(0:06 – 0:21)
Gene Valentino’s grassroots podcast, he tells the truth, he tries to get information out there to make sure people make good informed decisions. The one we’re featuring this week is Luis Sanchez from The Cigar Shop. He owns a company called La Tradicion Cubana.

(0:22 – 0:39)
The Cigar Shop, Miami, Florida, since 1995. This Luis is really one heck of a guy. He’s determined to manufacture cigars based on an unprecedented excellence in quality using old-fashioned Cuban methods.

(0:40 – 0:52)
You can get this to become part of your branding experiment. I’m using this with my guests on the grassroots truthcasts. This could be your brand on your product, your service, anywhere in the world.

(0:52 – 1:14)
Look for Luis Sanchez at thecubanshop.com. President Trump is meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House. The two leaders signed a key minerals deal today as the U.S. looks to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains. This comes after China recently announced new restrictions on exporting critical minerals.

(1:15 – 1:34)
President Trump says he believes China will make a fair deal. We have a tremendous power, and that’s the power of tariff. And I think that China will come to the table and make a very fair deal, because if they don’t, they’re going to be paying us 157% in tariffs.

(1:35 – 1:53)
Right now, they’re paying 55 to 57%. Let’s welcome in our panel now, GOP political strategist and insider plus host of the grassroots truthcast podcast, Jeanne Valentino, along with Democratic strategist and attorney Madeleine Somerville. Good afternoon to you both.

(1:53 – 2:11)
The president inked a deal with Australia today for critical minerals. It’s going to be the start of alleviating our supply chains from China, which is a good thing. But I want to talk about the government shutdown and the No Kings protests that happened over the weekend.

(2:12 – 2:27)
Madeleine, there was robust turnout for these protests nationwide. I want to ask your opinion of whether you think that that translates into enthusiasm. Come next fall, afford the midterms.

(2:28 – 2:57)
Do those protests transform into Democratic votes? Yeah, and I think that’s the appropriate question. You know, there were 7 million people who turned out, and I want to be clear also that there were only 32 arrests so far that were documented out of 7 million people. So I want to reemphasize the point that they were indeed peaceful the vast majority of the time, regardless of what of what people might hear in terms of that being reflected in votes.

(2:57 – 3:19)
So the Democrats decided not to target swing voters, right? They wanted to target the people who normally stayed home, because a third of Americans who are eligible to vote don’t. So they are hoping that that enthusiasm, that this this energy will will bring people out of their homes and into the voting booth. It’s been shown to do that in the past when people have voiced their concerns like this.

(3:19 – 3:33)
So let’s hope. Jean, here is a moment Nancy Pelosi showing herself breaking a fake crown during the No Kings protest. Let’s just take a look.

(3:34 – 3:54)
I’m going to tear up the crown. Kind of reminds me of her tearing up the State of the Union address in President Trump’s first term as a demonstration. But, you know, basically the same question to Madeline is for you.

(3:54 – 4:04)
Does this actually translate into more Democrat votes or is it all just performative? No. In a word, no. It’s performative.

(4:04 – 4:39)
And I think it only continues. These actions, these antics that try to divert and deflect, distract your attention away from the critical issues is but one other example of why there’ll probably be a massive sweep of more Republicans this coming midterm election, because America has finally had enough of this attempt to transform what Americanization is all about. People in our nation have to get back to the roots of our Americana.

(4:39 – 4:52)
And this is an example to distract and deflect your attention with supercilious frustrations on non-issues. You’ve got a president here. Well, the actions speak louder than words.

(4:52 – 5:06)
I haven’t seen any successes or positive commentary from the Democrat side to offer suggestions. Just a continuation of whacks in the knees. They’re doing it right now with the budget resolution holdup.

(5:07 – 5:28)
There’s no excuse for us not to have a balanced budget in place right now. And the Democrats are holding it up and then diverting your attention to king issues on the streets as if that’s the real problem with Donald Trump. The three kings are Schumer, Joaquin Jeffries, and Queen Pelosi here that have been causing the trouble.

(5:28 – 5:39)
All right, Madeline, your response? Yeah. And it’s so ironic, actually, because I’m in Paris right now, and I don’t know if y’all heard about the heist that took place where they stole one of the crowns. The loose bean wrap.

(5:39 – 5:41)
Yes. Yes. Yes.

(5:41 – 5:52)
And one of the crowns broke on the way out. So it was just crazy that you mentioned that. But here’s the thing, right? I think the second part of his criticism was correct in that Democrats don’t offer a solution.

(5:53 – 6:02)
That’s true. That doesn’t mean that there’s not a problem. And I think here, right, it actually is extraordinarily American to say no one is above the law.

(6:02 – 6:17)
To say the reason why we enshrined in our Constitution that everyone is equal, right, it didn’t have to do with—it didn’t even have to do with diversity at the time. It just had to do with there’s no such thing as a king, right? You’re not born into a class. You are your merit.

(6:18 – 6:38)
You are the actions that you perform, right? You are the person that you want to be when you’re pursuing happiness. And that is what we’re seeing here. And as it pertains to the shutdown, I think with the proposals that are coming forward, it really is a major issue that premiums for health care are going to double.

(6:38 – 6:43)
They’re going to double. And 77 percent of Americans don’t want that. That is the reason for the shutdown.

(6:43 – 6:53)
Then get back to—get back to negotiating. Then get back to negotiating, Madeleine. We’ve got to get back to work and solve the problem.

(6:53 – 7:02)
You don’t solve the problem by gridlocking the attempt to get it solved. I mean, they tried multiple times. Okay.

(7:03 – 7:25)
Yes, they tried. And President Trump—and they’re urging President Trump to wade into this conversation, to put a resolution to the matter, because after the No Kings protests happened this weekend, there’s no need for the Democrats to hold the American people hostage in this shutdown showdown. But Gene Valentino, Madeleine Somerville, thank you both for stopping by.

(7:25 – 7:33)
Well, thank you so much. Keep it right here on National Desk. The one we’re featuring this week is Luis Sanchez from The Cigar Shop.

(7:33 – 7:44)
He owns a company called La Tradicion Cubana. The Cigar Shop, Miami, Florida, since 1995. This Luis is really one heck of a guy.

(7:44 – 8:02)
He’s determined to manufacture cigars based on an unprecedented excellence in quality using old-fashioned Cuban methods. You can get this to become part of your branding experiment. I’m using this with my guests on the Grassroots Truthcasts.

(8:02 – 8:12)
This could be your brand on your product, your service, anywhere in the world. Look for Luis Sanchez at thecubanshop.com.