Carl DeMaio Discusses Running For 50th Congressional District

Speaker 1: 00:00 One of the most significant congressional elections in San Diego this year is the race to see who will win the 50th district in East and North County, a district that has been represented by a Duncan Hunter, either the father or the son. For the last four decades, Duncan D Hunter pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds and resigned from the house in January. Now four front runners including three Republicans and one Democrat are running to replace him today. We'll hear from Republican Carl DeMaio who is familiar to many as a radio talk show host and a podcast him. He served on the San Diego city council for one term and has run for mayor of San Diego and Congress but unsuccessfully. So Colonel, thank you so much for coming in. Thanks for having me. So now the president was acquitted in the Senate just this last week. Some Republican sentences said the president's behavior was wrong but didn't rise to the level of impeachment. Speaker 1: 00:52 Are you in the camp of those who say he did nothing wrong? Look, I looked at the transcripts. I've, I've seen what this is really about. The, the, this is an abuse of power by Democrats. They started impeaching president Trump, even before the ballots were counted in 2016 when that is clearly the pattern of behavior here. Nothing that they say can be taken seriously. Um, we need to get on with the work of the American people. Uh, Congress has been sidelined by witch hunts and they need to get to the fundamental issues that people care about. How do we make sure we take care of our veterans? How do we secure our border? How do we make sure we get fair trade deals? However, our constitution is important. Would you say that what happened was okay by the constitution? Uh, no, it was not OK. Speaker 1: 01:34 Uh, I think that the abuse of power by the Democrats is terrible. I think that the Democrats should be stripped of their majority in the house. Representatives. Impeachment is a serious issue. Uh, it should be only used in the most extreme and, uh, agregious, uh, transgressions and the Democrats have shown that they are willing to trample over our constitution to try to invalidate the results of the 2016 election. Now your most high profile Republican opponent is Darryl ICER, who served as the Congressman for the 49th district in North San Diego County for 18 years. Is that a pretty formidable level of experience for you to be running against? Look, I don't think having experience in the Washington swamp is actually a good or positive attribute. Darrell ice, uh, spent, uh, 20 years, uh, in, in, uh, Washington. He wants to crawl his way back in. Um, he has a record, um, of, of grand standing on cable news, but not really getting things done. Speaker 1: 02:32 He quit on the president. He quit on his constituents. He betrayed president Trump by being the only Republican to call for a special prosecutor to investigate the president and his family on the, the, the, the phony Russia collusion alligator, uh, allegations. Uh, and he really has shown that he's not a fighter. I think the thing that's remarkable about the voters in the 50th district is they feel like they're forgotten. They feel like their voice is not heard, certainly in California or in Washington. They want a fighter who's going to up and really address the issues that they care about that have a meaningful impact on their daily lives. Uh, I believe that you don't live in the district does that, right. I used to live in Hunter's district. Um, and right now we're going through redistricting. Uh, that process, uh, will be completed in a matter of, you know, 14, 15 months. Speaker 1: 03:17 Uh, and I, you know, the Democrats, I'm their worst nightmare to be in elected office cause they know just like I did on the city council just like I did on the radio, that I will stand up and lead the fight against their extreme ideas. And so I wouldn't put it past them if I moved tomorrow to redraw the lines exactly around my, my house. So I'm waiting for the lines to be finalized for the next decade so that, uh, we can make that decision. But I will tell you I will reside in the 50th district. It's important that I reside in the district that I represent. So now the San Diego Republican party did not endorse you. And in this time of opening endorse anyone, it's a two thirds super majority vote. I did get the most votes of all the candidates. Um, but it is a, it's a hard, it's a high bar to meet and it's designed to protect the integrity of the process and the Republican party, uh, from internal division. Speaker 1: 04:11 So the only time we do endorsements is when we have a super majority, two thirds that the 49 elected central committee members can agree on. Um, we've seen some ads that Daryl Leisa has mounted against you that referred you sexual orientation, which some people have described as being gay baiting kind of ads. What's your reaction to those and what do you know it says about your opponent? The thing I find most offensive about Daryl ISIS ads, uh, the fact that he lies about my record, uh, on, on virtually everything he, um, is cutting and pasting, um, uh, comments completely out of context. Um, and here's, here's why he's lying. He has his own terrible record of opposing the border wall of betraying president Trump of supporting amnesty for 11 million illegal immigrants. So like a typical career swamp politician, he uses lies to deflect attention from his own terrible record. Speaker 1: 05:03 Uh, and we're, we're standing up, we're, we're, we're communicating why I'm running. Uh, I'm not running for any other reason, but you'd be a fighter and to give forgotten Californians a voice. Darryl ISO wants to make this election about, uh, you know, uh, all sorts of other side issues that have no bearing and no relevance. Well, let's talk about some of the issues that really mattered to people such as health care and you have a plan to fix health care that you say, we'll make it cheaper and more accessible. Code freedom, care, freedom, care. You have Obamacare, which I believe is a disaster. But you also have Republicans that didn't have a plan. They ran for what, six years, eight years saying, Oh, repeal and replace, repeal and replace. They didn't bother to come up with a plan. They didn't tell anyone. They didn't have a plan. Speaker 1: 05:44 I think they lost a lot of credibility when they got into Congress and did not have a plan. And so what I say is if I don't like someone else's idea, I'm not just going to say what's wrong with their idea or oppose it. I feel obliged to come up with a better plan, a better idea. That's where freedom care came about and it really talks about how we can cut the red tape, give consumers more choice, respect the relationship between doctors and their patients, and really embrace innovation in the, in how we deliver health care to consumers that have been the cost curve and save money. Speaking of the cost curve, doesn't it rely on people to be paying for their particular plan, which would allow people who can afford it a great plan and people who con would be left with a terrible plan? Speaker 1: 06:28 No, it's a terrible plan. Only of government drives up the cost of, of, of providing medical care. Here's the funny thing about cutting red tape and bending the cost curve. Everybody finds that health care is more affordable and that's gotta be our singular focus is how do we reduce the cost of providing healthcare in this country? Here are the two, two stats I want to give you. When you take a look at the, uh, inflation in, uh, in our country since 1998, inflation at the cost of clothing, the cost of food, the cost of TV sets, the cost of cell phones, the cost of services have all actually gone down relative to inflation. What has skyrocketed up healthcare, 226% outstripping inflation. Can you pinpoint what it is about healthcare that has made the costs go up? [inaudible] without reducing the quality of the government? I can tell you right now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist. Speaker 1: 07:22 There's too much government in healthcare. Talk to any doctor, talk to any nurse, talk to any healthcare provider. And they will tell you that their cost of actually providing a simple service, a simple procedure is astronomically higher than it needs to be because of government intrusion. Okay. How important is your stance on abortion rights in his campaign? You know, I am opposed to federal funding for abortion. Um, I've always said, uh, you know, in my libertarian way, if, if even if you have a freedom to do something, it doesn't mean that I'm going to, um, support my tax dollars going, uh, to something that I disagree with. I personally disagree with it and I really want to see us reduce the number of unplanned unwanted pregnancies in this country. And I think that's a great unifying focus. My position is no different than justice Brett Kavanaugh on the issue. Speaker 1: 08:09 Um, but it is different, but it is [inaudible] but it is different than Daryl ISIS in that I oppose federal funding going to abortion providers. The Hyde amendment amendment is what it's called. Where's Daryl Eissa pledged to continue to fund abortions? And now he seems to try to be deceiving voters again. You know, the thing that people don't like about politicians the most, and there's a lot of things not to like about politicians is the fact that they say one thing and one audience and say another thing in another audience. What you see is what you get with me. Um, and if you disagree, fine, but at least you'll know it's coming from my gut. I spent five years on radio, I F I spent, you know, four years prior to that on the San Diego city council and uh, might've ruffled feathers, but people always knew that they would get a genuine direct answer. Speaker 1: 08:55 The question, how about climate change? Do you believe it's a problem? And do you think that the federal government should be doing more to reduce carbon emissions? And the climate has been changing since the beginning of the planet. Okay. That's first and foremost. No one's denying that there is quote climate change. No one denies that humans have an impact on their environment. It's called an ecosystem. Everything planting a flower has an impact on the environment. But I don't believe that we should sacrifice our, our, our living standards. I don't believe that we should bankrupt families because of some notion that we can have climate control and, and this is the term I want to use on this debate. Democrats are trying to suggest that we can control the climate. That's what they're offering you. They're saying, give us your money, give us your freedom. Give us mandates and regulation on how we live our lives. Speaker 1: 09:45 Increased your cost of living. Go without certain necessities, go without certain conveniences. And in exchange we promise we'll control the climate. So you're saying [inaudible] what an absurd on its face and absurd claim to be making. And nobody in the media wants to challenge them on the cost of their proposals or the efficacy of their proposals or any of the, the, the, the, the, the, the uh, uh, science behind. How confident are you that if we make these changes that anything will will be changed? Because what they're saying is it in the United States, in San Diego, we ought to sacrifice our quality of life, have our cost of living go, go higher and higher, but where's all the carbon emission problem stemming from China in India, but they don't have to make those sacrifices or changes. We could eliminate all the carbon emissions tomorrow from the United States of America, which is never going to happen. Speaker 1: 10:34 But let's pretend that we got rid of all China and India will outstrip that elimination within four years. And so we have to have something that actually works. I am interested in your argument that you were saying that the government is trying to control the planet and I wonder if you feel like in fact what a government, what people do does not actually have an effect on the climate. Now I just stipulated that human beings, potted plants, trees, animals were part of an ecosystem. So to say that humans don't have an impact on the environment is just not, you know, scientifically valid. However, to say that somehow I know for sure that if we don't do X, Y,Z , the world's going to end in 12 years. And that if you give me all your freedom, all your money, sacrifice the economy, that somehow I'll be able to fix it or change it in 12 years. Speaker 1: 11:19 That's nonsense. Here's what I want to do. I want to focus on proven evidence-based environmental protection and improvements. Let's clean up the sewage water in, in the Tijuana river, uh, Valley that's contaminating our beaches and bays 131 days out of the year. That's last year. How about we deal with the issue of human feces on our sidewalks from homeless individuals? Let's clean up that mess and the rest of the public health. Why don't we go and clean up our beaches, our bays, our canyons, and our sidewalks and our, our highways by requiring that welfare recipients actually go and do public work, uh, tours where they're cleaning up the trash, uh, for providing them with the financial support. We should at least get some sort of return on investment from that. So if you want a cleaner environment, if you want better air and water, there are more provable investments that we can make. Speaker 1: 12:08 And that's where I'm focused. So do you think the federal government should be doing more to restrict carbon emissions? I think we all need to do more to find how we can be more sustainable while also having a prosperous economy. So what I'm talking about is sustainable economic prosperity. Uh, I want to look at policies that not only, um, uh, help advance prosperity but also are wise. They're, they're, they're resource wise and I don't think that you get there by government mandates and regulations. I think you get there by encouraging innovation and change in the economy. Time and time again, human entrepreneurship and innovation solves problems, particularly environmental problems faster than any government rule book or regulation. I want to ask you about the Boda because your district stretches down to the border. So border security is one of your priorities. Do you have any new ideas on how to improve that? Speaker 1: 12:57 Well, my, my priority on the border isn't just because of proximity. We need to secure our border because without border security we have a national security threat. We have a immense public cost for illegal immigration. There are, there's drug trafficking going on, human trafficking. And so border security encompasses so many issues of concern. Um, I have a five point plan called the border border security initiative. It's supported by Roger Hedgecock who helped found the hold their feet to the fire tour, uh, with the Federation for American immigration reform. And he's a local talk, a former talk show host, right? A mentor of mine actually I had greatly respect him. Uh, Christopher Harris, the former secretary of the local border patrol council of San Diego agents. Um, Agnes Gibbon. He an angel mom whose son was killed violently by an illegal immigrant criminal in this country given sanctuary. And so the five point plan is number one, build a wall and properly staff it. Speaker 1: 13:53 Cause there are thousands of positions in the border patrol. They're not filled. A number two, after we build the wall and, and, and provide an infrastructure and staffing to secure it, we need to close the loopholes, the legal loopholes in our immigration laws, in our asylum laws that are being abused by the coyotes and abused by illegal immigrants. Third, let's actually take on big business. The reason why we don't have border security. The Republicans get campaign cash from big business. Big business likes lots of illegal immigration because they get cheap labor. I want to take the profit out of illegal immigration by cracking down on businesses that are engaged in predatory employment. We need to have E-Verify, not voluntary, but mandatory with not only civil fines, but criminal penalties for repeat offenders. Fourth, we need to get rid of the welfare that we've granted illegal immigrants. Speaker 1: 14:39 If you come to this country, you have to have a job, you have to keep a job and you cannot take public welfare for at least five years of a period of time. We have to get rid of the sanctuary state law that that allows for, to be rereleased into our communities. And finally, the fifth reform is let's make legal immigration, uh, streamlined and merit based. And that's where the president's raise act. Our AI S E is, I think the best approach going forward, which is we go to a merit based, quantifiable review of people seeking, uh, to, to migrate, to immigrate into the United States. We want to be a welcoming country. And I don't think Republicans say that enough, is that we're proud of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants. How lucky are we that the best and the brightest want to come here? Speaker 1: 15:27 But if they want to come here, they have to do so legally and they have to bide by the rules and they actually have to demonstrate that they're willing to work hard and be value added. Uh, uh, participants if elected, would you vote for move federal gun regulations? No, I don't see a, a, an infringement on the second amendment as the way of making people safer. That's why I have a four point initiative called let's roll. You may remember flight 93 Todd Beamer, Todd Beamer during nine 11 was on flight 93 and originally they thought, well, let's just cower. Let's just cooperate with the terrorists that are hijacking us. Like they'll probably land the plane and stipulate their demands. Let's cower. Let's not fight back. Well, by the time that they reached their family and friends on the ground to tell them about the hijacking, we all knew on the ground what was going on, that they were using the airplanes as weapons. Speaker 1: 16:20 And what Todd was told by a family member is they're not taking you hostage. They're taking that plane and they're going to Ram it into some sort of building. So Todd Beamer said, let's roll, let's roll, let's choose uncertain death versus certain death. Let's choose to save others by fighting back. Let's not cower and run and hide. And so I believe we need more of the second amendment, not less of the second amendment. If we want to safeguard people. Alison, how many police shootings, mass shootings are, they're targeting police stations. Probably can't think of any, right? Because nutcases dingbats wing bats and extremists, evil doers don't attack targets that will fight back. They attack targets that are defenseless where they can wreak as much havoc and carnage as possible. And so my let's roll initiative is all about, um, letting people know about their second amendment rights training, uh, and educating in self defense, uh, providing, um, a national concealed carry program that, uh, is a, uh, based on standards, um, allowing for, uh, better data for background checks and celebrating the heroes of, uh, of, of mass shootings that step forward and save the lives of others. Speaker 1: 17:36 Well, Carl, thank you very much for coming in. Thanks so much. That was Republican candidate for the 50th district. Kyle de Mio.