Order of Man - MADISON CAWTHORN ｜ Men, America, and Politics

00:00:00.000 Gents, I had the opportunity to visit with Representative Madison Cawthorn with my family in D.C. last week.

00:00:06.160 And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

00:00:08.400 We got the chance to tour the Capitol building and get a very small glimpse inside the world of politics in D.C.

00:00:15.380 But we also had the chance to sit down in his office and throw down the podcast that you're about to listen to.

00:00:21.160 We talk about the world of politics, why, while politics is fast paced, very little seems to get accomplished on the Hill.

00:00:28.480 How we as men can be informed without immersing ourselves in the political arena and theater that comes with it.

00:00:36.140 The world of outrage and ultimately, at the end of the day, what we as men need to do to keep this country on track.

00:00:42.980 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest.

00:00:45.720 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:48.660 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time.

00:00:52.020 Every time you are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:00:57.600 This is your life. This is who you are.

00:01:00.620 This is who you will become at the end of the day.

00:01:03.540 And after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:01:07.520 Gentlemen, what is going on today?

00:01:08.940 My name is Ryan Michler.

00:01:10.400 I am the host and the founder of the Order of Men podcast.

00:01:13.200 If you're new, now you know who I am.

00:01:15.500 As far as what we do, we have conversations with incredible men.

00:01:19.300 Men inside the world of politics like you're going to hear today.

00:01:21.760 But also athletes, scholars, New York Times bestselling authors, entrepreneurs, any man that is successful in his own right and has a lesson or information or experiences that he can share with us.

00:01:35.320 So we can distill that information, take what we can from it, learn how to improve our own lives and the lives of the people that we care about.

00:01:43.420 That's what this mission is all about.

00:01:45.420 Obviously, we live in this society that seems to reject and mock and dismiss and ridicule masculinity.

00:01:50.800 This is the antithesis of that.

00:01:53.960 In fact, this is the antidote to that.

00:01:55.920 If you want to be a better man, you want to help other people in your circle become better men.

00:02:00.820 This is the podcast and the resources for you.

00:02:03.840 So I've got a great conversation with Representative Madison Cawthorne today.

00:02:07.320 We're going to get into that in just a minute.

00:02:09.500 But before we do, just want to make a very quick mention of the show sponsors.

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00:03:21.440 All right, guys, with all that said and out of the way, let me introduce you to Madison Cawthorn.

00:03:26.240 If you don't know who he is, he is a North Carolina representative.

00:03:31.680 He was gracious enough to invite me and my family and to his office in D.C. and show us around the hill.

00:03:39.620 He's currently the youngest member of the House of Representatives.

00:03:42.960 And since our last conversation that we had months ago, some of you may have listened to it.

00:03:46.800 Uh, we've become good friends over that time, but he's also somebody that I've gotten my eye on for a long and successful career in politics, even though he does believe in term limits.

00:03:57.800 And he talks about that with me in this podcast.

00:04:00.020 Uh, and I also believe that he can do some incredible things in leading the nation to a more free and prosperous time.

00:04:07.120 Uh, he's got a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm.

00:04:09.840 You're going to hear it today.

00:04:11.320 Uh, and ultimately he has a real desire to keep this nation great.

00:04:14.540 So gents enjoy this conversation. 0.97

00:04:16.800 Representative Cawthorn, great to see you.

00:04:20.600 Great to be here.

00:04:21.260 We've got the tour too, the family and everything.

00:04:22.920 Ryan, I'm telling you, I'm so glad you guys came up.

00:04:24.560 This has been, this has been the highlight of my week.

00:04:26.300 No doubt.

00:04:26.720 Cause, uh, cause obviously I always say that people here in Washington, they're not normal Americans.

00:04:31.540 They're not, you know, they're not God fearing, family loving, just, just good hearted people.

00:04:35.560 And so it's good to have some normalcy here.

00:04:37.760 So I'm glad you came in.

00:04:38.600 Do you think it, uh, do you think it's, what is it that attracts, like you say, it's, they're not normal people.

00:04:44.100 So is it, is there something that is attracting that type of personality or person?

00:04:49.320 You know, I'll tell you one.

00:04:50.520 I actually think that for the most part, this, this place I think attracts the best people.

00:04:55.240 I really do.

00:04:55.740 I really think it attracts probably some of the most patriotic best people.

00:04:59.400 But then when they get here, all that idealism, you know, slowly gets chipped away at and turns into pragmatism.

00:05:05.460 And then you become more and more and more pragmatic.

00:05:08.060 And then he's like, okay, well, if I really want to affect change, I should wait till I get to this next echelon of power.

00:05:12.520 So I'm going to do what I have to do here to be able to get there.

00:05:15.180 And, you know, people will just understand when I really start making change.

00:05:17.620 The problem is, in Ecuador needs to get the next echelon of power.

00:05:20.780 You realize, oh, there's still a lot of roadblocks.

00:05:22.280 Now I need to get to this next echelon of power.

00:05:24.060 And then all of a sudden you realize it's been 10, 15, 20 years.

00:05:27.640 And you haven't done anything for the people you purported to come here for.

00:05:30.100 But you've calloused your conscience and your heart and you're willing to do anything to gain more power.

00:05:37.500 And it's almost just become a habit and a game to you to gain more power but not actually do anything with it.

00:05:42.020 Do you think most people, though, come to D.C. with that type of noble intentions of wanting to serve and do that?

00:05:47.460 Or do you think there's some bad players from the get-go?

00:05:51.120 So I'll tell you, I think most people come here with noble intentions.

00:05:54.060 I think then they get turned into pragmatists because it's a very difficult game to play.

00:05:58.000 Especially for a lot of these people who, you know, they're not political animals.

00:06:00.820 A lot of people are just first-time politicians.

00:06:02.120 They come here.

00:06:02.780 And so then they get hit by, you know, just these incredible debaters, great fundraisers, great orators.

00:06:08.400 These people who can manipulate the minds, hearts and minds of millions of people at one time.

00:06:12.120 And they're like, wow, I'm going up against all this.

00:06:13.400 I'm going to have to fight fire with fire.

00:06:15.820 But I will say because it's turned so many people into pragmatists, I think all of a sudden it started to – does attract a good amount of people who come here and they say, oh, I just – I want to be in the middle of the game.

00:06:27.360 I love the backstabbing.

00:06:28.460 I love the cloak and dagger.

00:06:29.420 I love the Machiavellian nature of it.

00:06:32.060 Yeah, it's an interesting – I see a big contingent of new people coming to D.C.

00:06:37.920 Men like yourself, men and women like yourself, you know, young, ready to go, like have these American values, traditional American values.

00:06:45.240 And then you see a lot of former military members as well.

00:06:48.640 Oh, yeah.

00:06:48.900 I was watching on Fox News this morning, in fact.

00:06:50.840 They were talking – I think they had either five or six former Navy SEALs who were all running for Congress.

00:06:59.360 And so it's really interesting to see a new group of people, not these career or family legacy type politicians coming to this arena.

00:07:07.980 Yeah, no, I know you probably know Marcus Luttrell.

00:07:09.960 I actually just got to meet Marcus in person.

00:07:11.640 Oh, did you?

00:07:12.080 Yeah.

00:07:12.300 Really, really cool because he stopped me.

00:07:13.680 He said, hey, I know you.

00:07:14.300 And I was like, oh, my gosh.

00:07:15.540 It's an honor to meet you.

00:07:16.680 Right, yeah.

00:07:17.120 So it was great, but his brother Morgan –

00:07:18.340 Yeah, Morgan.

00:07:19.020 I just texted him this morning.

00:07:20.360 No way.

00:07:20.780 He's also running for Congress, also a Navy SEAL.

00:07:22.620 Yep.

00:07:23.540 And then it's pretty incredible.

00:07:26.300 I'm telling you, I think the Navy SEALs do bring something that's necessary here because I'll tell you, the people that do want to run for Congress, you do need to be idealistic and you need to have such a strong foundation in your ideals that no amount of doing what's necessary to get it done will change those.

00:07:41.720 Right.

00:07:41.860 But you also need to be able to be an operator.

00:07:43.460 You need to be someone who's going to come here and just be able to realize there's a mission that needs to be accomplished and we need to be tactical about it.

00:07:49.720 We need to be smart about it.

00:07:50.500 We need to plan out – we know our enemy's weaknesses and other pressure points.

00:07:53.540 Right.

00:07:54.000 I mean, my chief and I is also one of my best friends.

00:07:56.380 We just – we literally just spend almost all working hours figuring out the weaknesses and the strengths of other people so that we can then push those pressure points when needed to be able to accomplish good things.

00:08:07.760 Yeah, that's such an interesting thing.

00:08:09.320 I mean, as you were giving us a tour today of the Capitol building, I asked you, I said – and I thought, man, I shouldn't have asked him that.

00:08:16.480 I should have asked him that when we were going to do the conversation.

00:08:18.400 But I asked, do you like playing the game?

00:08:22.560 And you said you do like playing the game.

00:08:24.800 But it would be such a weird thing.

00:08:26.100 I'm trying to figure it out even for myself of, okay, well, you've got to play the game.

00:08:30.120 You've got to be good at it.

00:08:30.960 But also, you know, there's some – I won't say devious things happening, but you've got to have – I don't know what it is.

00:08:39.260 Maybe a little bit of a callous or just understand what's actually happening.

00:08:43.440 It seems like a weird position to be in.

00:08:45.040 It is a weird position to be in, but I'll tell you, I'm not sure if it's a callousness.

00:08:49.460 It's almost a – you need to know what exactly you're achieving.

00:08:53.600 Set your goals and put those down and then work backwards from there.

00:08:57.780 And then – so then, you know, you have very achievable steps.

00:09:00.460 It's always your next step.

00:09:01.400 It's like, okay, well, I need to gain five people who will give me their – I will – I've done favors for them, so then they will owe me votes.

00:09:07.900 So if I have this five people contingent, then that'll – so then I can bring up this order in Congress and then, you know, you can play the parliamentarian game there and get what you want to have actually voted on on the House floor.

00:09:19.480 But you've got to love the competition.

00:09:21.300 I mean, you need to wake up hungry.

00:09:24.260 Just know that it's the whole thing.

00:09:26.600 And, you know, there's two wolves on a hill.

00:09:28.480 You know, who's going to get there first, the hungry wolf or the one who just had lunch and the person who's hungry for it.

00:09:33.440 And so I think at every single moment, you know, some people come here and they want to be very, very careful and they – every step is planned out and everything.

00:09:40.460 And that's why I'm against voting for kind of those typical politicians, the cookie-cutter types because this place is a dog-eat-dog world.

00:09:48.600 And if you're not willing to fight the battles, then you're just going to bend the knee to leadership and then all of a sudden you'll – next thing you know, you're just a vote in the hands of somebody else.

00:09:58.660 Right.

00:09:58.780 You become a pawn in their game versus you controlling the board the way that you want it to be controlled.

00:10:04.400 Which is how it's supposed to be.

00:10:06.160 I mean, you know, our founders literally thought that the desire for ambition would keep the three branches of government in check.

00:10:14.140 Be like, okay, well, the legislature will be so ambitious that, you know, that they'll always be trying to push down the judicial branch.

00:10:21.160 But the executive branch will be trying to push them down.

00:10:22.940 It's like a rock, paper, scissors game.

00:10:23.960 They're all so aggressive trying to take one another down that it will keep us all even.

00:10:27.740 But, you know, we actually – I would say probably 75 percent of the people here, they – they're just – their ambition is just to be in Congress.

00:10:35.780 They just want to be here.

00:10:37.100 Yeah, they like being on the marble steps.

00:10:39.340 They like, you know, seeing their name in the paper once every few weeks.

00:10:42.280 Right.

00:10:42.720 That kind of thing.

00:10:43.520 But at the end of the day, you know, they like be calling the honorable.

00:10:46.780 But at the end of the day, I'm telling you, that's not who we need here.

00:10:49.600 You need people who are going to say, hey, you're a tyrant over in this branch.

00:10:52.920 You need to settle down.

00:10:54.040 Right.

00:10:54.320 The people are the voice.

00:10:56.700 And I also think people shouldn't live here full time because they get caught up in that game.

00:11:01.220 Yeah, I'm sure.

00:11:01.960 Well, you know, it's interesting too is I've seen – it seems to me that the legislative branch overwhelmingly – and correct me if you think I'm wrong on this –

00:11:09.520 but has been willing to give so much power to the executive branch.

00:11:13.940 Oh, my gosh.

00:11:14.580 I don't understand that.

00:11:15.440 It's like, you know, I agree with what you're saying, and I think the founders established this country in the way that our government is structured to check that ambition.

00:11:22.400 And it's funny because you hear people say, well, nothing ever gets accomplished.

00:11:25.360 Right.

00:11:26.140 That's actually the point.

00:11:27.540 Right.

00:11:28.000 Our government is designed to work slowly.

00:11:30.020 Right.

00:11:30.660 But I think legislative branch has given so much power on both sides of the aisle, power to the executive branch, and I do not understand that for life for me.

00:11:39.580 I will explain it to you very simply, and you'll quickly understand.

00:11:42.340 Again, we started electing a lot of these career politician types, these guys who pleated pants and tasseled loafers who – they're not here to fight the battles.

00:11:50.060 They're here to just see their name in the paper again.

00:11:51.920 And these people just want to get reelected, and so they don't want to have to take hard votes.

00:11:56.780 So when it comes to difficult things like abortion or the real true arguments of the Second Amendment debate, they kick that over to the Supreme Court and the judicial branch.

00:12:04.960 Or when it comes to war making, because that can be very popular or very unpopular.

00:12:08.380 When it comes to setting regulations on different companies and environmental regulations, they say, okay, we'll put the executive branch and the three that are agencies because then if we cede all those powers, we don't ever have to make any hard decisions.

00:12:19.440 Right.

00:12:19.580 We just get to pontificate on top of marble steps while people in our country are having to pay more and more money for gas prices.

00:12:25.600 They're having to be less and less safe in their streets.

00:12:27.800 We're having to see people be, you know, tormented all over the world.

00:12:31.040 Right.

00:12:31.300 America's just taking a backseat to it all.

00:12:32.740 And I think we need to take that power back because the problem is I say that we need term limits on Congress.

00:12:40.460 But we also need to have term limits on bureaucrats and these people in the three-letter agencies because these people are not elected.

00:12:47.760 They're not voted for.

00:12:48.800 Right.

00:12:48.840 So the people have no cause for recourse or a way to be able to go and say, hey, I don't like what you're doing.

00:12:53.640 Change it or I'm going to fire you.

00:12:55.220 Right.

00:12:55.460 And that's what the House of Representatives is supposed to be.

00:12:57.600 And so we're going to introduce some big, big changes.

00:13:00.540 We want to put a few constitutional amendments into the thing.

00:13:02.860 One, on term limits.

00:13:03.640 Two, to say that any regulatory powers has got to come through Congress.

00:13:07.260 Hmm.

00:13:08.200 So on term limits, I've heard, and I actually see both sides of it.

00:13:11.760 Immediately in my knee-jerk reaction as I hear term limits, I think, that's a great idea.

00:13:15.540 It eliminates these career politicians.

00:13:17.900 You've had your time to do things.

00:13:19.520 If you haven't done anything, that's on you.

00:13:20.920 You know, I see the purpose for having that.

00:13:24.260 But also, I was talking with Sean Parnell.

00:13:27.340 Do you know Sean?

00:13:27.860 I do.

00:13:28.300 And he was talking about, and I don't want to misrepresent him, but he brought up an interesting

00:13:33.840 point, how long it takes the system to go and for somebody like yourself to really understand

00:13:40.660 the system, to build up the credibility, and then term limits hinders that.

00:13:44.720 And so all of a sudden, you have a bunch of freshmen come in who don't really understand

00:13:48.180 the system, and does that create problems?

00:13:51.480 So I will say no to that.

00:13:53.060 One, because of the way our election processes work, you'll always have some veterans in and

00:13:57.760 some freshmen.

00:13:58.900 But there are a lot of people who say that they would like to have the term limits set

00:14:04.080 up, you know, four years or something ridiculous.

00:14:05.820 Right.

00:14:05.940 Which is wrong.

00:14:07.000 Too short, you're saying.

00:14:08.200 Yeah, way too short.

00:14:09.160 Then I agree with Sean Parnell's position.

00:14:11.600 I really like Sean.

00:14:12.360 He's a great guy.

00:14:13.020 Yeah.

00:14:13.180 I actually want him to run for Senate.

00:14:14.580 I think he'd be great in there.

00:14:16.600 But if we were to actually have people only be here four years, they do not have enough

00:14:24.900 time to actually get things done.

00:14:26.320 That's exactly.

00:14:26.720 And so I think we do need term limits, but it needs to be about 12 or 14 years.

00:14:30.700 Give you a decade, a little more.

00:14:32.740 Because in my opinion, if you can't gain power in three or four terms, you're probably not

00:14:37.040 that skilled.

00:14:37.600 And then if you can't use that, wield that power to get things done and to actually affect

00:14:42.020 positive change, I probably don't want you to represent me anyways.

00:14:45.040 Well, so that actually brings up a good point too, which I think is a counter to the term

00:14:49.160 limits.

00:14:49.720 Term limits are actually kind of built in because we have a voting system.

00:14:53.120 But the problem is, is people, I think people are just lazy, frankly.

00:14:57.780 And so, oh yeah, you know, Representative Cawthorne, oh yeah, he's been there for 20 years.

00:15:02.120 Let's just keep going, keep going, keep going.

00:15:03.820 I don't want to look at it.

00:15:04.640 I don't want to look at the issues.

00:15:05.400 Even the advantage is mind boggling.

00:15:07.820 These people, since the turn of the 20th century, we've enjoyed almost a 90% re-election rate.

00:15:14.560 Is that right?

00:15:15.140 Yeah.

00:15:15.420 I knew it was high.

00:15:16.080 I didn't know it would be that.

00:15:16.520 It's very high.

00:15:17.320 And so, I mean, you know, there's, I could get into all the details because we're on

00:15:22.060 government property.

00:15:22.640 I can't go into all, you know, I can't really go into electioneering very much, but I will

00:15:26.020 tell you, there are ways you can use this system to basically further your name ID to

00:15:31.360 a point that no one else ever could in an election.

00:15:33.500 Because you have the federal government backing you.

00:15:36.280 Right.

00:15:36.700 And so, it's the mobilization, the logistics, the difficulty, the name identification, right?

00:15:43.600 All those things that play into elections.

00:15:46.400 This office gives you such an unparalleled advantage to be able to win that, you know,

00:15:49.860 and we have a lot of laws that are designed to help make challengers more viable.

00:15:54.700 Sure, right.

00:15:55.120 It's just not going to work.

00:15:56.200 Yeah, I mean, there's just so much, like you said, credibility, weight, finances that

00:16:00.060 come into play, and all the connections.

00:16:02.620 I mean, you know, as you and I walked around, even as we walked from this building into this

00:16:08.160 Capitol building, you know, you knew people.

00:16:10.580 I could tell you were talking, you were trying to build rapport with them.

00:16:13.540 And so, your connections alone would give you or anybody else a huge advantage.

00:16:17.200 Oh, big time.

00:16:17.740 Because, I mean, you know, let's say all of a sudden, oh gosh, you know what?

00:16:20.160 I'm going up against a candidate who's way better on issue B than I am.

00:16:25.600 And so, then all of a sudden, then it's like, wait a minute, I actually know the ultimate

00:16:28.520 champion of issue B.

00:16:29.680 They owe me a favor.

00:16:31.020 I'm going to have them come to my state and campaign for me.

00:16:33.520 Right, right.

00:16:34.060 And then completely negate my opponents.

00:16:36.800 What's your, what's the balance?

00:16:38.900 And I've always been curious about this because I see, I see representatives who I think probably

00:16:44.880 do a pretty decent job representing their people.

00:16:47.460 Uh, and then it seems like there's other representatives who feel like once they're elected, that that

00:16:53.060 means that their voters just give them full authority to make their own decisions, regardless

00:17:00.280 of what their voters have to say.

00:17:02.200 So, what is the balance for you for that between, okay, I'm, I'm representing what they want

00:17:07.900 versus I think this is the direction we need to go.

00:17:11.260 And maybe that's at odds with what your voters want.

00:17:13.340 Yeah, no, so I'll tell you, I think we're not, we're supposed to be statesmen.

00:17:16.600 The best kind of, the best kind of congressmen, the best kind of senators, the best kind of

00:17:19.780 people in politics are statesmen.

00:17:21.800 And so, one, we have a representative government.

00:17:23.660 So, I believe that I am here.

00:17:26.280 One, the reason we have our government set up the way it does is because, you know, if

00:17:29.520 your, your average corn farmer, the person who is a lineman or a pipe fitter or, or whatever

00:17:34.380 job they have, or even a financial advisor back, back home, they also have a job.

00:17:38.340 They also have their children.

00:17:39.360 They also have, they have a lot of things to keep up with.

00:17:41.100 And I believe that they need to stay up to date on things that are going on in politics

00:17:45.460 and in the civic world.

00:17:47.500 But the reason we have a representative government is because I am here to vote as if all my constituents

00:17:52.780 were all voting on every single issue.

00:17:54.220 But the problem is they wouldn't have any time.

00:17:55.620 You'd be going to the ballot box every day.

00:17:57.220 And they're not all going to vote the same.

00:17:58.480 Exactly.

00:17:59.020 So, you're going to have both sides of the fence that you're trying to represent.

00:18:02.240 Right.

00:18:02.520 And so, I, I represent the will of my people.

00:18:05.040 So, really, when you're electing someone, I actually disagree on people who focus heavily

00:18:10.800 on policy during elections.

00:18:13.440 You need to be able to, I think you need to show, and people should push you so you can 1.00

00:18:18.120 show that you have an understanding of the policy, make sure you're not an idiot. 1.00

00:18:20.660 Right. 0.99

00:18:21.160 But I think what's much more important than that is your values.

00:18:24.360 Because once you establish your values, then I know, okay, you're going to vote the way

00:18:27.860 I would if I was privy to all the details at one time.

00:18:31.260 You were like my kind of guy.

00:18:32.620 You're my kind of woman.

00:18:33.400 You and I believe the same.

00:18:35.360 We share the same value set.

00:18:37.160 So, we'll make the same decisions when push comes to shove.

00:18:40.180 And so, talking about that, there are some times when the mainstream media will sway

00:18:46.740 public opinion so much in one direction and get people fired up.

00:18:50.340 Sometimes, the great thing about a Republican system of government, a smaller Republican

00:18:54.980 system of government, is that your representatives within the Republic then can kind of be a check

00:19:02.100 on that knee-jerk, you know, motion-based decision-making and say, hey, you know, I've been focusing

00:19:08.400 on this issue a long time.

00:19:09.240 I know we're all really fired up about it to go this one direction.

00:19:11.780 Right.

00:19:12.240 And I know that this terrible shooting just happened and everybody's really upset about

00:19:15.600 guns and everything.

00:19:16.260 But if we get rid of guns, I promise, it's going to turn out badly in the long run.

00:19:19.780 Right.

00:19:19.980 And so, you know, if everybody was really upset about a shooting that happened in my

00:19:22.680 district, they all wanted me to vote to get rid of the Second Amendment, I wouldn't do

00:19:25.740 it.

00:19:26.540 And because I believe that is what's in line with the values of my district the most.

00:19:30.540 Yeah, that makes sense.

00:19:31.100 I kind of look at it.

00:19:31.900 This is a weird analogy.

00:19:33.100 You're going to think it's weird when I say it.

00:19:34.280 But I think it makes sense is a father, for example, isn't going to take into, or isn't

00:19:41.480 going to take everybody's thought about the way the family should be run with equal weight.

00:19:45.800 Exactly.

00:19:46.120 Like, at some point, I need to make an executive decision because I'm the father and I have

00:19:49.840 a responsibility for my family.

00:19:51.280 Yes.

00:19:51.560 Do you feel the same or similar to that?

00:19:53.880 I feel very similar to that.

00:19:55.360 You know, it's, but you need to know your family, right?

00:19:58.420 You know exactly what's best.

00:19:59.640 You have a good point.

00:20:00.260 You know them well so you can know what's best for them.

00:20:03.200 And, you know, I'm a representative of my people, but, you know, it's at times if people

00:20:09.120 are really fired up and emotional about things, you as a father will be able to see your

00:20:13.280 son just really upset and say, son, I know that you just want to

00:20:16.100 run away right now, but I promise if you ran away, your life's going to turn out really

00:20:19.300 poorly.

00:20:19.700 Like, let's just, I don't know, I'm going to say no to this.

00:20:22.560 And so sometimes when I see people really that are upset, people are just emotionally

00:20:26.380 upset about something, I say, once your emotions come down, I know reason will win out and

00:20:29.900 you'll, you decide this way.

00:20:31.900 So I'll be a check on that.

00:20:33.580 That's a, that's a good point.

00:20:34.880 So you, you feel like in a way you're managing those emotional reactions to the news and the

00:20:41.640 media and the culture and society and all of this, I imagine you have a greater insight

00:20:46.160 into some of this that me as a civilian wouldn't have.

00:20:50.220 Well, and really, I mean, you're a dad, you have to run your podcast, you have to run your

00:20:53.400 show, you have to run your story, you have to run all these things, you have to build a

00:20:55.440 canoe.

00:20:55.840 You've got a lot of things in your mind, right?

00:20:57.240 Yeah, sure.

00:20:57.840 This is what I do.

00:20:59.560 Politics is what I do.

00:21:00.520 I know the nitty gritty details.

00:21:02.020 You want to talk about thorium reactors or molten salt reactors inside of a small unit nuclear

00:21:08.880 facilities, I can talk about that.

00:21:10.200 You want to talk about the, the, the actual harm that's going on in the Southern border

00:21:14.240 through a, through a porous immigration policy.

00:21:16.520 Right.

00:21:16.800 I can talk about that.

00:21:17.660 You want to talk about the, the, the reason why if you let a citizenry give up their firearms,

00:21:22.660 they are no longer citizens, they are then subjects.

00:21:24.660 Sure.

00:21:25.020 I mean, I would be able to go into all of those little tiny details for you because that's

00:21:28.400 what I do all day long and you would be able to do the exact same thing.

00:21:31.780 But that's why we have this Republican version of government where we say, Hey, I want you

00:21:35.940 to go, you have my same values, go focus on all these issues.

00:21:38.880 And vote like I would go.

00:21:40.440 Yeah.

00:21:40.540 The values conversation is interesting.

00:21:42.400 I'd never considered that, but it is, it makes, it brings up a good point because what

00:21:45.640 I've seen a lot of people do, politicians do, once they're elected, they run on a platform

00:21:49.700 and then nothing, or they vote exactly opposite of the platform they ran on, which is a very

00:21:57.160 frustrating thing for their constituents.

00:21:58.540 I'm sure.

00:21:59.400 If that ever happens, you're, you're, you're representative black to you and you need to 1.00

00:22:03.340 vote them out of office.

00:22:04.100 Yeah.

00:22:04.340 If you ever try and get elected on something, then you should wait a full election until

00:22:10.960 after a whole nother election to go back to your people and say, I've actually changed

00:22:13.900 my mind on this.

00:22:14.620 I'm a, if this, this is my new belief, because I'm telling you, you lie to the American people.

00:22:18.680 You shouldn't be in Congress. 0.99

00:22:20.140 It's disgusting. 1.00

00:22:21.280 It's just, there's just so much ignorance. 0.93

00:22:23.200 And I don't say that with any sort of like ill intent. 0.98

00:22:25.960 When I say ignorance, I just mean that there's so many people who are ignorant. 0.99

00:22:30.820 Their heads are buried in the sand. 1.00

00:22:32.020 They don't care about this stuff.

00:22:33.280 You're talking about fathers going out and doing their thing and I get it.

00:22:36.740 And I, I've said it, I'm like, oh, it's a nightmare and, and, and I don't want to deal

00:22:40.820 with it.

00:22:41.040 I don't want to think about it. 1.00

00:22:42.100 Politicians are scum. 1.00

00:22:43.040 Like I've said that stuff. 1.00

00:22:44.560 Well, politicians are scum. 1.00

00:22:45.420 We should point that out. 1.00

00:22:46.280 And, and people, yeah.

00:22:47.560 So that's what I'm saying.

00:22:48.260 So they don't want anything to do with it.

00:22:49.600 And so they completely wash their hands and think, well, it's just going to get better.

00:22:52.640 Or I've heard people say things like, um, you know, my life is better when I, you know,

00:22:57.500 completely turn off the news and I don't think about what these politicians are doing.

00:23:00.140 And I'm like, well, I mean, I understand what you're saying, but we do need to be informed

00:23:04.260 because if you don't have any sort of skin in the game, you have no say in the direction

00:23:09.320 of this country.

00:23:09.880 And then of course your life and how it's impacted.

00:23:12.100 Exactly.

00:23:12.560 And I mean, government affects 80% of your life.

00:23:15.700 I mean, it touches probably 80% of the things that you do.

00:23:17.940 And so I think that one, of course, people should not sit here and focus on, on the news.

00:23:22.780 They shouldn't watch the news 24 seven.

00:23:24.260 They, they shouldn't let that dictate how they're going to feel the entire day.

00:23:27.840 But you, you should all be, everyone should be informed.

00:23:30.460 They should know what's going on.

00:23:31.480 They should try and make their voice be heard.

00:23:33.900 They should be civically involved, civically responsible really.

00:23:37.060 Because I genuinely believe, you know, I know you have a lot of men that watch your podcast

00:23:41.180 as a father, it is your duty to make sure that your family is, has a safe environment

00:23:45.100 to grow in, to become better in.

00:23:46.880 And I believe this is that safe environment.

00:23:48.340 It's our country and you will let it just go into an ash heap and to ruin.

00:23:52.240 If you just bury your head in the sand and say, oh, I, my blood pressure goes up whenever

00:23:56.320 I watch the news.

00:23:57.060 So I'm not going to do that.

00:23:57.980 It's like, okay, well then when you are living under a socialist dictator and we were,

00:24:02.180 we were remanded to the ash heap of history, just know it was because of people like you.

00:24:07.360 Do you think that that is the direction there we're going?

00:24:11.180 Or is that hyperbole?

00:24:15.280 I genuinely believe that there is a socialist kind of, there's a socialist movement afoot

00:24:20.920 in our country.

00:24:22.560 Socialist, communist, whatever you want to call it, really state ownership of just about

00:24:25.660 everything.

00:24:26.640 Where it's kind of central planning, where people in Washington, D.C. plan out the lives

00:24:30.600 of everybody else because they believe that they are smarter than their constituents and

00:24:33.800 they need to hold their hands and wipe their snotty noses. 1.00

00:24:36.500 That's what a lot of people up here believe.

00:24:38.060 I mean, I remember, this is one career politician on our side of the aisle.

00:24:40.880 And I was going back home.

00:24:42.060 He said, hey man, you're headed back to hang out with all those rednecks? 1.00

00:24:44.680 Oh, yeah.

00:24:45.120 And I looked right at him.

00:24:46.260 I was like, dude, I am one of those rednecks.

00:24:47.860 I'm not one of you. 0.90

00:24:49.020 Get away from me, man. 1.00

00:24:50.000 I was going to ask you that because you said politicians are scum. 1.00

00:24:52.580 Do you consider yourself a politician? 1.00

00:24:54.180 I do not, no.

00:24:55.280 So what's the difference?

00:24:56.500 Politicians are people who are up here genuinely because they love politics, not because they

00:25:03.420 love the country.

00:25:04.220 They love the game of it.

00:25:05.820 They love the thrill of being in competition with people.

00:25:10.340 And they love seeing their name on the paper.

00:25:11.440 This is the only way they're able to become famous.

00:25:13.140 And so they just become a B-list celebrity and they think it's great.

00:25:16.660 And so that's what I consider to be a politician.

00:25:18.600 It's very alluring.

00:25:21.080 Oh, it is?

00:25:21.620 You know, I've only been to D.C. twice.

00:25:23.620 This is my second visit.

00:25:25.180 And even just walking around, there's something very alluring about it.

00:25:28.620 So I could see, I mean, these buildings and the history and you know what's taking place

00:25:32.540 here and the people who are here do have power, of course.

00:25:37.280 So it's a very alluring thing that entices you to want to be part of.

00:25:42.140 Ryan, I'll tell you, this is probably the best job in the world.

00:25:45.540 I mean, it's incredibly difficult.

00:25:47.520 You have to put up with a lot of just B.S. and a lot of stuff just kind of sucks about it. 0.81

00:25:52.160 But the ability to be able to direct millions of dollars.

00:25:56.680 I mean, every congressman has this power.

00:25:57.920 We can all direct millions of dollars of federal funding to whatever we think is necessary.

00:26:03.220 Right.

00:26:03.480 You know, there's a great human trafficking prevention or a childhood abuse center in my district.

00:26:10.380 And I think that they should be elevated.

00:26:11.920 They just don't have the money to do it.

00:26:12.880 They've got a great system.

00:26:13.720 I was like, oh, wait, I can fix that.

00:26:15.140 Here's a federal grant.

00:26:16.460 You're good to go.

00:26:16.860 But, you know, or if one of my friends call, hey, I'm trying to get out of the country.

00:26:20.880 My honeymoon's coming up.

00:26:21.860 I don't know what I'm going to do.

00:26:22.680 I don't have a passport.

00:26:23.520 He's like, cool.

00:26:24.080 I can fix that problem for you.

00:26:25.040 Done.

00:26:25.780 And you have the ability to cut through all bureaucratic red tape.

00:26:29.120 You have the mop block to call just about anybody up on the planet and say, hi, I'm Congressman

00:26:32.700 Madison Cothman.

00:26:34.580 They'll take your call.

00:26:35.360 Right.

00:26:35.620 And then you get to it.

00:26:36.620 It's a phenomenal thing to have that kind of power to be able to wield that.

00:26:40.000 And so, you know, one of the main tenets of this office that we will always be a good

00:26:43.200 steward of that.

00:26:43.860 We will consistently become better at our organization abilities, organizational abilities.

00:26:49.240 We will consistently become better at our outreach abilities so people will get more

00:26:52.440 input from our district and know more about that.

00:26:54.700 We get to save more people from the lines of socialism in our country.

00:26:57.860 And we will consistently tighten our vision so that we always know what our goals are and

00:27:02.960 direction we're moving.

00:27:03.660 And I think being a good steward of the power you're given here is incredibly important.

00:27:08.600 But it's, man, I'll tell you, being in Congress is sexy.

00:27:11.080 You start looking at it, it's a fun thing to do.

00:27:13.760 Well, even just going from one building to the other, the amount of people that know you,

00:27:17.440 that recognize you.

00:27:19.000 I mean, I'm sure that has its perks, but also it's downfalls as well.

00:27:22.660 Yeah, it does.

00:27:23.320 I mean, so there's a thing called DC Huddle.

00:27:24.800 I mean, you cannot go out anywhere without, you know, seeing your name pop up on, oh, Madison

00:27:29.380 Cothman and Rand Paul are at the Dublin or having a Guinness.

00:27:31.540 What were they talking about?

00:27:32.400 Then you have all kinds of people start saying, oh, well, is there a big conspiracy going on

00:27:36.360 here?

00:27:36.660 No, we're just having a beer.

00:27:37.840 Yeah.

00:27:39.300 Yeah.

00:27:39.900 But it's, uh, it's, so perks and downfalls for sure.

00:27:42.480 But I, uh, how do you keep it in check?

00:27:44.460 You know, you have this power, you have this to, to, you know, the wheel to pen and even

00:27:48.340 wheel to finances.

00:27:49.060 So how do you personally keep that in check, not allow it to get to your head and not allow

00:27:54.920 you to engage in any sort of behavior that other people might really be interested in

00:28:00.020 abusing?

00:28:00.940 Yeah.

00:28:01.180 So one thing, uh, my faith in God really keeps me from corruption.

00:28:04.640 I mean, I, I just, I, you know, there's a lot of verses in the Bible that kind of pontificate

00:28:08.620 on point towards the idea that leaders of people and teachers of people will be held

00:28:13.240 to a higher account when they get to heaven.

00:28:15.180 And so I realized I'm probably going to be held to a higher account and God is watching

00:28:18.800 everything I do.

00:28:19.420 Remember when we were going through the tour and you said, you know, there's that, uh,

00:28:22.360 think woman from Greek mythology on that winged chariot flies around, whites down all 0.96

00:28:26.180 your deeds.

00:28:26.660 Well, right.

00:28:27.300 You know, that's a great little image of what I think God actually does genuinely

00:28:31.040 watches all of your deeds.

00:28:32.180 And so I know that I'll be judged for that.

00:28:33.640 But, uh, more furthermore, how you keep it from going in your head.

00:28:37.060 I'm kind of lucky in a sense that I'm in a wheelchair.

00:28:40.340 Um, I just have to deal with, you know, anybody in a wheelchair has watched this.

00:28:43.480 You guys know what I'm talking about.

00:28:44.320 There's a million small obstacles you have to overcome every single day.

00:28:47.780 Some very, very humbling and humiliating things that happen to you all the time.

00:28:51.220 And so that, that keeps my, uh, humility in check.

00:28:54.240 And if it doesn't, I've got a really, really great, um, Hispanic wife who will start yelling 1.00

00:28:58.900 at me.

00:28:58.980 Lying you out pretty well.

00:29:00.200 She'll, she'll, she'll get me back in line.

00:29:03.080 Yeah.

00:29:03.680 When you talk about the humiliating thing with, with being in the wheelchair, I can't imagine

00:29:08.460 what that would be like, especially early on, but it seems like you've embraced it.

00:29:12.900 It seems, what other choice do you have?

00:29:15.120 Yeah.

00:29:15.320 Well, I mean, you just, you know, since again, you're big on fatherhood, I'll tell you one of my

00:29:20.020 dad did something that was so amazing.

00:29:22.080 I mean, he basically was just saying, son, you're not living a real life.

00:29:25.280 And so if you just need to make the decision, if you're going to just after the accident,

00:29:28.480 after the accident, this is a couple of years after, and I was just depressed.

00:29:31.740 Everything was so bad, focusing on those accumulating things, negative aspects.

00:29:36.760 And basically, you know, I can't imagine how hard it would be for a dad to say this, but

00:29:39.780 saying, son, you need to just make a decision.

00:29:41.520 If you're going to, you need to make a decision of how you're going to continue.

00:29:44.520 If you're just going to keep living like this, you shouldn't do it.

00:29:46.620 Really?

00:29:46.980 It's not worth it.

00:29:47.600 Wow.

00:29:47.880 And he's like, so you need to make a decision.

00:29:49.580 Are you going to live in spite of the wheelchair or are you going to let it define you? 0.98

00:29:52.260 Was he, do you feel like he knew he was saying what needed to be said to push you in the right

00:29:57.680 direction?

00:29:59.880 Yeah, I do.

00:30:00.760 I do.

00:30:01.020 I think he knew what my decision would be, but I can't imagine.

00:30:03.860 Oh, still.

00:30:04.580 Yeah, definitely.

00:30:04.940 Yeah, someone who has the mean to do what, you know, what was being lightly implied, but

00:30:10.120 also to just sit there and then to leave the room and me sit in there for hours trying

00:30:14.940 to make the decision.

00:30:15.500 And, you know, I literally made a T-graph of pros and cons to living.

00:30:19.320 Really?

00:30:20.000 Yeah.

00:30:20.460 And so that thought did, the thought of ending, it did cross your mind.

00:30:23.660 Oh, absolutely.

00:30:24.380 Are you kidding?

00:30:24.860 Yeah.

00:30:25.060 I mean, no, I could have the best day at that point in my life.

00:30:28.840 I could have had the best day I had ever since the accident.

00:30:31.700 Everything could be going great.

00:30:32.880 It could be laughing.

00:30:33.600 You're not in much pain.

00:30:34.580 Everything's going well.

00:30:36.020 But then I have this creeping thought coming back in my head.

00:30:38.420 It's like, you know, you're having so much fun.

00:30:39.740 Oh, but imagine how much more fun it would be if you could walk.

00:30:42.100 Yes.

00:30:42.560 And then all of a sudden, then Rob's of all the joy.

00:30:44.560 It's like, yeah.

00:30:45.320 And then you just get into this depression.

00:30:47.520 But after that, you know, I really became very serious on building a mental framework

00:30:51.420 and a mental structure that says, hey, if I go past, if I start thinking this thought,

00:30:55.360 I need an alarm to go off.

00:30:56.360 It says, this leads here.

00:30:57.500 You know where this thought leads.

00:30:59.120 Just don't, you need to move on.

00:31:00.580 Right.

00:31:00.980 And I think that, you know, you need to have allowed yourself to mourn, to have felt all

00:31:05.100 those thoughts so you know which ones lead to negative areas.

00:31:07.220 But they, yeah, it's a, it was really difficult in the very beginning.

00:31:11.660 But, you know, now it's just, this is the fact where I'm at in life.

00:31:15.700 And, you know, I got to tell you, although I have all these difficulties and a lot of problems

00:31:19.120 and a lot of things I wish I could change and, you know, I hate being like four foot

00:31:22.620 eight and it's not fun.

00:31:23.440 I got to look up all the time. 0.91

00:31:25.300 Get a kink in your neck all the time. 1.00

00:31:28.180 But, but you know what?

00:31:29.440 Life is, I've had a great life.

00:31:30.700 You know, I got a great wife, got an awesome family.

00:31:33.260 I get to, I get to literally, you know, I get to do a job that millions of people would

00:31:37.400 want to do.

00:31:38.060 And it's, it's fantastic.

00:31:39.120 What was it like when you came to DC for the first time?

00:31:42.540 I mean, when you, when, once you were elected and once I was elected and came here, man,

00:31:46.740 it's the bridges that get me.

00:31:48.280 When I, when you drive across all the bridges, you see all the statues, the really just the

00:31:51.840 glory.

00:31:52.260 I mean, you feel like you're driving into Rome when it was probably at its height of its

00:31:55.940 power.

00:31:56.540 And you're just looking around.

00:31:57.700 It's like, wait a minute.

00:31:59.240 This is literally where you, you're serious.

00:32:01.360 I get to work here.

00:32:02.420 I know, I know you guys said I got elected, but this is my office.

00:32:04.920 I know sitting in your office.

00:32:05.900 I, when I walked in earlier before you got here, I'm like, this is incredible.

00:32:09.500 This is such a cool place.

00:32:11.020 It's, it's the best.

00:32:11.680 And you know, you and I were talking, I think I mentioned it to you.

00:32:13.760 I think when people lose that lackluster, when people lose that luster of, of thinking

00:32:18.460 what an honor, what a privilege, how phenomenal is this place?

00:32:21.920 When they lose that, they should stop being in Congress.

00:32:23.820 I mean, you're, you're a, it's gotten too old for you.

00:32:26.540 Are there, do a lot of, a lot of politicians, have they lost that?

00:32:31.140 I think so.

00:32:31.900 Yeah.

00:32:32.320 They, they just, you know, to them, it's just another election.

00:32:35.440 You know, it's, you know, they're, oh yeah.

00:32:37.060 Well, I try not to worry too much about the news of the day.

00:32:39.120 They're like, they literally bury their heads in the sand.

00:32:41.040 They don't even watch the news.

00:32:41.920 They just, they, they have their comm staff sent out, you know, newsletters that make

00:32:45.780 it look like they're paying attention to things, but they're just lazy.

00:32:48.240 I mean, some people freaking work four hours a day here.

00:32:50.500 Really?

00:32:50.880 Drives me insane.

00:32:51.660 I mean, we, my staff, when we're in session, we work about 16 hour days.

00:32:54.500 Yeah.

00:32:54.900 Really?

00:32:55.400 And then, so I see a guy that comes in at like 11 and leaves at three.

00:32:57.980 I'm like, can you let me just send one of my friends to be you for a second?

00:33:02.380 Cause you are just wasting your office.

00:33:04.060 If we were all united and as passionate as I am, as a lot of my other friends here are,

00:33:09.000 we would change the country overnight.

00:33:11.220 We would, the whole world would say, I want to be an American citizen and I want to destroy 0.99

00:33:16.160 my, my dictators, my tyrants. 0.95

00:33:18.120 I want my politicians to be like that.

00:33:20.280 What? 0.99

00:33:20.620 So when you say that, you say we would change America overnight and there's a lot to shit 0.99

00:33:26.040 on for sure. 0.96

00:33:26.620 And there's a lot to be concerned with and there's issues that I personally have, but

00:33:31.060 there's also a lot of good and the level of freedom that we have and the prosperity

00:33:35.300 and the opportunities.

00:33:36.120 It's amazing.

00:33:36.980 Unlike any other time in the history of this planet.

00:33:39.500 So when you say change America, what, like, what do you mean when you say that?

00:33:43.040 Number one thing, all the politicians share the same luster I do for this country worked

00:33:47.780 like I do, or lords like a lot of my friends in this office in this institution do.

00:33:51.980 You would instantly see a cultural shift away from the idea that our founding fathers were

00:33:57.300 racist.

00:33:57.860 You would see a cultural shift away from the idea that our heritage is evil.

00:34:00.920 You would see a cultural shift away from the fact that we need to apologize for being

00:34:04.020 American.

00:34:04.600 You would start seeing people being proud to be an American again.

00:34:07.320 You would see this renewed renaissance breakout where people wanted to literally make themselves

00:34:11.740 the best versions they can be so that they could serve their nation better.

00:34:15.360 I genuinely believe that.

00:34:16.720 And then you would completely rob the mainstream media of all of their, because they just want

00:34:21.080 to sensationalize all the drama that happens in Washington.

00:34:23.340 Of course.

00:34:23.420 Because it gets clicks and gigs profit, and that's what their board needs.

00:34:26.180 The board wants to make money, so they want to sensationalize the news, so people click

00:34:28.940 on their things more often.

00:34:29.740 Right.

00:34:30.100 Charge more for advertisements.

00:34:31.620 But you would instantly change that and be like, yeah, there is no drama here.

00:34:34.140 We all work in a safe America.

00:34:35.700 And we would all be so committed to one another and say, you and I might disagree on exactly how

00:34:39.680 to, you know, if we should tax, you know, capital gains or if we should tax, you know, 401Ks,

00:34:46.120 Roth IRAs, that kind of thing.

00:34:47.140 Right.

00:34:47.440 We might disagree about that.

00:34:48.820 But I would, if we were all committed to the future of America like I am, I disagree

00:34:54.620 with my colleagues a lot.

00:34:56.440 I'm talking about my friends.

00:34:58.860 If I leave, you know, people will run up to us.

00:35:01.060 Hey, you know, it sounded like you guys had a tense meeting.

00:35:02.940 What was it in there about?

00:35:04.220 Oh, we were just talking about sunshine and motherhood.

00:35:06.020 Everything's great.

00:35:06.600 We've never been more united.

00:35:07.420 Right.

00:35:07.600 Because I would never, never expose them to the fact that the media can sensationalize

00:35:12.200 some argument that we had or something, because I know we're both working for the betterment

00:35:15.700 of the future of America.

00:35:17.240 So you say the media is doing it.

00:35:18.660 And I agree with that.

00:35:19.760 But I also think politicians are doing it because they're, they're, they're trying to convince

00:35:24.020 people that they're valuable.

00:35:26.740 Exactly.

00:35:27.640 You need me because these are the issues.

00:35:29.260 Well, you know, my wife and I were talking about race, for example, because you brought it 1.00

00:35:33.040 up a minute ago.

00:35:34.300 We were talking about it the other day.

00:35:35.600 Like, it's not, I don't think it's as prevalent as everybody's making it out to be.

00:35:40.580 But when you do sensationalize it, you give yourself some sort of value, whether it's

00:35:45.020 the media, they give themselves value because they're bringing, you know, journalists.

00:35:48.820 And I use quotation marks deliberately.

00:35:51.700 But then you also have politicians who are pitting each other against each other because

00:35:55.480 now, see, well, see, this is what I'm doing.

00:35:57.600 It's my job to defend against this.

00:35:59.120 It's like, what are you talking about?

00:36:01.420 Like, these aren't as big issues, I don't, I don't think is a lot of people are letting

00:36:05.620 on to believe.

00:36:06.340 I genuinely don't believe they are.

00:36:07.980 Something that I believe, and this is something that you've been hearing in culture a lot.

00:36:11.900 So, oh, you actually can't say that you're, you're colorblind, that you don't see race.

00:36:15.420 Right.

00:36:16.260 That's actually a racist thing to say because you need to focus on these things.

00:36:19.260 That's a lie.

00:36:20.640 I, I, I have probably three different ethnicities that work for me.

00:36:24.760 I do not care what color they are.

00:36:26.940 I do not care what their background is.

00:36:28.160 I do not care what their religion is. 0.97

00:36:29.940 As long as I just want the best person to do the best job, I, I, you, your color means

00:36:33.500 nothing to me.

00:36:34.460 I, I don't want to focus on it.

00:36:35.600 You don't even need to comment on it unless, unless you're just making it, we're all just,

00:36:39.980 you know, joking around about the funny things that, um, which you can't do really anymore.

00:36:44.100 You can't, which is insane.

00:36:45.660 Absolutely.

00:36:46.140 But I'll, yeah, it's, it's, it's, which is awful.

00:36:50.060 But you know, I found that if you, it's people, when people say you, you can't say that you

00:36:54.400 don't care about someone's race, reject that.

00:36:56.740 Say, I don't care about your race. 0.98

00:36:57.700 I literally don't care.

00:36:59.120 And if you want to call me a racist for saying I don't care about your race, then you're

00:37:01.840 literally focusing on race.

00:37:03.020 And I don't know, I don't define things by race.

00:37:04.860 And let's all just be, I'm going to judge you on the content of your career. 1.00

00:37:07.220 If you're a sucky person, you're a sucky person. 1.00

00:37:09.040 Right. 1.00

00:37:09.420 It's got nothing to do with race or any of that economic status or anything like that.

00:37:13.300 Exactly.

00:37:13.660 You can find good and bad people across the spectrum.

00:37:16.340 Yeah.

00:37:16.620 You can find bad pastors.

00:37:18.120 You can find bad doctors.

00:37:19.060 You can find bad politicians, bad cops.

00:37:20.520 But guess what?

00:37:21.120 The overwhelming majority of Americans agree on 80% of the issues.

00:37:24.700 These, these, these politicians, the ones that you're talking about are trying to make

00:37:27.660 themselves sound self-important.

00:37:29.120 But they will then say, oh, let's get everyone to narrowly focus on these 20% of issues that

00:37:33.940 divide everybody.

00:37:34.880 Let's convince them that that is their literal identity.

00:37:38.080 Right.

00:37:38.620 Right.

00:37:38.920 And that's, that's so far from the truth.

00:37:41.000 And now in Washington, D.C., there's people I vividly disagree on with probably 90% of

00:37:44.580 the issues.

00:37:45.200 But the general population of America, I could travel around a lot.

00:37:48.400 We agree on just about everything.

00:37:50.340 Yeah.

00:37:50.720 I found that to be true too. 0.84

00:37:51.800 But I almost also wonder if it's just self-confirming biases, right?

00:37:56.520 Because, because I say, you know, here's my issues.

00:37:58.360 Here's what I believe in.

00:37:59.200 Here's, here's, here's what I think.

00:38:02.060 And then I have somebody like yourself who believes the same things that I do.

00:38:06.600 We hold the same values to be, you know, important.

00:38:09.360 So am I just confirming my own biases, right?

00:38:12.080 Or traveling throughout the States, who am I going to talk with?

00:38:14.280 Well, of course, I'm going to talk with people like myself.

00:38:16.260 So am I just reiterating saying that, well, see, everybody believes this, but yet it's

00:38:21.360 only the people I hang out with.

00:38:22.620 Right, right.

00:38:23.200 No, that's a really, really good point.

00:38:25.220 You know, I try to purposely surround myself with people that are different than I am. 0.96

00:38:29.540 But I will, yeah, that, that is a, something to be conscious of is that, you know, perhaps

00:38:33.800 we do attract the people that we agree with about everything on.

00:38:36.180 So does everybody agree or is it just our friend through?

00:38:38.560 Right.

00:38:39.340 How do you deal with, you're talking about surrounding yourself with people that you

00:38:43.120 don't agree with.

00:38:43.920 How do you deal and work with people you don't like?

00:38:46.220 Because I'm sure that happens all the time here.

00:38:48.860 Because I am here to serve the people of Western North Carolina.

00:38:51.160 And I don't care who I have to work with to get that done.

00:38:54.540 I'll never sell my soul to make it work.

00:38:56.320 But I, aside from that, short of that, I don't care who I have to work with.

00:39:00.000 You know, if you're someone who has a vote that I need, or you have a piece of something

00:39:05.120 that I need to be able to achieve the, something for my district, I'll, I'll, I'll work with

00:39:09.180 you even if I don't like you.

00:39:10.060 And I'll probably even make some jokes.

00:39:11.280 But yeah, you know what?

00:39:12.000 I really dislike you as a person, but we work great together.

00:39:15.220 Right.

00:39:15.420 I've told people that many times.

00:39:16.560 It's, it would be hard though, because you're going to have people who I imagine will not

00:39:23.540 work with you, not because they really care about the issues or anything, just out of

00:39:27.260 spite, or they'll try to, try to backstab you or, or big time, get you into a corner.

00:39:33.040 Or, and how do you work with those individuals?

00:39:35.320 Like, what do you do to actually bring them around?

00:39:37.940 One of my favorite quotes is that no one has ever hurt me or no, no one has ever helped

00:39:43.140 me or harm me that I have not repaid in full.

00:39:46.500 And you know, if you make it very clear, that's something that you believe in, that's, especially

00:39:51.020 up here, people will take a second breath about crossing you.

00:39:55.040 And so now there are a lot of people who will put you on a blacklist and they'll never deal

00:39:58.020 with you ever again.

00:39:58.640 And, um, but that's, that's just, that's, that's, that's the name of the game up here.

00:40:03.320 And so, but you know what, as, as outspoken as our offices and my team is about a lot of

00:40:08.320 issues, a lot of people say, oh, well you can never, a lot of people, these career politicians

00:40:13.420 go back and say, well, the reason you don't hear me talking about the issues that matter

00:40:16.100 to you is because I'm up there playing the Washington game.

00:40:18.560 You just don't understand.

00:40:19.800 Well, I've actually been here now and I've never commented on that because, you know, I was,

00:40:22.960 I was, I was like, maybe I don't understand it.

00:40:24.940 Maybe I'm ignorant about it.

00:40:26.120 They're lying.

00:40:27.120 You can be incredibly outspoken.

00:40:28.500 You can be incredibly, uh, stalwart for your values.

00:40:31.300 And then you can piss a lot of people off on the other side because you're so, you believe

00:40:35.460 what you believe so, so strongly, but you can still get things done and you just have

00:40:39.660 to be shrewd about it.

00:40:40.760 A lot of people who read the Bible, they remember the part that you need to be innocent

00:40:43.620 as snakes or innocent as doves, but they forget the part about being shrewd as snakes.

00:40:47.120 Right.

00:40:48.480 Yeah.

00:40:48.880 That, that would be the thing that would be a challenge for me is like, how do you, how do

00:40:53.280 you continue to work with these people?

00:40:54.800 Well, what's the balance between, you know, being kind and being pleasant and being respectful

00:40:58.760 versus being like you said, shrewd and trying to get what you want accomplished and figuring

00:41:03.080 out a way to do it.

00:41:04.900 Yeah.

00:41:05.280 It's a, it's, it's, it's a balancing act.

00:41:07.380 There, there's a very narrow line to walk.

00:41:09.120 Like you can, you gotta be, you know, the line we walk is we want to really say things

00:41:14.840 that are true and bold that a lot of other people aren't willing to say, but we don't

00:41:18.080 want to be perceived as a bomb thrower.

00:41:19.420 And I don't want people to look at us and be like, Oh, they'll just say whatever they

00:41:22.180 need to, to get on the news.

00:41:23.340 And that's what I did want to ask you about, because you're obviously young in your career

00:41:27.300 here and you've made a lot of waves and, and I don't doubt that you believe wholeheartedly

00:41:33.580 in everything that you've ever said, at least I've, that I've heard you talk about, but

00:41:37.480 I imagine other people interpret it as you're trying to rile people up.

00:41:42.000 You're trying to stir people up or you're trying to make a name for yourself.

00:41:44.780 Do you get stuff like that?

00:41:46.020 We do get stuff like that.

00:41:47.880 Um, but you know, there, there's a four or five members on the other side, probably two

00:41:51.840 or three members on our side who take it even a step further.

00:41:55.460 And, um, but you know, so again, we try to kind of walk that line where I am saying bold

00:41:59.800 things.

00:42:00.080 I am saying things that make, make people kind of, you know, friends look at each other.

00:42:03.640 Can you believe it?

00:42:04.220 Just like, what the hell?

00:42:07.120 The field in the back.

00:42:08.480 My comp director's like, Oh my gosh, we'll be up tonight.

00:42:10.780 Here we go.

00:42:11.100 Um, but, uh, but at the same time, we don't want to go so far to the point where it's,

00:42:15.700 it's just extreme, you know, the crazy stuff that some people say, right.

00:42:19.800 We, everything we say, I want you to, you know, when someone's laying in bed at night,

00:42:23.360 it's like, you know, he did say that in a really bold way, but now I think about it

00:42:26.220 that that actually holds a lot of merit and he actually really backed it up with a lot

00:42:30.440 of facts, a lot, a lot of data.

00:42:31.780 And so we're very careful what we say.

00:42:34.340 Um, we've been working on message discipline, you know, finding our targets, hitting them

00:42:38.020 correctly.

00:42:38.320 So everything we say, we can defend in a very articulate manner.

00:42:41.680 Right.

00:42:42.300 And I think that's a, that's something that where it makes it to where you're not just

00:42:45.340 making a name for yourself.

00:42:46.100 You actually believe these things because they're right.

00:42:48.280 Yeah.

00:42:48.600 So that, so you said a comms director, is that what you said?

00:42:51.720 Communications director.

00:42:52.520 Yeah.

00:42:52.680 So that's, that's something I haven't really, it makes sense, but I haven't really considered

00:42:56.460 that.

00:42:57.340 So there's strategy that's going into, okay, we're going to talk about it in this way

00:43:01.420 or here's how we're going to frame this message or this bill that we want to pass

00:43:07.060 or this resolution we want to bring up.

00:43:09.140 Yeah.

00:43:09.180 Yeah.

00:43:09.280 Because you know what?

00:43:11.700 I, I, you have to accept the fact that a lot of people grew up in different cultures

00:43:15.920 and, and some words that you might, some, some phraseology that you might use might not

00:43:21.040 make any sense to other people.

00:43:22.540 Like if I say, yeah, well, I mean, it's really just, you know, basically the width of a

00:43:25.720 hauler.

00:43:26.320 Yeah.

00:43:26.660 You know, I, it's like, what's he talking about?

00:43:28.380 People who grew up in the mountains know exactly what I'm talking about, but people, you

00:43:30.600 know, flatlanders are people who live on the beach.

00:43:32.260 They're like, what the heck is it?

00:43:33.120 What is he yelling?

00:43:34.200 What is a hauler?

00:43:34.940 Right.

00:43:35.340 And so, you know, it's great to have a, so I have a, you know, I've got my legislative

00:43:38.760 department, which is made up of about five people.

00:43:40.480 I've got my communicators department, which is made up of about three.

00:43:43.860 And then, and that's a large communication department, by the way.

00:43:46.460 Most people normally have one.

00:43:47.780 Is that your decision or?

00:43:49.780 That was my decision.

00:43:50.460 Okay.

00:43:50.800 Got it.

00:43:51.120 Mainly because I believe that we are in a cultural war right now for our country.

00:43:54.800 And if we are not as tactical and aggressive as we can be on the offense, then we allow

00:44:00.900 the other side to control the narrative completely.

00:44:03.480 And so that's why we boosted it to three people.

00:44:05.920 And then, um, but you know, fortunately we're able to compensate that because most people

00:44:10.080 have two front desk assistants.

00:44:11.500 We actually have an unlimited list of interns who are willing to work for us.

00:44:14.920 So it's great.

00:44:15.260 So we were able to, to, you know, compensate or fix our, fix that deficiency we had when

00:44:21.520 only having one front desk, um, one front desk worker by having a lot of interns. 0.97

00:44:26.040 Got it.

00:44:26.860 And so we have that strong cons department, but again, you know, I want to run things by

00:44:32.280 people and I, everyone in my staff has the right to question my decisions.

00:44:35.860 So you can, and I, I can normally always, you know, if they question, I can normally defend

00:44:39.720 it perfectly, but sometimes I'm like, you should be able to, right?

00:44:41.800 Wow.

00:44:42.120 That is a fantastic point you just made.

00:44:44.260 And so that's why we have our communication department, because we want to have a strategy

00:44:47.100 in everything we do.

00:44:48.060 A lot of people you'll find up here that just kind of get off and they'll just start spouting

00:44:51.100 off the mouth.

00:44:51.780 And the next thing you know, I've got some great debaters on my, on my staff.

00:44:55.520 And so we will sit there and be like, okay, if we were to attack this position, how would

00:44:58.540 we do it?

00:44:59.120 Right.

00:44:59.520 And then, so we never want to, you know, put ourselves in a, in a, in a corner where it

00:45:02.940 says, oh, wow, if they take it, you know, they, they could bring up this fallacy.

00:45:06.100 Then all of a sudden they were cornered and we're dead.

00:45:08.120 And so there is a communication department.

00:45:09.880 Um, I'm not somebody who, I don't necessarily use, um, focus groups.

00:45:14.260 Cause a lot of, a lot of politicians are like, well, I don't want to use any words.

00:45:17.300 They haven't been ran through a focus group.

00:45:18.600 But yeah, one thing, love him or hate him.

00:45:20.180 Donald Trump, you know, the one thing I really enjoyed about him was that you kind of knew

00:45:24.480 what he was thinking because he just said it.

00:45:27.260 Right.

00:45:28.000 Unfiltered.

00:45:28.560 Yeah.

00:45:28.760 So I, I want to be a little bit more filtered than that, but I do want people to know what

00:45:32.260 I'm thinking and what I, how I feel.

00:45:34.240 And I think people like that authenticity.

00:45:36.200 Man, just taking a quick break from my conversation with representative Madison Cawthorne guys,

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00:46:44.960 slash iron council for now, we'll get back to it with representative Cawthorne.

00:46:48.680 Do you think with Trump that he, I mean, obviously the filter was low, if not, you know, non-existent,

00:46:56.440 but do you think that was part of his strategy and his appeal to so many people?

00:47:03.260 Oh, absolutely.

00:47:03.940 Oh yeah.

00:47:04.340 Because again, everybody's tired of these focus group politicians who are saying, yeah, well,

00:47:09.200 you know what?

00:47:09.660 I, I, I checked those messages about, um, of saying that I believe in the rights of the

00:47:15.280 unborn and it only didn't play very well.

00:47:17.960 So I'm only going to say things that are, that sounds so, it's just disingenuous.

00:47:22.840 It is disingenuous.

00:47:23.760 I'm like, dude, I don't care what the focus group said.

00:47:25.700 What do you believe?

00:47:26.700 Right.

00:47:27.120 But the problem is they don't have any beliefs.

00:47:28.600 They just want power.

00:47:29.780 I think they have beliefs.

00:47:31.180 Well, that's a good point.

00:47:32.300 What you said, they just want power and that is their value, right?

00:47:34.840 They're the values they, they hold onto is the more power I can get the better.

00:47:39.000 So I'll say and do anything that I need to do in order to accomplish that, which is to

00:47:42.720 secure more power.

00:47:43.560 Right.

00:47:44.140 But they tell themselves they're doing it for no more reasons.

00:47:46.420 Exactly.

00:47:46.800 They're telling themselves once they get to that higher level of power, like you're saying

00:47:49.560 earlier, they will then be able to help more people more quickly.

00:47:52.220 So how do you then keep that in check?

00:47:54.900 Cause one of the things that you showed me, in fact, it's right behind you.

00:47:57.100 You've got your compass.

00:47:58.000 Yes, indeed.

00:47:58.660 And you had said that, that that's to, to remind you to stay morally true, morally straight,

00:48:04.880 right?

00:48:05.040 Yep.

00:48:05.240 But how do you know you're not telling yourself things or saying things to yourself or justifying

00:48:10.300 or rationalizing to make it feel like you're being morally true, but you're actually deviating

00:48:16.580 from that?

00:48:17.140 Because I also wear a compass around my neck, um, right here.

00:48:21.800 And then I've got one tattooed on me as well.

00:48:23.720 A lot of people, a lot of my, there's a good group of people who have them either tattooed

00:48:27.160 on them or wear the compass around them as well.

00:48:29.080 And that compass resembles the fact that we have the right to call each other out on our 0.99

00:48:32.560 bullshit. 0.99

00:48:33.380 And you friends, you're saying that. 1.00

00:48:34.820 We have very close friends and they might be, they, they, they, they run the gambit,

00:48:38.820 you know, probably the oldest ones, probably in his fifties.

00:48:40.320 Hmm.

00:48:40.980 Um, but then the rest are mainly my peers, twenties, thirties.

00:48:43.880 Sure.

00:48:44.300 Um, and then we, uh, the guys that wear this compass, anybody on my inner circle, they all

00:48:48.900 have the compass.

00:48:49.600 Interesting.

00:48:50.000 They're allowed to just call me out and be like, Hey man, that doesn't make a lot of

00:48:53.040 sense.

00:48:53.220 So I always have, you know, um, my, my right hand man, we are basically ideologically aligned

00:48:59.460 on everything we do, but also another guy on my inner circle, we don't agree on absolutely

00:49:03.380 everything.

00:49:03.820 You know, we have the same, all the guys in my inner circle, we all have the same foundational

00:49:09.400 principles.

00:49:09.940 It's the ones we will never deviate from.

00:49:11.360 There's nothing that you can ever offer me that will make me say, okay, I'm turning away

00:49:14.780 from this.

00:49:15.300 Right.

00:49:15.740 Um, but the other things are all decently debatable and you, you could convince me other things.

00:49:19.300 And, and, uh, and so I have somebody on, on my, on my team who the non foundational 0.99

00:49:26.400 principles, you know, believe a little differently than we do.

00:49:28.840 And it's because I want to be called out and checked on those things because I'm a, I'm

00:49:32.640 a big fan personally.

00:49:34.580 In my mind, I can justify things that are wrong and say, Oh, you know, but it's, but

00:49:39.220 I, but you know, I'm good with semantics and little words.

00:49:41.480 Right.

00:49:41.860 I can then convince myself, but really, you know, if you look at it, if you kind of squint

00:49:45.500 and look at it from this angle, it's that six looks like a nine.

00:49:48.600 Yeah.

00:49:49.240 Um, but my friends have no, one, they have absolutely no sympathy for my wheelchair, which

00:49:56.160 is good.

00:49:57.020 That's actually what you need.

00:49:58.120 Oh, it's the best.

00:49:58.720 I bet it's refreshing too though.

00:50:00.080 Oh, it is.

00:50:00.480 Cause everywhere I go, everyone's like, you know, yeah.

00:50:03.140 And I remember I was complaining to somebody I went to the other day.

00:50:05.940 I was like, man, instead of going to Congress, I've gotten fat.

00:50:08.000 I just really haven't.

00:50:08.920 This, this one guy was like, but man, you know, for a guy in a wheelchair, you look great.

00:50:12.780 Don't, don't focus on that.

00:50:13.880 Yeah.

00:50:14.340 And then my, my, she was like, yeah, you are brother. 0.99

00:50:16.740 You look fat as hell. 0.99

00:50:18.240 You looked at yourself. 1.00

00:50:19.440 That's right.

00:50:20.480 Those are the people that you need.

00:50:21.940 You do.

00:50:22.380 You really do.

00:50:23.020 And so I think the way that you, I check myself from making those moral problems and are justifying

00:50:29.620 immorality is I have guys around me who believe stronger than I do.

00:50:35.080 Yeah.

00:50:35.400 That's a good point.

00:50:36.140 I, I tend to have the same personality where I fixate on a target.

00:50:39.440 Like, here's what I want.

00:50:40.340 I want to accomplish this and I don't care what gets in the way or what I have to do

00:50:45.220 or how I have to do it.

00:50:46.080 Exactly.

00:50:46.400 That's the target.

00:50:47.160 That's it.

00:50:47.420 And so I need the checks and the balances in place to say, no, no, we're not going to

00:50:51.660 go down that route.

00:50:52.360 We're not going to do this thing.

00:50:54.060 What's the, uh, what's the hardest thing about being here for you?

00:50:57.020 Is it, is there certain procedures or rules or is it, you know, just, just the dealing

00:51:02.380 with other people?

00:51:03.040 Like, what is the most challenging thing about being here in DC for you?

00:51:06.240 Most challenging thing is the disappointment.

00:51:08.980 Disappointment?

00:51:09.460 Yeah.

00:51:09.680 You know what?

00:51:11.340 When I came up here, I genuinely believe that all 435 members of Congress would gather

00:51:16.820 on the house floor.

00:51:17.800 Nancy Pelosi would bring up, because she's speaker of the house, would then bring up an

00:51:20.620 issue that we were going to be voting on.

00:51:22.580 And then I would deal with the best orators, the best debaters from the other side.

00:51:26.500 They would come and vehemently debate against me.

00:51:28.520 And we would have this, this battle of ideas and we would get to sharpen one another.

00:51:32.120 But then you can sit back and say, man, you know, I really disagree with that person.

00:51:35.920 They're kind of a borderline socialist, but that one aspect of their argument made a lot

00:51:39.820 of sense.

00:51:40.160 If we could add that one aspect to this guy's argument and put those together, then we'd

00:51:43.600 really have something we could all agree on.

00:51:45.560 And then I figured then we'd get to the house floor and we'd vote.

00:51:47.780 But now I realize why Congress is so broken.

00:51:49.940 It's because we don't do that.

00:51:50.820 The decisions are made very far away in back rooms and-

00:51:56.280 Like handshake deal type stuff, is that what you're saying?

00:51:58.160 Handshake deals or just saying, hey, you know what?

00:52:00.160 And really the committee process is the biggest problem.

00:52:02.800 Because to get on a good committee that's where you can help your district the most,

00:52:07.220 like, you know, let's say someone from rural Colorado, they've got a lot of water issues,

00:52:10.560 they've got a lot of mining issues, things like that.

00:52:12.460 So they would like to be on the National Resources Committee.

00:52:14.900 But there is the leadership of both parties commands all the committee process.

00:52:20.240 So saying, hey, you know what?

00:52:21.860 I know you don't believe in this, but if you actually vote for it, then that, I'll remember

00:52:25.860 that when we pick committees next session.

00:52:27.600 And then everyone's like, oh yeah, I got to do that.

00:52:30.480 And they'll shake hands.

00:52:31.200 And so-

00:52:31.540 Right.

00:52:31.600 That's that justification I was talking about.

00:52:33.100 That's exactly it.

00:52:34.080 And, but that's, but unfortunately that's not what happens.

00:52:36.820 So if you ever see me on the house floor debating, you see things, they pan the cameras

00:52:41.440 in so close.

00:52:42.160 And I figured out it's probably very purposeful that they do this because they don't want

00:52:45.160 to show you the whole thing because there's probably six people on the floor.

00:52:46.880 And you can see that a little bit because I've watched your stuff.

00:52:49.260 I've watched other people's stuff and I'm like, there's like, there's two people in

00:52:52.340 there.

00:52:52.620 There's 20 empty chairs.

00:52:54.740 I mean, that's extreme social distancing or nobody's there.

00:52:58.340 Yeah.

00:52:58.560 And so it's really depressing about that.

00:53:00.800 And I, I believe that, you know, we should all be on the house floor together and we should

00:53:04.700 be debating, not making decisions way away on handshake deals, just saying, oh, whatever

00:53:08.740 leadership needs, I'll do it.

00:53:10.140 Right.

00:53:10.240 Now I'll tell you my party, we actually have some really good leadership right now, but

00:53:13.320 I, I'm just talking about the previously the establishment here in Washington to see

00:53:18.680 kind of how it works.

00:53:19.360 But I'll tell you, actually, I'm very pleased with our current set of leadership.

00:53:22.820 They're actually doing a great job and they're, they're actually listening to the voice of

00:53:26.100 the people.

00:53:26.400 And I don't think that normally happens.

00:53:28.140 And so I'm very, very pleased with that.

00:53:30.000 What, so what is it specifically?

00:53:31.760 Cause I think it would be easy to say that.

00:53:33.380 And I'm trying to see it from, I mean, you and I know each other personally, right?

00:53:36.540 So we have a better relationship than just some, some random person or somebody even

00:53:40.280 listening.

00:53:41.020 And I think what somebody would say is, well, yeah, you have to say that because that's

00:53:45.280 your leadership.

00:53:46.340 Right.

00:53:46.780 So what are the things that they are doing that make you say that?

00:53:49.620 So number one, um, I believe that as our party is getting my party, I'm a Republican as we're

00:53:57.660 getting more and more conservative in our beliefs and, and narrowly focused or in condensed

00:54:04.280 around that idea.

00:54:05.220 Do you think that's happening in the, in the American people?

00:54:08.080 I absolutely do.

00:54:08.920 I see a shift in the American people.

00:54:11.480 I agree.

00:54:12.220 Yes.

00:54:12.580 But I see a shift even politically on the conservative side of the aisle that is, has

00:54:17.380 moved the Overton window from these traditional conservative values to migrating more towards

00:54:24.960 the center and even left.

00:54:26.920 Yes.

00:54:27.340 And so this, I believe our people are becoming more and more conservative, but I believe for

00:54:32.160 whatever reason, the establishment national party is becoming more centrist, which I don't

00:54:36.960 understand.

00:54:37.360 And that's, then that's what I'm referring to.

00:54:38.560 Yes.

00:54:38.820 And so that, you know, there's the, the Republican national committee, the RNC, that there's all

00:54:43.240 these different things that make up the national party.

00:54:45.560 And I, for whatever reason, they're becoming more centrist as the, as the people, I believe

00:54:49.340 are becoming more conservative and crying out for more just actual leadership.

00:54:53.200 You know, Hey, don't, don't just tell me, you know, what, like, tell me what you're

00:54:56.380 doing, lead me, tell me what I can do to fix this.

00:54:59.340 I don't like the direction our country's going.

00:55:00.820 That's what I'm finding.

00:55:01.920 And I'll tell you, although that's what kind of is going on with the national party,

00:55:04.700 I will tell you here in Congress, the, the person we currently have as leading us

00:55:09.300 in our whip and, um, you know, probably the fourth and fifth.

00:55:11.960 What is whip?

00:55:12.440 What is that?

00:55:13.100 Whip.

00:55:13.360 So, I mean, literally think about it, every whip in Congress is literally given an actual

00:55:17.040 whip and they keep hanging out on their thing.

00:55:18.500 So you're supposed to whip the votes.

00:55:20.200 And so they, they are responsible for going out and executing the party's vision and being

00:55:25.240 like, I don't know why you're not voting for this.

00:55:27.160 And I'm going to either give you a carrot or a whip to do so. 1.00

00:55:30.500 Got it.

00:55:31.100 And so that's a, uh, that's, that, that's what a whip is. 0.98

00:55:34.100 And they're probably second command.

00:55:35.340 And then as you go down the line, you'll see that because it's actually a popular election

00:55:40.460 up here, once you win your election back home, you have to come up here, go straight

00:55:43.000 into another election among all your peers.

00:55:45.620 I'm like, we have about 209.

00:55:47.040 Okay.

00:55:47.420 Here in Congress.

00:55:47.940 I have 209 people I have to, that you have to convince to vote for you to be leader.

00:55:51.460 And right now, a lot of conservative politicians, well over 51% of them were elected, uh, under

00:55:57.060 our previous president, uh, with, uh, at the top of the ticket.

00:55:59.820 And so they're very conservative, very populous minded, very people oriented.

00:56:03.280 Right.

00:56:03.720 And I'll tell you, I think our, our leadership in our party has actually taken note of that. 0.99

00:56:07.980 Unlike a lot of the national party has, and they're kicking ass, man. 0.61

00:56:11.080 I actually enjoy our messaging battles. 0.87

00:56:14.260 It's great.

00:56:14.720 The reason why I think you're seeing a, such a good coalesced message from my side of the

00:56:18.480 aisle in here is because the messaging is on point with what most members believe.

00:56:22.200 And so we're actually capable of all of it.

00:56:23.880 Yeah.

00:56:24.040 I can get behind that.

00:56:24.660 Let's go do it.

00:56:26.020 I'm actually, I'm just really glad to see guys like yourself doing it, stepping up and

00:56:30.240 speaking up because I've heard for so long, this concept of the silent majority.

00:56:33.740 And there's even people who tell me, it's like, ah, there, there's going to be a bunch

00:56:37.280 of people who don't like this, this particular podcast because we're talking about politics

00:56:41.020 because I'm talking to you.

00:56:42.180 And it's like, I'm sick of playing the silent majority game that, you know, it's, or that's

00:56:46.360 what everybody's talked about.

00:56:47.860 And they say things like, Oh, well, once the silent majority wakes up, I'm like, well,

00:56:51.020 wake up, wake up.

00:56:52.440 Like, what are we waiting for?

00:56:54.660 $29 trillion in debt.

00:56:55.740 Our children are going to have to pay unbelievable amounts of taxes.

00:56:58.340 Well, and even, I mean, even if you wanted to talk about the debt thing, like that's on both

00:57:01.700 sides of the aisle.

00:57:02.360 Every side of the aisle, spend, spend, spend, spend.

00:57:04.820 That's not your money to spend.

00:57:06.520 It's not.

00:57:07.040 And it doesn't seem like, like, uh, the people here are understand and realize that and acting

00:57:12.500 accordingly.

00:57:13.160 Right.

00:57:14.080 It's a very frustrating thing.

00:57:15.260 It's incredibly frustrating.

00:57:16.200 And you know, to those people who say that they are, would get upset about this podcast

00:57:20.080 because one, we're focusing on politics when we're talking about, you're talking to me

00:57:23.080 and those kinds of things is I would say, you know what?

00:57:28.260 This, you just got to get over that.

00:57:29.860 People just need to get over it.

00:57:31.060 And we, people don't like talking about politics because it's hard.

00:57:33.720 People don't like talking about politics because it requires a lot of critical thinking.

00:57:36.760 And we might be on different sides of the aisle and people might not agree with every

00:57:40.080 position I take.

00:57:41.260 But you know what?

00:57:42.000 I, I think that people who do podcasts and everything, I go on podcasts on the other side

00:57:46.540 of the aisle, all kinds of things.

00:57:47.800 Because I just think, I want to get my message out as much as I can because I believe in my

00:57:51.140 message.

00:57:51.520 I generally do.

00:57:52.140 Um, but you know what?

00:57:54.220 It's just, it's a, it's based on values.

00:57:56.200 And I think what we need to do is come back around values, not, don't get so caught up

00:58:00.700 in incremental GDP increases at the end of the year or get so caught up in corporate

00:58:04.320 tax price.

00:58:05.140 Let's focus on dining room politics. 0.95

00:58:06.800 I mean, you've got four young kids.

00:58:08.320 Yeah.

00:58:08.760 Let's focus on making their life better.

00:58:10.680 And what, what, what are you guys talking about at the dining room table that can make

00:58:13.860 your life better?

00:58:14.400 And so that I'll focus so much on dining room politics.

00:58:17.200 I think most people would say, including myself, the thing that a politician can do to make

00:58:21.180 my life better is to stay out of it.

00:58:22.980 Boom.

00:58:23.540 Boom.

00:58:24.140 And this, okay, this is actually kind of what I would.

00:58:25.980 So where's the balance?

00:58:27.140 Well, one more thing about, this is what I genuinely believe.

00:58:31.300 When they say politicians, I hope they're talking about federal politicians, because we

00:58:35.100 do need to stay out of your life.

00:58:36.600 We should be focused on war. 1.00

00:58:37.980 We should be focused on trade.

00:58:39.140 We should be focused on infrastructure.

00:58:40.540 We should be focused on the new right powers in the constitution.

00:58:42.560 Not all these three-letter agencies who are telling you what to do in your life.

00:58:45.940 I'm telling you, we should peel all that back.

00:58:47.600 Or our governor should become so kick-ass like Rhonda Sanders and say, I don't care about 1.00

00:58:51.040 what your tyranny wants to be.

00:58:52.660 I don't care about your federal thing.

00:58:53.860 My state doesn't believe that.

00:58:55.120 So get that out of here. 0.99

00:58:55.700 Which is how it was, how it was established and how it should be.

00:58:59.700 Exactly.

00:59:00.240 And so to the people that are, to your podcast, you're like, oh, you know, I don't like the

00:59:04.160 fact that you're talking to him, whatever, blah, blah.

00:59:06.100 Just know that I'm trying to become incredibly unimportant in your life.

00:59:08.760 I'm trying to make our power here in Congress so limited that you don't even care what I

00:59:13.940 think.

00:59:14.620 That my opinion just doesn't matter that much.

00:59:16.820 So that's, I believe you when you say that.

00:59:18.820 I'll preface with that.

00:59:20.380 But that is also a conflict of interest with your job.

00:59:23.640 It is.

00:59:24.440 So how do you balance that?

00:59:25.640 So one of our number one things that we're going to be doing is voting.

00:59:29.380 We will be putting a term limits bill on the House floor before I leave Congress.

00:59:33.140 Has that, what's the farthest a bill like that has gone?

00:59:36.760 They all died right on the floor, dead on arrival.

00:59:39.040 I mean, why would anybody vote themselves out of office?

00:59:40.860 Exactly.

00:59:41.400 So we will be putting that on the House floor.

00:59:44.560 And like you said, it's a conflict of interest.

00:59:47.920 And I think it's probably 12 years or six terms in Congress.

00:59:52.560 And when we put that on the House floor, I'm actually going to say to the people that I'm

00:59:58.600 making this promise to, I'm not going to be helping you so much.

01:00:02.120 It's not really going to make your and I lives better that much, Ryan.

01:00:04.500 It really isn't.

01:00:05.100 But what is actually going to change is the lives of our children.

01:00:09.780 Because I think the only way to get people to vote for that is if you grandfather everyone

01:00:12.920 who's already in Congress in.

01:00:14.680 To where their clock starts that next election.

01:00:17.360 They then have 12 more years.

01:00:19.180 Right.

01:00:19.560 Because the thing is, nobody's going to vote themselves out of power.

01:00:21.700 Of course.

01:00:21.920 They're too selfish.

01:00:22.660 Why would they do that?

01:00:23.260 And so I think that if we have a grandfather in clause where they then get to be, they have

01:00:27.780 another 12 years no matter if they've been here 20 or 30.

01:00:30.160 Which I hate.

01:00:32.200 I would love to make sure like, oh, hey, no more career politicians for our lives.

01:00:35.080 But it's really for our children.

01:00:36.220 Right.

01:00:36.540 It is.

01:00:38.000 How's that?

01:00:38.740 How's that?

01:00:39.320 So you said you haven't presented it yet?

01:00:41.620 No, I have not.

01:00:42.460 I need to go get some more friends elected first.

01:00:44.560 That's what I was wondering is how that process works.

01:00:47.720 What's the steps?

01:00:48.680 How it's being received?

01:00:49.720 That sort of thing.

01:00:50.240 Yeah, so I received, if we were to put this on a, if we were to put this as a, let every

01:00:56.360 American in the country vote on this, it would pass right away.

01:00:58.760 Almost 80% of Americans.

01:00:59.900 I'm sure.

01:01:00.480 Yeah, it's great.

01:01:01.060 Everyone recognizes it.

01:01:01.840 But people in Congress don't want to do it because it gets them out of their power.

01:01:04.440 And so before we endorse anyone, that's a question we will actually ask them.

01:01:07.940 And say, hey, you know what?

01:01:08.940 I will come.

01:01:09.780 I can literally make a huge difference in your election.

01:01:12.100 I will send down my weapon.

01:01:13.620 He will be there.

01:01:14.400 He will teach you how to run a ground game.

01:01:15.760 We will get your fundraising up.

01:01:16.860 We'll do whatever you need.

01:01:17.580 What's your weapon?

01:01:18.140 That's a campaign manager?

01:01:19.660 Yeah, it's Blake.

01:01:20.620 Blake, okay.

01:01:21.300 He's right across the hall.

01:01:22.800 Best friend, runs my official office, runs my campaign office, does it all.

01:01:26.660 And he's literally, I mean, you would never want him on your podcast because he's just

01:01:30.180 so robotic.

01:01:30.840 He'd be like, okay, yes, I think I gave you a sufficient amount of answers.

01:01:33.940 I'm done.

01:01:34.340 Then he's done, yeah.

01:01:35.280 I mean, he's got like a turn to you.

01:01:36.280 Do you care to elaborate?

01:01:36.900 He's like, no, that's it.

01:01:38.020 Nope, they gave you the answer already.

01:01:39.420 That's right.

01:01:41.200 Really good guy.

01:01:42.120 You can trust him literally when he says something that is the word and that is the truth.

01:01:46.260 Right.

01:01:46.580 But he's like, he's very robotic and he has all the skill sets that I do not have, but

01:01:51.200 he's great at building systems, building organizations.

01:01:53.600 You know, the reason we were able to win our election against a lot of career politicians

01:01:56.480 and a bunch of, you know, people who do this for a living is because we played our game

01:02:00.240 like money ball.

01:02:00.960 You know, it's, we're going to be totally out of the norm.

01:02:03.060 No one's ever ran an election like this, but.

01:02:05.140 What are some of the things you guys did differently?

01:02:07.400 So normally, you know, I need about 390,000 votes to win my election.

01:02:11.020 Okay.

01:02:11.940 393.

01:02:12.960 And so instead of, because we have people come up after every speech, hey man, I'd love

01:02:18.500 to help you.

01:02:19.220 Like believe in everything you're saying.

01:02:20.320 What can I do?

01:02:21.080 If I walked up to you, you're incredible.

01:02:22.600 You're a high achieving human being.

01:02:23.940 If I said, hey man, I need 393,000 votes, you would say that.

01:02:28.280 That's great.

01:02:29.040 I mean, I got it.

01:02:30.020 I got kids.

01:02:30.540 I don't know if I can do that.

01:02:31.660 But if you came up to me and I said, okay, cool.

01:02:33.500 What neighborhood do you live in?

01:02:34.940 I'd then bring up an app that he designed.

01:02:36.840 We would then go through it.

01:02:38.020 I would say, oh, you live in Rugby Knolls.

01:02:40.680 Oh, that's a great, great neighborhood.

01:02:42.160 Cool.

01:02:42.380 I need seven votes out of that neighborhood.

01:02:43.900 Right.

01:02:44.160 Can you get seven people to say they will vote for me?

01:02:46.600 And then on election day, call them back up and make sure they've already voted.

01:02:49.480 And then you.

01:02:50.160 Manageable.

01:02:50.600 Sure.

01:02:50.980 Yeah, I know seven people in my neighborhood.

01:02:52.360 Of course.

01:02:52.920 Right.

01:02:53.200 And so we broke our election down into bite-sized pieces and to where we didn't just know our total

01:02:58.940 vote number because a lot of people that run elections, they don't even know how many 0.96

01:03:01.740 votes they need to win, which is asinine. 0.95

01:03:04.380 Yeah, that'd be the first thing. 0.96

01:03:05.700 Yeah, you would think so.

01:03:06.820 But a lot of these people, and then some of them get elected and it's like, when I first

01:03:10.720 got up here, I always thought to myself, man, how in the world did I get elected?

01:03:13.660 Praise God.

01:03:14.440 But now I look at these people, how did they get elected?

01:03:16.960 I mean, seriously.

01:03:19.100 But anyway, so when we endorse somebody, we will really back them.

01:03:23.840 And it means they're ideologically aligned.

01:03:25.160 So we'll send him down to have him teach their campaign team the plan.

01:03:29.440 Say, okay, here's, you need to get all your county maps.

01:03:31.480 I'll teach you how to highlight them all.

01:03:33.500 Right.

01:03:33.640 And then we'll teach you how to utilize a volunteer force.

01:03:36.700 This is interesting because when you're talking about presenting this bill, this term limit

01:03:40.860 bill, you're not just presenting the bill.

01:03:44.900 You're thinking about the entire game plan, which means that I need to get other people

01:03:49.400 elected who will vote for this bill.

01:03:50.980 Right.

01:03:52.140 Yes.

01:03:53.060 That's got to be the fun part.

01:03:54.580 That's the fun part.

01:03:55.560 That strategy, that game, that succeeding, allowing it to happen, seeing it work.

01:04:00.460 That's pretty cool.

01:04:00.720 So my plan is we will introduce this bill probably one term before my last term.

01:04:07.420 And then, you know, Lord willing, I get reelected and the people of Western North Carolina still

01:04:10.820 love me.

01:04:12.480 Hopefully, right?

01:04:13.080 They could change their mind.

01:04:14.140 That's totally fine.

01:04:14.740 That's their prerogative.

01:04:15.540 But my plan is right before I plan to spend my last term, I will introduce it one term

01:04:20.340 before that because then I don't expect it to pass that first time.

01:04:24.780 Hopefully, I will have gotten a good contingent of about 50 people elected by then who will

01:04:28.220 believe in it.

01:04:29.120 And then the people who voted against it, I will remember their name and I will go to 0.93

01:04:32.480 your district and I will beat you.

01:04:34.680 And then, I think that's what it's going to have to come down to.

01:04:37.720 But we will unfold.

01:04:38.620 I hope it doesn't because right now, term limits make the most sense.

01:04:41.320 We need term limits on politicians and bureaucrats. 1.00

01:04:43.440 Sure.

01:04:43.880 People shouldn't be able to spend their whole lives here.

01:04:45.140 But anyways, when you're saying bureaucrats, you're saying non-elected type.

01:04:49.180 Non-elected into these humans who just are not elected.

01:04:52.820 And it's almost impossible to fire a bureaucrat.

01:04:55.320 They're so strongly unionized.

01:04:57.180 I mean, once you fire somebody, they have to have the ability to go, I apologize if I

01:05:01.380 have to check the floor.

01:05:02.180 Yeah.

01:05:03.780 Okay, we're good.

01:05:04.600 You're okay?

01:05:05.240 Yep.

01:05:05.520 Good to go.

01:05:06.720 Once these people get hired, I mean, if you wanted to fire one of them, then they say

01:05:10.920 they have to go see a specialist.

01:05:12.560 And if they said, oh, you know what?

01:05:13.800 My father actually yelled at me when I was eight years old.

01:05:15.460 Oh, they suffered a childhood trauma.

01:05:17.840 We have to take that into account.

01:05:18.980 So you're actually discriminating against people who have faced trauma.

01:05:21.540 So, you know, you're a bigot and they get to the floor.

01:05:24.260 Yeah, of course.

01:05:24.840 Yeah.

01:05:25.080 And it's awful.

01:05:26.220 It's impossible to fire.

01:05:27.400 Now, Blake is a political appointee.

01:05:29.260 People in congressional offices, the reason they work so hard is because they're political

01:05:32.000 appointees.

01:05:32.400 I can fire them with no recourse, no reason.

01:05:33.980 Sure.

01:05:34.340 They serve the pleasure of the office.

01:05:36.080 Yeah.

01:05:36.380 And your voters trust that you'll make the best decisions.

01:05:43.180 Exactly.

01:05:43.580 And if they feel like you won't, then you won't have a job yet.

01:05:46.400 Exactly.

01:05:46.880 Yes, yes.

01:05:47.200 That's right.

01:05:47.820 Yeah.

01:05:48.100 And so, but really, you know, I genuinely believe the whole thing is to send the power

01:05:52.860 back to the states.

01:05:53.960 You know, I think we should have 50 incredibly robust and different states where some things

01:05:58.960 are illegal in some states where others aren't.

01:06:01.420 And so then you can choose where you want to live.

01:06:03.160 And that's the beauty that's, that is more available than any other time in history.

01:06:09.520 Right.

01:06:09.900 I'm talking about being able to move from California to Maine to Maine to Texas, Texas

01:06:13.460 to North Carolina, whatever.

01:06:14.600 We've got the infrastructure.

01:06:15.520 You can literally drive there.

01:06:16.860 And I think actually COVID has enlightened us quite a bit as to, oh, you mean I don't

01:06:22.080 need to drive into the city every day and commute four hours a day to get to this job

01:06:28.380 that I hate.

01:06:29.000 And people are realizing this is one of the silver linings of the reaction to COVID is

01:06:33.100 that people have realized, oh, there's a different way to live that isn't so miserable.

01:06:40.320 Exactly.

01:06:41.120 I know.

01:06:41.340 I totally completely agree with that because a lot of these people live inside of these

01:06:44.720 cities because they feel like they need you for work.

01:06:46.320 But I promise if you live outside the city, you own your own land, you bring your own land

01:06:50.060 up.

01:06:50.260 You will feel so much more spiritually wealthy.

01:06:52.980 Yeah.

01:06:53.480 Yeah.

01:06:53.720 So what's next for you?

01:06:55.120 I know if you're able to pass what you want to pass, you won't be here forever.

01:06:59.900 So what would be next for you?

01:07:01.560 What would be the path?

01:07:02.960 You know what?

01:07:03.440 I would, gosh, there's so many different things.

01:07:06.120 I've just got so many years ahead.

01:07:08.660 Love to just raise my family, enjoy that.

01:07:10.660 I want to get income taxes out, federal income taxes gone and turn it on Congress and I'm done

01:07:15.700 here.

01:07:15.920 Federal income tax completely eliminated?

01:07:18.040 Yes.

01:07:18.300 And so what would be, now look, this is going to be a whole other two hour conversation.

01:07:23.060 I haven't heard you say this.

01:07:24.660 So what, what's the path?

01:07:27.580 A path for that is just that you're taxed enough already.

01:07:30.020 I mean, literally you're taxed when you make money, you're taxed when you want to spend

01:07:32.980 that money.

01:07:33.400 Then you're taxed when you want to keep the things that you bought that you've already

01:07:35.520 taxed on.

01:07:36.240 And then when you die, you're taxed on that again.

01:07:38.380 It's insane.

01:07:39.260 Yeah.

01:07:39.400 Um, and so I think we just need to completely oversimplify our tax system to where basically

01:07:44.320 you just spend a significant amount of money on, uh, the tax would be higher on consumption.

01:07:49.680 Right.

01:07:49.840 So, you know, you buy a tax type, sales tax, property taxes.

01:07:52.400 Okay.

01:07:52.900 Um, but then you don't have to pay taxes on your income and that, I think that would make

01:07:57.240 everything so much easier.

01:07:58.520 Hmm.

01:07:59.360 Interesting.

01:07:59.960 Yeah.

01:08:00.220 And because I'm really, I mean, you know, I believe it was about the 14th or the 18th

01:08:03.900 amendment to the constitution that allowed Congress to start taxing your income because

01:08:07.860 that was never supposed to be a thing.

01:08:09.060 Right.

01:08:09.400 Because really your, your money is your money and you should only, I think that, you know,

01:08:13.960 then we should tax people if they would like to use our infrastructure and the markets that

01:08:17.880 we have built and the systems that we've built for you to be able to buy things.

01:08:20.260 Then yeah, you pay tax to keep everything up, keep provide for the military, but the money

01:08:24.180 that you make is not the government's.

01:08:25.880 Hmm.

01:08:26.480 I mean, I agree.

01:08:27.400 Of course.

01:08:28.040 Yeah.

01:08:28.360 Yeah.

01:08:29.020 How's, uh, how's married life?

01:08:31.060 Wow.

01:08:31.480 That's relatively new.

01:08:32.400 So I'll tell you being a good member of Congress and being a good husband, it's hard line to walk.

01:08:36.560 I imagine.

01:08:37.380 My wife is tough as nails. 1.00

01:08:38.640 Literally she's, her skin is so much thicker than mine.

01:08:41.060 She's gotta be.

01:08:41.740 She's just a bad-ass, super, super attractive, super smart, super funny, most like fun down 1.00

01:08:47.840 to earth woman I've ever met.

01:08:49.120 And she's so fun to hang out with.

01:08:50.600 How does, uh, how does she deal with the personal attacks and vitriol towards you? 0.99

01:08:56.540 Well, she gets so much angrier than I do.

01:09:00.500 I mean, she, she'll just chew somebody out to their face. 1.00

01:09:03.780 I'll be on anyone.

01:09:05.180 They can believe what they want.

01:09:06.780 They have, they have a constitutional right to redress the government.

01:09:09.240 It's okay.

01:09:09.940 But yeah, but the personal attacks against me, I mean, she, she gets more upset about it.

01:09:12.940 And then, you know, the, the classic attacks we always get, you know, you know, oh, you're

01:09:17.140 a racist, blah, blah, blah.

01:09:17.920 She'll be like, I'm Hispanic and Haitian. 0.94

01:09:19.460 What are you talking about?

01:09:21.500 And so, but, um, but you know what?

01:09:23.360 I, I, I, I really try to insulate her from the political world.

01:09:26.540 I mean, I think I would come to fist to cuffs or whatever, force their way to try and interview

01:09:30.440 her.

01:09:31.120 Yeah.

01:09:31.280 I mean, she just, I keep press away from her.

01:09:32.960 I try to keep her out of the limelight.

01:09:33.940 She's a, uh, she's an incredible person, but I don't think she needs to suffer for my

01:09:37.640 job.

01:09:38.260 That's a good point.

01:09:39.180 I mean, I think that is part of our job as men is not, not to shield them from life,

01:09:42.820 of course, but you're the protector, you know, just supposed to stand in between them

01:09:45.920 and the chaos.

01:09:46.500 I believe that.

01:09:46.900 Yeah.

01:09:47.260 Yeah.

01:09:47.560 There's a great quote.

01:09:48.480 It's, uh, the real man gains renown by standing between his family and destruction, absorbing the blows

01:09:53.060 of fate with equanimity.

01:09:54.860 And so, as you say that.

01:09:56.080 That's phenomenal.

01:09:56.800 It's a great quote.

01:09:57.620 And so, as you say that, that's what I think, you know, you're standing there between the

01:10:01.720 media, between the attacks, between the this and the that, between them and her with equanimity,

01:10:06.760 calmness, clarity, coolness.

01:10:08.340 Wow.

01:10:08.780 That's phenomenal.

01:10:09.780 That's exact.

01:10:10.480 And imagine, I mean, you, you, you're, I'm very jealous.

01:10:13.360 I'm going to catch up soon, but you've got more kids than me. 0.67

01:10:15.460 I don't have any kids yet.

01:10:16.220 I'm very excited about that.

01:10:16.780 You're going to catch up.

01:10:17.440 You want four or more?

01:10:18.820 Oh man, I would like, I think four would be great.

01:10:20.800 Really?

01:10:21.080 Yeah.

01:10:22.320 I've, I've gotten Christina up to two.

01:10:24.440 We're still working on getting her up to three.

01:10:26.080 A little bit, a little bit to go.

01:10:27.920 Yeah.

01:10:28.100 So we're working her up on that number and then down on how long to wait for kids. 0.99

01:10:31.900 Yeah.

01:10:32.140 We were having so much fun in life.

01:10:33.340 It's just, yeah, I, we, uh, we're, we're, I mean, you know, we're still in the honeymoon

01:10:37.540 phase.

01:10:38.000 So marriage is awesome.

01:10:39.780 I love it.

01:10:40.100 I mean, obviously we're friends, but I see your stuff on, on Instagram and I just see

01:10:43.660 you live in life and it's, it's awesome.

01:10:46.200 That's great.

01:10:46.780 I'm so excited for you to see it.

01:10:48.380 Well, thanks brother.

01:10:49.120 All right, brother.

01:10:49.520 I appreciate you.

01:10:50.340 Appreciate your time.

01:10:51.060 I'm, I'm, I'm excited to see where you take things and I'm a big supporter of you.

01:10:54.160 And so, uh, just appreciate you spending time with us, but then also, uh, showing my family

01:10:58.480 around.

01:10:58.860 Hey, you've got a great family.

01:10:59.960 We sent them off a minute ago, but man, they had a ton of fun.

01:11:02.340 And I got to tell you, you know, you said you homeschool your kids and everything.

01:11:05.400 And I just, I think, I think I'm so honored to be in the same generation as your children.

01:11:11.480 And I think we should all be honored to be in the same generation as each other because

01:11:14.080 the, the world has had this unprecedented period of peace and prosperity that it's never had

01:11:19.940 before.

01:11:20.440 Yeah.

01:11:20.940 Um, but you know, a hundred years ago, 1920 started off pretty rough and got even rougher.

01:11:24.460 And so I think we may be destined for some difficult times.

01:11:27.660 Um, and I, I believe, you know, I think that I am a strong believer in God.

01:11:31.960 And so I think that we were all put here purposely for the, the time he chose us for this time.

01:11:36.520 And I think that we're going to face some dark days in the future.

01:11:38.860 And I think that, you know, it's a, uh, we're born for such a time as this.

01:11:42.280 And so to any of the young people listening to this, I'm honored to be young with you

01:11:45.500 all.

01:11:45.740 We would get to, we have many decades left to be able to make a better country, make

01:11:49.860 a better place for our families, make a better world.

01:11:51.560 And that's, I think our, our duty as men.

01:11:53.560 Definitely.

01:11:53.880 Well, it gives me hope too, for what's to come.

01:11:55.560 I mean, yeah, challenging times ahead, but we'll be able to, but challenging times create

01:11:59.280 strong men and women for sure.

01:12:01.560 Thanks brother.

01:12:02.180 Appreciate you the best.

01:12:03.560 All right, guys, there you go.

01:12:06.020 My conversation with representative Madison Cawthorne.

01:12:08.560 I hope that you enjoyed.

01:12:09.640 I know anytime we have a political discussion, there's going to be disagreement, uh, and it's

01:12:14.660 going to become contentious in some ways.

01:12:17.380 But, uh, I think it's important regardless of what side of the aisle that you sit on and

01:12:21.760 what your beliefs are and where you fall on one side and where you might fall on the

01:12:25.860 other.

01:12:26.160 It's important that we actually talk about this stuff.

01:12:28.340 So I would encourage you to follow up with me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, all

01:12:34.640 at Ryan Mickler, follow up with Madison Cawthorne and let us know what you think about not only

01:12:39.860 the conversation, but politics in general, and what we can do to ensure that we live as

01:12:44.680 free men, that we defend our rights, defend our freedoms, uh, because it's needed.

01:12:48.620 And it's very much in alignment with masculinity and manliness.

01:12:53.780 And what we need to be doing as men, which is to protect, provide, and preside.

01:12:58.680 We've been talking about that for six years.

01:13:00.540 So we need to make sure we do our part.

01:13:02.740 Even if that means we get involved to one degree or another inside the world of politics,

01:13:08.460 guys connect with Madison, connect with me.

01:13:11.620 Let us know what you think.

01:13:12.580 Also leave the ratings and reviews.

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01:13:17.480 And we need that.

01:13:18.180 This is a grassroots movement.

01:13:19.800 If you're here and you've been here for any amount of time, you know how valuable the

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01:13:29.820 tag me on socials, uh, and let people know what you're listening to and let me know what

01:13:34.360 you think about the podcast.

01:13:35.860 All right, guys, that's all I've got for today.

01:13:37.760 We'll be back tomorrow for our ask me anything until then go out there, take action and become

01:13:43.180 the man you are meant to be.

01:13:44.720 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast.

01:13:47.780 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

01:13:51.760 We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

01:13:54.880 We'll be right back to this video.

01:14:03.000 We'll be right back.

01:14:03.180 We'll be right back.

Order of Man - August 10, 2021

MADISON CAWTHORN ｜ Men, America, and Politics

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