January 16, 2025 • 12 mins
Former Kentucky Republican Party Chairman John McCarthy previews the anticipated agenda from the new Donald Trump Administration. Are talks of buying Greenland and controlling the Panama Canal really just red herrings? McCarthy also discusses Kentucky's federal power positions in spite of Sen. Mitch McConnell's choice to step away from his GOP Senate leadership perch.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right. We obviously have an inauguration coming up next
Monday at high noon. John McCarthy will be paying close attention.
If he's not seated, he's probably holding the Bible for
the swearing end ceremony.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
For all I know.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Is founder and managing partner of McCarthy's Strategic Solutions, former
chair of the Kentucky Republican Party.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
John.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good to have you back on Terry.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thanks for having me. Really appreciate that I will not
be holding the Bible.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You won't be there. Are you going to be in
there close?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I'll be there. I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I'll be sitting in the seats in front of the
President and the host committee that looks down here in
DC on Monday and looking forward to a great event.
We'll probably have typical inauguration, whether you know, twenty degrees
and raining or sleeping or something like that.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
But that's okay.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's worth being here to celebrate this great occasion he
gets to do every four years.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
It's not like the Derby Parade. They don't have floats
at all that right, just have marching bands and then
the motorcade and then they'll we go. Is that how
that works?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's a pretty short parade procession quite honestly, from the
Capital to the White House and all parts in between.
So there are plenty of parties along the way though
for folks to have a viewing, and it's an opportunity
for connections and people to get This continued to celebrations
that you know happened throughout the day on Inauguration Day. Actually,
(01:24):
things actually start Friday night.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
The Kentucky Society.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Ball one of the biggest balls of the inaugurations on
Friday night, and then that starts a whole series of
different states and different organizations that have balls or events
all throughout the weekend and through through Monday night.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Who is the titular head of the Kentucky Republican Party
at this hour.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, Senator McConnell is still the in hal Rogers kind
of carried that banner together. But in the Senate, you know,
basically runs the procession of the inauguration.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
It's one of their responsibilities. Well, each member of Congress gets.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So many tickets, and you know, and then people call
and their constituents and and that sort of thing, and
that's how you have access to come to the inauguration.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
What his senses will be the change. Now without Senator
McConnell in that leadership position, what does that mean for
the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, he's still in a very very important position as
Chairman of the Rules Committee. But what it means is,
as he likes to say, he's no longer the you know,
the general manager over all the Senate.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
He's now one.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Of the players that gets to play their role, which
you know he is definitely going to continue to punch
above his weight. And the combination of him on the
Appropriations Committee and being chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, and
then you have Conress from how Rogers in the House,
who is over what they call Criminal Justice, State and
Science Subcommittee, it just means that the access of appital
(03:00):
that flows from the federal government to Kentucky, we're in
a good spot. And not to mention our chairmanship of
the Oversight Committee with Ram Paul in the Senate of
all of federal government plus homes at Homeland Security, and
they have Jamie Comer who's chaf oversight on the House.
And then you have Chairman of the Commerce Committee.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
With Brett Guthrie. So we were really.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well positioned as a state for our eight members of
Congress to play important roles. Even Morgan McGarvey on the
Democrat side, while he's not in the majority, has a
significant role in the leadership of the Democrat House as well.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, that's all good to hear that we still get noticed,
but clearly we won't have the same power level without
Senator McConnell that in that cat bird seat. Nonetheless, the
Republican Party of Kentucky has to start working on the
potential candidates to replace him because he's by all indications are,
(03:58):
he's not raising any money, he's not going to run
again in twenty six, So I would guess some of
that works being done quietly.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Absolutely, I think that there's some logical things you could
come to conclusions about just by who's elected, who's who's
in active in the state. You know, and for the record,
he has not made a decision. But at the same time,
you know, you know, the sport of politics is handicapping.
That's why Kentuckians like it so much because it's similar.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
To horse racings.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah that you get the you get this, you know,
who's going to have the best horse in the race,
and there's gonna be a lot of a lot of consternation,
a lot of thoughts, and a lot of you know, folks
who are going to be considered I think because of
the seat has been held by CeNAT McConnell for almost
forty years, over forty years, so and you know to
who that is going to be, you know, I don't,
(04:50):
I wouldn't. There's so many options that you could throw
out there right now. It's all, as they like to say, uh,
you know, assumptions, and you know there's no there's no
one who's declared yet.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I could tell you that, right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
But once the Trump administration is locked and readitic roll
or rolling forward next week, then all those sort of
maneuvers start happening. Let's talk about our national situation now.
With the Trump administration coming in, you see all the
blowback against various nominees, cabinet position nominees, but it looks
like they're all going to get pulled across the finish line.
(05:24):
You see any different yet, anything different yet?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I mean I haven't seen anything yet. I mean I
think at bats in his debate and the conversation there
and some of the public comments that were made in
his hearing, you know, will give that, you know, members
of the Senate and some pause and some thought for sure,
but how many how many different back and forth do
(05:51):
they want to have with the executive branch over positions
in the significance of these positions, I mean, I think
the majority of them are and move forward, like you said,
and then once they're in place, the agenda is so
important because the margins in both the House and Senate
are so thin and everything revolves around the elections, and
(06:14):
their elections are, you know, twenty three months away, and
when you have such only three members of the House
margin and three members of the Senate margin, you know,
the Republicans are have to walk the line of responding
with policy that the American people ask the majority of
the American people asked for. But that doesn't mean the
(06:36):
outcome is going to be perfect because the process is
going to be tight. There's a lot of different opinions,
and you know, when the votes of that tight, it's
going to be really, really difficult to thread the needles
to get something across the goal line unless you have
really unified efforts by the Republicans.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
And this is going to be a super package of
proposals right away that they'll vote.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It sounds like there, Yeah, sounds like they're heading in
that direction. I think the Senate a first talked about
maybe separation. But you know, the great thing about any
legislative process, whether it's in downtown Louisville at the Metro
Hall or whether it's at.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
In Frankfurt or in Washington, d C.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I mean, every great plan is going to be modified
because human beings.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Are involved, and you just have to have that. You know,
there's going to be give and take in the whole process.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And so the goal is to pass the agenda you
know that addresses the immigration issues, puts people back to work,
takes the tax policies that have been effective, and to
continue those moving forward, and you know, return America's status
and international diplomacy and those kind of things to a
(07:44):
level of mutual respect, which I think has already happened
because Israel and Hamas, and that's the moved forward. Because
of the change in the presidency.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Some people are questioning on whether that's effective enough. You know,
this this slow drip release of hostages as opposed to
demanding like we go back to the days of Jimmy
Carter out and then Ronald Reagan sworn in and boom,
all the Iranian hostages were released.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, everybody would love it to have them released today.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And to make the demand is one thing that you
have to have leverage in those conversations. And I don't
I only know what I read on what I hear
on TV as it relates to those matters.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But the folks that I know have been working every
single day.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But it just seems like there's more effectiveness in the
last twenty days than there's been in the last year
and a half.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
You think some of these other things, like the External
Revenue Service and the let's go get Greenland and these
types of things are red herrings to get people to
just look at something shiny over here while they're putting
together the core package.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Oh, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think some of these are about Some of those
are are about positioning other positions. And you may look
at it like it's a red herring, but you're actually
positioning folks for other justis that that that puts on them?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
So how important is Greenland? You know?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Then they come to the table And meanwhile, Panama Canal
is the same situation. I mean, the flow of immigration
flows through Panama. So that's another reason that we don't
that folks don't think about that. They think about boats
going through Panama, they don't really think about the amount
of people who flow through Panama and Ecuador and in
different countries that have much more laxed immigration policies or
(09:28):
standards than than the rest of the Americas do, North
and South America do.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So those are all.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Kinds of plays that I think are into the end
up being incorporated eventually into whatever whatever the determination is.
But you know that the game of diplomacy between countries
and is really a complicated maneuvers, you know, just like
(09:56):
the tariff question is, and what's that going to mean
from our economy to other economies in the world impact,
and that it obviously concerns China, it concerns uh, you know,
the trading partners enough that they're you know, they're they're
doing whatever they're going to do next into that negotiation,
in that process, because it really isn't negotiation, but in
(10:18):
that process of trying to figure out.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You know, what's best for their country.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So there's a method to the madness, I would say that,
And I.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Don't expect they're going to be renegades like we saw
in the last Congress. Because now the Donald Trump's re elected,
the renegades were all part of his team, except you know,
Thomas Massy's kind of his own island, you know sometimes
but still.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
He's an island, and he's an island, and he is
very comfortable there.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
And has been that way since he got elected.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It's just more exasperated as it related to the speaker
Speaker's election, but you know, he's been very very consistent
with how he votes and that sort of thing. But
he is definitely on an island when it comes to
some significant policy issues because of his position on government spending,
(11:12):
in his drives, everything else he thinks about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But in the Speaker votes, they did push him out
just as one. He was the only outlier, and so
they still have the numbers.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That's right, they did, and you know, two members voted
President and they got their conversation they needed to have
with the Speaker or the President or whoever they need
to have, and then they came around because it's just
that important for the for the Congress to be able
to operate and move forward on policies they're going to impact,
you know, the American people's lives and that's what they
(11:46):
voted for.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
John McCarthy appreciate the time as always, Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, thank you, Terry, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Enjoy your trip to DC. That is the former chair
of the Kentucky Republican Party. Yeah, he will be there
for the inauguration on Monday. We're back in a few
on new Is Radio eight forty w u H a
SM
All right. We obviously have an inauguration coming up next
Monday at high noon. John McCarthy will be paying close attention.
If he's not seated, he's probably holding the Bible for
the swearing end ceremony.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
For all I know.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Is founder and managing partner of McCarthy's Strategic Solutions, former
chair of the Kentucky Republican Party.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
John.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good to have you back on Terry.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thanks for having me. Really appreciate that I will not
be holding the Bible.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You won't be there. Are you going to be in
there close?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I'll be there. I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I'll be sitting in the seats in front of the
President and the host committee that looks down here in
DC on Monday and looking forward to a great event.
We'll probably have typical inauguration, whether you know, twenty degrees
and raining or sleeping or something like that.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
But that's okay.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's worth being here to celebrate this great occasion he
gets to do every four years.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
It's not like the Derby Parade. They don't have floats
at all that right, just have marching bands and then
the motorcade and then they'll we go. Is that how
that works?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's a pretty short parade procession quite honestly, from the
Capital to the White House and all parts in between.
So there are plenty of parties along the way though
for folks to have a viewing, and it's an opportunity
for connections and people to get This continued to celebrations
that you know happened throughout the day on Inauguration Day. Actually,
(01:24):
things actually start Friday night.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
The Kentucky Society.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Ball one of the biggest balls of the inaugurations on
Friday night, and then that starts a whole series of
different states and different organizations that have balls or events
all throughout the weekend and through through Monday night.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Who is the titular head of the Kentucky Republican Party
at this hour.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, Senator McConnell is still the in hal Rogers kind
of carried that banner together. But in the Senate, you know,
basically runs the procession of the inauguration.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
It's one of their responsibilities. Well, each member of Congress gets.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So many tickets, and you know, and then people call
and their constituents and and that sort of thing, and
that's how you have access to come to the inauguration.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
What his senses will be the change. Now without Senator
McConnell in that leadership position, what does that mean for
the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, he's still in a very very important position as
Chairman of the Rules Committee. But what it means is,
as he likes to say, he's no longer the you know,
the general manager over all the Senate.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
He's now one.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Of the players that gets to play their role, which
you know he is definitely going to continue to punch
above his weight. And the combination of him on the
Appropriations Committee and being chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, and
then you have Conress from how Rogers in the House,
who is over what they call Criminal Justice, State and
Science Subcommittee, it just means that the access of appital
(03:00):
that flows from the federal government to Kentucky, we're in
a good spot. And not to mention our chairmanship of
the Oversight Committee with Ram Paul in the Senate of
all of federal government plus homes at Homeland Security, and
they have Jamie Comer who's chaf oversight on the House.
And then you have Chairman of the Commerce Committee.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
With Brett Guthrie. So we were really.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well positioned as a state for our eight members of
Congress to play important roles. Even Morgan McGarvey on the
Democrat side, while he's not in the majority, has a
significant role in the leadership of the Democrat House as well.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, that's all good to hear that we still get noticed,
but clearly we won't have the same power level without
Senator McConnell that in that cat bird seat. Nonetheless, the
Republican Party of Kentucky has to start working on the
potential candidates to replace him because he's by all indications are,
(03:58):
he's not raising any money, he's not going to run
again in twenty six, So I would guess some of
that works being done quietly.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Absolutely, I think that there's some logical things you could
come to conclusions about just by who's elected, who's who's
in active in the state. You know, and for the record,
he has not made a decision. But at the same time,
you know, you know, the sport of politics is handicapping.
That's why Kentuckians like it so much because it's similar.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
To horse racings.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah that you get the you get this, you know,
who's going to have the best horse in the race,
and there's gonna be a lot of a lot of consternation,
a lot of thoughts, and a lot of you know, folks
who are going to be considered I think because of
the seat has been held by CeNAT McConnell for almost
forty years, over forty years, so and you know to
who that is going to be, you know, I don't,
(04:50):
I wouldn't. There's so many options that you could throw
out there right now. It's all, as they like to say, uh,
you know, assumptions, and you know there's no there's no
one who's declared yet.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I could tell you that, right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
But once the Trump administration is locked and readitic roll
or rolling forward next week, then all those sort of
maneuvers start happening. Let's talk about our national situation now.
With the Trump administration coming in, you see all the
blowback against various nominees, cabinet position nominees, but it looks
like they're all going to get pulled across the finish line.
(05:24):
You see any different yet, anything different yet?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I mean I haven't seen anything yet. I mean I
think at bats in his debate and the conversation there
and some of the public comments that were made in
his hearing, you know, will give that, you know, members
of the Senate and some pause and some thought for sure,
but how many how many different back and forth do
(05:51):
they want to have with the executive branch over positions
in the significance of these positions, I mean, I think
the majority of them are and move forward, like you said,
and then once they're in place, the agenda is so
important because the margins in both the House and Senate
are so thin and everything revolves around the elections, and
(06:14):
their elections are, you know, twenty three months away, and
when you have such only three members of the House
margin and three members of the Senate margin, you know,
the Republicans are have to walk the line of responding
with policy that the American people ask the majority of
the American people asked for. But that doesn't mean the
(06:36):
outcome is going to be perfect because the process is
going to be tight. There's a lot of different opinions,
and you know, when the votes of that tight, it's
going to be really, really difficult to thread the needles
to get something across the goal line unless you have
really unified efforts by the Republicans.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
And this is going to be a super package of
proposals right away that they'll vote.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It sounds like there, Yeah, sounds like they're heading in
that direction. I think the Senate a first talked about
maybe separation. But you know, the great thing about any
legislative process, whether it's in downtown Louisville at the Metro
Hall or whether it's at.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
In Frankfurt or in Washington, d C.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I mean, every great plan is going to be modified
because human beings.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Are involved, and you just have to have that. You know,
there's going to be give and take in the whole process.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And so the goal is to pass the agenda you
know that addresses the immigration issues, puts people back to work,
takes the tax policies that have been effective, and to
continue those moving forward, and you know, return America's status
and international diplomacy and those kind of things to a
(07:44):
level of mutual respect, which I think has already happened
because Israel and Hamas, and that's the moved forward. Because
of the change in the presidency.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Some people are questioning on whether that's effective enough. You know,
this this slow drip release of hostages as opposed to
demanding like we go back to the days of Jimmy
Carter out and then Ronald Reagan sworn in and boom,
all the Iranian hostages were released.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, everybody would love it to have them released today.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And to make the demand is one thing that you
have to have leverage in those conversations. And I don't
I only know what I read on what I hear
on TV as it relates to those matters.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But the folks that I know have been working every
single day.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But it just seems like there's more effectiveness in the
last twenty days than there's been in the last year
and a half.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
You think some of these other things, like the External
Revenue Service and the let's go get Greenland and these
types of things are red herrings to get people to
just look at something shiny over here while they're putting
together the core package.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Oh, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think some of these are about Some of those
are are about positioning other positions. And you may look
at it like it's a red herring, but you're actually
positioning folks for other justis that that that puts on them?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
So how important is Greenland? You know?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Then they come to the table And meanwhile, Panama Canal
is the same situation. I mean, the flow of immigration
flows through Panama. So that's another reason that we don't
that folks don't think about that. They think about boats
going through Panama, they don't really think about the amount
of people who flow through Panama and Ecuador and in
different countries that have much more laxed immigration policies or
(09:28):
standards than than the rest of the Americas do, North
and South America do.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So those are all.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Kinds of plays that I think are into the end
up being incorporated eventually into whatever whatever the determination is.
But you know that the game of diplomacy between countries
and is really a complicated maneuvers, you know, just like
(09:56):
the tariff question is, and what's that going to mean
from our economy to other economies in the world impact,
and that it obviously concerns China, it concerns uh, you know,
the trading partners enough that they're you know, they're they're
doing whatever they're going to do next into that negotiation,
in that process, because it really isn't negotiation, but in
(10:18):
that process of trying to figure out.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You know, what's best for their country.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So there's a method to the madness, I would say that,
And I.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Don't expect they're going to be renegades like we saw
in the last Congress. Because now the Donald Trump's re elected,
the renegades were all part of his team, except you know,
Thomas Massy's kind of his own island, you know sometimes
but still.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
He's an island, and he's an island, and he is
very comfortable there.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
And has been that way since he got elected.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It's just more exasperated as it related to the speaker
Speaker's election, but you know, he's been very very consistent
with how he votes and that sort of thing. But
he is definitely on an island when it comes to
some significant policy issues because of his position on government spending,
(11:12):
in his drives, everything else he thinks about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But in the Speaker votes, they did push him out
just as one. He was the only outlier, and so
they still have the numbers.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That's right, they did, and you know, two members voted
President and they got their conversation they needed to have
with the Speaker or the President or whoever they need
to have, and then they came around because it's just
that important for the for the Congress to be able
to operate and move forward on policies they're going to impact,
you know, the American people's lives and that's what they
(11:46):
voted for.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
John McCarthy appreciate the time as always, Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, thank you, Terry, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Enjoy your trip to DC. That is the former chair
of the Kentucky Republican Party. Yeah, he will be there
for the inauguration on Monday. We're back in a few
on new Is Radio eight forty w u H a
SM
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