Top Political Soundbites of 2025, Trump's Israel and Tucker Friendships, and Life After a Pardon

26:58And these last few days, especially given what happened in Australia over the weekend and what's been happening elsewhere, Australia is just actually one event that's gotten outsized attention. But there was anti-Semitic violence in Amsterdam. There's been two very serious acts of anti-Semitic violence in California over the last few days. I can go on and on. There's been some stuff in New York and Crown Heights, one on the New York City subway. So there just feels to me, particularly over the past week, to be a string of, I don't want to say coordinated, but it does have a kind of global feel, to borrow the phrase, globalized intifada.

27:35And so while the Hanukkah holiday is about light, there's a sense right now there's a conversation happening in the Jewish community in the diaspora and in the U.S. and elsewhere about should the holiday also be about Jewish might and not just light, that we should really be thinking about how well we are protecting the community and defending ourselves. And so, like I said, it's been mixed. Yeah. Yeah. We talked a lot about these issues with David Wolpe on the episode earlier this week. And the big question we discussed is what can be done? And as you just suggested, there needs to be more thoughtfulness about security.

28:13There just does. But if you just take from from October 7th till today, what are things that can be built on to deal with the core questions here? Young people, anti-Semitism on the left and on the right. And I know you've spoken about your greater concern about anti-Semitism on the left, but there are problems on the right as well. So what are the building blocks? If we wanted to flip from being scared, as some people are, or in the moment of these incidents that you described and how to grapple with them kind of as momentary challenges, what are the positive things to build on for nations and individuals to build on?

28:50Yeah, I would say since your audience is largely focused on politics and you have a lot of politicians and political leaders or people with influence in politics that listen to this podcast, I would say to them what has been lacking on both the left and the right. I say I'm more alarmed by what's happening on the left than what's happening on the right, but I don't have zero concern about what's happening on the right. I see something happening there. I just think it's way behind where the left is in terms of how advanced it is, meaning on how the degree to which it's really permeated the base of electoral politics.

29:27And let me just spend a moment on that. See, on the left right now, as you know, Mark, virtually anyone, say, running for Congress, save for maybe 15 or 20 seats in the country, the overwhelming majority of congressional districts in the country, they are either very red districts, very blue districts. And the incumbents in those seats are rarely worried about a general election challenge. What they really live in fear of is a primary challenge. And so if you are a Democrat today, I mean, take a race happening here in the New York City area where Dan Goldman is being – Congressman Dan Goldman is being challenged by Brad Lander.

30:04I mean, I'm not going to say it's the only issue in the primary, but a big issue in the primary will be Israel and the Jewish community and the rise of anti-Semitism. and where Dan Goldman is being pressured by many Democratic primary voters is from the left on that issue, from the hard left, on criticizing him for being too supportive of the U.S.-Israel relationship. And so if you're a Democrat, I can give you other examples around the country. If you're a Democrat running for re-election, you live in fear of that. And all the pressure right now, all the energy among the Democratic primary electorate is on distancing the United States from Israel.

30:43That is not the case in Republican primaries. You'll be hard-pressed to find any Republican primaries in the country where the issue of the U.S. as a relationship is going to be a big issue, pressuring an incumbent Republican from the right. I mean, really, there are two members of Congress who have basically held that position. Tom Massey, who's facing a tough primary challenge, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who left Congress. But virtually, so that's what I mean. Again, I'm not saying the right Republicans can't arrive there. I'm just saying they're not where the Democrats are. And I think one of the lessons from what happened with the Democrats is the Democratic leadership did not confront this toxicity earlier.

31:22And they didn't shut it down earlier. And we tend to think, Mark, that anti-Semitism is nurtured and flourishes. Dare I say that, use that word, meaning it thrives. Let's say anti-Semitism thrives. We tend to think, if you look throughout history, that anti-Semitism only thrives in situations of chaos. And that's wrong. It often simply thrives with permission. That if leaders in that society, if the gatekeepers, if you will, in a particular society or institution give it permission. And I think the Democratic leadership gave it permission and then it kind of became this Frankenstein thing that got out of control.

32:02and I hope Republican leaders will learn from the Democratic lesson and what happened to Democrats and where they see it, they try to stamp it out quickly and don't give any permission to its rise. And that I would say, if you say, what's something people can do? What did Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, get wrong? I'm not saying he wanted there to be violent anti-Semitism against Jews in Australia. I'm not saying he even wanted to create a culture where there was thriving, energetic anti-Semitism. But the reality is, if you look at his history, back to when he first entered parliament, he created a culture and cultivated an environment and a political movement where anti-Semitism was given permission.

32:45And so the question is, what kind of political risks are leaders willing to take to confront their own base of support in order to stamp this stuff out? Right. I agree with you. And you've made a very important distinction. But here's a reality. And I don't like to make everything about Tucker. I really don't. But Tucker's really important. Tucker was on the All In podcast. Okay? So number one, Tucker is being, everybody's favorite word, platformed by being on All In. And on All In, he said his relationship with the president is better than it's ever been today. Okay? It surprised me a little bit.

33:24And maybe the president would disagree but clearly he's in good standing with the president. The guy who platformed Nick Fuentes, the guy who interviewed Nick Fuentes in a very soft way, and a guy who regularly says things that people who are concerned about anti-Semitism are really troubled by. So one of the most powerful people in MAGA, a very close friend to the president who says their relationship's never been better, and all the stuff with the Heritage Foundation. Like, you could say not everything should be about Tucker, and you could say, I know Tucker, he's not an anti-Semite. But isn't that the silence around that?

34:01It's not total silence. People are quitting heritage over it. But isn't the relative silence of the president and the vice president around that, isn't that something that if people just said buy and tolerate, you could say is contribute to a climate that's helping foster this? So first, of course, the answer is yes, okay? And now here's my caveat. Here's my but. The president hosted a Hanukkah party at the White House on Tuesday night. And it's worth watching his remarks because he basically said, I'm the best friend Israel and the Jewish community are ever going to have. And the reality is, Mark, if you look at the history of President Trump's first term and now this term, just one year into his first term, almost one year.

34:52you're you'd be hard pressed to find any president in in modern political history at least since 1948 for our purposes who is who has piled up the the record of accomplishments as it relates to the u.s's relationship that this president has i mean it's really i mean i i mean i just i i sometimes feel like a broken record rattling these things off but it's important you know first president despite many presidents talking about doing it to move the u.s embassy to jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as its capital, recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, putting a maximum pressure campaign on Iran in his first term, taking out Qasem Soleimani, who's responsible for more Israeli and American deaths in the Middle East than almost anyone else.

35:35Then obviously, and then the Abraham Accords. And then in this term, obviously, June of this year, the war against Iran and no daylight between the president and the prime minister as it relates to Israel's war in Gaza. So Israel's defensive war in Gaza. So it is, from the president's standpoint is, what do people care? Why are people hyperventilating or analyzing whether I'm friends with this person or whether I talk to this person or whether that person says my relationship with the president's never been better? Who cares? Look at what I've done. And I really, and I, friends of mine who've spoken to the president, about their concerns about some of the people he's associating with who are causing great concern within the Jewish community.

36:25The president's reaction is, guys, you don't have to worry about me. Like whether that person runs around and says we're friends or whether that person runs around and says they met with me, who cares? It's what I'm doing that matters. And he is right about that. Well, let's talk about something he's done, which is the peace deal. It's fallen off the radar as a matter of daily coverage because there's so much going on. Not on the Call Me Back podcast. Not on – well, that's why you're here, dude, to fill us in. Pretty much everything I know that's happened since the deal has been unfortunately negative, right?

36:57There's conflict in Gaza. There's been conflict in Syria. There's conflict – there's stuff breaking out. There's no sign of an international peace force on the ground. There's no sign of standing up a detailed plan or any plan to rebuild Gaza. There's still refugee issues. There's criticism of Israel on a variety of fronts. There doesn't seem to be forward motion. So what's the, except for the fact that the deal hasn't completely fallen apart, what are the pessimists getting wrong? What is on track about implementation of the deal, whether, whatever the ultimate rule, disposition of who runs Gaza is, what's on track about rebuilding, peace, withdrawal of forces, et cetera?

37:41so so i think you're right to say the reality is more by and large israeli soldiers if you just think about from israel's perspective are not being killed every week they were keep in mind there were casualties like almost every week either killed in action or just you know severely wounded and so that isn't happening all the living hostages are out of gaza there's there's still one deceased hostage, which I know is highly important to get back. But basically this is held while Israel is still in 53 % of Gaza, so it can protect its southern border. And the reality is Hamas doesn't pose a strategic threat to Israel anymore.

38:22It just doesn't, which means Israel doesn't have to really do much more than it is doing now for the time being. So that's like a big win. We underestimate. We play down. That's like a really big deal. Hamas is no longer a strategic threat to Israel. Okay, now the question is, who's gonna take care of Gaza going forward? That is a big question mark right now for the following reason. One, the countries that would volunteer to sign up to serve in the international stabilization force are not necessarily the countries Israel wants in Gaza. Some countries that have stepped up are ironically too close with Israel, right?

39:00So take a country like Germany, which my understanding is they did offer to contribute some kind of forces at one point, and Israel was uncomfortable with it. Why? Because the Israeli government has a very close relationship with the German government, and Israel knows that if things get messy in Gaza, at some point, even if there's an international stabilization force, Israel may, you know, when bullets start flying, and some of them are IDF bullets, the last thing Israel wants is the idea of killing a German soldier. So, you know, so they don't want countries that are too close with them. Now, a country like Turkey has wanted to come in, but they're almost too distant from Israel, meaning they're too much of an enemy of Israel, so Israel doesn't want enemies in Gaza.

39:34So the question is, who can you find that's in between those two? And the administration is working on that in coordination with Israel, but they haven't found— Who are the frontrunners? I'll tell you who you see in the press. The Azerbaijanis, there's talk from time to time from Indonesians or the Malaysians. I mean, this is not what I remember telling you what's publicly out there. Now, here's to me the wild card. Will the Saudis or the Emiratis come in? that's the real question yeah i could wave it's the wild card it's a 64 000 question and it might be essential right well for the following reason what the saudis have done especially under mbs but it began before mbs came became crown prince but especially under mbs is basically began after 9 11 in 2001 the saudis have demonstrated that they know how to de-radicalize very radical parts of its population i don't know mark if you've been to saudi arabia in the last few years but it's it's i mean i've been in and out of there over the last couple decades it's um you the transformation is extraordinary and this is not a you know regardless of what one thinks of the mbs or the transformation is is i mean it's it's incredible i mean they really and they've de-radicalized they have a real system for de-radicalizing really bad actors the emiratis have done the same thing they didn't face the same challenges in terms of radicalization of the Saudis but my point is there are governments in the in the region that know how to do this and that is what the Palestinian society needs it's one thing if Israel finds an international state of parties to participate in the international stabilization force and provide basic security but what do you do with the fact that a majority of Palestinian society still sympathizes with Hamas that is a massive problem of radicalization 100 there's so many positives the Saudis doing it it's unthinkable in on one level but there's so many positives is is israel all for the saudis doing it yes yeah so the problem isn't israel on this the the israel would be thrilled if the if the saudis or the emiratis did this yeah uh the i will tell you that um when you talk to saudi officials and not you know they will say and emirati officials they don't want their sons dying in gaza right in order to do this is one emirati official put it to me is he said you know the egyptians should do this why should the egyptians do it and the Egyptians may do it by the way the Egyptians may play a role he says the Egyptians should do it and I said why and he said because the Egyptians have no problem killing Gazan Palestinians they were doing it they've done it for a while they did they certainly did it before 48 and 67 when 1948 1967 when Egypt was in control of Gaza they said they're perfectly comfortable killing Palestinians or you know and the Saudis do not want to kill Palestinian Gazan Palestinians and And they don't want their young – look, most of Saudi society wants – they have some sympathy for the Gazan-Palestinians.

42:26But this is not their problem, and they don't want to own it, and they certainly don't want to risk lives trying to deal with it. They'll write checks, but they don't want bodies there. All right. We could drill down on this forever. I did want to talk to you about Ukraine, but we're getting close to out of time. So I want to talk to you about Secretary Rubio, who's also the national security advisor. I know you're hearing and have heard what I hear, which is incredibly influential. There's other players in national security. Scott Besson's involved, the Pentagon's involved, etc. Obviously, the special ambassadors, Whitcoff, Jared Kushner.

42:57But Marco Rubio basically works out of the White House now, not the State Department for the most part. Just talk about what you know about the role of Secretary Rubio in Venezuela, in the Middle East, in Russia, Ukraine now, as compared to what I would call a normal Secretary of State. Well, he's not like any normal Secretary of State. I don't want to call Rubio Kissinger. It's too early to apply the Kissinger crown to Rubio. But structurally, to your point, Mark, he structurally – there's only one other precedent for the structure that you just described, which is Kissinger, which is serving as both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.

43:34So I think he has comparable structural influence to Kissinger. And then the question is not just the structural and bureaucratic power, but it's the personal power and the relationship with the president. And like Kissinger, Rubio really has the confidence of the president. I mean, to me, another comp would be Condi, Rice, and Bush in terms of that confidence, except Condi did not have the bureaucratic and structural power that Rubio does. So Rubio has – other than Kissinger, unprecedented – at least since Kissinger – unprecedented structural and bureaucratic power, and he has a real personal relationship with the president that I really think has truly been developed since Trump has been president.

44:23I mean, it's not like they had, you know, I mean, I know Rubio is close to Marco's close to Susie Wiles and some other people around the president. But and I think where he's been very deft is in managing this whole Whitcoff Kushner situation, whereas previous I know two previous secretaries of state had a challenge with with Jared playing such an important role, an outsized role in the Middle East. I think Marco has figured out a way to balance that in a way that it's not a turf issue, and he's actually leveraged them, and they leverage him. And I actually think the dynamic is very – it works.

45:00It balances. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're interested in the inner workings of this administration when it comes to national security, the last thing Dan said is just – it's the story. It's the reality. It's a human story, but it also is allowing the United States government to deal with all these complex foreign policy matters at one time. Marco Rubio has put aside bureaucratic turf wars, made easier by the fact that he's got both jobs. But there are so many people who've been secretary of state who would look at Whitcoff and Jared Kushner's roles and say, oh, no, impossible. I'm not going to delegate that authority, but he has.

45:33But he's involved. And as Dan said, confidence of the president. It's an incredible story for a guy who has been underestimated, not by everyone, but by some people. And as a relatively young age, has turned into a fully functioning, grown-up, sophisticated Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, player on the world stage and player in the White House in a way that is quite something. Dan, again, I wish we'd go another 20, but we've got to stop. Very grateful to you. Very grateful you spent part of your holiday season with us. My best to your family and to you. And I'll remind everybody, if the Call Me Back podcast is not in your regular rotation, you're making a big mistake because it is worth the listen every time you learn something new and you understand in a sophisticated way what is happening.

46:20Dan, thank you. Thanks, Mark. Be well. Happy Hanukkah. Take care. Happy Hanukkah. Next up, Congressman Chris Collins, former congressman, maybe future congressman. He's written a brand new book about an extraordinary life, including a brush with the law and early support for Donald Trump, which continues to pay dividends in his life. Next up, Congressman Chris Collins. Hey, folks, all of us have had this experience, nights, awful sleep, tossing and turning. And one thing is for sure, lack of sleep is horrible for your health. And that's why I want to tell you about Beam's Dream Powder. Beam is proudly founded in America.

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48:12All right, next up, a person with a book called My Remarkable Life, and I'd say truth of an advertising. Chris Collins has had a remarkable life, and it continues to be remarkable as he tries to become one of the few people in American history to be in the U.S. House of Representatives from two different states. But having served as a member of Congress from New York, both before and after he got elected to Congress, he had a pretty remarkable life. And we're going to talk about that with author, former member of Congress, Chris Collins. Congressman, welcome, and thank you for making time. Merry Christmas to you.

48:44Oh, Mark, I'm very happy to be with you and all of your listeners. And I, too, want to wish everyone a very happy holiday as we end what we know is a very tumultuous year of 2025. So to be with everyone. And I have written a book. It was published just two days ago. So here we go. What's a guy who represented a local elected official, a county executive and member of Congress. What's a guy who lived in New York doing in Florida? That's the oldest story in the book. New Yorker flees for warmer climes. But what are you doing in Florida now? Well, I'm enjoying what I thought was a bit of a retirement but with President Trump back in office.

49:25And as people can find out in my book, I was the first member of Congress on February 24th of 2016 to endorse Donald Trump for president. I was ridiculed. There were political cartoons written about me in the Buffalo News. And I stood firmly with now President Trump back when he was candidate Trump in 2016. I seconded his nomination at the convention in Cleveland. And when those Access Hollywood tapes hit less than four weeks from the election and people like Paul Ryan put a knife in his back, told him he shouldn't be running and to turn it over to Mike Pence, I was the one on national news defending Donald Trump, reminding people that in his case, it was locker room talk and words.

50:12In the case of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton at his side. These were actions. So I compared words to actions, defended him, and ultimately he did win. And that was a good day for me as well. He never forgot my early endorsement of him. And he appointed me to be the congressional liaison to the White House. And I spent those next couple of years flying on Air Force One meetings in the Roosevelt Room, where he always had me sitting directly at his left. So I got to know President Trump very, very well. And certainly, in my case, my role in Congress shifted significantly. And my early endorsement of him turned out to be very good timing on my part.

50:59Yeah. So we're going to talk about this whole thing, the whole run of your career in the book, including that you're now again running for Congress in Florida. And you got a pretty good chances, best I can tell, to return to the House. You endorsed the president, as you said, in February of 16. And we're going to talk about that in a second. In reward for your early support for the president, first a member of Congress to support him, you were part of the transition committee. As you said, you met with him frequently. Then after you had what we call a little bit of trouble with the law, we'll talk about your conviction, you're having pled guilty, you got a presidential pardon.

51:37All of these things grew out of your relationship with the president. It all starts with your endorsement of him. Now, I want to unpack your endorsement of him. You didn't endorse him originally. You were a supporter of Jeb Bush. And then when Governor Bush has failed as a presidential candidate, please clap, you shipped it to Donald Trump. It's kind of incredible that you were the first in the sense that he got into the race in 2015 and not one member of Congress chose to endorse him. And yet today he has more control over, sway with, whatever you want to say, members of the Republican Party than any president of our lifetime.

52:11So how did everybody miss it? How did you and others miss 2015 when Donald Trump came down the escalator, gave his announcement speech? Why didn't more people see then what everybody or almost everybody seems to see now? Well, in my case, I thought that Jeb Bush certainly had the background and looked to be the credentials with a lot of experience. And so, yeah, I was early on with Jeb Bush, and that was well before Donald Trump even entered the picture. And I'm not somebody who would just leave somebody at the curb. And so I stayed with Jeb Bush. Again, I was very early on with him, even before he formally announced.

52:55But when he did pretty much self-destruct during the debates and his campaign floundered, I waited until after South Carolina when he did officially drop out. That's when I said, OK, I'm going to endorse now President Trump, a business person like me. And when I looked at the other candidates, he was my obvious choice. But I was loyal to Jeb Bush until he dropped out. And I'm not making it, I don't want to make it as much about you. It's just as kind of a, to me, it's kind of a gee whiz question. A guy who eventually would come to dominate, as he has for almost a decade now, the Republican Party, same guy, right?

53:37We're still talking about Donald Trump. Same agenda, immigration, Washington's not working, standing up to China, economic growth. Same guy in all of 2015. How could it be that not even you've got I would argue you've got a special excuse because you'd endorse someone already. You'd endorse someone early so you couldn't switch over. But how most members were unaffiliated. How could it be that everybody at the party didn't come to that conclusion in 2015? I can't answer that question. They would have to. But, you know, throughout 2016, there were only I created what was called the Trump caucus.

54:15us. Throughout the entire election cycle, there were only 11 of us that would even stand up and say we were supporting Donald Trump. Now Senator Marsha Blackburn and now Senator Kevin Kramer were two of the other 10 beside me. But I carried that torch and I can't speak for the other members, but I'm a private sector guy. And that was what Donald Trump was. They just blew him off and said he doesn't have experience in the political world, I guess, which they must have thought was the most important. But yeah, it was a fairly lonely period of time between February and November when there were only 11 of us in the entire United States Congress standing with Donald Trump.

55:04Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about what led you to leave Congress and eventually get a presidential pardon. Just, you know, I always say people shouldn't be judged by the worst day or days of their lives. And you've been involved in public service. You've been a successful business person. You're running for Congress again. But tell people the story. How did you come to end up having to plead guilty and become a convicted felon? Well, it comes back to the Department of Injustice. And my situation was fairly similar to General Flynn. When, in this case, Jeff Berman, the U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York, went big game hunting.

55:40I had been involved in a biotech company that was creating a drug to treat secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in Australia and New Zealand. And there was a stock that was publicly traded in Australia, not in the United States. Myself and my two children had stock in that company. It turns out that the trial surprisingly failed. And I did share those results with my son. And as the chairman of the board later said in a letter to the judge, every member of the board shared that information with their family because it was a trading halt on the stock in Australia where it was traded. No one could trade it.

56:24Unbeknownst to me, my son had moved his stock into the U.S. with a brokerage firm. And unsurprisingly for all of us, NASDAQ did not honor the trading halt. And the surprise was the next morning, the stock was being traded on NASDAQ, what they call the pink sheets, off market. And my 24-year-old son did sell some of his stock. I didn't know his fiance had also bought a few hundred shares. She sold her stock. And when he called me the next morning, there was nothing more I could do about it other than to say, you know, that shouldn't have happened. We're not going to talk about it. And let's just move on.

57:09Well, Jeff Berman saw an opportunity to leverage my son to come after me, even though I never sold any stock, was never accused of it. It was a trading halt on the stock when I called my son with the information. But that whole story revolved around what the Department of Justice does. They typically leverage family where they can. And in my case, they leveraged my son, basically forcing me, in my opinion, to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit insider trading because I didn't trade. And the FBI had knocked on my door, set me up, and claimed I made a false statement, which I did not do.

57:53But they charged me with making a false statement. And I was, frankly, forced to plead guilty to those two charges in order to take some pressure off the situation with my son. and fortunately by me taking the fall and then because of that having to resign from Congress, my son ultimately was just given a sentence of probation, whereas they did send me to federal prison. That's a chapter in my book, which was really mortifying to me, but I think people who will go on Amazon maybe today and buy my book, My Remarkable Life, they'll be horrified at what I was put through for 10 weeks before President Trump did pardon me on December 22nd of 2020, three days before Christmas.

58:40I was home for Christmas and then I had to basically rebuild my life. Took me a good three years to climb out of the shell I was in. I was embarrassed, you know, convicted felon, yes, with a pardon, but nevertheless, convicted felon. So it took me a good three years, Mark, maybe four, before I was able to walk with my shoulders high, my head held high. And now I am back, and I am running for Congress again. I intend to win and go back to serve with President Trump for the last two years now of his second administration. Yeah. A couple follow-ups for you. First of all, I have a friend who went to prison.

59:25He was indicted for things that he didn't believe he did, that he was sealed the way you do. But he pled guilty as well because his lawyers told him it was the right thing to do. I think some Americans would say, if you were innocent, why plead guilty? And I know you explained a little bit. You did it to take pressure off your son. But is it possible that it would have been better to go to a trial and try to fight it? Well, no, I would not have been convicted at a trial. the case against me had completely fallen apart. Jeff Berman, the political U.S. attorney, admitted that in a book he wrote.

1:00:03And he even admitted in the book that they leveraged my son thinking that would force me to plead guilty, which it did. And, you know, Mark, if you look, and there've been a lot of reports on this, in the federal system, 98 percent, 98 percent of all individuals charged with a federal crime plead guilty. They do so because typically they leverage family where they can, in my case, and also General Flynn. But they threaten you with 50 years in federal prison. They charge me with 11 felonies, 11, where it would have been 40 years and my son the same way. I made a six-minute phone call, never sold any stock.

1:00:48And I was looking at It could have been literally a 40-year sentence in prison. I chose to, you know, which 98 % of all individuals charged in this report say it is a department of injustice. They leverage family. They overcharge with the threat of decades in prison. And that's why 98%, whether you're guilty or not, plead guilty to reduce their exposure. Yeah. What can be done? What can be done? And this is a big, a big cause for the president. It's a big cause for MAGA. It's a big cause for liberals who get caught up in the same thing. Any family that's gone through this. So out of control prosecutors, political prosecutors, prosecutions that leverage family.

1:01:36No one would say that that's right. What's the solution in our society to to try to keep that from happening? How does that how can that be part of how justice works in America? Well, the difficult thing is a lot of these U.S. attorneys, and in fact, even the judge in my case, had been a former prosecutor in the same Southern District of New York. He ruled against every single motion we made. And just so the listeners know this, this was 2020. In the midst of the COVID pandemic, I was 70 years old with underlying health conditions, and they forced me into that federal prison on October 13th of 2020.

1:02:16There was no treatments for COVID. It was in the worst possible state. They put my life in jeopardy because there was a rumor I might be pardoned. And they wanted me behind bars prior to being pardoned. And they forced me in and put my life at risk, both the judge and the prosecutor. So, you know, let's start with an FBI interview. They don't record interviews. One person is asking questions. Another one is writing down what they think they heard or what they think might turn into a charge, in my case, of making a false statement, which I did not do. But there's no tape recording. So the simplest thing we can do is force the FBI, like every other agency, to tape record the interview.

1:03:07In my case, that would show I did not make a false statement. That one could be easily done. The rest of it, though, the overcharging, in my case, 11 felonies went for a six-minute phone call when I didn't even sell any stock. I guess that's just unprofessional behavior. And I'm not sure exactly how we get to the bottom of that because these U.S. attorneys pretty much are unfettered. And if they're big game hunting, they know they can at the end of the day get a guilty plea, you know, because they've charged somebody like me or my son with potentially four decades in prison. Yeah, it's it's unfortunate that even someone as thoughtful as you is connected to public policy and obviously had the searing experience.

1:03:52It's unfortunate that you're pretty limited in what you can recommend because prosecutors have a lot of power. I want to ask you one more question about this on a personal level, and then I want to move on to politics. I know the answer to the question of did people start to treat you differently in your neighborhood, in your community, in politics? I know the answer is yes. What separated, in your mind, the people who stood by you from the people who walked away from you? Well, Mark, my friends stood by me. When I was looking at a potential four-decade prison sentence, I had 137 people, which is unheard of, many, many members of Congress, write letters saying, We know Chris Collins.

1:04:38We know he's a thoughtful person with, you know, family man, with integrity. We ask that he be treated in that manner as the criminal justice system issues a sentence. people that knew me and they all knew I never sold stock understood you know my standing behind my beside my son so your friends and your family it will stand with you in my case after many many many decades of public service and success in the private sector so I guess my reputation even though it was trashed with a guilty plea that made me a convicted felon. Thank God my friends did stand with me during those very, very dark days.

1:05:29That doesn't happen with a lot of folks. Again, we're talking to author, former member of Congress, maybe future member of Congress, Chris Collins, new book, My Remarkable Life, available now. He was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump back in the first campaign, the 2016 campaign. You have a, I'll call this, you know, there's this whole image of Florida as a kind of a wacky place. And I think it's pretty well earned. You're running for in the district where currently Byron Donald's is running for governor is. And here's some of the, here's the descriptions of some of the people running in your primary.

1:06:06And the winner of the primary is almost certainly going to be elected a member of Congress because of the nature of the district. A guy who is a retired medical salesman, a guy who owns a media company. Jim Oberweiss, former Illinois state senator who's run for a bunch of stuff. A jeweler, a former advisor to a member of Congress, an HVAC installer, and then Madison Cawthorn, who used to be a congressman from North Carolina. Am I right that you're the favorite to win the nomination? Is that fair to I have a lot of support. And what I have is a resume of success and accomplishments in both the private sector as an entrepreneur that's created thousands of jobs with 22 separate companies.

1:06:51And also as a successful politician, the county executive of Erie County, New York, based in Buffalo when it was bankrupt when I was elected and then elected and reelected to four terms in Congress, 2012, 14, 16 and 18. So my resume of success and accomplishments dwarfs all of the others who are saying, here's what I think I may do if you elect me. Well, I've got a resume of accomplishments. I passed the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act that was signed into law and many others. Six total bills that I sponsored were signed into law, which is a bit unusual. I served on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

1:07:33So my resume of accomplishments and success do separate me from all the other, what will probably be 14 other candidates. So one thing that I don't, unless I missed it, one thing that's not on your resume is endorsed candidate by Donald John Trump. And of course, you did endorse him. You expect the president to endorse you in this race? Let's just say I will be addressing that after the first of the year when I really kick things off. The election's not till August 18th. It's still nine months away. So I will be approaching him at some point there in January. I would certainly very much appreciate his endorsement.

1:08:15One thing I can say, he may just decide to take a timeout. This is a Republican seat, 65-35. It's not a purple seat. Whoever wins the primary on August 18th will be the next member of Congress for this area. So I'm confident he won't endorse anyone else. They decide to take a timeout. Yeah. I mean, I'll say I'm going to say this and you can respond if you want. But my view is my experience in Republican primaries in almost every district in America is if the president endorses a candidate, it's dispositive. There's no fundraising and other endorsements. Nothing else matters. And given your history with the president, that you were the first for him, stood loyally by him after what happened with Access Hollywood, a big supporter of his, the fact that he felt strongly enough about you to give you a pardon, I'd be surprised if the president didn't endorse you.

1:09:10I'm not saying you can't win the primary without him, but I'd be surprised if you didn't. Well, I hope that's the case, Mark, but you can't take anything for granted. I will say, assuming let's say he did not and he just stayed out of the race, I can tell you, you know, the photos of me on Air Force One and the Oval Office meeting in the Roosevelt Room and so forth. My campaign will be many, many direct mail pieces or advertising with the president at my side. So the voters in the 19th Congressional District of Florida will certainly know about my background and support with President Trump as my campaign moves forward.

1:09:52But I agree with you, if I was able to get his endorsement, that would pretty much be a game changer. Yeah. One of the things we try to do on this program is is educate people in the country about what Donald Trump's really like, because I say all the time, I've never read a New York Times or Washington Post story that accurately describes the president, how he is with people, his personality, et cetera. And I say that not as you are a big supporter of the president, just as a journalist who's interested in people understanding the truth. So tell people, because you've spent so much time with them, what are things about the president that you think normal consumers of normal media, even conservative media, what are things you've seen about him, observed about him, that you think is not accurately captured and wouldn't be commonly known to folks?

1:10:37Well, let's start with the fact he is the most loyal individual to ever walk. And I think people do see some of that. There was some controversy about Susie Wiles over the last couple of days and an interview with Vanity Fair. And it took President Trump two seconds to stand beside her and support her. So his loyalty is truly amazing. But I think that the most surprising thing, because, you know, he's very opinionated and you hear that in press conferences, in meetings, he's very quiet. He's very thoughtful. He asks everyone at the table, whether it's two people or 15, what do you think? Tell me your thoughts.

1:11:23I can remember it's in my book, one of the first meetings of his campaign team where I was in the meeting, Kellyanne Conway. At one point, the president, after listening, turned to Kellyanne and said, what will the women, Kelly, think of this situation with ISIS and so forth. And she was pretty funny. She said, well, Mr. Trump, 72.6 % of the women in America will support your decision, at which point he turned to the team and said, all right, that's what we're going to do. And when he makes a decision, you better march with him. But the fact that he's a quiet listener, probing and asking the opinions of everyone around him before he makes the decision.

1:12:08I think most people would find that surprising. They think he just jumps to conclusions, which he absolutely does not do. He makes his decisions based on facts and input. But I can also assure everyone, when he makes the decision, you better follow his lead moving forward. Is he a funny guy? He's very funny. He's a human being. You know, he, yes, he jokes around. He's, you know, he and I, you know, we had a kind of a special relationship. I'd sit next to him in the Roosevelt room and people would always ask for his autographs. And I've been known to poke him in the side as he's speaking and say, Mr.

1:12:52President, could you autograph these for some of my friends? And he'd look at me and he'd say, OK. And then he'd start signing away, autographing things in the middle of a meeting. No, he's funny. He's a human being. He's a great guy to be around. And he just happens to be the leader of the world. If he called you this afternoon and said, Chris, tell me what I could be doing better in this job. What's something I could improve in how I'm doing lately? What would you tell him something he could improve in? Well, I think I'm not going to give him a one thing I'm not going to do right now is give him advice as he's facing things that no one's ever faced, whether it's Venezuela and now the oil boycott.

1:13:34I would basically just say, Mr. President, stay the course. You are making the progress you had promised. You've made the country safe again. You're making the world safe. With Robert Kennedy, you're making the country healthy again. I would just simply, my advice would be stay the course. And the good news is he's not running for reelection. So he can do what's right without any thoughts of public opinion. You know, we all care about what the public thinks. But he's more focused on doing the right thing, knowing, you know, it's still early in this administration. He's got three more years as things will start to come together.

1:14:15What's the economy and other things, you know, affordability. he was just dealt a tough hand, the disaster of the Biden years. So my advice to him is stay the course. All right, Congressman, I'm really grateful to you for making time. My Remarkable Life is a remarkable book, and it's a story unlike any other. It's an incredible American story about someone, extraordinary success in business and in politics, and then a brush with the law that was certainly a pivot point, leave Congress after building a relationship with an unexpected president, and now back in society at the table and trying to return to a job that not everybody in America wants, but the congressman wants to go back and do it and try it again.

1:14:59And we'll watch your primary with great interest and look forward to seeing after the first of the year, whether you get that endorsement. Congressman, grateful to you. Congratulations on the book and Merry Christmas to you. Yes, same to you, Mark. Very much enjoyed this. All right. That's it for today's program. We'll be back next year. It's the last one of 2025, but we'll have all new episodes the first week of January. Wishing all Nexters a very happy holiday, very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. You can subscribe to the program on YouTube, and you may watch it every week, but once or twice a week, but go to YouTube and hit the subscribe button if you haven't done that yet.

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