On today's show, Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) joins Oren to discuss the recent shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, and what we can do to stop it from happening in the future. Oren also talks about President Trump's decision to declare Antifa a terrorist organization, and whether or not this is a good or bad move.
00:00:00.000Hey, everybody. How's it going? Thanks for joining me this afternoon. I've got a great stream with a great guest that I think you're really going to enjoy. Before I get started, I just want to remind you that one of the ways we keep the lights on here is subscriptions to Blaze TV. So if you'd like to support this show and what we're doing while getting access to all the great behind the scenes content and all the shows from your favorite Blaze TV hosts, make sure to head to BlazeTV.com slash Oren to get $20 off your subscription. That's BlazeTV.com slash Oren.
00:00:30.000All right, guys. Today, I have the honor of having Congressman Riley Moore of West Virginia on. We were originally going to be discussing Pat Buchanan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the legacy of Pat Buchanan. We'll get into all of that in just a moment. But Congressman Moore, so many people are obviously looking at what's happened with Charlie Kirk. Many people are worried that we will not see a strong response from the government. Everyone looks at what happened with Donald Trump and the death of Corey Compertor.
00:00:59.300We know that left-wing terrorism is a huge problem, but we do see some Republicans saying, oh, well, it's violence on both sides and we just need to cool down the temperature. But we just got an announcement from Donald Trump that Antifa will be declared a terrorist organization. Are you confident that this will mean we will see serious law and order in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's shooting?
00:01:21.520Well, and thanks for having me on. But that's absolutely what I'm calling for is I think this is a good, not just a step. It's a good first step. This is a good first step. And we need to really get to the bottom of all of this. Who is funding this? Putting Antifa on a terror list is great. I think that's a good first step.
00:01:44.660But there's a good first step. But there's a lot more that we have to do to get to the bottom, to the roots of the rot that is going on in our society on the other side of this. This, oh, there's violence on both sides. I'm not trying to hear any of that.
00:01:59.140I don't think anybody serious is trying to hear any of that right now. We have a murdered father of two. And we're talking about both sides. I'm not trying to hear any of that. I'm really not.
00:02:13.020So and I'm excited to see where this goes and excited that maybe finally we're going to get to the root of what has been eating this country alive now for the last, I'd say, a couple of decades.
00:02:30.060No, I agree. So many people, myself included, have said and Charlie Kirk said this himself. The NGOs need to get wrapped up. We need to see Antifa defeated. Obviously, there are active terror networks from the left inside the United States, well funded and well organized. They show up at these protests. They turn them into riots. They're designed to assault conservatives, to make them physically intimidated.
00:02:53.700That was clearly the attempt with the hit on Charlie Kirk to drive conservatives underground. And the thing I'm very worried about, the thing that, well, like you said, I expect the Trump administration to take serious action.
00:03:06.440But the thing that concerns me for the health of the country is the reaction from the left, not just the radical left, but many mainstream leftist voices who have come out, not just attacked Charlie Kirk, not just said that they didn't like what he said or his character, these type of things.
00:03:21.380That would already be disgusting, but we would expect that. I am now seeing major leftist personalities declare themselves members of Antifa, say that they openly support the terror network, that this is OK, and they are not hesitating.
00:03:34.820Now, we just saw Jimmy Kimmel face some social censure for this. He lost his position at ABC News due to the fact that he lied about Charlie Kirk's murder and tried to cover for violent leftist terrorists, violating, I believe, some FCC regulations.
00:03:51.140But more importantly, I think the real pressure came from different advertisers and networks affiliates who recognized that they simply did not want this language on the books.
00:04:01.060They did not want to be promoting this kind of incendiary rhetoric inside the United States.
00:04:06.480Are you happy to see that step? And do you think there needs to be a wider campaign of pushing back against these leftist commentators who are clearly labeling people fascists, labeling themselves anti-fascists, feeding in to this militant terrorist organization and its mission in the United States?
00:04:24.620Yeah, I think for us to get back to some norms which have been essentially washed away in this country, there are no norms, right?
00:04:31.820And just to be clear, on the other side of this, this isn't a political debate per se.
00:04:37.440These are revolutionaries. And on the other side, we have mainstream, mainstream personalities in the media that are fomenting the types of activities that are going on here.
00:04:49.840I mean, the amount of times any of us, including myself, I'm called a Nazi or a white supremacist or whatever it is for some type of stance or view that I've taken because I'm a Catholic and I'm talking about my faith or whatever, which for some reason equates to being a Nazi.
00:05:06.960Yeah, I mean, we've got to continue to push back on this. And to those that say, look, they're censoring free speech and this and that. He has an employment contract, to be clear.
00:05:18.940OK, and there are, I'm sure, stipulations in that contract, just like any private employment of how you're going to conduct yourself on your program.
00:05:28.660And if it doesn't align with that, that employer has that right to terminate that contract.
00:05:33.480We're not talking about somebody in the town square being prevented from voicing their crazy opinion about something.
00:05:40.500They have the right to be able to terminate. He can still talk about all this stuff if he wants to.
00:05:44.860He's just not going to do it on that program anymore.
00:05:46.800So, you know, don't forget, these are the same folks that were screaming to cancel Tucker on Fox News, which they were ultimately successful with, and now turning around and saying, oh, they're shutting down free speech in this country.
00:06:03.020No, an employer has decided that that doesn't align with their values and align with the type of program that they're trying to put out there.
00:06:10.900So I'm hoping that there's more of this. And I will say that the United States Senate now just, I think, about 15 minutes ago, voted unanimously to make, I think it's October 14th, but it's Charlie Kirk's birthday, a national day of remembrance for Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk Day.
00:06:29.280Over here in the House, I don't think it's going to be like that.
00:06:32.360We're going to vote on a resolution here related to Charlie Kirk, and I'm not sure you'll probably get a few Democrats vote for it.
00:06:41.400I'd say not the majority of them whatsoever.
00:06:44.800I happen to be on the House floor sitting right next to Lauren Boeber when she was recognized by the Speaker of the House to state her point of order, and it was, could we have a prayer for Charlie Kirk?
00:07:00.160He has just been killed. And the Democrats went ballistic, just screaming, screaming, screamed us down, and we did not have a prayer on the House floor.
00:07:10.140That's their reaction within 45 minutes of him being declared deceased. That's their reaction.
00:07:18.480So, unfortunately, I think that's where we are right now. And as a country, as folks here on the right, it is time to circle the wagons.
00:07:29.580We've got to stop the infighting. It's time to circle the wagons. It is time to put on the armor of God, to paraphrase Ephesians.
00:07:36.620And look, I'm praying for peace in this country through the victory of our faith. And that is what I'm hoping is going to happen here.
00:07:45.100But it is time to recognize this is a conflict right now in between the God-fearing and the godless.
00:07:52.700Yeah, I think that plays itself out over and over again. You know, you're right to say that the left has canceled many a person.
00:08:00.780I mean, Roseanne Barr has made the point that Michelle Obama basically called Disney to get her thrown off, even though she had a highly rated TV show.
00:08:10.180It's the same network. It's ABC in both cases. But when the left does it, it's fine.
00:08:14.360When the right does it, it's the end of free speech. Now, you pointed out there that the Democrats were unwilling to say a prayer over the family of Charlie Kirk in his name and in his honor.
00:08:26.400You know, and that was one of the most despicable things I have ever seen. It really.
00:08:31.400I was I was shocked because I was literally right there, right next to Lauren Bover when she asked.
00:08:37.380I couldn't. And we're you couldn't probably see it on the camera, but we're probably about I mean, just a few feet from the Democrats because we're on the further side of the aisle, close to their side of the aisle.
00:08:48.700And they were just leaning over, just pointing their fingers in our faces, screaming.
00:08:53.260It was truly insane. And it makes me think, you know, for so long, many of us have looked at the Republican Party and said so much of it, large swaths of it are just part of the Democratic Party.
00:09:05.760It's a uniparty. They feel the same. They vote the same on so many issues.
00:09:10.140They pick one or two that they can argue for different constituencies or different lobbying organizations.
00:09:15.400But ultimately, they have such a similar agenda that they seem to be buddy buddy after they get done with these existential debates.
00:09:22.100But I think we're seeing something very different now.
00:09:24.280I think we're seeing a new crop of Republicans who recognize that the battle for this country, that the time is drawing short and we don't have time to sit here and pleasantly try to pretend that the left is ultimately working with us.
00:09:35.760We're trying to come together with us. We need to make the allies that we can.
00:09:39.060But ultimately, there needs to be some hard-nosed politics here.
00:09:42.820There needs to be an understanding that victory and wielding power in a righteous way to restore order in the United States and protect citizens of the United States is critical.
00:09:51.440And we need to stop being, you know, cringing about this.
00:09:54.160We need to stop whining about this, clutching our pearls about abstract principles that aren't even really our own.
00:09:59.640And instead, we need to do what's right for the American people.
00:10:02.240Do you feel like that uniparty moment is starting to break apart for American politics?
00:10:08.320I do. I do, particularly after that moment we just discussed right now on the House floor.
00:10:13.340And then if we come and we go do this resolution on the House floor here, I believe it's today or tomorrow, and what plays out is what I think is going to play out, I think it's going to become pretty clear to people.
00:10:29.020Well, there's nobody on our side of the aisle, nobody in the House right now who is playing both sides of the fence on this issue.
00:10:37.760Not at all. And Charlie Kirk, in his martyrdom, has certainly actually been unifying, I would say, in that regard.
00:10:47.420It has woken people up. And you've seen it all over the country where people, and this is what Charlie did, right?
00:10:54.600He's trying to bring light to the darkness. And he's trying to speak truth and engage based on truth, based on our Constitution, based on our religious and biblical values, and not be afraid.
00:11:09.500And you've seen that from so many people. And I think that's the place that we are now as a Republican Party, at least in the House, I can say that.
00:11:17.560And I think we're going to see a lot more unification around this, because people are just, and I'm hearing it from, you know, the Freedom Caucus, to Main Street, to anywhere in between, just, this is abhorrent.
00:11:31.980I cannot believe this is the way that they're acting. And we've got to stick together and go out here and win.
00:11:38.520Yeah. And I think it's the fact that Charlie Kirk was so universally appreciated across many different factions of the Republican Party.
00:11:46.860He certainly had views that I think were different at this point than many of the mainstream congressional Republicans.
00:11:53.880He was, I think, moving more to what some people would call the new right, or however you want to describe that.
00:11:59.600But ultimately, the key is that Charlie Kirk had built friendships everywhere. He had been an effective communicator, an organizer.
00:12:07.200He was there for everyone when they needed him. He had goodwill built across the entire coalition.
00:12:13.720And so no matter how you feel about one group inside the Republican Party or the wider right wing, now, I think, is the time, as you say, for people to unify.
00:12:21.840We have a very dangerous terrorist threat inside the country. The left has been allowed to foment this.
00:12:27.280They have been allowed to infiltrate many organizations, receive large amounts of funding, continue to wield this basically one-sided political violence,
00:12:36.160privilege that they have been gifted by the system, and we have a very small window in which to affect meaningful change in this area before the country really faces some horrific consequences.
00:12:48.140So I'm with you. I think that ultimately that will be the legacy that Charlie Kirk leaves behind.
00:12:53.860The same thing that he did in life, unifying a lot of people on the right together to bring us to a place where we can protect the country and we can make it great again.
00:13:03.020Yeah, and I think one of the greatest things about Charlie Kirk, whether you believe, you know, anywhere in our party, 100 percent of what he said,
00:13:12.960it was so just fascinating to watch him argue through these different points and positions that it would suck you in.
00:13:22.020And it was hard not to. Now, I basically ascribe to everything he said. Now, not all my colleagues did, but it was hard to say, oh, well, I don't like what he said here and I don't like what he said there.
00:13:34.280So now I don't like him. He was it was impossible not to like him. And he was so gifted in that open dialogue in debate that I think it's so quintessentially American.
00:13:45.820Right. As it relates to our First Amendment that I think everybody had a lot of admiration for that.
00:13:54.060Well, and when we come back from our quick break, we're going to talk about another American that I think both of you, both you and I believe every American should have admiration for Pat Buchanan.
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00:15:02.120All right, guys, we're back with Congressman Riley Moore.
00:15:05.720Just want to remind you that today we are prerecorded.
00:15:08.280This is not a live stream, so we will not be able to take your questions after.
00:15:12.580Now, Congressman Moore, the original subject we were going to discuss was you have suggested that Pat Buchanan should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
00:15:22.800And this is so important because, you know, again, a lot of people call this the new right.
00:15:27.900In many ways, it's really the old right, I think, is that, you know, it's actually just the return of what was called the paleocons.
00:15:33.820But really, it's just the return of a truly conservative politics.
00:15:38.520One that is actually interested in conserving the people of the United States, not some abstract economic policy, not some idea of world-spanning empire, but instead of saying, what is best for the American people?
00:15:51.820And I think that's what Pat Buchanan stood for because over and over again, we see Pat Buchanan warning that our foreign adventurism, our desire to send jobs overseas in the search of profits, the idea that we would ultimately be the world's policemen or that we would open our borders to anyone and everyone who entered in and suddenly just assume they're American.
00:16:11.740And all the warnings that Pat Buchanan laid out for us have just proven to be eminently true.
00:16:16.560And he said this at a time where it was extremely unpopular.
00:16:19.520He ran against his own incumbent president to make this point.
00:16:23.160This is a guy of incredible courage and conviction, and he's still alive for us to honor him.
00:16:28.820So I am just so glad that you have introduced this idea.
00:16:32.460But can you talk about Pat Buchanan, why you think that he's important?
00:16:37.800Now, look, I was introduced to, not personally, but his politics, as a very young guy, like when I was a kid.
00:16:46.280My father was certainly interested in Pat Buchanan, some family members interested in Pat Buchanan.
00:16:52.020And so I knew this name from an early age.
00:16:56.580And, you know, I didn't, until I got older, come to appreciate, as I was starting to grow up, I mean, some of the things he wrote.
00:17:05.900And if people haven't read the book, The Death of the West, and it came out in like, I think, 2002, 23 years ago, basically all of it came true.
00:17:19.840I mean, all of the things that he had been talking about throughout his entire political career, he was basically right about them, like everything.
00:17:27.260I mean, basically everything he turned out to be true.
00:17:31.320And, you know, I hate to do this on your program, but I have to just read just one thing here real quick.
00:18:00.280It's relentless, reckless use of terms like extremist, sexist, racist, homophobe, nativist, xenophobe, fascist, and Nazi testifies to how seriously it takes the struggle and how it views those who resist.
00:18:20.200To true believers in the revolution, the right is not just wrong.
00:18:37.220And Pat Buchanan just repeatedly made critical points like the fact that ultimately we were facing an enemy that was looking to dismantle the country and make discussion impossible.
00:18:49.300And we've seen this in the most stark relief we possibly can, obviously, with the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
00:18:54.780I think one of the main things that Pat Buchanan pushed on was the idea that in order to have a constitutional republic, in order to have a system in which debate and discussion is the mode in which you do politics.
00:19:08.900You must first share a culture and an identity.
00:19:12.240And this was very dangerous for him then and is even dangerous for us to talk about now.
00:19:16.920The idea that America is not just a proposition, that we have principles, but those principles come from something.
00:19:24.400They come from a people, they come from a tradition, they come from a faith, they come from a unified belief that we hold and a unified history that we share.
00:19:33.640And that meant that Pat Buchanan understood something about immigration that I think many modern, even conservatives, do not.
00:19:40.060That, yes, illegal immigration is bad.
00:19:42.240And the fact that the Trump administration has basically brought illegal immigration down to zero is amazing.
00:19:47.320But also that legal immigration can itself be a great detriment to the United States.
00:19:53.580That that does not actually always help the country.
00:19:56.820That we have to be very selective about who we bring in and when we bring them in.
00:20:00.440And it's very clear that programs like the H-1B visa have been really abused because they're not bringing in people that we desperately need.
00:20:09.440We see them bringing in people to do jobs like drive trucks and work in hotels and all kinds of things that are not critical positions where we need some high degree of skill.
00:20:19.200But instead, we're undercutting the American worker, especially in something like trucking, which has classically been this job that men who maybe did not get into college or didn't want to go that path, they could get into this industry and still make a good living for their family.
00:20:36.100And now we're seeing it dominated by what is basically an ethnic cartel of foreigners who are coming in and taking up those jobs.
00:20:42.700Can you talk a little bit about the H-1B program and why it's so destructive to the American working class?
00:20:50.660And if not, everybody's following everything I'm doing, but I'm on the House Appropriations Committee and actually put language into the labor HHS bill in our markup that specifically requested from the Department of Labor statistics
00:21:06.960on how American workers are being displaced by the H-1B visa program.
00:21:13.500So this is something that I'm actually very interested in looking at.
00:21:17.560And I'll give you a great example that happened here in my home state of West Virginia.
00:21:21.400We're building this large steel manufacturing facility currently.
00:21:25.700I come to find out, and we have welders and pipe fitters.
00:21:30.000We have all these folks, union and non-union alike.
00:21:32.740There's plenty of people to employ in the state of West Virginia in this regard.
00:21:36.960They went out and applied for H-1B visas to bring people in from Venezuela and all over the world to just save a couple bucks on the construction of this steel facility
00:21:48.920when, at the end of the day, taxpayer money had also gone into this steel facility to help build it.
00:21:56.260It doesn't make any sense why we're doing this, and it's very simple.
00:22:01.400I mean, the H-1B visa program, I mean, say it's an accountant, right?
00:22:05.000And we've pushed everybody into college and telling them, go learn a specific type of skill in college, and you're going to be okay.
00:22:12.180You're not, because they will just find somebody in some other foreign country who has the exact same degree as you,
00:22:19.820except they're going to pay them less and bring them in on an H-1B visa program.
00:22:23.580So it is literally gutting the professional class in the United States all the way down to the trade level, which hits home for me.
00:22:33.280I started my career off as a welder myself and had done a lot of work in that traditional trade, which goes back in my family.
00:22:43.020We've been doing that for a long time.
00:22:44.200And so this H-1B visa program is the skilled worker, especially the skilled worker, are the ones that are being punished the most by this, and it's got to end.
00:22:57.220This is not right, because they're supposed to first try to search for an American that can fit that job,
00:23:04.400and then if not, then they go and look for some H-1B visa applicant who could fulfill that.