AP Dillon on Sen. Tillis' announcement he won't seek re-election (06-30-2025--Hour3)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for your support. It's Monday, Monday at two o'clock. That means we talk with Ap Dylan. She is a reporter for the North State Journal. You can read her work at nsjonline dot com, and you can also subscribe to her newsletter. It's called More to the Story. AP Welcome, How are you? I'm great, Pete? How are you doing? Are you great? Because Tom tellis announced hes not running for reelection. Honestly, I was out running Aaron when that piece of news dropped and I wont wait what Yeah, when I'm away from my computer that things happen, which. Is real annoying to me. I always tell people at the end of my show, I close up by saying, don't break anything while I'm gone. And nobody listens to me, so all right. So yeah, so we've been talking about this for the whole show today because this is sort of a major bombshell. Although now I'm hearing lots of reports that Tillis was telling people that he probably wasn't going to run again for a while. This has apparently been known to a lot of people. But I talked with Doug High earlier in the program, and he said that Paul Schumaker, his campaign guy, and a lot of his staffers were caught unaware that he was going to make this announcement. So I guess it sounds like you were surprised. I was surprised. This was not something that I had expected, at least not now, But given the back and forth between President Trump and he and social media in the last forty eight hours, I can't say that it was It didn't totally shock me. I was, you know, a little bit flat footed, just like his staff obviously was. I had heard that he had actually fleshed out, you know, campaign staff for the next coming cycle, but I hadn't heard anything concrete. So this was news. So the first the first I guess social media posts that most people became aware of was Donald Trump attacking Tom Tillis right saying, Oh, people are talking to me about primary ing him and all of that. The Hill. I just got sent this by John Republican Party guy locally here, and John says, and this is a cut and pace job from the Hill, and it says Senator Tillis told Trump to start looking for his replacement prior to the president's missive, saying that he would start interviewing candidates to primary him. According to a text message shared with The Hill between Trump and Tillis, Tillis told Trump at nine fifty four pm on Saturday, seven minutes before Trump's truth social post, he said, quote, act, mister President, start thinking about my replacement? Does that change that? Interesting? Yeah? Because Trump's posts came at ten oh one pm that he had numerous people coming forward wanting to primary Tom Tillis, and his prior prior social media post was the day before, No, sorry, the same day, but at ninety eight pm where he talked about Donald Trump went off on pill us over the one big Beautiful bill, and that was on June twenty eight. That was, yeah, ninety eight pm. And then the next one came out at June twenty ten o one pm, talking about you know how he wanted someone to primary Am. Then on Sunday around five fifteen No. Five nineteen pm. On Sunday, Trump put on Truth, Social and Great News. Senator Tom tells will not be seeking reelection. That was followed by a post later that evening at around seven to twenty pm. It looks like where Tillis thanked him for the retirement wishes, and he's looking forward to working with you for a successful twenty twenty six word to the wise, let's avoid minifolder, which is a reference to former Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson's email handle that he used apparently on adult website. Yes, on the on the pornographic websites Nude Africa. Yeah, what you're saying is true. In between there somewhere till Has told him that he wasn't going. To run, right, And then it sounds like Trump then used that to make it look like I'm forcing him out not, I mean either without Tillis's message, I have no doubt Trump would have would have done this anyway. Yes, but yeah, it does make it a lot more of a slam dunk. If you know you get this text message from Tillis, And I don't know what Trump said to Tillis first. If he did say something to Tillis first in that text exchange, maybe he did. Maybe they're going back and forth about all of this stuff, because in the floor speech, Tillis made it seem like, oh, you're being misled by your advisors. They're not telling you the real impacts and all of this. Like he still seemed like he was leaving this this pathway for Trump to to this off ramp basically, and then of course he's like, you know what, I'm done, start thinking about my replacement. I did find this hilarious that the tweet or the post, the truth whatever that Trump put out about Oh, I got lots of people I'm interviewing, you know, to primary him and Mark Robinson, former lieutenant governor of North Carolina. Mark Robinson reposted that on Twitter with a couple of like the big you know eyeball. Like the Google eyeball. Yeah, I see that, Yeah, like. Ooh look at this, I'm looking. I saw somebody respond not you, Mark, No, not jo I don't. I don't think there's an appetite for that. No, And that's what Tillis was referencing in the comment that you just made, or you referenced, you know, word to the wise. Let's avoid Mark Robinson because Mark Robinson was endorsed by Trump. Well was he endorsed by him? Yoh yeah. At the very beginning he said, this is the next Martin Luther King Jr. Right, Yeah, he applauded him, but he didn't endorse him at that. He said he was going to endorsement in a later date and it was going to come weeks later, and then it never did because this thing blew up and blew up. So I mean, he patted him on the back and called him, you know, it reminded him of Martin Luther King Junior, with you know, with his speeches and that sort of thing. But you know, one could look at that as endorsement, but he didn't actually formally endorse him. So I'd have to go back. Did you go back in check? I'd have to go back and check to make sure because I don't remember. But no, he didn't. Oh okay, so, well did he scrub it? Maybe he scrubbed it after Yeah, I don't know. I don't think so. Because that that one happened early on before the I think that was in May or June is when that happened. And then that CNN story dropped closer to September, I want to write late August, early September. And he hadn't endorsed, like done a formal endorsement of him yet. Well if he but yeah, but did he endorse that may would have been the primary, like an endorsement for the primary over the other candidates for lieutenant governor. You know, yeah, that would be what Yeah, because I don't think he would have done. I think the endorsement would have carried over I guess in his mind. But yeah, I mean, like that's you know, that's the problem when you make these types of endorsements. And look, Dan Bishop got caught up in that too, just because he endorsed Mark Robinson before anybody knew anything about all of that, all of the more prurient stuff. Yeah. So now checked a lot of endorsements in twenty twenty six. Well yeah right, yeah. So all right, so I don't think anybody has Robinson on their on their dance card for this, but we do have some names that are obviously being floated already. Right, We've got I've seen Michael Wattley, Larra Trump, and as Doug Heye said, she's probably got the right of first refusal, right like if she if she says she's going to do it, nobody else is going to run. Probably Yeah. I mean she's with Fox News right now doing commentary and stuff with them, So I mean she's clearly, you know, got the space to move with it and to do it. I honestly, you know, Michael Wattley, former NCGEOP chair and r n C chair, I don't know. I don't know that he would make that shift going into twenty twenty six. He's going to be needed in the position that he's in. So I mean, that's it's a nice it's a nice call out. It's a nice piece to be mentioned in. But you know, there's also mentioning of newly newly minted Congressman Pat Harrigan, very charismatic young guy. You know, he and he and Bud would would probably make a good pair. But you know, you've already got three people who fired and filed paperwork on the Republican side for this. You've got Andy Nilson, he's you know, a triad businessman, former Jack officer and attorney Don Brown and then you've got a guy named Brooks Agnew who I knew nothing about until recently. He's an author and a former manufacturing engineer. And all three of them have issued you know, statements and things on Twitter or x saying that, you know, hey, with till Us out of the race, you know, I'm I'm your man, right, But. Are they Are they the right guy to take on Roy Cooper because Cooper also has probably got right of first refusal on the Democrat side. Yeah, I think I think Roy Cooper does. I think I think it's more likely though, that we're going to see heading into the fall. I think that we're going to see an announcement calld of Jeff Jackson's office. My instinct is just telling me that that's where it's going to go. This this past year, in the last few months, we saw Wait County District Attorney Lauren Agreeman say that she's not going to run for reelection next year, and she didn't really give a reason why, but she has always coveted the age spot and she eventually, I think, has our eyes on set on governor. So if maybe she knew something ahead of time that the rest of us didn't know that maybe Jackson's going to make a jump and Stein would then end up appointing her as ag as you know, So we'll see how that plays out. But I mean, the mass is there. Well, but if you end up with the primary, if Cooper gets in, Jackson gets in, you got Wiley Nichol already, and that opens up a pretty big pathway for a more radical leftist and or a person of color in the Democrat primary that would be able to split some of that other sort of you know. Well, the moment Nicol left Congress, he filed for this race, he wanted to be first, He wanted to be in there and everything, and honestly, no, yeah, I just I don't see the Democrat Party forming up behind him. If there are other options, maybe he could again, Ory Cooper would be wanted to turn it down, and I think that that's how it's going to play out. His offices basically says they're not going to make an announcement for another couple of weeks whether they're going to do it. You know, if with Tilli's getting out of the race, if they didn't know with him getting out of the race at that point, then you know they're gonna mullet. Yeah, sure, there are no I don't see him getting in. I think that it's going to end up being Jeff Jackson. That's just my good instinct. Interesting, well, that's what Doug High said. He said, if he were advising Cooper, he would say, don't do it, don't get in, because he hasn't never really faced a real tough election ever. So and this would be you know what, probably a billion dollar race or half a billion dollar race or something just ridiculous amounts of money. It's going to have some serious scrutiny, and they're going to look at his track record as ag They're going to look at his track record going back to the legislature, and then of course as governor, you know, I mean, he was the most prolific vetower of any governor in the state. His lockdowns, some of his policies were ultrastrnent and you know, caused issues trying to get schools opened up. They had to file legislation, you know, threatened filing legislation, began to reopen the schools. There were the riots in Raleigh, you know, and then he's caught, you know, wandering around the mansion. You know, marching with those protesters with his mask half off of the space. Yeah, I mean you can pick any one of those things. And forgot the Atlantic Coast pipeline either the flush fund that had ken Uty disappear afterwards. So yeah, that's a good one. I had forgotten about that. And you also got the hurricane response that he completely bricked for his entire term, yes, yeah, which is still ongoing. I mean, it's so bad that current Governor Josh Stein, you know, refused to use the apparatus that Roy Cooper had set into place with the ENCORE, the North Carolina Recovery Office of Recovery Resilience. He basically said, yeah, not touching that, and he built his own one called grow ENZI. Yeah. So, as far as Wiley Nichol is concerned, I would recommend for him maybe do another announcement that he's running for office. That would be I think he's up to like half a dozen or something. I don't know, but uhh yeah, exactly. All right, Hey, ap Dylan, I appreciate your time. As always. You could read her work North State Journal NSJ online, or you can get her or and you can get her newsletter. Add more to the story, it's at substack. Thanks AP, Thank you, Pete. All right, take care. That's AP Dylan. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because let's me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground news as they make the media landscape more transparent. Alan sent me a message via the Twitter machine. It's a Pete tweet. Alan says, Senator Tillis can't be gone soon enough. I expect leftists to sell us out, not those that depend on votes like mine. My take hasn't changed because of Trump. Nobody cares if you work across the aisle if the product is detrimental to the goal to do. And then he says. Alan follows up with that and says, ye, we aren't supposed to be worried about the Medicaid is North Carolina. There, Tom, we voted Republican to avoid the expansion, and see Republicans that voted this in need to be shown accountability for their betrayal, bait and switch. Much still mad about that? As am I as am. I let me see here I got another. This is a message here. I assume I can read this. This is from let's just say a Raleigh insider. Okay. One of my friends does constituent work for Tillis in the Raleigh office, and he told me, prior to Tillis running for his second term, that Tom was telling his staff that he would likely not run for a third term because he wanted to be young enough to go back to the private sector and make real money. Well, tell me, Tillis would only run if he would be the only candidate with enough money to beat Cooper, not wanting to hand that race to a Mark Robinson or either of the Dans. Who's the second Dan, Dan Forrest? I know Dan Bishop, Who's the other Dan? All that was relayed to me a year ago. In my opinion, Another indicator that Tom was likely to not run is that he announced it early enough for the party to prepare. If he wanted to screw over MAGA with this announcement, he would have privately shifted money to a handpicked successor and then jumped out at the last minute. He was going to get primaried, but the NCGP would not have helped in the primaries and likely would not help many of the candidates that I've been hearing want to run. He did have a very good staff Charlotte office. In particular, he ran his constituent service organization as if it were a top notch customer service center. And I hope the next person keeps the staff well. And this is one of those things that is often overlooked in these congressional races. You know, people often wondered like, how could North Carolina keep electing Jesse Helms and strom Thurman. Right, Well, their constituent services were amazing. You had any kind of an issue, and those offices would fix it for you fast. And that's the kind of thing that generates loyalty in your constituents. And the longer you're there and the more people you help get their passports for their overseas trip next week. You know, the more people you help like that, the more they remember. And over time it compounds, right, it stacks because people then see your name on the ballot and like, oh, yeah, that's the guy that helped me get my passport. That kind of stuff Rubenses at Spectrum News, he says. A source close to Senator Tillis shared some context. He had been leaning against running since the start of this congress. Despite having announced a run. He was looking to make a final decision in August slash September. He was looking for more clarity from Trump and Senate leadership on whether he would decide to run or not. From Trump and the White House, he wanted to know if they were going to give him flexibility to be an independent thinker in the Senate and from the Senate leadership side, would he have their full backing to protect him in a tough election. Reconciliation was a test to get that clarity. Tillis would have supported the House version of the Big Beautiful Bill. He had spent a lot of time looking at the impact of the bill on medicaid in our state, and he warned Senate leadership it would be a policy disaster and they did not have his back. Trump's posts criticized him this weekend. Where what Tillis was looking for because they provided clarity showing he would not have the flexibility to be an independent thinker. So he moved up his timeline for not running and he is at total peace with the decision not to run. That was from Reuben Jones as Spectrum News. You know stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven and Mint Hill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos fors rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video dot com. Here's a Pete mail from Seth Pete. I wonder how much of his book deal. I'm sure it's in the works that Tillis is doing. We'll go towards helping medicaid in those rural hospitals. I'm guessing zero. Okay, I don't think he's got a book deal. I'm not aware of that, Jay says, I hope Tillis did not sprain his elbow patting himself on the back in that speech of his This from Tim Tillis voted correctly on this bill for the wrong reason. The correct reason was as Rand Paul stated, I don't know what happens to North Carolina politicians who were previously truly conservative who become a federal senator. Richard Burr and Tillis come to mind. I think they are one of the following bribed off, blackmailed, or have a frontal lobotomy one night while they sleep. I'm unaware of any kind of clandestinops that do that. And then Kirk says, one more reason to repeal the seventeenth Amendment. Senators aren't meant to represent the people, but rather the state. And that's true. And that's why I said when we played the audio of Tillis's speech from the floor of the Senate chamber yesterday, I believe it was he was arguing and advocating on behalf of the state of North Carolina, the state legislature, trying to protect the medicaid funding for our state. Now that the legislature expanded medicaid, after you know, almost fifteen years of refusing to do so, they finally did it, and they did it because they said, well, we think now the funding streams are secure, and we thought it wouldn't you know, we thought the FEDS would go back on their ninety percent match commitments. But it's been on long enough that we think like, yeah, this is permanent, and then as soon as of course they pass it now it's not, which is exactly as I predicted, because it's always that way. It will always be that way. And I broke down the Medicaid arguments in the second hour, so I highly recommend you go back and listen to the second hour of the podcast to learn about what I had learned about from the National Review writer about how the states are abusing the Medicaid system with the funding, with the shuffling of the money between the providers and the state, and it's all coming from the FEDS. So there's that component. If I had to put money down, I think Tillis goes to work for a healthcare industry lobbying firm. I think that's where he goes. I have no information to support this, just based on his speech last night. That's kind of where I'm thinking he may end up, but he might not. I don't know, and I'm not disparaging him if he does. I just think like the speech that he gave and talking about the intricacies of the Medicaid reimbursement stuff, I think like that would be a place for him to go. And he has cultivated this, if not image, but in you know fact, this brand is a guy who can work with people across the aisle. And he mentioned that too. He talked about he didn't name them, but he talked about working with people like Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinema, right, two Democrats that he had made common cause with on various pieces of legislation. So I think that makes him an attractive hire if you're trying to lobbyoth sides of the aisle basically or you know, enough members of the Senate in order to try to move legislation through. So what does this do now for North Carolina in this upcoming primary, which like this is the beginning of the season. That's what you know. Tell Us made this announcement. He's not kneecapping the GOP to find a replacement for him, So he's giving a long runway for the Republican Party and for candidates and stuff. So that's all I think admirable for him to have done. He didn't try to screw over a bunch of people and the party and try to you know, shoehorn in a preferred candidate like Mark Meadows did right which backfired on him. But anyway, the who is this the Senate Majority Pack, that's a Democrat pack. Political Action Committee Senate Majority Pack spokesperson Lauren French. She says Democrats were poised to win in North ca Carolina, whether Tom Tillis's name was on the ballot in November in twenty twenty six or not. But his early retirement proves there's no space within the Republican Party to dissent over taking healthcare away from eleven point eight million people by destroying Medicaid and raising costs. Ok, it's not going to destroy medicaid. Okay, once again, here are the Democrats with their hyperbolic catastrophism, like, this is not going to destroy Medicaid. It will limit some of the funding and yes, people will be removed from the roles or Republicans argue that these people should not be getting it in the first place because the expansion of the program goes far beyond what it was originally intended to do this from the Democratic Socialist Oh sorry no, Senatorial Campaign Committee the DSCC. In response to Senator Tillis's announcement, the spokesperson May Coil issued the following statement, quote, Tom Tillis's decision not to run for reelection is another blow oh to Republicans' chances as they face a mid term backlash that puts their majority at risk. Yeah, not really, but it will be more difficult. Obviously, they were they everybody knew this was going to be a tough fight no matter what. North Carolina is a tough fight in every Senate election season, so that was a given. But losing control of the US Senate this time around is not likely. Even Tillis admits. She says that the GOP plan to slash Medicaid and spike costs for families is toxic and at twenty twenty six Democrats will flip North Carolina's senatec Now, I note that they they ignore the fact that when Tillis was making the comments about it being toxic, he didn't say toxic. But that's what I think. It's a fair representation of this criticism. The example that he gave was Obamacare, but they don't mention that the Democrats do not mention that he was talking about Obamacare and the lie that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Eric says, it's a pete tweet. Eric says worked for a super pack that helped put Tillis into office when he was first elected to the Senate. He had worn out his welcome before the last election. I am glad he is retiring. So what can we expect as voters? A lot of ads. People get ready, brace yourselves for a metric butt load of ads. That's what's coming our way. Yay, here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved one and the things that truly matter, nestled within the breath. Taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest. Their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, centrally located between Ashville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Let me get to some messages, John said, just a reminder to the Democrats. Republicans have won the last five races in North Carolina. They may be close, but we have Bill won them. That is true. Doug High made that point as well, that there hasn't there there hadn't been a double digit wipeout in North Carolina. US Senate history going back to nineteen seventy four, so it's always close, but they haven't won a seat a US Senate seat since their wave election in eight. Right with k Hagen, Republicans hold right now fifty three seats in the US Senate, meaning Democrats need to flip at least four to gain control of the chamber for the final two years of Trump's term so they can impeach him. I added that last bit, and this is from WRAL. The decision to drop out of the race could make Tillis a legislative wild card in a party where few lawmakers are willing to risk Trump's wrath by opposing his agenda or his actions. That's from the WRAL. Then I've got this. I got a lot of stuff. I got this from Politico talking about Roy Cooper planning to make a decision this summer on whether he'll mount a bid for this race. North Carolina, perennial battleground since Obama turned at blue in eight has largely eluded Democrats ever since, making the state even more tantalizing. Democrats have generally won the governor's races. Cooper has obviously won those as well. He's won every attorney general race. He's won every race he's ever run in. Actually, the Democrats haven't won a Senate seat here in nearly two decades, and Tillis ousted that Democrat, kay Hagen, taking it back in two thousand and fourteen. And then there we go again. This is still politico. North Carolina could become a rare bright spot for Democrats on what is otherwise a very difficult Senate map. They're defending a trio of competitive open seats. Okay, so remember they need to flip. They got their down fifty three to forty seven, so they need four seats to change hands. But they have to also defend some and they're defending three seats that are competitive and are open, so there's no incumbent. So they were their only offensive opportunities. So the other direction, which would be competitive seats that they might be able to win, the only seats they were looking at were Tillis and Susan Collins of Maine. Those are the only two options they had for likely pickups or potential pickups. I should say all eyes are on Cooper. They're going to say. The move comes less than forty eight hours after reports emerged that Centrist Representative Don Bacon intends to announce his retirement Monday, which, by the way, if you're going to be a congressman, I think last name Bacon is perfect, just to you know, for the guy who brings it home. That's awesome. Names very Dickensian. Even if the party flips North Carolina seat, they would have to then take control of redder territory, So they would have to flip seats that are not seen as likely in Iowa or Ohio or Collins in Maine to even have a shot at a majority. And they're going to probably be facing expensive competitive races to defend Senate seats up in Michigan. They got one in Georgia and both and Trump carried both of those states in twenty four. They also have to protect open seats in Minnesota and New Hampshire. So that's what the map looks like for them. One GOP strategist granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said Republicans were breathing a sigh of relief that Tillis is retiring, believing that a fresh candidate would better appeal to the voters as the incumbent butted heads with the president and showed a sagging favorability rating in the polls. Democrats argue that Republicans support for medicaid cuts give Cooper and opening. This is what Democrats believe. And Democrats, you got to remember, Democrats believe that the message of healthcare is a dead bang winner for them every time. So that's why they dress everything up as healthcare related. This is why Roy Cooper would tie every single issue to medicaid expansion. Oh, there's an increase in gun deaths, you know, it was solved that medicaid. Like, he'd always work Medicaid expansion into everything, every issue that he was ever talking about, because they think that this is a winning issue because they track better in the polling among voters on healthcare related issues. So Doug Wilson, a Democrat strategist who was an advisor on Kamala Harris's campaign in North Carolina. So a guy who knows how to bring home a win, right, Okay, Doug Wilson says, quote Cooper was obviously instrumental in getting medicaid expansion here, that's not actually the case. I mean, he spiked the football and and claimed credit. But the North Carolina legislature did that. He did not. He did not. He was a stamp of approval literally, like he just signed the bill. But the Republicans were the ones that caved on that, and they did so to take the issue away from him, or so the political calculation rumor mill said. So they think, like, hey, we can make this election. You got Cooper the Medicaid expander. He gets to come in there and talk about how awesome Medicaid expansion is and how Republicans with the one big beautiful bill are gutting Medicaid and killing everybody and throwing Grandma off the cliff. And by the way, for you youngins that are not aware of what that is in reference to throwing Grandma off a cliff, that was literally a campaign ad that Democrats ran. The Obama camp ran against Mitt Romney. Romney and Paul Ryan the Republican ticket, two guys that were like these basic, like right out of Central Casting, decent Republican guys, and they accused them of all sorts of terrible things. And that's one of the reasons why you got Donald Trump is because when you accuse guys like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in a campaign ad showing a fake Paul Ryan wheeling a grandma and a wheelchair and throwing her off of a cliff. That's what they did to Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney, so they always think they've got the upper hand on health issues. He says, this gives him a lane to run on. Not only did he help implement it, it was something he has pushed for since his first term. Great, so we're gonna get lots of ads and they're all going to be about Roy Cooper and his syrupy molass's mouth defense of medicaid. Gosh, is this election over yet? All right? That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.