Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview

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Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, we're happy to bring in John Decker, W.O.O. White
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: House and Washington correspondent, host of the podcast, The White
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: House Briefing Room with John Decker. You can find that
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app. John, we had this miracle on
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: fly Dubai that everybody is talking about that comes a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: week after that's in the wake. of an Iranian terror
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  Speaker 1: plot to bomb a U.S. base in the United Kingdom.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: And there is suspicion that this guy that tried to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: take over that plane and may have been successful, if
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: not for the passengers, was also connected with Iran. And
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  Speaker 1: yet we keep hearing Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, saying, no,
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  Speaker 1: there's no serious threats, no known threats to the mainland.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure. How can those two things be true?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I asked a number of Trump senior officials
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  Speaker 2: yesterday whether the U.S. is on elevated vigilance because of
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: what happened in the U.K. over the weekend, and they
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: say our force posture has not changed. But certainly after
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: what we saw happen over the weekend in the U.K.,
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  Speaker 2: the plane incident that you just referenced that happened just
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  Speaker 2: in the past 24 hours, you'd have to think, that U.S.
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  Speaker 2: intelligence is looking into, whether Iran is trying to attack Americans,
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  Speaker 2: American interests around the world.
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  Speaker 3: John Decker, yesterday the president announced we're out of Iraq,
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  Speaker 3: all of our troops after 25 years, thank God. But
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  Speaker 3: Iran applauded that, and the many Shia, Iranians supported militias
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  Speaker 3: throughout Iraq. What problems, if any, does that create since
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  Speaker 3: we're still at war with Iran?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's a good question. You know, it means that
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  Speaker 2: there is a vacuum and the vacuum could indeed be
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: filled by those with bad intent, ill intent towards the U.S.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: or towards the West. But the president had vowed to
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: remove U.S. troops from Iraq, and indeed he's fulfilling that pledge,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: that promise, and it does mark the end of quite
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: a chapter as it relates to U.S. involvement in Iraq
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: that began in the aftermath of 9-11.
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  Speaker 1: They are very aware of our midterms in Iran. The
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  Speaker 1: IRCG came out and urged Americans to vote against Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 1: I would imagine that's not the kind of help the
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  Speaker 1: Democratic Party wants.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Well, that's probably right, but it's no surprise. They may
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: be publicly saying what we already knew. The president believes
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  Speaker 2: that Iran doesn't want to come to the negotiating table, Larry,
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  Speaker 2: until after the midterms. They want to impact the president, Republicans,
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  Speaker 2: in a negative way as it relates to the midterms. Now,
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  Speaker 2: just a little over one month away, hard to believe.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: And the president, as you know, meanwhile, hitting the campaign
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: trail strategically. in earnest, starting today, and that's going to
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: last all the way up to November the 3rd. I'll
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: be with the president traveling to Ohio, a critical Senate
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: race there, and that's going to be on Saturday.
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  Speaker 3: Well, speaking of Ohio, apparently the polls indicate that the
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  Speaker 3: Democrats are ahead both in the Senate race and in
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: the gubernatorial race, and one of the issues is the
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  Speaker 3: artificial data filing centers that have popped up all over
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  Speaker 3: the Buckeye State, and with the president indicating that anybody
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: who's opposed to it wants to end up being backwards
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  Speaker 3: and poor. I don't think, John Decker, that helps Vivi
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  Speaker 3: Suwanee running for governor or the Republican senator in Ohio
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  Speaker 3: holding that seat.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Well, it certainly doesn't. You're right about that. Vivek Ramaswamy, who,
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  Speaker 2: of course, ran for president against President Trump at one
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  Speaker 2: point and then returned to Ohio to run for governor, doesn't,
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  Speaker 2: in my view, and I think that I've spoken to
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  Speaker 2: many people in Ohio, doesn't have the kind of personality
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  Speaker 2: that attracts people. In some cases, it turns off people.
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  Speaker 2: So when you talk about political races, and this goes
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  Speaker 2: not just for Ohio, but anywhere across the country, likability
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  Speaker 2: is a major factor. And likability, I think, is a
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  Speaker 2: factor in that governor's race. As far as the Senate
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  Speaker 2: race is concerned, a lot of headwinds that John Husted
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  Speaker 2: is facing as he runs for a full six-year term,
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  Speaker 2: he's running against someone who's formerly served as a U.S. senator,
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  Speaker 2: Sherrod Brown. And, you know, the headwinds are, you know,
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: high gas prices, high oil prices, inflation, the impacts of
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  Speaker 2: the president's tariffs policy, and of course, history, because the
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: party in power typically loses seats in the midterm elections.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: So those are a lot of headwinds right now that
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Republicans are dealing with, not just in Ohio, Curtis, but
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: also in many other Senate races as well.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: The Trump administration is insisting that there are people that
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: are illegal voting in the elections, and there are some
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: arrests that are being made by Todd Blanch across the country.
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  Speaker 1: He made 10 yesterday. In Minnesota. And yet we have
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  Speaker 1: right here in New Jersey, we have 6,000 people who
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  Speaker 1: have been registered for six years that are being removed.
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  Speaker 1: But the president wants the entire list. He wants the
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  Speaker 1: entire list of not the president, but the Justice Department
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  Speaker 1: wants the list of all the people that are on
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  Speaker 1: those roles. It sounds like this is going to be
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  Speaker 1: a big focus over the next month.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it is, you know, to a certain extent.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I don't know to what extent the fraud
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  Speaker 2: that you just referenced is widespread and how large it is.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: That's a big number. You know, that can impact a race,
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  Speaker 2: certainly in a close race. We're talking about the numbers
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  Speaker 2: in New Jersey. And as you know, New Jersey is
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: run by a Democratic governor. So no surprise that she
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  Speaker 2: rebuffed the request from the DOJ, from Attorney General Todd Blanch.
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  Speaker 2: But this, as you point out, Larry, is going to
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  Speaker 2: be an issue as we get closer and closer to
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  Speaker 2: November the 3rd. You know, the president has consistently raised
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  Speaker 2: this idea of voter fraud just about every election that
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  Speaker 2: he's run in or been involved in. And this, of course,
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  Speaker 2: is no different with the midterms less than 35 days away.
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  Speaker 1: Will ICE officials be outside the polling places?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Todd Blanch was asked that very question. And Mark
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Wayne Mullen, who is the Secretary of Homeland Security, has
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: been asked that question under oath. And the answer to
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: that is no. They say that that will not be
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: the case in the days leading up to or on
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: November 3rd itself.
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  Speaker 3: Now, John Decker, I'm sure you're going to Texas with
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: the president. If there's one candidate he's gone to the
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  Speaker 3: mat for, above all others, it's Attorney General John Paxton.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: And there was that audio in which Paxton was at
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  Speaker 3: a fundraiser saying that that midterm convention that Trump hosted
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: right in Texas actually hurt everybody, meaning Republicans' numbers that
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: are down. I got to believe the president took that
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: shot personally because he's put everything on the line for Paxton.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Well, he has.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, to begin with, he decided
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: not to endorse the incumbent Republican senator throwing a support
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: behind Ken Paxton. So that was the difference maker in
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: the primary, leading Paxton to be the Republican nominee. And
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: then just in the past week, a significant amount of
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: campaign funds dumped into this race to help out Ken Paxton.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: He has consistently been trailing James Tallarico in that Senate race.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: the president heading back down to Texas today, all in
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: an effort to boost the candidacy of Ken Paxton. And
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: here's another instance, you know, in which likability is a factor,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and I think that that is just one
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  Speaker 2: of the many reasons why he has been trailing in
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: this Senate race.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Have we seen a schedule for the 32 days? I
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: know there might be security reasons why they can't let
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: that out, but I'm only interested because it seems like
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  Speaker 1: he's focused on the Senate races and not so much
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: the House races.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think that the Senate's important to the president.
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  Speaker 2: You know, that allows his nominees for various agencies and
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: departments that require Senate confirmation to get confirmed. And without it,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: you know, it makes it that much more difficult. That
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: even goes for ambassadors that the president's appointing. The focus
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: is primarily, you're right, on the Senate. I have not
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: seen the president's schedule beyond Monday. Monday, he's going to
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: be traveling to Nebraska. And to me, it's a head scratcher.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Larry and Curtis, because just look at the next few days,
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  Speaker 2: the president will travel to Oklahoma, to Alabama, and to Nebraska.
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  Speaker 2: Those states are always red states. And he's not traveling
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: to the purple states, not traveling to states just yet
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  Speaker 2: until Saturday that have very close Senate races. Texas is
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: one of them. But for the most part, you know,
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  Speaker 2: he's not going to Maine, to Iowa, to North Carolina,
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  Speaker 2: and to Alaska.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Those Visits will happen.
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  Speaker 2: But it's strange to me that he is spending a
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  Speaker 2: lot of time in these red states.
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  Speaker 3: Now, John Decker, there's no White House spokesperson now, and
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  Speaker 3: I don't care who the president is. I'm sure in
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: the many years you've covered the White House beat, the
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: White House press secretary always calls you up and tries
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: to clean up a misspeak. The president misspoke, whether it's
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: Trump or Biden or Obama, and immediately they try to
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: rectify it. When is he going to get a press
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  Speaker 3: spokesperson who can actually do that because he never does
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  Speaker 3: it to himself.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: No he doesn't and you know the people that work
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  Speaker 2: in the the press office uh that that serve the
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  Speaker 2: president uh they can certainly do so their names that
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: you may not be familiar with but you know they're
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: still functioning in that way But, you know, it's been
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: over a month since Caroline Leavitt has left the White House,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: and the president seems in no rush to name a replacement.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know if there's going to be a replacement
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: named between now and the midterms. And, you know, that's
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: unfortunate for Republicans and unfortunate for the president. You know,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Caroline Leavitt, I thought, did a good job advocating for
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the president, and he lacks that right now.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: John Decker, WOR White House correspondent. Thank you so much.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Good to talk to you.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Curtis.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Have a good one.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Bye-bye.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: You can check out his podcast on the iHeartRadio app,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: The White House Briefing Room with John Decker.