Dr. Fauci's Diaries

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You know, with all due respect to you, who I do respect you and your intellect, I just completely disagree with that premise because there are an awful lot of people who do listen, who do the right thing from a public health standpoint. So because there are a lot of people who have ideas about conspiracies and changing minds and flip-flopping, that's not a reason to step down, not at all. When I was involved 40 years ago with HIV, and the activist community were looking at me as a representative of the face of the federal government, and we're trying to get things done. And it looked like we were at odds in the sense of really essentially being hostile to each other, which we weren't. That would have been interpreted as, gee. The people who are involved in this particular difficult and devastating outbreak don't like what you're doing. Why don't you step down? As a matter of fact, as it turned out, we got close. They understood. I brought them into the dialogue, into the discussion. And the world and the community were much better off with that. So the idea that people right now are not listening to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is the truth. All right. Cut number seven. There comes a point where it is simply a matter of fact. that Anthony Fauci in the era of social media is different than Anthony Fauci at the beginning of HIV. And if a new face for the program developed, we would see an increase in vaccines and an increase in booster use. So if that data is presented to you that more people would get vaccinated if you left the scene, would you leave the scene? Hugh, I think that is a completely false narrative that people are not getting vaccinated because of me. I am very sorry. I've told you, I've known you a long time, and I respect you, but I totally reject that people are not getting vaccinated because of me. Are you kidding me, Hugh? Come on. Okay, cut number eight. But there is a large segment of the American people that doesn't trust you now. And that can't be undone. So I want you to be able to just speak to them. I know your heart. I know your public service. But if you're an obstacle to getting vaccination rates up, should you step aside? I am not an obstacle to getting vaccinations up, Q. That is a completely false narrative that I would have to absolutely reject. Okay. Then if you're, is it, are you persuadable on facts? If people show you polling, would that change your mind? Yeah, so people are saying I'm not getting vaccinated because Dr. Anthony Fauci is in the government. Are you kidding me? No, actually, I believe that's the truth, doctor. I believe that given, go ahead.

I'm sorry, Hugh. That is ridiculous. How do you think you're understood by the center-right, doctor? I really don't know that you know this. You might have a blind side here. How do you think you're understood? Not by conspiracy theorists. I'm not concerned with the 3%. I'm concerned with the 59%. Yeah, but Hugh, you are creating an absolutely false narrative that people sit down and say, you know, I know that vaccines are good. I know that they may save my life and that they may save the life of my family and that I have a societal responsibility in order to keep this outbreak under control and to get it really under control. But I'm just not going to get vaccinated because of Anthony Fauci. Hugh. You're not hearing me. No way. You're not hearing. And then my final cut from the September 29th, 2021 interview cut number nine. Hey, doctor. You're not hearing me. I'm saying people see you come on and they turn off the channel because they don't like you. Whereas if a new face arrives, a new younger face that says, okay, new start, I'm never going to tell you that masks. Don't need to be warned because if a new person shows up, I think we're more effective. Last response to you, doctor. Okay, so you have Rochelle Wilensky, a new young face, saying exactly the same thing. You have Vivek Ramaswamy Murthy, a new young face, saying exactly the same thing. So even though they are new young faces and saying exactly the same thing I'm saying, People are not getting vaccinated because of me. Hugh, sorry. You go back and analyze that. That's crazy. I will have that conversation. So he never came back, by the way. He never came back because I suggested he resigned. Turns out he went home and wrote a diary entry that day that I'll read to you right now. This is Dr. Anthony Fauci writing. Had a very tough and ridiculous interview with Hugh Hewitt. Hugh, who is usually a reasonable, albeit very conservative person, was extremely aggressive with me in an interview in which he kept insisting that people are not getting vaccinated because I am telling him to get vaccinated and strongly suggested that I step down and retire since I'm an obstacle to people getting vaccinated. He quoted a survey saying that middle or right people want me to retire and are not getting vaccinated because I'm the messenger telling them to get vaccinated. Truly an incredible train of thought on his part. He said we needed fresh faces telling people to get vaccinated. And if we had fresh faces, then people would get vaccinated. I counted by saying we do have fresh faces in the form of Rochelle Walenski and Vivek Ramaswamy Murthy. And so does he consider that, although three of us are saying to get vaccinated, including two new fresh faces, that people are not getting vaccinated and merely because I'm one of three people telling them to get vaccinated? Question, question, question. I've never heard a more distorted train of thought. This conversation triggered in me some serious thinking about several things, including when I would actually want to retire from the untenable situation that I am in of having tens of millions of people hate me because I stand for the truth. Also, this nonsense about conflating the discussion about gain of function with the lab leak theory is preposterous and totally distracting and draining of everyone's energy.

Richard Ebright, with his gain-of-function obsession, is a total a-hole who is pushing this theory because he, quote, wants to be somebody. I'm terribly disappointed with Jesse Bloom and David Rillman for doing somewhat of the same thing. They have been pushing to stop any gain of function research for a long time, and I believe that in some respects they are pushing for an E and even hoping for that it was a lab leak. which the molecular analysis of the viruses that we use in the lab compared to virus SARS COVID-2 clearly indicate is impossible. The opposition to me is part of the big lie. Locker up, Trump won the election, January 6th with a friendly visit to the Capitol, the China virus and Trump was correct. Fire Anthony Fauci, since he was wrong all along. Let's discredit him. Quite frankly, I'm coming to the realization that our democracy is truly threatened and that it is possible, even likely, that our democracy will crumble with the 2024 election. If Trump wins, we are finished. If Trump loses his right-wing lunatics, we'll try and overthrow the election. And with the attempts to have state legislatures validate the electoral votes, I'm really afraid they might be successful. Having said all of this, there's no way I'm going to retire before this outbreak is under control. I'll get your comments on Dr. Anthony Fauci and that.

Welcome back, America. I'm you at. My phone number is 1-800-520-1234. My priors, I like Dr. Anthony Fauci. I had at least two. I can't remember how many times he was on. Dr. Susan Collins was on three times as well. I'm a big booster of the booster. I got the vaccine. I've been boosted twice. I'm done. I never got, to my knowledge, COVID, for which I'm grateful. And I think Dr. Anthony Fauci... may have just been the wrong guy at too old and age, and his diaries are an indictment of ego. It's all about Tony, and you can read him, kind of sad. It indicts a number of people in the media didn't keep their distance appropriately from. It's okay to like him, it's okay to get mad at him, but you can't pal around with him. And I didn't, never met him in person. But after my tough interview, and he wrote that diary entry, I just want to go back. In the interview, if you were listening to the first segment, he rejects my premise entirely that people aren't getting vaccinated because of himself. But when he went to a dear diary, he wrote, The Conversation with Hugh. triggered me some serious thinking about several things, including when I would actually want to retire from the untenable situation that I am in of having tens of millions of people hate me because I stand for the truth. All right. The admission there is that tens of millions of people hate him. If you hate someone, it's highly unlikely they're going to persuade you to get a vaccine or a booster. If you hate someone, they're going to turn you up. That was the point I was making to it. But what was a revelation to me? I never really believed until this weekend that Dr. Anthony Fauci had TDS. But at the end of this diary entry, again, it's the September 29th, 2021 diary entry of Dr. Anthony Fauci released by Senator Rand Paul, all of his diaries. The opposition to me is part of the big lie. Lock her up. Trump won the election. January 6th was a friendly visit to the Capitol, the China virus. And Trump was correct. Fire Anthony Fauci, since he was wrong all along, and so let's discredit him and so on. Quite frankly, Daughey continues, I'm finally coming to the realization that our democracy is truly threatened and that it is possible, even likely, that our democracy will crumble with the 2024 election. If Trump wins, we are finished. If Trump loses, his far-right lunatics will likely try again to overthrow the election. and with the attempts to have state legislators, Republican, validate the electoral votes, I am really afraid that they might be successful. Having said all of this, there is no way that I am going to retire before the outbreak is under control. Okay, that's full-blown TDS. It's also an admission against interest. It tells you he was aware of exactly what I was trying to make the argument about.

I don't wish him any ill. It's going to be a long hearing with Dr. Paul because those diaries go on and on and on and on and on. And they're mostly about Anthony Fauci on this show and Anthony Fauci on that show. And rarely did he run into someone like me who would politely ask the obvious questions about effectiveness. So I don't know how it's going to go from here. But what do you think? Star in Pennsylvania. Hi Star, you're on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Hi, you. Hope you're doing well. I am. My opinion is I don't think that COVID was handled correctly from the get-go. My entire family did not get vaccinated. We did not get COVID. And yet we watched friends and other family members. that did get vaccinated, get COVID, and we lost some of them. Well, I'm going to give you my, I want to be clear with the audience that's new to my show. I did get vaccinated. Anecotal evidence is evidence of anecdotes. The overwhelming evidence is that COVID was real. It was dangerous and the vaccines were efficacious. I got all my advice during the entire year and a half to two years from my older brother, Mycroft, who is the PhD in toxicology, who would give me advice on this. He told me, avoid the J&J, get the Pfizer or the Moderna. And I'm very, very grateful to the people who developed it. And I know a lot of people who died, not a lot, a few people who died from COVID before the virus vaccine was available. So I don't want to relitigate that. All I'm saying is that when we have a public health crisis in the future, we can't let individuals put their egos in front of science and effective communication. And I think Dr. Anthony Fauci did that. I think he did a great disservice to the country after about six months. And maybe. There ought to be a mandatory retirement age for people upon whom we don't get to vote because I think he was too old to do the job. He fell in love with the coverage. I agree. I agree. Absolutely. I agree. All right. Sorry. Thank you. I want to talk to Mike in Glendora, California. Hello, Mike. You're on the Hugh Hewitt Show 1-800-520-4. Take a couple more calls before I can get back to the other news. All right. Thank you, Hugh. This is Mike. Kevin and Sophia taking their bar exam tomorrow. Listen, I wanted to get you take. Okay, so they're going to be done, hopefully. No pressure. Anyway. No pressure. You'll do fine. Remember, take a deep breath, read all the essay questions first, so you can think about all of them simultaneously in the back of your mind. I'll pass that along. Listen, what are the chances that Dr. Anthony Fauci is going to show up and just say nothing and take the fifth? Because I think some of the information in these diaries, although I haven't really looked at it too much from what I've heard, he's going to take the fifth. He's not going to testify because it's going to be incriminating. And I don't think that, you know, I think it's just too incriminating for him. And I think the VERS, the database shows there was a heck of a lot more death and destruction due to the COVID than...

you know, the vaccines and has been let on. If I was his lawyer, if I was a lawyer, I would advise him to take the fifth at every question. Yes. Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment, I am not going to answer that because of my right not to incriminate myself. The public record is now so dense with admissions against interest. And I'm just using the one that I did as an example. There are lots more. There are years of these entries. So he goes in harm's way unless he has complete mastery. And he's older now. I mean, he's five years older than he was then. He was too old to be doing it then. So, I really hope, I think that's it. Yeah, that's what I would advise him to do. So 500 times he's going to take the Fifth Amendment tomorrow. It's going to be ridiculous for him to even show up in my humble opinion. Well, you've got to show up because there's a subpoena and you go to jail if you don't show up with a subpoena. But the Fifth Amendment is real. It's one of the cornerstones of American civil liberties. And if I'm his counsel, I just get used to repeating that. And I would not be baited into losing my temper. He can't win this argument. He's arguing with himself. I mean, you heard what I read. He's got full-blown TDS. What if someone reads him about that? What if they read him that quote? Yeah. And his diaries are fully incriminating. It is just, I think we'll hear the fifth tomorrow more than we've ever heard anything else. Thank you. I believe you are right, Mike. And good luck to our bar examines. They won't need it. They took my con law class. Thank you very much, Mike. I'll be right back, America. Welcome back, America. I'm so pleased to welcome back Ambassador Michael Orrin, former ambassador from Israel to the United States, back in the States on behalf of TechBeyon. You know, Dr. Warren, I've heard about Tech Dion from Avivretti Gore and others. I don't think I could have gotten into Tech Neon. Could you have gotten into Tech Neon? No way. No way. I'm delighted to represent them. I'm in all of them. Technion is in your life. It invented the USB, the GIF, the TIF, the browser on your computer, the Intel processor inside your computer. And about that, Iron Dome, Arrow 2, Arrow 3, it's all Technion. Now there's MIT. There's MIT West, which is UCI, and now there's MIT in the Middle East, and it's tech me on. So I'm glad that you're in the states for them. Dr. Orrin, as we speak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is winging his way from Israel to the United States if he hasn't already landed. What is the best case and worst case for what he brings home from his meetings this week with President Trump?

Well, the worst case scenario, let's start with that, would be if President Trump says to him, listen, you know, our interests have diverged. We understand that you really care about that ballistic system in the hands of the Iranians. You care about Iranian support for terror. You care about the nuclear program and the highly enriched nuclear dust, as the President called it. What we really care about is the strait of removes and getting oil prices down, and we're going to focus on that, and we're going to pay the Iranians basically off to the tune of tens of billions of dollars to get those straits open again. that's what I need for the midterms. That would be an absolute worst case scenario. It's not going to happen. The best case scenario, which I think is far more likely. is that the president will say we are deeply committed to Israel Security. We're deeply committed to this alliance. And we remain committed to the goals we set out at the beginning of this operation, which are to end Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon, to end Iran's support for terror, to end Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors with thousands of intercontinental ballistic missiles to get rid of that highly enriched uranium in the Iranian hands. And yes, to reopen the straight Hermos and top of it all. Okay, that's true. I think that would be a very, very important statement for the president. Now, the president has also said is intimated as support for Benjamin Netanyahu politically in the past. He certainly come out in favor of a pardon, a presidential pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu's face corruption charges. But recently he said that Benjamin Netanyahu was a great wartime prime minister, which begs the question, okay, well, is the war over? And does Israel still need a wartime prime minister? I think the vast majority of Israelis would agree we're still at war. The question is whether Benjamin Netanyahu is their preferred wartime prime minister. But some statement of that, to that effect, would probably redound to BB's benefit. Now, Dr. Orrin, not long after 10-7, you're a regular guest, so it's a couple of years ago and many thousand, a hundred interviews ago. You said one of Israel's objectives after 10-7 is it has to reestablish deterrence. I note the dog that hasn't barked in the last two weeks is that Iran went way out of their way, not to shoot at Israel. Has deterrence been restored? Certainly vis-à-vis Iran, definitely. And even Hezbollah. Hisbalah has stopped firing us. And I think that the understanding of the Iranians, and I think it's an accurate understanding that we're a single missile to hit Israel, Iranian missile. Israel will respond and respond not in a restrained way or in a calibrated way. The United States has been conducting military strikes over the last several weeks. Israel would go all out. And we're talking about basically igniting Kargile and igniting virtually the entire energy-producing sector of Iran. And once Israel attacked, I don't think that if Iran, if the president said, okay, tonight you're stopping. I'm not sure that Israel would stop. All right. Now, this morning, Dan Cynor and our friends, Amit Segal and Nadaviyal, were talking about the current situation. And one of them, I think it was Amit said, if the status quo, no firing of missiles, but the blockade stays in place, the regime will collapse by the end of the year. Do you agree with him?

I certainly agree that the best course of action right now, given the constraints, okay? There are numerous constraints operating on the president and on his administration would be to maintain the blockade, maintain a certain amount of military pressure, get as many ships through the tankers through the straits as possible, but that will certainly put a stranglehold on Iran. The Iran regime can't pay the salaries of the IRGC. It can't pay the salaries of the besieged thugs. So I can't put a stopper on it. Maybe a meet, know something I do, don't, but that. Long term, long term, this is the way to go. And I'm going to go back to an article I wrote for Fox News. What is it, about four or five months ago already, where I said that the model for this war is not Iraq and Afghanistan. It's the Cold War. And after the initial, intense military phase, you move to a blockade. And you keep that blockade up for months and months and that will eventually bring the regime down. So I agree eventually, whether at the end of the year, well, I hope that meets right. Now, Abbas Araghchi, there are. Foreign Minister, and I don't know what his influence has said. If the straight isn't open for us, it's not open for anyone. I don't believe that's true anymore. I think they're afraid now. What do you think? I think they should be afraid. I think they have a reason to be afraid. You know, people were sort of, especially in the liberal mainstream press where we're reveling several weeks or months ago how the Iranians had won the war, they won the war. I don't think people say the same thing right now. I think the Iranian regime is deeply divided. I think that they are facing economic crisis. There was even talk this week in that same mainstream press about the possibility of starvation in Iran. That was not the case several weeks ago. If they're winning the war, why are we afraid of their population starving to death? So I think that there is vulnerability here, but the president, in the old Reaganite way, has to stay the course. Okay, last question, Ambassador Michael Oren. Israel's had a three or four month pause. I assume that your defense industries, like our defense industries, have been working overtime on interceptors. What's the scuttlebutt in Israel about the preparedness for round three if it comes? I'm prepared. I'm prepared. And I hope, I don't mean to cast aspersions on anybody's industrial output, but we tend to produce interceptors much faster than the United States does. And even though part of our interceptors are produced in the United States by agreement, whether it's because our people operating under that type of pressure, that if they don't produce those interceptors, their families are going to be in danger. It's very, very personal. So we produce them. And according to Israeli estimates, we are in decent shape.

Are you sharing with your Arab friends like the UAE? Yes, we have. In the last round, we did share. So I think it goes to the fact that we are in good shape because we wouldn't be the position to share if we didn't have enough. Well said, as always. Ambassador Michael Oren, follow him on X at DR. Michael Oren. Good luck to you on your fundraising and support trip for Tech Neon. The whole world depends upon Tech Neon, whether or not people know it. I've learned it by listening to a bunch of Israeli podcasts and to Dr. Oren. Follow my next to D.R. Michael Oren, D.R. Michael Oren. I'll be right back, America. Stay tuned to the Hugh Hewitt Show.

Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined now by United States Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas. Senator Cotton, I'm a bit of bullion. I'm a new grandfather today, so that's a bit of good news. Let me ask you about what I promised the audience. Senator Susan Collins is facing a fellow named Troy Jackson. You work pretty closely with Senator Susan Collins on the Intelligence Committee and your chairman of the conference of which she's been a member for a long time. How do you assess that race? More importantly, how do you assess Susan Collins? Well, first off, Hugh, congratulations to you and the fetching Mrs. Hewitt for your latest grandchild. That's very exciting news. Second, Susan Collins is an outstanding senator for the state of Maine. She works tirelessly. She's probably the hardest working senator in the U.S. Senate. Anytime you sit down with her in a meeting or many hearings, she has papers that are marked up in her own handwriting. She's a great voice for the pine tree state. Americans know her for her leadership on national security and biomedical research. And Maynors love her for that too, but I can tell you, just from main issues, Mainers couldn't hope to have a better. a better senator. A few years back when she was hosting one of her lunches that she does each year, when she caters lobster down from the pine tree state. It's pre-cracked so people like me from Arkansas don't have to know how to eat lobster. So she called it lazy lobster, which it tastes so good though I don't take offense to it. She described how the Biden administration was imposing regulations that threatened to put lobstermen out of business in Maine. And as you know, Hugh, that's a way of life up there. Not so much in places like Arkansas or the Rocky Mountain West, where we have a lot of Republican senators. But she does her homework so well. She's so compelling, so persuasive that we all banded together to help her beat back this regulation and preserve Maine's way of life. So I think she's a great senator. The people of the state of manner are very likely to have her. I encourage everyone listening to go to Susan Collins.com to contribute. And if you're in Maine, don't just go there to contribute, but sign up and find out how you can help Susan Collins. Now, I wanted to drill down a bit. You're chairman of the Intel Committee. It's a select committee, but I'm not really sure how one gets on it or how often it meets, of course, highly secret. But how does one end up on that? Because she's on there, as is her seatmate Angus Kang independent from me. That's a choice strictly by the two-party leaders. So for my time in the Senate, it was done by Mitch McConnell and then last year by John Thune. But it's not a committee that's assigned just by seniority, as most committees are in the Senate. But as a select committee, it's chosen by the leadership. And that's because, obviously, it deals with very sensitive matters. And I think the leaders of the Senate want to make sure that Senator is there. are going to handle those matters appropriately as Susan obviously does. And for that matter, it's a very hardworking committee. I mean, we have by far the most meetings and the most hearings of any committee I have. It's just not widely known because it happens behind closed doors. But Susan juggles that along with being the chair of the...

very important appropriations committee and all of her other work. So again, I hope everyone listening will go to Susan Collins.com and find a way to help her in this election against the guy who may not have a Nazi tattoo hue, but he has the same socialist views that Graham Platner did. Oh, he's a journeyman, too. They really, they were down to their last swing at bat, and they had a ground ball dribbler easily fielded. Let me ask you about the Appropriations Committee. I know that you cross paths, you're on the Armed Services Committee, and you're responsible that committee for the National Defense Authorization Act, but then it's got to get funded by the Appropriations Committee, and that includes... Bath Ironworks where they make the Arlie Burke Destroyer. They build submarines in Portsmouth, which is in part shared by the main jurisdiction. I assume Senator Susan Collins is a ferocious advocate for the national defense. Yeah, very much so, Hugh. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, she's made sure that the shipbuilding industry, as well as all the military facilities in Maine, are well taken care of. She's an advocate for adding a second destroyer up there at Bath. She's been a passionate advocate for that. But as an example of how irresponsible the Democrats have become in their... opposition to all things Trump that they're willing to sacrifice international security. They've blockaded, as you said, the National Defense Authorization Act. That means they've also blockaded the Intelligence Authorization Act, which passes along with the defense bill each year. They're blocking Susan's appropriations bills. She's tried to move a defense funding bill already this year, but the Democrats are united and blocking it all. They're blocking the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. probably our most important tool to collect intelligence, not just on terrorists, but on Iran and Russia and China and other adversaries. This is a across-the-board blockade by Democrats in the Senate that is appareling their national security, and that's why every Democratic senator up for reelection should be called in the carpet for it. Now, do you have any idea yet whether Republicans are going to give up and go to a continuing resolution, which is bad for the Pentagon, bad for the national defense, or use reconciliation to fund defense in the interim? I don't think those are necessarily either or. I think it's probably... prudent to pass a continuing resolution that would fund the government into November so the Democrats don't engage in the kind of reckless shutdown right before the election on October 1 that they did last fall over the Biden.

Obamacare COVID bonuses are in January when they shut down immigration enforcement for several weeks. But we could also pass funding for the Department of Defense, either through reconciliation or if the Democrats come to their senses and cooperate because of the urgent need that Secretary Hague said later last week through a traditional supplemental funding deal. But it's vitally important that we fund the department sooner rather than later. All right, last question, Senator. How do you assess the quiet period we are in right now after 13 days of strikes in Iran? There is no more MOU. There are allegedly indirect negotiations going on in a couple of places. Who knows? How do you assess the situation? Well, the president said that if Iran backs down, then he won't strike back at them, at least along the facilities and weapons that they're using on their southern coast. try to harass shipping in the Strait of Formuz. And it was clear to me at least that Iran was never going to engage in serious negotiations and better to finish the military operational plan and then just imposed the block A that the president did and then lifted and is done again. I think that's probably still the best force of action. That will make sure that Iran can't militarily threaten. United States are our friends, can't build a nuclear weapon for many, many years, and also that oil gets to the straight of removes and keeps prices of gas and diesel and other products down for America's consumers and businesses. And I just want to give you the chance to remember Lindsey Graham. I don't think you've been on the broadcast since Senator Graham died. His sister, Darlene, has been endorsed by you to continue on in her service of South Carolina's other senator. But you had to have worked very closely with Lindsay for the decade or 12 years. You've been in the Senate. All the time, Hugh, all the time, especially on foreign policy and national security. Lindsay was a patriot. He loved our country. He loved anyone who loved our country, and he fought for anyone who would fight for freedom. He was a true character. He went about the job joyfully and cheerfully and showed everyone that you could take the work seriously without taking yourself for each other too seriously, and he's already deeply missed. but I know he's went to heaven to meet his rewards, and one day we'll probably join him up there and have a good laugh together again. He'll be leading the conversation. Senator Tom Cotton, thank you. Follow the senator on Exit Sen, Tom Cotton, F-E-N, Tom Cotton. Follow me to the next segment right here on the U-Huitt Show. Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined now by columnist of the world, Selena Zito. You can follow her on X at Zito, Salina. You can read everything she writes at salinasito.com. She writes for The Washington Post, the New York Post, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Washington Examiner, and everybody who needs a story. And she's working on a book, The United States of Appalachia. So you're going to want to listen to Hour 3, Selena, because our new Georgia congressman, Clay Fuller.

represents that part of Georgia where the Appalachia extends to, which is, I hope you're going to cover Georgia in your book, are you? I'm heading down to Georgia next, this week, this week, and it's Appalachia. Okay. Don't say Appalachia, go to the Appalachia. Well, Clayful or replaced Marjorie Taylor Greene, and that was the Appalachia district. Yeah. And I don't even know. what it's like there. I didn't, I was unaware until you told me that it went to Georgia and I didn't know the district that ended in. Where are you going in Georgia? All over the place. I'm leaving from the inception in New York and going all the way down to Georgia, following the 432 counties that are part of the government's outline of where Appalachia is. Now, is there a poorest part of Appalachia? Is there like the stereotypical image from movies? I mean, I think parts of Kentucky and West Virginia largely due to their, there's no connection to major roads, right? Transportation, people forget how much transportation matters when it comes to a community thriving. And if you don't have roads, if you don't have interstates, or you don't have a rail line, your community suffers because you need to get goods in. and goods out, tourist in and tourist out. That's always been Appalachian's biggest challenge. You know, that's interesting. I think Clay Fuller, the new Georgia congressman, I think he got put on transportation, which would make sense then if he's got mountains. So you're not driving that, are you? Come on. Of course I am. So what's your Mr. GPS tell you is the time in the car, not counting for your long breaks at the local watering holes and talking to the newspaper people? Well, you know. I don't have the whole thing mapped out on leaving Thursday. I've got to sort of figure out my best route to go. I could do the Great Wagon Trail, which is where most of the people that originally settled in our country in the first 13 colonies, they went. down the mountain, the great wagon trail, which left Philadelphia, went down into Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky. So I think I'm going to try to stick to that original route and then come back up into the seams that I miss. So you're skipping Ohio again? No, not at all. I'm actually ending Ohio.

Ohio is a very important part of the Appalachia. And, you know, a lot of the migration out of Mississippi came to places like Toledo and Ohio and Detroit to work in the factories and into, you know, whether they're making cars or making steel. That's how you had a great influx of the black population up into Ohio and Pennsylvania and Michigan. It's a very important part of the story of the region. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Your book isn't going to include Michigan, is it? No, Michigan's not. Okay, good. Just wanted to check. You're throwing that state up north into the catalog of states. They don't get a line. When is your due date? When's your deadline and when's your pub date? Deadline is in February of next year. Pub date is about a year after that. Oh, and time for the election. Yep, and I'm doing it with Brad Todd, just the way we did with the Great Revolt. So it'll be another collaboration, and I'm really excited about it. Is there a political angle to this, Selena Zito? Is there going to be like, these are the people who vote a lot? No, I mean, there's always politics and culture. I mean, it's very culture-oriented in how. This culture, the Appalachian culture, is now, you know, it used to be like Appalachia was peculiar. The people from there were peculiar. And now everyone sort of wants to be part of it, right? What's the song they sing the most at any kind of sports big gathering? It's Country Roads. Country Roads is set in Appalachia. You know, the area of our country, you know, people's clothing, people's music, people's search for individualism and places where they can have more freedoms, all are located in that Appalachian region. And what is interesting to me now is that the places that are considered... peculiar are L.A. in New York, right? They're all of a sudden they are the peculiar places. And Appalachia is having this long-awaited moment of people understanding, respecting this culture that really has been, most of our presidents were born in Appalachia. Most of our music, our food, everything just comes from this place. So I got a very dad question, and we're contemporary, so it's not a dad question, it's a friend question. Amy Semple McPherson is widely regarded, and it's asserted that she was the first woman to drive across the country solo, and there was safety concern. How do you take care of yourself when you're traveling alone along these country roads? Well. I will just say that I'm from Pennsylvania, and the gun culture is a very important part of Pennsylvania upbringing. That's enough said, because we don't want to alert the authorities in New York, all right? We don't want to alert the gun grabbing states. But other than New York, I think you're safe, aren't you? Yeah, the only state that Pennsylvania doesn't have reciprocity with, I think, still, I'll double-check that, is South Carolina.

Oh, well, they wouldn't bother anyway. They'd be up. They'd look at you sideways if you weren't carrying. But I mean, do you have friends, do you stay with families along the way or do you stay in hotels? I usually try to stay at a bed and breakfast, mainly because the people that own those are small business people, and they really know where all the bodies are buried in town, right? They have all the gossip. Literally. Yeah, they do. They do. So that's usually my approach. Well, I hope we touch you on the road, Selena. Have a great, that's your summer vacation. Appalachia driving. Have a good soundtrack for the road. Stay safe and check in. Selina Zito, follower on X at Zito, Selina. I begin with Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, retired from the United States Navy, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy. Admiral, last time we talked, we were talking about what air campaign against Iran might look like. We've had 13 days of it. Is it what you expect it? You know, for what they were attempting to achieve then, which was just the pullback from the, you know, trying to reduce the ability of the IRGC to impact flow through the strait over moves. So these were strikes against maritime targets, you know, missile drone launchers, the storage facilities, radars, beacconing devices, all in the strait and on the islands that Iran occupies in the strait. Additionally, they had bridges for mobility of things coming into the Pam Bondi Abbas area. I had hoped what the president was talking about a few days ago was an expansion to hit the state-owned enterprises owned by the IRGC. You know, they control a large part of construction, shipbuilding, telecommunications in Iran. If we're going to impose our will on the IRGC, a faster way than the blockade, which is a way to do it, is to actually take away their money-making activities. Do you think it is advisable to keep the blockade in place, regardless of how the negotiations go? Absolutely. I mean, we've got to – I don't believe Iran deals in good faith in any measure, but we'll get a better faith if they're under pressure. And the blockade serves to prevent, you know, anywhere from $20 to $30 billion a month worth of – crude and gas sales externally to India and China. So yes, absolutely, I would keep it in place. I'd remind them they effectively have a blockade on the southern transit scheme by threatening to strike ships and the ships being unwilling to transit because of that threat. Now, I know that you're going back and forth to Ukraine a lot. I'm sure you've followed as a result that Iran threatened Ukraine today because Ukraine intercepted a shipment across the Caspian Sea, probably of Shihed drones, who knows what they were sending. Does Ukraine actually have to worry about anything from Iran, or are they just going to resupply Russia if they're allowed to?

So I don't think Iran is going to be giving any of its limited shaheds, you know, its inventory of shaheds to Russia. They've already given them the plans to build them, and Russia's building their own. So I think that's a shallow threat. But it's a reminder to us that Ukraine is fighting four countries, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran. In fact, North Korea may be... getting up 30,000 more troops to send over to Russia to fight. And just like in Iran, with Iran, we're fighting Iran, Russia and China at the same time because Russia and China are assisting Iran. This is a contest between countries aligned, you know, with the global order in the United States and free trade and the access of authoritarian, China, Russia, India. and North Korea, excuse me, Iran and North Korea. And we need to treat that, we need to treat these conflicts that way. And the Europeans should get off their backsides and stop, you know, and support us in Iran like they support Ukraine versus Russia. Now, Admiral Montgomery, I talked earlier with Ambassador Oren, and he agreed with me. It appears as though Israel has reestablished deterrence vis-a-vis Iran. They've gone out of their way not to hit Israel in this latest round of combat. Do you think that that deterrence is firmly and fully established up? They're afraid of Israel and what they might do if they bring them back into the battle? Yes, because it's a, it's not a good trade space for them. If you bring Israel in, you get 150 to 250 to 300 strikes a night from Israel. And their firing back was largely unsuccessful. Their drones do not make it to Israel. It's too long a distance. U.S. and then Israeli aircraft shoot them down. Just like drones don't normally get to Jim Jordan or to Western Saudi Arabia because strategic depth is important. Just like Ukraine shoots down, most Chehid drones headed towards Leviv or Kiev because of distance. ballistic missiles are not getting through against Israel because Israel has its own arrow, David Sling, U.S. Thad, and then U.S. standard missiles on board those ships off the coast of Haifa. That's an integrated and layered air defense system that Iran doesn't penetrate easily. So it's bad trade space for them to go after, to engage Israel on this. Now, Admiral, I've heard some of your colleagues at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, primarily Richard Goldberg, they really want to hit Pickax Mountain. Is there a world in which that's not useful, or do you think we might have intelligence that tells us it's not really finished or even close to completion?

So I have to believe, Hugh, I join Rich in thinking there's something in there. Look, I can't tell you what it is. I don't get that kind of classification brief. I think there's something in there. I think if I know the Air Force Targetiers, they're working hard to figure out how some of our weapon systems can do some kind of penetration. Even if we can't do a midnight hammer attack like we did on Fordo on it, maybe we can put a few weapons into the access points. In other words, make it very uncomfortable to live there, make it impossible to ensure due to structural damage, even if we can't destroy everything inside it, we can make it much less valuable to the Iranians. So, Admiral, how do you assess President Trump's strategic ambiguity? I have no idea. what he's going to do. I don't think anybody has any idea what he's going to do, which I think is sort of the definition of unpredictability, which is useful in international affairs. Should he be more clear to the Iranians, or is it clear enough? So. There are cases where strategic ambiguity, it was a useful policy. It might have been a useful one with Taiwan until recently. I think the president's move from ambiguity, what I call strategic uncertainty. Like, you're not certain from day to day what the president's strategy is. And it does move around a lot. Look, part of his, that unpredictability that becomes a strategic uncertainty, that unpredictability has a deterrent effect. But at some point, you know, back and forth, back and forth, I think it loses its value with the same competitor like Iran, you know, over like 15 weeks like it has. I don't think it has that same effect. I still think it has an effect on China and on Russia when they try to assess, or even North Korea, when they try to assess what we would do in a case of South Korea, Taiwan or the Baltics. You know, they don't know which way he'll go. But with Iran, I think it's run its course. So, wrapping up here, how do you assess the Iranian leadership's view of the battle space? And how do you assess Vladimir Putin's view of the battle space? Because they're both authoritarian. I think Bahidi's running Iran. I don't care about Abbas Araghchi or the president. I care about Vahidi. And Vladimir Putin is Vladimir Putin. He's running everything. How do you think they're viewing both of these conflicts? So I think with Vahidi, I mean, I think he thinks he can outlast. Trump, that Trump's got elections in November, and at some point, President Trump will be more interested in that than he is in a free and open straight-of-hormuz. That may be a misjudgment by Vahidi, but I think that's where he says. Vladimir Putin's in a different position. Vladimir Putin is suspending reality, taking briefs from Jerusalem office as general staff commander, and believing that there's a way forward in Ukraine, which there is not. He, Vladimir Putin, I promise you, is misleading himself. I'm not sure whether Vahidi is or not. Now, the price of oil dropped to $82 at barrel. That tells me that maybe the southern route through the strait is more robust than I had assumed. Is that what you think is well?

I'm not sure the day to day it's really hard, and part of it's how the president speaks about it. I will say this. I told you since the beginning, since April, that I believe in convoy operations. That's what I did in the late 1980s. The U.S. Navy did. I think we're going to have to have destroyers, like two destroyers, a company three. VLCC is the very large crude carriers, you know, with those two million barrels, maybe the big LNG ships, and bring them out and bring the empties in. Bring them out and bring the empties in. And it's risky for the U.S. Navy riskier than sitting back. But it also provides the confidence to the merchant ships that they can go because they've got the U.S. Navy a thousand yards away. They've got fighter aircraft overhead. They can see armed heloes patrolling in front of them. Then I think you can get them moving back and forth. We can get back up to 10 to 12 million barrels a day through that Southern Strait transit when combined with the Saudi and Emirati pipelines that gets you to free. pre-war flow. So I think it's achievable, but you have to take a little bit of risk, and you have to keep pounding. Anyone who pops up looking like they want to launch needs to get a J-dam, a precision-guided ammunition from the United States, very fast. Last question, we got less than a minute, Admiral. Do you think that Vahidi and his inner circle are persuaded of what happens if they kill any more Americans or hit an American baser ship? I don't know because they fired a ballistic missile of Jim Jordan, clearly aimed at the transient barracks. In my mind, that was a pretty direct head on a transient barracks. They are willing to risk killing Americans, and I think that's a big mistake. Admiral Mark Montgomery from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy is always good to talk to you. Thank you for the update. Look forward to the next one. Don't go anywhere, America. I'll be right back here on The Do It Show with Philip Wedman of the Wall Street Journal.

Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh. Philip Wegman is a regular feature on the panel on Fox News, special report with Brett Barron. I've shared the panel with him before. So I've met him in the green room before. I had a few chats with him, but I did not expect his first Wall Street Journal article that I saw to be about Richard Nixon. It's called Young Conservatives that have an unlikely new icon Richard Nixon. It's all about Nixon maxing. Philip, welcome. It's good to have you on the program. First of all, how do you like the journal? Wall Street Journal is fantastic. I'm surrounded by killers here, just the best in the business. But I've got to say, talking with you about President Nixon, a man who you knew, and then also talking about his renaissance, something that you helped kick off with your work at the Nixon Foundation. The irony's not lost on me because you have forgotten more about the 37th president than I could probably ever hope to learn. But the youngs are the ones who did it after I left. So all honored to Jim Byron and everybody else out there, Joe Lopez, Chris, Rob, all the group that have actually made it fun for young people to learn about Nixon. How'd you figure out this story? Because I sure didn't tell you anything about it. Well, there had been sort of a... lower key rumbling about Nixon. You would see a lot of younger conservatives posting either his speeches or historical 50th anniversary events about him. But what I started to notice increasingly was that, yes, while this was organic and there are certainly real Nixon fans out there, it was the Nixon Foundation who was really pushing this guy's legacy. And what I think is interesting about this, what I think is new, is that while the Nixon Foundation released the tapes, so to speak, they weren't acting like a normal presidential library. They were explicitly trying to reach a younger audience, millennials, and Gen Z, to make arguments about the president's legacy, and they were doing it in an unconventional way. They were making these arguments with memes and hype videos. And I talked to a number of young Republicans who said that this was the gateway drug for them to really reexamine. and the legacy of someone who they had been taught, you know, since middle school and high school, is the chief presidential villain of American history. You know, it's common for the library to invite authors out there. They had Vice President JD Vance there a few weeks ago. Brett Baer is often there when he has a book come out. But probably the breakthrough person that Byronette all got out to the library was comfortably smugged. Because Smug's got a very young demo and a very irreverent way about him. And that was just genius on their part to get smug there. And I think they're keeping it up. Did you talk to them about their future plans for 2027 and beyond? Well, they have so much in the archive. There's so much history that they can repackage and use to reintroduce to a younger audience that it wouldn't be surprised if we continue to see this take off. But I'm glad that you mentioned comfortably smug because what he did is he sort of brought his irreverence and married that to the historical record. What I think is going on here is...

For a lot of these younger conservatives, they see Nixon as the ghost in the machine of the Trump administration. They believe that he is confronting the same enemies as Richard Nixon. He has some of the same challenges. And, you know, one Nixon fan told me that they felt the United States was still. stuck in 1968. And so what Smug has done, and I think a lot of other Nixon fans have, you know, followed suit is they've adopted this sort of low stakes irreverence. They've adopted a middle finger to the establishment. No one's going to chew you out for wearing a Richard Nixon hat. But, you know, that is going to inspire, you know, reflection. into what previously had been a villain. And it was Chris Rufo, for instance, who told me that the importance of Nixon, more than ideology, more than any policy accomplishment, was that by taking back his image, conservatives and Republicans are finally saying that they are no longer going to outsource their heroes to the left. They're going to write the stories of their own heroes. It's a new paradigm for presidential libraries, that's for sure. We do want visitors to go to all the presidential libraries, but they've got to work at it. I'm not sure they're going to coax many people into the Obama list up there in Chicago. That's very forbidding. It's like entering a castle of Dr. Doom. But what I noticed in your article, either Jim or Joe or Rob or somebody connected you to Jeff Shepard. Now, Jeff Shepard, for those who don't know, is the world's greatest authority on Watergate. And when you run into Jeff Shepard, it's like drinking from a fire hose. How did you enjoy that? Yeah, I was a history major in college, and Jeff Shepard is, not only does he have a fascinating personal history, he was the guy who transcribed a lot of the Nixon tapes. He knows so much of the Watergate history. I mean, talking to him, that'll blow your hair back. He's critical to this story because when do people start reengaging with Nixon? It's during the first Trump administration, particularly, you know, younger conservatives. That's when they start reengaging. And what Shepard has done is he has poked holes in the first official narrative. And he's done so not by, you know. connecting strange dots or some outlandish theories. Instead, he has produced a lot of primary source documents that say, wait a minute, you know, maybe Dean actually changed his testimony. Wait a minute. Maybe something was going on that was uncouth in these meetings between the special prosecutor and the judge. They were meeting ex parte out of chambers. And so. I think Shepard, he really has provided the intellectual firepower for a reexamination of Watergate. And then, you know, once that hurdle is out of the way, then I think Republicans, conservatives, and perhaps the public writ large.

They're going to be more charitable when they look at the rest of his legacy. And they're going to say, wait a minute, you know, this is the guy who was there for the opening of China or Title IX for the moon landings. His scholarship is, you know, intense. And here it definitely is, you know, it's the practice for a lot of things. He will also spend as much time with you as you want, talking about anything in particular, whether it's NEPA, EPA, Clean Water, Clean Air Act. Jeff Shepard will do that. So will Dwight Chapin. In fact, there's still a lot. Ken Kachigian just wrote a book about Nixon and Reagan behind closed doors. A lot of those Nixon youngsters are now oldsters, and they're writing very good books. Philip, how many presidential libraries have you been to? Do you have a base on which to compare and contrast, and are you intending a series on them? Oh, I am the wrong guy to ask this question. I've done a lot of reading, but I've never actually been to a presidential library. It must Mount Vernon counts, but I don't think it does. Well, it's close. It does close. But I would suggest just start a bingo card, because I've only been about half of them, and I'm twice your age. And so it takes a while to actually chart it. But the Nixon Library and Yorba Linda, its attendance matters a lot to them. So your article in the journal did a lot, I would hope, to get people to put it on the map for them. Now, if I can, congrats on the Richard Nixon piece. You talked to Laura Lumer this week. I didn't see anyone else talk to her. So how did you get her number? That's what I want to. How do you find Laura Lumer in Ukraine? Well, Laura Lumer's phone number is a little bit more difficult to get than President Trump's for reporters on deadline. But we managed to snag it and speak with her. And she's been going through a very interesting renaissance. Lumer previously, a right-wing provocateur. I don't think that she would reject that label herself. And previously also a disciple of Roger Stone, also a Nixon acolyte. She had been very critical of the United States' support for Ukraine. She led the charge for a number of... years and not just on the policy front. She was very critical of Volodymyr Zelensky himself. She has since changed tune and she expects the MAGA base to follow Sue. It's in his latest article, The Secret Trip that turned Laura Lumer from Ukraine Skeptic to Support her. Phil Wegman, I look forward to having you on as often as you write one of these big stories. Again, from every Nixon alum, thanks for throwing a spotlight on the gang and Yorba Linda and all that they are doing. Congrats on your new gig at the Wall Street Journal as well. And stay tuned to America. I'll be right back. My friends, you've probably seen the headlines are worse. Your latest bill. Big wireless is raising rates again. That means you could be paying more for the same service or getting pushed into a price here plan you simply do not need. That's not right. You can switch to consumer cellular right now and save an additional $50 when you go to consumer cellular.com slash you and use the promo code, Hugh, 50. And if you happen to be over the age of 50, listen to this. You can get a single line with unlimited talk, text, and data for just $355. Remember, there are numbers, $8004114454, 8004114454. Consumer Cellular ranks number one for network coverage and for customer satisfaction according to ACSI. And when you switch, you'll talk to an actual human being.

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You know what a public service is, what I'm about to tell you. Food for the Poor is a sponsor of our show. We like to partner with them because they get food to people in Central and South America and the Caribbean who are hungry every single day. Food crisis, always food insecurity in the Caribbean, but right now, especially in Venezuela, after the earthquake, especially in the neighboring region. Please be generous. Head over to Hugh Hewitt.com. There's a give food banner at the top. It's their summer annual fun drive. They took care of Venezuela over the last three weeks. This weekend next, I'll be telling you, please call 855-359-4673 or text my name Hewitt to 51-555.5. That's 855-359-4673. Or just go to Hugh Hewitt.com in the Give Food Banner. Welcome back, America as promised. Congressman Clay Fuller joined this brand-new congressman from Georgia, first time on the Hugh Hewitt show. Congressman, welcome. Tell us a little about where the district is and a little bit about you. Yes, sir. Hugh, it's an honor to be on your show. You got me through multiple military deployments, so I really appreciate all those listening hours with you, and it's an honor to be here. But I represent Georgia's 14th congressional district. Basically stretches from a smidgy bit of Cobb County down there in the Atlanta suburbs. all up into God's country, the beautiful Appalachian Mountains up here in northwest Georgia with the Tennessee and Alabama border up here. So it's a beautiful part of the world and got sworn in on April 14th of this year. So I'm a couple of months in, and Hugh, you may have noticed, I haven't fixed all the problems in D.C. yet, but I'm working on it. Well, you know, now that you're, you mentioned Appalachia, our friend, Selena Zito, who is a regular on the program, is writing a book, The United States of Appalachia. And she was the first one that told me that Georgia actually picks up part of the mountain chain. So you're going to have to be, you're going to have to put up with Selena down in your district, Congressman Fuller. Absolutely. I'm hoping to link up with her because she needs a couple of chapters on Northwest Georgia and Northeast Georgia for sure. Okay, you got up there and I think you're on the Transportation Committee, which a lot of people don't know spends a whole bunch of money. Are you happy with that assignment? It's a great place to land. So, you know, I came in midstream here, having started in April. So, Hugh, I'm a prosecutor by trade before coming into this position. I was an elected district attorney here in northwest Georgia. prosecuting cases and trying to put horrible people behind bars. And I'm a military officer as well. But there are so many transportation needs that Northwest Georgia has. We have major interstates that run through my district here. So we're making sure that I promise the voters I was going to be a warrior for Northwest Georgia and for their needs. And that's something that I feel very lucky to be able to do from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee because there are some really important needs that we need through that committee. Did you stay in the military? Are you in the Reserves, Congressman?

Yes, sir. So I'm still Air National Guard, so I'm in the Georgia Guard, and I'm still trying to figure out that side of my life. So I have a drill this weekend, but I know there are some other members, and obviously the late Lindsey Graham, he was in the Air Force Jag, just like me. And that's one of the things that we're trying to work on. I think an incredible legacy for Senator Graham would be if we were able to name the Air Force's Jag School after him. And so I'm working on that with... my house colleagues and my Senate colleagues as well. But I'm still in Air Force JAG, and it's a career that's been very near and dear to my heart. That would be terrific. Senator Graham would always do is time, I guess two weeks in the summer. He would deploy all over the world. Is that something you're looking forward to? Yes, sir. I'm hoping I can do some more deployments, and I think it's the best way to get an understanding of what our troops are facing across the world and get an understanding of those national security issues that we face as a country. So I'm going to do everything I can as part of my military career to make sure that I'm going forward. Have you picked which caucuses, if any, you want to join Clay Fuller? I mean, there are lots. There are 25 or 30 of them. Have you figured out if you want to join any of them? Well, there are some policy issues that are near and dear to my heart. So obviously the Second Amendment is one. So I've joined the 2A caucus. But since coming into Congress, I've been very deliberate about just learning the human terrain, seeing who's part of which groups. And I'm still going through that process. One thing that I want to work on specifically related to Northwest Georgia, we've been impacted by PFS. And so it's a forever chemical that's kind of in our water here in northwest Georgia. I'm a cancer survivor and have dealt with environmental issues that could cause health concerns in the past. So I'm trying to build a bipartisan coalition and caucus around that issue. And that's something that I'm working on both in the House and with my Democrat colleagues in the House too. What's the origin of that chemical? Is that jet fuel related? Is it sort of like the Camp Lejeune plume? So one of the major employers in my district is the carbon flooring industry. And one of the things that they did was rely on some chemical manufacturers that were out of state to improve their carpet and fluorine products. And so years ago, the carbon flooring folks were told here that these chemicals and these products were safe and it ended up getting into our water. So my main issue is to make sure that we're cleaning it up because every person in North Georgia should have clean waters, and they should have clean land, and they should know that their family is safe. And that's something that's front of mind each and every day that I'm on Capitol Hill. Now, very practical, Western Congressman Clay Fuller, I just got back from Florida. I transitioned via Atlanta. I wonder, do you fly in and out of Atlanta whenever you've got to go home and back? Because that's kind of the regular place, but that's almost as big as getting home from Atlanta airport to wherever you are. Yes, sir. I do have to travel through Atlanta a lot, and then it's about a two-hour drive. So I've got to get through the Atlanta traffic as well once I leave the airport. So it can be a challenge. Also, the Chattanooga airport is pretty close to me. So Senator Bob Corker was able to get a direct flight from Chattanooga to D.C., so from time to time when those...

times lined up. I try to hop on a flight, but Delta is an important employer in our state, and if I can fly on a Delta airline, I'll do that any day of the week. And I always ask new members. I've been in and out of the District of Columbia and Capitol Hill since the early 80s. I still can't figure out which building is which or how to get from one to the other without a guide. How are you doing in that department? Terribly. I'm doing horribly, Hugh. So I actually, in the first week, I got lost after voting. And I was in the actual capital complex. And I happened upon probably just a sweet intern who was giving a tour to a large group. And, you know, you have the member pen and interns recognize that. And you could see like she felt like she'd seen a ghost was asking her a question. Can you just tell me how to get out of this building? I think everybody in that group was probably like, are this is who we're sending to congress and can't even find his way out of the building but i was there for just a week so well and i like speaker johnson a lot you've got great leadership in in leaders glee speaker johnson and tom emmer but a close election i mean is it immediately all hands on deck for the election in the fall Absolutely. And that's, you know, that works, starts right now. So during the August recess, I'm going to be here on the ground at Georgia 14. And as you know, Georgia 14 was so critical in the 2020 election. We needed to drive more voters out in 2020. That's why we have two useless Democrat senators here in Georgia. So when I'm home over this month in August coming up, and then in October as well, I'm going to be doing everything I can to get Maga Warrior, Mike Collins, across the finish line here in Georgia 14. Then we've got to get Rick Jackson in the governor's office too. That is exactly right. Mike Collins can beat Jon Ossoff with people like Clay Fuller helping him. Congressman, it is great to make your acquaintance don't be a stranger. Always like having freshmen sophomores around because their eyes are fresh. They say things that a lot of the jaded veterans don't, but it's really good to have major acquaintance Clay Fuller. And I look forward to talking in the future on the Hugo Show. In 2025, Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. That's why so many people are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, dark web monitoring, and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. And if you become a victim, Aura's 24-7 U.S.-based support team is there to help. Don't wait until your identity is stolen. Start your free trial today at Aura.com slash safe. That's Aura.com slash safe.