And welcome to the program. Welcome to Lemon Lime at Five. I'm extremely grateful that you're here. The show that we have planned for you today is one that I have been kind of wanting to have for a long time because I've been feeling it in my bones and now it's happening. Republicans are, for a little bit, not all of them, are finally, finally stepping up and at least they're trying to do something about what's going on. I don't know how long this is going to last, but we'll see. We'll see. So, make sure you hit the like and the thumbs up. It does affect the algorithm. More people become aware of our conversation and our channel. Okay? And that's what we're here for. We're here to serve. So, thank you for joining us. Let's talk about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is... Somebody has their mic open, by the way. I can hear you. Okay, so let's talk about this.
Do you guys remember... This is a crazy reference. Anybody remember Mommy Dearest? Do you remember Mommy Dearest when she was upset because she couldn't get roles anymore? People didn't like her and they called her box office poison. Box office poison. That's what the tabloids called her. Box office poison. Well, Donald Trump is now becoming political poison. And Republicans can smell it. The same people who spent years fighting to stand next to him, now they're checking the polls. They're backing away. And guess what? They are hoping that he stays home. Could you ever imagine that in this day and age, Donald Trump would have Republicans backing away from him? They still want his money, though. They still want his voters. They just don't want that political stench wafting over and landing on them.
We showed you this morning what can happen when a Republican gets too close and starts performing for Donald Trump. Senator Eric Schmidt, if you haven't seen it, you want to see this, tried to accuse former special counsel Jack Smith of lying about attending an Atlanta Hawks game. He warned Smith not to commit perjury and then later called him a dirtbag. Here it is.
Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024?
I'm sorry, could you say that again?
Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024?
What city would that be in?
Okay. So your testimony today is that you did not go to a Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024. Is that correct?
I have no recollection of that.
Okay. Is it your testimony that you were not in Atlanta on February 3rd, 2024? Let me just give you a little context. The day before Fani Willis came clean with her affair with the prosecutor, you know, the Atlanta prosecutor that was also trying to get Trump. The next day, were you in Atlanta?
Okay. Did you ever go to Atlanta during your time as special counsel?
I really don't think so. It's possible I flew through the Atlanta airport on the way to Florida, but I do not have a recollection of going to Atlanta. I definitely did not go to a Hawks game. I'm sure of that.
Did you ever meet Nathan Wade or Fani Willis in your time as special counsel?
What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors-Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024, the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair? I don't think you know that we have this stuff. So, I'll give you a second to process it so you don't, you know, purge it yourself.
You just took it down really quick. If I could look at that again.
Mr. Chairman, can we give the witness a copy so he can see what's being read to him?
Well, I think you've already sufficiently answered. I want to run through. We'll put it in a follow-up. You can respond. I think you've already perjured yourself, but...
They wouldn't show... It felt like in that moment like he knew something was wrong. Like he's like, 'Wait a...' It felt like he knew right then and that's why he didn't want to show the evidence. I don't know. It's a very weird thing that happened. It's bizarre. Here's the thing. Except Jack Smith was not at an Atlanta Hawks game in Georgia. He was in Maryland watching the Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark. I mean, it's too dumb. I know it happened yesterday, but it is just too dumb and it makes me laugh at how dumb these people are. And yet people believe them. I'm sure there are people out there who believe Jack Smith. But anyway, that's not what the show is about. The show is not about Jack Smith. We can take that down. This show is about Republicans fleeing from the stench of Trump. A United States senator confused the teams and built an accusation around it. And then TMZ caught up with Schmidt, gave him a chance to admit that he screwed up. Watch.
What's up, buddy? It's good to see you, man. What's up?
I got to ask, man. What happened in there?
With the... Jack getting it wrong.
Oh, Jack Smith. Well, I don't think about that. We asked him if he was at a basketball game that night. The only NBA game that was going on that night was in Atlanta. So, I asked him if he was there. He had already lied twice. He lied about not seeing the content. He lied about not filing, not getting advice not to file the superseding indictment within 60 days of the election. So, Jack Smith is not credible. He gave his answer and I guess that's his answer.
It just looked like you had a gotcha for him, like, 'You're going to perjure yourself. Are you lying now?' And you had the wrong game.
He was at a basketball game... but a different one. I asked him if he was in Atlanta. He said no. He said he was at another game. That's his answer.
So how did that mistake happen?
There's not a mistake. I asked him if he was in Atlanta. The only NBA game going on, actually the only NCAA men's game or NBA game with a 7:30 tip-off was in Atlanta. So I asked him if he was in Atlanta that night.
But it seemed like you were trying to get him rather than...
I asked him about a Hawks game. I asked him if he was at a Hawks game in Atlanta because we're trying to figure out how much coordination took place between him and the Atlanta prosecutor.
So, no heads are going to roll over this sort of thing? Like, whoever gave you that information, their job isn't in jeopardy?
No, I asked him a question like, 'Were you in Atlanta?' He answered no. He's lied before. So, I guess we'll take him at his word that he wasn't in Atlanta. I don't know.
So that wasn't like an embarrassing moment or something from where you're standing?
No, I asked questions. I asked questions and we'll see if he answers truthfully. He's not answered truthfully before, so people can decide if that's the truth or not. I mean, I suppose that the Department of Justice can ask him really where he was that night. I don't know. I asked...
Hawkeye. The Hawkeye game.
The Hawkeye game, wasn't he?
Oh, no. No. We can see in the audience that he's in that section. I've seen him in the section that night.
For that night. Great. Well, then he was at the Hawkeye game. I just asked him if he was in Atlanta.
Right. Because there's text messages of him at a game and the only NBA game that night was in Atlanta.
Yeah. Okay. Got you, man. Thank you, Eric. I appreciate you, man.
Bro. Oh my god. Oh my god. Is this man a damn fool? Is he really that dumb? I guess he is. He is that dumb. He's as dumb as he looks and he still would not own it. Everybody who checked knew which game Jack Smith attended. Schmidt just didn't check. He was too busy putting on a show for Trump. And that is what Trump loyalty does to some of these people. They become so desperate to impress him that they stop doing their homework and they end up looking like idiots. And that's the moral of this story. So here we go. Republicans who are running for office understand that being Donald Trump's favorite can cost them an election. They know that now. Take Ken Paxton. Trump endorsed him, tried to help him at the Republican convention in Dallas. That went over like a lead balloon. Paxton publicly praised the spectacle. Privately though, with the microphone on, he admitted something very, very different. Now when I and other people, the honest folks, the journalists who are not afraid, tell you that people on the MAGA side since 2015 have been saying one thing on television and then another in the green room or when the cameras are not rolling. And this is proof of that now that we are 10 years later, 11 years later in 2026. Here's Ken Paxton. Do you feel like... and all these guys... but do you feel like he's a little bit of a drag?
So to be honest with you, the numbers when we did that convention, the jobs numbers... everybody's had jobs. Right now, yeah, not good. I wish there was something you could do to turn that off. That's not...
Well, well, well. You guys, I am full of it today. Old references. Do you guys remember Beverly Leslie on Will and Grace? 'Well, well, well. Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in, Karen Walker.' Look who's singing like a canary. Ken Paxton. Trump said the convention was a tremendous success for Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton is telling donors it hurt him. His campaign says that the audio is being twisted and claims its internal polling shows him ahead. Fine. Okay. You heard him. I heard him. Paxton knows that he is in a real race against James Talerico and he knows Trump may be dragging him down. Ken Paxton does not mind the poison. He just doesn't want it killing his campaign. And then there is Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Tillis is retiring. So Trump cannot threaten him with a primary. Once that leash came off, Tillis started saying out loud what Republicans whisper. Listen to what he said about Trump rolling out the red carpet for Xi Jinping. Roll it.
This president, in a speech in this term, took on the Chinese for degrading and stealing voter data. Whatever has changed had to have been at a confidential level because I haven't seen any public basis for the sea change that we see right now in our posture towards China. You got to have a relationship with them. I get that. But when you have world leaders looking at this reception compared to the way maybe President Zelensky has been received, you go like, you know, it's a WTF moment.
A WTF moment. Come on, Thom. You could have just said the word. The word is [__]. What the [__]. From a Republican senator. We're all adults here. Come on. We're just hanging. We're all adults here. We're old enough to be able to have one of these. Of course, it is easier to find your voice when you are leaving office and speaking honestly can no longer cost you an election. Where was all this courage when Trump could still hurt him? Where was that? Republicans who are still running have to be more careful. So, they put their fear in campaign ads. Yeah. And then they try to couch it maybe just a little bit. But anyway, this is Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar. She represents a majority Hispanic district in South Florida. Some Hispanic voters who supported Trump are now watching his immigration crackdown. They're watching him sweep up people with no criminal records. They feel betrayed. They're not... I don't know. Maybe they're like the Cubans still. Maybe they're still saying, 'I will vote Donald Trump.' I don't know. Salazar is in a tight election race. Suddenly, she has something to say directly to Donald Trump after all these years. Maria, here it is.
Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today. You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism. I'm not talking about giving them amnesty. I'm talking about giving them a dignified life in this promise.
Why am I not buying that [__]? Are you buying that? I mean, she... I think she's right. She's backing away. But I mean, God, it's like... what was her name? I keep... I have all these references. Deniece Williams. Oh, Johnny Mathis. 'Too much, too little, too late to ever try again.' It's too little, too late. A Republican congresswoman is paying to tell voters that Donald Trump has gone too far. She stood with him when it helped her. Now she sees what his policies are doing in her district, and she's backing away. So Trump attacked her. He called her a traitor and then demanded that the party replace her on the ballot. He expects complete loyalty from Republicans even while his policies are costing them votes. And then we arrive at one Marjorie Taylor Greene Drive at the corner of MAGA Maven... Let me do that again. At the corner of MAGA Maven and [__] Street. But here, nobody is going to confuse her with a secret liberal. This woman spent years as a walking MAGA rally, a MAGA Barbie kind of. She defended Trump, repeated his conspiracy theories, built her political identity around them, and now listen to what she's saying.
And so, what does the future look like for MAGA right now? I think Trump has lied so much to us and betrayed us so incredibly beyond any of my comprehension. I think MAGA is dead.
I'm sorry. Barbie... Did I say Barbie? Marjorie Taylor Greene says MAGA is dead because Trump lied to them and then betrayed them. She helped build the thing. She knows the people inside it. Trump eventually turned on her and branded her a traitor because loyalty with Donald Trump only travels in one direction. The stench is spreading to the Republican candidates who copy his cruelty and his bigotry. I just have a couple more examples that I want to give to you, but this one is stunning, especially in Texas. And the man that he says he's voting for is standing by in our green room right now. And I see him smiling. He knows where I'm going with this. Karl Rove helped to build the modern Republican Party in Texas and he has spent decades supporting Republicans and now he says he will vote for a Democrat rather than support Republican candidate Donald Trump-backed Bo French. Watch.
Now I'm going to vote for John Rosenthal for the Texas Railroad Commission because the Republicans nominated, by a 1% victory margin, a guy who is a bigot.
Too much, too little. But hey, look. Hey, look, you're here. All right, so fine. Maybe I should just be more welcoming of Karl Rove and Marjorie Taylor Greene. All right, but still, actions speak louder than words. And voting for a Democrat, that's... I, you know, I tried to ask Marjorie Taylor Greene that question. And then she got mad at me and she called me all kinds of names because I was asking her who she was speaking out to, if she spoke to her Republican friends about the dangers of Donald Trump, and then she got mad at me. But you know, that's water under the bridge kind of. We'll talk. Karl Rove has not become a progressive. He simply believes the Republican candidate is a bigot. Trump taught Republicans that cruelty could become a brand. That bigotry is okay. That being an [__] is fine. Now some of the people who built the party are now looking around wondering, well, hey, what the hell happened? What happened to it? You are what happened to it. You became cowards. You don't have a backbone. And then there is one. We're now at Tucker Carlson Lane. Tucker helped normalize Trump and sold his grievances to millions of people. Now he says Trump should have been removed from office after threatening nuclear war. Here is Tucker Carlson, everybody.
Should he be impeached? He... I mean, he's not going to be removed for this because both parties agree with it. And that's kind of the point. Trump joined the other side in the uniparty to do this. So he's not going to be punished for it.
That's a bit of an evasion though, respectfully, in saying, well, it's never going to happen. Should he be removed from office if you believe, as you've said, that he effectively betrayed the country?
He should be removed. He should have been removed from office immediately when he threatened nuclear war.
Tucker Carlson. You know Tucker Carlson? I'm just asking questions. Tucker Carlson. That Tucker Carlson. Everyone know why he sounds like the guy who did that? Tucker Carlson says Donald Trump should have been removed by his own cabinet. These are not Democrats talking. Ken Paxton, Thom Tillis, Maria Elvira Salazar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Karl Rove, Tucker Carlson, all come from inside the Republican and MAGA world. Now, look at this headline. I'm not just saying this. The Atlantic put it right in the headline: The Republicans are bolting from Trump. Candidates in competitive races are removing his name from campaign material, criticizing his policies and hoping voters forget how closely they once stood beside him. They have seen his approval numbers and they've seen the anger over the cost of living, the war in Iran and immigration. But don't look... let me just warn you, when I said I need to see it. Don't confuse self-preservation with courage. Most of these people helped create this mess. They excused Trump's lies and looked away when he attacked people because they believed his power would protect them. And now an election is coming. Trump still controls money. His base remains loyal. Republican candidates know he can come after them. But in some races, he has become the man they hope will send a check, endorse them quietly, and stay home. For Republicans, well, they were once terrified of Donald Trump. Now some of them are even more terrified of being seen with him. He demanded loyalty from the Republican Party. He's still getting it, just from a safer distance. John Rosenthal is here. John Rosenthal is the man who Karl Rove said he's going to vote for. John, welcome to the program. How are you doing, sir?
I'm well. Thank you so much for having me on.
Thank you. You are running for railroad commissioner, correct? Is that the...
In Texas, in deep red... Well, I don't know. We'll see what it is right now. But you're running for the Texas Railroad Commission. Did you ever think in a gazillion years that someone like Karl Rove would be... I guess that was an endorsement... and voting for you?
Ah, good lord. So, I am, you know, an old oil field engineer and I swear a lot. I swear you're going to get me to swear on this show and on television, but you know. So, the railroad commission in Texas is the...
We're streaming, Mr. Rosenthal. You're fine. You can say whatever you want. I'm not encouraging you, but people like real people. You know that. You've been out there talking to folks.
No, I have. You know, and when I'm out in public, I do, you know, I admit I'm oil field trash. I drink and smoke and swear and all that stuff. And, you know, I try to clean up nice. I've been in the legislature for a few terms, but no, you want to talk about... like the first cliché was I didn't have Karl Rove on my bingo card. I didn't have him in my universe of possibility. This is the wildest [__] ever, man. It's, you know, so and then he uses my name and says he's going to vote for me. First Democrat he's going to vote for in 34 years. That is...
You're the second Democrat that he's ever voted for. He said voted yet. Yeah.
First one was Bob Bullock, right?
Yeah. Yeah. So, how do you feel about... You heard my little preamble monologue here. How do you feel when you hear that the Republicans who are running, they don't want the stench of Donald Trump near them? I don't know if you hear that, but you had to have read it. You're out there. You're in the political world. Folks are saying, 'Hey, send me the money, but you stay home. We don't want you.' You know, this is that... you made your bed, now you got to lie in it.
