Transcription
This is Power Hour with Gabriella Power. Hello and welcome to Power Hour. I'm Gabriella Power. Thank you for joining us.
The Democrats are in deep trouble. Even CNN is reporting that their brand has the same appeal as Cracker Barrel's. The Democratic brand right now has about the same appeal with the American voter as the Cracker Barrel rebrand has with American consumers. Bad, bad, bad. What are you doing? Oh my goodness gracious. What are we talking about here in terms of big party registration changes in the key swing states? Let's look at the key four swing states that, in fact, do keep track of registration by party. Look, the Republican party is in their best position at this point in the cycle since at least 2005, in all four of these key battleground states. Pretty savage, but it's true.
Donald Trump is 7 months into his second term, and he just set a record for presiding over a marathon cabinet meeting at the White House. This one went for 3 hours and 17 minutes. The entire meeting was televised. In Biden's first seven months, he held one cabinet meeting. Trump has had seven. I think this, uh, you have not had this happen for four years. You sat and you'd ask one question to Biden, and it was always the ice cream question, right? What flavor ice cream do you like? Uh, uh, I like, uh, vanilla. And that was the end of the conference. I think now we've done enough. These people are very busy. I want to just thank this. This is the greatest. This has never been done before. First of all, a cabinet meeting was, was sacred. You'd never let the fake news media in, but the fake news media isn't all fake. It's a lot of it is, but it's not all. I think it's a great thing. I think it's maybe it's going to be done in the future. I hope it's going to be done.
We have a far more entertaining man in the White House, and Donald Trump covered everything from the National Guard troops in DC, suggesting that crime is going to be a key issue in the midterm elections, to the breaking entertainment news that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged. Well, I wish him a lot of love. No, I think it's, I think he's a, a great player. I think he's a great guy, and I think that she's a terrific person. So, I wish them a lot of luck.
While lefties have been in tears over Sydney Sweeney's hugely successful American Eagle ad, conservatives in New York City have been celebrating it, putting their jeans on and attending the latest "Make America Hot Again" party themed "Conservatives Have Good Jeans." Joining us now is Raquel Deono, host of the party, of course. Raquel, it is great to have you back on Power Hour and wonderful to see you again. Look, I love the theme. Can you tell us about the night and everything that happened?
You know, the important thing to note here is that politics, culture drives politics, right? And it's important to have that shift and showcase that, you know, uh, that we can make a little bit of fun of the liberals as well and get them back. And, you know, everyone was freaking out about this American Eagle ad. And it's really fun to just be like, "Oh, well, conservatives have good jeans." Yeah, I love it. Have you had any backlash? I mean, can you imagine all the lefties in New York City that you've triggered by throwing this party?
Oh, I have a million messages saying that we're racist, we're this, we're that. And it's so funny because once again, like, it's, it's, it's unavoidable at this point. Like the, the, oh, they're not good-looking, they're this. Well, if, if you know, saying that we're ugly is all you have to hit on. I mean, it's just truly funny. It means they're really lacking in argument, and of course, we have no white people as you say, but that's clearly not true. Um, I mean, I think they just love to really hit us where it hurts and just try to find anything possible to come up with to say that, you know, we have bad jeans. Well, we're here saying that we have good jeans and we're here to celebrate that. Yeah, maybe they should attend one of these parties and see how much fun you're actually having.
But let's talk about the advertising around this. I mean, we saw Sydney Sweeney's ad for American Eagle just become such a huge success. You know, all the money it made that company. But the latest example of a brand going woke is, of course, Cracker Barrel's rebrand. Now, even Donald Trump weighed in, saying that Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit it made a mistake based on the customer response, the ultimate poll, and manage the company better than ever before. They got a billion dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity. Have a major news conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a winner again. Remember, in just a short period of time, I made the United States of America the hottest country anywhere in the world. One year ago, it was dead. Good luck.
And isn't it interesting, just hours later, Cracker Barrel made this announcement that it is scrapping the new logo and the old one is coming back. I mean, Raquel, what do you make of this? Is this the Donald Trump effect?
Look, I mean, the first time I took a look at this, I go, "Okay, well, this is ridiculous. It's not really a cultural issue, but it perfectly exemplifies what happened with the Sydney Sweeney ad, right? Where people are freaking out and really mainstream normal things that weren't considered political have become political because of sort of this backlash." Like, we see the, you know, the figure there, he's a 45-year-old character. He's been on the logo forever. It symbolizes traditional Americana, traditional values. And, you know, Cracker Barrel is sort of like this American thing that everyone knows about, everyone is very in tune with going. Um, I mean, it sort of represents another symbol of like an Anchamima situation where this time we're not taking Anjamima off the bottle. This time we're not changing the branding on our butter containers, and we're really, you know, fighting back. Um, it's a perfect example, right? They, you know, go woke, go broke. Um, they lost a lot of money on this, and it's another great example of how, you know, sort of fighting back, even if it's something that seems silly like a Cracker Barrel logo, right? It really makes an impact and makes a difference.
100%. Now, you're in New York City, and it's looking like socialist Zaran Mani is going to be the next mayor. Now, he's attempted to lift weights at a men's day event in Brooklyn. This is how it went. This is how you move up in the poll. This is how you move, move up in the [Applause] [Music] how you move up in the P. Yeah, [Music] [Applause] let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Yeah. Let me get one more. Let me get one. Let me get three. Let me get three. Yeah.
He needed all the help he could get there, and he's getting absolutely roasted for this. There are jokes being made that the only thing he can actually lift are taxes. What's your reaction?
I mean, there's a study that shows that 65% of self-identified liberal men are inactive compared to 42% of conservative men, right? Who are, are working out, making America hot again, making America healthy again. And we really do have a, you know, alpha male epidemic in this country. I mean, what is going on? You can't even lift your body weight. Uh, it's, it really shows that. I mean, I guess if we go and defund the police, I guess Zoron will be there to save the day. What is he going to do if someone comes and attacks us? Cuz he's not going to step in. He's going to send his social worker and he's going to show up saying, "I can't even lift 135 pounds."
Well said. Now, we know the Democrats, uh, well, the brand is absolutely toxic because of people like Me Downey being the new face of the party. It tells you absolutely everything. But the Democrats have also been told to stop using words, or woke words, I should say. A memo obtained by Politico revealed a list of words that this left, uh, think tank Third Way wants Democrats to avoid using so they sound less crazy. So words that they've been told to avoid include words such as privilege, holding space, body shaming, birthing person, that one absolutely needs to go, cisgender, heteronormative, and patriarchy, and the list goes on. But Regal, what do you make of this? Is this part of the Democrat's problem? And do you think sounding less woke is going to help them?
I mean, politics is shifting back to, you know, plain language and culture, and these Twitter wars that we've seen online of people saying we have to use these words. Well, people who are, for example, Latinx, don't want to be called Latinx. It's just ridiculous, right? They're making problems where problems don't exist. And the problem is, at the end of the day, there are real problems in this country that do not involve use of your language. It's so ridiculous. It's like, how much spare time do you guys have? I guess they have a lot of spare time because they're out protesting all day. Yeah. Um, and, you know, not at a real job. And maybe if they focused on plain language and simple things that actually make sense, it wouldn't be an issue. They're just, it's another example of Democrats creating issues where there were no issues to start.
Yeah, absolutely. Well said, Raquel Deon. It was so good to speak to you again. Thank you so much for joining us.
Great speaking with you, too.
Joining us now is chief economist at the Institute of Public Affairs, Adam Kryton. Adam, it is great to see you again. Let's start with what's happening in the United States. Donald Trump has fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud, alleging that she lied on mortgage forms by declaring two primary residences. Now, this is the first time in history that a president has attempted to remove a sitting Federal Reserve governor, and it could, of course, lead to a legal battle. But Lisa Cook, as we know, is a Biden appointee. She kept voting with Jerome Powell to keep rates high. She's denied any wrongdoing. Adam, the Democrats, of course, are furious about this, but I'm not sure about their attack lines. For example, Hakeem Jeffries had to make the point, uh, about her being fired about her race, putting out a statement highlighting that she's a Black woman. I mean, first of all, what do you make of Donald Trump's move to attempt to fire Lisa Cook and how the Democrats are responding?
Yeah. Well, look, I think it's a fairly deserved move. I think she should be fired. And frankly, I'm a little surprised at all the fuss. It's, it's pretty clear that that these aren't just allegations. There's actually proof that she claimed a house in Georgia as her primary residence, and she also claimed a house in, uh, Michigan as well, I believe, within 14 days of each other. So, she was clearly conscious of this. And of course, there are tax advantages for claiming a, a primary residence. That's, that's why she did it. But so, you know, so it's pretty clear that that at the very least she behaved extremely unethically. And so that, that I think is, is certainly cause for, for someone to be fired. Certainly it's true that that this has never happened before. But, but, but this sort of mortgage fraud has never happened before either. So, you know, so I think it's reasonable. I think, you know, the race card is, is, is just obviously something that the Democrats would pull out. And I noticed they haven't actually challenged the accusations because they, they realize that they're probably true. Um, so, look, I mean, it's certainly going to go to the courts. You know, it could well go to the Supreme Court, but, you know, from my very basic reading of the law, the president has the right to to remove these board members for cause. That's, that's the quote, "for cause," but it's not clear what, you know, what the cause means. I think, you know, the accusation of, of serious impropriety, that's, you know, that's a reasonable cause, uh, to me. So, let's just see what happens.
Absolutely. We'll see what happens. Indeed. Let's talk about the Democrats, though. It's been 7 months really since Trump's inauguration, and the Democrat brand just seems to be going from bad to worse. I mean, the party is facing a massive voter registration crisis, losing millions of voters. You know, you look at their attack lines again. They're against Trump's crime crackdown in Washington DC, which appears to be working. And I don't know if the Democrats have really learned from Hillary Clinton's "deplorables" moment or Biden's "garbage" moment last year, because here is failed vice presidential candidate Tim Waltz going on this unhinged rant about Republicans.
Think of how easy it would be to be a damn Republican. Oh, what, what should I wear today? This stupid freaking red hat. What should I say today? I don't know. Just make sure it's cruel. Who do we listen to? That guy. Oh, the felon in the White House. Yeah, listen to him, and that will be fine. Now he's talking about burning flags. He's going to have flag burning or whatever, 'cause he knows there's a hell of a lot of flags with his picture on it that are going to get burned.
Well, Adam, I, I just don't even know what to make of it. It's unbelievable. But what's your assessment?
Well, I think this sort of thing certainly helps Republicans and helps Donald Trump. I mean, if, you know, if, if what he says is, is true that Donald Trump is so, so bad, well, the Democrats must be worse, because more than 50% of American voters voted for Donald Trump. So, uh, so, look, I mean, I, you know, I just think it's hysterical. It's ridiculous. It's extremely condescending. Yeah. Uh, and, and it's, you know, if it's not reflecting the attitudes of most Americans, I mean, basically, at most, 10% of Americans probably agree with, uh, with what he just said. It's just extremely petulant. Uh, and, you know, the irony is that, well, I mean, it's not an irony, but the Democrats are at their lowest, really, for many, many years. I think their approval rating is something like 20% according to most polls, sorry, 28%. You know, it's fair to say that Donald Trump is not hugely popular. He never has been, but he's been popular enough to win. Uh, but Democrats are far, far less popular. So you may actually see in the midterms next year that Republicans do quite well.
Yeah, that'll be interesting. It's going to be hard for the Democrats to come back, and they're not doing themselves any favors. But let's look at the relationship between Australia and the United States. Our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese snapped over questions about when he will finally be able to get a meeting with Donald Trump. Let's take a look.
The defense ministers in the US this week taking meetings. Are you any closer to securing your own deal for President Donald Trump?
Look, we'll have meetings with, uh, President Trump at a number of events over the coming months. Uh, we're about to enter, uh, summit season, and I look forward to discussions, uh, continuing, uh, face to face, as they have been constructive, uh, when I've had discussions with President Trump up to now. It's a good thing. There are a range of ministers meeting with their, their counterparts. That's a good thing.
So you're confident of securing a meeting with President Trump, then?
I refer to my previous 5,324 answers to that same question.
Oo, bit of a sore point. Seems to have struck a nerve. Now, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Miles has managed to secure a last-minute meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsth, along with US Vice President JD Vance, on his wish, uh, trip rather to Washington. Although a planned press conference has been cancelled. How would you describe the relationship between America and the United States right now?
Well, look, it seems that it's frankly at its lowest, I would say, since the Whitlam government in the '70s. I think that's, that's, uh, fair enough to say. And of course, Whitlam, you know, famously met President Nixon, I believe it was. So, uh, you know, we still haven't even had a meeting yet, uh, kind of, um, with Albanese and Trump. And I think it is a sore point, and, you know, he feels vulnerable on this issue, and, you know, it's probably the case he is going to meet him at some point for 5 to 10 minutes over the next few months at one of these international forums, but, you know, that's, that's hardly a serious meeting. And just on, on the latest Miles visit to Washington, I must say it seemed very panicked. I mean, we didn't know about this trip until basically it was happening, so it seems like he was sent over there at the last minute to try to shore up the relationship. We don't know what was discussed, as you say, there's there's no press conference. I mean, it's all a bit embarrassing, really. And of course, the policies of our government here in Canberra have certainly not been helping the situation with the recognition of a Palestinian state. Of course, that's something that the US does not want to do. Uh, and of course, defense spending as well. We've, you know, we've categorically ruled out increased, uh, spending to three and a half percent of GDP, which the US has called for. Uh, so there are many reasons why you would think that the White House would not be well disposed to Canberra at the moment. So, yes, it is a sad state of affairs. You know, geopolitically, there are greater risks all the time, and we do depend on the US for our defense. We do, and I don't think this government is helping Australia with, uh, repairing that relationship at all.
But looking at the politics back home, Susan Lee is facing pressure from within the coalition to come up with a position on net zero and climate policy. And I think the internal arguments over net zero certainly isn't helping Susan Lee. She's not appearing as though she's a very strong leader at the moment.
Yeah, look, I think that's, that's certainly true. I mean, we've seen state division after state division basically say that they want to scrap net zero, and Susan Lee is in this, you know, rather awkward position of saying, you know, we're having this, this federal process. But look, it's been quite a few months since the election. I think, you know, the process, you know, kind of whatever it is, that's seems to have gone on for long enough, and I think she really needs an answer. And, you know, frankly, for what it's worth, I think I think that the coalition position should be a reflection of of those various state parties who want them to dump net zero, because the costs of this policy are just going to continue to mount and increase. And, and this argument that it's popular, well, I think to the extent it is popular, you know, it's a very shallow and it's a very naive popularity. I mean, I don't think most Australians understand the technological realities of this policy and the extraordinary economic costs, uh, that, that, that will be incurred on our manufacturing sectors, our export sectors, uh, you know, basically even changes to, you know, to day-to-day life, you know, what we can and can't eat, um, at some point in the future, too. I mean, the, the emissions targets that the government is canvassing for the next 10 years are very extreme. Yeah. And I don't think most people realize the consequences of those targets.
No. And Susan Lee, I think, needs to actually provide an opposition, an alternative for, for the Australian people when they do realize. Look, I want to ask you about inheritance tax. A news presenter in the UK has suggested hiking inheritance tax to 100% to incentivize work. Lewis Goodall has admitted that this is his most left-wing political view that he has. But, uh, let's just take a look.
What we've got at the moment is an aristocracy of wealth in this country. It's also true of the United States as well. So what I would do, what I would do, and I wouldn't be opposed to, by the way, I wouldn't be opposed to 100% inheritance tax, or maybe let's say 99%. You know, my, my rule might be that if you can put it in two P bags, then you can hand it over. That's fine. 99, 95%. I'm being provocative, but you see what I mean. I would not be against a far higher rate of inheritance tax than we have at the moment, which is 40% above a certain threshold.
Adam, can I get your reaction?
Well, look, I mean, you know, well, firstly, this is never going to happen. This is just a debate. And the reality of inheritance taxes in the US, in the UK, is, is that they raise very little money anyway, because, because the wealthy find ways to get around them. But, you know, certainly in the Australian context and with the Labor government, if we ever went, you know, down this route with even a small inheritance tax, the reality is it's just going to be more tax. We're not going to see the money used for lower taxes elsewhere, which you could make a theoretical argument is better. But, but, but that's not the reality. It's just going to be more tax, and then you'll get wealthier people move overseas, and then the tax base will shrink further. So certainly I'm not in favor of this. Uh, but in the current climate of, you know, of, of the cost of houses and, and growing inequality, I do understand why, why more and more people will, you know, will have these, these fairly superficial, you know, superficial ideas. Uh, but look, that's, you know, definitely not the way to go.
Absolutely not. Adam Kiteon, chief economist at the Institute of Public Affairs, thank you so much for your time. It was great to speak with you.
Thanks, Gabriella.
It's time for media meltdowns, and the leftist media are losing it over Donald Trump's DC crime crackdown and the suggestion that the National Guard will be brought to Chicago to cut down on crime. But let's rewind because leftist media outlets such as MSNBC hated the idea of Donald Trump's crime crackdown from the very start. They did not want it to succeed. Here's how Rachel Maddow reacted.
You think it's really about crime? You think it's really about being tough on crime?
Yes, we do. But her rant went on for several minutes until she landed on this conspiracy theory.
But he did send in the National Guard to Washington DC today because tough on crime. You think maybe it's not about crime? Here we go. Maybe it's not about defending the federal government from threats, right? Maybe it's not about that. Maybe it's not about crime. Maybe it's not about any other thing he might voice. Maybe it's what you can see with your own two eyes. Maybe it's that he really enjoys using US military force against American civilians on American soil and wants any excuse to do it anywhere he can.
There it is, the dictator theory. It's a theory that is pretty deranged and completely divorced from reality. I'm sure Rachel Maddow won't be reporting videos like the one where we are about to show you, but here is an example of what is going on in DC. National Guard soldiers are helping people. And DC is already seeing results in two weeks since the crackdown. Violent crime is down 32%. Carjackings are down 86%. Homicides are down 60%. Robberies are down 47%. Assaults with dangerous weapons are down 18%. Property crime down 16%, and there have been zero murders in two weeks. Yay. As Emily Jashinsky said on the show yesterday, that's a pretty low bar, but it's an improvement.
Now, reporters have been out in Chicago asking locals about what crime is really like there. And this CNN reporter, she was left shocked and essentially speechless that there are people who want the National Guard to be sent in.
My first reaction was that this is a good thing. I think that the governor, as well as, uh, the mayor should be on board with it, just so we can get a bit more security in Chicago the way that we need. The, the crime has dropped since 2024. Do you feel like the city feels safer?
No, not at all. No. No. Especially with the police being defunded.
She just shuts down this bizarre media narrative that there's not really a bad crime problem. Crime's going down. We, we shouldn't have to worry about it. But that hasn't stopped this panelist on CNN from having a meltdown about the crackdown. Here is Tiffany Cross.
Can I just say really quickly, Abby, because anytime that we play something from Stephen Miller, it would be journalistic integrity to point out that he is a white supremacist and he is the brainchild behind this policy. That's not my opinion. That's actual facts. And for him to purport lies from the Oval Office as a white supremacist, it should be pointed out.
I want to address what, and CNN also didn't push back when Democrat Jamie Raskin went on the network to make, well, a very excellent point that he's opposed to what Donald Trump is doing because crime is just part of our history. I mean, there are lots of Republican cities and towns struggling, uh, with crime. Everybody is across the country. Always, crime has always been part of, uh, our history. Yeah, it's always been there.
Joining us now is Michael Kroger. Michael, thank you for joining us. I mean, what's your reaction to the coverage we're getting on CNN and MSNBC to Donald Trump's crackdown?
Well, Washington's known worldwide as a very dangerous city, one of the most dangerous capital cities in the world. People don't want to go to Washington. When they go, they want to go in quickly and go out quickly. These Democrats are totally delusional, Gabriella. I mean, the first thing to know is anything Trump does, they'll oppose. So, you expect nutters like Rachel Maddow to to to say the things she's saying. Secondly, you got to remember amongst the American left and the left worldwide, there is sort of an anarchist element to the hard left which wants to break down institutions, the churches, um, the the schools, the, the law enforcement authorities, the police, the military, etc. The anarchists want a destruction and a desecration of American society. That, that's part of what the left wants to do. In order to have some kind of dramatic left-wing change, you've got to break down the current institutions of power. So, anyone that tries to come in and reinforce the police, reinforce law and order is immediately opposed by the hard left, and Maddow and these other very strange people these days are very much a part of that that thinking. But what Trump's done is, is also highlight the weakness of Democratic mayors and governors, and that embarrasses the Democratic party. But these people are delusional, and they, they are going to the extremes of American politics that, and, you know, to defend, to defend crime as part of American society. Well, Trump's trying to do something about it, and for that, no doubt, he'll get plaudits long term.
Yeah, defending crime. I don't know how that is a winning strategy. But moving on to even more serious topic, right here in Australia. Australia has finally severed ties with Iran after ASIO found it directed at least two serious anti-Semitic attacks in Australia and almost certainly more. It's been revealed by Sky News that the Albanese government was aware for several months that Iran may have been involved in anti-Semitic attacks on Australian soil. The government had been made aware about the possible Iran links to attacks against the Adas Israel synagogue in Melbourne and the Continental Kitchen in Sydney. Now, of course, during those months, the Albanese government still went ahead and decided that it would recognize a Palestinian state and, of course, labeled the protest that we saw on Sydney's Harbour Bridge as mostly peaceful. Michael, can I get your reaction to this?
Well, look, it's very disappointing that we now know that the government knew for months that Iran were probably involved in two and probably a lot more of these incidents in Australia of Jewish hatred. That's what they are. But they still went still went ahead and recognized, said they would recognize a Palestinian state. I mean, let's be frank, Iran are the center of evil in the modern world. We know through their proxies. We know what they've done in Australia. Now, there's no reason to think they haven't done this throughout the Western world, in Germany, in Italy, in England, in America, etc. I mean, this is France. Uh, this is what Iran has been doing. We now know that. And, you know, they've been funding these Hamas Palestinian savages in Gaza, and to think that there would be some element of reward by the by the Albanese government for the Palestinians and the leadership, given what's happened through Iran, is profoundly disappointing. And, you know, the, the diplomatic war that's been raging, um, here in Australia with, with Israel, where we seem to, the government here seems to spend all of its time attacking the government in Israel, not Hamas. But finally, they've come to bring Iran to heel. And thank goodness, it's about time. We know Iran, as I said, have operated through proxies, uh, over the years to, you know, bring about what they want, which is the destruction of the Jewish state. That's what their aim has been since the revolution. Thank goodness it is failing. And thank goodness the Albanese government have done something about it by expelling, uh, the ambassador. And, uh, you know, I welcome what they've done.
Yeah, the Iranian ambassador should have been shown the door a long time ago for his anti-Semitic social media posts. And although we of course all welcome what Albanese and his government has done by taking the action to finally expel him now, but as I said earlier, it comes rather after defending the Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest, which they described as as peaceful, and there were images of people supporting Iran's supreme leader. You know, the Albanese government has been accused of being very soft on anti-Semitism, soft on Iran, and they've now got a lot of catching up to do. What do you think? Um, I suppose where do they go from here?
Well, look, you're absolutely right. I mean, these demonstrations, I'm sure there are many well-meaning, if unfortunately misguided, people who attend these demonstrations who think that demonstrating will somehow bring about some kind of peace in the Middle East, uh, and a Palestinian state. And of course, as we know, as we know, the Palestinians have rejected a Palestinian state ever since 1948, at least on four significant occasions. They've been offered a Palestinian state and rejected it. So, what we've got is a history, you know, more than 70 years of Palestinian leaders refusing to have a state. Why? Because that involves the recognition of the state of Israel, which they don't want. And if you look at the demonstrations here in Australia, who knows whether Iran has been involved in funding some of the more extreme elements of these demonstrations? The one on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I mean, as you say, a big photograph of Khomeini being held up, we had an Islamic State flag, we had people with the Hamas triangles, we had chants about death to the IDF, etc. These are not peaceful demonstrations. These three administrations are filled with Jewish hatred, and it's about time they stopped. I don't think the Labor governments here have done nearly enough to stamp out this Jewish hatred, which has brought, you know, great criticism on Australia throughout the world, you know, because of these demonstrations, the anti-Semitism in Australia, all of which has happened on the Labor government's watch. They should have done a hell of a lot more, been much tougher on the Palestinian extremists in this country, and less critical of Israel. I mean, why, you know, it tells you everything when Western governments spend most of their time criticizing Israel when we see these demonstrations, no cause for these demonstrations, Hamas to surrender. No cause for Hamas, uh, to, um, to release the hostages. I mean, you know, the Jewish hatred in this country, which has been allowed to fester, will, will stay in our country forever, unfortunately.
Gab, Michael, I want to ask you about the UK. Kiama is under huge pressure to take a tougher line on immigration. Even his own MPs believe that his asylum shakeup is just not enough. The Prime Minister has been warned that he's going to be losing the next election unless the government gets a grip on the migration crisis. One backbencher called for a national emergency to shut down most asylum claims. What's your assessment of of of Kiama at the moment and the crisis that's uh facing the UK?
Well, there's a massive crisis. I was in London last week, um, and reading the English papers every day and talking to people in London. It is a crisis. Um, you have undocumented, mainly male, uh, immigrants coming from France. The French seem to be hopeless on this. The British are hopeless on this. You know, 30-odd thousand people now in hotels. You're seeing demonstrations outside hotels. The British people have lost, uh, confidence in the Starmer government. They've got a 13% approval rate, one, three. So when elections are held, if it was anytime soon, Starmer would be thrown out, and Farage would win. So Starmer's performance has been terrible. He, he doesn't know what to do. I might add that the British Conservative Party didn't, weren't much better. They were hopeless, too, which is why people have to go to Farage. The, the thing that Farage, the problem he's got is this. The next election in Britain, you know, can be held anytime up to the 29th of August 2029, almost four years to the day from today. That's a long time. And in that four-year period, no doubt Starmer will stumble on a way of trying to solve this crisis. The issue will disappear from the front pages to page 15. And the urgency that people feel about getting Starmer elected will dissipate over those four years. So I wouldn't say the government is finished. I wouldn't say Starmer is a shoe-in because that can be four years away, and as we know, you look at America, Trump has largely solved the border crisis with Mexico, but that has largely disappeared from the front pages of the American press because the crisis has been solved. So if Starmer does resolve this crisis, and he's got four years to do it, he still does have a chance of re-election on the basis that the issue disappears from the front pages, and that's the challenge for Farage. If it, if Starmer does resolve this, he may struggle to get elected in three to four years' time.
Michael Kroger, former president of the Victorian Liberal Party and Sky contributor, thank you so much for your time.
Pleasure. Thanks, Gabriella.
Joining us for all the royal news is Andrew Eornne, UK barrister and broadcaster and president of Octopus TV. Andrew, it is wonderful to see you again. Look, I wonder. Thank you. I wonder how Meghan Markle is feeling today because today was supposed to be her big day, the launch of her second season of "With Love, Megan" on Netflix. But this may have been overshadowed by, of course, the biggest entertainment news of the year. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged. Andrew, do we know how Megan has reacted?
Well, it is interesting, isn't it? After Taylor Swift was very swift indeed, uh, to basically trounce Megan's announcement of her second series. And after two years of dating, the couple shared the exciting news through a joint post on Instagram on Tuesday the 2nd of August. You saw that they had a massive antique sparkler, which I reckon was worth about $550,000, according to my sources. But Megan, together with, uh, um, with William and also Kate, they all put the like on the Taylor Swift, uh, Instagram post to say that, uh, they liked it, even though Megan felt a bit sort of upstaged. I think what's interesting though is the wonderful flowers, the garden where they got engaged. I think Megan missed a trick because she's obsessed with these flower sprinklers. She could have turned around and gorged the series and said, "Using the very Taylor Swift flowers that you're coming to your season very, very soon." And for $240,000, you can get them delivered. There you go.
Yes, you're right. Well, Megan has been busy promoting "With Love, Megan" season 2 on Netflix. And here's the teaser that she posted to Instagram.
What was that that you just titled? Flower sprinkles. I love them. Wow, that's the gayest I've seen in a long time.
There it is, the flower sprinkles. But Andrew, the teasers are supposed to be Gabriana. But the teasers are supposed to be the best bits. You know, the grabs that make you want to watch more and more. And that's what we get.
Well, it is interesting. That's Queer Eye's Tan France, in case people didn't know. And as he's look, what you, what you just added these flashals, I love them. Well, that's the gayest, and you bleeped out the word I've seen for a long time. Um, I've watched the series because I, I dedicate myself to your particular section on Sky. Thank you. You're doing the hard work for us. Oh, you know, I, the sacrifices I make for you. But I'll tell you what, those who loved the first series will love the second series. It's more of the same with, uh, Megan not even in her own home mixing with people, some of whom she's never met. And they do strange things like little wonderful recipes which don't basically make sense to any real people, um, as well as doing tie-dyed scarves and things like that. It's basically another "Megan Lammania," as what I would call it. The convention of female flounder. Um, and I was looking at the reviews they've had over here, and, and you've got basically The Telegraph. They say it's more tonedeafness from the Montecito Marie Antoinette. They gave it two stars out of five. Interesting. Harry remains conspicuously absent, uh, from the needy, if marginally less mad, second series of "With Love, Megan." The Independent, however, paper over here, was less generous. They gave it one star. And they said, "Watching this is like being gaslit by a multi-millionaire." And it's exactly that. The sort of stuff they're making, you wouldn't do at home. Uh, the poor mothers and fathers who are at home wanting to get the kids off to school are not going to spend hours and hours and hours chopping up little bits of fruit and sprinkling them with these flowers. So it is quite extraordinary on that sort of basis.
Yeah, it's interesting. Things. I believe she shares even more details about her relationship with Prince Harry, and she asked her royal wedding chef to teach her how to cook. So, in terms of being not very relatable, I, I mean, that says it all, doesn't it? What did you make of this part?
Well, I, I know Clara Smith. I've been to her wonderful restaurant in, in Notting Hill. She's known to be the best female chef in the world. She's a three Michelin star chef. And yes, this is what Megan is doing. She's getting all her mates and others who might help with the clickbait, uh, to come on to the show with her. And actually, Clara was very complimentary about Megan's cooking skills. She said she's quite good at filleting. So we have a look at that sort of stuff. They did a wonderful fish to go with the, uh, the flounder, um, and you have a look at that sort of side. But this is what it is. But, but some of the stuff they're making, the, the particular first episode, they make a homemade graham crackers moss with, uh, vanilla bean turmeric marshmallows.
I know how much you love those, Gabriella.
How did you know? Now, look, talk to us about Meghan Markle's lifestyle brand, as ever. It's been slammed as a mess by some royal fans. What's happened here?
Well, it is interesting. And I, as you know, I got the, uh, the spam jam from Deliverance over here, $14 a pot. It was then, and, uh, the reason it was spam, it wasn't allowed to be called jam. It didn't have enough sugar fruit ratio. So, so that sort of basis, it had to be called a spread. Well, she's done it again. And, and looking at the website, I pulled it up today. Uh, she's got some wonderful things like, uh, um, uh, we've got, uh, what have we got? We've got some marmalade. Here we go. We've got the Montecito, uh, the Napa Valley rosé, which will set you back 90 quid. Uh, you can have some marmalade for, for $9, or if you wanted it in a keepsake pot, you can get that for $14, and so on and so forth. So it is this whole sort of stuff again where she's got this range of stuff. If people want to do it, then certainly that, that's the way to have a look. Um, but it is, it's, it's that weird sort of thing that, remember last time it was raspberry and strawberry spreads, um, but because they contain sugar, they're labeled spreads rather than jam. Uh, so it's going to be interesting to see what she does with this. But if you want to get those flower sprinklers, and I know what I'm going to get you for your birthday, they will set you back $15. That's US dollars. But also, what she's got is this shortbread cookie mix. And, uh, again, they do great research for your wonderful program. I tried those as well. And actually, anybody who makes shortbread, it's pretty easy to make, but that you get the shortbread cookie mix together with the flour sprinkles, and that will set you back $14 as well. Plus, you have to sell half your house, obviously, for the postage around the world.
Of course. Of course. Especially here if you're in Sydney. Now, I want to talk to you about Harry and William because the upcoming 28th anniversary of Princess Diana's death could be causing some fresh tensions between, uh, William and Harry as the brothers feud over her legacy. According to the Daily Beast, Harry's Archwell Production Company is reportedly in talks to produce a documentary on Diana ahead of the 30th anniversary of her, of her death. Look, what do you make of this? I suppose if this was to go ahead, that would really, uh, impact any and delay, I suppose, any hopes of repairing this relationship.
Well, I, I think the whole situation is very sad, is the honest answer. I mean, it's Shakespearean family feud with streaming rights, isn't it? You, you have a look at that sort of side. They did collaborate previously on the 30th anniversary back in, uh, 2017, and they were looking at on the 20th anniversary, rather, on in 2017, and then basically at that stage, William was saying that was going to be the end of the matter. It's quite tragic. Both of the princes were very young when Diana died on the 31st of August 1997. And I'm always reminded, uh, I had, uh, her brother, uh, Charles Spencer, on, on the Andrew Eornne show, my show, which he's been on a couple of times, and he gave me a copy of his, I remember his, his tribute to Diana. I've got it here for you as well, so you can, you can see, um, which is always just reminding about how wonderful she was. And if you want, I can just, 10 seconds, I can open up. Yeah, the opening words, it's glorious. This is what was actually used in the service. He signed it as well, here, which is, which is wonderful. Um, but basically what he was saying, Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty, all over the world. She was the symbol of selfless humanity, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, very British girl whose interest transcended nationality. And that's the truth of the matter. And she would be devastated, absolutely devastated, to think that her sons are warring in this way. And I, for one, very much hope they can reconcile. Doing competing documentaries about Diana is not going to be the way to do it. They should collaborate. And you might remember they got together with the unveiling fairly recently of the statue of Diana. They didn't seem to speak to each other, but they certainly got together for that sort of side. But as I say, it's like a Shakespearean family feud with streaming rights.
You're right, Andrew Eornne. Thank you so much for all your hard work and bringing us so much here on Power Hour. It was wonderful to speak to you.
We'll speak to you again soon.
Looking forward to it. Thanks a lot, Gabriella.
That is Power Hour. Thank you for your company. We'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you subscribe to Sky News Australia on YouTube.