This Past Weekend with Theo Von - #666 - Sen. John Kennedy

00:00:00.820 Celebrate Canada Day by getting even more for your points.

00:00:04.700 It's the Super Redemption event at Shopper's Drug Mart.

00:00:07.900 Friday, June 26th to Wednesday, July 1st.

00:00:10.940 Valid in-store and online.

00:00:15.640 Today's guest is a United States Senator

00:00:17.680 representing the great state of Louisiana.

00:00:20.920 He currently resides in St. Tammany, Paris,

00:00:23.320 which is the place that I'm from.

00:00:26.440 This is episode 666 of this podcast.

00:00:30.000 But we stand with the Lord. 0.99

00:00:33.340 He's got a book out called How to Test Negative for Stupid and Why Washington Never Will. 0.97

00:00:39.400 It's an honor to spend time with one of the most humorous senators in our history, Mr. John Kennedy. 0.95

00:01:00.000 But, man, it's awesome, dude.

00:01:04.660 What an honor just to see you.

00:01:05.780 What an honor is mine to you.

00:01:07.400 And, yeah, thank you, man.

00:01:09.140 You're quite welcome.

00:01:10.420 Thank you, John, for representing our state.

00:01:12.540 Thank you.

00:01:13.320 Yeah, and I appreciate that.

00:01:14.420 We've had a lot of good Louisianians on here.

00:01:16.340 We've had Lainey Wilson on here.

00:01:18.420 Yep.

00:01:18.920 Mark Norman is a famous comedian.

00:01:20.900 Dustin Poirier.

00:01:22.060 Yep.

00:01:22.580 Our UFC legend.

00:01:24.340 Kevin Gates.

00:01:25.320 Boosie, who's a rapper out of Baton Rouge.

00:01:28.220 Mm-hmm.

00:01:28.500 Um, the Suicide Boys, for sure, Scrim and Ruby, um, and you.

00:01:35.380 So, it's an honor, man.

00:01:37.000 Um, what brings you over to Nashville, actually?

00:01:38.700 I know you went to Vanderbilt, right?

00:01:40.060 I did go to Vanderbilt.

00:01:41.500 I'm, Bill Haggerty is one of Tennessee's senators, and they're having a big function tonight,

00:01:48.580 and he asked me to speak, and, uh, I said, sure, I'll come.

00:01:53.280 I'll just fly in, and it just so happened we were doing your show, so it all worked

00:01:57.640 out perfectly.

00:01:58.500 Oh, that's awesome, man.

00:01:59.460 Yeah, so I'll go wherever we're going, guys.

00:02:02.900 I'll change into a suit and go over there and speak and, you know, cut up.

00:02:09.520 Nashville's gotten so big, Theo.

00:02:11.260 Has it?

00:02:11.620 Yeah, how's it changed?

00:02:12.480 I mean, it's turned into a real, I'll say this, a tourist destination.

00:02:16.820 I feel like even more probably than it was when you were here.

00:02:19.760 Yep.

00:02:20.240 Well, Nashville, even when I was here, was a banking and insurance center.

00:02:26.020 Okay.

00:02:26.560 Now it's so much more.

00:02:28.340 It's healthcare, it's tech.

00:02:30.980 It's, for the while, Nashville was the fastest growing city for young people in the country.

00:02:36.440 Now, it's probably still in the top ten.

00:02:38.260 I think it's, yeah, it's still a good place to bum a can of Skull off of somebody, too.

00:02:41.680 You got it, man.

00:02:42.560 You know, that's never lost it, man.

00:02:44.120 It's a very diverse city.

00:02:46.100 Yeah.

00:02:48.080 And it's, you know, Knoxville used to be the big city, and Knoxville's still pretty big,

00:02:52.820 but now Nashville's kind of where the action.

00:02:55.920 It's always been country music.

00:02:59.020 A lot of good comedians came out of Nashville.

00:03:01.740 Yeah, that's a good point.

00:03:02.880 People don't even think about that Nate Bargatz, he's one.

00:03:04.980 Yep.

00:03:05.740 Oh, I know that you grew up near where Jerry Clower's from, and he's my favorite comedian.

00:03:10.120 Yep.

00:03:10.600 I grew up in a little town called Zachary.

00:03:13.220 Yeah.

00:03:13.620 Did you ever get to see Jerry?

00:03:14.940 I saw him on TV.

00:03:16.680 Yeah, that's it.

00:03:17.180 Never met him.

00:03:18.080 Yeah.

00:03:18.740 Yeah, he was like an idol of mine growing up.

00:03:21.160 Funny.

00:03:21.860 Oh, yeah, dude.

00:03:22.860 He was one of the best.

00:03:23.680 He still is.

00:03:24.300 I just saw an auction actually over there

00:03:26.100 Auctioning off his suit

00:03:27.220 That he wore

00:03:28.400 And I think I'm going to get

00:03:29.080 I don't know if I'll ever wear it

00:03:30.240 But I think I'm going to get it

00:03:30.900 Do you still do comedy shows?

00:03:33.100 Oh yeah for sure

00:03:33.840 I just finished a tour

00:03:34.920 And then I'm just taking a break right now

00:03:36.620 And it's been kind of an adjustment

00:03:38.780 You know just adjusting to something new

00:03:40.760 When did you know you were funny?

00:03:45.560 When you were young?

00:03:46.540 Did you know it when you were young?

00:03:48.020 I think you know I was over at LSU

00:03:49.720 And I was sitting

00:03:50.480 I lived in a place called The Commons over there

00:03:52.600 and it's like an apartment complex over there and it's just walls really in college you just

00:03:57.040 get walls there's not you know they'll have faucets and walls you don't get a lot when you get an

00:04:02.500 apartment and uh and I remember sitting out there one day with the neighbors and this I was just

00:04:07.580 cutting up and and this one guy Kevin he's uh he's like man you should be a comedian and I don't

00:04:13.000 know if I'd ever really thought about it and then my buddy's daddy played uh played Jerry Clower

00:04:17.540 for me when we go on drives and I think um I just kind of put it together for me at some point

00:04:23.200 you know and I wanted a job where I you could like comedy was nice because you always got to

00:04:27.840 get away it was like you got to perform here you got to perform there you get you do a lot of quips

00:04:31.780 man you have a lot of uh you have a huge sense of humor um did you ever think about it or try it

00:04:36.320 I just I I just try to be myself there yeah you know I have this saying I don't remember who first

00:04:46.880 told me, but when I was growing up, somebody told me, said, Kennedy, you always be yourself 0.99

00:04:51.800 unless you suck. And if you suck, there's nothing we can do to help you. And I've never forgotten 1.00

00:04:58.580 that, you know? Yeah, that's a good line, man. And a lot of folks in Washington think they need

00:05:06.480 to pretend to be somebody else and be very erudite and sound like a senator. And that's okay for them,

00:05:13.900 But it just doesn't work for me

00:05:15.380 Yeah

00:05:15.820 Yeah I'd find it too hard

00:05:17.780 I think

00:05:18.040 I don't know

00:05:18.580 It's hard for me to find

00:05:21.100 Something that's too fake

00:05:22.260 It just hurts me

00:05:23.080 Kind of or something

00:05:23.800 Well people

00:05:24.260 The American people 0.62

00:05:25.680 Can smell a phony man

00:05:27.000 Yeah

00:05:27.320 They can smell

00:05:28.500 A phony a mile away

00:05:30.480 Yeah

00:05:30.880 But being off of comedy

00:05:32.600 Has been nice

00:05:32.980 Because I've had more time

00:05:33.960 To watch

00:05:34.240 I've been watching

00:05:34.660 Some of the soccer

00:05:35.300 You've been watching

00:05:35.760 The World Cup

00:05:36.300 A little bit

00:05:37.120 Yeah 0.87

00:05:37.460 Did Louisiana have a chance

00:05:38.940 To get a game at all

00:05:39.860 Do you know

00:05:40.280 No

00:05:40.600 I don't think we did

00:05:41.820 The competition

00:05:43.240 it was so intense

00:05:46.320 because they just felt like big money

00:05:49.580 and I don't know that we even bid.

00:05:53.380 We might have put in a bid from New Orleans.

00:05:56.320 But it was expensive

00:05:57.840 and you had to offer incentives.

00:06:00.620 The World Cup's a big deal.

00:06:02.500 We're not big.

00:06:04.260 That kind of football,

00:06:05.440 we don't follow it much in America.

00:06:07.940 But in the rest of the world,

00:06:10.820 it is the thing, man.

00:06:11.960 Oh, yeah.

00:06:12.440 It's been nice to see

00:06:13.840 I went to a game

00:06:15.180 Down in Guadalajara

00:06:16.040 The other night

00:06:16.800 Fun to watch

00:06:19.180 Dude it was so cool man

00:06:20.640 And they treated us

00:06:21.780 Like so nice down there

00:06:23.100 And just like

00:06:23.740 Yeah it was the first

00:06:25.080 World Cup game

00:06:25.740 That they'd ever had

00:06:26.400 In Guadalajara

00:06:26.880 That Mexico had played in

00:06:28.000 And man I got to go

00:06:29.200 With my friend Gianni

00:06:29.920 And Samantha

00:06:30.760 And it was just

00:06:31.420 These guys are

00:06:32.120 Incredible athletes

00:06:33.060 Unbelievable athletes

00:06:34.420 It makes me feel so lazy

00:06:35.920 Even just sitting there

00:06:36.820 In the stands

00:06:37.340 It's like they're running

00:06:38.100 For so long

00:06:38.980 They're running for so long

00:06:40.460 It's start

00:06:41.160 It's stop

00:06:42.360 Yeah.

00:06:42.840 It's contact.

00:06:44.160 It's a lot of contact.

00:06:44.720 And they can eat whatever they want.

00:06:46.040 That's what I think the whole time. 1.00

00:06:46.980 I'm like, these bastards can go after this. 1.00

00:06:49.260 They can eat whatever. 1.00

00:06:50.260 And they can eat whatever they want probably forever.

00:06:51.940 Like they've done enough exercise.

00:06:53.680 Yep.

00:06:54.140 Like they're kind of grandfathered in to having abs.

00:06:57.980 I think tennis is another sport that demands incredible endurance.

00:07:05.720 Tennis is for the rich, though, I think, John.

00:07:07.840 Well, I remember when I was in school in England,

00:07:10.720 And I went over and bought standing room only tickets at Wimbledon.

00:07:17.160 And I got to watch Arthur Ashe on one of the outer courts who's as close as you and me.

00:07:23.360 And this guy was in such incredible – he wasn't muscular.

00:07:27.800 You know, John McEnroe, if you met – I saw Jimmy Connors one time.

00:07:31.320 Wasn't muscular.

00:07:32.620 Yeah. 0.98

00:07:32.780 And they were from lower class backgrounds.

00:07:36.860 They just started early. 0.96

00:07:38.140 Huh.

00:07:39.180 Yeah, I'll get that.

00:07:40.160 Look, any urban kid, I'm going to put a racket in their hand.

00:07:44.420 That is one, that's a sport they take over fast.

00:07:46.940 But it's discipline, man.

00:07:48.440 It's just repetition every day, every day,

00:07:52.500 and you've got to be able to handle pressure.

00:07:55.520 Yeah, I don't think I'd be good at it.

00:07:57.400 You've got to be able to handle the pressure.

00:07:59.220 I don't know.

00:07:59.740 Because you're playing people that are as good as you are,

00:08:03.940 and it becomes a mental game.

00:08:06.160 Yeah, especially at that high level, man.

00:08:08.780 I think that's what people don't realize about a lot of these sports.

00:08:11.060 Like when you get to a high level, it's a matter of inches.

00:08:14.780 It's a little bit of a moment.

00:08:16.580 It's inches and it's metal.

00:08:18.480 If you even see these soccer games, you'll see the ball go through

00:08:20.960 and there's like an arm, a leg, a shoulder, a head,

00:08:24.080 so many things that are just, I mean, half a millimeter away from it,

00:08:27.180 you know, every single shot.

00:08:30.080 Yeah, I've enjoyed watching the World Cup.

00:08:31.880 It's been good.

00:08:32.500 It's been a nice time to have extra free time because that's going on.

00:08:38.800 You live in Madisonville?

00:08:40.920 Yeah.

00:08:41.420 Nice, dude.

00:08:42.220 Near Mandeville?

00:08:43.280 Yeah.

00:08:43.800 I live right on the line between Madisonville and Mandeville.

00:08:48.100 Okay.

00:08:48.500 Of course, it's grown a lot since you grew up there.

00:08:51.640 Oh, yeah.

00:08:52.420 I go back a good bit.

00:08:54.240 Well, you know.

00:08:55.180 I mean, it's just you can't really tell the difference now between Mandeville, Madisonville, and Covington.

00:09:02.180 Yeah.

00:09:03.340 Yeah, my stepdad goes over there to a coffee house over there by friends right there on the lake and has coffee.

00:09:09.440 I know what you're talking about.

00:09:10.680 Yeah.

00:09:10.840 It's in an old house.

00:09:12.000 Yep.

00:09:12.560 Beautiful.

00:09:14.500 What's it called?

00:09:15.060 Creole cottage.

00:09:16.120 Yeah, something like that.

00:09:17.140 I can't think of that.

00:09:18.400 I've had meetings there before.

00:09:20.300 Yeah, it's nice, man.

00:09:21.140 I used to live right over.

00:09:22.000 A buddy of mine, his family let me live in their basement over there, which living in a basement in Louisiana, it's a—

00:09:28.000 It's dangerous.

00:09:28.740 It can flood.

00:09:29.420 Yeah, it can flood.

00:09:30.000 And you can find varmints in there.

00:09:32.980 Oh, definitely, man.

00:09:34.300 You know?

00:09:34.640 Your hair's clean in the morning.

00:09:35.820 I know that.

00:09:36.420 Something will run up and eat everything out of it. 0.56

00:09:37.960 And snakes will crawl in there with you.

00:09:40.480 Oh, yeah. 0.99

00:09:40.960 My wife called me.

00:09:41.980 I got me out of it.

00:09:42.780 Let's don't go from snakes to your wife, John.

00:09:45.200 You're right about that.

00:09:46.420 But she called me the other day.

00:09:48.380 I was in the middle of a hearing, and she was hysterical.

00:09:52.540 And she showed me a picture that there was this six-foot rat snake on my deck.

00:09:59.400 And I said, just leave him alone

00:10:01.420 You want him, you know

00:10:03.420 Don't hurt him 1.00

00:10:04.620 She said, I'm going to call the neighbor and they'll kill him 0.97

00:10:06.900 I said, don't do that 1.00

00:10:08.040 He's a rat snake 0.96

00:10:09.500 Even if you could pick him up, he might bite you 0.97

00:10:13.040 But it won't hurt 0.99

00:10:13.800 Yeah, now if you're a rat 1.00

00:10:15.320 If you're a rat, he'll eat you 1.00

00:10:17.200 Yeah, you got a problem, man 1.00

00:10:18.460 You know, he will eat you and spit out the bones 0.83

00:10:20.740 Oh, they always got something over there

00:10:22.360 I used to work over at Friends on the Lake

00:10:24.700 I know Friends as well

00:10:25.960 Yeah, so before they remodeled, it was just one story

00:10:29.040 right down

00:10:29.500 it's highfalutin now

00:10:30.880 oh it's yeah

00:10:31.580 it's high end now

00:10:33.280 it's fancy

00:10:34.020 but I liked it

00:10:34.800 I liked it the old way

00:10:36.580 there was another place

00:10:38.920 called Coffee's Boiling Pot

00:10:40.560 yep

00:10:41.040 I used to

00:10:42.240 they've

00:10:42.840 under new ownership

00:10:44.040 and it's gotten

00:10:44.820 a little more expensive

00:10:45.700 yeah

00:10:46.520 but it's just grown so much

00:10:50.480 oh yeah

00:10:50.880 and Bado's

00:10:51.840 I used to go Bado's

00:10:52.580 get me a little burger

00:10:53.320 Bado's

00:10:53.380 I still go

00:10:54.160 Bado's is still there

00:10:55.440 get me a chocolate malt

00:10:56.600 over there

00:10:57.080 you got it

00:10:57.700 oh so much sugar

00:10:58.580 in my face 0.98

00:10:58.980 I couldn't blink my damn eyes for an hour, but I, you know, but it was worth it, man. 0.97

00:11:03.080 But I worked at Friends, and I will tell you this, they used to- 0.98

00:11:05.620 You were a waiter?

00:11:06.540 Oh, no, I was a busboy forever.

00:11:07.980 Were you?

00:11:08.380 Yeah, I was never, I was never promoted.

00:11:11.060 That was my, yeah.

00:11:12.540 And then I got to a point where I was like, I'm not being a waiter even if y'all want

00:11:16.100 me to, you know, that was some of my energy.

00:11:18.320 But it was a good time over there, and when they would cook duck, when the chef would

00:11:22.040 cook duck, every now and then they had duck on the menu.

00:11:24.200 and back in the busboy section

00:11:26.760 where the ice machine was

00:11:27.920 they had these

00:11:28.860 they had some

00:11:31.660 missing baseboards down there 0.84

00:11:33.760 and these raccoons 0.64

00:11:34.660 would come out of the wall 0.64

00:11:35.860 so one of the busboys

00:11:37.220 would have to sit back there

00:11:38.100 with a broomstick

00:11:39.260 and just beat them back

00:11:40.440 literally

00:11:41.080 just beat them back

00:11:42.620 into the wall

00:11:43.240 where they were cooking duck

00:11:44.000 we had 0.55

00:11:45.060 raccoons love duck

00:11:46.400 we had an outdoor cat

00:11:48.760 for a while

00:11:49.520 oh yeah

00:11:50.080 wild

00:11:50.520 but I would

00:11:51.920 would bring cat food

00:11:53.340 out there

00:11:54.320 And it was always gone so quick.

00:11:56.460 And finally, when I went out there one night,

00:11:58.180 a raccoon was coming out of the woods just snarfing that stuff up.

00:12:03.060 Just pretending to be a cat.

00:12:04.320 We've got raccoons.

00:12:05.700 I back up to the woods.

00:12:06.900 We've got raccoons, deer.

00:12:09.840 I went out one night to take out the garbage, opened up the top, a possum.

00:12:15.780 Oh, yeah.

00:12:16.940 Yeah.

00:12:18.140 Yeah, they act like it's theirs. 0.74

00:12:19.820 Yeah, exactly.

00:12:21.320 Now, raccoons, they're kind of cute.

00:12:23.100 Possums, uh-uh.

00:12:24.180 Yeah.

00:12:24.680 Those things scare me.

00:12:25.260 Well, you'll see a cross. 0.89

00:12:26.100 We'll have a cat coon every now and then.

00:12:27.700 You'll see a couple of them start cross-pollinating out there.

00:12:31.020 If the humidity gets high enough, you'll see some of them animals start mixing species.

00:12:35.760 As you well know, we've got everything.

00:12:37.640 Oh, yeah.

00:12:38.220 We've got alligators.

00:12:39.300 We've got more alligators than we've got people now.

00:12:43.340 Is that true?

00:12:44.080 Yeah, we are.

00:12:44.620 You're lying.

00:12:45.220 No, I'm not.

00:12:46.220 It's just 25 years ago, they were getting—

00:12:49.980 And watch the Democrats try to get them to register to vote.

00:12:52.780 Yep.

00:12:53.940 It wouldn't surprise me.

00:12:56.200 Wouldn't surprise me.

00:12:57.560 Sorry to interrupt you, but I was going to forget that joke if I didn't say it.

00:13:01.020 Yes, Louisiana has more alligators than people. 1.00

00:13:03.300 Dear God, get the kids away from the river. 0.99

00:13:06.120 But tourists love them because these boat tour guides go out and they feed them.

00:13:12.140 And so when they see the boat, they come immediately, and the tourists just eat it up.

00:13:18.640 They think they're tame.

00:13:19.800 They're not.

00:13:20.460 It's perversion to me, brother.

00:13:22.100 I don't mess with the devil, and I don't mess with his pets.

00:13:24.920 That's one way I – that's how I operate.

00:13:26.720 I don't mess with those types of things.

00:13:28.120 That's for sure.

00:13:29.780 But, yeah, it's nice for you to be here.

00:13:31.660 It's nice to just have a taste of home in the building, man.

00:13:36.720 You started working in politics, and you were –

00:13:38.560 Are we taping now?

00:13:39.680 Yeah.

00:13:39.980 Is that okay?

00:13:40.500 Yeah, fine.

00:13:41.220 I just didn't know.

00:13:42.220 Oh, yes, sir.

00:13:42.840 Sorry.

00:13:43.620 Yes, sir, we are.

00:13:45.200 Senator John Kennedy, thank you.

00:13:46.760 And you're not related to Bobby Kennedy or any of those Kennedys, right?

00:13:49.760 Well, if I am, I'm the poor side of the family, okay?

00:13:54.220 I don't think I am.

00:13:55.780 My dad was from Oklahoma, and my mom was from central Louisiana.

00:14:01.820 How did they meet?

00:14:02.820 How did your parents meet?

00:14:03.880 Well, my dad, Phil, was from a depression family, eight brothers and sisters.

00:14:09.720 Wow.

00:14:10.660 He left home, hard for me to believe today, but when he was 14,

00:14:15.780 to go to another town that had a high school.

00:14:20.300 He lived with relatives.

00:14:21.740 He worked as a janitor at night to pay his way.

00:14:27.480 He went to the University of Oklahoma.

00:14:31.380 We just won the Natty Championship, baby.

00:14:33.080 That's right.

00:14:33.560 Let's go.

00:14:35.300 He worked his way through school,

00:14:37.900 got a degree in petroleum engineering,

00:14:40.460 came to Louisiana to work in the oil fields,

00:14:43.460 and met my mom.

00:14:45.160 And he went away for four years.

00:14:48.300 He was in World War II.

00:14:50.820 But my dad was my hero, man.

00:14:54.200 Was he?

00:14:54.720 Yeah, he really was.

00:14:55.820 What was his name?

00:14:56.920 Preston Kennedy.

00:14:58.140 Preston Kennedy.

00:14:59.160 I named my son after—my dad used to tell me, Theo, he would say,

00:15:03.860 son, when I was growing up, I have three brothers.

00:15:07.060 He'd say, son, you'll never understand love until you have a child.

00:15:11.000 And I'd say, ah, come on, dad, you know.

00:15:13.580 He'd say, no, it's not like the love of a spouse or a sibling or a girlfriend.

00:15:19.360 And until you have children, you don't know that. 1.00

00:15:23.020 But he was right.

00:15:24.400 I named my son after Preston.

00:15:26.220 And he's a good kid.

00:15:27.540 There was a time growing up when I figured my son was either going to go into concert promotion or a minimum security prison.

00:15:37.780 I wasn't sure which.

00:15:39.600 But he's a good kid.

00:15:44.340 There's a picture of him right there, huh?

00:15:46.380 Yep.

00:15:47.160 Oh, that's awesome.

00:15:48.860 That's my late dad.

00:15:50.420 There you go, Preston.

00:15:51.640 And the other Preston, huh?

00:15:53.120 Yep.

00:15:53.680 Amen.

00:15:54.780 Yep, that's a great picture.

00:15:56.300 I've got that somewhere.

00:15:58.080 That was my younger days.

00:15:59.560 My dad was still alive.

00:16:02.300 Oh, bless him, man.

00:16:03.420 We were raised in Zachary.

00:16:06.760 Oh, yeah.

00:16:07.640 About 3,000 people.

00:16:09.140 Mm-hmm.

00:16:09.780 And that's close to Liberty.

00:16:12.660 It's sort of close to Liberty.

00:16:14.780 It's close.

00:16:15.620 Liberty's about 40 miles away.

00:16:18.120 It's close to Baton Rouge.

00:16:19.680 Okay, yeah.

00:16:20.820 Oh, yeah.

00:16:21.640 I know where it is now.

00:16:22.840 Now, when I grew up, Zachary's big now.

00:16:25.360 It's like 15,000, 20,000.

00:16:27.220 There were like 3,000 people.

00:16:28.960 Oh, yeah.

00:16:29.700 And it was really a small town.

00:16:32.700 And I like that people say, what's a small town like?

00:16:36.540 And I tell them the truth

00:16:38.180 Everybody knows your business

00:16:40.440 Everybody knows whose check is good

00:16:43.600 And whose husband isn't

00:16:45.260 Everybody knows your business

00:16:46.660 But I would go back

00:16:48.420 Some people hated high school

00:16:50.140 I loved it

00:16:51.140 Yeah

00:16:51.460 Happiest day

00:16:52.500 Oh, high school?

00:16:54.260 Yeah

00:16:54.560 Oh yeah, because I don't think people

00:16:56.360 You don't realize at that age

00:16:58.180 That you will never be in a place

00:17:00.160 Where you're kind of as protected

00:17:02.280 Like in an incubator

00:17:04.200 Yep

00:17:04.580 and have all of everyone you know will be around.

00:17:08.660 Every day they show up, even though they're tired or whatever and they're miserable

00:17:12.200 and they didn't do their homework or whatever, and they all like the same girl.

00:17:15.980 It doesn't matter.

00:17:17.080 Everybody you know will show up, and that never happens again.

00:17:19.720 Nope.

00:17:21.180 I had 100 people in my graduating class.

00:17:25.040 We were the bucking, that's B, bucking Broncos.

00:17:30.260 Okay.

00:17:30.920 And I cared about two things.

00:17:32.760 I cared about my studies because of my parents, but I cared more about basketball and I cared about cheerleaders.

00:17:40.580 Amen.

00:17:41.060 And I wasn't worth a damn at either one.

00:17:42.960 But I had a lot of fun trying.

00:17:45.220 And you don't – but I talk to people all the time.

00:17:49.020 They go, oh, I didn't like high school.

00:17:50.800 Man, I'd go back in a second.

00:17:52.100 Oh, God.

00:17:54.060 Well, they busted some guy.

00:17:55.740 They had – some guy had a growth deficiency and he – or just the Lord didn't really let him grow up.

00:18:01.340 He was just a Simon Birch of a man, you know, and they busted him.

00:18:06.820 He was like 31, and he went back to middle school or something,

00:18:10.600 and they called him on like two weeks into school.

00:18:12.700 That's cool.

00:18:13.400 One of the teachers saw him cashing a check over the weekend at a back,

00:18:17.420 and they busted him.

00:18:18.660 This was a few years ago in Indiana they called a guy,

00:18:21.080 and people were like, that's messed up.

00:18:22.480 I said, look, I don't blame the guy.

00:18:23.880 Well, you grew up in Vanderville in Covington.

00:18:26.060 It was probably small then.

00:18:27.400 Oh, man.

00:18:28.000 It's big now.

00:18:29.420 Covington was perfect, man.

00:18:30.660 And I remember we'd get paddled by the principal.

00:18:33.200 Oh, yeah.

00:18:33.820 Bill Brady was our principal, and he was the best.

00:18:36.300 I saw him a couple years ago at a buddy's funeral.

00:18:39.680 You can't do that anymore.

00:18:40.880 But we had it.

00:18:42.560 Did y'all have like a milk delivery person and stuff like that?

00:18:44.840 Nuh-uh.

00:18:45.900 I remember.

00:18:47.000 That's crazy, bro.

00:18:48.240 I'll never forget.

00:18:49.220 I had a civics class, and my basketball coach was my teacher.

00:18:53.720 And there was this one guy.

00:18:55.800 I won't use his name because he's a friend of mine.

00:18:57.980 But he was a great football player.

00:19:00.560 And he was having trouble with the exam.

00:19:04.880 So he said, Kennedy, help me with this exam.

00:19:07.700 We're sitting next to each other.

00:19:09.340 And I'll never forget.

00:19:10.640 Well, okay, you know, he'd point to an answer.

00:19:14.120 It was multiple choice, and I'd go, huh.

00:19:16.580 I'd point to another one, and I'd go, huh.

00:19:18.180 And the coach called me, caught me.

00:19:20.940 Hey, come here.

00:19:22.100 and you just bend over and he hits you with that paddle with holes in it

00:19:29.800 and you don't want to cry, but it hurts like hell.

00:19:34.680 Well, you don't want to make any noise.

00:19:36.220 You just, yeah.

00:19:37.660 Like any noise you make is not good.

00:19:39.560 Because then you're uncool.

00:19:41.480 Now, you don't do that anymore, but it worked for me.

00:19:44.720 Next time my friend got in trouble, he said, will you help me?

00:19:47.980 I said, no.

00:19:49.300 No.

00:19:49.740 So I think, you know, I've learned my lesson.

00:19:54.040 Yeah, I learned my lesson the whole way, man.

00:19:56.180 Here we go right here.

00:19:57.180 It said, Perrysburg police arrested Labrador Sierra on Monday.

00:20:03.580 That's a man.

00:20:05.440 A 24-year-old suspect was enrolled in high school,

00:20:08.140 allegedly posing as a teenage boy for more than a year and a half.

00:20:11.860 Really?

00:20:12.400 That's pretty wild.

00:20:13.220 Attending Perrysburg High School between January 11th, 2024, and May 14th, 2025. 0.96

00:20:19.400 Shout out to that young fella trying to get an education.

00:20:22.220 Good for him, I guess.

00:20:24.140 Yeah, I guess.

00:20:24.980 We don't know why he went back.

00:20:26.540 Yeah, we don't know why he went back.

00:20:27.740 Now, if he went back to finish up a couple of courses.

00:20:30.580 If that's one thing, but you just might want to delve in the background.

00:20:35.320 Yeah, yeah.

00:20:35.820 You might want to do a little recon on that fella.

00:20:37.520 And also, I will notice in that photo, I think he was in a prison outfit.

00:20:42.280 So that may have been more to the story.

00:20:45.720 You started as treasurer in Louisiana.

00:20:48.880 Yeah, my first job—

00:20:50.640 Your political career, sorry.

00:20:51.660 Yep.

00:20:52.000 My first job, I worked for a governor, a reformed governor named Buddy Romer.

00:20:56.280 Oh, did you really?

00:20:57.300 I worked for Buddy, and then Buddy got beat, and I had left him to run for attorney general.

00:21:06.060 I lost.

00:21:06.820 I came in third.

00:21:08.420 My next job was another reformed governor named Mike Foster.

00:21:13.200 I had become friends with him, and he won, and he asked me to come run basically the tax department.

00:21:20.500 And I did that for a while, and then I ran for treasurer.

00:21:23.180 And I was treasurer for 17 years before I came to the Senate.

00:21:30.180 Enjoyed it.

00:21:30.980 Learned a lot about finance, a lot about bond issues, underwriting.

00:21:39.860 I managed all the state money.

00:21:43.200 It was about $4 billion then.

00:21:46.200 That's not a lot of money to a lot of people, but from Louisiana, it's a lot.

00:21:50.320 Yeah, it's a chunk.

00:21:50.920 I enjoyed it.

00:21:52.080 Yeah.

00:21:52.780 I like being a senator, but I enjoyed being state treasurer.

00:21:57.000 What does a treasurer do?

00:21:58.600 So just so we know, so we're clear on it.

00:22:00.640 Well, when you're in the state treasurer, just as you'd expect, you're in charge of the state's money.

00:22:05.400 States borrow money to build roads or to build prisons or build schools.

00:22:09.940 and you issue bonds and you hire investment bankers,

00:22:14.440 usually out of New York, not always, and bond lawyers.

00:22:17.360 I was in charge of that.

00:22:18.940 You have to be very careful.

00:22:20.820 The rules, the security rules, you have to disclose everything.

00:22:26.920 We had idle cash.

00:22:30.060 Oh, that ain't good in Louisiana, bro.

00:22:32.660 That goes missing quick.

00:22:35.100 But cash comes in and goes out quickly.

00:22:38.640 But I was in charge of investing it in short-term instruments, sometimes just a day or two.

00:22:45.240 But when you've got a cash flow that's in the billions of dollars, you're just investing it overnight.

00:22:51.460 You can pick up a lot of money if you do it repeatedly.

00:22:54.280 We had a lot of trust funds.

00:22:55.780 I invested those.

00:22:59.100 I spent a lot of time working with the legislature on ideas about how to make government more efficient, save money.

00:23:05.960 i was in charge of the state's unclaimed property program were you really dude yeah yeah dude i

00:23:12.760 think y'all sent me a thing one time i left i think i had 200 bucks on something yeah thank

00:23:17.960 you yep we uh thank you dude when a business has your money and can't find you they can't keep it

00:23:23.980 they've got to turn it over to the state and i was in charge of unless it's the federal government

00:23:28.940 they're allowed to just keep it no the federal government's different yeah they're allowed to

00:23:32.600 But I was in charge of getting the money back to people.

00:23:35.820 Okay.

00:23:36.380 And the most money I ever gave back to a lady, man, it was great. 0.98

00:23:41.500 She was a retired school teacher in New Orleans.

00:23:44.420 It was from her late husband.

00:23:46.200 It's a long story, but she didn't know about the money.

00:23:48.680 They were invested in stocks, and they grew and grew and grew.

00:23:52.260 I gave her a check for $1,026,000.

00:23:55.320 Yeah, man, it was cool.

00:23:56.640 And did you walk over there and do it?

00:23:58.020 No, I called her and told her how we got it.

00:24:02.020 She didn't have any children, and she said, well, I want to come to Baton Rouge and get it.

00:24:06.900 And so that's where my office was.

00:24:08.360 So she came in, and she cried, talked about her late husband.

00:24:13.780 I gave her the money.

00:24:14.900 She said, I'm going to use it to help people.

00:24:17.760 I don't have any children.

00:24:19.200 But when I walked her outside to escort her out, she had like 10 nieces and nephews there just waiting.

00:24:27.700 And I knew that money was going to get spent.

00:24:30.100 Get that check, boy.

00:24:31.600 Oh, when that check comes in Louisiana, when that check comes, man, it's getting spent.

00:24:36.240 But I'm glad we got you some of your money.

00:24:38.500 Yeah.

00:24:39.020 Oh, yeah.

00:24:39.400 Thank you, man.

00:24:39.940 I needed it at the time, too.

00:24:41.700 You know, so I appreciate that.

00:24:44.680 When you got a job and then senator, how long have you been working as a senator for?

00:24:48.860 Ten years.

00:24:49.960 Okay.

00:24:51.220 It's some of the most interesting people I've ever been around.

00:24:56.320 Yeah.

00:24:57.600 Right now, it's not pretty to watch.

00:25:01.600 Right now, Congress kind of looks like a breech berth, you know?

00:25:07.200 What do you mean by that?

00:25:08.100 Well, three wheels of shopping cart.

00:25:11.420 We're not getting along.

00:25:12.600 Yeah.

00:25:13.160 It's hard to reach consensus.

00:25:15.940 We'll get through it.

00:25:17.820 But as we get closer to the midterm elections,

00:25:20.800 it just gets more and more and more political.

00:25:25.400 I think we're going to have another shutdown.

00:25:27.980 I sit on the Appropriations Committee,

00:25:29.820 And we're trying to put together a budget, but we're not getting any cooperation.

00:25:34.380 What is the Appropriations Committee?

00:25:35.640 What does that mean?

00:25:36.180 That means I'm in charge of not just me, but others.

00:25:40.440 I'm in charge of drafting the federal government's budget.

00:25:46.740 And my part of it is what's called energy and water development.

00:25:51.840 I'm in charge of the nuclear program.

00:25:54.580 I'm in charge of, well, my subcommittee is.

00:25:57.880 I'm in charge of the Department of Energy.

00:26:03.200 I'm in charge of the Army Corps of Engineers, and we put together the budget.

00:26:09.440 But you've got to get 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate.

00:26:13.720 So I've got to work with my Democratic colleagues, and that sometimes is easy.

00:26:20.520 Sometimes it's not.

00:26:22.520 Senator Schumer, I think, is going to refuse to let us do a budget.

00:26:27.140 I think he's going to shut down government. 0.99

00:26:29.040 That guy seems like a crook. 0.98

00:26:30.800 Well, look, let me— 0.99

00:26:33.080 That's an unfair statement, baby.

00:26:34.620 No, no, no, no.

00:26:34.860 That's fair.

00:26:35.600 It's America.

00:26:35.980 You can't believe what you want.

00:26:37.840 I don't hate anybody.

00:26:39.700 I don't.

00:26:40.820 And when I say my prayers, one of the things I ask God for, don't let me hate.

00:26:46.660 And it's easy to start hating in Washington.

00:26:49.840 And I refuse to hate.

00:26:51.220 And that's one of the many things I ask God for.

00:26:54.220 And I know Chuck well.

00:26:55.500 We went to China together, met with President Xi.

00:26:59.000 We don't agree on much.

00:27:03.500 And Chuck's entitled his opinion.

00:27:05.820 But as I tell him all the time, you know, he's—how can I explain it?

00:27:12.900 He's very animated.

00:27:15.820 Yeah.

00:27:16.160 He's like a five-year-old in a Batman costume, you know?

00:27:19.940 You just want to tell him, chill out.

00:27:22.040 Yeah.

00:27:22.340 But he hates President Trump, does not like President Trump.

00:27:26.720 He thinks by creating chaos, it'll help his side in the midterm elections.

00:27:33.260 And I fully expect him to withhold the votes on the budget and shut down government.

00:27:39.860 And that would be—I hope I'm wrong.

00:27:42.120 If I'm wrong, I'll apologize to him.

00:27:44.920 It's that time.

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00:30:06.240 i just saw that um tucker carlson said he's not supporting can you bring that up

00:30:13.460 tucker carlson said he's not supporting republicans in the midterms yep i think he's

00:30:19.640 leaving the republican party long-time conservative commentator tucker carlson said on a podcast that

00:30:24.320 there's no chance i would support the republican party ahead of the november midterm elections

00:30:27.820 i'm not going to support the democratic party carlson was quick to add i don't know what i'm

00:30:32.920 going to do um carlson supported trump in 2024 uh did he say why uh they're making decisions on

00:30:42.600 the basis of other criteria what's the what's best for this company what's best for israel

00:30:47.380 oh that's right he said he felt like it was becoming israel first party yep and not america

00:30:51.860 first um that's a big person to not uh have support from you know because he's been a big

00:31:00.240 supporter of the Republican Party for a while. I've been a consistent defender, he says, for 35

00:31:05.240 years of the Republican Party. I mean, very consistent defender, but there's no defending

00:31:08.820 this, he said. So, no, I'm out. What's your response to that? Well, I know Tucker. He is

00:31:15.240 very, very smart. He's very articulate. He has fallen out with President Trump and with those of

00:31:25.340 us in the Senate who support Israel. He primarily fell out with President Trump

00:31:33.500 over the conflict in Iran. Now, I've been very supportive of the president on the conflict in

00:31:40.720 Iran. I don't want America to be the world's policeman, but I don't want Xi Jinping in China

00:31:49.800 or the Ayatollah in Iran or Vladimir Putin in Russia

00:31:54.500 to be the world's policemen either.

00:31:56.740 And these are hard men.

00:32:00.940 They understand one thing, Theo, strength.

00:32:05.040 If you turn the other cheek to these people, 0.99

00:32:09.940 they'll just stab you in the neck. 1.00

00:32:12.760 Now— 1.00

00:32:13.100 What proof of that is there?

00:32:14.400 You just look at their actions. 0.99

00:32:15.580 That Iran is the world's foremost exporter of terrorism.

00:32:23.000 Putin, who now, of course, runs Russia, wants to dominate Eastern and Central Europe, which is – President Trump has gotten Europe to start spending more money on defense.

00:32:37.240 But we've always had to defend them.

00:32:39.200 I can tell you what President Xi – I haven't met with President Xi.

00:32:41.780 He is very clear

00:32:45.560 He thinks that China is ascending

00:32:48.360 He thinks America's in decline

00:32:51.480 He thinks while they're building ships and nuclear weapons

00:32:55.740 He thinks all we do in America is sit around and debate

00:32:59.340 Whether a man can breastfeed 0.55

00:33:01.420 And he and Putin and the Atoll in Iran are working together 0.68

00:33:09.160 And China's goal is to dominate the Indo-Pacific, to be free to roam in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. 0.60

00:33:17.920 He wants to dominate the Arctic. 0.58

00:33:20.040 He wants to dominate space.

00:33:21.900 But has he shown those things?

00:33:23.280 Oh, yes.

00:33:24.200 Okay.

00:33:24.900 Absolutely.

00:33:26.280 I mean, China is supporting Iran right now.

00:33:31.080 China is supporting Russia and war in Ukraine.

00:33:35.220 There's no question.

00:33:35.920 China buys all of Putin's oil

00:33:39.860 We sanctioned a lot of their oil

00:33:42.260 When Putin invaded Ukraine

00:33:45.580 So he can't sell it

00:33:47.360 Because oil was traded in dollars

00:33:49.960 He sells it to China

00:33:51.380 Look, I don't hate anybody

00:33:55.460 And the Chinese people

00:33:57.120 To the extent that the Communist Party

00:34:00.660 In China will let you interact with them

00:34:02.600 Are lovely people

00:34:04.400 But they are determined, they hate America. 1.00

00:34:10.120 And deep down, the Iranians are worse. 1.00

00:34:13.620 But deep down, they want to kill us and hurt us the entire time we're dying. 1.00

00:34:18.760 Now, that's my point of view.

00:34:20.520 Tucker will have a different point of view.

00:34:22.400 He thinks, and he thinks that we're too close to Israel.

00:34:27.360 I think a lot of people, from people that I see all the time,

00:34:31.260 that's the number one thing that people say.

00:34:32.940 They think we're too close to a country that's created a genocide against Palestine and then is, like, in conflict with these other people around them.

00:34:42.320 It seems like they're just, like, kind of the bullies of the area, you know?

00:34:45.780 It's like it feels like they're the terrorist organization.

00:34:48.620 That's what it seems like to a lot of people.

00:34:50.660 A lot of people believe that.

00:34:52.940 I'll give you another point of view. 0.97

00:34:54.580 So, the real problem in the Middle East since forever, since God was a baby, the real problem in the Middle East is Iran. 0.99

00:35:07.700 And Iran wants to dominate it. 0.90

00:35:11.180 And Iran funds Hezbollah and Hamas. 0.98

00:35:16.040 Israel is surrounded by people that want to kill them.

00:35:19.360 And Syria is different today, but Syria, Hezbollah was in control of Lebanon.

00:35:27.300 Hamas, an arm of Iran, was in control of the Gaza Strip.

00:35:33.520 Hamas attacked Israel, and the Israelis fight back.

00:35:39.960 And they took over the Gaza Strip, and yes, a lot of Palestinians got hurt. 0.84

00:35:48.440 and not got hurt I mean got killed got killed and hurt and we but but but Hamas would Hamas would

00:35:58.740 hold the the the the Gazans hostage they would put them out front but how do we even know that

00:36:06.100 they killed 220 because we've seen it but they killed 220 something journalists that went there

00:36:11.480 to document what was going on there's no question there was civilian deaths they wouldn't let

00:36:15.980 journalists in to even document what was happening there have been civilian deaths but it is primarily

00:36:21.220 the fault i'm not saying israel is blameless look war is ugly yeah but is this war but it is war

00:36:29.280 you think it's war it is they just had an article yesterday that came out from the u.n if you can 0.53

00:36:34.700 find that it was about they'd done like a deep dive on um the killing of children right and some

00:36:42.240 of the massacring and really massacring of children. Israel continues to commit genocide

00:36:46.260 atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children. UN Independent Commission

00:36:50.920 finds. Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously

00:36:56.460 injured with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection.

00:37:02.800 Let me see what else here. Here are some findings of the commission. Israel has killed 20,000

00:37:07.560 children and injured 44 000 more since october 7th 2023 uh let me see palestinian children have

00:37:15.760 been arrested and subjected to torture and other severe forms of mistreatment in israeli prisons 0.88

00:37:20.100 um this is all part of let me see united nations well first i wouldn't believe it if it came from

00:37:27.200 the un oh really they're not do you feel like they're not liable they're not they're not sorry

00:37:31.040 reliable they're not objective okay they're not objective well number two it's number two

00:37:36.200 And I know children got killed

00:37:39.000 And it breaks your heart

00:37:40.160 Hamas kills children too 0.99

00:37:41.920 So does Hezbollah 1.00

00:37:43.200 So does Iran

00:37:45.060 Do you think the Ayatollah doesn't care about the Iranian people

00:37:49.100 The Persians are some of the most talented people in history

00:37:53.040 When they disagree with the Ayatollah

00:37:56.680 They hang them 1.00

00:37:58.640 They just hang them 0.99

00:38:00.660 And I think

00:38:02.680 I don't speak for Mr. Carlson

00:38:04.380 But he says it's not our business

00:38:06.000 And I guess to some extent he's right, but I'll tell you what is our business is letting them get a nuclear weapon because if they get a nuclear weapon, these people are like Charlie Manson. 0.99

00:38:20.520 They're crazy. 0.89

00:38:23.900 I mean there's – really crazy is rare. 0.98

00:38:29.880 These people though are – with the Iranian leadership, it's commonplace. 0.96

00:38:34.240 If they get a nuclear weapon, they will use it, not just on Israel, but on Europe and on us. 0.97

00:38:41.300 And even if they don't – once they get a nuclear weapon, you will have other countries, Japan, South Korea, other countries, Saudi Arabia get nuclear weapons as well. 0.59

00:38:55.020 And the more people that have nuclear weapons, more likely you are to have war.

00:38:58.940 But Tucker would probably have another point of view.

00:39:01.560 But I really like Tucker.

00:39:02.620 I think he's really smart.

00:39:03.720 oh yeah i think tucker's a neat guy i mean from what i know about him he seems like

00:39:07.640 um i believe that he's earnest like in his search you know i believe that he

00:39:12.280 um i don't know yeah my interactions with him have always been good you know it's just that

00:39:17.880 when they when they kill the reporters who are trying to get honest information they're killing

00:39:22.760 reporters you know they had american it was intentional but they had one that they shot

00:39:27.900 directly in the face and then at her funeral they um they attacked the people who were carrying her

00:39:34.820 can you find her name we just talked about her last night sorry to go in all this but um but

00:39:40.900 they at her funeral they attacked they even attacked the people who were giving her funeral

00:39:46.100 shereen abu akhle uh was a prominent palestinian american journalist who worked as a reporter for

00:39:52.300 25 years for al jazeera before she was killed by israeli forces while wearing a blue press vest 0.88

00:39:56.400 and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

00:39:59.400 Well, obviously, that's terrible.

00:40:01.500 Yeah.

00:40:03.180 But here's what you have to understand about the world.

00:40:10.560 And I don't know why this is.

00:40:12.180 If I make it to heaven, I'm going to ask God.

00:40:14.480 But there's some people out there in the world.

00:40:17.480 They're not sick.

00:40:19.240 They're not mixed up.

00:40:21.680 It's not that their mama and daddy didn't love them enough.

00:40:24.840 they've just got black hearts yeah and some of them run countries north korea russia china

00:40:34.100 but what are those countries actively doing right now like bb netanyahu and the israeli government

00:40:39.900 is actively that well from a lot of people believe and i believe a lot of voters believe that they've

00:40:46.680 they're actively committing a have committed a genocide in palestine and then they've gone into

00:40:50.720 Beirut to Lebanon to Iran you don't believe they are I don't believe that I believe that Hamas

00:40:56.600 dominate which is an arm of Iran Hamas dominated Gaza Hamas attacked Israel Hamas was hiding 0.62

00:41:09.020 behind the Palestinian civilians all of them all of them all of them you you if you didn't obey 0.64

00:41:18.280 if the Palestinian civilians didn't obey Hamas, they would kill him, okay? 0.56

00:41:24.540 Hamas was in complete control. 0.89

00:41:27.100 Israel attacked.

00:41:28.780 When Israel attacked Hamas, many civilians got killed, and it was regrettable.

00:41:34.980 But what are you going to do? 0.76

00:41:36.260 Iran was hiding, physically hiding behind them.

00:41:39.700 While that happened, Hezbollah from Lebanon, funded by Iran, attacked Israel.

00:41:46.420 And all Israel has done is fought back.

00:41:49.580 Now, I'm not saying that in the fog of war, there haven't been innocent people killed.

00:41:56.380 There have been.

00:41:57.440 Yeah.

00:41:57.860 And it's terrible. 0.80

00:41:58.920 But it's not like Israel is the bad guy and Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran are the good guys because they're not. 0.86

00:42:11.900 And these weakness invites the wolves.

00:42:15.620 I wish it weren't like that.

00:42:18.440 I wish it weren't.

00:42:19.580 I wish you could sit down and reason with them.

00:42:23.460 But it's like talking to Charlie Manson. 0.99

00:42:26.680 He was stone cold crazy. 1.00

00:42:28.680 And these people believe if you don't accept their religion, their form of Islam, then you should die. 1.00

00:42:37.620 And they think they're on a mission from God. 0.98

00:42:40.400 now look i think that islam is if you want to be you think that's true and you would know i mean i 0.88

00:42:49.040 don't have i think i don't have experience islam hindu you can your religion is your business 0.87

00:42:55.080 in america we have freedom of religion but if if my religion told me that i had to kill

00:43:03.780 a bunch of other human beings to advance my religion's call.

00:43:09.940 If Christianity taught that, I couldn't be a Christian.

00:43:12.720 Yeah. 0.99

00:43:14.100 Yeah, that would be heartbreaking.

00:43:16.040 Yeah.

00:43:16.900 But they really believe that.

00:43:20.460 And that's—

00:43:20.820 And how do we know that?

00:43:22.540 Because they've done it.

00:43:25.300 What they've done—what they did in October.

00:43:29.340 Was it October 7th? 0.94

00:43:30.940 They raided, they raped, they cut off Israeli people's heads, they kidnapped them.

00:43:41.340 What they've done to American troops in Lebanon, it's widely known. 0.91

00:43:47.740 Look at what they did.

00:43:50.480 They started shooting at the Saudis and the UAE. 0.80

00:43:55.540 That's not the good people of Iran.

00:43:57.700 That's their leadership, their religious allies. 0.99

00:44:00.940 And didn't we take their ayatollah out? 0.97

00:44:04.140 We took the first one out. 0.99

00:44:06.500 They've replaced him with his son, but he's in hiding.

00:44:11.520 Dang, bro.

00:44:12.460 And that's nepotism.

00:44:14.400 Yeah.

00:44:15.280 I mean, we got to call that what it is.

00:44:16.600 Well, nobody really wants to—

00:44:20.280 Nobody wants the job.

00:44:21.060 Nobody wants the job, man.

00:44:22.720 Our military is the greatest military in all of the human history.

00:44:27.660 Amen to that, dude.

00:44:28.840 It's just extraordinary.

00:44:30.940 We're so lucky, man.

00:44:32.080 I mean, we're just lucky to be in a place where we can at least, like, think and try and explore ideas and try and learn.

00:44:39.520 And even if we don't know stuff, you know, we can try our best.

00:44:43.740 But wasn't there some evidence that Hamas was funded by Israel, though, like it was back-channeled through Qatar or something?

00:44:53.480 Can you look that up?

00:44:55.340 Qatar has funneled money to Hamas before.

00:44:58.940 They're a middleman. 0.84

00:44:59.760 No, we have – I'll be shocked.

00:45:03.400 I'm the United States senator.

00:45:04.120 But money from Israel through –

00:45:06.300 No, I don't believe that.

00:45:07.200 Yeah.

00:45:07.460 I just don't believe that.

00:45:08.900 I know there are stories, but I just don't believe that because I've been to Israel.

00:45:13.640 I've talked to the Israeli people.

00:45:15.440 They don't want to be at war.

00:45:17.640 Then why are they at war with everyone then it feels like over there?

00:45:20.200 They're at war with Hezbollah to the north because Hezbollah keeps shooting missiles at them and digging tunnels. 0.59

00:45:27.680 and they're terrorists.

00:45:29.980 And they're at war with Hamas because Hamas attacked them

00:45:36.100 until they took out their missiles, kept shooting missiles. 0.75

00:45:41.340 And they're at war with Iran because Iran is behind all of it. 0.90

00:45:46.500 And I wish we didn't have to do any of this, honest to God. 0.93

00:45:50.080 I've talked to President Trump about it.

00:45:51.960 He didn't want to be in conflict with Iran. 0.77

00:45:55.380 But we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon 0.97

00:45:58.600 We cannot 0.99

00:45:59.760 These people are stone cold crazy 0.81

00:46:04.580 Yeah, I guess it's tough to say

00:46:08.780 I think when you see like videos and stuff online

00:46:10.980 It makes you just see like

00:46:12.280 I don't know, it just makes your heart hurt

00:46:15.500 Like there was a

00:46:17.600 There was a report the other day

00:46:21.760 In that UN report

00:46:22.540 That there was like a 14-year-old kid

00:46:24.180 who they got who they shot and then they just stood around and watched him bleed to death and

00:46:28.820 when his mother tried to come to him they just like would shoot at her and then these soldiers

00:46:33.400 just stood around and watched him bleed to death and it's just kind of hard no it all breaks your

00:46:37.520 heart and that's why you don't want to have to go to war but put yourself in in in the in the

00:46:46.940 president's shoes our intelligence here's what our intelligence showed and i've seen it it's

00:46:53.980 classified, but I've seen it. But I can give you a general outline. Our intelligence showed

00:47:01.420 that Iran was building up its missile capacity, both ballistic and cruise. 0.96

00:47:08.300 And they were going to compile so many missiles and drones that they were going to turn to America 0.75

00:47:17.240 and Israel and say, we're restarting our nuclear weapons program. And if you try to stop us,

00:47:23.980 We're going to destroy the rest of the Middle East. 0.97

00:47:27.520 And by the way, our missiles can now reach London and Paris and Germany and Berlin.

00:47:37.640 And you saw reports that said that?

00:47:38.600 I've seen the intelligence.

00:47:39.480 Okay.

00:47:40.100 And President Trump was faced, well, do I let them continue?

00:47:45.460 He had already bombed their nuclear, some of their nuclear facilities.

00:47:50.500 But he was faced with the decision, do I let them get to the point where they have so many missiles and drones, ballistic and crews, that they could destroy the Middle East, that they could hit London, that they might even be able to hit the United States, or do I go in to stop them?

00:48:08.620 And he did.

00:48:09.820 Right.

00:48:09.960 And we haven't destroyed all of their missiles. 1.00

00:48:15.320 But if you go to Iran today, their whole swaths of Iran, they look like something out of Mad Max 4. 0.98

00:48:25.140 I mean, we destroyed the public sector, the private, big portions of the private sector. 1.00

00:48:32.780 Didn't want to do it.

00:48:34.340 It'll take them 20 years to recover.

00:48:36.760 I mean, our military, I'm not going to bubble wrap it.

00:48:39.140 They went in and our military ate them and spit out the bones.

00:48:44.460 Yeah, yeah.

00:48:45.300 And they are not right now a nuclear threat,

00:48:51.420 but they still have the centrifuges to take their fissile material

00:48:57.400 and make a warhead.

00:49:00.380 Yeah, I didn't know that.

00:49:01.600 I didn't know that you had seen the intel on that.

00:49:03.460 We have a basement, an underground room in the Senate that's – we call it the SCIF.

00:49:15.240 It's completely secure.

00:49:16.520 You leave all your electronics outside.

00:49:19.780 And I've been briefed, all of us have, by Rubio, by Secretary Hedset, by Secretary Rubio, the Joint Chiefs, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

00:49:32.640 and do you trust those guys absolutely yeah absolutely john rackliff from the cia i trust

00:49:38.540 every single one of them amen okay yeah yeah i don't yeah i'm not in the space so it's like

00:49:44.140 you know it's from our perspective just as a regular person you just see all of this stuff

00:49:50.320 and it's so it seems like so one way it seems like you were saying like you feel like the truth

00:49:56.740 comes through and you know what it is right like we were saying in the beginning or whatever like

00:50:00.260 What we see and what we see and perceive is, okay, this is real or this is earnest or whatever, you know?

00:50:08.780 It's like that's the way that a lot of it seems.

00:50:12.440 Let me get this note real quick before you go, and sorry to interrupt you.

00:50:16.120 This is here.

00:50:16.860 In a controversial deal, Israeli's government under Benjamin Netanyahu supported Qatar's payments to Hamas for many years

00:50:24.480 and hoped that it would turn Hamas into an effective counterweight to the Palestinian Authority

00:50:28.920 and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

00:50:31.960 So maybe there was some funding, but it wasn't clear on what it was for.

00:50:35.140 Well, if they gave aid, I don't – there's a footnote there.

00:50:37.940 I don't know the authority for that.

00:50:39.460 Yeah, I'm not sure either.

00:50:40.140 If they gave aid through Qatar to try to help the people of Gaza

00:50:48.140 so they wouldn't join up with Hamas, that's a different thing from them supporting Hamas. 0.52

00:50:58.920 Hamas.

00:50:59.540 Yeah.

00:51:00.520 And what did you look up there?

00:51:02.280 I'm going to look it up one more time.

00:51:04.500 Can you put Israel supported – did Israel support Hamas?

00:51:08.520 Can you just put that question?

00:51:10.800 Let me see.

00:51:12.740 Israel did not directly create Hamas, but from the late 1970s through the 1990s,

00:51:17.180 the Israeli government provided covert support and funding to the Islamist movement that preceded it.

00:51:23.300 This strategy was used to counterbalance secular Palestinian nationalist groups like the Palestine.

00:51:28.040 So they may have inadvertently supported it by trying to support something else, I guess.

00:51:33.420 Hamas is a spinoff of the Palestinian PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization.

00:51:43.260 But once Hamas spun off, they got all of their financial support from Iran, almost 90 percent of it. 0.89

00:51:51.200 Got it. 0.66

00:51:51.620 And without Iran providing the money, neither Hamas nor Hezbollah could exist. 0.97

00:51:58.780 And they are terrorists.

00:51:59.940 Understood. 0.72

00:52:00.720 Did Iran fund Hamas?

00:52:02.140 Let's look that up then.

00:52:04.980 And thanks for discussing it with me.

00:52:06.620 Sure.

00:52:07.320 It's an important subject. 0.61

00:52:08.660 Yes, Iran has funded, armed, and trained Hamas for decades.

00:52:11.540 Tehran considers the group a key part of its axis of resistance and provides tens of millions of dollars annually to support its military and operational capabilities.

00:52:20.020 And look, I'm not saying Israel is perfect.

00:52:23.060 I'm not saying that, okay?

00:52:25.480 None of us is perfect.

00:52:27.440 But look at it this way.

00:52:29.700 Yeah.

00:52:31.160 There are certain areas you could walk down,

00:52:36.560 if you walk down at 2 o'clock in the morning in Nashville, I'd say.

00:52:41.560 There are people there that would hurt you.

00:52:43.480 Yeah.

00:52:44.280 Now, I don't know why.

00:52:46.820 Like I say, if I make it to heaven, I'm going to ask why people.

00:52:50.020 You know, want to hurt other people, but they do. 0.91

00:52:54.640 And that's the situation that Israel's in. 0.77

00:52:58.880 I'll give you an example, a more concrete example.

00:53:02.520 My wife hates guns, okay? 0.99

00:53:05.240 I respect that. 1.00

00:53:07.200 But I own guns.

00:53:09.800 Now, do I hate everybody else?

00:53:14.200 No.

00:53:14.540 I believe love is the answer.

00:53:16.380 But I own a handgun just in case.

00:53:18.720 Amen.

00:53:19.000 Because I know there are people out there, and if they try to hurt me or my family, I'm going to defend myself and my family.

00:53:29.840 And that's – I wish the world weren't like that, but it is.

00:53:34.340 And some – there's some very powerful countries that they hate America.

00:53:40.140 They just hate us, Theo.

00:53:41.860 They do.

00:53:45.460 And you can't reach them through diplomacy.

00:53:48.080 It doesn't mean you shouldn't talk to them.

00:53:50.800 But with a guy, I've looked President Xi in the eye, okay?

00:53:55.860 I've met this guy.

00:53:59.500 With hard men like President Xi or the Aitola or Putin and Russia, weakness invites the wolves.

00:54:09.780 And getting too close to them, it's like hand-feeding a shark.

00:54:15.500 Wish it weren't like that.

00:54:16.740 Wish it weren't.

00:54:18.080 I think President Trump has understood that.

00:54:21.820 President Trump and I have our differences.

00:54:24.440 We have two different styles.

00:54:26.000 Yeah.

00:54:26.380 Okay?

00:54:27.060 President Trump exists loudly.

00:54:29.960 I told him one time.

00:54:31.680 He said, Kennedy, how do you like my tweets?

00:54:34.420 I said, Mr. President, tweeting a little bit less would not cause brain cancer.

00:54:41.560 He said, what?

00:54:42.540 You don't like my tweets?

00:54:43.640 I said, no.

00:54:44.700 I didn't say that.

00:54:45.340 I said, I like a steak every now and then.

00:54:47.360 I just don't like to eat eight of them at one time.

00:54:50.960 And I said, you're the president of the United States,

00:54:54.160 and he just has no filter.

00:54:58.820 He grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought.

00:55:02.420 But he's the president, and I'm not,

00:55:05.800 and that makes a lot of people mad.

00:55:09.740 I've known him for 10 years.

00:55:12.060 I've got his cell phone there in my briefcase.

00:55:14.820 If I called my, his cell number, if I called him, he called me right back.

00:55:18.360 I don't go hang around at the White House, but we deal with each other straight up.

00:55:22.360 And we agree.

00:55:23.140 When we agree, we agree.

00:55:24.340 When we disagree, we disagree.

00:55:25.840 Amen.

00:55:26.940 And you've had him on your show.

00:55:28.540 You've met him.

00:55:29.280 Yeah.

00:55:30.260 He's a busy guy.

00:55:31.200 He's a, he's, he's, he, he exists loudly.

00:55:35.080 He's, he's aggressively unpredictable.

00:55:38.100 He's a busy guy, man.

00:55:39.640 He's a busy guy.

00:55:40.360 Yeah.

00:55:40.540 That's one thing I just remember from my interaction with him was that he's a busy guy.

00:55:45.760 He's not as cool as Jeff Bridges, but he's pretty cool.

00:55:49.920 You know who you need to have?

00:55:51.520 My two favorite actors, not my, what, two of my favorite actors, Jeff Bridges and Denzel Washington.

00:55:57.760 Oh, man.

00:55:58.360 Denzel Washington came to see me one time.

00:56:00.560 Really?

00:56:00.980 It was so cool.

00:56:02.440 He was lobbying, because I'm on the preparations committee, for money for the Boys and Girls Club.

00:56:09.960 And this guy is what cool looks like, man.

00:56:13.100 He sat in my office, and we talked about movies.

00:56:16.900 Dang, look at him.

00:56:18.160 And, oh, man, he had just made the movie.

00:56:22.200 You almost have the same hair kind of, different colors a little.

00:56:25.040 Look, he is so cool.

00:56:26.200 I told him, he said, he didn't like to talk about his movies,

00:56:29.840 but I said, I think your best movie is Malcolm X.

00:56:32.820 And he just made a movie, The Magnificent Seven, a remake of Magnificent.

00:56:37.580 and he was telling me he showed me pictures.

00:56:39.780 That's a Western, huh?

00:56:40.640 Yeah.

00:56:41.040 He said, Kennedy, I'm from inner city, Philadelphia.

00:56:43.600 I had to get on a horse.

00:56:45.980 And he showed me pictures.

00:56:47.200 But anyway, he's just.

00:56:48.660 Dude, that's awesome.

00:56:49.600 And I like Jeff Bridges a lot, too.

00:56:51.360 Yeah, that would be amazing to get to have him.

00:56:53.260 Yeah, I mean, sometimes I can't even believe

00:56:54.480 there's some of the people you get to talk to

00:56:55.780 and stuff like that

00:56:56.460 and some of the people you get to learn from, you know.

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00:57:25.820 Um, y'all ever think about how something gets its start?

00:57:30.740 Like Mountain Dew.

00:57:33.160 I always just thought that it appeared one day,

00:57:36.440 just sitting in a cooler just glistening you know just like a just like a beverage stork

00:57:42.000 just brought it in from the great beverage beyond but no it's actually it's it's straight

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00:58:34.240 in a can. Next time you grab a Dew, just know it's more than just a drink. It's an American

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00:58:48.680 communications are basically a burner phone and a prayer, you know, I'm talking about missed calls,

00:58:55.160 uh, texts that nobody answered customers following up for the third and fourth time. Well,

00:59:01.260 well then obviously things are a mess. And at some point you just, you hit that wall and you're like,

00:59:07.720 all right, I'm done with this. Let's fucking quo. Today's episode is brought to you by 0.99

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00:59:58.700 Let's hog in. Quo. Do you think that America will support a pro-Israel candidate in the next

01:00:08.680 election? Trump has been pretty pro-Israel overall. Do you think that will affect how

01:00:12.500 they vote in the next election yeah it's gonna be a big issue um my democratic friends

01:00:18.800 not all of them but the wing of the what i call the loon wing of the democratic party

01:00:28.240 that's in control uh they hate israel and they support they support they say they support

01:00:37.000 the palestinians well they hate the government not the people right no right we're talking about

01:00:41.800 the government. I don't want to believe they hate the people. Okay, yeah. But they hate the,

01:00:44.780 that's fair. That's a good point. They hate the government. Yeah, and that points across 1.00

01:00:48.680 the board in this conversation. That's a fair point. But they support Hamas. I mean, I'm sorry,

01:00:55.600 they just do. That's why I call them loon wing of the party. And that will be a big issue

01:01:03.520 within the Democratic primaries. But there are a lot of Republicans that think we're too close

01:01:10.240 to israel well i mean it's just that's what's so interesting about tucker's one well tucker's

01:01:14.480 saying that because tucker has one of the top 10 um podcasts and platforms in america yeah so for

01:01:21.960 that for him to be for that to be his direction and that to be how he feels and he really believes

01:01:29.520 that yeah and i'm sure a lot of people feel exactly like he do like he does you know so

01:01:34.080 that's why i'm wondering do you think like an israel first politician uh could win could win

01:01:40.680 could lose look this is a big wide open diverse country yeah for both republicans and democrats

01:01:48.460 yeah and you in in our in our country you can believe what you want and say what you think

01:01:54.540 and and we i support this dialectic of ideas where ideas compete yeah that has to have it

01:02:02.200 Yep, and that's why God made elections.

01:02:05.160 But I want people, and my people in Louisiana, but people in America to know where I stand.

01:02:12.260 Yeah.

01:02:12.780 And I have a lot of admiration for Israel. 0.99

01:02:16.920 They're tough. 0.99

01:02:17.840 They're tough as a boot.

01:02:18.860 They fight back against people that try to kill them.

01:02:22.080 Yeah.

01:02:22.980 Now, do I want a better life for the Palestinians?

01:02:26.120 Absolutely.

01:02:26.500 And I remember under President Clinton, he offered the Palestinians a deal to give them their own country, a big chunk of the West Bank, give them Gaza.

01:02:41.700 They would have their own country.

01:02:43.400 They said no.

01:02:44.340 Their leadership said no.

01:02:45.840 Let's just bring that up just so I know that that's – of the Camp David summit?

01:02:50.020 Yeah.

01:02:51.040 Yep.

01:02:51.520 Yeah, President Bill Clinton's primary effort to help Palestine get its own country culminated in the Clinton parameters of December 2000.

01:02:57.600 This was an ambitious proposal for a two-state solution that followed the failed Camp David Summit.

01:03:03.780 And the political leadership of Palestine said no.

01:03:08.600 Offered Palestine control over 94 to 95 percent of the West Bank, along with the equivalent of an additional 1 to 3 percent of land via territorial swaps.

01:03:16.060 And what happened? 0.52

01:03:17.120 Oh, this was the Oslo Accords?

01:03:18.240 the oslo accords were next okay they were after camp david ultimately a final deal was never

01:03:26.260 solidified the clinton proposals and subsequent taba summit negotiations brought the sides closer

01:03:30.960 than ever before both sides voiced reservations and the deal collapsed at the end of clinton's

01:03:35.240 term yes sir arafat arafat was in charge of the plo he was the leader of the palestinians i think

01:03:42.280 if you put it to a vote of the palestinian people they would have said they would have taken it who

01:03:47.320 You decided no.

01:03:48.240 That's how I'm trying to get to that answer.

01:03:49.900 Arafat turned it down.

01:03:50.680 Okay.

01:03:51.460 And he was head of the PLO, the political organization for all of the Palestinians.

01:03:58.400 But I've always believed if Arafat had put it to a vote of the Palestinian people, they would have accepted it.

01:04:05.440 But Bill Clinton came that close.

01:04:07.120 What it says here, the Israeli cabinet conditionally accepted the parameters but issued a 20-page letter outlining reservations regarding security.

01:04:16.180 Israel are you talking about?

01:04:17.320 And borders, yeah. 0.95

01:04:18.160 No, Israel would have taken it. 0.85

01:04:19.880 I'm telling you. 0.62

01:04:20.820 I'm just saying what this says.

01:04:22.420 Yeah.

01:04:22.760 And then the Palestinian response, the Palestinian Liberation Organization accepted the framework,

01:04:26.420 but also with heavy reservations.

01:04:27.900 So why did it not go through?

01:04:30.200 That's all I'm trying to figure out.

01:04:31.240 Because Arafat backed out.

01:04:35.320 And you ought to have President Clinton on your show.

01:04:38.900 I'm sure he'll have to talk about it.

01:04:41.540 It's one of his—I've heard him speak before and say one of his biggest disappointments.

01:04:46.860 Really?

01:04:47.180 Because he thought he had it.

01:04:48.680 While Chairman Yasser Arafat gave qualified agreement to the parameters in January 2001,

01:04:52.940 the extensive reservations submitted by both sides prevented the parameters from materializing into a formal peace treaty.

01:04:58.860 So I'm not saying you're wrong, but this has both sides.

01:05:00.940 I would encourage you to talk to Bill Clinton.

01:05:06.100 Yeah.

01:05:06.700 I mean, it would be awesome.

01:05:08.400 Have you ever met him before?

01:05:09.860 Yeah.

01:05:10.220 President Clinton?

01:05:10.840 Yeah.

01:05:11.340 Oh, he wouldn't know who I am, but I met him a couple of times.

01:05:14.820 I bet he would know.

01:05:15.600 Have you ever been to Fayetteville?

01:05:17.080 Have I ever been to Phelps?

01:05:18.540 No, not years.

01:05:19.080 Dude, it's awesome.

01:05:19.680 I might have, but it's been a long time.

01:05:21.980 It's one of my favorites.

01:05:22.780 I didn't realize it was such a great college time.

01:05:24.400 I wanted to see—I've been to LBJ's library in Texas.

01:05:28.760 I'd like to go see Bill Clinton's library.

01:05:31.760 I mean, President Clinton and I don't agree on some things,

01:05:35.000 but like I say, I don't hate anybody, man.

01:05:38.920 I don't—I mean, I don't—I wish President Biden well, you know.

01:05:43.900 I was one of the few Republicans that got to spend some time with him.

01:05:49.700 And we just disagreed.

01:05:51.840 Yeah.

01:05:52.740 Well, I mean, I think he disagreed with—

01:05:54.980 You ought to ask President Biden to come on his show.

01:05:57.720 He'd probably do it.

01:05:58.960 Do you think he's—nobody thought that he was—

01:06:02.200 Well, he's aged.

01:06:03.080 He aged.

01:06:04.100 He was aged in office.

01:06:06.260 Why didn't nobody come out and say, hey, this guy's not doing well?

01:06:09.040 Well, they should have.

01:06:09.900 His staff should have. 0.99

01:06:11.420 But his wife should have.

01:06:12.440 Somebody should have, like, come to the aid of him as a human being.

01:06:15.360 Well, I mean, clearly, in hindsight, his staff, they were trying to hide it from the American people.

01:06:20.580 And at the end, it was so bad.

01:06:26.520 Being president's tough.

01:06:27.880 President Biden, bless his heart, he couldn't finish a sentence without taking a nap.

01:06:33.240 Yeah.

01:06:33.520 I mean, he never—

01:06:34.240 Well, everybody knew that, though.

01:06:35.600 I feel like it made us look like a joke to, like, the world in a way.

01:06:39.920 Did you feel like that?

01:06:40.700 Yes, but I knew what was going on, and everybody on Capitol Hill knew what was going on.

01:06:46.440 What did you think was going on?

01:06:47.820 I thought—

01:06:48.260 Who was running the show?

01:06:49.280 I think that he had four or five aides who were making all of the decisions.

01:06:55.700 I've always believed that these aides had—they're a legion.

01:07:01.400 I'm not going to say they were in bad faith.

01:07:02.860 They had allegiance to President Biden, but they also had contacts with President Obama.

01:07:08.300 And I think they were making most of the major decisions.

01:07:11.920 How many aides does a president have?

01:07:14.040 Oh, God.

01:07:14.860 In the White House, hundreds.

01:07:17.140 You include the old executive office building, probably five or six hundred.

01:07:21.880 I've never counted them.

01:07:23.000 That many aides for the president?

01:07:24.220 But there are always four or five people that a president, whatever president, tends to rely on.

01:07:33.360 And at the end, President Biden's age did a very good job of secluding him and hiding it from the American people.

01:07:45.040 They were lying to the American people.

01:07:46.900 And when the President Biden did that debate, they couldn't hide him.

01:07:51.520 And it was – I was in Wyoming, I remember, for something.

01:07:57.940 I don't remember, but I watched it on TV and I was – this is a rare phenomenon.

01:08:03.360 I was speechless.

01:08:04.740 And so was he.

01:08:05.900 I mean, that was a good one, man.

01:08:10.180 You're right.

01:08:10.900 It was terrible.

01:08:12.260 It was embarrassing.

01:08:14.660 Yeah, it was embarrassing, man.

01:08:16.520 That's what it was.

01:08:17.660 You know what upset me the most about that was?

01:08:20.520 I felt like to me it showed people this is how we think of our senior citizens,

01:08:24.740 that we would put them in a space like this and let them be taken advantage of.

01:08:29.720 Like, to me, it got to that point where it was like, what's it called when you take advantage of someone because of their age or whatever?

01:08:35.600 I wonder if – I'm not sure if there's a word or term about it.

01:08:38.500 Elder abuse?

01:08:39.380 Yes.

01:08:39.840 That's what it seemed like.

01:08:41.120 And it seemed like it – because, like, in a lot of countries, they respect their elders so much they bring them back into the home.

01:08:46.220 There's that sort of thing.

01:08:47.260 I understand.

01:08:47.560 And it just seemed like that's what – it seemed to me like that was the view that people got of us, and that made me sick.

01:08:53.580 Well, people – the people around President Biden had a lot of power.

01:08:58.040 you know power what did Henry Kissinger say power is the ultimate aphrodisiac yeah I mean people

01:09:06.060 that's true people that were around President Biden it was in their financial interest it was

01:09:11.560 in their their emotional interest to maintain the power that was derivative from the president yeah

01:09:18.240 and they kept him propped up and what were they using do you think they were using anything to

01:09:22.220 keep him up I mean think you almost think Hunter might have slipped him something you know no I

01:09:26.100 don't think that i think i'm just joking i know you are i think that hopefully hunter hunter knows

01:09:31.300 i'm just joking i actually talked to him the other day did you yeah how's he doing we had a nice

01:09:35.080 conversation he was doing great he's been clean for a long time yeah man his story's kind of

01:09:40.300 fascinating i'm just intrigued by it right i would love to maybe get to talk to him sometime

01:09:44.940 he had a really bad addiction yeah that was clear oh dude yeah most of us have been there

01:09:51.740 Yeah, well, it's—that's one of the—another thing I'm going to ask the good Lord if I make it to heaven is, you know, why is there addiction?

01:10:02.640 Yeah.

01:10:03.720 Because people—it's just horrible when something controls your soul.

01:10:11.780 I don't need to tell you.

01:10:12.920 You've been through it.

01:10:13.420 Yeah, it ruins a lot of families.

01:10:15.140 It ruins—what it ruins is the people around you.

01:10:17.040 That's the worst part.

01:10:17.840 And there are a lot of people who aren't strong enough to beat it, Theo.

01:10:20.680 Yeah.

01:10:21.080 It's just—I have so much respect for people who beat a bad addiction,

01:10:30.140 where it's alcohol or drugs or OCD or—it just takes enormous willpower.

01:10:37.560 And a lot of people don't have it.

01:10:39.280 And it takes commitment, too.

01:10:40.600 I mean, to go to a meeting five days a week, you know?

01:10:43.220 Yep.

01:10:43.680 To go drive across town to go someplace five days a week, you know?

01:10:47.520 the people that do it there should be a special day for those people that are that are battling

01:10:51.920 it you know and that are doing a good job they really should um there's been kind of some more

01:10:58.620 socialist candidates right yep which i think is a term to safe term to use there's been some

01:11:02.920 democratic socialists there's been like some more socialist candidates that have popped up and have

01:11:06.700 garnered a lot of support yep um do you think that the republican party like is there a response to

01:11:12.880 that that the Republican Party should kind of have or or that the Republican Party like has to

01:11:18.760 that sort of happening? Like, what is kind of the Republican Party's response to that or

01:11:23.180 counteraction to that if there is one? Well, Senator Bernie Sanders. You thought it was a

01:11:28.220 good question? It's a good question. Thanks, dude. Senator Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Ocasio

01:11:34.860 Cortez, Mayor Mom Donnie, Mayor of New York, Mr. Graham Plattner who's running for Senate

01:11:43.880 in Maine, they are socialists.

01:11:46.260 They believe in a government-run economy.

01:11:53.340 They believe that, my words, not theirs, you should send all your money and all of your

01:12:00.140 freedom to them and they can make decisions for you.

01:12:04.680 I don't believe that.

01:12:06.320 I believe in free enterprise.

01:12:08.900 I think free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty than all the social programs put together.

01:12:17.620 They believe in defunding the police.

01:12:20.820 They were behind all of that.

01:12:22.940 They believe that cops are a bigger problem than criminals.

01:12:28.500 They believe in defunding ICE. 0.78

01:12:30.800 Um, they believe that, um, I know some of them that they think all white people are racist.

01:12:43.060 I know some of them that they think Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head are all racist.

01:12:56.820 Dude, to say Mr. Potato Head is racist, bring him up. He's mixed, isn't he? 0.98

01:13:00.560 I mean, I don't believe that. 1.00

01:13:03.120 I mean, he's at least – he's half Russet.

01:13:05.260 I don't think the –

01:13:06.400 Dude, hold on.

01:13:08.140 There's Mr. Potato Head.

01:13:09.880 Bro, and look, first of all, look at the second Mr. Potato Head.

01:13:13.100 Look at Mr. Potato Head.

01:13:14.860 I just remember when they –

01:13:16.060 That guy, you tell him –

01:13:16.780 Show the first Mr. Potato Head.

01:13:18.020 Okay, bring that your first one.

01:13:19.640 That was the one they got mad at.

01:13:21.040 No, there was another one.

01:13:22.580 Bro, what are you talking about?

01:13:24.620 Steve Harvey played him too?

01:13:26.060 Look at the one in the middle on the second row.

01:13:27.980 He gets all the roles.

01:13:30.000 They got mad.

01:13:31.060 Oh, dude.

01:13:31.360 They said the creators of Mr. Potato Head were racist.

01:13:36.080 Oh, come on, bro.

01:13:38.320 Now, I don't look.

01:13:39.940 Oh, I didn't know that's what you meant.

01:13:41.720 I thought you meant the potato itself, man.

01:13:43.940 The potato definitely.

01:13:45.420 No, Mr. Potato Head.

01:13:46.300 Oh, the potato definitely.

01:13:49.240 He's from Jackson.

01:13:51.820 But, yeah, I don't think he's racist at all.

01:13:54.120 The creators of it?

01:13:55.220 I don't think Dr. Seuss was racist.

01:13:57.380 No, he wasn't racist.

01:13:58.420 I don't think so at all, dude.

01:13:59.980 The cat in the head?

01:14:01.640 I remember. 1.00

01:14:02.300 That's a black guy.

01:14:03.280 But my point is most—

01:14:07.260 Horton hears a who?

01:14:10.320 That's not racist at all.

01:14:12.700 It should be Horton hears a what?

01:14:15.360 Or I think—I don't know.

01:14:16.420 Never mind.

01:14:16.900 Go on.

01:14:17.220 America what?

01:14:20.340 America's not perfect, but we're good.

01:14:22.480 And we caught the disease of slavery, but we beat it back.

01:14:26.940 Yeah, and there's a lot of speculation about how slavery started and where it started and what exactly happened.

01:14:31.400 And I do think that over time, there's definitely this constant—like, there's definitely a ploy, it seems like, by the media sometimes that tries to remind—like, it's like, tries to keep people locked into, like, a victim mentality sometimes.

01:14:44.360 That's true.

01:14:45.520 And that's—it's okay to be a victim sometimes, but if all you are is a victim, I think it's tough to move forward sometimes.

01:14:53.020 It is.

01:14:53.380 For any of us, regarding anything.

01:14:56.520 What do you think are some of the pitfalls of long-terms of socialism that maybe people don't see that have happened in the past?

01:15:04.300 If you have an example.

01:15:05.640 I do not believe that the people in the Democratic Socialist Party that I just named, some of them I know.

01:15:17.020 Senator Sanders is a friend of mine.

01:15:20.000 I believe deep down they think they're smarter and more virtuous than the American people

01:15:28.680 and that they can make decisions for the country and the country will be better off.

01:15:33.500 And I respectfully disagree with them.

01:15:36.120 I trust the American people.

01:15:38.320 This is the greatest country in all of human history.

01:15:41.300 The whole world knows it.

01:15:43.500 Everybody wants to come here.

01:15:45.820 When's the last time you heard of somebody trying to sneak into China? 1.00

01:15:49.380 People want to come here. 1.00

01:15:50.860 That's a good point.

01:15:51.460 And it's because we believe in free enterprise.

01:15:55.140 We believe that our future can be better than our present or our past.

01:15:58.740 We believe in free will and responsibility.

01:16:02.440 You know, most Americans, they don't read Aristotle every day

01:16:07.740 because they're busy earning a living.

01:16:09.760 But they're plenty smart.

01:16:11.200 Yeah. 0.88

01:16:11.680 They don't need a soul-crushing federal government to run their lives. 0.98

01:16:19.400 And free enterprise works. 0.94

01:16:23.700 Socialism, name one country where it worked.

01:16:26.920 It doesn't work in Cuba.

01:16:29.560 It didn't work in Argentina.

01:16:31.440 It didn't work in the former Soviet Union.

01:16:34.980 Yeah, that's what I think sometimes if we do get to that place of it,

01:16:38.380 where if it were to grow that much, that could it work?

01:16:42.320 Is it different?

01:16:43.180 Would something be different this time?

01:16:44.900 I don't know.

01:16:45.920 You know, it's interesting to think about, you know,

01:16:49.620 if it ever was really tried earnestly.

01:16:52.320 It's hard to know.

01:16:53.200 I'm not voting in—

01:16:55.060 It was tried earnestly in Cuba.

01:16:57.040 Yeah.

01:16:57.500 And we see how that turned out.

01:16:58.840 Yeah.

01:16:59.560 It was tried earnestly under Perón in Argentina.

01:17:02.660 But do you think that Castro was—

01:17:04.560 like in the end, he kind of became corrupted, right? 0.57

01:17:06.820 He was very corrupt.

01:17:07.760 They've always been correct.

01:17:08.900 But do you think in the beginning he was – like he tried to play himself as Ernest probably?

01:17:12.240 I don't know.

01:17:13.120 Right.

01:17:13.620 I think he was – I think he believed in the socialist philosophy.

01:17:17.860 Right.

01:17:18.480 But in the end, it just became about him.

01:17:20.820 And – yeah.

01:17:22.140 Yeah.

01:17:22.720 And Senator Bernie Sanders, I think he's been on your show.

01:17:26.920 Yeah.

01:17:27.300 I love Bernie.

01:17:27.900 I love Bernie.

01:17:28.340 I love Bernie.

01:17:28.940 He comes in.

01:17:29.560 He's got his bag.

01:17:31.020 We've sent him a little thing.

01:17:32.180 He's like, I just want a couple of cookies on a plate.

01:17:34.020 Like he's like Santa.

01:17:34.700 It took me a long time to get to know Bernie because he's – I thought he just didn't like me because he can be kind of gruff, but he's kind of gruffling.

01:17:42.080 I remember one day I got him to smile.

01:17:44.340 I was walking over to the Capitol with another senator to vote, and Bernie passed me by, and he didn't speak.

01:17:49.960 And I leaned over and said, Bernie.

01:17:51.780 He said, what?

01:17:52.800 I said, pay your taxes, man.

01:17:54.180 We need the money.

01:17:55.160 And he got a little smile.

01:17:57.100 But he's a great guy.

01:17:58.440 But he is genuinely a socialist.

01:18:01.160 And he honestly believes that if you made money in business, that you did it by taking advantage of somebody or you stole it.

01:18:15.860 And that's not been my experience.

01:18:18.200 I know many successful businesswomen and businessmen that have created a lot of jobs.

01:18:23.700 They earn the money honestly.

01:18:25.000 When you started out, nobody gave it to you.

01:18:31.160 You did it through hard work.

01:18:33.040 You took risks.

01:18:34.580 If you had failed, nobody – the government wasn't going to be there to bail you out.

01:18:40.080 And that – most of the businesses in America are small businesses.

01:18:45.980 And these are people that sometimes they mortgage their home to take a risk.

01:18:50.400 And they work hard and they create jobs.

01:18:53.920 And I think that's America and that's why we're the greatest country in all human history.

01:18:58.080 Amen.

01:18:59.480 Do you think –

01:19:00.580 But not everybody agrees with me.

01:19:02.380 Well, I mean, I think what I do think is and I thought about this is I live here.

01:19:08.280 You know, I want to support this place and believe in this place as much as I can.

01:19:12.220 Right. Like and I think most of my life there's been like this feeling of like America, we're doing something good.

01:19:18.080 Like we're forward thinking. We care about the people and stuff like that.

01:19:22.280 And then I feel like in the last few years, things have devolved some.

01:19:26.100 Like I think people's faith in, in the political system has waned.

01:19:31.480 Um, I think we're not sure, like it doesn't, I think it's, we don't, it's like, it's hard

01:19:37.140 to feel like it doesn't feel like it's even Republicans versus Democrats anymore.

01:19:40.780 It feels like it's like, I don't know, I don't know if it's good versus evil or what it is,

01:19:45.900 but it's like, it almost seems like, um, like, like Bernie Sanders came on here the

01:19:52.640 second time. And it felt like he was on here pleading at us, but it's like, we voted for

01:19:58.880 politicians. Like you go up the hill and plead, you know what I'm saying? Like we're the, it just

01:20:04.340 seems like now, like sometimes politicians are coming at like on our own platforms, like pleading

01:20:08.700 to the people. It's like, um, I don't know. It just feels like, uh, it feels like something's

01:20:14.940 not working and it's just too much hate and it starts to feel scary. What do you, what do you

01:20:20.220 think that is and do you think like you know it feels like we used to have a purpose as a group

01:20:24.600 that it was America and it was like we're gonna something was gonna happen and that the country

01:20:28.720 was gonna be better for your children than it was for you there used to be that feeling and I think

01:20:33.660 it was probably that feeling whenever you were growing up and stuff like that you can't hate man

01:20:37.920 and it was when I was growing up what do you think has changed what do you think is like

01:20:42.000 like how do we get how do you get the American people to believe again in um in a political

01:20:48.160 system that sometimes feels like it's not solving a lot for them i think part of it is not all of

01:20:53.560 it but part of it there was social media people can go on anonymously and say things on social

01:21:01.000 media that they would never say to your face or another person's face it's just too easy

01:21:07.140 um i i think um i i think the federal government as our country has gotten big bigger and the world

01:21:17.640 is more complicated

01:21:18.900 the federal government has gotten bigger

01:21:21.780 too big

01:21:22.500 and it has interfered in people's

01:21:25.940 lives too much

01:21:27.860 you know

01:21:29.640 about 90% of my

01:21:31.840 personal philosophy

01:21:32.900 is

01:21:34.320 I don't want to

01:21:39.440 I don't want to hurt

01:21:41.660 anybody unless I have to defend myself

01:21:43.980 don't

01:21:45.780 take people's stuff

01:21:46.980 I mean, if my son, what I would tell my son growing up, don't hurt other people unless you have to defend yourself.

01:21:55.900 Don't take other people's stuff.

01:21:58.540 And the third one for me is leave me alone.

01:22:01.940 I don't need government to run my life.

01:22:05.980 I think, but I think a big part of it is social media.

01:22:09.600 It's a success.

01:22:11.240 I'm not saying it's all bad, but it's a cesspool snark.

01:22:14.520 And the other thing, you've seen a breakdown in America of the family unit.

01:22:21.360 You have.

01:22:23.060 And you've also seen, to each his own, but you've seen a breakdown.

01:22:30.380 We've become a less religious country.

01:22:33.460 Now, you know, for this freedom of religion, you don't have to believe in God.

01:22:38.680 It helps.

01:22:39.780 It helps, man.

01:22:41.680 And I believe in God.

01:22:44.520 I have doubts when I pray.

01:22:48.680 I ask for faith.

01:22:49.680 I have enormous doubts.

01:22:51.620 And anybody that says they're absolutely certain, you know,

01:22:55.700 that's why God called it faith.

01:22:58.380 But I think it's a combination of things.

01:23:01.400 And I don't know why people hate so much.

01:23:03.860 Do you think that we're still a Christian nation?

01:23:08.100 Yes, but less so.

01:23:11.120 Do you think we would support a Christian leader for president,

01:23:13.580 Like a true Christian person that ran for president?

01:23:17.280 Yeah.

01:23:18.200 When was the last really Christian person that we had run for president?

01:23:21.540 The last person that was truly religious?

01:23:25.060 Well, probably in my lifetime, the most devout president we had was Jimmy Carter.

01:23:29.260 Yeah.

01:23:30.520 He lived his faith.

01:23:34.100 Now, he only served one term, and I didn't agree with some of his social policies.

01:23:41.140 But I think he lived his faith.

01:23:43.580 People like Jimmy Carter, huh?

01:23:45.040 And I will say this.

01:23:47.060 When he left the presidency, President Carter didn't go get rich.

01:23:52.300 He didn't sit on a bunch of boards.

01:23:54.380 He went into service, didn't he?

01:23:55.440 He just helped people.

01:23:57.420 And he established the peace, the Carter Center for Peace in Atlanta.

01:24:02.680 Was that in Georgia?

01:24:03.640 Yeah.

01:24:03.860 In Atlanta.

01:24:04.820 He was very active in Habitat for Humanity.

01:24:07.980 And I really respected that.

01:24:10.180 But Jimmy Carter did not – was never wealthy.

01:24:15.620 In 1982, he and his wife Rosalyn established the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

01:24:19.840 Through this non-governmental organization, he monitored over 100 elections in developing democracies, mediated international conflicts, and championed human rights worldwide.

01:24:28.720 He must have had a big heart.

01:24:30.240 He did have a big heart.

01:24:31.940 He –

01:24:32.580 His wife died not long ago.

01:24:33.940 Is that right?

01:24:34.360 Yeah.

01:24:35.460 His wife, Ms. Rosalyn, died before he did.

01:24:40.180 oh okay but not much before um i i saw you talk actually about uh like facebook and meta

01:24:50.040 recently about how their algorithm right this is a really awesome point that i saw you bring up and

01:24:54.980 you do such a good job of this and thank you so much for just being somebody who like shows up

01:24:59.880 with good points do you show up with some like great stuff to say and it's um it gives me faith

01:25:05.680 You give me faith in possibility of things being better, right?

01:25:10.620 So thank you.

01:25:11.680 Thanks for saying that.

01:25:13.160 Thank you very much.

01:25:13.840 Not everybody agrees with you, but I do work in my job.

01:25:18.060 I have to.

01:25:18.480 I probably spend 30 hours a week reading at least to do it right.

01:25:27.840 I like it.

01:25:28.640 I'm not complaining.

01:25:29.440 Have you read this yet?

01:25:30.520 I have read that.

01:25:31.740 It's my book.

01:25:32.620 How to Test That. 0.99

01:25:33.480 This is fucking great, dude. 0.98

01:25:34.760 Sorry. 1.00

01:25:34.940 I haven't even read the title yet, How to Test Negative for Stupid. 0.99

01:25:38.380 I'll sign a copy for you, dude. 0.99

01:25:40.100 Please do, man.

01:25:41.740 I wrote it myself.

01:25:43.360 It's one of the hardest things I've ever done.

01:25:45.320 Writing a book?

01:25:46.240 Yeah. 1.00

01:25:46.860 How to Test Negative for Stupid and Why Washington Never Will. 1.00

01:25:50.840 Yes, thank you so much. 1.00

01:25:51.940 We'll be happy to keep that.

01:25:52.720 We'll put it up on our shelf for a couple months.

01:25:55.480 But I spend – some of my colleagues are brilliant.

01:25:58.540 They can – they're just, you know, a guy like Marco Rubio, for example, Ted Cruz, Gene Shaheen, Peter Welch.

01:26:13.440 I'm not going to name all my colleagues in the Senate.

01:26:15.700 Pull up Pete, man.

01:26:16.440 I've never even seen him.

01:26:17.060 Peter Welch.

01:26:17.820 He's from Vermont.

01:26:18.700 Pull him up.

01:26:19.180 Pull up Pete up.

01:26:20.020 These people are brilliant.

01:26:21.420 There he is.

01:26:22.020 But I have to –

01:26:22.600 Dang, huh?

01:26:23.300 I have to work at it.

01:26:25.380 Oh, Peter looks like a – he looks studious though.

01:26:27.780 He's a smart guy, but he can probably spot me 50 IQ points, but he's not going to outwork me.

01:26:35.460 Amen. 0.98

01:26:36.240 I'll work harder than an ugly stripper, man. 1.00

01:26:38.640 That's how I was raised. 0.95

01:26:40.520 I've always been able to outwork people.

01:26:45.000 Dude, that's awesome.

01:26:46.640 I might get in trouble for saying that.

01:26:48.520 Hey, no problems here. 0.79

01:26:49.720 My god cousin is a stripper, so he was. 0.98

01:26:53.880 God bless me.

01:26:54.620 But I saw you talk about meta and how there's an algorithm act that's out there about how that – and I've talked about this before on this show.

01:27:02.300 That's why this really rung true with me.

01:27:05.420 It was like, yeah, why isn't the – because the algorithm will lead you down a staircase of deviancy, anger, and can even lead people into conflict.

01:27:17.560 It can lead you – it can take you from feeling neutral, looking at something on your phone, to feeling angry and going out into public and acting on that anger or on that belief.

01:27:28.840 Yep.

01:27:29.240 And there's no repercussions from it.

01:27:31.960 Yep.

01:27:33.120 Like from Facebook or Meta or social media, Instagram, TikTok, there's no repercussions.

01:27:37.300 When Facebook – I'll use Facebook as an example.

01:27:41.240 When it first started, we passed a law that said if somebody goes on Facebook and writes a post and they defame somebody, that's between the person who posted it and the person they defame that you can't hold Facebook liable for posting.

01:28:00.900 Fair enough.

01:28:02.220 But now Facebook has gotten so big that they control what you see.

01:28:11.020 And they gather this data about you.

01:28:14.320 And they want you to stay on Facebook a long time to look at the ads because they make a lot of money selling those ads.

01:28:22.320 Right.

01:28:22.480 So they got to keep you on there.

01:28:23.240 And so they send you stuff.

01:28:25.820 They find out what your hot buttons are through algorithms.

01:28:28.280 and they keep showing it to you and showing it to you and showing it to you.

01:28:34.980 And all of a sudden, some people can separate the wheat from the chaff

01:28:40.480 and say, well, they're manipulating me.

01:28:42.820 But other people, they just get angrier and angrier and angrier.

01:28:47.360 And what do they expect?

01:28:47.980 You're just going to get so pissed off you're going to buy an air fryer or something?

01:28:50.720 I mean, they make their money.

01:28:53.960 That's their strategy.

01:28:54.460 I don't mean that Facebook's not the only one.

01:28:56.260 You're going to get so pissed off you're going to buy a dog collar.

01:28:58.280 But Facebook is, if you ask me the one reason for the demise of newspapers, it's social media.

01:29:07.800 I know.

01:29:08.320 I miss a newspaper, don't you?

01:29:09.860 Well, yeah.

01:29:11.040 But the world's changed.

01:29:13.260 And you can hit a kid with it.

01:29:14.520 They make their money off of advertising.

01:29:17.120 Yeah.

01:29:18.440 The Algorithm Accountability Act is proposed, and this has been proposed for a while, I think.

01:29:23.760 This was proposed.

01:29:24.480 Yeah, we've been debating it for a long time.

01:29:25.900 Originally, for like five years ago, I think this first came into light.

01:29:28.600 The Algorithmic Accountability Act is a proposed U.S. bill aimed at requiring companies to examine and disclose how automated systems and algorithms affect people, especially in high-stakes decisions like housing, credit, education, and employment.

01:29:41.560 And this is perplexity here as our search engine.

01:29:44.840 Supporters say the bill would give regulators and the public a clearer way to see when algorithmic systems are causing harm.

01:29:51.020 i agree there should be something on the device that goes off and says now you're falling into

01:29:55.580 an algorithm you know well it's do you think they manipulate yeah they manipulate it do you

01:30:02.220 think something like this will come to light soon like we've got to be getting there i mean

01:30:05.140 you know i mean you have algorithms leading people into extremely strong beliefs yep you know like

01:30:11.960 some people say that the um the shooter at the uh was it the charlie kirk shooter was um

01:30:19.160 radicalized by things that he had seen on social media you know doubt it or that a lot of these

01:30:25.720 shooters are you know they they facebook just i think it was facebook just lost a big lawsuit

01:30:31.680 yeah um uh filed on behalf of a deceased minor that i think i don't remember uh the the details

01:30:41.340 but it was basically that the algorithms drove the young lady into suicide.

01:30:49.420 And a jury rewarded them money.

01:30:52.400 Here we go.

01:30:53.160 Campaigners welcome Metta and YouTube's defeat in landmark social media addiction trial.

01:30:58.260 That's it.

01:30:59.180 Man, who you got pulling this stuff up?

01:31:01.820 Some white guy. 0.71

01:31:02.720 It's a DEI hire.

01:31:03.460 This guy, you need a pay raise, man.

01:31:06.260 You're awesome.

01:31:07.520 Thank you, Senator.

01:31:08.600 Tell Theo at least he ought to buy you a car.

01:31:11.340 Hey, dang, what?

01:31:12.960 I'll be your agent, man.

01:31:14.600 You can pull this stuff up.

01:31:16.220 That's it.

01:31:16.820 That's the case.

01:31:17.860 That's the case.

01:31:19.060 Jurors found that Meadow, which owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and Google, owner

01:31:23.200 of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harm the 20-year-old's

01:31:26.640 mental health.

01:31:27.600 The woman known as Kaylee was awarded $6 million in damages, a result likely to have implications

01:31:31.880 for hundreds of similar cases now winding their way through U.S. courts.

01:31:35.760 Amen.

01:31:36.480 Praise God.

01:31:37.100 Good for her.

01:31:38.040 What happened?

01:31:38.720 Do they have the exact thing that happened?

01:31:41.340 uh the young lady didn't pass away uh the k it says right here kaylee started using youtube at

01:31:49.160 about six years old and instagram at about nine with no effective age-based blocking from the

01:31:53.600 platforms by age 10 she was experiencing anxiety and depression conditions that were formally

01:31:58.140 diagnosed later by a therapist she became intensely preoccupied with her appearance

01:32:02.840 using instagram filters that altered her face smaller nose larger eyes and has since been

01:32:09.200 diagnosed with body dysmorphia, a disorder involving obsessive worry about perceived

01:32:13.660 flaws in appearance.

01:32:15.520 Her lawyers argued that Instagram's design features, such as infinite scroll and growth

01:32:20.200 strategies focused on the young users, contributed to an addictive pattern of use that harmed

01:32:25.440 her mental health.

01:32:27.180 Huh.

01:32:29.380 The jury awarded Kaylee three main incombinatory damages and three main impunitive damages.

01:32:34.700 Huh.

01:32:35.900 Okay.

01:32:36.780 I know the stuff's addictive.

01:32:38.940 Oh, yeah, it is.

01:32:40.180 Well, I noticed myself, you start getting into beliefs.

01:32:42.560 It starts leading you down certain holes of certain beliefs.

01:32:44.880 And then you got on your phone just to check a text.

01:32:47.400 And next thing you know, you get off with a belief.

01:32:49.160 Well, it's all our kids know.

01:32:51.180 Our kids, so many of our kids have become smartphone zombies.

01:32:54.880 You know, they just, it's always this.

01:32:57.420 And look, they're...

01:32:58.820 What did we do, though, John?

01:33:00.080 Do you remember what we did?

01:33:01.300 I didn't have social media.

01:33:02.640 But I know, but what did...

01:33:03.580 Because nowadays, if you imagine, it's kind of crazy to imagine.

01:33:06.200 I know.

01:33:06.580 If you imagine some guy just sitting around like this, not doing it.

01:33:11.660 But imagine somebody just waiting for something somewhere.

01:33:13.820 Were they just sitting with their hands in their laps?

01:33:16.360 I played ball.

01:33:18.460 In my spare time, I played ball.

01:33:20.380 I did my homework.

01:33:22.160 We'd go to movies.

01:33:24.500 I'd read a lot.

01:33:25.720 But outside of some of that, say you just were sitting somewhere,

01:33:28.240 I guess you would just sit there and think or just because now.

01:33:31.260 Oh, they had magazines.

01:33:32.260 I don't know.

01:33:32.560 Yeah, that's true.

01:33:33.300 We had magazines.

01:33:33.820 Or you actually, believe it or not, talk to people.

01:33:37.020 Even if you didn't like me to talk to them then.

01:33:38.800 You just talk to people.

01:33:39.260 Remember that?

01:33:39.920 Yep.

01:33:40.520 Even if you didn't even like them.

01:33:42.040 Yep.

01:33:42.240 Now when you're around a lot of young people, they really are smartphone zombies.

01:33:50.660 They're just like this all the time.

01:33:52.260 People are hooked.

01:33:53.020 And it has impacted.

01:33:54.300 I'm not saying all social media is bad.

01:33:57.340 It has many good purposes, but it has been abused.

01:34:01.540 It's abused, and it's an addiction crisis.

01:34:03.760 It is very addictive.

01:34:04.740 And they've been able to make it more and more addictive, and they know it.

01:34:10.460 Is there lobbyists for this type of thing in the government too,

01:34:13.940 that are lobbying for these social media platforms?

01:34:16.060 Oh, man, absolutely. 0.77

01:34:17.260 These guys are strong as a horse rat.

01:34:21.180 Why don't more lobbyists get called out by politicians?

01:34:24.400 Well, I don't meet with many lobbyists, but in some states,

01:34:28.660 they have an influence.

01:34:30.300 I'm not going to kill you.

01:34:31.540 Because I'm sure they're the ones keeping this act, like the Algorithm Act or whatever.

01:34:36.100 Of course they are.

01:34:36.420 I'm sure they're the ones keeping those things like at bay.

01:34:38.980 That's not the only ones, but of course they are.

01:34:41.260 And I don't want to just pick on Facebook, but organizations like Google, Facebook, they employ thousands of people.

01:34:51.340 They have huge PACs.

01:34:52.900 If you're from their state and you're a senator and Google comes to you and says, I employ 10,000 people, and if you pass this bill, I'm going to have to lay off half of it.

01:35:09.480 Plus, they do have very powerful lobbyists, and they're just very powerful.

01:35:18.080 So that's an instance where an elected official has to make a choice there.

01:35:22.160 That's a good example of an instance, right?

01:35:24.720 And that's something real that could happen.

01:35:26.500 It's like, hey, we have 10,000.

01:35:29.160 We employ 10,000 people in your state.

01:35:30.960 If you pass this, then 5,000 of them are going to lose jobs.

01:35:35.180 And they know how to use their power.

01:35:37.340 I mean, if you ask me who's more powerful, the state of Tennessee or Google, I'd say Google.

01:35:46.900 And the state of Tennessee is powerful.

01:35:48.740 A lot of people, wonderful universities, beautiful natural resources.

01:35:54.260 But these – the four or five or six social media companies are very powerful.

01:36:00.440 And that's why we have – we have to be very careful.

01:36:04.760 I support it.

01:36:05.880 But we have to be very careful with artificial intelligence and AI.

01:36:11.580 Well, the pope just came and spoke out against it.

01:36:14.820 And that's kind of scary to think.

01:36:16.160 And AI is – it's – this was developed in America.

01:36:22.600 It's just another example of American brilliance and ingenuity and innovation.

01:36:29.300 But it's so powerful.

01:36:32.700 It can make our lives better if it doesn't kill us all first.

01:36:37.940 But if you develop a machine that can know everything and then can start thinking for itself and through its agents can take actions, could shut down your entire infrastructure.

01:36:57.580 But that's where I lose.

01:36:58.860 That's where I start to lose.

01:37:00.780 But like what actions?

01:37:02.100 Like my laptop is not going to like come in and like, you know, attack me while I'm sleeping.

01:37:08.040 You know what I'm saying?

01:37:08.380 So it's not like that, right?

01:37:09.740 No.

01:37:10.000 So what actions – because I hear people say this thing, right, what you're saying.

01:37:13.680 What actions are we talking about?

01:37:15.280 Well, you can – I mean, I'm no expert, but you can create agents now that use AI.

01:37:23.740 Yeah, we just had Jeff Bridges just had – he has a friend on ChatGPT or whatever, and he talks to him all the time named Gary.

01:37:30.340 You can –

01:37:31.280 What the heck? 0.89

01:37:32.460 You can do that.

01:37:33.660 You can have an AI assistant and give them almost unfettered authority to book you a plane ticket or rent you a car or remind you to have your oil changed or, you know, buy some Fig Newtons at the grocery store.

01:37:51.200 Yeah, they're pretty.

01:37:51.760 They're not bad. 0.93

01:37:52.380 And they're—I love Fig Newtons. 0.98

01:37:53.660 They're okay.

01:37:54.220 They're good.

01:37:54.700 They're pretty.

01:37:55.100 They're all right.

01:37:55.420 I think they're awesome, man.

01:37:56.080 Sometimes they're great. 1.00

01:37:56.960 Fig Newtons are better than sex. 1.00

01:37:58.900 Not really. 0.97

01:37:59.580 Well—

01:37:59.800 Not really.

01:38:00.360 Not really.

01:38:00.980 I take it back, but I like Fig Newtons. 0.98

01:38:03.380 I mean, look, I've had some bad sex. 0.98

01:38:05.640 I understand. 0.93

01:38:06.520 I'm not going to comment on that, Theo.

01:38:08.180 All right. 1.00

01:38:08.980 And I've had some bad Fig Newtons, too. 1.00

01:38:10.760 Yeah.

01:38:11.920 If they're not warm, I don't like them when they're real warm.

01:38:14.020 I don't like them either.

01:38:15.060 I'll tell you what else.

01:38:16.040 If they've been sitting in the sun, I don't like them.

01:38:18.240 I'll tell you what else I grew up on is Vienna sausage, man.

01:38:21.340 Oh, God, brother.

01:38:22.240 Vienna sausage.

01:38:23.420 Ugh.

01:38:24.100 You know.

01:38:24.560 Makes my neck hurt.

01:38:25.060 I'd go fishing, take Vienna sausage.

01:38:27.640 One for the fish, one for you, huh?

01:38:29.020 Absolutely.

01:38:29.380 In fact, if you run out of worms or crickets, if you can get the Vienna sausage to stay on the hook,

01:38:35.760 I've caught many a brim and a catfish with Vienna sausage.

01:38:40.300 Oh, you can catch a girl in Avondale with a couple of them, too.

01:38:43.920 I know that, bro.

01:38:45.580 That never worked for me, man.

01:38:48.220 That never worked for me.

01:38:49.560 That was a good reference, though, wasn't it? 0.86

01:38:50.900 That was damn good.

01:38:51.780 Thank you. 0.91

01:38:52.540 That was good.

01:38:53.240 I can tell you're a Louisiana boy.

01:38:54.840 You know what? I think Louisiana has had a tough time, and you know this. Louisiana has had a tough time over the years with a lot of economic growth, right? We've struggled some. We've had a tough time with a lot of job stability and job growth, right?

01:39:12.520 We were very oil and gas dependent.

01:39:14.620 Right. We are 100%, right? And some of that's adjusted over the years, right, for sure?

01:39:19.340 We're not so, but it's still important.

01:39:20.840 But one thing that we do have is we have good people, we have resilient people, and we have good storytelling.

01:39:27.880 And some people say, well, there's not a lot of financial incentive in that, and that's fine.

01:39:33.100 But there's a lot of pride in that, though.

01:39:35.720 Look, I've lived in five states in a foreign country, and I've never met people like the people who's in.

01:39:43.200 Yeah.

01:39:43.560 You know, they're God-fearing, they're hardworking, they're fun-loving.

01:39:49.220 they're authentic

01:39:51.420 oh yeah

01:39:52.620 and I tell my

01:39:54.740 I tell my

01:39:56.940 Senator Cruz a lot

01:39:58.920 he's from Texas

01:39:59.820 I tell him 0.66

01:40:01.260 he'll start talking about Texas

01:40:02.680 and I'll say

01:40:03.240 Cruz look

01:40:03.840 Texas is a great state

01:40:05.660 you get all this

01:40:07.020 wonderful publicity

01:40:08.140 God bless you

01:40:09.600 you deserve it

01:40:10.320 I love Texas

01:40:11.020 but Texas is

01:40:12.740 five and a half times

01:40:13.780 bigger than Louisiana

01:40:14.740 but

01:40:15.420 we're ten and a half times

01:40:17.240 more interesting

01:40:18.020 than you are

01:40:18.720 Yeah, let's go.

01:40:20.200 Louisiana is an interesting state.

01:40:22.780 I read somewhere that 100%.

01:40:25.060 Interesting people.

01:40:27.980 The best, man.

01:40:28.880 The best storytellers ever.

01:40:30.300 We're good at oil and gas and petrochemical and education and agriculture and aquaculture. 0.98

01:40:36.780 Oh, we'll even eat fish that have been in a damn oil spill. 0.95

01:40:39.280 We'll eat anything that won't eat us first. 0.98

01:40:41.740 We eat things that most people would call an exterminator for to get out of their backyard.

01:40:50.460 Just bring your fork, baby.

01:40:51.740 That's it.

01:40:52.360 But it's home, and I love it.

01:40:55.920 It's never dull.

01:40:58.160 No, it's not.

01:40:58.780 I read somewhere that it's the most native state where people that are born there die there.

01:41:02.740 Did you ever hear that? 1.00

01:41:03.540 That's true.

01:41:05.380 I forget the percentage, but we have a lot of people that are born in Louisiana, and they never leave.

01:41:11.180 Yeah.

01:41:11.740 That's pretty special about something.

01:41:13.880 Yeah.

01:41:14.240 You know what I'm saying?

01:41:14.900 Because that's interesting.

01:41:16.460 It's so good right there.

01:41:18.420 Some people don't even get out their chair.

01:41:20.720 People in Louisiana, they have fun.

01:41:24.900 Yeah.

01:41:25.760 And they enjoy life.

01:41:27.200 Now, it doesn't mean they don't work hard, but we became very dependent on oil and gas.

01:41:33.600 And when a lot of that changed, most of it, of course, has moved offshore.

01:41:40.600 But when you're dependent on a natural resource, oil and gas, coal, iron ore, whatever, commodities, you have boom and bust cycles.

01:41:52.760 And when times are good, they're really good, man.

01:41:55.680 But when times are bad, they're tough.

01:41:58.180 Now, Louisiana is much more diversified today.

01:42:01.160 And so things are better.

01:42:03.860 Yeah.

01:42:04.080 But we're still, you know, if you want a good time, if you want to get good food.

01:42:10.700 A guy told me a joke the other day.

01:42:12.660 He said, Kennedy, what's the difference between a zoo in Louisiana and a zoo in every other state?

01:42:20.560 I said, what?

01:42:21.400 He said, if you go to the zoo in every other state, each animal has its cage.

01:42:26.360 And at the bottom is the name of the animal.

01:42:29.300 He said, if you go to a zoo in Louisiana, each animal has its cage.

01:42:33.280 and at the bottom is the name, and underneath the name is the recipe.

01:42:38.060 I love that.

01:42:39.780 Dude, that's perfect, man.

01:42:41.560 That's so true, man.

01:42:43.540 Yeah, Louisiana consistently ranks as the state with the highest percentage

01:42:46.420 of native-born residents who never leave. 0.99

01:42:49.260 Amen. 0.93

01:42:49.860 According to the U.S. Census Bureau data,

01:42:51.780 slightly more than 77% of Louisiana's residents were born in the state.

01:42:55.680 Because the population is so sticky and transplants are rare, 0.98

01:42:58.440 this largely translates to most of its people being born there 1.00

01:43:02.140 and spending their entire lives.

01:43:03.240 That's where you got your start.

01:43:04.720 Oh, spending their entire lives right there.

01:43:06.300 Then you went to L.A. and you got famous, and then you came to Nashville.

01:43:09.620 But you got your start at, I've been reading about you.

01:43:13.780 On a Chifuncta over there.

01:43:14.860 That's right.

01:43:15.340 You know how the Chifuncta got its name?

01:43:16.600 No.

01:43:17.020 This is one.

01:43:17.700 Oh, finally.

01:43:18.320 I didn't know that.

01:43:19.060 I got one for you then, John.

01:43:20.500 The Chifuncta got its name because a long time ago,

01:43:22.880 they had like a Native American tribe,

01:43:25.200 and they went there and they threw a big rock into the water,

01:43:28.640 and the sound it made was Chifuncta.

01:43:31.120 Really?

01:43:31.700 Yeah.

01:43:32.540 You serious?

01:43:34.320 And it's kind of how a rock, when you, the talent, kind of how it goes in.

01:43:38.420 So, yeah, that's it.

01:43:39.180 I go fishing on Ledgefunk.

01:43:40.600 Oh, yeah, dude.

01:43:41.140 But that's where you got your start.

01:43:42.880 Oh, yeah.

01:43:44.460 Where'd you go, UNO?

01:43:45.800 You went to LSU for a while.

01:43:46.800 Yeah, I went to LSU for a while, graduated from UNO.

01:43:48.880 How do you think Lane's going to do over there at LSU?

01:43:50.720 Let's put it out there.

01:43:52.000 What do you think is going to happen?

01:43:52.860 And I wore my raging cages today.

01:43:54.520 I wore this for you today.

01:43:55.440 I see that.

01:43:57.460 Lane is, how can I put that?

01:44:00.540 He's a brilliant strategist, whatever the word I'm looking for.

01:44:05.960 Strategist.

01:44:06.200 He's a good strategist.

01:44:07.760 Yeah.

01:44:07.940 He's brilliant.

01:44:08.840 He knows how to recruit.

01:44:10.080 He's got a great football mind.

01:44:11.820 Mm-hmm.

01:44:13.020 Sometimes he talks too much, you know.

01:44:15.840 Oh, yeah.

01:44:16.400 Look, Lane, look.

01:44:17.720 He'll say it, man.

01:44:18.820 One of Lane's fans is Lane.

01:44:20.540 That's right.

01:44:21.140 Yeah.

01:44:21.640 Lane's one of the smartest people on the planet.

01:44:24.440 Just ask Lane, and he'll tell.

01:44:26.440 But he's – I think he's going to be a good coach.

01:44:31.980 But I'll tell you this.

01:44:32.900 Love you, Coach.

01:44:33.640 Love you, Coach.

01:44:34.540 We paid him a lot of money.

01:44:36.020 Now he's got to go win.

01:44:37.060 Now that's a good point, bro.

01:44:38.420 I'm not saying he wasn't worth it, but he's making a boatload of money,

01:44:42.980 a bucket full of money.

01:44:44.040 Oh, he's making a part – he's making like 4% of our GDP.

01:44:46.500 And so our –

01:44:47.540 He's making like 4% of our GDP.

01:44:49.380 He's got to win now.

01:44:50.840 He's just got to win.

01:44:52.140 But he did a great job at Ole Miss.

01:44:54.480 He's been done.

01:44:55.140 Oh, yeah, he did.

01:44:55.660 You know, I thought Nick Saban, this is probably Harrison in Louisiana,

01:44:59.600 I thought Nick Saban was a great coach.

01:45:02.120 I hated to lose him when he was at LSU.

01:45:03.880 Oh, yeah, I think everybody thought that.

01:45:05.520 Yeah.

01:45:06.120 Well, a lot of people got mad at him for leaving.

01:45:09.360 He went to the Dolphins, I think, and then he went to Alabama.

01:45:13.900 And a lot of my people in Louisiana, our people got mad at him.

01:45:17.820 And I kept my mouth shut, but I'd say, look, because he went to Alabama,

01:45:21.700 I said, at the time, Alabama offered him, like, $5 million or something.

01:45:26.400 I said, you're telling me that you would have turned down $5 million just so the people of Louisiana wouldn't get mad at you?

01:45:33.160 We were still trying to pay him in beignets, I think.

01:45:35.240 Yeah, exactly.

01:45:36.620 But he liked, I think he liked Louisiana.

01:45:41.900 Yeah.

01:45:42.540 Oh, yeah.

01:45:43.060 Look, I know that he's happy there.

01:45:44.540 He's having a good time, man.

01:45:46.380 Look, Lane loves to have a good time.

01:45:48.740 I'm hopeful for him for sure, you know.

01:45:51.000 And this is where he's had in his journey.

01:45:52.720 So it's like you've got to hope the best for somebody.

01:45:56.240 I don't know, but he's into hot yoga.

01:45:58.800 Oh, yeah.

01:45:59.160 I've been to a class with him.

01:46:00.200 Have you?

01:46:00.740 Yeah, I went to a class with him at freaking—

01:46:02.420 What's hot yoga like?

01:46:03.820 I mean, it depends on who all is in there.

01:46:06.400 Yeah.

01:46:08.000 I don't want to go there, Theo.

01:46:09.620 I've got to run for re-election.

01:46:11.560 Yeah, I don't think your wife would be happy if she went there.

01:46:13.700 But look, I went there right there.

01:46:15.940 Lane Kiffin right there.

01:46:17.100 Hot yoga right there.

01:46:18.220 There you go.

01:46:19.260 And I wear a towel like that because I was raised by a single mother.

01:46:22.000 You see that?

01:46:22.480 Look at you guys.

01:46:24.640 We was leaking in there, cut.

01:46:27.060 Now, yoga's good for you.

01:46:28.700 Oh, man, it's really good.

01:46:30.380 It'll give you good workout.

01:46:32.120 Oh, definitely, man.

01:46:33.180 Make me feel like a 94-year-old.

01:46:36.720 The Save Act, right?

01:46:38.100 Let's talk about the Save Act.

01:46:39.340 Okay.

01:46:39.860 So that's a big thing that's happening right now, right?

01:46:42.360 Yep.

01:46:42.420 That's kind of like—

01:46:43.520 We're trying to pass it.

01:46:44.120 You guys are trying to pass it.

01:46:45.400 Can you explain to me what it is really quick?

01:46:46.940 Can you explain to our listeners what it is?

01:46:48.480 So it basically says that in order to vote in a federal election, you have to prove you are who you say you are.

01:46:59.180 You've got to have valid ID.

01:47:01.620 And to register to vote, you have to prove that you're in our country legally as a citizen. 0.92

01:47:11.220 Only American citizens can vote.

01:47:14.360 Now, there are some other provisions, but those are the two main provisions.

01:47:20.020 Probably 80% of Americans support it.

01:47:24.280 We can't get a single Democratic vote.

01:47:32.160 This is not – I'm not speaking for President Trump, but here's the way I think you fix our elections and give people confidence in our elections.

01:47:41.920 Number one, you have to be able to prove you are who you say you are to vote.

01:47:46.100 And number two, just what the president says and what we say in the SAVE Act.

01:47:51.160 I'm a co-sponsor of it.

01:47:53.300 But number two, we need to go back to an election day, not an election month.

01:47:59.800 I agree.

01:48:00.300 We need to know who won that night.

01:48:03.220 Yeah.

01:48:04.200 Frankly, I don't care how you vote.

01:48:06.720 It's up to the states.

01:48:08.160 But the votes have to be counted that night.

01:48:10.160 Why did that change so much?

01:48:11.480 It used to be—didn't it used to be we knew that night?

01:48:13.360 Yeah, we always did.

01:48:14.760 Well, because some states changed their laws.

01:48:18.720 In California, they don't know now for two weeks.

01:48:21.800 They still don't know.

01:48:22.980 And they still don't—I'm not sure.

01:48:24.560 Because you can vote by mail, and what matters is if it's postmarked,

01:48:30.840 and sometimes the mail's slow, and it takes 10 days, two weeks.

01:48:34.580 if you're going to vote by mail now president trump trump hates voting by mail but some states

01:48:42.100 love it but if you're going to vote by mail the the the mail balance have to be in far enough

01:48:50.100 in advance for them to be counted and announced on election night i think it makes sense because

01:48:54.560 if you go past election night whether you are a democrat whether it's a democrat or republican

01:49:00.540 who loses, they're going to think the election was red.

01:49:04.460 Right, for sure.

01:49:05.760 And so now they're saying if you mail it on the day of,

01:49:07.860 it can still be counted later.

01:49:09.020 Oh, yeah.

01:49:09.040 Got it.

01:49:09.500 Yeah, we have a month-long election.

01:49:12.200 What are some of the side effects of this?

01:49:13.820 What are some of the things that this also brings in that people don't see?

01:49:20.540 I know there was some issue with, what did I read?

01:49:24.220 Something about, oh, you have to have two forms of identification.

01:49:26.580 um no the the the democrats say well i mean these this is my point of view they may have

01:49:35.120 another point of view the democrats say it's a way of suppressing the vote right to require you

01:49:42.220 to have id i don't know anybody doesn't have id i agree i don't i think if you don't have

01:49:46.960 identification i don't think you should be able to i mean most people have a driver's license but

01:49:50.440 there are other forms of identification that would be acceptable. And if you don't have a

01:49:59.260 driver's license and you don't have any identification, the chances are you're in our

01:50:05.060 country illegally. Got it. And they say that, is it that they said they're going to, you can't 0.99

01:50:10.620 register online anymore? Would that be part of it too? If you have ID, I don't have a problem

01:50:16.080 registering online, if you have proof that it is you. And I'm no technological whiz, but

01:50:24.600 I give credit cards online and they can authenticate that it's me. I don't mind using

01:50:32.520 technology, but to register to vote, you have to prove that you are who you say you are.

01:50:39.260 You can only register once and you have to prove that you're an American citizen.

01:50:43.540 Yeah. I don't think that's unreasonable. I brought it up. I agree. Everybody's kind of everybody thinks that there's some fraud happening with voting. It feels very it feels unreliable. Well, that's because sometimes it takes it when they have mail ballots, for example, it takes a month to get them all counted. Yeah. And the loser is always going to be suspicious. Yeah. But on the Save Act. So are the people.

01:51:07.180 Of course. And the people are not going to have confidence. But on the SAVE Act, I tried to amend it into our reconciliation bill. I couldn't get a single Democratic vote.

01:51:20.140 What do the Democrats want in the bill?

01:51:23.040 They just don't want it at all. They don't want it at all. They think that it will suppress votes.

01:51:28.640 And not all of my Democratic colleagues, but many of my Democratic colleagues, whether they will admit it or not, they want illegal immigrants to be able to vote. 0.96

01:51:39.380 And no, they're not American citizens.

01:51:43.960 If I go to Nicaragua, wonderful country.

01:51:46.980 My father's from there.

01:51:48.120 Is he?

01:51:48.640 Yeah.

01:51:48.860 Well, if I go to Nicaragua, wonderful country.

01:51:51.660 You can't vote there.

01:51:52.260 And I say, I want to vote.

01:51:55.000 They go, no.

01:51:56.160 Kennedy, you know.

01:51:57.540 He'd be like, look.

01:51:58.660 You're not from here, butthead.

01:52:01.120 Look, I agree 100%, man.

01:52:02.880 If you're not a citizen, you can't vote.

01:52:05.540 And I don't even understand how that's – how it's up for debate in anybody's head or mind that wants things to be organized in this country, I do not understand.

01:52:14.960 Well, there are many people that believe, and it's what is behind a lot of it, and it's not all of them.

01:52:20.920 Right.

01:52:21.180 But there are many people believe – I know there are many Democrats that believe that we ought to let anybody into our country, ignore immigration laws, and they see it as a way of getting new votes.

01:52:37.940 Well, I mean we had a lot of – we had a lot of border patrol like hierarchy on like during – like within the past four years and there was a lot of that.

01:52:50.940 There was a lot of like people just coming in, moving in democratic states, people like escaping like jurisdiction, just running away, just running off into the country and not being followed.

01:52:59.400 We've seen a lot of that over the years for sure.

01:53:01.100 What do their colleagues think?

01:53:02.640 And they're entitled to their point of view.

01:53:04.180 They think that vetting people at the border is racist.

01:53:07.520 I don't.

01:53:08.300 I don't at all either.

01:53:09.280 I don't.

01:53:10.020 And here's the way I read, I don't remember where I read this,

01:53:13.740 but the American people, most of them,

01:53:17.220 see our southern border like their front door.

01:53:20.540 Most Americans lock their front door at night.

01:53:23.740 They don't lock their front door at night

01:53:25.440 because they hate everybody on the outside and they're racist.

01:53:28.320 Yeah.

01:53:28.520 They lock their front door at night because they love the people on the inside, and they want to know who's coming in and out of their house.

01:53:35.220 And that's the way it is with the border.

01:53:38.440 We let more people in legally to become Americans through legal immigration every year than anybody else in the world.

01:53:47.740 Wow.

01:53:48.380 But legal immigration is legal.

01:53:50.760 Illegal immigration is illegal.

01:53:52.620 And the problem is that the people that were advising President Biden convinced him he let in between 8 million and 15 million people. 0.50

01:54:05.340 It was like the price is right.

01:54:07.600 Come on down.

01:54:09.000 We have no idea who they are.

01:54:11.140 Some of them, I'm sure, were decent people.

01:54:13.920 But there were a lot of rapists.

01:54:15.960 There were a lot of murderers. 0.93

01:54:17.180 There were a lot of drug dealers. 0.69

01:54:18.540 Hediophiles.

01:54:19.240 We don't know where they are.

01:54:20.900 Yeah.

01:54:21.140 And you can't run – no country in the world, no country in the world doesn't respect its borders and have immigration laws.

01:54:30.580 How many people get into – how many people are allowed into China each year?

01:54:34.260 I wonder like how many people get into their –

01:54:35.980 They're very strict.

01:54:36.800 Yeah.

01:54:37.860 They're very strict.

01:54:38.800 How many people do they think illegally get into China every year?

01:54:41.840 Who –

01:54:42.540 You can look that up. 0.55

01:54:43.580 The only people I know that want to try to sneak in from China to China are from North Korea. 0.82

01:54:49.360 Yeah.

01:54:49.560 Because North Korea is so bad, they want to get out.

01:54:53.360 But China is – they are very monolithic in their culture. 0.95

01:55:01.820 They don't like minority groups, the Uyghurs, for example. 1.00

01:55:06.000 They don't want any – they don't like Muslims. 1.00

01:55:08.460 Yeah. 0.99

01:55:09.260 They like the Han Chinese, and they want – it's run by a small group of men that are head of the Communist Party. 0.99

01:55:19.560 it's totalitarian, it's authoritarian, and they spy on cameras everywhere. 0.99

01:55:27.060 They censor your social media, and if you get out of line, 0.74

01:55:31.480 they will kill you and hurt you the entire time you're dying. 1.00

01:55:34.460 Shit, I'm just trying to get some orange chicken. 1.00

01:55:36.880 I'm just telling you, man. 1.00

01:55:38.600 And the people in China, I've been there.

01:55:42.120 Yeah, I've been there.

01:55:42.580 They're nice people.

01:55:43.420 You've been there.

01:55:43.860 They're a nice time.

01:55:45.000 But they have no freedom, man.

01:55:47.940 But yeah, they're specific. Before you go, you just mentioned, you mentioned like a surveillance state, right? And it feels like sometimes in America that we're getting to that, like with a lot of flat cameras and a lot of these data centers. Like to me, the data centers, it feels like they're just going to hold all the information from like all this recording that's going to go on, like in this surveillance state. Is that what you feel like is happening?

01:56:09.660 Well, in order to have AI, artificial intelligence, and AI is here, we've got to properly regulate it, but it's here.

01:56:20.780 You've got to have data centers.

01:56:22.560 You've got to.

01:56:24.760 I'm okay with data centers as long as they pay for their way, pay for their own electricity, pay for their own water, and the community accepts them.

01:56:36.380 If you want to build a data center in a community, the community should have a say.

01:56:43.080 I agree.

01:56:43.640 It shouldn't be forced upon people.

01:56:46.180 They're forcing one here in Nashville right now.

01:56:48.180 And I don't have, I know they are, downtown.

01:56:52.240 Yeah.

01:56:52.900 And the data center shouldn't go when they're not wanted.

01:56:57.900 I don't have a problem putting them on our military basis.

01:57:02.600 But they've got to pay their own way.

01:57:05.640 They've got to pay their – and they can't cause people's electricity bills to go up and their water bills to go up.

01:57:12.880 And they have to be properly regulated.

01:57:16.500 What's your biggest fear with AI?

01:57:18.220 Because I'll tell you mine really fast.

01:57:19.820 Mine is that say it starts to – you start to have this thing, right, like where – like even Jeff Bridges was communicating with an AI.

01:57:26.560 He's got a buddy named Gary that he's talking to and even – Gary even knows who his wife and family is and everything.

01:57:31.360 Spooky, man.

01:57:32.020 Spooky, right?

01:57:33.320 But it was cool.

01:57:34.540 It was neat.

01:57:35.040 But still, it's like, what if we start to have this thing that everybody puts their information into?

01:57:39.480 Because also, AIs can – your information is legally then also owned by them then.

01:57:45.160 So if somebody ever was able to go subpoena information from an AI, they could use it against you in court.

01:57:50.820 Or this – it's not – once you put it in, I believe most of these AIs, I think anyway, that it is still – it belongs to them as well.

01:57:58.080 That's right, and it shouldn't. 0.93

01:57:59.580 Right, and it shouldn't.

01:58:00.300 That's your information.

01:58:01.260 I agree.

01:58:01.620 That's your data.

01:58:02.220 I agree 100%. So it's crazy. We're all sort of feeding our actual lives and things that we think and care about and questions into this information place. But my fear is that over time, people start looking to this, to these AI, like to these AIs as their God in a way, because they're going to go to them like, I need help with this. What do I do? I don't know how to feel about this. And the thing that they used to take to an actual God, they're now going to take to this like supercomputer.

01:58:31.100 computer and so that's why i feel like sometimes the race is so very perceptive that the race is

01:58:36.240 so big because somebody's they're trying to create the next god that's what they're trying to do

01:58:40.380 and i have talked to people that have brains a lot bigger than mine that say within five years

01:58:48.620 not only will ai and these chat boxes know everything but they will become independent

01:58:56.480 and can think on their own.

01:59:00.540 And the next step is being able to act on their own.

01:59:08.720 Let's take electricity, the grid here in Nashville.

01:59:13.180 It's all based on computers.

01:59:15.540 Oh, yeah.

01:59:16.360 If AI can hack into the grid in Nashville on its own

01:59:23.060 or at the instructions of somebody else,

01:59:26.540 they could shut down this whole city.

01:59:28.380 Yeah.

01:59:28.720 They could cause, shut down there, cause 25 planes to crash at once.

01:59:34.160 Yeah, what if they said all the Teslas right now drive off into the Cumberland River?

01:59:37.620 And they could do it.

01:59:37.940 Yeah.

01:59:38.420 And that's why I don't want to get in the way of innovation.

01:59:41.980 I do.

01:59:42.560 We've got enough.

01:59:43.880 Well, no, this AI stuff can really, it can be a blessing, but it can be a curse

01:59:48.860 if it's not properly regulated.

01:59:51.940 But we don't have hardly any regulations in place right now.

01:59:54.060 We don't have any.

01:59:55.280 Think about that.

01:59:56.520 We don't have any.

01:59:57.860 There's a potential new electronic God about to show up.

02:00:01.080 And it's scary.

02:00:02.420 And we have no regulations in place.

02:00:05.200 No, it's scary.

02:00:06.240 We don't even have parking.

02:00:06.980 And we're trying to put together some, but you don't want to ratchet down so hard to interfere with the regulation.

02:00:15.520 I mean to interfere with innovation.

02:00:17.180 I don't care if you do.

02:00:18.380 Well, but it can make our lives better.

02:00:20.920 Our lives are – we're doing fine.

02:00:22.620 I know, but I'm going to give you an example.

02:00:24.540 But it can – a CT scan or x-ray looking for cancer.

02:00:33.580 Yeah.

02:00:34.740 A human has to read those things.

02:00:36.920 Sometimes they miss a cancer.

02:00:38.540 Yeah.

02:00:38.920 With AI, you run it through AI, they never miss.

02:00:41.600 That's a good point.

02:00:42.420 They never miss.

02:00:43.600 Doctors, you go to a doctor with a disease.

02:00:47.620 Doctors' diagnosis is based on their judgment.

02:00:51.280 They can put it into AI, boom, hit it every time.

02:00:54.600 Yeah, and he, my doctor, might be doing who knows what.

02:00:56.920 That can make our lives better.

02:00:58.280 He might be eating a sandwich or doing anything.

02:00:59.800 But it can also kill us all.

02:01:03.180 Suppose AI. 0.99

02:01:04.360 Damn, that's a big trade-off. 0.99

02:01:05.960 No, listen. 1.00

02:01:06.580 John, that's a big trade-off.

02:01:07.760 It is a trade-off.

02:01:08.680 Look, two people have cancer that don't, and otherwise we all die.

02:01:14.460 But suppose AI gets to the point where it's so powerful and it can think for itself.

02:01:18.740 And it decides to break the nuclear code and set off nuclear missiles, nuclear ballistic missiles with the warhead to hit China without any way to stop them.

02:01:37.620 Do you think any country would ever use a ballistic – use like a nuclear weapon and blame it on AI? 0.90

02:01:43.600 I think Iran would. 0.87

02:01:45.360 You think anybody else would? 1.00

02:01:47.700 No. 0.94

02:01:48.740 Because even though Vladimir Putin, which has the largest nuclear stockpile in the world, even though he is an evil man with blood under his fingernails, he's irrational. 1.00

02:02:03.800 He's not stupid. 0.99

02:02:05.180 He's not crazy. 0.95

02:02:06.960 He's shrewd.

02:02:08.000 And he knows the only reason that he does not try to take out America today.

02:02:14.080 He has a bigger stockpile than us.

02:02:16.200 But we've got a pretty big stockpile. 0.88

02:02:18.740 And we would retaliate, and it would be the end of Russia. 0.86

02:02:22.360 It would be the end of America. 0.86

02:02:23.840 It would be the end of the world.

02:02:25.860 How did we get to such an ungodly place, you think?

02:02:32.320 Many people, people are imperfect.

02:02:35.820 And too many people have more zeal than wisdom.

02:02:39.280 Too many people have more what?

02:02:40.500 More zeal than wisdom.

02:02:42.320 ambition uh desire for power uh desire for money um there's good in everybody i believe that but

02:02:54.160 there's potential evil in everybody yeah we all struggle with it every day oh yeah for sure i'm

02:03:00.260 not saying i'm not i'm not above i'm not you know i there's a lot of there's a lot of evil

02:03:04.860 When I pray, I ask for forgiveness, and I don't try to catalog my sins

02:03:10.280 because I don't even know all of them.

02:03:13.780 Yeah.

02:03:14.140 Pride.

02:03:16.540 Oh, yeah.

02:03:18.100 Sloth, envy.

02:03:19.380 Yeah. 0.98

02:03:21.520 Perverting, being a pervert or whatever.

02:03:23.420 Not a big-time one, but just partner.

02:03:24.920 Envy is a big one.

02:03:26.120 I mean, with social media, you see somebody driving a Mercedes,

02:03:31.000 and you go, I deserve a Mercedes.

02:03:34.580 Yeah.

02:03:34.860 Why should they have one and not me?

02:03:36.800 Well, most of the time it's because they worked their rear ends off and they earned it.

02:03:41.700 But, you know, people are imperfect.

02:03:46.360 Yeah.

02:03:46.640 But if we appeal to our better nature and try to stop having our lives run by our appetitive desires like a thirst for money or power,

02:03:59.920 if we try to treat everybody else with some dignity and respect,

02:04:05.320 that's the answer to me.

02:04:09.100 I mean, I don't mean to sound like naive

02:04:11.760 because there's some evil people in the world.

02:04:13.940 Yeah.

02:04:14.440 And I meant it.

02:04:15.740 Weakness invites wolves.

02:04:17.520 You turn the other cheek with some of these people, 1.00

02:04:21.660 they'll stab you right in the neck, man. 0.99

02:04:23.260 Oh, yeah. 0.99

02:04:23.880 But not everybody's like that.

02:04:25.760 And I think that's why, deep down, I think Americans, even though we stay angry at each other a lot, our country was founded on respect for everybody's humanity.

02:04:40.300 Yeah, I agree.

02:04:41.320 I believe that we have a moral compass.

02:04:42.780 We are all created equal.

02:04:44.580 We believe that.

02:04:46.940 We believe in equal opportunity.

02:04:49.520 We believe in free will.

02:04:50.960 But with free will goes responsibility.

02:04:53.960 responsibility, and all power from government is derived by the people, not the other way around.

02:05:01.400 Somebody, some of my colleagues want government to run everything, and you have to go to government

02:05:07.860 and get permission. That's not America, man. I don't want any part of that.

02:05:14.280 Anything else you want to share before you go, John, or anything specific you want to talk about?

02:05:17.580 No, it's been fun, man. I'm just glad to see a Louisiana boy and a UNO graduate become famous.

02:05:23.020 Yeah, thanks, man.

02:05:24.760 Yeah, I've been lucky.

02:05:27.040 I work hard, but I've been lucky.

02:05:29.300 And, yeah, I don't know.

02:05:32.840 But I'm grateful that people pay attention.

02:05:34.880 I'm grateful that I get to spend time with guys like you, to be honest, man.

02:05:37.580 It's been so cool.

02:05:38.580 I'm really jealous that you met Jeff Bridges, man.

02:05:41.500 Yeah, dude, me too.

02:05:42.940 And I met him.

02:05:43.800 I'm jealous and I met him, dude.

02:05:45.400 He's like the prime minister of cool.

02:05:47.740 And Denzel Washington.

02:05:48.980 And if you get Denzel Austin on your show, man, he is like just a really nice guy.

02:05:55.500 Oh, if I get him on you, then your wife's got to make me some egg salad.

02:05:59.040 I'm going to come over there. 1.00

02:05:59.500 Man, she'll make you some egg salad that'll make you stand on one leg and yodel. 0.94

02:06:06.600 Oh, dang. 0.97

02:06:07.300 I'll take that. 1.00

02:06:08.000 She makes some good salad. 0.74

02:06:09.360 Does she?

02:06:10.020 Yeah. 1.00

02:06:10.360 She's a good cook. 1.00

02:06:11.380 She likes to cook.

02:06:12.520 Oh, that's nice, dude. 1.00

02:06:14.220 Yeah, I'm going to get me a good wife one of these days. 1.00

02:06:16.340 Abita Roasting Company. 0.99

02:06:17.980 Is that what it's called?

02:06:18.660 Yep.

02:06:18.980 Yep, that's it.

02:06:19.720 It's an old Creole cottage with a sugar kettle in the front.

02:06:24.380 Oh, yeah.

02:06:24.920 And I've been there many times.

02:06:26.540 Right there.

02:06:27.260 When I'm home and you're home, I'll have to go over there.

02:06:29.900 We'll go there together.

02:06:31.100 That'd be cool, dude.

02:06:31.920 I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

02:06:33.480 Yeah, all right.

02:06:34.920 And we can go over to friends and have an adult beverage.

02:06:37.680 Yeah, and look, and you can write it off.

02:06:39.400 It'll be a deduction, won't it?

02:06:42.440 No.

02:06:43.280 We'll pay for it.

02:06:44.000 I'll pay for it.

02:06:44.480 You don't get accused of nothing.

02:06:45.480 No, I'll pay for it.

02:06:45.760 I'll treat you, but I'm paid okay by the United States Senate.

02:06:51.520 Okay, so it'll be just a personal expense.

02:06:53.700 Yeah.

02:06:54.220 Okay.

02:06:54.640 Yeah.

02:06:55.060 Okay, that's fair, man.

02:06:56.060 I'd love that, man.

02:06:56.620 And we'll swap lies and tell stories, and you can tell me what Hollywood's like in Los Angeles.

02:07:03.820 Oh, yeah.

02:07:04.300 All those fake people out there, all those beautiful people.

02:07:07.520 And you trade me stories from just the swamp waters over there in Washington, D.C.

02:07:11.500 That's right.

02:07:12.080 Yeah?

02:07:12.680 That's right.

02:07:13.640 That's a deal.

02:07:14.220 John Kennedy

02:07:15.260 Senator John Kennedy

02:07:16.500 Thank you so much

02:07:17.060 For your time

02:07:17.420 Thanks man

02:07:17.920 This has been fun

02:07:18.720 Thanks for having me

02:07:19.460 Amen

02:07:19.800 You're the prime minister

02:07:20.960 Cool yourself

02:07:21.920 Oh thank you bro

02:07:22.940 I appreciate you

02:07:23.720 Now I'm just

02:07:24.900 Falling on the breeze

02:07:26.480 And I feel

02:07:27.300 I'm falling

02:07:28.080 Like these leaves

02:07:29.440 I must be

02:07:30.540 Cornerstone

02:07:32.760 Oh

02:07:35.380 But when I reach

02:07:36.560 That ground

02:07:37.320 I'll share

02:07:38.060 This peace of mind

02:07:39.480 I found

02:07:40.140 I can feel it

02:07:41.540 In my bones

02:07:43.640 But it's gonna take

02:07:46.200 Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes

02:07:53.840 Sounds like Ojo time

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This Past Weekend with Theo Von - July 01, 2026

#666 - Sen. John Kennedy

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