The Eric Metaxas Show - Kathy Ireland

Episode Date: August 5, 2021

Kathy Ireland, supermodel and super businesswoman, has ventured into the world of music with the production of a new album; plus, it's time once again for ASK METAXAS!

Taxis show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Hey there, folks. Every week around this time, at exactly this time, we do a little segment we like to call Ask Metaxis. I'm Metaxis. You are. You ask the questions and the questions are going to be read by Albin. Okay.

Okay. Go. Go. Oh, boy. How are you so handsome? Question number one. You know, I get that question a lot. The answer is makeup.

If you could see me without the makeup. I mean, honestly, I got to hand it to Laura, she's here. What she does, it's so magical. If you could see me, I mean, the pockmarks alone are hideous. And it just, I just want to say thank you, Laura. You're amazing. It's not just pancake. It's also the syrup and the butter.

Oh, it's the whole nine yards, the boisenberry whipped cream, sometimes nuts. And it's, you know what, if I fooled a few people, it's worth it's a lumberjack breakfast on your face and now serious name one of your most famous socrates in the city interviews oh there's so many okay um i interviewed dick cavett on what is the price of fame he's kind of an expert on fame celebrity uh and this was the first interview i did with him i interviewed him again and then he interviewed me but the first one was about fame uh and it was I really, to this day, I can't believe he allowed me to do that and he participated. He's, by the way, brilliant.

He's so brilliant. So that's, you know, off the top of my head, Dick Cabot. Socratesinthecity.com to see that. Okay, here's another one. What advice would you give to young moms or families trying to raise children in today's world? Okay, I've got to be serious on this one because my joke answer would be, ah, blow it off, don't do it. But the serious answer, this is very serious.

I've been hanging out with Sam Sorbo. Don't tell my wife. Sam Sorbo, you should follow her. She is a huge advocate of homeschooling. And I have become convinced having not homeschooled our daughter and watching people's lives. Hom schooling is not as difficult as people think. And I think by far that is the most simple, important thing that I could tell you. Look into that. And if you need resources, check out Sam Sorbo. That's great. Okay. Number four, when are you moving to Texas? Well, you know, I don't need to move to Texas. I can just visit Texas. First of all, my folks, my mom and dad live in Connecticut where I grew up. And, you know, if I moved to Texas, I couldn't visit them like I'm going to do this weekend or whatever. You know, I want to see my folks. I love them.

And so I'm not going to move Texas, but I can visit Texas. And I do visit Texas, especially when people invite me. But I got to tell you, John Zmirich has offered me that I could stay with him. He says, I've got a futon. And the Beagles will, like, John's. jump on you in the middle of the night, but other than that, it's there. And how could you turn that down? You can't. Okay. If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Well, first of all, I prefer living because dinner with a dead person, it's not, all right,

listen, we'll put that to the side. Oscar Wild, that's my answer. Joseph Pierce wrote a spectacular biography of Oscar Wilde, effectively proving that Oscar Wilde was very serious about his Christian faith despite his many dramatic moral shortcomings. Joseph Pierce wrote that book about Oscar Wilde. That and Oscar Wilde's writings themselves make me think, I'd like to have dinner with him. Very good. Okay. Question number six.

How do we encourage our pastors who know what's going on to speak up? I gave a talk in Greenville, South Carolina at the Poinset Club where I spoke about this. I think that's online. I've spoken about this a lot in a lot of the sermons and talks I've been giving recently. So probably you might point them to one of those because I don't know what to say beyond what I've already said at some length. But I think it's important that the lay people, by the way, you are the church. You tell your leaders, we need you to address this. Our kids, our families.

We need to hear from you on this. And we want to see the kind of courage that we see in Bonhofer and other heroes of the faith. That's what it is to be a Christian, is to live out your faith. And if you don't live out your faith, and if it doesn't cost you something, what do you got? You don't really have much faith. I know I've said that many times, but this is, we're getting a chance to live that out, and we need our leaders to live that out. And by the way, if your leaders aren't doing that and they refuse to listen to you,

you know, I would think maybe finding a different church wouldn't be a bad idea. You've got to think about that. Yeah, we were born for a time such as this. So let's get to it. Question number seven, how can I order all your books without going to Amazon? Oh, this is what's called a softball question in show business. I think, you know, I've said this often, my store.com, which is related to my pillow.com, almost all of my books are there because I didn't want to provide a place for people to go. You can go to Socrates in the city.com. You can order most of my books at Socrates in the city.com. But my store.com, if you use the code Eric, some of them are really tremendously priced. I'll leave it at that. Okay.

And don't forget CBD. How can we forget Christian book distributors? Don't forget them. A lot of a lot of places. Good, good. What is the best way to get involved in the pro-life movement? Well, Suzanne, my wife of nearly a quarter century, for 12 years ran a pregnancy center, whatever they call them now, women's centers. But the point is a crisis pregnancy center is how I always think of it. They're all around the country. If you care about women, volunteer at one. of those places. Lots of people do that and it's a beautiful thing. You can also write a check to crisis pregnancy centers around the country. They need your help. They're doing God's work.

They don't make money. They need our money to do what they do. Planned Parenthood, which kills children, they make money and they have an incentive to make money. These pregnancy centers are doing God's work. And again, they're the ones that are actually helping women. And if you really care about women, you need to get them some real choices. That's what pregnancy centers do. So check out your local pregnancy centers. Tell your churches to support them, things like that. Okay, great.

Here's a light one. Will the New York Jets be worth watching this season? Okay. And here's a serious answer. Have the New York Jets ever been worth watching since maybe 1969? I think once you get past Super Bowl 3, I'm not interested. I'm out. Okay.

Okay. I used to watch the Steelers, but when they became the kneelers, I said, I'm not. Well, actually, that's the, I didn't want to go there. But the point is that all these major sports, they have basically taken a knee, which is disgraceful. So you know what? I am totally not interested in watching major league baseball or any of that stuff until they repent. And I'm not kidding. I joke with my brother-in-law one season.

He said, look, it says stop racism in the end zone. I said, yeah, but the other's end zone says stop abortion. That's a joke. Okay, how was the New York Let Us Worship event? How was it? With Sean Foyt? Yes. I think the coolest thing that happened is that I learned how to pronounce Foyt.

It's F-E-U-C-H-T. So in German it would be like Foyt, but he pronounces it Foyt. It was fantastic. What can I tell you? Anything Sean Foyt does is fantastic. I was so impressed, I mean, truly amazed at what he does at these events. And I'm going to warn you now, September 11th of this year, I'm going to be on the mall in D.C. with Sean Foyt for a Let Us Worship event, a very special

9-11 tribute 20th anniversary of 9-11, if you can believe it. So mark your calendar and go to let usworship.com. Great. In 2021, that's this year. What insights have you learned that have been particularly inspiring? That you have to live your best. life now. Let's just leave that alone. Let's go to the next one. Pass. Okay.

What is your favorite color? Pass. It used to be orange. I went through an orange period. Kind of like Picasso went through a blue period. I went through an orange period, a season, as it were. But now, I don't know, I think blue, I think when you stare at the beautiful blue sky on a particularly beautiful day, it is, it almost proves God.

You think who invented that color? Who chose that color for the sky? That would be God. Blue. Very good. Somebody asked the next question here is about the, why do you only wear blue blazers? Can we jump to that one? Oh, yeah. Well, because they're traditional and because they don't draw attention to themselves. They're the most humble of all blazers. And you being a humble man. I'm right, a humble guy. I don't want to draw attention to myself. That's why I named the show, the Eric Metaxis show. Of course. Because I don't want people to think about me. I want them to think about the show. We're out of time.

Lucky you. Hey there, folks. How many years have I been telling you about relief factor? What, like four? The truth is, I know there are millions of people. In fact, some say over 100 million people struggling with some kind of pain, maybe from exercise, just getting older. That could do it, getting older, which is why I am so impressed with Pete and Seth Talbot. They are on a mission. You rarely see this kind of focus and commitment. Seriously, they recently shared with me that they are doubling down and want to literally double their total number of happy customers in the next year. And I believe they'll do it. So here's the deal. If you're struggling with back, neck, shoulder, hip, or knee pain, even general muscle, aches and pains, then I'm suggesting you order their three-week quick start, still discounted to only 1995, about a dollar a day to see if we can get you out of pain too. And then after that, less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day to stay at a pain. Go to relieffactor.com, relieffactor.com, or call 800, 500, 8384. Relieffactor.com. 800, 500, 8384. I use it.

It works. check it out. Hey there, folks. Welcome to the Eric Metaxis show. I have a wonderful joy right now to talk to my friend Kathy Ireland. Kathy, welcome to this program. Well, thank you, Eric. It is an honor to be with you.

Thank you. You're very kind, sister. Now, I want to talk to you about everything, but in case people don't know, and there are lots of young people who don't know that not so long ago, you were a supermoder. on every magazine. I mean, you had an amazing career. I don't know. How many times you were on Sports Illustrated?

Like, I don't know. Like, you probably know that number. Can you share that with the group? Oh, my God. You're very kind, Derek. It was in the last century. And I worked with that publication for 13 years. Was on the cover three times.

That career went on a lot longer than I anticipated the entire time I was trying and failing at businesses. It took me a long time. Now you're an amazing businesswoman, and thank you for pointing out that is in the last century, because people are thinking, wow, you know, that woman has really lost her looks. She could never have been a model. It's obvious, right, Kathy? You are so pretty that you're very shy and humble about it.

But honestly, you had an amazing career as one of the top models in the world. That's how you came to prominence. You're a woman of faith, and now you have a huge business. How do you even describe it? You know, Kathy Ireland worldwide. That kind of says it right there. But you're into so many things. Let's talk about that for a minute because I'm fascinated with this.

Oh, well, thank you, Eric. I'm so grateful. I work with an incredible team. Our core members, we've been together over 30 years. We've got our millennials and our Gen Zs. But as far as how we would describe it, we've been compared to a mini conglomerate. Berkshire Hathaway on a much, much, much, much smaller valuation. Warren Buffett is someone, he and I frequently will compete in newspaper tossing competitions.

We both had paper routes as kids for the opening of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meetings. And so we started with a single pair of socks when I was a pregnant aging model at my kitchen table. And now our company encompasses everything from lighting to, furniture, fashion, entertainment, publishing, children's. It's FinTech. It's a great group. We love what we do. And we get to work with amazing people and serve incredible people.

Really great. I want to talk to you about, and not this second, but when I come to it, you've just launched a record label. You're doing a lot of many, many interesting things. And a lot of people just don't know that side of you. They just think of you as a supermodel who's doing other stuff now. But you make it sound like you were always interested in business, even while you were modeling, in the middle of modeling.

Oh, my goodness. I mean, my first job, I was four years old. I sold painted rocks from my wagon. Modeling was a detour. It ended up being a great education, not the plan. But as far as the music, we have the privilege of working with great people. In our company, EE1 is the entertainment arm of our company. an amazing young producer, Nick Mendoza, working very closely with Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis Jr., produced Blackbird, the Lennon McCartney icons.

Billy and Marilyn, they are, they're incredible people of faith. People don't know. Actually, I didn't know that. So, I mean, I remember them principally as the fifth dimension. Amazing voices, amazing talents. But they're people of Christian faith. I didn't really know that. That's always good to hear.

They are solid people of faith. They do so much work beneath the radar. Had the privilege of being in Mississippi with them after Hurricane Katrina. They have their own Christian worship band, and they're always reaching out to others. But incredible people. And we're working with BMG, and they're amazing. just fantastic people and we're so proud of them

their music debuted at number one on iTunes for R&B and also Alpha Data they're doing great and their music can be found on Apple and also a lot of people get their music digitally but with Billy and Maryland the art is so iconic

people are purchasing that it's going so well and Target Walmart I learned a no I just love the fact that a lot of people are getting to know this other side of you. I should mention also you're obviously a wife and a mother. I met your kids in Santa Barbara a few years ago. I don't remember what that was.

That was for the Christian school that you're affiliated with? Yeah, we are so grateful to you. Yes, you came and spoke at Providence twice, an amazing Christian school in our community. And also network medical at pregnancy clinic for women, which is comprehensive and amazing and so we we our community loves you well uh it's hard not to love santa barbara gorgeous place and uh your kids were were wonderful predictably uh and i i guess um i want to uh i'm trying to think at one of those events i sang frank sinatra or something like that were you at that event this is before i knew you were launching a record label i want you to know it wasn't planned

kathy okay you know i think you were auditioning eric And, you know, I think there's hope for you. And, you know, let's see. I think God obviously set that up. It's very obvious that he set that up. No pressure. I want to talk to you about you. Both you and I have been involved with I Am Second.

They make these beautiful videos. People should go there, I Am Second.com, where they ask people to talk about their faith journey. They're very short videos. Your story of coming to faith, I mean, again, a lot of people don't know. know this about you and it's really beautiful. So tell us a little bit of that. And if we don't have enough time, we'll just go into the next segment because this is, it's just important people know where you're coming from. Oh, well, thank you, Eric. And I would start by saying the one who is forgiven much, loves much. I love a lot. A lot. I grew up with no faith at all. Really

nothing. And when I was 18, I was traveling on my own, started that modeling career. It was a hard time. It was a lonely time. I was staying in an apartment of people. I wasn't close to. My room was at the end of this really long hallway. And later, I found out girls called that, oh, you're staying in the dungeon.

And one night, late at night out of jet lag and boredom, I realized my mom had packed a Bible in my suitcase. My mom had just become Christian from a woman at nursing school. never read a Bible in my life didn't know how to read it I was a rebellious teenager questioning who really knows what's right I open up to the gospel of Matthew and as I opened up and began to read I knew that what I was holding in my hands was the truth and there was no one in that room with me telling me you know be this denomination or that denomination it was just I love Jesus I want to follow him and he became my Lord and Savior and best friend. That relationship gave me the courage to walk away from situations that were not right. It gave me in that situation where I was, it gave me the opportunity to rebel against unhealthy situations.

Like, no, I'm not going to your party. However, a regret that I, you know, I do have regrets. And one of my regrets is that I remained a baby Christian for so long. The very thing that led me to the Lord was His Word. And as I continued to read, there were verses I love that I'd cling to. There were others that I just thought, oh, that's a typo or that's a translation thing or, you know, certainly doesn't pertain to me. So I was cherry picking. I was picking and choosing what I like, dismissing the rest.

And we know the first four words out of Satan's mouth did God really say. And that's been such a journey. And I just, I love the Lord. I am so grateful that he's been so patient with me and that he commands us to love one another, no matter our differences, whatever those differences may be, whether we disagree with somebody, he commands us to love. And he's been so faithful to me. And I am so eternally grateful to his patience.

I was 44 years old before I, my heart was so convicted that I read the the Bible entirely. And I wept being bittersweet. I mean, just so overjoyed at his truth and recognizing like, oh my goodness, what have I been doing? And a verse

that is so close to my heart, it's Joel 225, I will restore the years, the locust have eaten. Yes, he was writing to the Israelites. There's also something for us in there as well. Isn't that an amazing verse? I mean, that one, I remember that too,

Because sometimes that's the worst thing. You think, okay, I'm a Christian today, today, today, today. But what about all the stuff that I did? Okay, he forgives me. But it's just so hard to think about the waste of the years and the time and the energy and the talent. And that scripture that he, I always remember it says, I will restore what the locusts and the palmer worm. None of us knows what a palmer worm is, but we don't care. We know they're bad.

They eat good stuff. And God says he's going to restore it. And it really, that is so beautiful. We're going to go to a break. Folks, I'm talking to Kathy Ireland. It's the Eric Mitraxas show. We'll be right back. Folks, welcome back.

It's the Ericman Taxis show. This is a show. I'm the host. I'm Eric. I'm talking to Kathy Ireland. Kathy, what you were sharing about your mother packing a Bible in because I know we have a really dear friend who is a young model and it is a tough life. It's awful in so many ways.

We think of it as glamorous, but it can be not just. brutally hard work, but it can be abusive and difficult in so many ways. So the fact that your mother packed a Bible, did you know, had she tried to share her faith with you before this? I mean, she's sending her daughter off into the wide world. Had she done that, or was this just something that she decided to just pack the Bible? She shared it. It was very early in her journey. So it was new to her. And she was quiet. Yet, I I really noticed a transformation in my mom that I loved this, this quiet strength. And it was so attractive.

And I really appreciated that. And I know that that drew me to really want to read this too. Well, it is amazing also the power of the Bible. I mean, here you are. You're 18 years old. You don't know anything about the Bible. But you open it up. And somehow God manages to speak to you.

I mean, for a lot of people, the Bible can be really opaque. if you don't have somebody explaining things to you. But when you're alone, somehow you can pick things out because you're sort of desperate in a way. You're looking for something and there's a lot of something in it. But you said, I mean, I think a lot of people remain baby Christians for a long time. Like they believe, but I think I had those periods in my life earlier. And it is interesting, though, that at some point you kind of turn a corner. Or was it when you were 34, you said you read the Bible?

In other words, what was it? Or was there anything that suddenly made you think I need to take this more seriously? I was 44. I was at a woman's retreat. I had every excuse in the world not to go. And it was during a quiet time, nothing monumental, a worship time. My heart was convicted. And I just felt the word press upon my heart.

You say, I'm your first priority. But I'm not. And my response was, you know, Lord, you know what my life is right now. I had three young kids, my husband, business, all of it. I'm so stretched. And what I got from him was put me first. I will give you better time with your kids. I will expand your time.

I'll give you more time with them. And he is so faithful. And what began as setting the alarm clock 15 minutes early became just the biggest joy of my life. And something that frightens me, Eric, is when I see people, and I understand because I was there, taking the Bible out of context and excusing every evil behavior from replacement theology, which I believe is instrumental in anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry that is global. And it's interesting when we think about the people. We had centuries of church history where the Bible was spiritualized. And when people in the 17 and 1800 started reading their Bibles literally, that's when we had the first abolitionists. That's when we had the Zionists who fought for Israel.

And I love your book, Bonhofer, really demonstrating how important it is when somebody understands the word of God. you cannot take it out of con the enemy wants to twist it and take it out of context and so that's why it's so important that we're all able to give an account for the hope that is within us i i i just love that so you said this was when you were 44 yes so that's like it's like eight months ago i give or take give a take no you just you look you're one there's nothing wrong with aging but you really look remarkably similar it's just so interesting some people do and some people don't but But you started so young, Kathy. It's just astonishing to me as a father of a young woman right now.

The idea that you'd be thrown into that world, how did you get into that? In other words, what happened to you? Because, I mean, you're obviously beautiful. You're tall. That's sort of what they're looking for. But, you know, there are a lot of tall, beautiful women who don't get into that world. So how did that happen for you? You know, it's a look of a moment.

And it's constantly changing. So I never felt very secure in that. But how it happened, I was a tomboy. And there was a local modeling school that opened in our town. I was 16. My parents had saved up their money. They're like, we never, you know, really did lessons for you, but maybe this will help. And so they taught you how to walk and match your clothes.

I was a disaster. I was a beach rat. My hair was fried. My nose was peeling. One big eyebrow. And the look of the moment was changing. It was just changing. And a scout came to class one day and asked if I'd like to go to New York.

And everyone was as stunned as I was. And they said they would advance me the money. If I didn't like it, I could go home. And I figured, you know what, this is an opportunity to save money for college or to start a business. Unbelievable. And you were how old at the time? By the time I went off to New York, I was 17, and it was an eye-opening experience. I met some incredible people who I'm still close with today, and I met a lot of predators.

You know, people back then in the 80s called them Playboys. They were predators and so many lessons learned. And it really had an impact on our business today, as well as the fact that, My dad worked in labor relations, and he worked with Cesar Chavez putting outhouses in the farmlands in Camarillo and Oxnard. And so how people are treated has always been at the forefront of my mind in recognizing, seeing human trafficking and recognizing that that was happening back then. Kathy, hang on just a second. We're going to go to a break. I really want to hear this.

So when we come back, folks, Kathy Ireland will continue along these lines. Is the Airman Tax the Show don't go away. Hey there, gang. This is the Eric Metaxis show, and I'm talking to Kathy Ireland. Kathy, you're just sharing some stuff that's really important. You oversee what is now really a huge business. A lot of people are involved. And you talk about caring about how people are treated and how your father had worked in labor relations with Cesar Chavez and that kind of thing. And you're saying that when you went to New York, 16, 17, I mean, it's astonishing to me as a father of a young woman that a,

a beautiful young woman would go off into that world. And as you said, there were people that were, they were straight up predators. And they were allowed generally to get away with it. But you were in that world. You saw that. So that must affect just how you raise your kids and how you see life. Right. And it was, it was covered.

It was glossed over. So it wasn't so overt. But my goodness, the things that were happening, It led me to understand and to be alert and aware. And recently wrote a book with Rachel Van Dyken. She's a New York Times bestselling author. It's a novel. It's called Fashion Jungle.

It's fiction, but it's based on stories that my roommates and I experienced during that time. And I'm telling you that the prayers of my mom really got me through. And she came with me the first few days to make sure I was okay. And it seemed okay, and I survived it, but my eyes were opened. And we know that human trafficking, it is the fastest growing illegal business on earth. I mean, unlike drugs, human beings can be sold over and over. And frequently, when human beings are no longer profitable in the sex slave trade, they're sold into forced labor. So when we started with that very first pair of socks, one of the first things we did was a surprise factory inspection,

because people can, they can clean up if they know you're coming. And our company has the toughest human rights policies that I'm aware of. I'm always asking people, if you have something better, share it with us. We always need to grow and do better. But when we look at what's going on around the world from the Uyghurs in China, the genocides, the atrocities, we've got to open our eyes to this and be alert and aware and not be deceived. I'm so glad you mentioned that. I talk about this a lot lately that it's unconscionable to me that businesses, they could do business in America.

And yet they would work with China and not really seem to care or turn a blind eye towards some of the most monstrous things imaginable. Forced labor, the subjugation of ethnic minorities. And I think don't we have a responsibility? I mean, I believe in the free market. but the free market doesn't work unless you have a virtuous and moral populace, just like democracy and the Constitution doesn't work. People have to care about virtue. And I'm just fascinated that some huge companies, I'll never mention their names,

but Nike, for example, these companies seem not to be putting this at the forefront. And you would think that if a company puts that stuff at the forefront, people want to reward them. So I just want to thank you for bringing that up because this really is right now a gigantic problem. The idea that there are people in actual slave labor, we as Americans who are free should do everything possible and at least require companies that we give our money to to have strong human rights policies, which many don't. And as Christians, we must recognize that the throne of God is made up of every tongue tribe and nation. And God loves all. He seeks all to come to him. And when there is suffering, when there's persecution for anyone, we of all people are the ones who need to stand up and say, no, that's not okay. Well, I'm just glad that you're living your faith in your business. And that's, you know, that's something we can all do. We can live out our faith in our lives wherever we are. And especially when you have influence over a company or something like that.

And so I'm just so glad you brought that up because I really do worry that sometimes people, they look at the bottom line and they turn a blind eye towards stuff that we can't. I mean, if you were being trafficked or you were working in slave labor or you knew someone who did, you would want more than anything to the people who are benefiting from that to look into that, to do something about that. If people want to find you online or your company, where can they look? Any of our social media platforms, they can find me, Twitter, they can go to Kathyireland.com. Love to connect with people. And I'm so, people are so kind. I mean, I get the bullies. That's okay.

No problems there. But people are really kind in giving great guidance. If something's not working for them, they let me know. They're really honest about it. They'll give input ideas. I really appreciate that. Well, that is so cool. I'm really excited about Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. doing this album. So what is this album? Because I did read about this. So it's Blackbird. It's Lenin McCartney icons. And this is Maryland. I mean, recognizing Marilyn and Billy, they were the first African-American couple to move into their neighborhood in Beverly Hills at the time when they did. And shortly after.

after they moved there, there was an eight-foot cross burned on their lawn. Excuse me. In Beverly Hills? Like in the 60s? Yeah. And I mean, they endured. So in our lifetime, the things that have endured. And so what I find so encouraging about this, I think the biggest antidote, what we live in such divisive times.

And the biggest antidote to hate is love. And that's what Marilyn and Billy are doing with this music. And it's beautiful. It's meaningful. Their voices are better than ever. I mean, they just, it's incredible. So this is, is this Lenin McCartney songs that they're singing the covers? Is that what you mean?

Yes. Yes. And it's, I mean, Blackbird, beautiful. Marilyn takes lead in that. Silly love songs. I'm just all of it full on the hill. They're powerful, meaningful. And there's beautiful art attached with the music that people can find.

And I'm so proud of it. So you might not want to get it digitally. You might want to actually buy the thing. What is the thing? A CD, an album, like whatever it is. Well, Kathy Ireland, it's wonderful to know you and to sort of share a little bit more about you and your life with my audience, say hey to your mom and your family who might have been privileged to meet.

And I hope to see you in person sometime soon. Thank you so much. God bless you. That old wheel is going to roll around once more when it does. It will even up the score. Don't be weak. As they sow, they will reap. Turn the other cheek and don't get you.

Larry, just a couple of minutes left with you. You and I are colleagues on Salem Radio. We're both doing a fundraiser for Food for the Poor. Before I remind people to give to your campaign, which I hope they will, tell us a little bit about food for the poor because, honestly, this is a huge thing that we do every few months. What is your experience with them? Well, they're a great organization.

The money gets down to the intended beneficiary in percentages far higher than the average charity. I've gone down to Guatemala with Food for the Poor. I've actually seen Angel Aloma, the longtime executive director in action. It's a great organization. We've raised millions of dollars through Salem for food for the poor. They primarily assist countries like Haiti and like Guatemala. Haiti is the poorest country, as you know, in the Western Hemisphere. The average Haitian lives on less than a dollar a day.

And so we've been saving lives. We've been making people not only saving lives and giving people food, we're also been helping them become far more self-sufficient, helping the farmers become far more effective to grow more things. And so it's an organization that I really, really, really love. So if you can throw something in the tip jar for food for the poor, that would be absolutely great. Well, I just should tell people, go to my website, the radio website, metaxis talk.com, and you'll see the banner there.

And if you have anything left over, you want to go to electelder.com. Larry, I'm serious. If you're not elected governor of California, it's lights out. It's game over. Caitlin Jenner and John Cox, whatever, they're not you. I would say anybody but Gavin Newsom, but honestly, I know you, when you said you're throwing the hat in the ring, this is a very big deal. People need to get behind you.

So I'm sure anybody who can go to electelder.com or folks, tell your friends online to give anything, give a few bucks, because this is for everything. I don't think there is a state in the union that is on the edge of the country. cliff the way California is, Larry. I mean, it's a sign of health that people have decided to recall Gavin Newsom. Is it not? That's pretty dramatic. I think so. It's a state that has supermajorities in the lower chamber, the assembly, and a supermajority of Democrats in the upper chamber, the Senate. If this man can get toppled, it gives hope for all the other states around the country. That something can be done about crime, about homelessness, about the outrageous

cost of living, and about the way this man completely ignored science, and slapped down this state in a way more severe than any of the other governors while ignoring the very mandates himself. People are had it. They're fed up. And I think it sends a message around the country. Gavin Newsom did say something I agreed with. He said, if I get toppled, it'll be a message to the Democratic Party.

Let's send that message to the Democratic Party that we've had it. Electelder.com. Well, but isn't it true, though? I mean, I think that things had to get this bad for a state, even like California, to say, this is no longer working. It's kind of funny for a while. People always joke about California, but we're at a point now where people's lives are being destroyed, businesses are being destroyed. Obviously, tons of people are leaving the state of California.

It's going to be in free fall, and they're going to be looking to the federal government to bail them out. I think that apart from you leading that state, I don't see that it's going to end well. You know, and our energy and water infrastructure has not been significantly added to since the 1970s when the state population was 50% what it is. is. That's why we're having water shortages and rolling brownouts. And we ought not be having that in a state that's right next to the Pacific Ocean. With all these brainiacs in Silicon Valley, we should be able to innovate ourselves out of any problem that we're having. And I want to restore that kind of hope and optimism to California. Well, Larry, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for stepping up. Our country needs folks like you to step up,

sacrificeally to do what is right. Our best days are ahead. But folks, you've got to get behind folks like Larry Elder. Go to electelder.com. Larry, my friend, God bless you. Thank you so much. God bless, Eric. Thank you very much for having me.

I appreciate it.