Oliver Anthony’s viral hit "Rich Men North of Richmond"—a Reaganite anthem with 70M+ views—exposes working-class Appalachian men’s economic grievances, targeting elites like Epstein-linked Bill Gates while mocking "net zero" policies. Controversy erupts over Anna Andres (biological male), a late-career powerlifter who allegedly crushed women’s records by 400+ lbs, with female athletes like April Hutchison protesting unfair advantages. Georgia Governor Kemp dodges WEF questions in Davos, mirroring conspiracy theorists’ claims about undemocratic globalist control. Viewers’ letters amplify fears of cultural shifts, media bias, and political overreach, revealing a fractured trust in institutions. [Automatically generated summary]
Today I want to show you a music video by a country music sensation.
He's got the number one song in America.
It's an incredible plea from the heart by people who are forgotten by fancy society.
I want you to get the video version of this podcast.
I want you to see this guy.
It's half of his impact is what he looks like.
To do that, you need a video subscription to Rebel News.
We call that Rebel News Plus.
Go to RebelNewsPlus.com, $8 a month.
But you get my show every weeknight, plus the satisfaction of keeping Rebel News strong.
Just go to RebelNewsPlus.com.
All right, here's today's podcast.
Tonight, let me show you a country music song that'll stop you in your tracks.
It's August 15th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.
You censorious bug!
I don't know much about country music, but this song sort of jumped out and caught me by surprise.
I think it started on the internet, as songs often do these days, and it just went super viral.
Tens of millions of views.
I'm going to play the whole song for you, and then I'd like to talk about the song a bit, what I like about it, what's interesting about it, and what the reaction from the official music industry has been.
I know that's a bit outside my normal wheelhouse, but I hope you'll bear with me.
So here's the song by a man named Oliver Anthony.
And the song is called Rich Men North of Richmond.
Here, take a listen.
It's just a few minutes long.
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay.
So I can sit out here and waste my life away.
Drag back home and drown my troubles away.
It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true, but it is.
Oh, it is living in the new world.
Within whole soul, these rich men north of richmen, Lord knows they all just wanna have total control.
Want to know what you think?
Wanna know what you do.
And they don't think you know, but I know that you do.
Cause your dollar ain't shit, and it's taxed to no hen.
Those are rich politicians who look out for miners, and not just miners on an island somewhere.
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain't got nothing to eat.
And the OB's milk and welfare.
But God, here's your five foot three and your 300 pounds.
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.
Young men are putting themselves six feet in the ground.
Cause all this damn country does is keep on kicking them down.
Lord, it's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me.
People like you wish I could just wake up and it not be true, but it is.
Oh, it is living in the new world.
Within whole soul, These rich men know the richmen, Lord knows they all just want to have total control.
Want to know what you think?
Wanna know what you do.
And then I don't think you know, but I know that you do.
Cause your dollar ain't shit, and it's taxed to no hand.
Cause the rich men know the rich men.
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay.
Wow, hey, his look, his sound, unique, very blue-collar, poor.
And even working hard and working overtime doesn't seem to help.
He says, it's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me and people like you.
Now, what does that mean?
That's a bit cryptic.
I think it means what you obviously know it means, which is a poor white man from Appalachia.
He's in nobody's focus group.
There's no beer ads with guys who look like him anymore.
The beer ads are all guys who look like Dylan Mulvaney on Bud Light.
They don't have people like him anymore.
He's a white cis heterosexual male.
So people like him and maybe people like you.
When he says, these rich men north of Richmond, Lord knows they all just want to have total control, want to know what you think, want to know what you do.
And they don't think you know, but I know that you do.
Because it's quite something.
If you look at the map, you're probably wondering what does that mean?
Look at the map.
Richmond, Virginia, which was the capital of the Confederacy, by the way.
Well, north of Richmond is Washington, D.C.
So when he's talking about the people north of Richmond wanting to know what you see and what you do, and then he talks about, you know, your dollar doesn't go far and it gets taxed.
Well, he's talking about politicians, isn't he?
The next part is amazing.
He said, I wish politicians would look out for miners.
And he obviously means coal miners, M-I-N-E-R-S, and not just minors on an island somewhere.
That's got to be a reference to Jeffrey Epstein and his Lola Express, the sex trafficking of minors in his island that so many people, including Bill Gates, just visited again and again.
It's true.
Politicians for some reason hate miners.
Net zero.
That means get rid of carbon, get rid of coal, get rid of oil, get rid of so many things.
But we need it.
But why is it okay to say get rid of minors?
And would you talk that way about any other industry, any other profession?
He's got a phrase, he says, well, God, if you're 5'3 and you're 300 pounds, taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.
So it's interesting that he doesn't believe in being slovenly or subsidizing people just easing snack food.
It's sort of an interesting mix of politics, isn't it?
But I think underneath it is sort of despair and frustration.
He talks about young men six feet and under, obviously suicide he means.
He's really talking about forgotten people in flyover country.
You know, there's not a lot of TV shows about guys who look like this other than to mock them.
Maybe Duck Dynasty, but that was sort of, look at that oddity.
Rolling Stone used to be a magazine that was really cutting edge and really about the music.
It's not about that anymore.
It's about Democrat Party talking points.
They call this guy a Reaganite.
I don't even think this guy was born until after Reagan was left.
But maybe there's something to it in that Ronald Reagan talked to working class people who used to vote Democrat but felt pushed out of the Democratic Party.
I think that's probably even more true now when the central issues for the Democrats are censorship, global warming, and transgenderism, don't you think?
Here, let me read a little bit from Rolling Stone because it's sort of funny how they're taking on this phenomenon.
They're not celebrating him.
They're not saying, wow, look at this authentic American sound and listen to his pain.
And they're sort of not really mocking his pain, but they're saying it's not legitimate.
And he's just a Reaganite.
Here's what they say.
They talk about that.
And then they say, in his straight-to-camera introduction video, Anthony, who according to a post on YouTube, cites Hank Williams Jr., no stranger to political songs, as his biggest influence, says he sits pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have.
And that it seems like both sides serve the same master and that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country.
You know, I think there's something there and it's widespread.
I think a lot of working class people, miners in West Virginia, guys who look just like this, voted Republican under Donald Trump because they felt ignored.
And if you say you're for the working class these days, if you say you're for cheaper housing prices and maybe for good labor and trade deals that don't reduce wages, are you left-wing?
Are you right-wing?
I'm not quite sure.
I mean, I don't know of any trade deal or any war that isn't enthusiastically supported by the Democrats.
I think in a lot of ways, the old right-wing, left-wing lines are scrambled.
Maybe the Reaganite call does work.
Here's that look-to-camera piece that they were talking about.
Here's Oliver Anthony explaining who he is and what his songs are about.
They're really for people who can't get ahead, whether they're Democrat or Republican.
Take a look.
I know we're living in dark times, and I know that this is really just the beginning of what's to come.
And there's a lot of beautiful people in this world, and I meet a lot of awesome people every day.
Even back when I did work in the factory, you know, I sing about selling my soul, and I am a ginger, so I don't know if I have a soul to sell or not.
But I met a lot of good people even back then working third shift, 12 hours, six days a week.
And now I spend a lot of time on job sites, and I meet people from all across the country.
And the universal thing I see is that it's like no matter how hard they push and how much effort they put into whatever it is they're doing, they just can't quite get ahead because the dollar is not worth enough.
It's being overtaxed.
People are just sick and tired of being sick and tired.
And so yeah, I want to be a voice for those people.
And not just them.
Just humans in general and some of the struggles and the battles that they go through.
And yeah, that line in there about miners on an island somewhere, that was a reference to human trafficking.
Take a listen to him on that.
It touches base on human trafficking and the atrocities that, you know, I'll say this.
I sit pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have.
I remember as a kid, the conservatives wanting war and me not understanding that.
And I remember a lot of the controversies when the left took office.
And it seems like, you know, both sides serve the same master.
And that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country.
But I think one of the worst things that a human being can do is take advantage of a child.
And I can't begin to conceptualize what has to happen to someone in order for them to think that's okay.
And I think I drew the line on being quiet when I started to see that becoming normalized.
And I'll leave that at that.
Well, just like that independent movie about human trafficking that went super viral dominated the box office despite the sneering of experts and reviewers, this song is doing the same thing.
It went super viral.
People Flocked To The Concert Farm00:02:29
And then he announced on Twitter that he was going to have a concert on just some farm.
And people drove in for miles.
And it was packed.
And it was just a homemade concert at a farm.
And he had all this attention on him.
People were live streaming and filming.
What was the first thing he did?
Well, he started with a little Bible reading.
You take a listen to this.
It's crazy to me because I remember back in June, I played here for about 20 people.
And that's.
That's the beautiful part of this country, though, is even an idiot like me can make something happen.
So if I can do it, you can do it.
Before we start singing, and I mean we, because I hope y'all are going to be singing too, I just had something I felt compelled to share with you.
This is in Psalm Psalm 37, 12 through 20.
The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
But their swords will pierce their own hearts and their bows will be broken.
Better the little that have righteousness than the wealth of many wicked.
For the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
The blameless spend their days under the Lord's care, and their inheritance will endure forever.
In times of disaster, they will not wither.
In days of famine, they will have plenty.
But the wicked will perish.
though the lord's enemies are like the flowers of the field they will be consumed and they will go up and smoke oh my god if he didn't do it with his politics his religion will do it for sure Of course, this guy must be destroyed.
Powerlifting Pioneers00:14:50
I mean, he's not even in drag.
He's not sexual at all, whether it's, you know, pansexual or transsexual.
He's not pro-drug, even though he admits he himself was a drug user.
This guy's not going to get a fancy record deal.
But thankfully, in our era, we can find guys like this online and learn how to support them directly.
But mark my words, any cultural icon like this that appeals to people and their conservative streak, well, they're going to be destroyed.
Stay with us for more.
There are some competitions where your gender doesn't matter at all.
I'm going to give you an example, darts, or maybe chess.
You don't even know the gender of the person you're playing chess with if you're playing online.
It doesn't matter, does it?
Because there's no intrinsic advantage to being male over female.
Some people might say there's a difference in spatial rotational abilities, but you get my point.
It's not like a sport like powerlifting, where raw power, bone density, testosterone, and things like that make all the difference.
And so women who train and compete their whole lives to win records and to better themselves, well, there's a reason they don't compete against the men.
There's a reason why male and female powerlifting are different leagues, different categories.
And so it's not much sport, is it, when a man who fails as a male powerlifter manages to convince the women's powerlifting competition to let him in, he gives himself a women's name.
He's over the hill.
He's 40, which is getting up there in terms of this competition.
And he crushes every single record in existence.
Woo, that's the sport of it.
I'm talking about a man who now calls himself Anna Andres.
And here he is just crushing it at the powerlifting championships in Canada recently.
Take a look at this.
Yeah, who is applauding?
And what were they applauding for?
Were they applauding that women who had trained their whole lives were suddenly brushed aside by a man?
That's what Andres means.
The name Andrew is actually Greek for man.
Did you know that?
I wonder if Anna Andres knows it.
Well, it's not just that this man is a poor sport, a cheater in a way.
I think he actually hates women.
Here, take a look at this social media post he made mocking women, how inferior they are.
Take a look.
Why is women's bench so bad?
I mean, not compared to me.
We all know that I'm a tranny freak, so that doesn't count.
And no, we're not talking about Mackenzie Lee.
She's got little T-Rex arms and she's like 400 pounds of chest muscle, apparently.
I mean, standard bench in powerlifting competition for women.
I literally don't understand why it's so bad.
Yeah, it's not bad.
It's like saying, why are children so weak?
Why are children so short?
Ha, I'm much taller than children.
What a fool.
But the real fools, I think, are the powerlifting competition organizers that allow such a brazen cheater in to steal the records.
I am furious about this.
It is unfair.
It is not sport.
And joining us to talk further about it is April Hutchison, who actually is a female powerlifter who trains and works hard.
But what's the point, really, when cheaters like Anna Andres come in?
April, great to see you again.
Great to see you again too, Ezra.
You know, I'm mad and maybe I should talk less and listen more, but I just can't believe that there were cheers for him.
I don't know.
If someone were to boo, would they have been kicked out of the gallery?
I'm guessing that they have a, that they impose sort of a political control.
You must clap for this transgender athlete.
And if you don't, you're a bigot.
Is that why there were cheers for this cheater?
Well, I mean, before every competition, they do kind of have rules like you have to be, you know, sportsmanship, blah, blah, blah, all these things.
You know, I don't know if you saw the footage from the protest that was at Nationals when Linda Blade and all the icon women presented themselves at the competition where Anne was lifting.
And the president of my powerlifting federation tried to twice kick us out of the protest.
Now, people that are cheering, actually, I did hear that the one woman that competed against Anne on the podium from Sunday had no idea that Anne is a biological male.
So we have one person that's clueless.
The other person to the other side is just like, what's going on?
People that are clapping, a lot of them don't even know that he was a man, even though he's been in media attention for the last year.
Some people are still confused.
Some people don't even know what the word transgender means, Ezra.
You know, that's a great point.
You and I focus on it.
We think about it.
But I think he was an imposter.
He tricked people.
That's a great point.
You know, this whole transgenderism has only emerged as a thing in the last five or 10 years.
And I think when people figure out what it's doing to sport, I hope there's a bit of an uprising.
I want to make mention of a media appearance you did recently.
I was so excited to see it.
I mean, we've talked with you, but look, Rebel News is pretty small and you've talked to other groups that are sort of small.
But you were on one of the largest talk show hosts, Pierce Morgan and his TV and radio show.
It's one of the biggest interviewers, very famous, both in the United Kingdom and in North America.
I want to play an excerpt from your interview with Pierce Morgan, just because I'm sort of excited that you broke through into the mainstream media.
And Pierce Morgan, you know, he doesn't suffer fools gladly.
He's an equal opportunity critic, but I think he's fair-minded.
I'd say he's a pretty fair dealer.
Here, listen to this.
I want to show off a little bit for you because this was an amazing moment.
Take a look.
Let's make a distinction here with Anne Andres, who we talked about in the introduction to you.
That's somebody you know personally.
And that seems to be a source of a lot of angst here.
This is Anne Andres competing, a trans woman, or as you call her, a trans-identifying person, previously born a biological male, transitioned a long time ago, but post-puberty.
And I believe that's correct.
And is taking on a lot of records.
Talk to us about what that's been like for you.
Yeah, so Ann actually just broke the national records for all the master records yesterday while competing at the Western Regions.
He also holds the second highest deadlift in our powerlifting federation of all time of all ages.
We're talking 20 and up.
He just turned 40, so he is a 40 year old, six foot, 250 pound man.
And, you know, it's been very disheartening.
For example, that national record that he broke, athletes have been chasing that for years.
And we're talking top athletes who have been training and training and training.
You know, so it just goes to show the advantages, the physiological advantages that a male has over a female, whether it's muscle mass or bone density, lung capacity.
You know, I could go on.
Well, that's great.
You know why I like that?
I like it because your message is getting out.
And I like it because you're such a good spokesperson for women's sport.
But I like it because it's sort of proof to me that more and more people are waking up to the threat of transgenderism destroying women's sport.
I regarded that as a kind of milestone that we're breaking through.
What do you think?
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, I said that the other day.
Being on Pierce Morgan was probably one of the best shows.
I mean, I was on Tucker Carlson a couple of months ago.
I mean, what's bigger?
Yeah, I guess Joe Rogan, right?
Yeah.
But no, and I've voiced this so many times on my Twitter account.
I'm so disappointed in like CBC and like, you know, CTV, our Canadian news outlets are not touching the topic at all.
Why?
Probably because, I mean, A, our government, but B, they know that I'm right.
Like they have no argument.
So, I mean, but it's very disheartening that they are not even, even if they actually, you know, had my side of things and then heard Anne's side of things, like any attention would be great.
But honestly, I reached out to my American friends and I mean, Riley Gaines has been awesome.
All these women's groups, you have been amazing.
Ezra, you are the only news media in Canada that actually has covered them.
Can I thank you for that?
Well, it's my pleasure.
And we do it because we know our audience would be interested in it.
And we do it because we sense an injustice out there.
I just don't, I mean, I was reading that this Anna Anders, I don't even like saying that fake name, that he smashed the women's record by more than 200 pounds.
And I don't know a lot.
Sorry, go ahead.
Sorry, I have to correct you on that because people, when you read powerlifting, that's in kilograms.
So he actually smashed it by close to 500 pounds.
So you take 210 kilos, times that by 2.2.
That's over 400 pounds.
That's incredible.
And like, I mean, I don't know a lot about powerlifting, but I know a little bit about, you know, the 100-yard dash or whatever.
And it takes years just to shave off a tenth of a second.
Like, it's so competitive.
And there's so many people training so hard.
Just like there's no such thing.
It would be like someone lopping off an entire second in a short dash or reducing a marathon by a full hour.
That just doesn't happen unless some sort of external element comes in, like he's not actually a woman.
And it makes every achievement by real women powerlifters meaningless.
It's just, it's not even sport.
And how can that record even, quote, stand?
Like, it's just so absurd.
It would be like that funny scene in Seinfeld where Kramer, the grown-up, does Taekwondo against all the little kids and he wins.
Let me show that clip again because it's so funny.
Yes, Sansen.
Fighting stance.
I mean seriously, I mean I suppose technically he won, but no one would call that sport.
No one would call that fun for anyone.
And only a loser like Kramer would think that's sport.
Is this guy being celebrated?
Like you say, some people didn't even know he was a man, and others were sort of confused or didn't notice.
Is he being celebrated as like woman of the year or something?
No, no, quite the opposite.
I mean, you have a few people that, you know, do believe that trans women are women, and that's fine.
They're entitled to opinion.
I don't agree with that, and doctors and scientists would not agree with that.
But no, he's definitely not being celebrated.
I actually have heard that all the board members on my federation don't agree with Anne lifting.
So, I mean, and I have numerous people, like I'd say 90% of the federation do not agree with him lifting.
So, I mean, like go back to what you said earlier about, you know, just crushing things.
Like, he's he's taking away records that people that have been powerlifting for 10 years haven't even reached a 573 pound deadlift.
That's that's crazy.
That's the second highest unofficial, like almost a world record.
Like, it's crazy.
And someone's training in powerlifting should never just be like this on the incline.
Keep going, keep going, keep going.
It has to plateau.
It dips.
Like me, I've had great meets.
I've also plateaued.
I have, you know, not just continuously keep going up like he has been, right?
So, I mean, there's people like Bonnica Brown and Jessica Bittner that have been working at getting that 573 deadlift for 10 years, and they're not even, they're not close yet to it.
So, you know, I always say that it's an anomaly.
It's a quirk when you have one transgender athlete and two real women on the podium.
And it always looks sort of sad and like a theft.
But really, how long until you have first, second, and third all being trans athletes?
I mean, it would be a very self-selected group of losers who realize they can't compete against the men and they just want some really fake forced applause.
But what happens when on the podium, first, second, and third are all trans men?
I mean, frankly, maybe you'll beat this guy's record because maybe you'll get the strongest male bodybuilder, sorry, powerlifter coming in just for the day.
When The Sport Is Dead00:05:38
Just say, well, I'll take that away from you.
But when all three places on the podium are men who are transgender, I think that's when the sport's dead.
Like, why would anyone like you train and compete and spend time and money and literally years of dedication, hopes, and dreams?
Why would you do it if some thief comes in and takes it with a giant asterisk next to their name that we're not supposed to look at?
Well, no, that's the thing.
Like the records that Ann took on Sunday, so Ann just turned 40.
So he just took all the master's records, like just blew them out of the park and took unofficial records.
So that record I will never get now.
That was something I was working towards.
Like I think at the time was 512 pounds.
Well, now he surpassed it, went up to 573.
No woman, no biological woman will beat that.
Those records, he actually owns all the records in Alberta, province of Alberta, and all the national records.
So, I mean, it does.
It sets you up.
Like, who wants to compete?
I don't want to give my money to a federation or let alone train my butt off just to knowingly know I'm going to lose walking into it.
Like, what fun is that?
It's a competitive sport.
It is not competitive when there's biological males competing against females.
It's not sport either.
I mean, I don't know if you saw that incredible video that our friend David Menzies took the other day of a guy, not even trying, by the way, not even trying to look like transgender, playing women's rugby.
And the added element there is he was literally injuring women.
I think he injured three women in one game.
Here's just a quick scene of Ash playing as a girl against girls.
Here's a flashback of that.
Hey, Mr. Davis, Ash, why are you doing this?
I'm David Menzies, Rebel News.
No, you're not really a part of this.
We're having a team chat now.
Okay, I'm just trying to ask some questions, Randy.
But this is not the appropriate time for you.
Why are you allowing a biological male to compete against female players?
I'm not going to have a conversation with you.
Well, I'll talk to Ash then.
Ash, do you take joy in injuring female rugby players?
Are you lacking the skills to play with male players where you should be?
You're a biological male, aren't you?
I got you.
I got you.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Ash, are you a misogynist?
Hey, watch it.
Well, I tell you, April, I'm so glad you're speaking out.
And I'm even more glad that your message is finally being heard by the big guys.
And you're right.
I remember when you were on Tucker, that was incredible.
Pierce Morgan, all that is left is Joe Rogan.
And I'm actually sort of optimistic when you think about it because Joe Rogan is someone who thinks about health and weightlifting and exercise and eating.
Like he really is a health-conscious guy.
It's really top of mind for him all the time.
And he's also a guy who's inherently fair-minded.
And I think that you've got a real chance of being on his podcast.
And the reason I'm excited by that is because your story is so compelling and you speak without fear.
So many women are either A, brainwashed that this is good.
I have to say this is good.
Or B, they're not brainwashed.
They're just terrified of being called racist, sexist, whatever they're called for this these days.
So I wish you good luck.
Keep in touch.
Congratulations on Pierce Morgan.
And I hope that you help turn back the tide and bring women's sport back to women.
I just, I hope you are successful and we're rooting for you.
All right.
Thank you so much, Ezra.
It really means a lot to me you having me on your show again.
I mean, it's been a huge contributor to, you know, to having my voice be heard.
And like I said, if I just want to end off on one thing, please, women and men, speak up because it was the best thing I ever did.
I wouldn't be where I am now and with all this attention on the matter if I'd never spoken up and I just stayed silent.
So please use your voice, women, girls, men, everyone.
Right on.
Well, you're certainly courageous.
And thank you for that.
April Hutchison, we'll talk to you again, I'm sure.
Stay with us.
More ahead.
Hey, welcome back to your letters to me.
MS9HK says our culture is insane.
Not rhetoric, simply the truth.
Having served on three juries in Portland, I would have smiled and led the jury to a guilty verdict.
Well, says you.
But, you know, you can't force people to convict someone just through sheer willpower.
And the reason I say that is because it was clear that the jury in Portland was being threatened.
We're talking about Andy No and the fact that despite the clear closed-circuit TV footage and basically the confessions of Antifa, his case was dismissed.
CJ says, I fear for Alexa's safety when she covers things like this.
Canada has fallen if the cops aren't protecting her.
And we have Juggie, Gilbo, Baggins, and Trudeau's mistress parading here.
I'm all for doing what you want and expressing yourself, but this is totally pathetic.
Yeah, it made me nervous.
I mean, listen, I understand that Alexa went to this event thinking it's just going to be a pride thing.
It's completely peaceful.
There's going to be a lot of police.
Georgia's Secret Meetings00:05:14
I mean, it wouldn't dawn on me to bring private security either, but I think they hate rebel news.
Not that rebel news has ever done anything to them other than given them fair coverage, but I think they believe in censorship in general and they believe in violence as the solution to all problems.
And it makes me nervous because these people have no compunction about hitting a woman.
Lady D3187 says, I applaud Pierre for not wasting taxpayers' money on a special holiday to Switzerland for MPs.
The carbon footprint of these worthless trips is enormous.
The liberals don't have to badmouth Pierre as they're bought and paid for MSN.
We'll do that for them.
When you are beholden to a narcissist hypocrite, you will do anything to curry favor.
Yeah, you know what?
I remember when I was in Davos in January, I bumped into a Republican governor from Georgia.
And I asked him, I said, what are you doing in a place like this?
It's not very conservative.
It's not very free speechy.
And here, let me just play you a little clip of that.
This is me and Governor Kemp from Georgia in Davos, Switzerland.
Remember this?
Governor, really quickly, what do you say to your critics who think this is a globalist event?
We're walking, sorry.
No, we're good, we're walking, I apologize.
How come you're blocking the governor from answering to his constituents?
What would you say to your critics who think this is not the right place for America First Republicans?
I think my story is pretty clear.
Governor?
Well, but here you are with a bunch of globalists.
Alex Soros is here.
Why are you coming to a Soros event?
I'm sure you have a good explanation.
Sir, we're not doing interviews right now.
If you'd like to do something, you can call our team at the office and be glad to try to.
Well, we can walk and talk for a couple minutes.
Is this a rebuke to the America First Wing of your party?
There's a lot of censors here, a lot of big tech censors here.
Do you criticize that?
Have you talked to any of the globalists or censors and let them know your First Amendment point of view?
Do you have a First Amendment point of view?
Have you had any undisclosed meetings?
I know that there are private bilateral meetings going on.
Are there any that you've had that you haven't declared?
Like I told you earlier, you can reach out to my office about my calendar.
We're glad to share that with you.
Well, why wouldn't you tell me right now since we're walking and talking?
Well, it's a good time to do an interview.
Have you met with Alex Soros?
here.
Do you agree with the energy transition plans of the World Economic Forum, Governor?
They believe in getting off fossil fuels.
Do you share that vision?
They talk about an energy transition.
Do you support that, sir?
We're walking up to BlackRock's Pavilion.
Have you had any meetings with BlackRock?
How come you're not talking to folks?
Is that why you came here, to sort of get away from the scrutiny of the American media?
When you're in the legislature, there's all sorts of checks and balances on you.
There's the opposition, there's the media.
But here it's sort of a secret conclave, isn't it?
Given the price of inflation, meat, eggs, milk, things like that in Georgia, how does it feel going to a five-star luxury event in the Swiss Alps?
Does it feel wrong for the times?
This really is a luxury event.
Don't you think that sort of tone, it's the wrong tone for how it is in Georgia these days?
Now, that should have been an easy question to answer.
I don't know very much about Georgia at all, but if I was a governor, I would have said something like, look, my job in part is to bring investment into Georgia to create jobs.
And a lot of the world's wealthiest people are here.
You're darn straight.
I'm going to use this gathering of VVIPs to pitch Georgia as a best place to invest.
Go Georgia.
You know, he could have said something like that, and people would say, oh, yeah, okay, that fits.
But being all weird and secretive about it didn't make any sense.
My point is there could be some good reasons to go to the World Economic Forum.
But really, I haven't really seen that in action.
There's better ways and better places to do it.
And really what bothers me about the World Economic Forum is what's done in secret by people who do not have democratic legitimacy.
It really is what the conspiracy theorists allege.
It is secret meetings by unelected, unaccountable people who so clearly have designs to change the world.
And when they co-opt, when they co-opt politicians in secret meetings where they don't disclose their lobbying, I think that's a terrible risk.