Nashville-area public policy expert Clint Brewer on Thursday tapped Tennessee Attorney General Jonathon Skrmetti and the Volunteer State writ large as this week’s big winners; but nationally, the recovering journalist panned Donald Trump, Fox News in this week’s segment of Winners and Losers on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.
TRANSCRIPT
Michael Patrick Leahy: You know, Clint, everybody waits with bated breath to hear you..
Clint Brewer: I think you’re making fun of me, Mike.
Michael Patrick Leahy: No, people wanna know. You’ve got an excellent sense of who’s up and who’s down, who are the winners of this week, Clint Brewer?
Clint Brewer: All right.
So here, close to home, I’d have to say my old stomping grounds, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the state of Tennessee rose in the rankings to number three in the best states do business in the CNBC poll. You know, we’ve got a great business climate here.
Michael Patrick Leahy: A lot of, see, I don’t believe that. I think we should be number one.
Who’s one and two? I don’t know – but who’s better than Tennessee?
Clint Brewer: Usually it’s, like, Texas.
But you know, I mean, I think it’s a great representation of everything that’s good about the state: the low regulation, low taxes, pro-business environment, great infrastructure.
Just a really good feather in the cap of Stuart McCord, the commissioner there, and Bobby Rolfe, the former commissioner and the Lee administration.
Job well done.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Okay.
Clint Brewer: That’s number one winner. Also winner number two is Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Oh, yeah, boy did he have a big win.
Clint Brewer: He had a big court win. You know, people have strong feelings on the subject, but just the technicalities of winning in court. From a legal perspective, they had a big win.
And the sixth circuit on the gender-affirming care issue.
Michael Patrick Leahy: The transgender bill that was passed, was gonna go in effect July 1; a federal district court judge said, “Well, the stopping the general mutilation, we’re okay with that; but you can’t stop the puberty-blocking.”
He challenged that, and an appeals court said, “Yeah, we can stop the puberty-blocking.”
Although it, the bill allows it to continue on a grandfather clause–
Clint Brewer: Yeah. I mean, there’re gonna be more challenges.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Big win: Jonathon Skrmetti.
Clint Brewer: A legal win.
So losers are more on a national scale.
I would have to say former President Donald Trump has not had a great week.
Michael Patrick Leahy: What President Trump? Not a great week? What’d he do wrong? What unforced errors?
Clint Brewer: Unforced errors in Iowa. We talked about this earlier in the segment – going after the governor there.
You know, just bad form.
Like, he’s got a well-organized campaign for the first time ever. And you know, like they’re really well organized and the staff are doing an excellent job and he just keeps–
Michael Patrick Leahy: “Oh, there he goes again.”
Clint Brewer: Yeah.
Michael Patrick Leahy: This is why, I mean–
Clint Brewer: Lack of discipline.
Michael Patrick Leahy: This is why, I mean, I think it was a mistake on his part. What he did is he criticized Kim Reynolds–
Clint Brewer: Well, she’s the governor. She can’t just come out and go, “Yeah, I’m for him. Everybody else, stay out of the state.”
Michael Patrick Leahy: Well, she was there. She knows Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida.
Clint Brewer: Oh yeah. She probably knows all these folks.
Michael Patrick Leahy: And because she attended one of his events, the former president got mad and criticized her.
Clint Brewer: Well, she’s giving her citizens – her voters – who have a huge role in the national election access to all these candidates.
I mean, she’s doing her job. I just, you know, it’s bad form. It doesn’t look good.
It’s not helping him.
Michael Patrick Leahy: It’s unfortunate, but it makes no difference to who, ultimately, is a nominee.
But yeah, I agree with you: unforced error.
Clint Brewer: If your ultimate goal is to pull conservative voters together to win the White House back, then, you know, let’s do it the right way.
Other loser would be Fox News – precipitous drop in ratings.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Boom.
Clint Brewer: Only point to the Tucker Carlson move as a reason for that. So they, you know, they acted like they were gonna just reload like they did after Bill O’Reilly
Michael Patrick Leahy: Good point.
Clint Brewer: And go back and, you know, pull the next stallion out of the stall and, and start riding and they haven’t done it.
And you know, maybe they’ll get there, but I don’t know who that person is gonna be.
Michael Patrick Leahy: No; they’re not gonna get there.
They’ve permanently lost people and the people aren’t loyal to Fox anymore.
If you look at that right now the “rising star” – he’s very good – Jesse Watters.
They’re moving him from basically the – I’ll do it central time – 6:00 p.m. CT to 7:00 p.m. CT, the old Tucker slot.
And then they’re taking Laura Ingram and moving her from 9:00 p.m. CT to 6:00 p.m. CT, which is kind of a demotion really, if you think about it.
Clint Brewer: I would think Laura Ingram has got a bigger name than whoever you just said.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Jesse Watters.
Clint Brewer: Yeah.
Michael Patrick Leahy: So you obviously don’t watch Jesse Waters.
Clint Brewer: I do not.
He’s funny. He’s actually a very interesting guy, but he’s not quite the same kind of political guy that Tucker Carlson is.
And so they’re, they’re permanently losing there is, speaking of permanently losing you know, Rupert Murdoch is kind of out of it now. I mean, not out of it mentally, even though he’s like 91, something like that.
But he’s not engaged in the business. It’s his kids that are running Fox.
Clint Brewer: Right.
It’s like succession.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Well succession is based on Fox – and his kids are, you know, left-wing liberals. Let’s be honest about it.
And that’s reflected in what Fox is promoting. There is a story out there that Rupert Murdoch is kind of thinking of bailing on Ron DeSantis.
Clint Brewer: Yeah, I saw that. Yeah. He’s just, he’s I think the headline the quote was they can smell a loser, you know?
Michael Patrick Leahy: Yeah. And look, it’s hard to say that – the guy won – he was reelected by like 20 percent of the vote in Florida never happened before.
He’s had a nonstop string of policy and legislative successes in Florida; it’s a booming state.
And yet as Scott Walker – the former governor of Wisconsin – knows, just because you’ve been a good governor doesn’t mean that you’re a great presidential candidate.
Clint Brewer: It’s kinda like watching college sports and you hear all about a commitment to your favorite team, basketball, football or whatever.
You’re like, “Oh, a five-star is coming. Golly. I can’t wait to see him on the field.”
And you see him on the field and you’re like, “That guy was a McDonald’s all-American? That guy was a five star?”
Michael Patrick Leahy: That guy was, he’s barely a star.
And it’s not to say – I mean, he’s been a very good governor. He’s just not clicking in terms of–
Clint Brewer: He’s not clicking,
Michael Patrick Leahy: He’s not a dynamic guy.
Clint Brewer: No wattage, no star power – nothing to capture anybody’s imagination.
Look, the American presidency is the biggest high school popularity contest in the world.
Michael Patrick Leahy: So you gotta connect.
And so Governor DeSantis, if you’re listening, come on into our show tomorrow and you can connect.
Clint Brewer: You can.
Michael Patrick Leahy: All right, Clint Brewer connecting, as always. Thanks for joining us.
Clint Brewer: Thanks for having me, Mike.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Roger Simon, when we get back.
Back after this.
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
