From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys - A Live Look At The RNC

Episode Date: July 18, 2024

A lot has changed in America since the Sean and Rachel last sat down at the kitchen table. After the attempted assassination of former President Trump, many are re-prioritizing their values and recognizing the former President's courage -- something that his supporters have recognized all along. Simultaneously, the Republican National Convention is making waves within the Republican Party and beyond -- as Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) was announced as the republican vice-presidential nominee and prominent politicians are pledging their strong support for the former President.   Sean and Rachel are live at the RNC with Leah Campos, a former CIA Operations Officer, national security expert (oh, and she's Rachel's sister!) to break down some of the most prominent moments from the convention so far and how they believe Senator JD Vance (R-OH) being chosen as the vice-presidential nominee could impact the race. Follow Sean & Rachel on X: @SeanDuffyWI & @RCamposDuffy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Breaking news happens anywhere, anytime. Police have warned the protesters repeatedly, get back. CBC News brings the story to you as it happens. Hundreds of wildfires are burning. Be the first to know what's going on and what that means for you and for Canadians. This situation has changed very quickly. Helping make sense of the world when it matters most. Stay in the know. CBC News.

Hey everybody, welcome to From the Kitchen Table. I'm Sean Duffy, along with my co-host of the podcast. She's also my partner in life, and my wife, Rachel Campos Duffy, along with her sister, Leah Campos. She's here with us, and she's joined us at the RS. Duffy, you can come to our house. She's kind of a Duffy. I was going there. Our families hang out so much together that we might as well. But that's sort of sister-wife, Sean.

It's kind of weird. A little bit. A little bit weird. All right. Well, we're all three at the convention, and I dragged my sister onto the kitchen table. Well, our kitchen table here at the RNC in Milwaukee, which is Wisconsin and home to us. And I thought, you know, she's been watching part of the convention from home. She just got here this morning.

So I thought it would be interesting to have her point of view. And then we're here, and we've been here since the start. So just kind of get an idea of how everyone feels, what it's coming across like on television versus what it's like here. But also just kind of relive some of these highlights because one of the most exciting things that's on display here, but also just kind of relive some of these highlights, because one of the most exciting things that's on display here, Sean, is how deep the bench is, how good the bench is for Republicans.

And that was on display with some of these speeches. I mean, yeah, from, again, Nikki Haley spoke. Again, that's important. She's not on the bench, Sean. She's off the bench. No, but you said about speakers. I'm not saying she's on the bench. I'm saying it was an endorsement of Trump's candidacy.

Again, there's a lot of people who are with Nikki, kind of the never-Trumpers. That was an important endorsement. But Ron DeSantis, also in the primary. Vivek. Vivek Ramaswamy. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It was a great lineup. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It was a great lineup.

What I thought was the most impressive is the primetime spots that the average American got at this convention. So not politicians, but real Americans with their stories. And the message of that is Donald Trump and his policies are fighting for the forgotten men and women. And he brought the forgotten men and women, people who have been sidelined by politics, who have been hurt by Joe Biden's politics and policies. He brought them and gave them a primetime slot to speak to this convention. And again, you don't usually see that. You see them, you know, in the early afternoon of a convention. Right. Speak then. I'm going to save it for the politicians in primetime. And the stars. But the stars are the people here. America was primetime. Yeah. Last night and throughout this convention. Yeah, and there's no question about that.

And, you know, one of the, I think, speaking of the, the J.D. Vance pick really quick before we move to one of those Americans, I want to play the clip of an African-American woman who lost her son, who was a military veteran, which was, without question, the most powerful emotional speech of the night and received the loudest applause. But before we get to that, J.D. Vance is a pick that says, I care about the forgotten people. He comes from Ohio, from the Appalachian area, wrote, of course, Billy Elgy.

And I think that was not just an indication that he cares about the forgotten people, but also that the Nikki Haley sort of Bush era is over. This man is young. He's not even 40 years old. The future of the party belongs to America first. And I think that's what that pick was about. In addition to the forgotten America, let's play that clip. And then we'll come back and get all of our opinions, including Leah's of her speech. And we need accountability for prosecutors who failed in their duty. Kim Fox in Chicago and George Gascon in Los Angeles have turned our great country and cities into war zones.

Poor and neglected communities like mine are suffering. And who else in here is sick and tired of being sick and tired? The Democratic Party that poor minorities have been loyal to for decades, including myself, all right? They betrayed us. They stabbed us in the back. Donald Trump shares our values, love of God and family and country. Okay, I'm going to cry all over again. That was, she's so powerful. I really hope she runs for office one day.

That is Madeline Brame. Her son, Army Sergeant Hanson Correa, was killed. And her story is just so sad. So, Leah, I want to get your take in a second. I was sitting with Rachel last night, and we were having a conversation off the floor. And the TV screen was on as she was delivering this speech. And the auditorium was going wild. And by the way, some people speak softly to the microphone.

Oh, she was leaning in and she was throwing fire. I actually stood up and I'm like, I gotta go watch this. That was the one speech that I wasn't seeing at the moment that I gotta see what she's saying. She's been on the bottom line, by the way, that's from six to seven Eastern every weekday. She's been on Fox and Friends as well. She has been relentless in wanting to be the voice of her slain son. A fierce advocate for policies that are going to work for the average people. So, Leah, you were watching, we were at the convention last night, you were watching from home.

Did the power, not just of Madeline, but the other average Americans, was that coming across on the television as you watched? Oh, no, absolutely. And it came across because the cameras panned over to President Trump and he shot up. He stood up and reacted to her power and to her authenticity. It was authentic. It was authentic. It was the voice of the streets of America, sick of the mess that they're causing. And she brought up those prosecutors, Sean, so important because this didn't just happen.

This was not something that just kind of spontaneously, you know, all of a sudden our streets got dangerous. No, there was a concerted effort by Democrats led by George Soros money. It was probably Eric Holder's idea. And they all decided we can actually change America by changing prosecutors. You were a prosecutor, Sean. This was one of the most egregious, deadly, callous decisions I've ever seen to put woke prosecutors in. And everybody who funded it and supported it in the post-George Floyd era, which is why they thought they could get away with this, has blood on their hands, including the blood of Sergeant Hanson Correa.

To your point, this was not by accident. No. This was intentional, number one. And number two, I made this point, I'm going to make it again, the power of a prosecutor to make decisions. And by the way, we have a long history of just, fair prosecutors who make decisions on what to charge, how to charge, if to charge, making the right decision based on the crime, the seriousness, the history, the age of the person, the family.

We've had good people do these jobs. It has been corrupted over the course of the last decade with, you mentioned, a lot of liberal money that's brought us out to this point here's what money here's what's interesting politics people normally a lot of votes they don't care about i'm a democrat republican but they don't really feel the impact of politics political decision by the left to embrace these will prosecutors who don't enforce the law

defunding police. This political decision, this policy is impacting everyday Americans who may not give a damn about politics, but now they're like, I have to because my safety, my kid's safety, my spouse's safety is all in jeopardy right now. And that's what I think is so powerful because you're touching people who don't care about politics. But this says you should. When I went to the Bronx and I interviewed people on the streets,

it was the women. They're like, I can't walk at night. I don't feel safe. The woman who owned, she was a Venezuelan woman who owned a restaurant. And she said, I have to leave early. I can't stay late.

I have to leave early and close early. Not only because I don't feel safe, but I don't get customers. Nobody wants to come in at that hour anymore. It's affecting everyday life. Let's listen to, I was fascinated by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who, by the way, looks better than ever. She looks amazing. who, by the way, looks better than ever. She looks amazing. And she talked about the way, you know, we talk about a lot of Trump's been persecuted, but so have Trump supporters.

We have political prisoners, Trump supporters who are right now sitting in political, in prisons, like political prisoners that exist in our country right now. But every day, Americans have been afraid to say what they think. And Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed that. Listen. But tonight, I don't want to just speak about President Trump's successful policies. While there are many, I want to talk about the man that I know.

When the president hired me, I was the first mom and only the third woman to ever serve as the White House press secretary. And in that role, I endured relentless attacks from the left. I was insulted as a guest at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. My family was denied service and kicked out of a restaurant. And a parent at my three-year-old son's preschool spit on my car. And in those moments, it was President Trump who defended me. And when an MSNBC host, the author of several books on empowering women, said I was unfit to be a mother.

And another MSNBC host said I was vile, not even human, and that I should be choked. MSNBC again did nothing. But our president pulled me aside, looked me in the eye and said, Sarah, you're smart. You're beautiful. You're tough. And they attack you because you're good at your job. Never let them stop fighting. Leah, you live in Virginia in an area that, you know, is very liberal. What was it like prior to this, to the incident last week? What is the last, you know, eight years been for anyone who supported Trump in your area? So I live in Northern Virginia that anyone who's a Trump supporter is in hiding. There's one family in my neighborhood that put up a Trump flag. And I was so amazed that Sole, my daughter and I,

bought some pastries and took it to their house and said, thank you for, they're the only ones in the whole neighborhood that would even admit to supporting Trump. But why is that? I think it's interesting because it seems like there's backlash. There is a real, I don't know if it's retribution,

but there's a pain that's inflicted if you come out as a Trump supporter. No, absolutely. But you know what? Saturday changed everything. Because Saturday, I think people said, that's it. Did you feel that in your neighborhood? 100%.

What did you feel? I want to know exactly. Well, I'll tell you what I did. I put on my Trump hat, my Trump 2024 hat. By the way, my sister is super fit, super into health and fitness, and she walks miles every morning. Have you ever worn that Trump hat while you walk before? Not before Saturday.

I'm a little chicken. No, I mean, it's because they glare at you, but now they don't. So what I was going to tell you is I wore that hat. I walked into Georgetown, and I decided to go into a kind of nice, very nice restaurant on the waterfront, and I met my daughter there for dinner. And I walked in, I looked gross, but I had the hat on and there were people sitting at the bar and they started cheering and two Marines bought me a drink. Mary, can I try this?

Here, here. I don't know if Sean wants Marines to buy me drinks, but I mean, they were just happy to see someone coming out and admitting like we are, we're with Trump. Yeah. So that was the response you got at the bar. People proud to see someone cheer to me sure so sean do you remember i sent you that text from my so my brother lives in seattle my brother never talks about politics because he's been conditioned from living for years decades in seattle that you never talk about politics it can never if you're a conservative it never gets you anything And this weekend he sent me a text about this issue, about how, you know, Trump, people who

are Republicans, people who support Trump are getting sick of the way they're treated and how they have to keep their views silent and others don't. And the last thing, Sean, right after the, um, the shooting, a friend of mine from church wrote me, and she said, I can't believe what's happened. I'm praying. I'm so upset. She said, I'm done being quiet. Yeah. I'm done being quiet.

A polite church lady who's always trying to be polite and not offend other people says, I'm done being quiet. Yeah. And the question becomes, what's inspiring bravery? Is it the assault, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump? Or is it in combination with Donald Trump's response? His courage. It's his courage. His courage where he said, I mean, again, we've talked about this a lot, but I can't say it enough.

You cannot plan. You cannot prepare. You this is genetic. We've talked about this a lot, but I can't say it enough. You cannot plan. You cannot prepare. This is genetic. A bullet grazes your ear. You might think you're going to be brave. You might think you're going to respond with courage, but you have no idea what you're made of until you're put in that situation. 100%.

We all saw in that moment what Donald Trump was made of. He stood up and he gave his fist to the crowd and then chanted, fight, fight, fight. He didn't know if there's another shooter out there. He doesn't know what kind of danger he's in, but he's a bull. He stood up and said, I'm not going to be taken down. So there was that, which is an image that I don't think the media wants to portray Donald Trump as. He's a showman. He's a billionaire. He's not really strong. He's really just this facade. You saw, no, actually it's not a facade. That is who Donald Trump is. And I'm going to go back to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Wait, Sean, it was raw leader instinct. Only a leader would have

that instinct. Only a leader. And the message to the world, not just to us, Sean, but to the world, to the, to all the bad guys in the world, the son of a can threaten us. And oh my goodness, he may be serious. The, what, the power of Donald Trump and the threat of Donald Trump is real on the world stage. All right. There's that, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders, clip we played I thought was interesting because again I what she said I believe that to be a hundred percent of course it's true but that's not the image that's portrayed of Donald Trump right he's a he's a man that sees his his his press secretary being abused by the liberal press who by the way said they stand up for women and support women,

who couldn't be more cruel and mean to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And I believe that Donald Trump was there with her the whole way, encouraging, supporting her, telling her she's beautiful. And again, these are images with the clip and the assassination attempt of Donald Trump that's shattering the image that the liberal media has tried to put out of what he is. We're seeing the truth. We'll have more of this conversation after this. Streaming now on Fox Nation.

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The fact that that is happening, the crumbling image of everything they put forward, their narrative, is happening also, is being accepted because we just saw the media lie for two years about the condition of Joe Biden. And so the media has lost all credibility. And with it, all these false narratives that they put forward of who is Donald Trump. And Donald Trump, in that moment, as Aveda said, as Leah said, this raw leadership came through. I want to move to Vivek Ramaswamy. A lot of people... So Leah does a lot in the foreign policy space right you you you see leaders foreign

ministers around the world oh yeah what what impact do you think that assassination attempt in Donald Trump's response has on the people that you see on the world stage Leah by the way my sister is a Latin America foreign policy expert, and so she interfaces a lot with the leaders in Latin America. Well, I won't dime them out, but I'll say that I got a text from a very high-ranking official in a country in Latin America that said, make America great again after that happened. I mean, they see it.

They see the strength come out of him. And it shatters the narrative. It completely shattered their narrative, the left's narrative of Trump. And also, you know. Does it breed respect? Yes, absolutely. By the way, Latin Americans, I mean, there's a history of strongmen, of caudillos, of people who are leaders.

And when I talk to Hispanic Americans, especially working class Hispanic Americans, they want someone who's a strong leader. They literally are attracted to Trump, not just because the economy, but they like his leadership style. That makes sense to them in a chaotic world. Also, I would say this, in the last election cycle, just recently, the last election, which happened a few months ago, a month ago, in Mexico, during that cycle, more than two dozen political candidates were assassinated. I mean, these kinds of assassination attempts are not unfamiliar. It's not foreign. It's not foreign to Hispanics. And this terrifies them because America was this refuge for them. This

place where they could escape that kind of crime and insecurity and political instability and that it's happening here. They are acutely aware of it and it acutely repels them. And I think this is, I'm waiting to see the Hispanic numbers that come out after this. Yeah, look Rachel, you remember you've always told me that one of your favorite stories about Sean is when he chased after a would be robber, a thief.

And that's that's Sean's sexiest story. Sexiest story. No, exactly. But to my sexiest story, to my point, masculinity, manliness is sexy. Yeah. And it's and it's like it, especially Hispanics like it. And there's And there was nothing fake about what Donald Trump did that day. It was pure, raw manliness, leadership, and people like that. I suspect, Leah, that even

the suburban women vote, maybe the people who were the first to talk about toxic masculinity, in the end they saw that masculinity, courage, that kind of fighting spirit is exactly what our country needs and somebody beta and dementia like biden they want the soy boy to hide underneath the secret service and well that was the secret service girl that was

hiding behind trump that was bad too or the secretary defense behind a double shield scared of you know right lloyd austin oh god yeah with his like shield covid shield yeah that is not the vision of strength and remember donald trump fought hard against wearing a mask not just because he didn't believe all the about masking which we now know is true more lies from our media and our medical establishment but also he did not he saw that as a sign right he saw that as a sign, rightfully saw that as a sign of beta weakness, and that is not the guy he is. Okay, let's move on to Vivek Ramaswamy, somebody a lot of people thought could be a good candidate for vice president. Maybe he's a little

too alpha male for the job in the sense that there were, you know, Donald Trump likes to be the star. And so does V-Vague. So maybe that team wasn't going to make the match. Let's play the clip. If you want to seal the border, vote Trump. If you want to restore law and order in this country, vote Trump. If you want to reignite the economy in this country, vote Trump. If you want to revive national pride in this country, vote Trump. If you want to reignite the economy in this country, vote Trump. If you want to revive national pride in this country, vote Trump.

If you want to make America great again, vote Trump. But there is one more reason I'm going to ask you to vote Trump, and it's the most important one. It's the one the media won't talk about, but it's the truth. Donald Trump is the president who will actually unite this country, not through empty words, but through action. Vivek Ramaswamy, I think the best communicator in the party right now. And he's he's absolutely phenomenal. and that speech got received a raucous um applause let's move to nikki haley because this is the one everyone was waiting for

so nikki haley had not been invited to the convention to speak um and then after the shooting she was and here she is with her some say tepid endorsement but endorsement nonetheless my fellow republicans her, some say tepid endorsement, but endorsement nonetheless. My fellow Republicans, President Trump, President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity. It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept. I'll start by making one thing perfectly clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period. Leah, you live among a lot of these suburban upscale moms who just are repelled by, in so many ways, by Donald Trump, were big Nikki Haley supporters. What do you think that endorsement meant to them? Do you think it will move them?

You mean the Chardonnay-sipping, girl-clutching wives of D.C. lobbyists? Yes. You know, your neighbors. Yeah, yeah. Good luck on your next walk. I don't drink Chardonnay. That moved them. It did nothing for me, but it moved them.

I thought it was a good move. I don't know if it was tepid or not, but it was a useful endorsement for that demographic. Okay, this was the right tone. And we talked about this yesterday after the speech, and it's kind of taken me some time to get there. But the tone of someone who does not agree with Trump on everything and readily says that. Yeah. But says, I agree with him more than I do with the crazies. And so I'm going to vote for him.

and a way to analyze who Trump is and get them to walk this line to vote yes on Trump. So there's that. I want to go. Well, no, I'll leave it. I'll leave it there on that. Well, I want to talk about that because I think it's you bring up such a good point. The purpose of Nikki Haley and I'm dying'm dying to hear you know see how this evolves for some so many of these Chardonnay moms as you call them um the idea that you don't have to agree with the candidate on everything and J.D. Vance also um is that kind of a person listen the clips of him attacking Trump saying that he thought he was Hitler-like are all going to be used in this campaign we're going to hear that and I don't necessarily think that it's going to be a negative. Because the truth is, even if you're like me and you were a Trump supporter from day one,

and I certainly was, I changed a lot from 2016 to now. I've evolved, maybe not on candidate because I've always been a Trump girl, but I've evolved on my issues. Maybe not on candidate because I've always been a Trump girl, but I've evolved on my issues. I was I supported the Iraq war somewhere like towards the end of it. I was like, what the hell is this? And Trump was the first person to say this is a stupid war. And I got up and cheered.

That's when I was in when he said stupid wars. And I am now, you know, Pete and Pete and Will call me not just I'm not. They call me this Cindy Sheehan of Fox News. They actually call me Cindy Snowden because I want to declassify everything. I'm very much had a personal political philosophical transformation. COVID had a lot to do with it. The three of us have seen Sean's liberal Bernie supporting sisters come on board with us on our skepticism about Bill Gates and COVID and all the that was given to us during that period of time. I think a lot of people are awake. And so this transformation isn't just that I was somebody was a never Trumper and now they're they're they're they're actually considering voting for Trump. they're actually considering voting for Trump. It's that all of us have made a transformation because of Trump's sort of, you know, way of looking at the world.

And the party has changed. And the J.D. Pick is saying to the old guard, sorry, you guys, Bush people, it's over. Leah, you can go now. I didn't know we were allowed to curse on this. It's fantastic. We're probably going to be bleeping it out at some point. A lot of bleeps. Sorry, sometimes I get so heated I can't know we were allowed to curse on this it's fantastic we're probably going to be bleeping it out at some point sorry sometimes I get so heated I can't help it

no I think you're absolutely right I think that everybody is having to readjust their position this isn't about the old republican way again this is about the way the world is now it's looking at the world the way it is not the way we want it to be

it's how it is and Trump is giving everybody permission to rejigger what they thought was true and move forward. Okay. So if you're the DNC, if you're the Joe Biden campaign and you're the liberal media, you want Donald Trump to be Trumpian, which means do not invite Nikki Haley. Do not invite Ron DeSantis. Right. Come out and be really macho when you come onto the stage for the first time on Monday night. And I think I think they're shocked and they're afraid that Donald Trump has said, Nikki Haley, actually, I am a unifier now.

I had a brush with death. Something's changed. I want you to come in. I want to unify our party. And that takes a, obviously, he had very strong feelings about the primary and very strong feelings about her and that she wouldn't get out. And she kept staying in and saying some really nasty things about him. He rethought it. And from a peaceful heart, I think I said, you know what?

We're going to bring this together. I want you to come. That takes a big man. Yeah. And I think that's scaring the hell out of the Democrat Party. It's humanized him. You remember when one of those talk show hosts which one jimmy fallon a lot of bleeping in the show jimmy fallon back in 2016 brought hillary clinton on to you

know do a very soft funny little segment on a show and then he did the same he thought it was he thought he could do the same with donald trump and he you know asked him if his hair was real and you know ran his fingers to his hair to verify that his hair was real. And it was this great moment that vilify, I mean, that humanized Donald Trump rather than vilify him. And Jimmy Fallon was excoriated by Hollywood for it to the point that he actually had to go out and apologize that he, that how dare I offer the same opportunity on my couch to Donald Trump as Hillary Clinton. I think this moment has shown the leadership that you guys have talked about. It's humanized him. And as somebody who's had a brush with death, as I did in a car accident when I was 25, it does change you. It absolutely changes you.

And similarly, people died in the car accident that I was in. I was the only survivor. Trump had a supporter who loved him, a family man who was a firefighter, the kind of people he loves the most, right? Die shielding their family right behind him. I think all of this has changed him in a profound way. And I think, Sean, that's what you're talking about. We're used to seeing Donald Trump walk out with Dana White at the UFC thing kind of like macho, strutting

down and like, you know, with Kid Rock at his side. The way he walked out that first time. The pursed lips, the squinted eyes. A little bit of the mugshot look in there. It's like that defiant FU look that he had when he was getting shot. It wasn't there anymore. Look, it was a softer Donald Trump.

Yeah, I think he understands. It was a grandfatherly Donald Trump. He doesn't have to prove the manliness anymore. We all saw it. That's right. That's right, Leah. And I think he knows that the hand of God was on him. And he must be on a mission from God on some level for this to happen.

There was a debate in 2016 about people's hand sizes between Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, and I'm just going to say I think Donald Trump has really big hands. Today, nobody's questioning his hand size. No one. He has extra large gloves. That's right. Speaking of the guy with which he had the hand size debate with, here's Marco Rubio.

These are the Americans who wear the red hats and wait for hours under a blazing sun to hear Trump speak. And what they want, what they ask for, it is not hateful or extreme. What they want is good jobs and lower prices. They want borders that are secure and for those who come here to do so legally. They want to be safe from criminals and from terrorists. And they want for our leaders to care more about our problems here at home

than about the problems of other countries far away. absolutely nothing dangerous or anything divisive about putting Americans first. Okay, so he was once called little Marco. Now he may be Secretary of State. That would be my best guess. He's big Marco now. He's all grown up. He's got big pants on now. Big boy pants on now. So that again, we're going to close this segment out with saying how people are, you know, once Trump, Trump, never Trumpers, Trump enemies, maybe now everyone's under the. So I want you to remember these clips, remember these nights and remember these messages, right? It's very common sense. People want to be able to afford their food. They want to feel safe. They want secure borders. The message of all of these speakers, it's kind of common sense America, right? That everyone could agree with. And I want you to think about that. And then when you listen

to the DNC and it's going to be about abortion, it's going to be about transgender. It's going to be about gas cars and EVs and gas stoves and washing machines. And like you listen to the DNC and go, this stuff is crazy town, crazy town compared to just the common sense ideas that make people forget their government. You want them to be able to forget about their government's operation because they want to focus on their own lives. Today, we're all focused on how dysfunctional our government is in the policies. I don't think it's not too much to ask for your government to care more about you as a citizen than it does people in Ukraine and their Social Security. We're paying the Social Security for Ukrainians as our own Social Security is going bankrupt.

We're sending money all over the world to fund wars. We're, you know, paying, giving credit cards to illegals who have been in our country about 36 hours. And we don't give a damn about people in our own cities who are struggling. So even homeless veterans who have served our country. So these were very, as you said, Sean, very, very common sense messages. These were very, as you said, Sean, very, very common sense messages. I was on Jesse Waters' show on the first night of the convention with Harold Ford, your friend. These messages are the MAGA extremists that Democrats talk about. That's extremism. I was on Jesse Waters' show with your friend Harold Ford, who you served in Congress with.

A very wonderful hand-across-the-aisle kind of Democrat. We were talking about J.D. Vance with Jesse Waters. The segment ended, and when we got off, Harold said to me, you know, Rachel, I don't think you're going to like J.D. Vance very much as a woman. He's against reproductive rights. He's against IVF. And he says that women who have been in violent marriages should stay in them. And first of all, he listed a couple other things, and I was like,

God, I'm starting to like J.D. Vance a little bit more. Harold, thank you. But I was struck by the comment that he said about women in domestic violent relationships or marriages that they should stay in them. And I went back and I did my research. So I want to know what the heck he was talking about. Well, it turns out that a few years ago, Vice News asked J.D. Vance, while he was on the campaign trail for senator, why he thought it would be better for children,

quote, why it would be better for children if their parents stayed in violent marriages than if they were divorced, as well as whether he wanted local or federal laws changed to make it harder for couples to divorce. Now, the reason he said this is in his book, JD, in his very famous book, which I read, Hillbilly Elegy, he goes from a very sort of dysfunctional, drug-addicted mother, single mom, and he ends up getting taken in by his grandparents. His grandparents had a very violent relationship at one point and ended up sticking it out because that's what people from that generation did and ended up finding peace, you know, in the latter

part of the years, which happened to be when J.D. Vance went into that family, into that home. when J.D. Vance went into that family, into that home. And that's where he found the only stability that gave him the ability to then go off into the military, go off into school, and now look at him, you know, not even 40 and vice president of the United States. I thought we had a podcast that got a lot of attention, where there was an article that had come out in another, you know, what was the article? Spectator. It was in the Spectator, correct? That decided to talk about divorce through the eyes of children, many of them adult children who were still carrying the wounds of divorce. And that article went viral because so many adults still are carrying that

pain and wanted to talk about it. The pain of divorce. The pain of divorce. And no one's talking about the pain on children and sort of the idea that, you know, the kids will be all right, they're resilient, and sort of countering that narrative. And here we are with J.D. Vance saying, he says at one point that people are changing marriages like they change their underwear, that children need the stability of marriage and family life. And this is going to be one of the main lines of attack on J.D. Vance. And so I thought it would be interesting to talk about it with you, Sean, because we've had that discussion, but also with my sister, Leah, who is divorced, has four children of her own.

And why don't I just start with you, Leah? What are your thoughts on this? And, you know, feel free to divulge as much or as little as you want about your own experience as it relates to this. But just want to get your thoughts as a divorced woman yourself. that the left is taking out this already taking this 2022 article that vice wrote talking about jd vance defending the sanctity of marriage and and talking about how important intact families are for the healthy development of children and then twisting it to say that it's somehow misogynist because he wants to have people stay together even if they're in quote cold marriages or or in violent marriages and they're already taking that they're in, quote, cold marriages or in violent marriages.

And they're already taking that, they're already doing this because I'm on a chat group with a bunch of D.C. elitist leftists, and I'm the lone conservative, and they were bringing this out. This is going to be a big line of attack. But it's actually, as a divorced woman, as you said, it's actually, it endears me more to him because what he's saying is marriage is important for children's development. Marriage brings a sense of security and stability and, and this whole, you know, no fault divorce, easy in, easy out culture that is prevalent across the United States is unhealthy for children. And families are the building block

or the cornerstone of society. We have to keep families strong. And so while it's unfortunate, I don't like that I'm divorced. I'm divorced. It's not misogynistic to say, keep your families together. Don't make it easy to break families apart. That's leadership. Wait right there. We're going to have more of that conversation next. I think culture obviously pushes the acceptability of divorce, right? And again, this is the acknowledgement that people get in bad relationships. And it's, listen, they get divorced. And sometimes it's necessary.

I mean, I think the situation was necessary. As do I. But I also think if we start to go, hey, maybe you should stick it out. Maybe you should fight it through. Maybe you shouldn't engage in the decision of divorce so quickly. Take some time. Take more time. Maybe not normalize it as much.

I think that's a really good message to our culture. And again. But how will it, Sean good message to our culture. And again... But how will it, Sean, you're a politician, how will this be twisted? And will it hurt J.D.? Or will there be enough sensible people like Leah who can see what his intent is? J.D. and Donald Trump hate women.

They want women to stay in marriages where they get the crap beat out of them. And Donald Trump wants to take away their freedom of women to choose to kill their own babies at any point they want in a pregnancy. Like that's going to be the message. Um, but I think humans, men and women who are part of the institutional marriage look at it and go, yeah, maybe we should actually take some more time as a culture and pause and go, could we save more marriages if our culture incentivized them to fight through it, to get through the bad times, to find better times?

Well, that is the oath, right? That is the marriage oath in good times and bad times. Now that I know that this is the line of attack coming, Now that I know that this is the line of attack coming, I'm really heartened by the absolutely viral responses, the comment section from that American Spectator article of how many adults weighed in. Because that was a generation, you know, there's a whole generation of adults carrying these wounds around and nobody has ever cared about it. It's always been about the adults and not about the children or the children who are now adults who are carrying the burden of divorce. And I think turning this conversation into what's best for children, damn it, it's about time. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. No. And, and, but I think his point is it's easy and easy out. No fault divorce has not been good for children or women, by the way, or women or exactly no or women. So can I, does somebody give a foreshadowing of what's going to come in regard to conservatives

as they unpack trade events? Um, and I've heard this from several of my friends. Um, so I'm just going to, before I get to to that if you look at when I served in Congress the person who could influence me the most they had the most impact on me and the decisions that I made do you know who it was it was the woman that I slept with at night is this true our pillow talk is all politics it's true our pillow talk is all politics it's exhausting it really is and coffee then in the morning is politics as well but and we would get into some raucous debates about she's like you need to do this and make but we can't do that because this is happening but but the biggest impact was rachel yeah and so there's going to be a great conversation that's why joe biden can't

get out she won't let him that's let him. That is the case in point. But J.D. Vance's wife, is it Usha? Usha, yes. She was a Democrat and voted in the Democrat primary as early as late as 2014, voted in the Republican primary in 22. So there's a lot of people...

For her husband? Yeah, for her husband, right. Okay, that's a little... She has a long history of being a democrat yeah um and there's been some who have said i like what i see with jd but they're smart enough to know i know the impact of a spouse yeah on an elected official like laura bush on the bushes some grave concern yes about the politics of jd's wife now that should not come into the consideration, but reality dictates that it does. I have some thoughts on that because I read an interesting piece today in the Wall Street Journal about her and about his conversion to Catholicism. So she's not Christian, she's Hindu, and she actually was supportive of him converting to Catholicism.

That's a great wife. I mean, she's not a Christian. Her friend was a priest and he was showing an interest in Catholicism. J.D. was showing an interest in Catholicism and she introduced him to this priest. And she said she recognized that he needed something and he needed Catholicism and we understand that because we need Catholicism. And he converted with her support. Are the children Catholic? Did they mention that? I don't know. I don't know. That would be a good question to ask. I don't have all the answers on this, but I wanted to bring it up because this is going to be part of the conversation.

As their family is going to be dissected, their past is dissected, there will be a look at her and he'll probably get questions on what does this mean? Because again, the impact of the spouse is real. There will be a look at her and he'll probably get questions on what does this mean? Because, again, it's the impact of the spouse is real. I heard Tucker Carlson talking about J.D. yesterday. And he said that when J.D. came to him to say, hey, this might be a possibility, you know, that every single one of his questions was about the impact on his family. A hundred percent. The other thing he said that I thought was really interesting is that he's just, Tucker, who's been a very good friend of his for a long time,

said that he didn't even know until like this whole thing happened with the vice presidency, you know, that he was in the Marines. I didn't know that either, by the way. Right. So he's somebody who never leveraged his service in a way for his political advantage, which is very odd these days. Anyway, we're going to be learning a lot more about J.D., and we're going to continue to analyze what we're seeing here at the convention. Really great to have you here, Leah. Thank you. We're going to have some fun times. We're about to go to a little gathering now. Thank you for having me. We're going to have some fun times.

We're about to go to a little gathering now. We're all going to go to dinner tonight. We're going to be on the convention floor taking more in and coming back to you guys tomorrow. More podcasts from the convention. I've been to a lot of conventions. This is probably one of the best ones, most energetic ones. It absolutely is the most. Happiest one, most unified convention I've ever been at. Thrilled to be here.

This is, as a Republican party, this is history in the making. Absolutely. And by the way, it's history in Wisconsin. So thank you, Wisconsin, for being so awesome. We're having the nicest convention volunteers, I think, in all the, we've probably been to like eight different conventions in our lifetimes. And they're sharing a piece of heaven called cheese curds with everybody, which is fantastic. We love that.

Beer-battered cheese curds. Oh, my God. Would that be your prison meal? Last food. Last food before you're executed. Yes. Yes, that's it. Listen, thank you all for it.

A little Wisconsin beer and cheese curds. God dang it. Then they can take them away. What we get from this great state, what cows can give us is amazing. We're very pro-move on here. And to think that the libs want to take away my cheese curds, unacceptable. Thank you, Leah, for again, being on the podcast. If you get to see these two, they look like twin sisters.

Wonderful, again, wonderful, wonderful best friend sisters that I get to watch from the outside. Sometimes I try to interject because they talk all the time on the phone. It's a little challenging. Sometimes he's healed a few rifts. Sometimes. Sometimes from fighting. Sometimes I have to get involved. I have to go like, girls, well, stand down. Hold on. Let me get involved here and settle these fights.

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From the Fox News Podcast Network. I'm Ben Domenech, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter. And I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week. It's the Ben Domenech Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxNewsPodcasts.com.