Well, I had to protect my career and use the beep

in there.

But go ahead, Governor.

You know, and there's profanity in the book.

I want to warn your listeners and your viewers.

Unfortunately, I use that word all too often in private conversations back then when I was governor.

Tried to get better at that when I was in prison.

I know how he was treated by the FBI.

[laughs]

I'm sure they don't.

Um, but no, look, the kitchen table issues are critical, and it, everyday people have to face them and deal with those issues, and they look to government to lend them a helping hand and do things along the lines that can bring down the burdens that they have to face.

The Republican Party traditionally has never been interested in doing anything about that.

The Democratic Party that I was in was.

This Democratic Party today had a chance to help President Trump by y- eliminating taxes on tips, eliminating taxes on overtime, reducing and eliminating some taxes on Social Security.

On every one of those things, today's Democrats voted against it.

Does him talking about his name in this way solve that problem?

Yeah.

But I like what Trump is doing for, for America.

I like how he's changed the Republican Party.

I like how he's becoming really the working-class president.

You know, what did President Trump just do? And the Republican Party with his leadership.

They passed no tax on...

No tix- no tax on tips, no tax on overtime.

Would you put Illinois in the mix, be one of the blue states that says, "Heck yes, we're gonna be a part of this, of this, uh, education credit"?

Yeah.

But I like what Trump is doing for, for America.

I like how he's changed the Republican Party.

I like how he's becoming really the working class president.

You know, what did President Trump just do? And the Republican Party, with his leadership, they passed no tax on, no tax, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime.

They reduced taxes on Social Security.

Uh, there's a, the, the Trump accounts that would provide working families a chance to put some money away that when their, for their children, when their children grow up, it'll be worth over a million dollars.

Would you put Illinois in the mix, be one of the blue states that says, "Heck yes, we're gonna be a part of this, of this, uh, education credit"?

Hmm

... because they prove exactly what they were stopping, and it wasn't a crime spree.

It was a political deal to create tens of thousands of jobs in Illinois, healthcare for people, and no tax increase.

I was gonna hold my nose and make the attorney general, Lisa Madigan, the senator, in exchange for a deal with her father, then the speaker, Mike Madigan, for those things for the people.

I didn't like her.

I didn't like him.

He was my biggest political enemy, but it was the best deal I could get.

Would you put Illinois in the mix, be one of the blue states that says, "Heck yes we're gonna be a part of this, of this, uh, education credit"?

They're always going to say that they were targeted for some reason, and sometimes they are, and sometimes, you know, they're not, and other times the government is gonna have a hard time explaining why did we go after this person for this reason and let so many other serious crimes just fall by the wayside.

It's a great question, and, and, and it's a healthy skepticism.

You should be-- we all, as American citizens, should be, uh, you know, skeptical when a politician is accused of, uh, breaking a law or, uh, is accused of wrongdoing.

That's not, uh, an unusual thing.

It's certainly not unusual in Chicago.

Chicago has a reputation of being, of having corrupt, sort of a corrupt kind of politics.

My experience tells me what, how politics is done in Chicago is no different than how it's done in Washington.

We're not gonna indict her because that would be interfering with the election." And she was gonna get a pass for that reason, and that did not sit well with a lot of people who said, "Hey, if she did things wrong that jeopardized national security, we shouldn't be giving her a pass just because she's a month away from maybe getting elected."

What's your take on this?

I know a lot about that library.

I know that neighborhood very well.

I mean, that library, if anybody takes a look at it, is really a monument to Obama's hypocrisy and selfishness.

The fact is he claims that when he started out in politics, before he did, he was a community activist.

I've always suspected, I've known Obama since 1995, that that was just a political thing.

that David Axelrod and him, his consultant Axelrod, he used to work for me, Axelrod, kind of conjured up to make Obama look like a guy who was from the community, which he wasn't.

What would people learn about Barack Obama in your new book? And where can people get it?

So what are the stakes this midterm?

Well, the stakes are high.

The question is whether we continue to go forward with President Trump's policies, which have been great for working people, whether we go backwards with what the Democrats are proposing.

Look, they claim to be the populist.

They're not.

Trump is the populist.

He's the blue collar president.

WHEN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SEE THE PRESIDENT WITH ALL THESE TITANS OF INDUSTRY, BUNCH OF BILLIONAIRES, BUNCH OF TECH MOGULS, DO YOU THINK THAT RUBS THEM THE WRONG WAY, OR DO YOU THINK, OH, MAYBE THEY'RE WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS FOR US?

That's what you're guilty of.

Well, that's right.

And not only politics, but good government, which the first Mayor Daley used to say was good politics.

Good politics is good government.

Good government is good politics.

I was on the verge of potentially making a political deal for the Senate seat in exchange for appointing the Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, who I did not like.

Because her father was my political nemesis, and the two of them, the leading Democrats, were obstructing my efforts as governor to do things for the people.

It's really quite extraordinary.

That's what you're guilty of.

Well, that's right.

And not only politics, but good government, which the first mayor daily used to say was good politics.

Good politics is good government.

Good government is good politics.

I was on the verge of potentially making a political deal for the Senate seat in exchange for appointing the attorney general of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, who I did not like because her father was my political nemesis.

And the two of them leading Democrats were obstructing my efforts as governor to do things for the people.

It's really quite extraordinary.

have to run.

The only thing they got right about that law that says I can't run for governor is that he spelled my name right, which before I became governor, nobody could spell.

Look, this is a real bad thing they did to me, of course.

It was a long journey.

It was eight years in prison for non-crimes.

President Trump pulled me out of there.

Before that, there were many years we were fighting back against what was wrong.

guess the U.S. Attorney was listening to the President-elect.

have to run.

The only thing they got right about that law that says I can't run for governor is that he spelled my name right, which before I became governor, nobody could spell.

Look, this is – it's a real bad thing they did to me, of course.

It was a long journey.

It was eight years in prison for non-crimes.

President Trump pulled me out of there.

Before that, there were many years we were fighting back against what was wrong.

guess the U.S. Attorney was listening to the President-elect.

have to run.

The only thing they got right about that law that says I can't run for governor is that he spelled my name right, which before I became governor, nobody could spell.

Look, this is a real bad thing they did to me, of course.

It was a long journey.

It was eight years in prison for non-crimes.

President Trump pulled me out of there.

Before that, there were many years we were fighting back against what was wrong.

guess the U.S. Attorney was listening to the President-elect.

[laughs]

... before I became governor, nobody could spell.

Look, this is, it's a real bad thing they did to me, of course.

It, it was a long journey.

It was eight years in prison for non-crimes.

President Trump pulled me out of there.

Before that, there were many years we were fighting back against what was wrong.

So I guess, uh, I guess the, the US attorney was listening to the president-elect.

We need someone 20 times better.

Well, thank you very much for all those nice things you're saying.

I really appreciate that.

I really think I was a great governor.

for the people.

And I was able to do things, advance things for everyday, ordinary people without raising taxes on them, which is something most Democrats don't do.

They are all about raising taxes first.

What's your take on that?

We need someone 20 times better.

Well, thank you very much for... all those nice things you're saying.

I really appreciate that.

I really think I was a great governor for the people.

And I was able to do things, advanced things for everyday, ordinary people without raising taxes on them, which is something most Democrats don't do.

They are all about raising taxes first.

And that figured out how the insiders are going to spend the people's money.

What's your take on that?

We need someone 20 times better.

Well, thank you very much for... all those nice things you're saying.

I really appreciate that.

I really think I was a great governor for the people.

And I was able to do things, advance things for everyday, ordinary people without raising taxes on them, which is something most Democrats don't do.

They are all about raising taxes first.

And that figured out how the insiders are going to spend the people's money.

What's your take on that?

We need someone 20 times better.

Well, thank you very much for... all those nice things you're saying.

I really appreciate that.

I really think I was a great governor for the people.

And I was able to do things, advance things for everyday, ordinary people without raising taxes on them, which is something most Democrats don't do.

They are all about raising taxes first.

And that figured out how the insiders are going to spend the people's money.

What's your take on that?

We need someone 20 times better.

Well, thank you very much for... all those nice things you're saying.

I really appreciate that.

I really think I was a great governor for the people.

And I was able to do things, advanced things for everyday, ordinary people without raising taxes on them, which is something most Democrats don't do.

They are all about raising taxes first.

And that figured out how the insiders are going to spend the people's money.

What's your take on that?

What do you say, Rod?

I say that's a rumor that you're the one talking about that.

I'm not, because thank goodness my wife doesn't listen to this radio show.

I'd get in big trouble if she heard you say that.

But let me thank you, John, for having me here.

This is such a special day for the American people.

God bless all the men and women who died on 9-11.

and i feel like right now especially given everything that's going on in the world how critical it is that we protect our men and women that they know we have their back and also special our military their thousands of we've got so many troops overseas right now

What do you say, Rod?

I say that's a rumor that you're the one talking about that.

I'm not, because thank goodness my wife doesn't listen to this radio show.

I'd get in big trouble if she heard you say that.

But let me thank you, John, for having me here.

This is such a special day for the American people.

God bless all the men and women who died on 9-11.

and also special our military their thousands of we've got so many troops overseas right now

What do you say, Rod?

I say that's a rumor that you're the one talking about that.

I'm not, because thank goodness my wife doesn't listen to this radio show.

I'd get in big trouble if she heard you say that.

But let me thank you, John, for having me here.

This is such a special day for the American people.

God bless all the men and women who died on 9-11.

I mean, these are frontline fighters.

What do you say, Rod?

I say that's a rumor that you're the one talking about that.

I'm not, because thank goodness my wife doesn't listen to this radio show.

I'd get in big trouble if she heard you say that.

But let me thank you, John, for having me here.

This is such a special day for the American people.

God bless all the men and women who died on 9-11.

I mean, these are frontline fighters.

So you've got to deliver on the birthday wish for you to be mayor, Governor.

No, I appreciate what John said.

You know, I'm calling you from the People's Republic of Chicago.

And we just had the Democratic Socialist Convention here throughout the weekend.

Chicago historically has been a city that's hosted historic conventions, including Teddy Roosevelt's convention in 1912, his third-party convention that was sort of populist and progressive, but certainly not socialist because he was very much against socialism because he knew just how bad it was.

But these socialists today, what do they want? They want no police.

They want no borders.

I mean, what does that say about the spine or spineless governor?

So you've got to deliver on the birthday wish for you to be mayor, Governor.

No, I appreciate what John said.

You know, I'm calling you from the People's Republic of Chicago.

And we just had the Democratic Socialist Convention here throughout the weekend.

Chicago historically has been a city that's hosted historic conventions, including Teddy Roosevelt's convention in 1912, his third-party convention that was sort of populist and progressive, but certainly not socialist because he was very much against socialism because he knew just how bad it was.

But these socialists today, what do they want? They want no police.

They want no borders.

I mean, what does that say about the spine or spineless governor?