April 22, 2025 • 49 mins
We're diving into some serious political muck today with our guest Kyle Sweetser! This dude's not just any guest; he’s a former Trump voter who’s now throwing his hat in the Senate ring against Tommy Tuberville in Alabama. We chat about how the GOP has flipped the script on its core values and how that’s impacting folks like us down in the trenches. Seriously, Kyle's experiences and insights are like a wild ride through Alabama politics, from being a construction company owner to speaking at the DNC. Trust me, you wanna stick around for this convo because Kyle’s ready to challenge the status quo and bring some much-needed change to the table. So, grab your earbuds, and let’s get into it!
This dialogue with Kyle Sweetser encapsulates the shifting tides of political allegiance in Alabama and the broader implications for American democracy. Sweetser’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate represents more than just a personal journey; it symbolizes a growing movement among disenchanted Republicans seeking rational governance and progressive solutions. His experience at the Democratic National Convention, where he stood in stark contrast to the rhetoric of his former party, serves as a pivotal moment in his political transformation. Sweetser articulates a clear critique of the GOP’s current trajectory, focusing on how its policies have shifted from traditional conservatism to a more radical, populist approach that often undermines the very fabric of American values.
Throughout the episode, we explore Sweetser's nuanced understanding of the complex issues facing Alabama, from the economic fallout of tariff wars to the erosion of healthcare services, particularly for veterans. He passionately argues that the Republican Party's shift away from its foundational principles has led to a disservice to its base, particularly in rural communities where economic stability is tenuous at best. Sweetser emphasizes the need for a robust dialogue about these issues, urging Democrats and Republicans alike to engage in productive discussions rather than resorting to divisive tactics.
As Sweetser gears up for his campaign, he outlines a strategy rooted in grassroots support and community engagement. He highlights the importance of connecting with voters on the ground, addressing their concerns directly, and offering practical solutions that resonate. This episode is not just a campaign pitch; it’s a manifesto for a new kind of politics—one that prioritizes people over party, solutions over slogans, and a hopeful future over fearmongering. With humor and insight, Sweetser’s narrative invites listeners to reconsider their own political identities and the impact of their choices at the ballot box. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of Alabama politics and the evolving landscape of American democracy.
Engaging and irreverent, this episode features Kyle Sweetser as he takes a sledgehammer to the status quo of Alabama politics. Sweetser, a self-proclaimed former Republican, recounts his transformation after witnessing the GOP’s drift from conservative principles towards populism and authoritarianism. He passionately discusses how the party’s current policies are wreaking havoc on Alabama’s economy, particularly through reckless tariffs that hurt working families. Sweetser’s firsthand experience as a construction business owner gives him a unique perspective on how these economic policies translate into real-life struggles for everyday Alabamians. He lays out his plans to run against Tommy Tuberville, the incumbent senator, detailing how he aims to connect with voters who might be wary of a Democrat in a traditionally Republican state.
We delve into the heart of Sweetser's campaign, which is centered around the economy, healthcare, and veterans’ rights. His critiques of Tuberville’s record, especially regarding military benefits and healthcare cuts, are sharp and...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to Muck you, thepodcast where Mo Davis and I dive
head first into the messieststories, hottest takes and wildest
debates with zero filter andmaximum grip. Buckle up for a no
holds barred ride through themuck and for an intro with our guest
today. Over to Mo Davis.
Well, thanks, David. Iappreciate it. And welcome back,
(00:25):
everybody. It's good to haveyou on board again. You know, we're
continuing our trend ofhaving, you know, interesting guests
on to talk about currentpolitics. And today, certainly no
exception, we've got KyleSweetser on. And you may not recognize
the name, but you know, ifyou're, if you're watching this podcast,
there's a good chance you'reprobably on the progressive side
(00:46):
of the political scale and youlikely watch the Democratic National
Convention. And if you did, onday two, you probably saw Kyle speak.
He got up. He was one of theformer Trump voters who showed up
at the DN Democratic NationalConvention to speak up on behalf
of, of Kamala Harris. Kylelives down in Mobile, Alabama. He
(01:07):
owns a construction companydown there. And you're probably asking
also, what's that got to dowith, with the topic today and the
reason it's so relevant? Kyleis throwing his hat in a ring to
run for Senate against Floridaresident Tommy Tuberville, who purports
to represent the state ofAlabama. But if you want more information
(01:27):
about Kyle, he's got awebsite. Is Kyle for Alabama? That's
F O R spelled out. It'skyleforalabama.com. so, Kyle, thank
you so much for joining us today.
Thank you all for having me. Ireally appreciate it.
Well, listen, I tell you thatI got to ask you, I before we started
taping, I was telling you thatout of my 25 years in the Air Force,
I spent seven of those onthree different tours at Maxwell
(01:51):
Air Force Base in Montgomery,Alabama. So I know Alabama pretty
well. And I know the mostimportant question in politics in
Alabama, Alabama is are you aWar Eagle or Roll Tide?
Well, that's a great question.I am for whoever wins from Alabama.
So if it's, if it's Auburn, ifthey look like they're going to win
the national championship,then I would back Auburn. If Alabama
(02:13):
looks like they're going towin the national championship, I
back Alabama. And also downwhere I'm at, we have the University
of South Alabama, the Jaguars,and they launched their, their football
program, their division one, Idon't know in the past 10 years or
so, maybe a little longer, butthat's a great program. Coming up
(02:34):
So I support, you know,everybody from Alabama that, that
does well. And, and just in general.
Yeah. And I'm up here in themountains of North Carolina, and
I went to Appalachian State,and one of our rivals quite often
was Troy State from, uh, downin your neck of the woods as well.
Listen, let's, you know,again, I guess my first acquaintance
(02:55):
with you was seeing you speakat the Democratic National Convention.
So how did a lifelongRepublican end up on the stage at
the Democratic big party?
Yeah, so after 2021, I thoughtin 2020, I thought there was no way
Trump was going to run again.And, you know, and even having Republican
leadership after January sixcome out and acknowledge what happened,
(03:18):
they started to flip that. By2022, it was apparent that Trump
was. So I decided that I woulddo everything in my power that I
could possibly do, and I'venever been politically involved before
to try to stop that fromhappening. And one of the biggest
concerns, it's not just aboutTrump, it's about the GOP and the
(03:39):
direction that the GOP isgoing. The GOP's policies are not
good for Alabama. The GOP'spolitical geopolitical chaos that
they're causing, you know, bybeing wishy washy about their foreign
policy stances. It's tied totrade, it's tied to our economy.
(04:01):
They just pretty muchabandoned rational leadership and
American values. So I startedspeaking out quite a bit, and I volunteered
in every way possible. Theyput me. I. I was put on billboards
all around the RNC with myface. I volunteered for that. I made
(04:24):
a ton of videos and. Yeah, soI guess that caught someone's intention.
And I was contacted and theyasked me to speak, and I didn't hesitate.
I said, sure thing, I'll go.
Great. Yeah, it's good seeingfolks from Alabama at the convention.
Another one of my. One of my.Or not one of my favorite musical
artists is Jason Ispel from upin northern part of Alabama, who
(04:47):
also was featured at theDemocratic National Convention. So,
yeah, I saw an interview youdid not too long ago where you said
that. I think your quote was,the Republican Party is no longer
a conservative party. Howwould you describe it today?
It's a populist party, and itdoes have. I think it embraces what
(05:08):
used to be called, I guess youwould say, the radical left in the
far right. In certain ways,it's pro authoritarian. You know,
they don't like theConstitution. I think every week
I see them wanting to. To atleast some people in Trump's orbit
wanting to Come after a partof the Constitution and change it.
So this isn't something thatRepublicans, I don't think that that
(05:33):
many people grasp what ishappening. They're no longer conservative
on foreign policy. They'veabandoned Ronald Reagan's foreign
policy. They've abandonedpeace through strength and you know,
the anti NATO talk and they'veabandoned really conservative or
Republican at least sinceReagan economic policies. And you
(06:00):
know, that in mind, you lookat the state of Alabama, you look
at how our economy is. We'vegot all these countries that, I mean
all these companies that dohave headquarters in other countries
but they contribute to oureconomy. They have manufacturing
facilities here. We haveAustel which is out of Australia.
We have Airbus which is out ofFrance, that's just in Mobile. We
(06:20):
have Nikon Steel whichoperates AMS Calvert, a part of that.
And then we have Mercedes,Toyota, Hyundai, etc So our economy
is based on this Americanglobal economy that America has built.
That is our economy. TheUnited, in the United States economy,
that is Alabama really relieson having that system of trade that
(06:45):
we've built over the years andour alliances and trade partners.
So you know, the portomobile,we get $100 billion worth of goods
come in, coming in and out ofMobile Bay, the port of Mobile, every,
every year. And we're probablygoing to see a decline in that because
of these tariffs which cause,they're going to cause some chaos.
(07:07):
But yeah, I can go on foreverabout the economy and the Republican
party and how they've changedand how they're hurting Alabama.
Yeah, you started outmentioning foreign policy and, and
certainly for me that's justhard to, to wrap my head around because
you know, when I was in themilitary, we spent hours and hours,
you know, in chemical warfaregear sweating our asses off training
(07:30):
to defend against Russia. Andall of a sudden it's, you know, Russia
is our best buddy and ourallies are our enemies and you know,
we hate Canada and it's justhard to, to imagine how we've made
that radical transformationfrom, you know, flipping on our allies
and embracing our adversaries.
Yeah, absolutely. It'sdisturbing to say the least. And
(07:50):
that was also one of the wakeup calls for me to look at that and
into, you know, but putting ittogether, you know, putting it together
with the economic policies,this isolationism, this nativism,
this protectionism. They'redoing it in tandem with their economic
policies to really feels liketo isolate us.
(08:11):
Yeah, and you're, you'reright, you know, again being in Mobile,
as you mentioned, you're Rightthere at the heart of it, where,
you know, internationalcommerce arrives on our shores. But,
you know, to hear Mr. Trumpand Peter Navarro talk about it,
this is a, they can'tunderstand why people aren't embracing.
This is a good thing, havingthese, these tariffs that, you know,
(08:33):
they claim China is going topay for it.
Right. Well, that's a lie. Ithink the mistake that, that has
been made over the years is,is saying that Trump isn't smart.
Trump is, Trump is a goodsalesman. Trump is an excellent salesman.
That's what he's good at. He'sgood at selling things. He's, he's
selling higher prices topeople that. He knows that the tariffs
(08:53):
are paid by Americans. Heknows at this point. So we need to
acknowledge that he's justlying to people. The Republican Party
is, they're lying to people.They're lying to people about these
taxes. And what's importantabout tariffs is that these tariffs,
they aren't going throughCongress. They are being carried
out by the President. And ifyou look back at the beginning of
(09:14):
this second term when we hadthat little spat with Columbia over
the deportation flights comingin on military aircraft instead of
commercial aircraft, and whatwasn't told to Trump, or maybe he
didn't care, or, or the peopleat the White House, the Trump administration,
was that the power plant inmobile plant, Barry operates in part
(09:36):
off of coal from Columbia. Sowhat's interesting about that whole
thing and not havingrepresentation, not having people
that understand our, eachstate, because there's actually no
way for the President to knowhow everybody's economy works, he's
going to need to rely on otherpeople to tell them. But, you know,
that could have really wreckedus. That could have caused all kinds
(09:58):
of problems because it's notjust the price increase. It's the,
the shipping issues, the, thesupply chain issues that the tariffs
cause, you know, and that,that could have really wrecked us
down here. And we don't have,when we have this system of tariffs
where there's, there's, it'snot going through Congress, it's
not going throughrepresentation. You, you can run
(10:21):
into problems like that. Andthat's taxation without representation,
we aren't represented andwe're being taxed. And that tax now,
I think the average now is, is5,000 per family in the United States.
And you look at Alabama'smedian income, you look at, we're
48, 49th in income, it's goingto, it's like just ultra destructive
(10:45):
to our state, to the people of Alabama.
And it's sometimes hard towrap your head around, you know,
some of the numbers that gettossed about. But I saw recently
where, where President Trumpwas saying that these, you know,
again, touting the tariffs,they're so good that we may do away
with, with income tax andreplace it with tariffs. And I took
(11:06):
a look at it, we took in lastfiscal year, we took in $2.4 trillion
in income tax and we had 3.3trillion of imported goods. So if
you did away with income tax,you'd have to slap a 74% tariff on
imports to make up for thelost income tax. So again, I think
for people it's hard to putthat into perspective. But if you
(11:27):
think about it new, you know,folks in Alabama are a lot like folks
here in western NorthCarolina. They like to go down to
Walmart and get that bigscreen TV for $500. But if you figure
that $500 television, when itarrived at the port, you know, Walmart
paid $350 for it, slapped a30% markup and sold it to the consumer
(11:47):
for 500. If you want to getaway, do away with income tax and
replace it with tariffs, that,that $500 television, by the time
you put on a tariff in themarkup that goes from 500 to $792.
And as you mentioned that,that's, China's not paying that.
That's the hard working folksin Alabama and western North Carolina,
they're having to pick up the tab.
(12:08):
Yeah, absolutely. I'm notexactly sure what, what their calculus
is or what their plan is with,with this. But you know, we can all
rule out that, we can all ruleout that, that that's a possibility.
It's, that's not possible. Youknow, it, that's not a possibility,
(12:29):
period. There's no way that'sgoing to take over income tax. With
what we've got going on andset up in the United States and our
government and all of spendingand what we have to spend, there's
just, that's just not going tohappen. One of the things that I
found interesting over thepast year is this push to come after
the Fed to, to, to seize theFed and centralize power or whatever
they want to do. You know, Idon't know if crashing our markets
(12:53):
intentionally by pushingtariffs while simultaneously criticizing
the Fed to, you know, maybetry to gain support through their
populist playbook to seize theFed, I don't know if that's possible.
But, but there's somethingthat, that's going on. I I don't,
you know, I think the wholetax thing is just, is just smoke
(13:13):
for something else.
Kyle, as a Democrat, folkswant to know why they should support
you. I think being a formermember of the GOP in a GOP state,
maybe a bridge too far fromsome folks. For some folks convince
(13:37):
our listeners, who tend to be,you know, national Democrats that
try to support candidates,convince these folks why they should
give Kyle a look.
Yeah, so I've never been asocial conservative. I've been very
clear about that my entirelife. I supported the Republican
(13:58):
Party. One, it's what I, Igrew up, grew up as a Republican.
So as far back as I canremember, you know, and, and from
that point, really I was just,I thought that their economic policies
were better for people and youknow, when people have money, they
can afford to pay their bills,they can afford to feed their kids,
(14:21):
they can afford to, to live.And so I think there's a lot of people
that are Republicans for thatreason and that had been Republicans
for that reason. And also onforeign policy, I think having a
strong foreign policy is goodfor us, a very clear foreign policy.
And I appreciated Reagan'sstances and how he was able to overcome
(14:44):
the Soviet Union. So that'sthe part of the Republican Party
that I was a part of. Asthings move forward, whenever they
started to do these thingsthat I just kind of viewed as empty
rhetoric, now it looks likethey're trying to come after Medicaid,
(15:05):
Medicare, Social Security,Veterans benefits. That's not anything
that, that I've eversupported. Cutting, cutting everything
is not ever something that Isupported. My mother grew up in public
housing. Down here is RVTaylor Plaza. And my grandfather,
he was in the military. Hedied in a car crash. And, and so
(15:27):
after that she grew up inthat, that housing. But, and so they,
they relied on, on hisbenefits growing up and she actually
at some point they had to eatexpired prison food to survive. So
that wasn't enough. So theseprograms are really important to
me and I'm going to stand upfor those programs. Also the Republican
(15:48):
Party shift to this pro. Thisis the most important part and it,
it transcends party to thispro authoritarian regime where they're
centralizing power and they'reputting, you know, someone like J.D.
vance who is a clear postliberal. These people don't appreciate
(16:09):
freedom. They, they don't likefreedom. They don't want us to have,
you know, have as many rights.So that's the biggest thing. I, I'm
anti authoritarian and peopleneed to know that what's going on
right now where the presidentis abusing his power, he's abusing
his power with tariffs. That'snot something that many Republicans,
(16:31):
once they open their eyes,they're going to support if they're
not already, you know, allforward to that. So, you know, I'm
for America and Americanvalues. The Republican Party abandoned
American values. TheRepublican Party abandoned the Constitution.
And I've went two yearsstraight with putting my face all
over the place and sayingeverything that I can say and doing
(16:51):
everything that I can do andputting a target on my back to try
to help stop what's going onright now.
Yeah. And I, and I thinkthat's bona fides in the party. The
fact that you stood up andwent to the convention and spoke,
at least from my perspectiveand I'm speaking to our listeners
right now, I think thatmatters, folks. I think Kyle has
(17:12):
stuck his neck out in a waythat, hell, some Democrats don't.
And I really appreciate that.So two other questions on this front.
How do we know you're going tostick with the Democrats once you
get into the Senate? Let's sayyou get into a tight spot on a social
issue or a traditionalDemocratic issue, let's say labor
(17:35):
related and having been owneda construction company or owning
a construction company.
How do.
We know you're not going towaiver on us after we help get you
there?
Well, I'm going there to solveproblems. I'm going there to help
Alabama. And when you look atlabor and you look at unions in Alabama,
(17:58):
that we have the ability,unions have the ability to change
the narrative and to, toreally do well in Alabama. And I'm,
I'm here to help unions dothat. And if you look at our numbers,
we've got 38, 38 workers perevery 100 job openings. And then
(18:20):
we also have the lowest or oneof the lowest work, what is it worker
participation rates in, in theUnited States? It's 57%. So I think
there's a lot of room forunions to, to grow here by targeting
some of that workforceparticipation where we're low and
(18:42):
trying to bring that up. Andthat'll really help change the opinion
of unions here because whatwe're, what you're going to be fighting
here on labor is you're goingto be fighting this. It's been ingrained
in people by the RepublicanParty. And so I think that having
this, this fresh take, youknow, with a fresh face, which is
me, if they, they, if they'llhave me, I will help them, you know,
(19:06):
re, rebrand or do whateverthey need here to, to try to one
help our state because we arein a crisis or work with, with the
amount of workers that we havehere available.
I think that's, I think that'shelpful. You know, while unions are
great in some places, they'renot as great in others. I, I think
(19:32):
expansion of unions in Alabamawould probably be a good thing. It
would be tough, but probably agood thing. So the other thing that
I think is on Democrats mindsthese days and, and especially it's
a favorite topic of thispodcast as Mo will attest to, is
winning. I think you wouldprobably agree that Democrats sometimes,
(19:58):
you know, snatch victory outof the jaws of loss or whatever that
phrase is. Snatch victory outof the jaws of something. And we
want to know how you're goingto win this race. Tommy Tuberville
obviously is pretends likehe's an idiot. I don't think he's
as stupid as he wantseverybody to think he is. Or maybe
(20:20):
he is. How are you going towin this race against an incumbent
that will say and do anythingto get reelected?
So it's going to be a lot ofwork, a lot of work on the ground.
Run a grassroots campaign. I'mgoing to talk to as many people as
I can, speak at as many eventsas I'm invited to and do everything
(20:43):
in my power to, to try to getmy name out there. As far as, you
know, him saying and doinganything that's expected. That's
what the Republican Partydoes. We're just going to stick to
the numbers, we're going tostick to the data, we're going to
stick to the economy. I thinkif we stick to the economy, we don't
get lost in the weeds. We win.And that's really going to be helpful
(21:07):
to the Democratic Party inAlabama. These tariffs and these,
this, these terrible economicpolicies and this chaos, you know,
where they're hurtingeverything from people's 401ks, you
know, to, to their pocketbook.It's an opportunity in a state like
Alabama to, to really, forDemocrats to really capitalize on
(21:30):
this. And so yeah, I'm justgoing to stay as narrow as possible
on the economy, focus on theeconomy. That affects every person
in Alabama and every person inAlabama is going to be paying more
right now because of thepolicies of the Republican Party.
And specifically TommyTuberville has been ultra pro tariff,
(21:51):
which is ultra anti Alabama.
Listen, you mentioned earlier,you talked about cuts to Medicare,
Social Security and Medicaid.You know, that's one thing of, I
know it's a, an importanttopic here in western North Carolina.
And again, having lived inAlabama, I know it's an important
topic down there as well,where, you know, folks that are on
(22:11):
the, you know, the lower endof the economic spectrum. You know,
Medicaid is in many cases alifesaver. And the recent budget
that, you know, theRepublicans passed through Congress
would call for an $880 billioncut over the next 10 years. So in
North Carolina that wouldresult, potentially result in 650,000
(22:34):
people losing their healthcare. And in Alabama it would result
in a 45% reduction perMedicaid patient. So how is Tupperville
supporting a 45% reduction inpayments for Medicaid patients in
Alabama? How's that good forthe state of Alabama?
(22:57):
Yeah, that's a great point.And what's also good to note about
that is that we have ruralhospitals. Most of them are operating
in the red. The majority ofthem are operating in the red. And
they're going to, they rely,you know, on this in order to stay
afloat. And so you're, it'sgoing to collapse part of our economy.
(23:20):
And, and not just, not justthat, but I think a quarter of the
state of Alabama's money thatflows here is, is from the federal
government. So a quarter ofour economy, dollars wise, is based
on, you know, federal, federalfunding. Basically. It's just, it's,
it's wild. I, I don't know howhe's gonna try to get away from that
(23:41):
other than the, the bread andbutter, which is pretty much all
they have here is to talkabout social issues constantly. But
what's interesting to noteabout these social issues is we're,
we're to the far end of that.There's, they, they can't go any
further without takingsomething else. So you look at J.D.
(24:01):
vance and some of J.D. vance'spast comments, and if I can call
them out on it, I'm going tocall them out on it. They want to
ban no fault divorces. JDVance has said that multiple times
and I could see them pushingsomething like that in Alabama because
they have no, the, the socialconservative movement in Alabama
has nowhere else to go there.There's nowhere else for them to
(24:26):
go other than to erode thepeople of Alabama's rights. And,
and another note on, on thoseno fault divorces, they prevent violent
domestic violence by, by alarge percentage. I don't remember
quite what it is. I think likethere's 20% uptick without it or
downtick with it, somethinglike that. But that was a. Ronald
(24:47):
Reagan, Ronald Reagan pushedthat in California. He was the first
person to push that. You know,those no fault divorces. So that's
also a part of, you know, oneof the major icons of the Republican
Party, that Ronald Reagan,that was a part of his, his legacy,
another piece that couldpotentially be eroded away. So, you
(25:08):
know, I think that we need to,to get the Republican Party, if they're
able to draw us out on theseissues, which I don't want to, you
know, I don't want that to bewhat the campaign's about. But if
they draw us out on theseissues, we need to make them define
what they want want. I thinkif we are able to get them to define
what they want, there is noway they can use that platform anymore.
(25:30):
And I think, you know, quiteoften they can't define what they
want there. There are certainterms that I can tell you, you know,
I ran for Congress here backin 2020 and you're going to find,
if you haven't already, youknow, they're going to throw a lot
of, you know, things at youlike, you know, being a pedophile,
being a socialist, being acommunist, you know, just, they demonize
(25:52):
their opponent. And Democratshave done just a horrible job at
punching back on that. AndI'll be quite honest, I think, you
know, they've done a reallygood job of getting people to focus
on where people pee. I thinkpeople are more concerned about,
you know, their paycheck and,and paying their bills than they
are about, you know, whichbathroom somebody's going to use.
(26:14):
But another program that theRepublicans have put on the chopping
block is, is Head Start, whichis a program has been around for,
for 60 years now and they wantto just totally end it. 46% of those
head Start child care slotsare in rural districts and often
(26:37):
it's the only. In somecounties, the only certified child
care is, is a, through HeadStart and they want to end that.
And you know, to me, one ofthe things that's hard to square
is with Medicaid. Again, theywant to cut, significantly cut Medicaid.
They also want to impose awork requirement if you're going
to get federal benefits andyou've got a, an obligation to work.
(27:00):
But Head Start enables over amillion working class families to
work by providing child care.So we're going to take away child
care, we're going to force youto work and if you don't, we're going
to take away your health Care.And it's kind of hard to put that
together and say that theseare, this is a pro life, pro family
(27:22):
party.
Yeah, you're, you'reabsolutely right. And talking back
on that, on that point, youknow, we have one of the highest
infant mortality rates in theUnited States and Alabama, we have
of the lowest lifeexpectancies. And you know, I tie
that partially to our, our lowincome here. You know, you're not
(27:42):
able to get the care you needand when you can't get the care you
need, you're not going to beas healthy. And so that's, you know,
just, it's, it's mind bogglingand it's turning into this perfect
storm all the way across theboard from our, from our workplace
shortages to the, to the, youknow, anti immigrant push while we
(28:04):
don't have workers here. Atthe same time, it doesn't make any
sense. And then, and thenyou've got that, that where they
talk about how they are prolife, but then at the same time their
policies. In Alabama, we have15 years of one party Republican
rule and we have for what, 48,49th in life expectancy and then,
(28:26):
you know, super low on infantmortality. 40% of the people in the
state of Alabama live inpoverty. And that is why we have
some of those issues. And thenwhen you start taking away the federal,
federal aid, it is just aperfect storm of destruction to,
to our state and to the peopleof Alabama, you know, which like
(28:47):
I said, it's horrible rightnow what, what looks like is going
to happen to our state. Itlooks like the Trump administration
designed a plan to destroywhat their most loyal base. It's
just insane.
Yeah. You know, I'll tell you,when I ran early on, I talked about
(29:10):
people here, Western NorthCarolina again reminds me a lot of,
you know, what I experiencedin Alabama where western North Carolina
is behind and we keep electingpeople that seem intent on keeping
us behind and cutting programsthat help people get ahead. Just,
you know, it doesn't makesense. And people, I think you got
(29:32):
to give the other side credit.They've used their money, their wealth
effectively to put outpropaganda that has convinced people
that it's their, either theirpatriotic duty or their religious
duty to vote against their owninterests. And you know, they're,
they're starting to feel thepain here. I know in western North
Carolina with some of the, thecuts, you know, one that's going
(29:52):
to impact your state and oursis this cut in trying to get rid
of the Department ofEducation. And when I Lived in Montgomery.
And I know in Alabama, itvaries quite a bit. Like up around
Huntsville and some of thoseareas, the public schools are really
solid, but in Montgomery, thepublic schools were abysmal just
(30:15):
because they weren'tadequately funded. And every time
it came up on a referendum toincrease property tax, you know,
to make the schools better,people would say, wait a minute,
I'm spending thousands ofdollars to send my, my kid to private
schools. Why would I want topay more tax? And that's. That cycle
just repeated itself. So Iknow for us, my daughter, it was
actually a relief when shewent to college because it was cheaper
(30:36):
for her to go to college to astate school than it was what we
were paying for private, youknow, K through 12 in Montgomery.
So what's your take on thismove by the Republicans to, to end
the Department of Educationand its support to the states?
Yeah, another horrible policy.That's $2,400, I believe, or somewhere
(31:00):
around that per student in thestate of Alabama that, I mean, it's
just detrimental to our state,detrimental to our overall economy.
This stuff is going to affectpeople's jobs, it's going to affect
people's jobs, and, and it'sgon affect our ability to, to raise
(31:22):
our kids and, you know, just,just another sad situation and another
failure of the RepublicanParty, or I guess in their case,
the success of being able to,to lie to people in a way where they
vote against their own interest.
I think you're a goodcandidate. You know, beautiful family,
(31:45):
great history in Alabama. Ithink a more center, middle of the
road Democrat makes more sensein Alabama. Are you, are you gonna
be a typical Democrat and letthe Republicans run over you, or
(32:07):
are you going to fight back?We'd like you to go listen to Rachel
Bitter Coffers podcast withus. She points out that in the last
campaign, 90% of Trump's moneywas spent on banging the shit out
of Harris. And it was theopposite with Harris. She only spent
10% banging on Trump. I thinkif, realistically, if you think you're
(32:27):
going to win, you're going tohave to be tough. You're going to
have to spend a lot of moneyon banging on Tommy. Are you willing
to do that?
Yeah, absolutely. You know, wesaw what, what little platform that
I had. I did everything that Icould, received tons and tons of
threats, and for whateverreason, I guess they viewed me as
(32:49):
a threat. Man, it was crazy.But I'm gonna come after him with
everything that I got. I'mgonna come out swinging and and do
do what needs to be done,which is to call him out. And it's
not only to call him out, it'sto call the Republican Party out
and state Alabama for theirfailures. If you were to take the
same game plan that they didto California and do that in Alabama,
(33:12):
it would be devastating.Democrats haven't, you know, we haven't
done anything like that. But,you know, the crime rate in Alabama,
I think at some points ishigher than in Cal. And so you've
got all these people in redstates that, that are thinking that
these blue states are worseoff. But then you look at the numbers
and like in Mississippi,you're twice as likely to get shot,
(33:33):
I think, than, than if you'rein Haiti. And it's just wild. So
these things need to be said.Nobody's saying them. These things
need to be said. And I'm goingto do it and, and I'm going to come
after all the failures in ourstate. The Republican Party is the
establishment in our stateright now. The Republican Party controls
the presidency, the Senate,the House of Representatives, the
(33:55):
state House ofRepresentatives, the state Senate
and the governorship. AndAlabama, they control as much as
they can control. They are theestablishment. And I'm going to come
after the establishment.
And voters want a fighter,man. I mean, I want somebody that's
not just going to roll overand start spouting out about a bunch
(34:15):
of policy that everybody knowsthe Democrats are for. I, you got
to stay laser focused on thisson of a and go after him personally
now, you know, don't doanything you're not comfortable with.
But when he, you know, youfind he spent money on, and you know
he has on something he should,shouldn't have, bang away on him
(34:37):
on that because that's whatresonates with people. Oh, that guy
who spent money on a dinnerthat he shouldn't have or he was
traveling all over the worldand charged his mini bar back to
the taxpayers. Don't get hungup on all these issues like Democrats
normally do, unlike Mo and me,and just bang, bang, bang, and get
(35:02):
a coalition of other people todo it. We'll do it on our part from
this podcast and from AmericanMuckrakers. But I think you've got
to commit to going after Tommy90% of the time and 10% talk about
your sweet family and, and howyou're connected to Alabama. But
(35:22):
again, listen to that podcastwhich Rachel talks about because
she doesn't sling bullshit.She did the research on the last
campaign and 90% of what Trumpspent was banging on Harris and 10%
of what Harris spent wasbanging on Trump. So look at that
outcome. So tell us somethingthat nobody knows about you, Kyle,
(35:48):
that would, would resonatewith Alabamans as well as listeners
from across the country. Andwe've got a great group of folks
in Germany that listen to usas well.
That's interesting. Well, Imay give you a couple things. I,
I live, I live out in thewoods, so I'm like a true dirt road
(36:10):
politician. I live or will be.I live a mile and a half down a dirt
road that sometimes theneighbors help. I maintain. Most
of the time the governmentwon't help. So it's interesting.
I have an interesting take on,on roads and like, how important
it is that the governmentfunds our roads and funds our infrastructure.
(36:31):
I married my, my, my bestfriend's sister. I met her at Mullet
Toss in Alabama. So that'ssomething that's interesting. I think
he didn't, he didn't talk tome for about a year, but he got over
after that.
Is that, was that at the floorof Bama?
Yeah, yeah, it's at the floorof Bama.
I've been there and got the T shirt.
(36:55):
Take it Mo. Take for one more mo.
Okay. Yeah. You know, I, youknow, again, I've spent 25 years
in the military just totallydisgusted with Tommy Tuberville and
you know, his, you know, usingthe military as a pawn, you know,
holding up confirmations, youknow, even had, you know, like Lindsey
Graham, you know, folks thatare big Trump supporters and you
(37:18):
know, banging on Tubervillefor his obstruction that he, that
he kept up for a very, very,very long time. But I'm curious,
what's your view on, on themilitary? And, and you know, there's
a really strong militarypresence there in, in Alabama and
what, what can you say tothose folks that why you're, you're
(37:40):
better for them than, thanTommy Tuberville?
Yeah, you know, I'm gonna, I'mgonna fight for veterans benefits
and I've got a ton of friendsthat, that are in the military still.
I have a ton of friends that,you know, are veterans. And you know,
looking at that issue where heheld up those military promotions,
(38:00):
that was disgusting because heheld it up over an issue that he
couldn't win. He lost theissue, held up those military promotions,
caused chaos, and then lost aspace command because of that. I
mean, that, that was just a, ahorrible political stunt. That, that
hurts, that hurts ourmilitary. But I'm going to do everything
(38:21):
in My power to, to serve ourmilitary, to respect our veterans,
to respect our active duty.They have a soft spot for me. And,
you know, that's veryimportant. And that is one of the
reasons why I was a Republicanin the past. I felt like the, the
(38:42):
Republican Party did, didbetter for, for the military, but
that. That's changed.
Yeah, it strikes me as, asodd. I'm where I, where I live. I'm
about a mile from the VAhospital and that's where my dad
was 100% disabled veteran fromWorld War II. That's where he went
and got his health care. And,and now that's where I go and get
(39:03):
mine. And this, you know, ElonMusk and Doge and their plan to cut
20% of the VA workforce. Imean, to me that's. And, you know,
they said it's going to makeit more effective and more efficient.
But imagine when Tubervillewas coaching at Auburn, you know,
if reduction makes you moreeffective and more efficient, and
he should have been puttingseven players on the field instead
(39:24):
of 11. And we'll see how thatturns out. So what's your take on.
And let me preface this too bysaying I, you know, spent time in
the military, and thenafterwards I, you know, worked in
the, in the federal governmentfor a number of years. And I'm not
going to stand here and saythat there's not some inefficiency
and they're not somegovernment employees that should
(39:46):
have been sent home, but theway they've gone about this, just
taking a meat cleaver in, justindiscriminately cutting, whether
it's the VA or StateDepartment or just take your pick.
What's your take on thiseffort to just eviscerate the federal
(40:07):
government?
It, you know, it's, it's hardto say what their goal is or what
their plan is, becauseultimately people are going to realize
that the Republican Party isno longer for the military. The Republican
Party is no longer forveterans. In fact, you know, you
can see with a lot of therhetoric in the past, I don't want
(40:27):
to dig too much into that, butyou know that they do not. The leader
of the Republican Partydoesn't respect military service.
Look, you can't go across theboard and promise, you promise these
people, as part of theirservice, you promise these people
that you take care of them. Wepromise veterans, we promised military
that we would take care of,that our government would take care
(40:50):
of them. And then to then pullthe promise back is atrocious.
You know, listen, it's. To me,it's encouraging, you know, hearing
people like you. We've had.We've had folks on the show, you
know, Pam Hemphill was knownas the MAGA grandma. She was one
of the ones that was convictedfor breaking into the Capitol and
after going to prison, youknow, did some research and realized
(41:11):
that, you know, she boughtinto the propaganda and had been
misled. We've had AdamKinzinger, Rick Wilson, David Jolly,
you know, a whole bunch offolks that were lifelong Republicans
that aren't now, and you'recertainly another example. So, I
mean, it's hopeful that, that.I mean, I think sometimes on the
Democratic side, we just wantto throw our hands up and say there's.
(41:33):
There's nothing we can do. Butthere are people like you that, that
are willing to, you know, To.To make the switch and to. And to
see, you know, right fromwrong. I mean, I was struck. I don't
know if you saw PresidentTrump's Easter message that he put
out, you know, where heslammed the radical left lunatics
and the weak and ineffectivejudges and called Biden a. And the
2020 election was stolen. But,you know, you're part of that. You
(41:58):
know, like I said, you votedfor Trump, you know, in the past.
How does he get away withthat? I mean, there's nothing Christian
about cruelty, but it seemslike that's kind of the heart of
this whole MAGA movement.
Yeah. So he gets away with itbecause a lot of people, they're
just. Some people are verybusy. They're very busy. They talk
back and forth. And, you know,the things he says on Truth Social,
(42:22):
the things on Truth Social aredesigned for a certain crowd. And,
you know, when he goes andsays these things, a lot of people
that voted for Trump, they'renot going to watch him speak. I think
that, you know, in order tobreak through to people, and this
is just reality, they. Peoplehave to be negatively impacted by
(42:43):
his policies. And as they'renegatively impacted, and even before
we have to say, hey, thispolicy is going to negatively impact
you, and then as it negativelyimpacts them, we have to continue
to tell them, hey, this isbecause of. Of.
Of him.
This is because of the newRepublican Party. This is because
of what they're doing, I thinkthat now is the time to do that.
And in the past, in my case, Iworked seven days a week. I worked,
(43:07):
you know, to the point of. Of,you know, probably not good for my
health, that I would workSundays, I'd work holidays, I'd work
every chance I could get anyjob that I could get. And that's
when I was a Republican, youknow, and I actually was, was injured
at one point. I tore my pecmajor on a job. But, but yeah, you
(43:28):
know, and, and that gave me alittle bit of time to sit back and
look at things, though I wasalready personally impacted post
2018. So I, I, you kind ofhave this curve that you're working
with. And I think becausepeople have been negatively impacted
and because we started talkingabout, and Kamala Harris did a great
job of talking about Trump'seconomic policies, I don't think
(43:49):
people give her enough creditand how they're going to negatively
impact us and getting outthere on think that because the Democratic
Party started doing that, youknow, with something like tariffs,
then we can say, hey, look,these policies do not work for you.
And I believe that we're goingto have the ability, because people
(44:10):
are personally impacted, to,to break through to them. And, and,
but that's why when we breakthrough to these people, we need
to start on the economy. Andso I think that it's important that
we can. We stay on theeconomy, especially in red states,
trying to break through, youknow, and turn the tide. Because
(44:30):
it's a curve, it's a learningcurve for people. It's going to take
a while for people tounderstand some of these issues.
And even, you know, a lot of,I've learned a lot of progressive
issues, Republicans, youreveryday Republicans you talk to,
they think are okay. So wejust got to break through this propaganda.
(44:51):
And the way we do that is westart with the economy and we stick
to the economy, I think, asbest as possible.
I think that's a terrific wayto position yourself, Kyle. You know,
hopeful fighter, willing tofight for you as Alabama and willing
to take on the, theestablishment in the current senator
(45:14):
down there. So listen, I,we're a big fan of courageous people.
You're clearly a courageousguy. Jumping parties, getting into
this RA under this party,that's new to you. And I, I just
think it says so much aboutyou and your character that you're
willing to stick your neck outagain. And it's not easy being a
Democrat in Alabama. Andagain, folks, I hope you'll give
(45:41):
Kyle a look. Consider donatingto him. Consider supporting him on
social media when he putsthings out on Blue sky or X or wherever
he is. Make sure you retweetit and, and give him a hands up.
You know, part of being acandidate is the good, the bad and
the ugly. And we need toencourage more folks like Kyle to
(46:02):
run, and then once they getin, we got to support them. So, Kyle,
you. You got two big fans onthis show for doing what you're doing.
We wish you all the best. Ihope you come back.
I'll be a third fan.
And we have a third fan, Bill,the guy who's working on my house.
That's right.
(46:22):
And, hey, well, listen, youhad me with the. You know, most folks
go to the mullet toss, andthey come home with a hangover, a
T shirt, and a new tattoo, andyou came home with a wife, so you've
definitely got the potentialto be the next Doug Jones.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And sowe're delighted to have you here,
(46:42):
Kyle. Tell us, tell folkswhere they can donate, where they
can learn more about you.
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm onpretty much every platform now. Main
platforms that I post on are XBlue sky, you know, and we started
a Facebook page, too. You canVisit me at kyle4alabama.com and
(47:06):
learn a little bit about me,and as time goes on, we'll put more
out. I really, really am veryappreciative to y'all putting me
on your show, and thank you somuch for your support. It means a
lot to me. And. And we'regoing to take Tommy Tuberville down.
All right, let's do it, man.We're 100% behind you. And, folks,
again, please considersupporting Kyle and his great campaign.
(47:28):
And that's a wrap for thisissue of Muck you. Well, Colonel
Mo Davis and I wade throughthe swamp of nonsense with sharp
wit and sharper truths. Thanksto our guest today, Kyle Sweetser,
for driving into the muck withus and sharing more about his campaign
for the Alabama U.S. senate.Learn more about Kyle's campaign
at kyle f o r alabama.com andlearn more about us and donate@americanmuckrakers.com
(47:55):
or follow us on Blue sky atAmerican Muckrakers. Until next week,
keep your boots muddy, yourmind clear, and muck you Alrighty.
This has been Muck U co hostedby Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville,
North Carolina, and DavidWheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
(48:18):
Thanks to our guest today,Kyle Sweetser, a Democratic candidate
for the U.S. senate inAlabama. Please learn more about
Kyle and his impressivebackground and lovely family @kyleforalabama.com
Muck you is produced byAmerican Muckrakers. Copyright 2025.
You can learn more and donateat AmericanMokrakers.com Follow us
on Blue sky underAmericanMuckrakers.com and on substack
(48:42):
atamericanmokrakers.substack.com David
and Mo Hope y'all come backsoon for a new episode. And remember
to never take from anyone,especially Trumpers.
Welcome to Muck you, thepodcast where Mo Davis and I dive
head first into the messieststories, hottest takes and wildest
debates with zero filter andmaximum grip. Buckle up for a no
holds barred ride through themuck and for an intro with our guest
today. Over to Mo Davis.
Well, thanks, David. Iappreciate it. And welcome back,
(00:25):
everybody. It's good to haveyou on board again. You know, we're
continuing our trend ofhaving, you know, interesting guests
on to talk about currentpolitics. And today, certainly no
exception, we've got KyleSweetser on. And you may not recognize
the name, but you know, ifyou're, if you're watching this podcast,
there's a good chance you'reprobably on the progressive side
(00:46):
of the political scale and youlikely watch the Democratic National
Convention. And if you did, onday two, you probably saw Kyle speak.
He got up. He was one of theformer Trump voters who showed up
at the DN Democratic NationalConvention to speak up on behalf
of, of Kamala Harris. Kylelives down in Mobile, Alabama. He
(01:07):
owns a construction companydown there. And you're probably asking
also, what's that got to dowith, with the topic today and the
reason it's so relevant? Kyleis throwing his hat in a ring to
run for Senate against Floridaresident Tommy Tuberville, who purports
to represent the state ofAlabama. But if you want more information
(01:27):
about Kyle, he's got awebsite. Is Kyle for Alabama? That's
F O R spelled out. It'skyleforalabama.com. so, Kyle, thank
you so much for joining us today.
Thank you all for having me. Ireally appreciate it.
Well, listen, I tell you thatI got to ask you, I before we started
taping, I was telling you thatout of my 25 years in the Air Force,
I spent seven of those onthree different tours at Maxwell
(01:51):
Air Force Base in Montgomery,Alabama. So I know Alabama pretty
well. And I know the mostimportant question in politics in
Alabama, Alabama is are you aWar Eagle or Roll Tide?
Well, that's a great question.I am for whoever wins from Alabama.
So if it's, if it's Auburn, ifthey look like they're going to win
the national championship,then I would back Auburn. If Alabama
(02:13):
looks like they're going towin the national championship, I
back Alabama. And also downwhere I'm at, we have the University
of South Alabama, the Jaguars,and they launched their, their football
program, their division one, Idon't know in the past 10 years or
so, maybe a little longer, butthat's a great program. Coming up
(02:34):
So I support, you know,everybody from Alabama that, that
does well. And, and just in general.
Yeah. And I'm up here in themountains of North Carolina, and
I went to Appalachian State,and one of our rivals quite often
was Troy State from, uh, downin your neck of the woods as well.
Listen, let's, you know,again, I guess my first acquaintance
(02:55):
with you was seeing you speakat the Democratic National Convention.
So how did a lifelongRepublican end up on the stage at
the Democratic big party?
Yeah, so after 2021, I thoughtin 2020, I thought there was no way
Trump was going to run again.And, you know, and even having Republican
leadership after January sixcome out and acknowledge what happened,
(03:18):
they started to flip that. By2022, it was apparent that Trump
was. So I decided that I woulddo everything in my power that I
could possibly do, and I'venever been politically involved before
to try to stop that fromhappening. And one of the biggest
concerns, it's not just aboutTrump, it's about the GOP and the
(03:39):
direction that the GOP isgoing. The GOP's policies are not
good for Alabama. The GOP'spolitical geopolitical chaos that
they're causing, you know, bybeing wishy washy about their foreign
policy stances. It's tied totrade, it's tied to our economy.
(04:01):
They just pretty muchabandoned rational leadership and
American values. So I startedspeaking out quite a bit, and I volunteered
in every way possible. Theyput me. I. I was put on billboards
all around the RNC with myface. I volunteered for that. I made
(04:24):
a ton of videos and. Yeah, soI guess that caught someone's intention.
And I was contacted and theyasked me to speak, and I didn't hesitate.
I said, sure thing, I'll go.
Great. Yeah, it's good seeingfolks from Alabama at the convention.
Another one of my. One of my.Or not one of my favorite musical
artists is Jason Ispel from upin northern part of Alabama, who
(04:47):
also was featured at theDemocratic National Convention. So,
yeah, I saw an interview youdid not too long ago where you said
that. I think your quote was,the Republican Party is no longer
a conservative party. Howwould you describe it today?
It's a populist party, and itdoes have. I think it embraces what
(05:08):
used to be called, I guess youwould say, the radical left in the
far right. In certain ways,it's pro authoritarian. You know,
they don't like theConstitution. I think every week
I see them wanting to. To atleast some people in Trump's orbit
wanting to Come after a partof the Constitution and change it.
So this isn't something thatRepublicans, I don't think that that
(05:33):
many people grasp what ishappening. They're no longer conservative
on foreign policy. They'veabandoned Ronald Reagan's foreign
policy. They've abandonedpeace through strength and you know,
the anti NATO talk and they'veabandoned really conservative or
Republican at least sinceReagan economic policies. And you
(06:00):
know, that in mind, you lookat the state of Alabama, you look
at how our economy is. We'vegot all these countries that, I mean
all these companies that dohave headquarters in other countries
but they contribute to oureconomy. They have manufacturing
facilities here. We haveAustel which is out of Australia.
We have Airbus which is out ofFrance, that's just in Mobile. We
(06:20):
have Nikon Steel whichoperates AMS Calvert, a part of that.
And then we have Mercedes,Toyota, Hyundai, etc So our economy
is based on this Americanglobal economy that America has built.
That is our economy. TheUnited, in the United States economy,
that is Alabama really relieson having that system of trade that
(06:45):
we've built over the years andour alliances and trade partners.
So you know, the portomobile,we get $100 billion worth of goods
come in, coming in and out ofMobile Bay, the port of Mobile, every,
every year. And we're probablygoing to see a decline in that because
of these tariffs which cause,they're going to cause some chaos.
(07:07):
But yeah, I can go on foreverabout the economy and the Republican
party and how they've changedand how they're hurting Alabama.
Yeah, you started outmentioning foreign policy and, and
certainly for me that's justhard to, to wrap my head around because
you know, when I was in themilitary, we spent hours and hours,
you know, in chemical warfaregear sweating our asses off training
(07:30):
to defend against Russia. Andall of a sudden it's, you know, Russia
is our best buddy and ourallies are our enemies and you know,
we hate Canada and it's justhard to, to imagine how we've made
that radical transformationfrom, you know, flipping on our allies
and embracing our adversaries.
Yeah, absolutely. It'sdisturbing to say the least. And
(07:50):
that was also one of the wakeup calls for me to look at that and
into, you know, but putting ittogether, you know, putting it together
with the economic policies,this isolationism, this nativism,
this protectionism. They'redoing it in tandem with their economic
policies to really feels liketo isolate us.
(08:11):
Yeah, and you're, you'reright, you know, again being in Mobile,
as you mentioned, you're Rightthere at the heart of it, where,
you know, internationalcommerce arrives on our shores. But,
you know, to hear Mr. Trumpand Peter Navarro talk about it,
this is a, they can'tunderstand why people aren't embracing.
This is a good thing, havingthese, these tariffs that, you know,
(08:33):
they claim China is going topay for it.
Right. Well, that's a lie. Ithink the mistake that, that has
been made over the years is,is saying that Trump isn't smart.
Trump is, Trump is a goodsalesman. Trump is an excellent salesman.
That's what he's good at. He'sgood at selling things. He's, he's
selling higher prices topeople that. He knows that the tariffs
(08:53):
are paid by Americans. Heknows at this point. So we need to
acknowledge that he's justlying to people. The Republican Party
is, they're lying to people.They're lying to people about these
taxes. And what's importantabout tariffs is that these tariffs,
they aren't going throughCongress. They are being carried
out by the President. And ifyou look back at the beginning of
(09:14):
this second term when we hadthat little spat with Columbia over
the deportation flights comingin on military aircraft instead of
commercial aircraft, and whatwasn't told to Trump, or maybe he
didn't care, or, or the peopleat the White House, the Trump administration,
was that the power plant inmobile plant, Barry operates in part
(09:36):
off of coal from Columbia. Sowhat's interesting about that whole
thing and not havingrepresentation, not having people
that understand our, eachstate, because there's actually no
way for the President to knowhow everybody's economy works, he's
going to need to rely on otherpeople to tell them. But, you know,
that could have really wreckedus. That could have caused all kinds
(09:58):
of problems because it's notjust the price increase. It's the,
the shipping issues, the, thesupply chain issues that the tariffs
cause, you know, and that,that could have really wrecked us
down here. And we don't have,when we have this system of tariffs
where there's, there's, it'snot going through Congress, it's
not going throughrepresentation. You, you can run
(10:21):
into problems like that. Andthat's taxation without representation,
we aren't represented andwe're being taxed. And that tax now,
I think the average now is, is5,000 per family in the United States.
And you look at Alabama'smedian income, you look at, we're
48, 49th in income, it's goingto, it's like just ultra destructive
(10:45):
to our state, to the people of Alabama.
And it's sometimes hard towrap your head around, you know,
some of the numbers that gettossed about. But I saw recently
where, where President Trumpwas saying that these, you know,
again, touting the tariffs,they're so good that we may do away
with, with income tax andreplace it with tariffs. And I took
(11:06):
a look at it, we took in lastfiscal year, we took in $2.4 trillion
in income tax and we had 3.3trillion of imported goods. So if
you did away with income tax,you'd have to slap a 74% tariff on
imports to make up for thelost income tax. So again, I think
for people it's hard to putthat into perspective. But if you
(11:27):
think about it new, you know,folks in Alabama are a lot like folks
here in western NorthCarolina. They like to go down to
Walmart and get that bigscreen TV for $500. But if you figure
that $500 television, when itarrived at the port, you know, Walmart
paid $350 for it, slapped a30% markup and sold it to the consumer
(11:47):
for 500. If you want to getaway, do away with income tax and
replace it with tariffs, that,that $500 television, by the time
you put on a tariff in themarkup that goes from 500 to $792.
And as you mentioned that,that's, China's not paying that.
That's the hard working folksin Alabama and western North Carolina,
they're having to pick up the tab.
(12:08):
Yeah, absolutely. I'm notexactly sure what, what their calculus
is or what their plan is with,with this. But you know, we can all
rule out that, we can all ruleout that, that that's a possibility.
It's, that's not possible. Youknow, it, that's not a possibility,
(12:29):
period. There's no way that'sgoing to take over income tax. With
what we've got going on andset up in the United States and our
government and all of spendingand what we have to spend, there's
just, that's just not going tohappen. One of the things that I
found interesting over thepast year is this push to come after
the Fed to, to, to seize theFed and centralize power or whatever
they want to do. You know, Idon't know if crashing our markets
(12:53):
intentionally by pushingtariffs while simultaneously criticizing
the Fed to, you know, maybetry to gain support through their
populist playbook to seize theFed, I don't know if that's possible.
But, but there's somethingthat, that's going on. I I don't,
you know, I think the wholetax thing is just, is just smoke
(13:13):
for something else.
Kyle, as a Democrat, folkswant to know why they should support
you. I think being a formermember of the GOP in a GOP state,
maybe a bridge too far fromsome folks. For some folks convince
(13:37):
our listeners, who tend to be,you know, national Democrats that
try to support candidates,convince these folks why they should
give Kyle a look.
Yeah, so I've never been asocial conservative. I've been very
clear about that my entirelife. I supported the Republican
(13:58):
Party. One, it's what I, Igrew up, grew up as a Republican.
So as far back as I canremember, you know, and, and from
that point, really I was just,I thought that their economic policies
were better for people and youknow, when people have money, they
can afford to pay their bills,they can afford to feed their kids,
(14:21):
they can afford to, to live.And so I think there's a lot of people
that are Republicans for thatreason and that had been Republicans
for that reason. And also onforeign policy, I think having a
strong foreign policy is goodfor us, a very clear foreign policy.
And I appreciated Reagan'sstances and how he was able to overcome
(14:44):
the Soviet Union. So that'sthe part of the Republican Party
that I was a part of. Asthings move forward, whenever they
started to do these thingsthat I just kind of viewed as empty
rhetoric, now it looks likethey're trying to come after Medicaid,
(15:05):
Medicare, Social Security,Veterans benefits. That's not anything
that, that I've eversupported. Cutting, cutting everything
is not ever something that Isupported. My mother grew up in public
housing. Down here is RVTaylor Plaza. And my grandfather,
he was in the military. Hedied in a car crash. And, and so
(15:27):
after that she grew up inthat, that housing. But, and so they,
they relied on, on hisbenefits growing up and she actually
at some point they had to eatexpired prison food to survive. So
that wasn't enough. So theseprograms are really important to
me and I'm going to stand upfor those programs. Also the Republican
(15:48):
Party shift to this pro. Thisis the most important part and it,
it transcends party to thispro authoritarian regime where they're
centralizing power and they'reputting, you know, someone like J.D.
vance who is a clear postliberal. These people don't appreciate
(16:09):
freedom. They, they don't likefreedom. They don't want us to have,
you know, have as many rights.So that's the biggest thing. I, I'm
anti authoritarian and peopleneed to know that what's going on
right now where the presidentis abusing his power, he's abusing
his power with tariffs. That'snot something that many Republicans,
(16:31):
once they open their eyes,they're going to support if they're
not already, you know, allforward to that. So, you know, I'm
for America and Americanvalues. The Republican Party abandoned
American values. TheRepublican Party abandoned the Constitution.
And I've went two yearsstraight with putting my face all
over the place and sayingeverything that I can say and doing
(16:51):
everything that I can do andputting a target on my back to try
to help stop what's going onright now.
Yeah. And I, and I thinkthat's bona fides in the party. The
fact that you stood up andwent to the convention and spoke,
at least from my perspectiveand I'm speaking to our listeners
right now, I think thatmatters, folks. I think Kyle has
(17:12):
stuck his neck out in a waythat, hell, some Democrats don't.
And I really appreciate that.So two other questions on this front.
How do we know you're going tostick with the Democrats once you
get into the Senate? Let's sayyou get into a tight spot on a social
issue or a traditionalDemocratic issue, let's say labor
(17:35):
related and having been owneda construction company or owning
a construction company.
How do.
We know you're not going towaiver on us after we help get you
there?
Well, I'm going there to solveproblems. I'm going there to help
Alabama. And when you look atlabor and you look at unions in Alabama,
(17:58):
that we have the ability,unions have the ability to change
the narrative and to, toreally do well in Alabama. And I'm,
I'm here to help unions dothat. And if you look at our numbers,
we've got 38, 38 workers perevery 100 job openings. And then
(18:20):
we also have the lowest or oneof the lowest work, what is it worker
participation rates in, in theUnited States? It's 57%. So I think
there's a lot of room forunions to, to grow here by targeting
some of that workforceparticipation where we're low and
(18:42):
trying to bring that up. Andthat'll really help change the opinion
of unions here because whatwe're, what you're going to be fighting
here on labor is you're goingto be fighting this. It's been ingrained
in people by the RepublicanParty. And so I think that having
this, this fresh take, youknow, with a fresh face, which is
me, if they, they, if they'llhave me, I will help them, you know,
(19:06):
re, rebrand or do whateverthey need here to, to try to one
help our state because we arein a crisis or work with, with the
amount of workers that we havehere available.
I think that's, I think that'shelpful. You know, while unions are
great in some places, they'renot as great in others. I, I think
(19:32):
expansion of unions in Alabamawould probably be a good thing. It
would be tough, but probably agood thing. So the other thing that
I think is on Democrats mindsthese days and, and especially it's
a favorite topic of thispodcast as Mo will attest to, is
winning. I think you wouldprobably agree that Democrats sometimes,
(19:58):
you know, snatch victory outof the jaws of loss or whatever that
phrase is. Snatch victory outof the jaws of something. And we
want to know how you're goingto win this race. Tommy Tuberville
obviously is pretends likehe's an idiot. I don't think he's
as stupid as he wantseverybody to think he is. Or maybe
(20:20):
he is. How are you going towin this race against an incumbent
that will say and do anythingto get reelected?
So it's going to be a lot ofwork, a lot of work on the ground.
Run a grassroots campaign. I'mgoing to talk to as many people as
I can, speak at as many eventsas I'm invited to and do everything
(20:43):
in my power to, to try to getmy name out there. As far as, you
know, him saying and doinganything that's expected. That's
what the Republican Partydoes. We're just going to stick to
the numbers, we're going tostick to the data, we're going to
stick to the economy. I thinkif we stick to the economy, we don't
get lost in the weeds. We win.And that's really going to be helpful
(21:07):
to the Democratic Party inAlabama. These tariffs and these,
this, these terrible economicpolicies and this chaos, you know,
where they're hurtingeverything from people's 401ks, you
know, to, to their pocketbook.It's an opportunity in a state like
Alabama to, to really, forDemocrats to really capitalize on
(21:30):
this. And so yeah, I'm justgoing to stay as narrow as possible
on the economy, focus on theeconomy. That affects every person
in Alabama and every person inAlabama is going to be paying more
right now because of thepolicies of the Republican Party.
And specifically TommyTuberville has been ultra pro tariff,
(21:51):
which is ultra anti Alabama.
Listen, you mentioned earlier,you talked about cuts to Medicare,
Social Security and Medicaid.You know, that's one thing of, I
know it's a, an importanttopic here in western North Carolina.
And again, having lived inAlabama, I know it's an important
topic down there as well,where, you know, folks that are on
(22:11):
the, you know, the lower endof the economic spectrum. You know,
Medicaid is in many cases alifesaver. And the recent budget
that, you know, theRepublicans passed through Congress
would call for an $880 billioncut over the next 10 years. So in
North Carolina that wouldresult, potentially result in 650,000
(22:34):
people losing their healthcare. And in Alabama it would result
in a 45% reduction perMedicaid patient. So how is Tupperville
supporting a 45% reduction inpayments for Medicaid patients in
Alabama? How's that good forthe state of Alabama?
(22:57):
Yeah, that's a great point.And what's also good to note about
that is that we have ruralhospitals. Most of them are operating
in the red. The majority ofthem are operating in the red. And
they're going to, they rely,you know, on this in order to stay
afloat. And so you're, it'sgoing to collapse part of our economy.
(23:20):
And, and not just, not justthat, but I think a quarter of the
state of Alabama's money thatflows here is, is from the federal
government. So a quarter ofour economy, dollars wise, is based
on, you know, federal, federalfunding. Basically. It's just, it's,
it's wild. I, I don't know howhe's gonna try to get away from that
(23:41):
other than the, the bread andbutter, which is pretty much all
they have here is to talkabout social issues constantly. But
what's interesting to noteabout these social issues is we're,
we're to the far end of that.There's, they, they can't go any
further without takingsomething else. So you look at J.D.
(24:01):
vance and some of J.D. vance'spast comments, and if I can call
them out on it, I'm going tocall them out on it. They want to
ban no fault divorces. JDVance has said that multiple times
and I could see them pushingsomething like that in Alabama because
they have no, the, the socialconservative movement in Alabama
has nowhere else to go there.There's nowhere else for them to
(24:26):
go other than to erode thepeople of Alabama's rights. And,
and another note on, on thoseno fault divorces, they prevent violent
domestic violence by, by alarge percentage. I don't remember
quite what it is. I think likethere's 20% uptick without it or
downtick with it, somethinglike that. But that was a. Ronald
(24:47):
Reagan, Ronald Reagan pushedthat in California. He was the first
person to push that. You know,those no fault divorces. So that's
also a part of, you know, oneof the major icons of the Republican
Party, that Ronald Reagan,that was a part of his, his legacy,
another piece that couldpotentially be eroded away. So, you
(25:08):
know, I think that we need to,to get the Republican Party, if they're
able to draw us out on theseissues, which I don't want to, you
know, I don't want that to bewhat the campaign's about. But if
they draw us out on theseissues, we need to make them define
what they want want. I thinkif we are able to get them to define
what they want, there is noway they can use that platform anymore.
(25:30):
And I think, you know, quiteoften they can't define what they
want there. There are certainterms that I can tell you, you know,
I ran for Congress here backin 2020 and you're going to find,
if you haven't already, youknow, they're going to throw a lot
of, you know, things at youlike, you know, being a pedophile,
being a socialist, being acommunist, you know, just, they demonize
(25:52):
their opponent. And Democratshave done just a horrible job at
punching back on that. AndI'll be quite honest, I think, you
know, they've done a reallygood job of getting people to focus
on where people pee. I thinkpeople are more concerned about,
you know, their paycheck and,and paying their bills than they
are about, you know, whichbathroom somebody's going to use.
(26:14):
But another program that theRepublicans have put on the chopping
block is, is Head Start, whichis a program has been around for,
for 60 years now and they wantto just totally end it. 46% of those
head Start child care slotsare in rural districts and often
(26:37):
it's the only. In somecounties, the only certified child
care is, is a, through HeadStart and they want to end that.
And you know, to me, one ofthe things that's hard to square
is with Medicaid. Again, theywant to cut, significantly cut Medicaid.
They also want to impose awork requirement if you're going
to get federal benefits andyou've got a, an obligation to work.
(27:00):
But Head Start enables over amillion working class families to
work by providing child care.So we're going to take away child
care, we're going to force youto work and if you don't, we're going
to take away your health Care.And it's kind of hard to put that
together and say that theseare, this is a pro life, pro family
(27:22):
party.
Yeah, you're, you'reabsolutely right. And talking back
on that, on that point, youknow, we have one of the highest
infant mortality rates in theUnited States and Alabama, we have
of the lowest lifeexpectancies. And you know, I tie
that partially to our, our lowincome here. You know, you're not
(27:42):
able to get the care you needand when you can't get the care you
need, you're not going to beas healthy. And so that's, you know,
just, it's, it's mind bogglingand it's turning into this perfect
storm all the way across theboard from our, from our workplace
shortages to the, to the, youknow, anti immigrant push while we
(28:04):
don't have workers here. Atthe same time, it doesn't make any
sense. And then, and thenyou've got that, that where they
talk about how they are prolife, but then at the same time their
policies. In Alabama, we have15 years of one party Republican
rule and we have for what, 48,49th in life expectancy and then,
(28:26):
you know, super low on infantmortality. 40% of the people in the
state of Alabama live inpoverty. And that is why we have
some of those issues. And thenwhen you start taking away the federal,
federal aid, it is just aperfect storm of destruction to,
to our state and to the peopleof Alabama, you know, which like
(28:47):
I said, it's horrible rightnow what, what looks like is going
to happen to our state. Itlooks like the Trump administration
designed a plan to destroywhat their most loyal base. It's
just insane.
Yeah. You know, I'll tell you,when I ran early on, I talked about
(29:10):
people here, Western NorthCarolina again reminds me a lot of,
you know, what I experiencedin Alabama where western North Carolina
is behind and we keep electingpeople that seem intent on keeping
us behind and cutting programsthat help people get ahead. Just,
you know, it doesn't makesense. And people, I think you got
(29:32):
to give the other side credit.They've used their money, their wealth
effectively to put outpropaganda that has convinced people
that it's their, either theirpatriotic duty or their religious
duty to vote against their owninterests. And you know, they're,
they're starting to feel thepain here. I know in western North
Carolina with some of the, thecuts, you know, one that's going
(29:52):
to impact your state and oursis this cut in trying to get rid
of the Department ofEducation. And when I Lived in Montgomery.
And I know in Alabama, itvaries quite a bit. Like up around
Huntsville and some of thoseareas, the public schools are really
solid, but in Montgomery, thepublic schools were abysmal just
(30:15):
because they weren'tadequately funded. And every time
it came up on a referendum toincrease property tax, you know,
to make the schools better,people would say, wait a minute,
I'm spending thousands ofdollars to send my, my kid to private
schools. Why would I want topay more tax? And that's. That cycle
just repeated itself. So Iknow for us, my daughter, it was
actually a relief when shewent to college because it was cheaper
(30:36):
for her to go to college to astate school than it was what we
were paying for private, youknow, K through 12 in Montgomery.
So what's your take on thismove by the Republicans to, to end
the Department of Educationand its support to the states?
Yeah, another horrible policy.That's $2,400, I believe, or somewhere
(31:00):
around that per student in thestate of Alabama that, I mean, it's
just detrimental to our state,detrimental to our overall economy.
This stuff is going to affectpeople's jobs, it's going to affect
people's jobs, and, and it'sgon affect our ability to, to raise
(31:22):
our kids and, you know, just,just another sad situation and another
failure of the RepublicanParty, or I guess in their case,
the success of being able to,to lie to people in a way where they
vote against their own interest.
I think you're a goodcandidate. You know, beautiful family,
(31:45):
great history in Alabama. Ithink a more center, middle of the
road Democrat makes more sensein Alabama. Are you, are you gonna
be a typical Democrat and letthe Republicans run over you, or
(32:07):
are you going to fight back?We'd like you to go listen to Rachel
Bitter Coffers podcast withus. She points out that in the last
campaign, 90% of Trump's moneywas spent on banging the shit out
of Harris. And it was theopposite with Harris. She only spent
10% banging on Trump. I thinkif, realistically, if you think you're
(32:27):
going to win, you're going tohave to be tough. You're going to
have to spend a lot of moneyon banging on Tommy. Are you willing
to do that?
Yeah, absolutely. You know, wesaw what, what little platform that
I had. I did everything that Icould, received tons and tons of
threats, and for whateverreason, I guess they viewed me as
(32:49):
a threat. Man, it was crazy.But I'm gonna come after him with
everything that I got. I'mgonna come out swinging and and do
do what needs to be done,which is to call him out. And it's
not only to call him out, it'sto call the Republican Party out
and state Alabama for theirfailures. If you were to take the
same game plan that they didto California and do that in Alabama,
(33:12):
it would be devastating.Democrats haven't, you know, we haven't
done anything like that. But,you know, the crime rate in Alabama,
I think at some points ishigher than in Cal. And so you've
got all these people in redstates that, that are thinking that
these blue states are worseoff. But then you look at the numbers
and like in Mississippi,you're twice as likely to get shot,
(33:33):
I think, than, than if you'rein Haiti. And it's just wild. So
these things need to be said.Nobody's saying them. These things
need to be said. And I'm goingto do it and, and I'm going to come
after all the failures in ourstate. The Republican Party is the
establishment in our stateright now. The Republican Party controls
the presidency, the Senate,the House of Representatives, the
(33:55):
state House ofRepresentatives, the state Senate
and the governorship. AndAlabama, they control as much as
they can control. They are theestablishment. And I'm going to come
after the establishment.
And voters want a fighter,man. I mean, I want somebody that's
not just going to roll overand start spouting out about a bunch
(34:15):
of policy that everybody knowsthe Democrats are for. I, you got
to stay laser focused on thisson of a and go after him personally
now, you know, don't doanything you're not comfortable with.
But when he, you know, youfind he spent money on, and you know
he has on something he should,shouldn't have, bang away on him
(34:37):
on that because that's whatresonates with people. Oh, that guy
who spent money on a dinnerthat he shouldn't have or he was
traveling all over the worldand charged his mini bar back to
the taxpayers. Don't get hungup on all these issues like Democrats
normally do, unlike Mo and me,and just bang, bang, bang, and get
(35:02):
a coalition of other people todo it. We'll do it on our part from
this podcast and from AmericanMuckrakers. But I think you've got
to commit to going after Tommy90% of the time and 10% talk about
your sweet family and, and howyou're connected to Alabama. But
(35:22):
again, listen to that podcastwhich Rachel talks about because
she doesn't sling bullshit.She did the research on the last
campaign and 90% of what Trumpspent was banging on Harris and 10%
of what Harris spent wasbanging on Trump. So look at that
outcome. So tell us somethingthat nobody knows about you, Kyle,
(35:48):
that would, would resonatewith Alabamans as well as listeners
from across the country. Andwe've got a great group of folks
in Germany that listen to usas well.
That's interesting. Well, Imay give you a couple things. I,
I live, I live out in thewoods, so I'm like a true dirt road
(36:10):
politician. I live or will be.I live a mile and a half down a dirt
road that sometimes theneighbors help. I maintain. Most
of the time the governmentwon't help. So it's interesting.
I have an interesting take on,on roads and like, how important
it is that the governmentfunds our roads and funds our infrastructure.
(36:31):
I married my, my, my bestfriend's sister. I met her at Mullet
Toss in Alabama. So that'ssomething that's interesting. I think
he didn't, he didn't talk tome for about a year, but he got over
after that.
Is that, was that at the floorof Bama?
Yeah, yeah, it's at the floorof Bama.
I've been there and got the T shirt.
(36:55):
Take it Mo. Take for one more mo.
Okay. Yeah. You know, I, youknow, again, I've spent 25 years
in the military just totallydisgusted with Tommy Tuberville and
you know, his, you know, usingthe military as a pawn, you know,
holding up confirmations, youknow, even had, you know, like Lindsey
Graham, you know, folks thatare big Trump supporters and you
(37:18):
know, banging on Tubervillefor his obstruction that he, that
he kept up for a very, very,very long time. But I'm curious,
what's your view on, on themilitary? And, and you know, there's
a really strong militarypresence there in, in Alabama and
what, what can you say tothose folks that why you're, you're
(37:40):
better for them than, thanTommy Tuberville?
Yeah, you know, I'm gonna, I'mgonna fight for veterans benefits
and I've got a ton of friendsthat, that are in the military still.
I have a ton of friends that,you know, are veterans. And you know,
looking at that issue where heheld up those military promotions,
(38:00):
that was disgusting because heheld it up over an issue that he
couldn't win. He lost theissue, held up those military promotions,
caused chaos, and then lost aspace command because of that. I
mean, that, that was just a, ahorrible political stunt. That, that
hurts, that hurts ourmilitary. But I'm going to do everything
(38:21):
in My power to, to serve ourmilitary, to respect our veterans,
to respect our active duty.They have a soft spot for me. And,
you know, that's veryimportant. And that is one of the
reasons why I was a Republicanin the past. I felt like the, the
(38:42):
Republican Party did, didbetter for, for the military, but
that. That's changed.
Yeah, it strikes me as, asodd. I'm where I, where I live. I'm
about a mile from the VAhospital and that's where my dad
was 100% disabled veteran fromWorld War II. That's where he went
and got his health care. And,and now that's where I go and get
(39:03):
mine. And this, you know, ElonMusk and Doge and their plan to cut
20% of the VA workforce. Imean, to me that's. And, you know,
they said it's going to makeit more effective and more efficient.
But imagine when Tubervillewas coaching at Auburn, you know,
if reduction makes you moreeffective and more efficient, and
he should have been puttingseven players on the field instead
(39:24):
of 11. And we'll see how thatturns out. So what's your take on.
And let me preface this too bysaying I, you know, spent time in
the military, and thenafterwards I, you know, worked in
the, in the federal governmentfor a number of years. And I'm not
going to stand here and saythat there's not some inefficiency
and they're not somegovernment employees that should
(39:46):
have been sent home, but theway they've gone about this, just
taking a meat cleaver in, justindiscriminately cutting, whether
it's the VA or StateDepartment or just take your pick.
What's your take on thiseffort to just eviscerate the federal
(40:07):
government?
It, you know, it's, it's hardto say what their goal is or what
their plan is, becauseultimately people are going to realize
that the Republican Party isno longer for the military. The Republican
Party is no longer forveterans. In fact, you know, you
can see with a lot of therhetoric in the past, I don't want
(40:27):
to dig too much into that, butyou know that they do not. The leader
of the Republican Partydoesn't respect military service.
Look, you can't go across theboard and promise, you promise these
people, as part of theirservice, you promise these people
that you take care of them. Wepromise veterans, we promised military
that we would take care of,that our government would take care
(40:50):
of them. And then to then pullthe promise back is atrocious.
You know, listen, it's. To me,it's encouraging, you know, hearing
people like you. We've had.We've had folks on the show, you
know, Pam Hemphill was knownas the MAGA grandma. She was one
of the ones that was convictedfor breaking into the Capitol and
after going to prison, youknow, did some research and realized
(41:11):
that, you know, she boughtinto the propaganda and had been
misled. We've had AdamKinzinger, Rick Wilson, David Jolly,
you know, a whole bunch offolks that were lifelong Republicans
that aren't now, and you'recertainly another example. So, I
mean, it's hopeful that, that.I mean, I think sometimes on the
Democratic side, we just wantto throw our hands up and say there's.
(41:33):
There's nothing we can do. Butthere are people like you that, that
are willing to, you know, To.To make the switch and to. And to
see, you know, right fromwrong. I mean, I was struck. I don't
know if you saw PresidentTrump's Easter message that he put
out, you know, where heslammed the radical left lunatics
and the weak and ineffectivejudges and called Biden a. And the
2020 election was stolen. But,you know, you're part of that. You
(41:58):
know, like I said, you votedfor Trump, you know, in the past.
How does he get away withthat? I mean, there's nothing Christian
about cruelty, but it seemslike that's kind of the heart of
this whole MAGA movement.
Yeah. So he gets away with itbecause a lot of people, they're
just. Some people are verybusy. They're very busy. They talk
back and forth. And, you know,the things he says on Truth Social,
(42:22):
the things on Truth Social aredesigned for a certain crowd. And,
you know, when he goes andsays these things, a lot of people
that voted for Trump, they'renot going to watch him speak. I think
that, you know, in order tobreak through to people, and this
is just reality, they. Peoplehave to be negatively impacted by
(42:43):
his policies. And as they'renegatively impacted, and even before
we have to say, hey, thispolicy is going to negatively impact
you, and then as it negativelyimpacts them, we have to continue
to tell them, hey, this isbecause of. Of.
Of him.
This is because of the newRepublican Party. This is because
of what they're doing, I thinkthat now is the time to do that.
And in the past, in my case, Iworked seven days a week. I worked,
(43:07):
you know, to the point of. Of,you know, probably not good for my
health, that I would workSundays, I'd work holidays, I'd work
every chance I could get anyjob that I could get. And that's
when I was a Republican, youknow, and I actually was, was injured
at one point. I tore my pecmajor on a job. But, but yeah, you
(43:28):
know, and, and that gave me alittle bit of time to sit back and
look at things, though I wasalready personally impacted post
2018. So I, I, you kind ofhave this curve that you're working
with. And I think becausepeople have been negatively impacted
and because we started talkingabout, and Kamala Harris did a great
job of talking about Trump'seconomic policies, I don't think
(43:49):
people give her enough creditand how they're going to negatively
impact us and getting outthere on think that because the Democratic
Party started doing that, youknow, with something like tariffs,
then we can say, hey, look,these policies do not work for you.
And I believe that we're goingto have the ability, because people
(44:10):
are personally impacted, to,to break through to them. And, and,
but that's why when we breakthrough to these people, we need
to start on the economy. Andso I think that it's important that
we can. We stay on theeconomy, especially in red states,
trying to break through, youknow, and turn the tide. Because
(44:30):
it's a curve, it's a learningcurve for people. It's going to take
a while for people tounderstand some of these issues.
And even, you know, a lot of,I've learned a lot of progressive
issues, Republicans, youreveryday Republicans you talk to,
they think are okay. So wejust got to break through this propaganda.
(44:51):
And the way we do that is westart with the economy and we stick
to the economy, I think, asbest as possible.
I think that's a terrific wayto position yourself, Kyle. You know,
hopeful fighter, willing tofight for you as Alabama and willing
to take on the, theestablishment in the current senator
(45:14):
down there. So listen, I,we're a big fan of courageous people.
You're clearly a courageousguy. Jumping parties, getting into
this RA under this party,that's new to you. And I, I just
think it says so much aboutyou and your character that you're
willing to stick your neck outagain. And it's not easy being a
Democrat in Alabama. Andagain, folks, I hope you'll give
(45:41):
Kyle a look. Consider donatingto him. Consider supporting him on
social media when he putsthings out on Blue sky or X or wherever
he is. Make sure you retweetit and, and give him a hands up.
You know, part of being acandidate is the good, the bad and
the ugly. And we need toencourage more folks like Kyle to
(46:02):
run, and then once they getin, we got to support them. So, Kyle,
you. You got two big fans onthis show for doing what you're doing.
We wish you all the best. Ihope you come back.
I'll be a third fan.
And we have a third fan, Bill,the guy who's working on my house.
That's right.
(46:22):
And, hey, well, listen, youhad me with the. You know, most folks
go to the mullet toss, andthey come home with a hangover, a
T shirt, and a new tattoo, andyou came home with a wife, so you've
definitely got the potentialto be the next Doug Jones.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And sowe're delighted to have you here,
(46:42):
Kyle. Tell us, tell folkswhere they can donate, where they
can learn more about you.
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm onpretty much every platform now. Main
platforms that I post on are XBlue sky, you know, and we started
a Facebook page, too. You canVisit me at kyle4alabama.com and
(47:06):
learn a little bit about me,and as time goes on, we'll put more
out. I really, really am veryappreciative to y'all putting me
on your show, and thank you somuch for your support. It means a
lot to me. And. And we'regoing to take Tommy Tuberville down.
All right, let's do it, man.We're 100% behind you. And, folks,
again, please considersupporting Kyle and his great campaign.
(47:28):
And that's a wrap for thisissue of Muck you. Well, Colonel
Mo Davis and I wade throughthe swamp of nonsense with sharp
wit and sharper truths. Thanksto our guest today, Kyle Sweetser,
for driving into the muck withus and sharing more about his campaign
for the Alabama U.S. senate.Learn more about Kyle's campaign
at kyle f o r alabama.com andlearn more about us and donate@americanmuckrakers.com
(47:55):
or follow us on Blue sky atAmerican Muckrakers. Until next week,
keep your boots muddy, yourmind clear, and muck you Alrighty.
This has been Muck U co hostedby Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville,
North Carolina, and DavidWheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
(48:18):
Thanks to our guest today,Kyle Sweetser, a Democratic candidate
for the U.S. senate inAlabama. Please learn more about
Kyle and his impressivebackground and lovely family @kyleforalabama.com
Muck you is produced byAmerican Muckrakers. Copyright 2025.
You can learn more and donateat AmericanMokrakers.com Follow us
on Blue sky underAmericanMuckrakers.com and on substack
(48:42):
atamericanmokrakers.substack.com David
and Mo Hope y'all come backsoon for a new episode. And remember
to never take from anyone,especially Trumpers.
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