The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz - Episode 123 LIVE： Getting To Know Speaker Mike Johnson – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

00:00:00.000 Matt Gaetz, the biggest firebrand inside of the House of Representatives.

00:00:07.160 You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay, because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot

00:00:11.960 and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.

00:00:14.280 We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight. 1.00

00:00:19.860 I want to thank you, Matt Gaetz, for holding the line.

00:00:24.000 Matt Gaetz is a courageous man.

00:00:26.000 If we had hundreds of Matt Gaetz in D.C., the country turns around.

00:00:30.760 It's that simple.

00:00:31.560 He's so tough.

00:00:32.380 He's so strong.

00:00:33.600 He's smart, and he loves this country.

00:00:35.960 Matt Gaetz.

00:00:37.660 It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.

00:00:42.880 We will save America.

00:00:44.980 It's choose your fighter time.

00:00:46.760 Send in the firebrands. 1.00

00:00:54.400 Welcome back to Firebrand.

00:00:56.000 I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz.

00:00:57.120 We're broadcasting live out of room 2021 of the House Office Rayburn Building at the Capitol

00:01:01.580 Complex in Washington, D.C.

00:01:03.460 This is an exciting and special episode of Firebrand because we've got a Speaker of the House,

00:01:10.640 MAGA Mike Johnson, a brilliant constitutional scholar, a family man, a devout Christian Southern

00:01:17.580 Baptist, a fellow from Louisiana, someone I was elected to Congress alongside, someone who sits

00:01:23.400 literally next to me in the House Judiciary Committee.

00:01:25.820 We work together on the Armed Services Committee to make sure that our military is protected, that we are

00:01:31.000 strong, and that we are not overburdened by endless foreign wars without any goal or purpose or vision.

00:01:40.020 I cannot tell you how excited and vindicated I feel that Mike Johnson is the Speaker of the House right now.

00:01:47.120 I made all of you a promise when we filed the motion to vacate that we would have a Speaker of the House who was more conservative and more honest.

00:01:56.180 And we have checked those boxes thoroughly with electing Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

00:02:03.220 Such a great guy, such a great father, such a great husband.

00:02:06.260 He's got a terrific wife, Kelly Johnson.

00:02:08.440 And I want to give you a little taste first of his first remarks as House Speaker.

00:02:13.840 Here's Mike Johnson.

00:02:14.480 To my colleagues, I want to thank you all for the trust that you have instilled in me to lead us in this historic and unprecedented moment that we're in.

00:02:26.620 The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down.

00:02:32.860 Thank you all.

00:03:02.860 To restore the people's faith in this house, in this great and essential institution.

00:03:11.000 We are back live, and I have a high confidence level, and it seems based on the comments, so do you.

00:03:16.940 Rosella Jerome on Facebook saying, I love the new speaker.

00:03:21.560 We see the great Mike Johnson, a lot of America First energy.

00:03:25.600 And I would agree with our Rumble commenter who said, McCarthy looked pissed.

00:03:30.760 Yeah, I think he probably did.

00:03:32.860 We're going to get to all the things that Kevin McCarthy did to try to scuttle this moment and sabotage Mike Johnson and really all of us in just a minute.

00:03:41.840 But I want to get to the plan, because it's not just about the man, it's about the plan.

00:03:47.100 Today, hot off the presses, we get a letter from House Speaker Mike Johnson regarding the path forward for the Congress.

00:03:54.220 Go ahead and put that up on the screen for me, and I'll read you part of this message from the Speaker.

00:04:00.360 We must take action right away.

00:04:02.540 I would begin by proposing the following immediate steps concerning our unfinished appropriations bills and our schedule for the remainder of this Congress.

00:04:11.680 We all understand that our next speaker must be prepared to negotiate from a position of strength with the Democrat-controlled Senate and the White House.

00:04:20.480 The only way to secure that position is for the House to have passed all 12 of our appropriations measures.

00:04:28.680 I am confident we can work together to accomplish that objective quickly in a manner that delivers on our principled commitments to rein in wasteful spending and put our country back on a path to fiscal responsibility.

00:04:41.900 He continues with a detailed calendar description that we will do the energy and water appropriations bills this week.

00:04:50.500 We will do interior, environment, transportation, and the legislative branch next week.

00:04:55.660 We will do criminal justice thereafter.

00:04:58.920 And then in the week of November 13th, we will do the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and ag as well.

00:05:07.700 This is an actual plan centered around single-subject spending bills.

00:05:14.020 It's a plan that doesn't require us to surrender to omnibus legislation or continuing resolutions that lead to more continuing resolutions.

00:05:24.180 I had some reporters ask me, oh, well, if Mike Johnson needs some sort of bridge government funding bill, will you oust him if he needs that?

00:05:33.420 And we will not apply the exact same standard to Mike Johnson that we applied to Kevin McCarthy because Kevin McCarthy was so insincere and duplicitous about what he was doing.

00:05:46.460 Consider this.

00:05:48.180 Kevin McCarthy tried to sell us the fiction that he wanted the same thing, the single-subject spending bills.

00:05:54.460 But then he sent us home for six weeks in August when we were behind on our work.

00:05:59.120 You don't take a vacation when you're behind on your work.

00:06:03.180 Everyone knows this.

00:06:04.520 And in Mike Johnson's memo that I just detailed for you, for the month of August, he says this.

00:06:11.600 Do not break for district work period unless all 12 appropriations bills have passed the House.

00:06:17.420 So don't plan on your big vacation in the month of August next year under Mike Johnson if we have not completed the work.

00:06:24.980 Nothing could be more invigorating to our team than unity with purpose.

00:06:32.200 You've heard Republicans go on all kind of media platforms to say, oh, we just need unity. 0.94

00:06:38.620 Gates is crazy and has no plan. 0.96

00:06:41.660 This was the plan.

00:06:42.620 Give you an honest conservative speaker who will actually do the single-subject appropriations bills.

00:06:47.780 And we got our guy.

00:06:50.160 But we didn't get him without a fight.

00:06:52.280 And that's what I want to talk about now.

00:06:53.580 Let's go ahead and put up the endorsement tweet from Kevin McCarthy.

00:06:59.180 This is from former Speaker McCarthy.

00:07:01.400 At Rep. Mike Johnson is a friend, a fighter, and a principled conservative who can get the job done.

00:07:06.600 He has my full support as Speaker.

00:07:08.420 We'll keep working together to put our country first and fulfill our commitment to America.

00:07:14.220 All right.

00:07:14.540 Here's what happened.

00:07:15.200 So we're in these rounds trying to elect a speaker.

00:07:20.240 And Steve Scalise gets put up.

00:07:22.140 And McCarthy helps knife Scalise.

00:07:24.180 And then Jordan gets put up.

00:07:25.880 And McCarthy helps knife Jordan.

00:07:28.120 Then Emmer gets put up.

00:07:29.000 He can't get there.

00:07:29.880 And so Mark Molinaro, a moderate freshman Republican from New York, stands up and makes sort of an obvious but yet still out-of-the-box suggestion after Tom Emmer had withdrawn from the speaker contest yesterday.

00:07:46.340 Molinaro said, look, why don't we just take a poll to see where people stand on the guy who came in second to Emmer, who was Mike Johnson, and see if that's someone we could rally behind.

00:07:56.380 And to do that, to take that path, we needed unanimous consent from all the members.

00:08:04.320 Guess which member objected?

00:08:06.720 Kevin McCarthy.

00:08:08.140 In an emotional, eruptive outburst, I object.

00:08:12.500 We can't elect a speaker this way.

00:08:14.140 You know why Kevin McCarthy objected?

00:08:15.920 Because he hadn't quite figured out how he could scuttle and sabotage Mike Johnson.

00:08:22.780 Johnson saw it.

00:08:23.960 I saw it.

00:08:24.940 The whole conference saw it.

00:08:25.900 Then, he wasn't done.

00:08:28.220 Because as Mike was working to bring together the coalition, as he was gelling our team, McCarthy inspired a write-in campaign to get people to vote for McCarthy.

00:08:39.880 He even got 43 Republicans.

00:08:42.100 Now, they told us they were going to get 100 Republicans, 120 Republicans to write in McCarthy.

00:08:46.840 He found out that his strength has withered as he has dithered.

00:08:52.740 And McCarthy got these 43 votes.

00:08:55.080 And so, Johnson, being the total, I think, sophisticated thinker that he is, along with Steve Scalise, said,

00:09:03.980 Well, if we've got 43 people still voting for McCarthy, let's have a roll call.

00:09:08.860 Let's see if those 43 members will stand up and say they still want McCarthy back and suffer the ridicule that that would have brought down on them, rightfully.

00:09:17.620 And those 43 votes, when we went to a roll call, withered to nothing.

00:09:25.440 Not a single person voted for Kevin McCarthy publicly, even though they were willing to do it anonymously, in private, in a secret meeting.

00:09:34.460 After Mike Johnson was designated, it's typical for the speaker-designate to go out to the microphones and address the media about their plans, their vision, their prevailing in the designation election.

00:09:49.980 And Mike was the first one who said, No, I'm not leaving this room and going out in front of the cameras.

00:09:54.480 You're all going to stand here with me, and we will invite them in, and we will do this as a team, all united together.

00:10:02.840 And he began that press conference in humble and sincere prayer.

00:10:06.900 It was so touching to see this man of God with one hand on the Bible, with one hand raised, talking about how we can fulfill America's great vision together.

00:10:18.480 And it is an America-first vision.

00:10:20.280 It is a strong America vision, but it is an America-first vision, and one I definitely share.

00:10:27.920 Now, there are some who put some funny stuff on the Internet.

00:10:34.120 And, Sasha, go ahead and put up the Matt Gaetz apology form.

00:10:38.000 So, if you're listening and not watching, who was this?

00:10:40.920 What account was it?

00:10:42.680 World Mapping on Twitter puts together the Matt Gaetz apology form.

00:10:47.700 It says, Two Matt Gaetz from the American people date October 24, 2023.

00:10:52.480 Reason for behavior.

00:10:54.600 The media convinced me that a motion to vacate was a bad thing.

00:10:57.780 You could check that.

00:10:58.620 Or maybe you would check, I miss Kevin McCarthy.

00:11:01.480 Or, I was jealous of MAGA gaining power.

00:11:04.380 Or, I thought you were playing actual games.

00:11:06.960 Remember when they kept saying that on me?

00:11:08.480 Matt Gaetz is just playing games.

00:11:10.300 This is all personal.

00:11:12.140 You could also check, I don't know anything about the house.

00:11:14.260 Or, my personal favorite, you could check the box that just says, Mercury was in retrograde.

00:11:19.900 So, if that's the reason you were mad at me, we will forgive you.

00:11:23.640 Very, very funny form.

00:11:25.460 And, it's always amazing to see what the Internet will generate.

00:11:29.320 One thing that Speaker Mike Johnson has generated has been a lot of intense, rigorous oversight of some of the worst people in the United States federal government.

00:11:40.760 The clip I am about to show you is Mike Johnson questioning Attorney General Merrick Garland.

00:11:47.680 And, I say this without reservation.

00:11:51.060 What you are about to watch is the most effective questioning that any member has engaged in this Congress with any witness.

00:12:00.660 And, I do not say that lightly because I think I'm pretty good at asking tough questions of people who don't want to give honest answers.

00:12:07.380 But, there is nothing like what you're about to watch.

00:12:09.540 So, what was going on at the time, you had critical race theory sweeping across school boards and curriculum offices in public education all over the country.

00:12:19.780 And, then, Garland has to deal with the fact that his own son-in-law is making money off of critical race theory.

00:12:29.220 While, then, Garland is going after the parents who are complaining about it.

00:12:34.660 It is so epic and so good.

00:12:37.340 It is peak Mike Johnson.

00:12:38.760 Take a listen and enjoy.

00:12:39.600 Mr. Attorney General, millions of Americans are deeply concerned today that instead of addressing the most pressing issues facing our country,

00:12:50.340 we're watching the Biden-Garland Justice Department be weaponized.

00:12:54.960 That you are using your authorities now to advance far-left policies and attack Republican-led state actions and erode constitutional norms.

00:13:02.700 The most recent case in point has been brought up this morning.

00:13:05.300 Your memorandum directing the FBI and other Department of Justice officials to get involved in local school board debates.

00:13:11.940 It concerns us that it was issued just five days after the National School Board Association sent a letter to President Biden which referred to concerned parents

00:13:19.320 as the equivalent of, quote, domestic terrorists and perpetrators of hate crimes, unquote.

00:13:25.080 Given the timing of all this, your memo appears to have been motivated by politics more than any pressing federal law enforcement need.

00:13:31.760 This is concerning to us, and it's worthy of investigation.

00:13:35.300 It also concerns us that your actions may have been motivated by your family's financial stake in this issue.

00:13:41.900 Published reports show that your son-in-law co-founded a company called Panorama Education.

00:13:47.360 We now know that that company publishes and sells critical race theory and so-called anti-racism materials to schools across the country.

00:13:54.300 And it works with school districts nationwide to obtain and analyze data on students, often without parental consent.

00:14:01.660 On its website, the company brags that it's surveyed more than 13 million students in the U.S.

00:14:06.360 It's raised $76 million from powerful investors, including people like Mark Zuckerberg, just since 2017.

00:14:14.160 My first question is this.

00:14:15.980 Are you familiar with Title V of the Code of Federal Regulations, which addresses the rules of impartiality for executive branch employees and officials?

00:14:24.580 I am very familiar with it, and I want to be clear once again that there's nothing in this memorandum which has any effect on the kinds of curriculums that are taught or the ability of parents to complain about the kinds of…

00:14:41.220 I understand your position on the free speech of parents.

00:14:43.680 Wait just a minute.

00:14:45.340 The question is the thing that has concerned many of those parents that are showing up at these school board meetings, the very basis of their objection and their vigorous debate, as you mentioned earlier, is the curricula, the very curricula that your son-in-law is selling.

00:15:02.160 So to millions of Americans, I mean my constituents, I was home all weekend, I got an earful about this.

00:15:06.980 They're very concerned about that.

00:15:08.020 But subpart E of that federal regulation says an employee of the executive branch is discouraged from engaging in conduct that's likely to affect the financial interest of someone close to them.

00:15:20.120 Your son-in-law, your daughter, clearly meets that definition.

00:15:25.620 And so the question is, did you follow that regulation?

00:15:29.960 Did you have the appropriate agency ethic official look into this?

00:15:33.460 Did you seek guidance as the federal regulation requires?

00:15:36.300 This memorandum is aimed at violence and threats of violence.

00:15:40.920 I understand that, but did you seek, excuse me, did you seek ethics counsel before you issued a letter that directly relates to the financial interest of your family?

00:15:50.480 Yes or no?

00:15:51.440 This memorandum does not relate to the financial interests of anyone.

00:15:56.140 It's against…

00:15:56.700 I take that as a no.

00:15:58.420 I take that as a no.

00:15:59.560 Memorandum is against violence and threats of violence.

00:16:02.080 Will you, Mr. Attorney General, will you commit to having the appropriate ethics designate review the case and make the results public?

00:16:10.800 This memorandum is aimed at violence and threats of violence.

00:16:14.300 I understand your talking point.

00:16:15.580 You're not answering my question, Mr. Attorney General.

00:16:17.500 With all due respect, will you submit to an ethics review of this matter, yes or no?

00:16:21.180 There is no company in America or, hopefully, no law-abiding citizen in America who believes that threats of violence should not be prevented.

00:16:30.620 There are no conflicts of interest that anyone could have.

00:16:33.840 According to you, but sir, with due respect, that's the purpose of the federal regulation.

00:16:37.940 We need objective third parties to review our activities.

00:16:41.060 You don't get to make that decision yourself.

00:16:42.840 It doesn't matter.

00:16:43.440 You're the chief law enforcement of this country.

00:16:46.980 This raises questions in the minds of millions of Americans, and your impartiality is being called into question.

00:16:52.920 Why would you not submit to a simple ethics review of that?

00:16:55.780 I am exquisitely aware of the ethics requirements.

00:16:59.420 But you're not following them.

00:17:00.520 I have followed them and lived with them for the last 25 years.

00:17:03.940 Did you seek an ethics review of this or not?

00:17:06.160 I'm going to say again.

00:17:07.860 There are no conflicts of interest involved when the Justice Department…

00:17:11.440 Okay, okay, according to you, I got that.

00:17:13.680 I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you are not respecting our rules, our constitutional norms, and the federal law that directly applies to your activities.

00:17:22.840 This is a great concern.

00:17:24.240 This is why people are losing faith in our institutions.

00:17:26.680 They're losing faith in this Department of Justice.

00:17:28.620 And you and I both know, as constitutional attorneys, that if the people lose their faith in our system of justice, if they lose their faith in the idea that justice is blind, that they're not two standards,

00:17:40.360 that there's one standard of the law, and that everybody…

00:17:43.000 Time of the gentleman has expired.

00:17:44.860 Oh, the time of the gentleman has indeed not expired.

00:17:51.180 It is only getting started from the speaker's rostrum.

00:17:54.400 I will definitely miss Mike Johnson sitting next to me in the House Judiciary Committee, really leaning into the important work that needs to be done.

00:18:01.400 And there is some criticism of me still that I am getting in the way of that work.

00:18:05.560 Matrix on Getter says,

00:18:06.960 All Matt Gaetz has done is ensure that there will be no impeachment hearings and the Bidens walk.

00:18:12.500 Here's what I would ask you.

00:18:14.640 How were the impeachment hearings going under Kevin McCarthy?

00:18:19.020 Because what I saw was one impeachment hearing that began with the best Republican witness saying that he didn't believe our evidence supported impeachment.

00:18:29.100 So that's what you get with someone like Kevin McCarthy and his experience trying to guide this when the reality is with a brilliant litigator and lawyer and constitutional scholar like Mike Johnson,

00:18:43.280 you're going to see us move at, I think, a lot more effective pace and with a lot more just proficiency, proficiency that you hadn't seen under Kevin McCarthy.

00:18:55.840 So judge us by the work of the Johnson speakership, if not the reputation and the skill set that you just saw on display as he was skewering Merrick Garland.

00:19:07.040 Terry on Facebook says,

00:19:08.480 She never doubted me.

00:19:09.520 I understand we are having some technical difficulties with the Facebook stream right now.

00:19:13.240 You can always watch us on Rumble.

00:19:15.340 That's our favorite platform for viewing if Facebook is freezing up on you a little bit.

00:19:20.360 And Sydney on Facebook says,

00:19:22.860 McCarthy's pants were pulled down.

00:19:25.840 It wasn't pretty, but it had to happen.

00:19:29.480 Well, thank you for that frightening image, Sydney.

00:19:33.340 There was also great discussion during the race for House Speaker and in Speaker Johnson's speech on the floor about the border.

00:19:41.740 We have got to get the border under control because when these millions of people come into the country, it becomes unidirectional. 0.96

00:19:49.420 Not enough for going back home.

00:19:52.160 And frankly, until we get the White House, the Biden administration is able to ameliorate any effort that we put forward to try to secure the border.

00:20:01.660 But you've got to have somebody who understands the border.

00:20:04.800 Not the border between K Street and the Capitol, but the border between the United States and Mexico.

00:20:11.940 And Mike Johnson showed that in his questioning of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, who undeniably deserves censure, impeachment, ending his salary.

00:20:22.980 He deserves every consequence that the United States Congress can bring to bear.

00:20:27.720 Take a listen to Mike Johnson questioning Secretary Mayorkas.

00:20:31.520 Congressman, we don't do that.

00:20:59.940 That's not true.

00:21:00.700 That is not true.

00:21:01.940 That is not what the court has found.

00:21:03.400 This is not a Republican talking point.

00:21:05.020 This is what the documents show.

00:21:06.820 We've had people testify under oath that say, and you just defined the term, you're telling me that you don't know who determines what is false?

00:21:13.860 Congressman, what we do at CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is identify the tactics that adverse nation states use to weaponize disinformation.

00:21:28.120 Okay, what is disinformation?

00:21:29.500 What is disinformation?

00:21:30.400 Disinformation is inaccurate information.

00:21:33.460 Who determines what's inaccurate?

00:21:35.180 Who determines what's false?

00:21:36.360 Do you understand the problem here?

00:21:37.760 The reason the framers of our Constitution did not create an exception for quote-unquote false information from the First Amendment is because they didn't trust the government to determine what it is.

00:21:46.460 And you have whole committees of people in your agency trying to determine what they define as false or misinformation.

00:21:54.620 That is not true.

00:21:55.860 Then what is true?

00:21:57.020 Please enlighten us.

00:21:58.160 What we do is what we do is we disclose the tactics that adverse nation states are utilizing to weaponize this information.

00:22:05.760 No, sir.

00:22:06.160 No, sir.

00:22:06.360 No, sir.

00:22:06.960 The court found specifically it's a finding of fact that is not disputed by the government defendants, the Biden administration, your agency, the FBI, or DHS.

00:22:14.400 They determined you made you and all of your cohorts made no distinction between domestic speech and foreign speech.

00:22:22.480 So don't stand there and tell me under oath that you only focused on adversaries around the world, foreign actors.

00:22:29.140 That's not true.

00:22:32.180 We're back live.

00:22:33.320 You've never seen anything that effective from the prior speaker.

00:22:37.400 It is great to have one of our most talented members in a position to be able to engage in great leadership.

00:22:43.120 And I'll confess this to you.

00:22:44.620 Mike Johnson is a bit of a cult figure in Florida's first congressional district because as we have shared our questioning of attorneys general and FBI directors over the years,

00:22:55.780 with Mike Johnson sitting next to me, you always get the best reactions, the thoughtfulness, the engagement.

00:23:03.320 He is not only a terrific communicator and a terrific interrogator, he is a terrific listener.

00:23:10.380 Take a listen and enjoy.

00:23:14.620 We actually think that unborn life is a child and that there is a liberty interest there that is worthy of our defense and our protection

00:23:22.660 and the values that undergird the American Constitution.

00:23:26.940 I don't think that's too unreasonable.

00:23:28.280 And by the way, if you use a phrase in this committee, you should...

00:23:32.620 We are back live.

00:23:36.160 And in just moments, I'll be heading to the House floor to vote on the first legislation under Speaker Johnson

00:23:41.180 to express our support for the operations that Israel is conducting on their own behalf to root out terrorism in Gaza

00:23:49.680 and certainly defend themselves from Hezbollah in the north.

00:23:52.880 This is a land that's connected to our faith for 4,000 years.

00:23:57.440 And we will not allow the Holy Land to be overrun by terror and death and destruction and harm to innocent civilians

00:24:05.280 who have a right to live in Israel in a Jewish state in 2023.

00:24:11.900 Mike Johnson is going to be great.

00:24:13.800 I can't wait to vote for this bill.

00:24:15.240 We've got to make sure that the war in Israel and the war in Ukraine are separate and dealt with separately

00:24:21.620 and that we are able to take separate votes on those questions

00:24:25.220 because while I'm certainly open-minded to support Israel if there is an actual articulated need that they have

00:24:31.580 that's not being met by the funds we're already sending there on auto-pay,

00:24:35.720 pursuant to a memorandum of understanding,

00:24:38.880 I don't believe, I do not believe,

00:24:43.320 that the cause for Israel somehow has to carry with it 0.91

00:24:47.660 the political anchor that is tens of billions more for Ukraine.

00:24:52.460 We have sent enough to Ukraine.

00:24:55.200 We need to get out of that war in Europe. 0.90

00:24:58.200 And there's a risk here.

00:24:59.520 With us extended in Ukraine, extended in the Middle East,

00:25:03.060 that our deterrence in the Pacific Rim will be so diminished

00:25:07.060 that China would take action against Taiwan or otherwise

00:25:10.760 that they wouldn't if we weren't so overstretched.

00:25:15.520 So there'll be more on what we're dealing with around the globe soon.

00:25:20.240 There'll be more from Speaker Johnson.

00:25:22.420 There'll be more Firebrand.

00:25:23.540 Make sure that you have notifications turned on,

00:25:25.980 that you're subscribed, leave us a comment or a five-star review.

00:25:29.620 Roll the credits.

00:25:30.080 Roll the credits.

00:25:30.160 We'll see you next time.

The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz - October 25, 2023

Episode 123 LIVE： Getting To Know Speaker Mike Johnson – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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