Morning Wire - Biden Losing Hispanic Voters | Dec. 23, 2021

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

Hispanic voters turn away from President Biden, a record number of drugs is seized at the southern border, and an Ivy League transgender swimmer sparks controversy. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New polling shows a seismic shift in American politics among a reliably democratic constituency, Hispanic voters. We'll discuss the latest numbers and what's driving the significant movement away from President Biden. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, December 23rd, and this is Morning Wire. Massive amounts of deadly drugs are pouring in through our southern border. More than 100 pounds of fentanyl was seized in Texas in the first two weeks of December alone. How has fentanyl become the nation's leading killer of young people?

And what, if anything, is being done to control the flow of drugs into the U.S.? We've taken off 15,000 pounds of fentanyl this year. That is enough potentially lethal doses to kill every single American. And a transgender swimmer at an Ivy League university is sweeping up victories while stirring up controversy. We'll discuss the polarizing case and hear from women who say being forced to compete against biological males is simply unfair. This and more coming up.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by CrowdHealth. You deserve health care freedom. Introducing CrowdHealth, a community of people who care about health, health care freedom, and each other. 100% of your monthly contribution pays for actual health care costs.

No enrollment periods, limiting doctor networks, or messy contracts. Just go to JoinCrowhealth.com and enter code DailyWire for a special offer. Crowd health is not health insurance. It's a community-powered alternative. Terms and conditions may apply. As the end of 2021 approaches, President Biden continues to struggle with record low approval ratings. Now, new polling shows a seismic shift among Hispanic voters, who've typically been a key electoral stronghold for Democrats. Here with more on the polling and how it could impact elections moving forward is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, give us a breakdown of the numbers here? Of course. So a new NPR PBS poll has President Biden hitting new record lows with

just 41% approval and 55% disapproval. That is a 20-point jump in disapproval in under a year. And if you look at the numbers more closely, two things really jump out. First is the president's performance with independence. They were crucial for Biden in 2020. But right now, he's at just 29% approval there with 66% disapproval. That is a 30-point drop among independents in the last six months alone. Wow. Second, and most surprising for a lot of people, is just who the president is struggling most with. And in this case, that's Latino voters. Of every demographic, it is Latinos who have the highest disapproval rate at 65% and just 33% approved. That is a huge, huge shift. Right. And typically, Latino voters have been a stronghold for Democrats. Yeah. So just how far have

things shifted there? Well, for some context, in 2020, exit polls showed Biden winning 66% of Latino voters nationwide. In 2016, it was 65% for Hillary, and in 2012, it was 71% for Obama. But since President Biden took office, we've really started to see Latino support for Democrats starting to erode like never before. This poll is far from the only proof of that, too. Another poll from the Wall Street Journal this month showed that for the first time in decades, Latino voters are now evenly split among Republicans and Democrats. And electorally, we've seen that trend play out. For example, in Virginia's governor's race this year, exit polling showed that Republican Glenn Yonkin won the Latino vote by nine points. And at a more local level, in the Democratic bastion of McAllen, Texas, for example,

a border town, which is 85% Latino, Republicans just won the mayor's race for the first time in decades. And we saw similar examples in Arizona, Nevada, California, California, So there appears to be plenty of evidence to back up what we're seeing in these polls. So do we know what's causing this shift? On that point, I spoke to Daily Wire's young Carlos Sopo. He led the Trump campaign's Hispanic advertising in 2020. He said there are a few reasons for this shift. Policy and cultural factors are driving the shift.

For instance, in my hometown of Miami, the emergence of an openly socialist wing of the Democratic Party is alienating voters who fled communism in Latin America. Over in Texas and in Arizona, it's more about concerns over the economy, COVID shutdowns, and border security that are really hurting the Democrats. And in major metropolitan areas, you see soaring crime and rising costs of living in Latino neighborhoods. And these are issues that Republicans are just really leaning into. He also said the economic success of Latino voters over the last decade has played a role

here as well. Look, from 2010 to 2020, the poverty rate among Hispanics deep. decreased by 36% and Latinos lead the nation in small business creation. And during that decade, the Democrats also moved away from a Clintonian third way style message that emphasized economic growth to more of a focus on income inequality and racial equity. Those messages are just unappealing to people who don't view themselves as victims believe in the American dream and are on their way to the middle class. And one other point is that in polling, Latino voters do list COVID as their number

one priority right now. And many feel like President Biden has let them down in that regard. Remember, he campaigned on ending the pandemic. And during one debate, when asked about COVID, actually said, quote, 220,000 Americans are dead. Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States. But now, almost twice that number of Americans have died during his first year in office. So that inability to follow through on the promise to And the pandemic seems to be playing a role in the shift that's going on right now. Definitely a trend we're going to keep an eye on. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

Anytime. That's DailyWire's Cabot Phillips. Coming up, amid a growing overdose epidemic, a record number of drugs are seized at the southern border. 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 first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news,

and you'll get content from all your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you. Fentanyl has become the leading killer of young Americans, and the crisis is being inflamed by a porous southern border. Overdose deaths reached an historic level in 2021, with many synthetic opioids being trafficked over the border. In the first two weeks of December alone, border patrol agents in El Paso intercepted over 700 pounds of meth, 100 pounds of fentanyl,

and 30 pounds of heroin. Here to tell us more is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson. So, Ben, the number of overdose deaths has been climbing for several years, but 2021 saw a record number of overdoses, many of them caused by fentanyl. How deadly was 2021? For the first time in U.S. history, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses between May of 2020 and this May. That's nearly double the number of overdose deaths just five years ago.

and the CDC announced that 64% of all overdoses are related to fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. Overdoses have reached such a breaking point that fentanyl has now exceeded car accidents and suicides as the number one killer of young people age 18 to 45. That's according to an analysis of CDC data performed by a nonprofit group called Families Against Fentanyl. That organization says 78,795 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses over the last two years. 37,000 in 2020, and 41,500 in 2020. That means this year, fentanyl has claimed the life of an American every 12.5 minutes. With the increase in the smuggling of fentanyl, are we seeing an increase in deaths as well?

Absolutely. The amount of fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection nearly tripled this year over last year. Two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill someone. Border Patrol agents seized 11,201 pounds in fiscal year 2021, and another 2,158 pounds of fentanyl since the beginning of this fiscal year, which began in October. That's enough to kill 3 billion people or more than one third of the Earth's population. Incredible. So far this year, DEA agents have seized 20.4 million counterfeit prescription pills that contain the deadly opioid. Drug traffickers often disguised the pills as popular prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Perkissette, Vicom,

Zanax and Adderall, which they pretend to sell at a discount over the internet. But it's not just phony prescription drugs. Other narcotics, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, have been found to contain traces of fentanyl. In fact, over four months this year in the state of Connecticut, 39 people overdosed for marijuana that secretly contained tiny specks of fentanyl. Really horrifying statistics. How does fentanyl make it from its original source into American homes?

According to the DEA, international drug traffickers import fentanyl from China or India to Mexico. Then they transform it into counterfeit pills or traffic it directly across the border. America's uncontrolled southern border makes drug smuggling that much easier. Yeah, we recently heard from DEA Chief Ann Milgram that fentanyl is really unlike any other drug. Here's what she told CBS. We have to understand that there is an unlimited amount of synthetic fentanyl that the criminal drug cartels in Mexico can make and that they will stop at nothing to get them into the United States. Is there any one region of the country that's struggling with this more than others?

Not really. In all 45 states experienced more deaths by overdose this year than last year, most of them by double digits. To give you an idea, the states with the largest increases in overdose deaths this year were Vermont, Mississippi, and California. So every part of the country is dealing with this. So this is very much a national problem. How is the president reacted to this? For the most part, President Biden appears to be fixated on another topic, COVID-19. Critics like Texas Governor Greg Abbott say the administration's priorities are misplaced

and that our southern borders wide open. As we've reported, Abbott's now heading up the construction of a border wall funded by the state and private donations. Well, let's hope this growing drug crisis gets the attention it deserves. We hope. Thanks for bringing us that report, Ben. Thanks for spreading the word. That's Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson. Transgender swimmer Leah Thomas has been smashing records on the women's swim team at the University of Pennsylvania,

but Thomas's teammates say the playing field is unfair. Leah, who previously swam for three years on the men's swim team at UPenn, has gone on to crush women's collegiate records by wide margins, inflaming the debate around biological males and women's sports. Daily Wire investigative reporter Marade Allardy is here to tell us more. So Marade, some of Thomas's own teammates have expressed concern. What are they saying? That's right.

Some of the women who swim against Leah on the University of Pennsylvania swim team have said they feel extremely defeated. One swimmer told sports website outkick that the girls on the team feel discouraged because, quote, no matter how much work they put in it, they're going to lose.

And it's not just the student athletes, the parents and fans are also discouraged. One U-Penswimmer described the recent match in which Thomas beat the next fastest female swimmer by a whopping 38 seconds. According to her, when Thomas finished first place, the crowd on the sideline was silent.

When the second place finisher came in, the crowd erupted in applause. So 38 seconds of silence, that sends a message. It does. Now, Leah is not the first transgender athlete to play on a women's team. This controversy has been going on for a few years now. Correct. Earlier this year, in August,

Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard competed on the women's weightlifting team in the Tokyo Games. In 2019, Rachel McKinnon, a transgender cyclist won a world championship. McKinnon later wrote in a New York Times op-ed that it's a, quote, human right to be able to compete. Another transgender athlete, C.C. Telfer, won an NCAA title on the women's track and field team at Franklin Pierce University.

Telfer actually claimed to be the one at a, quote, disadvantage, since Telfer's body was going through so many medical changes related to taking hormones. But studies have shown that biological males still have a significant advantage over females even after hormone therapy. Right. Here's an interesting common theme, too. Some of these transgender athletes, including Leah Thomas and C.C. Telfer, originally competed on the men's teams.

But it was only when they switched to the women's teams that they started breaking records and becoming stars. In general, many trans athletes and their advocates argue that access to the sports league of their choice based on gender identity is a fundamental right. Unfortunately, that puts them squarely at odds with the women they compete against. Right, and there's been some pushback. A lot of people are saying this isn't fair to female athletes. Yeah, many female athletes have spoken out against this, which isn't always easy to do. In the case of high school sports, it's sometimes been the girls' parents who have pushed back. In April, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by the families of high school girls in Connecticut

who sued over two transgender athletes who are easily defeating their competition in girls' track events. Thus far, biological females haven't had much success in the courts. Well, certainly a passionate issue for women and girls who feel cheated out of their ability. to shine in athletics. Marade, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. That's Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.

Another story we're tracking this week. The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear challenges to the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for private employers. The decision comes after the Daily Wire and other petitioners asked the Supreme Court this week

to take up legal challenges to the order. The court scheduled oral arguments to commence on January 7th and will defer any decision to stay the mandates until that date. If you like to, this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review.

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