The Right Take

Ep. 91: RNC Race Turns Into Trump Desantis Proxy War

This week, we discuss a potential 2024 MAGA nationalist alternative to the pro-BLM Republican Senator Mike Braun before jumping into the story of the week: the RNC race.

For the main topic, we examine why Ronna McDaniel blew out Harmeet Dhillon and why Ron Desantis felt the need to semi-endorse Dhillon at the last minute. We also dive into the implications this has for a Trump vs Desantis primary war.

 

00:00 Intro

03:55 Senate Map 2024 not Looking good for Democrats

07:33 Jim Banks for Senate (IN)

23:06 Main Topic RNC Race Turns into Trump vs Desantis Showdown

33:33 Why did Harmeet Dhillon get blown out?

45:13 Why did Florida Man make an eleventh-hour “endorsement?”

 

SHOWNOTES

Conservative Congressman Jim Banks running for the U.S. Senate in Indiana: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/17/exclusive-jim-banks-on-indiana-senate-run-more-clear-to-me-than-ever-we-need-conservative-fighters/

That time outgoing Indiana Senator Mike Braun got roasted by Tucker Carlson for supporting Black Lives Matter and "defund the police" measures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pfa0WQFm9A

Daily Beast does a hit piece on Ron DeSantis, claiming that his supporters are building an online network of "far-right influencers" to support his candidacy: https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-desantis-secret-twitter-army-of-far-right-influencers

Townhall summarizes the main reasons why Harmeet Dhillon ultimately lost: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2023/01/29/is-this-why-harmeet-dhillon-fell-short-in-rnc-chair-race-n2618867

Politico reports on top Harmeet Dhillon ally Caroline Wren randomly accusing conservatives of secretly supporting Ronna Romney McDaniel: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/01/28/lessons-from-ronna-mcdaniels-rnc-romp-00080038

Rasmussen poll shows that Mike Lindell was the base's preferred candidate for RNC chair: https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/most_gop_voters_want_new_rnc_chair

An excellent Twitter thread on why Trump's support for McCarthy, McDaniel, and other establishment figures is actually the smart move: https://twitter.com/magaoriginalist/status/1618750105921941505?s=46&t=CY_QwN-kcFj-uCPhvDdPOg

Ep. 90: Steven Crowder Goes to War with The Daily Wire, with guest Tom Pappert

For his fourth appearance on The Right Take, Valiant News' founder and editor-in-chief Tom Pappert talks to Eric about the massive drama war unfolding between Steven Crowder and The Daily Wire over multi-million-dollar contracts, Big Tech censorship, mainstream media vs. conservative alternatives, and more.

SHOWNOTES

Follow Tom's work at Valiant News: https://valiantnews.com/

Follow Tom's video content at Spreely: https://spreely.tv/ and https://spreely.video/

Steven Crowder's original video hinting at a major conservative media company being loyal to Big Tech in its terms and conditions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTcq4UCTZ-Y

Professor Jordan Peterson, who now works for Daily Wire, initially shared Crowder's video on Twitter before deleting the tweet hours later: https://twitter.com/ipjunkie/status/1615772333574078479

Crowder's follow-up video, confirming that he was referring to Daily Wire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG9BFUEoy1I

The original Vanity Fair article on how Hollywood producer Jeremy Boreing "made" Ben Shapiro: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/

Ep. 89: The Long Take: The Twitter Files

For this week's episode, we return to our Long Take format to discuss the Twitter Files, specifically the Deep State's involvement with Twitter to silence its critics and boost its allies.

 

00:00 Intro

05:10 Evaluating Musk's Takeover of Twitter

16:27 How Twitter Squashed the 2020 October Surprise

23:05 Shadowbanning

27:40 Banning Trump

36:08 When and Why Did the FBI Involve Itself with Twitter?

45:52 Making Sure 2016 Didn't Happen Again

01:02:39 How the Deep State Coerced Twitter to Carry Out its Agenda

 

SHOWNOTES

Twitter employees overwhelmingly donated to Democrats and left-wing causes: https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598829996264390656/photo/1

Democrats blamed "Russian bots" for the Devin Nunes memo, despite Twitter disagreeing with this assertion: https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1613589031773769739

Twitter Files Parts 1-15

https://ussanews.com/2023/01/19/the-twitter-files-parts-1-15-a-comprehensive-summary-analysis-and-discussion-of-ramifications-for-american-institutions-updated-1-19-23/

 

Ep. 88: Uniformity of Resistance in the Speaker Battle

After opening the episode with a tribute to the late Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of music legend Elvis Presley, Jacob and Eric recap the dramatic and drawn-out race for Speaker of the House of Representatives. They discuss the biggest power players and key deals that were made, analyze the various policy agreements and rule changes that resulted from the conservative holdouts' negotiations with McCarthy, and give their takes on what Speaker McCarthy's first few actions seem to indicate for the direction of his Speakership in the years to come.

 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro and Tribute to Lisa Marie Presley

05:46 Recap of Eric's Interview with the Rod Arquette Show and Episode Preview

12:40 Recap of Timeline of House Resistance to Kevin McCarthy

25:36 Democrats elect Diet Obama to lead them in the House

30:27 Battle Lines in the Conservative Movement to McCarthy or not to McCarthy

44:20 What has the Right gained from holding up McCarthy as Speaker?

 

SHOWNOTES

 

Eric's article at American Greatness summarizing the winners and losers of the Speaker battle: https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/12/the-winners-and-losers-of-the-speaker-battle/

 

Rep. Tim Burchett claims Rep. Mike Rogers was drunk when he tried to attack Gaetz: https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-burchett-redneck-rep-rogers-drinking-house-brawl-2023-1

 

Rep. Matt Gaetz posts an official letter calling McCarthy a "squatter" for prematurely moving into the Speaker's office: https://twitter.com/repmattgaetz/status/1610466327726104577

 

Mark Levin compares the anti-McCarthy Republicans to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger: https://twitter.com/marklevinshow/status/1610377420229513216

 

Sean Hannity claims Ronald Reagan would've supported McCarthy: https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1610458601746993156

 

Rep. Lauren Boebert calls out Trump over his support for McCarthy: https://twitter.com/ivoryhecker/status/1610713176886198290

 

A list of the concessions that the conservatives won out of McCarthy: https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/09/in-mccarthy-negotiations-gop-landed-on-most-significant-win-for-conservatives-in-a-decade/

 

 

EP. 87: Mr. Pinocchio Goes to Washington

For the first episode of 2023, Jacob and Eric analyze the upcoming race for Speaker of the House of Representatives, and whether or not Kevin McCarthy will actually make for a better speaker for the America First cause. For the main topic, they dunk on Congressman-elect George Santos from New York, who lied about literally every aspect of his life while running for Congress.

 

00:00 Intro and Preview

04:02 Is Kevin McCarthy in Danger of Losing the Speakership?

08:22 Scalise on Standby?

09:47 The Strongest Case for McCarthy

18:23 The Strongest Case for Scalise

23:03 Main Topic: Maybe not Jew-ish but definitely Gay

56:30 How have prominent House Republicans responded to Santos?

 

SHOWNOTES

President Trump endorses Kevin McCarthy for Speaker: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/12/16/exclusive-trump-backs-mccarthy-speaker-tells-opponents-stand-down-think-deserves-shot/

Some Republicans approached Steve Scalise to prepare him for a McCarthy withdrawal: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/scalise-privately-prepped-to-become-speaker

The strange rumored affair between McCarthy and another congresswoman that derailed his 2015 bid for Speaker: https://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9488323/mccarthy-ellmers-affair

Steve Scalise understands the core issues that the base cares about, like immigration: https://twitter.com/SteveScalise/status/1104099374873935875

Tulsi Gabbard eviscerates George Santos over his long list of lies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3sC1Ha2JwU

The role of the Santos scandal in the Speakership race: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/28/george-santos-kevin-mccarthy-house-speaker-00075706

Marjorie Taylor Greene's bizarre defenses of Santos, from blaming the Democrats to identity politics: https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1607799177689575425

EP. 86: Grooming, LGBTQIA-Z, and Self-Harm

In our last episode of 2022, we look at a sunny spot for the Right in a disappointing midterm cycle. We examine why Republicans lost their best shot at picking up a Senate seat. And we look at the candidates for RNC Chair.

For the main topic, we discuss the tragic news that Senator Ted Cruz's bisexual daughter was hospitalized with self-inflicted wounds and the mental health crisis being promoted to children and teenagers in America.

 

00:00 Intro and Preview

04:26 The Golden State comes through for the GOP

07:01 Candidate Quality in Georgia

16:14 The Battle for RNC Chair Begins: Ronna McDaniel, Harmeet Dhillon, or Mike Lindell

44:17 Main Topic: Ted Cruz's Bisexual Daughter Cuts Herself, Hospitalized

 

SHOWNOTES

Biden admin non-binary official crafted school policy to keep parents in the dark regarding sexual identity in the case of self-harm

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sam-brinton-helped-craft-model-school-policy-keeping-parents-dark-kids-gender-change

 

EP. 85: Why There Was No Red Wave

The polls predicted a red wave, historical trends suggested a red wave, the economy and current president should have led to a red wave. But all we got this year was a red ripple. After a three-week hiatus, Eric and Jacob dig into some of the specifics of high-profile races and break down the why. Why were Republicans not able to follow through on an easy layup and deliver a blow to Biden's agenda and legacy?

 

00:00 Intro and Thanksgiving Tales

10:04 Twitter Back!!!

13:25 American Voter Geography

19:25 Republicans' Epic Senate Fail

41:58 Recap of the Red House Ripple

42:38 No Red Wave in New England

49:42 The One Northeast State that Had a Red Wave

51:55 Red Wave Dammed Up in the Mid-Atlantic

01:03:44 The South's Mixed Bag

01:15:32 The Western Draw

01:35:30 Discussion and Debate on the Why No Red Wave Materialized

 

SHOWNOTES

Eric’s article summarizing how both parties are wrong about 2022: https://amgreatness.com/2022/11/14/the-last-election/ 

Eric’s interview on The Officer Tatum Show, with Carl Jackson, further explaining what happened in 2022: https://righttakepodcast.com/2022/11/17/erics-interview-on-the-officer-tatum-show-with-carl-jackson/ 

Eric’s interview on Carl Jackson’s podcast, expanding even more on 2022 and what to do in the future: https://righttakepodcast.com/2022/12/01/erics-interview-on-the-carl-jackson-podcast/ 

Five states, including two deep-red states, vote in favor of abortion: https://amgreatness.com/2022/11/09/five-states-vote-in-favor-of-abortion/

Washington Post article tracking the wins and losses of candidates who called out voter fraud in 2020: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/election-deniers-midterms/ 

CNN exit poll showing Zoomers supported Democrats this year by a 28-point margin: https://twitter.com/dellavolpe/status/1590190476334096386?cxt=HHwWhIDTsYT0vpEsAAAA 

The young vote is being widely credited as the main reason for Democratic victories: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/11/young-voters-us-midterms-democratic-youth 

Young voter turnout was the second-highest for a midterm in the last 30 years: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1135810302/turnout-among-young-voters-was-the-second-highest-for-a-midterm-in-past-30-years 

Joseph Cotto’s take on how demographics are the main reason for the GOP losses this year: https://twitter.com/JosephFordCotto/status/1590216329675837440?t=ssW6AVhwZQ3jyivAkd1N_g&s=19 

A solid Twitter thread on how the GOP must start employing quick and easy fear tactics, like the Democrats, if they’re to maintain any hope of future victories: https://twitter.com/Niggledom/status/1590376901289263104?s=20&t=5OrVS2Gj3OOs69pAH4tuvw 

How turnout should have favored Republicans in 2022: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/08/election-day-midterms-exit-polls-00065768 

New York Post cover story declares DeSantis to be “DeFuture:” https://nypost.com/2022/11/09/ron-desantis-shows-hes-future-of-the-gop/ 

Newt Gingrich is still living in the 90s, thinks the Democrats are socialist—or at least still thinks calling them that is the best way to beat them.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3760487-newt-gingrich-gop-must-learn-to-quit-underestimating-biden/

New York Post cover story mocks Trump as “Trumpty Dumpty:” https://nypost.com/2022/11/09/heres-how-donald-trump-sabotaged-the-republican-midterms/ 

Vox chart on how “candidate quality” played a role in many outsider candidates’ defeats: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/16/23458896/republicans-senate-candidate-quality-trump

The Right Take’s Official 2022 Predictions

In the final episode before the 2022 midterm elections on November 8th, Eric recaps some of the biggest breaking stories that may impact the midterms in one week, then delivers the official predictions from The Right Take regarding key races for the Senate, the governorships, and the House.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro
12:42 - Predictions for U.S. Senate
28:56 - Predictions for Governors’ races
41:50 - Predictions for a handful of U.S. House races
51:15 - Conclusion

SHOWNOTES

Libertarian candidate Marc Victor drops out of the Arizona Senate race and endorses Blake Masters: https://nypost.com/2022/11/01/blake-masters-gets-nod-from-libertarian-marc-victor-in-arizona-senate-race/

Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with RNC, orders a halt to counting all undated mail-in ballots: https://twitter.com/PhilipWegmann/status/1587557532784103424

Trafalgar Group has Lee Zeldin narrowly leading in New York: https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/news/ny-gov-1031/ 

Trafalgar has a surprisingly close race for the U.S. Senate in Washington: https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/news/wa-sen-1029/ 

Trafalgar shows a narrow lead for Mark Ronchetti in the New Mexico gubernatorial election: https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/news/nm-gov-1024/

Create your own Senate prediction map here: https://www.270towin.com/2022-senate-election/

Create your own Governor prediction map here: https://www.270towin.com/2022-governor-election/

EP. 83: Could the GOP Flip New York?

This week, we focus on the governors' races. Politico predicts Democrats will sit in the majority of governors' mansions after this election. Could that happen even with momentum at Republicans' backs? We break down the most contested governors' races this election cycle to find out.

 

00:00 Intro

05:04 States Republicans are guaranteed to lose

13:29 Oregon: Tina Kotek vs Christina Drazan vs Betsy Johnson

20:30 Wisconsin: Tony Evers vs Tim Michels

26:56 Nevada: Steve Sisolak vs Joe Lombardo

31:16 Kansas: Laura Kelly vs Derek Schmidt

34:07 Arizona: Katie Hobbs vs Kari Lake

45:44 Pennsylvania: Josh Shapiro vs Doug Mastriano

01:01:05 New York: Kathy Hochul vs Lee Zeldin

01:11:03 Honorable Mentions: Minnesota,

01:22:24 Texas,

01:27:06 Georgia,

01:31:25 New Mexico

 

SHOWNOTES

Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s low approval ratings: https://morningconsult.com/2022/10/11/whitmers-approval-ticks-up-in-michigan-ahead-of-midterms/ 

Oregon’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tina Kotek plagued by “bullying” scandal: https://apnews.com/article/health-portland-oregon-government-and-politics-brian-clem-a3a1d1e7c64cd27dca17ae534b1d5ea1 

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers one of only two governors running for re-election this year who has a negative approval rating: https://morningconsult.com/2022/07/19/democratic-governors-are-resisting-bidens-decline/ 

More on Evers’ approval ratings, compared to other governors: https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/28/governor-approval-ratings-2022-election/ 

Katie Hobbs demanded that Kari Lake be kicked out of a townhall event before she would take the stage: https://thepostmillennial.com/kari-lake-kicked-out-of-her-own-town-hall-audience-so-katie-hobbs-could-speak-comfortably 

Pennsylvania Secretary of State, now gubernatorial nominee, Josh Shapiro vowed that he would make sure Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020: https://twitter.com/joshshapiropa/status/1322640510637477889 

Republican Senate primary candidate Kathy Barnette encourages her supporters to vote for Dr. Oz: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/20/kathy-barnette-urges-her-supporters-to-vote-for-mehmet-oz/ 

The Detroit News endorses Tudor Dixon due to Gretchen Whitmer’s “instincts towards authoritarianism:” https://archive.ph/Vo0GI 

Real Clear Politics shifts New York gubernatorial race to “tossup:” ​​https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-governor-race-between-race-gov-hochul-rep-zeldin-tightens-toss-up 

Ep. 82: Speaker Newt McCarthy?

This week, we focus on the House elections. Republicans are favored by all the pundits to flip the lower chamber of Congress. But will this be a red wave or a red ripple? We discuss Kevin McCarthy's Commitment to America, we look at a Hail Mary Biden is throwing to lower gas prices, and we examine 12 House swing districts that could go either way.

 

00:00 Intro

05:18 Kevin McCarthy’s Gingrich-esque “Commitment to America”

22:52 Biden's Hail Mary to Save the House for Democrats

36:23 Eric covers five races Republicans could flip

37:02 TX-34, Gonzalez vs Flores

45:18 OH-09, Kaptur vs Majewski

54:55 CA-27, Smith vs Garcia

01:01:55 CA-45, Chen vs Steel

01:03:41 CA-22, Salas vs Valadeo

01:14:22 Jacob covers five races Republicans could flip and two tight ones they need to hold

01:15:07 OR-06, Salinas vs Erickson

01:17:07 OR-05, McLeaod-Skinner vs Chavez-DeRemer

01:19:41 NJ-07, Malinowski vs Kean

01:21:52 RI-02, Magaziner vs Fung

01:24:32 MI-07, Slotkin vs Barrett

01:27:42 NE-02, Vargas vs Bacon

01:28:36 CA-41, Rollins vs Calvert

 

SHOWNOTES

Kevin McCarthy’s Gingrich-esque “Commitment to America:” https://www.republicanleader.gov/commitment/ 

Kevin McCarthy does not support impeaching Joe Biden: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/19/mccarthy-impeachment-biden-gop-midterms/Restaurant

Vox sounding increasingly bearish on Dems’ chances: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/19/23408788/midterms-2022-polls-republicans-forecast

Biden releasing another 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to reduce gas prices: http://www.whec.com/business/facing-tough-midterms-biden-releasing-oil-from-us-reserve/

Intelligencer article including an anecdote about how the GOP is throwing money away on Mayra’ Flores’ re-election bid: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/how-the-border-went-maga/ar-AA133oxh  

Trump-backed House candidate in Ohio’s 9th J.R. Majewski allegedly exaggerated his service in Afghanistan: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-afghanistan-ohio-campaigns-e75d2566635f11f49332bd1c46711999 

FiveThirtyEight’s handy guide on how congressional districts changed after the 2022 redistricting process: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/ 

How California may once again determine a House majority: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10/california-congressional-races-nancy-pelosi

Jacob’s blog article on midterms 100 years ago that flipped 77 House seats

https://historyhowithappened.com/throwback-to-1922-midterm-elections/