Sean Parnell is a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger and is the host of the Battleground Podcast. He was also a massive part of why my father won the Great State Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And now Sean is building on all of that success to make sure that Pennsylvania stays red and that we deliver on the biggest promises that were made on this campaign. There s no better example of what it means to be a warfighter than Sean. And we re going to get into all that as we discuss the future of the Pentagon.
00:06:26.000Tonight we're joined by great friend of the show, great American Sean Parnell.
00:06:31.000Sean is a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger and is the host of the Battleground podcast.
00:06:37.000He was also a massive part of why my father won the Great State Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
00:06:45.000And now Sean is building on all of that success to make sure that Pennsylvania stays red and that we deliver on the biggest promises that were made on this campaign.
00:06:56.000There's no better example of what it means to be a warfighter than Sean.
00:07:01.000And we're going to get into all of that as we discuss the future of the Pentagon.
00:07:06.000Just so we're clear, I think Sean was on like the second episode ever of Triggered So we go back a long way.
00:07:13.000He was the leader of, you know, Outlaw Platoon, you know, over in the desert.
00:07:19.000Just an incredible American, incredible warfighter, a true patriot.
00:07:24.000So also a funny and sick individual, kind of like me.
00:07:27.000So I I think you'll probably appreciate wherever the heck we end up going on all of this.
00:07:31.000So make sure you guys are liking, sharing, and subscribing so you never miss one of these major episodes.
00:07:37.000And if your friends still aren't watching us here on Rumble, now is a great time to start.
00:07:43.000Also, remember, if you're not watching us here on Rumble, you can check us out on Spotify.
00:07:48.000Apple Podcasts, if you missed the show here, obviously you can get it that way.
00:07:52.000If your friends get their podcasts that way, make sure they check it out.
00:07:55.000And for all of the top headlines that we spotlight here on the show, go over to my news app, MXM News, where you can get the mainstream news without the mainstream bias.
00:08:06.000And in the meantime, protect yourself from the economic insanity with the Birch Gold Group.
00:08:11.000Because with the massive tax hike proposed by Harris, you might be thinking it's time to make more of your savings tax-sheltered and inflation-sheltered.
00:08:21.000You guys see the markets, you see the volatility, and we know the Fed is just printing more and more money.
00:08:28.000That means your costs go up and your quality of life goes down.
00:08:33.000So like I always said, I just want you to be prepared.
00:08:35.000For over 20 years, Birch Gold has helped thousands of Americans protect their savings by converting an IRA or 401k into an IRA in physical gold.
00:08:44.000To learn more, text Don Jr., To the number 989898 and claim your free, no-obligation info kit on gold.
00:08:54.000Again, just text Don Jr., D-O-N-J-R, to the number 989898. That means you type in 989898 at the top of a text like you're typing in a random telephone number.
00:09:21.000Miss the deadline, perhaps, to file an extension?
00:09:24.000Don't get blindsided by the IRS and their heavy-handed tactics.
00:09:28.000You could face wage garnishments, frozen bank accounts, or even property seizures if you haven't taken action yet.
00:09:35.000So like I always say, I just want you to be prepared.
00:09:39.000Tax Network USA has helped taxpayers save over $1 billion in tax debt and has filed over 10,000 tax returns.
00:09:47.000Visit TNUSA.com, like Tax Network, TNUSA.com slash Don Jr. for a free consultation.
00:09:55.000Again, that's TNUSA.com slash Don Jr. Joining me now, host of the Battleground podcast here on Rumble, Army Ranger, hero, author, awesome dude, good friend of the show.
00:10:11.000I think he was on like the second episode of the show when I didn't even know what the hell I was doing with you.
00:10:16.000We have people being like, okay, rate it in.
00:10:18.000You guys are going a little bit off the rails.
00:12:57.000So that is why I got involved in politics because I've loved, you know, from the moment your dad came down that escalator, you know, I was all in, you know, fought in these wars that, you know, Democrats and Republicans had sent us into for 20 years.
00:13:16.000And I'm just telling you all of that to make the point that I was a complete outsider to this game in 2020. And I had a front row seat to them stealing that race.
00:13:30.000And I met you at Fox also and, you know, sort of was very involved and sort of I gave you sort of this similar pre-endorsement endorsement.
00:14:36.000But it was the fact that it was so flagrant that he cheated.
00:14:39.000And now when you look at the numbers even out of 24, it's like...
00:14:41.000You know, how'd they get 85 million votes when it's just so consistent?
00:14:44.000And then just this one little anomaly right there that time, it's like, no one believes it.
00:14:48.000So I was like, if they would have just won honestly and not made this whole thing, like, he could have just gone, you know, off into the sunset, but he felt the same way.
00:14:57.000It's like, when you're cheated, it's like, I won, but I didn't because of X, Y, Z. It's like, no, no, no, no, no.
00:15:35.000The first night he ever spent in Washington was the night he swore the oath of office.
00:15:40.000So it was like he didn't know, so he trusted others.
00:15:42.000That isn't always a great plan, especially in politics.
00:15:46.000So, you know, if you just rolled over the 2020 crew into the next four years and we'd be getting out in 43 days, you know, 40 days, whatever it is now, you would have actually accomplished so much less than now.
00:16:10.000What were you doing and saying then, you know, as it relates to all of this and like now you can start over with that knowledge.
00:16:17.000And I think that's such a bigger threat to the swamp and not just the knowledge of what it means to govern.
00:16:22.000You're right, because your dad gets...
00:16:24.000I experienced this at a much, much, much smaller level, and I never actually was in Congress, so there's that component of it as well.
00:16:32.000But, you know, your dad comes up as a businessman, you know, reshaped the New York City skyline, worked with everybody, Democrats and Republicans, and got extraordinary things done.
00:16:43.000So it stands to reason that you win, you bury the hatchet with your political foes, you get in office and you say, OK, I'm going to work with everybody just to make America great again.
00:16:53.000But the problem is, and I realized this myself in the wake of 2020, that these radical commie Democrats, there's a reason why there's a phrase, if you want a friend in politics, get a dog, because even people on your own side of the aisle will tuck tail and run at the first sign of adversity.
00:17:08.000Well, so this, Don, this is why, you know, You know, it was that it was that ridiculous cheating in 2020 that got me brainstorming about the political battlefield in Pennsylvania and was the real catalyst for why I wanted to fight the fight like the Democrats did and actually just do it better than them.
00:17:27.000Broken down in 67 counties across Pennsylvania.
00:17:30.000So, you know, after my Senate run in 2022, I'd come up with this plan in 2022.
00:17:35.000My Senate race didn't get to the finish line in that race, but I still had this plan.
00:17:41.000And after the primary in 2022 between Dave McCormick and Dr. Oz, I went to Dave.
00:17:48.000He hadn't decided whether or not he was going to run for a second time again, but I said, listen...
00:17:55.000I don't know if you've decided what your political future is going to look like yet, but this plan right here is outcome determinative for not just you, potentially you, but for Republicans statewide.
00:18:09.000If we don't implement some form of this plan, no one will ever win here again.
00:18:14.000And the plan was really twofold, Don, and this is like just 30,000 feet, but it was, we've got to focus on voter registration because your dad won an historic victory in Pennsylvania in 16 by like over 40,000 votes against Hillary Clinton.
00:18:29.000But the Dems had like an 800,000 person voter registration advantage back then.
00:19:30.000Just so we're clear, like, you know, I was there with you on the ground in Pennsylvania doing both of the runs.
00:19:35.000You know, just explain to people, like, some of the, just the most obscene aspects of what, you know, people are like, oh, how do you know you got cheated?
00:19:42.000It's like, they're letting people vote from, like, the adjoining district in yours, and they're like, sorry, the ballots went out.
00:19:49.000Like, I'm like, but they're not in the district.
00:20:07.000This is like, it was maybe the most flagrant and obvious case where not only were they just caught red-handed, but they're like, okay, so what?
00:20:58.000You know, the Democrat governor, Tom Wolf, is putting Sean Parnell at great risk.
00:21:01.000These ballots, he was all over that and he called it out and he was right.
00:21:05.000And so what they did was, Don, is that this mail-in ballot company, it was the first time we had mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, widespread mail-in ballots.
00:21:13.000They sent out 30 plus thousand to the wrong addresses.
00:21:19.000My campaign had to sue the Democrats in court to get them to stop counting them.
00:21:25.000Don, their position back then, no BS, was count every vote.
00:21:30.000Even in court, their position was count every vote.
00:21:34.000Even votes that couldn't be tied to a voter, even votes that had no chain of custody, even votes that were verified to be outside the congressional district, count every vote.
00:21:44.000So in that one singular example alone, it's a proof point to, if the Democrats are willing to make that argument And cheat in open court.
00:21:58.000What do you think they'll do behind closed doors?
00:23:24.000All these Democrat operatives in Pennsylvania...
00:23:27.000I mean, now they're all, like, they're really pissed off, Don, because, you know, as you know, when you run a campaign, whether it's a high-level campaign in a state like Pennsylvania or running for president, you're, like, buying the data of the campaign prior to you because that's the data that's the closest to the mission that you're trying to accomplish.
00:23:45.000So we're talking down to the precinct level, who voted, like, what are their interests, how do you reach those people, where do they consume their media?
00:23:57.000All of this, what was clearly corrupted data from the 2020 cycle, and it made them ridiculously complacent, and we knew that going into this cycle because we recognize...
00:24:09.000This is why it's important to recognize and not be afraid of...
00:24:11.000So do they actually believe their own BS, though?
00:24:14.000No, I think for the first time ever, my point is, I think for the first time ever, these operatives in Pennsylvania are saying...
00:24:28.000I swear to God that's what they're saying because the numbers just don't add up and they bought all this corrupted data and even now they're waking up to the fact that, yeah, 2020 wasn't what it seemed to be.
00:24:42.000So, you know, before we, I obviously want to get into a lot of the stuff as it relates to confirmation, the military, all of that, but, you know, you're joining in now to lead Pennsylvania Rising to keep this going, right?
00:24:54.000You know, we gotta, you know, let's make Pennsylvania Florida, you know, you may not have the winters quite as nice, but the rest of it should be that way, you know.
00:25:03.000What does this look like moving forward?
00:25:05.000Because the reality is you need guys that take sort of ownership.
00:25:09.000You obviously did a great job with that in Pennsylvania.
00:25:30.000I was a leader since my time in the military.
00:25:34.000And, you know, part of being a leader, you know this, as a business leader, Don, you're looking, you know, years in advance at what business projections will look like, what are the strategies you're going to use to take your business to certain places.
00:25:48.000I'm very, very afraid, and I truly mean this, about what this party will look like after your father.
00:25:57.000Looking at the numbers in Pennsylvania this entire cycle, And we were going to be all over the cheating this time because we knew their game.
00:26:07.000I was very optimistic about your dad winning Pennsylvania.
00:26:13.000And sure enough, he did in historic fashion.
00:26:15.000But we got to win when Trump's not at the top of the ticket.
00:26:34.000On the Republican Party, for the first time ever, it's like an American first bench.
00:26:38.000I don't even want to call it like the Republican Party necessarily, but like, you know, an America first bench, which would be so critical.
00:26:44.000But, you know, Trump is a unique character.
00:26:48.000We will probably never see anything like that again in politics.
00:26:53.000When he got criticized for the joke, you know, back in the day about like, listen, I could probably shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue where no one would say anything.
00:27:31.000He brings out a crazy cross-section of voters, and our party has to figure out how to keep them.
00:27:39.000And part of Pennsylvania Rising moving forward will be to go all in on these America First initiatives to keep that crazy coalition, this diverse coalition that turns out for him, At the table all the time.
00:27:55.000And so part of the mission moving forward for Pennsylvania Rising is issues-based stuff.
00:28:02.000Focusing on a very clear-cut and fiercely America-first agenda, and that means putting the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania first.
00:29:07.000Just drive 30 minutes in any direction from my house.
00:29:10.000You'll drive through two or three towns in western Pennsylvania, manufacturing towns, coal mining towns, steel towns that have been left behind by Republicans and Democrats.
00:29:21.000And so part of our mission is going to be focusing on those people and making sure that they stay at the table.
00:29:27.000And And really, you know, building an America First message to build a strong America First Republican Party, that's obviously part of it, you know, because, you know, your father's and Dave's legislative agendas, both for the president and in the Senate, have to be reflected in the state legislature.
00:29:45.000That's how you effectuate real, permanent, effective change.
00:29:49.000And so we've got to have a good state legislature in the state that reflects the priorities of your father and Dave McCormick in the Senate.
00:29:58.000Continuing voter registration trends and we want to continue to add people to the permanent vote by mail list.
00:30:09.000You know, we should go to one day voting with paper ballots, but we will never get there unless we win.
00:30:14.000So until that time, we fight the fight with the political rules of the battlefield as they are.
00:30:19.000And then when we take power again, we secure elections in the way that we the way that we know is best.
00:30:25.000So we're going to continue on that threefold mission, you know, for the next two years.
00:30:31.000And Don, this year in Pennsylvania, it's critically important.
00:30:36.000We've got three PA Supreme Court races that have come up this year that Republicans, by the way, completely screwed the pooch back in 2015 on where we got all these Soros-funded judges on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
00:30:51.000They're the ones that gave us all of this crazy radical election stuff that we have in Pennsylvania.
00:31:19.000It's nonsense, but you still have to deal with it.
00:31:21.000So, like, but the same thing goes true.
00:31:23.000Like, we got to win all these down-ballot races.
00:31:25.000Just supporting Trump and, like, not also voting for the Republican who would be in Senate, you know, but instead voting for the guy that would basically go against him.
00:31:33.000You know, obviously, you know, in Pennsylvania, it was like a 98% with Biden record of voting.
00:31:38.000Like that, you know, That's not pro-Trump.
00:31:40.000That's not someone who's going to work with Trump.
00:31:42.000That's someone who's going to try to block all his policies.
00:31:44.000And people have to understand that this matters.
00:31:46.000To your point about same day voting, Trump can't do that.
00:32:02.000And the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, I mean, this is the most...
00:32:07.000And I think any Republican Supreme Court justice or conservative Supreme Court justice would attest to this, although I'd never speak for them.
00:32:14.000But this is by far the most radical court in the country, in Pennsylvania.
00:32:49.000This 2025 race, it's where the people of the Commonwealth will vote as to whether or not they're retained.
00:32:56.000So the first phase in this operation is to vote no on their retention and make them run again.
00:33:02.000And then we put up strong conservatives and then organizations like, you know, Pennsylvania Rising and some of these other organizations that I want to build are going to come in and support those Supreme Court justices.
00:33:14.000But Don, part of the reason why our election challenges in 2020 fell on deaf ears is because you had guys like Congressman Mike Kelly and myself challenging all of these things on a very rigorous constitutional basis.
00:33:27.000They'd make it up to the PA Supreme Court.
00:33:29.000And then what the PA Supreme Court would do would be like, okay, we're dismissing this with prejudice.
00:33:33.000And when something's dismissed with prejudice, The justices basically say, okay, anybody else can bring this case in front of us except for Mike Kelly and Sean Parnell.
00:33:44.000And so what they're going to be is like they're a backstop to the radical Democrat policies of now Josh Shapiro or if the Democrats control the state legislature of them.
00:33:56.000Another great example of this, Don, is what they did with redistricting in Pennsylvania.
00:34:01.000Like you had Mark Elias, who was a Russia collusion hoaxer, worked closely with Hillary Clinton to do that as his Democrat attorney.
00:34:08.000He put forth what's called the Carter map in Pennsylvania, which is a map that's favorable to congressional Democrats.
00:34:14.000And even though our constitutional courts, the Commonwealth Court, adopted a map that was fair, the PA Supreme Court said, no, we're not going to use that map.
00:34:27.000We got to take the court back because this is the kind of crazy stuff that they can do to protect the Democrats.
00:34:33.000So you mentioned Shapiro, you know, before we even started talking on the show, you know, we talked about John Fetterman a little bit.
00:34:40.000You know, many think that, you know, Shapiro is sort of probably, you know, some of the best talent the Democrats have on a, you know, I don't just, I don't agree with any of his policies.
00:34:48.000I can still say, you know, he's probably got some political talent.
00:34:53.000I mean, Fetterman, I mean, I spent like most of the last year basically being the guy's, you know, borderline brain dead after the stroke and like, and Based on the debate with Dr. Oz a couple years ago, I don't think that was actually a stretch, but he has gone out and tried, and again, I can't tell if it's real or if it's fake, but he gets out there and actually takes some common sense sort of stances every once in a while.
00:35:16.000Now, it doesn't align with his record or his voting record that I've seen in the past.
00:35:21.000Certainly, Certainly not prior to, you know, becoming in the Senate.
00:35:25.000You know, does he see the writing on the wall?
00:36:17.000But he definitely sees the writing on the wall.
00:36:21.000Because he understands the state, he sees that it's trending red at not a snail's pace, at a pretty fast clip.
00:36:29.000And he knows that if he's going to survive, if he is to survive in 2028, he's got to moderate himself.
00:36:37.000And that's, I think, what you're seeing with his rhetoric, like very pragmatic rhetoric of, like he said the other day, like on The View, I think it was, hey, ladies, you know, It's okay.
00:37:47.000He is he has been on a very laser focused track to go from state representative to attorney general to governor, and he all with the focus on running for president.
00:38:00.000So he is a political animal ladder climber through and through.
00:38:05.000So he's not afraid to weaponize the government against his political opponents.
00:38:08.000He also does have some strong political.
00:38:13.000He's very he's got some great talents, Don.
00:38:16.000And I think you're spot on to say, hey, if we're going to win these races, we have to recognize the strengths in our political foes, right?
00:38:47.000And so part of what we're doing is going to be figuring out a way to go after him as well.
00:38:53.000Because the thing with Josh Shapiro, we've laid out his strengths.
00:38:57.000His weaknesses are he takes things very, very, very personally.
00:39:03.000He's never really been attacked in any substantive way beyond a couple of social media hits here and there.
00:39:10.000He's never had a candidate raise $30-40 million and go after his record.
00:39:16.000And so when you start doing these types of things to even the most talented of politicians, you get in their head and then they start making mistakes.
00:39:26.000Josh Shapiro has never had an opponent like that.
00:39:29.000And so part of our job, you know, you know, with Pennsylvania rising and some of the other things that we're building in Pennsylvania is to, you know, find someone who can do that, you know, who can meet that criteria and give them a formidable opponent in 2026.
00:39:45.000Because it'd be a hell of a lot easier to stop him in 2026 before he jumps onto the national scene in 28.
00:40:06.000You know, I think with, you know, whether it was decisions, whether it was the, you know, stances he took that, you know, his conduct, the flamboyance.
00:40:13.000Yeah, how many walks out on stage, he's like, who waves like this?
00:40:41.000Do you think that was because Kamala Harris was worried about a Josh Shapiro type overshadowing her because he does have some actual talent unlike her?
00:40:50.000Or do you think that was her not being willing to cater to the Hamas caucus, which is a problem for...
00:40:56.000You know, probably someone named Shapiro.
00:41:15.000I think Kamala Harris, and look, anybody that knows her, to include her Democrat senator colleagues in Washington, she's reviled in the Democrat Party.
00:41:25.000I mean, obviously the American people have rejected her.
00:41:28.000She, in 2020, didn't even make the first caucus.
00:41:31.000She got less than 1% in the Democrat primary in 2020. And I kept saying that to people.
00:42:28.000She's not a heavy hitter when it comes to policy.
00:42:31.000She doesn't even particularly like doing the job.
00:42:33.000Anyone that knows her will tell you this.
00:42:35.000And so I do think that, you know, when you get to that level of politics, there's a certain amount of ego, especially on the Democrat side of the aisle.
00:42:43.000People don't want to be outshined by their potential vice presidential candidate.
00:42:49.000I also think that the Dems have a lot, a very, very real anti-Semite problem in their base.
00:42:56.000And I think that selecting Josh Shapiro would have fractured their base even further.
00:43:01.000And I think even beyond both of those two things, Don, I hear that Josh Shapiro didn't want him because he knew that...
00:43:09.000She was a sinking ship and going to have real problems, not just in Pennsylvania, but in swing states all across the country.
00:43:17.000And you put yourself in Josh Shapiro's shoes.
00:43:31.000I think, you know, because people weren't voting really for the vice president, Don.
00:43:34.000You know, there's a chance he loses Pennsylvania.
00:43:37.000And so what political capital does he have moving forward if he's selected to be Kamala Harris's vice president for the express sole purpose of carrying Pennsylvania, but because she's such a shit candidate, can't even do that.
00:45:49.000You're a Democrat, but you can't realize that maybe today's Republican Party resembles more the classic Democrat Party than today's Democrat Party by a long shot.
00:46:00.000Yeah, and I mean, if you look at, obviously, James Carville, a major advisor to an integral in Bill Clinton's victory back in the day, if you listen to Bill Clinton's State of the Union addresses, talking about illegal immigration, he sounds...
00:46:12.000His positions then are where we are today.
00:46:17.000And really, James Carbell should be really offended, Don, because his wisdom of it's the economy, stupid.
00:46:25.000In other words, like, you take care of the economy, you foster a climate, an economic climate that is pro-growth, you know, putting it simply, then a lot of other things fall into place because the American people really do truly vote with their pocketbook and kitchen table issues.
00:46:40.000If the American people are having trouble paying for eggs and milk and fuel, that's going to cause a lot of issues for any president, Democrat or Republican.
00:46:50.000So James Carvel's wisdom of it's the economy, stupid, was great.
00:46:55.000But Biden and all these these new Democrats turned that on its head completely.
00:47:00.000And they went from it's the economy, stupid, to the economy is great, stupid.
00:47:16.000So everyone's got to check out Pennsylvania Rising and what Sean's doing.
00:47:19.000But Sean, while I have a warfighter on, I actually want to talk about the warfighters.
00:47:24.000I want to jump into something that Pete Hexeth has been talking about a lot.
00:47:28.000I mean, it looked like that was sort of...
00:47:30.000The knives in the swamp and big war and the military-industrial complex were going out for him.
00:47:36.000But because he is a fighter, he fought back.
00:47:39.000And it looks like a lot of those guys that were getting squishy on that are coming back around.
00:47:43.000So I want to hear your thoughts on the confirmation process, how how what looked like, you know, people were in trouble.
00:47:48.000And, you know, once there was blood in the water, everything else that follows it, whether it's Bobby, Tulsi, Cash, all these guys would have also been in trouble.
00:47:58.000And honestly, it's because of people, like the people watching this, calling out the nonsense from the senators that were taking this ridiculous pro-Democrat approach.
00:48:25.000What is, you know, when Pete's been talking about that, how the Pentagon's so resistant to actually letting someone who's fought the wars be a decision maker rather than the people simply pushing the wars for profit.
00:48:36.000We've discussed many times there's no money in peace.
00:48:39.000You know, what does that all mean to you?
00:48:41.000And how's it resonating, you know, again, outside of the D.C., you know, bubbles?
00:48:46.000Well, first of all, you know, all cards on the table.
00:48:48.000I've known Pete for a very long time before Pete was on Fox and everything.
00:48:56.000You know, I was his senior advisor, the senior advisor for the organization at Concerned Veterans for America, while Pete was the chief executive officer.
00:49:07.000I totally forgot that you actually were on.
00:49:09.000This is one of the things they were criticizing him for.
00:49:12.000And then You know, anonymous sources said he did XYZ. Everyone involved, everyone who took responsibility, everyone who would be in trouble if they were lying about it, were all like, there's nothing here.
00:49:32.000And we should measure the quality of our friendships and relationships with people that we have in our lives based upon whether or not those people are there when times are shit.
00:49:41.000You know, it's real easy to be around somebody when times are great.
00:49:44.000You got a lot of strap hangers when that's happening.
00:49:46.000But, you know, I saw Pete going through that.
00:49:48.000And then I read that New Yorker piece by Jane Jane Meyer.
00:49:51.000And I mean, I was at all of those events.
00:49:55.000I was I was a part of the organization at the exact same time.
00:49:58.000Part of the conversations when Pete departed the organization, I left shortly after him, actually at the exact same time for the same reason.
00:50:29.000I was in the meetings like he left that organization and I did as well.
00:50:32.000When your dad had just won his first term and.
00:50:36.000All along that campaign, Pete and I started thinking like, hey, we fought these war wars before.
00:50:42.000We hear what, you know, President Trump is saying, and we kind of agree with it.
00:50:47.000And we started doing media hits that reflected an America First foreign policy.
00:50:53.000And the folks who funded these organizations and back then, or Concerned Veterans for America was under the Americans for Prosperity umbrella, um, You know, the people who funded those organizations back then, their foreign policy views back then, I'm not talking about today.
00:51:11.000So that's why even the rhino, because that's the rhino, like, neocon, you know, warmonger faction of the Republican Party, or at least, you know, what's left of it, but that's still very real.
00:52:08.000Well, Sean, I mean, you know, I wouldn't be Donald Trump Jr. if I didn't make a totally inappropriate joke about, like, you know, are you really, like, in the Trump administration without, like, a fake, like, harassment claim?
00:52:19.000And, like, you know, I mean, don't you need a couple hoaxes to really, like, check the box?
00:52:28.000You're not really America first if they don't claim you did something terrible that you obviously never did without evidence or whatever it is.
00:52:35.000But it doesn't mean you don't have to still deal with it.
00:53:20.000He goes, yeah, you know, I never thought of it that way.
00:53:21.000I felt so bad that these guys are want to throw you in jail for life.
00:53:24.000You don't even know what the hell you did.
00:53:25.000And it's like, I was like, yeah, but it's probably the best thing that ever happened to me because it created, you know, a bit of a warrior.
00:53:31.000Yeah, Don, I, that is such a great point.
00:53:35.000And I completely agree, having gone through this in the Senate.
00:53:39.000The crazy thing about it, when you recount what happened, I got your father's endorsement.
00:53:44.000We were crushing it in the primary, up over 30 points over every opponent in the primary.
00:53:49.000A year out before Election Day, up over six points over John Fetterman, all because of your dad and we had an awesome movement going.
00:53:58.000The day after that, the Department of Veterans Affairs leaked my medical record.
00:54:03.000The media started painting a narrative of me that I drank, I was angry, and that women were a problem.
00:54:11.000It's like, oh, wait, where have I seen this playbook before?
00:54:14.000Oh, it's the exact same thing they're doing to Pete.
00:54:18.000And then they weaponized the court system against me.
00:54:22.000I mean, you know, I'm not going to recap all that.
00:54:24.000But the point is, That shaped me into an absolute political killer and opened my eyes to the system, how rotten and corrupt it is, and how it just needs a total overhaul.
00:54:39.000if they didn't do that you almost need it to be effective meaning yes without without that you don't have an understanding of how depraved it actually is you just you know it was like me i used to like when i got into this i was like you know even with the beginning of russia russia russia it was like so naive i was like well no i mean the fbi said it there has to be something to it like i you know i don't know like i must have taken a selfie with you know some sort of russian asset and like i don't know i took 10 000 selfies that day you know i didn't i did not i did anything intentionally like there has the cia said
00:55:09.000it like they must be like you know because i believed in sort of the america that you that you and I grew up believing in.
00:55:15.000Like, you know, that's what I was fighting to preserve that America.
00:55:19.000Instead, now I actually realized that America doesn't exist.
00:55:40.000I mean, look, your audience is probably going to like talk shit and laugh at me for saying this, but I was 20 something after 9-11 happened, signed up after 9-11.
00:55:48.000And when they proposed the Patriot Act, do you want to know what I said?
00:55:58.000But no, but wait, so I was, you know, I was with a guy that, you know, this past weekend, you know, hunting buddy of mine who was a Delta guy, you know, one of the guys that pulled, you know, I guess Saddam Hussein out of the, you know, out of the pit when they found him, like, you know, serious operator, great patriot, awesome dude, you know what I mean?
00:56:15.000Like one of us, like, and, you know, but I was, so I asked the question, I was like, well, you know, now, like in hindsight, what do you think about all of it?
00:56:23.000You know, 20, you know, 30 years later, and it's like, Yeah, like, you know, I wouldn't change anything because at the time I was working with what I did and I was just, but like, you know, hearing how all these guys have come to, like, oh my God, like my friends bled and died for a lie and for bullshit and to protect the interests of, you know, big war.
00:56:44.000It's disgusting that it ever happened.
00:56:47.000But, you know, now we have that chance to do things.
00:56:51.000I think that's why Pete is such a threat to the swamp.
00:56:54.000I mean, you know, he's actually taking the job for the right reasons and not like to protect, you know, the financial interests of Raytheon defense contracts and, you know, and others.
00:57:05.000They're not the only guilty party, obviously.
00:57:06.000I use that a lot because it flows off the tongue better.
00:57:12.000I mean, you know, I look at some of these other generals.
00:57:14.000If you're a three or four star, you are there because you were a political appointee at that point.
00:57:19.000Like that, you know, the warfighters don't get to that level.
00:57:23.000The guys that will tell you common sense or speak truth to power, they never make it there.
00:57:27.000Once you get the three and four stars, you're just a political animal.
00:57:30.000And you see that, you know, Millie's out there with his badge of medals.
00:57:33.000I'm like, I don't remember you winning a war like Eisenhower has like the one little thing.
00:57:37.000Like it's it's such a it's such a scam.
00:57:40.000And I think that's why Pete is such a threat to them, because he'll actually represent guys like you.
00:57:45.000The guys doing the shit, the guys that we all respect and not just the corporate interests of the guys who's who are literally there.
00:57:53.000because their off-ramp is that board seat at Boeing or Raytheon.
00:57:56.000Yeah, and you want to know why that is, Don?
00:57:58.000I mean, talking generally speaking, but I went into the military intending to make it a career and never getting out because I love my country.
00:58:08.000I was all in it going after the enemy, you know, and so...
00:58:12.000I went to Afghanistan a couple of years later, and 485 days of combat, 85% of my platoon was wounded, some twice, some three times I was wounded.
00:58:22.000We killed over 350 enemy fighters, never hurt a single civilian in Afghanistan.
00:58:26.000Very proud of that service and proud of the conduct of my soldiers in combat.
00:58:31.000But when you go through that, hundreds of firefights in my base, Don, when we were at Ford Operating Base Burmel, which is right on the Afghan-Pakistan border, we got hit with over 4,000 plus indirect fire attacks there.
00:58:56.000Most guys that were the warfighters, that have been through something similar, that have actually had bullets cracked by their head, come to the same conclusion.
00:59:05.000But those are precisely the guys that you want to stay in, who get the stars on their shoulder, who help lead an effective military based on merit.
00:59:13.000But the problem is, many of the warfighters have that experience.
00:59:16.000And they say, you know what, I gotta get out.
00:59:20.000The amount of guys in the last six months that basically came like...
00:59:23.000I mean, like serious operators, the guys we spend millions of, you know, SEALs, whatever it may be, Rangers, like, we're like, hey, you know, I'm trying to get an extension because I'm supposed to either retire or re-sign up, and I'm trying to get an extension so I can see what happens in the election, because I'm not doing this again, you know, for a warmongering party.
00:59:42.000I'll serve my country under your father, but not under Kamala Harris.
00:59:46.000It's actually scary because the notion of losing all these guys, I mean, that's just more Americans dead because you lose those experienced warfighters, the guys that have done it and led, because you are going to be in conflict.
00:59:58.000I mean, there's going to be things that are going to have to be done.
01:00:00.000You lose those guys and you have a bunch of green guys doing it.
01:00:03.000You're just not going to get the same outcome.
01:00:06.000Well, and Don, what you also lose is 20 years of tip-of-the-spear warfighting experience.
01:00:12.000So yes, what do we have to show for Iraq and Afghanistan?
01:00:16.000By the way, it was all of the experienced people, the right people that the system told us that we should put in these positions that got us into Iraq, that got us into Afghanistan.
01:00:28.000That surrendered Afghanistan in the most horrifying public way.
01:00:30.000That now got us entangled in a quagmire in Ukraine.
01:00:50.000So, well, listen, I think now we have like this incredible opportunity, perhaps the best opportunity ever to achieve like actual America first greatness.
01:01:00.000I want to ask you, Sean, before we finish up, what's your one minute, you know, minute one, you know, inauguration day agenda to get these things going?
01:02:13.000The fact that we have, you know, lots of different backgrounds is a good thing.
01:02:17.000But it's never about, you know, it's like college campuses, right?
01:02:19.000They want diversity in anything other than, like, intellectual.
01:02:22.000Like, you know, they want diversity of color, you know, this, that, the other, but, like, not the things that you would actually think of at university.
01:02:28.000Same thing, I don't know if you've seen the show.
01:02:30.000We've, for the last few weeks, we've highlighted these videos coming out of the VA, you know.
01:02:38.000They're talking to guys that lost limbs about pronouns, and they're talking to them like they're three-year-olds, or this would be something that matters, and they've spent millions and millions of dollars, rather than like...
01:02:49.000I don't know, fixing, you know, the veterans, you know, the administration, they're pushing pronouns and agendas, and they got, you know, prosthetic limbs for trans, you know, not like a leg, but like maybe a third leg, you know, for people going through a transitioning, and I'm like, what are you talking about?
01:03:09.000Like, what is going, like, I think I'm being punk.
01:03:10.000Like, South Park could do nothing on this.
01:03:13.000Like, it was just other than maybe play the actual video.
01:03:15.000Like they could not make it dumber or worse.
01:03:18.000And yet, like, this is what our taxpayer dollars were going for.
01:03:21.000And Don, it's, you know, anytime you hear somebody that says diversity is our strength, that's a big indicator that they're not a good fit for the job.
01:03:29.000Because what makes our military exceptional is unity, not diversity.
01:03:35.000It's the fact that, yeah, we can put aside our many differences, you know, color, skin color, you know, religion, you know, politics, political background and say, no, none of that matters.
01:03:46.000We're a part of the greatest fighting force in the world.
01:03:49.000And we're focused on one singular mission, and that is winning wars.
01:03:53.000Anything else, you know, any diversity class, any pronoun BS, anything that takes away from our ability to fight and win wars is a distraction and it needs to be rooted out.
01:04:06.000And then, obviously, getting the Pentagon to pass an audit because they haven't in seven years is also a pretty big priority to make sure that our taxpayer dollars and the money that's being appropriated to the Pentagon is being spent in the most effective way possible.
01:04:26.000But, you know, last thing I'll say is this about the army.
01:04:29.000I'm telling you, there is a huge problem with the United States Army right now, Don.
01:04:35.000And this is the last thing I'll say, I promise, because I know we're coming up against the end.
01:04:39.000But when I joined the military, we were largely focused on More conventional fighting force, the Soviets, Cold War era army, we shifted to what's called brigade combat teams, which were, to speak simply about it, to fight asymmetric threats as part of the global war on terror.
01:04:58.000It means when we were tasked organized as a military to fight against conventional forces, we had surface-to-air missiles and platoons.
01:05:06.000So in other words, we could be fighting against the Russians, light infantry on the battlefield, you have a Russian Hindy helicopter there, you've got to have Stinger missiles to take it out, otherwise you're done.
01:05:16.000When we moved the brigade combat teams, those elements were taken out of platoons.
01:05:20.000So we've had a brigade combat team structure for the last 20-some years in Iraq, Afghanistan, but now all the threats that we face are conventional.
01:06:04.000Like, I want to do a whole show on that because that is so important, especially, you know, in the advent of, you know, drone war.
01:06:10.000You know, I'm watching some of these drone videos out of Russia and Ukraine.
01:06:13.000And it's not like us when we send a $2 billion missile, you know, to take out, you know, one person and usually, you know, a bunch of civilian casualties, you know, You know, happened at the same time, but like, you know, they're using like a $300 drone from Amazon to take out 20 guys, literally with a little, you know, servo that drops a grenade.
01:06:32.000I'm like, wow, like the battlefield is changing rapidly with technology.
01:06:36.000I mean, you know, I would love to use more drones to get our guys out of harm's way and all these things.
01:07:10.000Whoever's in charge of this job has got to be laser focused over the next four years at evolving our army because I'm telling you, we are at great, great, great risk right now.
01:07:20.000Well, Sean, thank you very much as always.
01:07:22.000Let me know when you get down to Florida next time.
01:07:24.000I promise you won't get arrested by Secret Service this time going back tomorrow.