Latest / The Lila Rose Show / E183: Fighting Gavin Newsom in California w/Bill Essayli

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E183: Fighting Gavin Newsom in California w/Bill Essayli · The Lila Rose Show

0:00
And growing up, it was always instilled in us how lucky we
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were to be in the US. When I was in school, you needed
0:06
a permission slip to watch a Disney movie.
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But now they can change their gender and the parents.
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Don't know address and call you Brenda when your name is
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Brendan. So I looked it up.
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I said how did they do this? So this is how they did it.
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The Attorney General of the state of California used your
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tax. Dollars parents tax dollars to.
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Sue the school district so parents can be kept in the dark.
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It's been now over 2 years you've been in the assembly.
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What has been the most surprising thing?
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This might be controversial, but.
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All right, Assemblyman Billa Saley, thanks so much for
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joining the podcast. Thank you for having me.
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I'm really glad you're here. Welcome to the studio and thank
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you for leading the charge in this crazy state of California.
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Appreciate it. I'm happy to be out of
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Sacramento right now and here at this podcast with you.
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And yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot to talk about.
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Yes, Especially in the last few weeks, we've seen so much
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destruction happening in California, and some of it's
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connected to political leadership, I think.
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I think a lot of it is, I mean, just the fires alone are not
1:06
climate change didn't just swoop in one day and and cause all
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this. It's decades of failed policy
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and leadership and unfortunately people are paying the
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consequences right now for that. OK, there's so much to talk
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about there. And you had a viral set of
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tweets about that. And I think your voice is really
1:23
important right now. Before we get into it, though,
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for people who are not familiar with California State politics,
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I'd love to hear more about your background, how you got into
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politics. What made you run for California
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Assembly? Well, that's a really good
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question. I probably have more
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untraditional route into politics than than others there.
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I this is my first time running for office.
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When I ran for the state Assembly, I was a former
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prosecutor. I had no intentions of running
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for office. I enjoyed being a prosecutor
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both locally at the DA's office and at the US Attorney's office.
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But it really hit a tipping point, California, where they
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were basically decriminalizing, you know, a lot of these laws
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and there was just causing havoc on the community.
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And I was seeing how it was affecting victims and police
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officers and morale and, and eventually I'm like, who's
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making these laws? And I just took a look at the
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legislature, and it's just the most unserious, unqualified
2:23
buffoons you've ever met. And they don't know what they're
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doing. They have no idea how these laws
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affect people. And they just passed law after
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law. And so there was an opportunity
2:32
to run. I was approached by the party.
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They were looking for a quality candidate.
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Where? In California.
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Is this is Riverside County? So I grew up in Corona, so it's
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my hometown and I got approached and it was a, a big decision.
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I had to leave my job under the Hatch Act.
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You can't run for office as a, as a prosecutor, as a federal
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prosecutor. So I had to leave my job and
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run. And yeah, and then 2022 I got
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elected and that's how I got in there.
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But I would say most people tend to work their way up.
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So they do local office and then they move up and they run, they
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run for office. So it was definitely a is
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definitely a shocking experience to go through the process to get
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elected. And then I would say I
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definitely wasn't prepared for what it was like to to be up
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there. I really thought that I would be
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working with people who had the best interest of the public in
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mind and our state, and that every decision was driven by
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that motivation and it's just not the case.
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I want to hear that experience. Of course.
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I'm curious that you said you were not your federal
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prosecutor. You're my understanding is
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you're the son of Lebanese immigrants, so you have this
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American dream story. Can you share more about that?
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And also, did you think growing up that I might run for office 1
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day? That's a great question.
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I so my parents both fled from the Lebanese civil war in the
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80s. They came here to the US
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legally. I also have to say that because
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people tend to conflate the two things, they came here legally.
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And then I was born here in Southern California, born and
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raised me and my sisters. And growing up, it was always
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instilled in US how lucky we were to be in the US because my
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parents having grown up basically overseas and they see
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what it's like to have a corrupt government, non functioning
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government. I mean, it's just, it's
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dangerous. It's, you know, it's not, it's
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clean streets, it's all this stuff.
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And they always instilled how lucky you are to be born in the
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US and to be AUS citizen. That always stuck with me.
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I was special. It was and then I was always a
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student of history and American government.
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I loved it. I love learning American
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history. And what stood out to me about
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America is like, what makes you American has nothing to do about
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where you're from, what your race is, what your religion is.
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It all has to do about whether or not you have this common
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belief that God gives you rights and from that you loan them to
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the government. And that's where rights are
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derived from. That's why America is
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exceptional. People understand what that
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means. It's exceptional in the sense of
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we view government's power and duties differently than the way
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other governments always have. So that always stuck with me and
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I always wanted to enter a, a career public service, whether,
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you know, initially when I thought I want to be a police
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officer, ended up go to law school, becoming a prosecutor.
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So I always saw as a matter of public service, I never really,
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you know, said I was going to run for office.
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That wasn't really a goal of mine.
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And it just sort of worked out that way.
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And then when you were approached in 20, I guess it
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have been 2021. Yeah, it was before that.
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But yes, I was approached to run by some of the parts, some of
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the people in the party. Yes.
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So you're just minding your own business as a federal prosecutor
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in Riverside County. And what I'm just curious that
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process and the reason I'm I'm kind of exploring this is
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because there is no doubt a machine in California to develop
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and to put in power Democrat talent.
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Yes. Well, whether you can argue are
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they really talented or not, whatever they are in power in
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California and they're, you know, they're the majority by in
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every by any stretch, right. So what is the Republic like the
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Republican Party was doing something right to find you.
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We're going to get into your your position, your public
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policy positions, many of which we agree on.
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I mean, you, you're a solid leader.
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That's an, I think a rising star.
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So I'm curious what that process was like for you for them to
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say, Hey, we got to get Bill. He's a prosecutor right now.
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He'd be perfect. We're going to recruit him and
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we're going to get him in the get him into the the assembly.
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You know, it was I, I, it's all about relationships.
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So I interned for a congressman. I entered for Congressman
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Calvert in, in college, I worked on his campaign.
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I always was involved a little bit in, in, in politics and
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campaigning, but not from a career standpoint, just because
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it was something that interested me in law school.
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I worked at the Bush White House, in the White House
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counsel's office. I was an intern there.
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I interned for Speaker Gingrich also in school.
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So I had been involved in politics that way.
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I just never saw it as a as a career path for me.
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So I had those relationships and from that relationship is where
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I was approached. But I think you're right.
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The Republican Party does not have a good organizational
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process right now of going out, recruiting candidates to run at
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every level of office and having people set up ready to go for
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higher office. I will say the one thing that's
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difficult for Republicans versus Democrats with with Democrats in
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their part, it's party first. The party comes first.
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It's these people, They have no principles.
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They don't believe in anything. All they believe in is power and
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growing their power. So it's a lot easier to keep
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people together in a group when they're all aligned on that
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central mission statement. I would say Republicans, it's a
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little harder because they're all very principled.
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They have different beliefs that come from different backgrounds.
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They're not really willing to compromise any of their
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principles or belief in the name of a political organization.
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So that's why you see a lot of more party infighting.
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Or if you have two Republicans who want to run in a seat, it's
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very hard to convince one of them to not do it.
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Where the Democrats, it's like, OK, well, you know, 2 of you
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want to run for here, OK, how about we put you in this seat
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here and you in that way, they don't really care as long as
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they're getting power and they're moving up.
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So I will say it's something that makes it a little difficult
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for Republicans to sort of be as organized and united as the
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Democrats is the fact that we have very strong beliefs and
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we're Big 10. There's a lot of different
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strong views within the Republican Party.
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That's definitely true. It's interesting you said that
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about your experience with the Democrats in California is that
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it really is about power and not principles.
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Can you share more about what you've seen being in the
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Assembly? And maybe let's start with this.
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What has been the most surprising thing it's been now
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over 2 years you've been in the Assembly, right?
8:52
Yes, or going on two years. Yeah, I just finished my first
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term. So you just.
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Finished your first term. Most surprising thing.
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Well, let's I'll break those into two things.
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With the Democrats, it's very obvious.
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I mean, there's there's 20 Republicans and 60 Democrats
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right now. It was 18 Republicans last year.
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But anyway, the overwhelming majority are Democrats.
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We know from behind the scenes they don't all agree with each
9:16
other or their policies, especially when it comes to
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public safety. A lot of them come from more
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moderate districts and they don't want the criminal justice
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reforms. A lot of them are a little bit
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more pro business. But when it comes down to time
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to vote or pass policies, you'll never see any dissent.
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You'll never see any opposition from within their party.
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They're always, they have a face as being united and they will
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vote together as a block every time.
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So that's just what I've seen. Even though I know a lot of them
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do not believe in what they're voting for, they still do it
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anyway in the name of the party because none of them want to be
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singled out or or attacked. They will be attacked.
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We had actually one Democrat when Newsom had the oil special
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session. He want to go after oil
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companies. There's one Democrat that
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present represents an area where there's a lot of oil workers and
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she voted against this tax that Gavin wanted.
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She was the only one. They had Gavin Newsom in our
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little member lounge in the back and they were taking members
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back there one by one if they were not supporting a thing to
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sort of. To talk to the governor to.
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Get talked to by the governor so everyone got in line.
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She was the one voted against it immediately.
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They removed her from her committees and punished her.
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They had to make an example out of.
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Did they, are they going to primary her or you know, they
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didn't? Primary or anything, but they
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made her basically irrelevant in the legislature, so they took
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away her committee assignments. So that's where a lot of them
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want to be on certain committees.
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That's where you get a lot of power and you get to affect
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specific areas. So they, they removed her and,
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and basically made it very clear that she was being marginalized
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within the party. And so that wasn't so much about
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her, was more to send a message to the other Democrats.
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So that's how they behave. They're very, it's like a mob,
10:55
if you will. And they don't tolerate any
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dissent from within. They they rule with an iron
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subscribe. You asked me what was the most
12:14
surprising thing going up there. This might be controversial, but
12:18
how weak, how weak and inept most of the Republicans are and,
12:24
and it's exactly how the system wants them to be and how easily
12:30
or how willingly they are to acquiesce to the system.
12:35
And that was the most shocking to me.
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I really believed I was getting elected and going up there to
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join a group of rebels, a group of fighters, and we're going to
12:43
be united and taking on the corrupt Democrat machine.
12:46
And that was not my experience at all, at all.
12:51
It was from day one of we have to work together.
12:55
We got to get some wins for our district.
12:58
You know, we have to be able to pass a law or two.
13:00
And I'm just, well, the only way you could do that is if the
13:03
Democrats let you. So why is that our goal?
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The goal for me was always to defeat the Democrats and to
13:10
defeat their bills, defeat their legislation and go our party.
13:13
And I would say at least half or more of the Republicans.
13:16
Their goal is to get something done, which is code word for
13:20
let's go along and get along. How do you defeat the Democrats
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when it's 20 versus 60? Well, what does that even look
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like? For me it because people ask me
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why are you running for office? That was a question I would get
13:32
by the lobbyists a lot. And at first I thought they're
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like, this is what's funny. The lobbyists ask you things
13:39
like, oh, you're you're so smart, you're so talent.
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Why are you you want to run for office?
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And at first I that's. Really sad at.
13:45
First I thought like, oh, OK, like that's kind of a
13:49
compliment. They're like, you're too smart
13:53
for this, why do you want to run?
13:54
And then I realized it wasn't a compliment.
13:56
It was we're not going to be able to bullshit you.
13:59
Oh, sorry, I don't know if that's allowed.
14:01
Go. For it, No, we're good.
14:02
We're good. We can't BS you and you know
14:06
you're actually going to like read the bills and and you're
14:08
not going to do what we tell you to do that.
14:10
That's what I've learned quickly is what that was code word.
14:12
For meaning you are not going to vote for bad legislation even if
14:16
it's some sort of trade that they trying to get some little
14:18
teeny win. Even if it's.
14:20
Not bad legislation. The way it works up there is
14:22
these people hand you checks. You know, you have an event,
14:25
they give you fifty $60,000 in checks and then they have the
14:28
right to show up to your office anytime and pitch a bill to you
14:33
or ask you to vote for a bill. It might be a good bill, it
14:35
might be a bad bill, but they expect you to basically support
14:40
them when they need support. Well, I don't offer blind
14:43
support anyone or anything. So they still come in and I
14:46
would have a lot of questions and sometimes, a lot of times I
14:49
wouldn't support. You're an attorney, so you're it
14:50
sounds like you're actually doing your homework.
14:52
I'm married to an attorney, so I know he like you.
14:54
You read, you read the the bill, you read the contract.
14:58
You actually, you had to, you've had to write them.
15:00
You have to as a prosecutor, you had to pay attention to the
15:03
details. And I think that's a, that is a
15:05
unique skill. I will just say to have.
15:09
It's a hard skill at minimum. And I think a lot of people in
15:12
politics, if they don't come from that kind of a background,
15:15
it's not natural to them. They're maybe not going to do
15:16
that. They're going to skip that step.
15:18
Yeah, and they may not. They may not know how to read
15:20
it. Crucial for law, for making law.
15:23
The problem to Sacramento, there's so many bills, it's not
15:25
even a matter of do they know how to read or not?
15:27
Do they care enough to read it because we vote on so many
15:30
bills? I will say most bills are not
15:32
that consequential. They're kind of just kind of
15:35
run-of-the-mill type stuff. They do have consequences, but
15:38
it's not going to impact like a big part of the public and a few
15:41
bills that get stand out that you know, it's a big deal.
15:43
But they just, there's so many politicians who this is the best
15:50
job they're going to ever have. You get paid $120,000 a year for
15:53
this job. Everyone calls you honorable
15:56
dishonorable that you get treated kind of like little
15:58
royalty up there. The lobbyists invite you on on
16:01
grand trips around the world. Pay, no, all paid, no questions
16:05
asked. They're going to stay in castles
16:08
in Ireland. They're staying at The Four
16:10
Seasons in Hawaii, all at the dime of the lobbyists.
16:14
You get invited to dinners, you get parties, you're the funniest
16:16
person in the room, you're the best looking person in the room,
16:19
yadda yadda yadda. It's all designed to get you to
16:23
be friends with the lobbyists and to do what they want, when
16:26
they want you. To who are these lobbyists?
16:27
Well, they're, they're just, they're very charismatic and
16:29
highly paid people by corporations that hire them up
16:35
in Sacramento and their job is to lobby and, and represent the
16:38
interests of their. Clients, what are you saying?
16:39
What would you be the top three, let's say, lobbyists that are
16:43
not actually working to advance conservative principles but are
16:47
maybe most easily buying off certainly Democrats, but some
16:52
Republicans? All would you say do it?
16:54
I mean, even like we have like Cal Chamber, which you thinks
16:56
represents businesses and they don't, they represent.
17:00
So I just got to back up most of these lobbyists, it's kind of
17:02
like a like a law firm. So they, they're lobbyists, but
17:05
they have multiple clients. So they might represent 5-6
17:07
businesses. These lobbyists, most of them
17:10
are hardcore Democrats. They came from the legislature.
17:13
That's why they have the relationship with all the
17:15
legislators and stuff. So they themselves are hardcore
17:18
Democrats and they get hired by big corporations and then they
17:21
give terrible advice. They say, oh, OK, well, we can't
17:25
defeat this bill, but I can make it a little better if we work
17:27
with the Democrats. So give me a budget.
17:29
I'll make a bunch of donation of the Democrats and I'll get them
17:32
to make this bill not so bad and like a little less bad and and I
17:36
can get some Republicans to support it too.
17:38
That's just sort of the way they approach things.
17:39
They don't really want to take on the system.
17:42
But I don't want to single out anyone lobbyist.
17:45
They all do it, but they're doing their job.
17:46
That's their job. Like, I don't fault the
17:48
lobbyist. It's the legislators who are
17:51
elected to represent the public. So I will see myself as the
17:54
public's lobbyist anytime in a meeting with a lobbyist because
17:56
they're going to come in and they're going to explain why
17:58
this bill is good for their industry or their client.
18:00
And I'm always asking, is it good for the public?
18:03
I'll give you one example, just concrete with there's a group
18:07
called the BIA, the Building Industry Association, and they
18:11
represent a lot of the home builders and they tend to be
18:13
very conservative and they support a lot of Republicans.
18:16
Well, we voted on an issue last year.
18:18
They wanted to put a bond, I think it was Prop 2 or something
18:23
on the bond, $10 billion for school infrastructure.
18:28
OK, mind you, we have a $300 billion budget.
18:31
We have plenty of money. If we want to spend money on
18:34
schools, we should spend it in the budget instead of giving
18:36
money to illegal immigrants and things like that.
18:39
But no, they couldn't get that money in there.
18:41
So they proposed a bond to put on the ballot to go into more
18:44
debt to to pay for this infrastructure.
18:47
Now this group, though, the conservative, they supported it
18:50
because they would benefit from most of the projects.
18:53
Meaning they would be the one running the projects.
18:55
Yeah, or they would get the contract to build the projects,
18:58
$10 billion, a lot of money for an industry.
19:00
Was that on? You're saying that's a that was
19:02
something that the people voted on.
19:03
It was a proposition. They passed.
19:06
I was opposed to it and. Was that because the Republicans
19:08
were telling the Republican voters you should vote too?
19:11
This is what happened. I I did it was a like
19:13
bipartisan, non partisan. We had no conversation before we
19:17
go on the floor and our leadership turns to all of us
19:19
because we kind of sit a group and they say, OK, everyone
19:21
layoff this one. And I was like, layoff What I
19:25
mean that means don't vote against it, layoff of it.
19:28
These are our friends. Anytime someone says our friends
19:31
up there, it's code word for it. These are our donors.
19:33
And that's because they were builders, but they were going
19:37
to, you know, put the state more in debt to do this building and
19:39
so. It benefits the industry.
19:42
It'll benefit the Republicans because they'll get more
19:44
donations from that industry. But the public is going to go
19:47
into debt, 10 billion, and it'll cost us about 20 billion by the
19:50
time it's paid off. I was the only Republican to
19:54
vote against it, the only one, because our leadership basically
19:58
gave the signal to the rest of the Republicans lay off this.
20:02
And to me, that was a really critical moment because I'm
20:04
like, this is against our principles.
20:06
Republicans have said it's in our platform.
20:08
We don't support bonds. We should be paying for things
20:10
in our budget in a responsible way.
20:12
We don't need to go more into debt then yeah, then then did.
20:15
You get in trouble. No, I don't get.
20:17
I don't work for them so I don't get in trouble.
20:20
I've already been. Don't believe me?
20:21
You're already taken off the committee.
20:24
This is funny when you get up there.
20:26
When I got up there the everyone asked me I was getting.
20:28
Gavin Newsom didn't give you a talking to.
20:30
I guess you're on the wrong side.
20:33
When you get up there, I was fascinated by the questions you
20:35
get asked. And if I get the same question
20:37
for more than one person, I'm like, what's going on here?
20:39
So when I got elected, the first question I got asked is what do
20:42
you want to do next? What do you want to do next?
20:44
What it's your goal. I'm like, well, I just got here.
20:46
What do you mean? What do I want to do next?
20:48
Well, do you want to go to Congress?
20:49
Do you want to do this? Do that.
20:50
And I found out very quickly that they want to know what you
20:53
want so they can use it as a form of control.
20:56
So if they know like, oh, your goal is to go to Congress or to
20:59
be whatever, then they're going to say, oh, we can help you.
21:02
We're your friend. And then we will use that as
21:04
sort of like how, how to get to the best advice ever got was
21:08
don't ever let them know what you want, because if they know
21:11
what you want, they'll know how to control you.
21:12
Interesting. So that's the first thing they
21:14
try to figure out. What do you want?
21:15
Do you want to pass a bill? Do you want to be on a really
21:17
special committee? Do you want to do you have
21:19
higher office aspirations you. Want to go to The Four Seasons?
21:22
Whatever. Do you want to go on the trip?
21:24
Want to know what your calling card is?
21:27
And with me, I have no calling card.
21:29
I'm I will be on no committee. I'll pass no bills.
21:33
I don't care. I am here to be a opposition
21:36
party. I'm here to stop the radical
21:39
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American meat delivered. And to go back to your question
22:33
from a while ago, how do you, how do you defeat the Democrats?
22:36
You defeat them by showing clear contrast.
22:38
I really believe what Ronald Reagan said was true clear
22:41
colors or you know, bold colors, not pale pastels.
22:45
You have to show the bold contrast and difference between
22:48
them and us. They're the party of corruption.
22:51
They're the party of big tax and spending.
22:53
We're the party of good governing, public safety,
22:56
parental rights. You have to draw that contrast
22:59
and you got to make it clear it it's and, and my colleagues have
23:02
a hard time with that because they think, you know, they, they
23:05
really sit there and they're like, but you haven't passed a
23:07
bill. You have to pass a bill.
23:09
I go, why do I have to pass a bill?
23:11
I go, nobody elected me when I was running for office.
23:14
I didn't have a voter come up to me and say, you know what I need
23:16
in my life? More laws and regulations,
23:18
please. No one elected me to do that.
23:21
So we are not a bill factory. We do not need more laws.
23:24
We need to stop a lot of the stuff and probably reverse a lot
23:27
of the laws that we have on on the books.
23:29
It sounds very refreshing to me. I'm the California resident and
23:34
I know I can see why. You know, it's hard.
23:37
It's hard for you to get in trouble with the Republican
23:39
Party in California because I'm sure your constituents, you
23:41
know, they elected you. Obviously they love you.
23:43
They want you to do what you're describing is needed in the
23:47
Assembly, in the Legislature. OK, let's say they're let's say
23:51
you're doing that. Let's say like your vision, this
23:53
approach kind of catches fire. There's a few more Republicans
23:55
that are like, yeah, I'm going to be a gunslinger now.
23:57
Like enough is enough. They still outvote us by, you
24:03
know, how many? What is it, 8020?
24:05
What's the percentage of of Republicans and Democrats in?
24:08
The state legislature OK to. 60. Yeah, to 60, there's 80 total.
24:14
80 total, OK, So that's obviously 3/4 is Democrat and
24:18
that's just the Assembly, yes, so.
24:20
It's also similar number in the Senate.
24:23
So we're, we're really, you know, we're, we're in no
24:26
position right now to be inching toward, we're not at any close
24:29
to the majority number. Can we even get close to a
24:33
majority number? And is the pathway to getting to
24:36
a majority number taking back control of California for let's
24:39
not even say the word Republican.
24:41
Let's just say the word less government corruption, less
24:44
government control, more common sense.
24:47
Yes, let's say that's the vision.
24:49
What does that look like over the next decade?
24:51
In California, you don't need the majority, you just need to
24:54
break the Super majority. So the magic number in
24:57
California is 27. In the Assembly.
24:59
If we get to 27, we're at 20. Now we just have to get 27.
25:03
We can now all of a sudden stop a lot of the radical policies in
25:06
the in the state because a lot of things have to be done by
25:09
either a constitutional amendment or you need 2/3 to
25:13
pass a budget or used to. So they're they can't raise a
25:17
tax without 2/3. So if we have the if we break
25:21
the 2/3 control the Democrats have, all of a sudden
25:25
Republicans become relevant again in the legislature.
25:28
When was the last time we had 27 Republicans?
25:30
I. Think we we used to I think we
25:33
lost the supermajority. I think it was within the last
25:37
decade. I don't have the exact date on
25:38
me but it. Wasn't too long ago.
25:39
It wasn't too long ago. I mean, look, we had Arnold up
25:42
until 2010. Correct.
25:43
That's a great point. We.
25:45
Had governor, I think we, we lost the supermajority and then
25:50
we, we broke it and then we lost it again.
25:52
So it was one of those things where we didn't have it, then we
25:54
had it back, then we lost it again.
25:56
And I want to say it was like maybe 2014 or something.
25:58
So it it's not that far into the distant past.
26:02
And things can change very quickly as you're seeing like in
26:05
LA right now. What's going on?
26:06
I mean, the public can can radically change quickly.
26:09
But I want to say this is very important.
26:11
We may not have the votes to stop anything in the
26:13
legislature, but we have a voice and we have been successful in
26:18
defeating a lot of bad policies by simply turning up the heat,
26:23
getting the public's attention on a single subject.
26:26
It's very hard in Sacramento because we don't have much media
26:29
and and the Democrats sort of control everything.
26:31
But you saw this with that bill. We did, I think it was SB14 that
26:36
was made the trafficking of minors a, a felony, right?
26:42
The sex trafficking of minors as a serious felony that was dead.
26:46
And it was because we basically got the attention that, look,
26:48
the Democrats killed this bill to make sex trafficking of
26:52
minors a serious felony. And the media attention and the
26:56
public's attention got so strong that Democrats had to give in to
26:59
it. We've defeated a lot of other
27:02
bills in similar ways where, where we bring light to it,
27:04
bring attention to it. We activate the public and the
27:07
Democrats cave and they they don't pass that.
27:10
So we can still be effective. And that's why for me, a lot of
27:13
it's about comms, it's not about votes, it's about a calm, strong
27:17
calms opposition having. Because your boss is the people
27:21
at the. End of the boss is the people,
27:22
it's the public, and the public doesn't support most of the crap
27:25
that goes on in Sacramento. They just don't know about it.
27:28
So that's why I see our job is to shine a light and let that be
27:31
the disinfectant up there. And by doing that, the public
27:34
will learn what who Republicans are, what we stand for, because
27:38
often we get defined by our opposition.
27:40
The Democrats tell us what we are.
27:42
We're we're racist and we're sexist and we hate.
27:44
It's all this crap, right? And so, and that's, if that's
27:47
all people here, that's what they believe, Which is why for
27:49
me, kind of going in, the issue of parental rights was so big to
27:53
me because I saw this as really an opportunity.
27:56
I go, this is an issue. Parental rights is an issue that
27:58
transcends politics, political boundaries, ethnic boundaries.
28:04
Everyone cares about their kids. And when they hear that this
28:09
party and this government wants to come in and interfere in the
28:12
relationship between the parent and the child, and they want to
28:15
raise your kid and they want to teach them things that you may
28:17
not agree with, and they want to tell them they can pick their
28:20
own gender and all this, people don't support that.
28:22
And so that's why I I've been a big advocate for parental rights
28:26
and I've used that as a tool to draw a contrast between US and
28:30
the Democrats. And I think it's had some
28:32
effect. The two seats that we picked up,
28:36
we're both in Riverside County, my neighboring seats, it's a big
28:41
family oriented community, Riverside County, Inland Empire.
28:44
And I have I believe that parental rights is a big issue
28:47
and why Hispanics and Latinos are now starting to turn towards
28:52
the Republican platform. Can you share for people's
28:54
awareness the about the law? I believe it has gone into
28:59
effect that basically says that you can keep it a secret.
29:03
Like if you're if you're a teacher, you can keep gender
29:06
confusion. I'm going to call it confusion,
29:08
a secret from the parents of that minor child.
29:12
Yeah, you have to back up a little bit.
29:14
I'm glad we have time to do this because this is a big deal.
29:16
So when I got up there first, got elected, there were all
29:19
these lawsuits going on. Parents were suing school
29:21
districts. They said the school is
29:23
transitioning My kid and I don't even know about it.
29:26
They gave him a new name, new pronoun.
29:28
And you know, a lot of parents only found out about it because
29:30
of COVID and the remote learning.
29:32
And then they could hear the teacher call their student, call
29:35
their kid a different name and like, wait, that's not their
29:38
name. Why are you calling them?
29:40
How old are we talking? This is like high school or.
29:42
K through 12. There's no age restrictions on
29:44
it. So that's when it first came to
29:46
my attention. And, and I'm very good friends
29:48
with Harmony Dillon and some of the other attorneys have been
29:51
advocating on this. And he's like, wait a minute.
29:53
When I was in school, when you were in school, probably you
29:56
needed a permission slip to watch a Disney movie.
29:59
I remember that like, we watched The Lion King and our parents
30:02
had to sign permission for us to watch a Disney movie.
30:04
It was crazy, right? But now they can change their
30:07
gender and the parents don't. Know but you in a dress and call
30:09
you Brenda when your name's Brendan, Yeah.
30:11
It's it's literally. Insane.
30:13
So I looked it up, but how did they do this?
30:16
So this is how they did it. Hey guys, happy New Year and
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App at hollow.com/lila. They passed a regulation in the
31:10
California Department of Education under Tony Thurman
31:14
that just said that children have a right to privacy.
31:17
This is not true. It's never, ever, ever, there
31:19
has been no court cases have ever said kids enjoy privacy
31:23
from their parents. That's not true, but they just
31:25
made it up. They said children have a right
31:27
to privacy and you cannot reveal their gender preferences to
31:32
their parents without their consent.
31:34
It was just an advisory and they put it in a regulation.
31:37
They sent it out to all the schools and then our school
31:40
districts. Did they just take this as the
31:43
word like, like the gospel? Well, the Department of
31:45
Education said so. So they have all these liberal
31:48
law firms that represent most of the school districts.
31:51
And they tell the board members, this is the state law.
31:53
You have to follow this. You can't do anything about it.
31:55
So a lot of school districts fell in line and they they went
31:57
along with this. And I'm so tired of these weak
32:01
elected officials. I don't really care if you're a
32:03
Councilman or school board member.
32:05
Your job is not to take direction from some lawyer or or
32:10
manager or city manager or Superintendent.
32:13
You're the elected official, you're the boss.
32:15
And if you don't agree with something, you don't have to
32:17
follow it and you fight it. But so many of them want to just
32:20
get out. We have to get along.
32:21
We have to get along. Why?
32:22
Why? I don't know.
32:24
But what? What if they were sitting here?
32:25
They'd say well we have to get along because otherwise there
32:28
will just be chaos and not rule of law.
32:30
Like what would be their argument for this whole?
32:32
Like we can't really. Push them they it's
32:34
uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable.
32:36
It's uncomfortable and that's when I think people are in
32:39
politics for the wrong reason. It's not a job.
32:41
It's not meant to be like and. It's.
32:44
Not a stepping stone. And it's not meant to be
32:46
comfortable. It's supposed to be
32:47
uncomfortable. OK, so so this is what I did.
32:51
I said, OK, I go. They did this regulation, let's
32:54
expose it. And the way I thought the best
32:56
way to expose it was I wrote a bill.
32:57
It was one of my first bills as an assemblyman, AB 1314.
33:01
And it was very simple. All it said was if the school is
33:04
going to change the record of a student to reflect a new gender
33:09
or name, you have to inform the parents within three days.
33:12
In writing, it's really simple. I'm like, I wrote it.
33:16
So I was like, there's no way any rational person can be
33:19
opposed to this. So I wrote that bill as soon as
33:22
I introduced it. All how many pages was that
33:24
bill, by the way? It was like probably 2 pages or
33:27
less. Probably 1 of the shortest bills
33:29
in the history of the legislation.
33:30
Will they have to put a little history and whatever but the
33:33
actual text? Is not illegally.
33:34
Probably like entering one sentence into the education
33:39
code. That's it.
33:40
As soon as I interest it, all hell broke loose.
33:42
The the the liberals lost their mind that they came out against
33:46
me, that I'm like the new Ron DeSantis.
33:50
DeSantis. I'm transphobic.
33:52
That's a. Compliment Bill is right.
33:53
It's a hate. Bill, I'm going to get trans
33:55
kids killed. It was all this like crazy
33:58
rhetoric. So evil.
33:59
And then they doxed me. They did all like, yes it was.
34:04
Crazy stuff. What do you mean they doxed?
34:05
Me like the, the Twitter Antifa people, like they put my home
34:08
address up, they put my cell phone up, the whole thing.
34:11
And you know, I don't know if they know anything about
34:15
Lebanese people, but that just made me more committed to my
34:20
'cause I'm like, that's not, I'm not scared.
34:21
It's like you're not going to scare me.
34:24
I sleep with a gun. I'm OK.
34:25
Come on, you know, whatever. I'm not scared.
34:27
I'm not going to back down South.
34:30
I doubled down. They refused to give my bill a
34:34
hearing. They wouldn't even hear the
34:36
bill. So they said, we're not giving
34:37
your bill a hearing. And they shut it down.
34:39
And then, you know, all the Republicans came to me like, oh,
34:41
that was a good job. Like nice try, nice try.
34:43
But now maybe you could do some like regular bills.
34:46
I said, oh, no, I'm not done. So what I did is I, I got
34:49
together with the family counsel and Pastor Jack Hibbs group and
34:54
some others. And I said, here's what we're
34:56
going to do. I know this is a big issue and I
34:59
know that this law is constitutional.
35:02
In fact, what they're doing is unconstitutional.
35:04
So we took my bill and we wrote it as a school board policy.
35:07
And then we started having school boards introduce that as
35:11
local policy. So Chino Hills was the first
35:14
school board and they adopted a school board policy that said we
35:17
will be notifying parents when a student wants to change their
35:20
gender and their records. Amazing that went into effect.
35:23
That went into effect. Tony Thurmond, the
35:26
Superintendent, came down to oppose it and he, if you haven't
35:31
seen that meeting, you should watch it.
35:33
He tries, he gets his two minutes to talk like every other
35:35
person he tries to go over. And then Sonia Shah, who
35:39
surprised is amazing. He kept trying to talk and she
35:41
said no, no, you're not Sacramento.
35:43
You sit down, you're done. And basically had security
35:45
escort him. Out this is Superintendent for
35:47
the state, yes. And.
35:50
Chino Hills kicked him out. Kicked him out.
35:52
But what's amazing to me is like that whole thing would not have
35:56
happened if someone you hadn't noticed that this other crazy
36:01
thing was happening that wasn't even a bill that was voted on.
36:03
It was like through the vast bureaucracy that now exists,
36:07
this machine that was just spitting out these insane
36:09
policies that are affecting the lives of our children and our
36:12
business owners and our people of faith and just all the
36:14
people, right. And then, and then you created a
36:16
bill, which would have been a great bill if it had gotten
36:18
passed, but it basically became effectively a communications
36:21
weapon. Yes.
36:22
And then it led to concrete change outside of the system of
36:25
the Democrats because like right now, the system is unworkable,
36:28
but you still leverage that to get this thing done at the
36:31
school board level. Yes, and it became a thing.
36:33
And then the news started covering it, brought more
36:35
attention to it. And then we had like a dozen
36:37
school boards past this policy. The attorney General responded
36:41
by suing the school districts. They they used our tax dollars.
36:45
Just want people to understand this.
36:46
The Attorney General of the state of California used your
36:49
tax. Dollars to.
36:51
Sue the school district so parents can be kept in the dark
36:56
and meanwhile crime is through the roof.
36:58
You've got, you know, all the break insurance and this
37:01
robberies and the prisoner is being let out.
37:02
He doesn't give a damn. But we have to go after these
37:05
parents and make sure that, you know, their kids can can be
37:09
transitioned at school without their knowledge or consent.
37:12
So they went to court, they lost.
37:15
So eventually. The the state lost.
37:17
The state kept losing yes, because the judges said this is
37:21
not unconstitutional. They are allowed the parents are
37:24
allowed to know what's going on with their kids.
37:26
So the finally the in Sacramento, they just, they
37:31
couldn't take it anymore. So they passed the law that you
37:33
just referred to. So they enacted a law late last
37:36
year that basically invalidates the school board policies and
37:41
says teachers cannot be forced to make that disclosure to the
37:44
parents. So that's now a state law in
37:46
California. It is being challenged.
37:48
It's it's in federal court. But I always tell people that
37:50
the court system is very slow. So, I mean, it's going to be a
37:53
while before it makes its way through the appellate courts and
37:57
probably even up to the Supreme Court, but that's where we are.
37:59
Do you think if there was an up down vote, the people of
38:02
California were clearly educated on this issue and they had an up
38:05
down vote of should parents be given knowledge that their child
38:09
is basically struggling with gender dysphoria and now being
38:13
called a different name and dressed a different way by their
38:14
teachers? Should the parents be informed
38:16
within three days? How would California vote?
38:18
If you frame it like that, I think it's like 90%.
38:21
It's all about how you frame it. Because if you watch, if you
38:24
watch the hearing on the assembly floor over this, it was
38:28
madness. It, it was, you would have
38:33
thought we were basically outlawing, you know, all gay
38:37
people or something. It was 1 legislator after
38:40
another going up and talking about how difficult it was for
38:43
them growing up gay and what it was like.
38:45
And I'm like, but that's nothing to do with this bill.
38:48
Like it's a school. They kept saying it's an outing
38:50
bill. I go, it's not an outing bill.
38:51
The student is telling the student is making a change to
38:54
their records. So this is only.
38:56
By the way, the law only kicks in if the student wants to
38:59
change their official records. If he wants to be called, he or
39:02
she wants to be called something on the playground that's not
39:06
that doesn't involve the school. Even that though, I mean, think
39:09
about it just like, again, super common sense, like because what
39:12
you're asking for is like, so like extremely like bipartisan,
39:16
reasonable everybody. It's a 90% issue.
39:19
But like even like I think it could also be a 90% issue.
39:21
If my 7 year old is, is is, you know, on the school playground
39:26
and wrestling with gender identity and saying like I'm am
39:28
IA boy, call me a boy and he's really a girl or or you know,
39:30
call me a girl, he's really a boy, etcetera.
39:32
And the and the and the teacher intentionally hides that from
39:36
the parent. Or worst, encourages them to
39:40
consider transitioning. It's so you do have teachers.
39:44
This was the whole it's. Not about the parents rights,
39:46
it's about it is, but it's most importantly about the child's
39:48
well-being. And there's no healthy child
39:51
who's at war with the parents that is trying to love them.
39:54
That is you're destroying that child's identity.
39:57
But but the common sense piece is like has vanished.
40:00
Well, it goes back to their agenda and the whole thing
40:04
underlying this topic. And that's why I always said
40:06
they consider the parents dangerous.
40:08
It's like, no, the parents are dangerous.
40:10
Because they think they own your kid.
40:12
It's all comes down to who's going to raise the next
40:14
generation of Americans. That's what it's about.
40:17
That's why this is people understand this is a bigger
40:19
issue than gender identity or ideology and that stuff.
40:22
This is fundamental Marxism. Marxism knows you have to
40:26
destroy the family unit. You have to Pierce and and
40:30
destroy the parent child relationship because that's the
40:33
biggest factor in how kids turn out is, is their parents.
40:38
Their parents instill their values, their ethics, everything
40:41
the government wants to insert itself in as the parent and, and
40:44
raise those kids. That's what this is all about.
40:47
So if you allow the government to keep this secret, then you
40:51
basically you you've surrendered your parental rights.
40:53
Well, and it's not just any government, it's a extreme left
40:56
wing, ultra woke, ultra pro abort, ultra pro LGBTQ plus IA
41:01
ideology government like it's not just like a nice government
41:04
trying to support families in general.
41:05
They're like, let us have a little more involvement in your
41:07
daily life. Here.
41:08
We are government like they have a it is a truly extreme agenda.
41:12
That is a 10 percent, 90% issue, meaning if you put it before the
41:15
people, your average California be like, this is a bridge too
41:18
far. It's too much.
41:20
But that's the thing. Most issues like that aren't put
41:22
before the people like that. And when it comes down to
41:24
voting, you know, people vote over one or two things and like
41:27
the Democrats will flash the abortion card, right?
41:30
Everything abortion, that's all you know, that's where Democrats
41:34
are good at. At elections.
41:36
They find one issue, it's emotional and they think they
41:39
could sway people and they go all in on that.
41:41
And then Republicans, we have like our 10 point plan.
41:44
I think with abortion, I mean, obviously that's a fight I've
41:47
been in in the last decade and I'm just in recent years
41:50
starting to move more into politics as I've been focused on
41:52
like changing hearts and minds, right?
41:54
But I've just seen like the utter lies that are being told.
41:57
Like you were just, you were talking about how if you put it
41:59
that way before people that, you know, we're hiding gender
42:02
confusion that your child is suffering with from the parents
42:04
intentionally and, you know, pushing the kid in One
42:06
Direction. If you put it before the adults
42:08
that way, the parents that way, 90% will be like, no, thank you.
42:11
We don't want that. Similarly with abortion, if you
42:13
put it before people and we've actually just recently did some
42:16
polling on this, that live action, you say, OK, do you
42:19
support, you know, of an abortion procedure that
42:22
literally dismembers the baby? You know that you can say fetus
42:25
the the unborn child in utero like a live dismemberment
42:28
abortion. Do you support that?
42:30
Vast majority say no, that's all second trimester abortions and
42:34
people just, and that's legal in California live dismemberment
42:37
abortions. People have no framework for
42:39
that. They do not see that because
42:41
they're just told women's rights, healthcare.
42:44
Why are they so afraid of the ultrasounds?
42:46
I mean, they're, they're so afraid of these ultrasounds
42:49
because they're worried that as soon as the mom sees that this
42:52
is a living breathing or not breathing, but living heart
42:55
beating child moving child, they're going to be more
42:59
reluctant to terminate the pregnancy.
43:01
I mean, they don't want people to actually think about it.
43:04
It's just supposed to, it's just a knee jerk reaction.
43:06
But this is where, you know, going back to comms and using
43:10
things for, for communication devices.
43:12
This is where the Democrats are really good.
43:14
They're very good at packaging and, and narrative and then just
43:18
echoing it over and over again. And I see the Republicans we
43:21
tend to be more on on defense and they're always offense.
43:25
And that's why for me, it's really important we start going
43:27
on offense. And that's what parental rights
43:29
was for me. And that's offense.
43:30
We're going on offense. We are declaring, no, this is an
43:33
important right parents have to raise their kids.
43:36
And by the way, when you go vote, that's what Republicans
43:39
stand for. And I was asked people, what do
43:41
Republicans stand for? No one can ever give me a solid
43:44
answer. And so I said we have to stand
43:46
for something. And I think we should be the
43:48
party of parental rights in the state of California.
43:50
I think that will really. And.
43:52
Common sense, but you have to have an issue that resonates
43:56
with people and and makes them if they're going to make a hard
43:58
decision. Are you for, you know, do you
44:01
care more about abortion or parental rights?
44:02
At some point, it's going to have to be a decision that you
44:05
make at the ballot box. Well, I think with abortion, I
44:07
mean, Governor DeSantis is a great example.
44:09
He's in a purple state. He passes the heartbeat law.
44:12
He just defeated Proposition 4, which would have legalized
44:15
abortion through birth. And he is wildly popular.
44:19
I mean, yes, he's hated by some people, but he won by a million
44:22
votes in his in his re election. And so I think he's said, I'm
44:26
not going to abandon the life issue.
44:28
Like I think there's some Republicans are like, well,
44:30
let's just do the trans issue because I think we can make more
44:33
headway there than the life issue.
44:35
It's like, no, that issue can be just as hard if you let them
44:38
take the take this ground by spreading their lies.
44:41
You got to fight the lies head on.
44:42
And with the life issue, it's like, no, abortion kills a baby.
44:45
And it's not like empowering for women.
44:48
Let's do better for moms and for women and let's support them and
44:51
their, you know, get them good health care.
44:53
But killing babies is not going to be the path forward for
44:55
California either. You got to do better and and
44:58
care for both patients, the baby and the mother.
45:00
And just kind of talking candidly like that, I think is
45:02
really powerful, but it's very also controversial,
45:06
unfortunately, among some Republicans are like stay away
45:09
from the a word I. Know well, how about just
45:11
funding or supporting the pro-life centers?
45:14
Yeah, because, you know, everyone wants to jump to oh,
45:17
you're going to lock up a woman for making this decision and say
45:20
OK, we don't have to go to that extreme.
45:23
How about we just make sure women understand their choices
45:25
and options? How about in school we teach
45:28
girls like, yes, you can have an abortion, but there's all these
45:30
other resources available for you.
45:34
And but they, they hate the pro-life centers.
45:37
Like I see this up in Sacramento.
45:38
They're bringing bills all the time to come after the pro-life
45:41
centers. And I don't understand.
45:43
I always say, I go, are you pro abortion or you pro-choice?
45:45
Because they always say they're pro-choice.
45:47
Go if you're pro-choice, you should want to give the mom as
45:49
many options as possible so she can make the right decision.
45:53
But again, they're just so radical and fanatic and it's, I
45:56
can't put my finger on it, but there's something, there's
46:00
something demonic about it, but it's, it's very, it's very
46:03
bizarre. I think abortion is demonic.
46:05
It, I mean, killing a baby, whether the baby's 8 weeks old
46:08
or 18 weeks old, it's, it's, it's evil.
46:11
It's just evil. Mother Teresa talked about it at
46:13
the at the prayer breakfast with the Clintons.
46:15
I'll never forget that. I watched it later.
46:18
I was very young at the time. But she says if, if, if a nation
46:21
allows a mom to kill her own child, like basically, what,
46:24
what hope is there for the rest of us?
46:25
I mean, it's just she, she really put it best it, it is a,
46:29
it is a difficult issue. And I understand that, you know,
46:32
women, that's a time when if you're not married and you're
46:35
pregnant, it's very scary. But that's a time where we
46:38
should make sure they get all the resources so they can make
46:40
an informed decision and what not one that they're going to
46:43
regret. I I know personally some women
46:45
that did have an abortion and it's they still regret it to
46:48
this day. Yeah, their stories are almost
46:50
never told. Exactly.
46:52
So I'm, if you want to say pro-choice, I guess I'm
46:55
pro-choice in the sense of I want women have all the choices
46:58
available to them, including access to pro-life centers and
47:01
support to be able to care for and take care of that kid.
47:05
Yeah, I mean, but it wasn't too long ago that we, I think this
47:08
this state was pro-life. I mean, that's not a that's not
47:11
a full lifetime yet. So I think we can move it back,
47:14
but it's going to take just going where the heat is and
47:17
being afraid to make the contrast.
47:18
Like you want to support abortion up until birth, Like we
47:21
want to protect human life because human life is valuable
47:23
and it's worth fighting for. We have big wins.
47:26
The contrast? We have big wins.
47:27
We got rid of Roe. Roe is a terrible case.
47:29
And that's now opened it up so we can at least have these
47:32
conversations. And I think the way to go about
47:34
it is you put the Democrats on defense and make them vote on
47:37
their extreme policies. So ban abortion in the third
47:39
trimester. See if they vote for that.
47:41
At minimum I mean. Minimum.
47:42
I mean just you just kind of have to like progressively dial.
47:46
It I think that's a that's a bill to expose their extremism
47:48
exactly which is which is so raging.
47:51
How does do you have a faith and how does that influence what you
47:55
do? Yeah, no, I was raised Muslim
47:57
and grew up in a very conservative Muslim House.
48:01
You know, I, I got that question too, is like, oh, is this going
48:04
to affect how you vote and stuff?
48:06
I go, well, I, I see faith is important.
48:08
I think you, you, you have to, you have to believe in a higher
48:11
power because that's what our country is based on.
48:14
Our country is based on, again, like I said, our rights come
48:16
from God and then we loan those rights to other people.
48:19
So I think faith definitely guides your, your values and
48:23
your morals, but it doesn't necessarily dictate, you know,
48:27
every vote or anything like that.
48:28
I think people think a little too much of it.
48:30
And also I didn't run on that, so it's not like I was elected
48:34
to be, you know, I'm not into identity politics and I'm the
48:38
first Muslim in the assembly, which I was.
48:41
But that's not why you know my. District Democrat.
48:44
So you didn't get a special feature story?
48:46
No. In fact, the Democrats try to
48:47
use it against me in the campaign.
48:50
Wow. Interesting.
48:51
No, no, they're very Democrats are the most racist people.
48:53
Don't. So you're only allowed to be
48:54
Muslim and in politics if you're Democrat?
48:57
Well, it was gonna have a dog whistle thing.
48:58
They, they thought if the Republicans knew I was Muslim,
49:02
they wouldn't vote for me. But it, it didn't matter anyway.
49:05
So, but look, I mean, I grew up taught that Muslims, Christians,
49:11
Jews are part of the same family faith.
49:13
And so a lot of our values are, are the same from what I what I
49:17
know what I understand. And yeah, again, I don't think,
49:24
you know, we are a government that has freedom of religion and
49:28
we accept all faiths and stuff. And so me being the first Muslim
49:31
up there, I think it's just a reflection of our community and
49:33
where we are now in the diversity up there.
49:36
But yeah, it's it's, it's notable, but not determinative,
49:41
I would say of a lot of a lot of my policies.
49:44
So when I look at the state of California, I think it's a no
49:47
brainer that we need to somehow breakthrough, you know, the wall
49:52
of just entrenched decades now. I mean, you said, obviously we
49:57
had Arnold Schwarzenegger, but they've developed this machine
50:00
over time and we have to breakthrough that wall to have
50:04
independent voices, independent ideas.
50:06
And just like the incredible corruption that exists when
50:09
there's such a incredible majority that they have, like
50:11
you said, we don't have even a third right in the assembly.
50:14
So that seems like a no brainer. And then I just look culturally
50:17
at the state and I see what's happening with the LA fires.
50:20
I see people you can say use the word red pilled, people saying
50:23
this is just crazy, the response, they're very unhappy
50:26
with the response of those that are in power.
50:29
But in all of it, I see the power of people's communications
50:32
that can make or break how they perceive reality.
50:34
Like you were saying, comms are so powerful.
50:37
And I do think that is a unique strength that someone like Gavin
50:40
Newsom has had from the beginning, even before social
50:43
media. And now he's trying to use the
50:45
social media. And so, you know, whether it's
50:47
the issue of of life, like their framework is, of course, you
50:50
have a right to abortion. The correct truth is nobody has
50:53
the right to kill a baby ever, period, right.
50:55
Their framework is, oh, we got to protect LGBTQ youth or
50:59
whatever the correct framework is.
51:01
We should love and protect everyone.
51:03
But, you know, creating wedges between children and their
51:05
parents and transitioning little kids is, is sick.
51:08
It's evil, right? So what's your, I guess view
51:13
going forward? I know you said, well, my, my
51:15
constituents, I'm speak for them.
51:17
I'm, you know, they're lobbyists basically, but what's your view
51:20
going forward and the larger communications and cultural
51:24
strategy to advance the pro-life cause because I'm not happy
51:28
with, oh, let's just ban abortion in the third trimester.
51:29
There's still little babies at 10 weeks old that deserve life,
51:32
right? We got to fight for all of them.
51:34
And that's a calm strategy. You have to lead with that
51:36
because if people don't even have that vision, they're not
51:38
going to, we're never going to get there politically, right?
51:41
So how do you see, you know, your work going forward and the
51:44
calm strategy you have? And I have to give you a shout
51:46
out because you are crushing it on X.
51:49
That's one of the reasons you're here 'cause I was seeing your ex
51:51
treats. I'm like, we got to get and,
51:53
and, and one of the girl girls on our team was like, yeah, he's
51:55
awesome. We got to get him in studio.
51:57
And I'm like, this guy's doing it like he's playing Gavin
52:00
Newsom's game, which is actually use comms effectively.
52:03
And he's lashing out. And Newsom at you.
52:05
Yeah, really. He lashed out at me on Twitter
52:08
so. What did he say?
52:09
I'm. In a Twitter war with him, I, I,
52:11
I basically called out his failed leadership and, and, and
52:15
correlated that to the wildfires and how he didn't fund wildfire
52:18
protection, all this other stuff.
52:19
And then he quote, tweeted and, and said that I voted against
52:22
all this fire stuff, but basically I voted against his
52:25
budget. So he's trying to gaslight me
52:27
and tell people that I voted against all this fire stuff.
52:29
But I like to remind him I'm not the governor and his budget
52:33
passed without my vote. So he, by his own admission, his
52:36
own policies and budget is ineffective.
52:38
So I don't get his point anyway. But he he's lashing out.
52:42
But to your point, comms is so important.
52:45
Republicans have been as a party so afraid to talk to outside
52:50
groups outside of their, of their norm.
52:51
They like to preach to the choir, as I say.
52:54
So I think step one is you have to have spokespeople that
52:57
reflect the community. And you're seeing that the
53:00
Republican Party is becoming extremely diverse.
53:03
I mean, even here in California, we have a lot of Hispanics now
53:07
within the party. The two districts that we picked
53:10
up were predominantly Hispanic communities.
53:13
We just did a press conference and Leticia Castillo, who's
53:15
amazing, she defeated a Democrat and a Democrat blue district.
53:20
She gave a press conference in Spanish and like, I'd never seen
53:23
that before. So she's actually going into the
53:26
community and telling them what the Democrats agenda is for
53:29
their families and their kids and, and what she's going to do
53:32
about it. You have to have spokespeople
53:34
that look and talk like the community.
53:38
Even for me, I understand the Muslim population isn't as big
53:41
as the others. Muslims are conservative.
53:43
They do not believe in abortion. They do not they they believe
53:46
strongly in parental rights. They are a natural constituency
53:50
for the Republican Party. But they've never had anyone
53:52
really speak to them. And so when I go and speak, I
53:55
mean, they, I, I get a lot of people come up to you like I'm
53:58
Muslim and I'm Republican or I voted for Trump is like, you
54:01
don't have to whisper. It's OK.
54:03
But they're so afraid because the Democrats have basically
54:05
beaten into them that Republicans are anti Muslim and
54:07
they're going to kill you basically.
54:09
So don't vote for them. So by by just seeing me it, it
54:13
makes it OK for them to come out and say, oh, I'm conservative.
54:17
I'm a vote Republican as well. So I think step one is having
54:20
the right spokespeople go into the communities and speak their
54:24
language or, or or representative in two is you
54:28
have to have a good product. You have to have a good product.
54:31
It has to be something that is organic, it's authentic.
54:34
It's something that resonates with people and they believe in.
54:37
And like I said, that's why I really doubled down on parental
54:40
rights because I do think parental rights is that issue
54:43
that really transcends culture, language, political, political
54:50
registration, all of it. And you go in the heart of it.
54:53
And I think that to me is that's what I think California
54:56
Republicans should be focused on and, and, and gaining grounds on
55:00
all the other stuff, you know, taxes and regulation and public
55:06
say. I mean, we already have that.
55:08
I mean, people already know about that and they know we're
55:09
stronger on that, but that doesn't seem to move voters.
55:13
So I'm looking for issues that actually move voters from the
55:16
left to the right or make it OK for them to vote for us.
55:20
And a lot of times I think people don't vote for something,
55:22
they vote against something. So also making sure they
55:25
understand what the Democrat Party is about, what their
55:28
agenda is, what they want to do to your kids.
55:30
I mean, you saw how they basically politicize this
55:33
project 2025, this hair. They took the heritage thing.
55:37
Like look at all the scary things Republicans want to do if
55:39
they get into power. Well, we should do the same
55:41
thing and say look at look at everything the Democrats want to
55:43
do, you know, against you and your family.
55:46
And the deceiver in chief is none other than Gavin Newsom.
55:49
I've never ever seen anyone who could sit in front of ATV camera
55:53
and speak to you and lie so convincingly.
55:56
I think if you were to take a polygraph, he would actually
55:58
believe what? He says that's the lie.
56:01
So. Convincingly.
56:02
A video log is the one that believes what they're saying,
56:05
even though it's objectively false.
56:08
Objectively false. And it's a dangerous person to
56:11
have in power. And there is so much more.
56:14
We're going to have you back because we got to do it.
56:16
We got to do an episode just on Gavin Newsom.
56:19
I've been reading books and but is like life and childhood and
56:22
his trajectory. And I think there's a lot of
56:24
lessons to learn. And also you got to know who
56:26
you're fighting. I think that's part of it.
56:28
But one thing I want to thank you for is having vision,
56:30
because I think a lot of people in California who are
56:34
conservative, who are Republican, who are maybe just
56:36
moderate and they just see what's happening and they're
56:38
uncomfortable with it. They feel like, well, I'm just
56:41
going to hold on for as long as I can.
56:43
I don't think they have a sense that we can beat this.
56:45
We can do this. And I think that you are
56:49
starting to help forge that path.
56:51
And I think a lot of things can change in a short time.
56:54
Like you were saying earlier, it's just a matter of having the
56:57
having the passion and the grit and the vision to do it.
57:00
So thank you. Thank you.
57:02
And I just want to thank President Trump, who's now back
57:06
in office. I want to say no one has fought
57:09
harder for our country, especially a time when it looks
57:11
so bleak and dark. No one thought he could come
57:13
back and be president. And to have him this week now be
57:17
the 47th president of the United States should give hope to all
57:19
Republicans that we can win despite the enormous opposition
57:24
that we get from the other side, which, by the way, I'm not
57:27
seeing any protests. So I think they they're
57:31
defeated. So I mean, it's really a model
57:33
We have to study what President Trump did and how to win back
57:36
power and model that here in California.
57:37
Well, the thing that I think President Trump knows in spades
57:41
is mass communications, like constantly communicating,
57:45
constantly showing up. He's got major hustle and grit.
57:47
And he he, he continually will communicate.
57:50
And I think that in and of itself, like you were saying
57:52
earlier, is a secret to all of this.
57:54
He's a great marketer. The Gulf of the Gulf of Mexico
57:57
will now be the Gulf of America Very.
57:59
Funny. I'm all for it.
58:02
Thank you so much for joining. Thank you.
58:04
We'll do this again. Yeah.
58:05
I'll be happy too. This is awesome, thank you A.
58:07
Huge thank you to our partner. EWTNEWTN is the largest
58:12
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58:15
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58:18
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