Episode 94 - Atilla the...Huh？ DeSantis Smackdown on Crime. Supreme Court Showdown.
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Summary
Senators Collins and Murkowski oppose President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, and the restorative justice movement. Rep. Matt Gaetz pushes back against the idea that the Supreme Court should not be confirmed until after the mid-term elections.
Transcript
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Welcome to Hot Takes. I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz. Let's talk about the news. Senators
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Grassley and Gardner making news indicating that they support a vote on the president's
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nominee and that they support that vote before Election Day if the process bears out, indicating
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that Mitch McConnell is in fact doing some yeoman's work, gathering Republican support
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for his plan to continue to fill the court with President Trump's nominees with great
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success. I had the opportunity last night to chat with Tucker Carlson about Mitch McConnell,
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the dynamics in the Senate, and what we expect from our senators in confronting their constitutional
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duties. Here's that discussion. Well, there is no fervent wish provision of the Constitution and
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the argument that Democrats, socialists, and apparently Collins and Murkowski are making
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is that somehow like in the fourth quarter of a basketball game, everyone should just take a
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pause to determine who's going to be the coach next season. This is actually pretty simple, Tucker.
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We, the Republicans, have the power and we ought to use it. Is there any doubt if Democrats and
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socialists and the woke-topians controlled the presidency and the Senate, what they would do?
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They would be forcing us to accept some blue-haired, genderless warlord from the Chaz to be the next
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Supreme Court justice. But here we have Murkowski and Collins rejecting the duties that they have as
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senators. And if they do that, their voters should reject them. Trump supporters should not be taken
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for granted in Maine, Alaska, or anywhere else. And if they are unwilling to do their job and take a vote
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on who the president nominates, they should not have the privilege of continuing to serve in the
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Senate. Interesting. Nice point. Congressman Gates, congrats on the book, by the way. I appreciate
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it. Thanks, Tucker. Hey, I wrote in there how you and I stopped war with Iran a few times. People
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should check it out. I'm not taking credit. Great to see you though. Thank you. We absolutely need to
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ensure that we've got the right approach in the Senate. And it's also the case that Tucker and I did have
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a substantial impact on the United States' interactions with Iran and ensuring that we did not launch off
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into another forever war. So check it out in my book, Firebrand. Thanks for the interview, Tucker.
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No marijuana reform for you. That's the message from Democrats to the country. Listeners will recall
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last week I previewed the expectation that the MORE Act, which I am the only Republican co-sponsor of,
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was scheduled for a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. The MORE Act would
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certainly make progress in the area of marijuana reform by decriminalizing marijuana at the federal
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level. It creates the opportunity for states to develop their own medical or adult use regimes and
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for our country to operate as the founders intended, with the 50 states functioning as laboratories for
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democracy. But that is not the democracy we'll be getting as a consequence of Nancy Pelosi's leadership.
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The bill pulled from the calendar. It will not get a vote this year before the election. Behind the
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scenes, Democrats were complaining to their leadership that at a time when they hadn't made
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sufficient progress working on a deal on coronavirus or individual assistance or any number of other
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issues that they did not want to be taking a vote on marijuana reform. This is my frustration with
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Washington, D.C. We should be able to chew gum and walk at the same time. This is a big, complex country
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with a number of challenges. And we have 535 people that serve here in the Congress. And if we utilized
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people's talents better, then we would be able to make incremental progress on issues like cannabis
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reform and the environment while at the same time meeting the acute needs of the day. And in this
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case, that's economic recovery and coronavirus. I also think a dynamic playing into their decision
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to pull the bill is the lack of robust support for cannabis reform from Joe Biden. Does anyone really
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believe that during a Biden presidency, we're going to do more to advance the cause of cannabis reform
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than we did during the Obama presidency? I sure don't think so. Joe Biden hasn't led on the issue.
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He hasn't spoken about the issue. He certainly hasn't animated young voters around the issue of
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marijuana reform. And so it may be the case that Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to take a position
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more progressive than Joe Biden, showcasing the fact that, you know, he really doesn't motivate or
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move or inspire a lot of the Democratic base. He's trying to harness anti-Trump sentiment for that
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energy, but he is not a fountainhead for that energy himself. So it's disappointing to me to see
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the Moore Act pulled. I think it deserved a vote. And frankly, the States Act is far preferable anyway,
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as we've discussed, because it does a lot of the decriminalization and federalism work without
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layering in elements of restorative justice, which are divisive among members of the Congress, when
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in reality, the cause of marijuana reform isn't divisive. It's something that most of the country
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agrees on. And I look forward to the day when the Congress can actually take up and pass reforms
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that are supported by a vast majority of our fellow Americans.
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I discussed the Democrats' decision to change course on cannabis reform on Cheddar TV. Take a listen.
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I think the federal government has lied to the people of this country about marijuana for a generation,
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but we're just getting breaking news that the vote that we thought we were going to have on the Moore Act
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to decriminalize marijuana federally is in fact not going to happen. Democrats are pulling that from
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consideration. We're hearing that's because Joe Biden does not have a view on cannabis reform that is
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sufficiently progressive, and it might put his campaign in a difficult position if Joe Biden
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himself was not supporting the work that Democrats were working with me on in the Congress to ensure
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that we didn't incarcerate another generation of Americans over marijuana offenses and that we allow
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research so that marijuana can be used as a tool to potentially unlock cures for people who are
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suffering. But it's just really disappointing to me as someone who's worked across the aisle
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on cannabis reform to see Democrats abandon the effort to walk off the field and say,
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ah, this is just something we'll deal with after the election. Whether it's the Supreme Court or
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whether it's marijuana reform, what's so hard about just doing our job? Showing up to work,
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doing our job, and then letting the voters judge us in the election. When we step away from these tough
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choices, I think that we do more to undermine the credibility of this place than the Democrats
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Add some fun with Dr. Sebastian Gorka, former national security advisor to the president
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on the Salem radio networks. Take a listen to that discussion.
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You know, I also understand, you know, the brilliance of being outside of the system when you have the
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brilliance of Black Lives Matter and that movement and what it has done to force change.
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Congressman Gates, is Black Lives Matter brilliant?
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Well, but no. But before we get to that, did Kamala Harris literally say she understands what
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it's like being outside the system? Kamala Harris moved up in California politics because she was
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dating Willie Brown. I mean, like that, you know, and like what she is a straight up machine candidate.
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That is essentially how she moved up, became the state attorney general and then ran for the United
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States Senate. So I'm not entirely sure that Kamala Harris is here to lecture any of us on what life
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is like outside the system. I would also suggest that the Black Lives Matter movement is explicitly
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Marxist. I think that is on the opposite end of the spectrum than brilliant because every time
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that's been tried as a governing philosophy, it has failed. I think that America is pretty great and
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I'm ready to fight for. And I think that the president is going to go out there and rally an American
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electorate that will believe in this country and that, of course, will strive to be a more perfect
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union. But we're not going to just settle into the despair of Joe Biden's basement thinking that
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somehow we've got something to apologize for because we love America and we're willing to
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work hard to protect and improve her. And it's true that Kamala Harris got her start in California
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politics on the arm of Willie Brown. That was sort of the thruple situation that he was in with his
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wife and his girlfriends and everybody was kind of cool that it seems at the time.
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And that's not to diminish Kamala Harris's public service, but it is to explain that
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she is no outsider to the system. You see, the way machine candidates work is that
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they are recruited and groomed and then given the opportunity to serve in, you know, boards and
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commissions. And then ultimately, they are backed financially and politically by the operations
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that put them in in other positions in public life. And machine politics is very alive and
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well in the Democratic Party in California. Kamala Harris benefited from machine politics and she's
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very much an insider's insider and an ambitious one at that. You'll recall her saying that it would be
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the Harris administration with Joe Biden, kind of Joe Biden tagging along with the radical left and
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the woke topians. And my concern is that we really could lose the country. And Joe Biden might not
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even notice a given his current alertness, or I should say, perhaps lack thereof. So not hating on
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Kamala for who she's dated, but it certainly explains her entry into politics and the mechanisms through
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which she was supported throughout her career in California. America's law and order governor,
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Ron DeSantis of Florida, my good friend was also on the Tucker Carlson program last night. He discussed
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bold new legislative ideas to deter and confront the mob violence that we see on our streets for the
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protection of our businesses and our citizens. Take a listen to the governor.
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A number of things. I mean, you mentioned increased penalties for people who are involved in these
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violent demonstrations, and that includes things like toppling statutes, blocking roadways. We also
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have a provision that says any municipality that defunds the police, which is just an insane policy. It's
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like cutting off your nose to spite your face. If you do that, the state government's going to defund you.
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We're not going to be sending you money if you're doing things like that. We also are concerned
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about watching Minnesota, what happened in Minneapolis, where the mayor just abdicated
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responsibility, had the police stand back. That gave these folks the ability to run amok. If that
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happens in Florida, we're waving sovereign immunity. You can sue the local government for damages for
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anything that happens to you. And then, as you mentioned, with just letting people out, we revoke bail if
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you're arrested for one of these offenses. And then once you make your first appearance, the presumption is you don't get bail beyond
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that. Because what happens in Oregon, they go in, they get their mug shot taken, and then they're right
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back on the street doing the same thing. Well, how is that a deterrent?
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An explosive piece of investigative reporting from Joe Hoft at the Gateway Pundit, FBI agent who uncovered
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Weiner's laptop with Hillary's emails, says FBI leadership told him to erase all of his findings.
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And the story is of John Robertson. He was an FBI agent who investigated crimes against children.
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He stumbled upon Hillary Clinton's emails on Huma Abedin's laptop as a consequence of
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the investigation into Anthony Weiner and the stuff he was doing over the internet. And it appears that the
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institutional response of the FBI leadership did not adhere to the high standards of that institution.
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And the lack of responsiveness to the acquisition of these emails, and then ultimately their desire to
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not have them unearthed and moved into the public square is certainly what Mr. Robertson complains
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about. I continue to be deeply concerned about politics at the FBI. I do not believe that Christopher
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Wray has done a sufficient job cleaning out that agency, draining the swamp over at the FBI headquarters.
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And I'm hopeful that this type of reporting shows how deep and how insidious some of the bias that
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the FBI has become. That's not to say that there aren't great agents out around the country doing
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great work on a variety of issues. But we deserve a law enforcement elite agency in this country that is
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willing to investigate crimes and bring prosecutions, not one that is political headhunting.
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And you see that, I think, reflected in the bias against President Trump, but also in the bias in favor of
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Hillary Clinton and the desire to see her win the election. And when you start to have the investigators
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believing that the ends justify the means, then you lose the type of confidence that America needs in agencies like the
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FBI. So we hope they do better. But in order to really achieve that reform, we've got to get the
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truth out. That's why the work that John Durham's doing is so important. And that's why whistleblowers,
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real whistleblowers like Mr. Robertson need to keep coming forward and telling us where the bodies are buried.
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The Department of Justice has designated New York City, Seattle and Portland as anarchist jurisdictions.
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The New York Post has the story. And it is appropriate, in my opinion, for the Department of Justice to take
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this position because mechanically, it allows us to deprive funding to those places that would allow it to be
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squandered. I mean, why would we spend money from the U.S. taxpayer to build up and improve cities when
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the local leadership of those cities won't even protect their residents and their property and
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federal property from the violent mob? And it's not that they don't have the capability to protect
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people or property. It's that they don't have the gumption and the political will. Because in places like
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Portland and New York, you've got local leadership that's more interested in embracing the mob than
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confronting the mob. And the result is a diminished quality of life for citizens, eroding safety
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conditions, and now potentially less federal investment in these communities. If you want to take
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pride in where you live, if you want people from other parts of the country to help you build up your
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community, then don't allow people to tear it down and burn it down. Don't have your local
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prosecutors suggesting that if someone's engaged in a protest crime, that you're all of a sudden not
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going to be interested in prosecuting it. Or, you know, in Portland, you had that DA saying that if
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people engaged in assaults on police, that there would be a diminished enforcement of our laws in dealing
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with those people. So I think it's a right decision by the Department of Justice. I think these
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anarchist jurisdictions need to clean their act up. And if they don't, don't expect the rest of us to
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be sending money your way. NBC News has the story, suspect arrested for allegedly sending
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rice in tainted letter to the White House. The suspect was described as a woman who was taken into
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custody trying to enter the United States from Canada in the Ontario area. A federal official
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is quoted as saying, and apparently this woman sent these rice in letters, not only to the White
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House, but to federal prisons as well. It's unclear where they were sent from. They were intercepted.
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And it appeared that at least one of the letters was addressed to a political figure. I wonder who
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that might've been. This is a developing story and we'll continue to check back, but it reinforces,
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I think, the worst of our engagement with politics. You know, if you don't like the president or a
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public official or a governor or a congressman, go vote against them. You know, don't send in
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ricin-laced letters that can harm our staff and our families and constituents that may be around
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getting service. I think that's not the right approach, obviously. I hope this lady faces the full
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consequence for her actions. And it's unclear whether she's an American citizen or not, but
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it's quite something that you'd have such a negative view of our country and our president
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that you would try to poison the White House while at the same time trying to break into our country
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seems to suggest to me this remains the greatest country in the world. In my personal opinion,
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we've got a pretty great president too. Sometimes political advertisements can just be downright
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strange. And rather than getting into the politics of horse race analysis, it does seem to tell us
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something about our government and the way our leaders communicate with us when their ads are so
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reductive and weird. There's a competitive U.S. Senate race going on in Georgia right now. And
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in that race, you have a unique dynamic where on the November ballot, there is a Democrat running,
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but there are also two Republicans running. And it's expected that the Democrat will make the
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runoff. And then one of those two Republicans, the current incumbent U.S. Senator who was appointed
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by the governor, Kelly Loeffler, against a U.S. Representative, Doug Collins, who I serve with and
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who was the Republican lead on the Judiciary Committee during our successful defense of the
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president. So Collins and Loeffler are going back and forth trying to identify as the most pro-Trump,
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most pro-conservative. And that is the backdrop for this ad from Kelly Loeffler. Take a listen.
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Did you know Kelly Loeffler was ranked the most conservative senator in America?
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Yep. She's more conservative than Attila the Hun.
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Pollsters will often tell you if you have a problem with your conservative rating.
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That is, the share of voters who rate you as a conservative or a moderate or a liberal.
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And in a race like this, Loeffler and Collins are both trying to seize the conservative mantle.
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But this advertisement is proof positive that Kelly Loeffler is having a problem defining herself
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as a conservative. And so, not even like over the top, but just lacking substance and totally weird,
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this ad comes out of nowhere. And I just can't imagine being so unassured in your own performance
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and in your own views and your ability to articulate them that you would resort to this type of creepy theater.
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But such is the case in Georgia. We'll follow what happens.
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Thanks for listening to Hot Takes. I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz.
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And throughout the day, we'll be posting stories and interviews about my book that's available today
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called Firebrand, Dispatches from the Front Lines of the MAGA Revolution.
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And it certainly has been the joy of my life to participate in that revolution
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and to bring a sense of patriotism and populism and energy to Washington, D.C.
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in a time when we really need it. And it's my sense that to fully capitalize on the Trump presidency,
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we have to see it for the opportunity it is. We've got to reform our immigration laws,
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confront China, crack down on big tech, reject the cancel culture, and understand our domestic
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and geopolitics in a way that puts America and the American people first. Check it out.
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Hope you like the news reports on the book. And let me know what you think in the comments section.
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We'll be back tomorrow. Hope you'll join us. We'll have more Hot Takes.