Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - Episode 124 LIVE: New Leadership In Washington – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

Mike Johnson is the new House Speaker and Matt Gaetz is off to a hot start in his campaign to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. The firebrand congressman from Florida joins me to talk about his campaign and what it means for the future of the Republican Party and the country. We also discuss the impact of the speaker contest and whether or not it was a good or bad thing for the party. And we talk about who should be the next speaker and who should replace Mike Johnson as Speaker. And, of course, we have our firebrand of the week, Firebrand, Charlie Kirk, who asks the devastating question, "Who's the Alternative?" who could be the alternative? and much, much more! Firebrand is a production of the Firebrand Podcast Network. New episodes drop weekly on Wednesdays. Subscribe to Firebrand on iTunes and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms. Thanks for listening and share the podcast with your fellow Firebrand fans! Timestamps: 5:00 - Who's the Better Speaker? 6:30 - Who s the Alternative? 7:15 - Who will be the Next Speaker 8:20 - What's the Real Replacement? 9:40 - Is Mike Johnson the Next? 11:00 - Who is the New Speaker of The House of Republicanism? 16:00- Who will replace Mike J. Johnson? 17:30 18:20- Who's a better choice? 19:30- What will the new Speaker of House of the most likely to lead the House? 21:40- What are the best person to lead us in 2020? 22: Is there a better chance of leading us in the next election? 25:00 Is there any other possible alternative to Mike Johnson? 26:00 Can anyone other than McCarthy? 27:00 -- Who's going to be a better than Mike Johnson better than Jody Arrington? 26:50 - Can anyone else? 29: Who will lead us lead us better than Mr. Gaetz? 31: What are our country better than him? 32: Who's our best chance? 35:10 - Is there an alternative to Mr. McIlving the better than Ms. Johnson, or Mr. Jones? 36:30 -- Is he a better person? 37:40 -- What s the best guy?

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:04:57.000 You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay?

00:05:00.000 Because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.

00:05:05.000 We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight. 1.00

00:05:10.000 I want to thank you, Matt Gaetz, for holding the line.

00:05:14.000 Matt Gaetz is a courageous man.

00:05:16.000 If we had hundreds of Matt Gaetz in DC, the country turns around.

00:05:21.000 It's that simple.

00:05:22.000 He's so tough, he's so strong, he's smart, and he loves this country.

00:05:26.000 Matt Gaetz.

00:05:28.000 It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.

00:05:33.000 We will save America.

00:05:35.000 It's choose your fighter time.

00:05:37.000 Now the attention is drawn to Capitol Hill and the fact that the Republicans are so incapable of governing, they lost a speaker.

00:05:55.000 And what, you know, hasn't really happened before in this in this way.

00:05:58.000 Your reaction tonight?

00:05:59.000 And the most devastating question for Matt Gaetz today, just as it was eight months ago, is, okay, what's the alternative?

00:06:07.000 And he doesn't seem to be able to give you an alternative.

00:06:10.000 And the alternatives he offers are people that don't want to have anything to do with it.

00:06:14.000 I do think that, you know, we have known we were going to have a calamity since the day Speaker McCarthy got elected speaker after 15 rounds.

00:06:25.000 We knew it was going to eventually come to this.

00:06:27.000 It was going to come to a government shutdown.

00:06:29.000 The criticism I would have of Kevin McCarthy is that he hasn't gone on ahead from the beginning and laid the groundwork to make this catastrophe we're seeing today about something.

00:06:39.000 Say a government shutdown because Democrats refuse to enforce the border or a government shutdown because Democrats refuse to stop inflationary spending, all of which American people would understand.

00:06:51.000 So it's kind of a marketing thing that I would criticize Kevin McCarthy for.

00:06:56.000 But honestly, when you look at what happened today, the same Criticism you could level against Matt Gaetz because nobody knows what this is about.

00:07:04.000 I think that a lot of the underlying issues are important, and I agree with Matt Gaetz about it, but you can't beat something with nothing.

00:07:13.000 And right now, Matt Gaetz has nothing.

00:07:18.000 We are live.

00:07:19.000 Welcome back to Firebrand.

00:07:20.000 I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz, and I don't have nothing, Charlie Hurt.

00:07:23.000 I have Mike Johnson as the Speaker of the House, someone who everyone I think has tremendous respect for.

00:07:29.000 He gave a terrific address as House Speaker yesterday.

00:07:33.000 Make sure to watch yesterday's episode if you want to learn more about Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, and the devastating question for Matt Gaetz, according to Charlie Kirk, who's the alternative?

00:07:45.000 Can anyone other than McCarthy lead the House of Representatives?

00:07:48.000 I think Mike Johnson is going to lead us quite well.

00:07:51.000 And for the Laura Ingraham argument that we are incapable...

00:07:58.000 Just see how much we can do under strong leadership and good leadership.

00:08:03.000 I want to thank everyone for joining us.

00:08:05.000 The live stream is fired up.

00:08:07.000 Folks are watching from New Jersey, Arizona, Mississippi, Florida, South Dakota, South Carolina.

00:08:12.000 Jeff on Facebook says, Hannity and Levin owe Matt Gaetz an apology.

00:08:18.000 I love Hannity Levin.

00:08:20.000 Maybe we'll send him the apology form that was on yesterday's program, but I think it's safe to say that the devastating question that Charlie Kirk posed about who could be the alternative presupposes, I think, a real pessimism regarding the talents and skill stacks that exist within the Republican Conference.

00:08:40.000 We've got great people.

00:08:41.000 Mike Johnson's one of them.

00:08:42.000 Jody Arrington's one of them.

00:08:44.000 As a matter of fact, when we chatted about The real heroism in this contest from Kevin Hearn and Mark Green, we saw people that were willing to lead, but they also understood that part of leadership is working toward a team dynamic that can be prosperous and successful for the House of Representatives and ultimately the country.

00:09:05.000 The Daily Beast has some thoughts on the speaker contest.

00:09:08.000 They're not usually my biggest fans, but we get this headline.

00:09:13.000 Mike Johnson got elected, but Matt Gaetz is the big winner of the GOP's House Speaker battle.

00:09:19.000 And the piece says, The elevation of MAGA Mike...

00:09:30.000 was the result of concessions Gates demanded from McCarthy way back in January.

00:09:35.000 As I observed at that time, here's the thing about confrontational politics.

00:09:41.000 It Never ends.

00:09:44.000 Fights are inherently good because every fight results in you gaining turf.

00:09:49.000 As such, you must always be picking fights.

00:09:52.000 Unlike normies who just want peace and comity, Gates understands that conflict is necessary to advance his MAGA worldview.

00:10:01.000 It took 11 months to complete the project, but Gates was finally able to upgrade Republican House leadership.

00:10:10.000 Think of it this way.

00:10:11.000 When Trump was first elected, he was forced to work with Republicans who had previously been hostile to him and did not share his worldview.

00:10:18.000 Then, a second wave included converts, who, though thoroughly co-opted by Trump, had started off in the establishment lane.

00:10:28.000 We are now entering into third-wave Trumpism, the elevation of true believers, the rise of the first MAGA speaker.

00:10:40.000 And if we have learned anything, it is that this is just the beginning.

00:10:43.000 Gates has been rewarded, and his theory regarding how to change the GOP in America has been confirmed.

00:10:51.000 So, there's a little bit here I want to unpack.

00:10:55.000 It is totally correct that we are in the third wave of Trumpism and that that is elevating true believers.

00:11:02.000 I think that is essential to ensure that we take the vision of Trumpism and execute it better than ever before.

00:11:10.000 And if we do that, we'll have better trade deals, we'll have a secure border, we'll have an economy that lifts people up who are willing to work hard.

00:11:17.000 And I hope we can layer onto that more fiscal responsibility, single subject spending bills, balanced budgets, and a renewed sense that the way to advance our country is not just to keep printing more money and avoid the tough decisions that we have to make about how it is spent, Because if we do not, these rising interest rates will continue to be the norm.

00:11:38.000 And buying a home, even buying a car, will be out of reach for far too many Americans.

00:11:43.000 So we are indeed in that third wave of Trumpism.

00:11:45.000 And the other thing I think the Daily Beast piece gets right is that I understand that the only way we are going to be able to achieve our goals It's through conflict at times.

00:11:57.000 I have seen in Washington, D.C. that you don't get anything without a fight.

00:12:01.000 The establishment does not cede power.

00:12:04.000 The lobbyists and special interests that donate millions of dollars to congressional campaigns expect something in return for that money.

00:12:11.000 And what we've all gotten in return is a diminished America.

00:12:14.000 Decline for the greatest nation on earth.

00:12:17.000 And so, yes, I love this country enough to fight for her.

00:12:21.000 And if you're viewing this program, I certainly hope that you do too.

00:12:24.000 One thing you could do is subscribe.

00:12:27.000 Make sure you share our messages so that more people get the information.

00:12:30.000 And make sure you've got notifications turned on on this podcast so that we can continue to give you the clear evidence of Washington's failures and then a plan to make it better.

00:12:42.000 And we saw a lot of that plan in the calendar put out by House Speaker Mike Johnson to be able to deal with these challenges.

00:12:48.000 But it's not just the Daily Beast reacting to our new House Speaker.

00:12:52.000 We seem to have conflicting reactions from the White House and the Biden-Harris campaign.

00:13:00.000 So I've got the statements up on the screen now, but first let's start with the White House statement.

00:13:06.000 Just consider the tone here.

00:13:08.000 Statement from President Biden on the election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House.

00:13:11.000 Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his election.

00:13:15.000 As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people.

00:13:22.000 I restated my willingness to continue working across the aisle after Republicans won the majority in the House last year.

00:13:28.000 We need to move swiftly to address national security needs and avoid a shutdown in 22 days.

00:13:34.000 Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be a mutual effort to find common ground whenever we can.

00:13:41.000 How sweet and conciliatory.

00:13:44.000 But then we get, on the heels of that, a statement from the Biden-Harris campaign.

00:13:48.000 Biden-Harris 2024 statement on new MAGA speaker.

00:13:53.000 In the Biden-Harris announcement, Mike Johnson doesn't even get his name.

00:13:57.000 He's just MAGA speaker.

00:14:00.000 MAGA Mike Johnson's ascension to the speakership cements the extreme MAGA takeover of the House Republican Conference.

00:14:07.000 Now Donald Trump has his loyal foot soldier to ban abortion nationwide, lead efforts to deny free and fair election results, gut Social Security and Medicare, and advance the extreme MAGA agenda at the expense of middle-class families.

00:14:21.000 Well, they seem triggered at the campaign.

00:14:26.000 They seem eager to work together at the White House.

00:14:28.000 Who knows who's calling the shots anymore in Biden world?

00:14:31.000 The one thing I'm certain of, it is not Joe Biden.

00:14:35.000 He is not the one calling the shots or even approving these statements.

00:14:38.000 And so when you don't have that center point of vision, because you're just dealing with like the weekend at Bernie's White House right now, This is the manifestation.

00:14:48.000 This is the fruit of all of that.

00:14:52.000 While the White House and the Biden campaign are still trying to figure out how they feel about all of this, one person...

00:14:58.000 Who definitely knows how he feels is Missouri Congressman Jason Smith.

00:15:03.000 Now, to set this up, Congressman Jason Smith is a Republican, though when you hear what he has to say, he's not going to sound like one at times.

00:15:11.000 And he has been one of the most loyal lapdogs for former Speaker McCarthy and for the lobbyists and special interests on K Street.

00:15:20.000 See, Jason Smith has achieved power in Washington in a lot of the way most people do.

00:15:26.000 You get money from the lobbyists and special interests, you in turn give that money to the party bosses for their political funds, and then they allow you to move up.

00:15:34.000 And no question Jason Smith has one of the most prime posts in the House of Representatives chairing the Ways and Means Committee, and they determine taxation.

00:15:44.000 Well, You might say they determine those things, but in reality, Jason Smith moved a bill out of his committee that can never even get the votes and probably won't even make it to the floor.

00:15:54.000 But he was asked about the remarks I made on War Room, and he was quite disturbed.

00:16:02.000 Take a listen.

00:16:05.000 So Gates claims yesterday on Steve Bannon's show that he watched Kevin McCarthy repeatedly try to torpedo the individual candidates, including Scalise and Jim Jordan.

00:16:17.000 What's your take on that, how that went down?

00:16:20.000 Let me just tell you, if Matt Gaetz's lips are moving, it's only lies that's coming out of it.

00:16:25.000 That gentleman only loves to propel himself and propaganda.

00:16:30.000 He sounds like a Democrat.

00:16:31.000 It's exactly what Democrats say.

00:16:33.000 They accuse Donald Trump of everything that they're doing.

00:16:36.000 Matt Gaetz is accusing Kevin McCarthy for everything that he's doing.

00:16:40.000 The blood is on his hands.

00:16:42.000 For 22 wasted days for him to join with 100% of the Democrat Party to remove the Speaker of the House.

00:16:50.000 He's all about himself.

00:16:51.000 He's not about conservatism.

00:16:54.000 He's not about Republicans.

00:16:55.000 He's about himself.

00:16:57.000 Interesting.

00:16:58.000 I mean, my perception is, why would the House vote as they did to elect Mike Johnson, who's clearly got...

00:17:10.000 I mean, he's like Jim Jordan, but they wouldn't elect Jim Jordan.

00:17:15.000 Why?

00:17:16.000 Because there was several holdouts from the Scalise world that was upset that Scalise didn't have the votes because a lot of the Freedom Caucus held out on Steve Scalise.

00:17:29.000 So it was all about individuals.

00:17:32.000 You had the chair of the Appropriations Committee.

00:17:36.000 Stand up and vote against Jim Jordan.

00:17:38.000 Because she didn't like how Jim Jordan wanted to cut spending.

00:17:43.000 And she was a main Scalise ally.

00:17:46.000 So for Matt Gaetz to say that kind of stuff, it's simply not true.

00:17:51.000 I know the dynamics of the 20 people that voted for The 25 that voted against Tom Emmer and the 22 that voted against Jim Jordan.

00:18:02.000 They were not the same people.

00:18:04.000 They were all different people and it was for different reasons. 1.00

00:18:06.000 So Matt Gaetz is a foolish liar. 1.00

00:18:10.000 A foolish liar. 1.00

00:18:12.000 We are back live. 1.00

00:18:14.000 Jason Smith says if my lips are moving I'm lying.

00:18:17.000 Well you know what?

00:18:19.000 If Jason Smith is breathing he is living a lie.

00:18:25.000 There might not be another member of Congress who lives a lie every day more than Jason Smith.

00:18:31.000 And Jason Smith knows exactly what I'm talking about.

00:18:34.000 And by the way, so does almost every member of the House Republican Caucus.

00:18:39.000 So there's a good deal of projection in Jason Smith calling me a liar when it's Jason Smith who literally has to live a lie.

00:18:49.000 And I honestly pity him for that because, you know, it wouldn't be something that...

00:18:55.000 I wouldn't live that way.

00:18:56.000 I'll just put it that way.

00:18:58.000 So Jason, I would check yourself before you come at me with any accusations of being dishonest about what I say when you're dishonest about how you live and what you do.

00:19:11.000 He says the blood is on my hands for 22 days of not, I guess, sending money to Ukraine or whatever else they wanted to do.

00:19:20.000 If it took 22 days To take the gavel away from Kevin McCarthy and give it to Mike Johnson?

00:19:27.000 Those are the 22 most productive days that we have had in the 118th Congress.

00:19:32.000 Because we not only have our man, but we have a plan for how to reduce spending.

00:19:37.000 And of course, Jason Smith doesn't want to do that.

00:19:40.000 Because if we cut spending, then the lobbyists who fund his coffers will have less.

00:19:46.000 And the American people will have more.

00:19:48.000 And that's not what they want.

00:19:49.000 And when you point those things out, it doesn't make you sound like a Democrat or even a Republican.

00:19:55.000 Just somebody with eyes who can observe how the corrupt power centers of this town compromise people like Jason Smith and then flip them to do their bidding.

00:20:06.000 Not the work that folks sent us here to do.

00:20:09.000 We take six weeks off every single year.

00:20:13.000 Just for members to go on vacation mostly.

00:20:16.000 So 22 days to right the ship with House Speaker?

00:20:19.000 I don't think that that's chaos.

00:20:20.000 I think that that's constructive work to get to a better outcome.

00:20:25.000 Jeremy Carl is a conservative commentator.

00:20:28.000 He does a lot of work with the Claremont Institute.

00:20:30.000 Those are some real smart folks that we think highly of here in our congressional office.

00:20:35.000 And he had a tweet that I don't agree with every single word here.

00:20:38.000 I think he's a little too harsh on Scalise and Emmer.

00:20:42.000 But I'm going to read you what Jeremy Carl has put out on Twitter, at JeremyCarl4.

00:20:49.000 Ignore all of the pundit hyperventilating.

00:20:52.000 When all is said and done, assuming he lives up to his reputation, the election of at Rep Mike Johnson as Speaker is a major victory for Matt Gaetz and his insurgent allies.

00:21:04.000 Johnson is much better than McCarthy.

00:21:07.000 The best you could say for McCarthy, who, remember, elevated Liz Cheney to leadership in only her second term, is that he was an ideologically weak, empty suit who would at least deal transactionally with conservatives.

00:21:20.000 Jordan would have been great, but he was never a viable choice, too ideological, and had burned too many bridges in the conference.

00:21:28.000 Scalise would have been more establishment pablum.

00:21:31.000 Emmer was so awful that Trump nuked him preemptively before conservatives revolted.

00:21:36.000 Will Johnson disappoint the right at times?

00:21:39.000 No doubt.

00:21:39.000 Both on genuine issues of difference in ideology and also on times when he needs to make concessions to moderate establishment types to keep the caucus together.

00:21:50.000 But that is the job of the speaker.

00:21:53.000 In Johnson, we have someone who is aligned with the base on key issues, who will reach out beyond the base when he needs to for practical reasons.

00:22:01.000 That is what we should want in a GOP speaker.

00:22:05.000 Johnson is clearly not a grandstander, and he seems very well liked within the caucus.

00:22:10.000 This will be essential in keeping a very fractious group together.

00:22:14.000 It is not about conservatives getting everything we want.

00:22:17.000 It is about getting everything that is feasible to get.

00:22:21.000 In a few months, nobody will care about dumb process fights within the GOP caucus, but the effect of having a party leader who is actually aligned with party voters will pay dividends for years.

00:22:36.000 It will help in terms of the primary candidates we select, McCarthy torpedoed a number of good conservatives in primaries in 2022, and the issues that we focus on as a party.

00:22:47.000 It is trading a short-term loss for a few weeks of infighting into a major long-term win.

00:22:56.000 Matt Gaetz understands, in a way that 90% plus of Republicans do not, that you get political capital to spend it And he spent all that he had to move to ultimately achieve what could be a monumental victory for conservatives for many years to come.

00:23:15.000 I would observe that what Jeremy Carl says about political capital is absolutely my view of it.

00:23:22.000 I don't believe that we build approval ratings and political capital to set them on the shelf and admire them.

00:23:28.000 That doesn't help anyone but the politician.

00:23:32.000 The reason to try to build political capital is to draw down on that political capital so that the people who are actually our bosses get to live better lives as a consequence.

00:23:42.000 And I know our lives will be better with Speaker Mike Johnson than they ever would have been with Kevin McCarthy.

00:23:49.000 I want to chat about some foreign policy issues as well that are going on in the world that we focus on.

00:23:55.000 Let's start with this latest announcement, quite unfortunate, from the Biden administration on Ukraine.

00:24:01.000 Biden administration announces additional security assistance for Ukraine.

00:24:04.000 They list out the drawdown, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

00:24:10.000 Great, that's what we gave the Mujahideen that ultimately resulted in the Taliban. 0.99

00:24:14.000 Javelin anti-armor, sisters.

00:24:16.000 Nice vision devices.

00:24:18.000 I've got real concerns about the night vision devices.

00:24:21.000 I don't know where those end up.

00:24:22.000 When we actually look at end-use monitoring of the equipment that we send into Ukraine, I have some of the highest concerns that it's the night vision stuff that we may end up seeing in the hands of Hamas or the drug cartels on our own border.

00:24:39.000 Very concerned about that.

00:24:41.000 Demolition munitions for clearing obstacles.

00:24:44.000 So we're going to pay for the demolition, and then I guarantee you for the next 10 to 15 years, there's going to be money in the budget for some U.S. defense contractor to go and demine the munitions that we're paying for.

00:24:56.000 And the last bullet point here, man, this really gets me.

00:25:01.000 We're sending spare parts, maintenance, and other equipment to Ukraine right now in America.

00:25:07.000 The F-35s that cost you, the American taxpayer, about $180 million a copy, 40% of those, we can't even fly today.

00:25:19.000 Because we don't have the parts for some of our own stuff.

00:25:22.000 And so, while I know we're not sending F-35s to Ukraine, there is a certain focus on the supply chain and the defense industrial base that we need to have in order to ensure that our own equipment is usable.

00:25:35.000 I get worked up about this because when I go to our bases in Northwest Florida and talk to our service members, it is...

00:25:42.000 It is infuriating to see our hangars and our buildings rotted out, moldy, full of asbestos, not enough military housing for our service members, not enough spare parts so that our stuff works for training and for important readiness development.

00:25:59.000 But here we go, another $150 million for Ukraine.

00:26:04.000 It is so, America lasts, and I indeed hope it comes to an end.

00:26:08.000 But it's not just Ukraine where America is now extended abroad.

00:26:12.000 Senator Rand Paul is pointing to the fact that we're still doing stuff in Niger that is not really effective.

00:26:21.000 Rand Paul wants U.S. troops out of Niger as the piece from The Intercept.

00:26:24.000 Nick Terse wrote that piece.

00:26:25.000 He's been really great covering the failures of the Biden administration's policies in Africa.

00:26:30.000 And this tweet we've put on the screen from Nick Terse says, While the wars in Ukraine and Gaza dominate the news, the U.S. forever war in Niger grinds on.

00:26:41.000 Since the U.S. began counterterrorism efforts in the region, terrorist violence has jumped 30,000%.

00:26:48.000 Not a typo.

00:26:50.000 This summer, U.S.-trained officers overthrew the government.

00:26:53.000 So on an anti-terrorism mission, we've seen terrorist instances increase by 30,000%.

00:26:59.000 And the very people we trained overthrew the government.

00:27:03.000 I am certainly with Rand Paul on this.

00:27:05.000 We need to be out of Niger and...

00:27:10.000 We at least need the Biden administration to tell us what their foreign policy goals are in Africa at this time.

00:27:16.000 So the House of Representatives right now is debating the energy and water legislation on government funding.

00:27:22.000 That is one of the single-subject spending bills.

00:27:25.000 It does not cut spending as much as it should.

00:27:27.000 In an upcoming program, we'll talk about the appropriations process more, what's good, what's bad.

00:27:33.000 But the principal thing that we are doing from a policy perspective in this bill that we'll be voting on shortly...

00:27:39.000 Getting rid of the Obama-Biden waters of the United States rule.

00:27:44.000 This is the rule that has the EPA hassling people that have like a 10-acre lake on their property to water cattle or even just like a small watering pond.

00:27:56.000 They are exercising jurisdiction in a way that is killing private property rights, killing agriculture.

00:28:02.000 The farmers in my district talked to me all about the negative consequences of this Waters of the United States rule.

00:28:07.000 I cannot wait to vote for our appropriations bill that will abolish that rule.

00:28:13.000 So thanks for staying engaged and informed.

00:28:15.000 Thanks for having my back.

00:28:17.000 We'll be broadcasting on Firebrand again soon.

00:28:20.000 Roll the credits.

Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - October 26, 2023

Episode 124 LIVE: New Leadership In Washington – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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