The Manosphere Report

0:00This is an iHeart Podcast.

0:02Guaranteed human. Blink and you'll miss it.

0:06The Snooze Flash sale is on now.

0:08Save up to 60 % off selected mattresses and up to 40 % off selected

0:12bed frames. Hurry, sell must -end Monday.

0:14Exclusions Tuesdays are fine. Amazing what a little snooze can do.

0:20ABC Wednesdays. The Emmy -winning comedy Scrubs is all new.

0:24This is an all new chapter for me.

0:25No more sad sack. That's what I'm talking about.

0:28I want both of our sacks to be fun.

0:30You two idiots are perfect for each other.

0:32From executive producers of Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

0:34We were all a part of this victory.

0:36Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer.

0:40Nachos! Feels like there's more applause for the nachos than my speech.

0:43The new season of Scrubs.

0:45Wednesdays, 8, 7 central on ABC and stream on Hulu.

0:49Welcome back to A Numbers Game with Ryan Grudowski.

0:51Thank you guys for being here.

0:52I am so excited for this episode because there are so many media narratives coming

0:57out of the primary election in Texas that are truly driving me nuts.

1:02Ladies and gentlemen, and for those questioning themselves, if you've listened to the show over

1:06the last year, I am very much a straight shooter.

1:09I have very little tolerance for nonsense.

1:12And what you're hearing about James Tellarico and the chances that Democrats have that he

1:17is some white knight who will turn Texas blue are well overindulged, right?

1:25He is the white knight for Crazy Town USA and the population of that town

1:29is the American media. But let's start with the top lines and let's start specifically

1:34on the Republican side of the aisle.

1:36Incumbent Senator John Cornyn had a very impressive showing, winning 42 % of the vote

1:41against Attorney General Ken Paxson's 41 % of the vote.

1:45Cornyn spent about $70 million in his primary challenge, the most expensive for an incumbent

1:51in a primary in U .S.

1:53history, dwarfing Paxson's like $5 million.

1:56So it might be a little more with outside help, but it's about $5 million

1:59to $70 million. Well, and why I say it's impressive, despite him spending 12, 14

2:05times as much money as Paxson, is that Paxson was leading in every single poll

2:10going to this election. Most polls didn't even have Cornyn getting to 35%.

2:15So the fact that not only he got well over 35%, but came in first

2:19place, really shows how weak Paxson's campaign was.

2:24Because Paxson said over and over again that not only was he the MAGA candidate,

2:29but the grassroots candidate, the conservative candidate.

2:32And turnout for somebody who is an incumbent with that kind of reputation among the

2:37grassroots is very weak. It's not great.

2:40Paxson received fewer primary votes this year than Cornyn did in 2008.

2:47Think about how many more people live in Texas today than in 2008.

2:52And I talked to one of my buddies in Texas.

2:54I'm very smart in the Texas political circle.

2:57And he said, you don't understand, Paxson is not a strong candidate.

3:01He's probably one of the overly talked about campaigners or overly promoted campaigners in the

3:08countries. A pretty weak campaigner when it comes down to it.

3:12And almost immediately after the polls closed and the numbers started coming in, I was

3:17hearing from consultant friends that Trump was going to push for an endorsement of Cornyn.

3:21Because Cornyn's numbers out of Dallas and the Dallas suburbs were gigantic.

3:25He even, I think, won the Houston area in the Houston suburbs.

3:28And that's also now what the Atlantic's reporting.

3:32It's what Politico is reporting.

3:33And Trump said on Truth Socially, he's going to endorse one of the candidates.

3:38Do I like that? Here's the thing.

3:41Republicans don't want to spend $200 million that they don't have to on a Texas

3:45primary race. And I get it.

3:47Cornyn sucks. He does. On the issues, I don't agree with Cornyn.

3:50Cornyn's awful. He's absolutely awful.

3:52And there should have been a better alternative.

3:55But I give him credit in one thing.

3:58This was the fight for his life.

4:00And I have to hand it to the old guy.

4:01He won that fight. Had Paxton performed at 47%, 48 % and was going to

4:09a runoff, I don't think there would be a question of should Trump endorse Cornyn.

4:15I think that he wouldn't have.

4:17But the fact that Paxton was leading all the polls, underperformed, couldn't raise money, didn't

4:26campaign particularly well. Do you remember seeing a Paxton speech that went viral?

4:29Or alternative media coverage? Or free media coverage?

4:34I didn't see anything. I didn't even see him make the case against Cornyn.

4:39I think that he should have.

4:41That he, that I would have.

4:42Really hammering Cornyn's moderation and that Cornyn had betrayed Texas Conserves.

4:48He wasn't able to execute it.

4:51So it seems obvious then Trump would go with the safer pick, given that the

4:57quote -unquote populist candidate, the MAGA candidate, the conservative candidate really couldn't do it.

5:02And Paxton, hearing that Trump was going to call him to step down, probably there

5:06were some whispers or some private conversations, has said that he is, would exit the

5:11race only on one condition.

5:14If the Senate passes the SAVE Act.

5:16Basically putting the ball back in the court of moderates in the Senate, I guess

5:21trying to make a concessions from people like Senator Curtis or Mitch McConnell.

5:24Thank you. trying to get an easy pathway for John Cornyn.

5:28I think that's probably the most he could ask for instead of going into this,

5:32and he probably would lose a runoff.

5:34I think that he really would, and he would spend a lot of time and

5:36money. But what no one's mentioning, this is the thing I want everyone to think

5:40about when it comes to Texas politics, bigger than just this primary, because this is

5:44the real story about this election cycle.

5:49No one has talked about this, but this is very likely John Cornyn's last run.

5:53It's his fourth and last run.

5:56He's turning 75 at the beginning of this term, and he'll be 81 when the

6:01term ends. Greg Abbott, the governor who won his primary challenge with 82 % of

6:06the vote carrying every county, just ran for his fourth term, and it's likely his

6:11final term in office. I would be flabbergasted if he tried to run for a

6:16fifth term at 73 years old.

6:17Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor, who's very popular, got 85 % of the vote, will

6:22likely be serving his last term.

6:24It'll be 80 when his term ends.

6:25And there is gossip on the street that allegedly, Ted Cruz is plotting his run

6:31for president in 2028, and if he doesn't win, and a Republican does, and he

6:36cannot run in 2032, that he will also be retiring.

6:41That is the gossip on the street.

6:45So, Texas being the most important red state in this country for many reasons, not

6:51just because they have 40 electoral college votes and they have this giant economy, and

6:55they have the largest delegation in the House, but they are coming into a power

6:59vacuum over the next four, five, and six years.

7:04There's gonna be a giant sea change in the Texas Republican leadership that a lot

7:10of people in Texas are planting the seeds for.

7:13Also, remember, by the way, there are six incumbent Republican congressmen who are over the

7:17age of 70. I think one's over the age of 80.

7:20And if you are a conservative in Texas and you are disappointed that John Cornyn

7:26is likely coming out of this election, you know, the winner, if you're disappointed that

7:31Greg Abbott won with a landslide, I know some people don't like Greg Abbott, the

7:34change that's going to happen will start today because the main players who have been

7:40running Texas for the last 15 years, in some case 20 years in other cases,

7:45are all looking towards the exit sign that their time has come and their time

7:49has probably passed. And if you want a more conservative Texas, now is your chance.

7:55This is really a prime opportunity over the next four years.

8:00No one's talked about it.

8:01It should be talked about.

8:02Now let's talk about the other race that's very fascinating, one of two primary challenges

8:07that I want to talk about.

8:08One is that Crenshaw, Dan Crenshaw was the only incumbent congressman to lose without a

8:15runoff. He did not receive the Trump endorsement, the only House member in the Texas

8:18delegation not to receive the Trump endorsement.

8:20He outspent his primary opponent 9 -1 but lost by 15 points.

8:25That's pretty decisive. That's a blowout.

8:28People in the media are asking why.

8:30People who don't understand Republicans are asking why.

8:32And you have people like Juan Ferraro from the Wall Street Journal.

8:37He tweeted, Dan Crenshaw of Texas is a conservative with an independent streak who questioned

8:42Republicans who supported Trump's claim that the 2020 vote was stolen.

8:47No place in the party for someone like that.

8:51No one. That was not why Dan Crenshaw lost.

8:55The election being stolen in 2020, those claims and the fight over that was not

9:01mentioned during the campaign at all.

9:04No one cared about it.

9:05And as far as an independent streak, Dan Crenshaw voted with Trump 100 % of

9:10the time. That's a complete, you didn't read the room at all, Juan.

9:13You didn't read the room at all.

9:16People didn't like Dan Crenshaw.

9:18That is the problem. They didn't like him for a number of reasons.

9:21They didn't like him because he was a war hawk.

9:23He openly defended congressional stock trading, which was one of his big issues over the

9:28last couple of years. The number one thing you knew about Dan Crenshaw was he

9:31loved trading stocks. And he made no friends.

9:34Members of, I met, I'm not in Texas very often, but I met donors who

9:38were like, I'll fund anybody who runs against him.

9:41There was also conservative media personalities who couldn't stand him.

9:44The president didn't like him.

9:46His colleagues didn't like him.

9:49He just, I mean, he pissed everyone off.

9:52There's no other way to say it.

9:53And it finally caught up to him.

9:54He's an abrasive person who's not likable.

9:57And look, I get it.

9:58I'm abrasive. I get like three Christmas cards a year.

10:01I get it. I mean, I'm not for everybody, but I'm not running for Congress.

10:05So, I mean, that was really basically it.

10:07He was just too unlikable to run for reelection.

10:13And it ultimately caught up with him.

10:14And that was that. And so his career is finally coming to an end for

10:17his House seat. The last seat that I want to talk to you about is

10:23the only endorsed candidate who's Trump endorsed candidate who's likely to lose.

10:27And that is Tony Gonzalez from 23rd District of Texas.

10:31You've heard me talk about him before on the show a lot.

10:34For those who need a very brief refresher, he represents the district on the Texas

10:39-Mexico border, allegedly called Republicans behind closed doors during the Biden migration crisis, a bunch

10:45of racists for wanting to stop the invasion.

10:48And he had an affair with a staffer that he...

10:52aggressively pursued after she told him no and allegedly, allegedly offered her promotions and raises

10:58and projects that she really wanted to be part of before the affair happened.

11:03She left her family for him and only, and allegedly, he ghosted her and then

11:10she lit herself on fire in front of her mother and killed herself.

11:14I mean, it's horrific to even say it out loud.

11:16That's why I had to pause.

11:17I'm like, how am I going to say this?

11:18This is, it's a horrific story.

11:20He denied the entire thing until the text messages between the two came into public

11:25light. Then he admitted that he had cheated on his wife, the mother of his

11:29six children, and they had a, quote, lapse of judgment.

11:33Sir, ordering Taco Bell at 2 a .m.

11:36is a lapse of judgment.

11:37This is much worse. He came in second place in the primary election in the

11:42runoff. He'll have a runoff with Brandon Herrera.

11:45He received 42 % to Herrera's 43%.

11:49He actually received fewer votes in this election than the first round of the 2024

11:54primary, which was a presidential election.

11:58So that, I mean, that says something when you're getting less votes than you did

12:01during the presidential election and Herrera's getting more.

12:04Gonzalez went on the Joe Paggs show right after the primary to talk about it.

12:10His face was lifeless. This is the only way I could describe it if you're

12:14not watching. He said, God forgave him for the affair.

12:18So anyway, by the way, if you are looking to deal with something with morality,

12:23you don't need to see a priest or a pastor.

12:25You can just go to Tony Gonzalez.

12:26He's had a one -way conversation with God.

12:28But then again, talking about how it was weird that his dead mistress's husband called

12:35his congressional office and asked about her death benefits the day after she passed away.

12:40He changed the story. At first, he said it was a few hours after she

12:43passed away, and then said it was the day after she passed away.

12:46He asked about her death benefits.

12:47He also claimed that the husband's defense attorney threatened to blackmail him for $300 ,000,

12:53saying this whole political controversy was about money.

12:58Sir, Congressman, it wasn't about money.

13:02This is not about money.

13:04Nobody cares about this blackmail.

13:06This is because you had an affair with your employee.

13:12Your staffers are leaking to the media that you caused her mental distress, and she

13:18killed herself in a brutal way in front of her mom.

13:24This is not about money, and you are not a victim.

13:29That is what Gonzalez is doing.

13:31He's saying, look at me.

13:33I'm the victim of this blackmail.

13:34Sir, you are not the victim.

13:36You are not the victim.

13:37This is so nonsensical to even spin it that way.

13:42Pags, to his credit, asked, do you think your response for her suicide?

13:46That's clip one. I want to go to that.

13:48It's a little long of a clip, but listen to this.

13:50Any and every headline that we see about this story makes the assertion, and I'm

13:55not saying it, but they make the assertion that she committed suicide because of you.

13:59You don't think you had anything whatsoever to do with it?

14:02Absolutely nothing to do with it, and you know what?

14:05They do this intentionally, Pags.

14:07I mean, you cannot hate the media enough.

14:09There's a reason why I'm coming on your show.

14:11There's a reason why I reached out to you and this alternative way of getting

14:16real information out is this was all very coordinated attack towards me for one thing,

14:21to get me to not vote.

14:23Prime example, to get me to not vote for the DHS package tomorrow.

14:28Buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, media, Trump, DHS, border, deflect, deflect, distract, distract.

14:35What a narcissistic sociopath. This woman is dead.

14:40And then for definitive proof that he said he is not responsible at all for

14:45her suicide, he reads from the part of the Ovalde police report from a first

14:51responder. Go to clip two.

14:53It is pages upon pages, but I always share just this one thing.

14:56One of the things that was relayed was, you know, what was Ms.

14:59Santos' last words? And they tried to make it all dramatic.

15:02In the police report, this is specifically from the police report, the female subject with

15:07burn injuries then stated her husband is gay and having an affair with her best

15:11friend. I wonder if that had something to do with her tragic passage.

15:16According to her mother, who was present, her last words were, I don't want to

15:23die. Which to you is more believable?

15:28Her claim that the Ovalde police, who, if you remember the shooting for a couple

15:34of years, have many issues to them, that she said, my husband is gay, as

15:39her final words, or I don't want to die.

15:43This politician with his very, very large soapbox is saying, no, it wasn't me.

15:50I wasn't responsible. I'm actually the victim.

15:53Who's responsible? Her quote unquote gay husband, who is now blackmailing me.

16:00It's really just that this man is really creating circles and taking down a very

16:06proud congressman. What a piece of human debris.

16:11There is no accountability on his side.

16:14He is lifeless. The only time he's showing any passion is when he's calling for

16:17his own defense. If he did, did care about this woman, which he says she

16:22was an amazing worker and she did so much for community.

16:24If he really cared, what he'd be trying to do right now is raise money

16:29for the child who doesn't have a mom anymore.

16:32Not running re -election campaigns and claim that you're the victim of some giant conspiracy

16:39between a widower, allegedly, and his gay love affair and your deceased employee.

16:50This is ridiculous. House leadership under Speaker Johnson finally, finally came out with a statement

16:57demanding his withdrawal, Gonzalez's withdrawal from the re -election, especially as the Ethics Committee has

17:03announced an investigation into his conduct.

17:07The House is a very strict rule about affairs when it comes to staffers.

17:12It's not the same as just regular affairs or affairs with other colleagues.

17:16That's not the same thing.

17:17With staffers, it's pretty strict.

17:20The runoff in Texas is May 26th.

17:24I don't think Tony Gonzalez is going to survive.

17:27I would expect, honestly, at this point, that Trump is going to withdraw his endorsement

17:34at some point. How he's behaving in this race is so disgraceful.

17:40It is disgraceful. This man is willing to embarrass himself, his wife, his children, the

17:47deceased woman's children. I mean, he's a disgrace.

17:50Okay. That's the Republican side.

17:52That's my analysis of the Republican side.

17:55That's why this election is interesting and important.

17:57Let's go to the Democrat side of the election, the Democratic primary.

18:01That's coming up next. Blink and you'll miss it.

18:06The Snooze Flash sale is on now.

18:08Set up to 60 % off selected mattresses and up to 40 % off selected

18:12bed frames. Hurry, sell must -end Monday.

18:14Exclusions, teasers, and teasers are gone.

18:16Amazing what a little snooze can do.

18:20ABC Wednesdays. The Emmy -winning comedy Scrubs is all new.

18:24This is an all new chapter for me.

18:25No more sad sack. That's what I'm talking about.

18:28I want both of our sacks to be fun.

18:30You two idiots are perfect for each other.

18:32From executive producers of Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

18:34We were all a part of this victory.

18:36Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer.

18:40Nachos! Feels like there's more applause for the nachos than my speech.

18:43The new season of Scrubs.

18:45Wednesdays, 8, 7 central on ABC.

18:47And stream on Hulu. So James Salarico, state representative, just 36 years old, defeated Congressman

18:56Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary.

18:59A woman who I have often called the dime store Cardi B who developed a

19:02black scent sometime in her late 30s to early 40s.

19:07Jasmine's a beautiful, I'm not making a joke, she's a gorgeous looking woman who was

19:12very eloquent speaker until she became a member of Congress and all of a sudden

19:16her entire voice changed somehow.

19:19The turnout in this election, the Democratic primary was massive.

19:23The city of Austin and the surrounding suburbs where Salarico is the state representative, that

19:27gave him the large margin of victory.

19:29He did very well with Latinos as well, winning their vote.

19:32The black vote was very one -sided towards Jasmine Crockett.

19:35The white vote was even more one -sided or as one -sided for James Salarico.

19:41As was the case, by the way, with the Republican primary, Tellarico outspent his opponent,

19:45though not as much as Cornyn outspent Paxton, but he outspent her about five to

19:49one. For almost two decades, the media has been trying to recreate what they did

19:56with Obama. Basically create this political sensation out of whole cloth.

20:02And now they're especially focused on doing it with a white man.

20:06See, they know that white men, especially working -class white men and evangelical white men,

20:11are the backbone of the Republican Party.

20:14The Republican Party cannot win without white men.

20:17And if they peel off a few of them, then they can win every big

20:22election. They tried to do this with Tim Waltz, the communist version of Fred Mertz,

20:26until it was revealed that he was certifiably insane, giving out awards to refugees that

20:30defrauded people in the system, stealing $250 million that they said were using to feed

20:36hungry children. That's what they do all the time.

20:38They're trying to do this more and more frequently.

20:40They tried it with Beto O 'Rourke, the man who wanted to toe the line

20:43between being Irish and Latino.

20:46So instead of going by his real name, Francis O 'Rourke, he went by Beto

20:51to really mix it up a little bit.

20:53And the far left is also trying to do this with a man named Graham

20:56Plattner up in Maine. I'm going to have an entire episode dedicated to him soon.

21:01I'm going to expose the truth about him.

21:03And it's going to be fantastic.

21:05He is crazier than a pistachio farm in California.

21:07But then there's James Tellarico.

21:10He is the left's new wonderkin.

21:12This Keebler elf, according to the media, is the left's answer to evangelicalism, Christian nationalism.

21:18He's a seminarian who really understands what working class white people believe and economic populists.

21:25And he's deeply rooted in his Christian faith.

21:27And he reads the Bible.

21:28He carries the Bible with them practically everywhere he goes.

21:30The only problem is, for the Democrats, that in Tellarico's version of Christianity, Jesus Christ

21:37has the same opinions on politics that Christian Gillibrand and Cory Booker have.

21:41Here's just a short highlight reel of some of the supposed things.

21:46This moderate... believes in when it comes to christianity and politics credit to colin rigg

21:51who pulled this go to the next clip when i was a teacher on the

21:56west side of san antonio i taught a lot of students who were undocumented and

22:01i don't want to stereotype but those students tended to be the most patriotic the

22:07hardest working students that i had in the classroom and again i haven't stated this

22:12enough to to say this definitively but there are interpretations of certain passages from the

22:17torah where some folks will even say that there is a there is some subtle

22:23instructions for how to perform an abortion in the ancient world certain things to drink

22:28things like that before we go further i want to acknowledge that our trans community

22:33needs abortion care too defending trans texans is something we have to do every day

22:38at the state capitol and you better believe i'll be giving sermons on that too

22:42i want us all to be aware of is that that modern science obviously recognizes

22:47that there are many more than two biological sexes in fact there are six is

22:52both masculine and feminine and everything in between god is non -binary so this this

23:02idea that to be a christian means you have to be anti -gay and anti

23:05-abortion there really is no historical theological biblical basis for that opinion during one of

23:13his addresses in a church talarico said after abortion was banned that neighbors with a

23:19uterus are second -class citizen citizens go to the next clip this summer more than

23:26half our population became second -class citizens every one of our neighbors with a uterus

23:33became the property of the state and nothing nothing is more unchristian than that i

23:44am so old that back in my day they called those people women on god

23:48being non -binary now he didn't say his this is his current defense that god

23:52is greater than gender but he doesn't say doesn't say things like um god create

23:57a man and woman in his likeness and image he uses a specifically uses a

24:03woke terminology that god is non -binary that is for boys that like to wear

24:09skirts and pretend they're cats and girls who think are thinking about having their breasts

24:13lobbed off he said that jesus christ himself was a radical feminist as if he

24:19was sitting in the temple reading betty for dan he also said that jesus has

24:23helped him reckon with his own whiteness now for those of you who aren't familiar

24:29with the teachings of jesus or christianity jesus calls on us to reckon with our

24:34sinful nature but to james talarico being white and committing a sin is the same

24:40exact thing go to the next clip for me prophetic voices like jesus have helped

24:47me reckon with my own whiteness my own masculinity my own certainty my own ego

24:53it's a never -ending process and it's a painful process being a white man is

24:59a painful process to james talarico the moderate democratic candidate from texas some of his

25:05other moderate positions are that prisons are violence and we should imagine a world and

25:10work for a world without them there's here's the next clip poverty is violence pollution

25:18is violence and yes prison is violence dismantle this system of violence build something new

25:25something better something rooted in love it's hard to imagine a world without prison but

25:31it's also hard to imagine a world without telegrams and cassette tapes just because it's

25:37hard to imagine doesn't mean you shouldn't the hits keep coming he posted a picture

25:43of several black men who have been killed by police including michael brown michael brown

25:48for those who forgot he was in ferguson missouri he charged up police trying to

25:52grab one of their guns and was killed this is where the hands up don't

25:56shoot lie comes from in his tweet talarico says amoud arbery who was actually legitimately

26:04killed for um not from police he was killed actually for a high profile for

26:09a racial profiling he said is the latest american kill from the virus of racism

26:14the virus kills our black neighbors if they are jogging playing music sitting in church

26:19selling cds or carrying a bag of skittles white skin gives me and every white

26:24american immunity from this virus but we spread it wherever we go through the world

26:30through our words our actions our systems we don't have to be showing symptoms like

26:35a white hood or a complete a confederate flag to be racist we're just virus

26:43carriers us white people michael brown wasn't killed because of racism he was killed because

26:49he tried to take an officer's gun and he violently confronted the police during a

26:55different post he referred to illegal aliens as undocumented americans in 2013 he video of

27:03a certain of certain pro -life video brings back memories of being the only teenage

27:07boy at planned parenthood marches in 2004 for anyone who has ever seen a picture

27:14or watched a video or heard him speak, I can promise you, James Tallarico at

27:19no point in his life needed to worry about an unplanned pregnancy.

27:23But he cares a lot about abortion.

27:25So much so that he said, we need abortion access for our trans community.

27:28We need abortion access for anyone because if you don't, you are a ward of

27:33the state. You are basically a slave.

27:35He actively worked, speaking of trans, this is like an insane thing.

27:39He actively worked when he was in the state legislator from stopping trans women who

27:45are men from being in female spaces and being playing on female sports team.

27:51He took the 20 % side of an 80 -20 issue.

27:55In 2022, this is after Roe v.

27:58Wade was overturned, he called on Joe Biden to use federal buildings to provide abortion

28:05care for women in red states.

28:07Can you imagine, can you imagine Christmas time, you're going to the post office to

28:14go mail packages to relatives and loved ones across the country, you're humming some Christmas

28:19carols to yourself and you get to the post office and lo and behold, a

28:22woman is getting an abortion near the P .O.

28:24boxes. This man is insane.

28:27This man is effing sick.

28:30In 2020, he also claimed that he had gone viral in Brazil because his last

28:35name in Portuguese, he said his last name in Brazilian, but he's too stupid to

28:39know that it's Portuguese, he's not Brazilian, there's no language Brazilian.

28:42He said that his last name means wife stealer and he said, I'm going to

28:46steal your girl. Once again, if you've ever seen or heard him, that is not

28:50a problem you should worry about.

28:52But see, he's what the liberal fantasy of what normal for white men looks like.

29:00He is to what liberals believe will work to get white evangelicals on his side.

29:06You know, it means I've read the Bible.

29:09I've been inside a church outside of a funeral.

29:11Therefore, I got this. It's like when Republicans run a black guy with a white

29:15wife who lives in an all -white community and thinks that's going to, you know,

29:18win over black voters. It's not going to work.

29:21No one believes James Tellarico sounds like a Christian, like an average white guy.

29:27He's constantly plagued with the inner turmoil of being a white guy.

29:31I mean, he, Rachel Dolezal is more adjusted to being white than James Tellarico.

29:39James is a mini -me version of every far -left radical nutbag that the Democratic

29:45Party has ever turned out.

29:47And he's had this enormous success with Latino voters in this primary election that they're

29:53counting on to swing him the Senate seat.

29:56But that's because they didn't get a hundred million dollars of ad buys showing that

30:00he's just the woke Billy Graham.

30:02He is not a deeply devout Christian.

30:04He's a heretic. He bastardizes the faith that a majority of Texans believe in.

30:10So there's a lot going to come out about him past this primary.

30:16And the biggest irony is, has Jasmine Crockett not been so utterly woke?

30:22And maybe if she had more money, but if she not been so utterly woke

30:26and been afraid of the online, online, you know, woke mob, she probably could have

30:32beaten him by addressing these issues to Latinos in Texas in the Democratic primary.

30:38She could have splintered off a lot by talking about his positions on trans people,

30:44by his positions on prisons, by his positions on crime, by his positions on whiteness

30:49in the suburbs of Dallas and Houston.

30:52You know, or as James Tellarico referently calls people Latinx people, which infuriates Hispanics.

31:00I know that Republicans in Washington are licking their chops and they believe they could

31:06beat James Tellarico. It was always a hard state for them to win, but I

31:11don't think that they even began to skim the surface of just how nuts this

31:16man is. He is crazy.

31:19He is not going to win this election, I don't think, right now.

31:22I will wait to see some polls, but when this stuff starts hitting and it

31:26will hit the airwaves nonstop, they're going to say, this man is a freak.

31:31Let's send him back to the Keebler Elf, you know, tree so he can make

31:34some cookies. Ask Me Anything is coming up next.

31:39Blink and you'll miss it.

31:40The Snooze Flash sale is on now.

31:42Save up to 60 % of selected mattresses and up to 40 % of selected

31:46bed frames. Hurry, sell must -end Monday.

31:49Exclusions, teasers, and teasers are fine.

31:51Amazing what a little snooze can do.

31:55ABC Wednesdays. The Emmy -winning comedy Scrubs is all new.

31:58This is a whole new chapter for me.

32:00No more sad sack. That's what I'm talking about.

32:02I want both of our sacks to be fun.

32:05You two idiots are perfect for each other.

32:06From executive producers of Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

32:09We were all a part of this victory.

32:11Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer.

32:14Nachos! Feels like there's more applause for the nachos than my speech.

32:18The new season of Scrubs.

32:20Wednesdays, 8, 7 central on ABC.

32:22And stream on Hulu. Welcome back for the Ask Me Anything segment.

32:28If you want to be part of the Ask Me Anything segment, email me ryan

32:30at numbersgamepodcast .com. That's ryan at numbers, plural numbersgamepodcast .com.

32:35This message comes from Mike.

32:36He says, Ryan, big fan of your show and wish you continued success.

32:40Thank you, Mike. I appreciate that.

32:42He said, I've been a long time...

32:43conservative, and I believe I have a pretty stable political instincts.

32:46That being said, why do Republicans continue to shoot themselves in the foot?

32:50That is an evergreen question, Mike.

32:51That is not fair for me to answer.

32:53Ethics aside, everyone had known that in 2022 election was going to be a bloodbath

32:57for Republicans because of the abortion ruling.

32:59I don't actually believe that.

33:02I don't care what side of the aisle you're on in that debate.

33:05It's just now mainstream ballot winner.

33:07And now in 2026, Republicans are again fumbling the football with poor messaging on ice

33:11and going down the pin, the tail on the Jew rabbit hole.

33:17I don't mean to laugh.

33:19I don't mean to laugh.

33:22That was a very creative way of putting it.

33:25Sorry. I've loved all your coverage and analysis of illegal immigration debate and agree with

33:30you on your messaging. Mike, and there was a rant after that, but it went

33:33too long. Mike, thank you for your compliments.

33:36I would say with the 2022 election, remember the Republicans won the generic ballot in

33:42the 2022 election, right? So there were more people who voted for Republicans in the

33:45House than voted for Democrats.

33:48The problem was is that Republican voters were shifting.

33:52They were winning more working class voters, more Latino voters, and they didn't do a

33:57good enough job in white suburban communities where the voters were leaving them.

34:02And that was part of it.

34:04Yes, abortion had a big part of it, saying the claiming the 2020 election was

34:08stolen and the fears of democracy played part of it.

34:10But the realignment had a big part of it that was kind of underspoken about,

34:16as well as, you know, we candidates running for statewide office and them all being

34:20lumped in together as crazy.

34:21The thing about the, here's the problem with Republicans with the whole pin the tail

34:27on the Jew rabbit hole.

34:29Republicans in office are not talking about that.

34:34It's all coming from online media personalities.

34:37So how much space do you give something?

34:41Do you want, I'm thinking of it, think of it like this.

34:43If you are an elected official, Ted Cruz aside, but if you're an elected official,

34:49how much time do you want to spend in your reelection year battling Tucker Carlson?

34:55How much do you want to elevate him?

34:58How much do you want to elevate Candace Owens?

35:00Candace Owens, his show is the National Enquirer.

35:03It's, you know, who killed Charlie Kirk?

35:04That's the problem. You don't want to elevate people.

35:08Because if you do, if you put them on your level, you give them much

35:13larger credibility. And I get that we're all seeing it.

35:17I don't really know how you dissuade people from that opinion or from hearing about

35:24it. But that's, that's that.

35:26I mean, that's, that's really the conflict.

35:28As far as the messaging goes with immigration, a big thing of it, I think

35:34immigration plays less into it than people think.

35:37I think it's really the economy.

35:39I think for young, young people, they are dissatisfied with the Epstein file stuff.

35:43I think Epstein file stuff has gotten way too much coverage, but young people do

35:47care about it. And I acknowledge that they care about it.

35:50And I think that it's gas prices and energy prices.

35:53So part of it is the economy and the economy not being where people want

35:57it to be. Part of it is thinking that Trump is distracted by too much

36:02military intervention and not enough focus on domestic policy.

36:05And then the other part of it is, I guess, these, the, the greater conservative

36:12conversations that are happening that members of Congress are not having.

36:15And to a certain degree, if they spent all their time warring with Tucker Carlson

36:20or this one or that one, it would look, they would make the party really

36:24look like a circus. And you don't want that.

36:26So that's my opinion of it.

36:29I think a lot of things being said about Jews are despicable and disgusting.

36:33And as I said before, I don't think that Rubio made a good case for

36:37himself in that press conference and Rubio has been doing normally a fabulous job as

36:41secretary of state. But I do think that he fumbled that.

36:43So, um, yeah, but that's, that's how it goes.

36:45And also remember one last thing, one last thing.

36:48Remember, it's a midterm of a president in power.

36:53It is the normal thing for the party in power to lose the house.

36:59It's just the way the American people are.

37:01There's really sometimes not a bigger lesson to learn from it.

37:05Just everyone relax, make sure we'll go out and vote, try to win as many

37:10elections as possible. Try to reduce the losses in the house to, you know, single

37:14digits. But aside from that, you know, you've got to just take a breath and

37:19people stop losing their minds over every little thing.

37:22Like cooler heads will prevail.

37:24Just kind of, that's one thing I've noticed as I've gotten older is like, don't

37:28always have to set our hair on fire.

37:29We can take a breath.

37:31It is okay to not get upset over everything.

37:34You can't control everything. It gives you ulcers and you know, anyway, that's this episode.

37:40Thank you guys so much.

37:41We'll be back on Monday.

37:42We have a special episode with amazing polls.

37:45So we're going to go down and break down Republicans chances in the midterms.

37:48We're going to break down all of the chances to hold on to the Senate

37:52or win more Senate seats or lose the Senate seats.

37:54It's going to be a fantastic show.

37:56If you like this podcast, please like and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts

38:00or on YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts.

38:02And I will talk to you guys on Monday.

38:03Have a wonderful weekend. Blink and you'll miss it.

38:07The Snooze Flash sale is on now.

38:09Set up to 60%. of selected mattresses and up to 40 % of selected bed

38:13frames. Hurry, sell mustard Monday.

38:16Exclusions, taste and taste of wine.

38:18Amazing, what a little snooze can do.

38:22ABC Wednesdays, the Emmy -winning comedy Scrubs is all new.

38:25This is a whole new chapter for me.

38:27No more sad sack. That's what I'm talking about.

38:29I want both of our sacks to be fun.

38:32You two idiots are perfect for each other.

38:33From executive producers of Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

38:36We were all a part of this victory.

38:37Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer.

38:41Nachos! Feels like there's more applause for the nachos than my speech.

38:45The new season of Scrubs.

38:47Wednesdays, 8, 7 central on ABC and stream on Hulu.

38:51This is an iHeart Podcast.

38:53Guaranteed human.

It's a Numbers Game: The Numbers Behind Texas’ Wild Primary: Cornyn vs. Paxton, Crenshaw’s Loss & Democrats’ New Star