Pure Joy Patriotism

Summary

Morning Wire – “Pure Joy Patriotism”

Date: July 6, 2026
Hosts: Georgia Howe, John Bickley
Guests: Teague “Purejoy” McCoy & Costin McCoy, co-founders of Unify USA
Main Theme: The rise of a grassroots movement aiming to reignite pride in the American flag and unify people across the nation through inclusive, positive events.

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Episode Overview

In this special Fourth of July weekend episode, Georgia Howe talks with Teague “Purejoy” McCoy and his brother Costin McCoy about their patriotic campaign, Unify USA. They discuss the origins of their unique runs carrying the American flag across the country, how their movement aims to bring Americans together beyond politics, and the overwhelmingly positive response they’ve received. The brothers share their motivation, military family background, and advice for anyone wishing to join.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin of the Movement

• Teague’s Inspiration
  • Teague describes a moment of prayer and searching for purpose, leading to his first flag run:
    • “I was laying in the bed of my truck one night and…praying to God for about 45 minutes…I had a PVC pipe with a flag mounted to my truck...The next day I picked it up for 22 miles…My father rolled up...with a video and it went mega viral and the rest is history.” (02:04)
• Costin Joins & National Expansion
  • Costin proposes organizing runs across all fifty states to foster unity:
    • “Two months later…we could start a national movement that does an event in every single state…to unify the American people, one step and smile at a time.” (02:47)

2. Unify USA: The Organization

• Current Status
  • The brothers have completed runs in 5 of the 50 states; Unify USA is less than a year old but growing fast. (03:15–03:22)
• Mission
  • The focus is on positivity and unity, not political divides:
    • “We’ve been traveling state by state, unifying people with patriotic positivity, regardless of political affiliation or any opinions that you might have. Just love and positivity.” (02:47)

3. Execution of Patriotic Runs

• How Runs Are Organized
  • Initially spontaneous, now organizing larger, more coordinated events with hospitality:
    • “At first it was just like a flash pop up…Now we’re…having…venues…so it’s a bit more accommodating and there’s a lot more hospitality…to make it an ultimately better experience…” (Teague 06:00–06:29)
• Community Engagement
  • Hosts mention footage from a Nashville run, noting the positive community response and inspiration for inviting the brothers on the show. (06:30–06:44)

4. Public Response

• Positivity Outweighs Negativity
  • The majority has been supportive, despite some negative encounters:
    • “People have spit at me, people have cursed at me, people have splashed water on me...On rainy days we keep on moving forward. We tell them we love them…trying to spread as much love as possible.” (Teague, 01:03)
    • “We say it’s about 90% positive and 10% negative…We tell them we love them and we keep it pushing because negativity hasn’t worked, so why would we keep doing it?” (Costin, 06:53–07:14)
    • “Even if they say no [to prayer], I go on my own time and I pray for them.” (Teague, 07:14)

5. The Symbolism of the American Flag

• Why The Flag?
  • Deep multi-generational military heritage informs their respect for the flag:
    • “We have four previous generations of active military service, and we saw a lot of people dishonoring and disrespecting our colors…The bare minimum…is that you should respect our flag…You can go to Russia, but you can’t be a Russian. You can go to French, but you can’t be a Frenchman. Anybody can come to America…the right way and be an American.” (Teague 07:32)
• Inclusivity & Patriotism
  • The American flag as a unifying symbol, open to all:
    • “If you’re going to come here, at least respect our soil and…honor the people who fight to protect it day in and day out.” (Teague, 07:32)

6. How to Join & Event Details

• Upcoming Events
  • Next run planned for Washington D.C., late July or early August:
    • “We’re looking at Washington D.C. end of July, early August. We don’t have an exact date yet…So excited to bring some freedom in Washington D.C., our capital for America.” (Costin 08:21)
• Participation Requirements
  • All fitness levels are welcome, and attendees can bring their own flags or wear patriotic attire:
    • “Fitness level…does not matter as we are not a race.” (Costin, 08:57)
    • Unique “reverse Indian run” format ensures no one is left behind:
      • “The person from the back sprints to the front…what we do is the exact opposite…everybody from the front turns around and runs back and the caboose becomes the leader…As we do that, we scream a chant: Who do we leave behind? Nobody!…No soldier left behind. We want to make sure everybody crosses the finish line equally.” (Teague, 09:07–09:35)
• Contact & Social Links
  • Instagram: @unifyusaofficial
  • Facebook: @unifyUSA
  • Personal accounts: @purejoymccoy, @costinmccoy (09:34–10:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On overcoming negativity with positivity:
  “People have spit at me, people have cursed at me...we keep on moving forward. We tell them we love them.”
  — Teague Purejoy McCoy (01:03)

• On the movement’s growth:
  “We’re just trying to put all the pieces together and make sure we can unify as many Americans as possible.”
  — Teague Purejoy McCoy (03:22)

• On inclusiveness:
  “Who do we leave behind? Nobody!...We want to make sure that everybody feels as if they are a part of the unification of America.”
  — Teague Purejoy McCoy, describing their runs (09:07–09:35)

• Parting Blessing:
  “God bless every single person that’s a part of this production. God bless the American people. God bless our troops. And God bless America, baby.”
  — Teague Purejoy McCoy (10:10)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:03 – Teague describes negative and positive reactions during his runs
• 02:04 – Origin story: Teague’s prayer and first viral event
• 02:47 – Costin details the plan for a national movement
• 03:15 – Current progress: five states down, forty-five to go
• 06:00 – How the runs and events are organized
• 06:53 – Addressing public response—majority positive, only a minority negative
• 07:32 – The deeper meaning of the American flag for their family and movement
• 08:21 – Announcement of the next planned event in Washington, D.C.
• 09:07 – Explaining their inclusive, “no one left behind” group run format
• 10:10 – Ending with gratitude and a patriotic blessing

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Summary

This episode captures the infectious optimism and heartfelt patriotism of the McCoy brothers as they explain the origins, growth, and aspirations for their Unify USA movement. Despite facing criticism and hostility, their efforts underscore unity, inclusiveness, and love for the American flag—a symbol they hope will rekindle national pride and bridge divides. Their events invite all Americans, regardless of fitness level or background, to literally and symbolically move forward together, leaving no one behind.

Transcript

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[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

People have spit at me, people have cursed at me, people have splashed water on me. On rainy days we keep on moving forward. We tell them we love them and I just love this country and I'm trying to spread as much love as possible.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Teague Purejoy McCoy talking about his experience running with the American flag across the country. He and his brother Costin join us today to discuss their movement to reignite love for the American flag. I'm Georgia Howe. It's Monday, July 6th and this is a special 4th of July weekend episode of Morning Wire. Teague and Costin, thank you so much for coming on.

[Costin McCoy]

Thank you.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

Thank you so much for having us on this shortcut.

[Georgia Howe]

So I love this background. Where are you? Where are you joining us from?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

Right, actually under the Queensborough Bridge in New York. Now we actually just looked that up because we're not from New York, we're from Florida. But we actually saw a pretty scenic backdrop when we just purchased the flag from Home Depot. So we thought that this would be one of the best places to do it at.

[Georgia Howe]

Awesome. So tell us, how did you get started with your running with the American flag program?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

The movement started. I was laying in the bed of my truck one night and I was looking up at the stars and I was praying to God for about 45 minutes. And amongst that prayer I was asking for purpose and direction and for the opportunity to change the Lives of not only the world, but specifically the American people. And I had a PVC pipe with a flag mounted to my truck. It was a 2009 Ford F150. And the next day I picked it up for 22 miles and I. My father rolled up on me with the video and it went mega viral and the rest is history. And then shortly following that we started doing events that were pop up runs if you will, and they were pretty uncoordinated, but obviously they were a great time and that's where cost and just about came in and we co founded Unify USA together.

[Costin McCoy]

So two months later, after he started running with the flag went viral on social media, I came to him with the idea that we could start a national movement that does a event in every single state in the country to unify the American people one step and smile at a time. Right. And since then we've been traveling state by state, unifying people with patriotic positivity, regardless of political affiliation or any opinions that you might have. Just love and positivity.

[Georgia Howe]

Now how many states have you done and how many do you still have left to do? What's come? Which ones are coming next?

[Costin McCoy]

We are on state five. We have 45 states to go.

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[Georgia Howe]

And tell me, what year was it that you started this?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

We started this about nine months ago. So the organization itself, Unify USA has been in the making for about just under half a year. But all of this has come amongst the past nine months. So it's been very hectic. Although very fortunate to have rapidly grown so much. We're just trying to put all the pieces together and make sure we can unify as many Americans as possible.

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[Georgia Howe]

Now tell us about these runs. So do you make an announcement on social media and it's just like a flash mob that will show up or how does it work?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

So essentially at first it was just like a flash pop up like what's up baby?

[Costin McCoy]

We're over in Bayshore in Tampa, Florida. Come bring a great attitude.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

We'll hit out some flags. And then eventually it got to where we're doing bar school in Nashville and having these amazing and blessed venues that we can accumulate all these people together and throw actual events instead of just pop up runs. So it's a bit more accommodating and there's a lot more hospitality and reports that go behind it to make it an ultimately better experience for the people

[Costin McCoy]

to come and enjoy.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, we have some footage that we're going to run of the run you did in Nashville and we actually this video features my producer who's sitting right over there, Brooke, and she actually had the idea to bring you guys on because she enjoyed your run so much.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

Well, thank you Ms. Brooke. That's very awesome.

[Georgia Howe]

So tell us about the response that you've been getting from people while you're running with the flag, we say all

[Costin McCoy]

the time it's majority positive. A lot of people think, just based off social media or everything that's pushed to us, that it would be all negative. And we say it's about 90% positive and 10% negative. And we have a quote, Unified USA that says we tell them we love them and we keep it pushing. So even for the 10% that hate on us, we just tell them we love him and we keep it pushing because negativity hasn't worked. So why would we keep doing it?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

100%. And I asked all the time to pray for people, and even if they say no, I go on my own time and I pray for them. So we tell them we love them, we ask to pray for them, and we keep it pushing.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, what's so special about the American flag to you? Why did you want the American flag to be the symbol for this spiritual project that you have going on?

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

I think that's a great question, Ms. Georgia. And ultimately the answer to that would be, we have four previous generations of active military service, and we saw a lot of people dishonoring and disrespecting our colors, our stars and stripes. And we thought that the absolute bare minimum within this country, not only for patriotism, but for general culture within America, is that you should respect our flag. And obviously, I heard a quote the other day that says you can go to Russia, but you can't be a Russian. You can go to French, but you can't be a Frenchman. Anybody can come to America the right way and be an American. So if you're going to come here, at least respect our soil and respect and honor the people who fight to protect it day in and day out.

[Georgia Howe]

For people who are interested in joining your next run, where is the next one? Should they bring their own American flag? And also, how fit do you have to be to do this? How far are these runs?

[Costin McCoy]

We're looking at Washington D.C. end of July, early August. We don't have an exact date yet, but a lot of logistics to be made. We're so excited to bring some freedom in Washington D.C. our capital for America.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

We gotta let it cool down a little bit, though. You heard there's like, Georgia, there's supposed to be, like half a million people there on the 4th.

[Costin McCoy]

We do flag giveaways at every single one of our events. So a lot of the time you don't have to bring one. But if it gets too busy, like New York City is, you might have to assemble your own.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

So let's get a.

[Costin McCoy]

A five foot pvc. We kind of have metal ones right now, but drill two holes in it, attach American flag with zippers and then

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

you're good to go three by five, three by five foot American flag, hidden usa.

[Costin McCoy]

And if you can't do that, just wear some patriotic clothing. Fitness level. That's something that we get a lot. It does not matter the fitness level as we are not a race. And one thing we do is tell them about the American.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

All right. Okay. Ms. Georgia, have you heard about Indian runs?

[Georgia Howe]

No.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

It's where. It's essentially a run where you get a squadron, let's just say a group of 10 to 15 people, maybe even more. And the person from the back sprints to the front. And when they reach the front, the next person from the back goes. Essentially what we do is the exact opposite is everybody from the front turns around and runs back and the caboose becomes the leader. And as we do that, we scream a chant. I say, who do we leave behind?

[Costin McCoy]

Nobody.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

Nobody. This is an all inclusive race. We want to make sure that everybody feels as if they are a part of the unification of America. And obviously to bank back more on the military beliefs is no soldier left behind. We want to make sure everybody crosses the finish line equally. Make sure that they feel like they're a part equally of the unification of America. You can find us @unify USA official on Instagram, @unify USA on Facebook. And my personal pro or my personal accounts are pure joy McCoy and his are Austin McCoy.

[Georgia Howe]

All right, well, gentlemen, thank you so much for coming on and spreading some patriotism on the show today.

[Teague Purejoy McCoy]

Thank you so much for having us, Ms. Georgia. And God bless every single person that's a part of this production. God bless the American people. God bless our troops. And God bless America, baby.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Teague and Costa Rica McCoy, co founders of UNIFI USA. And this has been a special Fourth of July weekend episode of Morning Wire.

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