#41 - From Crash, to Chaos, to Congress: A Story of Determination with Madison Cawthorn

Do you want an inspiring tale of resilience and determination? Madison Cawthorn shares his remarkable journey from a devastating car accident to being one of the youngest congressmen, discussing the complexities of the political landscape he now navigates. His experiences highlight the importance of faith, service, and the struggles of representing his community amid external pressures and challenges. 

• Reflecting on his childhood and upbringing 
• A life-changing accident and recovery journey 
• Transitioning into a career in politics 
• Navigating the complex world of lobbying and influence 
• Insights into the events of January 6th 
• The power of resilience and faith in overcoming adversity 
• Plans for the future and dedicated service to the community

Chapters

• 0:09 Podcast Guest Gifts and Homeschooling Benefits
• 7:50 Growing Up in North Carolina
• 17:25 Surviving a Near-Fatal Car Accident
• 28:51 Maintaining a Strong Mindset
• 37:59 Life Defining Moment
• 50:10 Direct Voter Engagement Strategy
• 54:18 Election Victory Against All Odds
• 1:03:13 Navigating Politics
• 1:10:01 Navigating the Political Arena
• 1:21:56 Political Influence of Lobbyists in Government
• 1:30:04 Navigating Political Dynamics in Congress
• 1:33:17 Christian Values in National Guard Training
• 1:37:48 National Guard Parking Garage Pizza Party
• 1:44:49 Capitol Events and FBI Involvement
• 1:50:29 Friendship and Political Banter

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

All right, Dude you ready, I'm so ready.

Speaker 2: 0:11

Bambi, madison, let's go, let's roll.

Speaker 1: 0:16

All right, I'm ready, let's get it.

Speaker 2: 0:18

So, dude, welcome. Welcome to the show, dude, it's an honor to be here, really.

Speaker 1: 0:22

I'll tell you, and just so the viewing audience knows, there are actually a lot of steps to get up here and Bam made sure there wasn't a problem. Fifteen, fifteen steps, he made it feel like it was two.

Speaker 2: 0:31

I didn't tell you until we got here.

Speaker 1: 0:33

Yeah, he did keep that one hidden. You see, we have a mutual friend named Justin and you know we were on a fishing trip. Everything was going great. And then he's like, oh, we're going, we started off, we were in some normal hotel elevators, everything was great. And he's like, yeah, we're going to the next spot, but it's right on the beach, you're going to love it. I was like, great, so we drive out there, and then I just get out of the car and easier for you. And then, you know, then it was multiple staircases to get inside the house and I feel like it's kind of what you did here, and so I just want to say thanks for making me get out of my comfort zone.

Speaker 1: 1:08

That was great, you know what we got to bond immediately if we're going to have this conversation, trauma bonding Just right away.

Speaker 2: 1:13

I'm all for trauma bonding. Once you're trauma bonded, you're ago. Yeah, we're doing it. Well, dude, welcome to the show. I do something a little different here. Um, I do like to help out the veteran and law enforcement community. So with this platform and as it grows I don't have sponsors yet, but, uh, what I do is I offer anybody the small businesses that are veteran military, law enforcement, first responder owned to be able to send us things to be able to give to guests as a thank you for coming on and if somebody sees it and wants to support them, it's just a way for me to be able to give back to the community. So got a couple awesome companies. Today I got a really good buddy of mine, c-state Coffee.

Speaker 1: 1:53

Oh, that's what I'm talking about Recon Marine.

Speaker 2: 1:55

He actually was just brewing this last night and ran it over for you Wanted to make sure you get him loved. Got some cold brews for you to send home because I know if you're hanging out with the dejan boys, you're getting zero sleep.

Speaker 1: 2:04

So honestly, I'm starting to get them, just like I'm making them tired. That's impressive. Yeah, that is impressive.

Speaker 2: 2:11

Nothing but fuel yeah, and obviously we're going to be at the vault tonight, which is your eagle, so we're having a, a trump party. This guy with the platoon cigars, so I'll make sure he's sent home with those the war machine. He was actually a combat Marine, got out, became a cop in Chicago, got shot in the line of duty and yeah. So this guy is You're kidding me. No, I'm going to get him on the show and.

Speaker 1: 2:33

It just goes to show that, you know, the modern American massive city is more dangerous than the combat zone. And then this one.

Speaker 2: 2:39

I really. This is a new guy, new guy, I know you are a christian man and so this is a cop.

Speaker 1: 2:49

It's god-fearing lifting club.

Speaker 2: 2:50

No, I want to give you a shirt from him. He's an active duty cop out of california. He just started this company. It's actually I'm wearing one of his shirts right now. Oh, that's sweet so he sent me, wanted me to be able to give an awesome guest a couple of gifts, and so yeah, so I figured you'd be in versus goliath.

Speaker 1: 3:05

Oh, that is. Oh it's. You got a picture of young david holding up the philistine giant's head. That's sick, right, that's sick. Whoever this guy is, please tell him.

Speaker 2: 3:13

Yes, this is awesome so godfrey and lifting club man he's. He's a active duty cop out of socal. His mission is to grow this company so he can actually open up gyms and be able to give veterans a place to come, give them Bibles they can learn, come together as a group. So, yeah, man, I throw these things, these invites out for companies to be like, hey, if I can help in any way. And then these guys reach right out and they're like, man, if you could help me, and so I wear their gear, give them the guests and be able to get them a plug. And if somebody buys, had platforms and they were doing things like this to give back to the community, it would just, it helps everybody, it would be a real community. So that's where I'll never stop doing it. No matter how big this podcast ever gets, I'll always help the community and give back. So that's kind of our way.

Speaker 1: 3:52

And then, obviously, my daughters um, they have the sour bee and so yeah, that's how you guys see, this is a sourdough loaf made with nutella, so it makes you kind of feel like you're cheating, but you're still eating good food. Great for your gut, health, yep, incredible. So to your daughters I just want to say thank you, yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:07

By the way man.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Also. We already talked about how your wife's way out of your league. Your daughters are awesome. I mean you did a great job on them.

Speaker 2: 4:17

Thank you, they're phenomenal humans. Thank you, you should be. You're a homeschool kid, so you get it Homeschool all the way through.

Speaker 1: 4:22

I knew exactly, like literally the second I saw them. You didn't have to tell me they were homeschooled.

Speaker 2: 4:25

I knew right off the bat, because they could actually have a conversation with you, looking in the eyes, oh, exactly, exactly, yeah, and I'll tell you, in DC I think probably 75% or 80% of my staff is homeschooled.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Really, yeah, are just to know, kind of, where they're from and also to understand, you know, because obviously so many families are different even within the homeschool world. But you understand where their mindset is. It's like okay, I can give you a problem, I don't need to micromanage you whereas with so much, so many other people who go through traditional education, especially if they go through something higher than college.

Speaker 1: 5:01

if there are not, you know, guide, rails and sidebars on their life, they just they get so lost, so easy and you have to always come in and be like, hey, do this, got to do this. I like the self motivators, people are going to handle it.

Speaker 2: 5:11

It's one of the best benefits to homeschooling that we've learned over the last five years is figuring it out Right? What's the solution? Figure it out. If you can't come up with a solution, come to us. We're going to help you.

Speaker 1: 5:23

And my biggest thing is just you know I need you to. If you come to me with a problem, it needs to be a narrowly defined problem and almost always, if you can narrowly define the problem, the solution just is automatically already there.

Speaker 2: 5:34

And she's a prime example. You know she's 16 years old. When we brought the podcast in-house, she went and sat in the studio, I think once or twice. We got everything set up here and I'm like, hey, learn it, figure it out.

Speaker 1: 5:47

Producer's killing it.

Speaker 2: 5:49

And this is your eighth episode here at the house. So yeah, eighth episode, that's awesome. And the way the growth that we have, the way it looks, the sound, it's all her. And she sits up here YouTubing, chatting whatever she has, and then she's a stubborn son of a gun. She'll like me so there'll be times I'm like christy we just can't figure it out.

Speaker 2: 6:08

We got to get mom because her and I mom figures out everything you know but she'll come up and she'll have these problems like dad I don't know why I didn't do this and I'm and then 30 minutes, I got it. Okay, I got it. We're like cool, like that and it's. It's that putting children under stress at a younger age, and I don't know how to judge it, but there's times, especially when they were competing competitively, we might put a lot of stress on them and we were those parents, for sure, but it's preparing them for the real world. And then she's seeing her friends and they're coming home and they're crying in the shower because they had a math test that day, and they have complete meltdowns and they're talking to her and she's like you're crying over this.

Speaker 2: 6:46

Can't relate at all and she's like I got to work for my dad and I tell her I'm like, if you can learn to work for me, I'm going to be the hardest boss you will ever work. I'm not. There's no ifs, ands or buts. This is how things are going to be run, especially if we want to take this thing serious. And so she's had to learn with that and there's no budging. I'm like, okay, kid, yeah, no problem. Like, hey, I want to go to youth group. Is everything done? So now, she knows, uploaded and standby.

Speaker 1: 7:22

I'll tell you, Clipped. So few podcasts are capable of delivering that. Like, oh yeah, we'll get you clips and we'll get you posts. Then the people are just mentally slow, Really. Oh man, we'll get you whatever you want. It's because they went homeschool. I'm telling you, it's a homeschool thing.

Speaker 2: 7:35

Well, dude, speaking of homeschool, let's just start. Start right at the beginning and just jump into it.

Speaker 1: 7:44

I don't know how much time you got. Well, I'm driving, so you have all the time in the world. So we're up a massive staircase so I feel like you legitimately can't get away. And you know you're mine. Yeah, I did. You know there's a lot of people. I'm very not afraid of most people, just because you know I I I feel decently confident, but you're a big motherfucker, you're a big guy this is my me, at my smallest too.

Speaker 2: 7:59

Oh wow, I used to be a absolute gorilla, but I was just too heavy.

Speaker 1: 8:03

Jeez man. I believe that 290.

Speaker 2: 8:05

I was 290 in the Marine Corps. That's a good weight, absolute, just blob of a human being.

Speaker 1: 8:10

What's it feel like being victim weight now. Are you afraid of the wind? Mm-hmm, yeah, it's making you nervous. Yeah, 240, 250. I'm like, oh good, go outside.

Speaker 2: 8:25

Feel yeah. So well, dude the hell man, I mean thank you, for I mean you're in Idaho. This, honestly, is huge for us, because we're such a new, small, just starting podcast. I mean I think it'll be episode 42 or whatever you know About now man.

Speaker 2: 8:37

We're right there and we just finished the Room. I mean, we had some really good start out of the gate and then when we moved it here Thank you, dude, it's been a lot, and so it's an honor to have somebody like you to be here this early. I feel like in the game. Yeah, I honestly thought the very first congressman politician would be Eli, Because he's a homie. Love Eli, we go back. He's a good guy.

Speaker 1: 9:01

Eli Crane. He's a homie Love.

Speaker 2: 9:02

Eli, we go back. He's a good guy. I bought one of his bottle breachers when he was just back from his last deployment as a Navy SEAL, carving them out in his garage. That's how long I've known him. That's how long. I've been supporting Eli and he's been supporting me. He was a mentor for my organization.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Oh man, Eli and I. Eli Crane's a solid congressman.

Speaker 2: 9:20

He's doing a good job actually he we were actually in utah together and him and I were on a, we were out in an event and we were leaving, going to town to grab some supplies. He's like, hey, I gotta tell you something. I'm like what's up? He's like I think I'm gonna run for congress. And I look at him like you sure you want to do this? And he's like I have to make a difference. Man, I have to. And I was like dude. And him and his wife are I mean, they are such an incredible couple and strong in faith and everything that they're about and their family. And I was like dude, I know you guys are tight, but they're going to run you through the ringer. And he's like we're ready. He's like I'm ready. He's like, but I have to make a difference. And so he was like I don't tell anybody, but I'm going to, I'm going to give it up and talked about it, bam bam Nice congressman.

Speaker 2: 10:04

He's doing it. He's crushing it too. He's doing a great job. Yeah, he's the first one I thought would be on it, then obviously, I hit him up, I got you. Eli, yeah, he did. He's all big and famous and doing congress shit now so he doesn't have time for us little people anymore.

Speaker 1: 10:19

No, for sure, okay, so north carolina boy yeah, so I'm from the mountains in north carolina. What part? Uh, hendersonville, but it's right outside of asheville. Okay, yeah, um, best, best place in the world grew up really yeah just great people.

Speaker 1: 10:31

You know asheville is really weird. You know, just like when I was a kid. You know people. You know they drop young teenagers off. You go, you see a bunch of hippies like in a drum circle smoking weed and it's like okay, that's cool. But now you know, like, especially during close to like 2020, that area, you know there was just so many needles on the ground defecating on the ground really yeah, a lot of homeless people moved in, a lot of like there's an antifa headquarters there, like it's just a bunch of weird, weird stuff.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Yeah, there's a some really weird stuff that goes on inside of ashville, but, um, yeah, so my district, uh, it used to be all the mountains around ashville, but then, uh, redistricting happened and then I got to where I represented Asheville as well, and that was just. That was a trip.

Speaker 2: 11:09

So growing up, I mean, what were you into sports-wise hunting, fishing. I mean, what did you do as a kid from North Carolina?

Speaker 1: 11:14

Main sports football.

Speaker 2: 11:15

Yeah, what position Okay?

Speaker 1: 11:16

Yeah, just like I like hitting people. Yeah, but then after that you that obviously fall is the best time of the year. It's awesome You've got politics that are going on.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Politically. We would follow politics very closely, so that made it fun. Then you have football, Then you have dove season at the exact same time. Nothing could be better. That's just everything you need in life. Then bonfire weather. It was a great place to grow up. I'll tell you I really lucked out because I have probably the best family you could ever imagine to come from.

Speaker 2: 11:47

Yeah, parents still together.

Speaker 1: 11:48

Parents still together.

Speaker 2: 11:49

Good.

Speaker 1: 11:49

And then I got an older brother, four and a half years older than me, but having my older brother was basically like having a second dad. My brother was outrageously wise and just a super morally good guy, but they'd also be four years apart. Where we were close enough enough we could compete and like have fun playing together, but we were never in competition, Whether it was for friends, you know girls football, that's a perfect age, yeah, Okay.

Speaker 1: 12:11

But then one of the most fun things is his football coach. When I was in my eighth grade, so in middle school, my brother was a senior, Yep, and it his last year of football. And so I remember I went and asked his coach. I was like hey, is there a chance I can play for your football team? He was like no, you're like way too young. And I was like I know where my brother's last year, and so I got to play football with my brother his last year.

Speaker 2: 12:32

Really so that was super fun.

Speaker 1: 12:33

I remember, you know, we'd be in practice or in a game or whatever and against like an 18 year old, yeah, and then I'd be like geez, that was brutal, I'd get up.

Speaker 2: 12:44

Okay, I'm like different.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Yeah, I'm like ready to go. And then I would just see my brother just walk onto it like a you know a position he's not even in and then just destroy the guy. And the coach was like well, that's just some senior discipline, right there and so but yeah, my getting to grow up with my brother and my family is the best thing in the world.

Speaker 2: 12:58

That's cool and so.

Speaker 1: 12:59

I had a charmed childhood, um, really very strong believers of christ, like you know. It was never like, oh, hey, this religion it was like it was a relationship, you know became a christian when I was uh, six, nice, yeah, and then so I've been in it ever since oh, ever since. Yeah, you know, obviously it goes up and down for sure never, never been like.

Speaker 1: 13:18

Oh, you know, I walked away from the faith. It's been. Obviously, I couldn't even walk away from the faith at this point. I just can't walk. So but, um, but yeah. So I had a phenomenal childhood. Everything was great and your dad served too, right? Yeah, he was a Marine. Yep, my grandpa was a Marine.

Speaker 2: 13:31

How was that? So I mean, you talk about having a great father. I mean, was he your typical Marine or was he like hey, that was my time and now it's time to do the family thing, because I feel like you get one or the other you know what I?

Speaker 1: 13:42

I think that my dad's upbringing was very much, uh, like, because his dad was a career guy. I think his upbringing was very much, um, like he was in the marines. You know, his dad like really expected him to treat him just like, you know, a master sergeant at home. Um, but that was not my, my raising at all. Um, you know, like there was definitely some marine corps discipline.

Speaker 2: 14:04

For sure, for sure Got the standards and guidelines.

Speaker 1: 14:07

Got the standards, but you're not getting knife handed every day, oh not every day, but you know you get knife handed every once in a while. I remember I blocked a slap from my mom one time. Oh, she was not slapping me, I was not. I blocked something from my mom, she was just being funny. And I just remember my dad just teleported into the room.

Speaker 2: 14:23

He's like you can't take a hit from a woman and I was like whoa, whoa, whoa.

Speaker 1: 14:26

And I just didn't tell. But it was great. And then I remember, I think when I was 16 years old, it was the first time I realized I was going to beat my dad wrestling. Yeah, really, I had him, I was.

Speaker 2: 14:40

That's a pivotal moment for a father-son.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Yeah, but then that is when I realized that my father is not Roger Cawthorn, my father's a Marine. And all of a sudden, all the rules that we had growing up of how?

Speaker 2: 14:51

we're supposed to fight.

Speaker 1: 14:52

they all changed and he was like I taught you how to fight with honor and I'm going to teach you how to win. And then he was like the Marine's coming out. And I just yeah, I got knife-handed a lot of fun.

Speaker 2: 15:02

Yeah, I see obviously a girl dead. I don't have to worry about that, but I remember when, like, the time comes where you know the young buck takes over.

Speaker 2: 15:08

Yep, you know I don't know how that feels as a father, knowing I got a buddy and his son's just an absolute monster of a human being for a kid, like a young kid, and he's already taller than him. He's like bro, this kid's gonna give me a run if he ever steps up. My buddy's a giant human being and so it's. It's fun to watch like a son father dynamic, especially when they're they work together, you know so they're always. He's starting to bow up and kind of exactly get that confidence. You get that bandy rooster coming out every once in a while.

Speaker 1: 15:36

Yeah, my, you know, all of a sudden, dad be like well, dude, you're like 13, you're not gonna take me. Yeah, you can try, um, but no, yeah, growing up was just a lot of fun. I remember, you know it's just a lot of wrestling, a lot, a lot of fighting in my house, you know just like I mean. After every single meal, because my brother's got four daughters now and so our life.

Speaker 1: 15:56

We came from the most testosterone filled everything's camouflaged and hunting and shooting, and just you know, my mother had absolutely zero tolerance for anything that was not masculine. Just like you know. I mean just nothing. And then now I've got four nieces, my dad's got four granddaughters, my brother's got four daughters, it's just everything's pink. We're all so patient and quiet now and it's, it's a change.

Speaker 2: 16:18

You, it's just a big, it's a big chain see, I knew my future and I knew god plan, and boys were not in it.

Speaker 1: 16:25

Yeah, well, you got the infantry curse right.

Speaker 2: 16:28

No, I wasn't infantry, but I was, you know, and famous assault vehicles. But you know, yep, bro, and even the wife, she'll tell you she's like Marines.

Speaker 1: 16:36

All of you are the same, and all my buddies every one of them, girls, all girls, all girls, and she's like yeah, y'all are a bunch of dirt bags running around.

Speaker 2: 16:44

She's like, it's exactly, she's like karma she calls about it karma, karma, karma. She's like I know all of you and so yeah so after number two I was like we're good, I love it, but everyone's like try for a boy and I'm like I'll be that dad with like seven daughters Still trying like hanging in there.

Speaker 1: 17:02

It's going to happen.

Speaker 2: 17:02

It's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 17:03

Yeah, I just accepted my fate, Really yeah, but you know you're going to have so much fun when they, you know, scare the crap out of boys.

Speaker 2: 17:09

Love it, it's such a great time.

Speaker 2: 17:12

It is a great time, man. I really enjoy it. I think you're given what you know God thinks you can handle. I two was coming and it was a girl. I was devastated, devastated because everyone's like, oh dude, you're, bam, you're having a boy, you're having a boy. And brit, the whole time it's like no, you're not, no, you're not. And then we were in the ultrasound. They said she and I was like fuck, like I was, I, I didn't, we weren't even like trying. It was not an accident, but we were playing with fire.

Speaker 2: 17:39

Yeah, so I was like oh, you knew what time it was yeah, I mean I wasn't being smart, but it happened, so it's like okay, we're here.

Speaker 1: 17:46

I met her. She's great, incredible and so.

Speaker 2: 17:50

But once you know and I was not about the pregnancy, I was just I was kind of an asshole in a different place then, but as soon as she came out and grabbed my finger, owned me, I was like, okay, there we go. Yeah, we'll do it again. Yeah, but yeah, it's been fun, so I love it. Well, that's exciting, brother.

Speaker 1: 18:11

So after high school? Yeah, so you know, my senior year of high school. I was 18 years old, I was on spring break with my best friend and having a great time. You know, we were two Christian young men, so it was as much fun as two Christians can have on spring break.

Speaker 1: 18:23

We had and down in Florida, and then we were driving home. I think it was Steak and Shake. We stopped at Steak and Shake, we ate, and then I called my mom and told her what time we'd probably be back. And so we were driving and then I remember I tapped my buddy. I was like, hey man, I'm going to take a nap right quick, wake me up and I'll take you and my buddy, who's a great guy. Friends to this day. Friends to this day. Oh yeah, good, trauma bonded. Trauma bonded for sure. Yeah, but no, he, for whatever reason, thought while driving that it would be better as a group activity if he also took a nap.

Speaker 1: 18:52

No, and so, yeah, the next thing, I know, you know I wake up a long time later in the hospital. So then our vehicle, we were going back, you know, um, we're probably going I don't know 70 ish. Uh, veered off the road, we're in construction zone and then, front right corner passenger side, where I'm sitting, the, just headlong into a concrete barricade. And then the, uh, yeah, the, the. I don't know if you know the pedal was stuck or what happened at that point, but then the car just kept going forward. And so then you know, the concrete exposed the fuel line and the sparks hit the fuel line. And so then you know, the car is ignited.

Speaker 1: 19:26

I'm, you know, just slumped over, you know, spine destroyed, kidney's been ripped off, severe internal bleeding, both, both lungs ruptured. Um, you know, my buddy brad was able to get out of the vehicle. And then, you know, a bunch of people came back, got me, got me out, but you know they're like this guy's gone. And then, um, they realize I'm still alive. So then I get picked up by a helicopter, fly me over to phenomenal hospital in daytona which you're going to get. A car accident, you know pick daytona.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Okay, they know how to handle a car accident um, and so you know, went to halifax hospital, um, and then they end up calling my family and you know, obviously I'm sure you as a parent can understand worst call anybody could ever imagine um, and it was like hey, you know, but obviously the, the, they're very strict on what you're allowed to say at that moment, and so you know it has to be something confirmed.

Speaker 1: 20:10

And so they're talking to um my mom and she answered the phone, and she was you know. They said, hey, your son's been involved in a car accident, being brought here. We just wanted to let you know. And then, so then you know my mom, trying to rule out the worst case scenario, she said well, you said he's been in a car accident, you know, and obviously he gave you my number or something, but you know why? He's not like dying or anything, is he? And she's like well, we can confirm to you right now that you know he has a broken ankle, because that was, I guess, the only thing they, this woman on a woman level and was like what's going on with?

Speaker 1: 20:39

my son. Why is he not calling me if he's got a broken ankle? And then there was a long pause and this woman said Mrs Cawthorn, we're a trauma level four hospital, we're the number one trauma center in the state, and your son's being flown to us for a reason is all I can tell you.

Speaker 1: 21:00

And then gave her a call back later I'm already in surgery at this point and then she said Mrs Cawthorn, you and your family need to come down here right now and you should fly, because if you don't, you will not get to say goodbye to your son. No, yeah, so they're preparing.

Speaker 2: 21:14

Oh yeah, I was going to die.

Speaker 1: 21:16

I mean, there is no reason I should be alive aside from God Almighty.

Speaker 2: 21:18

So clearly you at this point just to oh I.

Speaker 1: 21:21

I'm in back-to-back 16-hour surgeries. They're trying to like make me stop bleeding on the inside. My kidney's been ripped off. I've got a traumatic brain injury. My diaphragm's ruptured.

Speaker 2: 21:28

Do you have a seat belt on or no, had a seat belt on um.

Speaker 1: 21:32

you know, I've seen like probably three or four different recreations of the accident, of what they think may have happened. You know one. Did you have your feet on the dash? Maybe the air back through your legs over it snapped your spine. One is you know the seat belt. You just fly forward because you were late, because obviously I was laying back in the seat so you went through the top. One that maybe snapped your spine, who knows. But at the end of the day, you know, I had severe third-degree burns all over my body. My kidney had been ripped off. You know, my lungs were just popped, my diaphragm had ruptured, traumatic brain injury. Pelvis was destroyed T12 vertebrae destroyed.

Speaker 1: 22:09

And then just being on fire for so long, not having oxygen, while all that was going on, just made it even worse. And then so I went to back-to-back multiple-digit hour surgeries, and then my family got down there.

Speaker 2: 22:25

How long did it take him to get down there? What was the distance between?

Speaker 1: 22:28

So North Carolina, daytona, is about, I would say, on a good day, like an 11 hour drive, Um, and I remember my brother was home because, again, just to talk about how great my brother is my brother had literally taken a semester off of college to spend my last, like my last little bit of high school with me just to, like, you know, train me, make me awesome. Um, I was want to play football and stuff, and so he was just really focused on me. And then, um, and so he, you know, he came back from work. My mom is there and then she says what happened? And I think my brother broke something. Um, and then they were like we got to pack right now. And then I just remember they've told me this in the past that they, you know, got there after they got out of the hospital. They were checking hotel. This is like days later. They said, when they opened their bags, like the most random stuff we threw in, it was like a toothbrush, like one sock, like a lamp, just like grabbing.

Speaker 2: 23:16

You said they were packing, literally as you were talking, going through my room.

Speaker 1: 23:20

I'm like what the what would I even think? What do you grab? Yeah, and my brother was like I'm driving. He got in the car and so you know, just because of you know, georgia State Patrol and FHP are pretty strict. I'm not going to talk about how fast my family made it there, but they made it really fast. Well, so they drove. Oh, they drove, yeah, because there was a storm system and so I don't think they would have. They didn't lose much time driving. Yeah, he put in some work, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 23:47

So they got there and then biggest thing that happened them calling my mom and it's still kind of up for debate of who gave them my mother's phone number, because my lungs were deflated and my diaphragm was open so I couldn't speak. So maybe I wrote it down or, like signed it to the woman. I knew sign language at the time, because Brad was incapacitated, he couldn't talk either, and so I don't know how she got my phone number. That's a mystery to this day, but I will say I genuinely believe that saved my life, because then my mom called, you know, pastor's wife and everybody else, and then I just had an army of people praying and then every doctor I've talked to from that hospital is like there's no reason you should be alive. I was one of the most injured people in all of Florida history to actually live.

Speaker 2: 24:27

Really.

Speaker 1: 24:27

Yeah, I don't remember what it is, but there's a trauma rating scale and I was one of the highest to actually still be alive, yeah, yeah. And then also, after I got out of the ICU, which I was there for multiple months then went to Atlanta for rehab at the Shepherd Center, and then, you know, I was, I was in the hospital probably close to 13 months and then that was just brutal. And then I remember them, you know, starting to explain okay, well, you know, this is what your life's going to look like now, and I was so solidly certain that I was going to. You know, I was like guys you don't know, you don't know me Like you know I was like guys you don't know me. Like I know I might be really injured right now, but I'm going to be back walking in no time.

Speaker 2: 25:07

So you, in your mind, you're that being paralyzed was not an option.

Speaker 1: 25:11

No, that's not an option Not going to happen. I was like give me a year, I'll be good to go. Then, you know, anniversary comes. I'm like, okay, I'm still not walking. I got into a pretty dark spot at that point.

Speaker 2: 25:22

That was one of my questions. What was it like Going from a young kid on top of the world to now it's sinking in, that you're paralyzed and you're never walking again. Man.

Speaker 1: 25:39

Not a phenomenal time. I mean it was a, because you know I was 6'3", I was 225. You know I could run a sub four minute mile. I could. It was running like a four, four, six, four, seven, forty. You know deadlifting, you know over 600 pounds. You know as strong as could be physically awesome, smart, everything was great. But then, um, you know, and then I go to literally I can't control my body. And then, you know, my brain was still really foggy from the TBI and then I couldn't even talk, which was, you know, kind of my main skill in life.

Speaker 2: 26:09

Really.

Speaker 1: 26:09

As long as I can talk, I'm good to go. But my diaphragm was ruptured. You know, I got a tracheotomy in so I couldn't even speak and so everything that I felt like you know, I had ever just a really, really, really difficult time, but that's the one thing that I will say. So many people reach out to my family. It's like, man, you guys are such incredible people of faith. We can't believe how strong you are in this. And it's kind of when we started to realize that a lot of people who say they're Christians and stuff like that, they don't actually mean it.

Speaker 2: 26:36

That's when you know, in those times yeah, because that was just our normal.

Speaker 1: 26:39

Nothing really changed for us. We were just like, you know, we didn't start talking to God more or anything like that. It was like, oh, that's just how we rolled the entire life. And so because my parents you know, this is that verse about train your child up in the way they should go you know, my parents had done that, they had set our foundation on a rock, and so I could possibly imagine I lived somewhere else, I felt like I was somebody else. I couldn't talk, couldn't walk, couldn't do anything, Still had faith, I still had God, you know. So that was all pretty solid. And then also I got to say you know, my parents are the best parents in the world. My mom is one of the greatest people I've ever met on the planet. But my brother just a picture of brotherly love. My brother slept on the out of the hospital.

Speaker 1: 27:21

So over a year really yeah and I remember you know they were, when we moved to that one place, like, oh well, you can't really sleep here, you just have a chair. And all you know he came in with like a mattress and they were like, oh sir, you can't bring that in. He was like, okay, you want to stop me? And then he just brought that in threw it down, yeah, so good for you.

Speaker 2: 27:35

I was never alone. Good for you, guys yeah do you relate that bond and tightness to to home, being homeschooled and just being with each other 24-7?

Speaker 1: 27:42

Yeah, being together a lot. And then you know also a lot of older brothers, I feel like you know people are like, oh yeah, the older brother experience he's just picking on you and beating you up all the time Not my experience whatsoever. You know, my brother, freaking, loved me to death. He wants me to be better than he is, you know, always there to help me. And so one because obviously you know this. But people who grow up and go to public school or whatever, they're really only good at hanging out with their peers that they know. Whereas my brother and I, when we finished studying about the ancient Romans, our entire year's trip would be oh, now we're going to Rome, we'd learn about Hellenism in Greece. We'd then go to Athens and run 100 meters where the Olympics used to be held. So we just got to travel all over the world together as brothers. That's cool, because my parents I come from a lower middle class family, but my parents were like, oh, we're going to live in a smaller house so we can go do things.

Speaker 1: 28:38

So we had all these awesome experiences together, which was great, because I think it'd be really difficult to be born with a disability versus, you know, going through the first 18 years of my life really, yeah, man, I, I feel like that I'd be.

Speaker 2: 28:51

I think the complete opposite, because you, you have, you had a taste of freedom, life, what it was like and then that gets ripped from you.

Speaker 1: 28:59

But when you're born into it, I feel like you just don't know any different that's's true, but now I can relate with people, so well, Okay okay, and then this is just one observation I've had I found that people that are born with disabilities are the people that get really mad when you help them, like sometimes. I'm sure you've seen it before, but you open the door and there's some guy in a wheelchair.

Speaker 1: 29:18

I got it, I can do it. And those guys are normally like, because their entire life you've been trying to help them and pity them, so they wouldn't want to fix it. They're like, oh no, I don't need that help. Whereas me, growing up, you know, not being in a wheelchair, I know that you're just like, oh, I legitimately have superpowers compared to you. Like, I can do this in two seconds. You know the person's just trying to help you. They don't like feel bad for you spending six minutes to get something off a shelf. Yeah, um, and so I I think it's made my life way easier, having having lived that life. And then also, you know getting to live, like the fun experience I got to do, you know surfed and why I've, you know, skied the coolest places you can. You know jumped off cliffs and all kinds of fun stuff. You know I can relate to people with whatever they're doing, and so I, I I'm happy that I got to live 18 years for sure, sure.

Speaker 2: 30:04

I mean, yeah, if you're going to have it, but I have a lot of people.

Speaker 1: 30:07

I do know a lot of people who are like, oh, I wish I had never known. Really.

Speaker 2: 30:11

Yeah, I'm like you. If I was cool experiencing it, it would be hard to get over that phase. But once you realize, hey, this is my new life and this is the cards I've been dealt, but man.

Speaker 1: 30:21

You got to experience it. I think you'll agree with this. Almost everything comes down to mindset 100%, and I think most people that find themselves in wheelchairs me. Not being able to walk is my disability, but for most people, their brain is their disability and there are limiting factors they put on themselves Because I've got a freaking awesome life. Like I can't walk and being in a wheelchair sucks. It's brutal. It's a thousand minor inconveniences every single day. Yeah, makes a lot of things really hard, but, man, I do more in a wheelchair than most people do when they can walk and I've got a phenomenal life. Man, I'm super blessed. God's taking really good care of me.

Speaker 2: 30:55

Good so that's awesome, man. How did your buddy turn out injury wise?

Speaker 1: 31:00

oh man, uh, brad had no injuries. Yeah, not a, not a scratch. I think he might have got a scratch on his hand like an actual scratch yeah.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Okay.

Speaker 1: 31:11

Nuts. But yeah, I will give him this. This was a contentious thing for a while, whether you know. Did Brad come back to save him or did he leave the thing or whatever? I don't know the answer to that question. Obviously I don't have memories of the accident whatever. I don't know the answer to that question. Obviously I don't have memories of the accident. But knowing brad's heart, knowing who he is and then hearing like different accounts or whatever, I will say I'm of the absolute belief that you know, brad lefford came back into a burning car to save my life. He had no injuries and he could have died doing that, but he came to save my life. So you know, brad's a good brother, good man. He lives out in california now. Brad lives a cool life man. He has a really cool company. It's like a seltzer's tequila seltzer's, okay, but they're very healthy for you. But then also he's got a freaking ranch. He's a good old Appalachian boy just living in California.

Speaker 2: 31:55

So he has a good time. Good man, brad's cool, so I that's a hell of a road to recovery. Yeah, you're out for it. I mean, was it two, three years before? I mean, how was physical therapy starting over? Man Were there any long? I mean, obviously, besides being paralyzed, I mean, was there major nerve damage? Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:15

Yeah, so I have a terrible issue with neuropathy. So I will feel like the best way I can explain it and I'm sure there's gonna be some neurosurgeon on here who knows exactly what I'm talking about, and but I'm talking about neuropathy, but the best way that I can explain it is when my spinal cord was swelling. I was physically on fire at the time, like not like metaphorically, I was actually on fire are you?

Speaker 2: 32:34

was it your your clothes?

Speaker 1: 32:35

or like, do you have like, oh yeah, burns all over your, burns all over my life, really yeah so I was physically on fire at the time, while my spinal cord was swelling, and then that's when it got damaged. And so imagine there is a scar going through my spinal cord of me being on fire. So when my brain sometimes tries to connect to my legs, it will then get a signal from my spinal cord which makes it as real as if I was to burn myself right now. That sends to my brain hey, you're on fire. And so for the longest time I would wake up in the middle of night and pour water on my legs, because I'd like.

Speaker 1: 33:05

I'd be like oh, I'm on fire, I'm physically on fire you were feeling that pain, oh yeah and like it feels as real, as as if, like I, was to put my hand in a fire right now you still have this oh yeah, it's brutal.

Speaker 1: 33:15

That's brutal, but it's gotten significantly better. So I've got a? Um, a spinal cord stimulator, implanted where my kidney used to be, so it goes up my spinal cord, then into the bottom of my brain stem, and so what that does, is it it? Um, it helps like send the exact same wavelength down my spinal cord is when it sends pain up, and so that probably cut the pain in about 60 percent. The less happening um, but yeah, when it happens?

Speaker 1: 33:39

it's the same, it's the same. Yeah, so what? What happens is it? I mean it. Thankfully it leaves as fast as it comes, but it's it's. It's so the biggest things. There's three things that really make it worse or exacerbate it. One is like lack of sleep, two is stress and three is barometric pressure. So can't control barometric pressure, okay.

Speaker 1: 33:56

And then I picked a very stressful job where you don't sleep much but thankfully, man, I got a cool guy and you know, I don't know, I don't mind pain, so it's right yeah, but then also, um, I got nerve damage in my hand and so I can't feel most most of my left arm, which when I was getting tattoos here I didn't tell the guy you're doing the tattoos like, did you sit like a freaking rock?

Speaker 1: 34:14

I was like, oh yeah, doesn't hurt at all but, the most fun thing about this is I can't really feel my left hand, so when someone you know brings a plate to the table, hey, hey, be careful, that's hot, just grab it. Look right at them. It's a phenomenal time. I like to say shit, yeah man, that's wild. Yeah, but.

Speaker 2: 34:30

Yeah, that's wild chaos. Man, yeah, man.

Speaker 1: 34:33

So that was the going through the accident Very difficult, but you know what it does like legitimately. So I physically have a backbone reinforced with titanium, but mentally I physically have a backbone reinforced with titanium, but mentally it gave me one too. Like there's almost nothing that can happen in my life where I feel like I'm like, oh gosh, this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I'm like, yeah, you know what? This is really not that bad. I could be in a hospital right now. And then the one thing that it has made my life difficult with it makes it very hard for like average empathy.

Speaker 1: 35:05

So like if I, yeah. So like if someone's going through something very real, like an actual, really difficult thing, I am more empathetic than almost anyone I know, because I'm like dude I know exactly what you're going through. Yeah, I'm so sorry. Like your life has changed forever. There's nothing you can do about it. Yeah, like I am so sorry about that, but if someone's like gosh I'm so stressed out I've got to.

Speaker 1: 35:28

You know, I got to get all this done before I go on vacation next week and I don't know if I'll have time. Like I don't care, like I really don't care, like I, I could see that, yeah, because, like you know, I was in the hospital one time and then I was just kind of rolling around feeling really bad for myself and I decided to go down to the burn unit.

Speaker 1: 35:38

Oh, okay, you ever want to feel? Stop feeling bad for yourself, go to a burn unit and see the kids in there and you will never feel bad for yourself again. Yeah, and so going through that and then I can imagine you being a Marine, or you know so many veterans who I'm sure have seen their friends die in unnecessary ways, and especially now being out of the military and being probably more politically involved than before. You kind of realize, oh, that was literally just for some random company to make money. These people didn't even do anything.

Speaker 2: 36:09

I'm in that stage in my life right now for sure, where it's where you look at, especially like take ukraine, and it's like why? Why are even both sides right? Why are so many people dying? And they're not just dying now, they're dying by like drones could you imagine dying by a?

Speaker 1: 36:21

drone dude imagine the psychological. The psychological, just brain fuck that is. Or just hearing these things whizzing around. Have you seen them dropping phosphorus? Everything now, dude? Imagine having a drone drop phosphorus and it's a war crime, but it's just happening nonstop. It's insane and we're funding it and I know, dude, it's the most.

Speaker 2: 36:40

So I We'll get into that. Okay, I don't want to jump ahead, I want to get into how you got on ballistics first. But yeah, dude, well, I mean, I have, I'm so excited we should talk about Ukraine.

Speaker 1: 36:49

I'm just kidding, go ahead.

Speaker 2: 36:50

I have vets, you know. I had a buddy my name's Triple Amputee. And he's in that time where he's like dude, he's like he goes down one day and his dad was helping him and his dad's, like you know, he's going through physical therapy. I think he was at walter reed at the time. He's telling me the story and his dad's bitching to him and like yo, like what the hell? Like my son needs help. And they're like, hey, sir, like we'll take you and your son downstairs and that's where the quad amps were learning.

Speaker 2: 37:19

And he's like I watched guys trying to sit up, you know, and he's one below, one above. Then he's missing a hand, so he's got limbs and he's like it was that day forward. He's like I count my blessings every day that I could be a quad amputee and never wipe my ass, never hold to my child, never just struggling to sit up. And so it's. You know it happens, you know. So I get what you're saying. Like, obviously I've never experienced anything like that. But you know, to hear these guys were like dude, I was. It could always be worse. It'd always be worse, always be worse, you know so. So politics, I guess we could shift gears into that. So that's your world. Now, what in the hell made you want to decide to get into politics, and when did that start? Was this a high school thing, prepping for it, or did this happen after the accident?

Speaker 1: 38:12

No, I knew I wanted to be involved in the government in some sense. I just wanted to live a life of consequence. I wanted to make a massive difference from a very young age. I think the first time I ever wrote down that I wanted to be a congressman I was like 11 or 12.

Speaker 2: 38:28

Really, and you don't come from a political family.

Speaker 1: 38:29

No, not at all, really Not at all.

Speaker 2: 38:31

So just being in that area, kind of near in that whole DC, I mean you're kind of close.

Speaker 1: 38:38

No, Nothing, no influence. We're not close to D DC at all. Western North Carolina has nothing to do with.

Speaker 2: 38:42

DC. Yeah Well, I'm just saying kind of that region, Right Okay?

Speaker 1: 38:45

you're from the West Coast man. Yeah, you don't understand.

Speaker 2: 38:47

No, I'm from upstate New York originally. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:50

It's not close, I get it.

Speaker 2: 38:51

Yeah, I guess you're right. I could go up out west yeah, there's like there's one city and then it's like hey, 6 000 miles away is another city.

Speaker 1: 39:08

Did you know I drive? Did you know that the bottom of guatemala is closer to texas than the southern tip of texas is to the northern tip of texas? No, did you know that there are places in canada that are closer to texas? The northern tip of texas is to the southern tip of texas I believe that yeah. So you guys just don't understand space.

Speaker 2: 39:21

I drive five and a half hours to go see my buddy. You know like yeah, so I get it, I get it.

Speaker 1: 39:25

But no. So there was really no influence from geographically or from like family history to be involved in politics. But my family all did take politics very seriously. It was a very normal dinner conversation. You know we all listened. I would say I'm a Rush baby. Maybe we all listen to Rush Limbaugh, you know all the time. You know it was a very and we were always follow current events and all that stuff. And then you know, just growing up in the in the south, you have very conservative values anyways. Yeah, just kind of being in the country. But then so I was 24 years old and then my congressman who was had done speech and debate with me when I was in high school. He was my coach there and I was very close with his son. He left to go become the chief of staff for Donald Trump. Okay, so that was wild.

Speaker 2: 40:14

So he was your mentor in a way, like showing and kind of opening the ropes for you.

Speaker 1: 40:17

Yeah, because I remember I was 14 years old and I was going to my first speech and debate competition. Okay, because I love to speak. Public speak is what I love to do, but I was a football player working out and all that stuff, and so I was like, oh, I want to do speech and debate. I think it would be kind of a good rounding thing to do. I want to actually know how to do it. I have this naturally born gift. I want to hone it.

Speaker 2: 40:40

And it's a great skill to have.

Speaker 1: 40:41

Great skill to have, oh yeah, and just being able to understand how a conversation flows and to keep track. I think everybody should do a debate at some time. It makes you a more lethal person.

Speaker 2: 40:51

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 40:52

But then anyways, I just remember it was just not my world at all. A lot of really nerdy people. It's nerdy in a way that I wasn't, yeah. But I remember I got there and I did my mom's driving it's like in South Carolina and I don't know how to tie a tie. I'm like 14. And I'm like I don't know how to do this. But my dad was working so he wasn't there to tie it for me, okay. And I just remember looking out and there you know, mark Meadows, mr Meadows, I don't know how to tie my tie and I remember he's like, oh man, tie it for me right, quick. And I was really close to his son so I knew him that way. But he wasn't in politics at all. I remember when I found out he was going for politics and then he became a congressman kind of more, so out of nowhere, and now being in politics, I realized there was a lot of background work that went into that, for sure, but just from an outsider standpoint I had no idea he was going into politics.

Speaker 1: 41:56

Yeah, but he did make a massive difference in my life, because this is kind of at like the two year mark after my accident where I just felt worthless because I realized, oh, I'm not gonna walk again. I was getting to a really dark place. I was very, very confident that like I was, like my wife, my life's just worthless, like I. I I had lost because I went from 225 to like 98 pounds. Damn, I was so small, so frail. Everything was awful. But then I remember I was coming back from the Shepherd Center for, like, I was down there for rehab for a couple of weeks and then I found out that Mark Meadows had just won his election. It was a midterm election and so he was having like a victory party at this place, the Biltmore estate or the Biltmore village, and my mom was like oh, you want to go.

Speaker 1: 42:40

I was like, oh yeah, that'd be awesome. Remember, I went and now, being in politics, I realized how much it meant because, like when you're at these victory parties things, there are so many, you're so donor focused okay like okay, these are these are my donors and it's not that like you're gonna go help them because they don't like you, but these people literally help you, win, win your campaign. And so you were like say hey, man, thank you so much for your support you're just rubbing elbows, yeah well, yeah, it's like I.

Speaker 1: 43:02

I really appreciate you because even these people gave you the ammunition to fight your battle, and so it's not like you're being like, oh, these are like I answer to these people. You answer your whole district congress meadows wasn't like that, uh, really good guy. But then I remember he saw me from the stage and just finished his speech and I remember he just jumped right off the thing. You know, he had a couple security guys with him and he walked over and I I remember he was having people try and pull him away to go. Oh, you've got to go talk to this person. He was like no wait.

Speaker 1: 43:26

And he knelt down I've got a picture of it and he talked to me for a long time and then I was sitting there and he's like what are you doing now? I was like, oh, you know, I just got home, I can barely speak. And then he was like and I was like do you want me to call your office? And, paul, he's like no, no. And then he wrote his personal phone number down, hand to me. He's like you called me. And so I gave him a phone call and he hired me and, like you know, I just did like front of office stuff.

Speaker 2: 43:53

But it gave. You can like what. What did that do for morale?

Speaker 1: 43:58

it changed my huge life change. Huge life change because I had some issues with Mark Meadows in my election, like it was just, you know, he was backing somebody else's wife's best friend and then, being the chief of staff for the president, he had a lot of power to back somebody and so, but I will always love Mark Meadows and his entire family because he took such good care of me and that just changed my entire viewpoint of myself, because you know, I was in a district office but you're still like dealing with politics and stuff you really like there's a lot of things of consequence going on and you know the congressman's coming in, you're doing all kinds of fun stuff, and so it was a really exciting time to get to be there and that's kind of where you, you, you got to kind of sink your teeth in see that's where I really like, for the first time, really sunk my teeth.

Speaker 1: 44:39

I knew I wanted to be in politics. I wanted to be a congressman when I was very young Yep, but that was the first time being like oh, I see how this works.

Speaker 2: 44:46

This is really interesting. Yeah, okay, this is something.

Speaker 1: 44:48

I now knew the world, but then you know I had left, that I started a real estate company and then after that I was 24 years old and found out Mark Meadows left to be the chief of staff to the president, so the seat was open. There's a very narrow window of time to set up to decide to run for congress or not, um, and which was intentional because he wanted somebody else to win who was like hand-picked um. And then by the time I got to Raleigh to sign sign my name 12 people had signed up, so it was a 13-way primary um, and you know it was pretty nuts to run at that age. But I just knew that like the game that was being played for my generation and like the minds of, you know, my peers, yeah, was so intense and like I knew that also most of your traditional politicians had zero idea about it. Because you know, donald trump changed politics a lot. But you know, especially in 2024, we can look back and be like wow, from 2018 to 2024 is a totally different world, night and day, yeah, but at that point that change was still kind of happening.

Speaker 1: 45:49

And so there was all the traditional people, because normally when you run for politics. It's like okay, so you're probably getting involved with your GOP. Then you become and I'm not saying anybody's wrong for this but then you become and I'm not saying anybody's wrong for this but then you become a county commissioner or a city councilman, and then you do pay your dues there, you work up, so there's time, yeah, and then next thing, you know, then you become a state rep and you're representing 30, 45,000 people. And then, next thing you know, you go from that. You do that for six years and then you run for state Senate and then you're in the state Senate.

Speaker 1: 46:17

You're representing like 300,000 people, like half a congressional district at this point, um you're like nah oh well yeah, and then they go from there and then they run for Congress and then it's this whole thing. But, man, they become so tamed, they become so conditioned and they become so bought in those years going through that process because they realize, oh well, I gotta pay favors to this guy and this guy's.

Speaker 2: 46:38

I have a question for you later on that's going to tie you back into this.

Speaker 1: 46:41

Okay.

Speaker 2: 46:43

See, that's interesting to know, yep, so it's okay continue.

Speaker 1: 46:47

It's a whole process they use, because one they get to vet these people, but two they get to tame these people.

Speaker 2: 46:52

So every tier that they're playing the game they become more and more of a yes sir, more a system guy.

Speaker 1: 47:02

That's what's going to get them to the next level. Exactly Because, oh, especially at the smaller level of politics, if an outside organization whether it's the GOP, the state party or a PAC comes in and gives you $100,000 for a county commissioner seat, that's as if you're in a congressional race and someone gave you $20 million. That's a lot of money, and so they're able to teach these people that, oh, hey, you play the game and I can win an election for you for not a lot of money.

Speaker 2: 47:31

So that's where it starts, that's where it starts, yeah, but then?

Speaker 1: 47:34

so all these people running for office and let me tell you, man, if you want to piss politicians off, go out of turn, because these people they're all in their 60s, they're wearing pleated pants and tasseled loafers and there's some great business guys who are doing it I ran against some guys who I really like to this day, respect them a lot, but I also ran against a lot of yes, men, a lot of guys who were guy.

Speaker 1: 47:55

We don't know him and I've been involved in you use that against you oh yeah, but also, no one in american history has ever won an election at 24 years old yeah, ever. There's a guy younger than me that was in congress, but he was appointed, not elected. Want to point that out there's. That's a difference. It's a big difference big difference and so I won my election at 24 um but I got turned 25 before I got sworn in um and so but anyway I was completely written off. Like it was like oh, that's a sweet project this kid's doing. That's really nice.

Speaker 2: 48:26

How did that feel? I mean, obviously you're in it, Like this is something that you want to pursue, but at the same time did you think you had a shot? Or were you like, just screw it, I'm going to go for it?

Speaker 1: 48:34

I knew from the second I heard heard about it that I was going to win that race. Really Not for two seconds I was like are we going to pull this off? It's going to be hard.

Speaker 2: 48:42

Really.

Speaker 1: 48:43

Because the way that Mark Meadows left to the seat it allowed for very few people to sign up, but it was late in the political season and so most of your professional campaigning staff has already taken up, which was a massive godsend, because if I had hired traditional campaign staff, we would have ran a traditional campaign and we would have gotten reamed, why they would have just bent us over Because they have time to pick you apart, or what? Well, no, they have time to pick you apart, but I mean again, like the traditional way that you run a campaign is well, you need to get the endorsements from these people and you need to show up here.

Speaker 2: 49:15

Town hall meetings and we need to see how much money you can raise.

Speaker 1: 49:17

And then your volunteers are just kind of all your volunteers. You come in Because you've got to think the average congressional seat not here in Idaho, because you only have two congressmen, but the average congressional seat is about a little north of 700,000 people, and so it's a lot of people and you need 51% to win. And so imagine, if you know me, you want to help me win this race and we're a traditional campaign and you come up like, hey, man, I want to help, volunteer campaign, I want you to win. And then I look at you and say, hey, I need 350 something thousand votes to win this election. You'd be like, well, cool, I mean good luck, tell me what I can do to help. I'd love to do that. And so then you know they're not very motivated volunteers because they no one can provide you 350,000 votes, that's insane.

Speaker 1: 50:02

And so you know they might all show up for, like you know, we're going to canvas. You know this county and they're all going door to door and handing off stuff and that kind of stuff. But, man, I called all my best friends and I was like, hey guys, I need you for three months we're going to win a primary. Just fly into my state. And so most of my buddies own their own businesses and they're like, sure, let's do it.

Speaker 1: 50:22

So I had a bunch of buddies come into my state and we were all just a bunch of young bucks and we decided that we were going to run it like Moneyball, really yeah. And we were like, we're going to run this campaign completely differently. It's all about just to get a voter here and we need to know how many people we need. And so in a primary election, you know you probably need there's probably 81 000 people that vote um in a in a republican primary in that district. And so I knew exactly what I needed to do to win. And so we knew our golden number. And so instead of being like, hey, would you mind helping me with this when I would go speak at a rally, because my superpower was, I can speak really well, I can thrash the floor with these people speaking because they're going to be like I'd like to increase GDP incrementally at the end of this year by 0.6%. Everyone's like, oh okay, great, that's exciting, whereas I'm like there is a war being fought for the hearts and minds of your children.

Speaker 1: 51:09

There are people who run this country who hate you. They are sending money overseas to money launder it to get back to them. They are starting wars and emergencies nonstop because it helps shareholder value for these massive organizations who own all of your politicians. The majority of your politicians have been involved in some honeypot scheme and are now completely dominated by these people. If you want your country to turn into a communist country, and maybe we'll say it's a democracy, maybe we'll say it's a republic, whatever but if you want it to live in a communist nation, continue voting for the exact same thing, and then I'd be like a lot of people are going to be mad at me because I have tattoos and I dip and I like to smoke cigars and I like to shoot guns and I cuss and I'm going to rock the boat a lot. But people, the fucking boat's sinking and unless we save it, all of your grandchildren and your children are not going to know.

Speaker 2: 51:55

That's speaking to the people Exactly, not to the politicians, and that's where I think, with the elections over the last, forever until now your generation and Trump and changing everything, it's like you hear these people and you're just like why the fuck are we still voting the same way for the same people in the same states?

Speaker 1: 52:19

Because these people's speeches and all these things are not tailored to the people, like you just said. For sure, it's tailored to super PACs and it's tailored to get endorsements from certain people. So let's say you want an endorsement from your governor in your state because you think it's going to gain you 6,000 votes. Okay, Then be like okay, well, the governor really cares about H-1B visas and so you're going to go talk about H-1B visas a lot.

Speaker 1: 52:39

So the average person is like I don't care, so my entire thing. I was like no super PAC would ever bet on me because no one my age has ever won and no person would ever endorse me because it's going to mess up the record, because no one my age has ever won. I was like I'm just going to go direct to the people and they're going to be my endorsement, and so then I'd have my boys in the crowd and then, after I'd give a barn burner of a speech, everyone was all excited about it man, I want to help you win your campaign. And everybody would be like, oh, we're in Yancey County. They'd be like what neighborhood do you live in?

Speaker 1: 53:05

I'd be like, oh, I live in Whispering Falls. They'd be like Whispering Falls, no way, you know what. I need 14 votes out of Whispering my house that could vote. And I was like, oh, you only 10 more. Like, do you think in the next three months you could find 10 more people to vote for me in your neighborhood? Like, yeah, I mean chuck would do it and his family would do it. And then I'd be like cool, give your phone number to this guy.

Speaker 1: 53:26

No, and so then we would sit there and we'd phone call and we'd call him, like you know, once a week. However, much.

Speaker 1: 53:31

You're just grinding this out, yeah and I would have no problem, like even to this exact moment. I have no problem saying the strategy I will use to win elections anytime, because I will outwork and kick the shit out of these guys who just want to be like oh well, I've got an endorsement from this person, so I know I'm going to win, and they're not willing to work 18 hours a day to win this election, whereas my guys are willing to do whatever it takes. And so then we just did that exact same process until we got to the exact number of votes we needed. I've had this many people say yes, that they will vote for us, and then voter registries are public. It won't tell you who they voted for, but it'll tell you if they voted. And so then we created my buddy not me, I'm not that smart, but my buddy created a little AI program that then, as soon as somebody would vote, it would take and it was one of our names it would take their name off our computer system. And so then we knew, okay, yeah, so 51% of our people have voted.

Speaker 1: 54:18

And then I'd send our people out two by two. Hey, go knock on this guy's door. So instead of going door to door and being like hey, will you vote for my guy? We know where you live, we know that you're going to vote for me, so all I have to do is show up. Hey, man, have you voted yet? What can we do to help you vote? They're like, oh, in your car, jump in mine. We're gonna go vote right now, and it was just whatever it took to get the people to the polls for you.

Speaker 1: 54:47

Yeah, and so then that worked, yeah, and so then we came in second, ended up coming in second, and then, uh, mark meadows's uh handpicked person she, she came in first, but it was only like 200 votes, but none none of us hit three thirty percent, and it's because it was a 13-way primary, and so then that meant that I went to a runoff, so it was then just between me and her, and then she got endorsed by the president of the United States, and Donald Trump has never lost a Republican nomination or Republican primary ever.

Speaker 2: 55:08

How did that make you feel? Did you feel defeated at that point? I know you're a pretty positive guy, but at that stage that's David and Goliath.

Speaker 1: 55:17

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy you said that. So I was at Shine with all my campaign staff and all of my family, and it's this nice restaurant in my hometown and we were just having this campaign meeting and then all of our phones go off at one time and I knew exactly what that meant. It's a robocall to every single person in the district. So we all answer our phones and it's Donald Trump's voice. Linda Bennett is the greatest woman in the world. She's phenomenal. She's Mark Meadows' friend I know she's wonderful. And so he endorsed Linda Bennett. And you were like Everyone at the table. They were all pissed about it.

Speaker 1: 55:48

At that moment, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt I was winning that election Really, because it was David and Goliath. And I was like guys, if I win this election at 24 years old, everyone's going to be like you are a savant, you're the future. How did you do that? That's incredible. And I was like God's not getting any glory. But if I win against everything that the world has to offer, it's like God. Everyone's like okay, that was God. Same thing with me coming out of my car accident alive. It's God. All my surgeons are like Christians. Now there's no way you. And then you know same thing with this, and so I was like guys, I know you feel like we're going to lose because of that. I promise we're going to beat her. And so we started hunting her. I would not let her speak without me at the same place.

Speaker 2: 56:25

I would speak at the same time.

Speaker 1: 56:27

And this was a really good woman, her name is Linda, phenomenal person, someone you want in your Bible study. She's great but not made for and you need to, yeah, and so anyway. So you know, we just, we just kept, kept, you know, all out non-stop and we beat her. And then I remember, donald, we're driving home from the victory party, awesome thing. It was just such a movement, it was so fun wait, don't blow over that.

Speaker 2: 56:54

So let's talk about the night. I mean, it's coming down to like obviously you, obviously you've got to be level 10 max anxiety, so my advisors had told me that I was going to win my first election. Okay.

Speaker 1: 57:11

They said we were going to come in first in the primary and it was going to be done deal. And I was like, really, Because you know they had done their polling and all kinds of stuff, I was like we won, that's it. And they was like we won, that's it. They're like yeah. And then I remember we're sitting there, my best friend is like my campaign manager, but we also had a consultant on board, Okay. And so the consultant was like, oh yeah, you won, it's game over. I've seen it, You've got this. And then we're sitting there. I'm just looking at my buddy, Blake, and he's got just a weird expression on his face Like Blake, what's going on? He's like, oh, I don't know, man, it's taking a second. And then he was like, eventually he was like you're not winning this election. He's like you might come in second. I was like what? He's like, yeah, you ever lie to me about an election again? I was like I don't care if I'm going to jail, I'm fighting you.

Speaker 2: 58:06

And I like I, I will fight you right now and then blake was like okay, chill out, chill out.

Speaker 1: 58:09

And I was just, I was so pissed what's the point of lying to you?

Speaker 2: 58:12

I mean no, no, there was legitimately.

Speaker 1: 58:14

Just more people that came out to vote than um than he expected, okay and so um, but I was just.

Speaker 1: 58:20

I was like never give me false hope again, like never, never lie to me, and the problem was is I would have fought harder if I knew that. We were like, if there was a possibility that we weren't coming in first, okay, and so anyway. But my guys were working 18 hours a day non-stop and so like I was pushing them to the limit and so. But then once he kind of made it clear, I was like like, okay, well, we have a general election right after this. So I was like, so you know, we're going to push down to 10 hours a day, and so, anyways, I was pissed about that, so you let off the gas.

Speaker 1: 58:47

Let off the gas a little bit, okay. But then in this next election, I was like we were like, okay, me and my buddy know how to run this election now, like we're going to do this our way. And I was like, where does she live? And I was like I am winning her precinct, like where she lives, where she goes to church, all of that, I'm winning her town. And so I spent all of my time in her hometown, in her neighborhood, and like, legitimately, aside from one person, I think every single house in her neighborhood had my sign in her yard.

Speaker 2: 59:15

Really.

Speaker 1: 59:23

I was like I want her to see me everywhere she goes and like we we had her followed, not like in an illegal way, just like in a political way, like we had her followed. So if she had an event she was going to and she stopped posting publicly where her events were because we would just show up at them. And then you know, she had all the um establishment behind her. So they'd be like oh I'm sorry, mr cawthorne, you know you, you're not on the schedule to speak. And then I would just very loudly be like oh, I'm sorry, is this a coronation, or do the people want to hear from both sides? And then everybody like, oh, yeah, well, both sides.

Speaker 1: 59:41

So that was you were taking those tactics oh yeah, yeah, like we would not let her just fly under the radar. I was like you're gonna face me head on non-stop because we did a debate and it was a thrashing, yeah. And so then they were like, oh, we're not debating anymore. I was like you're not getting away from this, like we're you. You want to represent these people, then beat me. So let's go. And so it was a fun race. But then driving home this is where it gets exciting Driving home from the victory party.

Speaker 1: 1:00:07

You know, my fiance was in the car, I had a couple of my buddies in the back and my phone's connected to Bluetooth. We're jazzed. I remember the second that there's an actual. So I was getting a photograph taken of me and my father, cause I, we were like in the back room, we knew we were going to win this thing, um, but then the AP called the election and then, oh, madison Cawthorn has won this election. And I remember my buddy, micah, was sitting there on the phone and he swiped up and he was like Maddie, you just won. Shut up a picture with my father at that exact moment.

Speaker 1: 1:00:37

and it's like on like a nice, really nice camera. So the moment I won the election and found out, it's all captured, and it's me, my best friend, my other best friend, my dad's in the picture, my older brother's in the background, and so you have all of our faces dude, how rad is that it was sick.

Speaker 2: 1:00:54

You deserve that shit, man.

Speaker 1: 1:00:55

Good for you but then we're driving back home and I was the only, I'm the only person to have beaten donald trump in an endorsement ever. And we're driving back home and then I get a call and the phone says restricted, not unavailable, nothing like that. And it says it says restricted. And then I answer and said, uh, hello, mr gotham, this is chris from the white house, from the air force one switchboard. May I connect you to the President of the United States? And I was like, yes, my fiance's in the car, like everyone's in the back, and we get it on video. And then there's a big, long pause, but my phone's connected to Bluetooth and so then across surround sound speakers, Everybody's hearing this.

Speaker 1: 1:01:33

Madison, it was incredible. You even beat my ass. I remember when they brought out the photo after you won, I said why are we endorsing against this guy? He's from Central Casting, this is so dumb and he's like. It was incredible. Anyways, then I got to go up to the White House and meet the president.

Speaker 2: 1:01:47

How awesome was that call dude.

Speaker 1: 1:01:49

It was awesome it was really cool.

Speaker 2: 1:01:50

You had to have gotten pretty emotional at that point, oh yeah big time.

Speaker 1: 1:01:54

That was a moment after we hung up. We were all kind of jazzed for a second. But the greatest period of one of the favorite moments of my entire life was after that runoff election, because we should not have won, that it was just nuts. But then I went home with everybody that I'm really close with in my life all of my family, all of my staff, almost everyone that I could say I love that person, someone I would be willing to die for. They were all in one place at that night, good, and so we all went back home and I just remember I went. It took probably 35 minutes, but I went around a circle of like 45 people and told them exactly why I love them and want like the difference they made in my life at that time, and so it was a really emotional time.

Speaker 2: 1:02:37

And then and then, what was that night like, when you had time to yourself?

Speaker 1: 1:02:41

a very much time with god just being like how?

Speaker 1: 1:02:44

how did that happen? Because, like in the trench of it, like in the actual election time, we were so busy that I didn't there was no breath. I but so sure-footed in my actions, like you know, I knew what I believed, I knew what I was saying, I knew I was gonna win and so, but it was just executing non-stop. But then after that it was just kind of being like I felt like I just zoomed out of the whole world for, like, I was like whoa, that's nuts it's a pretty heavy weight that probably just sinks in.

Speaker 2: 1:03:09

I mean, yeah, after the call you get home, you congratulate everybody. Then you finally get like a time to sit by yourself and reflect.

Speaker 1: 1:03:17

I mean, that's, that's got to be a pretty incredible moment yeah, well, that's when you start having to sit there and be like okay, so all these people elected me to do the things that I said need to be done. I was like how do we do those?

Speaker 1: 1:03:29

you know so then you have to start sitting there and be like okay, because the crazy thing is, as soon as you finish your election in your district, you then have a more important election in dc. It's like now you, because it's not an executive branch, you're not making decisions Like you might have, because there's probably 33 people right now Hang on, we'll throw Eli Crane in there. There's about 36 Republican congressmen that I can think of that have the backbone and the knowledge and the belief to do the right thing regardless of the backlash. Backbone and the knowledge and the belief to do the right thing regardless of the backlash. But the problem is you need 51 of congress to pass anything. And so not only do you have to be willing to take the backlash until it's like because you look at ronda santos during covet, he was attacked brutally, but he had the backbone to say, hey, I'm, I know I'm right and I'm willing to take this onslaught of you guys saying that I'm killing my whole state, I I'm the worst person in the world and have everyone attack me for months and months, because I know at the end of this I'm going to be proved right. And now Ron Sanders is the greatest governor in the entire country why he ran against Trump.

Speaker 1: 1:04:29

I have no idea. That's too stupid, bro. That was not a smart decision. But the problem with Congress is it's not just you that has to be strong. You have to keep 51% of the caucus strong, and yet it's impossible. And so that's where another election becomes. Very important is what's your opinion held in Washington DC? And then you start learning about. Oh, let's say, you're a crypto advisor expert. You're not going to be put on an information and technology committee because that committee costs $900,000 to be put on. You know a you know information and technology committee, because that that committee costs nine hundred thousand dollars to be put on. Like, how much money did you donate to the nrcc?

Speaker 2: 1:05:05

you know it, oh it goes down to that yeah, and again, that's not an official thing.

Speaker 1: 1:05:10

You're never handed a piece of paper that says that, but it's, it's well known really. Oh yeah, it's like well, I'm sorry, yeah, the, the committee didn't think that you were going to be good on it. I'm like what. This guy's worked on Wall Street his entire life. He's not going to financial services. Are you dumb? And so? Yeah, so there's a big game to be played.

Speaker 2: 1:05:26

How deep is the game when you're getting, now that you're in, this is and correct me if I'm wrong is this where you start learning like, oh shit, okay, like this is the big leagues like of how deep? I don't want to say bribing, but as far as you getting coerced to, hey, this guy's this way, we like him because we don't like so-and-so, because this group is group help fund, is going to help fund you. Now we're going to go this way. Is this where this starts?

Speaker 1: 1:06:03

yeah, there's a lot of carrot and sticks, like a lot of carrot and sticks. I mean, you know, I had somebody, um, it was a, it was something that we did not do, but I had somebody I was married at the time. I had somebody offer, you know you, you know, if we could get this passed and, like you, change this import law. You know, your wife would probably need to sit on the board of you know this. You know we'll say some agriculture board and I'm like, well, she does anesthesiology. I don't know what she has to do with agriculture, it's like it doesn't matter, but she'll make four hundred thousand dollars a year. And so then there's they.

Speaker 2: 1:06:32

You're, you're, you're very indirectly bribed okay, so I I have a one of my questions from one of our followers and supporters. Has any attempt been made and this is by dbarks, underscore 19, has any attempt been made whether it be bribery, coercion to push a certain agenda to vote a certain way? And if not, when does it start? So I guess that's a lead into that.

Speaker 1: 1:07:02

So when do you start seeing the bribes? When you start picking your staff? Really, yeah, I remember I was calling into a high-ranking member of the party's office really late at night and then I was told hey, if you don't import your staff and your chief of staff is someone from this list, we'll know you're a team player. I was like, well, what does it mean that I'm a team player? What does that get me? It's like, oh well, you know, we'll make sure that some of the articles don't come out about you Like we can play, you know, defense for you on the back end of that. You know you'll probably get better committees and all this stuff. And they're going on and on. And is so directly tied to your policy, because, again, these bills are thousands and thousands of pages long.

Speaker 2: 1:07:43

Oh, and you see them come out.

Speaker 1: 1:07:45

Yeah, but you have to vote on them. And even if you were willing to sit there and read the entire bill, you physically not a human alive can read the entire bill before you have to vote on it. Yeah, like no one can read that fast. I mean, it's like, oh, you know, 12 hours to vote on this bill. It's 1300 pages. It's using such crazy language. You have to look all the stuff up. It's crazy.

Speaker 1: 1:08:05

So you legitimately have to have your staff go through it. But let's say that your chief of staff is trying. You know used to work for a lobbying company that you know is big on one thing. They'd be like gosh, I know the boss wouldn't like this so and then he gets all all from the legislative department. They give them all recommendations and things that the congress is not going to like, things he will like. So you have to weigh all your stuff and that then it's down to like four or five pages. He can be like, oh, take this off. So that's not. Even the congress doesn't even know what's on there anymore, and so you have to be very careful about who your staff is how hard, how much pressure and how hard is it to deal with that?

Speaker 2: 1:08:37

I mean because you skipped. You skipped all the years of becoming a yes man. How much pressure did that put on you going straight into that role and position? And now, now they're coming at you man, if I was not.

Speaker 1: 1:08:52

Um, I think your, your personal popularity, matters a lot in that situation because, um, a lot of people are like guest spots on news, like traditional media.

Speaker 2: 1:09:03

Okay, is very controlled by the party, really, um, yeah, and I've heard eli talk about the party and he's like they run everything oh, they run everything, yeah, they dictate how successful you're going to be.

Speaker 1: 1:09:13

Yeah, so like let's say you get on the news like you know a bunch that's going to help you in donations a lot that's going to help you. That's going to help you a ton of stuff being on the news. But if you're just a guy because I mean, I think you're a pretty involved guy could you name more than 30 congressmen on top of your head?

Speaker 2: 1:09:28

no, no one can't.

Speaker 1: 1:09:30

no, I mean I could, because I do it, but very few americans can, because most of them are very unknown. And the reason they're unknown is because, like they just't do anything, they're not that impressive, but for them, if they get put on the news it's a huge deal. So of course they're going to do whatever the party needs them to do to be able to be put on the news, and that's when they become a yes man. That's when they become a yes man, and it's multiple different things.

Speaker 1: 1:09:49

And a lot of people can't raise money well, because nobody knows who they are. And then um and so, but for me it was great. It was when I was so young that made it very different to you know. I'd beaten donald trump and then trump had very, very graciously offered me to speak at the rnc, so I got to speak to like 61 million people yeah, and so that just what was that like? Oh, that was nuts. It was also in the middle covid, and so it was so funny because we were all backstage.

Speaker 1: 1:10:17

Everyone's like packed in, like sardines doing makeup, we're all talking and then you know, for optics sake, you go out into the stage, it's completely empty and like you have to bring the passions if you're talking to like 60 million people but there's no one in there. It's robotic cameras moving around and so that was exciting, that's got to be hard though.

Speaker 1: 1:10:33

But writing that speech was nuts. I was like geez, yeah, there's a fun story of how I got that position, but that was magical. That changed my life forever. But getting to be so well-known because of that, and then the wheelchair ads thing, being young, knowing how to use social media, all this stuff, it gave me a large following and so that was great because my ratings spoke for themselves. So, whether the party wanted me on the news or not, fox or MSNBC or whoever would be like, oh, we want them on this talk show because it's going to boost our ratings and they make more money.

Speaker 2: 1:11:05

Well, it helps that you're young, good-looking, all-american kid. Stop, I mean, you know it's. You know. I'm just saying you know that helps, I would imagine you know, especially being on the news and you know, having the image and come from a crazy story and beating Trump for the first person to actually win against Trump, I mean that you had all of that stacked in your favor. But I mean, was it still pretty hard for you know? Obviously the whole team for or against you.

Speaker 1: 1:11:36

Yeah, it gets annoying, the party.

Speaker 1: 1:11:38

I should say there's so many more layers to it than can even be realized in the first. Because it's like, oh well, okay, man, now I've got my bills in there. But then you actually have to get your bill to the floor and then, once it comes to the floor, you have to then take it to that committee and you have to walk it through that entire committee and let's say, everything goes great. The Senate might not pick it up, and then you got your law passed. But now the appropriator is like yeah, but we're not going to give any money towards that project, so it technically is a law, but there's no funding for it, so it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2: 1:12:06

Is this why nothing ever fucking happens?

Speaker 1: 1:12:10

in this country. Well, one thing you actually should kind of be happy about that.

Speaker 2: 1:12:16

Because, if it is, negative.

Speaker 1: 1:12:17

It takes some time, it just it. You have to build a coalition of support from the people, okay, for like almost a full decade to get something done. I mean, look at abortion, yeah, and so that the reason why roe v wade was being able to be overturned is because we built a coalition for it over, you know, multiple decades, and so a lot of things take a lot of time. But unfortunately, the you know, the reason why it seems like we've gone so far left as a country is because, for like 60 years, the republicans were just a bunch of pansy cowards who were like, oh my gosh, the news doesn't like me. Well, you know, if I capitulate on this one issue and back up one inch, maybe they'll start saying nice things about me. I'm like who the fuck cares?

Speaker 2: 1:12:52

who cares?

Speaker 1: 1:12:53

if they like you, they're never gonna like you, and so, but because of that, we have capitulated and bent the knee an inch at a time.

Speaker 2: 1:13:00

When the left is taking an inch at a time. Taking an inch at a time, little wins Going for 60 years Yep.

Speaker 1: 1:13:05

They played the long game. And so now we have a generation of people who are like oh, I know how to, we're not capitulating. I don't care what you say about me. And also it's because there's nontraditional media, like this conversation we're having right now, like it can be pushed out to other people. You don't have to only go through traditional media.

Speaker 2: 1:13:20

yep, so yeah which helps a lot. Yeah, big time helps a lot. So now that, when you get in, I mean now you're learning the ropes and and I mean, is it is? Is it as exciting as you thought it was going to be, or is it more or less?

Speaker 1: 1:13:34

I mean, oh, now that you're, I mean, a congressman, and the youngest, 30 of it, the most boring, monotonous stuff you've ever done in your life. Because being in a committee, sometimes you just have to listen Because everyone needs to say the same thing for their base about whatever issue. So there's like 24 people on a committee and so you will listen to 24 people in a row, or 12 people on the left give the exact same speech over and over and over again because they, you know they need to push that clip out to their district. Okay, you know of them saying, oh well, asking you the tough questions, but you know everyone in the country wants to hear the exact same tough question if they're a democrat and same for a republican, and so it's just.

Speaker 1: 1:14:15

It's sometimes very monotonous to just listen to the exact same thing be said over and over again and then to also sit there and know that this person just sat down and you know they wait purposely, didn't like tap into talk until their staffer brought them a speech to speak, to read, because they don't even write the speech, they don't even know what they're talking about, and so they just sit there. Oh well, now I'm going to read this.

Speaker 1: 1:14:35

And it's yeah, it's just like I. You're just dumb, like you don't even know what you're devoting on. You have no idea what you're asking you. Just your staff knows that you need to say this to be reelected, and you're just stupid.

Speaker 2: 1:14:45

So, once you got in, what was the negative side? Because I mean they're going to find everything.

Speaker 1: 1:14:55

Yeah, they can't find it, they'll just make it up.

Speaker 2: 1:14:57

How is it dealing with that side of politics, knowing skeletons or not, they're going to fabricate find? Dig up some kid from sixth grade that you said something to in the locker room. How is that part?

Speaker 1: 1:15:12

of it. I mean, the biggest scandal I probably ever had was that I was in a game show when I was 19 or 20 on a cruise ship with my entire family there. But it was a game show on the cruise ship and they found pictures of that and they can just edit out a bunch of different things and make it look really bad, and so it's just stupid stuff like that. But you know, at first it was very difficult, but then your friend group kind of changes and so the people who are like you know, know, no one in my life cares a lick about what the media says. I mean there'll be no about it. Like, oh hey, we need to respond to this some way. Blah, blah, yeah, but no, like a it could come out like there could be a live video of, like one of my friends shooting somebody on the street and then I'd be like I'm sure there's a way better reason than whatever the news is saying about that.

Speaker 1: 1:15:59

Oh, for sure Everyone in my world is very slow to judgment, like I know you as a person. I know who you are, so obviously the media has an objective. Does it get old? No, I mean at first, like when? You lose lifelong friends and people you've known your entire life. That's really difficult to be like. You think that of me. Like you know me, dude, how could you think that like, oh well, there's a sheep, but then, once your friend group changes, it's, it's. You're so bulletproof do?

Speaker 1: 1:16:24

you lose a lot of friends and people not me so much, but you know my family definitely like adjusted some friends, oh sure huh.

Speaker 1: 1:16:32

That that's the hard part is when it affects other people in your life especially if it's like not people who are directly involved, like with your political career. Yeah, and it's just like you're just attacking them just to mess with me. Yeah, like that's just so annoying. And so it's why you know nancy pelosi does so well, because you know nancy pelosi isn't gonna, if you don't vote for her bill on the left, she's not gonna fund a primary opponent for you. But your little cousin is gonna lose her job as a nurse at a hospital or the union's going to shut down an entire operation. You know your uncle's hometown's going to lose all their business and it's like, wow, that's brutal. Like that you're going after everything.

Speaker 1: 1:17:07

She's evil, yeah, I mean she's, but as an operator in politics she's a lot, lots to be respected there. She's a master yeah, well, she's. She's a master class, but you know what it's? Uh, but I wish she was on our side because she gets stuff done. But man, but and it's so funny, she actually, she's such a devout catholic, but then just votes for nothing but evil.

Speaker 2: 1:17:26

Yep, everything. Oh, I mean that's kind of the whole left, is everything. That's what's so crazy to me. You know, and you, you understand, come from a religious background and I I explain to people and they're like well, who, who, you know what side? Because I got to know Trump Jr and I've guided him on some hunts before the first election and they're some of the greatest people the Trump family is down to earth. If you didn't know who they were and you were just tossed into a real world environment, you would be like, oh, these guys are hilarious and Trump's even better.

Speaker 2: 1:18:00

It's incredible, great people, and so I got to know them pre-first election it was actually just during the start of it working with Secret Service. I actually have a crazy story. If you ever run into a junior, ask him about the time a dude threw an armadillo in their Secret Service.

Speaker 1: 1:18:14

Van He'll know it was me.

Speaker 2: 1:18:17

I can't wait to hear that story, but you know they're great. And so when people are like man, who are you voting for? I'm like, I'm voting for the country, the good of the country, and so if you just blindfolded somebody, didn't say left or right, and just listen to what each is going to, it just my mind, it just blows my mind. I'm just fascinated by they're supporting abortions on the levels that they want to do and how late term they want to do it. It's crazy You're supporting these peaceful riots, that they're burning down police stations and trying to defund police, when we should be funding the police, because then, if they have the training, there is no excuse.

Speaker 2: 1:18:54

But when you take away the training, they're getting less training, less time in the field. That's when mistakes happen. So like it and it just it. Really, I just couldn't comprehend. And that's where, when it comes to people in in, you know, growing up it didn't matter if you're left or right, whatever. But now it's like how do you support this? Still Knowing everything that this side is leaning towards supports funding billions of dollars overseas, and we got homeless veterans on the streets every single day.

Speaker 2: 1:19:22

We got veterans taking their lives because the VA system is so fucked up. They're taking months to get in to get the help, but we're funding all of everybody else. Open borders. Where I'm all for immigration, I mean Josh, his wife. She came, she had to go through the whole entire process. I'm cool. Anybody wants to come and live the American dream. I've had guys on here that joined the military because they wanted to live the American dream. I am a hundred percent for anybody coming to this country, but doing it the right way way, and there's no other country is just come on in and take over, right we, you see how those go. And then these people are like oh, I'm all for it. It's like how do you, how does your mind process that this is benefiting our country for the good, for the long term? And it's just it's wild to me it's wild. It's wild that some of the stuff that they're even talking about is even Is like capable of being had in public discussion.

Speaker 1: 1:20:11

I'm like whoa Like when someone's like Dude, if I hear somebody. I've never heard someone say it in real life, but if I heard somebody make a case, well you know we shouldn't say the word pedophile. They're minor, attractive people.

Speaker 2: 1:20:23

I mean that's going around. I'm like I want to kill you Like I legitimately want to throw you in a wood chipper, 100% the fact that your mind oh, they're minor attractant humans.

Speaker 1: 1:20:34

It's like they can't help that I'm like, yes, you can, you absolutely can. Yeah, and this is one thing I just everyone talks about the things that they can't help. We're just such an overly diagnosed population For sure. Yeah, everyone's like, oh well, you know, I've been diagnosed, knows, with anxiety. I'm like, okay, so you're like afraid of a situation doesn't mean like everything in your life is going to make you anxious, like if you believe that it absolutely will yeah, well then, you see these people at these protests.

Speaker 2: 1:20:56

They're like I suffer from this and this and this, and they're listing all the shit.

Speaker 1: 1:20:59

It's like and then I'm like how many drugs do you take a company with those? And I'm like you realize that you're just a paycheck these people a hundred percent, a hundred percent.

Speaker 2: 1:21:07

Yeah, what's your take on Big Pharma now that RFK is coming in and things are going to start, oh man.

Speaker 1: 1:21:13

Okay, so first what do you mean? Oh, dude, I saw some internal documents from one of their strategic consultants for a bunch of Big Pharma people like politics and just talking about how they want to try and stop RFK, and it's like, okay, we need to start pushing out like surrogates onto podcast stuff, alternative media, because you know, we continue buying, like you know, ad space on traditional media. That we've done for like 60 years. It's not working. We need to have people go have real conversations and they're trying to figure out a way to start countering.

Speaker 2: 1:21:44

You know, like I don't I mean, who knows where to go, but I mean I feel like going to be a battle, but they obviously have the money to fund that and that's what it comes down to. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:21:54

Big Pharma, big Pharma, big Pharma. The only people I would say are more dangerous than Big Pharma to go after like politically I'm speaking is probably the Federal Reserve. Really yeah, both private entities.

Speaker 2: 1:22:13

Okay, okay, so I got a question for you. Hit me, big dog. This comes from some one of our, one of our, uh, fellow followers. How much does black rock and vanguard control the government and politics?

Speaker 1: 1:22:22

oh, directly, not at all, of course, not at all, not at all. But subsidiaries, consultant firms, all kinds of stuff a ton. I mean K Street being the lobbying firms. They run the federal government and just because so many people, they have to get elected. And the only way to do it for most people is to do it with money, and you get most of your money through lobbyists, and so yeah, how scary is it Because obviously you're in on a different level.

Speaker 2: 1:22:53

You're looking at the 3,000-foot level, so you're seeing everything here. Us as American, just common folk. We just see what's fed to us and what we want to do, what research we're doing on our own. How scary is it being behind the closed doors seeing the amount of money that's going toward these lobbyist groups and the private funding like is it? Is it pretty wild?

Speaker 1: 1:23:17

oh, it's wild.

Speaker 1: 1:23:17

It's, it's absolutely wild, because you know you start going to like these, like different fundraisers and stuff at different places, and then you just realize, like the ones in dc, you just start really becoming aware of how much super PACs and lobbyists just are like completely mandating what happens in the government.

Speaker 1: 1:23:35

And it's it's, it's the revolving door of Washington DC, where people will be on the Hill for a little while. Then they'll go work. You know they'll get to like, you know, deputy chief of staff or legislative director, then they'll go work for a lobbying firm and then they'll get their chops up there and but then that lobbying firm will give them a mission like, hey, when this comes up in two years, you need to make sure, whatever officer votes for it. It's like, okay, then they go back to the hill, then they work their way to become a chief of staff, and then the chief of staff, and then they're just like you know, they're sending their vote recs to the congressman and he's like, oh, by the way, vote for this. And then, as soon as that happens, they leave that office and then they go back. Now they're like a senior, a senior partner at this place and they're making six hundred thousand dollars a year, oh shit and because because they just they just helped get past you know a 19 billion dollar package or something.

Speaker 1: 1:24:19

And so that's where you start really realizing like they're not just trying to like buy favor of a congressman, they're trying to like manipulate a congressman, not even know what's in the bill for sure. And it's crazy how it all works okay, careful with that I am being careful, so is it gonna jump?

Speaker 2: 1:24:36

no, I've had people when they go to pull that sheath off of it, they run their fingers down and have gone to the bone. So the story with the spear nobody even ever notices it. But my kind of dumb ass. We were down in texas doing a heli hunt and we were doing a video. And I make this joke like man, if somebody ever made a spear, I'd jump out of a helicopter and spear a pig with it. And this kid I I wish I remembered his name, his instagram. I'd love to shout him out right now messages me because I'll make you one if you jump, if you promise to jump out of a helicopter and spear a pig and at that point, an airdrop hoplite I'm like, well, I gotta do it.

Speaker 2: 1:25:18

I'm. I had, I had this image and just you know, yeah, young and dumb. So this kid hand carves this whole entire handle out of god. What was it? It it's one of the strongest woods that you can get.

Speaker 2: 1:25:32

Hand forges the spear, tip what yes Hand forges everything, makes the whole thing himself. So we show up and he's like man. I only live like an hour from this ranch. Can I come and watch? We're like, absolutely so. My buddy at the time he's now passed His name was Gideon. He was one of the owners of Pork Choppers in Texas.

Speaker 1: 1:25:51

Pork Choppers is a great name for a helicopter.

Speaker 2: 1:25:55

He ended up passing away from a helicopter crash. So, anyways, this kid shows up with this spear and I'm like, fuck, I have to jump out of a helicopter now.

Speaker 1: 1:26:03

You had to at that point.

Speaker 2: 1:26:04

And spear a pig with it. And so we off to the sky as we go and we find this pig and there's this big, giant pig running through this field and I'm helicopters coming up on it. This pig's running, this is all. We got it all on video. And this pig turns and looks and all I see are these giant cutters.

Speaker 2: 1:26:29

How I got my buddy is flying the bird and I got two buddies behind me and everybody's like like looking at this pig, looking to be like good luck, I got the skull downstairs, I'll show you. I mean, dude, I'm talking like five, five finger length cutters, massive. You could see it from the air flying over this thing and I was like I don't know if I'm gonna jump on this thing. The my buddy, the pilot gideon's like he's like I probably want it. So I was like I don't know if I'm gonna jump on this thing and my buddy, the pilot gideon's like he's like I probably wouldn't. So I'm like get me on it. This pig's running. And I've never thrown a spear in my life like this. Right, I've had the spear in my hand for a couple hours beforehand, playing with it like you know, chopping some bamboo or whatever on this place we're hovering over and I get this spear and I'm standing out on the skid of this helicopter, not strapped to anything.

Speaker 2: 1:27:13

And I just boom and that spear just boom, perfect, hit. It buries this thing right in this pig, this big boar, as it's running and it just tumbles over. And I look back and my buddy's live on Instagram this is before you could save lives, dude. And everybody, the whole bird's like like look like dumbfounded. I'm like, holy shit, thought greatest kill of all time. So I jump out and they're like the bird takes off. They're filming. Got a camera guy, so they're filming as I'm on the ground, like yeah, I walk up and pull this spear out. This pig goes, it comes right back to life I pull this little like 380, I'm like shoot this pig so that was that.

Speaker 2: 1:27:55

So then we're like we have to jump out.

Speaker 2: 1:27:57

So we end up finding this giant sow like huge, huge pig, and she's running like fuck, this is it like I gotta do this, you know, and we're all filming it and I yeah, my dumb ass, opened my mouth and, right, as we get this pig and we're, we're over the top of her, I'm, I'm fairly high, like it's, it's higher than the ceiling, I mean it's. I'm up there and I'm like, all right and the, my buddy's flying, we're pushing over this pig and he's looking we're and right, right as I think I'm good, as soon as I leave that bird, my feet leave. That's those skids, I think they're called skids. That pig goes whoop, it just turns mid-air. I just whoop and throw the spear and bury it right behind the front shoulder.

Speaker 1: 1:28:41

Dude you were made for, like you need to go fight a marathon.

Speaker 2: 1:28:45

No, no, I don't these days are long gone and the pig runs off off and they got it all on video and it piled up not too long after that. It was wild, so that's where.

Speaker 1: 1:28:55

That's a sweet spear.

Speaker 2: 1:28:57

Yeah, but that's why I say be careful, because dudes will, and then they grab like this, and they run their fingers down. I don't know why, but We've all been there. That's the story of the spear you.

Speaker 1: 1:29:07

You don't make that mistake twice.

Speaker 2: 1:29:08

Yeah, so anyways, back to you, dude, I got some questions for you. This is actually from a buddy. You can throw that on the floor or wherever. I had to play twice with this guy actually Kyle Hills. He's actually picking up major tomorrow. He started as enlisted, Him and I were troops together. And he's becoming a major, and he's been in this whole entire time.

Speaker 1: 1:29:27

Wow.

Speaker 2: 1:29:33

Yeah, he joined in 2004. We all went to to two deployments together. He stayed in, he went, the officer route.

Speaker 1: 1:29:36

Yeah, so he pins on tomorrow actually major.

Speaker 2: 1:29:38

That's incredible, pretty cool. Um, his question is how large of a factor is the influence and contribution to the lobbyists when considering a topic to vote on?

Speaker 1: 1:29:48

um that that's completely dependent on the congressman.

Speaker 2: 1:29:51

So I will talk about.

Speaker 1: 1:29:51

For myself, not a, not a factor whatsoever, I would never even think about it, um, but for a lot of people who struggle with raising money, it's a it's everything really, I mean, it is almost everything. Unless they, unless it is, like you know, every congressman has, you know, their one or two issues that, like they're known for, and so, unless it's involving one of those, they will just do whatever, how, whatever makes the most political expedient sense Really. And so it's like, oh well, you know, we all have to vote against this. And then sometimes it comes down to where it's like Democrats will come over and be like, hey, we really need to pass this bill, but need you know, five of our people won't vote for it, so we need five of yours to get it passed. And so we'd be like, okay, who's in the safest seats, who could like get away with doing this?

Speaker 1: 1:30:38

And then you know they, you know everyone votes against it, but it's, but we're, it's such a uniparty situation. Yeah, I mean, you know everyone will, everyone, a lot of guys will have their time in the chamber. It's like I gotta vote with a democrat this time. I'm gonna get a little hate for it, but I'll be fine. And then you know a bunch of lobbyists will be like well, we'll make sure that you make up enough money to to win those votes back.

Speaker 1: 1:30:56

And it's crazy, it's all money, man, a lot of it's money, a lot of it's money, and then if they can't get you with the carrot, you know they'll come with you with sick, so false allegations maybe you know they'll send you know I always tell new congressmen or new people coming into that area.

Speaker 1: 1:31:08

It's like just remember, you know, if you're in some random small town in missouri and I'm sure there's a lot of beautiful women in small towns in missouri but you see, like a top level, world famous model walk in and she just looks at you and thinks you're the funniest, most amazing guy in the world and she's with her friend.

Speaker 1: 1:31:25

She's like we should all go back to the hotel. My brother, I promise you're not that, promise you're not that funny, you're not that good looking and she meant to meet you that night and it's going to turn out really bad and that shit happens. Huh, oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:31:36

Do you live? Maybe not so much you, but you do. You live in a constant state of I don't want to say fear, but paranoia, especially in those stages when elections are going on. They're you're new to it, I mean your head has to be on a swivel.

Speaker 1: 1:31:55

Yeah, and it's. It is such second nature to a lot of people in that, in that world, that like we don't really think about it. Where it does become difficult is if I'm with somebody who has a hard time putting on a face or, like you know, not saying their mind, or you know it's not that you're lying, but like omitting information or something, because you know, like you just can't say it at that time because there's certain people around or whatever. Okay, or having to act like you, like somebody. So I have a few people in my life who have a hard time with any amount of not that it's dishonesty, but just having to play the game, you know, at some level. And so having it gets exhausting, especially for them.

Speaker 1: 1:32:28

But it gets difficult to have to remind them hey, you can't say that in front of these people. Or hey, you can't act like you, like this person, because this person hates this person. Or hey, you have to do this for this crowd, or hey, you need to do this. And then they'll just be like that's not me, like I don't believe that, and it's like, oh, you'll be sitting there, you're having just a good night, everybody's having a lot of fun. But, hey guys, everyone like lock in, stop having fun. Why he's like? Because that person over there works for this news company and they'll be like how?

Speaker 2: 1:32:58

do you know that they can't?

Speaker 1: 1:32:59

even hear us.

Speaker 2: 1:33:05

I'm like I promise they can Like.

Speaker 1: 1:33:06

It's just like. These people are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to do this job, to find anything out, yeah, and so that's where it gets difficult is people that don't enjoy it Not that I enjoy it, but just people that have a difficult time with it.

Speaker 2: 1:33:17

Here's kind of a personal question. As a devoted Christian you are. Oh please, dude, do you want me to go get a break? I can get it. Okay, that works as like a devoted Christian to you know being who you are in your background. Do you find it? Do you find yourself in any moral dilemmas, like having to lie, or is it all for the greater?

Speaker 1: 1:33:43

good in a way I don't lie. Okay, yeah. A lot of people do. But you know, just that's just being. You got to, sometimes you got gotta be the difficult part is, is it hard not lying, yeah? That's where it gets difficult, is you have to figure out tactically how to get away with something without sinning. And so it's like jeez, if I could just lie, it'd make it so much easier. But you know, that's just, that's the price you gotta pay. No one ever said being a Christian's easy no.

Speaker 2: 1:34:08

You just got to pay.

Speaker 1: 1:34:08

No one ever said being a Christian is easy.

Speaker 2: 1:34:12

No, for sure, can we take a?

Speaker 1: 1:34:12

second Fuck. I'll take a second oh my God, that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 1:34:18

Moist. Huh, I know that word drives some people nuts, but it's moist brother, that's amazing.

Speaker 1: 1:34:25

Do you want, like a slice Text mom, to bring up a?

Speaker 2: 1:34:27

No, no, no, oh, dude, you got to get a slice, you've got to get the guts of that thing. That's where the Nutella is. Oh my God, sure, you want one. We can cut it up for you. Real quick Text, mom, to bring up a this is so good, it's, okay.

Speaker 1: 1:34:38

I don't need it, you sure? This is just really good we were going to and just have people on and then you can make a highlight reel of each, like first break, oh you're the first person to just cut into it on the on an episode.

Speaker 2: 1:34:55

I usually just send them home. Yeah, I support it fully. I hope you do.

Speaker 2: 1:34:59

Yeah, have you tried this stuff yeah, my god, that's why I'm on a diet. Our house, our house is full. We call it getting sourdoughed out. Sourdoughed out because are you sourdoughed out? Not right now, I've, actually, I've been, we're good. There's times where, like we have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We do so. We make a pizza loaf. We call it the bichorno. So when you get home, let me know when you're gonna be home for a few days, how many damn knives do you have on you? Let me know when you're gonna be home for a few days and we'll send you a bichorno.

Speaker 2: 1:35:34

Send me a bichorno Pepperoni mozzarella with herbs like pizza herbs, bro. You warm it up, it's a whole meal and then you dip it in mozzarella sauce like a marinara sauce Fire. It fucks. Let me just say that.

Speaker 1: 1:35:50

That sounds like so much fun yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:35:53

We have a white chocolate. I'll send this to your chick. She'll forget everything. She'll forget about your tattoo.

Speaker 1: 1:36:02

Brother, it's gotten so much worse during this podcast.

Speaker 2: 1:36:06

It's gotten so much worse. Let it ride. Let it ride. We'll send her a white chocolate raspberry. Cut it up, make French toast with it for breakfast, slice some strawberries on it. But that one right there, dude. You slice that, put it in a cast iron so it gets crispy and it melts the chocolate and everything in there. Peanut butter, sliced banana honey on it. Pre-workout gym Gym workout right there. That sounds incredible. It is Dude. Pre-workout gym Gym workout right there, that sounds incredible.

Speaker 1: 1:36:33

It is, dude, I'm a fat kid. We should make that here before we leave.

Speaker 2: 1:36:36

When are you leaving?

Speaker 1: 1:36:37

What day are you? Are you talking about using this bread?

Speaker 2: 1:36:40

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:36:40

Putting peanut butter on it.

Speaker 2: 1:36:41

You want some, I don't know, I don't know, yeah, let's just say yes, is mom here this?

Speaker 1: 1:36:52

is the wildest.

Speaker 2: 1:36:52

This is the wildest chaos. So I heard a story about you. Oh dear God, it's actually. I want to verify if it's true or not. January 6th story had a guy reach out that I know he lives here. He's a local guy, National Guard. They had him living in the garage, sleeping in the garages there, and they said that nobody gave an absolute fuck about the National Guard sleeping in the garage. And this congressman ordered them a bunch of pizzas and it was you. Is that a real?

Speaker 1: 1:37:23

story. Yeah, so, because imagine, most of these National Guard guys are, you know, young men and you know they had come in after January 6th and a lot of them were sleeping all throughout the Capitol at night, and you know, just because there's nowhere for them to be, but you know, sleeping marble floors, there's couches, all over the place, you know, everyone's just kind of chilling. And then I remember one day I see so many different states' National Guards just lined up in formation. Because imagine, what does a 19-year-old National Guard want to do more than get in full dress uniform and go stand in formation and listen to six different congressmen come give a speech? So then they take a picture with you.

Speaker 2: 1:38:04

Be like oh, I was with my and so anyway.

Speaker 1: 1:38:07

So I remember they asked if I wanted to speak to the North Carolina National Guard. I was like, absolutely not. Like we're not going to make these guys go stand in attention to hear of some random politician. It doesn't sound fun at all. And so, anyways, all these guys get all these pictures with them, everything's great. Then the next night, the very next night, they said okay, no, national Guardsmen are allowed to sleep in the Capitol anymore, like you all have to be remanded to a parking garage. And you know there's a ton of them and all forced to sleep underground. Like six levels of parking garage, different levels, with one bathroom, really, and I hear about that.

Speaker 1: 1:38:41

So I'm at dinner. You know, it's just like a nice restaurant. We've got a couple of advisors there with my chief of staff and I get a call from my buddy. Just a big shout out to buddy benny johnson, get a call from benny johnson. He said madison, I just heard from one of my friends that his uh brother is in the national guard and they just forced them all to go into sleep in the uh in the parking garages. And I was like what? No, it's.

Speaker 1: 1:39:03

I mean, first of all it's freezing outside, yeah and there's one bathroom and then, like you know, it's justey and it's just bad and it's just awful. And so I hear that and we're at this nice restaurant and I look at my buddy, blake, and I was like pay for the dinner. He's like okay, so I go outside and we call every Papa John's in town that we can find and I say make as many pizzas as you can for the next hour. And they're like why? We told them why they were doing it. And I got John owners, franchisee guys, because they started going to work. So we made hundreds of pizzas, really, took a pickup truck, we filled the pickup truck with all the pizzas. Then we drove to this parking garage where they were at A bunch of National Guard guys outside Obviously someone's doing watch, and they're like hey, sir, you got to stop.

Speaker 1: 1:39:42

I'm just in normal clothes, not in a suit or anything. He was like yeah, you can't come in. I drop pizzas off for the boys and like I'm sorry if you don't have, like your, yours, the right stuff. And some officer comes over trying to talk away through and, um, I was like okay, like I hate being a dick, but I definitely outrank all of you I was like, I was like get out of my way.

Speaker 1: 1:39:59

And the guy was like I mean you gotta have permission and blah blah, and I was like I am and I was like son I was like this guy's like 10 years older than me.

Speaker 1: 1:40:07

I was like, if you don't open that gate, I was like I'm going to get my wheelchair and get out of this car and I will put my member pin on and we will call whoever's in command of you. And he was like, okay, and so we go in. And then we drive in and you know there's no vehicles in it because obviously there's like hundreds.

Speaker 2: 1:40:27

No, no, sleeping on the floor, sleeping bags, or just right on the floor.

Speaker 1: 1:40:30

I don't remember. I got pictures of it, but I don't remember any sleeping bags or anything.

Speaker 2: 1:40:34

No shit.

Speaker 1: 1:40:35

Yeah, it was fucked up and so anyway, so I hop out and no one's paying attention and so I just kind of yell. I was like, hey, I heard they kicked all your asses out of the Capitol. I was like we brought you some pizzas and man, I brought you some pizzas and man, I've never had 2 000 friends so fast in my life because they were there for months after january 6th and so it was awesome because you know, they were being really strict to everybody. But now they, I, they all liked me and I was like if anybody wants to come sleep in my office.

Speaker 2: 1:40:59

You're more than welcome really so yes, we had a really good time then.

Speaker 1: 1:41:03

Uh, we would make them make different chili nights and have everybody come by, and so it was. It was, it was big. There's a of fun.

Speaker 2: 1:41:09

See, I feel like it's the little things like that you know for you, especially being a younger guy, and you have all these career politicians that are sitting there watching and don't give a shit. Yeah, I mean, I feel that's what separates the, you, the cranes, these guys that are actually making a difference, trying to make a difference because it shows like, okay, hey, these are. I truly care to make a difference, because it shows like, okay, hey, these are I truly care, you didn't have to do that right.

Speaker 2: 1:41:33

You know, I don't know if it went political or was on the news, but I heard that from a buddy of mine was like man, this guy, he did, he.

Speaker 1: 1:41:37

This is what he did for us dude, yeah, that was a fun night I wanted to verify and make sure that was a cool story, yeah it was my most fun thing we probably ever did was going eighth and I really the marine barracks up there, so my, my grandfather used to be on the silent drills team there.

Speaker 1: 1:41:51

And so his name's like on a wall somewhere. So anyways, but anyway. So I had gone to see it and then the commandant of the Marines was like, oh hey, you and your woman should come here and, like you know, we'll honor you guys that night. So we had to have this like cool seat and they just did like the whole show they always do, with the silent drill, the bloodstripe ceremony for a bunch of guys getting E4.

Speaker 2: 1:42:08

Did you?

Speaker 1: 1:42:09

Yeah, and so that was really fun.

Speaker 2: 1:42:11

That's tradition, man Dude that was awesome. How did you pin them?

Speaker 1: 1:42:16

I just handed them to them and handed them the thing. I'm not a Marine, I'm letting Marines do the pinning. That's their own thing.

Speaker 2: 1:42:24

That is such. It's cool. You got to experience that. Because people always ask, like what's the difference between the Army and the Marine Corps? And my biggest thing between the Army and the Marine Corps is our customs and courtesies and traditions.

Speaker 1: 1:42:35

Well, people are formerly in the Army. A Marine's, a Marine forever. I've never met a Marine who's not a Marine. I'm like yep dude, I can tell you're a.

Speaker 2: 1:42:42

Marine and the years of traditions, of what goes on. I'm sure it's very filtered down being up at the flagpole and you got all the brass around but like in a, in a grunt unit, in a field unit, did you get your blood stripes? Like I? We couldn't walk for a week, you know because anybody listening doesn't know is when you pin on e4 or corporal, you get your red stripes down your legs on your on your blue trousers montezuma right, because all the e4s died and all the bloodshed.

Speaker 2: 1:43:10

So you know, and the tradition that's carried on to this day is obviously, when you get pinned, you get your chevron shoved into your collar. I'm sure they don't do this anymore. I would love to know if they still did so. You get those pounded in and then every corporal and sergeant come out. They pull them out of you, so they pull them out of you, so they pull your collar back out, they slam them back into you and then they knee. They hold you on their side and they drive their knee straight into your thigh as hard as they can Just dead leg.

Speaker 2: 1:43:40

And dude if you have 10, 15 NCOs in your platoon every one of them are taking their shot. And I know a lot of people are like I would never.

Speaker 2: 1:43:50

That was just the core we were in, like oh yeah, dude, you didn't say you were never like you, you did it. It wasn't an option, yeah, and so that was getting your blood stripes. And it was a pretty cool thing because you're in, you're considered an nco at that point, you know, even though you don't have shit for, say, and your opinion doesn't mean a damn thing, but you know it's, you got blood stripes down. It just looks that much better when you wear your dress blues. You know you got that red stripe down, your your brains are so cool, man, it's cool, it's cool you got to, you got to experience like a little bit of tradition like that.

Speaker 2: 1:44:16

It was cool to see me. Those are some awesome guys. As far as what's the worst part of dealing with congress and dealing with all of that when you're just oh man, just be like being on a date with your wife and then just somebody come up.

Speaker 1: 1:44:28

Be be like you're a fucking nazi, just trying to like ruin dinner or whatever. Or just like you know, there's a planned protest, someone to new year going to dinner, some nice restaurant you're celebrating, something like for your wife has nothing to do with you, and then something happens where you get all the attention. You're like I want to be invisible. I'm literally just here to support her and that that sucks yeah, yeah, or just anybody that's in your life.

Speaker 2: 1:44:49

Take a toll on your relationship any in?

Speaker 1: 1:44:51

yeah, I mean it depends. Some women are really like some. Some spouses, men and women, are just like really well made for that world and they, they are so on point with your mission. Yeah, that they're like you know, it's like they're both a congressman, like they're. It's like that couple is a congressman they're powerhouse for it, yeah and they are freaking.

Speaker 1: 1:45:08

They, they love it and they're like, oh, this is all for. But then you know, there's a lot, of a lot of people who are just like, oh my gosh, you have to do this, somebody else can do this. It's like, no, no one else can do it, no, you're the face and so it.

Speaker 2: 1:45:18

It just depends who you're with so january 6 where you were, I mean you were, you were on the yeah, I was getting prepared.

Speaker 1: 1:45:25

I just I actually spoke at the rally, yep, so I was, I was the only congressman to speak, so I spoke and then rolled, like physically rolled, all the way back, um, up up pennsylvania, which I'll tell you, rolling down to get there, um, because they, because we were like because you know, we had votes coming up to the for what was going on january 6th, and they're like, dude, okay, we only have like 20 minutes. And I was like I gotta get down and speak, but they're all the roads were so shut down. We're like like, oh, dude, there's no vehicle that's going to get us there in time. And I was like, fuck it, we're walking. And so we physically just rolled down, but there's like the roads are filled, but it's like the sidewalks are just all filled, but the main Pennsylvania Avenue was completely open because it was shut down. And so, anyways, I just looked at this one Capitol Police officer. I was like open that gate. He was like, sir, I can't. I was like, do it. And he did. So me and two of my buddies, just like I mean at probably, like you know, probably 10 miles an hour pace. Yeah, just went down this thing. And so for like 20 minutes of going down there. It was just like applauses on both sides. People were like, yeah, so that was really cool. But that grade, yeah, that was fun, that was fun.

Speaker 1: 1:46:33

But then, uh, I was, I was about to do the lead the debate for uh test contesting wisconsin, okay, and then all of a sudden, you know, I saw all the capital police guys get really straight backed and you can notice when someone's like oh for sure, everything changes. And I was like what's going on there? And then I saw like a bunch of radio comms going on. I was like that's interesting. And then, anyways, then we, oh, then I heard over somebody's radio that somebody had made it into Statuary Hall. So in my mind there was some tall, lanky, fast kid who had juked somebody out and just ran into Statuary Hall. But then, next thing we know, then we start hearing all the doors are being banged on. I was like that's weird. But I will say you know, on that day, front 100, 150 guys, definitely not MAGA people, like I don't know who they were.

Speaker 2: 1:47:15

I don't know if they were just. You don't think there were three-letter agency guys in that crowd?

Speaker 1: 1:47:18

Oh there were 78 of them. Yeah, there were 78, yeah, 78. This has been proven. Yes, it's very proven.

Speaker 2: 1:47:24

So what happened to all like the emails and the messages? I mean, how did all that get deleted? Oh dude, what's?

Speaker 1: 1:47:31

your take on that. Well, we're starting to get into a world of espionage and trickery.

Speaker 2: 1:47:39

It gets muddy at that point it gets muddy.

Speaker 1: 1:47:40

At that point I get you. Who did what? I get you. What do they allow?

Speaker 2: 1:47:44

But I mean, it's obviously known and a lot of people still deny it that there were guys placed in that crowd too.

Speaker 1: 1:47:54

Yeah, I mean like that, there there were 78 um human contacts, like that work for the fbi in there. So that's wild that our government's doing that type of shit yeah, and like you knew that the real, like protagonists or like antagonists in the crowd. There were maybe 150 of them, so half of them were fbi.

Speaker 2: 1:48:08

So because, I mean, there's so many videos of people like no, like scream, like, scream, like leave it, don't do it.

Speaker 1: 1:48:12

But you've got to think, man, like. First of all, the front doors to the Capitol building are missile-proof. They're designed to take, like, shoot an RPG at it. You're not opening the door and they're completely magnetized. All you have to do to secure that building is shut the door, push a button. If the door is shut, everything's fine. And then there's a cert team right down the hallway, like from the front door, and then you see a guy will run in. He looks up at the camera and then points the door and then tries to open it and looks at the camera and points at the door and then you hear all the mag locks go and then he opens the door and then everyone just files in. And if you see people just walking in, you see capitol police escorting people around you would think everything's fine.

Speaker 2: 1:48:49

See them high-fiving and dabbing it up. It's nuts that was a wild time. Did you ever fear for your life? Never, not even close?

Speaker 1: 1:48:56

No shit, not in the slightest, it just wasn't one of those situations?

Speaker 2: 1:49:04

What do you think about the FBI and everything getting a makeover?

Speaker 1: 1:49:10

I think that is the most necessary thing, that can happen. I think Tulsa Gabbard is the most important nomination that Trump's made. Really yeah for the cabinet. Reforming our intel community is the most important thing.

Speaker 2: 1:49:22

It is way past, beyond needed. I mean, they've had free reign to run rampant through this country and just lie and manipulate.

Speaker 1: 1:49:29

They're cruel, they're evil, it's wrong, yeah, and just lie and manipulate? They're cruel, they're evil, it's wrong, yeah, man. Any last big questions.

Speaker 2: 1:49:36

Yes, yeah, we'll wrap this up. I got one last question for you. We'll see how you don't have to answer this one. This is a question from the veteran community. Oh dear, what's it like working with a spineless coward like Dan Crenshaw that turns his back on his community?

Speaker 1: 1:49:55

Oh, dan, and I don't see eye to eye, which is funny because he only has one eye. Yeah, but I can't stand, I will say so. There's a few congressmen. There's one guy who's got no legs, dan, he's missing an eye and I'm in a wheelchair. There's a couple other guys, and so, anyways, we'll sometimes make other congressmen feel so bad if they'll bring up something about a disability, like we're disabled.

Speaker 1: 1:50:18

And then also they're like whoa what. And so Dan and I politically don't see eye to eye often, but we have a very good working relationship as friends. He makes some damn good merchandise I'll give him that. And so, like he made a bunch of Christmas sweaters one time I was thinking about making Christmas sweaters and so I ordered a Christmas sweater from his thing and, you know, gives him money to do his campaign, but anyway. So I got that Christmas sweater at my house and then, anyways, I was going to the should all wear Christmas sweaters and I was like, yeah, I'm in Florida.

Speaker 2: 1:50:52

And I was like I don't have any sweaters here.

Speaker 1: 1:50:53

And then I started looking for a Christmas sweater and I find a fucking Dan Crenshaw Christmas sweater, and so that's what I wore to the thing. So I called Dan. I was like, hey, you're going to laugh really hard bummer.

Speaker 2: 1:51:08

It's kind of a bummer to see, like you know, especially being a vet in the SEAL and that community. Like some of the decisions, I don't understand some of the decisions. When I threw it out there I had a lot of people like ask about Dan because he's, you know, he's always under some sort of fire. Yeah, Making some stupid-ass decision that doesn't line with everything.

Speaker 1: 1:51:32

But you. I just thought it would be hilarious to get your opinion on. Yeah, man, I get it. Yeah, we've had some pretty massive disagreements in the past A lot of people have with him.

Speaker 2: 1:51:38

Well, dude, I don't know if you want to get into what's next for you. We wrap it up here, but I appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 1:51:42

Well, brother, it's been an honor man. I've loved it.

Speaker 2: 1:51:44

Thanks for taking the time. I know we've got a party tonight night to get you ready for it good time, yeah, and so uh, but we'll see you later and we'll get you hell out of here. We'll get you some bread we'll be back on again.

Speaker 1: 1:51:53

We'll do this, dude, I'm we ain't going anywhere.

Speaker 2: 1:51:55

Anytime you roll through town, man, I'd like to catch up and see where you're at all. Right man, how everything's going in life. Pumped about it, brother thanks, dude, thanks congratulations man on everything, congrats. It's awesome to see and get to know you. It's been fun.