The Megyn Kelly Show - John Rich on Trump and Biden, The Leftward Drift of Red Cities, and His Relationship With God | Ep. 78

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

Megyn Kelly is joined by John Rich, country music singer and songwriter, to talk about his recent phone call with President Trump, whether he thinks Trump will run again, his calls with GOP members of Congress who "danced on the grave" of Trump, President Biden's policies and mental fitness, the leftward drift of traditionally red cities (and schools), his relationship with God, his song "Shuttin' Detroit Down" and his forthcoming song "I'm Offended That You're Offended," having friends across the political aisle, the rock star lifestyle, and more.Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms:Twitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShowFind out more information at:https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow

Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations. Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show. Today, John Rich, the one and only superstar, son of a preacher man. He's got a dozen number one songs. He's written over 1300 others, including for very famous people, songs you would know. He's raised millions of dollars for charities. He's on Fox News a lot. He's actually got a and the cowboy boots and the apparel. He's got it all. In fact, he gave me a guitar years ago and it was amazing because he heard me saying on the air that I was taking guitar lessons. This is back when I was anchoring with Bill Hemmer. And what shows up? A beautiful, beautiful Gibson guitar with my name in Mother of Pearl on the neck of the guitar, which I was like, oh, my God, this is the nicest thing I own.

And then, by the way, you should never take a guitar like that out in front of other people because their expectations go way up, way up too high, too high to justify. And when the saints go, I'm a work in progress still. And by the way, then there was a follow-up to that story where we were doing a story about what was the one thing you would grab out of your house if your house were on fire? And this is back, you know, I wasn't even married at the time. And I said, I think I would grab my John Rich guitar. And John emailed me and said, darling, if your house is on fire, you just get yourself

out and go. He said, I'll send you another guitar. Anyway, he's a great guy. And he's a thoughtful, he's a thinker. You know, there's a reason he's written all these number one songs. The way he sees the world, the way he can take feelings and put them into words and make you feel something is valuable. It's a commodity and it's a delight to spend time with. So he's coming on in one second.

But first, stay tuned for this. John Rich, how are you? Hello, Megan. I'm good. Good to hear your voice. Oh, my gosh. Likewise. How's life?

How's Mount Richmore? It has survived the onslaught of 2020. It is still standing mighty and high up on the hill. Thank goodness. So tell the people what we're talking about. Well, we're talking about my house in Nashville. I could not turn down the play on words to call it Mount Richmore, because obviously my love of Mount Rushmore, but my last name being Rich, I thought, you know what? I am up on this hill looking at town. I'm just going to call it Mount Richmore. And there's kind of a theme in my life like that. My first son's name is Cash after my favorite singer-songwriter, Johnny Cash. So his name is, guess what? Cash Rich. I have a few of those in my life. I love it.

Did I tell you that, um, Brad Thor, you know, I love him and he's down by you now. He moved down there. It's like a thing to name your house in Nashville. And, uh, he got a nice place and they, they, they call theirs, uh, the Thor seasons. Well, he is a writer, you know, he's got some good board ideas. I love Brad. There's a lot of people moving to Nashville from all over the U.S. right now. It's pretty incredible. Okay, but are you worried that, like Ben Shapiro was saying, because he just moved to Florida, the Daily Wire's in Nashville, but I think he and his family are in Florida.

But he was saying, great, yeah, come on down. Florida's great. Leave your left-wing values where you found them. Because, like, most of us moved here because we want more freedom and we don't want 13%, maybe more than that state income tax. And all you got to do is take a walk down a sidewalk in one of the major towns and it's just a disaster. So of course they want to get out. And then they moved to Nashville and Nashville is a blue town now.

It's pretty much consistently blue. I'm like, guys, you just left the state because you didn't like the way they were governing and the way they were taxing you. But now you're going to bring that with you and vote in people that do that. And to that point, the mayor of Nashville during the pandemic raised property taxes on everybody in town by 34% right in the middle of the pandemic. You even believe that's a Democrat, too, right? Oh, yeah. pandemic. You even believe it. And that's a Democrat too, right? Oh yeah, big time. That's amazing. Was there a recall effort?

That's huge. There was a recall effort, but it was a pandemic. And so guess what? You can't get big groups of people together because the mayor won't let you do that either. So, you know, it's kind of hard to recall a guy when you can't get a bunch of people together to sign and have rallies and things like that.

So now he's still in power. I just thought that was so inhumane. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, you know, the town, just like every other town, is just totally slammed. And you're going to say, oh, by the way, guys, I know things are terrible, but we're going to raise your property taxes by 34 percent. Have a nice day. That's nuts. And honestly, that is the Democrat rulers. When we put Democrats in these local positions as mayors, as city councilmen, that's always the knee jerk.

I mean, even at the federal level, tax more. More taxes. Whether it's property, it's income, it's sales tax, more taxes. That'll solve it. Even in a pandemic when we have record unemployment. Yeah, but that's stupid. I'm just going to say the word. It's stupid because why is your town getting bigger? Because you have low taxes in your state, right? That's why people are coming there. So now that we got all these new people, let's tax the hound out of them, as my granny Rich would say.

And what are you going to do? You're going to keep more people from coming. So you know what everybody's doing that's now moving to, quote, Nashville. They're not really moving to Nashville. They're moving to the counties that border Davidson County, which is where Nashville is. So like you talk about Ben Shapiro and people like that. Yeah, they're on the outskirts, so they don't have to do what that mayor is putting on them. Mm-hmm. Stupid. I like how you said that. Can we just say stupid?

Just sometimes that's the only word that fits. I like that. Well, of course, Granny Rich had a lot of wisdom. I'm so sad she's no longer with us, John. Yeah, me too. We lost her last year in late July. You know, she was approaching 89 years old, was still running her own business. She was a seamstress, so she had her own sewing shop, seamstress business that she was still running 30 to 40 hours a week by herself, lived by herself, drove herself. She would work those hours, go home, kick her shoes off, pour a little whiskey, light up a cigarette, watch Wheel of Fortune, you know, check out the news, go to bed, get

back up, go back to work. Like that's what she did. Was she just disgusted by what's happening to people today where it's like they abhor hard work? You know, there was just a funny comedian. Somebody sent me this one, somebody on my team doing a bit on like, whatever, whatever's wrong in your life, it's not your fault. Let's talk about how somebody else's fault, whatever it was, you know, and like, that's the knee jerk attitude today that whatever's happened to you, there's somebody else to blame.

The opposite of how our grandparents felt. Well, people that push that narrative are setting up generations to fail, period. And not fail in a good way, because there is a good way to fail. Everybody needs to fail. If you're not failing at something, you haven't really gone after it. But to tell people that hard work, you know, I go to this, let's go back to what the Declaration of Independence says. It says you have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere does it say as an American, you have the right to be happy. It says you have the right to pursue happiness. And the fact that we even have a right to go for the American dream should inherently make us happy. I mean, this very morning when we all woke up as Americans around the world, the other billions of people that live out there, listen, they have just as much talent, intellect, soul, passion, drive, you name it, as any American ever had. But because of the government that looks over them or wherever they may live, they're not allowed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They will never be allowed to exhaust

their potential. Their governments don't want them exhausting their potential. But in America, we're allowed to go for it. So the fact that you even woke up here this morning means you have a leg up on the rest of the world. And to not take advantage of that and to teach our younger generations that, you know, that doesn't really matter anymore. You have the right to be successful, the right to be happy, the right to be content. And if you're not any of those things, you got the right to protest and raise hell about it until somebody makes you happy, content, or successful. That is not what the greatest generation was all about when they fought Germany and Japan and Italy and everybody else they had to fight. That was not their mentality. That wasn't Granny's mentality. When you ask Granny Rich at 88 years old, Granny, why are you still working 30 to 40 hours a week? Her answer is, because I can,

and that's what you're supposed to do when you live in this country. Honestly, I agree with every word you just said. And I think part of the problem is I'll bet you most of these kids don't evenIR, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. And we're trying to fight back against this neo-racism that they're putting in the schools, this critical race theory, all this nonsense they're trying to indoctrinate our kids with to divide them and shame them based on their immutable characteristics. Anyway, so this guy who founded it, he wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed talking about how he, like I, pulled his kids from the New York City private school system. And he was talking about how he gets to school this year, his two kids get to school. And the first thing he finds out is they're no longer

singing the national anthem. They used to kick off the school year. They didn't do it every morning. Kick off the school year with the national anthem and the pledge. No more. It's too controversial, John. I mean, it's too controversial, John. I mean, it's like kids don't even, they're not given sort of just these basic foundational things about loving America that you and I grew up with. You know, why is it that it's good to have a strong immune system? And how do you get a strong immune system as a human being? You get a strong immune system by being around people, being around sometimes sick people, running into things you may not even know got into you, but it did, and your body builds up a tolerance, and you have an immune system, right? So your body understands things that are

out there. Taking away every single solitary thing that might offend or upset anybody or any group, period, taking all of that out of the culture is not doing any favors to people who were growing up in this country. Like you just said, they should know, be able to make up their own minds. When you take everything off the table, you take away any dissent, there's no mind to be made up anymore. There's only one way, and that's the end of it. And when you talk about critical race theory entering the private schools where you were at, guess where else critical race theory is trying to enter into? Christian schools. Not Tennessee. Christian schools. Oh, yeah. You know what? I've heard some of that. I've heard some. That's insane. That's where you send your kid to get away from indoctrination like that. We go for

a different indoctrination at Catholic schools and then we're fine with it. Well, and the whole premise in the Bible, if you're a Christian, which I am, you know, God specifically tells us to not identify each other based on any of our outwardly, our human characteristics, but rather to identify each other as all children of him, as his kids. So like I could go to Vietnam and meet a man or a woman who I cannot speak with, but that man holds up a Bible or he reads a verse or he grabs my hand and prays and he's a Christian, he's my brother, period. That's how I look at this man.

Not that he's Vietnamese, not that he can't speak English, not that he's whatever his socioeconomic place in life is. None of that matters. So critical race theory, as people are learning, is basically telling these kids, hey, if you're this color, you don't have a chance. If you're this color, you're the reason your buddy doesn't have a chance. They're telling little kids this in class and they're looking at each other going, but we play on the same baseball team together and our parents go on spring break together. What are you talking about? They go, none of that matters. What you need to do is understand what I'm telling you. This is true because you're this color. You don't have a chance because you're, you're this color.

You're the reason he doesn't have a chance. That is so toxic. I would, I would put that another Bible verse where Jesus Christ himself said, you'd be better to tie a millstone around your neck and throw yourself into the depths of the sea than to ever cause one of these little ones to stumble. That's the word he used, to stumble, meaning to mess them up, to put toxins in their mind, to mess up their innocence and the way that they look at each other. If an adult steps in and does that, he said you'd be better off basically to tie a rock around your neck and jump in the ocean. I mean, that came from the Son of God himself. So when I see that entering schools, especially Christian schools, you know, I had to call it out, and I did call it out. We have been battling that ourselves, unbelievably so, in Nashville, but I've seen the schools starting to push back against it, thank goodness. So you got two boys.

And did you experience this firsthand? Like, was it at your schools? Yeah. So the school that they go to, it was happening in grades just a little ahead of where my oldest son is. He's in fifth grade. So this was happening in like sixth and seventh grade.

And, you know, they're showing videos of, you know, kids running around a track and, you know, one kid's lapping the other kid and all these terrible things are happening. And then they're laying stuff on the tables that are saying, you know, do you know what white privilege is? If you don't and you're white,

let me explain it to you. And they're telling this kid why it's ultimately his fault, why his buddy is not going to make it. And I'm looking at that going, first of all, you shouldn't say that to either one of those kids. Who are you to dictate who accomplishes what? In my opinion, that's the essence of racism is to condemn someone's future based on the color of their skin. That is the definition of racism, but they have contorted it and twisted it in this backwards way and then put it into these curriculums where they slip it in and they make it hard for you to argue against it. And if you do, they'll call you every bad name in the book. But you know what, Megan, bring it on, bring on the bad names because we can't stand idly by and watch people steal the innocence from our kids. That's exactly how I feel. Trust me. As you know, I've been called all sorts of

terrible names. They don't bother me anymore. Like, you know what? You already shot those bullets. I'm still here. I'm fine. All the people you could convince with your nastiness have been convinced and they're not my people. I don't need to try to get the far left wokesters. I'm not interested in them. They're not honest brokers and people who are understand what they're doing. So I want more people to feel like that because the name, yes, they'll sting, but then you'll get over it. And some battles are worth fighting. So, I mean, our, our forefathers took bullets you'll get over it. And some battles are worth fighting. So, I mean, our forefathers took bullets. We can take a few barbs.

You know, we're tough enough. We're good. Yeah, well, as Granny Ritz said many times, John, actually, she called me John Daniel. She said, John Daniel, if everybody likes what you're saying, then you're not saying it right. That's good. Yeah. I like that. So wait, so let's talk about that, about your background, because you mentioned God. You're obviously well read with the Bible, and that's because you are the son of a fire and brimstone preacher. And so you came by your faith, honestly. And I know that's played a big role in your life. So I want to hear about that.

But I also want to talk about the absence now of faith in the public square, because I do think all these things go hand in hand. Well, so my dad, at about the age of 19, decided he wanted to preach. He didn't really decide he wanted to. He was called to preach, right? Is this down in Amarillo, Texas? This was early on. Before I was around, he was called to preach, but he didn't want to preach. He didn't feel like he was supposed to be in the big fancy churches with the big congregations.

He said, I knew that with my style of preaching and the message I wanted to put out there, I needed to be preaching where the people were. So my dad preaches in prisons. My dad preached at 32 Mardi Gras in a row on the French Quarter, standing there with a guitar around his neck. He also sings and plays. That's where I learned how to play. And he would sing, I'll Fly Away, An Amazing Grace, and preach with all manner of craziness going on around him day after day and did it 32 years. He did that. Wait, was he trying to save the Mardi Gras attendees? Why Mardi Gras? He was, well, because he said, the people that are out in Mardi Gras

that are just cutting loose and going nuts, he said, they're never going to come to church, most of those people. A lot of those people are never going to go to church, and that's why I'm going to go there, because this may be the only time they ever hear the truth. So I'm going to go there. And then he goes to prisons because he says, those people need to know that just because their bodies are incarcerated, it doesn't mean their souls are incarcerated. And that's how he preaches at them. A couple of years back, Megan, we rolled like a flatbed trailer with a PA system on it out in front of the prison here in Nashville. And I got up and sang three or four songs, a couple of Johnny Cass songs, did a gospel song. And then I turned it over to my dad and he preached for an hour. There was about 2000 inmates on the other side of this chain link fence.

And at the end of it, kind of like a Billy Graham, you know, a Billy Graham crusade at the end, he gives the altar call. Well, my dad did the same type of thing, but they couldn't come to where he was. And I looked through that fence and there were hundreds of adults, men and women on both sides of this fence, down on their knees, praying, giving their lives to God right there in a prison yard. So that's the kind of preacher my dad is. His mother was Granny Rich. So that's the line I come from. So when I make music or I talk about America or whatever, I understand that

we come from generations of bold people, all the way back to who you were talking about, the founding fathers. Without bold people, without people willing to take incoming, willing to take whatever heat's going to come their way, we wouldn't have a country. They would have knocked us out a long time ago. The American dream would have been gone, but it's not gone. It's still here. And it's up to people like you and me and people that I disagree with, by the way, people that I totally disagree with also need to stand up and say, well, what do we have in common?

Hard work. We have that in common. You know, there's a buddy of mine, Jeffrey Ross, big time comedian. He's the roast master general. You know, he's like a Bernie Sanders guy. And he and I are great buddies. And one thing he and I share is that he works really, really hard at what he does. And so do I. And he believes in freedom of expression. And so do I. There are things, Megan, that we still have in common. We have to fight for those things. So I got to back up and ask you whether you sang, did you sing Folsom Prison? Is it Folsom Prison Blues? I'm trying to remember the full name of Johnny's song. That's one of his greatest. I love that song. I hear that train a coming. It's rolling around the bend. Absolutely. I played that and they all

knew it. They were like, this is crazy. I'm stuck in fulsome prison. Oh, by the way, are you still practicing that guitar I gave you about 15 years ago? Still working on it. I don't seem to improve. Maybe I need an instructor. Totally. I was going to say, it's possible I actually need an instructor. I still can't get the damn F chord, John. It's such a morale killer. I don't know. It's like, I think I need, like, I have very long spidery fingers, which I thought would have helped me on guitar. I don't know. I feel like maybe short and stubby fingers would have been a little easier for me because like they're like now I'm getting old, too. They're like cramped up. They're like arthritic. I think I may have missed my window, but I am still trying. Well, right now I'm giving guitar lessons to third graders. OK, so my third grade son, the youngest, he's nine. He come up to me and said, Daddy, I think I want to learn how to play the guitar.

And I looked at him, I said, are you sure about that? Because I'm like, God almighty, I know where that can go, right? That's a crazy life to get into that. I said, OK, if you want to learn, I'll teach you how to play. He goes, I got a couple of buddies that want to learn, too. Can they come over after school and start getting guitar lessons? I said, sure. So actually today I give, I think it's their fifth lesson on on uh halfway through the week i

give lessons to third graders so we can always have you skype in megan and put you right with the third grade boys and you'll be honestly don't say it if you don't mean it because i i really have no life i don't go out a lot i have a very small universe so i'll do it i don't care plus i always say and it's true i'm secretly a nine-year-old boy at heart. So I think I'll fit right in. Coming up in one second, we're going to ask John about his recent phone call with President Trump. And you might be surprised about what the president's doing right now. I know I was. But before we get to that, quick ad for you here.

You would love my mom. She's a lot like uh granny rich john she's like my my mom she like first of all she has what we call chronic lyracosis she can remember any lyrics to anything and uh the the greatest one of all time was um she was singing i'm like what what'd you say mom what did you just sing she's like she sang it again i'm like one more time and she was singing there's a bathroom on the right oh no mom no it's of course bad moon rising there's a there's a bad moon on the rise and she she's so bad i told the audience this but like during covid when we were out montana i'm like oh mom getting worried about the but the bears coming out we were out in Montana, I'm like, oh, mom, getting worried about the, but the bears coming out, been here. This is like spring is breaking. The bears come out now. She

goes, oh, I'd be much more worried about that than covert 12th. You know what? Do you, do we make more sense? She actually makes more sense than Joe Biden does right now. She should be doing press conferences on all the hot topics. Oh, my God, John. I when he couldn't remember the the name for Pentagon, right. Or our secretary of defense. Like and there's no way a staff can save him. He's out there twisting in the wind. There's no prompter. I'm sure it's like his staff is probably cringing in every way one can cringe. And so are we. Well, this has gotten to a point now where, you know, in the beginning, it's like, okay, peck at him, poke at him, whatever.

It's really not funny at this point. You know, if that was my grandfather and the families around, we would go, hey, granddad, it's probably time for you to retire. Let's get you somewhere where, you know, everything's better and good and the place you can really handle. It makes you wonder if he can't answer a question like they

asked him, is there a crisis at the border? And they run him out the door. He can't remember the Pentagon people. What's going on in the back rooms when they're making big time decisions like, should we strike Syria? What does that mean, what does that conversation sound like back there? Is he part of the conversation? I mean, they went off on Trump for months and months about his mental faculties. He's overweight. He drinks too many Diet Cokes. He's sporadic. He says things, he's shooting bleach into his arm. We need to we need to pull him out of the White House. I mean, on and on and on. But now we have a president standing there. Really pitiful is the word I would use. I don't even want to attack him. I feel like it's elder abuse at this point. It looks terrible what's going on with him right now. And it really worries

me for the country. No, you got to laugh or cry because look, I don't hate Joe Biden. I don't, you know, I would like him to do well. You know, his policies probably aren't going to be totally aligned with my own values, but he's our president. I'd like him to do well. I'm very worried. I don't, what I see is somebody who is not all there. And I don't know what I'm more concerned about him not being all there and sort of trying to legislate and be president from that place or Kamala Harris being our secret president. You know, that's that's what's coming next. This unelected person to that role, at least, who couldn't get the nomination for president. I mean, even the Democrats didn't want Kamala Harris.

But I feel like day by day she gets closer to it. These show games, you know, I think Americans, we've all figured it out. We're not, again, stupid. We're not stupid people. Stupid. Stupid. We see what's going on.

We all, you know, we can read the tea leaves and look a couple of moves up the board and go, well, everybody knows what's coming. And there's nothing you can do to stop it anyway. And so the question is, so what are we supposed to do at this point? Nothing. You work, you take care of your family, you try to, you chase the American dream and, you know, it's going to shake out like it's going to shake out. But I will say watching him fumble and falter and now has not done a press conference that hasn't happened in the last 15 presidencies. I believe

it's 100 plus years. There's no way to ignore that any longer. So it's going to be dealt with soon. And honestly, is it better to have a Joe Biden who can't think straight or a Kamala Harris who can think straight? That's our choices right now. Green Jell-O or yellow Jell-O. I don't know. I don't like either. Or Ron Klain. Right. Or Ron Klain, who we didn't we didn't elect at all. The chief of staff like that guy. Right. He really shouldn't be our secret president. I don't know. It's like the Democrats watered down everything. Right. They made impeachment next to meaningless. I really would like to have some sort of presidential fitness assessment because the objective signs are all out there that that he's struggling. And he's got I was just saying, like, I saw my grandpa's struggle, but my grandpa wasn't leader of the free world. He was just sitting on his lazy boy watching old episodes of Matlock that you don't have to be all there to do that.

Like I think this the stakes are very high. Your grandpa didn't have the nuclear codes. OK, no. I mean, it's different level. The stakes are very high. Your grandpa didn't have the nuclear codes, okay? No. I mean, it's a different level. You know, the Democrats' favorite saying is, follow the science. Just follow the science. Well, okay, let's follow the science on Joe for a minute.

I'm watching him try to do an interview. We're all watching the same stuff. And the science would tell you something's not right here. He needs to be evaluated and see what's actually going on. That would be following the science. But like I said, at this point, I can't even hardly, I feel bad about even pecking at him because it just seems so pitiful, the condition he's in. Elder abuse. Let's talk about Trump.

So you got to know Trump when you were on Celebrity Apprentice. And you, wait a minute, you won, didn't you? You won Celebrity Apprentice. Of course I won. How, you won, didn't you? You won Celebrity Apprentice. Of course I won. How dare you suggest otherwise? Yes, I won. I showed up, I helped you. I know, it was awesome.

I played for St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis. And my goal was to raise a million bucks because nobody had ever hit the million mark. And when it was all done, I was at like 1.4 million. So it did a lot of good for St. Jude. And little did I know, I was getting to know the future president of the United States and his family. Right. Little did anyone know. Nobody knew that at that point. So Trump runs. He was controversial when he ran, I would say even more so when he won, you know, as president. And then the Capitol Hill riot happened on January 6th and everybody pronounced, you know, Trump the worst person

ever. Not everybody, but, you know, you saw all sort of the never Trump Republicans running out there saying like, it's as we said all along, right? Like everybody's trying to say, let's dance on the grave now. I don't know. Do you think he's going to run again? I don't know. I have not asked him and he has not told me. But I would say if I'm going to bet on it, I'm going to say there's a way better chance than not that he will run again. I think his support has not waned at all. I think, you know, we saw how flawed the polls were.

I mean, those polls were so off the mark. How many people actually support Trump? I don't think we even know how many people actually support Trump across the United States. You know, to watch the Latino support going up, African-American support going up. I think he knows there's a big, wide open road out there for him to run again. And watching what this administration is doing, what's happening at the border, what's happening at the gas tanks, what's happening in our society culturally, what's going on. The taxes are coming next year, that Biden tax plan. Boy, that's a doozy. Go look that one up. All that rolling out,

I think Americans, even people that voted for Biden, are going to go, wow, I didn't like Trump. He sent out a lot of mean tweets. I didn't like what he said. But man, my business sure was doing better. And wow, my kids were doing better. And I think there's going to be some buyer's right? It's like if he if he wants to go out there and vie for that nomination, I don't see anybody getting enough of the Republican Party to stop him. people, big time senators, congresspeople that rode in on Donald Trump's coattails, okay, that were in tough races, that marched Donald Trump around and flashed his name and face all over their commercials and all over their marketing and got across the finish line only to turn around and, as you said, dance on his grace. And I was so disgusted by that. I picked up the phone, Megan, and I called them directly. And I said, I'll never raise another penny for you. I will support whoever runs against you. You're a hypocrite.

We're done with you. It had to be McConnell. Tell the truth. Was it him? He's one of them. He's one of them. And I've got others that I called that I'm way better friends with than him. I wouldn't call him a friend.

He's somebody that I know. But you can't do that. You know, I mean, you can't expect, at least you can't expect your voter base to stick with you when they watch you on national TV. Do one thing until you get across the finish line and then do an about face and just butcher the guy that you wrote in on his on his coattails. That's called hypocrisy. I don't care which party's doing it. And so I'm sick of that, too, Megan. You know, I'm a I'm a positive guy, but that did not sit well with me and I'll let him know about it. So who else was it besides McConnell? I'm not going to say. Come on. I'm not going to say because name. Well, I'm not. Oh, here comes the journalism part. I see what's going on here. I see what's

happening. No, you know, I'm not going to go out of my way to damage these people. Well, did they say they were sorry? Were they apologetic? Did they try to explain? How did they explain it? They said, one in particular said, well, had I stuck with the president, I would have been rendered useless in the Senate. That was the statement. And I said, I would argue that you've rendered yourself useless at this very second. You're useless and you okay? Because we can't trust what you're gonna say. And I expressed to a couple of them, I said, you're supposed to say what we would say if we were in the room when that situation or vote was happening.

That's what you're supposed to do. You're our voice in the room. And you know 90% of your constituents would not have done what you did. So you betrayed your constituents. That's what you did. Can I tell you, this is the problem I have with Mitt Romney. Like, I had Tulsi Gabbard on recently, and I like her. I like her a lot. I love Tulsi Gabbard. I like her. She's been amazing. And one of the things I like about her is that she's willing

to cross party lines, and she's very reasonable. She'll criticize her own party when necessary. And I was thinking about Mitt Romney, who I used to really like. I used to really I used to think of him the way I thought of Chief Justice John Roberts, in my opinion, of both of the guys has changed. But, you know, just sort of they were cut from whole like out of there was from central casting for the roles that they wanted Romney for President Roberts for chief justice. But the thing about and Romney for president, uh, Roberts for chief justice. But the thing about, and Romney crosses party lines and Romney criticizes his own party, right? So why, why not like it in him? Why wouldn't I like it in him? Cause I'm not, I'm not a Republican. I'm not, I'm an independent.

Um, and I'll tell you what bothers me about Mitt Romney, that the very thing that you are talking about, he, he, he was, he excoriated Trump when they were running. Remember, he was trying to get the nomination and he was like, I'm going to tell you what I think about Donald Trump. It was right before our third Fox News debate in Detroit. So I remember it was like that night, it was March of 2016. And he went off on him in the most powerful way Mitt Romney can, right? He's not like a, he doesn't have sort of a cutting tongue, but he did it in the most powerful way Mitt Romney can, right? He's not like a, he doesn't have sort of a cutting tongue, but he did it in the most way, the best way he could. And then as soon as Trump won, you know as well as I do,

he went in there and he kissed the ring because he wanted to be Secretary of State and Trump forgave him, right? Trump went out to dinner with him. He didn't make him Secretary of State, but he helped him in his Senate race and he won. He won his Senate position and then he turned on Trump again. And I like I it's not that I'm a Trump loyalist or not

loyalist. It's I don't like that kind of hypocrisy. And he's he was a user. He was a user. And he's he's got situational ethics like he he sides with the Democrats. I don't feel like it's out of principle. I think it's out of like an attempt to save his own hide, given whatever the latest poll is that he saw. I feel like Tulsi's a woman of principle and she's going to stick to it whether you like it or not. He's the opposite. Yes, that character flaw in human beings in general.

I don't care if they're politicians or somebody you work with or it doesn't matter. There's no respect for people like that. You know what you're looking at. You're looking at a rattlesnake. That's what you're looking at. It's going to bite you eventually. And it's going to not bite you when it doesn't want you to step on its head.

Like, I mean, they're snakes. And there's very few that aren't. I agree with you about Tulsi, you know, watching her come out and say things that she knows she's going to take heat for it, but that's how she actually feels. Hello, that's what you're supposed to do. You know, I believe it was John Adams that said, only people who hate politics should run for politics, meaning citizen government. He was all about only people that really despise the system should step into

it for a short period of time to try to make the situation better and then get the hell out of there. Like that's how you're supposed to do it. So career politicians, I campaigned for Mitt Romney when he was running against Barack Obama. I mean, I was around him all the time. And so you can imagine my dismay and my disappointment watching him do what you just said. You know, attack Trump. Trump wins. Now I'm going to kiss the ring and try to make good. Trump's out.

Now I'm going to trash Trump again. What is this? I mean, that's not somebody you can trust. I hope Utah kicks him out. Yeah, it was stomach turning. It was like, you know what? We see what you're doing. Like, you want us to believe you're not a typical politician? Oh, right. Sure. You're the worst kind of politician. And I, listen,

I went and moderated Mitt Romney's. He has this private sort of event for Republicans out in, um, in Utah every year. I did it. His family's lovely. He is a lovely person as a man, as a dad, as a husband. I think he's a good man. As a politician, he's completely lost my respect. And just to prove your point, because you and I first met in 2008 when I was out, it was the debates. Did I meet you in Denver? Was that where it was? It was in Denver. Minneapolis. Minneapolis. All right. Yeah. Right. Because you came to the Republican. So Minneapolis is where the GOP was in Denver is where Barack Obama, remember the Invesco field, Greek columns, Barack Obama. Um, soon I met there and you were a big Mitt Romney supporter. So much so, um, I'm trying to think it was, wasn't it? Wait, was it 2008 with John McCain or was it 2012 with Mitt Romney that you did? Well, I was, so I was with, I was with Fred

Thompson. Okay. By the way, that guy would have been a great president. I wish we had Fred Thompson today. Matter of fact, uh, he was actually one of the good guys and I knew him on a very personal level. He was a real McCoy. So I was out with Fred Thompson. He didn't win the nomination. John McCain did. And so I said, well, you know what, I'm going to do what I can to help John McCain. And I got to know John McCain very well. And that was that run. And then, yeah, 2012 was when Romney came around. But when did you do Shutting Detroit Down? Shutting Detroit Down was 2009. So that was right when the bailouts were happening and, you know, the big companies were taking all the money and then firing 100,000 people at the same time. And I thought, well, do I throw a whiskey bottle at the television or do I write a song about this?

So I decided to save the whiskey. No, don't want to waste good whiskey. That's a crime. That's a country boy crime. And I wrote, in the real world, they're shutting Detroit down while the boss man takes his bonus pay and jets on out of town. And DC's bailing out them bankers while the farmers auction ground. Yeah, absolutely. Well, they're living it up on Wall Street and that New York City town.

We have a real clip. In the real world, shutting Detroit down. You sing pretty good. We should do a duet. Stop it right now. Even though I did go up on stage with you one time, it was like the highlight of my life. Wait,

we have a clip so the audience can hear the real version. Stand by. Cause they're selling make believe and we don't buy that. Cause in the real world, they're shutting Detroit down While the boss man takes his bonus pay and jips on out of town And D.C.'s bailing out them bankers as the farmers auction ground ground. Yeah, while they're living it up on Wall Street in that New York City town, here in the real world, they're shutting Detroit down. Here in the real world, they're shutting

Detroit down. So good. So good. So catchy. I have that on my workout tape still tape that I'm dating myself on my mix on my iPhone. It's just such a catchy tune. But I that's one of the reasons America loves you, John, is like you you sing about some of the social issues we've all been dealing with, like the bailout, which was, you know, such bullshit. We were bailing out them bankers in that New York City town. And, you know, our attitude hasn't changed. Right. We just doled out another one point nine and trillion one point nine trillion in covid relief. And I realize people are suffering and that that matters. But what a lot of people are saying is it was too big.

We didn't need to make it that much. And that your kid, little cash, is going to be paying a lot of cash and saying is it was too big. We didn't need to make it that much. And that your kid little cash is going to be paying a lot of cash and my kids to pay that back. And they just, they spend it like it's other people's money. So 9% of that 1.9 trillion went to actual COVID specific things. And the 91% went to what I would consider redistribution of wealth. That's really what it is. And so I'm looking at that going, okay, so is that their equation, 9 and

91, 91, 9? I can look at it like that. Okay, great. If they care about COVID 9% of the time, I'm going to care about COVID 9% of the time. And I'm going to spend the other 91% of my time working, maybe turning my business back on, raising my kids, going wherever the hell I want to. Let's do what the government's doing. 91.9, I'll take that. I mean, that's how insane this is. You remember Joe, the plumber,

back when Obama slipped up and actually said what he was actually wanting to do, which was redistribution of wealth. Well, now they just are doing it out in the open. Coming up, I'm going to ask John about his new song coming out, I'm Offended That You're Offended. How brilliant is that? Just put that line in your back pocket.

That seems like one we should all be saying. We should have that at the ready. So we'll get into that. But before we do, I want to bring you a feature we call Asked and Answered here on the show where Steve Krakauer, our executive producer, pops up with a question that one of our listeners is asking, and I hopefully will provide an answer. Hey, Steve. Hey, Megan. This one comes to us at questions at devilmaycaremedia.com, an email address anyone can email and get their questions answered. This one came to us from Chris Corain, who wants to know, what do you think of the current state of New York City? Do you think it could come back? And if so, what will it take?

Well, the current state has got a couple of issues going on right now. COVID is still, it's got a hold of this city, unlike most cities, I think, right now in America. I mean, if you walked around New York, you might still think you were in March of 2020. Everyone has a mask on everyone. And if you want to walk down the street without your mask, you'll get mask shamed with words or looks. I've actually just started doing it because the rule here in New York is a mask or six feet away from others. So as long as you keep your distance, you're not, you're not violating anything. And come on, right? Like we got to relax this a little. I mean, I'm, I'm according to standards. I wear the mask inside the stores and all that. I'm not a jerk, but it's very uptight still. And the restaurants are still at, I think only 35% indoor dining, which is kind of sad.

I mean, my husband took me for our anniversary to this, it's this very romantic restaurant called One If By Land. And it's downtown. And it's like this place that normally the tables are on top of each other. And you're right next to four different people who are getting engaged that night. And I mean, it was like, hello over there, fellow couples in love. It was just, it was sad. But anyway, there's that. There's, of course, you know, the housing situation is like not moving at all because most people have been moving out of New York City. So whereas the suburbs have this great real estate market, New York City has been facing a different issue. Although we're told that it's coming back,

actually, it's been doing a lot better lately. And I just think that the city got scared. You know, when I was in Montana for much of it, but I was in New York for part of the quarantine and there were, you know, there were dead bodies stacking up outside the hospitals in Central Park, I was told. And you don't shake that easily. So I understand the fear here. Anyway, I think New York 100% will come back. 100%. Not because of our dopey mayor, but because of the New Yorker spirit. You can't keep New Yorkers down. If we can survive 9-11, we can survive this. And I just think New Yorkers are fighters and they don't tend to let much keep them down for long.

And so as soon as we can get herd immunity, you get more and more people vaccinated. We can get things feeling back to normal. The schools, I don't even talk about the damn schools being closed still. The public's at the upper levels. It'll start feeling more like normal. The bar, restaurant and entertainment industry needs to come back. That's the heartbeat of New York. And once that starts coming, we can go back to Broadway and places like it. New Yorkers will be there for it. They will. So overall, I feel optimistic. I think it's going to take a while. And as for the city's woke politics, well, that's the same as it is in many places in the country. And you know, my thoughts on that. Fight, fight. Anyway, thank you for the question. And Steve, what's the address if they want

to write in with one? Questions, plural, at devilmaycaremedia.com. As far as the culture of being offended by someone who's offended, I'm writing a new song called I'm Offended That You're Offended. That's going to who's offended. I'm writing a new song called I'm offended that you're offended. That's going to be the title. I'm offended that you're offended. It's going to go something like that because basically I'm offended that you take offense to things that are not very offensive. That's going to be that's the whole genesis of the song. I think it's a hit. I love it. And I'll tell you, I was on the BBC talking about the Piers Morgan thing not long ago

and they were saying, you know, BBC, of course, leans left. I like going on there so they can hear another point of view. It's like, hello, not everybody's in that liberal bubble. Here's a different way of looking at things. And the presenter, you know, they call them presenters over there, not anchors, was saying,

don't you understand, though, like, Piers Morgan offended a lot of people with his comments about Meghan Markle. I'm like, and? So? Like, who cares? He's in the business of talking about difficult conversations about people who are in the news, who press certain buttons, which she and Harry absolutely do. And that show hired Piers Morgan because they wanted a provocateur.

It's not like it was any mystery what Piers' brand was. That's why they put him on the air. That's why the show did so well. And so they got exactly what they wanted. And you can't give the audience. She said, oh, they had 40,000 complaints. Okay, A, it was organized, right?

It was organized. It wasn't organic. And B, if you said to all of the Good Morning Britain viewers, hey, you got to write in or Pierce is going to get in trouble and potentially pushed out or silenced, at got to show back up on Wednesday because we have principles of allowing disagreements. If he doesn't believe one word, Meghan Markle said that's his prerogative. Isn't that kind of the definition of bullying, which is also something that is always talked about as a because it is an issue, but it's something that they really push hard. No bullying, no bullying. Isn't it bullying somebody to say, hey, if you say something we disagree with, we're going to kick you off the show. We're going to crush your business. We're going to turn your lights off. We're going to tell everybody you're a bunch of bad words right in a row. So you better keep your mouth shut.

I think that's like the ultimate level of bullying. And they play it out well. So how do you treat a bully? You walk right up to a bully and you go, that doesn't work on me. I'm going to say it anyway. And what I've found is that, you know, if I don't go out here and attack people for their position, because I don't, I might attack the position, but I don't attack the person for having that position. And then I present my position and go, well, here's what I think. And this is not my opinion. This is my experience. This is how I was raised. And this is how I know a guy like me that has a high school diploma, grew up in a double

wide trailer in Texas with the American dream in my back pocket. This is how a guy like that can really go far in this country. It's hard work, big thinking, a lot of people mentoring you, tons of mistakes, lots of failure. And at the end of the day, you go, wow, we actually created something that wasn't here prior to this. Am I beat up from it? Sure. Did it make me tired? Yes. Is there integrity in the struggle? Yes, there's integrity in the struggle. So to shut people down is nothing more than bullying. And the rest of us that are, I would say, real McCoys,

like you and others, people that I even disagree with big time, but are still real McCoys, they don't ever buy into that nonsense. Oh, John, that's your white privilege talking. Look at you with the double wide. There are a lot of people in singles. Oh, you're right. Oh, what did I do? I just offended. I'm offended that you're offended. You know, I've got a brand, Redneck Riviera, that's a phrase that's been around since the early 60s about the Gulf Coast, you know, because you can't afford to go to the French Riviera. So where do you go? Go to the Redneck Riviera because it's beautiful and the music's great and the people are fun and you can afford it. And I always loved that phrase.

And so I built it out into a whiskey brand that's now in 47 states throughout America. It's in 11,000 stores. I'm in all the Walmarts, Albertsons, Safeways, you name it. I'm in all the big stores and small stores. And I give back on every bottle to the Folds of Honor, which puts kids through college who lost a parent in combat. So my whiskey's now funded 110 college grants. So I say all that to say, you can go from pretty lean and not a big fancy education or anything else. But if you're an American and you woke up here today, if you've got big ideas, you should go after them. You should exhaust your potential because you can't help other people

if you don't have anything to give them. See, that's one thing the left misses, too. And the whole culture of, hey, you should just have everything given to you. Well, you know what? There's nothing to give other people if you want to be charitable if you didn't go out and earn more than you need. Because you're going to take care of yourself and your family first. If you have excess beyond that, that allows you to give to other people that need it, correct? That's charity. That's what Americans are all about. And this culture of it should be given to you. Let's do some more stimulus. Let's take 91% of $1.9 trillion and

bail a bunch of people out that mismanage their businesses and unions and states. That's not going to perpetuate entrepreneurism, ingenuity, or hard work and success. No, it's going to perpetuate the teachers not going back to work when your kid is home and depressed and hasn't been in actual real class for a year. But they're too scared to go back in because of their health. They're worried that something's going to happen to them. Meanwhile, I always give this example because it's so ridiculous. Meanwhile, you've got the Chicago Teachers Union. They won't go back in to teach because they're so worried that their frail bodies can't take it. And then they're doing interpretive dances where they're leaping through the air to bring their point about how they need to be free.

They need to be free to not teach your children. Young, healthy, able-bodied teachers trying to make their point about how they're too scared and frail to go back into the classrooms by their, they're leaping through the streets and air of Chicago, John. Hey, you want me to, you want me to lay a sentence on you? I haven't heard anybody say in the news, try this one on. Cause this is the truth bomb for you. The teacher's union, not teaching, not going back to class is enabling child abuse. Try that sentence on. And so you go, well, how do you know that's true?

Because a vast majority of child abuse reports are made by guess who? Teachers. Well, as these lockdowns have happened, guess what? Guess what is down? 27%. Child abuse is down. Child abuse reports are down 27%. Now, Megan, are you telling me that 27% fewer child abuse cases are happening? No. They're locked in the house and nobody's reporting it because it's the teacher that sees the bruise. It's the teacher that sees the limp or the cut or the cigarette burn or whatever else they're doing to their kids.

And those kids are now suffering in silence, locked in their homes in Chicago and New York and all these other big towns where the teachers' units are holding the situation up as these kids suffer. It's not even something people bring up in the news. That's a fact. No, it's so true. I do a lot of work with ChildHelp, and I love them. And they're such a good organization. And their mission is to take care of abused children. They have these centers where the kids can go and be rehabilitated. And I mean, the stories are horrific, but. The child help is a shame on the one when it comes. Hey, Megan, so they said the same thing you said that that I said are the are the hotlines like ringing off the hook during the covid and they were like, Megan, they're not. And that's the most terrifying thing of all. That's right. And those teachers know that. And so all those teachers

that are saying we're too weak to come in, we're too frail and we don't have it exactly perfect. So we're going to keep it all shut down. They know those statistics too, by the way, they know all that and they're doing it anyway. Shame on them. It pisses me off because you've got such great teachers like we wound up finding the most amazing teachers we love our teachers now and they're such a good example and then you've got these others like the i don't know like there's such a vast disparity in the attitude and of course the unions are leading the the sort of worst factions of these groups um are you doing a show on Fox Nation right now?

Yeah. So I've got a show called The Pursuit. It's all about what I said earlier, speaking with you, that our country doesn't guarantee us happiness. It guarantees us the right to pursue happiness. So I interview all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. And we talk about their pursuit of happiness and how do they get there? Where did they start? You know, think of, think of me as a Bubba Walters. So you got Barbara Walters, I'm Bubba Walters. Okay. I'm Barbara's long lost country nephew somewhere down the road. So like I interviewed, um, the chef Manit Chauhan, Manit Chauhan. She's an Indian lady all over Food Network. She's got restaurants all over the United States. And I interviewed her because I'm a fan of hers and she comes from a totally

different place than I come from, but I know how hard she works and I know she pursues happiness. And I found out during the interview in real time that seven days prior to us sitting down to speak, she went to Memphis, Tennessee, took her citizen's test and pledged her allegiance to the United States of America, became a citizen, and tears were in her eyes. And I said, Manit, that's incredible. I said, are you now like a dual citizen? She goes, John, you can't be married to two men at the same time, nor can you pledge your allegiance to two nations at the same time. I am an American. And I mean, it was so powerful to hear her say that. She said, I would not be able to do what I'm doing in America and India because they don't let women do what I'm doing here in America. They don't allow that in India. I had to come to America

to live my dream. And that's why I wanted to be on the show, The Pursuit. Is that not powerful? Can we get back to those basic, show, The Pursuit. Is that not powerful? Can we get back to those basic, fundamental, foundational things about our country? I wish we would. Well, and it's a forum where you can go and you're not, you're not supposed to talk politics. You're supposed to talk about, like, that's the truth about friendships with people who are on the other side from you politically. Even if you're, you know, really committed to your political views, you don't have to talk about politics there's so many more things you don't have to talk about trump you don't have to talk about biden right talk about music you can talk about your kids you can talk about your hopes you

can talk about your marriage you can talk about yourself you can talk about something funny you know like it doesn't all have to be about politics and i i wonder like now that trump's out of office even though you know you love him you love him, you support him. Do you think we can do more of that had a Biden sign and you've got a Trump sign, go over to the neighbor's house and say, hey, buddy, here's a six pack of beer. You want to come over and eat a hamburger? Like reach out to people where they realize, okay, he's not my enemy. We just disagree. You know, it's not very nice, but as you know, you remember the article that came out about the, um, I'm going to get my facts wrong, but it was, uh, a couple of neighbors and one voluntarily went over and plowed his neighbor's driveway. And it was a liberal doing the plowing of a Trump supporters driveway. And then they wrote a long piece, I think it was in the New York Times, saying, you know, I'm really struggling with what I did. And like, would I plow Hitler's driveway?

It was like this insane, it was LA times, it was LA times. And like, that's not someone you can go talk to. Like, I just like like i would go out and get all the snow and put it back on my driveway and say screw you lady you didn't like don't help me again if you're gonna if you're gonna struggle with it this much because you think i'm a nazi because i voted for trump i don't see much of a friendship and as you know that's where we are you got you got news anchors telling their audience that everyone who voted for Trump is a skinhead Nazi white supremacist Klansman. And that's the message not just from I mean, can you like the thought of a news anchor saying that about half the country just just even a few years ago would have been

unfathomable. But many said it this time around. It is a dangerous thing to do because what it does, people that believe that narrative and accept that as the way of thinking about people, what does that mean? Are all rules off if you're coming after a Nazi? Let's put it this way. Back in the early 1940s, were all the rules off when it came to Americans going after Nazis? Yes, there were no rules. We're going to take them out. That's what we're going to do. So when you use that word and put it on American citizens that you disagree with politically, what does that do? It opens the door to dehumanize someone where I can do anything I want to do to this person now because they're not really human. They're a Nazi. See, to call somebody that sets into motion things that I really, if you want to know what really scares me is that, is that it goes down the road and people keep following that line of thinking. And one day we look up and there's actually citizens out in the street fighting each other. And unfortunately, I think there's some people that want to see that happen.

And you go, well, why would anybody want to see that happen? Well, there are some people that like chaos and they like disorder and they like things to be upside down because when things are chaotic and upside down, it allows them to do what? Take control of the situation, set up new rules, set up new parameters and move things in the direction they want. When there's peace and prosperity, it's really hard to get Americans to bend the knee. But if you mess their life up enough, a lot of them will bend the knee. And I see these things going down the road, Megan. It worries me. That's why you got to pray earth to God. I wrote this song called Earth to God. If you want to watch something great, go to YouTube, look up earth to God. And it's really about what I'm talking about right now. Our problems are bigger than what we can handle. Only God can handle problems this big. And it's really about what I'm talking about right now. Our problems are bigger than

what we can handle. Only God can handle problems this big. And we got to remember to reach out to him. That's right. You got to surrender to it. By the way, I want to correct myself. So my crack team has just reforwarded me the article from the LA Times. It's even worse than I said. It was the Trump supporters who plowed her driveway. They plowed her driveway without being asked. And the Trump supporters, quote, did a great job. And she just didn't understand whether she should accept this act of kindness when given by such terrible people. She talked about how it's like, would you take a favor from Hezbollah?

Would you? Right. Lady, lady. Seek help. That's terrible. It's so terrible and unhealthy, and people are really twisted. It's like if I'm driving down the road and I see a car broke down with a Hillary Clinton sticker on it, and they got a flat tire, I promise you I'm going to pull over on the side of the road and go, hey, you need me to help change that tire? I mean, that's what Americans are about.

But our media and politicians, man, they're unfortunately doing a really good job at making people do exactly what you just said. Wow, I can't believe they plowed the snow off my driveway. I don't know how I feel about that because a Nazi just plowed snow off my driveway. No, I definitely would not help change the tire. I would not do that because I don't know how to do that that for myself. But I would call Abby. I would call Abby. Help this person. She is my triple A. She is my everything. She is my mommy. She's my nanny. She's my friend. My little sister. She's my assistant. She's the problem solver. Basically, she's a fixer. So wait, can I ask you a question? Have you talked to Trump since he left office? I have. Yep. I've talked to him. How's he doing? Not a lot. A couple of times. Sounds fine. Did he sound happy? Is he enjoying?

Yeah. I don't know. Is this retirement? I don't know what we're calling this. I mean, he sounds laid back even. He's always got a little joke or something. He's kind of ribbing you about something. I saw you on the news, you know, whatever, you know, like, you know, makes his little comments and stuff. He sounded, he sounded relaxed, which is interesting. I didn't know what I would expect to hear it from him, but he actually sounded a lot more relaxed than he was when we saw him on television. Hmm. So if you had to predict not, you know, not saying he told you, but if you had to predict whether he's going to run in 2024, what would you say?

I think he will. I think that, I think he will. I mean, I just think there's so many people that like the progress they were seeing on so many levels, whether it was business or foreign relations. I mean, peace in the Middle East, for goodness sake. I mean, stuff that we never thought would happen. They'd sure like to see those things continue. And I think that what we're watching in the first 90 days with this administration of the stepping backwards and things getting worse, I think there's a wide open path for him. But it's up to him at the end of the day. But if, if, if I know him at all, I don't, I don't think the guy likes to lose. And I think he would probably take another swing at it. All right. Let's talk about you for a minute, because something you said earlier was it piqued my curiosity. You were talking about giving your, giving your guitar lessons to your third grade son and his buddies and saying, you know, I don't know whether I'd want to recommend this crazy life as a musician.

So like, how crazy does it get? What do you say? It's a crazy life. I know you tour around and all that, but like what? Give us the give us the bird's eye view into life as John Rich. You want to know what it's like being on a tour bus rolling around the United States, Megan. I know what you're asking me.

OK, well, as much as you're willing to share. There is an inner rock star with you. I've always known that. I'm a wannabe for sure. You know, I think for me growing up in a little town that, you know, if you couldn't drive a combine or herd cows or do something agriculturally, pretty much there was no other option to do it. And then moving to Tennessee when I was in high school because my mother's from Tennessee. So we moved back to Tennessee. And getting into music, I still never really thought I'd make any money at it.

I was going to go to college and do whatever. But you get in there. It's not really making music that's the problem. It's becoming successful making music that can be the problem. So you get all this success, you've never experienced it before. And everybody that ever told you you couldn't do it, talked down to you, batted you around one way or the other. For me anyway, when I finally got big success, I didn't handle that very well. I took it as like a hammer to turn around and hit everybody over the head with it as much as I

could. So when C.I. told you, I told you, I told you. And with that comes a lot of raucous living. I would say a prodigal son would have been a good stamp for me for many years of my life, having a dad that's a preacher, I'm sure I was disappointing to him on many, many levels. But I was taught well young. I knew what the truth was. I went swinging out there wide for many years. But then you come back around and you realize what you were taught early on in your life remains true and remains constant. And fame is not constant. And popularity and success and all those things, those are whispers. Those come and go. They blow in, they blow out. But the things that are constant and concrete are things like God loves you. You are God's child. He is there for you. America gives you the right to pursue happiness.

Hard work wins in the end. You know, respect people that you disagree with. Love your family. Teach your kids well. Try to have some fun. You know, things like that that are just the everyday things remain constant. And I had forgotten that for many years. And because of that, I became

somewhat of an insufferable person to be around for quite a while. And I'm glad I came back around. When I hear you talking about that, I feel like it's code for you. You abuse substances. You got to be kind of an asshole to your friends. And then you got a big head. Yeah, I never really got into substances. I never got into any drugs, but I was drinking too much. You get out and instead of drinking a dose of anger from growing up pretty lean and you want to show everybody that they were wrong, and then you have a lot of success, you throw some alcohol on it, by golly, you can get a little wild when that happens and not in a good way. So it's something I had to live through, but I had a lot of good friends. And at the end of the day, I had God looking out for me and he was still there. And when I said, are you still there? He goes, yep. And I almost felt

like he said, are you done? I was like, I'm done. He's like, all right, let's move forward. And that was a great feeling. Oh, I like the way you said that. He's still there. You're done. I'm here. That's so great. Well, he's our spiritual father, right? That's what the Bible says. He's your spiritual father. He is your father. And so being a father now, I know how I talk to my kids, you know, and if they ever came to me and said, Dad, you still there for me? I know I messed up. I go, I'm right here. You through messing up? Yes, sir. All right. Get over here, buddy, and give them, you know, rub them on the head and let's go outside and talk about it because you love them. You're their dad. And God feels that way about us. We just have to reach back out to him.

And it is the same thing. Like I never left. I've always been here. I got you. Right. You know, I think that when I hear how successful you've been, I'm like, I don't understand it. Does the rock and roll, like there's the music industry just pay like crazy amounts of money? Because I just feel like if you are successful in music, it's just next level. It's not like being an actor. It's not even like being the CEO of a medium sized successful business. Just seems like it's crazy dough. Well, it can be. I mean, you know, in country music, you know, that's a huge live concert genre.

Lots and lots of big concerts. And, you know, a lot of people come see every year. So it's, you know, they'll buy your record once if they buy it. Most people stream them now. But a concert ticket, that's different. You know, they'll buy your record once if they buy it. Most people stream them now, but a concert ticket, that's different. You know, they'll buy that ticket and if they had a great time, you come back to town,

they'll show back up and bring three friends. And, you know, it can't turn into that. For me, songwriting was a big, big piece of the puzzle to me was, you know, I've written over 2000 songs. I've had hit songs on all kinds of people outside of Big & Rich, outside of myself that honestly were bigger hits than what I sang myself. So, you know, a pencil and a piece of

paper are the two most limitless things in the world. You know, the Bible started out with blank paper and a writing utensil. The Constitution did. You know, I can take this blank sheet of paper, no matter if things are going good or not, write something on it. It might be something that changes my life or nobody may ever hear what it is. But at least I have a shot. As long as I got another piece of paper, I got another shot. That's kind of been my attitude.

It keeps me positive and pushing forward because that's the whole thing, Megan. You never know where you're going to wind up. And that's the fun of it. Just keep pushing and doing the things you love. What, like, do you think it's easier to maintain a happy family life as a country music star than as a pop star? I mean, I'm thinking about that Britney Spears documentary I just saw. And it just, that looked just like hell on earth. And I know a couple of rockers.

It just seems, oh, the women. I know you get that too on the road and the women throwing themselves at you. But I feel like in country music, family values are kind of more prized. Am I being Pollyanna-ish? No, because honestly, our music, you know, lyrically even,

country music doesn't go off into the subject matter that you hear in a lot of pop or urban music. We just don't go there. And a guy like me, I look at my fans and I go, well, I'm a country music fan too, me personally. I'm a fan of country music, so I know who they are. That's who I grew up with. I'm just on the stage singing to them. And they're just listening.

So to me, they're like extended family members, friends I haven't met yet. And so we don't really get into the TMZ world and all the craziness that happens in the pop world. Really, a lot of that doesn't enter into Nashville. And I think that is a better situation for a lot of country singers and pop singers. All right. So when I moved to Nashville, I think I've got the name of my house. Oh, perfect. Try this on for size. My son, my little guy is obsessed with that,

with this movie because he's got like a fear of sharks like most people. And I think I might steal the name of one of his favorite movies, The Meg. I love it. Megalodon. Yeah. Wow.

The Meg. You could put The Meg right next to Mount Richmore and it'd be you and me up on the hill just raising cane. We could put a zip line between our houses, man. Get all country redneck with it. It'd be such a blast. Maybe we could put one of those little carriers so you could send me down some whiskey so I could pick up where you left off and all your bad habits.

Hey, we'll get together. We'll get together, have some Redneck Riviera whiskey. You can say, okay, read my new monologue, and I'll go, great. You listen to my new song, and we'll just sit there and edit each other. It'd be perfect. It sounds like heaven on earth. John Rich, such a pleasure. Thank you, Megan.

I appreciate it. Always good to talk to you. Coming up on Monday, you're going to want to tune in for this. It's John Stossel. Stossel. You know him from his 30 years at ABC News, and he was the consumer reporter who was like busting bad schemes against people for lots of years next to Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Vargas and others. Then he moved over to Fox Business and really let his libertarian freak flag fly in a great way. You know, his reporting was just different from everybody else's. And the way he comes at stories is different because he is a libertarian. And I think you're going to find in particular what he has to say about the

crackdowns online against him. Disturbing but illuminating. Facebook tried to shut down one of his stories he posted about the environment out in California and the forest fires out there. And what he had to go through to try to get a false warning on his report removed. I mean, it's going to frustrate you, but it's very illuminating as to how hard this battle is going to be with big tech trying to crack down on everybody. So anyway, it's always enjoyable talking to Stossel. And then you will learn in that interview about what my husband and I call the Stossel. What happens to one dining at Stossel's apartment with Stossel and his beautiful wife, Ellen, when Stossel gets a little tired? Tune in for that next time. Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show.

No BS, no agenda, and no fear. The Megyn Kelly Show is a Devil May Care media production in collaboration with Red Seat Ventures.