Transcript of Escape From MAGAland

So are we supposed to start the podcast?

Ready? One, two, three.

Patriots, gay triets, they triets, black triets, brown triets. And to all of the fascists that try to oppressed those people, you can- Fuck off. Caca. Wow.

I was trying to do it better.

It was a very high pitch.

I'm going all in.

Okay. All right. Yeah, you can fuck off. And so This is not only America's top DEI podcast, we are America's top antifascist podcast. And it's very important that we continue to say this because you never obey in advance. We are antifascist. We are pro-democracy. We are pro-First Amendment, and we will not be bullied by some man who lies about how tall he is, lies about his weight, wears a diaper, has to wear compression socks because his ankles are so wide, needs a bra, which I would recommend adding to your Mata, Maga merch, flea market online. Magga Man bra for all the Titty babies. That are so upset and triggered by comedians that they are flailing and trying to take away all of the fun things about America because they're so miserable. They are so miserable. They want everybody else to be emotionally stunted and stupid as they are. I mean, I cannot stand these people.

You know what I've been thinking about ever since we were talking about it? Donald Trump and his administration, they have everything they want. They have the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court. Congress is completely just letting them do whatever the fuck they want, as is the Supreme Court. And they're still so fucking mad. I mean, they are still so mad.

These are broken people. These are emotionally stunted, anti-intellectual people that have not grown or evolved and are scared of facts, comedians. A lot of these people have been religiously damaged and/or in the case of Donald Trump, he's not a religious man. He's a malignant narcissist. So we have mental illness combining with people that are suffering from religious trauma, from being told from the moment they were born, they're not good people. And masturbating is a sin, and the devil's in your bedroom telling you to do it when you do it. And that's the shit. And people on the Coast and people overseas that listen to and watch America's Top Antifascist podcast, you have to understand what so horrifying for me as an atheist that's lived in a Bible belt, Bible thumper state forever, is seeing how this is mainstream now. It was always a corner of the world that was a flyover state And I would be like, God, I'm so nice to get out of Oklahoma because I can get away from all these Bible thumpers, because they're mean people. Evangelical Christians are mean. They are very, very cruel people. And not to mention, it's a Ponzai scheme where the churches take Venmo and have bad architecture.

But I digress. I am shocked at the regressive nature that this is now mainstream at the White House, and everybody's tongue-talking before they go out and do these press conferences. I mean, I'm just like, those were my crazy peers in high school that were like, Oh, yeah, I got the Holy spirit, and I was tongue-talking. I'm like, That sounds fucking crazy. Much to my surprise, I now see the tongue-talkers are at the White House.

Yeah, and you know what's just... The thing that sticks out to me, I mean, that really sticks out to me, is Trump is not religious.

He's never- He is now.

Because he wants to get into heaven, but I don't think he really... I think that he's not in his Bible and doing Bible study and going to church. I think he's like, he's sending out fundraisers, Help me go to heaven, donate 15.

For me, the fact that he identifies as evangelical now makes more sense to me, that he's identifying as a Bible thumper, because there's this whole cover that people give people when they say they're religious. You even suggesting that Trump's not even religious, that somehow if he were religious, that provides people moral cover. It doesn't. For me, it's a red flag. When I see somebody's Instagram profile and it says For Him and H is capitalized or it has a cross, I know that that person is the biggest nightmare in the comment section and in real life, period. I know that person's personal life is a disaster. I know their interpersonal relationships are as superficial as all get out. I know this is not a big thinker. I immediately know that it's a problem. So for him, finding home and solace with the evangelical Christianity movement, and to my Black listeners, I'm not talking about the Black church. You all know the one I'm talking about, the church that is an extension from the KKK, the white, Nationalist Christian churches that remain all over everywhere now that their number one thing is to grow and to recruit more people.

It makes perfect sense that he's found that. But I don't allow people when they say, I'm a deeply religious person. I use that as a red flag because typically when people are saying that they're trying to get moral cover for their own personal shortcomings. If they just religious signal, Christian signal, and Jesus signal, then it covers up for the depravity and the judgment in the race criticism that they feel in their hearts all day, every day, that is reinforced by this religious structure.

I hadn't thought about it in those terms, but I can't disagree with you on that. Because You immediately think, Well, there must be a nice person.

I don't.

But I'm saying now when someone... Growing up, I would have said that, Oh, well, they're a good person. They go to church. Now I have a huge, Oh, my gosh. Step back.

When Somebody says I'm deeply religious or puts it in their profile photo, I immediately know. This is one of those times where life is giving you a very visible red flag.

Yeah, especially online.

Now, a couple of my friends that are, I would say, Christian light, that they have no issue with my atheism. They're not threatened by it. They love me and accept me. They're not trying to recruit me. I'm not on any prayer list anywhere, concerned about my soul. Their religion is simply private to them, a vehicle in which they find solace or serenity that it's only for them and it sets up something for their life. But in Oklahoma, and I think all of our little red dots and blue states, when somebody tries to provide moral cover by saying, I'm religious, or, Oh, he's religious. Look no further than Marjorie Taylor-Greene. She's religious. Look no further than Ted Cruz. He's religious as all get out. Look at Mike Johnson. I mean, it's just so obvious to me. People I know personally that are so overtly religious, they're the ones running around in Gulf of America merch, an Alligator Alcatraz merch. Yeah. All right. What have you had it with?

Okay, what I've had it with... Okay, along the same lines. I just had a conversation making an appointment, and the person said... I said, Okay, thanks. Bye. And they said, Have a blessed day. That bugs the shit out of me.

I'm so glad you've come to my side on this. I mean, it just is like...

But here it gets worse. It's more insidious because you know what I did? I immediately said, You, too. So I feel like now I'm part of the problem. Don't tell me to have a blessed day. No, thank you. I give myself a little cover because I did tell a hostess at Olive Garden I loved her once on accident. But I was just... I really... It took everything in me not to call back. You know I did that?

I forgot about it, but it's just so funny. I did.

I was walking- Yeah, I was on the phone.

Remind the listener, you- Okay, so I was talking to one of my kids on the phone, and I was walking out of an Olive Garden, and I said, Okay, love you.

And the host just said, Bye, have a great night. And I came back and I go, I love you. I just kept going. I just was like, Just keep going.

Okay, here's my thing about the blessed day thing. So I have this I have such a reaction to overt religiosity that I can be hyper judgmental about it, because I've always felt like this unicorn in this red state with all of these Christians that I see as superficial, vote for Donald Trump, value money more than they do human beings. And so it's always been so off-pitting. And I have oftentimes projected my personal anecdotal version of relating with religious people, which I've had to my whole life here, on anybody that says anything religious. And I'm softening a bit that when somebody says now, Have a blessed day, that I have to realize this person, that's maybe the only thing they have in their life. I don't respond back like you two. I just say, Thank you. But I used to be It used to just be insufferable. I remember one time, your ex-husband, when you were married, he sends out, I'm talking 75 people deep, text message. I'm copied with everybody. And it starts off, I think we've talked about this before, but it starts off with Princess just got out of surgery. You were Princess.

Princess just got out of surgery. And the doctor said, and of course, it's 95 paragraphs long.

Oh, he thrives in a medical emergency.

Any moment he could torture a mass audience, he's going to do it. He never got the memo that less is more, right? Never fucking got it, right? Never. Still then. So I'm scrolling through this thing, and at the time, you were in the epicenter of all the Bible study culture, religious schools, hate academies, mega churches, the whole nine, right? You're my only friend that I'd eliminated them all from high school in my adult life that had this. So he puts out, Please pray her this and please pray for her that. And of course, the chorus, they all start up, right? Prayers up, prayer emojis, praying for Angie, prayer warriors, unite. And it's constant. It's like an inner in an intercontinental ballastic missile. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So it'd be like somebody saying, Have a blessed day, have a blessed day, have a blessed day. Yeah, it makes you crazy. So I had had it. So I go into the text message and I I was like, This is a great update. In lieu of a prayer, I'm so grateful for medical science that they were able to study enough that this problem with Angie's back can be remedied via surgery.

We can fix it because of science.

Yeah. And it was crickets.

Did it really stop at that point?

Completely stopped. It was total crickets, total crickets. And so I get it. I've softened up a little bit because there's this guy at the TSA, and he says, at Oklahoma City Airport, which we're there all the time. And he's a super sweet man, and he says, Have a... Oh, no. I asked him, How are you doing today, sir? And he always says, blessed and highly favored. And he smiles And I've seen him up there a ton of times, and he's just so happy all the time. I've realized, Jennifer, you've got to quit being such a cunt all the time. You've got to give it a moment, a cunt reprieve, if you will. Right? And so I'm trying to be better about this because not all religious people are bad, but when you live around Christian nationalists, it's a cult that now you've been de-programmed from. So you're at the beginning stages of where I was when I sent the response to the princess text.

I think that's where I am. I'm back because I'm like... And this woman's probably the sweetest woman on the planet.

I used to be there.

I used to be there. She's probably so nice. She probably goes to the dog shelter five times a week and pets dogs.

Rocks babies.

Rocks babies. She probably does all of it. But I just envision somebody that is a hypocrite. All of the religious stuff now is synonymous with hypocrite.

That's where I was when I received the Princess text with the Prayer Warriors Unite request. So hopefully I'll have all. I get it. I totally get it because I've been there. I've You've been so mad at religion and just how in America, nobody honors the secular nature of it, especially in the Bible Belt listener. It's like, evangelical Christianity is just so inherently codependent. It's just like this, right? Like all of the things you go to a therapist to sort out about your personal life, minding your own business, fixing what you can for you, doing the right thing because it's the best thing for you, keeping your side of the street clean. Evangelical Christianity is the opposite. Crawl up in that ass. Get up in there. Tell them they're a sinner. Tell them the only way they're going to find freedom. And it's just this toxic cult. But I've been exactly where you've been. But I'm just going to say, as you evolve in this and you get over the anger at the hypocrisy of it and the streamlined nature of it, I would recommend waking up one morning and look in the mirror and say, I'm going to be a cunt 50 % of the day.

50 % of the day only?

That's it. Limit. Yeah. And then you can find a little space. And then sometimes I think this, I'm starting to get to a stage, and this is crazy, but I'm starting to get to where with people in the service industry or anybody that I meet, the meaner they are or the worst mood they feel like they're in, I'm responding with radical kindness or radical empathy.

I've been doing that, too.

Yeah. And you know what? You start to see the frown turn upside down.

It works. It does. And I'm like, I really don't want to be a complete cunt to you because you're such a dick. So I want to rise above it. I'm also over-tipping like crazy. I'm over-thinking people. I'm just being overly gracious because I want to be the person that they say. I might disagree with her, but she's a really nice person.

But she's not a cunt.

She's not a cunt all the time. She's only a cunt 50 % of the time.

Well, to that, I have to say, have a blessed day.

Fuck off.

I mean, honestly- I've been there. I've been there.

I really thought about getting on my chart to my doctor and telling her I was offended. And I just like, Don't be... That's too far. What? I didn't do it. But that's how crazy this environment is making me. I'm getting crazy.

Wait, wait, wait. So this person, instead of a blessed day, was worked for your doctor?

Yes. I was making an appointment.

And you were You're not going to tattle?

I didn't do it.

You fantasized.

I fantasized about saying- About tattling. Because I know my doctor's cool as fuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just said, it grossed me out a little bit.

That she said how to bless day. But here's the deal, you don't want to- I don't want to get her in trouble.

And she's being nice. And like I said, she's probably rocking babies and feeding homeless dogs, adopting cats nobody wants. I'm doing better, but I did have that fantasy. I also had the fantasy of calling her back. I'm just crazy.

I'm just fucking crazy. I I think it's so relatable. I mean, it's difficult to go out in the world and manage our lives with other people and expectations and all of this stuff. Okay. Let me tell you what I've had it with. I have had it with the coward US of billionaires. Yes. Billionaires that have been so fortunate to this unrestricted capitalism that rocks America. And they have private planes and yachts and all of stuff. And then they just completely embarrass themselves by having no spine and bending over to a fascist regime. But the one that gets me the most is when they He praise on Trump, and they keep a straight face. You know what I mean? Right. How do they do that? I'm incapable of that level of duplicity. I'm incapable of someone that I have no respect for, someone that I visibly see as oppressing marginalized people. That is where there will be no reprieve. If I was forced in this situation, in this fascist regime, and they're like, Okay, Jen and Pumps, you said that you're the America's top fascist podcast, and you owe Trump an apology. I would just say, I am not apologizing.

No. I'm not saying, Fuck you. Exactly. The fact that billionaires are so behold into a mentally unstable, malignant, narcissist that lies about his high weight, is in such poor health, all of the things. Tried to give a microphone a blowjob, puts makeup on his hands. Need I go on? Rotting from the inside out. It makes me realize, this is a moment to advertise, you thought being a billionaire would be complete liberation? It's actually not. I feel freer than the Bezos, the Apple guy, what's his name? Cook. Tim Cook. Tim Apple, according to Tim. They have to go make trophies and go give it to him and sit there in feign under your leadership. And I'm like, Are you smoking crack right now. What are you talking about under his leadership? Under his leadership, what he has done is walked over this incompetent, physically incapable and mentally incapable man, has walked over to you, pulled down your pants, grabbed your balls, and twisted them up, and then taken a little pair of scissors, and then cut them off, and then walked back over in his Marie Antoinette shit show of an oval office, put them in the top desk, and closed it.

Because he has the balls of all of these men, alleged alpha males, in his oval office desk. And it is pathetic.

It's pathetic.

It I just can't. I literally cannot believe it.

I really can't believe it because you think, okay, let's take Tim Cook for an example. You run Apple. Everybody on the fucking planet has an iPhone, a MacBook, and I mean, some product by Apple. He would be the perfect person to say, We're out on that. We're just going to keep doing what we're doing.

We have enough money. We have enough money. We're going to write it out for four years.

We're going to ride it out for four years. We're going to do what's best for our It wouldn't be in our consumer. Nope.

It would be so easy. It would be so easy. Welcome to I've Had It. I'm Jennifer.

I'm Angie. I'm being a cunt today.

Seth is filling in for Kylie today. Our lesbian is away at a friend's wedding, as many millennials have to do all the time. There's a lot of celebration of marriages in a country where the divorce rate is 50 %. Seth, how are you today? I am blessed and highly honored. You know, Seth is our DEI hire. He is a white, heterosexual male. I will say I am lesbian in passing, though, so don't turn off the podcast. You are lesbian in passing. I agree. All right, Seth, what do you have for us today? So first, I've got a five-star review. It is from Ro, and it says, Dearest Meemaw, Jessica, Carly, and Carly's Hinchperson. I would like to file a personal complaint against the podcast as I've had it with the hosts of said podcast podcast infiltrating into my daily life with the usage of their lexicon. Everywhere I go, someone is either grandstanding or jackmouthing. My meat curtains are shivering, and I have no one to browbeat. But in all honesty, thank you, you wonderful ladies, for giving us this wonderful podcast in these trying times. It is a beacon of light. Love, Ro. Oh, Ro, thank you so much.

That is so nice.

That's so nice. And it's been a while since I've been reminded of the meat curtains.

I like that. Okay, Seth, who's next? Okay, this one is a one-star review. Two angry geriatric dults blather on for too long about nothing substantiative. Avoid at all cost. It's titled Thoughtless Garbage. What I appreciate about... Put that back up, Seth. Her name is Jenzze, J-E-N-N-Z-Z-E. What I have to say about Jenz is what I appreciate about this particular review is Two angry geriatric adults blather on for far too long. So what they're admitting there is they went the mile with us. All the way. This is the point where, Gen Z, you have agency. I don't particularly like Fox News. I don't watch it. I've never had to write a hate review on it because I simply do not watch it. Now, I do make fun of the on-air talent of course, as much as I can when I see the clips. But there are other shows that come on TV, like the, what is it, the QVC, the Home Shopping Network? I'm not into that. I don't watch it, and I don't review it. So it's just a very simple fix. Listener, the Hot Book of the Summer. I have it the wrong way.

Take two. Listener, the Hot Book of the Summer is now the cool book of the fall. It is in Trump's America, I can tell you with absolute certainty, the best book that has ever been written, and believe me, a lot of people are talking about it.

Everybody's talking about it.

Everybody's talking about it. It took us one day to write it. On day one.

Because we took a cognitive test, and it was book, write, done.

All right. Anyway, please buy our book. It's a great way to support us. It is a really fun read for the fall. Curl up with your pumpkin spice lattes and just enjoy living the American dream in Dipset Trump's America. I've I just had this tortured relationship with makeup. At the age I am right now, I need a little bit, but genuinely, I don't like wearing it. When I see people that have a lot of makeup on their face, I don't see them. I just note, God, they're wearing a lot of makeup, which This is why I'm so happy to share with our listener, our sponsor, you guys. I'm using their products now. It's called Jones Road. Jones Road Beauty is a minimalist makeup brand founded by makeup artist Bobby Brown that creates versatile and easy to use products that simplify your routine. Clean makeup that actually performs.

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It's about expressing himself. And in Trump's America, there it is, lit up at night. In Trump's America, you guys, I'm just like, you know what? We have to never obey in advance. That's right. This is this guy's first amendment, right? It's petty, party of one. Your table is now available, and I'm here for it.

Yeah. And honestly, being a divorce lawyer for so many years and seeing the awful people, awful things people do to people that they were used to be married to, that's pretty mild to me. Yeah. I mean, it's like, it could be a lot worse.

I appreciate. I always have to take a note. On the one end, when somebody is very selfless and they do a lot of things, and you get this package or somebody takes a lot of care to do something really nice for you, I'm like, Oh, wow, That was so thoughtful. The inverse of that is like this guy, somebody that takes a lot of care with their hate and puts that much effort into it, like the negative reviews you receive. There's a lot of energy put into that. So Okay, one final story before we go to our guest. This is a man robs bank to go to jail and escapes his wife, but gets house arrest instead. I believe there's a video to follow Hello.

According to the FBI, Lawrence John Ripple handed a KCK bank teller a note that said, I have a gun, give me money. The 70-year-old is accused of stealing $3,000, but instead of running away, he sat in a lobby and told security he was the guy they were looking for. He told police he'd prefer to go to jail rather than home to his wife after an argument. We went to the couple's home and talked to his wife, Dauri. She declined to go on camera for an interview, but says the argument started over a dryer, and he wrote the robbery note right in front of her after she reminded him the dryer still needed to be fixed. Then he took off for the bank. They'd been married 33 years.

(laughter) How about that judge? You're going under house arrest, buddy.

I'll tell you what, you can't I believe. I like that punishment.

Yeah, that's pretty good. Okay, listen, we have a really important guest today, you guys. And I hope that this becomes more and more contagious because we are... America is now a fascist country. When you see media being coerced by the government to silence people's First Amendment right because somebody gets their feelings hurt over a comedian. Imagine. If you are thin-skinned, I would recommend, listener, never get into politics. Don't start a podcast. Yeah. Live a private life.

Be a librarians. Yeah.

Oh, no. In Trump's America, they're going after librarians. You can't have books. They're banning the books. Nobody's safe. All right. So we have today our guest. His name is Jeff Duncan. He is a former professional baseball player, which I didn't know that. That's impressive. Entrepreneur and Georgia's Lieutenant Governor. And you guys may remember that Jeff Duncan, when Trump tried to overturn Georgia's 2020 election, remember he called and said, I need for you to find me 11,000 votes. Duncan was like, I'm not doing this. Since then, he has become a national voice for truth with democracy, and he has left the Republican Party. Now, he's a proud dim. He's joined the resistance. He is running for governor of Georgia, which is so great because Georgia is one of these purple states. And let's welcome to I've Had It, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan.

How are you? Good.

Well, how are you?

I'm great. I feel good. I feel refreshed.

How are things in Georgia?

Well, it's 82 and sunny today. This is the best time of year. No humidity. Life is good. Although I will tell you, my wife just went on a beach trip for a couple of days with her friends. So I've not only announced I'm running for governor, but I've got carpool duty later today.

I like it. Do you have any primary opponents?

I do. I've got a whole roster full of folks in the Democratic primary that are running. My story is this. I'm sure they all got a great story to tell and good resume, and they're probably respectable folks. But my whole vision is about speaking to the 11 million Georgians, and I got a long road to travel, and I'm going to try to stay focused on the issues that matter the most. I think that's really what's going on right now. I think this is the vacuum that I feel, and I see, and I talk to folks. They just want to have elected officials that can stay focused on the issues that matter They ignore all of the shrapnel flying around from far left, far right, and just get up and go do what they say they're going to do. There's a couple of pretty important things going on in America right now. There's an affordability crisis where folks are showing up. Folks can't go back to work because they can't afford childcare. Some folks can't afford next month's rent. Some folks are going to the grocery store and can't even buy all the groceries they need for the week.

They got to put them back because they don't have enough money. These are real issues that really matter. Donald Trump is not making this any better. He's making it worse, like Financially worse. So, yeah, look, this is going to be a tough road for anybody trying to run for office, especially somebody who is a former Republican. But look, I lead with my heart on this. This wasn't a change for political reasons. I wouldn't recommend if you wanted to just have political favor to switch parties. You got to do it for a real reason. My heart changed. It was too hard for me to love my neighbor as a Republican, and that's really what my main mission is when I get into politics. So here we go. Let's do this.

So let's talk about that because we live in a red state, too. Ours much, much redder than yours, and we live in Oklahoma. And there is, what I'm seeing right now, a real problem with the Republican Party that has brought unsecular politics to the electorate. From my vantage point, they weaponize faith, particularly to folks in rural and suburban America, and they Christian signal or Jesus signal and act like, I'm I'm a good Christian man, and I'm going to go after these women that are trying to get abortions, and I'm going to go after these trans people. Meanwhile, they're doing the exact opposite of what Jesus, I'm not a Christian, but what Jesus, the central character of that religion, talked about. He spoke out against the accumulation of wealth, not once, not twice, multiple times. And the Republican Party, in all of its policies, are all about very few people accumulating wealth. And I think it's just such a diabolical, insidious thing to take these well-meaning people that have a lot of faith and they have a lot of pride in being Americans and weaponize their faith against them to vote against their own interest and to marginalize the most marginalized people on the planet and say, You can't have nice things because of these trans people or because of these immigrants.

And I've never seen a bigger walking advertisement against religion than the Republican Party.

Yeah, look, I'm a big fan of Jesus myself, and the best takeaway from my faith is you got to live by example. It's just not enough to walk into a room with a bay of microphones or go to a pulpit and say what you believe. You got to actually do it. And that was really this juxtaposed, to use a big fancy word, in my politics, was I just couldn't figure out how to reconcile what I knew to be the right thing to do, and then having to just have an asterisk mark next to love your neighbor. We got to be an example. And look, immigration is a prime example. It is unbelievable to see the inhumane treatment of these individuals that they came to this country, risking their life for one thing to provide for their family. And I understand that there was technically a law broken at the border, but when they're law abiding folks, trying to go to work, trying to care for their kids, just trying to survive, We run an ICE raid, so Christie Noem can take a Twitter picture and post it for a five-second sound bite, or Donald Trump can demonize somebody that is...

It's at odds with my faith. I think this is growing. I mean, even for those folks that showed up and voted for Donald Trump in this previous election, even those that would maybe hourly support him, that number by the hour is diminishing. It's just harder and harder to explain that behavior. It's harder to justify to your kids what what he does and what he says. It's hard to justify to folks at your church or in your community. And that's awful. I think about this Charlie Kirk situation. Nobody should be murdered for any reason, including political speech, obviously. But Donald Trump had a really big opportunity to be the healer in chief, to be an adult in the room, and to stand up and say, Look, we're going to put parties aside here. We're going to put partisan cheap shots aside. We're going to just do the right thing, and we're going cool down this temperature because America needs this at this moment in time. He waited no time at all to go full force, attack mode for selfish political gain, and at the detriment of this country.

But are we surprised? Are we surprised? I mean, to even state the conversation, Donald Trump could have done this. This is a man who lost the 2000 race. He lost it, and he incited an insurrection wherein his supporters tried to overthrow the government and wanted to hang Mike Pence and go kill Nancy Pelosi. And they took a shit in the Capitol. And so for us to sit here and think, Oh, Donald Trump could have done this. The joke's on us. Of course, he's not going to do that. Of course, he's going to weaponize this. Of course, he's going to see this as a way to expand his fascist ambitions. And yes, listener, we say fascist because that's what they are. That's what they're doing. But I want to ask you this. Lieutenant Governor, what are your people?

How about Jeff? Jeff.

Let's go with Jeff. I like that one. I don't want to be disrespectful. Let me ask you this. You're a deep man of faith. I'm not. Pumps is not. The largest growing religious movement in America when they interview people are the nons when they ask. Religion is declining in people who aren't religious. So as somebody, I'm always so off-put by American politics politics because a politician like you has to come out and state their faith, and my faith guides this, and my faith guides this. What do you have to say to the millions or hundreds of thousands, probably, of Georgians that are not of faith, that aren't looking for their leaders to come out in religious signal that can simply say, I'm doing the right thing because I have to put my head on the pillow at night. We live in a secular nation. I'm all for separation of church and state. Because I feel like there's always this litmus test for politicians to come out and signal, I love Jesus. I don't think it's behooved us in Europe and other very healthy democracies, it is very looked down upon when they bring up their faith.

I'm genuinely interested in what... Because you're clearly a very religious man. George is in the Bible Belt. I'm in the Bible Belt. But what is your take to the non-believers, the nonbelieving voters of this?

I think you got to lead by example. I think that's this growing trend of folks watching folks that are faith-driven and then say one thing and do something else. It's just not an authentic... And that's not just politics. That's just in general. For me, I feel like it helps make me a better decision maker. It helps me be honest. It helps me be compassionate. It helps me be empathetic. It helps me figure out how to really, truly own it and say, Hey, I didn't get that right. I was wrong. Jeff If Jeff Duncan was wrong as an early Republican on guns. Absolutely wrong. And then I had three kids, and then I watched school shootings play out, and I watched these parents not have their kids show up on the bus stop because they got killed at school. I stand with the 90% of people that want universal background checks, that want red flag laws, because I'm a dad of three kids, and I'm willing to say, I got that wrong. I think that's what really is the best way to lead by example.

That's a really powerful statement. That's so refreshing to hear that. Somebody say that.

I mean, think about this. In your life, whenever you've been mentored or influenced by a really effective, strong leader, that's one of the best traits they've got, is they're willing to say, Hey, I didn't get that sales forecast right. Let's go work on it again. Hey, I apologize for losing my temper yesterday. That was on me. That's endearing, and we don't get that now. We get the I was right, and then they double down, triple down, and send out three tweets demonizing everybody that was on the other side of the issue. There's a playbook for being a successful politician to win an election, but not a successful politician to be an actual leader. And that's really what this is about. This is a crazy notion to think in historical terms, a Republican switching to A statewide elected official as a Republican switching parties to become a Democrat, because I've got hearts and minds to win, but I'm going to do it authentically. I'm going to be honest with them.

Okay, I have a question. So you're in Georgia, we're in Oklahoma. Super religious, super gun lovers. How do you intend, and I'm genuinely curious, because I would love this to start happening in Oklahoma. How do you talk to people in these rural communities that think God and guns are number one? How do you approach with them the fact that so many kids are dying in school and nobody's talking about regulations or legislation to make it stop? So how do you reach them Because you know by design, they want their guns.

Yeah, I think you got to start by just talking about a safe community, right? You've got to have this safe community. And folks are watching this play. It's harder and harder and harder to justify this unabated access to assault weapons with no background checks. It's hard to imagine these clips that have 100 bullets in it. Look, I want to protect sportsmen and somebody to be able to protect their home. I mean, those are common sense areas that almost everybody agrees upon. But here's where the problem is. It's the shallowness of the legislators. I've sat in that chair as a state representative, and then as lieutenant governor as the President of the Senate. I've seen the weak knees because of the NRA threatening to run an opponent against somebody in a primary. I've seen the weak knees of somebody going, Oh, my God, some rogue gun group is going to run a Facebook ad against me and spend $50 to make my neighborhood mad at me. Those are not really good reasons. They're terrible reasons to set gun policy, but that's unfortunately the way this is really happening. It I think a majority of these folks know, at least enough to pass legislation on gun safety, know the right thing to do.

They just don't necessarily have the political courage to do it. And that comes from leadership. That's the cool part for me. If I can win this race, Hopefully, I've got the respect of a number of folks, even if they don't vote for me in the Capitol as my time as lieutenant governor, to be able to show them, Hey, let's go sit down and have a conversation about this issue. Let's actually lead the national discussion on this in a rational way.

You know what impresses me about you? There's going to be something if we get to elections, which I think is a big if. But if we make it to these elections, what's impressive is you're probably too conservative for me, even though we're both Democrats, but that's okay. We're all going to have to form alliances. What I'm looking for in politicians is conviction. The fact that you didn't let a man that lies about his weight, lies about his height, wears makeup, pics on everybody all the time, that you said, You're not going to bully me. And all of the debris of all of these Republicans, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, I could sit here and go on and on and on. How they have folded and allowed Trump to neuter them and has their testicles in the oval office in his drawer. It's so jaw-dropping. For me, what I'm for is a fighter, and maybe I'm sure that you're probably a little bit not as left as I want, but I feel like to beat fascism, leftists and democratic Liberals, progressive and democratic centrists are going to have to form huge coalitions like they do in Europe, because there's like six political parties, and four of them will unite to defeat fascists.

Tell me what that's like, because one of Trump's biggest thing is picking on people like you, and you've been the target, and you've had the cult aimed at you. We've had them aimed at us. Fox News gets really mad at us, and they'll go after us for a day. The mail you get, the DMs, it's crazy. I don't think people realize. What is your experience being on That end in a red state, and Trump personally naming you and demeaning you. Share with our listeners what that is like, what all of that MAGA love is like when it's directed towards you for having conviction.

Yeah, I mean, I can handle it. I've got thick skin. I chose to get into politics. The people I worry about the most are my wife and kids. They take the brunt of it. I mean, the typical trajectory is Donald Trump. I say something on national television that pushes back on the narrative of whatever the issue of the hour is. Donald Trump sends out a tweet, some hate-filled tweet at me. Two minutes later, my wife's phone rings, and it's a death threat. Two minutes later, my phone rings, and she's crying. People at school won't talk to your kids. Neighbors keep the It was rolled up. They won't wave at you anymore. It is what it is. But I will tell you, that's one side of it. But the other side of it is, so many folks reaching out saying, You know what? Thank you. Thanks for standing up. Thanks for being courageous. If we got to build a new group of friends, so be it. It is what it is. But this is the right time for this to do it. You talk about maybe not being as left as what you are. I can't remember the exact way you described it, but here's what we agree.

We agree on probably 80 plus % of the issues. And the other 20 %, let's go have a conversation about it. Let's go win each other's hearts and minds, and where we'll find out, it's probably a hell of a lot closer on those issues than we think. And maybe with a little bit of tweak and a little bit of conversation, you can actually get something across the finish line. I saw the value of that as lieutenant governor. As a Republican, I figured out, wait a minute. These Democrats have some really good ideas. So I'd go sit in their caucus meeting and say, Feed me some ideas. Tell me some things that you would do to improve this bill or something we can add. And it worked. All of a sudden, they're invested in the bill, and we can get something passed. That's the big risk I'm taking, that enough Georgians to vote for me for governor are like, Hey, this guy wants to solve problems. He's tired of the partisan divide. He's going to focus the arrows of our state government towards those that need it the most. Yeah, let's give him a shot. That's my hope.

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We used to laugh about bipartisan politics and all that. Now, it's like that would be a dream come true. If people could just talk, because I feel like now we're in a political environment that you have to agree with me 100 % or we're going to wish sexual violence on you. That's where we are. And it's like, I just like thinking that at some point in the future, we can have different perspectives that are talking because I always get better when I hear other people's perspectives on different issues. I just wonder, again, I worry about the whole rural Georgia thing because I know how bad it is in Oklahoma City.

They have two Democratic senators. Oh, that's true. Georgia is It's different. But here's the thing that I think about you, and I think about this about that James Talarico in Texas, and I think about this with Andy Berchier, who's been on this podcast, who he actually came in studio. America is still a very religious country. To have credible messengers for you to say, I'm religious and my faith tells me I can't bully people. Andy Berchier in Kentucky, which is red like Oklahoma's red, he He used to throw trans kids under the bus for political gains. And he won two terms. And he said his faith instructed him not to bully those kids. And there's a roadmap forward to get to rural Americans through dims like him and Calariko and Berchier. They're not going to listen to me. I'm the crazy liberal atheist. I don't have no credibility in real America, but you guys do. You have a lot of credibility in injecting back into the culture to remind these religious people what the teachings that they learned in Sunday school are really supposed to be about, because the cruelty that is being streamlined right now is so painful to see.

And then that's exacerbated by religious communities that are in support of that. And so I think it's a real social-political time combined for politicians like you, Talariko, Berchier, white, Christian men to remind this white electorate what their faith is supposed to be.

I think it's even one step further than that, what it's supposed to be, but what it's supposed to feel like. I think that's the conversation that I have over and over and over and over again. It's like, you have to admit this doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel right to turn on the TV. It might be popular to say it on Twitter, or it might be popular to say it around a small in a small room. But to watch this immigration stuff and these ICE rates play out, to watch the demeaning of individuals, to watch all of this, it just doesn't feel right. It's not our core. To me, that's the message. There is a better way to do this and still be effective. Andy Besheer is great. I mean, he's awesome. He is a man of faith, but he's also a man of conviction, and those aren't necessarily the same things.

Oh, my God. That's so true. That is such a good point. Okay, Let's talk about the Democratic Party at large. There is a belief that I used to just tow the Democratic Party line. I always towed it. Like, whatever was fed to me off MSNBC, I was a dutiful Democrat. And I have felt like the Democrats, after losing twice to Trump, I've dug deeper, I've educated myself more, that the Democrats being beholden to special interests, like you just talked the NRA, and in my opinion, APAC and other lobbyists, have made them the party of Maga Light, because this is a time where the fighting should be nonstop. We're at the fight for our right, just this news cycle, the First Amendment. How do you feel about APAC? How do you feel about the Democrats taking a party of safe centrisme and not a party of radical empathy, which it sounds like what you're talking about, which was the preachings of Jesus, radical empathy. So what is your take on that? Where we are as a party versus lobbying and all of that stuff.

Well, I think if you look at this like a math problem or a business problem, we keep thinking, and obviously the right has elected somebody to the far right. So we keep thinking that we got to get the perfect candidate. To fix this country, it's going to be a process. And there's so many things that are broken. So we've got to figure out this process. And the process is starting to wean people off of the 10-second sound bites, the shallow political propaganda that shows up, and start showing them what leadership looks like. So for Democrats, obviously, Democrats want to win. This is a horrific losing streak. In Georgia, it's been 27 years since a Democratic governor has won in Georgia, 27 years since 1998. 150 years before that, it was the other way around. And so a number of the calls I'm getting from folks are like, Hey, I'm not with you 100 %, but man, you sure make sense, and you are the best possible person to be Donald Trump's handpicked, because that's what's happening in Georgia. Donald Trump's handpicked Bert Jones, who took my spot as lieutenant governor, I decided not to run again.

He ran. And what that means for folks is if he wins, then he's going to hand the keys to the Capitol to Donald Trump. And he's going to say, Go run our schools, go run our streets, go run our legislature, go run our budgets, go run everything. But the process is going to be... I may not be the perfect Democratic nominee, but I feel like the best positioned one to win this race and to start to get this shit back on track. And to your broader point about the lobbying efforts. I mean, the special interest groups, there's lobbyists for folks that have big checkbooks, but the average person doesn't have that same understanding, doesn't have that same influence. That's for me. I want to go represent a majority of the folks that are in there and see how to tug the reins of control out of those special interest groups. They're always going to be there. I don't want to be this unicorns and rainbows person. But return a process that actually matters to the average person. The average person showing up, raising a family, working, doing the things they want to do, chasing their career, trying to retire.

That person doesn't really have a lobbyist fighting for that.

Can a politician that takes a lot of money, donations from these special interest groups like APAC. Can that person then unequivocally go help the average American family? Because the way I see it, Jeff, is we are sending hundreds of millions and billions of dollars to Israel, and people in Israel have care and have higher education, which I support. But people in rural Georgia don't. They don't have that. And because of the big, beautiful bill, a lot of those people in rural Georgia are going to be losing their health care. They're going to be losing their hospitals. So my question for you, because I think this is going to be a big issue with the base of the Democratic Party, and I don't think the Democratic strategists have quite grasped how big of an issue this is, will you take APAC money or have you taken APAC I'm not certain if I've taken it or not.

I've been in an office 10 years. It doesn't jump out at me as I'm taking it. But I think the most important part is- But will you for this race? I have no idea. I haven't even thought about it. I've only been in three days.

Okay, come on, Jeff. You have to... There's a genocide going on right now. Even human rights, Israeli human rights groups see this, that the United States of America is funding.

To see these kids starving.

And to not know if you're going to be beholden to the Israeli lobby, to me, is not something that should take time to think about because you started off this interview with us talking about your faith.

I think there's two important distinctions to make. I think there's whatever somebody wants to write a check and send in a contribution, it is what it is. But do you have the spine and tenacity to do the right thing? I think that's exactly what I've done. That's the track record. I think that's the separation factor.

Will you take APAC money in this race?

I have no idea. I haven't even thought about it.

Wow.

But I can assure you of this. My answer on Israel is that this is just an awful humanitarian crisis. As governor of Georgia, we will do all we can do to deliver that humanitarian aid and work with as much... And also to end the war. I mean, these hostages need to be returned. The war needs to end. But this is the thing that I think we all to focus our attention on. Donald Trump has made this situation unbelievable to make a mockery of kids that you can see their bones, you can see their very flesh hugged up against their ribs. To say he's going to build beachfront condos in Gaza, it's disgusting.

Okay, I want to take that moral clarity that you have right there and then ask you again, are you going to take money from APAC? Because just there, you talked about an APAC is what helped. They gave Trump over, I think, $200, $300 million. Are you going to take money from a group that lobbies to deny that that's happening to those children?

I'm not going to give you the shallow answer of saying yes or no, because I have no idea. I've not thought about it. But I will not be beholden to anybody in their check. Somebody wants to write a check to support my campaign, that's their free will to do it. I will sit there and make the decisions that are best for, I believe, in a wisdom-filled way for me. As George, That's my exact position. Israel was attacked. It was a horrific day, October seventh. We need to figure out ways to drive those hostages back, and we need to figure out a way to deliver those humanitarian- If Benjamin Netanyahu would quit bombing Qatar, Doha, where the hostage negotiations were happening, then maybe that would help get a ceasefire.

I think what we're looking for are politicians that quit lying and that don't cover for Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a You have a huge party in the base of the Democratic Party. In your urban centers of Atlanta, this is a very big driving force. You have Marjorie Taylor-Green, who is a nut, who is an anti-Semite, like a real Jew hater, who is using this right now saying, Matt, Naga is Israel first. When people don't know all of the scope of it, that you know in rural Georgia, they're going to hear that.

Marjorie Taylor-Green said that?

Yeah. Okay. She's filling a vacuum right now. And she has outside her office Marjorie Taylor-Green. It says no foreign lobbyists allowed here. But Marjorie Taylor-Green cherry-picks what human rights she cares about. She cares now about Gaza, because I think my belief is at the core of that is she's an anti-Semite, but she doesn't care about gay people, Black people, human rights, et cetera. So I just think this is a huge issue. And I think if you can have moral clarity to talk about the starvation, the famine, and the genocide, then it's a very easy jump to then just say across the board, you wouldn't believe how popular you'd be, Jeff. You just wouldn't believe how popular you'd be if you said, I am not taking money from APAC. The Democratic strategists are misreading this, and I'm just telling you, it is a big thing. There are some very bad actors that are filling this vacuum and void of Democratic leaders not being very black and white about this.

Well, I appreciate your perspective. Obviously, you've got a lot of passion behind your perspective, and I appreciate that. We'll certainly continue to look at it.

I hope that you do.

I think it's important, once again, for me, as the next governor, Georgia, to stay as laser-focused on the issues that affect the 11 million Georgians, but also to look for opportunities to be a good neighbor, and that includes to those folks that are starving and the conflict that continues to rage.

I know. It's really sad. It is. It's really, really sad. It's an extra dagger to know that our taxpayer money who pays for that, that we're their partner. We're Israel's partner in that. That's a really devastating reality to face as an American. All right, Jeff, I wish you the best of luck. I hope that you can report back to us sometime soon, that you've thought about these APAC donations and that you will not accept them and partner with them in this because I think that you will have so much more credibility and already arriving at this podcast with so much credibility in standing up to Trump. I hope that podcasting is a way we can all make each other think and make each other better and help provide more moral clarity in a place where these fascists are making it very fuzzy. And I just so appreciate your time, and I wish you the best of luck of Georgia. I really like Atlanta.

Well, thanks for that. If anybody who wants to check us out, duncanforgeorgia. Com, would love to have them take a visit.

Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. How uncomfortable did I make you?

You know, surprisingly, I was all in.

You know what? Here's the deal. If we're going to do this, let's just... Yeah. I mean, he's running for governor. This is a huge issue with the base. I wish that people would have more rigorously done this with our politicians and called him out more directly. I mean, I'm teeing him up for what's about to happen to him if he wins the primary. This is what's going to happen with your base. And Marjorie Taylor-Green can either fill this void or you can fill it. But somebody's going to fill it.

Somebody's going to fill it. Because what is Is it 7%, 9% of the base is all for continuing to fund Israel?

Yeah, it's not popular with the Democratic Party. Here's the thing, too. It's not going to be popular with rural Americans. Rural Americans, rural Georgians in particular, they don't know where Israel, Gaza, Palestine is on a map. It's not a part of the American educational system to worry about that. You have geography in what, fifth or sixth grade, and then that's it. When you have bad actors like Marjorie Taylor-Green that go in and say, This candidate is Israel first. They have health care, and they're killing babies, and he's a fake Christian, then they're leaving themselves vulnerable the same way centrist Democrats always have by not having complete, total moral clarity. And he needs to be ready. So I hope for him, since he stood up to Trump, switched parties. This is a man that is not afraid. As he said in his own words, When I'm wrong, I will say it. And so I hope that this percolates, and he thinks about this, and I hope he circles back and says he's not going to take APAC money. Comes back.

Yeah, I do, too, because I like him, overall.

I liked him. And here's the thing, you Guys, I didn't even get to ask him what his habits were. And just because I commend him for coming on, commend him for taking tough questions. He's had it with his hair getting gray, which that's totally relatable. Totally relatable. And this is funny. He said he's had it with people talking about his tan, and he said, We've seen bad tans, and mine just is his natural glow. Those were both really good grievances.

Okay, I'm going to wrap myself out because I've seen him before talking and stuff, and I always thought, Does he have a taning bed? So I'm part of the problem. I'm part of the problem, but he's just all of a conflicted.

Yeah. Maybe there's some Native American blood in there or something somewhere because when you're in the sun a lot, you get very dark.

Oh, I get anything for that skin because you don't wrinkle as bad either.

Yeah, I just get freckles.

All right, Jennifer, I'm going to try it to be less of a cat for the rest of the day. No guarantees. My kids always say this. I'll be like, Do this, da, da, da, da, no promises.

Oh, let me remind everybody. I'm really shooting for this to be a banned book. And so I would love for the Trump administration to ban our book. It's called Life is a Lazy Susan of Shit Sandwiches. And if this one doesn't get banned, then I want it to sell I have so many copies that I can write a second one with Pumps that will 100% get banned. Because every author should aspire to have their book banned by MAGA. So please help us make it popular. Buy your own copy. The link is below in the show notes. Pumps tell them.

We will see you next Tuesday and Thursday.

I'll tell you what I've had it with. Let's hear it. I've had it with that. Listen up, patriots, gay-triots, and Matriots. We have a new podcast that has dropped. It's called iHip News. It's Monday through Friday, every day, 15 to 20 minutes hot takes on the political landscape of the United States of America, always served with a side of petty grievances.

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