← The Dan Bongino Show
The Dan Bongino Show
Sunday Special with Vince Coglianese, Tim Burchett, Byron Donalds, and Vivek Ramaswamy
01:02:12
Interviews with great guests from the radio show
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- [00:03]
Dan Bongino
Get ready to hear the truth about America on a show that's not immune to the facts.
- [00:08]
Vince Colonnese
With your host, Dan Bongino. Welcome to Sunday Podcast. This is our chance to play for you some of the best moments from the radio show and some great interviews during the week that you may have missed. If you ever want to check out our show, go to bongino.com go to station finder and see what radio station we're on near you. You'll love it, I promise you. We put a lot of work into the radio show. Check it out. But before that, let me tell you about our first sponsor. I recently gave my father MD hearing aids and I saw him recently. He was hearing so much better. Millions of adults over 65 start to lose their hearing each year and my father was one of them. Let me tell you, MD hearing has been a game changer for him. Last time we spoke, he was engaging, laughing and didn't miss a beat. Maryland Hearing really brought the conversations back to life. This podcast is brought to you by mDhearing. Maryland Hearing was founded by an ENT surgeon who saw how many of his patients needed hearing aids but couldn't afford them. They're FDA registered, rechargeable, and you won't even know it's there. It fits right inside your ear. Plus, mDhearing just launched their smallest model yet, the Neo Xs. Get the high quality, affordable hearing aids you deserve with MDHearing. Go to shopmdhearing.com use promo code patriot and get a pair of hearing aids for just $297. Plus they're adding a free extra charging case, a $100 value just for listeners of the Dan Bongino show. That's shop mdhearing.com use our promo code Patriot and get a pair of hearing AIDS for just $297. Welcome to the Dan Bongino show weekend show. First up today we talk with a special guy. Very special guy. Extremely special guy. He's going to be taking over my podcast at a new time, 10am Eastern Time on a rumble channel. You're going to love it. He's also going to be taking over my radio show. You want to get a little taste of what he's all about? Here is the great Vince Colonel. I am really elated, really happy to to one, I've accepted the position. I accepted. I'll obviously be leaving next week, March 14th being my last show. Friday, next Friday. So a week and a couple days from today. But when it came to, you know, Jim and me and Mike and Teresa and Westwood One, and my wife Paula, who was, you know, my most trusted advisor. Obviously thinking of who could, you know, fill our shoes with this incredible audience and who could we make accessible to them that not only, you know, wouldn't disappoint, but would take this, this, this, this football we have and run it into the end zone? There was really only one guy I could think of. There's a reason we asked him, the guest host a lot, because he's great and the feedback was just amazing. He will be taking over my podcast, will be moving to a new time at 10:00am, 10:00am Eastern Time, and he will be also taking over my radio show, which you're listening to right now, in just a couple weeks. His name is, and he's here with us now, Vince Colonnades. Vince, welcome to the show. Soon to be your show.
- [03:02]
Dan, I am so pumped to be here and I can't. I mean, I've told you so many times personally already, but I'll just tell you in front of everybody else, I am so grateful to you for all the opportunities to get a bunch of at bats on your show and to speak to this great audience and just the, just the idea that I could even begin to do something like this on the podcast and on the radio show, and now seeing it come to fruition, it is, it is a blessing from heaven above. And I am, I can't be grateful enough to you for the. Thank you for the great thing that we're about to start here together.
- [03:33]
Thank you. But I'm going to share with my audience what I shared with you in a text this morning. You know, I surround myself with good people. And when you surround yourself with good people, Vince, good things happen to you, too. I mean, I'm not anybody's life coach. I'm not trying to be Tony Robbins here. I really mean that. I appreciate your gratitude. I do. But you're a good person. You run an. You have an amazing show on wmal. Now, you don't need me to tell people, people listen to WMAL already know you. And I really couldn't think of, of anyone better. You have access to all of these people in that D.C. market. The interviews are going to be amazing. You know, you're gonna be fantastic. But let's get to what happened last night because I know you're gonna be covering this on your show today, too. And let's give the audience just a taste of what they can expect as you take over my podcast in just a couple of weeks at 10am Vince, last night was a disaster for the Democrats. I'm trying to be objective here. I understand that it's tough, but you know, the, one of the worst things you can do in politics is create a contrast situation where the pictures and the sound bites are so genuinely awful. The State of the Union is a moment where the President looks most powerful. He's got the microphone, he's got the stage to have Al Green, Vince waving a stick. I mean, actually waving a stick at him with no microphone, screaming when no one can even hear him, which is interrupting a primetime speech where people just want to get to bed at some point. I mean, what a disaster.
- [05:00]
It was amazing in every possible sense. I was so overjoyed by everything I saw last night. Sad for the state of the Democrat Party, but happy that basically no one wants to deal with their nonsense anymore. So, like, there they are sitting in the crowd, sort of making these limp wristed gestures like, like, absolutely. You ever see somebody who doesn't know how to fight just like swinging their arms and not knowing what to do? Yes. They're like the little kid who's being held back by the adult man going, okay, settle down, son. And the kid's swinging his arms like crazy and is in a big tantrum. That's what the Democrats look like right now. They look ridiculous, as you point out, because you understand media too really well. President Trump, first of all has a skill for this and he had all the tactical advantages. He had the microphone, he had the camera. He had an enthusiastic crowd of Republicans there backing him up. He had great, decent American citizens with really heartwarming stories and tragic stories in some cases that the viewer instantly connected with. And Democrats were either sitting on their hands or protesting and of course, looking absolutely ridiculous and callous in the process. And I will, I'll say one last thing on this, which is yesterday was Fat Tuesday, as you know. And I thought that yesterday was an all you can eat buffet of absolutely wonderful moments for the American people. I've never engorged myself as much as I did last night on that speech I loved. I didn't even realize two hours had passed. People are saying this is the longest speech ever, Right? It's over. It felt like it just started. It was that good from top to bottom.
- [06:34]
Yeah, it was, it was. And I've been pretty, I think, objective when it comes to this. And you know, you know, President Trump and his team, this, this nonsense that they expect, you know, fealty and loyalty to everything they do. You know, they expect friendship and honesty, but you know, there are some speeches that kind of fell flat, and that was not one of them. I mean, last night was a good one. But what you just said reminded me of. I had a friend when I was back in. I was when I was a police officer. And he would always tell me, you know, in the dating scene, you know, you have to be careful and strategic. Like you want to be in a situation where there's kind of an air around you and not around the other person or, you know, you're going to get rejected. In other words, kind of read the room, the State of the Union or joint address last night, to be precise. It's one of those moments where you have to realize what you just said that you are at a significant snapshots, photos and messaging disadvantage. You just are. I mean, nobody even wants to do the rebuttal anymore because it looks like the subordinate speech. And the fact that the Democrats, who are usually smarter at this, Vince, you know, they're pretty good at messaging, hopey changey stuff, terrible at ideas, but good at messaging that they didn't get this says they really still haven't gotten their sea legs after that route on election night.
- [07:49]
No. And they also don't know who they are. There's no defining quality for their party other than that they hate Trump. So everything Trump says, you know, I know. I'm certain you've played this clip, but, you know, Scott Jennings made the point, excellent point recently on CNN. It's all 80, 20 stuff. And that basically Trump has this political superpower of always taking the 80. And then when he takes the 80, Democrats feel compelled to take the 20 and hysterically screeched the 20% position in public. So that's how they end up with constantly defending this idea that it's okay to mutilate children and that you can change their sex and that they're born in the wrong body and that they can play in girl sports if they're actually boys. It's insane. To normal people, the 80 is like really clear on this one. And the Democrats will take the opposite position because Trump takes the majority position. And so as long as your party is defined by always taking the most unpopular position, you're going to continue to live in the wilderness, which is where they are now. They're in political Siberia and they don't know how to escape.
- [08:45]
Well, I'd love to get your take on this because you're on in the, the Delmarva market. You know, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, D.C. on the Great Wmallis station. We're on right now. Vince has his own show. He'll be taking over my show. He is also going to be taking over my podcast. Give him a follow. By the way, go to X. Right now. It is Vince. Colon, ace. Well, cogli anisi. If you need to spelled out phonetically, C, O, G, L, I, A, N, E, S, E. Give him a follow. We, I think we added like 10,000 followers for him yesterday. Make sure you follow him. He'll be taking over this show.
- [09:17]
But don't, don't, don't undersell your influence here. You use way more than 10,000.
- [09:24]
Vince, I think you're starting to figure out the Bongino army don't mess around. When they all get together, they have their own groups, right, Jim? They have their own groups on the outside. You have a little McGroin crew, the original P1s. You have the radio people. Like they all have their own crews and they get together and when they do something, they do it and they get it done. You're going to find that out. These are the most loyal audience out there. You know, you have other radio audiences as loyal, but definitely no more because it's not possible. But you're in a Maryland market as well where gerrymandering is a real problem. I know I ran for Congress out there and I think that's what's contributed to the Democrats problem you just discussed. It's that there are so few swingy competitive districts anymore because of the way liberal states have been carved up like New York, that there's really no money or volunteers or reason per say for you to be a moderate anymore because you're carved into such left leaning districts that the only way you're going to win is by saying let's castrate kids and defund the police. That's the problem.
- [10:27]
Yeah, it's a huge problem. And by the way, it's also a problem on the right to an extent too, because sometimes you see these incumbent Republican lawmakers who keep coming back and then you wonder why are they the swishiest Republicans when their states are the reddest? And the answer is similar basically to what you just described, which is that they don't really care that much fundamentally about moderating their politics in or making their politics fit in such a way that actually helped the people. And so, yeah, it's a big problem for sure. And these Democrats, it's just, it is amazing to watch. They just had a big meeting out in Loudoun County, Virginia. It was reported over the past weekend and they were trying to figure out what do we do? What do we do? And they started talking about, well, maybe we should start going to gun shows and churches, indicating, of course, that they haven't been going to gun shows in churches. They said stuff like, you know, maybe we should stop relying so much on small dollar donors. Which of course means, okay, so you're only going to rely on wealthy people. But what they really mean by that is the point you just made, which is, as a political force, the only way they figured out that they can try and generate revenue right now is to preach to the most hysterical choir they can find that is willing to open their checkbooks for demented things, because that's how radical they are. So they're sending out emails about how much they like doing awful things to human beings, to children, because they know they have a very active base that's. It may be very small, but very active that's willing to crack open its wallet to donate for something so ridiculous. And so it's become just like a cartoonish political party and they deserve the wilderness. I mean, I hope the party disappears entirely. I do think we need a real balanced political system with an actual exchange of ideas. But the Democrats are a dangerous and fortunately shrinking political party that really should probably be retired entirely. Think about how many things have they removed names from. Dan, how is it that the Democrat party, of all things, never got the ax right?
- [12:27]
I mean, they keep changing it from progressive back to liberal to all this other stuff because it's so unpopular. I mean, we don't run away from the label conservative. Vince, let me ask you about the show. Vince Colonnaise. Give him a follow on social media. He's at Vince V I N C Colon A C O G L I A N E S E Bongino crew. Do, do your thing. Let's. Let's blow Vince up next in the coming weeks as he takes over the radio show and the podcast. Vince, you've got a spectacular Rolodex of people. I think you have a real geographic advantage being in some of the capitals there. That's just where lawmakers and people are. You've interviewed a lot of them on wmal. So what's your plan for the interviews on the show? You're going to do a blend of newsmakers, culture stories. I don't know, you're going to like. We throw in some country music here once in a while. We just did a Morgan Wallen sampler. Like, how do you plan on taking the podcast for the Bongino army and running with It.
- [13:24]
Well, I can tell you I have a couple of very big rabbits in the hat that I'm ready to start pulling soon. I'm not going to make any announcement right now.
- [13:35]
Rabbits in the hat. Very. Go ahead, brother. I'm liking this.
- [13:38]
It's going to, it's going to be very big. We're going to, we're anticipating, we're planning for a very big launch week as, as we take the helm here from you, Dan. And, and you're right. Look, I've been in, I've been in conservative politics in Washington and conservative media fundamentally for a couple decades now. And in that process, I've been the editor in chief of the Daily Caller and I've worked for and alongside Tucker Carlson. I've gotten to know so many of these, especially these Republicans. I've interviewed President Trump literally countless times now. I've been in the Oval Office many times for extended interviews with him. It's been great. And so, you know, as we start in this role to do the podcast and to do the radio show, I don't want any of that to end. I want all of that to keep rolling. Only because it's, it's been productive here. I've done this radio show in the afternoon on WMAL for just over four years now. Prior to that, I was doing the morning show on wma. And we always, although we're a local one station in a local market, it is the nation's capital. And we've always booked all of our shows, all of my shows, like they're national news shows because fundamentally they are. And so that's not going to stop. It's actually just going to kick into overdrive. And for any WMAO listener who might be tuning in right now, if you think my show has been good so far, wait until you see what we achieve from 12 to 3. It is going to blow your mind.
- [15:03]
I'm stoked about it, Vince. I wish I hadn't. See, Vince is a radio guy, so he's looking at the clock going, Stan, he dance playing with fire right now. You know what the hard out, Vince is? You're going to figure this out in a couple. It's about Jim. What about 21 and you're giving me the axe. And sometimes I mess with Jim, Vince. So you need to do this. And I've had a couple more requests. Producer Jim obviously loves his job. And once in a while, the audience wants you to kind of throw a curveball at Jim and just like throw some sarcastic quip his way and I have one request for you, Vince. Although I will not be involved in the business, my wife Paula, who's run it. Just one last request before I let you go. Because I'm trying to take it to the end just to mess with Jimmy here. Because I only got a couple days left to get this right. By show, by show timing, you have got to make sure. Please. I need your solemn word that you will not allow producer Jim to watch any Auburn Tigers basketball games. It's an inside joke, brother. But he. If they don't win this national championship this year, I'm blaming you and Jim for letting him watch your games. Just give me your word you will do everything in your power to stop him from viewing these games.
- [16:09]
If I even hear words that sound like Ward Eagle, I'm going after Jim. It's not happening.
- [16:16]
Look at it, Jim. I got on the air. That is record that. That is with the last final moments. I wanted to show you're playing out on the last show too. Vince Colonnace. Congratulations, brother. You don't owe me any. Thank you. You're fantastic. I surround myself with the best people and you're it, brother. I'm handing you off the fuck football. So we'll talk before next week, but thanks for coming on, buddy.
- [16:38]
Thanks, Dan. Thank you for once again, we're going back to service for your country. You're a great man.
- [16:43]
Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Vince Colonnade. Let's get to our next sponsor. Life changing is the phrase producer Jim on my radio show used to describe his experience with PhD weight loss and nutrition. Jim lost over 40 pounds when the folks at PhD Weight Loss put him on their program. And he's kept it off for over a year since he hit his goal. To me, he looks 10 years younger. Well, how did he keep it off? Ph.D. has one on one. Check INS with your nutritionist over the phone. Your personalized PhD plan and nutritionist are helping to teach you a life changing skill, how to eat. Which is everything. And if Jim can do it, you can too. It's easy. Do what producer Jim did when he got help. That's PhD weight loss. They helped him out, they provided a schedule and consultation. And right now, take advantage of this Bongino podcast only limited offer. You'll get a free consultation and two free additional weeks of the program, including meals. You can give them a call at 864-644-1900. That's 864-644-1900 or go to phdweightloss.com that's phdweightloss.com Weight loss results vary per individual. Consult with a medical professional. Up next, we talk with Congressman Tim Burch. It's a great interview, talking about what's going on behind the scenes up on Capitol Hill. Check it out. Let's get to my guest. Great guy. We love him. No scrap squish, no squishes on the show and he's not one of them. Congressman Tim Burchett from Tennessee, welcome to the show. Good to have you.
- [18:01]
Tim Burchett
Good to have you, Dan. It sounds like you're going to go into a two hour workweek now that you're working for the government.
- [18:09]
Vince Colonnese
Yeah. Yeah. I hope not. Right? It's going to be everyone seems to be complaining by, by the way about especially the anti Trump left about accountability. Congressman, as if you know the private sector as well as anyone, as if this doesn't happen every single day in the private sector where a manager, a supervisor or someone comes up to you and says, hey, listen, you know, this month we're going to do a quarterly review. Tell us how you contributed to the value added. The company. Like this isn't new, you know, this isn't some new phenomenon.
- [18:39]
Tim Burchett
I know we do that in our office as well. It's, it's amazing to me though that, you know, the compliance complaints I've gotten from federal employees that are now going to have to show up for work, some of them have moved out of the area and it's just not fair, Dan. It's just not fair.
- [18:56]
Vince Colonnese
And moved out of the area. Congressman, I wanted to. That's insane. I want to talk to you about this just disastrous meeting on Friday between President Zelensky and President Trump. And I mean disastrous for him. President Trump went into the meeting with, it was supposed to be relatively ceremonial. We were going to sign this rare earths minerals deal, which was a cliche, but win, win, it was a win win for everyone and it just blew up. And I want to focus on this one thing just for this question. He made a comment, President Zelensky, about you all have a nice ocean, quote, nice ocean between you to the United States of America. Congressman And I had a listener during the break who said, hey, Dan, one of the battles my dad fought in In World War II was the battle of the Bulge too. Like my grandfather, he had nightmares too. He not only crossed the, quote, nice ocean, but also crossed the nice channel too. I mean, what an insulting statement to this amazing country of heroes and patriots who've crossed that ocean many times.
- [19:58]
Tim Burchett
Many times. My mom's Brother's married over in Europe. He died of just a few days after D Day. Not a day went by she didn't talk about her brother Roy. Every dadgum time they played the national anthem, my mama would tear up to the day she died. My dad fought in the Pacific, you know, he didn't have any scars externally. But you never ever woke my dad up other than his big toe because he might thought he was on Pillalu or Okinawa or one of those other islands that he was on. And you know, and he pin your, pin your ass up against the wall just, just to come into somebody's own home and do that. Was talking to somebody at the airport and I said, you know, it's kind of like my parents used to give a lot of money to legitimate Christian organizations like Billy Graham and others had been like Billy Graham coming into our living room after my parents had written one of their hard earned checks to his ministry and him start making demands of us. You know, it's just, it's beyond belief arrogance of this guy. And it is exactly what America voted for in Donald Trump. And J.D. vance, I couldn't have been more proud of him. I thought they actually had pretty good restraint. From what I've been around Trump, I thought he might have just grabbed him up by the, by the shirt collar and just thrown his ass out right then out on Pennsylvania Avenue. And I mean it was just unbelievable. We've given 250 billion with a beat the people in North Carolina until Donald Trump came in office. You know this in western North Carolina and Upper East Tennessee after Hurricane Helene came through, they were still living in tents and didn't have electricity or water. And the Army Corps of Engineers was nowhere to be seen. Trump got there, they started cleaning it up immediately. And you know, but here we go. We sent 250 billion over, over to them and these folks don't get anything. And this is America. Let's start taking care of our own deal. It's not our war. We need to, we need. And he's trying to. And the crazy thing is now you're seeing all these musicians paddling up with him and the Hollywood crowd. Trump wants peace. That used to be the liberal mantra, right? I can't, Yeah, I, I, it's just.
- [22:07]
Vince Colonnese
Congressman, I, I hate to, I'm sorry, forgive the interruption, but that you are so correct. I mean, you know, we're roughly in the same cohort, you know, within, within a few years. And I remember growing up, you know, all we are saying is give peace a chance I go, this is what he's doing. I don't understand. Like, Donald Trump conceded nothing. The deal, Congressman, was an absolute win. Win. I hate that term. But in this case, it absolutely applies. We were going to get economic materials we needed in rare earth minerals in a Ukrainian territory under attack, which the Russians would understandably probably hesitate to attack if the US has an economic interest in you and I both know, I'm not saying you, they wouldn't, but they definitely think twice, especially with Donald Trump in office. The Ukrainians get maybe not a de jure hard security guarantee, but at least an implied one. If you, you know, you heard what I just said. You know what I'm talking about. This was an absolute win. Win. It's not like Donald Trump went into this meeting and said, hey man, what the hell are you doing here in those battle fatigues? Don't you. He went into. He could not have been more statesmanlike. And Zelensky came in and throws just a match on this thing and burns the thing and still won't apologize, which I really can't believe. You're in politics. You're a congressman from Tennessee. You know better than anyone, politics is an art form. Your job is to read the room, Congressman, or else you don't get elected. That's your job. And Zelensky failed at his first task.
- [23:42]
Tim Burchett
And Trump did exceptionally well. You know, Trump, Trump negotiates with Teamsters. I mean, this guy negotiates with the toughest of the toughest deals and, and he went in there with, with, with America's backing and he, he represented us well. I can't, I just couldn't tell you how proud I was as I was watching this thing unfold and how surprised I was at Zelinsky. I, I'd like to know who advised Zelinsky to go in there with guns blazing, because I. Man, you're right. You talk about reading the room. He did not read the room. And, and America got just what we asked for. We, we got somebody that represents us that's not going to be rolled over and is not going to be spending our great grandchildren's money, because remember, every dollar of that 250 billion that we sent over there is borrowed. That is not money. We're just creating it. And the government doesn't create anything. All it does is take from us to do. And we've already surpassed everything we have. And we're going into our great grandchildren, so savings right now, and it's got to stop.
- [24:51]
Vince Colonnese
We're talking to Congressman Tim Burchett from Tennessee Congressman, what Zelensky again, I failed to understand or just ignored, which makes it, which would be even more unforgivable is this is a constitutional republic. It's not a direct democracy. We don't vote on every single issue. We vote for people like yourself in Congress. And then you vote on the issue. But you have to go back to your constituents in Tennessee and explain yourself and you know, doing town halls and you probably hear from emails and people calling your office every day. This effort in Ukraine is not universally popular. The working taxpayers, heroes and patriots of this great country have different opinions. And for Zelensky to go into the Oval Office with Donald Trump and to fake, not understand, understanding that, that Donald Trump has to move the public in this constitutional republic in the direction of this deal and to just aggravate the American public further as if this is some kind of monarchy or oligarchy again, misreading, just a catastrophic mistake he made.
- [25:57]
Tim Burchett
And let's be honest about what we're paying for too. It's not just missiles and rockets and things for the warp, attempts to increase their portfolios. We're paying the retirement funds, we're paying mortgages, we're paying rent over there. And that's, that's sort of the whispered thing that people aren't paying attention to. That ought to infuriate you when you have to stroke a big check every month to your landlord or you're paying your mortgage or going to the grocery store. The government, United States government's not offering anything to all Americans. And you're exact, you couldn't be more correct, Dan, about your assumption on this whole thing because this, this guy, he's a washed up comedian. I remember when he was elected, it was just sort of a, you know, they're just kind of throwing in the towel kind of thing with this guy. I mean, go back and Google some of the crazy foul stuff this guy's done. And all of a sudden he's the, you know, the, he's the spokesman for freedom in the world according to the left. He, he, he stopped all elections. He's outlawed some group, religious groups, you know, some very un American things that this guy's done. And yet this is the guy we choose to saddle up to. And, and you need to ask, we need to ask our liberal friends in Hollywood that where were they when the Chinese were rolling over, the Uyghurs were imprisoning them? They're forced abortions, forced organization harvesting of prisoners, things like that. Nobody wants to go to war with China. And the reason they don't want to go to war with China. Flip your, if you're wearing a coat and tie, flip your towel and let's see where that ties made or get you open up your computer and look at the back of it. See where most of the components are made. They're made in China. This thing's about money. It's about, it's about increasing the portfolio of the war pimps. And that's exactly what we've done. When we sent them our missile defense system in the beginning we had to replenish ours immediately by rule. And that was done with a no bid multi billion dollar contract. And who do you think owns stock in that? Members of Congress. And they bought stock in it just days prior to that so called executive order. So this thing is not lily white. It's not a pure war and we have no business being over there. We need to start investing in this country and that Gummet we don't need to be in Europe's over there. And Zelensky and some loose translation I read he was talking about that we're going to be sending our sons and daughters over there under Donald Trump. That's a big hell no. And that will not happen.
- [28:31]
Vince Colonnese
Congressman Tim Burchett, last question from Congressman's from Tennessee. Really appreciate your time. You know one of the last things I wanted to address with you is this NATO funding. Congressman, listen. The United States has an interest in what happens everywhere in the world. We have trade relationships with countries. It does not mean our boots have to be on the ground everywhere. But let's just be candid. Just pure geography and distance alone. The European Union and most other NATO countries in Western and Eastern Europe have a more parochial interest in NATO than we do. I'm not saying we don't have an interest. I'm just saying for them then the European Union as well. To lecture us while we've been essentially we have been NATO. We are NATO for decades while their militaries have been hollowed out. I mean is that a bad joke you're lecturing us about? We are NATO. NATO. We are nothing without us.
- [29:22]
Tim Burchett
Well, 1000% if you can. If you can do that. Dan, the way NATO works is you agree to put a certain percentage of your GDP into your, into your, your weaponry and you agree if one of the NATO countries gets attacked then you have to, then you back them up. So in effect we kept. Nobody cares if you know one of these small countries. You know nobody's gonna declare a world war for them unless they're in NATO. So really NATO is a dinosaur, in effect, a cold war type thing. It ought to be. As somebody I heard say one time, it needs to be in a little kiosk in the Smithsonian and you push a little button, it tells you what it does. Why in the world, we already are the world's police force, whether we want to be or not. And all this is, is ensuring that our kids, our sons and daughters are going to go off into some foreign war. And I'm guaranteed to you that most members of Congress can't even fight in some of these countries on the globe. And dad, we need to, we need to get some new rules in that thing because, you know, Trump, Trump threatened to pull out unless those people started kicking in their money. And then they did. And of course, under Biden, they started pulling out again. And we, we pulled up the slack once again. The American taxpayers, our technology. And unfortunately, at some point, it's going to be our sons and daughters and these wars overseas. And we need to get some clear direction there. And the only reason they're not coming at us now is because Trump's in the White House.
- [30:59]
Vince Colonnese
Indeed. Indeed. Congressman Tim Burchett from Tennessee, thanks so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Thanks for coming on.
- [31:06]
Tim Burchett
See you, Dan. Appreciate you, brother.
- [31:08]
Vince Colonnese
Thank you. Congressman Burchett, another interesting interview next from a guy running for governor in one of our biggest, most important states. But our next sponsor for I've had my Helix mattress for several years now and I've definitely noticed the sleep differences. You know, I had a problem sleeping. Helix Sleep is an award winning mattress brand. That's the essential reason why I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle a new day. No more tossing and turning. If you're dealing with snoring, sleep apnea, back pain, or even if you sleep too hot. Helix is a mattress option for you. So go to helixsleep.com dan and get started. You know, a good night's sleep is one of the best ways to have a better quality of life. Helix mattress can help figure out which mattress will work best for you. I have a pretty hectic schedule and after a long day of work, I always look forward to sleeping on my Helix mattress. So many of my listeners are sleeping on Helix. H E L I X makes a big difference in their lives as well. Right now, get Helix's best offer yet. Exclusive for my listeners. 20% off site wide. That's right. Visit helixsleep.com dan to get 20% off site wide. Helix Sleep H E L A X Helix Sleep we talk with now gubernatorial candidate Congressman Byron Donals on his run for governor. Check this out. I've known this gentleman quite a while now. Ran into him during a run for Congress in the district he represents and represents. Well, it's a Florida district on the West Coast. It's the Naples, Cape Coral Bonita area. Good man. And we share similar personal interests as well, especially with regards to school choice. That kind of filters from personal, professional welcoming to the show representative, and a good one, Byron. Donald, sir, thanks for your time today. We appreciate it, Dan.
- [32:46]
Byron Donalds
It's good to be with you, man. And by the way, congratulations. I didn't think you were ever going to go back into government work, man. So congrats.
- [32:54]
Vince Colonnese
You know, as you know, you have a history of service yourself, state rep, member of Congress, hopefully Florida's next governor. It's the kind of calling when, when the boss asks you to do something and you can really transform the government. You know, Congressman, it's, it's easy to talk about stuff every, a lot of people do, but you can't tell your audience, hey, the do matters, which I've said often and, but not me. I meant the other guy. Like that doesn't work. You know, you're a street guy like me. Authenticity matters. People see through it. And that's why I think it was so important I do this. But I want to talk about your, the big announcement. You have expressed an interest in the governorship of my beautiful, wonderful, incredible home state of Florida. I think you'd be an amazing guy for the job. What are you going to do to make Florida? I'm not going to say great again, but even greater.
- [33:46]
Byron Donalds
Well, first of all, yeah, my candidacy went official yesterday. We filed the papers in Tallahassee. And so I'm in the race and I'm running. And for me, we have a great state. You know that. And it's about staying on top. That's the key thing. So there's a couple things I want to do. Number one, we have to fix insurance in our state. We have an insurance problem. Rates are going up, people's home insurance are getting canceled. They got to go scramble to get another carrier to fill that gap. So, you know, I want to use some of my background in banking and insurance and financial services to try to help the state expand the number of carriers in our state. We might have to do some stuff around capital requirements for insurance carriers to make it easier for them to write insurance in our state. And another key thing is that we know we're a Hurricane prone state, that's just a reality. So we want to make sure that when a homeowner has to call on their insurance carrier that that process is as smooth as possible. And my district's been hit several times by hurricanes. The most major one, the last time was Hurricane Ian. And so being on the ground working, you know, to help people get back on their feet in my district, you start to go through some of those issues with people trying to get their claims done, trying to get adjusters out, trying to get responses from insurance carriers. And so look, it's going to be an all of the approach strategy. We got a lot of work to do to clean that up. Second big thing is I want to make Florida the financial hub of the world. So much capital is moving to our state. You know, a lot of the people who were doing business in New York and in Chicago, who through Covid, you know, they looked at Florida and really because of the leadership of Ron DeSantis, they said you know what, I gotta go to Florida. And in a lot of respects their politics changed along the way. So they're Republicans, they're conservatives, they're down in Florida, but they still do major business in finance. I want to focus the state towards becoming the financial capital of the world. We can do that in our state because you know, we're not just a retirement state anymore, Dan. We've become a never state. Every Florida to do something.
- [35:57]
Vince Colonnese
Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Congressman Donald's now candidate for governor, Byron Donalds. You know as well as I do the snowbirds phenomenon. Yeah, it still exists, but it's nothing like it was when I moved down here 10 years ago. You know, you walked out there in snowbird season, you walk in any restaurant, there was no one there. That's gone now. Florida is now people's year round home. You still get people who travel back obviously, but not nearly to the extent. So my, that leads to my second question. If you are the next governor of Florida, you know, being a member of congress now, you deal with, you know, national issues. This is a competition, Congressman. We got Iowa cutting taxes. You've got, you know, places like Ohio and, and even some, you know, Democrats swing states looking at the making more tax efficient tax codes. And then you've got places going in the other direction like Delaware where most companies would incorporate a lot of them, which is now going in the other direction and now trying to get back business. We can't in Florida ever take for granted that our weather and amusement parks and, and job environment is just going to keep us on top forever. I know you understand that better than anyone.
- [37:05]
Byron Donalds
No, 100%. I mean, I'm glad you brought up Delaware. For a long time in our country, Delaware was the state people went to to incorporate. So what I want to do is make it the easiest to incorporate. I want Florida to become the easiest to incorporate. I want to set up business courts in Florida so it's easier to adjudicate those issues that do code through your judicial system anytime you're dealing with a lot of. With a lot of corporations in your state, but to the competition. Vivek Ramaswamy, good friend running for governor of Ohio. You know, Vivek and I talked offline and I heard his speech, talking about how he wants to make Ohio the best state in the country. And my joke for him was, well, look, congratulations on that vision, but you're still going to be number two, because Florida is number one today, and we're going to be number one into the future. So it's about taking public safety seriously. We're going to continue the work that Governor DeSantis has done on that, the work in education, continuing that great work. But then it's about becoming much more open in terms of economics again, being able to be a hub for finance and be the center of not just the country, but of the world when it comes to finance. And then, of course, you got to fix insurance. Insurance is going to be key. And one big thing, Dan, and I think this is important. We've led the country when it's come to school choice. I was in the legislature when we passed universal school choice my sophomore year in the legislature. I passed at that time the biggest expansion of school choice in the country, which was the HOPE Scholarship at that time. And so now that we have universal school choice in Florida, now we gotta make sure that every child has every tool available to them to become proficient in math and in reading and in writing. That stuff's gonna be crucial for our success going forward. And that's what I'm focused on.
- [38:54]
Vince Colonnese
Yeah, you. You benevolently stole my thunder. For my next question. School choice, a very sensitive topic. To me. It's personal as much as professional, because I'm a product of it. I would not be speaking in clear English sentences right now if it wasn't for a local Catholic school that through kind of de facto school choice, let us go there. I mean, my parents didn't always pay the tuition on time because we couldn't afford it, but Sister Jane let us stay there, and they did A remarkable job with me and my two brothers. And you and your wife have been unbelievable advocates for school choice. I mean, your wife Erica, this is her cause, has dedicated her life to this in you as well. I heard you give so many passionate speeches about this. How you and friends of yours have just been rescued and saved by this cause of school choice. I know it may not be the sexiest topic always, Congressman, but if we don't have a strong, educated workforce, we have some blathering on, I mean, so much me. We have this repository of kids in inner cities in Florida and elsewhere. This is our greatest natural resource isn't rare earth minerals. It's those kids. You have any idea how Many apples and IBMs and Hewlett packards and whatever could be invented in inner cities that have just been left behind because we can't teach these kids to do freaking basic math? It's a. It's a moral stain on our society.
- [40:19]
Byron Donalds
No, I totally agree. And I think part of it is being a little technical about it. You have kids, if you're a kid who grows up, you know, I'm just going to say, you know, on the lower end of the economic spectrum, it's. It's difficult because you mean it may not just have the resources available to you to go get. And so, you know, and especially when summertime comes the stud. The study is, our studies are clear. Children fall behind after summer vacation because they're not reading every day in the summer, they're not doing math every day in the summer. And a lot of that really falls on top of who the parent is in that home. You know, my mom, we were poor, but she made sure that I was doing work in the summertime to stay, not just at grade level, level above grade level. And so there's some other things I want to talk about. Not right now. We're still flushing out some of those ideas, but it's about having an intentional focus on every specific child in our state so they have those tools to achieve proficiency in math and reading. Like when we measure our schools and measure our school system, we look at it from grade level. Well, grade level is just a medium. That just means if you're at grade level, all that means is that you're better than the bottom 50% of your class. That's how we measure it. What I'm talking about is proficiency, mastery in reading and math. If you have kids, no matter what your background is, being proficient in reading and math, it will not just supercharge the state of Florida. That gives you the great leaders you need for the future of America. And that's what this whole thing is about. And you're right. That's the. That is the precious resource is the future potential of children in America. They are the precious resource. If they're highly educated and prepared for the world in front of them, man, they're going to make us look like a bunch of bums. Dan. I'm just telling you right now, we're going to be nothing compared to those kids.
- [42:06]
Vince Colonnese
And it would be the greatest. I would. That is one case where I would love to look like a bunch of bums when this next generation goes, gosh, we're so much smarter than him. That is the biggest W we can ever chalk up. We're talking to Congressman Byron Donald running for the governorship in wonderful my home state of Florida, which I love so much. Congressman, last question. I'll let you go. I know you're busy, but just kind of a bigger bird's eye view question here. You know, after the Mitt Romney presidential run when we lost, there was a lot of kind of morose, macabre talk about the Republican Party. Oh, the generational. It's gone for a generation. Forget it. But now the bench is just, you're seeing it up on Capitol Hill. And in the state of Florida, you were a state rep. I mean, even in Florida, we've got 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ringers who could run for state or national office. You know, you've got Vivek running in Ohio. You got Vice President Vance. I mean, the Republican bench, the party post. Donald Trump really has a really bright future. I think you can thank President Trump for inspiring a lot of people to move in a new populous, but economically sound direction.
- [43:11]
Byron Donalds
I totally agree. I think the biggest thing from Donald Trump, and again, Dan, I'm so thankful to have his endorsement to run for governor. I didn't even mention it. So excited to have his endorsement. It's huge.
- [43:22]
Vince Colonnese
And early. I mean, this is like right out of the chute.
- [43:25]
Byron Donalds
Yeah, 100%. I'm thankful, I'm thankful for his support. But what he taught our party is how to stand and fight. Let's be very clear. It was about how to stand and fight and deliver. You saw that with Governor DeSantis, you see it with JD with Vivek, myself, countless others who maybe they don't have as much shine on evening news and on social media, but you now have an entire phalanx of Republican electeds at the federal level, at the state level that nobody's really ever heard of that? They are now committed to the principles of common sense, of economic freedom, economic liberty, conservatism. But they are prepared to stand in the gap and fight for those principles and not be shy about what they believe. They're really undaunted. And I think that's because of the strength of Donald Trump. And now you're seeing it come out in the bench in the Republican Party. So, you know, as long as we don't just get too cute and get too dumb and just stay focused on the, on the making sure the main thing is the main thing, man, the wind is really at our back. And last thing I'll say on that is we can't stop now. Like just winning in 24 is not enough. There are people in our country who are not historically Republicans or conservatives, but they're people of common sense. They don't really care about politics or their politics have been dictated by family and friends. But if you're bold and you're committed and you have the right policies and you have the right agenda and you're willing to go and engage these people in every town and city of America, you'd be surprised how many of them will be willing to choose our philosophy and vote for us and stand with us to make this country great. So, you know, from the perch in Florida, if I'm successful to be the next governor, my mission is going to be to leave Florida, continue it being the best state in the country. Sorry, Vivek. You get to be number two. But, you know, the best state in the country. And we're going to lead and we're going to make sure the other 49 know how to get the job done.
- [45:22]
Vince Colonnese
Yeah, you're right. I mean, bench wise, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Governor DeSantis two terms, too. I mean, we've been lucky. Former Governor Scott, Now Senator, Governor DeSantis two terms. I mean, this place is really a beacon of freedom. I love so much living down here. You know, I'm proud of this next mission we're going to undertake, Congressman. But like you, you know, D.C. has some great people, but I just, I love Florida. I'm going to, I'm going to miss my Florida home. So I hope to run into you in Washington, D.C. let's grab some coffee sometime. You're doing a great job. Good luck in the guy governor's race and thanks for everything you've done for school choice. It really matters a lot to me. And thank your wife as well. She's fantastic. We appreciate your time.
- [46:01]
Byron Donalds
All right, listen, thank you Dan. Take it easy.
- [46:03]
Vince Colonnese
You. You got it. Congressman Byron Donalds that race means a lot to me. I live here.
- [46:08]
Byron Donalds
I.
- [46:08]
Vince Colonnese
Listen, I'm, I've got a couple more weeks of this job where my political opinion hat is on. But I'm a citizen of Florida and I really, really like what Byron Donald stands for. Him and his wife Erica have really fought for school choice that. Let's get to our next sponsor. You don't go out and buy a life jacket when the boats are already sinking and you don't buy gold when the economy has already collapsed. Clearly others are heeding this advice as gold hit all time highs the first part of 2025. It's not too late for you too. I use Birch Gold B I, R, C H. It's the company I buy gold from. Birch Gold specializes in helping you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA and physical, physical gold for no money out of pocket. Just listen to this five star review. Knowledgeable, helpful, no pressure. That's why you go with Birch Gold. That's why they've been with me for a while. Get your free info kit on Gold by texting the word Dan to the number 989-898. There's no obligation, just useful information. So with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and countless five star views, text Dan to 989-898. Let the experts at Birch Gold help you secure your future today with Gold message and data rates. Reply. Finally we talk with Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate for governor in Ohio. Check this out though. As I told you, we try to bring you guests that are interesting, compelling political stories, but people I believe we share a pretty common ideology with. Doesn't mean we're going to agree on everything. But as Ronald Reagan said, if we agree on 80% we'll come back for the other 20% later. I've known this gentleman a long time. Recently announced a run for the governor ownership of the amazing now turning very red state of Ohio. I just saw what looks to be a really glowing endorsement by President Trump. Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy, welcome to the show, sir.
- [47:53]
Dan Bongino
Good to have you. Good to have you May back. I enjoy being on here every time, man.
- [47:57]
Vince Colonnese
Yeah, it's always great. It was so nice to see you in the the amusement park with your lovely family. I'm family. I'm going to assume you were taken. Just a quick family thing out before you knew you were going to be jumping into the campaign because as you know, from your presidential campaign, you know, it's a lot of work, door knocking, county fairs, handshaking. So it was really nice to see you, but you're ready. I mean, I saw you. You sound very energetic and no one knows how to campaign, you know, better than you do.
- [48:26]
Dan Bongino
I appreciate it, man. Actually, it's funny, when we bumped into each other in the music park, it was my son's fifth birthday. The day before, the day before my campaign launched, and we knew we wouldn't be able to give him a proper party. So he wanted to go down there. And we celebrated with him properly, took the day off from all phone calls, focused on the family, and then, yes, we launched the campaign in full force. And, you know, I don't like to go at half speed. So we're going to be going and crisscrossing all the 88 counties of the state. I declared last night, and I was proud within an hour of formally declaring my campaign that night to see President Trump's endorsement. And the truth is, President Trump is saving our country at the level of Washington, D.C. he's going to do his job in the next two years. But as he gets that job done, that means a range of programs from education to health care are going to flow back down to the states and to the people where they belong. That's the good news. But the work that we have ahead of us is also real. That requires actual governors who already to use that power in the right way, to stand for the right principles to actually fix the educational achievement crisis in our country. That's a big one, Dan. Where 75% of 8th graders right now can't even do proper math at an age appropriate level, we're going to fix that. But it's going to take strong governors to do it. And that's why I'm looking to lead the way right here in Ohio.
- [49:48]
Vince Colonnese
We're talking of Vivek Ramaswamy, a recently announced candidate for the governorship of Ohio. Vivek, I know you feel like I do. I know school choice sometimes is not the sexiest issue to talk about. There's national defense, there's tax cuts. I get that. But President Trump passionately believes in it. The people he's appointed in these positions, whether it be Linda McMahon or Betsy DeVos, who are strong believers in school choice. This is a very important issue in a, you know, big parochial, but parochial race like a governorship. You see this movement nationwide. If we don't have a strong, educated, well educated, top educated population of kids. We're going to be left behind by other countries, especially in this tech heavy AI generation with quantum computing and other things.
- [50:36]
Dan Bongino
Absolutely. I actually do think of this as a national security issue in the long run, Dan. And so when we frame in terms of school choice, I agree that you can feel a little bit parochial. School choice is important. We got to go the full distance for homeschooling as an option. That's the first principle. Also just based on the liberty, parents should be determining the education of their children and should be empowered to do it. And I'm in favor of that. But I think we also have to go further to the place where maybe some conservatives haven't yet gone, which is to say, how do you also equip our public schools to compete with the best of the alternatives? And there it is often the teachers unions who are standing in the way. So one of the things I'm going to do in the state of Ohio is we will implement merit based pay for every teacher, for every principal, for every superintendent in the public schools of this state, where the best ones who are delivering results for kids end up getting paid more than they are right now. But that comes at the expense of really clearing the brush and cutting a lot of the other dead weight that's around. Get the cell phones out of the schools, actually implement a curriculum centered on math, reading and writing proficiency. There's kids in other countries right now, Dan. I'm not making this up. Where English isn't even their first language now doing better on English proficiency than our own students here. That's unacceptable to me. You have civic education in this country which needs to come back. We require a citizenship test of every legal immigrant who comes here to know something about the country. And that's a good thing. Turns out that 80% of people who graduate from high school would fail that test right now. So on my watch as governor, we're going to make sure that every high school senior who graduates from high school has to pass the same civics test that every legal immigrant has to pass in order to become a citizen. And I think that that's a beautiful thing because you can't love a country unless you know the first thing about that country. So civic health, physical health, academic health, mental health, all of it. This is about standing for the next generation. And I do think about that as a future security issue and a competitiveness issue versus China and other countries around the world. But they don't have federalism like we do, so it can't be done. In Washington D.C. it has to be states that lead the way.
- [52:51]
Vince Colonnese
Yeah. I was deeply impacted on a trip to South Korea in my prior line of work where, where teachers Vivek, are, are, you know, small G gods. Like people worship the teaching profession. They're highly paid, it's merit based. They, they get the opportunity to work after hours in, in tutor positions where they're paid handsomely. And it's just a shame that, that, that, that you know, that not the teachers but the unions have made this more about the organization rather than the kids. That, that, that that's what's really destroying our system.
- [53:24]
Dan Bongino
That's right. And it's, this is such a perfect example because we're talking about what's going on in Washington D.C. where I helped get Doge off the ground. President Trump and Elon are doing a fantastic job. It's bureaucracy that is the enemy of the people. I believe that whether it's the federal government, whether it's at the state government, whether it's the level of the managerial class. We talk about these public teachers unions. It's a funny thing because the individual people who are in that often are very good people. I think about my sixth grade teacher, Ms. Kinney, at a public school that I went to in Cincinnati where I grew up. She changed my life for the better. She allowed me to see potential in myself that I never saw. But right now we're not attracting the very best like her because there's no meritocracy in compensation. You brought up South Korea. The same thing is true in Finland. They pay according to comp and merit based pay according to actual performance. They attract the very best in many cases to the education profession, as we should here as well. And it's shocking that none of our 50 states do it. So I want Ohio to be the first state in the country that brings meritocracy to compensation and education with some of the other changes. And that'll set a national standard is the way I look at this. It's not actually turns out a parochial state issue when you see it that way. It's about setting a national standard and doing it through state leadership. And I do think that that's the way things work in America as education's local. But it's a national threat unless we address it.
- [54:50]
Vince Colonnese
No, that's a good point. We're talking Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate for governor of Ohio, say you win the spot and you become the governor of Ohio. It does put the squeeze on other Republican governors who may move more slowly where the citizens of their states will say, well, why aren't we doing what happened in Ohio? But let me address something. We've known each other a very long time. Back from my old Fox show where you, you were a frequent guest on People. People may not know, they may know you from running for president, but you had an extremely successful career as a tech space investor for a very long time, very successful career. You also got were part of the initial launch of the Doge before you decided to run for governor. Do you plan on taking this DOGE business like approach that you had in your experience in the private sector to government as well? Because Ohio's a pretty well run state, red state, turning redder. But let's be honest, even well run states, there's always a little bit of nip and talk here and there. I would assume that's what you're planning to do to make that state level government more efficient too.
- [55:53]
Dan Bongino
Look, I don't think efficiency is a partisan issue. It shouldn't be. It's not a Democrat or Republican point. And so I think you could imagine red states that need to be run better. I don't think there are that many blue states that are run efficiently, but in principle there could be. Look, I think efficiency is just something that every citizen of a state, every taxpayer in a state should want. Right now Texas and Florida, Dan, are the top two states that people move into. And I think that's one good metric of the success of a state. How many are moving in versus out. Right now I think Ohio is around number 38. So what I want to do by the end of this is I want Ohio to be at the top of that list. And I think a big part of that is allowing people to keep what they earn. Florida, Texas and 8. Six other states like them are zero income tax states. I'd like to take Ohio to become a zero income tax state. I think that's equally just about putting more money in people's pockets as it is making sure that government runs as efficiently as possible. And the beautiful thing is that also takes aim at then the overregulation of the private sector. It shouldn't take 18 or 36 months to build a new natural gas pipeline. For example in Ohio, a state that has great natural gas underneath the ground, that should be six months or less. So I believe every man made problem has a man made solution. I love, I absolutely love and fully support what President Trump and Elon are doing. And I think it's important to be aggressive taking on bureaucracy. There's a reason why many Republican presidents even have talked about it, but never actually have seen it happen. So I love what they're doing. I'm going to bring my unique style and approach to applying that to Ohio. I think about that less as what are we cutting and what are we actually bringing? What we're bringing back is the American dream. That's what we're bringing back. What we're bringing back is a meritocracy. What we're bringing back is a place where any young kid can achieve the maximum of his potential and make as much money or achieve as much success in any domain as he wants to without apologizing for it by playing by the rules, without the government getting in the way. That's what we're shooting for. And I think sometimes when we explain this, especially to our Democrat friends or folks in the inner cities of Cincinnati to Cleveland to Columbus, I think one of the things I found is that most people, not all people, but most people, are actually pretty reasonable if you explain it directly to them, not through media filters, but explain to them why you're doing exactly what you're doing. And that's going to be one of the things I'm going to try to do well, hopefully, as the next governor of the state.
- [58:22]
Vince Colonnese
Vivek, last question. We're talking to Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate for governor. Ohio, by the way, very excited about your approach to a zero income tax in, in Ohio. I can tell you in Florida that that is, that is one of the reasons a huge chunk of people move here. You get an instant race. But you mentioned something about Cincinnati and Cleveland. These are cities with significantly large populations of minority Americans. You saw running for president in the last cycle that Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have made absolutely incredible inroads into minority communities that have been told for too long lies about who the Republican Party are and who people within the party are. I would assume you would be actively campaigning there on that agenda, knowing that that potential is real to swing a whole bunch of voters in our direction.
- [59:13]
Dan Bongino
Absolutely. That's one of the things that President Trump did an amazing job of. Half the job is just showing up, actually. You have a historical generation of Republican politicians that have often been afraid to go into the inner cities or afraid to go into minority communities. President Trump did the opposite. He explained it directly to them and it was successful. And you and I, we crisscrossed at some of those events. Even one of the things I focused on this last cycle over the last year was helping President Trump get a lot of the youth vote. We saw the youth vote come in droves to Republicans this time around. I traveled countless campuses across this country, really, again, explaining things to young people in terms that they actually find relatable. So we got to do a better job of that as a party. And one of the beauties of where we stand in this one is where the polling is. And I was close to 60% before I declared. And with President Trump's endorsement and a bunch of other national and statewide endorsements that have since come in, I want to use this year, instead of doing a normal primary where you're, you know, knifing each other in a Republican primary and wasting a bunch of time and money doing that, to instead spend that time going into the inner cities, go into the foothills of Appalachia, go into counties that traditional Republicans may not have visited for a long time, and actually have open conversations with young people on university campuses, from the inner city of Toledo to Cleveland to Cincinnati to Columbus. And to be able to explain to them, you know what, we may not agree on everything, and that's okay, because we love diversity of thought. But if you care about economic excellence, more money in your bank account, more kids, more money in your kids investment accounts, about giving your kids the same shot at the American dream that people like you and I, Dan, have lived. And you know what? In some sense, we're on the same team. Get on the bus and let's go. And you'll have a seat at the table, even if you don't agree with everything we do. And I do think that that actually allows us to get more done, actually, which is what I want to now do at the state level. So President Trump's doing his job in Washington, D.C. and reviving the conviction in America that we were missing. I want to revive our conviction in Ohio for the people who live here. But also, it's not just that. It's about setting a standard for the other states as well. And that, too, I think, is going to be how we save the country.
- [61:24]
Vince Colonnese
Vivek, I really wish I had more time with you. And I really have to run. I'm over. But I remember I ran into you in an event for President Trump, and I said to you, my nephew, who was 11 at the time, you remember this? I said, he loves you, man. So whatever you're doing with the younger vote. He can't even vote. He saw a video you on TikTok. You're doing a great job, really. Congratulations on the announcement. Best of luck. You're a good man. You've always been a good friend to me and I appreciate it. Good luck in the race.
- [61:48]
Dan Bongino
And congratulations to you too, man. I'm proud of you and the country's lucky to have you. Thank you.
- [61:52]
Vince Colonnese
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Vivek Ramaswamy, very excited, as a lot of other people are as well, about his announcement for the governorship of Ohio. Thanks for listening to the weekend podcast, folks. We really appreciate it. You can always check out our content@rumble.com bungino you just heard Dan Bongino.