Inside Golden State Politics
Bill Boyarsky and Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, two experienced California political experts, argue about politics from Los Angeles to Sacramento to Washington.
Bill Boyarsky is former city editor of the Los Angeles Times and was also a columnist, bureau chief and political reporter for the newspaper. Previously, he reported on politics for the Associated Press in Sacramento.
He is the winner of three Pulitzer Prizes for team reporting.
Bill is the author of two biographies of Ronald Reagan, a biography of Jesse M. Unruh; Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times, and, with co-author Nancy Boyarsky, Backroom Politics.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe is a retired professor of the practice of public policy communication at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.
Sherry has been political analyst for KCAL-TV, NBC4 Los Angeles NBC's "Today" show and the BBC, where she was an analyst on American politics for programs in London, Scotland and Wales. In 2006, she was a nominee for the Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for NBC4’s news feature, “Decision 2005: A Voter’s Guide.
She has also appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Spectrum News 1 and Al Jazeera English and on radio shows in the United States and internationally.
Sherry has a Ph.D in government from Claremont Graduate University and a master's in political science from Rutgers, where she was a fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Inside Golden State Politics
From Monroe To Donroe: Manifest Destiny Meets Strongman Presidency
Journalist and author Pilar Marrero takes us on a political tour of her Venezuela homeland's stormy present and uncertain future.
welcome to another episode of Inside Golden State Politics. I'm Bill Bosky, former city editor and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. And with me is Nancy Bosky, our producer.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:And I am Sherry. Be political analyst and self-styled, Coming to you from studying up on the Monroe Doctrine. A foundational US foreign policy. It was set in motion over two centuries ago by President James Monroe, and it basically said, Hey, you, you European powers, keep your hands off the American continence. It's all the buzz these days after last weekend's. Stunning events Venezuela. I gotta figure out. What it actually has to do with Trump's grab and go approach to regime change. ushered in the media's fixation the Trump corollary to Monroe AKA, the Don Rowe. Doctrine Trump himself explained it, quote, dominance in the western hemisphere will never be questioned again. End quote, little maneuver by the Trump administration, totally not meet back and its heralded success, smothered public and media attention to the chaos. That is Washington government shutdowns, healthcare, affordability, crisis, et cetera, et cetera, at least for a little while. And Oh yeah, to the Epstein files. What? Epstein files over to you, bill.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Sherry, when I studied the Monroe Doctrine as a brilliant undergraduate at the University of California and my was international relations, our terrific, professor Seabury had no idea. I am sure back in those days that the Monroe Doctrine would become. Current events, but it is today. And we are lucky. We have as our guest, Pilar Morero, who is a journalist and an author and is a expert on Latino Affairs. She's written about it. She is, now assistant editor of American Community Media. And she'll be able to, give us the insight on Venezuela, where she was born and the situation here as it impacts the United States Pilar, Sherry.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Yeah. just start with an easy one. I mean, you were born. Venezuela, have friends and family in Venezuela. What was your first reaction to last weekend's events and what was their first reaction?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:hi. Yeah, I was born and raised and studied journalism there. I, I, it was weird because it was in the middle of the night in Spain where I live now, and I woke up for no reason whatsoever. I, I had a hard time sleeping that night, and I woke up and, and saw a call from a friend in Venezuela. I was surprised to see a call at that time'cause he knows, you know, I'm sleeping. So I started looking and seeing the videos of the explosions. A lot of people uploading videos from their phones, et cetera, everywhere. I was just stunned, you know, even though. know, the, the, the, the, ships and, and the, the Escalade of, of, of pressure around Venezuela and in the Caribbean and against the boats and all of that had been happening for, for a while. I think everybody was really stunned about. The presence of helicopters in, you know, the skies of Caracas and, and the bombs falling on military targets in different places, including Caracas and other places of the country. and we wonder, you know, what would happen? I know a lot of people are waiting for something to change there and there's plenty of them who support an, some kind of, of intervention. I personally didn't know what to expect, and the more I, I listened the, the weirder, the weirder it sounded because immediately, like after an hour of attacks, they said we got Maduro. It was like there was no resistance, nothing. You know, they got him, his wife and got outta there and, and then everyone was left stand, you know, wondering what's gonna happen now.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:And now.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Now still asking the same question. What's gonna happen now? Because a lot has happened since then, right?
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Where do we go from here? Like today, you know, where are we today? With not a new government, but with a continuation, of, of the old, regime in there, the American, Navy and, troops hovering around, the country. question about all the oil. So where are we today? Where do you think.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Today. so the vice president, Desi Rodriguez was sworn in, a lot of the exiles and, you know, the people from Venezuela thought, oh, great, we're gonna have. A change of government. And we're gonna have, you know, the, the person that we elected in 2024, which was, Mundo Gonzalez, who, was part of the opposition party of Maria Corina Macha, who's the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this, this past year. And, that's not what happened. of course people who know about this know that you can't change governments like that. the question is, why? Things happen this way, and there's a lot of controversy around whether or not. This woman Del Rodriguez, the vice President and others who are the power behind the throne, including the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior, and the Minister of the Defense in on the, treason against, against Maduro. They essentially, that they sold him out to the Americans, to stay in power. They thought they sold them out.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:A deal you
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah, I mean, a deal, everybody, everybody's agreeing that there was some kind of a deal and they're saying, look, you know, if you just take them all out, gonna be a of power. unfortunately, you know, every, all the opposition, you know, people who could take over, including the elected president, that was not allowed to take. to take power even though he won the elections in 2024. everybody's out of the country. Actually. The President Mundo Gonzalez is here in Spain. Where I am. so, okay, so there was some kind of agreement. What does that mean? Does that mean that Trump will allow this regime to continue, or is there gonna be something else? You know, because initially, instead of just saying, yeah, we want democracy for Venezuela, we wanna support the Democratic opposition, he came out saying, no, not really. Maria Corina mache, she's a nice lady, but you know, essentially she threw her under the bus. Which is a problem if you really wanna push the democratic chain. And he started talking about oil. I mean, you've heard everything he said, you know, and we're gonna run Venezuela, we're gonna pressure Venezuela and we're gonna get the oil and blah, blah, blah. The incoherence of Trump is pretty well known, you know, and, and if you really wanna know more or less what people are thinking in the administration, have to listen to Marco Rubio because he's the one that is. Sort of, he has to be careful because he doesn't wanna cross the boss. Right. But, but he's the, he's the one that is out what's next. Like today, he said there will be a three step process stabilization of the country. including, you know, continued, continued oil quarantine. So there's, that's pressure on the government because they won't be able to sell any oil then a face of recovery. And the first thing he mentioned was companies access to Venezuela, like the free enterprise access to Venezuela. And then he said, well, and then, you know, our agreements about amnesties and release of prison. And so it's like. Politic prison who are in the thousands are, are behind the corporate interest, you know,
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Yeah.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:and then, you know, eventually a transition. Who knows when that will pass. I, I guess Venezuelans are all just. Expect, you know, very expectant. And there, there was some and, and, and celebration initially from people to see Madura who's a real criminal, really brought, brought to justice. but you know, the question is when are we gonna have all these steps and how they're gonna happen, right? Because, you know, and we know that Trump is a person that it cannot be trusted. He lies. He says things that he doesn't mean. He promises things that he doesn't deliver. You know, he says he's gonna rebuild Venezuela, he's gonna make it, you know, great again, et cetera. he hasn't done that to the us so why should we expect he do it to Venezuela? But anyway, I'm happy that a little is out. Of course, this has generated all kinds of fallout and controversy and different factions opining everywhere. You know, everyone's saying, how is it possible that you, Venezuelans are happy? This is a illegal blah, blah, blah. It is illegal. Of course it's illegal. You know what they did?
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:can play to some of that here too, can't we?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:yeah.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Our, our regime isn't always very deeply within the, the lines of the law.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Correct, correct.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:that's interesting. That's interesting.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:international, you know, laws and rules and whatever you wanna say, but I'm just referring to the, you know,
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:the, it's, it was interesting to me was, one of the first steps of the new temporary or whatever regime was to send, those para-military people around,
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:yeah.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:To arrest, Courters to, stop the
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:What a concept.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:what's.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:They were, well, thoughts. They are thugs, the, the president and the minister of, of the interior, who is, who's, Vladimir Padrino, I'm sorry, the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino and the Minister of the Interior Jose are Fox. And that's what they know what to do. You know, that's what they know to do, to keep people in fear because they wanna keep control of the country. I don't know what they're thinking because in reality, if Trump wants, they have very limited leeway of what they can do. they're gonna try, they're gonna try to just continue. Control of the country and to establish that there's still, you know, the power there and they are to a certain extent. but I think the important thing is what the US does now and what the international community does. Now, the international community has done nothing except complaining. So far. Nobody, nobody has come, really out in defense of Maduro except. Certain left wing groups that are always like crying, you know, are always more interested in ideology than in actual human rights sometimes, you know, this happens a lot and and so you know, all these questions remains. This is the regime that is still in power, they are under pressure. The oil blockade.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Do you think?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:sell the oil, what are they gonna do?
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Do you think that, that these, paramilitary thugs as you call them, will, Do something to take control of those refineries in the redistribution, methods they have there. Well, in other words, do you think that, we'll eventually get into a position where United States troops will end up fighting, the para-military people who, are all over the.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:they call them. Yeah. the collectives are just, I mean, they, they are under the orders of who is the power behind the Tron. Who was the power behind the Tron? Madura as well. I don't know. I, I doubt it. The oil obviously is on under the control of the government. It's a nationalized oil industry.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:according to Trump right now.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Well, yes, exactly. He's, he's pushing them into giving up. The X million of barrels that they can't really go get out of there because it's, there's a blockade around. So Madura Rubio just said today that they were gonna take that, those billions, millions of barrels of oil that. don't, they're not allowing Venezuela to, to sell. They're gonna sell it themselves and they're gonna use the money for whatever is good for Venezuelas. Who knows? I don't know how that is. I don't know the accountability of that. I wanna see that. I wanna see that account and where the money goes, you know? but yeah, I mean, that's the pressure lever against these guys. Trump said, if Del Rodriguez doesn't do what he wants. He's going to do something to her or something, I don't know. of course it's, it's not fun to watch Donald Trump just go into a country and do these things. you talk to Venezuelans, and I'm one, you know, we have been suffering people. Our country has been suffering for 27 years under this. Regime and the number of political prisoners of killed, of re people, repressed people in prison, people exile. the, the destruction of the oil industry almost, they almost destroyed it, by not taking care of it and giving away oil to everyone, especially doing Chavez. The destruction of the economy, the destruction of institutions, the, the, the criminality of, of the top leaders. I, I find that there's very little discussion about that. It seems that everyone's talking about whether this is legal, whether this has a, a repercussion, the, other parts of the world. What happens is, is the US now gonna take on, you know, Greenland or whatever. let's, you know, let's not forget there's a, there's, there's a Venezuelan people out there that feels a different way.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:How are they? How are they, how are the, people being impacted right now? The.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:they're saying that there's, like, People are going out to the stores trying to buy whatever they can. There's, there's usually not a lot of money on people's hands anyway. so I don't know how much they can, they can do that, but they, they've been nervous, right? Because, they think, well, this can generate violence so far. Other than the collectives going out on the street and trying to repress people and just looking at their phones and seeing if they have celebrated or sent somebody, you know, a WhatsApp message saying, yay is out. other than that, there's been peace, relative peace in the country. So people haven't really come up to celebrate or anything there. People have celebrated in other places. You know, I went, I went out the other day. That day I went out to. Center Valencia and there were like 300 Venezuelans there. And then in the center of Madrid there were like 5,000 Venezuelans So, but not in the Ven, not in the country. in the country.'cause they're afraid, they still don't know what's going on. They still know the regime is in charge. So Venezuela's.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Hmm.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:I think what we have seen so far is indicative of one of the major. Failings, if you will, although there seems to be some success the Trump administration on various issues, which is this, okay, let's go get Venezuela, let's go get the leadership. And then as you said, you don't know what they're gonna do next. Neither do they. There's this instant gratification that I've seen in very many. Issues that have been dealt with. I mean, the tariffs is an excellent example. We're gonna do wonders with it. Well, nevermind. We're gonna take back tariffs on this and that because Americans screamed and yelled it. It appears to me, I guess what I'm saying is it appears to me that, venezuelans A are right in being nervous,
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:and B, I'm hearing as you say, little from Venezuelan to go up against it. And I'm hearing very little from the us I mean ordinary citizens from the US about it. And I think there's a reason for that. We're too busy being worried about our own situation
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah, too overwhelmed probably with everything else.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:It's overwhelming
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:That's why it's Venezuelans, the ones, the ones who are speaking out, you know, on social media you can see Venezuelans speaking out and people, some people you know. being supportive, others questioning, you know, this is bad for the world. There's those two can coexist by the way. knows being happy something happened, even though not what we wanted so far. And then, you know, yes, this is bad for the world, know? to have a Trump that is believes that he can just go in and go into countries and, and. And do whatever he wants.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Whatever he wants.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:We'll see, you know, we'll see. I mean, I found at least some hope in the words of Marco Rubio today. The problem is, I know Marco Rubio has the idea that this should lead to a democratic Venezuela, and he, of course, wants to see the same thing in Cuba. I don't think Trump cares, this at all. I, if he doesn't care about democracy in the US why should he care about democracy in Venezuela?
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:So, what?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:oil, the oil thing is not as easy as he makes it sound either. Well, this is an industry that needs a lot of rebuilding. It's very, it's very heavy oil and it, there needs to be, I mean, it's expensive to,
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Process.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:to process, to, to bring out, to process. And it will take a lot of investment to really put the industry to, to up, to par what it used to be in the past. I remember this piece by CNN the other day, where when CNN went and called. Leaders, all the CEOs of the oil companies, after Trump said, oh, I talked to all of them. I talked to them before and I talked to them after. And it so happened that he hadn't talked to any of, they said, no, we haven't talked to the president. We're not planning to go in there. The other thing that's worrisome for me is if you're gonna push a democratic change or a Democratic transition, have to support the Democratic opposition. There's no way, there's no other way of doing it. And the first thing he did essentially was to throw the opposition under the bus. I don't think that bodes well for the process,
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Right off. He sided with the. Previous government you might say the vice president now. President is someone Trump would approve of. Right.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I dunno.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Deal. Right.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I dunno if you would approve. I think the idea that they're pushing, through Ruby and others is that, you know, you need empower the people who know. What's going on, where the keys to everything is, and la la, la. But we're gonna pressure them into doing the right thing. Well, it's not gonna be that easy, especially if you don't act supportive of the opposition that is democratic, you know? That's my point. I don't know if he prefers it or not. I guess he would prefer someone, someone that would be pliable, I guess.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Similar.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:don't forget, there's also the personal aspect of this,
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yes. The noble.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:opposition
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:won
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Trump's Nobel Peace Prize.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:And sadly, she found it necessary to come out yesterday and say, oh, but I'll give it to him. He can have it. And the, no, the Noble. You can't give it to this. This is kind thing that she does.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:That's what I wanna know.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:She should have done it last year.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I know. I mean, she,
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:So somebody I was reading said if she had done it last year, just as she was getting it,
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:she dedicated it.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:He'd, he'd make her president for life. If she had just said I can't, I can't accept.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Oh my God.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah. It's, this is, you know, this is the absurdity of, what's going on. It's like, ridiculous.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:What's the reaction in Europe, to this? What's the reaction? Yeah.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Well, you know, in Europe, one of the few left wing governments is Spain. The president of Spain, the prime minister of Spain, came out and said, this is a problem. This is, you know, a bad president and da da da. But he offered Spain as an intermediary. so, you know, he took a position against it, which the Spanish exiles here didn't really like, the, the rest of Europe.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:I said he took a a position against it. What is it?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Against the, intervention, I guess the US going and extracting Maduro, what are we talking about, Sherry?
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Well, I wanted to be precise. You should know that having tried
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I know you always do that.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:USC.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah, so, and
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Before the
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:hasn't really said much, really, you know, I, I don't think there's been that much of a reaction here. People are, people here in Europe are busy reacting to what his designs are on Greenland, because that's Europe.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Yeah.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah. So
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:more real?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:more real for whom? For who
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Yeah.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Well, I mean, he,
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:As bizarre as it sounds.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:What's. Been forgotten in all of this is, being mentioned now, is that, we've had troops, and a base there for, you know, since 1940 something. And we have a, we have a big base there now. Trump doesn't need to conquer the country. He could just use this treaty, but, has this changed people's view of Trump? I mean, are they more frightened of him?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Here in Europe, I think just leadership in Europe has been just trying to placate him for the longest time, you know? And now with this thing, it's like, okay, this is a line he cannot cross. He cannot take a European territory. So we'll see. You know, that will be.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:what partially the Monroe Doctrine demanded all, so, you know, you keep your hands off the Americans and we won't go into yours. Well, they, we did
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:He has his own doctrine. Sherry, you know,
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:me.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:We've.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:his own doctrine.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Oh yeah. The Trump corollary. What he did was kind of erase that. We aren't going to get involved in anybody else's note. using that doctrine now to say that one of the reasons they're giving for, for. Extracting, the, the, the former president was, it's a matter of national security. It's, we
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah, which is silly.. I don't know. I mean, so people argue. Number
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:You,
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:but
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:you.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:know the drug thing is kind of iffy. Although, yes, a lot of cocaine goes through Venezuela from Colombia, but it mostly goes to Europe. there's not a lot of drugs going to the US from Venezuela at all. And Fentanyl is pro it's, it's certainly not one of'em. So it's B, much, I think, according to most experts. The oil reason, it's probably more interesting to Trump. But it's, but it's again, you know, like experts and others say, you know, it's not gonna be easy or as important. So why did he really do this? And why do they really do with it? That's, that's a question that still remains.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:And that's a question that's very hard to answer because you're dealing with a erratic person who goes from one thing to another on any given day.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I can, I can see Rubio desperately trying to, you know,
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:that.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:get him to think straight about this and not succeeding
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:you brought up Rubio a couple of times. Former Senator, presidential candidate, he ran against Trump. Now Secretary of State. But, also, the, the son of a Cuban exile family who left Cuba just before Casper. And, who's been active, I assume, in the, movement to overthrow that regime. What do you think the importance of Rubio is in all of this to, to one, to, to Venezuela? Do you think it'll improve things for Venezuela and two. For Cuba, do you think that we will go into Cuba under his guidance? Is he.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I think all the people that I talk to, my fellow of Venezuelans and there's plenty of Venezuelans who aren't who don't trust them. But there's still expect, there's still an expectation that this will can be turned into something good for Venezuela. Because we have no choice other than hope. You know? And they say, look, we don't trust Trump rule. At least we know that course his interest is political. He sees himself as a future presidential candidate supported by all these Venezuelans and Cubans and all other Latinos. I think he actually cares a bit about the Democratic transition. I think he's probably the only one who does.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Hmm.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I mean, of course there's people in Congress who do too, cuba essentially is sustained by Venezuela's Oil and other resources. If they can't get that, it's gonna be very, a very hard time for the Cuban people. But I don't know if that's gonna'em fall, because they survived so many other. Things like the fall of the Soviet Union and, and other, issues that we thought were gonna, get the regime out and didn't. They say they're not gonna go into Cuba, but, that will just fall by itself. But I don't, I don't know if that's true.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Well, let's take a look at Bill's question. With regard to domestic politics. Politics in the United States and the 2028 presidential election friend of the show, bill Schneider argues that what is going on now really has strengthened. Rubio's possible can not only is Kennedy, but ens, the possibility that he will be Republican nominee. And interestingly, Pilar, he talks about one of the things that may make that happen is the fact Latinos, that Venezuelas, that expats who are now in the United States going to be so happy.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:With what he's done and it, I emphasize he, I don't know why I don't think Trump would be very comfortable with that, that, it really has raised his stock the presidential arena. Are you seeing that? Are you feeling that with your opinion?
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Yeah. Oh yeah. I think so. Yeah. If, if he manages to. Make this into a democratic transition, which is a big, if
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Mm-hmm.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:we hope that will happen. Yes, that will certainly raise his standing and possibilities that, the people around Trump or you know, other potential candidates like or others will take that. But,'cause he is a Latino after all, and all these people are really racist and they just want a white guy there. But, but he is a white Latino, so I guess he can, he's passing, he's white passing.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Well look at, this has been a great discussion. I'm so glad you could, join Sherry and me for this,
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:you
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:very
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:much, and your God dog. Thanks you very much.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:Oh, poor baby.
squadcaster-6ecf_3_01-07-2026_120510:Well, you'll see him soon.
pilar-marrero_3_01-07-2026_210517:I miss you guys. Yeah, I'll see you soon.
host-4ha0_3_01-07-2026_120511:Well, thank you a lot and, we'll be talking to you again on this.