Morning Wire - GOP Debate Fireworks & Biden Family Subpoenas | 11.9.23

Episode Date: November 9, 2023

The GOP presidential candidates get personal in third debate, the House Oversight committee subpoenas both James and Hunter Biden, and Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib remains defiant after congressional censure. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee: Hear Clint’s story at https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Babbel: For a limited time, get 55% off your Babbel subscription at http://www.babbel.com/wire Balance of Nature: Start your journey to better health! For a limited time, get 35% off your first order as a preferred customer. Use promo code WIRE at checkout: https://www.balanceofnature.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump held a rally in Florida, while five GOP presidential contenders took to the debate stage Wednesday night in Miami. I will take the hits. I will take the arrows. I will take the barbs. Because it's not about me. It's about you. I don't judge anyone for being pro-choice. And I don't want them to judge me for being pro-life. Who gained ground in the race for the White House? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, November 9th. And this is Morning Wire. House Republicans subpoena members of President Biden's family, ratcheting up an impeachment inquiry focused on rooting out alleged corruption.

And recently censured Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Taleb is doubling down on the anti-Israel comments that led to her reprimand. I can't believe I have to say this. But Palestinian people are not disposable. We are human beings, just like anyone else. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Five GOP presidential hopefuls took the debate stage last night in Miami,

hoping to gain momentum against frontrunner Donald Trump with just over two months to go until the Iowa caucuses. Here with more on the action and what sort of impact it could have on the primary is Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Hey, Cabot. So first, set the scene for us. Yeah, so last night featured a much smaller stage than in debates past, with Mike Pence no longer in the race, and North Dakota Governor Doug Brubbett. Bergam failing to qualify this go-round. On stage was, however, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramoswamy, Tim Scott, and Chris Christie. Not on stage, very noticeably, was former President Trump, who again skipped out, saying he'll wait for the field to narrow before he debates.

Right. Which is 67 days until Iowa, the five candidates on stage are clearly desperate to make a splash in any way possible. And that did come out at a few times throughout the evening. Yeah, there were a number of viral moments where things got especially personal. Let's start there. Yeah, that is one way of putting it. These candidates know they've got to mix things up to get attention, and that led to some pretty heated personal attacks.

While Vivek Ramoswamy vowed last debate to be the Uniter-in-Chief and bring people together, he took a very different approach this time. He took aim at his GOP counterparts in the Republican National Committee, as well as the moderators from NBC. We've become a party of losers at the end of the day. I mean, since Rona McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020. 2022, no red wave that never came.

Who's moderating this debate? This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk. We'd have 10 times the viewership asking questions that GOP primary voters actually care about and bringing more people into our party. Ramoswamy, who it's worth noting, began to fall in the polls last month after peaking around 8 to 10% nationally, also went after Nikki Haley throughout the evening, at one point calling her, quote, Dick Cheney in heels, while appearing to make fun of Rondisantis as well, for supposedly trying to make himself appear taller.

At another point, he controversially brought up Haley's daughter, which drew a heated response from the former UN ambassador. In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok, while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first. Leave my daughter out of your voice. And that's actually the point. You have her supporters cropping her up.

That's fine. Here's the truth. The easy answer. Yeah, a pretty intense moment there. Now, for her part, Haley also drew attention for an answer on abortion. Tell us about that moment. Well, at one point, the discussion shifted to abortion, specifically the role it's appeared to play in driving Democrat voters to the polls since Roe was overturned.

While some candidates like Ron DeSantis have vowed to take federal action to restrict abortion access, Haley essentially said it's a state issue that would be impossible to address at the federal level, given the need for 60 votes in the Senate. There are some states that are going more on the pro-life side. on that. There's some states that are going more on the pro-choice side. I wish that wasn't the case, but the people decided. No Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democrat president can ban these state laws. So let's find consensus. We don't need to divide America over this issue anymore. Now let's get to DeSantis, who came into last night in second place, but with sort of falling

support in the polls as of late. Yeah, another candidate desperate for a bump right now. DeSantis, for the Most part avoided the personal dustups, but did, however, take aim at the man ahead of him, Donald Trump. Donald Trump's a lot different guy than he was in 2016. He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance. He should explain why he didn't have Mexico pay for the border wall. He should explain why he racked up so much debt. He should explain why he didn't drain the swamp.

And he said Republicans were going to get tired of winning. Well, we saw last night, I'm sick of Republicans. losing. Now look, the big question here ultimately is what sort of impact, if any, this debate will have on the primary. Former President Trump has only solidified his standing as frontrunner, still bringing in around 60% in primary polls. As usual, while Trump was absent from the debate, he made sure to hold an event of his own while his counterparts took the stage. But with 67 days ago until the first votes are cast, the race appears to be Trump's to lose. Yeah, in the meantime, another debate in the books. Kappa, thanks for reporting. Anytime.

The House Oversight Committee moved Wednesday to bring members of the Biden family in for questioning. A sign that the investigation into Biden family influence peddling is nearing an end. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family. Hey, Tim. Which Biden family members does the committee want to hear from? Hey, John. The Oversight Committee wants interviews with eight people who are either Biden family members or closely associated with the Bidens. They sent subpoenas to the president's son, Hunter, and brother James, as well as Rob Walker, a Biden family associate. The other five were sent a written request to appear voluntarily before the committee. That's James' wife, Sarah Biden, Haley Biden, the late Bo Biden's widow, and her sister, Elizabeth Secundi.

Requests were also sent to Hunter's wife, Melissa Cohen, and Hunter's former business partner, Tony Bobolensky. All right, so several people being asked to come to testify, some subpoenas, some voluntary requests there. Why that distinction? Yeah, that's partly because of process and partly because of necessity or a lack of necessity in the case of Tony Bob Blinsky. He's expected to answer the request and appear voluntarily. Oversight Chairman James Comer appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday and explained the rest. Before you subpoena, you're supposed to request that they come in.

We've already requested that Hunter Biden and Jim Biden come in. And obviously they haven't cooperated with our investigation at all. so we were ready to subpoena. We've sent a simple letter of request to come in to be interviewed for the rest of the Biden family members. If they fail to respond to our request, then I will predict on your show that they will be subpoenaed very soon. Has there been any response from the White House? Has the White House commented on these subpoenas? So White House Press Secretary Karine John Pierre was asked about the subpoenas right after they were filed.

Here's what she said. This is an investigation that has been going on for a year now. and has turned up zero evidence of wrongdoing by the president because there is none. But Republicans continue to double down on a baseless, a baseless, a smear campaign against the president and his family. It's worth noting that experts such as former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy and George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley would disagree with the press secretary's framing. They say it's not necessary to prove a direct benefit to Joe Biden for the president to potentially be involved in a crime. benefits going to a family member could satisfy the legal standard. All right.

So final question. What do these subpoenas mean for the impeachment inquiry into President Biden? Well, it's a sign that the committee is about ready to wrap its investigation. And then it will be up to the House to weigh the evidence. Here's Comer again. It'll be up to the Republican Conference and Republican Judiciary Committee to determine what the next steps are. But I will tell you, you know, this is the biggest. corruption scandal in my lifetime from any political office. This is something that I think every

American would agree needs to never happen again. We need to get rid of the Bidens and the Menendezes in Washington. And this is the first step. Things really ramping up here. Tim, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Talib has doubled down on comments about Israel that resulted in her being censured by the House of Representatives. The bipartisan rebuke from Taleb's fellow lawmakers came as a result of her use of the phrase from the river to the sea. That phrase is a reference to the Hamas terrorist group's charter

that seeks the total destruction of the Jewish state of Israel and the formation of a Palestinian state on that land. The censure also cited Tilibe's insistence on spreading false propaganda from Hamas. Here to discuss the censure vote and Tilibe's reaction to it is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. So has Talib shown any remorse for using this phrase? Morning, and no, much the opposite. In fact, she said that she will not be silenced,

will not let her words be distorted, and that she was merely criticizing the government of Israel by repeating the Hamas mantra. This even after 22 Democrats voted for the censure as a way both of showing solidarity with Israel, but also to distance the Democrat Party from these remarks, which the Biden White House has also done. But look, she also has her so-called squad and the Progressive Caucus.

And as we've seen on the streets and on college campuses, a decent number of Democrat voters who not only think what she said was fine, but who chanted themselves. So clearly she thinks she's done nothing wrong. In fact, here's how she defended her comments following the censure. Trying to bully or censor me won't work because this movement for a ceasefire is much bigger than one person. It's growing every single day.

And here was squad member Corey Bush on the House floor, trying to link the rebuke of Talib to racism. That it's not surprising because this is the place where our black and brown staff members repeatedly speak of experiencing racism and sexism, Islamophobia, get pushed off of elevators, xenophobia, and more right here in this workplace. Pretty emotional there.

So let's talk a bit more about the phrase from the river to the sea. Why is it so offensive not just to Jews, but to those who support Israel in general? I mean, part of it obviously is the provenance, right? Quoting Hamas is considered by many to be basically the same as quoting Hitler or the KKK. But more broadly, it is obviously and only a call

for the end of the Jewish state of Israel. Talib claims that isn't how she intends it, but, John, words mean things, and those words quite literally mean a Muslim Palestinian state from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. Obviously, that leaves no room for Israel and Jews. In the wake of the brutal and savage attacks at 10-7, to use this phrase comes off to a lot of people as a justification of those evil actions. And while Taleb condemned the violence itself, eventually, it isn't clear if she thinks killing Jews is an acceptable

way to achieve a Palestinian state. What should we make of how the vote split up here? 22 Democrats cross the aisle to censure one of their own. Does this send a signal that Democrats will remain behind Israel, or is it a sign of slipping support? And look, as we well know, getting 230 votes for anything in this narrowly divided Congress is close to a miracle. So it is significant. And in general, most Democrats are not calling for a ceasefire, at least yet. And they back allowing Israel to do what it needs to do. There have been some, including Senator Dick Durbin, who have called for the ceasefire. But so far, those voices are still outliers. Well, Congress has only censured members about two dozen times in its history, so a significant symbolic move here. Indeed. Dave,

thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.