Speaker 1: You're listening to The Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure
Speaker 1: you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody, welcome to the
Speaker 1: Buck Sexton Show. This episode, we have Congressman Eli Crane
Speaker 1: with this now. He represents the second Congressional district out
Speaker 1: in Arizona. He's also a former Navy seal. Honored to
Speaker 1: speak me to Congressman, I was there when you were
Speaker 1: just before being a congress but I knew you were
Speaker 1: gonna win. So I feel good about that prediction. Now,
Speaker 1: thanks for being with.
Speaker 2: Us, Thanks Buck, and thanks for having me on while
Speaker 2: I was campaigning. Man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well. And I had had a feeling about
Speaker 1: that one. It was one of the few, one of
Speaker 1: the few elections in twenty twenty two that I was
Speaker 1: invested in, and that weren't the way I wanted to
Speaker 1: So it's like you de said this in Florida. You know,
Speaker 1: there were some others that Anna Paulina she did well.
Speaker 1: I know you know her, your colleague in Congress, but
Speaker 1: there were certainly some close even in Arizona. And I
Speaker 1: could actually ask you about that, if that's cool. In
Speaker 1: a little bit. But let's let's start with this. As
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here talking to you, there's all these headlines
Speaker 1: about the debt ceiling and how if we default, it's
Speaker 1: going to be dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria,
Speaker 1: Horrible things are gonna happen. Can you just square away, like,
Speaker 1: how many months has this negotiation been going on? What
Speaker 1: have Republicans done? What are Republicans asking for? Because it
Speaker 1: hasn't really gotten much attention.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this has been going on for a long time, Buck,
Speaker 2: and you know, it's it's interesting and it's kind of
Speaker 2: pretty cool. I think that Republicans actually passed a bill
Speaker 2: out of the House. I know, most people didn't think
Speaker 2: that we'd be able to do that, especially when you have,
Speaker 2: you know, a pretty staunch group of conservatives that you know,
Speaker 2: did test raising the debt sailing, spending more money that
Speaker 2: we don't have. You know, many of you know it
Speaker 2: is the Freedom Caucus. There's some folks outside the Freedom
Speaker 2: Caucus that are very fiscally responsible as well, and so
Speaker 2: it was pretty it was pretty interesting that we were
Speaker 2: able to pass that. And when I look the reason
Speaker 2: that I voted for it, I was one of the
Speaker 2: You know, some people might say I was the swing
Speaker 2: vote on that one. I think I was the last
Speaker 2: guy to actually vote for it. Time had expired. I
Speaker 2: was putting my voting card in and I was sweating bullets, man,
Speaker 2: because I felt so torn. I know that we'll never
Speaker 2: turn this country around by continuing to spend money that
Speaker 2: we don't have, and so going into it that whole
Speaker 2: week and leading up to it, I was a pretty
Speaker 2: hard note. And then you know, I kept talking to
Speaker 2: other members in the Freedom Caucus and they were basically
Speaker 2: telling me, Eli, nothing, nothing even close to this, has
Speaker 2: ever come to the House floor. We've never had, you know,
Speaker 2: the chance to pass something with this this many heavy
Speaker 2: cuts in it, solid cuts that go after woke and
Speaker 2: weaponize spending of the federal government. And also the thing
Speaker 2: that really put me over the edge to vote for it,
Speaker 2: Buck was, you know, folks in my district. We did
Speaker 2: some pulling and some surveying. The night before and the
Speaker 2: morning of after, I was on a town hall call,
Speaker 2: and you know, the vast majority, like ninety percent of
Speaker 2: the people that I was talking to on the town
Speaker 2: hall wanted me to support the debt ceiling cuts. Once
Speaker 2: I told them what was in it, you know, what
Speaker 2: the pros, what the cons were, and that really surprised me.
Speaker 2: I did not think the folks in my district would
Speaker 2: want me to vote for it, but the vast majority
Speaker 2: on that call did so then we did. I thought, well,
Speaker 2: maybe we should cast a wider net and see if
Speaker 2: this sentiment is larger in my district, and so we
Speaker 2: did that the next day, and I think we had
Speaker 2: close to five hundred respondents, and I think the I
Speaker 2: think it was seventy nine point six percent of people
Speaker 2: that responded asked me to vote for it, knowing what
Speaker 2: we were getting with it, And you know, Buck, I swore,
Speaker 2: you know, even though that's not the way I was leaning.
Speaker 2: I swore that if I did come up here in
Speaker 2: the people Arizona sent me to represent them, that I
Speaker 2: wouldn't be a representative that just comes up here, here's
Speaker 2: what they have to say, and then then I vote
Speaker 2: the complete opposite way, you know. And so their voice
Speaker 2: and what they want means a lot to me. And
Speaker 2: that was one of those times, and I'm sure there'll
Speaker 2: be other times in the future where what my gut
Speaker 2: and my instinct are telling me and what they want
Speaker 2: you know, are two different things, and so that as
Speaker 2: a representative who actually wants to represent your people, that's
Speaker 2: a pretty tough tough spot.
Speaker 1: So Converso, what do the Republicans want cut, you know,
Speaker 1: in this deal? What are they seeking? What? What kind
Speaker 1: of numbers, either as a percentage or an overall figure.
Speaker 1: What what would be a you know, in your mind,
Speaker 1: an acceptable outcome here, assuming that there's some negotiation on
Speaker 1: the part of the Democrats. After the House Republicans have
Speaker 1: already passed the continued funding.
Speaker 2: Well, like I said, you know, that would it's hard
Speaker 2: for me to even get to there on that one.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to see anything come back that's
Speaker 2: weaker than what we've already passed in the House. But
Speaker 2: the things that we're looking for, Buck, we definitely want
Speaker 2: to pump the brakes on the federal spending up here.
Speaker 2: So we wanted to cut back spending to twenty two
Speaker 2: non defense discretionary spending levels. Some of the things that
Speaker 2: we were going after, as you probably know, Buck, we
Speaker 2: were going after the money for the doubling of the IRS,
Speaker 2: the eighty seven thousand new IRS agents. We wanted to
Speaker 2: snatch that money and really try to protect the American
Speaker 2: people from that. We went after the Green New Deal
Speaker 2: or the Inflation Reduction Act as they changed the name
Speaker 2: of it, and after some of those funds. We went
Speaker 2: after some of the COVID recession funds, funds that were
Speaker 2: put out there from the federal government to localities, states
Speaker 2: and communities that haven't been spent yet and are just
Speaker 2: you know, sitting in a fund. We went We were
Speaker 2: trying to closs some of that back. We also after
Speaker 2: the college bailout deal that you know, put Americans up
Speaker 2: in a complete rage because you know that they don't
Speaker 2: believe and they quite frankly shouldn't have to pay to
Speaker 2: bail out folks that have taken you know, college loans.
Speaker 2: And so those are some of the things that we
Speaker 2: went after. As you can tell, those pull pretty well
Speaker 2: with the American people. And like I said, you know,
Speaker 2: here's the deal, buck, You know the deal. If you
Speaker 2: up here in this town, if you go after anything,
Speaker 2: if you try and cut anything, you'll be they will
Speaker 2: find ways to demonize you. One of the ways they
Speaker 2: tried to demonize us was saying that we were going
Speaker 2: after veteran disabilities. Matter of fact, the Secretary of Veterans
Speaker 2: Affairs himself, you know, allowed that that organization, that institution
Speaker 2: to put out a memo saying that we were going
Speaker 2: to cut veteran benefits by twenty two And it was
Speaker 2: crazy because we never Republicans never said anything like that
Speaker 2: at all. And so, you know, it's been it's been interesting,
Speaker 2: you know, getting you know, some experience with just a
Speaker 2: machine up here, how it works, and if you try
Speaker 2: and start making changes, uh, you know, the slander and
Speaker 2: the lies that the swamp will start to generate to
Speaker 2: protect itself.
Speaker 1: How has Speaker McCarthy done up to this point? I
Speaker 1: mean you were you were involved, if I recall correctly,
Speaker 1: in making sure that it would be a different speakership
Speaker 1: than what some would have expected, right, I mean, you
Speaker 1: were part of the group that weren't just willing to say,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, sure, whoever the whoever the system wants, we're
Speaker 1: gonna we're going to just put forward and that there
Speaker 1: was discussion. There were discussions, and there when there were
Speaker 1: concessions made. From what I understand, the Speaker's numbers in
Speaker 1: terms of favorables among Republicans has gone up pretty considerably.
Speaker 1: Almost six months. You know, here we are into the year.
Speaker 1: So how how would you assess how the Speaker's been
Speaker 1: and some of the that, you know, what has surprised
Speaker 1: you on the positive side.
Speaker 2: You know, I want to call balls and strikes, Buck.
Speaker 2: I think everybody knows that. You know, I didn't vote
Speaker 2: for Kevin McCarthy for fifteen rounds. I was one of
Speaker 2: the final four left at the end of that, and
Speaker 2: I still didn't vote for him at the end of it.
Speaker 2: But I got to give him credit. I've I've told
Speaker 2: other people and I'll tell you, tell you and your audience.
Speaker 2: I think he's doing a really good job. That being said,
Speaker 2: I will point out the fact that he's incentiveized to
Speaker 2: do a very good job because there are there are
Speaker 2: some you know, Republicans and some Conservatives that you know,
Speaker 2: we will we will hold the speaker accountable for deals
Speaker 2: that he's made, you know, with the Conservative group so
Speaker 2: that he could become speaker. And I'm going to tell
Speaker 2: you something, Buck, that job that he has, you know,
Speaker 2: I wish I wouldn't wish that on anybody, you know,
Speaker 2: I know, nobody, nobody else in the party really wanted it.
Speaker 2: And I think he's done a really good job. And
Speaker 2: you know, I pray for his success because it's important
Speaker 2: to the country that he does do a good job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sometimes the job that has the big office just
Speaker 1: means that the cage you're in is a little bigger,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's not always It's not
Speaker 1: always all it's cracked up to be. People feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: the speaker is so much power. I'm sure there's a
Speaker 1: there's a lot of that that people really say. I
Speaker 1: want to talk to you about Ukraine, the GOP position
Speaker 1: on it and what we should do about it. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you're a former Navy seal, you're a guy who saw combat.
Speaker 1: Let's let's talk about that. We come back in a second.
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Speaker 1: your my pillow. Two point. Oh, Congressman, how are we
Speaker 1: doing in terms of policy and support to Ukraine? Do
Speaker 1: you think that the Biden administration is going too far?
Speaker 1: The provision of F sixteen's has gotten a lot of
Speaker 1: attention recently. How worried are you that we could be
Speaker 1: drawn even further into this and perhaps even see the
Speaker 1: spark of a broader conflagration. I don't want to say
Speaker 1: world War three, but that's what people talk about.
Speaker 2: I've been worried about it from the beginning, Buck, I've
Speaker 2: been very outspoken about it from the beginning for multiple reasons.
Speaker 2: I know our own conference is divided on this issue.
Speaker 2: I acknowledge that, you know, I understand the arguments on
Speaker 2: the other side. But the reason that I've been worried
Speaker 2: about it and outspoken about it from the beginning are
Speaker 2: one because, first of all, we can't afford it here.
Speaker 2: We are having debt limit talks, We're reaching our debt
Speaker 2: limit in the United States of America, and we continue
Speaker 2: to send tens of billions. How many hundred billion or
Speaker 2: so plus is it now that we've sent over to Ukraine? Buck,
Speaker 2: I don't even know what the figure is at this
Speaker 2: point it's way too much money, you know, So one
Speaker 2: we can't afford it. Two we're escalating, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: a possible conflict with Russia, you know, which could become
Speaker 2: very bad, very quickly. That doesn't even that's just Russia
Speaker 2: by themselves, not to even mention some of their allies
Speaker 2: that are you know, some pretty serious actors around the
Speaker 2: world that could cause some some serious damage to a
Speaker 2: Western alliance if we're even able to form one, you know. So,
Speaker 2: I think that this has been this has been something
Speaker 2: that many of us have been you know, kind of
Speaker 2: canary in the mind shaft on just calling it out
Speaker 2: from the beginning, because we are concerned about the escalation.
Speaker 2: We're concerned about spending money that that we don't have,
Speaker 2: spending you know, our resources, our ammunition, et cetera, that
Speaker 2: we might need for another conflict, for a real ally.
Speaker 2: It has been an ally of ours for a very long,
Speaker 2: very long time.
Speaker 1: Do you think there's a there's a greater will There
Speaker 1: are veterans like you right who understand that what warfare
Speaker 1: is like, what it entails, what the losses are that
Speaker 1: come from war, even a war that you're you know,
Speaker 1: winning in a national sense. The destruction and loss of
Speaker 1: life and loss of many of your best people in
Speaker 1: a country is something that comes along with that. Are
Speaker 1: we at a place now where we can have more
Speaker 1: honest conversations, you think than before about whether or not
Speaker 1: this is a war that we should be fighting? Or
Speaker 1: is there still this overriding sense of if you oppose
Speaker 1: the establishment on the need for this war, you're unpatriotic
Speaker 1: or you're not. Do you know what I mean? You
Speaker 1: think because of a Rock and Afghanistan we're able to
Speaker 1: have a more honest talk or is that? Is that
Speaker 1: a little bit to giving too much credit to the
Speaker 1: honesty and the dialogue over warfare these days?
Speaker 2: You know, I give a lot of credit and I
Speaker 2: know a lot some people disagree with this, but I
Speaker 2: give a lot of credit to former President Donald Trump
Speaker 2: and just his America First agenda because, quite frankly, Buck,
Speaker 2: I think he caused many of us, including myself, to
Speaker 2: really rethink some of our foreign policy views. He made
Speaker 2: many of us ask is this the best thing for America?
Speaker 2: Is this the best thing for American citizens? Should should
Speaker 2: we be involved in this? How much? How much money
Speaker 2: should NATO be spending should they be solving their own
Speaker 2: problems over in Europe or should we continue to try
Speaker 2: and be the world police. And so I've always felt
Speaker 2: like we can have we can and we should be
Speaker 2: able to have a you know, serious, real conversation about this.
Speaker 2: I know some of my colleagues tend to be, you know,
Speaker 2: much more hawkish when it comes to national security and
Speaker 2: a lot of these a lot of these foreign wars.
Speaker 2: But I mean, like you mentioned, Buck, we're coming off
Speaker 2: the heels of you know, two decades of wars, you know,
Speaker 2: a bunch of veteran issues. Again, We're thirty two trillion
Speaker 2: dollars in debt. We're voting on our debt ceiling right now.
Speaker 2: And when you look at some of the other hotspots
Speaker 2: around the world, with folks that I would argue have
Speaker 2: been allies to the US for far longer than Ukraine,
Speaker 2: like Taiwan and even Israel, I think that, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm concerned that we're not going to have the resources
Speaker 2: necessary to help out you know, some of our some
Speaker 2: of our real friends. You know, if if if they
Speaker 2: get attacked, do you think.
Speaker 1: That we would even under the Biden administration, Let's just
Speaker 1: put it that way. If China invaded Taiwan. Do you
Speaker 1: think that we would take military action or would we
Speaker 1: meeting with the Biden White House, do a lot of
Speaker 1: diplomatic resolutions and angry letters, But how do you think
Speaker 1: they would respond.
Speaker 2: I don't think that we would do anything. Buck. I
Speaker 2: believe that this uh, this administration has been co opted
Speaker 2: and corrupted by the CCP. I just came from a
Speaker 2: Homeland Security Committee hearing where we were talking to an
Speaker 2: individual from the FBI about this very thing, you know,
Speaker 2: and you've got to ask, why is a why is
Speaker 2: a Chinese by balloon allowed to fly over the United
Speaker 2: States for a week. Why do they have you know,
Speaker 2: police stations here. Why are they able to buy up
Speaker 2: farmland near some of our military institutions. Why do they
Speaker 2: have some of the education you know, facilities like the
Speaker 2: Confucius Institutes here in the United States. And I know
Speaker 2: a lot of some of this stuff has been going on,
Speaker 2: you know, before President Biden. But when now when you
Speaker 2: look at some of the investigations that are coming out
Speaker 2: of Oversight and Judiciary where they're showing literally showing the
Speaker 2: receipts and they're talking to you know, telling the American people, Hey,
Speaker 2: We've seen these receipts in the treasury of you know, uh,
Speaker 2: businesses groups tied to the CCP sending money to the
Speaker 2: Biden family, you know, and not just not just the Chinese,
Speaker 2: but other countries as well, to the tune of millions
Speaker 2: of dollars. I think that's called elite captured Buck, And
Speaker 2: I think you know, I think you know a little
Speaker 2: bit about that. And often nations and work, we're not
Speaker 2: above it. We'll do it. We'll do it ourselves. Any
Speaker 2: nation out there trying to gain an advantage on another
Speaker 2: nation will look to co opt and corrupt high ranking officials, family,
Speaker 2: family members, et cetera. And uh, I don't know what else.
Speaker 2: I don't know what else to say about it. I
Speaker 2: don't know how how you could not look at what's
Speaker 2: going on with Hunter Biden, the Biden family, the dealings
Speaker 2: that they've had with other countries for years now, the
Speaker 2: fact that they don't have any business businesses whatsoever. One
Speaker 2: of my colleagues in the hearing, you know, Buck, made
Speaker 2: a comparison to the Trump family and you know, their
Speaker 2: their family dealings overseas, and I said, you know, one
Speaker 2: of the big differences between the Biden and Trump business
Speaker 2: dealings overseas is the Trumps actually have businesses. They own hotels, resorts,
Speaker 2: et cetera, you know, et cetera, and the Biden family doesn't.
Speaker 2: They don't have any businesses. They have a bunch of
Speaker 2: shell companies, a bunch of LLC's that they've set up,
Speaker 2: and it really appears they've done that to launder money.
Speaker 1: What were they selling. It's an excellent it's such an
Speaker 1: excellent point you bring up. You know, if you're operating
Speaker 1: a hotel, your people come in, go, they stay overnight,
Speaker 1: They you know, buy a cheeseburger or something, a couple
Speaker 1: of pints of beer, they go on about their business.
Speaker 1: That's the Trump version of international business. The Biden family
Speaker 1: version is pay me a lot of money so that
Speaker 1: I can get you close to my dad who's running
Speaker 1: US foreign policy in Ukraine, for example, under the Biden
Speaker 1: I mean, under the Obama administration. Right. So, what do
Speaker 1: you say to constituents, though, Eli, when they come up
Speaker 1: to you and they say, Congressman Crane, how can I
Speaker 1: trust the FBI and the irs? Given all the whistleblower
Speaker 1: information that's come out and all the information we already
Speaker 1: know from the laptop and everywhere else about Biden family
Speaker 1: corruption and nothing is done. Like, what can you say
Speaker 1: to them?
Speaker 2: You know, it's really hard, Buck, And that's not what
Speaker 2: they asked me. They asked me why I'm not doing more.
Speaker 2: It's sad because then I have to tell them, you know, hey,
Speaker 2: we have we have powers and authorities in Congress, but
Speaker 2: throwing people in jail isn't one of them. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, the people of this country, Buck, as you know,
Speaker 2: they're so disenfranchised. They can't believe what they're seeing going
Speaker 2: on in their country. You know, if I'm sitting up
Speaker 2: here talking about our commander in chief and his family's
Speaker 2: business dealings with the Chinese Communist Party and other states,
Speaker 2: and I don't do that lightly. There was never a
Speaker 2: time as a young boy where I one ever wanted
Speaker 2: to run for Congress, let alone wanted to see the
Speaker 2: country that I love and have fought for become what
Speaker 2: it is today. And you know, it really concerns me
Speaker 2: as a father and just the trajectory that we're on
Speaker 2: and how partisan things have become to where we'll have
Speaker 2: you know, there's one set of standards for people that
Speaker 2: you know, vote the way I do and there's a
Speaker 2: completely set of standards for the folks that vote the
Speaker 2: completely opposite way, and justice is supposed to be blind.
Speaker 2: And I know we have you know, there's a nefarious
Speaker 2: activity on both sides of the aisle. But at some point, Buck,
Speaker 2: you have to ask yourself, what is Hunter Biden still
Speaker 2: doing walking the streets? Is Joe Biden going to be impeached?
Speaker 2: Because as secretary of my work is going to be impeached.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just it's bizarre to me that this
Speaker 2: dystopian land that we live in and the constituents that
Speaker 2: I represent their their heartbroken. And that's what I think.
Speaker 2: That's one of the only reasons that they sent me, Buck,
Speaker 2: because they thought, hey, maybe this guy who has never
Speaker 2: been in politics, who usually wears a ball cap, maybe
Speaker 2: he'll actually fight for us. And you know, that's what
Speaker 2: I'm trying to do up here. You know, I'm learning
Speaker 2: every day, but that's what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 1: Man, Well, we appreciate that. And this is I knew
Speaker 1: that about you even when you were running, which is
Speaker 1: why we were doing our best on radio to try
Speaker 1: to help pull you over the finish line. And I
Speaker 1: know you are doing everything you can day in and
Speaker 1: day out. I want to talk to you about twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four Congressman, in just a second, what you see
Speaker 1: happening on the Democrat side Republican side Arizona State. You
Speaker 1: know very well as you represent one of the districts there.
Speaker 1: But I first got to tell everybody at home. The
Speaker 1: headlines are very clear, right, I mean, how long before
Speaker 1: the other shoe drops? How long before the dollar is
Speaker 1: no longer the world's reserve currency, or we have a
Speaker 1: massive recession or a combination of economic factors just really hurts.
Speaker 1: It really tears down your four to one k goes
Speaker 1: after the savings you have in the bank. We all
Speaker 1: know that you need to take action now. If you wait,
Speaker 1: it's too late. Try diversifying with gold. All right, Look,
Speaker 1: I'm like you. I want the dollar to be the
Speaker 1: reserve currency forever. I hope you don't have to think
Speaker 1: of it in that's a situation. But think of it
Speaker 1: this way. Also, gold has been a store of value
Speaker 1: for as long as human beings have been trading goods
Speaker 1: and services. Basically, gold is solid, It's something you can
Speaker 1: hold in your hand, in your possession, So it's an
Speaker 1: investment because it can go up in value and it has.
Speaker 1: Look at look at gold the last thirty years. How
Speaker 1: was that done as an investment? And it's a hedge
Speaker 1: against inflation. So I'm a gold and silver owner holder.
Speaker 1: Really myself, I have it in my portfolio. I think
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Speaker 1: K all right, Eli. First off, people ask me, they say,
Speaker 1: have we fixed the problem in Arizona when it comes
Speaker 1: to elections? And I say, I don't know, but I'll
Speaker 1: ask people who do. I'll find out. How do you
Speaker 1: how secure do you feel? I mean, you just won, right,
Speaker 1: so we know that Republicans can win a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of Republicans one in twenty twenty two. For anybody who
Speaker 1: has concerns about the security of elections, particularly in your state,
Speaker 1: what do you say to them, Like, when you're traveling around,
Speaker 1: either statewide or nationwide, what do you say about Arizona elections?
Speaker 2: Well, Buck, you know, at the risk of sounding conspiratorial,
Speaker 2: I don't trust the elections in Arizona at all. And
Speaker 2: you know, you bring up a good play and people
Speaker 2: will say, wow, well, Eli, you you won your race
Speaker 2: in Arizona. And you know what I say to that, Buck, Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I didn't have to deal with Maricopa County. And
Speaker 2: I think if I had to deal with Maricopa County, Buck,
Speaker 2: I don't think I'd be sitting here today. I could
Speaker 2: be wrong on that. It's just, you know, it's just
Speaker 2: what I've seen, what I've read, you know, over and
Speaker 2: over and over again. It's it's just, you know, I
Speaker 2: I don't trust it. I know that the the state
Speaker 2: legislature has been doing some good work down there with
Speaker 2: Senator Wendy Rogers Senator Sonny Barelli. I believe they passed
Speaker 2: something yesterday that had to do with voting machines, I'll
Speaker 2: have to take a better look at what they what
Speaker 2: they passed. But I think I know they're doing some
Speaker 2: good work down there. I know they haven't given up.
Speaker 2: And uh, you know that's important to me, man, because
Speaker 2: you know, I honestly like I don't trust I don't
Speaker 2: trust our elections the way they are and some of
Speaker 2: the things that I see, you know, from you know,
Speaker 2: the ballot harvesting that was going on. You know, I
Speaker 2: just I don't trust them. And you know, the thing
Speaker 2: is too buck, Like, I know, just years before you know,
Speaker 2: President Trump started, you know, you know, winning, the Democrats
Speaker 2: were complaining about it as well. They were doing Senate
Speaker 2: reports about, you know, how corruptible. You know, these machines
Speaker 2: were et cetera, et cetera. And everybody knows that any machine,
Speaker 2: any computer, can be hacked, right if you if you
Speaker 2: put the right, if you put the right people on it.
Speaker 2: But we act like, oh, they're completely incorruptible. And when
Speaker 2: you look at just this last election that we had,
Speaker 2: how many of the voting centers went down on election day,
Speaker 2: you know that was pretty that was honestly pretty suspicious.
Speaker 2: And you know, here's here's the thing, too, Buck, When
Speaker 2: you when you compare Katie Hobbes and Kerry Lake. Have
Speaker 2: you've met Carrie, right, Buck?
Speaker 1: Oh? I know, I know, Carry? Sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's a savage man. And I say that in
Speaker 2: a love the most love, being respectful way she is.
Speaker 2: She's a boss lady Harry Lake could do. I think
Speaker 2: Carry Lake could do anything she wants to do. She's
Speaker 2: one of the most intelligent people that I've ever met
Speaker 2: in my life. She might be the best communicator I've
Speaker 2: ever met in my life. I multiple times went to
Speaker 2: events with Carrie and she's like a rock star in Arizona.
Speaker 2: I mean, you look at their social media accounts alone.
Speaker 2: I mean it's like, and I know that circumstantial evidence, Buck,
Speaker 2: but it's like, I mean, come on, man, you know,
Speaker 2: and here's some more circumstantial evidence. But you know, when
Speaker 2: I look at Joe Biden, this guy that had lost
Speaker 2: presidential races before, was a complete gaff machine, and he
Speaker 2: campaigned out of his basement, you know, for almost the
Speaker 2: entire time, got eighty one million votes. He did better
Speaker 2: than you know, Barack Obama. It's like, come on, man,
Speaker 2: that right there should send warning signs to people. And
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that's hard evidence right there. That is
Speaker 2: circumstantial evidence. But that should really concern people. The guy
Speaker 2: could barely string together a sentence while he was campaigning.
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm really worried about our elections nationwide
Speaker 2: because I think these folks that are pulling the strings
Speaker 2: and running the show, I think they'll I think they
Speaker 2: will do anything for power.
Speaker 1: Well, that's definitely, that's definitely true, right. I mean, we've
Speaker 1: seen they'll lock up people because they were parading on
Speaker 1: government ground on January sixth. They'll lock them in solitary
Speaker 1: confinement for eighteen months, denied them basic human decency and
Speaker 1: basic human rights for nonviolent crimes, and hold them there
Speaker 1: under the premise. And this is from the judicial opinion
Speaker 1: that I saw for one of the detainees that they
Speaker 1: can't let them out on bail because they'll do another insurrection.
Speaker 1: Right as if, as if that's in any universe a
Speaker 1: reasonable position or reasonable belief. But Eli, I want to
Speaker 1: hope maybe this will be in a wholeful note. I've
Speaker 1: got one last question for you. I'll get to it
Speaker 1: with you in a second, but it's how do you
Speaker 1: see things looking for twenty twenty four? But let's just
Speaker 1: put a pause in that for a second. The Tunnel
Speaker 1: the Towers Foundation, everybody you know Eli's a veteran. Tunnel
Speaker 1: the Towers does amazing stuff for the veterans community. It
Speaker 1: really keeps the promise of the American people to support
Speaker 1: and assist our heroes and to never forget what they've
Speaker 1: done for this country. You know, my wife Carrie, she's
Speaker 1: doing the Tunnel the Towers climb in New York City
Speaker 1: the first week of June. So I'm involved a Tunnel
Speaker 1: the Towers. She's involved a Tunnel to the Towers. We
Speaker 1: think it's such an important organization, and through the Veteran
Speaker 1: Homelessness Program, Tunnel the Towers is providing housing and servicing
Speaker 1: services to homeless veterans. They did it for more than
Speaker 1: five hundred veterans in twenty twenty two. They're going to
Speaker 1: do it for more than fifteen hundred veterans this year.
Speaker 1: Because all veterans who honorably serve deserved our nation's gratitude,
Speaker 1: joined Tunnel the Towers on its mission to do good
Speaker 1: and never forget the sacrifices of our greatest heroes. Donate
Speaker 1: eleven dollars a month. I do every month. Eleven dollars. Please,
Speaker 1: that's all it takes to get started here. T two
Speaker 1: T dot org. That's t the number two T dot org. Eli,
Speaker 1: what do you see for twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2: You?
Speaker 1: Hopeful, optimistic, concerned? You have a dog in the race
Speaker 1: or a dog in the fight, so to speak, already,
Speaker 1: What do you think?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm definitely concerned. But you know, you and I
Speaker 2: just got done talking about election integrity. That right there
Speaker 2: overshadows you know the reasons, you know some of the
Speaker 2: reasons for my concern right there, I do have a
Speaker 2: dog in the fight. I endorse President Trump, I think
Speaker 2: the day or two after he announced. And it's not
Speaker 2: because I don't, you know, like or respect Ronda Santis.
Speaker 2: I most certainly do. I think he's done amazing things
Speaker 2: down in Florida. One of the reasons that I support
Speaker 2: President Trump is because I think that things are so
Speaker 2: bad right now we need the biggest, baddest fighter that
Speaker 2: maybe we've ever had in America and politics, and I
Speaker 2: believe that that is President Trump. And the other thing, too,
Speaker 2: buck is he doesn't need any on the job training.
Speaker 2: He's gonna be able to walk into that. And I
Speaker 2: think because I think he's been stewing and mulling on
Speaker 2: some of the things he wishes he would have done
Speaker 2: for the last several years. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: if if he gets the nomination, is able to win,
Speaker 2: pull this off and win it, I think he'll walk
Speaker 2: in and I think he'll make some drastic changes that
Speaker 2: have been needed for a long time. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: do I wish President Trump would you know, not not
Speaker 2: not pick a lot of Twitter fights and you know,
Speaker 2: ratchet it, ratchet it down from time to time. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: But we all have a friend like President Trump who's
Speaker 2: just a natural born fighter, and a lot of times
Speaker 2: they don't know that, they don't know how to turn
Speaker 2: it off, and and and but that's okay, man.
Speaker 1: In this we want a bar fight, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: stuff gets ugly. You want the guy that throws the
Speaker 1: punches exactly.
Speaker 2: And I think that's who That's why we need him
Speaker 2: right now. I hope he's able to pull it off,
Speaker 2: and I hope. I know that the Democrats are still
Speaker 2: scared the death of him. That's why you see so
Speaker 2: much lawfair coming at him. But you know, he's he's
Speaker 2: definitely my pick. But I will I will support you know,
Speaker 2: definitely either Trump or the Santas if they come. You know,
Speaker 2: whoever comes through, you know that race, because we need
Speaker 2: we need a Republican back in the House. But I'm
Speaker 2: hoping there's President Trump.
Speaker 1: Hope so too. Eli. Thank you as always for your
Speaker 1: service both on the battlefield and now up on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us here on the show
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, Buck, thank you man.