Speaker 1: So the midterm elections obviously didn't go as well as
Speaker 1: we had hoped. We will win the House, unfortunately, will
Speaker 1: not win the Senate, and some future stars fell a
Speaker 1: little short, like Carry Lake we've had on this podcast
Speaker 1: and who we really like. She's very talented. That's for
Speaker 1: a few different reasons I got into the other week.
Speaker 1: I think largely we didn't win independence, which you have
Speaker 1: to win to win a midterm election. They are able
Speaker 1: to drive out their base with the issue of abortion,
Speaker 1: and then third mail and ballots and early voting Republicans,
Speaker 1: we've now had her, you know, teeth knocked into elections
Speaker 1: in a row on the issue of mail and ballots.
Speaker 1: I mean, Democrats aren't searching for votes, they're searching for ballots.
Speaker 1: They're doing a lot of this in certain states that
Speaker 1: allow for it, with things like ballot harvesting. And it's
Speaker 1: frustrating as Republicans to see that happen, to know that
Speaker 1: they unfairly changed the rules of the game during COVID
Speaker 1: using a virus that's as deadly as the flu to
Speaker 1: append the political process. It's incredibly frustrating ng But you know,
Speaker 1: complaining about it doesn't help. It doesn't win elections. So
Speaker 1: we've learned some hard things through the midterm elections, and
Speaker 1: the best thing for us to do as a party
Speaker 1: moving forward is to adapt and make changes. You know,
Speaker 1: we don't want to be the toys r us of politics.
Speaker 1: We've got to innovate. We've got to focus on things
Speaker 1: like mail and ballot it's in early voting, but it's
Speaker 1: not all bad. I mean, ultimately, Republicans we are now
Speaker 1: better off than we were before the midterm elections. With
Speaker 1: controlling the House. Democrats have an incredibly difficult Senate map.
Speaker 1: They're defending twice as many seats as we are in
Speaker 1: states that are also very competitive for Republicans. So we
Speaker 1: have another bite at the apple with the Senate race
Speaker 1: as well, and then we'll have the presidential election as well.
Speaker 1: But one thing we also discovered through the midterm elections
Speaker 1: is Republicans have a lot of future stars. Governor to
Speaker 1: Santa's crushed it in the state of Florida, beating Charlie
Speaker 1: cris by twenty points, biggest margin in any Florida gouber
Speaker 1: toil race in forty years. He won sixty two of
Speaker 1: the state's sixty seven counties, winning majority Hispanic districts like
Speaker 1: Miami Dade County for the first time in twenty years.
Speaker 1: And we also discovered that there are other bright future
Speaker 1: leaders of the Republican Party as well. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk to one of them. Congressman Byron Donalds, who represents
Speaker 1: Florida's nineteenth congressional district, smoked his competition in the race
Speaker 1: that he had, and I had a chance to see
Speaker 1: him speak. He spoke at Governor to Santis's victory party
Speaker 1: in Tampa before the governor took the stage, and he
Speaker 1: was incredible. I mean, it's one thing to watch people
Speaker 1: on TV. And I've always liked him, have always respected him.
Speaker 1: I've always thought he was really smart, always talented, and
Speaker 1: I really respect him after he said he wasn't going
Speaker 1: to get the vaccine because the House and Nancy Pelosi
Speaker 1: they're trying to put a tremendous amount of pressure on
Speaker 1: people to get it. So I have tons of respect
Speaker 1: for him for saying, nope, you don't know me. I
Speaker 1: do what I want on my own, man. But he
Speaker 1: was phenomenal watching him on stage, and so I think
Speaker 1: the bright spots from the midterm elections are our one.
Speaker 1: We know what we need to work on moving forward.
Speaker 1: But two, we do have a lot of bright future
Speaker 1: leaders and Republican and conservative politics do work. They worked
Speaker 1: in the state of Florida. We were able to show
Speaker 1: Floridians what conservative leadership looks like and the voters responded.
Speaker 1: So we're going to get into what lessons we need
Speaker 1: to learn, do we need new leadership moving forward, and
Speaker 1: what should the Republican Party focus on this next congress.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into all of this with Congressman Byron Donalds.
Speaker 1: I loved meeting him. He's a really awesome guy and
Speaker 1: we are so lucky to have him as one of
Speaker 1: our future leaders in the Republican Party. Congressman Byron donald So,
Speaker 1: I met you for the first time at the victory
Speaker 1: night for Governor to Santis last week. It was awesome
Speaker 1: meeting you. I really enjoyed it. Well, listen, it was
Speaker 1: great to meet you. Like I've heard the name, I've
Speaker 1: seen your having to listen to your work and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh wait, this is her. So it was
Speaker 1: actually awesome. So it's pleasure meeting you that night, and
Speaker 1: it was a great night for Florida. Well, and it was,
Speaker 1: and you spoke before Governor to Santis did. And I
Speaker 1: gotta tell you, you did sech a good job. I
Speaker 1: wanted to put the warp pay now on, like beat
Speaker 1: my chest, go out and do push ups, run laughs,
Speaker 1: like you got us all really fired up, and you
Speaker 1: gave such a good speech, So you know, congrats on
Speaker 1: killing it. Well, look, it was really from the heart,
Speaker 1: you know, somebody who came in in the Tea Party
Speaker 1: movement and was watching the country, you know, back when
Speaker 1: Obama was president and really concerned about the direction. You know,
Speaker 1: I got passionate about politics. And it wasn't because I
Speaker 1: came up as a young kid in politics. It was
Speaker 1: never a thing I wanted to do in high school
Speaker 1: and college. I was an adult, I was a citizen.
Speaker 1: I'm looking around the country and not seeing things that
Speaker 1: look good to me, and I found conservatism. And so
Speaker 1: I think when people heard on the stage from me,
Speaker 1: you know, Tuesday night, was just from the heart. This
Speaker 1: is what I think, this is what I feel. But
Speaker 1: it's also how proud I am of Florida, proving and
Speaker 1: showing what I've already known, is that Florida is a
Speaker 1: is a conservative state. We are a free state, and
Speaker 1: the voters said that loud and clear. Well, and it
Speaker 1: was such a weird night because you know, at the
Speaker 1: victory party, I mean, it was a historic night for
Speaker 1: for Republicans in the state. You crushed it in your race.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, does Santa's beat Charlie cris by twenty points?
Speaker 1: You know, the biggest margin in any Florida gubernator race
Speaker 1: in forty years, not just for Republican but for for anyone.
Speaker 1: So we had this huge night and then it's like
Speaker 1: you leave the party and then it just you know,
Speaker 1: reality hits with what was going on in the rest
Speaker 1: of the country. So what do you think happened? You know,
Speaker 1: what do you think was the breakdown where Republicans fell
Speaker 1: short of what we thought was going to happen. Well,
Speaker 1: a couple of things. I think First, in these other states,
Speaker 1: the citizens haven't had the experience of what conservative leadership
Speaker 1: really means and how it impacts your life. People gotta understand,
Speaker 1: Florida has been building towards this for thirty years. Um.
Speaker 1: I was actually with some of my colleagues in the
Speaker 1: Florida delegation, people like Dan Webster and Mario Diez Blart,
Speaker 1: who were in the Florida legislature when the Democrats had
Speaker 1: control of the Florida legislature. So this has been building
Speaker 1: for quite some time. The other states keep going back
Speaker 1: and forth. Um they never you know, they never go
Speaker 1: strong into the conservative lane from a policy standpoint. And
Speaker 1: so in Florida, voters saw the realities and the difference
Speaker 1: is very clear because of COVID nineteen, and I think
Speaker 1: they responded to that. Number two and I think on
Speaker 1: the national level, number two is we didn't answer the
Speaker 1: bell when it comes to the Dobbs decision. I think
Speaker 1: that the decision by you know, people in the Republican
Speaker 1: leadership and Republican Party above, you know, they just decided
Speaker 1: that it's not a big issue, we don't have to
Speaker 1: focus on it, and we kept focus on on on
Speaker 1: inflation and economy and crime and the border. And I'm
Speaker 1: not saying those aren't key issues. They definitely are key issues.
Speaker 1: But what we didn't take seriously enough, in my view,
Speaker 1: is how you know how volatile uh issue like abortion is.
Speaker 1: I think we should have been and we should have
Speaker 1: created a position as a party. We should have stood
Speaker 1: by that position as a party, and it would have
Speaker 1: deflated the lies frankly, that came from the left. You know,
Speaker 1: if you look at some of the campaign ads. I
Speaker 1: was in different states campaigning, and if you look at
Speaker 1: the campaign ads, every ad from a Democrat was about abortion,
Speaker 1: every ad, and we had no counter message to that,
Speaker 1: and I think that did hurt us in these other states.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a really good point, and I'm guilty
Speaker 1: of that as well, because I didn't think abortion would
Speaker 1: supersede some of these bigger issues, or at least in
Speaker 1: my mind, like crime. But what they did do was
Speaker 1: use it to turn their people out. And of course,
Speaker 1: we know, to win a midterm election, you've got to
Speaker 1: get your base more fired up than theirs, and you've
Speaker 1: got to win independence. So I think you really nailed
Speaker 1: it with what you just said on that issue. And
Speaker 1: you know, and I was guilty of that in Italy. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, what do you think what should our priorities
Speaker 1: be as a party moving forward? I think we're going
Speaker 1: we're gonna have a majority in the House, so that's
Speaker 1: great news. I think our priority has to be going
Speaker 1: through all of the policies that we talk about and
Speaker 1: passing it. And I mean, you're getting into the weeds
Speaker 1: on policy. We We don't need to let the Democrats
Speaker 1: get their feet settled on what they think Republicans stand
Speaker 1: on our doing. We don't need the press being able
Speaker 1: to lay out narratives about all the Republicans are going
Speaker 1: to do this. It needs to be a very aggressive strategy,
Speaker 1: and we need to go into every policy solution and
Speaker 1: not shy away from it. I think if we do that,
Speaker 1: the voters will see two things. One they're serious about governing,
Speaker 1: and number two, they'll see the contrast that we need
Speaker 1: with the Democrats. It goes back to Ronald Reagan. There
Speaker 1: can't be pale pastels. There have to be bold colors,
Speaker 1: and I think congress um in the House, that's what
Speaker 1: we need to be focused on. Do you think that's
Speaker 1: a great point? And and to your point, you know,
Speaker 1: part of the reason why I think Florida and Republicans
Speaker 1: did so well here is because you guys did lead
Speaker 1: with a bold plan in the state of Florida and
Speaker 1: really showed what leadership looks like. To your point, you know,
Speaker 1: I also believe we learned some important things in the
Speaker 1: process front front and we learned this in but most
Speaker 1: particularly this past election with mail ballots and early voting
Speaker 1: has really changed the dynamics and the political dynamics in
Speaker 1: the country. I mean, we got to be more aggressive
Speaker 1: on getting voters out early and getting voters to to
Speaker 1: do mail and balloting as well. We've got to play
Speaker 1: the games in each state as they're written in order
Speaker 1: to change them. Listen, I always bring it down on this.
Speaker 1: You know. I used to cochise sports, and you know,
Speaker 1: if I wasn't in Congress, that's what I would be
Speaker 1: doing with my time and also in addition to my
Speaker 1: financial services career and what I would always tell, you know,
Speaker 1: my young kids who I would coaches. You can't complain
Speaker 1: about the rules. You gotta go compete because if you
Speaker 1: spend your time complaining I don't like this referee, this
Speaker 1: person you know always does this, then you're already defeated.
Speaker 1: So we have to just understand this is the game,
Speaker 1: and we gotta get in and do it now. In
Speaker 1: some of these other states, they need to adopt Florida's
Speaker 1: election law, or at a minimum, Georgia's election law, because
Speaker 1: though the Georgia's election law actually worked quite well despite
Speaker 1: the Democrats lying to voters and gas lighting voters about
Speaker 1: it being Jim Crow two point oh. Turned out Georgia
Speaker 1: had successful elections just like Florida did. So we're the
Speaker 1: model now for how you run elections. And it's done
Speaker 1: with making sure people are requesting their ballot. Nobody else
Speaker 1: is doing it for them. They can't request for like
Speaker 1: ten people, they can't return ten. You can return yours
Speaker 1: and another family members. That's the law on Florida. You
Speaker 1: have to repress repress your ballot every election. That's the
Speaker 1: law on Florida. You have to have I d UM.
Speaker 1: Your supervisors of Elections are allowed to tabulate ballots um
Speaker 1: starting forty days before the election as they receive them.
Speaker 1: So on election night, all we're doing is just reporting
Speaker 1: the numbers that we already know, as opposed to you're
Speaker 1: waiting on these batches of votes and all this other stuff,
Speaker 1: which actually brings more pessimism to the effective the effectiveness
Speaker 1: and the efficiency of our election process. I think that's
Speaker 1: where we need to go once again. The Florida model works.
Speaker 1: We need to embrace it and go down that line.
Speaker 1: And if we do that work, then we can be
Speaker 1: focused on the things that really truly matter, the policy issues,
Speaker 1: and frankly, some of the cultural war issues in our politics,
Speaker 1: as opposed to then getting into this weird debate with
Speaker 1: Democrats about who really supports democracy. You know, I think
Speaker 1: that's really a joke argument from the Democrats because a
Speaker 1: lot of them actually have a problem with suppressing free speech.
Speaker 1: We know that through social media, we know that through
Speaker 1: national press that they actually suppressed stories that they feel
Speaker 1: are not advantageous to them. So we need to step
Speaker 1: into that, into that field, into that argument. But you've
Speaker 1: got to look at the playing field and say these
Speaker 1: are the rules. Then let's play, and you put your
Speaker 1: helmet on and you work hard. Quick commercial break and
Speaker 1: then back with Congressman Byron Donald's California is liberalism taken
Speaker 1: to its you know, final conclusion, right like. So that
Speaker 1: that is what Democrats want California policies. And I think
Speaker 1: Florida to the opposite of that is conservatism to its
Speaker 1: natural conclusion, right like. And we've really led the nation
Speaker 1: in the state of Florida in some big ways on
Speaker 1: election laws, which you're just talking about as well. You know,
Speaker 1: But as we look at the party moving forward, is
Speaker 1: it time for some leadership changes? Well? I think so.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I'm running for a leadership posts in
Speaker 1: the House of Representatives right now, Um, and so I
Speaker 1: definitely think so. Look, we have had essentially the same
Speaker 1: leadership for eight, nine, ten years, and so you know,
Speaker 1: my attitude is is that you know, if you if
Speaker 1: you're if you're winning Super Bowls every other year, and
Speaker 1: then great, but if you're not, you got to really
Speaker 1: evaluate that. And I think it requires not just the
Speaker 1: electorate but also the members to have frank and honest conversations. Now,
Speaker 1: if through those those those conversations you come back to
Speaker 1: saying no, this is the best foot forward, then that's fine.
Speaker 1: But look, I'll take the United States Senate. In the Senate,
Speaker 1: there is no vote for Mitch McConnell because nobody decides
Speaker 1: to step up and run against Mitch. And that's not
Speaker 1: a pro mid statement or anti Mitch statement. That's just
Speaker 1: saying that that Senate Republicans they have to look at
Speaker 1: this as well and say, you know what, maybe there's
Speaker 1: a better way to do this and not be so
Speaker 1: concerned about well so and so will punish me if
Speaker 1: I oppose them, Because these lots of leadership aren't shouldn't
Speaker 1: just be taken by acclamation. They should be given by
Speaker 1: the will of the members who get voted on the
Speaker 1: serve up here, because we get our authority from the
Speaker 1: will of the voters who sent us from back home.
Speaker 1: It's a great point, you know, Congress, I always liked
Speaker 1: you when I saw you on TV. Obviously I thought
Speaker 1: you're awesome when I met you in person. But when
Speaker 1: I really started being like, I like this guy a
Speaker 1: lot was when you didn't get vaccinated, just because there's
Speaker 1: so much pressure, especially in Congress, to to force you
Speaker 1: guys to submit right to to Nancy Pelosi's will, and
Speaker 1: you refused and you stood strong. Why did you make
Speaker 1: that decision for yourself? Because, UMT three years old, and
Speaker 1: I'm healthy, and the data was pretty clear that if
Speaker 1: you're a healthy individual under the age of sixty five, um,
Speaker 1: you'll recover from COVID nineteen just fine. And if you
Speaker 1: were older, if you're older than five, then yeah, you
Speaker 1: had a legitimate decision to make about getting vaccinated. That
Speaker 1: was always been my position. UM, I wasn't gonna let
Speaker 1: media or public pressure make me do that because that's
Speaker 1: just not how we should be making decisions for our
Speaker 1: own personal situations. And number three, and this is a
Speaker 1: thing that really, you know, it really pissed me off
Speaker 1: in the whole COVID debate. For for all of human biology,
Speaker 1: we've known that when you get a virus, you develop
Speaker 1: antibodies because you actually contracted it and you got over
Speaker 1: it and you pass it and then you have antibodies.
Speaker 1: But they're a COVID nine team. The entire media establishment
Speaker 1: just ignored the fact that antibodies exists. It was the
Speaker 1: craziest thing to me because the people who were saying
Speaker 1: you gotta follow the science have basically ignored the base
Speaker 1: scientific fact that all of us had learned in high school.
Speaker 1: So that's just that kind of stuff. This doesn't sit
Speaker 1: well with me. You know, my I'm somewhat I can
Speaker 1: be a contrarian at times. It's like my base nature.
Speaker 1: And even my wife will tell you, if you push
Speaker 1: on him to do something, he's going to just like
Speaker 1: get his back up just because you're pushing on him.
Speaker 1: If you have the logic and the facts behind you, hey,
Speaker 1: I can be supportive of that and actually champion it.
Speaker 1: But if it's just gonna be this thing where we
Speaker 1: all have to have to have to have to genuinely,
Speaker 1: because that's where the whole group is going I don't
Speaker 1: respond well to that. I was. I was smiling to
Speaker 1: myself as you were saying that, because I'm like, I
Speaker 1: feel like you're describing me like I I as soon
Speaker 1: as someone tries to force me to do something, I'm like, whoa, Nope, Nope,
Speaker 1: this is not this is not going to work with me.
Speaker 1: I do hope that the House changes all the COVID
Speaker 1: rules and gets rid of proxy voting, makes people show
Speaker 1: up in person, and and changes, uh, you know some
Speaker 1: of those things. You know. I know you're a busy man.
Speaker 1: You've got a lot going on, sir. Is there anything
Speaker 1: you'd like to leave us with before we go? The
Speaker 1: biggest thing is like, look, I know that it looks
Speaker 1: like elections didn't turn out the way we wanted, but
Speaker 1: people should not lose heart because I think, and this
Speaker 1: is something that comment Up made to my members has
Speaker 1: really shown us, is that the American people are sick
Speaker 1: of the Democrats. But the other problem is they're not
Speaker 1: quite sure that they love Republicans, and so I think
Speaker 1: I think the silver lining is that there is an
Speaker 1: opportunity for us to make our case and to demonstrate
Speaker 1: with bold leadership why people should be choosing not just
Speaker 1: a Republican Party, but conservatism more, more, more and more
Speaker 1: appropriate overall. And I think we have a golden opportunity
Speaker 1: to do that across so many demographic groups that were
Speaker 1: not open to conservatism before, they're open to it today.
Speaker 1: And so it's our job just to leave with our
Speaker 1: ideas and really understand all the issues that exist in
Speaker 1: America and not be afraid of the solutions that'll be bringing.
Speaker 1: That's really well said. Um, totally agree with you, Congressman.
Speaker 1: I'm glad that you represent the state of Florida, my
Speaker 1: home state now, and uh, you know, I hope you
Speaker 1: have a bright future in the Republican Party and hopefully
Speaker 1: leadership as well. So I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 1: Great to have met you last week and great to
Speaker 1: have a chance to talk to you for the for
Speaker 1: the podcast. So thanks so much, No, awesome, thanks for
Speaker 1: your time, Lisa, really appreciate it. And hey, I can't
Speaker 1: wait to do it again. Yeah. So that was Congressman
Speaker 1: Byron Donald's. I really like the guy. He's incredibly smart.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, I love the fact he stood strong
Speaker 1: on vaccines and I gotta tell you watching him speak
Speaker 1: before the Governor. He just he crushed it. He did
Speaker 1: such a good job, so really cool having him on
Speaker 1: the podcast, especially as a fellow Floridia and I appreciate
Speaker 1: you guys at home for listening every Monday and Thursday,
Speaker 1: but you can listen throughout the week. I always love
Speaker 1: when you give me reviews on Apple Podcasts or you
Speaker 1: leave us a rating. Those are fun to see and read.
Speaker 1: I want to thank my producer, John Cassio for putting
Speaker 1: this together and for you at home listening. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much.