Braylon Hollihan (7:43)

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Bubba Bussey (7:45)

I'll tell you where.

Braylon Hollihan (7:46)

He's on the lake.

Bubba Bussey (7:49)

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All right.

Bubba Bussey (8:20)

All right.

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Bubba Bussey (9:36)

Welcome back, everybody, to Bubba on the Lake. We have a very special guest, young man we've been trying to talk to for several weeks now, Brylan Hollihan. And Brylan, you were on a campus tour for Turning Point across the country. What do you technically. What is the name of this is it campus tours or how do you say it exactly?

Braylon Hollihan (10:00)

Well, good morning, Bubba. Thanks so much for having me. It's an honor to be on Bubba on the Lake. This is like the fastest growing podcast in the state. So I am aw, honored to be here. And we're calling it the One Conversation at a Time tour. We're going to 10 college campuses across the country, 10 different turning point chapters. And you've seen the news of how fast these Turning Point chapters are growing and how interested people are of young people getting off the sidelines. It's been amazing. We are three stops in. My fourth stop is tonight at Stanford University. Next week I'll be at Auburn in Alabama. So we're trying to spend some time here in the state before we head back out. And it's been amazing to see these students go off the sidelines.

Bubba Bussey (10:34)

Rolan we were all just horrified at what transpired a few weeks ago with the assassination, and I don't know what else you could call it but that of Charlie Kirk. And, you know, he was killed for what he believed, what he was saying. He was a big proponent of the First Amendment, liked to get out and have those discussions. He. He was cut from a cloth that not a lot of people come from, and very bold in his faith and paid a terrible price for that. We're still, when I think about it, I'm just sickened. I really am. I cannot believe that we have got to that point in this country.

Braylon Hollihan (11:19)

You know, yesterday was a three week anniversary and it really still doesn't feel real. There have been several times in the last three weeks that I've caught myself where, like, something will happen. And typically, like, when I have an opportunity come my way, before I take it or before I make a decision on it, I normally text to Charlie because he was a few years ahead of me. He had kind of had some experience, and he was the mentor that I would go to. And so even just the past few weeks when, like, stuff would come up and we would have opportunities kind of drop in our lap, Charlie would be the guy that I would turn around a text, and as I'm typing the text, and I was like, oh, my goodness, there's no Charlie to respond anymore. Like, that's insane. And just like, what a crazy world that we live in. That, like, this is the part that gets me. Bubba, how do you explain to his two young babies that your dad went to a college campus, the one place you're supposed to have free expression of ideas, and he never came home. Like, that's an insane concept that he was simply just championed civil discourse. Like, that's what he lived and died doing, Trying to talk to people, trying to have conversations. And one of the very last things that we ever talked about, we were talking about him starting this tour and, like, the importance of getting back out there even after the election. A lot of people try to take their foot off the gas after the election, said, we don't need to go to campuses right now. Wait till the midterms. But Charlie understood conversation doesn't stop in the awful election season. You got to keep engaging our generation. You can't just court their vote right before election time. And the comment that he made was, bryon, the day that civil discourse dies, America goes to civil war. And Bubba, we can't let that happen. We're getting to that point where people that simply talk are getting shot. And it's really easy to shoot somebody. It is really easy to get up and scream in my face on the campus. What's hard is having a conversation. And that's why we called this tour the one conversation at a time tour. Because one campus at a time, one conversation at a time, we're going to these places. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's incredibly scary. It's a bizarre concept to have to have metal detectors outside of my speeches. Like, I've never had that before. It's a bizarre concept to have to walk into rooms with men in suits and guns. Like, that's insane, Bubba, that I can't just go to a campus and talk to people. But it's the world we live in.

Bubba Bussey (13:27)

Yeah, it's. It's just, it's so unbelievable. I mean, I can't even really believe we're having this conversation about it. I still can't. You know, I've got some people I've talked to, and I'll tell you too, one of the things I was shocked at the response of some people who does, who does not share our faith or our belief system, that they were celebrating this and making fun of this. You know, we had all this in the headlines. I think a lot of people get confused with free speech and what it's all about. I mean, if you get down, Braylon, to the purest form of it, it's actually free speech. You're protected from the government. And obviously no soldiers were running out there telling everybody that what they could and couldn't say. But Charlie had free speech. Other people had free speech to say the things that he was saying they disagreed with. But again, when you carry it to violence is when our. We lose. Our country loses, our democracy loses. And you know, again, I, I think I would like to think that there are decent, decent people that would go, I disagree with Charlie Kirk, or I disagree with the way that he did what he did, but you know, he has the right to say it and he certainly should not have been assassinated over it. And I guess I just thought that should have been a universal response to that. But I was shocked that it was not.

Braylon Hollihan (15:04)

You know, the first thought that I had when I got that message from the hospital that he had passed was, this is horrible, this is a tragedy. But like, if anything comes out of this, our country has to unify. And I'm thinking maybe this is going to be that September 12th moment that you and I have talked about before where like right after 9 11, the whole country kind of came together and was like the tragedy that happened that rocked our country was disgusting. Now let's put out our American flags and unite together. It's not red versus blue anymore. It's good versus evil. And Bubba, we saw revival amongst our side, but we haven't really seen that unity yet. And that's what disgusts me. And you'll understand this, being from the great state of Alabama, our friends over@al.com are not the most friendly or like minded people as you've had some experience with as well. And they put a fun story out just A few days after the assassination, you know, claiming that I was attacking these professors at some of the universities here in our state who were simply using their freedom of speech to disagree with Charlie. And I was calling these universities to make sure that those professors got fired that disagreed with Charlie. That's not what happened at all. I called up my friends on boards of universities across this great state and shit posts to them. When they had professors that were applauding the assassination of my friends, when we had, you know, professors that are paid with tax dollars that were playing the video of Charlie's assassination in their class, and out loud, laughing. That's the part that hurts about this, Bubba. And, like, genuinely, it's very painful one to, like, see your friend assassinated on live tv. It's also very painful when the whole world watches it as well. But the most painful part is when you get on social media and your own friends are posting it to their Instagra with the applauding emoji. Like, they are giddy and excited and, like, laughing at the fact that an American hero was assassinated for his political beliefs. I would be disgusted if the same thing happened on the left. This is not what we can go to in the country.

Bubba Bussey (17:06)

Yeah, I don't want to see some of these people that I think are, you know, off their rocker is the nicest way I know to put it. Braylon. I don't want to see them harmed, but I don't want to see them in charge either. So, you know, I go out and I speak against them and I work against them, and I vote against them, and I hope they don't get to make the. That's how it works. But I'm not going to take up arms. And, you know, that is just. It's the purest form of evil. Again, taking advantage of our freedom of the Second Amendment. It's just. I mean, I'm just so taken back by what I have seen in the aftermath of this. I guess I shouldn't be. When we had Covid going on, I saw the way people were acting over toilet paper. So, you know, I mean, you just, you, you just begin to wonder, what in the world. Country am I living in here? And it's got bizarre and Braylon, let me. Let me speak to this, too. And you, you, you give me your comments on it. Charlie had an abrasive style, and that's what I was told by some of my other. And these are Christians, they said, well, don't care. You know, he gets in everybody's face and he wants to argue and you know, that's not being the peacemaker and all this stuff. And I said, have you seen the way that Jesus acted? Do you think he was abusive to, to the, to the religious leaders of that day? I said, you know, he, he came into Jerusalem, they were hailing him as the Messiah and the speeches that he made and the actions that he did that week. They were so mad at him by thirsty, they wanted to crucify him. So I would have to put that under. He was slightly abrasive in his approach. Look at Paul, look at Paul. Everywhere he went they tried to kill him. And again he was telling them the good news, but he was telling it and not backing off the truth of this. And like say they tried to kill him every which way they could and finally did with all the apostles. They all ended up in those kind of setups. And again, I don't think anybody would lay their life down for something they knew was a fake story, which we've always heard that the resurrection was, or that's what they tried to sell it. But you know, sometimes you just, if you're going to tell the truth, you know, there's some people that are very smooth in their presentation. There's some people that are a little more abrasive. What do you say to that?

Braylon Hollihan (19:43)

I would say that the guy that they're calling abrasive was the most effective political operative of our generation. And the people that sat and hold your hand and said, please join the Republican party got nowhere. But the guy that went to college campuses and said, hey, let's have a conversation. He got somewhere and I want to be really clear, like Bubba, where we stand with Charlie. He could have very easily spent the rest of his long life on this planet doing a podcast from the comfort of his home. He didn't have to go on campuses. He could have writt books, did a show, stayed with his family and his two young babies would have a dad to tuck them in tonight. Like that's he did. He chose to go into these dark places, the darkest places on the planet, college campuses. And he knew the security risk. I've been to these campuses with him dozens of times. We've understood the risk before this. Like we knew that this is a possibility and he still chose to do this. And I think that brings to a broader narrative of left wing violence as a whole. We don't have to live like this. Like, we don't have to live in a country where we have political assassinations. We, we don't have to live In a country where we have churches shot up and burnt to the ground like we saw this past weekend. We don't have to live in a country, Bubba, where just three weeks ago, don't forget that innocent teenager sitting on the light rail in North Carolina, had her cut, her throat slit. And the week before that, the horrible preschool in Minneapolis got shot up through its windows while the kids were on their knees praying. We don't have to accept this. We don't have to live in a nation where we just become numb to this, where not only Charlie, but all of these horrible things have happened just in the past month. We just say, oh, that's another news cyc. Well, let's pick up and keep going. We'll leave it to bigger matters to handle. We have to actually make a course correction. We should have left political assassination back in the 60s. This is insane.

Bubba Bussey (21:25)

Yeah, it really is. And there's certain groups out there that just seem to be more violent than others, and people don't like you pointing that out, but it is true. It's the facts. I mean, you can look at the numbers. It's. It's just such a crazy thing. And Braylon, I look back the moments before he was assassinated, such a beautiful day. He was in a state that you. I would think you would feel safe in. If. If I was speaking and saying what he was saying, I wouldn't think that this would be a place I would have to, you know, have extra security. Maybe if I was in, you know, some other places, and just to see what happened in that day and talk a little bit, because I know you have to deal with this, too. Security. I've heard people say, well, why didn't they have this? Why didn't they have that? You know, when the President goes in, they have a lot of people, but if you're just a private speaker, you might have two or three people. You don't have that thing covered on the presidential level. There's no way to do it.

Braylon Hollihan (22:36)

Not. Not even close. And most of the time, you're relying on the campus security. And I'm not saying that, you know, this is solely on their fault, but there should have been some people on roofs looking out in this situation. Like that should have been something after, you know, Butler, Pennsylvania, with Trump last year, that we were kind of more of aware of than normal. But this isn't something that, you know, people expected going into this. You're right. It was Utah, of all places. I really think, like, it's. It's a sad state that you have to have campus security and private security walk you in to give a 30 minute spe on campus. Like, that's an insane concept, Bubba. And it just keeps spiraling. And now, like we just saw, they had the first Turning Point event back in Utah two nights ago, and they had drones up in the air, they had snipers on the roof. These are private security because Turning Point has to cover all this. It's not like they have state police out there, you know, protecting just, you know, political pundits that want to come in and talk. You're right. This is not the precedent. There's no, like, Secret Service apparatus. And so it's an insane world that you're spending an insane amount of money on security just so you can talk. Like, of all places, these campuses are supposed to be the safe haven for civil discourse. And listen, Charlie and I have encouraged people that disagree with us to come to our speeches. I don't know if you've seen Charlie's format before, but when he finishes his talk and opens the microphone, he says, please, if you disagree with me, come to the front of the line. We want to do that first before we have an echo chamber of thought and ideas where people are just constantly applauding him on these campuses and saying, yes, we agree with everything you say, Charlie. He said, please, if you disagree with me, if you're here to protest me, come to the front of the line. I want to give you a priority to let your voice be heard. The person that assassinated him, that coward, could have come to the front of the line like everybody else and had a conversation and this whole thing could have been resolved.

Bubba Bussey (24:16)

Yeah, he was. He was quite a bird. It sounds like we're talking to Braylon Hollyhand. He is on a campus tour for Turning Point. Braylon, let's take a quick break and we'll come back. I want to learn a little more about you and your background. You're listening to Bubba on the Lake.

Braylon Hollihan (24:34)

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Braylon Hollihan (26:42)

19 years old. I'm a freshman at Auburn.

Bubba Bussey (26:44)

Well, you carry yourself very well. Very well spoken. Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you grow up? What is your background? When did you become a believer? Give everybody the background story on Braylon.

Braylon Hollihan (26:59)

I would love to. So I got interested in politics a little bit earlier than most people. I was in the fourth grade. I was 11 years old. I'm born and raised in beautiful Tuscaloosa. I grew up listening to your show on the way to school every day. And that's part of the upbringing. That's kind of the upbringing I had, like being raised in a Christian conservative household. But it wasn't pushed on me. And it definitely wasn't like a political activist family. My mom was a schoolteacher, my dad's in construction. They voted, but they didn't have yard signs. They didn't go to rallies. It wasn't really like an intense political family. But I like remember the specific moment that I started paying attention to politics. I was doing some spelling homework in the fourth grade one night in my living room and my parents happened to be watching that first debate between Trump and Clinton. And it was a moment that you remember because it's now gone viral where Clinton made a comment I'd be concerned with someone with the temperament of Donald Trump, have the nuclear codes. And Trump turned really quickly on his feet and said, because you'd be in jail. And like the whole audience started howling and immediately went viral on social media. And I was, I paused for my homework and I was like who is this guy? Like, he talks not like a politician, because keep in mind, the only politicians I'd ever seen were Bush and Obama. Like, they came out with a talking point memo script that a consultant handed them as they walked on the stage. And they didn't shy away from it. And I was like, this guy is, like, unique. Like, I don't know anything about political parties. I haven't got to that point in my fourth grade history class. But I was like, this is unique. And I started watching the next summer. After watching, I got frustrated and didn't see anybody like me on tv. I know this is going to surprise you, but not a lot of fourth graders were allowed on Fox News to give their opinion. And I was like, this is. This is, like, kind of annoying me. Like, we have our opinions. We're not being given a platform. We're not being given a voice. Voice. And finally, after waiting for somebody else to do it, I said, you know what? I'll be the one to step up. So this will also shock you. You can't. You have limited options when you're 11 years old in politics. You can't run for office in the state of Alabama at 11 years old. You also can't start a Twitter account until you're 13. So I couldn't even mean tweets. But I did decide I was going to start a new service. And so once a week, every Wednesday morning, I would send out kind of like a weekly op ed to my friends and family. It started with seven people. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, kind of the people that were forced to read it or be a little awkward at the Thanksgiving dinner table. And they shared it with their Sunday school classes and their co workers and their neighbors. And we stand here today, eight years later, with an audience of well over a million. And that just shows you the testament of grassroots activism. So I did the podcast, I did the, you know, the weekly articles. It was super fun. But I got to a second point in my life where I got frustrated and I kind of felt like I was just a talking head and bubba, unlike my opponents on the left, that when they get frustrated, they go to their local hair salon, dye their hair blue, get a nose ring, grab a bullhorn, and shut down their college campus. I decided to do something a little less destructive to my life with that frustration, and I decided to go back to writing. So I wrote this long form op ed. It was titled the GOP Must Address the Elephant in the Room, Gen Z. And the next morning, I got invited on Fox News for The first time. And I'm sitting on Fox and Friends missing my English class that morning. And I said some words on that show that changed the trajectory of my life. I actually said, the GOP is an endangered species at risk of extinction if we don't wake up and reach out to the next generation. Today I check back into class. I'm sitting in math class and my phone rings. And bubba, what happens when your phone rings in math class? You get a demerit. So immediately the whole class is upset. I interrupted class. My teachers handed me demerits. I don't understand what's going on. Why is this number from Florida calling me? I don't know anybody from Florida. All of my friends are sitting in class around me. We keep on going with class. Phone rings a second time. Teacher hands me that second demerits. And about this time, I get a text saying, the president and his team are trying to call you. Please answer your phone. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. I just went on Fox, called out the president for not reaching out to Gen Z. And now he's calling me out of my math class. So I go and take the Commander in Chief and his team's phone call from my high school bathroom a few doors down, which is not the most ideal place to talk to the leader of the free world in this team because there's some toilet flushes, there's a concrete ceiling overuse. And not the best service. But I had limited options. I was already two demerits in the hole, so what was I going to do? So I decided to use the hall pass to head outside. I pick up the phone and the president's team is saying, so you don't know this, but when you were on Fox and Friends this morning is when President Trump loves to enjoy his morning Diet Coke and watch his favorite show. And he saw this little young whippersnapper on TV call him out and he wants to talk. And so we had a really interesting conversation of him just saying, why did you call me out? What is the thought process here? Because you talk a big game, but do you have ideas? And I told the president's team, I actually think we need to reach out to Gen Z. And I pitched them some ideas. I actually was able to work for the RNC for two and a half years and pitch those ideas throughout the cycle. We launched the President's TikTok. We helped him get on podcasts like Joe Rogan and Theo Vaughn to reach out to Gen Z. I brought him to Brian Denny Stadium. We Threw out hot dogs in the student section together. We got to work together to win the youth vote. And I. So that was that part of my life. Now I'm a freshman at Auburn University, and I'm getting to go to other campuses and speak to people, and it's been so much fun.

Bubba Bussey (32:16)

So, Bryland, you. You've had an experience with the president? I've spent a little bit of time with him. I have found him to be super nice, and he does what he does what he says he's going to do. He takes on a little different Persona, I think, when he gets behind a microphone. But just dealing with him one on one, I found him to be very accommodating and very enjoyable.

Braylon Hollihan (32:44)

Yeah, you're spot on. He's a very personable, down to earth person. To be a New York real estate mogul, you would never expect it. And he's genuinely hilarious. The jokes that he cracks and the driest moments are so funny. I vividly remember the first time that y' all had him call into your show. I think it was before the Luther Strange rally. Yes, I remember. I remember skipping class that morning, and I stayed home to listen to y' all show. So, like, y'. All. Y' all were the reason that I missed that lesson that day. But I, like, I vividly remember him calling in, and that was the first time that I'd, like, heard him in a format other than, like, national, like tv. And I was like, whoa. Like, he's like a very, like, down earth person. He's just cracking up with Rick Abuba. Like, that's so fun. And y' all obviously went to the White House and had him on and continued that relationship together. And that's the guy. He is, like, genuinely. We would talk about golf or college football a lot more than we would talk about political things when we saw each other in person. Like, in the most recent time I saw him, he came, obviously, to give the commencement speech here at the University of Alabama. And I had a few minutes to catch up with him before he walked out on stage. And this is the first time I've seen him since he's been inaugurated. And he's in my hometown. And so I have, like, five minutes with him before Nick Saban's gonna come pull him and bring him on stage to speak to everybody. So I'm, like, trying to use my five minutes, and I'm going through, like, these numbers and statistics and certain states before the midterms that we need him to go to. And, like, I'm Trying to, you know, work over here. And he's like, so, like, what do you think about Deborah? Do you think DeBoer could turn it around? And I'm like, yeah, I think he's got a shot, Mr. President. I'm like, but. But Pennsylvania. If you go to Pennsylvania. He's like, no, no, no. Is this divorce season and are y' all a basketball school now? He's like, are you all a basketball school? Is this a basketball place? Like, that's just loves to just be a charismatic, down to earth person. And I think that's what the media misses so much about him.

Bubba Bussey (34:28)

Braylon, you had mentioned to me when we were setting up to do this interview, we've actually met before.

Braylon Hollihan (34:35)

We have.

Bubba Bussey (34:38)

Me a little bit about that again.

Braylon Hollihan (34:41)

So the first time we ever met, Scott Dawson and I were going into a fundraiser at the club in Birmingham for Mike Huckabee. You probably remember this. Mike Huckabee came into town and they were doing a big fundraiser, and Scott Dawson and I are going into this event together. It's when Scott was running for governor. And we go to get on the elevator and I hear. I think it was Rick scream, hold the door. And so we hold the door and in comes Rick and Bubba and Scott and I. And I'm like, terrified because I listened to y' all that morning, like, on the way to school. And here I was probably 11 or 12 at the time. I just started Dawson's campaign was the first one that I ever helped with. And we ride the elevator up together and he introduces us. Y' all were obviously super nice. We had a cool conversation about Huckabee and just like, how amazing it is that Huckabee was like, such a courageous man of faith and was using that platform and went on with the events. Now, a few months later, at Dawson's election night party, I was actually doing a live stream that night. And so we went around and we're interviewing different people. And I just interviewed Scott. And he turns and he goes, well, have you had Rick and Bubba on the live stream yet? And I was like, no, they were over there at the buffet line last time I walked. And he was like, I'll go pull them. And so he goes and gets you two over, and we start talking. And Bubba, you turned to me and said, well, this guy's the next Steve Jobs. And it went viral on Twitter of Bubba recommending that I could be the next Steve Jobs. And I was like, wow. We had a viral moment thanks to Scott Dawson. So it was Pretty cool.

Bubba Bussey (36:07)

That is. That's funny. I remember that. And I thought, man, this guy, he's got all this, he's out here streaming and he's, he's such a young guy. And, you know, I figured that you'd have your own operating system here in a few years. You know, you were on top of. You are, you're doing great. How is being a college student, you got a little more flexibility with your classes. But how, how is all this going to play into your, your education? Because, you know, they do expect you to show up every now and then, and if you, you get busy on this tour, you're going to have a hard time hitting all those classes.

Braylon Hollihan (36:44)

Classes. You know, I've actually not missed a college class yet. Knock on wood. My class is right after this interview. I've got to go to English and listen to a librarian lecture to me for about an hour. You know, I've made a point to go to the classes. I fly out every afternoon to go give a campus speech, and I fly back that night because I got eight AMS every day. So so far, knock on wood, I've made it to every college class because that's why I'm here. And I was planning to take off this semester from travel, obviously. We just did the campaign with the president. We were crisscrossing the States with his team to all these different campuses. I was ready to kind of take a break from travel and be in one place for six months. And obviously after the assassination, when this tour became a possibility, it was an immediate yes of like, yes, we have to do this. Yes, we can't cower. Yes, we won't be silenced. Yes, we need to go to campuses. And so because of that, it's made it a little bit more difficult, a little bit more stressful. I'm doing a lot of homework on flights back and forth to campus, but I'm enjoying it and I think it's super important. And we're fighting for something bigger than ourselves. And I think that's what makes us, like, possible. Yes, you're right. Like, the hours are a lot better than high school. So, like, I'm not sitting in a desk confined for seven hours every day and trying to fit politics around it. I just have, you know, two or three classes a day and I can do some of these interviews in between the classes. We're going to see what keeps going. A lot of people in the past two or three weeks have offered me some really cool positions and some, some really cool opportunities with the contingency that I drop out of college. And I've turned down some very large figures. I've turned down some, some very large opportunities because I want to be an Auburn Tiger. I want to graduate from this university, I want to, you know, have the college experience of my friends and be here with that political science diploma to kind of back up some credibility to not just this 11 year old with baby fat and glasses saying he knows what politics is about, but kind of having that understanding a little bit on a deeper level. So I'm excited to be here, I'm enjoying it and I'll be here for the next four.

Bubba Bussey (38:37)

Well, that, you know, that that takes a discipline to do that. When I was in school, I dropped out several times to take jobs. Ended up fin. But we do call it the decade of learning for a reason. Braylon, what does the future look like when you get out of Auburn? What are you going to be doing? Do you have political aspirations? Are you strictly looking at spreading the gospel? What are you thinking about doing?

Braylon Hollihan (39:07)

Awesome question, Bubba. I have zero political aspirations in the slightest. I love politics. I eat, sleep and breathe politics. I talk politics to every person in my life. But I have no interest in ever stepping foot in political office because it's so incredibly dirty. And I feel like you get limited in your influence and you get limited in your platform. I actually feel like I have more power and more of a platform, more of an influence with my voice outside of political office than I would by being limited to the confines of it. And literally two weekends ago, Barry Moore, obviously our congressman running for, for the US Senate, came down here to the Auburn game, invited me up, we sat and watched the game together. And he asked me the same question. He was like, so when do I need to start supporting your political pack? And I was like, it's actually not going to happen because I think that I can do more in my position and say more than you can in your position as a U.S. congressman. And he's like, actually, you're right. And so that's kind of the part that I plan to do. What I'm doing right now, I plan to do for the rest of my life until the good Lord takes me home, wherever that may be, whatever I might be doing. And I really want to have this opportunity to talk to people because so many people can go attempt to do this or attempt to do that. And I've been able to be blessed with this platform by the Lord that legitimately makes no sense, Bubba. Like, statistically, an 11 year old should never be here. An 11 year old should have never made it to this point in his career already, you know, just starting college. And this is something, there's something here. And I'm just gonna keep trusting that plan. I'm not closing the door forever. I'm not saying that like if the Lord gives me a call and or an opportunity opens, I'm gonna immediately say no. But my plan is to do this. And I enjoy this and I enjoy talking. I en doing podcasts. I enjoy having this platform to speak on campuses. And genuinely, you can probably agree Charlie had more influence and is being, you know, like remembered more as a martyr than any other really political figure other than the president that could have been assassinated. Like, we're still in like three weeks later of mourning over this generational figure that shaped our country. And he never touched political office.

Bubba Bussey (41:09)

Yeah, I think you're right in a lot of ways because you are limited once you're elected, you, you have limit on what you can do and how you can spend your money and you can be an activist if you would and have a lot more ability to do what you're wanting to do. We're talking to Brylan Holihan. He's on a campus tour for Turning Point. And Brylan, thank you for taking time. I know you're very busy and we appreciate you being on the podcast. We want you to come back and talk to us some more as you get out and make these stops and you get more feedback from everybody about what, what's actually going on on the ground. And you're always welcome to come by. You know, we're not far from Auburn. Come up, ride the pontoon sometime, sit on the porch.

Braylon Hollihan (41:56)

We could do bubble on the lake. From the lake. We could actually do that episode.

Bubba Bussey (42:00)

Yes, I absolutely. And, or if you just want to relax, come up. You need to get out of the limelight. This is a, this, the lake is a good, good place to relax sometimes.

Braylon Hollihan (42:11)

Well, I love that and I appreciate it. We'll always make time for you in this show. I've turned on a lot of podcasts this week and when your incredible family reached out, I was like, this is a fun opportunity. This is just a conversation with a friend. And I'm so excited to have done this. And we'll keep doing it. And I'll tell you, you talked about the tour. The first time I ever spoke at a Turning Point chapter, two years ago, one singular person showed up. It was me and one student. And it was super intimate. And we just packed a ballroom of 500 last night at Ole Miss. And so we're seeing young people get off the sidelines and it's pretty cool to just see this tour grow in just the last two years. So we'll have more updates for in the future, hopefully. We're packing arenas and stadiums one day.

Bubba Bussey (42:50)

Well, listen, you will be, I have no doubt. And we're gonna get out and see you speak, too. So we're excited about just watching what's going on with you. Thank you for interacting with Hunter to get on the podcast. And my daughter is. She's very active in politics and she is actually.

Braylon Hollihan (43:08)

She's the best. I just texted her yes, she's going.

Bubba Bussey (43:11)

Back to D.C. and so she's going to be up in that area again. So she's always got something going on. I tell you, she's. She, she, she can be very driven. I guess that's a good way to put it. Right. I always tell everybody she's our spirited child, but I guess I could just say she's very driven. Right? Is that a good way?

Braylon Hollihan (43:33)

That's a good way. I like it. I like it. We got an awesome family. And please tell Miss Betty I said hey, too.

Bubba Bussey (43:37)

I will. Brylan Holihan with Turning Point. He's on a speaking tour for them. Brylan, thank you for taking time to visit with us at Bubba on the Lake.

Braylon Hollihan (43:48)

Thank you, sir.

Bubba Bussey (43:50)

We'll be right back.

Braylon Hollihan (43:54)

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Bubba Bussey (45:20)

Terms and conditions apply. We're back here at Bubba on the Lake. I am talking to my son, Hunter Bussey. Hunter, how are you?

Hunter Bussey (45:43)

I'm good. How are you, dad?

Bubba Bussey (45:45)

Well, I'm good. I'm good. And we wanted to kind of update everybody on what you're doing now. You've changed jobs recently.

Hunter Bussey (45:52)

I have, I have. I have switched from my role from Southern Immediate Care, which I enjoyed a lot. I got a lot of experience there, a lot of good friends. But it was time for me to jump out of the nest of Southern Immediate Care and jump into the podcasting world with dad and help produce this podcast you're listening to now, Bub on the Lake, as well as the Tailgate Tailgate Show.

Bubba Bussey (46:14)

So you are the newest and first employee of Intergalactic Pants and Tees. How's it?

Hunter Bussey (46:21)

I'm honored. It's such an honor to have that title next to my name. People are like, what does that mean? I'm like, it's. It's hard to explain to you, but it's a David Letterman reference and only my dad could explain. So.

Bubba Bussey (46:32)

Yeah, well, that and some others. We probably need to put a FAQ up about that. Well, yeah, we're glad to have you working with us, Hunter. And I know a lot of. A lot of folks I've talked to who work with their kids. And, you know, your mom was a little concerned us working together, would that harm our relationship. But I think it's all been good so far. And most of the dads I talked to said it was always good to work with their son.

Hunter Bussey (46:59)

Yeah, I mean, I have no complaints. I mean, it's fun. I mean, I'm doing what I want to do in editing and stuff like that and being around technology. So, I mean, it's, you know, something I've always wanted to do and jump in. And people have always asked me, when are you going to get into broadcasting? And I'm kind of, in a way, taking the leap and starting to do that, just, you know, from the bottom of the barrel and climbing my way up to the top, so we'll see what happens, happens.

Bubba Bussey (47:23)

And we're playing with some new technology and some new programs and, you know, we. I tell you, we had an ordeal this week. We've been recording some things with Zoom Audio, and I Got a new iPhone because I was on, like, iPhone9, you know, I was a little bit behind. And we got the new iPhone. We couldn't get it all to work right. So.

Hunter Bussey (47:43)

Which is.

Bubba Bussey (47:43)

We're playing with some other stuff now.

Hunter Bussey (47:45)

Which is crazy to me, because no one has these issues. And, of course, who has these issues? The busies have these issues. So, you know, my first, you know, official thing, it's like, you know, someone getting inaugurated in office, and it's like, hey, congratulations. But here's this, this, and this. There's a hostage situation here. Here's this here. Hey, the economy sucks. Hey. People can't buy their groceries, you know, type of thing. And this is kind of where, you know, I feel like I've been thrown into the wolves a little bit. But we're getting there.

Bubba Bussey (48:13)

We're.

Hunter Bussey (48:13)

We're handling it. And, you know, eventually we'd like to do video, because I've seen a lot of requests. Request about that, and we're working on it. We're experimenting. We're trying. It's just hard to do it when you don't have a studio. That's the problem. You need studio lights to do that. We don't have that. The best option we have right now is our kitchen table. Thankfully, we have curtains now. So if we were to record something in the kitchen and it's during the day with the sun shining through, we could do it where it doesn't look like we're, you know, ascending to heaven. And it's not called Bubble in the Lake. It's called the Ascending podcast. And so, you know, we'll see. We'll see what happens.

Bubba Bussey (48:49)

You know, Hunter, as I'm sitting here, I guess I could have been recording audio here on the road Podcaster, because I'm just using it as a mixer right now. I was just looking at that. I'm not recording on there, but I'm recording on Riverside. Isn't that funny?

Hunter Bussey (49:02)

That's funny. Yeah, we're working out.

Bubba Bussey (49:05)

The guys, you know, we're. This is kind of us pulling the curtain back a little bit. We're. We're playing with the program Riverside, which is. Is really one of the really cool programs out there, and it does video. But, you know, the thing about doing video, then we got to dress up, you know, we got to look like TV people, you know, Hey, I mean.

Hunter Bussey (49:23)

I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm wearing our new tailgate. Tailgate hoodie on our video.

Bubba Bussey (49:28)

I noticed you've got that, and I don't have one yet.

Hunter Bussey (49:31)

Hey, it's in the box. I'm gonna bring it to you next time I see you. It's just yours is black and mine's the blue of our company logo.

Bubba Bussey (49:39)

Well, those are available online. I have to mention now on the website, several of you have asked about those and, you know, I'm excited. Talk a little bit about the Tailgate Tailgate show that you're actually one of the host of.

Hunter Bussey (49:51)

Yeah, yeah, it's me, dad, and our family friend Nathan hall, who is just a hoot when it comes to Indianapolis sports. A quote from him from college when I first met Nathan hall was, if you're not a Indianapolis sports fan, which is the mecca of United States state sports, then we're not going to be friends. And I was like, I mean, I, I mess around with the Colts here and there. I dabble, but I'm not a fan. He was like, that works. So, you know, we've been friends ever since. But yeah, the halls are great people. But I enjoy doing this podcast, the Tailgate Tailgate Show. We've had some friends on there, whether it be, you know, Brad Law to Jim Dunaway to recent friends like Taylor Corn and Emily Grace McWhorter. And then we've had, you know, Spencer Pennington on there as well, former out Alabama quarterback. And hopefully we'll get some more guests on there in the future that people know and, you know, people we can introduce y' all to. But I'm enjoying it. I mean, it's fun. It's different than what, you know, I've been doing a stream on YouTube for like a year or so and it's, you know, you just pop on and you're ready to go. You know what I mean? This one, you're having to, you know, talk and know stats and everything else and know what you're talking about and. Or at least pretend to know what we're talking about as our favorite tagline from the not so Primetime Pickers. So. But I'm enjoying this, though. I mean, it's fun. It's something I've always wanted to do, just never thought I could do it because everyone's like, you know, that's big shoes you have to fill there. Well, you know, I'm me and I'm gonna do it the way that I need to do it to be able to get to where I need to get. And, you know, whatever happens, happens. God's got me, so I'm not really worried.

Bubba Bussey (51:23)

Well, we're, we're excited about doing It. And the tailgate. Tailgate show's been a lot of fun, as you said. And I want to have more fun and expand that just like I do bub on the lake here. And you've been very good helping us line up some guests like Brylan that we just had on earlier. Yeah.

Hunter Bussey (51:40)

Which, by the way, great, great person. Like, I've talked to him briefly whenever we were trying to get it figured out, and he was very understanding. He is an extremely busy person with his campus tours right now and the fact that he set aside time for us, it just made me extremely happy we could get that pulled off.

Bubba Bussey (51:59)

Yeah, he. He is very busy. And I mentioned in the podcast I saw on the news, Montana State, Texas Tech. I think one was at Alabama. It was in the state. Alabama. I think it was University of Alabama. The turning point, doing this huge rallies. So terrible tragedy with Charlie Kirk. But I think a lot of great things are going to come out of it when all said and done.

Hunter Bussey (52:26)

Yeah, No, I agree 100%. And the fact that Bryland's a freshman too, is just crazy. And he's doing this. I mean, that's something I would never think I would be able to do as a freshman. Going into Auburn. Auburn and it's, you know, a scary world, you know, leaving the nest to go, you know, to a college town. But, you know, with being an Auburn fan most of my life, you know, going up there seemed like nothing, you know what I mean? And then you got someone like Bryland who's not only taking that leap for himself, but he's also traveling to other college campuses as a freshman talking about something that someone, you know, who everyone kind of looked up to in a way, who spoke, what he believed in, was killed for. So, you know, that thoughts got to be in the back of his head, but the fact he's doing it, he's so brave, you know what I mean? And I commend him for that. I mean, that's awesome.

Bubba Bussey (53:11)

Yeah. Well, I think all campus speakers have just had to, you know, heavily invest in security because they don't. They don't have presidential level security. No, they got a couple of people standing around and make sure somebody charge them. But yeah, they can't sweep all these buildings. They depend on, you know, the police at these places and sometimes they're undermanned too. You know, they don't have a complete SWAT team to send out there. So, yeah, it's. It can be a tough deal. Well, Hunter, thank you. I'm looking forward to Working with you some more. And, you know, the Bubba on the Lake is really taken off, and we're. We're getting tailgate. Tailgate going, and I hope we have many more. I know you're wanting to do some other projects, so. Yeah, I'm excited about it and. And, you know, we just appreciate everybody letting us and giving us the opportunity to do it.

Hunter Bussey (54:00)

Yeah. And I'm, you know, I'm excited about the future, too, and most of everyone listening has heard me and Caitlin, you know, and mom through, you know, the old Rick and Bubba show and everything, and us growing up. And, you know, I remember people being like, oh, I remember the day you were born. I'm like, oh, were you in the hospital? And they're like, no, I heard it. I'm like, oh, awesome. Thanks, Nita. That today. But, yeah, it's cool for people to, you know, hear that. And then to me being able to work with you now kind of. I wouldn't call it professionally. Let's call it semi professionally, because I don't really know if we could call this professional yet. We can make it professional, but we're having fun right now, and I'm enjoying it, and I'm glad we get to do it.

Bubba Bussey (54:40)

Well, I don't want to get it too professional because I can't live up to that. You know, I mean, we'll take a swack at it and see what happens, so. Well, Hunter, thank you. And I appreciate you helping produce and helping to edit, and that's going to give us some more leeway and things we can do as we continue to grow this little project. And, you know, it's all possible because of you folks that are listening or watching right now. Thank you so much. And we just ask that you help us spread the word. It's so important in this. This genre we're in now that you get those subscription numbers up and you get the followers up and you get the social media things up and all that works together. So, Hunter, thank you very much for taking time out, and I know you'll be probably editing this later right here at Bubba on the Lake. Thank you, sir.

Braylon Hollihan (55:31)

You're listening to Bubba on the Lake.

Bubba Bussey (55:33)

Hit Me Bad.

Braylon Hollihan (55:37)

A production of Intergalactic Pants and Tease.

Bubba Bussey (55:41)

I am so happy to announce that Our family dentist, Dr. Thomas Dutch, has joined my podcast as a sponsor. My entire family have been patients of Dr. Dudney and his team for over 20 years now. I'm going to be telling you a lot more about all of his services and what he does, but I have to tell you, the veneers that he gave me changed my life. I had no idea how big an impact that would have. You can call him today at 205-663-6545, or visit them at thomasdudd and find out more.

Braylon Hollihan (56:17)

All right. All right. It's a beautiful day for football here at the stadium, and we're just about ready for kickoff. Score.00. And suddenly I'm in the mood for.

Bubba Bussey (56:26)

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Braylon Hollihan (56:35)

Yeah, crisp, refreshing, that hits the spot when it comes to great taste. Coke Zero Sugar is always on the scoreboard. Coke Zero sugar. Real Coke, taste zero sugar.

Bubba Bussey (56:47)

Well, folks, thank you for tuning in to Bubba on the Lake. That's about going to do it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed that great interview with Brylan Holihan. Also, good to catch up with Hunter and getting to see him a lot more every day. And we're really enjoying that. And we appreciate all of your emails, your thoughts, your prayers, everything that you do for the podcast, because without you, it would not exist. And as I said earlier, if you don't mind, reach out if you're enjoying this and share it with somebody. And we need to keep building those numbers up, keep those things moving forward. All the information you need about this podcast you can find on bubbaonthelake.com of course, email me bubbaonthelake.com and we always have the message line 308. Big late. So, again, thank you. We want to thank Bryland Hollyhan for being on Hunter, for being on, remember, the Tailgate, Tailgate show. Wherever you get podcasts, we'd love for you to join in on that, too. It's more of a fun look at college football, and we've got a lot of big plans coming up. So we're excited about the future and we hope that you'll be there with us, too. So until we sail into port again, remember, God loves you. We do, too. Thank you for being a part of Bubba on the Lake. This podcast is brought to you in part by Koch, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise Docs, Banker's Bounty, and Dr. Thomas Dudney. Hey, it's Bubba. Hey, Bubba. Bubba on the Lake. Bubba on the Lake. J.