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The Find Out Podcast
Trump Revoked His Security Clearance — Now Joel Willet Is Taking Him On in Kentucky
01:02:48
When Donald Trump heard Joel Willet was running for Senate in Kentucky, he pulled his security clearance. But that didn’t stop him. Willet tells The Find Out Podcast why he’s not backing down, what he’s learned from his career in intelligence, and why he believes Democrats shouldn’t run from their values — even in deep-red states.
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- [00:00]
Host 1
Foreign hey everybody, welcome back to the Find out podcast. We got a great show for you today. We have Kentucky Senate candidate Joel Willett with us. But first we want to talk about a really urgent issue that is happening. This is just going to be for a second, but next week there is an election in Pennsylvania that most are not aware of in which three of the Democratic appointed judges are up for quote unquote reelection. It's a little bit of a tricky situation because what they're doing is actually it's almost like a vote of, of confidence or no confidence. So it's like a yes or no. There are no other candidates but if anybody gets under 50% of the of the vote, they are replaced. Luckily it's a Democratic governor that would do it, but then that person would have to run in two years to hold that seat. So this is, I think this is for to keep another 10 year term. So this is a really, really important thing to do. And so we are actually asking people to donate to that campaign to make sure that they are getting the word out because it's one of those things that's very, very important but not a lot of people talk about. We will put a QR code on the screen so that you can scan that. We will also put it in our show notes and, and in other places and then I'll just read off the URL where you can donate directly. We have a special page for find out listeners to donate and you can do that at act.link/gi-pa court. So that's act.link/gi-pa Court. And like I said, we'll drop that in the, in the show notes too. But please do that. These elections are super important. Pennsylvania has a Democratic majority right now. But if we lose some of these, you know, we, we, we will be in trouble with the rights that the Pennsylvanians have right now. So if you could donate to that, we would greatly appreciate it. And that election is next week. Now we're going to talk about an election that is happening next year which is the Kentucky senate race. Mitch McConnell is stepping down. And so it will be there will be a new senator no matter what happens. And today we are talking with the one of the Democratic candidates today, Joel Willett. So Joel, thank you for joining us.
- [02:29]
Joel Willett
Thank you guys for having me. Happy to be here.
- [02:32]
Host 2
Actually, Tim, I think Mitch McConnell already did step down.
- [02:35]
Host 1
Oh boy.
- [02:37]
Host 3
He's taken several steps down here in the last year.
- [02:41]
Joel Willett
He's not going to run for reelection. He is still in office.
- [02:46]
Host 1
Yeah, no, he yes.
- [02:48]
Joel Willett
Oh, that was a fall joke that went right over my head.
- [02:51]
Host 2
Yeah, I saw that bas basement videos.
- [02:54]
Host 1
Which normally, normally we do not make. We would not make fun of an elderly person falling, but somebody who has been as destructive as him. I will. I'm. I'm. I'm okay with it. He. He should have retired a long time ago. But, Joel, tell us a little bit about yourself. I'm gonna guess that most of our audience has not. Has not heard of you before, but you have a really interesting and compelling story, so I just would love to hear your background, and then we will get into how Tulsi Gabbard and Donald Trump have tried to mess with you. So if you could just go ahead.
- [03:20]
Joel Willett
Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you guys so much for having me. So, yeah. Joel Willett, running for the US Senate in Kentucky. Please go to JoelForkentucky.com if you miss anything that I say or would like to learn more. But I grew up in Louisville, so it's the largest city in Kentucky, but I grew up in the southwest part of it, just up the road from Fort Knox. My dad was an iron worker, union iron worker. My mom worked in hospitals, and they worked really hard to provide for me and my sister. But they had what I refer to as some Kentucky struggles. Lights didn't always come on when I got home from school. Car wasn't in the driveway sometimes because it got repossessed again as I got older. Realized both of them were struggling with opioid addiction, and they had been since a fairly early point in my life. And it's a story that impacted tens of thousands of Kentucky families over the past couple of decades, where you get injured at work or your body breaks down from hard labor. And doctors pushed increasingly potent pain pills that got people hooked. And my parents were a victim of that. I eventually lost my dad to a fentanyl overdose in 2019. But I was one of the lucky ones. Like, literally every bit of that could have happened to me. But I had incredible grandparents on both sides of my family that had my grandmother's church. I joined the Army National Guard when I was 17. It was a couple months after 9, 11. My mom signed the paperwork. As a father today, I can't imagine what a gut wrenching decision that was for her in a time of national crisis. But I'm glad she made it. I got a good Kentucky education. I went to the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky, for grad school. I'm sure people are interested in what team I might root for there, but Went on from that to a career in national security. I spent some time with the FBI working on counterterrorism and then spent five years in the CIA where I managed global intelligence collection operations. Spent my last year in government in the White House Situation Room providing intelligence and crisis support to President Obama and then Vice President Biden and other principals. And I left government in 2015 intent on recreating my life in the private sector. Have been living as a private citizen since then. 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 as you can tell from how I grew up, none of that story was inevitable. And I think we should be proud of our country, not of me, but truly of America for making stories like mine possible. And I'm running for the Senate because families like the one that I grew up in, I feel are increasingly being steamrolled system that treats them like they're acceptable losses. And I think that working class families are largely invisible to our political and economic system today. And I think the American dream needs to be restored for people who grew up in families like mine.
- [06:05]
Host 1
So you, you glance, you, you glow. Glossed over. One thing that I'm. I have to push you on is which team would you root for in that situation? Are you willing to, to go on the record now with that or is.
- [06:16]
Joel Willett
That a like hard hitting question? I've been dodging that on the trail throughout all parts of Kentucky. And you're going to press me on it here? Man, this is, this is the most weaselly politician thing that I will ever say. I promise.
- [06:30]
Host 2
Oh God, you just. So both teams have a good time.
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Host 1
Yeah.
- [06:35]
Joel Willett
But you can ask anybody who knows me. I have never wanted our state to do poorly. If Kentucky is playing literally anybody else, I'm rooting for the Kentucky team. That seems pretty obvious, but not everybody in Kentucky will do that. You have Kentucky fans who will not root for the University of Louisville no matter what and vice versa. So I grew up a Kentucky Wildcat fan. I will always root for them in basketball. Louisville football did steal my heart while I was there at undergrad, so I know that's probably tremendously unsatisfying, but those are the facts.
- [07:07]
Host 2
What was the, what was the reason Louisville football grabbed you when you were an undergrad? Because that's where I'm going to. I'm going to expose myself. Not in a bad way. But Lamar Jackson went to Louisville, right?
- [07:19]
Joel Willett
I don't know.
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Host 2
Oh, okay. We can cut that Out.
- [07:23]
Host 3
No, no, no, no.
- [07:25]
Host 1
Are you a Lamar? Are you. Are you a Lamar fan? What's.
- [07:27]
Host 2
What's going.
- [07:28]
Host 1
What's the.
- [07:29]
Host 2
I like the Ravens, and they're playing tomorrow night, and Lamar. I'm pretty sure Lamar went to Louisville, but it's. But it's later on. But anyway, yeah, we can skip this whole.
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Joel Willett
No, you asked that.
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Host 3
That was.
- [07:39]
Joel Willett
It's an easy answer. I was a commuter student. I didn't have money to live on campus. I was, you know, driving freaking 40 minutes to park in the 10 mile away lot and take the bus. So college was. Was more of a survival exercise for me than it was anything but. Students on campus got really into football during those years while I was there, and that was just what we did. It was how you had fun when you, when you were on campus. So, you know, that. That kind of got me.
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Host 2
Sorry.
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Host 3
I'm not. I'm not judging you. I don't give a. About sports at all.
- [08:09]
Host 2
Like, Lamar Jackson did go to Louisville. I just confirmed.
- [08:13]
Host 1
Okay. You got it. Okay. Well, it's funny because losing my mind over here does the sports to get thrown off for a second, but the sports thing is always so funny because I, I remember. Well, first of all, New York City has had two mayors that were Red Sox fans, which I greatly enjoy because I grew up in Maine, so I'm a Red Sox fan. So they always got. But they still won, so it wasn't a big deal. But then also John Kerry, when he ran in 2004, I think he said his favorite player was Manny Ortez Ortiz. Excuse me. Which is a combination of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. So anybody, Anybody in Boston knows that's a. That is a bad place to be. The guy who got caught windsurfing. Maybe, you know, maybe we should have seen the signs before the results in 2004. But anyways, so, Joel, Joel, tell me. So after you left government service, where. Where did you go after that?
- [09:01]
Joel Willett
Immediately, I went to the University of Chicago. I went to business school up there. And then that was able, you know, to launch a career in the private sector for me. As you can imagine, speaking Russian and having, you know, lived and worked in Russia or the Balkans, Baltic, Southeast Asia, and the White House situation and that all. I mean, those are incredible life experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. But it's sometimes hard for people leaving government service, or military service for that matter, to translate that into something of economic value in the private sector. So the MBA at UChicago was just an incredible learning Experience that really helped launch my career in the private sector. And I will say, if you ever want to feel dumb, go study finance or economics at the University of Chicago.
- [09:44]
Host 1
I, I, to be honest, I would feel dumb if I studied it at Trump University. So, like that's, that's perfectly.
- [09:51]
Host 3
Anything at Trump University, you would be dumb.
- [09:54]
Host 2
That's by design. Yeah, that's fair.
- [09:55]
Host 1
That's fair. So, but Joel, then you, after, after your mba, you did, you, you started your own business, I believe. Is that, is that where you went next?
- [10:03]
Joel Willett
Yeah, so I went into executive search consulting for a year, which is, you know, placing CEOs, CFOs into, you know, private equity backed or large, you know, Fortune 500 companies. And then I went to the investment world myself. I partnered with a fund to go acquire and invest in businesses and then I would go run those businesses as CEO and execute on the, you know, investment thesis, whatever that might be. And so we were a fund that was set up to provide a generational transition for owners, you know, small business owners who had grown and built businesses over their careers, but perhaps didn't have anybody to hand it off to, either a management team or a family member. And so our fund would come in and help those small business owners receive some value from what they had built and worked on their whole lives. And then we would go in with the, with the goal to preserve their legacy and to continue to grow the, grow the business. So, yeah, so ended up in the government contracting space. I ran a business that helped the Navy determine the seaworthiness of destroyers and littoral combat ships. Once they were built and came out of the shipyards. Our company helped put them through sea trials and inspections and ensure that the Navy was getting what they were paid, paid for, and that these vessels were safe. Then I went on to run a software development company that had worked with the IRS and manages the updates to the code every time the tax law changes.
- [11:28]
Host 1
So tell us. So recently there were some waves made about you basically thinking about a run for Senate. And then I'm not even gonna use her title because it's just embarrassing. But Chelsea Gabbard and Donald Trump did something to you. Tell us a little bit about that and how that sort of has started your, your journey in running for the Senate.
- [11:52]
Joel Willett
Yeah, to be clear, I was exploring a run for the Senate before the incident that you're referring to happened. I found it increasingly hard to sit on the sidelines while watching, you know, I mean, just, I'll break it down just my family, my parent My mom, my sister, my niece, and all those, you know, that were, you know, still living those Kentucky struggles that I referred to earlier. And watching this system continue to just reward those who are close to power in a system that was increasingly corrupt, it was very hard for me. And like so many of us, I mean, we can sit and yell at our televisions. We can, you know, give to candidates to run, you know, bullshit campaigns. We can, you know, march. We've done all these things. I personally have done all these things, and I didn't want to look at this point in history and ask myself, what else could I be doing? So I was exploring a run for Senate. And then I believe that I'm still unclear exactly what happened, but I believe that Tulsi Gabbard and Laura Loomer and others found out about that, somehow found out that I still had security clearance and that I was working in the government contracting space and decided that that was. That was too much for them, that, you know, unless you were willing to have, you know, absolute fealty to Donald Trump and the administration, they wanted to impact your livelihood. I have been speaking out against Donald Trump since the moment I left government. I joined the Democratic Party in 2016. I was always an independent, as I thought that was important for intelligence officers to, you know, not be partisan or not engage in political activities in that way. But I registered, I believe, for the first time that election cycle, as a Democrat, had been speaking out publicly against Donald Trump since then. So they found some mean things I said about him six years ago or some letter I signed and then threw me into a list with many others saying that, you know, they were revoking my security clearance. And you didn't refer to Tulsi Gabbard's title. It's supposed to be the Director of National Intelligence. But she doesn't actually make any of the decisions or call any of the shots. She is completely beholden to Laura Loomer as it relates to staffing the government or the intelligence agencies. And you would think that these people have better things to do, but clearly they do not. They are just going down Trump's enemies list. They're not focused on keeping the country safe. This is truly just a government that is focused on retribution for Donald Trump and fealty to Donald Trump. And these people are completely negligent in their duties and obligations to the American people.
- [14:24]
Host 3
I'm shaking my head because I know Tulsi Gabbard. She was one of the original co sponsors of my first piece of legislation that ever became law and probably a handful more. One of the things that I know from my time as lobbyist working on the Hill was that she had one of the only offices that would randomly just have its door locked and closed. Like, no one would come to work. The, the, like. Tulsi Gabbard's leadership style was so toxic that she couldn't hold on to any staff at all whatsoever. And before, you know, she was confirmed into his, into her position, I was raising whatever red flags I could as far as social media could get me about. Like, just look at her history as a leader. Having her in charge of the entire intelligence community is going to affect us for a generation. Like, that kind of toxic leader, you know, prevents good people from being recruited. It. It hurts retention. And on an international stage is, is just hurting our trust. You know, they're watching the relationship that Laura Loomer and, and Tulsi Gabbard have, you know, everyone outside the United States, and they see that as something that's easily exploitable. I mean, Donald Trump is easy to manipulate. Everybody's known that for years. But having a DNI who is exactly as exploitable and easy to manipulate is unprecedented for our country. There are no adults in the room when it comes to intelligence now, and that's very sad.
- [15:59]
Joel Willett
There truly aren't. And this is the chilling effect of actions like what happened to me, the weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump's political enemies. I am confident this is already put our national security at risk. Some of those people on that list, I mean, Tulsi Gabbard and her office didn't even fact check this list. Some of those people hadn't had clearances in like 12 years. Their names were spelled wrong. They literally copy and pasted from Laura Loomer's Twitter over to a memo with the imprimatur of the Director of National Intelligence to go after these people and to attack people like me. And, you know, what does that say? The halls of the CIA. On the wall you walk in, there's the seal. To the right is the wall of honor for the people who've lost their lives and those stars that are there, and some of whom's names aren't even known to the public. And you look over to the left side and there's a Bible verse from the Gospel of John inscribed on the wall. It says, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. And the agency's job is to speak truth to power. And I know many people have a lot of issues with things that the CIA has done over the years. And, and certainly that's a conversation to be had. But at the end of the day, it is an agency that does a really hard job, a really tricky job, and does so mostly honorably.
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Host 2
Right.
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Joel Willett
And we try to be accountable and we try to speak truth to power. We're not there to make policy decisions. We're there to ensure that policymakers have the best information. But if that information contradicts the party line and goes against Donald Trump or says something mean about him that he doesn't want to hear, what happens to you, you get fired, you get your clearance.
- [17:43]
Host 3
So if you become a senator, what, what do you see as, as your potential to, to undo some of this harm and prevent us from it in the future? I mean, the damage is done. Tulsi Gabbard's been confirmed. Donald Trump is the president. We're not going to get someone better. So what is there that you would be able to do as, as the senator from Kentucky to protect the intelligence community, protect our national security, and prevent us from having a generational loss in the intelligence field?
- [18:16]
Joel Willett
Yeah, I think you've, you've hit the nail on the head though, that the damage is already done and this is going to be a cleanup exercise and it's likely going to be a decades long effort to restore trust in the civil service that it is, you know, a nonpartisan entity. So I want to say a couple things. It's not just the intelligence community. This is happening to the military as well. They are purging parts of military leadership that don't tow the party line. The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency had to step down. You've got the admiral that was in charge of the operations in the Caribbean recently who didn't want to participate in what very much appeared to be unlawful strikes against fishermen. So this purge is happening in the intelligence community, in the military, in the epa, in fema. It is government wide. And so we, and I just want to rewind, like, how did we get a nonpartisan and professional civil service? A president was literally assassinated over this topic, you know, over 100 years ago because of the patronage system where, you know, the administrations doled out positions in government, you know, to people they were related to or, you know, as political favors. And then, you know, Teddy Roosevelt and those guys come along and they build, you know, a system where we could have a meritocratic system of civil service, that it was based on your expertise and what you knew and not who you knew and what your last name was. That took so, so long and so much effort to get it to where it is today. Is it perfect today? Absolutely. It's not. But I can say that our politics never interfered with our job. I mean, me and my colleagues at the agency would give each other hell over political headlines and political opinions. And then we put our noses down and we did our work. And I never in my life saw any kind of thing about like, oh, that kind of. I don't like that piece of intelligence because that cuts against my political views. I'm not going to share it. Literally not a thing that happens. So what do we do? I think there is reform needed around security clearances desperately. There have been organizations working on security clearance reform for years. So I think that that one thing that needs to be codified into law is not giving the executive complete carte blanche as it relates to the issuing and the revoking of these clearances. Courts have found that these decisions right now are not reviewable by courts unless they are. Unless those. The decision to revoke had something to do with the protected, a constitutionally protected right, in my case, free speech. Because, hey, I'm exercising political speech and the government literally retaliated against me for that. But I think that that would be an important first step, Chris, and for the military and for the intelligence community specifically to, to make some sort of review process there so that civil servants know that, that this can't just be used as the easy button to fire them because it is right. Like you have protections as a civil servant from, from being, you know, from capricious terminations and things like that, but they can literally revoke your clearance because they don't like the way you look. As long as it doesn't have to do with the color of your skin, they can do it. And that's the easy way to say, oh, well, you can't work here anymore. So I think that that would be an important piece of legislation that could immediately stop some of the bleeding. But there's going to be a long project to restore faith in our civil servants service as a nonpartisan part of our government.
- [21:46]
Host 2
Well, I have some. I want to take us back up to the service because Surf surface, because Zach isn't here. I'm going to channel my inner Zach. You're running in a red state and it hasn't always been red, but it's been red lately and has been pretty loyal to Donald Trump. When I look at, like, what are the things that have moved the needle? What are the things that Democrats have tried the Like, Trump is corrupt. Like, he's surrounded by idiots. Like, these are all things that we've been saying for 10 years. He's ruining everything and etc. This has been 10 years of us banging our heads against the wall. What we tend to hear from them is something like, well, he's draining the swamp. It's the deep state. He deserves to have people around him who are going to push through his agenda. Like, that's the, that's the sort of flippant response that we get. But I think what's going to happen here in the next couple of months as we look at, like, the rise of health care costs, I mean, the absolutely devastating rise in health care costs that are going to be hitting states like Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, states that I think all of or mostly went to Bill Clinton not that long ago. These used to be reliable working class, blue collar, union vote states, but we lost that. How do we exploit the opportunity that's ahead of us? Because all of this noise that happens in D.C. and that comes from, that's coming through the media and the headlines like, it's easy to ignore when it's not hitting your pocketbook, when it's not hitting your family, when it's not hitting your body, as you referred to earlier. But when it does, that's when I feel like these kinds of voters, they really start to pay attention and then they just want change. So I think we're going to have this opportunity in the next six to 12 months to make a new argument. How are you, how are you thinking of navigating that, you know, as you prepare to make the case to voters that might just, at, at face value be hostile to your candidacy?
- [23:45]
Joel Willett
Yeah, I think Kentuckians have shown a remarkable independence in the Trump era. Andy Beshear, our governor, is, I think, 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. I think we have tried campaigns in this state at the top of the ticket where Democrats pretend to be, you know, just a little bit less Republican than the Republican, and, and that loses every time. And by wide, wide margins. I mean, there's, you know, one exception in, in recent years, but pretty much that's the playbook we've tried here. But you are so right in pointing out what's at risk for Kentuckians. I mean, we have 35 rural hospitals at risk in this state because of the, the big bullshit bill that was passed, I mean, the $4 trillion in tax cuts to go into the pockets of the already ultra wealthy. Ten billionaires serve in Donald Trump's cabinet. Those billionaires are nothing like the average Kentucky voter. They do not like the average Kentucky voter, you know, and just have a disdain for working class people everywhere, be it in Kentucky or other parts of the United States. Those hospitals that are going to lose Medicaid reimbursements and funding and all of that, think about the follow on effects for those when those hospitals close. It's not just that people are going to lose access to their health care. People who maintain the access through their employer plans are going to have to drive further to get care now because those hospitals in their rural parts of the state, and not to mention those hospitals are some of the largest employers in the counties in which they operate. And what is that going to do to the small businesses, to the restaurants, to literally all of the other services that happen there? The follow on effects of gutting healthcare access in this country are going to be dire for Kentuckians. You move on from that. We've got trade policy that just is literally whether or not Donald Trump sees a commercial he doesn't like in the middle of the night and then he increases tariffs and then he takes them off the next day and then he's back on tariffs with, with China. And, you know, he seems to be doing this just to enrich people close to him because they all seem to know that it's happening in the minutes and hours before he makes these stupid tweets or truth social posts. They make a cool hundred million and your 401k gets it. Farmers lose their income and their livelihood. Our bourbon industry gets devastated. I cannot think of a better set of policies to screw the average Kentucky voter than the policies that this administration, you know, is enacting and executing on every day. And so I'm not going to hide from voters who I am. We'll probably disagree about quite a lot. But here's the thing. Poverty didn't care that I was a Democrat, right. You know, poverty doesn't care what letter you have next to your name. Fentanyl, for that matter, didn't care that I spoke to President Obama multiple times during the course of the week because it was still infecting the community in which I grew up and eventually took my dad from me. These are Kentucky struggles. And you need candidates that can speak to the heartache and to the challenges that people are having all across this state every day. And they just need to ask themselves one question. Do you think a man that has enriched himself by $3 billion since January is looking out for you? Costs are continuing to rise despite what he promised 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. And I know that he made promises to you and I get why you wanted to believe them. That is understandable. But he's not delivering.
- [27:43]
Host 1
So Joel, let me, I want to go back. So six years ago, their Democrats tried to knock off Mitch McConnell and politically, politically, he, well, he's falling. Yeah. And you know, Amy McGrath, who's jumped into this race again, ran against him last time and lost by 20 points. And you know, I think she tried to tack to the center and of course, Mitch McConnell, who look like I think is a vile human being and will go down in history as a very damaging senator, maybe one of the most, but is a, is politically a brilliant guy. Like, he is not stupid. And he eviscerated her by just under 20 points. And this was a race that Democrats thought they could make competitive at 20 points in a statewide election in any state at this point is, is an obliteration. Like, it's just we're so polarized. So you, you've started to mention how you would do, do things differently. But, but, you know, how will you run compared to how she ran six years ago? And I think probably theoretically the same this time.
- [28:52]
Joel Willett
Yeah. I think I would start by contrasting the choices that Kentucky voters have between the Democrats who are running and the Republicans who are running on the Democratic side of the ticket. You've got myself, you know, a veteran, a business leader, a civil servant, you know, who came from working class roots, who, you know, I don't have to do the I feel your pain, Bill Clinton thing. I lived the same pain that so many did and so many continue to do across the state. But we have other veterans in the race in the Democratic primary, including Amy McGrath, who has an incredible life story and years of honorable service to her country. But on the right, you've got people who have done nothing but be political animals their entire life. They're all McConnell acolytes. They owe their entire political life and existence to Mitch McConnell. They have not worked in the private sector. They've not worn a uniform. They don't know anything except trying to seek and hold on to power. And then you've got another guy, Nate Morris, who kind of breaks that mold a little bit. But again, no military service that I'm aware of, no service to government that I'm aware of some very questionable business practices over his career. And he seems to be branding himself as a Trump guy. And so they are literally just saying they are trying to make themselves just be as Donald Trump as possible, thinking that that's going to be enough to carry them across the finish line with Kentucky voters. I don't think it will be because they have a lot to answer for, the policies that they have supported if they're Andy Barr who voted for all of these cuts and all these things that are hurting Kentucky. But the others won't criticize Trump in any way and are only promising more of the same. So that is a stark contrast on our resumes, on our records and on our positions that I think Republic or that Kentucky voters have between the Democrats and the Republicans. But you are right to point out that, I mean, Kentuckians will have a choice to vote for somebody who has, who lost to Mitch McConnell worse than anybody ever had before after spending $94 million. You know, I think if, if the Kentucky Wildcats were in the, you know, a championship game or any game really, and get blown out by, you know, that margin, we would be asking a lot of questions about, you know, the coach. And so I just think if you keep doing the same things, you're going to get the same results.
- [31:26]
Host 1
I, I, I think that there should be a rule. If I was ever DNC chair, I would say you don't get to run for, you don't get to, if you spend a hundred million dollars and you lose, you don't get to run again more than 15 points, you don't get to run again. I think no more rule. You don't get it. That's it, that's it. You're done.
- [31:42]
Host 2
There's a grading matrix or something that you can put together.
- [31:45]
Host 1
It's like, no, I'm right, but, but no more. There's a, there's an interesting twist. I don't know if a lot of our listeners are understand that Mitch McConnell is bad, but Trump is worse. There have been some instances where Mitch McConnell kind of meekly stood up a few times. I mean, he made the speech about the impeachment and he has voted against him a few times this year when he's one of two or three people voting no, because I think he's kind of like, I'm retiring, whatever. But I don't know if, if people fully understand, like somebody like Andy Barr would be even to the right of Mitch McConnell, right like, these guys that are running now are further to the right than Mitch McConnell, which means they're even more out of touch with Kentuckians than he is, which seems crazy because he's essentially lived in D.C. for the past 40 years. You know, are you, when you're on the campaign trail and you're talking to people, are you, are you hearing concerns about that? Because that feels to me like a really important message to be driving home to folks and knowing that, like, there is no, like, it's, it's Trump or the, or no way with these guys. And there will be no little blips of independence sticking up and saying, no, this is wrong.
- [33:02]
Joel Willett
Yeah. So let me answer that in reverse order. I'll talk first about the campaign trail and then the, the purge of the Republican Party on the campaign trail. I mean, people, look, Kentuckians have a lot that they're dealing with right now, whether it's health care access or, you know, the SNAP benefits, what used to be called food stamps expiring here in a couple of weeks, which are, which is going to just decimate families across this state. And I know what that's like. I was on food stamps growing up, and having food stamps meant that my mom didn't have to make a choice about, you know, buying food or putting gas in the car so she could get to work and get a paycheck to be able to afford groceries again. These are the things that are on people, people's minds across the state. It's their health care, it's their costs, it's their children's future. They are not as plugged in, on average, to all the political machinations in Washington as we are as candidates, are people that talk about this stuff for a living. And so on the campaign trail, to answer your question, people are talking about the pain that they're feeling every day and their fears about the future of our democracy that has come up in numerous conversations. So that's what I'm hearing on the campaign trail. That's what we're running on. That's what we're focused on. But as it relates to, you know, the purge of the Republican Party, this has been a 10 year effort by Donald Trump and Steve Bannon and Steve Miller to ensure that there are no Republicans that will be anything other than rubber stamps for Donald Trump. Our whole system of government is built on checks and balances. I mean, and it is sometimes maddeningly. I'll choose a different word, sometimes extremely frustratingly so, right where we can't seem to get Anything done because there are so many checks and balances. And Trump and his enablers have decided that they don't want that anymore. They want rubber stamps. They've been chasing people out of the Republican Party for years, whether that was Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger or Jeff Flake, if you remember that guy Ben Sasse is no longer in the Senate. These are people that you could used to be, you could use to count on to be statesmen. People who used to be able to backbone. I mean, people that I vehemently disagree with on so, so many things. But I didn't have to worry about them being corrupt. I didn't have to worry about them enriching themselves or providing a rubber stamp for Donald Trump in any, in all instances. There are no John McCain's in the Republican Party anymore. And so Mitch McConnell was never John McCain. He was never anything than a creature who valued power above all else. I appreciate that later in his life he is finding, you know, some moments to, to, to, to, to show up and, and vote in a somewhat sane way. But I, I believe he's on record telling Republicans not to worry about history or how history will see them. So I'm not even sure that he cares about his legacy that much. So you are right to point out that the, the, the generation of politicians that come after the Mitch McConnells and the John McCain's and the Jeff Flakes and are going to be orders of magnitude worse when it comes to their cravenness and their valuing of power and proximity to it above all else.
- [36:14]
Host 3
Joel, could you. You were enlisted, correct? I was signed up when you were 17.
- [36:19]
Joel Willett
Yeah.
- [36:19]
Host 3
Yeah. Could, could you. So I'm, I'm former enlisted. I was a soldier and made it to the rank of sergeant. Could you tell me how your experience as someone who was enlisted in the military might be different from candidates who are officers? I think when most people think of, of veterans running for office, they think about these commanders who, you know, gave orders to huge battalions and they see leadership and strength and all that stuff. But something that I feel like I've noticed in former enlisted running for office is instead of running on that, like I'm a leader and you must follow me. It's more empathetic. Speaking from my own experience. Like I know what it, I know what it's like to serve, like to really serve and for it to kind of suck a lot. What's, what was your experience like and how is that informing your candidacy?
- [37:17]
Joel Willett
Yeah. And I don't, you know, I'm a I served. I signed up to serve in a time of national crisis. I never saw combat, I never deployed. I don't present my, to be anything other than a person who raised my hand in a time of national crisis and was willing to do all of those things. My military career, you know, I'm proud of it. But I joined as an E3 and got promoted all the way up to E4 and, and got yelled at a lot and you know, did a lot of, did a lot of push ups. But you know, the, but I believe so strongly in national service. I believe that, you know, our civil service and our military are some of the greatest tools for economic mobility in the world. But it does give you a different, different perspective. You know, I know what it's like to roll up my sleeves and there are good officers throughout the military and the officer corps who roll up their sleeves as well and they lead from the front and there are a lot who, who don't. Right. But it's not an optional thing to do when you're enlisted. So you know what, what hard work is like, you know what it's like to work with your hands. I even joined the laborers union at one point during my National Guard service to dig pits. And you know, this is all while I'm trying to make my way through college or find a way to pay for a root canal at the dentist because I didn't have dental insurance. I mean these, these are the types of struggles that people have in Kentucky. But these are also things that people, you know, enlisted folks are constantly, you know, sending money back to their families, you know, to help, you know, pay bills because they're the, typically the first person in their, in their immediate family to, to get, you know, to have consistent income or consistent paycheck. I mean, at least that was my experience 20 years ago. The demographics of the enlisted parts of the military have certainly shifted in recent years, but that was my experience in the, the days immediately following 9, 11 and the early days of, of the Iraq war. And so again, I, I think all of that just teaches you, you know, you've got to roll up your sleeves. You've got to be able, you know, be willing to do the hard work. And again, I think candidate or voters deserve candidates who understand their lived experiences.
- [39:28]
Host 1
Yeah. So pivoting slightly so we're obviously in day. I don't even know what it is. 25, 26 of the government shut down. 23. I don't know what it lost track. It doesn't seem to be a lot of is it 29? It's 29. If I feels like infinity, as my son would say, hell yeah, it's, you know, and I think one of the things that's most disturbing to, to me is that these SNAP benefits you mentioned, otherwise known as food stamps or food assistance, run out actually on November 1st, I believe, like if the government stays shut down. But the disturbing thing is that what the, what the Trump administration is not telling people is that there's an emergency fund in at U. S. Department of Agriculture, which is the, the agency that oversees the snap. There's two to three weeks of funding now, emergency funding that they can use. You know, and I, I have not heard anybody on the Republican side, whether it's Mitch McConnell or Rand Paul, who of course doesn't want to give anybody anything. You know, what are you hearing from Kentuckians right now as far as like concerns around these SNAP benefits or, or the health care subsidies that you know, are being threatened or are as of right now eliminated, which is why the Democrats are fighting. But what are you hearing from Kentuckians as far as like their concerns about the shutdown and whether they're going to get the assistance that they need to frankly survive?
- [40:56]
Joel Willett
Fear. It's as simple as that. People are scared. They don't know what they are going to do because even with the SNAP benefits, I don't know if, you know, you've been to a grocery store lately, prices are not coming down. They continue to increase. The benefits that they do have aren't going as far as they did and now those benefits are going to be eliminated entirely. So those are families on food stamps. Then you've got the grocery workers themselves. What's going to happen when all this revenue leaves this grocery store and I'm, and I'm not even going to have a job at the checkout counter. None of these things happen in a bubble. None of these things are free from the follow on effects. So fear is what voters are feeling across the state of Kentucky and I suspect that that is consistent across the United States. You mentioned the emergency fund. I think we spend $9 billion a month or something on SNAP. I think the emergency fund is 5 billion. Like you said, it's about two or three weeks of subsidy there that could help. Republicans don't want to pass any sort of stopgap measure or allow USDA to use those funds because then they think that's going to, you know, prolong some of this other stuff. And I believe they think Democrats will cave on this issue and open the Government because Democrats have a heart. But at the end of the day, Democrats want people to be able to both eat and afford health care. That seems like a pretty noble thing to be advocating and fighting for for me, and something I would certainly be advocating for were I to be in the Senate today. So if Republicans do some craziness and get SNAP benefits extended with the emergency fund, great, do that. A simple up and down vote on extending or appropriating the SNAP benefits seem to be something very possible that they won't do. I know Josh Hawley has come out in recent days because he's very concerned about his voters in Missouri and the impacts on them. But if Republicans end the filibuster to reopen the government and they do it and they're going to try to frame it over, you know, SNAP benefits, understand what that means, that will mean that they suspended the filibuster, reopened the government, and refused to negotiate with Democrats over extending the ACA subsidies and preserving health care access for 24 million Americans. So, 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.
- [43:30]
Host 1
Seems pretty obvious, right? I mean, to, to reiterate, and I'm glad people like you were speaking up about this. Republicans are willing to let people starve, including children, to make sure that they get to take health care away from millions of Americans. That is their position right now.
- [43:52]
Host 2
Well, and let's, let's make it very clear because we live inside this ecosystem, Republican leaders, 100% are willing to let that happen. The Republican voters, I, I know we go back and forth on this in the Democratic side, but I firmly believe that 30 to 50% of them really thought that they were going to get lower prices and like, prices were too high. And we got to change things and, and Biden's been in office, so now we got to vote for Republican. Everything was fine in 2017. I'm like, that was Obama's credit. But anyway, everything was fine in 2017 and 2018. If we give Trump a chance again, he'll make it feel like it did before the pandemic. And I think that's the whole conversation they had inside of their head. And, and so I don't think they want this. I really, genuinely don't think that that, that that subgroup or that that half of Republican voters want what is happening. And so, yes, it is because of them that we're in this place, and they need to understand that. But let's also give them permission to just accept that Trump is not doing and Republican leaders in Congress are not doing what they said they were going to do. And now you're going to pay. I mean, I'm seeing crazy, like, 10x increases in health care costs for people just in my comment section. Marjorie Taylor Greene has turned on the big bullshit bill and turned on Republican leaders because she's like, my son's health insurance is going to double. Like, this is. This is very, very real and very painful. And SNAP is one thing, but, like, the health care costs going up is going to be another. And this is our chance to say, hey, you guys tried a thing and it definitely blew up in our face. So now let's learn from our mistakes.
- [45:41]
Joel Willett
Yeah. And I think there's one other thing that Republican politicians seem to be harping on. It's that all these people don't deserve these benefits. Or, oh, why don't they just get a job? And they have jobs.
- [45:53]
Host 1
Yeah, they have jobs.
- [45:54]
Host 2
The working poor. Yeah.
- [45:56]
Joel Willett
And this program is subsidizing their wages while their companies post record profits. In some industries, those profits are because they are not paying their employees enough to afford food.
- [46:11]
Host 1
Right.
- [46:11]
Joel Willett
Or healthcare. And so what are we saying here when you've got 15 million out of 40 people, 40 million people on these benefits who actually are working, and then the rest is a massive amount of disabled elderly or children. This is the most prosperous country on earth. We have the money. We sent $170 billion to to fund ICE and immigration enforcement, and we can't find even $12 billion for free lunch and after school care in this country. We have the money. What we don't have is the heart.
- [46:43]
Host 1
Yeah.
- [46:45]
Host 2
Argentina is going to have great health care and food now.
- [46:47]
Host 1
Well, right. I mean, the thing is like, that we sent $40 billion to Argentina and also closed off our market for soybeans so that the Chinese are buying it from Argentina. So they're getting it on both ends. But I want to also go back to something you said a few minutes ago, which I hadn't even thought about, is like, when you cut SNAP benefits, you're not only just, like, taking food away from the most vulnerable people on here, but, like, you're also going to cut a bunch of grocery store jobs, which are minimum wage jobs, which then means if they can't do that, they're going to need some sort of state and federal assistance, too. So it's not even a savings. It's Passing the buck to the states who have less resources. But also like, we have to stop this myth that there are these quote unquote lazy, well, you know, perfectly able bodied people just sitting at home and you know, watching, you know, the Price is Right. That's the only thing I could think of. It's on during the day and Judge.
- [47:44]
Host 3
It'S been a long time.
- [47:47]
Host 1
But, but you've watched Wheel of Fortune come on. But anyways. But yeah, it's just like it's this maddening thing. But Republicans have made a choice. They have decided that this country is better off by giving millionaires and billionaires tax, tax cuts and taking health care and food assistance away from the most vulnerable people that we have. And I have to think as, as Rich was pointing out, that there is a, I would say a large percentage of Republican voters who want absolutely nothing to do with these like SNAP and health care cuts because it's going to impact them. I mean you, you're from a state that actually has had a couple of very good governors, actually a father son duo that have helped. I think part of the reason they did so well was because they talked about access to health care. And I said it's exactly what you're talking about as well.
- [48:42]
Joel Willett
It's because that's what Kentuckians care about and what they are nervous about. Right. And, and look, let's stipulate that there are some people receiving some form of SNAP benefit or whatever that, that might not need it or might not be doing everything they can. Let's stipulate that. But I would, I would rather that, you know, we not have a hundred people starve because one person might be cheating the system than the inverse, which is, you know, our judicial system is based on this principle. You know, you'd rather a, a hundred guilty men go free than an innocent person, you know, be convicted or lose their liberty. I think of our assistance that we provide to our most vulnerable in this population. In a similar way, it is a population of people who fell on some hard luck, who can't work no fault of their own, ends up in these situations or who are working and working hard, but their employers don't have to pay them much and they can't afford basics.
- [49:38]
Host 1
Yeah, there's a great example of this that Republicans always want to drug test SNAP benefit recipients. And I think Florida was the, was the biggest example where they in, they implemented this. And you know what, what happened, they didn't catch anybody or almost nobody like abusing the system. But the system, it costs so much money to implement the drug testing that it actually cost the state far more than if they had just kept the existing requirements in place. And there is just not that much. Like you said, Joel, there. I'm sure there is some waste, fraud and abuse with anything. But do you then take it away from the 99.9% of the people who desperately need it to stop the 0.1? Like, the math never ends up being right. And I'm glad we're talking about this because it's one of these things that it always comes up and there. And we see it on TikTok. I mean, there was a woman, she's gotten a lot of flack for this now, but was literally like on eating, eating last week, I think she did this and being like, well, what did they do with last month's SNAP benefits? And it's like, hey moron, they used it to buy food. It is not like, I don't know how much they think people are getting if they think it's a windfall of thousands of dollars a month. It's generally not even enough to get by.
- [51:03]
Host 2
Yeah, and it's just supplemental. I mean, it's, it's like, I think that's, that's what the essence stands for, right? Supplemental.
- [51:09]
Host 1
Supplemental.
- [51:11]
Host 2
This is not, this is not food budget for family. This is, 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.
- [51:23]
Joel Willett
Yeah, and, but, but you guys bring up an excellent point about how, you know, the, the math never works out on these, these boogeyman issues, right? Like whether it's drug testing, the benefit, or voter ID laws do the same thing. I mean, there's that or Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency.
- [51:45]
Host 1
What happened to that? Right?
- [51:46]
Joel Willett
What happened. Well, what happened to that is a lot of civil servants are now unemployed and, and probably need some of these benefits that we're talking about. But apparently all of its, you know, all the waste, fraud and abuse is, is gone now. Even though we see Donald Trump, you know, getting bribes from corporations to pay for a ballroom and spending Christy Gnomes Jets.
- [52:06]
Host 2
Yeah, Christy Gnomes Jets. They're neither waste, fraud nor abuse, but.
- [52:10]
Joel Willett
They'Re, they're, they're pros at this, taking some little kernel of truth and then acting like that one kernel is a whole bag of popcorn or whatever terrible analogy I could come up with next. But, but, but, but that's basically what happens, right? Yeah, sure, I'm sure there we all Know if you've worked inside the military, the government, that there are things that, that are inefficient. Yeah, no shit.
- [52:30]
Host 1
Like, yeah, let's try to fix that.
- [52:33]
Joel Willett
And I'm sure that there are people receiving benefits who shouldn't have them. But to act like the entire system has to be burned down to the ground because of it is crazy. You've seen those memes where somebody's like, yeah, I saw a spider in my bedroom last night, so had to burn down the house.
- [52:48]
Host 1
Right.
- [52:49]
Joel Willett
That while I can absolutely relate to that as it comes to spiders, I can't really think that that is a competent way to govern.
- [52:59]
Host 2
No, I mean the opportunity, again, I'm trying to find opportunities in this world, but they've been papering over abuse and cruelty with efficiency arguments since Ronald Reagan. I mean, that was his, that was his whole thing was, I'm from the government and I'm here to help is like the greatest lie. Like, that was his, that was his, his, his joke line. They, but they always papered over it pretty well. It was always kind of successful when they said, well, the government's really wasteful and the government's bloated. We're just trying to, it's a scalpel, not a hatchet. And they got away with that for a really long time. But now it's like, I feel like in the last year, I mean, the last 10 years, but especially this term, the cruelty is just on full display. And, and they're not trying to say like Doge is, is like not even hardly a thing anymore. I know there's like somebody who's calling themselves Doge or whatever, but efficiency. They're not even talking about efficiency or anything. It's just like, no, I'm going to go after Democrat programs because nobody told him like 60%, 70% of some of these Democrat programs. Yeah, they were probably put in place by a Democrat, but they were put in place to help people who are hurting. And right now those people are mostly in red states. It's a lot of low income Republican.
- [54:18]
Host 1
Voters in red states they don't want to talk about.
- [54:21]
Host 2
All the voters are finding out.
- [54:23]
Joel Willett
But I think you're hitting on something else important that we used to be able to pass the torch in this country. I mean, from the New Deal with FDR and starting Social Security or the TVA or any of that sort of stuff. Right. Did, did Eisenhower come along and blow up the dams that electrified the Upper South? Did he get rid of Social Security? No, he's like, I think we should have better roads. So I'm going to leave that stuff and now I'm going to go focus on this stuff over here. And then Kennedy did. He's like, no, let's just, you know, destroy all of the interstate system now. Were there communities that got hurt by the interstate system? Yeah, there were. And I mean, we can see some of that 40, 50 years later. But at the end of the day, we've been incrementally able to, you know, to build this country. Nixon comes along and is like, hey, LBJ and Kennedy, you know, you guys allowed companies to pollute the air and the streams and the water. I think we need an epa. So he did that and Carter didn't tear that down. I mean, we used to be able to pass the torch and right now we have a political dynamic in this country where we try to tear it down to the studs every four years that is bad for America. It is bad for the world. And I believe that the world is going to move on from America's leadership if we keep doing this.
- [55:36]
Host 1
Well, Joel, we're just about a time here. I really wanted to thank you for coming on. And I think it's really, really important for us to highlight campaigns like yours to show people that there are really good people fighting for, for poor and working class Americans and showing a different path forward. So I just want to give you the last, the last word here, like how can people support you?
- [55:58]
Joel Willett
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for that question. Go to joel4kentucky.com I know it is incredibly annoying to receive the text messages. Believe me, I receive them as well from other candidates. The emails and the text messages and the phone calls. And it's like, oh, all these politicians ever want is money. Our congressman from Louisville, Morgan McGarvey in the Kentucky third district, he said something the other day that stuck with me. He's like, I don't believe that money is the most important thing in politics. But whatever you think the most important thing in politics is, it takes money to get there. We've got to get this message out. We've got to get across the state. This is a campaign that 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. But we have to have people in charge of our government that speak for all of the people, not just the connected, not just the ultra wealthy. And so, you know, that's my commitment to this campaign across Kentucky and would be my commitment as an ex US senator. So please go to joel4kentucky.com chip in whatever you can. I've been overwhelmed with the support from, you know, thousands of people who I've never met before who want to support this campaign and will need 3,000 more easily. So. Joel4kentucky.com hey, Joel, I've.
- [57:14]
Host 3
I've got the hardest question for last, so I got a short answer. We let you go on the sports teams. You can have two favorite sports teams. Because I'm not a Kentuckian. I don't care.
- [57:23]
Joel Willett
Okay.
- [57:23]
Host 3
I don't care about sports, but I do care about bourbon. What's the best bourbon in Kentucky?
- [57:30]
Host 1
Oh, that's a harder question, isn't it?
- [57:32]
Host 2
That's.
- [57:33]
Joel Willett
Yeah, that's.
- [57:34]
Host 2
That's potentially a classist argument, too, because if you say Blanton's, you're going to get in trouble. Right?
- [57:40]
Joel Willett
Yeah. And my last name is Will It. So, you know, and Will it is a bourbon from Kentucky, so. So, Chris, we are. We are going to go with Will It Bourbon. Final answer. But I will.
- [57:53]
Host 2
All right.
- [57:54]
Joel Willett
I should leave it there. And I know you gotta go, but I. I feel disingenuous for not mentioning that I am not a drinker. It's my water bottle and Diet Coke. I guess Donald Trump and I have that in common.
- [58:05]
Host 1
This is a man I can understand. They made me try bourbon when we were in New Orleans, and it tasted like floor cleaner.
- [58:14]
Host 2
That's because you can clean floors with it. It actually cleans your insides. Rfk. Said it on the Internet the other day. Like, it's a sterilizer.
- [58:21]
Host 1
It kills germs. Like, it's gonna make you bet it's. You know, they're gonna have a little.
- [58:25]
Host 2
Thing to get a little game science. Luke, why do you hate science?
- [58:28]
Host 1
You're also, like, go ahead.
- [58:31]
Joel Willett
No, it's an acquired taste, they tell me. And I'm like, I never had to acquire a taste for peanut M M's.
- [58:37]
Host 1
Exactly. I call Diet Cokes fridge Fridge ciggies because they're wonderful.
- [58:43]
Joel Willett
Actually.
- [58:44]
Host 1
Actually, my wife referred to those as. As fridge ciggies the other day, too, which I thought was really wonderful. Luke, once you turn. Once you turn 40, so you got a ways to go. Once you turn 40, you will. You will be talking about switch flips. You'll be talking. I will text. You'll be talking. You'll be talking about. You're gonna be talking about. You're gonna be all excited about golf. Yeah, we didn't. We didn't talk about I don't know enough about it anymore to know, but, you know, like, that's just what happens, man, when you.
- [59:14]
Host 2
Since we're talking. Sorry. Since we're talking Kentucky and we're talking bourbon, I. If there's somebody from Bullet Bourbon listening, in the off chance we will. I will read your ads for you if you want to advertise on our. On our podcast. So just. If anyone from Bullet Bourbon is listening, buy ads on our station.
- [59:34]
Host 1
Buy. Not for free.
- [59:37]
Host 2
Buy ads on our podcast. I will read them. I will have a glass of Bullet, probably Bullet rye.
- [59:43]
Host 3
I. I like the pork casked ones. Those are a little, like, cherry in it.
- [59:48]
Host 1
Yeah, see, I'm a. I'm a basil guy. I don't. I think that's Kentucky, right?
- [59:53]
Host 2
What the hell?
- [59:54]
Host 1
Yeah, a lot of Luke. I told you.
- [59:55]
Host 3
18.
- [59:56]
Host 1
18 years from now. We'll see. We're gonna be here for your 40th birthday.
- [59:59]
Host 3
When I was Luke's age, I used to tell people I was allergic to bourbon. I. I swear it was the thing that, like, someone would hand me a shot in a bar, you know, in the military, like that someone.
- [60:10]
Host 1
I didn't like it.
- [60:11]
Host 3
Just take it. If I. If bourbon touched my tongue, that was it. The night was over. I was not. It was it. I'm going home. Like, I'm not. My fun is over. It's a.
- [60:21]
Host 1
But the only.
- [60:22]
Host 3
Yeah, over time.
- [60:23]
Host 1
It's coming. It's coming.
- [60:25]
Host 3
Be a crusty old man.
- [60:26]
Host 1
Yep. You're gonna get a. You're gonna get a. You're gonna get a leather chair that's super comfortable.
- [60:31]
Host 2
I have a leather chair.
- [60:32]
Host 1
I know.
- [60:32]
Joel Willett
Of course.
- [60:33]
Host 3
I can't wait till you guys see my new studio.
- [60:35]
Host 1
Chris, I. You have one, too. I've seen it. So we know. So I. I've got to get one. I'm actually sitting on a pleather bench right now, so I need a leather one. But anyways, we got way off track here.
- [60:46]
Host 2
No, this is on track. This is a hundred percent.
- [60:49]
Host 1
This is pretty.
- [60:50]
Joel Willett
This is. This is actually what they want to.
- [60:53]
Host 1
That's true. That's. Like I said, all those bourbon companies, we could even have a bourbon off. Maybe we should have a contest, you know, and they can, like, send all their people. Like, I did that with New York. We did it when I was in the governor's office. We did a great state of New York beer competition because there's all of these microbrews in. In New York, and they got all of their fans to vote on. The governor's on the website so we got to collect email addresses so we could tell people all about the wonderful things that they were doing.
- [61:17]
Host 2
So we could do a.
- [61:18]
Host 1
We could do that here.
- [61:19]
Host 2
We could do a beer competition and a bourbon competition and then a mixing bowl competition. Because that's what everybody uses to puke in after you get. After you drink too much. Right. You get the mixing bowl that you also use to put out candy for Halloween. It's. It's a really like all purpose bulk composition.
- [61:35]
Joel Willett
This definitely sounds campaign approved. So.
- [61:38]
Host 1
Yeah, sorry.
- [61:39]
Host 2
Yeah.
- [61:39]
Host 1
Notice that Joel has not said very much in this part, which is a very smart thing which shows that he is a good candidate.
- [61:44]
Host 3
So I just want to let Blast word.
- [61:47]
Host 1
Oh my God.
- [61:48]
Host 3
I just googled bourbon. Will it. Because I had never seen it or will it bourbon. And it's a very fancy bottle and I am. I am gonna give that a try.
- [61:57]
Host 1
I have had it and it is great. That is a good choice by Joel. I think that bullet, basil. All of these are good. Woodford. You know, Luke, someday maybe, maybe a good video would be getting Luke. It would put five little glasses. So if Coca Cola is listening, you could, you could. You can run ads on this too.
- [62:18]
Host 2
So you can put bourbon and Coke. You guys.
- [62:21]
Host 1
I know that's true.
- [62:23]
Host 2
Maybe that's really nice together.
- [62:24]
Host 1
This much bourbon and.
- [62:25]
Host 2
God damn it, guys.
- [62:26]
Host 3
We've held a senate.
- [62:29]
Host 1
We're wasting far too much.
- [62:31]
Host 2
Joel donate candidacy.
- [62:32]
Host 1
Everybody. We are super excited. We're gonna, you know, hopefully we'll have you back again sometime soon. We'll talk about the race. Everybody go support Joel and we will talk to you next week. Have a great weekend, everybody.