Give us an update.

Hey, good to be with you.

Well, listen, this is all right now.

This is all about.

getting ready for the election November 3rd.

We've got to get out there and make sure people understand the great things that have happened under President Trump, the stopping of the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.

In Pennsylvania, fentanyl deaths went from 4,000 a year to 1,500, 60% decline, lowest violent crime rate in decades, energy dominance.

It threatens the American way of life.

So tell us, what is happening? What is on your mind, Senator? Well, man, we got these midterms

coming up here November 3rd, and the stakes could not be higher.

I know a lot of people are worried about gas prices across Pennsylvania, which I am too.

I know it's a real burden.

And I know there's lots of things that we need to continue to get done.

But, you know, I think there's two messages.

One is you got to step back and look at the incredible progress President Trump has made and Republican majorities have made and stopping the flow of fentanyl across the borders.

You needed legislation to get it

So tell us, what is happening? What is on your mind, Senator? Well, man, we got these

midterms coming up here November 3rd, and the stakes could not be higher.

I know a lot of people are worried about gas prices across Pennsylvania, which I am too.

I know it's a real burden.

And I know there's lots of things that we need to continue to get done.

But, you know, I think there's two messages.

One is you got to step back and look at the incredible progress President Trump has made and Republican majorities have made and stopping the flow of fentanyl across the borders.

It drives me

How are you different than other senators?

Well, first, let me start with it's great to be with you, and it's a real privilege to be in the Senate.

I ran for this job twice, lost the first time by 900 votes, and won the second time by 15,000 out of 7 million.

I like to say that I'm the 54th elected senator in Pennsylvania's history.

I'm the ninth senator in the history of the country from West Point.

But I have a title that Dina and our six girls would never have dreamed possible, which is the best dressed senator from Pennsylvania.

Because my buddy, my buddy, John Fetterman, he would even agree with that.

If that happens, you think you could talk your pal John into coming over to the winning team?

What is your response to that?

Well, we are in the midst of something that is probably the most profound change that will happen in our lifetimes.

It may be in human history.

This technology offers enormous benefits, productivity improvements, solving rare diseases.

This is incredible.

It also poses risk.

in terms of disruption in the economy, in the job market, in terms of wealth concentration, possibly in terms of bioterrorism like that.

What can Congress do to address all of that?

What is your response to that?

Well, we are in the midst of something that is probably the most profound change that will happen in our lifetimes.

It may be in human history.

This technology offers enormous benefits, productivity improvements, solving rare diseases.

This is incredible.

It also poses risk.

in terms of disruption in the economy, in the job market, in terms of wealth concentration, possibly in terms of bioterrorism like that.

What can Congress do to address all of that?

And particularly with Israel, Democrat Party has always been pro-Israel.

No, no. It's that great Ronald Reagan line about, I didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left me.

That's really what's happening.

John Fetterman hasn't changed.

His positions are by and large the same.

What happened is the Democratic Party has moved very far to the left, not just in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel, although that's a big part of it.

It's socialism, it's anti-military, it's anti-law enforcement.

So what are your thoughts going into this debate on AI?

And particularly with Israel, Democrat Party has always been pro-Israel.

No, no. It's that great Ronald Reagan line about, I didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left me.

That's really what's happening.

John Fetterman hasn't changed.

His positions are by and large the same.

What happened is the Democratic Party has moved very far to the left, not just in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel, although that's a big part of it.

It's socialism, it's anti-military, it's anti-law enforcement.

So what are your thoughts going into this debate on AI?

Did, did, did, how, how, how exactly did you do that? And that was quite the headline, and well done.

Yeah.

Well, you know, he and I, uh, it's a g- it's a genuine friendship.

You know, we disagree on a lot of things, Benny, but, uh, he, he wakes up every morning saying, "What can I do for Pennsylvania?" And, uh, we've found a lot of common ground on fracking and, uh, and borders and, you know, bringing manufacturing and steel-making back to Pennsylvania.

So we look for ways to work together, and, uh, he leads a lot of the efforts, I lead a lot of the efforts.

So someone had said to me, uh, someone, uh, had suggested from the White House Boys, there was any way to get him involved, and I said, "I, I doubt it.

But if he would be involved, um, my guess is he might be willing to introduce me." We're, you know, we're, we're, we're genuine friends.

Yeah.

Do you expect him to be able to do it? And how much money will it take?

Well, listen, these races are all so incredibly expensive these days.

My race was $500 million in 2024.

And so the key here is to have good candidates and make sure they have the resources they need and have a great message.

And I think we'll prevail in Texas.

And I think that our candidate, Ken Paxton, will have success.

the resources he needs to prevail.

Shouldn't we beat them to the punch on escalation?

Oh, is that right? I didn't-

Her...

They live in Dallas, and her story is the most remarkable story.

As, as you know, an, an immigrant, came, came to America when she was five.

But that story of being a waitress and kinda coming up, but, but, uh, I, I won't retell the story 'cause it was on your last episode.

But the fact that her father came here and, you know, didn't speak English, was forming the m- and then worked his way up, uh, mowed grass, dr- drove the bus, and became a successful entrepreneur, and then could see his daughter-

It's incredible

... it's America at its best, right? These are 40 passengers, crew, just normal people.

Could you share anything you can give to the audience about the strategy?

Well, You know, he said from day one we're going to use all the tools at our disposal.

And the military campaign, just in objective terms, by any measure, has been devastated to taking out Iran's military capability.

I was looking at some statistics.

I was in the Gulf War, which was viewed at the time as the most successful high-tech war in the history of the world.

Yeah.

And if you look at the number of airplanes, manufacturing facilities, missile launchers, all that, that have been destroyed in this campaign, it's orders of magnitude more effective than what happened yesterday.

Share some updates on that and then also on the general Republican messaging on the economy.

What's your current view about military performance, readiness, and where do you think we stand with Iran six months

later? Well, I'd say that there's no doubt we have the most magnificent military capability in the world.

They've done, I think, a remarkable job.

I was a soldier in the Gulf War, and at the time, the Gulf War is viewed as the most successful modern military action in history.

By any measure, this has been even more effective.

dramatically reducing the capabilities of Iran on the ground, and that combined with the economic blockade, the pressures that are being put on, are really forcing Iran to a fork in the road.

They can either go down the path, as we hope they will, where they give up any path to a nuclear weapon, or they continue to feel the pressure of both our military capability and these economic...

When you think about how far the Democrats have moved away here, What does this say to you about not just the November 26th election, but what we're ultimately going to decide as a country in November 28th? Well, listen, I

What's your current view about military performance, readiness, and where do you think we stand with Iran six months later?

Well, I'd say that there's no doubt we have the most magnificent military capability in the world.

They've done, I think, a remarkable job.

I was a soldier in the Gulf War, and at the time, the Gulf War is viewed as the most successful modern military action in history.

By any measure, this has been even more effective.

It dramatically reducing the capabilities of Iran on the ground, and that combined with the economic blockade, the pressures that are being put on, are really forcing Iran to a fork in the road.

They can either go down the path, as we hope they will, where they give up any path to a nuclear weapon, or they continue to feel the pressure of both our military capability and these economic...

When you think about how far the Democrats have moved away here, What does this say to you about not just the November 26 election, but what we're ultimately going to decide as a country in November 28? Well, listen, I think

And are we prepare- prepared for that? And I, I'm curious what you tell your constituents about that.

Well, I, I don't, I don't share that, uh, view that I, that I heard earlier about there's, it's one or the other.

I, I think that, listen, the Chinese are, are always difficult to deal with.

But what we have here i- is a lot of alignment, uh, of interest in terms of the Strait of Hormuz.

40 to 50% of, uh, of the oil and natural gas that supports, uh, China goes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Uh, they're the beneficiary of, uh, of Iran's oil, which is, which is part of the problem here.

Uh, but this, this war with Iran is, is, uh, an added burden on an already weak ...

But maybe the, the bigger question I think is what, what do you tell your constituents just about the, the length of this, of this war? How it ends? How quickly it ends? Clearly, the popularity of it, uh, is, is quite low and, and we're gonna get into a conversation about the midterms, but there's a big question about how it's going to affect or how it is affecting the economy, but also how it may affect the midterms.

Hmm.

There's a connection between those two things.

So China and Russia, there's hearings in the House on this point, are trying to influence the debate here at home.

Why? Because as you and I just discussed, leading in AI requires, uh, capability of energy and computing power.

And so if you were gonna try to slow America and you were China, how would you do that? Well, you'd create big political controversies.

That's one of the reasons.

Not the only reason, but that, that's one of the influencers.

Right

So tell us about your new company to cover

up the old quarterback.

You never miss the opportunity to come back.

Listen, when the Browns start winning Super Bowls, you've got something to talk about.

This is the answer.

Talk to us about the defense summit because that was pretty big news.

Oh, man, it was unbelievable.

A lot of them are coming.

Senator McCormick, do you know much about this army of the gods that hit the papers today?

You know, I don't I don't know much about it.

I read about it.

It sounds it sounds remarkable.

But I think it's an example of the changing nature of warfare.

Warfare has changed dramatically from the time I was in the Gulf War till now.

It's a completely different battlefield and it's posing all sorts of new risk.

But the point is, at a bare minimum, we need help on the voter I.D. and we need help on the military money.

Senator, what do you do when your opponent says things like that?

that?Well, uh, nice to be with you, Brian.

I think that what we've gotta do i- is make sure these ideas, these radical ideas on the left are clear to everybody.

The Democratic Party, it's not just the extreme, it's the mainstream of the party, is embracing a philosophy that is anti-military, anti-law enforcement, anti-business, anti-Semitic, and anti-American.

And, uh, and these ideas, socialism, communism, when I was a soldier, uh, we were, we were fighting [laughs] in the Cold War, and I never dreamed for a minute when the Cold War ended and these ideas of socialism and communism went in the dustbin of history, that they'd, they'd, they'd rise from the ashes and be what the Democratic Party is running on.

Capitalism is the idea that has raised the most people out of poverty.

It's created enormous opportunity and growth.

What's the resolve here?

Um, how- Important is it for this war to wind down, or are you of the thought that the administration needs to do more militarily?

Yeah.

Well, first, thank you, uh, thank you for having me.

Thank you all for, for coming, and, uh, thanks for those warm introductions.

Appreciate it.

Uh, you know, this is really probably the defining foreign policy question of, of, of our time, certainly at the moment, but I think you have to put the, the war in Iran with- in context, which is this has been, uh, the biggest sponsor of state terror, uh, in the last forty-seven years.

This has been a country that has killed thousands of Americans.

Is the United States capable of providing the energy necessary to meet the growing demands, which are only supposed to increase?

What do we need to change when we think about the kind of investments that need to be made in this country?

Well, there's three, three big changes that have happened.

One, the, the world's getting more dangerous.

Two, the nature of war- warfare is changing dramatically with drones, autonomy, AI.

And third, we've had apathy within our defense ecosystem, so we need to introduce new players into our defense ecosystem, drone manufacturers and all sorts of other unique capabilities, and we need to change the way we procure defense systems.

So needs to be much faster, it needs to be much more competitive.

We need to constantly be innovating.

Are you starting to get concerned about what's happening with the bond market here at these levels? And if not, when?

What do we need to change when we think about the kind of investments that need to be made in this country?

Well, there's three, three big changes that have happened.

One, the, the world's getting more dangerous.

Two, the nature of war, warfare is changing dramatically with drones, autonomy, AI.

And third, we've had apathy within our defense ecosystem, so we need to introduce new players into our defense ecosystem, drone manufacturers and all sorts of other unique capabilities, and we need to change the way we procure defense systems.

So it needs to be much faster.

It needs to be much more competitive.

Are you starting to get concerned about what's happening with the bond market here at these levels? And if not, when?

Hmm

... for s- powdered metals, machine, uh, prism- precision machinings that support SpaceX and NASA.

So Pennsylvania's uniquely positioned.

So to get back to the long answer to your question, but why Pennsylvania? Why'd I do this? 'Cause I was thinking, wow, we can, we can help drive the na- nation's agenda to peace through strength.

President Trump's re- is, is on the move.

He wants to change all this stuff, and we can be the lead in trying to help accomplish that goal, and in doing so, we'll create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Pennsylvania.

[laughs]

Where capitalism and, um, and our system of governance and freedom, uh, is, is the only path.

How can United States of America, the richest, most powerful nation on Earth, fall behind in defense? Who let that happen, and how do we stop it?

Well, I think it's, um, uh, there's a, there's a, there's a couple things.

It's been a, a multi-decade thing.

Uh, President Trump, in his first term, started to turn the tide, and then he left office, and now he's doubling down on making sure that transformation continues to happen.

But, but I'd say, I'd say a couple things.

We spend more money than any other country in the world.

But, uh, we've had limited competition because the, the defense primes, the major contractors, have really been responsible for much, uh, of the defense capability we've had.

... you feel like this could revolutionize warfare.

Unbelievable.

And we've got s- we've got 600 C-level executives, 500 companies represented, the president's office is gonna come, his cabinet's gonna come, and it's all about Pennsylvania, John.

So, you know, we're in the middle of this incredible transformation, uh, peace through strength.

What does that mean? It means you have to re- reinvent your military capability.

You have to, you have to fix a bunch of the problems of the past.

The defense, um, establishment essentially let our military capability wane.

President Trump's fixing that, and what's happening here is we're gonna have all the key defense leaders, all the CEOs of the major companies.

No booth to the best booth.