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SUNDAY NIGHT In AMERICA with Trey Gowdy (Full Episode) October 19, 2025
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00:00Good evening and thank you for joining us. I'm Trey Gowdy and it's Sunday night in America. The
00:12government shutdown continues as people feel the pain of intransigence. Leader Schumer, myself,
00:19Democrats in the House and the Senate, that we want to sit down, find a bipartisan path forward
00:24to enacting a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people. I
00:29sent them a totally clean CR. It had zero Republican policy priorities attached to it. It's merely
00:35maintaining the status quo, keeping the lights on so that we can continue all of our work and
00:39keep, get government appropriations finished up. They, they, they denied that. Senate Majority
00:44Leader John Thune has offered Democrats a dozen offer amps to end this shutdown. One would think
00:51paying soldiers, police officers, air traffic controllers, prosecutors would be bipartisan,
00:57but one would be mistaken. Only three Democrats voted to open government. Georgia Senator John
01:04Ossoff claims to be moderate in election years, but then he winds up voting with Elizabeth Warren
01:10and Chuck Schumer. I don't have a PhD in government, but I'm almost positive Democrats are in the
01:16minority in both houses. And, and, and they're in the minority for a reason. Voters rejected their
01:22ideas. Why would Republicans negotiate with a minority party acting like petulant children?
01:29Joining us is chairman, Tim Scott from South Carolina, who also runs GOP Senate election efforts
01:34in 2026. Welcome, Mr. Chairman. I'm almost positive that Barack Obama did not sign the reveal,
01:42the repeal of Obamacare when Republicans shut government down. So why would Republicans reward
01:48Chuck Schumer for bad ideas that failed at the ballot box? Well, we, we won't. Number one,
01:55the Schumer shutdown continues. But Trey, let's remember why the Schumer shutdown started. The
02:00Democrats are desperate for power. They are willing to sell out current constituents, like women,
02:07infants, and children for what? For illegal immigrants, their future voters. This is a power grab.
02:14They're willing to shut the government down so that they can earn and gain more power. This isn't
02:21going to work. When your rally yesterday was supported by, sponsored by the Communist Party,
02:28USA, you're on the wrong track. You're not heading for power. You're heading for not to be in existence
02:35at all. It is just utterly ridiculous to see what the Democrats are doing to the most vulnerable people
02:41on the planet. Thank God, Trey, for President Trump, who found the resources to continue the WIC
02:47program, helping women, infants, and children. All right, Chairman, you mentioned the most vulnerable,
02:55and I know you're sensitive to that. People are hurting. Most Americans do not have enough
03:00savings to survive a long shutdown, and they shouldn't have to. Is there an off ramp? And let me
03:07just single out John Ossoff from Georgia. I mean, that's right below us. Why in the world is he
03:12voting with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in a state that went for Trump and Brian Kemp?
03:19You can't tell the difference between John Ossoff and AOC if you tried really hard. Their voting
03:25records are so similar. What we know without any question is John Ossoff is only a moderate on TV
03:31when running for reelection. The rest of the time, he votes like a liberal, a liberal that allows for
03:37parades and rallies to be sponsored by the Communist USA Party and to say nothing. The best way to stop
03:44this shutdown from ever happening again, the best way to make sure the American dream continues to go
03:49forward is to elect more Republicans starting in Georgia. And then let's roll up the tapes and go to
03:55Michigan and New Hampshire. Let's make sure that Susan Collins and Maine is protected. And let's
04:02bring another Republican back to North Carolina. You can help us by going to defend the majority.com
04:09right now. You can make a difference by supporting the Republican Party at defend the majority.com and
04:16keep John Ossoff from being reelected. And let's bring some Republicans to Michigan and New Hampshire
04:21as well. All right, chairman, let me switch gears with you. Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones is unfit for
04:29office. He called for capital murder, traumatizing children, urinating on graves. And now some GOP
04:36officials were exposed for using the N word, comparing people of color to monkeys, laughing about
04:41the Holocaust and belittling sexual assault. And what vexes me is I don't see why it's so hard for
04:47some to condemn both. I mean, both are outrageous and they're disqualifying. Why is it so hard for
04:53some to condemn both? Having a clue, Trey, is despicable and disturbing the texts that we've seen
05:01from those young Republicans. I'm thankful for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and others,
05:07Mark Wayne Mullins, who took a stand and said, not in my watch, not in my party. That is just wrong.
05:12And they stood up. The good news, Trey, our party has done something. Many have been terminated
05:18already. While Jay Jones and the Democrat party, you can't see daylight between them because there
05:24is no daylight. The endorsements keep coming in for Jay Jones. It is absolutely, utterly ridiculous
05:31for a guy who dreams of murdering Republicans and their kids to still receive the support of the
05:38Democrat party and the senators in Virginia. The one thing your viewers can do if you live in
05:44Virginia, there's an election less than 30 days from now. You can work and vote for Winston Sears
05:50for governor, Jason Mieras for attorney general. Let's get these Democrats out of office, keep them
05:56out of office because they've lost their mind because they're losing their voters. I can't think of
06:00anything more disgusting than Democrats to stand firm and strong with Jay Jones, no matter what he
06:08says. All right, Senator Chairman from the great state of South Carolina. Thank you for joining us
06:14on a Sunday night. Now we turn to the other major news story. Hamas once again showed you who they are
06:21after lying about the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas created more business for morgues by executing
06:27Palestinian civilians. For those who claim to love due process, there isn't much when you're put on
06:33your knees and shot in the back of the head. President Trump spoke about the timeline for Hamas
06:39disarming. Is there a timeline to get Hamas to disarm? They're very violent. 50,000 of them have been
06:47killed. Okay. You know, they get replaced by other people, young people, but we're going to find out.
06:53So it's not a hard timeline, but it's a line in my own mind. And at a certain point, if they don't
06:59do what they're supposed to do, then we'll have to do it for them.
07:06Despite that warning, Hamas is actively undermining this nascent peace agreement. Joining us is
07:12Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Leiter. Welcome, Mr. Ambassador. Thank you for joining us.
07:19First, I want our viewers to know that you lost a son who was a soldier and a medical doctor as part
07:25of this conflict with Hamas. So while the issue is personal for many, you have felt the sting in
07:32the most significant way of all. Well, I have, Trey. Thank you for mentioning that. It's good to be with
07:39you. As a matter of fact, today, we lost two soldiers, one 26, one 21 years old, when Hamas
07:48fired anti-tank missile at troops that were just standing beyond the yellow line. And then when
07:55medics came to take care of them, snipers fired at them. We had another three injured. So when I
08:02heard the news, it brought me back to that night when I got the knock on the door, when I was told by
08:09the officers that my oldest son, who led forces into Gaza on the first day of the war and fought for
08:1513 days until he went into a Hamas booby trap tunnel, was killed. So I identify very much with the
08:24the parents and the family who got the knock on the door today because Hamas again, uh, violated the
08:32ceasefire. Yeah. And that kind of, that kind of raises my next question, ambassador. I mean, no one
08:39doubts Hamas is going to sabotage this agreement. The question is just how, and will it be sufficient
08:46to break this fragile peace deal? I mean, they don't want peace, but, but can, can this deal even
08:54withstand Hamas? Well, it's a great question, Trey, and actually we'll see what happens in the next
09:01couple of days and weeks. Uh, the president has invested an awful lot, uh, uh, in, in this deal
09:07and it wouldn't have happened without the influence, uh, that president Trump brought to bear. There's
09:12no question about that on, uh, Qatar and the Turks and they're going to have to hold Hamas's feet to the
09:17fire. This is a ghoulish fiendish organization, uh, that celebrates in death. It's a death
09:24cult really. And, uh, what they did on October 7th is something they'll repeat tomorrow if they're
09:28not stopped. And that's why this, uh, deal that the president brokered is so important because
09:34as he emphasizes repeatedly, since it was signed, Hamas has to completely be disarmed and Gaza has
09:41to be demilitarized and they committed to turning over our hostages. Now we still have 16 bodies. I
09:47mean, they're keeping bodies of the people they killed. Even the mafia remembers where, where they keep
09:53the bodies of the people they bump off. These people have, uh, 16 of our, uh, citizens that
09:59they're holding onto and they're not releasing them. And under the agreement, they were supposed
10:02to give us all the living and dead hostages in 72 hours. That's long gone. So we're waiting for
10:08that to happen. Uh, we cannot move into the second phase until all of our hostages are released.
10:12We have great faith in the negotiating, uh, capabilities of, uh, Jared Kushner and Steve
10:19Witkoff. They're doing an incredible job and there's a lot of hope here, but again, we are
10:23dealing with a very, very bloody terrorist organization that has no moral scruples whatsoever.
10:31Yeah. And for those Americans who like to celebrate Hamas, uh, keep in mind, Israel release
10:37certain Palestinians that were being held only for those Palestinians to be put on their knees
10:43and executed without a trial, by the way, for my liberal friends in the United States. I mean,
10:50what sense does that make to get people as part of an exchange and then execute them in the street
10:56in Gaza? Again, these people have absolutely no moral scruples whatsoever. And look, they're
11:04responsible for the, uh, the damage that's been wrought on Gaza. I mean, they created 450 miles of terror
11:11tunnels in an area that's 24 miles long and eight miles wide. And the, the people that they claim
11:18to represent, uh, are the people who have suffered and they brought this suffering upon them. Uh, look,
11:23we cannot have jihadis living at our border. That's the lesson of October 7th. We can't have jihadis in
11:29the South and the North and the Golan Heights. Uh, no country in the world would tolerate 40,000 armed
11:36terrorists to the teeth that believe in annihilating you living at your border. It wouldn't be the
11:41case in any state of the 50 United States or any country in Europe. We wouldn't tolerate this and
11:47we can't tolerate it either. So we're very hopeful moving forward that we're going to get this, uh,
11:52uh, uh, peace agreement that, uh, president Trump has invested in. And if anybody could bring it,
11:57it is he, but we really have to, uh, hold Hamas's feet to the fire on this. We have to see
12:03their, uh, firing at our troops stopped completely. We have to see all of our hostages released.
12:09And then perhaps hopefully we can move into the second phase of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing
12:15Gaza. Then there's hope for the future. And Oh, by the way, if Hamas stopped shooting and returns
12:22to the remains, then the humanitarian routes can open and the Palestinian people have been impacted.
12:28This can also be helped. Hamas doesn't think like that. We, we have, we have continued to flood,
12:34despite these ridiculous accusations of starvation and genocide, you know, it's, it's easy to beat
12:41up on, on, on Jews throughout history. And now you beat up on the Jewish state. We have continued
12:46to the flow of humanitarian aid throughout this entire process. And there's been an excess of
12:51caloric intake that we've flooded Gaza with. And these accusations that we were holding up,
12:56uh, humanitarian aid are simply, are simply not true today. We warned Hamas and we said, look,
13:02if this continues, if you continue to violate this, uh, uh, ceasefire and this, uh, peace accord,
13:08you don't turn over the bodies and you continue to shoot in our soldiers, we're going to have no
13:12choice, but to close the, uh, Rafa, uh, crossing and, and to hold up, uh, any humanitarian aid coming
13:19in because they're using it, uh, to reconstitute themselves and, uh, uh, implement this, um, uh, uh,
13:27terror reign that they have over the citizens of Gaza and, uh, over our troops. We are hoping
13:33against history because that is not the history of Hamas, but we are hoping nonetheless. Ambassador,
13:39thank you for joining us on a Sunday night. It's good to be with you. Yes, sir. Coming up,
13:45why are some lawmakers pro-criminal and anti-law enforcement acting ICE director, Todd Lyons,
13:52weighs in next.
13:53Welcome back to Sunday night in America. A federal grand jury charged suspected Antifa members with
14:20terrorism for a July attack on an ICE facility in Texas. J.B. Pritzker doesn't want help,
14:26but President Trump is undeterred. We moved out 1,700 career criminals and criminals from other
14:33countries that came in through Biden's open border. Governor Pritzker, he doesn't want us in. You know,
14:40if I were him, if I were a Democrat and I were him, I'd say, come on in. What do you have to lose?
14:46J.B. Pritzker is running. Well, actually he's probably walking or playing blackjack at a casino,
14:52but you get the point. He sides with criminals and derides police. God help us. He's ever in
14:58charge of federal law enforcement. Joining us as ICE director, Todd Lyons. Welcome director. Oh,
15:04J.B. Pritzker never met an arsonist, an undocumented alien, a roulette wheel he didn't like,
15:10or an ICE agent that he did. Yeah, it's true. You know, the governor definitely has some very
15:17heated and pointed comments about what we are doing, but I just really wish, you know,
15:20the governor would take into account that we're actually taking criminals out of his state. And
15:25that's what seems to fall on his thought press is the fact that the ICE agents, the men and women
15:28of ICE who are out there every day, along with other partners, are really, truly taking out bad
15:32people from his state. You know, director, I hear he's an avid viewer. So perhaps he's watching
15:39tonight and you and I can educate him. Tell him and the rest of the world how ICE is prioritizing
15:45those that are here unlawfully. Yeah, Trey, that's 100%. You know, we are going after the worst of the
15:53worst. President Trump had that from day one. He said we were going to get the worst of the worst
15:56first out of here. And that's what we focused on, right? Especially these places like Illinois,
16:02Sanctuary City. You know, people in Illinois found it a threat to lock these people up after
16:08they committed a crime. Yet we have to go out and find them again so they don't re-offend
16:11because they just let them on the street. And what we would love to have the cooperation of
16:16having, making arrests in the jails in a secure location. But no, we have to go into the communities
16:20now. And if we're out there, Trey, we're going to get those bad actors. But if we encounter somebody
16:25who's here illegally, we're not going to turn a blind eye no more. Not into this administration.
16:29People are going to be held accountable and ICE is going to enforce immigration law.
16:32All right, Director, for those that are not as well-versed in the criminal justice system,
16:38someone commits a crime, they're in a state or local jail or prison, and ICE wants to place a
16:45detainer or a hold on that person. So when that state or local charge is adjudicated, ICE can get
16:52involved. That, to me, is simply what you are asking them to do, but they will not do that.
16:58No, Trey, you're right. That's 100%. You know, the state has already identified this criminal alien
17:05as just that, a criminal who's committed a crime at the public safety threat that they themselves
17:10have locked up. So why not turn this person over to us in a safe, secure environment? And instead of
17:16letting this person go back out and terrorize the community, or better yet, terrorize the migrant
17:21population because they know there's such a chilling effect of working with ICE that people aren't going
17:25to report any type of crime because they don't see any action when these foreign-born actors are let
17:30back into their communities just to keep committing more crimes.
17:35Yeah, the safest place in the world to serve papers is in a secure facility, like a jail or a prison.
17:42All right, before I let you go, some on the left want convicted criminals to have a sanctuary. You and
17:47I just talked about that. There's some on the right who want mercy shown to women and children and
17:52others who have been here without issue. So how does ICE decide who to deport, or is that agency
17:59simply enforcing deportation orders already in existence?
18:06Yeah, Trey, right now on the books, there's over 1.5 million individuals in the United States that
18:11have been legally and lawfully ordered, removed, deported by a Department of Justice immigration judge,
18:17and they just failed to ignore that order. ICE can't let that stand anymore. Some of them are
18:21criminals, but some people are who came here who asylum claims were false or have done all their
18:27due process and applied for every appeal, yet they were still found deportable. That's what we're
18:32focusing on. We're focusing on the people that are the worst of the worst that are committing crime.
18:36But if you have violated immigration law and you've been lawfully ordered, deported by a judge,
18:41then we're going to make sure we remove you from the country as well. We're no longer going to turn a
18:44blind eye to the Immigration Nationality Act. I know I sound like a broken record, but ICE does not decide
18:51who is subject to a deportation order. That is a judge. You are simply doing what Congress enacted and a
18:59judge ordered. I don't know how people don't get that. Todd Lyons with a very difficult but important job,
19:05but thank you for taking time to join us on a Sunday night.
19:08Thanks, Ray. I appreciate it.
19:12Yes, sir. Up next, the House Judiciary Committee wants to hear from former Special Counsel Jack
19:18Smith, and so do the rest of us now that I'll think about it. Jim Jordan after the break with that and more.
19:23Welcome to Fox News Live. I'm Ashley Strohmeyer in New York. The Secret Service is stepping up
19:38security at Palm Beach International Airport. This comes after an apparent hunting stand with
19:43direct sight lines to Air Force One was found in a nearby tree. President Trump boarded his plane
19:48tonight on a smaller staircase as a precaution. Officials say Air Force One does not normally
19:54park in that area, but has been due to construction. The airport is located near President Trump's golf
20:00club. That's the site of last year's attempted assassination on his life. A man hunt is underway
20:05in Paris for thieves who stole priceless crown jewels from the Louvre Museum. Police say it happened
20:12in less than seven minutes in broad daylight, 30 minutes after opening, while tourists were inside.
20:17They entered through a window using a basket lift, smashed the glass cases, and escaped on scooters.
20:23I'm Ashley Strohmeyer. I'm back to Sunday Night in America.
20:35Welcome back to Sunday Night in America. Prosecutors have enormous power to investigate and die,
20:41plea bargain, cut deals, recommend sentences, offer immunity. The power to search every aspect
20:47of our lives. Prosecutors impact reputations and liberty and livelihood and can even seek to take
20:53your life. To whom much power is given, humility and fairness should be practiced. Our next guest has
21:00been lamenting a two-track justice system for over a decade, highlighting disparate treatment,
21:06prosecutors who reward friends and punish foes, and that he was doing even before Jim Comey and the
21:12Russia hoax. When President Trump won in 2016, some wanted to pursue Hillary Clinton, but President
21:19Trump rejected those calls, saying she'd been through enough and the voters rendered the ultimate
21:24verdict. And then Biden won, and Donald Trump was indicted four times, facing nearly 100 counts in both
21:30state and federal court. And then Donald Trump won again, and now it's U.S. versus Jim Comey,
21:36Letitia James, John Bolton, for now. So where's the line between an aggressive prosecutor and a
21:43vindictive one? And can we get back to a justice system devoid of politics? Jim Jordan now chairs
21:50the committee where he wants to ask those questions and he still wants answers. Welcome, Mr. Chairman.
21:56Who do you want to hear from? And without showing your hand, yes, sir, you too. Without showing your
22:01hand, what are you looking to learn? Well, we want to hear from Jack Smith, and we've had two of his
22:08deputies come in, and they took the fifth, I think, each of them over 70 times, took the fifth to
22:13questions like, was this a political exercise going after President Trump? I refuse to answer.
22:20We asked them the question, how many other members of Congress did you surveil? I mean, we know they
22:24surveilled eight United States senators. We know that the deputies, before they became part of Jack
22:28Smith's team, took the phone of one of our, your former colleague, my current colleague, Scott Perry,
22:33General Perry, took the phone of a sitting member of Congress. So we want to ask Jack Smith some
22:38questions. We'll see if he answers more than Mr. Bratt and Mr. Wyndham did when we had them in for their
22:43deposition. And Trey, I would also say this, never forget what Jack Smith did. Put a gag order on the
22:50President of the United States, raided his home, offered what appears to be a bribe to one of the lawyers
22:55for a defendant, Mr. Woodward. And then when they did take classified, so-called classified
23:00information from President Trump's home, they mishandled it. So they did the very thing they
23:06were charging President Trump with doing. They mishandled classified information, had to file
23:09an addendum with the court after they did so. So that's the background in history, not to mention
23:14all you went through. And then you have the fact two of his deputies took the fifth. So we'd like to
23:19talk to Mr. Smith. All right, Sherman, you did better than I did in law school, but I thought
23:25the Fifth Amendment only protected answers that might incriminate you. So clearly you can ask
23:32someone the name. You and I were in a hearing once where we kind of played around with what's
23:36incriminatory and what's not. How in the world can you take the fifth unless you're trying to not
23:43incriminate yourself? And incriminate yourself for what? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
23:49Particularly that question, like it seems to me it'd been pretty simple for the deputies when we
23:54asked them, was this a political exercise that Mr. Smith's special counsel was doing? Was it
23:58politically motivated to go after President Trump? I refused to answer. He exercised my Fifth
24:02Amendment liberties was the response. So how many others did you surveil? I think that's important to
24:06know. I mean, the fact that we figured out that it was eight United States senators, a member of
24:10Congress, and then they took the phone of another member of Congress. My guess is they probably did
24:15get the toll analysis, the phone records of other members of Congress. We don't know yet, but that's
24:20something we're certainly going to ask them. So yeah, I don't get it either, but we're going to give
24:24Mr. Smith an opportunity to respond. All right. Even when President Trump won in 2016, and I was working
24:32alongside primarily under you, we had a hard time getting information from DOJ. So how cooperative has the
24:40department been this time around? Yeah, great question. And you know Cash Patel because you
24:47worked with him both when you were on the Judiciary Committee and maybe more importantly, when you were
24:50on the Intelligence Committee working with Chairman Nunes. So Cash has been great. We've gotten all kinds
24:55of information on a number of issues that they just refused to get. The best example is probably the
25:00memorandum from the Richmond field office that said, basically, if you're a pro-life Catholic,
25:04the FBI was treating you as an extremist. And we got all kinds of information that Director Wray
25:10and the Garland Justice Department wouldn't give to us. So I've been very pleased with Director Patel,
25:16Attorney General Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Blanche, and their responsiveness to Congress
25:20and getting us information we have long sought. We have asked for for years, and now we're finally
25:25getting it. Well, we are going to be tuned in when government reopens and this hearing takes place.
25:32We might have to sit there and listen to a lot of Fifth Amendment invocations, but I want you to keep
25:37in the back of your mind, it's supposed to protect you from incriminating answers. I don't know what
25:43Jack Smith is worried about that might incriminate him, but we will find out when Chairman Jim Jordan
25:49has his hearing. Thank you, as always, Mr. Chairman, for joining us on a Sunday night.
25:53All right. Take care. Thank you.
25:57South Carolina is a red state. Lately, it's red because of blood. Last week, four people were
26:02killed near Buford, South Carolina. Logan Federico was murdered by a career criminal in our capital,
26:08just a short distance from where state lawmakers sit. Governor Henry McMaster, a former state and
26:15federal prosecutor, is tough on crime. But the justice system is primarily run by the General
26:21Assembly, which is primarily run by criminal defense attorneys. Many politicians run for
26:27office claiming to be pro-law enforcement and pro-victim. They just don't govern that way.
26:32South Carolina also made the news because state lawmakers tried to give themselves a pay raise.
26:38Senator Wes Clymer opposes that pay raise and joins us now. Welcome, Senator. I'm sure that did
26:43not make you popular with your colleagues. I believe this issue is scheduled for argument before
26:49the South Carolina Supreme Court. Is that right? That's right, Trey. It's good to be with you.
26:55The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday morning. And as you said, this has not made me the
27:01most popular guy at the statehouse. But the bottom line is the taxpayers deserve better than the sneaky
27:06pay raise. It's unconstitutional. The court enjoined it at the outset. And it looks like, you know,
27:12we're pretty optimistic that the court will see it our way in the end.
27:16It sounds to me like you are bold and unafraid enough to take unpopular positions. So I'm going
27:22to press my luck. Speaking of the Supreme Court, current Justice John Few was actually one of the best
27:29trial judges I ever appeared before. And he's being challenged by a former Speaker of the House,
27:35who, to my knowledge, has no judicial experience at all. Why would the General Assembly replace John Few
27:42with Jay Lucas? So this gets to one of the broader problems we have in the criminal justice arena,
27:49the court system generally in South Carolina, in that lawyer legislators who are primarily criminal
27:56defense attorneys or civil plaintiff's attorneys really dominate the selection of judges. And as a
28:03consequence, our criminal justice system is tilted heavily in the direction of criminal defendants
28:09and heavily in the direction of plaintiffs, which results in outsized judgments and increase the
28:14cost of everything on every consumer. And so seeing his former Speaker run for Supreme Court after
28:21having never served as a judge illustrates the extent of the improper legislative influence over the
28:30judiciary and is part of the reason why tomorrow morning I'll be joining with some legislators from
28:36both the House and the Senate in Doge SC to file legislation to just get rid of the lawyer legislator
28:44problem at the point of judicial selection by handing over that appointment power to the governor by giving
28:51the governor all of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission appointees.
28:57God bless you for that one. I mean, if I rack my brain out of 170, I can think of Tommy Pope and Greg
29:03Embry, two former prosecutors. And beyond that, my mind goes blank. So you mentioned something that's
29:10near and dear to my heart. In South Carolina, I assume lawyer legislators still appear in front of
29:17the very judges that they screen and they elect. They do all the time. And, you know, they are fond of saying
29:27that they don't get any, you know, undue influence in the courtroom. But everybody with two eyes and a brain
29:32knows that's not the truth. The judges are very careful not to offend lawyer legislators. The best
29:38justice money can buy in this state is hiring a lawyer legislator. It is a real problem, a real
29:43conflict of interest. And we got to get it fixed. All right, Senator, before I let you go, South Carolina
29:49is supposed to be a red state. It's supposed to be a Republican conservative state. And a lot of these
29:54legislators run for offices, pro-law enforcement, pro-victim. They just don't govern that way once they get down
30:01there. And you see that a lot in the judicial selection process. And so far as a lot of the
30:08judges are former criminal defense attorneys, the judges are former plaintiff's attorneys,
30:13and they bring those predispositions into the courtroom with them. And so I really think that a
30:19critical ingredient to restoring a common sense, you know, system of justice in this state is reducing
30:26that lawyer legislator influence over the process. Well, I know you're running for Congress. Call me
30:33after the show. I'll talk you out of it. I was there for eight years. But if I can't, best of luck to you
30:41in your future pursuits, and especially on Monday, because the criminal justice system really does
30:46matter. Senator Wes Clymer from the upstate just south of Charlotte in South Carolina, thank you for
30:52joining us on a Sunday night. Yes, sir. Trey, good to be with you. Thanks for the invitation.
30:58Yes, sir. Take care. Coming up, China and the U.S. were set to meet, and hope was building,
31:03and then China pulled a fast one. And more on this after the break with Mr. Wonderful.
31:22Welcome back to Sunday Night in America. Just when it looked like things were going
31:30swimmingly, China upped the ante by restricting rare earth minerals, and President Trump then
31:36responded by threatening 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. Are we in a trade war? Can you win a trade
31:42war? How do you avoid a trade war? Joining us is Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures. He
31:48also answers to Mr. Wonderful. Mr. Wonderful, what happened? Xi and Trump were set to meet,
31:54and now this. Yeah, this is unfortunate, but this is the nature of a long, outstanding negotiation,
32:02because China is unique to all the other trade deals, nothing like it for a few reasons. Number
32:06one, it's a behemoth economy. There's an interdependence between the U.S. economy and China,
32:11so something's going to have to get worked out. But there's also outstanding issues since 2000
32:16and that China has not resolved. They don't abide by the rules of the World Trade Organization that
32:21they're a member of. There's all kinds of trade disputes in Germany, France, United States, Canada
32:25of IP theft. There's the TikTok deal. Let's not forget about that. That's probably going to go
32:31sideways for a while. It's one big package, Trey, one big package. And, you know, when you throw out
32:38the rare earth stuff and you start with that, that's just the beginning. It's the tip of the iceberg,
32:45so to speak. There's so much work to be done here. But both leaders have to do this dance,
32:52and that's the nature of it. There will be a deal. I guarantee you that.
32:59All right. If you say it, I believe it. So let me ask you about tariffs generally. They have produced
33:05some revenue. The other piece was the domestic manufacturing returning. Has that piece occurred
33:11yet? And do you think it can still happen? Well, let's, you know, we've had enough time since you
33:19and I last talked to dissect what's occurred. There needs to be a lot of fine tuning on these
33:24tariffs because you don't want to tariff stuff that you don't have. If you don't have bauxite for
33:29aluminum, why make it more expensive for yourself? So you want to, you have to kind of be surgical in
33:35your strategy. The real game that the market believes is going to happen, which is why it remains near
33:40all-time highs, is that country by country, there'll be a reciprocal tax against the value-added tax that
33:47they impose on American products. So if you go to France, you go to Italy, Switzerland, you name it,
33:54they have what's called a VAT tax, value-added tax, a consumption tax. American product sells there,
33:59they whack on 7 to 14 percent. In the end trade, what I believe is going to happen is the U.S. will
34:05impose a similar tariff on similar goods coming in, sort of in the 7 to 14 range. Both economies can
34:13survive on that. But when you get crazy chicken stuff, like 39 percent on Swiss, that's too much,
34:19they can't handle that. 157 percent on China, that just makes them crazy. Xi's going out of his mind
34:26because that shuts down his economy. He has to have access to the world's largest consumer base,
34:30that's the United States. So it's a, it's a, think about, it's like a chess game. It's, you move a
34:37piece this way and then you move it that way and they come back. Nobody's checkmating anybody because
34:43we all need each other, but a reciprocal sort of 10 to 15 percent worldwide, that can work with
34:52the covenant that I mentioned earlier. Don't tax yourself on stuff you don't have. You know,
34:58if you don't have a commodity, don't do that to yourself. And that's what we have to kind of
35:03figure out. Which of the, maybe aluminum, for example. And no, you can't redomesticate
35:08manufacturing in three years. It takes 15 years. So it's the beginning of something.
35:15The president may take you with you to Beijing or wherever he's going to China. You may be part
35:21of the negotiating team. Well, Trey, you know, I've been a China hawk for years. If I go there,
35:26they'll throw me in jail in four seconds. That's what's going to happen. I don't want that to happen.
35:31Then I got nobody to talk to on election night. I really, really want China to grow up and stop
35:38stealing IP. The only reason we're not talking to ByteDance that owns TikTok is Chi has the golden
35:45share. He controls the whole thing. It doesn't matter what the management wants there. What kind of crazy
35:50chicken stuff is that? Imagine if we put that on American company, some random dude
35:55controls every company on the S&P 500. That just doesn't work. So now for the first time in 40
36:02years, we have an administration that's calling BS. And I like it. I'm okay with it. I've lived with
36:09this for decades. I'm not, you know, saying, you know, I don't shill for politicians. I shill for
36:15policy. I like this policy. Let's put their heads to the grindstone and make them comply.
36:22And let's be, let's get into a reciprocal level playing field. Let's play football with the same
36:28rules. That's what I'm talking about. Mr. Wonderful advocating for the, perhaps the oldest virtue of
36:35all, which is simply fairness. Thank you, Mr. Wonderful for joining us on a Sunday night.
36:41We'll see you soon. Take care. Yes, sir. Next, your questions take center stage,
36:48including one which has vexed the smartest minds throughout history, only on Sunday night in America.
36:55Welcome back to Sunday night in America. Once again, your questions are better than my answers.
37:15First up, Cheyenne from Palm Harbor, Florida. Hi, my name is Cheyenne and I'm from Palm Harbor,
37:22Florida. And my question for Trey is, how long do you think the government shutdown will last?
37:29I wish I knew the answer. People are hurting and feeling a lot of pain and it is wholly unnecessary.
37:35Most Americans cannot afford to miss paychecks. Congress is paid at the end of each month, so you
37:40better believe it will be resolved by then. This shutdown never should have occurred.
37:46Republicans were not seeking anything beyond the status quo. It was good enough for Democrats
37:51previously, and then they decided it wasn't. Why? Because their base sits in a catatonic trance and
37:57shouts, fight, fight, fight. Democrats are in the minority. One would assume they're in the minority
38:03for a reason, which is people rejected their ideas and policies. I don't know how you expect to dictate
38:09the terms when you cannot win elections. By October 31st is my answer. But with the caveat,
38:17this shutdown was nonsensical from the beginning. Jenny from Arlington, Texas wants to know.
38:25Hi, Trey. My name is Jenny from Arlington, Texas. And my question is,
38:29what college football matchup are you most looking forward to this year?
38:32Oh, I love the last week of the season because of the rivalry games. Clemson versus South Carolina
38:38is huge down here. Also, the week after conference is conference championship week,
38:42which is fun. And then the week after that is Army-Navy. I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of
38:48love letters after this answer. But if I had to pick three, and I don't because I plan on watching
38:53all of them, it would be Carolina Clemson, Alabama Auburn, and Michigan Ohio State.
38:59Chan from Anniston, Alabama with a question which vexed Aristotle, Plato, and Clark Griswold,
39:05three of the great philosophers of our time.
39:07Hey, Trey. I'm Chan from Anniston, Alabama. And I want to know if you think it's acceptable to
39:15dress dogs for holidays. And if so, what will Justice be wearing?
39:20Hmm. What is the origin of evil? Is infinity a number? And should we dress dogs for the holidays?
39:27Arguably the three most piercing questions of our time. I cannot imagine dogs or cats like having
39:33outfits put on them. People don't like it. My own mother made me wear a brown leisure suit and a
39:39family photo at Easter, which is a violation of international law. Yes, mom, you got a great deal
39:45on that brown leisure suit. You want to know why? Because no one else was going to buy it.
39:51I have some unprocessed grief. Back to your question. Justice will not be dressing up for
39:56Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Halle Berry does not need makeup. Justice does not need an
40:02outfit. Nor will he sit still long enough for one to be put on. I'm going to let each parent decide
40:09whether and how to dress his or her pet. But Justice hired a lawyer and he got an injunction
40:15preventing Terry from putting some pumpkin vest or Santa hat on him. So no, he will just be his
40:21handsome self for the holidays. If you have a question, find us online at Gaudi America or email
40:28us at gaudiamerica at fox.com. Thank you for spending part of your Sunday with us. Hope you have a great
40:35week ahead. Until next week, you can find us online or on the Trey Gatti podcast. Good night from South Carolina.
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