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Elizabeth Pipko - Political Media Strategist & Author | The Hidden Forces Controlling Your Political Beliefs
01:07:33
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- [00:00]
Elizabeth Pipko
2016, when I got involved in politics, for most people getting involved in like a local election, for me, it was the craziest presidential campaign in American history. But it was a presidential campaign. I think once you get into politics, at least as deep as I did, your life is kind of never normal.
- [00:14]
Unknown Interviewer
She broke into the world as a high fashion model, but behind the photo shoots and runways was a voice too powerful to be quieted. Elizabeth Pipko is a modern day icon for conviction, balancing her life in the spotlight with a deep commitment to faith, freedom, and unapologetic truth.
- [00:28]
Elizabeth Pipko
People now only care about being relevant. That's why I hate social media. They know they be embarrassed anymore because the news cycle changes every two seconds. Whatever you say, that will get attention, even negative people will forget in an hour. But you've gained 10,000 followers. Social media has allowed our enemies to infiltrate this country in the easiest way possible by hitting the next generation. No one knows what 14 year olds are doing on their phones. No one can stop them from being on their phones or being on these apps. Anyone in the world can feed them whatever material that they want. That's when you have a real problem.
- [00:54]
Unknown Interviewer
As a writer, political commentator, and founder of the Less People Forget movement, she's dedicated to preserving history, elevating dialogue, and protecting the values that matter. She's proof that, that you can embrace elegance and stand for something that lasts.
- [01:07]
Elizabeth Pipko
If I was not as close as I was, maybe I would hate Donald Trump. I don't blame anyone for feeling the way that they feel because they only get to read the headline. No one is going to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself. If you don't like who you are, it doesn't matter if anyone likes you, ever. That's why I supported Donald Trump for so long, because he taught me what it means and how powerful it is to believe in yourself.
- [01:34]
Unknown Interviewer
What is something that you haven't spoken about, about your story that people would be interested to know?
- [01:40]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's weird because I'm very open, like, too open. Like, everyone thinks that they're open. And then everyone I meet is like, no, it's actually. That's not the real me. I'm actually the real me. I think everyone knows everything. I don't think people realize how like, goofy and nerdy and awkward I am. But otherwise everyone kind of knows everything.
- [01:58]
Unknown Interviewer
I know you have a. You do have an interesting story. So you went from modeling for top fashion magazines, you became the national spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. What was the moment? Because You've been sort of involved and adjacent to politics for a while now. What was the moment when you actually decided that you were sort of shelving modeling to a degree, shelving figure skating to a degree? I know you had an injury at one point, which is probably what started that, but what was the moment when you're like, I am putting regular life aside, I really want to focus on politics?
- [02:33]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. I mean, that moment never existed. It was 2016 when I got involved in politics, and for most people, getting involved is like volunteering in, like, a local election. For me, it was the craziest presidential campaign in American history, but it was a presidential campaign. So I was 21, no college degree, not a lot of work experience, and I ended up on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign of one of maybe 100 or so staffers in Trump Tower in New York City. So I kind of accidentally ended up there, and I thought, what do you mean?
- [03:06]
Unknown Interviewer
What do you mean accidentally ended up? And the reason I asked is because I always wonder, even with Trump, I'm always like, why go into politics?
- [03:14]
Elizabeth Pipko
Right?
- [03:14]
Unknown Interviewer
Like, life is so good.
- [03:16]
Elizabeth Pipko
Not for him. He really. Life was good. He had no reason. I. My life wasn't as good, but, no, I was 21 years old. I really had nothing going on. Like, I tell the story all the time. I say, donald Trump saved my life. People don't, you know, like it if they don't like him. But genuinely, apart from politics, I was in a really bad place, and I didn't really have much of a future. I was failing out of a few college classes. I had no friends, did not know what I wanted to do. I was genuinely very depressed. And then my little brother told me to start watching Donald Trump while he was campaigning. And I said, why? Because I had never been very political. And he said, it's not about political. It's about the fact that the guy is polling at 2%, and he's showing up every single day saying, I'm going to be the next president. Like, that's the inspiration that you need. So I started watching him, fell in love with that spirit again. Less politics, more personal. Just watching this guy show up every day super confident he was going to be the next president, despite the entire planet laughing at him. I knew I needed more of that in my life to get my act together. And then my brother asks me to go volunteer for the campaign, which really, for most campaigns is either knocking on doors or phone banking. We were in New York City, so you're not knocking on apartment Doors of only Democrats. So it was just phone banking. So we went there, we made a few phone calls for the campaign. I decided I was kind of interested in doing more just because I used to be a professional athlete. And that part of me, I guess, came back to life when I was inspired to be in this building and be around all these people working on a presidential campaign. I wrote a letter to the data director of the campaign telling him that the volunteer operation was garbage and I could fix it. I asked an intern who was like 14 at the time to bring my letter up and leave it on this guy's desk. And he hired me the next day.
- [04:56]
Unknown Interviewer
I love that. And he, and Trump is like an absolute workhorse. Like, I hear the story, forget how he, like, even when he campaigns, he's non stop. Like, he literally never stops. Even when you hear stories about him on Joe Rogan, like going for three hours without taking a sip of water. Like, the guy, guy has unlimited stamina for his age. Wild.
- [05:18]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's, it's, I can't keep up. Like everyone that's with him, that's like what we joke around about is trying to not look tired in front of him because we can't keep up with him. Like, that's just what it is. I was with him. It was right before election day. So the day before election day, I was in Pennsylvania. It was his third rally of the day already. He already done one in a different state. This was the second one in Pennsylvania. I spoke at that rally. It was the first time I'd ever actually gone to a rally in 10 years of being in Trump world. I got to speak to, you know, 30, 000 people at this rally, hang out backstage with the President. He gave a speech there. That's his third speech of the day. So I'm exhausted from my 15 minutes. That's his third speech of THE day on the campaign trail. He goes much, much longer than I did, of course. Third speech of the day in second state of the day. Then he was heading to Michigan for the fourth speech that day, which he gave around 1 in the morning, returned back around 5am to Florida, maybe 6am and then had to live through election day. And I think at that point hadn't slept in 72 hours. And you can, you just can't tell. He is an absolute machine.
- [06:21]
Unknown Interviewer
Now I think that it's pretty safe to say that your identity is more wrapped up in politics than anything else. Forget the fact that Trump was an inspiration and obviously you're highly loyal to him and the fact that he won, that's all great. But outside of that, are you ever upset that you tied your identity to politics and not, I know, like life wasn't perfect. There's a lot of other paths that you could have gone on, and we've spoken about this as different things that you've tried to figure out.
- [06:52]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, A, there's other things in life that I do that I think are very cool and very special and a part of me that people don't think about because all they want to talk about is Donald Trump nowadays. Whether you like him or don't like him or are close to him or not, that's all people care about. But B, there's just being normal. And I have never gotten, at least in the last 10 years of my life or as an adult, I have never gotten to being normal. My life, for better or worse, for the last 10 years, has been about fighting for this stranger who now I know obviously pretty well, but a random politician. And I think once you get into politics, at least as deep as I did, your life is kind of never normal again. So it's, it's a lot.
- [07:27]
Unknown Interviewer
So you face a lot of attacks. And I think that everybody in politics in general, but also in, in Trump's camp face a ton of attacks. You have been called a Nazi, which is interesting.
- [07:39]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [07:40]
Unknown Interviewer
Considering you're Jewish Orthodox Nazi, where you come from. What do you think about, what do you think about the modern interpretation of Nazism? And, and just talk about. Because your grandparents warned you about the fact that the Holocaust wasn't ever over, how October 7th obviously changed all of our perspectives on what it means to be Jewish in this world. But what's your reaction when somebody calls you a modern Orthodox Jew, a Nazi?
- [08:12]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, at first it's horrible. Like, any attacks are horrible. And I had a really difficult time in the very beginning just because A, I'd never been attacked like that. You go overnight, really from no one knowing your name to still being pretty irrelevant. But enough people wanting you to be in some kind of pain or to hurt you or threaten you in some way, which is horrible and scary. And so the word, you know, like hearing the word Nazi as a 23 year old girl who had no idea why she had deserved that message to begin with. Like, that's scary. Now it's more sad because the term has lost all meaning and because we're throwing it around and insulting people the way that we are. And I'm personally not impacted. But a, I know a lot of people who would be, who maybe didn't spend the last 10 years in politics like I did and didn't develop that thick skin. Knowing that they're receiving those insults worries me a lot, makes me sad. And B, it's just worrisome as an educated adult to know that history means nothing, clearly, because we're throwing around that term to people we don't like in America because they voted a different way from us.
- [09:09]
Unknown Interviewer
But that's wild to me. Like, there's always animosity in politics, but how do we get to the point where we've basically like. To your point, we've removed the meaning of the term Nazi, so much so that it's like a casual. Like they're throwing it around casually, like if, like World War II is not that long ago. But people forget very quickly, how do you think we got to this point?
- [09:33]
Elizabeth Pipko
Here's what I'll say. I don't think it's as new as people realize. I just think because of social media, it's taken over. I remember someone called Donald Trump a fascist a few years ago, right before I had done a TV interview. So they were talking about it, and then I was coming on to then discuss it. And I remember thinking to myself, the fact that we're using the phrase fascist is embarrassing. My parents actually fled fascism. You might not like Donald Trump, you might not like any Republican or Democrat, but we should not throw the term around here for either side. And I remember calling my dad after I did the interview, and he said, let me tell you a story. When I first came to America, I think he was in law school. I'm not even sure, but he went to Yale Law School, so one of the best in Columbia University. So wherever it was, it was great. And he said that when he came to class, I think it was his first day in class, they made a big deal about it and said, look, we have this immigrant from the Soviet Union who's in the class. I think Reagan was president at the time. And the professor in my dad's class said, you're going to feel right at home here because we have our own fascists in the White House. And so my dad said that at that moment, he just sat there and wondered, like, is this the best school in the world? This is what people told me I should fight to get into. And they don't know what fascism is. So clearly nothing actually has changed at all. It's just become so much more mainstream and so much more visible to everybody because of social media.
- [10:48]
Unknown Interviewer
In Canada, we don't have this animosity. We don't have this vitriol and hate and anger. And it's something that I see. It's sad, but it's, in my opinion, uniquely American. I think that this much anger and this much division, I think is probably fueled by social media, fueled by news cycles, but I think it's worse in the US than almost anywhere else in Western civilization. And that means that we have the right to be angry, which is cool. But I'm curious where all of this hate and anger comes from, because I believe that most people are not as far left or far right as media makes us out to be. I think that most people, on average are fiscally conservative, socially liberal. I think that's the majority. They all sort of hover around, centerish.
- [11:38]
Elizabeth Pipko
And if they're not, they still don't mind someone disagreeing with them.
- [11:41]
Unknown Interviewer
Usually that's the case. So where does all this anger and animosity come from? I mean, now you've, like, lived in probably you said that, you know, people calling presidents fascists is not new, but I think that the amount of anger towards one man.
- [11:57]
Elizabeth Pipko
One man? Yeah.
- [11:58]
Unknown Interviewer
I don't think that's ever been seen before.
- [11:59]
Elizabeth Pipko
No, this is new, and that's what I was going to say. You said it's uniquely American. I think it's just uniquely Donald Trump. I think if you ask people about Donald Trump in Canada and France, and I mean anywhere, really, you're going to get that same vitriol that we do here. I think it's him alone, partially because of himself and how big of a personality he is and more, you know, majority because of the media and the circus they created around him and how angry they were when he won despite that, and how much harder they doubled down after that and decided that they were not going to stop until everyone hated each other, because that's what gets them views and that's what works. That's the only way they could prove that they were right about Donald Trump all along, which is all that people really cared about is not looking like idiots, which is what they all looked like when they thought the man was going to, you know, disappear as a joke and he ended up being president. I don't think it's uniquely American. I think it's uniquely Donald Trump. When he ran in 2015, the world changed, and I don't know what's going to happen when he's done.
- [12:53]
Unknown Interviewer
That's what I was curious about. Like, you sort of have, like, an inside view as to what this campaign was like, I know that it was not easy. I don't think anybody would think that it's easy. But he did change. He did change what it means to be a president and what it means to be involved in politics. And I'm curious, do you think that? Because I think there has to be some sort of healing process, and I don't think it's even started yet. I think that there's so much anger. I mean, we can talk about what's happening with even Elon being associated with the. With the office. And now people are burning Teslas, which is ironic because I'm sure a whole bunch of people that bought them were, like, very liberal.
- [13:36]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. They were trying to mandate cars, and now we're burning the same electric cars we were trying to mandate.
- [13:41]
Unknown Interviewer
So people are angrier than ever.
- [13:44]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [13:46]
Unknown Interviewer
I mean, it's obviously an over simplistic question, but where do we go from here? And how does the US Start to heal?
- [13:52]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, it's. It's tough for someone like me because I never bought into it. Like, I lost friends, people didn't like me, but I never became the person that was like, I am staunch Republican, and unless you agree with me, you're not my friend. I never cared. My parents didn't raise me that way. They never cared. They voted Democrat and Republican. My entire, you know, childhood, I just never understood it. And in fact, I get bored being around people who agree with me. Like, I don't watch Republican media because there's no point, because I know what they're saying. I watch the View every single day. I never miss an episode of the View, and people laugh at me. And it's like. Because that's interesting. I want to hear what they have to say, and I want to know where they're coming from. Like, I would hope they would want to know where I'm coming from. I think that's. That's what's missing, obviously. Yes.
- [14:35]
Unknown Interviewer
But I mean, you are. I think that that's like a very mature way to approach politics. I don't. I. It's funny, when I'm on Twitter, I don't feel like anybody feels that way. When I'm in the same room as somebody, I do feel like most people feel that way.
- [14:52]
Elizabeth Pipko
Most people are decent people. Like, I'm never. I've. Let me tell you, I've met some really bad people and I've gotten some really nasty messages and I've seen some really ugly stuff. But I've traveled this country quite a bit and met a Lot of people, you know, Trump supporters, mostly because of my work, but otherwise too, people are really wonderful. Especially in America, people are truly wonderful. And I think it's sad that we forgot that instead of celebrating that, like, I have loved everyone that I've met. I love meeting new people. I love discovering, you know, what goes on in this country. I got my masters in social policy and non profit work. And I remember my first day of class. Part of what we have to do for the program was interning at a non profit of our choice. And I sat there being interviewed and interviewing a bunch of, you know, leaders of different non profits. And I just thought to myself, look how amazing America is. How many people are doing this that are not making a dime and doing this out of the goodness of their heart. And it doesn't matter how they vote. I'm sure most of them voted differently than I did because they're in the nonprofit space. I went to an Ivy League school. I know how it works. But America is wonderful and people are wonderful and politics is such a tiny part of my personality. And I was the spokesman for the Republican Party, so it must be a teeny, tiny part of most people's personalities. It doesn't have to be more than that.
- [16:00]
Unknown Interviewer
I just moved from Canada to Miami. As little taxes as possible, okay, I love the weather. I'm like, I don't mind social programs that help people that aren't doing well in life. Of course you want everybody to live a good life, but I don't feel the need to be like, you know, overly, you know, controlled by the government if I don't, if I'm not, you know, I respect taxes for like roads and army and all that stuff, but that's sort of where I stop. And I think a lot of people feel that way. And I don't understand somebody who wants to tie their identity into a political party. I don't know who it serves because I don't really believe this is what I. This is sad, but I think it's very true. The people that are hurt the most are not the people that are successful depending on who wins an election. If you have a good job, your life, if you actually think about the day in the life, the majority, 90% of it does not change depending on.
- [16:54]
Elizabeth Pipko
No people wouldn't know the White House.
- [16:57]
Unknown Interviewer
It is the people who are below the poverty line is the people who have no money, whose lives are actually impacted. But those are not the people who are yelling the loudest. It's people that are multi, multi, multi. Millionaires. It's people that have had exits. It's people that are, you know, earning 2, 3, 4, $500,000 plus in coastal cities that are the loudest. And that's what I don't understand, why those people are so angry and so polarizing and tying their identity into politics when there's so many better ways for them to spend their time.
- [17:28]
Elizabeth Pipko
Are they angry or are they bored?
- [17:30]
Unknown Interviewer
That's what I don't know.
- [17:31]
Elizabeth Pipko
I don't know how many of them actually care because I can tell you, I'm not trying to name names, but there's a lot of people that you will hear on TV that I heard the last year screaming that Donald Trump was literally Hitler going to take America back. And then they were calling him the same day and kissing butt. Like I can tell you, they were in the same room as him, telling him how great he is and that he, they hope that he's, you know, keeps in touch with them if he wins. And then they're going on TV saying horrible things. They're rattling up the people that are actually affected by the election and making them angry. It gets views and it gets attention and it gets. People now only care about being relevant and it's so unfortunate and it's so sick. And that's why I hate social media. People A, only care about being relevant and B, they know they can't be embarrassed anymore because the news cycle changes every two seconds and whatever happens, whatever you say, that will get attention, even negative people will forget in an hour and you're no longer in a bad spot and you can keep going, but you've gained 10,000 followers. That's all people care.
- [18:22]
Unknown Interviewer
All self serving.
- [18:23]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [18:23]
Unknown Interviewer
There's no, there's no advocating for a party because of the American ideal, the American dream. It's all self serving.
- [18:33]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. And I think people that want to tie themselves to a party also believe that it'll get them attention. It's like the almost a cool niche thing to do because in reality the average person doesn't know who they're going to vote for in four years or in eight years or in 12 years. I was the spokesman for the Republican Party. I am not going to tell you right now that in 20 years I'm voting Republican because that's not who I am. I don't know where the party will be. I don't know who the candidate will be. If you agree to tie yourself to a party, you're doing it to make some kind of a, you know, some kind of a Statement. No rational human being says, I'm gonna vote with this party for the next 40 years, hell or high.
- [19:03]
Unknown Interviewer
No, you sound insane for saying exactly.
- [19:06]
Elizabeth Pipko
And you sound insane for tying yourself to a party that is. I mean, look at both parties. They've changed immensely. Look at the Democrats that are now in Donald Trump's cabinet. Things change, and they can change again, and the pendulum swings. And I. I just think it's very strange how much people think that this should be a part of your identity and your life when it really doesn't matter. And the people that are heavily involved, they know it doesn't matter, but the everyday Americans don't.
- [19:27]
Unknown Interviewer
When you leaned into politics, what was the most sort of shocking personal cost? Friends, family, peace of mind.
- [19:36]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, it's mostly peace of mind. Like, it's just a gross place to be.
- [19:42]
Unknown Interviewer
Why did you. Why did you become the spokesperson then? I still don't understand that. And you've told me this, like, this is a podcast question, but also, like.
- [19:49]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, no, I mean, I don't know if I ever answered this. Donald Trump was running for office, obviously, right? It's his third campaign. I've been in Trump world since 2016. I met my husband to Donald Trump. My brother and I have the life that we have because of that first campaign. I have spent a lot of time with Donald Trump and his family. When I debate and I talk to people about Donald Trump, it's not political. I will never have a political debate unless I'm being paid to do it. I don't care. I don't want to debate you. I believe everyone should have their own ideas. When I'm defending Donald Trump or his family, it's because I know them personally and they've been good to me. So I'm at the point, this is early 2024. Donald Trump is in, you know, full swing. The last year of the campaign, Donald Trump is fighting against, I mean, indictments and attacks and everything under the sun. I'm thinking to myself, this isn't fair. Like, I know this guy did not do what they're saying he did. I know they're throwing everything at him. This is the least American thing I've ever seen. If I have a chance to get involved, maybe I should. At that point, the chair of the Republican Party is voted out. They vote in new leadership. Michael Watley comes in as the chairman. Lara Trump comes in as the co chair. The family of Donald Trump, the president, former president. At that point, I'm thinking maybe future president asks if I'd like to be the spokesperson of the Republican Party. And I'm thinking to myself, a, I have a, you know, a responsibility here. I'm the daughter of two immigrants who came to the country with no money at all. And I could be, you know, the face of one of two major political parties in this country. That is a huge deal. Or, and B, I know what's going on isn't right. I love this country more than anything in the world. I have no loyalty, the Republican Party, Democrat, nothing. But I love this country. I believe he's the best person for this country. If I have a chance to do something good, like, why would I not, you know, do it? I had a lot of, you know, fear. A lot of people went after me and my family the last, you know, 10 years. But it's, it's just such an honor to be a part of it at that level and to know that this is the craziest election at least in my lifetime, but probably in a lot of people's lives. And yeah, and I get times the closest, you know, the real front seat to all of was a privilege and an honor and it was really hard at times. But obviously zero regrets. But yeah, it's a lot. But hey, it works.
- [21:59]
Unknown Interviewer
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- [24:02]
Elizabeth Pipko
I have no idea. I'm so scared, actually of what happens because I want, like you said, I want things to calm down.
- [24:08]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah.
- [24:08]
Elizabeth Pipko
And I don't know if they'll calm down because Donald Trump's name isn't on the ballot or if we have just set ourselves up for the next 30 years of anger, no matter who's on the ballot, because we're supposed to hate each other. I really don't know.
- [24:19]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, part of it, part of the anger comes from his personality. So somebody with less of a personality may not incite as much anger. But they also probably, you know, again.
- [24:31]
Elizabeth Pipko
This is me defending him and his personality. I spent a lot of time with him. A lot of things that he says that people think he said, it's actually not at all what he said.
- [24:39]
Unknown Interviewer
Oh, no, I know. Context.
- [24:41]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. I think actually he has a great personality. Personality. And there's more good, I'm sure. I mean, he's very tough and he says a lot of things and I get it. There's a lot of things he says that if reported correctly, people would actually like him more because he's so down to earth and he's so funny and he's actually surprisingly normal. So I don't know if it's the personality that's the problem or if it's just the way that we report nowadays where we don't report fairly anymore, we report based on the message we want to put out there. And so no matter who the next candidate is, if we don't like them, we will twist their words and make you hate them, no matter who they are and what they actually say.
- [25:11]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, yeah, so obviously that happens on, on both sides. But I think that I see more Twisting of facts with liberal media. Yeah, I, I see it, like, all the time. And it's actually, it is very concerning. Like, how do people listen? People are busy and people don't have time, of course, to spend the energy to research every single bit of it.
- [25:32]
Elizabeth Pipko
I always say, if I was not as close as I was, maybe I would hate Donald Trump if I was just reading headlines. 100. I don't blame anyone for feeling the way that they feel because they all have children and jobs and, you know, a mortgage and things to care about. They only get to read the headlines sometimes. You don't get to research every speech he's ever made and see what he actually said or didn't say.
- [25:50]
Unknown Interviewer
What responsibility do you think falls on political leaders to heal the country and to sort of bridge this huge gap?
- [25:59]
Elizabeth Pipko
You know, I don't have a lot of faith in any political leaders. I think it falls on us. They're going to come and go. Yeah, A lot of them are going to be in there for a really, really, really long time. I mean, if you look at some of these politicians, I advocate really hard for term limits. And there's a reason. I mean, they've been in there for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. I don't think it falls on them because they genuinely don't care. Like, I would love to say politicians should bring us together. And I'm angry at so many politicians who decided in 2016 to, you know, participate in tearing us apart, but they don't care. Like, the fact is, it doesn't affect their lives. If anything, it helps them to fundraise if we're angry. So I don't think the responsibility falls on them. I think it falls on all of us who love this country and want the best for our future children and grandchildren to be able to play with those whose parents might disagree with how you voted, because it doesn't matter.
- [26:45]
Unknown Interviewer
What in your mind does it mean to be American outside of, like, legal definition?
- [26:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's weird because, again, I have this mentality because my parents are immigrants. So I always say I have the privilege of being the daughter of two immigrants. I think about things very differently. But knowing how my parents were raised, knowing that, you know, my mom was beaten in school for being a Jew, my dad said goodbye to his father, never seeing him again. Finding out later on, after his father died and the Soviet Union collapsed, that there was a KGB file on his family and that the KGB was tracking his father and that's why he never got to see him. Like, to me, that's what it means to be American is that my parents had to live a very different life than I had to live. But being America, I mean, we say freedom, right? Like, what is freedom? I mean, that's really what it means to be an American. A lot of people everywhere around the world have to live their life a certain way. And no, they don't have to legally live it a certain way even, but they all live a certain way because it's not a part of their blood and their culture and their personalities to try to be different. It's kind of a part of ours, you know, that you can do whatever you want and you can fail at everything in the world, but we encourage you to try.
- [27:52]
Unknown Interviewer
That's a marriage, which I, I love. And I guess then the follow up question is we give so much leeway to try new things to think differently. Like that is freedom, right? How with that much leeway and freedom, do you see younger generations having this rise of anti American sentiment? I don't understand how just the ability to be anti American. Like, do you understand how privileged you are to be able to go through life and to even think those thoughts and vocalize those thoughts? Because if you go to any other country in anywhere. Anywhere.
- [28:34]
Elizabeth Pipko
Anywhere.
- [28:35]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah, almost anywhere, you would not be alive for long or ever heard of again. So I'm so curious how freedom leads to anti American sentiment, which you see in colleges and I mean, a, it's.
- [28:48]
Elizabeth Pipko
Almost a beautiful thing, as much as I hate to see it, how incredible that we live in a country where you can burn that American flag and no one's gonna do anything to you. Like how amazing that these kids can spout whatever nonsense they want and say how horrible this country is and they actually get applauded because we support speech even if we hate it, even if it makes us physically sick. We will defend your right to say whatever you want. So a part of me, even when I see it, I'm actually happy because my parents weren't allowed to criticize anyone back in Russia, right?
- [29:13]
Unknown Interviewer
No.
- [29:14]
Elizabeth Pipko
So as much as I disagree a, still not. People fought and died so that you can say whatever you want. And it's beautiful that we let in 2025 we continued the American way. And you can still do that because that's, that's what I fight for every day. It's very easy to fight for people to speak who you agree with. So hey, I think it's great. At the same time, it's concerning. It's very concerning. If you look at the numbers people get Less patriotic with every generation and young people don't know what they have. And I think if people put their phones down and professors started, you know, teaching a little more and maybe stopped being activists and started being professors again, people opened a history book, maybe, maybe even look around at what's going on in the world right now, they'd feel a lot better. But, you know, it's a combination of being super grateful that I live in the country where you can criticize it as much as you want, and B, being concerned that every generation loves America a little bit less and people are to this day fighting and dying so that we can appreciate what we have. And many people don't understand that.
- [30:09]
Unknown Interviewer
I mean, what does that, what does that lead to in, in 10, 15 years from now? I did not grow up like, again, like, even if. Yeah, just to give context, even if colleges or universities, how we call them in Canada, were a little bit more liberal, which they were. I think, I think colleges, universities are always skew. A little bit more liberal. It was liberal in terms of like criminal justice reform or maybe immigration is a little bit easier. But it was all under the context of this country's great. And we're going to try and improve the. We're going to try and improve the country and we're going to try and make it easier for people to win in this country. Not. This country's shitty. It was never replacing the country. It was like, how do we, under the frameworks that exist, make life better? This new anti American, whatever, anti country. Really idealism is very scary. And I've never seen a generation grow up hating the country that they're born into.
- [31:13]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's also like, I'm watching the definition of liberalism change because liberalism at one point was a celebration of diversity of thought. And most liberals would defend people that disagreed with them because they wanted them to have that polar opposite opinion. They wanted the diversity. Liberal nowadays doesn't mean that anymore. That's not what we see. So I think the problem is not that the college is lean left. The problem is that they've changed the definition of what liberalism actually represents. They've made themselves into activists believing that liberalism is what they think is, you know, being a supporter of something on the left and they should fight to the death for that. The reality is that's not liberalism. It's embracing the fact that people around you disagree with you. And being in a college or university is the time when you're supposed to have those debates and those conversations and those different thoughts. And I think we should just go back to that. And that might end up with people disagreeing with America. That's okay. But that's not what they're doing right now. They're not thinking it through and having those debates. They're just teaching people that America is bad. And that's the problem. If you let people think and you let people debate, they're going to end up at a very different conclusion.
- [32:14]
Unknown Interviewer
You obviously have been an advocate for Israel far before October 7th. So what happened. What happened to the world in October 7th when we stopped seeing. This is going to be a leading question. And obviously, you know my opinion and feelings on this, but when we stop seeing terrorists as terrorists like this, again, I feel like the way that I question what's happening in the world right now, it's as if. I don't know, it's as if, like, the reality that I lived in no longer exists.
- [32:46]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's like black is white and white. Yeah.
- [32:49]
Unknown Interviewer
And dropped me in some alternate reality where terrorists are no longer terrorists.
- [32:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
No, they're celebrated.
- [32:53]
Unknown Interviewer
And they're celebrated. And they're not only celebrated, their flags are celebrated in the US and the US Flags are burnt and Israeli flags are burnt, and terrorist flags are, like, you know, paraded down streets and nobody.
- [33:09]
Elizabeth Pipko
Right by, like, the Twin Towers. Right. That's the craziest. When you see the flags of terrorist groups, like, marching down where the Twin Towers were.
- [33:17]
Unknown Interviewer
And I don't understand what shifted. I guess. I guess I was just surprised that there was such a dramatic shift that happened in sentiment that I was not aware of, because even when. So my dad worked for. For csis, which is Canadian Security Intelligence Services, and he worked heavily with, like, Shin Bet and intelligence organizations in the US And Canada. US it was always like, Israel is the bastion of democracy and intelligence as well in the Middle East. And it was always like, they're the ones that have sort of. They are the. What. What's the. What's the phrase? It's like you're the. The first, I guess, first line of defense against.
- [33:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
They're fighting our enemies.
- [33:55]
Unknown Interviewer
Anything.
- [33:55]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yes.
- [33:56]
Unknown Interviewer
And for some reason, all of that changed. And I don't know when it happened, but I realized it happened on October 7 when people were like, oh, you know, I don't know if it really happened. Well, I think they had it coming. You're like, excuse me?
- [34:12]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, What? Yeah. People ask me like, how did October 7th hit you? And it's as awful as that day was. And I remember sitting on the floor for like, 10 hours straight watching the Footage and sobbing. What happened after actually hurt more because I thought I'd wake up to the entire world defending Israel.
- [34:27]
Unknown Interviewer
Kind of like post 9 11, right.
- [34:29]
Elizabeth Pipko
I thought the world was going to say released. I mean, I think at the point October 7th, October 8th, we didn't actually know how people were murdered yet. We didn't know how many people were taken hostage yet. It was very confusing. But I thought I'd wake up that day and have the entire world screaming for these people to, you know, come home. I know we knew some people were taken hostage. I thought we would, you know, be screaming about what, what just happened in the Middle East. I didn't think I'd live through that in my lifetime. You know, I run a Holocaust museum, a digital Holocaust museum, and I'm sorting through materials and images from the Holocaust Weekly. I never thought I'd live through a time when the imagery I was seeing actually reminded me so much of what I unfortunately have to sort through from, you know, 80 years ago. But that's what it was. And then I woke up to a bunch of people celebrating what happened, saying Israel deserved it and ripping down, you know, posters of nine month old babies being held hostage as if it was propaganda or they deserved it or whatever else, God forbid people were saying.
- [35:21]
Unknown Interviewer
Have you thought about what shifted in the world that led to the change of sentiment?
- [35:26]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, I think it was, the last few years are a blur. Maybe it was after October 7th. But remember a year or two ago, maybe a year when Osama Bin Laden's letter went viral on Tick Tock and all the, you know, 15 to 19 year olds were saying Osama bin Laden had a point. Yeah, I mean clearly the shift is greater than just to do with Israel, you know, like it's nothing to do with Israel. Anti Semitism is easy. So we all bounce on attacking Israel because why not scapegoat the Jews? We're used to it. But it's a lot deeper than Israel. I mean we're celebrating terrorists and they would celebrate the terrorists if they did it here too.
- [35:56]
Unknown Interviewer
Like how do we fall so far where a night, whatever an 18, 19 year old on Tick Tock thinks that Osama bin Laden point had a point. Like actually like what the is wrong with people? Yeah, you can totally curse. I, I, this is insane. And I just don't understand how like, because who, who were the parents who were the influences on those 19 year olds?
- [36:21]
Elizabeth Pipko
That part I think has been good because a lot of parents talking to, I mean I've talked to so many students and parents, since October 7, so many parents had no idea what was going on on these campuses. And they were, you know, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for this education. Their kid camped out in a temp with the flag of, you know, camped out in a tent outside the campus with a Hamas flag, you know, displayed on their face. And they're wondering what the hell happened to my kid, my Jewish kid, very often, too. So I think that's the good thing is people are like, wait, we can't put all this faith in our institutions. Maybe the Department of Education should not be educating my kid. Maybe I should be educating my kid. And I think a lot of people, thank God, woke up because of that. They had no idea that their kids were being sent away to these schools, coming back four years later and thinking Osama bin Laden had appointed point. So that's been good. People have actually woken up.
- [37:06]
Unknown Interviewer
When did the. When did the curriculum shift?
- [37:09]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's a while ago. It's. It's. It's been.
- [37:11]
Unknown Interviewer
I mean, I don't even feel like I'm like, I'm 34.
- [37:14]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [37:14]
Unknown Interviewer
I don't. Like, as in university. Okay. What, like 14, 13, whatever. 12 years ago. I don't remember. Like, this was not something.
- [37:23]
Elizabeth Pipko
So that was.
- [37:23]
Unknown Interviewer
I'll tell you, by my generation, this.
- [37:26]
Elizabeth Pipko
Is more to do with Israel. But I went to get my master's. 2022. Yeah. So I graduated in May, a few months before October 7th, before I went. And I went to UPenn again. Great school, large Jewish community. That's why I wanted to go to Penn. When I got into Penn, they had an orientation for students before they, you know, accepted their, like, accepted the. I guess they sent an acceptance letter. You have to, you know, accept the offer or not before you accept the author the offer. They had this orientation. There's a Jewish girl there who was completing her master's in the same program. And I asked her, what is it like to be a Jew on campus? Because I was curious. I had heard stories. I hadn't been in school in a while. She said to me, and I'll never forget, the kids in this class would rather find out that you were at the January 6 Capitol riot and that you're a Zionist. And I was like, okay, so this is. Things are. Things are different. And again, Zionist just means you think Israel has a right to exist. That's all that means.
- [38:20]
Unknown Interviewer
Even though it's been used for many others, of course.
- [38:22]
Elizabeth Pipko
So that's when I realized things had shifted. But I. Nothing could have prepared me for October 8th and for waking up and being told the Jews deserved it, these kids deserved it. It's propaganda. Knowing that, you know, the footage was blasted across every social media network and people still say it's fake. Nothing could have prepared me for October 8th or the 17 months since.
- [38:42]
Unknown Interviewer
You know, I've had a couple conversations with, with, with friends about this and they've kind of like oversimplified why there's so much anti Semitism and I'm going to say this, but I don't agree with like anti Zionism, whatever, which is I think synonymous. But people will say that it's not. I think that they're just trying to.
- [39:05]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, it's a fun easy out to say I hate the Jews.
- [39:08]
Unknown Interviewer
But a lot of the, the thought was for some reason like Hamas and pro Pal, pro Palestine groups were really good at social media post 10-7-7 and pro Israel groups were not to the same degree. And that was something that they leaned into and exploited so much that you saw propaganda everywhere. And do you. I'm just curious because obviously you are in social media and I'm wondering how big of an impact you think that actually made on the world.
- [39:46]
Elizabeth Pipko
I hate being this person because it becomes a very different conversation and we could talk about this for hours. But the fact is social media has allowed our enemies to infiltrate this country in the easiest way possible by hitting the next generation. Right? No one knows what's going on. No one knows what 14 year olds are doing on their phones. No one can stop them from being on their phones or being on these apps and anyone, anyone in the world can feed them whatever material that they want. That has been the largest problem and that's what has taken over. I have a problem with politicians, I have a problem with professors. I have a lot of problems with a lot of people. But the fact is when anyone in Russia and anyone in China, anyone in the Middle east can access your 13 year old and tell them how to feel and how to think about things like terrorism and change their mind and educate them in a way. You don't know what's happening because you're tuned out because Your child is 13, doesn't want to listen to you, that's when you have a real problem.
- [40:33]
Unknown Interviewer
I want to understand because you still, I didn't realize you stepped down as spokesperson. Yes, I do want to understand what your career looks like going forward. But also I'm going to ask you like personal questions about how you manage stress because I don't think I like. Listen, you said this this interview you said. Oh, this is a dark interview. Yeah. Because I have conversations with, like, entrepreneurs and. And they manage stress in a very different arena. Right. They manage stress in business building. Yeah. The real world, whatever. Politics, not the real world. I don't know. Whatever. But I don't think that many people understand the level of stress that you deal with. Only because of the position that you chose to put yourself in, which I'm a masochist, Slightly.
- [41:18]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [41:18]
Unknown Interviewer
So where do you go from here? Because you've, you know, you stepped out of the spokesperson position. Do you want to stay in politics, I'm assuming?
- [41:27]
Elizabeth Pipko
No, I don't want to stay in politics, no. It's weird because I don't see it as politics. Like, I never saw myself even as Republican. I was just a spokesperson for this movement and this candidate who I thought in this election was the best, most obvious choice for this country. So I don't see it as political. Would I work for a different it? Absolutely not. A, I'm done. I can't take anymore. And B, I've grown very close to him and to his family, and it's personal for me now, and there's a reason that I fought so hard for them and believed as hard as I did that he was the best choice. At the same time, he's in for four years. That's a lot of time to consider a job in the administration, so you never know. Pretty likely. I put over there.
- [42:10]
Unknown Interviewer
I mean, you've put on like, you've. You've put your own ambitions aside to a degree.
- [42:16]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. I mean, I put my sanity aside at the same. It's not fair to say that what I've done.
- [42:20]
Unknown Interviewer
Can we do this in another four years?
- [42:22]
Elizabeth Pipko
Oh, my God. We should make the tradition, like, every four years. In four years, we'll be sitting with our kids and we'll be doing this, God willing. Exactly. It's, it's. It's not fair for me to say I put ambition aside because a lot of people go into politics solely because they're ambitious. And I'm not going to pretend that I don't have an amazing platform and following and career, you know, opportunities now because I, you know, I did it. That's kind of part of why I did it. I believed in what I believed in. But I'm not going to lie and say it didn't also bring me immense success. It wouldn't have had we lost, but it did bring me immense success. So I don't want to pretend that that wasn't a Part of it. But no, I don't think I'm going to stay in politics for the rest of my life like a lot of people do. I will advocate, you know, in media like I do probably forever in one way or another because it's an amazing platform and I'm so lucky to get to do it. And I remember.
- [43:10]
Unknown Interviewer
But what do you want, like, what do you want to speak on? I get it. Like, I see you on radio.
- [43:14]
Elizabeth Pipko
This woman see me on radio.
- [43:16]
Unknown Interviewer
You know what I mean? I see, I see you every time you go on, like KGXM100FM, whatever in New York or whatever, the, the channel. Like, there's channels that I never listen to, like the terrestrial radio, AM stations that I don't think anybody under 40 listens to anymore. But whatever, you're on these stations. So I'm at all the station you're on, all that. You do a lot of media.
- [43:36]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah.
- [43:36]
Unknown Interviewer
No, but what do you want? What are you trying to advocate for going forward? I mean, your guy is in office for four years. Obviously you will always advocate for Israel. But what is your passion now outside of politics in Israel?
- [43:51]
Elizabeth Pipko
I don't know. I, I feel like when I'm advocating, if I'm on television and I'm talking about something, very often it's, you know, policy related. And more likely than not, it's pro America, pro Israel. It's almost like surface level stuff. We can debate policies all we want, and I'm happy to do it, but until we get to the point of admitting, for example, America good, terrorists bad, there's no point in debating policies. So a lot of it is actually very surface level, surface level, basic stuff because of the low point that we're in, in society. But yeah, I mean, I'm in media, I'm on radio or television every day.
- [44:22]
Unknown Interviewer
What frustrates you most about America right now?
- [44:26]
Elizabeth Pipko
I'm not frustrated. Like, I'm not frustrated by America. I think America's killing it. I really do. Compared to the rest of the world especially, I'm frustrated by people who think that they know who somebody is because of how they voted. It's just like, it's a very awkward place to be because not a lot of people know more people in this administration or in, like, Donald Trump circle in Republican politics than I do, for example. And I know all of them and I like some, I don't like others, but I don't have these feelings about any of them because of their politics.
- [44:56]
Unknown Interviewer
Like, because of who they are as people.
- [44:58]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. And so for Me, I just. Again, it's easy for me to say that because I'm as close as I am, but no one really is their politics, like, we're all so much deeper. And I've had better friendships and better relationships and better conversations these last few years with people who disagree with me politically than I have with those who don't. There's a lot of people who people assume I should be friends with because we vote the same way, who I can't stand. And it's just like a very strange place to be in where I have so much hatred for a lot of people who vote the same way as me just because I've met them over the years. And that's.
- [45:27]
Unknown Interviewer
And they're just what my circle is.
- [45:28]
Elizabeth Pipko
And they're just, yeah, it doesn't matter how they vote. And then I love a lot of people who vote, who dislike a lot of the policies that I support or dislike Donald Trump. And they still know that I'm a good person. I still know that they're good people. And they assume because I support him, Donald Trump must be good, too. They just don't like his policies. And it's so weird to me that that is like a foreign concept to people in America where it's so easy to understand that because you can turn left and talk to one neighbor who voted Trump, turn right and talk the other neighbor who voted for Kamala Harris, and realize at the end of the day, your kids have a lot in common. You both want safety and security for your family. You want, you know, to pay off your mortgage.
- [45:58]
Unknown Interviewer
You want same hobbies.
- [45:59]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. You want to adopt pets, and you want to raise happy kids, and you want to celebrate forth together, and that's it. Like, nothing else really matters, especially when you forget the core stuff. And it's just. It's a really sad, awkward place to be. And I almost want to scream at people like, this doesn't matter. And you're listening to people that are doing what they're doing and saying what they're doing because it makes them money to anger you, not because they actually believe in what they're saying or because.
- [46:21]
Unknown Interviewer
I don't think many people realize this. And I know that you and. And you know, you can discuss whatever you feel comfortable discussing. And. And I know that you're aware of, like, where money flows much more than I am, but I think that it's important, first of all, that that whole idea is very important for people to understand, like, people are not their policies. People. Your Identity is not 2016 vote like it doesn't matter.
- [46:43]
Elizabeth Pipko
You circle.
- [46:44]
Unknown Interviewer
So the people that are the pundits that are on Fox, you know, MSNBC, YouTube, pick a political podcast, whatever, think about incentives. Like they're incentivized, of course, with massive amounts of money, right?
- [46:59]
Elizabeth Pipko
And they need you to tune in that night. Like they need you to turn on your TV and watch. When we can all agree that it's a lot healthier for you to turn off the TV and take a walk or adopt a pet or do volunteer work or take out a hobby, but instead you're turning on the tv and that's why they have to keep screaming. So you keep turning on the tv.
- [47:16]
Unknown Interviewer
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- [49:03]
Elizabeth Pipko
I don't know, but I'd say a lot of the ones that you think are really, really decent people, even if you disagree or agree with policy aside, the ones you think are, like, decent, good people are real scumbags. And some of the ones that you cannot stand, you'd actually have a really good time getting coffee with. Like, you really, really would. And you'd hate yourself for it, because America now believes you have to, but you really would have a good time with some of them.
- [49:25]
Unknown Interviewer
You know, you mentioned that Trump was sort of not politically, but just, like, in terms of his work ethic, who he is as a person, like, very inspiring, especially when you started up. What was the most important lesson that you've learned from him over working with him for years now?
- [49:42]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, everyone talks about this, and people always say that, like, his legacy will be this policy or that policy. And, you know, a lot of it is great, especially if you, you know, are on that same side. But again, politics aside, Donald Trump, according to a lot of people, was supposed to die in jail. Like, everything was thrown at him this year in 2016, he wasn't supposed to get near, you know, Hillary Clinton. He was supposed to lose the primary at 2% where he started and call it a day. Everybody laughed at him. Democrats, Republicans, pundits on tv, fellow politicians, world leaders. Every single person laughed at that man. That was 2016, 2024. He was supposed to end up in. I mean, people thought he was going to die in jail. And now he's President of the United States again. Again. Again, I get it. Politics aside, if you hate him on the policy side, try and put it aside for two seconds. The man had a saying, and he said it long before he ran in 2016. But, like, now, it, you know, rings a lot deeper. You can never, ever, ever give up. And, like, I have seen that man go through hell and back. I've seen his family go through hell and back. I've seen my own family go through hell and back for him. And, like, anytime I'm faced with any obstacle at all, I can remind myself that this guy became president when the whole world was laughing at him. And you can do absolutely anything you want to do if you believe in yourself.
- [51:00]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah, it's powerful. I mean, it kind of puts personal problems in perspective when a day's not going right and you realize the guy was shot at, like, a whole, like, the most Powerful government in the world was trying to put him in jail. Yeah.
- [51:15]
Elizabeth Pipko
And even if you believe he deserved to be in jail, which of course I don't, but imagine going through that and waking up every day and still fighting and trying to become president incident.
- [51:22]
Unknown Interviewer
You know, I mean that like, I mean, a fraction of what he goes through would break most people.
- [51:27]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, it broke me quite a bit. And I would do nothing compared to him.
- [51:31]
Unknown Interviewer
You can answer this question in one, in two ways. You can answer it through just life in general or through your time with Trump. What was the darkest moment that you've gone through in your life and how did you pull yourself out of it?
- [51:44]
Elizabeth Pipko
You mean like Trump world or just in general?
- [51:46]
Unknown Interviewer
It's up to you. You. It's open ended.
- [51:49]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, in general, obviously, in the campaign, like, there's been dark moments. January 6th was a dark moment. Losing the election was a dark moment. Your boss getting, you know, shot in the head, not knowing if he was alive or not is a dark moment. The FBI going after my family, It's a pretty dark moment. It's a pretty dark few years. A lot of people ask, like, why I didn't walk away from the campaign knowing the investigations would have stopped against my own family, for example. People.
- [52:16]
Unknown Interviewer
Was that implied or was that explicitly said?
- [52:19]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah, they, the whole point was to really scare people out of walking away from Donald Trump because if he lost his core staff or his staff went bankrupt, for example, because he had to pay all these legal fees, then they'd eventually walk away from him and he had, he'd have nothing left. That was the goal. Again, I don't want to get into it too far because I know people feel about it and if they disagree, they're going to stop listening right now. If they disagree with Donald Trump. And so I don't want that. I want people to understand that we're all human beings.
- [52:40]
Unknown Interviewer
No, but the question was not about Trump. It was, it was, it was about. About. Listen, I'm asking you how you get through something like that.
- [52:49]
Elizabeth Pipko
Right. So I'm gonna say there were a lot of dark times on the campaign. But I would say apart from the campaign, I've had dark times as a human being. I mean, when I started in politics was again, an accident. I was thrust on the world stage because Donald Trump tweeted about me randomly. I didn't expect, I didn't know he was going to do it. And when one of the most powerful people in the world, or no, he's president at that point, the most powerful person in the world tweets your name out. Now you're 23 years old and you have a really bad anxiety problem already, and the entire world tells you you deserve to be dead. Like, you know, I had developed a stomach ulcer that week, which I still have to suffer through. I couldn't get up for three weeks, physically could not get up because I had a bleeding stomach ulcer from the anxiety I caused myself. I was terrified to go outside because, you know, every message you're getting is telling you that you deserve this horrible thing to happen or that horrible thing to happen. And again, at that point especially, I was. Was basically irrelevant. It's just I had never gotten that much hate. So it feels like the whole world knows who you are and is talking about you. My. A lot of family members turned on me because they believed a lot of what they read in the media, which now they know isn't true. But our relationship is fractured forever. Again, I'm stuck with that stomach ulcer that I have to deal with now, nearly seven years later, that I'm still trying to deal with a lot of anxiety. I grew up pretty quickly, unfortunately, because.
- [54:05]
Unknown Interviewer
I, I have no doubt, yeah, I.
- [54:06]
Elizabeth Pipko
Liked being a child, but that, that went out the window.
- [54:09]
Unknown Interviewer
Took the wrong business for that, you know.
- [54:11]
Elizabeth Pipko
Again, it goes back to Donald Trump. People always say you have to believe in yourself. That's what they tell little kids. And I always thought it was a cliche, like, why do you believe in yourself? What does that mean? But the. The fact is, truly no one is going to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself. And it sounds like such a cliche and everyone says it, but if you don't like who you are, it doesn't matter if anyone likes you ever, because you won't be able to rest your head at night. No one's ever going to believe in you. And any success that you like, that you get, get, you will never realize it came from you. And you will live a really, really dark life. So learning in the hardest moment where everyone was telling me how horrible I was, that A, it wasn't true, and B, that I had to convince myself that nothing mattered. That people said about me, what matters, what I thought about myself. That was really, really, really hard, but really, really important. And I don't think it's clicked yet to this day. If someone says something, I almost want to message them and prove them wrong, because their opinion, you know, is. If it's the right topic, will hit me. But the fact is that's why I supported Donald Trump for so long, because he taught me what it means and how powerful it is to believe in yourself. And apart from the policy or anything else, that is the greatest gift you can give anyone is encouraging them to like who they are as people and to believe that they can do whatever their heart desires, even if everyone around them is trying to stop them.
- [55:22]
Unknown Interviewer
I would say that you, again, operate in one of the most, like, high stress environments that most people could ever find themselves in. So what part of yourself, and this can be a lesson for somebody that is even going to experience, like a fraction of the stress that you've experienced? What part of yourself did you have to give up? Like, what did you have to give up that wasn't serving you when you put yourself into a job, a career, a business that would stress you out as much as this did?
- [55:47]
Elizabeth Pipko
I mean, a. I'm going to be curious what I say to you in four years because I think I'm still growing and learning and trying to become a better functioning person. Like my husband will, I mean, will tell you, and he bullies me all the time, so you know how he feels about me. But he will tell you that I still let my anxiety get the best of me on the overthinking and everything else at the same time. And I tell everyone this, you have to be busy. You end up having more time to grow and learn and think and accomplish things when you're busy. When you're, when you have free time, it's not the same. But when you're busy, it helps you because you can almost see how great you can be when you are forced to be under all, like, all the pressure in the world.
- [56:23]
Unknown Interviewer
World.
- [56:24]
Elizabeth Pipko
So I'd say I have learned to like myself more when I have tried to bite off as much as humanly possible and accomplish all of it. Because I have realized that when I actually put the negative thoughts aside, I am invincible. And I think we all are. But when you have too much time, you can sit there and come up with all the bad things about yourself that you want because that's what society encourages us to do.
- [56:42]
Unknown Interviewer
That's a whole other conversation.
- [56:44]
Elizabeth Pipko
But the fact is, if you really, really put yourself out there and you try to accomplish everything that you can, even if you fail, you will start to like yourself because you see how capable you truly are. And I think that's been the best part of all of this, is realizing that things have been so busy. Sometimes I've actually had to shut off my brain and just keep Functioning and just keep doing. And then it's like, oh, holy crap. Like, I'm actually pretty good at this, and I'm actually pretty cool. And maybe my negative thoughts were what was holding me back.
- [57:09]
Unknown Interviewer
Did you ever have imposter syndrome when you jumped into any of these roles?
- [57:12]
Elizabeth Pipko
That's the one thing I don't suffer from, really. Maybe I'm like. Like, people are describing it to me wrong. I had the opposite of imposter syndrome. I'm more like, why am I.
- [57:21]
Unknown Interviewer
You were never nervous when you. I mean, so candidly. I also feel the same way sometimes. I just feel like I jump into stuff and I'm not too stressed because I feel like if somebody else can do it, I can do it, too. I mean, you told the story about sending that kid up to. To his. To Trump's office and saying, hey, like, hire me. It doesn't necessarily sound like somebody that has massive amounts of imposter syndrome syndrome, but I am trying to pull out, like, a little bit of a lesson for people so that they can emulate that amount of courage, and I. It's. That doesn't come natural.
- [57:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
Courage is different from confidence. I've always lacked confidence. I've never lacked courage.
- [57:57]
Unknown Interviewer
Explain. I've never heard that before.
- [58:00]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's. We're getting deep, even. I don't know where that came from. I very often will do my 10,000th TV interview and, like, have anxiety, knowing for a fact that I'm fine and can do it. And I've never messed up in a great way on television, and I can still do it, but I still get anxiety because I'm a perfectionist, and I lack the confidence to believe that if I, you know, just keep doing this, I'm actually, you know, very good at what I do. Like, I'm always overthinking. My parents were very tough Russian parents growing up, and they always taught me, someone out there is working harder than you. Keep working hard and never believe that you're good at something. So, like, I always.
- [58:32]
Unknown Interviewer
That's tough advice, but I like it.
- [58:33]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. I mean, someone's always better than you, and you can always get better. So I lack the confidence still to this day in everything I do. Even if I've done it a million times, even if you think I'm great at it, it. I am sweating and overthinking because I have to keep trying to make myself better. But I've always said that you have to have the courage to keep doing it. So I lack the confidence very often, and I always Wish that I could calm that part down and tell myself, you're so good at what you're doing. That's why you're here. But I've never lacked the courage because life is so short, and I've always wanted to. I've always believed that if it worked out and I got there, I'd figure it out when I got there. And if you don't try, no one's gonna be the chance anyway. And. And I know too many people, by the way, that are really, really stupidly confident but don't go for anything. And that I don't understand. I lack the confidence, but I will shoot for the stars and everything I try to do.
- [59:17]
Unknown Interviewer
You know, I think that that's. I. I feel the same way. I think that I've always wondered what gives somebody like that that ability to just take action. I don't know. It's such a. It's such a hack. And even if you don't feel like. If you are listening to this and you don't feel like you have that ability, I think that. That I've thought of this before. Parents definitely help, but.
- [59:40]
Elizabeth Pipko
Or hurt.
- [59:40]
Unknown Interviewer
Or hurt, but. Yeah. Or hurt. But I think that also, like, just keeping track of the times that you've won or succeeded as and like, keeping a record of that really does give you the confidence to. To go forward and take action against the next thing.
- [59:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
Also, I was a competitive figure skater. I think that's where it comes from.
- [59:55]
Unknown Interviewer
That's true too. Right? You were not. Yeah. So also I played a lot of, like. Yeah, sports help a lot sports growing up. And that also made me hyper competitive.
- [60:03]
Elizabeth Pipko
But also doesn't have to be competitive like you and I. Like young sports. You can do sports. You can start at 40 years old and you'll still get the same. Like a lot of sports. Figure skating, for example, you can start right now and have the same experience I did doing a triple jump. You have to close your eyes, count to three, and just do it, knowing there's a very good chance that you fall and knowing that you have zero confidence because you've never landed the jump before, knowing you're probably going to fall because that's, you know, that's how gravity works. But you have to close your eyes, say, 1, 2, 3, and take off. Off. And if you fall, you have to get up and just do it again. And that's. That's life.
- [60:35]
Unknown Interviewer
What keeps you up at, you know, three in the morning? What keeps you up that people wouldn't know?
- [60:42]
Elizabeth Pipko
I don't know this doesn't count as imposter syndrome. You're probably. You can tell me what it's called. Just feeling like I'm not accomplished. And no matter what I do, I.
- [60:49]
Unknown Interviewer
Think that's a little bit of delusion. But that's besides the point that that's probably what.
- [60:52]
Elizabeth Pipko
That's what my parents say. But, yeah, I mean, it's. It's wanting the world to know that I'm remotely qualified and that none of this was luck. And again, it's also reading the negative messages that say, you're here because you're pretty or you're here because you're this or here because of that, that's unhelpful. But I think everyone, whether they have those messages on any platform or not, very off. I mean, I know a lot of really accomplished people that will tell me I'm nothing. So I. It's not just me, but. Yeah, it's wanting to make my parents proud and wanting to look back and think that I did everything I could possibly do. You. And you say that I'm young, but in my brain, it's my modeling agents or my figure skating coaches telling me that 29 is, you know, basically 60, and my best days are behind me. And I know none of it is true, but I'm scared to, like, get complacent and get too comfortable, get too confident and stop reaching for the stars.
- [61:39]
Unknown Interviewer
And ironically, that's why you'll be successful, probably. I mean, people. People go to different sort of dark places, fuel their ambition.
- [61:47]
Elizabeth Pipko
That I do think. I think I go too dark. Like, I do. I don't encourage anyone to be as crazy as I am, but I do think that the people that are the craziest and that never feel comfortable and that want to keep shooting for the stars are the ones that end up succeeding. You told me that.
- [62:00]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah, I know.
- [62:01]
Elizabeth Pipko
I believe. I think we were at dinner, and you were like, if you just keep going, eventually it's going to work. That's how that was.
- [62:06]
Unknown Interviewer
I believe it. And I think that you have to lean into different reasons to h. There's different things that you have to use to be able to keep going. And, I mean, I. I listened to a Mr. Beast interview on. On Darva CEO, and he said, like, if I cared about my mental health, I wouldn't be successful.
- [62:23]
Elizabeth Pipko
That's. That's me.
- [62:24]
Unknown Interviewer
I don't think that's.
- [62:25]
Elizabeth Pipko
I don't think that's healthy, though. I don't think that's the lesson, But.
- [62:28]
Unknown Interviewer
I think that There's a less intense version of that where you are outside your comfort zone and you're not living in this nice little bubble, and that's why you're successful.
- [62:37]
Elizabeth Pipko
Right. I just think it's like a little bit of what you said, too. Making a list and reminding yourself every week of what you accomplished that week. So that in six months, when you're having one of those. Those breakdowns about not being accomplished, you can look back and say, holy crap, look what I did in six months.
- [62:48]
Unknown Interviewer
You have to do that. I'm just like, I should probably start. You should probably start doing that. Like, just write out your resume.
- [62:53]
Elizabeth Pipko
I'm gonna start today.
- [62:54]
Unknown Interviewer
Please. If you could go back and have a conversation with yourself when you first started working with Trump, what would you want to tell yourself?
- [63:02]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's gonna get so cool. Like, I thought I was gonna be a volunteer that I. I just. I thought I'd volunteer, and then, you know, I tell people about this cool experience, and I'd walk away. And I ended up, you know, hanging out with Donald Trump, making a guy president multiple times, getting to the White House.
- [63:18]
Unknown Interviewer
Not a bad job.
- [63:20]
Elizabeth Pipko
Yeah. But again, shoot for the stars. Because none of that should have happened to me. I should not have been there that day. I shouldn't have sent a stupid letter, shouldn't have asked a volunteer to send it up. You never know what God has in store.
- [63:29]
Unknown Interviewer
If you think about sort of the. The stress and anxiety that you deal with constantly. Because I know your personality, too. So I'm curious if you've developed any useful coping mechanisms that somebody else could use for their own stress or anxiety in their life. And I know you're laughing because you.
- [63:45]
Elizabeth Pipko
Know that anything I say is a lie, because I'm always stressed.
- [63:47]
Unknown Interviewer
I don't think it's a lie. I don't. I'm not asking you a question like. Like telling you to go lie. I think that you probably don't, 100 of the time deal with it. Well, no, trust me, I believe that. You know, but I think that there's also some things that you've picked up that could be useful for somebody who's dealing with, like, high stress moments.
- [64:01]
Elizabeth Pipko
It's hard because, again, I'm really privileged on the personal life. Like, I really. I know a lot of people that don't have the support system I have. So it's almost unfair for me to tell people to lean into that. If you have it, lean into it. Because there's going to be days when you're like, holy crap, spending Time with my dad is the best thing I could possibly have done this week. Like, that just made me feel so much better. And when I'm 95, of course I'll remember the times with Donald Trump. But more than that, I'm gonna remember the time with my dad. So I'd say if you have the personal life that I have, that I only realize as an adult how privileged I am to have lean into it hard. That's. That's all that. I mean, at the end of the day, say it's all that matters is, you know, doing that. I'd say genuinely what has helped me. And it's important advice too, just in general, to make people better people. Volunteering has helped me so much. I started when I was 16 because I was in a dark place and someone recommended to me to go to a local soup kitchen and just, like, do something with my time because I was really in a dark place. And I have not stopped since then. And I. I mean, I volunteered in how many states and how many soup kitchens and shelters and, you know, so many organizations. I have my masters in non profit work. I have a nonprofit I just started. But just volunteering because it's not about knowing that people are doing, you know, worse than you or whatever it is. It's about how good it feels to help someone genuinely. And that's when you realize that, like, maybe helping that person or helping 20, you know, 30, 40 people that I helped serving soup or whatever it is was actually a hell of a lot more meaningful than getting that degree or getting that award or whatever it is that is stressing you out. It has been the best thing that has happened in my life the last 10, 15 years. It's such a good feeling.
- [65:29]
Unknown Interviewer
I've never had somebody tell me that answer. So, like.
- [65:31]
Elizabeth Pipko
And it's so easy.
- [65:32]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah.
- [65:32]
Elizabeth Pipko
You know, you just look up because.
- [65:34]
Unknown Interviewer
You'Re serving someone else and you realize that your problems maybe are not as big.
- [65:37]
Elizabeth Pipko
Your problems aren't as big. And B, like, you have access to something that's actually so much more meaningful than what you thought was the most meaningful thing in your life five minutes ago. It is a really, really amazing thing. It is what has kept me grounded and sane for the last 15 years.
- [65:51]
Unknown Interviewer
If people want to connect with you, learn more about what you're working on, all the websites, socials, all of that.
- [65:57]
Elizabeth Pipko
That it should just be my name. So it's Elizabeth Pipco, I think Instagram X, Facebook. Yeah, just Google my name. Try not to read the stories and you'll Find me somewhere.
- [66:08]
Unknown Interviewer
The last question I like to ask. And we're going to ask this question again in four years from now. But out of all the different ideas or lessons that you've learned over your own life, what is the most important one that you'd want to pass on to your kids and why?
- [66:22]
Elizabeth Pipko
So I have it it on my wall right now, and I didn't realize how important it was to, like, way, you know, into the future, but when I was little, I love to do my schoolwork in my dad's office. I just felt like, you know, an important person. And when he wasn't home, I would be in his office doing my schoolwork. And he had a little card on his desk. It was a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. And it says, do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. And I would, like, read it to myself every day as a little kid when I was, like, you know, daydreaming and not paying attention to my schoolwork. Then as an adult, I remember thinking about the quote and, like, why it meant so much to me. Then again, it is so easy to do it. You know, your friend is doing or what this one tells you to do. What's difficult and what's special is doing something different and inspiring someone along the way. My entire life has been people bullying me for doing the weird thing. You know, don't try to, like, leave your school and go to the Olympics. Don't be homeschooled. Don't volunteer for political campaign, don't support Donald Trump, God knows what else. And part of it has motivated me because when people tell me not to do something, I do it, which is not very smart. But in general, don't go where the path may lead. It is so much cooler and more special to go somewhere else and hopefully make other people feel like they can do the same as well.