Welcome to Tucker Carlson Show. It's become pretty clear that the mainstream media are dying. know is that in all these clips that we saw, and then anecdotal accounts from individual members talking to him.I remember having one conversation with him on the phone where he was calling to tell me about his decision to re-expand two national monuments in Utah. National monuments that together are, I think, larger than two Delawares. A short time into the phone conversation, I could tell he was reading from a script. And not only reading from a script, but his voice would start to trail off at the end of each sentence. And so, yes, he was scripted. When was that? I believe this was sometime, perhaps in the fall of 2021. So right after he got elected. But I'm not sure. This one could have been in 2022.I knew because his sister, Val, was telling other people that he had some neurological impairment during the campaign, during the 2020 campaign. But what's interesting and infuriating and scary is that someone had to write that script for him. So anyone who's do it, most likely, with a Congress and a Senate willing to put in, and a President willing to put in justices of that party's political ideology. Such that people would stop seeing the court as an adjudicative body and much more as a political one, especially since once we start this, it'll set off a nuclear chain reaction.Now, I've always I'm not opposed to court packing. I think all Republicans have, all Democrats have until very recently. But if Democrats take this step, let's imagine, knock on wood, let's hope this doesn't happen. I don't think it'll happen. But if somehow in this year's election, Democrats were to win the White House, keep the majority in the Senate, and perhaps even expand their majority and win back the House, I have no doubt but that they would pack the court, meaning expand the Court. They would increase it probably by four justices, taking it from 9:00 to 13:00. Now, just imagine the next time when political forces are such that Republicans take it back. You think Republicans could possibly decide, No, that's fine. We're not going to do this. There would be immense political pressure on us at that point, Republican lawmakers, to add an additional four, five, six, or seven. The pendulum would swing back and forth As it swung, each time it swung, you would see additional appointments made to the Supreme Court. Before long, it would start to look like the Intergalactic Senate on the Star Wars movies.Yeah, or the Brazilian Supreme Court. But can I ask, If Kamal Harris gets elected President and the Senate and the House fall to Democrats, Senate majority is expanded, they're never going to be another Republican government after that. I mean, that's a one-party state at that point. They're not going to go through this again, are they?Well, that is of grave concern, because if that were to happen, there are some changes to the law that I fear they would put through. These voting rights bills that they keep talking talking about wanting to pass are among them. So they pass these voting rights laws.We already have voting rights, don't we?We do. But they keep touting them under the banner of civil rights and making all Americans-Civil unable to vote. Civil rights. They want to subject any state law decisions regarding legislative redistricting within the state to pre-clearance by political appointees within what they envision as a democratic presidential administration. So they would have to come to the federal political appointees and say, Mother, may I adopt this legislative redistricting plan or this or that set of reforms to the way we conduct our elections. And those would have to be pre-approved. They also want to essentially divest the power to draw legislative boundaries from the state legislatures and give them to non-partisan independent commissions, thus further taking away the power from elected lawmakers and putting it in the hands of unaccountable experts. These sorts of things, coupled with what I fear they would also do, they would enact another law, bringing the district of Columbia into this family of states, making DC a state, and perhaps Puerto Rico as a state, if they conclude that Puerto Rico and DC would be reliable democratic seats.I mean, as long as we're picking up completely dysfunctional territories incapable of governing themselves, why not Haiti, too?Why not? Well, Haiti isn't currently a US territory. That would be the biggest distinction.That's insane. You spend sensitivities of the people as a whole. That's one of the many reasons why I often distinguish differentiate between America, the country, and the United States government. They are two different things. It's one of the reasons why I bristle every time when anyone of either party refers to the President of the United United States or to Congress as running the country. We don't run the country. The President of the United States certainly doesn't run the country. President of the United States happens to be the chief executive officer of the United States government and the commander in chief of the US Army Forces, runs a large organization with immense power, to be sure.I don't want to denigrate the office. But he doesn't run the country. The country itself consists of the American people. He's not running the economy. That's why presidents shouldn't go too far in over-promising what they're going to do for the country. I'm going to create this many jobs or to claim credit for jobs that have been created. Presidents can't do that. We've got to get back to a proper understanding of what government is, and more importantly, what it isn't. Government's not there to be your rich uncle, your best friend, your fun aunt. It's not there to make everything fair. No, government exists for the purpose of protecting life, liberty, and property, making sure that we don't fall victim to those who would take that which belongs to us or do us harm, either from the inside or the outside.Preserving our freedoms. Preserving our freedoms. From enemies, foreign and domestic.Exactly. Life, liberty, and property. To further afield you get from that, Tucker, the more you run into problems, the this administration has inflicted upon itself. The way they're presenting themselves, the way they're running the Pentagon to pursue woke ideological agenda items is itself a turn off to a lot of the target audience.Well, sure. But even just judging by its effects, judging the tree by its fruit, we went to war against the Taliban in 2001. Were they better armed then or now?They, meaning the Taliban.The Taliban. Yeah. They're better armed now. The Houthies, most Americans, including me, had not heard the term Houthie five years ago, and now they're closing a key shipping lane with like, childish drones against the US Navy. So that is not success.It's not. I remember the exact moment in 2015, I was speaking at some event in Iowa when I heard about what was going on in Yemen. And immediately I thought, oh, gosh, I really hope that we don't get involved in a proxy war here. And we did. And it's now bled into three different presidential administrations. And it has led to Yemen being even more of a leverage point for Iran. Exactly. Being able to arm the Houthis and having incentive to do so. This is one of the things that happens when we get involved in proxy wars, generally. One of the reasons why in Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton comments that one of the distinguishing... Our model for our government really is based on the British system in many respects. We've got a bicameral legislature, we've got a chief executive. But under the British system, as Hamilton points out in Federalist 69, the king, the chief executive, have the ability to take the country to war independently, unilaterally. Secondly, the Constitution, by contrast, requires a declaration of war by Congress. Now, we never passed an AUMF or a declaration of war with regard to Yemen. They regard all kinds of other existing authorities.From the '01 and '02 AUMFs to inherent Article II power in the presidency. It's all unpersuasive in my mind, but to authorize all this. I've been opposing this ever since 2015 because I believe that this was first and foremost about benefiting the industrial military-industrial complex, and that it would tend to be one of these entangling affairs that gradually escalated. And it's been exactly that. It's interesting. I found some unlikely allies embrace of China.And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.Hangs on it.So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

know is that in all these clips that we saw, and then anecdotal accounts from individual members talking to him.

I remember having one conversation with him on the phone where he was calling to tell me about his decision to re-expand two national monuments in Utah. National monuments that together are, I think, larger than two Delawares. A short time into the phone conversation, I could tell he was reading from a script. And not only reading from a script, but his voice would start to trail off at the end of each sentence. And so, yes, he was scripted. When was that? I believe this was sometime, perhaps in the fall of 2021. So right after he got elected. But I'm not sure. This one could have been in 2022.

I knew because his sister, Val, was telling other people that he had some neurological impairment during the campaign, during the 2020 campaign. But what's interesting and infuriating and scary is that someone had to write that script for him. So anyone who's do it, most likely, with a Congress and a Senate willing to put in, and a President willing to put in justices of that party's political ideology. Such that people would stop seeing the court as an adjudicative body and much more as a political one, especially since once we start this, it'll set off a nuclear chain reaction.Now, I've always I'm not opposed to court packing. I think all Republicans have, all Democrats have until very recently. But if Democrats take this step, let's imagine, knock on wood, let's hope this doesn't happen. I don't think it'll happen. But if somehow in this year's election, Democrats were to win the White House, keep the majority in the Senate, and perhaps even expand their majority and win back the House, I have no doubt but that they would pack the court, meaning expand the Court. They would increase it probably by four justices, taking it from 9:00 to 13:00. Now, just imagine the next time when political forces are such that Republicans take it back. You think Republicans could possibly decide, No, that's fine. We're not going to do this. There would be immense political pressure on us at that point, Republican lawmakers, to add an additional four, five, six, or seven. The pendulum would swing back and forth As it swung, each time it swung, you would see additional appointments made to the Supreme Court. Before long, it would start to look like the Intergalactic Senate on the Star Wars movies.Yeah, or the Brazilian Supreme Court. But can I ask, If Kamal Harris gets elected President and the Senate and the House fall to Democrats, Senate majority is expanded, they're never going to be another Republican government after that. I mean, that's a one-party state at that point. They're not going to go through this again, are they?Well, that is of grave concern, because if that were to happen, there are some changes to the law that I fear they would put through. These voting rights bills that they keep talking talking about wanting to pass are among them. So they pass these voting rights laws.We already have voting rights, don't we?We do. But they keep touting them under the banner of civil rights and making all Americans-Civil unable to vote. Civil rights. They want to subject any state law decisions regarding legislative redistricting within the state to pre-clearance by political appointees within what they envision as a democratic presidential administration. So they would have to come to the federal political appointees and say, Mother, may I adopt this legislative redistricting plan or this or that set of reforms to the way we conduct our elections. And those would have to be pre-approved. They also want to essentially divest the power to draw legislative boundaries from the state legislatures and give them to non-partisan independent commissions, thus further taking away the power from elected lawmakers and putting it in the hands of unaccountable experts. These sorts of things, coupled with what I fear they would also do, they would enact another law, bringing the district of Columbia into this family of states, making DC a state, and perhaps Puerto Rico as a state, if they conclude that Puerto Rico and DC would be reliable democratic seats.I mean, as long as we're picking up completely dysfunctional territories incapable of governing themselves, why not Haiti, too?Why not? Well, Haiti isn't currently a US territory. That would be the biggest distinction.That's insane. You spend sensitivities of the people as a whole. That's one of the many reasons why I often distinguish differentiate between America, the country, and the United States government. They are two different things. It's one of the reasons why I bristle every time when anyone of either party refers to the President of the United United States or to Congress as running the country. We don't run the country. The President of the United States certainly doesn't run the country. President of the United States happens to be the chief executive officer of the United States government and the commander in chief of the US Army Forces, runs a large organization with immense power, to be sure.I don't want to denigrate the office. But he doesn't run the country. The country itself consists of the American people. He's not running the economy. That's why presidents shouldn't go too far in over-promising what they're going to do for the country. I'm going to create this many jobs or to claim credit for jobs that have been created. Presidents can't do that. We've got to get back to a proper understanding of what government is, and more importantly, what it isn't. Government's not there to be your rich uncle, your best friend, your fun aunt. It's not there to make everything fair. No, government exists for the purpose of protecting life, liberty, and property, making sure that we don't fall victim to those who would take that which belongs to us or do us harm, either from the inside or the outside.Preserving our freedoms. Preserving our freedoms. From enemies, foreign and domestic.Exactly. Life, liberty, and property. To further afield you get from that, Tucker, the more you run into problems, the this administration has inflicted upon itself. The way they're presenting themselves, the way they're running the Pentagon to pursue woke ideological agenda items is itself a turn off to a lot of the target audience.Well, sure. But even just judging by its effects, judging the tree by its fruit, we went to war against the Taliban in 2001. Were they better armed then or now?They, meaning the Taliban.The Taliban. Yeah. They're better armed now. The Houthies, most Americans, including me, had not heard the term Houthie five years ago, and now they're closing a key shipping lane with like, childish drones against the US Navy. So that is not success.It's not. I remember the exact moment in 2015, I was speaking at some event in Iowa when I heard about what was going on in Yemen. And immediately I thought, oh, gosh, I really hope that we don't get involved in a proxy war here. And we did. And it's now bled into three different presidential administrations. And it has led to Yemen being even more of a leverage point for Iran. Exactly. Being able to arm the Houthis and having incentive to do so. This is one of the things that happens when we get involved in proxy wars, generally. One of the reasons why in Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton comments that one of the distinguishing... Our model for our government really is based on the British system in many respects. We've got a bicameral legislature, we've got a chief executive. But under the British system, as Hamilton points out in Federalist 69, the king, the chief executive, have the ability to take the country to war independently, unilaterally. Secondly, the Constitution, by contrast, requires a declaration of war by Congress. Now, we never passed an AUMF or a declaration of war with regard to Yemen. They regard all kinds of other existing authorities.From the '01 and '02 AUMFs to inherent Article II power in the presidency. It's all unpersuasive in my mind, but to authorize all this. I've been opposing this ever since 2015 because I believe that this was first and foremost about benefiting the industrial military-industrial complex, and that it would tend to be one of these entangling affairs that gradually escalated. And it's been exactly that. It's interesting. I found some unlikely allies embrace of China.And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.Hangs on it.So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

do it, most likely, with a Congress and a Senate willing to put in, and a President willing to put in justices of that party's political ideology. Such that people would stop seeing the court as an adjudicative body and much more as a political one, especially since once we start this, it'll set off a nuclear chain reaction.

Now, I've always I'm not opposed to court packing. I think all Republicans have, all Democrats have until very recently. But if Democrats take this step, let's imagine, knock on wood, let's hope this doesn't happen. I don't think it'll happen. But if somehow in this year's election, Democrats were to win the White House, keep the majority in the Senate, and perhaps even expand their majority and win back the House, I have no doubt but that they would pack the court, meaning expand the Court. They would increase it probably by four justices, taking it from 9:00 to 13:00. Now, just imagine the next time when political forces are such that Republicans take it back. You think Republicans could possibly decide, No, that's fine. We're not going to do this. There would be immense political pressure on us at that point, Republican lawmakers, to add an additional four, five, six, or seven. The pendulum would swing back and forth As it swung, each time it swung, you would see additional appointments made to the Supreme Court. Before long, it would start to look like the Intergalactic Senate on the Star Wars movies.

Yeah, or the Brazilian Supreme Court. But can I ask, If Kamal Harris gets elected President and the Senate and the House fall to Democrats, Senate majority is expanded, they're never going to be another Republican government after that. I mean, that's a one-party state at that point. They're not going to go through this again, are they?

Well, that is of grave concern, because if that were to happen, there are some changes to the law that I fear they would put through. These voting rights bills that they keep talking talking about wanting to pass are among them. So they pass these voting rights laws.

We already have voting rights, don't we?

We do. But they keep touting them under the banner of civil rights and making all Americans-Civil unable to vote. Civil rights. They want to subject any state law decisions regarding legislative redistricting within the state to pre-clearance by political appointees within what they envision as a democratic presidential administration. So they would have to come to the federal political appointees and say, Mother, may I adopt this legislative redistricting plan or this or that set of reforms to the way we conduct our elections. And those would have to be pre-approved. They also want to essentially divest the power to draw legislative boundaries from the state legislatures and give them to non-partisan independent commissions, thus further taking away the power from elected lawmakers and putting it in the hands of unaccountable experts. These sorts of things, coupled with what I fear they would also do, they would enact another law, bringing the district of Columbia into this family of states, making DC a state, and perhaps Puerto Rico as a state, if they conclude that Puerto Rico and DC would be reliable democratic seats.

I mean, as long as we're picking up completely dysfunctional territories incapable of governing themselves, why not Haiti, too?

Why not? Well, Haiti isn't currently a US territory. That would be the biggest distinction.

That's insane. You spend sensitivities of the people as a whole. That's one of the many reasons why I often distinguish differentiate between America, the country, and the United States government. They are two different things. It's one of the reasons why I bristle every time when anyone of either party refers to the President of the United United States or to Congress as running the country. We don't run the country. The President of the United States certainly doesn't run the country. President of the United States happens to be the chief executive officer of the United States government and the commander in chief of the US Army Forces, runs a large organization with immense power, to be sure.I don't want to denigrate the office. But he doesn't run the country. The country itself consists of the American people. He's not running the economy. That's why presidents shouldn't go too far in over-promising what they're going to do for the country. I'm going to create this many jobs or to claim credit for jobs that have been created. Presidents can't do that. We've got to get back to a proper understanding of what government is, and more importantly, what it isn't. Government's not there to be your rich uncle, your best friend, your fun aunt. It's not there to make everything fair. No, government exists for the purpose of protecting life, liberty, and property, making sure that we don't fall victim to those who would take that which belongs to us or do us harm, either from the inside or the outside.Preserving our freedoms. Preserving our freedoms. From enemies, foreign and domestic.Exactly. Life, liberty, and property. To further afield you get from that, Tucker, the more you run into problems, the this administration has inflicted upon itself. The way they're presenting themselves, the way they're running the Pentagon to pursue woke ideological agenda items is itself a turn off to a lot of the target audience.Well, sure. But even just judging by its effects, judging the tree by its fruit, we went to war against the Taliban in 2001. Were they better armed then or now?They, meaning the Taliban.The Taliban. Yeah. They're better armed now. The Houthies, most Americans, including me, had not heard the term Houthie five years ago, and now they're closing a key shipping lane with like, childish drones against the US Navy. So that is not success.It's not. I remember the exact moment in 2015, I was speaking at some event in Iowa when I heard about what was going on in Yemen. And immediately I thought, oh, gosh, I really hope that we don't get involved in a proxy war here. And we did. And it's now bled into three different presidential administrations. And it has led to Yemen being even more of a leverage point for Iran. Exactly. Being able to arm the Houthis and having incentive to do so. This is one of the things that happens when we get involved in proxy wars, generally. One of the reasons why in Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton comments that one of the distinguishing... Our model for our government really is based on the British system in many respects. We've got a bicameral legislature, we've got a chief executive. But under the British system, as Hamilton points out in Federalist 69, the king, the chief executive, have the ability to take the country to war independently, unilaterally. Secondly, the Constitution, by contrast, requires a declaration of war by Congress. Now, we never passed an AUMF or a declaration of war with regard to Yemen. They regard all kinds of other existing authorities.From the '01 and '02 AUMFs to inherent Article II power in the presidency. It's all unpersuasive in my mind, but to authorize all this. I've been opposing this ever since 2015 because I believe that this was first and foremost about benefiting the industrial military-industrial complex, and that it would tend to be one of these entangling affairs that gradually escalated. And it's been exactly that. It's interesting. I found some unlikely allies embrace of China.And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.Hangs on it.So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

sensitivities of the people as a whole. That's one of the many reasons why I often distinguish differentiate between America, the country, and the United States government. They are two different things. It's one of the reasons why I bristle every time when anyone of either party refers to the President of the United United States or to Congress as running the country. We don't run the country. The President of the United States certainly doesn't run the country. President of the United States happens to be the chief executive officer of the United States government and the commander in chief of the US Army Forces, runs a large organization with immense power, to be sure.

I don't want to denigrate the office. But he doesn't run the country. The country itself consists of the American people. He's not running the economy. That's why presidents shouldn't go too far in over-promising what they're going to do for the country. I'm going to create this many jobs or to claim credit for jobs that have been created. Presidents can't do that. We've got to get back to a proper understanding of what government is, and more importantly, what it isn't. Government's not there to be your rich uncle, your best friend, your fun aunt. It's not there to make everything fair. No, government exists for the purpose of protecting life, liberty, and property, making sure that we don't fall victim to those who would take that which belongs to us or do us harm, either from the inside or the outside.

Preserving our freedoms. Preserving our freedoms. From enemies, foreign and domestic.

Exactly. Life, liberty, and property. To further afield you get from that, Tucker, the more you run into problems, the this administration has inflicted upon itself. The way they're presenting themselves, the way they're running the Pentagon to pursue woke ideological agenda items is itself a turn off to a lot of the target audience.Well, sure. But even just judging by its effects, judging the tree by its fruit, we went to war against the Taliban in 2001. Were they better armed then or now?They, meaning the Taliban.The Taliban. Yeah. They're better armed now. The Houthies, most Americans, including me, had not heard the term Houthie five years ago, and now they're closing a key shipping lane with like, childish drones against the US Navy. So that is not success.It's not. I remember the exact moment in 2015, I was speaking at some event in Iowa when I heard about what was going on in Yemen. And immediately I thought, oh, gosh, I really hope that we don't get involved in a proxy war here. And we did. And it's now bled into three different presidential administrations. And it has led to Yemen being even more of a leverage point for Iran. Exactly. Being able to arm the Houthis and having incentive to do so. This is one of the things that happens when we get involved in proxy wars, generally. One of the reasons why in Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton comments that one of the distinguishing... Our model for our government really is based on the British system in many respects. We've got a bicameral legislature, we've got a chief executive. But under the British system, as Hamilton points out in Federalist 69, the king, the chief executive, have the ability to take the country to war independently, unilaterally. Secondly, the Constitution, by contrast, requires a declaration of war by Congress. Now, we never passed an AUMF or a declaration of war with regard to Yemen. They regard all kinds of other existing authorities.From the '01 and '02 AUMFs to inherent Article II power in the presidency. It's all unpersuasive in my mind, but to authorize all this. I've been opposing this ever since 2015 because I believe that this was first and foremost about benefiting the industrial military-industrial complex, and that it would tend to be one of these entangling affairs that gradually escalated. And it's been exactly that. It's interesting. I found some unlikely allies embrace of China.And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.Hangs on it.So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

this administration has inflicted upon itself. The way they're presenting themselves, the way they're running the Pentagon to pursue woke ideological agenda items is itself a turn off to a lot of the target audience.

Well, sure. But even just judging by its effects, judging the tree by its fruit, we went to war against the Taliban in 2001. Were they better armed then or now?

They, meaning the Taliban.

The Taliban. Yeah. They're better armed now. The Houthies, most Americans, including me, had not heard the term Houthie five years ago, and now they're closing a key shipping lane with like, childish drones against the US Navy. So that is not success.

It's not. I remember the exact moment in 2015, I was speaking at some event in Iowa when I heard about what was going on in Yemen. And immediately I thought, oh, gosh, I really hope that we don't get involved in a proxy war here. And we did. And it's now bled into three different presidential administrations. And it has led to Yemen being even more of a leverage point for Iran. Exactly. Being able to arm the Houthis and having incentive to do so. This is one of the things that happens when we get involved in proxy wars, generally. One of the reasons why in Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton comments that one of the distinguishing... Our model for our government really is based on the British system in many respects. We've got a bicameral legislature, we've got a chief executive. But under the British system, as Hamilton points out in Federalist 69, the king, the chief executive, have the ability to take the country to war independently, unilaterally. Secondly, the Constitution, by contrast, requires a declaration of war by Congress. Now, we never passed an AUMF or a declaration of war with regard to Yemen. They regard all kinds of other existing authorities.

From the '01 and '02 AUMFs to inherent Article II power in the presidency. It's all unpersuasive in my mind, but to authorize all this. I've been opposing this ever since 2015 because I believe that this was first and foremost about benefiting the industrial military-industrial complex, and that it would tend to be one of these entangling affairs that gradually escalated. And it's been exactly that. It's interesting. I found some unlikely allies embrace of China.And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.Hangs on it.So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

embrace of China.

And you now have- Turkey, the Gulf States. Exactly. Malaysia. The parts of the world that are getting richer and stronger are fleeing from us. That's not good.

I know a guy who He's a lawyer who works in the petroleum industry, and he's the guy who handles all the legal implications of the contracts, the rapidly developing contracts that are written when there's a petroleum supertanker traveling, he irons out the details of how things are going to be denominated. This is like 20 years ago. He was explaining to me that these are all, no matter where you are in the world, these are pretty much transacted in US dollars. That's just one of the unifying forces behind it. It's starting to not be the case anymore. I know. And that's very chilling because we've all benefited from that to a very significant- Our prosperity, it.

Hangs on it.

So in the name of protecting the rules-based international order, We've weakened it. In the name of maintaining economic and military security for the United States, we've made ourselves more vulnerable. So one has to ask, at what point will the American people, and more importantly, their elected representatives in Congress, get wise enough to say, We've been listening to the wrong voices. We've got to stop deferring to the military experts who will always have incentive to tell us that they need more. Yeah, maybe Liz Cheney and Tori Newland don't know what they're talking about.

Okay, so speaking of curious ironies, my last question, I think about this all the time, but I'm not an expert. You are. It's about your state, Utah, which is an amazing place, lovely place, most conservative was always thought to be just because of its population, heavily LDS, inherently conservative people, prosperous, family-oriented, just great, in my opinion. How did a state like Utah wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor who were just open, out of the closet, liberals. What is that?

Let me speak broadly. I don't know that I would characterize them the way you did, but I understand the point.

Well, that's just the way it looks to me from afar.

But first of all, while I believe that the people in my state, the state of Utah, I think we're one of the most conservative states. I think we're naturally skeptical of government. We're naturally inclined to respect the Constitution and understand the need for limitations on power. We're actually the only faith that I'm aware of that has is a matter of doctrine belief, the fact that the US Constitution was written by wise men, raised up by God to that very purpose.

But they're also more constitutionally. Just as an observer of Mormons my whole life, on a basic level, they're conservative. They believe in sobriety and faithfulness. They don't like debt. Working hard is like a precept of the religion, it seems. Sure. On the most basic level, they're conservative.

Yes. Getting back to the Neil A. Maxwell quote that I gave you a minute agothink the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

think the people of Utah understand how quickly their state could become a slum. California has become a slum. And that could happen because you're comfortable, you're prosperous. You're like, We've been too mean. Putting people in prison for rape. Maybe we shouldn't do that. And you don't understand that the second you allow disorder, slovenliness, debt, the whole thing can disappear in 10 years.

Right. And in a place like Utah, where the Republican Party has been dominant for most of my lifetime, not all of it, but most of it, there is sometimes an assumption that if they're Republican, they are going to do conservative things. In the meantime, there are a lot of people who will push agenda items that are themselves very carefully disguised, progressive dream pieces. For example, there was a voter initiative pushed through a few years ago that tried to take away some of the legislative redistricting authority from the Utah legislature and put it in an independent, bipartisan or non-partisan commission. You see where this is going. I mean, anytime you put it in the hands of unelected, unaccountable experts, the way the thing works, particularly in a conservative state, is going to move you further to the left. So it passed. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of voter initiatives. We've got a Republican form of government. We shouldn't dilute it with these... You've got legislatures for a reason. I think it's better to have them do it. But regardless, it's allowed under our state constitution, it passed. Well, our legislature, as well it needed to with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.Thank you, Tucker.Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.

with no plan to get out of it. Because we bought lock, stock, and barrel this idea that government's The federal government's job is open-ended. It's there to right all the wrongs, to make everything fair, and that's all a big lie. That's how we get stuck in it. But if we can reinvigorate this idea that the Constitution and the limited government that guarantees us is our birthright, and that liberty is good, that government expands only the expense of individual liberty will be better off. We've got a real opportunity with this election. People love to say, Every time this year's election is critically important. I think this one is an especially important inflection point. In addition to the presidential election, where we've got one of the most liberal, progressive, and frankly lawless presidential administrations in US history, the Senate's on the line.

I think Republicans have a real shot at reca the majority. That's happening at the same time when our current Senate Republican leader, who's in his 18th year, a world record in the Senate for either party, is going to be stepping down as leader. We'll have the chance to elect somebody else. I hope, I expect, I'm pushing, I'm messaging to my colleagues constantly, let's focus. Before we get to the who, let's focus on the what. Let's talk about what it is that we envision for this position. We want somebody who will foster and promote the atmosphere in which individual members and the states they represent, their respective voters, can have a voice, because that voice has been narrowed. It's been narrowed to a very small choke point, and it has not inured to the benefit of the American people. It's frankly one of the reasons why we're $35 trillion in debt.

I just really hope that you're driving the reforms I know you will be. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, thank you for spending all this time.

Thank you, Tucker.

Thanks for listening to Tucker Carlson show. If you enjoyed it, you can go to tuckercarlson. Com to see everything that we have made, the complete library, tuckercarlson. Com.