Fireside Chat Ep. 184 — Getting Real With Nikki Haley | Fireside Chat

Hi everybody Dennis Prager and the fireside chat is a special fireside chat. I rarely have guests And I will say that when I have had people have really reacted positively I think that will be the case today, too I will introduce my guest in a moment on behalf of auto in any event. Hi everybody This is what number uh, megan Number 184 consecutive one might add we have not missed a week in 184 weeks And it is my chance to just talk to you and tell you what I think about things then take your questions It is completely unrehearsed and that is also true with regard to the dialogue that I will be having in a moment Did want to share with you one thought about a news item and to give you an idea of how problematic Things are in america. I hate to sound down But I feel that if I hide it I am patronizing Those who listen to me or read me or watch me I have to tell you what I think And I don't want you to despair, but I don't want you to ignore how serious it is A young woman attacks another young woman with a knife. She is about to stab her quite possibly to death A policeman comes and quite probably saves the other young woman's life And he is attacked for being racist Despite the fact that he saved the life of a black young woman That is sick What we have experienced in this particular episode can only be described as morally and even psychologically sick What was he supposed to do? Say, please don't do that Hi, i'm a policeman Please honor me. What was he supposed to do tase her? He has literally a second and what if it doesn't work which tasing often does not work and he's not close enough anyway People said one of the things I remember seeing and reading was Well think about the the parents Of the of the girl who was killed Right. Nobody seems to say think about the parents of the girl who was saved What do they think? This this is truly a a broken compass As i've said all of my life the left's moral compass Is broken what I came to realize In uh in the course of my life is that It never works A broken clock is right twice a day, but the leftist compass Is not And to have lebron james of the los angeles lakers Tweet out that The picture of the policeman you're next And that people take that man seriously outside of anything but basketball All right, I thought I'd just bring that to your attention. This is as morally clear an issue as one can imagine the policeman Probably saved an innocent girl's life Okay My guest is nikki haley former governor of state of south carolina former u.s ambassador to the united nations Many people speak of her as a possible future candidate for president of the united states. I I have not had anyone In politics on the fireside chat I rarely interview politicians even on my radio show Not because they're not significant or I don't have respect for them But that is just not the nature of my work. I comment on their work Rather than ask them by the way, one of the reasons That I don't I think I was thinking about this. Why do I rarely have politicians? on a show with millions of listeners and I one of the reasons and i'd like you to address this but I i'm going to say something before you address this but I Would like you to address A politician's have to measure their words more than any other human beings and that I was thinking of running for office And I realized the freedom I have as a writer as a broadcaster Is not comparable. I mean it's incomparably more to say what I really believe than that of a politician I'd like you to address that in a moment. But let me let me just say one thing to you So I asked you on my radio show uh Last week because you've done a prager you video and we promoted it Uh, I said, so what should I call you governor ambassador ambassador? You said nicky? So I didn't tell you on the air, but now I could tell you now I was raised so Strongly To call people by their title That it is actually Hard for me. I can do it privately. I I can work that through but like right now I I feel I have to call you governor But you don't you don't I mean those were moments in time. It's nicky It's but can we stop for a second and talk about how cute snoopy is and the idea truly That the second we sat down Like otto took his place without anyone asking without anyone telling it's like the cameras came in And he went and laid down. That's like it's like amazing to watch. I was so touched by your reaction That he knew his position like he took his place first, that's how he knew to sit down Basically, that's right. Snoopy will not be here the whole time But I want you to know you this is the first time in 184 broadcast that snoopy is here this long I love snoopy. So this is a credit to you Well, i'm a dog lover and I think they can they do sense that maybe that's what So dennis I have faith in you that you can call me nicky You can do it. What will my mother say? Your mother would say she told you to call her nicky. Oh by the way In all seriousness were you i'll bet you were raised that in that formal sense very much So and still even to where like women you called them miss so-and-so or mister. Yeah You always it's very very respectful in the south. That's what you do. You never call anyone by their first names I can appreciate where you're coming from. Okay, then But but you know when they tell you then it's different. Yeah, I know that I just think you're very friendly But okay. All right. Anyway, I had to get that off my chest. It is a great honor to have you here in my home and uh with uh with the fireside chat So answer this first question how If you knew you would never run for office you just decided I I I I I make a vow before the lord. I will not run for office. Would you speak any differently? No, and i'll tell you when you had made the comment the comment about politicians having to be careful about what they say I actually when I first ran for office I ran for office because I thought there were too many lawyers in the state house and they needed one really good accountant It was really that simple that I had just told my mom about How hard it was to make a dollar and how easy it was for government to take it And my mom said we'll do something about it along the way. What i've learned is Politicians who choose to be careful with their words You're really depriving your constituency of What you truly think that doesn't mean you're not responsible with your words But the I think the more forthright you are the more Straightforward you are the more eighth grade language because people shouldn't have to work hard to understand you that you are People relate better and it's actually it makes you a better public servant And I think it allows your constituency to understand what you're thinking as you go through Decision making so I I don't think I would talk any different. I think that The only thing is you're you are very responsible with what you say because you know that your voice carries, right? Okay, that's fair. So i'll give you an example. I'll tell you what prompted that So you were the ambassador of the united states of the united nations the current u.s ambassador Seems to believe that the purpose of her position Is to forgive the jargon crap on america That's what she has been doing how awful the country is how she And all blacks presumably are victims of systemic racism at the un as the ambassador of the u.s So I was thinking if I raise this with nikki haley I don't know if I said in my brain nikki haley or ambassador haley, but if I raise this with nikki haley Will she feel in a very difficult position? Because she was in that position of u.s ambassador to the un or could could she that is nikki haley you speak her mind It hurts my soul that she did that Because by her criticizing america That was a win for china and russia They live for that because they are trying to get all these countries to turn around and criticize us And the idea that she criticized our own country It gives them every right to do what the chinese delegation did to the american delegation in alaska And humiliate them because our own people aren't standing up for us. I Made a point to defend america because I believed in america I know this is the best country in the world and I was validated because other ambassadors would tell me on the sidelines How much they loved the fact that we had freedom of speech? And freedom of religion and freedom to do and be anything we wanted to be without government getting in the way So I know how blessed we are I don't I don't know what she thought she was accomplishing But it's the same thing obama did prior to me coming into the un And the trump administration coming in. He had just apologized for america to everyone And he tried to pay foreign aid and buy friends In every way and that never works Only america loses when you do that And we are seen as a bright spot and a beacon of hope and it's the country every other country wants to be So to have done that was just hugely disappointing and I don't ever like speaking negative about a successor That's why I that's what that's always my question, but I wasn't going to stay quiet about that. Good good As I said on the radio show, I I don't know if in the history of the united nations founded in 1945 Any ambassador of any country ever used that forum to speak ill of their country? It's like unique in world history, I mean they're laughing at us Yes, they are laughing at us and saying their own people are criticizing them. So they must be bad Well, that's right It's no it's really I I don't know what biden thinks that he's accomplishing allowing his un ambassador to do that I don't know what she thinks she's accomplishing but they just weakened america They weakened america in the eyes of the world because how do you go and negotiate anything based on human rights? How do you negotiate anything based on truth? How do you negotiate anything that moves the ball forward when you're saying we are not worthy? So i'll ask you about another though, not direct predecessor It just came out Incredibly, uh, it's almost astonishing that a private dialogue in iran in farsi between the the iranian foreign minister And and a colleague and a friend an ally of his in in the in the persian media Got into the hands of the west And in it was a line the washington post never reported by the way Only the new york times in one line at the end of the article That that john, kerry had said to him the iranian foreign minister uh, israel attacked syria about 200 times gave private Confidential information about israel to the iranian foreign minister How do you react to that biden and kerry owe us an explanation? He should not be allowed to sit on the national security council. He should not be a cabinet member He should not have a position of authority until we get an answer if it is true I tend to think it's true. And the reason why I tend to think it's true is because He and zarif were very close when they were coordinating and getting the iran deal to take place He has just like obama. They dislike israel and will do anything They can to undermine it and we're watching this play out. It is unthinkable to me That he is sharing secrets with the number one sponsor of terrorism And turning around and stabbing our friend and ally israel in the back absolutely unthinkable In light of that i'm going to use that as a jumping point to a question That you may or may not have thought about but knowing you you probably did How come the folks who can't stand israel are so often the same folks who can't stand america? You know, I because they don't like our values They don't like the values that we share and you know, israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood And but we share the same values it helps america to be a friend with israel It helps israel to be a friend with america All of the other countries don't want to see that alliance That's all the more reason why we need that alliance The reason that we will get peace in the middle east is because of israel is because of the bond that we share and so when carrier anyone goes and tries to Change that or try and undermine that they're undermining america And i've never understood that and you know, I spent a lot of my time fighting for israel and fighting for truth But that's because if you don't acknowledge the good parts that are around the world Then you'll never be able to make the world a safer place and israel has so much to offer and I think the abraham accords Was an amazing part of that. We now have peace in the middle east. Why? Because what you saw was president trump said I'm going to defy what every president prior republican and democrat said Which was we can only get peace in the middle east through the palestinians And instead he went to the arab summit Met with them and said let's all unite in the name of fighting against terrorism Meaning let's all unite in the name of fighting against iran And what you saw when they signed those abraham accords was trust There was a trust there that they knew that the u.s. Spoke the truth And meant it, you know, there's um When I was at the u.n I and the british ambassador were meeting with the saudi and emirati ambassador and the saudi ambassador was complaining about You know, why doesn't anyone say anything to the houthis? Why does everyone blame us for everything? We're trying to go and help people to making this entire argument and I stopped him and I said, you know for everything You just said About you and the houthis I could say the same thing about israel and hamas Why is it different for you and not for them? And he got really quiet, but afterwards they took me outside And they said you're right And I said then why do you do it? Why do you beat up on israel so much? And he said we do it just to appease our constituencies And I said to the to both of them then I said at some point you have to have the ability and the courage to tell your constituencies the truth The day that the abraham accords were signed they were telling their constituencies the truth That this is a country that would make them better by being a partner with them Not the other way around powerful powerful story Which brings us to the man who made that possible? I think you agree with me, but if you don't obviously say so that is donald trump So I keep saying i've said this i've said it for four years and i'm saying it now He accomplished more as president than any president in my lifetime democrat or republican and That is basically how I assess A leader what did you accomplish? Not are you nice? Not which I want would I do I want you as my neighbor and i'm saying I wouldn't but i'm just saying Those are not my questions Is that a fair assessment? Absolutely. I mean you look at the policies and the results of not just foreign policy, but domestic policy We became strong again. We people you know countries understood where we were We made countries better by holding them accountable by saying this is a two-way street. This is not a one-way street Domestically, we got better more people went to work more women-owned businesses more minorities were lifted up You know, we saw people's retirements get fatter everything truly, if you look at every one of those policies the country got better now while it the Divisions got worse because the democrats were so upset for anyone that is results oriented all you have to do is look at that record and say That was pretty amazing And all you have to do now is look at what's happening and it's nothing but trump reversals in the name of trump reversals Just to do them And the world is becoming less safe and the country is not doing as well Okay. So here's the toughest part I am worried about america I I did i've not said it this way in a lifetime of public speaking and writing I mean, I don't get worried easily. I wrote a book on happiness. I do a happiness hour on my radio show I am a happy guy. I have a great life I love this country. I know how unique it is. I've been to 130 countries This is this is the greatest but You can lose it 35 percent of of young americans Believe that uh socialism or communism is okay and and you know, uh 45 percent of young americans Tell pew research that they they only believe in free speech if it's not hate speech So, of course, they don't believe in free speech because that's an they don't even understand that what they're saying doesn't make sense You can't say I believe in free speech except for hate speech because who determines what's hate speech you do So you don't believe in free speech Are you worried? It's uncomfortable right now, but i'm I have faith. I am not worried Because I know that we have the ability to self-correct I know that we have the ability to see which side is up and I think that the other side is i've been to places That most people will never go and i've seen things that that you don't want to see And i'll tell you that when you've been at the democratic republic of congo where they use rape as a weapon of war When i've been to south sudan and sat with crying mothers whose babies were taken from their arms and thrown into fires right in front of them I've stood on the simon boulevard bridge and watched thousands of venezuelans holding their babies in the hot sun To get the one meal they might get that day. They're now killing zoo animals for food And i've had to look at images of children that died by chemical weapons in syria From asad if you see that You know what you come home and you remember Is that even on our worst day? We are blessed to live in america You know, my husband is a combat veteran. He fought in afghanistan And he said he wishes that everybody could go spend one day in afghanistan Because you would realize that the homeless people in america have it better than they have it there But we have to fight for america We have to stand up for her and when we see it going backwards, which it is right now We have to work twice as hard Because I know that this country was built off of freedom It's the best experiment in the world And what we're seeing is we're seeing this socialist creep In there to where we've got a group of americans that think maybe government can handle it better than we can Look at any of the countries that i've been to socialism has failed everywhere it's ever been tried And capitalism will continue to be the single best Proof of pulling people out of poverty in the history of the world But we just have to we have to we have to soldier on we have to keep fighting. We have to keep educating And that's the part it takes more time It takes more effort, but we have to do it if we want to save this country and I know that we will so i'll I'll tell you more worries And I look I devote my life to fighting so I I certainly resonate to your message the biggest issue to me of all the The the bad signs is the free speech issue That has never happened in american history free speech has never been Attacked like it is today by youtube and google which owns youtube and Instagram facebook uh twitter and the universities uh the media I mean That can be lost free speech can be lost And you'll never get it back if you lose it and you know the idea that I I think the biggest Like surprise for me is when I saw big tech bring down the president's twitter feed. Yeah, because I thought okay, no matter how bad you think what he said sounded right? You're literally going to bring down the president of the united states twitter feed and you're going to leave up the ayatollahs I mean, there's something about that when we gave when when years ago when congress allowed these forums Protection liability the protection liability was for free speech that no matter what anyone said right that platform would be protected Never did it say? You censor what is right or wrong? What we're seeing now is pure censorship That's how china started. That's what they started doing in hong kong was they decided Oh, this is too dangerous for the people to hear or oh, we need to shut this down the second Anyone thinks they can shut down or censor something? There's a real problem and congress needs to deal with this. This is not something they can let go What should congress do and two Does sound to me like you are worried I see it's being abused So I think that when you see something wrong you fix it and I think congress needs to see That I think it was right that we give them liability protection from any free speech something someone might say but Something has to be done to let them know That protection is going to be taken away the second And what would that thing be? Well, I think they have to go into the legislation and look at it and figure out exactly how to do it But we have to reign them and this is a conversation that has to be had and they can't think that they can keep doing this so if they were threatened with uh Taking away the lie the libel protections I think it's section 230. It's 230. They would if they knew that that could be taken away You think they'd stop censoring they have to well, I would hope so so Why didn't congress do this? in the four years of the trump administration congress has Gotten into where it's nothing but sound bites and we're not seeing a lot Happen, I worry so much about the fact that now if someone puts down a piece of legislation Everybody wants to know whose it is before they decide if they like it That's when you know, we've hit rock bottom when it comes to that They have got to get back into the idea that they're supposed to be getting things done There's no reason we don't have immigration reform. There's no reason we don't have health care transparency happening There's no reason that we don't have Someone dealing with big tech right now the second they started doing that All of these things need to be done and what we're seeing is a lot of politicians love to go on tv and give out sound bites and scream and complain But you got to get the job done you know when I was in south carolina, you had to get the job done and I think that People need to remind them that they work for them and that we have to continue to make sure that we get results from them As well, especially when you're in an administration like this. We have to see even more being done Well again, I couldn't agree with you more in south carolina Is there a danger of the state moving leftward as north carolina did? I would like to think that's not going to happen. You know when I left Being governor in south carolina. We were number two state in the country that people were moving to really we were and so We saw and there were as there was an influx of people that were coming into south carolina And I would always say you are welcome We love having you but don't suddenly decide to change us now that you're here And so I think that you know, there's always that Intent that people come for your tax structure. They come because you're not unionized They come for all these reasons and then they suddenly think oh they want to make you better Um, so it's a real it's a real issue now that we're seeing congressional seats change hands and and some losing states and some Losing seats and some winning seats that we have to just make sure that we educate on why? People wanted to come in the first place have you uh Looked into i'm sure you have so what's your i'll ask you then what is your take? On what's happening in schools? where thousands of schools are being taught that the true the false truly I'm, sorry to use the word the lie of the 1619 founding of america I tell my listeners If your school teaches the 1619 project You you have to take your kids out of that school Is that too severe a piece of recommendation? No, because you don't kids should not be taught That they are racist and that's literally what the the critical race theory and all of those things are doing is they are Automatically looking at these kids that know no difference. No, they don't see color. They don't see gender They don't see anything. They're just kids And then you're going to teach them that they're racist, I mean this is a problem that Really needs to stop but what happens with schools is you've got the federal government saying we want you to teach this So state schools they turn around and they teach for the money. They don't teach for the kids So you've got to get it down to where we're not mandated by the federal government But that states start to take hold of their own things and that's why people are so Obsessed and really deserve school choice You know, it goes back the whole race issue. Um, i'll give you an example as it related to georgia and then i'll bring it back in 2011 as governor I pushed voter id legislation and Basically said if you've got to show a picture id to buy sudafed If you've got to show picture id to get on a plane You should have to show picture id to protect the integrity of our election process And I was vilified vilified And they said you're disenfranchising voters. How could you do this? And I said, you know what if you think I am We will go to anyone that needs a ride. We will pick you up. We will take you to the dmv We will give you a free picture id and we will return you home safely of five million people 25 asked for a ride We have more people voting now in south carolina than ever before but this is the part that's upsetting It's not republicans that are racist. It's democrats At what point do you think minorities are incapable of getting a picture id? Thank you. We are perfectly capable of getting a picture id. We are perfectly capable of picking the school of our choice for our children We are perfectly capable of doing all these things and it's actually democrats treat minorities like we're inferior we're incapable that we Can't do for ourselves and that should be offensive to every minority person out there There's no end Oregon education department has declared That its math curriculum will no longer teach that there is only one right answer And they do it in the name of racial equity Which can only mean exactly what you said how the left is racist blacks can't add whites add So since blacks can't add properly, we won't say that there is a right answer to addition And look at what virginia just did they're now taking out advanced level math Because they want to be fair to everyone I mean So you're basically saying I mean all of this about equity Is really doesn't make sense all of this is really about they're wanting equality In the name, but they're not looking at equality for opportunities. No, they're looking for equality and outcome And so what they're doing is they're dumbing down everybody In education, they're going to tell you that you're racist. They're going to tell you you don't need to work hard They're going to tell you you don't need to do advanced math because it's too hard and it's not fair for you what happened to the america we knew That half of this country doesn't understand what you're saying I think that this is all going to backfire I really think this is all going to backfire because every parent wants a better life for their child And we saw this play out during covid when they started putting masks on these kids and they started closing schools and making them go On zoom. Do you know who they hurt? They hurt those that are in challenged rural areas So for democrats to say we're keeping you safe No for places like in rural south carolina where you've got a third grader who both his parents work How do you think those parents felt with him sitting in front of a computer? Not knowing if he could get internet because it was a hot spot in a school bus And you're going to sit there and put him in that scenario all in the name of keeping him safe Well, what he did was he just lost a year of education and if it they were in third fourth or fifth Principals will tell you they lost two years of education So now those parents have to decide whether to hold their child back And instead of trying to do things to lift these kids up You're going to dumb them down by saying we're not going to teach you too hard We want to make sure that you all get the same grades So, I mean it's a real problem. I'll tell you a story of my daughter She um a few years ago. She's a nursing student. She's actually graduating next month. But when she first started she said mom Do we believe in socialized medicine? And I said Well, first of all, I don't know what we believe I said, but I can tell you what I believe I said socialism You have to understand I said, let me give you an example So let's say you studied for a test. You studied really hard and you got an a and let's say One of the other students in the class. They didn't study so hard. They got a d How would you feel if everybody if the teacher came in and gave everybody a c? She said i'd be mad I go that's socialism I mean we have to put this in frame in in a good context that they understand how this affects their life Do you want to work hard and be as successful as you want to be? Or do you want to work hard and not get? The ability to to have that outcome to be able to know what it's like We're better if we work hard and we become Anything and everything we want to be I mean that's how god wanted us to be was to do our very best With this one life that we were given That's right It would seem elementary to me. So again, what happened? Is it? My theory i'll just bounce it off you is that since world war ii The educational system has been taken over largely By people who loathe this country loathe judeo-christian values loathe capitalism loathe personal responsibility loathe accountability, etc And it's worked Well, and now they're letting unions decide what happens to us instead of allowing parents to decide. I mean we literally saw during covet Unions were given the advantage as opposed to the parents given the advantage And I think parents are going to have a decision to make and I think the one thing your child deserves is a good basic education That allows them the history of where we come from That allows them the ability to know how to be competitive and that allows them to be successful Again, the only ones winning right now are china russia and india because they're not going through any of this in their education They're doing stem education. They're pushing their kids as hard as they can They're trying to get them all of the opportunities of whatever education can bring we're sitting here fighting over race You said your daughter is in graduate school or undergrad undergrad nursing school So I won't ask where I I don't know if you want to share that and that's fine but uh I tell parents that sending your kid to college is playing russian roulette with their values So were you confident when your daughter went off to college that she will retain the values of your home? so she is Go tigers. She's a clemson tiger like I was and While I think that there were some things that were challenging for her We gave her a really good Core a real good basis for when she went to college that she would call and ask us and i'm i'm proud that she is A conservative she's continued to be a conservative. Our son is a freshman at a much liberal school Um, and he is a conservative but you know when we went to new york to to go to the u.n My son was 15 at the time and I almost didn't take the job because I didn't want to That was a real concern about putting him in a liberal school and what that was going to mean for him And he said mom you have to do this. So we helped him find his school Do you know on the first two days that he had to report to school? They had grievance counseling because president trump had won Grievance counseling for students grievance counseling for the parents and I thought oh my goodness What have I done? And so the hope is that it was so absurd even your son picked up on it So the interesting thing is it really could have been a crossroads for my son and and what happened was There was one day when they were having the big do you remember the big national student walkout, of course Um, you mean the one on guns? Yes. Yeah, and so I came back from work and I said, oh you had you know Wasn't today the student walkout and he said jen I said so y'all walked out and he said no I said you didn't walk out He said no and I said Did anybody else not walk out and he goes? No just me And I said what did you say? He said mom He said if it had been to honor the people that had died He said I would have walked out he goes this was purely political and they knew what they were doing and I said What did your teacher say and he said she was mad And I said well good for you. And then since then he started a republican club We're only five people in the club, but he started a republican club and those That's what we need to see is the young people instead of feeling the pressure Which I know it has to be hard for them if you can turn around and find your spot of Realizing there's others around you that may be too scared to say something But if you say something if you step up if you do it, that's how things happen and so both of our kids we've been blessed that You know, they have a conscience. They have a deep faith, but they also, you know, they've got a good conservative core and You know, i'm very happy for you and for the country tell your son to join prager force. I will He's very familiar with you already he was excited I was going to be on here so I think he's already oh, that's great What's his name? Nalin. Nalin? Yes. Hi Nalin That how did he get the name? Nalin, it's um, it's an indian name. It's just a oh, is it? Yeah, by the way, what language did you grow up speaking? So I grew up speaking english Um, my parents tried to teach me indian. Um, what do you mean? They tried to teach me punjabi so they'd say okay for this weekend We're only going to speak punjabi and that usually didn't last two hours now. I actually regret I wish I would have learned it. I just you know, but at the time why did they speak to each other in? They spoke in punjabi, especially when they didn't want us to know what was going on My parents did that with yiddish. So i'm well i'm well aware of that Even though we could kind of figure it out a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, I I have the exact same upbringing in that way Your your parents if I and if you know any any time you don't want to answer it's fine Uh religiously your parents remain, uh, sikh. They are still sikh. Yes Were they and I I would not be surprised if they weren't were they in in any way? Saddened by your conversion They were not, you know, the interesting thing is the way I was brought up. Um You know, we were the only indian family in that small southern town um I could imagine it was tough. It was we weren't white enough to be white We weren't black enough to be black. My father wore a turban. He still does to this day. My mother wore Sorry, I mean they didn't know who we were what we were why we were there And we would get when I would get teased on the playground I would come home and my mom would say your job is not to show them how you're different Your job is to show them how you're similar And what an intelligent oh god, that is the antithesis of the left's Reaction your job is to tell people how you differ from them And she said your job is to show them how you're that is the answer to the that is the american dream That is what we call the melting pot, which is which is a curse word to the left The same with me. I mean I was raised in a jewish orthodox home That's that's pretty rigid absolutely and yet Their desire that I americanize without without abandoning my religion had nothing to do with it You're an american And and it it worked beautifully I wrote a piece about I I I had a similar thing to you I was the only jew in the simi valley rotary club. Oh, wow in my 20s in the 1970s And my whole point of the article was they didn't give a damn That's america So what and they all knew I was a jew every single one of them. I was the head of a jewish institute How could they not know? And but it it who cares but once you talk about what you have in common Yes, it gives them an ability to relate to and so my mom and dad my mom would actually take us to different churches And she would say I want you to see how other people go to god And so we would go to a methodist church. We go to a baptist church. We go to a catholic church We go to all these and she would just say what we want you to do is we want you to know god And so when we did the conversion Um, they weren't surprised because at the end of the day they wanted us to have a deep faith And I think they were realistic enough to know You know without speaking the language I could go sit there in a service and I could feel something but I didn't know what I was hearing And so I think they knew a conversion was going to eventually happen. And when did it happen? It happened in my 20s my my young 20s Did any individual inspire it or it was just something you came to it really was when I met my husband I met him my first weekend at clemson. Um You met your husband your first weekend in college, yes my first boyfriend First boyfriend and that was it. We dated for seven years. We've been married for 25 And well, what year was he in? He was a sophomore. I was a freshman. Well, so he really uh How did you meet We I had a friend. Um who was from bamberg the town I was in and so when I got there my first weekend I met up with a couple of friends and he brought his roommate and his roommate was my husband michael And so that's how we met Did he have a girlfriend prior to you? He did But you didn't have a boyfriend prior to him. No, that's fast. Did your parents like him immediately? They did but at the time That was tough because my parents still wanted an arranged marriage Not you know, they still wanted me to marry indian and so It it took a while for them to accept. Um, but now they love him more than they love me. So, um, That's how it should be. Yeah, my mother-in-law is the same. Yes My wife is cracking she's laughing because it's true It's it's not really true, but I know what you're saying That's actually a good thing if the in-law really loves the in-law. It's very true. Yeah. No, that's a very healthy thing Do your kids? Uh Are your kids christian? Yes, we're all methodist. They're Methodist, so you're a loner again Not exactly many methodist conservatives, that's true Do we want to hear our video question? Okay, great All right, take it away hi auto dentist nikki, my name is lauren hayden wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute auto first Yes All right, I can live with it I live in boston, massachusetts I'm a law student and i'm worried that the legal profession and thus the entire legal structure of america has gone woke My professors are teaching me that the constitution was written for the white man And loose interpretations of legal principles of the past is more important than the conservative view of law And the values of our founding fathers almost all of my fellow classmates agree I want to move america towards a more socialist woke ideology How do I not lose faith when i'm one of the few conservatives and how do I use my degree for good? Thank you The speed with which she speaks reminds me of ben shapiro, right? I wonder if they could have a sort of competition I'm a fast talker and I think she beat me on that one. I am not a fast talker. So i'm really aware of it She's terrific and it's depressing beyond words That they're teaching in her law school That the constitution was written for white. There was no evidence of that The three-fifths clause the only one that they point to was anti-slavery I mean the ignorance, uh in our colleges. Oh black is only three-fifths of a white No, the whole point was to deprive the south of power in the congress so that they couldn't further slavery That's the only reason for the three-fifths clause Yeah, the problem with colleges now is They're forgetting they're just they're supposed to teach kids Not how to think You you give the information and let them figure out how to think and what to think and I think colleges now Are coming in and they're just trying to indoctrinate These kids and we work with a lot of campus reform groups And the idea that students are actually writing papers that they don't believe because they want to get a good grade Or they're too worried to speak out in class. It's painful to hear the stories that we've heard and what she needs to do is stay courageous stay strong say what you think because Even though you may feel alone. There are 10 more people around you that think exactly what you think, right? but Or to put it in another way if you stay in the closet Nobody will know you that's right. That's right It's very true That's the only group in the closet in america Gays used to be in the closet. I fully acknowledge that that's obviously and happily not the case any longer and Transgender are not in the closet. Oh conservatives half the country is in a closet We have to find the power of our voice. We have to find our courage We have to go and we have to fight and it's worth fighting for And I really think it's this younger generation that's going to do it. I I they are so smart and so talented And they are firm in their beliefs the conservatives that are out there the young conservatives that are out there are inspirational And they're going to do what's right and they're going to make up for a lot of the mistakes That I think our generation is well. I hope you're right. Also. I wonder how you react to this I told you I wrote a book on happiness so i'm very aware of the happiness issue when I meet people and so on and I I Would love your reaction. I'm sure you've never been asked this I tell people I meet happy liberals and unhappy liberals happy conservatives and unhappy conservatives, but i've never met a happy leftist Does that resonate with you at all? You know, I just I say democrats have forgotten how to smile They've totally forgotten how to smile. They're angry and now they don't have to with masks. Maybe that's why they want Yeah Although you can tell us somebody smiles by their eyes their eyes get tight. What do you think of the mask issue? I think it was totally Overplayed all of this was overplayed everything about covid was overplayed sitting there. I mean they thought they could scare everyone Into staying in their home and that's fine. We had our hospitals full there was a time where we had to be Careful, but you know as governor of south carolina, we'd have hurricanes dangerous situations. I always found it's better to Put the information out there educate them and allow them to make the decisions that are best for themselves and their families Oh my god, and so that is so old-fashioned People should make their own decisions. Did I hear you say that small business owners if they wanted to open? Yes, let them open if customers, you don't want to go who's forcing you to go. That's the thing Give them the information and let them make good decisions. Oh god Let me revel in that That rivals beethoven's seventh. I have to say to put it in my musical language Let them make their own decision See here's my dark side coming out People a lot of people don't want to A lot of people would like others to make their decisions. They think it's easier and it's not It takes your voice away. It takes your power away It takes everything you were supposed to be able to use to make you a better person. It takes it away And the idea that you want government to control your health care defund the police control what you learn controlled schools Control how you can make money and what money you have to share with everybody. I mean total control of government. That is no life It is no life one would think Before we uh, we we end our wonderful session. I want to go back to the united nations And i'm my question has a as a preface You you're probably aware, uh that iran was just named I think the chair of the u.n commission on women's rights If the babylon b wrote that as a headline we would start laughing How does that happen? I mean it There's a lot of things that can't be explained at the united nations And that's the reason we had a lot to fight at the united nations But this is exactly why the united nations will never get the credibility it wants as long as they do things like that I mean it right So i'm just curious so what What would the french ambassador to the un say to you behind? Closed doors, you know, this is ridiculous. I mean There iran was voted in You know, i'll give you the example of the human rights council and what happened there So here we went and we made this big push for reform. We talked to over a hundred countries saying look We you can't have human rights abusers on the human rights council You have to make sure they have to have a certain human rights record You can't condemn one country in the world israel when you're not condemning North korea and syria and venezuela and all these others, you know, it needs to be fair Hundred countries we talked to we said we want to change it Out of all hundred countries. They all nodded and agreed with us And but none of them would do anything and finally one of our european allies said to me nikki, you'll have to stay in because if You staying in you're the one bit of credibility we have left And I got on the phone and I called the president and I said it's time to get out of the human rights council Because I didn't want to be the one point of credibility And I think that's the same thing with the this commission on women that iran's in Who wants to be a part of something? That's a farce. That's a farce How was your relationship with president trump? Very good very good, you know when I um He first offered me the job. I said I've been a governor. I don't want to work for anyone else. It would have to be a cabinet position He said done. I said well i'm a policy girl So i'd want to be in the room when decisions are made i'd want to be on the national security council He said done And I said well i'm not going to be a wallflower or talking head I need to be able to say what I think and he said nikki That's exactly why I want you to do this and he was true to his word from the first day to the last day And people ask me. How did you get out of there without a tweet? Then the answer was simple. I told him the truth when he wanted to do something Like get out of the iran deal and I saw so many members on the national security council that didn't want him to get out I went to him. I rallied. I went to vienna. I got the facts. I gave a speech I laid the groundwork so that when he did it we had all the reasons to get out and people understood But when I saw him doing something I didn't agree with or I thought that it was wrong I would go say you can't do this, but instead you could do x y and z And he would say well, how do you see that playing out and we would have a conversation? He was very respectful He always listened we worked very closely together. We were on the phone or meeting in person Constantly and a great foreign policy came out of it So it was it was just an honor of a lifetime to defend the country. I love so much How do you explain the republicans who call themselves never trumpers? you know, I think that A lot of it is if you talk to them, they don't disagree with the policy, right? They just disagree with the rhetoric then it even makes their arguments Less valid. I mean you can't deny the fact that his policies were good That he was the right president at the right time He was the one that could go in there and just blow things up and say We're gonna start bringing attention to this and he did that. I think never trumpers Want didn't like the rhetoric, but I also think they don't understand that republicans are too nice They're too nice. It's the reason we get railroaded. It's the reason we get run over Sometimes you gotta fight you gotta you know push back That's right, so I was on a panel with three of my radio colleagues and uh denver, I think and so they said okay, we're having almost here in la actually and not that it matters but uh, The the moderator goes. Okay quick round. You got to answer immediately in one sentence And we'll begin with you dennis This is not easy, but okay one sentence. All right What what was donald trump's greatest accomplishment? And like I don't know like god put the words in my brain. I go He gave I don't know. Can I say this on our uh I don't know We'll give it a Okay, i'll say it in a nicer way than I said it Uh on the panel he gave republicans testicles I just used the one uh syllable word for testicle, but uh the but That's do you agree with me? Absolutely, and we have to be bold and we have to be firm and we have to fight back Yeah, we can't roll over and just take it. It's not okay And so I look I think truth to power matters And I don't think it's all about making people love you all the time I think it's about proving results at the end of the day and making people better because of it And I think that's what he tried to do well This has been a joy I've got a long, uh, you have something after this as well. I do so do I if that's any consolation It isn't the consolation I think what gives you your strength Aside from you know, you've been blessed obviously with health and strength Is that you feel you're touching people? And that that that's very sustaining. I I'm sure Will you give us hope? Well, thank you. So I want you to know that Thank you. This has been a lot of fun as hard as it was to say. Nikki I said no and I gotta tell you this whole interview auto has been snoring the whole time The whole time yes, that's par for the course that is exactly right My voice thank god has a different elicits a different reaction from humans or I would seek other work but with him This is this has been a highlight it is well You and auto And you and snoopy. Yes That was rare Well, really god bless you give you strength, thank you so much Hope to see you one day in south carolina. Keep fighting the good fight. You do good things for america It's america is worth doing good things for that's right. Amen All right, everybody. It's been a very special fireside chat with governor ambassador Nikki haley i'm dennis prager Thank you for watching this video to keep prager u videos free, please consider making a tax-deductible donation