Is Roy Cooper Really A Moderate?

Is Roy Cooper really the moderate his campaign portrays him to be? This week, Joseph Backholm and Ashley Vaughan examine the former governor's new U.S. Senate campaign, comparing his "football, church, and common sense" messaging with his record on public safety, parental rights, abortion, women's sports, and gender ideology. They also discuss the growing problem of youth sports gambling and why parents should pay attention as betting becomes increasingly normalized among teenagers. Join the conversation as they look beyond the campaign ads to explore the policies, priorities, and worldview shaping these important issues.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Politics for Happy People. So glad that you are with us. I'm Joseph Wackholm. Joined again, as always, by Ashley Vaughn. Ashley, how's summer treating you?

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Plugging along. Plugging along. We're having a good summer. Lots of uh lazy days, playing cards, going to the pool. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

I feel like the North Carolina drought is over.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

It is. Officially, we're calling it.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Are we calling it, or has somebody who actually knows what they're talking about called? Well, it feels I mean, there's been so much water. Um, and and I've been grateful for that. We are now mowing our lawn every 36 hours in the greenhouse that North Carolina becomes in the summer when it is wet. But it is better that we have uh water. Today on the program, we're not really going to talk about weather. We are going to talk about whether Roy Cooper is really a moderate and whether your 11-year-old is betting on sports or not. Those are a couple of our topics. Because not only is it summer that means our kids are out of school and we're doing fun things, hopefully. But it's also um election season. But kind of when is it? Never election season.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

These days it always feels like it's election season, but it does become more intense. Yeah, well as we approach November.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

As we approach November, the candidates are starting to ramp up their campaigns, and everyone's favorite Foxy ex-governor is running for, is that a fair description? Everyone's favorite Foxy ex-governor is running for the U.S. Senate. Roy Cooper, of course, is who we are referring to, and most people probably recognize that immediately. But there seems to be a bit of a uh disagreement about who Roy Cooper is. What do you, I mean, before we get into the details of this, and obviously you kind of know where we're going with this today.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

I do.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

What is your impression of other people's impression of Roy Cooper?

SPEAKER_03 1:59

My impression of other people's impression, like the general public, he is mild-mannered and kind and just basically all around unoffensive. That I think that's how people view him in general, you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Does that mean his ads have been very effective?

SPEAKER_03 2:19

I think that's uh you you mean his ads for this current. Well, no, in general, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

He's run so many ads, right? He is not like he's a new guy.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Is it his ads, or is it just, I mean, he appear he he's appeared in public many times. I think I think it's a person who's gonna be able to do it. Right. I think it's a person, I think it's his personality um that people kind of like. And it's calming and kind of Andy Griffith kind of, oh, this guy seems like a really nice guy. Um, and if you're not really into politics or just kind of an average person trying to do all the things that people do, go to work, take care of your kids, all that. Um not a politico, you may not be aware of some of his policies.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Yeah. Well, I I've never met Roy Cooper, but what you describe there is actually how he has been described by me, to me, by people who have met him, even though they disagree with him politically, that he actually is a pretty nice guy. Um and and of course, he's got so much history. He was the attorney general for 16 years.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

And then he was the governor from 2017 to 2025. Now he is running for the U.S. Senate. Um, and he's 68 years old now, so he's got all this experience. He's been in the public eye in the state for a very long time, and he's kind of like Grandpa Roy. And, you know, how we are describing him right now, frankly, is exactly how he wants us to see him and he and how he wants the world to see him. And we actually um got a couple ads to kind of repres represent this and he as we tell the story about Roy Cooper. And let's see if we can play these. We've got the first one, um, kind of his uh what are we gonna call this? This is the football and farms ad. Do we have that available that we can throw up real quickly and just let CP let people see this?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

I grew up working on this farm. Mom was a teacher, dad a small-town lawyer and farmer. Fridays were football, Sunday was church. I'm Roy Cooper. Life felt easier back then. I'm running for the Senate to make life easier today, to go after insurance companies ripping you off, to make sure you can retire with dignity, and to build an economy that finally values working people. I approve this message because it's time to get it done. That's kind of hard to disagree with, right?

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

He likes football, he likes church, and he wants to make life more affordable. Who can oppose that, Ashley?

SPEAKER_03 4:52

It's hard, it is hard to disagree with. Um I don't know, the church part's a little bit interesting.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah, and we're gonna talk about the details of that. Yeah, but I but I I but this that was the first ad that he his campaign formally released. And the second is him talking about public safety. And it's interesting that you know that the ad that we just watched there doesn't really deal with issues. He mentions affordability. We want to make life more affordable, and that's something that people care about because inflation has become a real problem. Um, inflation rates are now down, but it the damage has been done in in many ways. Expenses are up from where they were five years ago by a lot, and that's uh that's pinching a lot of people. Homes seem unachievable for a huge segment of the population, and he's kind of identifying that problem. But this next issue that he takes on in this ad is public safety. And let's hear how he does that. Go ahead and play that.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Keep your family safe and lock up criminals. That's what most North Carolinians want, and it's not too much to ask. As your attorney general, I put drug dealers, rapists, and murderers in prison and kept them there. As your governor, I toughened bail laws, went after drug dealers pushing fentanyl, and said, No way do we defund the police. I'm Roy Cooper, and I approved this message because you deserve to feel safe, and there's nothing political about that.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

So This one bothers me more. Tell me why.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Tell me why.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Uh, because I I I mean, I don't think that he was, I think I do think he was soft on crime. I don't think that he was as much of a friend to the police and the justice system he's trying as he's trying to make it out to be.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Well, he was attorney general, and I have no doubt that it is true that he put people in prison, right? Because that's when you're charged. And and that's what he's referring to. And and and attorneys general are perceived, at least they should be, and historically have been, as people who are enforcing the law, because that's their job title. But Roy Cooper is actually pretty vulnerable on the public safety issue because of some things that happened while he was governor. Right. And and let's talk about this for a moment um because in 2021 he was uh he settled a lawsuit, and there was a lawsuit brought against the state of North Carolina for cruel and unusual punishment because they were holding convicts during COVID. This was, you know, and we all remember COVID, and I think blissfully in some ways, like our memories of COVID are starting to fade a little bit, and what an absolutely insane time uh that was.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

The panic and hysteria, like when you when you remember back, there was true panic and hysteria over COVID and the possibility of getting it and social distancing and like stand six feet apart person you are if you get anywhere close to another human being. Yeah, it was a crazy case.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Outdoors in a park by yourself is gonna save your life. I have vivid memories of being in national parks during COVID with my children who and we did not wear masks when we were walking around in national parks in nature, and we would encounter other groups coming the opposite direction who were masked, and they would flee like we were throwing Ebola on people. They would flee off the trail as we walked by. It was like we were like royalty and they were our subjects and they could not be in our presence and they would run from it.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

How about the people that would be driving alone in their car wearing a mask?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yes, yes. Okay. So we have to take a moment and go back to remember this time period. We don't really want to, but for these purposes, as we discuss Roy Cooper's um law enforcement history, it kind of actually matters because he's governor. During this time, the state is sued for cruel and unusual punishment. Uh North Carolina's constitution, as well as the U.S. Constitution, uh, forbids it. And these groups claimed that closely crowded conditions in prisons during a pandemic violated the constitutional rights of the state's approximately 30,000 prisoners, requested the remedy, and they demanded in the lawsuit a reduction of the prison population. So this is the lawsuit. Roy Cooper, as governor, agreed to a settlement of this lawsuit. And part of that settlement was they released 3,500 prisoners. And their defense was, and I believe this to be true, in fact, that several of them were going to be released anyway, like soon. They got released a little bit early, but 51 of them came off death row. 51 of those people came off death row, and we know for sure that 25 North Carolinians have been killed by the people who were were released in that lawsuit settlement because they might be hurt by the coronavirus. So they got released into the general public and they've killed 25 people. And I don't and 95, 99 have been sexually assaulted by that group, more than 600 felonies charged against the people who were released in that. Governor Cooper also commuted the sentence of 15 people. So that's Roy Cooper as governor, and and the um public knows some of that, and I'm sure some people are hearing this maybe for the first time. But he is actually kind of vulnerable on the public health issue, and we know where the but he he goes in that ad to basically make the point that, oh, I would never want to defund the police. And I'm not aware right now of anything in his record that says otherwise.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

I don't think he I I'm not aware of him advocating for defunding the police. Of course, that's extreme, right? Um, that's very radical, progressive.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

And yet But the party, the party was there, and I don't think as a party they are there now enthusiastically because the public is not for that.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Exactly. Yes. The summer of George Floyd. But during the COVID hysteria and riots and and all of that, they were saying that. And and there's something else from this time period that's bad on Rory Cooper, which is that in 2020, as a response to the death of George Floyd, he and um Anita Earls and Josh Stein, who was then the attorney general, now the governor, they established the task force for racial equity in social justice. And this task force, the purpose was to recommend solutions to end disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system, mitigate the effects of bias and discrimination, and increase accountability in law enforcement and criminal justice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

So And on its face, none of that is problematic. We don't want bias in the system.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

We don't, but listen to the recommendations that the task force came out with. Eliminating cash bail for misdemeanors, unless they're a risk to public safety safety, decriminalizing felony drug possession, decriminalizing minor crimes like trespassing and shoplifting, requiring equity training for prosecutors and implicit bias training for parole officers and jury system actors, raising the minimum age of juvenile court to 12 years, it's currently six, eliminating enhanced sentencing requirements for habitual felons, allowing judges to reduce sentences for previously prosecuted cases based on good behavior, and prohibiting the death penalty for anyone under 21. Right now, anyone 18 years or older can receive the death penalty. So the this is across the board, what you would say is these are more lenient policies, and they're all being put into place because they were trying to end disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system based on race.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Disparate is a legal term, which means uh the outcomes are different across different graces. Different groups, identity categories, and in this case it's almost certainly uh referring to racial categories where there are well it's a it's a task force for for racial equity. For racial right. And the So that's the some of the recommendations that you listed there, and and you have the list in front of me, I don't, but when you talk about like um cashless bail, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Eliminating cashless bail. Eliminating cash bail, yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah, eliminating cash bail. So we're just gonna bail you even without having anything on the line. So will you come back? Maybe not. Um not prosecuting was not felonies, but on the theft charges. What was that? What was that recommendation?

SPEAKER_03 14:16

Decriminalizing felony drug possession, decriminalizing minor crimes like trespassing and shoplifting.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yes, and and that's what in like my hometown kind of of Seattle and San Francisco, and you hear about like the mobs that have gone into those cities, and like the kids learn, hey, that this isn't even a crime anymore. And so they just go in and take everything. And retail centers in some of these major cities have been gutted because the businesses are like, you made taking all of our stuff legal. There's no consequence for coming into our store and stealing everything. Nobody's trying to stop it. Word got out, all the criminals are now taking all of our stuff. We can't do business here, so they close up shop and they leave, right? So those recommendations from that task force, thankfully, have not been implemented broadly in North Carolina. Those were recommendations for a woke task force. The General Assembly is not woke, so they did not take the recommendations. But there are places where these recommendations have been implemented and it has not made life better.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

But so he said in that ad though, he he toughened bail laws as governor. And here we've got this task force, this 2020 task force, where he's doing the opposite. Um, evidently later on he did sign House Bill uh 252, which um did strengthen uh the bail procedures. But um, of course, we've all heard about Irina Zerutska, you know, who was murdered by someone who is a 14-time offender. Exactly. Um, so you know, when you're you're being more lenient and then things like that happen, it's a real problem.

unknown 16:01

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

And then you're campaigning as someone who is, you know, back the blue, tough on crime. But then when you look into the details, um, he's had some real missed up on that. It's this is a this is not the story. When you look at the chain of events, it tells a different story than what his ad is is saying.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

But it also helps us understand why his first ad where he really tackles an issue is public safety. Because he's aware of this record. Right. He knows uh where he's gonna be targeted by the Watley campaign. And and certainly they're raising some of these issues. Of course. And and um so he's trying to get out in front of that and be the tough-on crime guy because I was the attorney general for 16 years. And, you know, is it gonna work? That's the thing the voters are gonna, you know, tr try to describe. But every campaign is, you know, presenting yourself in the way you want to be seen, and and this is of course why he's doing it, but it's a real vulnerability. But the I want to also get into like the the first ad and this whole like football and church guy. Because uh w while Governor Cooper was Governor Cooper, he vetoed a lot of bills that the legislature, the Republican legislature, uh passed. And let's read through some of these because some of them on issues that we at the NC Values Coalition care a lot about, um uh dealing with gender issues and life issues. On the uh life issues, there was a Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which required care for infants if they were born alive after an abortion. Legislature passed that. And probably people are aware of these situations, they are rare, but they do happen where a baby is born after an attempted abortion. Yes, and many states have passed laws saying, hey, if the baby is born alive, you have to treat it like it's an alive person and you have to give it care.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Because it is.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Because it is, obviously. Governor Cooper vetoed that bill, saying, quote, it doesn't happen, end quote, except when it does. He did not say that part, but that's what everybody else is thinking, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:20

Because it doesn't veto that bill and say, actually, I want the baby to just let's just let it die. So we're gonna veto it and say, Oh, I'm vetoing it because it just this never happens.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

But yay, church.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Ex Okay, Joseph. Christians disagree about a whole lot of things. Yeah. I don't know many Christians who are okay with abortion or infanticide.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Well, certainly not infant. I actually know too many who I would say are okay with abortion.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

Really? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Oh yeah, oh yeah. But again, I'm from Washington and you're from North Carolina, right? So th this is not this is not an issue within the church. And and and statistically, the tragedy is. To me, there's a lot of abortion to the church.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Issue one for the church.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Well, yes, but there are a lot of, I mean, and now we're gonna, you know, we risk veering off into the whole syncretism of, you know, of of the the church in America, where we are being shaped as much by the culture as we are shaping it. And so I think I I don't think those are reconcilable positions, but there are a lot of Christians who are trying to reconcile those. And we also know that there's a lot of people who are they're pro-life until they get pregnant. And that's that's a a tragedy within the church of, you know, I'm I'm against abortion except for my own, because in my circumstances it's justified. And tragically, a lot of Christians have made that decision, and there's a lot of, you know, like trying to protect your image and self-righteousness and trying to hide your sin and all the things like that. Um, but that is a tragic reality. We have to disciple ourselves out of that. But yes, I know people who claim to be Christians and in may well be, in fact, but this is an issue I think where it's it's inconsistent. But that is not the majority position in the church, and a lot of people will see that and say, oh, you're the church guy, yet you don't want to uh provide medical treatment to babies who are born after an attempted abortion. Well, and that's gonna hit most people wrong.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Other V, I mean, other vetoes here too. The Human Life Non-Discrimination Act, which banned abortions based on race, sex, or Down syndrome, vetoed that. Um, vetoed uh SB20, the 12-week abortion ban that had addition additional restrictions and and um safety for for women.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Um he held a rally to veto that bill, which of course the legislature ultimately overrode the veto, but yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

I can't for the 12th. I I mean from where I sit, it's very hard to square that with. I you know, I want to go back to a time where we all just meet up in church and yet you're vetoing b bills. Correct. Not one, multiple bills meant to protect life, um, protect image bears from from being destroyed inside and outside of the womb. Right. That is I I can't reconcile that in my mind.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

A lot of people will share that. Let's also talk about the gender issues. The Fairness in Women's Sports Act. This would keep biological males out of girls' women's school and college sports. He vetoed that. Um, the that didn't age well. Well, no, it did not, right? I mean, and that is now like a 70-30, 80-20 issue in America. I mean, there's a lot of moderates, there's a lot of Democrats who don't think boys should be playing sports with girls.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Um there that the ban that we have in North Carolina on uh sex disfigurement, reassignment, whatever term you want to use, procedures on children.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Procedures with the intent to transition gender.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Puberty blockers, hormones, medical for children has been banned when that bill. Was passed. Governor Vito or Governor Vito.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

That was a we'll slip.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yes, it was a slip, but maybe an appropriate one. Governor Cooper vetoed that bill. And again, that is a 80-20, 70-30 position in America. Don't do that to children. Right. The parents' Bill of Rights, limited classroom instruction on gender and sexuality in early grades, required parental notification on name and pronoun changes, positions that the vast majority of Americans agree with. Cooper as governor vetoed those, but yay, church.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Well, I again, the whole the first ad we watched, the whole thing is supposed to make him just seem really friendly, down home, let's go to an easier time, just church and football. And yet you're vetoing bills that the Parents Bill of Rights intended to give parents the right and the ability to be involved and to know what their children are being taught in schools. That bill allows parents to see the curriculum that their children are being taught. Tell me how that's a bad thing. I mean, that is a basic expectation for me as a parent that you would let me see what you are teaching my child. Things like you have to, you have to notify a parent if the child's name or pronouns are being changed at school. That is such a no-brainer. I mean, can you imagine your child going to school and they're living like a different life at school, and the school is conspiring to keep this information from you? And it sounds crazy, but it actually is happening in other states. There have been lawsuits about this. There's a lawsuit in California ongoing about this. This the school keeping the fact that the child was living with a different gender at school from the parents. So that's what this bill was was meant to prevent, and and it's the law now, and it is preventing it. But despite the veto. Well, he vetoed it and then the General Assembly overrode his veto. But that's what he's saying he's against. He's against involving parents in intimate decisions in their children's lives.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

And and let's reconcile these as we as we do try to think like Christians about these things. The reason this is problematic is because the creation order that God created is he created different institutions and he created the family and he created the church and he created the government, right? Those are different institutions that all serve purposes that God gave to them. The purpose, one one of the things within the jurisdiction of the family is to raise children, right? And that means the parents are the ones who are in charge of what's going on with the kids. The parents have a creation order natural right to know what's going on in the lives of their children. And it is not appropriate for the government to intervene when the parents have not been found to be unfit. And that's something that, like virtually every parent on all sides of political issues, that sounds true, right? We understand it, it it feels true. And the reason is because that's how God kind of organized things. And it it is a dissonance for Governor Cooper to say, yay, church, yay, God, yay, the world he created. But the government is going to overrule the parents if we think the parents if if we don't like what the parents are gonna are gonna do and they want to be involved in their child's like identity crisis. And so it is those are not reconcilable positions in my mind, and I think the supermajority of certainly people in the church and a significant percentage of people outside the church uh would agree with that, but that's kind of the tension that Governor Cooper is gonna have is is dealing with, is he's got this record of doing things that are really inconsistent with a you know with a creation order view of the world, and also um, you know, inconsistent with the voters, but he needs to be portrayed as well this information needs to get out there because if all people are seeing is the ad, you know, football church, I'm a nice, likable guy, but they don't they don't know about vetoing parents' bill of rights, vetoing all of these uh things that are basically common sense to many people.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Like we're gonna keep boys out of girls' sports.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

And the wildly popular popular opportunity scholarships.

SPEAKER_03 26:24

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Vetoed by Governor Veto, Governor Cooper. Governor Veto. And I maybe I'll just go with that, right? Because there's just so many examples of these. But yes, um, again, do parents want to have educational choices? They do. Does the government bureaucracy want to have choices? They do not. And uh Governor Cooper was with the bureaucracy against the parents on that issue as well. And I I want to this is, you know, we're kind of used to duplicity from politicians, I think. And so part of us is, you know, we we yawn, it's like, oh, you know, say one thing, do another. We're kind of used to that. Um, but this is a situation where voters are gonna make another decision about who's gonna be the U.S. senator, and one person is gonna tell us that they're moderate right down the road, they love church, god, and football just like you do. And if you're not aware of the history, you might end up being persuaded.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

Yeah, I'm not I'm not yawning over duplicity. Maybe I should be by this point, but I think that's it. I mean, who are you even? I mean, if you change your position so radically from 2020 to now, um well, I don't think he's changed his position.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

He's just he's just saying what he thinks now. Well, and it yeah, and let's look for a very recent example of this, right? Abigail Swamberger to the north in in Virginia. Same deal. Folksy, moderate, suburban mom, like, yeah, who does, you know, there's nothing radical about her, right? And and that was at least her campaign, and she and she won on that platform. Let's run through a handful of things that she did after running as a moderate, immediately um redistricting during her campaign. She said she had, quote, no plans to redaw, redraw Virginia's congressional map, but immediately after becoming governor, uh, redrew a map and that would have given the Democrats a 10 to 11 edge or a 10 to 1 edge, given them 10 of the seats in uh of the 11 in Virginia, said, Oh, I'm not gonna do that. Oh, and then immediately turns around and does it. Immigration on her first day as governor rescinded the previous executive order that required state law enforcement to cooperate with ICE, with immigration enforcement. So we're no longer gonna enforce a crime, we're not gonna cooperate, we're not gonna deport people who are here illegally. This is just a common place.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

We're not gonna go through her entire record, but this is a really common The point you're making, though, is that it's a it's kind of like I'm I'm running as a moderate bait and switch.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

That's exactly because America is not far left. The Democratic Party is far left. And and that's the challenge for people who are trying to get elected, is they have to convince the public. This, you know, Joe Biden did this in 2020, right? And he was running against Trump, and Trump was, of course, very polarizing. But it's the same thing. It's Grandpa Joe. Let me run as the you know, church grandpa, Catholic, right, Catholic church grandpa Joe. Who doesn't like that, right? But then but his administration is run by absolute, you know, a bunch of drag queens and and and radicals on the left. And and that's the reality of it. And this is not a new pattern. You just have to recognize when it's happened, because you know, crazy people don't win on the ballot if they're obviously crazy, because America is not with that. And so the the the left is has been pretty effective at finding people who don't look like that. That's why they're running James Tolerico for the Senate in Texas. He's not gonna win. But um, it's the same. Oh, you're you know, you've got a theology. You went to seminary, you you talk like a Christian, and maybe the Christians in Texas will will like that. It's it's very strategic, um, and sometimes it's very effective. So all that to say, um, you know, be aware, folks. And we're gonna continue to try to bring us facts because taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ is not being captured by headlines, it's actually understanding uh the reality um behind the messaging and understand you're always being manipulated in some ways.

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Well, and look at what they do, not just what they're saying, but what have they done? That is gonna be the best indicator because as I was saying, you know, he would have us believe that he's he's changed and on some of these issues and he's moderate now. Um, but I that that is, as you explained, uh that is a strategy to appeal to a broad number of people. Um and likely what he will do in office is going to be consistent with what he has done.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

And what and the direction the Democratic Party is.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

As folks and as genuinely likable as I understand him to be, because that's what everybody seems to think when they have an interaction with him. I mean, I think that's the reality of it, right? That's what he's that's what he's trying to be. And as genuinely likable as I think he is, and he'd probably be a really good neighbor. Um, we just that's his voting record. He does what the party is wanting them to do. He is not a problem for the left's agenda in control of the Democratic Party. And and so we had every reason to believe he would continue to support that. Last story I want to get to here before we run out of time uh for today is your 11-year-old gambling on sports. You have an almost 11-year-old?

SPEAKER_03 31:45

Nine.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Nine. Okay. Well, he's getting there. Um common sense media. There's legislation here. Uh, we'll talk about this. The Game Act that has just been reduced, uh, been introduced, sorry, in Congress would prohibit advertising by social media companies of sports betting companies. And this is an opportunity to kind of, I think, become aware of some data that I think a lot of parents don't know about. January of this year, 2026, Common Sense Media released a report called Betting on Boys. And if you want to go look at it, it's easily accessible on the internet, called Betting on Boys. It surveyed more than 1,000 boys ages 11 through 17. I have one right in that window. You have one who's about to enter that window. It found that 36% of the boys gambled in the last year, with that number varying from nearly a third of 11-year-olds, a third of 11-year-olds, to half of 17-year-olds have gambled in the last year. An additional survey found uh of 13 to 18-year-olds found the prevalence of gambling reached 42% in that demographic. What you don't is unsurprising in that boys gambled 2.7 times more than girls. The highest percentage of gambling onset showed between 13 and 14 years old. That's the most likely time where you're going to become a gambler, is between ages of 13 and 14 years old. Now, sports betting specifically within this population of 11 to 17 year olds, common sense media found nearly one in eight boys bet on sports, nearly one in eight boys participated in traditional gambling. So both both of those. And that is the data that is motivating some um members of Congress to tell media companies you cannot target uh children with your sports betting apps specifically because it is becoming so prolific. We've seen it here in North Carolina in just the last two, three years. Uh they they legalize sports. Legalize it saying go ahead and do it. And people are doing it.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

This data i is shocking to me. 36% of boys gambled in the last year, a third to 11-year-olds to 17-year-olds. That's that's really upsetting because obviously these are formative years. This is the time in life where people are, you know, the brain is developing, they're they're learning habits, and um, you know, train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are they will not depart. It's very hard to unlearn certain types of habits, and this is a toxic habit.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

To that point, train up a child in the way they should go. My son, who's currently 15, I'm aware of peers of his who are betting on sports because their parents have authorized the they are signed in as their parents, and they have not only parental awareness, but a s implicit parental encouragement of sports betting habits.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

So this data is showing that it's much more of a problem for boys than girls.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Does that surprise you?

SPEAKER_03 35:21

It doesn't surprise me, but I'm gonna ask you why, because not being, I mean, I've never, I mean, I I it doesn't interest me. Uh I mean, I've never thought to myself, oh, maybe I'm gonna go place a sports bet or gamble. I it doesn't interest me at all. Like, I don't understand the draw.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Well, I think that difference in part is explained by the fact that the average 15-year-old boy is much more likely to be interested in sports in general than the average 15 years.

SPEAKER_03 35:46

Yes, but it's it they the data shows it's just like gambling in general. Like, is it kind of like an adrenaline rush or something? Like, is that what it is?

SPEAKER_00 35:53

Yeah, I mean, have you ever bet on anything?

SPEAKER_03 35:55

No.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Never? Like, you ever played poker, you know?

SPEAKER_03 35:59

I mean, like for chips, not for real gambling, no.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Okay, well, um, yes. The reason why gambling is addictive is because it is another source of uh of a dopamine hit.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

Right, and and there are it's it I've I understand this, and I'm no, you know, I'm no biologist, to quote Katanji Brown Jackson. I hate to say that. You know, physiologically, what's happening with all of the hormones and and it and adrenaline and dopamine.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

It lights up the brain. Yeah, it lights up the brain.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Right. It's it's the social media thing. It's the reason why it it's the reason why porn is addictive, it's the reason why gambling is addictive. It chemically does some of the same things to your body as taking drugs, yeah, right? You you you get these particular rushes and feelings. And um I am not a I am not a degenerate gambler. I cannot honestly say I have never bet on anything because I have, um, and I've actually never bet enough money where I got genuine excitement out of it. It's mostly just social and fun, and I have played cards for money with my friends. So full disclosure there, right? So that has happened. And when you win a hundred bucks, is it kind of fun? Sure. Is it life-changing? No. But yes, the reason why it's addictive and the reason why there are gambling hotlines at the end of all of these sports betting ads is because you can become dependent. It's the reason why lottery tickets have always been a problem, right? It's there there are people with low impulse control who see this as the solution to my problems. And oh, I had some success. It felt good. Let me go chase that feeling again, right? And it's it's all in the hooked on a feeling kind of a way. We're all chasing that thing that felt good. We remember that feeling good back in the past. It's how big people become sex addicts as well, right? I want that feeling again. I'm gonna do what gives that, what gives me that. The thing that made you, you it once when you were happy about a $10 bet, you don't get the same rush anymore. So now I need to win a hundred bucks. And pretty soon you get numbed to winning a hundred bucks as well. So now I need to win a thousand bucks, and that's that's how addiction starts to you know to develop, is is because you need a higher intensity to give you the same feeling. That's drugs, it's sex addiction, it's porn, it's gambling, all of those things. That's how addiction works.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

Children don't have the full faculties and their brain isn't developed enough to think rationally and and to to have the judgment. Um, the frontal lobe fully developed, they call it the mom. Right. That part of your brain that tells you, no, that's not a good idea, don't do that, even though it's sounds really fun.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

That their their brains aren't fully developed in that way. And that's why um, and it this does sound like good legislation that's been proposed to prevent advertising um of these sports betting apps and gambling opportunities on social media to children because um because children they they don't they don't have that same ability that you and I do to say to look at an ad and say, oh, they're trying to sell me something. Like, or they have a financial incentive to to get me to go down this this track, and and I'm not gonna be fooled by that. And it's the same thing that we saw with the whole rightly the push to make sure that cigarettes weren't marketed to children. And even there's discussion, and we don't have, I don't think, legislation about this in um in this country, but they also um like in Europe, I think they have laws about not marketing like sugary cereals and like unhealthy foods to children, which that's I have mixed feelings about it. Yeah, that's a little bit well. I think the the more they will kill you. Well, the more exactly the more dangerous and the more unhealthy the product is, the more I'm apt to say, yeah, we don't need to market this to kids.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Large doses of sugar will kill you. I mean, the first Snickers will not.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

I'm okay with Captain Crunch. Yeah. I uh that doesn't bother me too much. Parents just parents, you need to just say no to the cute cereal boxes. We'll be we don't need a law about that. However, this social media uh bill is, I think, a good one.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

I think it's identifying a real problem. Is it gonna solve anything? And here's another data point that I think uh says maybe no, because that's that common sense media survey found that among boys with friends who gamble, over eight in ten gamble themselves compared to under two in ten boys whose friends don't gamble. So I am less inclined to think, oh, it's that DraftKings ad that somebody sent me on Snapchat that got me addicted to gambling. That may be less of a problem than it is all of my friends are talking about the bets that they put on the World Cup or the Super Bowl or whatever that is, it got me curious. Oh, that sounds fun. Now I'm gonna do it. Everyone's doing it. Right.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

I think it's you're left out if you're not doing it. It's like the social contagion of it.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

And and I think so I'm a little bit skeptical that an actual ban on the ads would solve the problem. Okay. And since the the the you know, the entry age according to these surveys is about 13 or 14 years of age, I think, I mean, a lot of parents will be surprised by that. And there's probably a lot of people listening who have a 13 or 14-year-old in their life who may actually be doing this and they don't even know that yet. And I think to me, this is just a great opportunity to raise awareness, yeah, as they say, of the of the challenge and recognize that this is coming. It really is harmful to the to the lives of kids. So get in front of it, mom and dad.

SPEAKER_03 41:30

They wouldn't be grandma. Ask the question devil's advocate, they wouldn't be advertising it if the advertisements weren't working.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Well, true. No, that that's fair. That that that is very fair. Um, um, that's why advertisement exists. But we need to make sure that our young men in particular, but our young people, understand why this is not healthy behavior, why you should not, you know. Great opportunity to disciple them. What's the what is the biblical way to make money? It is not gambling, it is ruling and subduing and being productive and being creative and serving others, and that's the capitalist system. And and and that's the the the virtuous way that will actually give your life significance and satisfaction, uh, not from betting on sports. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Well, I feel like we always bring it back to the family. You know, that discipleship role. I mean, fathers should be talking to their sons about this, and that's where you should be getting your uh what your thoughts and your what you think about gambling and sports betting. You should be getting it from your father, the men in your life, the men in your church, not just, oh, I'm this looks like a fun thing that I saw on social media, and now I'm just gonna go do it. Like men should be, you know, discipling the younger men to realize the harms of this.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

So, boys and girls, just say no to sports betting. Thanks for joining us today, friends, here on Politics for Happy People. Quick reminder that there are new episodes every Tuesday and every Friday. Like and subscribe wherever you have found us so you can join us for the next conversation. We'll see you then.