Transcript of Democrat Hallie Schoffner Leads in Arkansas Senate Race

Donald Trump getting a rude awakening in ruby red Arkansas before the midterms where he is in full collapse mode, folks. His approval right now, net negative 14 in Arkansas heading into the midterms. And Donald Trump's MAGA stooges not faring much better in the latest Hendrix College poll for Arkansas. The Democratic candidate, Haley Schaffner, leads 47% to 44%, a 3-point lead for a Democratic Senate candidate in what was once believed to be ruby red Arkansas. And when you look at the crosstabs here, they tell quite the story. Amongst independents, Haley Schaffner leads 59% to 29%. When you look at Trump's overall approval, dismal. Trump's approval on the economy, dismal. Trump's approval on the Iran war dismal. This also comes at the same time there was a Reuters/Ipsos poll showing just 13% of Americans strongly approve of Trump. That's it, just 13% nationwide. So for all those people saying, you know, what's going on, America? Only 13% of all people in the United States strongly approve. I don't still know who those 13.5% are. The Arkansas Times reports, Schaffner takes leaf against Cotton. Yes, you read that right. And then when you get into some of the analysis that's being done here in this latest Hendricks poll, here's how people describe Tom Cotton, the MAGA Republican Senate stooge: aloof, out of touch, rarely spends time in the state.

And as this Arkansas Times article says, it's starting to add up for this MAGA Republican stooge, 2-term senator.

cotton.

I want to bring in Haley Schaffner right now, the Democratic candidate for that United States Senate seat, 6th generation farmer. You know the state, your family's grown up in the state, you're with the people of the state. You know, oftentimes I do these reports and people say, Ben, you know, don't give us this hopium. Arkansas is ruby red. Don't do the Trump's collapsing in Arkansas story and get our hopes up. But Haley, there's a lot of momentum that people really need to be paying attention to around your campaign. Can you talk about it?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the poll really just confirms what we already knew. It actually mirrored an independent poll— not an independent poll, it mirrored a poll that we did internally 2 weeks ago. And it also mirrors what we're seeing on the ground, which is Arkansans are very independent-minded. In fact, most of our voters aren't even registered with a party. And 15 years ago, we elected a Democrat as governor and he won all 75 counties. When I'm traveling around the state and I'm talking to folks who are either Republican or Democrat, in fact, a lot of them say, you know what, you cut me open and I'm purple. You don't have to change your party to want to change your senator. We're all looking at the past 12 years of Tom Cotton and realizing that Washington is absolutely not working for us.

6th generation farmer. Seems that every day the Trump regime does something new to attack farmers. Announces this week the new policy is central planning communism, but for the benefit of mystery foreign countries. We're going to be bringing in mystery foreign frozen meat and beef in here. We're not going to tell you really where it's from, whether it'll have the health checks or go through the processes here that our ranchers go through. But what Trump does want our ranchers to know here as well is that they'll be undercut by 25% by the foreign beef. And then you go across the board. I mean, I know, you know, your family and your background, soybean farmers. I mean, Donald Trump, you know, blew up that market, then wanted a participation trophy that China buys half the soybeans it did, you know, previously. Talk to us about, you know, what you're seeing on the ground there.

I mean, right now, Arkansas, we lead the nation in farm bankruptcies and farmer suicides, and we've lost 25% of the family farms in Arkansas in the last 18 months. I closed my operation last year. I mean, I really wouldn't be here today if Tom Cotton hadn't taken my job by voting against the farm bill twice. We have been kicking the can down the road on a farm bill that has contributed to the farm crisis. Of course, the trade war with China, and I will actually say the trade war with China in 2018 really initiated this downhill slide that farmers have been on. And it really just ramped up last year with the second trade war. Because you're right, our product, which is soybeans, that's, that's the main product in Arkansas. We're just sitting in bins across the state unsold. Farmers aren't making any money. They can't pay off their operating loans. The war in Iran has jacked up diesel prices for them. And it's not just farmers. I mean, let's be clear, Arkansas, we're the hungriest state in the country. We're the second sickest and the fourth poorest. I mean, I'm not just afraid I'm a farmer and a small business owner.

I'm also a wife, the mom of a 7-year-old boy. I caregive for a parent who has dementia. These are all factors that folks in Arkansas are really identifying with because we're struggling in pretty much every aspect of our lives.

You know, but when you see Trump and Cotton, what they just repeat is, you love us, don't you? We love you. You know, and we— no one, no one's done more ever in the history. We love you. We love you. We love you. You know, and They're relying on that. You know, you love us, don't you? You know, and, you know, it does seem like with every Ponzi scheme at some point when you promise everything and you lie about it and they've— I mean, you can see, and I think the farmers in Arkansas, just people in Arkansas, you can see how this fire hose of lies works from the Trump regime. There's no shame. If you or I or most people in Arkansas tell a lie, even a small lie, you feel a sense of like guilt. Like, I would have— Even if it's a little tiny fib, he lies relent every word, utterance, sound, syllabus. So it's easy for him to say, I'm going to promise you this. You're going to get so rich. It's right around the corner. I promise you. I promise you. But here we are, and it didn't happen. And the people— not only did it not happen, but he's destroyed the people's lives.

And so it feels like with every Ponzi scheme, eventually someone says, all right, you've said all that. You've told me we were going to be rich. Now pay up. What am I going to get? And we seem to be at that moment where people are like, okay, well, now we're here and now my family's lives— but what are you going to do?

I mean, eventually the house of cards collapses, right? And folks in Arkansas, I mean, we're pulling out our pockets and there's nothing in them. And we all know the grocery store doesn't have a Democrat price and a Republican price. When you're all struggling, you're all struggling. And I know a lot of folks across Arkansas who have voted Republican in the last 3 elections, who did vote for the president in the last 3 elections. And they're really feeling betrayed. They feel like they were sold a bill of goods that then was not delivered on, especially farmers. I mean, I've been to farms all over the state and they really feel like they've been used as the tip of the spear in the war in Iran and in this trade war with China and with the rest of the world, because we do sell a lot of agricultural products to Canada and Mexico and Europe. And it seems like Everybody's just mad at us. And so they're buying their agricultural products somewhere else. Arkansans are ready for a change. And it doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican if you're suffering. And I argue, I'm not asking anybody to become a Democrat.

I'm just asking, can't we do a heck of a lot better than Tom Cotton?

You know, I think one of the most offensive aspects in this catastrophic war, when Donald Trump said Iran's going to be the one doing the bailout. Do you remember when he said that? He said farmers, Iran's going to be purchasing all of your soybeans. And so we've got, we've got it saved. It's coming from Iran right now. And people are like, huh, what, what are you saying right now? Um, so you've got that. Tell us about your background though. So people know who you are. Um, I think people would love to hear from you.

I mean, um, I'm a 6th generation farmer. Most people know that about me. Um, I am a wife. I'm the mother of a little 7-year-old boy who's about to be 8. Um, my parents are both seniors. They're getting older. My dad has dementia. One of the things I talk about a lot is that this story of the farm closing last year, which was a really difficult thing for my family to go through, that's the story of Arkansas right now. I mean, we are doing everything right. We're working harder than ever and we're still not making it. And it's not because we have failed. It's because we live in a system rigged against us. And it's rigged by and for politicians like Tom Cotton. to further their own national political ambitions, the interests of their biggest donors, and Washington insiders. Today, I went on a conservative talk radio show, and I argued that the issue we have today is that our politicians have gone to Washington, they have stayed too long, and they've pulled the ladder up behind them, and they don't come home. Tom Cotton is probably the worst about this. He does not live in Arkansas.

He lives in Virginia. He does not come home. He has no constituent services program to speak of, and he has voted against our interest every chance he got, including voting against the Farm Bill twice.

You know, and then you see him wrapping his arm around Donald Trump over golden ballrooms and gilded bronze statues and supporting Donald Trump. 21,000 stock trades in 2025, 1,000 stock trades in June alone, Donald Trump running around with Natalie hiding in catering containers, you know, in the NATO summit, bragging about how rich he is. You know, I think there's also the contrast of here's how people in Arkansas are doing. And here's what they're doing. And they're just flaunting it. Right? Like the Cottons and the Trumps, they're like letting the people of Arkansas know, oh, you're struggling. We're going to just do gold everywhere with your taxpayer money. Also, while we cover up the Epstein files, you know, while we're at it, which we promised we were going to release. So they're just doing it.

And people are tired. I mean, my God, we are sick and tired of being sick and tired and we are exhausted. Let me tell you, whether I'm in a farm shop, a diner, or a Democratic County Party meeting, people are tired of the rhetoric and the political theater. They're tired of the left and right and the liberal and conservative. We're real people. We have real problems. And we're crying out for someone who believes that the purpose of government is to solve problems, create progress, and not just posture around for the next election.

So we have about 7 million subscribers here on the Midas Touch YouTube channel. Where can people learn more about your campaign? And what's your message to everybody watching this? What do you want them to take away?

My website is hallieschoffner.com. You can read all about the campaign and how to donate, how to get involved. I think the message is that Arkansas is ready for change. We are a unique state. We are uniquely positioned in the South with a candidate like me who understands what life is like to take back a Senate seat in— I know we say ruby red Arkansas, but really things are changing. And it's like I say all the time, and it's like the feedback I'm getting, you do not have to change your party to want a better senator for Arkansas.

Haley Schaftner, thanks for joining us. We're going to keep on following the campaign. Thanks for all you do.

Thanks.

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