REP. ANDY BIGGS SAYS HOUSE LEADERSHIP MUST BE VISIONARY AND DEFEAT ALL ENEMIES TRYING TO DISMANTLE AMERICA
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Summary
Today on The Great America Show with Lou Dobbs, we hear from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Rep. Adam Kinzler of North Carolina about their opposition to Kevin McCarthy as the next Republican Party Speaker candidate.
Transcript
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Hello, everybody, and welcome to The Great America Show. I'm Lou Dobbs. Thanks for being with us.
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Today, we've got a crowded calendar for conflict, insurrection, and maybe,
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just maybe, a desperately needed fundamental commitment among the Republicans in the House
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to represent their voters. There's a fighting chance that America First Party Republicans
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will actually tell the RINO establishment to go stick it. We'll cross our fingers and hope
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the real Republicans can find their way to fight a fight that's certainly worth having,
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and then win that fight. But the establishment Republicans are threatening incoming freshman
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GOP congressmen, including Anna Pauline Luna, representing Florida's 13th district.
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I got a very inappropriate phone call on Thursday where basically another member,
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this was a couple weeks ago, actually, another member had called me basically to whip votes for
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the speakers race and ultimately ended up threatening me. And I let that female member know that I wasn't
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going to basically be threatened. I don't think that I need to put that person's name out there
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because I think that they are probably embarrassed at doing that. But the fact is, is that that's not
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uncommon, I think, to have happen. And ultimately, I'm not going to be bullied. If you are going to
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negotiate in good faith, negotiate in good faith, but don't resort to threatening people.
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And now there's the dean of the Republican Party, former Speaker of the House of Representatives,
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Newt Gingrich, once a revolutionary leader in the party, calling now for conformity and an
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orderly obeisance to the establishment's status quo. Here's Newt demanding Republicans fall in line
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with the demands of the donors and the corporate globalists and support the rhino McCarthy.
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There's nobody going to replace Kevin because he has far more people totally dedicated to him
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than this handful of never-enders. And the result's going to be anybody who tried to replace Kevin
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would face total chaos. It would be impossible to govern. So I hope in the next 24 hours that these,
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this handful of members will realize, they don't have the moral right to reject the choice of 85%
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of their conference. They don't have the moral right to break up the House against the wishes of
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over 215 fellow Republicans. And I think it's a remarkably short-sighted and candidly selfish position.
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And I don't understand where they're coming from. Newt says this isn't about McCarthy.
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But that is exactly what it's about. McCarthy is endorsed by Rhino Paul Ryan, one of the worst
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speakers of the modern era, who couldn't win even his hometown in the 2012 election. And McCarthy is in
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the line of rhino leaders like Eric Cantor and John Boehner, who all have been a part of American
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history's great spending spree, partly responsible for running up the national debt from $13 trillion
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to $32 trillion. It is about the dimming of the Republican Party and the failure of its rhino
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leadership to confront what is nothing less than the Marxist-dims war on America and the corruption
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of our government. The Center for Renewing America is clearly in opposition to McCarthy.
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Here's Renewing America's president, Russ Vogt, on why the Republicans should reject rhino McCarthy
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and drain the swamp. I view Kevin McCarthy as the definition symbolically of what the cartel is. He is
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the cartel speaker. We need a paradigm-shifting speaker. If you had said if the Republicans had a
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red wave, this would not have been an opportunity. It's now an opportunity. And thankfully,
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House conservatives appear to be seizing it. And I am not willing to predict that he won't be the
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speaker, but I don't see the math for him. He lacks the 218 votes, and I don't know how he's going to
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get it. So I think that this is going to be something that we are increasingly seeing good
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results from. But this is a moment that we're not going to get very often, and we've got to seize it.
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And while the rhinos want to rule yet again, America First voters want their congressmen to
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represent them, their views, and interest. There are 14 Republican congressmen who oppose publicly
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the rhino coronation of Kevin McCarthy to be speaker, opposition led by Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona.
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Congressman Biggs is our guest here today on The Great America Show. And Congressman,
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thanks for being with us today. And I want to congratulate you and your colleagues who are
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standing with you to oppose McCarthy and end the rhino rule of the Republican Party. And maybe,
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just maybe, drain a good part of the swamp at the same time. What you're doing, as you well know,
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is very important for the country and the American people. We thank you, and God bless you.
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Thanks, Lou. It's good to be with you. And as you know, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
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perhaps, to actually stand up for what you believe in a really overt way, trying to
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protect and preserve freedom. And that's what it's all about.
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Well, Kevin McCarthy is saying that he has conceded all sorts of things to the, as he put it, the
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Freedom Caucus. It's really you, the Freedom Caucus, a half dozen, perhaps 15 people who are really
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making a difference here. What is your reaction to the suggestion that he has made sufficient
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concessions? Well, I would say that he is, at the last minute, resolved to do some things that we
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requested of him months and months ago. He probably wouldn't have gotten here, but for that. But
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he's not putting any meat on those bones. It's pretty milquetoast the way he's got it. There's still
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so many outs in the way that he drafted it or presented it in his letter. So I know that some of
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my colleagues are very interested in seeing if he'll tighten it up. And I think the closer we get
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to noon tomorrow on January 3rd, the sooner, the closer we get there, the more likely he is to
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try and tighten it up because he's trying to get votes. And I will not get there because
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for me, it never was about the rules. It was about you have to change your leader. He's been a part of
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this environment now at the top, near the top for 12 years, Lou. And if you don't change your
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leadership, you will not ever get change. You know, I'm going to say something I think probably some
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will find harsh and some might just want to argue with period. But I truly believe without the
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accident, if you will, the political accident of President Donald Trump, the Republican Party at
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this point would be just simply a faded shadow of what once was. It's trying to go there, I believe,
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right now. But without Donald Trump's leadership for those four years, there would be no philosophy,
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there would be no ideology. It would just be the GOP would just simply be the handmaiden
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of the corporate globalists, all that America first is contending and fighting with every day.
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Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, I have always called, since I saw him on the stage the first
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time in a debate, I said, this guy's a disruptor. And he's trying to disrupt the uniparty, the swamp,
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the deep state, the establishment. And by so doing, that actually, he should be given a lot of credit.
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Historically, he's going to go down a lot of credit because he's basically realigned or made more
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noticeable the realignment of the political parties. Who supports Donald Trump? It's not the blue
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collar worker. It's not the coastal elites. They've bought in totally to the liberal uniparty.
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It's the people, the minority people who are now coming forward and saying, look, you know what,
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we need something better. We want a fair shake. And it's a total realignment. And I give credit to
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Yeah, I do too. I think most of America does in point of fact. It may not animate them to political
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activity and voting. But I think certainly most Americans, and by the way, I think the blue collar
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working man and woman, their families, our middle class entrepreneurs, small business people,
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all support America first, make America great again. I think there's no question about it. I think it's
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interesting that there are a number of people in the Republican Party right now who want to say, well,
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we want his philosophy, but we just don't want him. I think in time, people are going to understand
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the relationship better between leadership and the agenda, the principles of leadership and where
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this country is headed. But let me turn to one of the former leaders of the Republican Party,
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Newt Gingrich. I like Newt. He was a historical figure in the mid-90s. And he had this to say
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about your effort. And I want to give out credit right now to you, Congressman Andy Biggs, to Bob Good,
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Matt Gaetz, Ralph Norman, Matt Rosendale, Scott Perry, Paul Gosar, Chip Roy, Dan Bishop, Andy Harris,
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Andrew Clyde, Andy O'Gallis, Anna Paulina Luna, Eli Crane, all standing up for principle and purpose
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for the Republican Party. Are there any other names I should add to that list?
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You got the bulk of them, I think. I hope tomorrow we see more people added to that list, Lou.
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Okay. Well, so do I. Let's listen to Newt Gingrich and get your reaction to what he had to say.
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I have to say, I thought it was brazen and somewhat, well, I was somewhat taken aback by it. Here is the
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They're not voting against Kevin McCarthy. They're voting against over 215 members of their own
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conference. Their conference voted overwhelmingly, 85%, for McCarthy to be Speaker. So this is a fight
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between a handful of people and the entire rest of the conference. And they're saying they have the
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right to screw up everything. Well, the precedent that sets is so do the moderates, so do the members
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from Florida. I mean, any five people can get up and say, I'm now going to screw up the conference
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too. The choice is Kevin McCarthy or chaos. Total chaos, Congressman. Is that what you're trying
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to create? No. And I think that that's such hyperbole from somebody who, quite frankly,
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my constituents would say seems to be attached to the establishment class. The reality is
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if we do not make a change when we can make a change, then you're just going to keep perpetuating
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what you have. And let's say what the difference between Newt Gingrich's time. Newt actually produced
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with a Democrat president a balanced budget. Good for Newt. You know what happened when we had
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all three bodies, a House, Senate, and the Speaker? I mean, the President, when Kevin McCarthy was the
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majority leader, he forged a coalition with the Democrats to lift the debt ceiling and also put
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two budgets before the president that President Trump said, this is horrible. And in the last
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10 years, of which all of those, Kevin McCarthy has been in leadership at the very top and pinnacle
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of the Republican Party, we've gone from a $13 trillion deficit, excuse me, not deficit, but national
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debt to a $32 trillion national debt. Now, maybe you do need to shake up there. That's what I would
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say. Maybe you do need to shake up there. Maybe? Yeah. Maybe. I am laughing because I just, when we look
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at this, McConnell, McCarthy, part of the leadership, there has been a chain of rhino mediocrities,
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in my opinion. And let's start with Boehner. Let's go to Paul Ryan. It's worse than mediocrities.
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These are dark influences on our national policies, and the consequences have been debilitating to what
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was once the greatest, most powerful nation on earth. But in part, because of those men who
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have been part of the swamp cartel and perpetuate it, this country is now, in what I believe Newt
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Gingrich is calling for, he wants to see managed orderly decline, rather than an arena filled with
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vibrant, important voices talking about the important issues of the day for every American.
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What he's describing is a suffocating authoritarianism that is really the domain of
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the Biden regime and the Marxist Dems who are totalitarian in every impulse.
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Yeah, that's right. Anybody that is what we used to call liberal, they're now leftists.
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The authoritarianism in them has been revealed that COVID did that in such a way that is almost,
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it was inconceivable, I think, to Americans. And when we start talking about what is going on in
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Congress, how in the world did McCarthy and McConnell let that omnibus bill get out?
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Especially in light of the fact that months and months ago, we in the Freedom Caucus said,
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hey, we know what's going to happen. You're going to have to stop this and stop the CR last September
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to prevent us getting to this point where we ended up getting there. And the point is, I guess,
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leadership is, as you pointed out, you have to be visionary in the sense that you can see what's
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coming. You can see what needs to be done to defeat the obstacles or the enemy here who is trying to
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dismantle the United States of America clearly. And if you don't think we're in an existential crisis,
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then I guess then it's okay to let K Street control the legislative branch. I think we are in an
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existential crisis. And I don't think we need the lobbyist of K Street to be controlling the United
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States Congress. I think we need to have committed elected officials who are honest with their
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constituency and transparent and committed and principled to fight for this country.
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Well said. And McConnell joining hands with the Dems. And by the way,
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folks, there was no accident here. This omnibus bill, $1.7 trillion, was Mitch McConnell made it
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possible. Kevin McCarthy made it possible. The Republican Party run by RINOs. I often wonder,
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Andy, I often wonder if the Republican Party just demands rule by RINOs because they don't want to take
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responsibility for leading the nation? Or is it because there's just an overwhelm? Are they
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overwhelmingly lazy? They just turn the party, the conference over to the liberals, the leftist
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Republicans who are really nothing more than Democrats? How can anyone in the Republican
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conference vote for a RINOs like McCarthy, like Ryan, like Boehner, and pretend that they are anything
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other than Republicans in name only? Well, you know, there might be a little bit in each one of
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those in our conference. You know, I was talking to an analyst recently, not a psychiatrist, but just a
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political analyst. And he said his determination is that really the conservatives are now the RINOs
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because they really do want America first. They really do believe in the Republican Party platform.
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And too many people that profess to be RINOs, Republicans, they don't really want those things.
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And so it is us conservatives who are Republican in name only because we really believe what we want.
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That's one thing. By the way, I would tell your friendly political analyst, I tell him he's
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overthinking it. The Republican Party has standards, it has values, and tenants have served this nation
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so well. You know, after all, it wasn't the Democrats who freed the slaves. That was the Republicans.
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And let's start there and move forward. And it wasn't the Republicans who got us into World War I.
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It was Woodrow Wilson and the enlightened Democrats. And we've seen enough of the totalitarianism,
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authoritarianism, the authoritarianism, the creeping Marxism that has, you know,
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traversed the last century. We have to come to our senses in this country. And you guys represent,
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I think, our last best hope. Barely a majority in these midterm elections just passed.
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We have an opportunity that is so fragile. And as you said, it's an existential moment in time.
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I want to ask you also, if indeed the people who were saying, for example, the previous aide to the
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previous speakers, the Republican speakers and leaders, came out with an article saying that
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self-serving Republicans are making a mockery of Congress. Basically, his name is Brendan Buck. He is a
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communications consultant, by the way, working for Boehner and Ryan both. He wants the usual
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pageantry. He wants the pomp and circumstance. He doesn't give a damn about the philosophy,
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the ideology, or the American people you guys were sent to Congress to represent. Doesn't it make
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any difference to anyone surrounding the swamp or actually well into it knee deep to represent the
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American people? The Republican conference has an obligation to vote Republican. And McCarthy is the
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last thing. He is a Republican in name only. He's a shapeshifter in every way.
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Yeah, I think people think it's uncomfortable, Lou. It's kind of weird to me, but they think it's
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uncomfortable to actually challenge people on their beliefs. I guess, having been a trial lawyer,
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having been also in academia where you have to, I had to defend my positions because I was
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conservative, you come to realize that you can't be comfortable. And I remember a statement by John
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Adams. I'll just paraphrase, but his statement was his generation had to study how to govern, how to
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fight, how to defend, and the aspects of freedom and how to protect those so that the next generation can
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study music, arts, and the sciences, and what have you, because we have to provide that freedom.
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I guess they don't really believe, some of my colleagues must not really believe that we are
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facing an existential crisis. They must have forgotten that we have the highest inflation in years.
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We're now energy dependent again. We've gone from energy independence to energy dependence when we
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should have been going to energy dominance. They've forgotten that the world is a safer place when
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the U.S. is strong. They have forgotten that there's crime in all of our big cities that you
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don't even want to travel in. Our border is a ridiculous sham. We have 5 million plus people
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illegally entering our country since Biden took office. What is not to understand that we have to
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do things differently? And that's my point, is if you're going to stay on what I call a suboptimal
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path, in some ways a path to self-immolation. If we're going to commit suicide as a nation,
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this is the way to do it, Congressman. Exactly. If you are suicidal as a nation, this is the way it looks.
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Yeah, that's exactly right. So why not stand up now? You don't get these opportunities
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for leverage very often. And one of Kevin's biggest problems is he failed to use leverage
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points against the Biden administration whenever we had them. And that's the way it's going to
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continue, Lou. And that's why, for me, there is no alternative. Excuse me. There is every alternative
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to Kevin McCarthy as the speaker. There has to be. Well, how about if not you, if you can't get the
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votes, I have said point blank. Draft Jim Jordan. He is a man of integrity. He is a Freedom Caucus
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Republican. He is an intelligent and I think fair-minded congressman who represents his district. And I
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believe the values of the American people, you know, distinguish him. Why not draft him? Why? And
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if not, Jim Jordan, you tell me who. But why not draft a man or a woman who will lead as a Republican
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and not sell out to the swamp, not sell out to the Marxist Dems who are trying to destroy every one of
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you? If there's anyone in your conference, by the way, Congressman, who doesn't understand that
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the Marxist Dems are not here just simply to defeat the agenda of the Republican Party,
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they're here to defeat America. And each of you is absolutely going to be assaulted by the Marxist Dems
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in every way they can imagine. Yeah, I agree with you, Lou. And look, I would love Jim Jordan. And
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believe me, there there's been a recruitment effort. The hell with recruitment. You got your Republicans
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in a existential moment. Go get him. Well, well, Lou, you still got to get the 218. And as you know,
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we're dealing with some people in our conference who will not move that way. OK, and then the hell
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with them. And you fight it out. I want everybody to be uncomfortable. I want everybody who the hell
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gave a U.S. congressman or woman the the idea that they have some sort of sinecure where they're not
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there to fight for this country. Get off. I'll speak to each one of those people as calmly as I
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know how and say to them, listen to Congressman Biggs. Listen to your conscience. And for God's sake,
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listen to the people that you represent, because this is a moment for this Constitution. It is a moment
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to decide whether the United States of America has a future and a destiny. It's that simple to me.
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As you know, we always give our guests here the last word. And Congressman, I am delighted to say
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to you, thanks for being here. You're a great American doing exactly what everyone in your
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conference should be doing, standing up for America. And thank you so much. Your concluding
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thoughts, if you would, sir. Thanks so much, Lou. Thanks for all that you do. And I will
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conclude by saying, I am going to continue this fight. And I will, I tell my constituents, I will
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fight for you. I will not stop fighting for you. And I'm hopeful that my colleagues here will also
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get that same attitude, because we have to change. This is the moment that will define the direction,
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the path that America will be on for the next generation. And if we're going to continue
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devolving, then Kevin McCarthy will be chosen to be the speaker. That's just the way it is.
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Congressman Andy Biggs, thank you so much. We appreciate everything you're doing for all of us,
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for the country. And good luck in your endeavor. God bless you.
00:26:13.120
Thanks, Lou. Thank you very much. Congressman Andy Biggs, a great American, contending with
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rhino Kevin McCarthy for the speakership. Thank you for being with us today. Among our guests coming
00:26:25.580
up, Cash Patel and the Deep State's long campaign to usurp the constitutional authority and powers of
00:26:32.300
both the presidency and the Congress. Colorado attorney Kevin Evans, who sued the Department of
00:26:38.460
Justice and why the DOJ has buried records showing Russian and Chinese payoffs and gifts to the Biden
00:26:45.820
family. And Congressman Chip Roy, Matt Gaetz and James Comer, all joining us here. Thank you all. Please
00:26:53.540
join us tomorrow. Till then, God bless you and may God bless America.