MEADOWS： POLITICIANS CAMPAIGN AS HERCULES, GOVERN AS PEEWEE HERMAN
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Summary
In this episode of the Great America Show, President Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, joins host Lou Dobrik to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the January 6th Committee, and the ongoing efforts to delegitimize President Trump.
Transcript
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Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us on The Great America Show.
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The Russians continue to bombard Ukrainian cities mercilessly. The death toll rising by the
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thousands each week, and the Russian war on Ukraine has gone on now for 21 days.
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Three weeks of unrelenting devastation and destruction in Ukraine. Against the overwhelming
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Russian forces that Putin has thrown at Ukraine, the resistance and the military have held the
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Russians off and show no sign of weakening. Neither does their leader, President Volodymyr
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Zelensky, who yesterday offered some reason to hope negotiations with the Russians might
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produce a way forward to a truce, a ceasefire. Zelensky says he sees no opening for Ukrainian
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membership in NATO, the principal issue that Putin asserts in his motivation for the invasion of
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Ukraine. So we'll see what, if anything, the talks in Geneva produce overnight. Both sides are
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constructively, as the Ukrainians put it, negotiating a 15-item agenda that could lead to a ceasefire.
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President Biden, who's now scheduled to attend next week's NATO summit in Brussels,
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has escalated his rhetoric against Putin, now calling him a war criminal. And Biden approved
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a tremendous shipment of arms to Ukraine, including five gunship and transport helicopters,
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hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 800 of them in fact, and 2,600 more Javelin anti-tank
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missiles and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition. Within that context, European leaders
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are holding their breath and hoping the talks can halt the war and lead to a peace agreement.
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Putin can't be pleased with either his military's performance, in part because they haven't taken
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control of any of the 10 largest cities in Ukraine, and they've suffered shockingly high
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casualties and loss of equipment and supplies. And we do have some signals of expected progress in those
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terse talks evident in the oil market, where prices have fallen by a third from recent highs,
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and in stock markets, where stocks have moved higher, obviously because investors are hopeful
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these talks will result in more than a simple stop to hostilities. Zelensky today said he believes
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World War III is now underway. I infer from his remarks that he's looking at, of course,
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the war that is so devastating and deadly in his own country. But at the same time, looking beyond
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what is rapidly becoming a new alignment of powers, China and Russia, Russia and Iran, and India in
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new energy trade relationships. And all four powers seem to be working toward building an axis that
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would dominate the world, leaving Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia, and other countries
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to fend for a geopolitical combination that would also be a military alliance. Those countries now are
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engaged in global psychological warfare, propaganda and disinformation campaigns, as well as cyber
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warfare. Sorting out and identifying truth in the midst of all of this is truly an immense undertaking
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each day, and made all the more difficult in America with our highly divisive politics and
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polarized society with now critically important midterm elections, just over seven months away.
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And the left using their total control of government, including our legal system, to carry out the most
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vicious persecution of American citizens in history. And there should be no mistaking the purpose of the
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Marxist left in control of our courts, most of the attorneys in the country as well. They mean to destroy
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President Trump through the Soviet-style January 6th committee to stifle dissent and lessen support
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for Donald Trump throughout the country. To take up those issues, we're joined by Mark Meadows,
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President Trump's former chief of staff. He served four terms in Congress, was chair of the Freedom
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Caucus, now senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute. Mark has lived and worked at the center of
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the nation's political battles for power for years. And now, Mark Meadows, great to have you here on the
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Lou, great to be with you on the Great America Show. As always, thank you for bringing truth to the American
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people and consistently being willing to talk about those issues that candidly don't get referenced very
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often. But it's great to be back with you. Well, thank you, Mark. And let's start with, you've been in the
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crosshairs of the January 6th commission, or as I style it, the Soviet-style January 6th committee.
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We're also watching Mark Elias, the Dem attorney, the leading Dem attorney, trying to disqualify
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congressional candidates based on, quote-unquote, their support of either Donald Trump or just
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calling them, terming them as insurrectionists. I mean, it's outrageous. Give us your thoughts on
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all that and whether or not this is an outright coordinated effort on the part of the January 6th
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committee, Mark Elias, his lawfare cronies who are taking these unprecedented legal steps trying to
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stop Republican candidates. Well, obviously, when you try to stop Republican candidates and you don't
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leave it up to the people, you've fundamentally not supported what our founding fathers believed that
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was best for government, which is let we the people decide on the merits of who they should vote for,
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how they should vote. And candidly, we start to see a whole lot more of that this time of year as you
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look at redistricting. You start to see a number of challenges that go up that, generally speaking,
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in those more swing states where they look to get an advantage on redistricting. But, you know,
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you mentioned the January 6th committee. Obviously, a number of us have been outspoken that, you know,
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those who broke the law on January 6th should be held accountable. But yet, at the same time,
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we've seen a political operation that is far-reaching, Lou. And by a political operation,
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the willingness by this partisan committee, and by that, I would suggest that
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it is not just partisan, but it is a political committee that long ago abandoned any hopes of
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having a legislative purpose, that what they're doing is digging in deep to try to look at aspects
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that would never show up in any kind of legislation. You know, Lou, you and I, we go way back. And when I
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was a member of the House, you looked at a number of issues as to what kind of legislation you would
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put forward, how you would try to rectify a particular situation. But this January 6th committee
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has gone well beyond that. And hopefully, the American people are seeing that.
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In combination, then, with Mark Elias and his lawfare effort to disqualify Republican candidates,
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I'm talking about sitting Republicans as candidates who are incumbents. I'm talking about Ron Johnson,
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Senator from Wisconsin. How in the world can the Republican Party not respond more aggressively?
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And I'm talking about Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Ron McDaniel at the NRC. They're just sort of watching
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this happen as it occurs. Well, they do need to respond, because I can tell you that if there is
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silence, if the left and their attacks is met with silence, there will be more of it. Candidly,
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there needs to be a real all-out effort, whether it's at the RNC or the NRCC or the NRSC, all three of
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those, whether it's Ronna, Kevin, or Mitch, they need to have a plan that is not just a defensive plan.
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I would encourage them to actually look at this and making sure that the voters' voices are heard,
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not just in Georgia or Florida or Pennsylvania. But they need to also address that in states like
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Illinois and in other states that a lot of your listeners may say, well, this is more of a left-leaning
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state. It's important that on all of those fronts that they fight back and say, listen,
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let's make sure elections are not decided by attorneys. Let's make sure that they're decided
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by voters. Right. And we are seeing a number of attorneys start to get involved at the request
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of the Republicans. In Wisconsin, for example, a special counsel there found considerable irregularities
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and actually wants the state to decertify the 2020 election based on the discovery of the manipulation
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of both the election itself and not having authority to do drop boxes and so forth. This is sort of a
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problem for the for the lawfare people who want to disqualify candidates because of so-called
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insurrection. First of all, it means that there were problems with this so-called perfect election
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in 2020. Well, when you look at Wisconsin, and obviously Senator Ron Johnson is up for re-election
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there, that will be the focus of a number of those on the left. They will see that as a Senate seat that
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they can pick up. And so all of a sudden they will have a lot more attention there. But it is very
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difficult to look at Wisconsin and Wisconsin state law and suggest that their state law was actually
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followed. And that's what you're referring to is when you have have a special prosecutor that is
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looking at their state law, the laws that were on the books and said these were were not allegedly
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were not followed. And we we know that Zuckerberg's and and other nonprofit dollars flowed into many
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states and in an effort to actually do what what some have suggested is, you know, electioneering and
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working outside the scope of what a nonprofit would do. But but the bigger problem, Lou, is is when you have
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state laws that were either ignored or put by the wayside, whether it's in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania,
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that that really needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed now before the 2022 midterms.
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Hopefully there's a number of people that are willing to look very closely at that and make sure
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that it's addressed. The Republican National Committee is more of a bank, but these are new times.
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And the DNC is obviously an activist organization. They even got involved in trying to overthrow a
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president, namely President Trump. So I'd like to see a little more energy from Ronna McDaniel and that
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group, particularly on this issue, that is, yeah, Republican candidates of being insurrectionists and
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and, you know, you know, anybody of being an insurrectionist. Right. Lou, you know that a lot
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of this is just because a lot of Washington, D.C. would prefer that Donald Trump had never been
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president. They don't want him to be president again. And and that that still exists. You know,
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I'm not one that normally looks at being someone who will take up for the RNC, but I will give a
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little bit of good news. I do believe that Ronna has gotten the message from donors and from people
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across the country that she and the RNC need to be engaged on this particular issue. And and they're
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taking some meaningful steps and working with with others to make sure that not just states like
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Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are addressed, but other states. And and I think it's it's wrong for us to
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just focus on states where the vote count suggested that Joe Biden was the victor in some of these very
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close states. I think we need to look at this broadly, look at audits broadly, look at make making sure that
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it is easy to vote, but hard to cheat. And hopefully we'll start to see that. Well, if you're talking about
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reform, certainly that's it. Frankly, I don't see I'm not nearly as optimistic as you because I don't
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see any meaningful steps toward. I shouldn't say any. I don't see many meaningful steps toward reform.
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I do think Arizona is trying. I do think George is trying. I think in Pennsylvania, I think in
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Wisconsin, those two states, they're not doing nearly enough. And as a result, we're not we may have
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shadows of 2020 with us once again, because of a lack of activism and energy and and sheer guts and
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principle on the part of the RNC. Well, yeah, and I don't want to oversell their their initiative,
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other than to say that I think that donors have gotten their attention. And so that's where where
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that comes from. I will say that across the country, we're seeing more and more people get personally
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involved and not necessarily from just a partisan point of view. Lou, it's it's from a voter integrity
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point of view. They're saying, listen, whoever and whomever you vote for is is up to you individually.
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But what we want to make sure is, is that it's a free and fair election. You saw a lot of grassroots
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supporters come out in Virginia and making sure that they showed up at the polls. A lot of these people
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volunteered for the very first time didn't have to have other jobs and and just wanted to make sure that they
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showed up. I think we'll see much of that in in the coming midterms in 2022. And certainly again in 2024.
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Well, I'll tell you for sure, and we're going to we're doing everything we can on this show to to elevate the energy
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at the local level. I'm begging Americans to get involved in their school boards. I am begging Americans
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to get involved in their city council and to get involved in politics at the community level where
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they have the most influence, the greatest control over the quality of their lives. And we can assure
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that once we're down to the precinct level, when votes come to pass, that we've got great Americans
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watching over that boat. Bravo for you. No, you're 100% right. You're right. We can't afford not to do
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that. And here's the interesting thing is, by you getting them involved at a local level,
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it is not only their voice as parents where they're saying, we know what is best for our children to be
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caught in in coordination with with great teachers and administrators. But the parents certainly have
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the critical role in all of that as as they look at their children. But if they get involved,
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it's amazing how a few hundred votes can make a big difference in a school board race. I don't know
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about you. I've worked the polls for a long time and I would see people come up. They might know who
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they're voting for for senator or for a member of Congress or the president of the United States.
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But when it got down to school boards, oftentimes they were scratching their heads saying, well,
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which one do I vote for? Who do I vote for here or there? And and so as we start to see that,
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I think the biggest thing is having them involved, as you say, at a local level will make all the
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difference in the world. We're watching a president who is saying some strange things as he discusses
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Ukraine. He sounds at times like a neighborhood bully and then others. He seems like he's gone
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off to a dark corner to suck on his thumb when President Xi or President Putin expressed themselves
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or even President Zelensky. We have the newest poll from the Wall Street Journal saying 61 percent of
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Americans don't have any confidence that this president can avoid an expansion of the Ukraine
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war. What's your reaction to that? Well, I mean, the 61 percent, I want to find out who the other 39
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percent are. You know, maybe they're the ones that would vote for Joe Biden no matter what. Listen,
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this is this is a difficult situation. I don't want to suggest in our conversation that these are
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are answering questions that are answered easily. But I will say this, that there is a trend. And
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the problem is, is that we see for far too long that world leaders have listened to Joe Biden's rhetoric
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and they realize that it doesn't necessarily get backed up with action. And and even when you looked
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at the most recent sanctions, Lou, you know, where he was going to, I guess, sanction
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uh, uh, um, shellfish, uh, vodka. And I can't remember one other, uh, one other thing they were
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going to shelf, you know, to sanction. I mean, this, these are things that don't affect the average
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American, but they don't also affect the average Russian. And so, uh, when you look at this, uh,
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here's, uh, how President Trump would handle it differently. He would not only, uh, focus on our
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energy dominance, which he did and brought gasoline prices down, which, uh, were extremely high. People
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don't realize that when President Trump came in, the gas prices were really high. He brought them
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to less than two, two bucks a gallon. So every time that, you know, somebody is filling up now
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and they're paying, you know, four or five, $6 a gallon, uh, they need to realize that there was a
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president in the Oval Office, not too many years ago that actually, uh, has a track record of getting
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it down, but it's goes beyond just the energy dominance. It has to be an aggressive, assertive
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plan that says what we're going to do is take an energy solution to Europe, get them off of Russian
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oil. Now you can, you can do that through liquefied natural gas. You can do that through a number of
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other, uh, American, uh, American petroleum products. If the left would allow Joe Biden to
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focus on that, what we would see would be oil prices coming down immediately just upon the
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announcement, but also on the fact that President Trump would follow through on those things, even
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in spite of some of the political consequences. Uh, you know, he, uh, I've, I've seen, uh, far too
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often, you know, uh, countries like Germany and, and others in Europe that he thought, uh, might
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have been taking advantage of the good graces of the American people. And he would let them know
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about it. And, uh, and that goes for Russia as well. And so it's not just the fact that Russia did not
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invade when president Trump was in the white house. It's the fact that he would have taken action.
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Uh, Vladimir Putin knew that Europe knew that. And quite frankly, both are, uh, our enemy
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and our allies knew that. And that, and that's what we have to do. We have to follow up with a
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real plan that actually puts American energy dominance, uh, back at the highest priority
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for this solution. And President Trump, let's explore that just for a second, Mark. Uh, how
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else would President Trump, uh, have behaved differently than Biden, for example? Uh, let's
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talk about, first of all, his, uh, he, it seemed to me, he made it very clear. He wanted to coexist
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with Russia, that he wanted to have a relationship with Putin, with President Xi, uh, even with Kim
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Jong-un, uh, in North Korea, he was trying to have a relationship with people so that there would be
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coexistence without conflict. Am I right? Without a doubt. I mean, there were a number of times,
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uh, that he, he would pick up, uh, the phone, schedule a call, uh, whether it was with President
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Xi or, or Vladimir Putin, uh, and other world leaders that he may not agree with. In fact,
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oftentimes did not agree with, uh, but he wanted to have a relationship because he knew that what
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happens is, is they depend on the American economy. They were instrumental as part of our American
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economy, uh, like it or not. Uh, the supply chain, as we look at China is, is a, a very critical
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com, uh, component of a lot of our manufacturing, uh, has some part or some part of it, uh, made in,
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in China. And yet he was willing, he was willing to state the obvious. He says, I know you're for
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China or you're for Russia, but I'm for America and I'm not going to let you take advantage of the
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American people. And they knew that he, he meant that. And yet at the same time, wanted to establish
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a relationship that did not escalate into, uh, you know, this, this cold war kind of foundation
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that we're seeing right now with, with the Russia, Ukraine, um, uh, debacle. Yeah. And people,
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of course, don't give him credit because they, the corporate news outlets in this country,
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everyone from ABC to CNN, to you name it, all of them, uh, worked against him every step of the way.
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He put tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States because properly. So, uh, to create a balanced
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trade relationship. That's all. He didn't want to have the, uh, the, uh, greater hand. He wanted to
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have an even hand in all of these trade relationships. You're exactly right. And, and,
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uh, you know, everybody that, uh, is listening in may not understand, uh, uh, the, the prowess
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that you have as it relates to economic analysis, but I do, I, uh, Lou Lou, you're, uh, one of the,
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the best at being able to look at a situation economically and say, all right, this is what's
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happening. These are the counter arguments. This is what's not happening, but you're right.
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He was willing to put on tariffs. He was willing to use tariffs. And I, I must confess, I was not a
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big tariff, uh, fan when I, I came in. In fact, it was something that, that the president and I
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had talked about a number of times, uh, when I was a member of Congress and yet he was able to use
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those, whether it was in dealing with China or our Southern border. If you recall, it was,
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it was the tariff issue that actually made, uh, our, our Mexican government counterparts to our
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Southern border. All of a sudden say, well, we're willing to help you try to secure that border.
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Uh, it was, it was a, it was a breakthrough with the Mexican government like none in our history.
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Uh, in fact, uh, and president Trump was understandably and appropriately proud of the
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fact that, uh, Manuel Lopez Obrador, uh, put 26,000 of his troops into the deal to assure security and
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the remain and, and to support the remain in Mexico policy that made all of the difference
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in terms of illegal immigration. And those who were, well, well, you mentioned that and, and, uh,
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he was proud of it, which was interesting because there, again, it gets back to what you were saying
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earlier, Lou. It's a relationship between he and the leader of Mexico. Now here's the Mexican
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president at that particular time, very much more, uh, a liberal, uh, someone, uh, leaning way to the
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left, uh, president Trump leaning way to the right. And yet they had a relationship of mutual respect
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where they could pick up the phone did had an admiration in spite of those differences to figure
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it out. But yeah, he took great joy in that. And some of those who said, well, we're going to make
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Mexico pay for our border security. They had to eat their words when, uh, when Mexico was actually,
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uh, uh, putting so many troops on our Southern border to help us out.
00:25:49.340
Yep. Our, our, our Southern border and their Southern border as well with Central America,
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trying to stop those caravans and successfully doing so, uh, as, as we consider this election,
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this upcoming election without president Trump's presence in the Republican party, I will say this.
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I don't believe that the Republicans would have a chance of winning it despite the historical imbalance,
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uh, in, uh, the historic pattern of the party out of power in the white house, uh, winning 26 seats,
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uh, and in the Senate four seats that on average, because the Democrats are so much smarter than the
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Republicans, uh, in my opinion, whether they're leading the house or whether they're leading the
00:26:36.940
Senate, uh, your thoughts. Well, I think probably the biggest thing is, is Donald Trump has forever
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changed the Republican party, uh, where it is one that actually identifies with the working man and
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woman, uh, the forgotten man and woman. And, and president Trump was able to do that almost
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single-handedly where people of, of a background that, uh, really didn't identify on a personal way
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with president Trump, but they did when it came to the way that he thought the way that he loved
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America, the way that he was proud of it. And, and they could identify, you know, I'm, I remember
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telling a story, uh, uh, about, uh, a union worker that, you know, went up at one of the Trump rallies
00:27:20.560
and I said, uh, you know, what, what is it that you like so much about, uh, Donald Trump? And he
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thought for just a second and he said, well, he's just like me. Well, it's interesting because here
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was a union worker that was, uh, working, uh, on an hourly basis and a New York billionaire, uh,
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that built, uh, skyscrapers. And yet the guy said, he's just like me. That's what has happened. It
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has transformed us. And if, if the Republicans think they can run away from that and not lose
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that forgotten man and woman, not lose that union worker and the hardworking American taxpayers that,
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that identify with, uh, they're sadly mistaken. You know, I, I was thinking about exactly what you're
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talking about there, uh, with the AEI, uh, uh, what would I call it retreat?
00:28:10.520
Yeah. Uh, their, their little get together. Yeah. Uh, Mr. Trump wasn't there.
00:28:17.360
Yeah. Not, not a surprise, not a surprise, but he wasn't.
00:28:21.640
But my point being that that's, that's corporate America. That's the old Republican party, uh, with
00:28:29.820
its hat in hand at the, uh, at the trough at the business round table, the chamber of commerce,
00:28:35.340
AEI and they brought all the regular fellows, you know, like Karl Rove and the bunch. And it's
00:28:42.540
sickening to watch because that forgotten man and woman, uh, who's, uh, who, who captured
00:28:49.480
president Trump's attention and, uh, and concern has been forgotten again by this party.
00:28:55.960
They're doing nothing for those people right now. Well, and we've got to, because here, here's the
00:29:02.840
issue is, is that when, when the person shows up to vote, um, the, the Republican brand, the Democrat
00:29:11.040
brand doesn't carry near the weight that it used to. And part of that is a podcast like yours, where
00:29:17.700
people can get their information directly from, uh, the newsmakers and from, from those that, uh,
00:29:24.000
are doing the analysis. Part of it is the, you know, the internet, the vast majority of information
00:29:29.680
that you can consume very, very quickly. But the other part of it is, is that they start to see a
00:29:36.340
divide, a divide between, uh, a president that they voted for and record numbers turned out, uh, they,
00:29:44.980
they love the fact that he is willing to, to, um, go and meet with them, you know, even, even with the
00:29:51.200
most recent rallies that he's at where you're getting record number, I mean, even with a sitting
00:29:57.400
president, you didn't get the kind of numbers that Donald Trump continues to get standing room and
00:30:02.840
only crowd in South Carolina a few days ago where, uh, you know, the wind chill was down, uh, at,
00:30:09.740
at the freezing level and yet, uh, record number of people showing up to support someone who has not
00:30:16.440
announced that they're going to run for president. I mean, it, but it's, it's the fact that he cares.
00:30:21.960
The other thing Lou is this, when he went to signing any kind of bill that had a dollar amount
00:30:29.200
attached to it, he didn't see it as the government's money. He saw it as the American
00:30:34.420
taxpayers money. Why are we paying so much? Why are we not getting a better deal? And he time and time
00:30:40.380
again, ask that question and they see it. Yeah, they do. And it's, and when I hear Mitch McConnell
00:30:48.780
say that he's not going to put up with Rick Scott and his, what is it? 11 point program. And he
00:30:54.400
shouldn't have said that. Well, and you've been one that has called that out time and time again,
00:30:58.940
on a regular basis. You haven't been a, a Johnny come lately on that. And the biggest issue that we
00:31:05.340
we've got Lou, here's, here's the interesting thing that we've got to make sure of is, you know,
00:31:12.160
being the leader of the Republican Senate or being the speaker of the house is not something that's
00:31:18.920
bestowed upon you as a right. It's, it's an earned privilege. And anytime that you think that you're
00:31:24.980
entitled to that, that somehow you're smarter than the American people, uh, it, it will not play well.
00:31:31.700
And, uh, Rick Scott putting forth an 11 point plan. God bless him. I'm, I'm glad, I'm glad he came up
00:31:37.960
with the plan. I mean, you know, what happens is, is that we, you know, so many people, they members
00:31:47.920
of Congress, they campaign as if they're Hercules and they show up here in Washington, DC and they're
00:31:55.120
Pee Wee Herman. And, and we've got, we've got to make sure that the Hercules on the campaign trail
00:32:01.280
is someone who actually shows up and is willing to fight for the American people in the halls of
00:32:06.360
Congress. Absolutely. And well said, I couldn't agree with you more. Uh, and by the way, I don't
00:32:12.840
agree with everything on, uh, on, uh, Rick Scott's list either, but at least there's enough concern
00:32:21.080
and pride and ambition and energy to put something down on paper and stand with it. Okay. Uh, and you
00:32:29.000
and I both know, you're one of the few people in Congress and yes, you know, your, your colleagues
00:32:34.540
whether the Jim Jordan, whomever, uh, you have made different, you've made a difference in that
00:32:40.500
Congress. Well, Jim Jordan and those like Jim, uh, know where their power comes from. And it comes
00:32:48.400
from the people that they have the privilege and honor to represent, uh, in Jim's case in Ohio,
00:32:54.940
Ohio, but it's even wider than Ohio. You know, people all across the country come up to Jim and
00:33:00.680
say, you know, thanks for fighting for us. Thanks for being one of the few that are willing to stand
00:33:04.780
up. And, um, and when you, when you look at boldness and when you look at courage in Washington,
00:33:11.500
DC, most of the courage that you see are for newly elected members of Congress who actually have
00:33:18.380
risked it all to try to come and make their country a better place. And sadly, the longer they're
00:33:24.080
here, the less courageous they become. And that's what we need to be. Listen, I call it the Potomac
00:33:30.720
fever. I've said that before with you, they come across the Potomac and they lose their ever loving
00:33:35.080
mind. We need to put something in the water when they come across the Potomac that they drink that
00:33:40.940
actually fortifies their backbone, but it doesn't make it quite as mushy. Yeah. Even if it's just an
00:33:46.800
antidote to whatever that is in the Potomac that they're, they're swallowing. Uh, I, I want to,
00:33:52.920
I want to get your sense of just what you think will happen here, uh, with the, with the election
00:34:01.400
itself. Are we going to see the rhinos prevail? Are we going to see them expunged? Do you think
00:34:07.400
the electorate is ready to say, uh, to the, uh, Kensingers and the Cheneys go away? Uh, we've had,
00:34:14.320
I know that, uh, one's retiring and the other is running against so far weak opposition, but we've got to
00:34:21.620
have, we've got to have a way to get rid of these, uh, milk toast, bland rhinos who just, you know,
00:34:27.800
they want every perk there is and power, but they want to kind of sit back and stand at the edge and
00:34:33.640
not be noticed and, uh, and, and use their power to please the vested interest, wall street, corporate
00:34:40.620
America. Yeah. Is there time over yet? I know it's not over. I wish, I wish I had better news for those
00:34:47.160
that are tuned in right now, but, uh, it's not over. I think that there is a real, uh, real push,
00:34:54.800
uh, to continue to, to consolidate power with those who are, uh, as you mentioned, rhinos,
00:35:02.160
Republican in name only. Um, and, and the other is, is that Joe Biden, you know, when you look at his
00:35:08.180
track record, everybody says, uh, you know, I, I, we, we can't have any more, uh, Joe Biden. So I'll take
00:35:14.680
whatever are that I can, uh, to make sure that we don't have to deal with that. Uh, and, and that
00:35:20.940
unfortunately creates a bigger problem because then you, you get timid people that get put into
00:35:27.880
office and, and people become disenchanted. What difference does it make? You know, if, if I'm
00:35:32.840
going to have a Republican that votes like a Democrat and a Democrat that votes like a Democrat, uh, most
00:35:38.340
people take the Democrat that votes like the Democrat, knowing that at least they're authentic. Uh, that
00:35:43.380
being said, there are some bright stars out there. There's some people that I think are willing to
00:35:48.340
fight the fight. Uh, if you are told, and if you are told by people that supposedly are in the know
00:35:55.560
that that person can't win for this reason, or that person can't win for another reason,
00:36:01.760
don't believe them because, uh, Congress is filled with people who could never win and who were willing
00:36:08.940
to show the courage to fight and stand up. And, uh, and I'm optimistic that a new day of an authentic,
00:36:16.800
uh, representative, uh, is, is coming to the halls of Congress, maybe not in 2022,
00:36:22.380
but it will start to purge itself by 2024. You'll get a kick out of this. I'm going to make this real
00:36:30.220
quick. Uh, I know you're pressed for time, but, uh, I was talking to a newly elected, uh, uh, official,
00:36:37.460
uh, I won't identify who, uh, I will admit he's a, uh, he's a male and he had just been elected.
00:36:45.220
And I said something about rhinos and he said, well, Mr. Dimes, uh, my consultant said, I can't,
00:36:50.900
I can't, uh, I shouldn't use that word. And I said, really? And I said, in effect,
00:36:58.660
well, then you shouldn't be using that consultant. Amen. I'm with you. Get rid of the consultant.
00:37:04.040
Listen, uh, if you're not willing to call it out for what it is, you shouldn't be trying to,
00:37:10.120
to, uh, be a member of Congress. Listen, for far too long, we've had people come of both parties
00:37:16.140
who've come to Washington, DC. They campaign one way and they legislate another and they listen to
00:37:23.040
their consultants because they think that ultimately that will get them reelected. And it does oftentimes
00:37:28.540
it does, but to what end, if you get reelected and you're not making a difference, I mean,
00:37:34.840
there's at least 20 to 30 members of Congress that have been in Congress for over a decade
00:37:40.840
that if I gave your listeners their name, they couldn't pick what state they're in.
00:37:46.520
Why show up for work if you're not making a difference? So, uh, your listeners, if they get
00:37:51.580
out and campaign for those that are willing to make a difference, um, ultimately it'll be their
00:37:57.000
voice in Washington, DC and not the special interest voice that carries the day.
00:38:02.440
Two other political questions. One, uh, you're in the arena. Tell us what you're up to.
00:38:08.920
You know, I'm working at, uh, the conservative partnership, uh, Institute where we are a nonprofit
00:38:15.160
that we're actually working with conservatives, uh, here on Capitol Hill. Uh, we'll have as many
00:38:21.540
as 30 to 40, uh, conservative members of the house, people of courage that we meet with every
00:38:27.700
single week, uh, to look at strategies, to, to actually help them. Uh, we work with about 10 to,
00:38:34.840
uh, to a dozen and a half, uh, senators, uh, who are willing to show boldness and, and work with all
00:38:43.280
the people across the country to make sure that the conservative voice, uh, is heard here. And
00:38:48.480
sometimes it's lonely. I mean, I've often said that there's not a, a, um, a fringe benefit of
00:38:54.840
being a conservative in Washington, DC, but the fringe benefit is the fact that you're willing to
00:39:00.200
be close, uh, with the people that represent you. And so we're trying to give training and unity,
00:39:05.280
uh, to a lot of the conservative voice here in Washington, DC. And finally, because, uh, you are a
00:39:13.400
veteran of the house of representatives served with great distinction and energy, uh, and success.
00:39:20.200
I want to ask you who you're, who you think would make the best speaker of the house.
00:39:24.680
I knew you were going to go there, uh, Lou, I tell you what, I will say this. I do not have a vote.
00:39:31.200
And so I'm going to equivocate on you, Lou, because I knew that that was going to be the final question
00:39:36.140
here. I will, I will say this, that it, it has to be, uh, it has to be someone who is willing to not
00:39:44.420
just talk the talk, but walk the walk. And, uh, and candidly, it depends on, on how many people,
00:39:52.220
uh, the Republicans win by, you know, if it's a slim majority, uh, it could be a vote that, uh,
00:39:58.480
would be very, uh, very difficult to, uh, figure out who's going to win odds on favorite are still Kevin
00:40:05.460
McCarthy. And, and I will say that, uh, if, uh, the Republicans win in a landslide, uh, Kevin
00:40:13.320
McCarthy will get the, the, uh, the gavel from Nancy Pelosi. Uh, and that would be the one, but
00:40:19.580
the, the key for Kevin and, and, uh, and those discussions are ongoing is let's have a plan. Now
00:40:26.400
it's not as important as who the speaker is. As long as you have a plan and say, this is what we
00:40:31.840
stand for. People are willing to rally behind a lot of people if they have a plan and the guts to
00:40:38.100
go after it. We saw that when, uh, Donald Trump was not supposed to be the 45th president of the
00:40:44.600
United States. And he came down an escalator and said, this is what I stand for. And this is how
00:40:48.860
we're going to get there. Uh, it was amazing how many people, uh, saw that authentic, uh, not just
00:40:56.420
rhetoric, but action and, and support it. So do you think that, uh, Kevin McCarthy can play the role
00:41:01.740
of honest, authentic conservative Republican? You know, I've got a lot of friends that, uh,
00:41:08.020
that serve with him now and that, that think that he can, uh, I will say he's, he's given Jim
00:41:13.920
Jordan, uh, much more of a role than, uh, I ever anticipated Jim Jordan to have and letting Jim use
00:41:20.100
his strengths. And as you know, Jim, Jim's my, uh, best friend in, in Congress and patriots and a real
00:41:28.380
patriot. And so, um, it is, it is important that we do what we do right now, Lou, we've got to come
00:41:36.580
up with a plan. We can't leave a plan to just Rick Scott or, or some lone member of the house. Let's
00:41:43.920
come up with a plan. What we, what we believe in, uh, you know, you, you and I are both, uh, old
00:41:50.580
enough to remember the contract with America under new Gingrich. Um, you know, their suggestions that
00:41:56.280
we can never do a contract again, but here's what we can do. We can, we can certainly come up with
00:42:02.040
five, 10 different things that said, if you elect this, this is what we will put, uh, before a vote
00:42:10.320
within the first 100 days, we can do that. And that's something that's doable. And, uh, I can
00:42:16.240
tell you we're working very closely to try to make sure that gets done. Well, good for you, Mark. Thank
00:42:21.240
you so much. I wish all the very best and great success. Thank you. Lou. Thank you. It was great
00:42:27.540
to be on the great America show. God bless you. God bless you, Mark. And thanks everybody for being
00:42:32.900
with us today. Tomorrow here on the great America show, our guests will be cash Patel. We'll be
00:42:38.960
talking about Ukraine, the deep state and radical dams. And of course the conflict over the realignment
00:42:45.340
of the world power order. Please join us here tomorrow. We want to invite you to sign up for
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