Morning Wire - Biden Seeks Second Term & Montana State House Protests | 4.26.23

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

President Biden announces he’s seeking another term, several people are arrested after protests at Montana’s State House, and  vacant office space has reached the highest level in the country’s history. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.  Balance of Nature: Get 35% off your first order as a preferred customer. Use promo code WIRE at checkout: https://www.balanceofnature.com/ Ramp: "Now get $250 off when you join Ramp. Go to http://www.ramp.com/WIRE Black Rifle Coffee: Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Joe Biden officially announced on Tuesday that he is seeking a second term. When I ran for president four years ago, I said we're in a battle for the soul of America. It was still longer. We discussed the announcement and some challenges the president will face. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, April 26th, and this is Morning Wire. Several protesters were arrested at the Montana Capitol building after activists disrupted House business. We break down the events leading up to the unwel.

And vacant office space has reached the highest level in the country's history. What does it mean for the U.S. economy? This generation behind you and me, they're happy working from anywhere else but the office. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. As was widely anticipated, President Joe Biden announced his 2024 re-election bid on Tuesday with an early morning three-minute video posted to social media. Biden made his bid official exam.

exactly four years to the day after he launched his successful 2020 campaign for the White House. But this comes at a time when polling shows that even Democrats are wary of a Biden run and amid multiple growing scandals. Here discusses Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Hey, Dave, so Biden has entered the fray. Were there any surprises? Good morning. I don't think so. It wasn't just the date that recalled his 2019 announcement, but also the theme. Back then, he featured the Charlottesville racially motivated violence as his creed decor, that was replaced by images of January 6th. Other than that, all very similar. In fact, the final line of the video was, Finish the Job, which is emerging as a Biden-2020-Campaign

slogan. Given the relative success Democrats had in the midterm and the fact that it looks increasingly likely that Donald Trump could again be his opponent, Biden's basically saying, as we used to say on the pickup basketball courts in Philly, let's run it back. There are some new headwinds this time, though not just polling, showing voters want another option, but even the New York Times editorial board is arguing that the president's age should be taken seriously. Did any of that come up? No.

When Biden gets confronted with these realities, he tends to say something like, look at the polls, Jack, 92% of Democrats say they'll vote for me. And look, that's true. Even the Times editorial, which we all looked at and said, wow, isn't that remarkable? I mean, if you take a step back,

The gray lady knows that people are worried about the fact that Biden is old enough to have been in the studio audience for I Love Lucy. But this is a kind of way of saying, okay, it's an issue, but it doesn't have to be a deal breaker. I think the White House throws the aviator sunglasses on Joe and shows him cruising in the Corvette, and they hope for the best. The Republican National Committee replied with its own ad to his announcement. It was rather stark. It showed a future under Biden filled with growing crises. Let's give a listen. This just in, we can now call the 2024 presidential race for Joe Biden. This morning and in boldly China invades Taiwan.

Financial markets are in free fall as 500 regional banks have shuttered their doors. Border agents were overrun by a surge of 80,000 illegals yesterday evening. Who's in charge here? Does that approach move the needle? Not exactly subtle, huh? Look, we could call this Republican pouncing, right? Many observers thought Biden would try to get a higher approval rating before announcing. He's underwater on all these issues, and Republicans are probably wise to poke at them.

What could be emerging is a very fear-driven campaign, Democrats claiming that the GOP will take away women's and trans rights and refuse to enact gun reform. Meanwhile, Republicans will focus hard on those areas like foreign policy, the economy, and crime, where Americans aren't thrilled with their current commander-in-chief. This also comes as his son, Hunter Biden's legal woes, maybe coming to a head and amid reports that he might actually be living at the White House. How does all that play into the timing of the announcement? Yes, the New York Post Miranda Devine is reported on some credible evidence

that Hunter, along with his third wife and their child, have been living at the White House. They've been seen there quite a bit as well as traveling with the president and Jill Biden. Aside from the hilarious sitcom possibilities, if Hunter is living there, it's alleged that it could be in order. order to avoid legal filings from a paternity suit involving the prodigal first son. What is clear, however, is that Hunter has, of late, been a much more visible part of the president's entourage, including during that recent trip to Ireland. Right.

It might seem counterintuitive, but right now, team Biden is leaning into an embracing Hunter, possibly because Joe Biden comes off looking like a loving dad. Republicans, of course, are going to keep questioning whether the loving dad is. is also the big guy who takes 10% from influence peddling scheme. They certainly will. Final question, this announcement wasn't made at a big speech or rally, but is that something we could still see? Joe Biden won in 2020 from his basement,

and basically his people think he can do that again. I don't think we should hold our breath for big, exciting events. This is a president who doesn't do a lot of interviews or press conferences, so finishing the job may well include staying out of the limelight. Right. Well, David, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.

Montana's House Speaker canceled Tuesday's session after protesters shut down the state house the day before over the censure of Democratic Representative Zoe Zephyr. Zephyr is the first transgender lawmaker in the history of Montana's legislature. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to tell us more. So, Tim, Zephyr has now been barred from speaking for several days now. Why? That's right. Zephyr's mic was cut on Thursday last week over what Republicans called.

a breach of decorum. During debate over a bill to ban medical transition treatments for minors, Zephyr said that Republicans have blood on their hands. Here's what that sounded like. If you are forcing a trans child to go through puberty when they are trans, that is tantamount to torture. And this body should be ashamed. If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands. Provocative comments like that aren't new for Zephyr. Last week after the gag order was put in place,

Zephyr was blocked from speaking against a bill that would create a legal definition for man and woman based on biology. Earlier this year, Zephyr did speak out against a bill that said misgendering or dead naming a trans-identifying person is not discrimination under state law. So Zephyr was silenced on the floor due to an alleged lack of decorum. And then as a result, just a few days later, there were protests inside the Montana State House building

what happened there? Yes, seven protesters were arrested and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass. They refused to vacate the House Gallery after police ordered them to, so they were arrested and led out by riot squad officers. The protest began as a rally outside the state Capitol building in support of Zephyr. Republicans have effectively banned Zephyr from speaking on the floor and said the lawmaker won't be allowed to speak again until an apology is made, and Zephyr takes back the comments.

On Monday afternoon, Zephyr tried to speak in opposition to a bill and was blocked from doing so. Protesters then shut down the house for about 30 minutes with various chanting. A crowd of protesters stood outside while the arrests were taking place and they cheered as several suspects were hauled away. The crowd also scolded one of the law enforcement officers involved

for misgendering the person he was arresting. Here's what that sounded like. So I brought her down and she's been exceptionally nice. Day, dang. Okay, sorry about that? Zephyr put out a statement in support of the protesters and told reporters that it would be a top priority for the lawmakers' office to see all those arrested set free. A fund was launched almost immediately for those arrested, though it's not clear how much of that will be needed.

All those arrested were booked and then released. Now, what was the GOP response? Republicans were more critical. GOP leadership put out a statement condemning the violence by far-left agitators, and they also said that they stand firm in their commitment to decorum, safety, and order. All right, well, Tim, thanks so much for reporting. That was Daily Wire reporter, Tim Peer. The number of empty office buildings in America has now reached its highest point on record,

as the commercial real estate sector has been rocked by the largest downturn in decades. Here with more on the cities hit the hardest and what it means for the health of America's economy is Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Cabot, not the sort of record you want to see broken. What's going on here? Yeah, when talking about the real estate market, it's easy to focus only on the residential side, but the commercial real estate sector is a hugely important aspect of our nation's overall economic health. And it's in serious trouble. Last quarter, the number of vacant office buildings hit 12.9%

the highest rate on record, exceeding the previous time mark set during the 2008 financial crisis. But some cities have been hit harder than others. Twenty-nine percent of office space in San Francisco now sits vacant. That is easily the highest on record for the city. Elsewhere, New York City sits at a 16 percent office vacancy rate. That's also a record high. Chicago is just over 20 percent. Another record high. The list goes on for cities across the country. And that lack of demand is causing prices on commercial real estate to plummet. Nationwide office building prices have fallen 25% since the start of 2022 alone. Wow, that much. A bunch of unwelcome records there. So what does this mean for the economy more broadly? Well, it's important to remember that all that empty office

space doesn't just impact landlords who are losing money on their buildings. It means that local restaurants and shops see fewer customers throughout the day and local governments taking less revenue from property taxes. It's also bad news for the banking industry, which has already experienced a year of turmoil. Commercial mortgages account for almost 40% of bank holdings in the U.S., and while a lot of people might not be too sympathetic towards banks right now, they've now got trillions of dollars tied up in assets that are rapidly depreciating, which could have serious ramifications for us all. Here's Elon Musk earlier this month describing the threat posed by a collapsing commercial real estate market. Commercial real estate used to be something that was a great A asset. If a bank had commercial

for real estate holdings, those would be considered for the highest security. Some of the safest assets you could have. Now, that is not the case anymore. So we really haven't seen the commercial estate shoe drop. That's more like anvil, not a shoe. So what are some of the factors in that downturn? So when it comes to empty office space, the remote work revolution has played just an undeniable role.

It's been well documented that many businesses have struggled to bring their workers back into the office after allowing them to work remote. during the pandemic. Here's our friend Kenny Polkari, chief market strategist at Slatestone Wealth on Fox on what that means. You're already starting to see, you know, companies, you know, defaulting on their debt. And that's only going to start to pile on when you think about companies having to decide, are they keeping us off of his face, not keeping it? Can they keep it? Do the workers even want to come back? In beyond office buildings, brick and mortar storefronts have taken a huge hit as well.

And e-commerce is largely to blame on that front. As millions of Americans have begun doing their shopping online. Everything from small storefronts to large shopping malls have become less valuable. On that note, the property values of shopping malls have dropped 19% since 2022 and are down 44% since 2016. So we're experiencing revolution in how people shop. According to UBS Group AG, 50,000 retail stores will be forced to close their doors in the next five years alone. And interest rates have played a role here as well. Yes, they have. Anyone trying to buy a home this year has seen just how much higher their monthly mortgage payments are compared to years past. And when it comes to commercial real estate, even a one or two percent interest rate hike can mean

millions of dollars more in costs each month. And as more and more leases expire, those higher costs mean that many companies won't be able to afford renewing them. Those rate hikes also decrease the value of bonds and other securities, which makes real estate a less profitable option for large companies. On that note, according to Green Street analytics, U.S. property values have fallen 15% since this time last year. Steep drop in one year. Are there any positive trends that we're seeing here in terms of commercial real estate? Yeah, it's worth noting.

While office buildings have really struggled, one sector of commercial real estate that's actually thriving right now are data centers and warehouses. Some more commerce moves online, a growing number of companies are building out their data and cloud computing centers, which requires large amounts of space. And that is good news for those trying to sell warehouses. And also, while the property values of hotels and apartment buildings have dropped, because of inflation, they're now able to charge higher rates, which means they're still largely profitable.

Well, Kabbat, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That was DailyWire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.