Ep. 143 — Courage and Critical Thinking With Special Guest Brandon Tatum | Fireside Chat

Hi everybody, i'm dennis prager and as you probably know by now unless it's your first time This is my fireside chat my fire my side my dog and very rarely I have a guest so what I do it's a rather special person as you will find out in a moment I just want to tell you that this fireside chat is sponsored by thinker.org t-h-i-n-k-r no e in thinker and what they do is they They give you in in a nutshell form as it were Great books. It's a terrific way to Have some acquaintance with some of the greatest books ever written and and currently published as well And then obviously if you want you'll get the whole book But it is a very good way of staying in touch with what is important. You can read or listen to hundreds of titles Including my dear friend jordan peterson's 12 rules for life So you go to thinker.org t-h-i-n-k-r dot org To start a free trial and as they say put your mind in motion Which is pretty much what I like to do here. And now my guest we're on camera. Everybody has seen and uh, brandon tatum is extremely well known Which by the way in and of itself doesn't mean anything I've as i've always said the famous are rarely significant and the significant are rarely famous, but he is famous and significant That's that's the point. Thank you. I like that. I'm gonna start using that. Yeah. Okay. Just quote me. I will No, no, no, it's quite all right. I give you credit. I promise So this is a former police officer in tucson, arizona, correct? That's where you you were in the tucson police force And you now produce your own video channel your your own video casts Podcasts you're creating a channel Otto is very excited by the way He's not used to guests It's usually just otto and myself, but he took a liking to you. Very good. Yeah, I like him too. You do i'll tell him I'll tell him when he wakes up. I'll tell him Anyway, you're doing really magnificent work, uh, which is why I want more and more people to know about you so, uh I'm curious whenever I meet a black conservative Uh, I I have a series of immediate questions. One is how does your family react to you? It's very interesting, you know my mom she she loves what I do My mom is a she would consider herself a trump supporter now listening to me Uh ran on my videos my dad is i'm working on him. I'm working on him a little bit He seems to be going down the path of conservatism. He he cannot stand president trump at this point So hopefully, you know, he come around my immediate family They're not really engaged in explaining to me whether they like what I do or not. So it's mostly just my mom Oh, so you're not getting flack They don't say it to my face Now I could only imagine that you might be getting flack but not to your face I could only imagine that they don't like what i'm saying really just based on growing up Um being told to be a democrat and i'm sure they're all democrat by default And the things that I say Kind of push against the narrative and push against some of the things that they still do some of the victimhood things that some people in my family still abide by so I could imagine that they don't like what I what I say sometimes but they've never said it to my face Given how much good let's talk pre-covid Given how much good Has been achieved for blacks in america under president trump, even if you hate his guts why doesn't We'll take the black community. Why doesn't a black ask? G have I done better? under trump or under democrats Or or that for that matter republicans before donald trump What stops a black from asking this most basic question? I think it's emotionalism, right? I think a lot of people are driven by emotions. So if they can't connect with these Accomplishments that trump has done emotionally. They're not going to accept them as being Factual or applicable to their lives So when you have celebrities come out and they say well, no, he's a racist That drives a person emotionally to feel some type of way about president trump And therefore they can't accept nothing that he does. It doesn't even matter what he does. They can't accept it and barack obama Um in the community based on things that happen in the media things from celebrities Like I mentioned before I think barack obama captured a lot of black people's hearts And so no matter what he did, even if it was bad They still felt some type of way about right liking president barack obama therefore accepting the things that he did So people will go with emotions before their own job I believe that they will Yeah, I believe so too the power of emotion is is uh Is very very disconcerting part of the human condition Just I always go into some philosophical Thought for a moment. Okay, so you grew up where fort worth texas And you moved to tucson When I was 18, I was an all-american football player in high school I had a scholarship to play football and all over the country. I had a scholarship everywhere But I decided to play at the university of arizona Coach mark stoops was a coach that I liked coach. Mike stoops was his brother They were great football coaches. I decided to go to arizona And I left my family and became a man Did you ever think of of trying to be an nfl player? Yeah, that was my dream I I knew I was going to the nfl 100. I knew I was going But then it fell apart at some point Why? Well, some of it had to do with the fact that I wasn't mature I don't think I was mature going to college. I had a terrible attitude and Other things I think that god had a plan for me different than what what I thought my life should be So football didn't didn't work out the way I planned it Well, I will tell you that right now. I I have such revulsion at the nfl That I have uh, I have actually asked my listeners not to watch nfl games and not to attend nfl games So I want to bounce my my reasoning off you I don't understand why one would cheer For people who have utter contempt for them uh to be called a racist Is about as bad a thing as you could be called. I I don't I mean maybe Child molester is on a lower level, but you'd have to go to child molester to get worse than racist. I'm a jew Six million jews were killed in the name of anti-jewish racism So I loathe racism on a personal level let alone for blacks or anyone else So if you call someone a racist who isn't you're a scumbag That that's my view just as if you're called a rapist and you're not or you're called a murderer and you're not so why would people We now have nfl player after nfl player and the nfl commissioner saying all whites are racist Which is one of the most absurd aside from evil ideas i've ever heard Why would I root for people who have such contempt for me? Yeah, I think it's I will never watch the nfl again Um, nobody that I love I would never direct them to the nfl I think these players should be ashamed of themselves and the commissioner because the america And this is an american sport the nfl football everybody watching on sunday, and they watch college football as well But on sunday is routine, especially growing up in texas We always watch football but for them to show so much contempt and hatred towards the american flag to disrespect the national anthem Is appalling to me And I think that people should stop supporting them withdraw their support if you have season tickets One of my good friends has season tickets to the arizona cardinals game for 26 years. He said enough is enough So what is he doing with his tickets? I'm very curious. Well, he just didn't renew him. He didn't renew him And um, I heard a lot of other people quit renewing their tickets as well, but these these people are shameful I mean, they are not representing their country Well, they're lying to people on a day-to-day basis. You're they're making millions upon millions of dollars Even league minimum you're making almost a half a million dollars a year And you don't you don't have to play on the football field and they are claiming to be oppressed They are claiming that this country is doing them wrong. And I think it's shameful and I can't watch them I won't support them and i'm disgusted by football Well, the nba is not far behind. They're going to have black lives matter, uh painted on the courts Uh, wherever disney owns a stadium, for example with the with the orlando magic, for example uh can you can one imagine if if Some owner decided, you know Well since we're going to start Painting messages on the court I would like to say Uh abortion kills Would would uh, would the nba stand for that? I mean with the country. I mean, can you imagine that? No, they wouldn't well So why is why? Isn't the purpose of sports the biggest purpose aside from the the joy of playing? To unite people in a non-political arena Right. I mean, I don't know what's going on. I don't know if it's derangement. I don't I don't know If it's because of trump, I don't know if it's because I can't put my finger on the reason why they're going down this path They the nfl lost a tremendous amount of money last year doing the same thing with players kneeling Then they try to I guess fix the cause by saying if you don't if you kneel during national anthem You're going to be fined and now they're just going full crazy And the nfl is having players that are promising to kneel The nba is doing a similar thing by putting black lives matter on the court side And they're going to lose a tremendous amount of money and I don't understand While they why they care more about social justice than they do about revenue and keeping us well Okay, so here is my theory and tell me I have no idea if i'm right So, uh, it's drew breeze, right? He's the yeah quarterback the new orleans saints so one literally in a day he went from I just think we should honor our flag. It's it's a it's it's a symbol of of our country. I adore it To the next day boy, was I wrong? I I now heard my fellow players. Uh, uh, Agony and boy was I wrong it is the best thing to kneel for that flag and then so on So here so what it's obvious. He doesn't believe a word He said by the way, and if he does then then it's it's even stronger my theory What happened so I assume fellow players on the team many of whom are black Said hey drew, you know, i'm sorry, but uh, you don't you don't realize how terrible it is for blacks You're you're tone deaf to what's happening. We love you, man, but you can't say this sort of thing So do you think that's what happened? Well, I think some of it. I think drew had to weigh his options Do you want to be a hall of famer or not? Do you want your family legacy to be this way or not? Because they're going to destroy you if you stand on that principle I listened to what he said and what he said was brilliant He not only brought up the fact that he had His grandfather and father or something or father grandfather and great-grandfather served in the military He also mentioned that we as a country have come together And we have improved the civil rights movement all of the things that we've done together We've done it and all of that is represented in the flag and the national anthem and he didn't say that people shouldn't He said this is the reason why I will not And I definitely believe that some players probably came to him players that he loved players that he played with Won some games with say hey, man, you can't say that it's offensive to me On top of the mob at the top, right? So so in effect, okay, I didn't think of the hall of fame issue so What if he had said the next day, you know, a lot of my players don't my fellow players don't agree uh I I stand by my conviction That that flag represents nobility I had relatives who fought for it. They had friends who died for it I stand by what I said, but it's obvious that it's untenable situation to have a quarterback In tension with his fellow players, so I will just be leaving the sport god bless you all What would have happened? Man, I for conservatives. I mean for me, I would have called him a hero For you to hold your convictions and say, you know what i'm not disrespecting the flag no matter what My respect for this country is bigger than the game of football, right? I mean, I think I think people would have loved him. I think people would have loved him more That's right him doing that that's right in the hate he got. Um from standing up for the flag well It's painful. It is painful you know There's no reason you would know this but for you for decades I have been saying On my radio show and elsewhere That the the rarest of the good traits is courage but And most people don't have courage But you have to have a certain percentage of your population that has courage or your civilization dies And he had a chance To do something great And blew it. Yeah, I think there's not just him There's a tremendous amount of individuals barack obama was one of them had a chance to do something great Um, he was the first black president. I think everybody on planet earth I mean, I don't know. I I wasn't a conservative my whole life But I would think that everybody was like, you know what? You know This country has proven to the world That a black man can be a president in less than a half a century right after jim crow And he could have brought people together I mean, I see this happen so many times police chiefs around the country have an opportunity to do something great Football players lebron james celebrities all these people have an opportunity to do something great if they can stand on something I don't understand why they cower, you know I've learned that if you stand on principle and you have courage and you have integrity At the end of the day you will be on top. That's correct And and i've seen it with my own platform. That is exactly right the reason why I have i've had so many subscribers and and followers and people meet me at the airport saying You know, I love what you do. Hey, can I pray for you? I mean people that I that i'm flying to different states that I don't live in Is because I stood on principle. That's right That's correct in the long run that That is what is remembered Drew brees won't be remembered now. No That's that's exactly right. By the way talking about you're walking through airports. Do you ever get Angry reactions in public. I've never had a angry reaction in public Um, sometimes I wear my mega hat never had anybody say anything negative. I had one Threat That was a third party type of threat. I was on an airplane. I just left I think a turning point usa event And a young lady recognized me and I guess the gentleman that was sitting next to her in the back of the plane Um had made mention that he was gonna have words with me or assault me when he get off the plane So she walks up, um to the middle of the plane where I was sitting And she told me hey just so you know this guy that's sitting next to me, you know He he said he's gonna have words that you can get on the plane. I just want you to be safe and i'm like Well, good luck to him, you know, I hope you know how to fight but I get off the plane And I wait maybe he didn't see you standing up he didn't yeah, I guess he thought I was a five five or something Or something like that. I don't know what he was thinking I get off the plane and I wait because I don't want the guy to punch me in the back of the head or nothing So I wait for everybody to get out. You know who the guy was never She told me because she was sitting next to him. So she was the last one to get off She ended up telling me but I waited not one person even looked at me, right? And and it was one black guy that got off the back of the plane and I was like I wonder is it that guy because I know a lot of black people hate me for what for what I stand for and uh Sure enough. It was him and she go it was that guy and that dude didn't even look at me, right? Exactly for multiple reasons, but i'm glad he didn't I didn't want to have to do the reason I asked It's interesting because I get that question a lot. I I get a lot of people come over to me uh, and Never has somebody come over to me well once Ironically in the locker room of my uh of my gym. Oh, no guy started screaming curses at me And uh, it's a great story because I actually uh the second time he did it. I I took his photo Oh, and I told the management either this guy is kicked out of the gym or I leave and they kicked him out of it That day good. Yes But uh, it's very rare Interestingly that we get it Uh in person Yeah on the internet. I am sure you're you're just oh inundated with so what is it uncle tom? Is that the usual uncle tom bootlicker sellout? Uh They they say all kinds of stuff. I mean i've i've i've lost track of all the names that they call me I hate my race. I'm a race traitor. I mean they say some of the craziest stuff. They say stuff to my wife It's it's do you know the last time race traitor was used that I and I know my history was the nazis used it Wow, if you were anti-nazi, you were called a race traitor. Wow, you were a traitor to the arian race So the pedigree of race traitor is evil. It is is genocidal evil So just know that if you're ever called race trader ask them. Are you a nazi? Right because they're the people who coined that term. Well, even coon they called me a coon, you know back in the day Um black people were I guess the food that they had to eat which was things that nobody else wanted to eat the slaves Um, they had to eat raccoon meat um, and so A derogatory term against black people back in the day was that you were coon Because you you were you were so low that you eat raccoon meat Um, and and now black people call each other that all the time even the n-word I didn't know the origins of it and and blacks will call blacks coons now. They call them coons. Yeah, you're a raccoon, right? Okay. Well that be that as it may All right, so I want to remind everybody this is brandon tatum who's uh, How long were you a police officer six and a half years? Sorry Six and a half six and a half years And why did you leave? I think it was a calling on my life. I think god called me to do something different Um, it started with a video that went viral about colin kaepernick and I ripped him I was I was in my car in the garage. No ac in my car I'm sweating I got my swat hat on and i'm just ripping him a new one For his disrespect of the national anthem and our american flag And never thought in a million years that video would go viral it ended up having 70 million views a couple um online stations reached out to me and The rest is history That's right. The rest is history when you you refer a lot to god calling in your life So I take it you're a christian. Yeah, and were you raised a christian? Yes Oh, so you you didn't come to christ as it were uh later in life Well, let me say it like this. Um, we were in the church, but the church wasn't in us So we would show up we'll go on sundays. We'll do the whole religious You were born again as it were born again when I was in 2008 when I was in college And and who influenced you or or is it just something you came to on your own? It was it was kind of like seeds that were planted when I was younger, you know I always god was always in my consciousness and when football didn't work out for me I mean, it's typically how people find god is that when things don't go on right in your life You can you kind of look to a higher power? So I said, you know, let me rule god out I mean my thought process is I was gonna rule god out. Let me see if he's real because i'm at a crossroads and uh, I Started to go to church. It's the first thing I knew i'm just gonna go to church and see what's going on Went to a few churches didn't like it and I went to the church that I got saved in emmanuel grace apostolic church They hugged me. I felt like I was at home And uh, I guess it was it a mixed race church. No, it was all black Now do you do you attend church now? We just started going to a church in phoenix, right and and is it mixed race black white mostly white mostly It's not all white. I'm going to tell you something and I'd love you to react to it and I always tell people Whenever i've interviewed a thousand people two thousand people If you differ with me, don't don't hesitate to say so seriously. It's very important uh, i'm a jew but I uh Not but and I speak a great deal to christian groups In many churches and elsewhere And I I observe people very keenly And I I would have to say That nowhere. Do I see blacks and whites? as easy as In ease with one another and and even loving one another as I do Uh with with christian pastors, that's usually I speak to more than layman Uh Because they're all christian Race doesn't matter. Yeah Is is that fair to say? Yeah, and the christian faith, there's no white and black right green and brown heaven So right as as there isn't When I I studied judaism all my life in hebrew and I was taught in third grade in yeshiva jewish religious school Is a very famous hebrew phrase, why did god create only one person to begin with and then typical Jewish way of learning you ask a question and then answer it To teach us that no one can say My roots are more important than your roots And adam had no race. Is adam black? Is adam white? Is adam swarthy? Is adam indian? No one gives a damn, right? So now we're told that the the ideal of colorblind is racist, right? It's orwellian It's an upside down world So when you tell me your church is is largely white and the ease and the comfort that you have Or or with black christians the comfort that you would have it's irrelevant Right because you share god. Well in the kingdom of god, man, there's no race. That's right We're all children of god at the end of the day you're gonna go to judgment and and god is not gonna sit up there And say well you're black. So you get a special privilege. You're gonna you're gonna have affirmative action It's not gonna happen up there so you might want to practice You know while you're here to to to look at people and that's what changed me was that when I got saved, um I was baptized. I was filled with god's spirit and all of that race stuff went out the window. I just let it go I felt like god healed my heart from even evaluating people based on race and it was more like, you know We're all god's children and i'm gonna evaluate you on the fruits Evaluate you on your character and and i've been like that ever since and I think that's made me successful in life What do you what do you do with the charge that? America is a racist country systemically racist. All whites are racist. How do you process that? I think it's bs man It makes me angry because I know a lot of white people that have been tremendously kind to me And and I don't I don't have that same viewpoint and I think it's cheap And people don't want to have real conversations So they blanket things as systemic like they can't point out a racist person or racist institution They can't point out the individuals so we can remove them Um, so what they say is systemic it's something that we cannot find out and it can you know happen in perpetuity I think it's a cheap way of not having a real conversation About differences or about things that can be improved, you know as a black man in this country for 33 years And you know, i've never dealt with racism. I've never dealt with no with any oppression, you know Everything that i've got in my life came from hard work and i've had I never had anybody hold me back Unless I was holding myself back the the main person that can or the main oppression in this country in my personal opinion Is in the mind and in your own behaviors if you want to live an oppressed life you want to you know Uh project that on other individuals then go ahead. But if you want to be successful You got to lead us. All right. So I just got to ask because this is a pressing issue now Uh, you're you're living in a house not an apartment, right? Correct Okay, here it goes. Does your house have a master bedroom? Yeah A master suite is what we got Does it has a master suite and I have never and not one minute you don't find that uh invoking slavery images Not one minute have I cared and I you know Actually when we buy a house and when god bless us to have a bigger house I want a an even bigger master bedroom. That's what I want to tell these individuals. I can't I heard people talking about it Is that unbelievable? It's crazy. No. No, I know like so my key the key to my house the one that's the main key Which is the master key. Yeah, I mean is that now is that going to be a problem? I mean people are they're becoming so ignorant. Well, you know, I want to just bounce this off you I think you'll enjoy this This is I I am working on Arguments slash proofs that america is not a racist. Of course They're a racist in it, but it's not a racist society And one of them is if it were really racist, you wouldn't have to make up nonsense, right? Right, right the nooses will be real and two mega supporters beating up a black man in chicago Yes will be a real happening or even even these people mayors and Governors who are getting pulled over by policing and claiming things that are not true at all I mean, you shouldn't have to make it up. It should just be hitting you in the face every day, but it's not true what's the what's the uh, what is the um, Driving while black what's the story on that? Have you been stopped? Uh, uh disproportionately. No, I haven't and when I was a cop, I never stopped anybody just because of the color of their skin I mean if you want to be honest, you can't even see the color of somebody's skin when you're in a patrol car Thank you. I I I'm shaking because I I argued this I have tested myself Can I really have while driving? Can I see the certainly behind officers come from behind? Right? How can you possibly know? unless Maybe so I even check and I see the person's race in the side view mirror For first of all 12 hours a day when it's dark, you can't there's not even a chance But even then I I can't even make out most of the people as I pass them, right? I mean because and you got to think as a as a police officer You're not looking at the person as much as you're looking at the violation Looking at other signs and symptoms on a vehicle or you're looking at the license plate I mean the first thing you got to do is you got to run the license plate your first Your eye is not going to the person is going to the plate. Okay, everything is good Driving behaviors. Are they good or they bad? I mean it doesn't benefit you to pull somebody over just because the color of their skin Because anybody that have done any work or service knows that you cannot paint everybody with a broad brush If you only put over black people you are missing a tremendous amount of drugs You're missing a tremendous amount of duis, right? And you're not going to be a successful by the way for the record for those on the left monitoring all of my Utterances, I do not deny that on occasion. There are indeed racist cops. Of course There are there are racist doctors racist lawyers racist plumbers racist ballplayers There are bad people in every group, but that this is quote-unquote systemic Uh is uh, it's just difficult to believe Ipso facto the in the the logic of itself because it's not easy to know the race of the driver And I just wanted to bounce that that that off you So imagine you could speak to every young black in america For a half a minute or a minute. What would you say? I would say stop believing a lie. These people are going to get you killed You know treat the police officer the way you want to be treated If you don't want people paying you with a broad brush You don't want individuals looking at you and and and projecting something on you because of what another black man did Then don't do that with the police officer give them a fair shake because a person kills somebody in minneapolis That does not mean that the police officer that's dealing with you today Is here to kill you also hold yourself accountable first I don't want to hear any excuses if you're going over the speed limit you get pulled over I don't want to hear any excuses about you getting pulled over harassed because you're black if you're following the law I can i'll stick with you, but if you're breaking the law, I don't want to hear any excuses Well, you were an officer for for six years. You said six and a half. Yeah so Uh, a lot of your fellow officers were white obviously I just assume in tucson most of them were white How did you find them as people great people? I feel like police officers are exceptional They're not just average people. You have to be exceptional. You have to be dedicated You have to have integrity all of those things you have to make it through the academy and also field training Which I train new officers on the department so you can't just be a regular person just you know running the mill individual So most of the people that I knew were exceptional They're willing to put their lives on the line for other people that they did not know And many of the police officers that I work with they had families. I knew their families. I knew their little kids some of them, you know freshly born and Go to work every day And willing to risk it all for people that don't could care less and there were some great people that cared about our service But there's a lot of people who could care less about us or even their own lives And to see somebody be able to put that uniform on and do that on a day-to-day basis I mean, that's an exceptional individual. Do you get a chance to talk to young people live? I mean obviously with the virus, it's not possible What is it auto? Is everything okay? Well, he's really uh, I think uh, he's worked up by the subject. Yeah It's it's it's intense. His uh, his brown body is getting I don't know if he's triggered by the police officers, huh? If he had black in him. I'll say black and brown body, but no no Yes See dogs are uh colorblind, right? Which is really uh, we got to teach them, right? It's not to be exactly right So do you get a chance to speak to young people? I do a lot on my live stream last live stream. I did have 10 000 people watching at one time for Almost two hours. Um, I do speak at universities all around the country I think you should get to universities. I I think it would be a really healthy thing Yeah, if if of course they would even allow it Well, you you are the worst for them. I mean we who are not black and a conservative And I say not black not even white because the nesta souza is is indian american not native american indian india And they hate his guts. So the but so he doesn't but he doesn't pose a threat even though he's not white like like Like you would that the there is no hatred like the hatred of a black conservative Yeah, I mean the thing is that I I check a lot of boxes To tear down the the infrastructure or the brainwashing that they push Um through mainstream media, you know, I grew up in you know a variety of variety of areas But I grew up in the hood in fort worth texas, but I became a police officer. I obviously played college football I mean i've done a lot of things. I've I was a I was a democrat before now I'm a conservative i've been to the white house five times like they If I were to go out And tell my story I think that it would resonate with a lot of young people and they will begin to connect And they'll connect the dots and see that you know, what maybe i'm being lied to But you have to overcome what apparently? Is a very powerful drive Which the the left creates like Coal miners create coal or bring out coal. They bring this out and that is two things which are very destructive anger and victimhood and The irony is Everyone who is angry and everyone who thinks he's a victim is an unhappy human being So just on the happiness issue Why would one want to be angry and consider him or herself a victim do you have a theory on that? It's a very hard question. I'm, not even sure I have an answer. I know I have the question I think a lot of people are insecure All right. I mean they're they're afraid of Being great. They're afraid of taking accountability for their own actions, especially when they've made poor actions and so if you were able to Look at all of your failures in life and you Feel the pain of your failures But you can divert that attention to somebody else and then you can you can change that into righteous anger Against the other person then you alleviate that stress on yourself And most people would like to dodge stress and dodge their own failures than to face them head on And I think that that's the difference between people who are successful and people who are not If the people who are successful they say you know what? The pain of what i've done or the things that my parents have done that put me in this position I'm gonna face them head on i'm gonna work hard and i'm gonna work myself out of this because i'm in a country That gives me that ability and I think that A lot of people are gullible. A lot of people are sheep Unfortunately, there's not a lot of leaders in this country in the world in general and people who have a leader like a I guess a an ability to lead If they are leading without integrity or they're leading without a godly mentality They are leading And taking advantage of people so you see these far left liberals who are very articulate who are up in the food chain they are using their opportunity to Brainwash other individuals to keep them at a lower position. It takes real strong leaders like yourself and and I and To actually speak to people and to get them on a separate idea an idea of prospering and being successful So you'll I think you'll enjoy I have a uh, concise theory There are unhappy conservatives and unhappy liberals or unhappy leftists And the difference is the unhappy conservative says Life is hard for everybody. So some harder than others, obviously But life is built in difficult I on and I have made mistakes. So I I look at life. I blame life And I blame myself the leftist who is unhappy Says I blame america And and that's really what it amounts to and for some reason that's appealing. Yeah, it's a theory it's a theory that I learned in my uh master degree class for business leadership is internal locus of control and external locus of control and so internal locus of control is obviously people can look within themselves to Find out how how can I prosper or how is my life being projected? It starts with me The external is that no it starts with somebody else. It's because my mom didn't get an education That's why or because systemic racism. That's why versus saying no at the end of the day. It comes down to me you know if I just Would have applied myself in high school Like I know I should have instead of running around with the kids that my mom told me not to run with I would have had a better education or I would have better grades I could have gone to college if I would have just applied myself even on a job that I had if I would have just Gone on time every day and worked hard. I've been successful and yeah, some people are afraid to admit that that's the issue Before I go to some questions from uh from some of the prager force young people for uh, either or both of us Uh, you said that your your dad your mom is on board with you Your dad Is is not fully on the other side and not fully with you And the reason is largely donald trump whom you said he considers a racist On what if you would say to your dad or maybe I as a stranger, I just said so Mr. Tatum uh Why do you say donald trump is Is a racist what would he answer? Well, so I don't know if my dad specifically Is he is caught up in the racist element? Oh, I thought you had mentioned that earlier that that your dad thought he was a racist But okay, I don't think my dad think he's a racist. I think my dad is struggling with his leadership and character My dad brought up a point of at some of these, uh, press conferences of covet 19 How it seems to be disgruntled, you know I mean, he's this person talking this person talking and they contradicted each other and my dad was a retired fire chief in waco, texas And he's you know, he's a squared away guy and he don't like donald trump's leadership Style now my dad is also not being fair in my personal opinion Evaluating his accomplishments. So outside of the character that you don't like he's not giving his accomplishments a fair shake in my personal opinion So I i've talked to him plenty of times about trump and so he would not say he's a racist I don't know. I don't think he'll say trump. So do you know the answer that I I have never gotten a clear answer I I read All all the attacks I read more on the left than I read on the right I've never gotten the evidence for his being a racist Do you know what is generally raised as proof? I I don't know I know what's raised as proof. I mean, it's it's ignorant and it's Faceless, it's the good people on both sides charlottesville arden Right, which by the way, we we have a video at prager you uh show that's a lie. He never said that He doesn't believe there are good nazis By the way, it just is such an obvious Proof his his children and grandchildren his his daughter and son-in-law and his grandchildren are jews Correct. The man would have to be beyond He would have to be a lunatic I like people who want to kill my grandchildren All right, that's what he would be. That's what we are accusing him of actually saying Yeah, I mean they bring up other stuff like when he said, you know s-hole countries which is still to this day not verified Well, the left says america's an s-hole country, right exactly and I guess that's the irony, right? And so I mean i've never I have never Seen any any unequivocal proof or any good argument to say that president trump is a racist because before he's the president Nobody ever alluded to the fact nobody on a large scale alluded to the fact that he was a racist I mean he's seen in pictures with everybody. He loves everybody and everybody loved him before he's running for office and became the president Yeah, I I it's it's it's just a lie Okay, let's see. So we're going to go to a video question, which I always do with the fireside chats and The magic press never works on the first shot Sometimes doesn't work on the second Ah third time's a charm third time is a charm. I know that for many reasons Okie doke, here we go So i'm special shriner from indianapolis indiana and obviously beautiful indianapolis indiana 75 and sunny year-round um And I have really one pressing question. I think everyone's thinking about during this, uh time of trouble and It's would you rather spend a night in chaz or spend a night at a feminist film festival? Thank you. Did you catch that? Well, i'd say if I want to live i'll probably uh at the at the female Festival feminist feminist film festival, right? um Because chaz seemed to have the highest murder per capita of black men in in the entire country So I wouldn't want to be in the chaz zone for sure I'm with you, but i'm you don't have to be black to answer that. I'd rather be at a feminist film festival because uh in chaz, I would be worried about survival and At the feminist film festival, uh, if it's a comfortable theater I could you know have popcorn and take a nap and it's not not a problem You you may have some people screaming at you about the patriarchy and all that stuff. But yeah the patriarch That's like systemic racism, right? What does it mean patriarchy? Yeah Yeah 60 what is it 60 percent? We're approaching a 60 40 ratio of females to males in college And it's still called a misogynist patriarchal society, right you wouldn't even talk about the teachers who are teaching kids Especially in grade school are primarily female Overwhelmingly overwhelming. Yes. That's right. Yeah Well, if evidence determined people's outlooks almost everyone would be conservative, right? Or at least no one would be left. Some people would still be liberal chloe 17 north carolina, mr. Tatum. Oh Yes What was your real awakening from the leftist propaganda pushing the false narrative of oppression of african americans What was my awakening? I think the biggest my awakening came from barack obama pushing a false narrative against police officers Which I saw manifest very interesting. Yeah, I saw it manifest because you gotta think I was a cop. Everybody's conservative I'm a democrat And all of my friends on SWAT team are like dude, you're not a democrat. You're not a democrat Look at your christian values. Look at all these things and i'm like, no, no, i'm a democrat I may not agree with this but I agree with that but then after a while they go look at your boy Look at obama. Look at what he said about these police officers Look at what he's doing out there and our job is becoming increasingly more dangerous And I said, you know what? I can never support anybody that won't stand up for the men and women that wear the uniform and I said I could never I can never support him again or anybody else that's associated with that mentality And for the first time in my life, I said well, let me see what the republicans have because the democrats are far gone And so that was pretty much my awakening. That's where it started, right? That makes a makes a great deal of sense So, uh, what's your take on defunding police forces? Yeah, I think it's the dumbest thing ever In mankind history. I mean they don't really the thing is that it's not just to defund they want to eliminate the police But it sounds so radical and stupid that they have to then say no We just want to defund but they can't explain what are they going to defund? Are you going to cut pensions? Are you going to cut the child sex unit? Are you going to cut domestic violence? What exactly are you going to cut from the police department? That's going to keep your community safe. So answer this one Did you were you ever called in in a domestic, uh dispute? Of a I lost count. I mean, okay fine good so They say Why don't we need police to go for a domestic dispute? We could send a social worker What's your answer to that because I don't I have an answer but it's not based on any experience you have an experiential answer Right if you if you want to be vicariously responsible for the death of a social worker In a domestic violence situation then go ahead and send them in there Domestic violence calls are the most dangerous cause that police officers go on Because people turn when you go to the house The woman could be beat up and her husband could be sitting there when you go to arrest him She her feelings change and then it becomes a violent situation or he leaves and comes back That's the most dangerous call to go to but people who have never policed in a day in their life Never done a ride-along. They have no idea what they're talking about And so they're going to get these people hurt or killed you have to not only be trained to deal with an individual But you need to have the tools on on your toolkit just in case it goes south because talking doesn't work for everybody And so I hope people realize that That's right, it seems to me to be very naive Raghav 22 years old gorakhpur india How can we win this cultural war by canceling the cancel culture? Will america be a meritocracy system with second chances as it used to be? well Raghav first i'm glad you're there I've been to india four times by the way. I I love visiting uh, love visiting india America is to people like you is the beacon of freedom on earth That's why the french gave america the statue of liberty and no other country And the left which has never supported liberty ever liberals do And conservatives do the left has always destroyed liberty. There is no exception to that if you love liberty, you're not on the left so, uh our battle raghav Is your battle you are entirely right if america fails if the left brings this country down and it is very possible it will if it does The amount of cruelty on earth that will ensue Will mean a new dark ages in human history If you want to comment on that, that's fine. If not, we'll go to what you said I couldn't have said it any better. So Fair enough. Okay Noel 21 eastman, georgia How do we educate people about issues like blm abortion, etc Even though our social media posts will most likely be reported and taken down. What would you say to that? I think Sharing see this is the thing And I have to say this and this could be a level of black privilege that I have But when when african-american or black conservatives speak on certain topics I haven't had any of my videos taken down not not one of them and people Have a hard time calling me a racist It's very difficult or white supremacists, you know, believe it or not. They have a hard time doing that So I think what young people can do if you happen to not be black is share some of the information from black conservatives Therefore it'll open up an opportunity to have a conversation It will not be taken down and and it's very hard for somebody to deem that conversation as being racist So I think that we all have to work together in ways that we can and push in You know some of the messaging forward because it is very hard as a white man or a white young man Woman in america to give your your statements and that's why we all need to come together and and put out the positive information That's right Also, you just got to keep doing it we have to uh inundate uh, the the the the internet with goodness kindness And all all the good things that we stand for they stand for bad stuff The left is bad and when people understand that you you have a choice in life Do you cower to the bad like nike? and amazon In fact virtually every uh major corporation who uh There's a contest in america. Who are the biggest cowards college presidents? Or heads of big business, it's a very tough competition but uh, they're almost all competing so you Know you you you have a choice And it's a tough one. I admit it. It really is a tough one Do you fight? or not I took a vow you'll find this touching because I I went to normandy Many years ago and I was very moved Thousands of crosses virtually all of them, you know late teens early 20s horrible death on normandy beach fighting the nazis And I looked at them and I took a vow And I did and I I don't often take vows And I said to myself if these guys could die To preserve america and preserve liberty. The least I could do was live I'm, not i'm not asked to die to live to preserve america and liberty And that's that's what you have to do. They take it down you put another one up And and that that's just the way it is And and you confront them you take it down because you can't answer me That's why you're the villain not me Want to debate i'd love to debate you. Why don't you debate? Why do you only smear? That's all the left does is smear I'm sure you get a lot of smears. Yeah. Yeah, but I look at it like this you're planting seeds That's you just got to remember you're not going to convert everybody overnight and just like the gospel or whatever You're not going to convert people overnight. You just keep putting that information out there Just keep putting out there. Even if even if you change one person You you may change the next president, you know, so yes keep putting it out there and over time other people will water it You know, you know Maybe they'll hear me or they hear somebody else or they're or they'll have their own experiences with the left That make that turns them off and then eventually all of those seeds Will begin to sprout in a person and they may change 20 years 30 years They may never come back and tell you but you've made an impact and you know, you have if you're actually planting the seeds That's correct. We have to plant seeds All right. Final question here. Sadie 16 years old. Mason, michigan What do you think of the people who painted over the blm? mural Getting charged with a hate crime You have any thoughts on that? Yeah, I thought it was horrible. I mean, why was why would you? Charge them with a hate crime. I don't understand. I don't understand that it's It's such hypocrisy Because if you are going to say that blm that painting on the ground that that means nothing You know, it's just paint on the ground. You're going to say that that is Worthy of a hate crime, but what about when they spray paint and they destroy all the monuments? I feel like that that is hateful as well. I feel like that's disrespectful to the founding father. I'm sure I I just will On the record. I think that tearing down a statue of of george, washington Or lincoln who liberated slaves? Is a bit more hateful even than a movement which is a very hateful movement, right? the concept that black lives matter is not hateful, but the movement with that name is also, what if somebody erased a You know abortion is murder Some there was somewhere painted abortion if somebody erased that would they be charged with a hate crime, right? They wouldn't let me i'll tell you this i'll tell you this two things If somebody put white lives matter on that same street right underneath or next to black lives matter People will destroy it and do all kinds of things to it and nothing will happen And they should be equally set or or more or more even pertinent blue lives matter, right? Even in arizona in in tucson the mayor Of tucson will not allow there to be a blue lives matter painting It's just I think a blue line painted in the front of the police station But they will allow black lives matter to be painted everywhere and they have an intersection. They have an intersection the lgbtq intersection that they painted rainbow colors And they won't let you put a blue line in front of the police station It's shameful and i'll say this about the statues because I think people are not rationalizing this They take it down turn out all these statues police aren't doing anything. Nobody's really standing up for anything I think the president obviously he's trying to do his best But if they were to go and tear down martin luther king statue Do you think that the police would not intervene? Do you think that people wouldn't say anything? Do you think that people wouldn't be swiftly arrested taken to jail and probably bludgeted by a crowd of individuals? And so what is going on with the hypocrisy? You shouldn't take down any monument because i'm just as upset you taking down lincoln as I am if you took down martin luther king You shouldn't do it. It's against the law for starters and it's burning books You would say they're trying to erase history and I and I think it's shameful You're a good man I'm, i'm learning for good men like you so it's very sweet of you to say but you are and you uh, you Give people hope I I am asked now more often than any time in my life Uh, dennis, uh, is there reason for hope for america? And and there are thousands and millions of reasons The good people who don't buy the lies and and and and the evil that surrounds us but a handful are called apparently and you're one of them and I I have No reason to say this other than to encourage you and to let you know Of of this special band So god bless you Thanks. And thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. It was a joy So see you next week dennis prager here with brandon tatum at the fireside chat Thank you for watching if you'd like to keep these fireside chats free, please do by donating to prager you