One-on-one with Ralph Rebandt

This guy, Ralph Rebat. Let's bring in Canada, he's a pastor. There he is. Well, good to see you again. Yeah, it's good to be with you, Charlie, always. Are you upset that, well, are you upset that you're not debating tonight? I'm not upset, but I'm really disappointed. I hardly get angry, but this is one of those things that almost tipped me over the edge, but I'm really disappointed. So let's just back up real quick, because we did a debate earlier this year, and you were on the stage. Actually, it's funny, who is this guy, Ralph? You've run before, so they know who you are. But here's the deal. Apparently, there was a challenge to your petitions. You need 617. They do a sample, which I don't quite understand how they do it, but they're right. The powers that be did a sample. They kicked out about 200. You were 80-something short. You didn't make it. They kicked you out. Yeah, they did. First of all, it's a process that's unlawful. The Bureau of Elections put it in their policy manual in 2023. Then they realized, gee, we need some legislative approval on this, so they asked the legislature to pass a bill that Whitmer could sign. Legislature did that. It's 5571 through 5575, and they handed it to Governor Whitmer, and she vetoed it. She said, this is not the democratic process. You're gonna end up with people on the ballot that shouldn't be there and people that aren't on the ballot that should be there. What did the bill do? The bill would have approved the 750 sample signatures, but that's never been approved, and it was vetoed. Who proposed that bill? Well, the Bureau of Elections proposed that to the legislature, and then the legislature got the ball rolling. So did you challenge your removal? Yes, we did. Under what theory? What legal theory? Well, first of all, I thought it was legal. I thought they could do that, so we challenged it on their numbers, first of all. They take a 750 signature sampling, and then they said we had 533 that are good, but we were short, as you mentioned. And so we took the short ones, 217, and we sent them through an AI signature verification program of which we had over 120 good signatures. So we sat down with the Board of Canvassers and said, all we are asking for is two days. We wanna compare the signatures that you say are invalid with the local clerk's signatures, because it's really subjective. I mean, who's gonna determine if this is someone's signature or not? Well, some of them weren't voters, about a hundred of them. I didn't look through it and scrutinize it, but some of them weren't voters, I guess, a hundred or so. I mean, there were enough that, that's the rule. But how many signatures did you get that you have to turn in to be governor? Well, we collected 20,000, and we went through. Why would they do a sampling of 750? Is that- It's absurd. It's absolutely absurd. And so we- What should they do? Well, they should look, I would say do what Governor Whitmer said. They need to look at every signature because it's essentially the same thing as saying, on election day, let's take a sampling from a district and project who the winner is and declare them the winner. How many do you need to be governor? 15,000. 15,000? Yes, sir. And you turn in 20? No, we collected 20. We went through and scrubbed signatures that we didn't think were good. So how many did you turn in? 18,214. Why'd you turn in all 20? Because you kicked your own- We did, yeah. We didn't want to have bad signatures turn in. So we are confident that we have over 15,000 good ones. So like in elections past with other candidates where there were phony signatures, this is not the case here. That's not the case here, Charlie. No one has questioned the validity of our signatures. So you're saying it's too subjective then? Exactly. All right, but it's it, you're out. I'm out. So we're challenging this. We're taking it to court. We- Oh, it's ongoing. Oh, yeah, yeah. We're not giving up. They stabbed the wrong bear, Boro. People are voting now. Well, I know that. I can't get on the ballot, but as I said in my press conference a week ago, we are doing this for the next generation because this is totally absurd to think that you can take a 750 sampling. You know, think about this, Charlie. You could have someone sign your petition 100 times. And if they only take this little segment of 750, they would never know that somebody signed it 100 times. Russian roulette, it's what they do. Exactly. Anyway, you're not in favor of the 750 anyway, right? Okay, you want to just count them all. Count them all. And as I said at the press conference, you know, Macy's hires people during Christmas. They get a busy season and tax accountants hire extra people. Why can't the Bureau of Elections hire extra people? I think you did run on job creation, didn't you? I think that was one of your platforms, if I'm not mistaken. Here you go, ballot counters. All right, listen, here's the deal. No other station's doing this. We're doing this. We're going to give you a platform today, okay? Okay. We're going to talk about the candidates. We're going to talk about the issues, okay? Love it. Let's do a couple of issues, okay? One of the big ones, and it'll probably be brought up, DTE. Okay, DTE, there are still people that don't have power in Michigan. And it's been since Friday, Saturday, Sunday morning, a lot of days. Yeah. If you were governor, because DTE is a regulated industry, is there anything that you can do as governor to force DTE to be maybe a little more, you know, proactive in getting the lights turned on? Yeah, well, you know, I do have friends that are still in the dark, but my- But the Board of Canvassers is one of them, right? Yeah, yeah. But what I would do on that, I would make sure that just like with the Board of Elections, you know, you have extra people always on call for emergencies. And I don't know why they're not, you know, doing that. I know they do call people, but, you know, we're Michigan. You know, we should be able to get this stuff back on. Did you blame DTE? Yeah, I would say DTE is a big problem. I mean, is that a campaign issue? That's a campaign, well, DTE and Consumers Energy make up a monopoly here in Michigan. And I was running on breaking up that monopoly. So yes, I believe that's a problem. So you would not, so you would scrutinize it heavily if you were governor as to whether or not they'd get extra money. Right, no question about it. Would you break up DTE? I would break up the monopoly, yep. It has not accomplished what they thought it would 20 years ago. It's made things worse. So you'd invite other power companies to come in and take a chunk of the action? Absolutely, nothing's better than having a free market. All right. Competition, lower prices. Do you think your Republican candidates, they share your same, because Dana Nessel would agree with you. Well, I'll say the ones that haven't taken money from DTE and Consumers Energy would share my views, but the other folks who have taken money for their campaign. Do you know of the candidates who's taken money from DTE? I do. Who are they? Well, Eric is out. Eric Nesbit did, $750,000. He's out. Yeah, I can't say, you know, this whole thing. Let me ask you, we have Mike Cox, Perry Johnson, John James. Did any of those three take money from DTE? I can't say definitively. So I don't know the answer. Maybe. I would. If they did, well, maybe. If they did, should that be disqualified? Is that an issue? I think it needs to be made known. I don't know that it would disqualify anybody, but it needs to be made known. Because on the one hand, you can't say I'm gonna break up the monopoly and then take $750,000 from them. You're not gonna bite the hand that feeds you. See, if you were running today on stage, would that be an issue? It would be an issue for me. Yeah, if one of those three had taken, or all three of them, if they had taken money from DTE, that would be an issue. I know that one of the candidates was in office before DTE and Consumers Energy became a monopoly. And I heard, but I haven't seen with my own eyes that there was money received by that. But I can't verify that. So I won't even say the individual was. Well, let's talk about ice, okay? Ice. A lot of cities don't want ice. They don't like ice. They think it's too aggressive. They've been too aggressive. Has ice been too aggressive? I can't answer that because I haven't seen everything that they've done. But I will say this. If you haven't come in legally, you need to be deported. If you come in through due process, you deserve due process going out. And I've been saying that since I've been on the campaign trail. And that's critically important. This is personal to me, Charlie. I have a friend whose daughter was killed by a illegal alien who crossed the double yellow line, had a head on with her. She was 29 years old. And of course she dies and he doesn't. And you know, it's like the drunk driver. They live and the other people die. It's just, it's unconscionable. And so there are things that are happening in Grand Rapids with illegal aliens. I mean, it's happening all over the place. So as I speak, do they get lackadaisical and now all of a sudden they're doing what they're supposed to be doing? I'm sorry, I didn't get the question. So I'm just saying, how aggressive is ice? Are you okay with what ice has done? Some people would argue that ice has been too aggressive. It is too different as I see it as two issues. People going into the country, that's one thing. Immigration is one thing, I get it. But the people that are already here and have been here for a while, that gets under the jurisdiction of ice and ice now wants to get them out. But we've had stories where people have been here for many, many years, or they've had issues where they've received coming out of an asylum because if they went back to a country like Iraq, for example, is a good example, they'd be killed even though they have committed crimes or may otherwise not be eligible for citizenship here. So the issue is, has ice been too aggressive in your view? A lot of the Democrats are saying, the progressives are saying dismantle ice. It's gonna be an issue in the general election for sure. What's your thought? You probably are aware that under Obama, Tom Holman received a award for removing a bunch of illegals but now that he's under Trump, he doesn't get anything but criticism. I'm in favor of safety as you can see from my lapel on my pen, that's Michigan Chiefs of Police. And I am so convinced that we need to make sure, and as governor, I've made sure that our streets are safe and our kids need to be able to ride their bikes and come home at night without being, fearful of abduction or anything else. And so that would be a top priority. Are there cities in Michigan right now where the local police department cannot make them safe? I would say no to that. Well, the National Guard, you've got, as governor, you have authority. Would you use the National Guard in any way to keep cities safe? How about Detroit? Let's just talk about Detroit. You're right. What about Detroit? Does Detroit need help? Detroit needs help. As governor, would you, as governor, take it upon yourself to assist the Detroit Police Department in making Detroit safe? Let's put it this way. I would sit down with the cities in Michigan that are on the top 100 list of most violent cities in America. Detroit, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, I think, is in the top 10. Benton Harbor, I believe, as well. I would sit down with those police chiefs and say, how can I help you? We need to make sure that your cities are safe. They don't want your help. Todd Bedison does not want the state's help. Well, I talked with him at the Chiefs of Police Conference a couple of weeks ago. He wants the state's help? I didn't ask him that question, but I do have his number, so I could call him and ask him. But do you think the state should help? Is there a lot? Now, listen, there could be resources. There could be a whole bunch of other ways to help, but actual boots on the ground, is that something that your administration would consider? It would consider that, yes. If they asked for it and if I sat down with them, I would definitely be pushing that because, as I said, even though I'm, you know, I'm not federal, I'm state, I'm the head of the state, and it's important to me that our children are safe. Are we, would you build, would you be okay with having ICE facility detention centers in Michigan? If we needed them, I would do that until they either get due process, whoever they are, or send them home without due process. You're okay building them? I'm okay with that. Should it be up to the locals or the state? Again, one of my primary tasks is to keep people safe, and so I would build a facility to make sure that the citizens of Michigan are safe. What about data centers? A lot of opposition to data centers. What's your thought on data centers? Yeah, I've been against them since day one. You don't like data centers? I don't like data centers. Are you a Republican? I read you're a business guy, right? The question is, what are they doing with the data? Everybody knows everything about every one of us, and they know too much, and my take on that is, what are they gonna do with it? You've got China who knows everything. They got cameras watching every move that people make. I don't wanna see America go that way. I don't wanna see Michigan go that way, and so I've been against data centers. And Charlie, here's something that's really interesting nobody's talking about. The energy to run a data center is the equivalent of energy running a city, and if you ask yourself this question, as Whitmer and her friends have been wanting to take us into green energy by 2040, you have to ask how many windmills or how many solar panels is it gonna take to run a data center? They won't have enough. They do not generate enough power. So the question then comes, why are we even dealing with data centers right now? Because if they were to go green, if. Yeah. They're useless in 2040. They're useless in 14 years. So why would people build those? The answer is because they're gonna become millionaires off of it. Well, someone's gotta make, I mean, yes. People that build things, sometimes they become millionaires. That's not a bad thing. That's not a problem. But don't we need, but you have a cell phone, right? That's the data center. You have AI. I'm sure you use your campaign. This interview is gonna go on AI in about five seconds after it's done. You're using all this stuff. Right. We need the data, as I understand it, I'm not an expert, as I understand it, we need the data centers to assemble the data and get it out there so we can move into the next century. And I understand a lot of locals don't like it. And there's an environmental concern and there's all this stuff. But you're against it. But so what do we, so they'll go to Ohio or they'll go to the moon or something. What I've been saying, Charlie, is I would put a one-year moratorium on them and have my team research it even more. I mean, the research I've done shows that they're not good. It's a very democratic position. A lot of the progressives are saying that. Saying a one-year moratorium? Is that what you're saying? I think cities, local cities, many local cities. I think it's a great idea. Why jump into something that you don't have all the answers on? I mean, you know. Yeah, go ahead. You have another question. We could talk all day about data centers. All right, forget the data. We're done with the data center. What do you think, I wanna talk about Israel. Israel is a big issue in this. Now, I understand it's a national, you're running for governor. I get that part. But what role, and maybe it is too much of a national issue, but you're gonna run against, or you would have run against, again, your race, Jocelyn Benson, but there's a US Senate race, too. And it seems to be that there's, on that issue, there's disagreement on what role Michigan, or the United States, really, the United States should play in support of Israel. I'm just curious on where you're standing on that. Well, let me just say this. You're absolutely right. It is a federal issue. But with the Jewish population here in Michigan, we have one of the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel. I mean, New York City's probably the biggest, but we have a huge Jewish population here. And I'm against any people that would hate another group so much so that they drive cars into synagogues or whatever. You know, I'm here to protect, as I mentioned. I'm here to protect people. And anyone who- Do you think that APAC money, for example, there's too much money from pro-Jewish organizations in local elections, like governor? I would say yes on that. I think there should be some total reform on finances and how people can raise money. I think the playing field should be level. I've told people I would not take money from APAC. I'm not interested in doing that. Did they approach you? You didn't approach them? No. But you wouldn't take money from anybody? I wouldn't say that. We have received money from individuals. But APAC, are you, I thought you were against PAC money. I'm not a, I'm against PAC money with strings attached. If there was a group that said, Ralph, we love your vision, we love your policies, and we just want to give you money. And then they walk away. I'm okay with that. Do you think it's time for the Palestinian organizations, some of the Arabic organizations, to have a, should we have a state of Palestine? Should we have a two-state system? I mean, there's a big, there's a lot of money there too. Two-state system where? Israel, but in Israel, for example, and Gaza and Israel and the whole Middle East issue. I realize it's a federal issue. It is. And I'm curious. But the issue though, is that there's money from both sides into this election. Is there? There is. Well, yeah, I'm sure there is with El-Sayed. There's gotta be Muslim money coming into his pocket. But I, yeah, that's why there shouldn't be outside foreign monies coming into elections in America. And I know, boy, once you make that statement, it's like, who's gonna monitor that? How are you gonna figure that out with the shell game and everything that's going on? People will get around that because they just wanna get around it. They don't have any desire to follow the law. They just wanna do what their agenda is. How much money does it cost to run an efficient campaign for government? I would say you need at least, well, we could have done it on 5,000. I put 5,000. 5 million. We could have done it on 5 million, but I would say 10 million's a safe number. Is that for the primary and the general? No, that's just to win the primary. Just the primary? Just the primary. Five to $10 million. That's crazy. But here's why that's important. Whoever sits in that seat in Lansing is gonna direct the future of the state. And I am fearful, Charlie, that in Michigan, if we get a Democrat in there, we're going down the tubes. We're gonna be like California. We will be bankrupt as a state in five years at the rate that they're spending money in Lansing. All right, let's hold. I gotta take a break. Okay, let's hold that thought. Don't go anywhere. Let's talk about your opponents in the primary and the Democrats. You say the Democrats are gonna bankrupt Michigan. Did I hear, is that what you said? What'd you say? I didn't say Democrats. I said that the legislature is going to bankrupt Michigan, but I said the governor will take the state down the tubes. It's not just financial. All of their policies, the Democratic Socialists in America, this whole movement within the Democratic Party. You know, everybody should know by now that the Democratic Party today is not JFK. I would have voted for JFK. Okay, let's explore this. I gotta take a quick break. Ralph Rehman, former candidate for governor, should have been on the stage. He wanted to be on the stage tonight here at Fox 2, 7.30, but we're giving him a platform right now. Appreciate it. All right, I gotta take a quick break. I'll be back in just a moment. All right, big debate tonight at Fox 2, 7.30. Root Prize is hosting the Republican candidates for governor. I'm gonna be tuning in. I wanna see this debate. One person that should have been there, Ralph Rehman, Pastor Ralph Rehman. Listen, thank you for hearing. He got kicked off the ballot. We already went through that. All right, let's talk about some of the opponents here. Well, let's talk about some of the opponents, okay? You have not made an endorsement. Is that my understanding? That is correct, not yet. Are you going to? I am going to on Friday this week. You got, right now, right now. I'm gonna watch both the debates tonight and tomorrow night and make a decision. What are you looking for? What am I looking for? Someone that I believe can stand up against Jocelyn Benson and win. What's her biggest strength, Jocelyn Benson? Wow, boy, I can't even think of anything that would be her biggest strength. She's got money, she's got a unanimous, she has no, Sheriff Swanson's a good, nice guy, but she's got no primary. She's raised a ton of money. She seems to build consensus. And I don't know how, in the Democratic Party, there's a division. Would you agree there's a division? Oh, for sure. I mean, there's the progressives and the, I call them mainstream, but I don't know what they call them, traditional Democrats. So she's got that little bit, but I think, in general, I think every Democrat will support her. I don't know about the Republicans. Well, let me offer this, Charlie, and this is why it was so disappointing they took me off the ballot unlawfully. I had inroads into Detroit and Wayne County, and I had it through the church with pastors, and I had it through a group of people that I'm gonna call the Mighty Men. These guys helped get Snyder elected, they helped get Dugan elected. These are Detroiters, these are black brothers who have also helped Mary Sheffield get in. And I went to one of their homes several weeks ago and went down in the basement, and the gentleman whose birthday it was, he said to all of his buddies who were there, and there were about 20, and it grew to about 50 people at a local jazz bar that we went to dinner with, and he basically said this. Ralph has an R behind his name, but I've looked at him. He is the only candidate with a plan for Detroit. He's the only candidate who wants to help low-income zip codes. He's the only one that's got a real mentorship program and businesses that have said we'll get involved with it. And so even though he's got an R behind his name, fellas, we're behind him. I mean, everybody. But traditionally, if Republicans, they'll get, I don't know, 5%, maybe 10 on a good day. And I don't think it's a race issue. If John James, well, John James, because he's black, will he get the Detroit vote? He's not gonna win Detroit at all. There was a Detroit News article that said if the election worked today, John James would not get one black vote. And I believe that's true. Why? I don't know. Well, where's your base? Don't say Detroit. For you, I mean, Detroit's, you can't, where's the Republican base? I don't know where, is it Macomb? I don't know where it's at. Where is it these days? I mean, really, where is it? Well, it is in the outlying cities. And that's another reason why I believe John won't win. But, you know, the bottom line is. You mean the John James, the primary? Yes, I'm sorry, yes. He's not gonna win the primary. Who's gonna win? I can't, I wish I knew. If I knew, I could. Well, it's Mike Cox or Perry Johnson. Right, at least one of those two. I don't know. Who do you want to win? Pardon me? Who do you want to win? At this moment, I'll let you know Friday. Sounds like a deposition, Charlie. You know, the yes is the same question about five different times, hoping it'll still be the same. Yeah, you're not good. What are you gonna be doing for this race? Are you gonna help the candidate you were doing? I'm gonna help whichever candidate I feel best has the opportunity to beat Jocelyn Benson, number one. After the primary, I will help the winner of the Republican primary become the winner in November. And I'm not going away, Charlie. There's so much corruption. There's so many issues to deal with. And politicians, and I'm gonna even say businessmen and women and attorneys, they have not, they have not solved the problems here in Michigan. They've only increased our budget in an ungodly amount, and they still haven't fixed it. And my point, when I was running, is you gotta give somebody else a shot. If everybody you keep sending to Lansing can't fix it and hasn't fixed it, but tells you that they will, why not give someone who's an outsider like myself, who doesn't have PAC money, who's going at this, just simply because he cares about the next generation, why not give that guy a chance? And I'm convinced, Charlie, that there were people who wanted me off. I gotta let you go. Don't go away, because you're too good at this, okay? We'll do this again. Promise? Let's do it, let's do it. Friday, Friday, I can't wait. Ralph Rebatt, former candidate for Republican for governor. Always good to see you. Likewise, thank you. You got it. Bye.