Transcript of Colonel McAuley Looks to Turn Florida’s 15th Congress District Blue

People in Florida are just absolutely pissed at what the Trump regime is doing, from taking away their health care to people are seeing their property insurance absolutely spike. People in Florida obviously see Donald Trump gutting FEMA. And while this hurricane season thus far, we've been okay, fortunately, thanks to no massive storm yet, we all know that what could happen very soon, based on how unprepared The federal government, as people also know how expensive things are, of course, in Florida and across the country. And then you have in Florida as well, dangerous MAGA policies there, anti-science, anti-vax, and really taking away choice from family and parents under the guise of choice, taking away choice and imposing authoritarian doctrines. I just saw this report about how not only are people in Florida struggling to pay groceries, but the organizations that would then come in to fill in to help people who can't afford groceries, can't afford groceries. The organizations here, just take a watch of this.

In security crisis is growing as many South Florida families are finding it more and more difficult to put food on the table with higher grocery prices. Now, the organizations that help people in need are finding they need help themselves. Cbs News, Miami's Ted Scouten joins us live from the Feeding South Florida warehouse that's in Pembroke Park. Ted, what's causing this?

Well, Ali, Feeding South Florida tells us that about a million people in South Florida, so from Palm Beach down to the Keys, have no idea where their next meal is coming from. But when you look at the shelves here in the warehouse, it may be a little bit misleading. It looks like there's plenty of food to go around. But actually, in some key areas, donations are way down. We visited a food pantry in Key West. More people are joining the line for food at the SOS Food Pantry in Key West. Folks needing help putting food on the table. Had you ever needed food assistance before?

No.

So this is the first time you've needed food assistance?

Mm-mm.

At South Florida, of course, people feeling the same thing. In Central Florida, you go to also Congressional district 15, which is from Lakeland to Northern Tampa area. You're seeing the same thing. Focus on that one for a second. Florida's Congressional district 15, which represented by a MAGA Republican Congresswoman, Laurel Lee. She's hiding out right now and not doing a lot of press because I think she knows how deeply unpopular MAGA policies are, and she's hoping that if she doesn't do town halls or show herself above public that she can avoid some of these issues. But I went back and I looked at her from October 11th, 2024, when she was asked if she thought that FEMA was doing an effective job in Florida. She said, yes, Well, then why are you agreeing to just cut FEMA and destroy it? This is what she said, October 2024, October 11th, 2024. Let's play it.

Do you think that FEMA right now, today, is doing an effective job in Florida?

So from a logistics and response perspective, yes. So one thing about living in Florida is, unfortunately, we are very accustomed to dealing with severe weather. So our emergency operations personnel, folks who work round the clock, year round, on making sure that we're prepared for disasters, know how to collaborate with FEMA. They know what assets we needed staged here to do an effective response. Governor DeSantis works very closely with FEMA. I know I have heard from the White House every day in the lead up and since the storm. So I think in that sense, in the assets on the ground and response perspective so far, it's been very good. Of course, we're going to continue to watch that and make sure that stays that way. With respect to funding, there is enough funding to be responding to the immediate need. But I know I stand ready, absolutely, so do my colleagues in Florida, to go back to Washington, DC, the minute that it is needed. If they do need more funding, we are absolutely ready to do that to make sure that we can continue, not just here in Florida, but also the people in North Carolina who are still suffering.

We need to make sure that our federal government is providing the disaster response needed.

I just want you all to think about that for a second. Republicans were getting upset about a hypothetical future where there may not be the funding, even though they were getting all the funding, the response was efficient, and then they come into power and then gut their own funding so that they could now build things like Alligator Alcatraz. She was asked about Alligator Alcatraz back on July 2025, and this is what Laura Lee said then.

Let's Okay, what about this Alligator Alcatraz? We covered it extensively when the President was down there for the opening in the Everglades. Now, these reports surfacing, allegedly, where conditions are being described as as inhumane by some. What would you say about that?

Well, it's a detention center. The purpose is for it to be secure, to be orderly, to be safe, and to be humane. Florida officials have insured, and in fact, have made very clear that they intend to provide a facility that is all of those things, that is safe for the people who are held there, that provides them appropriate nutritious food, medical care, access to attorneys, all of the things that they might need while they're in this facility. That being said, that's what it is. It is a detention facility. But is it being as a- Because we heard the word deterrent used all the time, is it being created in a manner that's almost purposely, to use the words in some of these reports, inhumane, just to deter people?

People see these reports and say, Well, I don't want to up there? Is that being done on purpose?

Well, there is a big difference between keeping a place that is secure, that is orderly, and a place that is inhumane.

You see how the tone changes pretty damn quickly? I want to bring in Darren Macaulay. Colonel Darren McAuli, Dr. Darren McAuli, who's running for Congress in Florida's 15th Congressional district. Colonel McAuli is an Air Force veteran. He is a physician. He He's a professor, and he is running against the lady you saw there, Congresswoman Laura Lee. Let's talk about what's going on in your district. How are people feeling in Florida's 15th right now where they're building concentration, where they're building Florida. The money is going, taxpayer money is going to build these detention center camps and things like that. What's going on there?

Unfortunately, folks in Florida 15 have been crushed by economic burdens, including the homeowners homeowners crisis, homeowners insurance, and various other types of insurance, rising utility bills. Then at the same time, we see our federal government turning its back on us and cutting off support for things that are desperately needed. You mentioned earlier, cutting FEMA, this disaster tax, which is basically what any cut to FEMA is, means that our state government has been complicit in the federal government hampering us and cutting off funds that we would need in order to prepare for a storm or clean after a storm and passing that cost onto us. Our insurance rates are going to go up and go even higher as we have to prepare for medical costs, for building costs, and to get ready before a storm and to deal with the aftermath of a storm. When we're already faced with 2-3 times the national average in terms of homeowners insurance, car insurance, and really any type of insurance, health insurance, dental insurance, that is crushing Central Florida families. When I speak folks in the district, they are very clear that they don't think that Alligator Alcatraz is in line with their values.

It's not how we want to be represented as a state. We don't want to be the shining example for taking people's freedoms away. We would like to be the shining example for helping our communities and helping our neighbors to be able to achieve a real cost of living.

I don't even understand what Laura Lee does and people like that. Other than whatever Trump says, you do, you do. And that means you have to shift your positions. One day you're for this, one day you're maybe for that, one day you're for this. But there's nothing that I've seen from her that says, This is what people in the 15th want right now. This is what their needs are. Let's focus on that. It just seems like it's all of these Trumpy culture war issues and whatever's going on in Club Rose Garden or whatever Trump's posting about Hotel Cipriani or whatever steak he's bragging about eating versus the actual needs of people in the district.

She is not representing the needs of people in the district, but instead is really pendering to corporate interests and special interests. I mentioned the insurance costs. Laura Lee has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies and their lobbyists. As a former lobbyist, she really knows how to work within that sphere and make this corporate money, make special interest her priority. Here in Tampa Bay, we had Florida Power and Light, which is one of the main utility companies, has a de facto monopoly on utilities, recently roll out the highest rate hike in history, whereby when they're finished, folks in Tampa are going to be paying the highest rates for utilities in the nation. We're going to be paying more for utilities, not because of usage, but because of the highest rates. Similarly, you see this through line where Congresswoman Lee, instead of standing up for the community and saying, Hey, this is hundreds of dollars that are coming out of the pockets of my constituents every month. Is there something that we can do to mitigate this? Is quiet as a church mouse. Then public records are very clear that she's taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from FPL as well.

She is not serving the citizens of Central Florida, but is instead serving herself in her own campaign. I am running in direct contrast to that as a 25-year Air Force veteran, currently the state Air Surgeon for Florida, the highest-ranking physician in the Air National Guard in Florida, to bring the Air Force Corps value of service before self to DC. I am running to unseat Congresswoman Lee, who has been self-serving ever since she got to Washington.

Tell us a little bit more about your background. You gave us some information there, but why did you decide to run? It didn't seem that you were really a political guy before this, based on your background. So explain to us that journey and why did you decide to work with it.

Well, I was a VA physician for 10 years, working at the VA. I'm a pain management physician by training. I've received a tremendous personal satisfaction and professional satisfaction, taking care of my patients, helping them to alleviate their suffering with advice, medication, and sometimes even injections. Seeing the cuts to the VA, the dismantling of our organization, the terror and the bullying of VA employees, people that I'd worked with for years. Now, the VA, like every other organization, has its warts and has things that we can improve to be more efficient. But to villainize patriots who go to work every day in order to take care of those who have taken care of us and fulfill America's promise to our veterans was completely uncalled for. Seeing the effects that firing people at the VA and allowing early retirements had on my patients themselves, watching their new patient visits go from a month long wait to 10 week wait, seeing folks unable to get disability exams, the privatization of that process where it was incentivized so that folks would no longer get their VA disability. I watched that happen in real time to my patients, my coworkers, and I realized that this was happening all over the federal government.

I just had a front row seat to what was happening in the VA. It pushed me into a position where I said, Somebody's got to do something about this because what they're doing to the federal government is going to take decades to unravel and try to put back together. I'm a proud father of three. I have a nine-year-old and five-year-old twins, and I see in our country folks in power who are not currently displaying the values and setting an example that I personally would like to hand off to my children. So watching what was happening at the VA and then seeing how the effects of that were rippling throughout my community. In our district, we have 50,000 veterans. So if you start to dismantle VA health care, you start to take away VA benefits, that affects many of my neighbors, people that I work with, people that live next door to me, and I wanted to do something about it. Also, having had the storms come to Tampa Bay last year, myself and every other international guardsmen were out trying to help our community. I personally lost my home. We We had over a foot of water in my home and spent eight months arguing with insurance companies about whether or not they were going to help us to repair the damage, whether or not the flood in my home was caused by floodwaters from the sea or caused by rainwater flooding in from a hole in the roof.

They were basically able to wait us out so that many of my neighbors had to sell their houses just for the price of land. The insurance companies were taking advantage of Central Floridians, where we had a contract with them. We We paid our premiums, and we expected that we would have some safety and security should disaster strike. But when disaster actually struck, they turned their backs on us. Now, as a physician, I was fortunate enough to be able to mount a financial response, go into my savings, work extra hours, and rebuild my home. But many of my neighbors on fixed income were not willing or not able to do that, and insurance companies were not willing to help them. Seeing that happen real-time, seeing it happen to my family, family, seeing it happen to my neighbors and my community, and at the same time, watching what was happening to the federal government at work, I decided that I wanted to try to throw my hat in the ring. Instead of, after 25 years of military service, directing my efforts towards helping America achieve her interests abroad, really helping America achieve her interests here at home.

Darren Macaulay, Colonel Macaulay, where can people find more about the campaign?

At darrenforflorida. Com. D-a-r-r-e-n-f-o-r-florida. Com.

Colonel Darren Macaulay, thanks for joining us.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

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