Indiana Primary Fallout: Turning Point USA, Trump Influence, and GOP Infighting Expose Deeper Party Divisions

So let’s review what I said going into Election Day. And I stand behind everything I said, but you can go review the tape. I’m not going to change anything because I meant exactly what I said. We’ll talk about it again. At no point did I tell people to vote for these incumbents. At no point did I say to people, hey, the incumbents are great. Hey, you’ve got to just get behind Greg Walker and Jim Buck and Holdman or any of these guys. In fact, I think I’ve pretty much spent the past nine years on terrestrial radio telling you how awful all these people are. And in fact, the great thing about the internet is you can look back and you can see posts that I’ve made exclusively telling people vote against incumbents, vote out the incumbents, take down the incumbents. There’s no love for any of these people that were running. And we have, in the case of people like Holdman and Buck and Walker, talked about specific things they voted on over the years. Look, that’s the thing, we’ve been putting in the work for nine years. And so at no point was there any rah rah. In fact, in the race with three challengers, I said I wouldn’t vote for the incumbent, Greg Good, because I’m mad about some other things. I said these are things he’s done that are positive. I’d vote, because I think Brenda Wilson’s a fraudster, I’d vote for Alexander Wilson, the third woman running. So there’s not any track record whatsoever of saying incumbents were great, that we need more of this, that I’m for them, or I go vote for them.

Indiana Republican Primaries Spark Debate Over Trump Influence and Party Loyalty

What I did say, because the great thing about our program is we call the balls and strikes. We’re loyal to you, the audience. We’re not loyal to anybody but you. And by the way, because I don’t work for anybody anymore, there’s no manager to call and harass. I used to get so many calls, and our bosses, when they’d come on, they talked about it on the air. Do you guys know this? They had a file on me. There were so many politicians over the years that got so mad at me about calling them out, that there was a literal file on me where the complaints from the politicians, they would never be able to say what I said was wrong. They were just mad I was saying it. And it used to be a running gag on the show until I guess I must have made the wrong person angry. Who knows. But the point was, there’s nobody to call for these people to complain at anymore. There’s no manager, there’s no program director, there’s no president. So just Jason. And Jason’s been complaining at me for 25 years, so he don’t care. And so now I guess the new thing is they’re going to share videos of me on Twitter and say how bad I am. Okay, but if you’re going to be mad at me, at least get right in the full context of what I said. So at no point, and you guys know, at any point did I say vote for all these incumbents, they’re great, they’re awesome, they’re amazing. What I did say, now, the one person I said I might give some slack to is Spencer Deery, because I thought Paula Copenhaver was a complete fraudster, and Deery voted against the property tax bill. That’s it. That’s it. What I did say is this about the challengers, and I’ll say it now again. So Posobiec, Cernovich, any of the others, I had no idea who these people are. So many people were like, did you see what so and so said about you on Twitter? Who? Like, I’d ask my wife, I was like, is this person famous? She’s like, on Twitter. I was like, but he’s not like radio, TV, like a Fox News show? No, he’s famous on Twitter. Oh, okay.

Critics Question Whether Trump-Backed Challengers Offered Real Policy Solutions

So Cernovich, Posobiec, any of the TPUSA bros, let’s play the whole clip. Let’s play the whole thing because I’m going to say it again. I’m going to say it again. I’m gonna try to say it slower this time. Play the whole thing. The challengers you guys were backing stood for next to nothing in terms of specifics of how they’re going to fix the issues affecting Indiana. If you want to say that makes me an asshole, then okay. If you want to say that makes me selfish, then okay, I’ll own it. The people you were supporting stood for nothing when it came to specifics about how they were going to fix the issues that we’ve been fighting on for years in this state. Occasionally, rarely, you would get a comment like they’re going to lower property taxes. Okay, how are you going to do that? You know what the response was? No idea. Which means you ain’t going to do it. None of these people who are running against Rod Bray would tell you who they were going to vote for to be the new head of the Senate. And you know who it’s going to be? It’s going to be Baldwin or it’s going to be Garton, the right hand guys to Bray. And Baldwin was one of the leaders in screwing the state on property taxes over and over and over again. I asked any of these challengers to tell me what they were for specifically. How are you going to fix skyrocketing utility bills? How are you going to fix property taxes? How are you going to stop corruption at the IEDC? How are you going to stop Braun? You know, that’s one of the things that pisses me off more than anything. These TPUSA bros are out running around acting like Braun’s a good guy. He’s not. Braun lied to all of us. We had a rally at the Statehouse where a thousand people showed up, and Mike Braun rolled up his sleeves and said, I’m gonna fight, fight, fight. You know what he did? He caved. He curled in a corner and cried like a little girl. Braun’s not a good guy, but the Turning Point bros don’t have any idea about any of this because they don’t care about anything but subserviency to Trump. Mike Braun has screwed us on utility bills, on property taxes, on tolling, on corruption with the IEDC, all of it. And yet the Turning Point guys are, oh, we’re meeting with the governor. Oh, we’re rallying with the governor. Oh, we’re this. Braun sucks and so does Micah.

Turning Point USA and Indiana Republicans Face Backlash Over Property Taxes and Government Spending

So I don’t give a damn about your subserviency to Trump. Redistricting doesn’t help me in the least. Why? Because the Republicans have been in charge of this country for the past year and a half, all levers, House, Senate, presidency. What have I gotten? Higher gas prices, higher food prices, higher cost of everything. The tax bill did nothing for me. We’ve laid out, I’ve had one accountant after another say, unless you’re in very specific industries, you got nothing. You guys in the YouTube chat have laid out how they’ve gotten nothing. By the way, all these internet influencers, you want to have the conversation, I’ll come on and have it right to your face. You don’t bully me. It doesn’t work. All of my viewers know that. All of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people who have listened over the years know that, but these guys are clueless. I’m loyal to the audience, the audience that cares about independent thought, that knows both sides are rotten, that both sides are screwing everyone. We know that on the ground here because we live here. Braun is rotten. Micah is rotten. We have to pay for it every day. We don’t get to swoop in and do rallies, knock on doors, and get out of here and go where next to Daddy Trump. If any of these internet influencers, these Twitter people want to have this conversation, I’ll have it right to their face about what Braun and Micah and the General Assembly way outside of Rod Bray, including the House. Here’s the crazy thing. The House got a total free pass for the most part from the Turning Point people. Why? Because the House voted for redistricting. The House has screwed us just the way the Senate has. And my point from the beginning has been the Turning Point invasion of Indiana wasn’t about a better life for you. If it was, they would have demanded that their candidates have specific positions, have specific points of view, public policy positions that would have better the lives of anyone and everyone in this state. That’s what I care about. That’s who I’m here for. I’m not here for Trump. I’m not here for Braun. The Republicans in this state and in Washington have done nothing to help me. Nothing. They have not followed through other than the border. What have they done? And I say this as a person who voted for Trump three times. And I love the insults. And it really does give you an insight into bully culture doesn’t work with me, but it clearly does with some. I am infinitely more conservative than any of the candidates you guys were behind. I’ve been saying it and talking about it, and I did it as an elected official. I did all the things I demand others do. And yet you say he’s a liberal, he’s a rhino, he’s a uniparty. One guy called me a Pence acolyte. Nobody has been meaner to Mike Pence than me. These guys are clueless. They’re clueless. I laugh at them. They’re clowns. Our show is Indiana based because that’s where my heart is. That’s where your heart is. That’s why you watch. I don’t care about national figures. I don’t care about any of that. Nobody knows the state better than me. That’s why ratings have been what they’ve been for years and years. And now that we’re here, how well we’re doing today, those candidates, backed by Turning Point USA, had every opportunity to unify around a message of change and meaningful public policy. They didn’t do it. They didn’t do it. So no, I’m not excited about Pressler. By the way, Pressler tried to get lippy with me the other night. Pressler wants to have the conversation, I’ll have it with him too. You going out rallying about an issue that isn’t going to change, I don’t give you any credit for. Two more Jefferson Shreves in the U.S. Congress does nothing for me or my family. Putting another Jennifer Ruth Green in the Congress, which is the sort of people Indiana sends to Washington, does nothing. Oh, I get another Jim Baird, where I get 9555 franked mail pieces paid for by the taxpayers every year, legalized campaign propaganda paid for by me. Oh damn, yeah, I’m so excited, Turning Point USA, give me some more of that. The Republicans have control of everything right now. What are they doing with it? They’re doing nothing. They’re doing nothing. It’s chaos once again, as they’ve done for the past 25 years. The Republicans are not following through. I did say, and I stand behind it, these Turning Point guys reminded me of the dudes that I used to see at Brother’s and Kilroy’s in Broad Ripple. They’re like the same guys, the same look, the same laugh, the same look at me, look at me. Except instead of trying to pick up chicks, they’re trying to change the government. Only they’re not going to be here to have the fight. Are they coming back next year? I saw Pressler say he’s coming back, but it’s for something with voting. It’s not about our property taxes or our utility bills or our gas taxes. He’s coming back for something for Trump. All of this was about Trump. It wasn’t about you. It wasn’t about Indiana. It was about them. And these kids, these Turning Point bros, the internet culture recognizes subserviency to Trump is the fastest way to get noticed on social media. Oh, did we do good, daddy? Thank you. It’s not about doing what’s right. That’s why they took the pictures everywhere they went. They want to be seen. I’ve knocked on thousands and thousands and thousands of doors over the years for candidates, causes, whatever. Every time these guys go out, they have to take a picture of it. It’s not about the work, it’s about the attention. And again, any of these guys, Posobiec, Cernovich, any of these guys, I don’t even know who you guys were until yesterday. But if you want to have the conversation, we can do it like adults. I’m easily findable. That was the other thing. They wouldn’t tag me on social media. They’d post it. Everybody knew who I was. They knew enough to tell the story of the edited clip without context, but they wouldn’t tag me in it. Look, the bully culture doesn’t work with me. We should be able to have this conversation, or I should be able to say, as a person who lives in this state and has to deal with the ramifications of who my elected officials are, I should be able to criticize the incumbents, which I did, I should be able to correctly predict which incumbents were going to go down, which I did. We said Walker was going down. We said Buck was going down. We said Holdman was going down. They did. I told you Good was going to win. He did. I told you I thought Deery was going to win. As of right now, he’s winning, very close but still winning. All the ones, look, and I was very candid with you guys. I’m not familiar with the northwest corner of the state. I didn’t know enough about that. I was relying on other people. I don’t know, didn’t make a prediction. All the ones we made predictions on, we were spot on about because Buck and Holdman and Walker didn’t go down on redistricting, just like Deery and Good didn’t survive on redistricting. Good and Deery survived because they’re newer to the system, they’re younger. They have not cast votes that pissed people off. Now Good voted against the property tax thing, but I’m saying continuously, like the Walker with the boys and girls sports or the vaccine stuff, and they were seen as more reasonable people who listen to their constituents. They won. Holdman and Walker and Buck are 9 million years old. They’ve been there forever, and they have no new ideas, and people were mad at them. Local elections, they’re local elections. I just mean, like, I was talking to somebody about this yesterday. I don’t know how we’re going to fix what’s going on in this country if everything is just I go to my corner, I retreat, and any person who says anything remotely critical of me, I won’t engage with them. I won’t have a conversation with them. Nobody has been more against the Indiana General Assembly than me. Nobody wanted to see those guys go down more than me. But I’m not just going to blindly say across the state of Indiana, yeah, all these guys go for it. You don’t have to tell me what your views are on anything. I’m not going to accept that because that’s how we got in this position to begin with. Okay, you want to get rid of Bray? Who are you going to put in there? I demand you tell me before I’m going to give you credit for wanting to get rid of Bray. Because if it’s Baldwin, he’s worse. Baldwin’s going to be worse than Bray. If it’s Garton, hey, he gave that great Mr. Smith Goes to Washington speech on redistricting. He sucks on everything else. So if Turning Point’s goal is better government, well, those two guys are going to be just as bad and Baldwin will be worse. Answer that Turning Point USA. Do you give a damn about Indiana or was it just redistricting? Because I saw Garton got a lot of love and he screwed a lot of people. I will not be bullied. I will not be intimidated because the great thing about the internet, and I learned this years ago. I heard a podcaster tell me this years ago. He goes, here’s how you got to think about the internet. If you turn your phone off and you go sit under a tree, it doesn’t exist. I would love to have the conversation with these people if they think I’ve got TDS. I mean, that’s why I posted that photo of me and Trump. Trump called me terrific. Posobiec, Cernovich, whoever else, has he ever called you terrific? Trump ever called you a great dream? Trump ever said, I wish every interview could be just like this about you guys? Play the whole clip for these guys, by the way. Bet they don’t. Bet they don’t. I voted for Trump three times. It does not mean that I’m willing to just say, oh, I’m not going to criticize Trump. That would be doing my audience a huge disservice. You guys should be acting that way. If it’s about better government, we have to criticize the people in office when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain, be it Rod Bray or Donald Trump. That’s what we do here. Like when did we lose the ability to have conversations? I think the answer to this is in the social media. It’s not about better government.

Growing Frustration Inside the GOP Reflects Larger Concerns About Leadership and Accountability

I used to, I consider myself a Republican because I thought that was the party that was about better government. And now, I mean, I’m still a Republican, but I’m on the outside looking in. The influencers are about influence. They’re about elevating themselves. The establishment, as they’ve always been, is about power and money, special interest. And I’m just sitting here in the middle going, I dislike both of you guys, both of these sides so much I can’t even get to the Democrats. They’re run by crazy people, but I can’t even get to them because I dislike both sides in my own party so much. Where do I go? What do I do? I know you guys, many of you feel this exact same way. That’s why you’re here every day. So I just, I thought that was fascinating. These people, I have no idea who they were. And then the people are like, well, he said. Okay, people say horrible things about me every day. Why is this guy saying it a big deal? Like get in line. And if these guys, if they really did want to have a conversation about what’s going on with Indiana, about some of the people that they’ve supported, about what they should be demanding now, if it’s actually about helping us and fixing our state, you guys know how to get a hold of me. I’d be happy. You can come on my show. Come on yours. We can talk offline. Whatever. I’m here for better government. I’m here for government that works for the people. I’m here for government that lowers taxes. That trims itself. That cuts itself down. I hope you guys will be for that too. But just simply getting these clowns elected without, I mean that Blake Feichter. Niki Kelly told us that earlier. She’s like, we covered him. We have no idea what he stands on anything. He quit in the middle of the race, guys. The media is telling you the media has covered this guy. He won’t talk to us. Well, he did after he won. They just put that little dude in a corner and was like, he’s like Biden, the Feichter guy is like Biden. Just don’t say anything. We ripped Biden for doing it. Shouldn’t we rip this guy Feichter, the guy who beat Holdman, and Holdman sucks, he’s awful, he’s horrible. So see how I’m doing this? See how easy this is to be like, this guy sucks and this guy is a coward. Why would I think some guy who wouldn’t give any policy positions is going to help me? He’s going to fight for me? He quit. He’s like, there’s five counties. This is too hard, I quit. Oh, no, now I’m back in. I’m here at the White House again. Look at my photo op. Really? That’s what Turning Point USA is all about? A quitter? That’s your guy? Look at this guy. He quit going to multiple counties was too hard for him. Get out of here.