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It's time to take the quiz. Five questions, five minutes a day, five days a week. Take the quiz every weekday at thequiz.fox and then listen to the quiz podcast to find out how you did. Play, share, and of course, listen to the quiz at thequiz.fox. Well, welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This week, we'll talk through some of the news.
highlight the stupid because there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere and then we're going to phone a friend and uh this time it's going to be congressman michael waltz from florida i think you're really going to enjoy this he's an american hero served his country and now serving in the united states congress he's uh a fascinating fascinating figure in today's american politics and uh i think you're really going to enjoy it but
First, let's start on the news. Let me riff on the news a little bit. I got a couple things I want to talk about. First, the Wuhan. Wuhan virus, whatever you want to call it, the China virus. I know it's called coronavirus, but where did it originate? Where did it start? That's often the way we name things in this country. Did it start in the lab? Did it start in a wet market?
You know, early on in the process, you actually had President Donald Trump, who in response to a question, suggested that, yeah, it might have started in the lab. Now, I know there were a lot of liberals, a lot of Democrats, and a lot of people in the media that said, oh, that was fake news. It's false information. There's no information. He's just guessing everything.
But standing behind the president is an intelligence organization that usually has a lot of information that the president can't just highlight and say, well, this is exactly where I got it.
But why? Why at that time? Why did they just get rid of that notion that perhaps it was started in a lab? And I'm glad to see that they're taking a little bit more seriously now that we're starting to look at this. I mean, it was one of the worst pandemics, certainly in my lifetime. And we got to make sure that it never, ever starts again. So why the hesitancy in trying to figure it out?
World Health Organization, they have so many ties into China. So I don't fundamentally trust them, nor do I trust personally Dr. Fauci. I think he's changed and flipped and flopped. And this weak excuse that you're getting for the Centers for Disease Control suggesting that, well, you know, we didn't do anything directly, but yeah, maybe we gave out some grant money and maybe those people, their grant money, I mean,
I mean, aren't they supposed to be keeping track of this? If they're trying to keep track of germs and diseases and infections, they can't keep track of where they put their money and how that's being spent. And did any of that money get spent in China on these types of things? I think it's worthy of looking at a little deeper.
Item number two I want to talk about as we riff on the news here is what's really in these bills. Now, remember, when Donald Trump was president and they had to do some COVID relief, there were four very bipartisan bills that passed. These bills were as bipartisan as it gets, and they passed, and it was needed relief.
But then when Joe Biden became the president, they decided, the Democrats, that they were going to go it alone. They passed a $1.9 trillion bill, only Democrats. And we have talked previously about all the waste, the fraud, the abuse that's in these bills. Things like $600,000 for two gazebos at Guantanamo Bay, $180,000 plus for...
a seat that can eject out of a training airplane in Africa. There is a stunning amount of information that wasn't disclosed and wasn't put forward by the president saying, well, you know, it's all for Americans to get back up on their feet. They're the ones that built the country.
And undoubtedly, there was a lot of money for that. But there was a lot of money that was used to go overseas. And what's concerning is now the president in the last week, you heard it last week. You're going to continue to hear it here.
They're going to be out there pounding and trying to really sell. Oh, we need more relief. We need more relief. They can't even spend the money that they've already been allocated, that's already been appropriated. And when they do, they did things like I do some work for the Government Accountability Institute as a distinguished fellow. This is Peter Schweitzer's group. For instance, one of the things they found was
In the previous COVID relief bill, there was $4.69 million for the Department of Health for the Fruit of the Loom underwear coming out of Honduras. So don't tell me this is all about COVID relief and, oh, we need more money to get people back on their feet when they're able to go out and spend so much money, like the $600,000 on the gazebos at Guantanamo Bay, and they can go out and spend the money on...
on airplane fixtures and those types of things. So when we really want to understand what's in the bill, there was a process that was supposed to be in place to do this, but they bypass it. It's the regular appropriations process where it goes to the 12 appropriations committees. They put forward a bill, then it comes to the floor of the house and each member can offer what's called a striking amendment. They can kill a part of a bill, literally a line item type veto.
And they can put that up for vote. And if it passes, it passes. But at least it's exposed.
These types of things are not being done while the one-party rule in this country moves forward with multi-trillion dollar bills that we are going to end up paying for and your kids, grandkids, their grandkids are going to end up paying for. It is a stunning amount of money and people don't know what's in it. And yet the president and the vice president continue to go out and say, we need more, we need more. They can't even spend what they already have. All right. The third thing that I want to mention about in the news is
And you've seen this. I think America's tired of being told that they're not woke enough, that they have got to change, that everything that they've been doing is just fundamentally wrong, that they're racist, they're xenophobic, they're homophobic, they're everything.
You know what? Most good, hardworking, patriotic people just trying to do what they do in their life and enjoy things. They don't need a sports program or an entertainment program or something on the TV that's supposed to be like entertainment to go out and tell them about how wrong they've been leading their life and that they are
They're ethically wrong. And somehow I think the Democrats have really, really overplayed their hands. And I think America is tired of it. I think it's oftentimes a good reminder to step back and understand the sensitivity that people might have to your words and your actions.
But by and large, I got to tell you, I do not believe that this country is systemically racist. Is there racism in America? Yeah, unfortunately there is. And is there anti-Semitism? Are there all kinds of bad things that I wish weren't there? Yeah, they are. But we're human beings. But I think by and large, the United States of America is the greatest country on the face of the planet. And thank goodness people are trying to sneak into this country now.
They're not trying to escape this country. That's why we have so many people coming. All right, that brings me to bringing on the stupid because there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. First item up on bringing in the stupid is that continued statement that I hear from the administration that the border is closed. Are you kidding me?
Just last week on FoxNews.com, there was yet another article about how the Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio sector in Texas...
have seen a 3,166% increase in arrests of convicted sex offenders compared to the same time frame last fiscal year. Now, keep in mind, this is just the Del Rio sector. It's one of the more active sectors. This doesn't count all the other sectors in Texas and New Mexico and Arizona and California,
But since October 1st, if you go back and look at it, they have been arresting and detaining people that had convictions of
that included forcible sexual assault, sexual assault of a child under 14, sexual conduct with a person under 13, statutory rape, second-degree sexual assault of a child, lewd acts with a child. I mean, it just goes on and on. So don't stand up in front of the White House podium and say the border is closed at the same time they're seeing record-high apprehensions of people that have previously been caught with sex convictions
That include those against children. It's just fundamentally wrong. It qualifies for bringing on the stupid. All right. Number two, because I got like I got too many this week because a lot of stupid stuff going on. Kamala Harris, the vice president, United States has still not visited our southern border. The president said that she was going to be in charge of border security and everything that was going on with the border. And she hasn't visited. It's been more than two months since.
She never gets asked a question because she never takes a question. And the numbers are stunning. I just think it's so stupid of them to say she's in charge, but she's not doing anything. Nothing that's visible, nothing that allows the interaction between the Border Patrol agents, the one are actually doing the job. It just qualifies to me as being rather stupid.
All right, another item for bringing on the stupid Facebook said last week it would no longer ban posts suggesting COVID-19 is a man-made virus amid mounting calls from President Biden and other officials to further investigate. They should have been looking at this from the very get-go, but because Donald Trump said it, of course, hey, we're not going to talk about it. I just think it's so stupid that Facebook and their woke group of
You know, arbiters are the judge and jury. They're the gods at Facebook decided, hey, you know what? We're not going to allow you to even say on Facebook or even suggest on Facebook that it might be a man-made virus, that it may have escaped out of a lab. Now they're pulling back on it because, yet again, they are proving that, well, maybe that had some validity to it. It was an election issue. Coincidentally, yes.
harming Republicans who claim that, hey, this is something we should investigate, but yet again. All right, I mentioned this one before, but I got to highlight it again because it's so stupid. The last one for bringing on the stupid, the Government Accountability Institute highlighting the idea that $4.69 million from the Department of Health went to the Union Underwear Company for a mass order of Fruit of the Loom underwear. That sounds like a pretty stupid use.
of our COVID relief money. And that's bringing on the stupid. All right. Now it's time to talk about stories from the halls of Congress, which has been a fairly popular item that we've been talking about. We've interviewed a few people. I've told some funny stories. I'm going to take a little bit different turn on this one because I want to highlight some of the notable politicians who have changed their names. Now,
I find it interesting that, you know, in the world of politics, you got to communicate. You got to be able to position yourself. I understand. I appreciate that. I do that. I was in Congress eight and a half years. I was chief of staff to a governor. I think I get it. I think I understand it. But it is funny to me. It's sort of interesting to me how some people have felt the need to just change their name and their perception along the way. So let me highlight some of them. Some of you may know. Some of them you may not know.
James Earl Carter. Now that's Jimmy Carter, President Jimmy Carter. That's not a big leap. That's not, I mean, going from James Earl Carter to Jimmy Carter. Yeah, that's not too far. But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Well, of course she went by Sandy. Now I don't, you'll let you come up with your analysis of what that means, but
Yeah, I think it'd just be easier if you call me Sandy. All right. One of the stranger ones to me is Mayor Bill de Blasio because he started out as Warren Wilhelm Jr. Then he went to Warren de Blasio Wilhelm, and then he went to Bill de Blasio. De Blaise Wilhelm to de Blasio. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but...
Anyway, the next one is actually... This one really... A couple of them make me smile. And Ted Cruz, he is Rafael Edward Cruz. We know him as Ted Cruz. But as a child, he was known as Felito. Now...
This is the quote that came from his book, A Time for Truth. He's known as a child as Felido, but he said,
I thought that was pretty funny. So Ted Cruz got away from Felito and went with Ted Cruz. It seemed to work for him. He's now the United States Senator from Texas. Leslie Lynch King Jr. Well, that's what Gerald Ford started out as. You know him as the former president, but he had an abusive father and he changed his name at age 22. And he changed it to be named after his stepfather.
That seems very, very reasonable and can understand it. But it is interesting that Gerald Ford was not his original name. William Jefferson Blythe III, of course, Bill Clinton. But he changed his name at 15 after his father died and his mother remarried. Again, seems very reasonable to me. This one cracks me up. Robert Francis O'Rourke, the former congressman from Texas, a failed presidential candidate, said,
Of course, he conveniently called himself Beto and trying to be a little bit more in tune there. But Robert Francis, that's his real name. Now, I don't know that I can pronounce the next one properly because Nikki Haley, her real name is Nimrata Randhawa Haley. I think that's how you pronounce it. But she just went by Haley.
Nikki, and she says, well, I changed my name because it wouldn't fit on a yard sign. And there's probably a lot of truth to that, to the former governor. Totally understandable. And again, I hope I pronounce this next one, and it's one of my favorite excuses or descriptions is probably a better way to say it of why he made the transition. I think it was Piyush Jindal.
And you know him as Bobby Jindal, former governor. But he said he changed his name from Pius to Bobby because he was enamored with the Brady Bunch. And I got to tell you, as a huge Brady Bunch fan, I totally buy that. Bobby Brady is somebody to emulate. And I'm glad that Governor Jindal did that. And we know him all as Bobby Jindal. So I just thought that was interesting. But now it's time to phone a friend. And I got to tell you, I really have a lot of
A lot of admiration for our next guest that we're about to call. It's Congressman Mike Waltz. He's the first Green Beret to serve in the United States Congress. He's got a good patriotic background. And so let's dial Congressman Michael Waltz. Hey, Mike Waltz here. Hey, it's Jason Chaffetz. Thanks for letting me ping you here. I do appreciate it. You know, you agreed to do this podcast and
The hour has arrived. All right. Well, let me take a break from my golf game, right? And happy to sit down with you, Jason. Truth be told, everybody, just full disclosure here.
He calls, and I was going to maybe record it on a different day, and then I said I was really busy, and then he calls, and I'm actually on the golf course. So I was very busy, but I was golfing. That is true. Yeah.
Yeah, no, the irony is I don't play. But so let me introduce, but I shoot, right? And I love to go out and shoot. So let me, let me, let me sit down the gun. How about that? Yeah, very good. Very good. Well, you were kind enough to do that because I didn't put down my clubs. I kept going. So thank you. Listen, we're thrilled to have Congressman Michael Waltz. Yeah.
It represents Florida's 6th congressional district. But you also have a fascinating background because it's a military background. Because I believe you're a colonel in the Army National Guard, a former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, a Florida native. But you're also the first Green Beret who was elected to Congress. Absolutely.
You know, with these podcasts, what I'm trying to do is I love chatting with people who achieve so much. So I want to kind of go back to the beginning. Tell us a little bit about growing up, brothers, sisters. What did mom and dad do? Like those formative years, what was going on in your life that kind of led you to the point now? But what were those things that were happening in your life? And let's talk about that.
Yeah. So, uh, ended up in Jacksonville, Florida was born in South Florida, but grew up in Northeast Florida, uh, in Jacksonville, big Navy town. Um, uh, my parents moved there. My dad was in the Navy, but I never knew him. Uh, he, he went out to sea and, and I, I guess, you know, never really came back. Uh, so was raised by an amazing, uh, single mom, uh,
who herself only had a high school education, but just broke glass ceiling after ceiling, worked three jobs as a dental hygienist, a night security guard, and an insurance company, and just showed me early on the value of hard work. How old was she? How old?
Oh, I'm sorry. She was 24. So young. And I remember her coming to me one day and we didn't have any grocery money. So she said, I'm sorry, but pick out some of the toys you don't like. We went to the flea market and sold whatever we had there.
to be able to go eat. But the great thing, and this is what I love about this country, is she set the conditions for me to be able to get scholarships and go to Virginia Military Institute. I got a great charter school education. And it took me four years of...
to get through college and she went nights and weekends and off and on for 15 years we graduated the same time the same year uh so incredibly and she ended up retiring as an executive uh at uh Prudential Securities and just couldn't be more proud of her so that's amazing uh let's let's go back because not many people are dental hygienists and then also work at night security and
That's hard when you're raising a child. And did you have brothers, sisters along the way? I had a, no, not really. I mean, I had a half sister, but was very distant with her until we were older.
I remember she used to sleep between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. because she was working at night and then throughout the day. And I would kind of crash with my aunt, her sister, or did what you just did what you had to do. But what I really point to is that charter school education. I ended up graduating with 36 college credits from high school.
And importantly, I was in an environment where it was just expected that you were going to go to college. It wasn't if you're going, it was where you are going. Right. And that was just the expectation. The teachers and the other kids there was a very diverse school, actually on a really rough side of town. Remember Kamala? Yeah.
you know, talking about busing. I was a product of busing. We got, I was part of, you know, desegregation. You know, kids were bused to our side of town. We were bused to their side of town. And, you know, at the end of the day, though, Jason, we also found that
was my faith as a teenager. My mother became a born-again Christian, really led the way for me. And I don't think if it were for that faith and that great education and her great example, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today. You know, it's interesting when you're growing up in a situation, you just think, hey, everybody's like this.
Um, it's only, I think later in life when you kind of reflect back and you realize, wow, I mean, it was different for me than it was for other kids. Um, but when you were growing up, what were, what was the like toughest thing you went through, uh, as a young man, maybe even before high school?
You know, I think there was just always a real, you know, my mother did the absolute best she could, but there was just, when you don't have that father figure in your life, there's a real absence in your life. And, you know, I look at now, I look at communities,
You know, for example, in the in the African-American community where they've gone from 80 percent nuclear families in the 60s to only 20 percent today. I think there's really something I think there's really something to that. And that absence of a strong father figure, that absence of often the discipline and leadership and strong example that can come with that.
I think is something that's really missing in American society today. And I now have been a single father. I was recently engaged, but raised my daughter. She's now 17, largely on my own. And
For me, it was kind of making up for, I think, that absence that I've been so engaged in my daughter's life and she's doing fantastic. But men need to step up. I've never understood this kind of, you know, let the kids go off with their mom and I'll visit every once in a while. You need to be extra present.
in children's lives. And, you know, we'll talk about it later. But one of the things that I'm really focused on in Congress is getting us back to national service. That was the other piece. My mother was very active with Habitat for Humanity and other charitable organizations. And that just got me into a mindset of serving your community, your neighbor and your country, serving a cause bigger than yourself.
That's amazing, you know, because if she's working multiple jobs and then still has that heart and that presence to say, you know, we also need to give back. And I guess it could have been a lot easier to say, well, you know, the world owes me, this country owes me. But it sounds like it was, you know, it was a very conservative sort of approach of self-reliance and self-determination. Am I reading that right?
No, that's absolutely right. It would have been easy to be a victim. Right. You know, broken home. Dad was wasn't around, you know, in a she really didn't have an education, but she was determined to. And that's the beauty of America, right, is setting the conditions for the next generation to do better than us.
than you are and to have a better path than you had. And she was certainly able to do that for me. I think I've been able to do that for my daughter. And that's what every parent should strive. I say all the time, you know, I've been a Green Beret and combat decorated and a colonel and a CEO and served at high levels in the Pentagon, the White House, now in Congress. My most important title is dad by far.
And and that's just I think how the mindset everyone should have. You're going in grade school and then you're in high school. What was that? You probably got a job along the way. So what was your first job?
Yeah. McDonald's. I was too young. I was 14. I was too young at that time. I guess there were some labor laws back in the day to work the grill. So I only worked the drive-thru and the front counter, which of course my teenage friends didn't.
tried to torture me incessantly, but rode my bike in. I made $3.02 an hour and handed every paycheck over to mom to save up for when I was 16 to be able to, and every parent out there knows how their car insurance spikes whenever you add a teenager, particularly a teenage boy to your insurance.
One of my first jobs, I worked as a gardener in Arizona. And then I realized, hey, you know what? This is Arizona in the summer. And I'm thinking, you know what? I'm a blue-collar. That's a blue-collar job. I want a white-collar job. So I went to work for the General Cinema Corporation, ripping tickets and popping popcorn. Then I made a whopping $2.88 an hour job.
And then when I went later and told Mr. Hobie, who was our manager, hey, Mr. Hobie, I'm not even making minimum wage. And he said, look up there. And he said that the entertainment industry was like exempt from the minimum wage standard. And it still bothered me. When I was in Congress on the Judiciary Committee, this thing came up. And I started going after the Democrats on this and saying,
You exempt out like circus workers, entertainment workers, all the people who actually need a minimum wage in this country.
Just I don't like the minimum wage because I you know what I think it pushes away young people from having a job and good for you and good. I have talked to so many. You're the second person out of like I've done nine of these podcasts. Lauren Bobert, her first job was a McDonald's. Your first job's a McDonald's and it teaches you something. You know, the other thing I thought I remember the franchise owner.
I remember sitting down with him, you know, we would take breaks or what have you. Right. And he's running a multimillion dollar business. I just thought of it as McDonald's. You just got, you know, hamburger and fries, but really understanding about franchising and about, you know, entrepreneurship and ownership. And, you know, later I was able to build my own business there.
But I think some definitely some seeds were planted there for sure. Moved on to stock groceries another summer. And then eventually I kind of went through a phase where maybe I didn't want to go to –
Thought I maybe didn't want to go to go to college. And so my mother very smartly handed me over to my uncle, who was a Harley mechanic. My cousins who are roofers in Florida. And after I took that beating for a little while, I decided in Florida, that's a job right there. Yeah. These these guys were, you know, just smart.
tan, wiry, tough. And they saw some young, smart out, smart out kid who had a great future that, you know, was getting a little attitude, man, they beat it out of me really fast. Yeah. Another like roofing in, in Florida to knock it down a little bit over a summer. That's, that's good. That's, that's really good. It could build some character.
So you're doing that. You're accelerating. I mean, it sounds like you got a good, had a great experience with a good school that had an administration that cared, teachers that cared, and it prepared you and got you ahead for going on to college. Yeah.
Um, when did it first kind of strike you that, you know what, um, I think I want to be in the military. Like not every kid thinks that, I mean, when I was a little kid, I played with army men and, you know, I threw dirt clods a lot, but it didn't dawn on me that I necessarily should join the military. So what, what, what was it that kind of sparked that interest in you? You know, I grew up and, and where it came from, I'm not sure, but I grew up reading, um,
uh about Patton George C Marshall um you know the great leaders uh of of the of the previous generation I used to
My mother was into jogging. That really came into style in the 70s and 80s. I used to ride my bike behind her and talk to her about Yamamoto and Nimitz and poor woman. I could recite it all. There's actually, for those who've been to Florida, the nation's oldest fort is in St. Augustine. It's an old Spanish fort from the 1500s. I used to stand on that fort.
and kind of talk through how I would defend it and then go stand out in the planes in front of it and then talk about how I would assault it. And just somewhere in there, that neuron sparked. But I think it was just reading about the great leaders throughout our military and throughout our history and just what a difference they made, how they really stepped up in the moments of trial and tribulation and defeated fascism and communism, colonialism,
that just inspired me to go be part of that great tradition. Well, good for you. And you know what? Your mom, I'm quickly learning is quite the saint because to be on a jog and
And I'll be at your son riding the bike talking about Yamamoto. That's impressive. That doesn't happen in most families. I don't know if you know that, but that's not a common thing. I have to tell you, as she tells it, she was rolling her eyes and like, how do I have this eight-year-old kid that's reading every plaque at this museum? You were eight? Like nine, ten, whatever, that's reading every single plaque. Most kids want to go out and read.
and, you know, play baseball or something. And I was in the museum dragging her along. But, you know, between that, Jason, I just came to realize when I got a little bit older, I was able to start traveling. And, you know, I tell everyone this, get out of this country, spend some time abroad, and you'll appreciate how truly exceptional this nation is. And so I was able to, you know, take some trips in my high school. And then early on, when I was at Virginia Military Institute,
And this nation is absolutely worth defending. And, you know, the future for our kids and grandkids, to me, was worth dying for. I mean, it truly is exceptional to have a country that that
that allowed someone like my mother to break through so many barriers and, and to set the stage for all of us, all the entrepreneurs, all of those who have, who made better lives for their families, regardless of race, religion, social, economic background. It's really special. Yeah. You know, you make a great point because it's true. When I was, when I was young, traveled out of the country and, and,
could not wait to get back to the United States of America. I was very blessed and we traveled around and went to South America, went to Africa, went into Europe, but boy, there was nothing like the United States. But the only way I gained an appreciation for it was actually having been there and tried to
you know, fit in and live there. Again, we were visiting. I wasn't like living, living there. But being there, being part of that culture, even for just a moment, it taught me so many things. But probably first and foremost was my appreciation and love of country.
Yeah, absolutely. I tell you, go spend some time abroad and you will be kissing the ground when you land back here. A lot of places in the world that are a great place to visit. Beautiful, amazing history and culture, but
man, there's nothing like the good old U.S. of A. And then those are the nicer places. Unfortunately, I've fought in the not so nice places. And then you really are counting your blessings when you get back. That's for sure.
You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Congressman Michael Waltz right after this. Hey, it's Clay Travis. Join me for Outkick the show as we dive deep into a mix of topics. New episodes available Monday to Friday on your favorite podcast platform and watch directly on Outkick.com forward slash watch.
Okay, so let's go back. I want to fully understand you're joining the military because you have a fascination about it. You're reading it. You're going to the fort. You're thinking about how to defend it, but also how to attack it, which is not a common thing for a young man to do, maybe a little bit, but not to the degree you were doing. All right, so...
So you get a decision like, was there a person? What was the moment you said, yes, I want to do this. But why the Army? Why Ranger School? Why Green Berets? Like what? Why not the Air Force? Why not the Coast Guard? I mean, you're in Florida. So I didn't start out there. And part of it was, you know, look, part of it was I got a full ride from the Army.
That's helpful. Well, that'll do it. Yeah. Yeah. I got a full ROTC. I initially thought that I'd want to be a pilot.
uh that was kind of the initial goal uh my eyes deteriorated um you know i went out in my kind of later teenage years this was before the days of you know lasik and and i corrective eye surgery so if you didn't have 2020 you weren't going to be a pilot then the um the marines came around and offered me you know what they call a radar intercept officer if you know and and top gun that
you know, that was goose sitting back seat, right. Um, or a navigator, uh, position, you're still flying, but you're not the actual pilot. And, you know, when you're, when you're 18, 19, 20 years old, you kind of puffed up chest. I said, you know what, if I can't be the pilot, then I don't want to, you know, I don't want to go down that route. Uh, and I want to lead soldiers on the ground, like the great leaders of us history. Now fast forward,
Uh, how many times I was in the neck deep in the bottom of a swamp on a training mission or snuggling, you know, trying to keep, stay warm with my battle buddy on the side of a mountain in Afghanistan. And I see those planes flying back to a warm bed and air base and a hot meal and going, what the hell? Asking myself what the hell I was thinking. But, um,
But that was, you know, that was kind of the decision. And fortunately, I was I worked hard at VMI, was at the at the top of my class in the first year. And I chose to go combat arms. Now, what's interesting, and this is one of the ways that Green Berets are different.
from, say, the SEALs, the average age is around 24. The Green Berets, the average age is around 34. You have to go kind of season in the Army
and go do something else first. So I went into tanks initially, and you have to be a captain before you can even try out for the Green Berets. They tend to be older. We like to say when we're talking to SEALs, especially a little wiser, but you have to go do something else first. So when I commissioned out of the Virginia Military Institute, I went through a tank unit until I was promoted and seasoned enough to try out for special forces.
And, and I mean, you made it, but most don't. So what do you, what do you attribute the difference to? Like why you, why not most? And one of the things that, um,
Well, I'll tell you the easy answer to that is I have a high pain threshold. And if you ask my fiance, she'll tell you that I'm really stubborn. I was not necessarily the most gifted athlete or necessarily the smartest in the room, but I'll outwork them. And I'll go through the night, through the morning, and just power through. But the thing that attracted me to...
The Green Berets, and this is how they're a little different from the Rangers or the SEALs. The Rangers, the Army's elite infantry, the SEALs, the elite ground unit in the Navy, they're the best of the world, like the Osama bin Laden raid at Iraq.
finding, fixing, and putting two bullets in the forehead of our nation's enemies. Green Berets, it's a different approach. We have to learn multiple languages. We specialize in different parts of the world, learn local cultures, often have to blend in. We're the guys that you sit four of us into a village or a tribe or a valley, and we'll train
2,000, 5,000 locals to take care of the nation's business for us. So I like to say the SEALs are the best in the world at finding our enemies. Green Berets find our friends and they take care of our enemies for us.
And I was really, really attracted to kind of, you know, one week where literally we're building schools and we're holding medical clinics. And then we gain intelligence and goodwill off of that. And the next week we're taking out bad guys. But it is really kind of the Ph.D. of of unconventional warfare and our founding.
was from John F. Kennedy, actually, who saw that we had a need to embed local, small American teams who spoke the languages, knew the culture with freedom fighters to overthrow communist regimes. And so our motto is de oppresso libero, to free the oppressed. Well, when you're all in like that, and you're just pouring your heart and soul into it, you live and you're breathing it, and then there comes a time when you actually leave
Tell me about that transition because not everybody successfully makes that transition. Yeah. And they have a difficult time. We've taught them to be warriors, you know, and it's a very disciplined life. And yet we go out, you managed to make the transition and form a very successful business. Yeah.
Again, what do you attribute the difference to? So I took a bit of a unique path. A lot of folks don't realize necessarily that both the SEALs and Green Berets have reserve units. So that's the kind of one week in a month, two weeks a year, although we did a bit more than that, which meant you had to be in shape and keep your skills sharp to be ready to go into combat and do the nation's business. But
But you had to have a day job. Right. And it just worked out for me that my day job was actually under Secretary Rumsfeld as a civilian under Defense Secretary Gates and then eventually over in the Bush White House as Vice President Cheney's counterterrorism advisor.
uh, setting the policy and advising on the policy at the most senior levels for the war on terror. But then Jason, I had to be one of the, the only knuckleheads in Washington that then would get mobilized and that actually have to go do it. So you better make sure the strategy's right because it was kind of my butt on the line. And I did that back and forth, uh,
three times. In one of my tours, I was embedded with just two other Americans in an Arab task force. So I was partnered with 90 Arabs, soldiers, special operators.
And then we were as a unit then partnered with another 180 Afghans. So if I never eat goat again, because I felt like that's all I ate for a year, there were only three of us, myself, a medic and a communications specialist. And we were as close as I'll be to Lawrence of Arabia. And in another tour, I had to lead the search for Bo Bergdahl, if you remember that trader. Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that.
But, you know, fast forward, came back, wasn't exactly invited, and worked for Cheney into the Obama White House and decided to go out on my own with a business. But I think the bottom line to your question is veterans don't need a handout. They don't need people's sympathy. But what they're often missing, that big gaping hole that some really struggle to fill, is
is a sense of purpose, right? I mean, in combat, you wake up every day with that mission, with people who are just as dedicated and skilled to your left and right, and you're moving out for a cause bigger than yourself to accomplish something great for your nation. And you get back, and that's a real gap. So when I talk to veterans, I get them plugged in, whether it is military,
like-minded businesses and your purpose is now growing, you know, growing that company and delivering that product or that service. Or I just spoke with an organization this morning, uh, forced blue, uh, that takes, uh, you know, veterans out and gives them diving skills. They're rebuilding the Florida reef and repairing, uh, the Florida reef and doing, you know, um, uh,
you know, Marine conservation and they've got a new mission, right. Focused on our environment, but that mission focus is what matters and what so many are missing. Yeah. You know, that's true. They need to, I think everybody does. And I worry about people that are leave the military. I worry about newly retired people because they, you're right. They lose that sense of mission. And without that daily focus,
stimuli to get them going and get them motivated, not just as, you're right, not as charity, but as being a productive American. That's what our system's all about. All right, so you do the military. You then get the proper segue. You're successful in the business world, but
What made you think, oh, you know what? What I should do is I should run for Congress. Yeah, I lost my mind some days, I think. Yeah, well, there's that saying, you know, friends don't let friends run for Congress. So who talked you into this?
Some of my closest friends tried to talk me out of it. We started in our business, which, by the way, basically focused on the analytics behind going after bad guy money all over the world. So when you hear about sanctions going into place, say on Putin's inner circle, those oligarchs don't exactly –
advertise where their assets are. Right. So we had the analysts partnered with folks at the CIA and Special Operations Command at Treasury that I saw both from my White House time and then down on the ground that groups like ISIS, they may
preach like they're pure jihadis, but they run themselves like the mafia. They're in stolen cars, human trafficking. One of the biggest counterfeiters of cigarettes around the world is Hezbollah. And you shut off the money, you go after the money, or you want to find the bad guy, you follow the money, then you can be incredibly successful. And so that's why business focused on, bottom line, we had grown that from three of us in an attic to about 400 employees a
I was the CEO. We had taken on private equity. And, you know, at that time had a, had a contract with Fox news was still going in the national guard. Life was good. But, but,
someone we all know well, Ron DeSantis, then congressman, decided to run for governor. It opened up that seat. I was looking for ways to serve again. And I thought between my business background, policy time in the White House and the Pentagon, downrange time as a combat veteran, that I'd be able to hit the ground running and be effective. And a mentor of mine just very quickly said, he
you know, one day you're going to be in your rocking chair, looking back on your life, uh, more than you're looking forward. And he said, you know, making more money, staying in a, in a four seasons rather than a Hilton that's, you know, you want to leave a life of significance, uh, more than you want to lead a life of luxury. And, uh, and, and,
you know, that's, that convinced me to take the leap. Well, look, you, you have shown and demonstrated, uh, in, in first person, why, uh, you have been successful and overcome odds and serving your country. And so, uh,
Can't thank you enough for that. If I could just add one more point, you know, one of the things that really struck me was the real lack of veterans right now in Congress. In the 1970s, the House and the Senate was 75 percent veterans, 75 percent served. I did not know that today.
It's hovering around 18%. And a lot of people say, oh, that's because we had the draft back then. And today we don't. But actually, if you look at the numbers, 20 years into the war on terror, we've had about as many veterans cycle through those combat zones as we had in three years in World War II. And so, yeah,
I think that is really missing. It's not that we on both sides of the aisle. It's not that we agree on the issues necessarily. I disagree with our Democrat veteran friends on all kinds of things. But it's that ethos, that mission focus. You know, when we're in the black helicopter in the middle of the night or the foxhole or the ship, nobody's asking if you're black, white or brown or whatever.
or a Republican or Democrat, or at least they didn't used to be, I think under, under this administration now they are, but that's a different issue, but it's that, it's that mission focus. And if I think about, you know, I think the Democrats that are most reasonable that are focused on, you know, if we're willing to die for that flag, we'll take a tough vote.
or a compromise or roll up our sleeves. And so that really nudged me in that direction as well. Well, you're right. I do think there need to be not so many attorneys, but more people that have actually served this nation, particularly
in the United States military and we'd be better off. So I can't thank you enough for your service and your time. But you've survived a lot of things. You've got to survive the rapid questions that we're going to ask you here because I'm just telling you, I don't care how many push-ups you've done in your Army training. You're not prepared for these questions. All right, bring it. Bring it. Let's go. All right, ready? Yep. Favorite salad dressing?
High school mascot. Blue Devils. Blue Devils. All right. I have no idea. I have no idea why. First concert you ever attended.
Oh, man. I attended one Pink Floyd. Wow. Now that's notable. Pink Floyd for a first concert. Yeah. Well, I was pretty young. And then later on, I was a little bit older. You're going to make fun of me for this one, but it was Tears for Fears. You were rolling. Yeah.
Congressman, Michael, if I may, you were rolling until the tears for fears came in. I know. I know. All right. Well, mine was Michael Jackson, so I win every bet. As long as you had the red jacket on and your sparkly glove. No, no, no, no, no, no. I was not dressed the part, but I was there in Mile High Stadium in Denver. Anyway, first childhood celebrity crush.
Wonder Woman. Yeah. Linda Carter for sure. Yeah. I remember meeting Linda Carter, you know, she hangs out in DC from time to time and I met her a couple of times and, uh, I thought, well, there's Wonder Woman. That was kind of cool. I did too. I saw her at a movie premiere and I think I, I think I still had a little crush. Yeah. You're probably a little sweaty palms. I get it. Yeah. All right. Unique, unique talent that nobody knows about. Oh,
Oh, gosh. Probably the fact that I have none. I never would enter a talent contest. Can't sing, can't play an instrument. You're stumping me there. But you know what? I'm trying to develop one. And so so one, I boxed in college.
And two, I am trying to pick up kite surfing right now without killing myself. All right. Well, that that is a talent in development. But the most fascinating one I think I heard was Congressman Lee Zeldin, your colleague there. He was world champion karate. I had no idea that he was a world champion karate athlete.
Like, I had no idea that he had done that. And you wouldn't look at him and say, hey, that guy's a world champion karate guy. Look out. You had no idea. Yeah, no offense to Lee. I wouldn't look at him and say that either. But, man, I'm going to steer clear if we disagree on a vote now. Yeah, try just making a move on it and see how he reacts. I think that would be good. I hope he goes and karate chops Cuomo. Yeah.
I'm just, I'm not literally for everybody listening, but I hope, I certainly hope he does in that race. Yes, totally. Yeah, no, he's got his hands full, but what a great opportunity. He'd be a wonderful governor. All right. He would. Did you ever have a pet?
I did. I had a little dog. It was a rescue dog. He was literally dumped off at our doors. We called him Dumper. And it also had a cat that was bigger than the dog. I think it was like 25 pounds, a tomcat.
So, yeah, we did nothing too exciting. But, man, I love those little guys. Hey, Dumper is a good name for a dog. That's kind of funny. All right, favorite menu item at Taco Bell?
Oh, Chalupa. Of course. That's the right answer. Chalupa. It's fun to say and it's great to eat. Yeah. There's one right outside the Jacksonville airport, man. You know, I add a good couple of thousand calories every time I get off the plane. It's terrible. Yeah. I just add more miles to the run the next day. Yeah. I've actually noticed. So, all right. Ideal time to go to bed. Oh man. Before Congress, you know, I was, I was pretty disciplined nine, 10 and getting up. And now,
You know the deal, Jason. A lot of people want a lot of you. And it's solid midnight, 1 a.m. Yeah, there's no way you're going to bed at 9 and be in a Congress. No. All right. Most embarrassing moment. Oh, gosh. You know, I have to tell you, there was, I jumped. You know, I was an airborne unit, obviously Special Forces, and got hung up and my pants split.
As I, my uniform pants split as I was coming down, my wallet flew out, money flying everywhere. It was just a, it was just a mess. And I've got dozens of green berets on the ground laughing their rear end off. And, and I've never heard the end of it.
Well, it could have been a lot more tragic than losing a bunch of $5 bills. Yeah, that's right. But in front of your buddies, other Green Berets, I totally get that. Well, I was the commander of the unit, and I'm coming down with my underwear hanging out and my wallet all over the place. Yeah, that was ammo for a lifetime for those guys. All right, two more questions. Do you believe in UFOs? I do now.
Tell me about that.
And the telemetry that we have in the United States Navy and Air Force measuring these things moving at Mach 17 coming to a complete stop going underwater coming above the water and to have it, you know, with that kind of telemetry video sensors. It's
either it's aliens or we have an adversary out there that we really need to be worried about. Either way, it's bad. It kind of freaks me out. It does kind of freak me out because that one that's going and then goes underwater, what's up with that? Right. And gone. And then gone, yes. What happened? What happened?
It's one thing for, yeah, I don't know, some hippie in California that may have been smoking something to say they saw something. But it's another thing for it to be tracked by a ship, by a plane and for it to disappear off a radar and then to come back again. I think there's a lot more to this story and I hope they I hope it keeps coming out. All right. Last big question. Favorite vegetable.
None. Right now, there's an answer I can appreciate. None of the above. I like it. Listen, Congressman Michael Waltz from Florida, you quickly became one of the most influential members there in Congress. Cannot thank you enough for your personal service. I love the story about your mom and how she really, really made a difference in your life.
And, you know, was in tough times, but, you know, it just worked and worked hard and made great things happen. And so for your service to the country and serving in the United States Congress, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your service. Really do appreciate you joining us today on the Jason in the House podcast.
Well, hey, thanks so much, Jason. You know, I appreciate that. But as I've said, you know, really thank the families, you know, take an extra step where you think those veterans, thank those families, because either we don't come home or we come home forever changed. They're the ones that truly bear the brunt of our service and defending this nation. But appreciate you, brother.
Amen to that. You know, we just celebrated Memorial Day and there's no better time before and not just Memorial Day and not just Fourth of July to really reach out to those veterans. I think it's an important message. Again, Congressman Michael Waltz, thank you so much. Do appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Again, I can't thank the congressman enough. I wish him nothing but the best and Godspeed and thank him so much for his service.
But I want to end with a little bit of inspiration. And you know what? This is more visual than maybe a podcast, but I really hope that you saw this last week. There were two young ladies, young kids, really, that were having a lemonade stand. Now we've all been locked up. We've had COVID. We've done all this. And these two little girls were out there selling lemonade. And it looked like they had the cameras rolling because a group of bikers, and I'm talking not bikers,
not road bikes, I'm talking Harleys, you know, all dressed in the leather and the bandanas and the helmets. The Harleys come down this very residential street and all of a sudden they stop and they get off their Harleys. They park them across the street and they come over to these two girls who had this nice little thing, a lemonade,
And they quickly ran out of cups because every one of them came out. They pulled money out of their wallets and bought lemonade from these little girls. And it's just, I'm just telling you, it's the sweetest thing when you watch it and you see it and you think, you know what? I'm glad America's getting back to normal. And nothing like this Harley Riders doing that. I just, you know, on the back, I don't know what group they're from or what they want to be called, but it said Charity Mars Hill Riders.
And so hats off to the men and women who got off their bikes and made the day for these little kids and their parents. And they had to go run in the house, get more cups. I love that. Love that about America. Love that about this time of year. We just celebrated Memorial Day. We've got Fourth of July coming up. That's what America is all about.
I want to thank you again for listening to the Jason in the House podcast. You can find more from the Fox News Podcast Network over at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. Really would like it if you'd hit all those stars and subscribe. I think you'll like it because we'll have another great guest for you next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House.
From the Fox News Podcasts Network, subscribe and listen to the Trey Gowdy Podcast. Former federal prosecutor and four-term U.S. Congressman from South Carolina brings you a one-of-a-kind podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to foxnewspodcasts.com.
