Let's Talk Local Podcast | A Primary Showdown: Wesley Hunt and Ken Paxton Unfiltered

00:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Hi. I'm Sarah Zubiate Bennett, and you've probably heard it already. Candidates across Texas are gearing up for the March election. Your vote in the primary plays a huge role in determining who will actually appear on the general election ballot. There's a lot at stake in our city, our state, and our country right now, and participating in the process is one of the most important things we can do as citizens.

00:21

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

On this episode of Let's Talk Local, we're bringing you two of the candidates running for US Senate here in Texas. Current attorney general Cam Paxton and congressman Wesley Hunt from the Houston area. Both men believe they're the right choice to represent Texans in Washington. So I invited them on the show to answer questions I believe matter most when you're deciding who deserves your vote. My hope is that you'll listen with an open mind, take in what they each have to say, and be at the polls on March 3.

00:46

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Thanks so much for being here. Attorney General Ken Paxton, thank you for being here.

01:05

Ken Paxton

Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

01:07

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I'm happy. I'm grateful to you for coming into Dallas.

01:09

Ken Paxton

Yeah, it's a little chilly today.

01:10

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

It is chilly. It is chilly. But you just yesterday made waves across the state of Texas surrounding DEI. And I am so excited for you to tell our viewers and listeners exactly what that all entailed, please, if you would.

01:28

Ken Paxton

So we've obviously had a controversy with DEI over the years. It's been promoted by government organizations, by businesses. And all we were saying is as it relates to businesses I mean, I mean, as it relates to government, businesses are free to do whatever they want based on their shareholders. But as it relates to government, DEI is unconstitutional and inappropriate. And so we wanted to make that clear to address it for Texas so that that whole idea, which was so pronounced and so on its own momentum role through our country and in Texas as well, and people were not speaking out about it.

02:12

Ken Paxton

It was just becoming accepted. It was becoming the norm. And in my opinion, as we spoke out, it was a 75 page opinion. Yep. So there's a lot in there.

02:21

Ken Paxton

Mhmm. In my opinion, it needed to be addressed. And so we addressed it, and we addressed it on Martin Luther King Day for

02:28

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

a Martin Luther King. Purpose

02:30

Ken Paxton

because it was he who led the fight on civil rights and justice and people being judged on their character and not on the color of their skin or on anything else. That's the way it should be. All should be judged on our merit, our character, and how we do our job.

02:48

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And as a Latina lady, I appreciate that. I thank you for it. You just met my brother. He's now president of Ashford. And it's not because he's Hector Sanchez.

03:03

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

It's because he is a hardworking, smart, capable, honest person. And I thank you and applaud that. So Thank you.

03:13

Ken Paxton

It's been a long time coming up. And you know, we did a lot of work and we did our research. And I hopefully, this will stand as an example or at least a piece of work that can be used by Allstate agencies and potentially even businesses and individuals to point to what Martin Luther King believed. Which again, it's not about anything other than the content of your character and your ability to go out and do the job.

03:44

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right. I have beautiful paintings of him in my office at home, and it's because of that he championed truth and Christian values that I believe have laid

03:58

Ken Paxton

Justice a lasting based on

04:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

04:00

Ken Paxton

People should not be discriminated against based on their religion, their ethnicity, color of their skin.

04:08

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

04:08

Ken Paxton

They should have the same opportunities in this country. I think that he was the of the lightning rod, the catalyst for making that happen in this country.

04:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right. And you have really made some sweeping changes. Huge, huge, I think lasting legislation in this state. What gave you the, I guess, the desire to throw your hat in the ring for this Senate race?

04:40

Ken Paxton

So I think for me, it was it was I had three terms as attorney general, which is Mhmm. Tied Abbott for the longest serving attorney general. And it just felt like that was long enough that somebody else had to come in to do the job. It's people tend to stay in jobs a long time, and Mhmm. I'm I like the idea of of bringing in new blood and having but I also had three terms where I had a mission, where I knew exactly what I wanted to do first time as Obama and taking on incredible unconstitutional actions by president Obama.

05:12

Ken Paxton

And we did that in his two the two years that we had overlapped. I had twenty seven lawsuits against him in two years. And then the second round, I really felt a mission to go after some of the big tech and some of the big pharmaceutical companies. And also, I really focused on election integrity and trying to protect our elections in Texas, and we did that. And we've had a lot of battles over prosecuting voter fraud, the whole battle of having to elect a whole new court of criminal appeals because of their craziness and unconstitutional actions and taking away my my right as attorney general to prosecute voter fraud, and we're we're got that back.

05:46

Ken Paxton

And then my third term, after the election that was, in my opinion, stolen, I had the opportunity to defend the state and the country again against unconstitutional actions by Joe Biden, which were even more aggressive than Obama. And we we sued him a 107 times in the four years. And we were won against both presidents, Obama and Biden, about 80% of the time. It was close to 80% of the time.

06:11

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Why do you think people should really be paying attention to this senate race if they've kind of tuned out from politics in general? Why is this, in your opinion, very important?

06:23

Ken Paxton

I think far too long. I mean, we're in a primary right now, so far too long. We're just glad that we have a Republican. But it really does matter what they do. And the thing that I realized was we have a senator that gets stuff done, senator Tan Cruz.

06:38

Ken Paxton

And we have another one, and I've asked this since April 8. I've gone around the state in every meeting, big or small. Can you name one good accomplishment for John Cornyn? I've never gotten an answer to that question. He's been in office since I was in college.

06:55

Ken Paxton

I'm 63 now. Mhmm. I I gave him the whole forty plus years. It is stunning that no one can answer that question. Now we can point to a lot of bad things.

07:04

Ken Paxton

We can point to what he did to help Joe Biden with second amendment restrictions. It wouldn't have happened without John Cornyn. He was a he was a catalyst from the Republican side to make it happen. He voted with mostly Democrats, and Joe Biden was was proud of him. Now president Trump was, and he criticized him and said he was a rhino, should be challenged in a primary.

07:22

Ken Paxton

Those were his words. And so here I am. But I wish that was the only bad thing he did. I mean, he is the author of Robin Hood. He was put there by George W.

07:31

Ken Paxton

Bush to make sure that Robin Hood was created, which is a socialistic model for our schools. And we have been negatively impacted by that for decades now. He wrote the five four majority opinion that created Ruttenberg. That is a bad thing. That is a really bad thing.

07:44

Ken Paxton

So you start with his career, and you can go to today. And there are just so many bad things, whether it's the budget, whether it's what he did with Joe Biden helping with these refugees that came from, Afghanistan, whether it's his fight to stop the border wall from being built, whether it was fight to stop Trump from being reelected and and and sort of insinuating that he was a criminal. And John does that a lot. He was a judge, a Supreme Court judge, but he insinuates without any evidence that people are guilty. He's done that to me.

08:12

Ken Paxton

He's done that to Donald Trump. He's done it to others. That is not a good judge. That is not a a a fair senator. And, frankly, it's time after what?

08:22

Ken Paxton

He's he's running for his fifth term? No one's ever done that in Texas. Not Sam Houston, not LBJ, not John Tower, not Phil Grier. No one. And this is this is not an exceptional guy.

08:33

Ken Paxton

He's not been exceptional. He's been just the opposite. He's been a disappointment, and we deserve better in Texas.

08:39

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Mhmm. Why do you think he won't respond to any of the Dallas Express's requests to interview him?

08:49

Ken Paxton

Look, I wouldn't want to interview if I was going to get challenging questions. If I were him, I wouldn't want to answer those questions either. He's got nothing to be proud of. I mean, he's going to have to answer questions that I just brought up, and he doesn't have anything to, like, counter with saying, well, you know, I restricted Second Amendment rights because what is he gonna say? I helped Joe Biden resettle the Afghans without any vetting because what's he gonna say about fighting Donald Trump?

09:14

Ken Paxton

If you ask him the question, he can run all his commercials. What? Spent $50,000,000 so far running commercials, telling us Uh-huh. Making up lies about he's a big Donald Trump supporter. He didn't like Donald Trump.

09:25

Ken Paxton

He's never been a supporter of Donald Trump until I got into the race on April 8. He was not a supporter of Donald Trump. And as soon as the this is the fake John Cornyn. The real John Cornyn is coming back. After the primary, we will see him no matter what.

09:36

Ken Paxton

Mhmm. If he gets beat by 30 points, he's coming back as the real John Cornyn, anti Trump, anti the issues that Texans care about, whether it's second amendment rights or whether it's the border wall or whether it's whatever. He is the budget. He has not he's not our guy. He he belongs if we're gonna have a Republican like that, let's put him in the, you know, Delaware or somewhere like that, but not Texas.

09:57

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yep. So so you think that the reason that people should care about this particular senate race is exactly why.

10:08

Ken Paxton

They should care because Texans deserve good representation. They deserve a senator, first of all, that will meet with them. He doesn't meet with people. He doesn't address issues. I've been all over the state, and that's one of the biggest complaints I get.

10:21

Ken Paxton

He won't meet with us. He won't resolve he won't help us. Second, they deserve a senator who will actually vote the way that you would expect a Republican, a conservative Republican to vote. He doesn't do that. He is in the game, the Washington established game.

10:35

Ken Paxton

That's why they're funding his race. I mean, there's how do you raise $50,000,000 with a 3,500 per person limit in the primary? He's not subject to the same fundraising rules that I am, which says, I can only raise $7,000 a person, $3,500 from for the primary. How do you possibly spend 45 to $50,000,000 since mid July if you actually are following those rules? Those rules don't apply to him or or many or any incumbent, unfortunately.

11:02

Ken Paxton

That's why they almost always win because the the fundraising rules are rigged in their favor. And John McCain and Russ Feingold put it made sure of that. They made sure that no republic no republican or democrat would ever lose a primary, And they set it up by by limiting how much challengers could raise to almost like, you you can you imagine, like, $3,500 a person, how many people I have to get to just to do one commercial?

11:23

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I know.

11:24

Ken Paxton

How how is he raising 50,000,000 on $3,500 a person if they're following the same rules? Yep. They're not. Yep. And he knows he knew going into this race that he'd have a huge fundraiser advantage, not because he's out raising me on the dollar you know, 3,500, 3,500, 7,000, 7,000.

11:41

Ken Paxton

No. I'm not raising him there. I just don't have all these special committees that he has access to that can raise extra multiples of what I'm allowed to raise.

11:50

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah, that's interesting perspective. Thank you for sharing that. In this kind of new wave of, let's say, leadership, Wesley Hunt is just a few years older than I am. He's in his 40s. And so he's really championing term limits and the importance surrounding term limits.

12:10

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Do you have any opinions regarding two things? Term limits, just your comments in general there. And two, the benefits or disadvantages of someone who is very experienced.

12:26

Ken Paxton

Look. I think I want to vote for somebody I know has performed. And I think just look at records. Look at what people have actually accomplished, not what they say. Mhmm.

12:35

Ken Paxton

And so I think it is important. Experience could be bad. Like, John Cornyn has a lot of experience, but it's bad. I've got a lot of experience, but I would argue it's accomplished a lot of good for the state of Texas and for the country. As far as term limits, I definitely think we need term limits at the federal level because of the way they've rigged the system.

12:55

Ken Paxton

When you do term limits, California has them, Illinois has them, lot of Democrat states have them, you definitely empower the bureaucracy and the lobbyists and the staff because your your your elected representative doesn't get to stay very long.

13:06

Ken Paxton

It isn't by the time they know what's going on, it's still they're out. The lobbyist's control. So I've I don't from that standpoint, there's a high risk in doing it. But if you're gonna rig the system, like we have a citizen legislature in Texas. It's not rigged and you can raise as much money as you want.

13:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

13:21

Ken Paxton

Would not think that we need term limits in Texas legislature. At the higher levels, I would be more for them. Like at a statewide level, I wouldn't be opposed to three terms and you're done at that level Mhmm. Because you accumulate so much power at those big levels and you have such a fundraising advantage, it it tends to get less fair. So I guess I have mixed feelings based on where they're at.

13:45

Ken Paxton

But certainly at the federal level, if you're gonna rig the game where once you're an incumbent, you get to raise fifteen, twenty times the amount of money that the challenger is, then you shouldn't be allowed to stay very long. Mhmm. You should those rules need to be changed. And then I'd say, Okay, we can give them we can give them a few more terms if they're if it's fair. If it's an even playing field, it's but right now, absolutely, term limits are needed at the federal level.

14:07

Ken Paxton

A 100%.

14:08

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yep. I I do agree with you on that. So thank you for sharing that. And I mean, you've been leading the polls for quite a while.

14:18

Ken Paxton

The whole time. From start to finish.

14:22

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

You believe that you'll be entering into a runoff? And if so, who do you believe will be your challenger? And three, who do you prefer to be in a runoff with?

14:37

Ken Paxton

I I've been leaning from start to finish. I I don't it doesn't matter to me who's who's who's in the if there is a runoff. I think that there's only one person can win this without a runoff. That's me. Those two have to fight it out for second and third.

14:52

Ken Paxton

And so, obviously, John Cornyn's got gotta be concerned about finishing third with his power by the time we're done with 70,000,000. I don't know what he's gonna spend. It's gonna be a lot. And by the way, disturbing because that money is coming from Republicans who think they're funding against Democrats. And these committees are all spending money to beat conservative Republicans.

15:12

Ken Paxton

That is a little deceptive, maybe a lot deceptive, and I don't think right. Because we're we could lose other races because they're funding an incumbent who who should not be running again. And he I'll be honest. I've talked to some of his supporters, even his supporters. When I ask him, explain to me why John's running for his fifth term.

15:32

Ken Paxton

No one's ever done it. Why is he doing this?

15:36

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

What do they say?

15:37

Ken Paxton

They just put their head down. They go, we don't think he should be. No one should run for five terms. But John's our friend, and so you don't need to be running as our friend. Mhmm.

15:50

Ken Paxton

Even though we agree with you, he should not be running. I'm like, that's a really bad reason. You know he shouldn't be running. No one thinks he should be running. And that's why he's doing so poorly.

16:01

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. And I mean, yes, to to your point, how old is he now?

16:05

Ken Paxton

So I think he's almost 74. Okay.

16:08

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Okay.

16:09

Ken Paxton

But, you know, so he'd be in his eighties when he when he finished his fifth term. And I just think don't think anybody should serve five terms.

16:17

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

No. Yeah. Yeah. I I I'm with you on that. What are three of your top issues that you would really press time on in Washington?

16:28

Ken Paxton

So first is election integrity. Because if you don't fix that, and you've got all these states that don't have photo ID, and they affect our national elections. So I can't make us any state fix their state elections, But I do think we should fix federal elections and make sure that there's photo ID. We need to we have the loosest election laws maybe in the world. Yep.

16:48

Ken Paxton

And it should it has to be fixed because everything else we care about is controlled by that election and whether it's fair. And if people can cheat relatively easy, which they can if there's no identification that you can count on. So I think whatever we need to do federally to make sure that elections in these other states that don't protect their elections, we gotta fix that. Mhmm. The ball balancing the budget, it's insane that since John Cornyn has been in office, from the time of George Washington till the time he went into office as a US senator, our our national deficit was 6,200,000,000,000.0.

17:22

Ken Paxton

That's a lot. But under John Cornyn, you'll notice he doesn't ever say we shouldn't spend all this money. He's right there voting for all the spending, whether it's international, Ukraine, billions and billions of dollars. And over he's overseeing the budget deficit going from 6,200,000,000,000.0 to what is it? Almost 38,000,000,000,000 now.

17:39

Ken Paxton

Maybe it is 30,000,000,000,000. It's hard to keep track. It goes up so fast. That's wrong. He has done nothing about it, and I think we have to address it.

17:47

Ken Paxton

Some we need to start speaking out. And there's a few centers that do, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson and a few others. I will be one of those saying, hey. We need to take this seriously, Cause it is going to affect our country. And it seems like it could affect us relatively soon because of the just tremendous growth of that deficit.

18:04

Ken Paxton

I think there are so many other issues. Tax rates are too high and people say, well, you need it for the high deficit. Well, no. You actually, I think you actually encourage economic growth if you if you reduce taxes, are significantly higher than need to be, including corporate taxes. I also think we have to fix the health care system.

18:24

Ken Paxton

This Obamacare stuff, what a disaster. And I know now people are dependent on it, but we have to find a way to get doctors and patients back together instead of insurance companies, big hospitals, and the government. Because right now, that's who's controlling health care, and it is not good for the patient. It is not good. We are disincentivizing smart people from going into medicine.

18:48

Ken Paxton

And guess what? That will have an impact on our health care. Why would you go into health care when you don't you get told by an insurance company it has nothing to do with health care. You can only charge this amount. That should be negotiated more between the patient and the doctor.

19:03

Ken Paxton

And doctors should have to compete on quality and they should have to compete on price. And right now, that's not happening.

19:10

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yep. I believe in the next five to ten years that we're going to see Social Security, the whole system implode, and our health care system. There must be change. If not, I just don't see it trending the right direction. What about the devaluation of the dollar?

19:30

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

My background, I'm a former bond trader. I love currency. I love finance. I love economics. That is where my worry also lies is within that.

19:42

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I mean the cost of commodities, price of commodities, silver and gold are truly they've risen so much in comparison to the US dollar. Do you have any worries about that?

19:54

Ken Paxton

Absolutely. It's created simply Joe Biden inflation. I mean, we are we are now reaping the whirlwind of massive federal spending that went into all these, like, where I don't even know where all the money went went to climate change stuff and NGOs, nongovernmental organizations Mhmm. That are unaccountable for how they spend the money. There's billions and billions, maybe, you know, trillions.

20:14

Ken Paxton

I don't know. We don't even know when all these NGOs and their nonprofits and then all this money gets spent. We don't even know what it actually got spent. I just went to, you know, Stacey Abrams. Wouldn't she get $2,000,000,000 for That those policies of spending like that create problems and

20:33

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

20:33

Ken Paxton

Devalue our dollar because and and and people feel it. They feel the the massive rise in food prices and energy prices. It's all caused by Joe Biden spending, and now Trump's having to deal with it. He's having to deal with the consequences. We're all having to deal with the consequences.

20:48

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

You don't think it's generations of leadership also at the federal level within, I mean, people who can actually

20:58

Ken Paxton

Yes. I mean

20:59

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Just print money?

21:00

Ken Paxton

That's why I mentioned from the time of John Cornyn. We already had Exactly. 6,200,000,000,000 is a lot. But now we're what? Six times that?

21:10

Ken Paxton

More than six times that?

21:10

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

More than six times.

21:12

Ken Paxton

What has John Cornyn said about it? Nothing. I don't ever hear him speak out. I haven't heard. I name no.

21:17

Ken Paxton

I he doesn't he doesn't fight the spending. He's he signs onto it. Mhmm. He's part of this massive problem that we have. We have inflation because he went along with the program with Joe Biden.

21:29

Ken Paxton

Yep. He did. Hyperinflation.

21:31

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. It's here. And how do you want Texans to measure if you are a senator, right, six years in. What would constitute failure in your view?

21:44

Ken Paxton

Failure is not fighting. You can't win unless you try. Mhmm. I think you have to measure somebody by their actions. I can't make every senator I can't even make make a majority.

22:01

Ken Paxton

All I can do is go out and fight. I can be out talking about it. I can be out proposing the right things. I can be out working behind the scenes. Mhmm.

22:10

Ken Paxton

I was in the legislature for twelve years. It's much more difficult for for for anybody because you what if I'm trying to pass a bill that I think is awesome. I put it on the floor or I put it in the committee, it almost never comes out the bill that I start with. And the the challenging thing about legislature is, I remember Reagan say saying if you get 80% of the loaf, take it. Sometimes if you got 55% of the loaf, you took it.

22:34

Ken Paxton

Right? Because you're like and sometimes people held you responsible because you voted for something that a bill that had some bad stuff in it, but you had to assess because you don't get to say, hey, take that out, cut that out. No one gets to do that because everybody's subject to the legislative process. You have, as a legislator, you have to make some tough calls and sometimes it's just like, oh gosh, I don't want to vote for this, but I need this. And it's not a clean shot.

22:57

Ken Paxton

Like in my job, I just make a clean shot. Right? I mean, I can pretty much write a lawsuit the way I want to or decide to do it or not do it. I get I don't have other people telling me, you know, a hundred hundred other people telling her 99 other people telling me and then another house over there and president. You got a lot more players in that.

23:14

Ken Paxton

You don't get to decide everything. So you're constantly measuring success by how much did I advance the agenda? And I think it's a different, harder thing to do in the legislature. But if you don't have people in there pushing for it, it's what I did in the Texas House, Texas, Senate. I pushed for a lot of things.

23:33

Ken Paxton

Did I get them all? No. Look at my record. I think I was rated the most conservative house member four out of five times. I have second ones.

23:42

Ken Paxton

And then I was the most I was rated the most conservative Senator. Okay. Did I get anywhere close to what I want? Like, I wanted to get rid the property tax. It is like my passion.

23:49

Ken Paxton

And I know how to do it, but I can't make the legislature, I can't even make the Republicans care about it. They give lip service to it.

23:58

Ken Paxton

And I'm like, okay, is that success? No, I was never happy with that, but I was never, I'd never stopped trying every session. And that's what you have to do. You just can't quit.

24:10

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right. And what would be

24:12

Ken Paxton

Oh, your me give you example. I filed when I was in the house. I think he did in the Senate too, to get rid of in state tuition that was created by Rick Perry.

24:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yes. That's right.

24:21

Ken Paxton

Guess what I got to do as AG? I got sued by the federal government over in state tuition and I signed a consent decree saying they're right and we got rid of it like that. So I get to fix this thing a different way, but I never quit trying. We figured out another way because the legislature wouldn't fix it. Could never Why Rick Perry did that?

24:45

Ken Paxton

What a bad idea.

24:46

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Agree.

24:47

Ken Paxton

A very bad idea from Rick Perry. And he said it was compassionate. It is not compassionate to take taxpayer dollars from from residents who are paying taxes and give it to somebody who is here illegally and take it away from a resident who has been paying taxes that lives here. I don't see how that's compassionate, Mr. Perry, But that was his approach, and I totally disagree with it.

25:13

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. If you were to become senator, what would be your first piece of legislation that you'd file?

25:20

Ken Paxton

I think it would be on election integrity. It would be related to fixing elections so that they are fair and we can trust them. Because fundamental to our system is believing Mhmm. That our elections are fair. Everything else, budget, pick you know, whatever other issues we're dealing with.

25:38

Ken Paxton

If we don't have fair elections, we don't trust it. People stop voting. Stop believing in in this constitutional republic that so deserves our protection for the future. And right now, it's getting abused.

25:51

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Oh, for sure. And I believe that eventual civil unrest will

25:54

Ken Paxton

occur. Absolutely to that.

25:56

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah, if there is not that fundamental trust. What about people who are very concerned about Islamification?

26:06

Ken Paxton

Look, I get that. You look at what's happened across Europe, they're losing their countries.

26:11

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Of course.

26:12

Ken Paxton

I think we are a First Amendment protect religious liberty, we protect political speech. It is the foundation of our constitution. I do not care what religion people are and what they profess and what they believe. And they should be able to share that and they should be able to worship however they want to. However, when you start promoting a different set of laws, Sharia law, and you tell your community, we're not following state law.

26:40

Ken Paxton

We're not following federal law. We're not following US constitution. We are now governed by Sharia law. That's a different story. That is not protected, and that's what we have to fight.

26:48

Ken Paxton

And that's why I've sued this whole epic thing because they violated state and federal law. I didn't sue them because their religion's different than mine or different than yours.

26:57

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. Can you share a few of the laws that they violated?

27:00

Ken Paxton

Was all very technical. State and federal securities laws are making offerings that were fraudulently made and that were not accurate. I don't care what religion you are, you can't do that. Yep. And so I think we have to focus on are they following the law and are they creating laws that should not be followed?

27:20

Ken Paxton

That's not their job. No community. I don't care what your religion is. You want to come to America, you're going to follow our laws. And if you want to change them, then you get elected and go change them.

27:30

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Well, that's happening.

27:31

Ken Paxton

Well, that's part of our system.

27:33

Ken Paxton

And if we're going to have a constitutional republic and people don't pay attention, you can lose your freedom. And if you let that happen, then you let that happen. And I think our founders recognize that you had to be diligent and that this country had to be governed by good people or we were not going to hold it together.

27:53

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Is there anything that you want to leave our viewers and listeners with respect to your campaign, who you are, anything that you stand for?

28:00

Ken Paxton

Look, I want them to know that I have fought for Texas, whether it was in the Texas House, Texas Senate, Attorney General. I think if you look at my body of work, there aren't many attorney generals in the country that have fought like I have. Agree. If you add up my losses just against Joe Biden, think it's more than all the other states combined by some multiple. Taking on big tech, taking on big pharma.

28:25

Ken Paxton

I mean, it's not easy to go do that stuff. It's much easier to sit back and just, you know, do the job. Right? I didn't have to do all this stuff. I did it because I thought Texas deserved protection, and sometimes it cost me greatly, just like Donald Trump.

28:40

Ken Paxton

It has cost him. If you wanna go into those fights and you really care about the American people, there are a lot of forces both in the Democrat and the Republican Party that do not care. Mhmm. They're all the uni party is a real problem. And I want the people at Texas to know they deserve the same type of action.

28:58

Ken Paxton

Look at the action. You can judge people all kinds of different ways, but look at their actions and make a determination. Has this person fought for us? And the reality is I don't think by any measure John Cornyn has not fought for us. You can take any two week period.

29:15

Ken Paxton

I've been attorney general. Any two week period except for the two weeks of Christmas and the one week of Thanksgiving because most of my employees are off.

29:21

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Mhmm.

29:23

Ken Paxton

You pick it. John can pick it. I've accomplished more in two weeks, any two weeks, than he's accomplished in his whole forty plus year career. That's good. Now he's had some a lot of bad accomplishments.

29:34

Ken Paxton

I'm talking about good. Go look at it. Anybody can look at it any two week period of time. I beat his whole forty years. You pick it.

29:43

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's a powerful statement to leave with. Thank you for being here.

29:46

Ken Paxton

Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

29:47

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Thank you. Congressman Wesley Hunt, thank you so much for coming to, I guess, interview with me today. You're calling in from Houston, Texas. You are a new voice for change. That is for sure.

30:02

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And your name being thrown into the Senate race was incredibly surprising and exciting, I think, for many people. Would you mind telling our viewers and listeners just how that came to be? You're clearly a man of much varied experience. I can't wait to get into that as well. But I just want to know particularly what it was that ignited your desire to enter this race.

30:33

Wesley Hunt

Well, for starters, thank you for having me on.

30:34

Ken Paxton

Of course.

30:35

Wesley Hunt

Really really appreciate this. And what really kinda got me in this race is that is that the United States Senate is just not a retirement community. And it is time for the next generation of leadership to step into the fray and to lead us post Trump, which is gonna be in the next three years. And there's a reason why president Trump's vice president is 41 years old. There's a reason why the secretary of state is in his early fifties.

30:57

Wesley Hunt

Secretary of war is in his mid forties is because he understands that in order for us to set up the America first agenda for generations to come, the time is now. And I view myself as somebody that has cut from a very similar cloth as the gentleman that I just named. I was the first person in the country to endorse president Trump. Consequently, I was also one of his top surrogates traveling around with him and on his behalf for this last election. And I viewed this last election as the most consequential election in my lifetime because I realized that we had to have him back because the alternative of being Harrison Walls was simply unacceptable.

31:36

Wesley Hunt

And, also, I believe in term limits. I don't believe in career politicians. John Cornyn has been around for twenty four years. That's long enough. It is time for us to get to this race right now, and I've been a congressman for all of three years.

31:51

Wesley Hunt

I'm literally already term limiting myself in the halls of congress, and I wanna get in. I wanna do two terms, and then it's time for me to go do something else. Look, God gave me a beautiful family. I'm a strong believer in Jesus Christ, and he gave me the most lovely family in the entire world. At some point, my seven, five, and my three year old are gonna need their daddy to come back home and raise them the same way that my parents raised me.

32:16

Wesley Hunt

But right now, I view this as my time and my window to give back to my great nation yet again as a West Point graduate, as somebody that flew 55 combat air missions in Baghdad as an Apache helicopter pilot, two tours of duty to Saudi Arabia as somebody that has served and fought for this country. I view this as my next deployment and continued service to this nation, and that's what got me in this race.

32:39

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Now that's a strong answer. Thank you for sharing that. And I'd love to delve a little bit into your upbringing because I love your no victim mindset. I've read a lot about you. Clearly this is our first time meeting, so it is nice to meet you.

32:57

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

But everything that I read and that I've watched really leans into the fact that you had some exceptional parents. They have grit. They have a no victim mentality. And they raised you and your siblings who I mean your sister went to West Point too, right?

33:19

Wesley Hunt

And my brother.

33:19

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Your brother. Dear God. Okay. So you all are cut from a particularly exceptional line, let's say. But please share a little bit about your upbringing.

33:30

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Where exactly in Houston? Just more of the things that people aren't already aware of.

33:37

Wesley Hunt

Yeah. I grew up in a suburb of Houston, Texas and then drove one hour, one way every single day to attend a private school in in here in Houston. The funny thing about that is is that the distance that I drove from North Houston to the private school that was in the and that was in the city ended up being the, the exact boundaries of the district that I now represent. So I I I'm actually representing my hometown. I grew up in a very Baptist home.

34:03

Wesley Hunt

We went to church every Wednesday and every Sunday. We prayed before every meal. We ate meals together as a family. My dad's a retired colonel in the army. My sister's a West Point graduate, class of '93.

34:16

Wesley Hunt

She went on to serve twenty three years active duty as a military intelligence officer. I'm a West Point graduate, Apache helicopter pilot, deployed to Iraq and Saudi. My brother is also a West Point graduate, and then he cross commissioned into the navy. So there's sixty, six zero years worth of military service just in my immediate family. And at one point in 2006, my brother and sister and I were all deployed to The Middle East at the same time for two months.

34:43

Wesley Hunt

And so when you talk about sacrifice and you talk about service, my parents raised us in a home that this is the greatest country in the world. If you can't make it here, you can't make it anywhere. And my dad would oftentimes talk about how he grew up in a segregated South. My dad is 75 years old. His grandkids call him and he loves them and they love him back, but he grew up in the segregated South.

35:07

Wesley Hunt

My mother grew up in the segregated South in New Orleans. They didn't have a class with a single white person from kindergarten through post college because they went to historically black college and university at Southern University. And so when you look at their three children and they're and and great great grandfather was born on a plantation, My dad would say, son, we had it difficult. You don't have it difficult. There are no excuses.

35:34

Wesley Hunt

If you can't make it here now, then you're not going to make it anywhere. And so when you think about Silas Crawford, who is my great great grandfather who was born on Rosedown Plantation in Louisiana. And you look at his three great great grandchildren, all went to West Point. My brother went to Harvard Business School. I earned three master's degrees and four years from Cornell University.

35:54

Wesley Hunt

My sister has her master's degree in applied mathematics and was a math instructor at West Point as a captain and a major while my brother and I were both cadets. And you look at that and you look at someone like me who was The United States congressman in a white majority district president Trump would have won by 20 points, and I won by 25 points. And I'm running for United States senate as a black man, as a republican, as a conservative in the great state of Texas, and Texas is gonna have two senators, one Cuban American and one black American, and nobody cares what we look like. We are being judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of my character. And it started off with the upbringing of my parents to realize that, yes, life's not fair.

36:36

Wesley Hunt

Get over it. If you're gonna be somebody in this country, you can do whatever you want with hard work, grit, determination and don't be a victim, be a victor.

36:46

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Mhmm. Amen to that. It's It's refreshing to hear that perspective. I know I'm two of my minority women. I'm a Latina, my mother had to give me up for adoption.

36:59

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

She couldn't afford to keep me. She was an immigrant, but I was given up and I was raised here in The United States also to my parents who are now both passed, George and Gloria Subbiette. But if you were to meet my siblings and I today, we all vote conservatively. We're all Latinos, right? And people don't understand because I was not raised with my mother.

37:29

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

She could have aborted me, she didn't.

37:32

Wesley Hunt

Wow.

37:32

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

She kept I mean she had me, right? But just gave me up at birth. And whenever I met my biological family, it was interesting because they had, you know, immigrated to The United States and while I was raised stateside and also kind of back and forth from Juarez and El Paso, it was a beautiful upbringing in that sense. But people find it hard to believe that, you know, our family was separated because she gave birth to me stateside, went back to Mexico, came across legally, which means our family was separated and I was not raised with my biological family. And to listen to her unabashed strength in saying, if you wanna come to this country and make it, everyone sacrifices.

38:25

Ken Paxton

That's right.

38:25

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Any immigrant. No one should expect to have things intact, things easily presented to them. No. And now to look at and thank God, you know, she she raised four not she didn't raise me, but I'm saying she birthed four very independent, strong, thank God, smart, hardworking people. And so when I meet persons such as yourself who understand that, know, well, I do absolutely have trauma and there's difficulty that I went through in my life.

39:02

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

But on the grand scheme of things, I have my children, my husband, my health. No, you nor I have probably suffered the way that many of our ancestors did. And so we're here today to tell a different story. So you're now in this race with two gentlemen. Right?

39:25

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Sitting Attorney General Cam Paxton and Senator John Cornyn. How do you view yourselves as distinctly different from these two gentlemen?

39:37

Wesley Hunt

Well, the biggest thing for me is again, I like talking about the next generation of leadership and that's what I'm hearing as I'm traveling across the state. I think people love the fact that I'm a young man. I think people love the fact that I've fought for this country. I'm the one only one of the three of us that has actually served this country in combat. I'm the guy that went to West Point.

39:54

Wesley Hunt

I am the guy, again, that bleeds the red, white, and blue because I'm the one that was willing to actually serve for this country. I think people like the fact that I have young children because they actually under I understand what we're going through every single day.

40:06

Ken Paxton

Yeah.

40:07

Wesley Hunt

Seven to five, a three year old and the struggle is real. We're all in this together. And so, I think, you know, me being, you know, a younger man, I think is really, really intriguing to a lot of people. Also, I'm a real conservative here, especially in today's by today's definition. Like I said, I was the first person to endorse president Trump.

40:30

Wesley Hunt

And again, that was way before our current senator John Cornyn endorsed president Trump. You have to keep in mind, president Trump just won Texas by 15.7 points. This is America first country. And so you have to have America first senators and that's just isn't John Cornyn. John Cornyn made a big mistake too as well here in Texas by co authoring gun control legislation.

40:52

Wesley Hunt

Mhmm. That's just not gonna fly here. Mhmm. And what happens when you're a 24 incumbent and you spend too much time in DC and not enough time here in Texas is you tend to lose touch with what's actually going on down here. That's what happens when you're a twenty four year incumbent and has been around for as for as long as I have been born.

41:10

Wesley Hunt

He first got elected when I was 11 old. This is I can't make this up. Really can't make this up.

41:18

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

It's funny.

41:18

Wesley Hunt

Mean, it's not it's

41:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

not funny, but it is it

41:21

Ken Paxton

is Yes.

41:22

Wesley Hunt

But but it but it's true. And at and at some point, even I talked to my dad who was around the same age as Senator Cornyn and he said, it's it's just time it's time to retire and spend some time with the grandkids at some point. And a lot people bring up president Trump being 79 years old and I quickly say, he is an anomaly. I can assure you, you are not Donald Trump. And as somebody that traveled around the country with him, flew around with him, opened for him at rallies, I could tell you he is a different breed.

41:49

Wesley Hunt

But he also surrounded himself saving himself around young people. And so, again, true America First patriots that believe in the second amendment, that understand the importance of a border wall, which senator Cornyn said that it was not necessary, and I quote, at the end of the day, there are some very stark differences and a man that has now spent $70,000,000 in this race

42:12

Ken Paxton

Mhmm.

42:12

Wesley Hunt

As a twenty four year incumbent and is polling in the twenties clearly shows me that the people of Texas, especially in the Republican primary, are looking for other options. And that's all I wanted to do, was get the people of Texas a true young conservative option to step into the breach, especially now because president Trump's gonna be here for three more years and we need leadership for four, eight, twelve years down the line. Mhmm.

42:38

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And what about, Ken Paxton? So I know you Yeah. Spent significant time on Cornyn. What about Paxton? What about the differences there?

42:46

Wesley Hunt

I think, Ken Paxton, what we know is we're probably going to have a similar voting record. One big difference between you and I is that my Liberty score is already, at about 96%.

42:55

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

42:56

Wesley Hunt

And and that's very, very good, and I'm already voting at the federal level. So you actually already know what you're gonna get from me. I've already been a proven commodity there as well. But this is, again, this is no shade to Ken. This is no offense to Ken.

43:07

Wesley Hunt

But, I mean, he's gonna be eligible for Social Security in the next couple of years. And then we're gonna be having this exact same conversation after one term, he's gonna then be in his seventies. And again, people are just looking for the next generation. And yes, is Ken Farmore conservative than than than John? Of course he is.

43:27

Wesley Hunt

Mhmm. But again, you're gonna have somebody that in twelve years, six to twelve years, I'm gonna be in my mid fifties.

43:32

Ken Paxton

Mhmm.

43:32

Wesley Hunt

I'm still gonna be spry, I'm still gonna be ready to go, I'm still gonna be ready to fight, but also at that point, I'm terminating myself to two terms and then it's time for me to go back home and raise my children.

43:43

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Interesting. Okay. Alright. So that's I was actually gonna ask you, so since you're talking about term limits, great. So let's say hypothetically you do win this race, K.

43:55

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Two terms. Yes. You just answered that question of mine. What do you see yourself doing post service?

44:06

Wesley Hunt

I see myself going to a lot of my son's football games.

44:09

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I love that.

44:10

Wesley Hunt

And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. See, my father my father is a man that that that raises children and and my dad is a guy that was at every single varsity game I ever had when I was in high school.

44:25

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Oh, what a

44:26

Wesley Hunt

the kinds of things that really create strong men is when you have strong fathers and a and a and a strong father that's in your home and a two parent home. And my mother my mother is the one that raised us as well every single day. Mhmm. And so I don't I am not the father to my kids that my dad was to me at this time because I'm on a 135 flights every single year. I'm flying back and forth to DC.

44:47

Wesley Hunt

I have never spent a weekend in DC, and that's actually for two reasons. Number one, I want to make sure that my children know who their father is, and I can't be gone for that long. But also, I wanna make sure that I spend more time in my district than I do in DC. Because when you're out eating in Houston and somebody doesn't like what you're doing, they're gonna tell you about it. And so when you have your ear to the ground because you spend more time in your hometown than you do up in the swamp, people then tell you what's good, what's bad, and then you're able to represent them better.

45:18

Wesley Hunt

And so at some point, when this is all said and done, I wanna be in my mid fifties, politics is over, doing something in the private sector, and going to a lot of football games.

45:28

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Beautiful. And you were captain of the football team, weren't you?

45:31

Wesley Hunt

In high school. Yes. I was.

45:33

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And then

45:33

Wesley Hunt

I played a little bit at West Point too.

45:35

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's great. That's great. Moving over to some of the issues that are impacting Texans most today, which are your top two most pressing issues in which you intend to devote significant energy towards?

45:52

Wesley Hunt

So as as a senator, what we need to do is get rid of filibuster so we could get we could codify president Trump's agenda that's all currently being held up in the senate by legacy senators. That's that's the first problem that we're seeing. We need to make sure that we codify president Trump's border security executive order. The way it stands right now, we could have have a Democrat, hopefully, not so in in the very distant future, but we can have a Democrat that can literally undo what president Trump has done and that's secure our southern border. We didn't need any more laws.

46:23

Wesley Hunt

We just needed another president. And then just like that, Abu Dhabi, our southern border is now secure. But now it's up to us to codify that. That's a really big issue to us Texans. Another big issue that I am discovering as I'm traveling around Texas and keep my ear to the ground is the is the Islamification of certain areas in our great state.

46:41

Wesley Hunt

Mhmm. And as somebody that lived in Saudi Arabia and spent time in Iraq and spent time in countries that lived under Sharia law, I'm here to tell you that's not going to coincide with the values of America. We have our own constitution. We have our own set of laws. You don't get to come here and live under your own set of rules.

47:00

Wesley Hunt

In fact, if you think you're going to do that, you need to go back to your country of origin. And I'm a come one, come all kind of person as long as you are willing to put the priorities of this country first and abide by these rules and abide by these laws. And yes, I'm a follower of Christ and I understand everybody isn't going to be that, but I'm also an American too. And if you're gonna live in this country, you need to understand exactly what that means. And watching the disaster unfold in Minneapolis and what's going on with the governor of Minnesota, that will not be Texas.

47:31

Wesley Hunt

Seeing what's happening in New York City, that will not be Texas. And as somebody again that has lived in The Middle East and was awakened that every single day by the perpetual call to prayer, you can do that in your own house, on your own time, serving your own God, but that doesn't mean that that's going to be the loss of this land. Another thing that I really wanna protect is the oil and gas and energy industry because oil and gas and energy is an input to everything. We had an energy senator of The United States, and it was Joe Manchin, and he is no longer here a Democrat. And I think now it's time for me here in Texas with the Permian Basin right at our feet to fill that void.

48:09

Wesley Hunt

The energy corridor is entirely in my district right now as a congressman, so I've done a lot of work for the oil and gas and energy industry. I wanna take that and do it for the entire state of Texas. And people need to understand that affordability is a problem. Inflation is a problem. Well, the way to solve that is through energy, through lowering regulations so you can lower cost for every single American.

48:31

Wesley Hunt

Those are my top three initiatives.

48:34

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Can you speak a little bit more about that last one relating to energy? What What sorts conversations have you had with people in your district relating to that being one of the best ways to ensure success for our economic standing?

48:55

Wesley Hunt

Of course. Well, regulation is a big problem here. And under the Biden administration, we got regulated to the point to where we're no longer net exporters of LNG, natural of of of liquid natural gas. And at that point, when during the press during the last Trump administration, we were energy dominant. Energy dominance is what we absolutely must achieve and this is also an issue of national security.

49:18

Wesley Hunt

You see, when we don't have strong energy policy in this country, we then relinquish our power to rogue nations like Venezuela, like Iran, like other OPEC nations and we're sitting on the Permian Basin and the Marcellus Shale and Alaska and the Eagle Ford Shale. God gave us these vast resources right here in our own country and we do it safer and better and cleaner than anywhere else in the world. And for those people that think that we are going to be able to supply us with the energy that we've come accustomed to, by wind and solar and other renewables, it's not gonna work. This is gonna be an all hands on deck approach and I am somebody that has worked that has worked, a hand in glove with oil and gas industries and with oil and gas companies for the past three years to achieve lower regulation so that we can have these companies that become more successful. So then they could then reinvest back into their companies, reinvest back in the future energy, proposals for the future of this country, and at the end of the day, that's how we're going to get cost down.

50:23

Wesley Hunt

Energy, oil and gas, natural gas is an input for everything. It's an input for pharmaceuticals, it's an for travel, It's an input for hospitality. You name it. Everything is tangentially related to that. And my understanding of that is going to make me a very strong senator when it comes to energy policy.

50:40

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Great. Thank you for sharing that perspective. And I'm going to shift slightly to the dollar. It's it used to once be the world reserve currency, still is. But as we see gold and silver's appreciation in comparison to most other investments.

51:03

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Do you have any concern with respect to the US dollar today and where it will be in reserve or world reserve currency status in a few years time?

51:13

Wesley Hunt

I'm almost certainly do. This is a problem when you have a 30 we have $38,000,000,000,000 in debt and I want I want people to know that when when when senator Cornyn first was elected to the United States Senate, our national debt was below $200,000,000,000 and now it's 38,000,000,000,000 under their watch. And this is a part of the problem when you're running a $38,000,000,000,000 deficit and then now you have a $2,000,000,000,000 annual deficit.

51:40

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

51:41

Wesley Hunt

And now it's almost impossible for us to get out of this rut and all that is kind of the beginnings and it's a very complicated reason why the the dollar is devaluing, but this is a point of concern. I think the greatest existential threat to my children is gonna be our national debt. Absolutely. At this point, we have to grow our way out of it and continue to cut our way out of it, but we have to do both simultaneously. And one of the ways that we grow our way out of this is is is ensuring that we have exponential growth in the oil and gas side and the energy side of this country.

52:14

Wesley Hunt

Again, God gave us Wall Street in New York, we have the tech boom and the tech industry in California, and then right here down south in Texas and also in Pennsylvania, that is natural gas and oil country and there is exponential growth given the technology the the technological advances that we have seen over the course of the past decade with hydraulic fracturing. So at the end of the day, the way to grow our way out of this to add more value to the dollar is gonna be having a robust energy industry, but also cutting fraud, waste, and abuse like we're seeing in Minnesota and getting and getting back to regular order in the United States Congress and that's voting for individual appropriations bills instead of voting for all the continuing resolutions and omnibus spending that's got us here over the past twenty years.

53:01

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yes. I'm I'm with you there, unfortunately. And if I think about what our kids and so I told you I had a house full of like 10 or 11 kids right now. Our oldest are 12 and youngest is 10. Monty and I have a blended family.

53:21

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

But I am constantly speaking to them about the importance of diversification with respect to their own investments when they're older. And if I think now, yes, absolutely energy, oil, and gas. Do you have insights on AI, on the energy and the power that we're going to need to develop Texas appropriately, to ensure that we can actually run as much of the industry, the tech industry specifically that's coming here?

53:59

Wesley Hunt

AI is coming. We're going to need more power generation or else it's going to drive up the prices of everyday Americans and we just flat out can't afford it. And what I've seen over the course of the past few years is unlikely bedfellows if you're looking at the tech industry and oil and gas industry partnering because they realize that that when the sun doesn't shine, a solar doesn't work, and when the wind don't blow, windmills don't work and you need natural gas to run your AI data centers, well, guess what? We'll see in the Permian Basin. But also, have to be very very acutely aware of again, cost, raising costs for everyone else, which means that we have to produce more efficiently and we need more power generation because the AI boom is coming.

54:36

Wesley Hunt

And also, people aren't talking about the water that's required as well. It's not just energy

54:41

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right.

54:41

Wesley Hunt

Off of a lot of water.

54:42

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Absolutely.

54:43

Wesley Hunt

It's all hands on deck approach. It's gonna be nuclear. It's going to be wind. It's gonna be solar. It's gonna be natural gas.

54:49

Wesley Hunt

It's gonna be oil. It's gonna be fossil fuels, you name it. But we need more electrons, not fewer. And we've got to continue to give ourselves some runway to innovate for the future.

54:59

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And your degree, undergraduate degree, is mechanical engineering, right? Yes. Okay, good. So that's particularly helpful with respect to oil and gas as well, at least having that type of education.

55:13

Wesley Hunt

And graduate school, have my master's in business administration, the master's in public administration, and the master's of industrial and labor relations. Yes. Labor relations. It's labor, it's money, and it's policy. And I'm disciplined in all three of those categories that coupled with the mechanical engineering and business background from West Point is why I'm uniquely positioned to solve these issues that are going to be happening in my lifetime.

55:40

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yes. In our lifetime and our children's lifetime. It's it is truly, a worry of mine and so I'm glad to hear your particular take in these respective areas. Moving over a tad to family. So I know that you're I love that you balance that type of life because being a congressman as you've learned is it requires a lot of you to be away a good bit.

56:11

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

How is your wife, supporting your race for the senate?

56:19

Wesley Hunt

Well, I told my wife, we weren't married when I was, when I was deployed and when I was in the military, so she missed all the deployments when I was gone. But I told her a couple of weeks ago after the New Year, I said, I'm gonna be on deployment for the next fifty days. Yeah. And she's a pediatric nurse practitioner. She's born and raised she's a doctorate in nursing.

56:37

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah.

56:38

Wesley Hunt

She's she's she's born and raised in Iowa and she will always tell everybody, it's my job to be supportive and I know who I married. And so she's the rock of this family. Well, I mean, without her, there's no way we would be able Absolutely. Know, from day to day. I mean, she gets up, we have the three kiddos, she gets them ready, gets them out to school, takes them, drops them off, she has a full time job herself and again, she is just somebody that again, it's always our spouses.

57:02

Wesley Hunt

I mean, I wouldn't be here or be able to do this without her and she also understands that I'm doing this for the country, I'm doing this for the family, I'm doing this for the future of our children and she just wants to play her part as well as what she has told me and she's doing just that.

57:16

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's terrific. And she is a faith abiding woman, I presume as well. Proverbs 31 woman, very just big into that role, the importance of being that foundation for the family. That's wonderful to hear. And what do you want to leave a lot of our viewers and listeners with, let's say who have more concerns about the Islamification of Texas?

57:46

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Because I know we keep Minnesota's very poignant and pertinent. But Texas, what type of strategic elements would you bring to that particular arena?

58:00

Wesley Hunt

I mean, again, as somebody that's lived in The Middle East and lived in these regions, I understand exactly what's going on. As somebody that was in Saudi Arabia from 2010 through 2012, That was a time where women did not have the have the, have the legal ability to operate a motor vehicle. So when I see liberals, unhinged liberals, I start defending Sharia law and defending some of these cultural norms that don't coincide with that that don't, not coincide but but but but they don't They can't coexist with American culture, I'll put it to you like that. I kinda laugh because I I think to myself there's no way that you would last two minutes in these regions given your beliefs and given how you feel. Only in America can you behave this way and not be either thrown in jail or for that case, even potentially killed.

58:51

Wesley Hunt

So what I know is what I have lived and what I have seen, so I know what to look for and what to prevent from coming to my own state and to our own country. And that's what I have, this unique experience of living in these regions and understanding exactly what it's all about. Now does does that mean I don't want Muslims in this country? That that's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying at all.

59:13

Wesley Hunt

You you we have the freedom of religion in this great nation. However, this is still America and you have to assimilate to our culture.

59:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I have a lot of family that is very liberal and they confide in me often and say, this whole Islamic movement is really scary. And it's one particular family member of mine who's in a same sex relationship. And this person tells me, I don't think many people understand what that means for a lot of our rights even. And I concur and I say that's correct. I do believe that it is something to not just worry about, but to act decisively about when you're voting.

60:07

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Because the people who are championing change and championing the Western values that I know many people criticize, capitalism, collectivism, I know it's so such a hot button issue right now. I I do see it coming from the conservative side and it's not just because I am a conservative woman. It's simply because I I don't see anything being done by our fellow Democrats or liberal voters. Do you find that I am misled at all? Not at

60:41

Wesley Hunt

Not Okay.

60:42

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Not at all. My husband had a call with, Brandon Gill before he was elected. He's he's a good man.

60:49

Wesley Hunt

I like Brandon.

60:50

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. And that was his advice saying you must not allow yourself to be brainwashed. You must spend more time.

60:58

Wesley Hunt

No. Brandon is good.

61:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. In your district. He certainly is. He certainly is good.

61:03

Wesley Hunt

Brain we're gonna got the memo.

61:05

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

He did. He did. And so either way, who do you find yourself spending time with whenever you are in Washington? What different congressional persons or people at all do you find yourself surrounding yourself with to avoid that type of, brain rot?

61:24

Wesley Hunt

Yeah. We're a really good buddy of mine is Eli Crane at Arizona. Yeah.

61:28

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Okay.

61:28

Wesley Hunt

Yeah. Yeah. Eli. Yeah. In fact, I actually had Eli.

61:31

Wesley Hunt

Eli was in my announcement video. He's a solid guy, Navy, former Navy SEAL Yeah. Sniper, backbone, strong guy, real conservative. That's the kind of people that I spend my time around.

61:43

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Yeah. That's and it clearly shows not just your demeanor, your candor, it shows a lot in your personal life as well because anything anyone can research about you shows that through and through. Do you think you would be slightly more aggressive as a senator than you have been? I I know three years is a good amount of time, but have been or plan to be as a congressman.

62:11

Wesley Hunt

I don't think the word's aggressive, ma'am. I think the word's gonna be authentic. And if that comes across as being aggressive at times, well well then so be it. Again, I get up in the morning, I realize that. And I get up in the morning, I say the twenty third Psalm, I say my prayers to Jesus.

62:25

Wesley Hunt

I thank Him for yet another day and I thank Him for allowing me to be as authentic as I possibly can. My dad kind of raised us to be just just you will say, just tell the truth. The truth is so much better, you don't have

62:36

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

So to liberty.

62:37

Wesley Hunt

And they may not, they may People may not agree with you, they may not like what you say, but at least they're gonna know exactly where you stand and if that comes across as aggressive, well then so be it. I always tell people I've been shot at before, trust me, I can deal with it. There's nothing you can say to me that's gonna hurt my feelings and I have buried West Point classmates over the years that didn't make it out of combat. And so I get up every day knowing that it's a gift from God, if not by the grace of God, I wouldn't even be here. And so again, being myself, continuing to serve this great nation, telling the truth, that's the only person I know

63:10

Ken Paxton

how to be.

63:11

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I love it. And the only reason I use that word aggressive is because people who I know who have been and my husband is not the one, but kind of our group. But they just they've told me, you know, I don't really know Wesley Hunt, but Ken Paxton is so aggressive. He's a fighter. Yeah.

63:31

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And in

63:32

Wesley Hunt

Well, I'm literally a war fighter.

63:34

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Well, that that's what I was gonna say. So, yeah, after spending time with you, it's certainly clear that you are yeah. You are a fighter, a trooper, a representative truth, and it is such a pleasure to meet you.

63:50

Wesley Hunt

Pleasure's all mine. Thank you for having me on.

63:52

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Thank you for being here. It, congressman.

Episode Timeline

Full Transcript

Episode Timeline

Full Transcript

Fight for The Truth

The Dallas Express reports what Legacy Media won’t.