I'm vivek ramaswamy, and this is an open discussion about some of the biggest issues facing americans. We were supposed to have a red wave in 2022, but that never came. They blamed trump. They blamed abortion. But the real reason is that we got lazy. We railed against the democrats, but without offering an alternative vision of our own. And i'm worried we're going to be in for a rude surprise this november unless we fix that starting right now. Think about it. Criticizing joe biden for his cognitive deficits over the last two years ended up backfiring. His cognitive deficits weren't a bug for the people who controlled him. They were a feature, and eventually they used it as their basis to swap him out. He was never really the functioning president of the united states anyway. He was a puppet for the people who controlled him. And you know what? the same thing goes for kamala harris today. She's just another cog in the system. We're not up against a candidate here. We're up against a machine. We're not going to win this by obsessing over the other side's shenanigans. We're going to win this by answering who we are and what we actually stand for. What does it mean to be a republican in the year 2024? what does it mean to be an american in the year 2024? it means we believe in the ideals of 1776. It means we believe in merit that you get ahead in this country, not in the color of your skin, but on the content of your character and your contributions. It means we believe in free speech and open debate, that you get to speak your mind freely as long as i get to in return. It means we believe in the rule of law. And i say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country. That means your first act of entering this country cannot break the law. It means we believe in selfgovernance, that the people who we elect to run the government ought to be the ones who actually run the government, not unelected bureaucrats in the deep state. It means we believe in the individual, family, nation and god that beats race, gender, sexuality and climate. If we have the courage to actually stand for it. But here's the dirty little secret that you won't hear from the media. It's not just republicans who share those ideals. Most americans actually do. I traveled this country as a presidential candidate last year, and if i learned one thing, it's that we're not really as divide as the media would have you believe. It turns out that 80% of us in this country share the same values in common. But here's the thing. They're afraid to talk about it in the open. You want to know the best measure of the health of american democracy? it's this. It's not the number of green pieces of paper in your bank account. It isn't even the number of ballots we cast every november. The best measure of the health of our democracy is the percentage of people who feel free to say what they actually think in public. And right now, we're doing as poorly as i can remember. In my lifetime. There's a new culture of fear in our country that spread like an epidemic across america. Fear of losing your job. Fear of your kids getting a bad grade in school. Fear of becoming an outcast in your own community for saying the wrong thing. And that culture of fear has completely replaced our culture of free speech in america. The only way we're going to fix it is by all of us. Not just me, not just donald trump, but all of us starting to speak the truth in the open again. Say in public what you will say in private at the dinner table. That's what my new book, truths the future of america first is all about. And that's exactly what we're about to do here. I invited my personal friends with a diverse range of views to join us for dinner. You're not going to agree with everything they say. And you know what? neither do i. Some of them are old friends from places like harvard and yale. Not exactly bastions of conservatism in america. We brought together a russian immigrant, a jewish rabbi, a former aclu leaning democrat, and a former biden administration official. At the same dinner table. To have the conversations that we're not having in america today. So let's speak without fear and see what happens. That's how we're going to save our country. I am looking forward to this dinner. This is a dinner amongst old friends and new. I wanted to kick the discussion off with a reflection on american national identity. This is on my mind coming out of the republican convention. But i think it's worth talking about because we do hear this. Our diversity is our strength. Certainly the motto that i grew up in as well. But so much so that we actually forgot the common core of things that actually do unite us. And it seems like it's a particularly challenging basis to have a national identity built around civic ideals as it exists in the united states today. But bound together by a commitment to ideals like free speech. A commitment to ideals like the government shouldn't be able to tell you what to do or how to live your life. Merit the pursuit of excellence, the rule of law and or are we wired by human nature to need something more primal? is it harder for everybody, or is it harder just for people who were born here and have been here for a long time? because it seems like immigrant communities still deeply believe in the american ideal, or are still really excited about it. I think that plays into the assimilation of america, the second or third generation american that has assimilated into americanism, that has lost their roots, rooted identity, that goes back hundreds of years or thousands of years, like some of the people at this table who will carry traditions here. As a jew, my deepest roots and my soul are my jewish roots. So there's nothing that doesn't start first with a very strong nuclear base of who we are, where we are. And the i think is exactly what you're saying, the first and second generations, coming from these strong ethnic or racial or religious homes are strong. The rhetoric and the and the arguments and the, the political, the political discourse that has just been terrible, you know, moving away from core issues and talking about things, just fighting and arguing. The constant badgering of the other side is hurting america. I think america's unique sense of national identity. Why am i a proud sixth generation american freedom? the first amendment, freedom of press, maybe less government. Free markets, capitalism. It's almost an identity of a nonnative entity, which gives us the american dream, which is that we can live together with people that are very different, like us, with equal rights. And we shouldn't apologize for that in america. I've been hearing this idea of america as an idea or america as a proposition. Nation kind of gained a lot of traction lately. Make a resurgence. And, you know, i guess what that means, essentially, is that it's a nation that is founded not on like a core ethnicity or a core culture, but a common creed. That or an ethos that everyone can or anyone can opt into if they're willing and able. And that, you know, sounds like a nice idea to me. It's in theory, it's very flattering for most of us, if not all of us at the table. My answer to that is, i don't know if the america is an idea. Camp is necessarily right, but if they are, america is an idea that's founded on a very specific set or system of values, norms, customs, the is basically white anglosaxon, protestant in nature. And i'm talking about things like individualism, freedom, tolerance, like all merit. Fair play is a big one that's big for me. That gets lost a lot. Honor as a personal commitment versus as a kind of social mechanism, which you see in a lot of like eastern and middle eastern countries and that sort of thing. What about that honor? that's fascinating to me. I mean, i think like, i'll click on that. I think the anglo concept of honor is motivated from within, from within the individual. It dovetails with the idea of like individualism and freedom. And i think in most other cultures, honor is something that's much more socially determined. That depends on, saving face or being a member of your community. It's much more collectivist in nature. Isn't the whole idea of america is that we can accommodate both concepts. Yeah. I mean, we we can come over here and we can have honor. We can have community within our particular ethnic cultures, but we also have this larger thing that we all agree to abide by, and we're proud of that. Yeah, it's it's sort of what, like what john murray cuddihy called the civil religion, right, that he talks about in the american civil war. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it should go without saying that most of the immigrants who come to this country do so because they're trying to take advantage of they want to enjoy these values, norms and customs, whether or not they end up at them. Yes. And i think it should also, go without saying that when you profoundly alter the nation's demography through immigration, both legal and illegal, those ideals will there there will be a point of critical mass where those ideals do come under threat one way or another. And i think how we reconcile that is really the question for the future. And the fact is like this diversity, which is, you know, a strength. I think people miss the point of that statement because when they say diversity is strength, i think the strength does lie specifically in our difference, not in our commonality very often. But you have to, you know, accommodate everybody. And i think there's going to be, a lot of growing pains awaiting us. More of this discussion after the break. America is at a crisis point. For too long, the politicians, the media and special interests have put themselves before the country. They've divided us against ourselves. Now we're faced with the choice. We can allow america to decline, or we can take our country back. America stands for truth. So pull up a seat, because every revolution starts with an honest conversation. Truth with vivek ramaswamy only on fox nation i promise not to talk too much. ♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing nonmedicated vicks vapors. Easy to apply for the whole family. Vicks vapostick. And try new vaposhower max for steamy vicks vapors. Introducing the second chance offer from betmgm. What'd he say? if you bet on a player to score the first touchdown and instead he scores the second? boom! you get your money back in cash. Straight cash? second chance, you heard? what if my guy fumbles, and some other guy scores first? second chance. What if you need a second chance to land on the field? this offer only applies to touchdowns. You alright? i hurt my spleen! get the second chance offer from betmgm. The sportsbook born in vegas. Introducing a revolution in pain relief. Absorbine junior pro, the strongest numbing pain relief available. It's the only solution with two max strength anesthetics for fast penetrating relief absorbine junior pro. Nothing numbs pain more. Welcome back to truths and open conversation. Let's get right back into it. I actually do believe the united states of america is still founded on a set of ideals. But if those ideals don't exist, then the question is, what is the country? and so, you know, we each come at this from different perspectives. I mean, if you actually worked in the biden administration, which i think is interesting. I mean, you don't we don't usually i run for president as a republican. You work for president biden. Yeah. So i have worked on the, on the democratic side. And i think that there are a lot of people who really care about about this country on both sides. I do think that, too often we're siloed into teams, though, and we're not able to get together like we're doing now and have a dinner table, you know, conversation with people who may not have the same perspectives as we do. Yeah. I think, that there's been a dramatic shift. I mean, i grew up kind of a traditional aclu, left leaning democrat. But within that group, i didn't know anybody who wasn't passionate about the first amendment, for instance. Right. I mean, that was a kind of a defining characteristic of, a democrat in the 80s, 90s and early 2000. But the national idea, the sort of set of ideals that are laid out in the constitution, which democrats once felt really good about, they were proud of them. Those are secondary to larger political considerations for people in the trump era. What do you think is one of our main learnings as we think about this question of who are we? national identity. What does that what does that say about where we are today? i think there are people who, after donald trump got elected for for them, suddenly the issue of government interference in the speech landscape once upon a time, we had confidence in the public and and audiences to make the right decisions. If there are wellinformed now, people believe that the voting public can't be left to their own devices, that they have to be manipulated and managed. Therefore, we can tolerate a certain amount of censorship. That's the only thing i can conclude. I have no, thesis other than, trump derangement syndrome. But you're right that it feels like a lot of people suddenly flipped overnight and became like, partizans or loyalists and abandoned their commitments to certain american ideals like free speech and civil liberties. When you talk about nationalism, a nation is a sum of its parts and to be to to talk about nationalism, i think we have to talk about individualism. And i and i mean it in the not proverbial, but in the general sense of what is our identity as individuals. You know, nations are composed of people that get together, to unite. Young people today have lost somewhat a sense of identity. And i know in, in the world of identity politics, that means one thing. And i think today that the debate resolved would be america has morally decayed. So a nation is as strong as the individuals are strong, and and the individuals bring their convictions, their morality, their sense of identity, their religion, their nuclear family, their principles to the table. And so nationalism needs to go back to a nation of of people. We the people. Right? i pledge allegiance to the flag, the flag which which unites us as a country and a muslim, a russian, a sixth generation proudly american, jew, irish, an irish, hindu, in the second generation indian american. This is the beauty of america and getting together as individuals, not shunning or closet or putting away our differences, but expressing those differences. And that's why america is the great is the great american. Up next, what is the identity of america today? is it changing more of this discussion after the break? america is at a crisis point. For too long, the politicians, the media and special interests have put themselves before the country. They've divided us against ourselves. Now we're faced with the choice. We can allow america to decline or we can take our country back. America stands for truth. So pull up a seat, because every revolution starts with an honest conversation. Truth with vivek ramaswamy only on fox nation i promise not to talk too much. 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A manhunt underway in birmingham, alabama the mass shooting late saturday night the gunfire erected at the nightlife district is multiple shooters open fire on a group of people leaving for get and 17 others hurt, the culprits are believed to have approached the scene in the vehicle before getting out and opening fire, no suspects have been arrested at this time. It is that time of year again world leaders are arriving in new york city for the annual united nations general assembly meeting this week their facing array of complex and cr crises across a fragmented world, members will have much to discuss and protest expected throughout the week, security measures are being ramped up, new york city leadership plan accordingly with multiple road closures in midtown manhattan planned. I'm ashley strohmier acted truths with vivek ramaswamy our message to every legal immigrant in this country is this. You're like my parents. You deserve the opportunity to secure a better life for your children in america. But our message to illegal immigrants is also this. We will return you to your country of origin. Not because you are bad people, but because you broke the law and the united states of america was founded on the rule of law. There are definitely two different views at the table, and it would be a shame not to have both represented, especially as it relates to the american right. This might be the debate, actually, that defines the future direction of the conservative movement. Is this question about immigration and identity. One thing i would start with, you know, you mentioned this whole our identity is not as a non identity. And we have to start there. People for whom the american idea is working, has lost the most appeal seems to be that group like the sort of elite american culture they seem to be out of touch, with. They're not excited about the american idea anymore. They need something more. They're missing whatever. That's strong, religious or ethnic background is. And so they're finding it in politics, which is why our politics is so aggressive. Now. There's so much fighting. Politics is the new religion. Politics is the new religion, which is it was never meant to be in this country. Right? i don't i don't believe that. Anyway, i think it was totally secondary to cultural aspirations, where we're supposed to be dealt with privately, i think in this country. But there are still people for whom the american idea is an amazing and exciting. I think immigrants believe that. I think people who have lived here, for a long time and and still believe in america, there are pockets of people like that, especially on the right. But i think you have to start with the where america is crumbling is and it's upper class culture. And that ethic is in crisis. But if you are an immigrant, which i think particularly makes your view a little bit, one that would be counterintuitive for someone to predict that you have. And i think it's interesting. I think it's very easy to talk about illegal immigration because everybody, including its supporters, agrees the system as it's going currently is not working. It obviously brings more poverty and crime and misery. Nobody disagrees with this. The only thing that people disagree on is whether to expedite the amnesty of, you know, socalled refugees or to, you know, as the right likes to say, deport them all. And but it's much harder to talk about legal immigration and how much of it we should have, because, especially when you're talking about populations that are like, law abiding, taxpaying, hardworking, high achieving, like, you don't want to tell those people to pack up and go home. Speaking for myself as an immigrant, i can't like be coping and hypocritical and, say that no, we have to turn all these people away. And also, i'm not in the power to do so. I think what unites us across all ethnicities as americans is much greater than what divides us. And i think one of the reasons is so true, though. Yeah, i do think that's true. And i think one of the reasons why we're having so many of these debates and so much confusion, particularly with americans who may have been here for, you know, dozens and dozens of of generations is because we've lost our knowledge of history. Right? and, malcolm x said something like, he said something like a people without history is like a tree without roots. It's dead. Right. So national identity is dead when we don't, when we don't know about our origins, when we don't know about our history. And, that's actually what really appealed to me about your campaign is when you said this is a 1776 moment. Right. It's like that to me. Yeah. And it really actually brought me back to my childhood days when i would like, you know, read every book i could get my hands on, on, the american revolution. You know, that was actually what, you know, inspired me to go to harvard since i was, like, five years old is because of a chapter book i read on american revolutionary hero, actually. And i think for many americans, our history is something we learn, like back in elementary school, maybe. And then we forget it. And then we're just kind of, exposed to all of our divisions as we go through life, right? and we forget what actually binds us together. And for that, you know, that's in our that's american national identity. And i think that's also why legal immigrants, you know, to some points that the both of you were making earlier, that's why so many legal immigrants are, so patriotic to this country is because, you know, a lot of people who, promote illegal immigration, forget how difficult legal immigration is. So my parents, for example, they had to show they were, proficient in, in english. They had, which i think make sense. Yeah. And they had to. Exactly. And they had to have a knowledge of american history. Right. I mean, you mentioned the civics exam earlier. They also had to show that they would contribute to america. And, you know, they have to go through a process. And that's something that a lot of people who, support illegal immigration don't understand. And i think that's one of the reasons why, legal immigrants don't have so much of a, national identity crisis is because they come here with a knowledge of, you know, what america is about american history, what our actual ideals are. But i think the left wins by teaching young people to hate the country on the grounds that, like the founding fathers were, you know, white patriarchal oppressors, which was just simply not true. So i think that that history deserves to be taught and deserves to be celebrated by, you know, people from all walks of life, all races and creeds and so on. No, i sound really corny and silly, but you know what i mean? like, i think that that history has to have its proper place in its proper respect, and that's the only way. And another direction works. Exactly. And another, another reason why knowledge of history is so important is because for people who really do try to try to say, okay, are american. Our founding was really based on a white identity. And so therefore you can identify it. If you look at american history, well, first of all, people, a lot of people didn't tend to identify based on a, on a color they would identify based on their actual ethnic, origin. And if you look at even the definition of white, over time in america, it expanded as different waves of immigrants came. But i think that's a mistake because again, that's that's starting to look at, you know, all of these ethnic divisions that divide us and forgetting, like those principles that really unite us all as, as americans. Right. Like we can celebrate, our differences. Like, we can have differences, but we're all american. At the end of the day, we're all here, and we all, support, the same rules of laws. We all have the same set of principles in the constitution, and we should all support that no matter what our ethnic differences are. Well, you don't get a more diverse dinner table in america than that. Men and women, muslims and jews, democrats and republicans. But the irony is that we all agreed on one thing. We've celebrated our diversity and our differences so much that we forgot all of the ways we are really the same as americans, bound by that common set of ideals that set our whole country into motion 250 years ago. And the question for us to confront today is this do we really believe those ideals still exist in america? i actually do not in some fake politician way, but in a true way. If we have the spine to actually revive them. Fear has been infects us in our country. But you know what? courage can be contagious too. It just requires more of us to actually stand up and show it. That's what won us the american revolution, and that's what's going to win us the revolution of 2024. Coming up after the break, we shift gears a little bit. A heated debate on the russia ukraine war and the conflict in the middle east. Stay right here. We'll be right back. Life is full of moments, from first steps, ( ♪ ) to first loves, ( ♪ ) moments that make life special. Life can also bring us difficult and disruptive moments like a cancer diagnosis. Which is why the groundbreaking work of stand up to cancer is so vital. They know the problem of cancer won't be solved by one doctor, one lab, or one hospital. That's why stand up to cancer brings together top minds from different fields to find new and better treatments so patients can thrive. So when it matters. . . ( ♪ ). . . We can all show up for moments of a lifetime. ( ♪ ) please join stand up to cancer and myrtle beach to help families get back to where they belong, making new memories for years to come. Please go to standuptocancer. Org to see how you can join the mission. ( ♪ ) sndfx: train horn (woman:) i guess you're really goin' off to school. Mom i'm going to miss you. Listen, ahh. . . Who am i gonna to go fishin' with now huh? dad, i never really did like fishing. I just. . . (train horn blows) wanted to be together? yeah. Me too. Sndfx: (train wheels on rails) ♪ i will remember you ♪ ♪ will you remember me ♪ ♪ don't let your life ♪ i love you. ♪ pass you by ♪ sndfx: (train horn blows) ♪weep not for the memories♪ (daughter) i love you too dad. ♪weep not for the memories♪ welcome back to truths. Under the ramaswamy. I'm an america first conservative, and i won't apologize for that. But what exactly does that term mean? here's what i think it means. First, it means the people we elect to run the government are the ones who actually run the government. Not a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in the deep state. And second, it means that those elected leaders owe their sole moral duty to the citizens of the united states of america, not any other country. But that's actually a controversial thing to say today. And that tells you a lot about where we are as a country. If we're being honest, this isn't really just a debate between republicans and democrats, but a deeper debate within each of the parties as well. Take the russia ukraine conflict. On one hand, there's no doubt that russia was the first military aggressor in the russia ukraine conflict and that russia violated its prior commitments from the 1994 budapest memorandum when it invaded ukraine two years ago. On the other hand, there's also no doubt, though, that the u. S. And nato have, over the last 30 years, violated the commitment that us secretary of state james baker made to mikhail gorbachev in the early 1990s that nato would expand not one inch past east germany. Nato was originally formed to curb soviet aggression. But the uncomfortable truth is that nato has actually expanded far more after the fall of the ussr than it ever did before. So what does that mean when it comes to u. S. Commitments to support ukraine's military today? or take the israelhamas conflict. On one hand, there is no doubt that what happened on october 7th was morally revolting and subhuman. A group of terrorist thugs violated israel's sovereignty and horrifically killed innocent civilians, including women and children. Israel has not only the right and responsibility to defend itself, but it has a moral obligation to do it to the fullest. No differently than the u. S. Did after nine over 11. But on the other hand, the hard truth is that we made our own share of mistakes in the aftermath of nine over 11, too, some of which we definitely regret today. We mounted a costly invasion and occupation of iraq, which is a more broken country today than when we first showed up. Over 20 years after 9/11, the taliban, for god's sake, is still in charge in afghanistan now, with over $80 billion of u. S. Military equipment that they previously didn't actually have. And one of the greatest mistakes we made in the aftermath of 9/11 was a bipartisan attack on civil liberties and free speech right here in the united states. Those are uncomfortable lessons that we need to remember today as we grapple with questions like how to address the senseless pro hamas protests spreading across college campuses in the united states. The answers to these questions, they're not easy. But the right answer starts with open conversation. For a conversation about russia, ukraine, israel and hamas. We have a table today that includes a u. S. Journalist who lived in russia for over a decade, a russian immigrant to the united states, a muslim american woman and a jewish rabbi. You're not going to find conversations like this anywhere else in america. So buckle up and let's go. We'll start with just because you guys have such unique experiences. A little bit of russia, ukraine, but from, from the start with the journalist who american journalist who spent 11 years in russia, you know, do you have views on what the us obligations are right now in the situation of an ongoing war in ukraine? i think they don't understand the history of ukraine. When they talk about this issue, they don't understand the language, the linguistic differences. They think there's no difference between crimea and western ukraine when there's actually a huge difference. You know, historically and culturally, the way the current ukraine came into being was sort of kind of a random process that happened during the soviet union. I mean, people just don't know that history. One thing i will say is that if you ask russians about this issue, i don't know, maybe your experience is different. They will say they felt provoked into this. Clearly, putin is the aggressor in this situation, but we can't get involved. I don't think militarily because that's that's a no win situation. It will lead to something bad and the propaganda here that he will go on to the baltics or to, you know, to some nato country. I think that's that's a major leap of logic. That's absolutely fake news. I think if you poll, russian immigrants in a in america versus russians back in russia, they will have drastically different views because the people who, live in america are generally more liberal. A lot of them are jewish. They have, more kind of a more progressive worldview or what we would call a progressive worldview. They tend to be on the side of the ukraine. But on the other hand, the, the yeah, the history of russia and ukraine is like very poorly understood in the west. And growing up, i can tell you that there was no conception of russia and ukraine as separate, like it was understood that ukraine was, you know, a slightly different culture, a slightly different ethnic group. But it was always an extension of russia in a way that, for example, the, called little russian. Yeah. In the sense that like, for example, like armenia or georgia, the, the caucasian or central asian republics were not understood. They were understood to be, different, but under the banner of the soviet union. And it, it does feel very kind of like annoying and presumptuous when western commentators, presume that this was an invasion or an attack on, a totally kind of differentiated sovereign group of people, because i think that that's not how most people back there would view it at the same time. I think the one thing that putins invasion of ukraine did was that it really fomented, ukrainian national consciousness separate from the russian national consciousness, for sure. It actually created something of. Yeah. Interesting. That's that's a fascinating perspective. We could probably spend an entire dinner on just that. Although if you had a ukrainian and i'm sure they were. Yeah, but but fomenting that, it's like a little boy. So, yeah, somebody sees that as many different perspectives, but actually even there are some it's a totally different situation. But there are deep parallels when you think about the u. S. Perspective in the world. Really, i know you have a lot of knowledge, certainly in the history of what's going on in israel. It happens. It finds itself in a historical context that began long before last year. It seems to me pretty clearly that this the current administration has, you know, absolutely failed by pandering to islamic fundamentalism. You know, october 7th was a pretty blatant 911 event. And it there should be a00 tolerance, for any negotiation with any group that identifies with anything close to the barbarism that was committed on the day, the rape and the beheading and the the murderer and the the pillage and the clear declaration by hamas, hezbollah and iran to annihilate the state of israel. There's no no country in the world today that is facing an existential threat by, active terrorist groups with the heavily armed and the backing of a country that is building a nuclear bomb to open, that openly vows the destruction of the state, iran, which backs hezbollah and hamas and openly vows to destroy the state of israel, the one independent homeland of the jewish people, the oldest nation in the world. Small little piece of land. 6 or 7 million jews, 3 or 4 million, muslims or and or and or arabs. And they vowed to destroy them. I was just thinking back to when when the russians were saying that their invasion of ukraine was going to last 24 to 48 hours. All wars are like interminably long now. I just have one more thing to say. The vast majority of americans on both sides of the spectrum don't want war. The world doesn't want to be dragged into a world war three. So i think the vast majority of americans are really going to be looking at which candidate is going to stop this endless stream of wars, focus on america, securing america and reviving our economy and preventing world war three. The big problem is that, you know, as nixon pointed out, the american jews, you know, conflict between their loyalties to israel and their loyalties to america, whereas everybody else has no problem identifying that that's the problem. There's a tendency, for example, among zionists and other supporters of israel to conflate, like antisemitism with antizionism. It's designed to like, silence the critics and shut down the conversation. But in a way, they're weirdly right, because to the extent that the us israel diplomatic relationship is historically unprecedented and so deeply enmeshed, and you can't decouple the us from israel at this point, and i have a hard time understanding how any of it serves like an america first interest. Shmuley if you don't understand why america trusts in a in a region of the world that has been historically very important to us, starting with oil, but also natural resources coming out of the middle east, a be a region of the world that has fomented a lot of problems in the world, right? 911 i can go through, you know, history, america's interests in the middle east, in israel are the america first. We protect america as americans by making sure that we in this country have a strong ally that is, the only country in a in a region of 22 or 23 countries that actually has the principles and the values that america does, which is a stable democracy, an open, free country in a region of the world that, god forbid, if it if it if it does, if we don't have it there, that region of the world could create major, major, major problems here, as it did. And 911 i think there is a sympathy for the jewish people after the holocaust. I don't believe that's the reason why america today is protecting israel knows that it needs to, to make sure that we have a satellite out there. Israel is protecting america. Coming up, a discussion on free speech in america. Where does the group stand on protests on college campuses? should hate speech be banned or tolerated? where do we draw the line? more truths right after the break. Stay right there. Switch to shopify so you can build it better, scale it faster and sell more. Much more. Take your business to the next stage when you switch to shopify. Welcome back to truths. I'm vivek ramaswamy, ladies and gentlemen. Okay. Oh, man. Today, rama swami, click on. Thank you. You see it? climate comedy and talks. Where does the right to protest end? and where does the right to law and order begin? let's jump right back into the conversation. First of all, i love the fact of this conversation because actually this doesn't happen. What you usually have is people on either side of this question, both on the left and on the right, talking to each other, who agree with each other. This doesn't happen anymore when you think about some of the most thorny issues of our day, but i want to actually bring that back to one of the aspects of our culture we've lost that we started with, which is this issue of our free speech culture that enables this conversation take place here in a way that probably couldn't in many other countries. If they were fraught in the middle of the same kind of conflict. Let's move away from the content of the foreign policy debates to actually how to deal with the issues. We'll frame it that way on college campuses where it is the right to protest end. And where does the right to law and order begin without infringing on the very right that made us american in the first place? and are you on a college campus? maybe i'll start with you. I'm as much, i think, a free speech advocate as you are a free speech absolutist. As far as i'm an absolutist. And in fact, i, kind of appreciate the some of the demonstrations that are going on on yale's campus. I see there hate and absolute hate. I think free speech is very, very important. Most of what's going on today needs to be tolerated in this country because it is what makes america great. I assume that where we crossed the line is when they get violent. When they deprive other people of their freedoms. When i see somebody burning an american flag, whether they get arrested or not is not what i'm thinking about. I'm thinking about who is that person. What what else are they capable of doing if they can burn an american flag? and to what extent are they infiltrating this country? so freedom of speech is really a bedrock of american democracy, right? and that's what differentiates us from almost every country in the world. Right? and we can't lose lose sight of that fact. I mean, there's a reason why it's, you know, up there, it's the it's the first amendment, right? so it's really important that we keep that, ethos in mind. And also remember that the first amendment was to protect speech that you don't agree with, and to have this marketplace of ideas where you have these different ideas. Death to america. The real quote, fair game. I mean, it might trouble me. It might trouble me. It does trouble me when i see images of the flag burning. And when of the culmination of this marketplace of ideas, is the school campus, right? these are the future leaders of america. If they can't have this marketplace of ideas on campuses, then we're going to lose our next generation of leaders. We're going to lose those ideals we were talking about that bind us all together. And i think that's very concerning. I think you're absolutely right. Companies also, they have the freedom of speech also. And they should be free to choose or not choose. You know whom to hire. But i think, let's let the marketplace of ideas, work that out, right? i mean, there are going to be some companies who are going to decide, we're not going to hire people who burn the flag, who have these extreme ideas or those extreme ideas. They're going to be other companies who are going to take risks, and they're going to going to discover that a greater diversity of viewpoint is going to lead to a more productive workplace, and let's let them battle it out. Experiment with ideas. Interesting, interesting framing. And i will give you the final word in the case of the, campus protesters, of course, they should be able to exercise their right within reason, within moderation. And i guess the point of protest is to be a little bit moderate. But it's very hard. It's harder to sympathize with them because their cause is a little bit more removed and nebulous. But i guess these protests are interesting not for what they say, but for what they don't say, for what they omit, which is essentially, that the university system is in crisis. What are those kids learning over there? are they still learning anything? why is it so expensive? why is there so much like administrative and bureaucratic bloat? who should be going to college versus who is going to college? all of these major, major questions that also have a huge impact on the future of america. Look, i think the beauty of this country is that we're able to have open debate of the kind that we've had here. We need more of this in the country. And if more people at home are able to just not just talk to the people they agree with all the time, but maybe once in a while actually break bread with the people you disagree with too. That's how i think we save the country. Yeah. So thank you guys. Oh, stay right there. A final message from me right after the break. 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(tony hawk) i still love to surf, snowboard, and of course, skate, so i take qunol magnesium to support my muscle and bone health. Qunol's highabsorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. Qunol. The brand i trust. We're the country where you can disagree like hell. And still get together at the dinner table at the end of it. That's what made america great the first time. And that's how we're going to make america great again. We've celebrated our diversity and our differences so much that we forgot all of the ways we are really the same as americans, bound together by that common set of ideals that set our country in motion in 1776. You know what 2024 is our 1776, in our lifetime? i'm asking you to make a sacrifice like our founding fathers did. When you're the only person in a room who believes what you do, i'm asking you to stand up and say it. Say it with a spine. Say it with conviction. Say it with respect. But part of respect is that you respect your neighbor enough to tell him what you actually think. Not some woke washed version of it. And if you do, we are going to save our country. Thank you for joining us and onward to november. We will see you next week. ♪