The Glenn Beck Program - April 13, 2024


BONUS EPISODE ｜ Tulsi Gabbard ｜ 'The Tucker Carlson Podcast'


Episode Stats

Length

1 hour and 5 minutes

Words per Minute

164.58392

Word Count

10,712

Sentence Count

669

Misogynist Sentences

9

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary

Tulsi Gabbard was a freshman in Congress when she became the most popular speaker at CPAC in 2016. She went from being vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to headlining the conservative political action committee in less than a decade.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 And now, a Blaze Media Podcast.
00:00:03.960 I think Tucker Carlson is one of the most fearless voices in independent media.
00:00:08.380 In the face of unprecedented censorship from big tech and our own government,
00:00:13.440 it takes guts to produce content, especially on your own and without any filters.
00:00:19.640 I admire Tucker for doing just that.
00:00:21.540 He is unafraid to talk to people who challenge the status quo and provoke us just to simply think.
00:00:28.280 Here's a sample of one of his podcasts.
00:00:30.280 If you like it, don't forget to subscribe.
00:00:42.940 So try to think back to 2013.
00:00:45.920 It wasn't that long ago we had air travel and electricity and air conditioning.
00:00:50.880 It was part of the modern era.
00:00:52.700 2013, Tulsi Gabbard, who was in her early 30s, had just been elected from Hawaii.
00:00:58.240 She was a member of Congress, first termer, a Democrat.
00:01:01.520 And not just a Democrat.
00:01:02.620 She was the single most famous freshman that year.
00:01:07.140 And she was feted by her party.
00:01:08.440 The Democratic Party made her vice chair of the DNC as a freshman that year.
00:01:14.260 And she was on the cover of magazines.
00:01:16.020 She was the future of the Democratic Party.
00:01:18.040 It was 2013.
00:01:20.060 Fast forward 11 years to the beginning of 2024.
00:01:26.700 That very same person was a headliner at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee.
00:01:33.200 And not only did she speak there, she was arguably the most popular person who spoke there.
00:01:38.340 This year, 11 years later, here's part of what she said.
00:01:41.040 Our democracy is under attack.
00:01:44.960 The perpetrators of this attack are those who, in the name of saving our democracy, are destroying it.
00:01:53.960 I don't use these words lightly.
00:01:57.420 Every one of us who loves this country and who cherishes peace and freedom should be very alarmed by those who, driven by their insatiable hunger for power, are actively undermining all that we stand for.
00:02:11.560 And almost every single day, if you're paying attention to the news and the headlines, there is some new assault and some new attack.
00:02:20.020 Now, it's the Democrat elite and the swamp creatures in Washington who are doing all that they possibly can to keep us, the American people, from a very simple thing, having the freedom to choose who we want to be our next president.
00:02:33.280 And it is clear through their actions, they have no respect for us, and they have no respect for our fundamental rights as citizens of this Democratic Republic.
00:02:49.520 They are so terrified that we, the people, may make what they think is the wrong choice.
00:02:57.060 That in the name of protecting democracy and saving us from ourselves, they're actually destroying our democracy and taking away our freedom.
00:03:07.280 Wow, you can see why she was the most popular speaker at CPAC this year.
00:03:11.560 But again, 11 years from vice chair of the DNC to headlining CPAC.
00:03:17.120 Some people have asked, well, wait a second, that's awfully fast.
00:03:20.460 This must be an op.
00:03:22.120 She must be a secret lefty or a CIA agent.
00:03:25.040 Well, of course, we can't know, but if she was, she'd probably be getting something out of it.
00:03:31.860 She'd be really rich.
00:03:32.840 But no, Tulsi Gabbard is probably the least rich, famous person in the United States.
00:03:36.340 She is not cashed in, just the opposite.
00:03:38.180 She's actually really suffered for her change of heart.
00:03:42.040 So what was the process that led her from freshman in Congress 11 years ago to headliner at CPAC this year?
00:03:49.660 It's a very interesting story.
00:03:51.120 And she's written it in a book that has just come out, For Love of Country, Leave the Democratic Party Behind.
00:03:56.580 And she's joining us today to explain what exactly happened in her life.
00:04:00.040 Tulsi Gabbard joins us now.
00:04:01.080 Thank you very much.
00:04:01.620 Tulsi Gabbard, thank you so much.
00:04:02.840 And congrats on the book.
00:04:03.980 And I have to say the first thing that jumped out, Tulsi is one of the most rock solid, honorable people I've ever met, says Joe Rogan.
00:04:11.640 And I can attest to that.
00:04:14.500 That is true.
00:04:15.000 Thank you.
00:04:15.360 I feel the same way.
00:04:16.220 Thank you.
00:04:17.600 So how, but I can also see why people are like, what is this?
00:04:21.440 Yeah.
00:04:22.160 Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, probably the most reliably Democratic liberal state argument there maybe, but subjective, but pretty close, if not the most.
00:04:32.600 And now this, like what happened?
00:04:34.220 It's, it's, you know, a lot has happened in that 11 year period as you were talking, I'm just thinking through like, gosh, has it only been, has it only been 10, 11 years?
00:04:45.360 But it, to me, it just shows how insane today's Democratic Party has become.
00:04:51.180 Yes.
00:04:51.600 Really, truly.
00:04:52.800 You know, I joined the Democratic Party in 2002.
00:04:56.680 I was 21 years old when I ran for the state house in Hawaii.
00:05:00.380 And as you know, I come from, you know, my parents have, are very independent minded people.
00:05:06.020 They raise all of us five kids to be critical thinkers and independent minded, make, make your own decision, but do your research and figure out why you are coming to this conclusion or why you are coming to this decision.
00:05:17.920 And so when I had decided to run for office in Hawaii, there wasn't just like, well, of course, I'm going to be a part of this party or that party.
00:05:24.760 Because, you know, somebody told me to her because it was like a family generational thing.
00:05:28.640 None of that was there.
00:05:29.580 And so I really started to look at, you know, Hawaii's history in politics.
00:05:35.320 Why was Hawaii such a strong Democratic state?
00:05:38.140 As it still is now, it's a little bit less so.
00:05:41.100 But at that time, what I saw was a party that welcomed free thinkers.
00:05:48.320 It was truly a big tent party, even in their own words.
00:05:52.440 It was a party that stood up for civil liberties.
00:05:55.320 It's a party that stood up for freedom of speech and was willing to fight for it.
00:05:58.640 That is true.
00:05:59.420 It was a party that in Hawaii's history fought for working people, fought for average everyday Americans against the corporate industrial complex, which in Hawaii was the big four plantation owners back in the day.
00:06:14.060 And so it was because of those reasons and looking at leaders like JFK.
00:06:18.480 So can I ask you, for people who aren't familiar with the history of the state, which is actually very interesting, completely different from the history of any other of the 49 states.
00:06:26.000 Yes.
00:06:26.840 It was almost like a feudal system in Hawaii.
00:06:29.520 Is that fair?
00:06:30.040 It was it was it was and going back and this is where there was a big shift and people in the political world ask all the time is like, why why did Hawaii become such a strong Democrat state?
00:06:41.660 It was because there were four major landowners that came in and essentially took the land from the local people through the queen in jail and decided, OK, well, here's what we're going to do.
00:06:54.140 We're going to start growing sugar cane.
00:06:55.660 We're going to start growing pineapples.
00:06:57.600 And they essentially installed themselves as the government of what was then the territory of Hawaii and local people really didn't have a whole lot of say in it.
00:07:07.180 But through that process, there were immigrants coming from Japan and from the Philippines, from Portugal, from places all over the world seeking opportunity, getting work visas and work contracts to go and work in the fields.
00:07:19.700 And these massive plantation owners essentially treated them like crap, subhuman living conditions, abysmal pay and and essentially what what we would call complete abuse in this day and age.
00:07:35.400 But they got away with it because they the people had no voice when one group started to rise up and say, hey, we got to stick together and demand better living conditions and better pay.
00:07:45.660 Let's say, let's say it was the Filipinos who did it.
00:07:48.540 And they said, OK, well, fine, we're just going to have the Japanese workers come in and take over your fields and leave you with nothing.
00:07:56.080 And so pitting one group against the other.
00:07:57.980 So in Hawaii, it was it was the ILWU union primarily that came in and actually started to organize workers.
00:08:05.860 And there was a couple of Democrat political leaders who had failed at the polls previously because they didn't have the votes.
00:08:14.140 They came in and said, hey, look, we're going to fight for you.
00:08:16.080 And they did. And that was when Hawaii shifted from Republican to Democrat control, because the Democrat Party at that time was the party of the people.
00:08:25.540 Didn't matter where you were from, didn't matter your background, how much money you made or didn't made your education or anything else.
00:08:30.480 They were the party of the people battling against the the elite.
00:08:35.860 And so so I this the reason why this story is important is because you look at that legacy in my home state of Hawaii and then you look at what's happening in our politics today,
00:08:49.280 where unfortunately the Democrat Party and those in charge of it are now the party of the elite who are way out of touch with the experience of everyday working people across this country.
00:09:05.020 And and it is unfortunate. It is unfortunate that that party has gotten so far away from its roots, its roots of being a party that celebrated freedom, its roots of being a party that fought for for civil liberties,
00:09:19.700 to one now where with the Biden-Harris administration and the Democrat elite across Washington are intentionally politicizing and weaponizing the tools of our own government and their friends in big tech and social media and their friends in the mainstream media to take away our freedoms,
00:09:40.320 to take away our right to free speech, to violate our privacy and our civil liberties.
00:09:46.020 They have become the party of war in in every respect.
00:09:52.900 Unfortunately, the Democrat Party has become a party that is is undermining the very fabric of our country, of our freedom, of our Constitution and the rule of law,
00:10:03.740 which is why ultimately I left the Democratic Party.
00:10:08.160 And I'm why it's why I am sounding the alarm bells as we head into this very critical election year about really what's going on.
00:10:16.020 What's at stake?
00:10:17.020 The reason that I know you're sincere is because you left the Democratic Party at exactly the moment that it solidified its position as the party of the rich.
00:10:24.840 Yeah.
00:10:25.840 And there's so many rewards that you can receive if you sign up.
00:10:29.200 So I know a million people who've moved in the other direction, you know, Joe Scarborough or Stuart Stevens or Steve Schmidt or all the guys from the Lincoln Project, Bill Kristol.
00:10:36.900 Right.
00:10:37.300 And they've all been rewarded for it a lot because there's a lot of money to pass around if you do that.
00:10:43.460 But you left at exactly the moment when you could have gotten kind of rich by staying and reading the talking points.
00:10:49.880 Yeah, it when I first got elected in 2012, it was it was it was a race that I was not supposed to win.
00:10:57.900 If you listen to anybody who knew anything about politics and I won that election, zero support from any, you know, local or national Democratic Party individuals or the party as a whole.
00:11:11.840 Oh, it was imagine this the people's voices were heard through their votes and they were sick and tired of of the pay to play corrupt politics and wanted a new direction and a fresh direction of leadership.
00:11:29.580 And so it was it was a hard fought election, but I had no idea what was in store when I actually went to Washington.
00:11:37.920 So what did you notice?
00:11:39.200 I mean, well, first of all, the obvious is very far away.
00:11:42.280 It's just so far.
00:11:43.040 It is.
00:11:43.400 Physically.
00:11:44.480 It is.
00:11:46.900 And you would think in the age of technology that distance wouldn't matter so much, but it kind of does.
00:11:51.920 Yeah, it does.
00:11:52.560 A lot.
00:11:54.080 But shortly after my primary election, I got a call from Nancy Pelosi saying, hey, do you want to speak during prime time at the Democratic Convention coming up?
00:12:02.860 And I was like, yes.
00:12:05.560 How old were you?
00:12:06.340 I was 31.
00:12:07.800 What a trip.
00:12:08.560 And I said I would like to speak about veterans.
00:12:12.980 I was serving in the Hawaii National Guard at the time.
00:12:15.600 I'm still serving the U.S. Army Reserve now.
00:12:17.980 But to me, hey, here's an opportunity to speak to millions of people across the country about the people who are nearest and dearest to my heart, my brothers and sisters.
00:12:26.740 And so the whole thing was it was quite surreal because I didn't I didn't I didn't know how that machine worked.
00:12:35.720 But I found myself getting these phone calls from people within the Democratic Party like, hey, go and speak at this like premier event that like most people don't get invitations to.
00:12:50.020 And a couple of weeks after I was in office, I got a call saying, hey, what would you say if you were asked to serve as vice chair of the DNC?
00:12:58.160 And I was just literally my response was like, what is the vice chair of the DNC do?
00:13:02.840 I don't know nothing about this.
00:13:04.540 What what do you really want for me?
00:13:05.920 What are you asking of me?
00:13:07.080 Ultimately, ultimately said yes, because this is an opportunity to be in a position to make some positive change.
00:13:13.500 But these kinds of things kept on happening over over the year is kind of my first year, first couple of years in office.
00:13:22.520 But and you'll appreciate this one of the major turning points that started to slow down the the the fanfare and and like the the headlines of like I remember there was one at the Democratic Convention.
00:13:39.080 I don't know if it was CNN or MSN.
00:13:40.940 Some of someone's like, oh, I wonder who's going to play Tulsi Gabbard in a movie like all this stuff.
00:13:45.160 I'm like, this is so weird.
00:13:46.240 But that summer of 2013, my first year in Congress, as you know, one of the main reasons that I ran for Congress was because of the experiences that I'd had on both of my Middle East deployments, where I experienced the cost of war firsthand serving in a medical unit.
00:14:05.200 And I wanted to be in a position where I could help influence and impact those foreign policy decisions that were directly impacting my brothers and sisters in uniform.
00:14:17.960 I didn't realize that my opportunity to be able to do that would happen so quickly.
00:14:24.780 But it was August of 2013 that President Obama announced, then President Obama announced that he was going to seek authorization to use military force from Congress to go and drop some bombs on Syria in what would be kind of the first volley of regime change war there.
00:14:41.240 And I was on the Foreign Affairs Committee at the time, August.
00:14:45.840 Most members of Congress are at home during recess.
00:14:48.800 And I was home in my district.
00:14:50.460 And I remember, like it was yesterday, pumping gas at the gas station.
00:14:55.740 And this woman came up to me.
00:14:58.240 And I'd never met her before.
00:15:00.960 Local lady came.
00:15:02.780 She grabbed my arm and looked at me with this intensity in her eyes.
00:15:09.640 And she was telling me that her son had just come home from Iraq and she had been terrified that he wouldn't come home.
00:15:21.480 He was finally home with her.
00:15:23.320 And now they wanted to they wanted to send him back to another war in another country and begged me, please, Tulsi, don't let them take my son from me.
00:15:35.320 Jeez.
00:15:35.880 And as the next couple of days went on, I would bump into more people like that in the supermarket or just around town who were absolutely terrified.
00:15:52.060 I went back to Washington.
00:15:54.040 We held all the committee hearings, open hearings, classified briefings.
00:15:58.020 And I went in with an open mind and said, give me all of the information.
00:16:02.120 I want to make sure that I do my due diligence before I take a position or make a decision on this.
00:16:10.100 And ultimately, Secretary Kerry came in and briefed us the answers to very direct questions that I had, such as, what is our objective?
00:16:21.180 What is your objective in wanting to go and start another war in another country?
00:16:27.380 What do you how do you think they will respond?
00:16:32.740 What will you do next?
00:16:34.220 What is that second, third, fourth order of effects and consequences that will always happen?
00:16:39.780 And the question, you know, when I said, what is your objective?
00:16:47.280 I believe it was Secretary Kerry or someone from the State Department who said, well, you know, we don't want to deliver a decapitation.
00:16:56.600 We don't want it to be a pinprick.
00:16:58.440 We want this to be a punch in the gut and send a message.
00:17:01.220 And my question was, OK, so a punch in the gut, like, what will you do when they respond?
00:17:10.180 They said, well, we don't think they'll we don't think there'll be a response.
00:17:14.460 That's your plan.
00:17:15.580 You don't think there will be a response.
00:17:17.900 Gary said if somebody came up and punched you in the gut, would you like just not respond?
00:17:23.560 If they don't respond, they've got some pretty, you know, weaponized, powerful friends.
00:17:29.980 You don't think they'll respond.
00:17:31.480 And what if they don't respond to us, but they respond by attacking some of our friends who may be in the region?
00:17:37.100 All of these different kinds of questions.
00:17:39.120 There's like, well, we just don't think they'll do that.
00:17:41.020 Well, what happens next?
00:17:42.360 Well, you know, we think this will send a strong message.
00:17:45.420 And it's the same kind of like political BS talk that means nothing and is so disconnected from the reality of the people on the ground who have to live with those consequences.
00:18:00.840 And it really surprised me and maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but it surprised me that after so many years of looking back at the massive mistakes of Iraq, that they could be so glib and just saying, oh, we'll just go drop some bombs and send a message and and that'll be it.
00:18:18.220 They learned nothing.
00:18:18.900 They learned nothing.
00:18:19.840 And so I penned an op-ed and published it.
00:18:24.600 And I was I was certainly the first Democrat, maybe the first member of Congress to come out in opposition to President Obama's request.
00:18:33.580 And within hours of publishing that op-ed, I got a call from the White House.
00:18:39.940 And essentially.
00:18:42.780 What they said was, how dare you?
00:18:46.280 How dare you go against your president?
00:18:48.660 How dare you go against the president who came from your home state?
00:18:54.600 Not a moment of the conversation.
00:18:57.000 There wasn't much of a conversation, first of all.
00:18:59.360 But they were not interested at all in the reason for my opposition, which I stated pretty clearly in the op-ed how how well thought out this decision was.
00:19:11.780 It was not made haphazardly.
00:19:13.560 They weren't interested in my experience that I brought that helped inform my decision of having deployed twice to the Middle East before.
00:19:20.500 And it told me a lot about them that they were more concerned with and they cared more about, like, being a good member of the team and go team Obama and go team Democrats than they were concerned about the actual consequences of the very serious request that he was saying he would come to Congress with.
00:19:45.320 It sent a strong message to them as well that I wasn't the person that they thought I was going to be in someone who could be puppeteered, who could be bullied into just going along with the boss or whatever they had in mind.
00:20:02.680 And that was kind of the beginning of their realization that, okay, this one thinks for herself and she's not afraid to take a stand.
00:20:11.220 So, I mean, at that point, you know, they have two options.
00:20:14.380 They can either try and crush you.
00:20:16.060 You're a freshman, so it's a little early for that.
00:20:17.980 Yeah.
00:20:18.080 And they've also ginned up the publicity machine on your behalf.
00:20:20.620 You probably weren't even aware of this, but most people come, most congressmen come to Washington, no one ever hears, no one knows they're there.
00:20:27.020 Yeah.
00:20:27.200 Everyone knew you were there.
00:20:29.240 Yeah.
00:20:30.300 So they can try and crush you or they can try and suborn you, bribe you, give you stuff to win you over.
00:20:36.300 Yeah.
00:20:36.800 What did they try?
00:20:40.560 You know, it is kind of the public things.
00:20:43.480 Like I remember, and I think you'll get a kick out of this, being invited to the White House Correspondents Dinner my first year in Congress.
00:20:50.260 Yeah.
00:20:50.420 I had guys who have been in Congress coming up to me saying, gosh, Tulsi, how come you got invited?
00:20:56.820 I've been here for four terms, eight years, and I still haven't gotten invited to that.
00:21:02.220 And I was like, do you want to go?
00:21:06.420 I really don't like going to these kind of things.
00:21:08.640 I hate these big kind of parties and social things.
00:21:10.760 I was like, you can have my seat.
00:21:12.660 But it was that kind of thing where, oh, go to this embassy for this fancy party, like all this stuff that unfortunately too many members of Congress find very, very appealing.
00:21:26.400 And get some kind of, I don't know, I don't want to use the word fulfillment because it's not fulfilling, but I guess it's what they want.
00:21:38.520 And I didn't want any of that.
00:21:40.960 So the things that they were putting before me were not attractive to me at all.
00:21:48.040 And it all kind of definitely came crashing down in 2016 when I took a step to go after Hillary Clinton when she was running for president in the Democratic primary.
00:22:05.020 I was vice chair of the DNC.
00:22:06.320 And I saw that the mainstream media, they were all saying she was the most qualified person ever to run for president and listing out all of the titles that she has held.
00:22:18.740 But not a single one of them was questioning or holding to account, holding her to account for her record on foreign policy or challenging her on what kind of commander in chief.
00:22:28.780 Yeah, or the job that she had done in any of those jobs.
00:22:31.260 Right.
00:22:31.400 Like that was irrelevant.
00:22:32.060 And then, right, the actual record of what happened.
00:22:35.380 Tell us what happened in Libya, actually, for her pushing for the regime change in Libya and what happened as a consequence.
00:22:44.380 There are so many different examples.
00:22:46.100 For sure.
00:22:46.740 So you said that out loud.
00:22:48.480 What happened then?
00:22:49.880 I resigned as vice chair of the DNC.
00:22:53.960 Why?
00:22:55.560 Because the rules said that as officers of the DNC, you can't take sides in a partisan primary.
00:23:02.300 Uh, the DNC itself under Debbie Wasserman clearly was in every way tilting the scales for Hillary Clinton.
00:23:11.720 Uh, but I resigned as vice chair of the DNC and endorsed Bernie Sanders around this single issue of foreign policy.
00:23:17.980 Yes.
00:23:18.720 Specifically because, uh, while I disagreed with Bernie on, on a bunch of things, he was certainly more of a non-interventionist, uh, than the warmonger that Hillary Clinton is.
00:23:32.540 And I knew that would provide me with a platform to have a voice and actually speak the truth to the American people about her record and how dangerous she would be if she were ever our president and how, how personal, um, this was for me because the cost is real.
00:23:52.320 So what happened when you did that?
00:24:02.320 I did, I announced it on meet the press on a Sunday morning.
00:24:06.780 Didn't tell anybody I was doing it.
00:24:09.100 No one before I went and, and, uh, made that announcement on that show Monday morning, came back to work.
00:24:15.860 And a lot of, a lot of my Democrat colleagues were basically reading, um, you know, drafting their political eulogies for me.
00:24:28.260 Just like, you're done.
00:24:29.680 You're done, Tulsi.
00:24:31.380 Uh, Hillary will be president.
00:24:33.060 You will not get a single dime for your district, anything that your community needs.
00:24:37.940 For your district?
00:24:38.640 For my district.
00:24:39.300 Not for your campaign.
00:24:40.160 Not for me.
00:24:40.860 For my district.
00:24:41.740 They've never given me anything for any of my campaigns and, and I'm totally fine with that, but that my district and my constituency in Hawaii would be punished for, for doing what I did.
00:24:54.920 Uh, I also learned that there is an actual list of people who are, um, you know, blacklisted, I suppose.
00:25:04.480 Uh, and I was told that it would take years and years and years to ever work my way off that list.
00:25:09.920 Um, I, I was chuckling at all of them.
00:25:12.160 Wait, so they said this out loud?
00:25:13.300 They thought this or they said it out loud?
00:25:14.520 Oh yeah, no, no, no.
00:25:15.280 These were, these were many conversations walking to and from votes with different people who are pulling me aside, um, and offering their condolences, their political condolences to me.
00:25:25.300 Uh, because that I had, I had made a decision that they said would be, uh, equal to my political, the death of my political future.
00:25:35.660 That's crazy.
00:25:36.920 Yeah, MSNBC, I remember doing an interview, I think it was one of the first debates that, that, uh, Bernie and Hillary had, um, in Florida, I think it was, and, uh, an MSNBC anchor said, like, aren't you afraid of the Clintons and what they'll do?
00:25:55.560 Uh, and I said, no, I'm not afraid, but I thought it was quite curious that he felt compelled to ask that question with concern in his voice.
00:26:04.900 Yeah, well, people who've been around them knew.
00:26:07.980 Yeah.
00:26:08.560 So, you still, though, were in the party.
00:26:12.380 When did it become clear, like, I can't, I can't represent this party anymore?
00:26:15.740 It, it was, uh, in the fall of, of 2022, uh, there were a lot of critical midterm elections, uh, happening that year, increasingly over time.
00:26:29.720 And it wasn't one specific thing that, that caused me to make this decision, but it was increasingly over time.
00:26:35.660 Uh, a couple of things, obviously the, the radical change that the Democratic Party leadership went through, uh, in, in really, truly become a woke, warmongering party of the elite.
00:26:48.000 Um, but also it was, uh, it was a recognition that I had done all I could to, to try to change the party from within.
00:26:59.600 Um, uh, I, I tried as vice chair of the DNC.
00:27:04.240 I tried as a candidate running for president in 2020 in the Democratic primary and, uh, the things that I was talking about, about bringing the party back to its roots, bringing the party back to being the party of the people and the party of freedom, uh, the party of, of peace and security.
00:27:19.600 Uh, it, it, it, it, it not only fell on deaf ears, I was booed by, you know, the, the, the party elite for having the audacity to push for these sorts of things.
00:27:30.340 Oh man, you're, you're, you're, yeah, you're, this is a very restrained version of what I saw.
00:27:34.780 They didn't just boo you.
00:27:36.340 They accused you of being an agent for a foreign power and a disloyal American and an evil person.
00:27:42.520 Yeah.
00:27:43.100 I mean, I saw that.
00:27:45.260 It's true.
00:27:45.780 And it, and it, you know, it's, it's such a crazy, crazy accusation to make, obviously completely baseless.
00:27:54.880 And the media never asked Hillary Clinton for evidence of this traitorous treasonous act that she's accusing me of as a sitting member of Congress and as a soldier wearing our country's uniform.
00:28:06.460 Um, yeah, an officer, right?
00:28:08.760 Yes.
00:28:09.240 And, and here's the, the problem is, is that it works.
00:28:14.560 And that's why they continue, even now, how many years later, they continue to fall back on the Russia, Russia playbook.
00:28:21.680 It's a Russian asset.
00:28:22.980 They've used this against you.
00:28:24.260 They've used this against Donald Trump and they continue to come back to this.
00:28:27.720 Yeah, but I'm not an officer in the United States army and you are.
00:28:30.160 So it's a little weird to say, I mean, Hillary Clinton, I will never forget it, accused you of being a disloyal person.
00:28:38.880 And that's a crime under the military code, I think.
00:28:42.460 It is.
00:28:43.180 Yeah.
00:28:43.760 It is.
00:28:44.340 And one that would not only be grounds for them to remove my security clearance, but it would be grounds for discharge and it would be grounds for, you know, enforcement under the uniform code of military justice.
00:28:58.720 Yeah, if you're actually working for a foreign power as a military officer, you can be executed for it.
00:29:02.320 Yeah.
00:29:02.420 So like, it's not a small thing to say.
00:29:05.180 So rather than just saying, you know, Tulsi Gabbard's an idiot or I disagree with her or whatever, they went right to that.
00:29:11.300 The heaviest thing you could ever say about somebody, about an American, that was all foreign policy related, right?
00:29:18.120 Yes.
00:29:18.420 That's the way it felt to me.
00:29:19.680 It was foreign policy related and it was related to the fact that I had the audacity to go against them, to challenge the elite of the Democratic Party, which is Hillary Clinton and it's Barack Obama.
00:29:36.780 And it's the people who surround them in the military industrial complex, in the media industrial complex, those who are pushing and it's not limited to the Democratic Party, of course.
00:29:50.480 Mitt Romney also called me a treasonous person who is a Russian asset or something along those lines.
00:29:57.680 And so, you know, they are all part of this permanent Washington elite who cannot allow for those who challenge them to go unscathed because their whole existence is based around that.
00:30:20.840 It's based around power and where they get their power from.
00:30:24.280 And the main source of power, obviously, is the exercise of military force.
00:30:27.940 Yes.
00:30:28.680 It's the most powerful thing.
00:30:31.480 We are the most powerful military in the world.
00:30:34.300 And that's what's so offensive about them and what they're advocating for is they treat our military.
00:30:46.720 It's like, and actually, I don't want to say they forget because they're not stupid.
00:30:51.580 They really don't care about the men and women who make up our military and who live and die by the consequences of their actions, whether they're holding office or not.
00:31:06.740 Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not in office right now, but they still continue to wield immense power in influencing the decisions that are being made.
00:31:14.600 So can I just sort of sidebar, but I think relevant, interesting, are you answering the question that everyone watching has, which is who is running the government at this point?
00:31:23.320 It's obviously not Joe Biden.
00:31:24.580 Yeah.
00:31:24.840 You think Hillary Clinton.
00:31:26.040 It's not a leap of imagination to know that that's true when you look at the people who are in Joe Biden's administration.
00:31:34.120 They are the people who were the right hands for the Obama administration, for President Obama and for Hillary Clinton.
00:31:42.940 And when Hillary Clinton said herself the other day, she said, oh, yeah, I talk to the White House every day.
00:31:48.120 So it is no shock or surprise who the influences are behind the policies that are coming out of this White House that many people say is the most radical and woke White House that our country has ever seen.
00:32:05.000 Oh, well, there's no question about it.
00:32:08.240 But as this was happening to you, I mean, I'm sure you don't want to go to the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
00:32:14.220 Good for you.
00:32:15.340 Tiresome.
00:32:16.300 But on the other hand, it is a lot easier and much more pleasant to be loved than it is to be hated.
00:32:23.420 I think it's just true.
00:32:25.660 And so as you became like really hated by the leadership of the Democratic Party and they weren't hiding it at all.
00:32:31.940 Did you ever think like maybe it's just easier to kind of pretend bombing Syria is a good idea?
00:32:37.980 Did you ever question your decision to say no?
00:32:41.700 No.
00:32:42.320 I knew that that would be true.
00:32:45.340 I knew that there was certainly an easier path to take.
00:32:48.920 You think?
00:32:50.340 It was kind of laid out for me when I first got there.
00:32:53.740 But I never second guessed my decision, my decisions about these different positions that I took.
00:33:02.700 I never regretted them.
00:33:06.060 Never.
00:33:06.880 Not to this day.
00:33:08.040 And I never will because I didn't go to Washington to be loved by the people who live and exist and thrive in that bubble.
00:33:17.360 Well, sure.
00:33:17.880 I get it.
00:33:18.560 And their love is not worth having.
00:33:20.520 No.
00:33:20.700 I totally agree.
00:33:21.560 But their money's good.
00:33:22.500 And I think you're the only famous person I've ever met who flies coach.
00:33:27.000 And you're certainly the only very, very well-known member of Congress and former presidential candidate I've ever met in my entire life who didn't cash in personally.
00:33:36.100 And I know that is factually true.
00:33:39.140 So like do you ever think like maybe, I don't know, it's easier to fly first class.
00:33:44.900 Maybe I should have just.
00:33:45.720 It's not worth it.
00:33:47.320 Okay.
00:33:47.960 It's not worth it.
00:33:48.920 Do you think it's weird that we never talk about the money involved?
00:33:52.300 Like I just know that from living there.
00:33:53.800 Yeah.
00:33:54.460 And from knowing a lot of well-known people who've, you know, become famous in politics.
00:33:58.480 Yeah.
00:33:59.280 And there's not one of them.
00:34:00.840 Not one.
00:34:01.400 Literally not one on either side who's not in the top 1% for income.
00:34:05.720 But you're not.
00:34:06.700 No.
00:34:06.940 Why doesn't anyone ever say that?
00:34:08.780 Yeah.
00:34:09.400 Because it is the assumed norm.
00:34:13.260 It's not the exception.
00:34:14.340 What they're doing is the norm.
00:34:16.040 So why would they talk about it?
00:34:17.780 There's nothing to talk about because they assume that every member of Congress, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, the day you walk out, you get your payday.
00:34:26.240 What did you get when you walked out?
00:34:28.400 Nothing.
00:34:30.680 Nothing.
00:34:31.080 I had to come up with a plan of, you know, like, all right, we got to figure out how we're going to pay the bills.
00:34:36.560 How much money had you amassed during your time in Congress?
00:34:40.420 Oh, you know, every financial advisor would probably be very disappointed.
00:34:47.060 Because, you know, my husband and I were, you know, I had like, okay, we got a couple of months.
00:34:52.720 We got a couple of months that we can make it through.
00:34:54.380 We got to come up with a plan otherwise.
00:34:57.840 Before you'd have to sell your weekend house or?
00:34:59.640 Sure.
00:35:00.960 Sure.
00:35:02.380 The imaginary weekend house.
00:35:05.240 Yeah.
00:35:05.860 Were you able to buy a big house when you were in Congress?
00:35:08.820 No.
00:35:09.840 No.
00:35:10.800 No.
00:35:11.800 We bought a house.
00:35:14.760 I don't think you ever came to our house there.
00:35:17.440 But here's, I'll give you a little hint where, and we shared it with my sister and her husband.
00:35:23.040 But we did buy a house in a neighborhood that was affordable in D.C.
00:35:28.140 And we found out the first week that we were there that we tried to order takeout from someone.
00:35:34.420 Oh, in D.C.
00:35:35.400 Oh, you lived in the hood.
00:35:36.320 I knew that.
00:35:36.700 And as soon as they were like, okay, put the order in and everything else.
00:35:40.960 And as soon as I gave them the address, they're like, oh, no, we don't deliver to that neighborhood.
00:35:46.700 We won't cross that bridge.
00:35:48.140 We won't cross the Anacostia Bridge to get to your house.
00:35:51.920 You lived on what we call the other side of the river.
00:35:54.300 Literally.
00:35:57.340 Anyway, it's, you know, there was a question that a reporter asked me a couple of years,
00:36:03.740 I forget, two or three years after I'd been in Congress.
00:36:05.820 They're like, okay, you've been here a while now.
00:36:09.380 You know, do you feel like you fit in?
00:36:12.980 And it was a surprising question to me.
00:36:15.080 And I said, no, I don't ever want to fit in here.
00:36:18.980 This is not like, this is not my home.
00:36:21.620 I'm grateful to get out of here as quickly as possible.
00:36:25.300 As soon as votes are done, as often as possible.
00:36:27.880 Get back to my community in Hawaii or get out and visit other communities in the country
00:36:32.480 and remain very closely connected to the people who I am, you know, I'm there to serve.
00:36:42.320 And as, you know, we've talked about this before.
00:36:44.400 There are far too many politicians from both parties who spend their time
00:36:51.480 at social hours and happy hours with lobbyists than they do actually spend time at home.
00:36:59.940 Does anyone ever, oh, that's certainly true.
00:37:02.280 And they have sad, sad personal lives.
00:37:05.100 Almost, not all, but most, as you know.
00:37:07.760 But I'm always amazed by the financial disclosures.
00:37:12.300 And again, just since, this is the last question, but since no one else talks about it, I will.
00:37:16.120 And you see these members of Congress who are, you know, some cases they're clever,
00:37:20.280 maybe even smart.
00:37:21.300 Some cases are just pretty ordinary, actually.
00:37:23.720 And they're so rich relative to the mean.
00:37:27.140 Oh, yeah.
00:37:27.820 Does anyone, and I have no idea how they made all that money.
00:37:30.120 I have no clue at all how Nancy Pelosi is just so rich.
00:37:33.420 Or how she, her stock picks are like way better than Warren Buffett's.
00:37:37.500 Like, how does that happen?
00:37:38.980 But does anyone ever talk about that internally, like on the Hill?
00:37:43.700 No, because most of them benefit from it.
00:37:47.360 I love these, these like accounts on X and on Instagram that pop up now that are actually
00:37:52.760 tracking.
00:37:53.780 I don't know how they do it.
00:37:54.880 I really don't know how they figure it out.
00:37:57.280 But they are tracking what she's buying and what other members of Congress are buying.
00:38:01.940 Nancy Pelosi's stock tracker.
00:38:03.000 Oh, yeah.
00:38:03.700 That's definitely one of them.
00:38:05.500 It's incredible.
00:38:05.880 But they're like, hey, everybody pay attention.
00:38:07.060 It is.
00:38:07.500 It's incredible to see.
00:38:09.640 And when you watch that, and I'm so glad for the transparency that they're providing
00:38:14.140 to people in real time almost.
00:38:17.220 But it's no wonder why she and others, Democrats and Republicans, who could very easily pass the
00:38:25.120 legislation that says no member of Congress or the Senate or their spouse or their senior
00:38:31.440 staff should be allowed to trade in stocks, period, full stop.
00:38:35.740 It's such an obvious way to stop even the perception.
00:38:40.120 If you want to claim like innocence or whatever, there should be no perception that our elected
00:38:45.760 leaders are profiting off of the knowledge that they have as policymakers that directly
00:38:51.240 impact industry and businesses.
00:38:52.660 That's a no-brainer to me.
00:38:54.400 I introduced legislation when I was in Congress to do that.
00:38:57.060 Many people have since then.
00:38:58.520 There's been a lot of talk and conversation.
00:39:00.760 Why hasn't it gone anywhere?
00:39:02.480 That's why.
00:39:03.200 Because they profit off it.
00:39:04.500 So they don't, of course, they don't want to talk about it.
00:39:07.520 That's just an easy one.
00:39:08.800 It is.
00:39:09.280 And frankly, like, why do they need to be forced?
00:39:13.500 When I, you know, I'm not some kind of stock trader, but, you know, when I was like 23 and
00:39:18.540 24, I had like $5,000 in my savings account.
00:39:21.980 I was like, okay, cool.
00:39:22.620 Let me learn a little bit about stocks.
00:39:23.760 I put some money in some stocks and I don't remember how they did, but I knew immediately
00:39:30.380 like going into Congress, perception is reality.
00:39:33.960 Yes.
00:39:34.340 And so it doesn't matter like, well, I've had this stock for 15 years or whatever.
00:39:38.080 It doesn't even matter what it is.
00:39:39.400 I got rid of, I did not participate in anything related to stocks or stock trading or buying
00:39:47.300 or selling or anything for the entire time that I was in Congress.
00:39:50.380 And it's not some like, oh, look at me.
00:39:52.480 I'm so great.
00:39:53.080 It's just common sense that we have people in great positions of power.
00:39:57.780 Why should they be forced to do something with the passage of a law?
00:40:00.540 Why don't they just do the right thing and say, you know what?
00:40:03.120 We get that even an innocent thing could be perceived as insider trading.
00:40:08.080 We're just not going to go there.
00:40:11.020 Because it's too lucrative to give up.
00:40:14.000 And they know they can get away with it.
00:40:15.980 So it's interesting.
00:40:17.600 So you have explained, and thank you, the history of Hawaii, which I think is directly
00:40:22.140 relevant to the choices that you've made.
00:40:24.120 And as far as I know, everything says true.
00:40:28.740 And so the party has changed a lot in just the brief time that you were a member of it.
00:40:35.560 A lot, dramatically, unrecognizable.
00:40:38.060 But also in the process of going through all these experiences and being attacked by people
00:40:42.520 who thought, who said they were your allies.
00:40:45.380 You've got to change.
00:40:46.700 Yeah.
00:40:46.900 I mean, I've changed dramatically in 20 years just through, you know, we all do, if we're
00:40:51.340 honest.
00:40:52.100 So how have you changed?
00:40:53.540 Like what perceptions of yours are different from what they were five years ago?
00:40:58.460 You know, it is that the last five years that it became more and more clear to me how many
00:41:08.980 people, especially in the Democratic Party, in Washington specifically, how little they
00:41:16.220 think of the Constitution.
00:41:18.540 And, you know, I think the last five years especially are pretty pivotal because you look
00:41:23.600 at what happened with COVID, for example, as a starting point of how people, both at the
00:41:29.680 federal level, at the state level, county level, and a lot of places when given just a little
00:41:33.060 bit of power, man, they took advantage of that and continued to abuse that power in a way
00:41:40.460 that just didn't make sense.
00:41:42.660 It didn't make sense.
00:41:44.320 You know, when they're like, oh, okay, well, for public safety, everybody's got to stay
00:41:47.460 indoors and you can't go to church and you can't even worship, you know, out like in
00:41:52.100 Hawaii on the beach.
00:41:53.160 You can't have like an outdoor service.
00:41:55.960 But if you're going to go and do a Black Lives Matter march, that actually rises above any
00:42:03.860 public health and safety concerns that we talked about.
00:42:06.380 And so that's okay.
00:42:07.940 The politically motivated decisions that were being made in the midst of what they were calling
00:42:13.420 this, you know, the greatest health epidemic of our time, I think exposed pretty deeply
00:42:18.720 to a lot of people that it was really all just about power and how little they were concerned
00:42:25.200 about things like freedom and civil liberties and the ability for us to make our own choices
00:42:29.520 for ourselves.
00:42:30.620 And then it just continued to escalate more and more with the Biden-Harris administration
00:42:36.460 in how they were undermining the rule of law continuing to this day and how willing they
00:42:45.440 were to both directly and indirectly censor, blacklist, and smear everyday Americans across
00:42:55.020 the country if you happen to challenge them, whether it be on COVID or it be on things
00:43:00.420 like it.
00:43:01.040 And this was, I think this was the thing that caused Mitt Romney to call me a treasonous liar
00:43:07.480 was saying, hey, there are US-funded, DOD-funded bio labs in Ukraine that should be secured because
00:43:18.100 there's a war going on over there and the last thing we or the world needs is anything going
00:43:24.880 on in those bio labs being unleashed in a way that could pose a threat to people.
00:43:33.360 That was seen as-
00:43:35.820 But I should just say you weren't guessing.
00:43:37.620 No.
00:43:38.200 You got that.
00:43:38.960 Well, it was confirmed in any case in a public exchange in the Senate between Marco Rubio
00:43:44.560 of Florida, the sitting Republican senator, and Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of
00:43:49.180 state, who volunteered it on camera.
00:43:51.680 Yes.
00:43:52.240 So-
00:43:52.860 And it was on the DOD website talking about their long history-
00:43:59.500 Right.
00:43:59.780 ...of funding these bio labs, not only in Ukraine, but in many other countries-
00:44:04.380 Of course.
00:44:04.600 Because it's outside US law, right?
00:44:08.080 So they can- and it's bioweapons research, obviously.
00:44:11.040 But you were just- I don't even think you said that.
00:44:14.420 You just said basically what the undersecretary of state said in the Senate.
00:44:19.280 Right.
00:44:19.440 And then you have a creature like Mitt Romney calling you a traitor to your country.
00:44:26.740 You did.
00:44:27.800 So what do you think of him?
00:44:30.360 Like, what is that?
00:44:31.220 Why would he be so committed to a lie that he'd be willing to try to destroy your character?
00:44:38.100 He is part of that neocon, neolib establishment in Washington that poses a direct threat to
00:44:47.400 our republic, to our democracy, and to our freedom.
00:44:50.660 And that really is at the heart of why I chose to leave the Democratic Party.
00:44:58.140 Seeing people- and yep, got it, he's a Republican, but he took the same position as Hillary Clinton
00:45:05.700 and many other Democrats who don't care about our country.
00:45:10.260 That's what it comes down to.
00:45:11.600 I agree.
00:45:11.920 They don't care about our country.
00:45:12.940 I challenged Mitt Romney.
00:45:13.860 I sent him a legal letter challenging him on his accusation for the very reason that
00:45:19.300 we talked about as a uniformed officer serving in the United States Army.
00:45:24.020 His accusation as a U.S. senator is a crime punishable by death.
00:45:32.120 So if you're going to make that accusation as he did on what was then known as Twitter,
00:45:36.600 you better freaking back it up.
00:45:41.920 Is it a little- if you take three steps back, it's like obviously Mitt Romney is emotionally
00:45:48.840 a child.
00:45:49.840 He's very much a sub-genius.
00:45:51.900 He's like not a genius.
00:45:53.820 Let's just put it that way.
00:45:55.020 And he's made hundreds of millions of dollars in our economy.
00:45:59.660 Like what does that tell you about our economy?
00:46:01.240 Like how could a guy like that get so unbelievably rich?
00:46:04.920 Like there's something systemically wrong, right?
00:46:08.280 Yeah.
00:46:08.500 Yeah, I mean, there's a whole- I think there's a huge- and I think this will be the topic
00:46:14.620 of the next book that I'll write is as we talk about the military-industrial complex,
00:46:20.060 there is a corporate-industrial complex-
00:46:22.160 For sure.
00:46:22.720 That exists as well.
00:46:24.180 I'm all about capitalism.
00:46:25.780 But when you look at the monopolies-
00:46:28.100 Yeah, that's not capitalism.
00:46:29.000 That's not capitalism at all.
00:46:31.100 You look at how many small businesses are suffering in this country because of overregulation
00:46:35.340 by government and because they can't afford to pay millions, tens of millions of dollars
00:46:40.100 to have lobbyists going and scratching the back of politicians so that they can create
00:46:44.460 the loopholes that allow their business to thrive at the cost of the mass majority
00:46:49.900 of the small businesses in our country and the elimination of competitiveness.
00:46:54.740 True competition.
00:46:55.820 Which is what capitalism is all about.
00:46:57.740 True competition in our country.
00:47:00.220 And that's how when you look at people like Mitt Romney and you see how they have done
00:47:04.240 so well, that's the reason why.
00:47:06.820 He's just so disgraceful.
00:47:08.960 It's hard to believe he's real, but he is.
00:47:11.600 So how did he respond when you said-
00:47:13.400 He didn't.
00:47:14.340 His silence was-
00:47:15.940 He didn't respond at all?
00:47:16.820 He did not respond at all.
00:47:18.420 Not to my lawyer and not on Twitter and not in any way, shape, or form, which it didn't
00:47:27.900 surprise me.
00:47:28.980 It's so dishonorable.
00:47:30.600 It is.
00:47:31.080 It is.
00:47:32.320 It is.
00:47:32.920 I am so grateful and really, truly feel like it is a privilege to be able to serve our country
00:47:41.760 in uniform.
00:47:43.520 April makes 21 years for me.
00:47:45.860 I'm grateful to serve as a battalion commander currently where I have the opportunity to
00:47:51.500 work with incredible Americans who come from all over the country and who deeply love our
00:47:58.060 country.
00:47:59.000 It's not a small sacrifice to make, both for those who are serving as active duty service
00:48:05.000 members as well as those who serve in the reserve component.
00:48:07.860 There's a reason why we do it, and it stems from a deep love for our country.
00:48:12.380 And to have a guy like that make such an accusation, yeah, it hits close to home, not only for me,
00:48:23.280 but the real issue with that and why I challenged him on it is because when people like Mitt Romney
00:48:29.560 make that kind of accusation, people like Hillary Clinton call me a traitor and a Russian asset
00:48:36.820 or a puppet of Putin, this is not about me.
00:48:43.260 It's about the message that they're sending to every serviceman and woman in this country
00:48:48.380 and every American, that if you dare to challenge us, we will come at you with all we have.
00:48:54.380 It's always the least American people who make the claim that you're not American enough.
00:48:59.960 So, but do you ever think, so again, this is demonstrable if anyone who's made it to this
00:49:06.960 point in the conversation can decide, you know, do I agree or disagree with Chelsea Gabbard?
00:49:11.660 That's fine.
00:49:12.780 But I don't think any fair person could say you're in this for the money or the accolades,
00:49:18.000 just the opposite.
00:49:19.480 You're continuing to get deployed and you're not making any money doing that.
00:49:24.900 You're doing it anyway.
00:49:25.860 It's quite a time commitment.
00:49:28.100 Do you ever think like maybe politics is not the business for me because I'm just, I believe
00:49:34.760 what I believe and I'm kind of never going to sell it out.
00:49:38.940 Maybe you're not transactional enough for that.
00:49:41.900 No, I'm serious.
00:49:45.400 I have never thought of quote unquote politics as a career at all, ever.
00:49:52.000 And so the different times in my life where I have held public office, it's never been,
00:49:58.320 well, this is what I'm going to do for the next few decades and then I'll retire.
00:50:03.060 And it's why I have left at different times.
00:50:07.440 I did not run for reelection when I was serving in the state house because I decided to volunteer
00:50:12.340 and deploy to Iraq with my brothers and sisters in the Hawaii National Guard at the time.
00:50:15.900 Uh, I did not run for Congress, uh, again in reelection in 2020 because I felt like I
00:50:24.540 could, um, the, the climate of the house of representatives had gotten to that point where
00:50:30.780 I felt like I had maximized the impact that I could make there.
00:50:33.580 And I could, I could be of more influence, um, at that time on the outside, kind of holding
00:50:39.860 their feet to the fire, uh, and being able to share exactly what I am now at the American
00:50:44.420 people, the truth about what's going on in Washington and the truth about these politicians
00:50:48.440 who claim to care for you, but show through their actions that they don't more and more
00:50:53.820 brazenly.
00:50:54.860 And this is, this is really, you know, you'd ask the question about what happened over the
00:50:59.480 last five years.
00:51:00.360 And, um, yeah, how was the change, the change really, uh, where there has been a change.
00:51:08.040 It has come from a much deeper appreciation, um, frankly, of, of, of our constitution and
00:51:17.640 the role that our leaders must have in truly upholding the constitution.
00:51:24.200 It's obviously something I've, I've swore an oath to twice in my life and I care very deeply
00:51:28.380 for, uh, to see how those in power were so brazenly and continue to so brazenly abuse
00:51:37.900 their power and, uh, weaponize, you know, our law enforcement, the national security state,
00:51:44.240 all, all of these different tools that are at their disposal, increasingly pushing us
00:51:50.960 toward, uh, towards a place where our country is being led by a tyrannical government.
00:51:56.540 Yes.
00:51:57.400 Uh, it's a very real, it's a very real danger.
00:52:01.840 Oh, I agree.
00:52:02.320 But I, I frankly couldn't, you know, 10 years ago, maybe even, maybe even, you know,
00:52:09.080 less than that.
00:52:10.800 I, I, I don't think I would have, I don't think I would have said that.
00:52:14.340 Oh, I don't think most people would have said it at all because it seemed like just the,
00:52:19.080 the normal disagreements between people with the same goal, which is to help the country.
00:52:22.760 That's not the case.
00:52:23.760 The, obviously the problem of the constitution though, is that the whole document basically
00:52:28.720 is just like limits on the power and authority of politicians.
00:52:31.760 That's the whole purpose of it.
00:52:33.000 Here's what you can't do to the population, but it's in the hands of politicians to uphold.
00:52:39.060 Yeah.
00:52:40.200 So you, I mean, maybe that's like the core problem with our government, our system of government
00:52:46.560 is they have to restrain their own power.
00:52:50.460 Like what if they're like, well, we don't care about the constitution.
00:52:52.320 Like old white guys wrote it and they were racist and like, it's now invalid.
00:52:55.360 And that's exactly where the leaders of today's democratic party are.
00:53:00.280 That is their mindset.
00:53:01.220 But what do you do about that?
00:53:02.580 That's, that's where going and actually looking again at our founding documents, looking at
00:53:08.280 the declaration of independence, looking at the federalist papers, where we are reminded
00:53:13.640 over and over and over again about how our nation's founders continued to say, it's we,
00:53:19.820 the people that our government does not exist without the consent of the governed.
00:53:24.120 And this is the message I'm carrying everywhere across the country is that if you are not happy
00:53:29.080 with the direction that our country is headed, and I think that most people are not happy
00:53:35.360 with it, this changes only when we take action, only when we take action.
00:53:41.760 There's no knight in shining armor that's coming to save the country.
00:53:45.180 Our founders specifically built our country on the foundation of we, the people taking ownership
00:53:52.520 and responsibility for the kind of leadership that we want and the kind of future that we want.
00:53:57.740 And right now, I am sounding the alarm and encouraging everyone to sound the alarm.
00:54:03.140 The name of my book is For Love of Country, Leave the Democrat Party Behind, specifically and
00:54:09.120 very directly pointing to those who pose the greatest threat to our democracy, to our freedom,
00:54:15.780 to our security and our ability to live in peace right now.
00:54:20.480 And my concern, my grave concern is that in this next election, if President Biden or Harris or whoever
00:54:28.480 they may put up, if it's not President Biden, if they are allowed to remain in power,
00:54:33.420 then we will get to a place where the country that I love, that you love, that so many of us love
00:54:40.780 and appreciate will become unrecognizable and to a place where the freedoms that we are already starting
00:54:50.340 to lose, that we won't be able to get them back.
00:54:56.580 I know a lot of people have been to jail in the last three and a half years, like a lot.
00:55:02.160 And I've interviewed a lot, just interviewed one today.
00:55:03.960 And they've gone to jail for their political views and for their willingness to challenge
00:55:09.920 the people in power.
00:55:12.000 If Biden or if Clinton and Obama get reelected, using Biden as a cutout and Kamala Harris, are
00:55:20.040 you worried that, I mean, we're talking about like actual Americans, American citizens going
00:55:26.520 to jail.
00:55:26.940 We're going to see a lot more of that, it feels like to me.
00:55:29.400 And we are already seeing more of that.
00:55:33.000 And I have no doubt that that will only escalate dramatically.
00:55:38.240 Because every time, you know, they could win the election by theoretically one vote.
00:55:44.320 And they will run around the country and say, well, the American people have given us a mandate
00:55:48.540 to continue the great work we are doing for this country.
00:55:52.560 Well, the great work that they see they are doing for this country is actually for themselves.
00:55:56.060 And they are completely undermining the fabric that makes this country what it is.
00:56:04.880 That's for sure.
00:56:05.480 But are you worried?
00:56:06.380 I mean, you're in this interesting position because, you know, they've always, they've
00:56:11.420 disliked Trump for a long time, disliked me for a long time.
00:56:15.420 They thought they could use you.
00:56:17.600 They thought they loved you.
00:56:18.840 And so they hate you with a very intense and very specific kind of hate.
00:56:24.500 And you've given them the finger at every turn.
00:56:26.520 Yeah.
00:56:26.980 Like, and you won't stop.
00:56:28.300 So like, do you ever think to yourself?
00:56:31.080 I wouldn't be surprised.
00:56:32.580 Yeah.
00:56:32.780 Why wouldn't they indict you for being a Russian agent or whatever?
00:56:35.800 There, there's, um, as we are seeing now, uh, they are completely willing to use the Department
00:56:44.080 of Justice and law enforcement to serve their own political means.
00:56:48.700 Um, so, so no, it wouldn't surprise me at all.
00:56:53.880 Uh, they are, they are showing that even without evidence, without basis, without anything to
00:57:00.800 back up their claims, they are, uh, you know, they, they, and, and this is what they've been
00:57:05.140 doing this against Trump since he first ran for office in 2016, launching years long
00:57:10.600 investigations into him, this whole Russia collusion thing, things that were, you know,
00:57:15.280 proven through those investigations.
00:57:17.160 Like, no, there, there was nothing here.
00:57:19.420 Uh, and there, there's been no accountability for them whatsoever, which goes back to just
00:57:25.760 emphasizing how critical it is.
00:57:29.220 Uh, if, if you are a person who cares about freedom, who cares about our country, who cares
00:57:35.260 about, you know, being able to make your own decisions as parents about what kind of education
00:57:40.080 you want for your child, if you care about having a safe community for your child to live
00:57:44.760 in, if you care about having a, a secure country with borders, uh, the democratic party is,
00:57:53.440 is, um, not the answer.
00:57:56.820 It is not the answer.
00:57:58.460 They are, in fact, the problem.
00:58:01.960 So you've been, um, in a lot of different news stories, uh, talked about as a potential
00:58:10.140 VP choice for Trump.
00:58:12.860 I have no idea if that's going to happen or not.
00:58:15.120 Probably unknowable.
00:58:16.460 Are you open to that?
00:58:17.720 If you don't do that, what else are you open to?
00:58:20.240 What's your plan?
00:58:21.120 Um, um, yeah, I would, I would be honored.
00:58:25.500 I'd be honored to, to serve our country, uh, in that way or in other ways, um, and to be
00:58:32.060 in a position to, to help president Trump if he is, if he is reelected, uh, to actually
00:58:38.060 address these challenges, to help execute those policies that will bring back a secure
00:58:42.880 border that will breathe new life into, uh, our economy and start to get this radical
00:58:49.520 inflation, uh, out of control, which on that note, I, I was in a conversation the other
00:58:56.120 day with like two different groups of people.
00:58:58.540 Uh, one, one was with a very, very wealthy couple and they were saying, well, gosh, you
00:59:04.100 know, and they're not fans of president Biden either, but like, you know, the economy is
00:59:07.620 not actually that bad.
00:59:08.540 Stock market's doing all right.
00:59:09.680 And, you know, it's, it's not really as bad as a lot of people are saying it is.
00:59:14.200 Um, and then the next conversation was with, uh, people who are not part of that, that wealthy
00:59:20.620 class who were talking about, you know, a loaf of bread is three times more expensive today
00:59:26.960 than it was six months ago or a year ago.
00:59:29.860 So basic necessities, electricity, uh, food, medicine, all of the things that, that people
00:59:35.640 need just to live and, and to try to live in a healthy way, uh, are far more expensive,
00:59:41.400 but they're not making a whole lot more.
00:59:43.780 The dollar is going, uh, you know, not, not going nearly as far as it needs to in order
00:59:49.140 to be able to afford this inflation.
00:59:50.800 And so I, I just mentioned that because this disconnect still continues between the elite
00:59:58.160 in Washington, uh, and the reality that they live in versus the reality that the rest of
01:00:02.640 us live in, in this country.
01:00:04.260 And, and president Trump recognizes that I'd love to be in a position to help, um, to help
01:00:11.780 secure our country and to get us off this path towards world war three and nuclear war that,
01:00:19.820 uh, the Democrat elite and president Biden's policies have us on right now.
01:00:25.520 So my last question, a lot, uh, has been written about you, uh, and, um, a lot has been written
01:00:35.720 about your spiritual life.
01:00:36.880 I don't know if any of it's accurate or not.
01:00:38.320 Um, most politicians don't have a spiritual life, so I think it, it spooks our media that
01:00:43.380 you clearly do, you can feel it, but I want to ask you a specific question.
01:00:46.760 So there was a fairly famous exchange on MSNBC a week or two ago with a reporter from Politico
01:00:53.380 who was attacking Christians.
01:00:54.800 And that reporter said, um, you know, the crazy thing about Christians is they think their
01:01:00.040 rights come from God.
01:01:01.040 Hmm.
01:01:02.040 When, of course, the implication is they really are granted by Joe Biden.
01:01:05.380 Like what, uh, where do you think our rights come from?
01:01:10.200 Our rights come from God.
01:01:12.660 It's, and it's, it's, I, I, I saw that clip, um, and I laughed when I saw it.
01:01:19.600 And then I was concerned because I saw the people sitting around the table in one of those panels
01:01:26.380 and they all had serious looks on their faces as they were nodding along with this woman saying
01:01:31.100 this as though, like, first of all, whatever her spiritual beliefs are or the lack thereof,
01:01:38.680 that's her business.
01:01:39.840 Yeah.
01:01:40.200 But have you read the Declaration of Independence ever?
01:01:44.340 Certainly not recently, because again, whatever your own personal thoughts may be, um, the Declaration
01:01:52.600 of Independence is not, they don't mince words.
01:01:55.760 Yes.
01:01:56.080 That, that our God-given rights are inalienable and they do come from our creator.
01:02:02.580 Uh, and, and again, recognizing that as the basis for our founding documents, uh, is a
01:02:10.260 very powerful message to every person in politics or in power that you don't get to try to take
01:02:19.500 away those rights.
01:02:21.860 God gives us those rights.
01:02:23.520 Only God can take them away.
01:02:25.420 And this God complex that so many of our politicians have is at the heart of the problem is they're
01:02:32.340 so eager to put themselves in a position of power where they, they believe that they have
01:02:38.360 the power to say what is true and what is not true.
01:02:40.920 That something as undeniable as the fact that I am a woman and you're a man is something that
01:02:47.540 they have now declared to be, uh, a fungible, uh, label, I suppose, that you can just say,
01:02:55.140 uh, you know, I, I, I, I believe I'm a man, so I'm a man and, and, and let it be so.
01:03:00.040 So the, this is, this is, this is, it would be laughable if the consequences weren't so dangerous,
01:03:05.800 uh, to have people in power who don't recognize that our, our rights and freedoms come from God
01:03:12.620 and you follow that track.
01:03:15.140 And where does it lead is, is they really do believe that they are God or should be God
01:03:20.920 and that they are self-appointing themselves to be in that position of authority
01:03:27.160 and have a lot of tools at their disposal to try to enforce that.
01:03:33.320 And that is what is at the heart of the danger that we face as a country right now.
01:03:36.580 This is something that transcends party affiliation.
01:03:40.220 It transcends how you may like or dislike certain candidates.
01:03:45.400 This is the fact.
01:03:46.800 And it's the reality that we have to confront ourselves with.
01:03:50.000 If we care about peace, if we care about freedom, if we care about security, if we care about
01:03:54.860 our country and our future, uh, the choice is very clear in this election and what we must
01:04:01.340 do in leaving the Democrat party behind.
01:04:04.660 Tulsi Gabbard.
01:04:05.420 I don't know what's next for you.
01:04:06.840 I don't know what's next for any of us actually, but I hope you will keep talking.
01:04:10.120 I will.
01:04:10.520 Thank you for having me.
01:04:11.200 Thank you.
01:04:17.360 Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend
01:04:22.920 so it can be discovered by other people.
01:04:35.420 I'll see you.
01:04:37.160 Take care.
01:04:39.120 And I'll see you later.
01:04:39.520 Bye-bye.
01:04:40.040 Bye-bye.
01:04:40.760 Bye-bye.
01:04:40.820 Bye.
01:04:41.220 Bye.
01:04:41.660 Bye-bye.
01:04:42.100 Bye-bye.
01:04:42.680 Bye-bye.
01:04:43.280 Bye-bye.
01:04:43.640 Bye-bye.
01:04:44.680 Bye-bye.
01:04:45.280 Bye-bye.
01:04:45.380 Bye-bye.
01:04:47.700 Bye-bye.
01:04:48.600 Bye-bye.
01:04:50.900 Bye-bye.
01:04:51.600 Bye-bye.
01:04:52.460 Bye-bye.
01:04:52.840 Bye-bye.
01:04:53.480 Bye-bye.
01:04:53.780 Bye-bye.
01:04:54.260 Bye-bye.
01:04:55.320 Bye.
01:04:56.120 Bye-bye.
01:04:56.900 Bye-bye.
01:04:57.760 Bye-bye.
01:04:58.480 Bye-bye.
01:05:00.600 Bye-bye.
01:05:01.080 Bye-bye.
01:05:01.760 Bye-bye.