00:00:22.000He's got a new book that you should check out.
00:00:24.000Please consider supporting our program at charliekirk.com slash support.
00:00:29.000If we have impacted your life in any way, please become a monthly supporter at charliekirk.com slash support.
00:00:35.000We are doing two podcasts a day so that you have the news, information, insight that you need to be an informed citizen to help save our beautiful country at charliekirk.com slash support.
00:00:46.000Email us your questions, freedom at charliekirk.com, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:01:16.000We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
00:01:29.000Welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:01:31.000We are thrilled to be joined today by my friend and one of the only good guys in Congress, Congressman Matt Gates, author of the new book, Firebrand, Dispatches from the Front Lines of the MAGA Revolution.
00:02:16.000And also just kind of give us a little bit of an update from the front lines of the MAGA revolution.
00:02:22.000Well, I view the Trump movement as one that is not just built around a man, but that is built around a series of ideas.
00:02:31.000And so really, you know, Firebrand is the book that folks ought to read right after they read the MAGA Doctrine because together, it really identifies the policies and the style that we need to ensure that this is an enduring movement.
00:02:45.000It won't be enough for your generation and mine if we do all kind of great things during the Trump presidency, which I suspect will last an additional four years, and then we just go back to the Bushes or the Cheneys or the Romneys or the Kasichs.
00:02:58.000I think that the populist enthusiasm that we see right now in the Republican Party is the result of things like standing against endless wars, standing against the big tech tyranny that is trying to stifle debate in our country, actively opposing the cancel culture, not just self-canceling, but getting out there and identifying circumstances where people have been treated unfairly and then actually un-canceling people so that folks can make a full contribution to society.
00:03:27.000But the main thing I wanted to identify in the book is the culture of corruption in Washington, D.C. that is driven by money.
00:03:35.000I am the only Republican congressman who does not take any PAC money.
00:03:39.000And it is because after three and a half years in this place, it looks a whole lot more like prostitution than it does fundraising.
00:03:46.000It is the exchange of money for favors and benefits.
00:03:52.000They show up to these Washington fundraiser events, and I describe in the book how it happens.
00:03:57.000And literally, they go around the table telling you how much money they've brought and what they expect from you, signing on to a letter, co-sponsoring a bill, voting for something or against something in a committee.
00:04:08.000And like the first few times I went to these things, I was kind of wondering, like, is anyone here wearing a wire?
00:04:12.000Because it felt like a straight-up shakedown.
00:04:15.000The other thing is that committees are just bought and sold in Congress, and this is on both sides of the aisle.
00:04:19.000Like, if you want to be on a certain committee, there's a certain amount of money that you are expected to provide to the political apparatus of your leadership.
00:04:27.000And if you don't do that, you won't get those committees.
00:04:29.000I had to pay $75,000 to get on the Armed Services Committee from my political fund to the Paul Ryan-managed political fund at that time.
00:04:38.000And, you know, I figured, Charlie, if it was for sale, I didn't want to just pay once.
00:04:44.000That's how I also ended up on the Judiciary Committee, which is how most of the country knows about my work.
00:04:50.000Well, Congressman, can you talk about, I mean, it's just hard for me to process that.
00:04:55.000And first of all, you deserve to be completely applauded for your stance on that.
00:04:59.000And as soon as you made that announcement at CPAC, I sent you enthusiastic text messages.
00:05:04.000Guys said, this is exactly what is needed.
00:05:06.000And quite honestly, Alexandria Kaiser-Cortez, Elon Omar, Rashida Talib, when they say they don't take PAC money, it's hard to do that.
00:05:13.000Can you talk about how it's harder to raise money without kind of the corporate K-Street lobbyist revenue stream?
00:05:21.000I mean, it's easier just to go to the corporate class and say, please give me the $2,800 minimum and max out to my leadership pack, and I'll do whatever you ask on these certain committees.
00:05:31.000And what we have is this kind of fusion of the largest transnational companies that do not love our country and our government.
00:05:40.000I think we're actually flirting with fascism more than socialism, not because of President Trump, actually predated him, but it's a small select few of chosen companies that are allowed special access to the albatross of the government.
00:05:53.000Can you talk about how hard it is to not get those, not raise money that way, and also why you think more Republicans should follow your example?
00:06:03.000I think President Trump has created a dynamic in politics that doesn't prioritize money first.
00:06:10.000If you look at all of politics before President Trump, you can almost say whoever has the most money is tremendously likely to win.
00:06:17.000President Trump had less money than Hillary Clinton, but he won with message and with movement and inspiration.
00:06:23.000And so I don't raise as much money as my colleagues.
00:06:26.000I don't want to pretend as though I'm some fundraising giant.
00:06:31.000But I don't think the money is as important if you tell people what you believe and if you're clear and if you tell people the truth and if that is inspiring and motivating.
00:06:40.000And so what I've learned is that if you're active and energetic on social media, if you go on television and tell people what you believe every night, if in the committee hearings you don't play by the stiff, stodgy rules of the dad ties and the old man cologne, but you bring a little enthusiasm to the endeavor, that people will actually vote for you and support you and they will not believe the normal, hokey, 30-second political advertising that a lot of this money fuels.
00:07:09.000When people raise money in Washington, they pay one person to go get it from the pack checks.
00:07:14.000They pay another person to deposit it and manage it.
00:07:16.000They pay another person to create a television ad, and then they pay another person to actually place that television ad.
00:07:22.000So I'm just trying to cut out all the middlemen.
00:07:24.000I just go on television, I go on social media, I say what I believe, but it does result in less money.
00:07:29.000But I think that if you buy the Trump theory of the case, that this is about a macro message, making our country great, putting our people first, being joyous about it.
00:07:39.000I mean, gosh, like, you know, one thing I admire about you, Charlie, is that you could go in the lion's den and you got a smile on your face.
00:07:45.000And you always kind of give me this half grin and say it's your inner peace.
00:07:48.000But the reality is, you know, you're there for a purpose.
00:07:52.000And that sense of purpose drives people.
00:07:54.000It drives our president and it should drive more of our political leaders.
00:07:58.000Like, we deserve in the greatest country in the world, politicians who are bold enough to make the tough choices and to define an agenda.
00:08:06.000And then we need a media that is honest enough to objectively report it.
00:08:10.000And instead, we get the perverse opposite.
00:08:12.000We get a bunch of limp-wristed politicians who are just too afraid to take a stand on anything.
00:08:18.000We see that particularly in the Senate.
00:08:20.000And then we've got a media class that doesn't want to objectively report on what's happening.
00:08:26.000They want to cause things to happen with advocacy journalism like you see at CNN and other places.
00:08:31.000That's why I wrote the enemy of the people chapter in my book about the president's correct perceptions of the media today and the negative impact that so many of them have on our country.
00:08:44.000So, Matt, can you also just build out how you think the Republican Party in the future needs to take no more lobbyist money, no more PAC money?
00:08:52.000I've said this for quite some time: that whatever party demonstrates to working people that they no longer represent the biggest companies and the lobbying firms will be richly rewarded by the voters.
00:09:03.000I tell people all the time, people say, Charlie, what's the number one issue in our country?
00:09:10.000I say, all those things are really important.
00:09:12.000But the bumbling frustration under all of them that fueled the populist rise of President Trump and the failed populist rise of Bernie Sanders, but still a pretty admirable rise, is that people felt as if their government was bought and paid for by the rich, few, and the well-connected.
00:09:28.000I've seen the same sort of system that you describe.
00:09:30.000And some of your colleagues in Congress are really good people, but they've been there so long and they just go through the motions and they take the PAC money and then they're actually handcuffed.
00:09:40.000They're suffocated from saying the right things, from challenging the war machine, from saying we should break up big tech companies, from saying that we should close our borders because there's all these competing revenue flows and this favor exchange that really prevents them from doing the right thing.
00:09:58.000I actually think Bernie Sanders, despite him being a Bolshevik and all these sorts of things, I think he got this part right, where he said that the campaign finance issue, and I think his policy prescription was awful, but the campaign finance issue is really one of the reasons why we still have a million people coming into our country every single year, why our tech companies act as pseudo-governments in our country, why we still are occupying like a failed empire halfway across the world.
00:10:25.000It's because our leaders are bought and paid for by these transnational corporations.
00:10:31.000Matt, can you tell us if any Republicans are following your example?
00:12:20.000I catfished those PACs out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, my first term and a half.
00:12:25.000And after I just felt sick and I thought, I just can't do this anymore.
00:12:29.000And that's why I made a different decision to liberate myself from it.
00:12:32.000But I understand my colleagues who they've taken hundreds of thousands, some millions from these PACs.
00:12:37.000And then how do they turn around and say, well, this was a corrupt, bad system that I've been a part of?
00:12:46.000Computer systems in cars are the new normal.
00:12:48.000From electronically controlled transmissions to touchscreen displays to dozens of sensors, but you can't fix any of these new features yourself.
00:12:55.000So when something breaks, it could cost a fortune.
00:12:58.000And now is not the time for expensive repairs.
00:13:03.000Car Shield has affordable protection plans that can save you thousands for a covered repair, including computers, GPS, electronics, and more.
00:13:11.000The people at CarShield understand payment flexibility is an absolute must.
00:13:14.000Monthly plans can be customized to your needs with rates as low as $99 a month.
00:13:19.000There's no long-term contracts or commitments, and CarShield gives you options others won't.
00:13:24.000You get to choose your favorite mechanic or dealership to do the work, and CarShield takes care of the rest.
00:13:29.000They also offer complimentary 24-7 roadside assistance and a rental car while yours is being fixed.
00:13:34.000CarShield has helped over 1 million customers.
00:13:36.000So drive with confidence knowing you got coverage from America's number one auto protection company.
00:13:40.000For as low as $99 a month, you can protect yourself from surprises and save thousands for a covered repair.
00:13:46.000Call 800CAR60000 and mention the code Kirk.
00:13:49.000That's 800CAR6000 or visit carshield.com and use the code Kirk to save 10%.
00:13:55.000That's CarShield.com code Kirk, a deductible may apply.
00:14:02.000Matt, this is why nothing gets done, though.
00:14:04.000This is why the people are so angry at the political class.
00:14:08.000And what I love most about you is that you're actually living it out.
00:14:11.000You're not just saying, oh, we need to stop taking PAC money through this bill.
00:14:15.000You're actually doing it, and you should continue to demand all your colleagues.
00:14:19.000And also, Matt, can you talk about how foreign countries are able to engage financially with lobbying firms on K Street?
00:14:28.000The lobbying firms then take the money from those foreign countries, some of them being Islamic theocratic fascist dictatorships, and then they're able to directly contribute to candidates' campaign packs.
00:14:39.000All it is is just a laundering scheme.
00:14:41.000There's no, it's just a little bit off the top, right?
00:14:43.000So for your trouble, how is it any different than that foreign government giving it directly to Congressman A?
00:14:49.000And then we wonder why our country has not been the forefront of focus in Congress.
00:14:56.000I mean, and you've probably seen this firsthand, Matt, where you're like, wait a second, you're a lobbyist and you represent what country?
00:15:12.000And, you know, the one thing we can say about all foreign countries, whether they're our friends or our enemies, is that ain't a one of them putting America first, right?
00:15:19.000They're there to put their own countries first.
00:15:21.000And you've exactly described the system.
00:15:23.000We talk about the money laundering with the cartels.
00:15:25.000There's more money laundering on K Street than any cartel ever dreamed of because these foreign companies, like you say, and by the way, the numbers you quote are not out of range.
00:15:37.000And then those lobbyists get to keep a good amount of that, but they're expected to deploy the rest of them to buy influence for their clients.
00:15:58.000So I talk about Senator David Vitter, a Republican, who, when he was in the Senate, fought hard against China, against their human rights abuses.
00:16:07.000But then, when he was no longer a senator and he was able to become a lobbyist, and I think he was hurt in his race for governor because he got caught up in a prostitution scandal as the John.
00:16:18.000But then he comes out and says, Oh, well, you know, now I think these Chinese companies should get special permission.
00:16:24.000And he lobbied the Commerce Department to help them get their counterfeit products into the United States.
00:16:28.000So it turns out Senator Vitter is a lot more dangerous as the trick than as the John, because as the trick, he's actually undermining America and working at the behest of people who hate us.
00:16:40.000And like, by the way, it's never like the fire brands who end up going and working for these foreign governments.
00:16:45.000It's always like the establishment types, like the people that you look at and say, oh, well, they were viewed as a good person, a committee chairman or a subcommittee chairman.
00:16:54.000You know, it's not the people from the freedom caucus that go engage in that behavior.
00:17:01.000If you're currently in Congress and the job you want after Congress is whoring out to some foreign country or some multinational corporation, you start behaving that way.
00:17:11.000You start to show them your utility as their valet.
00:17:14.000And, you know, I think that our politics too often has been dominated by this theory that one party is going to save you and the other party's out to get you.
00:17:21.000The reality in D.C. too often is that both parties are partying on your dime.
00:17:28.000And so I, you know, and by the way, the new influence peddler in this game is big tech.
00:17:33.000You know, we talk about telecom, the military-industrial complex, those are the institutional actors.
00:17:39.000But big tech has multiple lobbyists for every member of Congress.
00:17:43.000And their new thing that they do is they go and hire the spouses and family members of powerful members of Congress in exchange for influence.
00:17:52.000I mean, Chuck Schumer's daughter works for Facebook.
00:17:55.000You tell me how we're ever going to get a good regulation on Section 230, the Communication Decency Act, to liberate the free speech interests of Americans if you've got one of the most powerful people in the Congress having their family members work for the people that we're supposed to be holding accountable.
00:18:39.000So you are free to be able to do what is the right thing for your constituents.
00:18:43.000There's the second group of people that are not concerned at all, and they're also purchased by big tech.
00:18:48.000And then there's the third group of people, and that's you, where you're not purchased by big tech and you actually want to do something about it.
00:18:53.000But what's really interesting is that the Republicans use the same excuse.
00:19:04.000And they say, we don't want to do any, you know, we want to have innovation, all this sort of stuff.
00:19:07.000And what's really interesting is that all of the ecosystem that gives them the supposed white paper support is financed by big tech.
00:19:18.000The biggest think tanks in Washington, D.C. receive seven-figure wires from these international pseudo-government Silicon Valley tyrannical companies.
00:19:27.000And what's really funny is that these tech companies, they don't believe in Milton Friedman.
00:20:21.000Well, step one, beware of the false prophets on the Republican side who give lip service to the issue, but then actually don't want to do anything about it.
00:20:30.000And then support those of us who are actually trying to do what you said and bring a multifaceted approach to this conflict.
00:20:37.000Because if we just try one thing, if we just try legislating, we'll hit our head against the wall.
00:20:41.000If we just try the Federal Elections Commission or the FCC, those are staggered terms, so it takes a while.
00:20:46.000So my advice to the Trump administration, and I know you've given advice to the Trump administration on this too, is that we have to have a multi-pronged attack on those who would deprive us of the ability to freely communicate.
00:20:57.000So you got folks like Josh Hawley, my good friend in the Senate, who is sincere about bringing that to bear.
00:21:02.000But then on the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Ambassador Nikki Haley, someone who a lot of folks think is going to run for president in 2024.
00:21:10.000And she's out there publicly giving a cat bath to big tech.
00:21:14.000She tweets that, oh, you know, well, we shouldn't allow censorship of conservatives, but we can't possibly regulate big tech because that would put too many lawyers and bureaucrats in charge of things.
00:21:27.000That is the type of talk from somebody who is sucking up to big tech, not somebody who is actually fighting big tech and bringing the creativity to bear that it's going to take to try to create equity and just a platform that is neutral for people to be able to engage.
00:21:45.000Recently, there was a Breitbart story about this where even Facebook executives and content moderators are confessing, well, the reason we have to clamp down so hard on right-wing populism is because it is so popular.
00:21:58.000Because nothing drives more engagement, particularly on Facebook, than people talking about the MAGA doctrine issue set.
00:22:06.000You know, ending endless wars, ensuring that we re-domesticate manufacturing, that we become the party of working people.
00:22:14.000And because that's so popular, they go out of their way to suppress it even more.
00:22:18.000So I would say to those who are listening to this podcast and around the country and around the conservative movement, let's actually back the real fighters, people like Josh Hawley.
00:22:28.000I would say Senator Ted Cruz would be on that list, myself, and let's also be aware of those like Nikki Haley, who would just as soon be a valet for big tech than a competent adversary.
00:22:38.000I think there's three issues, and they're not exclusive when it comes to big tech.
00:22:42.000It's the censorship issue, it's the monopolization issue, and it's the addiction issue.
00:22:47.000And I think that all three of those must be handled.
00:22:51.000And so some people say they focus on the addiction issue.
00:22:55.000This is what that new movie, Social Dilemma, heavily focuses on.
00:23:00.000I actually think they did a really good job.
00:23:01.000I don't know if you've seen it or not yet, Matt.
00:23:03.000I deleted Netflix after they became a pedophile channel, but I got somebody else's login and I saw it.
00:23:12.000And it was probably the best 75% of a documentary I've ever seen criticizing any sort of company.
00:23:18.000I mean, they really thought about how they did it.
00:23:20.000The last 25% of the film was not really great, but they didn't talk about once in the entire film dissident voices, dissident voices, I put in quotes, you know, people like you and I that believe in our country being censored, being shut up, being demonetized, digital assassinations.
00:23:38.000And they mentioned very little, just a very simple question.
00:23:43.000Why should Google be worth $1.3 trillion in their market cap?
00:23:49.000I understand that they have a really great search capacity.
00:23:51.000They might be laying some fiber down driverless cars.
00:23:55.000But in the landscape of rewarding value, is computer processing and having a better algorithm really where we want all of the capital flows in our country to be rewarding?
00:24:07.000And we've had a hardware crisis of innovation the last couple decades where planes go almost the same speed, cars go marginally faster, yet computers are 1 trillion percent more efficient.
00:24:18.000And what I'm afraid that we're doing is that we are rewarding these companies with hard-earned middle-class dollars that are migrating from building physical infrastructure and much-needed hardware advancements to a small select people of, first of all, they all hate our country.
00:24:34.000They've all been educated at the universities that do not share our worldview, and they have so much power and wealth.
00:24:40.000Can you just talk about this just strictly from an economic monopolization standpoint?
00:24:44.000Because we as conservatives, we just like run away.
00:24:46.000Like, oh, no, no company can ever be too big.
00:24:48.000I'm like, no, actually, it can be too big.
00:24:50.000Yeah, I mean, you know, I don't blame any business person who wants to be a monopoly.
00:24:56.000All businesses should strive to be a monopoly, but statesmen should strive to bust them up when they aren't serving the interests of our country.
00:25:05.000And that's what's happening right now with big tech.
00:25:07.000Monopolies aren't just bad for America.
00:25:10.000Over time, they actually become bad for the monopoly as well, because as you described, innovation is eroded, costs go up, and there's a lethargy that results from that.
00:25:21.000Look back, look at the last big breakup.
00:25:23.000I mean, when Bell broke up, what was the result?
00:25:26.000More innovation, lower cost, more consumer access.
00:25:30.000And so I think that we can benefit from these actions.
00:26:18.000And that's because people have been out there trying to beat one another, provide services that the other did not.
00:26:23.000I mean, the reason there's an LG phone, the reason there's a Samsung phone is because first there was an iPhone.
00:26:28.000And if folks just had one particular communications vehicle or communications provider or telecom provider, you would not have had that opportunity for different options, different features, and more Americans working in that sector.
00:26:42.000So I think that there are very few people that would want to go back to the days of Bell.
00:26:46.000I think most of us would doubt whether or not Bell would have produced us the smartphone and some of the things that a lot of Americans, frankly, enjoy right now.
00:26:54.000But look, I mean, where I think that that person may be right when they speak to you is that we've got to do a better job telling the story to Americans about how this impacts their lives, right?
00:27:05.000When this is just like an esoteric intellectual discussion where, you know, we talk about, you know, monopolies and the other side talks about markets, it can get lost on the average person.
00:27:16.000And the reason, you know, we're currently losing that debate and we've got to do more, when you survey the average American, survey the American people and say, do you trust Amazon to do the right thing?
00:28:04.000Bambi, spelled B-A-M-B-E-E, was created specifically for small business.
00:28:09.000You can get a dedicated HR manager, craft HR policy, and maintain your compliance all for just $99 a month.
00:28:15.000With Bambi, you can change HR from your biggest liability to your biggest strength.
00:28:20.000Your dedicated HR manager is available by phone, email, or real-time chat from onboarding and terminations that customize your policy to fit your business.
00:28:27.000And they help you manage your employees day-to-day all for just $99 a month.
00:28:31.000Month to month, there's no hidden fees cancel anytime.
00:28:34.000You didn't start your business because you wanted to spend time on HR compliance.
00:28:45.000Spelled bam to the B-E-E dot com slash Kirk.
00:28:53.000The favorability of Amazon is probably as high as it is because they all get their packages sent to them on time and they see some sort of value created, unlike Congress.
00:29:02.000And Amazon generally does what they say they're going to do.
00:29:05.000What they don't understand, though, is how Amazon has created a multi-dimensional economic empire that has no interest in middle-class workers in domesticating manufacturing, in allowing free and equal voices.
00:29:22.000And Amazon Web Services is basically taking over the entire cloud computing landscape.
00:29:29.000And Amazon's just one of the examples.
00:29:31.000I think that we cannot become too broad in our indictment of big tech.
00:29:35.000I think you need to find an enemy, isolate it, personalize it, polarize it, and defeat it.
00:30:02.000And then what will happen is the other companies will actually join you in that critique and criticism.
00:30:07.000And in some ways, you can actually disrupt the landscape.
00:30:10.000I think Google is more dangerous than all the other tech companies combined.
00:30:13.000You might not agree with me on that, but based on what I've seen.
00:30:16.000So please tell us what your thoughts on that.
00:30:18.000So the reason what you've described, the reason that's hard is because when we see Twitter labeling the president, shadow banning myself, Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, when we see Facebook taking content about coronavirus offline just because the Facebook moderators have determined that you shouldn't be able to decide the truth or falsity of that statement, it enrages us.
00:30:40.000And we want to point to that and say this is wrong.
00:30:42.000But Google is the biggest problem because it is the aggregator, essentially, the publisher, the distributor of most of the content that is consumed based on their dominance in search.
00:30:53.000And so they can define who Charlie Kirk or Matt Gates are based on the first page of our Google search results.
00:31:01.000Because if someone meets you, they're interested in your ideas.
00:31:03.000Likely one of the first things they're going to do is Google you.
00:31:05.000And so, you know, you could have the most glowing reviews, the best things written about you from widely distributed publications that millions of people have seen, but they'll go find that like tiny little left-wing magazine from nowhere, Illinois, and then say, aha, like this is the number one thing that people have to read about Charlie Kirk, and it is a distorted view.
00:31:28.000It's why when we had all of the major big tech, the big four tech CEOs before the House Antitrust Subcommittee in Judiciary, I spent most of my time questioning Sundar Pachai, the CEO of the United States.
00:31:42.000One scene, one image that I just found was particularly noteworthy.
00:31:45.000After Donald Trump wins the 2016 election, they all have a meeting in Sundar's office, the senior leadership of Google.
00:31:52.000And the main topic of the meeting is what did we do wrong to allow Donald Trump to win?
00:31:59.000And what can we do next time to ensure that he doesn't?
00:32:02.000And why that's revealing is because it shows the low view that they have of democracy and the American people.
00:32:08.000They don't think that this is a country where the people should get to vote and choose their leaders.
00:32:13.000They think that they are the social, intellectual, technical elite, and that the people should only see what they want them to see and that they should really be making the decisions.
00:32:22.000And so if the people disagree with their big tech overlords, that's not democracy working.
00:32:27.000That's the overlords not using enough of their power.
00:32:30.000And so now, you know, they're doing it a lot more.
00:32:33.000Frankly, one of the things that still worries me about 2020, though I do think the president's going to win, is that we caught him by surprise in 2016.
00:32:40.000I mean, they really didn't think Trump could win.
00:32:42.000And so a lot of ways we were able to mobilize that silent majority, and we shocked the world.
00:32:48.000I think it'll be less shocking when Donald Trump wins in 2020 because it'll be the second time, but it'll be facing far more substantial headwinds because I think they're putting their thumb on the scale a lot more.
00:33:10.000And so I think that when we talk about big tech, Apple can't be excluded from the conversation because they are very dangerous, the Apple News, App Store, and all of that.
00:33:20.000My advice and my suggestion to people is you have to find a singular target or else they're all going to band together.
00:33:25.000And the combined force of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, I think is too big.
00:33:46.000And so DAF, G-A-A-F, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, their combined power, if they all realize that they're allies, not adversaries, I'm afraid that's what's going to happen if we don't single out the target, is that they will create their own kind of advocacy group.
00:34:03.000They'll combine their best practices and they'll work in a collusion mindset.
00:34:07.000I think that one thing we have to do is isolate one and turn them against each other.
00:34:11.000That's a strategic point for you and I later.
00:34:14.000Well, and I think that's true domestically.
00:34:17.000But I also want to take a moment, Charlie, to talk about the way that foreign tech is impacting our security.
00:34:23.000And I know you and I have both discussed this TikTok issue with the president.
00:34:27.000I think we might have been the first ones to talk to him about what TikTok was.
00:34:30.000I don't know that our young at heart, but still boomer in age president was a big TikTok guy before his time in public life.
00:34:39.000But, you know, to me, a bad deal is worse than no deal.
00:34:45.000Just kicking them out with no deal would be better than a bad deal that allows TikTok to continue to grow and serve China's strategic interests.
00:34:53.000But I don't think we should stop there.
00:34:56.000I think we should ban DJI drones, which are the Chinese drones that fly in our skies, often by our own law enforcement around our critical infrastructure.
00:35:04.000That, by the way, our own Department of Homeland Security says is feeding stuff right back to the Chinese Communist Party.
00:35:12.000The Chinese are taking major positions in these companies that look at our ancestry and our DNA.
00:35:19.000And certainly following the China virus, the last thing I want to see is the American genome or the genomes of any population of Americans sequenced and then isolated for vulnerability for the Chinese.
00:35:32.000And so I think we need a far broader approach.
00:35:34.000TikTok's a good start, but I wouldn't end there.
00:36:45.000Kind of on that kind of foreign policy point, can you talk about ending the endless wars?
00:36:49.000This is one of the things I am most supportive of in your commentary and your advocacy.
00:36:56.000And when you publish writings or tweets, I'm so thrilled to see Republicans take a stand against the war machine.
00:37:03.000You and I are not too dissimilar in age.
00:37:07.000One of my earliest memories was 9-11 when I was in second grade seeing that happen.
00:37:13.000From that point forward, I've known nothing but a nation at war.
00:37:17.000And quite honestly, misdirected, misguided, endless nation building, not even war.
00:37:23.000The U.S. military is the best at killing our enemies and breaking stuff.
00:37:27.000We are not good at bringing Western values to theocratic Islamic dictatorships when they don't even want us there while we have our own suffering citizenry, bridges that can't be built, roads that can't be reconstructed, kids that cannot read, families that are falling apart.
00:37:45.000And yet I have to be lectured by the Republicans in Congress that we need to have another 10-year extension so that we can make the Kandahar Valley a little bit safer.
00:37:55.000Quite honestly, I am growing impatient with the war machine dominance on the Republican side.
00:38:02.000Why do you believe that you believe on this?
00:38:04.000And how can people, you know, basically help with it?
00:38:07.000Yeah, I don't think we're radical to say that we should rebuild America before we rebuild Kandahar.
00:38:12.000And we've got Republicans like Liz Cheney who've been in favor of like 10 out of the last three wars and who would like to start like four more of them before lunchtime tomorrow.
00:38:22.000And I stand as a counterbalance to that.
00:38:25.000And it's not that there aren't bullies in the world.
00:38:49.000But the prior generation of leadership from Obama, Bush, that whole crowd, they thought that the way to deal with a bully was to move into their house for 20 years, trying to realign their worldview.
00:39:03.000And you're right, our generation has grown very weary of these endless wars.
00:39:07.000And by the way, they have not just cost us a tremendous amount in treasure.
00:39:14.000And the most precious thing we have is the blood of our bravest patriots who wear the uniform.
00:39:19.000It has also caused America to lose focus.
00:39:21.000You know, while China has been building islands and skyscrapers and aircraft carriers and artificial intelligence and quantum computing capabilities, we've been out trying to build democracies with blood and sand and Arab militias together.
00:39:40.000And it has been like trading the same villages back and forth in Afghanistan for 19 years, hoping that somehow that's going to result in a more stable country.
00:40:11.000I think we are the most special country that has ever existed in all of human history.
00:40:16.000And I don't much feel like apologizing for it.
00:40:19.000And Americanism is not just something we can export willy-nilly.
00:40:24.000You know, if people want freedom like Americans did, they're going to have to fight for it and die for it and bleed for it.
00:40:31.000They're going to have to lose some of their fellow countrymen over it.
00:40:33.000And they're going to have to tell stories about those heroes for generations so that no one can ever take that special freedom away.
00:40:41.000And there's a parallel to what we see going on in America, Charlie, because the folks who do want to take America away, that's exactly what they're targeting.
00:40:49.000They're targeting our heroes and those who fought and those who engaged in the spirit of revolution that created an American identity.
00:40:55.000And so, look, I think we should always be the friend of freedom around the world.
00:41:00.000I think the biggest threat to freedom is not like Russia.
00:41:04.000I mean, these boomers are trying to tell us that like we have to chase, wander around in the deserts of the Middle East and we have to go post up on Russia.
00:41:11.000Russia's two biggest exports are oil and models.
00:41:23.000And I think that that's why positioning away from the trillions of dollars lost in these endless wars, the countless lives, precious lives that we've lost in the Middle East, transitioning away from that to a focused, determined effort to beat China for the 21st century, that is what ensures America's continued greatness for generations to come.
00:41:47.000Well, Matt, I think you're articulating where the Republican Party needs to go in the future.
00:41:50.000And President Trump has just opened up the space for this conversation.
00:41:53.000And quite honestly, we're about a month from election day.
00:41:57.000It's hard to say, but there will be a time, and President Trump has said it, where he won't be president.
00:42:02.000And there will be an ideological vacuum.
00:42:05.000Some say it might be a civil war in the Republican Party where the corporate types are going to try to take over again.
00:42:10.000And they're going to try to tell us another six countries we have to invade.
00:42:13.000They're going to try to tell us that we have to keep the social media tech oligarchs permanently powerful.
00:42:18.000They're going to try to tell us to stop talking about the issues of life and social conservative values.
00:42:25.000They're going to try to tell us that we need to have open borders.
00:42:27.000And I think you are leading the charge also on the political corruption angle.
00:42:32.000So, Matt, the final question I have here is, can you just give us some insight into the election?
00:43:04.000It's because in Florida, we've essentially had one party rule for a generation in our government.
00:43:09.000From Jeb Bush's time till now, there hasn't been a Democrat governor.
00:43:13.000There hasn't been a Democrat majority in either House.
00:43:16.000And so it's a perfect experiment to show what happens when you cut taxes, have a strong education system, the right-sized environmental regulations.
00:43:24.000People actually want to be there and they want to bring their ideas and their capital and their love for our country.
00:43:30.000And so I think that that immigration into Florida for people who want to see that type of worldview play out in their government has helped the president.
00:43:41.000I actually predict, you know, the president won Florida by about 130,000 votes in 2016.
00:43:45.000I think he will win Florida by more than that now.
00:43:48.000Another county to watch on election night, Miami-Dade County.
00:43:52.000Usually this is a huge reservoir of votes for Democrats, but what we're starting to see is that these Hispanics, many of whom are not more than a generation or two removed from like real socialism, not like hacky sack, drum circle socialism, but like no bread and no medicine socialism in the old country.
00:44:10.000They're not signing up for the Biden-Harris woketopia.
00:44:14.000They're not signing up for the policies of Portland and San Francisco to be metastasized around the country.
00:44:20.000President Trump will do better with Hispanics, I think, than any Republican even since George W. Bush.
00:44:28.000George W. Bush did very well with Hispanics.
00:44:45.000We talk about all the things that we're against on our show very much, and we talk about things that we're for, but it's good to see someone fighting for the right things, not taking the corporate money, not taking the lobbyist money.
00:44:54.000And if everyone's listening to this, they should just take a pause and say, why is my congressman taking money from lobbyists?
00:45:02.000And use Matt Gates as the example that they don't have to.
00:45:06.000Ending the wars, holding these tech giants accountable, believing in our country, defending the American history and culture, as you mentioned.
00:45:16.000And I think articulating a vision for the party.