Episode 18 - Antifa Infiltrated. Employment Data Optimism. Marijuana Kills Less.
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Summary
In April, our country lost more private sector jobs than at any other month in our nation s history as a consequence of the Chinese Coronavirus. In May, the expectation is that that would continue at a pretty alarming rate. But here s the good news in context: given the broader challenges we face, we only lost 2.76 million jobs in May.
Transcript
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Welcome to Hot Takes. This is Congressman Matt Gaetz. Let's talk about the news. There's
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economic news that's being reported by CNBC regarding the extent of private sector job
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losses. The top line is that we are starting to see those numbers flatten off and we have not seen
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the same just cratering in private sector jobs that some economists were anticipating. So let's
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get into the numbers. In April, our country lost more private sector jobs than at any other month
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in our nation's history as a consequence of this Chinese coronavirus. We lost 19.6 million private
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sector jobs. And in May, the expectation is that that would continue at a pretty alarming rate.
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Economists were expecting 8.7 million private sector job losses in the month of May. But here's the,
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you know, I guess good news in context, given the broader challenges we face. We only lost 2.76
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million jobs in May. So that is way less than was originally anticipated and expected. Mark Zandi,
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one of the chief economists at Moody's, is quoted as saying in the story, obviously an awful number,
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but not as catastrophic as expected. So let's now look into where those job losses are still happening
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and maybe what it says about the path for economic recovery that our nation needs to be on. So out of
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those 2.76 million jobs that were lost, we see 1.9 million of them in the service industry. And that
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makes a lot of sense to us because still within the service industry, we've not seen rebound, rebuild
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at a snapback rate because the public health guidelines are limiting the amount of revenue
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that a lot of these, you know, restaurants and other service-oriented businesses can maintain. And
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also without having a lot of the bars open, you lose a lot of the jobs associated with that sector.
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And then there were about 800,000 jobs lost in the good producing sectors of the economy,
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in the productive sectors of the economy. Now, here's what I think about that and that breakdown.
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The service economy will come back as soon as people are able to get out, move around,
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have confidence, spend money. What I think it's a lot harder to rebuild are those jobs in
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manufacturing and production. So again, while it's really sad and challenging to deal with
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these numbers of job losses, when you really drill down into it, out of these 2.76 million jobs that
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we lost in May, I think that 1.9 million of those in the service industry may be quicker to snap back,
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which will be helpful. And then we've got to find ways within the productive sectors of our economy
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to ensure that supply chain, that workforce development, that the regulatory environment
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continues to be conducive to a rebuild and a restoration of American greatness.
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If we look back at really what got this economy going at the beginning of the Trump presidency,
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it's really, you know, I think three things. There's the confidence element, business confidence,
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consumer confidence, that there is the production element. You know, we became a nation that was
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more eager to produce energy, to produce goods, to utilize better trade policy so that we weren't
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just, you know, totally a service economy, but that we build and made things and that that made our
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economy more resilient. And I know after coronavirus, we're even more interested in building out those
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productive sectors of the economy. And then I think the third leg of the stool was really investment.
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You know, you'll remember the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created this tax amnesty for foreign capital to
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come back from overseas. And a great deal of that went into capital investment build out. And when that
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investment was made, it only supercharged the confidence that was in the economy. So those three
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major elements rolling together, consumer confidence and investor confidence driven by actual
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investment drill driven by growing sectors of production in the economy. And obviously today,
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you know, we have seen a real challenge across the board, but particularly in the area of consumer
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confidence and in the confidence that people can make the investments, make the hires and that the
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business environment and that the overall growth of America's economy will support those risks that
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businesses have to make both large and small. And so that's why I think these main numbers are really
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important. I mean, if we were thinking that we were going to lose 8.75 million jobs, and we lost 6 million
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jobs fewer than was anticipated, maybe just maybe with the strong monetary policy that the Fed has implemented,
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with the rescue package that the Congress passed, with the Paycheck Protection Program, trying to keep
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people engaged in the employment environment and atmosphere and then maybe with the sound policy
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choices that my governor in Florida and some other governors are making around the country to try to
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get the economy going again, get open again. Those things working in concert might lead to consumer
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confidence being at the front edge of this recovery cycle that we've got to get into. So we'll keep watching
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those numbers. But I think it is absolutely essential that we bring America back. And with productive
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economies, with investment, and with people getting out there and spending money again, I'm sure that we will.
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There's a new report indicating good data for medical marijuana as a potential substitute for opioids. We all know
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that opioids have savaged families and communities and workplaces all throughout our great country, and it is
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frustrating to me that far too many people in politics and in Congress think that the way that we can show how
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much we care about the pain that opioids have caused is by spending more money and measuring our inputs rather than
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the outcomes that can actually help people. And so this study is from Columbia University. It's reported by Ben Alden
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with Marijuana Moment. And the Columbia University study shows that in states where there is access to a medical
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marijuana program, we are seeing a reduction as much as 20% in the prescribing of opioids. So again, in these states where
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people can utilize medical marijuana for pain, for other ailments that they're dealing with, you can see as
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much as a 72,000 daily dose reduction in hydrocodone, a highly addictive and dangerous drug that, I mean, 72,000
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daily doses, if you can take those out of play, you really can impact the models of who's going to get
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addicted and the volume of that addiction. The study also reports a significant decrease in the
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prescribing of fentanyl. And I think the country has really become aware of how dangerous and deadly
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this fentanyl is, how people can get addicted to it, and then find out on the open street market,
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a really high potency that can kill people. And just the overdoses have been tragic to deal with. But
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one thing that frustrates me is that our own government doesn't seem to take in this data,
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and these studies with a great deal of focus or a great deal of, I think, attention. Here is one of
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the interviews that I conducted in the House Judiciary Committee with the acting head of the DEA. And it was
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very disappointing how little he knew about the evidence surrounding marijuana as a potential
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replacement, substitute, or just impacting force on the overall opioid prescription and death outcome
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data set. Let's just take the circumstance where a state has said marijuana is medicine.
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Is it your view that that adds to the substance abuse problem? It is. The Minnesota Department of
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Health had a research project with over 2,000 patients who had intractable pain
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that used medical cannabis. And those patients saw opioids prescribed at a rate 38% less than people
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who were not using medical cannabis. Do you have any basis with which to disagree with that finding,
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that those patients saw a reduction in the need for opioids when they had access to medical cannabis?
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So I'm not familiar with that study. I think there are a number of studies out there that talk when
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people are presented, whether I guess it would be with medical marijuana or with Tylenol or others,
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that there are many alternatives to opioids. So do you acknowledge then that medical marijuana
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is an alternative to opioids? No, I'm saying I don't know that study.
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Okay. What studies show that medical marijuana would increase the use of opioids?
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Are there any? I don't know. So you're the acting administrator of the DEA.
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You cannot cite a single study that indicates that medical marijuana creates a greater challenge
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with opioids. And you're unaware of the studies, including studies from the National Academy of
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Sciences, that demonstrate that medical marijuana can be an acceptable alternative to opioids. Is that
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what I'm understanding? Yes. And so we hope with this additional scientific information becoming
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available, that there will be more study and more review between the causal relationship and not just the
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overall data in terms of higher or lower prescription amounts or death rates or intubations, but really
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looking at whether or not when people utilize medical marijuana, does that make them less likely to have
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to need that prescription? And if that is true, then maybe just maybe in Congress, we should look to the
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solutions that don't cost the taxpayer more money, that don't just pour billions of dollars into treatment
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programs that are dubious in their success rate. Let's look at potentially a more natural option with
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medical marijuana that won't get people addicted to opioids in the first place.
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The beatings will apparently continue until the Woketopia is achieved. That is the message from
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corporate media, from digital media, from big tech platforms, and even at times from corporate America.
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Today, we've got news that Snapchat is the most recent digital platform seeking to disadvantage
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President Trump and the America first voices who support him. Snapchat coming out with a ruling,
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I guess, that they will no longer allow President Trump's content to spread across the platform
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as anyone else's would be allowed to do. And their basis is that President Trump has incited racial
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violence. This is ridiculous. In every speech the President has given since the Floyd death, he,
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you know, in some or in part, comes together to ask for national unity, to ask for order and safety and
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protection on our streets, and certainly to call for justice against those who perpetrated this crime
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against Mr. Floyd. But there is no reason for these tech companies to try to constrain a national
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discussion when clearly one needs to take place. But see, they don't want a real discussion. They
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don't want a real exchange of ideas. They just want to bathe in each other's wokeness. And so I stand
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against Snapchat's decision to censor the President. But sadly, I think that this is the new normal,
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and we conservatives are going to have to find a way to fight back because we can't win an argument
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if we can't make the argument. The President is doing everything he can to bring this country
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together. And if anything, it's big tech that's driving us apart. Drew Brees is apparently the
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latest to get labeled by the woke elements of society. They are demanding an apology because Drew Brees
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had the nerve to, I guess, call our country to national unity and national pride. Here are the
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comments of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I will never agree with anybody
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disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Let me just tell you what I
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see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States.
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I envision my two grandfathers who fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army
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and one in the Marine Corps, both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make
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our country and this world a better place. So Drew Brees says that we should stand for the nation,
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that we should come together and unify as a nation, that we should reject elements of division. And oh my
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gosh, the negative, just fire-breathing reaction from the left has been so disappointing
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and so impactful that actually today, Drew Brees comes out and apologizes, says he was insensitive.
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And look, I always believe that if someone thinks that they've aggrieved another, one of the easiest
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things to do is offer an apology and make people feel better and show your empathy. But I don't believe
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that Drew Brees said anything wrong. I don't think that there's anything improper about calling our
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nation to love one another and love our country. I think Drew Brees was right in suggesting that
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justice has to be done in the Floyd case. I think we all agree with that. But oh my gosh, I mean,
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what a society we're living in where when you call for national unity, the woke left makes you apologize
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for it later. That's really, you know, what this is all about for some of them, not for all of them,
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but for the crazy left-wing Antifa folks. This isn't about healing. This is about maintaining
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division and violence and chaos as long as possible. And if you stand against that chaos,
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as Drew Brees did, then you're somehow like part of the patriarchy, part of the problem. Well,
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Drew Brees has been a force for good in the New Orleans community. He's been a force for good in the NFL.
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I don't think he had anything to apologize for. And I think it's a hell of a note that the
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pressures and forces in our society would ask someone to rebuke a statement that was so patriotic
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and fair and honorable. Just today we are getting explosive reporting on the inter-workings and
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goals and ambitions of the terrorist organization Antifa. Project Veritas, our friend James O'Keefe,
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runs that organization. They actually got an insider in the Antifa organization, someone who was
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pegged to be a prospect there. That insider then collected video, collected audio recordings,
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and it's just very clear. I encourage you to check out the Project Veritas platform,
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but it's very clear that these are not folks engaged in politics. They are engaged in terrorism.
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They want to gouge eyes. They want to harm. They want to disrupt. They want clearly to make a point
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at the edge of weaponry and not at the tip of the tongue, as political speech would dictate.
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Take just a listen to some of the information that has been collected by Project Veritas on the truth
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about Antifa. I've been undercover with real city Antifa. Don't be that guy with the spiked
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brass knuckles getting photos taken of you. Police are going to be like, perfect, we can prosecute these
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. The whole goal of this, right, is to get out there and do dangerous things as safely as possible.
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And so if you look at corporate media, if you look at corporate America, if you look at big tech and
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social media, they make these Antifa folks out to be like they're some sort of freedom fighters,
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like they're, you know, rights activists. But you're not enhancing someone's rights by gouging
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out someone's eye. You're not building stronger communities by burning things to the ground.
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And that's why, as the Congressman for Florida's first congressional district,
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I will stand against Antifa, against this domestic terrorist organization.
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The mainstream media wanted to make a big deal out of the fact that DOD advisor James Miller had
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resigned from the Trump administration as a consequence of the president's desire to travel
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to the church across the street from the White House that had been burned and to hold a Bible up at
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that place of worship. What they don't want to tell you is that this is not just some bystander to
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politics. The DOD advisor's name is James Miller. He was a donor to President Obama's campaign.
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He is a donor to the Joe Biden 2020 campaign. And look, in America, people ought to be free to
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donate to whatever political cause they choose. But then when they are engaged in politics, as I am,
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as the president is, as others are, then the media should not give them like the veneer of
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impartiality when making these decisions. And so the media would have you believe that
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James Miller departed because of just some austere concern that he could no longer,
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you know, be in the administration. But the reality is, this is someone who probably is,
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you know, just looking for their shot. And if they think that shot's going to come under Biden,
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and if they think that, you know, they can help Biden in some way, well, that's just the same
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politics by different means. But if you go and check out the National Pulse, my friend Natalie
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Winters wrote up a great piece that really shows that this wasn't an act of patriotism. It was an
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act of politics for James Miller to try to make a point and resign from the Trump administration.
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My suspicion is we'll get plenty of great patriots who want to go in and fight alongside this president
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to keep our country great. Thanks so much for listening to Hot Takes with Matt Cates.
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Really appreciate it if you'd leave us a review or rating. Let us know if you like the show.