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, you recently published a piece for the news site Common Sense about the political pressure that doctors are experiencing within the CDC and the NIH. What are your contacts in those agencies reporting about the environment there?
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: There's a lot of frustration. People, they want to speak up. They're bothered by the recommendations put out by the leadership at the CDC FDA and NIH And they really have no place to talk they forbidden from talking to the media When they do get media inquiries from print journals for example they are granted permission and the permission is based on what the scientist says that they're going to tell the journalist. And so we're not seeing the diversity of medical ideas, and medical recommendations have always been part of an open forum.
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Now, there were a couple of very striking quotes from your piece. For example, one doctor you have quoted as saying, it seems criminal that we put out the recommendation to give mRNA COVID vaccines to babies without good data.
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Now, what kind of evidence are we relying on for these new recommendations for young kids? So, for example, with the Pfizer vaccine trial in kids under five, there was no efficacy of the vaccine whatsoever with any statistical support. And so what the FDA and CDC decided to do is say, look, there's no real evidence here, but we're just going to go ahead in good faith and give it out anyway, because we think it works in older people and it'll probably help kids under five. Many scientists at these agencies said, wait a minute, this is a patent violation of every scientific principle that we value at the agency. There was intense frustration. People said it was toxic. And most concerning, they were silenced. They were told, basically, if you speak up, there's going to be repercussions.
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Now, another striking thing in your article was the low morale that scientists and doctors in these agencies are experiencing. So what's going on on the ground with staffing and morale?
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: A very high turnover rate at all the agencies. For example, the NIH's Vaccine Research Center, which is a very prominent center in the world of science, all the senior leadership has left. They have no senior leadership. The top three people left after longstanding careers and people there tied it to this sort of toxic environment, the inability to speak up and offer a different perspective.
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Now, I understand there's great variability across different industrialized countries, what ages governments are recommending these vaccines for. How does the U.S. compare to other countries?
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: Well, in a lot of our COVID policies for children, the United States has become an international outlier. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, they don't recommend vaccinating young children at all, under 12. And as a matter of fact, in Denmark, they originally did, and then they said they regret it. They issued an apology. Many people are saying we need that level of humility from our public health officials. Instead of saying this is safe and effective and everyone should get it, instead they should say we think it's safe, we don't have a ton of data. And for parents who have safety concerns, they are right when they say, how can you look at a complication rate of 1 in 10,000 when all of the kids who got the vaccines under 5 in the studies were less than 8,000?
--:-- Dr. Marty McCary: I personally believe that as a part of the medical ethos of our great medical profession as doctors, we should always be comfortable speaking up. Nobody should ever be silenced. It is an ancient truth, and it's something that we have to fight to preserve as physicians.
--:-- John Bickley: All right. Well, Dr. McCary, thanks so much for coming on. Great to be with you. Thanks.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Johns Hopkins, Dr. Marty McCary. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
