Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the founder of Pajamas Media Roger Simon to the studio.
During the third hour, Simon talked about his post-debate article in The Epoch Times where he announces Kamala Harris as the debate loser due to her smirking. He added that Mike Pence maintained a vice presidential demeanor and that Trump had made an excellent choice by having him as his VP.
Leahy: Joining us now my good friend and my former boss at PJTV. The Academy Award-nominated screenwriter. Now, the founder of Pajamas Media and now the outstanding political analyst for The Epoch Times Roger Simon. Welcome Roger
Simon: Great to be here again.
Leahy: Roger you were one of the first to be a refugee from Los Angeles to come to Nashville. You came here two years ago. We’re delighted you’ve come are you enjoying Nashville?
Simon: Tremendously. But it’s easy if you’ve been to Los Angeles lately, you’ll know why. (Laughter)
Leahy: Yes. Lots of people leaving Los Angeles to join us. Roger, so you are a columnist with The Epoch Times, perhaps the most dramatically growing news publication in America today. You watched the debate. You have a column on it. What’s your take on the debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence?
Simon: Well the title of my article at The Epoch Times this morning is Kamala Loses Debate by Smirking.
Leahy: I love that. I’m looking at it right now and Kamala Loses Debate by Smirking by Roger L Simon.
Simon: That’s right. And you know, it’s my contention is this that like this election has been going on since the day that Trump came down the escalator. I mean, they never admitted he would so the election has been going on and on and on. So everybody knows every issue. I mean how many undecided voters are they left in America? 12? half of them were asleep. Rip Van Winkle is one of the undecided voters.
Anyway, so what we’re looking at the databases were studying the people. I mean because you know how many times you’re going to ask and answer the question of are you going to pack the Supreme Court and get no answers that? We know that. Okay. So what we’re looking at is the kind of person. and if you know, I think all that debate prep didn’t help Kamala because the first thing you know the people in this room, where I’m talking right now and iHeart Radio would know the cameras on you. (Laughter)
And it’s a close up in these things now because of the pandemic they’ve got the camera set on the individual’s face. So all the time when Pence was speaking and Pence is a kind of normal guy and he speaks quite normally, you can’t see me smirk right now on the radio, but she’s smirking away and mugging and rolling her eyes, etc. etc. All I could think of and I later the audience obviously thought the same thing is that we want this to be the president? and it’s probably you know, it’s quite possible that she would be because of the advanced age and questionable health of Joe Biden.
Leahy: Smirker in chief.
Simon: Exactly. We’d have a smirker in chief. Frank Luntz did one of his, you know panel focus groups at the end. And that’s actually what the focus group said. I really agree with focus groups and sometimes I hate them. But I think they were right. That means they couldn’t stand it either.
Leahy: I want to ask both, Roger Simon and Jack Johnson here in the studio to react to this comment that I heard. We had a young caller in our we opened this little lines up in the five o’clock hour, right? We get tons of calls. I guess people just like to talk at five in the morning and a young caller named Alex who’s a high school student from Mount Juliet gave us this line.
He was honest and said he wasn’t original to him, but it was really a great line. I asked him and said who won the debate last night? Here was his answer. Well, Mike Pence finished in first place. And the fly finished in second place. The moderator Susan Page finished in third place. And Kamala Harris finished in fourth place. Roger, what do you think of that assessment?
Simon: I think that’s true. You know, but again, you know, the fly was it was definitely in second place because it’s because of you know, Pence has that white hair that the black fly, you couldn’t miss it. You were waiting for it to come down his nose. And you know he’s so well quaffed that he couldn’t feel it up there. (Laughter) I think that’s a problem I wouldn’t have. I was not as in love with Susan Page either. You know, I think that the press is so biased it’s almost like breathing to them. You know, Chris Wallace was even more horrible in the previous debate.
Leahy: And it’s hard to be that but he was I agree with you.
Simon: And he and he followed that up. I was watching Fox’s after spin show after the debate while I was writing that my piece at the same time. A little multitasking. And there was Wallace doing it again. Everybody else was saying well Pence won the debate but not Wallace. He was undercutting everything. It’s a very interesting phenomenon at Fox right now. I mean, they sabotage their own viewers and I didn’t think that’s smart for them. The Drudge Report lost readers on the internet. They already have MSNBC and CNN lined up against them. But anyway, that’s your choice. He’s their guy.
Leahy: Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson about this fly issue. The question was about systemic racism. And so this fly lands on his head I guess and all of the analysts after said well, obviously it was some kind of omen that this fly landed during that question. What was your reaction to the whole fly incident there Jack? I know this is a deep deep political analysis.
Johnson: It is. Well, and it just again I think it ties right in with 2020. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in this crazy year that we’re in. I’ll tell you what I observed from the debate. I’ve been a big Mike Pence fan for many years. Back from when he was in Congress as governor of Indiana. I’ve just really been a fan of his, and if you watch the first debate between President Trump and Vice President Biden and what a kind of a dumpster fire.
Leahy: Food fight, dumpster fire.
Johnson: And then you and then you watch this debate what I took away and we as people who support the president know is what a great partnership you have between President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. They could not be more different. There cannot be a more stark contrast between their personality styles. The way they communicate.
And I think it’s really been one of the reasons they’ve been successful. Because Mike Pence, you know, he has a history in government. Donald Trump did not. And I think it was such a brilliant pick on President Trump’s part to have Mike Pence as his running mate. And to me, that was just illustrated perfectly if you watch these two debates. Because we love President Trump, but we know he can be a bit boisterous. (Laughter)
Simon: No! I don’t know where you got that idea.
Johnson: And then you see Vice President Mike Pence who is so stoic and calm and well-spoken and articulate that I just think it’s a great partnership and he’s a real asset to the ticket.
Simon: Yeah. I actually totally agree but also in that, I think as we know Trump watches everything. I mean he watches more television than anybody in the planet. Anyways, he was watching the debate clearly and I think he probably can learn a few tips from Pence about how to how to represent his own ideas. I mentioned that in my article in The Epoch Times because Pence did an excellent job of defending the administration. And that’s all Trump has to do the next time because Biden really doesn’t have a lot to say. You know, what’s the old Beatles song? Madge is a pretty nice girl, but she doesn’t have a lot to say.
Leahy: That’s a great comparison, Roger. Speaking of your article at The Epoch Times. Kamala Loses Debate by Smirking. Other reviews are in on your article. I’ll just give you this comment. You probably haven’t read it yet. Great article well said. Pence is far and away more classy than Harris. If nothing else, she helped move the undecided voters to Trump.
Simon: Well, I hope that’s true because of how many undecided voters there are is a great mystery. I mean obviously. just this week NBC lied about it again. They had their town hall. And there were two supposed undecided voters on the show and then unmasked as having it appeared on NBC itself. Only both before with Biden voters.
Leahy: I’m shocked! I’m shocked by NBC.
Simon: I mean, you know these people have a license to own channel for own our lives, but no one ever reviews this.
Leahy: Well, maybe somebody will certainly be doing that here.
Listen to the third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Vice Presidential Debate Stage” by CSPAN.
If you watch closely, Kamala Harris has the exact same mannerisms and reactions as Hillary Clinton. Trying to act all nicey nice. But in reality, she’s a snake just trying to masquerade as a teddy bear.