Republican State Rep. blasts GOP; The power of interviews in politics

And thanks for joining us for All Things People, Power and Politics. This, my friends, is The Pulse. I'm Rupert Raj. A lot to get to on this Monday. As a new week begins, Republicans continue to talk about last week's midterm elections and a blue wave that shifted the balance of power in Washington. We'll hear from communications expert Matt Friedman on what Abdul Al-Sayed did right that likely helped him get elected to the U.S. Senate and about messaging in general. Also here from the attorney general-elect, Democrat Ellie Savitt is in studio. And Republican Michigan State Representative Jim DeSanta, both winners on election night. And Representative DeSanta has a lot to say about the House Republican Campaign Committee, why he's disappointed in their efforts to help him this midterm election. Let's begin with developing news out of Washington. Articles of impeachment have been introduced against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The resolution was introduced by outgoing Republican Thomas Massie, and a vote is expected later this week. Hegseth is expected to hold a news conference tomorrow and has downplayed the impeachment threat. Resolved that Peter Brian Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, also referred to as Secretary of War by the administration, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. We are very proud of the President's America First agenda, of our peace through strength posture. We know the world is a better and safer place as a result. And so if we want to litigate that, the success of those things, I'm happy to do it all day long. Meantime, a shakeup begins today at the White House. Stephen Miller has officially taken over as White House Chief of Staff. Miller has been a longtime advisor to President Trump. He replaces outgoing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, also departing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Walters. A White House official says Wiles handed in her resignation last Thursday. President Trump appeared on 60 Minutes Sunday night. He indicated he's willing to work with Democrats as the balance of power shifts in Congress. Among things he's hoping to accomplish, he'd like to do something on immigration. President Trump now says his immigration policies were too tough and that it hurt the GOP in the midterms. There is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out and there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel or doing something right and in some cases paying taxes and there's a large group of people think that they should be allowed to stay. So you think your deportation policy went too far? It was too tough. I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people would say that it's great, but a lot of people think it's too tough. What does the deal look like with the Democrats? I think ultimately that hurt me. And results continue to be counted in Mississippi's race for U.S. Senate. Democrat Scott Colome currently holding a slim lead over the incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. The margin between the two currently about 2,500 votes with about 97 percent of the votes in. If he wins, Colome would be Mississippi's first Democratic senator in nearly four decades and its first black senator in nearly 150 years. Let's turn back to Michigan politics. Take a look at this. This is what state representative Jim DeSanta had to say on Facebook last Friday, days after winning re-election in the Michigan House. He said, quote, the House Republican Campaign Committee just had the gall to congratulate me on my win on their Facebook page after doing absolutely nothing for me and costing me votes. DeSanta has called the midterms a bloodbath, and as a result, he'll be the sole Republican representing Wayne County in the state house. Joining us now in studio, State Representative Jim DeSanta to talk about all of this. And Representative, it's always good to see you. Thanks for joining us on The Pulse tonight. Thank you for having me. All right. Well, it's great to have you here. Congratulations on the win. You would say the win despite not getting a heck of a lot of help from your own party in some ways. What did you mean by the post that you put up on Facebook that the campaign committee had the gall to congratulate you? Well, I was singled out. Because of my efforts to reform the system, and the system doesn't like reformers. And when you spend $45 million to protect 11 50-50 seats, and you lose every single one of them but mine, that's a message, right? Well, it is a message. When we see the blue wave happen across the country in so many offices, from AG's offices, governor's races, mayor's offices, across this country, and then you see it at the House level. Also, what does that say about the state of the Republican Party right now? Well, as I said, establishment republicanism is dead. We lost young men. We lost men. We are not. Presenting a positive message to the people. We cannot live in this partisan environment where we say Democrats are bad, Republicans are good. That does not present a positive message. We have to be reform minded and we have to give the people that message that we are here to actually stand up for limited government, stand up for constitutional conservatives. Conservatism, stand up for liberty. We didn't get that message out, and ten of my colleagues lost their seats. I had a lot of Democrats tell me, Jim, I'm voting for you because I know you're fighting for us. And I'm a Democrat, but I'm voting for you. This is an interesting time in our country. You have the President of the United States on one of the biggest hot button issues on 60 Minutes on Sunday tell the country, yes, I may have been too tough when it comes to immigration. Immigration, the war in Iran, the prices. What has President Trump gotten right in the time that he's been in office this time around? Well, I'm America first. I think that he does believe in our manufacturing sector and he's doing the right thing there to bring jobs back to America. I am truly American first. And so when you look at, this war is very unpopular with the American people. I believe this was an anti-Trump wave and the people are not happy about this war and they sent the message last Tuesday. What is it that the Republican Republican Party needs to do to To return back to its original base, even if it be with America first and with all the things that you mentioned, what are the steps that need to be taken for your party to return to that place? First of all, focus on cost of living, affordability, focus on property taxes, focus on taxes overall, focus on getting young people back, young men particularly. And give them a positive message for their future. We are not giving that to them in our messaging. We are just, we're out there saying, we're fighting to To present this vision of as a polar opposite to the democrats, we have to present our own positive vision in order to get these people back. You have a new governor, of course, governor elect right now that's coming here. What are your hopes about Governor Jocelyn Benson? And what are your inhibitions, your worries about the governor? My hopes are certainly that we can work together and get some positive things done for Michigan. My My Fears or concerns might be that they will go too far taking away liberties, taking away our gun rights, or also taking away, adding to our tax burden. We're already $88 billion in our Michigan budget. That's already too high in my estimation, and it's gotta be brought down. When you say the gun rights, are you talking about safe storage laws, or are you talking We're talking about stricter Stricter laws around background checks? Stricter laws around certain types of weapons. I introduced the bill to alleviate the felony for sawed off shotguns and sawed off rifles. Right now that could be a felony if you have that gun in Michigan because the federal government has said that that no longer is a problem for a person having those guns. But do you believe that there needs to be something that needs to be done to keep people safe and to keep those background checks stringent? Do you believe that? I think that the Second Amendment allows people to not be infringed in their right to self-defense. I've held that position throughout my four years in the state legislature. So obviously you have a lot to talk about to the governor and Democrats about how that looks from a Republican point of view. Talk about education for a moment. You know, you're sitting there with the purse strings of appropriations in the state of Michigan and you're sitting here with a lot of other Democrats and some Republicans out there. Who have an education system to fix, 45th in the country. How do you begin to do that as a lawmaker in Michigan? Well, first of all, we spend $24 billion. That's what the school aid fund has. We put some of that money towards higher education, and so we've taken some of that away from K through 12. I also believe we need to maintain school choice. We need to maintain those charter schools, and we need to expand school choice. Obviously, the system we have right now is not working, so giving it more money is not the proper reward. Is it gonna be lonely for you and the other Republicans there in the House? I hope not. I think that we always have a job to do. I was the only state rep to support money out of politics, Mop Up Michigan, and that passed with 81%. So now we're starting to address that. There's a court case to try to stop it, but money out of politics. I have worked with Representative Betsy Kofia to co-sponsor the FOIA legislation. So I think there's a lot of, I was the only Republican to co-sponsor FOIA to the legislature. I think most people want transparency of their government. And why are there not more people joining me in that? I think that now that we've gotten past this, we may be able to work together on things like that. You're one of the first Republicans we've had on this desk in the last 18 months, who's echoed the words of Senator-elect El-Sayed, money out of politics, something you'd obviously believe in and have talked a lot about. I supported it. I worked for it, I circulated petitions for it, I am in the belly of the beast, Rup. I see the money in politics, I see the corruption, I see how much it changes our state. And we just need to get back to being for we the people. We're going to keep watching this very closely and we'll do it with your watchful eye right there in Lansing. We thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Rup. Representative DeSantis, congratulations on your win, by the way, again. Got it. Still ahead, we're hearing from our state's next attorney general, Ali Savitt, coming off his victory in the midterms. You're watching The Pulse on Fox 2. We'll be right back. Welcome back to The Pulse. The midterms were a big night for Democrats, up and down the ticket, and that includes the race for Attorney General. Joining us in studio, Michigan's next Attorney General, Democrat Ellie Savitt. And Ellie, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining us here tonight. Thank you so much for having me. All right, so I soon will be calling you A.G. Savitt, but for today, I'll call you Ellie. You can call me Ellie whenever. Attorney General-elect. But this is a big deal for obviously you personally, but really for the state of Michigan as well, because people want to get to know you. They want to understand what you believe. You've had a chance to tell people that during the election, during the campaign. What is it that didn't come out during the campaign that you want people to know about the next attorney general for the state of Michigan? Well, look, I've been saying the same thing for 18 months. I don't care who it is that is screwing you over. If they are doing something illegal, whether that's your boss stealing from your paycheck, whether that's a corporation taking advantage of this economic uncertainty and ripping us off, price gouging us, whether it's an environmental polluter that's contaminating our local air and our water, whether it is a criminal on the street, or whether it's the president himself, if they're breaking the law and harming Michiganders, I'm in your corner. And that's what I've been saying throughout the campaign, and that's what people are going to get to know about me. Of the four things that you mentioned, I want to pick Pick apart two of those, the ones about making sure that businesses don't cause pollution unnecessarily in people's yards and areas and backyards and their communities, data centers. Yeah. Where do you stand on data centers? Well, let's talk about the environmental impact, right? The Attorney General, as the lawyer for the people of the state of Michigan, is responsible ultimately for preserving our natural resources, our water for future generations. Because we all want our kids and our grandkids to enjoy the same pristine environment to have access to safe drinking water, just like we did. And when you see not just data centers, but any industrial project come in and potentially undermine that, the Attorney General has not just a duty, but in fact, an obligation to go into court and to seek to remedy that. I'll also say this too, electricity rates are way too high right now. And I've said this many times. It's unconscionable to think that the biggest corporations on the planet would be passing along the costs of electricity to residential rate payers to build these data center projects. And that's the position you can expect for me to take as AG. So you have the current governor, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Sam Altman with a big American flag. There was some audio that was caught of her essentially saying it doesn't really matter what people want, we're gonna get this pushed through. You would not be standing shoulder to shoulder with someone like that, would you, as an Attorney General? I would not, and in fact, I might be standing against them in court. What I'll say is this, I do think it matters what people want. And I think one of the things that has angered people the most about the data center conversation is the fact that you have some of the wealthiest conglomerates on the planet, Oracle and OpenAI, worth probably a trillion dollars combined, come in and sue. Local communities, small townships, and that's a fundamentally unlevel playing field. And frequently, you see these small communities feel as though they don't have a choice but to fold. And the Attorney General can provide support, and we will because it does matter what people think. But what would you do differently than what we currently have seen? And look, I don't want you to have to throw barbs, but I'm saying what would you do differently or better than the current Attorney General to make sure these data centers are reined in? Well, look, I give the current Attorney General a lot of credit. She's fought. She has fought. She has fought. She's gone in in front of the Michigan Public Service Commission with, for example, the Saline project. And she said, look, we need to have a contested hearing here. This project should not increase rates on residential ratepayers. And she demanded to see financials when it comes to the Google data center. That has not been released. That's a problem. But what would you do? Would you do more than that? Look, you gotta take the steps. That the other folks before you took and go further with it. So what would you do differently moving forward? Well, I think one thing is providing that support to localities. I want to be a resource. Two localities, whatever they want in their communities, maybe they are trying to stop a data center. Maybe they want a better community benefits agreement, but we're gonna set up a way for them to lean on us as a resource at the outset. So that if there is this type of a lawsuit against them, they don't feel like all of the weight of the world is against a small township. But look, I wanna say this, honestly, at the end of the day, I am going to be in a position where I'm an advocate, I'm a lawyer. And what I can't promise is what a judge, what a commission is going to do. But I can promise you that I'm always going to stand up and fight for the people of the state of Michigan. We only have a quick minute left. But in that minute, I want you to reflect for a moment about what you can do and continue to do in the role as Attorney General when you see something happening in DC and Washington that you have a problem with. You've seen this Attorney General Dana Nessel file with Dozens of other attorneys general lawsuits, right, to stop executive powers from going too far. If a Democrat gets into office, you happen to be the AG at that time, do you continue that fight? Look, I wanted to say one thing. It doesn't matter whether I like it or not, whether I agree with it or not. The question for me is, is this federal policy harming Michiganders, and is it violating the law? And if both of those things are true, I will be in court fighting against the federal administration on behalf of the people of Michigan, no matter who is president, Democrat or Republican. Does it make you a little more comfortable to hear in the last few days, President Trump easing up on a lot of the policies that he had talked about so stringently during his first few years in office? Are you have any encouragement at all? Hope springs eternal. I would love to see a different tone, a different set of policies out of this administration. We will see. Attorney General-elect Ellie Savitt, great to have you here on the show. Thanks for joining us. And when you get the nice big black van and the office keys, come back and talk to us still. Transparency is key and we need you. 100%. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us here tonight. Up next, the midterms are over. Michigan's next U.S. Senator has been decided. So what may have made the difference in the race? We'll hear from communications expert Matt Friedman. You're watching The Pulse on Fox 2. We'll be right back. Welcome back to The Pulse. It was one of the most costly races this election cycle. Michigan's race for U.S. Senate. Abdul El-Sayed coming out on top, defeating Republican Mike Rogers, one of many seats that helped flip the Senate. A local PR expert believes one of the factors that helped El-Sayed win is that he seemingly said yes to every interview, getting his message out from everything to podcasts, to Fox News. Joining us now is Matt Friedman, co-founder of Tanner Friedman PR. And it's so good to see you. Thanks for joining us I always read your stuff with great interest and enjoy our talks. One of the things that you really hit on, which I thought was fascinating, it aligned with some of the reflections I had looking at his campaign. You saw up north, people who were interviewed on the streets way up north. And they said, why are you at this Abdul El-Sayed rally? He said, I saw him on Fox News and had to give him a try, come check it out. That, to me, you think about messaging, that was a very important piece of the pie for Abdul, wasn't it? It was. If you look at the course of the campaign, he talked to everybody from Fox News to the free press, not our free press here, but the national website, the free press. Jon Stewart, a podcast that you and I have probably never heard of. He was everywhere. It did seem like he said yes to every interview. And I think there's a lesson to be learned, not just in politics. But in business, I did a couple of speeches around the state this fall, and I tried to tell my audiences, it's about pushing people in what I do, not pushing pixels. And so much of what we see now from candidates, from elected officials, from CEOs are statements that make their way around social media and sometimes you have to do that. But in this case, this was a candidate who was asking the audience to get to know him And the way that they got to know him. It was mostly through these interviews that you could access on your phone, that followed you on your Instagram algorithm, made a big difference, I think. So it wasn't a statement, a pixelized statement of, hey, this is what I wanna do, take money out of politics, this, that, the other. It was about seeing a video in your living room on your armchair and believing the things you were seeing and reading. There's some depth to it, there's some texture to it in an interview, also in this studio on September 15th. I think that I'll never know, you and I will probably never know, cuz we don't have access to daily polling or anything like that. But it seemed like that was the moment when Michigan really began to know this candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, as you had him in here for an hour, uninterrupted, without his opponent. And it seemed like that was a moment in the campaign when Michigan got to know him a little bit, or at least be able to pass judgment hearing everything he had to say. And we had given Mike Rogers and his team 40 plus days and multiple follow-ups from the debate commission at Oakland University sending the initial letter to us saying, are you coming? Please come even up until the last minute. But yeah, he utilized that hour to talk about what he wanted Michigan to know about him. When you think of Abdul El-Sayed and When you think of President Donald Trump, the senator-elect and the president don't have a heck of a lot in common. But when I hear you talking, Matt, I think for a moment, wow, they actually do have that in common. It was- President Trump, who went on Joe Rogan's show, it was President Trump who listened to his son, Barron, and said, where else should I go? And showed up at these random podcasts, and that made a huge difference. It did. You couldn't say at the end of the 2024 election, I never heard anything this guy had to say other than his commercials. Everybody had heard candidate Trump, just like everybody heard candidate El-Sayed. And by the way, this has nothing to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars that were spent. In advertising, a lot of people saw the grandparents commercial. I think if he asked 100 people, most of them would know what I was talking about. Sure. But I feel like even more than that, knew the soundbites and knew the messages from the campaign, from the interviews that he did. And I think it had to have made a difference. I know it does in business. The most familiar companies are the ones that you want to do business with. What about separating from dubious characters? You know, whether you like Hasan Piker or not, he's a YouTuber who had a lot to say about this political cycle in Michigan. And he's a big fan of the work of Abdul El-Sayed. And he was asked several times, Abdul El-Sayed, why won't you disavow him and why won't you separate from him? Could he have done better? And succeeded more by separating earlier? Probably yes, but as it turns out, he didn't have to. Because if we look at the data and we look at the polling, we see that while many people consider Hassan Piker to be a despicable character, more people dislike Donald Trump. That's what the election was about, and he was the one, that was the relationship that voters ended up voting on, not somebody that they may have never even heard of before outside of the advertising and the noise around the campaign. I wanna point out that so many people who were former President Trump voters went and voted for Abdul El-Sayed. I don't know the numbers, but there were enough people that did that, that were interviewed on television. So that's also an interesting twist in messaging, isn't it? It is, it is. The signs I saw up north a few weeks ago in some... Some rural counties led me to start thinking there might be something going on here. And it turns out it wasn't just a local trend or a national or a state trend, it was a national trend. We'll be watching his ascent into the Senate seat very closely. And we thank you, Matt Friedman, for your time here tonight. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Rup. That is the Pulse for tonight. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rup Raj. As always, it was good to be with you.