Morning Wire XX
[0] With the debt -sealing deadline fast approaching, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy inch closer to a deal.
[1] What's really at stake in the debt -sealing debate and why are Democrats threatening to invoke the 14th Amendment?
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[3] It's Tuesday, May 23rd, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] More Republican presidential candidates toss their hat in the ring as powerful party insiders strategize on how to beat Trump.
[5] It's not really about Donald Trump versus Ron DeSantis.
[6] It's about what America needs.
[7] And Fox News facing criticism on two new reports detailing the real reason they cut ties with Tucker Carlson and the company's transgender policies.
[8] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[9] Stay tuned.
[10] We have the news you need to know.
[11] Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U .S. could run out of money on June 1st, potentially defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
[12] With pressure mounting, President Biden, Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy held another high -stakes meeting on Monday in an effort to iron out a deal.
[13] Here are the latest on where each side stands as Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
[14] Cabot a months -long saga of political positioning and now this big meeting.
[15] What do we need to know here?
[16] Well, last night, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met with President Biden to try and finalize a deal to raise the nation's debt limit.
[17] The current figure is $31 .4 trillion, which was reached in January, forcing the Treasury Department to take what they call extraordinary measures.
[18] using creative accounting to pay their bills, which Secretary Janet Yellen says will no longer be possible as early as June 1st.
[19] Remember, President Biden, once the limit raised, no questions asked, while Republicans say they'll only raise it if Democrats agree to a number of cuts that will keep federal spending flat for the upcoming fiscal year.
[20] And that has been the big sticking point.
[21] On Sunday, President Biden called Republican demands, quote, extreme and said their current proposal was unacceptable.
[22] Here's how McCarthy responded on Fox News Sunday.
[23] I do not think it's extreme.
[24] that we simply say we should spend less than we spent this year.
[25] We should pull back the unspent money from COVID.
[26] The president, it seems as though he wants to fault more than he wants a deal.
[27] So despite the clock ticking, coming into this meeting, there wasn't a ton of optimism that progress would be made.
[28] All right, and to that point, was there any progress made last night?
[29] To put it simply, no. And to make matters more bleak, it's important to remember here.
[30] If and when a deal is reached, that's not the end of it.
[31] From there, it'll take a few days for a final last.
[32] legislative framework to be ironed out before the final key hurdle, Congress.
[33] Any deal will have to gain the approval of the Democrat -controlled Senate and Republican -controlled House, which will be a tall task given the divisions we've seen there.
[34] All right.
[35] So the $31 trillion question, what if a deal is not reached?
[36] Well, again, both sides have been insistent that default is not an option, but with each passing day, it becomes increasingly possible.
[37] Now, because the U .S. has never actually defaulted on its debt, there are disagreements on what it would look like.
[38] Most people agree that it would have a serious impact on global markets, though, as it would rattle investor confidence and likely cause the dollar to take a serious hit globally.
[39] It would also mean the federal government would have to begin deciding which bills to pay and which to leave unpaid.
[40] Democrats to this point have said a default could leave the U .S. unable to pay out social security checks or disability payments and also leave foreign companies to conduct business elsewhere due to a loss of trust in the American economy.
[41] On that note, here's Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Meet the Press.
[42] My assumption is that if the debt ceiling isn't raised, there will be hard choices to make about what bills go unpaid.
[43] Now, while some, including Yellen, have painted a more drastic picture of what a default would look like, others say that it's fearmongering to try and expedite a deal and that a default would end up looking more like a government shutdown.
[44] To that point, we spoke with Kenny Polkari, managing partner at Case Capital Advisors.
[45] Here's how he put it.
[46] All that chatter about, you know, not paying seniors and not paying the military is only to do one thing to create drama and anxiety in the marketplace.
[47] They're going to furlough government workers.
[48] They're going to shut parts down, but they're not going to stop making payments on U .S. Treasuries.
[49] The government shutdown is very different than a default in the U .S. Treasury market.
[50] And I think that's obviously what's getting confused.
[51] So very different perspectives on what this actually means.
[52] President Biden has hinted at unilaterally raising the limit if a deal isn't reached.
[53] What's the latest on that front?
[54] Yeah, the president first floated that idea earlier in the month, saying he believes he has the power to raise the limit on his own using the 14th Amendment, which he says makes it unconstitutional for the U .S. to default on the set.
[55] But it's worth noting.
[56] A number of legal experts say the amendment does not give the president such power.
[57] The Wall Street Journal editorial board, for example, wrote a scathing piece saying Biden, quote, may be confused about what the 14th Amendment really says, and that such a move would almost certainly be struck down in court and bring us back to the drawing board.
[58] So keep an eye on that angle from the president as these talks drag on.
[59] Well, if he were to take that action, would be truly unprecedented.
[60] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[61] Any time.
[62] That was Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[63] Coming up, the Republican presidential field expands.
[64] The Republican presidential field of candidates is set to grow this week with the announcement from Senator Tim Scott and anticipated announcement from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
[65] In addition, allies of former Vice President Mike Pence have formed a new super PAC in support of his potential presidential bid.
[66] All of them are set to face off against Donald Trump, who holds a sizable lead in the polls.
[67] Joining us to discuss all of this is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
[68] Morning, Dave.
[69] Okay, so DeSantis Scott Pence, is this primary about to enter a new phase as so many new candidates are set to dive in?
[70] Good morning, and yes, absolutely.
[71] Tim Scott is considered a long shot still, but his campaign video last week drew a lot of praise, including from Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
[72] Today's kids are growing up immersed in a culture where everyone's a victim.
[73] We have to start teaching the necessity of individual responsibility.
[74] Scott joins Nikki Haley as the second candidate from early primary state, South Carolina.
[75] Pence is clearly more of a known entity.
[76] At this point, is still biting his time, perhaps seeing where things stand as the field fills out.
[77] And then there's been the most unconventional of the candidates.
[78] Entrepreneur Vivek Ramoswamy, who's been really active doing the media rounds and making some headlines in the process.
[79] But, look, clearly the biggest news will be DeSantis officially throwing his hat into the ring.
[80] Everyone's been waiting for this, and that day apparently has almost arrived.
[81] Well, it's been a bumpy couple of months for DeSantis.
[82] Did the governor wait too long to announce?
[83] You know, we won't really know that answer until the primaries, but the conventional wisdom is that the DeSantis' strategy of sort of running for president with, you know, tours of New Hampshire and Iowa and major TV news interviews hasn't worked as planned.
[84] Instead of building excitement, it may have confused some voters.
[85] And Trump has been hammering DeSantis the whole time.
[86] DeSantis hasn't had the same official candidate stage to fight back on equal footing.
[87] And he's dropped in the real clear politics average from.
[88] close to 30 percent to close to 20.
[89] But once he's in the race, this whole dynamic will likely shift.
[90] Right.
[91] Now, there's been much speculation about how DeSantis may handle Trump's very combative, political style.
[92] Have we seen any clues?
[93] Is he going to sling mud or try to take the high ground?
[94] It's a great question, and we don't know.
[95] The governor spoke Monday night at the National Religious Broadcaster Convention, one of the last big events before the likely announcement.
[96] So a lot of politicos were watching that very closely for, clues about his approach.
[97] It's a tough spot.
[98] We can all recall Marco Rubio in 2016, dropping the gloves only to be knocked out quickly by Trump.
[99] The fact is that DeSantis probably needs Trump voters more than Trump needs DeSantis voters.
[100] So he's going to have to be careful.
[101] I think we're likely to see an approach where DeSantis says something like, look, Trump's a New Yorker who does a lot of talking.
[102] Here in Florida, I'm focused on results, that kind of thing.
[103] He'll also focus heavily on Trump's handling of COVID effectively handing policy over to Dr. Fauci, which has drawn growing criticism from the Republican base.
[104] It's a hard needle to thread.
[105] Yeah.
[106] How strong a position in the polls does Trump have right now as these new contenders are jumping into the fray?
[107] So he's typically somewhere between 50 and 60 percent, which of course is enough to win the nomination, but this is similar to where Joe Biden sits in the polls.
[108] And for an incumbent 62 or 65 percent that's considered very, very low.
[109] Also, there's not a soul on the planet who doesn't already have a firm opinion of Trump already, so it's hard to see how he grows that number.
[110] What it adds up to is that Trump's position may be softer than it seems, and there could be an opportunity here for these others, DeSantis on the top of that list.
[111] Now, it's widely thought that a larger field helps Trump.
[112] He sailed to his 2016 victory by carrying states with less than 50 percent because the field was so crowded.
[113] Are we looking at a repeat of that?
[114] Maybe there is a sense that these less likely candidates either need to get their numbers up from out of single digits or eventually drop out to create a one -on -one.
[115] How that plays out may well determine who's standing under the balloons next year's Republican National Convention.
[116] Yeah, it's all getting more intriguing by the day.
[117] David, thanks for joining us.
[118] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[119] In a video posted to Twitter on Monday, Tucker Carlson's biographer says Fox did it.
[120] in fact, fire the popular cable news host as part of its settlement with Dominion voting systems.
[121] Meanwhile, a new report on the network's transgender policies is drawing criticism from conservatives.
[122] Here to tell us more about the latest Tucker revelations and what's in this new report is Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[123] So, Megan, it's been about a month since Fox fired Tucker, and there have been a lot of rumors swirling around about the reason, but no definitive answers.
[124] What do we know now?
[125] Well, both Dominion and Fox have denied those rumors that his firing was related to the lawsuit.
[126] But now Tucker's biographer, Chadwick Moore, says that it did indeed play a role.
[127] Here's a bit of what he posted to Twitter yesterday.
[128] My sources have intimate knowledge of the situation, and they have assured me, even before this news leaked, that that is, in fact, the truth.
[129] If that is true, it would mean that a small group of people who have a controlling interest in Dominion have managed to silence what is arguably the most important and influential conservative voice in the country, possibly until after the next presidential election.
[130] Now, for those who aren't familiar with Moore, he was a pretty frequent guest on Tucker's show, and he spent the last year working closely with him on this biography.
[131] So Tucker retweeted Moore's post with a pair of eyes emoji, and for those who are not very online, that typically means someone is watching to see what happens next.
[132] So Moore also said that he had seen the monologue that Tucker had planned to give the Monday after he was fired.
[133] That monologue dealt with, among other things, investigations around January 6th, and particularly Ray Epps, the only person captured on video inciting people to violence at the Capitol that day, and allegedly an FBI informant who still has not been arrested or charged.
[134] Ironically, a good part of the monologue also dealt with the people and forces that are trying to silence him, like AOC and others in government.
[135] So the implication there is that Fox didn't want Tucker covering issues like that.
[136] Now, there was also an interesting report from The Daily Signal about Fox yesterday.
[137] It was actually broken by Mary Margaret O 'Lahan, who's been on our show before.
[138] Can you tell us a little bit about what that report found?
[139] So the Daily Signal acquired a 2021 Fox employee handbook covering its internal transgender policies.
[140] Employees can use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
[141] They're required to use preferred pronouns.
[142] Now, we have to say that some of those policies could simply be legal requirements in New York where Fox is headquartered.
[143] But the handbook also encourages staffers to use terminology like gender affirming care because it's approved by the activist LGBTQ group, the human rights campaign.
[144] That wouldn't be a legal requirement.
[145] And the signal notes that Fox has a perfect score on the human rights campaign's corporate equality index.
[146] not what you'd expect from a conservative network.
[147] What will likely be a bigger problem for Fox, though, is that the report also includes multiple anonymous sources inside the company, saying that network bosses ordered them not to be critical of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
[148] They say Tucker actually had to fight to be able to use male pronouns when covering Mulvaney.
[149] One former Fox producer said, and I'm just quoting, they want you to think it's this place that supports traditionally conservative values, but in reality, they're pushing this nonsense behind the scenes.
[150] And you have to put all of this in the context that Fox's primetime ratings are still significantly down overall since Tucker's firing.
[151] Well, I'd be interested to know what the business strategy is behind all of this.
[152] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[153] Anytime.
[154] That was Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[155] Well, that's all the time we've got this morning.
[156] Thanks for waking up with us.
[157] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.