How I Went from Welfare Dependent to Business Owner | Lauren Boebert | POLITICS | Rubin Report
- We had to turn to the federal government for help, to state government for help. I've stood in line for government cheese. I've stood in line for bread. And I knew at 11 years old, that that was not America's best, that there was more for us. We didn't live that way in Florida.
We didn't have to pay with monopoly money for groceries in the grocery store. And that's what we were doing in Colorado. My stepdad, he ended up getting work in Aspen when I was about 12, and we moved to the Western Slope of Colorado. And that really was the best thing that could've ever happened to us.
We moved into a community that wasn't just telling us where to get a handout, but they were offering a hand up. (soft music) - All right, I'm Dave Rubin, and we are live in studio today with the Congresswoman from Colorado's third district, Lauren Boebert, welcome to "The Rubin Report." - Thanks so much for having me on Dave. This is fantastic to actually be in person with someone, talking face-to-face, imagine that.
- Face-to-face, we've got what? About four feet between us? - Yes. (laughs) - Are we in any sort of legal trouble? Could this get you kicked out of Congress? What are we doing here? - According to political science, we are in deep trouble right now. (laughs) - What about regular science? I know political science, we are in a lot of trouble. - Yes. I think we're okay with regular science. (laughs) - All right.
We got you all the way out to crazy California. - Yes. - You're here for a couple of days, how do you feel in California? You come from the, I would say relatively free state of Colorado, or the ones really free state, sort of hanging on. - Yes, we are hanging on. I do believe that there are more conservatives in Colorado than the average person would know. We are slowly turning into California.
And really, it's been quicker than any of us would have liked to have seen. But we have a governor from California who wants to mimic everything that's happened here. There's been documentaries that have gone out, the "Rocky Mountain Heist."
There's a book, "The Colorado Blueprint." And they were kind of sounding the alarms of what was happening, and that Colorado was really a petri dish for all of these liberal policies that Democrats want to take nationwide. And if they can do it in Colorado, they can do it anywhere successfully. And so that's what we're seeing.
And we didn't have any voices in Colorado. So I'm really happy to be that loud voice in Colorado right now, to let everyone know what's happening to us there. - Yeah, and I've done a couple events in Colorado over the last couple of years, although unfortunately, none in the last year and a half, but when I was on tour with Jordan Peterson, I went and a few other things.
And what I noticed when I talked to a lot of people was "Dave, Dave, could you make sure "all the California people stop coming here?" - Yes, yes. - Are you still hearing a lot about that? - Yes, we still have Californians coming, and these political refugees are bringing their bad policies with them. And so, that's really devastating to our communities because we like our rural way of life, and we don't want that urban lifestyle. Hey buddy! - My dog has decided to say hi. (laughs) - Hi! (laughs) I have dogs, I've goats that bring so much joy. - We are not editing this out, but Clyde does have to leave. (laughs)
- So sweet. - Clyde! Clyde just opened the door. - Oh, hello. - He's distracting the congresswoman. - You love me. (laughs) - We could be in trouble here. Well, we have the outtake for the show.
Clyde, you gotta go now. Guys, we have a tricked or a... (Lauren laughs) - [Man] Sorry! - That brings me a lot of joy. I love animals. (crosstalk drowns the speakers) Yes, wild. (laughs) - Yeah.
So people are constantly opening the door and breaking into your interviews. I think, sorry, you were saying. - That's fine. (laughs) I dunno where we were, but with everything that's...
Where were we? - We were talking about the Californians coming. - Yes, and they're bringing their bad policies with them. And so there really is an urban and rural divide, and we want to keep rural Colorado rural. But unfortunately, in these high mountain ski resort towns that I represent, a lot of Californians can afford to move there, and they're bringing the same policies that they're fleeing from.
- So I ask this to every conservative or Republican official that I talk to, like when the people come, do you think they have no idea that they voted for those policies that are now fleeing, and realize that maybe they should think about things a little bit differently now? - No. Because their actions would prove that, they think they can flee from their problems. And unfortunately, there is a lower class of people who cannot afford to flee those bad policies that they have voted in and implemented. And so they get to leave, pack up and go to somewhere with lower taxes and better opportunities, and still have a beautiful scenic view. But there is another class that's left behind that can not afford to make that same move, and they're the ones who are stuck in that terrible economy, and a horrible state where they are left now to depend on the government to help in their situations, or even in these failing economies where taxes are just too high to afford the homes that they wanna live in.
So, it's really impacts them more than anything. And then they come to these other states and bring those same policies. So I wouldn't think that they knew what impact they're having on these communities. - Yeah, the idea that they're leaving the people who can't afford to move is sort of interesting too. I realized this morning when I was thinking about how I wanted to do this interview, that, if you take sort of the new crop of Congress people, and you think about mostly the Democrats side, we all know everything about AOC. We know everything about Ilhan Omar, probably too much more than we wanna know.
We know everything about Ayanna Pressley, and the rest of the crew, but we don't actually know that much from a national perspective about you. And it's like, it seems like people should be talking about you just as much, but that's not really how the media operates 'cause you're a scary conservative. - Scary conservative.
I should be the Democrats dream story. I was raised a Democrat, and I was dependent on government. And I thought I always would be, because when you're stuck in that cycle of poverty, it's really hard to break free of it. - Yeah, can you tell everyone your story a little bit? - Yeah. Absolutely. So I was born in Orlando, Florida.
My mom was single, we lived with her parents. My grandparents, I attribute a solid foundation to them, and the few years that they've had me in their home. But my mom just up and moved us to Colorado when I was four years old. She met a guy and moved to an apartment in Aurora.
And I think her pride was too big to go back home to her parents. Things kinda got a little rough. He wasn't the prince charming that she thought he was going to be. But then eventually, she had my first younger brother with him, and she didn't want to have another child not have a father. And so, we were stuck, we were here, through the good, the bad and the very ugly.
And that led us to times where he wasn't working. And we had to turn to the federal government for help, to state government for help. I've stood in line for government cheese. I've stood in line for bread. And I knew at 11 years old, that that was not America's best, that there was more for us. We didn't live that way in Florida.
We didn't have to pay with monopoly money for groceries in the grocery store. And that's what we were doing in Colorado. My stepdad, he ended up getting work in Aspen, when I was about 12, and we moved to the Western Slope of Colorado.
And that really was the best thing that could've ever happened to us. We moved into a community that wasn't just telling us where to get a handout, but they were offering a hand up. And they started sharing with my mom conservative values. So she listened and even changed her voter registration to Republican, but she didn't vote Republican. - Well, that's a surprise. - Yes, yes.
She got to the ballot box and said, "No, I'm scared. "I'll lose everything if Republicans are in charge." We didn't have enough stability for her to let go of that mindset. And so, I started working at 15 years old at the Rifle McDonald's, and I can still remember bringing mom home that first paycheck. I remember the dignity that had come with earning a paycheck, putting my hand to something and creating wealth. And that's something that never left me.
I learned at a very young age that I could do a better job taking care of myself than the government ever had. So I began to develop these conservative principles, not even knowing what was happening. And my husband and I, we met when he moved to Colorado to work in the oil and gas industry. And, we knew that we could build a great life together, a successful life together.
I had only ever wanted to be a mom. I didn't have dreams to be a business owner, to be a doctor or a lawyer, certainly not a politician. I just wanted to be a mom.
My mom was my hero and someone that I looked up to. And so whenever we, when we started our life together, we wanted to start our family right away. And that left me with a very difficult decision to make, my senior year of high school, 'cause now I have a child and a family, and I didn't wanna go back to the bread lines.
I didn't want government cheese for my boy. And so I quit high school, and I took a management position with McDonald's. That was very good for my age, and that was more valuable...
- Wait, they took you into a management position after quitting high school, just like that? - Yes. - Wow. - Yes, no degree necessary. (laughs) - Wow. Wow. (laughs) - Yes.
Well, it was really... It was the hours that I needed to work for that shift manager position of why I needed to quit high school. I was working nights with them, and they said, "To be a shift manager, we need you in this day shift." And so I had to leave high school to take on that role. And for me, there was more value in earning that paycheck for my family than sitting in geography class for another two months until I graduate high school.
- Do you remember what you were making per hour, at that point? - 45 a year. - 45 A year? - 45,000 a year. - Yeah.
Oh, that's once you were in the manager position. But do you remember what you were making per hour at McDonald's before that? - About 7.50. There was several different pay periods that I had with them.
I started out, I think at 6.15 an hour, and then I was about 7.50 an hour. And then I went to a salaried position. - How much of that shapes your economics, the way you think about it now? Because to be a good person, I thought we have to have everyone making, or the lowest people have to make $15. That means you're a good moral person. If you scream that, should you have been making $15 an hour then? - No, I worked for every extra dollar that I did earn.
And it really gave me an opportunity that I wouldn't have had if minimum wage was $15. Look at how many things are automated now? Now that we're reaching $15 per hour, McDonald's has kiosks instead of the 15, 16, 17 year old high school student that was coming in and earning a paycheck. And so I would not have had the opportunities that have shaped my worldview, my economic view had minimum wage been so high, because they would not have been able to afford to invest in me and provide that opportunity for me to have a work ethic and develop my life skills. - So I actually didn't know that part of your story, but it's a pretty perfect through line to you own a restaurant now.
- Yes, yes I do. - So, you were doing something right back in high school at McDonald's? - Yes, I'm a very spontaneous person by nature. Sometimes I see it as my greatest downfall, but sometimes it works out pretty well. And I ended up leaving McDonald's, and I went into the oil and gas industry for awhile. I was filing some papers at a local company, and then decided to go out in the field and do work, and I was a pipeline technician. So locating pipeline, doing cathodic protection without an engineering degree.
It's possible to do work without a four-year college degree. And so I was locating pipelines. I was GPSing the pipelines, making maps to them, doing cathodic protection, which is we install anodes to protect the pipe from corroding.
And so it was just this fascinating part of my job that I loved and got to drive all around the valley, and hike up and down mountains, locating these pipes and making sure they were protected. And then the oil and gas industry started to be heavily regulated. Colorado saw the industry pulling out.
So a lot of us, our days were numbered. I ended up leaving and decided to be a stay-at-home mom. I had three boys then and said, I'm gonna just be with my boys for awhile. And unfortunately, a little bit later, it got worse.
And so my husband ended up running out of contracts, and he wasn't working in the industry anymore. And we said we needed a plan B. There was a local restaurant that shut down, and it was one of our favorites. It was called The Cowboy Calf-A, C-A-L-F dash A. - Ah, got it, got it.
- Yes, and they closed down and they had a for rent sign in the window. And we drove by one day and said, maybe, maybe we could do this. And so we went in, it was a great deal to lease the place, the equipment was there. And we decided whenever he went back to work to start investing his paycheck into the restaurant and opening it up.
Very spontaneous, never owned a restaurant before, but I wanted a way to give back to my community. A lot of our friends were unemployed, and they needed opportunity again. And that opportunity wasn't there in the oil and gas industry like it had been. And so we opened up, we hired our waitresses, our kitchen staff, and we were just a Western-themed restaurant wanting to give excellent service to our community.
And it was a pretty great place. When we first opened, I didn't have a lot of money. I didn't have any money for advertising. So we went door to door on the first day to each business and said, hey, come in and have a free meal on us. And that was cheaper than any advertising I could have done. And it worked, people liked it, and they were coming back.
So what you may have heard about the restaurant, a few weeks after we opened our Western-themed restaurant, there was an altercation where a man was brutally beaten outside of the restaurant. Show up in the morning, there's crime scene tape everywhere, there's police officers. I was talking with some of the officers that I knew asking what had happened.
And there was a man who was beaten pretty badly, and he ended up losing his life. And so that immediately prompted the question to me, how am I gonna take care of everyone? How am I going to protect the people that are around me? So, I went across the street, and talked to a local gun dealer, a gun salesman, and I asked him about Colorado's carry laws. And he said, "Well, you can carry openly without a permit."
So that's what I did. I began to open carry. Soon after that, my waitresses began to open carry.
And the next thing you know, Shooters Grill was being called the safest restaurant in America. - Shooters Grill, so there is the name. And there have been no shootings at Shooters Grill? - No. - People are not murdering each other or anything like that? - No. - It's interesting because you mentioned at the top that your story, the Democrats should sort of love your story, but in a way, I get why they hate your story. You came from nothing, you worked hard, you did a bunch of stuff.
You kept growing, you care about family. - Right. - That's a problem for them. - Yes.
- They can't have the success story. - Right. They are okay with you turning a blind eye to their failures. If the man in The White House has a son who's lost three laptops, and is addicted to smoking Parmesan cheese, we can turn a blind eye to that. If a CNN analysis gets caught doing some very, very horrendous, inappropriate things on a Zoom meeting, then that's okay as long as he comes on and says, "I'm sorry." But no, that real life, when things get tough, you get tougher, and you make success out of failures.
You learn from your mistakes and you continue. You don't let that hold you back or keep you down, and you offer to other people a way to have success in their lives. That is what they hate. - So when did you decide, "Okay, I've got these ideas, "my life's in order now, restaurant's working "and got the family, let me get into politics," of all things? (Dave and Lauren laugh) "Let me throw that all away."
- Right. Well, being in the restaurant, a lot of people come in, they're complaining about the issues of the day. I think you and I could probably relate with being involved in Republican politics, because we're both kind of new to that. I voted Republican, but I wasn't paying attention to who I was voting for, why I was voting for them, and what happened in between those elections. And so I'm actually fairly new to that process. I just know, as a business owner, they were affecting my business.
They were affecting my family. They were affecting the paychecks that we were able to bring home. I was electing people who I thought had my same views, but then they would get to Washington DC or to The State Capitol, overregulate, over tax, overspend and destroy everything that we're trying to build at home. And so, we talk about that kinda stuff in the restaurant. And I really believe that a lot of our problems in America is because we had an entire generation at least say, you're not allowed to talk about religion or politics.
And now we have an entire generation that is ignorant about the things of God and government. And you're not allowed to have that... - They've made politics religion, basically.
- Yes, yes, exactly. That is their God, government is their God. And that's why they believe that government can come in and rule you and you need to submit, and they can take rights away from you because they are the granter of those rights. - [Dave] Speaking my language.
- Yes. (laughs) Yes. And so, in my restaurant, you're free to talk about those things, even if you disagree with me. Freedom of speech is so under attack right now, and if we lose that, we lose everything. Hate speech is free speech. Speech that you disagree with is free speech.
And this is something that we have to protect. So this isn't just a Second Amendment issue or a 10th Amendment issue, this is everything, our livelihoods and everything moving forward. We know what Big Tech is doing to sensor freedom of speech. And really, it's the first time in history that Big Tech, somewhat an entity this big is more of a threat than big government, because this is someone playing the role of government in your life and taking things from you.
It's bizarre. But I didn't wanna just sit and complain about what was going on. I wanted to be a part of the solution.
And I didn't know what that meant, but suddenly there was this suave pretty boy from Texas, who got up on a presidential debate stage, (Dave laughs) and he slipped up. Beto O'Rourke told the whole world what Democrats plan to do with your Second Amendment. He said, "Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR 15s "and your AK 47s." So, I got pretty upset, and I drove to his presidential rally.
My husband said, "What are you doing? "That's three hours away. "We don't have the fuel, the extra gas money to do that." And I said, no, I'm gonna talk to this guy. And he said, "You just think they're gonna let you "talk to him?" It's like, I don't know, but I'm going, very spontaneous. And so I drove three hours to his presidential rally, with my Glock on my hip.
And I looked him in the eye and told him, hell no, you're not. And I was just so frustrated, and millions of Americans were just as frustrated as me. And they were reaching out to me saying, "Thank you. "This is exactly what we felt." And I said, who is speaking up for them? And if me, just a mom of four boys from Rifle, Colorado, a restaurant owner, can say something so impactful that the nation listens, what else could I do to help bring awareness to what's happening, and hold these people accountable and try to make a bad situation right? So a couple of months later, I decided to run for this position.
Took on a five term incumbent, and everyone told me, "You can't do this. "You will lose." And we were outspent 10 to one. I won by 10 points, and it's because I had the people support. I have a very large district in Colorado, nearly half the state, and I have driven every bit of it, and connected with thousands and thousands of people, and I love them.
I love seeing them over and over and over again, and connecting with them and hearing from them. And it's just such an honor to be their voice. - So you're kind of appreciative of Beto.
I assume if it wasn't for him to say, everyone remembers that moment. Like if it wasn't for him saying something so profoundly ridiculous, you are not doing what you're doing. - It would've never opened the door for this, exactly. I wouldn't have had anyone to yell at.
- (chuckles) So, okay. So you get to the Capitol, and you're part of this new crop of people, and there's all these young Progressives, and they're on the cover of every magazine and everyone's telling them they're all so wonderful, they're so perfect and everything, but they don't include you in that. They don't include Dan Crenshaw in that. Somehow you guys are, actually you're basically framed as the bad guys. - [Lauren] Right. - Can you talk a little bit about just how the media reacts to you guys more than anything else? - Yes, well, I was a little prepared for it coming into Congress because during the general election, the media spent over $5 million trying to make me look like a monster, an absolute criminal.
I have a mugshot because I didn't pay a hundred dollar traffic ticket. It's paid now. - Oh, lord! - But you go in, you get your pretty little picture taken, (Dave laughs) and you pay the hundred bucks and you leave. Billboards everywhere, plastered with my mugshot. And, "This law breaker wants to be your lawmaker." and all of this... - Oh, that's clever.
- Yes. (laughs) Pretty, pretty clever. I would take selfies with the billboards when I'd see them, like, hey, it's better than my driver's license picture, but...(laughs) - But then you get there, and then you see the reaction that they're getting, everyone...
Because basically, the leadership of the Democrats seem like they handed them the keys to the castle, and the inmates are running the asylum. But you guys, nobody's really talking about you guys. - Right. No, they want us to be quiet.
They want to demonize us and make us look to be the enemy. Nancy Pelosi has called me the enemy within. We have metal detectors outside of the House Chambers because of me. And so it seems.
- So that was because you said you were gonna carry there, and she basically was like, "No, you're not. "So we're gonna..." Yeah. - Yes. - And then whatever happened because of that. So that you have to walk through? - Right, the metal detectors, or you're fined $10,000. $10,000 if you refuse to go through the metal detector, personal money.
So, I have my firearm everywhere in the Capitol, in the office, except for the House Chambers. It's permitted for me to be everywhere, but there, and so she put up the metal detectors right outside the House Chambers. I can go in the Senate Chambers now, that's a little more free over there. - Oh that's free? - Yes. - Oh okay, she's not in charge of that.
- Right, exactly, exactly. And so, if you've ever been in the rotunda, you'll see the statue of Reagan. And if you look closely, there's pieces of the Berlin Wall in that statue, it's embedded in that statue.
And I think somewhere right there in the middle of the rotunda and the Capitol, is some sort of magic wall. Maybe it's like the Berlin Wall, because on one side, it's pure authoritarian tyranny, and then the other side, it's kind of free. (laughs) - Sort of a metaphor for America, I suppose, where the states kinda go their different ways. So the media doesn't treat you guys that great. But what about, I've been talking a lot about, on the show lately, about motives, and it's like, do these people really know the damage they are doing? And I think a lot of people think that their constituents don't.
Their constituents kinda think, "Oh no, they're trying to do good." I'm kinda past the point where I think that their motives are good because they're doing so much damage. Have you had sit downs, AOC, Ilhan, the rest of them. Have you had sit downs with Nancy? Like, what do you think is really going on there? - So I've not had sit downs with them because they keep us so divided and so separate. And previous, members of Congress who have been there previously, they'll tell you it's never been this way.
There was always communication between Republicans and Democrats. And now it is so divided, and that's by design. She wants to keep us separate. She wants the House Chambers empty.
- You're talking about Nancy? - Nancy Pelosi, yes, yes. And she truly believes this is Pelosi's house, not the people's house. And so even in the House Chambers, she wants us masked up. It's a $2,500 fine if we're not wearing our mask, but that's only where the C-SPAN cameras are rolling. - Right.
- It's political theater. - So you know for a fact, this is not, you're not making it, they're not wearing their masks in their offices, with their staff or when they are going out? - Right, I see them walking in the halls. As soon as they leave the chambers, they're taking off their masks. I've seen AOC start to film a selfie video, which I later saw on Instagram, and I knew exactly where she was and where she was doing it. And she put on her mask and then pretended to take it off for the video.
It's political theater. We've all seen her on the Capitol Steps, "Oh, we're going to take a picture, put on your mask." I mean, it's nuts. And so we have a complete invasion at our Southern border, and Americans are being punished with these COVID policies, this Fauci-funded Chinese virus, that is absolutely affecting every part of our lives, our children.
I just pulled my kids out of public school because they brought back mask mandates, and they're not letting up on it. And I said, okay, well, we're doing something else, because I'm not subjecting my children to this again. And so we're pulling them out and doing something on our own, but...
- Are you homeschooling now? - It will be a hybrid version of homeschooling, yes. And I need help for that. I believe in this country, and I believe that we have an opportunity to get things back on path. And if I didn't believe that, I wouldn't leave my four boys every single day to do what I'm doing, but I want them to have a good future.
I have been here from the beginning to make sure my boys never have to live in a socialist nation. Their freedom is my motivator. And that's why I'm stepping up to do what I can to serve our country. And so there's so much that's happening.
I was at a Columbus Day event and we found an immigrant that Democrats hate, and it's Christopher Columbus. - (laughs) And we finally found why. - Yes.
And it's interesting, 'cause there was a couple of dozen protesting my speech in Christopher Columbus, but it said, if you want to protest immigration, go to the Southern border. This is an invasion that's taking place. You're calling Christopher Columbus a rapist.
I've seen the rape trees at the Southern border. I've been there three times. Women's undergarments hung from them as trophies. I've seen the young unaccompanied minors, the young teenage girls that have empty Plan B packaging in their backpacks because their mothers sent them on that journey with the Plan B pill, expecting them to be sexually assaulted. This is a crisis. And unfortunately this regime won't do anything about it.
I think they're sitting back and saying, "Mission accomplished." That's what it... - So do you think it's that bad that...
I think 10 years ago there were a lot of Republicans or conservatives that were like, "The socialists are kinda coming here, "that's really what we're fighting." And I think most people are like, "Ah, you guys are kinda nuts. "You're all on Republican, "conservative talk radio or something."
And now it seems kind of obvious. That's what I mean about the motives. Like I sort of don't blame the 18 year old kid who's confused, but I do blame now I would say The Squad and Pelosi and Biden, not that I think he's really in charge, and you're welcome to comment on that too.
But like, are they just accomplishing what they want to accomplish? Like we shouldn't be saying, oh no, no, they're trying to do good. - I do believe that they're accomplishing exactly what they want to accomplish. I was talking with Lee Zeldin, Congressman from New York running for governor, and I think he explained it perfectly. He said, "If you were able to actually "look into some of these Squad members hearts." If you were to look into Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, it's probably gonna be pretty black and evil, and they are accomplishing everything that they want. But if you were able to take a peek into AOC's heart, you're probably gonna find rainbows and unicorns.
(Dave and Lauren laugh) And she really just wants everything to be cheerful, and if we just pay for everything and provide everything to everyone, the world will be wonderful. And that's not the way it works. So I do believe that there are different motives, but unfortunately they're all going the same direction.
And it's a direction that we are trying to stop. We just want people to be free. It is not the proper role of government to keep people healthy, to keep them safe in every aspect of their life. If so, we wouldn't let people drive cars.
We would have somebody assigned to them to make sure they're crossing the street correctly. There's so many things that we would do to make sure that everyone is safe, all the time. - You wouldn't let people drink soda. - Soda, yes. - As simple as that.
- Yes, yes, exactly. And so with all of this, we want people to be free. That is the proper role of government.
Our founding fathers, they had such an amazing spirit of faith. They declared the end from the beginning. They wanted to be independent.
They wanted to be freed from an oppressive tyrannical king. And they declared that independence before they had it. They celebrated that freedom before they were free. And then they went and fought that battle for 11 more years until they obtained it. And then they crafted the Constitution, the most amazing document, to ensure that we keep these freedoms, that government is instituted to secure the rights of the people, that we the governed give consent to be governed.
And there's a lot that we're not consenting to anymore. - So is any of it working right now? I agree with everything you just said obviously, but like, is any of it at any level working right now, when Biden comes out every day, and we're not gonna respect state's rights? And Saki says, "It's unquestionable "that the federal government has more power, "the power to override the states and everything." I was like, what? Like what part of this thing is working right now? - This is a question that I ask every day, because no, it's not, because they're completely ignoring it. They are going against the Constitution, breaking their oaths to defend and secure the Constitution on a daily basis, and overriding the rights of the people through executive orders. When I sit on an airline and I hear that there is a federal law that says that you have to wear a mask and say, well, gosh, I'm a federal law maker, and I don't remember making that law.
I don't remember voting on that law. But this is the overreach of the Democrat Party, and I think a lot of people are waking up to that. Certainly, I don't think that this is a president that obtained 81 million votes. I think he would have a little bit of confidence in his base to at least answer questions if this was such a popular president. But I mean that's neither here nor there, but I, I objected to the Electoral College results because the Constitution was violated.
And that's our biggest threat right now, is the complete disregard of the Constitution of the United States. You could go and try to find votes in Arizona, votes in Georgia, whatever, hundreds of thousands of votes, ballots were mailed out right in our faces against State Constitutions and the Federal Constitution. - Meaning because we changed procedures because of COVID, basically.
- Right. Exactly. Because the state legislature has the right to change election laws. And in six states in particular, it was not the state legislatures that did that. No legislator passed a law like that. We had rogue judges, attorneys, generals, secretaries of states and unelected bureaucrats changing election laws. And so, that's the big, that's what everyone's missing right there.
That is why me and 146 other Republicans objected in January. And then this has just been spun out of control, and we gotta find 10,000 ballots, and we gotta find 20,000 ballots. No, hundreds of thousands were mailed out illegally, right in front of your faces. - What percentage of your constituents do you think care about this? Because I can tell you after this, California recalled it, obviously it didn't go the way that I wanted to. Before and after, almost everybody that I spoke to, and I campaigned with Larry Elder, almost everyone that I spoke to, we might literally be everyone I spoke to during the campaign said, "Dave, do you trust "what's gonna happen with the results?" Which they're already, that's their way of saying, "I don't trust what's gonna happen with the results." So now we've got like this almost parasite in the system now of belief or lack of belief.
- Yes. And that is very concerning because it, I would say high 90s, high 90% of the folks that follow me and are voting don't have trust in our elections. And I think there's been a distrust for a long time, but this is the most blatant in your face form of distrust. And this is something that we have to keep communicating to people to show up and vote. I don't think that it helps any of us to say, "Oh, well, stay home." That doesn't help our country, but we have to have states securing their election laws and making it easy to vote and hard to cheat.
We have to keep that pressure on the states to do that. I can't guarantee that Colorado will be changing their election laws anytime soon, with our Democrat super majority. But in these other states, where they have the opportunity to do something, like Georgia, do it, it's strengthen that. And give confidence back to your voters. - How do you guys fight the messaging though? Because I covered all the election laws, the Georgia stuff, the Texas stuff, there was nothing racist in it. There was nothing against causing anyone to vote.
These were things to make election safer, an ID, you have to show an ID when you rent a golf club, a mini golf, like basic things. But the messaging all is that you guys are racist and you don't want people to vote, and you're stealing elections. Like how do you beat that thing? - If there's anything that's racist, it's vaccine passports, because there's actually a... - Which you have to show an ID to get a vaccine. - Right. Exactly. Yes, yes, you have to show an ID to get a vaccine.
And then even in places like New York, it's more difficult to sit down in a restaurant and eat, than it is to cross our Southern border illegally. - Correct! - This is absurd. So if they wanna talk about identification being racist, well, let's flip it right back on them and talk about these vaccine mandates that are coming from The White House. This is something that is affecting people's livelihoods. I'm so proud of the nurses that have taken a stand, the Southwest pilots that have taken a stand.
I know United had a victory with a judge that put a pause on this. - Wait, wait, are you telling me that it wasn't just weather that delayed those Southwest? I heard Joe Biden, he said it was just weather. It wasn't just weather? - Maybe it was Hurricane Brandon, I don't know. - Ah, it was Hurricane Brandon. It was definitely that Brandon Guy. - Yes.
- But even that, the way they blatantly lie. We all see what's happening on Twitter. - You can look at the weather radar.
- And somehow, could the weather only affect one airline? Is that possible? - Just one. Just one. Yes, other airlines had 2% of their flights that were canceled. It's absolutely absurd. - But what do you do with that? I keep driving home to this point, but like, that seems to me the bigger issue than just that they can lie and get away with lies, and call you the liar, and me the liar, and all of our audience the liar, when they're always lying. But it seems to be working.
- Yes. We have to have conversations like this. Joe Rogan just confronted CNN about taking a so-called horse medicine, horse dewormer. And he's like, "No, you said this. "Your company who you work for said this, CNN said it, "and you didn't stop him."
"Oh yeah, maybe that was bad." "No, no, no, but you didn't stop it." And that's what we have to do.
We have to continue to call them out on what they're doing. Look, they've lied about me from the beginning. They said that I led a reconnaissance tour, January 5th. Okay, I don't even think I was in the Capitol January 5th. And January 2nd, I brought my family into the Capitol, as a member elect with a Capitol Hill police officer. I had my four boys, my son, my mom, my husband and my mom.
I'm sorry, sometimes he's like my son. (Dave and Lauren laugh) And we're looking at this Capitol, that I'm about to be sworn in as a member of Congress, and Steve Cohen, chairman of the bad hair caucus from Tennessee, he sees us in the hall, waves at us, and then goes on CNN and says I was leading a reconnaissance tour. And they are able to lie and get away with this.
And this is something my family has been attacked for, received death threats over. My mom has received death threats and even filed a lawsuit against a very notable influencer. He said that she was the bullhorn lady, on January 6th.
And the bullhorn lady, there's this woman with a pink cat, and she's got a bullhorn, and she's yelling, and she's like giving directions for people. We can't even find the bathrooms in the Capitol. Like we can lead a reconnaissance tour and give people directions. And so you're right, they're able to lie all the time, and they absolutely get away with it. And we have to be there to expose the truth. I think everyone, we're created to recognize truth.
And so if we keep putting that out there, more people will gravitate to that truth. You did, I did. - Yeah, no, believe me, it's the only way I could do what I do for a living. If you didn't believe that the truth matters, then I don't know how you could wake up and fight in Congress or talk about politics for a living. You'd basically go crazy. But then the other piece of that, which you sort of referenced already is the Big Tech piece, obviously, which is now, it's not only that they can lie, but their lies get injected with steroids, and our truth gets actually cut off at the knees, because they won't let certain things get out.
Now it's even worse, what do we do about that, miss congresswoman? - Oh man. (Dave laughs) Well, I need a majority to do something, because Republicans aren't gonna be able to fix this in the minority. There's no Democrat that's gonna say, "Yeah, Republicans need a platform. "They need to have this censorship removed "so they could have more likes on Twitter." And it's so funny, we try to get something trending.
We have the followers, but they don't see it. And then just after seven minutes, Lauren Boebert is so dumb would trend number one all day long, (laughs) because it's allowed to, because they let it. And so, it's okay, I have fun with that stuff too. I'm not dumb enough to think that $7 trillion equals zero, so try again. (Dave chuckles)
- Wait a minute, so you're saying if you spend $3.5 trillion that doesn't equals zero? - Yeah, it doesn't equal zero. It doesn't equal zero - I'm gonna have to check my numbers over there. - Gosh. Yes.
- But that's another one, they are just everything. Lying and everything. - There are antitrust laws for this reason.
So these big companies, these big bullies can't suppress the little guys like they did with Parler, that was getting too big for them. And we have to be in the majority to be able to do something. I know Jim Jordan is working on legislation, and I think that's where it's going to take place. I think judiciary is going to get to the bottom of this, and we're going to have some effective legislation to make sure Section 230 is gone, or at least these companies are broke up, whatever that means. I keep hearing they're gonna break them up. I don't know exactly what that looks like.
But to break them up, remove the liability protection and make them accountable, either they're a publisher, or they're a platform, you have to choose one. You don't get to be both. - Yeah, are you worried? Obviously we've talked about this a lot, but are you worried that if you remove 230, that in essence they've lose the protections and then they're just gonna crack down on speech more, because they're gonna be liable, and then they're gonna be like, "All right, we gotta get rid of everything."
- That is absolutely a worry, and that's why you haven't seen just a blanket removal of Section 230. I think that's why you didn't see President Trump do away with Section 230, because there are details like these that we need to look into. But I'm really grateful that we have the Jim Jordans of the world that are looking into this. Judiciary, that entire committee, there are brilliant minds serving there. And they just need the numbers to be able to get their agenda passed.
They need to be able to get that out there, because right now everything is party lines. Even something as simple as removing a $200 million earmark for the Presidio in Nancy Pelosi's district, that's straight down party lines. Democrats says, "No, no, she's the speaker. "She deserves a little extra." - And she should get a little extra ice cream in her twin Z fridge and all that stuff.
Do you ever think when you're at some of these hearings, like at this point when I watch, especially the Big Tech hearings, I watch them and Jim Jordan does do a great job, and I've talked to him about it. But when I watch these hearings, it sort of feels like we're just watching a movie that we've all seen before. Yes, Zuckerberg will say some nice things, and some things we disagree with, the whistleblower, this whistleblower who really is a lefty activist, will sort of say some nice things, but then also became like a policy advocate for government intervention. That it's just like, there's a lot of talk. It's a lot of talk, it's sort of interesting.
It's on mobile and then it's kind of like, ah, nothing ever really matters, 'cause the next day he starts and there we go. - Right, because the Democrats won't allow any progress to be made. And they are in the majority. Congress is a majority rule body.
We are a self-governing majority rule body. So Congress makes its own rules for what happens in those chambers, in those committee hearings. And the majority has the final say. You have leader McCarthy who has offered up privilege resolutions to remove someone who can't get a civilian security clearance from the Intel Committee, Eric Swalwell, but he's allowed to have this security clearance in Congress on the Intel Committee, and they won't even hear it. They table the motion. They said, "No, no, we're not even discussing this."
- So I had McCarthy in here telling me just that. In essence, Swalwell was sleeping with a spy. Like that's pretty much what happened and everyone knows it, and Nancy basically said to him, "I don't care." But he can get away with it because he's a Democrat. - That's right. That's right.
As long as you have that D next to your name, that you're, yes. It's amazing what you could get away with. But that's why we do hear a lot of talk because in the minority, that's what we have right now. We have our talk. Our job is to get in the Democrats' way, and then come home, and tell our constituents how we're getting in their way.
We're exposing what they're doing, so that when we have that majority, we are able to hold them accountable. We are able to do something. And everybody likes to go back to 2017, 2018 when Republicans had it all and did nothing. But forget that, that's why people like me are here. That's why Kat Cammack from Florida is here, and Mary Miller from Illinois and Madison Cawthorn from North Carolina, Beth Van Duyne from Texas, Ronny Jackson from Texas.
We have such an incredible freshman class, and we are here because we looked at that majority and we're frustrated. So what are you guys doing? So we need that back, so we can actually accomplish something. We were all pretty confident we were gonna take the house back, and we would be able to bring home victories to our districts, but we don't have those numbers. We're five short right now. So we need people to show up in the next election and make sure we are in a position to actually put action behind our words, to do something about what we're saying. - How worried are you though, that this movie has been played before? And you're the young crop now, and you come in and you're like, "We're gonna change the whole damn thing, "and we're gonna do all the stuff that nobody else did."
But then five years go by, you get reelected once, twice. Now you're in it for awhile, and then it's like, the swamp seems to just envelope everybody. - Right. And I have seen that, but I have a secret weapon.
So I am a proud member of The Freedom Caucus, and there's about 40 of us right now. And it's incredible. These are the members of Congress who are there for the right reasons. These are your Mark Meadows, your Jim Jordans, your Andy Biggs. And they are the movers and shakers, and the ones who aren't going to bow down just because leadership says, "This is what we're doing."
These are the folks that will vote against leadership because it's unconstitutional, because it goes against their principles and the promises that they made to their people. So if we have a 40 to 50 person voting bloc in the majority, we have an ability to have a voice in what's happening in the Republican party. And that voting bloc is very, very important. I do believe leadership gets it more than they have in the past, and I hope that they stay in that direction. But we can't do things the way we always have.
So being a member of The Freedom Caucus is so valuable to me because we actually debate the constitutionality of anything that we're going to take a position on. We debate the constitutionality of procedures that take place. We are the ones that are... - But it's that the problem at some level? - Yeah. - I'm with you, why it's right and good, and all of those things, of course, but they're not doing that. Pelosi or AOC you mentioned before she got rainbows and unicorns in her head, she's not walking into any of those things and talking to Ilhan and be like, "We've gotta figure out the constitutionality of this.
"Well, let's do it." - Right. Yes. - Is that a asymmetrical war that is almost unwinnable? - Well, you look at The Squad, and they're kind of the opposite of The Freedom Caucus. But they are like The Progressive Caucus.
They're in the Democrat Party, and they have a check on Nancy Pelosi. She can't pass the infrastructure bill without them. So instead, she's looking to Moderate Republicans saying, "Help us pass this infrastructure bill." - Right. I take it, no one's jumping over. - Yes.
- Yes, no one's jumping over? - No, there are Republicans jumping over. And your viewers need to know it, and they need to be calling all of these Moderate Republicans, the ones who voted for impeachment, the ones who voted to remove a, voted with Democrats to remove a Republican from her committee assignments. They need to be calling these people and saying, "Do not pass the infrastructure bill. "The $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill, "because that is the catalyst for the $5.5 trillion "budget reconciliation."
It's not 3.5, it's not 4.3, it's 5.5. - But it's all zero, also at the same time. - All zero though.
- But wait, just to be clear, as of us taping this at this moment, I don't think there's anyone publicly that is doing it. But you're saying that there are talks behind the scenes, and that some Republicans likely will break. What do they see as the win for that? It's just that people, they like being pet Republicans. Like they like being pet, on MSNBC. - They're in really tough districts.
So they have to bring home the bacon for their districts, and that means voting with Democrats. But we can put forward a really good alternative. In fact, I have. I'm all for infrastructure, we all are.
President Trump, I think he had a $5 trillion infrastructure plan. That was like pretty extreme, but he wanted to work with Democrats on infrastructure. I have an infrastructure bill, the American Infrastructure Modernization Act, the IM Act, $650 billion, which is more that's currently allocated for infrastructure in their bill. And... - Because everything's infrastructure? - Right, everything. Yes, your mind it's the most important infrastructure they're focused on, human infrastructure.
And so, $650 billion, no new money spent, no tax increases, because you're using the unspent COVID funds that's already approved by Congress and it's paid for. There's more than a trillion dollars unspent, sitting there, approved, let's use that for infrastructure, it's done. I introduced this piece of legislation. The moment they started talking about infrastructure, I said, there is a way to do this without spending new money, and without raising taxes on the American people.
And it's there. I'm not just rubber stamping a no, saying you don't get your bridges in your ports. I have a good alternative solution. But no, there's probably, I would say a good 10 Republicans if we don't get enough pressure out there, that will help get this infrastructure bill passed.
Look, I hope I'm wrong. - Where does, I hope you're wrong too, (laughs) for the record. Where does Biden fit into all of this, because I just simply cannot believe that this man is in charge? And if you agree with me, who is running the show at this point? - He has his staff that's absolutely running the show.
It's really sad. I was just talking the other day, I was looking at the White House schedule for the President of the United States, and it says 8:30, a virtual briefing, 10:45, another briefing, and then that was it. Call it a lid. So where's Biden, I dunno, he's napping. He's eating his applesauce.
It's sad. Today I saw a press conference, and again, no questions, because only scripted Joe can talk, unscripted Joe is canceled. He's not allowed...
- Are any of the Democrats that are willing to talk to you on the DLD, are they acknowledging this? I mean, maybe none of them are willing. Maybe none of them talk to you, I don't know. - Right.
I really like Henry Cuellar. I haven't talked to him about Biden, but we talk about the border often. He has a brother that's border patrol, and he serves a border district. And he's just disgusted at what's happening at the Southern border. And so I would think that there is some frustration in the Democrat party, but then again, I was at the Congressional Baseball Game, and I may or may not have been starting some chat, chance when I saw Joe Biden come out, let's go Brandon.
But the Democrats, they're just so excited. "Oh my gosh, he's here. "He's awake." (laughs) So, I don't know, it's really frustrating. Even when he came to Congress to talk to the Democrats, we all thought he was coming to whip the vote.
"Hey, get it together, we're passing this infrastructure. "We're passing the budget reconciliation." But he actually just came to say, "We don't have the votes."
Nancy couldn't tell her own conference that. She had to drag Joe out of The White House to tell the conference, "Yeah, we don't have the votes." - Why couldn't she tell them, 'cause she's afraid of them, you mean? - I think there was a big shame factor in that. This is supposed to be reflective of her entire career in Congress. This is supposed to be it. This is an, and she can't get it.
- What do you think Republicans or conservatives can do to take the people, say that were like me five years ago, that were Democrats their whole life, Progressives? I was a Bernie supporter in 2016. Obviously not that way anymore. - Poor Bernie. - Poor Bernie.
They used him and now he's done. And he just seems like a muppet on Twitter. He seems like a parody of Bernie Sanders on Twitter. But what do you think you guys can do messaging wise, to make all of the disaffected liberals, like the not crazy Progressives, the anti identity politics liberals, the Bill Maher types, that get it about free speech, that are maybe more libertarian in certain ways, to say, "Hey, we're not as scary as they think," 'cause that's still what I see as the big thing.
I meet so many people that are like, "Dave, I'm with you on a lot of this, "but now it seems like you're a conservative or something. "I don't, nobody likes that." It's the C word.
It's the other C word basically. - It's crazy. It's almost worse. - It's worse. - Yes. (laughs) Yes, we have to have these open conversations with people, because I think we've always been the party of tolerance and acceptance. We're the party of freedom.
And if that doesn't scream from the rooftops that we want you in our party, then I don't know what does. You have people mocking freedom. I had someone respond to my Twitter saying that, "Freedom isn't free. "I'll take higher gas prices over authoritarianism any day." Like what do you think this is? (Dave chuckles) It's spending $80 million on the IRS, and doubling their agents. And they want to sift through your bank accounts, to make sure that there isn't any crime going on.
That's their focus. - Literally $600. Anything over $600, that's what they wanna double the IRS workforce for. - Yes. These bureaucrat bullies to come in. And we've already seen what happens when you weaponize the IRS.
They come after conservatives after the C-word, and it's like with Lois Lerner. We've seen it already. We saw even just this year, the IRS releasing private information about people who donated to Republicans. And so, what about that? Doesn't scream authoritarianism. And of course the vaccine mandates.
I heard Biden say that we have to get 44 million more Americans vaccinated because we have to bring unity. What about get this or you're fired, says unity? It's incredible. I've said from the very beginning, this is a personal decision between you and your doctor. Talk to your doctor. My doctor has never mandated anything, but he's always given me his best advice and made suggestions, made sure that I had all the information that I needed. And now we have bureaucrats and politicians making health mandates.
- Right, and also the fact that basically everyone's screaming that their four mandates right now would be against it if orange man was president. - Yes. They said it when he was in The White House.
As soon as he mentioned vaccine, they all were up in arms. "If this is Donald Trump's vaccine, I ain't doing it." - Kamala, literally said that. - Yes! - Joy Reid, who would trust the CDC now.
- Right. Exactly. And so it's all about their narrative, their players, and elevating them, and where they wanna go. - What do you think they're really trying to accomplish with this vaccine mandate? Do you think they're really trying to keep us safe? Is that what this really is, they're trying to keep us safe a year and a half later from COVID? - I think the words of President Reagan still ring true, the most dangerous nine words in the American language is, "I'm here from the federal government, "and I'm here to help." - [Dave] Yeah. - "I'm from the federal government, and I'm here to help." That is so dangerous and there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program.
Look at the TSA, we weren't always supposed to stick with three ounce bottles. That was supposed to be temporary. Here we are, 20 years later. - For the record, I know there's a lot of nice TSA people, but maybe they're not all as on the ball as they should be.
But then what do you think really is, is the goal this Chinese social credit system? I had Rand Paul on two weeks ago, he believes that's where this is headed. That was conspiracy Alex Jones stuff five years ago. - And now it's here. - And now it seems like it's here. - Yes. I see Democrats who are envious of the Chinese Communist Party every day.
They wanna outsource our energy to China. I serve on the Natural Resource Committee, and I'm so happy to serve there because I told everyone I would be their voice. I would fight for them, I would secure their rights, but I promise to work for them. And being on the Natural Resource Committee gives me a seat at that table. And I have these conversations on a regular basis about American energy independence, pursuing energy dominance right here in America.
And they want everything outsourced. And it only empowers China and weakens us. Everything about their policies makes us weaker. There was a man who came into the committee room, and he wasn't very happy with the industry.
And he said, "I started working at this oil and gas company, "and we were drilling for natural gas in North Dakota. "And it was really hard work. "One week, in seven days, I worked a record 95 hours."
I was there 95 hours, what? Like that's nothing. So I get on there and talk to him and said, sir, I too remember my first part-time job, (Dave laughs) but I'm not in this committee room bragging about it. But he went on to say that he has seen artificial hyperinflation take place when these companies come into communities, I live in a community where we had a boom, and that boom didn't have to go away.
I've seen these schools built, the roads, the fire departments, the hospitals, the colleges, and the small businesses that opened, my small business that opened. And we were able to flourish, and having mud on your floor meant that things were really going good. And people were coming in and patronizing your business. I saw moms not have to work, because dad had a good paying job.
They could raise their babies. I was that mom for awhile. And I've also seen politicians step in and regulate our communities into poverty. That is artificial. Nothing about the success was artificial, but that regulation is, it didn't have to happen. And they want to outsource all of this to China and Africa.
In Africa, we have 40,000 children mining with their bare hands for cobalt in the Congo, selling it to China, and we are buying solar panels from them. These not in my backyard extremists don't understand what's happening with these policies, and what condition they're creating for people in other countries. And they think that they're doing something great, but they're not. - Right.
Or they really literally mean it, "As long as it's not in my backyard, I don't care." - [Lauren] Yes. - At some level. That's the intentions part.
- Yes, no, you're exactly right. I actually met a very, very wealthy woman in New York. And there was a, she wasn't my biggest fan, but there was a wind farm that was going to be put literally in her backyard, right across the road.
Furious, "Move it down the road. "Why don't you put it down here? "There's nothing over there. "Why don't you put it in this neighborhood, not in mine." I said, well, ma'am you voted for this. This is what you wanted, but you don't want it in your backyard.
- It's for other people. - Yes! - All right. I think I only got one more for you, which is so with all of this in mind, I think a lot of people are suddenly talking about this idea that the future of America is just going to be the states kinda going their separate way. That just if you live in Florida or Texas, it's gonna be very different than if you live in California. Maybe that's already the way it is, you in Colorado, or somewhere kinda in between on that.
But do you see that sort of as just an inevitability and maybe that's okay? Maybe that's sort of how the federalist system was supposed to work in the first place? - I do think that it's okay. I don't want this authoritarian federal government. I wanna shrink the federal government as much as possible. I don't think that there should be a federal department of education.
I want the federal government out of our lives. And we do need to get back to states having ultimate rule. Unfortunately, you do get people in these position
2021-10-28 00:42
