Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - Episode 164: Clemson University vs. Free Speech (feat. Trevor Tiedeman) – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

In this episode, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GAZETTE) responds to a recent incident where a group of college Republicans were asked to stop soliciting for political candidates on campus. Rep. Gaetz explains why this is a problem, and why it needs to stop. He also responds to the Clemson University incident, and calls on the administration to clarify their own policies regarding political canvassing and soliciting. Firebrand is a production of the Firebrand Podcast, a conservative political podcast produced in Washington, D.C. and produced by Rep. Adam Kinzler and his staff. Firebrand's mission is to inform, educate, and empower Americans on the importance of free speech and stand up for the principles of American ideals. The Firebrand Project is a project of the Center for American Progress, a progressive organization dedicated to fighting for conservative causes and standing up to the political establishment. We do not tolerate bullies, and we particularly don t tolerate it when it constrains free speech, and on college campuses, we ve seen an increasing number of administrators try to skirt the law, avoid the Constitution, and limit what can be said that we would normally allow, particularly if it's someone expressing a viewpoint on the political right. So who should I call the shots here at Clemson University? Who should I go to the table? And who should be the one to make the stand up to them? and speak up for them? And what should they do about it? And what they would be better meant to do about this issue? What would you be better than the other side of the law and what they should be allowed to do in the future? or not? Listen in on this episode of Firebrand, and tweet us what you think of this? ? Tweet us and let us know what you would like to hear from the firebrand? in the comments section about it! in a future episode, and what do you think about this episode? of this episode on Firebrand or any of your thoughts on this one? Tweet Meghan and I will be responding to this episode! or your thoughts about this one, or any other firebrand moment you ve seen in the next episode of the latest Firebrand piece? on the latest episode on this podcast? I ll be back with your thoughts, tweet me if you have any thoughts?

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:01:59.000 inside of the House of Representatives.

00:02:01.000 You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay?

00:02:04.000 Because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.

00:02:08.000 We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight. 1.00

00:02:14.000 I want to thank you, Matt Gates, for holding the line.

00:02:18.000 Matt Gates is a courageous man.

00:02:20.000 If we had hundreds of Matt Gates in D.C., the country turns around.

00:02:25.000 It's that simple.

00:02:25.000 He's so tough, he's so strong, he's smart, and he loves this country.

00:02:30.000 Matt Gates.

00:02:32.000 It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.

00:02:37.000 We will save America.

00:02:39.000 It's choose your fighter time.

00:02:41.000 and send in the Firebrands. - Welcome back to Firebrand.

00:02:50.000 I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz.

00:02:51.000 We're broadcasting live out of room 2021 of the Rayburn House office building here in the Capitol complex in Washington, D.C. And here in the Gates office, we do not tolerate bullies.

00:03:02.000 We particularly don't like it when it constrains free speech, and on college campuses, we've seen an increasing number of administrators try to skirt the law, avoid the Constitution, and really limit what can be said that we would normally allow, particularly if it's someone expressing a viewpoint on the political right.

00:03:20.000 The executive producer of this podcast, Joel Valdez, our communications director, Actually, I think kind of came to us by virtue of the free speech on college campus movement.

00:03:32.000 And, you know, Joel, I'm going to get into that in a minute.

00:03:34.000 But the latest iteration that got in my craw, I saw it online, was at Clemson University, where a group of students associated with the Clemson College Republicans were out campaigning for a congressional candidate in an open seat.

00:03:49.000 And they had this encounter with administrators to listen.

00:03:56.000 Someone pull up what's soliciting.

00:03:58.000 That is not soliciting.

00:03:59.000 Listen, you're not going to pull.

00:04:01.000 Maybe I'm too old.

00:04:02.000 Maybe I'm too old.

00:04:03.000 You got to pull.

00:04:03.000 You got to lock.

00:04:05.000 No, I'm not going to.

00:04:06.000 Well, let's get the lawyers on.

00:04:08.000 No, we're not.

00:04:09.000 You can't kick us out.

00:04:10.000 We're not soliciting.

00:04:12.000 We would just like also the specific claims and policies so we can double check it.

00:04:16.000 You can get the police officers over here and they can explain.

00:04:19.000 I'm not giving police officers.

00:04:20.000 We don't want to make this clear.

00:04:21.000 Get him over here.

00:04:22.000 I know.

00:04:24.000 How's it going, sir?

00:04:26.000 They're saying we're soliciting up.

00:04:29.000 Stop.

00:04:30.000 I'm listening to the cop.

00:04:32.000 No, you're absolutely not.

00:04:34.000 We did it earlier this year for the Trump campaign, and it was all fine.

00:04:38.000 Not at the football game?

00:04:39.000 Yes, at the football game.

00:04:40.000 It was a tailgate act.

00:04:42.000 It was right there.

00:04:44.000 It was right next Thursday.

00:04:45.000 She had no problem.

00:04:46.000 We would just like to do the exact policy.

00:04:50.000 When we go door-to-door to canvas for political campaigns...

00:04:54.000 I'm just going to run this through, okay?

00:04:57.000 They have told you that you're in violation of the university policy, right?

00:05:02.000 And they said that what you're thinking is you can't do, okay?

00:05:05.000 They've asked you to not do it.

00:05:07.000 I've been here a long time.

00:05:09.000 Okay, well, I also know what I'm talking about.

00:05:10.000 I'm not asking you if you know what to talk about.

00:05:13.000 I'm asking you if you will abide by what the university has asked, yes or no.

00:05:18.000 It's not what it is.

00:05:19.000 I'm going to stop you there.

00:05:21.000 It's will you abide, yes or no.

00:05:23.000 It's a yes or no question.

00:05:25.000 Yes or no.

00:05:25.000 Are we selling anything?

00:05:27.000 Yes or no, will you buy it?

00:05:28.000 Are we selling anything?

00:05:29.000 Can I see your driver's license, please?

00:05:31.000 Are you going to arrest me for soliciting?

00:05:33.000 Is that what you're telling me?

00:05:35.000 Can I see your driver's license, please?

00:05:36.000 So, for next time, or even for this time, if we put our signs away, we can still say, Stuart Jones for Congress?

00:05:42.000 Or, to what, can you clarify what we're allowed to do or not?

00:05:45.000 That would be a better answer question for, there are people who deal specifically in university policy.

00:05:54.000 Okay.

00:05:54.000 That would be better meant for them.

00:05:55.000 So who should I go to call them about this?

00:05:58.000 I just need to know so we don't have this issue in the future.

00:06:01.000 Yes.

00:06:01.000 You are violating Clemson University policy and as students you do have to abide by those rules and there are penalties and consequences for not.

00:06:15.000 So I'm going to just be honest with you.

00:06:18.000 The rightness report is going to be all set in the standards.

00:06:22.000 And then you have to make sanctions for the university.

00:06:27.000 Anything else I can answer for you?

00:06:28.000 We will be challenging this vehemently.

00:06:31.000 Fair enough.

00:06:32.000 Who should I call to get clarification on the policy?

00:06:34.000 Because you did not provide me the clarification I need.

00:06:36.000 They gave you the policy.

00:06:38.000 Well, I have it down, but I wanted to ask about if we take away the signs, because from what I heard, the issue was that we didn't have, is that we had signs.

00:06:44.000 Yeah.

00:06:45.000 And signage, you're handing out signage.

00:06:46.000 That's what I was told by this.

00:06:47.000 Well, Dawson, Cooney Standards can give you all that information.

00:06:50.000 I would talk with them.

00:06:52.000 I would talk with them.

00:06:53.000 They'll be in contact with you Monday, probably.

00:06:55.000 They'll be in contact with you Monday, okay?

00:06:57.000 I love it.

00:06:57.000 All right.

00:06:58.000 Thank you very much.

00:06:59.000 We are back live, and we are joined by the chairman of the Clemson College Republicans, Trevor Tiedemann.

00:07:06.000 Trevor, we're going to talk to you.

00:07:08.000 What were we watching there?

00:07:10.000 You had these people with no understanding of the First Amendment, of the policies.

00:07:16.000 Paint the picture for us.

00:07:18.000 It looked like an abject disaster.

00:07:23.000 Well, it certainly was. 0.84

00:07:25.000 I mean, you had two goofballs dressed up in their white zip-up hoodies as university officials.

00:07:31.000 On their golf carts, they rolled up and they were contradicting themselves at first.

00:07:35.000 One of them said, We could take down our signage for a congressional candidate here in the 3rd District, Stuart Jones, who we're canvassing for.

00:07:44.000 If we took down the signs, we could stay there.

00:07:46.000 And then the other gentleman said we had to pack up and leave.

00:07:50.000 So obviously with that contradiction, we were like, we're not backing down.

00:07:55.000 This is obviously attacking our First Amendment right.

00:07:57.000 We can be out here.

00:07:58.000 We know that it's non-commercial free speech.

00:08:00.000 We can do this.

00:08:01.000 We've been doing it for a while.

00:08:04.000 I challenged him along with my secretary, Jane Keeney, and we got the police involved and the police officer clearly didn't know what he was talking about either.

00:08:12.000 But someone in the athletics department told us to leave and sent those two bozos to kick us out. 1.00

00:08:18.000 So that's how it I'm just wondering, before you assembled this group to go and engage in First Amendment protected activity, did you research the rules and know them, or was it just the fact that it was so obvious that they didn't know the rules that really emboldened you to push back?

00:08:43.000 Well, we didn't need to know the rules because we've been doing it for a long time.

00:08:47.000 We did a lot of canvassing for the Trump campaign with door knocking.

00:08:50.000 We've been tabling before outside of games.

00:08:52.000 We tabled for the Trump campaign back in October, I believe, before a game, literally 100 feet from that spot.

00:08:59.000 But I think the problem was, is we got a very good spot for tabling this time, right at the intersection in front of the stadium scoreboard.

00:09:08.000 And I think someone in athletics was like, we can't have that.

00:09:11.000 We can't have these Campus conservatives out here doing what they need to do for political candidates. 0.92

00:09:17.000 So that's what I think happened.

00:09:19.000 But yeah, I didn't need to know the rule because I know what canvassing is protected under the First Amendment.

00:09:25.000 And clearly they didn't.

00:09:26.000 So that's where we're at right now.

00:09:28.000 I'm going to bring in Joel Valdez.

00:09:30.000 Joel, I want you to give the audience a brief description of how you've been on the front lines of the free speech wars on college campuses.

00:09:37.000 But what I admired so much about what I saw at Clemson is that these students were respectful, they were knowledgeable, but they stood their ground.

00:09:47.000 I think a lot of people in that situation, at the first sign of someone in a Law enforcement uniform showing up would have quivered and sort of skulked away.

00:09:59.000 And these folks really, I think, inspired a lot of folks with the video that we saw online.

00:10:04.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:10:05.000 Trevor and the Clemson College Republicans are rock stars.

00:10:09.000 And my journey into DC starts with having my free speech stifled on my college campus at the time.

00:10:16.000 So whenever it comes to the issue of university free speech, that's an issue that hits very close to home for me.

00:10:23.000 When I was a freshman at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the fall of 2017, I was actually part of two clubs.

00:10:30.000 I was part of Turning Point USA's chapter at UIUC, and I was also acting as an Illinois campus correspondent for Campus Reform, which is a journalism project of the Leadership Institute that reports on the front lines of Liberal bias and abuses on college campuses.

00:10:49.000 And so what had happened in my case is there was a university professor who was protesting, having a protest on campus one year after Trump's inauguration on campus.

00:11:02.000 This is one of the guys who waves one of the biggest Antifa flags on campus.

00:11:06.000 I thought as a student journalist it would be interesting to see what this professor paid by the public university was saying during school hours on school grounds.

00:11:17.000 I just went to the back and we made waves on the campus as we had done activism for Turning Point.

00:11:24.000 They already knew our names and some of our And when I was going to report, this professor in particular had singled me out and singled out my crew who was recording to try and assault us on campus, try to stop us from reporting on what he was saying because he knew that we were effective on college campus at getting the abuse out on Fox News, on Daily Wire.

00:11:47.000 On some of the Turning Point programming.

00:11:50.000 And so this guy literally charged me and my cameraman trying to assault us on campus, trying to stop us from reporting.

00:11:56.000 And what did the university do to us?

00:11:58.000 They didn't give us an apology.

00:11:59.000 They didn't say sorry.

00:12:00.000 They ended up giving us multiple disciplinary measures throughout the months leading up to them telling me that I could no longer re-register for classes and that I would be effectively be kicked out of the university for acting as a campus journalist and so that led me to suing my university for nearly two years before closing the case which later on President Trump in the White House had actually highlighted my free speech case against the university and so I give big props to Trevor and the Clemson College Republicans Because

00:12:31.000 I personally know what it's like to try to keep your composure, try to get everything that's happening on video, and then following up with action.

00:12:38.000 And it's very difficult when you have university officials and the police in your face telling you that you're wrong when they can't even give you the definition of soliciting.

00:12:47.000 So it was an astonishing case on your end, and I'm glad you guys stood up for yourselves.

00:12:52.000 Do you fear retaliation from the university for this type of activism and for pushing back, or do you get the sense that you've got a vice president for student affairs that seems to have taken your side in this?

00:13:03.000 Yeah, yeah, so I'll speak to him a little bit.

00:13:05.000 His name's Chris Miller.

00:13:06.000 He's done a fantastic job in promoting free speech on campus.

00:13:10.000 This is not the first controversy the college Republicans at Clemson have been a part of.

00:13:14.000 We've called out the drag show in the past, and most recently we got Feminine products and tampons removed from the men's bathrooms on campus, and we got a bunch of backlash from the socialists on campus, the blue hairs, you name it.

00:13:29.000 So they have actually supported us in our free speech efforts, and they have done nothing to curtail that whatsoever.

00:13:37.000 But this is a symptom of a different issue.

00:13:40.000 Clearly, someone in athletics has a problem with freedom of speech on our end.

00:13:44.000 And I hate that it umbrellas the entire university because I think the university has been very good on free speech on our end.

00:13:51.000 But they still, the athletics department and the police do need to apologize for this because it's absolutely asinine that they tried to kick us out for simply canvassing and using our First Amendment right.

00:14:03.000 Well, are you seeking any sort of response from the athletics department or the university at large regarding this episode and the consequences that should come to whatever administration officials tried to act in this unconstitutional way towards you and your club?

00:14:22.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:14:23.000 I am seeking a public written apology from both the athletics department and the police department.

00:14:28.000 For not only our club, but for also the clubs nationwide, the other conservative organizations, and also this is nonpartisan.

00:14:35.000 This is freedom of speech, so it could be Democrats as well.

00:14:38.000 You should be able to use your freedom of speech anywhere you please outside at a public institution like this at Clemson.

00:14:45.000 And it should set a precedent for these other schools that we're going into election season and everyone should have the right to canvas outside of these types of events.

00:14:53.000 So I would like this public apology to be used as sort of inspiration for other schools to just simply use freedom of speech policy that we all know and love and implement it everywhere.

00:15:04.000 So I'm seeking for a public apology from both departments, and I have yet to get anything back from them yet.

00:15:12.000 At the very least, I wanted an apology from my university and from the unhinged professor who attempted to assault me on camera, but instead I got threatened with endless disciplinary action and eventually got kicked out of school.

00:15:23.000 Are there any kind of remedies or specific changes in university policy that you would like to see from Clemson to ensure that this kind of harassment never happens again?

00:15:32.000 Yeah, well, I mean, it kind of starts with, you know, teaching these university officials because I was told that the two gentlemen that first arrived were subcontracted by the university.

00:15:42.000 But that doesn't matter.

00:15:42.000 It's still under the jurisdiction of the university.

00:15:44.000 They still hired them on as event staff.

00:15:48.000 And Summit Athletics told them to kick us out.

00:15:52.000 So therefore, Summit Athletics needs to be taught what is protected and what isn't.

00:15:58.000 And what our speech was, was freedom of speech.

00:16:01.000 It's canvassing for political candidates.

00:16:04.000 And that's something they should just know.

00:16:07.000 And I don't know if it needs to just be beat over the head with these people.

00:16:11.000 The police officer clearly didn't know what he's talking about either, so the police department needs to do a better job at educating their officers on specific policies regarding this.

00:16:19.000 Because what this is, the reason why it blew up is it's a form of intimidation, and it does not look good on anyone's part to kick a bunch of college students out for activism like this, and that's why it blew up.

00:16:32.000 So I just don't want it to happen in the future.

00:16:35.000 But I will say on the appeals process in which we got reported to the glorified principal's office, as I call it, called the Office of Community and Ethical Standards, we went straight to the top through Chris Miller and he exonerated us of all wrongdoings, me and my secretary, because we did nothing wrong.

00:16:55.000 So the appeal process works and it's just the matter of what actually happened happened and I don't want it to happen again.

00:17:03.000 I think this is going to happen again all over the country, actually.

00:17:07.000 I think it's been happening, and I think that oftentimes it's the conservatives that have to be the dissident-resistant voice on college campuses.

00:17:16.000 I'd love to start with you, Trevor.

00:17:18.000 Advice to other conservatives on college campuses who want to express a viewpoint, who might face a hostile administration, Now that you've been through that, you seem to have come out the other side quite successful in convincing the administration that this conduct is allowed and the behavior that was directed against you should be disallowed.

00:17:38.000 But give us your advice from the trail.

00:17:43.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:44.000 So I've been doing this for about two years now, and I've been tabling outside.

00:17:48.000 I've been spit at.

00:17:49.000 I've been cussed at.

00:17:51.000 Really, you just got to have thick skin and you got to record everything.

00:17:54.000 I mean, we're in the digital age where everything's put out there.

00:17:57.000 And just so happened our PR director, Janae Mitchell, recorded this behind my back.

00:18:03.000 I didn't even know she was recording it.

00:18:05.000 So that's just what needs to happen.

00:18:06.000 People need to be held accountable in the public sphere.

00:18:09.000 And what I would encourage young conservatives to do is if they encounter anything like this, to record it, to do whatever they need to do, to put it out there to social media, because you can only talk about it so much to your inner circle and people around the university.

00:18:22.000 No one's actually going to believe you unless you have the physical evidence and showing that to people.

00:18:27.000 So I would encourage that.

00:18:28.000 Also, just have thick skin.

00:18:29.000 I mean, don't be scared of these people.

00:18:32.000 They're just bureaucrats.

00:18:33.000 Obviously, they don't know what they're talking about.

00:18:36.000 And you're in the right.

00:18:37.000 So don't back down ever if you encounter some of these people.

00:18:41.000 I mean, it's just going to be a part of the political sphere from now until I die, probably.

00:18:48.000 You can't just let that affect you.

00:18:49.000 You just got to have thick skin and just push through it.

00:18:51.000 And what I love is the contrast at the thoughtfulness and the respect that was shown when conservatives were having this interaction.

00:18:59.000 And imagine if this had been a bunch of genderless, purple-haired, woketopians. 1.00

00:19:05.000 You know, they'd have been trying to assault the police officer.

00:19:08.000 They would have been ranting and raving, and there was a discipline there and really a maturity that is admirable and I think central to the success of this moment for your club.

00:19:19.000 Joel, what advice would you give conservative activists on campus about how to endure these moments?

00:19:24.000 Yeah, no, I think Trevor nailed some of the key points on that.

00:19:27.000 Get everything on camera from all angles, as many cameras as you can.

00:19:31.000 Definitely know your rights.

00:19:32.000 Definitely understand how you're being perceived on camera and how you can use that in follow-up action.

00:19:38.000 But also, I think on social media, you got a lot of backup from a lot of good people.

00:19:45.000 And so hopefully that these members in the College of Clemson Republicans can see that courage is contagious.

00:19:54.000 Insane reaction to me exposing one of their faculty professors spooked a lot of members from doing future activism when they saw how hard they came down on us.

00:20:04.000 It did take a few years to eventually see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

00:20:09.000 Hopefully from seeing how you stood your ground, how your members are standing your ground, and the backup that you're getting that hopefully, you know, like you said, have tough, have thick skin, but at the same time know that there is going to be some backup from some of the fighters.

00:20:24.000 I'm interested in your reaction, Trevor.

00:20:26.000 What kind of a reaction have you gotten from some of your fellow college Republicans on campus after this?

00:20:33.000 Oh, we're all locked in right now.

00:20:35.000 We enjoyed the adrenaline rush that it kind of gave because it showed a lot of people too.

00:20:41.000 We have a lot of young freshmen in our club right now and they haven't really experienced, you know, what it actually means to be a conservative on a college campus and sometimes you have to deal with this stuff.

00:20:51.000 And I thought everyone handled it so perfectly because when that police officer was asking for my driver's license and my secretary's driver's license, He could have kept going down the chain until I stepped up.

00:21:03.000 And it's not in the video.

00:21:04.000 It was actually cut out.

00:21:06.000 I stepped up and I'm like, I'll take all the blame for it.

00:21:09.000 I don't want anyone else getting caught in this as well.

00:21:11.000 But he would have kept going and asking for other people's driver's license, I believe.

00:21:15.000 But that did not faze any of my club members that were behind us.

00:21:18.000 They were sitting there.

00:21:19.000 They were out there wanting to continue to politically canvas.

00:21:22.000 So I'll just speak to that.

00:21:23.000 They've been phenomenal all year with not only tabling for this, but tabling for pro-life issues.

00:21:30.000 Immigration, you name it, they've been absolute workhorses, so credit to them. 1.00

00:21:36.000 But in terms of the response from other people, I mean, the College Republicans, the Turning Point chapter here at Clemson, they've been all supportive. 0.98

00:21:45.000 I mean, everything that happened was totally ridiculous and asinine, like I said. 0.97

00:21:49.000 So everyone's in our corner, even the parents, too. 0.97

00:21:52.000 You got a lot of angry parents sending emails and phone calls to the athletics department, the police department.

00:21:58.000 And that's what we need, honestly, because That's what it's going to take.

00:22:01.000 You've got to twist the arms of these people because they need to issue a public apology and it's going to take people calling their office and letting them know that Hey, this is wrong.

00:22:10.000 I never thought I'd see a story come out of Clemson University like this.

00:22:14.000 I expected it at UC Berkeley in California.

00:22:18.000 I expected it on liberal college campuses like my own, but I didn't expect it from Clemson University.

00:22:23.000 Does it surprise you that your university attempted to shut down your freedom of speech?

00:22:28.000 And why do you think that these officials were so locked in on you guys specifically?

00:22:33.000 I want to say it is a political sway by someone in the athletics department.

00:22:38.000 I think they saw us outside of a spring game that was pretty successful, right outside of their scoreboard.

00:22:44.000 And they were like, we can't be having that.

00:22:47.000 So we got to get them out of here.

00:22:49.000 But I mean, like I said before, I think the university has been very good on free speech.

00:22:54.000 Just this specific incident, they need to work on it.

00:22:56.000 I mean, this is absolutely ridiculous that this was allowed, especially when we've done this type of canvassing before.

00:23:04.000 But yeah, I mean, you would expect it from UC Berkeley, where nothing is able to be said out loud by conservative voices.

00:23:11.000 But unfortunately, it happened at Clemson University, which is right in the heart of the South, in conservative country.

00:23:19.000 I mean, the Pickens-Trump rally had tens of thousands of people show up to it.

00:23:23.000 So you would think it's ripe for the cause for freedom of speech, but...

00:23:28.000 I mean, unfortunately it just wasn't.

00:23:29.000 But I think there's a lesson in that.

00:23:31.000 I think the lesson is there are these tyrants on every college campus.

00:23:36.000 Now, they might not be in charge of every area and they might not ultimately prevail when there's a good appeal process and review process, but if this can emerge at Clemson, It could emerge in the Bible Belt, in the Deep South, anywhere, and that's why it requires vigilance.

00:23:52.000 And it's also why it requires consequences.

00:23:55.000 I don't think it's sufficient for the university to address this issue simply by stating that Clemson College Republicans did nothing wrong.

00:24:04.000 I think Clemson University needs to specifically remediate with the individuals that made these decisions And any policy that was vague or unclear that was relied upon to have this deeply tortured interpretation of the law.

00:24:18.000 So I wanted you to know, Trevor, that my office is sending a letter to the president of Clemson University, President Clemens, and we're politely asking for the information regarding the people who were involved, their employment, for which offices they work, for which offices they work, and what affirmative steps Clemson is taking to ensure that staff comport with the First Amendment.

00:24:42.000 And I think that your call for a public apology would be an obvious step that one could take to ensure that the right message is sent to all the staffs.

00:24:51.000 So we'll be sending this letter to Clemson University today.

00:24:54.000 I think it is very unfortunate that this event happened in the first place, but we cannot allow it to just exist as a viral moment on social media.

00:25:04.000 It has to be a teaching moment for precisely the reason Joel said, because this is spreading like kudzu, this desire to limit speech.

00:25:14.000 I'm eager to get your reaction to that, and I've got a few more questions for you about South Carolina politics.

00:25:21.000 Yeah, yeah, of course.

00:25:22.000 I mean, I think that's awesome, and this information does need to be shown to the public, and we need to know who did this and who signed off on it, because clearly, like I said, it's symptomatic of that kudzu, like you were talking about, infecting even a more right-wing institution, as you'd call it, at Clemson.

00:25:41.000 And yeah, we need to get more information about that because it's totally ridiculous.

00:25:46.000 And this is not the only campus it happens on.

00:25:49.000 I mean, we're umbrellaed under the College Republicans of America.

00:25:53.000 There's chapters in the Northeast and other crazy liberal places that deal with this stuff all the time.

00:26:00.000 And having that organization have all these college Republican chapters together, working together in terms of social media and just general support is so helpful.

00:26:11.000 Congressman Gates, that is an awesome letter.

00:26:13.000 I do appreciate you sticking up for us on this behalf.

00:26:17.000 And I am hearing that there may be officials at Clemson University watching this very podcast right now.

00:26:24.000 Can you talk a little bit more about that, Trevor, and if you've heard any information on the response?

00:26:29.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:26:30.000 So, I mean, the university is clearly watching this right now because, I mean...

00:26:36.000 This is bad PR for them, and bad PR means money.

00:26:40.000 It means a lot of things are going wrong on their end, which is unfortunate because, like I said, I like Clemson University, but this is the problem that was created under them, and they have to answer for it.

00:26:52.000 So if President Clements and Vice President of Student Affairs, Chris Miller, are watching, I mean, this is something that we would like, not only as just conservatives, but as a student body, we do need answers for this, and we do need a public Statements about this at a minimum.

00:27:09.000 You know, if they're watching, I do encourage that to be done.

00:27:12.000 And while this was an unfortunate event, I actually think that this can turn into a very positive experience.

00:27:19.000 If the reaction to this is thoughtful and thorough and very clear, then I actually think Clemson could come out of this looking pretty good if instead this is ignored, this is treated as well, you know, students should just, you know, respect when anyone else tells them what to do.

00:27:38.000 Then that is going to metastasize and then those negative consequences that you talk about will grow more severe unnecessarily.

00:27:45.000 I think that the apology is an important thing.

00:27:48.000 But I do want to zoom out since I have you here and you've been on the front lines of this fight.

00:27:52.000 Joel has as well.

00:27:53.000 I would love you to share with our audience what issues you find.

00:27:58.000 Are animating college Republicans and young conservatives.

00:28:02.000 We see on the broad issue matrix immigration leading the way, certainly the price of goods.

00:28:07.000 But what are you hearing about from your members and other folks that are driving really a lot of generational shift in people under 30 toward more conservative policies and conservative causes?

00:28:20.000 Well, you mentioned immigration, and that is the number one issue that I've talked to college Republicans, Turning Point members about.

00:28:27.000 And it's huge because it's changing the voter demographic rapidly.

00:28:32.000 So that's going to affect us down the road.

00:28:34.000 Are we going to win elections with this specific issue?

00:28:38.000 But also affecting South Carolinians as a whole, I-85 runs through Atlanta to Charlotte, which also cuts through the upstate of South Carolina, which is right where we're placed, our university is placed.

00:28:49.000 And that's where a lot of drugs are ran through, a lot of gang activity, you know, from the border.

00:28:55.000 And if we don't shut that down, it's going to start.

00:28:58.000 It has killed South Carolinians.

00:29:00.000 There's fentanyl pouring in, as as many other states experience.

00:29:03.000 But we have such a big interstate going through the heart of South Carolina that we've busted drugs before.

00:29:10.000 And it's all from these Mexican drug cartels. 0.97

00:29:12.000 And these people are animals. 0.96

00:29:13.000 And if we don't lock it down, then we're going to have no law and order.

00:29:18.000 And we're not going to have a voter demographic in this country that represents Americans.

00:29:22.000 So that's a huge issue that I think most college students right now are very worried about, especially with Lake and Riley.

00:29:29.000 That was only a few hundred miles south of us, and that was terrible.

00:29:33.000 And for that to happen to a college student on a college campus, it does scare a lot of people.

00:29:37.000 So it could happen at Clemson University too.

00:29:39.000 You just never know.

00:29:41.000 So that's a huge issue I envision bringing a lot of young people, especially conservatives, to the polls.

00:29:47.000 Joel, what are you seeing in terms of this?

00:29:49.000 I mean, the under-30 crowd was a core feature of the Democrat coalition under Obama and then initially under Biden.

00:29:57.000 And we are seeing a real shift there.

00:29:59.000 What issues do you think are driving that?

00:30:01.000 Yeah, well, I think aside from just from immigration, which is obviously a big issue, I think the students are starting to see the bleak future of the economy and jobs in general.

00:30:12.000 I think now that their college degrees are being extremely diluted, and they're getting this rude awakening that it's becoming very hard to get a job after this promise of going to college for four years.

00:30:23.000 That promise has now been broken to the Gen Z generations. 0.99

00:30:27.000 And they're seeing less money in their wallets, and that's being reflected From the folks who are just entering the job force for the first time.

00:30:36.000 So I think some of these economic experiences under Joe Biden has definitely created a bleak future in which they are going back to the years of prosperity that we saw under President Trump.

00:30:47.000 So I think that's going to be a big factor coming up.

00:30:50.000 Undeniably, I think these economic conditions are leading Gen Z to maybe a different place than the younger millennials who stayed living with their parents.

00:30:58.000 This new version of Gen Z actually starts looking at, hey, I might want to buy a house one day.

00:31:04.000 You won't be able to with these interest rates.

00:31:06.000 Trevor, I also wanted to ask you a question about the Palmetto State.

00:31:09.000 You know, South Carolina gave President Trump this overwhelming victory, basically drives Nikki Haley out of the race.

00:31:15.000 But what do you see as the trends?

00:31:17.000 I thought your analysis on the I-85 thing was really good.

00:31:21.000 Are there other things in South Carolina that people around the country might want to know about?

00:31:27.000 Yeah, so a lot of people would think that South Carolina's ruby red, which it is.

00:31:32.000 But the state legislature does not reflect that.

00:31:36.000 Actually, CPAC, the American Conservative Union, rates South Carolina as the second most liberal Republican supermajorities in the country.

00:31:45.000 And that's because we have a lot of rhinos in our state legislature that say they're Republican and conservative, but they vote a different way or push through these ridiculous bills that are It's basically ironed out by the Chamber of Commerce, and they basically dictate a lot of what happens in South Carolina.

00:32:03.000 And so I think there needs to be a big push at creating the Freedom Caucus, making it larger in South Carolina and states abroad, because what we have is just a good old boy system in South Carolina.

00:32:16.000 It's been absolutely destroying our state for years, and it's been a lot of watered-down bills that could have been way more conservative.

00:32:26.000 And I see states like your state congressman, Florida, that are passing extremely conservative legislation, and we can't even get a constitutional carry bill passed and a good pro-life bill passed because of the rhinos in the state legislature. 0.92

00:32:40.000 So there's been a big push on our end to get a lot of these people that are actually conservative elected.

00:32:46.000 So we're doing a lot of work on our end with door knocking, canvassing, like we did this past Saturday, to fix that.

00:32:54.000 So I encourage people in their own state to try and push for more Freedom Caucus members to join their state legislature.

00:33:02.000 With our primary, it's June 11th, but it could be different in other states.

00:33:06.000 So definitely latch on to someone you believe is conservative and run with it, because that's how you make a change.

00:33:14.000 Yeah, and I want to ask you this question because it's something I struggle with.

00:33:17.000 I get all these candidates from all over the country that become very interested in wanting to align with a bill that we've sponsored or some event or opportunity.

00:33:28.000 And when they're running...

00:33:30.000 They all kind of sound the same.

00:33:32.000 Everyone says they're a great champion for liberty.

00:33:35.000 Everyone says that they don't want forever wars.

00:33:38.000 Everybody says that they don't want the surveillance state, that they want to cut spending.

00:33:42.000 They definitely want to cut spending.

00:33:44.000 They're willing to take chances to secure the border.

00:33:46.000 And then they get here, and at the first sign of criticism, or at the first moment where you've got to use a little leverage or take a little criticism...

00:33:56.000 They're hiding under their desks.

00:33:58.000 And so give me your vetting tools.

00:34:00.000 When you talk to someone and decide whether or not you're going to go out there and sweat on a Saturday afternoon and talk to folks on their way into a Clemson football game, how do you know they're worth it?

00:34:10.000 What are the issues and what are the tells that you look for the most?

00:34:14.000 Obviously, we know Joel doesn't know how to pick well.

00:34:17.000 He's working for me.

00:34:18.000 I'll check with you.

00:34:20.000 Oh, come on. 0.87

00:34:21.000 Don't sell yourself short.

00:34:22.000 But the big thing is 100% money.

00:34:26.000 So that's FEC filings.

00:34:30.000 Followthemoney.org is also a good website that we use to vet candidates because that's who is going to be reflecting what they believe, is who's giving them money.

00:34:39.000 If it's more grassroots people, that's who I'm in favor for because that's representing the people of South Carolina and abroad.

00:34:46.000 But if they're getting money from big super PACs and lobbyists, there's a big problem with lawyer legislators in this state that dictate a lot of stuff, and that's a whole other issue.

00:34:58.000 So yeah, money's a big one.

00:35:00.000 Also, who they're friends with.

00:35:02.000 You can use just social media as a good vetting tool, too, to see who are they following, who are they interacting with.

00:35:08.000 Is it establishment people?

00:35:10.000 Is it rhinos?

00:35:11.000 If it is, then they're not the candidate for me.

00:35:14.000 That's why You know, the Freedom Caucus people.

00:35:16.000 They're the more grassroots people.

00:35:18.000 They're the people getting the money from the people of South Carolina.

00:35:21.000 Therefore, I and my club members kind of gravitate towards them more so than anything.

00:35:26.000 So money is probably the biggest driver.

00:35:30.000 And the relationship aspect is what I use to vet people.

00:35:33.000 That's incredible.

00:35:34.000 I was not expecting you to give that answer.

00:35:36.000 I thought you would say a particular issue set or a way that somebody made their presentation.

00:35:41.000 You go right to the dollars and cents.

00:35:44.000 And frankly, that's probably as good a system as any because we see people up here that kowtow to their donors and subject the interests of their constituents.

00:35:53.000 You got a better vetting strategy, Joel?

00:35:55.000 Yeah, mine was a little bit easier beforehand.

00:35:58.000 It really came down to two questions.

00:36:00.000 One, what did you think of the former disgraced speaker, Kevin McCarthy?

00:36:04.000 And two, would you say it publicly?

00:36:06.000 If you're trying to hire Joel away from me to run your podcast, those are the questions you may have to answer.

00:36:12.000 Well, Trevor, we wish you and all of your club members the best of luck.

00:36:16.000 We're going to keep you updated regarding the responses we get from Clemson.

00:36:19.000 We're sorry you had to do that, but actually I think it's a shining example of how to respond With maturity and with grace and with knowledge.

00:36:28.000 And my hope is that a lot of different students at Clemson and beyond see this, that they join your club, that they're right there alongside you, and that you guys are able to have a great opportunity for free speech.

00:36:41.000 Also, always thank Joel for pulling double duty, producing this podcast and joining me again as a guest.

00:36:47.000 So, appreciate you.

00:36:48.000 Oh, before we let you go, Trevor, folks want to follow the activities of the club.

00:36:53.000 Support the club.

00:36:54.000 Make a pitch for where they can go, how they can follow you and find you.

00:36:58.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:36:59.000 So you can follow the Clemson College Republicans on X at ClemsonCRs or Instagram at ClemsonCollegeRep.

00:37:08.000 So that's where you can find us primarily.

00:37:10.000 Also, we do a lot of work with the College Republicans of America.

00:37:13.000 They're at on X and Instagram is U.S. College GOP. So that's where you can find us.

00:37:18.000 There's so much information.

00:37:19.000 Going on in the conservative space for young people on college campuses.

00:37:23.000 So definitely we'll keep you posted on stuff on our end because I don't envision this being the only time we are involved in controversy.

00:37:31.000 Well, I hope the next time we have you on it's to talk about your great insights about the shape of the electorate and the issues motivating people and less because you're being harassed.

00:37:40.000 But thanks so much for being with us.

00:37:42.000 Roll the credits.

Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - April 11, 2024

Episode 164: Clemson University vs. Free Speech (feat. Trevor Tiedeman) – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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