1 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: On this episode of Nuts World. In his new book, 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: A Watchman in the Night, cal Thomas takes the reader 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: on a road trip through over fifty years of journalism 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: and American life, serving as a watchman and culture and 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 1: politics and seeking to conform it to a standard that 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: never changes. For over fifty years in journalism, cal Is 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: offered incisive, humorous, and often corrective commentary to our social, political, 8 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: and religious conversations. An early commitment to addressing publicly what 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: he sees has marked his entire career. Cal's a journalist, pundit, author, 10 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: TV and radio commentator, and one of the most widely 11 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: syndicated columnists in America. His fifty year journalism career includes anchoring, 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: reporting commentary for Newsmax KPRCTV in Houston, NBC News in Washington, 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: and other outlets. For ten years, he co wrote the 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: common Ground column for USA Today with his colleague Bob Beckle. 15 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: He's an old friend. We've done many things together over 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,919 Speaker 1: the years. So I'm really pleased to welcome my guest, 17 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: Cayle Thomas. 18 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: Well, thank you, NWT. That was a great introduction. I 19 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 2: think I'm going to hire you as my PR man. 20 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: Well, listen, you more than earned it. I thought we'd 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: start out by talking about Common Ground, the USA to 22 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: Day column you and Bob Beckle wrote. Talk about that 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: column and your partnership with Beckell. 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 2: Well, Bob was a great friend, and I think our 25 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: example is something that is missing in Washington and has 26 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 2: been for some time. We know each other by labels left, right, Republican, Democrat, 27 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 2: African American, Asian American, Mexican American, all these other hyphenated Americans, 28 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: and we don't take the time to get to know 29 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 2: each other as people. When Bob and I went out 30 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 2: on the Le circuit to do our Dog and Pony 31 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 2: show based on the Common Ground column, Bob would always say, 32 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 2: usually to a conservative audience, find somebody you disagree with, 33 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 2: sit down and listen to them, find out how they 34 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 2: came to their point of view, and then you will 35 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 2: learn the right to speak to them. But we are 36 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 2: all tribes. Now out of many, one has become out 37 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 2: of one many. As you know from your time in 38 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 2: the House and in the leadership. So many politicians come 39 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 2: to their meetings and their fellow party members in the morning, 40 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 2: get their talking points, go out on cable TV and 41 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 2: say the same thing over and over again. Everybody knows 42 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 2: the solutions to the problems from social security and medicare 43 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 2: to many other things. But if you actually solve a 44 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 2: problem in Washington, you no longer have the issue. So 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 2: in my column and in the one that Bob and 46 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 2: I wrote for USA Today for ten years, we actually 47 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 2: try to promote and I try to promote solutions based 48 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 2: on standards that never change, economic standards, moral standards, foreign 49 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 2: policy standards. And the title of watchmen in the night 50 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 2: is taken from an Old Testament verse where the ancient 51 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 2: Israelites posted a watchman on the wall to guard against 52 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: invading armies. Well, America is being invaded not by a 53 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 2: real army at the moment, but an army of cultural 54 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 2: fanatics who are seeking to undermine, to destroy everything that 55 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 2: our parents and grandparents and great grandparents fought and died 56 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 2: for and handed down to us. 57 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: So it's really been sort of the hallmark of your career. 58 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: I think you represent a kind of common sense conservatism. 59 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: And in fact, one of your books was entitled what 60 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: works common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America. I mean, 61 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: to what extent do you, in that sense see yourself 62 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: as more common sense than an ideological conservative. 63 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 2: Well, you know, we are not the first people to 64 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 2: walk the earth. We didn't just crawl out of a cave. 65 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 2: We don't have to invent the wheel or discover the 66 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 2: use of fire. We don't live in the past, but 67 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: we can learn from the past. There are things that 68 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 2: have proven themselves workable and things that have proved themselves 69 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 2: of failure. They mentioned Bob Beckele earlier. He admitted that 70 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 2: the welfare state was bad for those on the receiving end. 71 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 2: And I think the last major common ground accomplishment in 72 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 2: this country was when you and Bill Clinton got together 73 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 2: worked out welfare reform. I so remember, and you do too. 74 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 2: The left was screaming and yelling that people would die 75 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 2: on the streets, and they didn't. When they knew the 76 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 2: gravy train wasn't showing up in their mailbox anymore. Most 77 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 2: of them went out and actually found jobs which improved 78 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 2: their lives and their self image. You look at this 79 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 2: debt limit business. It's absolutely ridiculous. How many times have 80 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 2: we seen this bad play played over and over and 81 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 2: over again for a political advantage. No nation can sustain 82 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 2: itself with a thirty two trillion dollar debt which we 83 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: are headed for like a fast train. No nation can 84 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 2: sustain itself with open borders, uncontrolled immigration without assimilation is 85 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 2: a death knell to any country. And no nation can 86 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 2: sustain itself that will not accept a shared moral value system. 87 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 2: I remember something the late Bishop Fulton Jay Sheen said 88 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 2: years ago, and it's more relevant today than ever. America, 89 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 2: he said, is not overrun by the bigoted as much 90 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 2: as it is overrun by the broad minded today. As 91 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: Cole Porter wrote in a song, anything Goes Drag, queens, 92 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 2: story times in kindergarten, gender free restrooms, men playing in 93 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: women's sports. This is what happens to a nation that 94 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 2: rips away the foundational principles of existence. And if we 95 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 2: don't get them back and fast, there's no guarantee we're 96 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 2: not going to go the same route as other empires 97 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 2: and great nations have in the past. 98 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: What do you think happened? Why are we now mired 99 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: down in this kind of insanity? 100 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 2: Well, we forget the past so easily, you know, I say. 101 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 2: The closest we get to history these days is the 102 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 2: instant replay. And you've got a new generation being born 103 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 2: every twenty years, and they're studying stuff other than real history. 104 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 2: We got critical race theory, we got climate change, we 105 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 2: got gender stuff going on. I guarantee you the Chinese 106 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 2: are not approaching their students this way. They're laughing at us. Recently, 107 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 2: as Jijingping said he believed that America was in decline, 108 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 2: and I'm saying, you know, there's a lot of evidence 109 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 2: there that support that view. We do not enjoy freedom 110 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 2: in this country as a natural state. We have to 111 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 2: renew it every generation, and sometimes within generations. You'll recall 112 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: one of Reagan's great lines was we're only one generation 113 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 2: away from losing it all. Like a library book, it 114 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 2: has to be renewed. But when you've got all of 115 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 2: these other things being taught that have nothing to do 116 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 2: with freedom and the foundational principles that built and sustained 117 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 2: America through economic downturns and wars of different kinds, then 118 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 2: you're just reinventing in America that the founders did not 119 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 2: hand down to us. So I think we're in a 120 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 2: very serious threat. People always ask me, well, what can 121 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 2: we do? Well, AB's in a spiritual revival. We need 122 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 2: to get our kids out of these re education camps 123 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 2: known as public schools, all this junk is being taught. 124 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 2: Don't send them to universities where woke professors will fail 125 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 2: you if you don't repeat their ideological worldview. We don't 126 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 2: send our troops to Russia or China or Iran to 127 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 2: be trained. We train them here. But we willingly send 128 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 2: our children and grandchildren into these re education camps where 129 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 2: a false ideology is imposed upon them. You can't sustain 130 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 2: this country as it was handed to us if you 131 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 2: behave like this with your children and grandchildren. 132 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: Does this all make the twenty twenty four presidential election 133 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: uniquely important? 134 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 2: Well, every election is unique, as you know. But yeah, 135 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 2: I think you know. DeSantis has been talking about this 136 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 2: for a long time and actually acting on it. I 137 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 2: live in Florida now. His school choice program is incredibly popular. 138 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 2: Thirty seven states now have school choice. He promised a 139 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 2: couple of days that if he becomes president, he's going 140 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 2: to push for a national school choice I find it 141 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 2: incredibly ironic that our friends on the left are pro 142 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 2: choice when it comes to abortion, but anti choice when 143 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 2: it comes to education. For those fortunate enough to have 144 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 2: been born just us, it makes sense to me if 145 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 2: choice is everything, if personal choice is everything, then why 146 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 2: is it in schools? And of course the answer to 147 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 2: that is the teachers' unions and the Democrat Party are 148 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 2: in hot link with each other. You know, this reminds 149 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 2: me of George Wallace, the Alabama governor who stood in 150 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 2: the schoolhouse store to keep black people out in the 151 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 2: nineteen sixties. Now we have the Democrats on the left 152 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 2: standing in the schoolhouse store of these inner city schools, 153 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 2: keeping them trapped inside. And if you don't have a 154 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 2: decent education for your kid, then you've got two strikes 155 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 2: against the kid and a fastball coming at their head. 156 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: When you think about all that, the states that have 157 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,719 Speaker 1: been into adopt school choice, it seems to me are 158 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: making huge steps in the right direction. And we'll be 159 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: interesting over the next two or three years to see 160 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: how that works out, because clearly it's going to diminish 161 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: the monopoly of the teachers' unions, which have become so 162 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: astonishingly left wing in the ideology. 163 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 2: Well, you're right, and you mentioned the word monopoly. You know, 164 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 2: the left has been about breaking up big co operation 165 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 2: and monopolies for years. The last monopoly in America is 166 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 2: the public education system. When it started and maybe for 167 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 2: the first one hundred years or so fifty years, it 168 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 2: was a good thing. The idea was to bring people 169 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 2: of different backgrounds and centralize the schooling and make sure 170 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,559 Speaker 2: they all got the same kind of education. But now 171 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 2: the secular progressives as I call them, are using it 172 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 2: as laboratories to create a new generation of secular progressives. 173 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 2: This is not the natural state of humanity. You know, 174 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 2: if you put kids in the woods and let them 175 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 2: grow up without anything, they turn out to be conservatives, 176 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 2: because that's the reasonable approach to virtually everything in life. 177 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 2: You get married before you have kids, be honest in 178 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 2: your business dealings, don't take drugs, stay in school. Graduate. 179 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 2: These things have proven themselves throughout history and they have 180 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 2: to be embraced again by this generation if we're going 181 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 2: to move forward. The problem is these kinds of things 182 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 2: are not taught anymore. You can get, as you've seen, 183 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 2: failing grades on your papers in college if you don't 184 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 2: repeat the nonsense of the universities. Look at this Hunter 185 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 2: college video the other day with a female professor with 186 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 2: a machete who is attacking not only pro life people 187 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 2: who are just handing out their literature, and is supposedly 188 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 2: pluralistic and diverse society, but also attacking a New York 189 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 2: Post reporter. I mean, this is crazy stuff. She got fired, 190 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 2: but there are plenty of other professors and universities in 191 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,439 Speaker 2: this country who hold the same worldview. 192 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: She's now complaining that it's an act of racism to 193 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: fire her for holding a machete to a reporter's neck, 194 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: which strikes me as this woman is crazy. 195 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I went to university and you did too, 196 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,359 Speaker 2: and I didn't know any teacher or had a machete. 197 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 2: A Racism is the default position of every left wing 198 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 2: African American who does something wrong and is held accountable 199 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 2: for it, they always fall back to the racism thing. 200 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 2: This is one of the problems in our culture newt 201 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 2: Nobody is responsible or accountable for anything. If you do 202 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 2: something and make a mistake, if you do something that 203 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,439 Speaker 2: is wrong. When we used to have a standard of 204 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 2: right and wrong, it's not your fault, it's the culture's fault. 205 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 2: It's the evil white people's fault. And yet the culture 206 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 2: never focuses on African Americans that don't buy this stuff. 207 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 2: Look at Tim Scott's announcement for president the other day. 208 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 2: He was reaganesque. He was about optimism. He said, I 209 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 2: went from cotton to Congress. I'm not a victim. I'm 210 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 2: a victor. That's the kind of stuff that has inspired 211 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 2: Americans for generations. But if you are a black person 212 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 2: in America and you embrace that ideology and you're like 213 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 2: Clarence Thomas or Tim Scott or many many other African 214 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 2: American people who have become successful overcoming difficult circumstances, then 215 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 2: you're an oreo, or you're not down for the struggle, 216 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 2: or you're not really black. That's the kind of thing 217 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 2: that discourages a lot of African Americans, And in fact, 218 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 2: it's a subtle form of racism on its own. 219 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: It's sort of like Clarence Thomas couldn't be black because 220 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: he was conservative. 221 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. They don't get to define who a 222 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 2: conservative is. 223 00:11:58,000 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: If you're a conservative, you're not allowed to consider you 224 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: of black. And I'm sure that Tim is going to 225 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: get some of that. I thought he had a very 226 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: good opening announcement and a great speech, and I think 227 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: that it is enormously to the country's advantage and to 228 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: the Republican Party's advantage to have him running for president. 229 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: I don't know what his chances are. But in the 230 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: column you did on May twenty third about Tim Scott, 231 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: the new Reagan, he said, the problem for mister Scott 232 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: and other current and future GOP presidential candidates can be 233 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: summed up in two words. Donald Trump expand on that, 234 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: I mean, what's your view of that. 235 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of anger by Trump's supporters, and 236 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 2: it's understandable to a point. They feel he represents them, 237 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 2: the flyover country, the church going, the military serving, the 238 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 2: god fearing, the people who really show up a soccer 239 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 2: practice with their kids, and who have invested in this 240 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 2: country more than just their tax money. I understand that, 241 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 2: but anger is not a policy. And while I voted 242 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 2: for Trump twice, I'm hoping for a younger generation of leadership. 243 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 2: We praised Trump for the job he did, especially those 244 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 2: three conservative justices on the Supreme Court the border. As 245 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 2: far as he built the wall, he claims to have 246 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 2: finished it in the CNN town hall interview he didn't. 247 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 2: But I just think there's too much baggage. And you 248 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 2: can be enthusiastic about somebody, but they're not going to win, 249 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 2: and he's lost a lot of the independents who voted 250 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 2: for him last time and the time before, and so 251 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 2: much of what he says is demeaning of others, crying chuck, 252 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 2: little Nancy rona sanctimonious that's elementary school yard stuff. And 253 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 2: I would rather much have a more forward looking, optimistic 254 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 2: you know. Even Reagan and his last letter to the 255 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 2: American people when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he said 256 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 2: he still believed America's best days were ahead. That's what 257 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 2: people want to hear. They don't want to refight the past, 258 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 2: whatever it's mistakes. They want to look to the future 259 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 2: and say, how are you going to fix this? How 260 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 2: are you going to fix inflation? How are you going 261 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 2: to take food prices, gas prices back down to where 262 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 2: they were? How are we going to rebuild the military 263 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 2: to counter what China is doing and install any invasion 264 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 2: of Taiwan? What is our purpose in the world. We 265 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 2: can't send our troops everywhere all the time. What is 266 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 2: our purpose? All of these questions need to be asked 267 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 2: and answered, And instead of just focusing on the last election, 268 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 2: in my view. 269 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: Hi, this is newt In my new book, March the Majority, 270 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: the real story of the Republican Revolution. I offer strategies 271 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: and insights for everyday citizens and for seasoned politicians. It's 272 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: both a guide for political success and for winning back 273 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: the Majority. In twenty twenty four, March the Majority outlines 274 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: the sixteen year campaign to write the Contract with America. 275 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: Explains how we elected the first Republican House majority in 276 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: forty years in how we worked with President Bill to 277 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: pass major reforms, including four consecutive balance budgets. March to 278 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: the Majority tells the behind the scenes story of how 279 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: we got it done. Here's a special offer for my 280 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: podcast listeners. You can pre order March the Majority right 281 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: now at gingrishtree sixty dot com slash book and it'll 282 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: be shipped directly to you on June sixth. Don't miss 283 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: out on the special offer to pre order my new 284 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: book today. Go to ginglishtree sixty dot com slash book 285 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: and order your copy now. Order it today at gingish 286 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: three sixty dot com slash book. From your perspective, how 287 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: does probably Trump's biggest rival, Governor Rhonda Sentis How does 288 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: he fit into that? 289 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 2: Well? I thought his launch was interesting. It bombed on Twitter. 290 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 2: Of course, they had some technical problems, but I think 291 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 2: Ron de Santas lacks one thing. He's got the policy 292 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 2: things down. He did a tremendous job, winning by nearly 293 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 2: twenty points in his reelection, but he's got to be 294 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 2: more warm and fuzzy. He's got to connect war with people. 295 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 2: I hate to insert myself into this, but I've tried 296 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 2: for two years to get an interview with him. When 297 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 2: I met with Phoebe Neet Nyahu in Israel a few 298 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 2: weeks ago and came out, he was sitting on the 299 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 2: couch outside the Prime Minister's office waiting to get in, 300 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 2: and I said, Governor, I've been trying to get an 301 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 2: interview with you for two years. What's the problem. Your 302 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 2: communications office won't even respond to me. I'm not your enemy. 303 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 2: I like a lot of your stuff. He gave me 304 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 2: the default answer, Well, we get a lot of requests. 305 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 2: I said, how many requests do you get from a 306 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 2: syndicated column who's in newspapers in virtually every state? And 307 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 2: his deputy chief of staff then gave me his card, said, well, 308 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 2: get in touch with me. I'll get in touch with 309 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 2: our communications office. Well I did, and they still haven't 310 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 2: responded the same with Nicki Haley she didn't respond either. 311 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 2: You got to reach out, not just a journalist and 312 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 2: especially friendly ones, but you got to connect with people. 313 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 2: Trump connects with people. Reagan connected with people. And it's 314 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 2: a very subtle thing. You connected with people. You created 315 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 2: the Contract with America, which was so simple and so 316 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 2: easy to understand, a promise to the American people of 317 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 2: what you and the Republicans would do in Congress if 318 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 2: you won the majority. And that's the kind of simplicity 319 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 2: that communicates with people who are busy in their lives 320 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 2: with soccer practice and violin lessons and all of the rest. 321 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 2: And that's what we need again. Write it down on 322 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 2: a card like you did, fit it in your wallet 323 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,360 Speaker 2: or purse, put it in a newspaper so people can 324 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 2: see it in an ad and I think that will 325 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 2: lead conservatives and Republicans onto victory. Again. You set the example. 326 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 2: That's the kind of thing that connects with people. Write 327 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 2: it down, show me what you're going to do, and 328 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,640 Speaker 2: then do it. And I think DeSantis has a personality problem, 329 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 2: so we'll see what happens. It's a long time to 330 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 2: the first primary, but the first debates in August. Of course. 331 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,360 Speaker 1: Now I keep telling people that in twenty fifteen, on 332 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: this date, Trump had not even come down the long escalatory. 333 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: So when people say, oh, this is all fixed, you know, 334 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: this is a very fluid country that can move. As 335 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: Bud Light discovered recently. I think Target is discovering right now, 336 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: this country can move very fast once it makes us 337 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: mind up. 338 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 2: That's quite true, that is absolutely true, and anything can change. 339 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,159 Speaker 2: You know, Hillary Clinton was the odds on favorite to 340 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 2: win the presidency. Jim Bush was way ahead in the 341 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 2: polls and had more money than any other Republican candidate 342 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 2: at the time. So things can turn on a dime. 343 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 2: I mean, one statement you can make. You think of 344 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 2: Gerald fod who said that there was no communist presence 345 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 2: or influence in Eastern Europe that doomed him that one 346 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 2: comment alone. So you never know what's going to happen. 347 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 2: There's plenty of time between now and then. And of 348 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 2: course Trump's legal problems are yet to be resolved. You've 349 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 2: got the special counsel, You've got the Georgia situation, and 350 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 2: that may harm him as well. But you know, while 351 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 2: he has a solid base, it's not enough. Your base 352 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 2: is not enough. You've got to reach out to to 353 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 2: other people, the Independents and even some Democrats who may 354 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 2: have voted for you before. And I don't see that 355 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 2: happening right now. I see Trump just continuing to wallow 356 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 2: in the last election. It's just not going to work. 357 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: I want to ask you about something you've written about 358 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: which I'm very concerned about, and that is this Federal 359 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: Pills Court ruling that the diversity policy of Thomas Jefferson 360 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax cut admissions 361 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: for Asian American students by twenty six percent, and the 362 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: court upheld it. It strikes me that that's just pure racism. 363 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 2: It is. I mean, there's no other way to put it. 364 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 2: You say, well, there are too many agents getting in. 365 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 2: This is what I have gotten at in my columns 366 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 2: for years. We subsidize failure and penalize success. If you 367 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 2: make two dollars and I make one dollar, I don't 368 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 2: say it's not fair. No, I come to you to 369 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,959 Speaker 2: find out how you made the two dollars. But you know, 370 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 2: when I was growing up, I was taught inspiration followed 371 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 2: by motivation, followed by perspiration improved any life. Now it's 372 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 2: envy greeted entitlement. We envy the rich. You hear Biden 373 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 2: and the Democrats constantly be rating millionaires and billionaires. Well, 374 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 2: those are the people who create jobs, who then provide 375 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 2: tax money to the government. We are in an era 376 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 2: now where success is looked down upon and failure of 377 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 2: victimhood is something that is deserving of yours and my 378 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 2: tax dollars. That is simply a foreign ideology to me. 379 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 2: It drives me crazy, you know, just like mathematics, one 380 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 2: in one is two, except in some schools, maybe it's 381 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 2: not working hard. Staying clean, being honest will raise your 382 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 2: boat to a level that living off the government cannot 383 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 2: possibly do. It's not a mystery. You don't need an 384 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 2: advanced degree to figure these things out. We have the 385 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 2: entire human history, not only in our country but in 386 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 2: other countries as well that shows that this equation works 387 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 2: wherever it's tried. But we're into an envy greeted entitlement 388 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 2: mentality now that produces nothing. If you look at open 389 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 2: season on Medicare last year. Again, I live in Florida, 390 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 2: so they're a lot of older and retired people here, 391 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,479 Speaker 2: But there were several words that were in every single 392 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 2: ad free entitled deserve Now just think about that free, entitled, 393 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 2: and deserve. And you hear arguments about Social Security, Well, 394 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,439 Speaker 2: I paid into this all my life, and now I 395 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 2: deserve my money bag. It's not your money. People think 396 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 2: there's a lock box somewhere in the Treasury Department with 397 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 2: your Social Security money. It's a tax paid for by 398 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 2: the current working generation to those who are currently retired, 399 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 2: and hopes that those behind them will also pay enough. 400 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 2: But everybody knows it's going to go bankrupt in ten years. 401 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 2: But the politicians won't do anything about it because they'd 402 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 2: rather have the issue. 403 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 1: Well, I think also that they're sort of scared because 404 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: anything they do about is going to be interpreted by 405 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: their opponents in a pretty negative way. I'm curious, though, 406 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: you started in journalism at the age of sixteen. How 407 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: did that happen? What were you doing? 408 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,479 Speaker 2: Well, I was really a disc jockey in a suburban Washington, 409 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,239 Speaker 2: DC radio station. Actually, my wife was working there at 410 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 2: the same time. I didn't even know she was working outside, 411 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 2: squiring around celebrities. Took me fifty years to win her over, 412 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 2: but I never give up. That's part of persistence. And 413 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 2: I was doing what they call rip and read news 414 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 2: you'd look at the wires, the AP wire, and you'd 415 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 2: rip it off and you'd read news off of it 416 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 2: at the top of the hour. But then, at the 417 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 2: age of nineteen, I got a job as a copy 418 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 2: boy at NBC News in Washington, and I was surrounded 419 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 2: by some of the great journalists of the day. Most 420 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 2: younger people will not remember their names, but I have 421 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 2: their pictures on my wall, reminding me of what great 422 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 2: journalism look like. Probably the most famous among them was 423 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 2: David Brinkley, who said, it is impossible to be objective, 424 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 2: so we must try to be fair. I think that 425 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 2: is one of the great standards I've ever heard for 426 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 2: real journalism. But today we don't have real journalism. We 427 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,679 Speaker 2: have a revolving door, people going from government to the 428 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 2: media and back again. We have activists and advocates. The 429 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 2: opinion pages in the newspapers are all opinion now, And 430 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 2: as a talk show friend of mine says, the greatest 431 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 2: power the media have is the power to ignore. It's 432 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 2: not only the bias that's in the way they cover stories, 433 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 2: it's in stories they don't cover. The Hunter Biden laptop 434 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 2: just being one of the most egregious ones where the 435 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 2: New York Times and the Washington Post pretend it doesn't exist. 436 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 2: Let's see you put the Washington Post in the Washington 437 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 2: Times together. You were thinking they be reporting on two 438 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 2: different countries. The bias is overwhelming. The poll show that 439 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 2: most journalists vote for Democrats. And you can't tell me 440 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 2: that doesn't color their approach to the news. 441 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: No, I think that's right, and in fact it becomes 442 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: so one sided they don't even think it's biased because 443 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 1: they think it's the truth. 444 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you a quick story which tells you 445 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:53,919 Speaker 2: all you need to know. A few weeks ago, I 446 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 2: was called by a guy I know. It's a New 447 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 2: York Times. He's a columnist, and at the end of 448 00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 2: our conversation he said, by the way, are you STI 449 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 2: to writing your column? I felt like saying, yeah, you're 450 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 2: still writing yours. But this is indicative of what happens. 451 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,679 Speaker 2: They only read their own stuff and each other's stuff. 452 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 2: They only respect people who go to the universities they 453 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,679 Speaker 2: went to or would like to have gone to, and 454 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 2: they don't break out. I read their stuff, but they 455 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 2: don't read mind. They don't acknowledge that I exist. So 456 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 2: this proves I think and one of many proofs that 457 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 2: the journalism profession has become insular and they don't care. 458 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 2: This is the only business of which I'm aware that 459 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 2: doesn't care what its consumers think. If you owned a 460 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 2: fast food restaurant and you decided to introduce a new 461 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 2: kind of burger, and you found that your customers didn't 462 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 2: like the burger, in fact, they hated it, and they 463 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 2: went somewhere else for a burger they liked, you have 464 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,120 Speaker 2: two choices. You can either get rid of the bad 465 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: burger and give them what they want, or keep trying 466 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 2: to force feed the bad burger. No business would stay 467 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 2: in business that long, but only journalism does this. And 468 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 2: as the decline continues, the newspapers close and ratings declined, 469 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 2: and Gallop shows that the trust in the media is 470 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:13,199 Speaker 2: that an almost all time low. It's just amazing to 471 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 2: me that they don't turn this around and become more 472 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 2: part of that diversity they're always talking about but don't practice. 473 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,119 Speaker 1: My sense is that they actually write for themselves. They 474 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 1: don't write for their audience. 475 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 2: Absolutely. You've been to these functions in Washington and you've 476 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 2: seen people say to others, Hey, I read your stuff 477 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 2: the other day, and it's usually in the Washington Post 478 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 2: and New York Times or whatever. It's not in the 479 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 2: Washington Times, it's not in any other conservative media. And 480 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 2: this is reinforcement. Now, to a certain extent, conservatives now 481 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 2: do the same thing. They tune in only to those 482 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 2: things that reinforce their point of view. Well, I read liberals, 483 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 2: and I know liberals, and I have many Democrat friends, 484 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 2: as I'm sure you do, and building the relationships without 485 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 2: compromising your beliefs allows you to do a better job 486 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 2: in advancing your agenda. I mean Ted Kennedy did this 487 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 2: extremely well when the Democrats were in the minority in 488 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 2: the Senate. He made friends with Orange Hatch and other 489 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 2: Republicans said well, look, what can we agree on to 490 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 2: achieve a goal that we both agree with? And that's 491 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 2: the way to do it. And that's the way Congress 492 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,120 Speaker 2: used to be. You know the classic story of Tip 493 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 2: O'Neil and Ronald Reagan fighting during the day over policy, 494 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 2: and then O'Neil go over to the White House have 495 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,400 Speaker 2: a drink at night with the Reagan and they'd work 496 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,239 Speaker 2: things out. That doesn't happen anymore. I mean, even when 497 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 2: McCarthy goes to meet with Biden. They're all dug in. Well, 498 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 2: maybe something will come out of the debt limit where 499 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 2: each side can claim some kind of victory. But if 500 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 2: we don't attack this thirty two trillion dollar debt, then 501 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 2: we are going to be in bad economic shape, with 502 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 2: probably a recession right around the corner. 503 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 1: There's a tension that's inevitable in our system and probably 504 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 1: healthy between right and left. But that the trick is 505 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: to somehow capture. We were able, and I described this 506 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: in my new book, March to the Majority. We were 507 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: able to work with Clinton, but to do it no 508 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: way that we got him to sign welfare reform for 509 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: consecutive balanced budgets, the largest tax cut in history. And 510 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,479 Speaker 1: you've got to be able to both stick to what 511 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 1: you believe and work with somebody. 512 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. My opening line in the lecture circuit when I 513 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 2: lived in Washington and win someplace else was I'm happy 514 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 2: to be here tonight from Washington, d C. Where the 515 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 2: only politicians with convictions are in prison. Always got to laugh. 516 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 2: Not entirely true, especially when it came to you, But 517 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 2: you're right, Look, this is my standard of truth. This 518 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 2: is what I believe in, this is what I'm going 519 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 2: to stick with and this is why you should believe 520 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 2: in it. And as I wrote it, you mentioned, thankfully 521 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 2: in a previous book What Works. I've always thought, and 522 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 2: you tried to do this, by the way, to your 523 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,439 Speaker 2: great credit, that an outside auditor should come in and 524 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 2: look at every government program and every government agency, and 525 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 2: those that are working and living up to their legislative 526 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 2: authority or their charter and can't be done better by 527 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 2: the private sector. For less money we keep, and those 528 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,919 Speaker 2: that aren't working we get away with. You Remember the 529 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 2: movie Dave. I love that movie where the guy who 530 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 2: looks like the president is installed as president when the 531 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,679 Speaker 2: actual president has a stroke and he calls in his 532 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,640 Speaker 2: buddy and they work out in twenty four hours how 533 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 2: to balance the budget and get rid of all these 534 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 2: programs that are not working. Again, Reagan had one of 535 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 2: the great lines of all time, the only proof of 536 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 2: eternal life in Washington as a government program. It's so true. 537 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 2: It's easier to kill a vampire than a government program, 538 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 2: and the analogy works because both suck the lifeblood out 539 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 2: of their hosts. 540 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: Hi, this is newt. In my new book, Marchs the Majority, 541 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: the real story of the Republican Revolution. I offer strategies 542 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: and insights for everyday citizens and for season politicians. It's 543 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: both a guide for political success and for winning back 544 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: the Majority. In twenty twenty four, March the Majority outlines 545 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: the sixteen year campaign to write the Contract with America. 546 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: Explains how we elect the first Republican House majority in 547 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: forty years, in how we worked with President Bill Clinton 548 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: to pass major reforms, including four consecutive balance budgets. March 549 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: to the Majority tells the behind the scenes story of 550 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: how we got it done. Here's a special offer for 551 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: my podcast listeners. You can pre order March the Majority 552 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: right now at gingrishtree sixty dot com slash book and 553 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: it'll be shipped directly to you on June sixth. Don't 554 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: miss out on the special offer to pre order my 555 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: new book today. Go to ginglishtree sixty dot com slash 556 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: book and order your copy now. Order it today at 557 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: gingishtree sixty dot com slash book. Have you enjoyed being 558 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: in the journalism business. 559 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,920 Speaker 2: I can't think of anything I'd rather do. Nude, Well, 560 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 2: I did initially. I wanted to go into show business 561 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 2: when I was a kid, and how the news has 562 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 2: become show business. So I've arrived. But I'm very privileged. 563 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 2: Tom Johnson, who was then the publisher of the La 564 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 2: Times and wrote the introduction to my book, which I'm 565 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 2: so pleased with, classical old school LBJA democrat, really committed 566 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 2: to diversity, a real diversity of ideas and opinions, opened 567 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 2: the door for me at the La Times Syndicate and 568 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 2: got me started in this And I think the best 569 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 2: part of being in journalism, and to a sense this 570 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 2: is true in politics as well, is the different kind 571 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 2: of people you're able to meet. I don't know many 572 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 2: other professions that allow you to meet astronauts, heart transplants, surgeons, 573 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 2: prime ministers, kings and presidents and across the board of 574 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 2: every other profession. It's been an incredible blessing to me. 575 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 2: I can walk into the office of the Prime Minister 576 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 2: of Israel, who I've known for many, many years, and 577 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 2: have a conversation of forty minutes with him. I mean, 578 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 2: this is a thrill to me still when I can 579 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 2: walk into the White House. My grandmother and Grace Coolidge, 580 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 2: the wife of my grandfather, and Grace Coolidge, the wife 581 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 2: of Calvin Coolidge, were first cousins and I was named 582 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 2: after their two sons, John and Calvin. And I have 583 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 2: a great picture of my mother at eleven years old 584 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 2: standing next to Warren Harding in the White House driveway, 585 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 2: and every time I walk down that driveway, I think 586 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 2: of her. And it's always a thrill to be in 587 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 2: the Oval Office, no matter who is president. First time 588 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 2: I was there was when JFK was president. Sandra Van Hooker, 589 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 2: who was in the White House correspondent, took me over 590 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 2: there and I watched them swear in Adlie Stevenson to 591 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 2: be you an ambassador. So this is the kind of 592 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 2: business that affords you access to all kinds of fascinating 593 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 2: people from whom you can learn if you're open to 594 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 2: their point of view and worldview. 595 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: And in a sense, your new book, A Watchman in 596 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: the Night really carries us through your experience both of 597 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: the country but also of the news media and the 598 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: way it's evolved. 599 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 2: Well, I've written over four thousand columns in these nearly 600 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 2: forty years, not counting the USA to Day columns, and 601 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 2: I went back and reread or at least looked at 602 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 2: most of them as my own reminder of what happened 603 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 2: over these last forty years. The book begins in Riggan's 604 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 2: second term in nineteen eighty four, and it goes through 605 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 2: in highlights so many events, some of which many people 606 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 2: will remember and others they will have to be reminded of. 607 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 2: And I think one of the lessons that comes out 608 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 2: of this is that human nature never changes. You know, 609 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 2: we're always talking about new ideas, and there really are 610 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 2: no new ideas unless you're talking technology. There are only 611 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 2: old ideas that either worked or didn't work. And I 612 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 2: said earlier, we're not the first generation to walk the earth. 613 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 2: We can learn from those who went before. There really is, 614 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 2: as Ecclesiastes says, nothing under the sun. Everything you think 615 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 2: has been thought before, everything you do has been done before. 616 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 2: That should be humbling, and we should learn from the 617 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 2: people who went before so we don't make the mistakes 618 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 2: that some of them did before. 619 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: Given that you're so solidly conservative, how have you been 620 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: able to survive in an increasingly liberal business? 621 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 2: You know, it's a great question, and I speak a 622 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 2: lot to young journalism students about this very thing, and 623 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 2: I'm often asked about it. I think you have to 624 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 2: go out and join their organizations. You have to read 625 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 2: everything they read. You have to know what they know 626 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,720 Speaker 2: and how they came to their point of view, and 627 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 2: you have to respond to it with the superior view. 628 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 2: I remember something your friend and my friend of many years, 629 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 2: the lady Jack Kemp, said, you don't beat a thesis 630 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 2: with an antithesis, you beat it with a better thesis. 631 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 2: I've always loved that line. You know, Okay, you got 632 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 2: your idea, how did it work? Let me tell you 633 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 2: about a better idea that works. And I think you 634 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 2: can sell that to the American people because we have 635 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 2: what I call a leftover Puritan DNA in US. We 636 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 2: understand the concept of right and wrong. We understand the 637 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 2: concept that you can't spend more money than you earn 638 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 2: because debt becomes an albatross around your neck. We understand 639 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 2: these things instinctively. So we need to preach them again 640 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 2: to a new generation. And teach them again to a 641 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 2: new generation because they always work when they're tried, and 642 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 2: stop being afraid of the labels of being uncaring about 643 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 2: the poor. We've spent, according to Heritage, over eleven trillion 644 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 2: dollars on anti poverty programs, and yet we have, according 645 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 2: to them, roughly the same number of poor people that 646 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 2: we had in nineteen sixty five when Linda Johnson launched 647 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 2: the Great Society. Well, any reasonable person would ask, gee, 648 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 2: if we've spent that much time and that much money 649 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 2: trying to solve poverty and it's not working, a wise 650 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,720 Speaker 2: person might suggest that we should try something else. 651 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:29,799 Speaker 1: Let me ask you, though, one of the things you 652 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: talked about that I didn't know happened was you had 653 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:34,719 Speaker 1: lunch with Ronald Reagan. What was that like? 654 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 2: It was wonderful. I'd met him several times before, and 655 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 2: met him the first time in seventy six when he 656 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 2: was traveling around trying to get the nomination from Gerald Ford, 657 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,839 Speaker 2: which he nearly did, and made her better speech at 658 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,439 Speaker 2: that convention than Ford did, leading many Republicans to say, 659 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 2: I think we just nominated the wrong guy. One of 660 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 2: the things he told me at lunch was, you know, 661 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,280 Speaker 2: I'll frequently give an order and see it frustrated several 662 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 2: level down in the bureaucracy. But Reagan was able to 663 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,360 Speaker 2: connect just by his presence. Sure, he was an actor 664 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 2: and that counted for a lot, but he appeared to 665 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 2: genuinely care about people. He listened to people, He listened 666 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 2: to me. I listened to him, and just to be 667 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 2: in his presence was a wonderful experience. I just think 668 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 2: that he was a great, great man who, of course 669 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 2: the left disparaged to their regret. I mean, you remember 670 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,840 Speaker 2: Pat Brown, the governor of California when Reagan was running 671 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 2: for governor. He just blew him off. Eyes just a 672 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,920 Speaker 2: B level actor. He'll never amount to anything, and Reagan 673 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 2: blew him away. Of course, he always benefited by being underestimated, 674 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 2: as you know, and that's a good place to be. 675 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 2: The other thing that Reagan had going for him that 676 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 2: today's politicians could learn from is that he was humble. 677 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,359 Speaker 2: He came off as humble, He was self deprecating. You 678 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 2: remember that famous line during the nineteen eighty four debate 679 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,399 Speaker 2: with Walter Mondale where he said, I'm not going to 680 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 2: allow the youth and inex experience of my opponent to 681 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 2: be used as an issue in this campaign. Right then, 682 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,240 Speaker 2: Bob Beckel told me, we knew we had lost that election. 683 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 2: People like that instead of hubris and conceit, they like 684 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 2: to know that their leaders are serving them and that 685 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 2: they're humble about it. That carries a lot of weight 686 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 2: in American politics, as you know. 687 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: I think Reagan worked very hard at being undrestmate. I 688 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: remember one time one of his staff said to me 689 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 1: about nineteen eighty two. I guess he said to Reagan, 690 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,320 Speaker 1: you know, you go up every night with this huge 691 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: bag of material that you work on, and why don't 692 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 1: you let us get a picture of you taking that 693 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:40,719 Speaker 1: up to work on it at night? And Reagan said, 694 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: you know, I think the American people who like to 695 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: think of their president being kind of relaxed and in charge, 696 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 1: I don't want them to think of me as being 697 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,799 Speaker 1: too worried or working too hard. And I think he'd 698 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 1: gotten that in part from Eisenhower, in this sense of 699 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: exuding leadership in a very disciplined way. He was pleasant, 700 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:02,320 Speaker 1: but he was very disciplined. 701 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:05,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, as you were talking, it reminded me 702 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 2: of Jimmy Carter, who was so involved in virtually everything, 703 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,840 Speaker 2: right down to the scheduling on the tennis courts. And 704 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,919 Speaker 2: you're right that people, yes, will work hard and the rest, 705 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 2: but relax and enjoy the office. There are many pleasantries 706 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 2: that go with being president of the United States, and 707 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 2: not just the plane. 708 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:28,759 Speaker 1: I think that's right, and I think that Carter was 709 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,279 Speaker 1: one of those people who couldn't distinguish the forest from 710 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: the leaf. Forget this treason. Yeah, and the result was 711 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,640 Speaker 1: he was doing terrifically well at discheduling the tennis courts 712 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,399 Speaker 1: and terribly at leading the country. It was just kind 713 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: of amazing. I want to thank you for joining me, 714 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: and I want to encourage our listeners to get a 715 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: copy of your new book, A Watchman in the Night, 716 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,640 Speaker 1: what I've seen over fifty years reporting in America, which 717 00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 1: is now available on which we're going to have on 718 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 1: our show page. You're terrific. You've been a great friend 719 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,720 Speaker 1: all these years. I'm glad you're in there still fighting, 720 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: and I think that what you do with your columns 721 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,120 Speaker 1: and with your appearances really helps the cause of American renewal. 722 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,799 Speaker 1: So thank you so much for joining me. 723 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,840 Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much, Newden. You've been an inspiration 724 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 2: to me and what you did when you were in 725 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 2: Congress was just amazing. And I think the history books 726 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 2: are going to record that if the right people write 727 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:22,920 Speaker 2: the history. 728 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,759 Speaker 1: Thank you to my guest Kyle Thomas. You can get 729 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: a link to order his new book, A Watchman in 730 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: the Night on our show page at Newtsworld dot com. 731 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 1: Newtsworld is produced by Gingwish three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 732 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: executive producer is Guernsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 733 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,240 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 734 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:50,879 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Gingwish three sixty. If 735 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying Nutsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 736 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,920 Speaker 1: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 737 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn what it's all about. 738 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners of neut World can sign up for 739 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:07,200 Speaker 1: my three freeweekly columns at Gingwish three sixty dot com 740 00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is neut World.