00:07:26.000For all of the top headlines that we cover on the show, go over to my news app, MXM News, where you can get the mainstream news without the mainstream bias.
00:07:35.000And of course, don't forget about our brave sponsors for having the guts to support this program.
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00:08:31.000And now, guys, let's get into all of the top headlines.
00:08:35.000So, let's start with Tuesday night, where my father delivered the State of the Union.
00:08:42.000And it was the longest State of the Union in American history, and every minute of it was earned.
00:08:49.000He walked America through the winds, the economy, the manufacturing comeback, the border deporting criminal, illegal alien murderers, the raid that took down Maduro in Venezuela, USA hockey gold, and so much more.
00:09:35.000The terrorists shot Andrew in the head, and no one thought he could possibly make it.
00:09:40.000With God's help, Andrew has battled back from the edge of death.
00:09:44.000Now I'm going to ask a highly respected General James Seward to present Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf and the great family of Sarah Bextrom with the award created by our late great President George Washington himself.
00:10:06.000There were many heroes on that January raid to capture Maduro.
00:10:10.000While preparing to land, enemy machine guns fired from every angle, and Eric was hit very badly.
00:10:17.000Eric maneuvered his helicopter with all of those lives and souls to face the enemy and let his gunners eliminate the threat.
00:10:25.000I would now like to ask General Jonathan Braga to present Chief Warrant Officer Slover with our nation's highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
00:10:44.000Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, flying more than 220 missions.
00:10:53.000At 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
00:11:16.000I will ask the First Lady of the United States to present Captain Royce Williams with his Congressional Medal of Honor.
00:11:46.000They couldn't even bring themselves to stand or clap for any of it, even when it came to protecting Americans from illegal immigrant criminals.
00:11:58.000So tonight I'm inviting every legislature to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle.
00:12:05.000If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.
00:12:11.000The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
00:13:17.000Now, while all of that was happening inside the Capitol, the Democrats decided that the best use of their time was to hold not one, not two, but five separate counter events.
00:13:34.000And guys, the crown jewel, a rally at the National Press Club, of course, organized by a group called Defiance.org, featuring the Portland Frog Brigade.
00:13:55.000These far-left freaks stood on a stage with people in giant inflatable frog costumes.
00:14:02.000They want you to take them seriously, but this is how they respond.
00:14:06.000Oregon Congresswoman Maxine Dexter got up there and said, tonight I defy Trump and his authoritarian project by standing in joyful, radical, peaceful resistance with the Portland Frog Brigade.
00:15:11.000And tonight, I defy Trump and his authoritarian project by standing in joyful, radical, peaceful resistance with the Portland Frog Brigade.
00:15:29.000Guys, that's a sitting member of Congress at an event headlined by Robert De Niro, Eric Swalwell, Mark Ruffalo, Jim Acosta, surrounded by people in inflatable frog costumes.
00:15:44.000while the President of the United States is honoring military heroes and Olympic gold medalists.
00:15:54.000The founder of this peaceful frog brigade, a guy named Seth Todd, who repeatedly and reportedly describes himself as a proud anti-Fa terrorist.
00:16:04.000I mean, you know, seems normal to want to pal up with a proud anti-FA terrorist and has called for the Trump administration to be bombed.
00:16:12.000That's the guys that Democrats are cozying up to.
00:16:30.000These are the same people that want to tell you, you're an extremist for wanting secure borders, for not wanting trans insanity, and for wanting to root out fraud.
00:16:42.000And speaking of which, it's a day that ends in Y.
00:16:46.000So sadly, we have yet another example of trans violence.
00:16:53.000Because over the weekend, a 26-year-old named Blue Zeke Daly, a trans identifier registered Democrat from Manchester, New Hampshire, was stopped by Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border.
00:17:07.000When the agent asked Daly whether he went by any other names, Daly fled before confronting other agents and opened fire.
00:17:16.000We were first to break this story late on Sunday night, and it's been tough to get information.
00:17:22.000But now we know that this suspect is from Manchester.
00:17:25.000A 26-year-old from Manchester is in the hospital tonight after allegedly exchanging fire with Border Patrol in Pittsburgh early Sunday morning.
00:17:33.000According to an affidavit filed this afternoon, Blue Zeke Daly, who is also known as Cullen Zeke Daly, fired shots at an agent who then returned fire and shot Daly.
00:17:43.000The FBI says that Daly had been stopped in Stewartstown by the agent who asked whether Daly used other names.
00:17:52.000Investigators say that officer followed Daly and when Daly approached the U.S.-Canada border, Daly tried to drive off and started shooting.
00:17:59.000The officer then returned fire, according to the affidavit, before Daly lost control and ended up in a snowbank.
00:18:06.000Officers found a handgun and ammunition and is facing several charges, including attempted murder of a federal officer.
00:18:12.000The FBI is now leading this investigation alongside the U.S. attorney in New Hampshire.
00:18:17.000Now, both of these charges carry up to 20 years in prison, respectively, and fines of up to $250,000.
00:21:05.000Now we're seeing a lot of folks in their 20s and 30s.
00:21:07.000So under the law, and we got folks in their 20s that have pending cases right now, they can be up by the time they're 50, having done 20 years.
00:21:20.000Someone has to speak up about it, and we've got to change this.
00:21:25.000So he lured these kids, kidnapped the kids, kidnapped two sisters.
00:21:33.000He was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping, child molestation, with multiple young children.
00:21:39.000Remember, the youngest victim, three years of age.
00:21:43.000Since over 20 years in prison, as well as three additional consecutive sentences, consecutive, not concurrent, is that they follow each other.
00:21:52.000A judge in Sacramento described him, and I'll say this, as the monster parents fear most.
00:21:57.000Yet today, the parole board decided he is suitable for release.
00:22:32.000He's got low SAT scores like you, the people he was talking to, in a comment widely mocked as racist, because of course it was, and pandering to the audience and the person interviewing him.
00:22:46.000But it gets even better because just months earlier, videos surfaced of Newsom bragging that he had read over 260 pages in about an hour and a half.
00:23:18.000This is the soft bigotry of low expectations on full display.
00:23:23.000And this is the man who wants to be the next Democrat nominee for president.
00:23:28.000And before we get to Byron, we have yet another example.
00:23:32.000of weaponized law enforcement and spying against political opponents.
00:23:36.000Reuters reported yesterday that the FBI under the Biden administration, under Jack Smith's direction, secretly subpoenaed the phone records of Kash Patel and now White House chief of staff, then campaign manager Susie Wiles.
00:23:50.000Both were private citizens at the time.
00:24:49.000They went after my family, our businesses, all of it.
00:24:54.000They weaponized the most powerful law enforcement agency on earth against their political opponents, and they thought they'd never get caught.
00:25:02.000They did their best to hide everything, even from other people within the Bureau.
00:25:06.000At least 10 FBI employees are connected to this latest revelation, and they've been fired.
00:25:13.000And I have a feeling there's much more to come.
00:25:16.000So while your favorite president is delivering a historic State of the Union, honoring our military heroes, celebrating America's Olympic champions, the left is dressing up as frogs with anti-phylinked agitators.
00:25:30.000While our Border Patrol agents risk their lives securing this country, radicalized left-wing lunatics are literally shooting at them.
00:25:38.000While the FBI was supposed to be protecting Americans, Biden's DOJ was secretly spying on the very people who are now top government officials and hiding the evidence.
00:25:49.000And Gavin Newsom, who signed the law that frees child predators, can't even keep his story straight about whether he can read or not.
00:26:05.000And we're going to continue to expose all of it.
00:26:07.000And we'll get into even more of this and all the other things to talk about with Byron Donalds in just a few moments.
00:26:14.000But first, another word from an important sponsor.
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00:26:47.000Not a bank, not a government, not a tech company, not even Rumble can touch it.
00:28:57.000But then also looking at the things that we're going to have to do next.
00:28:59.000Like, what are we going to do about the future of our economy?
00:29:02.000Got a lot of young kids in our colleges all through the university system.
00:29:06.000We want them to have great paying jobs.
00:29:07.000We want our kids who are in middle school and high school right now to be able to be economically successful and on that pathway to having real success.
00:29:16.000It's about building the housing we need, the roads that we need, and making sure Florida remains the best state in the country because so many people have come to Florida.
00:29:24.000We don't want them to have to look around and be like, oh, man, now Florida is not getting it done.
00:29:34.000So when I'm 77, 30 years in the future, I want Florida to still be the best state in America.
00:29:38.000Well, as a political refugee formerly of the People's Republic of New York down to Florida, this one matters.
00:29:44.000We've seen throughout the years, especially the last 10 years, how much the governor's races matter, how much a good governor matters, probably even more so than the people representing you in Congress and the Senate and otherwise in terms of people's day-to-day feelings.
00:29:59.000So why do you think this race matters more now than perhaps any race in Florida's history?
00:30:08.000When I first got into politics, Rick Scott was governor.
00:30:11.000I remember I got into politics like around 2010 in the Tea Party movement.
00:30:14.000Rick Scott was running for governor then.
00:30:16.000At that time, the economy financial collapse was a real mess.
00:30:19.000And what Rick did is he worked incredibly hard recruiting companies to Florida to rebuild the job market.
00:30:25.000You know, at the time, I think Florida's unemployment rate was 11%.
00:30:29.000And by the time Rick left office, it was about 3.5, 3.4, 3.5.
00:30:34.000And then Governor DeSantis came into office.
00:30:36.000And when Governor DeSantis came in, that was the time where the radical left was truly insane.
00:30:43.000Everybody was battling DEI and CRT and getting woke indoctrination out of our schools.
00:30:49.000And Governor DeSantis was the governor who was the tip of the spear of that fight in Florida and also fighting back all the crazy COVID madness that the public health establishment and the radical left wanted to bring to Florida.
00:31:01.000And Governor DeSantis stood in that gap and said, absolutely not.
00:31:04.000And people recognized all that leadership.
00:31:07.000And so the reason why this governor's race is so consequential, we've had two great men lead our state.
00:31:12.000Both of them have enjoyed the support of President Trump.
00:31:15.000And now it's about making sure that we solidify all those wins, all those successes, and then build the state into the future.
00:31:23.000Because, you know, look, right now in Florida, people are concerned.
00:31:33.000And the truth is, you're not going to be able to build a wall between states.
00:31:36.000But what we can do is have the game plan in place where we can think about housing, think about jobs, think about a future for our young kids.
00:31:44.000But then two other key questions: water and what are we going to do about fresh drinking water around our state to prepare us for the next wave of growth and power.
00:31:52.000We've got to be able to generate power in our state, keep those electricity bills low.
00:31:56.000And these are all the things that governors do in their states.
00:32:00.000And that's what I'm committed to doing.
00:32:02.000And I mean, continuing that kind of leadership is a really big deal.
00:32:04.000I mean, I know when I came down here, again, as a political refugee, Florida, great state, it's been a free state for a really long time that believe in all those things.
00:32:12.000But I was really concerned that so many other people that are getting literally chased out of the Northeast with Mandani and all these crazy things going on in New York, it's going to continue.
00:32:21.000And yet, from when I came down here, five, six years ago now, it's actually gotten more read.
00:32:29.000People, even the ones fleeing those states, perhaps are the ones that are fleeing essentially the same sort of political persecution.
00:32:35.000Or even if they're on the other side, they're realizing that these right-wing policies, conservative policies are actually working.
00:32:44.000And they haven't really brought that voting record and garbage that they're running from with them, which is sort of surprising.
00:32:50.000You figured, you know, they move and they're like, well, we didn't love all of that, but we're still going to vote for 90% of it.
00:32:54.000So here's a radical Democrat that we're going to put in there.
00:32:57.000Talk about that a little bit because it is interesting.
00:32:59.000It's one of the few places that hasn't, that's gotten more red despite sort of an influx from a lot of the blue states.
00:33:05.000Look, I think what's really happened is, and Milton Friedman said it best.
00:33:09.000He said, the number one thing you know when you're judging public policy is the movement of feet.
00:33:15.000People will move to an area that is free, that's based on common sense, where the law is just and fair, where people are safe.
00:33:22.000That's why law and order is so critical in our state.
00:34:09.000I got to go somewhere else, somewhere that's free.
00:34:12.000Basically, where I'm going to be left alone.
00:34:14.000And that's what people are looking for.
00:34:15.000And I think when they make that decision, not just relocating for a job or not just relocating because they're ready to retire and they want to enjoy good weather.
00:34:24.000When they're saying that the place they live, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, when they look at it and say these places are nuts and they're out of it, they change their habit.
00:34:35.000They change their voting habits or even they examine politics a different way.
00:34:43.000And that's why Republican advantages continue to increase.
00:34:47.000And my job is to make sure that those standards that people have chosen Florida to be a part of and they've chosen Florida, that those standards remain.
00:34:56.000Yeah, you're talking about the, these people are nuts.
00:34:58.000I mean, I thought that was one of the great lines of my father's State of the Union address, which is like, you people are crazy talking to the Democrats.
00:35:05.000I mean, stand up if you believe that protecting American citizens is the number one thing that you should be doing if you're representing them in Congress.
00:36:13.000And then the second piece of it is the Democrats, socialists of America have taken over that party.
00:36:19.000This isn't the Bill Clinton Democrats.
00:36:21.000This definitely not the John F. Kennedy Democrats.
00:36:23.000These are radical left-wing Democrat socialists who truly believe in communist policies, who truly want to open up our border to anybody from around the world with no vetting, no checks.
00:36:35.000They want to take advantage of the American citizen for their own social engineering.
00:36:40.000I mean, they want kids to be taken from their parents to be transgendered.
00:36:58.000I'll tell you, to watch it in real time and to see like the anger on their face when these questions were being raised and these moments were happening, it demonstrated that they have no business running a government.
00:37:10.000You just can't be in power because if you're going to embrace parents watching their kids being taken away by another state to change their gender, then you lack all common sense and credibility to even deserve any power at all.
00:37:23.000And I think the American people saw that loud and clear.
00:37:25.000And I know that Republicans, we're going to make sure that they see it loud and clear going through this November and in the years to come.
00:37:31.000Byron, you know, you've been in the trenches in Washington, you know, budget fights, oversight hearings, you know, fighting for your constituents.
00:37:38.000You know, what specifically have you accomplished and learned in Congress that's preparing you for this next role as governor of Florida?
00:37:46.000Well, first thing, man, passing bills in Congress, probably the hardest thing ever.
00:37:49.000We were able to get one piece of legislation through.
00:37:53.000And what it did was just common sense.
00:37:55.000It allowed for governmental agencies to do all their approvals at the same time as opposed to doing one after the other after the other and just wasting a bunch of time.
00:38:05.000The biggest thing I've learned in Congress is just how much the federal government is underwater, the amount of money that we spend, the lack of checks on the money that goes out the door.
00:38:16.000What it demonstrates to me is that you need strong governors who are going to be able to do a couple of things.
00:38:22.000Number one, you got to be efficient with people's time and people's money.
00:38:26.000You can't just let bureaucrats run the show.
00:38:29.000Obviously, there are certain things that have to be checked off, but it's got to be efficient.
00:38:33.000If you are going to waste people's time, then that means you don't care about the money that you take from them.
00:38:40.000And all those delays that government brings, all it does is add to the costs that people have to reach into their pocket to pay for.
00:38:46.000Like, you know, I talk about housing, but let's examine it.
00:38:49.00030% of the cost of building a home in America right now is government costs, government permitting, 30%.
00:38:56.000So if it's 30% of the cost for government to do its thing and it does it slow and it's not responsive to the market, then we have to be efficient, squeeze that timetable down so you're not passing those costs onto young kids trying to get their first home, on the seniors on fixed income trying to downsize or get into a condo or whatever they're trying to do in their personal lives.
00:39:16.000Like that's the stuff that we got to be focused on.
00:39:20.000Like the federal government's not going to be able to finance healthcare into the future like it has in the past.
00:39:25.000So at the state level, we have to drive efficiencies.
00:39:29.000We have to drive a new way of delivering healthcare.
00:39:32.000And that's something that we're really excited at looking into, finding paths and real plans to get that stuff accomplished so that the people of Florida can get services, people who are poor in our state, they can get the help that they need while knowing that the federal budget is not going to be able to provide that funding into the future.
00:39:49.000I think we have to be leaning into that.
00:39:52.000The third thing is politics is a contact sport.
00:39:55.000You got to be able to work with people in order to get stuff done.
00:39:58.000And because I've had an opportunity to work with my colleagues on Capitol Hill, both House and Senate, when we were moving through the president's agenda last year, we spent about three months in conference rooms going over every detail of that plan, making sure that we can get something meaningful through for the American people and actually get it out of Congress.
00:40:18.000And having been through that, now going to the state level, you know, prospectively, hoping the people vote for me, I need your vote.
00:40:25.000But going to the state level, now it's about working with House and Senate, getting our work done early, being efficient, and then making sure we're making all the adjustments for the future of Florida.
00:40:36.000I mean, I think bringing some of that Washington experience, right?
00:40:39.000The reality is the states, you know, they function on their own in a certain way, but they still have a lot of dependency on Washington, D.C.
00:40:45.000I mean, you sort of have the best of all those worlds.
00:40:48.000What would be those biggest lessons or even the relationships that you can bring from Congress from Washington, D.C. that are going to directly translate into results for Floridians?
00:41:01.000Being able to talk to Pete Heckseth directly to talk about Kennedy Space Center and what the future is there, what help we need in dealing with some of the different approvals if you're going to open up new launch pads.
00:41:12.000And by the way, commercial space in Florida, we're going to be a leader.
00:41:16.000It's going to be phenomenal for the state's economy going forward.
00:41:19.000It's going to continue to expand Florida in all kinds of great ways.
00:41:23.000Number two, dealing with the Everglades, you know, being able to pick up a phone and talk to any one of the cabinet secretaries about the Army Corps of Engineers to get work permitted through very quickly.
00:41:33.000Number three, honestly, being able to call the president when we have major disasters.
00:41:38.000Governor DeSantis just requested assistance for the crop loss in Florida from the freeze that just happened a couple of weeks ago here in Florida.
00:41:46.000We've lost a lot of crops in our state.
00:41:48.000Being able to pick up that phone very quickly, go to the president and say, we need your assistance here, here, and here.
00:41:54.000Let me give you in real time what's going on.
00:41:59.000Or even if there's legislation that will benefit Florida, being able to call Mike Johnson or John Dune and just say, hey, Mike, hey, John, it's Byron.
00:42:08.000Not, oh, sir, the governor of Florida is looking for you.
00:43:28.000But you got to get that cost structure down.
00:43:30.000Last year, really, yeah, last year, when the insurance companies were going in for their rate, their rate reviews, they did not request increased premium rates in Florida.
00:43:43.000Next year, because we didn't have a storm last year, really later this year, we anticipate those rates to come down.
00:43:49.000So you want to keep the tort system as it is with the tort reform that was done a couple of years ago.
00:43:55.000So that way you can further push those rates down.
00:43:58.000That's going to equate to lower premiums for Floridians, really helping the affordability.
00:44:04.000The second thing is at the state level, we might need to start looking at our catastrophe fund and some of the regulatory structures in Florida.
00:44:12.000When I was in the state house, I chaired the insurance and banking subcommittee, had a deep dive into all of these subject matters, coupling that with my career.
00:44:20.000You know, I spent 17 years in the financial world.
00:44:22.000We're going to examine every aspect of Florida's insurance regulatory environment to find ways to further push down insurance costs.
00:44:30.000On taxes, I hope the governor is successful with the legislature of getting a repeal of homestead property taxes to the ballot.
00:44:36.000That'll be a major savings for the people of Florida.
00:44:39.000If they're not able to get something accomplished, we're going to pick the ball up and we're going to make sure we deliver meaningful reforms and meaningful relief for Florida's taxpayers.
00:44:49.000And the third one, and I don't want to beat a dead horse, but if you can drive down what it takes, the costs, the governmental costs, driving that down to deliver housing, now you're helping people afford homes by getting a cheaper home that can be delivered.
00:45:03.000You're lowering insurance premiums in our state, making it easier for them to stay in their homes.
00:45:08.000And if you can eliminate homestead or even provide real relief, you're helping those young kids who are getting started in their lives and in their careers.
00:45:16.000And I think those are the three major ways that we deal with affordability in Florida.
00:45:21.000So, you know, since you mentioned space, because that's obviously a big one, Florida, you got Cape Canaveral, you have all that stuff going on.
00:45:36.000Obviously, that's going to be a big aspect of the tech sector, especially as you talk about data centers in space and the solar power because you got solar 24-7 up there.
00:45:47.000I know we already have the Kennedy Space Center, Homestead Air Force Base, and I think now it's designated as a space port.
00:45:56.000Is this a federal issue, a state issue?
00:46:24.000So we have a major geographic advantage.
00:46:27.000This is why SpaceX, Blue Origin, L3, and so many others are trying to get launch pads at Kennedy Space Center so they can launch and do more stuff in commercial space.
00:46:37.000I think commercial space is going to be a big economic driver into the future.
00:46:41.000And now, what that means for Floridians is not just the launches at KSC, and they look cool, especially at night, especially when you get Elon's rocket booster coming back down to Earth.
00:46:54.000But it's also about the economic growth tied to commercial space.
00:46:58.000It's the manufacturing of so much of the space mission.
00:47:02.000It's about the engineering jobs that come to our state.
00:47:04.000We got a bunch of kids in our universities who are engineers.
00:47:07.000They get to be a part of that aerospace engineering work here in Florida.
00:47:11.000It's about building out some of the manufacturing infrastructure in North Florida.
00:47:18.000When people think about Florida, they typically are thinking Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Southwest Florida, maybe Jacksonville.
00:47:24.000But we have rural counties all through North Florida where you can do a lot of that manufacturing work.
00:47:29.000And now you're talking about real jobs coming back to a lot of those areas that have been economically depressed because the mills were closed 30, 40 years ago.
00:47:38.000And now that stuff is coming back to those areas.
00:47:41.000It's really something where it's not just the launches itself, it's also the ancillary businesses around the launches.
00:47:48.000And I think when it comes to tech and aerospace, look, we've let California lead in this for so long, but their government and their politics just suck.
00:47:56.000They don't know what they're doing out there.
00:47:58.000Florida should lead when it comes to space and tech and let our value system, our common sense work with business so you have great economic output for the people of Florida and the people of our country, while also maintaining common sense conservative principles that actually can help drive industry into the future.
00:48:16.000Yeah, I remember, you know, even during the campaign, I was on a plane with Elon and we were talking space.
00:48:20.000And I think we were actually coming back from one of his launches in Texas.
00:48:24.000And he was talking about how difficult it was to do anything in California where they started.
00:48:29.000I mean, he said it literally took him longer to get a permit to launch a rocket in California than it did to literally imagine, design, build.
00:48:40.000I think it was the Falcon Heavy or whatever I was at the time.
00:48:42.000It was like, wait, you built a rocket that's designed to land on its own back in the, like you did that faster than you could get a permit in California to do such things.
00:48:54.000So I imagine the values of Florida are going to be a little different than that.
00:48:57.000And if these guys are going to be doing some really novel things and testing, you know, the limits of science, we're going to make that easier for them to do, not harder.
00:49:13.000He wanted to build a new interchange off of Florida's turnpike.
00:49:17.000The design work by government estimated to take anywhere from two and a half to three years.
00:49:24.000The time to actually build the road, about a year to a year and a half.
00:49:28.000So you're talking about five years of time when two-thirds of it is just in governmental design and engineering.
00:49:34.000We got to speed all that stuff up because everybody's frustrated in our state with traffic.
00:49:39.000We took in a lot of people after COVID, more than we expected.
00:49:43.000So one of the things that we're really going to have to look at is truncating those timelines so we can build out the roads so people aren't stuck in traffic forever, getting more frustrated, taking them longer to get from point A to point B.
00:49:54.000And that's the stuff that we're going to be doing as Florida's next governor.
00:49:57.000Yeah, by the way, if you could add a couple lanes to the turnpike, that would be a really big deal because down by us, it's like two lanes.
00:50:02.000I'm like, how do you have the turnpike is a two-lane road?
00:50:51.000We want to make sure that we're still growing food in Florida because I don't want to have to rely on Mexico or some other country to get food into the United States.
00:50:59.000We need to make sure that we have the ability to do that in Florida.
00:51:02.000But you can also do that while putting in the infrastructure improvements that you need, building the housing that you need.
00:51:09.000I think that Florida has to start managing its growth on a regional basis.
00:51:13.000And what I mean by that is, you know, South Florida, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, that's very different than the Panhandle, 30A, Santa Rosa County, Escambia County, or Southwest Florida, or the I-4 corridor around, you know, a Seminole County, Orange County, Jacksonville, you got that up there, Duval in those areas.
00:51:31.000And then you have obviously Tampa Bay.
00:51:33.000So each region of the state needs to have its own growth management plan so you can protect what we love about the regions of Florida while also preparing for what is going to happen.
00:51:56.000You mentioned the Everglades earlier and just even protecting that.
00:51:58.000You know, you have obviously the environmental side of that, then you have the ag side of that.
00:52:02.000Then you have the population side of that and some of the red tide stuff.
00:52:05.000I know my father and his first administration did a lot in terms of Lake Okeechobee and just really trying to save that filtration system to for guys like me who are fishermen and I love the inshore stuff and just really making sure that's there.
00:52:16.000So it's a complex solution, but it feels like one of those things it can be done if everyone just focused on all of the things and not just sort of focusing on one industry versus and while totally neglecting the other.
00:52:26.000It seems like a fairly happy medium to be able to mix.
00:52:29.000And look, real quick on that, I try to keep things simple.
00:52:32.000Like, look, I spent 17 years in the finance world.
00:52:35.000One of the things I learned is if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.
00:52:38.000If you can't make the money work, then your idea just isn't, it just, it might sound good, but it's not reality.
00:52:44.000The second big thing is I've never seen a company or an organization get better by not having a plan for how you're going to grow.
00:52:52.000Anybody who, anybody watching, if they remember Blockbuster Video, Blockbuster was the king when it came to watching movies at home and they just never modernized.
00:53:26.000No, I think one of the old, I think one of the old stories, one of the old Wall Street stories is that Netflix actually went to Blockbuster and said, hey, this is what we do.
00:53:35.000And Blockthruster was like, yeah, yeah, see you, kid.
00:53:41.000So you got to always be pushing the envelope, thinking about how you're going to grow, how you're going to manage it, what that means, what it looks like, understanding your threats and your opportunities.
00:53:51.000But you really want to do what's in the best interest of the people that you serve.
00:53:54.000And I think having a plan for the next step of Florida is going to be critical to us continuing to be that shining city on a hill in America.
00:54:02.000So, Baron, we've got Democrats in Orlando actively fighting to block an ICE detention facility that they're building there, essentially telling the federal government, you can't enforce immigration laws.
00:54:13.000As governor, how do you handle local officials who are trying to turn parts of Florida into sanctuary jurisdictions like the rest of the insane left?
00:54:22.000Let me just be very clear on this one.
00:54:24.000Any local official who thinks they're going to set up a sanctuary jurisdiction in Florida is going to be removed from office.
00:54:30.000We're going to just remove you because you're not running for office telling the people in our state that's what you're going to do.
00:54:36.000You're not running TV ads to that effect.
00:54:38.000Furthermore, you're in violation of the United States Constitution because you don't get to set up a separate jurisdiction that goes outside the lines of what the federal government's role is in immigration and naturalization and deportation.
00:54:52.000When the Constitution was ratified, those powers were given to the federal government in the Constitution.
00:54:59.000And you're not going to be some new elected official in a city thinking that you're going to override or nullify, nullify the United States Constitution.
00:55:09.000If you think you're going to basically go against the federal laws around deportations and immigration, you're going to create a sanctuary jurisdiction.
00:55:18.000You're not going to be an elected official in Florida.
00:55:23.000You also know the South Florida, Cuban, and Venezuelan communities intimately in places like Miami, Dade County, and elsewhere.
00:55:31.000I mean, these are people who fled cartels, narco-states, communist regimes.
00:55:37.000How does your relationship with those communities shape how you'd go after cartel activity, narco-trafficking, and cross-border crime as governor and really help support the federal efforts at a state level as well?
00:55:48.000Well, one, I think those relationships are really going to guide my thinking.
00:55:52.000First and foremost, it's going to be zero tolerance, zero tolerance for that mess.
00:55:57.000You know, under the Biden administration, fentanyl was the number one killer in America of people between the ages of 18 and 45.
00:56:04.000Number one, not heart attacks, not car accidents, fentanyl overdoses.
00:56:29.000Whatever help they need from Florida, they're going to receive because states have to have a very muscular position when it comes to not just helping the federal government on border issues and immigration issues, but also making sure you're working with them to protect your people from narco-terrorism and other things like that.
00:56:46.000So, Congressman, I've got to ask you also next week, Tim Walsh is sitting in front of your House committee on this massive fraud probe out of Minnesota.
00:56:54.000You know, without giving away your whole playbook, what's the big question you want answered about what's going on there?
00:57:01.000And what do you think the American people deserve to know?
00:57:05.000The number one thing I probably would say is, why'd you let it happen?
00:57:08.000Because Tim Walz was told what was going on.
00:57:12.000And I think the thing I fear the most is you have radical Democrat politics that allowed for the money of the American people to be stolen and not just stolen from planes and yachts and all that kind of houses.
00:57:25.000A lot of this money was being sent back to Somalia to the, it's a Hanwhal network and it's basically a bunch of in-person money changers.
00:57:33.000And this Hanwhal network, there is beyond a shadow of a doubt that al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has their hands in that network.
00:57:41.000So in part, you have taxpayer money flowing through the state of Minnesota, ending up in the hands of Al-Qaeda.
00:58:41.000When I was a freshman in the Florida House of Representatives, there was a bill after the Marjorie Stolman Douglas shooting that came on the House floor.
00:59:16.000I take that vote every single day because it's the right thing to do and it's to protect the Constitution and it's to protect your individual rights.
00:59:26.000Number two, when I was running for Congress, again, I was running for it, not today, back then, six years ago.
00:59:32.000This is when we had local government officials who thought they could institute mask mandates in Southwest Florida.
00:59:38.000I went to every local government meeting and I told them without any hesitation that Governor DeSantis has issued an order that you're not allowed to issue mask mandates.
00:59:48.000And I went on the record reminding all of them they did not have the legal authority to usurp the governor of our state.
00:59:54.000So when I tell people I'm going to stand for your rights and I'm going to protect your rights, I'm not just talking about it.
00:59:59.000I've done it and I've done it at a time where nobody knew me.