Transcribe your podcast
[00:00:00]

Well, 2024 shapes up to be a bitter rematch. Long-time Republican poster Frank Luntz is sharing some never before seen video from his focus groups, sharing it with Out Front. Take a look.

[00:00:12]

How condescending was Obama. I couldn't stand to watch that guy. He just looked down on top of everybody. Trump will get down in the dirt and work with you. Obama would never have done that. You want respect, but you have a President who takes on women, minorities, everything but white He won the election. And he won. And you guys can't handle that. I don't know why he's racist.

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You have to ask him. Why are you racist? Because he sits up and he says, All those Mexicans are rapists and murderers. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. He said they're sending the worst among them. I didn't say that. I'm talking about he was running. No, he said, They send the worst among them. Some of them are rapists. Some of them are drug dealers and murderers. They asked me what I feel.

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Frank is with me now. That's a small snapshot, right? You shared a fair amount of video with us. When we look at that, you've said the country is more divided than ever. I think a lot of people would agree with you. But this video evidence, why? How? Why is it this bad? What are you learning from these groups in these moments?

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That there's no editing anymore. There's no censorship. That we now say We say what we think. We say what we want people to hear rather than trying to learn. To me, it's not about the mistakes made. It's about the lessons learned. And no one's trying to learn anything from this. They simply want to be heard, and they will shout to be heard.

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They want to be heard. Do they want to listen?

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No, they don't want to listen. They don't want to learn. My issue in this is, children are watching. Our kids are watching this, and they're learning model behavior. There's a reason why in universities and in schools all across America, more more young people are acting out, there's more shouting, there's more aggression, and that they see it from the politicians. They see it from Washington, DC. They see it in focus groups like this.

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They may see it in a school board meeting.

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The school boards are the worst. Parents go there and they threaten the people on the school board. You have to get cops in there. What is wrong with this country that we've gone that far? That's my question I keep asking.

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I think it's a question a lot of Americans are asking. I was struck, too. You also sat down recently with some younger voters, and you talked to them specifically democracy. I want to play those moments.

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Is our democracy in danger of failing? Raise your hands if you say yes. Wow, I'm shocked at how many. Does anyone here, by a show of hands, think our democracy is truly strong? You got two people. That's it.

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Two hands.

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We're in trouble. We're in trouble. I don't know what to do about it. This is my craft. This has been my trade for the last 30 years. I've been seeing this get worse and worse. 74% of Americans now say they're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. 83% say we're more divided than we've ever been. Even people 65 and older, old enough to remember the killing of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, our cities burning down. They say this is the most divided it's ever been.

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They're mad as hell. They're not going to take anymore. You said what, 74%? But why are they mad? Can they articulate why they're mad?

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Yes, they believe they've been ignored, forgotten, and the worst of all, betrayed. I'm paying attention to the words and phrases they use because the stronger the language, the greater the anger. I've seen this and I feel this, and I'm reminding them, your children are watching, your friends are watching, and they don't care anymore because they want to own the opposition rather than change the opposition.

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Or talk to the opposition. Really quickly, too, because I do want to get to one other topic with you. The younger voters who you spoke with there who see the democracy at risk, only two of them said that democracy is strong. Where are they? Are they mad as hell? Are they just throwing up their hands? They want to try to change anything?

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They don't like anybody. They see Joe Biden as being too old. They see Donald Trump as being corrupt. They don't like anyone. They don't everyone to follow. They're looking for a role model. They're looking for someone to aspire to be, and they don't see it. That's their frustration.

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That's We're going to see if they're able to change it. I do want to ask you about... You posted probably a lot of people who are watching may have seen a tweet for you from you in the last day. You posted that you suffered a stroke on Monday, and yet you're sitting here tonight. Part of the reason you wanted to come in was to share that information, but also to talk about some real health concerns. So before I let you go, I do want to give you a moment to do that and to share with our viewers why that's so important to you.

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Because it's a personal responsibility, and I'm supposed to act properly. I'm supposed to know what is right, what is wrong. I was very active in getting people vaccinated during COVID. I've been very active in a non-partisan way in trying to teach people what's the right thing to do. And then I behave badly and I suffer for it. And so I look people right now, take your medications, do what your doctors tell you to do, and we have to take personal responsibility in this country. We can no longer blame other people, no longer say it's their fault. It's my fault. I got it wrong. Behave properly and do the right thing, and we can save our country.

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We'll see if this starts us maybe on a better track, Frank. I'm glad you're doing well. Glad you felt well enough to be here tonight. Continue that road to recovery.Thank you.Thank.