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Speaker 1: Hi, this is new due to the virus. I'm recording

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Speaker 1: from home, so you may notice a difference in audio

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Speaker 1: quality on this episode of Niche World. I'm talking to

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Speaker 1: somebody who you've probably seen having breakfast somewhere in America.

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Speaker 1: Pet Except has made a tradition out of criss crossing

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Speaker 1: the country for Fox and Friends, sitting down to breakfast

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Speaker 1: and listening to Americans, stunning what they're thinking about, what

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Speaker 1: they care about. And in his new book, he really

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Speaker 1: explores where we're at as a country. And the whole

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Speaker 1: concept of American Crusade is to lay out for us

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Speaker 1: why this is such an important fight, do it in

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Speaker 1: a way that has the same kind of insights, politically

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Speaker 1: incorrect candor and humor that has made his television show

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Speaker 1: one of the most highly rated in America. I got

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Speaker 1: to know Pete years ago when he was out there

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Speaker 1: courageously fighting for veterans and doing all he could to

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Speaker 1: reform the Veterans administration. I've always enjoyed working with him,

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Speaker 1: and I'm really pleased to welcome I guess Pete. He's

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Speaker 1: a author of American Crusade, our fight to stay free.

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Speaker 1: But let me just say that it's a personal thrill

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Speaker 1: to me to have Pete, he said on today. I've

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Speaker 1: known him back when he was fighting so hard for veterans,

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Speaker 1: and he was one of the key people in beginning

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Speaker 1: to reform the Veterans administration. Showed enormous courage. All of

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Speaker 1: us who watch Fox and Friends have been at breakfast

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Speaker 1: with Pete around the country, and he had a great

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Speaker 1: new book out called American Crusade, Our Fight to Stay Free,

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Speaker 1: which we're going to spend time on because it fits

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Speaker 1: so perfectly with Memorial Day that all of us are

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Speaker 1: concerned about his patriots. But I really want to start

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Speaker 1: by asking Pete about his childhood and how did he

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Speaker 1: grow up? See why did you end up becoming such

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Speaker 1: a deeply committed patriot. Well, mister speaker, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for having me. As you know, I'm a huge fan.

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Speaker 1: You have charted the course for all of us. I've

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Speaker 1: learned immense amounts from you and your leadership and your

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Speaker 1: books and the things you fought for, the way you've

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Speaker 1: been outside the box on so many things for so long.

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Speaker 1: So thank you so much for everything you continue to do.

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Speaker 1: It's an absolute honor to be here. I would say

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Speaker 1: my parents didn't raise me in any sort of overtly

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Speaker 1: political household at all. But when I look back, I

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Speaker 1: realized I was an absolute child of privilege, even though

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Speaker 1: I grew up in a very middle class town in

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Speaker 1: the middle of suburban Minnesota, because I had parents who

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Speaker 1: loved me and invested in me. They taught me how

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Speaker 1: to work hard. They taught me to love our country

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Speaker 1: and what we have in simple ways, not in big

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Speaker 1: patriotic tones, just hey, appreciate it. Here. You can achieve

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Speaker 1: anything if you work hard. Faith was a part of

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Speaker 1: every part of our lives, reading the Bible, prayer, going

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Speaker 1: to church, and then a strong community reverence for veterans.

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Speaker 1: It's the memorial they parade newt that actually has burned

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Speaker 1: the most in my mind. We used to go to

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Speaker 1: one Mingo, Minnesota. It's a small farming town, population nothing,

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Speaker 1: with a big wide main street and the parade that's

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Speaker 1: mostly tractors. The vets would walk down the street and

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget it was still some World War Two vets,

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Speaker 1: Korean War vets, Vietnam vets, the Gulf War guys were

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Speaker 1: back to their uniforms, still fit. But the reverence the

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Speaker 1: town had the standing ovation, the cheering, the flags, waving,

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Speaker 1: the salutes. It left an imprint on me. And that's

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Speaker 1: why I think civic ritual is so important for kids

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Speaker 1: to see time and time again. You know what we

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Speaker 1: revere as a reflection of what we value. And in

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Speaker 1: that moment, those ceremonies had a huge impact on me.

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Speaker 1: The parade ended at Memorial Park, where we memorialize the

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Speaker 1: people who were no longer there and given their life.

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Speaker 1: And this small sliver of Minnesota is reflective of the

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Speaker 1: sacrifice at the altar of freedom that so many people

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Speaker 1: have had to made. So that was kind of burned

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Speaker 1: into me, and I just knew that I wanted to

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Speaker 1: serve at some level. I almost went to West Point instead.

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Speaker 1: I went to Princeton because I cared a lot more

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Speaker 1: about babald in anything else. But I had an RTC

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Speaker 1: program and I signed up and did it. It's the

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Speaker 1: best decision I ever made. And nine to eleven happened

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Speaker 1: right after I signed up, so it was the ultimate validator.

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Speaker 1: And I went into serve tours in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,

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Speaker 1: guarding inmates there in two thousand and four, and then

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Speaker 1: I was interacted from two thousand and five to two

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Speaker 1: thousand and six as an infantry platoon leader, and that's

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Speaker 1: what I got involved in advocacy after that, because I

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Speaker 1: felt like the warfighters were being ignored in our mission

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Speaker 1: was off, that we could still be successful, and that

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Speaker 1: was right before the surge. So I found myself on

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Speaker 1: Capitol Hill, never having met a senator in my life,

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Speaker 1: meeting with them regularly trying to find a way to

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Speaker 1: inform the public on what was really happening on the ground.

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Speaker 1: I did another tour in Afghanistan and ultimately ran a

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Speaker 1: group called Concern Vets for America where mister Speaker we

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Speaker 1: worked together on trying to reform the VA. And I

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Speaker 1: think when you go into the battlefield and you come home,

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Speaker 1: you start to realize how petty so many of the

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Speaker 1: things we fight about our but also how consequential the

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Speaker 1: big things really are. And that's why I wrote my

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Speaker 1: first book and then I've got the next one coming out. Now.

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Speaker 1: When you realize what we're up against, you realize how

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Speaker 1: much we have to fortify ourselves as patriots to preserve

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Speaker 1: what we have. Like that Memorial Day parade and one

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Speaker 1: of Mingle Minnesota is a special thing if people aren't

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Speaker 1: willing to fight for what we have, and then we

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Speaker 1: don't teach the next generation, we can and will lose it.

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Speaker 1: And history shows us that republics are prone to that

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Speaker 1: if citizens are not vigilant. I grew up just like

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Speaker 1: anybody else, in a nowhere town. My dad was a

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Speaker 1: gym teacher and a high school basketball coach, and my

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Speaker 1: mom stayed at home, and I'm grateful for the basic

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Speaker 1: ingredients that they gave me and the rest of it.

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Speaker 1: Note is being mugged by reality of the world and

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Speaker 1: of evil and of what it takes for free citizens

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Speaker 1: to stay free. Okay, I can't resist us. But before

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Speaker 1: we move on to the larger public policy vans, did

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Speaker 1: you play guard? I did. I played point guard. I

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Speaker 1: sort of thought that must have been your role. I

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Speaker 1: know you all't have to know. It was unlikely you

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Speaker 1: were playing center. You know it's true. I was a

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Speaker 1: point guard. I was trying to the coach on the court,

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Speaker 1: although I didn't play that much in college. I spent

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Speaker 1: four years mostly on the bench. But it was a

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Speaker 1: huge learning exercise in humility, in hard work, in teamwork.

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Speaker 1: I'm doming my kids to the same fate. Newte I'm

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Speaker 1: a short, slow, white guy who can barely jump. Yet

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Speaker 1: I choose basketball, and I got my kids playing it

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Speaker 1: now too. But I love the sport. I love the

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Speaker 1: team work side of it, and yeah, I like to

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Speaker 1: control the court when I'm out there. When you look

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Speaker 1: back on active duty, and people should know that you

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Speaker 1: earned two bronze stars, which is no mean achievement, so

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Speaker 1: you were in the thick of things on occasion. What

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Speaker 1: really strikes you in retrospective? Who were the biggest surprises

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Speaker 1: during your period of active duty. I guess the biggest

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Speaker 1: surprise for me was the limitations we put on ourselves

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Speaker 1: in wage war, and I realized it then I realized

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Speaker 1: it even more so in hindsight. It's why I've been

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Speaker 1: an advocate for a lot of the guys who were

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Speaker 1: I believe unjustly prosecuted, especially under the Obama rules of engagement,

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Speaker 1: and who went out there to do a job. And

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Speaker 1: political correctness that flooded into the military has put our

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Speaker 1: own men and women on the defense. We have all

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Speaker 1: these rules, we wear uniforms, we have chain of command,

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Speaker 1: we have rules of engagement. We're accountable to the American

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Speaker 1: people ultimately, and we fight enemies who have none of

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Speaker 1: those rules are utterly vicious. They have a very coherent

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Speaker 1: worldview that is extremely radical, and we ended up fighting

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Speaker 1: time and time again the same people. We called it

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Speaker 1: kind of jokingly the Iraqi catch and release program, but

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Speaker 1: we would quite literally arrest people or capture them in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the night, and because we were not

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Speaker 1: able to conduct a CSI level investigation with fingerprints and

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Speaker 1: firsthand accounts, three days later, those people were released back

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Speaker 1: into the very same neighborhoods, now able to be predators

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Speaker 1: against the very people who had turned them in in

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Speaker 1: the first place. And it's immensely counterproductive. It makes our

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Speaker 1: relationships with Iraqis or whoever we're working with the same

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Speaker 1: thing in Afghanistan very tenuous. There's streets of gold and

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Speaker 1: McDonald's on every corner, and the American military can do anything.

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Speaker 1: We can see you from a drone a million miles

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Speaker 1: away in a satellite What do you mean you're going

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Speaker 1: to release this guy tomorrow? I gave you the information,

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Speaker 1: and you would watch people beg and cry in front

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Speaker 1: of you for the future of their kids and their family,

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Speaker 1: the risk they took to help you. And then because

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Speaker 1: of our bureaucratic process and our inability to wage real

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Speaker 1: total war, we ultimately would release these guys. So I

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Speaker 1: started to realize our enemies had figured out our vulnerabilities,

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Speaker 1: and with one year tours and rotations, they take advantage

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Speaker 1: of our goodness. It doesn't mean we'd stop being good.

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Speaker 1: It means we have a decision to make. We either

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Speaker 1: stay for a hundred years and decide to remake an

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Speaker 1: entire society, which is not tenable in an elected republic,

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Speaker 1: or we really wage war in a way in which

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Speaker 1: we utterly destroy our enemy and make it clear where

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Speaker 1: we have no tolerance for the type of barbarism that

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Speaker 1: they exhibit. Unfortunately, because we've did neither, these wars went

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Speaker 1: on and on and on. Getting inside the mind of

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Speaker 1: a warfighter is helpful now, especially as I get a

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Speaker 1: chance to be a humble voice for them on national television,

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Speaker 1: to get people to understand the job they have and

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Speaker 1: how much more complicated we make it for them. The

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Speaker 1: top level of it, nude is how wonderful these people are.

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Speaker 1: They're the best of the best. They leave their families

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Speaker 1: to go do this in places where they may never

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Speaker 1: come back from. And without these people, we have nothing,

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Speaker 1: and there are threats we need to stare down. We're

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Speaker 1: going to need men and women like that in the future,

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Speaker 1: and I hope and pray we do right by them.

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Speaker 1: So when you came back and you went up to

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Speaker 1: Capitol Hill, what was the biggest surprise to you dealing

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Speaker 1: with members of the House and Senate. One was the

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Speaker 1: surprise of the courage that did exist. That there were

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Speaker 1: advocates then and at that moment in the surge. That

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Speaker 1: was your Lindsay Grahams and your John McCain's and your

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Speaker 1: Joe Lieberman's and the people who were willing to be

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Speaker 1: forward leaning for a war that was deemed unpopular, for

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Speaker 1: a strategy that wasn't working, and they wanted to hear

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Speaker 1: from the guys on the ground. I was a nobody.

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Speaker 1: I was a first lieutenant, and I was there with

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Speaker 1: a bunch of sergeants and staff sergeants and captains and

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Speaker 1: we were ushered into the chambers of power and listen

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Speaker 1: to And that was an amazing experience for me, as

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Speaker 1: a regular Joe Blows citizen to realize that at the

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Speaker 1: right moment, with the right set of experiences, you can

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Speaker 1: go in and talk to the most powerful people in

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Speaker 1: the country and they might listen and it might have

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Speaker 1: an impact on the overall discussion for the country. So

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Speaker 1: I was heartened that it was so accessible for something

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Speaker 1: that was that important. But the other thing I learned

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Speaker 1: was how cynically partisan the entire exercise ken and does become,

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Speaker 1: and you either sort of bemoan the partisanship or you

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Speaker 1: have to fight back in a way that makes the

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Speaker 1: case you have. It was amazing how quickly doors are

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Speaker 1: closed just because you may be perceived to be on

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Speaker 1: one side of the aisle or the other, even when

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Speaker 1: it comes to something like war and peace, which you'd

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Speaker 1: think you would want to hear the truth of what's

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Speaker 1: happening on the ground. When you looked at that experience

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Speaker 1: and you then went on to really provide leadership for veterans,

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Speaker 1: and I thought that was period were you really stood

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Speaker 1: out as a citizen. Did you find that the system

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Speaker 1: was resistant to the concerned veterans for America? Absolutely? What

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Speaker 1: I didn't understand with the weight and the power of

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Speaker 1: the establishment and federal institutions and bureaucracy, and frankly the

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Speaker 1: special interest groups that surround them, and how much power

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Speaker 1: they really have. So when concerned Vets for America showed

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Speaker 1: up and said, we had a basic proposition, and I

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Speaker 1: gotta tell your listeners how central you, mister speaker were

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Speaker 1: to this. I mean, you came in with a huge

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Speaker 1: shot in the arm for us, encouraging us at a

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Speaker 1: moment when we very much needed it. We came in

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Speaker 1: with a simple proposition. What if we put the veteran

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Speaker 1: at the center. What if we said the veteran has

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Speaker 1: needs when they come home, wounds seen or unseen, and

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Speaker 1: they should get the best care possible wherever that exists.

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Speaker 1: If the government can provide it, fantastic. If not, then

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Speaker 1: a VET should have access to all the networks of

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Speaker 1: private care. If you live in Rochester, Minnesota right now,

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Speaker 1: you have to drive to a VA facility. You can't

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Speaker 1: go to the Mayo clinic where Saudi princes fly to

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Speaker 1: get their elective surgeries. It doesn't make sense. So if

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Speaker 1: you're putting the vet first, let's build a process and

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Speaker 1: a program that does just that and empowers them to choose.

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Speaker 1: You expect Democrats who are invested in single payer healthcare

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Speaker 1: and government run healthcare to be resistant. You expect the

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Speaker 1: labor unions to be resistant because they're in bed with

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Speaker 1: the bureaucracy. What was so new to me in a

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Speaker 1: certain sense was how these veterans groups who were in

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Speaker 1: Washington have been in Washington for years. I'm talking about

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Speaker 1: your vfws and your legions and your others that are

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Speaker 1: there plenty of good people in those organizations. Again, did

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Speaker 1: disconnect exists in those groups right the post level in

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Speaker 1: my hometown, those vets totally agree with what we're talking about.

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Speaker 1: It's the leadership in Washington, DC. You start to realize

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Speaker 1: they've been there for decades. They value their access and

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Speaker 1: invites to the White House Christmas Party more than they

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Speaker 1: do agitating for the very best for vets. And so

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Speaker 1: we got ferocious incoming from other veterans groups basically trying

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Speaker 1: to vote us off the island, saying, you guys don't count,

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Speaker 1: you haven't been here, your ideas are disqualified. Go away

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Speaker 1: to the point where they were actively trying to discredit

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Speaker 1: us and smear us. And so we took the other approaches,

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Speaker 1: say we can't win that inside baseball game. We're going

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Speaker 1: to go above it and beyond it as much as

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Speaker 1: we can try to educate presidential candidates. That was in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, so we did town halls with

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Speaker 1: all the Republicans that were running for president, helping to

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Speaker 1: get them familiar with the ideas we were advancing. Ironically,

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Speaker 1: the one event we couldn't get scheduled was with President Trump,

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Speaker 1: but thankfully he's the one that lanched on the most,

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Speaker 1: thankfully through our public advocacy, through the things we did

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Speaker 1: on Fox to these ideas, and we also went straight

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Speaker 1: to vets themselves and made the case, wouldn't you like

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Speaker 1: this basic opportunity to choose? And then finally we put

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Speaker 1: the plan together. We wrote a task force report one

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Speaker 1: hundred pages. Normally white papers in Washington are written and

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Speaker 1: then they go into the dust spin. We tried to

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Speaker 1: make ours an active, living document that we advanced in

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Speaker 1: made the heart of everything that we did, and it

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Speaker 1: was extremely well received because it was based on common sense.

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Speaker 1: It was based on the idea that veterans are smart

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Speaker 1: enough to choose, and it has become a centerpiece of

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Speaker 1: what the President has advanced when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: VA through holding people accountable and giving veterans a choice.

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Speaker 1: It's still not perfect, but I think we did as

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Speaker 1: close as you can do to being disruptive in a

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Speaker 1: place that had seen static and stale thinking for twenty five,

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Speaker 1: thirty forty years. That's just another five billion dollars and

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Speaker 1: the VA's going to be okay. And I think we

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Speaker 1: helped show that there is an alternative to just the

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Speaker 1: sort of bureaucratic group think which dominates most of Washington,

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Speaker 1: the bureaucracies that never want to change. I thought it

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Speaker 1: was amazing at the time. The leadership Concerned Weterans for

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Speaker 1: America occurred about the same pace at which the news

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Speaker 1: media began to realize how many scandals there were in

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Speaker 1: the VA around the country, and so the VA itself

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Speaker 1: was weakened in trying to defend itself, and the traditional

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Speaker 1: veterans groups began, I think, to think that they had

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Speaker 1: to sort of take a half step back or they

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Speaker 1: would be discredited because the scandals were so amazing and

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Speaker 1: so heartbreaking. And I think it created a space in

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Speaker 1: which your leadership and the Concerned Veterans as a team.

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Speaker 1: It's one of those magic moments that happens every once

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Speaker 1: in a while in American history, and some serious things

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Speaker 1: were achieved, reinforced by President Trump and his deep concern

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Speaker 1: for the veterans. So when you came out of that,

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Speaker 1: is that the point in which you ended up at Fox, Yes, sir,

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Speaker 1: that is how I ended up landing on Fox. And

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Speaker 1: I had done television segments for years. My first one

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Speaker 1: ever knew it was on Hardball with Chris Matthews in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and seven about the Iraq War, and my

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Speaker 1: marine buddy, who had been on television once himself and

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Speaker 1: therefore was an expert, gave me two pieces of advice.

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Speaker 1: He said, lean forward because it looks better on camera,

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Speaker 1: and don't let him cut you off. Never let him

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Speaker 1: cut you off. Well, thirty five cut offs later on Hardball,

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Speaker 1: I survived my first segment. I just jumped right into

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Speaker 1: the deep end on TV as an advocate, and I

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Speaker 1: had been doing Veterans in Military commentary for years. It

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Speaker 1: really did pick up around the VA and pick up

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Speaker 1: at Fox News Channel. And then I started doing a

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Speaker 1: weekly segment on a couple of different shows to include

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Speaker 1: Fox and Friends. And then one day they just asked

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Speaker 1: me if you ever thought about asking the questions instead

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Speaker 1: of answering them, and would you be open to doing

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Speaker 1: some guest hosting, And so I gave it a shot

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Speaker 1: and didn't utterly fail the first time. And so for me,

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Speaker 1: being on television isn't the goal. For me. It is

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Speaker 1: finding avenues in which to fight for God and country,

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Speaker 1: to fight for the things that we believe in, and

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Speaker 1: opening the door to a national television audience with a

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Speaker 1: lot of influence, great guests. It just picked up from there.

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Speaker 1: And then Tucker Carlson was actually the Weekend Boxing Friends

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Speaker 1: host for three years during that time period, and then he,

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Speaker 1: of course after the election, got the primetime slot and

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Speaker 1: I was able to audition for it. And here we

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Speaker 1: are today, so very much an accidental TV host, but

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Speaker 1: grateful for the platform. You wrote a book in twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 1: What inspired you to do that? My first book in

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Speaker 1: the Arena, I felt like I had a lot of

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Speaker 1: experience that had informed why I loved the country so much.

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Speaker 1: I carried with me on the battlefield a plaque. I

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Speaker 1: brought it with me every deployment I was on. It's

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Speaker 1: a quote by Teddy Roosevelt in Paris, France, from April

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Speaker 1: of nineteen ten. It's the quote it's not the critic

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Speaker 1: who counts, not the man who points out how the

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Speaker 1: strong man stumbles or where the dour of deeds could

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Speaker 1: have done better, the credit belongs to the man who

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Speaker 1: is actually in the arena. It's a very famous quote,

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Speaker 1: and I carried it with me and put it up

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Speaker 1: in whatever rum or hoos or tent I was in

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Speaker 1: as a reminder, and then I actually read the whole speech,

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Speaker 1: which is called Citizenship in a Republic. And I remember

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Speaker 1: reading that speech from nineteen ten, and this was Teddy

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Speaker 1: Roosevelt after his presidency, so he's reflecting on America, an

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Speaker 1: American citizenship, and I remember thinking, that's it. This speech

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Speaker 1: is what I want to say effectively. And so what

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Speaker 1: I did is I took that speech as a frame

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Speaker 1: and teased out of it the core themes, and then

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Speaker 1: weaved into it my own experiences. And it really comes

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Speaker 1: down to the ingredients for what we need good citizens

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Speaker 1: for a great republic. And it's the willingness to work

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Speaker 1: for a living, the dignity of work, the willingness to

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Speaker 1: fight by force of arms, if necessarily fight to maintain

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Speaker 1: your liberties and your freedoms. It's believing in something greater

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Speaker 1: than yourself, having faith, I mean, that's central to freedom.

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Speaker 1: Otherwise you fill that vacuum with government, and then it's

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Speaker 1: patriotic families. Demographics really matter, and how you teach the

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Speaker 1: next generation is essential. Effectively, those are the basic ingredients

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Speaker 1: of good citizens, which is what is required to keep

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Speaker 1: a republic great. And I we even a lot of

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Speaker 1: personal stories from Iraq and some of the things that

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Speaker 1: we did with Vets for Freedom on Capitol Hill, and

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Speaker 1: that came out in twenty sixteen. I'm really proud of it,

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Speaker 1: a project that I poured myself into. But that was

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Speaker 1: right at the beginning of my time at Fox. I

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Speaker 1: knew four years later it was very much time for

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Speaker 1: an update. One of the more amazing things I've lived through.

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Speaker 1: Late in his life, I went to New York to

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Speaker 1: seek some advice from Richard Nixon. They had great advice.

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Speaker 1: Knew a great deal about the business of politics, and

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Speaker 1: he'd been a House Republican in forty six to fifty.

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Speaker 1: And it's very funny because he said to me at

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Speaker 1: one point, the House Republicans are boring. When I was there,

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Speaker 1: they were boring. You're never going to get to the

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Speaker 1: majority if you're bored. So I was taking all these

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Speaker 1: and the last thing just before I left, he said,

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Speaker 1: I want to read you something, and he pulled up

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Speaker 1: that quote from Theodore Roosevelt, and you could see how much,

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Speaker 1: given what he had been through the pain of Watergate,

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Speaker 1: losing in sixty losing in sixty two, the extraordinary comeback

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Speaker 1: in sixty eight, one of the largest majorities in American

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Speaker 1: history at seventy two, and then the collapser in Watergate,

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Speaker 1: you can sort of see how much he identified with

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Speaker 1: the man in the arena, and the whole sense that

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Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt talked about was really a remarkable moment. So

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Speaker 1: I sympathized totally with your relating so strongly to that.

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Speaker 1: I get the impression when you're out on the road

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Speaker 1: and we're having breakfast with you, you really are at

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Speaker 1: home walking into any diner in America and sitting down

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Speaker 1: and having some pandcakes and chatting with the local folks,

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Speaker 1: and that you kind of get a kick out of them.

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Speaker 1: It's true. I love it. I think it's the best

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Speaker 1: assignment in television. It energizes me. It reminds me of

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Speaker 1: the goodness of the American people. I call it common

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Speaker 1: sense wisdom, and I love it. I can't get enough

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Speaker 1: of it. It's why I think the segments are great.

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Speaker 1: We spend so much time in the bubble, so much

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Speaker 1: time with the elite media and all that worldview on

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Speaker 1: the coast. They look down on and ignore these voices.

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Speaker 1: I think these are the most important and powerful voices.

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Speaker 1: So we're sitting there, We're talking to truck drivers, talking

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Speaker 1: to pastors, we're talking to teachers, we're talking to guys

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Speaker 1: that do construction, you know, and they're sharing what they're

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Speaker 1: dealing with, or how they view the president, or how

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Speaker 1: they view what the Democrats are doing. I'm glad that

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Speaker 1: comes across, because there's no better assignment. I think there's

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Speaker 1: value in getting that information out there very much. So

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Speaker 1: I mean that phrase common sense wisdom, because there is

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Speaker 1: such a lack of common sense, in basic decency, in

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Speaker 1: the way that the elites view the masses that part

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Speaker 1: of the conversation is so badly needed. I think you

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Speaker 1: clearly have learned a lot by going around the country,

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Speaker 1: in addition to what you've done as a soldier, what

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Speaker 1: you've done as a citizen actors, and all of that

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Speaker 1: has led you to write American Crusade, Our Fight to

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Speaker 1: stay free. Why did you decide you had to write this?

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Speaker 1: What are you trying to say to the American people,

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Speaker 1: thank you, dude. I want to say this, I don't

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Speaker 1: know that anything I write in the book hasn't already

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Speaker 1: been written by you or by other people who I

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Speaker 1: consider absolute crusaders for the cause of freedom. I stand

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Speaker 1: on the shoulders of giants and want to just make

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Speaker 1: my humble contribution. What I did was I felt the

434
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,480
Speaker 1: need to write the book because my view of our

435
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 1: republic was so changed, shaken over the last four years

436
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,639
Speaker 1: and clarified, and a lot of it has to do,

437
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,200
Speaker 1: of course, with the twenty sixteen election. Chapter two starts

438
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 1: with my name is Pete Heseth, and I was almost

439
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,520
Speaker 1: an ever Trumper, and sort of this admission of where

440
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 1: we were on our politics and how we viewed the

441
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 1: battle that's ongoing with the left and what a wake

442
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 1: up called Donald Trump was to those of us who

443
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,720
Speaker 1: maybe considered ourselves conservatives or the establishment. I talked about

444
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: my Trump conversion moments and growing a Trump spine and

445
00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: all of the things that he has clarified both for

446
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,719
Speaker 1: how we should fight, but also revealed the depth of

447
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 1: the depravity of the American left and how committed they

448
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,680
Speaker 1: are to the destruction of the values of our country.

449
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,159
Speaker 1: And that's why they're so committed to the destruction of

450
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is because he speaks to the ancient virtues

451
00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: that have made America special and made America great, and

452
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 1: they hate him for it. The point of the book

453
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,440
Speaker 1: is to say, our backs are against the wall. We

454
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:10,120
Speaker 1: won a political miracle in twenty sixteen of epic proportions.

455
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 1: The left seeks our destruction, and if they can take

456
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 1: the political sphere, they will have captured every sphere, meaning

457
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 1: they've already captured our educational spheres and our cultural spheres,

458
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: our social media, most of our churches, our businesses, in

459
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 1: the woke culture that exists there Hollywood, Silicon Valley, even

460
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: the military has these deep threads of political correctness that

461
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:39,639
Speaker 1: Obama has injected into it. That politics, it feels like

462
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 1: maybe the last quarter in which patriots are winning with

463
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,360
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's election in twenty sixteen, and I think this

464
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: upcoming election in twenty twenty will be a huge indicator

465
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,359
Speaker 1: as to whether or not our country is headed towards

466
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:58,479
Speaker 1: the direction of decline, of death, of divorce as a people,

467
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,359
Speaker 1: or whether we're on the beginning of a new dawn.

468
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 1: Because enough patriots were able to overcome the pure hatred

469
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: of the elites and the media types who are all

470
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,200
Speaker 1: in the tank for what the Democrats are selling, which

471
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 1: is socialism. I think this is one of the most

472
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: impactful elections in American history, just astonishingly important when you

473
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,680
Speaker 1: actually look at the trajectory of our country and how

474
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,440
Speaker 1: far the left has taken us in the wrong direction.

475
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,159
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's ability to win in twenty twenty will be

476
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: a huge indicator to me. The book is also not

477
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 1: just about politics a crusade. It's a holy war for

478
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 1: the righteous cause of freedom, and it's going to require

479
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:47,400
Speaker 1: some very direct, radical measures as patriots to stand up

480
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,360
Speaker 1: to and reverse the tide. If we want to save

481
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: our country, there's nowhere else to sail to, and America,

482
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,399
Speaker 1: if it doesn't represent freedom, has lost. Why it is

483
00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,040
Speaker 1: so special? Now, have you always felt this passion and

484
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,159
Speaker 1: about freedom? The answer is yes, But I would argue

485
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,399
Speaker 1: that the last four years have teased out in a

486
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 1: more visceral way the extent to which the left is

487
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: prepared to crush our freedom. And I break down through

488
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,920
Speaker 1: part two of the book all the isms globalism, eroding

489
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 1: national sovereignty, genderism, the idea that we're indoctrinating kids with

490
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: the idea of toxic masculinity, and there is no male

491
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 1: and female socialism, which is the ultimate control. Secularism, which

492
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 1: is ripping God out of every part of our public life, environmentalism,

493
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 1: the ultimate way to control us is of course, believing

494
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 1: that the world's going to end in ten years, and

495
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,159
Speaker 1: so everything has to radically change. Elitism. I went to

496
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 1: Princeton and Harvard. I know how these folks think, and

497
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: how condescending they are to that common sense wisdom, and

498
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,360
Speaker 1: how much they want to use political correctness to squelch

499
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,440
Speaker 1: the ability to speak freely Islamism. Islam is the most

500
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,040
Speaker 1: evangelical and the most aggressive philosophy on the planet. And

501
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 1: so when you start to break it all down, you

502
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: realize we're surrounded and the Democrats have adopted this Leftism

503
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 1: has become the doctrine of the left, and it's not

504
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 1: hard to defend because they're defending the indefensible. When you

505
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,960
Speaker 1: distill down what the American experiment is all about, and

506
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: that's an interesting topic in this COVID nineteen moment, is

507
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: are we free or not? And that's the central question

508
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 1: of what we need to preserve the other thing I'm

509
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 1: struck by that you really have in you. There's this

510
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 1: combination of being very successful in athletics, going to Princeton

511
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: and Harvard, serving in the US military, and yet somehow

512
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,840
Speaker 1: you stayed in touch with ground realities in a way

513
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 1: that's I think, very hard for a lot of people.

514
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 1: Do you think there's any particular secret to that. Is

515
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 1: there a secret? I don't know. I loathe the idea

516
00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:04,480
Speaker 1: of privilege, the idea of the elitist mentality. I don't

517
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: want any part of that world. I only want to

518
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: be centered on things that really matter, and on the

519
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 1: basic values that are good and right and true. I

520
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 1: grew up around those types of people. I served with them,

521
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 1: you know, I'd say in the book, I went to

522
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,120
Speaker 1: college with millionaires, and then I showed up in the

523
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 1: military with hundred airs. I'm drawn toward it. I have

524
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 1: sort of a reflexive blue collar streak and love for

525
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,760
Speaker 1: people that work hard for a living and provided a

526
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 1: basic level. It's just kind of in who I am,

527
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,560
Speaker 1: and that's why I love the ability to criss cross

528
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,400
Speaker 1: the country with Fox and Friends. But also something I

529
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 1: write about in the book is it's not just Fox

530
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 1: and Friends. We've done nationwide bus tours for Vets for

531
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 1: Freedom and Concern Veterans for America. For years, we were

532
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,360
Speaker 1: criss crossing the country on buses, trying to galvanize vets,

533
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: flying to events all over in swing states, all across

534
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 1: the country, and then giving speed and all of that.

535
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 1: When you spend time and just hours and hours and

536
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: hours talking to people, you get a good sense of

537
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,479
Speaker 1: what they really care about, and it's usually not the

538
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 1: nonsense that we obsess about in other circles. So there's

539
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 1: entire disconnect and Donald Trump has only amplified that because

540
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: he's given voice to those people and they feel empowered

541
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,360
Speaker 1: to talk and like they have a champion. And if

542
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 1: I can be a co champion with them to amplify

543
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: that voice, it's something I take very seriously. Listen, I

544
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 1: answer emails when people send them. If people get my

545
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 1: number and text me, I try to get back to him.

546
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: I keep in touch with all my military buddies who

547
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,720
Speaker 1: during the middle of shows are live texting me. You

548
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: absolutely butchered that that's not what people are thinking. And

549
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,600
Speaker 1: I value that a lot more than sort of insider information. Listen,

550
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: I like having access and getting the latest information, but

551
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: I try to guard the fact of giving voice to

552
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: the voiceless. I want to remind all of our listeners

553
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 1: order American crusade, our fight to stay free, and you'll

554
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 1: be doing your part to help America move in the

555
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: right direction. Pete, I just cannot thank you enough for

556
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: taking the time to come and talk with me today, Speaker,

557
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 1: thank you so much for having me. Thank you to

558
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 1: my guest, Pete Hexa. You can read an expert of

559
00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 1: American crusade on our show page at Newtsworld dot com.

560
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,360
Speaker 1: I want to wish all of you a great Memorial

561
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:30,320
Speaker 1: Day weekend. Newtsworld is produced by Gingwish three sixty and iHeartMedia.

562
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 1: Our executive producers Debbie Myers, and our producer is Garnsey Slough.

563
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,000
Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penny.

564
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Gingwish three sixty. Please

565
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,920
Speaker 1: email me with your questions at Gingwish three sixty dot

566
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 1: com slash questions. I'll answer them in future episodes. If

567
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 1: you've been enjoying news World, I hope you'll go to

568
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts and both Greatest with five Stars and give

569
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn what It's all

570
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 1: about on the next episode of Newswork. Within the past week,

571
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 1: large earthquakes have been striking all along the outer rim

572
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,040
Speaker 1: of the Pacific Ocean, and many are wondering if all

573
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:16,040
Speaker 1: of this activity could potentially be building up to something.

574
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 1: Will Really Big WILL discuss a series of large earthquakes

575
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 1: rocking the Ring of Fire. I'm new Gangwig. This is

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00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 1: NEWSWORLK