The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 1:

• 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. So, who will replace McConnell in November? Audrey Fahlberg of National Review writes: “November may be a long way off, but the shadow race to succeed McConnell is now coming into public view after unfolding behind closed doors for months. Leading the race are the ‘three Johns’—Senate GOP whip John Thune of South Dakota, conference chair John Barrasso of Wyoming, and former whip John Cornyn of Texas—all of whom have spent the past year or so privately signaling to colleagues that they would be eager to fill the role when the time came for McConnell to step aside.” You can read more here: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/with-mcconnells-announcement-the-race-for-senate-gop-leader-emerges-from-behind-closed-doors/
• In a recently published article for The Washington Post, Danielle Paquette writes about how Republicans have become growingly reluctant to send tens-of-billions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine. Paquette blames partisan politics, but could it be that the hesitancy stems from the lack of a coherent plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine—coupled with the Biden Administration’s refusal to spend money to secure the U.S. Southern border? You can read Paquette’s article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/29/ukraine-support-alabama-political-divide/#
• On Thursday, President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are visiting the U.S. Southern border in two separate trips. President Biden will be visiting Brownsville, Texas. During an interview with Fox News, President of the National Border Patrol Council Brandon Judd criticized Biden’s selection of Brownsville, explaining: “he’s not going to any location where he’s going to be able to evaluate what he needs to do.” Meanwhile, Trump’s visit will take place in Eagle Pass, Texas—a city impacted by massive amounts of migrants crossing the border unlawfully.
• In an interview with NewsNation, Democrat Congressman Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX) told viewers that President Joe Biden should speak out against cities that embrace “Sanctuary City” status.
• President Joe Biden continues to insist that he has no control over the influx of migrants crossing the U.S. Southern border unlawfully. But as Rich Lowry notes in his most recent article for National Review, “Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Less than two weeks later, on February 2, he issued the executive order that began the unraveling at the border in earnest. The border crisis isn’t something that happened to President Biden. It’s not a product of circumstances or understandable policy mistakes made under duress. No, he sought it and created it, on principle and as a matter of urgency.” Lowry continues: “The February 2 action… put on the chopping block numerous Trump policies that had helped establish order at the border, from Trump’s expansion of expedited removal, to his termination of a parole program for Central American minors, to his memorandum urging the relevant departments to work toward ending ‘catch and release.’ Most importantly, it went after two of the pillars of Trump’s success at the border: the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or so-called Remain in Mexico, and the safe-third-country agreements with the Northern Triangle countries that allowed us to divert asylum-seekers to Central American countries other than their own, where they could make asylum claims.” You can read the full article here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/the-day-joe-biden-blew-up-the-border/
• The Rich Zeoli Show has won the 2024 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters award for Outstanding Radio Personality/Team. The show also won the award last year. Rich wonders why Matt hasn’t submitted a package for a Marconi Award…and a Nobel Prize?