Podcast Summary: The Find Out Podcast

Episode: "Trump Revoked His Security Clearance — Now Joel Willett Is Taking Him On in Kentucky"

Date: October 30, 2025
Guests: Joel Willett (Kentucky Senate candidate)
Hosts: The Find Out Podcast team

Overview

This episode features an in-depth, wide-ranging conversation with Joel Willett, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, in the wake of unprecedented actions by the Trump administration—specifically the revocation of security clearances for former government officials seen as insufficiently loyal. Willett shares his powerful personal story, his views on the current political climate in Kentucky and America at large, the Trump administration’s approach to civil service and national security, and the direct impact of recent GOP policies on working people. The tone is candid, irreverent, sometimes hilarious, and always passionate about “real talk” for people confronting the realities of Trump’s second term.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Joel Willett’s Backstory and Motivation for Running ([03:19] – [09:01])

• Personal Roots: Willett grew up in working-class Louisville with parents who struggled with opioid addiction:

  “My dad was an iron worker, union iron worker. My mom worked in hospitals ... as I got older, realized both of them were struggling with opioid addiction ... I eventually lost my dad to a fentanyl overdose in 2019.” (Joel Willett, [03:19])

• Luck & Support Community:

  “I was one of the lucky ones ... I had incredible grandparents ... my grandmother's church. I joined the Army National Guard at 17, a couple months after 9/11.” ([03:19])

• National Security Experience: Served in FBI counterterrorism, CIA, and White House Situation Room (Obama/Biden era).
• Business Experience: Explains the transition to the private sector and leading businesses that created jobs:

  “I've been the CEO of numerous businesses that have put hundreds of people to work every day. So I truly got to live my American dream ... But ... families like the one that I grew up in ... are increasingly being steamrolled.” ([03:19])

• Run for Senate:

  “I think the American dream needs to be restored for people who grew up in families like mine.” ([03:19])

Notable Moment: Talking Sports and Kentucky Identity

• The hosts tease Willett about whether he roots for Kentucky or Louisville sports — a light, relatable moment amidst serious discussion ([06:04]).

2. Trump Era Retaliation: Security Clearances Revoked ([11:28] – [17:19])

• Background on Revocation: Willett explains how, while considering a Senate run and after years speaking out against Trump, he became the target of an orchestrated effort by Tulsi Gabbard (now Director of National Intelligence), Laura Loomer, and others to strip his security clearance:

  “They found some mean things I said about him six years ago ... and then threw me into a list with many others saying that ... they were revoking my security clearance.” (Joel Willett, [11:51])

• Systemic Retaliation:

  “They are just going down Trump's enemies list. They're not focused on keeping the country safe. This is truly just a government ... focused on retribution for Donald Trump ...” ([11:51])

• Corruption and Chilling Effect:

  “Tulsi Gabbard and her office didn't even fact check this list ... They literally copy and pasted from Laura Loomer's Twitter over to a memo ... The weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s political enemies ... is already putting our national security at risk.” ([15:58])

• Host’s Commentary:

  “There are no adults in the room when it comes to intelligence now, and that’s very sad.” (Host 3, [15:26])

3. Policy Vision: Fixing the System & Protecting Civil Servants ([17:42] – [21:45])

• Impact Beyond Intelligence: Willett notes similar purges happening across military, EPA, FEMA, etc.
• Defense of Nonpartisan Civil Service: Provides historical context on America’s civil service:

  “A president was literally assassinated over this topic ... Then Teddy Roosevelt and those guys ... build, you know, a system where we could have a meritocratic system of civil service ... not who you knew.” (Joel Willett, [18:16])

• Call for Security Clearance Reform:

  “One thing that needs to be codified into law is not giving the executive complete carte blanche as it relates to ... security clearances. ... There needs to be some sort of review process ... so civil servants know that this can't just be used as the easy button to fire them.” ([18:16])

4. Democratic Messaging in Red States: Economic Pain & Opportunity ([21:45] – [27:43])

• Changing the Argument: Hosts and Willett discuss how Democratic candidates in red states need to focus on kitchen-table economics as GOP policies begin to directly hurt constituents.
• On Kentucky’s Independent Streak:

  “Andy Beshear, our governor, is ... the most popular governor in America right now. He’s won twice in the Trump era. He has shown a path where Democrats can show up. Not try to hide from voters, not try to hide from your values.” (Joel Willett, [23:44])

• Critique of Trump’s Policy Effects:

  “We have 35 rural hospitals at risk ... $4 trillion in tax cuts ... ten billionaires serve in Donald Trump's cabinet ... gutting healthcare access ... devastating Kentucky.” ([23:44])

• Defining the Stakes:

  “Do you think a man that has enriched himself by $3 billion since January is looking out for you? ... Wages are stagnant if they exist at all. And he is $3 billion wealthier. That is not a man that is on your side.” ([23:44])

5. Running and Winning Differently: Learning from Past Democratic Losses ([27:43] – [33:02])

• Amy McGrath & 2020 Lessons: Critiques past strategies of running "less-Republican-than-the-Republican" campaigns.

  “If you keep doing the same things, you're going to get the same results.” (Joel Willett, [28:51])

• Current GOP Options:

  “On the right, you’ve got people ... who have done nothing but be political animals their entire life ... or branding themselves as a Trump guy.” ([28:51])

• Polarization Note: Hosts joke about needing a “grading matrix” before letting a candidate rerun after a 20-point loss ([31:25]).

6. The Rightward Lurch of Kentucky’s GOP & National Republicans ([33:02] – [36:14])

• No More “Adults in the Room”:

  “This has been a 10 year effort by Donald Trump and Steve Bannon ... to ensure that there are no Republicans that will be anything other than rubber stamps for Donald Trump ... There are no John McCains in the Republican Party anymore.” (Joel Willett, [33:02])

• Voters' Real Concerns:

  “On the campaign trail ... people are talking about the pain that they're feeling every day and their fears about the future of our democracy.” ([33:02])

7. Service, Empathy, and Military Background ([36:14] – [39:28])

• Contrast with “Officer-Heavy” Narrative:

  “I joined as an E3 and got promoted ... to E4 and got yelled at a lot and did a lot of push ups ... I believe so strongly in national service ... our civil service and our military are some of the greatest tools for economic mobility in the world.” ([37:17])

• On Empathy and Lived Experience:

  “Enlisted folks are constantly, you know, sending money back to their families, to help, you know, pay bills ... These are the types of struggles that people have in Kentucky.” ([37:17])

8. Government Shutdown, SNAP, and Health Care Cuts ([39:28] – [51:23])

• SNAP Benefits Running Out:

  “Even with the SNAP benefits ... prices are not coming down ... now those benefits are going to be eliminated entirely ... Fear is what voters are feeling across the state of Kentucky and I suspect that that is consistent across the United States.” (Joel Willett, [40:56])

• Republican Priorities Exposed:

  “Democrats want people to be able to both eat and afford health care. That seems like a pretty noble thing ... Republicans are willing to let people starve, including children, to make sure that they get to take health care away from millions of Americans.” (Host 1, [43:30])

• The “Working Poor” Reality:

  “[The] program is subsidizing their wages while their companies post record profits ... 15 million out of 40 million people on these benefits who actually are working, and then the rest is a massive amount of disabled, elderly, or children.” (Joel Willett, [45:55])

• Cutting Food Stamps Hurts the Economy:

  “When you cut SNAP benefits ... you're also going to cut a bunch of grocery store jobs ... then they're going to need some state and federal assistance too ... it's not even a savings.” (Host 1, [46:47])

• On Waste and Fraud Myths:

  “I would rather that we not have a hundred people starve because one person might be cheating the system than the inverse.” (Joel Willett, [48:41]) “It's just supplemental. ... You're like, shit's already terrible. You're already mostly fucked. Let's make you slightly less fucked. And that's too much socialism for Republicans.” (Host 2, [51:10])

9. GOP’s Cynical Anti-Government Rhetoric & The Loss of “Passing the Torch” ([51:23] – [55:36])

• Republican “Efficiency” Claims Are a Sham:

  “They've been papering over abuse and cruelty with efficiency arguments since Ronald Reagan ... But now ... the cruelty is just on full display.” (Host 2, [52:58])

• Historical Perspective: Incrementalism vs. Destruction:

  “We used to be able to pass the torch in this country ... Now we try to tear it down to the studs every four years. That is bad for America. It is bad for the world.” (Joel Willett, [54:22])

10. Final Plug & Lighter Kentucky Fare ([55:36] – end)

• How to Support Willett:

  “Go to joel4kentucky.com ... Our campaign is going to be run in 120 counties talking to people that are going to hate me, talking to people that might be skeptical of me, but are going to want to listen ...” (Joel Willett, [55:58])

• Best Kentucky Bourbon? ([57:23])

  “My last name is Will It. So ... we are going to go with Will It Bourbon. Final answer. But ... I am not a drinker. It's my water bottle and Diet Coke. I guess Donald Trump and I have that in common.” (Joel Willett, [57:39])

• The final 3-4 minutes are jovial banter about bourbon, Kentucky, and the way taste buds and priorities change with age—a fitting, lighthearted wrap for a charged discussion.

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• On the Trump White House and retaliation:
  • “They are just going down Trump's enemies list ... This is truly just a government that is focused on retribution for Donald Trump and fealty to Donald Trump.”
    — Joel Willett, [11:51]
• On restoring America’s civil service:
  • “It took so, so long and so much effort to get it to where it is today. Is it perfect today? Absolutely not. But I can say our politics never interfered with our job.”
    — Joel Willett, [18:16]
• On working-class economic pain:
  • “Do you think a man that has enriched himself by $3 billion since January is looking out for you?”
    — Joel Willett, [23:44]
• On SNAP benefits and the Republican mindset:
  • “Truly, they want you to choose between getting to eat or going to the doctor when you get sick. And Democrats are presenting a little bit of a different choice. Maybe you should be able to both eat and go to the doctor. Radical right.”
    — Joel Willett, [40:56]
• On Republican arguments about aid:
  • “I would rather that we not have a hundred people starve because one person might be cheating the system than the inverse.”
    — Joel Willett, [48:41]
• On learning from past Democratic losses:
  • “If you keep doing the same things, you're going to get the same results.”
    — Joel Willett, [28:51]

Important Timestamps

• [03:19] — Willett’s personal backstory, opioid crisis experience
• [11:51] — Details on Trump/Gabbard/Loomer security clearance revocation
• [15:58] — The consequences for U.S. national security
• [18:16] — Historic context and suggested reforms for civil service
• [23:44] — How to talk to red state voters; healthcare impact
• [28:51] — Contrast with other candidates; lessons from 2020 loss
• [33:02] — The rightward lurch of Kentucky’s GOP
• [37:17] — Military service and empathy in public service
• [40:56] — Government shutdown, SNAP, and economic anxiety
• [48:41] — The reality of welfare fraud versus suffering
• [55:58] — Call to action: How to support the campaign
• [57:23]–[62:30] — Bourbon banter and Kentucky pride

Conclusion

This episode gives a full-throated critique of Trump-era politics—especially the use of government power for personal retribution—while also laying out a positive, practical vision for how Democrats can reclaim working-class credibility in “red” America. The hosts keep things accessible with humor and cultural touchstones, while Joel Willett embodies the kind of root-level empathy and realism they argue Democrats need to win. For anyone seeking a clear-eyed, no-bullshit look at American politics in 2025—from the absurdities of the current MAGA regime to the all-too-real struggles of working families—this episode is both essential and entertaining listening.