Latest / ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes / Will Voters Punish Republicans Today?

Transcript

Will Voters Punish Republicans Today? · ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes

0:01
Speaker 1: From the principal Toyota Studios, it's Morning in Memphis with
0:06
Speaker 1: Todd Starnes.
0:08
Speaker 2: And happy Election Day, everybody. Welcome to the Mighty 990.
0:12
Speaker 2: I'm Todd Starnes. And just a word of caution to
0:15
Speaker 2: all of you across the Mid-South. No need to change
0:19
Speaker 2: your radio dial. No need to change your radio settings.
0:23
Speaker 2: This is the place that you are going to want
0:25
Speaker 2: to be all day. as we await the election returns
0:30
Speaker 2: that will be coming in later tonight. We have wall-to-wall
0:34
Speaker 2: coverage on all of our programs today. And we're going
0:37
Speaker 2: to give you the best local coverage right here on
0:40
Speaker 2: the Mighty 990, as well as all of our social
0:43
Speaker 2: media platforms. We put Red Bull on our Froot Loops
0:46
Speaker 2: this morning just for you, ladies and gentlemen. So buckle up.
0:50
Speaker 2: It is going to be a wild day, not just
0:53
Speaker 2: here in the Mid-South, but really across America. Now, in, well,
0:57
Speaker 2: just about seven minutes ago, the polls officially opened in
1:02
Speaker 2: Tennessee and Mississippi. At 7.30, the polls will open in Arkansas,
1:08
Speaker 2: so you guys have just a few more moments before.
1:11
Speaker 2: So you can grab an extra cup of coffee if
1:13
Speaker 2: you're down at the McDonald's, and you'll be able to
1:16
Speaker 2: go and start your voting earlier. Here's what we want
1:19
Speaker 2: to hear from you today. We want to know what
1:22
Speaker 2: the early polling numbers look like. So are there a
1:25
Speaker 2: lot of people in line? What was the voting process
1:28
Speaker 2: like for you? Give us a call this morning. We
1:32
Speaker 2: don't need you to stay on for, you know, 45 minutes.
1:34
Speaker 2: We just want to know what is it like at
1:36
Speaker 2: the polling station where you went to cast your ballot
1:39
Speaker 2: this morning? Our telephone number is 901-260-5926. I'm going to
1:42
Speaker 2: repeat that again, 901-260-5926. A lot of moving parts today.
1:53
Speaker 2: We also understand the federal government sending in election watchers.
1:57
Speaker 2: So they will be watching over the polls specifically here
2:00
Speaker 2: in Shelby County. I will tell you this, that a
2:04
Speaker 2: lot of the conservative pollsters that I know that have
2:07
Speaker 2: been very bullish about the Republicans and their chances are
2:11
Speaker 2: not so bullish as of this morning. And they are
2:14
Speaker 2: concerned about turnout. And they say if there is not
2:17
Speaker 2: a massive Republican turnout, today could be a bad day
2:21
Speaker 2: for the Republicans. So, again, there's a reason for you
2:24
Speaker 2: to get out and vote right now before you head
2:27
Speaker 2: into work. Also, just a word of warning. Today there
2:31
Speaker 2: is a very, very dangerous storm system moving through the Mid-South.
2:35
Speaker 2: Laura Huckabee just had some details on that. She's going
2:38
Speaker 2: to keep you posted, but just be careful because the
2:42
Speaker 2: storm threat is is going to get worse as the
2:45
Speaker 2: afternoon and the evening wear on. So just be aware
2:48
Speaker 2: of that. We have some great guests coming up. Scott Golden,
2:51
Speaker 2: the chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, will be here also.
2:55
Speaker 2: We're going to talk to Delicia Ballinger. She was with
2:58
Speaker 2: us on the national show yesterday talking about why she
3:02
Speaker 2: as a black Memphian has become a Trump supporter. And
3:05
Speaker 2: then we have an interview, which we're about to toss to,
3:09
Speaker 2: with Senator Marsha Blackburn. She dropped by the studios last
3:12
Speaker 2: night before her big rally, and we had an in-depth conversation.
3:17
Speaker 2: Here is that conversation with Senator Blackburn. Well, barring the
3:21
Speaker 2: rapture or a giant asteroid hitting the entire state of Tennessee,
3:25
Speaker 2: our next governor is going to be Marsha Blackburn. I mean,
3:28
Speaker 2: that is the bottom line here. And we are so
3:30
Speaker 2: excited to have Senator Marsha Blackburn, soon to be Governor
3:33
Speaker 2: Marsha Blackburn, in studio with us. Senator, good to see you.
3:37
Speaker 2: And I have to tell you, I'm very impressed because
3:40
Speaker 2: you are awake, alert. You've got a lot of energy.
3:44
Speaker 2: And I don't know how you guys do it out
3:45
Speaker 2: there on the campaign trail.
3:47
Speaker 3: Well, it is energizing to me to be talking to
3:51
Speaker 3: so many Tennesseans. And we do it every single day
3:55
Speaker 3: and hear from them about their hopes and dreams and
3:58
Speaker 3: what they want to see happen. here in Tennessee, and
4:03
Speaker 3: we have had a great campaign and are really excited
4:08
Speaker 3: about tomorrow. We've had great volunteers. I say my prayer
4:12
Speaker 3: warriors have been out there every day for us, and
4:16
Speaker 3: our door knockers, we've knocked on over one million doors,
4:21
Speaker 3: and we've had tens of thousands of phone calls that
4:24
Speaker 3: have been made. We've got poll workers that are out,
4:28
Speaker 3: and It is so exciting to be here at the
4:32
Speaker 3: finish line.
4:33
Speaker 2: The early voting numbers are just off the charts insane.
4:36
Speaker 2: I hope you understand the most important number is here
4:39
Speaker 2: in Shelby County. We had the most people coming out
4:42
Speaker 2: to vote on Election Day. I suspect a lot of
4:44
Speaker 2: those people were voting for you, but the work is
4:47
Speaker 2: not done yet. We have to get out the vote today.
4:51
Speaker 3: That is exactly right. You know, what we have to realize,
4:54
Speaker 3: there is one Republican on the ballot, one conservative on
4:59
Speaker 3: the ballot, and that is me. And it's so vitally
5:04
Speaker 3: important for people to realize that if they want low taxes,
5:10
Speaker 3: if they want pro-life, pro-family policies, if they want to
5:14
Speaker 3: make certain that we continue the Memphis Safe Task Force,
5:18
Speaker 3: then there's only one person on that ballot that will
5:21
Speaker 3: do that for them.
5:23
Speaker 2: I had a chance to talk with Speaker Mike Johnson.
5:26
Speaker 2: He was in North Carolina on his way to Texas,
5:29
Speaker 2: and he is very bullish about the chances for Republicans
5:33
Speaker 2: across the nation. But he said the key is really
5:36
Speaker 2: getting out the vote. He stressed the importance of not
5:40
Speaker 2: taking anything for granted. And I think there's also a
5:42
Speaker 2: message in there for people who are Republicans who are
5:45
Speaker 2: a little upset at their party right now. And I
5:46
Speaker 2: get that. But at the end of the day, we've
5:49
Speaker 2: got to get out and make sure that the Republicans
5:52
Speaker 2: maintain control of the House and the Senate. That's right.
5:55
Speaker 3: We have to have control of the House and the Senate.
5:58
Speaker 3: And to implement America first policies, you have to have
6:02
Speaker 3: control of the governorships. Right. And My opponent, my Democrat opponent,
6:09
Speaker 3: is one of these DSA, Democrat Socialist candidates. And as governor,
6:16
Speaker 3: I will not stand for these communist, socialist, Islamist policies
6:22
Speaker 3: to be implemented in our state. And Todd, you know,
6:26
Speaker 3: I think it's so important for people to realize that, um,
6:31
Speaker 3: In my case, where you've got two independents, if you
6:33
Speaker 3: vote for an independent, you are in essence voting for
6:39
Speaker 3: the Democrat.
6:40
Speaker 2: No doubt about it. And again, when you look at
6:43
Speaker 2: her policies, they are not much different than Abdul El-Sayed's
6:47
Speaker 2: in Michigan or James Tallarico in Texas. It doesn't matter
6:52
Speaker 2: if they're running for a state office or a federal office.
6:55
Speaker 2: These are very dangerous people to be putting in places
6:58
Speaker 2: and positions of power.
7:00
Speaker 3: Exactly right. And what they're trying to do is to
7:04
Speaker 3: get a toehold in states and pick off a race
7:08
Speaker 3: here or there and then have the socialists that are
7:13
Speaker 3: going to be elected. And of course, when you look
7:16
Speaker 3: at the Michigan Senate race, my goodness, what you're seeing
7:21
Speaker 3: there with someone who is so extreme and a pro-Palestine
7:29
Speaker 3: these Islamist policies, that is something that even the Democrats
7:35
Speaker 3: now are saying this is far too radical a candidate.
7:38
Speaker 2: And I wonder, and I want to compare what happened
7:41
Speaker 2: in Michigan because Haley Stevens got kicked out of the
7:44
Speaker 2: Democrat Party. That happened here to John DeBerry in Memphis,
7:48
Speaker 2: a longtime state representative who became a Republican. And I'm wondering,
7:53
Speaker 2: as you've been out campaigning, are you sensing something that
7:56
Speaker 2: maybe even some of these moderate, maybe conservative Democrats are
7:59
Speaker 2: going to be voting Republican today?
8:02
Speaker 3: I feel like many of them are going to vote Republican,
8:06
Speaker 3: especially when you look at Shelby County and the Memphis
8:11
Speaker 3: Safe Task Force and the great work we have done
8:15
Speaker 3: with helping make Memphis safe, with cutting crime in half
8:20
Speaker 3: here in Memphis and indeed getting crime down, all the steps.
8:26
Speaker 3: across all of West Tennessee have been so good. And Todd,
8:30
Speaker 3: I think you're going to see a lot of people
8:32
Speaker 3: that are independents and Democrats who are appreciative of having
8:37
Speaker 3: a safer community cross and vote for me.
8:40
Speaker 2: I think they're just tired of the chaos. Personally, though,
8:43
Speaker 2: I mean, does it anger you when people like Jerry
8:46
Speaker 2: Green are out there? And I mean, we're having very
8:48
Speaker 2: dangerous people picked up and taken off the streets. We're
8:51
Speaker 2: finding hundreds of children that have been missing Without the
8:54
Speaker 2: task force, those kids would still be missing somewhere. Those
8:57
Speaker 2: kids would be exposed to danger. And yet your opponents
9:01
Speaker 2: across the board seem to be somewhat dismissive of that.
9:04
Speaker 3: It's amazing to me that all of my opponents are
9:08
Speaker 3: opposed to the Memphis Safe Task Force. I did a
9:12
Speaker 3: roundtable in Nashville this morning before we came west, and
9:18
Speaker 3: Kash Patel was there, and I was looking at the
9:23
Speaker 3: stats for the Memphis Safe Task Force before that meeting started.
9:29
Speaker 3: And you know what, Todd? We had eight arrests yesterday,
9:35
Speaker 3: eight that were violent criminals that were apprehended, and we failed.
9:41
Speaker 3: found one more missing child. That brings us to 199
9:47
Speaker 3: children that are missing children that these gangs and cartels
9:50
Speaker 3: have been holding these children. And the Memphis Safe Task
9:54
Speaker 3: Force is freeing these children and returning them to their families.
9:59
Speaker 3: How can anyone, how can anyone oppose that?
10:05
Speaker 2: I mean, these are questions I think the average voters
10:07
Speaker 2: are asking as well. I want to look ahead because
10:13
Speaker 2: many in the media, I know the hill.com had a
10:15
Speaker 2: piece out there already predicting who's on your short list
10:18
Speaker 2: to be the next senator. And if you are elected governor,
10:21
Speaker 2: that's going to be a big decision, a first big
10:23
Speaker 2: decision you have to make. Have you have you put
10:26
Speaker 2: together a short list?
10:28
Speaker 3: No, I'm focused on the election and winning. And election
10:33
Speaker 3: night is going to be a great celebration.
10:36
Speaker 2: All right. Fair enough. I'm not going to push you.
10:37
Speaker 2: You know, this is the eve of election. So we'll
10:39
Speaker 2: have time to we'll have time to talk about all
10:42
Speaker 2: of that in the coming days. I'm just wondering for
10:44
Speaker 2: you personally, though, I mean, this is really kind of
10:47
Speaker 2: the really coming to another junction, a juncture in your
10:51
Speaker 2: life as a lawmaker. I mean, coming up from the
10:54
Speaker 2: state house to Congress, to the Senate, and now the governorship.
10:57
Speaker 2: What's that experience like for you and your family?
11:00
Speaker 3: It is such a rewarding experience. And I feel like that,
11:06
Speaker 3: you know, God kind of charts your path and you
11:09
Speaker 3: don't know where this is going.
11:11
Speaker 1: To lead you.
11:11
Speaker 3: You know, it's you're job to be obedient to whatever
11:16
Speaker 3: that path is. And my family is incredibly supportive because
11:21
Speaker 3: they know this is something that I'm called to, and
11:24
Speaker 3: they know how focused I am on making certain that
11:28
Speaker 3: freedom is there for future generations. I say there's the
11:32
Speaker 3: big five, faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity. And if
11:37
Speaker 3: you get those things right, a lot of other things
11:39
Speaker 3: are going to work their way out. And so we're
11:43
Speaker 3: going to continue to keep our focus on opening these,
11:50
Speaker 3: opening my family. Our focus is making certain that we
11:55
Speaker 3: leave things in better shape than we found them, that
11:58
Speaker 3: we open doors of opportunity for children and for our grandchildren,
12:04
Speaker 3: and that everybody has the opportunity to live their version
12:08
Speaker 3: of the American dream.
12:10
Speaker 2: You know, it's funny. It's always important for me to
12:12
Speaker 2: say this, but I endorsed you, and your opponents always
12:16
Speaker 2: ask me that, even in the primary. Well, why can't
12:19
Speaker 2: you just endorse me? I said, you didn't ask me.
12:21
Speaker 2: Senator Marsha Blackburn did, and I appreciate you asking, and
12:24
Speaker 2: I was going to endorse you anyway. I think you've
12:26
Speaker 2: done a tremendous job for the state of Tennessee, and
12:29
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what you're going to do for
12:31
Speaker 2: our state and the governor's mansion.
12:32
Speaker 3: I am so excited about it. We're a well-led, well-governed state.
12:38
Speaker 3: And Governor Haslam, Governor Lee have done a great job.
12:41
Speaker 3: We've got a good foundation. Our General Assembly has done
12:45
Speaker 3: a good job. And when you talk about everything that
12:49
Speaker 3: President Trump is sending back to the states, whether it
12:54
Speaker 3: is health care, education, pardon me, infrastructure, nuclear power, permitting, regulation,
13:05
Speaker 3: all coming back to the states. Then now is our
13:08
Speaker 3: time to do a reset, just like we did after
13:11
Speaker 3: I led that state income tax battle and killed that.
13:14
Speaker 3: Let's do a reset. Grab this power and put our
13:19
Speaker 3: state on a conservative track for the next two or
13:22
Speaker 3: three decades. We should be America's conservative leader.
13:26
Speaker 2: All right. Folks, you've heard the message, the closing arguments
13:30
Speaker 2: from Senator Marsha Blackburn. You have a job to do,
13:32
Speaker 2: which is to get out and vote and be smart
13:35
Speaker 2: with your vote, ladies and gentlemen. This is a very
13:38
Speaker 2: important election, quite frankly, a consequential election, not just for Tennessee,
13:42
Speaker 2: but really for the entire country as well. Senator, good
13:46
Speaker 2: luck to you, and we look forward to calling you
13:48
Speaker 2: governor very soon.
13:49
Speaker 3: Thank you. We're excited about it.
13:51
Speaker 1: Thank you. All right.
13:52
Speaker 2: We'll be right back.
13:58
Speaker 4: All right.
13:59
Speaker 2: It is going to be a stormy day here in
14:01
Speaker 2: the Mid-South, literally and figuratively. Hello, everybody. I'm Todd Stearns.
14:06
Speaker 2: And thank you for listening to the Mighty 990, your
14:09
Speaker 2: number one political news station here in the Mid-South. Polls open, well,
14:13
Speaker 2: almost for a half an hour in Shelby County here
14:16
Speaker 2: in Tennessee. as well as Fayette County. By the way,
14:19
Speaker 2: Kevin sending us a note that there are already big
14:22
Speaker 2: lines in Fayette County. Also hearing there are some big
14:26
Speaker 2: lines forming in Germantown as well. Give us a call.
14:30
Speaker 2: We want to hear from you. What is happening at
14:33
Speaker 2: the polling place you're at? What was that experience like
14:36
Speaker 2: voting today? Give us a call, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. All
14:46
Speaker 2: that OG Bill called, and maybe he'll give us a
14:49
Speaker 2: holler back. We have a lot happening in addition to politics,
14:54
Speaker 2: and this is a heads up for all of you
14:57
Speaker 2: folks that are high school football fans in Memphis. Memphis
15:01
Speaker 2: Shelby County Schools now implementing tickets limits on ticket sales
15:06
Speaker 2: for future sporting events. And the reason why is that
15:11
Speaker 2: the kids are fighting. I mean, insane fights. The school
15:14
Speaker 2: district says there were at least five separate fights during
15:18
Speaker 2: Friday night's game between Southwind and Germantown. We've got someone
15:22
Speaker 2: posted the video of those fights, and it looked like
15:26
Speaker 2: something that was happening overseas. And I've never seen anything.
15:30
Speaker 2: It's just insane. But the kids are acting like hellions.
15:35
Speaker 2: And there were there were about 3000 people in attendance
15:39
Speaker 2: at the games. It was pretty bad. They had to
15:42
Speaker 2: call in the Tennessee Highway Patrol to help put down
15:45
Speaker 2: the the disturbances there. at the Southwind Germantown football game.
15:50
Speaker 2: So anyway, the school district says they're going to cap
15:53
Speaker 2: ticket sales to manage crowd sizes. They're also looking at
15:57
Speaker 2: additional security measures. Here's a thought, just a thought. If
16:01
Speaker 2: you've got the thugs and they're out there fighting and
16:03
Speaker 2: beating each other up, why not just, I don't know,
16:07
Speaker 2: arrest them and put them in jail? Just just a thought,
16:12
Speaker 2: just something to think about. So anyway, just be aware
16:16
Speaker 2: of that. They are now going to limit the number
16:18
Speaker 2: of people who can actually go to a football game.
16:21
Speaker 2: Here's the again. Here's the problem. You're punishing the wrong people.
16:25
Speaker 2: You've got to start going after the thugs and making
16:28
Speaker 2: sure they get punished. 901-260-5926, our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. Also,
16:37
Speaker 2: I want to give you a heads up. This is
16:41
Speaker 2: a great event happening today, so if you need a breather...
16:47
Speaker 2: from politics. The Dixon Gallery and Gardens offering a mini
16:51
Speaker 2: master's program for children ages two through four. The session
16:57
Speaker 2: starts at 1030 this morning. It goes on till about 1115.
17:01
Speaker 2: Kids are going to be able to participate in art
17:03
Speaker 2: and movement things and activities and nature related activities. Admission $ 8.
17:09
Speaker 2: If you are a Dixon member, it is free of charge.
17:12
Speaker 2: Registration is required. So again, that's the Dixon Gallery and
17:16
Speaker 2: Gardens today. 901-260-5926. Stephen Miller issued a final call to
17:25
Speaker 2: action for voters. We're going to get to that comment
17:29
Speaker 2: a little bit later on in the program. I wasn't
17:32
Speaker 2: watching the clock there. We're going to be taking a
17:35
Speaker 2: quick break. Coming up, we're going to be also talking
17:37
Speaker 2: to Scott Golden, the chair of the Tennessee Republican Party,
17:41
Speaker 2: also getting a report from the secretary of state's office.
17:46
Speaker 2: They are set up and monitoring for any any problems
17:51
Speaker 2: at the polling places around the state of Tennessee. And
17:54
Speaker 2: they're going to be all over that. So we'll keep
17:56
Speaker 2: you updated if there are any reports. Normally, Tennessee elections
18:01
Speaker 2: were pretty quiet around these parts. So they do a
18:03
Speaker 2: great job. of getting people in and voting and making
18:06
Speaker 2: sure only citizens are voting. All right, again, our number, 901-260-5926.
18:10
Speaker 2: Give us a call. Let us know what's happening at
18:14
Speaker 2: the polls. Well, Delicia Ballinger joins us, and we had
18:31
Speaker 2: you on the show a while back when you told
18:33
Speaker 2: your big story. I mean, you're a very well-known journalist
18:36
Speaker 2: in Memphis, and you ended up losing your job as
18:41
Speaker 2: a result of supporting President Trump and the Memphis Safe
18:43
Speaker 2: Task Force. Good to see you back.
18:45
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. It's such a pleasure to
18:47
Speaker 1: be here. Thank you.
18:48
Speaker 2: So I'm just wondering, after that whole experience, because, I mean,
18:53
Speaker 2: that was– You know, it's always a traumatic experience going
18:55
Speaker 2: through something like that. What has life been like for
18:59
Speaker 2: Delicia since that day?
19:00
Speaker 1: It's been absolutely incredible. You know, since then, you know,
19:05
Speaker 1: I had a chance to meet the president. He came
19:07
Speaker 1: in March to give his support, of course, with the
19:11
Speaker 1: Memphis Safe Task Force. And I was honored enough to
19:15
Speaker 1: sit at that roundtable with President Trump. So I had
19:18
Speaker 1: a chance to meet him, which was absolutely life-changing. He
19:22
Speaker 1: gave my family and I one of the most incredible
19:25
Speaker 1: experiences that, you know, we've ever had. And, you know,
19:28
Speaker 1: since then I've made several trips to the White House. I've,
19:31
Speaker 1: you know, went to the Egg Roll. I've even had
19:34
Speaker 1: Mother's Day with him. So I'm, you know, I'm very
19:37
Speaker 1: happy to be great friends with this administration.
19:40
Speaker 2: I'm curious because we are watching what happened in– What's
19:45
Speaker 2: happened in other parts of the country happening now in
19:47
Speaker 2: Michigan where a number of black voters. many of them
19:50
Speaker 2: are still Democrats, but they're saying, no, we're voting for
19:53
Speaker 2: the Republican this go around. I'm wondering if you're seeing
19:56
Speaker 2: that at any level here in the state of Tennessee.
20:00
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I see definitely a red surge within black voters.
20:05
Speaker 1: I feel like we're all tired and we definitely want change.
20:08
Speaker 1: And through my influence and definitely through how President Trump
20:11
Speaker 1: has really treated me, I want to show my people,
20:16
Speaker 1: you know, that he cares about us. He want what's
20:19
Speaker 1: best for us. And also just through knowledge to show
20:23
Speaker 1: them that, hey, if we make the right choices, then
20:25
Speaker 1: we can see actually see what is happening here in America.
20:29
Speaker 1: So I'm very, very grateful to be a great conservative
20:33
Speaker 1: voice to show the good part of or the good
20:36
Speaker 1: side of the Republican Party.
20:38
Speaker 2: What was– tell me through that transformation for you to
20:40
Speaker 2: becoming a conservative. How did that happen?
20:42
Speaker 1: Yes. So immediately after that video of me going viral
20:48
Speaker 1: talking about what happened and getting fired from the job,
20:51
Speaker 1: I immediately flipped because here's the thing. I'm telling the
20:55
Speaker 1: truth about something that has happened that he did. Why
20:59
Speaker 1: be condemned for it? This is the first time, you know,
21:02
Speaker 1: and I've been, you know, ever since I had the
21:04
Speaker 1: chance to vote and go into the machines, right? I
21:07
Speaker 1: never knew who I was voting for. I just knew
21:09
Speaker 1: to vote blue no matter who. I never understood it.
21:13
Speaker 1: But when that happened, I immediately flipped because I'm like,
21:18
Speaker 1: this is someone that actually took action for the first
21:21
Speaker 1: time in my life that I could actually see in
21:24
Speaker 1: front of my face that affected my children. And so I.
21:29
Speaker 1: It was it was only right because I see the action.
21:33
Speaker 1: And for me, it was only imperative and only right.
21:36
Speaker 1: And then considering the fact that the first black people
21:38
Speaker 1: were Republican. So I'm going back to my roots. And
21:42
Speaker 1: so I'm just very proud to not only go back
21:45
Speaker 1: to my roots, but to actually be with a party
21:47
Speaker 1: that works for the American people.
21:49
Speaker 2: Robert Church, who was a great Memphian, one of the
21:52
Speaker 2: very first black millionaires in the South. from Memphis and started,
21:57
Speaker 2: his son, I believe, started the Republican Party. And the
22:01
Speaker 2: sole purpose was to register blacks to vote.
22:04
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And a lot of people did not know when
22:06
Speaker 1: they came to Rob R. Church, he actually saved Memphis.
22:10
Speaker 1: You know, we were, after the Depression, Memphis economically was
22:15
Speaker 1: at the bottom. So it was a black man that
22:18
Speaker 1: saved Memphis. When you're talking about Beale Street and all
22:20
Speaker 1: sorts of, different parts of Memphis. It was Robert R.
22:23
Speaker 1: Church that saved Memphis. It was a black Republican. And
22:26
Speaker 1: so I'm very, very happy to get back to that
22:30
Speaker 1: and express it. So I'm really, really happy.
22:32
Speaker 2: And of course, the great Tom Lee, who was just
22:36
Speaker 2: a guy, he didn't even know how to swim. He
22:39
Speaker 2: was down on the Mississippi River. He saw a ship
22:42
Speaker 2: going down, a boat going down, and was credited with
22:45
Speaker 2: saving many, many lives. And of course, the beautiful downtown
22:48
Speaker 2: park in Memphis, named in his honor by He was
22:51
Speaker 2: invited by a Republican president to come and be honored
22:55
Speaker 2: at the White House. I mean, this went back many,
22:57
Speaker 2: many years ago, right after the turn of the last century.
23:00
Speaker 1: Absolutely. When you think about history, when it comes down
23:03
Speaker 1: to the Republicans, the Republicans have been the saviors, even
23:06
Speaker 1: all the way down to the slaves being free. It
23:09
Speaker 1: was the Republicans that did that. Shout out to Abraham
23:12
Speaker 1: Lincoln that freed the slaves. Like it was it was
23:16
Speaker 1: because of of of them.
23:18
Speaker 3: It was.
23:19
Speaker 1: Because of them, we are who we are today. Even
23:23
Speaker 1: all the way down to Juneteenth, you know, it was
23:26
Speaker 1: the Republicans that did that.
23:28
Speaker 2: Here's what bothers me is that there is a rich,
23:30
Speaker 2: vibrant history. And that history is not being taught in
23:33
Speaker 2: the classrooms. Instead, it's this idea of, oh, you are
23:37
Speaker 2: oppressed and there's nothing you can do about it. And
23:39
Speaker 2: this white guy over here is your oppressor.
23:43
Speaker 1: You know, that's the biggest misconception. You know, one thing
23:46
Speaker 1: that I've come to realize, and this is just, you know,
23:50
Speaker 1: stance on it in my life. I'm the American dream.
23:53
Speaker 1: You know, I was pregnant and homeless at one point
23:56
Speaker 1: with my child, but I used my resources. I used
24:00
Speaker 1: the opportunities that were given to me by America, by
24:04
Speaker 1: the state of Tennessee. And here I am. I'm here now. I'm,
24:08
Speaker 1: you know, I'm homeowner. You know, my children have a
24:11
Speaker 1: beautiful place to live. And it's all because of the
24:14
Speaker 1: opportunities that America has given me. And those same opportunities
24:18
Speaker 1: can be given to anyone. You just have to apply yourself.
24:20
Speaker 1: It doesn't have anything to do with race. It's all
24:23
Speaker 1: about taking those opportunities and making it work for you.
24:27
Speaker 2: I love this. Delicia Ballinger is with us. She lives
24:31
Speaker 2: in Memphis, Tennessee, is becoming a really a national voice
24:35
Speaker 2: in the Republican Party. You know, it hasn't come without
24:39
Speaker 2: its challenges. And there were two incidents that happened. One
24:42
Speaker 2: recently at one of my favorite burger joints, not too
24:46
Speaker 2: far from here, Huey's. Tell me what happened at the
24:49
Speaker 2: Huey's burger joint.
24:50
Speaker 1: So, you know, for whatever reason, it seems like when
24:54
Speaker 1: I have on my Trump gear, I get a lot
24:57
Speaker 1: of A lot of kickback from people. And this particular day,
25:01
Speaker 1: I'm in full Trump gear and I'm walking to get
25:04
Speaker 1: my food. And some black woman, she comes out and says, oh, well,
25:08
Speaker 1: you must be dressed up as a racist for Halloween.
25:10
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I stopped in my tracks and I
25:13
Speaker 1: turned around and I'm like, well, you must have on
25:16
Speaker 1: a fat suit because you look like Lord Farquaad. So,
25:19
Speaker 1: you know, I guess we're both dressed up. But no,
25:23
Speaker 1: you know, I get a lot of kickback, a lot
25:26
Speaker 1: of kickback. When I'm showing my support for the president.
25:30
Speaker 4: Wow.
25:31
Speaker 2: And so and you were at the airport in Nashville.
25:34
Speaker 1: Yes.
25:34
Speaker 2: What happened there?
25:35
Speaker 1: So I'm actually on the way to my car and
25:38
Speaker 1: I'm on the shuttle. And there was this transvestite or rhino. Transformers,
25:44
Speaker 1: if you will.
25:44
Speaker 2: You call them Transformers?
25:45
Speaker 1: I call them Transformers. All right.
25:48
Speaker 2: So dudes who think they're women.
25:49
Speaker 5: Yes.
25:49
Speaker 1: Okay.
25:50
Speaker 2: Got it.
25:51
Speaker 1: And so as I'm walking up, I'm seeing they have
25:53
Speaker 1: like this look of disgust on their faces. I'm wearing
25:55
Speaker 1: my bag of cap and I'm not worried about it.
25:58
Speaker 1: But as we're approaching the shuttle, they just all of
26:01
Speaker 1: a sudden just jump in front of me and cut
26:03
Speaker 1: me off. And I'm like, hey, excuse you. And so
26:05
Speaker 1: we get in the shuttle and he looks back at
26:07
Speaker 1: me and say, hey, pretty disgusting. You support that man.
26:10
Speaker 1: I said, oh. Well, it's pretty disgusting that you have
26:13
Speaker 1: balls under your skirt, sir.
26:14
Speaker 3: Oh, my.
26:15
Speaker 2: Hello. How did he respond to that?
26:19
Speaker 1: You know, because there was some exchange of words. And
26:22
Speaker 1: so the friend was like, hey. You guys just chilled.
26:25
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, tell your tell your homeboy to chill,
26:28
Speaker 1: you know.
26:28
Speaker 2: Yeah.
26:29
Speaker 1: And so and that was that was pretty much it,
26:31
Speaker 1: you know. But but I'm like, hey, you know, just
26:34
Speaker 1: because you see me with my Trump gear on, it
26:36
Speaker 1: doesn't give you the right to insult me because I'm
26:39
Speaker 1: still human. And I will I will clap back and
26:41
Speaker 1: I will defend my president.
26:42
Speaker 2: Well, you are from Memphis. I mean, we have a
26:44
Speaker 2: history of doing that. So that's that's. Whenever people get
26:47
Speaker 2: upset with me for doing that on the radio show,
26:48
Speaker 2: I'm like, hey, Memphis, what can I say? Our family
26:51
Speaker 2: is from White Haven.
26:52
Speaker 1: That's right. We're from the same hood.
26:54
Speaker 2: We're from the same hood. Yeah, exactly. I'm curious. When
27:01
Speaker 2: you're out there and you're out on the campaign trail,
27:04
Speaker 2: you've been doing a lot of campaigning for candidates. What
27:08
Speaker 2: is it going to take and is it working? Are
27:10
Speaker 2: we starting to see more minorities joining more? The Republican side.
27:15
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I feel that there is a big surge. I
27:19
Speaker 1: even two of my aunts that have been hard, hard liberals,
27:23
Speaker 1: hard Democrats. You're talking about in their 70s. They just
27:26
Speaker 1: voted red.
27:27
Speaker 2: Really?
27:28
Speaker 1: They just voted red. So we're talking about changing the
27:31
Speaker 1: tide from our elders, especially when they've been voting blue
27:36
Speaker 1: their whole entire lives. Yes, absolutely. That we're seeing, we're
27:41
Speaker 1: seeing the change. We're tired. We're tired. And for the
27:44
Speaker 1: first time we can actually, we actually see change and
27:47
Speaker 1: we want that. But, you know, considering where we are,
27:51
Speaker 1: I know here in Memphis, we're very, very blue, but
27:54
Speaker 1: at the same time, we still want more. And because
27:57
Speaker 1: of that, I do see a tide changing for sure.
27:59
Speaker 2: This is exciting. And So your son is doing well.
28:04
Speaker 2: I know he plays in the marching band.
28:06
Speaker 1: He actually just won his first competition last night.
28:09
Speaker 2: Is that right?
28:10
Speaker 1: Yes. So shout out to Havenview Middle School. They just
28:13
Speaker 1: won their first competition last night for the Battle of
28:15
Speaker 1: the Bands. I've been told he may be getting a
28:18
Speaker 1: promotion soon where he's going to be the section leader
28:21
Speaker 1: for the trumpet section. So I'm just so excited. He's
28:24
Speaker 1: just been fantastic.
28:26
Speaker 2: Oh, good for him. I know Dylan's ears just perked
28:29
Speaker 2: up because Dylan was a Trump. He was in the
28:31
Speaker 2: marching band at.
28:31
Speaker 1: U of M. Yes. Trumpet players are like absolutely the best.
28:36
Speaker 1: I wish I played in a band. I'm actually living
28:38
Speaker 1: through my son, but I'm just so proud and proud.
28:43
Speaker 1: You know, and I'm just so grateful, you know, with
28:45
Speaker 1: all of this that my children get a chance to
28:47
Speaker 1: see their mom doing great things.
28:50
Speaker 2: All right. And that is just a bit of the
28:52
Speaker 2: interview we did with Delicia. If you'd like to listen
28:55
Speaker 2: to the entire interview, you can download that over at
28:58
Speaker 2: Todd Stearns dot com. Real quick here. We have been
29:02
Speaker 2: asking how the polling is going. Voting is going 901-260-5926.
29:07
Speaker 2: Let's go to Kevin calling in this morning. Kevin, what
29:11
Speaker 2: can you tell us?
29:13
Speaker 5: I'll tell you what, I've been in Rossville and Piperton
29:17
Speaker 5: this morning, my home area. Fayette County is turning out.
29:21
Speaker 4: We've had about.
29:22
Speaker 5: 100 people or so in line at 715 just at
29:27
Speaker 5: my precinct in Piperton. Republicans are turning out Fayette County.
29:32
Speaker 5: I hope Shelby County is doing the same. I'm heading
29:34
Speaker 5: up to Hardeman and then heading back to Shelby, but
29:37
Speaker 5: I'll tell you what, I think everyone has underestimated the
29:42
Speaker 5: Republican turnout because it is packed.
29:45
Speaker 2: Kevin, we appreciate the update. We're going to have to
29:48
Speaker 2: leave it there, my friend. Give us a holler back.
29:50
Speaker 2: And again, we want to hear from you as well. 901-260-5926.
29:55
Speaker 2: Coming up, got to take a quick break. We're honored
29:57
Speaker 2: to have Scott Golden joining us, chair of the Tennessee
30:00
Speaker 2: Republican Party. We'll be right back.
30:06
Speaker 3: All right.
30:07
Speaker 2: Want to go right away to our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker
30:10
Speaker 2: line here on the Mighty 990. Tennessee GOP Chair Scott
30:14
Speaker 2: Golden with some of the coolest bumper music. That's a
30:17
Speaker 2: nice little intro for you there, Scott.
30:20
Speaker 3: I loved it.
30:21
Speaker 1: I loved it.
30:22
Speaker 4: Fantastic. It's election day, so everybody should be excited.
30:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. And, Scott, I know this has been a weird,
30:30
Speaker 2: wild election cycle. Great, great turnout in early voting. What
30:34
Speaker 2: can you tell us? Any updates on what's happening today?
30:40
Speaker 4: So, I mean, you know, obviously... I was listening to
30:43
Speaker 4: Kevin a bit before, said there were some people in
30:45
Speaker 4: line early, and that's what I'm kind of hearing across
30:50
Speaker 4: the state. There's a lot of people that kind of
30:53
Speaker 4: prefer to vote in their local community center, their local church.
30:56
Speaker 4: It's mainly rural. It's something that I know that we're
31:01
Speaker 4: going to be looking at a lot in the next
31:04
Speaker 4: couple of years about how early voting is done. You know,
31:10
Speaker 4: there are, you know, certainly there are 24 early voting
31:13
Speaker 4: locations across Shelby County. So it's a much easier process.
31:18
Speaker 4: But you get out into these rural areas like a
31:23
Speaker 4: Fayette or a Hardeman and, you know, it is more
31:27
Speaker 4: difficult to get to an early voting location. So you
31:30
Speaker 4: end up having to wait on Election Day. And so
31:33
Speaker 4: there's going to be a lot of discussions next time
31:35
Speaker 4: around about, you know, if we need to be making
31:38
Speaker 4: this easier, and it certainly needs to be more fair.
31:42
Speaker 4: If it's easy in one county and difficult in another county,
31:46
Speaker 4: we're going to have to bring some parity to the system.
31:49
Speaker 4: But overall, you know, I love it. 7 a.m., people
31:53
Speaker 4: are standing in front of their little church to cast
31:56
Speaker 4: that vote and make their voice heard on Election Day. So,
32:01
Speaker 4: you know, you got to marvel at the how wonderful
32:05
Speaker 4: our 250th anniversary of America is.
32:07
Speaker 2: Scott, I know you probably didn't hear the very first segment.
32:10
Speaker 2: We had Marsha Blackburn on. I said, barring the rapture
32:13
Speaker 2: or a giant asteroid taking out the entire state, she's
32:16
Speaker 2: going to be our next governor. I don't think there's
32:20
Speaker 2: a lot of doubt there. However, last night, Cook Political
32:24
Speaker 2: Report and Larry Sabato over at UVA in Virginia said
32:29
Speaker 2: They actually now say that the Tennessee 9th is in
32:32
Speaker 2: play and may be leaning Democrat. What are you hearing
32:36
Speaker 2: out of that race between Brent Taylor and Justin Pearson?
32:39
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, look, at the end of the day,
32:41
Speaker 4: it's going to be close. There's no doubt. I feel
32:45
Speaker 4: very good about where Brent is. I think we did
32:49
Speaker 4: pretty well in early voting, even, again, as we're talking
32:53
Speaker 4: about how easy it was for Shelby County to get
32:55
Speaker 4: there versus how hard it is for some of the rules.
32:58
Speaker 4: areas to get there. We're anticipating a very good vote
33:01
Speaker 4: across all of those counties today. But yeah, look, it's
33:06
Speaker 4: going to be close. Every vote's going to matter. I
33:09
Speaker 4: think that one's going to be a pretty later-in-the-night call,
33:13
Speaker 4: just because, you know, obviously with the Supreme Court decision
33:18
Speaker 4: that required that you could not use race as a
33:23
Speaker 4: basis at all for any congressional districts, the lines had
33:26
Speaker 4: to change. They were drawn the way they were drawn,
33:30
Speaker 4: and that district runs from Elvis Presley Boulevard to 840
33:35
Speaker 4: in Middle Tennessee, right, and all the way down to
33:37
Speaker 4: North Alabama. So it's a sprawling district all the way across,
33:44
Speaker 4: and there's a lot of rural areas. Some of the
33:46
Speaker 4: biggest counties in the state are there. So those folks
33:48
Speaker 4: didn't have the opportunity to early vote. They will be
33:51
Speaker 4: voting today, and I think if that comes in, Brent
33:55
Speaker 4: Taylor is going to be the next congressman for the
33:57
Speaker 4: ninth district.
33:58
Speaker 2: Do you feel really good about all the other congressional
34:01
Speaker 2: races out there? Of course, Chas Mulder, Charlie Hancher, one
34:05
Speaker 2: of the other big ones.
34:08
Speaker 4: Matt Van Ebs and Scott Desjarlais. Yeah, look, you know,
34:11
Speaker 4: we're not taking any of these for granted. And I
34:14
Speaker 4: apologize in advance to everybody out there. You will be
34:17
Speaker 4: getting emails probably on the hour. You'll probably be getting
34:21
Speaker 4: text on the hour. You know, this is, you know,
34:24
Speaker 4: everything today is about getting those last few Republicans to
34:29
Speaker 4: the polls all the way up to get you in
34:31
Speaker 4: line at 655, right? That we want people to get
34:35
Speaker 4: out and vote. So we're going to be doing everything
34:38
Speaker 4: we can, pushing them out to vote, volunteer phone calls,
34:42
Speaker 4: all of these things. So I hope people do take
34:44
Speaker 4: advantage of it.
34:45
Speaker 1: I mean, definitely.
34:46
Speaker 4: That's what if we do that, I feel comfortable about it.
34:50
Speaker 4: But I mean, you can't take anything for granted in
34:52
Speaker 4: this environment.
34:53
Speaker 2: Scott, the independent candidate, David Hatley, any concern he may
34:58
Speaker 2: be he may be shearing off votes from from from
35:02
Speaker 2: Marsha and and again in a in a close race
35:06
Speaker 2: that could get a little interesting.
35:09
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, this has
35:12
Speaker 4: been an unusual election cycle that you do have an independent.
35:16
Speaker 4: I mean, there are 13 independents on the ballot, but
35:20
Speaker 4: he's the one that spent, you know, in excess of
35:22
Speaker 4: $ 10 to $ 20 million, whatever it is. So it's a
35:26
Speaker 4: little unusual this time around. I mean, sure, there are
35:30
Speaker 4: going to be people that are voting for him. In fact,
35:33
Speaker 4: you know, there will probably be some people voting for
35:35
Speaker 4: him that might not have come out to vote If
35:39
Speaker 4: he wasn't on the ballot.
35:40
Speaker 5: Right.
35:40
Speaker 4: That there are there's an audience out there for people
35:43
Speaker 4: that just, you know, don't like either of the parties
35:46
Speaker 4: and upset the system and all of these things. But
35:50
Speaker 4: but I think at the end of the day, it'll
35:52
Speaker 4: be it'll be somewhat marginalized. And again, there's other independents
35:56
Speaker 4: out there.
35:57
Speaker 2: Sure.
35:57
Speaker 4: Jerry Green has an independent that's taking votes away from her.
36:01
Speaker 1: Right.
36:01
Speaker 4: So on the on the balance. You know, it'll be
36:05
Speaker 4: some votes, but I don't think it's going to upset
36:10
Speaker 4: the directory that Marsha Blackburn is going to be the
36:12
Speaker 4: next governor of the state of Tennessee.
36:14
Speaker 2: Scott, the computer is going to cut us off here
36:16
Speaker 2: in just a second. We really appreciate you coming on
36:18
Speaker 2: the show, giving us an update. It's been a fun
36:21
Speaker 2: election cycle, no doubt about that. But at the end
36:24
Speaker 2: of the day, it's all in the hands of the voters.
36:27
Speaker 4: Wonder what we talk about tomorrow. I guess we talk
36:30
Speaker 4: about the next election cycle.
36:31
Speaker 2: All right, give me at least a day.
36:34
Speaker 1: Thanks, Scott.
36:35
Speaker 2: Scott Colvin, folks, get out and vote. We'll see you
36:38
Speaker 2: at 11 here on the Mighty 990.