WEBVTT - Steve Hilton vs. the California machine 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.720 Welcome to today's podcast sponsored by Hillsdale College. All Things 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.280 Hillsdale at Hillsdale dot ed or I encourage you to 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:08.800 take advantage of the many free online courses there, and 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.119 of course I'll listen to the Hillsdale Dialogue all of 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.560 them at Hugh for Hillsdale dot com or just Google, Apple, 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:20.120 iTunes and Hillsdale RaaS America. I'm he Hewt inside the Beltway. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.880 As many of you know, I used to live in California. 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.400 I lived in California until twenty sixteen. This very day, 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:28.560 I was sitting with another ex California and we were 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.720 talking about how wonderful it was to live in California 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.040 in the eighties and the nineties, back in the days 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.080 of Duke Major and Pete Wilson and now it's gone 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.239 to hell. And we began talking about the debate that 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:40.440 was held earlier this week. So I thought we would 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.280 try and get a hold of one of the participants 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:45.479 of the debate, Steve Hilton, and Steve is here to 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.760 talk about the debate, so that I don't have to 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.000 worry about equal time rules. 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:50.600 We're talking about the debate here. 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:52.720 It's a news event, so I'm allowed to talk to 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.480 him about it, Steve, you crushed it in the debate. 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.600 First tell me just a technical matter. What do you 0:00:58.600 --> 0:00:59.400 make of the moderators. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.400 I liked Alan, but I have never worked with his 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.400 colleagues from CNN Caitlyn. 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:07.160 I honestly thought it was a good I thought it 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.840 was good. Here's why they actually let us debate. They 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:14.679 weren't so insanely kind of fussing about their rules and 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.080 minute here, and they let us actually challenge each other, 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.319 and that leads to a better outcome. Obviously, you can't 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.240 have a complete free for all, but I thought of 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:25.959 all the ones that we don't, we had another one 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.640 last night, which was much more, if I could put 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.759 it this way, micro managed by the moderators, and ends 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:36.000 up actually resulting in a worse outcome, because a debate is, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.680 as the word suggests, a back and forth, and if 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.399 you don't allow us to challenge each other, then you 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.440 don't get the benefit of that. So I enjoyed that debate, 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.640 and they you know long, you know, two hours long, 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:49.720 But you can get into all the issues and have 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:50.880 a proper back and forth. 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.440 Now I have done enough debate that they got to 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.960 get organic. If you get in the way they step 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.560 on the lines where it matters. It seemed to me 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.560 that you were in command. Did you miss any shots 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:04.720 where you thought there was a knockout blow at say 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.720 jab arbusera or you're in first place. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:09.320 I don't know that you need a knockout blow. 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:12.880 I think that's right. I mean, I think there was 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.560 one's you know, But Sarah is a target rich environment. 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:17.680 You. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:22.000 He's got a bunch of corruption scandals, he's got a 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.200 terrible record in every job that he's done. But the 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.320 thing that I actually was looking forward to pointing out 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.320 to his face and we didn't really get the chance 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.040 to do it, is all the unbelievably negative things that 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:39.040 are being said about his competence by his own former 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.280 colleagues in the Biden administration. And there's more of it 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.680 just today being published where you have Biden administration officials 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.200 coming out one after another saying that Sarah was the 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:55.840 most useless cabinet secretary, totally incompetent. They look at his 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.400 rise in this governor's race, and apparently this is the 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:02.400 story that came out today. They show this is Biden's people, 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.200 and they're passing around these polls with Bessarah moving up. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.960 They're saying, is this a joke? That's the word that 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:11.840 they use. They can't believe that this guy is being 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.519 taken seriously, So we do. I think there is one 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.799 more debate. I think there's one next week. I don't 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.440 know if it's going to be broadcast statewide, so perhaps 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.840 I'll get a chance then. But I mean, he's exactly 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:27.160 what we don't need in California. Thirty six years career politician, 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.960 He's done nothing but be a politician. He's a total 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:35.560 puppet of this failed and corrupt Democrat regime in California, 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:40.680 and he's the living embodiment of exactly what we don't need, 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:41.960 which is more of the same. 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.560 You know what surprises me about this, Steve Hilton? 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.800 You are in first place and right behind you are 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.080 a Bussarah followed by Tom Steyer, followed by Katie Porter. 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.560 That's the bland, the unlikable, and the toxic. It's I 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:56.680 had threesome that you would never want to golf with. 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:02.080 But Tom Steyer has got one hundred million dollars he's. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:03.920 Pouring in there. What's he doing with it? 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.360 How can he not be in second place after one 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:07.960 hundred million dollars of spending. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.960 You know it's it's actually more. I mean the numbers 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.920 keep going up. It's now one hundred and sixty million 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.839 dollars he's spent just in the last few months. You 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.640 basically can't escape his ads anywhere you go. And I 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.280 think you've got to that point now where it's saturation, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.320 Like how much more can we take of this? It's 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.000 one of my go to, you know, joke lines. When 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.520 I'm on the on the campaign trail doing our town 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.720 halls and you sort of mention Tom's tires ads, everyone 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:41.279 just groans. Even Javier Besser actually had his campaign put 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.720 out a nice ad there's a good, good joke where 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.320 they just had shots of Redwood forest and yosemitee and 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.719 beautiful California nature scenes and saying, we just want to 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.839 give you a break from tom Stars ads. It's just 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.159 I don't know how he could throw another one hundred 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.120 and sixty million if he wants, but I don't know 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.000 how far it's going to get him. And by the way, 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.880 he's not just more of the same, he is worse. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:09.560 He's more left wing, more extreme on climate and taxes 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.880 and spending and immigration, and crime than what we've got now. So, 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.320 as I said in the debate the other night, if 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.120 you think it can't get worse than Gavin Newsom and 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:19.960 what we have now, I have two words for you, 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:20.840 Tom Steier. 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.040 Well, I agree with you about that, and he's welcome 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.120 to come on the show anytime. He just doesn't want 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.279 to show up. The one fella I'm surprised by, and 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.320 I'm friendly with, Antonio Viergosa. He kept me in a 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.680 slot on the California Arts Commission forever. I think he's 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:36.440 afraid to fire me because I had a radio show 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.440 at the time. But he's nowhere. He's like the nowhere man. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.080 Did he have any sparkle at all in the debate? 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.760 I know you're a candidate not a commentator, but you're fair. 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:47.679 Did he have any juice? 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.359 No? I mean I like Antonio actually, And to be fair, 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:58.080 he is definitely less extreme than the other Democrats, particularly 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:02.039 on climate and energy, where he's not implacably hostile to 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.360 California oil and gas production. He's also been pretty good 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.120 on challenging the teacher unions on schools policy. But he's 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.360 not really he hasn't he hasn't broken out his main 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.720 role in the last two debates has been incredibly aggressive 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:21.320 attacks on Javier Basera over his record, and so he did. 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.720 He definitely got more attention Antonio Villa Ricosa last night 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.479 because he really went after Javier, and I suspect he'll 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.840 be doing more of that in the remainder of the campaign. 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.800 But I don't I don't see him going anywhere at all. 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.040 Well, let me move from the commentator part of the candidate. 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.119 I want to figure out why you're leading in an 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.400 overwhelmingly blue state and you're a newcomer. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.240 What is it that you're leading with? Is it? 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.800 Is it housing? Is it affordability? Is it getting the 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.960 homeless people out? What are you leading with? Well, it's 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:52.200 actually I can tell you one word. 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.040 If you can see my my sort of backdrop here 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:56.920 you these are the banners we take on the road 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.159 for our town halls and the and the one just 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.560 here at the top of that you can't quite see. 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:07.120 It says hell affordable. I have it says hell affordable. 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.400 And that's the theme. And it's three dollars gas, cut 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.360 your electric bills in half, your first one hundred grand 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.239 tax free, no more free health care for illegal immigrants, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.640 so we can lower healthcare cost for you a home 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:22.680 you can afford to buy. And that simple practical message 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.360 is what I think people are responding to. The other 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.280 thing I would just tell you is I think that 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.520 they're responding to the fact that I've been working really 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.480 hard for this. I've been traveling the state and really 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.520 going out there, meeting people, listening to people. We do 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.880 twnholes all over the state, and I think people really 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.760 can see from that that there's an energy here and 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.120 we don't have to put up with what we've got 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.360 in California. In a way, we're trying to overcome that 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.920 inertia that after sixteen years of Democrats running everything, this 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.680 assumption that well, you're just always going to be like 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.040 this and your only choice is to put up with 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.480 it or to leave. And the whole point of my 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.680 campaign is to show the kind of energy that will 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.600 make people believe that actually change is possible, and it 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.280 really is because the ballots are out, the choices in 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.560 people's hands, the ballots have been sent out, were voting 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.360 has begun, and everyone watching in California, listening in California, 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.000 you can change the trajectory of our state it's only 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.120 you can vote, and you can do it, and you 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.440 put me in the top two. That's the first step 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:27.760 so that I can take on whoever the Democrats send. 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.000 I really believe that we can turn things around in 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.199 California because people are sick of what we've got and 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.319 the argument for change is overwhelming. 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:38.839 Well, I do. 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.040 Talk to former California. It's really one question of despair, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.880 and people despair of it getting better because there's gridlock 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.760 in Sacramento and super majorities of Democrats and billionaire taxes 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.600 on that's the dumbest tax in the world. Even Gavin 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.240 knows it's a dumb tax. Where's your strength? Is it 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:00.160 the Central Valley? Is it San Diego, Orange County? Up 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.840 in the North Way, North Stampa? Where's your strength? 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.839 I think it's everywhere, and it's more democratic. It's working 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.400 class Californians and small business owners, the people who've been 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.160 really hurt. I just really noticed that when I'm on 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.080 the road, the kind of people that come up to 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.360 you and say we're with you. You've got to win. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.439 It's regular working class people who just can't take it anymore. 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.559 And the other reason, I just think it's very important 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.480 to be aware of a big change in California this 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.840 year that should give us grounds for optimism. You mentioned 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.440 the billionaires tax. This insane wealth tax idea that is 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.680 completely unconstitutional and unworkable, has already cost us billions of 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.760 dollars of lost tax revenues. Many people have left the state. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.400 But it's also woken up the business community in a 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.000 serious way where You've had to my frustration. Actually, for 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:54.000 many years now, serious business leaders, the tech community and 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.120 others across the state have kind of stood by and 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.360 not been engaged as the state's drifted further to towards 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.320 insanity in the hostile business climate. They've even gone along 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.280 with it. Many of them have supported Democrats for is 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.400 that's all changed. They are really engaged. And the reason 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.000 that matters is that I think that when I'm in 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.760 the top two and it's me against a Democrat, we're 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:19.280 going to have the business community supporting my campaign and 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.199 giving us the resources we need to have a fair 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.320 fight against the unions for the first time in at 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:26.439 least twenty years. 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.000 Well, I hope to host a conversation between you and 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.959 whoever comes in second very quickly. In ten second on 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.200 AX you or Steve Hilton X. What's the website for 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:35.960 your campaign? 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.640 Steve Hilton four Governor dot com fo R, Steve Hilton 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:41.679 for Governor dot R. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.480 It's great to be with you. Thank you, Steve. Stay 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:50.120 turned the Salem New Channel America. Welcome back America and 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:50.920 to hew it. 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.640 There are reports of explosions over islands off the coast 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.040 of Iran at this hour. Details as they occur will 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.600 produce those for you. I'm joined now by the chairman 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.440 of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the chair of the 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.880 Senate Republican KAKA Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Senator Cotton, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.840 have you heard any about those reports or it's just 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:11.360 the Wall Street Journal that I'm reading? 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:12.600 Good? 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.480 Could be back on with you. I've not heard anything 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.360 other than unverified media reports like you, so I suggest 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:21.520 that we wait and see, but also would point out 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:23.360 that the President has been very clear on what his 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.720 red lines are with Iran, not just for the last 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.240 week or months, but for ten years or more, and 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.760 iron rewise to heed those red lines. But they have 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:35.280 underestimated him before. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:36.040 Now. 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.400 I spoke with the President on Monday and he laid 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:43.920 down very firmly that no nuclear weapons, no highly enriched geranium. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.240 They've got to have inspections of their missile program, some 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.560 kind of limit, and they're out of money anyway, so 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:53.640 they won't be providing funds to terrorist organizations. 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:58.080 It's been that clear from the beginning. Why all this. 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.199 Struman dang about the the deal. 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.120 Well, he has been clear from the beginning. He and again, 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:09.920 these are not complicated or even difficult demands. If Iran 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.240 didn't want to be bombed backed at Stone age, they 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.560 could simply say to the United States, here you go, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.200 here's all the enrich you yearning. Please come take it 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.840 off our hands. Here's the remaining centrifuges and spare parts 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:26.080 and the machines that make more of them. We want 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:28.400 the bombing to stop, and we want the sanctions to 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.200 be lifted. There doesn't really need to be negotiations over 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:35.440 commitments or mutual understandings or assurances or anything else. That's 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:39.160 what President Obambas settled for now. Donald Trump has already 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.560 gone far beyond what Barack Obama did, because we destroyed 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.520 their nuclear program and we leveled much of the nuclear infrastructure. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.559 But if Iron wants to take the final step again, 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.160 it's not a complicated step. There's a bunch of stuff 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.360 that they have possession of that they can turn over. 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.600 There's no need for mutual assurances or understandings. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:04.239 Center again, open source only. Well, how do you assess 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:09.440 the status of the IRG, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard after 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.719 six eight weeks punishment? 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.480 Well, we pummeled them, Hugh, and we pulverized much of 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:24.080 them their war making capabilities. They obviously steal or largely 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.480 calling the shots. But that means that the regime in 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.840 Iran is even less legitimate now than it was three 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:31.240 months ago, Hugh. They don't even have the small, the 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:35.000 near of religious authority that the Supreme Leader gave them 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.360 for several decades. Now that his son is in charge, 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.680 nominally in charge, not genuinely in charge. I don't think 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:43.800 he didn't even want his son to be in charge, 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.880 which is why I sometimes for him is Fredo Hamini. 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:52.360 So they're definitely clinging to power, but I think it 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.160 is clinging. They're not firmly in power because they know 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.320 that the United States and Israel at any point could 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:04.000 renew our campaign to totally overize all of their all 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:05.520 the pillars of their regime's power. 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.599 So one last question before I go to politics. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.880 I asked the President about the artech and whether or 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.160 not that is for the benefit of the steelers fans 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.920 the standard Iranian army. They've got an army that's not 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.360 in the IRGC, and he said they've been leaving it alone, 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:26.080 that they're not trying to let it be in order 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:29.120 that the country have some cohesion. Is that consistent with 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.160 what you've seen in open sources, that the artech exists 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.800 and could actually maybe move. 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:39.400 In It is fair? He would say that the Revolutionary 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.880 Guard Corps cud's force, the besiege militia, those are the 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:48.560 shop troops of the revolutionary regime has been a central 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:54.000 target of our and especially Israel's campaigns. Obviously, we've struck 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:58.800 a lot of conventional military targets, like their integrated air 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.840 defenses and their long range missiles, because we needed to 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.160 protect ourselves, protect our friends in the region, protect our 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:10.240 pilots flowing over Iran. But we have prioritized the shock 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.080 troops of the revolutionary regime. I think it's fair to say. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.760 Now the President does like to say we've sunk one 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.600 hundred and fifty nine ships. He tells it to me, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.880 He tells it to everyone he speaks to. But I 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:21.840 think he does that for a reason. That's quite a 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:26.600 significant tactical success. That's a strategic victory, but it's a 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.400 tactical success to find and sink one hundred and fifty 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:31.160 nine ships. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.200 Has that sunk in in American media. 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.320 Well know, Hugh, because the media and the Democrats, although 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:43.640 I repeat myself, are rooting against America. And every day 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:45.720 you see a new store in New York Times or 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.680 on about how Iran has America and Israel right where 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.840 it wants us. I don't know about you, Hugh, but 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.800 if you put yourself in the leadership in Tehran shoes, 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.640 it doesn't seem that way. All of their friends have 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.520 been killed. They're afraid of being killed. They're afraid to 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.680 turn on their phones because they think a mom is 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.160 going to drop on them the minute they do. There 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.240 maybe is sunk to the bottom of the sea. They 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.880 have no air defenses left, and we vastly degraded their 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:19.080 missile and drones as well as their manufacturing capabilities to 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.000 replace those things. It doesn't exactly look like a victory 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.200 to meet, Hugh. That's just what the Democrats in the 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:25.400 media want to spend both. 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:27.920 Right now, I want to switch to politics. 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.840 You were an infantry man before you became a congressman, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.240 then a senator, and you're in the army. Graham Platner 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.480 has been both the marine and an army. He did 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.600 his tours like you did in Iraq and Afghanistan. But 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.400 he is implied in his explanation of his death heead skull. 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:49.320 That's an SS death head skull tattoo. Oh, that was 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.720 the military. That was the culture I came out of. Well, 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.600 you actually commanded platoons. Was that the culture that you commanded? 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.320 Fair to say that I knew more than a few 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.520 infantrymen who had tattoos, more than a few who had 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.000 lots of tattoos. I don't recall any of them having 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:14.919 any Nazi symbology, especially of a specifically notorious death guards 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:19.280 at concentration camps. I will make this observation, Hu though 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.320 about the soldiers I knew with tattoos. I don't personally 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:27.560 have one, but every tattoo they had, they could tell 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.920 you exactly where they got it, and when they got it, 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.280 and why they got it and what it meant. And 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.160 in my experience, that's what anybody who has a tattoo 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.560 can do as well. In fact, Hugh, I remember on 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:41.479 one of the very first days of our basic training, 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.480 our drill sergeant walked into our bay and he threw 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.719 a bunch of forms on the ground that was to 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.520 describe the tattoos you had, and he said, if you 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:53.920 have a tat if you don't have tattoos, right in 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.520 a if you do, show it where it is in 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.080 the body, and describe it, and just describe what it 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.240 looks like. Say it's a dragon on my shoulder. Don't 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.240 give me one thousand words on the entire combined topology 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:09.360 behind it. And that's because people who have tattoos, especially 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:13.280 young soldiers, love to tell you about the deep mythology 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:16.439 or story behind every single one of their tattoos. So 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.679 no one should believe Graham Platner about his tattoo, or 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.439 for that matter, about anything else, since he is a 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:27.480 total fraud, a fake oyster man, a silver spoon liberal 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.320 who has held these radical views since he went to 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:33.000 a prep school that costs seventy thousand dollars a year. 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.919 I hope you're going to campaign for Senator Collins up 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.040 north A quick question. I noticed that both Senator Collins 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.800 and Senator King. She's a Republican, he's an independent who 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:44.880 caucuses with the Democrat. 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.480 They're both on the Intel Committee. 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.960 Does any other state have two senators on the Intel Committee. 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:52.159 I don't know about that. 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:52.359 You. 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:56.240 We obviously make the decisions independently between the two parties. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.800 I will say that Senator Collins has been an exceptional 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:02.840 member of the Intelligence committe. She is very serious about 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.280 our national security. She's been a great partner of mine 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:07.359 for many years in her role as the chair of 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.720 the Approporations Committee and making sure that we're funding our defense, 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.960 that we're investing in cutting edge munitions and drones. And 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.520 the state of Maine who extraordinarily fortunate to have her 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.040 not just as their senator Senator, but a senior leader 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:19.520 in the Senate. 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.000 Well, I hope you get up and tell me that's 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.480 fun about the incantry and your drill Sergeant, Senator Tom 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:26.399 Cotton always. 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:26.920 The pleasers to talk to. 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:27.680 Thank you, Senator. 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.520 I'll be right back on rerec estate to Larry O'Connor. 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:46.360 Sadly isn't welcome back America. 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.760 As you know here on the Salem News Channel the 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:53.639 Salem Radio Network, we take our SCC responsibility seriously. And 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:55.760 I've been known to be a Republican. So we have 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.040 brought to the mornings Democrat Larry O'Connor. 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:01.119 Democrat O'Connor joins me. 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:08.040 Now he's bringing your blue tie. Do you notice his 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.960 blue tie. He's telling you he's gonna lie. Now he's 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.000 gonna tell you all. I'm a concernative. I knew Andrew 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:13.560 bright Bard. 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:14.760 I used to guest host for you. 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.680 That's before he became a creature of the swamp. Larry 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.000 O'Connor used to be. It is now a full fledged 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:23.000 creature of the swamp. 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.480 You are literally inside the Beltway. 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:30.280 You're literally a lonely through Uh. Larry O'Conner is now 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.360 our morning guy. He has taken over for Christigall, who's 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.720 being signed. We're gonna ground one thing that christigall is 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.920 being slimmed. But Larry O'Connor, tell people what you were 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.920 doing now and where you're doing it from, because this 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:45.399 is the great breakthrough. Washington gets a strong voice with 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.800 a strong signal in the morning, which they need. 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.080 It's it's so exciting you and all kidding is first 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:53.399