Morning Wire - Biden’s Crisis & Newsom vs. DeSantis | 7.5.22

Episode Date: July 5, 2022

President Biden’s party faces grim polling as inflation cripples the economy, Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis spar, and Biden moves to add transgenderism to Title IX. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With more Americans feeling the pain of crippling inflation, political pressure is building on President Biden to stave off a red wave in November. How do voters feel about the president, the economy, and the direction of the country? And how will that shape the political landscape? We look at the latest data. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, July 5th, and this is Morning Wire. The 2024 presidential campaigning may have already begun.

California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom takes aim at Florida's Ron DeSantis, and the conservative governor fires back. And the Biden administration is proposing significant updates to Title IX to include transgenderism to its protections. We discussed the administration's proposed changes in their implications. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Birch Gold.

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Cabot will get to the all-important issue of the economy, but first let's start with the leader of the Democratic Party, President Biden. Where does he stand with voters now? Well, worse than ever. In June, his average approval rating was around 37% with 57% disapproving of the job he's doing. And on the key question of whether the country is on the right or wrong track, the vast majority of Americans, including 86% of Republicans and even 62% of Democrats, say we're going in the wrong direction. Now, as we've talked about on the show, those numbers, while historically low, have really become the norm for President Biden these days. But the new, really concerning data for Biden comes on the question of 2024.

Harvard Harris poll this week shows that 71% of Americans do not want him to run for re-election. 71% among those who say it's time for him to step down. About half say it's because he's done a poor job. A third say he's too old. And about a quarter say it's simply time for change. Those are grim numbers for the president. They really are, especially at this point in the term. How much do we expect this poor approval to impact races in November?

The historical precedent says it's going to have a massive impact. Keep in mind, the party that controls the White House almost always suffers losses in midterms. But with numbers this low in the White House, experts say it, it could be a historic red wave in November. Right now, Republicans lead the generic ballot polls and hold a significant advantage in just about every poll on voter enthusiasm, which, again, is critical in midterms. Democrat strategists have said that they're confident

the overturning of Roe will motivate their base and help in the midterms. And that certainly could happen, but if you look at the numbers on which issues voters say are most important to them, abortion typically falls anywhere from fifth to eighth most important. So abortion, it's still well behind the economy, crime, and immigration in almost every poll.

So it's no guarantee that the issue will be a huge benefit to Democrat candidates in November. Now, you mentioned the economy. Obviously, things aren't going well on that front. What's the latest on how it's impacting voter sentiment? Yeah, Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the state of the economy, and not just the economy more broadly, but their own personal finances. That's a really key distinction.

According to the New York Times, 52% of Americans say that they're worse off now than they were a year ago, while just 14% say they're better off. That 14% figure is the lowest number in the history of that poll. The lowest ever. Yeah. And overall, 75% of Americans say the state of the economy is bad. And when you look at inflation rates, it's easy to see why.

Take a Fourth of July barbecue, for example. Since last year alone, ground beef is up 16%. Hot dogs are up 37%. Chicken breast 27%, ice cream 14%, and so does 16%. So the average 4th of July barbecue is going to cost you. about 17% more this year than last. And that's all just having a seismic impact, politically speaking. Right. Tell us more about that.

Well, the state of the economy really seems to be crushing voter enthusiasm among Democrats and driving it up among Republicans. In the early days of his presidency, as the economy began to falter, President Biden's message that it was temporary and that Russia was to blame seemed to be working with his base, or at least keeping them from getting too upset with him. But that no longer seems to be the case, as the majority of Democrats, Democrats now disapprove of the president's handling of the economy. And it's interesting.

It's starting to draw him criticism from people who previously supported him. For example, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, called out Biden on gas prices this weekend. When the president demanded gas stations lower prices immediately, Bezos tweeted that Biden is either deliberately using, quote, misdirection or has a, quote, deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics. So very harsh words from someone who was previously viewed. as an ally. And that's kind of in line with what we've seen from voters more broadly, too,

at all levels of the Democrat Party. Yeah, it definitely seems that way. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Coming up, California's governor Gavin Newsom picks a political fight with Florida's Ron DeSantis. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all of your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you. In what is being called the first national presidential campaign ad of the 2024 cycle,

California Governor Gavin Newsom launched a new ad to run in Florida, targeting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. News purchased ad space on Fox News affiliates in Florida and began running the ad on July 4th. The ad encourages Floridians to consider moving to California. where they, quote, still believe in freedom. Daily Wires Tim Pierce joins us to discuss. So, Tim, Gavin Newsom is running ads in Florida, but that's not his voter base. What's going on?

Yeah, not only did it run in Florida, the ad ran on Fox News. So a base of people unlikely to agree with the California Democrat on much of anything. This has led to speculation that the ad is less about Florida and more about generating buzz for a possible 2024 presidential campaign,

a possibility that gets more likely as Biden's poll numbers continue to drop. as Cabot highlighted last segment. Now, has the ad gained traction? Has it been successful? It has. Several media outlets have already picked up this store and have shared his ad around,

which basically means free advertising for Newsom. More importantly, Newsom is positioning himself as a leader in the culture war, and positioning himself against DeSantis is an effective way of doing that. DeSantis has already done a lot of the legwork and staking out a leadership position in the GOP, especially regarding COVID lockdowns

and gender theory and classrooms. People are already talking about a Desantis this 2024 ticket. So this is a pretty savvy way for Newsom to piggyback on some of that groundwork. So what's the actual content of the ad? Well, the ad goes after DeSantis and Republican governors for their policies on abortion, sex, and gender theory and classrooms, and free speech. It also encourages Florida Democrats to move to California for more freedom. Here's a bit of the ad. I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight or join us in California, but we still believe in freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate, and

the freedom to love. So obviously, he is explicitly asking Democrats to move to California, but the fact that he chose to run it on Fox News suggests the target of the ad isn't actually the target of the ad. As in, he's not really talking to Florida Fox News viewers. He's talking to everybody else nationwide. Now has the DeSantis camp responded to the ad yet? His team pretty much just laughed it off.

DeSantis spokesman Dave Abrams told the Daily Wire in a statement that Newsom's ad is a pathetic smear campaign, and that Newsom might as well light a pile of cash. on fire. Abrams characterized the ad as a, quote, desperate attempt to win back the California refugees who fled the hellhole he created an estate to come to Florida. That said, despite the criticism, he has been extremely successful in getting eyes on the ad, which was the goal. All right. Well, I'm not sure how many takers he's going to get from the Fox News audience in Florida, but this may be a savvy move for him looking ahead to 24. Tim, thanks for reporting.

Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wires, Tim Pierce. June 23rd marked the 50th anniversary of Title IX. To commemorate the occasion that Biden administration announced proposed updates to Title IX that add transgender students to the 1972 statute prohibiting discrimination based on sex. Here to explain the proposed changes and their implications is Daily Wire Senior Editor Ash Short. So first, Ash, what is Title IX and what are the new changes? So Title IX bans discrimination based on sex. was originally enacted to protect and improve women's collegiate sports. But over the years, it's been expanded to require schools to investigate alleged campus sexual assault. And now,

the Biden administration wants it to cover not only discrimination based on sex, but also gender identity and sexual orientation. For example, Biden's Title IX proposal now includes a recommendation that students have access to the bathroom of their preferred gender. The recommendations don't address athletics, but it's likely that the final rule will be a new one. will include something on the matter. Now, it was recently reported that the new policy very closely mirrors language in a memo that was produced last year by a left-wing advocacy organization funded by billionaire George Soros. Tell us about that.

Well, last July, the organization governing for impact or GFI sent a legal memo to Biden's Education Department that directly recommended that the administration update Title IX to include provisions for gender identity. And while it's not clear whether the memo directly influenced the final policy, there is significant overlap. A spokesperson for the education department told Fox News that the administration used a public hearing and comment process and that they received hundreds of comments demanding sexual orientation and gender identity be included. So the administration claims these changes are popular with the people. That's what they say.

But when it comes to another portion of the Title IX proposal regarding campus sexual assault, the administration appears to have ignored a lot of concerned comments. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Education added a requirement for due process in cases of on-campus sexual assault. The Biden administration has proposed reversing those requirements, which would align more closely with the model enacted by the Obama administration. There was a lot of backlash to that model for how schools handled allegations of sexual assault, but this administration is choosing to return to it.

What is the new model for handling sexual assaults on campus? Well, under Trump, students who were accused of sexual assault had the opportunity to defend themselves, a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Students had the right to see the evidence against them and be adjudicated through a live hearing by an unbiased panel. Both accused and accusing students also had the ability, whether through a lawyer or an advocate, to cross-examine the other party and their witnesses. The Biden administration would undo all of that.

It wants to subject students to a process where a single person, chosen by the university, acts as the investigator, judge, jury, and executioner. This is how it was done during the Obama administration, and hundreds of court rulings have noted that the practice denies the right of students to vigorously defend their innocence. All right, now, these new changes are just proposals at this point, but when will they go into effect? The proposed rule changes still need to be published in the Federal Register, and then they will be open for public comment for 60 days after that. A final rule won't take effect until at least next year.

All right, Ash, thanks for keeping us informed. Of course. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short. Other stories we're tracking this week. A shooter opened fire Monday on a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Officials say at least six people were killed and more than 30 others were injured. After an intense manhunt, police arrested a suspect, a 22-year-old male. A 22-year-old Danish man has been arrested in connection to a mass shooting at a mall in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday that took the lives of several people. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state's 1925 law banning abortion can go into effect pending ongoing litigation.

And thousands of flights were delayed or canceled over the travel-heavy holiday weekend. TSA reported Friday that they had screened some 2.5 million passengers, the highest number since the pandemic. After more protesters targeted the private homes of conservative Supreme Court, justice, including Amy Coney-Barrant last week, the Marshal of the Court sent a letter to Maryland and Virginia officials requesting they take action to enforce existing laws banning such protests. More than one million people have signed a MoveOn.org petition calling for conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, to be impeached following the court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. City officials in Akron, Ohio, canceled the city's annual Fourth of July festival this weekend

following the video release of police fatally shooting a black door-dash driver who allegedly fled and fired on authorities last week. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stay with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.

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