The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Budweiser Backpedals on Wokeism, Conservatives Say They Have Plan to Dismantle Deep State, and GOP Take Steps To Secure Border | April 17

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha Sherris. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, April 17th. Here are today's headlines. A one-minute ad from Budweiser has gained over 53 million views on Twitter since it aired Friday afternoon. The ad appears to be an appeal to the beer company's pro-American traditional value audience. And there's likely a reason for that. The classic Budweiser Clydesdale is the focal point of the ad. with backdrops from small American towns to Washington, D.C. monuments.

Starting point is 00:00:46 A pro-American monologue runs throughout the ad. Let me tell you a story about a beer, rooted in the heart of America, found in a community where a handshake is a sure contract. So why this ad, and why is it gaining so much attention? Remember that Anheuser-Busch, the company that owns both Budweiser and Bud Light, face backlash after Bud Light featured transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney and an ad campaign during March Madness. Anheuser-Busch stock fell in the days that followed, and country star Travis Tritt said he would no longer ask for Anheuser-Bush products on his hospitality cart when he performs.

Starting point is 00:01:34 So now it appears that Anheuser-Busch is trying to appeal to the audience that it fears it may have just lost amid the Mulvaney controversy. But will the strategy work? Conservative pundit and Red State senior editor Brandon Morse says no. Morse responded to the video on Twitter, writing, I'm not sure a lineup of B-roll footage and some guy throwing middle American buzzwords at us will win us back. But frankly, bringing 9-11 into this is just kind of insulting.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Anheuser-Busch, CEO, Brendan Whitworth on Friday issued a statement saying we never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer. The beer company Yingling appears to also be weighing in on the situation and aiming to use the controversy to attract new customers. An hour after the Anheuser-Busch CEO released their statement, Yingling posted a photo of their beer with an American flag in the background. And the caption, Yingling, the oldest brewery in America, independently owned and family operated since 1829 because we make good beer.

Starting point is 00:02:51 The House Judiciary Committee was in Manhattan today for a hearing to discuss the rise in crime in the Big Apple. As Republican lawmakers gave remarks, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was at the center of many of their comments. Remember that Bragg is the prosecutor who led the investigation and recent indictment of former President Donald Trump. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan argued during the hearing today that while Bragg was investigating Trump, he was also allowing crime to go unchecked in the city. In 2022, Mr. Bragg's first year of district attorney, New York City saw a 23% surge in major crimes. Felony assaults rose 13%. Robbery spike 26%.

Starting point is 00:03:34 Burglaries in New York City went up 23rd. 3%. Grand larcenies were up 26% and auto theft increased 32%. Transit crime surged nearly 30%. Imagine that. You leave criminals on the street, you get more crime. Democrat ranking member Jerry Nadler said the hearing was an effort by Republicans to intimidate brag. In other news, the Republican-led House is preparing to move forward with a comprehensive border and immigration package this week. Earlier this year, the House Judiciary Committee introduced the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023. In simplest terms, the bill would permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to prohibit the entry of illegal aliens into America. The House Judiciary Committee is expected

Starting point is 00:04:24 to consider the bill on Wednesday. A group of pro-border security organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, says the bill contains policies that are a common-sense response to the weaponization and defrauding of the asylum system. Backers of the bill also say it includes key reforms to the gross abuse of the parole system, which the Biden administration is increasingly relying upon to import illegal aliens into the United States at an industrial scale. We do not know the timing yet of when the House will vote on this bill, but it's likely going to be later this spring or maybe even summer. When it comes to America's debt ceiling, President Joe Biden has been missing in action and misleading the public.

Starting point is 00:05:11 That's according to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Earlier today, McCarthy delivered a speech on the debt ceiling in New York. The House Speaker said Biden has not contacted him to discuss the debt ceiling since a meeting in February. But McCarthy went on to say he and other Republicans have a plan to raise the debt ceiling. In the coming weeks, the House will vote on a business. to lift the debt ceiling into the next year. Save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent upon China, curve our high inflation, all without touching Social Security and Medicare. The U.S. reached the debt limit of $31.4 trillion on January 19th. Congress has until early June

Starting point is 00:05:58 to raise the debt limit before there is a risk of default. conservatives say they have a plan to dismantle the deep state. Earlier today, the Daily Signal broke the news that a coalition of conservative leaders and former political appointees have compiled a game plan for the next conservative president. The plan is to reduce the federal government's bureaucracy to make it more cost-effective, high-performing, and accountable to the people. So how do they plan to do this? The Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill has the story.

Starting point is 00:06:31 and he joins us now. Tyler, can you explain this coalition of conservative groups and what their mission is? Yeah, thanks, Virginia. So the Heritage Foundation helped launch the 2025 presidential transition project, also known as Project 2025, to avoid the pitfalls that Trump faced in 2017. The, you know, the president had a very rough transition, partially because the Obama administration really wasn't keen on enforcing Trump's vision of the country. So what often happens whenever there's a presidential transition is the previous political appointees try to embed themselves into the permanent bureaucracy so they can continue to push what the previous administration got elected to do. And this undermines the will of the people who voted for someone else. And so these Heritage Foundation leaders and others from various different administrations, from back to Reagan, I think they might have some Bush people in there, but mostly I think it's Reagan and Trump, previous appointees, came together and said, look, let's get ready so that on day one of 2025, if there is a conservative president elected in 2024, that person can get off the ground running as opposed to running into the. sort of things that Trump had to face. Got it. So it's a streamlining, making things a little easier, a little more effective.

Starting point is 00:07:57 But how do they practically plan to do that? Dismantling the deep state sounds like a big job. What are the steps? It's a super big job. And it's going to be very difficult for whoever is in those shoes if a conservative wins in 24. So there are a few things. Trump had a bunch of executive orders that got overturned by the Biden administration that, uh, never fully got implemented, and this project is encouraging some of those to be brought back. Future president needs to speed up the time it takes to discipline and fire federal employees to restrict the power of public sector unions, which FDR believed shouldn't exist at all,

Starting point is 00:08:40 and that's FDR who created the New Deal, and bring the salaries, so the president should bring the salaries of federal employees more in line with private sector workers. And then the big one is something called Schedule F, which allows the president to reassign some federal employees to positions that are essentially at will. So they're easier to fire so that the process can be streamlined because a lot of these people are set in career jobs and they're making decisions that should be made by someone who represents the president who can be fired by the president if they're not doing what the president was sent to Washington to do. So they're fulfilling essentially political jobs, but as a career position where they're not really checked by the new administration. Yeah, it's a need for accountability. Tyler, we really appreciate your reporting on this. We'll be sure to leave a link in the show notes so you all can check out Tyler O'Neill's piece on this.

Starting point is 00:09:39 The start of the Fox News and Dominion voting system's defamation trial was delayed today. The trial was set to begin this morning. The trial is now scheduled to begin tomorrow, but the delay has people spent. speculating that Fox News and Dominion might be working to reach a settlement outside of court. Dominion filed a lawsuit against Fox News following the 2020 election, arguing Fox News made claims that the company's voting machines rigged the election. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Fox is claiming Dominion has lowered the amount it is seeking, but Dominion disputes this claim. We are continuing to follow the story and will keep you up.

Starting point is 00:10:21 updated on developments as we learn more this week. And that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't got a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning for the Daily Signal interview edition. Kate Trinco is going to be sitting down with Odette Rivivie to discuss the recent spike in violence in Israel. Also, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach even more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review.

Starting point is 00:10:59 We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for joining us today and we'll see you're right back here tomorrow morning for the conversation with Odette Rivavi. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Louie and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Budweiser Backpedals on Wokeism, Conservatives Say They Have Plan to Dismantle Deep State, and GOP Take Steps To Secure Border | April 17

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.