Morning Wire - Biden's Succession Speculation & Senate Foreign Aid Package | 2.13.24

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

Kamala Harris says she is “ready to serve” as president amid growing concerns about Joe Biden’s cognitive ability, the Senate advances a bill that includes foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel, and Americans are facing spiking home and auto insurance premiums. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee: Get 20% off your order with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Hillsdale: "Enroll for FREE today at https://www.hillsdale.edu/wire " Gravity Defyer: Get $30 off your order of $150 or more! Use promo code: WIRE at http://www.GDefy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kamala Harris says she's ready to serve as president amid growing concerns about Joe Biden's ability to handle a second term. Every vice president understands the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president. I am no different. What's driving the speculation and how would replacing Biden actually play out? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, February 13th, and this is Morning Wire. With the help of several Republicans, the Senate advances a bill that includes foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel. The establishment's obsession with funding Ukraine will force them to throw Donald Trump under the bus again and again and again.

And Americans are facing spiking home and auto insurance premiums, and in one state, consumers are struggling to get any insurance coverage at all. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need. to know. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. If you haven't tried Black Rifle Coffee yet, now is the perfect time to snag a bag. Right now, you can get 20% off your order at Black Rifle Coffee.com with promo code

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This is terrible for Democrats, and anybody with a functioning brain knows that. That was Democratic strategist Paul Bagala referencing the special counsel report detailing President Biden's mental decline. Following that report, a growing number of politicos are predicting that Biden will not be the Democratic nominee come this summer. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has for the first time publicly expressed her willingness in readiness to serve as president. Here with the details is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, a story that really turned a lot of heads this week.

What can you tell us? Yeah. During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Harris was asked if concerns over Biden's age mean that she must convince voters that she's ready to serve. Her response was an emphatic, I am ready to serve. There's no question about that. She then added that everyone who works with her, quote, walks about fully aware of my capacity to lead.

Now, that might sound like an offhand comment, but to this point, those sorts of questions have been shrugged off with answers focused on Biden's abilities to lead. We've rarely seen a sitting vice president openly acknowledged that they're ready to take over when asked about the fitness of their boss. It is a subtle but very important shift in messaging that has Washington buzzing this week. Now, given that this is essentially the primary duty of a vice president to step in if necessary, how significant is it that she's stating this openly that she's ready to step up? Well, the fact she made the comments publicly certainly caught a lot of people off guard, but the sentiment itself is hardly surprising. While the job of VP is often a thinkless task devoid of any real sway, Harris has been steadily gaining more of a forward-facing role in the administration.

In the last year, she's been put in charge of the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. She's launched an abortion advocacy campaign tour, and in recent months, she's taken on a much more visible role in the media, mainly arguing on behalf of the White House strategy in Gaza. That increased presence benefits Biden as it helps him stay away from thorny topics and avoid media interviews, which she's done very few of. But it also benefits her if she were trying to raise her profile in case the president were to step aside or be replaced. And that's no longer on the fringe at this point. Right.

Now, again, this wouldn't even be a conversation if there weren't legitimate concerns about the president's mental fitness. But we're in uncharted territory here. Joe Biden would be 86 years old by the time he left office. and a new ABC poll this week shows that 86% of Americans say he's too old for re-election. Harris is well aware of that sentiment among voters and is sort of signaling to Democrats, hey, I'm here and I'm ready if you want an alternative. But it is a delicate balancing act to strike. Her latest comments come just days before she gave a fiery statement defending Biden's mental acuity.

The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous. So the obvious question, what would have to happen for Harris or any other Democrat to replace Joe Biden on the ticket? Well, at this point, it's too late for anyone to mount a serious primary challenge, as filing deadlines to appear on the ballot have mostly passed. It is however possible, though highly unlikely that Biden is replaced at the Democratic National Convention. Delegates there are not obligated to support Biden, even if voters in their state chosen. But there's no precedent for that in modern history, and a convention coup is really just a pipe dream at this point. If someone like Harris were to become the nominee, the only feasible scenario appears to be President Biden voluntarily bowing out.

If that happened, the question would then become whether he endorsed a successor or allowed the nominating process to play out at the convention. But even then, Harris would be far from a shoe-in given her unpopularity with voters. Right. Well, that has been a persistent issue for her. What do her numbers look like? So right now, Kamala Harris is one of the only people in Washington with a lower favorability rating than Biden. Most recent polling from NBC, for example, shows that just 28% of Americans view her favorably. Harris also failed to gain any sort of traction among Democrat voters as recently as 2020 in the primary. Remember, she was forced to drop out of the Democratic race before a single vote was cast. That unpopularity would certainly be considered by Democrat leaders,

If Biden were to step down. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Any time. Are you a few years or decades out of school and wanting to further your education? Well, you're not alone. And it's not too late. Hillsdale College is offering more than 40 free online courses. If you're not sure where to start, check out American citizenship and its decline.

The course is self-paced so that you can start whenever and wherever. Go right now to Hillsdalecollege.edu slash wire to start. It's free and it's easy to get started. That's hillsdale. Hillsdale.edu slash wire, hillsdale.edu slash wire. The Senate expects to pass a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan this week. Afterward, it will head to the House where it's expected to face strong opposition from conservatives and Trump allies who want tough action on the border.

Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the foreign aid package in its chances of landing on President Biden's desk. Hi, Tim. Okay, so can you first break down this bill for us? Sure, it's largely composed of aid to Ukraine, which happens to be the most controversial part. The bill approves another $60 billion for Ukraine, along with another $14 billion for Israel and $5 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific with an eye on China. It looks prime to pass the Senate. 18 Republicans voted with Democrats on Sunday to clear a procedural hurdle and set it up for a vote later this week. Here's Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on why he supports the measure. I know it's become quite fashionable in some circles to disregard.

The global interests we have as a global power. To bemoan the responsibilities of global leadership, this is the idle work for island minds, and it has no place in the United States Senate. So obviously, in his remarks, he takes a shot at the growing number of Republicans who are skeptical of Ukraine-Aid. Right, about that,

what's driving the opposition to Ukraine-Aid in general, and then specifically this bill? Well, there are a few reasons. One is that the United States has greater domestic problems it needs to sort out first. Here's Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. I've never seen the level of emotion from my even Republican colleagues about this fight for Ukraine as I have over any other issues. So you talk about the fentanyl crisis, you talk about the southern border. And yeah, people care, but it's not top of mind. There are some Republicans for whom Ukraine is the most important

issue confronting the country. And I just say even if you're pro-Ukraine funding, and obviously I'm not, Don't we have 10 more important issues confronting this nation between the border problem, the debt problem? Why are we so obsessed with this? But at the very least, a lot of Republican lawmakers want to leverage Ukraine aid that's more popular with Democrats to get some border security measures. An attempt at a border security foreign aid bill died last week because by the estimation of a lot of Republicans, the border part was too soft. Conservatives in the House were a big reason why that bill tanked. So getting the current bill with no border security through the House seems unlikely. But with Ukraine on its back leg from Russia's latest push,

there may be some pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it to the floor. Yeah, if that happens, we'd expect Johnson to face some blowback from House conservatives. Right. Now, as for Israel, the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Biden has really become strained as of late. What's going on there? Yeah, they've never had a good relationship, but whatever they had has gotten worse recently.

Biden said last week he thought Israel went over the top in its response to October 7th. Then on Monday, the Israeli military went forward with an operation at Arafa in southern Gaza, despite Biden's attempts to warn the Israelis off. Israeli soldiers ended up rescuing two hostages held by Hamas, and Netanyahu said the operation was among the most successful in his country's history. But Biden is reportedly upset that Israel went forward in spite of him. There could be some politics at play here. Biden is under pressure from the progressives in his party to consider.

cut off Israel and take up for Palestinians. On top of that, Muslim Americans in Michigan are upset by Biden's support for Israel. And that's got the president worried enough that he sent advisors to the battleground state to speak with Muslim leaders there. That state's primary comes at the end of this month. Yeah, it's coming soon. Meanwhile, I think we can all be glad that hostages were freed. Tim, thanks for joining us. Good to be on. A home and auto insurance crisis is spiking rates and draining Americans' wallets. In some states like California, families are struggling to find coverage at all. Daily Wire investigative reporter Marade Allorty is here with the details.

So Marade, what's going on with insurance rates? Hi, Georgia. So home insurance prices have been climbing for months, but in some places, the situation is really coming to a head now. The national average for home insurance was up 21% from 2022 to 2023. Just to give you an idea, the average premium in 2019 before the pandemic was 1,1,700, $75, and last year it was about $1,700. But some states are seeing much steeper increases.

Florida has seen the worst spike with prices soaring 68% over the last two years. The risk of hurricanes and flooding play a major role in the insurance nightmare there. New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, and Texas all rose more than 45% in just two years. And in California, some homeowners are being denied coverage altogether, and some insurance companies have stopped offering anyone new policies. So why would these insurance companies not want to accept new customers? Well, the government in California says they can't raise prices, so the companies see it as a losing bet. Wildfire damage is an increasing problem in California as well as increasing costs of building and repairs.

So these companies say it's not worth it to offer coverage if they can't afford to pay it out. State Farm froze new policies in California back in May, and in August, farmers' insurance restricted its new policies. Just last month, another insurance company, Hartford Financial Services, group said it won't offer new California homeowners policy starting this month. This has led to homeowners struggling to find coverage for their homes. Because of insurance companies pulling back, many homeowners in places where wildfires strike have resorted to California's last resort insurance program called Fair. Steve Forbes explained why this is a problem. Bear's last resort expense of Bear Bones insurance seller that covers mainly fire losses. Because the state's perverse counterproductive regulations,

Fair plan enrollments have exploded, almost doubling since 2019. What's happening in California should be a wake-up call for the all-too-many politicians and regulators who indulge and make-belief policies that end up inflicting unnecessary harm. Regulators have suppressed prices for years. Despite widespread wildfires, average premiums in the state of California are one-third lower than in other states with serious fire risks. Now, what about auto insurance? Well, auto insurance rates are rising like crazy as well. Drivers are paying an average of $212 per month for car insurance.

That's an increase of 26 percent and the highest annual increase in nearly 50 years. Inflation is a huge factor here as well, especially with car parts becoming more expensive. For example, bumpers used to be $3 to $500, but now they're over $3,000 to $4,000 because they have cameras and sensors. Same with side mirrors. those are now very high-tech. Here's Bob Passmore of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association on the issue. You've seen increases in repair costs, parts, labor, medical costs, all those things have been going up. And auto insurance premiums tend to trail the rest of the inflationary trends. Other factors are a mechanic shortage and natural disasters which often affect cars as well as homes.

One more minor part of the picture is self-driving cars, which are particularly expensive to insure. So overall, we have a situation where people are struggling to pay and even to find insurance plans for their homes and cars. And in the meantime, insurance companies are losing money as well. Well, it seems like an unsustainable situation. Right. Marade, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. Thanks for waking up with us.

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