March 21, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, Tudor is joined by John Ashbrook and Michael Duncan from the Ruthless Podcast. They discuss the current state of the Democratic Party, highlighting its leadership crisis and disarray. The conversation shifts to the importance of authenticity in politics, contrasting figures like AOC with traditional politicians. They also delve into the disconnect between Democratic leaders and voter concerns, particularly regarding manufacturing and national security. Tudor shares her political aspirations and the significance of trade schools in rebuilding American labor. The Tudor Dixon Podcast is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network. For more visit TudorDixonPodcast.com
Check out the Ruthless Podcast HERE
#RuthlessPodcast #TudorDixon #DemocraticParty #AOC #politicalauthenticity #Michigan #politics #manufacturing #tariffs #American #labor #nationalsecurity
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today, I am joined
by the crew of the Ruthless Podcast. We've got John
Ashbrook and Michael Duncan with us here. They are both
founding partners of Calvary, a consulting firm based in d C.
So even though we I'm gonna call you like recovering
consultants because I feel like you're all so fun, which
(00:23):
doesn't jive.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, well, the show is therapy for us, to
be honest with you, it's so much more fun than consulting.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, you know, the show. I think it works for
one reason, and that is I think we're the only
people in DC who don't take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
You know.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I think a lot of people who try to start
a podcast in politics based out of Washington, d C.
Feel like in every episode they got to prove how
smart they are, right, and it's like that's annoying.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I mean, I don't think that's just in the podcast
world in DC honestly. Oh yeah, as you look at
what's happening in DC with Democrats right now, I think
that's kind of their go to is who who can
appear to look like they have a message in that
they are smart and it's not working for anybody right now.
Oddly enough, AOC is like the standout in that crowd,
(01:18):
which seems very odd.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's very very odd. I mean, they really don't have
a leader other than George Soros that I'm aware of.
I mean, their party is in shambles, and it's great
to see. To be honest with you, it's like it's
one of the best things of the year that I
didn't totally expect. But man, is it just the icing
on the cake for everything good that Trump is doing here.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I think for years we've said that that side of
the aisle has been really out of touch with the
average American person. And there was nothing better than Chuck
Schumer on the view talking about this because I think
that many Americans still believe that the American dream is attainable,
and because of that, many Americans are entrepreneurs and start
(02:02):
their own businesses or have dreams of starting their own businesses,
and we as Americans feel like, you know, hands off
my business. This is something that we suffer with every
day in Michigan. Now they've come in with this like
minimum wage that you have to have at restaurants and
the restaurant owners are going, Why isn't it okay for
me to say to my employees, you make as much
money as you want, you determine your wage. But I
(02:25):
thought this was beautiful what Chuck Schimer said yesterday. So
I want to play it for you because this is
exactly what people hate. This is why they voted against them.
But here's Chuck Schumer on the view.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
And you know what their attitude is. I made my
money all by myself. How dare your government take my
money from me. I don't want to pay taxes, or
I've built my company with my bare hands. How dare
your government tell me how I should treat my customers,
the land and water that I own, or my employees.
They hate governments. Government's a barrier to people, a barrier
(02:59):
to stop them from doing things. They want to destroy it.
We are not letting them do it. And we're united.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Okay, God, I mean, he's not wrong.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
People feel that way, like, don't take my stuff. He
just thinks that they're jerks for thinking that.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah. You know what's really shocking about Chuck Schumer is
you know, he failed to placate his liberal base and
shut down the government. Ultimately passed that cr out of
the Senate recently, and the backlash that he got forced
him to cancel his book tour. What does it say
about the state of the Democrat Party and the media
(03:34):
that he does that and then he goes to the
view as his safe place to go. You know, I
shape down the American taxpayer. I mean, this guy acts
like a tough guy. He couldn't handle a book tour.
Speaker 6 (03:46):
Yes, no, but wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
They just watched Donald Trump win the election after getting
shot and no cancelations.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
I mean, this guy gets shot and he goes to
a rally the next day.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Chuck Schumer is afraid of his own party because it's
not his, it's not us that he's afraid of going
out to the book tour and scene. He's afraid of
his own party that he can't go after being he hasn't.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
Seen what people voted for. People voted for the guy
that gets shot and stands up and goes keep fighting.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Right now, that's exactly right. And Democrats, like we were
talking about, they are absolutely in disarray and they hate him,
and especially for what he did last week where he
had this bizarre move saying that he was going to
shut down the government, and then he didn't do it,
and he got so much flak from his own party,
like you're talking about, and it hasn't stopped. There are
(04:36):
all these questions about will they keep him as their leader,
and who could be the next leader, and is AOC
going to primary him in New York. Schumer really doesn't
have much to push back with. I mean, what he
was doing on the view certainly didn't help his case.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, he doesn't know how to talk to the American taxpayer,
the American voter. It's like this Democrat obsession with criticizing dough,
you know, They're like, we must protect these opaque NGOs
who are taking our taxpayer money. And it's like most of
the American people are perfectly fine with slashing budgets for
unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington, DC, you know. And so they
(05:14):
if they want to know why their message is landing
flat with the American people, it's that is that they've
somehow made Elon Musk, this guy who rescues astronauts from
outer space and wants to make the government more efficient,
the bad guy, right.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Right, No, But I watched this and I think it's funny.
Because even if you look at polling, I mean, if
you look at polling in Michigan, what it's telling us
is that the most important issue to people is finances
and making sure government's not corrupt and spending wastefully. That is,
that's what people are concerned about. They like what they see.
(05:49):
But see to me, the Democrats, what's happened to them
is the mainstream media has always been their communications arm.
They actually never had to have a message.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
They just let.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Those people test for them. They were like, Okay, this
is going well. It's good to attack the other side.
It's good to have government weaponization. That's going well for us.
Their ratings are still good. They figured out that the
mainstream media has failed and now they're flailing. They have
no idea what to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, you're exactly right, tutor, And we talk about this
on our show all the time, and that in our
previous careers as consultants, we would always just be so
frustrated by media bias. And everybody writes the stories for Democrats,
the lead, the headline, everything is framed up to make
Democrats look like the heroes. But what it created over
time was a soft political party who did was completely
(06:38):
out of touch with regular people because they were only
in touch with the media. And so I think that
they don't know how to act because, like you said,
the media has done their work for them and they
just don't even know what to do. And I think
they're going to be in the wilderness for a while here.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Yeah. But you know who does have a genuine message.
It is AOC. I mean, that's that is what her
strength is.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
She has that factor where she goes out and she
tells people exactly how she feels and she believes it.
It's like her policies may be radical, they may be progressive,
but she is all in. It comes from the heart.
She's not practiced it. She didn't have somebody tell her
to go out and say this. She's not you know.
Gretchen Whitmer puts out a video of herself as a
potato and talks about giving money to schools. AOC sits
(07:26):
at her kitchen table while she's making something in the
crock putt and she's like, so, anyway, you guys, we've
got to help people and get them, you know, save
these illegal migrants.
Speaker 6 (07:36):
It doesn't matter if they've murdered someone. Their people too
and people buy it. You know, they're like, she believes it.
I love her.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, I mean people put a premium on authenticity. You know,
people are saying that the twenty twenty four election was
the podcast election, and I think that's the reason why.
It's like people would rather their politicians talk like real people,
be authentic, I don't know, speak from the heart, then
have prepackaged talking points that some consultant came up with
(08:04):
that is approved for a thirty second ad.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Right exactly, But that's what you have. I think that's
what you saw. Obviously, Kamala Harris was like a gift
from God. I mean, how could anybody be as bad
as Kamala Harris. But you think that, you're like, wow,
this is so bad.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
They have to.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Put a Josh Shapiro out there, someone to kind of
balance the insanity.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
But they didn't.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
They picked Tim Walls and then Tim and then I
think this is funny because I see Gavin Newsom launches
this podcast, so to your point of trying to be normal,
he launches a podcast and every day he comes in,
you know, he's just like he's always dressed like that
villain from a movie where you're like every chick thinks
he's hot, and then he ends up being the murderer,
(08:47):
you know, and he comes in with his hair slicked back,
and he's supposed to be really normal, and I give
him credit. He started having Republican influencers on and I
could see the play there are like, oh, I'm going
to show them I'm a moderate.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Then he has Tim Walls on it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
This is what Tim Wall says, which I love because
he's such a geek.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And well, most of their ass I do I know
if I run them, But I don't know if we're
going to fall into that place where we want to Okay,
we challenge you to a do you know, a wwe
fight here type of things.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
You can totally see him in the playhouse in third
grade saying that to his buddies. But he still looks
like he's in the playhouse in third grade.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Well, Tim Walls, I mean, I don't think he could
kick a soccer ball without a hip replacement. I mean,
this guy's not kicking anyone's ass. And to your point
on Gavin Newsom, the guy does look like a comic
book villain. He looks like Willem Dafoe playing the Green
Goblin and Spider Man with that slip back hair. I mean,
the guy is just too slick. And that's the other
thing about this. They have an authenticity gap, right, Nobody
(09:54):
thinks Tim Walls is actually going to kick anyone's ass.
So stop talking that way like you're some sort of
tough guy, you know, like Gavin Newsom, you are slimy,
you know, like this idea that you had all these
conservatives on your podcast because you're actually secretly immoderate. It's
like no one's going to buy that, you know, and
so like that's ultimately their biggest problems, that authenticity, get right.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
I mean, I do say that I think that he
is dangerous.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
When I look at all of these people, I think
there are two people that are dangerous in the Democrat Party,
and that's because they have this weird charm that people
are attracted to. And he does have a weird charm
that I see people when he's in person, I see
people completely attracted to him. It's like a firefly to
the you know, the blue light or something like they're
(10:40):
all kind of swarming around him.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
But it's the same with Gretchen Witmer.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I mean, I've heard people say, you know, in meetings
that she's just very charming. The problem is they do
these videos and they look like complete fools, and I
do wonder if that has hurt their brand so significantly
that you saw, I mean, the weak that you had
Kamala Harris out there not going to the Al Smith dinner,
and then at the same time you've got Gretchen.
Speaker 6 (11:05):
Whitmer giving the Dorito communion.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That was a moment where everybody said, what in the
world is happening. These are not serious people, and we
are now at a time that is a very serious time.
We need very serious people. You saw collapse around the world.
We saw what was happening with Israel, we saw what
was happening with Ukraine. But their argument on these things
is also bizarre to me, because you've got Donald Trump
(11:30):
going in and saying, Okay, we're going to stop the
war in Ukraine. People are after him about the fact
that like, what do you mean You're just going to
give this to putin? Well, what did the American people
want on the progressive side, Do they want to send
troops there and say we're going to get every inch
of your border back to you or do they want
(11:51):
the killing to stop, And that was what Zelenski said
he wanted. And then when it came down to you, Okay,
we're going to stop the killing. We'll end the war,
It's like suddenly, oh, you love Putin, But what is
the answer if the answer is not to stop the war?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, I mean this is the case. And point whey.
The Democrats brand is in shambles. They take positions on
issues that make no sense to normal people. And you
look at the issues that they've taken positions on like
men and women's sports. You know, that's an eighty twenty
issue in our country, and they're going to the match
so Lebron James can play in the WNBA. It makes
(12:25):
no sense. It has nothing to do with the two
issues that you pointed out that people are most concerned
about their personal finances and whether the government is corrupt
and spending their money inefficiently or in the wrong way.
And Democrats time and time again, I mean, look at
what some of these left wing judges are doing to
try to stop the president from making common sense decisions
(12:46):
in our government that he wants to cut spending. The
judges are like, oh no, I'm sorry, our Constitution says
you do have to fund trans surgeries and sub Saharan Africa.
That's right there an article two. You know, like it
makes no oh sense and that yet Democrats are taking
these positions over and over again simply because Trump is
doing it and they think that's good politics. And man,
(13:09):
are they so wrong.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Stick around, We've got more with the ruthless guys.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
But first I want to tell you about my partners
at Wired to Fish. I recently came across this company.
They're making a huge difference worldwide. Again, it's Wired to
Fish Coffee. Of course, they love Jesus and I love
this brand is because they align it with my faith
and they're putting their profits where their mouth is. Wired
to Fish Coffee is giving back twenty five percent of
(13:34):
their net profits to faith based programs and clean water
initiatives twenty five percent.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
And the coffee is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
It's sourced in Guatemala and Mexico, and it's known for
some of the finest coffee beans in the world. Hired
to Fish Coffee's rich Arabica blend has already been loved
by thousands who comment on their smooth finish and amazing
taste So you guys need to give Wired to Fish
Coffee a try today and join a community of like
minded people that are making a difference. I mean, you, guys,
(14:03):
everyone drinks coffee, So drink coffee for something that you're
passionate about. Head over to Wired to Fish Coffee. That's
wired the number two Fishcoffee dot com today and use
code tutor for fifteen percent off your first order. If
you're going to love it, it's going to be meaningful
to you, and you want to go buy it Wired
to Fish Coffee Now, stay tuned.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
We'll be back with ruthless.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Interesting part to me is to watch them go after
young girls. I mean, I think just yesterday we saw
one of these Democrat politicians, a local politician, go after
these young girls who said, we have.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
To go to the bathroom with a boy in our school.
Oh no, you don't, don't lie. And it's like, wait,
what happened to believe all women?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You know, they're the party, they're the party of women,
but they're really not. I mean, the way they have
treated women over the past four years has been horrendous.
I mean, even to the point where you had one
guy that was literally in the government stealing our suitcases,
like you can even trust them and go to the airport.
It was ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
It's exactly right. And then they were trying to say
JD was the weird one. Yeah, I mean the whole
derrido picture that Gretchen Whitmer did, it was on the
heels of them trying to say JD was the weird one.
And then he did the debate with Tim Walls and
he turned out to be the most normal person people
who've seen in politics and a generation. And Democrats were
showing people who they were at the same time, and
(15:28):
they were telling them lies about JD.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I hope they keep doing it. They're flailing right now.
They can't find a message, they have no leader, and
I hope they use every gimmick in the book because
they look ridiculous.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
They can't.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean, I think there are a few of them
that are really good at avoiding the media.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
If you watch what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
These folks that are lining up, like the Pritzkers and
the Whitmers and the Newsoms and Shapiro, all these guys
that are lining up to run in twenty eight.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
I mean even Pete Boodha Judge, look.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
He hasn't come out and talked to the media, much
to very safe media.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
And then he doesn't talk.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I mean, I don't even think he's ever talked to
anyone locally here in Michigan, because you know, he is
now a Michigander. He moved here four years ago so
that he could become famous off of our swing state.
We know exactly what he's doing here. But he hasn't
talked to any of the local media. It's just not
their thing because they have these failures on the record.
(16:23):
I mean, he has massive failures when it comes to
the Department of Transportation.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
But Gretchen Whitmer, the state is in shambles.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
We're the forty first state in almost every category. Education
is a wreck, Infrastructure is a disaster. Her one promise
was to fix the roads. Infrastructure is a disaster. We
have not added any new headquarters to the state, and
there's no jobs. And yet she can get away with it.
I will say the Democrats get away with it because
(16:50):
if they do not talk about their failure, no one
else does. Well.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I think what we've learned here is that Democrats can
get away with it up to a point because the
people are up with everything that they're doing. And I
know this is your podcast and we are the guests
and you're the one asking the questions. But you did
make some news this week, you know, and we were
talking about the dam bench and how terrible some of
these people like may Or pet Are and others, but
(17:15):
the Republican bench is very, very good, and you made
some news that you are thinking about maybe running for
statewide office, and I just wonder if you could talk
a little bit more about that, because what we need
are people like you out there. And is there a
chance that you'd have a decision by this summer maybe?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I mean we're looking at this because obviously I ran
for governor two three years ago now, and in that time,
the reason that I was motivated to do that the
first time was really coming from a small family business.
We had a foundry in Michigan, and foundries are tough businesses,
(17:56):
but so essential. And I think we're seeing that now
more than ever as you start to see these tariffs
that Donald Trump's being on, people are just completely freaking
out about it. It's funny because my husband was talking
to a friend of his and his friend was like,
you know, they're gonna put this big tariff on aluminum
and this is going to screw us all. And then
his buddy who brings in aluminum, he was like, you know, actually,
(18:19):
I think that the smelters are going to start up
here in the United States.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
And the progressive friend he goes, who wants to do that?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And I thought, this is so interesting because you have
no concept of, first of all, what it is to
have a small business that is a key critical business
to national security. Because if you're making metal, which very
few companies are making metal these days. There's not even
any metallurgical degrees. There's just about four universities that have
(18:47):
a metallurgical degree in the United States today.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Well shocking. It's a total national security disaster, one that
Donald Trump understands, and it's hard to explain to people.
And so when you see.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Somebody on the progressive side say, oh, gosh, who wants
to be in an aluminum factory? Who wants to be
in a steel factory? Well a lot of people actually,
especially in the state of Michigan, and we have just
been crushed by regulations. We've been crushed by these new
environmental agencies that she's put that whimor has put into place,
and so when I look at this, I went, Okay,
(19:20):
all of those feelings are still there. I want to
save Main Street, I want to bring back education. I
want to give our kids the best possible future. But
Michigan is an amazing state that most people don't realize.
We've got beaches, you can ski, you can go camping.
I mean, the Upper Peninsula is absolutely stunning. What we
have in Michigan should not be lost because of ridiculous
(19:42):
progressive policies. But you go through a race like that
in twenty two, and it was a brutal race because
we've got abortion on the ballot, We've got all of
these issues, and I had a lot of people say
to me, there's no way you can't do it, like
you'll never be able to come back from that. And
I will tell you, i'd one guy come to to
me and he was like, you know what, something tells
(20:03):
me that God is on your side on this. And
I said, you know what, We'll look at some polls,
We'll look at some numbers, because it's really not a
decision I make alone. It's the decision I make with
the people of Michigan, and the numbers came back and
it was overwhelming for someone who has not run an
AD in this state in three years. I look at
(20:23):
myself next to the two folks in the state of
Michigan who have been running millions of dollars worth of ads.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
I mean, we're talking about over these two people.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
It's one hundred and twenty five million dollars worth of
ads that have run in the past two years, and
I still beat them by a point. And I think, Okay,
So the people of Michigan and I are making a
decision together, and it looks like I'd like to be
somehow serving them in the future.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah. And the poll I saw was done by Tony Fabrizio,
of course President Trump's pollster, who knows something about measuring
the electorate in the state like Michigan that he.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Wont Yeah, I mean, I look, all of those are
better reason to run for statewide office in Michigan. The
mayor p who like vacations in Traverse City once and
decides he wants to be a Michigander. I mean, look,
I get it. I've played It's beautiful. I've played Putt
putt up there at Pirates Cove. I've gone to Macanon.
I've got the fudge there and been on the bicycles.
(21:17):
It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And you know, Michigan is beautiful.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
Michigan is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
And I think that we've kind of been a driver
for small business and farming for many, many years, and
people really believed that Debbie Stabinow was that champion for
the farm bill, and the farm Bill didn't get passed.
As you've heard from Brook Rollins, the Secretary of Bag
she's come out and said the fact that it didn't
get past our farmers are in grave danger right now.
(21:45):
We have a problem in government where we are not
taking care of our most critical industries.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
And if you cannot, I mean you look at this,
there are really there's.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Nothing more critical than food, right We've got to make
sure that we have food security, food scurity as national security,
but also factories. You know, manufacturing is critical, and I
think too many people take that for granted. They're like, oh,
you know, I got this product. I don't care if
it came from China. And I was in that boat
of knowing what it was like to have China take
away your business. And we had companies that came to
(22:18):
us and They were like, we need you to start doubled.
You bring you have part of the order, you bring
part of the order in from China. Working with China
is such a disaster for the Americans. And no one
knows that better than me, because here we are as
Americans making a phenomenal product, making sure everything is to spec,
making sure everything is exactly what we need. And these
(22:41):
parts come in from China and we're supposed to inspect
them in our plant and they were crap. They were
total They weren't They lie, They tell you they meet
the spec and then ultimately what happened is they pirated
the parts and the company went, oh wow, now we
don't even have our part. And this is like these
are experiences that I don't think that many people have,
(23:01):
but when you really know what it is to do
international business like this and how these countries that are
our adversaries are destroying American businesses for a reason because
they believe that they can take over.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
I mean, they don't believe in globalization.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
China wants to take over, right, so it's like globalization, we.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Will all be called China. Well that's not what we want.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I hope that COVID opened a lot of people's eyes
to this, the issues with supply chains that are overly
reliant on China, because you're right, not everybody has the
experience of like, oh, well, China actually dumps its steel
into Vietnam and uses this workaround to get into the
United States to undermine American manufacturing. Like most people don't
know that, but they know when you know, the grocery
(23:47):
store shelves are empty because of COVID, and so I
just hope people start to think about, you know, how
the global economy is overly relying on China and if
we could just build some more capacity here in the
United States so we control our own destiny, so we
protect our national security.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So what is your take on this attack on President
Trump over these tariffs, because I think that, I mean,
you talked about the pandemic, it was beyond just people
not getting their pelotons, which I remember that was a
big deal, but you also aren't getting a moxicillan, you know,
your prescriptions. We were shocked, I think, to find out
how many prescriptions were made in China.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
But it wasn't. It's not just China.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
You know, we talk about China a lot, but we
had the experience of both struggles with Canada and Mexico.
And I know Donald Trump did a lot to change
that with the USMCA, but it doesn't necessarily motivate always
these large OEMs to make sure they keep their product
in the United States. And I remember we had a
product that we made in Michigan. We made it, it
(24:58):
was for John Deere. We had another product that was
made for Peterbelt Kenworth, these you know, mammoth companies in
the United States. But as soon as the economic downturn came,
they moved their massive products for Peterborough, Peter Built, and
Kenworth to China, and then John Deere moved their product
line to Mexico. And Mexico was I mean, it just
(25:21):
destroyed us, you know, having one of our biggest products
go to Mexico and there was no deterrent. It was
such a benefit to them to go to Mexico, and
it destroyed us here in Michigan.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think on the tariff issue, I think the way
the media frames it is a little bit misleading because
they don't educate people on the fact that a lot
of other countries have existing tariffs already against the United States. Yes,
and what President Trump is doing is proposing reciprocal tariffs
on these countries on other products like that basically have
(25:54):
been harmed over the past several years. The media never
wrote about that. They never talked about that. The other
thing that I think about the President Trump's tariff policy
that does not get enough play is the reactions from
these countries when he does threaten the tariff. People jump
he like what happened in Mexico, for example, very early
(26:15):
on he threatened a tariff. They said, okay, well we're
going to stop these caravans from coming in and there
you go. I mean, he's using them as a tool
for American power, which is something that we've always had
available to us, but never had a leader with the
backbone to actually execute on it. And what President Trump
is doing might seem uncomfortable to the people in the media,
(26:37):
it is very very important for our country.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
I think the hardest thing with these tariffs, if Donald
Trump is successful is, you know, companies need long runway
to plan. You know, if you're talking about moving a
factory back in the United States or something like that,
we're not really going to see the benefits, I think
from a capacity standpoint, and you know industry like manufacturing
(27:01):
for a couple of years and so like that is
the hardest component to trying to actually change something when
it comes to you know, trade deficits, is like businesses
need to know what the rules of the road are
going to be in order to plan for that sort
of thing. And I think that's going to be the
toughest hurdle to climb, right, And I.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Think that's why he's going to have to have people
on the ground explaining this because you say that, and
I see some of these big organizations, big companies saying, well,
we'll wait it out. He's there for four years, we'll
wait it out. We'll just charge the customers more. And
I think that is a fear that people have. But
I also think that a lot of these companies realize
(27:38):
that their security is not there as much as it
used to be, because I think they saw that through
COVID too. I mean, we used to make parts for
military vehicles. The military vehicle couldn't be fully assembled until
some of those parts came in from China. But I
mean many of them came in from France or other
countries as well, and there's just a national security implication
(28:00):
of not having the ability to manufacture all of this
at home. You know, it used to be that we
at least had just a second source soberseas there was
still a source here, or you had at least a
second source in the United States, and that's gone by
the waysides. I think that people are afraid that these
prices will go up, but these companies will start to say,
you know what, this is the political climate. People like this,
(28:23):
we have to start a second source here, and that's
when you start to see manufacturing flourish again.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Yeah, it has to flourish. I mean the data point
that you read off, I actually wasn't aware that there
were so few colleges with metallurgical science degrees. Think about
every single college in this country has an English degree
in gender studies, a degree in political science. Like, all
of these things do nothing for building up the American
(28:50):
industrial base. It might help, like to advance the amount
of bullshit in the air, but it actually doesn't produce things.
You know, in this country, we used to make things
and we can do it again, and people, people, regular
Americans where I'm from the Midwest. I'm from Ohio. Michael's
from Indiana, also from Michigan. People like to make things,
(29:11):
they like to start their own companies. They like to have,
you know, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with building something.
And you just can't do that with an English degree
the way you can with an engineering degree or something
in metallurgical studies. And so and so. Many of these
left wingers look who go to these Ivy League schools,
They look down on people who go to trade schools.
(29:33):
But I like, more and more and more, I'm of
the mind the trade school degree is more valuable than
an Ivy League diploma. It just is. And and if
we build this rebuild this country in the way that
it used to be, those people, those people are going
to thrive. I mean, I think I think about the
guys I know who who are electricians, right, if you
(29:56):
know an electrical contractor, they are flourishing. And and maybe
they went to a trade school. When I like, I
have one body went to a trade school and now
he's an electrical contractor. And I went to a four
year school and got a four year degree. He is
killing it because there's so much demand for people who
can actually produce something. And here I'm just like a
(30:18):
podcaster talking into a microphone. I'm not building something. This
guy is actually building something of value. And I just
think that we need to retrain our minds and our
society to go back to making things as of great.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
Value, right.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
I mean, I think even making things is a great
value for your emotional state. You know, everybody talks about
this mental health crisis we're having. When I came out
of college, I came out and my dad's friend, his son,
came out with a financial degree. I came out with
a psych degree, and they were like, what are you
going to do? You're not making anything. And then when
I went to work at the foundry and I really
got to spend time in the shop and learn how
(30:57):
we were making everything and talk to the customers every
single it's like there is a massive amount of pride
in that. And John, you I'll just end it on this.
You said something earlier. You said it's American power, and
you love that, and I love that, and that that
thought is like, Okay, that's where we need to be,
because we need to be the strongest country in the world.
(31:17):
The leftist that's like, gosh, you just shot their puppy
in front of them, the thought of American power.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
How could you say those words?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
We're not allowed?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, America is not allowed to be good?
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Yes, how dare you? How dare you? But I do?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
I so appreciate having you on today. We could probably
talk for another hour. John Ashbrook, Michael Duncan from the
Ruthless Podcast.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
I so appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Thank you for being here, Thank you, thanks for having
us absolutely, and thank you all for joining us on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode and others, go
to Tutor dixonpodcast dot com, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts and join us next time.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Have a blessing,
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today, I am joined
by the crew of the Ruthless Podcast. We've got John
Ashbrook and Michael Duncan with us here. They are both
founding partners of Calvary, a consulting firm based in d C.
So even though we I'm gonna call you like recovering
consultants because I feel like you're all so fun, which
(00:23):
doesn't jive.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, well, the show is therapy for us, to
be honest with you, it's so much more fun than consulting.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, you know, the show. I think it works for
one reason, and that is I think we're the only
people in DC who don't take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
You know.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I think a lot of people who try to start
a podcast in politics based out of Washington, d C.
Feel like in every episode they got to prove how
smart they are, right, and it's like that's annoying.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I mean, I don't think that's just in the podcast
world in DC honestly. Oh yeah, as you look at
what's happening in DC with Democrats right now, I think
that's kind of their go to is who who can
appear to look like they have a message in that
they are smart and it's not working for anybody right now.
Oddly enough, AOC is like the standout in that crowd,
(01:18):
which seems very odd.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's very very odd. I mean, they really don't have
a leader other than George Soros that I'm aware of.
I mean, their party is in shambles, and it's great
to see. To be honest with you, it's like it's
one of the best things of the year that I
didn't totally expect. But man, is it just the icing
on the cake for everything good that Trump is doing here.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I think for years we've said that that side of
the aisle has been really out of touch with the
average American person. And there was nothing better than Chuck
Schumer on the view talking about this because I think
that many Americans still believe that the American dream is attainable,
and because of that, many Americans are entrepreneurs and start
(02:02):
their own businesses or have dreams of starting their own businesses,
and we as Americans feel like, you know, hands off
my business. This is something that we suffer with every
day in Michigan. Now they've come in with this like
minimum wage that you have to have at restaurants and
the restaurant owners are going, Why isn't it okay for
me to say to my employees, you make as much
money as you want, you determine your wage. But I
(02:25):
thought this was beautiful what Chuck Schimer said yesterday. So
I want to play it for you because this is
exactly what people hate. This is why they voted against them.
But here's Chuck Schumer on the view.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
And you know what their attitude is. I made my
money all by myself. How dare your government take my
money from me. I don't want to pay taxes, or
I've built my company with my bare hands. How dare
your government tell me how I should treat my customers,
the land and water that I own, or my employees.
They hate governments. Government's a barrier to people, a barrier
(02:59):
to stop them from doing things. They want to destroy it.
We are not letting them do it. And we're united.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Okay, God, I mean, he's not wrong.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
People feel that way, like, don't take my stuff. He
just thinks that they're jerks for thinking that.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah. You know what's really shocking about Chuck Schumer is
you know, he failed to placate his liberal base and
shut down the government. Ultimately passed that cr out of
the Senate recently, and the backlash that he got forced
him to cancel his book tour. What does it say
about the state of the Democrat Party and the media
(03:34):
that he does that and then he goes to the
view as his safe place to go. You know, I
shape down the American taxpayer. I mean, this guy acts
like a tough guy. He couldn't handle a book tour.
Speaker 6 (03:46):
Yes, no, but wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
They just watched Donald Trump win the election after getting
shot and no cancelations.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
I mean, this guy gets shot and he goes to
a rally the next day.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Chuck Schumer is afraid of his own party because it's
not his, it's not us that he's afraid of going
out to the book tour and scene. He's afraid of
his own party that he can't go after being he hasn't.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
Seen what people voted for. People voted for the guy
that gets shot and stands up and goes keep fighting.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Right now, that's exactly right. And Democrats, like we were
talking about, they are absolutely in disarray and they hate him,
and especially for what he did last week where he
had this bizarre move saying that he was going to
shut down the government, and then he didn't do it,
and he got so much flak from his own party,
like you're talking about, and it hasn't stopped. There are
(04:36):
all these questions about will they keep him as their leader,
and who could be the next leader, and is AOC
going to primary him in New York. Schumer really doesn't
have much to push back with. I mean, what he
was doing on the view certainly didn't help his case.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, he doesn't know how to talk to the American taxpayer,
the American voter. It's like this Democrat obsession with criticizing dough,
you know, They're like, we must protect these opaque NGOs
who are taking our taxpayer money. And it's like most of
the American people are perfectly fine with slashing budgets for
unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington, DC, you know. And so they
(05:14):
if they want to know why their message is landing
flat with the American people, it's that is that they've
somehow made Elon Musk, this guy who rescues astronauts from
outer space and wants to make the government more efficient,
the bad guy, right.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Right, No, But I watched this and I think it's funny.
Because even if you look at polling, I mean, if
you look at polling in Michigan, what it's telling us
is that the most important issue to people is finances
and making sure government's not corrupt and spending wastefully. That is,
that's what people are concerned about. They like what they see.
(05:49):
But see to me, the Democrats, what's happened to them
is the mainstream media has always been their communications arm.
They actually never had to have a message.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
They just let.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Those people test for them. They were like, Okay, this
is going well. It's good to attack the other side.
It's good to have government weaponization. That's going well for us.
Their ratings are still good. They figured out that the
mainstream media has failed and now they're flailing. They have
no idea what to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, you're exactly right, tutor, And we talk about this
on our show all the time, and that in our
previous careers as consultants, we would always just be so
frustrated by media bias. And everybody writes the stories for Democrats,
the lead, the headline, everything is framed up to make
Democrats look like the heroes. But what it created over
time was a soft political party who did was completely
(06:38):
out of touch with regular people because they were only
in touch with the media. And so I think that
they don't know how to act because, like you said,
the media has done their work for them and they
just don't even know what to do. And I think
they're going to be in the wilderness for a while here.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Yeah. But you know who does have a genuine message.
It is AOC. I mean, that's that is what her
strength is.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
She has that factor where she goes out and she
tells people exactly how she feels and she believes it.
It's like her policies may be radical, they may be progressive,
but she is all in. It comes from the heart.
She's not practiced it. She didn't have somebody tell her
to go out and say this. She's not you know.
Gretchen Whitmer puts out a video of herself as a
potato and talks about giving money to schools. AOC sits
(07:26):
at her kitchen table while she's making something in the
crock putt and she's like, so, anyway, you guys, we've
got to help people and get them, you know, save
these illegal migrants.
Speaker 6 (07:36):
It doesn't matter if they've murdered someone. Their people too
and people buy it. You know, they're like, she believes it.
I love her.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, I mean people put a premium on authenticity. You know,
people are saying that the twenty twenty four election was
the podcast election, and I think that's the reason why.
It's like people would rather their politicians talk like real people,
be authentic, I don't know, speak from the heart, then
have prepackaged talking points that some consultant came up with
(08:04):
that is approved for a thirty second ad.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Right exactly, But that's what you have. I think that's
what you saw. Obviously, Kamala Harris was like a gift
from God. I mean, how could anybody be as bad
as Kamala Harris. But you think that, you're like, wow,
this is so bad.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
They have to.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Put a Josh Shapiro out there, someone to kind of
balance the insanity.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
But they didn't.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
They picked Tim Walls and then Tim and then I
think this is funny because I see Gavin Newsom launches
this podcast, so to your point of trying to be normal,
he launches a podcast and every day he comes in,
you know, he's just like he's always dressed like that
villain from a movie where you're like every chick thinks
he's hot, and then he ends up being the murderer,
(08:47):
you know, and he comes in with his hair slicked back,
and he's supposed to be really normal, and I give
him credit. He started having Republican influencers on and I
could see the play there are like, oh, I'm going
to show them I'm a moderate.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Then he has Tim Walls on it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
This is what Tim Wall says, which I love because
he's such a geek.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
And well, most of their ass I do I know
if I run them, But I don't know if we're
going to fall into that place where we want to Okay,
we challenge you to a do you know, a wwe
fight here type of things.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
You can totally see him in the playhouse in third
grade saying that to his buddies. But he still looks
like he's in the playhouse in third grade.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Well, Tim Walls, I mean, I don't think he could
kick a soccer ball without a hip replacement. I mean,
this guy's not kicking anyone's ass. And to your point
on Gavin Newsom, the guy does look like a comic
book villain. He looks like Willem Dafoe playing the Green
Goblin and Spider Man with that slip back hair. I mean,
the guy is just too slick. And that's the other
thing about this. They have an authenticity gap, right, Nobody
(09:54):
thinks Tim Walls is actually going to kick anyone's ass.
So stop talking that way like you're some sort of
tough guy, you know, like Gavin Newsom, you are slimy,
you know, like this idea that you had all these
conservatives on your podcast because you're actually secretly immoderate. It's
like no one's going to buy that, you know, and
so like that's ultimately their biggest problems, that authenticity, get right.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
I mean, I do say that I think that he
is dangerous.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
When I look at all of these people, I think
there are two people that are dangerous in the Democrat Party,
and that's because they have this weird charm that people
are attracted to. And he does have a weird charm
that I see people when he's in person, I see
people completely attracted to him. It's like a firefly to
the you know, the blue light or something like they're
(10:40):
all kind of swarming around him.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
But it's the same with Gretchen Witmer.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I mean, I've heard people say, you know, in meetings
that she's just very charming. The problem is they do
these videos and they look like complete fools, and I
do wonder if that has hurt their brand so significantly
that you saw, I mean, the weak that you had
Kamala Harris out there not going to the Al Smith dinner,
and then at the same time you've got Gretchen.
Speaker 6 (11:05):
Whitmer giving the Dorito communion.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That was a moment where everybody said, what in the
world is happening. These are not serious people, and we
are now at a time that is a very serious time.
We need very serious people. You saw collapse around the world.
We saw what was happening with Israel, we saw what
was happening with Ukraine. But their argument on these things
is also bizarre to me, because you've got Donald Trump
(11:30):
going in and saying, Okay, we're going to stop the
war in Ukraine. People are after him about the fact
that like, what do you mean You're just going to
give this to putin? Well, what did the American people
want on the progressive side, Do they want to send
troops there and say we're going to get every inch
of your border back to you or do they want
(11:51):
the killing to stop, And that was what Zelenski said
he wanted. And then when it came down to you, Okay,
we're going to stop the killing. We'll end the war,
It's like suddenly, oh, you love Putin, But what is
the answer if the answer is not to stop the war?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, I mean this is the case. And point whey.
The Democrats brand is in shambles. They take positions on
issues that make no sense to normal people. And you
look at the issues that they've taken positions on like
men and women's sports. You know, that's an eighty twenty
issue in our country, and they're going to the match
so Lebron James can play in the WNBA. It makes
(12:25):
no sense. It has nothing to do with the two
issues that you pointed out that people are most concerned
about their personal finances and whether the government is corrupt
and spending their money inefficiently or in the wrong way.
And Democrats time and time again, I mean, look at
what some of these left wing judges are doing to
try to stop the president from making common sense decisions
(12:46):
in our government that he wants to cut spending. The
judges are like, oh no, I'm sorry, our Constitution says
you do have to fund trans surgeries and sub Saharan Africa.
That's right there an article two. You know, like it
makes no oh sense and that yet Democrats are taking
these positions over and over again simply because Trump is
doing it and they think that's good politics. And man,
(13:09):
are they so wrong.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Stick around, We've got more with the ruthless guys.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
But first I want to tell you about my partners
at Wired to Fish. I recently came across this company.
They're making a huge difference worldwide. Again, it's Wired to
Fish Coffee. Of course, they love Jesus and I love
this brand is because they align it with my faith
and they're putting their profits where their mouth is. Wired
to Fish Coffee is giving back twenty five percent of
(13:34):
their net profits to faith based programs and clean water
initiatives twenty five percent.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
And the coffee is awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
It's sourced in Guatemala and Mexico, and it's known for
some of the finest coffee beans in the world. Hired
to Fish Coffee's rich Arabica blend has already been loved
by thousands who comment on their smooth finish and amazing
taste So you guys need to give Wired to Fish
Coffee a try today and join a community of like
minded people that are making a difference. I mean, you, guys,
(14:03):
everyone drinks coffee, So drink coffee for something that you're
passionate about. Head over to Wired to Fish Coffee. That's
wired the number two Fishcoffee dot com today and use
code tutor for fifteen percent off your first order. If
you're going to love it, it's going to be meaningful
to you, and you want to go buy it Wired
to Fish Coffee Now, stay tuned.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
We'll be back with ruthless.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Interesting part to me is to watch them go after
young girls. I mean, I think just yesterday we saw
one of these Democrat politicians, a local politician, go after
these young girls who said, we have.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
To go to the bathroom with a boy in our school.
Oh no, you don't, don't lie. And it's like, wait,
what happened to believe all women?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You know, they're the party, they're the party of women,
but they're really not. I mean, the way they have
treated women over the past four years has been horrendous.
I mean, even to the point where you had one
guy that was literally in the government stealing our suitcases,
like you can even trust them and go to the airport.
It was ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
It's exactly right. And then they were trying to say
JD was the weird one. Yeah, I mean the whole
derrido picture that Gretchen Whitmer did, it was on the
heels of them trying to say JD was the weird one.
And then he did the debate with Tim Walls and
he turned out to be the most normal person people
who've seen in politics and a generation. And Democrats were
showing people who they were at the same time, and
(15:28):
they were telling them lies about JD.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I hope they keep doing it. They're flailing right now.
They can't find a message, they have no leader, and
I hope they use every gimmick in the book because
they look ridiculous.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
They can't.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean, I think there are a few of them
that are really good at avoiding the media.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
If you watch what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
These folks that are lining up, like the Pritzkers and
the Whitmers and the Newsoms and Shapiro, all these guys
that are lining up to run in twenty eight.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
I mean even Pete Boodha Judge, look.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
He hasn't come out and talked to the media, much
to very safe media.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
And then he doesn't talk.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I mean, I don't even think he's ever talked to
anyone locally here in Michigan, because you know, he is
now a Michigander. He moved here four years ago so
that he could become famous off of our swing state.
We know exactly what he's doing here. But he hasn't
talked to any of the local media. It's just not
their thing because they have these failures on the record.
(16:23):
I mean, he has massive failures when it comes to
the Department of Transportation.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
But Gretchen Whitmer, the state is in shambles.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
We're the forty first state in almost every category. Education
is a wreck, Infrastructure is a disaster. Her one promise
was to fix the roads. Infrastructure is a disaster. We
have not added any new headquarters to the state, and
there's no jobs. And yet she can get away with it.
I will say the Democrats get away with it because
(16:50):
if they do not talk about their failure, no one
else does. Well.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I think what we've learned here is that Democrats can
get away with it up to a point because the
people are up with everything that they're doing. And I
know this is your podcast and we are the guests
and you're the one asking the questions. But you did
make some news this week, you know, and we were
talking about the dam bench and how terrible some of
these people like may Or pet Are and others, but
(17:15):
the Republican bench is very, very good, and you made
some news that you are thinking about maybe running for
statewide office, and I just wonder if you could talk
a little bit more about that, because what we need
are people like you out there. And is there a
chance that you'd have a decision by this summer maybe?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I mean we're looking at this because obviously I ran
for governor two three years ago now, and in that time,
the reason that I was motivated to do that the
first time was really coming from a small family business.
We had a foundry in Michigan, and foundries are tough businesses,
(17:56):
but so essential. And I think we're seeing that now
more than ever as you start to see these tariffs
that Donald Trump's being on, people are just completely freaking
out about it. It's funny because my husband was talking
to a friend of his and his friend was like,
you know, they're gonna put this big tariff on aluminum
and this is going to screw us all. And then
his buddy who brings in aluminum, he was like, you know, actually,
(18:19):
I think that the smelters are going to start up
here in the United States.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
And the progressive friend he goes, who wants to do that?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And I thought, this is so interesting because you have
no concept of, first of all, what it is to
have a small business that is a key critical business
to national security. Because if you're making metal, which very
few companies are making metal these days. There's not even
any metallurgical degrees. There's just about four universities that have
(18:47):
a metallurgical degree in the United States today.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Well shocking. It's a total national security disaster, one that
Donald Trump understands, and it's hard to explain to people.
And so when you see.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Somebody on the progressive side say, oh, gosh, who wants
to be in an aluminum factory? Who wants to be
in a steel factory? Well a lot of people actually,
especially in the state of Michigan, and we have just
been crushed by regulations. We've been crushed by these new
environmental agencies that she's put that whimor has put into place,
and so when I look at this, I went, Okay,
(19:20):
all of those feelings are still there. I want to
save Main Street, I want to bring back education. I
want to give our kids the best possible future. But
Michigan is an amazing state that most people don't realize.
We've got beaches, you can ski, you can go camping.
I mean, the Upper Peninsula is absolutely stunning. What we
have in Michigan should not be lost because of ridiculous
(19:42):
progressive policies. But you go through a race like that
in twenty two, and it was a brutal race because
we've got abortion on the ballot, We've got all of
these issues, and I had a lot of people say
to me, there's no way you can't do it, like
you'll never be able to come back from that. And
I will tell you, i'd one guy come to to
me and he was like, you know what, something tells
(20:03):
me that God is on your side on this. And
I said, you know what, We'll look at some polls,
We'll look at some numbers, because it's really not a
decision I make alone. It's the decision I make with
the people of Michigan, and the numbers came back and
it was overwhelming for someone who has not run an
AD in this state in three years. I look at
(20:23):
myself next to the two folks in the state of
Michigan who have been running millions of dollars worth of ads.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
I mean, we're talking about over these two people.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
It's one hundred and twenty five million dollars worth of
ads that have run in the past two years, and
I still beat them by a point. And I think, Okay,
So the people of Michigan and I are making a
decision together, and it looks like I'd like to be
somehow serving them in the future.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah. And the poll I saw was done by Tony Fabrizio,
of course President Trump's pollster, who knows something about measuring
the electorate in the state like Michigan that he.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Wont Yeah, I mean, I look, all of those are
better reason to run for statewide office in Michigan. The
mayor p who like vacations in Traverse City once and
decides he wants to be a Michigander. I mean, look,
I get it. I've played It's beautiful. I've played Putt
putt up there at Pirates Cove. I've gone to Macanon.
I've got the fudge there and been on the bicycles.
(21:17):
It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And you know, Michigan is beautiful.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
Michigan is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
And I think that we've kind of been a driver
for small business and farming for many, many years, and
people really believed that Debbie Stabinow was that champion for
the farm bill, and the farm Bill didn't get passed.
As you've heard from Brook Rollins, the Secretary of Bag
she's come out and said the fact that it didn't
get past our farmers are in grave danger right now.
(21:45):
We have a problem in government where we are not
taking care of our most critical industries.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
And if you cannot, I mean you look at this,
there are really there's.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Nothing more critical than food, right We've got to make
sure that we have food security, food scurity as national security,
but also factories. You know, manufacturing is critical, and I
think too many people take that for granted. They're like, oh,
you know, I got this product. I don't care if
it came from China. And I was in that boat
of knowing what it was like to have China take
away your business. And we had companies that came to
(22:18):
us and They were like, we need you to start doubled.
You bring you have part of the order, you bring
part of the order in from China. Working with China
is such a disaster for the Americans. And no one
knows that better than me, because here we are as
Americans making a phenomenal product, making sure everything is to spec,
making sure everything is exactly what we need. And these
(22:41):
parts come in from China and we're supposed to inspect
them in our plant and they were crap. They were
total They weren't They lie, They tell you they meet
the spec and then ultimately what happened is they pirated
the parts and the company went, oh wow, now we
don't even have our part. And this is like these
are experiences that I don't think that many people have,
(23:01):
but when you really know what it is to do
international business like this and how these countries that are
our adversaries are destroying American businesses for a reason because
they believe that they can take over.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
I mean, they don't believe in globalization.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
China wants to take over, right, so it's like globalization, we.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Will all be called China. Well that's not what we want.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I hope that COVID opened a lot of people's eyes
to this, the issues with supply chains that are overly
reliant on China, because you're right, not everybody has the
experience of like, oh, well, China actually dumps its steel
into Vietnam and uses this workaround to get into the
United States to undermine American manufacturing. Like most people don't
know that, but they know when you know, the grocery
(23:47):
store shelves are empty because of COVID, and so I
just hope people start to think about, you know, how
the global economy is overly relying on China and if
we could just build some more capacity here in the
United States so we control our own destiny, so we
protect our national security.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So what is your take on this attack on President
Trump over these tariffs, because I think that, I mean,
you talked about the pandemic, it was beyond just people
not getting their pelotons, which I remember that was a
big deal, but you also aren't getting a moxicillan, you know,
your prescriptions. We were shocked, I think, to find out
how many prescriptions were made in China.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
But it wasn't. It's not just China.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
You know, we talk about China a lot, but we
had the experience of both struggles with Canada and Mexico.
And I know Donald Trump did a lot to change
that with the USMCA, but it doesn't necessarily motivate always
these large OEMs to make sure they keep their product
in the United States. And I remember we had a
product that we made in Michigan. We made it, it
(24:58):
was for John Deere. We had another product that was
made for Peterbelt Kenworth, these you know, mammoth companies in
the United States. But as soon as the economic downturn came,
they moved their massive products for Peterborough, Peter Built, and
Kenworth to China, and then John Deere moved their product
line to Mexico. And Mexico was I mean, it just
(25:21):
destroyed us, you know, having one of our biggest products
go to Mexico and there was no deterrent. It was
such a benefit to them to go to Mexico, and
it destroyed us here in Michigan.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think on the tariff issue, I think the way
the media frames it is a little bit misleading because
they don't educate people on the fact that a lot
of other countries have existing tariffs already against the United States. Yes,
and what President Trump is doing is proposing reciprocal tariffs
on these countries on other products like that basically have
(25:54):
been harmed over the past several years. The media never
wrote about that. They never talked about that. The other
thing that I think about the President Trump's tariff policy
that does not get enough play is the reactions from
these countries when he does threaten the tariff. People jump
he like what happened in Mexico, for example, very early
(26:15):
on he threatened a tariff. They said, okay, well we're
going to stop these caravans from coming in and there
you go. I mean, he's using them as a tool
for American power, which is something that we've always had
available to us, but never had a leader with the
backbone to actually execute on it. And what President Trump
is doing might seem uncomfortable to the people in the media,
(26:37):
it is very very important for our country.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
I think the hardest thing with these tariffs, if Donald
Trump is successful is, you know, companies need long runway
to plan. You know, if you're talking about moving a
factory back in the United States or something like that,
we're not really going to see the benefits, I think
from a capacity standpoint, and you know industry like manufacturing
(27:01):
for a couple of years and so like that is
the hardest component to trying to actually change something when
it comes to you know, trade deficits, is like businesses
need to know what the rules of the road are
going to be in order to plan for that sort
of thing. And I think that's going to be the
toughest hurdle to climb, right, And I.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Think that's why he's going to have to have people
on the ground explaining this because you say that, and
I see some of these big organizations, big companies saying, well,
we'll wait it out. He's there for four years, we'll
wait it out. We'll just charge the customers more. And
I think that is a fear that people have. But
I also think that a lot of these companies realize
(27:38):
that their security is not there as much as it
used to be, because I think they saw that through
COVID too. I mean, we used to make parts for
military vehicles. The military vehicle couldn't be fully assembled until
some of those parts came in from China. But I
mean many of them came in from France or other
countries as well, and there's just a national security implication
(28:00):
of not having the ability to manufacture all of this
at home. You know, it used to be that we
at least had just a second source soberseas there was
still a source here, or you had at least a
second source in the United States, and that's gone by
the waysides. I think that people are afraid that these
prices will go up, but these companies will start to say,
you know what, this is the political climate. People like this,
(28:23):
we have to start a second source here, and that's
when you start to see manufacturing flourish again.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Yeah, it has to flourish. I mean the data point
that you read off, I actually wasn't aware that there
were so few colleges with metallurgical science degrees. Think about
every single college in this country has an English degree
in gender studies, a degree in political science. Like, all
of these things do nothing for building up the American
(28:50):
industrial base. It might help, like to advance the amount
of bullshit in the air, but it actually doesn't produce things.
You know, in this country, we used to make things
and we can do it again, and people, people, regular
Americans where I'm from the Midwest. I'm from Ohio. Michael's
from Indiana, also from Michigan. People like to make things,
(29:11):
they like to start their own companies. They like to have,
you know, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with building something.
And you just can't do that with an English degree
the way you can with an engineering degree or something
in metallurgical studies. And so and so. Many of these
left wingers look who go to these Ivy League schools,
They look down on people who go to trade schools.
(29:33):
But I like, more and more and more, I'm of
the mind the trade school degree is more valuable than
an Ivy League diploma. It just is. And and if
we build this rebuild this country in the way that
it used to be, those people, those people are going
to thrive. I mean, I think I think about the
guys I know who who are electricians, right, if you
(29:56):
know an electrical contractor, they are flourishing. And and maybe
they went to a trade school. When I like, I
have one body went to a trade school and now
he's an electrical contractor. And I went to a four
year school and got a four year degree. He is
killing it because there's so much demand for people who
can actually produce something. And here I'm just like a
(30:18):
podcaster talking into a microphone. I'm not building something. This
guy is actually building something of value. And I just
think that we need to retrain our minds and our
society to go back to making things as of great.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
Value, right.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
I mean, I think even making things is a great
value for your emotional state. You know, everybody talks about
this mental health crisis we're having. When I came out
of college, I came out and my dad's friend, his son,
came out with a financial degree. I came out with
a psych degree, and they were like, what are you
going to do? You're not making anything. And then when
I went to work at the foundry and I really
got to spend time in the shop and learn how
(30:57):
we were making everything and talk to the customers every
single it's like there is a massive amount of pride
in that. And John, you I'll just end it on this.
You said something earlier. You said it's American power, and
you love that, and I love that, and that that
thought is like, Okay, that's where we need to be,
because we need to be the strongest country in the world.
(31:17):
The leftist that's like, gosh, you just shot their puppy
in front of them, the thought of American power.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
How could you say those words?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
We're not allowed?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, America is not allowed to be good?
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Yes, how dare you? How dare you? But I do?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
I so appreciate having you on today. We could probably
talk for another hour. John Ashbrook, Michael Duncan from the
Ruthless Podcast.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
I so appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Thank you for being here, Thank you, thanks for having
us absolutely, and thank you all for joining us on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode and others, go
to Tutor dixonpodcast dot com, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts and join us next time.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Have a blessing,
Host
Tudor Dixon
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com