Is Aric Nesbitt The Next Governor of Michigan?

Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt sits down with Joseph Steagall for an unfiltered conversation about the policies quietly driving up the cost of every new home in Michigan — to the tune of $95,000 in government-mandated costs that most buyers never see on the invoice.

Learn more about his campaign: https://nesbittforgovernor.com/

In this episode:

•
The housing mandate that added $95,000 to every new Michigan home and who is responsible for it

•
Michigan's reading crisis: why 3 out of 5 fourth graders cannot read at grade level and what Nesbitt's plan actually is

•
What a Nesbitt governorship would look like in practical terms — not talking points, actual policy

•
Where Joseph pushes back and where the centrist case holds up

This is the conversation mainstream media is not having. No party line. No spin. Just the receipts.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who thinks both parties have lost the plot.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I couldn't go into the office with her, and I get a text from my wife say we lost our second born to a miscarriage, and I couldn't be sitting next to her.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome to Middle Ground Mike, everybody. The man who wants to run Michigan is here to make his case. But after years of broken promises from politicians, why should anyone seem to trust them? Well, State Senator Eric Nesbitt joins me now. Senator Nesbitt, welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hey, thanks for having me on, Joseph. Appreciate the opportunity to talk to your audience as we work on ways to really, as we've seen out of Michigan, it's been tougher and tougher for families to make it here. And I'm running for governor so that everybody can make it in Michigan again. And unfortunately, out of Lansing, the Democrats have increased the cost of living, taxes, indoctrinate our kids with uh woke nonsense and giving free housing to illegal immigrants. And I'm running to eliminate the state's property tax, lower the cost of energy, and uh really work to rip out this woke nonsense from our schools and make sure that we ban sanctuary cities. And so that's how you make sure everybody can make it in Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I know. I mean, those are very great points. What is so fundamentally broke in Michigan right now that you believe we can get fixed easily, especially with your leadership?

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, somebody who grew up on a farm, you know, family's been in Michigan for seven generations in the same township for six generations. Uh I know the value of hard work. I know the value of what it means to go out there and work in 90-degree weather, baling hay and having to sleep on the main floor because we didn't have air conditioning growing up. Working my way through Hillsdale College, having uh five jobs to be able to work through. They're getting my degree in economics. And now I have a young family, three young kids. I just remember six years ago during COVID when we were expecting our secondborn. And uh I drove my wife to the OB's office. And because of Governor Whitmer and the Democrats and Lansing, the worst thing that could happen in a parent's life, losing a child, that I couldn't be comforting her. And people, and what happened then should never happen again. And that's that's really why I'm running for governor is that uh I believe in the individual. I don't, you know, instead of the state, families instead of government. And right now in Michigan, we're bottom 10, bottom 10 in education, 44th in reading. Three out of five fourth graders can't read at grade level, second slowest growth state in the in the nation. The average family in Michigan makes $9,000 less than the average family does nationally. And that really wheezes families here in the state of Michigan. As I go around the state, I remember talking to uh a guy up in Gladwin, moved from Tennessee to Michigan. You don't meet too many of these folks that actually move from Tennessee to Michigan because Tennessee is a no-income tax state, right to work state, no statewide property taxes. And he says he adds up his bills locally at energy and insurance and taxes, and he figures he spends $5,000 more per year for the privilege of living in Michigan than in Tennessee. And I don't know about you, but as a farm boy, $5,000 is a lot of money. And so I run it for governor to eliminate the state property tax, peel the Green New Scam to lower the cost of energy, peel no fault to lower the cost of insurance, and increase incomes. And that's how you make sure everybody can make it in Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah. $5,000, woof, man, that would pay a lot of bills these days. And people need that. Uh, you know, it was seven or eight years ago, but still uh it definitely would help a lot of folks. Close enough. What what is the one hard truth that no one's willing to say out loud about what's going on in Michigan right now?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Well, I think it's it really comes down to education. I mean, I, you know, instead of teaching the 26 letters of the alphabet, we're seeing these schools teaching 26 pronouns. And I I was just in Wayne County recently and talking to a parent, actually over in the Gross Points, and they had a six year sixth grader, a 12-year-old, that uh refused to use a they-them pronoun in in class, instead use the he him pronoun. And the teacher sent him down to the principal's office. And God bless this kid when he gets uh got down to the principal's office and goes, I thought with President Trump and office that we didn't have to do this nonsense anymore. Is the next governor in Michigan? I'm gonna have that kid's back. And we need to have that kid's back to make sure that every kid's able to read by fourth grade, to make sure that uh parents have a choice of where they send their kids to school. And also, I think the last 25 years, we've told a half a generational lie where uh the trades weren't an option, the college was the only option. And I look at somebody like my brother, my oldest brother, 35 years ago. He was one of those C average students, but boy, he was street smart. He could tear apart a transmission, rebuild it on a weekend, put it all back together uh without a bucket of bolts left over. That was always my challenge. I usually have a bucket of bolts left over. But if you would have, you know, he spent his junior year doing diesel mechanics at the uh local vocational center. He spent his senior year at a farm implement dealership, and he had a job on day one without a day of college and without any college loans. And if you would have forced him to take two years of a foreign language just to get a D or algebra two just to get a D, that would have discouraged him, done not done anything for the economy, not done anything for the society. Instead, we had a program allowing him to find what his spark was, his best interest. I was talking to uh kid the other day, and I say kid because I remember when I was 22, I hate being called a kid, but uh talking to a 22-year-old, right? And he didn't know there was really other options besides just going straight to college. Right. And he did five semesters, dropped out, had $35,000 of debt, went back, did some training as a med tech, graduated, graduated for a few-month program with being a med tech, is doing fine if it wasn't for that $35,000 of college debt that he has to pay off. And that's the challenge that we have right now is making sure that every kid is ready, ready to learn, making sure we find what each kid's spark is and building up that instructional support. And as I look at it, if if states like Mississippi, that's 49th in income, that's a lot poorer than even Michigan is, is able to do it. Michigan is a top 20 spending state in education, shouldn't be 44th, we should be a top 10 uh state. And it's and it's about making sure that our kids are prepared because we know if they're not reading that fourth grade level by then, that they have a nearly 70% chance of doing one of two things in life being on social welfare at some point or being in jail at some point. Boy, that paints a very dark and grim picture for the future of Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Yes, it does. You know, and talking about that, you know, what's one specific policy from Lansing that is seems to be that's glaringly obvious that's making life more expensive for Michiganders.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Well, overall, it's the state property tax. We need to repeal the state properties. Yes, I agree. I've been to all 83 counties in the state of Michigan, only Governor Canada that's hit all 83 counties. I did I started early and did that on purpose to listen to folks from Melvindale to Marquette to Muskegon to uh Port Huron. And and listening to those stories is that I hear is that it's just tough to make it in Michigan and the and the property taxes, we got to repeal the state property tax. The one thing I'm gonna pledge to folks that I'm gonna do, I'm gonna repeal the state property tax, repeal the personal property tax, so lower the cost for small businesses, and force the utilities to roll back their rates by a billion dollars. And that's how you make sure our families can finally start making in Michigan by lowering the cost of living.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

And that's perfect. My gosh. Housing, you know, utilities, and then the dreaded thing in Michigan, car insurance. You know, every governor has promised or tried to fix car insurance. You know, what can you do to, you know, like or just some principles, you know, to kind of help us get in that direction? I I, you know, I know everybody tried, right? I don't think there's a lack of effort from wanting, right? It's just I think a lot of people want to see where is that going.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

No, there is because there's some groups and some special interest groups that actually make a lot of money off the current system. Trial lawyers, our healthcare system, some of these folks, instead of making sure that our drivers and seniors and families are first and foremost. And so I would say you repeal no fault and copy and paste either Ohio or Wisconsin's auto insurance laws. I mean, heck, I was talking to a couple that uh moved from Illinois to Michigan. And Illinois is the most expensive state to live in in the Midwest. But they moved here and they said they're paying three times as much for their auto insurance than they were in Illinois. And so you don't have to go too far for examples, is that you have to start off by eliminating no fault, provide that competition, hold the insurance companies accountable, root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in the system, and make sure that folks are able to pay their fair price. I've talked to too many people that can't afford insurance, and so they go without, and you see that too much of the time here in Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yeah, uh my family, we ended switching a couple about a year or two ago because they had great rates, and then all of a sudden got a bill one day and it doubled. And I'm like, I don't I don't have anything that went on my record. Why is I got good credit? Why is this doubling? It was just so puzzling. And when we called an insurance company, they were like, Well, if you go to somebody else, you'll probably get a better rate. We can't give you a better rate, though. But if you come back in a year or two, we can give you a better rate. And I'm like, what?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

And and unfortunately, reform seven years ago, Whitmer refused to go far enough to actually repeal no fault and the lore of rates. And we know that Jocelyn Benson is actually going to do the opposite. It's gonna she's in bed with the trial lawyers, it's gonna mean higher insurance rates for Michigan families. And and I was up in Menominee a little bit ago, you know, southern tip of the upper peninsula, right on the Wisconsin border. And I was going through these neighborhoods, I was talking to a local guy. You know, why are there so many Wisconsin plates here? I know we're next door, but is that many people visit? He goes, No, a lot of people lie about their addresses and uh register their cars in in what in Wisconsin because the rates are so much cheaper. It's only a matter of time where these people and businesses actually move across the border to the other state, and that's lost opportunities for Michigan. And so that's something that we need to take care of is lowering the cost of insurance, lowering the cost of energy by repealing the green the green new scam that the Democrats passed a few years of property tax.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

No, and I mean that's key. I mean, the property tax will insanely fix a lot of people's lives. And I don't even think a lot of people who rent realize how much that that will help offset future increases on them.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Hundreds of dollars a month for folks that rent.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yes. Yeah, and that you know, that is something that I have I have looked into, you know, because I own my own house, thankfully, outright. And, you know, not a lot of people would be unlucky.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

This is the point, you can't rent the American dream. You should be able to own the American dream. And when the Democrats, when Jocelyn Benson, and when Gretchen Whitmer talk about housing, what they talk about is more government subsidies. So they're gonna take more money out of your wallet, make owning a house less affordable. I mean, hell, two years ago, Governor Whitmer had a proposal for housing that would increase the real estate transfer tax, which would increase the amount of people would pay to buy a house and then put it into an affordable housing fund. That's the opposite of what you need to do to make housing more affordable. And as I look at the key elements, is one, no free housing for illegal immigrants. I'm gonna join with President Trump to deport every criminal illegal from the state of Michigan. You got to get back to the trade so you have folks that can actually do construction and heating and air conditioning, plumbing, electrical work so so that uh you actually can find folks to build. You gotta scrap the bureaucracy and unnecessary rules and regulations. You go up to the Home Builders Association Association of Michigan did a study, and they figured between federal, state, and local rules that the average new home costs $95,000 more because of government mandates. I don't know about you, but as a foreign boy, $9,000 is a lot of money. And so, as the next governor of Michigan, I'm gonna take a flamethrower to the bureaucracy and red tape coming out and lancing and make sure people actually get real relief so they can afford their house, afford housing, and actually own a piece of the American dream instead of just running.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Yeah, no, I mean that makes a whole lot of sense. And geez, I didn't realize it was that much uh on top of just from the red tape on top of the price of a house. Good lord.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah, it's insane. I was I was talking to a developer in Livingston County recently, and and he goes, uh, that seems awfully high. Like, well, go back, do your paper, see what it looks like. And a few weeks later he came back, he goes, I come up to $91,000. I'm like, well, that's pretty damn close.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Right. I mean, that's that's good math railtime. I think a lot of people are their jaws are gonna hit the floor as soon as they hear that number, and they might need a truck to pick them up.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

When I talk to somebody in northern Macomb County and and a new house uh is ranch style, 1600 square feet, three bed, two-bath, is running 400 grand. I mean, that that's out of reach for way too many working families. And when the average family in Michigan makes $9,000 less than the average family does nationally, we have a problem, Michigan. We have a problem here in Michigan. We got to shake up the status quo, take it, you gotta take a blowtorch the bureaucracy in Lancy, and we got to start building again, start investing again, allowing free people to actually build it again.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Yeah, and that's key. You know, in and thinking of that, right? And we we talk about building the future. Why are so many young, talented people leaving the state when you have things like what Ford has done, you know, with the train depot that I don't think anybody ever expected to get, you know, refurbished and then somehow it happened.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Yeah, it starts with opportunity. And one, the bleak picture we saw with education when three out of five fourth graders can't read a grade level, paints a very grim picture for the future of the state when we know set you know 70% will either end up on social welfare or in jail at some point. I want to paint a very different picture, one where everybody can actually make it here in Michigan. And that starts with actually job creators. One, making sure that we can allow folks to invest and grow here in the state. And whether it's a manufacturer in Holland that is trying to replace their docks, they build boats and they're five years in, $2 million of engineering and legal costs, and they still don't have a permit from Whitmer's bureaucracy to build their docks. We have a problem. I mean, this is 700 employees that work, 700 people that work at this factory, fourth generation family business. We know that North Carolina and Georgia will be doing backflips to get a company like this. Or whether it's a restaurant owner in Adrian when I was doing my tractor town hall tour uh through the southern part of the state. And and down there, the restaurant owner I was talking to says, I'm done. This is my last day. I can't make it in Michigan anymore. I survived COVID, but the last few years with the new mandates and labor laws and taxes and property taxes, I just can't make it. 12 people are gonna lose their jobs. I'm moving back back to Ohio. Uh, and and and it's done. And you never hear about those reports on the front page of the paper. I'm gonna have her back as the next governor. I'm gonna make sure we repeal the state property tax and take a flamethrower to the bureaucracy and the red tape out of Lansing to make sure that job creators and our families can actually make it here in Michigan again.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah, and that's key. You know, reading and math scores, they matter a lot. We were talking about Mississippi a little bit ago. What are like some of the like the key things that you know we can do in the state to really turn those around? And I think is not just as much as policy, I think it's that confidence that people are missing that really is a roadblock as well.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

So, so it really starts with a few things. One is the last few years, what you've seen out of the Democrats and Lansing and Governor Wimmer is they repealed a third-grade reading law. They repealed, she vetoed scholarships for fourth graders that are behind in in reading from COVID shutdowns. And they shut down our schools. I mean, the average students in Michigan's three-quarters of grade level because of the COVID lockdowns. And so, what I'm gonna do is governor is follow a model that actually works in other states. That model means that you have science-based phonics, you know, science-based phonics reading to make sure that it works. You got to build up that support with literacy coaches for our teachers, teaching that phonics-based science of reading. And then in third grade, if they're still behind, you do intensive tutoring. You provide some opportunities for those kids to really catch up on their reading scores. And then if they're not there, the final bit is that you just don't promote them to the fourth grade until they're able to read at that grade level. And what we found is it works in other states, is that what we found is that it builds up success. And long term, it's going to make a world of difference for those kids to find that spark of what they're they want to do and how to make it actually in Michigan again.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

And that's key. I mean, those are very key things. And that really plays into, you know, we were talking about skilled trades earlier, you know, and with EVs coming down the pipeline and those jobs. Like, how do we look at that just from like your perspective? Because that's skilled trades are important. You know, we were talking about everybody being forced to go to college, you know, or being told that that's what they have to do, I shouldn't say.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

I mean, yeah, Mike Rowe said it pretty well last year in Dearborn. He he was speaking at the uh Mackkin Center's uh annual event. And Mike Rowe put it bluntly, he goes, for every five people retiring from the trades right now, there's only two people replacing them. And if you're gonna rebuild our infrastructure, our manufacturing base and our economy, you got to get back to basics so that folks, these skilled tradespeople, can actually build things in Michigan again. And it starts with, and it starts with with high school by by making sure that everybody has their basics in reading, writing, arithmetic, but then all offering those options in 11th and 12th grade for folks to they want to go on and cut hair or do photography or become a welder, become a pipe fitter, go into construction, allow that to happen, allow allow 11th and 12th graders to actually work with their hands again and get involved and go out and explore. And so I think there's just a little different concept over the last uh 25 years where we've gotten away from actually people working with their hands. And these are jobs that can't be replaced with AI, jobs that can't be exported. And if we're going to be serious about making us energy abundant, we gotta have folks, you know, we gotta have folks that are willing to work with their hands.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

That's key. You know, and speaking of folks that work with their hands, public safety are police officers. You know, there's a huge distrust of authority across America right now, especially with the police considering, you know, the public sentiment. How do we get back to that where it's the law enforcement can do their jobs in rural and in you know urban areas without this just this natural that has seemed to develop, this natural clash.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Yeah, the the last eight years under Governor Whitman, the Democrats and Lansing, law enforcement's been kicked around, spit on, and and really disrespected. And they were there as a masked police during COVID. And then you have these left-wing lunatics saying, hey, you know, what we need to do is uh is cashless bond, you know, no cash bonds for uh violent felons. I mean, that's ridiculous. Uh that we have to get back in and really say, law enforcement, we have your back. There's a place for social welfare workers, there's a place for law enforcement officials. And if I as I travel the state, I've toured probably two and a half dozen jails around the state. And unfortunately, in too many of our counties, and I'd say just about every county, that the largest mental health institution in each of these counties is the county jail. That needs to end. Some people need to have long-term institutionalized mental health help. We got to bring back our some mental health hospitals to make sure people have their work. I remember I was talking to the sheriff up in Benz and kind of the pinky of the state. And he goes, you know, we drop off somebody, you know, at the hospital in Traver City and they beat us back home. And if we want a long-term bed, I have to have two troopers drive all the way down to Indianapolis. Seven hours down there, seven hours back, two-hour trip. There isn't as options here. As the next governor, I'm gonna make sure those options are there. There's a reason why I've had 20-some sheriffs endorse me is because they know I'm gonna have their back in law enforcement. And unfortunately, within Michigan, we still have two of the 10 most most um dangerous cities in America, digging on in Detroit. That's gonna end as the next governor. I'm gonna join with President Trump to ban sanctuary cities, to make sure local law enforcement's working with state law enforcement's working with federal law enforcement, and make sure I have their their back and make sure prosecutors have the resources they need to be able to convict these criminals and put them away in jail.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah, I really like that you said the mental health. You know, there's a lot of, you know, we talk about public safety with the school shootings, this, that. There seems to always be one thing. The person had mental health problems long before that point. And it to me, it just reflected, I mean, the way you said that spot on to me is at a lot of the core of a lot of the issues that we have going on in terms of crime. There's a lot of people who, in the right situation, probably wouldn't be like that, you know, if they had the correct help.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

And unfortunately, over the years, the left believe, you know, a lot on the left believe there's not evil in this world. And I'm sorry with what I've seen on uh, you know, uh, you know, working with police and and prosecutors, there's real evil in this world. And sometimes people just need to be put away and have the key thrown away.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yes. No, most definitely you will never get an argument out of me, and I don't think out of any sane person on that one. I mean, there there is just some, there's some people that you could give them. I I use the analogy, you could give them a million dollars and they would be mad that you didn't give them a million one. You know, not happy that you gave them a million. They're mad, you know, and it's the same with crime. It's just some people just are the way they are, and we have to do our best to defend ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Well, you see it with woke prosecutors. You saw that the Michigan State uh shooting where a woke prosecutor didn't follow through on some earlier uh um you know, crimes that happened and didn't do the full prosecution, and people are dead because of that. Yeah. Young and that's that were never able to reach their potential are dead because of that. And that that those hands are on that prosecutor that that didn't do that work, that that uh didn't follow through. And that's a sh that's a shame. And then unfortunately, we have the Washana County prosecutor that refuses to prosecute some some crimes in Washington. He's running to be the state's attorney general, Eli Eli Savott. And this is the the point of the general election this fall in Michigan is that we're at a real turning point. And uh Republicans have a real prosecutor of Eton County, Doug Lloyd, running, ready to prosecute criminals and respect the rule of law. And the Democrats have a uh a woke prosecutor that believes in cashless bonds for violent felons and uh revolving door policy that that's wrong. And it's on the ballot this fall, and this is the importance of this year's election.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Yeah, people need to realize that midterms are just as important as presidential elections, if not more, really. And I w I wish that, you know, I had told you before I'm big on states' rights and state issues, and I, you know, I feel like the midterms are probably where a lot of things are, you know, the the devil's in the details, they always say, right? You know, and when thinking about that, you know, where I'm trying to think of the best way to put it. So what does public safety actually mean? Because you know, we were talking about this, right? Just as like a broader term, like putting that under an umbrella for people to kind of understand.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Yeah, I mean, it it really starts with leadership at the top. And unfortunately, here in Michigan, with what's been historically the premier state law enforcement agency in the nation, the Michigan State Police, is they've had corrupt, bad leadership for the last several years. It's more concerned with DEI in their in in the ranks than actual doing the job. Last year, the Michigan State Troopers Association did a poll of their of their frontline troopers, and 98.5% had no confidence with the leadership of the Michigan State Police. And the governor is able to fire him today, tomorrow. I've called on the governor to do that. She won't. And they're having real problems recruiting new state police officers. I mean, you know it. Historically, cops are the best recruiters for the profession. And unfortunately, you talk to a lot of them now in Michigan, is that they feel really disrespected. They feel spit on, the media's shit at them. And uh, and is as the next governor, I'm gonna lift them up, I'm gonna have their backs, and they know that.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Right, and that's key. Uh, you know, you know, governing beyond gridlock, right? I I love the gridlock, and that's kind of talking about that is if Democrats have a good idea. I know that's that's hard to think of sometimes. Will you work with them publicly? I because you know that's that's something that people in Michigan are always gonna want to ask.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

I mean, I'm gonna work with anybody that wants to truly lower costs for working families. That means eliminating the state property tax. That means repealing the green use scam to lower families' energy costs by $2,800 a year. That means repealing no fault to make sure that we have a competitive insurance market to lower the costs in half for people paying auto insurance. And I'm willing to work with anybody if it means to actually taking a flamethrower to the bureaucracy and red tape and Lansing. I mean, heck, if you could follow your pizza on a dominoes app, on whether it's in the oven or where it's at in the driveway, you should be able to follow where your permit is in the process on a basic app. And unfortunately, under the bureaucracy and red tape out of Lansing, it's just not working. Nobody's getting it, and we're having missed opportunities. And I'm willing to work with anybody. That means that every kid's able to read by third grade. Every parent's able to have choice of where they send their schools. And if it means that they're actually learning the ABCs instead of the woke nonsense we see, or it means protecting my daughter to make sure if she plays sports someday in high school, that she doesn't have to shower with another male. That's just some of the nonsense that 10 years ago, who thought it was even going to be a debate? And so this is a reminder that over the last several years, unfortunately, what we've seen from the left is continued violence, continued threats. I mean, just this last weekend, uh, there's another attempted assassination attempt on President Trump. Uh, you saw when Democrats brought in a podcaster or media influencer that uh, you know, Piker, that actually said America deserved 9-11. And this is somebody that uh somebody who could, I think, actually will win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. Hassan uh Abdul al-Saeed actually brought in what's the guy's name, Hassan Piker, to campaign with him. I mean, that there we people need to call balls and strikes right and wrong. And as the next governor, I'm gonna work with anybody that's gonna lower costs, provide opportunities for working families and job creators, and make sure there's accountability and choice and education. But I'm also gonna oppose anybody that's gonna turn or not allow boys to be boys or girls to be girls as they're growing up.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Right, no, and that's key, especially about Pike. I mean, that's just woof. That guy I had been reading, I I've read a little bit about it, but I haven't like gone too deep into detail, but I I've definitely gotten wind of some of it. And it's amazing to me how anybody, whether you're Republican or Democrat or really any Democrat, could have somebody sitting there, you know, and this isn't for me personally like attacking them, it's just going, you represent the American people, and this guy's saying they deserve something. How can anybody that is a politician or running for office honestly sit there and be like, I'm okay with that?

SPEAKER_00 27:08

The likely Democrat nominee for governor Jocelyn Benson, the current Secretary of State, worst Secretary of State ever, was on the board of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Yes. One where the Department of Justice just recently said they were financing racist groups such as the KKK, neo-Nazis, and fascists, groups that they said they were opposed to, but apparently they have financed to grow the hatred so that they have something to fight. This is ridiculous. And this is the kind of exposure that the new media, like what you're doing and podcasts and others, need to continue to uncover and bring to bring to light because unfortunately, the mainstream media continues to ignore what the Democrats do in their hypocrisy. I mean, can you imagine this? Can you imagine an environmental group pushing oil into a river and then do go doing a marketing campaign and saying, hey, we got to clean up this river? That's exactly what the Southern Poverty Law Center did with racist groups. It's wrong, it needs to end. And and and Jocelyn Benson needs to be held accountable because this happened when she was on the board.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Yeah, no doubt. I I agree 1000% on that. I I had done a story, I won't go too long into it, is on paid protesting with a company called Crowds on Demand. And I learned a lot about how a good chunk of some of that works. And then when I heard about this, I was like, oh man, everything that guy told me was it was like literally like a prophecy he had told me about, hey, this is how it kind of works. And then that came out and he pretty much called it. And I was very, very shocked, you know. And he he actually pushes for transparency. Things that any group that does something like that should have to publicly put on wherever it's at, who's giving them the money? Yeah. And I was like, I was like, okay. Uh, you know, a couple, you know, as we wind down here, just a couple um random quick questions, I guess you want to call it about Michigan. A little bit more lighthearted. Best underrated city in Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Best underrated city in Michigan. What I love, so if you ever been to Houghton, it's just Houghton up in the upper peninsula. It it's just the river around the lakes, going up to the Keweenaw, it's just it's just gorgeous. And and then going to Calumet City, it's it's just uh you could see how the old copper country really, really operated. And so I I really enjoy my time up there in the upper peninsula.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

I've uh I think I've been there once. Gosh, I don't know, I was probably eight or nine years old. I vaguely remember it. You know, spent a lot of time in the lower peninsula. What one key thing that's going to be on every Michigander's mind here, and I are the Lions going to make the Super Bowl soon? Can you make that happen for us?

SPEAKER_00 29:40

I can't change the weather, and I'm not a football coach, but I'll tell you one thing. The first hat that I got my now four-year-old, he was three years old last year, my son was a Lions hat, and I hope he hasn't uh doesn't go through life like I've had to have. So this is the year they're gonna do it. Let's win, and not just make it to the Super Bowl, but actually bring home the, you know, uh bring home the rings.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Yeah, I mean, Dan Campbell, I mean, literally, if there was ever a coach out there that was Michigan really in like an embodied person, he just matches the state and just the fact that, you know, I don't know if you know he used to play here in Detroit for several years.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Yeah, no, he his attitude and his uh gumption to to never give up and really raise him up to that next level, God bless him, and God bless it for staying. You know, so many coaches like that would have been picked up, but I I'm sure he's gotten a lot bigger offers, but uh he he seems committed to Detroit, and God bless him for that.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah, and here's one final question. What can Michigan do if they lead? Ah, I'm sorry I'll edit that. Michigan can lead again if they do what? They eliminate the state property tax. There we go, and that's what I love. You know, Senator, I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Well, thanks.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Uh thanks for having me on. Thanks for taking. I'd like to just end real quick with something uh that America's celebrating 250 years as a country.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Yes, we are.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

We're a young country with the oldest constitution in the world, and there's a reason for that. But as I travel around the state, this little white farm boy from southwest Michigan, uh, you know, President Trump showed there's a big coalition you need to grow around the state, very diverse state that we have. And I was sitting down with a group of Middle Eastern business owners in Wayne County, and one of them was about my age, came here when he was 12, immigrated here when he was 12, and and he and he grew his family's little two-car, you know, two-car garage shop into a multi-million dollar auto parts refurbishment business. He's very successful. And he and he goes, I couldn't have done this anywhere else in the world. And I pushed back a little bit on him, and I go, Well, there's other countries, the free market economic system, the rule of law, private property rights, the core that makes us succeed as a nation. And he goes, No, no, the problem is you go to Paris and there's four generations of Algerians, and they're still Algerian, they're not French. You go to you go to Berlin, there's four generations of Turks, and they're still Turkish, they're not German. And he looks me in the eye, he goes, I'm an American. My kids are an American. You and I might have a different religion, but I'm a capitalist. And I asked him, why is that? And he goes, it's those, it's it's those radicals 250 years ago that decided that the the individual is more important than the state, that families are more important than government, that's given us that opportunity. And as we go in and celebrate 250 years as a country, I think it's important to realize as I travel around the state, that most people just want government in the background. They want schools that work, roads that they can drive on. If they want to raise their families, how they see fit, not how the government sees fit. They want to be able, if they start a business, to have that opportunity that their their dad or grandfather had to make it here in Michigan. That's why I'm running for governor. Is that everybody, no matter what walks of life or their backgrounds, can actually make it here in the state of Michigan. And so I appreciate you letting me tell that story and uh look forward to engaging folks around the state.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Well, uh I appreciate that. And everybody, his campaign website and everything you need will be down in the description. Give them a check out. Remember, it's important that you know your leaders because that's how we decide our future. Thank you for tuning in, everybody. I hope you have a good day.