April 4, 2024 • 23 mins
Erin Elmore, an attorney, Republican strategist, and media personality, joins the Karol to discuss her background, transition from law to reality TV, and close relationship with the Trump family. She shares her experience auditioning for The Apprentice and the challenges of being on the show. Erin also talks about her move to Florida and the societal problems she sees, particularly with immigration. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and offers tips for making friends in a new place. Erin also discusses her passion for broadcasting and fashion, as well as her involvement with Public Square, a conservative online marketplace. The Karol Markowicz Show is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
When I meet people with grown kids, I like to
ask them, so, how did it turn out? Because all
of our amazing parenting, all of our ideas and concepts
of how to raise our kids in the best possible way,
how they actually turn out is when the rubber meets
(00:28):
the road. I talk about what I want from my kids,
how I want them to get married, and I'm open
about the fact that I want them to marry within
our Jewish faith. I want them to have kids. I
want them to have a career, sure, but be fulfilled
in their work. And I want them to know that
communism never works, not even one time. I'm joking slash
(00:50):
not joking about the last one. I don't care if
my kids share my politics, but I would like them
to share the facts of reality with me. I want
us to agree on what those are. It's not just ideological.
My older two are fourteen and eleven. We talk a
lot about political concepts, history, ideology, all of it. Really
(01:12):
my youngest he's eight and he's the baby of the family,
and the conversations haven't come quite as easily with him.
On the bigger topics of life. I hear from other
parents who are struggling to begin these conversations, these bigger
conversations with their children. I think A really good place
to start, and a topic that gets covered in our
(01:33):
house more often than you'd think are the Salem witch trials.
I know it sounds crazy. I don't know what my
kids will believe when they grow up, but I want
them to really understand the madness of crowds and forced conformity,
like that's a big thing for me. That's actually the
main thing for me. Believe what you want, but don't
(01:55):
just fall in line. A few days ago on Twitter,
journalist Aaron Sabet reported a story of mandatory structural racism
class at UCLA Medical School where a guest speaker gave
a really insane talk. But really that sort of besides
the point here. It's really not about the politics. The
speaker demanded that the kids bow down, literally get on
(02:18):
their hands and knees for Mother Earth. One kid stayed
in their seat. If that's my kid, then I will
know that I have parented correctly. There's this famous picture
of a Nazi rally in Germany in the late nineteen
thirties and everyone is standing there with their arm outstretched
in a salute, but one guy is sitting. Everybody wants
(02:40):
to be that guy. Everybody thinks they would be that guy.
But the fact that a UCLA medical school class all
got on their hands and knees to praise Mother Earth
because some guy told them to, I mean, that's a problem.
I don't need my kids to align with my politics.
I just need them to be that guy sitting in
his seat at the Nazi rally. It extends, you know,
(03:01):
beyond politics too. A number of years ago, I wrote
about a dog that was put in the overhead compartment
on a plane. I'm not a dog person. I'm actually allergic,
and that's why I love animals, but I just could
never get close enough to them to really be a
dog person or you know whatever. The dog barked and barked,
and then stopped barking because the dog died. And what
(03:24):
I wrote at the time is quote, one person uncritically
following an authority figure is understandable. A plane full of
people doing the same is terrifying. This incident doesn't exist
in a vacuum. When someone goes to put a dog
in an overhead compartment. There should be a chorus of
voices to say it's a bad idea and stop them
(03:46):
if they persist that there wasn't is a bad sign
for our society. Like I said, I'm not a dog person,
but there's no way in hell anybody's putting a dog
in an overhead compartment while I sit there. Absolutely not.
I'm getting kicked off that flight in my argument for it.
My husband, by the way, loves that, loves that I
will get into a fight everywhere we go for this
(04:08):
kind of thing. But I would I would not let
somebody put a dog in an overhead compartment. Like you know,
one plus one is two, and I will defend that
to the end. In that same piece, I note an
old episode of the Office which features Michael unquestionably following
his GPS and driving into a lake. He screams the
machine knows as his friend tries to stop him. You know,
(04:30):
this idea that machines are infallible is crazy and unthinkingly
following either a car into a lake or a stewardess
who says to put the dog in an overhead is madness.
Stepping in on behalf of others should be something we
routinely do. I wrote, if you find yourself in a
situation where you're thinking somebody should do something, make that
(04:53):
somebody you, and teach your children to become the type
of people who would do the same. It isn't enough
to see something say something. We must feel obligated to
do something. And that's really it. I want my kids
to be the helpers to step in without being asked.
It starts with being able to identify the madness of
crowds and to pull yourself apart from the herd. Coming
(05:14):
up next and interview with Erin Elmore. Join us after
the break. Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
My guest today, you've seen her on your TV. Erin
Elmore Esquire attorney, Republican strategist, and Turning Point USA contributor.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Hi Erin, how are you you know?
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I don't think I knew you were a lawyer until
I asked how you wanted to be introduced. I saw
you as you know, a media person, but I didn't
know you were an attorney.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I went to law school, I passed the bar exam,
I practiced for a very short amount of time, and
then I went on to show The Apprentice.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
We'll be talking about and I know, practice law again.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Wow, that's so interesting. I actually, I mean I knew
you were on the Apprentice, but I didn't know that
that was the impetus to, you know, not do law.
What made you make the change?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean, being a young lawyer was not fun. I
was just sitting in an office filing paperwork. I mean
basically I was working for the auto industry. Every time
like a bus full of nuns rolled over, I would
have to try to get it and it was terrible.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Right, we don't want to defend that, I mean in general,
but no.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So I really didn't like practicing law.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
So what made you? First of all, what made you
go on the Apprentice? What was the spark for that?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
So this is back in the day, right, and it
was the number one show on television. I was sitting
in my office thinking, wow, I've got to find a
way out of this, and people kept calling me and
they said there's an Apprentice try out in Philadelphia, where
I'm from. And after the fifth phone call, I said,
you know what, I'll go over there. And I went
and I stood in line like everybody else, and I
just had a really sharp Maga red suit on it.
(06:57):
This is way before Maga, so I maybe there was
a thing to that. And I kind of stood out
and I had a lot to say, and the producers.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Were like, everybody will call you if you make it.
Just go home. We'll give you a call. And then
the lady like grabbed me on the slide. She was like.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
And so one thing led to another, and I went
on to the next level, and two weeks later I
was living in Trump Tower.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Wow. So you're pretty close with the Trump family now,
but you didn't know them at all before that.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
No, No, of course not. I only knew the art
of the deal.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So interesting, So what was the experience like?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Wild?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You got to work really really hard. Every three days
was a one week episode. So you're grinding it out
and you're not living in luxury and Trump Tower. You're
living on basically a glorified TV set, right. You can't
control the lights, you don't have your phone, you don't
have access to the computers, you don't have a credit card,
so you're basically Wow, filming twenty four to seven fixated
on this It's wild.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And did you hit it off with them at the time,
because you know, if anybody goes to your Instagram and
there's a lot of pictures of you with like Lara
Trump and the other Trump kids. Yeah, was it an
instant like connection?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Well, you know, Laura, Eric was still in high school
or maybe even younger at the time. He's younger than
I and Laura wasn't around yet. So I just had
stayed in contact with the family over the years. Ronograph
was President Trump's personal assistant, and I stayed in touch
with her, And as soon as he said he was
running for president, I called Rona and said, I have
an undergraduate degree in political science and broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I've been doing broadcasting now for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I need to help get this man elected because he
was so wonderful to me and so great to me.
I will do anything I can to bring this man
to the White House. And that was my basically baptismal
by fire intro into politics.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
When did you move to Florida.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
During COVID We moved in May of Well it wasn't
an intentional move, right, So there were riots, you know
around the George Floyd stuff and my husband's nine to
eleven survivor and there were fires burning below us.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Helicopters. Where where are you Philadelphia?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You were in Philly? Uh huh. The city was.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Burning and my husband was having flashbacks to nine to eleven,
and we like packed a suitcase and then I basically
got on an airplane to Florida and saw.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
How people were living.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know, my schools were closed, my son couldn't play
in esports, we were stuck indoors. And you get to
Florida and people are living totally normally and summer camps
were open.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
So I found the local JCC.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
They took my son, and it was sort of like,
we'll stay for a month, we'll stay for two months,
and basically whenever left.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah. I feel like that's a familiar story, especially like
in our part of South Florida, people kind of giving
it a shot and then just never never leaving because
it's so great. It is great. So, you know, one
thing I always think about you is you really seem
to be having fun like you're You don't seem like
you're kind of one of these negative people. I know
(09:50):
things are hard in the world and things are bad
in our country, but you always just seem like you're
having a good time. Is that?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Like you, I mean basically ninety nine nine percent of
the time.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, I really try to be optimistic and positive, and
I if I'm going to do something, I want to
make it fun. Right. Life can be really hard and
there's so much to stress about. It's dowur and negative
in the world. So if you can bring some joy
to your day, then I say, I'm all for it.
Do you feel like you've made it well in terms
(10:22):
of I mean in terms of what like a success situation, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Or whichever, you know. I ask that of everybody who
comes on the show, and I you know, I get
a range of answers. I get people who are like,
you know, bazillionaires saying like, no, I haven't made it,
and then just you know, it might not have anything
to do with career, might not have anything to do
with us, just in general, Do you feel like you've
made it well?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You know what, Right now, I'm raising a ten year
old son as my husband and it's hard. You know,
you have family, and it's so right now, I would
say no, because there are things that I'm working on
with parenting that are so hard and so complex, and
you just don't know what to do and you try
to read books and you ask others, And I think
parenting is just all about figuring it out as you go.
(11:05):
And we're like a little bit of a hard phase
right now. So until he's the president of the United
States or a golfer or an entrepreneur doing anything makes
them happy, I've definitely not made it.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, I have my middle son as eleven. I totally
hear you hard he's the hardest one right now, for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Like it's a tough age toss back a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Oh, I don't know about that.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Your son doesn't talk back, well.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I mean maybe he attempts to, but no, I shut
that down.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
It's just he always has a comment but both someone
said this morning that I was speaking with it was like,
but you and your husband are both so bubbly and jubilant,
So it's like, maybe he doesn't understand that it's a negative,
but he just always wants to add color commentary.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yes, I actually would get a lot of color commentary
over here. Also, Yeah, So what would you say is
our largest like societal problem? What would you like to
see kind of tackled?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Well, I mean I hate to say so bluntly, but
liberalism truthfully, but I do think you know, all the
polling is showing right now in terms of politics that
the open border is our biggest problem.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And I truly believe.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
After we saw what happens to that young, beautiful nursing
student in Georgia. You know, you can live in a place,
you can have the right values, that you're protected, and
then still because of the.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Values and problems in these liberal places that you're just
it's still coming to your front door.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And I think that that's the I mean, in terms
of our society right now, I do think that that's
our biggest problem.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
So we're recording this the day after Super Tuesday. It's
going to air in a few weeks. But last night
the MSNBC you know crowd, My producer John told me
about this because I was asleep by like ten o'clock.
But they were making fun of the idea that people
in Virginia considered immigration their most important issue, like haha,
they're so far from the border, Like what are they
having problems with West Virginia? But I think that's that's real.
(13:03):
You know the fact that we don't know who's coming
in and we don't know kind of we have no control.
So I guess that The question I would ask you
is do you think it's solvable. Do you think a
Donald Trump victory, for example, solves that problem, or are
we so far gone down the path that maybe it's
not solvable anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I don't think that you can unring the battle of
immigration in this country, of illegal immigration anyway. I don't
think you can put the toothpaste back in that too.
But I don't know how it's a tenable situation. I
truly don't. It's something that you see they're now flying
people across the border, so they're not walking across, and
you wonder, isn't an intentional destruction of our nation?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Is it just to ensure that the population votes a
certain way, which could also.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Backfire, by the way, But it almost feels that it's
intentional and unfixable, and you only hope that we can
slow it down. And we see that the Texas Governor
Abbott is doing what he can. But I'm not sure
that even Donald Trump can fix this problem.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Yeah, I'm not sure either, And that's definitely been on
my mind a lot. I went to the border recently,
and I came back really feeling negative about a lot
of things. A lot of things in the country. We're
going to take a quick break and be right back
on the Carol Markowitz Show. This show is generally not
(14:23):
about politics, but I think that that's such a cultural
problem that we're facing, that societal issues like that spill
over from politics into culture. And so yeah, I fully
you know, hear you on that what do you do
to maintain your kind of you know, you mentioned you're
(14:44):
like a bubbly person, and I said that you always
seem like you're having fun, Like what do you do
to kind of maintain that when you're feeling negative.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I try to be really introspective, to be honest, like
if I make a mistake or if I have a
bad situation. I always I have friends that I can
rely and of course my husband, but people that I
really rely on as sounding boards who I've trusted and
relied on for a long time, so they're really helpful.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
But then I try to be introspective.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
I think so many people don't like to be reflective
on who they are and what they've done wrong and
their mistakes. And I really try to have those moments
of introspection. And I'm really hard on myself, you know,
when I was on the apprentice.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
They made us to.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All these emotional tests and social tests, and they told
me that, I guess my emotional IQ was like their
words off the charts, and I had never thought about
it before, but that's and then I thought of it.
I said, maybe that's why I'm always analyzing and evaluating,
and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Like, how is this person feeling about me? Or how
is this person feeling about this interaction? So I really
try to.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You know, care about other people first and foremost, yeah,
like have empathy, but also to monitor my every interaction
and be really reflective about.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Who I am and the mistakes that I make.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
It's so interesting because I think that that kind of
reflection often leads to people feeling negative, but you're saying
it leads you to a positive place because I think
when you think about, like, oh, what is this person
thinking of me? Or you know, if you're always kind
of sensing other people's emotions, that tends to bring you down.
If you're saying that, it doesn't bring you down, No,
(16:15):
Like it helps.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Me create better interactions with those people.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So if I saw someone that was kind of quiet
or didn't seem that they were having fun, I'll send
them a message and say, hey, were you having fun
the other night? If not, maybe we should do something different.
You know. I just really try to then create positive
experiences with people, and I get usually good feedback.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
So when you get good feedback, it makes you feel good.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Have you made a lot of friends since moving to Florida?
I mean other than I would say other than like
from the internet, like that's oh I had often my
caveat like the you know, situational friends.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Oh my god, I have like just as many friends
in Florida as I did back home in Philadelphia, where
I'm essentially from. So yes, I'm very friendly and I
love to talk to people and get to know people,
and I have been very very successful, especially being in
a school there are so many wonderful moms, and also
being around people that share a lot of the same
viewpoints that I do. It's a lot easier to make
(17:09):
friends when you have things that are commonalities.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Definitely. Yeah. So with something that we talk about on
the show because so many people have moved is the
homemaking friends thing. How do you do It's the what's
the secret sauce?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Well, I would say, if you're a female and you
like to exercise, go to like one of those fun
purebar classes or like Lifetime or another gym, and you'll
find people to talk.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
To you in there and you say, have you done
this before? This is hard? You know, you just start talking.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
If you start talking to people, and you know at
school is always helpful. Or join a local group, whether
it's a book club or you know how you feel
like about politics, you can join like Young Republicans, or
you know, just join groups. Get inoved or in Palm
Beach at least where I live, charity is so big.
Get involved and volunteer with a charity. There are so
(17:59):
many opportunities to meet people. You just have to be
talkative and don't be shy.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
What would you be doing if you weren't a media personality?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
So you know what's funny is when I was like
five years old, I had a tape recorder and I
would put on like the radio station in my town,
and I would record a tape of me doing what
like the radio hosts were doing. So I've always really
wanted to be in broadcasting. I don't know what I
would be doing. I can't even imagine what I would
be doing, because that's what I've always wanted, and I
(18:29):
told my parents study journalism and political.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Science and undergraduate. My parents were like, you need to
go to law school, and you know.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
They kind of I'm glad I have the legal education.
There's certainly no downside to it whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But I just don't know what else I would be doing.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I can't I mean, rescuing dogs now because I love
dogs so much. But I can't even think of anything
else that I would rather be doing.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I'm living my dream.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I totally thought you were going to say something in fashion.
I think you're like a really fabulous dresser and thank you.
I thought you would be like stylist or.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Oh my god, i'd think of that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, I mean, I gotta have a plan B. That's
that's okay. I'm my motto. You know, I have a
really bad plan B. But nevertheless, I.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Do love fashion, I really do. And I always think
about what I'm gonna wear and how I'm gonna wear it,
because you know, people tend not in a bad way.
We all kind of have this group think of mentality.
If people are wearing a certain thing, then you think
you should probably wear it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
And nine out of ten times I buck that trend.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I'm like, if all of these girls are wearing floral today,
I'm gonna wear black.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So I and I think about it. And by the way,
it doesn't have to be expensive either.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I've done a lot of high low mixing of things
Amazon this even though Amazon's bad, and now I I'm
with Public Square, so try to do But you can
find really cool different things and have an eclectic sense
of style. eBay t shirts, right, like a cool skirt,
vintage stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, so I do love it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I thought stylust was an easy call. I don't know
how you didn't go for that.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I know, I really now, well, now you have me
think you know, it's like you don't think of what
you don't think.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Of, right, Yeah, so what are your favorite stores? What
do some suggestions?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So I basically shop online mostly other than if I
go to like a thrift store or a vintage store
or eBay, like, I'll buy it.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I bought a vintage like from Israel with love shirt.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
But I do everything from Zara, which is super affordable,
to Zimmerman, which is a little high rent. I will
literally shop anywhere. If I see a pop up ad,
I go for it. I love like sneakers, too. I
really like Nikes, and I just I don't have anything
that's go to. I'm just always trying to find something
new and different. And when you're also at night when
(20:34):
I can't sleep, I swear it lowers my blood pressure
to look at clothes online.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I'm like, oh, I like that as so funny.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah I can see that. Yeah it's real.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's like, yeah, I'll pick out oppits for my friends
and like this will looks so good on you.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So I literally am always scouring the internet for something different.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
The outfit I had on I did a big charity
event at mar A Lago for one it's called Wine,
Women and Shoes benefiting Big Dog Branch Rescue.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
It's the largest no kill rescue in the world. And
I found this out fit that looked like very vintage Chanel, but.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
It was from this small Vietnamese designer. So it's just
it's just about scouring the internet.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
I really like that. I think that I'm going to
look at clothes more often when I can't sleep instead
of like scrolling doom scrolling on the.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Internet or text me and I'll just send you if
you're like, yeah, going to that, have.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
You on call? I don't know what I've been doing
this whole time.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I love I love it. It literally lowers my blood pressure.
So if you need an outfit for an event, I
got you grow.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So what are you doing with Public Square?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
What's the So Public Square is what I describe, if
people don't know, is the conservative Amazon. And so in
between The Apprentice and politics, there's like a ten year window.
And I took a job on air at QBC, which
is the home shopping channel, and people would think, Oh,
that's just you're just talking about stuff, and it's a
lot of data.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You're getting information in real time.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
It's a very methodical way of presenting products to people.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
So I really learned a lot about how to sell
a product.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
And I talked to the CEO of Public Square and
I told him we should turn QBC into Public Square
and vice versa. And so we're kind of making our
own little shopping experience with all of our amazing vendors
and products. Because all of these people on Public Square,
we all share the same values and they all have
a really cool story to.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Tell, really cool story.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Really cool.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So I want to be able to tell these stories.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I would be there with the creator of the product
and say why did you do this, how did.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
You come up with this, what was your motivation?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And then people will feel personally connected to these products
and it just.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Really brings them from black and white into color.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And they're Florida based now as well.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I'm in the office right now Palm Beach.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
That's great. Yeah, I think that they're really doing something unique.
I love like watching where they go, so I love
talking to you. I think we've covered a lot of ground,
but end here with your best tip for my listeners
on how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Thinking for a minute, best way to improve your lives
is always think about other people and really try.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
To be a good friend. Right.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
I love Don't get me wrong. This is a lot
about pop culture too. I love the Housewives, I love gossip,
I love tea. But I would say, learn how to
keep a secret, be a good friend, always think about
your actions, and at the end of the day, try
to do charitable things for others and hopefully for dogs.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Hopefully for dogs. Thank you so much, Aeron elmar nice
to have you on. Thank you thanks so much for
joining us. I'm the Carol Marca which show. Subscribe wherever
you get your podcasts,
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
When I meet people with grown kids, I like to
ask them, so, how did it turn out? Because all
of our amazing parenting, all of our ideas and concepts
of how to raise our kids in the best possible way,
how they actually turn out is when the rubber meets
(00:28):
the road. I talk about what I want from my kids,
how I want them to get married, and I'm open
about the fact that I want them to marry within
our Jewish faith. I want them to have kids. I
want them to have a career, sure, but be fulfilled
in their work. And I want them to know that
communism never works, not even one time. I'm joking slash
(00:50):
not joking about the last one. I don't care if
my kids share my politics, but I would like them
to share the facts of reality with me. I want
us to agree on what those are. It's not just ideological.
My older two are fourteen and eleven. We talk a
lot about political concepts, history, ideology, all of it. Really
(01:12):
my youngest he's eight and he's the baby of the family,
and the conversations haven't come quite as easily with him.
On the bigger topics of life. I hear from other
parents who are struggling to begin these conversations, these bigger
conversations with their children. I think A really good place
to start, and a topic that gets covered in our
(01:33):
house more often than you'd think are the Salem witch trials.
I know it sounds crazy. I don't know what my
kids will believe when they grow up, but I want
them to really understand the madness of crowds and forced conformity,
like that's a big thing for me. That's actually the
main thing for me. Believe what you want, but don't
(01:55):
just fall in line. A few days ago on Twitter,
journalist Aaron Sabet reported a story of mandatory structural racism
class at UCLA Medical School where a guest speaker gave
a really insane talk. But really that sort of besides
the point here. It's really not about the politics. The
speaker demanded that the kids bow down, literally get on
(02:18):
their hands and knees for Mother Earth. One kid stayed
in their seat. If that's my kid, then I will
know that I have parented correctly. There's this famous picture
of a Nazi rally in Germany in the late nineteen
thirties and everyone is standing there with their arm outstretched
in a salute, but one guy is sitting. Everybody wants
(02:40):
to be that guy. Everybody thinks they would be that guy.
But the fact that a UCLA medical school class all
got on their hands and knees to praise Mother Earth
because some guy told them to, I mean, that's a problem.
I don't need my kids to align with my politics.
I just need them to be that guy sitting in
his seat at the Nazi rally. It extends, you know,
(03:01):
beyond politics too. A number of years ago, I wrote
about a dog that was put in the overhead compartment
on a plane. I'm not a dog person. I'm actually allergic,
and that's why I love animals, but I just could
never get close enough to them to really be a
dog person or you know whatever. The dog barked and barked,
and then stopped barking because the dog died. And what
(03:24):
I wrote at the time is quote, one person uncritically
following an authority figure is understandable. A plane full of
people doing the same is terrifying. This incident doesn't exist
in a vacuum. When someone goes to put a dog
in an overhead compartment. There should be a chorus of
voices to say it's a bad idea and stop them
(03:46):
if they persist that there wasn't is a bad sign
for our society. Like I said, I'm not a dog person,
but there's no way in hell anybody's putting a dog
in an overhead compartment while I sit there. Absolutely not.
I'm getting kicked off that flight in my argument for it.
My husband, by the way, loves that, loves that I
will get into a fight everywhere we go for this
(04:08):
kind of thing. But I would I would not let
somebody put a dog in an overhead compartment. Like you know,
one plus one is two, and I will defend that
to the end. In that same piece, I note an
old episode of the Office which features Michael unquestionably following
his GPS and driving into a lake. He screams the
machine knows as his friend tries to stop him. You know,
(04:30):
this idea that machines are infallible is crazy and unthinkingly
following either a car into a lake or a stewardess
who says to put the dog in an overhead is madness.
Stepping in on behalf of others should be something we
routinely do. I wrote, if you find yourself in a
situation where you're thinking somebody should do something, make that
(04:53):
somebody you, and teach your children to become the type
of people who would do the same. It isn't enough
to see something say something. We must feel obligated to
do something. And that's really it. I want my kids
to be the helpers to step in without being asked.
It starts with being able to identify the madness of
crowds and to pull yourself apart from the herd. Coming
(05:14):
up next and interview with Erin Elmore. Join us after
the break. Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
My guest today, you've seen her on your TV. Erin
Elmore Esquire attorney, Republican strategist, and Turning Point USA contributor.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Hi Erin, how are you you know?
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I don't think I knew you were a lawyer until
I asked how you wanted to be introduced. I saw
you as you know, a media person, but I didn't
know you were an attorney.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I went to law school, I passed the bar exam,
I practiced for a very short amount of time, and
then I went on to show The Apprentice.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
We'll be talking about and I know, practice law again.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Wow, that's so interesting. I actually, I mean I knew
you were on the Apprentice, but I didn't know that
that was the impetus to, you know, not do law.
What made you make the change?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean, being a young lawyer was not fun. I
was just sitting in an office filing paperwork. I mean
basically I was working for the auto industry. Every time
like a bus full of nuns rolled over, I would
have to try to get it and it was terrible.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Right, we don't want to defend that, I mean in general,
but no.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So I really didn't like practicing law.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
So what made you? First of all, what made you
go on the Apprentice? What was the spark for that?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
So this is back in the day, right, and it
was the number one show on television. I was sitting
in my office thinking, wow, I've got to find a
way out of this, and people kept calling me and
they said there's an Apprentice try out in Philadelphia, where
I'm from. And after the fifth phone call, I said,
you know what, I'll go over there. And I went
and I stood in line like everybody else, and I
just had a really sharp Maga red suit on it.
(06:57):
This is way before Maga, so I maybe there was
a thing to that. And I kind of stood out
and I had a lot to say, and the producers.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Were like, everybody will call you if you make it.
Just go home. We'll give you a call. And then
the lady like grabbed me on the slide. She was like.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
And so one thing led to another, and I went
on to the next level, and two weeks later I
was living in Trump Tower.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Wow. So you're pretty close with the Trump family now,
but you didn't know them at all before that.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
No, No, of course not. I only knew the art
of the deal.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So interesting, So what was the experience like?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Wild?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You got to work really really hard. Every three days
was a one week episode. So you're grinding it out
and you're not living in luxury and Trump Tower. You're
living on basically a glorified TV set, right. You can't
control the lights, you don't have your phone, you don't
have access to the computers, you don't have a credit card,
so you're basically Wow, filming twenty four to seven fixated
on this It's wild.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And did you hit it off with them at the time,
because you know, if anybody goes to your Instagram and
there's a lot of pictures of you with like Lara
Trump and the other Trump kids. Yeah, was it an
instant like connection?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Well, you know, Laura, Eric was still in high school
or maybe even younger at the time. He's younger than
I and Laura wasn't around yet. So I just had
stayed in contact with the family over the years. Ronograph
was President Trump's personal assistant, and I stayed in touch
with her, And as soon as he said he was
running for president, I called Rona and said, I have
an undergraduate degree in political science and broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I've been doing broadcasting now for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I need to help get this man elected because he
was so wonderful to me and so great to me.
I will do anything I can to bring this man
to the White House. And that was my basically baptismal
by fire intro into politics.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
When did you move to Florida.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
During COVID We moved in May of Well it wasn't
an intentional move, right, So there were riots, you know
around the George Floyd stuff and my husband's nine to
eleven survivor and there were fires burning below us.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Helicopters. Where where are you Philadelphia?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You were in Philly? Uh huh. The city was.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Burning and my husband was having flashbacks to nine to eleven,
and we like packed a suitcase and then I basically
got on an airplane to Florida and saw.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
How people were living.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know, my schools were closed, my son couldn't play
in esports, we were stuck indoors. And you get to
Florida and people are living totally normally and summer camps
were open.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
So I found the local JCC.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
They took my son, and it was sort of like,
we'll stay for a month, we'll stay for two months,
and basically whenever left.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah. I feel like that's a familiar story, especially like
in our part of South Florida, people kind of giving
it a shot and then just never never leaving because
it's so great. It is great. So, you know, one
thing I always think about you is you really seem
to be having fun like you're You don't seem like
you're kind of one of these negative people. I know
(09:50):
things are hard in the world and things are bad
in our country, but you always just seem like you're
having a good time. Is that?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Like you, I mean basically ninety nine nine percent of
the time.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, I really try to be optimistic and positive, and
I if I'm going to do something, I want to
make it fun. Right. Life can be really hard and
there's so much to stress about. It's dowur and negative
in the world. So if you can bring some joy
to your day, then I say, I'm all for it.
Do you feel like you've made it well in terms
(10:22):
of I mean in terms of what like a success situation, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Or whichever, you know. I ask that of everybody who
comes on the show, and I you know, I get
a range of answers. I get people who are like,
you know, bazillionaires saying like, no, I haven't made it,
and then just you know, it might not have anything
to do with career, might not have anything to do
with us, just in general, Do you feel like you've
made it well?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You know what, Right now, I'm raising a ten year
old son as my husband and it's hard. You know,
you have family, and it's so right now, I would
say no, because there are things that I'm working on
with parenting that are so hard and so complex, and
you just don't know what to do and you try
to read books and you ask others, And I think
parenting is just all about figuring it out as you go.
(11:05):
And we're like a little bit of a hard phase
right now. So until he's the president of the United
States or a golfer or an entrepreneur doing anything makes
them happy, I've definitely not made it.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, I have my middle son as eleven. I totally
hear you hard he's the hardest one right now, for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Like it's a tough age toss back a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Oh, I don't know about that.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Your son doesn't talk back, well.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I mean maybe he attempts to, but no, I shut
that down.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
It's just he always has a comment but both someone
said this morning that I was speaking with it was like,
but you and your husband are both so bubbly and jubilant,
So it's like, maybe he doesn't understand that it's a negative,
but he just always wants to add color commentary.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yes, I actually would get a lot of color commentary
over here. Also, Yeah, So what would you say is
our largest like societal problem? What would you like to
see kind of tackled?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Well, I mean I hate to say so bluntly, but
liberalism truthfully, but I do think you know, all the
polling is showing right now in terms of politics that
the open border is our biggest problem.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And I truly believe.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
After we saw what happens to that young, beautiful nursing
student in Georgia. You know, you can live in a place,
you can have the right values, that you're protected, and
then still because of the.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Values and problems in these liberal places that you're just
it's still coming to your front door.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And I think that that's the I mean, in terms
of our society right now, I do think that that's
our biggest problem.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
So we're recording this the day after Super Tuesday. It's
going to air in a few weeks. But last night
the MSNBC you know crowd, My producer John told me
about this because I was asleep by like ten o'clock.
But they were making fun of the idea that people
in Virginia considered immigration their most important issue, like haha,
they're so far from the border, Like what are they
having problems with West Virginia? But I think that's that's real.
(13:03):
You know the fact that we don't know who's coming
in and we don't know kind of we have no control.
So I guess that The question I would ask you
is do you think it's solvable. Do you think a
Donald Trump victory, for example, solves that problem, or are
we so far gone down the path that maybe it's
not solvable anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I don't think that you can unring the battle of
immigration in this country, of illegal immigration anyway. I don't
think you can put the toothpaste back in that too.
But I don't know how it's a tenable situation. I
truly don't. It's something that you see they're now flying
people across the border, so they're not walking across, and
you wonder, isn't an intentional destruction of our nation?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Is it just to ensure that the population votes a
certain way, which could also.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Backfire, by the way, But it almost feels that it's
intentional and unfixable, and you only hope that we can
slow it down. And we see that the Texas Governor
Abbott is doing what he can. But I'm not sure
that even Donald Trump can fix this problem.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Yeah, I'm not sure either, And that's definitely been on
my mind a lot. I went to the border recently,
and I came back really feeling negative about a lot
of things. A lot of things in the country. We're
going to take a quick break and be right back
on the Carol Markowitz Show. This show is generally not
(14:23):
about politics, but I think that that's such a cultural
problem that we're facing, that societal issues like that spill
over from politics into culture. And so yeah, I fully
you know, hear you on that what do you do
to maintain your kind of you know, you mentioned you're
(14:44):
like a bubbly person, and I said that you always
seem like you're having fun, Like what do you do
to kind of maintain that when you're feeling negative.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I try to be really introspective, to be honest, like
if I make a mistake or if I have a
bad situation. I always I have friends that I can
rely and of course my husband, but people that I
really rely on as sounding boards who I've trusted and
relied on for a long time, so they're really helpful.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
But then I try to be introspective.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
I think so many people don't like to be reflective
on who they are and what they've done wrong and
their mistakes. And I really try to have those moments
of introspection. And I'm really hard on myself, you know,
when I was on the apprentice.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
They made us to.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All these emotional tests and social tests, and they told
me that, I guess my emotional IQ was like their
words off the charts, and I had never thought about
it before, but that's and then I thought of it.
I said, maybe that's why I'm always analyzing and evaluating,
and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Like, how is this person feeling about me? Or how
is this person feeling about this interaction? So I really
try to.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You know, care about other people first and foremost, yeah,
like have empathy, but also to monitor my every interaction
and be really reflective about.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Who I am and the mistakes that I make.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
It's so interesting because I think that that kind of
reflection often leads to people feeling negative, but you're saying
it leads you to a positive place because I think
when you think about, like, oh, what is this person
thinking of me? Or you know, if you're always kind
of sensing other people's emotions, that tends to bring you down.
If you're saying that, it doesn't bring you down, No,
(16:15):
Like it helps.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Me create better interactions with those people.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So if I saw someone that was kind of quiet
or didn't seem that they were having fun, I'll send
them a message and say, hey, were you having fun
the other night? If not, maybe we should do something different.
You know. I just really try to then create positive
experiences with people, and I get usually good feedback.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
So when you get good feedback, it makes you feel good.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Have you made a lot of friends since moving to Florida?
I mean other than I would say other than like
from the internet, like that's oh I had often my
caveat like the you know, situational friends.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Oh my god, I have like just as many friends
in Florida as I did back home in Philadelphia, where
I'm essentially from. So yes, I'm very friendly and I
love to talk to people and get to know people,
and I have been very very successful, especially being in
a school there are so many wonderful moms, and also
being around people that share a lot of the same
viewpoints that I do. It's a lot easier to make
(17:09):
friends when you have things that are commonalities.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Definitely. Yeah. So with something that we talk about on
the show because so many people have moved is the
homemaking friends thing. How do you do It's the what's
the secret sauce?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Well, I would say, if you're a female and you
like to exercise, go to like one of those fun
purebar classes or like Lifetime or another gym, and you'll
find people to talk.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
To you in there and you say, have you done
this before? This is hard? You know, you just start talking.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
If you start talking to people, and you know at
school is always helpful. Or join a local group, whether
it's a book club or you know how you feel
like about politics, you can join like Young Republicans, or
you know, just join groups. Get inoved or in Palm
Beach at least where I live, charity is so big.
Get involved and volunteer with a charity. There are so
(17:59):
many opportunities to meet people. You just have to be
talkative and don't be shy.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
What would you be doing if you weren't a media personality?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
So you know what's funny is when I was like
five years old, I had a tape recorder and I
would put on like the radio station in my town,
and I would record a tape of me doing what
like the radio hosts were doing. So I've always really
wanted to be in broadcasting. I don't know what I
would be doing. I can't even imagine what I would
be doing, because that's what I've always wanted, and I
(18:29):
told my parents study journalism and political.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Science and undergraduate. My parents were like, you need to
go to law school, and you know.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
They kind of I'm glad I have the legal education.
There's certainly no downside to it whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But I just don't know what else I would be doing.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I can't I mean, rescuing dogs now because I love
dogs so much. But I can't even think of anything
else that I would rather be doing.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I'm living my dream.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I totally thought you were going to say something in fashion.
I think you're like a really fabulous dresser and thank you.
I thought you would be like stylist or.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Oh my god, i'd think of that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, I mean, I gotta have a plan B. That's
that's okay. I'm my motto. You know, I have a
really bad plan B. But nevertheless, I.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Do love fashion, I really do. And I always think
about what I'm gonna wear and how I'm gonna wear it,
because you know, people tend not in a bad way.
We all kind of have this group think of mentality.
If people are wearing a certain thing, then you think
you should probably wear it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
And nine out of ten times I buck that trend.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I'm like, if all of these girls are wearing floral today,
I'm gonna wear black.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So I and I think about it. And by the way,
it doesn't have to be expensive either.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I've done a lot of high low mixing of things
Amazon this even though Amazon's bad, and now I I'm
with Public Square, so try to do But you can
find really cool different things and have an eclectic sense
of style. eBay t shirts, right, like a cool skirt,
vintage stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, so I do love it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I thought stylust was an easy call. I don't know
how you didn't go for that.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I know, I really now, well, now you have me
think you know, it's like you don't think of what
you don't think.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Of, right, Yeah, so what are your favorite stores? What
do some suggestions?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So I basically shop online mostly other than if I
go to like a thrift store or a vintage store
or eBay, like, I'll buy it.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
I bought a vintage like from Israel with love shirt.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
But I do everything from Zara, which is super affordable,
to Zimmerman, which is a little high rent. I will
literally shop anywhere. If I see a pop up ad,
I go for it. I love like sneakers, too. I
really like Nikes, and I just I don't have anything
that's go to. I'm just always trying to find something
new and different. And when you're also at night when
(20:34):
I can't sleep, I swear it lowers my blood pressure
to look at clothes online.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I'm like, oh, I like that as so funny.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah I can see that. Yeah it's real.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's like, yeah, I'll pick out oppits for my friends
and like this will looks so good on you.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So I literally am always scouring the internet for something different.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
The outfit I had on I did a big charity
event at mar A Lago for one it's called Wine,
Women and Shoes benefiting Big Dog Branch Rescue.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
It's the largest no kill rescue in the world. And
I found this out fit that looked like very vintage Chanel, but.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
It was from this small Vietnamese designer. So it's just
it's just about scouring the internet.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
I really like that. I think that I'm going to
look at clothes more often when I can't sleep instead
of like scrolling doom scrolling on the.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Internet or text me and I'll just send you if
you're like, yeah, going to that, have.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
You on call? I don't know what I've been doing
this whole time.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I love I love it. It literally lowers my blood pressure.
So if you need an outfit for an event, I
got you grow.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So what are you doing with Public Square?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
What's the So Public Square is what I describe, if
people don't know, is the conservative Amazon. And so in
between The Apprentice and politics, there's like a ten year window.
And I took a job on air at QBC, which
is the home shopping channel, and people would think, Oh,
that's just you're just talking about stuff, and it's a
lot of data.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You're getting information in real time.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
It's a very methodical way of presenting products to people.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
So I really learned a lot about how to sell
a product.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
And I talked to the CEO of Public Square and
I told him we should turn QBC into Public Square
and vice versa. And so we're kind of making our
own little shopping experience with all of our amazing vendors
and products. Because all of these people on Public Square,
we all share the same values and they all have
a really cool story to.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Tell, really cool story.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Really cool.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So I want to be able to tell these stories.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I would be there with the creator of the product
and say why did you do this, how did.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
You come up with this, what was your motivation?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And then people will feel personally connected to these products
and it just.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Really brings them from black and white into color.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And they're Florida based now as well.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I'm in the office right now Palm Beach.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
That's great. Yeah, I think that they're really doing something unique.
I love like watching where they go, so I love
talking to you. I think we've covered a lot of ground,
but end here with your best tip for my listeners
on how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Thinking for a minute, best way to improve your lives
is always think about other people and really try.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
To be a good friend. Right.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
I love Don't get me wrong. This is a lot
about pop culture too. I love the Housewives, I love gossip,
I love tea. But I would say, learn how to
keep a secret, be a good friend, always think about
your actions, and at the end of the day, try
to do charitable things for others and hopefully for dogs.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Hopefully for dogs. Thank you so much, Aeron elmar nice
to have you on. Thank you thanks so much for
joining us. I'm the Carol Marca which show. Subscribe wherever
you get your podcasts,
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