The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz - June 10, 2020


Episode 22 – Compelling Dialogue from Today's Judiciary Hearing. Police in New York Fight Back Against “Defund the Police.” Is Antifa “Misunderstood？”


Episode Stats

Length

19 minutes

Words per Minute

159.57611

Word Count

3,102

Sentence Count

198

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary

The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on police accountability. This is the first major hearing of the U.S. Congress in 4 months, and it's a must-listen episode. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GA) is the chairman of the committee and the committee's lead Republican on the Crime and Criminal Justice Subcommittee.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Hot Ticks. This is Congressman Matt Gaetz. Let's talk about the news. The news
00:00:21.420 today is that the House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on police accountability.
00:00:26.040 This is the first major hearing of the United States Congress really in four months.
00:00:31.800 Philanise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, will be providing testimony. And Angela Underwood
00:00:37.360 Jacobs, the sister of federal police officer David Underwood, who was killed in the riots,
00:00:43.660 will also be giving testimony. I'm going to break down the analysis, the arguments,
00:00:49.380 the legislative proposals that come out of this hearing in tomorrow's episode. But I want everyone
00:00:54.360 to get a real clear sense of what happened, what the key arguments were, and then we'll
00:00:59.180 break them down tomorrow. Here's the opening statement from leading Republican, Jim Jordan.
00:01:03.940 The people of this great country, you know what else they understand? You know what else
00:01:07.780 they get? They understand that there is a big difference, a big difference between peaceful
00:01:13.100 protest and rioting. There is a big difference between peaceful protest and looting. There
00:01:17.940 is a big difference between peaceful protest and violence and attacking innocent people.
00:01:22.740 And there is certainly a big difference between peaceful protest and killing police officers.
00:01:29.440 You know what else they get? You know what else the American people fully understand?
00:01:33.840 They know, as the chairman said, the vast, vast majority of law enforcement officers are responsible,
00:01:39.980 hardworking, heroic first responders. They're the officers who protect the Capitol, who protect
00:01:46.720 us every single day. They're the officers who rust into the Twin Towers on 9-11. They're the officers
00:01:51.740 in every one of our neighborhoods, in every one of our communities, every day, every night,
00:01:57.420 every shift they work, who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe.
00:02:03.220 And guess what Americans also get? Guess what else they understand? They know it is pure insanity
00:02:10.500 to defund the police. And the fact that my Democrat colleagues won't speak out against this crazy
00:02:16.280 policy is just that frightening. Think about what we've heard in the last few weeks.
00:02:24.420 We've heard the mayor of our two, the mayors of our two largest city, Mayor Garcetti, said he wants
00:02:28.100 to defund the police. The mayor of New York says he wants to defund the police. The city council in
00:02:32.820 Minneapolis, a veto-proof majority says they want to defund the police and abolish the department.
00:02:39.460 This Congress started off with the Democrats, folks on the left, saying we should abolish ICE,
00:02:43.640 then move to we should abolish the entire Department of Homeland Security. And now they're talking about
00:02:48.840 abolishing the police. This is wrong, and the American people know it's wrong. We should honor the
00:02:55.480 memory of George Floyd and work hard so that nothing like it ever happens again. And we should honor the
00:03:02.120 memory of Dave Patrick Underwood and work hard so that nothing like that ever happens again.
00:03:10.800 A week and a half ago, our mission was clearly stated. Eleven days ago in Florida, the President
00:03:16.120 of the United States clearly stated what our mission should be. President Trump said this,
00:03:23.100 I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace,
00:03:28.500 and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting tragedy to loot, rob, attack, and menace.
00:03:37.140 Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos, are the mission at hand. Well said, Mr. President.
00:03:44.700 Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos. That is our mission. The President is right, and I appreciate his leadership.
00:03:52.700 This is the House Judiciary Committee, with its storied history of defending the Constitution and the rule of law.
00:03:59.400 Let's adopt that mission. Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos. Let's work together to make America the great place,
00:04:07.560 to continue to make America the greatest nation ever.
00:04:10.600 The Republican lead on the Crime and Criminal Justice Subcommittee is my colleague Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
00:04:16.640 Here's a little bit about what he had to say.
00:04:19.000 Everyone here understands the plain and simple truth that racism in any form violates the most fundamental principles of our great nation
00:04:25.160 and the rules of our creator. The central idea of America, let's not forget, is the idea that we boldly declare,
00:04:32.560 the self-evident truth, that all men are created equal, and that they're thus endowed by God with the same inalienable rights.
00:04:39.820 Because each of us is made in the image of God, there are very serious implications that come from that.
00:04:43.820 And among them is the idea that every single person has an estimable dignity and value.
00:04:48.580 And our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin, or what zip code we live in,
00:04:52.180 or what we can contribute to society, or anything else.
00:04:54.500 Our value is inherent because it comes to us by our creator.
00:04:58.580 Any fool who condens he has some sort of natural right of supremacy over his neighbor
00:05:02.260 violates not only the foundational creed of America, but the greatest commandments of the God who made him.
00:05:08.020 And if we can ever learn to see one another as God does, I think it will solve a lot of our problems.
00:05:12.200 This unspeakable act of cruelty that America witnessed in Minneapolis has opened an important new dialogue on reform.
00:05:19.660 And while policing has always been regarded as an inherently local function,
00:05:24.480 we do agree that Congress has a key role to play in ensuring that abuses are not tolerated and can never happen again.
00:05:31.200 Justice has to be swift, and bad police officers have to be held accountable for their actions.
00:05:36.040 But at the same time, we want to be careful to recognize, as all my colleagues have this morning,
00:05:41.260 that officers like the ones involved in the death of George Floyd are not representative of the vast majority of America's law enforcement officers.
00:05:48.700 Most are faithful, self-sacrificing public servants who put their lives on the line every single day to protect and serve our communities.
00:05:57.020 We need to honor that, and we need to recognize and empower those law enforcement officers,
00:06:01.900 which is precisely the opposite of the radical, dangerous proposals we're seeing right now to defund them.
00:06:07.260 I was selected by Ranking Member Jordan to be the first Republican to ask questions of the witnesses,
00:06:14.080 and this was my exchange with the witness panel.
00:06:16.480 Mr. Chairman, if we could get the witnesses who are joining remotely to be on the screen,
00:06:20.740 so we could see them.
00:06:21.340 I have a question I would like to ask everyone, and I apologize for the crude nature in which I have to ask this,
00:06:26.400 but there's just so many witnesses.
00:06:28.180 If you believe that we should defund the police, will you please raise your hand?
00:06:36.500 Mr. ... Yes, is there anyone on the ... Okay.
00:06:40.000 So that's unifying and wonderful that here we are gathered ...
00:06:44.460 Please tell me.
00:06:45.000 Can you please tell me.
00:06:46.040 Excuse me.
00:06:46.740 I'm sorry.
00:06:47.140 I actually have a hand.
00:06:48.280 I can't answer to that question.
00:06:49.720 Well, I'm sure someone will be able to ask you that question, but I've limited time here.
00:06:53.080 I didn't see anyone raise their hand to defund the police.
00:06:55.300 I certainly didn't see any of the Republican witnesses do that.
00:06:57.580 And so I'm going to now go through and see where that sentiment may have been reflected.
00:07:03.720 Here's a tweet from two of our congressional colleagues supporting this group, Black Visions Minnesota.
00:07:09.780 And then next, please.
00:07:10.860 And then here's that group, that same group, Black Visions Minnesota, that my congressional colleagues are raising money for,
00:07:20.040 saying that we should end the police and can we go to the next one?
00:07:23.840 And then here's that same organization retweeting rebel scum, abolish the police.
00:07:29.020 And then here's the same group saying that instead of police, we need therapists, doctors, and street medics, not cops.
00:07:36.880 Mr. Bongino, in your experience, every time someone calls 911, would a therapist or a medic be sufficient?
00:07:43.620 Or sometime do people need cops?
00:07:45.960 I'm quite unclear how a medic is going to help with an armed subject who's assaulting his wife in a domestic violence situation or elsewhere.
00:07:53.320 I'm not sure how that's going to be of any value.
00:07:56.620 And here again is that same group saying that we need lasers to disorient surveillance cameras,
00:08:01.580 and we need water balloons filled with milk to throw at people.
00:08:04.420 Again, this is the organization that my congressional colleagues are raising money to support.
00:08:08.780 If we could go to the next one.
00:08:10.500 And then here again, that same organization that multiple members of Congress are supporting,
00:08:15.520 saying it's not enough to only abolish police or prisons.
00:08:19.040 We need to abolish race, abolish ICE, abolish the military, abolish the state, abolish the borders.
00:08:26.880 And again, this is what our colleagues are raising money for.
00:08:29.840 And it's not just any member of Congress.
00:08:32.500 It's actually one of our treasured colleagues on the Judiciary Committee,
00:08:36.280 the general aide from Washington, raising money for this very same organization.
00:08:40.400 Ms. Underwood Jacobs, your brother is someone who was part of this law enforcement community when he gave his life.
00:08:47.960 When you learn that my colleagues in Congress are raising money for an organization that promotes defunding the police,
00:08:55.840 destroying our borders, defunding our military, and taking apart the state altogether, how does that make you feel?
00:09:03.000 Actually, I find that conduct to be deplorable.
00:09:07.420 And we elect officials to represent everyone.
00:09:10.920 And the idea to have our communities without protection and safety is wrong.
00:09:18.180 So my response to that would be for people to get out and vote and get the right person in office
00:09:23.740 to ensure that we feel protected and our children feel protected for generations to come.
00:09:29.980 I appreciate that greatly.
00:09:31.920 Mr. Floyd, again, I appreciate your calls, not only today,
00:09:35.060 but in the direct aftermath of your brother's killing, you showed grace and care for your fellow Americans.
00:09:43.140 And I don't know if everyone is religious, but I do believe God is working through you to try to call us together.
00:09:50.020 And finally, I wanted to thank Ms. Bass for the legislation she's introduced and that constellation of ideas.
00:09:55.580 While I think that we can fine-tune elements to ensure that we don't defund the police,
00:10:00.420 that we don't make our communities less safe, I do think there is not a legitimate defense
00:10:04.800 of chokeholds or lynching or bad cops that get shuttled around.
00:10:09.160 And you will be able to count on Republican cooperation as we hone these ideas
00:10:13.720 and hopefully pass them and get them to the president's desk.
00:10:16.360 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
00:10:17.680 Phil Anise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, was here to give testimony.
00:10:22.400 Here's a sample of his testimony before the committee.
00:10:26.140 Mr. Floyd, I don't know that the cameras picked it up or saw it,
00:10:29.880 but when Angela talked about her brother dying, I saw a physical reaction from you.
00:10:35.620 I saw you lean over in your chair.
00:10:37.820 I thought I noticed your body even tremble with empathy and care for Angela and her brother, Pat, who passed away.
00:10:45.140 If you could say anything to the people who killed Pat, what would it be?
00:10:49.860 Life is precious.
00:10:52.380 Everybody should be able to live and be able to walk this earth in a journey that they want to.
00:10:57.540 Nobody should have to be filled with hatred and so much animosity that they want to kill somebody.
00:11:05.680 Dr. King said a long time ago he wanted everybody around the world to be able to join hands together.
00:11:13.040 And I think right now, if he was here right now, he would understand that the world is united right now.
00:11:21.240 And we all are coming together.
00:11:23.380 Angela Underwood Jacobs lost her brother, who was part of the federal protection force for one of our federal buildings.
00:11:31.800 He died in the riots.
00:11:33.580 Here was her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today.
00:11:36.380 I have to say that I'm heartbroken.
00:11:39.520 I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my brother either before he was killed.
00:11:47.660 I am also heartbroken for all of the other people that are in this country living every single day
00:11:54.820 and feel unsafe just to drive to the store.
00:12:00.340 I also have had the talk with my son.
00:12:03.940 My, we sit here today at somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum to a certain degree,
00:12:13.240 but yet there is so much commonality amongst both of us.
00:12:17.620 And the heartbreak and the grief is inexplainable because it's very, very hard to articulate
00:12:24.520 when your entire world has been turned upside down.
00:12:29.600 I do want to know, though, when I think about all of this, is that my brother wore a uniform,
00:12:37.000 and he wore that uniform proudly.
00:12:41.220 I'm wondering, where is the outrage for a fallen officer that also happens to be African American?
00:12:50.000 So, as I'm sitting here and I'm listening to all of you and us,
00:12:58.520 I truly hope that you take your positions, your offices, so seriously that you want to go back
00:13:07.300 and really work together and collaborate.
00:13:10.480 Because if you can't get it right, there's no hope for the rest of us.
00:13:14.500 So, when you go back and you convene and you talk through everything that's going on,
00:13:22.300 I hope that we're just not people on paper,
00:13:27.080 but the fact that you can be able to see our faces and feel our pain
00:13:32.560 and feel it enough that you want to make change for all the citizens of the United States of America.
00:13:39.480 There are police in this country who have grown very frustrated with the image
00:13:46.920 that they're somehow negative forces within our communities.
00:13:51.100 We saw the head of the New York Police Union, Mike O'Meara,
00:13:55.040 react very strongly and very forcefully to that image
00:13:58.340 that I think a lot of the media are trying to paint right now.
00:14:01.520 Here was Mr. O'Meara's very strong statement to the press
00:14:05.700 about the value that police add and their reaction to this civil unrest in our country.
00:14:10.780 Stop treating us like animals and thugs
00:14:12.800 and start treating us with some respect.
00:14:17.020 That's what we're here today to say.
00:14:19.380 We've been left out of the conversation.
00:14:22.500 We've been vilified.
00:14:26.040 It's disgusting.
00:14:27.880 It's disgusting.
00:14:28.940 Trying to make us embarrassed of our profession.
00:14:34.260 375 million interactions.
00:14:37.680 Overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly positive.
00:14:41.940 Nobody talks about all the police officers that were killed in the last week
00:14:45.300 in the United States of America, and there were a number of them.
00:14:48.400 We don't condone Minneapolis.
00:14:50.040 We roundly reject what he did as disgusting.
00:14:55.940 It's disgusting.
00:14:57.040 It's not what we do.
00:14:58.840 It's not what police officers do.
00:15:02.700 Our legislators abandoned us.
00:15:05.540 The press is vilifying us.
00:15:08.260 Well, you know what, guys?
00:15:10.080 I'm proud to be a cop.
00:15:11.680 And I'm going to continue to be proud to be a cop
00:15:14.000 until the day I retire.
00:15:16.720 And that's all I have to say.
00:15:18.140 Hearing Romero's comments, you see the passion
00:15:23.780 that animates the public service of our police officers.
00:15:27.980 But in the data, we also see how valuable they are.
00:15:31.780 Some new news coming out of the city of Los Angeles
00:15:34.080 that just in the first week in June,
00:15:37.180 they've seen a 250% increase in the homicide rate,
00:15:41.540 according to Fox News.
00:15:43.260 And all this while Mayor Eric Garcetti is saying now
00:15:46.000 we need to defund the police.
00:15:48.140 And so I'm troubled by this.
00:15:49.780 I'm troubled by the fact that the defund the police mantra
00:15:53.400 is getting more and more mainstream in Democrat politics.
00:15:57.460 And it's not just a talking point.
00:15:59.360 There is a real impact in terms of engagement
00:16:02.640 proactively from the police
00:16:04.440 and also how our citizens are impacted
00:16:08.160 from a safety standpoint.
00:16:09.780 And with the homicide rate rising in Los Angeles,
00:16:12.020 certainly not a glowing endorsement of the Garcetti approach
00:16:17.160 to demonizing those who keep us safe.
00:16:19.480 I've covered on the podcast how the Department of Justice
00:16:24.140 has labeled Antifa, a terrorist organization,
00:16:26.740 and with good reason.
00:16:28.560 They organize violent protests.
00:16:30.380 There was great reporting by Project Veritas
00:16:32.380 about how they actually go and try to teach people
00:16:36.360 how to gouge eyes out,
00:16:37.860 because eyes are, you know,
00:16:39.320 a soft space of vulnerability for people
00:16:41.640 that may be in a crowd.
00:16:42.720 But despite this designation as a terrorist group,
00:16:46.300 our own NPR, funded by taxpayers,
00:16:49.280 does this interview with Antifa member Lacey McCauley,
00:16:53.800 where they try to kind of cast them
00:16:55.580 as these misunderstood, peaceful, political refugees,
00:16:59.640 which is total nonsense.
00:17:01.460 Take a listen to just the absurdity of this interview.
00:17:04.100 McCauley, who is white,
00:17:05.400 is wearing a tight black shirt and a face covering,
00:17:08.260 but most people are now because of the pandemic.
00:17:10.100 She says people misunderstand what Antifa is.
00:17:13.820 Antifascism is more like a set of practices
00:17:16.160 and a philosophy than it is an organization.
00:17:19.800 No, actually, we don't have any kind of like
00:17:23.060 big giant hierarchy.
00:17:24.420 It comes from your heart.
00:17:25.560 It comes from your sense of justice.
00:17:27.400 But the truth about Antifa has been exposed.
00:17:31.340 And I think some of the best reporting on this
00:17:33.000 was done by Tucker Carlson tonight.
00:17:35.500 Tucker had Gabriel Nadalis on the show.
00:17:38.060 Gabriel is now working with
00:17:40.520 the nonprofit Leadership Institute,
00:17:42.240 but he was a former Antifa member.
00:17:44.760 And listen to Gabriel describe the ambitions
00:17:47.840 and goals of Antifa
00:17:49.200 and their tendency to use violence to achieve those goals.
00:17:52.320 Well, I was in Antifa when I was just 16,
00:17:54.460 so like almost 10 years ago.
00:17:56.240 And I'm telling you this.
00:17:57.840 Back then, it was just a group that went out
00:17:59.960 and go protest against what people
00:18:01.960 we thought were anti-fascists.
00:18:03.740 However, Antifa is far more violent today
00:18:06.000 than it ever was.
00:18:07.960 There's multiple professors.
00:18:09.820 To really understand Antifa,
00:18:11.100 we have to go into the college campuses.
00:18:13.400 Throughout the country,
00:18:14.840 we have a lot of different professors
00:18:16.400 who are advocating for violence.
00:18:18.240 We have Mark Bray from Dartmouth University
00:18:20.140 who wrote Antifa,
00:18:21.580 the anti-fascist handbook,
00:18:23.100 where he praises and he advocates
00:18:24.820 for political violence.
00:18:26.360 And then most recently
00:18:27.480 at the Leadership Institute Campus Reform,
00:18:29.300 we had a professor from Colorado State University
00:18:32.980 who said that she was done
00:18:35.420 talking to people on her opposition,
00:18:38.220 that she was ready to punch them in the neck.
00:18:40.220 And unfortunately,
00:18:41.100 we are seeing a resurgence
00:18:42.480 of political violence by the left.
00:18:45.260 Thanks for listening.
00:18:46.620 This has been Congressman Matt Gaetz.
00:18:48.660 Be sure to leave us a five-star review
00:18:50.440 and a comment or a suggestion
00:18:51.820 or even a criticism.
00:18:53.780 I love your hot takes
00:18:54.780 and I hope you'll be back tomorrow for mine.
00:18:56.360 We'll see you next time.