Rep. Thomas Massie Reveals Deep State Secrets and Teaches You How to Live Off-Grid

Do you know James Carville? Yes. So he got stuck at a roast one time. when we worked together in New. Orleans and had to take a leak. And it was on C-Span. and on the tape, which I have seen, he's sitting there and he's kind of. shuffling in a seat. All of a sudden he takes this water. pitcher off the table and sort of. takes a leak in the. water pitcher. Oh, gosh. So what? What is that. thing moving on your lapel? On your pocket? It's the debt. It's my anxiety generator.

So it's actually making me really. anxious. Is that real. time? Yes. So it's sync to Treasury. It gets the debt to. the penny once a day, and then it. looks at what the debt was a year. ago. And it comes up with rolling. average debt per second. And it interpolates on weekends and. holidays when the when the Treasury. is not paying attention. I am. So I think you're the only one who. wants to know. Yes. And I want my colleagues to. know. And it's great to wear this. thing in an elevator with, like, Adam Schiff. And it's got nowhere to. look.

I once caught a female congresswoman. staring at it, and I had to tell her. my eyes were up here. She asked me why I didn't make a. belt buckle out of it. Did you say it was because. I like no, I cannot. Oh. That's funny, that's very. impressive. So what's the message of it? The message is this is urgent. You know, it's hard to comprehend 14. digits of debt. But when you see the last five. digits are moving so fast, you. can't, you know, perceive them with.

your eyes, then you kind of. understand. Whoa, we are problem. here. I mean, it's a $100,000. a second, roughly. So imagine we had this catapult. and we were launching, cyber trucks. once a second into the ocean. That's how much debt we're taking. on, continuously. Now, there is some good news. I noticed last month. it went down, and I'm like, is my debt clock. broken? Why is it going down? And then I realized, oh, it's April. 15th. Everybody's paying their taxes.

So the good news is we balanced it. for a month. The bad news is April. 15th is the only reason. that happened. And now the debt's. going back up again. So maybe it when it gets. so big, it becomes. something that you have to ignore. It's almost like if you fall off the. wagon from drinking, you binge. If you fall off your New Year's. diet, you just eat the pizza and. Right. Ben and Jerry's like, why do. you care? You know, you sort of go. crazy and it feels like we're. there. I am trying to make people.

feel very uncomfortable. I wear this on the floor of the. house. Yeah. And, people, literally. they'll press the button that says. yay or nay. I've. I've argued we should relabel the. voting button. Spend and don't. spend. Yeah. The red and green. If you got that far and can't read. the I say it's like stop and go. But I've seen people press the spend. button, then turn around and look at. my debt badge and ask, did it just. go up? But I want them to realize there are. consequences to what they're doing. because they have been, I think, as. you said, just ignoring it, putting.

it off to the side. It almost feels like, you know, it's. so big that. why even deal with it? That's where we are. We kind of I think a lot of. lawmakers are apathetic. They're like, well, we can't fix. it. We're not going to fix it. We might as well indulge in it and. I'll see what I can get. Well, exactly. Yeah. So where does it end? Right now we're able to finance. it because we're the world's reserve. currency. Right. And when we print. more money, which we're doing all. the time, the fed is doing that.

We're actually taxing the world. Everybody in the world who holds. dollars gets like a 3%. transaction fee. I say we're kind of like the credit. card at the gas station. That gets 3% because you're using. that credit card, right? Well, we get 3% from. inflation we cause because. the world is using our currency. And we can do that as long as they. use our currency. But I think it's. going to end at some. point. They're going to quit using. our dollars as reserve currency. I mean, I watched your interview.

with Putin, and one of the things, you know, whether you hate him or. not, one of the things he. said that is true is when we. sanctioned him before we sanctioned. Russia, 70% of their. transactions were in U.S. dollars. And after the sanctions, it's less. than 20% of their transactions. are in US dollars. So what we're doing with all these. sanctions, ironically, we're. shooting ourselves in the foot every. time we sanction a country and say, you can't use our currency to. have a transaction, we're. taking away our ability to charge.

that 3% for. that transaction, because when we. print 3% more dollars, we're just. taking that money. And we're also sending a really. clear signal, which is the dollar is. not safe for you. Right. That's the reserve currency, because. it's a safe haven, because it's a. stable country. It's the most stable country in the. world. And we're not going to. weaponize the dollar because that. would be shooting ourselves. But suddenly we are. And they'll they'll tolerate like. 3%, because if we're not. backed by dollars, we're backed by. aircraft carriers right now. So they'll sort of tolerate that 3%.

But one of the things we recently. did in Congress, we passed something. called the Repo act, where we said. we're just going to seize all of. Russia's sovereign assets in. the United States. Well, it turns. out a lot of that is Treasury debt. that they've agreed to buy so that. they can hold dollars. And, here's the. problem with that. When people see that we've seized. their money that they gave us. in exchange for these Treasury. notes. Then other countries won't want. to buy our debt. It's already happening, and the. price of a long term bond.

that the Treasury puts out will go. It's already gone above 4%. It's like over 4.5%. They don't want to buy them anymore. because, you know, we probably. wouldn't seize Great Britain's. assets. But I could see us seizing. China's assets. Why would. I mean, that seems like. theft. Just like take a country's assets. when that belongs to the people of. the country. Right? It's not just. Putin. It is theft. Like it's immoral. But even if you're okay with. the immorality or immorality. of it, it's shortsighted.

because eventually it'll catch up. with us. So the any of the dumbos you work. with understand that? Did you say, wait a second, if we do. this, first of all, it's wrong. And if we're going to be a beacon of. light and order and justice in the. world, we should abide by. those principles. But even if you. don't care about the even if, as you. said, you're immoral, like it's self-defeating to do this, do they understand that. Some of them understand it, but it. doesn't matter. They'll still vote. for something like the repo act. anyway, because it's popular. And with whom? With voters.

They think, yeah, take Russia's. money. Like, you know, let's take. Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. Let's take their money and use it in. a war against them. It kind of feels good. But the problem is it's it's not. moral in the long run, and it won't. work in the long run, even if you. were okay with it. Why are we in a war with Russia? I've never figured that out. Why Russia? It almost seems like. they picked it off a like. Why would it be at war with Russia? You know, what's interesting is we. were in Afghanistan and I was. tracking this. I talked to the special inspector. general, John Sopko,

about twice a year about the money. that was being wasted in. Afghanistan. It was about $50. billion a year. And I was glad to see us get out of. Afghanistan. But kind of like feathering the. clutch and shifting gears. We just went from second gear to. third gear, because as soon as we. quit spending $50 billion a year. in Afghanistan, we started spending. more than $50 billion a year in. Ukraine. There's a military industrial. complex. They call it the defense. industrial base now in the United. States, they say we have to. They're hungry and we got to keep. them fed. And since we don't have.

any of our own wars and we don't. have a reason to deplete our stocks. and our, bombs and weapons. that we have, we engage in these. other things to keep them healthy. and thriving. In fact, the Biden administration. even made that argument in a letter. to Congress for why. we should do this supplemental. foreign aid to Israel, to Ukraine, to Taiwan. They made the argument that the. defense industrial base needs to be. strong. And so we need to spend this. money. And they gave a list of all. the states in the United States that.

would benefit from this spending. And that's why they said we should. do it. But if you're if I mean, look, everyone who lives here wants to be. proud of the country. I always have. been. And I'm proud of its people still. But if your main export is death. You know that. I mean, what? It doesn't work in the long run. I mean, there is blowback. Wrong. We're engendering a lot of ill will. Look, ten years ago, even more recently than that, the. only way we could get to the space. station was on a Russian rocket.

Right. And we, you know, we had. a collaboration with them. We were able to get to space that. way. And, now we don't I mean, it's. and the bad thing that's, you know, like in the Middle East, Israel is creating. tens of thousands or hundreds. of thousands of of people who are. going to hate the United States. And, and, you know, they're going to. hate Israel also, but because we're. giving Israel the weapons to do what. they're doing, we're creating a lot.

of people who hate us in this. country. But we're told that it's essential. to our national security to do that. Do you believe that? No, I don't see that. I mean, one of the reasons, like. I said, the Biden letter said, well, we need to keep our industrial base. strong, so let's find all these. weapons and send them over. But I don't see how it's. strengthening our country. In fact, we're getting weaker by. doing it. So you've been, I think, the lone Republican to dissent from. a lot of these votes. Can you like how many votes have. there been on this question?

And where have you voted on them? Oh, I've tried to keep track. There were something like 18 votes. on Ukraine, and. I voted against every one of them. since like 2014. when we started, you know, saber. rattling. We do these non-binding. resolutions, whereas, you know, Russia's evolved, you know, whereas we support. Democracy Now! Even then, we knew that Ukraine. was just corrupt as hell. But, you. Know, like the most corrupt country.

in Europe by far. Yeah. So I started, you know, there's been. 16 or 20 votes on Ukraine. I've been against all of those just. in the last seven months. There have been probably 30. votes on Israel in the Middle East, 3030. There were some very. Many votes on the US border during. that time. Maybe, maybe. for show votes that, you know, where we know they're. going nowhere in the Senate. Look, we haven't named three post.

offices like in. the last month. We voted like 15 or 16. times on issues related to Israel. And, you know, I've been hit because. I voted no on all of them. Why do you? Because you hate Israel? Or is there another reason? No, because I'm against, sending our money overseas. I'm against starting another proxy. war. I'm against sanctions. because it's going to weaken the. dollar. I'm for free speech. Like, all of these resolutions run. afoul of those things, and that's.

why I can't. Vote for them. Tell us what the free speech part. of it. So recently, they brought a bill. to Congress, and this was actually. a binding bill, not a non-binding. resolution like this was going to. have the effect of law and people. would get, you know, prosecuted. if they, engaged. in anti-Semitism on campuses. And the problem with this bill is. they use some international. definition of anti-Semitism. on a website somewhere. My first question is, why don't you. just put the definition in the bill? Why are you pointing to somebody's.

URL in a piece. of legislation? You are the Congress, right? Right. We are right. The laws we. Should be. We're referencing a website some. this not even, you know, hosted in the United States. and so but so I went to this website. and it's got a, you know, fairly. short definition, but. it's also got examples of things. that would be considered. anti-Semitism. And some of these are actually. passages in the New Testament, if. you will, would be banned by this.

international definition of. anti-Semitism. For instance, saying that, Jews kill Jesus, which is, you know, in the Bible, he was he was not welcome among. his own people. Okay. And so that would be. anti-Semitism. And if you engaged in that on campus. or just offered that as a thought, let's say in a classroom, you would. be anti-Semitic and you would run. afoul of the Department of. Education and some federal laws.

And, you know, there were other. examples in there that were hard to. believe. For instance, comparing the. policies of Israel to. to the Nazi regime. would be anti-Semitic. But the question is, what if their. what if their policies ever became. the same? Is this a static. definition? Or what if we just have different. opinions and your opinion is now. a crime. Right? I mean, even if it's. abhorrent, even. If it's wrong and stupid, yeah. It's still legal. It should be. You may have come to the obvious.

conclusion that the real debate is. not between Republican and Democrat. or socialist and capitalist. Right left. The real battles between people who. are lying on purpose. and people who are trying to tell. you the truth, it's. In good and evil. It's between honesty. and falsehood, and we hope we are on. the former side. That's why we created this network, the Tucker Carlson Network, and we. invite you to subscribe to it. You go to TuckerCarlson.com/podcast. Our entire archive.

Is there a lot of behind the scenes. footage of what actually happens in. this barn? When only an iPhone is running? Tucker carlson.com/podcast. You will not regret it. So your colleagues, I. think it passed, right? Oh, yeah. He passed with. flying colors. But at least a few people woke up. to this. I mean. They show, but the members of. Congress who, you know, go to church. on Sunday who've just voted to. ban the New Testament on campus, make it illegal to quote from the.

New Testament, the Christian Bible, like, how did they square that? I think their voters let them get. away with it. I mean, they don't have to square. it unless they are. Well, why would they want to do. something like that? Because there's a lot of pressure in. Congress to vote for these things. And our Republican leadership. thinks they're so smart. You know, we're in an election year, and they want to bring up issues. They want to put them, in. front of Congress and make us vote. on them, whether they're going. anywhere in the Senate or not.

And they want to split the. Democrats. They want to show that. Republicans are united and then. split the Democrats. That's one of the reasons they do. it. Another reason they do it is. there's a foreign interest group. called a pack that's, you. know, got the ear of this current. speaker and demanded 16. votes in April on on. Israel or the Middle East. We haven't had 16 votes in April on. the United States in Congress. So what's a pack? A pack is the American Israel. Public Affairs Committee.

And, they didn't start. out as a pack in the sense. of a political action committee, but now they have a political action. committee. Ostensibly, it's a group. of Americans who lobby. on behalf of Israel. They're for anything Israel. And they're very effective lobbying. group. They get in there, they, they try to get me to write a white. paper as a candidate, for instance, for Congress. They almost get. On. On what? On Israel like.

And I wouldn't do it. And they said, well, and I'm like, I. don't do homework for lobbyists, right? I'm like, I didn't like I. didn't like writing term papers at. college. I'm not writing one for. you. What did they say? They said, oh, we'll here just copy. Rand Paul's term paper and put your. name on it. We'll accept that. And I'm like, no, I'm still not. cribbing somebody else's homework to. do homework. I'm not turning in my. homework for you and. I you're laughing.

But you know what? I bet, I may. be the only Republican in Congress. who hasn't done homework for a pack, and it's just what it is. It's conditioning. They want you to do something very. simple and benign. And, you know, for them, they don't. really they don't really grade your. term paper. They just want to know that you'll. do something for them. And if you'll do something for them. as a candidate, you're more likely. to do something for them as. as a congressman when you get in. there. So this my rift. started out in 2012 when I.

refused to turn in. And, Israel, how. Did respond to that? Well, they kind of got. in my race a little too late there. in the beginning. And because it was hard to tell that. I was actually going to win. And when they saw I was going to. win, that's when they tried to get. me to do the term paper. They didn't have a political. action committee at the time. They couldn't spend hundreds of. thousands or millions of dollars. against me at that time. It was just sort of like a whisper. campaign to try to, hey, don't vote for him, blah, blah,

blah. Why? Because at that point, they sensed I. wouldn't do what they wanted when I. What did they whisper against you? What were they saying about you? Well, they would do it through, for. instance, churches, evangelical. churches. They've got an organization called. Christians United for Israel, which sort of co-opted evangelicals. People think it's a grassroots. movement in Kentucky. It's actually a top down movement. from a PAC, so that people. who aren't even Jewish will. feel like they've got to support.

Israel. You know, no matter what. And even if it's a secular state. that funds abortions, they. they are just sort of forget that. part. And we've got to fund Israel. So they have network. So it's more than just about the. money. So you get elected, despite their efforts. And then what happens? Do you talk to them after that? And by the way, let me just. put a little footnote here. I'm not against Israel. I've never voted to sanction. Israel. I've never said anything.

particularly, you know, critical of. Israel. You know, other. than, for instance, right now. they're bombing. They've killed 1%. of the civilian population in Gaza. That's concerning to me. But, to what do. they do now? You get elected 2012. Do you hear from them again? I vote my conscience, which they won't tolerate. So they ran with. their 501 C4 before they. had a superPAC. They they were running educational.

advocacy ads against me. saying that, you know, I'm bad on. Israel. They didn't say don't vote. for. And they just said he's he's a. bad guy. And so I said, all right, well, you're not welcome in my office. anymore because for years I, I. invited them into my office. Let's talk this through. Let me explain to you. I'm a libertarian leaning. Republican. I don't vote for foreign. aid for anybody. So don't be offended when I don't. vote for your foreign aid. I don't vote for wars anywhere. So don't be offended if I tell you. that I'm for free speech,

even if it's abhorrent. And, you know, we used to talk, but. now they're banned from my office. The situation went from bad to. worse. This election cycle, they spent $400,000 against. me. $90,000 last. fall, running TV ads in my district. and Facebook ads and whatnot. Trying to equate me with the squad. And then, this. most recently, in fact, as I'm. speaking to you today, even though. my election is over, there's still. running hundreds of thousand dollars.

of negative ads. It's a little weird, though, because, as you said, you're. probably the only Republican in the. House who hasn't done homework for. them, who isn't on their side. And but and that's okay. I mean, you can have, you know, you're a libertarian oriented. Republican from northern Kentucky. You're probably not going to single. handedly determine our foreign. policy. So you I think you. should, but you don't. You and you're not going to. So why do they care? Why don't just let Thomas Massie. beat Thomas Massie in Northern. Kentucky? Like, why?

Why the need to crush you? I don't know, I think it's they. don't want one horse out of the. barn. If one person starts speaking. the truth, they're afraid it could. be contagious. Perhaps. Or it's like a new car. They go to Mike Johnson, and they. say, we want a Cadillac. Escalade, with pearl. white paint. And here's, you know, here's the. rims we want. And my Johnson puts that bill on the. floor. It passes with. a unanimous vote, except for one guy. votes no. And I think they feel like it's a.

scratch on their car. They wanted a brand new car, and. it got scratched by this guy named. Massie. They were going to drive it. over to the Senate and ask for. unanimous consent. But now the senators are saying, wait, what? This wasn't unanimous in the House. Why should we do it unanimously in. the Senate? And it starts raising. questions. And I think that's why. they get mad. What I find interesting is it's not. just, did they disagree. with your views, which they do. And I think they have an absolute. right to disagree with anybody's. views. We all do. But they've called you.

a bigot and they call you an. anti-Semite and say you're a hater. and try to destroy your character. That seems like a very different. level of response to. Me, right? They there's no need to. do that. I'm not anti-Semitic. I don't have an anti-Semitic hair. in my head. Okay. It's. I mean, I don't like a pack. anymore. Like, I used to be neutral toward a. pack. Right? But I have no. antagonistic feelings. toward Jewish people.

I am the last thing. I think I'm probably the least. xenophobic person in Congress. I mean, these are the guys that my. colleagues want to sanction. Everybody, you know, declare them. terrorist states, you know, come. up with these strongly worded. resolutions. I don't vote for any of. that crap. Right. I'll. Unless somebody does harm to me, I'm. not going to call them anything. So I get called names just for. staying out of all of this political. posturing. That's disgusting, though, isn't it? You know, I guess Trump's character. They can can disagree with your.

views, but but to call you, like, the worst thing you can be in. America. Like that's disgusting. You know. Yeah. I have a thick skin. And and here's the good news, Tucker. My my constituents. aren't falling for it. Two weeks ago, I just had a primary. and got 76% of the vote. with a pack running hundreds of. thousand dollars of ads. So it's it's not working against. me. I, I think it's shortsighted, on their, you know, on their side. to do this. They're just burning.

money, but they're trying to make an. example of me. But they're also exposing their. weakness. I think they are. I think they've exposed a real. weakness here. And, you. know, it used to be just me voting. against some of these resolutions, but recently where they tried to ban. passages in the New Testament, I think we got like almost two dozen. Republicans who said, wait, hold. on. There is a question. No, there's a fundamental question. So the Biden administration has put. a bunch of people in jail for. violating something called Fera, the. Foreign Agent Registration Act, 1936 ish.

It's been on the books for, you. know, 90 years. And it's never been enforced ever. until recently until really. the Trump era and Biden. era. So but the law. requires people who lobby on behalf. of foreign governments to register. Was that simple? And this is the largest lobby. in the United most effective lobby. in United States on behalf of a. foreign government. Are they. registered with Fara? They are not, but they should be. Well, how can that how can that be? How can they put Paul Manafort in. jail, which they did on.

a Fara violation and a bunch of. other people in jail on fair. violations. But the largest and. most effective and most feared. foreign lobby working for a foreign. government doesn't have to register. under the law. That's insane. Oh, man, don't make me take their. side. But I'll explain. as best as I can what they're. arguing me. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you should take their side, I. don't know. Well, I'm going to agree. with you at a second, but let me at. least offer what I think is their. argument. They would say we are Americans. You know, the members of a pack.

are Americans, and. they have the right to free speech. Paul Manafort is an American, right? Right. Yeah. So there's the good rebuttal is Fara. applies not to foreigners, to foreign agents. of foreign principles, agents of. foreign. Americans lobbying on behalf. of foreign government. So this is AIPAC is exactly what. Fara is meant for now, they would. say, and we have a First Amendment. right. Okay. Well, I, I agree with you there. But we also have election laws.

and to the it's. disclosure. Right. They're not Fara doesn't. say you can't say Thomas. Massey's, you know, an ignorant. hillbilly. You're allowed to say that if you. want to, but we just want to check. where your money's coming from. Tell us where it's coming from, what. you're spending it on, and. if you are lobbying on behalf of a. foreign country. So they should be. Now to your point, they should. be registered with Fara. This is what Fara is, is where. there's gray area where it's an. American representing a foreign.

country. Let's let's look. and see if you're getting any money. from that foreign country. Are you a dual citizen with that. foreign country? Are you being directed by, for instance, is Netanyahu speaking. to your group, advising you on your. next move? Those are you getting money from the. military industrial complex, like because to understand. AIPAC, I think it's easiest. to model them as a, military industrial lobby. Like their biggest thing is.

they want more equipment, more. military equipment from. the United States going to Israel. In fact, when they. used to be allowed in my office, the. thing the argument they would make. is, oh, we're just stimulating the. US military industrial complex. because every single penny. of the 3.8 billion that they. nominally get now they're getting. way more than that. But that Israel normally gets. goes to US military. contractors.

Now, that didn't make me warm and. fuzzy, okay. But that is their argument. And if you notice what they advocate. for, I think sometimes. they advocate for things that even. Israelis wouldn't advocate for. I believe that like they would, I think, be okay with a war with. Iran, like an all out, you know, apocalyptic war with Iran, whereas. there are people in Israel say, whoa, hold on a second. We we'd rather not have a war with. Iran. But AIPAC does things that. lead us in that direction. And so they're kind of like.

what the NRA is to gun owners. a pack is to Israel. or what the Farm Bureau is to. farmers. A pack is to Israel and. Represents a faction. Right? They represent a faction, but. usually a corporate faction. that, and they're using. the imprimatur of grass roots. that they've diluted or confused. into bullying congressmen. And the NRA does that and Farm. Bureau does that. I'm picking on. some, you know, other right wing. groups here. But for for sure.

And by the way, I think there. probably a lot of things that AIPCAC. is for that I'm for and Farm Bureau. NRA same thing. It's I just the. idea of a foreign government. playing in our political campaigns. openly. Openly in that, they are showing you they're doing. it. But opaquely. in that you can't track. it because they're not registered. Is there any other Republican who. has your views on this? Why have Republicans, who come.

to me on the floor and say, I wish I could vote with you today. Yours is the right vote, but. I would just take too much flak back. home. And I have Republicans. who come to me and say, that's. wrong. What AIPAC is doing to you. let me talk to my AIPAC person, by the way. Everybody by me has an AIPAC. person. What's that mean? An AIPAC person? It's like. You're babysitter. You're AIPAC babysitter who, is always talking to you. for a pack. They're probably a constituent in.

your district, but they. are, you know, firmly. embedded in a pack. And every member has something. like this. Every. I don't know how it works on. the Democrat side. But that's how it works on the. Republican side. And when they and when they come to. DC, you go have lunch with them. and they've got your cell number. and you have conversations with. them. So I've had like. That's absolutely crazy. I've had four members of Congress. say, I'll talk to my a pack person.

And like that's clearly what we call. them, my bad guy. I'll talk to my eight pack guide, see if I can get them to, you know, dial those ads back. Why, if I never heard this before? It doesn't benefit anybody. Why would they want to tell their. constituents that they've basically. got a buddy system. with somebody who's representing a. foreign country? It doesn't benefit the congressman. for people to know that. So they're not going to tell you. that it's it's.

Have you seen any other country do. anything like this like Russia? Russia obviously determines the. outcome of our elections. We keep hearing that. Does anyone have a Putin guy that. they talk to? Not only do they not have a Putin. guy. Look. They don't they they don't. have a Britain guy. They don't have an Australian guy. They, you know, they don't have a. Germany dude. Like it's. the only country that does this. that has somebody like. uniform. I guarantee there's some.

spreadsheet at iPAC where, where, you know, the, the pack. dude is who's matched up with the. congressman is there and then. all the congressman's votes on the. issue. Oh. Has the congressman been to Israel. They they pay for trips for. congressmen and their spouses to go. to Israel. I may be I mean, I. don't I'm not the only Republican. who hasn't taken the pack trip to. Israel, but I'm probably. one of a dozen that hasn't taken. that trip, and the other ones just. haven't got around to it.

What's the trip like? You know. It's kind of like, I think. vacationing. You go see the wall, you go. see the, you know, the sights, things like that. It's such a great. I must say, it's such a great. country. Jerusalem, especially, is. just such a wonderful place that. that's got to have a big effect. You go, like, swim in the Dead Sea. Yeah. Yeah, I've done that. Yeah. Not on any pack trip, but I would. recommend it. Danny, are you sure. It wasn't an big trip? That's never paid for myself? No, I mean, it's it's just funny.

I mean, I am, like, a legit lover. of Israel. Of the place is real. I like the people, and I love the. food and, like, the whole thing is. so great. Look. They. But that's distinct from the. government of Israel, which is the. foreign government. My my sense is the people are. very entrepreneurial. Yeah. That only they're, publicly minded. You know, they care about their. country, that that they're generally good. people. Right. That's certainly been my experience. in trips there, for sure. It's great. It's just that's.

I mean, I think it's probably one of. my favorite, maybe my all time. favorite place to go, with my family. But that's just a completely. different thing from taking orders. from its government. Right? I mean, right. Now, though, again, they'll say it's. these are American citizens who are, you know, coordinating. All this just again, this is almost. a rhetorical question, but in your. whatever, 12, 14 years. in Congress, 12 years, have you ever seen any indication. that Russia is influencing election.

outcomes or candidates or members. Not in not in a, quiet way like, you know, they'll put out statements. Russia obviously has. It's Russia today. Yeah, I think it's been banned. But yeah. Yeah, I like, you know, Kentucky Fried Chicken, of which I'm. a big fan being from Kentucky. Right. They realized that fried. was became sort of a pejorative. And yeah, they want to eat fried. food. So they changed the name to. KFC. So you don't have to say fried. Okay. Russia Today changed your.

name to R.T. so you don't have to say Russia. But there's a strong analogy there. But I mean, there are efforts. You'd be, a fool to think. that they're not trying to influence. things here, just like we are there. We you know, we have, what is it? Radio Free Europe. and Voice of America. We have. I mean, we spend $1. billion. Oh, well, over $1 billion. on the foreign propaganda that's out. in the open that we know about. Right. So there are foreigners. spending money on propaganda over.

here as well. I don't want to say they're not. involved, but people don't say, oh, I need to go talk to my Russia guy. But you've never, like, in the cloak. room or on the floor or at dinner. You've never heard another. Republican member say, I'd love to. vote for this, but Putin doesn't. want me to. I have never heard that. You haven't. Like, yeah. What about China? No, there's. I mean, unless it's a spy. sleeping with a Democrat. Yeah, I'm sure. There's some of that going. On. Yeah, but that's not that's not. in public. So how do you think?

It's it's just interesting because. you're you're clearly not a bigot. I think it's very obvious. And they've called. you one and they've spent, you know, millions of dollars against you over. the years and it has had no effect. You get reelected in the primary in. the 70s. So, like, why are they. still spending against you in, in. your state statewide? And can you just continue. to serve in Congress while. disobeying? Well, they say. that they don't want me to run. statewide. They're worried that I'll.

run for McConnell's seat. And so they're trying to send me a. message. That's what they would tell. you. But what? Why? I don't know what the message is. Maybe it's a little presumptuous to. decide. I guess I've never said. that I'm running for the Senate. Right? Yeah, I I'm pretty. much disinterested in it, personally and publicly. But just in case they're running. ads. Statewide. Now, mind you, there are six. congressional districts in Kentucky, and I only represent one of them. They're running the ads in all six.

congressional districts. Just in case. Amazing. What do you think of Mitch McConnell. after all these years of being in. the delegation with him? He's a shrewd guy. Yeah. He's quick. He is. Let me let me give you an example of. how quick he is. So we had a congressman, Jamie. Comer, who's now chair of the. oversight committee. He got elected. in a special election, which means. you come in in the middle of a term. and you have to boot up with no. staff. And so it's kind of, you know, disorienting.

So Mitch McConnell had. a, had an event for Jamie. Comer on his first day in Congress. It was in a townhouse with, like, 200 lobbyists. By the way, I'm never going to get. invited to one of these now that I. tell you the story. It's. So Jamie's there, and. McConnell goes, I believe Jamie took his first. vote tonight. And that is such a. perfect imitation. And I wasn't supposed to speak, but I interrupted Senator McConnell, who was at the time the majority. leader, and I said,

yes. Senator McConnell, he did. take his first vote, and I know he. has no staff. So I advised, Jamie, when you walk. into the chamber, look at how. I vote, and then vote. the other way and you'll be just. fine. And every, you know, 200. lobbyists thought it was a pretty. good joke. And they were laughing. And as the laughter died down, McConnell goes wild. Thomas, I'm glad you and. I are giving Jamie the same advice. And then the place, just the walls.

are. Oh. He's good. He's not that funny. So. But I think it's time for new. leadership in the Senate. I mean, he's obviously it's. way past time, and this is. just a fact. I'll say it. I'll get in trouble for saying it. You know, I'm in races in Kentucky, so we poll things in case, you. know, we poll Trump's popularity. We hold the senator's popularity in. case they get involved in your race. Yeah. In Senator McConnell's. favorability are lower. among Republican primary voters than.

our Democrat governors. Favourability. Seriously? Yes, lower than Governor. Beshear. Yeah. This year, around 40%. among Republican primary voters. And McConnell's around 30%. Well-deserved, well-deserved. So, I'm glad to hear that, because I like Kentucky, and I. think it's it's voters are sensible. What do you think accounts for in. the final months and years of his. public career, his. public statements that all that. matters is Ukraine. Now, what is that?

I have no idea. By the way, I have so many fights in. the house that I try to avoid. every fight in the Senate that I. can, and you're trying to draw. me in, and I love you. And I'll indulge these questions. But, for 12 years, my strategy. has been pick my fights in the. house. Smart. Let let Rand Paul. and Mike Lee and Ted Cruz. and, you know, JD Vance. Rick Scott, let those guys figure. out the Senate because I haven't. been able to fix a house, so I'm. damn sure not going to be able to. fix the Senate.

But it's just interesting. Okay. Taking McConnell out of it. Yeah. And even the Senate out. of it. But some of the committee. chairmen in the House, for example, seem like Ukraine is all. that matters to them. And there's of course, the question, as you noted, of donations from. Lockheed, etc., the military. industrial complex. But it it almost seems messianic to. me. It seems heartfelt to me. It seems sincere that they. think that this is all that matters, winning this war against Russia. What do you have any sense of why. they feel that way?

I don't, and, the hardest ones to understand are. people like Mike Johnson, who used. to be against. the, you know, sending more money to. Ukraine. But now that he's the. speaker, he's like you said, he. seems strongly convicted. that, we should be sending. money there. Almost like it's a religious calling. or something. I mean, it seems. totally real to me. It doesn't seem fake. I've heard the argument. I think it's immoral, but I've heard. the argument that, oh, this is a. great deal. We just spend money and. we're grinding up Russia's,

capacity to wage war. Particularly. Lots of Russians are dying. And so we're told that's that's a. good thing. You know, for since. the Cold War began, we've been. taught that it would be good for. Russia to be diminished. But they've go so so far. as to, say, Russians. dying, you know, to the tune. of 300,000 casualties, they. say, is just such a great. thing that we need to keep this, this thing going. And my answer to that is,

why don't you tell us the Ukrainian. casualties, they you know, I have been in classified. settings with the. CIA, the. secretary of state, Secretary. of defense, not not. their assistance, but those people. in the room, and they're. bragging about how many Russians. have died and been injured. And I ask them how. I mean, Ukrainians have died and. been injured and they claimed they. didn't know. I mean, that's just a flat out lie.

And they said they would get back to. me and they've never gotten back to. me. Like, not. only is Americans being. fed propaganda about this war, Congress is being fed propaganda. by our State Department and our. Secretary of Defense and our. intelligence agencies. And you can just ask a few questions. in these classified hearings. If nothing else, my colleagues. should be convicted of a lack. of curiosity. Like they sit there and they believe. everything they're told, because. these are supposed to be the. authorities and they know things we. don't. But you can expose them with.

2 or 3 questions like how many. Ukrainians have died? And they refuse to answer. I've asked that very same question, to Mike Johnson, actually, directly. But I've also asked him and a. number of committee chairmen just in. personal conversations. Do you like, do you believe your. Intel briefings? Because only a child would believe. an Intel briefing. Take it at face value. There may be truth in there, right? May be largely true, but you're. being spun, you're being. manipulated. And if you don't know that, then you're a moron. But they seem to believe them.

They, because they have no. other reference. And then here's. what else happens. Tucker. When you go into a classified. setting, like a skiff, you lock up your phone, you. take off your Fitbit, you take every. electronic device. They even make me take off my dad. badge. What? Yeah, I know. Do you feel naked? I feel exposed to me. I do feel naked if I'm not wearing. this. I've been wearing it for a. year. Every day of my life. Okay.

But they make you. They strip you of every outside. reference. Okay. And now your. staff is not allowed in that meeting. either. Remember, Congressman, our primary. roles are like raising money. now, being friendly to constituents, you know, putting on a. good face, campaigning. And then then, you know, once a day. or maybe twice a day, we roll in. there and press the vote buttons. based on what staff advises. you. Well, when you go into a skiff, you don't have your smart phone, so.

you're not very smart. They start using acronyms that you. don't know. Remember what the. acronym stands for. You can't just like okay, what are. what's the Idgaf BS? I don't know man. I must be stupid like, but you know, if you were in a. regular setting, you just pull your. phone out and like, oh, okay, that's. what that is. I know what that is. And then you also can't ask your. staff a question while. you're in that setting. You know, we have legislative. staffers who handle certain. specific area, of course, you can't. bring them in.

And then when you go back to the. office, you can't tell them what you. heard. So it's really quite. an experience. It's sort of it's, you know, it's a. deprivation experience. of any outside reference. So it's designed to pretty Stockholm. syndrome, it sounds like. Yes. And when you get in there, they. really don't give you classified. information. I say there's three levels of. classification in the skiff. There's a Facebook level, there's a Twitter level and there's. New York Times level like and. the New York Times level is the. highest level of classification.

I mean, it's you're getting to the. good stuff when they're telling you. what's in the New York Times that. week. Have you ever heard anything you. thought was genuinely secret? Occasionally. Just a few times. And obviously I can't say what that. is, but they slip up and. commit candor occasionally in there. and you're like, whoa, I didn't know that. You know, nothing like what's at area 51, right? But occasionally years. Like, what do people think is that. area 51, by the way? I don't know, I'm not a. You but you guys passed this law,

the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023, and then they never disclosed. anything. What is that? Not my area of expertise. Yes. Don't know. But do members of Congress ever. say, wait a second, were a co-equal. branch of the legislative branch? We have as much power as the. president collectively. And you can't keep this stuff secret. from us. You know how to do that. But, see, like, I have this in. hearings all the time. They'll say like ATF director, this just this happened just last. week. Darrell Bock or I'll ask. Merrick Garland something, or.

Christopher Wray, like, I've asked. all them this and they give you the. same answer. It's longstanding DOJ. policy not to comment. on on ongoing investigations. And you know what? That's fine to tell a reporter, but you can't tell the branch of. government that created you that. that funded you. You can't tell them that. That's why the omnibus. was so disappointing to me, is the only way these three letter. agencies are going to come to heel. is if we cut their funding in some.

specific area. I've joked we could just withhold. one toner cartridge for one printer. at the FBI, and they would come. over with a whole binder full of. information. But we can't even bring ourselves to. deprive them of a toner cartridge. So we put $200 million. for new FBI building in the. omnibus bill. And, you know, to their credit, Jim. Jordan and Jamie Comber. didn't vote for that in their. chairmen of committees, but they are. completely frustrated with the fact. that the FBI just thumps their nose.

So is that the speaker who allowed. that to happen? Oh, he absolutely allowed it to. happen. So to what extent are members of. Congress Committee chairman, leadership controlled by. blackmail? I really don't. think there's much blackmail. Like if there is, I'm not aware. of it. I have people coming up to me. You know, I travel around the. country to Texas. and, you know, other states and. speak to groups, food freedom.

groups, you know, First Amendment, Second Amendment groups. And they come to me and they say, why did my congressman sell out? Like, I'll just you Bob was such. a great guy, and I campaigned. for him. I made phone calls, I put. up signs, and then we sent Bob. to Congress, and he he votes. the wrong way every time. Why is it? What do they have his kids in. a basement somewhere? Does he have kitty porn on him? Like, what is it? Why did Bob go bad? And and I have to look. Him in the eye and say.

But I'm just wanted to be liked. Yeah. Like there. is a gene inside. of us. Congressman, I think they. if you look for a common. denominator, they they like people. and they want to be liked for. the most part. And if and they're likable, if they're not likable, it's hard to get elected. Okay. So this self selects for. likable people. But likable people want to be liked. And they're not surrounded by their. wives and children who usually give.

them plenty of like right when. they're in DC, it's like, who am I. going to go to dinner with tonight? Well, I want to eat food with. somebody that likes me, right? So if you're not going to eat alone. and you have to be liked, and you. generally have to be like to get. elected to Congress, you you, better be liked. And, and so it's literally it's. almost like kindergarten when. somebody says, I won't be your. friend anymore if you don't, you. know, give me your lunch. Congressmen fall for that. You know, they're in their 30s, 4050s, and they fall for that. How do you have it's interesting.

You like people I've. asked around. You don't seem to have. any real enemies in the Congress. I don't even think iPAC hates you. They just want you to obey. But it's not. It doesn't seem personal, right? You don't seem to be at personal war. with anybody. That's my take on. I have a mutation. So you like people? Okay, well, obviously you're not. some weird artist who doesn't care. about other people. You like other. people? I love people, I can tell. and your colleagues say that, but. you also don't. feel like you need to fit.

in, right? Same time. Like, what is that? It's a mutation that chromosome. the like the liking people and. likability. The chromosome usually has another. gene on it right next to it, which. is the need to be liked. And I'm missing the need to be like. Gene. Like, I don't know, Harvard. Like I can go like on. the CARES act. Okay, this was under. President Trump the 11th. day to slow the spread of 15. Right. They said we're going to pass a $2.2.

trillion package, and. you all just stay home. It's dangerous. Like, we'll just do it by unanimous. consent. And it was 11 p.m.. I'm sitting in my living room and. they send us this message and I'm. like, WTF? Like this is this. This is twice the size of the. omnibus bill, right? This is going to cause massive. inflation. The policies in it are going to. cause shortages. And if we don't show up to vote, we're sending a message to all 50. states that you don't have to show. up to vote in this election.

So it was like, we I got to do. it. I got my car and I drove. eight hours. I slept one hour and a. rest stop because I knew I had to be. there by 9 a.m.. And this was March 27th, 2020. Actually, the 25th is the day I got. to Congress to stop it. And, I got there and I said, it's not going by unanimous consent. And I was literally sleeping in my. wife's SUV eating those, peanut butter filled pretzels. Like, I had a big jug of. Those are good. Yeah. For my three days of nourishment. in an SUV, eating that big.

tub of pretzels with peanut butter. in the middle. Like waiting. Just waiting for them to try to call. it in session and sneak. This bill passed and they're like, shit, man, he's going to do it. So they they loaded up congressmen. You know, the airports are shut down. for the most part. There were some planes coming from. California. They only had two. passengers and they were both. congressmen. So they they roll them all back to. Congress. It takes them two days to assemble a. quorum because I was like, they went to the parliamentarian and. they're like, is there any way.

around this? And he's like, nope, Marcy's right. The Constitution requires a quorum. if one, you know, he didn't call me. an asshole. But if one asshole just. shows up the objects and says, there's no quorum here. So they brought every back, I go to. the floor. Actually got a everybody. was hating me, I mean, everybody. did. You know what it's like to be. in a room of 434. people and they're all staring at. you like they're. I had maybe ten friends. who were, like, looking at me like,

that guy is dead. Like we've never seen Harry carry. like this. They were worried for me, but the. rest of them hated me. There. They would come up to me and. say, I live with my mother. And when I go back. Home. You're going to cause me to. take Covid two or she's going to. die. And I'm blaming you for this. And I said. That to your face. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, like. No, it wasn't just one. It was like when he was done, there. was a line of people. I just, like stood there. And they're all coming to hate on. me. And, I was like,

but what about the guy that's. going to the grocery store and. bagging your groceries and carrying. him out to the car? Does he live. with his mother, too? Like, what about the trucker. who's out there driving and. interacting with people in order to. get the goods to where you need to. be? What about the nurse who's going. to work every single day taking. care of people? Is she going to kill her parents? Like, why are you special? I think you're supposed to. You know, they they carved a hole in. the side of a mountain in West. Virginia for us in the case of. emergency. Yes.

Yep. Well, the sad but but. realistic thing is, now they don't. have a place for us. We're so useless. Right? It's like, well, here's where. we were going to keep them if shit. hit the fan. But now we we've realized. they're like useless. We can declare war without them in. the event of a nuclear strike. So, you know, they're just a. rounding error. The three branches we can. operate with two. Yes, I've noticed. So anyways, these are the kind of. people who are supposed to respond. in emergency, and they all wanted to. stay home. They all hated me for for.

recognize our constitutional duty. And and Trump called me. three times on the floor of the. House while I was getting ready. to make the motion to object, and I let it go to voicemail three. times in a row, which is probably. not good. But I couldn't leave the. microphone because I. was asking people, would you make. this motion if I go to the restroom. and they're like, oh no, oh no. I mean. So I, I. sat there, I finally they yielded. time for debate. I go off the floor and called the. white House switchboard back and,

and, you know, I didn't have. his number. I just like, if you want. a tour of the white House, you call. the number I called, right? And the intern is like, oh, is this. Congressman Massie? I'm putting you through Trump right. now. And so he comes, I guess, and community like you've never seen. never in your life before. Have you seen the way in which I can. meet you? I'm more popular than you in. Kentucky and you know it and. back in your primary period and. You're gonna lose.

And I'm like, oh, crap, I probably will lose. I mean, he had 95% popularity. among my Republican electorate. who I had to face in about eight. weeks in my primary. And I had a well-funded opponent. And here now is Trump was mad. at me, so he screamed at. me for 2 or 3 minutes. I kept trying to talk and he just. screamed louder. Then he repeated at all he gets. no. This is the second time you've done. something like this, and he. took me out of it before, but not.

this time. And it you're gonna lose. Any hangs up. And like, the thing is, like I he said he thought it was the. second time I'd done that like eight. times since. He was president. He just. Started realizing it's the same. Guy. The time before that was on. war with Iran. The Democrats were in the majority. And, you know, he had just. vaporized Soleimani. Yeah. And we were worried that he. would attack mainland Iran without. a vote of Congress.

So the Democrats actually in. sincerely, there aren't too many. anti-war Democrats left. I've noticed. But they realized this. was a chance to make. a statement. So they put a bill on. the floor saying, Trump, you can't. go to war with Iran without a vote. of Congress, which is. constitutionally obvious. So I had to vote for it. But I was only one of three. Republicans to do it. So he remembered that time. But he didn't remember the fake. Obamacare repeal and some of the. other things that, I was. kind of a, you know, the turd in the. punch bowl on. Did did it change your views.

at all? No. The the president tweeted that I was. a third rate grand stander and. that this is before I got back to my. seat. Like. I got back from the Speaker's Lobby. to go to my seat to get ready to. make the motion. And, one of the Congress was like, you better look at your phone, Massie. Look at your Twitter, and I. turn it on. He's like tweeting hard. and heavy against me. He said I should be thrown out of. the party. And then he the best one. He. I'm chairman of the Second. Amendment caucus. So his third tweet was he's.

terrible on guns. This is like what? Where did that come from? Have you seen my Christmas card. picture? Right. What's your Christmas card picture? Well, it's a little infamous. Yeah. No, I I've actually seen it, but I just it's a benefit of. those who have not. So, you know, I got my family. together for Christmas and we got. bluegrass instruments out. We play, music together, and we took a Christmas card picture. with bluegrass instruments. And I said, hey, when it be kind. of neat if we just, like, change. these all out for machine guns.

and took a picture and that was. supposed to stay on my phone for. eternity. But I had had a couple medical. margaritas one night. I don't do medical marijuana, but. I had a few medical margaritas. And I looked at that picture and I. thought, well, that's pretty good. picture. It'd be a shame if nobody. ever saw it. And I tweeted it. And so I caught all kinds. of hate for that. The arts a great picture. The Archbishop of Canterbury. condemned it. This is the head of. the Church of England. Condemned my tweet. I'm like, oh my God, are.

You an. Episcopalian? I'm Methodist. Good. So you can ignore him? Yes. Yeah. He's the he's a disgrace. So. So anyways, I, you know, the press. asked me as I'm, we're talking about the need to be. like Jane. Right? If I had that, I. would have been devastated that. day. If I had needed to be. liked, I couldn't have carried that. through. And, I walked out of that. chamber. Everybody's hate me in the. chamber. Nancy Pelosi called me in. Dangerous News, and CNN called me. the most hated person in DC.

John Kerry called me an asshole. or something. And, and, President Trump called me a third. rate grand stander. This is all in the course of a few. minutes, right? I walk out of the chamber of the. house and the reporters, like, swarm me, you know, like they do. And I'm just trying to run back to. the SUV with the pretzels, with peanut butter and, and, you know, get out of there. And, the, the, the, press said, what. do you have to say for yourself? Your own president just called. you a third rate grabs center.

And I pause for a second. And I said I was offended on at. least second rate. So what happened to your. relationship with Trump? It, you know, I think he. respects people that stand up. Yeah. Even if he I think you're absolutely. right. Disagrees with you. That's correct. And, two years. later, he did endorse me. No way. Yep. Do you get along with him? Okay. Now? Yeah. I mean, I did endorse Ron DeSantis. Not out of spite, or animosity, because we had.

already patch things up. Just because I served with Ron. DeSantis for six years, and he and I. were really good friends. We talked about bills when he was in. Congress. He he, he and I fought. over who was going to introduce the. bill to eliminate congressional. pensions. And, you know, and he won, and I. co-sponsored it. Now I'm the sponsor. now that he's a governor. But I knew he was a good person and. he thinks things through, and he was. smart. So I endorsed him. But, you know, because I have I. call it natural immunity. I have Trump antibodies at this. point.

They may wear. Off at some point, I don't I it's. Do you think if you did run for se. just pulling us out of a hat, but. governor of Kentucky, do you think Trump would endorse. you? I don't know. You'd probably do some polling and. See if it was winning. Fair and fair. Totally fair. I wouldn't turn down an endorsement. Yeah, yeah. So it's it's not. Are you at war with anybody in the. Congress? No. I get along with everybody. I mean, and people try to use this. against me, you know, in AIPAC.

was running those ads that say. I always vote with AOC, and Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan. Omar, you know, so I. introduced an amendment and forced a. vote on eliminating. the kill switch in automobiles. It's mandated. Thank You. Yeah. Well, I was losing. Republicans on that. I lost, like, 20 Republicans, so I. knew I needed some. Just to be clear, for the people. that don't know what you're talking about. In new vehicles that had been. in the case for years. They can be turned off remotely by.

the authorities, which is like the. most North Korean thing ever to. happen. That's what you're talking about. Yeah. By 2026, every. new automobile sold has. to be able to turn itself off. if it doesn't like you're driving. So I'm like, how do you appeal. this conviction at the roadside? Right? Maybe you swerved to miss a. deer and pulled over for an. ambulance, and you got your kids in. the car, and it's. Not one vote for something that evil. I don't understand. Because again, they know. it's that I'm right.

But they're worried about, for. instance, Mothers Against Drunk. Driving or they. don't have the bravery. Worse, we just let in millions of. illegal aliens who are allowed to. drunk drive. Right. And Biden has told us that. drunk driving is not a big deal. It's not grounds for deportation. Yeah, yeah. So. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, as. far as I know, we said nothing about. this. Like, who cares what they. think? I know, and but there may be, let's say, one constituent in your. district who gets a hold of you, and. they lost a child to drunk driving, which is terrible.

And they say, why, you know, you don't care about me if you. vote for Marcy's amendment. And, you know, they make that. personal phone call that congressman. doesn't have the fortitude to say. or knowledge to say, look, this technology can't work. I really care about your child. I think drunk driving is a scourge, and I want to fix it. But this is a false promise, and it's only going to increase the. price of automobiles and give the. government more control. So I'm going to vote with Marcy. They don't have the courage to say.

that. So long story short, I lost 20 Republicans. I needed some Democrats. So I went over to AOC, who I. get along with just fine. Don't hate me for saying that. I don't. And I said, AOC, they're running ads. right now that say you always vote, that I always vote with you just. once. Could you vote with me? Could you vote for my kill switch. amendment since they're running ads. the other way? And she did. She voted to defund the automobile. kill switch. Good for her. So she, ran.

It's interesting. I mean, obviously, I don't like her. But I think she's talented. She is definitely talented. But she ran as radical as someone. from the outside, which I'm, of. course, very sympathetic to. But she doesn't seem to actually. be that person. So, like, for example, on. the foreign aid stuff, how often. does she vote with you on. Quite, quite frequently about had. a funny moment. You know this 15 or 16 votes we. had on Israel in April.

Well, the squad and I. and I know this is going to be used. in the next ad against me, this clip. from Tucker. But, you know, I was the only no, sometimes, sometimes the, most of the squad voted with me, but. I noticed AOC wasn't always there. with me. So I went over to the squad on. the Democrat side, do they literally. sit together. They hang out. together. Yeah, they kind of it's. really cliquish even, you know, the. Freedom Caucus sits together. The, Texas. delegation sits together there are. different clicks.

The appropriators sit together. It's the military guys. The Intel guys sit together. You know, sometimes it's by state, sometimes it's by click. A lot of the Congressional Black. Caucus sits together. I can't get the Second Amendment. caucus to sit together. That's like, oh. That's too independent minded. Too independent. But so I go over to. their this is, Just high school cafeteria. It's high school cafeteria. That's what it is. And why would you again they need to. be liked. Right. They don't want to. sit next to people they don't like. or who don't like them. So I go over I went over to the.

squad a few weeks ago and I said, I told AOC, head for the squad. I said, we're going to kick you out. if you don't keep voting with us. more consistently. What did she say? She laughed. She thought it was. funny. I mean, she has a sense of. humor. These people are humans. There are 435. I call them goldfish in the. aquarium, you have to get 218. of them to pass a bill. So it doesn't benefit me to hate on. any of them someday. You know, on some days they may vote. with, well, they're also people. And you, if you can help it. You shouldn't hate people, period.

We we formed coalitions on. the First Amendment, on the Fourth. Amendment, on war, sometimes. like to eliminate cluster bombs, delivering cluster bombs, even. though the Democrats almost to a. person, actually to. a person, want to give Ukraine more. aid. Some of them are like, well, the cluster bombs, maybe we. shouldn't do that. Okay. And so you can form a coalition. So I try to do that when I can. But why aren't there anti-war. Democrats since it was. the anti-war party for like 40. years?

I don't know. And we've lost a lot of them on. privacy and and free speech as well. I think with Russia, you asked this. before. There's there's this element that I. didn't answer. It's sort of a proxy against Trump. for them now they in. their in their file folders in. their brain, Trump and Russia. are in the same file folder. Yes. Even though that's a false narrative. that's been dispelled long ago. It's still in their same file. folder. So when they see Ukraine.

is fighting Russia, they use that. as a proxy for their hate. for Trump. And so they'll vote for that. And they did. They waved. I don't know if you saw this. They were waving Ukrainian flags. after Mike Johnson put the bill on. the floor and every democrat. voted for it. This was premeditated. Somebody had to go by, you know, 200 Ukrainian flags. and hand them out. And I filmed it, which you're not supposed to do, but. you're also not supposed to wave. flags of other countries on the. floor of the house. So I'm like, all.

right, I'm gonna expose. this. So I filmed it. and I put it on Twitter to show. what, like the humiliation. that Mike Johnson brought upon us. by bringing the Democrat bill. to the floor without any. And it was leveraged to even if. you're a Republican and you're okay. with sending money to Ukraine, that's a leverage point. Do something for our country. and require that as a condition. of doing whatever that is. But he gave up all the leverage. I put that video on Twitter. Three days later, the sergeant.

at arms tracks down one of. my staffers in Kentucky. because we're no longer in session. and says he needs to delete that. video from Twitter, or we're going. to take a fine out of his salary, out of his congressional salary. So my staffer. He knew what I was going to do. He told me what they had just said. I said, all right, I'm retweeting. it. Did you? Oh yeah. And it got like 8 million views. It went 4 million to 8 million. And then, you know, sometimes you. just got to double down.

And the speaker. had to announce on Twitter that I. wouldn't be fined for that. But there, but no one was. considering fining any member who. wave the flag of a foreign nation on. the floor of the House of Representatives. Right. And they were taking selfies. of them with their foreign flags, too. And no, none of them got a. phone call. Only I got a phone call. because I exposed the humiliation. wasn't just a humiliation. of those of us in Congress. It was a humiliation of our country.

I mean, it's one of the most corrupt. countries in the world, and. they got every thing they. wanted for them. And the Democrats. are waving the flag, even the. Ukrainian flag, even though they're. in the majority. And we just have. to, like, sit there and. take that. It was it was horrible. Do you think any. I mean, the leader of Ukraine is not. elected anymore. His term has ended. He's not having a new election. He's the unelected. maximum power. In some places we call that a. dictator.

And yet they're still hitting. us with a democracy. Pro-democracy talking points, do you. think? I mean, have they thought. this through at all? Are they just lying? Like, what is that? They're lying. Yeah. I mean, they know it. And the good news is some. Republicans are waking up to it. Remember when we started voting. on these Ukraine resolutions, even, you know, as soon as the war. started, I was the only no, there was like this open ended. promise in a in a non-binding. resolution, they said, we'll give. them whatever they need.

And there were only like two. other Republicans that joined me on. this. But now we've got. a majority of Republicans in. Congress are saying, wait, this. is they aren't using this money. like we thought they. were, and we're giving them money to. fund pensions of. retired politicians. in Ukraine who were most certainly. corrupt. And we're paying their pensions with. this money. Most republicans don't support it. So that. means that your speaker, the. Republican speaker of the House,

Mike Johnson, is working for the. Democrats. Yeah. It's that simple. I mean, and that's one. of the reasons we went through with. the motion to vacate. Paul Gosar and I co-sponsored. Marjorie's motion to vacate. There were ultimately 11 of us who. voted for it. Would be to fire him. To fire Speaker Johnson, just like they had done Kevin. McCarthy. Although I thought inappropriately. and at the wrong time and for the. wrong reasons, they did that. to McCarthy. But here we had Speaker. Johnson, who is doing all.

the things people were afraid. McCarthy might do. They they pre convicted McCarthy. for things they thought he would do. And here Mike Johnson came and did. all these things. He put an omnibus on the floor. He passed the Foreign Intelligence. Surveillance Act, re-upped that. without warrants. Built the FBI a new building and. gave Ukraine all this money. So what happened? What Marjorie and I and Paul. decided ultimately, is. we needed to expose a uni-party. And never before have you. had Democrats vote for a.

Republican speaker. And that's why we forced the. question. Nancy Pelosi voted. for him. Hakeem Jeffries went on. national TV and said, why. would we want to get rid of him? He's given us everything we want. I mean, the the Unity Party. has never been so exposed as. it was when we called that motion to. vacate. I know some people got mad. at us that we shouldn't have done. it, but, it's a long. game, which we certainly. hope that he doesn't become speaker. next January. And hopefully people will have seen.

with Nancy Pelosi rushing. to Speaker Johnson's aide, that he's. not the speaker you want. When Trump wins the White. House and we keep the majority. Do you think he will be? A lot of this depends on what the. people want and if they can see it, hopefully. Also, Trump sees it that. Mike Johnson would be even. worse than Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan you put. while he was still in the. while we were still in the majority, Paul Ryan sent like a dozen CRs.

or omnibus bills to President. Trump's desk because he didn't have. any money for a wall in it. Like he had no intention. of ever funding a wall. Paul Ryan did it, you. know, and so I think Mike Johnson is. going to be similarly the same way. He's basically working for. the Deep State at this point in the. uniparty. How did that happen? Do you have any idea. The, the Paul Ryan bit or. Yeah. Well, Paul, John Paul Ryan is a. change, you know, is. a sinister person I happen to know. But also, you know, not.

just kind of not a genius and an. ideologue at the same time, which is. like a bad combination. Dumb ideologues are the scariest. But Mike Johnson seem like. kind of a moderately conservative, kind of sincere, decent guy. You know, maybe he would babysit. your kids and do an okay job, unlike Paul Ryan. And but he just. And then he immediately just becomes. a tool of CIA. and Jake Sullivan and. the Biden administration. Like what? How did that happen so. fast? Well, one of the things he claims,

which I don't believe is true, and I have reason to say this, is that he says he went in a skiff. like he's had some 180. degree turns on some things, like, for instance, whether you need a. warrant to spy on Americans using. the Foreign Intelligence. Surveillance Act 702 program, where he used to be on Judiciary. Committee with me and Jim Jordan. trying to reform that, trying to get. so. He understood what it was. He knew completely what we were. talking about. He's an attorney, too, right? And he knows the Constitution. He knows this is required.

But he claims he spent time in a. skiff and he learned the skiff. That's secure. Compartmentalized information. facility or something. It's where we go. We have to leave. our phones, lock up. You know, no staff in there. He claims he spent time in skiff and. learned things that changed his. mind. Here's the problem, Tucker. I was in skiff with him. Like. We had. We had DNI, not just the the current DNI, but the former DNI, John Ratcliffe, Trumps DNI.

We had CIA, we. had FBI, we even. had a FISA judge in there. And we spent 3.5 hours. It was a four hour meeting. And after 3.5 hours is basically. a psyop where they're just trying to. beat you down and, and do. the things. And I was just like, this is. ridiculous. You you haven't given. they didn't give us one example. of any time ever since FISA. was created, that getting. a warrant would have kept them from. solving or preventing an act.

of terrorism. They gave hypotheticals, but they. had no specific. And I think face has been in place. since 1978, since the 70s. Right. So almost 50 years. And they couldn't give you one. example. Not one example. Now, they also expanded. it after, 911 and to, to do the, the program to go. against civilians to spy on. civilians and, and. and actually that product came out. of the Judiciary Committee. Here's another place where. the speaker betrayed us.

FISA 702 was created. by John Conyers and Jim. Sensenbrenner. Conyers was the. chairman and Sensenbrenner was. the the ranking member. And what Mike Johnson said this. year was, well, even though. the Judiciary Committee created. this and is responsible for. overseeing it, I'm going to let. the Intel Committee bring the bill. to the floor without warrants in it. It wasn't even their jurisdiction. They have jurisdiction over FISA as. long as it's for the CIA, but not for the.

FBI. So that was frustrating. And but. It's shocking. It's shocking. It is shocking. So he said you. Know like end of civil liberties. level stuff. So yes. Oh yes. But it's not like he learned new. information in a skiff. No, you were not I was there. So what. So so that's why I. Got him problem. Right. The the fact that I was there and. Right. So that was. on your show that I. was there for 3.5 hours. And my job. You go ask my Johnson.

He'll say, yep. He was there 3.5 hours. So what is the truth? What do you think changed? I think he's kind of a lost ball. in tall weeds. I think he's in a position of power. He never imagined he would get. to at this point in his life. He's not done anything in private. practice or political, arena that's prepared him for. this. He took the job with a very. small staff. He didn't have, people to put in all positions.

on the field, and he had to. accept a lot of, suggestions in areas. he didn't know a whole lot about. Although he gets no pass on FISA. Yes. He gets no pass on Ukraine. because he does, as you pointed out, he doesn't even know how many. casualties have been incurred. on the Ukrainian side. I mean, he needs the second person. in line for president after Kamala. Harris. This is this is scary to me. He's he's basically getting moved.

around. It's crazy. You said nothing he. did in his life before. this prepared him for it. But that itself may be. kind of a more charitable. explanation, because. I'm trying to be charitable. I mean, I got to go back to work. Your life prepared you for this. So just for those who don't know, you went to MIT. Your high school girlfriend joined. you at MIT. You married her whilst. while she was still there. And then together, you started a.

company based on and a very. sophisticated invention. that you came up with. Maybe the first of about 30 patents. that you now have. You ran this company for a long time. that you moved back to Kentucky, and a lot. of things happen and you end up. running for Congress. So that's not. the background. Well, so nothing in. the political arena, but in my. private life, you know, I raised $32. million of venture capital, and I. swam with the sharks. Yeah, like, I had lots of moral dilemmas.

in the course of creating that. company. I could have taken money. off the table and gone and done. other things, but instead, I felt a. commitment to my staff and to. other investors. I had investors who said, if. you'll just you can. That guy you hired as president. will double our investment. And I'm like, no, he's my partner. I'm not like, he helped me get to. this point. I'm not going to abandon. him. Good for you. And so, you know, I had experiences in life. that and then also just put my hands.

in the dirt on my farm. Like, so tell me about that. So you tell us about how. you live and where you live, because. I think it's one of the most unusual. things about you. So I spent, I grew up as a hillbilly in eastern. Kentucky. What county? Lewis county, Lewis county. How many people in your town? 13,000 people. 13,000 cattle. It's a huge landmass. And, it's a great. county. There's it's one of the. 21 counties that I represent. It's actually the poorest county.

in per capita income that I. represent, but it's the one I grew. up in. So it's very unlikely that. the congressman for the district. would come from the poorest county. So I grew up as a little. nerd. I love taking stuff apart. because I was bored. There were no malls. You couldn't ride your bicycle to. any, you know, store. to of, and if you did, you didn't. have any money. So I had to find things to do at. home. I took apart things, built. things, entered science fairs, built. robots, made it to the International. Science Fair as a as a little,

you know, hillbilly, won an award from NASA there. And at age 15, like, I won the high school. level awards, and got into MIT, never visited the campus, didn't really have the money to go. visit it. But I read about it. There was no internet. Seemed like a good place I. got there. I'd lived in a town of 1900. people all my life. And I was there for six hours in.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, across, Massachusetts Avenue. They had a crosswalk and a. stoplight, you know, never really. seen two of those things together. I'd seen crosswalks and stoplights, but. So I walked through the. crosswalk and a car honked like that. short little Boston man. And I thought, oh, my gosh, I've. been here six hours and already run. into somebody from Kentucky. And I turned around and waved at the. car as big as I could. Like, was. It people from Kentucky? I don't think so. I think they had one finger up.

waving back. So. And people. Right. That's not a true. story. I said, not only is it. true, it took me a month. to quit waving at cars that beat. like it was just 18 years of. conditioning. You thought beeping was hey. Hey, there. I mean, that's what we. thought that little thing in the. middle of your steering wheel was. for. If you saw somebody and they. couldn't see you through the. windshield, just toot the horn. Then you'd throw your hand up, wave. They roll down the window. That's Bob.

And if you didn't wave, I mean, you were pariah. You were probably an ax murderer who. was in our town, right? Or you were just an A-hole. I was, so I didn't want to be there. So I waved at that car in. Massachusetts, and and kept waving for about a. month. But anyways, long story. short, as you said, I. invented a virtual reality device. that lets you touch three. dimensional objects, started a. company, raised venture capital, did. that for ten years, moved to the. live free or die state in New. Hampshire, New Hampshire. My company was in Massachusetts.

I couldn't move the center of. gravity too far out of Cambridge. I got it up to 128 on. Woburn, and then I commuted 40 miles. every day so I could live in a state. that let you have machine guns and. old cars and, you know, cool. stuff. Redneck sports. The best. The best sports. So, why did you move back to. Kentucky. After ten years? You know, of of doing it? It was, you know, we had three kids. and we wanted to raise them like. we were raised in Kentucky.

and we. We want them to be near. their grandparents. Like both my parents were still. alive. Both my wife's parents were. still alive. And you learn so much. from your grandparents. Your hearts are really busy. Just, you know, trying to earn a. living or whatever. And if you're lucky enough to have a. relationship with your grandparents, that's where I think the. generational stuff carries on. Yes. And, I had a great relationship. with my grandparents, so we wanted. our kids to live in that. environment. And we came back. We bought the farm that my wife grew. up on. We built a house off the grid.

It runs on a wrecked model S Tesla. battery. It's been running. continuously for six and a half. years. So you built that lake. Who built the house? I did like I. We had an ice storm and a lot of. trees fell down. How big is the property? It's. 1500 acres and. it's wooded. It's all almost all woods. like. And it's too steep. I don't want you to think this is, like, valuable Iowa. No, no, no, no, I know the part of. the state. Yeah. Pack your lunch. If you're on the ridge and you fall. off the ridge because you're going.

to be hungry by the time you get to. the bottom, you can be grabbing, like, tree roots and stuff to keep. from sliding, but it grows trees, and some of it is flat and, you. know, in the bottom. But this is not plantation land. No, these are hollers. Yeah. So, in fact, interestingly enough, it's been. a Republican county since the Civil. War, even though all the counties. around it have been Democrat since. the Civil War. Because the. geography, because the geography, the topography did not. allow for consolidation of farms. Right. So there was no scale at. which slavery made sense.

You can you basically in your. holler, you only had enough land. that your family, if you had enough. kids, could farm. Yes. And so that's the way. people grew up. And by the way, it's. kind of libertarian, you know, I'll. do my thing in my holler. You do your thing in your holler, right? If you need some help, let me. know. I'll come over and help you. But West Virginia's like this. West Virginia's like this. Yeah, because the topography. Right. It's the reason West Virginia. was Republican and. seceded from, Virginia. So, by the way, half my family's.

from West Virginia and half my. family's from Kentucky. My mama's, who's 97. right now, is still alive. Her grandfather was a Union soldier. Amazing. Isn't that crazy? From West Virginia, from West. Virginia? Yeah. She still lives in West. Virginia. But, like, we're not that far away. from the Civil War. No, I know, I know. You can talk to people who. were alive when people who fought. the Civil. War. I worked with a guy when. I was in the newspaper in Arkansas. The guy shared a desk with.

Bob. Sally from Texarkana, Arkansas. He said, I knew Confederate. veterans. It's in my lifetime. I knew a man who knew Confederate. veterans or Civil War veterans. That's just absolutely. Crazy. But my whole point that was. she's a Republican. She's been Republicans, my mama, since the Civil War. And like, nobody marries into our. family. If you're a Democrat, you got to go see ma'am all and. she'll either approve or disapprove. And she's had pretty good luck at. sniffing out the liberals. Yeah. The liberals.

So. So you had an ice storm. There was an ice storm on your. property. How does that figure into. your. So I already had a bulldozer. So I got a winch so I could drag. these trees out. I got a sawmill, cut these into timbers, built a. timber frame house. What kind of wood? It's 17 kinds of wood. Because it was whatever fell. down in the ice storm. We've got oak, yellow poplar, hickory, beech. So hardwood. Hardwood. Yep. And, then. we wanted it to be self-sustaining. Well, how. Did she know how to timber frame.

Ivory glass on eBay for $500. in Tennessee. And I bought it now. And I drove to Tennessee and took a. one weight class. And we built a little shed. slash cabin, and I'm and I called my. wife from a payphone and I said, I want to do this, like, instead of going to get a job. We had just ended, like, left our company after ten years. of working there. And we'd moved. back to Kentucky. And I said, well, I'll just build a. timber frame house. Like full time. Yes. Woke up every morning, had. my coffee and started chiseling.

away or going up in the woods. and dragging more trees out that had. fallen down. So you you built your house. full time, like as a job every day. And this and this is what our kids. saw too, like the flooring. for our kitchen came out of the. creek. We call it a creek. What do you mean? The flooring came. out of the creek. There are rocks in the creek. that are flat that. they look like the stuff you buy at. Lowe's. That's fake. And I'm like, oh, it's what they. modeled the fake stuff after. we did this free.

Let's just go pick it up. Now. We probably have for paying. ourselves about $3 an hour compared. to if we had just gone to, you know, one of the box stores and bought it. in terms of harvesting it. But our kids, I think, in addition. to being with their grandparents, learned a big lesson that, wow, mom and dad are growing. our food. They are, collecting. the materials for the house here. from the environment. That you don't have to rely. You know, neighbors are good, though, right? We actually send them.

to. School, which was, and we let them ride the. bus. It was only three miles away, but we figured the bus ride was. important too, because when you get. to school, they sort of separate. you. Yeah, but you've got can. be 15 terrifying. minutes on the bus where you. interact with everybody, right? I remember my son. He was like ten years old. He had traded some Yu-Gi-Oh cards. on the bus and, for like, awesome, the best. Yu-Gi-Oh! Card ever.

And he showed it to us, and it was a. little plastic thing. And we're like, well, did you want. to take it out of plastic? No, no, he told me to leave it in. here and we take it out. And it was a fake and. he was so mad. But it turns out his dad had sold me. a leaky bulldozer and said there was. no leaks in it. So, like. It ran in the family and the family. The same kid who stiffed my. son. And it's tipped me on this. dozer to. Where I mean. But you learn these these are life. lessons, right? They didn't lead a. sheltered life. And so we grew up, you know,

they grew up there. We what percent of the timbers. in the timber frame came from your. property? All of it never left. the farm. Really? So you milled it there. Milled it there, chiseled it there, made the mortise and tenons and the. dovetails. It was a lot. Of work personally. Yes. How did you. You know, cutting a Morris and tenon. cutting and dovetail joint. These are having done it. very difficult. How did you learn to do that? I kept telling myself, look, farmers.

without calculators pulled this off. 200 years ago. And so surely if I've got a computer. and some, you know, electricity, I should be able to do this as. well. Just dint of will. But she'd been like a. military engineer. Electrical engineer, software. programmer. Right. But not, nothing. That's Gail. Yeah. No, I mean, the. only thing I had built before that. was a tree house, right?

And even that didn't get finished. So. But, I mean, some. of that stuff is very complex, like actually complex timber. framing. Some some of the joints. are difficult to cut. And the design itself is, is complicated. Yeah. You don't like. you have to plan it all ahead. You don't like hold the timber up. there like you would a two by four. We need a sort of balloon. Framing, right? Totally. Right. Or. Oh, that 45 needs to be. a 42 degree angle. Let's, you know, soar off a little.

bit more. You can't do that. Well, it's, you know, you're up in. the middle of the air on scaffolding. trying to get two pieces to fit. together. It's actually it's a fun. math problem. So I enjoyed it. But is there something honest about. it because all the fasteners are. wooden two. So it's one medium that you. learn. There's no like bolts. So it's all peg nails, all pegs. And once you realize that and. then there are. No metal fasteners in the frame, correct? None. I mean, we had to nail the floor. tag. I got it and the walls. on it, but the frame is the.

Frame that. You know, metal fast structure and. it's 46ft tall. It's 46ft tall. Yes. From the basement slab which I. timber framed the basement to. I still don't even know how to stick. frame like. I'm like, well, I'm going to build. one house and one on there, and one. Is the framing that you're if you're. watching this, it's stick. Frame, it's thick frame. So I was like, well, let's build the. basement timber frame two and. the dormers, like, if you paid a. company to build timber frame, they. would stick frame the dormers. Of course, or buy them and just bolt.

them on. Right. Yeah. I timber framed that and just. like, let's just be pure the whole. way. And there's is. as an engineer, I thought, well, I want to build a house with. timbers. I like how timbers look. better, but, you know, we'll just bolt them together. We'll use iron brackets. That's the best way to do it. But in the course of this one week. class, I came to realize, wow, if you just let go and make. everything out of wood, it solves. problems that you would. create. When you start using metal. fasteners like wood shrinks,

right? It takes like 6 or. 8 years for a big timber to fully. dry out. So how do you deal with metal. fasteners and shrinking wood? Well, the metal fasteners can rip. out, but if you build your fasteners. out of wood like it. can all work. It moves together. And there's, you know, if you, go to Germany, you know, there's. homes that are 4 or 500 years. old to show that it can work. So. So all the timbers came from the. property. What about the stone? There's a lot of stone in the house. Yep. We we got some of it out of the.

creek. We dug some of it out of the. ground. All of the stone is from the. property. How did you dig it out of the. ground? What does that mean? You started a stone quarry on your. On your own property in my front. yard. It's now a pond. But I there was an. old logging road, and the erosion. had exposed this layer of rock. And I thought, well, that layer of. rock must go pretty far. So I started digging. Using a backhoe. I started digging the dirt off. of that layer of rock, and I'm like, wow, there are lots of rocks here. And I just.

I almost giggled out loud when I. shoved on that layer of rock with my. backhoe, and all these rocks started. rolling out in front of the blade, and they looked like rocks you could. buy at the store. You know, like, well, why would. I go buy? I'm like, I can just like, shove three tons. of them out of here and, you know, a. few minutes. And then I had people coming and. visiting. Obviously, we. looked like a bunch of weirdos. building this timber frame house. up on the hill, and people would. come up and there.

Were you living at this point? We lived in a mobile home. Like we just pulled in a mobile. home. And I told my wife, we don't. want to live in it for six months. We end up two years in a 900. square foot mobile home with four. kids. No way. It's. But I mean, it's actually not that. bad. You get to know your family really. well. You can hear it's like being on a. boat. Yeah. You try to go to the bathroom, and. if you're gone for more than five. minutes, like the wall between the. kitchen and the bathroom is so thin, you're just enjoying private.

moment there on the throne. You're trying to read a magazine. about timber framing or something, right? And you can hear the kids. at the dinner table saying, where. daddy, go? Where, daddy, where's. daddy? And they start. trying to find daddy. Anyways, it was a good comfy. experience and now we actually kept. the mobile home and we leased it to. Deer hunters. And really? Yeah. It's a double wide and it's so it's. full of deer heads and bunk beds. now. And, the hunters. call it the Lodge, which we find.

amusing. My wife calls it the double. lodge, since it's a double. Wide that. You have a lot of deer on your. Land. We have? Yeah. Trophy deer. all. Over. What do you charge to run it? Just in case people are interested? We're we're booked up. Yeah, yeah. You know, any weird internet people? And. Yeah, we are booked up. Yes. So how long. Did it take you to finish this. house? It's not finished. I've been criticized. You know, in campaigns, people try. to use this against me. Some guy, because he doesn't even.

have doors on all these rooms. He's some kind of weirdo. Great. Well, we haven't made that door yet, right? You're making the doors. We have made a few of them. Yeah, we're kind of breaking down. now and buying a few doors. now that the kids are gone. So this was. That was like your. kids, too. What year did you start? How long is this process been? So we started in 2003. So we're. 21. Years. Anyone years. And we've been. off the grid that long two again. Now when you say off the grid what.

do you what do you mean? We're not connected to any public. utility. Not electricity, not water, not sewer, not phone. The house is totally disconnected. from everything. Did you build the systems yourself? Yeah. Using a lot of it's. off the shelf stuff, but some of. it's improvised field. expedient. Cisco. Like for, like the Tesla. battery, the car battery that runs. the house. Well, let's just buy that. out of a catalog. You go to a junkyard and say. how much you want for that wrecked. model S, and like.

or I say the battery for 15,000. Why not? Why can't you just buy the. battery separately? They won't like Tesla wouldn't. sell me a Powerwall. I tried to buy one for years. Why? Because it has to be. connected to the grid for some. reason. Their business model. involves that. So I was like, all right, well, I'll get a battery. How much different can it be from. the batteries in their car? So I drove to Lake Lanier, Georgia with a little trailer. landscaping trailer. The battery weighs, I think 1,200.

pounds. But here's the funny thing. It's considered hazardous material. if you pull it on a trailer. But if it's in a car, it's just. fine. So I hurried up and got back to. Kentucky with the trailer. I don't have a hazmat line, so. It was a wrecked Tesla model S, and you pulled the battery out of. it? Yeah. And what'd you do with it? Disassembled it. I paid $15,000 cash. But this is like, you know, I. this probably like 15 or 20 years.

Hopefully it will last. And so I brought it home, took it apart. Actually, I made a YouTube video of. this. And what's kind of funny is I. had these big rubber gloves that a. friend who had worked on power. lines, you know, they were leftovers. and he gave to me. And so like in the YouTube video, I try to make sure, like I'm using. big rubber gloves and stuff. And I did like this. Fast forward, you know, of the disassembly of the battery. And I forgot, like my two little. boys are in there helping me and. they don't have the. Gloves on it.

They haven't earned the right. To have gloves. Don't put stuff on the internet. Like I once. I have a Tesla model S, one of the very first ones made, and I've got friends of coal license. plates on it. Like in Kentucky, you can get. friends of coal. It's a totally coal. Copal coal. Yeah. Sorry. Because in Kentucky, that's if you. plug into the grid. That's likely where your. electricity. Is coming, I would think. Yeah. So I'm driving this thing back. from DC. This was when gas was, you. know, getting close to $5 a gallon. It was. Over $4 a gallon,

and I and I stopped in West Virginia. to charge my Tesla at a. supercharging station. It just to kind of troll people on. the internet. And I made sure to get. a picture of my friends, a coal. license plate. And I said, I'm just. charging up with coal here in West. Virginia. And, within 30s, I knew I'd made a mistake because. somebody had zoomed in on. the picture and my tags were. expired, and. they started tagging the Kentucky. State Police, my local sheriff, the DMV know, tacky.

like they were trying to get me in. trouble. And I'm like, there's. no way to stop this now. And so they were relentless. And, but then somebody. realized they had been expired for. 18 months, and then I'd actually. made it a year without paying taxes. and was maybe likely to get out. of your taxes. Well, it's your win, then. Yeah. But, in Kentucky, I think they. make you go back and pay the old. taxes. Anyways, what I learned. there is like, search everything. in the picture before you put it on. the. Well. Yes. And and others with.

access to your personal lives. Then you have learned this the hard. way. I know it doesn't. seem right. You've got. Enough minor minor tax evasion. issue. Here, right? You don't have time to be too weird. So. So you get the Tesla battery. back to your off grid house. And what do you have to do? Because it's not made for this. It's a car battery. It's a car battery. It's made around 400V. All of my, existing system. was made to run on 48V, but there were 16 modules, each. nominally 25V.

And I realized if you put two of. those in series, you could make 50V. So I put, eight sets. of two in series. And so I put eight parallel, a paralleled eight sets of two in. series. So I got 50V. and a lot more amperage than what. the Tesla car would normally draw. It was capable of doing that. And how hard is that to do. that? Well, I mean, it took. a few days, but it's. lasted for six and a half years. I wouldn't advise doing this at.

home. Like, why. put it in an outbuilding? I mean, if it catches on fire, it's. probably like Chernobyl that many. series like don't look at the. reactor God cannot put out. He created lithium ion, but he can't. put the fire out if it starts. So I would not attach it to your. house. Mine is like. It. Is it attached to your house? Kind of. Yeah. It's like a basement room. that's not under the house. Like I don't want to get into. everything under my house right now.

Okay, so my wife says our house. is my science project, and she's the. mouse, and she doesn't. mind that. But I keep rearranging. the maze on the weekends when I come. back from DC. And then she has to find the cheese. while I'm in DC. But it's she's more like the. astronaut, I think in Iraq. I think that's exactly. She she's the only. Thing price level required. Correct? Yes. She trust me while I'm in DC and I. trust her to fly the house while. she's in Kentucky. So what? She's also an MIT graduate. I, she has, like, kind of understand. some of the stuff. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Which although she would. like to have just one thing in the. house where if something went wrong, she could call somebody, but. she can't. She's got to like, call. me. And then I walk her through it. By the way, it's good, like marriage. security. But she's like. She if we ever. Whoever broke up or if so, let's say. she put something in my coffee and I. didn't wake up the next day. She'd have a hard time running the. house. So. So you put these, you put the. nodules, which is basically separate.

batteries. Right? Okay. Within that in the big battery. battery. Then I put a computer on. it, a Raspberry Pi. and I made a little graphics screen. and the Raspberry Pi using, an Arduino talks to. the can bus, that which is a. proprietary Tesla, communication system. So I use the battery management. system that's native to the Tesla. battery modules. If there's a nerd listening to this, this this makes complete sense. And they'd be like, oh, well, why. wouldn't you do that? And everybody else is going to be.

like, he's just BSing. So did you have to add. new software to this to run it? I had to write software from. scratch. Yeah. oh, but it's fine. Like, this is what I do. Look, I've been in Congress for 12. years. My brain has atrophied. to the size of a walnut. It actually to a raisin, and. it expands to a walnut. If I can go home and do these. projects, and then I go back to DC. and it's back down to the raisin. I believe, I believe that. I don't understand how these. projects work, but I know what brain.

actually looks like, and I know that. Congress induces it. It's not a worm, it just shrinks. Oh. So how does it work? Like it. Works great. We can run the air. conditioner. Like, for the first 11 years, we had. lead acid batteries and they didn't. work. Decorate your head to add. water to. Oh, for sure. They put off, hydrogen gas, which is explosive. No, they put off a sulfide gas. that can kill you. Like, lead acids are bad or are bad, and they're, like, over 100 years. old. But by the way, I love. solar panels.

Like Republicans are like, they look at me like you have solar. panels. You have an electric car. Like, are you sure you're one of us? And I'm like, well, the solar panels. are rocks that make electricity. with. They are amazing things. They they take sunlight and. turn it into something we can all. use. So you could I tell Republicans you. can hate the subsidies? You can hate the bailouts. You can hate the mandates. I hate all of those things as well. But don't hate solar panels. They don't hate the technology.

Right? Because it's actually given. me, given me and can give other. people a license to be independent. So let's get specific about it. So you have this this Tesla battery. that allows you to do everything a. normal house can do. You can run air. conditioning. You've got a dishwasher, you got washer dryer. I'm assuming all this. For deep freezers, refrigerator. For deep freezers. Full of peaches, beef and chickens. Running continuously. Continuously. So, so your power. draws significant on all those. appliances, obviously. And the battery handles it fine.

How much propane. or how much diesel or wood? I assume you have a generator to. recharge? Backup generator backup occasionally. in the winter, but I keep every. time. Your solar panels recharge the. battery. Yeah, for nine months out of the. year, the backup generator doesn't. run except for. It's like test run every Friday. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. When we bust out the machine guns, like, who's in the driveway? Okay, back down to level one. That's just the backup generator. So your electricity is. I mean, as long as you know how to.

operate the system, which apparently. only you do. But if you can do that, then you're just living a completely. normal life. Correct. With electricity. How do you do heat? How do you hit your house? So in one of the greenest ways. possible, like, I think the whole. carbon thing is a scam. Of course it's a scam. But if you do care about carbon. neutrality, I wish we had more. carbon. We need more CO2. Yeah. And it periods in Earth's. history, we had more CO2 and plant. life was doing better. And we've seen plant life.

We've seen the coverage of green on. the globe increase as CO2 levels. go up. Crop production goes up. as CO2 levels go up. But if you did care about CO2, I am using wood on my. farm like just trees that. fall down. I'm not even going out and and. cutting a living tree. There's enough trees falling down. Deadfall dead fall that. if I don't get to, I'm the termites. do. And they they turn them into. CO2 and methane. But I can get to them and cut. them up and bring them to my house.

and burn them in a wood gas, a fine. boiler, which is super efficient, like, by the way, once you start. cutting wood for heat efficiency, like if you figure out a boiler is. twice as efficient, you can cut half. as much. As you would get, can you? Because anyone who's made it this. far in the interview is probably. interested in wood gasification. Can you explain what that is? How is it different from a normal. wood fired boiler, a wood stove? Yeah, an a normal wood stove. You you put the wood in there, it. can be green. You light it on fire, you get it. going, and then you control the air. that goes to it to keep it from.

getting too hot. And, a. lot of smoke comes out, especially. when it's idling, because it's an. inefficient combustion process. and it's at a relatively low. temperature under, let's say, a. thousand degrees. Right. But in a wood gasification boiler, you get the fire started and it. basically turns the wood into. charcoal and drives the gases. out of it into a secondary. chamber. That's ceramic because it's burning. at over 1500 degrees. So some of the stuff that would do. you get. Wood to burn that hot.

You just you deprive it of oxygen at. first and and get. it hot. And then you drive all the. gases off and you put more. oxygen in in that secondary. chamber. And it, it looks like. it's burning gas, like it'll be a. blue flame. And then it'll turn into a yellow. flame. It starts out actually. And this is just oak. Maple, beech. This is just. conventional firewood. I burn near wood, nearest. wood to the house. Right. Like a mirror. But yeah, I don't remember that. Near wood.

Yeah. Near wood nearest you. Burns off wood in it. You can but the BTU again. if you're doing this yourself. Oh of here about a. Like, if you look at the old timers, they were the greenest people on the. planet, right? They didn't waste a thing, and they figured out the most. efficient way to do things because. it was minutes out of their lives. Yes. So you start figuring out. how to be more efficient when you're. trying to be self-sustaining. So I've got my Twitter bio. I used to say it may still.

say this on their greenest member of. Congress. That doesn't mean I just got there. And I'm green. Nobody. I never got any of. the fact checkers to come after me. on that. Nobody wants to fact check. me because I probably am. the greenest member of Congress. Who's who is has self-sustaining. food self-sustaining. without externalities, right? Self-sustaining power. Self-sustaining water. So you heat with wood. How much would you burn?

Would you say a season. The size of this table? Maybe four stacks. of wood the size of this table? So this is about a cord. This is about a cord is 4x4. by eight. So yeah roughly that. So yeah four quarts a year. Yeah. That's not much. That's impressive. How do you get hot water? We've got three ways to make. hot water. When our geothermal units. running in the summertime doing the. air conditioning, it takes the heat. out of the living room and puts it. in the hot water tank. So we have free hot water from,

like, May until. September, when the air conditioners. running. And then in the winter when the. boiler, the wood boiler is running, that makes hot water. And then if there's ever not the air. conditioner running or the boiler. running, we have an on demand. This is where we cheat on demand. Propane hot water heater. that makes up the difference. Amazing. But you could pretty easily. set up a wood fired outdoor. You could? Yeah, but in in the summer again, you get it for free from the air. conditioning. I actually have a. fourth way to make hot water, too.

So when. we're not connected to the grid, a. lot of people who have solar panels. are connected to the grid. And if they have extra power, they. sell it. Back, right? I'm always depressed when I have. extra power. My solar panels just. turn off and I'm like, run around, turn on some lights. You know, turn on something. I don't want to waste this free. electricity. So I got extra hot. water heater elements that run on DC. so that when the sun,

when our house is full, the first. thing it does is it tries to charge. the Tesla that's sitting in the. garage. So the Tesla's sitting there at half. full and a solid state breaker. in my breaker box comes on and. starts the Tesla charging. Then when the Tesla gets full. and the house battery is full, I. create hot water with the. electricity. So I've got like a fourth way to. make hot water. Hot water is almost as good as. water. I mean, if you've ever gone. without water, you know it's bad. Yeah, but going out without hot.

water is almost just as bad. Yeah, right. I have experience with that. Yes. Where do you get your water? So I dug a well. And dug. Not not drill. Dug. There are lots of old dug. wells on our farm, so I knew it. could work. Yeah, the way they would. do it, they would dig a big pit. Yes. They didn't dig it. Just straight down. They dug a big pit, and then. they laid up stones in a circle. You know, the stones you see when. you look in an old well. But then they backfilled the pit.

with stones so that extra. area becomes like a reservoir. And then they put dirt on top. of that so that, you know, when a. raccoon poops next year, well, it. doesn't necessarily go right into. the reservoir. So I did a very similar thing, but I hit, bedrock, and I borrowed a friend's jackhammer. and spent a day inside of that hole. with a jackhammer, trying to get. even deeper through the bedrock. I finally took my friend's. jackhammer back and said, okay, that's deep enough. What was the jackhammer like? I mean, that's the best argument for.

for public health care. Because, I don't I. have a new appreciation for somebody. that's running a jackhammer. Those are those would wear your. body out quickly. But really quickly. Yeah. Did you lose a crown? I did not lose a crown. So does who does the. Well, the Doug. Well, work. It works. One month out of the year was kind. of short on water. Yeah. Okay. So. Yes. August, how do you know that?

Have you. Ever. I have a Doug well lived. In this situation. Yes, I have a Doug. Well so I'm aware of that. But again you conserve right. Of course if you. Have if you're connected to city. water and it seems. what's on the other side is opaque. to you, you just use as. much as you want. And what happens is during. those peak periods, that's when the. utility company has to work. extra hard. That's when the price and the. inefficiency goes way up is in those. peak periods when people aren't. cutting back in response to the.

supply, because the actual. cost of producing it isn't known. when you're making it yourself, it's. known. But, I've argued that. water and electricity, even when they come from especially. when they come from utilities, should have variable pricing based. on the instant, the. cost at that very instant to produce. it. And then you can have appliances. not mandated, but smart appliances. If you're rich, you don't care. When the price of power goes up. You don't know. You don't know what it costs. If you're poor and you got a whole.

screen, it says the power just went. up, you'll go turn it off. Right, 100%. You'll you'll say, well, we'll do. the dishes tonight right when it's. cheaper. And if you're middle. income, you probably eventually. the market will respond to this and. automate these things so. that you know it. If you know the price of. electricity, your appliance can know. the price. I don't want the utility. company to know what you're doing. with it, but you can have. these smart systems that make. a lot more. Efficient use of our resources. So because you're not connected.

to the grid, to any public utility. at all. I mean, you're actually. independent in a way that no. one outside of Alaska I've ever met. is. And it sounds like you're not giving. up anything. You're not living in a. Not to much. There are some sacrifices, like. Well, you know, if it's cloudy. for a lot of days and hot, we may turn the thermostat up. Yeah. Just so we don't have to hear the. backup generator run. That doesn't seem like a crazy. sacrifice. There's some people would take the.

instant they had to turn the. thermostat from 72 to 75. as we screw it. I'm out of here. I'm going. I'm going back to the. grid. But it means that the state kind of. has no control over. your land. Correct. They or. me or you? So when I go to DC. and they threaten me or try to. bribe me, it's like, I know once Friday comes, I'm going to be back on my farm and. I don't need them. Like, it's not that. I don't want to do things for. people. I help my neighbors.

and my neighbors help me, and I, I want to, you know, do public. service. But because. I have this comfort level that I'm. going to go back home to this, I don't need the job. We're self-sustaining. It gives you an extra dimension. of independence, I think, when you're in DC. What about food? They. Can they starve you out? I don't think so. Like they can cut off my fish supply. because we don't raise fish and we.

don't raise pork, but we raise. chicken. The meat and eggs. We raise beef, and we. usually raise a pretty good garden. And I have an orchard, each. Peaches, lots. of peaches. My first peach is going. to be ripe here in a few weeks, and. my last peach will be ripe in. September. So I've planted 14. kinds of peach trees so they get. ripe different weeks, and they taste nothing like the. cardboard peaches you buy at the. supermarket. So you don't need to leave. Actually. Your farm?

No. Are you trying to talk me out of. like. I mean, this is a crisis. I have some weeks, I bet. oh, man. On Mondays, it's like I, you know, you know, you're going to. get hit with a two by four as soon. as you, you know, walk in the door. in DC. It's like. Is it weird? I mean, I guess what I'm struck by, I don't live off grid, though. I do have an off grid camp, but the amount of. skills you need to build. something like that is, is really, really striking. Like, you actually.

have to know how to do things, complex things. I mean, timber framing is in another. level, but electrical, plumbing, masonry, agriculture, heavy equipment. operation, like you can do all of. that, obviously. So is it weird to be in a room. with 434 people. who can't do shit, who can't. operate a mic? I mean, they're like, actually. incapable, and maybe that's why. they're in politics, so they can. externalize their their. self-loathing. Is that weird?

I don't I really don't think about. it that much. Good. I don't think about it. Where did you pick up plumbing. skills? So my role is by three. books for everything. Because you can you can go to a. hardware store and buy a book on. plumbing. But I don't trust one book. So you buy two books, and then if the two books disagree, what are you going to do? Well, you got to have a third book. So I've got three books on plumbing, three books on wiring, three books.

on septic systems, three. Three books. On your septic, two. Roofing. Yep. Three. I get three books on. everything. And you read them and I read them. And then there's the code book, which is like, you know, the. it's almost like international. housing code thing that. some municipalities have adopted. and you have to abide by. I just look at that as like a. suggestion manual. Like, so do you think now. we're way in the weeds? I don't know if anyone's watching, but they're like four handymen.

Carpenter general contractors are. still in this, but do you think that. code, which really determines. how people live in this country, the. code to run up to code. Is it is it real? I mean, is it knowing. what you do about all those. different trades? Does the code protect people? Actually. It protects the contractors. Well, I know that. And so they help write. it. The unions do. So for instance,

the roofers Union and the plumbers. union, I think, have conspired. to put as many holes in your roof. with plumbing as possible. Right. Because all. The venting. Yeah, all the vents. Right. If you try to build a house. to code, you likely to. have 4 or 5 perforations in your. roof. Which I've noticed. And, and that keeps the roofers. busy, like you're guaranteed to get. a call every few years to fix that. leak. And it's also very expensive. It's. It's fairly cheap to do. roofing, but it's all the exceptions.

that cost money. And then if you're a plumber, that's. one more thing. Like all the flashing and all that. Oh yeah. Every time you have an. aperture in a roof. Yes. Like that's a vulnerability. So I my, my roof has no holes. in it. Like I've looked at this, I'm. like, well that's a good suggestion. But who benefits if I. Believe that you vent your stove at. the side of the building? Not there. No. No holes in my roof, no holes out. the side. Have you seen that opera house in, I think it's Sydney, Australia. Famous. Is it Sydney or Melbourne? Sydney, okay. Sydney Opera house. Yeah. There's no holes in that. There's bathrooms in there.

How did they do it? They have the the one way admittance. valves like you have under your. kitchen counter. They have giant ones of those that. work for the whole system and. they're not to code. But I think that's stupid, because. why would I want to put a bunch of. holes in my roof? Well, I couldn't agree more. I'm interested in this topic. So I mean, nobody else's now. Okay, well, but for the for people. who are I've always wondered. that why with. woods does where I live, everyone. has lots of wood stoves and. some of them I have wood stoves that.

vent out the side of the building, like next to a window, and then. do an owl up. It's not quite as efficient, you. know, because you can get a turn in. the run, but you don't have a hole. in your roof in in a climate with. like lots of snow, for example, you. don't want any holes in it. But how do you vent your furnace, for example? So that I just run in. a typical flu and it goes up in the. chimney with my pizza. oven flue, my wood cookstove. flue, and my Rumford fireplace flue.

So I have four flues through the. chimney. On the gable end. No, they are in the middle of the. house. I put the chimney in the. middle of the house because it. it's a big thermal mass, and I. wanted to smooth out the changes. in temperature in the house. And so there's where I did. accommodate. One hole in the roof. is the chimney, because. if you put a big stone mass on the. side of your house, there's no way. to insulate it from the outside. So by the way, let me say. something like, I know there are. some women watching this wondering,

like, I want to live in a house like. that. That sounds like a lot of fun. Talk to my wife first. There's occasionally we have, like, some crisis that I have to. solve and become MacGyver. So the first time I got elected to. Congress, for instance, the day. before I went to go get sworn in, the well pump failed. Oh. And I'm like, I can't leave my wife. and four kids at home without water. And we have, a very unique well pump.

What do you mean by that? Well, I didn't buy the one at the. hardware store, so you get and go. replace it. So I went down there. And what did you buy? It's like in a catalog somewhere. Like at the engineer and me found. the best one. Okay. It's not the most common one, but I had to fix it. So what I did is I found one. of my, drills, you know, like you drill holes with. Yeah. And I took it down to the. well, and I took the motor. off the well pump, and I chucked the. drill to the well. head. And because it's not submersed, it's.

off the side in a pump house. and a this, you know, had. an outlet on it, but I just wired it. into the well pump wiring. and the drill pump water for. our house. I believe that. Long enough for me to go get sworn. in. I've seen I've seen that. I've seen drills run winches. Yes. Well, I forgot it was. there like I did my Congress. thing for. You had it on continuously. Yeah. And then the, the, accumulator, in the basement, the controls, the pressure would. turn the drill off and on whenever.

it needed more water pressure. And so it ran continuously. I forgot about it. I just got busy. And like, a year later, a frickin. water quit working again. Because the Makita died. Right? It was actually a Milwaukee. whole. Was the whole hog. You know one of those? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I totally. do what they handle and yeah, yeah. Those are cool drills. So you, last night, I just want to end with this. Last night. We're having dinner and. which is really one of the most. interesting, amusing dinners I've.

ever had. But you made reference. to a story. But we didn't get it. You didn't choose to finish it. because I interrupted you. But about putting new. plumbing in a county jail, I think. we can tell that story. Yeah. So quickly, I got into politics. because we were living off the grid, and I read this little newspaper. and it said they were going to raise. our taxes to fund this cronyism. in the county, the conservation. district, which was building stuff. for themselves and not for.

other farmers. They wanted to tax. other farmers to help their farm. Right. It wasn't really about. conserving farmers of the biggest, best conservationists there are. So let's don't punish them anymore, okay? Good call. So I thought that tax and. then I actually thought zoning in. our county they wanted to zone our. county. I mean zoning is to keep. the smokestacks out of the cul de. sacs. Okay. My county didn't have any. smokestacks and didn't have any cul. de sacs. Right? We did like the like the. neighborhood in it. You know that movie where the kids. riding bikes through the. neighborhood? We didn't have.

neighborhoods like that, so we. didn't need zoning. But somebody thought if we zoned to. county that we would get prosperity. because they saw all the prosperous. counties had zoning. It's like, well. It's cargo cult. No, totally. It's like saying we. should import some homeless because. then we'll have banks, right? Right. Because Morgan will move here. because in Midtown they're homeless. Right? So that was I was fighting that and. writing letters to the editor. And then, finally. I quit fighting the guy who was. doing all this, he's called a county.

judge executive in Kentucky, like. the mayor of the county. And I decided to run against him. So you. Never been in. Politics? Never in my life. Also, there was this guy named Rand. Paul who was inspiring, who was taking on the establishment. It was his first run for Senate, and. it decided to get involved in his. race, too. So just like with. my house, I didn't go in partway. I went in all in. Okay. On politics. One fall, actually one spring, because I didn't win the primary and. Rand did two. And so, actually did a fundraiser. for Rand at my house.

And when nobody wanted to do. a fundraiser for Rand Paul because. he was running against the establishment, my house wasn't finished. We weren't even living in it yet. Sorry. Little sidebar. Traipsed up from the double wide to. Yes, we went to the double wide and. we said, for $100 you can. come to our pizza party. I did have the pizza oven working. And, Mitch. You built the pizza oven before the. bedrooms? Yes. It's priorities. That's right. Had to test it out, make sure it was inhabitable. So, that funny. thing, too. We didn't have doors on.

the bathrooms at the time. We had no doors. So we we did run to Lowe's. the day before Rand Paul came and. put a door on the bathroom. Good call. Because I was like, look, this guy. could be a senator someday, and he. might need to go to the bathroom. And we need something more than a. curtain here. So we call it the Rand Paul door on. the bathroom. It's the one. room that had a door from the very. beginning. Anyways, we did, by the way. Also, this was in. January, and Rand is cheap as hell. He had a two wheel drive SUV,

so I had to plow all. my driveway so that he could get up. there. And the problem is, it's gravel. So I had to plow all my gravel off. practically just to get. So for what it cost to upgrade to. the four wheel drive for Rand Paul, I like my gravel cost way more. than that. Yeah. Anyways, I went all in on politics. Helped Rand get elected in his. primary. I was on the ballot the. same day and in 2010, the. primary May 22nd, 2010, Rand was on the ballot and I was on. the ballot, but I was running for.

this little county executive seat, trying to take a Republican out. because he's trying to raise our. taxes and bring in more government. And so I won the election, and it was like the most terrifying. thing when they handed me the key to. the courthouse, like, it's a small. town. And if the janitor didn't show up. to open the courthouse and start the. boiler, which looked like the. African Queen, right? It was like. You had to kick it and do all this. stuff to get it started. The sheriff's office wouldn't be. heated, the clerk's office wouldn't. be heated, and my office wouldn't be.

heated if I couldn't get the African. Queen to start. So anyways, I was like, the dog, the court, the boss. And I had promised I wouldn't raise. taxes. And I was immediately. confronted with all these problems. that I had accumulated over the. years in our county government. And the jailer came to me, who's. an elected official in Kentucky. His name's Chris. And he he got elected. the same day I got elected. And he was all in on my, you know, let's reform this county. But he had some bad news for me.

that, by the way, the state. government had sold the county. government a bill of goods. They said, if you'll keep our state, inmates will pay you $32 a day. and you'll make all kinds of money. And like the county was $1. million in debt because this did not. work out and I wasn't. going to spend another penny, you know, on this throwing good. money after bad. And but we had 30, 30 state. inmates who go out and pick up trash. and, you know, mow around. the courthouse and they they. get real sweaty.

And the hot water heater had quit. working at the jail. Oh, and so the jailer, Chris, comes to me and says, judge? They call me judge even. though I'm not an attorney. It was the county judge executive. said judge. I got some bad news. It's. What's that? He said, well, hot water heater quit working on the. state inmate side, and I can't. make state inmates with local. inmates. You know, you get murderers. along with nonsupport, you know, for. Child in DUI cases. Yeah. It's like we can't have them taking. showers together. It's not gonna work.

And I said, okay, we'll just buy. another hot water heater. And he said, well, I tried that. I got a quote. We only had one. licensed plumber in the county. And I said, well, what was the. quote? He said, $12,000. I said, I mean, this is a small. county for. A hot water heater. For hot water. Like all of our. property taxes together, we're like. $400,000, $12,000. for a hot. I'm not paying $12,000. for a hot water heater. You tell that guy to get lost. And he said, well, what are you. going to do? It's like, I'll go buy. I want it, you know, the hardware.

store or something. So I go look at this hot water. heater to jail. It is not the kind you buy at the. store. It's like a boiler almost. And it's fairly involved. It's got like inch and a quarter. copper lines. It's not how plumbing. But I had plump. I had three books. on plumbing. Right. I felt fairly confident. I said, well, if I can find one of. these, I'll put it in myself. So I got on eBay. and I looked for this model. Hot. There was one buy it now for. $5,500.

And I'm like, I can save the county. like $6,500. So I called an emergency meeting. of our fiscal court, brought in the. magistrates, noticed it to the. newspaper, did it all legally, and made a motion to buy it now on. eBay. And then I hit. the button. I bought this hot water heater. They bring it in a tractor trailer. I didn't pay extra for the liftgate. because I had inmates. They they the. inmates take this thing out of the. tractor trailer, and we go in. and we take the old hot water heater.

out. And, there were three inmates in. that closet, right, working on that. hot water heater, just demolishing. everything. So they drag that thing. out of there. And I had to go in the closet. with the inmates to put the new in, and I'm like, I only. want one inmate in that closet. If Mayfair, the hot water. heater needs plumbed. I don't need. One. So as the other two. inmates that were smelling pretty. rank at this point, I said, you guys. go strip the old hot water heater.

I want anything of value on. that. Besides, you're in here for. stripping copper and other things. Like you're good in there. We can do this, judge. We know, we know. Short irons bring in this tens. Bringing this copper will bring this. aluminum naked quote every price. at the salvage. Seriously? Yeah. So they I leave. the two inmates stripping the old. hot water heater, and it had a. computer on it and stuff, and I'm installing the new hot water. heater. And I noticed, for instance, even like the the.

plumber had left off this water. trap that keeps gases from escaping. like a safety device. So I made sure to do it completely. safe by the book or by. the three books that I had. And, I come out of the closet, by the way. There's like 30 inmates. I had to walk by the rec room. that had a piece of glass, and they. could all watch me change. in this hot water heater. And there's like 30 inmates, like, in disbelief with their hands and. faces pressed to the glass. Like we have never seen a county. judge executive get.

a callus on his hand or do anything. So, I go. back out in the inmates said, we got everything of value. There was this hulk of an old. hot water heater sitting there. They had stripped the copper. They had stripped all of the useful. iron off of it. And I said, guys, you left. the most valuable thing on it. And they said, no, judge, we've done. this all our lives. We stripped. these. Things. There's nothing on here. They'll bring anything down at. Livingston. So that was the junkyard. place. Recycling place.

And, I said, no, you. left the most valuable thing. I said, come over here. And they walk over and I said, you. see this lime green inspection. sticker? Get it wet and peel it off. and glue it on the new hot water. heater. Remember, I refused to hire the only. licensed plumber in the county. They go judge, you could go. to jail for this. I said, I'll have a hot shower, won't I? You actually did. That. I did that, and.

the only reason I'm telling you this. public lake is. this was. How long was it, like 15 years ago. or something? And, you know, 14. years ago, I think the statute of. limitations, a year of practicing. it without a license as a plumber on. a public building is probably. expired, if not the DOJ or be at my. house as soon as this airs. But they have also since closed. down the jail like a few years. later. They it was a good move. Did they take the water heater with. them? I you know, it's on my bucket list.

It may still be in there too. So what are they using it for? Now? It's. I think it's just vacant. Maybe they'll use it for drug rehab. or something at some point, which. would make more sense. Did it work? Did your house? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It booted up, the computer. came on and everybody got, I mean, 30 inmates just waiting. to take a hot shower. And it worked and worked. Worked until they shut the jail. down. So credible. But, anyways, that set the tone, like. you could say, well, you're the.

executive of the county, and you. shouldn't be wasting your time on. that. But I, I mean, I had four. hours of effort in it, and I saved. the county $6,500. And I'm like, no, this is worth my. time. And it also shows. the inmates like, okay, we're buying. you dollar 50 lunches instead. of the $2. And lunch is now because. we fired the crony who was doing the. food system totally. And and they were less likely. to complain when they saw. that the judge himself was actually. willing to change the hot water. heater. But it also set the tone.

for the sheriff and the county clerk. and everybody else who sees that. And it's like, man, he is a cheap. bastard. Like, I'm not going to go ask. him at the next fiscal court meeting. for anything. Why don't you tell a story to a pack. and maybe they'll leave you alone? It's like it's not personal. I'm not against you or your country. I just don't want to spend more. money. By the way, I'm traveling to some. plumbing lobby against me. Next, make sure that they. see this. Well, the one thing I know for a. fact is that you will bravely. stand up to the irate plumbing.

lobby. I will. One more story about lobbies. So I introduced this, raw. milk bill in Congress, and I, you know, food freedom, empower small farmers. It's more nutritious. I thought there was nothing to hate. about it. I got 20 co-sponsors. I put it in the hopper. I got my H.R. number. And that day, the milk lobby. comes after me. Like they said, there wouldn't be. enough hospital rooms for all the. children who were going to die from. raw milk if my bill passed. And, and this is kind of weird,

you've got a lobby going after its. own product, the milk. lobby. So my wife saw all these. things come up on her alerts on. her phone, and she texted me she. was worried about me and she says, OMG, I didn't realize the lactose. lobby was this intolerant. Oh that's brilliant. You said that. That's pretty awesome, Thomas Massie. Thank you. Hey. Thank you. Tucker. Amazing. Thanks for watching. You can go to.

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