Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Vivek Ramaswamy Talks Upcoming Election, Calls Out Kamala Harris, Why He Supports Trump + More

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INTERVIEW: Vivek Ramaswamy Talks Upcoming Election, Calls Out Kamala Harris, Why He Supports Trump + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning.
0:02
Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club. Yeah, it's the world's most dangerous morning
0:06
Speaker 2: to show to Breakfast Club.
0:07
Speaker 3: Charlamagne and God Lauren LaRosa, Envy is on his way
0:10
Speaker 3: back from the Human and Harmony weekend, and Shriep or
0:13
Speaker 3: just Hilarius is on maternity leave.
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Speaker 2: But we got a special guest here, but Vike Ramaswame.
0:18
Speaker 1: It's good to be back.
0:18
Speaker 2: Man. Listen. I like when I guess we can call
0:21
Speaker 2: you a politician though.
0:22
Speaker 1: Right, I'm ex politician. I was about like ten months,
0:25
Speaker 1: eleven months, but.
0:26
Speaker 2: You might run, right at some point I was.
0:28
Speaker 1: I dropped out after. You know, I believe in trying
0:30
Speaker 1: to win. But when your moment isn't there, then you
0:33
Speaker 1: know what, you move on to the next thing.
0:34
Speaker 3: I like when people come when it's not for any
0:38
Speaker 3: particular reason, right, because a lot of times people come
0:40
Speaker 3: just because they're trying to sell you things, whatever, whatever.
0:42
Speaker 2: So I like to just see y'all up here kicking it.
0:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I mean I'm back in. Uh you know,
0:46
Speaker 1: I'm an entrepreneur by background. The year in politics is interesting.
0:50
Speaker 1: You learn a lot. I'm still reflecting on it, but
0:53
Speaker 1: I guess you could call me a politician for eleven months.
0:56
Speaker 3: And listen whether I agree with the things you talk
0:58
Speaker 3: about or not. I got to give problems with problems
0:59
Speaker 3: to do. Great speech at the RNC.
1:01
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate that.
1:03
Speaker 2: Great speech.
1:04
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.
1:04
Speaker 2: Once you get the people.
1:05
Speaker 3: With the call and response, what they were finishing your sentences, Yeah,
1:09
Speaker 3: you got something.
1:10
Speaker 1: We uh. We tried to be as effective as I
1:13
Speaker 1: could there. The part of that speech that I wish
1:15
Speaker 1: I had incorporated more into my actual campaign was when
1:18
Speaker 1: I tried to talk through the speech through the camera
1:23
Speaker 1: to people at home who traditionally aren't viewed as part
1:26
Speaker 1: of the Republican base. And I think that that's something
1:29
Speaker 1: that we should all probably do a better job of,
1:31
Speaker 1: especially as a young person. It's a part of my
1:33
Speaker 1: speech was talking to millennials, talking to gen Z. I
1:37
Speaker 1: actually think a lot of millennials, so I'm thirty eight,
1:40
Speaker 1: I'm a millennial, are pretty jaded and disaffected with policies
1:44
Speaker 1: that Republicans enacted. Right the Iraq War, Well, you know
1:48
Speaker 1: it was a failure. We got to admit that. Brought to
1:50
Speaker 1: you by the Republican Party of two thousand and four,
1:53
Speaker 1: the two thousand and eight financial crisis, as well as
1:56
Speaker 1: the bailouts, the bank bailouts, which by the way, I
1:58
Speaker 1: was against before we got to remind people to say,
2:01
Speaker 1: you know what, both parties, including the Republican Party, have
2:04
Speaker 1: been responsible for some of those policy failures, but you
2:08
Speaker 1: still can't be jaded about your country. And to gen Z,
2:10
Speaker 1: my message is you'll be the generation that actually saves
2:13
Speaker 1: the country. You don't have to bend the need anybody's orthodoxy,
2:17
Speaker 1: not a Republican orthodoxy, not a democratic orthodoxy. Think independently
2:21
Speaker 1: for yourself and so anyway, I think that that was
2:24
Speaker 1: hopefully a productive message and a starting point to say
2:27
Speaker 1: we don't have to shackle ourselves through these partisan lenses.
2:31
Speaker 3: I agree with that, But why do y'all continue to
2:33
Speaker 3: bend the need of magat in?
2:35
Speaker 1: Well, what is maga? Right? We could talk about that.
2:38
Speaker 1: I think that there are many flavors of maga and
2:40
Speaker 1: the idea of making here's where here's my flavor of it. Okay,
2:44
Speaker 1: I'm not somebody who tries to harken back to a
2:48
Speaker 1: past and say, oh, I want to go back to
2:50
Speaker 1: the America that I grew up in the America that I.
2:55
Speaker 2: Want to America.
2:58
Speaker 1: I want to make America greater than it has ever
2:59
Speaker 1: been before. Yes, So I don't just want to make
3:01
Speaker 1: America great again. I want to make America greater than ever.
3:05
Speaker 1: And that's what our country has always been founded on,
3:06
Speaker 1: which recognize which involves recognizing that we're imperfect because we're
3:11
Speaker 1: human beings. We always fall short of our ideals. We
3:14
Speaker 1: wouldn't be human beings if we'd be a nation of
3:16
Speaker 1: you know, I know, Charlemane the God, but we'd be
3:18
Speaker 1: a nation of gods if we did not, if we
3:20
Speaker 1: did not fall short of our ideals. But we're not
3:22
Speaker 1: a nation of gods. We're a nation of human beings,
3:24
Speaker 1: and so we're imperfect, but we aspire towards excellence, we
3:29
Speaker 1: aspire towards a better nation. And so to me, I
3:32
Speaker 1: think that's an ambitious, hopefully unifying version of a MAGA
3:36
Speaker 1: message that I do believe in and I think people
3:38
Speaker 1: are hungry for. And I don't think there's anything wrong
3:40
Speaker 1: with that message.
3:41
Speaker 3: Because it feels like at the top of the ticket,
3:43
Speaker 3: you know, the Donald Trump's and even now as Vice
3:46
Speaker 3: president of JD Vance, they're always trying to take us back.
3:48
Speaker 3: That's why I do like the Vice president slogan, we're
3:51
Speaker 3: not going back because it feels like.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I will say that when it comes to messaging,
3:56
Speaker 1: that was a pretty smart message. People are interested in
3:59
Speaker 1: the field future. What I think is missing right now
4:02
Speaker 1: in the race, it's, frankly from both sides, is a
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Speaker 1: hard discussion on policy. That's actually what we need. We're
4:09
Speaker 1: less than three months out.
4:12
Speaker 4: Election, a lot better at that than what we were
4:14
Speaker 4: seeing before from Bidy.
4:16
Speaker 1: I don't think she has yet given us what her
4:18
Speaker 1: clear policy positions are. I think the fact of the
4:21
Speaker 1: matter is the economic policy. It was just on CNBC
4:23
Speaker 1: this morning before they came here, they're asking me, what
4:25
Speaker 1: do you think of her economic policy? She has not
4:27
Speaker 1: articulated what her economic policies are.
4:29
Speaker 3: What you want to rebuild the middle class, you want
4:31
Speaker 3: to make sure the whole body happen.
4:33
Speaker 1: Because there's some examples right specific policies. She sued the
4:36
Speaker 1: Obama administration when she was California's Attorney general for granting
4:41
Speaker 1: fracking permits. That's getting natural gas out of the ground
4:43
Speaker 1: through getting hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. Is she in
4:47
Speaker 1: favor of that now or not? Her advisers are saying
4:49
Speaker 1: she's no longer in favor of that. We don't know
4:51
Speaker 1: does she favor extending the Trump tax cuts. The Trump
4:54
Speaker 1: tax cuts I think helped a lot of people, middle
4:56
Speaker 1: class included. We just don't know whether she's in favor
4:58
Speaker 1: of that or not. I think Republicans, by the way,
5:01
Speaker 1: are making a mistake too. I don't think that going
5:03
Speaker 1: down the road of I think both sides calling this
5:06
Speaker 1: side weird. I don't think that's productive now, Republican responses
5:09
Speaker 1: of personal attacks and response. I think we would be
5:12
Speaker 1: better served in this election as Americans if for the
5:15
Speaker 1: next three months we have a vigorous debate on policy.
5:19
Speaker 1: Which policies are better going to lift up Americans? Yeah,
5:22
Speaker 1: I don't think we're not doing it yet.
5:24
Speaker 3: The reason I don't like the I'm not gonna say
5:26
Speaker 3: I dislike the term weird. I just think it under
5:29
Speaker 3: sells a lot of the damage that Republicans are doing
5:32
Speaker 3: to this country.
5:32
Speaker 2: Just labeling it weird.
5:34
Speaker 1: I think it's not useful. I think you want to
5:37
Speaker 1: go after the policies, go harden the paint. I believe
5:39
Speaker 1: politics should be about sharp elbows when it comes to
5:42
Speaker 1: policy debates, but when it comes to just saying that, oh,
5:45
Speaker 1: you're not normal normal compared to what well.
5:47
Speaker 3: I think abolishing women's reproductive rights, you know, is a
5:51
Speaker 3: little bit more than weird.
5:53
Speaker 1: Here's where we should have the policy debate in that,
5:55
Speaker 1: because this is so interesting. Coming out of the Republican convention.
5:58
Speaker 1: Donald Trump, to the eye of a lot of Republicans,
6:01
Speaker 1: is opposed to a national ban on abortion. So am I,
6:05
Speaker 1: by the way, And I said so in the Republican
6:07
Speaker 1: debate stage. I was in the minority last year. When
6:09
Speaker 1: I say that I am opposed to a federal ban
6:12
Speaker 1: on abortion, just on constitutional principle, should at least leave
6:16
Speaker 1: it to the states. That made a lot of Conservatives
6:18
Speaker 1: and a lot of Republicans upset. And yet it's a
6:21
Speaker 1: weird position to now adopt where if you do listen
6:24
Speaker 1: to a lot of the Kamala Harris campaign, they say
6:25
Speaker 1: he will sign and enact a federal ban on abortion.
6:29
Speaker 1: That's actually just not true, because like it or not,
6:32
Speaker 1: he actually takes heat from many in the conservative camp
6:35
Speaker 1: for his opposition to that ban.
6:36
Speaker 2: Whibo rov Wade, Why the Supreme Court decisions?
6:39
Speaker 3: Why say things like you want to get rid of
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Speaker 3: abortion abortion pills? I mean you say it's the Supreme
6:43
Speaker 3: Court decision, but he takes the credit for it. He says,
6:45
Speaker 3: I'm the reason that just happened.
6:47
Speaker 1: Well, look, I think that there's a legal and constitutional
6:49
Speaker 1: question of whether the federal government should be involved in
6:51
Speaker 1: any of this. In the first place. I tend to
6:54
Speaker 1: come from a pretty I tend to come from a
6:56
Speaker 1: pretty libertarian leaning school of thought. I want the federal
6:58
Speaker 1: government to be doing basically as little as is required
7:02
Speaker 1: to make sure the country is secure and people are
7:04
Speaker 1: allowed to live their own lives. I think Republicans can
7:06
Speaker 1: own a message even of you know what, to the
7:09
Speaker 1: LGBT community, the gay community, You're free to marry who
7:11
Speaker 1: you want, if you want, without the government standing in
7:14
Speaker 1: your way. But that also doesn't mean that men get
7:17
Speaker 1: to compete with women in women's sports something it's even
7:20
Speaker 1: relevant coming out of the Olympics, I agree. So the
7:23
Speaker 1: more we're focused on that type of policy to be
7:25
Speaker 1: And here's a litmus test i'd give you now, I
7:28
Speaker 1: mean the boxer. That's a more complicated case. It's intersects
7:31
Speaker 1: x Y chromosome though, right, But I'm talking about actually
7:34
Speaker 1: people who have male sex organs, people who have X
7:38
Speaker 1: Y chromosomes that are competing in women's swimming competitions. Right,
7:41
Speaker 1: those are debates we ought to be able to have.
7:43
Speaker 1: And the litmus test for both sides is this, why
7:46
Speaker 1: do you support Donald Trump? Kamal Harris? Can you make
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Speaker 1: the case for your candidate without actually referencing the other side.
7:52
Speaker 1: So my challenge actually to a lot of the Kamal
7:54
Speaker 1: Harris supporters is the most of the case that I
7:56
Speaker 1: hear involve invoking Donald Trump. What is the case for
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Speaker 1: Kamala Harris that does not involve referencing Donald Trump at all?
8:04
Speaker 1: I think that's missing right now, I got it. And
8:06
Speaker 1: for Republicans, I give you similar advice too. What do
8:08
Speaker 1: we stand for? Not just what are we against? What
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Speaker 1: do we actually stand for? Offer that vision, and I
8:14
Speaker 1: think the country will be better off of both sides
8:16
Speaker 1: step we can do that.
8:17
Speaker 2: I agree with you.
8:17
Speaker 3: I think both parties need to be talking about nothing
8:20
Speaker 3: but the issues at this point because people are out
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Speaker 3: here hurting, and people want to know how you're going
8:24
Speaker 3: to put money in their pocket.
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Speaker 2: Yep, and how are you going to keep them safe?
8:26
Speaker 1: Yep.
8:27
Speaker 3: Whoever can speak to those things to the next eighty
8:29
Speaker 3: plus days, that's who wanted this selection.
8:31
Speaker 1: Mass illegal immigration, economic growth, and staying out of World
8:34
Speaker 1: War three? Who has the better vision to do each
8:37
Speaker 1: of those things? Do both parties agree on that? First
8:39
Speaker 1: of all, that's an open question. Where do we stand
8:41
Speaker 1: on mass illegal immigration? We don't really know what the
8:43
Speaker 1: democratic position is. But assuming we agree on mass illegal
8:46
Speaker 1: immigration is a bad thing, economic stagnation is a bad thing,
8:49
Speaker 1: and World War III is a bad thing, how do
8:52
Speaker 1: we solve those three problems? Whichever party offers the better
8:55
Speaker 1: solutions deserves to be elected. And that's the way I'm
8:57
Speaker 1: voting in the elections.
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Speaker 4: Well, I think we have days, and I think like
9:00
Speaker 4: when you use a term like weird there speak like
9:02
Speaker 4: you talked about like in your when you first begin
9:04
Speaker 4: everything you wish you spoke to, like the up and coming,
9:07
Speaker 4: like the people are going to be next at solving
9:09
Speaker 4: some of these issues. Yeah, when you get on TikTok
9:11
Speaker 4: and when you get on Twitter, which a lot of
9:13
Speaker 4: people are getting their information from and are being swayed,
9:16
Speaker 4: and conversations are being swayed even mediasway by that those
9:19
Speaker 4: are the terms that they're using.
9:20
Speaker 5: It's easiest digestible.
9:21
Speaker 4: And I think that I think that it's a generational
9:24
Speaker 4: thing where you have to take what you guys are
9:25
Speaker 4: talking about and then partner with that weird and I
9:28
Speaker 4: think that's where you're going to get your winner from
9:30
Speaker 4: either way. And I don't think that it's Donald Trump,
9:32
Speaker 4: but I think that it makes sense what she's doing,
9:35
Speaker 4: and I think that she will hopefully get to those
9:36
Speaker 4: hard things, you know, because but she has to win
9:39
Speaker 4: the people over.
9:39
Speaker 5: She had to woos first, and we're here.
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Speaker 1: I think now is the past has passed. I mean,
9:43
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people have issues with how
9:45
Speaker 1: she was selected. I personally think going through that process,
9:48
Speaker 1: people don't care about that right whether or not there
9:50
Speaker 1: was a coup staged on Biden. I've said this public leader.
9:53
Speaker 1: The Republicans don't focus on that because it's up to
9:55
Speaker 1: the Democrats to decide who they nominate. They've made that decision.
9:58
Speaker 1: But you go a little bite focus on actual policy.
10:00
Speaker 1: And I have some serious differences with hers.
10:03
Speaker 3: It's not fit to lead anymore. She's the natural person
10:07
Speaker 3: to take over.
10:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, there is there's a real question around that too,
10:10
Speaker 1: is who's leading the country right now? We still have
10:12
Speaker 1: a country that's functioning between now and the election and
10:15
Speaker 1: This is a question that the media has been surprisingly
10:17
Speaker 1: uncurious about, like in a very serious sense, not in
10:20
Speaker 1: some sort of philosophical sense. Who's actually running the country
10:24
Speaker 1: right now? It is entirely unclear what the answer to
10:27
Speaker 1: that question is. And just speaking as an American, put
10:29
Speaker 1: the election to one side, I think that ought to
10:31
Speaker 1: be deeply concerning too. We've got a president who in
10:36
Speaker 1: some ways it reminds me of the British monarchy a
10:38
Speaker 1: little bit, right. You used to have a British monarch
10:40
Speaker 1: who actually ran the country, and at a certain point
10:42
Speaker 1: it just became a ceremonial figure, all the pomp and
10:45
Speaker 1: circumstance that you hold up as a figure, but really
10:49
Speaker 1: just ends up becoming a figurehead, an aged king that
10:52
Speaker 1: might or might not suffer from dementia. That's effectively what
10:56
Speaker 1: the United States has become, which is part of why
10:58
Speaker 1: we see the level of weakness on the global stage,
11:01
Speaker 1: why we see the loss of self confidence in this country.
11:04
Speaker 1: For a country that you just have the pageantry of
11:07
Speaker 1: a monarch that isn't actually the functioning leader of the country,
11:11
Speaker 1: that too, I think is a pretty big problem. And
11:13
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris I think has an opportunity here. Whether she
11:16
Speaker 1: seizes it or not is a different question. If she
11:18
Speaker 1: steps up and is actually authentic about that question, says,
11:21
Speaker 1: you know what, we weren't particularly honest about where President
11:24
Speaker 1: Joe Biden was, and we deserve a government where the
11:28
Speaker 1: people in charges tell you the truth, say it like
11:30
Speaker 1: it is. You might like it, you might not like it.
11:32
Speaker 1: But I'm going to tell you what my beliefs are.
11:34
Speaker 1: And I don't want a bunch of lobbyists and bureaucrats
11:37
Speaker 1: around me wielding me as a pawn. And so here
11:40
Speaker 1: are my actual beliefs. And you know what, I might
11:42
Speaker 1: have said this back in twenty eighteen or twenty nineteen,
11:44
Speaker 1: but I changed my mind. I'm not going to pretend
11:46
Speaker 1: like I didn't say it. I changed my mind. Here's
11:47
Speaker 1: why I'm in a different place on Frank fracking, or
11:50
Speaker 1: here's why I don't favor nationalizing the healthcare system anymore.
11:52
Speaker 1: Because these are things she said in the past. It
11:54
Speaker 1: looks like she's, you know, her advisers are trying to
11:56
Speaker 1: say that she didn't support that anymore. I think take
11:58
Speaker 1: the opposite approach. Just be totally upfront and say, you
12:01
Speaker 1: know what, here's what I believe. Then here's what I believe.
12:03
Speaker 1: Now here's why I change my mind. I'm not going
12:05
Speaker 1: to be anybody's puppet. I report to you, the people
12:07
Speaker 1: of the country. I'm different than Joe Biden because he
12:09
Speaker 1: was wielded as a puppet. I think that'd be bold
12:12
Speaker 1: and well, I think I think a lot of the
12:14
Speaker 1: next generation they are so mostly Trump puppet for most Well,
12:19
Speaker 1: you know what's interesting about.
12:20
Speaker 2: The role of you know, being this maverick who's draining
12:23
Speaker 2: the swamp.
12:23
Speaker 1: But he's so I'll certainly give you the twenty sixteen
12:26
Speaker 1: view because get a credit where credits due, and he
12:27
Speaker 1: might be a puppet for foreign interference.
12:29
Speaker 2: That's the problem.
12:30
Speaker 1: I think that that's so. I think that the whole
12:33
Speaker 1: Russia hoax, that that that thing's played itself out, and
12:36
Speaker 1: that actually ended up being a little bit of mythology.
12:38
Speaker 1: But back in twenty sixteen, here's one of the things
12:39
Speaker 1: I like about Donald Trump. Say what you will. In
12:42
Speaker 1: the Republican Party, it was complete orthodoxy to support the
12:45
Speaker 1: Iraq war, to say that that was a good thing.
12:47
Speaker 1: That was where the Republican Party was in twenty fifteen,
12:50
Speaker 1: and he was the only person on that debate stage
12:53
Speaker 1: that said, this is idiotic that we invaded the country
12:56
Speaker 1: that had nothing to do with nine to eleven in
12:57
Speaker 1: the name of nine to eleven. That was idiotic, And
13:00
Speaker 1: now it's the Republican Party position. At least most people
13:03
Speaker 1: will to accept that was actually a bad idea. So
13:04
Speaker 1: if you're able to go into a room full, say
13:08
Speaker 1: it's a political party, and tell them something that's different
13:11
Speaker 1: than with the majority of the people in that room believe,
13:13
Speaker 1: and then eventually they change their mind, that's a real
13:16
Speaker 1: mark of accomplishment.
13:18
Speaker 4: Now.
13:18
Speaker 1: I think Kamala Harris has an opportunity now because the
13:21
Speaker 1: opportunity she has is she didn't have to go through
13:23
Speaker 1: a primary. Going through a primary is interesting because it
13:27
Speaker 1: forces you to actually bend the need to let's say
13:30
Speaker 1: the far whatever wing of your own party and take
13:33
Speaker 1: criticism unless you do. She didn't have to do that,
13:35
Speaker 1: So she has an opportunity now to take advantage of
13:37
Speaker 1: that and say I'm starting with a clean slate and
13:39
Speaker 1: I'm actually just changing the game for the system. I
13:42
Speaker 1: don't see her doing that yet. Maybe you're saying she
13:44
Speaker 1: can't do that. I don't know why she can't do that.
13:46
Speaker 1: If she's the actual president. She has an opportunity to
13:48
Speaker 1: step up and lead. But you know what, just speaking
13:51
Speaker 1: as an American, I'm not voting for Kamala Harris. I'm
13:53
Speaker 1: vote for Trump on policy. But if she came out
13:56
Speaker 1: and said, you know what, here's my stance on cryptocurrency. Okay,
13:58
Speaker 1: Donald Trump came out with a big quo in policy,
14:00
Speaker 1: here's my policy. Here's my position on AI, here's my
14:03
Speaker 1: position on the border. You know what, I was the
14:05
Speaker 1: vice president, but Joe Biden did some things that I
14:07
Speaker 1: disagree with. Here's how I would do it differently. I
14:09
Speaker 1: would at least respect her for that. If she doesn't
14:12
Speaker 1: do that, that tells me, actually, it's not that she's
14:14
Speaker 1: some sort of ideologue or some communist or whatever. Some
14:17
Speaker 1: people level that critique. I don't think that's the real critique.
14:21
Speaker 1: I think the real critique is then you just become
14:22
Speaker 1: another cog in the system. And what I'm interested in,
14:26
Speaker 1: I'm interested in breaking that system. And I want the
14:28
Speaker 1: people we elect to run the government to be the
14:31
Speaker 1: ones who actually run the government. Whether I agree with
14:34
Speaker 1: you or not, at least the person who is elected
14:35
Speaker 1: should actually be running the show. And I just don't
14:38
Speaker 1: believe that's the case in the United States.
14:39
Speaker 3: State, is that possible to do when you have these
14:42
Speaker 3: politicians who take all of this money on both sides.
14:44
Speaker 2: No, that's a good question. Good point.
14:46
Speaker 5: I'm pretty sure she can't. She's raising all this money.
14:49
Speaker 2: Democratic Republicans can't do it. Yeah, if you're taking all
14:51
Speaker 2: this money from a lobbyist, how can.
14:52
Speaker 1: You have a do this or from super PACs what
14:54
Speaker 1: I call the super pac industrial complex. So the thing
14:57
Speaker 1: is actually, back in twenty ten, the Democrats used to
15:01
Speaker 1: be dead set against the rise of super PACs. So remember,
15:04
Speaker 1: the corporations are not people. Debate that was around a
15:07
Speaker 1: case called Citizens United. What they effectively said is, okay,
15:11
Speaker 1: if you can't beat them, join them. So now you
15:13
Speaker 1: have the amount of super pac money flowing into support
15:15
Speaker 1: Democrats actually is greater than that using to support Republicans.
15:19
Speaker 1: But they're saying, hey, if we got the money flowing in,
15:20
Speaker 1: then we're not going to if you can't beat the game,
15:22
Speaker 1: play the game. And I think both parties are worse
15:25
Speaker 1: off for it, because the people who really determine the
15:28
Speaker 1: politician's stances aren't really the people of the country. It's
15:32
Speaker 1: the people who effectively fund the mother's milk of American politics,
15:36
Speaker 1: and I think that's bad for Democrats and Republicans in
15:38
Speaker 1: the United States of America. Like so, I would favor
15:41
Speaker 1: a policy. I think Donald Trump er Kamala Harris would
15:43
Speaker 1: do well to come out with this to say, if
15:45
Speaker 1: you've worked in the government, you're banned from lobbying the
15:48
Speaker 1: government for at least ten years after you leave. Neither
15:52
Speaker 1: a candidate has adopted that position. I think it's a
15:54
Speaker 1: winning position.
15:55
Speaker 5: You might get a little more honesty then.
15:56
Speaker 1: I think you might get a little bit. That's a
15:58
Speaker 1: risk to some people view that as a risk, that
16:00
Speaker 1: as an opportunity. But yes, I think you get a
16:02
Speaker 1: lot more honesty. I don't think a small one. I mean,
16:04
Speaker 1: I don't think congressmen should be trading individual stocks or
16:07
Speaker 1: bercrafts should be trading individual stocks to benefit the public.
16:13
Speaker 1: A question does it serve the interest of the public.
16:15
Speaker 1: I fail to see how absent that argument. Ban lobbing
16:18
Speaker 1: for ten years after you leave office, ban the trading
16:20
Speaker 1: of individual stocks. If you're a government bureaucrat regulating an industry,
16:24
Speaker 1: you probably shouldn't be able to join that industry. You
16:26
Speaker 1: don't well, I mean, you know, because I don't like
16:29
Speaker 1: saying the things everybody's always Nancy Pelosi is of course
16:31
Speaker 1: guilty of this, but I'm a Republican's easy to just
16:33
Speaker 1: pick on Nancy Pelosi on a given day, So I
16:36
Speaker 1: hate saying things that are piling on when other people
16:38
Speaker 1: are piling on. But yes, it's true that includes Nanty Pelosi,
16:41
Speaker 1: probably includes some Republicans too. But I think these are
16:43
Speaker 1: major changes that would have a lot of popular support.
16:47
Speaker 1: But people aren't able to say if your mother's milk
16:51
Speaker 1: of politics is effectively what keeps the system functioning is
16:55
Speaker 1: the green pieces of paper that capture the system. So
16:58
Speaker 1: I think that's not a Republican Democrat message. It used
17:01
Speaker 1: to be a Democrat message, but it's not a Democrat
17:02
Speaker 1: message anymore. And one of the things that at least
17:06
Speaker 1: was cool about Donald Trump when he came around in
17:07
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen is he actually was, in twenty sixteen on
17:11
Speaker 1: the debate stage the only person who said would actually
17:13
Speaker 1: favor ending superpacks, which I like. And that's something that
17:16
Speaker 1: I think could be a winning message for either side
17:18
Speaker 1: if they're willing to take it up.
17:19
Speaker 3: Today, you think it's wise to go after the vice
17:22
Speaker 3: president's race. Our question Tim Wallace's military background when you're
17:27
Speaker 3: trying to attract independence in moderates.
17:29
Speaker 1: So there's two different issues, two different issues, and let
17:32
Speaker 1: me sort of say what I think would be the
17:34
Speaker 1: whyse side of each and what's not the why side
17:35
Speaker 1: of each. Going after Kamala Harris for being a flip
17:39
Speaker 1: flopper or telling audiences what they want to hear, I
17:43
Speaker 1: think is a good line of attack because we don't
17:45
Speaker 1: know what her policies are. So she said few years
17:47
Speaker 1: ago she's against fracking. Now she says she's not against racking.
17:50
Speaker 1: Few years ago, she said she wanted to have a
17:52
Speaker 1: single payer healthcare system and a nationalized US healthcare system
17:55
Speaker 1: and abolish private health insurance. She raised her hand when
17:58
Speaker 1: they said do you favor abolishing health insurance? On the
18:00
Speaker 1: debate stage, she raised her hand. Now her advisors are
18:03
Speaker 1: saying she won't say, but her advisers are saying she
18:05
Speaker 1: no longer believes that. So I think it's an interesting
18:08
Speaker 1: line of attack to say, are you just going to
18:09
Speaker 1: tell people what they want to hear, or are you
18:10
Speaker 1: going to tell your people what you actually believe about
18:12
Speaker 1: yourself and who you are? That I think is an
18:14
Speaker 1: interesting line of attack, and that could include some cultural
18:17
Speaker 1: elements for her, what her racial identity is or isn't.
18:21
Speaker 1: I don't think that's a good line of attack. But
18:23
Speaker 1: the idea that are you somebody who's going to tell
18:25
Speaker 1: people your actual beliefs, or you're just going to tell
18:27
Speaker 1: whichever audience is in front of you what they want
18:29
Speaker 1: to hear. That I think is valid. Tim Walls going
18:32
Speaker 1: after him for any part of his military service, to
18:34
Speaker 1: say that, oh, you didn't carry a big enough gun
18:37
Speaker 1: on the front line of fire, and therefore you didn't
18:39
Speaker 1: serve the country. That's not a good line of attack.
18:41
Speaker 1: But I think an interesting and worthy line of attack
18:43
Speaker 1: is saying that did you lie about it?
18:45
Speaker 2: Right? You do.
18:46
Speaker 1: There's no obligation in this country to serve in the military.
18:49
Speaker 1: It's honorable if you do. But if you're going to
18:51
Speaker 1: say that you served in a war that you weren't
18:53
Speaker 1: in that then that goes back to the question of honesty.
18:57
Speaker 1: What doesn't matter without those distinctions.
18:58
Speaker 3: Doesn't that deflect from what Tim Wall the issue that
19:01
Speaker 3: he's actually bought up, which is there shouldn't be any
19:03
Speaker 3: military style assault weapons on the streets in the hands
19:07
Speaker 3: of civilians, because that's really what he was talking about
19:09
Speaker 3: to me when you start bringing up well, I think.
19:12
Speaker 1: There's a few different things going on the Tim Wall situation.
19:14
Speaker 1: There is evidence in interviews and otherwise that he suggested
19:17
Speaker 1: he served in Afghanistan when he didn't, and that he
19:20
Speaker 1: actually did know before that he was going to be
19:22
Speaker 1: called to Iraq before he decided to actually go run
19:25
Speaker 1: for Congress. I'm not in the business of questioning his
19:28
Speaker 1: service at all. But when you're asking the question, and
19:30
Speaker 1: you haven't heard me talk about this general topic in
19:32
Speaker 1: the media at all myself, But if you're asking me,
19:34
Speaker 1: is it fair game for Republicans to go after him
19:38
Speaker 1: for lying to the public.
19:39
Speaker 2: Yes?
19:40
Speaker 1: Is it smart or a good idea to go after
19:41
Speaker 1: him for military service? No, But I think that for
19:44
Speaker 1: lying to the public for somebody's gonna be vice prison
19:46
Speaker 1: of the United States, that is I think. I think
19:49
Speaker 1: from the issue of gunment, well, my whole thing is,
19:52
Speaker 1: let's focus this on policy. Let's let's have a debate
19:55
Speaker 1: on the merits of policy and where you lent. Now
19:57
Speaker 1: Tim Wall's it's interesting as a governor, you may or
20:00
Speaker 1: may not agree with the policies, but he is a
20:02
Speaker 1: governor who has increased the tax burden in Minnesota. He
20:05
Speaker 1: favors higher capital gains taxes for people live in Minnesota.
20:07
Speaker 1: It's one of the highest tax states in the country.
20:09
Speaker 1: It's not California, New York. It's a Midwestern state, got
20:12
Speaker 1: by far the highest tax burden of anywhere in the Midwest.
20:15
Speaker 1: He is somebody who believes in a lot of the
20:17
Speaker 1: restrictions on fossil fuels. I don't know where you all
20:20
Speaker 1: are on that issue. I'm dead set against much of
20:22
Speaker 1: the climate change agenda because I think it leaves Americans
20:26
Speaker 1: of every political persuasion worse off. Tim Wallas as a
20:29
Speaker 1: governor has been most one of the most aggressive. Some
20:32
Speaker 1: people might like it, people like me don't. But he's
20:34
Speaker 1: been one of the most aggressive on implementing climate change policies,
20:38
Speaker 1: even at the state level. So those are legitimate lines
20:41
Speaker 1: of attack that I think we're not going hard enough
20:44
Speaker 1: on as Republicans because we're focused on other issues.
20:48
Speaker 4: I was going to say, well, back to Kamala, do
20:50
Speaker 4: you think that because you say, like you can't get
20:53
Speaker 4: to her hard policy, But everybody's having so much conversation
20:56
Speaker 4: about her race in what she said versus what she
20:58
Speaker 4: didn't say, I.
20:59
Speaker 1: Think he's actually helps Kamala, to be clear, from a
21:03
Speaker 1: strategist perspective, from a Republican standpoint, she gives us a
21:07
Speaker 1: lot to focus on by way of policy criticism. We're
21:11
Speaker 1: actually missing that opportunity right now. So I'd like to
21:13
Speaker 1: see that change in the next three months, and I
21:15
Speaker 1: think the country would be better off for it. I
21:17
Speaker 1: also don't favor I said this even when Joe Biden
21:20
Speaker 1: was running for president. So there's a pledge that the
21:22
Speaker 1: Republican Party required you to sign to be on the
21:24
Speaker 1: debate stage last year. So I did the Republican primary debate.
21:28
Speaker 1: It was called the beat Biden Pledge. I said, this
21:32
Speaker 1: is a nonsensical idea for two reasons. Okay, one is
21:35
Speaker 1: I don't think we're gonna be running against Biden. Turns
21:37
Speaker 1: out that ends up being the case. But the second
21:40
Speaker 1: reason is we're not going to succeed for the country
21:44
Speaker 1: or at the ballot box by just railing against the
21:47
Speaker 1: radical Biden agenda. We have to stand for our own
21:50
Speaker 1: vision for the country. What do we actually stand for,
21:53
Speaker 1: not just what are we against? And so if we
21:55
Speaker 1: make that same mistake with respect to Kamala Harris, I
21:58
Speaker 1: don't think we're runn against an individ candidate. I think
22:01
Speaker 1: we're running against a machine. And what I'd like to
22:04
Speaker 1: see as her vision is we want to go in
22:06
Speaker 1: and dismantle that machine. That's what draining the swamp was
22:09
Speaker 1: actually about. That's why you had that dragon energy in
22:11
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. And I think there's nonpartisan, bipartisan interest in
22:17
Speaker 1: saying that, you know what we do, live in a
22:20
Speaker 1: country where a bureaucracy crushes the will of the citizens,
22:24
Speaker 1: go in and break that system. That's a powerful and
22:26
Speaker 1: I think unifying message.
22:28
Speaker 2: I don't know.
22:29
Speaker 1: I'm not a big fan of going after just one
22:31
Speaker 1: individual candidate because it misses the point of what we're
22:33
Speaker 1: up against. For Kamala Harris's part, though, I think she
22:37
Speaker 1: owes the people of this country an answer. Where does
22:40
Speaker 1: she stand on nationalizing healthcare? Are you for it or
22:42
Speaker 1: are you against it? Where do you stand? This is
22:44
Speaker 1: a big one that people don't to talk about. Affects
22:46
Speaker 1: small business owners, including black and white business owners across
22:49
Speaker 1: the country. She favors what's called a tax on unrealized
22:54
Speaker 1: capital gains. What that means is even if you have
22:57
Speaker 1: a business, you know you're a businessman too, right, So
22:59
Speaker 1: you're operating a business, but to take somebody who's maybe
23:02
Speaker 1: in a tougher position than you are. That means you
23:04
Speaker 1: have to pay taxes even when you don't have the
23:07
Speaker 1: cash to pay those taxes, because the government says that
23:10
Speaker 1: it's worth something and you have to pay twenty five
23:12
Speaker 1: percent of that value every year. Well, what if you
23:14
Speaker 1: don't have the cash in your pocket? That forces you'd
23:16
Speaker 1: either sell your business take out a loan to pay taxes.
23:19
Speaker 1: That's a formula for real economic calamity. She has consistently
23:23
Speaker 1: supported that. That's what we need to be talking about.
23:25
Speaker 1: Are you still in favor of it? If so, why
23:27
Speaker 1: let's have that policy debate. And I think that hiding
23:30
Speaker 1: from those issues is something that leaves American people holding
23:33
Speaker 1: the bag.
23:33
Speaker 3: She'll get to that, I'm sure when the debates come
23:35
Speaker 3: in everything else and we only have three months she
23:36
Speaker 3: does interviews.
23:37
Speaker 2: I agree with that.
23:38
Speaker 3: I want to ask you think about the flip flopping two?
23:40
Speaker 3: Isn't that what politicians do?
23:41
Speaker 2: Though?
23:42
Speaker 3: And what I mean by that is Jade Vance was
23:44
Speaker 3: calling Trump America's hitler, all right, but now he's when
23:47
Speaker 3: it comes to Trump, he's the hawk. Two girl like,
23:49
Speaker 3: he's just you know, he's sucking them off every chance
23:50
Speaker 3: he gets. And that's what that's what a lot of
23:53
Speaker 3: y'all do, like just politicians in general. You here so
23:55
Speaker 3: many different Republicans have said so many negative things about
23:58
Speaker 3: Donald Trump, but ans soon as he becomes a non
24:00
Speaker 3: everybody just falls in line.
24:01
Speaker 4: And normally they fall on the line in unison and
24:04
Speaker 4: you can raise against rage against the machine. It doesn't
24:06
Speaker 4: feel like Trump in vents are like, it's not there, Like,
24:09
Speaker 4: so what do.
24:10
Speaker 2: You call that?
24:10
Speaker 1: A desolute So here's what I will say, is is
24:12
Speaker 1: it fair game to press JD. Vance hard on why
24:16
Speaker 1: he said certain things about Donald Trump before versus what
24:19
Speaker 1: his view is on Donald Trump today? Yes, I think
24:21
Speaker 1: that's fair game. And has he been pressed and has
24:23
Speaker 1: he answered for that? Yes? He has. What I would
24:26
Speaker 1: love to see is both candidates and Kamala Harris hasn't
24:28
Speaker 1: done this yet. I'd love to challenge her to do
24:29
Speaker 1: it because I think it's good for the voters of
24:31
Speaker 1: the country. She hasn't sat down for one media interview
24:34
Speaker 1: of a hard pressing one on one variety yet, and
24:37
Speaker 1: she's actually the leading candidate now when many of the
24:39
Speaker 1: polls for US president. So I just think we deserve
24:43
Speaker 1: a country where the people are willing to show up.
24:45
Speaker 1: She's show up, here's show up on CNBC where I
24:48
Speaker 1: was this morning and actually engage in hard questions about
24:50
Speaker 1: what her beliefs are You So JD say what you
24:52
Speaker 1: will on three Show yesterday pressed on exactly that very issue,
24:57
Speaker 1: and I think that's good for the American people to
24:59
Speaker 1: then be able to to make their own judgment. It's
25:01
Speaker 1: not your judgment or the journalist's judgment, but it's what
25:04
Speaker 1: people at home are able to see to assess. Do
25:07
Speaker 1: I actually believe somebody who believes they changed their mind
25:09
Speaker 1: over the course of time. Kamala Harris might have changed
25:12
Speaker 1: her mind, and I think it's okay. Flip flopping is
25:14
Speaker 1: one thing, changing your mind thoughtfully is another. But you
25:16
Speaker 1: deserve to be questioned on it, and it's up to
25:18
Speaker 1: the voters to decide whether or not they believe you.
25:21
Speaker 1: Right now, we're not getting that chance. And I do
25:24
Speaker 1: think it is you know, you're saying, well, we hopefully
25:26
Speaker 1: we're going to see that. I'm not sure yet that
25:29
Speaker 1: we will. It's been about a solid month that Kamala
25:31
Speaker 1: Harris has been the presumptive nominee. We got the convention
25:34
Speaker 1: coming up this coming week next week. I think it
25:38
Speaker 1: is vital for the health of this country that the
25:42
Speaker 1: same treatment that the media gave Joe Biden in that
25:45
Speaker 1: last few weeks after his debate, they didn't do that
25:47
Speaker 1: for three years. For three years, we missed that. The
25:50
Speaker 1: fact that it took that early debate and Donald Trump
25:53
Speaker 1: demolishing them in that debate for the country to suddenly
25:56
Speaker 1: wake up and say that Joe Biden is not a
25:57
Speaker 1: functioning US president is actually a damning indictment of the
26:01
Speaker 1: entire media and its relationship to the political class. So
26:05
Speaker 1: we can't make that same mistake with Kamala Harris. I
26:07
Speaker 1: think the media needs to demand that she at least
26:11
Speaker 1: faced the same kind of questioning that frankly JD. Vans
26:14
Speaker 1: and Donald Trump are getting right now, and then the
26:16
Speaker 1: public is it's up to them to decide that's that's
26:18
Speaker 1: a functioning demoonrator.
26:20
Speaker 4: You're not implying by her not doing the interviews and
26:22
Speaker 4: based off the way that Biden was treated in the
26:24
Speaker 4: last couple of weeks, you're not implying that you don't
26:25
Speaker 4: think she's competent to be the president of the United States.
26:28
Speaker 1: Right I'm seeing the media is covering for her right
26:30
Speaker 1: now the same way they covered for Biden for three years.
26:33
Speaker 5: Ain't they're covering or you think that she's just using.
26:34
Speaker 1: They're not planning hard, they're not paying this She's using
26:37
Speaker 1: a strategy. Okay, I think she's using some smart she's due.
26:40
Speaker 1: That's fine. But I think it's the media's job now
26:42
Speaker 1: to cut through that strategy and say, this person very
26:44
Speaker 1: well could be the president of the United States has
26:46
Speaker 1: at least a fifty percent chance right now according to
26:48
Speaker 1: most forecasts, of being the next president. She deserves to
26:52
Speaker 1: be questioned not with kid gloves, but questioned with the
26:55
Speaker 1: gloves off on what exactly her policy vision is for
26:58
Speaker 1: the country. Until that happens, I think the voters are
27:01
Speaker 1: hiding in the dark, and that's what allows the machine
27:04
Speaker 1: to work, because we know she's questioned a lot on
27:07
Speaker 1: that behind closed doors. Who's funding the campaigns of both parties?
27:10
Speaker 1: You know, behind closed doors, a lot of donors ask
27:12
Speaker 1: a lot of questions. That's how you raise hundreds of
27:14
Speaker 1: millions of dollars in just one month. The voting public
27:17
Speaker 1: deserves that same level of transparency and one of the things.
27:20
Speaker 1: I will you say what you will about. You know,
27:22
Speaker 1: you could criticize either side. I like that Donald Trump
27:25
Speaker 1: showed up at the Libertarian Party convention. Right, that's a
27:28
Speaker 1: third party CONVENTIONI I actually spoke there. He spoke there
27:31
Speaker 1: as well the next night. I like that he spoke
27:33
Speaker 1: to the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. I'd
27:38
Speaker 1: love for Kamala Harris to show up at the National
27:40
Speaker 1: Association of Black Journalists wanted.
27:42
Speaker 3: They wouldn't let her do the virtual things. You guys,
27:44
Speaker 3: she does have a day sho but the day job.
27:47
Speaker 1: But the day job is run and come on, at
27:48
Speaker 1: this point, she is going full time running, reading off
27:52
Speaker 1: a teleprompter at the rallies, the same thing four times
27:54
Speaker 1: a day. She should show up for that interview. If
27:56
Speaker 1: Donald Trump sits sits down with the National Association of
27:58
Speaker 1: Black Journalists, I'm sorry. A scheduling excuse is not a
28:02
Speaker 1: valid reason for the for them, don't we also show up?
28:05
Speaker 2: Well?
28:05
Speaker 4: If Kamala had to cut you off, I'm sorry. I
28:07
Speaker 4: kamalas is down with NABJ. We know where she's going
28:10
Speaker 4: conversation wise, right, I think it's honestly, I certainly true.
28:12
Speaker 1: I don't think that's true. I think that I think
28:14
Speaker 1: the person who did that interview for Donald Trump, if
28:16
Speaker 1: they had taken the same approach with respect to Kamala Harris,
28:19
Speaker 1: I think that actually be pretty good conversation.
28:21
Speaker 2: For the country. I want to see the news I think.
28:27
Speaker 1: Even better. Right, So, one of the things I liked,
28:29
Speaker 1: I mean, Donald Trump went to the Bronx. People could
28:31
Speaker 1: say it wasn't the real Bronx or whatever, but he
28:32
Speaker 1: showed up in the Bronx, he grew up in South Bronx,
28:34
Speaker 1: showed up in inner cities in the country. Even in
28:37
Speaker 1: my own campaign, I went to the South side of Chicago,
28:39
Speaker 1: went to a room full of what ninety five percent black,
28:42
Speaker 1: ninety five percent Democrat, not a traditional Republican primary location.
28:46
Speaker 1: I went to Kensington in the inner city of Philadelphia.
28:49
Speaker 1: Speaking as a former candidate myself, I could tell you
28:52
Speaker 1: those troops had an impact on me, right. It had
28:54
Speaker 1: an impact on my view of a national unity that
28:58
Speaker 1: I believe is possible in this country that I wouldn't
29:00
Speaker 1: have had if I hadn't showed up there. I'd love
29:02
Speaker 1: to see Kamala Harris going too rural Mississippi, going to
29:05
Speaker 1: Alabama going to showing up at a Fox News moderated
29:08
Speaker 1: town hall.
29:09
Speaker 3: Well, she does do that. Now, we can't act like
29:10
Speaker 3: she doesn't do it. I mean even the past, which
29:12
Speaker 3: she hit all of the battleground states and she's actually
29:14
Speaker 3: hitting the street, which I think, which I think in
29:16
Speaker 3: a lot of ways is more effective right now than sitting.
29:18
Speaker 1: With host questioning though is not. I want to see
29:21
Speaker 1: her answer questions from people who disagree with her. That's
29:24
Speaker 1: what the country has founded on. So face face off
29:27
Speaker 1: with the people you disagree with, like town hall and
29:31
Speaker 1: or and or hostile journalists. And here's why when you
29:34
Speaker 1: stop talking about hard hitting, yeah, hot heart hitting people.
29:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, cause you see a black woman in a hostile situation,
29:40
Speaker 4: you haven't, did you see that when you went to
29:41
Speaker 4: any places, she won't know how to handle issues.
29:44
Speaker 1: I hope so, well, I hope so for the country.
29:47
Speaker 1: But here's what I will say is when you stop
29:49
Speaker 1: talking to people who disagree with you, it becomes a
29:51
Speaker 1: lot easier to demonize them. And and that's and that's
29:54
Speaker 1: what happens in the country. So say what you will
29:56
Speaker 1: about you know, I know we probably have different views
29:58
Speaker 1: on who were voting for this cycle, but I will
30:00
Speaker 1: say more so than most Republicans, and in this cycle,
30:03
Speaker 1: more so than the Democratic opponent. Donald Trump has talked
30:06
Speaker 1: to people who disagree with him faced off more than
30:09
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris has. And I think she has a couple
30:11
Speaker 1: months left to see if she has it inner level up.
30:13
Speaker 1: If you want to sit across the table from Xi
30:15
Speaker 1: Jinping or Vladimir Putin, then you better be willing to
30:18
Speaker 1: sit across the table from your fellow Americans who disagree
30:20
Speaker 1: with you and face that questioning too. And that's when
30:22
Speaker 1: I challenged her. If she does that, I'm not gonnay
30:26
Speaker 1: I'm going to vote for her, but because I disagree
30:28
Speaker 1: with her on the policies, but I will respect her
30:30
Speaker 1: as a candidate in a way that I don't until
30:32
Speaker 1: she actually doesn't.
30:33
Speaker 2: You're not just gonna support your fellow Indian because she's
30:34
Speaker 2: an Indian.
30:36
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I would say that one of the things
30:38
Speaker 1: actually funny you bring that up in that I believe
30:40
Speaker 1: for all American we got to vote in policy. Of course,
30:42
Speaker 1: a lot of Unian American community is a little bit
30:44
Speaker 1: is a little bit disappointed or a little bit offended,
30:47
Speaker 1: at least in the fact that she doesn't really own
30:51
Speaker 1: that part of her identity anymore. I know what she
30:54
Speaker 1: did before, right, I'm not saying it. I'm just I'm
30:57
Speaker 1: don't blame a messenger, but I'm telling you as a
30:59
Speaker 1: just you can it is the fact that a good
31:01
Speaker 1: at least in my read of it, I think a
31:03
Speaker 1: lot of Indian Americans do have a little bit of
31:04
Speaker 1: disappointment about that. My whole view is I don't like
31:07
Speaker 1: identity politics period, right, one direction or another, we got
31:12
Speaker 1: to revive our shared American identity, okay, And so if
31:14
Speaker 1: we are really committed to the ideals of this country,
31:16
Speaker 1: I think we should focus on what policies are you advancing,
31:19
Speaker 1: regardless of your race, regardless of your skin color. So,
31:21
Speaker 1: whether she's dealing with a tax or she's dealing with
31:24
Speaker 1: leaning into it, I'm against it in both forms. Forget
31:27
Speaker 1: the identity politics around the board, and focus on how
31:30
Speaker 1: you're going to have policies that lift up all Americans.
31:34
Speaker 1: That's what I favor talking about. But didn't you bring
31:36
Speaker 1: it up. I'm just the master here. I think there
31:39
Speaker 1: are some Indian Americans out there that do feel some
31:41
Speaker 1: sense of offense about it.
31:42
Speaker 2: What I want to tell in the Americans. That's not true.
31:44
Speaker 3: She claims both sides black in Indian And this is
31:46
Speaker 3: my last question, because I know you got to go.
31:48
Speaker 3: What were your thoughts when Ann Kolta told you that
31:50
Speaker 3: she wouldn't vote for you because you're Indian?
31:52
Speaker 2: She told you that verbatim.
31:54
Speaker 1: Yes, you are an Indian is what she said. So look,
31:57
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's shameful. I just agree
32:00
Speaker 1: with it deeply. But one of the things that I
32:02
Speaker 1: think we need more of in this country. The only
32:04
Speaker 1: thing worse than that is her not saying it, but
32:07
Speaker 1: that actually being a true fact for why many people
32:09
Speaker 1: wouldn't vote for me.
32:10
Speaker 3: But you know, it's a lot of people and talk
32:12
Speaker 3: about a party who look at you like that. Do
32:13
Speaker 3: I mean it's the same party that would make racist
32:16
Speaker 3: jokes about you draw a racist cartoon.
32:18
Speaker 1: Well, here's one of the things I actually haven't haven't
32:20
Speaker 1: mentioned this before. One of the things that bothered me
32:21
Speaker 1: a little bit in the campaign is maybe it's because
32:23
Speaker 1: of my style or whatever. A lot of people in
32:25
Speaker 1: the Republican primary base would say, Oh, he's just telling
32:28
Speaker 1: us what we want to hear, and I don't think
32:31
Speaker 1: that he actually means it or believes it. I got
32:33
Speaker 1: that a lot. Actually, I thought about it after the race.
32:37
Speaker 1: If I really wanted to tell you what you wanted
32:39
Speaker 1: to hear, do you think I would tell you that
32:40
Speaker 1: I'm a Hindu who practiced with my beliefs without changing
32:45
Speaker 1: or shortening my last name. So if I'm going to
32:47
Speaker 1: stick to that, you have a lot of politicians in
32:49
Speaker 1: American politics, including other people on that debate stage, that
32:51
Speaker 1: have changed their name, some who have evolved their religion.
32:54
Speaker 1: I haven't done any of those things. So if I
32:56
Speaker 1: wanted to tell you something that was going to make
32:58
Speaker 1: it easier for me to win, those are the numb
33:00
Speaker 1: number one and two things that you would do. But
33:02
Speaker 1: my view is you got to be who you are,
33:04
Speaker 1: and I am somebody who has my own beliefs, and
33:06
Speaker 1: I am proud of not only my faith because it
33:09
Speaker 1: guides me to make the decisions I do, but who
33:12
Speaker 1: I am and how I got to where I am now.
33:15
Speaker 1: I think in the long run, and I've met many
33:18
Speaker 1: people in the Republican primary base across the entire country,
33:21
Speaker 1: I think in the long run people do respect that
33:24
Speaker 1: level of authenticity and commitment, and so are there going
33:27
Speaker 1: to be a lot of people who on either side
33:29
Speaker 1: of the spectrum to say I can't vote for you
33:30
Speaker 1: for some silly reason. Sure, but I'm not going to
33:33
Speaker 1: be a victim over that. You know what, if I'm
33:35
Speaker 1: running to be president of the United States, I can't
33:38
Speaker 1: blame the media. I certainly can't blame the voters. It's
33:41
Speaker 1: my job to actually give people a reason to say,
33:43
Speaker 1: you know what, you might have believed what you did before,
33:45
Speaker 1: but here's your reason to think about it a little
33:47
Speaker 1: bit differently. And I think we did bring along a
33:49
Speaker 1: lot of people who believe they could have never voted
33:51
Speaker 1: for a Hindu who said that, you know what, if
33:53
Speaker 1: he shares the same value set that I do and
33:55
Speaker 1: is actually going to advance the country and allow me
33:58
Speaker 1: to be religiously free. I think there were a few
34:00
Speaker 1: people who we brought along that way, more than a
34:02
Speaker 1: few people over the course of the campaign. And you know,
34:06
Speaker 1: I think one of the things I learned is I
34:09
Speaker 1: preach this to the left all the time, right, is
34:11
Speaker 1: that I won't say that you're the only person who's
34:14
Speaker 1: responsible for your destiny, because there's otherwise always external factors
34:18
Speaker 1: that hold you back, external prejudices or whatever. You and
34:22
Speaker 1: I in our last conversation talked about this a lot
34:24
Speaker 1: in the black community, But you could say the same
34:26
Speaker 1: thing in this context. You're talking about me and my
34:28
Speaker 1: race for president. Okay, maybe you're not the sole determinant
34:33
Speaker 1: of what you achieve in life, fine, but the most
34:37
Speaker 1: important determinant of what you're able to achieve in life
34:39
Speaker 1: is still you. There are other factors, but the number
34:42
Speaker 1: one factor that determines whether or not you succeed or
34:44
Speaker 1: achieve your goals is you. So for me, now, I've
34:47
Speaker 1: got to preach that hard truth to myself. Are there
34:50
Speaker 1: a lot of factors that were uphill factors for me
34:52
Speaker 1: in this race, including my last name being harder to
34:57
Speaker 1: remember or to pronounce, the fact that I'm Hindu, which
35:00
Speaker 1: I haven't had a Hindu president before, or there are
35:02
Speaker 1: a lot of other reasons why. Sure, But the number
35:05
Speaker 1: one reason why I wasn't successfully elected comes still down
35:08
Speaker 1: to me. And I got to look and confront myself
35:10
Speaker 1: in the mirror and ask myself what I could have
35:12
Speaker 1: done better to succeed. And so I'm the same message.
35:15
Speaker 1: I'm going to preach to the left or preach to
35:17
Speaker 1: the other side. I'm going to try to practice in
35:19
Speaker 1: my own life as well. If you want to be
35:21
Speaker 1: the leader of the country, it's up to you to
35:23
Speaker 1: level up and actually explain to people why you believe
35:25
Speaker 1: that your vision is going to be best for them.
35:28
Speaker 1: And you know what, it was hell of an experience
35:30
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't trade it off for anything. It's been
35:32
Speaker 1: probably the most challenging but most enriching thing I've done
35:35
Speaker 1: in my life was the last year of traveling this country.
35:38
Speaker 1: Meeting people of all creeds, all political persuasion, all races,
35:43
Speaker 1: strengthen me. And you know, whatever I do next, I'm
35:46
Speaker 1: going to be I'm going to be stronger for it.
35:48
Speaker 1: And we're figuring that out right now.
35:49
Speaker 5: So what ought to be?
35:50
Speaker 4: And say you think the Republican Party will have a
35:52
Speaker 4: person of color as a presidential nominee at some point.
35:56
Speaker 1: I think is entirely possible. Yeah, I think it's entirely
35:59
Speaker 1: possible in the near future. I mean, if you look
36:01
Speaker 1: at even twenty sixteen, Ben Carson at one point, let
36:03
Speaker 1: in the polls. If you look at twenty twelve, number
36:05
Speaker 1: one for a little while was Herman Kine as well,
36:08
Speaker 1: and that's twenty twelve. I think we're even different than
36:10
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four relative to twenty twelve. Frankly, even in
36:15
Speaker 1: the race that I had, I mean I was I
36:16
Speaker 1: was running, you know, briefly ahead of Ron DeSantis at
36:19
Speaker 1: the early parts of the debates. That put me at
36:21
Speaker 1: number two next to Donald Trump at certain points in
36:23
Speaker 1: the race. So were there some headwinds for me? You
36:27
Speaker 1: got an culter's comment, was that representative of a broader current?
36:30
Speaker 2: Yeah?
36:30
Speaker 1: That exists? But was that the reason why I did
36:34
Speaker 1: not succeed? Or am I going to pin the blame
36:36
Speaker 1: on that?
36:36
Speaker 4: No?
36:37
Speaker 1: I think it comes down to everybody has their own
36:39
Speaker 1: unique challenges. People have biases of all kinds. It comes
36:42
Speaker 1: in a lot of different flavors. But if you're running
36:44
Speaker 1: to lead the country, it's up to you to overcome that.
36:46
Speaker 1: Is that surmountable?
36:48
Speaker 2: Yeah?
36:48
Speaker 1: I believe it is. And do I think that at
36:50
Speaker 1: some point in our lifetime you're going to have somebody
36:52
Speaker 1: who is not a white man be the Republican nominee
36:54
Speaker 1: and successfully elected US President as Republican? I think definitely.
36:58
Speaker 1: I think gowhelmingly likely.
36:59
Speaker 2: I think they should have made Nikki Haley the nominate issues.
37:02
Speaker 3: I disagree with that out our putter or as vice
37:04
Speaker 3: president it would have been a tougher ticket to beat.
37:07
Speaker 1: And I disagree with that based on ideology because she
37:08
Speaker 1: and I have deep seated different views about our appetite
37:12
Speaker 1: to interview different than Trump. Yeah, I have a lot
37:14
Speaker 1: of different views than Trump.
37:15
Speaker 2: You don't really like Trump's politics, but Vick.
37:17
Speaker 1: Well, I have. I've been very clear that I don't
37:19
Speaker 1: agree with Trump one hundred percent of policies. I ran
37:21
Speaker 1: for president for a year. I was very making clearly
37:24
Speaker 1: the case of where I have some slightly different policy
37:26
Speaker 1: views than Donald Trump. Hopefully that makes actually my reason
37:30
Speaker 1: for endorsing him at least credible to the people who
37:33
Speaker 1: followed me during the race to say I'm not changing
37:35
Speaker 1: my policy positions. I still don't agree with him one
37:36
Speaker 1: hundred percent of policies, but I'm voting for him nonetheless
37:39
Speaker 1: because I think he's going to grow the economy and
37:41
Speaker 1: solve the illegal mass migration crisis, which I do think
37:44
Speaker 1: is hurting this country. And I think those are the
37:46
Speaker 1: two issues that matter most to the next four years
37:49
Speaker 1: of our development. But I think about the future this actually
37:53
Speaker 1: we don't know. We don't cover this ground, and maybe
37:54
Speaker 1: you guys aren't interested in this either, But I think
37:56
Speaker 1: there are different flavors of America First beneath the surface
38:00
Speaker 1: simmering right now. I think it's interesting it's in the
38:02
Speaker 1: very early stages of this on one strain of America First,
38:06
Speaker 1: it's the idea that we need to protect American manufacturers
38:11
Speaker 1: from the effects of foreign price competition, that we need
38:13
Speaker 1: to protect American labor from the effects of legal immigration
38:18
Speaker 1: into the country. I'm not so much in that camp.
38:21
Speaker 1: I'm in the camp of America First that says the
38:24
Speaker 1: federal bureaucracy is actually the main thing holding back this country.
38:28
Speaker 1: So I don't want to replace the left wing nanny
38:31
Speaker 1: state with a right wing nanny state. I want to
38:34
Speaker 1: actually shut down the nanny state. I don't want to
38:37
Speaker 1: replace the left wing regulatory state with a right wing
38:40
Speaker 1: regulatory state to advance so called good goals. Actually just
38:44
Speaker 1: want to dismantle the regulatory state. And that's an interesting
38:48
Speaker 1: There's two different currents within even the America First wing
38:52
Speaker 1: of the Republican Party, and I think we're going to
38:54
Speaker 1: be at our best if we have those debates in
38:56
Speaker 1: the open. In the same way that I would say
38:58
Speaker 1: about a Democrat, somebody who has different views than me,
39:01
Speaker 1: but is actually willing to defend them and say this
39:03
Speaker 1: is my ideology. That's great, we are allowed to have
39:05
Speaker 1: different ideologies. But what I don't have a ton of
39:08
Speaker 1: patients for is a lot of politicians who refuse to
39:12
Speaker 1: acknowledge that they have an ideology or they don't have
39:14
Speaker 1: one at all. And that goes to my challenge not
39:17
Speaker 1: just to fellow Republicans, but Ta Kamala Harris as well.
39:19
Speaker 1: It's not that she's a Marxist. I have no idea
39:22
Speaker 1: if she's a Marxist, just tell me what your actual
39:24
Speaker 1: beliefs are so we can have an honest debate. That's
39:26
Speaker 1: when the country's best off. And you're right, you know,
39:29
Speaker 1: within the Republican Party, I do represent a set of
39:32
Speaker 1: views where I don't agree with one hundred percent of
39:33
Speaker 1: what a lot of other prominent Republicans say. But for
39:36
Speaker 1: my part, I'm willing to defend that. And you know
39:38
Speaker 1: I'm biased, but I think this idea of taking on
39:41
Speaker 1: the regulatory state personally, I do think that is the
39:43
Speaker 1: way of the future for even the Republican Party. When
39:46
Speaker 1: you play this forward, you know, four, eight, ten years
39:48
Speaker 1: down the line.
39:49
Speaker 2: But vake Ramaswami always a pleasure, sir.
39:52
Speaker 3: Good to see guys like when you pull up, let's
39:54
Speaker 3: just you know, keep the conversation going.
39:55
Speaker 1: Ye see what I love it.
39:56
Speaker 2: Absolutely thanks. It's the Breakfast Club.
39:58
Speaker 1: Wake that answer in the morning at Breakfast Club m