The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (02/28/2024):

3:05pm- On Wednesday, during a speech from the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that he would be stepping down from his leadership position at the end of the term in November. Though, he does not plan to resign from the Senate. McConnell, now 82-years-old, has served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 40-years and has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007. You can read more here: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4494536-mcconnell-to-step-down-as-senate-gop-leader/

3:15pm- According to reports from both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during a White House meeting on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Democrat leadership—President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries—in pressing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) to vote on a bill that would send tens-of-billions of dollars of foreign aid to Ukraine. The bill, which passed in the Senate, has stalled in the House of Representatives.

3:40pm- On Tuesday, Michigan held its Republican and Democrat primaries. Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley 68% to 27%. Meanwhile President Joe Biden won 81% of the vote—though, “uncommitted” received a shocking 101,000 votes, or 13% of the Democrat electorate. According to estimates, “uncommitted” earned enough support to be awarded 2 delegates. Perhaps most alarming for Democrats, “uncommitted”—which beat Biden in Dearborn and Hamtramck, both of which have large Arab American populations—also performed well in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, two college towns. Is Biden struggling to appeal to young voters? And what could that mean for Biden in a general election?

4:05pm- On Wednesday, President Joe Biden had his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center—though, he received no cognitive test. During her White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that Biden “passes a cognitive test everyday” as president. You can read more here: https://www.wsj.com/politics/president-biden-gets-annual-physical-amid-concerns-about-age-76a608c9?mod=hp_lead_pos3

4:15pm- While appearing on CNN with Erin Burnett, former Obama Administration Advisor Van Jones reacted to the idea that Robert Kennedy Jr. might be able to win traditionally Democrat voters in swing states who may be unhappy with President Joe Biden’s policies. Jones noted that Kennedy is “on track to be in enough states to cost Joe Biden the presidency.”

4:30pm- David Kappos—Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under Barack Obama (2009-2013)—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss a Biden Administration proposal that would reinterpret the Bayh-Dole Act which deals with the development of intellectual property arising from research funded by the federal government—with ownership of the invention/patent being granted to the entity responsible for actually conducting the research. Rather than alter the bill through the legislative process, President Joe Biden may act unilaterally via executive order. And under Biden’s proposed alteration to the Bayh-Dole Act’s framework, he would weaken patent ownership—hobbling technological, medical, and scientific innovation done at universities, for example, in the process. A letter to Biden, signed by Kappos and other former government officials, states: “We believe the adoption of the Draft Framework would destabilize our nation's entire technology transfer system which is central to U.S. innovation, and we thus implore you to withdraw the framework in its entirety.”

4:50pm- After a seven-hour deposition, Hunter Biden and his attorney Abbe Lowell emerged from an office building on Capitol Hill. Lowell briefly spoke with members of the press and claimed that Republican members of Congress were unable to produce any evidence that Hunter Biden, or the Biden family, ever engaged in corrupt business practices.

5:00pm- Regina Egea—President of the Garden State Initiative (GSI) & served as Chief of Staff to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss Governor Phil Murphy’s proposal that New Jersey adopt a corporate tax rate of 11.5%, which would be the highest in the entire country. How would this new proposed exorbitant tax impact job creation throughout the state?

5:20pm- Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal writes: “The Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Donald Trump must stand trial on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election, after lower courts rejected his claim that he is entitled to absolute immunity because he was president at the time. The court’s move means it will have final say on an issue the judiciary never confronted before Trump. But it also means the former president has bought himself at least another couple of months before any trial, which had been scheduled to start in early March before the immunity battle scuttled those plans.” You find more on this developing story here: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/supreme-court-to-say-if-donald-trump-must-stand-trial-in-2020-election-conspiracy-case-1b7f4e3f

5:40pm- Phil Kerpen—President of American Commitment—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he will be stepping down at the end of the term in November. Who is likely to replace him as leader of the Senate Republican Conference? Kerpen thinks it might be Sen. John Thune (R-SD) who currently serves as Senate Minority Whip. Plus, according to reports, Congressional leaders have agreed to a short-term bill to avoid a partial government shutdown which was at risk of occurring at the end of the week. And did Governor Gavin Newsom really exempt Panera Bread from new state minimum wage laws because they contributed to his campaign? You can learn more about American Commitment here: https://www.americancommitment.org/about/

6:05pm- Andrew C. McCarthy of National Review writes: “[Donald] Trump’s legal team has asked the Appellate Division-First Department to accept a $100 million bond for the purposes of enabling him to appeal the civil-fraud judgment against him and of stopping New York attorney general Letitia James from beginning to execute that judgment—i.e., to start seizing his property if he can’t pay up in cash. The problem, of course, is that the judgment against him is $450 million—with interest, which continues to accrue at about $112,000 per day.” You can read more here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/trump-tells-new-york-appeals-court-he-cant-post-full-bond/

6:10pm- Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal writes: “The Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Donald Trump must stand trial on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election, after lower courts rejected his claim that he is entitled to absolute immunity because he was president at the time. The court’s move means it will have final say on an issue the judiciary never confronted before Trump. But it also means the former president has bought himself at least another couple of months before any trial, which had been scheduled to start in early March before the immunity battle scuttled those plans.” You find more on this developing story here: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/supreme-court-to-say-if-donald-trump-must-stand-trial-in-2020-election-conspiracy-case-1b7f4e3f

6:15pm- On Wednesday, President Joe Biden had his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center—though, he received no cognitive test. During her White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that Biden “passes a cognitive test everyday” as president. You can read more here: https://www.wsj.com/politics/president-biden-gets-annual-physical-amid-concerns-about-age-76a608c9?mod=hp_lead_pos3

6:20pm- While appearing on CNN with Erin Burnett, former Obama Administration Advisor Van Jones reacted to the idea that Robert Kennedy Jr. might be able to win traditionally Democrat voters in swing states who may be unhappy with President Joe Biden’s policies. Jones noted that Kennedy is “on track to be in enough states to cost Joe Biden the presidency.”

6:25pm- From his Truth Social account, former President Donald Trump said: “Legal Scholars are extremely thankful for the Supreme Court’s Decision today to take up Presidential Immunity. Without Presidential Immunity, a President will not be able to properly function, or make decisions, in the best interest of the United States of America. Presidents will always be concerned, and even paralyzed, by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation after they leave office. This could actually lead to the extortion and blackmail of a President. The other side would say, ‘If you don’t do something, just the way we want it, we are going to go after you when you leave office, or perhaps even sooner.’” You can find the post here: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112011584636454428

6:40pm- On Wednesday, during a speech from the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that he would be stepping down from his leadership position at the end of the term in November. Though, he does not plan to resign from the Senate. McConnell, now 82-years-old, has served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 40-years and has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007. You can read more here: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4494536-mcconnell-to-step-down-as-senate-gop-leader/