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Saved - August 20, 2024 at 4:20 AM

@danealanfafo - Dane Alan #2

@TristanSnell You mean like Hillary? https://t.co/jEAo2qtabI

Video Transcript AI Summary
From the 30,000 emails returned to the State Department in 2014, 110 emails within 52 email chains were determined by the owning agency to contain classified information. Eight of these emails contained confidential information at the time, which is the lowest level of classification.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: From the group of 30,000 emails returned to the State Department in 2014, 110 emails in 52 email chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified 8 contained confidential information at the time. That's and 8 contained confidential information at the time. That's the lowest level of classification.
Saved - August 3, 2024 at 9:21 PM

@sophiesmomrocks - ❤️‍🔥 American Heartthrob ❤️‍🔥

What she said 👇🏻 https://t.co/yfb6snGIvg

Video Transcript AI Summary
The speaker reminds viewers of the US Constitution's requirement to protect borders. If the government fails, citizens can defend themselves. Neglecting borders aids foreign invasion, considered treason. The speaker questions why US military members aren't upholding the Constitution, as they have the right to do so. Translation: The speaker emphasizes the importance of protecting borders according to the US Constitution. Citizens can defend themselves if the government fails to do so, which is considered treason. The speaker questions why members of the US military are not fulfilling their duty to uphold the Constitution, as they have the right to do so.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I just wanna remind you of article 4 section 4 of the US constitution. It requires our government to protect and defend our borders. If government does not, the constitution by virtue of the named part herein authorizes the free citizens to defend themselves and their state in place of a treasonous government. And note, in not defending our borders, government gives aid and comfort to a hostile foreign invasion, and this under article 3, section 3 of our constitution is properly labeled treason. So I have a question. If you are a part of the United States military, why aren't you doing your part to uphold the US constitution? Because you have every right to.
Saved - October 24, 2023 at 5:04 PM

@MaxBlumenthal - Max Blumenthal

@NikkiHaley Here are 10,000 "antisemites" protesting Zionism in Brooklyn. https://t.co/7BfUalcHBw

Saved - November 6, 2023 at 1:55 AM

@The_Money_G - Sam

@HumaZhr https://t.co/HkfjK8s9FN

Video Transcript AI Summary
Tempers flared at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, as a pro-Israel advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, president of the Council For the National Interest Foundation. The altercation highlights tensions over differing views on America's relationship with Israel. The foundation claims that Israel receives significant aid and special treatment due to the influence of the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC. They also allege that Israel spends money selectively on US elections. Many members of Congress fear retaliation in their reelection campaigns if they don't support Israel. The foundation questions why the US provides aid to Israel when Israel conducts more espionage against the US than any other friendly country.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: When do I have talked about? Speaker 1: Tempers flared at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC. Speaker 0: You have gone there as a radical leftist who hates Jews. Okay. And in order to, don't you stick things in my face. Speaker 1: A pro Israeli advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, president of the Council For the National Interest Foundation. The group just finished their press conference on what they call unjustifiable USA to Israel. The two sides met when the press club scheduled a pro Israeli news conference to follow held in the same room. The altercation illustrates heightened tensions on differing views regarding America's with Israel. The Council For the National Interest Foundation wants Americans to know how much of their tax dollars are going to Israel. $3,000,000,000,000. That's including massive amount of direct money to Israel, then a lot of hidden costs. C IF alleges Israel received so much aid and special treatment because the US Congress is controlled by APAC, America's pro Israeli lobby. Executive director Philip Girardi says Israel spends a lot of money on US elections. Speaker 0: There are many Israeli packs, And they do give a lot of money very selectively to congressmen that they wanna support. Speaker 1: The Council For the National Interest Foundation says many members of Congress fear if they don't Always side with Israel that they will face retaliation in their own reelection campaigns. Speaker 0: If a congressman, the Israel lobby by voting against aid for Israel or voting against some some, legislation that Israel favors. They very often will find that the next time they're running for office, there will be a candidate put up against them who is very well funded. Speaker 1: Geraldi is a former CIA CIA counterterrorism expert, he questions why America gives aid to Israel when Israel conducts more espionage for against the US than any other US friendly country. Speaker 0: They steal military technology. They steal, information that is useful for, patients. Speaker 1: Retired lieutenant colonel Karen Kotowski works at the Pentagon and says Israel receives preferential treatment. We do not question what the Israelis want. Kotowski believes America's
Saved - November 11, 2023 at 10:18 PM

@gunthertree2 - Blake 🔮

@TuckerCarlson Remember this? https://t.co/z769ZhDMQ0

Video Transcript AI Summary
Speaker 0: America's future requires everyone's participation. We are fortunate to have people like George Soros who fearlessly step up when it matters. Please welcome George Soros. It's the first time I feel compelled to get involved in the electoral process in this country.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Not enough for America's future that some participate and others don't. We have been given an extraordinary blessing and at this moment in time, Our country needs us, and we need people like George Soros who is fearless and willing to step up when it counts. So please join me in welcoming George Soros. It is the first time that I feel that I need to stand up And to do something really, and become really engaged, in the The electoral process in in this country
Saved - November 15, 2023 at 7:04 AM

@Lukewearechange - Luke Rudkowski

Lol Candace Owens just endorsed Nikki Haley for President of ISRAEL! https://t.co/D2S8KJk6xs

Video Transcript AI Summary
I am endorsing Nikki Haley for president of Israel. Bibi Netanyahu is facing a tough time, with support for Israel declining socially. Nikki Haley, with support from foreign interest lobbies, has the potential to revive that support. So, I believe Nikki Haley is the right person to lead Israel.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Well, I am here today to endorse Nikki Haley for president of Israel. I think she's earned that. I think Bibi Netanyahu is going through a very bad time right now. Support for Israel has virtually collapsed socially if you're paying attention to the trends and you're paying attention To what people are watching, you're pinching the protests. And the 1 person that I think is capable of getting it back is Nikki Haley with enough money from foreign interest lobbies. So there it is, guys. I'm endorsing Nikki Haley, president of Israel.
Saved - December 8, 2023 at 12:24 AM

@brianstelter - Brian Stelter

>> @VanJones68 on CNN: Nikki Haley was like "Wonder Woman fighting off like a whole mob of, like, supervillains." https://t.co/M9VPTPV8as

Video Transcript AI Summary
Nikki Haley defended herself impressively during the debate, like Wonder Woman fighting off super villains. She even knew the provinces, despite Vivek's claim. Chris Christie also performed well, being both scholarly and gentlemanly. Abby agreed.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I I thought it it was like Wonder Woman fighting off like a whole mob of, like, super villains. I mean, Nikki Haley had to defend herself every second of that, debate performance. And she did well. Haley, she actually held up well. She was actually able to pull it off. And even when when, Vivek was saying that she didn't know the provinces, Haley? She knew the provinces. I'm like, so, you know, Nikki Haley did a great job, but I was very proud of Chris Christie. Chris Christie was was a a a a a a a a a a a a scholar and a gentleman tonight. Abby? Yeah.
Saved - December 7, 2023 at 4:33 AM

@SaltyGoat17 - SaltyGoat

Daaamn!!!🤣🤣 I don't care what anyone thinks about Vivek... I honestly don't because he's not gonna be President!! BUT... You cannot deny... That watching him just bludgeon Nikki Haley INTO THE GROUND is magical to behold!!!😂👇🏼 Man he LIT HER ASS UP!!!🔥 https://t.co/9M7zXzkP5Y

Video Transcript AI Summary
Nikki Haley is accused of being corrupt due to her financial activities after leaving the UN. She joined the board of Boeing and gave speeches for foreign multinationals, becoming a multimillionaire. The speaker believes this makes her beholden to certain interests. They also mention Reid Hoffman and Larry Fink as major supporters of Haley. The speaker criticizes Haley's proposal to tie government-issued IDs to online speech, claiming it infringes on privacy. They argue that the country needs a new leader from the younger generation, someone who can unite the nation and bring fresh perspectives. The speaker believes they are the right person for the job.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I wanna go back though to Nikki Haley's comment from earlier that she is somehow not responding to the will of these donors. Nikki, you were bankrupt when you left the UN. After you left the UN, you became a military contractor. You actually started joining service on the board of Boeing, whose back you scratched for a very long time and then gave foreign multinational speeches like Hillary Clinton is, and now you're a multimillionaire. That math does not Add up. It adds up to the fact that you are corrupt. And when I said they were bought and paid for, I meant the republican establishment, not the democratic establishment. Now you have Reid Hoffman, the person who's effectively George Soros junior, funding lawsuits across this country against Donald Trump, to keep him off the ballot, funding left wing causes, we discovered this week that he is one of Nikki Haley's largest supporters. Larry Fink, the king of the woke industrial complex, the ESG movement, the CEO of BlackRock, the most powerful company in the world, now supporting Nikki Haley. And to say that doesn't affect her is false because it's after that meeting later that day that she says that every American needs to be doxxed by having their ID, their government issued ID tied to what they say on the Internet. So I think that this is Far more corrupt than I even imagined when I entered politics, but I will say this. It is going to take a leader from the outside with fresh legs from the next generation to unite this country. Not the broken politicians who are puppets of the puppet masters, but the actual people in this country, Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he wrote the declaration of independence. I think it's gonna take somebody whose best days in life are still ahead to see a country whose best days are ahead of itself. And I think I can reach that next generation better than anybody else
Saved - June 17, 2024 at 8:52 AM

@Paullw88 - Waffenchinchilla (Paul)

@FLOTUS https://t.co/qa894MiXif

Video Transcript AI Summary
We are heroes fighting against Nazis in occupied Europe. We are willing to die for a future where everyone is equal. Our goals include a diverse society, women in the workforce, and progress. Each soldier shares their hopes, from multiculturalism to communism. We fight for freedom, but also acknowledge the complexities of our world. The message is clear: Nazis are the enemy, and we are the heroes. Let's fight for king and country, for a better future.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Alright, man. Nazi occupied Europe lies before you. Many of you will die here today, but all of you are heroes. Let us take this moment before we engage our enemy to remember what it is that we fight for. Thomas, are you prepared to die today? Yes, sir. And what are you prepared to die for? Speaker 1: Sir, I'd gladly give my life for the future of our country. Future where our Negroes use the same water fountain as us and go to the same schools as our kids. Speaker 0: And he died. Why do you fight? Sir, I'm fighting so that in the future, our daughters can abandon motherhood and join the workforce to be like men. That's right, Tyler. Our society doesn't need mothers. It needs more worker units and a non binary capitalistic soul crushing machine. James, what are your hopes for the future? Speaker 1: Well, I just want my granddaughter to pop out as many welfare supported mulatto babies as possible. Speaker 0: I'm sure all of us would recognize our white privilege and would agree we should offer up one of our granddaughters to the superior African boy. Now let's hear from Nigel from the Royal Army. What are you fighting for, soldier? Well, sir, I would say my greatest hope would be to see a Muslim mayor of London one day. But the truth is, I aspire for something even greater. That someday, no Muslim sex criminal will be punished in our kingdom again. Jean Pierre, why did you join us on this most holy crusade? More capital. I wish to see these German invaders pushed out of France so that on one glorious day, it can be occupied permanently by a tidal wave of Sub Saharan Muslim invaders. We should all be so lucky as to be replaced by a tidal wave of Sub Saharan Muslim invaders. How about you, captain? Why do you fight? I fight so that one day a black man can be president of the United States, and use his authority to force bakeries, to make cakes for homosexual weddings, for schools to allow transsexuals to use whatever bathroom they want. So that my great grandchildren will be burdened with debt at the beginning of their adult lives for a worthless degree from a Marxist educational system. Speaker 1: That's beautiful, captain. What about you, Frank? Speaker 0: Well, I wanna help free the people from the holocaust camps so that they can hang guilt over us for nigh a century while they quietly take over every institution of our society from finance and education to media and government bureaucracy. Aren't you from the tribe? Well Aren't you from the tribe? Well, I'm just here to support our communist allies so that they can rape Eastern Europe for a couple of generations and murder tens of millions of people in China. Well, communism is the way of the future, boys. Remember folks, the Nazis are the bad guys, and we're the heroes. Are you ready? Leave them a pause. The king and country. The future.
Saved - January 11, 2024 at 8:05 PM

@JordanTribe - 𝕃𝕠𝕣𝕕ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕗ℝ𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕒

@VivekGRamaswamy With all due respect, Nikki… https://t.co/WgNPwB2Qf6

Video Transcript AI Summary
I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. I won't support raising the gas tax. I believe every person on social media should be verified with their real name for national security reasons. I never said the government should require anyone's fault. I think China has been a great friend, but I also view them as an enemy. I don't think we should withdraw money from the UN.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I would not run if president Trump ran. I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. I will not, not now, not ever support raising the gas tax. Let's increase the gas tax by 10¢ over the next 3 years. Every person on social media should be verified by their name. That's first of all, it's a national security threat. I never said government should go and require anyone's fault. No. I think China's been a really great friend of ours. Yes. I view China as an enemy. That was, not what I intended to say. I do not think we need to pull money from the UN. The UN, the only thing is we would
Saved - January 22, 2024 at 12:23 AM

@w_terrence - Terrence K. Williams

🚨 JUST IN: Nikki Haley is claiming she was teased and bullied for being a "brown girl" "I was teased every day for being brown" If Nikki Haley is a brown woman then I’m a White Man with blue eyes and blond hair . Who else is laughing at this joker 🖐️ https://t.co/931FM7tEIM

Video Transcript AI Summary
We were the only Indian family in our small southern town. I was teased for being brown. Speaker 1 challenges this, saying they were the only white family in Compton, California. They argue about what it means to be brown, with Speaker 1 saying Nikki is not brown because she has blonde hair. Speaker 1 also questions Nikki's ability to become president because she doesn't know her own color.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: We were the only Indian family in our small southern town. I was teased every day for being brown. So anyone that wants to question it can go back and look at what I've said on how hard it was to grow up in the deep south as a brown girl. Speaker 1: A brown where? A brown what? Girl, Okay. If that's the case, we were the only white family in Compton, California. Nikki, I'm brown. I'm black. Nikki, these blondes, Those are brown. You ain't brown, Nikki. What the? Becky, you color blonde. You can't be the president of the United States. You don't even know what color you are. You ain't brown, baby girl.
Saved - January 29, 2024 at 12:59 PM

@myhiddenvalue - Not A Number

Nikki Haley This is the problem with having no soul. https://t.co/owZ9VUiQ9U

Video Transcript AI Summary
I will not support raising the gas tax, but let's increase it by 10¢ over the next 3 years. I am Nikki Haley and I'm running for president. Everyone on social media should be verified by their real name. I never said the government should force people to pay. The retirement age of 65 is too low and needs to be increased. I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration. I attended a leadership program where she was speaking and decided to pursue a political career.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: And we will get them. But I will not, not now, not ever support raising the gas tax. Finally, let's increase the gas tax by 10¢ over the next 3 years. I would not run if president Trump ran. I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. Every person on social media should be verified by their name. I never said government should go and require anyone to pay. But what we do know is 65 is way too low, And we need to increase that. To claim in the retirement age is, quote, way, way too low. I have never once said that. I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration. I went with my friend Eleanor Kitsman to a firm and leadership program where Hillary Clinton was speaking, and I walked out of there and I said, I'm going to office.
Saved - January 29, 2024 at 3:53 PM

@GlockfordFiles - Glockford Files

Just like her Uniparty cult friends Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley has no problem lying straight to people’s faces. Pass it on. https://t.co/DGE9Jb8CtK

Video Transcript AI Summary
I will not support raising the gas tax, but let's increase it by 10¢ over 3 years. I'm Nikki Haley and I'm running for president. Everyone on social media should be verified by their real names. I never said the government should force people to pay. The retirement age of 65 is too low and needs to be increased. I never claimed that Hillary Clinton was an inspiration. I attended a leadership program where she spoke and decided to pursue a political career.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: And we will get them. But I will not, not now, not ever support raising the gas tax. Finally, let's increase the gas tax by 10¢ over the next 3 years. I would not run if president Trump ran. I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. Every person on social media should be verified by their name. I never said government should go and require anyone to pay. But what we do know is 65 is way too low, And we need to increase that. To claim in the retirement age is, quote, way, way too low. I have never once said that. I never said Hillary Clinton was an inspiration. I went with my friend Eleanor Kitsman to a firm and leadership program where Hillary Clinton was speaking, and I walked out of there and I said, I'm going to office.
Saved - February 14, 2024 at 7:08 PM

@JackPosobiec - Jack Poso 🇺🇸

NIKKI HALEY: “I’m not loyal to anyone. I don’t do that” https://t.co/NXoj3bgw3s

Saved - June 28, 2024 at 4:26 PM

@TheDemocrats - The Democrats

The winner of tonight’s debate 😎 https://t.co/3FZgZSQc3F

Saved - June 28, 2024 at 3:44 PM

@atensnut - Juanita Broaddrick

My favorite 17 seconds of the debate last night. https://t.co/rnfoN9tkP5

Video Transcript AI Summary
I will keep pushing for a complete ban on the border initiative to increase Border Patrol and asylum officers. President Trump's statements are unclear and confusing.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I'm going to continue to move until we get to total ban on the total initiative relative to what we can do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers. President Trump? I really don't know what he said at the end of this sentence. I don't think he knows what he said
Saved - August 2, 2024 at 11:02 AM

@amuse - @amuse

Kamala Harris unscripted… https://t.co/Hfwz2q9wWc

Video Transcript AI Summary
Having a president who values diplomacy and alliances is crucial. Today is truly remarkable because of the significance of these alliances.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: This is just extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy alliances. This is this is an incredible day. And alliances. This is this is an incredible day.
Saved - August 4, 2024 at 8:02 AM

@HallockInc - Riley Hallock

@KamalaHQ Owned https://t.co/De4ZBJknHB

Video Transcript AI Summary
The left is promoting Kamala Harris as a savior for the black community, but she has actually harmed it. They avoid discussing her policies and instead rely on propaganda to win votes. To truly understand her impact, we should question if she values black families, considering her past as a prosecutor and her relationship with Willie Brown.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: They don't wanna talk policy. They just wanna use propaganda to steal your vote. The left is trying to tout this woman as a savior for the black community, but all she's done is hurt the black community since she came into the game. See, the first step in destroying the black community is to dismantle the black family. So aside from her record as a prosecutor, why don't we ask missus Willie Brown if Kamala Harris cares about black families?
Saved - August 18, 2024 at 8:12 AM

@Travis_4_Trump - 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸

Kamala Harris called Kamala Harris a bitch. https://t.co/Lbh0wRRXsm

Video Transcript AI Summary
As a woman, there's a balance to be struck between being tough and being a bitch.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: And as a woman, there's a balance to be struck between being tough and being a bitch. Turn that off.

@StephenKing - Stephen King

Did Trump actually call Kamala Harris a bitch? Please tell me that that, at least, isn't true.

Saved - September 22, 2024 at 11:20 PM

@ImMeme0 - I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸

Kamala: “I’d like another debate. I hope the former Vice President would agree to that.” Which vice president does she want to debate against? I’m confused. https://t.co/tGDQfxoBpb

Saved - November 10, 2024 at 12:59 PM

@nbcsnl - Saturday Night Live - SNL

Kamala Harris talks to Kamala Harris https://t.co/AJuW7aO7VM

Video Transcript AI Summary
I wish I could talk to someone like me—a black South Asian woman running for president from the Bay Area. It's great to see you, Kamala. Remember, you can open doors in ways your opponent can't. The American people want to end the chaos and enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere, maybe even with a fun twist on popular culture. We share a belief in the promise of America. Let's bring it in for a moment. I’m voting for us! Are you registered in Pennsylvania? Unfortunately, no. It was worth a try. And live from New York is Stephanie Jones.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Gosh. I just I wish I could talk to someone who's been in my shoes. You know? A black South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area. You and me both, sister. It is nice to see you, Kamala. It is nice to see you, Kamala. And I'm just here to remind you, you got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors. I see what you did there. Like to a garbage truck. Right? I don't really laugh like that, do I? A little bit. Now, Pamela, take my Pamela. The American people wanna stop the chaos And end the drama with a cool new set mamala. Kick back in our pajamas and watch a rom Pamela. Like legally Blondala. And start decorating for Christmas. Follow La la la. Because what do we always say? Keep Kamala and carry on a la. We know each other so well. We even finish each other's belief in the promise of America. Yeah. Thank you. Now come on. Let's bring it in. I gotta tell myself something over here. Come here. I'll tell you something. I'm gonna vote for us. Great. Any chance you are registered in Pennsylvania? Nope. I am not. Well, it was worth a shot. And live from New York is Stephanie Jones.
Saved - December 31, 2024 at 3:36 AM

@realSaltySeaDog - Salty 🇺🇸

@liz_churchill10 While we’re at it, Liz… https://t.co/XbEKqWgOvC

Saved - June 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM

@GozukaraFurkan - Furkan Gözükara

@TuckerCarlson https://t.co/5HtTGvy0am

@GozukaraFurkan - Furkan Gözükara

The interview Senator Ted Cruz literally cooked published https://t.co/pcMTH2jECl

Video Transcript AI Summary
The senator supports regime change in Iran via a popular uprising, not military force. He considers himself a "non-interventionist hawk," prioritizing US national security interests and advocating "peace through strength." He opposed military action in Syria, but views Iran as different due to its anti-American stance and pursuit of nuclear weapons. He believes the US military support for Israel is massively in America's national security. He acknowledges Israel likely spies on the US, but accepts it as a reality among allies. He defends APAC as an American lobby focused on strengthening US-Israeli relations, not acting as a foreign agent. The senator believes Iran is actively trying to murder Donald Trump and has paid hitmen to do so. He supports Israel's actions to take out Iran's military leadership and nuclear capacity. He opposed the Iraq War and military intervention in Libya, citing negative consequences for the US. He also believes that Joe Biden's weakness caused the war in Ukraine.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Senator, thank you very much for spending the time to have this conversation. Speaker 1: It's good to be with you. So you've come Speaker 0: out for regime change in Iran as distinct just from taking out the nuclear sites. What does regime change look like in Iran? Speaker 1: Somebody else in charge. Speaker 0: How do you get there? Speaker 1: Look, that ultimately has to be a popular uprising for the people. And it's not a complicated question. Is America better off with a country that has a leader who hates us and wants to kill us or to have a country with a leader who likes us and wants to be friends with us. Well, definitely the latter is better. Of course. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 1: And so that's not a complicated statement. Look, I believe you look across the world when you have countries that have dictators that are viciously anti America. Venezuela, Maduro hates us. Would we be better off with Maduro out of power? Absolutely. I I want our enemies out of power and I want our friends in power. Speaker 0: That I could not agree more. The question is how do you get there? Of course. And we've been trying to kill Maduro for quite some time. We have troops there as I don't Speaker 1: know that we've been trying to kill Maduro. Speaker 0: We we have. And I think you know that. Speaker 1: Okay. I don't know that. Speaker 0: Okay. Well, As a statement of fact, we have. Speaker 1: So We do have massive sanctions. We try to pressure them out of all. Yeah. I'm not not aware of it. Speaker 0: I'm just saying there's a lot of pressure coming from various parts of the US government on that government and it's still there. Yeah. Same the country of various ancestors Cuba. You know, 1959, we've been working on that. Hasn't worked. So it's it's I believe both agree it's hard Speaker 1: to do. It absolutely is hard. And look, think you're reasonable to ask how do we produce that? And I think there's a distinction between what your objective is and the means to get it. There are all sorts of things I would say we would be better off. We'd be better off in China without Xi there. Should we invade China and topple Xi? Of course not. We'd be Speaker 0: better off with no national debt. Speaker 1: You know? There are lots of things. Totally. But but it's good to say, alright. What are our objectives? Right. And so with the Ayatollah in Iran saying you're for regime change, I don't view as complicated. I mean, the guy literally leads mobs chanting death to America. So that's not good. Speaker 0: Definitely not good. But the reason I think it's important to get a little more detailed about how that might happen is because there's military action and progress which we're supporting. And the president has said clearly, including last night, that he is focused on eliminating the capacity of the Iranian government to produce nuclear weapons. You are saying we need to use military force to affect regime change. Speaker 1: I have not said that. Speaker 0: Oh, I must have not Speaker 1: that once. I don't think we need to use military force to do regime change. I said I support it. I would like to see it happen. You asked me how should it happen. A popular uprising. So what I've advocated for. Let's step back a second. You and I, we've known each other a long time. I would say we agree on about 80% of the things on earth. For sure. And there are a lot of things, and we can get into the nitty gritty of foreign policy as much as you want. There are a lot of things on which you and I agree, not just a little bit, but violently. Speaker 0: I totally agree. I was rooting for you in your last campaign for sure. Speaker 1: Well, thank you. Look, you have been heroic the border. You have been one of the clearest and best voices in the whole country on securing the border and on the absolute crisis we're facing. And in Texas, I see it and live it every day. In COVID, in fact, you may recall in the middle of the COVID lockdown, I was out walking my dog when the whole world was shut down and we were living in lunatic times. And I called you and said, Tucker, your nightly monologues are the single best thing on television. Like, I watch them like an injection of crack. Okay. I'm mixing my metaphor because you don't inject crack. You get what I'm saying. Just try. No. I mean, it was you were standing up and speaking like, what the hell are we doing in a way that we desperately, desperately needed. And so whether it's securing the border, whether it's the insanity of COVID lockdowns and the vaccine mandates, whether it is the second amendment or the first amendment, you and I agree on a ton of stuff. The 20% where we disagree, I do think is meaningful. And it's mostly in the foreign policy space. And what I would say, if you'll allow me to get a little theoretical and then I'm happy to get specific. For a long time, people have perceived two different poles of Republican foreign policy. There have been interventionists and those have been people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, George W. Bush. And there have been isolationists. And the most prominent of those have been Ron Paul and Rand Paul and there are others. And people perceive those are the two choices. You've got to be one or the other. I've always thought both were wrong. I don't agree with either one. The way I view my own foreign Speaker 0: power I'm with you by the way, for whatever it's worth. I agree with you. Speaker 1: Okay. Good. Speaker 0: I don't know who set up that binary, but there are lots of choices actually. Speaker 1: I mean, people sort of naturally fall into I think they want to classify people and they're like, okay, you're one or the other and you've got to be all or nothing. And the interventionists, it seems, have never seen a country they didn't want to invade and that doesn't make any sense to me. And the isolationists, I think, don't take the threats to America seriously. And I think that's naive and it doesn't work. So my view, I consider myself a third point on the triangle. And what I describe that as is that I am a non interventionist hawk. Which sounds a little weird, but what do I mean by that? I mean the central touch point for US foreign policy and for any question of military intervention should be the vital national security interest of The United States. How does this make America safer? How does this protect Americans? If it does, we should be strong. And actually another way of conceiving what I'm saying, I'm speaking theoretically. But Reagan referred to it as peace through strength. And actually, I think Donald Trump's foreign policy is very much what I'm describing a non interventionist talk. Where he understands that, and I think this is historically true, the best way to avoid war is being strong. That weakness and isolationism, I think, encourages war. So going back to regime change, where you started in Iran. Or So but just the way I I don't think Speaker 0: I disagree with anything you've said. So we may not be that far apart really because you said that the single criterion for making decisions about America's foreign policy is America's national interest. Yes. That's Speaker 1: it. Yeah. Which is also America first. That's another way of putting that as I guess Speaker 0: the definition of it. Yeah. It's hardly breaking news. The US dollar has been gravely devalued by Washington money printing. You print money out of thin air and the currency becomes weaker. You can purchase less with the same amount. The entire system is backed by nothing but the government's word. What is that worth? People around the world are beginning to ask. 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When Obama was president, you remember he talked about wanting to have military action against Syria. And at the time, I tried to keep an open mind to it. I said, okay, let me listen to the commander in chief describe to me how this is in America's interest and what your plan is. And and Bashar Assad was a bad guy. He was killing his own citizens and and he had chemical weapons that were very dangerous. I could conceive of a commander in chief laying out a plan for, okay, we're gonna go in and say, grab the chemical weapons and leave. Like I could see that if there was a real threat to America and there was a plan to prevent that, I could see supporting that. So I wanted to hear what he said to say. And I listened both in classified briefings and public questioning. And number one, their public defensive, it was incoherent. So John Kerry said, we're going to engage in an unbelievably small strike. I think that's a quote. I'm like, okay. And and to do what? At the time, there were nine major rebel Islamic groups in Syria. I'm like, okay. I agree, but Shah Assad's a bad guy. You topple him. And one of the nine other groups takes over. Seven of them were affiliated with radical Islamic terrorism. You had Al Qaeda and Al Nusra. Like, how is it better to have lunatics who hate us in charge? Assad's a bad guy but I don't want worse guys in charge. Obama administration couldn't give an answer to that. And ultimately when you press them, John Kerry in particular I pressed and he would say, well, we need to defend international norms. What the hell is an international norm? I don't know what it is but I'm not interested in putting US servicemen and women in harm's way to defend one. Speaker 0: Amen. Speaker 1: So I opposed the Syri attack and opposed it vocally. And it was interesting Rand and I agreed. Rand's a friend of mine. But we agreed with that position for different reasons. What I was asking is is I think the question we should ask, how does this make America safer? The Obama administration couldn't give me an answer, so I posed it. I think Iran is very different. May I ask what you think of how Syria wound up? Because Bashar Speaker 0: al Assad now lives in Moscow. Yeah. He was taken out by Speaker 1: our Speaker 0: allies. And he's been replaced by a radical Islamist who was affiliated with ISIS. So is that a win or no? Speaker 1: Unclear. Look, Syria's a mess, so I've consistently opposed Speaker 0: But we had a secular leader in a religious and ethnically diverse country. Now we have a religious extremist, Islamic religious extremist, who's overseeing the purge of Christians and Alawites. Is that better or that doesn't seem like a Well, Speaker 1: one of the things you said is you said he was taken out by our allies. I don't think that's right. Israel didn't take Assad out. What happened, and I'll tell you What Speaker 0: about Turkey? Speaker 1: Turkey didn't take him out. So it was interesting. I had a long Speaker 0: How did Assad get kicked out? When Speaker 1: Netanyahu was in DC a couple of months ago, he and I sat down for a couple of hours. He's a good friend of mine. We talked actually about Syria. He made an interesting point that I've not heard anywhere else in that he said he believes what toppled Assad was when Israel took out Nasrallah. Nasrallah was the head of Hezbollah. They took him out. He made an interesting point. He said, It's fascinating how a charismatic leader And Bebe said, look, Nasrallah was a very effective terrorist leader. And when they took him out, that power base was supporting Assad. And that ultimately in Bebe's analysis removed the support from Assad and toppled him. But they weren't trying to take out Assad. My view now, I don't know. But you don't think that Speaker 0: And I don't It is very confusing and I don't know that anyone really knows all the details. But you don't think that Israel or Turkey or NATO ally Turkey played any role in toppling Assad? Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know that they did. Look look, my understanding of that, they clearly took out Nasrallah and Hezbollah. They've decimated Hezbollah, but Hezbollah is waging war on So so decimating Hezbollah was very good for Israel and very good for for America too. I mean, Hezbollah hated us. I I would put Assad in the category of an unintended consequence. And whether it's good or bad, I don't know. I think time will tell Speaker 0: For The United States. Speaker 1: Yeah, for The United States. I think time will tell the new leadership there. You're right to be concerned. Let me step back and let's talk regime change generally. I mentioned Syria. I also opposed the Iraq War. I think the Iraq War was a serious mistake. And we have a pattern and going back to this binary of the interventionist and the isolationist. The interventionists advocate over and over again. There's a bad guy. There's a dictator who's doing bad things to his people. And they say, let's go topple him. And you have dictators in The Middle East who are killing radical Islamic terrorists. We come in and topple them. The radical Islamic terrorists take over and they start killing Americans. And mind you, how the heck does that help us? Like, Saddam Hussein was a horrible human being. He murdered and tortured people. I unequivocally bad guy. But it got much worse after we toppled him. And you ended up having ISIS rise up. I mean, that was the cause of ISIS was toppling Saddam Hussein. Same thing in in in Libya. You had Qaddafi, another horrible guy that that under Obama, we toppled him. And you ended up having radical Islamic warlords taking over. And and so the and it's the question I asked in Syria. Okay. Well, what's the plan? And and and how is this good or bad for The United States? And and so I don't think with Iran I I view Iran as very different from Iraq. Speaker 0: But up to that point, you say we disagree. I I don't hear really anything. I'm not quite sure what happened in Syria, but I I don't know. So Right? But other than that, I don't hear anything I disagree with at all. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 0: Sounds like we're in a complete agreement. I wonder though, is there a successful regime change that The United States supported that you're aware of in the last hundred years? Speaker 1: Sure. Defeating the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union collapsing, winning the Cold War. That that was the most consequential step for US national security interests of our lifetimes. Speaker 0: Okay. So you would classify that as a regime change that we affected? Speaker 1: Absolutely. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 1: And look, and I are in my office, we're sitting next to a painting of Reagan in front of the Brandenburg Gate. And up top are the words tear down this wall in German in the style of the graffiti. Right. And I think those are the most important words any leader has said in modern times. And if you look at how Reagan waged the Cold War And Reagan is very much my model for how to I actually think how Reagan took on the Soviet Union is exactly how we should take on China. Now, starting from the point, look, Reagan was not an interventionist. In eight years, the biggest country Reagan ever invaded was Grenada. He was very reluctant to use US military force. Speaker 0: He didn't respond after the eighty three barracks bombings. Speaker 1: You're right. He made the judgment that the risk exceeded the benefits. And that's a very rational decision to make. And it's reflected Trump has made those same decisions where he is willing to use military force. But he very much asks, okay, is this good or bad for America? Does this endanger US servicemen and women or not? And one of the points about the Cold War. Look, nobody in their right mind wanted a shooting war between America and The Soviet Union. The two biggest nuclear powers on earth firing bullets at each other is really unhealthy for human beings. Same thing is true with China. Nobody with any sense says, hey, let's go to war with China. That's dumb and a whole lot of people could die. But the Cold War showed we've got lots of tools short of sending the marines to fight against a regime. And one of the most important tools is the bully pulpit. And so when I say I support regime change, actually think just simply laying out what the Ayatollah does. And so I spend a lot of time, I speak to Iranian dissident groups. I speak out against human rights abuses. I think shining a light on the depravity of leaders is a really powerful tool that America has. Speaker 0: Should we limit our activity to that? Speaker 1: It depends. Again, the Speaker 0: Because the US government pays opposition groups, militarized opposition groups in Iran overthrow the government. We've done it in a lot of different places, as you know. I'm not saying it's bad, but that's very different from what you're describing. You're saying we're making a moral case as we did for seventy years with the Soviets. Our system works, yours doesn't. Yep. And I think we made a credible case for that. And we beat them over seventy years economically. Speaker 1: And that was a huge part of it. Speaker 0: Right. I think everyone would agree that was the main part of it. We didn't beat them in Vietnam or North Korea. Speaker 1: The main part of it, but it was tied to a military buildup. So I think it was two things. It was one, the clarity. So Reagan came in and he described the Soviet Union as an evil empire. And all of the intelligentsia in DC, all the Democrats, all the media, they're like, what a horrible thing to say. You can't say that. Reagan went to The United Kingdom and he said, Marxism, Leninism will end up on the ash heap of history. People were horrified. They asked him, All right, what's your strategy in the Cold War? He said, Very simple. We win, they lose. And that was all viewed as sort of a Philistine simplicity. And I think it was exactly right. And laying that out, speaking Do you know the backstory behind the Berlin Wall speech? Speaker 0: Yeah, I do. Yes. Speaker 1: You probably know Peter Robinson, who was a speech Of course. Yes. So three times the State Department deleted those words from that speech. And three times Reagan wrote it back And the State Department argued. They said, mister president, you can't say this. This is too bellicose. This is too provocative. And my favorite, they said, this is too unrealistic. The Berlin Wall will stand till the end of time. And Reagan said, look, this is the whole point of the speech. And less than three years after Reagan gave that speech, the Berlin Wall was torn to the ground. And it wasn't knocked down by American army tanks. We didn't shoot missiles at it. It was shining truth and light that tore it down. It was also rebuilding the American military. It was what was then pejoratively called Star Wars where the Soviet Union, their economy couldn't match our military buildup and it bankrupted them. That's an example of peace through strength. Speaker 0: I wonder, I mean is there anybody who was alive in 1989 who wouldn't trade that America for the one we live in now? There's not one person, I don't think. Oh sure. But I mean just the basic metrics, debt, suicide rate, life expectancy, it was I wonder why after that victory, America didn't thrive in the way that we thought that it would, that I thought that it would. My family was involved in that. I mean, we were very focused on it in my house. Speaker 1: Like, for Speaker 0: one, and I wonder two things, why didn't The United States kind of declare victory and make some sort of arrangement with Russia that allowed like mutual prosperity rather than continuing a cold war? And second, I wonder why The United States didn't get a lot better. Like, why don't we have better infrastructure? Why don't we have fewer homeless? Why do we have all these drugs? Like, if we won, why does our country look like this? I walked across from Union Station this morning, as you do, I'm sure, every day. And there's people lying in the street and sleeping outside. It's like, what is that? We're sorry to say it, but this is not a very safe country. Walk through Oakland or Philadelphia. Yeah. Good luck. So most people, when they think about this, wanna carry a firearm, and a lot of us do. The problem is there can be massive consequences for that. Ask Kyle Rittenhouse. Kyle Rittenhouse got off in the end, but he was innocent from the first moment. 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One of the mistakes people make in politics is thinking everything is politics. So the political answer which I happen to believe is is we went much further down the road of liberalism. You look at Bill Clinton who inherited the peace dividend of the cold war being over and and moved us more to the left and then Obama accelerated it a lot. So there are lots of I agree. Bad economic policies. But I also think they're cultural things. You know, the loss faith The loss family Speaker 0: I know what you're gonna say and I agree a 100%. I bet there's not one word that I would disagree with. All I'm saying is, I think it's important to step back and ask Speaker 1: But actually, think Russia has very little to do with it. Speaker 0: Well, that's kind of the point that I'm trying to make, which is like we're all sort of focused on beating our adversaries abroad, but what is victory worth if our own country becomes what it is now? And maybe we're spending a little too much time focused abroad and not enough time focused on the people sleeping outside Union Station. Speaker 1: So look, I absolutely think we need to focus at home emphatically and we need to focus on prosperity, we need to focus on reducing the debt, reducing spending, empowering people, low taxes, small businesses. American free enterprise. It's the most powerful force for fighting poverty the world has ever seen. I'm a thousand percent there. I also recognize it is a dangerous world. And and part of the responsibility of leaders, part of president Trump's responsibility is to keep America safe. Let's go back to where we started Speaker 0: with But can I Speaker 1: ask you've Speaker 0: been in the district a long time in DC, so have I? And the city's way more dangerous and congress runs Speaker 1: this city. It's a complete crap hole. So what I'm saying like, Speaker 0: the date no Iranians ever gonna kill me, but I could get carjacked here. Speaker 1: No. It was Speaker 0: And I just don't understand how the congress could run this city and focus on the dangers of Iran when the city is like garbage. Speaker 1: It's garbage. But but congress doesn't run the city. They we could. Speaker 0: Congress does run the city. It's in the constitution. Speaker 1: It's in the constitution but they've given home rule so it's a democratic You Speaker 0: can it back. You control the congress. Speaker 1: I'd vote for it but but but it is a question of math. Speaker 0: Okay. But I'm just saying like, why how can people ignore it's like, if my own kids are drug addicts, but I'm focused on my neighbor's kids, it's like I'm neglecting my own kids. And there's a sense in which the congress is neglecting the country that elected them in favor of this relentless focus on other people's problems. That's the way it feels as an American. Look, Speaker 1: there are lots of problems in America that we need to fix. Why is is DC a pit? Because you have a mayor and a democrat city council that won't let police officers bad guys. And in every city you see across the country, whether it's New York, whether it's Chicago, whether it's LA, whether it's San Francisco, if you have democrats we see the LA riots where they won't let people be arrested. Speaker 0: Alright. Then why not work in regime change here? Speaker 1: I'm not Why not use the bully pulpit? What do you think I do every day? Need you to Speaker 0: hear Republican senators stand up and say, I just walked to work this morning over people dying of drug ods. We're gonna shut this place down unless they fix it. There's they're mad about Putin. Like, what did Putin do to Washington? Nothing. Speaker 1: Look. In terms of regime change, let's let's talk this week. The the the the riots in LA, I've made very clear that the cause of those riots are Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. And when you elect communists who hate America, who stop law enforcement from arresting criminals, you get what you get on the streets. I agree. My in laws are Californians and they're wonderful people that Heidi grew up on the Central Coast Of California. I remember I was texting with my mother-in-law and I think I sent her a video of criminals going to a store and just looting in California. And her response, she said something like, Well, is really terrible. It's a shame we can't do anything about this. So yes, you can. Go in and arrest them. Throw their butts in jail. Put them in handcuffs and it Exactly. And so we know how to fix these things. And DC is I think DC voted, if I remember right, 92% Democrat. Democrat policies don't work and they destroy every community that they are in charge of. Speaker 0: They destroy Republicans assert their constitutional authority over the city? Don't they control the congress? Yes. Speaker 1: I'd be all for it. Speaker 0: Who's against it? Speaker 1: Collins is really vocally against it. So on questions of home rule. So for example, let's take an issue you and I care a lot about, the COVID lockdowns. I had a couple of years ago in the middle of them. DC was proposing the DC school district was proposing throwing out of school any child that was not vaccinated. And at the time, if I remember correctly, it was something like forty percent of the African American students in DC were not vaccinated. So they're talking about literally throwing out forty percent of the kids at public school. And so I had a vote on the senate floor to say, look, they can't throw kids out of school for this. And we ended up having a big argument and part of the argument was home rule where there were and Susan was the most vocal republican. It's like, no. No. No. We have to let DC run. And I'm like, why? Constitution gives us the power to do it. And it ended up by the way, every single democrat, all of them voted in favor of the DC public schools being able to throw out 40% of the black kids from school. And I said, look, you throw a kid out of school. You got a 14, 15 year old boy. You throw him out of school. You know what's gonna happen next. He's gonna join a gang. He's gonna engage in crimes. He's gonna engage in drugs. He could be dead within five years if that kid doesn't get an education. And the Democrats were more than happy to say, we don't care. Right now, our religion is get get the vaccine or we're to hell with you. Speaker 0: But can you I mean, again, once again, I couldn't agree with you more, but can you feel the frustration of people, including your voters, every, you know, every American at the emphasis on foreign countries and the threat we supposedly face, a lot of which is fake, obviously, over the kind of slowly unfolding tragedy of what's happening to our country. The dollars spent, the aid packages to Ukraine to pay the retirement of civil servants in a country that we have nothing to do with. The endless support for Israel, very expensive. When people are literally buying groceries on credit in The United States, can you feel like it's nothing against Ukraine or Israel or any other countries? Speaker 1: Alright, let's stop. You said the support for Israel, very expensive. How much support do we give to Israel? Speaker 0: Well, you tell me. You vote for it. Speaker 1: Yeah. It's about 3,000,000,000 a year, the military assistance. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Was that the only assistance? Speaker 1: Yeah. We we just have military assistance. Israel does not have additional assistance. There's there's an MOU, a memorandum of understanding, and it's 3,000,000,000 a year. Speaker 0: So what is it costing to support the bombing campaign to protect Israel right now from Iran? Speaker 1: So I don't know right now, but I'll tell you this. Let's go back to the touchstone on foreign policy. American interest. Our support, our military support for Israel is massively in America's national security. And it benefits us enormously. Well, before we Speaker 0: can make independent judgments about whether or not that's true, and I'm certainly open to it, I think we need to know what it costs. So what's the annual cost of defending Israel? Do you know? Speaker 1: 3,000,000,000 a year. No, no, Speaker 0: that's the aid. But I mean, the cost of the weapons, for example, the cost of US personnel there, the cost of moving ships to the region, which we're doing right now, the cost of moving tankers to region, all of that. Do we know what the cost is? Speaker 1: So look, the last week, I don't know. And and there's some lag when the administration on the constitution, the commander in chief has control of the armed forces. And so president Trump has made some decisions that we'll know the cost over time, but I don't know the last week. I don't have visibility on that. The annual cost is 3,000,000,000. It's a ten year memorandum of understanding and that's the principal driver of the cost. But let me make a point. We get massive benefits from Israel. Israel shares the Mas'ad as one of the best intelligence sources on the planet. The enemies of Israel, the people who hate Israel, they all hate us. It's a perfect overlap. And so if we tried to recreate, if we're just trying to defend America, we tried to recreate the national security benefits of our alliance with Israel, it would cost, I don't know, 30,000,000,000, 300,000,000,000. So can Speaker 0: you elaborate? And again, I'm going into this as someone who's always liked Israel and still does, but I also think at this point, given where we are, it's fair to ask rational questions about what the benefits are. Speaker 1: Good. Speaker 0: So does Mossad share all of its intelligence with us? Speaker 1: Oh, probably not, but they share a lot. We don't share all of our intelligence with them, but we share a lot. It's a close alliance. Speaker 0: Do they spy domestically in The United States? Speaker 1: Oh, they probably do and we do as well. And friends and allies spy on each other. I assume do? Why? I assume all of our allies spy on us. Speaker 0: That's okay with you? Speaker 1: You know what? One of the things about being a conservative is that you're not naive and utopian. You don't think humans are all Part of the reason socialism doesn't work is the the the mantra from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs doesn't work. As a conservative, I assume people act in their rational self interest. Speaker 0: It's why conservative to pay people to spy on you? Speaker 1: It's conservative to recognize that human beings act in their own self interest and every one of our friends spies on us. And I'm not Speaker 0: Do you like it? That's my question. I'm not asking whether they have motive to do it. Of course, they do. I understand that. And I And by Speaker 1: the way Speaker 0: I'm not mad at them. And you're an American lawmaker, so I just wanna wanna know hold on. I wanna know your attitude. You said that your guiding principle, in fact, only principle, the only criterion Speaker 1: I said guiding. The the overwhelming. I wouldn't say only. Speaker 0: Is is it in America's interest? Is it in America's interest for Israel to spy on us, including on the president? Speaker 1: It is in America's interest to be closely allied with Israel because we get huge benefits for it. And you want us you wanna see the clear Speaker 0: But but I just wanna stop on the spying for a second. That it it takes place, as you know, including on the president of The United States and several precedents, and I just want to know if that's okay and why is it okay? Wouldn't an American lawmaker say to a client state, you're not allowed to spy on us? I'm sorry. I know why you want to. I'm not mad at you, but you're not Speaker 1: allowed to. Sure. And I don't care Speaker 0: for it. I don't wanna be spied on by you. Is that it's kinda weird not to say that, but you don't seem able to say that. Speaker 1: Sure. I would say don't spy on us. They're going to anyway. And by the way, the Brits are, the Canadians are, like, I don't think Well, I'm not for Speaker 0: that at all. I think it's disgusting. But we don't actually pay their You know, we're not their most meaningful sponsor. We're not sort of paying for the operations of Speaker 1: the British I gotta say, and this is It's weird. We're talking about isolationists. The obsession with Israel. Why is Israel Speaker 0: Oh, I don't think I'm obsessed with Israel. Speaker 1: Okay. But I think a lot of people are and like the question, Israel spies on us. Well, so does every other country. Why are you mad at Israel? Speaker 0: I guess no. No. No. I'm I'm the one who's I've never taken money from the Israel lobby. Have you? Speaker 1: Taken money from the Israel Speaker 0: From APAC. Speaker 1: So APAC raises a lot of money for me, it's actually a misnomer because the people who raise money are individuals. So it's not the PAC itself but they're individual members who believe in the American Israeli friendship and Is Speaker 0: it PAC of foreign lobby? Speaker 1: No. It's an American lobby. It's the APAC stands for the America Israeli Political Action. Speaker 0: What is it lobby for? Speaker 1: So to be honest, not a whole lot effectively. Listen, I came into to Congress thirteen years ago with the stated intention of being the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate. Speaker 0: Great. Speaker 1: I've worked every day to do that. APAC a lot of times APAC I wish were much more effective. They're But when they do, I'm terrified of APAC and APAC. Speaker 0: I'm not terrified of APAC at all. I I'm You're the one who seems a little uncomfortable when I'm asking. Speaker 1: No. Not uncomfortable at all. Speaker 0: I'm just asking what APAC does. My understanding having known a lot Speaker 1: of people who are you about Speaker 0: Is that lobbies on behalf of the Israeli government. Wrong. Oh, okay. That it's America has thousands of colleges and universities, and a lot of them, unfortunately, are basically just scams. It's one of those things nobody really wants to talk about, but everybody on some level knows that it's true. What's an impressive college in 2025? There aren't many at all. 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A lot of people want you to hate, but for two hundred fifty years has been the best and most productive in the world. You'll understand the basis of our economy from founding till president. He also not afraid to preach the message our country has forgotten, which is freedom is good, Christianity is good, markets are good, and they make this country better by raising well educated students. We endorse this as a college hater. I love Hillsdale. Go to Tucker for Hillsdale dot com to sign up for Understanding Capitalism Today, the course Understanding Capitalism, zero cost, just the truth. That's tucker forhillsdale.com to enroll for free. When was the last time APAC took a position that deviated from prime minister Netanyahu? Speaker 1: All the time. Anyone? Okay. Let me go back and give a little history. If you wanna do a deep dive on APAC, we Speaker 0: can I don't? I wanna do a shallow dive if it Speaker 1: gets No. No. I wanna get Speaker 0: to the core question. APAC is lobbying for a foreign government. And I don't. It's not. It's lobbying for The United States. Speaker 1: It is lobbying for a strong US Israeli relationship. Okay. So it's not It has nothing to do Speaker 0: with the foreign government. Speaker 1: It it wants America and Israel to be closely allied. Speaker 0: Okay. But it's lobbying on behalf of the interests of another country. Speaker 1: So that's not true at all. Speaker 0: That's not true. No. How much contact do you think APEC leaders have for the government of Israel? Speaker 1: No idea. Imagine some, I think the government of Israel is often frustrated with APAC. Do think that that's not nearly strong enough? Speaker 0: Do you think there's any coordination between the government of Israel and APAC? Speaker 1: Do they talk? Sure. If you're lobbying for more US Mexico trade, would you talk to people in The US and Mexico and the government? Sure. Like like if Speaker 0: So I'm not mad about that. There are a million countries that lobby Washington. I like a lot of those countries including Speaker 1: But APAC are Americans, but not Israelis. Speaker 0: Hold on. There are tons of Americans who lobby on behalf of foreign governments. I know them. I'm related to some of them. I know how it works. I'm I'm from here. So my question is not, is it outrageous that foreign governments lobby The United States? They all do, okay, including Israel. My only question is why don't we admit that is what's happening? You're denying it, but it's true. Speaker 1: And why aren't they you're saying is false. Speaker 0: Why aren't they registered as a foreign lobby? Speaker 1: Because they're not. They're not a foreign lobby. No. They're not. And this is the there's a fever swamp. Look. Speaker 0: It's not a fever swamp. These are very reasonable questions and you've accused me of being obsessed with Israel, which I'm not. Speaker 1: I I actually haven't. Seen an isolationist. Speaker 0: About it, which I'm not at all. I'm just I find it it's a very tender spot when you ask it and I don't know why. Speaker 1: So, Tucker, alright. Let's go back. I was first elected to the Senate in 2012. I came in in Obama's second term. And I actually saw AIPAC be badly wounded in a way they never came back from. And the second term is when Obama did the Iran nuclear deal. The Iran nuclear deal, I think, was catastrophic. And APAC went all in lobbying against it. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 1: And they failed. And I was the leading opponent of the Iran nuclear deal. Speaker 0: Oh, know. They definitely failed. Yes. Speaker 1: They failed. And what happened, the Obama White House told every democrat. When I got here, there used to be real bipartisan support for Israel. That has largely disappeared. And it's the Obama nuclear deal that caused it because the Obama White House told every Democrat, pick. You either stand with Israel or you're a Democrat and you stand with the Obama White House. And almost every single Democrat member of Congress said, I'm a Democrat first to hell with Israel. And then I watched as APAC every one of those Democrats got reelected and APAC did nothing about it. And and it dramatically reduced APAC's influence. Speaker 0: I agree. Watched it happen. And and by Speaker 1: the way, I told APAC. I said, look. The analogy, if the NRA was supporting a bunch of politicians and cared about the second amendment, and you had politicians that vote to confiscate people's guns, and the NRA turned around and raised money for the people who voted to confiscate guns, you know what? No one would ever care what they said again. Speaker 0: Sue, you're making the case that APAC is not as powerful as people say it is and I completely agree Speaker 1: with you. Speaker 0: I've I've watched that and I'm not I'm not making the case that APAC is all powerful and they're running everything and putting Florida in the water. I'm not making the case at all because it's not true. I'm only trying to get to the question of what APAC is and I don't think you're being straightforward about it. APAC is lobbying on behalf of the interests of a foreign country and they're not registered. And you're saying, no, that's not true. You're saying that they don't coordinate with the Israeli government. Speaker 1: Of course, I coordinate. They do they talk with them. I don't know what they do. I can Speaker 0: tell But why don't you care? Isn't it meaningful if a foreign government Speaker 1: Hey. I've talked with with Israel all the time. I've talked with foreign Speaker 0: countries all the Speaker 1: time. Speaker 0: But the law is and a lot of people prosecuted under this law, that if you are lobbying on behalf of foreign government, you must register. That's it. It's really simple. And I don't know why if I'm working for Malaysia or Qatar or Belgium k. And I'm working on behalf of its government's interest through a group of Americans who are representing the friendship between those two nations, I have to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, and if I don't, I can go to jail. People have gone to jail, including people I know. So I don't understand why we don't just be honest and say they're lobbying on behalf of foreign government. They're coordinating with the government. You know that that's true. Speaker 1: That is not only not true. That is false. Speaker 0: They're not coordinating with the Israeli government. Speaker 1: Do you know how APAC raises money? What? For for elected officials, like what they do, like what the actual mechanics is? Speaker 0: I get that. I mean, they go to people who are sympathetic to Israel and raise money and then send it to candidates who agree with So Speaker 1: what they'll do is So in my last election, APAC endorsed me and they'll host a fundraiser. They'll host a fundraiser in Dallas or Houston or Atlanta or New York or LA. And they'll do a fundraiser and they'll get someone who'll host it. And it's usually a business owner, lawyer, doctor, someone who'll host it. And you get typically at an APAC fundraiser thirty, forty, 50, maybe 100 people who live in that city who care about a strong US Israel relationship. And and if they have, you know, 50 people, each of them writes a thousand dollar check and you raise 50,000. Yeah. Been to an Apex fundraiser. I know what it looks like. But but but that is not and by the way, there's no representative of the Israeli government there. You have when you're in Dallas, you're meeting with This just Speaker 0: a false and silly conversation. I know all this. I know all this. The question is is are APEC's goals shaped by the goals of the Israeli government to any extent? Speaker 1: Okay. That's really simple question. Speaker 0: Lobbying on behalf of. It's a simple question. Is a are APAX goals shaped by the goals of the Israeli government? And I'm just gonna ask you a question straightforwardly. And if you say no, I think we Speaker 1: both know that's not true. Hey. Are they shaped by? Is that an Speaker 0: Are they coordinating with the Israeli government? Speaker 1: Are they talking The Israel government? Them. What are you wanna talk about Farah, the law on lobbying on behalf of someone? Yeah. It is I hire you and you lobby on behalf of me. I direct you. Does Israel direct APAC? No. They're not lobbying on behalf of them. Do they care about them? Yes. But Speaker 0: Do you think that it's just interesting because what you're now describing in a very defensive way, will say, is foreign influence over our politics. No. And you began And it's so transparently obvious to everybody. I don't know why you'd be embarrassed of it. You've said that you are sincerely for Israel. I believe you. I don't think you have some weird agenda. You seem to be sincere. Speaker 1: By the way, Tucker, it's a very weird thing. The obsession with Israel When we're talking about foreign Speaker 0: countries It's hardly an obsession. Speaker 1: You're not talking about Chinese. You're not talking about Japanese. Not talking about the Brits. You're not talking about the French. The question, what about the Jews? What about the Jews? Oh, like I'm anti Semite now. Senator, you're asking the questions tough. Me. You're asking, why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy? Senator, I'm Speaker 0: hardly saying that. And I have That Speaker 1: is exactly what you just said. Speaker 0: Well, actually, I can speak for myself Good. And tell you what I am Speaker 1: saying. Good. Speaker 0: On behalf not simply of myself, but on of my many Jewish friends who would have the same questions, which is to what extent and I it's interesting you're trying to derail my questions by calling me an anti Semite, which you are. Speaker 1: I did not. Of course, are. Speaker 0: And and rather than be honorable enough to say it right to my face, you are in sleazy feline way implying it or just asking questions about the Jews. I'm not asking questions about the Jews. I have there's nothing to do with Jews or Judaism. It has to with foreign government. Speaker 1: Isn't Israel controlling our foreign policy? That's not about the Jews? You said, I'm asking you You're the one that just called me, I think, a sleazy feline. So let's let's be clear. Speaker 0: Sleazy to imply that I'm an anti Semite, which you just did. Speaker 1: No. I just asked You answer it. Give me another reason. If you're not an anti Semite, give me another reason why the obsession is Israel. Speaker 0: I am in no sense obsessed with Israel. We are on the brink of war with Iran, and so these are valid questions. Speaker 1: But you're not just if I can Speaker 0: finish, you asked me why I'm obsessed with Israel. Yep. Three minutes after telling me that when you first ran for congress, you elucidated one of your main goals, which is to defend Israel. Yes. And I'm the one who's obsessed with Israel. I don't see a lawmaker's job as defending the interests of a foreign government, period. Any government, including the ones that my ancestors come from. So that's my position. That does not make me an anti Semite, and shame on you for suggesting otherwise, and I mean that. And that's low, and you know it's low. So why don't you just answer my questions Speaker 1: straight forward and rational way? Speaker 0: You certainly have the IQ to do it. Speaker 1: Shame on you is is cute by the way, Tucker. Speaker 0: It is. It's not cute. I'm offended. Speaker 1: You're you're I'm Speaker 0: obsessed with the Jews. You just told me that you feline. It is sleazy to imply that I'm an antisemite for asking questions about how my government Speaker 1: is count how many questions you asked about. What about the Jews? What about Israel? What about You never asked about Speaker 0: the Jews. I I have this has nothing to do with the Jews, whatever that means. This has to do with a foreign government. And once again, shame on you for conflating the two. They have nothing to do with each other. I'm talking about the influence Speaker 1: of Israel and Jews have nothing to do with each No. Speaker 0: All Jews are an attack on all Jews, which I am not nor would I ever be undertaking now. I'm not attacking anybody. Speaker 1: By the way, that's that's who who Iran wants to kill is all the Jews and all the Americans. Speaker 0: And I'm totally opposed to that. Okay? But now because Except you don't wanna do anything need to be made. Speaker 1: We can talk about those And Speaker 0: I plan to. Good. But I just wanna get a sense of whether you think having described yourself as an America first person whose only criterion for judgment on foreign policy is America's national interest to what extent you're influenced by a foreign government, which gives you a lot of money through its lobby and you're claiming this has nothing to do with the foreign government. They're not courted Yes, they're spying on us, but doesn't bother you. And I'm sort of wondering like, what is this? This is the one of the weirdest Speaker 1: conversations I've ever I'll tell you what, and I'll answer any question you like, but let's try to Speaker 0: Are you gonna call me an anti Semite again or no? Speaker 1: Let's try to ratchet down the temperature a little. Speaker 0: You're the one who went to motive. I'm asking honest questions. Yeah. I'm Just asking questions. Yes, that's it. That is what I'm doing. Speaker 1: Let's try to ratchet down the temperature a little bit. Speaker 0: Picture the house of your dreams. Maybe it's got an outdoor pool, a huge front porch, an inviting fireplace for a cold winter's night. No matter what you prefer, there's little doubt that an American flag waving out front enhances the whole thing. What better way to welcome your guests than with a flag outside your home? But wait, there's a problem. The American flags you're likely to buy at some big stores were made in China. An American flag made in China? Come on. PureTalk, America's wireless company, believes every American deserves an American flag that was made in America, and that's why they're determined to give an allegiance flag, the highest quality American flag, to a thousand veterans in time for summer. Pure Talk is using a portion of this month's sales to honor flag day and provide these American flags to American veterans. With plans from just $25 a month for unlimited talk, text, plenty of data, you can enjoy America's most dependable five g network while cutting your cell phone bill in half for real. Go to puretalk.com/talker to support veterans and to switch to America's company, wireless from pure talk. Speaker 1: And did you ever see an Eddie Murphy movie called The Distinguished Gentleman? Speaker 0: No. Speaker 1: It's a great movie. It's actually a fun comedy about politics. And Eddie Murphy in the movie is a con man who gets elected to congress. And he's literally a con man who the congressman dies, he has the same name and so he runs and they get elected. And there's a there's a scene in the movie where where Eddie Murphy is a freshman member of the of congress and he's sitting down with a sleazy lobbyist. And he's asking the lobbyist, alright, what should my positions be on I think they were talking about power plants and and electrical transmission lines. And and the lobbyist like, well, what do you believe? And Eddie Murphy's comment said, don't care. Whatever gets me the most money. I'll do whatever gets me the most money. And the lobbyist says, no. No. Pick a side. Doesn't matter what you pick. If you pick one side, we'll go shake down everyone who supports that size and they'll give you money. If you pick the other side, that's fine. We'll just go to the other side and shake down that. That's a little bit the way it works. And and you often get get leftists in the media who say, for example, if you support the second amendment as you do and I do, well, you're just bought bought and paid for by the NRA. And that actually is backwards. I believe in the second amendment because I believe in the constitution. Now am I proud that the NRA supports me? Sure. Because people who care about the second amendment wanna support leaders who fight for it. But it gets it backward. Look, APAC, when I ran for the senate, APAC didn't support me. I supported Israel before they supported me. I'm I'm happy to have their support because they share my objective. Speaker 0: No. But you're missing it. I'm not suggesting that you're bought and paid for. I'm not saying Speaker 1: You actually wanna go back Speaker 0: and take You are sincere. Speaker 1: I wanna go back and take the transcript because you just said a minute ago, are you I'm paraphrasing, but are you are you lobbying for a foreign government because they pay you a lot of money? That's basically what you So you were suggesting that. Speaker 0: Let me let me just be clear about what I think. Your views seem totally sincere. Speaker 1: Yes. Speaker 0: You take money from people who agree with you. Yeah. I believe that. Speaker 1: I'm only trying I take money from people who disagree with me, Mitch. Speaker 0: I'm trying to get to the question of to what extent is the US government influenced by other governments? And it's a lot. Speaker 1: Of course. It's Speaker 0: hardly just Israel. It's hardly just Israel. I don't think Israel's the main one. There are lots of governments. China is a massive influence on this city. Speaker 1: And it's a huge problem. Speaker 0: As you know, I couldn't agree more. And there are lots of other. The UK, which is a truly sinister place in my opinion, as an ethnic Brit, I can say. I think it's that's my view. Maybe you disagree. Speaker 1: I think they're on the wrong path. Love the Brits, but but their government has Speaker 0: given all Without getting into that. I'm just saying I don't think Israel's the only one, but it's the only one where you're instantly called an anti Semite for asking questions. And it's also the only government that no one will ever criticize. Speaker 1: And I find You criticize Israel every minute of every day. Like, the only government that people will not criticize? Rashida Tlaib just Speaker 0: tweeted Who Speaker 1: do know? Calling Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal. Was she that Talib? No. You said no one will criticize him. Speaker 0: I'm talking about Republicans that I would vote for, including you. And I'm saying, you know, whatever. I I don't even like talking about Israel. What I care about, I never do because it's not worth being called anti Semites from APAC recipients. But now we are on the verge of joining a war and I just want to be clear about why we're doing this. Speaker 1: All right. And let's get into Iran momentarily. But but you suggested it was a strange thing that I said a minute ago that when I came into the senate, I resolved that I was gonna be the leading defender of Israel. And what you didn't ask is why. So let me tell you why. Speaker 0: No. You said I was obsessed with Israel and you had just told me that like your driving motive to get to the senate was to defend Israel. Like, I don't think I'm Speaker 1: the one who's obsessed with Israel. Okay. So Tucker, words matter. Speaker 0: Uh-huh. Speaker 1: The and you know that. I said I resolved to be the leading defender of Israel. You said your driving motive, the reason you're in the Speaker 0: senate You wanna be the leading defender of Israel. I would think if I ran for senate, I'd be like, there are people dying of drug duties on the street. Speaker 1: My driving motive is to fight for Texas and America and to fight for jobs and to fight for the constitution. And you played a very very careful word game of a lie to you. Speaker 0: You're the one who said it. Speaker 1: Not So you still haven't asked why, but I'm gonna tell you why. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 1: The reason is twofold. Number one, as a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I wanna be on the blessing side of things. Speaker 0: Of the those who bless the government of Israel? Speaker 1: Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of it. It says the nation of Israel. So that's in the bible. As a Christian, I believe that. Speaker 0: Where is that? Speaker 1: I can find it to you. Don't have the scripture off the tip of my You pull out the phone and use it in Genesis. Speaker 0: It's in Genesis. But So you're quoting a Bible phrase. Don't have context for it and you don't know where in the Bible it is, but that's like your theology? I'm confused. What does that even mean? Tucker. A Christian. I wanna know what you're talking about. Where Speaker 1: does where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically we are commanded to support Israel. But number two Hold on. No. Hold on. You're a senator, and now Speaker 0: you're throwing out theology, and I am a Christian. I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel? Speaker 1: We are commanded to support Israel. And we're What does that mean, Israel? We're told those who bless Israel will be blessed. Speaker 0: But what hold on. Define Israel. Speaker 1: This is important. Are you kidding? Speaker 0: This is a majority Christian Speaker 1: Define Israel? Could do you not know what Israel is? I I That would be the country you'd have asked like 49 questions about. Speaker 0: So that's what Genesis that's what God is talking about Speaker 1: The nation of Israel. Speaker 0: Yes. And and he's so does that the current borders, the current leadership? He's talking about the political entity called Israel? Speaker 1: He he's talking about the nation of Israel. Yeah. Nations exists, and he's discussing a nation. A nation was the people of Israel. Speaker 0: Is the nation They're Speaker 1: the descendants of Abraham. Speaker 0: To in Genesis, is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now? Speaker 1: Yes. It is. Okay. And by the way, it's not run by Benjamin Netanyahu as a dictator. It's it's a democratic country that elected it. He's the prime minister. Right. But just just like, you know, America is the country run by Donald Trump. No. Actually, the American people elected Donald Trump. The same principle Speaker 0: This is silly. I'm talking about the political entity of modern Israel. Speaker 1: Yes. And that is a You Speaker 0: believe that's what God was talking about in Genesis. Speaker 1: I do. Speaker 0: But but That country's existed since when? Speaker 1: For thousands of years. Now there was a time when it didn't exist and then it was recreated just over 70 Speaker 0: I'm saying, I think most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God's chosen people. Speaker 1: That's not what it says. Speaker 0: Okay. Israel. But you don't even know where in the bible it is. So I Speaker 1: I don't remember I don't remember the scriptural citation. But k. I keep It's like Genesis Speaker 0: 16 or something like that. But yes, it's in the earlier part of the book. But the Speaker 1: point is Alright, Tucker, you keep interrupting me before I finish my Speaker 0: It's important to know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're So you're saying as a Christian, if I believe in Jesus, I have to support the modern state of Israel? Speaker 1: No, I'm not saying that. I'm explaining for me what my motivation is. Speaker 0: But you Okay. So I'm just trying to understand. You said God tells you to support the modern state of Israel in the bible, in some place in the bible that you heard about, but you don't know where it is. That's your theology? Speaker 1: You're going back. Am I a sleazy feline again? I mean, don't If confuse me Speaker 0: of antisemitism again, will say that, but I don't think you will. Speaker 1: Just try to be a little less condescending. I'm trying to have a You're condescending. Speaker 0: You're throwing this stuff out and it's my job to figure out what you're talking about. Speaker 1: Okay. But I Speaker 0: don't understand. Speaker 1: But you're not letting me. Speaker 0: Okay. I'm sorry. I wanna be polite. That Speaker 1: is for me a personal motivation. But I also, what I was about to say, I don't believe my personal faith, not everyone who I represent as a Christian. It's not an argument for me to give that that we should do this because of my faith. And so as as an elected official, I don't give that as the reason we should support Israel. That is a personal motivation for me, but but I don't think it is the reason we should. The reason that I am the leading defender of Israel is because Israel is our strongest ally in The Middle East, an incredibly troubled part of the world. And supporting Israel benefits America. And the clearest illustration of that is what is happening right now. Let me just make this point and then Okay. Speaker 0: And then I'll just ask what you mean and that's it. Okay. Yeah. Speaker 1: Look, Iran, I think the most acute national security threat facing America right now is the threat of a nuclear Iran. I think China is the biggest long term threat, but acute and near term is a nuclear Iran. Okay. And I think Israel is doing a massive favor to America right now by trying to take out Iran's nuclear capacity. And the reason I view Iran differently we talked before about Iraq. I opposed the the Iraq war. We talked about Syria. I opposed military intervention in Syria. The reason for that is those did not pose a threat to The United States. I think Iran is markedly different. Number one, the Ayatollah is a religious zealot. He he is a lunatic but but a particularly dangerous kind of lunatic because he's driven by religious fervor. When he says death to America and death to Israel, I believe him. And I think Iran is trying to get a nuclear weapon because there there is a very real possibility they would use a nuclear weapon. So you wanna ask how does supporting Israel benefit us? Right now, this tiny little country, size of the state of New Jersey, is fighting our enemies for us and taking out their top military leadership and trying to take out their nuclear capacity. That makes America much safer. Speaker 0: So the president has said repeatedly, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon Yes. And he will do whatever it takes to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He said that like a 100 times. He clearly means it. I think he will use force to affect that if he feels he has to. I think he's been Speaker 1: really clear about that. Speaker 0: I don't know, but it seems that way. Speaker 1: Do do you feel it? Speaker 0: Do you think that's correct? Speaker 1: Whether he would use force to stop a nuclear weapon, I think he he has put that option on the table. Speaker 0: He certainly suggested. I mean, I have literally no idea what's gonna but just reading his statements, he's made that really clear. Speaker 1: So what he has been very clear about, and I I spoke with the president on Sunday, is he has been very clear to Iran that if they attack US servicemen and women Of course. Will be real consequences and and and I think very serious military Speaker 0: By the way. This is a sidebar, but I just can't resist. The prime minister of Israel said that Iran tried to assassinate Donald Trump twice. Speaker 1: Yeah. I I read your newsletter this morning and and Speaker 0: But do you believe that's true? Speaker 1: Again, I think it was sort of a word game. What is true is Iran is trying to assassinate Donald J Trump and they have hired hitmen. Now, you pointed out Speaker 0: No. He said that they tried had tried twice to kill him and I I don't know that I don't have any evidence that's true. I sort of wonder if that is true, why aren't we at Wortham already? Speaker 1: Okay. And I read your newsletter this morning and I thought it was was playing word games to draw a political point. Speaker 0: How's that a word game? It's my president. Can I tell you? Yeah, please. Speaker 1: Okay. You rightly pointed out there's no evidence that this clown in Butler, Pennsylvania who shot the president was working for the Iranians. I don't think he was. There's no evidence of that. Although I would like to know more about who he was and what's going on. Agree. I don't find it plausible that he was working for the Iranians. So was that caused by the Iranians? No. But what is true and what your newsletter didn't acknowledge, is it true or false that Iran is currently trying to murder Donald j Trump and has paid hit men to do so? Speaker 0: Well, that's that's the question. And I don't know the Butler Pennsylvania thing. Butler Pennsylvania was that aside. I don't know. Speaker 1: So so not not to misspoke when he said those two assassinations were because of Iran. But what he was saying that is right is they're actively trying to murder Donald Trump. Is there Speaker 0: okay. So you're aware of a Yes. Plot to kill Trump. Speaker 1: Yes. Iran is paying for and by Speaker 0: the way Wait. Speaker 1: When when? It it has been over the last, I'd say eighteen months to two years. Speaker 0: In The United States? Speaker 1: In The United States. Yes. They they and and let me put out Speaker 0: Has anyone been arrested? Speaker 1: For the Trump attempted assassination, no. But they are also actively paying Iranian hitmen to murder Mike Pompeo when he was president Trump's first secretary of state, the first term rather. John Bolton when John Bolton was national security adviser to president Trump, and a guy named Brian Hook who was assistant secretary of state. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 1: During the Biden administration Wait. Wait. Hold on. Can we go back to Donald Trump because he's not president? No. It's a big deal. What do you mean? Speaker 0: No one has been arrested for these assassination attempts on Yes. They've hired hitmen. How do we know that? Speaker 1: Alright. Let me let me break it down. People have been arrested. So the reason I brought up Pompeo Boltman Hook who are under active assassination attempts because of their service of the first Trump administration, under the Biden Well, Speaker 0: they say that. I've never seen any evidence of it. Speaker 1: Can I give you the evidence? Speaker 0: Well, let's just stick with Trump. Speaker 1: No. No. No. Because these are interrelated. So let me make a bloody Under the Biden administration, the State Department was spending $2,000,000 a month providing security for Pompeo, Bolton, and Hook. And they did arrest Iranian hitmen at John Bolton's apartment complex who rented, I think, the apartment next to him and were actively trying to assassinate him and then went and arrested them. So yes, they caught Iranian hitmen. Now, it so happens Iran's not very good at it. And so they but they are actively trying. And in fact But Speaker 0: what about Trump? He's the president. If there's an plot to kill Trump by the Iranians Speaker 1: Okay. So you you dispute that the Iranians are trying to kill Trump? Speaker 0: I of course. I mean, that's the most important question. The prime minister of Israel just said there have been two assassination attempts against Donald Trump by the Iranians. And I think it's a very fair question, maybe you disagree, to ask what are you talking about? Speaker 1: Okay. And and I agree with you that he misspoke. Speaker 0: So there weren't those two attempts? Speaker 1: There were two attempts, but the the clown in Butler, Pennsylvania and the other guy on the golf course were not connected to the That's the part that that he misspoke. But by the way, when you speak all the time, occasion what he said that was accurate is that Iran is actively trying to murder Donald j Trump and has paid hitmen. Okay. But right. Okay. That's fine. He was explaining it with the with the two attempts. Speaker 0: I understand. But I just wanna pull that thread because it's so important. I voted for Donald Trump. I campaigned for Donald Trump. Yeah. He's our president, and we're on the cusp of a war. So if Iran if there's evidence that Iran paid hitmen to kill Donald Trump and is currently doing that, where is the like, what are you even talking? I've never heard that before. Okay. Where is the evidence? Who are these people? Why haven't they been arrested? Why are we not at war with Iran? Speaker 1: That's a great question to ask. How do you know that that's true? We know that it's true because we have been told that by the military and our intelligence community for the last two years. We meaning who? Congress has and the public. I mean, had multiple testimonies. Can send you testimony. Speaker 0: We know the names of the people or where this happened or what they tried to do to kill Trump? Speaker 1: We do not. We have not apprehended an Iranian hitman trying to kill him. We know that Iran is trying to do so. Speaker 0: In The United States? Speaker 1: Yes. And and by the way, like Iran This just Speaker 0: seems like a huge headline and you're acting like everyone knows this. I didn't know that. Speaker 1: Iran put out a whole video about murdering Trump. Speaker 0: Right. But I've never heard evidence that there are hitmen in The United States. I mean, trying to kill Trump right now. We should like have a nationwide drag down on this and we should attack Iran immediately if that's true. Don't you think? No. If they're trying to assassinate our president? Speaker 1: They have been for two years. Speaker 0: Are in the war with them. Speaker 1: Well, we are trying Speaker 0: to Why don't we just nuke Tehran if they're trying to murder our president? There's nothing that you could do that would be worse for The United States than murdering Trump. And I just don't understand why you're not calling for the use of nuclear weapons against the ayatollah right now. Speaker 1: I'm serious. If they're if you really believe there's a murderer nuclear weapons. Whatever is of the problem of What do mean? You don't seem to take Speaker 0: the allegations seriously. I do. You believe they're trying to murder Trump, we need to stop what we're doing and punish them. Speaker 1: Can I ask something? I mean this sincerely. So alright. Twenty years ago, you were, I think it's fair to say in the interventionist world. Were a vocal Big time. You were a vocal defender of the Iraq War. Speaker 0: I was a promoter of the Iraq And Speaker 1: you now and I I think you think you were mistaken. I think you were mistaken. That's okay. Look, people change and learn and that's that's part of the journey of being human. Your views have moved though. In my view, they've gone way too far the other end. And and and so I'm totally confused why. Speaker 0: I'm saying hold on. This Speaker 1: is one Speaker 0: of the weirdest conversations I've ever had. I'm saying if it's true that Iran is trying to murder Trump, we need to move militarily against Iran immediately. That's not isolationism. That's the most act. That's a cult of violence, which I am calling for. If we believe that Iran is trying to murder our president, we need to strike Iran. Speaker 1: Okay. But isolationists say things like, well, just nuke them, which is what you just said. Which is kind of a Speaker 0: weird Because I'm upset because I'm taking you seriously. You don't take your own statements seriously. Speaker 1: I take my statements very seriously. Speaker 0: So I've asked you where's the evidence this is true? And you said, well, they're trying to assassinate Brian Hook or something. Oh, which I'm against by the way. I'm against hurting any American period no matter Speaker 1: So you dispute that they're trying to murder Speaker 0: Bolton. I'm not disputing it And Speaker 1: they literally arrested the hitman with Bolton. Speaker 0: I'm not I don't know why that's even relevant. I'm asking about the president of The United States. Speaker 1: Wait. It's not relevant that Iran hire hitmen to murder cabinet members in Trump's administration. That doesn't go to I've already said they're willing to spend money to do that. Speaker 0: Opposed to that, it's awful. I am against killing anybody actually, especially foreign Okay. I'm asking about your allegation and the Prime Minister of Israel's allegation that Speaker 1: Iran is trying to murder the president. Killing terrorists is a good thing. Killing people who are trying to murder Americans is a good thing. Because if you're America first, you want to protect Americans. So taking out killing Osama bin Laden was a fantastic day for law. Speaker 0: That they're trying to murder Trump. Speaker 1: You saying? Yes. I do. Then why aren't you calling for military action against Tehran right now? Because they're not very effective. In terms of hitmen, their hitmen are not very effective. I do think Speaker 0: So they're hitmen but not the bad kind, the efficient kind. Speaker 1: No. They're just What are Speaker 0: you saying? Speaker 1: They're a weak country who is on its knees and I think we need to Speaker 0: Then why are we so afraid of them? Why are they the biggest threat if they're a weak country that's on its knees? Speaker 1: Because they're trying Speaker 0: I'm trying to keep track. Speaker 1: They're trying to develop be a little less snarky. Speaker 0: I know. You're right. That is a problem that I have. Speaker 1: I'm sorry. They're trying to develop nuclear weapons. They are close to developing nuclear weapons. And even a weak company country with a nuclear weapon. Look. I believe there is a very real possibility if the Ayatollah develops a nuclear weapon that he would detonate it either in Tel Aviv or New York or Los Angeles. And that would be utterly catastrophic. Speaker 0: And I Speaker 1: don't know what the chances are of that. Let me compare and contrast Iran to North Korea. Wait. Can I just ask one last question about trying to Speaker 0: kill president? Sincerely believe, you promise, that right now the Iranian government is trying to murder our Speaker 1: president. Yes. Speaker 0: You sincerely believe right now. Absolutely. And yet you were not calling for military action against the government that's trying to murder our president. Can you explain that? Speaker 1: I don't think they're very effective. I do think we should by the way, America is support Speaker 0: You're willing to take that risk? I Speaker 1: think we should protect the president and we should take out our enemies. Israel is doing that right now. Speaker 0: But aren't they why would we Speaker 1: outsource it Israel if they're trying to question was why four regime change? That's a pretty good example of why have four regime change. Speaker 0: Okay. So you're saying we should just go in and take out the government of Iran. Why would we outsource it to Israel if they're trying to murder a president? Okay. You sound like the isolationist. What Speaker 1: I'm saying on any military judgment is there needs to be a cost benefit analysis of what are the risks versus what are the are the are the benefits. In this instance, I think it is enormously in America's interest to do what Israel is doing right now. Take out Iran's senior military leadership and take out their nuclear capacity. That is benefiting America and it is a good risk reward. I would oppose invading Iran and putting boots on the ground to topple the government. If the risk got severe enough, I would support that. But I think the relative risk is not severe enough to justify that step at this time. What I would absolutely oppose under any circumstances is invading Iran and then staying and trying to turn them into a democracy. And part of where Iraq really went off off the rails is not only did we topple someone who was fighting radical Islamic terrorists who's a bad guy, but then we tried the vision of interventionist, it actually overlaps with the vision of a lot of democrats. Let's go promote democracy in the world. Speaker 0: I agree. Speaker 1: And it is our military's job to kill the bad guys, to defend America. It's not their job to defend international norms. It's not their job. So I have zero desire for the US military to turn Iran into Switzerland. Look, would it be nice if they suddenly became Switzerland? Sure. If I could wave a magic wand, great. But I'm not gonna send your kids or my kids to be in front of guns to go make that happen. Speaker 0: Well, bless you for that. I think that is the lesson that I learned from Iraq. I promoted that war. Apparently, unlike you, I was dumber. And I think that you just articulated the main lesson of it, is it's hard to do that and we're not good at it. Speaker 1: But I will And so we are agreeing on that. Will say as a Speaker 0: Vehemently agreeing. Speaker 1: As a corollary, that doesn't mean that that horrible evil dictators are okay. And going back to Reagan and the Cold War, we have lots of weapons. I am happy to highlight the brutality, the oppression, the human rights abuses of regimes, even though I don't want to invade them. Because I think the bully pulpit of American leadership is really powerful. And I think dictatorships are terrified. So I've spent thirteen years in the Senate. One of the things I do frequently is highlight dissidents in Iran and North Korea and China. In Venezuela, people are being tortured. Miriam Ibrahim in Sudan who was sentenced to a 100 lashes and then to be killed for the crime of being a Christian. And I repeatedly went to the Senate floor and shined a light on the government of Sudan. It was corrupt. It was evil. I practically begged Barack Obama, say her name. Ultimately I felt that way with the j six prisoners. Look, yes. And we Look, there is power to speaking out. And ultimately, the international Obama never did say her name. He would not say her name. Ultimately, there was enough international condemnation. The government of Sudan let her go. And so she was not executed. And and I actually I I met her. So she had a two year old son Martin and she gave birth to a little girl named Maya. And she was in leg irons in prison waiting for the death sentence. They were not gonna kill her until she gave birth. And they told her, we will not kill you if you will renounce Jesus. And she refused. I met her. She was in D. C. Speaking at a conference after she was released, obviously. She's a tiny woman, a small woman. I asked her, I said, When you were in that prison cell with your kids, how did you have the strength not to just give in to despair? I've never been threatened with murder unless I renounce my faith. And she just said to me with a real peacefulness, she said, Jesus was with me. And I mean, you and I have not faced that circumstance. But I do think there is a responsibility. Speaker 0: There's still time. Speaker 1: There is and I hope we don't. And actually, I'll use another example. John McCain, who you and I disagreed with on a lot of issues. I respected and admired him for his service and time as a prisoner of war. I think his policies I disagreed with vehemently and fought against them. But the man fought for America and he was thrown in prison and he was tortured by Vietnam. And he was given the opportunity to be released early. And he turned it down because he thought it would be dishonorable to lead before his fellow servicemen and women. And when I first got here Speaker 0: There were no women there, but Speaker 1: Okay, man, you're right. When I first got here, McCain hated my guts and he actually referred to me and Rand as wacko birds. Speaker 0: I remember. Speaker 1: Have up on the shelf, I have a baseball cap that a grassroots supporter gave me with a picture of Daffy Duck and labeled Wacko Birds, which I liked and laughed with. But when he did that, I went to the Senate floor and I gave a speech praising John McCain. And it was the day he had attacked me publicly. And it happened to be it was the fortieth anniversary of his release for the Hanoi Hilton. And I was consciously I just talked about what a privilege it is to serve with someone who suffered for his country, who served. And I didn't get into where we disagreed on policy on that speech. I just said, you know, the man is an American hero and I'm proud to serve with him. But that was meant to be a statement also. That if you attack me, I'm gonna praise you not for things that are not praiseworthy. I disagree with you, will not be shy about saying it, but for things that are praiseworthy. Speaker 0: I remember that. It was 2013. Yeah. And I felt the same way. I went to his cell at the Hanoi Hilton and I Oh, wow. I agree with you about McCain. I just want to end by asking you specifically about what's going to happen next in Iran and what should happen next. So you've called for regime change. You said you don't favor the US military participating in any kind of regime change. You said you don't think, and bless you for saying this, that the US military should try and turn it into Belgium. Yeah. Thank God. But there is a third option where it turns into Syria, where it's this open wound and it causes massive migration and further destroys Europe as Syria has. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 0: And that's a huge cost. And where lots of people die and just minorities get murdered in Syria again. Are you worried about that? Speaker 1: Sure. And listen, that lots of bad things can happen. But going back to what we talked about the principle of defending America. I agree with President Trump that Iran with a nuclear weapon is an unacceptable risk to America and we need to stop it. I agree with president Trump and I'll make a point. Speaker 0: But he's not for regime change. Speaker 1: He's not. So he and I disagree. Look, I think he thinks it would be better. He has not said he's for it. And you know what? Look, is consequential when the president of The United States says, I'm for regime change. So I understand why he hasn't. What he has said is he's drawn a red line and said, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon and the only acceptable outcome is complete dismantlements. They have centrifuges. They're enriching uranium right now. They're trying to develop a nuclear weapon. He said they they must have complete dismantlement. I led 52 senators, Republican senators in a letter where we said, we agree with president Trump. That's the red line. Complete dismantlement. I agree with president Trump. I agree with him supporting Israel, taking out Iran's military leadership, taking out their nuclear capability. And I'll point out, look, if you look the first term, I am hard pressed to think of a single foreign policy decision Donald Trump made the first term that I disagree with. And that's not entirely accidental because I spent a lot of time the first term in the Oval Office with him. And what happened in the first term often is you would have in the administration, you had interventionists in the administration, you had isolationists. And they disagreed. They would fight within the administration. And often what it would give is an opportunity for me to come in and say, hey, there's a middle path here that President Trump agreed with frequently. And it's worth noting in the first term, he most assuredly was not an isolationist. Look, he took out General Soleimani, which I emphatically agree with. And in fact, I introduced a resolution that we voted on the Senate floor commending him for taking out General Soleimani, was the leader of the IRGC, and who was responsible for killing over 600 American servicemen and women. When Trump came in, ISIS had a caliphate that had grown up under Obama that was about the size of the state of Indiana. And Trump came in and utterly decimated them. He killed the terrorists, took away their caliphate, and defeated them. And he also took out Baghdadi, the head of ISIS. I mean, those are not the actions of an isolationist. But at the same time I don't know what Speaker 0: an isolationist. It's just a slur designed to control. I mean, I've never met an isolationist. Don't even know what Speaker 1: that means. Okay. Rand Paul is my colleague. Rand is an isolationist. And Tucker, you've become one and I don't mean it as a You consistently say you have said Actually, I wanna read from your newsletter because if you ask what an isolationist is, your newsletter a couple of days ago, you wrote Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we're hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership in Iran that will not be coming back, Trump said, following the strikes. It's worth taking a step back and wondering how any of this helps The United States. We can't think of a single way. Okay, that to me is the essence of isolationism. And let me just ask you, the Ayatollah chants death to America, believe him. Do you not believe him? Do you think he doesn't mean it when he says death to America? Speaker 0: Well, I think he hates America for sure. Speaker 1: And I'm opposed to that. And do you think he's willing to on it? It's not just hate America, he also is leading a country and trying Speaker 0: to develop a certain circumstances for sure. So the question is, do you act in a way that makes that more or less likely? And that's a tough call. It's something that you can debate. One of the ways you shut down debate is by calling people names like isolationists, pretending they're like pro Nazi or something, or as you did, claiming I'm an anti Semite. That's not a way to get to a solution or have a rational conversation. That's a way to make people be quiet. And I I'm against that. Speaker 1: So if don't like the label isolationist, how would you look, Rand, and I served with Rand. Rand is a friend of mine, but Rand opposes every military action in every circumstance. Speaker 0: You don't oppose every military This whole thing is infantile, and you know that it is. It's a way it's a way to call people Speaker 1: names and make them And make Speaker 0: them be Speaker 1: Give them another name. If you don't like that, I'm not trying to have you be quiet. We've been talking an hour and a half. I'm asking, if you don't like the name isolationist, what would how would you describe it? Speaker 0: I would I would describe myself in the same way you falsely described yourself in this conversation. Speaker 1: Falsely. Yes, falsely. What did I say false? Speaker 0: You said that the only thing that matters in a foreign policy decision is whether it helps The United States. Speaker 1: I didn't say the only, I said the predominant. Speaker 0: That's what I understood. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 0: So let me revise what you said and apply it to myself and say the only thing that matters is whether or not it serves The United States. And I feel very stung by what happened in Iraq if I'm being honest. Possibly because unlike you I guess, I supported it and I saw us get drawn into it in a way that nobody anticipated and I saw the cost just a month. $3,000,000,000,000? The cost on so many levels to The United States was just so profound and I It was clearly a Gosh. It reminds me of Kaiser Wilhelm in 1914 saying, my men will be back by the time the leaves turn. And of course, that destroyed destroyed Christian Europe. So it's like you don't really know where these things are going once the shooting starts. That's my only point. And calling people names, anti Semite, isolationist, to get them to stop talking is not the way to serve your country. That's all I'm saying. Speaker 1: So I'm trying to have a real and serious conversation. And look, a lot of this has been contentious. Wish it had not because as we started out by saying, you and I agree vehemently on 80% of the issues. This discussion is focused on the 20 where we don't. You know, I I will say, look, on Iraq, you look at the twenty sixteen presidential campaign where you had 17 Republicans running. If you set Rand aside and his views are are on one side, There were only two candidates on that stage that opposed the Iraq war. Me and Donald Trump. We're the only two. Everyone else thought the Iraq war was a great thing. I think it was a disaster. So you and I agree on that as well. In my view, you went I think your foreign policy has gone too far. So I mean, let me ask you. Is there a military action Trump has undertaken that you agree with? Because I've heard anything Speaker 0: A military look, I would say it's really simple. I believe in self defense. That's why I keep firearms at home. I think it's morally justified to defend yourself, your family, your property, your nation. And so to the extent that you can deter a threat through violence, violence always being the least appealing choice, violence always being, if I can finish, always being a tragedy, I think you can justify the use of violence in self defense. That is my personal view, and that applies to me and to the country that I Speaker 1: live in. Those are my views. That's not an Speaker 0: isolationist view. It's not an anti Israel view. It's not an anti Semitic view with apologies. It is, I think, a pretty common sense view. But my problem is that lawmakers in Washington are light on detail with these things, and they speak as you do entirely in moral terms. These people are bad. These Speaker 1: people are I'm not speaking entirely in moral terms. I'm not interested in killing bad guys. Interested in killing people who are trying to kill us. If we had That's different. I'm not engaging morale. Speaker 0: Are you are you now? Because you told that the government of Iran is presently trying to assassinate Donald Trump, and Speaker 1: then he said is undisputed. There's literally nobody who disputes that Then why Speaker 0: don't you support military action right now against Iran Speaker 1: We are engaged in military action right now. Speaker 0: Then why Speaker 1: don't you Speaker 0: why don't you support offensive military action? Speaker 1: We're bombing the crap out of them. Israel is and we're supporting them. Israel is. Speaker 0: Okay. So Why shouldn't the US military defend its own president? I don't understand that. Speaker 1: Look. And it goes back Speaker 0: to Because you don't really believe it's true. That's why Speaker 1: Everyone Kate, nobody disputes it Tucker. Did did you all get you laid on the moon? What other conspiracy do you not believe? Was nine eleven an inside job? Speaker 0: I mean, like, what? So where I've asked you the names of these people. I've asked Speaker 1: how many of the Iranian hitmen. I know it because the US military and the intelligence agencies have testified before congress repeatedly And what did they say? Iran is trying to murder Donald Trump Oh. And has hired hitmen. Do I know the name of the hitmen? No. I'm sorry. And and I don't think we do either because we would apprehend them if we knew their names. Speaker 0: Then why don't you take it seriously enough to support killing the Ayatollah in response to protect our president? But you don't. I this doesn't make even make any sense. And you're calling me an isolationist. If I believed that that was true, I would support military action against the government of Iran. Speaker 1: Okay. That's interesting because there is literally Speaker 0: You can kill our president. Speaker 1: Alright. Out of 535 members of congress, I am not aware of one who disputes that Iran is trying to murder Donald j Trump. That's not even the lunious democrat doesn't dispute that. So so I I I don't you're saying if if if you believed what what is I think a fact that they are trying Speaker 0: to You think it's a fact? Yes. What is the fact exactly? Speaker 1: That they've hired Where did they Speaker 0: In The United States. Yes. Americans? Speaker 1: Yeah. He's not in Iran. So they haven't hired hitmen Speaker 0: Are they the hitmen American? Speaker 1: I don't know. Oh, okay. I'm telling you what. And and by the way, I'm I'm not the CIA. I'm not I'm not the Department of Defense. I'm telling you what they have told I'm not disputing it. Speaker 0: I'm merely saying Speaker 1: We are. Speaker 0: I'm not. I'm saying the logic train has a massive hole in it. If you believe that's true, then you should by definition support killing the people trying to kill our president. You don't support that. So I'm wondering what's going on here. Speaker 1: Tucker, you took offense to the word isolationist. And I genuinely don't mean it as a pejorative. I disagree with it. But if you don't like that term, I don't know how else to describe Okay. What is a coherent foreign policy that says I believe we're surrounded by two giant nations. By the way, isolationism has long been a school of Speaker 0: foreign policy defense. I I'm not Okay. But but not into the slurs, the anti semite stuff. I I I just don't like that. I I'm telling you what I believe. Speaker 1: So it but is there a single military action Trump took that you agree with? So do you agree with taking out general Soleimani? Speaker 0: Oh, I don't know. I it turned out better than I thought, Speaker 1: I guess. I mean, you said at the time it would like lead us to World War three. Speaker 0: I thought I was worried about it. Speaker 1: I've seen that happen. That proved not the case. Speaker 0: I was wrong. As I have been many times. Speaker 1: Did you agree with taking out the ISIS caliphate? Speaker 0: But my well, if we took out the ISIS caliphate, why are they running Syria right now? And you're for that. Why is that? Speaker 1: What what do mean? I didn't say I'm for that. You don't have a scene to have a problem with it. Speaker 0: I did say But ISIS is now running Syria? You're like, oh, we'll see. Speaker 1: No. I did I did Look. I mean, I know why. But by the way, know why. Asad toppled. It's hilarious. It's like Assad Oskar Speaker 0: is bad, but no. ISIS runs Syria, but that's that's fine. We'll just kinda wait and see on on ISIS. It's not a big deal. Speaker 1: Know why Hold on a second. I wanna get back. You know why I don't care and and and why and you do your like trademark smirky laugh. I know why you don't What are even talking about? Why don't I care? Speaker 0: I don't know why. You tell me. Because you think it's okay because they're not making angry noises or something, but by your own standards, their ISIS is so immoral that they must die. But now they're running Syria and you don't think that we should take military action against the government of Syria because why? Speaker 1: They're ISIS. What I said is I don't know how good or bad it'll be. Look, I wasn't pushing Assad out. He fell. He fell on his own in part because he was heavily supported by Hezbollah. And and when Israel took out the Hezbollah leadership, he lost his basis Speaker 0: for But the current ISIS leadership, you don't think is bad? You can't say it's terrible that ISIS runs a country? Speaker 1: I am concerned about it. Concerned? Aren't you horrified? I wanna see what they do. But they You gotta wait Speaker 0: and see attitude on ISIS now? Speaker 1: On the government of Syria, they are not actively, that I am aware of, trying to murder Americans. And and that's a real dividing line. Are you trying to murder Americans or not? Speaker 0: I'm just saying it's a little weird that we waged this war against ISIS and now they're running a country in the Mediterranean. I think that people would be very very upset about that. But don't see the very upset about that. Speaker 1: You agree with Trump taking out al Baghdadi, the head of ISIS? Speaker 0: I'm totally opposed to ISIS and what I care about is results actually. And if taking out the head of ISIS ends ISIS, I guess I'm for it. But now ISIS runs serious. Okay. I'm wondering Speaker 1: mean, my point is Speaker 0: Word at the time, I mean, I've taken so many different positions over the years, some of which have been wrong. I really do my best to be honest and correct if they are and admit that I was wrong. I'm not one these people who's like, I've always been consistent. No. My views change all the time because the facts change all the time. You're not gonna get consistency from me. You're only gonna get sincerity. Speaker 1: Well, look, I will say this. And and look, I believe you're sincere. Yeah. But I'm not God. Speaker 0: I'm just some guy watching trying to figure out the right thing for America. Speaker 1: And and I think because you believe you were mistaken and I agree previously, I think you've Speaker 0: overcorrected. Really? Overcorrected? I'm worried about turning this mess in Iran into a much larger mess. That's the concern Speaker 1: By the way, that's a reasonable worry. Speaker 0: Look. I know it's reasonable and I know you've been like, you're like ready to call me all these names for asking you're just asking questions. Yes, I am. So here's my question to you. If the Ayatollah is killed in Iran and he very Speaker 1: well could Well, Speaker 0: I have just read in the paper this morning that Israel tried to take him out twice and Trump told them not to. Speaker 1: I have read that. I don't have independent confirmation one way or Speaker 0: the Do you think that they should take him out? Speaker 1: So I actually talked about it. As you know, do a podcast every week, Verdict with Ted Cruz. And I actually talked about it in the latest podcast. And I said, look, I've seen the reporting that says that Trump asked them not to take out the Ayatollah. And what I said in the podcast is, I think it's reasonable for them to decide not to try to take him out. What they've done is targeted just about the entire top level of the military, the people that actually conduct the war. I I can see an argument that taking out both the head of state and a religious leader could make him a martyr and and could cause more problems than it's worth. And by Speaker 0: the way, if you take Speaker 1: out the Ayatollah, I don't know if the next guy isn't just as bad. And and so I am Speaker 0: What happens to the country? Speaker 1: I I don't know. But you mentioned before, I wanna go back to this. You said something like, you, like most other politicians, are are engaged in in moral terms. And let me be clear. I am talking about national interest. I am talking about protecting America. So there are bad guys on planet Earth that I don't think we should take out even though they're bad guys. Good. I'll call them bad guys, but but I'm not willing to use US military force to take them out. In this instance, what Israel is doing is taking out their capacity to build nuclear weapons. Why? Because they judge judge the the risk is too high if they've done nuclear weapons. I understand that. Speaker 0: I I mean, I understand that. I think it's in progress. I think it'll probably be achieved probably with US military support. Who knows? But the president said he's for that. Speaker 1: And by the way, where military support is most needed is Fordow, which is the under. It's a bunker that's built under a mountain. Right. And Israel's taken out most of the rest like Natanz, which is their big enrichment site. They bombed the hell out of it. Fordow was deliberately built deep into a mountain so that Israel couldn't take it out. And and there's an active discussion because The US has bunker buster bombs that are big enough to take out Fordo. Speaker 0: 30,000 pounds. Yeah. Speaker 1: Yes. And Israel doesn't. So so the one military piece Nor Speaker 0: the aircraft to fly them. But but here's I guess what bothers me is that I said two weeks ago, the real goal here is regime change in Iran. It's not don't Speaker 1: think that's Trump's goal. Speaker 0: And then I don't It's your goal. It's Israel's goal. I'm not attacking anyone. I'm just saying it's important to be honest and not lie and not attack people for telling the truth. Speaker 1: So I believe I've been assiduously honest in this. But words matter. You said the real goal here is regime change and it's your goal. And I wanna be clear. Speaker 0: Well, you said it was your Speaker 1: I wanna be clear because words matter. Do I support regime change and would I like a government that doesn't hate America and isn't trying to kill us in Iran? Yes. That's a good outcome. Is that the objective of these military strikes? I don't think necessarily. I I don't know if it's It's not my objective. My objective is taking up Should it be Speaker 0: The US If Israel decides we're going to decapitate the government and try to foment an uprising against it, should The United States participate in that operation in any way? Speaker 1: Look, I have not called for killing the Ayatollah. And there is nations in war generally refrain from attacking and killing heads of state. Now, the Ayatollah doesn't. He's trying to kill Trump. We talked about that. Speaker 0: But we shouldn't punish him for it. Speaker 1: Look, There has been a long standing nations in war have refrained from from killing heads of state. I have not publicly called for killing the Ayatollah. What I've called for is doing whatever is necessary to stop him from getting nuclear weapons. In the first Trump term, what that meant was maximum pressure. So in the first Trump term, I spent a lot of time urging the president to withdraw from the disastrous Iranian nuclear deal that Obama had. President Trump agreed with me. He did that. And then I urged him to end the oil waivers and to sanction the hell out of the country, and it ended up crippling their economy. So so Iran at the time was selling 2,000,000 barrels of oil a day 1,000,000 barrels I'm sorry. 1,000,000 barrels of oil a day. When president Trump ended the oil waivers, it cut their sales to 300,000 barrels a day. At the end of the Trump term, the Iranian economy was in shambles. They had massive inflation. I think the regime was teetering. I think it might have fallen. I would use economic sanctions and I would use moral suasion to try to effectuate the regime Okay. Speaker 0: You topple the regime by whatever means. What happens then? How many people living around by the way? Speaker 1: I I don't know the population. Speaker 0: At all? Speaker 1: No. I don't know the population. Speaker 0: You don't know the population in the country you seek to topple? Speaker 1: How many people living around? 92,000,000. Okay. Yeah. How could you not know that? I I don't sit around memorizing population tables. Speaker 0: Well, it's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government. Speaker 1: Why is it relevant whether it's 90,000,000 or 80,000,000 or 100,000,000? Speaker 0: Why is that Because if you don't know anything about the country Speaker 1: I didn't say I don't know anything about the Okay. Speaker 0: What's the ethnic mix of Iran? Speaker 1: They are Persians and predominantly Shia. Okay. No. It's not even you don't know anything about Iran. Okay. I am not the the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran. Speaker 0: You're a senator Speaker 1: who's calling people to throw Speaker 0: in the government. You're the one who claims claims the country. Speaker 1: No. You don't know anything about the country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump. No. I'm saying that. Who can't figure out General Soleimani and you said it was bad. Speaker 0: They're trying to murder Trump. Yes. I you're not calling for military strikes against them in retaliation. If you really believe Speaker 1: that carrying out military strikes today. Speaker 0: You said Israel was. Speaker 1: Right. With our help. I said we. Israel is leading them, but we're supporting them. Speaker 0: Well, this you're breaking news here because the US government last night denied the National Security Council spokesman Alex Pfeiffer denied on behalf of Trump that we were acting on Israel's behalf in any offensive capacity. Speaker 1: We're not bombing them. Israel's bombing them. You just said we were. We are supporting Speaker 0: Israel Speaker 1: as Speaker 0: You're Speaker 1: a Speaker 0: senator. If you're saying the United States government Speaker 1: is Speaker 0: at Speaker 1: war with Iran right now, people are listening. Hey. We are not bombing them. Oh, okay. Israel is bombing them. Why do you do the snide, oh, okay? What do you mean? Speaker 0: Because it's this is super high stakes stuff. It's this is a huge country that borders a lot of other important countries. A lot of world's energy comes from there. Speaker 1: So we have Let me ask you that. Another disaster. You don't want be in reckless Ayatollah refers to Israel as the little Satan and America as the great Satan. Do you believe him? When he says the great Satan, do you think Of course I believe if the Ayatollah could murder both of us right now that he would? I do. I believe him. Speaker 0: Okay. I I assume no good faith in the part of the Ayatollah. Speaker 1: They're not But say implication is Speaker 0: like I'm pro Ayatollah or Speaker 1: something No. It's not good faith. It's that I'm Speaker 0: just saying you're a lawmaker. You're a powerful person in Washington. This is the most powerful country in the world. If you're calling for toppling in government, it's incumbent on you to know something about the country and to think through the consequences of that. And you have it and you don't. And I'm saying Speaker 1: that reckless. Sorry. Okay. You are you engage in reckless rhetoric with no facts. And to be clear I'm not calling you to overthrow Speaker 0: a misleberman. You are. Speaker 1: You out a newsletter attacking Donald Trump and calling him complicit. I've never attacked Speaker 0: Donald Trump. Speaker 1: Yes. You have. And and and by the way pained Speaker 0: for Donald Trump. Okay. Speaker 1: Yes. This is like After anti Semitism, this is the last refuge. You're an Speaker 0: anti Semit and you hate Trump. Okay. I love Trump. Speaker 1: I I will read. You put out a whole newsletter saying Trump has abandoned America first. And here's what Trump said in response. Well, considering that I'm the one that developed America first and considering that the term wasn't used until I came along, I think I'm the one who decides that. For those people who say they want peace, you can't have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don't want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon, that's not peace. That was directed at you. Speaker 0: Man, this is you got me. Speaker 1: Busted. No. I'm just saying. Speaker 0: My views look, I I like Trump. I campaigned for Trump. I know Trump. I talked to him last night. I'm not against Trump and you know that. I think that we should be very careful about entering into more foreign wars that don't help us when our country is dying. Speaker 1: When you say Speaker 0: don't help us dying. Speaker 1: Look. Yes. Focus on our country. I'm all for it. But but the the the naivete Speaker 0: You don't even know how much money this costs. Speaker 1: You don't know anything about the country whose government you wanna throw overthrow, Speaker 0: and you're calling me reckless. Speaker 1: I want to stop a lunatic who wants to murder us from getting nuclear weapons that could kill millions of Americans. Fair. You say, can't see how that benefits America anyway. That is bizarre. And by the way It's not bizarre. Isolationism. Your foreign policy is the foreign policy of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Absolutely. And it doesn't work. Speaker 0: Yeah. I'm a big leftist. You mean this is so silly. Now I'm Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Okay. Speaker 1: Let me just Speaker 0: say one last thing. Speaker 1: How is your foreign policy different from Jimmy Carter's? Seriously. Please. May I ask that question seriously? Speaker 0: I don't even know what you're talking about. Jimmy Carter? So What century is this? I am the product of the last twenty five years watching carefully, being involved in the periphery, and I see an unending string of foreign policy disasters that have impoverished and hurt our country. Unending string. An unending string. They would include Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and our inability to stop the Houthis, by way, in Yemen, which exposes us as weak, and I grieve over that. So these are failures. You helped preside over some of them as a member of the senate. Speaker 1: What what failures foreign policy failures have I presided over? Speaker 0: Well, we were unable to beat Russia in the war that you supported against Russia. You you've been spending the last three years telling us that Vladimir Putin is evil and we're gonna beat him with other people's children and a million of those kids are now dead. You've never apologized for that. Speaker 1: That was a By the way, look. The the level of number of falsehoods you you lay out just in one statement are are are rather Speaker 0: You haven't supported the war against Russia? Speaker 1: Are are rather stunning. So the war against Russia was caused, which I have explained in great detail, by Joe Biden's weakness. Speaker 0: But you supported the war. Speaker 1: If you wanna talk talk Russia and Ukraine, I'm happy to talk about it. Speaker 0: I Do you think that's been a success? No. It's been an absolute disaster. Okay. But you supported it. Shouldn't you apologize? Speaker 1: No. You should apologize. Not going to engage in the demanding of apologizing. So I'm going to I'm going I'm like, that's my point is all these Speaker 0: failures and no one ever says I'm sorry. Speaker 1: Do you just throw out If you want to talk, we can talk. Speaker 0: Okay. I do. I want to know why that seems like a true disaster for The United States. You have supported it. Speaker 1: Do you believe Joe Biden's weakness caused the war in Ukraine? Speaker 0: I think Joe Biden's aggression Speaker 1: caused it. His aggression? What aggression? Speaker 0: He demanded that Ukraine join NATO. How does that help The United States? Speaker 1: It would It's a terrible idea and I have vigorously opposed Ukraine joining NATO. Speaker 0: Okay. So that's what caused the war? Speaker 1: No, it's not. Alright. Did you want to know what caused the war? Look, you do the dismissive. You're not actually interested in facts. You're like, okay. Speaker 0: Okay. Tell me It seems super op You're you're absolutely right, and I'm sorry. That is a tick of mine that is wrong, and I mean this with sincerity. I'm sorry to do that to you. I just think it seems so obvious that sending Kamala Harris to the NATO Security Conference to say, You're gonna join NATO is what triggered the invasion days later. Speaker 1: Okay. So can I this will take a few minutes to lay out because it's complicated, but I think the facts matter? I think two things caused the war in Ukraine. Number one, I think Biden's incredible weakness and the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Now, I believe we need to leave Afghanistan, but not with the incompetence that involved that led to 13 servicemen and women being murdered by terrorists there. The way Biden did that was disastrous, and I think our enemies looked to the commander in chief and said, this this president is weak. And when when that that withdrawal was so disastrous, I said publicly at the time, the chances of Putin invading Ukraine have just risen tenfold. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 1: But secondly, and this is critically important. Speaker 0: Well, agree that was awful, the And Speaker 1: it was a major cause of our enemies all said, hey, this president is weak. And so it invited And by the way, look, I despise war and and I think weakness and isolationism produces war because it it invites aggression from our bad guys. It's why I agree with Ronald Reagan's Peace Through Strength. The best way you avoid war is being strong enough that your enemies don't wanna mess with you. But let's get back to Ukraine and and Russia. Look. Putin didn't wake up two years ago and decided he wanted to invade Ukraine. He's wanted to invade Ukraine for decades. Putin has referred to the collapse of the Soviet Union as quote, the greatest geopolitical disaster of the twentieth century. And Putin has long been explicit. His desire is to reassemble the old Soviet Union and in fact, reassemble the the Russian Empire that was even bigger than that. If you wanna reassemble the Soviet Union, the natural place to start is is Ukraine. Speaker 0: Do do you really believe that Putin has territorial designs on Eastern Europe? Yes. What countries? Speaker 1: He has said that you can go and read his hold on. I I don't wanna lose the narrative of what happened, I we can go back and do that, but I I don't wanna lose telling the story first. So let me let me explain this and then if you wanna go back, we can take all sorts of digressions. But just give me a couple of minutes to lay out the facts of what happened. He has wanted to invade Ukraine a long time. And he's done it before. In 2014, he invaded Ukraine, invaded Crimea. When Barack Obama was president, he invaded the southern portion. He did not invade the rest of the country. Why? And the reason is the principal source of revenue for Russia is oil and gas and the natural gas pipelines run right through the country of Ukraine. And he didn't wanna jeopardize his ability to get gas to Europe. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 1: So in 2015, Putin started a project called Nord Stream two. Speaker 0: Did anything happen in 2014? Speaker 1: In terms of what? Wasn't there a Speaker 0: coup in Ukraine run by the Obama administration? Speaker 1: Let me finish telling I I told you, we'll take lots of digressions in a second. Let me finish telling the the the narrative. 2015, Putin began building Nord Stream two. Nord Stream two is an undersea pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany. The entire purpose of Nord Stream two is when it was completed and turned on, it would let Russia circumvent Ukraine and get its gas straight to Europe. In 2019, Nord Stream two was almost complete. And the conventional wisdom in Washington was this is terrible, but there's nothing we can do about it. I didn't believe that. So I drafted sanctions legislation that was targeted to stop the pipeline. My legislation passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. It passed the House, and Donald Trump signed it in law. Speaker 0: Why would Can I just ask, why wouldn't you want Germany to have cheap energy? Speaker 1: Because it empowers Russia. And I believe in making our enemies weaker and our friends stronger. Speaker 0: Has blowing up Nord Stream made Germany stronger? Speaker 1: Not being dependent on Russia has made Germany stronger. Speaker 0: So you think Germany is stronger now than it was four years ago? Speaker 1: I think not being dependent on Russia. Germany has all sorts of problems and many of them are domestic to their own politics. Hold on. Let me let me finish. I'm I'm trying No. Speaker 0: But what you're saying, it doesn't Germany seems so much weaker now that its energy costs have spiked and the manufacturing sector is collapsing because of that. Let Speaker 1: me finish. I'm focused on America's interest. I don't want Russia stronger because I believe Russia is our enemy. You and I disagree on that. We can talk about that. But I want our enemies weaker. I don't wanna go to war with Russia, but I want our enemies weaker. I don't want Europe dependent on Russia. I don't want Putin rich with oil and gas revenues and able to invest in his military and pose a threat to America. So the sanctions legislation that I authored, it passed. Putin stopped building Nord Stream two literally the day that president Trump signed my sanctions legislation in law. He signed it, if I remember right, at 7PM on a Thursday, Putin stopped construction at 06:45PM. So the sanctions legislation worked and it killed the pipeline. The pipeline lay dormant for over a year, just a hunk of metal at the bottom of the ocean. Joe Biden came into office. He was sworn in on 01/20/2021. Putin resumed deep sea construction of Nord Stream two four days later, January 24. He did so because Biden had foreshadowed weakness on that this issue. That foreshadowing was accurate because several months later, Biden formally waived the sanctions on Nord Stream two and let Putin complete the pipeline. In January of twenty twenty two, I forced a vote on the senate floor to reimpose sanctions on Nord Stream two. The week of the vote, president publicly called on the Senate, please pass this sanctions legislation. It is the last best hope of stopping Russia from invading Ukraine. At the same time, the government of Poland put out a formal statement from the foreign ministry to the Senate calling on the Senate to pass my sanctions legislation and said, if you do not, Putin will invade Ukraine. The day of the vote, Joe Biden came to Capitol Hill. It's the first time in his presidency he had done that. He went to the Democrat senators lunch, and he personally lobbied them on this issue. Not any other issue. This was his number one issue that he came to lobby them on. They came out of that lunch. Every Democrat had voted with me twice against Nord Stream two. 44 Democrats flipped their vote. They voted in favor of Russia, in favor of Putin, and four weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine. That was the direct cause of the war. And if Trump had been president, there would be no war in you. Speaker 0: May I ask I, of course, disagree with your analysis completely, but I wanna be respectful. Speaker 1: Okay. So tell me what you disagree with. Speaker 0: It's it's such a long conversation. I've spent the last couple of years on this, and I just respectfully disagree with with your analysis. But I don't doubt your sincerity that you believe that Putin is our enemy, that it's Western Europe should not be allowed to use Russian energy. I mean, you seem to really believe these things. My question is about results because I think it's relevant to what we're seeing now in Iran. You look back after having you personally voted to send billions and billions and billions of US tax dollars to Zelensky to support a civil service in the war against Russia and all this stuff. Can you say that what you did worked? Speaker 1: So I can say what I did personally, sanctioning Nord Stream two worked and prevented a war. And if Trump had still been there, if the sanction had been in effect, there would be no war. I'm in favor of avoiding wars. Speaker 0: But once the war broke out, you voted to fund it to the tune of billions and billions and billions. Speaker 1: And to be clear And did that work? Okay. To be to be clear, what I voted for, I voted for the initial tranche of funding and then I voted against the subsequent ones. So it hasn't worked. So I've been in between. I haven't been on the full Ukraine, full throated hawk side or the anti from day one. I voted for the initial tranche of funding because I wanted Russia to lose. I think the Biden administration administered it in a horrible way. I think they wasted a ton of money. And I think what they did was actually incoherent because they were funding both sides of the war. I I know. And I was very vocal. And and among other things, flooding a $100,000,000 to Iran, which was used among other things to help the nuclear program, but also to make drones that Russia used Speaker 0: to fight against my concern. I'm not gonna defend the Biden administration. Really did a lot to wreck The United States. Speaker 1: Yeah. Did the most damaging administration Speaker 0: has Where we sit now, Russia is stronger. It's closely allied long term with China. Speaker 1: I don't know that Russia is stronger. I don't think that's right. Okay. Speaker 0: I think it's pretty obvious that it is. But it's certainly not destroyed. And it's allied long term with China. Speaker 1: Maybe. That look. That there's no doubt Biden's foreign policy drove Russia into the arms of China and that's what's been occurring. Also have a long history of animosity. Speaker 0: Western Europe is weaker and more in debt. The United States is weaker and much more in debt. Look. Hold hold on. So you You and are agreeing on a lot. We're agreeing. We're agreeing. Here's my question. Have you questioned any of your previous assumptions? Did you play any role in this at all? Are you responsible at all? Speaker 1: Of course. And like you, Speaker 0: you said What have you learned? Speaker 1: Like you, you said you've changed your mind. Yeah. I voted for the first funding of the Ukraine war, and I voted against every subsequent funding stream because it wasn't working. And I looked at what was happening and said, this is not working. And had the money been spent in an intelligent way and not wasted, and had it been successful, I might have been willing to fund more. But it wasn't successful so I voted no. And and the war is going to end. Look, president Trump campaigned on ending the war. I think he's frustrated because Putin has been less than eager to reach a deal to end the war, but it's going to end. You're not gonna see another dollar coming from Do think he Speaker 0: wants to end Speaker 1: the war? I think Zelenskyy has behaved horribly. I think his Oval Office meeting will go down in history as the worst Oval Office meeting of any leader that has ever come to the Oval Office. I think he behaved like a pompous ass. And I think he is unrealistic. I think Zelensky spends his time with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the New York Times and he believed he was going to the Oval Office as a resist figure. And I think he's doing real damage to his country right now. Speaker 0: You described him many times as a hero. Do you Speaker 1: I don't believe I don't recall ever using the word hero. I will Speaker 0: say I do. Speaker 1: Look. I'm not I'm not a Zelensky cheerleader. And and I'm not in the business of saying everyone we support has to be a sage and everyone we oppose has to be a villain. I'm not in the morality game. I'm in The US interest game. Why did I want Nord Stream two stopped? Because it would strengthen Russia and Russia's our enemies. It's entirely US interest. Speaker 0: Did you support the industrial sabotage against it? Blowing it up? Speaker 1: So I think you believe America did that. Is that right? Speaker 0: Of course. Speaker 1: Okay. I think the chances of that are zero. Speaker 0: You think Russia did it? Speaker 1: No. I think Ukraine did it. So I don't know who did it. In terms of the theories that had been put out there, the idea that Russia blew up their own pipeline never made any sense to me at all. That that just I I can't even articulate why they would do that. The idea that Biden did that look. I could see it being in US interest to do that, to blow up Nord Stream 2. I just think Biden was too weak. I don't believe Joe Biden But are you in I guess you in what So so that leads Speaker 0: The Norwegians, the the Ukrainians, NATO, whatever. Speaker 1: Look. Look. Speaker 0: That leads Speaker 1: me to, you you know, who benefits? And and it leads me to think either the Ukrainians blew it up or Ukraine's allies. I don't think Biden did because I just Biden was so weak. I don't think he would give the order. I I find that implausible. Speaker 0: But you're in favor of it. Speaker 1: Look. I was in favor of stopping it. I think I think blowing it up is is a was a good thing. So so I'm I'm supportive of that, but I don't think America did that. I I don't think Biden gave that order. Speaker 0: But in general I Speaker 1: see Trump giving that order, but he wasn't in office. Speaker 0: Yeah. And you think that the largest acts of industrial sabotage in history helped our allies in Western Europe or other fellow NATO members? Speaker 1: Look, I gotta say, I don't understand. For some reason, you are really invested in defending Russia. You with that. I'm genuinely like I don't get why you're so passionate about defending Russia. Speaker 0: Actually, was defending Western Europe, the home of my ancestors, and that tripling their energy costs and destroying their industrial No. No. Not like. You just accused me of being an antisemite, an isolationist, and a Russia lackey. I've not called you a neocon once, which you are, but I Speaker 1: haven't said And that's absurd. I I Those neocons that oppose the Iraq war and and Right. But like that that's Speaker 0: the song. But so okay. But I haven't called you that because name Speaker 1: calling said, which you are. I see. Just called that. Okay. Called me that. You just did. I I guess what I'm saying Speaker 0: is you're triggered because I use name calling. I get it. I was triggered when you called me names. And I'm triggered once again that you're calling me a Russia defender when in fact I'm defending Western Europe. And I don't think that you can Do you think Speaker 1: Putin's our enemy? I Speaker 0: well, he's well, he's literally our enemy. You are funding a war against Do Speaker 1: you think he is our no. You're saying we're his enemy. Do you think Putin is our enemy? Speaker 0: I think it is a tragedy that your policies your policies, specifically yours, helped drive Putin into the arms of China forming a block that's larger Speaker 1: than So you won't answer that question? Speaker 0: I don't. He is literally our enemy right now. That is a tragedy for The United States. Speaker 1: No. No. You're saying but you won't say he is our enemy. Look. Like, I don't You know what saying? Speaker 0: Don't want to be enemies with Russia. It doesn't help us at all. It may help some people in The United States, but in general, I don't want to be. Speaker 1: I don't wanna be at war with Russia. I don't think it is in our interest to be at war with Speaker 0: Russia. With China. That is a disaster. Speaker 1: But listen. No doubt. And I want Russia and China attention. So I agree with you there. But but I think Putin is a KGB thug. I think he is a bad man. Now, I don't wanna go to war with him over that. Okay. But but I'm not naive. And and, like, I watched your He's bad man. Speaker 0: He's a bad man. Okay. Speaker 1: Look, I watched your episode where you went to the Russian grocery store and I'm I'm Speaker 0: genuinely Was that disloyal do you think? Speaker 1: It was just weird. Was weird. It was like a promo video for Russia. And I don't understand. I'm not attacking you when I ask why because I'm genuinely like I don't get Speaker 0: when you called me and I said something, you weren't attacking me. You were just noticing. No. But may I ask you a question? So here well, me just answer yours by saying The United States, the Biden administration, with your help, full support, began this war on Russia in response to their invasion of Ukraine. And one of the things there was they kicked Russia out of SWIFT, out of the international financial system. And my first response was, this is gonna really hurt the US dollar, which it has, and I hope someday we can have a conversation about that. It's really, really hurt the one thing that we needed, which was to retain dollar supremacy. So I was interested in the economic condition. Speaker 1: By the way, that's a reasonable point and a serious conversation to Speaker 0: be aware. I'm aware. And I was Speaker 1: But I can agree with you. Like like No. Speaker 0: No. But I was accused of being I think it's weird that you went to a Russian grocery store and said it was prosperous. No. My point Speaker 1: is It looked like a commercial. Looked like a commercial. Isn't this wonderful? Speaker 0: No. Was an argument against the efficacy of sanctions. Sanctions against Russia, which you casually and enthusiastically imposed, scoring a little moral victory every time, had no material effect that helped The United States. Russia is backstopped by China, and when you and I recommend that you go and see it, it is way nicer than Washington DC. Way nicer. To me, that's a tragedy. I was horrified and angry at my leaders including you. It's like, I wanna live in a country this nice with low food costs and no homeless people. I I don't understand why that's too much to ask. Speaker 1: So do I. Speaker 0: Instead, I get worse with Iran. No. I just want lower food costs. How's that? Speaker 1: So look, it's a weird argument that you do often which is, listen, things are crappy in America. Liberal wait. Liberals have done bad things to America, so we shouldn't worry about any other Republican senators don't Speaker 0: care about us. They're focused on other countries. Speaker 1: You wrote Speaker 0: that in is dying, and you don't care Speaker 1: because you're focused on Iran or Putin. So so you believe that I don't care about America. I guess you believe Donald Trump doesn't either. Like, nobody cares. Speaker 0: I believe that your focus is way too on other countries. It's way too focused outward. The money that you send abroad could be used here and should be. Speaker 1: What money that I send abroad? By the way, emphatically agree Speaker 0: with with Ukraine. You don't even know. Speaker 1: I emphatically agree with with Donald Trump's, for example, dramatically slashing USAID. I think the only reason we should be deploying that is to benefit US interest, national security interest and keep Americans safe. So How much did you vote to send to Ukraine? Look, you're in about $80,000,000,000. 80,000,000,000. Yeah. So you're in You love just giving these broad characterizations that are not accurate. I'm genuinely puzzled. Look. I don't wanna go to war with Russia. I I I but I don't think they're our our friend. I think Putin Speaker 0: I agree. Speaker 1: I think Putin is a murderer. I think he's a liar. And I think he does not wish well on America. Okay. And there's a difference between saying that just like Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an evil empire and Putin was in the KGB. Look, my father was imprisoned and tortured in Cuba. I hate communists. It was actually Batista that tortured my dad. My aunt was imprisoned and tortured by Castro. I hate communists. I think communism is evil. And so I think there is a value to there is nobody who stands up to communist China more in the senate than I do because I think they're evil. Speaker 0: Do I wanna go Speaker 1: to war with China? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. But I think we have all sorts of tools to stand up to our enemies. And I think China is engaged in a thousand year war against The United States. They're trying to defeat us. Speaker 0: So all over the map where your family imprisoned in Cuba and China and all this stuff. I just I agree with you. I'm totally opposed to communism, always have been. I don't think that Putin loves us. I'm distressed by the moral condition of most leaders around the world, most of them. They all kill people. I'm against that. I'm just saying I wish the focus here Speaker 1: more on the actually don't agree with that statement. They all kill people. There's a moral relativism. I don't think Donald Trump is a murderer. He doesn't kill people. We don't have concentration Donald Speaker 0: Trump a murderer. Speaker 1: I'm You just said world leaders all kill people. And and there's a a moral relativism. I'm hardly a moral relativist. But you are. You just that statement was the essence Speaker 0: I'm anti Semite and isolationist to moral relativist. Okay. No. Speaker 1: I'm not. Did you just say world leaders all guilty? Speaker 0: I'm saying I'm against killing people in general. And hyperventilating about how Putin was in the KGB or whatever. But I just wanna serve American interest and pushing into China is not in our interest at all. But And you helped do it and you haven't apologized. Speaker 1: And and by the way, you're the cheerleader. I helped drive him into China. You did. A complete lie. You funded the war against him. No. I I authored the legislation that shut down Nord Stream two that prevented the war. And and if Trump had still been in the White House, we would have had the war. And and look, the comment you made, the the reason things like moral relativism are so dangerous, oh, everyone kills people. No. There is a difference. The United States moral relativism. We don't have concentration camps. We don't torture and murder people. You look at China where they've got a million prisoners in concentration camps. You look at Putin where he's got prisoners in Siberia. He he tortures and murders his political opponents. Donald Trump doesn't do that. America doesn't do that. And by the way What Speaker 0: are you Speaker 1: most other countries don't do that. Speaker 0: I see the game. It's like I'm No. You're the one playing again. Speaker 1: I'm distressed. No. I'm responding with facts. You don't like the facts? Speaker 0: The I don't even know what facts you're talking about. I'm not saying that Trump puts people in concentration camps. I vote I campaign for Trump. I love Trump. Speaker 1: So did I. Speaker 0: Okay. So this has nothing to do with Trump. I'm merely saying When you Speaker 1: said every world leader kills people, it drops a small Speaker 0: emphasis emphasis on what's happening inside the country. That's it. Speaker 1: There a moral difference between America and our enemies? Is there a moral joke in America? And what is it? Articulate it. It's valuable to say why. Why are we a better country founded on better values than China? Tell you what's the difference between why. I know I Speaker 0: Because the whole purpose of America is to protect the God given rights that each person possesses by virtue of being created by God. Amen. By being human. That's the point of our founding documents, and no other country articulates that in the way that we do. And that's what I love about America. My family's been here a long time. I'm never leaving. So I really love the country. Despite going to a Russian grocery store, despite asking questions about APAC, I love America, is the truth, and I love Trump. So But I just want more emphasis on America. That's it. Speaker 1: I emphatically agree with America first. I think Donald Trump does as well. And I think his foreign policy has been vigorously protecting that and I agree with the press. Speaker 0: Good. Well, I appreciate you're taking all this time. Sure. And I know you didn't mean it. Speaker 1: How many copy those names? Speaker 0: Thank you, senator.
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@pa49932 - KP

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"they rained from the showerheads." "They rained soap and water on us." "we had to be deloused." "we were so full of lice through that." "we had to be clean to be to be naturalized." "And I remember how embarrassed these people were to sit there stark naked." "That was soap and water raining down on us to be lousy." "We were shorn bald in order to stop the lice." "Jews cannot claim unique victim status." "None of us had hair." "We were Mennonites, all Lutherans." "What most people of course don't know is that the Germans had drawn a line from the Baltic or actually from the North Cape, virtually all the way down to the Bosporus, and anybody that came across that line, whether he was German or Mennonite, choose for that matter, anybody in Europe could not go across that line without being dulys, because wanted to keep lice out of Europe, because lice were so dangerous."
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: How the rumors started that they were going to gas us. I have to tell you that this is really true. This is what happened. And what happened eventually is that they rained from the showerheads. They rained soap and water on us. And the reason for that was that we had to be deloused. We were so full of lice through that through that. Our hair was cut, and they rained soap and water on us. I do not remember if there were any towels, but we came out. And this happened prior. You see, we had to be clean to be to be naturalized. Yes. So this happened prior to That's right. Speaker 1: Had to be clean in Speaker 0: those That's right. And I remember how embarrassed these people were to sit there stark naked. So when I hear about the showerheads and the Holocaust and all of that, I know exactly what it was. That was soap and water raining down on us to be lousy. That's what it was. And where the story came from that those were dangerous showerheads, I don't know. That must have come out of the Russian propaganda in those years because I remember it very clearly that there was a rumor, you know, we were going to be done in. Speaker 1: These simple people were afraid of this procedure? Speaker 0: We were afraid of this procedure, yes. And if I can tell, you can cut it out. Speaker 1: It's like Steven Spielberg, everybody in Schindler's List is waiting for the gas to come Speaker 0: in, it is is salt soap and water came raining down on us in this great cake. We call it banya, which is a Russian word for a washroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Yeah. But it was a big, a communal bathroom. It was huge, I would say. It was the way I remember it. Of course, I was little, but the way I remember it, I would say it was at least 30 by 30. It must have been built for that purpose, to wash us down like dogs. Speaker 1: What most people of course don't know is that the Germans had drawn a line from the Baltic or actually from the North Cape, virtually all the way down to the Bosporus, and anybody that came across that line, whether he was German or Mennonite, choose for that matter, anybody in Europe could not go across that line without being dulys, because wanted to keep lice out of Europe, because lice were so dangerous Speaker 0: in public health. Right. That was But we were badly, know, Speaker 1: even got kicked out because we were Mennonites, all Lutherans. Speaker 0: The same for the cutting of hair, I mean we were all shorn bald in order to stop the lice, the louse problem that we had. Everybody had lice in the war, you know, I mean this was just common knowledge that everybody lice, and then, of course, we had to be deloused and put into Germany. Speaker 1: So Jews cannot claim unique victim status Speaker 0: or No. They cannot. And when I hear the stories about them losing their hair, big deal. None of us had hair.
Video Transcript AI Summary
"The only one who came back. The only one who came back." "The first camp when we entertain the SS, they didn't come. We only entertained for the inmate." "But the second camp, why the SS came to see us?" "The camps in certain cases had a cabaret." "But they were never put on anything that that mentioned gas chambers or the mass murder squads." "It's subversive by nature, but you had to be very careful how you did it." "It's the kind of humor that'll make you cry." "There was a song which we have adopted as our anthem." "It went something like, Let's join hands, we shall overcome." "When the tyranny ends, we shall all dance on the ruins of Terezin." "Sadly, very few would have been able to do so."
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: The only one who came back. The only one who came back. Speaker 1: For the ten minutes that I work or fifteen minutes that I sang, they forgot who they were, and that was the most important thing. And that's what make me being alive. Now the first camp when we entertain the SS, they didn't come. We only entertained for the inmate. But the second camp, why the SS came to see us? All all I can deduct then is, like, they had such a terrible life hitting us and killing us that they wanna be entertained too. Speaker 2: The camps in certain cases had a cabaret. But they were never put on anything that that mentioned gas chambers or the mass murder squads. It was subversive by nature, but you had to be very careful how you did it. So the SS guards who came would not understand that they were the ones who were being spoken about. It's the kind of humor that'll make you cry. Really, the underpinning is sadness. Speaker 3: I was in the cabin, and it was very funny, very witty. Of course people were laughing. People were laughing and talking about it next morning and how did you like so and so. Of course, we imagined that we live in a normal time. There was a song which we have adopted as our anthem. It went something like, Let's join hands, we shall overcome. When the tyranny ends, we shall all dance on the ruins of Terezin. Sadly, very few would have been able to do so.
Saved - August 29, 2025 at 1:58 AM

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