Speaker 1: As we look ahead at the four presidential race, it's
Speaker 1: instructive to keep looking back, to keep figuring out what
Speaker 1: went wrong during the mid term elections. What do we
Speaker 1: need to do differently as we look ahead in four.
Speaker 1: I mean, Joe Biden sure looks vulnerable. I mean, the
Speaker 1: country is falling apart, but that still didn't get the
Speaker 1: job done in the mid terms. We knew all this
Speaker 1: then people still chose Democrats for the Senate. So what
Speaker 1: lessons do we need to learn from the mid terms
Speaker 1: and what do we don't need to do differently as
Speaker 1: we head into four. And there's a ton of opportunities
Speaker 1: ahead for Republicans. Even looking at the Senate map for US,
Speaker 1: Democrats are defending twenty three of the thirty four seats
Speaker 1: that are up for re election in the Senate for four.
Speaker 1: And you look at seven states where Donald Trump won
Speaker 1: in either or as well, We've got really tough races
Speaker 1: for Democrats like West Virginia for Joe Mansion. The guy
Speaker 1: faces really tough Republican challengers, including potentially the governor there,
Speaker 1: Jim Justice. He's potentially eyeing a run in a state
Speaker 1: of West Virginia. So Republicans have opportunities. We have to
Speaker 1: do well, We have to perform. We can't take anything
Speaker 1: for granted. I want to look back and also look forward.
Speaker 1: At the same time, with Congressman Lee's Elden, he ran
Speaker 1: for governor in the state of New York, a deep
Speaker 1: blue state, only lost by less than six points. That's
Speaker 1: pretty substantial. It was one of the closest gubatorial races
Speaker 1: in New York in twenty years. Because he did so
Speaker 1: well at the top, he helped Republicans flip four seats
Speaker 1: in New York, essentially doing his part a great service
Speaker 1: for Republicans of winning back the House. He's responsible for
Speaker 1: that for doing so well at the top of the ticket.
Speaker 1: He received the most votes of any gurope nominee in
Speaker 1: the States since Nelson Rockefeller. What does he think Republicans
Speaker 1: should have done differently, what we should do moving forward,
Speaker 1: and should we even bother in states like New York.
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk to him about all of it.
Speaker 1: And it also get into that terrifying day when he
Speaker 1: was on stage on the campaign row where a man
Speaker 1: tried to stab him. There's also dry by shooting outside
Speaker 1: of his home. So what does he think about this
Speaker 1: political environment that we live in moving forward, where he
Speaker 1: had to face an attempted stabbing on stage. So we'll
Speaker 1: get into all of this with Congressman Lee Zelden. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy stay tuned. So, Congressman, you came less
Speaker 1: than six points of winning in a Democrat state where
Speaker 1: Republicans are outnumbered by something like two to one. You know,
Speaker 1: looking back at all of that sort of what's your
Speaker 1: takeaway from it? You know, what did you learn from
Speaker 1: all that? I have so many thoughts. It's a it's
Speaker 1: a great question. We campaign for nineteen months and I'll
Speaker 1: say one thing, and this applies all throughout the entire country.
Speaker 1: It is important for Republicans to get into the cities.
Speaker 1: There are so many people inside of the cities who
Speaker 1: are waiting for us to show up. They agree you
Speaker 1: with us on the issues that matter most to their lives,
Speaker 1: and if we don't show up, we can't expect them
Speaker 1: to vote for us. We're seeing them continue to vote
Speaker 1: Democrats and democratic places because they feel like the devil,
Speaker 1: you know, is better than the devil you don't. You
Speaker 1: have to show up, put a face to the name,
Speaker 1: and and don't pander, you know, don't show up in
Speaker 1: a black community or an Asian community or Hispanic community
Speaker 1: and say vote for me because I love black people,
Speaker 1: I love Asian people, I love Hispanic people. Instead, what
Speaker 1: we do is we show up and we say we
Speaker 1: need to make safety on these streets improved. Here's how
Speaker 1: we need to improve the quality of education in your
Speaker 1: kids school. Here's how. And what I also would say
Speaker 1: about that is the media market in New York City,
Speaker 1: for example, it covers about two thirds of the congressional
Speaker 1: districts in New York, even covers congressional districts in Connecticut,
Speaker 1: New Jersey. And a lot of these reporters who are
Speaker 1: based inside of a place like New York City, they're
Speaker 1: not going to spend their whole day traveling around the suburbs.
Speaker 1: But if you show up inside of this city, you're
Speaker 1: hitting issues that they have to cover. And then the
Speaker 1: people who are in the suburbs who care about the city,
Speaker 1: even though they don't live there, start their day with
Speaker 1: their morning news or and their night with the evening
Speaker 1: news seeing you leading the fight on the issues that
Speaker 1: they care a lot about. You're driving the message. And lastly,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'll I could go on with a
Speaker 1: thousand different answers, but I wanted to mention this this
Speaker 1: city dynamic of it. But I would say that we
Speaker 1: need to understand why would a red wave hit New
Speaker 1: York as hard as it did, but not land nationally.
Speaker 1: And my message is this, it is important to articulate
Speaker 1: that you are against the policies of Joe Biden. It's
Speaker 1: important articulate what you see is the problems with the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party. But you cannot stop there. You have to
Speaker 1: talk about what you are for. Let people know what
Speaker 1: they're investing, and that's when they open up their heart,
Speaker 1: their passion. That's when they believe in are filled with
Speaker 1: hope and they get more active and they get other
Speaker 1: people out to vote. If you want to create a movement,
Speaker 1: don't try to create a movement by just being you know,
Speaker 1: spicy about your opposition. That's maybe something where no matter
Speaker 1: how effective you can get, you might potentially add some
Speaker 1: additional enthusiasm in your base. But if you want to
Speaker 1: get two ticket splitters, if you want to get to
Speaker 1: people who have always voted Democrat their whole life and
Speaker 1: they're ready to vote Republican, don't do it by acting
Speaker 1: like Democrats. Don't try to be democrat. Light explain to
Speaker 1: them why you have the positions that you do on
Speaker 1: the issues that matter most to them. And then I
Speaker 1: think what we would have and could have seen nationally
Speaker 1: would have been a red wave. I just feel like
Speaker 1: our party on messaging needs to get a lot better.
Speaker 1: I agree with that wholeheartedly. You know, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people, you know, we look at cities like
Speaker 1: New York. I used to live there for three years
Speaker 1: before moving down to Florida. You look at the crime
Speaker 1: you've experienced the time firsthand, which you know I want
Speaker 1: to talk to you about as well. But it's sort
Speaker 1: of we always ask herself why would people vote against
Speaker 1: their interests? And the interest here would be just safety,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to walk down the street without
Speaker 1: potentially getting murdered, being able to ride the subway without
Speaker 1: potentially getting murdered. And you know, why do you think
Speaker 1: people still voted for local knowing all of this? Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, I would say that while the crime
Speaker 1: and the economy were the top two issues in in
Speaker 1: this race for governor, there were other people who prioritize
Speaker 1: other issues. They identifies their number one issue. It might
Speaker 1: be the number one issue to them, but it's not
Speaker 1: the number one issue overall. And I would say that
Speaker 1: there was a certain extent some of that for people
Speaker 1: who care about crime very personally. They might have just
Speaker 1: never voted Republican their life and they just couldn't bring
Speaker 1: themselves to break through that cycle. Fortunately, we're able to
Speaker 1: break through a whole lot of it. We were able
Speaker 1: to double the percentage of how much the Republican candidate
Speaker 1: Goto I actually got more votes than any other Republican
Speaker 1: statewide in New York in fifty two years. So there
Speaker 1: is a silver lining here in analyzing the impact of
Speaker 1: these messages. I would say for some people, they need
Speaker 1: you to show up in person. Uh, they maybe are
Speaker 1: busy with a particular routine in life that doesn't have
Speaker 1: them watching TV. So you have to find other ways
Speaker 1: to connect with them. You need to be active on
Speaker 1: social media, with your mail, with the grassroots campaigning, that
Speaker 1: door knocking and the phone calls. It all adds up.
Speaker 1: You have to run an effective campaign. I would say
Speaker 1: that there's a need to be built bridge building these
Speaker 1: bridges year after year and next year. For example, in
Speaker 1: your city city they have the city council races continue
Speaker 1: to talk to people to build trust where trust doesn't
Speaker 1: exist and where they feel like you are the devil
Speaker 1: they don't know. Not only do they get to know
Speaker 1: you better, but they realize that you're actually not as
Speaker 1: bad as the Democrats were telling them that you were.
Speaker 1: So I would just use this as a challenge as
Speaker 1: an opportunity. There we came really close in a state
Speaker 1: where there's about three point six million more Democrats than Republicans,
Speaker 1: we were just a few points behind, So I would
Speaker 1: say that we should view this as a measure of
Speaker 1: big progress in the state that Joe Biden won by
Speaker 1: twenty three points, so this is almost an eighteen point
Speaker 1: shift to the right. We just have to keep working
Speaker 1: harder and not wait for more years, work hard with
Speaker 1: these local races in between, like we'll see next year,
Speaker 1: and always be effectively communicating what you stand for the
Speaker 1: astition in the way that you spend money, leaning to
Speaker 1: the election laws that are on the books, even if
Speaker 1: you oppose the particular election law when it was first
Speaker 1: passing through a state legislature. Once they actually pass it,
Speaker 1: do it better than the Democrats do it. Do it
Speaker 1: so much better. The Democrats regret passing it in the
Speaker 1: first place, organized collaborate. There is a lot more that
Speaker 1: we should be doing nationally and uh, and I think
Speaker 1: a lot did work, but we just got to build
Speaker 1: on it well. And for those listening, in addition to
Speaker 1: you know, you're doing so well, you're pretty much responsible
Speaker 1: for flipping four House seats in New York and giving
Speaker 1: Republicans they're they're victory in the House, and including taking
Speaker 1: down Sean Patrick Maloney, the chairman of the Democrat Congressional
Speaker 1: Campaign Committee, which is huge. And so you know it
Speaker 1: is important to run strong candidates in some of these
Speaker 1: blue states because of what you were able to do
Speaker 1: with all of that. Do you think a Republican can
Speaker 1: win statewide in New York? Absolutely? Yeah. You know, we've
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time looking at the registration and
Speaker 1: also the turnout in different types of elections, and I
Speaker 1: would say that as of right now, my analysis today
Speaker 1: is that you need a Democrat in the White House
Speaker 1: these mid term elections. That's when uh, these statewide seats
Speaker 1: are up in New York, the governor's race, attorney General,
Speaker 1: lieutenant governor, controller. Uh, you need a Democrat in the
Speaker 1: White House. That's when the turnout model becomes favorable enough
Speaker 1: to make a run. We saw a drastic change in
Speaker 1: the turnout model from two. You see on the flip side,
Speaker 1: if it's a red state, if there is a Republican
Speaker 1: in the White House, an opportunity for a Democrat to
Speaker 1: make a move in a red state. Um In this case,
Speaker 1: this was the first time that you had one party
Speaker 1: Democrat rule at every level d C Albany in New
Speaker 1: York City at the same exact time, So the timing
Speaker 1: was right from that standpoint. So let's fast forward to
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. What do we think to answer your
Speaker 1: question or we can be able to do this? Well,
Speaker 1: one thing that's out of our control is the question
Speaker 1: of well, who's going to be the president in twenty
Speaker 1: four If there's a Republican in the White House, I
Speaker 1: think it becomes more challenging than two. Doesn't mean it
Speaker 1: can't be done. I believe that if Joe Biden somehow
Speaker 1: is the miracle himself to a second term, or some
Speaker 1: other Democrat got into the White House, I would think
Speaker 1: that should be even more favorable in New York than
Speaker 1: two is. So that's just a brief summary of of
Speaker 1: the lay of the land. In a state like New York.
Speaker 1: It's really tough sledding in any year, but it becomes
Speaker 1: a lot harder if you have the Republican in the
Speaker 1: White House without all With all that being said, I
Speaker 1: am all in to do absolutely everything in my power
Speaker 1: to help make sure that we're getting a Republican in
Speaker 1: the White House in a couple of years. Let's take
Speaker 1: a quick commercial break more with Congress and Lee's eldn
Speaker 1: How vulnerable do you think Biden is? I worry? You know,
Speaker 1: it's like we look at two obviously a lot of us,
Speaker 1: including myself, you know, I thought we would do better
Speaker 1: in terms of nationally for the mid terms. Are we
Speaker 1: underestimating Joe Biden? Or how vulnerable do you think he is?
Speaker 1: He is so vulnerable? He is so beautiful? Oh my,
Speaker 1: how how did this happen in the first place? In
Speaker 1: you know, like you know, you look at why wasn't
Speaker 1: a red wave all across the entire country? In um
Speaker 1: In theory, this should be like one of the most
Speaker 1: beatable incumbents in the history of American politics. And for
Speaker 1: us on our side, that should give us no over
Speaker 1: confidence whatsoever. Nobody should be jumping on a board to
Speaker 1: ride in a wave. What we need to do is
Speaker 1: all day, every day from today until November to absolutely
Speaker 1: every thing in our power everywhere to tell everyone we
Speaker 1: know why it is important for us to make a
Speaker 1: change in the presidency. And as we're articulating it, it's
Speaker 1: not just saying, oh, you know, Joe Biden, he's he's
Speaker 1: getting so old, and he's embarrassing himself in these speeches
Speaker 1: and you know he's reading end of sentence into you know,
Speaker 1: from the teleprompter, it's actually coming out of his mouth.
Speaker 1: It's okay if you want to point that stuff out.
Speaker 1: I mean, that is something that people are going to
Speaker 1: be reminded of, either on their own or reminded by
Speaker 1: other people. But that isn't a secret sauce that's actually,
Speaker 1: don't know, win the race. The secret sauce that's gonna
Speaker 1: win the race is us talking about how we're committed
Speaker 1: to doing absolutely everything in our power to save our country.
Speaker 1: Now we want to make America the best version of itself. Well,
Speaker 1: you have people right now on power in Washington who
Speaker 1: want to make America like some other countries somewhere else.
Speaker 1: We want to do everything our power to save our
Speaker 1: nation and these Democrats who are there right now are
Speaker 1: doing everything in their power to save themselves. Talk about
Speaker 1: how we can make our border more secure, how we
Speaker 1: can put more money into people's pockets, that we can
Speaker 1: make their life, their family, their street, their home safer,
Speaker 1: what we are going to do to improve the quality
Speaker 1: of education side of their kids schools. When we're talking
Speaker 1: about that disciplined message of what we stand for, why
Speaker 1: are we Republican, what we will do differently, that is
Speaker 1: when a movement ends up getting created. In twenty four
Speaker 1: and this very vulnerable incomment, Joe Biden will be delivering
Speaker 1: a concession speech. Who do you think's best poised to
Speaker 1: beat them? From the rate, I honestly think that every
Speaker 1: single one of these names that are being mentioned can
Speaker 1: all beat him. I think I'm I am confident that
Speaker 1: the Republican nominee, whoever the Republican nominee ends up being,
Speaker 1: is the favorite head to head against Joe Biden. Now
Speaker 1: that doesn't I'm not saying guaranteed. I'm saying favorite, and
Speaker 1: there are plenty of ways to make mistakes to end
Speaker 1: up coming up short. We'll see who ends up getting
Speaker 1: into the race. I mean, one of the dynamics that
Speaker 1: ends up playing out. We saw it in is. You know,
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is in the race right now. If somebody
Speaker 1: was to enter the race tomorrow, you know President Trump's style,
Speaker 1: He's coming at you. You know, how does how does
Speaker 1: that candidate withstand that attack? Okay, how how do you
Speaker 1: what kind of a campaign do you run? One of
Speaker 1: the questions of like, you know, which candidate is going
Speaker 1: to be the best candidate if you were to fast
Speaker 1: forward to November. You know, there's all these different names
Speaker 1: out there, But if you look at history, people perform
Speaker 1: above and under expectations on a debate stage, some more
Speaker 1: harder than others, some are better and more efficient in
Speaker 1: the way that they fundraise. What type of a campaign
Speaker 1: organization they have. Are they flying by the eat of
Speaker 1: their pants every single day, just doing whatever they decide
Speaker 1: in their morning meeting, or do they go into a
Speaker 1: race for president having already planned out from uh election
Speaker 1: day backwards, from victory backwards, and they know exactly what
Speaker 1: they're gonna do today because they've already decided last week
Speaker 1: that Tuesday of next week or Wednesday of next week,
Speaker 1: this is what our plan is. And they're implementing a
Speaker 1: war gamed, well thought out, well executed plan. So I
Speaker 1: would say this, obviously, we have to see what the
Speaker 1: field looks like. We have to see what type of
Speaker 1: campaigns they run, how do they withstand scrutiny, Do we
Speaker 1: learn new things about people we didn't know previously, and
Speaker 1: and we'll find out. I think that the strongest candidate
Speaker 1: ends up emerging from that process. Uh And I have
Speaker 1: a feeling that's going to be a big, robust field. Well,
Speaker 1: and I hope so, because I think competitions, you know, good,
Speaker 1: and we want the strongest person to emerge from all that.
Speaker 1: You know. I also you know, thinking, and you know
Speaker 1: a lot of people are saying this about changing the
Speaker 1: way we look at Mail and Balladay. I mean that's
Speaker 1: completely a ended the political process since COVID. Uh So,
Speaker 1: I think that's a big one too that we need
Speaker 1: to look at and revamp or strategy on. Absolutely. And
Speaker 1: I'll give you one example. I could think of plenty
Speaker 1: of others. Election Day in Nevada, there was a big
Speaker 1: snowstorm in northern Nevada that impacted their election day turnout
Speaker 1: and they end up barely losing. Some of these statewide races.
Speaker 1: If in your state, if they have early voting, lean
Speaker 1: into it. If if your state, some other state out
Speaker 1: there in this country is proposing ballot harvesting and you
Speaker 1: totally oppose ballot harvesting. When they're going through the process
Speaker 1: of deciding whether or not to legalize ballot harvesting, fight
Speaker 1: it with all of your might. Oppose it, Explain why
Speaker 1: it's bad. If it gets through, if it gets implemented,
Speaker 1: do ballot harvesting better than they do it. I think
Speaker 1: that is really important for Republicans to be leaning into
Speaker 1: all these election laws on the books. And you can
Speaker 1: spend time, whether it's it's litigation or it's proposing changes
Speaker 1: of laws between now November to fight for election integrity,
Speaker 1: to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, when the rules
Speaker 1: are set and it's now time for the ballance to
Speaker 1: go out, people to actually start checking a box. That
Speaker 1: is where Republicans need to go all in with every
Speaker 1: method that is on the books and to beat the
Speaker 1: Democrats at their own game across the board. May I
Speaker 1: voted early here in Florida for for Governor to Santis
Speaker 1: quick break more with Les Eldon before we go wanted
Speaker 1: to ask you real quick. Obviously crime big issue in
Speaker 1: your race. I mean you had unfortunately that the shooting
Speaker 1: outside of your home, someone tried to stab you on stage.
Speaker 1: We know a man recently tried to assassinate Brett Kavanaugh.
Speaker 1: Where is this all heading and politics? Very bad situation
Speaker 1: when you look at what happened with the Steve Scalie shooting,
Speaker 1: when you look at the attacks, the threats, the protesting
Speaker 1: of the Supreme Court justices in a way that is
Speaker 1: beyond harassment. Uh, the attacks on the pro life pregnancy centers. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that list goes on. And we saw it all
Speaker 1: play out during the riots after George Floyd was killed.
Speaker 1: And it has gone so far where people were taking
Speaker 1: over city streets and they were attacking courthouses. And what
Speaker 1: this requires is for elected officials to be willing to
Speaker 1: stand up and lead the people who are their followers. Instead,
Speaker 1: what you have are too many people who are weak
Speaker 1: need they are weak, they are led by their followers.
Speaker 1: They want to capitalize on that anger and frustration to
Speaker 1: harness it to add fuel to that fire. And what
Speaker 1: happens is that our country continues to go down a
Speaker 1: trajectory where at any moment. The next attack can be
Speaker 1: lit on a moment's notice, and people can get hurt
Speaker 1: the way that we engage in debate. I'm a I'm
Speaker 1: a conservative. If somebody was a liberal and they wanted
Speaker 1: to voice their opinion, I believe that you should have
Speaker 1: a social media account. I believe that you should be
Speaker 1: able to have your your protest and have your voice.
Speaker 1: I believe, in my view where I actually want to
Speaker 1: debate you, let's have the best idea win. Now, liberals
Speaker 1: on the other side, they want to cancel everything. On
Speaker 1: the other side, they they want to brand conservatives as Nazis,
Speaker 1: as white supremacists, as racists, regardless of whatever is coming
Speaker 1: out of our mouth. They've run out of other things
Speaker 1: to call us. They tried the extremist thing, you know,
Speaker 1: your two party extreme as. Through the years, they've tried
Speaker 1: all the other names. This is becoming third world nation
Speaker 1: crap where you have. You know, in the Middle East,
Speaker 1: everyone calls their adversary a terrorist, regardless, just everyone calls
Speaker 1: everyone else who isn't totally aligned with their views a terrorist.
Speaker 1: What have we gotten to in this country because that's
Speaker 1: the only name that's left now. I think that this
Speaker 1: is a responsibility on the part of the individuals who
Speaker 1: are public figures who have a following to engage in
Speaker 1: this debate. Substantively share your ideas. You can encourage others
Speaker 1: to share theirs. Let's have the best idea. When this
Speaker 1: is America, baby, We're the We're the greatest country in
Speaker 1: the history of the world. We shouldn't be silencing voices
Speaker 1: and censoring opposing voices. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: what we shouldn't be doing is just trying to own
Speaker 1: the opposite view in a way where you're just simply
Speaker 1: making a total full of them where they um, where
Speaker 1: you're you're going next level where that person should be targeted.
Speaker 1: You know, that person should be branded with the name
Speaker 1: you're You're you're gonna own them by branding them as
Speaker 1: a as a terrorist you know, or whatever other Nazi
Speaker 1: or Nazi sympathizer. At KKK, it's gone so overboard, and
Speaker 1: I think it's time for us to be able to know.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking you know, uniparty stuff here. I'm not
Speaker 1: talking that this is some moment where you know, Republicans
Speaker 1: and Democrats should start being the same party the same person. No,
Speaker 1: we we should have competing views and computing competing voices.
Speaker 1: But stop going overboard with the hate where you're not
Speaker 1: just winning an argument, you're trying to destroy the other person.
Speaker 1: Where others who are following you are taking matters into
Speaker 1: their own hands and they're being destructive with it. And
Speaker 1: then when that comes your follower taking matters in their
Speaker 1: own hands and harming other people, you think that you're
Speaker 1: going to get away with just sitting back and not
Speaker 1: saying anything. Now, that's not an option. If you step
Speaker 1: up and you want to be a public figure with
Speaker 1: a following mean, that must have been pretty terrifying. Well,
Speaker 1: I'll say that for for me. You know, for example,
Speaker 1: that we had a you know, the drive by gang
Speaker 1: shooting on our front yard. My sixteen year old daughters
Speaker 1: were at home. From what I've been told by law enforcement,
Speaker 1: my home was not targeted because of because I'm a
Speaker 1: sitting congressman or a candidate for a governor. Two people
Speaker 1: were shot. They were lying on the ground ten feet
Speaker 1: from where my daughters were sitting there doing homework on
Speaker 1: a quiet Sunday afternoon. A bullet landed about thirty feet
Speaker 1: from where they were sitting. Uh, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: what In one way, I would say, thank god both
Speaker 1: of them are there. It would have been a lot
Speaker 1: scarier if there was only one of them being there.
Speaker 1: They responded quickly and smartly, and the scariest part was
Speaker 1: not having enough information. They were locked inside of the
Speaker 1: upstairs bathroom. They thought that the voice is the screaming
Speaker 1: they heard that those three individuals were actually coming for them.
Speaker 1: They don't know if they had come inside of the house.
Speaker 1: When this happens to me as a sitting member of Congress,
Speaker 1: as a candidate for governor, there are all sorts of
Speaker 1: millions of other New Yorkers who are thinking themselves, well,
Speaker 1: this can happen to them. They don't want to be
Speaker 1: told by the person who's sitting in the Governor's office
Speaker 1: that there's nothing to see here, look away, that this
Speaker 1: is perception that you know what, when I said at
Speaker 1: the debate, you know, here we are question after question,
Speaker 1: if a question about crime, you still haven't spoken about
Speaker 1: the need to lock up the bad guy. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about locking up the criminals. And she says that she
Speaker 1: doesn't understand why that's so important to me. When she's
Speaker 1: saying in that about you know, to me, she's saying
Speaker 1: that to all other New Yorkers who feel the same
Speaker 1: way that I do. So there are a lot of
Speaker 1: New Yorkers who are concerned about rising crime, about rising costs,
Speaker 1: New York leads the entire country, and out migration. But
Speaker 1: for me, as far as that one variants, it was
Speaker 1: something that a lot of other New Yorkers had related
Speaker 1: to as well, because they know if it can happen
Speaker 1: to me, that day can happen to them next uh.
Speaker 1: And they also realized in the weeks that followed that
Speaker 1: they don't have a governor taking this seriously enough. We
Speaker 1: have d a's who are weak and they feel like
Speaker 1: the DA stands for Defense Attorney ins that have district attorney.
Speaker 1: We're not supporting our law enforcement enough. Listen, my daughters
Speaker 1: are okay, my family strong, We're able to move on.
Speaker 1: But you don't know who that next victim is. And
Speaker 1: we need elected officials and office doing everything in their
Speaker 1: power today to prevent new victims from becoming UH targeted
Speaker 1: with that that next attack come tomorrow. Don't greet gaslight
Speaker 1: us about there's nothing to see here. They tried that
Speaker 1: in the eighties. At Kach was saying that as he
Speaker 1: was inside the New York City subway system. We see
Speaker 1: the pictures now their social media, we see the news.
Speaker 1: Know what we want to hear from you are the solutions.
Speaker 1: We want to know that you're committed to doing absolutely
Speaker 1: you think in your power to make these streets safe,
Speaker 1: to make these subways safe, to get the bad people off,
Speaker 1: lock them up if they owe a dentist society, and
Speaker 1: make sure that you're prioritizing law a bodying New Yorkers
Speaker 1: instead of criminals. That's what New Yorkers want well. And
Speaker 1: also just I imagine having the guy try to stab
Speaker 1: you when you're on stage. I mean that was I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know how you were able to get
Speaker 1: back up there and and finish the event. I think
Speaker 1: most people would be pretty rattled after that. That's pretty scary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I honestly was ready to continue speaking as soon as
Speaker 1: the guy was detained. We waited until law enforcement showed
Speaker 1: up and we got him uh into the squad car
Speaker 1: and they took him down to the local sheriff's office.
Speaker 1: But you know, I was asked backstage, where are you
Speaker 1: going to continue with the tour. This was my first
Speaker 1: rally of fourteen rallies and fourteen counties over three days
Speaker 1: four days. Of course, I'm going to continue. Um, now
Speaker 1: there was an increased security presence, but we continue, need
Speaker 1: us scheduled, but you know, are you going to retake
Speaker 1: the stage? Of course, we're going to take the stage.
Speaker 1: We're going to continue delivering our message and not be
Speaker 1: deterred at all. Ever. Um, you know, during the campaign,
Speaker 1: there were there were mornings we woke up and we
Speaker 1: were doing We're doing press conferences in the most dangerous
Speaker 1: street corner in the state, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: most dangerous street corners in the entire country. And I'll
Speaker 1: do it on a Friday morning because there was a
Speaker 1: stabbing the night before as the fourth night attack in
Speaker 1: ten hours. The person was killed the night before. That's
Speaker 1: exactly where we have to be. I'll wake up, you know,
Speaker 1: a week later, ten days later, and go right to
Speaker 1: whatever that next crime scene is to highlight what policies
Speaker 1: are responsible for why this is happening, while the other
Speaker 1: side is trying their best to make believe like none
Speaker 1: of this is even happening at all. So for me, listen,
Speaker 1: it's a tough assignment. If you sign up to be
Speaker 1: a security detail with me, because you know, I believe
Speaker 1: that leadership, if you're sending up for a job like this,
Speaker 1: is to be there where people feel helpless, where people
Speaker 1: feel like government has given up on them, where where
Speaker 1: streets have been abandoned to criminals, to make sure that
Speaker 1: there's that hope that we have an opportunity here in
Speaker 1: the immediate future to be able to turn it all around.
Speaker 1: And if if I went back to run this race again,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't change absolutely anything of the way that we
Speaker 1: approached aggressively the need to make the streets and subways
Speaker 1: safe again. And before we go real quick, what's next
Speaker 1: for you? I have to get my daughters their learners permit.
Speaker 1: They just turned sixteen years old. Uh they I feel
Speaker 1: bad for anyone on Long Island who um might be
Speaker 1: on the roads with them. I personally will be making
Speaker 1: sure I should get one of those cars where I
Speaker 1: is sitting in a passenger seat, have a gas pedal.
Speaker 1: And you know, I would say, for me personally, a
Speaker 1: bunch of different options that are out there. What I
Speaker 1: know for sure is that committed to doing actually everything
Speaker 1: in my power to elect a Republican president and a
Speaker 1: Republican Senate and to make a bunch of bigger majority
Speaker 1: in the House, to wind down ballot races, to get
Speaker 1: our message out, to grow a party, to explain effectively
Speaker 1: what it is that we stand for. I want to
Speaker 1: be able to make a positive difference. As Congressman we
Speaker 1: zeld In. Appreciate you guys tuning in and listening every
Speaker 1: Monday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week.
Speaker 1: Please leave us a review, give us five stars on
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts. I love reading those. I want to thank
Speaker 1: John Cassio and my producer for putting it everything together.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening that