President Joe Biden consent decision reserving troops to be sent to Europe is “a sign that Ukraine’s policy is just another endless war,” Sen. Josh Hawley he says.
“I mean, this is all about Ukraine. That’s what I said was going to happen, to send more troops there,” said Hawley, R-Mo. “We have to spend a lot of money there. They are doing this at a time when our southern border is completely closed.”
“Child traffickers, sex traffickers, drug traffickers everywhere. They’re doing this while China is eating the government’s lunch,” said the Missouri lawmaker. “I mean, it’s just eating their lunch, stealing our jobs, stealing our trade, and yet what are they doing? Thousands of troops in Europe. This is not going to end.”
Hawley joins today’s episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share his message to young people using the Chinese app TikTok; to discuss what they see as the worst examples of government fraud and abuse; and talking about his book, “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.”
Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript:
Samantha Aschieris: Sen. [Josh] Hawley, thank you so much for joining us today. Now, there has been a great deal of interest in this Congress in the use of federal government resources and in general government oversight. From your experience in the Senate, what have you seen as the worst examples of government fraud and government abuse?
Sen. Josh Hawley: What about when the FBI treated parents who came to school board meetings like domestic criminals? He labels them as domestic terrorists, and launches the Justice Department’s counterterrorism unit to prosecute them. I mean, to me, when you call parents home criminals, you know there’s a big problem.
Merrick Garland should have gone, attorney general. Christopher Wray, FBI agent, should have been able to figure it out for himself. And that’s before we get to those who are targeting pro-lifers, going to their homes, using SWAT teams against them. We can go down the list.
What about the connection to Big Tech where you have the White House and Big Tech working together to try to screw people up? I have never seen anything like this in my life.
Aschieris: Well, let’s talk a little bit about Big Tech because you’ve been one of the most prominent voices leading the effort to ban TikTok. And soon a Pew Research Center came out showing that most Americans think the program is a threat to national security.
What do you say? We are at a turning point [USA] meeting. What do you say to young people here and around the country who maybe have TikTok, don’t understand the threats, want to ignore the threats? What is your message to them?
Hawley: I’m just saying, if you have TikTok on your phone, get off your phone right now and smash your phone in a blender or run it over with your car.
Listen, here’s the problem with TikTok. It is the back door of the Chinese Communist Party in everything you do. I mean, I’m tracking your calls. It tracks your emails. I read your messages, your contact list. So that’s the big problem.
And forget what’s on TikTok, just think about the Communist Party tracking you everywhere and getting information about your life. We can’t have it that’s why we have to stop it.
Aschieris: Of course. And Sen. Hawley, you have a new book, “Manhood,” that our friend Mary Margaret Olohan asked you about earlier. It doesn’t seem like the Left favors masculinity. Why is that?
Hawley: Well, they don’t believe in men or women. They are not in favor of anyone who is powerful, who stands in the way of their goals. So they don’t want men who can really stand up for their families, stand up for their jobs, who can be independent. They don’t want women.
These are the same people who say that tomorrow tomorrow they can be a woman, that women should not exist, that men should be in women’s sports. So they don’t believe in gender, they don’t believe in marriage, and I think it’s about control.
If they want to make us consumers, what they want is to tell us to be quiet, not have families, not to get married, buy as many things as we tell you, and let us. run the world. Then they can rule forever. And I’m telling you, if this happens, then we don’t have a republic anymore.
Aschieris: In terms of teaching our boys about good masculinity, I know you are a father, so how do you teach your children about being a good man and good masculinity from being a parent?
Hawley: Well, what I’m trying to do is, No. 1, to tell them the great stories of American history—people like Theodore Roosevelt, who is my hero; people like Abraham Lincoln; people like George Washington, who are good, strong men. Tell them stories from the Bible. We go back to the foundation of our western culture, and my faith.
But the point is, being a man is a journey of character. It is being a person who can take responsibility, who can give up his interest for the good of other people, and in the end, he is ready to lose his life so that others can live and grow. That’s really what it means to be a man, to be a father, to be a builder.
So I hope that my boys will have that vision and will want to be part of it. I’m sure American men will want it too.
Aschieris: Of course. And another hot topic that we just had last week, the President [Joe] Mr. Biden is authorizing 3,000 reserve troops to be sent to Europe. Is this a sign of hindrance, ascension? What are your thoughts on this?
Hawley: It is a sign that the Ukrainian policy is just another endless war. I mean, this is all about Ukraine. This is what I said would happen, to send more troops there. We have to spend a lot of money there.
They are doing this at a time when our southern border is being depleted. Child traffickers, sex traffic, drugs everywhere. He is doing it while China is eating the lunch of this administration. I mean, it’s just eating their lunch, stealing our jobs, stealing our business.
And yet what is he doing? Thousands of soldiers in Europe.
This will never end. I mean, unless we change course, it’s not going to end. We must go to the Europeans and say, “Guys, this is your continent. You must step up here and lead the defense of Europe. “
Aschieris: And just talking about China and the threat that we’ve seen on a regular basis, we’ve talked about TikTok in the past. We have a fentanyl problem. We have their anger in Taiwan. What should the Biden administration do to counter that threat? And if we don’t, what happens in our country?
Hawley: Well, no. 1 is displacing the most popular country in China. Why are we giving them a special deal? It’s crazy. We should kick them out of the World Trade Organization. We just need to abolish the World Trade Organization. We must remove them from the most cherished places of the nation. We have to lower the tariffs. And we have to tell them that we are bringing back our services. You stole our jobs, 4 million. You have stolen our company. We are also building this in the United States of America. That should be number one.
Aschieris: Of course. Sen. Hawley, any final thoughts?
Hawley: No. This is a great meeting. I’ll just say that. It’s great to be here [Turning Point USA].
Aschieris: Amazing. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Hawley: Thank you. Thanks for being with me.
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