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Jul 17, 2024 · 49 minutes

Guest Host, Alex McFarland, broadcasts live from the Republican National Convention

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Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Alex McFarland is joined by Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values 15:00 - 31:00. Congressman Mark Alford of MO, joins Alex 31:00 - 48:00. Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, shares his testimony

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Transcript

8,797 words, in two-minute parts. Made by machine, so a few words may be off.

0:0048:53

  1. 0:00

    Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite. Delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media. And the philosophies of this world. God has called you and me to be His ambassador. Even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment. and now the Hamilton Corner. Well, good evening, everybody. Alex McFarland here, so honored that you're listening. And I come to you from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Republican National Convention. I'm sure many of you listening watched last night. It was very exciting. And we have a wonderful show. We've got a great show. The noise in the background, it's because I'm in the pit, the media pit and right across from BBC, CBS, everybody's here. In fact, I am coming to you from one of the Fox News radio booths. And I'm very excited. We've got a big show. Later on in the show, we'll have Congressman Mark offered from Missouri. We'll have Mike Lindell of My Pillow on later. But right now, I'm very honored. I was speaking yesterday to an event called Lead Wisconsin. And it was teenagers. It was a biblical worldview event for teenagers and Charlie Kirk was there, but I met Jonathan Sines. He's an attorney, he's the president of Texas Values. It's a family policy council out of Texas. Just a wonderful patriot, Christian brother and leader and we've got him with us now. And so Mr. Sines, I want to say thank you for being with us on the American Family Radio Network. Well look, we're big fans of American Family Radio. They're one of our friends and partners. We're the main partner for iVotarguide in the state of Texas. And so just a great product and partnership and happy to be with you.

  2. 2:05

    Let's talk a little bit about what you do. I want to get your take on the convention, just the mood here last night. And of course JD Vance is going to speak tonight, the vice presidential nominee. But tell me about your journey. And I'm always interested to hear, because you're, you know, the left calls us culture warriors, but we really are. And I wanna know how you have a Lord brought you to where you are in your journey. Well, it might seem cliche as a Texan, but it is true that a lot of my work started driving around in my pickup truck when I was a student at the University of Texas and listening to Jay Sekulow on the radio and he was calling people to action. We need more Christian activists. We need more Christian lawyers. I don't come from a background from the east part of Houston of lawyers. I was the first lawyer in my family. But it was my faith that was stirring in me, my desire to serve. And so it continued to grow. And so I found myself in a position of thinking about, you know, I want to go into law and policy. I think I should go into law school. And I made sort of a promise or a conversation I have with God, which was if I could work on one court case that relates to our Christian values, it would be worth it to go to law school and that was enough to get me there and I've certainly done more than that since then but that's where it all started and it's been quite the journey. You know I tell young people that a very noble profession and one that they can be used by God in a great way certainly if they'll keep their Christian worldview is to go into law and politics. How important do you think it is that those of us that are conservative constitutionalists, but even more than that, Christians? How important is it that we vote, that we get involved? Some maybe even need to run for office. Be involved in the political arena as you've done. How important is it for the church to stay in the public square? It's so important. I mean, it's essential. I think it's what makes us so much different than other countries.

  3. 4:07

    I think it's a huge part of what makes America an exceptional country. This is what Alex Zetokville talked about in his book, Democracy in America. We heard that in Vogue this week. That was talked about in one of the speeches. But you look at the Ten Commandments. Okay, they're a list of rules, right? And sometimes those rules there might be gray areas, but it sets a standard, right? And that standard allows us to have a civil society where religious freedom and a belief in Jesus Christ and living out that life can exist, right? And so, so if you think about that, being in law can be a really natural match and fit for fellow Christians and sometimes gives you a deeper understanding of your own faith when you see how the law and policy works in our culture because the reality is a lot of people base their decisions morality-wise on what the law allows them. That's why abortions were so high for so many years. They're going down a little bit because a lot of people's view is the Supreme Court said it's okay so it must not be that bad. But I do think there's a, sometimes people think it's an oxymoron, Christian lawyer. But there's so many people out there that we need that are coming up that are young people because many of us have been in this fight for a long time. We need those reinforcements. And there is an important place for Christians in the field of law and policy. So I want to be an encouragement to anybody that's thinking about it that I think they'll find so much fulfillment. And in many ways, I think like myself, they'll feel like they're living out their faith being in that area. Yeah, and I tell Christians whenever pastors or Christians will say, oh, well, our home is in heaven, remember Alex. You know, Paul, when he needed to, he would invoke his Roman citizenship, you know, in the book of Acts. And so we have recourse, we have our liberties protected by the Constitution, we have law, and so Christians have every reason to avail themselves to that. Your website, txvalues.org as in Texas Values, T-X, Values.org.

  4. 6:08

    We have a lot of listeners all over the country, but in Texas too. Tell us about T-X Values. Well, appreciate that, Alex. So I was an intern under Matt Staver at Liberty Council, and he was the first to point out to me a very important scripture verse in Proverbs. And it's Proverbs 18-17, and it says, he who presents his case first seems right until someone steps forth to challenge him. So those words from the Bible sum up what we do every day at Texas values. So we work in the arenas of the courts, the legislature and the media on the subject areas of religious freedom, marriage and family and pro life. And our offices across the street from the Capitol, we're at the state legislature in Texas every year of the legislative session, but it's only a session every other year. And so we get involved in court cases. I've been involved in court cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, at the Texas Supreme Court. but in school board meetings, in city council meetings, in any place where there's a discussion or a conflict about the word of God or Christian values or a lack of, we're going to be in that space and we're going to be working with people in all 254 counties of Texas to have those Christian values reflected in our culture and in our law. Let's talk about the convention a little bit. I've been to a lot of gatherings and I remember back in 2016, it was my privilege to speak at four different Trump rallies. There's a different excitement, I think, and I want your response. What do you think about the mood here in Milwaukee and the speeches we heard last night? Well, look, I mean, I put this on social media earlier, my Twitter handle for everybody out there is Jonathan Sines TX, that there's an enthusiasm. I was at the Republican National Convention in 2016. I'm serving as a delegate this year. That year I was just kind of meeting people and wanting to be a part of the event and experience it, but it is different than what we saw in 2016. There's enthusiasm, there's a vibe, there's a buzz. Like Republicans are having fun, right?

  5. 8:08

    And there's some momentum, but look, when you take a bullet and survive that, it's almost like you have a new lease on life, and you're like, I can conquer the world. So when that happened with President Trump on Saturday, I think that changed a lot of things. things were already moving in a good direction, I think for Republicans in this presidential election. But that's told a lot of voters and a lot of Republicans, including people in the Texas delegation, if this man can take a bullet for me and hold up his fist and say we need to continue to move forward and fight, certainly I can ask more and demand more of myself as a servant and as a leader and as a fellow Christian. And I'll tell you, you'll see the media out there, they don't want to focus on some stuff that they think is a way to come at negatively at Republicans and they're gonna cherry pick some things. But I've been here every day, I've been involved in every floor session and I hear the word of God, I hear the name of Jesus. I even heard Donald Trump earlier today at a screening of a documentary, he came out for a few minutes and he talked about surviving that assassination attempt has brought him closer to God. He said, how can it not? How can you not have an experience like this and survive it and not feel God's presence and feel like his hand was there protecting you. And so I think that spirit there is very much alive and well, and it's a part of the vibe. It's a part of the buzz that I think the whole world's talking about, certainly our country is. You know, last night, the speeches were amazing, but there were little prayer huddles on the mezzanine and some of the lobbies and things like that. Ben Carson, in his speech, talked about America, the pulpits of flame. Comment if you would about Laura Bush's speech. She opened with Proverbs 28 verse one that the righteous are as bold as a lion. And I'm with you. I've always, my family is Republican from way back. And I, during my college years, became a conservative and Christian by my own study and choice.

  6. 10:09

    But there is a, I think the Lord is working. I think God has a new chapter for the United States of America. Would you agree? Well, I absolutely agree. I like to say it this way. God is not done with America. It was interesting because in that screening of this documentary it pulls, and I think we saw this last night, the quote in the video from President Reagan in I think the early 80s where he said, in Dallas, Texas, if we are ever ceased to be in a state of state, One nation under God will be a nation gone under. And so we're very close to that attachment and that feeling and that presence of God. In other words, we can't be a strong America without God. And you heard that with Laura Trump. She talked about that. She cited scripture several times. She talked about her own face. She talked about President Trump as her father in law and the grandfather to her kids. They're a very, very tight-knit family. And so I think a lot of people, they don't always see that side of her. They see the wealth and the fame and all that stuff. And they forget about how these people are real people and they have families. And they're in the spotlight all the time. I was talking to Eric Trump this morning. I had the privilege of talking with him. And they are a family. And they're for real. I actually, there's a lot I could say about that. But in the interest of time, I wanted to let you do the majority of the talking. But here's the thing, like last night Laura Bush said, look, maybe you don't enjoy all the tweets. And she kind of chuckled and said, I don't enjoy all the. Yeah, Laura Trump. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Laura Trump said, I could do without all the tweets. But let's admit, we were better off than we are now. And that's true, isn't it? Yeah. Well, there's no doubt. I mean, when you look at things that have happened, the way that gas prices have gone up, the way there's been conflicts, you know, in the Middle East and other parts of the country with Ukraine and all these different things.

  7. 12:17

    And you go to the grocery store and you're reminded of it every week, if not every day. I got three teenagers, so sometimes I'm going to the grocery store several times a week. And so we're all feeling it in one way or another. And so you don't have to think a whole lot about it. And even someone in her position, I'm sure, can be in touch with that with the rest of the people. And so I think the, you know, the campaign, a lot of the speakers, you had Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you have this amazing woman who lost her son to fentanyl. I couldn't even give that speech, right? She stood up there in front of 10,000 to 15,000 people and just opened her broken heart in front of everyone. And so I think that there's a realness there, you know, and I think some of it is because of what happened to President Trump on Saturday, right? You know, that I don't want, there's a little bit more of a compassionate, considerate approach, But it is a more of an emotional approach because being able to connect with people is for them to be able to think, you know what, you understand what it's like in my life or to feel things or to have loss or to have struggle, right? They want you to get down to that level. And I think, you know, I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I do think it's allowed people to see things about Donald Trump and his family that have always been there, but maybe didn't have an opportunity to shine his bright. And so I think a lot of the speakers are mirroring that. Haley being there and showing that unity that was amazing, you know, I mean and so she didn't have to be there She wasn't even on the speaker list. I'd say what the governor Texas is supposed to speak tonight Governor Greg Abbott I'm looking forward to that JD Vance What a great vice president pick and I know there's been some consternation from some people about the platform I had my concerns that there wasn't that the pro-life language that was in there before You know was not there this time that fight is not over I want everybody to know that that fight and that concern we're going to address that moving forward but a lot of people felt like after Saturday lets unite, lets keep that focus. But you know there continues to be those issues front and center because JD Vance is one of the strongest pro-life advocates. There's a guy in Ohio, Aaron Bear, he's in my position for the state of Ohio, I talked to him he said man he is the real deal.

  8. 14:25

    So when the president puts a pro-life advocate as the vice presidential pick that tells you something about the fact that he supports a pro-life issue. You know, if you've forgotten, he's the one that will... Oh, we got a break. I'm sorry. I've read every page of JD Vance's website. He says, quote, I am 100% pro-life. Stay tuned in the American Family Radio Network. Live from RNC, we'll be back after this brief break. Don't go away. You've heard a lot about saving babies on this show. That's because it's important to me personally. And let me just be frank with you. We need to save them. That's why we've partnered with Preborn, the nation's leader in introducing mothers with unplanned pregnancies to their babies. And once she hears that heartbeat and sees that precious life growing inside of her, she is twice as likely to choose life. Now that's a miracle. But quite honestly, if we don't save them, who will? Preborn receives no government funding, so their work is completely dependent on us. Preborn has rescued over 280,000 babies. And that's not all. They provide love, support, and counseling for up to two years for free, saving lives, and souls. One ultrasound is just $28 or $140 helps to rescue five babies' lives. Abortion doesn't stop, so we can't. Together, you and I can save lives. Just dial pound250 on your cell and say the keyword baby, that's 250 baby, or go to preborn.com. preborn dot com shining light into the darkness this is the hamilton corner on american family radio welcome back to the republican national convention coming to you from the walkie wisconsin alex mccarland here and very honored right now and uh... people are being so gracious and flexible uh... congressman mark abbot from mazuri all for tonight it's governor abbot of texas i think it's why you because they were he was just mention uh... but i mark all for all for no chevy from the jury uh... right on that is great thank you uh... you know the pastor that led me to christ was named offered if g offered many years ago maybe a relative but so what's your uh... massadonia baptist church in greensboro north carolina that's back when everyone uh... had uh... first and middle name initials my dad was uh... my grandad was that a w all for Well, I'm very honored to have you and tell me what are your impressions of this convention?

  9. 17:13

    Well, look, this is my first political convention. I'm new to politics. I was in the media for 35 years at TV anchor in Texas and later Kansas City, Missouri. And now I represent a wonderful district just south of Kansas City. So this is new to me. It has surpassed expectations because really my expectations were a little bit low coming in because we have experienced a lot of division within our Republican conference. I wasn't looking forward to the infighting that we might have here, but I think what happened last Saturday with the attempted assassination of President Trump, it has united our party in a way I don't think anything else could have. Now look, we still have strong opinions, don't get me wrong, and we're going to have those divisions. But I think it brought people to their knees, figuratively understanding that it was the and protection of God Almighty that Donald Trump is here, and we have a purpose greater than our own opinions and our own way of doing things, that it is to restore America to greatness, it is to make Americans great again, and to inspire people once again with the hope. Yeah, and you hit the nail on the head, I believe, the providence of God, because, I mean, two millimeters had that trajectory been different. different, you and I would be having a vastly different and tragic conversation. We would not be here. I don't think there would be a convention. I don't see how there could have been. I think God Almighty that President Trump is alive. And you know, when I saw him come out on the floor the other night, you can see it in his face. You can see it in his eyes the way he moves. Look, Donald Trump, he's an interesting character. Let's put it that way. Every time I've talked with him. But the Donald Trump, when you're one-on-one with him, is a totally different person. And it's a person that I saw walk out on the house floor, that more calm, reserved, deliberative person.

  10. 19:20

    I think that's how he's going. We will see tomorrow night with his address, because he has ripped up his speech, and he was going to try to unify our party and unify our nation. And you saw that yesterday, with the speeches that I mean inviting Nikki Haley back Ron DeSantis all these formidable opponents the head of the Teamsters Union was here who would have thought well you're right and you know the acrimony and the division is gone I mean it was very therapeutic to like you said DeSantis and you know Rubio I mean they have some past history and of course Nikki Haley and I thought it was very magnanimous that Nikki Haley would urge all of her followers to vote for Donald Trump right now. There is a lot of power in unity, isn't it? There really is. I mean, we've seen that in the Bible. There's a lot of scriptures about unity and how we need to work together. And Paul talks about it in the New Testament about the different parts of the body. And look, I'm not a foot. I may be a hand or I may be a nose, but we each have our role to to play. You know, in politics, I see this in the US House because there's a lot of egos there. I mean, there's 400, we all have egos or we wouldn't be there, right? A lot of big personalities. I see it as my role there. I've been in the spotlight. I have a lot of live television experience. I want to I want to be the Barnabas of the US House of Representatives. I want to encourage people. Because there's a lot of stress up there. I encourage Steve Scalise and Tom in our leadership. But freshman members, I don't have an opponent this go around. We've worked really hard to make sure we don't have a primary opponent. So I'm helping other candidates return to Congress that they're in not-so-safe seats. I'm raising money for them. I'm door-knocking for them. I'm doing speeches for them. Because we have to grow our majority in the US House. It is not working right now. And I think that's the role that God wants me to play, to be in the background, but to push people forward.

  11. 21:25

    Do you think, you know, we've seen just in the last few years, really since COVID, I mean, critical theory and people saying that America is structurally racist and inherently bad. And, you know, I know that some of the philosophy, I've taught philosophy for 25 years at the college level. And deconstructionism, which is a terrible philosophy philosophy and moral relativism. I've watched these philosophies go from the ivory tower down to street level and is very concerning but I think Americans aren't stupid and Americans aren't dupes and people with just they care about their family, they work hard, they realize that they don't want to lose what America is all about. Do you think the spell of wokeness, political correctness and all this is being broken? I really do. I think people's eyes are opening. Well, look, you and I think we're along the same lines. We are in a spiritual battle here on Earth. The Bible tells us it would be that way. We have to have the full armor of God on. And I think part of that is educating ourselves and on the Armed Services Committee I have been fighting the DEI policies as CRT. We are stripping those out of the military. The drag queens that were used to recruit people into the Navy. I mean who would have thought? I thought when I first heard that I thought it was a joke. It is not a joke. It actually happened. We put an end to it. But the American people are not stupid and I think they realize that our nation is here because of the providence and protection of God Almighty. And while some people may not have come around to dependence on God and come under his shelter and his umbrella of his grace, I think people have a greater awareness now. There is an awakening in America.

  12. 23:25

    I can feel the spirit move on Capitol Hill. It's amazing. There are Bible studies everywhere. We have members Bible studies that rotate in offices. We have members Bible studies in committee rooms. after hours. And so God is alive. He is working on members in Congress to be the best representatives we can be. You know, I think our nation is more divided than it's ever been since the Civil War. And that that troubles me. That gives me great pains. But Ronald Reagan some 40 years ago had the answer. And as president of the United States, he said something to this effect. It's time for us to reassert our trust in God. It's time for us to realize that we need Him more than He needs us. It's time to turn to God for the healing of America. We need healing. We need to turn to God. And each person can play a role in that with our prayers, with our influence, and with our vote, yes. So let me ask you this. Before we go too much farther in the interview, if you're just tuning in, And this is Alex McFarland, the American Family Radio Network. We are in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention, and my guest, Mark Alford. Do you have a website? We do. We have offered.house.gov. That is our official government website. Mark Alford KC is my best social media. We do a lot on social media, trying to lift people up. And then we have offered for congress.com. So we are running again in the fourth congressional, the great state of Missouri. And we have listeners in Missouri. Let me ask you this, JD Vance. What's your read on JD Vance? My wife is sitting right over there and hopefully she can't hear this. But JD Vance gives me new hope that I can grow my beard out again. My wife does not like my beard. But JD, hey, if the vice president can wear one.

  13. 25:28

    Do you know I was thinking because in media training, I used to work for James Dobbs for eight years, work for the greatest guy in the world, James Dobbs. And we were always told in media training, if you're going to be in leadership or you're transparency, trustworthiness, not to have facial hair. Our vice presidential candidate may be the first candidate that I can think of in about a hundred years that has had facial hair. If memory serves me, I really don't know another one. in terms of policies and positions, yes. More substantial. Look, JD Vance has said some awful things about President Trump. I think that talks to President Trump's new attitude, I think, of forgiveness and trying to bring people into the fold and realizing that he can use people to, I think, help dismantle the deep state and to carry out his policies and help carry out this great, simple platform that we have of 20 planks to restore integrity to America, to secure our borders, secure our economy, secure our position on the world stage. And I think JD Vance really is the best person to do that, to pick up those things that Trump cannot do. Well, and I after it was announced that JD Vance would be the vice presidential candidate. I read every page on his website and I was very pleased in his statement of core convictions. The first one he said, I am and I quote 100% pro-life. I was encouraged by that. That is encouraging. I'm 100% pro-life. I believe in life affirming care for the mother and the baby that God is growing inside of her. We can't leave the mother out of the equation because God loves her and she is in a difficult situation, circumstance by whatever means that happened.

  14. 27:29

    And so it's a package deal. We have to love them both and protect them both. You know, one thing that's exciting here at this convention, so many minority groups that are finding a home in the Republican Party, ethnic minorities. last night I spoke to a group of Jews for Trump and you know liberty, prosperity, stability, an administration that looks out for the interest of tax paying citizens. I think that's what people want. You know it is and that is encouraging because for so long I don't know how the Republicans got this image that it's a bunch of country club rich white people. That is not what the Republican Party stands for. It never has been. I mean, this was the party that stood up against slavery. It's the party of Lincoln. The party that ratified the civil rights movement. Yeah. I mean, we, I think the problem has been a lot of it lies with the media and they have tried to pigeonhole us, characterize us in a certain way, brand us in a certain way, and we have not fought back. We have not resisted. We have not stood up and said, that is not who we are. Let me show you who we, it's one thing to say something. It's another thing to show it. We are showing people who we are. We are the big tent party. We are the party of union workers who believe in God and family and the Second Amendment and our great nation. We are the family of all different races who come together to make up the fabric of America. We're the party against illegal immigration but legal immigration for those who want to to do it the right way. That's another thing the left, the progressive Democrats do. They gaslight us and confuse us by using improper terminology. I refuse to do that. It is illegal alien, it is not undocumented worker. And we here add infinitum, democracy, democracy.

  15. 29:31

    We are a representative republic. We certainly are, but you know, I don't think most kids are taught that anymore in school. The difference, you know, if we're gonna vote on everything in America, everyone gets a vote for every law that's passed. That's a democracy. But I represent in this republic 747,000 27 people and I go up and I vote for them whether they are Republican, Democrat, Independent or Agnostic, I represent each one of them. And so that is what a representational republic is all about. That's why in our presidential elections we have the system that we have, that it's not chosen directly by popular vote. Exactly, well, I'm troubled by calls from the left to abolish the electoral college. I think the electoral college is genius. I really do. What hope do we have that they will retain the electoral college? I cannot see that going away. If that goes away, if we start messing with the numbers of and try to pack the Supreme Court, we are doomed as a nation. That's why it's so important that we get good men and women elected the US Senate to gain the majority there and hopefully someday get a 60 seat majority where we can really do business. I think of the one of the most common understandings and I do a lot of educating back in our district about how Washington works. You know, I can believe in something. I can vote a certain way but a two seat majority in the US House of Representatives does not work very well. We control, barely control one third. Well, one half of one third of the government, okay? So we don't control the Senate and we don't control the White House, of course. And so it's very difficult to get things done. We've got to get to a place where we have power to make substantive changes for conservative values in America. Absolutely. I got to say this, Tom's almost out now for folks after this, Michael and Dale of my pillow.

  16. 31:35

    I have to tell you, I was in Springfield, Missouri to speak a couple of years ago in March. The greenest, most beautiful landscape I've ever seen and I've been to all 50 states. Missouri is a beautiful place, isn't it? I love Missouri. I'm a native Texan, grew up outside of Houston, 6th generation Texan. Moved to Kansas City 25 years ago to anchor the news there. I love Missouri. And you know what, I really, one of the big benefits about doing this job, and I was campaigning two years ago, and I put 75,000 miles in my Ford Expedition. I have 24 counties, South of Kansas City, over to the Lake of the Ozarks and down to Springfield. And I told my wife, I said, look, if we don't win, I'm going to win. But if we don't, I am still a winner. I have gotten to see the back roads of the most beautiful state in the, God's creation is unreal, but you got to take the back roads and you got to slow down and you got to say thank you God. Congressman Mark Alford, thanks for being with us. Thank you, God bless you. Thank you. And thank you for what you're doing for our country. Stay tuned, folks. Alex McFarlane here, the American Family Radio Network. When we come back, Mike Lindell of MyPillow and more from the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, stay tuned over the way. Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Bitted Common Terrets are available at eFR.net. to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio. Well, we're having such a good time here at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Alex McFarland. So honored to be here. And really, I am so blessed in this type of work and ministry. I mean, a lot of people. And I have wanted for years to meet Mike Lindell.

  17. 33:38

    Like so much of America. I love the commercials. And he is with us, Mike Lindell of My Pillow. Thank you for being with us on the American Family Radio network. Well, thanks for having me on. And I read your book, I got your book a couple of years ago, and tell us your story. You are a great American success story. Well, I'll tell you that's the short version. The other one takes a whole book to sell a time or a whole book to read. I have a book, you know, what are the odds from crack addicts to CEO. So you go back, I was, got a high school, and I got started into addictions, gambling addiction, cocaine, alcohol. But I was a functioning addict. I had 20 years, I was 20 years married with four kids. And then, but during that whole time, I was also an entrepreneur. I would do stuff out and assess my sister, flooded a third-story building in a apartment complex. So I became a carpenter, you know, and I did a treatment one time for drinking, and I met a guy there, and he told me about a business he had with these food trucks where you pull up to business, open them up. So I got called my buddy, I said, hey, get here, come up with money to buy a truck, and I'm going to make us millionaires. And that grew that into a big business. So you know, people think of addicts as, you know, in the street, down and out, you know, but that's not just, that's not true. It's addiction affects everyone, no matter how I say it, my book, no matter how many forks you eat with. And that means, yeah, you're gonna be a fore forger all ritzy, and I met them all that, you know, people, rich people come up to all the time or high up in politics and say, Mike, I can't say what I, you know, I was in the same boat, you know, all this stuff. But the cocaine turned into crack in 2000. I had a bar for 13 years, bars and restaurants, that I had built it all myself. I didn't borrow money, I worked, and then just put it back in.

  18. 35:39

    And so I had, you know, doing a lot of hard work, but also I had these addictions. And I met in my pillow in 2004, and I didn't quit crack cocaine and everything, so January 16, 2009. So I had this parallel track. We lost everything in 2007. Got it divorced for 20 years. She couldn't take it anymore. We're actually labeling the pillows right in our living room and the lights went out. They turned the lights out in the house. So I, but I kept, I would never give up. And he got to, one story in 2008, a drug dealers did an intervention on me. They come out of the room and they all three stand there and go, you've been up for 14 days, you're going, we're cutting you off. And I go, what is this an intervention? They go, call it whatever you want, Mike. And two of them left and the one guy stepped there and watched me and said, how much crack you have left? I showed him and he sat there until I was going to be done with it, but he I did run out and I was carpet farming and scraping my Pipe and tweaking and I looked over and he was asleep So I went down to the streets of Minneapolis 2 30 in the morning and they got the word out Nobody would sell me any and I came back upstairs and he said how'd that work out for you? And I was so upset and he goes he goes man You've been telling us for years that you're gonna quit all this addiction and and you're gonna come back and help us all get out of this addiction world were living in. Because I would tell him that I'm gonna let some name, I'm gonna come back, I'm gonna help everybody quit. And he said give me that phone, he took a picture and he said you're gonna need that for that book, you keep telling us you're gonna write. Which you know this is in 2008. And both of those are two of the three of them work for me now, they're born again Christians. So I mean it's quite a it's pretty amazing and on January 16 2009 I quit everything overnight and I prayed to God that I would never have the desire again for anyone. That was smoking, drinking, gambling, crack cocaine, cocaine, everything. And I didn't look back. It was a couple of years I took to get out, my pillow was taken, it was disarray at that time. And then 2011 I told my friends and family, I said let's do an infomercial.

  19. 37:54

    of the box stores would take us and I said let's make our own infomercial we all pooled our money and I had a dream it'd be the number one infomercial in the world and and I didn't know infomercials don't work it's just a brand to go into box stores and the box stores wouldn't have me. So we went to fill this infomercial and I couldn't talk in front of people you know I had this fear of rejection I put it in my book you don't get rejected if you don't talk right. I was going to ask you did you Do you have any on camera experience before because you've mastered it? No, it was terrible. What happened was then we went to do, remember I did home shows and fairs for seven years at County Fairs and everything else would sell in my pillow with a booth in between me and the people. If I stepped outside that booth, I couldn't even talk to them. It was like a shield kind of. And anyway, we went to do our reads the night before. I said, I'm gonna have a real audience. I'm gonna have a friend of mine that helped do the shows. And we were doing our reads and this producer was there, he'd come from California, Hollywood or whatever, and he texts the other guy, and he said, this is the worst guy I've ever seen. He'll never make it on TV. And he would probably be right. If we went and done this change, the next day I came out and I seen the crowd, I was just, I couldn't talk. It was, you know, most people have fear of public speaking. Mine was just over the top. And I went, I started to, it took an hour to do one line. I was so petrified. And I said, let's bring in a table like I did it at the home shows and throw away the teleprompter. So I just did it naturally. And that's the way we filmed it. And we put it out there. And it was kind of hokey at the time. You know, like, it's just, this is who I am, right? And it aired October 7, 2011, the middle of the night. I was living in my sister's basement. I had 10 employees. 40 days later, I had 500, on December 26 of 2011, with the number one infomercial in the world, they said, Mike, you need to be CEO. I go, let's just make pillows. I didn't even know what CEO is, but they all were made of, right? And what they were, you go, Mike, you need to, we need a, in-house attorney. And I said, and we need a chart. And I go, let's just make pillows. Well, we took in a hundred million dollars or more in about five months, and it was just surreal.

  20. 40:15

    But I woke up in May, that day in May, and I looked, and here we were six million in debt, and I had no resources, no nothing. It was just decimating. And we were by the grace of God, we dug out of that over the next two years. But I pulled everything in house. All the things that had been that there was betrayal, people hand-shaped deals, signed contract didn't matter. I was taken advantage of, didn't know what I was doing and part of it and our trust, too much trust in people and these guys and so I pulled it all in house and did it all myself, siloed each thing out and I look back now if 2012 hadn't happened, my pillow wouldn't be here to date 83 million my pillows we've sold with thousands of employees we've had over the years and made in the USA. Now I do this in my, and when I speak at rallies for a great real president, I compare that 2012. I've explained that to, I love that, our great real president. Right. But I, in that, in two, I say in my pillow, if 2012 hadn't happened, we would not, I wouldn't be here with my pillow. If 2020, the 2020 election hadn't happened, which is the most important election in history, matter what anyone says because that was the that was right there that opened up the next three and a half years where we are now it exposed everything it exposed all when I've been fighting for three and a half years it exposed the electronic voting machine expose what I've been up against the most you think I've been up Democrats the most that I've been up blocking to get to election you know get rid of our election platform secure no horrible uni party Republicans This is what I've been up against. Right here in Wisconsin here, the number one, Robin Voss, let's speak for the house. I fought him, Brad Rassenberger in Georgia. I mean, the list goes on and on. I thought it'd be really easy to go in. When the 2020 election happened in November and December, I took calculus in ninth grade.

  21. 42:19

    And I was a professional card counter to if you read my book. I was all these numbers. God gifted me with math skills. And when, if I see a show do good with my pillow sales or one do bad, I look and go, there's a reason for that because I know what they should take in, right? So I find out why. And I don't repeat something bad. I go, hey, don't do that again. And if it's good, I say, hey, everybody do it, right? So I looked at all these things that right after the election in 2020. And the thing that was most disturbing, I couldn't figure it out. Every county or state I checked had people that voted that didn't live there. And I looked at it, I'm going, wait a minute, I couldn't imagine 5,000 people from Minnesota. I go, hey, come on everybody, we're gonna jump into Wisconsin and vote for Biden. People are genuinely good people. And I couldn't explain that. I figured it had to be done on a massive scale with computers. I got my evidence on January 9th of 2021, and I've never looked back. And I thought it'd be easy in the summer, but it got to be the spring of 21. I went on Jimmy Kimball and they're going, Michael Adele, he's a conspiracy theory. They had attacked me, took down all the box stores and stuff, but they had attacked me so bad, and I'm going, and everyone's going, Michael Adele wants to overturn the 2020 election. Well, by the time we got into the spring, I knew it's deeper than that. We've got to get rid of the machines, secure, go to paper ballots, hand-counted like all these other countries that have outlawed machines and outlawed early voting. We now have the worst election platforms in the world. Well, anyway, I went on Jimmy Kimmel, If everybody remembers in that spring, everyone says, don't go on Mike, he's gonna attack you. He did attack me. But you know what, the left media is all I got. They attack me and I'm able to get the word out, right? Well, you know, I think I speak for millions of Americans, Mike, when I say it really hurt my heart to see the way they attacked you. And the stores dropped you because, I mean, you're a great American, you're an American success store, your products are made in America. and you're a man I believe to the core of my heart committed to the truth.

  22. 44:24

    And you know what it is to pay a price for speaking truth, don't you? Right, absolutely. And you know, but the thing that was is you say, everyone says, well, Mike, you were attacked and canceled and everything, but you know what? If that went to happen, I wouldn't have been able to get the word out, you know. On September, or I mean on February 4th of 2021, everything changed forever in the media, because that's the day Fox News got sued by Smartmatic, and it started lawfare in our country, the Henman Nuns in 1792. So you lost all these outlets, that when talk about the 2020 election, they wouldn't talk about it and look into this stuff anymore. And so that, they basically became, I call them weather channels that won't report hurricanes or tornadoes. You know, and so what's worse and that you trusted places you wanted to hear about stuff and the report the news and if that doesn't happen if that doesn't happen It what's worse that or over here getting attacked where you can get the word out. So I took that route, right? And but they did attack me and I get him Jimmy Kimball and he says Mike he says if your friend Donald Trump had been selected like you say Biden was Would you still be selling in the alarm? I said absolutely I'd be selling the alarm and I think everybody knows that now. I've spent 40 million dollars every dime I've had every single dime I borrowed money everything because you know what and they just asked me on CNN Yesterday they followed me around they go well Well Mike would you know now that you if you look back would you change anything? Absolutely not because I said I wouldn't have a company anyway if we don't secure our elections and And so what we've learned, if you know the last three and a half years, we've known where the evil is, we know where these problems with our elections and we've got a secure man make and get the best ever. I want to commend you whenever I see your commercials, my wife and I love your commercials, behind you is a picture of Jesus. I'm sure millions of people noticed that. For one thing I want to commend you for having a bold witness and you, business politics were all invested, but you have not been shy about your Christian faith.

  23. 46:43

    Right, and here I wanna tell people about that. When I quit everything on January 16, 2009, quit all my addictions, it was such a radical change, I thought that was the day I got saved. You all see me wearing my cross on TV all the time. I would take phone calls from people ordering pillows ago. You're using that cross to just to sell pillows, you know, the Christians would call me and say that. And I would send a picture to me in a crack house wearing my cross, right? And if it was somebody that, another person that would call that and say an atheist, whatever, I'd sit and witness to them, even though I wasn't saved yet, which I'm gonna tell you in a second. I'm sitting there. We got two minutes. Yeah, I'm sitting there telling them all about, all about, you know, I read Revelation, read the Bible when I was in jail, but I'm telling these guys, well, I'm getting saved on the phone and I'm going, there, take that. And I wasn't saved yet. My day that I would say was February 18th. You ready for this? 2017 Okay, all these miracles I looked at miracles and I look at mathematics to prove God He said you have a one in a billion a one in a million or this is impossible when do you add them together and consider? It's a miracle. So that's what I say right now that you know God these people said me Well God you know Mike you said God's given us grace for such a time as this I see this doesn't feel like grace I say, oh, but it is. Hey, we're almost out of time. We're in the greatest revival for Jesus Christ in history. Hey, man, give us your website and folks go buy a pillow. Yeah, my pillow.com, you can use promo code MIKE, but really I really want you to go to the Lindell Plan.com and learn the plan I have to secure our election platforms. Mike Lindell of My Pillow, thanks. Everybody, keep us in prayer. Pray for our nation. Be informed, stay bold, stay strong, and thanks for listening to the American Family Radio Network.

  24. 48:44

    The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.

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