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Will LG Jay Collins Run To Be Florida's Next Governor? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: All right, here we go.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: It's the second hour show fifty four eighty eight of
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: The Morning Show with Preston Scott. Great to be with you,
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Jose over there in Studio one A. I am here
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: in Studio one B, and I am joined by the
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Lieutenant Governor of the Sunshine State, former State Senator Jay Collins.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the studio.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: How are you.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I'm good, Preston. How are you in to day?
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I am I'm doing great. I've been kind of tickled
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: at having this opportunity to have you in the house
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: and hang out with us for a little bit. We
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: were just talking. Give me your snapshot reaction to what
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: we just saw happen with the largest state city in
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  Speaker 2: the America going socialist. And it wasn't like they didn't
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  Speaker 2: know right first off, it's heartbreaking.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: How on earth, of all cities in the United States
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: of America do we have to learn that lesson in
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: New York City? How it just boggles my mind. Nine
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to eleven wasn't that long ago. We know the issues
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: with socialism. It leads to communism with it out a
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: century ago, right, That's the fact socialism leads to communism.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: We know the outcome has always been the same. Why
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: on earth that we have to try it in the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: city that never sleeps right there in New York City.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: My goodness, gracious, heartbreaking, but it's a good lesson. Just
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: because you're on top now doesn't mean you're on down
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the road. It's all gas, no breaks, work hard, reach
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: the people, do good things, make a difference. As a
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Republican Party, Let's keep our eyes focused and move forward
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: from here.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: The big problem I have with our party, and I
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: boycotted the Republican Party for about ten years. I caucussed
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: with him, you know, as just an independent guy out there.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: But my problem is that Republicans don't know how to message.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: And I look at New York City as now exhibit A.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: We should have been messaging the moment Joe Biden took
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: office and signed the paper on day one killing oil
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: in America. We should have been messaging because I feel
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: like the Republican Party tries to win elections instead of
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: winning hearts and minds, and they don't do it very well.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, messaging matters, right, How we explain the story? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think you also have to reach out into the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: different demographics within that gen z far different than gen
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: X yep, far different than the baby boomers. Right. You
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: have to reach them on different platforms, different key messages,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and you can't just shoot out one message. I think
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: it's going to work for everybody. You can't do that.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: You can't abandon one group. You got to work two, three,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: four times harder. But you know what, it's worth it.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: To your point, you have to reach people for who
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: they are, how they are, where they are.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Let's go back to your personal ethos. I mentioned to
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: your team I wanted to just kind of have a
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: let's get to know Jay Collins a little bit. How
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: did you end up making the decision to join the military.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what. I was raised and adopted
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: by my grandparents. I was born to a sixteen year
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: old kid. We really didn't have anything. I'm the son
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of a failed farmer and growing up my dad, who
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: was a veteran World War two veteran. You know, he
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: raised me on America, American values, America has a place
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  Speaker 1: to lead, America makes a difference. We can make a difference.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Those are the things he taught me. He never talked
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: about the war, never talked about his personal experiences, but
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: he did talk about big things. Yeah, and I'm so grateful.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he didn't pollute it with the negativity. I learned,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and I grew up believing in America. And that was
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: the eighties, right, Ronald Reagan, Rambo Rocky. It was all
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: America all the time. So I had that in my heart.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And after I graduated high school, went to college for
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: a couple of years, realized the NFL probably was not
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: going to be my dream choice. Right. I wasn't good enough,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: tall enough, fast enough. Other than that, you had a shot.
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  Speaker 1: I checked every box after that, right, and you know
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  Speaker 1: it just I came to reality that I needed more
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  Speaker 1: season in life. I joined the Army, fell in love
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  Speaker 1: with it. I truly did. Why Why Because it was kinetic.
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  Speaker 1: You did things each day, you moved out, but you
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  Speaker 1: left an outsized imprint on things around you. And it
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  Speaker 1: was a meritocracy. If I worked hard, I showed up early.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I did more work, I got more results. The results
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  Speaker 1: paid off. I did better, I got promoted.
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  Speaker 2: Would you have joined the military twenty years later the
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  Speaker 2: way that it had evolved and become woke?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, now, very very doubtful. It wasn't a meritocracy. We
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  Speaker 1: have gone through the EBB and flow of promoting person
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: based off demographics or race or creed or color, or
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. The military has to be
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  Speaker 1: a meritocracy. Their job in the Department of War is singular.
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  Speaker 1: It is to fight and win America's wars abroad. That's it.
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  Speaker 1: That's their job. They have to do that. And secondary
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  Speaker 1: to that and implied is that you have to protect
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  Speaker 1: the will of the American people. You have to protect
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the American people here at home. That means you have
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: to be out there doing things. So if you're not
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  Speaker 1: training to fight, training to win, you're not doing the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: right things. But I loved it because I could do more,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: I could be successful, and I could continue to grow
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  Speaker 1: at my own pace. That's why I love Special Operations.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: When I got into it.
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  Speaker 2: Back with the Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, we were just
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: talking about the current generation and what that looks like.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I think Charlie Kirk played a large role in what's
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: going on with young people today too. You know, he
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  Speaker 2: was a big brother to a whole lot of people.
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  Speaker 2: And like you say, I mean, for the first time ever,
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  Speaker 2: the numbers say this is the first generation in history
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  Speaker 2: where young men are leading the return to church, not women.
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  Speaker 1: It's incredible to see. First off, you know, God rest Charlie,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: right yep. Second, I can't imagine how his wife feels.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine his children growing up in seeing their
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  Speaker 1: dad murdered executed that way. It breaks my heart. It
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: really does, just as a dad, to have to have
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: that out there on the internet, on the web, and
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: then people mocking it.
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  Speaker 2: Jay I asked this question of everybody in the days
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: subsequent to Charlie's killing, what was worse his assassination or
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the celebration of it.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Well, by far the cell. Yet you know what, you
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: got to take that rage and turn it into resolve. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: Charlie's movement, this civil discourse concept, it's the very best
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of American values. It's why we have a republic. We
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: can protect that freedom of speech, protect your own unique thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: and we can have a discussion. His courage to go
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: out there, even though he had threats incredible. People ask well,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: why are we recognizing a Republican in all these cities.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: You're recognizing an American citizen who put his neck on
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  Speaker 1: the line every day to encourage the very most fundamental
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: part of our republic, civil discourse, communication between people who
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: didn't agree. He stood there and he had conversations with
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: people who didn't agree with him. He went into the
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: lions den every single day. That is an incredible thing,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and I'm so proud of what he did. But look
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: at the growth in the chapters across this country and
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: across the world. If they say one man can't make
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: a difference, here's exhibit a right, incredible, incredible legacy gone
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  Speaker 1: too soon.
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  Speaker 2: What I loved and admired most about Charlie, beyond his
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: personal commitment to Christ and how he expressed it, was
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: his ability to take the apologetic. He could defend his beliefs.
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  Speaker 2: He had ownership of them. And one of the things
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  Speaker 2: that I always challenge our listeners is, you know, don't
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  Speaker 2: parrot what I say, or what a guest says, or
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: what an article says. Own it, learn it, have it.
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  Speaker 2: I've got to believe that a lot of your upbringing
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: by your family and then as a member of the military,
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  Speaker 2: has created a personal ethos for you. You don't need notes.
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  Speaker 2: You're not sitting here with a book. I've had politicians
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  Speaker 2: over the years have books in front of them to
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  Speaker 2: turn to the page to answer the right question the
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  Speaker 2: right way.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't need a book. I know who I am.
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  Speaker 1: I have been myself unapologetically every single day. I learned
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: my ethos and I tested it in combat. But you know,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: here's one thing I love, and I always say this,
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  Speaker 1: God's plan is so much bigger than ours. But I
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: wanted to be a Green Beret. I wanted to serve
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  Speaker 1: our country, to protect our nation abroad on that ragged
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  Speaker 1: edge of freedom out there in places where nobody ever
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: knew what we did. So my plan wasn't what it
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: is or now. I never dream to politics. I happened
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  Speaker 1: to come here. Life brought me here. I'm unapologetically myself
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  Speaker 1: because the fact is I learned these lessons from my dad.
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  Speaker 1: I'm the son of a failed farmer. There's an acronym
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: that matters to me. It's as NF. A son never forgets.
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  Speaker 1: You never forget where you come from. I'll never forget
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  Speaker 1: losing our farm and how it changed my family and
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  Speaker 1: my dad. I'll never forget the lessons in the military.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when I buried people, when I had to
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  Speaker 1: look one of my brother's wives in the face because
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  Speaker 1: he passed away, serving our nation. We have a responsibility
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  Speaker 1: to make that sacrifice matter, to make that sacrifice worthy
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  Speaker 1: of what our nation is becoming and going to be.
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  Speaker 1: And then we may promises to children who have to
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: live on without their dad, without their mom. We have
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  Speaker 1: to make sure that we steward what our nation is.
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  Speaker 1: You want to know why it's burned in, why there
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: are no notes, because every time you have that conversation,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: it echoes through your brain, through your soul, through the
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: reality of who you are. Those things matter. Those are
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: incredibly hard to sit there and have a conversation with
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  Speaker 1: a little kid who lost his dad and is never
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: going to see that man again. Heartbreaking, But we got
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: to make this nation worthy of that sacrifice.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Jay Collins with me, Lieutenant governor for the Sunshine State,
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: formerly a state senator. What's been the biggest transition from
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: being a state senator now being an LG.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what. I have sixty seven counties now.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I got around the state quite a bit as a
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: state senator working on veterans law enforcement issues. I travel
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: pretty well in eighty five days. I think it is
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: something like that that I've been in office as a
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Lieutenant governor I've had three days without multiple events. I
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: have hit three to ten counties per week. We're out
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: there hustling, but you know, it was actually a positive thing.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: It is amazing to see the small differences across the state,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: but county to county to county. For the most part,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: people want the same things. I get asked about property
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: tax I get asked about insurance, I get asked about
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: table top kitchen table issues. Yeah, what's going to make
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: it better in my community? And it's good to see
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: that resonated. Sometimes you get caught in this Tallahassee bubble
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a little bit and everything seems a little skewed. It
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: is such a blessing to get out there and just
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: see people for who they are, how they are, where
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: they are. Keep bringing that up because it's so important. Man,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: it's the tree in the forest. You're going to have
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: your eyes on what matters, and that's our people.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and address the issue that everyone's wondering.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: When you were named lieutenant governor, I made this statement
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: on the program. I said, well, that tells me Casey's
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: not running that because the governor has put someone in
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: that perhaps is going to make a run to follow
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: him as governor. So Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, what's the
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: future look like?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Well, as I've said over and over, and it makes
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: me laugh because I put the same story in, the
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: same message out every single time. Because I'm trying to
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: be completely transparent. I went through a long process when
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I jumped into this. I don't want a politician. I
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: sure don't want myself to be this way who just
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: jumps in here and thinks it's all about me. What's
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: good for me? How am I going to do on this?
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: What's my next clique? I had to check with my
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: family first. Are we going to be able to survive
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: all of this onslaught of information and movement and everything?
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Are they going to be Okay? My son's my wife
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: as lieutenant governor, as lieutenant governa but also if we
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: decide to make a run for governor, I mean that spotlight,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Oh it's different, hot right. The next was that community
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: around me, you know, my support structure, the people who
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: are there for my wife and my kids. If I'm
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: out there doing my thing across the state, I better
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: make sure that's tucked in, plugged in, ready to roll
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: and there are no problems. The last thing is this.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: I am not a typical politician. I will never be
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the person whose politics is normal. I will never do
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: be business as normal. I know how to lead. I've
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: been in politics for three and a half years and
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: understand that I'm the Lieutenant governor of Florida, the twenty
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: first lieutenant governor. I am on the precipice of finalizing
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: my decision to run for governor of the Free State
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: of Florida. And I've been in politics for less than
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: four years. Stunning. What does that tell you? People want leadership.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: They don't want politicians, they don't want businesses normal. They
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: want someone who can know what they're talking about but
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: echo in their heart. I call it the political double
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: tab the head and the heart. You have to know
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: what you're talking about. You've got to be someone who's trustworthy.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: And I wanted to see as I went around the state,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: how does my brand of leadership on the ground, in
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: your face, present, doing things on the ground, how does
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: it resonate with people? And I'll tell you what, It's
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: been incredibly positive, so fark it truly has. So we're
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: finalizing our choice and I'll tell you what here in
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: the next few weeks. Probably. I'm not going to give
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: a date. I don't have a hard date. We're going
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: to finalize that and we'll put it out there. But
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I can promise you this should I jump in, not
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: afraid of competition, not afraid to work. Anything great in
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: life is earned, it's not given. You have to earn
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: the vote in Florida. You got to put the time in.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: And you've seen the pace that I'm moving at right now.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I'm relentless in the pursuit of excellence. I believe Florida
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: is the conservative proving grounds of America. What we do
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: here resonates across the nation. Florida will continue to lead.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: And my role right now is to have Governor Desteniss
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: six to have his back, to fight beside him and
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: do what's best for the people of Florida. I'm gonna
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: do that every day, all day, twice on Sunday, and
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: we're gonna work relentlessly period. End of story. We'll announce.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: If we announce here in the next little bit, you know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: give it some time. We'll come back to you. Make sure.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Is there one singular deciding factor that will push it
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: one way or the other?
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: No, not really, You know. To me, I think if
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: you focus on one part of it, you're missing the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: tree in the forest. You're focusing on the tree a
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: little bit. Right. We took a long, laborious process and
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: something I probably was remiss and didn't talk about enough.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: I need to get in there and do the job.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: For the first sixty days. Why on earth am I
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: gonna go try out for something else And I haven't
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: done the job and shown that I'm even competent as
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: lieutenant governor. I've been at this for sixty days before
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I really started getting serious into digging around on this.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: You could argue, though, that the governor has placed you
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: in positions to maybe demonstrate some qualities that maybe he
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: didn't put the previous your predecessor in as many high
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: profile spots.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. But I can also
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: tell you that I've leaned in and done things. And
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Jeannette was a great lieutenant. She's a delightful lady. She's
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: an incredible human being. I don't think it's one or
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the other. You take what you get and you do
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the most you can with it. But I wanted to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: show people that, hey, look, if I'm going to really
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: look at this next gig. I want to show you
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: I'm competent what I'm doing. I'm going to go out
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: there and hustle. I'm gonna go out there and perform
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: and let them know that the people or where my
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: eyes are, I'm taking my eyes forward. I'm trying to work.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to prove that I'm competent, capable, and I'm
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: ready to lead if I decided to do that, and
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I thought it was important to do that. So where
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: we are now, it's just finalizing that piece. It's a
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: big decision. I don't want to take it lightly, and
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: I don't want to ever think that Floridians believe that I,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: as a politician, care more about my ego than their
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: well being. That's the wrong equation. It's not a me thing,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: it's a wee thing. Am I. If I decide to
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: run the best leader for the state of Florida, that's
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: really the discussion before jumping in. And if that's all
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: thumbs up, everything else is green, we we'll announce and
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: we'll run forward. If it's not, we'll come forward and
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: say something quite the contrary, like hey, look, good luck
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: to everybody decided to bow wowed. Here's our why, but
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: nonetheless it's all about the people of Florida.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Thank you for serving our country, thank you for serving
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: our state. Thanks for coming in.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you, Preston, Thanks for having me on.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely my pleasure. Jay Collins the LG and our guest
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: here in the Morning Show with Preston scat