The John-Henry Westen Show - Trump-endorsed, Latin Mass Catholic seeking to unseat RINO congressman shares faith story

00:00:00.260 I've got something quite unusual for you today on the John Henry Weston Show.

00:00:04.040 We don't often talk to politicians, but we've got one now.

00:00:07.500 His name is John Gibbs. He's running in Michigan for Congress,

00:00:11.300 and you're going to find him very interesting.

00:00:15.180 He is not only someone who's willing to stand out, talk pro-life, pro-family,

00:00:20.580 and against this ridiculous critical race theory,

00:00:23.920 but he's willing to do so and run for Congress at the same time.

00:00:27.480 That is Someone Unique. Stay tuned.

00:00:51.040 Let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.

00:00:52.900 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

00:00:59.820 John Gibbs, welcome to the program.

00:01:02.500 John Henry, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it.

00:01:05.660 So, this is very unusual.

00:01:08.640 Most people who want to enter into politics think,

00:01:11.400 well, I've got to hide what I really think.

00:01:14.760 I've got to present the most likable face,

00:01:17.640 trying to see where the stats are on where the majority of the population lies,

00:01:23.560 and then sort of go out that way.

00:01:26.160 You've chosen a different path. Why is that?

00:01:29.560 Well, you know, I think we've got to tell the truth.

00:01:31.080 I think we have to be people who are honest,

00:01:32.520 and I think that when you look at what's happening in our country,

00:01:34.620 there's been a growing divide between what regular people want

00:01:36.940 and what the politicians have been doing.

00:01:38.920 And part of the cause of that problem is exactly what you said,

00:01:41.600 that the politicians will say one thing on the campaign trail,

00:01:44.440 then do something else once they get in there.

00:01:45.800 So, I think we've got to go back into the direction of honesty

00:01:48.440 and telling people what we really believe

00:01:50.260 so that they know what they're getting.

00:01:52.000 My district especially, we've had two betrayals.

00:01:54.560 We had Justin Amash, who voted to impeach President Trump, for example.

00:01:58.860 Then he left, and then we had Peter Meyer,

00:02:00.660 my primary opponent, vote to impeach President Trump.

00:02:03.100 Now, he's on his way out.

00:02:04.600 So, people feel like they've really been betrayed,

00:02:06.660 and they feel like when politicians say something to them on the campaign trail,

00:02:10.200 you know, they could just backstab them as soon as they get in there.

00:02:12.600 And so, I think it's important to have honesty and directness as we communicate.

00:02:16.380 Now, of course, we do adjust our communication based on the audience.

00:02:19.240 We never change what we believe,

00:02:20.660 but we do communicate differently so that the people we're talking to understand.

00:02:24.020 So, I think that is fair.

00:02:25.040 But I want to always stay consistent in what I believe

00:02:27.060 so that people know where I stand.

00:02:29.600 Right.

00:02:30.400 Now, your predecessor in his role, who, as you said, is on his way out,

00:02:34.960 is one of those that's popularly called a rhino,

00:02:38.060 a Republican in name only.

00:02:39.660 And this is, I guess, pretty popular among some.

00:02:44.960 Your district, though, is quite conservative, if memory serves.

00:02:49.380 Tell me a little bit about that,

00:02:50.920 and then, therefore, your hopes in going forward.

00:02:54.200 Sure.

00:02:54.660 So, just like all other states around the country,

00:02:57.040 we had redistricting happen here in January.

00:02:59.860 So, the district is new,

00:03:01.420 and it is a little bit less conservative than it has been in the past.

00:03:04.520 Now, when you look at the numbers for the generic ratings for each party right now,

00:03:10.140 Republicans are up by quite a bit, by historical amounts.

00:03:12.880 So, I think that translates into something like probably an R plus 3 or an R plus 5

00:03:16.480 for this district.

00:03:17.760 So, it's not necessarily a super huge plus R, but I think it will be.

00:03:21.440 And what that means for me, as I go out and I talk to voters, is even independents and some Democrats

00:03:26.600 will have to know that I'm going to represent them well.

00:03:28.860 When you look at, you know, high gas prices, the price of pork chops or chicken or whatever

00:03:33.500 it might have you at the grocery store, when these things are twice as high as normal

00:03:36.740 or 40 percent more than they are normally, that hurts everybody.

00:03:39.420 It doesn't matter what party you belong to.

00:03:40.720 So, there's a wide variety of issues we can talk about that affect people on all sides

00:03:44.800 of the political spectrum, no matter where you stand, and that's something I can do.

00:03:48.160 In addition to talking about my positions that are seen as more partisan, which really are not,

00:03:52.840 such as protecting innocent babies from being murdered,

00:03:55.360 really, that doesn't matter what party you belong to,

00:03:56.880 but it's seen in our society as a partisan issue.

00:03:59.060 And I can talk about that.

00:03:59.980 I can talk about other positions as well,

00:04:02.120 which are more traditionally associated with my conservative beliefs.

00:04:05.180 But I can talk to the middle.

00:04:06.280 I can talk to even those Democrats who are open to being open-minded and considering something new.

00:04:11.620 So, in a district that's going to be a little bit closer than it has been in the past,

00:04:15.260 that'll be a priority for me to be able to speak to the middle as well as my own natural

00:04:18.580 constituency on the right.

00:04:21.040 Yeah.

00:04:21.700 You seem very willing to speak on the hard issues, I guess you could say.

00:04:28.000 You mentioned you're pro-life, you want to protect the babies.

00:04:31.600 How would you go about presenting that to someone you don't know where they're coming from,

00:04:36.280 you have a feeling they're not on, you know, they're not voting Republicans before.

00:04:40.980 How would you speak to them about the issue of life?

00:04:44.800 What I would say is I understand the difficulty of, well, I don't, I'm not a woman,

00:04:48.940 but I can imagine the difficulty of facing an unwanted pregnancy.

00:04:52.260 So, I don't want to be a little of that at all.

00:04:54.000 I know that's a serious thing that can happen in someone's life if it's unexpected.

00:04:57.820 But there are options for that precious baby besides an abortion.

00:05:00.840 There are so many couples who want adoption.

00:05:03.500 Tons and tons of people out there who want to adopt babies, and that's a great option.

00:05:07.160 As well as, you know, going to get an ultrasound and see that precious baby moving around inside

00:05:12.040 of a woman, I think, is a great experience.

00:05:13.640 I would encourage them to do that.

00:05:15.260 And think about innocent life.

00:05:17.320 A baby is innocent.

00:05:18.380 It's never hurt anyone.

00:05:19.320 It doesn't deserve to be taken out of this world about having a say in it, him or herself.

00:05:23.280 So, we've got to protect innocent life.

00:05:24.680 I think that everybody, no matter where you stand, should be in favor of protecting innocent

00:05:28.040 life.

00:05:28.340 So, I would say, we've got to protect that baby.

00:05:30.720 That's something that's non-negotiable.

00:05:33.020 At the same time, I do understand the difficulty involved in an unwanted pregnancy.

00:05:37.060 I can imagine the difficulty there.

00:05:38.520 So, we do want to have options available, such as adoption and even help with child care

00:05:43.140 in the initial stages, if that's an option.

00:05:45.420 I know there's a pregnancy center near here that does that. 1.00

00:05:47.700 They provide a wide array of services for women facing unwanted pregnancies that are alternatives

00:05:52.000 to abortion that can make that transition into motherhood as easy as possible. 0.97

00:05:55.580 So, I think we should support those options as fully as we can, including adoption, while

00:06:00.400 still saying at the end and still sticking firm to, we want that baby to be alive.

00:06:04.340 We don't want an innocent human being, an innocent baby to be killed.

00:06:07.340 So, I think it's a matter of showing we understand the difficulty of the situation, and we want

00:06:12.320 to keep that precious baby alive.

00:06:15.600 Beautiful.

00:06:17.020 Unapologetically pro-life, and yet still able to appeal to a wide audience.

00:06:21.540 And I think that's really a good cue for those aspiring to politics, a good way forward,

00:06:29.200 where you don't compromise on your principles, but you learn the talk that enables you to

00:06:35.580 talk to people on both sides of the aisle, as it were.

00:06:38.580 Even more challenging than the life issue.

00:06:41.560 Because with the life issue, the advent of ultrasound came in after Roe v. Wade, and now

00:06:47.420 everybody knows it's a baby.

00:06:49.500 We're looking at perhaps the overturning of Roe v. Wade right now, very soon in the United

00:06:54.660 States.

00:06:55.980 But there's another issue that is really fraught with division in society, and that revolves

00:07:03.080 around the LGBTQ issues.

00:07:05.320 And you could go on with a few more letters of the alphabet after that, if you will.

00:07:08.580 But nonetheless, that's an issue that is quite divisive.

00:07:13.760 A lot of people wonder how to speak to that issue.

00:07:17.620 As a politician, how do you speak to that issue?

00:07:21.080 Well, you know, I kind of look at the way things are now, and I say that people think

00:07:25.140 of this race, or every political race, as Democrat versus Republican.

00:07:28.780 I actually think the way things are going now, by November, it's going to be crazy versus

00:07:32.480 normal.

00:07:33.280 And I'm a normal guy, I would say.

00:07:35.040 Because you can't literally even say there's male and female anymore.

00:07:38.580 Just saying that there is male and female is now considered controversial.

00:07:41.960 There's 37 or 57 or however many they believe there are nowadays genders.

00:07:46.620 Whereas when I was in school, we literally learned there's XX chromosome and XY chromosome.

00:07:51.300 And that defines male and female.

00:07:52.900 That was taught to us as science when I was a child at school.

00:07:55.840 So if they want to get mad, don't get mad at me.

00:07:57.440 Get mad at my teachers when I was growing up in school.

00:08:00.200 Ken Downey-Brown might call you a biologist, by the way.

00:08:03.660 Oh, that's right, yes.

00:08:05.220 Or I can always self-identify as a biologist.

00:08:07.020 In that case.

00:08:08.260 So, yeah.

00:08:10.080 So, really, it's quite mind-boggling what's happening.

00:08:12.920 We, of course, saw the Olympics with the swimmer who was a male who believed that he had transitioned

00:08:17.660 to becoming a female.

00:08:19.900 And the whole issue is that caused.

00:08:21.200 So, it's really difficult to wrap one's head around.

00:08:23.840 I can't imagine what Martin Luther King and George Washington and people that came before

00:08:28.200 us would think if they saw that we're having these issues in our society and people are

00:08:31.860 getting threatened with being fired from their work for the basic belief that there is male

00:08:35.440 and female.

00:08:36.080 So, I think that most voters are not going to get all of them.

00:08:38.940 There are some who are way out there on the planet Jupiter.

00:08:41.460 But the vast majority of people, even independents and many Democrats, I think will concede that

00:08:46.400 there is a male and female.

00:08:48.320 And everything that we do as a country and government policy should be based on that.

00:08:52.360 So, that's the only thing I can say there is I think that's normal.

00:08:55.300 So, I just want to be normal.

00:08:59.700 Indeed.

00:09:01.380 So, another issue that's cropped up, especially of late in the United States, has been critical

00:09:07.540 race theory.

00:09:08.960 And, you know, as someone of color yourself, you can speak to that issue probably better

00:09:14.220 than some others.

00:09:15.460 What is your tack on that in speaking to it and also with dealing with the flack that you'd

00:09:21.400 get for being outspoken on the issue?

00:09:23.340 Well, you know, this is another issue that I think is just crazy versus normal.

00:09:27.280 Whatever happened to the idea that we judge a person based on their character, the way

00:09:30.620 they love others, the way they treat others, where it seems like they're trying to push

00:09:33.880 that aside and define someone based on their racial identity.

00:09:36.980 So, if you're black, that means you're automatically a victim. 0.80

00:09:39.160 If you're white, that means you're automatically guilty. 0.99

00:09:41.300 And everything else is based on these premises.

00:09:43.380 It is a total insult to the legacy of civil rights, which said judge a person by their character, 0.53

00:09:48.200 not by race.

00:09:49.080 I believe that race is being used as a tool to divide people. 0.86

00:09:54.200 And I think that certain political actors out there see certain benefits from doing

00:09:57.520 that.

00:09:58.140 And so, they can say, all the problems you're facing are because of that guy over there.

00:10:01.460 It makes it much easier to take the scrutiny off them and keep people divided and fighting

00:10:05.780 each other instead of unifying as a people.

00:10:08.300 So, this critical race theory stuff is very treacherous.

00:10:10.820 It's sinister.

00:10:12.040 It's divisive.

00:10:13.180 It's based on lies.

00:10:14.300 It is totally unfair because it judges someone based on what they actually did, how they

00:10:18.660 love, and how they speak to others, but just based on a race alone, something which they

00:10:22.100 have no control over.

00:10:23.260 So, it's got to be combated at every level.

00:10:25.220 And I'm very willing to stand up and speak on it.

00:10:27.480 And I know, as you said, John Henry, there are many people who can't do that as much as

00:10:31.140 I can because I happen to be a minority.

00:10:33.500 So, I'm very willing to take up the slack there and stand on this issue because we've got to

00:10:37.180 combat this or else it's going to cause so much division in our society.

00:10:40.580 That'll be a very sad thing to see.

00:10:41.960 Speak to the issue of children.

00:10:47.140 They are indoctrinated with a lot of these same beliefs we're talking about regarding

00:10:52.860 life, regarding family issues, and regarding race issues.

00:10:57.140 It's going on right now in the schools.

00:10:59.540 What is your sort of take on that, your proposal for it?

00:11:03.360 Yeah, there's so much indoctrination happening in the schools right now on every level.

00:11:07.260 One of the beautiful things that's happened, despite the pain of seeing what the schools

00:11:10.680 are doing, is the increased parental involvement.

00:11:14.200 It is wonderful seeing those mama bears out there at the school board meetings who are

00:11:17.380 standing up, speaking out, and having the radical idea, but not really radical, that

00:11:22.380 we want to have a say in what our kids are learning.

00:11:24.600 It is the people's taxpayer dollars that fund these schools.

00:11:27.240 So, the people have a right to have a say in that.

00:11:29.880 And then the parents, of course, it's their own kids.

00:11:31.540 So, they have a right to have a say in that.

00:11:32.820 So, I think the real way forward here is letting the parents have more involvement in what's

00:11:36.580 going on.

00:11:37.600 And does that mean that the parents are micromanaging every aspect?

00:11:40.100 No.

00:11:40.300 But the parents do have a right to say, you're not going to teach pornography.

00:11:43.180 You're not going to teach critical race theory.

00:11:44.860 We find these things highly objectionable and offensive.

00:11:47.400 So, find another way of doing things.

00:11:49.420 I think it's absolutely appropriate and fair and right for parents to stand up and say that.

00:11:53.120 So, I hope that this whole movement of the mama bearers and the parents getting involved

00:11:58.180 and being called domestic terrorists, by the way, by our attorney general, the absolute 0.92

00:12:02.520 madness of such ridiculousness, you know, it's crazy.

00:12:06.200 But I hope that the parental involvement stays strong.

00:12:09.460 And I think that's the way forward on this.

00:12:11.380 You shed some sunlight on these wacky theories that these folks in the ivory towers come up

00:12:15.900 with, disseminate it through different activist groups out there and get into the schools.

00:12:20.300 That whole pipeline has got to be disrupted.

00:12:21.760 I think we're seeing, God willing, the beginnings of that process of disrupting these sinister

00:12:26.500 education agendas.

00:12:29.400 Amen to that.

00:12:30.180 In fact, I'm going to have you respond directly to the president.

00:12:33.320 Did you see the clip of the President Biden telling teachers that when their students are

00:12:40.040 in the classroom, it's not their parents who are in charge, it's the teachers?

00:12:44.000 Yeah.

00:12:44.400 Have you seen that clip?

00:12:45.100 Yeah, I think I did see that.

00:12:46.120 Yes.

00:12:46.400 We're going to, we'll play it after the fact.

00:12:48.680 But if I can get you to comment on it now, that'd be great.

00:12:51.760 Have our students gain confidence enough to know what they can do, to reach in.

00:12:59.300 We have an obligation.

00:13:01.980 We have an obligation to help them teach and reach their potential.

00:13:07.800 You've heard me say it many times about our children.

00:13:11.560 But it's true.

00:13:12.700 They're all our children.

00:13:14.860 And the reason you're the teachers of the year is because you recognize that.

00:13:19.260 They're not somebody else's children.

00:13:20.420 They're like yours when they're in the classroom.

00:13:21.960 I would say, President Biden, you need to have some humility.

00:13:27.340 It is a parent's taxpayer money that pays those teachers' salaries.

00:13:30.320 And while we, the taxpayers, have delegated to the teachers the job of teaching their children,

00:13:35.020 that doesn't mean that it's 100% full Joseph Stalin-style rule.

00:13:39.560 The parents have a right to have a say.

00:13:41.200 The parents have a right to intervene when things are going awry.

00:13:43.660 And by the way, things have gone awry now.

00:13:45.860 So, Biden, you are wrong.

00:13:47.540 Give the parents a say.

00:13:48.860 Have some humility.

00:13:49.940 We want our teachers to teach.

00:13:51.180 We have delegated that job to them.

00:13:52.740 But that is not infinite.

00:13:54.280 When things are going off, we have a right to have a say.

00:13:56.420 I'm not a parent myself, but the parents do have a right to have a say.

00:13:59.140 And we are going to make our say.

00:14:00.460 We're not going to sit down.

00:14:01.660 So, President Biden, respectfully, have some humility and have some more respect for parents.

00:14:07.760 Amazing.

00:14:08.900 You've got a lot of deep convictions.

00:14:11.200 Can you tell us where those come from?

00:14:13.160 I would say largely my faith.

00:14:16.620 My parents raised me well.

00:14:18.060 That was a huge influence on me, of course.

00:14:20.000 But, you know, my faith is where my convictions come from.

00:14:22.920 As I, over the years, have really learned and gotten deeper in my faith

00:14:27.540 and learned about the history of the church,

00:14:29.660 more about what the Bible says and what it means to walk with Christ,

00:14:34.300 that has really informed my convictions and given me strength to stick to it.

00:14:37.840 Even when getting attacked by CNN, for example,

00:14:39.960 they've been doing that since 2018, which I consider a badge of honor.

00:14:44.860 So, it's really a bedrock to have that faith.

00:14:47.840 And as it grows, it helps me to really stand strong even more with the challenges that come up.

00:14:55.640 Beautiful.

00:14:56.220 You were received into the church last Easter.

00:14:58.740 Where did you come from?

00:15:01.680 How did that happen?

00:15:02.600 What enticed you to move toward the Catholic Church?

00:15:05.340 Well, I was raised Pentecostal.

00:15:07.280 I kind of became a general purpose evangelical after college.

00:15:11.220 And I was actually an evangelical missionary in Japan.

00:15:15.120 Oh, wow.

00:15:15.820 Because I, even though my major at Stanford was computer science,

00:15:19.140 I did study Japanese on the side and I studied abroad in Japan.

00:15:22.040 So, I had the language under my belt.

00:15:24.480 And at the church I was going to at the time, there was a class about missions.

00:15:27.420 And I said, I think I want to do this.

00:15:29.100 And Japan is less than 1% Christian.

00:15:32.060 And so, I said, I want to do missions in Japan.

00:15:35.240 So, I applied and raised my money and went over there and did mission work,

00:15:39.520 which was, it was meaningful.

00:15:41.040 Japan is tough ground.

00:15:42.020 You don't see a lot of baptism and conversions over there.

00:15:43.900 So, I did that for a while.

00:15:44.880 But then, as I came back to America, I did my master's at Harvard Kennedy School

00:15:50.340 because I realized the government was making things worse a bit faster

00:15:54.100 than the good guys were making things better.

00:15:56.080 So, I needed to learn something about government.

00:15:58.100 And so, I graduated from that and went into the Trump administration.

00:16:02.220 And I started to think deeply about several things.

00:16:05.960 One is, for example, rapture mania.

00:16:08.640 The concept of the rapture does not exist in traditional historic Christianity,

00:16:12.520 but it does in a lot of American forms of Christianity.

00:16:15.880 And I started to read about it.

00:16:17.160 And it was basically invented by a British guy named John Nelson Darby

00:16:20.020 and popularized in America by a guy named Cyrus Schofield.

00:16:23.620 And so, that was the first epiphany I had that some of what I believe

00:16:26.520 is not actually the historic faith, which was created by Christ

00:16:30.020 and the early church and passed down.

00:16:32.600 So, I kept digging deeper and deeper and deeper and began a journey.

00:16:35.660 One of my friends got baptized at a big Episcopal church in New York City.

00:16:39.600 That was my first liturgical service I ever went to.

00:16:41.980 And I found that I really enjoyed it.

00:16:43.980 So, I came back to D.C. and still continue to go to a high Anglican service.

00:16:48.280 But as I learned more about King Henry VIII

00:16:50.340 and how he declared himself to be the head of the church

00:16:52.360 and what he did to the Catholic church there,

00:16:54.640 I found that I couldn't be a part of it.

00:16:56.460 And so, I wanted to keep my journey going.

00:16:58.500 So, I said, well, what came before that?

00:17:00.220 What was the foundation?

00:17:01.100 And I realized what the Catholic church had done to build up England 0.99

00:17:04.580 and the civilization there over the centuries.

00:17:07.140 It was quite a spectacular work.

00:17:08.500 And I came to this realization of being kind of a history geek

00:17:11.420 that, you know, being someone who attends the Latin Mass,

00:17:15.200 if I took a time machine back 1,000 years and went to a church,

00:17:18.880 it would be very, very similar to what I attend every Sunday.

00:17:22.200 And that historical reality really means a lot to me.

00:17:24.760 And I wanted to be a part of that continuity.

00:17:27.000 You know, when you look back at Europe in the beginning,

00:17:28.800 there's all these tribes, the Visigoths, the Saxons, the Celts, the Picts,

00:17:32.480 and they're all fighting each other.

00:17:33.980 And the church really came in there over time and unified them

00:17:36.480 under one faith, one church, one baptism,

00:17:39.160 and one universal language for the church, which was Latin.

00:17:41.640 And that unified people to a huge degree and reduced the fighting

00:17:44.300 and created peace.

00:17:45.620 And I want to be part of that same movement that's been going on for 2,000 years.

00:17:48.960 So, looking back at the continuity of history, I said,

00:17:51.540 I think this is good.

00:17:52.440 I want to be a part of it.

00:17:55.180 Wow.

00:17:55.900 Wow.

00:17:56.140 And how has it been for a little over a year?

00:18:00.580 Have your hopes been realized?

00:18:02.480 I would say so.

00:18:04.180 You know, it's always a learning experience.

00:18:05.740 As a Catholic, we have a commitment to lifelong learning.

00:18:08.700 But, yes, it's been a great experience of, you know,

00:18:12.540 engaging the sacraments, engaging the sacrament of penance,

00:18:15.520 for example, an examination of conscience,

00:18:17.660 something I had not been used to in my previous life.

00:18:20.620 That is just a beautiful thing to really have a heart-to-heart check

00:18:24.060 with ourselves and see where we are.

00:18:25.600 That's something I really enjoy.

00:18:27.600 I'm loving the divine office or liturgy of the hours.

00:18:31.460 I've never had anything like that.

00:18:33.160 So, that is beautiful to be able to open up every day

00:18:35.200 and have a specific set of prayers for that day,

00:18:37.740 just to open that up in the morning and go through it.

00:18:39.920 So, that is quite wonderful.

00:18:42.340 You know, one of my little pet peeves previously was these worship bands

00:18:45.160 that have proliferated.

00:18:46.960 And, you know, they get up there and the focus often becomes on the band

00:18:50.640 as opposed to the worship.

00:18:51.620 But one thing I love about the Catholic Mass is that if you have the scola, 0.97

00:18:56.000 singing Gregorian chants, you know, it's pretty much similar chants everywhere.

00:18:59.800 And the priests are all wearing the same kind of clothing,

00:19:01.920 no matter what parish you go to.

00:19:03.240 So, there's no competition in trying to, you know,

00:19:05.180 see who has the coolest hairstyle and who has the coolest hip leather jacket

00:19:08.280 or what kind of jeans and shoes you're wearing.

00:19:10.180 To have the hippest appeal with your stuff, it's just, it's uniform and it's traditional.

00:19:15.560 And you remove that selfish element of people wanting to be, you know,

00:19:19.740 the number one and center of attention.

00:19:21.140 I think that's very beautiful.

00:19:22.620 So, I'm really continuing to enjoy that.

00:19:24.380 And I expect, you know, it's like, you know, peeling back layers of an onion

00:19:27.020 or something.

00:19:27.600 There's always more to learn.

00:19:29.300 There's always more of the saints to be reading.

00:19:31.480 There's always more, you know, issues that the church has done a great job

00:19:35.700 of dealing with in the past that we can learn from today.

00:19:39.080 St. Augustine said, the church is to the state what the soul is to the body.

00:19:43.260 I think that's a beautiful analogy.

00:19:45.220 And there's a whole lot to unpack there, especially as someone who worked

00:19:48.120 in the Trump administration for four years in the government

00:19:50.760 and who, God willing, will be returning to government.

00:19:53.760 There's just so much richness in how the church has dealt with that issue

00:19:56.480 over the past 2,000 years that I look forward to learning and unpacking.

00:20:00.300 So, it is a great journey.

00:20:01.800 A lot of learning.

00:20:02.860 A lot of just self-reflection.

00:20:04.820 Being able to look yourself in the mirror with Christ and say,

00:20:07.800 you know, help me to deal with this issue and let's keep going forward.

00:20:13.400 Amazing.

00:20:13.760 I wanted to ask you a little bit about your time with President Trump

00:20:17.340 because it's an interesting part of your background.

00:20:20.680 I noticed with regard to President Trump, there's a lot of Catholic things going on.

00:20:26.220 We had the first, I think the first ever, Ave Maria come from the White House.

00:20:30.940 We had all sorts of Catholic folks around Trump.

00:20:35.260 Quite a few of my friends were involved with the Trump administration.

00:20:39.820 How did that go on and what did you feel when you were there?

00:20:42.300 Well, I think there's a lot of truth to that.

00:20:44.180 You know, I think that President Trump is someone who is loyal to the Christian community

00:20:49.340 and very much so as well to the Catholic community.

00:20:52.120 And I think when he looks at an issue like pro-life,

00:20:54.460 what you see there when you look out at the landscape is

00:20:56.540 it happens to be the Catholic groups that are the very aggressive and successful fighters there.

00:21:01.180 And because President Trump is someone who recognizes results, he sees those results.

00:21:05.440 And I think that's why he has been enthusiastic about having involvement

00:21:09.480 from the Catholic side and his efforts he's doing.

00:21:12.300 And, you know, I would even say in my own personal experience being in the administration,

00:21:16.240 one of the reasons I chose to become Catholic in my journey is that my colleagues who were Catholic

00:21:21.920 were excellent in their ability to understand policy, to modify policy, and get things through

00:21:27.680 the process so much so that it really caught my attention.

00:21:30.920 And so I would have these conversations at lunch with my Catholic colleagues at length

00:21:34.900 asking about, you know, the ecumenical councils, infallibility, and extraordinary magisterium

00:21:41.220 versus ordinary magisterium, and all those things trying to get a grip on how they are

00:21:45.180 tend to be very good at analyzing policy and coming up with policy a little bit more than

00:21:50.160 certain other groups out there.

00:21:51.420 So my sponsor, for example, was one of my colleagues, in fact, who I had those conversations

00:21:56.440 with.

00:21:56.880 So yes, I think what you're saying is exactly true.

00:21:59.960 There really is something there to a strong Catholic presence in our administration that

00:22:04.520 was effective at policy because the Catholic Church, like I said, has a history of dealing

00:22:10.180 with government that I think trickles up, if you will, to Catholics who go into the legal 1.00

00:22:15.440 profession.

00:22:16.360 And so you see those excellent results produced there.

00:22:18.220 So yeah, I think that that was definitely true in our administration.

00:22:22.740 You know, John, I would love to conclude with you giving us a verse of scripture or something

00:22:29.280 like that in Japanese, because if you still have that with you and can still command over

00:22:33.160 that language, that would be awesome.

00:22:34.420 Sure.

00:22:34.720 Yeah, we'll give John 3.16 a try here.

00:22:36.400 That is John 3.16.

00:22:50.640 Amazing.

00:22:51.460 John, where can people get in touch with you with your campaign and how can they support

00:22:55.420 you?

00:22:55.880 People can get in touch at VoteJohnGibbs.com.

00:22:58.540 That's VoteJohnGibbs.com.

00:23:00.540 We appreciate your prayers first and foremost.

00:23:02.540 We need the Lord's protection and guidance over every aspect in order to prevail here.

00:23:07.620 We also need your financial partnership.

00:23:10.060 I'm up against a billionaire here.

00:23:12.260 His money won't let him win this time.

00:23:13.780 We know that.

00:23:14.300 But I do need enough to get my name out there.

00:23:16.280 The polls show that I'm up by 20 points when voters know that I'm endorsed by President

00:23:21.240 Trump.

00:23:22.020 So that's good news.

00:23:23.580 But I do need to get my name out there to all those voters.

00:23:25.540 So the financial part is important, as well as volunteering for those who can knock doors

00:23:31.160 or make phone calls.

00:23:32.020 You can go ahead and do that on our website as well.

00:23:33.720 But yeah, first and foremost, prayers and then financial partnership, if you can, at

00:23:37.740 VoteJohnGibbs.com.

00:23:39.020 I think this is going to be a great journey.

00:23:40.640 And I've been told that if I win by someone who is relatively in the know on these things,

00:23:44.920 I might be the only member of Congress that attends a traditional Latin mass.

00:23:47.900 So that in of itself, I think, was worthy of excitement.

00:23:51.320 So that's it.

00:23:53.760 Exactly.

00:23:54.120 Exactly.

00:23:55.400 John Gibbs, thank you for being with us on this episode of The John Henry Weston Show.

00:23:58.680 Thank you so much, John Henry.

00:23:59.500 I really appreciate having me on.

00:24:01.760 God bless you.

00:24:04.140 And God bless all of you.

00:24:05.960 We'll see you next time.

The John-Henry Westen Show - April 29, 2022

Trump-endorsed, Latin Mass Catholic seeking to unseat RINO congressman shares faith story

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