The Daily Signal - #358: The New Conservative Media Empire

Episode Date: December 10, 2018

Jon Miller, the White House correspondent for the new Blaze Media, joins us to discuss the new venture's reach and goals, as well as what it's like covering the Trump White House as a conservative reporter. Plus: Daily Signal and Heritage producer Thaleigha Rampersad joins us to explain why she doesn't think "It's a Wonderful Life" is a good Christmas movie. We also cover these stories:--Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who is expected to be the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee, says  that he could see “jail time” in President Donald Trump’s future.--Trump is brushing off claims that an alleged hush money payment made by his lawyer violated campaign finance laws.--The Trump administration is taking action to promote scientific research that doesn’t come at the expense of unborn babies' lives.The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, December 11th. I'm Kate Trinko. And I'm Daniel Davis. A seismic development happened last week in conservative media when it was announced that The Blaze and CRTV would be merging into a new entity, Blaze Media. Today we'll sit down with John Miller, CRTV's White House correspondent, to talk about what this merger means. And since he's a White House correspondent, we'll discuss the latest news coming from the White

White House. Plus, It's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas classic, right? Well, I hope you think so, but not all of us agree. We'll debate. But first, we'll cover a few of the top headlines. Well, Nick Ayers was seen as President Trump's top pick to be the next White House chief of staff, but he's turned down the job, so it's back to the drawing board. Nick Ayers is chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. President Trump announced over the weekend that his current chief of staff, John Kelly,

would be leaving at the end of the year. CBS reports that Trump is now considering budget director Mick Moore, Mulvaney, as well as Wayne Berman, a longtime GOP operative. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, who is expected to be the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday that he could see jail time in President Trump's future, suggesting he views payments made by Trump as violating campaign finance rules. What's your takeaway? My takeaway is there's a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office,

the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time. We have been discussing the issue of pardons that the president may offer to people or dangle in front of people. The bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump. And President Trump is brushing off claims that an alleged hush money payment made by his lawyer violated campaign finance laws. President Trump made reference to such a payment, but called it a simple private transaction and not a campaign contribution. Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is alleged to have paid two women during the 2016 campaign, so they would keep quiet about affairs that they had had with him. And some have argued that that counts as an illegal campaign contribution.

President Trump said on Twitter that even if it was a campaign contribution, it would only be a civil case, not a criminal case, and that his lawyer would be the one to blame. Former FBI director James Comey is getting even more political, weighing in on whether Trump should be impeached and what should happen in 2020. Here's what Comey had to say in an interview in New York with MSNBC's Nicole Wallace. I hope Donald Trump is not removed from office by impeachment because it would let the country off the hook. And it would drive into the fabric of our nation a third of the people believing there was a coup. and we need a moment of inflection where we all get off the couch

and say that is not who we are and in a landslide rid ourselves of this attack on our values and if we in a way short-circuited that with an important legitimate process through the Constitution, I worry that we wouldn't, we'd be letting ourselves off the hook

in a way and we wouldn't have the moment of clarity that we need in this country. That said, if the facts are there and the legislative two houses of Congress think it's appropriate, that's fine. Well, the Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving Planned Parenthood, effectively handing a victory to the abortion provider. The case arose from the controversy surrounding those fetal tissue videos released back in 2015. Amid that controversy, several states

terminated their Medicaid provider agreements with Planned Parenthood, which effectively prevented Medicaid patients from accessing Planned Parenthood with their Medicaid dollars. Medicaid patients in Kansas and Louisiana then chose to sue. their states, arguing that they had violated the law, which requires Medicaid to allow its patients access to any qualified and willing provider, including Planned Parenthood. Lower courts found in their favor and overturned to state bans. The Supreme Court's refusal to take up the case affirms those bans. Only three justices voted in favor of hearing the case, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch. Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts

voted with the liberals. Trump administration is taking action to promote scientific research that doesn't come at the expense of unborn babies' lives. The Daily Signals Fred Lucas broke the news Monday that the Trump administration is investing up to 20 million

for the next two years to determine effective alternatives to using tissue from aborted babies for research. Quote, we are a pro-life, pro-science administration. This means that we understand and appreciate the medical research and the testing of new medical treatments using fetal tissue raises inherent moral and ethical issues, says Health and Human Services spokeswoman

Caitlin Oakley. Well, British Prime Minister Theresa May is between Iraq and a hard place today. She canceled a vote on the Brexit package that she had negotiated with the European Union, admitting that it would have been defeated. So now she has the option of trying to renegotiate a deal with the EU, or she can hold that vote on the existing package or simply resign. Campus reforms Cabot Phillips went to Savannah's College of Art and Design, which earlier this year had a petition asking for a building named after Justice Clarence Thomas

to be renamed due to him being, quote, a sexual predator. Phillips talked to students about their thoughts and here's what he heard. Petition on campus to remove the name of Clarence Thomas, bring court justice from a building here. What's your thought on the petition? I honestly think he should be removed. We should probably just take his name off the building. It's not that big of a deal.

I agree that you get removed. What's your thought on the petition? I agree. I don't think he represents the student body. I would sign it. I think I'd probably sign the petition. And is there anything that you would point to as something that he's done that would warrant that? I don't know.

Hmm. Do you mind if I get back to you? Is there anything that comes to mind that he's done that you would point to as something that you think disqualifies him? I don't know. I've done much research on this. I just saw a Facebook petition about it, and that's kind of the extent of it. He is a historical figure, though, so is Hitler. Okay. Is there anything that Justice Thomas has done that you would point to and say that's why we shouldn't have him? I mean, not in particular.

Petition was actually ended earlier this fall. Well, up next, we'll sit down with Blaze Media's White House correspondent, John Miller. Liberals have pretty much cornered the market on 101-style podcasts that break down tough policy issues in the news. Until now, did you know that every week Heritage Explains Intermingles personal stories, news clips, and facts from heritage experts to help explain some of today's hardest issues from a conservative perspective? Look for Heritage Explains on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last week, there was big news in the conservative media sphere. CRTV and the Blaze announced they were merging and would reach a combined audience of 165 million people, according to the Hollywood reporter.

Joining us today to discuss that merger and more is John Miller, a White House correspondent with the new Blaze Media. John, thanks for joining us. Good to be here, guys. Okay, so you were with CRTV. and I think also worked at the Blaze at one point? Tell us about this new merger. What's going to happen? So it's crazy for me because I actually used to work.

I was Glenn Beck's assistant, you know, many years ago now. And then I worked at Fox a little bit, and then I ended up at CRTV. So now it's kind of all come full circle. But we've been doing stuff, you know, we're kind of doing stuff together. And at a certain point, it kind of just made sense to come together. And now we have all these voices from all across the spectrum on the right. You know, we have conservative traditionalists. We have libertarians.

We have, you know, more Trump people. So we're kind of just covering all the basis. And the point is, if you believe in the Bill of Rights, you believe in the Constitution, and you believe in limited government, we can come together. But we don't have to agree on anything. On everything. But there is a, we don't have to agree on anything. We don't have to agree on a few things.

We don't have to agree on everything. But if you agree on those things, then we can work together. And I think that that separates us from the left where there's, you know, at this point a purity test where they say, you know, you have to check all of these boxes. If you don't, we don't want anything to do with you. On the right, we don't want to do that. We want to have productive conversations. If we agree on the basics, then we can have that dialogue.

So does this mean you'll keep a lot of the same shows going? Or are there going to be new platform, new formats? The shows are going to stay for the most part the same. I think the biggest difference is that people who subscribe to CRTV and people who subscribe to the Blaze, they're now going to get all the shows. So in terms of the content, nothing is changing drastically. It's just that people who subscribe can now get more with their subscription. Right.

And you've got some pretty big names. I mean, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin. So one thing that I think always comes up with these, and you probably hate this question, but we already have Fox News. How does this play a role? Do we need more voices, or how is it complementary or different to Fox? I think we, A, do need more voices. I think we're unashamedly conservative, you know. So that is an important element, and that's a, you know, important way to look at what we do. But also, we're not, you know, with the new combination, some of, we're partially on cable, but, you know, for people who, don't necessarily need cable news.

We're their alternative. And I think we're a little bolder. I think we're a little more unashamedly conservative. Fox, their thing for a while was fair and balanced. Mark Levin says, we're not fair. We're not balanced. But we will tell you the truth in terms of how we see it. But I think it's important to come at the news with a conservative perspective and let people know that.

I think that, you know, we can get into this in a sec, but you have so many people who claim to be objective. And we all know they're not objective. But they proclaim they are. And so they're in a way not telling you the truth. that our viewers and our listeners know exactly where we're coming from. And that way we can be more honest with them. So when does this actually start?

When does the new, is it already happened? It's happened, yeah. Like, so everything is in place. You're Blaz Media now, yep. John, you're also a White House correspondent for now Blaze TV. Yep. There's a lot of news coming out of the White House these last couple days. The president was searching for,

it is still searching for a new chief of staff to replace John Kelly. What's going on with that? You know, I think everyone's talking about who's going to replace John. Kelly, and I don't think anyone actually knows. Because over the weekend, everyone's saying, oh, it's going to be Ares. It's going to be Ares. Obviously, that turned out to not be the case because they couldn't come to an agreement in terms of, you know, Ares wants to go back to his family. And so they couldn't agree on an amount of time.

Now I think it's all up in the air. And the only one who seems to be enthusiastically saying, you know, I'll take the job, I think is Mark Meadows, but we don't know. And I think we can only speculate what Trump needs in the rule. I think that he absolutely needs someone who's going to fight for him. You know, we have in the House, we're going to get, you know, a bunch of investigations, subpoenas, you name it coming out the House. I think that we need someone in that role who has good relations with Congress, but who is also not going to let the president be vulnerable to whatever

the opposition in the House is trying to do. I think at the same time, he definitely needs someone who's diplomatic and has good relationship with Congress because if he doesn't, then I think there's going to be issues in terms of how to liais and how to work with them. So let's take a step back. You had already, you mentioned objectivity. and reporting, and yet Blaze Media comes from a conservative perspective. And I'd say the Daily Signal has sort of the same mindset. We try to be fair. We try to share both sides in our news, although not our commentary.

But, you know, we too have a White House correspondent Fred Lucas. That's a position you're in. I think it's fair to say we have never seen the White House press scores be as political and talked about as it has been during the Trump administration. So, one, how do you feel you've been treated as a conservative reporter? into, how do you see your own role there? You know, I think it's, we have so many reporters who, you know, from CNN and from NBC who get up there and they say, you know, we're objectively reporting the news to you.

And I think everyone knows that's just not the case. And so why not be open about your bias and why not be open about where you're coming from? I think that, you know, our listeners and our viewers can respect that more knowing that I'm coming at the news from a conservative perspective. And I think that that helps me be more honest with them instead of saying, you know, I'm objective and I'm just giving you the facts when clearly we know that's not the case. I mean, we have reporters in the White House Press Corps who are giving opinions and then just saying, oh, do you agree with me, Mr. President? You know, that's clearly, that's not reporting objectively.

So I think, you know, if you hold to the facts and if you're honest, you can absolutely report the news except acknowledging where you're coming from. And I think that that's a more, I don't even know if I believe in 100% objectivity because whether it's the word choice that you use, whether it's the stories that you choose to report on, what you choose to omit, you know, everyone has innate bias. So I think that just being honest about that helps you gain respect and also a better relationship with the people that you're reporting to. Well, you mentioned your colleagues in the press. A lot of them giving a lot of attention to the Mueller investigation and speculating about what is going to come out of that. You know, you heard Comey's, you saw Comey's transcript from the House hearing. what do you think is going to come out of the Mueller investigation, if anything? I think nothing's going to come out of it.

I think that the president, you know, if all of the cards fall, it's not going to touch the president. That's, you know, at this point what I feel. But it's hard because you read all of the reports and, you know, the headline makes it seem like they've got him. They got him again. And then you actually read the details of the report. And there's really nothing there, you know, and they're getting all these people on victimless process crimes. when in reality they're supposed to be in their finding collusion. They're supposed to be in their at least obstruction of justice,

and we're not seeing any of that. And, you know, they're getting people for, you know, tax evasion 100 years ago and all these things that, that, you know, really have nothing to do with what they went in there to find. So if they're not going to find the collusion that we're all waiting for, then I don't know what the whole point of this thing is. Well, we'll be staying, too. I think I know what the whole point of this.

But, you know, it's not what they're saying. Right, right. So have you been hearing it all from the White House or administration folks. You mentioned, obviously, that this going into the Democrat House, there's going to be subpoenas. It's going to be a whole new ballgame from having the Republicans control both chambers. How do you think the administration plans the position itself in the next two years?

You know, I think that they're lucky to have, you know, that's why people were saying it was not a blue wave. I think we're lucky to have the Senate because if they even try to impeach the president, which, you know, they say they're going to do, you know, they still need. That's just the indictment. They need the two-thirds majority in the Senate to actually get the conviction for that. So I don't think that they're worried too much about impeachment. I do think that it's going to stall actual governance.

And I think that that's the problem is that they have a job to do. People elected them to do a job. And instead, they're going to be trying to get Trump, which, you know, I just don't see how that serves the American people. In terms of how the administration is going to position, I think that they're going to at least, you know, I don't think they have that much to hide. I think that, you know, if anything, the Mueller investigation is already trying to expose all of that, and they've done so unsuccessfully. So I think they're going to fight this. I think that, you know, it goes back to the chief of staff conversation. I think they have to find someone who is willing to go toe to toe and is not going to back down and not going to be, is willing to be a fighter.

I think that that's what, you know, the president does best and that's what he needs in a chief of staff. And that's what the administration needs to do to fight these subpoenas going forward. Yeah, it's kind of sad how we can guess what the next two years are going to look like before they've even started. I mean, you saw, I get you probably, did you see Molly Hemingway's piece on incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler? I think she overheard him as they were riding on the train talking on the phone about how we're going to sell this? How are we going to frame this entire two years of just going after Trump? And he's said on the record, no, not even just overhearing him on the train. He's said on record, we're just going to give hundreds of subpoenas and try to just thwart the president that.

way, which is just, I mean, this is not why these people were elected. Well, I don't know. Some of them might have been a little bit. I mean, there's definitely... At least they're not passing, you know, new Obamacres, you know. Yeah. Well, public and Senate. Well, John Miller, this has been a pleasure to have you on.

Thanks for filling us in on your new merger. And best of luck with everything ahead. Appreciate it. Thank you. Do you have an opinion that you'd like to share? I'm Rob Blewey, editor-in-chief of The Daily Signal. and I'm inviting you to share your thoughts with us. Leave us a voicemail at 202-608-6205 or email us at Letters at DailySignal.com.

Yours could be featured on the Daily Signal podcast. Well, it's the Christmas season, and hopefully we're all watching Christmas movies every night or something close to that. But one Christmas movie has created some unexpected controversy in the Daily Signal offices. It's a wonderful life. does not enjoy 100% unanimous support. And we're joined in studio today by one of our producers, Thalia Rampersat. Thalia, defend yourself.

So, listen, I want to start off by stating a few disclaimers. First of all, I'm ready for all the attacks that I will probably receive after I state my opinion on this film. Second of all, I want to say that I've only seen this film once, and I will only see it once in my lifetime. Because after I watched it, I said, wow, This should not be a Christmas movie, and I'm never going to watch this again because it left me feeling extremely depressed. And that is not what I look for when I watch a Christmas film. Okay. Let's get into some of the details of the movie that you did not like.

So I'm going to give you my brief explanation as to why I don't market this as a movie people should watch. And that is mainly because, first of all, it starts off great. the first five minutes of the first five, ten minutes of the film. I'm like, okay, this has the potential to be a somewhat warm and fuzzy, warm Christmas movie. And by the end, it comes full circle in terms of the story and the moral. But the in-between of this alternate universe that the Jimmy Stewart character is entering into, I am not on board with it at all. First of all, it tackles the topic of suicide.

And yes, that is something that should be discussed in film. whether that it's a Christmas movie, it should be discussed in. Not really, not really a fan of that. So, I mean, all of that to say, I personally, I don't like this film. I would go as far to say, I hate this movie. So I think it's really interesting that you hit upon the fact that the middle part of the film is depressing, which is true. But I have always found, like the last time I watched It's a Wonderful Life, I cried at the end, which I very rarely cry at movies. and I've seen the movie like 10, 15 times, I don't know.

But the older I get, the more I just love the ending scene. And it makes me so happy and it feels like such an earned happiness. And in some ways, I guess my defense of it would be that, you know, if you look at the religious undertones of Christmas, there a light came in the darkness. We had all this horrible stuff. And then like literally a savior came. And it seems to me that in a way, because it's a wonderful life, acknowledges the darkness. it is so much more powerful and happier than a movie in which people go from

I was having a bad day to, oh, I found the love of my life, that's cool. But I don't know. I'm honestly curious what you think about this. So I guess my rebuttal to that would be personally, I would just rather see the Christmas story played out, like, as it is biblically, not just something with the undertone of, oh, there was a light in the darkness. That's just my personal opinion. So I guess this is a bit traumatic for me because I've always loved it's a wonderful life.

Wait, are you crying? No, I'm not crying. I'm not crying. I did grow up with it. In fact, I remember in the third or fourth grade, we had all different classes in our grade. We're having their own Christmas movie watch parties and you could choose which one to go to. And I had such a loyalty to this movie that I was like one of two students. in that classroom with the teacher watching. It's a wonderful life.

And I don't really know. That might have more to do with my own social ineptitude. But I think, I think, yeah, I will say the movie is not, like, good theologically. Like, it doesn't have any, like, it doesn't talk really about Christmas and about angels and all that stuff in a good way. But I do think there is a sense in which in any movie, in any story, you don't appreciate what you have until you experience loss. And George Bailey, you know, was a man who sacrificed at every turn in his life, sacrificed for others, for his family, gave up his dreams in life.

And I think it really is a worthwhile lesson that some things are more important than, what your dream is, that it's even a better thing to save your community. And that he ended up being the hero in the end who saved his community from Mr. Potter, Mr. Potter, who was probably, yeah, yeah. And in that movie, he was like the big corporate money grubber. So I think that's good. But maybe you, Thelia, would just want to situate that not in a Christmas movie. Absolutely.

So if it wasn't a Christmas movie, like a different genre, you would say that that's a good movie. Absolutely. So you just don't want to mingle any, like, anything that's difficult or depressing with a Christmas-themed movie. Which I can understand. Like Christmas is, like, you want to be joyful and happy. Yeah. Like, so my first, my favorite Christmas movie is a white Christmas.

And I, one, I love musical theater. So that immediately falls into one of my favorite categories. But also, too, like, when I walk away from that movie, I'm. not like contemplating these deep life lessons. I'm just like, wow, that was a great movie. I want to go decorate a Christmas tree now, you know? Oh my gosh. See, this is exactly.

So, and the thing is too, like one of my, I guess one of the other points against why I don't like this movie is that when before, there was so much hype before I watched it. So everyone was always like you guys like, oh, that's the best Christmas movie ever. So I went into it really excited. Yeah. And I even went into it, you know, I don't really like Jimmy Stewart as an actor. And I was like, okay, I'm going to watch it because there's just, there's been so much build up and I like older movies.

So of course this is going to be a great film. And then was immediately disappointed. So if you hadn't been prepped to expect it, then you might have thought, oh, it's just okay. Or maybe if somebody told me what I was getting into before I got into it, like saying, hey, like this is a sadder Christmas film. A lot of the, like, I feel that same way about a family stone. I don't know if you've ever, guys ever seen that.

Oh my gosh. Okay. But I know that's a whole other trail. But again, like, I want to know if I'm going in to watch a sad Christmas movie. Well, I think that's totally fair. and I'm trying to remember if I knew how sad. It's a Wonderful Life was the first time I saw it, and I'm not sure that I did.

Okay, so, oh my gosh, Leah, there's so much to unpack. Like, first of all, white Christmas is fine. It's not great. And I'm sorry, as a musical theater fan myself, there is no decent ballad in that. Sisters, White Christmas, Snow. It is. 50 small, it's worse.

Jimmy Stewart was an amazing actor, an amazing American. This is, anyway, I just want to, like, establish my facts on all that. But I do think that, I mean, I don't know, I really do want to push back against the idea if it's a wonderful life is depressing. I really ultimately think it could have been really, if it had ended, you know, before, you know, he came back to his family and he was alive. But I think that aside from the issue, yes, theologically, angels don't operate like Clarence, blah, blah, blah, but I do think it is true at a really deep level. Like Christmas is a season of hope. It is a season of change.

And I think it is so powerful how It's a Wonderful Life conveys those ideas and really, yeah, suggest that your life has meaning and your choices have meaning. And I really feel... Even if you don't appreciate them at the moment. Right. And I really feel such immense joy at the end of It's a Wonderful Life. So I don't know. To each its own.

Yeah, to each their own. And I do, I can sympathize with what you're saying because... I can't. I wouldn't want to watch it twice in a row, or twice during one Christmas. It would be a lot. It is a heavier movie in terms of Christmas movies. Yeah, that's all I was asking to be notified of before I got into it, and no one told me. And I think that's what really scarred me.

Okay. Well, anyway, if we have any listeners out there who are also haters of its wonderful life, or at least wish they had gotten more of a warning beforehand, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you. And we're going to leave it there for today. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal podcast brought to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. Please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud, and please leave us a review or rating on iTunes to give us any feedback. We'll see you again tomorrow.

You've been listening to the Daily Signal podcast, executive produced by Kate Trinko and Daniel Davis. Sound design by Michael Gooden, Lauren Evans, and Thalia Rampersad. For more information, visit DailySignal.com.