← Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
No More Forever Wars. with Miles Taylor.
00:16:06
In this special episode, Independent Americans host Paul Rieckhoff joins former Trump DHS Chief of Staff and Defiance.org co-founder Miles Taylor from an undisclosed WeWork in Washington to announce a bold new partnership to elect 100 independent veterans to office this fall. As Trump escalates a reckless war with Iran and green-lights new military adventurism, Paul and Miles break down why veterans are uniquely positioned to challenge both parties, defend democracy, and finally end America’s forever wars.
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- [00:01]
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- [01:01]
Bleacher Report Announcer
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- [01:03]
Paul
Let's go, Grandpa. Wait, you did? Yep, On Carvana.
- [01:07]
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- [01:09]
Paul
a few questions, got an offer in minutes. Easier than setting up that new digital picture frame. You don't say.
- [01:15]
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Paul
Talk about fast. Wow. Way to go. So about that picture frame. Ah, forget about it. Until Carvana makes one, I'm not interested.
- [01:25]
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- [01:30]
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- [02:06]
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- [02:35]
Miles Taylor
The true believer is defecting from the inside in a second term that he designed to have no defections. That is even more damaging to him. And he's done everything he can to try to threaten and intimidate people in that administration to not do what Joe Kent did. I think you're right. I think Tulsa Gabber is flirting with that line. I'm not even sure as speak if she knows quite where she is going to end up. You could see it in her face. As she testified, she was not ready to be having this conversation about a forever war in Iran. You could tell she wanted to stand up.
- [03:20]
Paul
Independent Americans around the country and around the world. We've got a special guest today and a special episode to help us stay vigilant in these trying wild and crazy times. I teased it on yesterday's show. Now I've got it for you if you're watching on YouTube. Welcome to a WeWork at an undisclosed location somewhere in Washington. Sorry, yeah, yeah, we're in Washington.
- [03:42]
Miles Taylor
Yeah.
- [03:43]
Paul
But we're about to run over and do a conversation on deadline White House to announce a really exciting new partnership. And I'm very happy to be joined by a guy who has been a true patriot, a voice of reason, a voice of truth, a voice of courage, and a guy who has been meeting this moment since the first Trump administration and a guy that I'm very proud to be partnering with the great and powerful Miles Taylor is here on Independent Americans for a special episode.
- [04:10]
Miles Taylor
Great to be here.
- [04:11]
Paul
Great to have you, man.
- [04:12]
Miles Taylor
I got to say all that right back at you. I mean, look, you know, as the Irish say, straight in, no kissing. I don't think you can say that. It's like St. Patrick's Day week so
- [04:21]
Paul
you can say that.
- [04:22]
Miles Taylor
So to go straight in. You know, Paul, when we were thinking about over at this, I run an organization called Defiance Top and we were thinking about who are the voices Americans most need to hear from right now. I mean, the country is barreling deep into a war that is making people panic about their pocketbooks. It's making people panic about their lives and their livelihoods and their way of life. And who can best capture the gravity. It's the people who've served this country in uniform in forever wars. And I think it was a no brainer to us, me and my co founders, Anders Schultz said we gotta reach out to Paul, we gotta talk to Iva about teaming up with them to make sure we can help in our own small way amplify the voices of veterans around this country, because no one is better positioned to tell this administration and Congress what we are getting into than the people who've been in it before. So I'm incredibly grateful for what you guys have been doing, sincerely. I mean, people do a lot of hand waving about that, but it matters. I mean, it makes a difference when it's your voice and not a thousand different doom scrollers on substack or YouTube. It matters. We got to make sure that the veterans are heard here. And I think it can also change the trajectory of some of these conflicts our country is getting involved in.
- [05:37]
Paul
Yeah. So we talk a lot about how we're united in this moment. I think uniquely, especially in opposition to the Iran war. People of all backgrounds, left, right, everywhere, especially independents, are raising their voices. We've partnered with you guys to focus on ending forever wars, you know, being here. A pro democracy group. We are. We are as well. We're talking about Independent Veterans of America, but also about my show about being a voice to challenge authority, to defend democracy and try to bring people together. And you've been supportive from the beginning in our efforts to speak truth to power, to focus on national security and veterans issues, to reach independence, especially. And now to get independent veterans elected. So these guys have stepped up. They're making a generous donation. They're hitting their list. They're activating their community to try to support us at Independent Veterans America. And our goal to get 100 independent veterans elected this fall. We think we can really turn the tide in the way this is going, push back against Trump and give people an option who are upset about this war but don't want to join the Democratic Party. Right.
- [06:35]
Miles Taylor
And, you know, real talk, you and I have been around Washington for quite some time, and there are a lot of members of Congress, a lot of elected leaders throughout the country who want to go play, you know, cowboy or toy soldier. And they're all too ready to vote for war and to give an administration, Democrat or Republican, a blank check. And it tends to be the veterans in Congress and elsewhere who have a little bit more pause when it comes to putting people's lives on the line for military adventurism overseas. And I think it's really, really important that we have elected leaders who have served. And this isn't, you know, it's trying to say this isn't a Democrat issue or Republican issue. It's not. I mean, I remain a conservative. I'm no longer in the Republican Party because of Donald Trump, but I remain a conservative and I can still say that there are huge, huge faults that have been undertaken by my side of the political spectrum because a failure to heed the voices of people who have served and, you know, my experience with Donald Trump, people love him or hate him. I think they're now starting to realize how this man really operates, which is he doesn't have a plan. He's always pretending he has a plan. He doesn't have a plan. I don't care if people voted for him or not. There's always an opportunity to open your eyes and say, you know, I don't like that. And we're seeing a lot of people from the MAGA movement this week starting to defect. I mean, I'm no huge fan of Joe Kent. Joe Kent ran for Congress. I tried to make sure he lost his congressional race. I spent a lot of money against Joe Kent. He won. And then he eventually was named director of the National Counterterrorism center on the Trump administration. But you know what Joe Kent did? He said, it's never too late to do the right thing. And he resigned in protest this week from the administration. He suddenly served in uniform. And he said, you know, that's my red line. We're not going to go into a war without planning and where there clearly was not an imminent threat. That was damning. I'm sure it was a hard thing for him to do. He's going to suffer some of the consequences. But we need people standing up, whether they're far left, far right, or in the center. But our independent veteran voices, I think, speak for the American conscience more than anyone.
- [08:45]
Paul
We think so, too. We think they can be the tip of the spear and also inspire other people and welcome other people into what is a growing pro democracy, defending America movement. We do know that I got a lot of listeners, a lot of viewers who are just joining this week who have been Trump supporters who are just finding out about us and want an alternative to the Democrats, want an alternative to msnbc, but also care especially about our national security and about our veterans. Let me ask you a specific question and that we don't have long. So, folks, if you are watching for the first time, hit subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on Spotify on all social media. Check out miles taylor and defiance.org because you guys are doing something important. You're actually providing ammunition. You're helping us train, support, recruit and elect independent veterans, which you need, right? I've said often, I'm kind of like Zielinski, right? I don't need a ride. I need Ammunition. We need that ammunition. But let me ask you a question related to the news. Joe Kent is out. Tulsi Gabbard didn't look good in front of Congress this week. And I feel like she's having this crisis of conscience, if she still has one. I've known her for a long time. She feels like she could be the next person to break. And maybe the only reason they're not firing her is because they're afraid that she'll turn against them. Because you can't trust Tulsi. Right. And so she might get out and then immediately turn against them. But it feels like a moment where people are, the dam is breaking, they're gonna leave. And there could be this opposition that used to be inside. People like Joe Kent, Tucker Carlson, so many others. You were that guy. You were anonymous. You broke ranks. Do you feel like that there is a moment now that is even bigger than the one when you left?
- [10:15]
Miles Taylor
Yes, and here's why. Because unlike my criticisms of the president, these are folks that were true believers in the MAGA movement. I realized going into that administration that Donald Trump was never going to become the type of conservative I wanted him to be, which was a small government conservative, you know, small l libertarian, kind of continuing some of the traditions of the past 50 years of conservatism. He wasn't going to become Ronald Reagan. He had a new populist and in my view, very lawless perspective on what to do with federal power. And I couldn't buy into that. And I represented an old guard of Bush, Reagan Republicans. Joe Kent in every single way embodied the populist MAGA movement. He was bought into it hook, line and sinker. And when you lose your truest believers, that is so much more powerful than losing someone who is ideologically on the periphery of what you were doing. Now, I'll say, and this is not meant to be self aggrandizing. It had an impact to come forward and do that. You know, me and a lot of my peers in that administration, people in much more senior jobs, the confirmed cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, people of similar ideological stripes came forward after I came forward. And a big group of us, I think, had a very sizable impact on the 2020 election. And Donald Trump certainly thinks so. He thinks the people who defected denied him reelection in part in 2020. The true believers defecting from the inside in a second term that he designed to have no defections, that is even more damaging to him. And he's done everything he can to try to threaten and intimidate people in that administration to not do what Joe Kent did. And I think you're right. I think Tulsi Gabbard is flirting with that line. I'm not even sure, as we speak if she knows quite where she is going to end up. You could see it in her face as she testified, she was not ready to be having this conversation about a forever war in Iran. You could tell she wanted to stand up.
- [12:15]
Paul
Yeah, well, come on out, because I'm sure you're listening. Jessica, you're listening. Kelsey, I'm sure you're listening. You know, subscribe, you know, and no doubt the government is listening to everything this guy says. Trump has threatened to arrest you and do lots of other things, but I think it's a moment where people are standing up and they're putting country over party. That's what my show has been about. That's what our work has been all about, and that's what your. Your quest has been all about. So, you know, I really want to thank you for your courage, for your support. I want to have you back on the show where we can do a deeper dive on what you're doing. But Defiance is really, really important because you're bringing people together and we're aligning with you as a part of this kind of Voltron to defend our democracy. He's like Godzilla. He's rampaging through our city, and anybody who can take a shot at Godzilla is welcome on our team. My enemy's enemy is my friend in this moment, and I think we're going to see some exciting collaborations happen. I've said this before, in every crisis, there's an opportunity. And the opportunity around this terrible Iran war that's spiraling out of control is that we've got unanimity and popularity on opposing it in America across all political lines in a way we haven't on any other issue. Ice was like the preview. This is the main event. Everybody hates this shit.
- [13:24]
Miles Taylor
This is the main event.
- [13:24]
Paul
Right?
- [13:25]
Miles Taylor
And I'll say that this is the opportunity, truly, for people to speak up. And what was so scary last year is Trump came back into office and the intimidation at first seemed very, very successful. And we have never seen such a coordinated effort intimidate so many individuals and sectors of a society, as we did at the beginning of the second ever, ever, ever in American history. And it was scaring people in a submission. They were capitulating. They were taking the knee. But the more people that have stood up, the more courageous other people are getting. It lowers the price of Dissent. What you guys are doing, we're so happy to support it. It's why we launched Defiance is we realized in our own personal lives after Trump came after us that the switch didn't flip for us as a family until we decided to fight back. When we decided to defy, it changed everything. We were sad and navel gazing because our business had been destroyed, our family had been threatened. We thought we were going to have to sell the house to pay for legal bills to defend ourselves against the administration. And it wasn't until my wife, not me, my wife had the stones to say, no, this is wrong. We're going to fight back. That switch flip changed our lives, made it easier to pull people into the fight. That's what we're trying to do. You guys are doing it so effectively, and we're just really proud to be part of it.
- [14:35]
Paul
Right on. Courage is contagious. So if you want to spread the courage from miles and what we're putting out in the show, check out defiance.org he's also got a show. It's fantastic. With our buddy Xander Schultz. Shout out to Xander and everybody on the Defiance team for making this campaign happen. It'll all be linked in the show notes, and we're going to keep this conversation going. Man, we got to stick together in times like this, especially. And especially because you got a leather jacket on. Anybody who wears a leather jacket and black T shirt on cable television, I got to respect that.
- [15:04]
Miles Taylor
I also need you guys to keep the pressure on Paul, because it occurs to me that the last time we had an independent president in the United States of America, he was also a service member. His name was George Washington. So there's a good tradition of independent presidents in this.
- [15:20]
Paul
He had much better hair than me. I'm not ready to run for president, but. But an independent president is an exciting thing. And I think George Washington is our spirit animal. And he said famously, when we assume this, this. When we assume the citizen. Soldier. Sorry. When we assume the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen. And we're all soldiers in this fight now. We're all citizens. We're all fighting back. Thank you to everybody for tuning in for this special episode. Support. And my friend Miles and all his work at Defiance and everything else he does. He's one of the folks out there that's helping us stay vigilant. We're all in this together. Check out the new episode on YouTube. Wherever you're listening right now. Go back and check out our archives. Keep spreading the word. Invite others to declare their independence. And until next time, stay vigilant. Tell me you guys have new. Tell me about it.
- [16:13]
Independent Veterans of America Representative
Yeah, look, I mean, if there's one thing I learned in the first term, if Donald Trump has one vulnerability, it is with America's veterans. It's with America's veterans. He has called these people suckers and losers. And with the Iran war spiraling over@diance.org, we felt like the most important thing right now is to give more voice to people who have fought in these forever wars. And I could not think of a better person to team up with than Paul. He runs Independent Veterans of America. They're doing extraordinary work to uplift those voices. So we've teamed up with them to launch a nationwide campaign to say, no more Forever wars and mobilize the country's independent veterans like Paul. And frankly, to hold up the mirror to Donald Trump and say, you think these guys are suckers and losers? They're going to have you look in this thing right here. But Paul, over to you, because you guys are doing the brave work.
- [17:06]
Paul
Yeah. I mean, forever wars are almost universally unpopular. It's not just Iran. It's about continuing to go further, to go into Cuba, potentially strike Mexico, and to be unaccountable. I think veterans especially, especially of all backgrounds, understand that's wrong. It's un American, it's unconstitutional, and it needs to stop. And we will step up to do it. We've got the fighters. We've got fighters who can raise their voices, who want to run for election and can win. So we're going to try to run 100 independent veterans all across this country, folks, who can win where Democrats can't and push back, defend our democracy. We've got the fighters and we need the ammo, and they're helping us out.
- [17:37]
Independent Veterans of America Representative
If I could make one appeal, I'll just say this for his organization. They are amazing people. They are patriots. I've long respected. Paul. Folks should go to independentveteransofamerica.org and check out what they're doing. Defiance.org is thrilled to partner with them on this. These guys are heroes, and these are the types of people who are going to keep us out of wars like this.
- [17:54]
Paul
All right, you guys, I'm glad that I get to have you at this table on all manner of discussions, but this is important stuff, and we're happy to have you guys here to talk about it. Archipelago, he tells me the left and right are dreams for those without a clue. And when you wait, it's time to grow and it's not cool to believe in school. But if I can say one thing, I've seen the children of the revolution and the good trouble they can bring, he says. The red and blue identity dependent is an attitude, an island in the sea of rhetoric and ace dreams for those without a clue. And when you wait, it's time to grow. Powered by Righteous Media.
- [18:42]
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- [19:42]
Paul
If you like the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.