How Trump's Assassination Attempt Highlighted the Partisan Divide | The Trey Gowdy Podcast

I don't remember there being like when I see fights over a fake eyelashes and calling somebody a Butch body which by the way I don't know what that is I'm pretty sure it's not a compliment but I don't know I should know because I'm like in my 50s I should know what it is but I don't know what it is I don't remember I mean I don't remember ever hearing a Democrat utter a negative word about you personally y y'all may have disagreed but there was a civility off camera that I wonder if it still exists do you think it's the same body we served in I I again I I I thought when we came people had kind of talked about how far the Congress has fallen in regard to Civility and since we've left I think the civility is falling even further again I'm all about you want to fight on ideas you want to fight about the future I think that's that is that is the forum for that debate in that fight but you're right these I mean it's Petty it's um it's schol schard stupid stuff that these the these people are fighting about the media laps it up they put the stuff on social media they get attention um so I think it has fallen far further and I think what you did really well and I tried to emulate what you were doing um because it was a good example it's a recognition that you come with a certain set of beliefs but it's not a dictatorship if you want to pass a bill and you have Barack Obama as the president or now you have Joe Biden as the president and you're going to want them to sign this great idea that Trey gy came up with Trey was smart enough to set the example to go what I have to do is I have to find a Democrat to work on this bill with me and it can't be just Trey's Vision he lets the Democrat come in and and put their fingerprints on the bill that is important to Trey and then they buy into the bill and then the two of you the Trey as Republican and his Democrat colleague go to their colleagues Democrats and Republicans and get them to sign on to it and then if it passes the house this bipartisan bill that was really your idea can actually pass a Democrat controlled Senate and a Democrat president might sign it versus if you just said I'm going to do this as Trey gouty and I can get it through Republican Congress but the Senate's never going to take it up the president's never going to sign it you were smart enough to go I have to bring the Democrat in and work with them at the very foundational moment when I'm writing this bill which is why you're so so successful and that model that you employed I don't know that it's possible today I don't know that people are talking to even go hey let's let's have a conversation about how we can work together not not about the fight but there's some real things that I mean you need legislation on real things that have to be done let's do that together and I think the the fighting is so Raw it's not happening like it should I I wonder if the fact that our we had backgrounds in the courtroom where we had to persuade 12 people who did not know us and we knew nothing about their political Orthodoxy we didn't we knew a little bit about their backgrounds but this art of persuasion moving people from where they are it is all we did in a courtroom but it seems like politics now is just more about validating what people already believe I don't see I'll be curious Thursday night because the president I understand tore up his speech and it is going to be a brand new speech and it is going to be one trying to build this electoral mandate the difference between narrowly winning and and having the right to govern versus a mandate for transformational change requires more than just simply eeking out a victory so when you think of persuasion which is what you had to do in a courtroom I mean it's what you I mean it's why you were loved by your colleagues I mean where were you conservative of course you were but you did it in a Winsome persuasive way do you think there's still an appetite for that in politics so I I look at president Trump and I and and I love the president um I was I was one of I was one of the first ones in the Congress to jump on the train and go like this is this is my horse um he has a unique brand of politics it's probably a little harsher than our politics right what the the New York style of communicating doesn't play so well in South Carolina not so well in Wisconsin right it does it does but but now frankly Wisconsin is is is attracted to how he's fighting for them and I'm sure South Carolina is too um but it's there's the it's it's trumpan what I I don't know what's going on but after the debate it is anti- Trump and for Trump to say nothing for a week like he can't do that he can't it's like there's press and I'm part of the press I'm part of the story that's what he does and he shut up he didn't say he's like I'm going to let them implode I'm going to let them have this conversation I'm like this is really I think Democrats even like I heard Democrats like I what's happening we need Trump to say something because we're fighting amongst ourselves we need Trump to get in the story very anti- trumpian what Trump did and then this I mean I'm I I I I was I I don't know what you felt when you heard he was shot I was I was so flipping angry and I think when we saw him come into the convention and this has been talked about a lot I know him fairly well it wasn't trumpian he was subdued he seemed grateful he's I I think he I think he understood that the hand of God had something to play in in Saving his life and that'll change me I've never had a near-death experience but having one I think changes a man's life and the fact that he invited your uh uh your former Governor Nikki Haley yes I she's I'll be damned she's not coming to this convention she fought so hard against me she's not invited I invited Nikki Haley that is I think you put your finger on it uh near-death experience having your life flash before your eyes I mean I'm not a neurosurgeon but I was talking to one on Saturday after the assassination attempt just how close he came to not and we think of him as a political figure but he's also a husband and a father and a grandfather and a friend I mean he's he's more than just an elected official I mean he came so close to losing his life and you can react one of two ways you can react with anger or you can react with this resolve that maybe there is a better path the fact that Not only was governor Haley but Tim Scott who you and I both LED but he ran for president he spoke Governor DeSantis whom we serve with he spoke vivc ramaswami ran against him he spoke yeah Nikki Haley he gave a really good speaking slot to um I think he has a chance I'm older than you are but you're still old enough to remember he's older and wiser Ronald a little a little grayer not much grayer but just a little grayer Ronald Reagan won 49 out of 50 states yeah can you imagine the only state he lost was Mandel's home state and he almost won that of Minesota yeah so if you want a mandate for transformational change you have have to do more you know there have been two presidents in our that I can recall that won the popular vote as a republican Reagan and Bush and Bush didn't do it once you he did it once but not twice right he has a chance to do something that is transformational so Thursday night he loves you he cares what you think might love Rachel AED more but he does love you okay this I love cuz T knows the scene he's like I like like he used to call me I was in Congress I could call him okay he loves Rachel like I'm like uh Mr President she actually is my wife uh whoa her last name is Duffy I'm right here uh I I I love that he he but he he loves her to death well uh so do a lot of other people how would you former prosecutor didn't grow up with a silver spoon in your mouth but you know how to win in a purple State you know how to win in a close District you know how to persuade people that might be skeptical what would be your advice for his speech on Thursday night so I want to start off with if if uh uh you and I are two men talking um and I'm giving some advice to you about a difficult marriage that you're having is I'm about to get a divorce or I am divorced right I'm like who are you to give me advice about my marriage cuz yours failed right you can't ask to unify America if you can't even unify your own party amen if you don't have the heart to invite Nikki Haley to your convention you're lying to me if you're telling me you're going to unite this country because you can't even extend the Olive Branch to her and he did invite her and I think he's serious about about trying to unite the country and I think I think it's fair to talk about the failure of policy and keep it on policy again you don't have to go to Joe Joe Biden's having trouble right and if you have someone older in your life you've seen what's happening to them you don't have to mention that CU America can see that you can talk about his policy you can lay out your vision he's a hopeful guy you got to remain hopeful the sun is rising not setting on this country um and and uh the tone I think matters you know you sometimes it's it's not what you say it's how you say it and the tone is is going to matter and to your point if he comes out with the right tone and the fact that Nikki was invited and I think he has the ability to get people to rethink their vote and maybe cast it for him because there are people who loved his economy they just hate him they hate his brand of politics they will take a look at him after what's happened they will take a look and the tone is right they love the policy they'll come over can I ask you a question about listen you you as a federal prosecutor I was only I was a lowly State prosecutor didn't get to spend time in the courtroom I think we are so lucky that not just I mean again horrible if that bullet had been an inch over and taken Donald Trump's life but now we're seeing seeing all the failings of the Secret Service Homeland Security local law enforcement it was a disaster what conservatives would have gone through had that been successful uh I don't think they would have taken to the streets but it would have ripped this country apart and to to in a place where I don't think we could put it back together because I don't think you would convince conservatives that this wasn't is n allowed this was this was intentional um what do you think about again the Secret Service Homeland Security how how this all played out there's some who say I uh I think we need to look at whether not just not just what happened but what were the root causes of it was it were these accidents were these missteps were these failures or was there some intent behind it and members of Congress Cory Mills is saying that very thing we need to look at what was driving the failure I would say two things um Saturday when my mom texted me um and said that um Trump had been shot um I initially thought Mama you're watching the wrong television show I I I I I was actually on the putting green putting practicing and my mama texted me and I ran home and I saw that my mama was right and I my my dominant thought was this is a stress test for our Republic I don't know if you've ever taken a stress test before if you've ever had hard issues okay this is a stress test for our Republic um because if he is mortally injured wounded there will be retribution there will be retaliation and so it is not H it is not hyperbolic to say that this was a stress test for the Republic my fear your fear because we've been in Congress is they're good at lots of things investigations are not necessarily one of them it needs to be an investigation by someone who knows exactly what they're doing whether that's an outside Law Firm um it doesn't need to be secret service people are not great at grading their own papers it doesn't need to be Alejandra mayorcas I was good at it okay well you got an A that's how you got a because you got to grade your own paper but historically you need experts because look I'm not a security expert um you're more of an Outdoorsman I was more of a golfer I would think a rooftop would be one of the first places you looked if you were doing security at an outside event I would think when you have multiple people saying someone with a firearm is trying to scale a ladder that that would get people's attention where where I probably am I don't know naive or cynical what the right word is I always look to incompetence before I look for a conspiracy I I which I hate to say because you like cops and I like cops but I need to understand how all of this happened and what I don't want is Congress fighting over who has jurisdiction and you and I both know these chairman are proprial they're going to want you know this is my committee that gets to look into it Meanwhile we're burning daylight we are wasting time we need to know in in weeks not months and years exactly how this happened so this this shooter also had a rangefinder right using to shoot a firearm you'll I use a rangefinder every time I play golf so you see someone coming up with a rangefinder uh if you're not on a golf course or going going deer deer hunting or turkey hunting you don't need range figh and the president's not far away uh lights and Sirens kind of go off and you you and I both love cops I'm surprised that when they see a guy with a rangefinder even not even the fire Army ad that cops aren't there tackling him they're not like down right that's I think South Carolinian cops would be like that's not going to happen here so you look like a Boy Scout um have you been through security since we've been at convention I have okay that's how I got here all right I have a pair of rounded scissors that I like to try to keep my hair Immaculate so I by the way it is immaculate I tsa's never stopped my you do you cut it every day is that how you that's what I have to do I use these rounded scissors so I can get through TSA Theiss come now I know every time I've gone through security they have pulled my scissors out 14 years and I'm just now telling you I'm just now telling you but your hair is perfect your hair is perfect you actually look like you could be in a boy band still I don't know if it's in sync I don't know I I I don't know the boy bands I was more into Pink Floyd I like One Direction Maybe One D One Direction you're so much younger than I am I don't even know who One Direction is One Direction what direction are we going in here's what I don't get I mean you're a well-known television personality who served in Congress and they are they are scanning you and checking everything that you have to come in to go do a television show how does that get past security how does a firearm get past security at an event I can't get rounded scissors through security because they didn't go through security right it was outside the perimeter and the and the problem is I don't know about you but I've been to a number of events and when I think of a sniper I think of a rooftop yes snipers are on rooftops so they have a vantage point they can see the snipers were inside the building with an open roof on top so so and so let me ask you this question then um cuz I'm going to take over your podcast and ask you questions and flip the script the ratings will be higher um you know the FBI though I do you I mean You' in in your Congressional work you got to see behind the curtain and I think a lot of times you're able to get the truth out of people sometimes I think they tried to lie to you do you think do you have faith that there will be be a rigorous investigation where we will get to the truth of if they were bad actors we will know who they are and what their mission was or if there were failings They Might Joe Biden's not going to fire them but we will know who failed and how they failed and what changes are being made do you think that these institutions have the capability of looking what happened here and then leveling with the American people honest honest straight shot this is what went wrong this is who at fault uh I say this with a broken heart U because I have a ton of FBI agent friends that I work with for a number of years many of whom are still my very close friends the FBI's number one goal in life is to protect the reputation of the FBI uh and I I say that with a broken heart uh they are going to do what they need to do to preserve their own reputation they have convinced themselves that they are too important for any critique or criticism and we saw that with Comey uh and we've even seen that with Chris Ray I listen to a speaker of the house literally look Chris Ray in the eyeballs and say you can be part of the cleanup crew or the coverup crew it is up to you I think you need an outside group of expert investigators does that exist could is there is there an outside Congress could do that Congress could say I I hate the phrase Warren Commission is overused but I want a Cadre of retired FBI Secret Service agents who report to No One except Lady Justice I don't want Alejandro morcus looking into it I don't want the bureau looking now the bureau is well I mean there is no charge right so if he acted alone the defendant is dead there is no prosecution what you're doing now is gathering evidence so I guess I don't and I served in the in in the body in the institution so I don't know how I don't know the answer to this maybe you do so to set up can the Congress the house alone set up an institution to investigate to again but tra is right the Congress is a legislative body it's not an investigative body they can do oversight they can push but they don't investigate or don't do it well