speaking. women have been speaking, hundreds of them, thousands of them. we just haven't had access to their words. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. ♪ >> former republican representatives were part of a discussion on whether to leave the republican party. this was part of the principal's first summit which brought together members of the gop opposed to former president donald trump. this is an hour. [applause] >> thank you very much. ry much that was kind very moving.

my name is michael wood. i am a small business owner in texas and i am a reservist in the marine corps. i ran for congress last year. it did not work out. i am not in congress right now that i ran in a special election, fairly soon after january 6, saying the republican party needed to denounce and move away from donald trump, especially after january 6. [applause] i am proud of the race we ran. but i found myself over the past year, in a weird spot. i think a lot of people can relate to, which is all of a sudden, i am considered on the fringes of american politics. i do not know how that happened. eight years ago i was just a replacement level conservative. you take any member of the house

of representatives who had an r after their name, take them out of the house, put me in there and nine times out of 10 you will not be able to notice the difference. now, people talk to me and they talk about me like i do not know, i am the left wing of the green party or i am some sort of democratic-socialist or something like that. i have not really changed. but, i am out of step dramatically with both major political parties in this country. that is what we are going to talk about on this panel. my hero is abraham lincoln. abraham lincoln's hero was henry clay. when henry clay died, lincoln wrote a eulogy for him. in in the eulogy he said, a free people in times of peace and quiet, when pressed by no common danger naturally divided into parties. at such times, the man who is of

either party is not, cannot be of any consequence. he goes on to say mr. clay was our party. politics is a team sport. we are worked up in this room and we have principles but ultimately, politics as a team sport and we revere lincoln because he was able to get into the muck and m -- into politics and accomplish things that were great. it was not just about power but it was about noble aims he fought for. what do we do? what do people like me do over the coming years, that is what we are going to talk about. so, this is going to range all over the place. i hope we have a good discussion. but at the very least, for me if not for everyone else in this room, i want to know, one can we salvage the republican party? can we save the gop or is it too far gone? what our energies be better

spent building up a centrist wing of the democratic party, bring back something like the dlc, maybe truman democrats, jfk democrats? or, should we just bite the bullet and pull the trigger and just do the third-party thing? i do not know. depending on when you ask me that, throughout any given day, it will be a different answer. [laughter] that being said, let me briefly introduce our panelists. taking a page from sarah longwell's notebook, i'm going to be quick with this. barbara comstock is a lawyer and a former member of congress from virginia. [applause] next we have mr. miles taylor, former chief of staff -- staff to the apartment of homeland security. [applause]

finally, the guys wants to give me a heart attack if you -- mr. joe walsh, the host of his new podcast and former member of congress. [applause] we will just start with mr. walsh. and we will move this way. i am going to get it rolling, with, is the gop doomed? or will things get better after donald trump passes away? [applause] heaven forbid i do not want that. or is this going to be --has a cancer gone to deep? is this going to be the party of marjorie taylor greene, wendy rogers, white nationalists? are we going to put all of this effort over the next few years in time and energy into getting larry hogan one delegate? >> let me say at the outset is

awesome to sit with both barbara and miles. i respect of them. i do not know what they are going to say. should we stay or should we go? i have no idea what they're going to say. to me, this is simple. to me, we are a year or two or three too late. with all due respect, principles first, i do not know where we are even asking that question anymore? stay aware -- if they were? i am in a weird spot. because unlike these two, i voted for trump in 2016. i come from the mega base. because i come from the gop base and make no mistake, the trump base, the mega base, that is the republican party base right now. that is a world i come from. i hear from hundreds, sometimes

thousands of these voters every day still. i want to tell you the vast majority of them are gone. i do not care what mitch mcconnell says, or any republican in washington says, the republican party base is gone. almost completely. should we stay in the republican party? i do not believe this republican party will change in my lifetime. it is said. if trump were gone tomorrow, how awesome would that be? if donald trump were gone tomorrow, nothing is changing. for the party. the train is going down the track. if trump is gone tomorrow, the republican party nominee for 2024 is going to be ron desantis, probably, or somebody who is trumpier that him. most definitely. no matter, what mitch mcconnell

or kevin mccarthy or any of these guys say, this is where the voters in the party are. hell no, all of us should not stay in that. second quick point i will make, emblems done, -- i am almost done, this is happening no matter what. forget how screwed up the republican party is, the democratic party has problems. they keep going left, right. irregardless of what we all say in this room, i believe within 48 years, a well-funded major new radically centrist, let us get shit done kind of party. a major party. [applause] is coming to this country. the republican party is a national party -- as a national party is dying.

primarily the republican party base is a bunch of middle-aged and older white men and women. old white men and women die. sooner than young people die. [applause] the republican base is dying. there is going to be, is coming within 48 years, no matter what we decide, there is something coming. most americans are center-right, they are centered left, they are not happy with the democratic party, they are not. they are certainly not trumpists. the final point i will make, we are living at a really historical moment. it is called to be alive right now. when you are in it, you do not realize what is happening. you are part of history. we have been republicans and i have been a republican my whole life. it is hard to think outside the box. think outside the box. this is a uniquely revolutionary

moment in american history. the two-party duopoly that we have had for 172 years is ending. hell yes, we should start some thing new. [applause] >> mr. taylor. >> follow joe walsh after that. [applause] we are going to stand up and do calisthenics for mine. i think we are really well-positioned on the stage because, i'm not going to presume what barbara is going to say but i think we're are on a spectrum on this question. i am half in and half out. we have to do what you said. i will talk about the long-term reasons why. in the short term we have to reform the gop. barbara has been incredible at trying to get her former colleagues to stand up for right. maybe you are going to go radical and say you're going to start a third party today.

i'm somewhere in the middle we need and all of the above strategy it comes down to the numbers. you guys in this room where the numbers. last year in a survey they found 50% of americans find themselves political independents. highest watermark since they have ever done that pull. 50% of this country. only 25% considered themselves republicans or democrats. i am no brilliant political theorist, but i did study economics. i do not know if any other economic marketplace, where one half of the consumers say they literally hate all of the choices. that is what is happening in politics. half of you are saying i hate my choices. that tells me, there is a market failure, there is an opening for another opportunity. that opening should be seized by enterprising people who want to enter that market place do something special. that means in our lifetimes, we

will see a successful third-party in this country. we will seat in that when he first century, and made -- may not be this year the next, but that is my prediction today we will see a third party be successful out the national level in this country. in the meantime, the barriers are enormous. we have got to try as best we can to protect the rational's in the republican party against the radicals. that is what a lot of people in this room are trying to do, whether it is republican accountability projects, we're trying to protect the good guys against the bad guys very fundamentally. n -- and leaving that opening. that is something we are very focused on. in the meantime, we are not going to see a third party pop up in the midterms. we do have opportunity to go punish those radicals. as we have been talking about before, this week, the pro puts

and extremists in the republican party gave us one more reason to kick their answers -- asses in november. [applause] >> if donald trump disappeared tomorrow, i do not think there would be many of my former republican colleagues elected and the search party. [laughter] it is a hostage situation for many republicans. [applause] it's not a good thing. but that is the reality of what they are dealing with today. i am somewhere in the middle too. i am still a republican. i am catholic and a republican. i have faith, we got some problems, i have a party that has some problems i am sticking with both of them.

the reason i stick with my faith, the father and the sister that i have known my whole life, and are the printable's my faith. the reason i am sticking with the party are with all of the great issue discussions we have had this weekend, where i was here first, long before donald trump was. [applause] i may not get her name right, but i was reading a quote, who was a kyiv resident, she said it is my country and i should not be the one to leave, the russians should be the one to leave. [applause] now, that is true. it is also true for our party. i was a republican. the first panel i ever did here at the national press club was we're working on the impeachment of bill clinton.

donald trump was writing checks to bill clinton back in those days and chuck schumer. he was against impeachment, not just because of the sex portion of the impeachment but did not want them to be impeached at all. he was inviting heller to the wedding -- hillary to the wedding. he was for raising taxes, not lowering them. i was fighting against all of those things. i'm going to be -- i'm not going to be run out of my town from a new york democrat who was an opportunist. [applause] what does that mean? i still do not have a lot of options. what i am focused on is about the person. when i ran for three times in the general assembly in virginia and twice for congress, i was not supposed to win any of my races.

the first one i want to buy for 22 votes thanks to my dear friend of matt joyce was a moderator of my first debate. it is based on relationships. this is what we are doing today. there is a book, i'm not going to get all of the ethics of it right but it is called the agitator. it is about three women from the -- leading up to the civil war, harriet tubman, francis stewart, and martha wright. we know about harriet tubman. the other two women who -- francis stewart was an abolitionist as well is going for when -- women's rights. her husband was not always voting the way she wanted to but she was very active in doing it. there's a lot of people out there, i am very active and involved with making sure that liz cheney is reelected. i really think we have a chance

to get jennifer straight hand -- against margaret taylor green in taylor -- margaret -- margit taylor green in georgia. getting people like that reelected. then he saw geoff duncan who was still going to be a great future leader, as is our moderator here. i am confident that governor -- the governor, who has come in as an opportunist as a trump lucky is not going to win that race. what we have seen internationally this weekend, things have turned on a dime. you have seen these weathervane politicians were trying to run back. i was always with you. i never liked putin. you are going to see that break more and more. all of us, performers as well as liz and adam, mitt romney and others, many of their colleagues

are cheering them on. in -- and helping from behind. look for help from wherever we can get. when we get someone who comes in and wants to help a little here, as long as it means we can get this cancer out of our party, and get us back on the right path, which we have had such a moment this weekend, the contrast between principals an issue discussions here versus the cult, the trump colt -- cult and white nationalist cult. not enough of the republicans are denouncing that. hitting that really hard as were others. this fever will break. but it will break by you having relationships with people in your community, by being open to getting people out of the cut -- cult. understanding no one is right on everything and really

understanding, we were here first. so be in agitator. if the people lead, the leaders will follow. that is why you are seeing all of these crowds out there. germany has changed on a dime regarding putin. you are seeing people all over, politicians are changing. that is -- that fever is going to break. sometimes it is 1.5 back. like the agitators, keep active every day. i am confident we are going to turn the corners here. thank you. god bless. [applause] just to make clear i do not support trump in 2016 or 2020. i do not think any of the republicans who are speaking at cpac this week, or the white nationalist thing, they will never be president. donald trump is not going to be president again.

democrats need to understand, they have a loser right now too. that is not helping them but i think there's going to be a post-pandemic, post trump publican and democratic party. the person like miles was saying they can realize that market opportunity, it is a moment. get out there and enter that. people are dying for leadership again. it just takes a few people to step out and make the difference. one person with courage make a difference, that is way liz i -- and adam are making a difference. [applause] >> let me just jump in. i adore and respect everything barbara had to say. if trump runs again in 2024, the nomination -- will know that. no one will challenge him.

larry hogan, great man. he does not have a prayer. mitt romney, great man. but does not have a prayer to when the nomination and that party in 2024. if trump runs he will not be challenged. to barbara's other point, trump is a cancer. trump is not the cancer in the party. trump -- it has metastasized way beyond him. i know i am a dark guy, you're going to throw something at me. maybe my vantage point is skewed. i hear from these people every day. it is not changing. the fever is not breaking anytime soon. to everything miles and barbara has said we need to do to support the good guys, liz

cheney wonderful. i hope she wins. i don't think there is any way she could win a republican primary in that state. adam couldn't have survived a republican party primary. everyone in this room would help him, as what i, but we have also got to be -- wake up and be realistic. i am not done, but i am done for now. [laughter] >> let me just say something real quick and i have got a quick question for joe and miles. i think donald trump can never be commander in chief again. it is not just what happened on january 6 but everything that happened on election day that disqualifies him from not having

any sort of power. with that being said, the two are more friendly to the third party option. there is a danger with that. the number one goal is to keep donald trump from having control of nuclear weapons ever again. the third party could also get quite a few democrats to vote for them. we could end up in a position where donald trump is being sworn in again on january 20, 2025. that being said, you're not going to like me for this question, is it more moral to vote for the thing that feels good, the third party, or is it just more moral to vote for a democrat? >> i am not going to take your question head-on. [laughter] the morality in this case is

option nullity -- optionality. i think we need to at this moment consider investing in an ideologically neutral third party ballot line against donald trump in 2024. we may end up in a situation where we go spend that $25 million, get the ballot access, and the democrat nominee could destroy donald trump, and the very best scenario is that. but there are bernie supporters in this room, the politics are weird right now, so i do not know. it is a circle now. bernie is the nominee. we need that third line. we need that line on the ballot, so what we need is optionality.

it is not radical to do that, to punch a third party. earlier today, i was watching the news, someone had quoted kennedy when talking about ukraine. there is a quote where he says, let every nation know that we shall pay any price on my bear any burden, and oppose any foe to ensure the survival and success of liberty. it applies domestically too and if the bravest thing you have to do is vote for a third-party candidate, that is a pretty good situation. we may be in that situation in 2024. i would go back to that together we need to preserve that to prevent the outcome that we prevent donald trump from being sworn in a second time. it is all of the shit that

happened four years prior that we are trying to stop again. [applause] >> you served in the military. we all know in this room i am sure, people who were in the military who voted for trump in 2016 but not 20202. i knew appointees of trump that were sitting there and did not vote for him. this is going to come out more and more. that is why, let people lead the cold. let them come over because people -- republicans also want to get back to winning. the guy who never got the popular vote who lost the house and the senate, let us get away from these old white guys. that is not the only thing out

there. the democratic party understands that. some of the main democrats that i know, when i talk to them, they are saying, no way that joe biden is going to be -- it is going to be someone else on the other side also. we are a lifetime away from the nomination and things could change quickly. nothing in politics is ever as good as it seems. i was in congress and i won a race by 16 points in a race that i was not supposed to win at all. that is how things go in the country because when you have somebody like trump who goes too far, you just go right off of the cliff. in virginia, we won last year. a lot of people -- i do feel there is a difference between a

lot of the republicans who are out there trying to stay in the same lane and trump. there are a lot of people who still have a future and it is important that we give them that option to get out. i think we can win some of these races whether it is in the house or the senate. there are a few republican candidates in ohio, their horrible. >> these are the best candidates we have ever seen. [laughter] the best candidates we have ever had. >> no candidates here that any of us could support. i do think that governor dewine will think a trump person will win. it is important to decide that right now, i don't know -- in virginia i said i would not support the trump woman in the

race. that made a difference there. that is going to be the case in a lot of cases. donald trump is now supporting different candidates in house races who i think will lose those races and if that is the way they have to learn, that is the way they are going to learn. it is not just us that will not be supporting them, it is a lot of people who can not go over that cliff no matter how bad the economy is or how bad joe biden is blowing it. >> michael, to answer your question head-on, the republicans are going to take back the house this year. they will probably take back the senate. this dying national party will take back the house and the senate. donald trump will wrapped himself around that victory. he will own that victory.

unless he is dead or in jail, if he is indicted, he will still be the most -- i keep going back to this. we could do this every week and i would love it, but you talk to republican voters on the ground. they are not where barbara is, they are not where miles is, they are out where i am. second point, your moral question, miles is right. money is going to be put behind it. within four to eight years, there is a major radically centrist party coming, but right now, donald trump's current existential threat to this country. [applause] which is why for the first time in my life, i worked my ass off

and voted for a democrat in 2022. your question, we have to do the same if he is on the ballot in 2024. if he is, then we have to support the only person who can beat that threat and that is the democrat in 2024. [applause] >> that person can still be a republican, a republican, we have seen this weekend leaders emerge and that is where the opportunity is. leaders can emerge on the house level, the senate level, the government level, i think jared pollock has done a great job in colorado on dealing with covid. he is in touch with his voters. in virginia you have a lot of people and many of them, they like trump better, but this is a

guy who can win. they did not drop -- go for the trump appeal. >> to be fair, if glenn youngkin were an outspoken joe walsh, donald trump is an existential threat to the country, i know virginia is unique because they have the convention, if youngkin were hugely outspoken against trump, would he have won? >> i think what we are doing and what candidates have to do is different. chris sununu ran with double digits and donald trump ran on being a guy who gets stuff done. he had very sensible approach on covid, and he is spinning away from the trump thing, so sometimes, with the agitators, they play different roles.

there were -- they were not john brown, but there are roles for a lot of different ways and the people who are going to be the candidates, there are different options there that are not trump. i think people are realizing that trump is a loser, he is a sore loser. the more of those people -- what the january 6 committee is doing, we talked about this yesterday, they have gotten all of these texts and phone records. when those come out, mark meadows turned over tons of texts and he was interacting with a lot of people, some people already saying that you cannot do this. when you see that in real time, people are going to realize this is much worse. >> barbara, i want to risk -- live the rest of my life with you because i love how optimistic you are. i mean that.

that is genuine. [inaudible] >> we have to start talking to everybody. >> we do, but the reality is the republican voter on the ground. tim scott, great guy that i served with in congress, tim scott is not a mega trumper. tim scott on national tv said that donald trump is the future of the party, and he is -- >> he would not be in that search party because he disappeared. >> i want to live with you both forever because we feel like a family. [applause] at the risk of michael putting me in the crosshairs, you're going to kill all three of them. this is a panel.

>> i want to add that there is something that this room needs to do before we go out of this room, and i am not going to make you do calisthenics, but it is coming together. in our movement, if you are going to -- we're just going to call it that, but there are divisions. there are people who hate each other. there are organizations competing against each other and it is absolutely stupid. we need to go mother together -- we need to come together and if we come together and stay together, we will prove the point that donald trump is a loser. [applause] >> michael, would you take control of this panel? >> this is 20 questions. >> we were speaking to michael

before we started and he was in that congressional race. the trump supported candidate did not win. michael being in that race pulled votes away, and the guy who won the runoff was not the guy supported by donald trump. there is going to be a lot of trump losers. they are going to start racking up when we have primaries. not all of them, unfortunately, but let us focus on the ones that we can make sure because they are dangerous. these are people who are dangerous to be in office at all, and you can do your part. god bless you. [applause] >> let's shift gears and we have some questions. [laughter]

let me ask a question and 40 minutes later after it has been answered. [laughter] joe, you struggled with this as well. you remember at the beginning of the tea party? that was great. is that gentleman who was out there opinion -- handing out constitutions still here? it was about going back to the constitution whenever my left-wing friends talk to me and say this is a bunch of crazies, but this is a mass movement of people who want less from the government, they clean up after themselves. maybe they were right and that is what i want to ask. as conservatives, was this always in the cards for us? was the tea party about those things and the change from the beginning was always about taking your pick?

grievance, cultural wars, whatever. >> i am still a proud tea party-er. one was that governments were too big and bankrupting the strands. the other part was a populist, nationalist, cultural war, bigoted, sometimes racist, it was there, bring my country back , bring 1954 back. that strand was there. when we went to washington and we did not deliver on the size of the government, the tea party became this enchanted and the other strand, the uglier national strand, is what trump tapped into in 2016. there is no looking back. >> trump has not delivered for those people, so that is the opportunity for us to come in and get a get it done person.

you are still there and he has not helped you on that job and you still have all of these problems. the candidate that can show that will tend to be governors because at states you have the balance budgets to get things done. you cannot just talk about things which is what donald trump does. there is opportunity. if that person can still come in and take the populist concerns and here's how we turn it into results that matter for your life, those kitchen table issues where you are improving their lives, and getting something done. >> talking to these people, these tea party people still every day, the vast majority of them leave that trump did deliver. >> i have got to agree with joe's point. from your perspective where you came from on the tea party, i am a libertarian conservative, i

always have been. milton friedman, all of these people that most of these trump supporters have no idea what the ideological basis is, liberalism. i am talking about a classical liberal. that is where the movement originated from, was the ideological meant -- movement. all of these values, that is pretty cool. but the movement was hijacked. the tea party movement over the course of the decade, we saw it emerge out of ideological insurgency that would be hijacked by authoritarian -- tapping into the cultural zeitgeist. there were consequences that came from that, and one of the consequences about the impact and legacy of the tea party movement, because it was hijacked, we have seen an unprecedented weathering assault

on free speech in this country. you guys clapped that you were in this together. i will tell you right now that if we are brothers and sisters in this fight, your brothers and sisters are suffering. there are people in this room who have lost their homes, their jobs, their marriages, or personal security, and there life securities -- life savings standing up to this. as your brothers and sisters, you need to be out there defending them, and we need to spread that. the last point, i will give an economics lesson. i talk about the price of dissent in economic terms. the price of something is only high or can only be reduced in two ways. that is a supply and demand curve. if dissent is costly right now, we either lower the demand for dissent. we all want more free speech.

or we increase the supply. if you increase the supply of something, the price goes down. the only way we lower that cost of people like olivia and elizabeth and joe and barbara going out and then getting death threats, i will review the text messages from last night. i paid every price and guess what? i will do it again and again. [applause] the only way we lower that cost is by increasing the supply. that is the simplest thing people can do. i know you set in your living rooms with a small business owner or your dad and you say, i do not like trump, but the people in town they love him, and they just do not want to say anything. if we break that seal, we will

break the price. >> ok, who has got questions? >> in the back. [applause] >> someone right there. >> high -- hi, i had another person here. we control the questions. [laughter] >> in 2015i was a 21-year-old really stoked about the republican party. my dad took me to the -- in 2015, and i remember after trump said that he would not support the nominee, after a couple of years and my dad had said, we have got to make a deal. he is going to support the

nominee because in their mind, it was the worst outcome that could happen, was that donald trump would not support the nominee. not that he would win the nomination or become the president, but that he would not support the nominee. he will not get the nomination -- he will not get the presidency, he will not do xyz thing, every single one of those predictions has been false. if you say he cannot win, will you actually make that happen? [applause] >> it is not -- i think people give too much power to him. we are the spectrum on this but we are also a spectrum for the majority. donald trump is not going to have any of us. you need to have the tea party people, suburban voters, the diverse coalition that --

republicans who want a majority, which has been ronald reagan and george w. bush, donald trump got that. -- donald trump never got that. you need to put together a coalition, which donald trump is incapable of crating. there needs to be liz cheney. i do think she is going to succeed in her primary. i feel good about that. [applause] what she understands is she has political capital and she is using it. a lot of people have political capital who have not used it and we have got to get them to -- if we say, yes, good, use it. send them a note. do something on social media saying, thank you for speaking

out and doing this. i have had people, numbers who are out there, not saying much about trump, but going thank you for saying that, or thank you for agreeing with this. they need support. >> from the center right to the far left over there. >> michael, we have the microphones to give people to ask the questions. thank you for pointing that out. >> thank you. >> sorry. who is talking? >> for the panel, my question is simple. you are faced with the republican party and i cannot even tell you what it stands for. did you want us to be part of a republican party? tell us what they should actually stand for. >> free markets, free minds,

supporting the first amendment, having international relationships. right now, supporting zelensky and standing up for justice around the world, having a strong relationship with israel. having a future oriented party that post-pandemic, new ways to work. how we raise people up and improve their lives. >> this is going to be the perfect panel question. you will see the spectrum and this turns into a firework. [laughter] i am going to bounce off of barbara just now. free minds and free markets are what the republican party supposed to stand for. if we are grading against that, you can great that report card

really quickly. the free minds piece, you had the leader party that followed him who said that the press is the enemy of the people. on the free markets piece, you had the most protectionist republican president we have ever seen, not a free marketer, and one who wanted to cut deals with the president of china to help in his reelection -- this guy was a hyper protectionist. and that is on free minds and that is on free markets. free people? i sat in the oval office when donald trump looked at us and said, it is incredible what kim jong-un can do. it is funny. i wrote it down at the time, and he asked, are you taking notes? but he was just so adhesive in his praise for kim jong-un, he said to us one day, i propose

nothing. why can't you just make the border look like his border? his border is a landmine, militarized zone with troops that would shoot civilians and is what he wanted. i am not kidding you hear. he wanted the leader of the free world, the commander and chief of the united states, the most powerful countries in the world, wanted to see men, women, and children were innocent at the border shot. he asked us to shoot them. what was your president. so on the free people category, he gets a zero. this guy is not a republican. this is not what the republican party was supposed to do. >> so, so, so, hold my hand. miles is right. but he is a republican.

he is the leader of this republican party. i love all of us appear, i love all of you out there. this is about the voters. they are not you. everybody says this, but it is not -- barbara, it is -- does it matter to republican voters? they love it. let me tell you something. and this is not hyperbole. the vast majority of the republican party base would have no problem with this country shooting people at the boarding. that is horrendous. that is this republican party. and the fever is going to break. maybe, hopefully, but again, if

trump goes to merrill, that nominee is going to be the trump-est person you will have. it is metastatic ties beyond trump. >> the many me imitations that you would use, and i think again, you're going to see an iteration. >> i would give my right arm if barbara comstock ran for president and got elected in 2024 as the next president of this country. [applause] hey, hey, hey, i mean barbara -- >> putin at the next conference, would you want some comstock? >> there is no way on god's

green earth that is possible. that is bull, michael. >> sorry, there is a voice in the dark telling me what to do somewhere. >> -- the gop should be dead and it is a paradox that if 50% of people in the united states are independent, why are third-party candidates -- how do we make a third-party candidate electable? at the local level it is easier, but at the state and federal level, how? >> i will be brief. money. we have entered a point in history where the republican party is dying, the democratic party continues to move left, there is a lot of independent

money that is fed up. republicans and democrats, they have structured the system so it is hard to have a major third-party. the only way you overcome that is with resources through money. within the next four to eight years, big money is going to back a radically centrist, get shit done political party. >> something which was synthesizing is that -- if that happens, and whether it is that or a centerleft unifying democrat that can get votes behind them, or frankly a centerleft person who ab has the hope of taking the primary, regardless of who it is, they have got to bring these viewpoints together. >> you cannot just win with one of these camps. your camp might take over the

primary, but once you get to miles' camp, my camp, you are not going to get the majority. that is what coalition majorities are about. trump did not understand, i sweep through and i got lucky, he didn't realize that he had one, so the way that he builds on that, he didn't understand how to put those pieces together. you have to have coalitions of people within a party who don't like each other. i will tell you this. >> really quick. >> [indiscernible] >> hello. >> what are you going to do sit -- do to support the first

amendment? what will you do about the large media monopolies so that voices are heard? >> this is for you, joe. i am running against boebert and -- [applause] and what i would like to say to you is that my district is 50,000 square miles. i have been traversing it for a year now, talking to people on the ground all across the district. i have found only a handful of people you're talking about. the silent majority of republicans out there on the ground, almost every time, the reaction is, thank goodness.

thank you for running. we just want her gone, we do not want this anymore, we are sick of it. i think maybe the only people you are contacting that -- that group, that smaller group. >> in all seriousness, i hope i am dead wrong, i do. [applause] >> it has been fun. [laughter] you can just indulge me for one more minute. i have talked a lot about whether we should stay or go for the republican party, but i think we should also keep in mind there is a larger question owing on right now about whether or not we should leave liberal democracy itself. politicians are always downstream of the intellectuals

and the thinkers. the politicians were downstream of people like milton friedman, irving kristol, george will, and at best the politician seems to be downstream from all these people, downstream even worse from the steve bannon's. then a post liberal nationalist -- whatever they come -- call themselves, they say whatever we should be, they say we should give up on classical liberalism and that democracy is a sham. they say that democracy promotes the wrong kind of tricks, ruthlessness, consumption is him, and they say that free government -- they say that

freaky -- free government means a weakness. that them say that to the ukrainian military. [applause] let them say that to the ukrainian territorial defense forces. let them say that to the brave soldiers, the heroes. [applause] finally, let them say that to president zelensky. [applause] god bless you, god bless america, and glory to ukraine. [applause]

>> at today's white house briefing, press secretary jen psaki answered questions about whether president biden would consider a no-fly zone over ukraine, banning russian oil imports, and additional economic sanctions on russian leaders and oligarchs.