The Daily Signal - Empower Parents, Punish Criminals: Jason Miyares' Commonsense Approach as Virginia Attorney General

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

Three months into his tenure as Virginia’s attorney general, Jason Miyares is delivering on his promises to promote parental rights and punish violent criminals. Those issues animated voters last November and they’re now front and center for the state’s top law enforcement officer. Miyares is part of a trio of Republicans who sent shockwaves through Richmond, unseating a two-term Democrat attorney general—the first to beat an incumbent for the job since 1885. Just days after taking office, Miyares found himself defending Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order empowering parents to decide if their kids should be masked in school. He hasn’t slowed down since. Miyares joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss parental rights, rogue prosecutors, and his family’s escape from Communist Cuba. Read the lightly edited transcript at DailySignal.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, April 25th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Doug Blair. On today's show, Rob Blewey talks with Virginia Attorney General Jason Mierrez from the Heritage Foundation's annual leadership conference. Also on today's show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a World War II veteran who is receiving some much-needed support from his local community. But before we get to today's show, we want to tell you about the most reliable source for global economic data. the 2022 Heritage Index of Economic Freedom. The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom ranks nearly every nation in the world,

according to its level of economic freedom. Whether for personal or professional research, the index is a well of information. And this year's Index provides so much unique insight on more than 170 countries across the world. Visit heritage.org slash index to explore the 2022 Index of Economic Freedom, which features interactive maps, country rankings, graphs of data, and much, much more. Now stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast by Attorney General, Jason Miara, of Virginia. Jason, congratulations on what you've accomplished in the first three months.

You have been busy nonstop since inauguration day in mid-January. You know, so much of what was compelling, I think, Virginia voters, Senator on Education and parental rights. And that's been a priority of yours. Share with our listeners some of the actions that you've taken early in your tenure. Well, you know, our election, if there is anything that kind of encapsulated what happened in Virginia was obviously after the infamous debate where McCauv said, hey, I don't think parents should have a say in their children's education. And within 48 hours, Governor Yonkin's campaign, Glenn's campaign, had signs that just said parents matter. and that kind of really summarized that carried us through the campaign into elective office.

And so aggressively standing up for that mindset of parents matter really started from day one when the governor signed his executive order on the mask mandates. And it was simply this really radical, you know, in air quotes idea, which is parents know what's best for the children. If you're a parent, you want your child to be masked for eight hours a day, go ahead. If you're a parent and you know what's best for your child, you know they have asthma, they have either a health condition, they just know it's affecting their mental health. Boy, you get to make that decision.

And it is amazing what we've seen in Virginia where things that when the governor signed these executive orders and then he gave them to our office, the Attorney General's office to defend them, well, at the time when we do it, the media decries is somehow radical when just two or three weeks later, a Democratic governor doesn't lift the mass mandates, then it's crickets, right? And so what we've seen is we're now entering, you know, the third year of this pandemic. And people generally have the attitude of let's treat people like adults. Let's empower parents. And then it also says what happened in our school, the curriculum and what we're seeing in our schools.

I can think of no time that you've seen in recent history where in polling where traditionally Democrats have been, who do you trust more in education, the Democrats have always had that edge. You don't agree with it, but that's just what the polling has shown. And now you're seeing Republicans and conservatives have that edge. And it's because parents have such a sense that these school boards and so many of these elected officials and so many of the school administrators aren't listening to parents. So empower parents, listen to parents. Parents matter. They know what's best for the child.

Let's give them the tools to do what they need to do. You really led the way. And as you've talked about, the governor really charged you with defending his executive order. Right. Let me tell you, as a parent of two kids who are in public school in Virginia, I'm grateful for what you were able to do. Also, as a resident of Fairfax County, you have made a case there really a centerpiece to combat this notion of critical race theory and diversity and some of the woke ideas that the left is trying to foist on our public schools. Talk to our listeners about what's going on specifically in Fairfax County with Thomas Jefferson High School. Well, for your listeners, Thomas Jefferson High School is a magnet school.

for science and technology, they've had this really radical and air quotes idea, which is if you are smart enough and good enough and you have the background, you can get on the Thomas Jefferson High School based on merit. Your grades are there, your scores are there, you can be able to go to Thomas Jefferson High School. Well, it is a majority minority high school traditionally. The majority of the students that attend Thomas Jefferson have been Asian. Well, the school board in Fairfax decided that even though your minority, a majority high school, it's not the right minorities.

And so we've seen communication that has since come out. They designed a policy for the number one goal of reducing the number of Asian students. So tragically, what has happened is you have state-sanctioned bigotry. You know, the oldest form of bigotry is anti-Semitism, but the only state-sanctioned form of bigotry in America today is anti-Asian bigotry. And as one parent shared with me, she said, you know, my daughter's had straight A's her entire life since the first grade. She's done everything right.

She has gone the extra mile, studied on weekends for every test you can imagine. And I'm realizing that she's going to be denied her dream to go to Thomas Jefferson High School, not because of anything she's done, but because of who she is, because she's Korean-American. And so we've seen, since they change this more equitable policy, a 20-point drop in enrollment of Asian-American students at Thomas Jefferson High School. That is heartbreaking. No child in America should be denied their dream of what they want to achieve just because of who they are. And so, you know, I filed against state sanction bigotry, but somehow me doing this was considered a form of bigotry, which I find quite interesting. But, you know, you had some brave parents in Fairfax County, the coalition for Thomas Sheriffs in high school.

And just parents that wanted something simple is just treat our kids the same. Equal protection in the law. Let him apply. Let him achieve their job. dreams and they have received such abuse online. They've been belittled. They've been mocked. And I'm so proud of those parents and I'm proud to stand with those parents. If you want their kids to be treated like every other child, let's judge them based on merit, not put them in subgroups. That's what America should be about. That's what I want America to be about.

Proud to stand with them. Well, as big of an issue as education has been for you, there are some other things you're working on. I want to make sure we cover those as well, one of which is crime. We've seen a spike in crime across this country. We've also seen George Soros funding, we call it the Heritage Foundation, rogue prosecutors, and you have some of those in Virginia. Talk about the efforts that you're taking as Attorney General to make sure that Virginians are safe in their homes and communities. Well, what you've had is you've had a lot of over $30 million has been spent by these far-left special interest groups to elect these local district attorneys. Most areas are called district attorneys in Virginia. They're called Commonwealth's attorneys, but they're local elected prosecutors, and they've realized I don't have to change the governor's mansion or control of your state house to change the law.

I can elect these far-left criminal-first, victim-last prosecutors that will simply decide not to enforce the law. And so you've had in major cities in San Francisco and in New York City, you've had it in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia where prosecutors says entire category. of sections of the criminal code, we're just not going to enforce. Well, not shocking. When you essentially legalize larceny by not prosecuting larceny felonies, what are you going to see more of? Larsony crimes and other crimes. And it's so amazing when people try to claim that this is in the name of social justice. It's not social justice. It's warped justice. Because criminal justice reformed without criminal justice is not criminal justice. And it certainly isn't justice for the victims of violence. crime. And so what you have seen is you've seen a murder rate skyrocket in Fairfax and all these

other localities. And so we have really pushed for changes allow us to go after a lot of these these violent criminals. We have to change the code in Virginia. I've actually decided to be the honorary chair of a new group called Protecting Americans Action Fund that's going to actually provide some support for these common sense prosecutors that really they just want to enforce the law. And so that's a lot of it. A lot of it is we're having a mass exited of law enforcement. And the one thing that governor and I have really been big on is making sure law enforcement

understand they're appreciated, their value, to obviously push for a big pay increase for them. But, you know, right now you talk to law enforcement, they don't feel like anybody has their back. They don't feel like the media has their back. They don't feel like these local Farlock prosecutors have their back. And so one thing we've been messaging, I've been going around Virginia is talking to them is like, we have your back. You know, for me to go to work in the morning, I put on a coat and tie. They go to work in the morning and put on a bulletproof vest.

It's a job unlike any other. And so we are pushing aggressively back on this. Crime is up. Obviously, we're dealing with the opioid crisis as well. And so having a criminal last victim first mindset, that's one of the first steps we're doing in Virginia. You brought up the opioid crisis. I know that that's an issue that it does not get the attention that it really deserves from the national media, even state media. State media.

So, we brought up the opioid crisis. So what is the situation in Virginia, and what are some of the steps that we can take to get to solutions? Well, I'll tell you this. We are in the midst of unlike anything we've ever seen as a nation on this issue. We've lost 105,000 Americans to overdoses from opioids and fentanyl. To put things in perspective for your listeners, that is the equivalent of the way of the way of the fluval. of two Vietnam wars in 12 months. We lost about 50,000 men over 15 years of fighting in Vietnam. We're losing twice of that in 12 months. And if you don't think elections matter and leadership matters and you see what's happening on our border, it was already tragic. We were losing

about 50 some thousand, about every 18 months. It's doubled for every 12 and it's all because of what's happened on our border. And so our office is actively, aggressively talking to other Attorney General's about what we're going to be able to do in our capacity on the border. Not quite ready to announce it yet. We'll be coming soon. But what has happened right now in the fact that the Biden administration is thinking about lifting Title 42, that would essentially, that was been a mechanism in place to try to control some of the influx. It's already a disaster.

What's happening in our border, it's going to be even more disaster. And it's not just defending on the opioids. It's the human trafficking. These cartels, they know what's going on. I talked to a Homeland Security agent and says the cartels knows what's happening. They see that our meager forces that we have on the border being drawn to try to deal with a humanitarian crisis. And as a result, they are flooding over the border of this fentanyl. The fentanyl, the size of what's my fingernail, it could kill everybody in a ballroom here, hundreds of people.

It is, it is, it's just lethal. And so it needs to be treated like, almost like a WMD. It's that lethal. Talk to one state police officer said, we're having to send Narcan out with our dogs, our sniffing dogs. That's how potent this is. It's flooding our areas. It's incredibly potent.

And we're doing everything we can to push back. But it begins with harsh sentencing for drug dealers and getting them off the street. When you turn your criminal justice system into a catch and release program, you get these dealers back on the street. They're dealing more of this poison to our kids. And we're seeing more and more funerals and more loved ones. one's lost. It's tragic, and it really goes back to making ensuring we're tough on these dealers and get them off the streets

and also go after these cartels. Jason, we're talking about some pretty heavy issues here. We're also in a situation in our country where, you know, so many people think we're headed down the wrong track with President Biden in the White House and some of the policies he's pursuing, whether it be on the border or lack of enforcement thereup. You have the opportunity to travel Virginia and talk to people from from high school age to other constituents, what is your message to them? Obviously, you want to present an optimistic vision for the future, but why should we be optimistic

at a time when I think so many people are concerned about where we're headed? I think one of the main things we've forgotten as Americans in some ways is we've forgotten that we are indeed this last best hope on earth. I mean, I'm proudly wearing my Abraham Lincoln socks here. Your listeners can't see it, but Lincoln called us the last best hope on earth. And if you think about it when he said those words, we were only 80 years young as a country. We're in the midst of a horrific civil war. But Lincoln's genius is he knew what we could become as a country.

And so that last best hope means we've given more second chances to more people than any country ever. We have been that beacon on a hill for so many people. And so sometimes we forget it. What we've become in so far in this country, we have a lot of people that have created a crisis of confidence. It begins in our education system. We don't teach American exceptionalism anymore. That's the one thing that is astonishing for me when I talk to high school students is they don't ever hear it. And I had a young person that challenged me on this recently when I was visiting a school and I said, and your listeners can do this. I said,

listen, if you don't believe we're unique, go on YouTube and type in the Summer Olympics, Tokyo, the most recent Summer Olympics, and watch the opening ceremony, the parade of nation. 1,19 countries walk in. There's only one country that when that country walks in, it looks like everyone. It looks like every color, every creed, every faith. That is what's amazing about this country. And that we have been that light of freedom for so many people. And young people, we could talk about where we have fallen far short.

And we've had some dark chapters in our nation's history. We should teach it. But goodness gracious, we should also teach that we have gotten it right. right a heck of a lot more than we've gotten it wrong as a country. And you could just look at how we are so different. And it's an amazing thing. I'm a little biased, obviously, since my mother fled Cuba with nothing, you know, as a homeless teenager. And so I tell people all the time, gratitude is one of the most underrated of human traits.

In gratitude is one of the ugliest. Gratitude is one of the most underrated. I've always had such gratitude the fact that I could breathe the air as a free American. And so it's a unique country. Those are the type of messages. And people are drawn to it. When they hear it, they instinctively realize, you know what, we are different. We are unique.

We are worth fighting for. And it's been a joy to be able to talk to more and more Virginians who feel that way. And you have a remarkable group in Richmond, the governor and lieutenant governor, Oh, it's been awesome. But I couldn't let you go here as we wrap up. To share a little bit more about your own personal story, you mentioned your mother and fleeing Cuba. but for our listeners who might not be familiar with your own personal family situation, what was it like growing up and why do you value America as much as you do?

Well, one of my earliest memories, I remember being in my kitchen and my mother asking me to teach her the Pledge of Allegiance. And I remember thinking as a child, why would I teach her the pledge? How does she not know it? And she had to learn it for her U.S. citizenship. And that's when I finally realized. And then I saw her become a U.S. citizen at age six. and then shortly thereafter she took me with her to go see Ronald Reagan cast her first vote as a free person for Ronald Reagan. And that was an amazing moment for me.

And being raised in that household, it gave me such appreciation that the way we live our life is fundamentally different the way most other people live their life. That we're not looking over our shoulder and fear. That nobody's going to take you away in the middle of the night. because you've worshipped God in a manner the government disagrees with or you've spoken out for human rights or free elections. And so as Americans, we take that for granted. The fact is most people don't live their life like that.

And so once you realize that, you realize we're unique. A freedom of religion is unique and precious and is a miracle. Freedom of speech is unique and precious and is a miracle. Freedom of press is unique and special and is a miracle. Most of human history, people haven't had that. We do. So let's make sure we preserve it. Jason, thank you so much for sharing your hopeful vision for America and Virginia.

Great to have you on the show. Thank you. Thank you. The Heritage Foundation has a new website to combat critical race theory. CRT, as it's known, makes race the centerpiece of all aspects of American life. It categorizes individuals into groups of oppressors and victims. The idea is infiltrating everything from our politics and education to the workplace and even our military. Heritage has pulled together the resources that you need to identify CRT in your community and the ways to fight it.

We also have a legislation tracker so you can see what's happening in your state. Visit heritage.org slash CRT to learn more. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites right here on the show. Virginia, who's up first? In response to Jarrett Stetman's commentary, Biden fuels soaring inflation and media does its part to gaslight us about it, Don Choice writes your article spotlighting the Biden inflation and the media's capitulation to all things Biden and Democrat Party is spot on as usual. With the price of fuel, food shortages, and are national security at risk, you would need to be in a complete state of denial to reality to accept what is happening.

It's sad you can't rely on most of the media to be truthful anymore. And in response to John Carlo Canaparo and Frank Yang's commentary, California wants to regulate your bacon. Mark A. Schmidt of Marietta, Georgia, writes, it's always amazing to me when the state needs to act like a nanny on issues like this. Let the consumers make their choice at the grocery store between regular and humane bacon. They want to pay more for the humane bacon. They can. Your letter could be featured on next week's show. So go ahead and send us an email at Letters at DailySignal.com. conservative women, conservative feminists. It's true. We do exist. I'm Virginia Allen, and every Thursday morning on problematic women, Lauren Evans and I sort through the news to bring you stories that are a particular interest to conservative leaning or problematic women. That is women whose views and opinions are often excluded or mocked by those on the so-called feminist left. We talk about everything from pop culture to politics and politics.

Plus, we bring you an exclusive interview with a problematic lawmaker or conservative activists every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Search for problematic women wherever you get your podcasts. And we are also problematic on social media. So be sure to follow us on Instagram. Our Daily Signal intern, Maggie, is back with us today to share a little bit of good news this Monday. Maggie, what do you have for us? Thanks, Virginia.

neighbors are rallying around a World War II veteran who lost his home in shipbottom, New Jersey last month. Paul Roberts, a 94-year-old Marines veteran, lost almost everything to a fire, but he managed to escape the house by crawling out of the back door. Now, neighbors have started a go-fund me, already raising over $157,000 to help Paul rebuild his home so that he can be back to his favorite place on Earth. Rich Obermaier, a retired firefighter who lives across the street from Paul, said it has been inspiring to see how many donors have come forward. Rich's 21-year-old daughter, Aaron, got to know Paul during the pandemic.

Paul is living in an apartment nearby, but he hopes to be able to afford rebuilding his home soon. Paul has faced many struggles in his life, from his time in the Marines, to getting COVID last year, to struggling to pay his taxes with his pension. Yet, in the midst of losing everything in the fire, Paul makes the choice to remain optimistic. He said, well, I wake up every morning. I can either be happy or not. I might as well decide to be happy. Maggie, thank you so much for sharing that.

I think that's such a healthy perspective for all of us to have in life of actually making that choice of no. Today I'm going to choose. I'm going to choose joy. I love that. It's very healthy. And Maggie, thank you for all of the good news stories that you have brought us over the past weeks and months.

This is actually the last time you're going to be joining us as a Daily Signal intern here on the podcast. We have really enjoyed having you. and all of the work that you have done. You've written so many articles, and of course, you've joined us here. What for you has maybe been a highlight of your internship over these past several months? I've really just learned so much here from being on a podcast the first time and from just being able to report on so many topics

and having all of these experts within the building that I can go and talk to you to actually make sure I'm really grounding that reporting with all of this expertise and policy and research. And I really enjoyed getting to go. two different rallies and the March for Life in D.C. to go kind of do more on the streets reporting. And I went to DW and got to go interview students there. So I really like the balance of like in the office and going outside and meeting with people and interviewing them. Yeah. Oh, I love that. It's fun to kind of get that real hands-on experience. And you're going to be

getting even more of that for our listeners. Maggie is going back to school at Hillsdale as a senior and she's going to be the editor-in-chief of the paper there at Hillsdale, which is really an honor. That's a really significant paper in the town and a large paper in the town. So congratulations to you. And thank you again for all of the work that you have done here. Thank you so much, Virginia. Well, we are going to leave it there for today. You can find the Daily Signal podcast on the Rurkishay Audio Network. All of our shows can be found at dailysingle.com slash podcasts. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your podcast listening app of choice. And if you like what you hear, please be sure to leave us their review and a five-star

rating. It really means, a lot to us and helps us keep spreading the word to more and more listeners. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at DailySignal and Facebook.com slash the DailySignal News. We hope you all have a great week. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. The executive producers are Rob Blewey and Kay Trinko. Producers are Virginia, Alan, and Doug Blair. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. For more information, please visit DailySignal.com. on.