Walker Wildmon: We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. Walker Wildmon: Welcome to At the Core here on American Family Radio. I'm Walker Wildmon, glad to be with you on this new edition of the show. Before we get into some of the news and headlines and what's going on around the country and the world, let's turn our attention to Scripture. Walker Wildmon: We're in Acts chapter 26 this week. I found quite a bit of humor as I read this interaction between King Agrippa, Festus, Paul, and others, mainly the Jewish leaders that Paul was debating with and giving a defense to. Walker Wildmon: If you've ever heard the saying, which I use pretty often, "I'm beside myself" or "you're beside yourself," it comes from none other than Acts chapter 26. As Paul is giving this defense for the faith, for his conversion to Christianity, and for faith in Christ, it says in verse 24 of Acts chapter 26, "Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, 'Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad.'" Walker Wildmon: Paul replies in verse 25, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason." So there are two fun facts here from Scripture that we can take away. The first one is the saying, "You are beside yourself." That originates here in Acts 26. Walker Wildmon: Secondly, and more seriously and importantly, we should not be dismissed based on our energy or our passion for something. Here, Paul is giving a passionate defense for his faith, for the truth of God's Word, and for the fact that Jesus came for the Jew and the Gentile, as was prophesied in Scripture. Walker Wildmon: Festus tries to dismiss Paul and everything Paul said. He essentially says, "You're beside yourself, Paul. Be quiet. You're going crazy. You're reading too much." Of course, Paul says, "Not at all. I am not mad. I speak words of truth and reason." Walker Wildmon: That's Acts chapter 26, looking specifically at verses 24 and 25. Walker Wildmon: Let's jump into our recap and our somewhat grieving process from the midterms. It was a disaster, and I'm still grappling with it. But as I said in my post and as I read on the program last week, we'll live to fight another day. The world isn't ending. It's not the apocalypse. Walker Wildmon: It is a time for reflection and a time for those who care about the future of the country to look internally at what we're doing right as a conservative political movement and perhaps what we're doing wrong. That's what we'll spend most of the program today doing. The overarching theme will be, how do we prevent this level of defeat from happening again, or at least from happening again in our lifetime? Walker Wildmon: Let's turn our attention to some polling that Fox put out, and then we'll get to some clips. Fox News put out a post-election poll, but it included a lot of data from going into the election and the days following it. I'm comfortable citing it and spending a good amount of time on it because of the sheer volume of data. Walker Wildmon: This is from roughly 100,000, actually more than 100,000, registered voters. The data was collected from more than 100,000 registered voters from October 19 through November 3. That's a lot of data and obviously a lot of voters. Most polls are around 40,000 voters or 5,000 likely voters. This was more than 100,000 registered voters over a two- to three-week period at the end of October. Walker Wildmon: If Marty reminds me, I'll link to it in the show notes after the program. Nonetheless, let's look at these results and break down where Republicans lost votes and actually had people flip. Walker Wildmon: The first category is rural voters, which lean heavily Republican. Republicans lost rural voters by 10 points in 2026. In 2024, President Trump won rural voters by 28 points. In 2026, Republican House candidates won them by only 18 points. That's a 10-point differential, obviously, and those 10 points were lost by Republicans and most likely favored Democrats. Walker Wildmon: When it comes to suburban women, which is often quoted by pollsters as favoring Democrats, Vice President Harris won suburban women by 14 points. Democratic House members this cycle won them by 24 points. So Democrats picked up suburban women by 10 points compared to the 2024 cycle. Walker Wildmon: Young men, listen to this. This is shocking. It's not surprising, but it is shocking when you compare how things went in 2024. Young men, I think mostly those 30 and under, went from favoring President Trump by 15 points in 2024 to favoring Democrats by 33 points. That is a 48-point swing in one election cycle. Walker Wildmon: These numbers compare 2024 to 2026. Young men went in favor of Democrats by 33 points. That's a 48-point swing from 2024. Walker Wildmon: When it comes to independents, this cycle in 2026 they backed Democrats by 22 points, compared with six points in 2024. So independents backed Democrats by 22 points this cycle, whereas when Kamala Harris was running for president, they backed Democrats by only six points. Walker Wildmon: Looking at the voters' mood about the country, how they view President Trump, and how they view issues such as the economy, tariffs, and the Iran war, we'll get more into that. But I want to play a clip from David Sacks. He's a technology leader and multimillionaire, perhaps even a billionaire, talking about the effects of the Iran war on the economy and ultimately the election. David Sacks: Look, the price of gas. Everyone goes to the pump to fill up every week or two, and the average household is paying $200 a month more in gas costs. Then they go to the grocery store, and everything is much more expensive because the cost of agricultural products has gone way up, and so on down the line. David Sacks: At the end of the day, what matters to people is their pocketbook. Do you have more purchasing power in real, post-tax, post-inflation terms? That's how you measure whether you're doing better off. David Sacks: The Trump administration delivered that in the first year. We had a 3.1 percent increase in real household income. It was negative during the Biden years, and it was positive during Trump 45. What happened? The war begins, the price of gas and diesel and all the rest goes up, and purchasing power starts to go in reverse. David Sacks: On top of that, you lose the young males who are fans of all these podcasts. That's where they get their news. Young males flipped their vote by 36 points in this midterm relative to the 2024 election. David Sacks: In my view, it's very simple. It comes back to the war and its economic consequences. The good news is that if we get out of the war, we can make rapid progress on this. All the other economic numbers are still good. Job growth is good. The job report today was great. Economic growth is still good. There are lots of very positive economic numbers. David Sacks: The issue is fundamentally the price of oil, the price of gas, the price of diesel, and the way these things flow through the economy. If the war ends quickly, those prices will drop very quickly. Inflation will come back down. That will give the Fed permission to cut rates, so mortgage costs come back down and we can get back on track. Walker Wildmon: David Sacks, who is a well-known technology leader and businessman and a supporter of President Trump, says the Iran war certainly hurt President Trump and certainly hurt Republicans because of the effects on the economy. It's unquestionable. Anyone who questions that is denying reality. We'll play a clip later of Governor DeSantis saying the exact same thing. Walker Wildmon: Sacks ends by talking about what this could look like on the other side of the Iran conflict. The problem is that we've been waiting 10 months for the so-called other side of the Iran conflict, and the midterms have come and passed. Walker Wildmon: Even if this rosy scenario plays out for the post-Iran-war economy in America, guess who's going to take credit for it? The Democrats will. That's the predicament we're in. Walker Wildmon: The Democrats aren't going to fix anything. Don't get me wrong. When I'm reading these polls and talking about how unpopular President Trump is and how unpopular Republicans are, I am in no way legitimizing or cheerleading the Democrats. They're a disaster for our country, and they are not the solution. I'm just telling you what the voters are thinking and how the voters are feeling. Walker Wildmon: As I said last week, this election is not tethered to some future, real-life outcome. This was a vote against Trump, a vote against the Iran war, and a vote in frustration about the economy. But the fact of the matter is that Democrats aren't going to fix any of these things. Walker Wildmon: This is the problem with voting based on the vibe of the day or how you feel. Voting in that manner doesn't actually fix things in the long term. This is what voters are going to realize over the next few years as we have the Democrats in charge: voting against Trump, or voting because you don't feel good or because things aren't going the way you wish they were, doesn't always fix things. Walker Wildmon: Unfortunately, the Democrats are going to do their lawfare and their hate campaigns, and they're not going to fix the problem. Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the second segment of today's program. I'm Walker Wildmon. Getting back into the topic we were discussing in the last segment, these are polling results from the midterms, specifically a Fox News voter poll published on November 4, the day after the election. It includes more than 100,000 registered voters over a two- to three-week period. Walker Wildmon: This is a pretty comprehensive poll, and I would say the data is trustworthy and indicative of what we saw in the election. All roads point toward this polling being fairly accurate. Walker Wildmon: Let's go through the rest of these results, which are baffling to me. How many people are not on board with the Trump agenda, at least not this term. I differentiate between this term and last term, and I'll tell you why according to these numbers. Walker Wildmon: In the last segment, we talked generally about the specific voting segments and how they went. Young men went heavily toward the Democrats this time as opposed to 2024. That was a big difference. Walker Wildmon: According to this Fox News voter survey, about three-quarters of voters were dissatisfied or angry about the direction of the country. This was among all registered voters, more than 100,000 Democrats, Republicans, independents, and everybody in between. Walker Wildmon: As I was watching the results come in on election night, I was looking at this exit-polling data. When I saw that basically 75 percent of the country was dissatisfied with the direction of the country, I pointed at it and told my dad, "There's no way Republicans can overcome that." Walker Wildmon: Regardless of everything else, if 75 percent of voters disagree with or are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, it doesn't matter what your talking points are or how much get-out-the-vote effort you do. You cannot overcome that number. It was an insurmountable obstacle, and it turned out to be true. Walker Wildmon: I knew I was wrong about my prediction on election night when I looked at the exit-polling data. It was an absolute bloodbath. It was horrendous. Republicans and President Trump received negative reviews on virtually everything, with the exception of immigration. The election results bore that out. Walker Wildmon: Let's move on to the economy. Three-quarters of voters rated the economy negatively. Compare the 2018 midterm, during President Trump's first term, with 2026. In 2026, three-quarters of voters rated the economy negatively. In 2018, positive ratings outnumbered negative ratings by two to one. Walker Wildmon: Why they don't put it in percentages like the first one, I don't know. That's just what Fox says. In simple terms, it flipped. In 2018, about half the country or more viewed the economy favorably. In 2026, 75 percent of voters rated the economy negatively. Walker Wildmon: In 2018, the majority of voters said the economy was doing well and things were moving in the right direction. In 2026, that flipped. Seventy-five percent of voters said things were not going well economically. Once again, you can't overcome that. Walker Wildmon: That shows the difference between the first term and the last term. In 2018, Democrats still took the House, but not by as wide a margin as we saw the other night. Walker Wildmon: Gas and diesel prices were voters' top cost concern, driven by the Iran war's effect on fuel prices. About six in ten voters said military action in Iran was the wrong decision, and those voters ended up backing Democrats. That's very important. Walker Wildmon: Let's play a clip from Governor DeSantis, about 45 seconds or so, talking about the immediate effects of the Iran war on the economy and how the Republican Party will feel about it if they lose these midterms. Governor DeSantis: Here's the thing with Iran and why I think it's been a big drag. The president obviously ran saying he wasn't going to do another Middle East war, and then they did. So we had some of our voters who checked out because they're saying, "I didn't want any more Middle East wars, and now we're doing it." Governor DeSantis: Had that been wrapped up in a week, like Venezuela was very quickly, people probably wouldn't have considered it an issue right now. But what's happened is that it's become an open-ended conflict, and it's having a direct impact on people's finances. Governor DeSantis: Gas is higher. It hurts working-class people, and it's higher because of this conflict. That's just a fact. If you can't admit that to voters, then you're gaslighting them, and they're not going to listen to you on other things. Walker Wildmon: There you have it. That's Governor DeSantis on the Stephen A. Smith show before the election, in the days leading up to the midterms. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He's saying that if you try to deny the Iran war has hurt the economy, you're denying reality. Walker Wildmon: That is the worst move you could possibly make as a Republican or a conservative, acting like this Iran war is not a problem, because it is a problem. Walker Wildmon: Here we are 10 months later. My brother somewhat jokes, but I think he's onto something, that we'll be here in 2028 talking about the Iran war. We may still be meddling around in the Strait of Hormuz. I can't argue with that because I would have thought that after 10 months we would have wrapped this thing up. Walker Wildmon: Instead, we're still over there. Thousands of troops are still deployed in the Middle East. We're still striking Iran. Those strikes aren't running the headlines, but within the last seven days we've launched multiple strikes on Iran. That's a problem. Walker Wildmon: It seems that every time we get out of the Middle East, we have an inclination to go back. It is the most bizarre phenomenon I've ever seen in my life when it comes to foreign policy. Walker Wildmon: Even though the Afghanistan withdrawal was an unmitigated disaster, completely mishandled by Biden, the decision itself to get out of Afghanistan was a good decision. President Biden's decision to get out of Afghanistan was probably the only decision of his presidency that I completely agree with. Walker Wildmon: How we went about getting out was a fumbled ball. It was terrible and completely mishandled. We could have gotten out much more cleanly, obviously with no casualties, but leave it to President Biden to drop the ball and mess up the withdrawal. Walker Wildmon: Getting out was a good thing, and President Trump talked about getting out but never did. So we get out of Afghanistan, the public elects President Trump, and within 12 months we're back. Voters are banging their heads against the wall saying, "Are you kidding me? We elected Donald J. Trump to stop this madness." Walker Wildmon: Whether this is right or wrong, let me tell you that the reasoning doesn't matter. You can tell me about Iran, nuclear weapons, and use these buzzwords to try to scare me to death. But for most voters, their eyes are going to glaze over. They don't care what you say about a threat 7,000 miles away or whatever it is. It's a long way off. Walker Wildmon: It doesn't matter what you say to scare them into justifying foreign military intervention. At the end of the conversation, they're going to look at you and say, "I am opposed to any more foreign wars." That's what they're going to say. Walker Wildmon: I can spend five minutes convincing you that bombing Iran was the right thing to do. I eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, but the average voter doesn't. We're dealing with the average voter, not political hacks. Walker Wildmon: We have to learn to resonate with voters and speak their language. Going on and on about Iran is not the way to do it. Walker Wildmon: Our political class has spent the last 30 or 40 years meddling around in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of precious American lives. We are absolutely sick and tired of it. Walker Wildmon: For better or worse, we are cynically at the point where it doesn't matter what the threat is. Nuclear weapon or no nuclear weapon, it doesn't matter. We are so over it. Walker Wildmon: This is what happens when a political class governs with decades of disasters and mistakes. When you govern so ineffectively and disastrously for decades, you create a cynical voting class. That helped bring about the Trump revolution, a cynical voting class that roundly rejects everything the political establishment says. Walker Wildmon: When you come to voters and say, "We want to go back to the Middle East. We want to spend years in Iran nation-building," voters rightly look at the elected class and say, "No thanks." Walker Wildmon: On election day last week, voters overwhelmingly looked at Washington, D.C., the Trump administration, and Republicans and said, "No thanks. No thanks to another decade-long entanglement in the Middle East where we spend trillions of dollars trying to nation-build, when it effectively does not work." Walker Wildmon: Let's play another clip from Governor DeSantis. He's talking about why cozying up to big technology companies doesn't win the White House or Congress. Governor DeSantis: Here's the issue. If I see a socialist candidate, it's easy for me to vote. But for the broader electorate, people who aren't as partisan, is simply screaming "socialism" going to work? Obviously, it didn't work in this election. Governor DeSantis: I think the reason is that young people have a very positive view of socialism compared to capitalism. Why is that? Some of it is the education in our universities or whatever. But I think a big part of that is what they're comparing. They're not comparing free enterprise to socialism. They're comparing how government gets involved in business and creates crony capitalism. Governor DeSantis: Some of the best indirect supporters of socialism are corporatist Republicans who propagate crony policies. The average person sees that and says, "Wait a minute. You're trying to bend the government to funnel benefits to this corporation or that industry. What about having a competitive market?" Governor DeSantis: If you have a competitive market and truly have free enterprise, that's going to benefit small businesses and individuals. You are going to see the standard of living rise. The problem is that young people really aren't seeing that. They're seeing a handful of companies with an outsized influence on our economy and society, and they see government policy supporting that. Governor DeSantis: For example, Republicans in Washington wanted to give big technology companies a 10-year effective amnesty under which states and local governments wouldn't be able to provide any regulatory oversight over artificial intelligence. I'm thinking to myself, what other industry gets this? Governor DeSantis: These hyperscale data centers have become very controversial. You go to places like rural Texas, and these conservative people are beside themselves because, in some instances, these companies are getting no property tax. People say they give money, but not if you give them tax breaks. They're getting subsidies in some parts of the country. Governor DeSantis: I think it has become so unpopular that they know they have to pay taxes and everything, but a year or two ago it was much different. The way you're going to end up having socialism is if you don't have a clear contrast between freedom and cronyism. Walker Wildmon: He's exactly right. To prove Governor DeSantis's point, listen to this result from the Fox voter poll of more than 100,000 registered voters. Three-quarters of voters opposed building a new data center in their community. This became a major issue for rural voters. Walker Wildmon: I don't have time to litigate the issue of data centers today. Maybe we'll do a show on that. I'm just telling you that when 75 percent of voters are angry about data centers in their backyard and in their small towns, while President Trump is hosting Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other technology leaders and talking about how great artificial intelligence is and how much we need more data centers, you have a massive messaging divide. Walker Wildmon: President Trump was saying that we need a moratorium on new AI and data-center regulations and that we need more data centers, despite the benefits they bring to local economies. When 75 percent of voters have a problem with new data centers in their communities, and the White House is bragging every day about why we need more data centers, that is the disconnect between the White House and voters that led to this defeat. Walker Wildmon: What Governor DeSantis was talking about is this disconnect where Washington, and specifically the Trump administration, thinks it's a great idea to cozy up to all the AI companies and technology billionaires at the expense of the voting class. Walker Wildmon: Voters have a major problem with this whole data-center push. This is not an all-or-nothing conversation. There are concerns about data centers that are justified, logical, and sensible. Then there is hype and fearmongering that doesn't add up. It's a little bit of both. Walker Wildmon: To keep things simple, there are a couple of main concerns with data centers. Putting data centers near neighborhoods and residential areas is a major problem. That's happening in some places, not all, and voters and residents are upset about it. That's a justified frustration. Walker Wildmon: Also, when data centers come in and consume massive amounts of resources, including electricity, utilities, water, and other resources, that's a problem, especially when they're receiving tax breaks to move in. Local voters' electricity rates can go up because utility companies have to build out a massive grid for the data center. That's a problem. Walker Wildmon: On the other hand, it's hard to get voters and residents excited about data centers when, at the same time, we're talking about how artificial intelligence is going to take everybody's jobs. What should make me excited about a data center moving into my neighborhood when I'm also being told that the data center will power AI computers that are going to take my job? That's not a selling point for me. Walker Wildmon: There's a lot going on here, but those are a few points people raise that at least hold water. Some of the other fearmongering about data centers simply isn't true. In some instances, data centers actually do bring a lot of tax revenue to the local community. Walker Wildmon: It's not all one way or the other. It's a nuanced topic that maybe we'll spend more time on another day. But I'm telling you what voters think. At a minimum, you have to address this negative sentiment that three-fourths of voters have toward data centers. If you don't combat it, educate people about it, and message around it, you're going to lose. That's what happened. Walker Wildmon: This is Governor DeSantis talking about how he would have preferred the Iran war to end and when he thinks the United States should have disengaged and pulled out. Governor DeSantis: There are two different parts to this. First, Iran is a problem for me. They're a hostile country. When I was serving in Iraq, most of the combat deaths we suffered were at the hands of Iranians and Iranian-backed militia groups, even more so than the Sunni Arab terrorists. Governor DeSantis: They've had an unbroken record of hostility from 1979 to the present, and them having a nuclear weapon, given their apocalyptic rhetoric and worldview, would no doubt be a problem. The president has been very clear on that, and I think he's been right on it. Governor DeSantis: Midnight Hammer in June of 2025 hit their sites. The president said that the nuclear threat had been obliterated. To me, the mission was accomplished. Governor DeSantis: I think what happened this year was an attempt to cause the regime to collapse. Israel went in and took out the Ayatollah and clerics. There were obvious U.S. strikes. I think the goal was that the regime would collapse and something new would take its place. Governor DeSantis: The problem is that all the people who had been protesting in January were dead by the time they did it in late February. That was a decapitation strike. That's the point of no return. Once you do that, how do you bring it to a successful conclusion? You have a situation that needs to be dealt with. Governor DeSantis: We did that in 2025. Then it was, "Did we win? Did we not?" They responded, and they've responded in ways that have caused economic problems. Governor DeSantis: What's the definition of victory at this point? In June of 2025, we said, "We have these two problematic sites. We're going to take them out." We did that, and it was successful. Governor DeSantis: This time, I think the goal, certainly from Israel, was regime change in Iran. That's not something we're going to be able to impose. It would require massive amounts of boots on the ground and massive amounts of treasure that the American people are not interested in providing. Governor DeSantis: That's why I think the second time has caused more problems in terms of public acceptance and everything else. I would love for Iran to have a pro-Western constitutional republic as its government. Persian culture has been very rich for centuries, and the Islamic Revolution snuffed that out. It's been a terror state since then. Governor DeSantis: I would love for that to happen. I just don't think that imposing it would ultimately be successful. Once the Ayatollah and the clerics were taken out, I think the goal was for the government to collapse, and that didn't happen. Governor DeSantis: The people who are there now are probably more powerful than they were before this. What incentive do they have to make some kind of deal? I hear people say, "Just negotiate a deal." Wait a minute. You took out the Supreme Leader. They view us as the Great Satan. Governor DeSantis: My fear is that it's going to drag on and continue to be a sore spot, given the trajectory it has taken. I think Midnight Hammer in 2025 was effective. This time, you have to know what you're trying to accomplish. What is the concrete objective? You should be able to say, "We accomplished the objective." Governor DeSantis: There was never really a concrete objective. The president said one thing, the secretary of state said another, and the vice president said something different. That's been part of the problem. Walker Wildmon: I completely agree. We still haven't gotten a clear explanation as to why we went in June of 2025 and supposedly obliterated the nuclear sites, then went back in February of this year and started the whole thing over again, and then some, times ten. Walker Wildmon: Voters ought to know. This might be the only bright spot that comes out of Democratic investigations. Did we truly obliterate the Iranian nuclear program in June of 2025? Walker Wildmon: We were told on numerous occasions, too many to count, that the B-2 bombers we sent over in the middle of the night in June 2025 had obliterated Iran's nuclear program. We were told the facilities were obliterated, gone, and wiped off the face of the earth. Then we came back in February, and it was as if the nuclear threat had never ended. Walker Wildmon: You can't have it both ways. We need to be told what's going on. Were our strikes in June 2025 ineffective? Did they not hit the right targets? Were the nuclear materials moved beforehand? Did the bombs not penetrate deeply enough underground? What on earth happened? Walker Wildmon: Everybody was feeling great in June 2025. We flew into Iranian airspace without them knowing what was coming, dropped multiple bombs on the nuclear facilities, and got out of there with no U.S. casualties. After the 12-day war, there was a ceasefire. Missiles stopped firing, the Strait of Hormuz was open, and things went back to normal. Walker Wildmon: Then in February of this year, it was as if that had never happened. As much as people want to move past this, I'm not moving past it. You can't tell me, and you can't tell 300-plus million other people, that we obliterated their nuclear program in June of 2025 and then, 18 months later, still be at war with Iran. Walker Wildmon: Maybe the one thing Democrats will get an answer to through their investigations is whether we obliterated the nuclear program or not. I think we ought to know that. If we did, why did we go back in February, and why are we still there 10 months later? Walker Wildmon: The one word Republicans ought to be watching as we go into 2028 is affordability. Mark my words, this is going to be the word Democrats try to use to persuade voters to vote for them, even in 2028. Walker Wildmon: The word affordability is subjective. Something affordable for you may not be affordable for me, and vice versa. The word affordable is intentionally vague and intentionally subjective. Walker Wildmon: Other metrics, such as inflation and wage growth, are not subjective. Those are hard numbers and percentages that don't change depending on whom you're talking about. Walker Wildmon: According to Van Jones, Democrats quietly organized tens of thousands of people through something called the American Accountability Network to push their affordability message. He said Republicans never figured out what they were doing. He was bragging about this a couple of days after the election. Walker Wildmon: He said tens of thousands of online humans, not bots, coordinated to make the affordability message a winning message online. Thirty-two million people hit Instagram every day, 88 million hit X every day, and 185 million hit Facebook every day. He said the Republicans could not understand that these weren't bots. They were actual human beings. Walker Wildmon: What he's admitting is that Democrats were paying humans to continually talk about affordability, and that word and that narrative clearly resonated with voters. Walker Wildmon: Conservatives and Republicans are going to have to recapture these talking points, definitions, and terms when it comes to economics. We cannot let Democrats get away with talking about affordability in such vague terms. Let's talk specifics. Walker Wildmon: Unfortunately, over the last 10 months, when you talk specifics about affordability, including GDP growth, real wage growth, inflation, and interest rates, and you start digging into the nuts and bolts of economics that make up this grand definition of affordability, the numbers aren't good. The numbers are terrible. Walker Wildmon: They're not as bad as they were during the Biden era. We're still better off with President Trump. We're still better off with this economy. But voters elected President Trump in November 2024, and he was sworn in in January 2025 to fix the Biden disaster. Walker Wildmon: If you don't get anything else out of today's program, get this: Things were moving in the right direction from January 2025 to February 2026. Fundamentally, every economic indicator and category was moving in the right direction. GDP growth was up, wage growth was up, inflation was down, interest rates were down, mortgage rates were back in the 5 percent range, and gas prices were down, with the national average below three dollars a gallon. Walker Wildmon: All of it was moving in the right direction. President Trump was carrying through on his mandate to fix the Biden disaster. He was fixing the border, and he was fixing the economy. Walker Wildmon: Then one thing happened. One thing changed: Iran. Walker Wildmon: When you insert the Iran date into the graphs for all these metrics, everything deteriorates from there. Mortgage rates went back up, interest rates went back up, fuel prices went back up, and wage growth went down. All these metrics began to deteriorate immediately following the launch of the Iran war. Walker Wildmon: We have not recovered yet, and we won't until we move past whatever we're doing over there in the Middle East. Those are the facts on the ground, whether you like them or not. Walker Wildmon: I'm not litigating all the arguments for and against these different policy decisions. I'm telling you how voters are feeling, and that's what you have to understand in order to resonate with voters in elections.
Walker Wildmon: We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. Walker Wildmon: Welcome to At the Core here on American Family Radio. I'm Walker Wildmon, glad to be with you on this new edition of the show. Before we get into some of the news and headlines and what's going on around the country and the world, let's turn our attention to Scripture. Walker Wildmon: We're in Acts chapter 26 this week. I found quite a bit of humor as I read this interaction between King Agrippa, Festus, Paul, and others, mainly the Jewish leaders that Paul was debating with and giving a defense to. Walker Wildmon: If you've ever heard the saying, which I use pretty often, "I'm beside myself" or "you're beside yourself," it comes from none other than Acts chapter 26. As Paul is giving this defense for the faith, for his conversion to Christianity, and for faith in Christ, it says in verse 24 of Acts chapter 26, "Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, 'Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad.'" Walker Wildmon: Paul replies in verse 25, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason." So there are two fun facts here from Scripture that we can take away. The first one is the saying, "You are beside yourself." That originates here in Acts 26. Walker Wildmon: Secondly, and more seriously and importantly, we should not be dismissed based on our energy or our passion for something. Here, Paul is giving a passionate defense for his faith, for the truth of God's Word, and for the fact that Jesus came for the Jew and the Gentile, as was prophesied in Scripture. Walker Wildmon: Festus tries to dismiss Paul and everything Paul said. He essentially says, "You're beside yourself, Paul. Be quiet. You're going crazy. You're reading too much." Of course, Paul says, "Not at all. I am not mad. I speak words of truth and reason." Walker Wildmon: That's Acts chapter 26, looking specifically at verses 24 and 25. Walker Wildmon: Let's jump into our recap and our somewhat grieving process from the midterms. It was a disaster, and I'm still grappling with it. But as I said in my post and as I read on the program last week, we'll live to fight another day. The world isn't ending. It's not the apocalypse. Walker Wildmon: It is a time for reflection and a time for those who care about the future of the country to look internally at what we're doing right as a conservative political movement and perhaps what we're doing wrong. That's what we'll spend most of the program today doing. The overarching theme will be, how do we prevent this level of defeat from happening again, or at least from happening again in our lifetime? Walker Wildmon: Let's turn our attention to some polling that Fox put out, and then we'll get to some clips. Fox News put out a post-election poll, but it included a lot of data from going into the election and the days following it. I'm comfortable citing it and spending a good amount of time on it because of the sheer volume of data. Walker Wildmon: This is from roughly 100,000, actually more than 100,000, registered voters. The data was collected from more than 100,000 registered voters from October 19 through November 3. That's a lot of data and obviously a lot of voters. Most polls are around 40,000 voters or 5,000 likely voters. This was more than 100,000 registered voters over a two- to three-week period at the end of October. Walker Wildmon: If Marty reminds me, I'll link to it in the show notes after the program. Nonetheless, let's look at these results and break down where Republicans lost votes and actually had people flip. Walker Wildmon: The first category is rural voters, which lean heavily Republican. Republicans lost rural voters by 10 points in 2026. In 2024, President Trump won rural voters by 28 points. In 2026, Republican House candidates won them by only 18 points. That's a 10-point differential, obviously, and those 10 points were lost by Republicans and most likely favored Democrats. Walker Wildmon: When it comes to suburban women, which is often quoted by pollsters as favoring Democrats, Vice President Harris won suburban women by 14 points. Democratic House members this cycle won them by 24 points. So Democrats picked up suburban women by 10 points compared to the 2024 cycle. Walker Wildmon: Young men, listen to this. This is shocking. It's not surprising, but it is shocking when you compare how things went in 2024. Young men, I think mostly those 30 and under, went from favoring President Trump by 15 points in 2024 to favoring Democrats by 33 points. That is a 48-point swing in one election cycle. Walker Wildmon: These numbers compare 2024 to 2026. Young men went in favor of Democrats by 33 points. That's a 48-point swing from 2024. Walker Wildmon: When it comes to independents, this cycle in 2026 they backed Democrats by 22 points, compared with six points in 2024. So independents backed Democrats by 22 points this cycle, whereas when Kamala Harris was running for president, they backed Democrats by only six points. Walker Wildmon: Looking at the voters' mood about the country, how they view President Trump, and how they view issues such as the economy, tariffs, and the Iran war, we'll get more into that. But I want to play a clip from David Sacks. He's a technology leader and multimillionaire, perhaps even a billionaire, talking about the effects of the Iran war on the economy and ultimately the election. David Sacks: Look, the price of gas. Everyone goes to the pump to fill up every week or two, and the average household is paying $200 a month more in gas costs. Then they go to the grocery store, and everything is much more expensive because the cost of agricultural products has gone way up, and so on down the line. David Sacks: At the end of the day, what matters to people is their pocketbook. Do you have more purchasing power in real, post-tax, post-inflation terms? That's how you measure whether you're doing better off. David Sacks: The Trump administration delivered that in the first year. We had a 3.1 percent increase in real household income. It was negative during the Biden years, and it was positive during Trump 45. What happened? The war begins, the price of gas and diesel and all the rest goes up, and purchasing power starts to go in reverse. David Sacks: On top of that, you lose the young males who are fans of all these podcasts. That's where they get their news. Young males flipped their vote by 36 points in this midterm relative to the 2024 election. David Sacks: In my view, it's very simple. It comes back to the war and its economic consequences. The good news is that if we get out of the war, we can make rapid progress on this. All the other economic numbers are still good. Job growth is good. The job report today was great. Economic growth is still good. There are lots of very positive economic numbers. David Sacks: The issue is fundamentally the price of oil, the price of gas, the price of diesel, and the way these things flow through the economy. If the war ends quickly, those prices will drop very quickly. Inflation will come back down. That will give the Fed permission to cut rates, so mortgage costs come back down and we can get back on track. Walker Wildmon: David Sacks, who is a well-known technology leader and businessman and a supporter of President Trump, says the Iran war certainly hurt President Trump and certainly hurt Republicans because of the effects on the economy. It's unquestionable. Anyone who questions that is denying reality. We'll play a clip later of Governor DeSantis saying the exact same thing. Walker Wildmon: Sacks ends by talking about what this could look like on the other side of the Iran conflict. The problem is that we've been waiting 10 months for the so-called other side of the Iran conflict, and the midterms have come and passed. Walker Wildmon: Even if this rosy scenario plays out for the post-Iran-war economy in America, guess who's going to take credit for it? The Democrats will. That's the predicament we're in. Walker Wildmon: The Democrats aren't going to fix anything. Don't get me wrong. When I'm reading these polls and talking about how unpopular President Trump is and how unpopular Republicans are, I am in no way legitimizing or cheerleading the Democrats. They're a disaster for our country, and they are not the solution. I'm just telling you what the voters are thinking and how the voters are feeling. Walker Wildmon: As I said last week, this election is not tethered to some future, real-life outcome. This was a vote against Trump, a vote against the Iran war, and a vote in frustration about the economy. But the fact of the matter is that Democrats aren't going to fix any of these things. Walker Wildmon: This is the problem with voting based on the vibe of the day or how you feel. Voting in that manner doesn't actually fix things in the long term. This is what voters are going to realize over the next few years as we have the Democrats in charge: voting against Trump, or voting because you don't feel good or because things aren't going the way you wish they were, doesn't always fix things. Walker Wildmon: Unfortunately, the Democrats are going to do their lawfare and their hate campaigns, and they're not going to fix the problem. Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the second segment of today's program. I'm Walker Wildmon. Getting back into the topic we were discussing in the last segment, these are polling results from the midterms, specifically a Fox News voter poll published on November 4, the day after the election. It includes more than 100,000 registered voters over a two- to three-week period. Walker Wildmon: This is a pretty comprehensive poll, and I would say the data is trustworthy and indicative of what we saw in the election. All roads point toward this polling being fairly accurate. Walker Wildmon: Let's go through the rest of these results, which are baffling to me. How many people are not on board with the Trump agenda, at least not this term. I differentiate between this term and last term, and I'll tell you why according to these numbers. Walker Wildmon: In the last segment, we talked generally about the specific voting segments and how they went. Young men went heavily toward the Democrats this time as opposed to 2024. That was a big difference. Walker Wildmon: According to this Fox News voter survey, about three-quarters of voters were dissatisfied or angry about the direction of the country. This was among all registered voters, more than 100,000 Democrats, Republicans, independents, and everybody in between. Walker Wildmon: As I was watching the results come in on election night, I was looking at this exit-polling data. When I saw that basically 75 percent of the country was dissatisfied with the direction of the country, I pointed at it and told my dad, "There's no way Republicans can overcome that." Walker Wildmon: Regardless of everything else, if 75 percent of voters disagree with or are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, it doesn't matter what your talking points are or how much get-out-the-vote effort you do. You cannot overcome that number. It was an insurmountable obstacle, and it turned out to be true. Walker Wildmon: I knew I was wrong about my prediction on election night when I looked at the exit-polling data. It was an absolute bloodbath. It was horrendous. Republicans and President Trump received negative reviews on virtually everything, with the exception of immigration. The election results bore that out. Walker Wildmon: Let's move on to the economy. Three-quarters of voters rated the economy negatively. Compare the 2018 midterm, during President Trump's first term, with 2026. In 2026, three-quarters of voters rated the economy negatively. In 2018, positive ratings outnumbered negative ratings by two to one. Walker Wildmon: Why they don't put it in percentages like the first one, I don't know. That's just what Fox says. In simple terms, it flipped. In 2018, about half the country or more viewed the economy favorably. In 2026, 75 percent of voters rated the economy negatively. Walker Wildmon: In 2018, the majority of voters said the economy was doing well and things were moving in the right direction. In 2026, that flipped. Seventy-five percent of voters said things were not going well economically. Once again, you can't overcome that. Walker Wildmon: That shows the difference between the first term and the last term. In 2018, Democrats still took the House, but not by as wide a margin as we saw the other night. Walker Wildmon: Gas and diesel prices were voters' top cost concern, driven by the Iran war's effect on fuel prices. About six in ten voters said military action in Iran was the wrong decision, and those voters ended up backing Democrats. That's very important. Walker Wildmon: Let's play a clip from Governor DeSantis, about 45 seconds or so, talking about the immediate effects of the Iran war on the economy and how the Republican Party will feel about it if they lose these midterms. Governor DeSantis: Here's the thing with Iran and why I think it's been a big drag. The president obviously ran saying he wasn't going to do another Middle East war, and then they did. So we had some of our voters who checked out because they're saying, "I didn't want any more Middle East wars, and now we're doing it." Governor DeSantis: Had that been wrapped up in a week, like Venezuela was very quickly, people probably wouldn't have considered it an issue right now. But what's happened is that it's become an open-ended conflict, and it's having a direct impact on people's finances. Governor DeSantis: Gas is higher. It hurts working-class people, and it's higher because of this conflict. That's just a fact. If you can't admit that to voters, then you're gaslighting them, and they're not going to listen to you on other things. Walker Wildmon: There you have it. That's Governor DeSantis on the Stephen A. Smith show before the election, in the days leading up to the midterms. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He's saying that if you try to deny the Iran war has hurt the economy, you're denying reality. Walker Wildmon: That is the worst move you could possibly make as a Republican or a conservative, acting like this Iran war is not a problem, because it is a problem. Walker Wildmon: Here we are 10 months later. My brother somewhat jokes, but I think he's onto something, that we'll be here in 2028 talking about the Iran war. We may still be meddling around in the Strait of Hormuz. I can't argue with that because I would have thought that after 10 months we would have wrapped this thing up. Walker Wildmon: Instead, we're still over there. Thousands of troops are still deployed in the Middle East. We're still striking Iran. Those strikes aren't running the headlines, but within the last seven days we've launched multiple strikes on Iran. That's a problem. Walker Wildmon: It seems that every time we get out of the Middle East, we have an inclination to go back. It is the most bizarre phenomenon I've ever seen in my life when it comes to foreign policy. Walker Wildmon: Even though the Afghanistan withdrawal was an unmitigated disaster, completely mishandled by Biden, the decision itself to get out of Afghanistan was a good decision. President Biden's decision to get out of Afghanistan was probably the only decision of his presidency that I completely agree with. Walker Wildmon: How we went about getting out was a fumbled ball. It was terrible and completely mishandled. We could have gotten out much more cleanly, obviously with no casualties, but leave it to President Biden to drop the ball and mess up the withdrawal. Walker Wildmon: Getting out was a good thing, and President Trump talked about getting out but never did. So we get out of Afghanistan, the public elects President Trump, and within 12 months we're back. Voters are banging their heads against the wall saying, "Are you kidding me? We elected Donald J. Trump to stop this madness." Walker Wildmon: Whether this is right or wrong, let me tell you that the reasoning doesn't matter. You can tell me about Iran, nuclear weapons, and use these buzzwords to try to scare me to death. But for most voters, their eyes are going to glaze over. They don't care what you say about a threat 7,000 miles away or whatever it is. It's a long way off. Walker Wildmon: It doesn't matter what you say to scare them into justifying foreign military intervention. At the end of the conversation, they're going to look at you and say, "I am opposed to any more foreign wars." That's what they're going to say. Walker Wildmon: I can spend five minutes convincing you that bombing Iran was the right thing to do. I eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, but the average voter doesn't. We're dealing with the average voter, not political hacks. Walker Wildmon: We have to learn to resonate with voters and speak their language. Going on and on about Iran is not the way to do it. Walker Wildmon: Our political class has spent the last 30 or 40 years meddling around in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of precious American lives. We are absolutely sick and tired of it. Walker Wildmon: For better or worse, we are cynically at the point where it doesn't matter what the threat is. Nuclear weapon or no nuclear weapon, it doesn't matter. We are so over it. Walker Wildmon: This is what happens when a political class governs with decades of disasters and mistakes. When you govern so ineffectively and disastrously for decades, you create a cynical voting class. That helped bring about the Trump revolution, a cynical voting class that roundly rejects everything the political establishment says. Walker Wildmon: When you come to voters and say, "We want to go back to the Middle East. We want to spend years in Iran nation-building," voters rightly look at the elected class and say, "No thanks." Walker Wildmon: On election day last week, voters overwhelmingly looked at Washington, D.C., the Trump administration, and Republicans and said, "No thanks. No thanks to another decade-long entanglement in the Middle East where we spend trillions of dollars trying to nation-build, when it effectively does not work." Walker Wildmon: Let's play another clip from Governor DeSantis. He's talking about why cozying up to big technology companies doesn't win the White House or Congress. Governor DeSantis: Here's the issue. If I see a socialist candidate, it's easy for me to vote. But for the broader electorate, people who aren't as partisan, is simply screaming "socialism" going to work? Obviously, it didn't work in this election. Governor DeSantis: I think the reason is that young people have a very positive view of socialism compared to capitalism. Why is that? Some of it is the education in our universities or whatever. But I think a big part of that is what they're comparing. They're not comparing free enterprise to socialism. They're comparing how government gets involved in business and creates crony capitalism. Governor DeSantis: Some of the best indirect supporters of socialism are corporatist Republicans who propagate crony policies. The average person sees that and says, "Wait a minute. You're trying to bend the government to funnel benefits to this corporation or that industry. What about having a competitive market?" Governor DeSantis: If you have a competitive market and truly have free enterprise, that's going to benefit small businesses and individuals. You are going to see the standard of living rise. The problem is that young people really aren't seeing that. They're seeing a handful of companies with an outsized influence on our economy and society, and they see government policy supporting that. Governor DeSantis: For example, Republicans in Washington wanted to give big technology companies a 10-year effective amnesty under which states and local governments wouldn't be able to provide any regulatory oversight over artificial intelligence. I'm thinking to myself, what other industry gets this? Governor DeSantis: These hyperscale data centers have become very controversial. You go to places like rural Texas, and these conservative people are beside themselves because, in some instances, these companies are getting no property tax. People say they give money, but not if you give them tax breaks. They're getting subsidies in some parts of the country. Governor DeSantis: I think it has become so unpopular that they know they have to pay taxes and everything, but a year or two ago it was much different. The way you're going to end up having socialism is if you don't have a clear contrast between freedom and cronyism. Walker Wildmon: He's exactly right. To prove Governor DeSantis's point, listen to this result from the Fox voter poll of more than 100,000 registered voters. Three-quarters of voters opposed building a new data center in their community. This became a major issue for rural voters. Walker Wildmon: I don't have time to litigate the issue of data centers today. Maybe we'll do a show on that. I'm just telling you that when 75 percent of voters are angry about data centers in their backyard and in their small towns, while President Trump is hosting Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other technology leaders and talking about how great artificial intelligence is and how much we need more data centers, you have a massive messaging divide. Walker Wildmon: President Trump was saying that we need a moratorium on new AI and data-center regulations and that we need more data centers, despite the benefits they bring to local economies. When 75 percent of voters have a problem with new data centers in their communities, and the White House is bragging every day about why we need more data centers, that is the disconnect between the White House and voters that led to this defeat. Walker Wildmon: What Governor DeSantis was talking about is this disconnect where Washington, and specifically the Trump administration, thinks it's a great idea to cozy up to all the AI companies and technology billionaires at the expense of the voting class. Walker Wildmon: Voters have a major problem with this whole data-center push. This is not an all-or-nothing conversation. There are concerns about data centers that are justified, logical, and sensible. Then there is hype and fearmongering that doesn't add up. It's a little bit of both. Walker Wildmon: To keep things simple, there are a couple of main concerns with data centers. Putting data centers near neighborhoods and residential areas is a major problem. That's happening in some places, not all, and voters and residents are upset about it. That's a justified frustration. Walker Wildmon: Also, when data centers come in and consume massive amounts of resources, including electricity, utilities, water, and other resources, that's a problem, especially when they're receiving tax breaks to move in. Local voters' electricity rates can go up because utility companies have to build out a massive grid for the data center. That's a problem. Walker Wildmon: On the other hand, it's hard to get voters and residents excited about data centers when, at the same time, we're talking about how artificial intelligence is going to take everybody's jobs. What should make me excited about a data center moving into my neighborhood when I'm also being told that the data center will power AI computers that are going to take my job? That's not a selling point for me. Walker Wildmon: There's a lot going on here, but those are a few points people raise that at least hold water. Some of the other fearmongering about data centers simply isn't true. In some instances, data centers actually do bring a lot of tax revenue to the local community. Walker Wildmon: It's not all one way or the other. It's a nuanced topic that maybe we'll spend more time on another day. But I'm telling you what voters think. At a minimum, you have to address this negative sentiment that three-fourths of voters have toward data centers. If you don't combat it, educate people about it, and message around it, you're going to lose. That's what happened. Walker Wildmon: This is Governor DeSantis talking about how he would have preferred the Iran war to end and when he thinks the United States should have disengaged and pulled out. Governor DeSantis: There are two different parts to this. First, Iran is a problem for me. They're a hostile country. When I was serving in Iraq, most of the combat deaths we suffered were at the hands of Iranians and Iranian-backed militia groups, even more so than the Sunni Arab terrorists. Governor DeSantis: They've had an unbroken record of hostility from 1979 to the present, and them having a nuclear weapon, given their apocalyptic rhetoric and worldview, would no doubt be a problem. The president has been very clear on that, and I think he's been right on it. Governor DeSantis: Midnight Hammer in June of 2025 hit their sites. The president said that the nuclear threat had been obliterated. To me, the mission was accomplished. Governor DeSantis: I think what happened this year was an attempt to cause the regime to collapse. Israel went in and took out the Ayatollah and clerics. There were obvious U.S. strikes. I think the goal was that the regime would collapse and something new would take its place. Governor DeSantis: The problem is that all the people who had been protesting in January were dead by the time they did it in late February. That was a decapitation strike. That's the point of no return. Once you do that, how do you bring it to a successful conclusion? You have a situation that needs to be dealt with. Governor DeSantis: We did that in 2025. Then it was, "Did we win? Did we not?" They responded, and they've responded in ways that have caused economic problems. Governor DeSantis: What's the definition of victory at this point? In June of 2025, we said, "We have these two problematic sites. We're going to take them out." We did that, and it was successful. Governor DeSantis: This time, I think the goal, certainly from Israel, was regime change in Iran. That's not something we're going to be able to impose. It would require massive amounts of boots on the ground and massive amounts of treasure that the American people are not interested in providing. Governor DeSantis: That's why I think the second time has caused more problems in terms of public acceptance and everything else. I would love for Iran to have a pro-Western constitutional republic as its government. Persian culture has been very rich for centuries, and the Islamic Revolution snuffed that out. It's been a terror state since then. Governor DeSantis: I would love for that to happen. I just don't think that imposing it would ultimately be successful. Once the Ayatollah and the clerics were taken out, I think the goal was for the government to collapse, and that didn't happen. Governor DeSantis: The people who are there now are probably more powerful than they were before this. What incentive do they have to make some kind of deal? I hear people say, "Just negotiate a deal." Wait a minute. You took out the Supreme Leader. They view us as the Great Satan. Governor DeSantis: My fear is that it's going to drag on and continue to be a sore spot, given the trajectory it has taken. I think Midnight Hammer in 2025 was effective. This time, you have to know what you're trying to accomplish. What is the concrete objective? You should be able to say, "We accomplished the objective." Governor DeSantis: There was never really a concrete objective. The president said one thing, the secretary of state said another, and the vice president said something different. That's been part of the problem. Walker Wildmon: I completely agree. We still haven't gotten a clear explanation as to why we went in June of 2025 and supposedly obliterated the nuclear sites, then went back in February of this year and started the whole thing over again, and then some, times ten. Walker Wildmon: Voters ought to know. This might be the only bright spot that comes out of Democratic investigations. Did we truly obliterate the Iranian nuclear program in June of 2025? Walker Wildmon: We were told on numerous occasions, too many to count, that the B-2 bombers we sent over in the middle of the night in June 2025 had obliterated Iran's nuclear program. We were told the facilities were obliterated, gone, and wiped off the face of the earth. Then we came back in February, and it was as if the nuclear threat had never ended. Walker Wildmon: You can't have it both ways. We need to be told what's going on. Were our strikes in June 2025 ineffective? Did they not hit the right targets? Were the nuclear materials moved beforehand? Did the bombs not penetrate deeply enough underground? What on earth happened? Walker Wildmon: Everybody was feeling great in June 2025. We flew into Iranian airspace without them knowing what was coming, dropped multiple bombs on the nuclear facilities, and got out of there with no U.S. casualties. After the 12-day war, there was a ceasefire. Missiles stopped firing, the Strait of Hormuz was open, and things went back to normal. Walker Wildmon: Then in February of this year, it was as if that had never happened. As much as people want to move past this, I'm not moving past it. You can't tell me, and you can't tell 300-plus million other people, that we obliterated their nuclear program in June of 2025 and then, 18 months later, still be at war with Iran. Walker Wildmon: Maybe the one thing Democrats will get an answer to through their investigations is whether we obliterated the nuclear program or not. I think we ought to know that. If we did, why did we go back in February, and why are we still there 10 months later? Walker Wildmon: The one word Republicans ought to be watching as we go into 2028 is affordability. Mark my words, this is going to be the word Democrats try to use to persuade voters to vote for them, even in 2028. Walker Wildmon: The word affordability is subjective. Something affordable for you may not be affordable for me, and vice versa. The word affordable is intentionally vague and intentionally subjective. Walker Wildmon: Other metrics, such as inflation and wage growth, are not subjective. Those are hard numbers and percentages that don't change depending on whom you're talking about. Walker Wildmon: According to Van Jones, Democrats quietly organized tens of thousands of people through something called the American Accountability Network to push their affordability message. He said Republicans never figured out what they were doing. He was bragging about this a couple of days after the election. Walker Wildmon: He said tens of thousands of online humans, not bots, coordinated to make the affordability message a winning message online. Thirty-two million people hit Instagram every day, 88 million hit X every day, and 185 million hit Facebook every day. He said the Republicans could not understand that these weren't bots. They were actual human beings. Walker Wildmon: What he's admitting is that Democrats were paying humans to continually talk about affordability, and that word and that narrative clearly resonated with voters. Walker Wildmon: Conservatives and Republicans are going to have to recapture these talking points, definitions, and terms when it comes to economics. We cannot let Democrats get away with talking about affordability in such vague terms. Let's talk specifics. Walker Wildmon: Unfortunately, over the last 10 months, when you talk specifics about affordability, including GDP growth, real wage growth, inflation, and interest rates, and you start digging into the nuts and bolts of economics that make up this grand definition of affordability, the numbers aren't good. The numbers are terrible. Walker Wildmon: They're not as bad as they were during the Biden era. We're still better off with President Trump. We're still better off with this economy. But voters elected President Trump in November 2024, and he was sworn in in January 2025 to fix the Biden disaster. Walker Wildmon: If you don't get anything else out of today's program, get this: Things were moving in the right direction from January 2025 to February 2026. Fundamentally, every economic indicator and category was moving in the right direction. GDP growth was up, wage growth was up, inflation was down, interest rates were down, mortgage rates were back in the 5 percent range, and gas prices were down, with the national average below three dollars a gallon. Walker Wildmon: All of it was moving in the right direction. President Trump was carrying through on his mandate to fix the Biden disaster. He was fixing the border, and he was fixing the economy. Walker Wildmon: Then one thing happened. One thing changed: Iran. Walker Wildmon: When you insert the Iran date into the graphs for all these metrics, everything deteriorates from there. Mortgage rates went back up, interest rates went back up, fuel prices went back up, and wage growth went down. All these metrics began to deteriorate immediately following the launch of the Iran war. Walker Wildmon: We have not recovered yet, and we won't until we move past whatever we're doing over there in the Middle East. Those are the facts on the ground, whether you like them or not. Walker Wildmon: I'm not litigating all the arguments for and against these different policy decisions. I'm telling you how voters are feeling, and that's what you have to understand in order to resonate with voters in elections.
Walker Wildmon examines post-election polling and argues that the Iran war, rising fuel costs, and voter frustration drove the conservative defeat. Drawing on a Fox News survey of more than 100,000 registered voters, he highlights major shifts among young men, rural voters, suburban women, and independents.
The program features commentary from tech leader and businessman David Sacks and Governor DeSantis on the war's economic and political consequences, the limits of foreign intervention, and the conservative disconnect with voters. Wildmon also discusses opposition to new data centers, concerns about crony capitalism and artificial intelligence, and the Democrats' affordability messaging strategy. He closes by urging conservatives to address concrete economic measures rather than relying on vague political slogans.
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