The former congressman will reject his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination – News Block

Former Texas Congressman Will Hurd joined me this morning:

Audio:

07-17hs-hurado

Transcription:

HH: I’m pleased to welcome Will Hurd, former congressman, nearly a decade at the CIA to the show as well. Good morning, Congressman. It’s good to see you again.

WH: Hello, Hugo. Thanks for having me, man. I appreciate the time.

HH: Well I want, full disclosure to the people, Congressman Hurd and I had a wonderful dinner together in Aspen a few years ago along with then Under Secretary Rood, Morgan Ortagus, Ambassador O’Brien. So I liked it. We get along great. But I don’t understand what he’s doing, Congressman. So tell me what are you doing.

WH: Look, this is not rocket science, Hugh. We live in difficult times, and we need common sense. I think you know that better than most. We are facing a time when the Chinese government is trying to overtake the United States of America as a global superpower. That is not my opinion. That is what they have written about themselves since at least 2015. This will affect all Americans. And we have persistent inflation at a time when technologies like artificial intelligence will affect all industries, not in 10 years, in 2, 3 or 4 years. And we are at a time when our children have the lowest math, science and reading scores in this century. These are real issues that, if we don’t address them, have the potential to be the UK of the 21st century, right? And I believe our best days are yet to come. And we need people in elected office who present a vision for the future, who don’t complain or cry about the past. And yes, I am a dark horse candidate, right? I know that. I understand that. But guess that? We have to do something different when 6 out of 10 Americans don’t want Donald Trump on the ballot, and 7 out of 10 Americans don’t want Joe Biden on the ballot. They’re saying hey, we want something different. We should have learned from the 2020 election. Basically, the American public said don’t be an idiot and don’t be a socialist. In 2022, the electorate told us guess what? Candidates matter. And we have an opportunity as Republicans to think conservatively for the next 12 to 16 years. I don’t want to win a single election and think conservative for two years. We have a real chance, because conservative Democrats and independents alike are sick and tired of seeing where the Democratic Party is headed. So we have an opportunity to take advantage of this. And this is what we are trying to do. My wife agrees with the idea, so we are trying to present an alternative for the country.

HH: What is your website where people can contribute to Will Hurd for president if they want to?

W: Sure. You can go to www.HurdForAmerica.com. I am working to not reach the 40,000 threshold to enter the debate stage. If you want someone who knows the difference between an Uyghur and a Weeble, go ahead and donate to me. You know, if you want someone who, you know, has made it through a career, the only candidate who served overseas to fight terrorists after 9/11, then give me at least a dollar. Help me up on that stage so I have some common sense on that debate stage.

HH: www.HurdForAmerica.com. A couple of quick questions. How many collaborators do you have so far, Will Hurd?

WH: I think we are 19-20% of the way to the goal. This is how we look at it. We have already reached the metric in several states. You know, each individual state, we’ve got to have 200. But we’ve got about four weeks to get to that point, and I hope there are a lot of your smart, foreign-policy-minded listeners who aren’t afraid to support a dark horse candidate. and realizing, you know, a small group of committed people can change the world. Go to www.HurdForAmerica.com and give at least a dollar.

HH: I’m going to talk about the Uyghurs in a second.

WH: Yes, sir.

HH: I want to ask you about aid to Ukraine, because it’s going to divide the party quite a bit. What do you think about the continuation of aid to Ukraine?

WH: So the United States of America has benefited from an international order that we created after World War II. When we do not support that international order, that hurts us. And the way you prevent Ukraine from becoming an eternal war, and I think, you know, I don’t care where you are on the political divide, nobody wants Ukraine to become an eternal war. The way to prevent that from happening is to make sure that the Ukrainians now have the tools to drive the Russians out of the Ukraine. Why have we waited so long to provide you with the equipment you need? Why is it taking, why are we running out of bullets right? We are the United States of America. We should be able to solve this problem. And if the Defense industrial base cannot solve this, we must think of different options. Why aren’t we helping our NATO allies by providing the tools the Ukrainians need to have a no-fly zone, because here is the bottom line? If Ukraine loses and Russia enters, then we will have to fight the Russians, because they will not stop. And they are ultimately going to enter a NATO country. So let’s help the Ukrainians fight and drive out the Russians. And yes, right now, if you look at how much money we’ve spent to support our allies in the Ukraine, it’s about 5% of our entire Department of Defense budget, right? So for the 5%, we have someone lying to the Russians, right? I think it’s a pretty, pretty good deal. And yes, we shouldn’t have this as an eternal war, but let’s give them the tools they need to go on the offensive. We wouldn’t be fighting this war like they were. The Russians have air superiority. People criticized me in February or February 22, when I said that we should help the Ukrainians to establish a no-fly zone. Imagine what the Ukrainians could do with it. So we need to support our allies, because what we’re doing here, and I’m sorry to have a long monologue, Hugh, what we should, is, the Chinese are watching. The Iranians are watching. And how this is resolved will determine our future conflicts. And I’m talking specifically here about Taiwan.

HH: Well, let’s talk about Taiwan, the Uyghurs and Hong Kong. I left Hong Kong out of Mayor Suárez’s conversation where he did a face-sitting. What do you think is the ultimate ambition of the government, because I think they are Leninists through and through, and they don’t care how many people they kill?

WH: Your goal is simple. Hugo, this is not my opinion. I mean, the Chinese Communist Party has said that they are going to overtake the United States of America as the world superpower. And they’re going to do that by being the world leader in a number of advanced technologies, there’s about 14-16 that are written in these documents. You know, that’s 5G, AI, hypersonics, quantum computing, synthetic biology. There are several of these, right? And so, and a part of that is making sure that they corner the market in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Why should any American care about semiconductors, right, because guess what? They’re the building blocks of every technology, everything from your smartphone to your fancy car to your damn refrigerator, right? And 60% of advanced semiconductor manufacturing is done in Taiwan. So you corner that market, guess what? You corner the market in every one of those advanced technologies you were talking about. Now this is what I would say. I don’t think the Chinese want to have a world war, but they are building an army to apply their hard power. And they won’t be afraid to use it. And I think their preferred option in Taiwan is to do what they did to Hong Kong. And they were able to take over Hong Kong in about 10 or 12 years before what all the international documents said was supposed to happen. And that’s why this upcoming election in Taiwan really matters, because the opposition party is probably going to get closer to China, and we’re going to see some cross-strait changes that could open the door for the Chinese to do, and to pave the way for…

HH: But, Congressman, what does your treatment of the Uyghurs convey to you about the nature of their government?

WH: That they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, right? The fact that you’re imprisoning and putting Uyghurs in internment camps, right, forcing them to work like slaves, and that they recognize that they can continue to do that, because you still have big global brands that are coming in and dealing with it. , is a sign. The way they’re using technology in their own country, they’re using artificial intelligence and facial recognition to give people a social score so they can follow you. What they’re trying to do with their economy and get to where the government can see what individuals are capable of doing, we know what an authoritarian government is going to do. And they will do anything in order to meet their goals. Hell, ask…

HH: Congressman, we’re out of time. So I want to give back to www.HurdForAmerica.com, Hurd. And a quick exit question, we have 20 seconds. Will you support whoever the candidate is, regardless of who that person is?

WH: My problem is not with the Republican candidate. My problem is with Donald Trump and I can’t lie to get access to a microphone.

HH: So I don’t think you’re going on the debate stage, are you?

WH: Well, we’ll see. You know, if Donald Trump hasn’t even agreed to sign the pledge, we’ll see what happens with the mechanics of that. But I’m still going to be working on hitting all the metrics to do that.

HH: Will Hurd, you have to sign that pledge. I will support the candidate. I am Swiss at the moment, but I am in favor of the republican candidate, whoever he is. Thank you, congressman. Go back.

End of the interview.