Let's talk about what's going on in those corridors of power in Washington.
You've become one of the largest individual donors to political
candidates in the United States, and as a result, your voice carries an
increasing amount of weight inside the Republican Party.
A week ago, Ken, as everyone here knows, America held a midterm election and the
outcome was something of a surprise. There was no call it red wave.
And many Republicans endorsed by former President Trump were beaten by
Democrats. What conclusions have you drawn from
those results? So the red Whipple.
That moment in American history was a great moment.
American voters came out in droves in midterm that engagement by the American
voter. That's priceless.
This is a triumph of democracy that we watched play out just a few days ago.
And in particular, not only did voters come out in substantial quantities, they
voted split tickets. They would vote for Democrats, for they
thought the Democrat had the better perspective and policies and they'd vote
for Republicans where they thought the Republicans had delivered better
policies and better perspectives on the future.
That level of engagement by the American voter and a very healthy middle coming
out to vote, that's a triumph of democracy.
So I'm really actually quite happy about the midterms and seeing that people on
both fringes not win in election tells you that candidate quality matters.
And that's really important in terms of both parties now having to advance
better candidates in 2024, because let's be clear what we want.
Our country is we want better leaders in Washington.
We want less partisanship. We want more cooperation.
We want more thoughtfulness. And this election was a statement by
voters that we've had enough. So I actually feel pretty good about the
2010 midterms. You've told me, Cannon, you told others
that it was and presumably still is time for America to move on from Trump
tonight in Florida. The former president is expected to
announce his campaign to retake the White House in 2024.
And as we all know, I think everyone in this room probably knows because it's
hard to take your eyes off of the U.S. political puzzle.
One of his likely challengers for that Republican nomination
is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who just cruise to re-election victory in
last week's vote. And I should point out that Ken has been
a political and financial supporter of Governor de Santos.
How do you think that rival replays out? Can Trump versus the census?
Well, let's let's take a huge step back. Go right to the very start of the
question. So President Trump very likely to
announce he's going to run for president.
I must tell you, having worked with him directly during the onset of the
pandemic. He cares deeply about America and the
team he put around him to help us navigate the pandemic.
Let's be clear. Operation Warp Speed is an American
success story. We led the world in bringing that
vaccine to market, which saved millions of lives around the world.
So a lot of good things happened in that administration under his leadership.
Now, conversely, very divisive moment in American politics.
And it ended in a really ugly way through the election and January 6th.
And I think for just a litany of reasons, it's time the country moves
forward. We should thank the president for his
leadership over the pandemic. But the president added states is not
just about policies. It's about the procedure of the office.
It's about bringing our country together.
It's about unifying the American psyche. We fell short on that as a country in
his administration. Let's compare and contrast that with Ron
DeSantis. Ron De Santis is governor of Florida,
just won a landslide victory. He won by 20 points in a state that was
viewed as purple just five years ago. Why did Governor Santos and frankly,
Republicans up and down the state do so well?
Why did Florida become so red? The only blues, the ocean around it?
It's because the policies of his administration were winning policies for
the citizens of Florida. The ability to keep the economy open
during the pandemic while protecting the lives of the elderly was a huge win.
Keeping schools open has been a huge win for children.
The loss of learning that was mitigated by that is just tremendous.
The state has been incredibly well run from a perspective of fiscal discipline.
A twenty one billion dollar surplus last year, a state that cut taxes that has no
income tax to start with. So DeSantis won by a landslide because
on the merits of his leadership, the state of Florida's delivered for its
citizens. So now you talk about the battle for the
White House. DeSantis is going to run on a record of
just unbelievable accomplishment and a record of having brought the people,
Florida together in a way that they're incredibly proud of the state that they
live in. The question the Republican Party is
wrestling with is should it unify, unite, if you will, behind the census
now, or should it let the Trump DeSantis rivalry play out?
Possibly, you know, in a battle for the soul of
the party that potentially puts it at a disadvantage relative to the Democrats
two years from now. So there's we all had this sort of
fantasy that these decisions are made by people in these back rooms.
I haven't found that room and I don't know those people.
So in the United States, in both parties, the people that are running for
the office, the president, they're on a mission on their own and they're going
to do what they're going to do. The process has to play out.
The process has to play out now. I really do hope that President Trump
sees the writing on the wall. He lost in 2020.
We lost Georgia because of his behavior in the Senate race in 2020.
That's a second loss. And then this year the Republicans lost
the Senate because the Trump backed candidate and Senate races were rejected
by American voters. That's a three time loser.
And I'd like to think that the Republican Party is ready to move on
from somebody who's been for this party. A three time loser.
The process will play out, but you can influence the process.
You've demonstrated most recently in Illinois from a state from which you've
just moved. That you're prepared to spend tens of
millions of dollars on candidates in whom you believe.
You clearly believe in Governor DeSantis.
Would you say now? Right here.
How much you're prepared to spend. But Governor Santos in the White House.
Well, so it's not that easy in America either to do that.
You can't buy a political seat. You can buy a voice for politicians to
run with. They can have the ability to express
their ideas and engage with voters. But you can't buy an elected seat.
And in Illinois, I supported virtual urban with with a 50 million dollar.
Contribution because frankly, as the as the mayor of Aurora, he was an
incredible success story. As an African-American who grew up in
the projects and went on to be a lawyer, a prosecutor to serve as mayor, an
incredible life journey. And J.B.
Pritzker spent thirty five million dollars to back.
A Trump supported candidates. So I actually think that Illinois was
once again the cesspool of American politics, where the Democrat spent 35
million dollars to support an ultra right Republican candidate and to help
that person through the primary. I find it to be despicable, it's part of
the reason I have no regrets leaving the state of Illinois.
I don't miss our governor and I don't miss the politics and the in in
Lincoln's land of former opportunity. So the big picture is DeSantis is going
to do a lot of support from a lot of people, but ultimately he's going to win
this election based upon what he's delivered as governor for the state of
Florida and about the vision he can solve for America.
And if he chooses to run and that's not a foregone a foregone conclusion, but if
he chooses to run, I think he will have a compelling vision for our country.
He he appreciates the importance of education, of the environment, public
safety, strong national defense. I think his message will resonate with
American voters.