S15 EP206: Hour 2 - Why Texas Republicans Got Wiped Out, and Trump’s Plan to Starve Iran and Cuba Without a War

On Open Line Friday, Erick explains why President Trump is done negotiating with Iran and is betting on economic pressure to collapse the regime, from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling CNBC the death threats prove the squeeze is working to Marco Rubio tightening the oil screws on Cuba. Then Erick delivers a blistering monologue on candidate quality, arguing that Ken Paxton, Beau French, mid-decade redistricting, and a purity-test Republican Party handed Texas and Georgia to the Democrats, and that Christian voters will not be shamed into voting for bad candidates.

• Iran and the blockade: Trump tells Hugh Hewitt the regime is collapsing, Scott Bessent moves to a military base after Iranian death threats and blasts the Wall Street Journal for publishing his house, and JD Vance gets reassigned to fraud after his memorandum of understanding soured with Republicans
• JD Vance and 2028: Senator John Kennedy on CNN, Mark Halperin's room of 150 Dallas Republicans with only three hands for Vance, and why vice presidents who become the nominee so often lose
• Cuba and the Houthis: Marco Rubio forces the Cuban regime to buy American oil out of its own military fund, Trump floats limited military force, Russia arms the Houthis, and an Israeli task force helps Saudi Arabia shoot down drones aimed at Mecca
• Candidate quality and the Texas wipeout: Ken Paxton, Beau French, Mike Collins, and Vivek Ramaswamy's Amy Acton ad, how George W. Bush and Karl Rove turned Texas red, and why Johnny Isakson-style Republicans kept winning Georgia
• Erick's "I told you so" on redistricting: mid-decade redistricting lit a fire under Black voters, plus callers named Mark on the Cuba embargo and why Minnesota Democrats never hold their own accountable