2024 GOP primary looking like Trump vs Trump vs Trump

The David Pakman Show - February 24, 2023

Feb 24, 2023

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Nikki Haley waiting for Trump to criticize her before attacking him

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley refuses to draw any policy distinctions between herself and Donald Trump, instead relying on identity politics to differentiate herself from the former president. When asked if she would criticize Trump in a recent Fox News segment, Haley responded that she would wait until he attacked her first. Of course, he already has, but Nikki hasn’t taken the bait. Trump has recently criticized Haley and other potential candidates, suggesting that some are auditioning for the vice presidency rather than running for president. Trump also claimed he hired Haley to be his U.N. Ambassador as a way to relieve the people of South Carolina from having her as their governor. Clearly, Haley is going to go as long as she can without attacking her former boss. It remains to be seen how that will work out for her, but it hasn’t been a successful strategy for any previous Republican going up against Donald Trump.

ANOTHER Republican will run against Trump with NO policy differences

Tim Scott, South Carolina senator and possible 2024 presidential candidate, refused to state any difference in policy between himself and former President Donald Trump. Scott was on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show and was asked, “what are the differences in terms of policy positions that, for example, you may have with President Trump?” Without skipping a beat, Scott responded, “probably not very many at all. I'm so thankful that we had President Trump in office. Frankly, the policies that we were able to pass from 2017 to 2020 were monumental.” Hannity asked the senator again and once again he didn’t give an answer and talked instead about what he’s learned during his “Faith in America” tour. It’s hard to imagine why a Republican voter would be convinced to vote for Tim Scott if he has all of the same policy positions as Trump. Maybe he is counting on Trump getting indicted so an opportunity will arise for him without having to criticize the former president.

From yesterday’s show:

LOL: After weeks of denying, Mike Pence admits to the entire thing

The debate over Social Security and Medicare cuts has resumed after former Vice President Mike Pence suggested that they be considered to address the country's growing debt crisis. Republicans have previously denied any intention of cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits, but Pence's statement clearly contradicts this claim and vindicates Democrats’ cause for concern. The issue arises due to changing demographics, where more and more people are retiring relative to the number of workers. As baby boomers continue to retire, the number of people receiving benefits relative to the number of people paying in is going to fall out of balance towards the retirees. Additionally, people are living longer, meaning that the estimates for how long people receive benefits are more extended. The current scenario of doing nothing shows that Social Security has enough money to pay full benefits until 2035. While the do-nothing scenario may not be entirely acceptable, it shows that Social Security is not insolvent, as claimed by Republicans. Furthermore, a number of changes could be made to the program to make it entirely self-sufficient in the future.

From yesterday’s show:

Competent governor VICIOUSLY attacks Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been making appearances across the country in what appears to be a pre-presidential run announcement tour. During a recent speech in Chicago to the Fraternal Order of Police, DeSantis criticized the criminal justice policies of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, calling them the "wokeification" of public safety. In response, Pritzker fired back, noting that Illinois has a better education system than Florida. He also accused DeSantis of not understanding what he’s talking about and using “woke” as a catch-all to go after things he doesn’t like. Despite DeSantis' claims that Florida has superior policies on crime, law enforcement, and guns, Illinois and Florida have similar violent crime rates, with both ranking in the middle among US states. While Pritzker may not be totally perfect when it comes to policy, he does seem to understand that you have to aggressively fight back against grandstanding Republicans like Ron DeSantis.

More on the show:

-- Caller asks about the future of artificial intelligence

-- Caller talks about Republicans not being affected by hypocrisy

-- Caller wonders if it makes sense for Joe Biden to end the COVID emergency

-- Caller talks about cryptocurrency and blockchain

-- Caller asks about leftist Latin American presidents

-- Caller wonders if Donald Trump will call Nikki Haley by her given name, "Nimarata"

-- Caller asks about identifying problems but not having ideas for solutions

-- Caller asks about Joe Biden's State of the Union address

-- David responds to emails and social media messages

-- On the Bonus Show: Florida students walk out protesting DeSantis, Republicans trying to ban drag shows, Pat's $10 water story, and much more...

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