The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (10/25/2023):

3:05pm- On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) became the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives with a 220 to 209 floor vote—ending three-weeks of Republican infighting with unanimous support for his candidacy. In his first speech as Speaker from the House floor, Johnson vowed to “ensure that our republic remains standing as the great beacon of hope, light, and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.”

3:15pm- During civil-fraud trial proceedings on Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron fined Donald Trump $10,000 for comments that violated a previously established gag order. Earlier this month, Judge Engoron barred Trump from criticizing members of the court after the former president jokingly referred to a law clerk as Chuck Schumer’s girlfriend in a social media post. You can read more about the story here: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-called-to-witness-stand-fined-for-out-of-court-comments-30a3f1ea?mod=hp_lead_pos8

3:35pm- While accepting the House Republican nomination to be Speaker of the House, following an internal vote on Tuesday night, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the press that “democracy is messy sometimes” but ensured that House Republicans are once again “united.” On Wednesday, he earned all 220 House Republican votes to become the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives.

3:50pm- While leaving a New York City courthouse, former President Donald Trump congratulated Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)—telling reporters Johnson “will be a great Speaker of the House.”

4:05pm- Phil Kerpen—President of American Commitment—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his most recent editorial, “FCC Chair’s Bad Wi-Fi is Not a Reason to Regulate the Internet.” Kerpen writes: “For two years, starting in 2015, the FCC regulated Internet service providers as public utilities in the name of net neutrality. When the Trump FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai proposed to repeal those Obama-era regulations, the media and other Democrats unleashed a series of apocalyptic predictions.” Disturbingly, earlier this month, “[FCC chair Jessica] Rosenworcel announced a new proposed rule almost identical to the short-lived Obama rule…The new proposal even explicitly reserves the right to engage in ex-post rate regulation, deciding after the fact that a company charged too much for a service.” You can read Kerpen’s editorial here: https://www.americancommitment.org/fcc-chairs-bad-wi-fi-is-not-a-reason-to-regulate-the-internet/

4:25pm- Has Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ) actually done something good? According to a report from Brady Knox of The Washington Examiner: “Earlier in October, Dr. Ronald G. Taylor, superintendent of schools for the South Orange-Maplewood School District, sent a letter to parents announcing that no Halloween celebrations would be held by the school district, claiming that doing so may ‘violate the dignity of some of our students and families, either culturally or religiously.’ The cancellation of the holiday was bashed by the governor.” You can read the full article here: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/new-jersey-murphy-slams-school-canceling-halloween

4:40pm- Dave McCormick—Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania & former Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs during the George W. Bush Administration—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to talk about his campaign to unseat Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA). During the interview, he emphasizes the need for continued U.S. support for Israel as the country wages war against Hamas terrorists. McCormick also reacts to news that Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected Speaker of the House. You can learn more about his campaign here: https://www.davemccormickpa.com

5:00pm- Bryan Clark—Senior Fellow and Director at the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute & former U.S. Navy Submariner—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the Pentagon’s decision to move the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier, and its strike group, to the Middle East in support of the USS Gerald Ford as a deterrent to Iranian aggression. Will this be enough to dissuade Iranian proxies, like Hezbollah, from asserting themselves into the war between Israel and Hamas?

5:30pm- Rich notices something new at Wegmans—preferred pronouns prominently displayed on employee name tags. PLUS, did Matt unknowingly eat sheep cheese while vacationing in Italy? Speaking of Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has separated from her boyfriend of 10-years after he was caught on tape propositioning another woman for a “threesome or foursome.”

5:40pm- During civil-fraud trial proceedings on Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron fined Donald Trump $10,000 for comments that violated a previously established gag order. Earlier this month, Judge Engoron barred Trump from criticizing members of the court after the former president jokingly referred to a law clerk as Chuck Schumer’s girlfriend in a social media post. You can read more about the story here: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-called-to-witness-stand-fined-for-out-of-court-comments-30a3f1ea?mod=hp_lead_pos8

6:05pm- On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) became the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives with a 220 to 209 floor vote—ending three-weeks of Republican infighting with unanimous support for his candidacy. In his first speech as Speaker from the House floor, Johnson vowed to “ensure that our republic remains standing as the great beacon of hope, light, and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.” MSNBC condemned the selection of Johnson citing his expressed doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. However, didn’t MSNBC spend years expressing similar doubts about the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016—baselessly blaming Russian interference?

6:10pm- Many progressive media outlets and politicians, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have denounced Mike Johnson’s speakership—referring to him as an “election denier.” On X, President of American Commitment Phil Kerpen highlights the hypocrisy, noting that following the 2016 election Jeffries’ tweeted: “The more we learn about 2016 election the more illegitimate it becomes. America deserves to know whether we have a fake president in the Oval Office #RussianInterference.”

6:15pm- While accepting the House Republican nomination to be Speaker of the House, following an internal vote on Tuesday night, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the press that “democracy is messy sometimes” but ensured that House Republicans are once again “united.” On Wednesday, he earned all 220 House Republican votes to become the 56thSpeaker of the House of Representatives.

6:20pm- Brooke Singman of Fox News reports: “The FBI maintained more than 40 confidential human sources on various criminal matters related to the Biden family, including Joe Biden, dating back to his time as vice president, according to information obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley…Grassley learned that an FBI task force within the Washington Field Office sought to, and in some cases, successfully, shut down reporting and information from those sources by falsely discrediting the information as foreign disinformation. That effort ‘caused investigative activity to cease.’” You can read the full report here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-received-criminal-information-40-confidential-sources-joe-biden-hunter-jim-grassley

6:25pm- During a campaign in Derry, New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recalled when Joe Biden threatened to “take [Trump] behind a barn.” In response to the comment, Trump joked that Biden had a fake nose and that if the two ever fought there “would be plastic everywhere.”

6:40pm- In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, more than forty states allege that Meta—parent company of Facebook and Instagram—has harmed children, fueling a national mental health crisis in the process. The lawsuit accuses Meta of violating state consumer protections. You can read more here: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/24/states-sue-meta-addictive-features-kids-00123217