Latest / Brian Thomas / The "Smither-vent" - Episode 157 - Don't stand on the sideline. Get out and vote!

Transcript

The "Smither-vent" - Episode 157 - Don't stand on the sideline. Get out and vote! · Brian Thomas

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: 55 KRC, the talk station.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: This is 722, 55 KRC, the talk station. It's Monday.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: It's that time of week. We have the former vice
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: mayor of the city of Cincinnati. Logical, reasonable. He is
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Christopher Smithman, and he offers us the Smith event. Good
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: to have you back on, Christopher. Hope you had a
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: wonderful weekend.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I did. Thank you so much. You know, I want
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: to start off by lifting up Deputy Larry Smithman, Ray
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Henderson Jr., who was murdered in 2025. And we've been
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: spending a lot of time in the media talking about
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: who killed him. And if I was his wife, if
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: I was his family, his children, his parents, I would
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: want somebody to talk about him. And here you have
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: a sheriff In 2025, he's retired. He served in the Marines.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: His father served in the Marines. His grandfather served in
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the military. Maybe the Marines, too. But he's a vet.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: He gave 35 years almost of his life, 34, 35
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: years as a sheriff, Brian Thomas. And here he is
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: doing an off-duty detail at the University of Cincinnati. for
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: their graduation, minding his own business. He's a father. My
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: understanding is he had adopted some children, and he was
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: born in 1967, June 11, 1967, if I have that right.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Younger than me.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Yep. And he has given all this time in the military,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: given all this time as a sheriff, He's working off-duty details,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: my understanding is, to make extra money because he had
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: adopted some children. And here comes somebody who decides to
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: run him down and murder him. And to hear the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: defense say that he was just trying to commit suicide
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: and just happened to run into the pole. He didn't
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: see the sheriff standing there. This wasn't revenge for what
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: had happened to his son. In his mind the day before,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: he just was driving recklessly and ran into a pole.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: And by that pole, or standing by that pole, just
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: happened to be a sheriff in uniform who had served
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: his country, served the sheriff's department, our county, and served
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: his family. What a good husband and a good father.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: So I just wanted to start off by just acknowledging
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: the murder of this sheriff in such a horrific way
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and sending that love and respect out to his family
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: and his friends and to those who are Hamilton County
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: sheriffs who are watching this trial where it's like, oh,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the guy, he's mentally ill. Oh, we've got to lessen
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the charge. I heard your show today. last week, the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: great analysis of what was happening with all that because
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I was confused by it. But at the end of
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the day, my estimation from what I've seen and I've
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: heard is that he was targeted because he had a
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: uniform on and the dad was mad that his son
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the day before had a gun in a car, a
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: stolen car, by the way, and A Cincinnati police officer,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: while he was holding a weapon, had the unfortunate decision
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: to take his life, his son's life, the person who
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: killed the sheriff. And the next day, after reviewing the video,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: or the same day he reviewed the video, he takes
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: off in a car, angry, and ultimately kills this sheriff.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I just want to salute the sheriff. I just want
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to salute Deputy Larry Ray Henderson, Jr. and his entire family.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: And I share your tribute to the shocking and terrible
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: situation we're dealing with here right now. Certainly do not
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: believe for a minute's time that anything to do with suicide.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Christopher Smithman, don't go away. We'll get you back here
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: in just a moment. Well, I strongly recommend you get
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: in touch with Cullinan. 730 here, 55KRCD Talk Station, Monday.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: We always spend our times between 7.20 and the end
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: of this hour with Christopher Smitheman, former vice mayor of
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: the city of Cincinnati, venting his spleen. So, Christopher, what
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: else is going on in your mind this morning?
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Brian, crime is on the ballot. Our safety is on
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the ballot. And, you know, the first segment really kind
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: of shows that, you know, as we're trying to operate
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: in our society, we're seeing different things and You know,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the notion that, you know, you grew up and I
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: grew up in a period of time where we respected
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: law enforcement. If we were approached by a cop and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the cop asked us for identification of where we were going,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: we provided that information. We're not living in a world
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: like that anymore. And so our safety is literally on
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the ballot. And so there are people, there are citizens
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: that are listening to you and I this morning. Some
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: are registered to vote, and they're preparing. They're going to vote.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Some are registered to vote, and they're trying to decide
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: whether they're going to show up or not. And I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: just want to talk directly to those people who are
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: registered to vote and haven't decided that they're going to vote.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: We need them at the ballot box. you know, this November.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: And I want them to know that their safety, that
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: our country, that our state, right, this is a crossroads
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: right now. And we need them to show up and participate.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: And if they don't, then the elections have serious consequences.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: So if you don't show up and you vote, you
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: can't complain. You can't say, man, I'm really concerned about
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: this Because when the country, when the state, when your city,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: when your county needed you, you decided to stay on
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the sidelines and watch. Right now, we need people who
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: are ready to take action. There's an election, Brian. The
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: polls are wrong. The polls and the polling that they're
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: showing is to deter voters. They understand that a certain
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: percentage of voters... when they believe that their candidate is losing,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: will not show up and participate. So they put out
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: false polls in order to convince certain voters that there's
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: no need, the race is already over, they don't need me.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: That is not where we are. The reality of it
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: is these polls have been wrong so many times. I mean,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: just incredibly off. And I just can't believe that the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: state of Ohio, Brian Thomas, is not going to be red.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying there aren't going to be certain elected
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: officials around the state who don't win their races because
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: their districts are a little closer. But for those areas
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: that are red, I think they remain red. And we're
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: watching what's happening in France right now, what is happening
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: in Europe right now. If that is not a wake-up
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: call for everybody to say, I don't want that for
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: this country. And so voting right now and watching all
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of these things that are happening, that is a great
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: reason to show up, Brian Thomas, and participate in this
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: upcoming election.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: No question about it. And part of the problem with
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: France is they've been deficit spending now on a massive
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: level since the 1970s. They don't have any more money
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: left over. They're a cautionary tale for the United States
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: of America. And the Black Lives Matter and the Antifa
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: protests that we experienced 10 years ago or how many
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: years ago it was, it was more like 10 years ago,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: that's nothing compared to what's going on in France right now.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: It's a coalition of every left-wing, leftist, crazy, and immigration
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: group out there in the world fighting, burning things to
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: the ground, burning down really things that have a tremendous
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: historical connection to the French people, the revolution and all,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: that most of the French, regardless of political stripe, if
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: they're indoctrinated and grew up as French citizens, they have
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: some measure of respect for. You bring a bunch of
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: people in from out of town, basically, they'll burn that
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: stuff to the ground. I think it's an illustration of
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: the degradation of their culture completely. At least that's a
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: component of it.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: We agree. And you and I know that if we
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: stay on the same track, we could end up there.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: And that is why, yet again, the election in front
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: of us is so critical. For example, and I've said it,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: I've said it for week after week, I support Vivek
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Ramaswamy for governor. There really is no other choice. This
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: is like head and shoulders of competency. The competency of
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Vivek Ramaswamy and the person that he's running against, there
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: isn't even a comparison. And how do the Democrats think
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: that they can argue with a straight face that their
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: candidate won't answer questions, won't do a town hall meeting unscripted,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: won't do a debate, won't come on the Brian Thomas show,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: won't just make herself available so someone can ask her
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: specific questions about what direction she'd like to take the
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: state of Ohio in as the top executive. That makes
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: her unqualified. Period. I have no idea how any Democrat
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: out there listening to this believes that their candidate is
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: qualified and she will not even stand in front of
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: them and take their questions.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: What is that? I don't know. And to be honest
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: with you, you know it as well as I know it, Christopher,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: because you know how I am and I know how
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: you are. We would be equally critical of a Republican
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: candidate who hid in a cave and refused to debate.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: That's not good for the process. And it's not a
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: very convincing pattern to take or tactic to take if
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: you want to win a race.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Pause.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: We'll bring Christopher back with more commentary. It's 737 right now, 55KRC,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: The Talk Station.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: The Talk Station.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: 740 here at 55KRC, The Talk Station. Brian Thomas here
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: with Christopher Smitherman. Smitherman, Chapter 3 here this morning. Christopher, continue, please.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Brian, this is about the consolidation of power in the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: state of Ohio. Ohio is a pearl for politics. It
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: is a state that makes presidents. And what the Democratic
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Party is attempting to do is confuse voters and have
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: the state go blue. If that happens... The governor's mansion
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: will be the place that starts to host people like
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: the AOC. They will travel from New York and be
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: in the governor's mansion holding press conferences. The same thing
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: with this guy out of Michigan, this Abdul El-Saeed. He
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: will absolutely be in Ohio's governor's mansion if Amy Acton
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: were to win. We'll be marching towards a presidential election
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: two years from now. And if voters, you've got to
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: understand this piece, because we've got to make sure those
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: doors are closed, that those candidates cannot use our state
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: as a launching pad to to push whatever their political
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: ideologies are into Indiana, into Kentucky, into places like Florida,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: into places like Texas. And so this is a critical
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: race that we are shutting the doors and we're saying, look,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: East Coast, live how you want to live. West Coast,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: live how you want to live. But we live in
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: the Midwest, right? And we do not want the AOC
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: rolling through here pushing whatever their political agenda is, part
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: of that political agenda could be that they would like
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: to see men in locker rooms with women or men
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: participating in sports with girls. I am not interested in
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: having that debate and that they capture, I'm using that
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: word strategically because this is about power, if they capture
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the mansion of meaning they become the governor of Ohio,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: all of those visitors will be rolling through there telling
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: us that they're running for president and that we need
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: to conform to their way of life. I live in
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the Midwest for a reason. I like my Midwest values.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: And I don't plan to move to the West Coast
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: or the East Coast And I don't plan for either
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: side of those parts of the country to tell me
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: how I'm going to live. I love my family. I
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: love my flag. I love my country. I love my church.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I love my freedom. I love my ability to have
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: a weapon legally in this country. And I don't want
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: to be lectured by the governor if Amy Acton were
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: to win. It'll be about gun control. It'll be about
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: men in locker rooms. It'll be all of this craziness.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: And guess what? Those who stood on the sideline and watched,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: they were registered to vote. They could have shown up
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: and participated. They didn't. And so I look them in
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the eye and say elections have consequences, and you were
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: a part of the surrender.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Well, and if you think anybody out here who enjoys
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: the concept of school choice, it's in jeopardy here in Ohio.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: You think anybody's going to be pushing for school choice
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: of Amy Acton's governor? Teachers unions have endorsed Amy Acton,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: not Vivek Ramaswamy. We know exactly which direction it will be.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: But also let me offer this, Christopher. You were talking
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: about your Midwestern values, and of course, nobody here in
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: the Midwest who enjoys and appreciates those values has any
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: intention of moving to Los Angeles or New York or Chicago.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: But what has happened in the aftermath of COVID and
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: the idea that we can all work remotely and we
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: start assessing that in the context of what states are
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: better than others to do business and live in? Let's see.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Who left what state? New York, California, Illinois, they lost
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: billions and billions of dollars to people fleeing the to
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: not other blue states. They didn't run from New York
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: to Illinois or California or any of those other options.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: They left for Florida, Tennessee, and Texas to name three
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: magnetic states because low taxation, more business freedom, fewer regulations, affordability.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: These aren't even people who are wed to the types
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: of values that you embrace there, Christopher. These are formerly
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: seemingly left-leaning corporate leaders who established their businesses in these
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: meccas of liberalism, only to find out that it's impossible
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: to do business there, so pack up their stuff and
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: leave they will. Look at what rational people have done
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: in the face of a much, much, much further leftist
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: form of government in those various states than we've got
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: here right now. We may drift into one of those
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: states from a political standpoint and end up seeing a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: bunch of residents leave rather than being a magnet, which
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: is what Vivek Ramaswamy would like to be. We want
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: to be on the list of Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, right?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely, Brian Thomas. And you touched on the whole
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: education piece. It's not sexy, but it has teeth. I
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: am so frustrated by the failures of public education across
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the state of Ohio. Anybody listening who doesn't believe that
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: we can do better here, you are living like an
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: ostrich with your head in the sand. We've got three
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: and four and five and six-year-olds and sometimes even seventh
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: and eighth graders who cannot read, cannot write. You ask
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: these young people now, will you please sign your name
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: in cursive? And they can't. They print their names. They
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: weren't even taught cursive writing in school. And so the
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: reality of it is what Vivek Ramaswamy is saying, I
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: would like to raise the standards of of our young
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: people in public education. That is important for every Ohioan, right?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: So that our children are able to compete in the
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: rest of the world or the rest of the country
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: for these great technology jobs that are rolling out. You
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: don't even have to go to college to get these
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: great $ 100, 000 jobs, but you do have to be able
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: to read and write and do math. And if our
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: babies can't do that, the state of Ohio will continue
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: to decline. We don't want to decline. We want to
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: be in the best in this area of public education.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: And obviously Vivek Ramaswamy is going to have to be
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: pushing back on teachers unions in order to accomplish that.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: And we're going to have to back them up. I
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: love teachers. Look, my wife, my late wife, teacher, right?
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: My mother retired from college. the public school system currently
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: still alive, living on her pension from public school. All
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: of my siblings, except maybe one or two of them,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: graduated from public schools. The reality of it is I'm big.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I'm a product of the public school system. That doesn't
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: mean that I can't criticize them and say, look, we've
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: got to do better in this area. And Vivek Ramaswamy,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, is the person who can bring those standards.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: He also said, teachers, he's going to pay you more money.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: He wants to pay you more money. He understands that
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: some of our teachers are in harder schools. They deserve
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: to make more money. But what he's not going to
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: accept is our children not being able to read and
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: write and do their basic arithmetic. And they're in the
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: third and fourth and fifth grade. That is absolute. unacceptable,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Brian Thomas. We've got to bring back standards for our
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: children and our public school systems.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: And we all need to think about public safety, going
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: back to your initial opening comments. You know, we've got
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: judicial problems here in Hamilton County, but they exist elsewhere
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: as well. We need some judges that are tough on crime,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: that understand it, and we need to reach out to
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: the juvenile court judges and get them to be a
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: little bit more difficult with these young people because somebody's
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: got to slap them on the wrist. Clearly, they have
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: not gotten an education at home that involves discipline, respect
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: for authority. They are essentially wild. And so I don't know.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: If they don't get them involved in the judicial system
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: and have some measure of accountability, it's the revolving door
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: we've got now. We know it's not good for the city.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Look at what we're dealing with here, Christopher.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Leah Dinkenlacher, she's right there on the ballot. It doesn't matter.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: This is not about party. If you just want a
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: safer community, you vote for Leah Dinkenlacher. If you want
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: mayhem and chaos, vote for the other person. It's not difficult.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It isn't. Right? It's an easy lift. And not only
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: is Leah Dinkenlacher, she comes from a great family, right?
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Her father... a great judge. So this, these are easy
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: votes out there. That's just one, one, one example. Well,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: you know, we'll hold in, I know we've got to go,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: but Houston in favor, like, I don't even understand where,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and I know you're going to have Eric Conroy or
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: going against Lansman. These are easy votes, man. And so
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the reality of it is as an independent, people say, oh, Smitherman,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: you're a Republican. No, I'm an independent. But I love
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: my country. I love my state. I love my city
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: and my county. And I vote my interest. And in
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: this election, safety is on the ballot. Education is on
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: the ballot. Making sure that we recruit high-paying jobs to
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Ohio are on the ballot. And it starts with electing
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Vivek Ramaswamy for governor. And I plan to vote for
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: him and encourage others to vote for him.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: How about that? I recall it wasn't that long ago
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: that Greg Lansman, as councilman, had to apologize to you
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: for being part of the Gang of Five.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: He absolutely did. And if people just Google his name
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: and see Gang of Five, it's all there for anybody
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: to see. Right? He broke the law. He knew he
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: broke the law. But the Democrats didn't care. They advanced
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: him to Congress. Right? But again... if voters come out
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: like in Warren, come out in Warren County, this race
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: is over. This is all about voter turnout right now.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: That's where we are. If voter turnout happens, Ohio remains red, right?
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: And all of the candidates that we're talking about win.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: If those candidates, if those voters stay home, if they
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: listen to polls or act like this is not an
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: important election, whatever goes through their head, and they stay home,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: then this state could go blue. I think that would
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: be a travesty.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: It would be a travesty. Absolutely. Christopher, out of time.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: God bless you, sir.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you, man.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Go ahead.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: People can follow me on X at Vote Smitherman. Thanks,
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Brian Thomas.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: I encourage you to do that. Thank you, Christopher.