Former GOP Chair Michael Whatley and Mark Garrison (12-22-2025--Hour2)

What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. Former RNC chair and North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley is with us on WBT. Michael, number one, thank you for taking the time to speak with me on this super busy day, this time of the year for all of us. And number two tell us about Friday night in Rocky Mount. Well, I got to say, it's great to be on with you, and man, what an absolutely fantastic event to have the president come in and be able to talk about the economic policies that he is putting to place. You know right now, you know, when you think about it, he ran, you know, on kind of three premises, right, so it was rebuild the economy number one, then you know, restore our borders, and then make sure that America is respected again around the world. The other two absolutely fantastic. And on the economy, he is working every single day to make sure that we are creating jobs that were raising wages and lowering costs. I've seen you in previous interviews say that you are, you know, hoping to advance the Trump agenda, but also take care of the people in your state. Your opponent, the former governor, is also a native North Carolinian, also a UNC grad. I think you went to school here in Charlotte. He went to Chapel Hill. You're both attorneys, and I think that's about where the similarities end, right. Yeah, Look, you think about what I want to do. I want to make sure that we have economic policies that are going to you know, trade policies and tax policies and regulatory policies that are going to help our manufacturers, our small businesses, and our farmers. You know, Roy Cooper has never seen a dollar that he didn't want to tax or spend. Vetoed six different tax cuts when he was the governor, and said that he would have opposed President Trump's one big, beautiful bill. You know, I want to make sure that we're going to keep our kids in our community safe. And Roy Cooper vetoed bills to keep boys out of girls' sports and men out of women's locker rooms. He vetoed bills that would have forced ice to our sheriffs to honor ice detainers, and he authored an executive order to reimagine law enforcement as he put it, created cashlest bale and pre trial released, and has unleashed a torrent of crime that is really hitting North Carolina across the state. Yeah, a little bit earlier, I was talking about the when when Joe Biden first became president, when the Biden presidency first started and illegals started pouring in. I had said at the time, when incidents started to occur in larger cities around the country with trende Uragua and MS thirteen and this and that, I said, it's only a matter of time till we start to see these type of things in other cities, and it could even happen here in Charlotte, North Carolina, and people, you know, thought I was crazy. And a year or two later, you know, we started to see gang members and illegal immigrants, you know, pouring into places like Charlotte, North Carolina and other cities. I was talking about Mayor vy Lyles a little bit earlier. It's amazing that she got reelected now on her fifth term, and the people of North Carolina also re elected a Democratic governor. You have one hundred ten percent support from the president. But what makes what makes us confident that you are going to secure the seed? Well, North Carolina is a purple state, and we have always been a purple state. We're right now about thirty percent Republican, thirty percent Democrat, forty percent unaffiliated, which is our version of independence. And the way that that tends to kind of manifest itself as Democrats tend to win governor, lieutenant governor, Attorney general, Secretary of State. Republicans tend to win Congress, and they tend to win the Senate, and they tend to win the presidentials. So you know, we do have history on our side here, but more important than that is we have policy on our side. Republicans win in North Carolina when we focus on the issues that the voters care about, when we understand those issues and we put solutions on the table. And so you know, I am out there right now. We're touring all one hundred counties across North Carolina. We're listening. We're meeting with sheriffs, We're meeting with law enforcement officers, We're meeting with small business owners and farmers and really truly kind of pulling together what is it that they need because we want to have that conversation. You know, Roy Cooper is going to run from the basement. It's basically Joe Biden two point zero. They are going to raise and spend a ton of money. That's what the Democrats always do. They're not going to have a creative bone in their body as they as they get ready to go into this campaign. But I think fundamentally why we're going to win is because the voters of North Carolina support the America First agenda. Donald Trump won this state all three times twenty sixteen, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty four for a reason because he connected with the voters about the issues that they care about. That's exactly what we're going to be doing as well. Did you have I'm just curious, did you have aspirations of running for office prior to Tom Tillis's resignation or when Laura Trump said she wasn't interested or she wasn't going to do it. I mean, did the did the the President sort of you know, talk you into it or is this something you had been thinking about, whether whether it was you know, Congress or the Senate, you know, the House or the Senate or whatever. Is this something that was on your radar? This was not on my big O card, you know. I President had asked me to return to the r n C UH and make sure that you know, we navigate these midterm election cycles. Uh. He's extremely concerned with making sure that he has a Republican House and a Republican Senate in order to be able to fill out his term and advance this America First agenda. UH. And I had totally lined that up. And when people had started to call and say, hey, you need to think about this or look at this, I told him I'm not doing anything until the President and I have a chance to call, you know, to talk. And when the President called and and was very you know, strong in terms of saying, hey, look, you know you need to be you know, you need to run. You know, so so you're gonna you're gonna run, You're gonna win, and you're gonna do great. You know. That was that was really when I kind of sat back and said, okay, here's here's here's what we're gonna do. So the President rang the bell and you answered the bell. Yes. And and it's very interesting because you know, I, you know, got a call from Trump Tower ten years ago in November of twenty fifteen asking me if I would run North Carolina for him on his presidential campaign. And then a similar call asking me if I would be the state party chair and then the RNC chair. So you know, when I called my wife after this last call, she said, you know, you need to stop taking this guy's calls. That sounds exactly like something a wife would say, right. Well, and I don't want to brush aside the phenomenal that job that you've done at the RNC is well starting you know with North Carolina when you were the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party. Phenomenal job there, phenomenal party at the RNC, you completed the mission Trump is you know now in his second term, things are moving along. Before we let you go just real quick. You know you mentioned the midterms, right assuming you win. I mean, you know, as a Republican, how concerned are you about all the Republicans that could be leaving. It's it's mostly in the House, but all the Republicans that are giving up their seat for gubernatorial runs, right you have Byron Donald's in Florida, Nancy Mace in South Carolina, Marshall Blackburn and Tennessee. I think there's a couple of others the Republicans could end up, you know, with some empty seats. Yeah. So we have in every election cycle a number of people that are going to step down, you know, step out, retire people who have you know, want to move up, or people who just want to get back to their families. That is always going to be the case, you know. I've had multiple conversations with Speaker Johnson and with Richard Hudson, who's the chair of the National Republican you know, Congressional Committee and doing a phenomenal job over there kind of recruiting candidates, and we feel like we will really have a great group of candidates that are going to be on the field and ultimately, you know, winning the House is going to require us to have a really good economy. It's going to require us to have a really good environment that we're going to be running in. Uh. But you know, candidates and campaigns matter, and we need to make sure that that we are recruiting, uh and and training the best set of candidates we can have going into the cycle. What do you know about Elise Stefanic You mentioned people always you know, dropping out and wanting to spend time with their families, which is sort of what she said that you know, she this time of year made her realize she needs to spend more time with her kid and all that. I'm not so sure I believe that exactly. Well, I consider at least a very good friend, and I've not talked to her since her announcement on Friday, but I have had multiple conversations with her over the past several years. And and you know, she has a very young, uh you know child, Uh and you know she had restricted travel, you know, while while she was you know, pregnant, and then you know, in immediate aftermath, and that's just really hard. You know, my wife and I, Suzanne, you know, we we had an understanding that I would not ever you know, look at doing anything political while we had our kids at home, and uh, you know that that was something that you know, I think a lot of people, you know kind of are able to to to navigate that. But when we had, you know, our kids at home, I wanted to be at home with them, and I certainly understand where Lisa's coming from on that. All right, That is your Republican Senate candidate Michael Watley, former r n C chair. Michael, Merry Christmas to you and your wife, your family. Thank you again for taking time for us today. We appreciate it. Hopefully we'll hear from you again here on WBT and all the best in a race that you must win. Absolutely, I really appreciate it, and I hope everybody listening has a very merry Christmas. You know, stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through in images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come. Who you are. Visit creative video dot com. Hope you're having a fantastic Monday. Hope you had a great weekend. Thank you so much for being here. Greatly appreciate that any questions, comments concerns seven oh four five to seven oh one oh seven nine, if you don't already have that number in your phone, seven oh four five to seven oh one oh seven nine, would love to hear from you. Where you're at, What are you doing, What do you think about? What do you think about what Michael Watley just had to say as far as his Senate campaign and as far as the Republican Party in general. What do you think about the one point six billion dollar powerball that we started out talking about earlier today one point six billion for grabs three days technically two days, two nights before Christmas Eve. That would be sweet right. Thank you again, two former chairmen and Senate candidate Michael Wattley for joining us today, fresh off of his big event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Friday night. As I mentioned earlier, President Trump made a speech there where he talked a lot about the economy, how it's affected North Carolina, the Friday ruling on pharmaceuticals, and aside from Trump's speech, the whole thing was sort of a big rally for Michael Wattley. Mister Wattley gave the opening remarks and then introduced President Trump, who came out and talked about a whole lot of things. We have one cut from that event on Friday night in Rocky Mount. Only hours ago, I left a meeting at the White House where we cut. There the prescription drugs by three hundred, four hundred, five hundred had even six hundred percent. The drug companies turned out to really do the right thing, and they really did. But and they were there at the White. House today, some of the biggest companies in the world where they're the rest of them are coming next week. So the President saying the drug companies are doing the right thing by lowering prices, So that either tells you the profit margin is so huge, or you know, the president sort of putting the squeeze on them is working. I mean everything that he's done, as far as tariffs, lowering prices on gas, now, pharmaceuticals, I mean, everything that he's done. He mostly says whatever the industry is that they were very cooperative, and you know they're really they're very cooperative, and they're really, you know, almost happy to do it, which is hard to believe, especially when it comes to the drug companies, because no company, you know, wants to give up any money, right, and we know the drug companies are all about money. I mean, it's gotten to the point where, like every other commercial on TV is some sort of pharmaceutical commercial. Every time I see a commercial for some drug about some condition that I never even heard of, it makes me think, you know, fifty years ago, sixty seventy five years ago, what did people do? I mean, all of these conditions that we supposedly have today, I mean they must have existed years ago, right, did everyone just suffer along with it. You had a condition you didn't even know you had, or you know, people just died and nobody really knew why. I don't know, or I don't want to say they're making stuff up, but you know, they just keep coming up with different things. The thing that makes me laugh the most, and I'm no doctor, I'm no pharmaceutical expert, I'm no RFK junior. But the thing that makes me laugh the most is when they have a drug and you know, and I mean, there are legitimate conditions out there. I'm not making fun of any health condition, but you know, when they try and sell people on a drug to counter act the side effects of another drug, whatever it might be. You're taking this drug for diabetes, but you have side effects, so you need to take that other drug to counter the diabetes side effects. I mean, it's insane. But anyway, a lot of pharmaceuticals now going to cost a whole lot less, according to the President, and supposedly the pharmaceutical companies are happy about it as well. All Right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, and you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why, Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the vantage planned to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. And I'm being told that WBT News director Mark Garrison, who should also be on a much well deserved vacation, is calling in. Mark Garrison. It is awesome to speak to you my friend. Hello, Tony, how the world are you? I am doing well, how are you and your family and everything going? And I guess what? This is day one of your vacation. Well, actually I was off last week too, so this is oh okay, all. Right, well rolling, we'll keep it. We'll keep it on the low down, all right. So that's that explains why you were listening to the radio today. You've already had a week of vacation exactly. Hey, before I forget, I did notice. I see it's I don't know how new it is, but it's new to me. I see that you have a new podcast available at the wbt T website. Well, I'm sure it's available everywhere, but I saw it on the website where you tell your fantastic stories like nobody else in the radio industry tells stories. Well, we do have a little bit of a website. It's just called Mark Garrison Reporting where we put some of the stories that we've done over the course of the last year. And it's kind of interesting places to visit or interesting places to eat. I really love those stories. So yeah, it's listed with our podcast. It just says Mark Garrison Reporting. So that's kind of fun. Yeah, because every every one of those stories that you do, you know, it's it's it's worth hearing again most most of them are. You know, if you're not listening really close, you miss you know, you're going to miss some things. So you need to go back and listen at least twice anyway, because like I said, you are you are one of the best storytellers there are. Oh, you're very kind for sure, the king of podcasting Newsmatch right. Well I hate to say that, but yes, next to you, there's Joe Rogan. There's Joe Rogan, Megan Kelly, and Tony Marino and now Dan Bonginoy. Yeah. Yeah, now you know, Dan Bongino apparently is going to come back, So I'll slip the fourth place. But it's still pretty good. It's going to be interesting to see when Bongino comes back, if he spills any beans or if he just just sort of glosses over his time at the FBI. Oh. I I have a feeling the little the little bit that I know Danu and a little bit that you know, and and just knowing his personality from listening to him, I have a pretty good feeling we're going to get a lot, you know, of of inside stuff, at least to the point that he's able to speak about it. You know, obviously you can't. You can't just divulge all kinds of inside information from the FBI. But I think he's going to have a lot of sour grapes for us. But I could be wrong. Yeah, I think so. I think he may dump on Pam Bondi quite a bit. That'll be interesting to hear. Yeah, for sure, that's definitely one of the things. Hey, So, I'm really glad you called. You obviously have your finger on the pulse of Charlotte, and I've been talking about vy Liles. I'm just curious. I mean, did anybody even run against vy Liles? I mean, how does she I understand the demographics, but how does she get elected for a fifth term? Well, nobody of substance ran against her, Let's put it that way. She did have some Democratic challengers who were just wasting their time. And honestly, you know, it's her name recognition combined with the fact that Charlotte is nearly all Democratic when it comes right within the city limits to voter registration. So you know, in that sense, the fix was in from the beginning. So that's pretty much the short end of the short story of how she got back in. And it's interesting because had she had some serious competition, there were plenty of things to find fault with her about, particularly after the light rail stabbing. But yeah, she had no trouble at all. So a Republican even thinking, you know, of running in Charlotte would kind of be like Curtis Leiwa running in New York. That good analogy. Yes, that's an excellent analogy. Unfortunately it is that way. We have kind of a one party system in town now. It's only one loan Republican on the city council now, and he sort of started to go along to get along with the Democrats. So that's kind of interesting to watch as well. Yeah, if he wants to keep his job, he's going to have to play ball a little bit more, I guess, right. And what let me ask you about Sheriff McFadden. What's happening with Gary I am homicide McFadden? Yeah, I am homicide. A lot of people forget that. That's a cable show that he was on when he was a detective in Charlotte, and that's so he got national attention as a homicide detective on cable television. Well, I mean he does not have an impressive record as sheriff, is all at all. You know, a large number of prisoners have died under his watch. The state has highly criticized how he runs the jail. Two of his top chief deputies have quit, saying he's impossible to work for. He fired the woman who was in charge of shall we say, the book keeping there because she she says, she refused to cook the books as he requested. Now she's now she's suing him in federal court. And then of course he continues not to cooperate with Ice. So I mean, he just he doesn't have a record to run on, and yet the power of incumbency, he has two of his former chief deputies running against him, a former Charlotte cop running against him. I think they will all have a hard time really wow. Yeah, So you know, for the folks that have seen his TV show, you see he has a pension for fine clothing, right, and as the sheriff, I mean he obviously has a pretty good salary. You might know what that is off the top of your head. I don't, But I mean, as a sheriff. He's making a pretty darn good salary. But I don't want to I hate to say that. I'm not surprised that, you know, allegations of possibly cooking the books, because he seems to like expensive things and dressing real nice and acting like a TV star. Yeah, I mean yes, Flamboyant is one word that comes to mind describing him. He is a flashy dresser. He actually always has been, even when he was on the streets as a detective here in Charlotte working for Charlotte Police. Yeah, he's always what is the term sartorial splendor when you that's a certain way. But yeah, I what's going to have to happen is one of the candidates has done security for the Carolina Panthers for many years, and a couple of big name players like Luke Keiklear backing him. They are going to have to hit the hip and come up with a lot of money and honestly go after him with negative advertising if they hope to beat him. And I'm not sure that they have a stomach for that, to be honest. Yeah, yeah I did. And now that you mentioned that, I do remember reading that a while ago about the guy that did security and I think in social media going. To be a fundraise to watch. Yeah, all right, well, it's great to hear from you. And if you're not, if you're not too busy on your vacation, maybe we'll do this again tomorrow. I can call in sure, no profit. Yeah, we'll see it. You know, if there's any any big local news in the next twenty four hours that we could talk about tomorrow, or you know, we'll just talk about other stuff because there's plenty to talk about. Well, that's the truth. It's been quite a year crime wise here in Charlotte, so we could certainly talk about that. All right. That is the great Mark Garrison, WBT News director, And don't forget if you haven't checked out his podcast there on the WBT website, go check it out. All right, Mark, thank you very much. All Right, Holiday football has arrived right With Draft Kings sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NFL, the unexpected can turn game day into payday. And don't forget Draft Kings as you're back with early exit. Pretty neat function here. If your player goes down in the first half, you still get paid in cash. Download the Draft Kings sportsbook app and use the code Pete. That's code Pete. New customers can bet five bucks and get two hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins instantly. In partnership with Draft Kings, the Crown is yours. Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler In New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope and Why two four six seven, three six nine. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill, casino and Resort Kansas. Pass through of per wager tax may apply in Illinois twenty one plus age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets, which expire in seven days. Minimum mods required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG dot co, slash Audio Limited time a. One Tony Marino in for Pete Today Again, former WBT morning news anchor and the host of the Newsmax Daily podcast. If you listen to the podcast, I'd love to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments, concerns about the news, the holidays, the power ball, anything else. Phone lines are open seven oh four five seven oh one oh seven nine, seven oh four five to seven oh one oh seven nine. It is the holidays now, I mean talk about being in full swing. Three days or two more days till Christmas, depends on you know, if you're including today or not. A lot of people probably running around today, shopping, getting ready to travel, do whatever. If you are traveling, you want to get to the airport as early as you possibly can. You know, all that stuff that you already know but often don't do. Great to hear from WBT News director and I sincerely mean it when I say phenomenal talent Mark Garrison. I mentioned his podcast where you can listen to the phenomenal stories that he tells on the WBT website WBT dot com WBT dot com. Also, I was looking at Pete's podcast there pete Calendar podcast and back on Friday, if you want to go back and listen to it. Pete talked a bit quite a bit about the tragic, tragic death of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family three others killed in that Statesville fiery Statesville helicopter crash. Pete's podcast is up there on the website. He talked a lot about that. There's really there's really no new news concerning that horrific situation other than there was some text messages sent a text message or some text message sent prior to the plane crash that has been unveiled today. There's nothing as of yet in the way of funeral preparations or anything like that, but we will certainly certainly keep you posted. President Trump is now at Mara A Lago for the Christmas break. He arrived in Palm Beach around one o'clock in the morning Friday night, which is really Saturday morning, right after the event in North Carolina. If you are just tuning in, we spoke with Michael Wattley a little bit earlier. You're a Republican North Carolina Senate candidate and former RNC chair who was at the event in Rocky Mount Friday night. It was basically an event for Michael Wattley, one percent endorsed by President Trump, but he flew from Rocky Mount to Palm Beach International Airport, then over to Mara A Lago, got there a little bit after one in the morning, So I was saying earlier, you know, maybe he got to sleep at two, and he was out on his golf course at nine to thirty in the morning. And if you do the math, you know, he obviously would have had to wake up, take a shower, get dressed, get a ride over to the golf course ten to fifteen minutes away from mar A Lago. So maybe, you know, maybe he was up at seven in the morning, went to bed around two, up at seven playing golf. Seventy nine years old. I mean, it's a lot for anybody, but at seventy nine years old, it's fairly incredible. He just keeps rolling, right. So in the big news, of course, excuse me. On Friday, President's announcement on pharmaceutical drugs and then the event in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, but the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Finally, Friday was the deadline, the self imposed deadline from the Epstein transper Parentcy Act that Congress created and signed and the President signed. Friday was the deadline for all of the information to be released. And although another trove of information has been released and I will say, if you don't listen to my podcast, if you don't have you know, any idea who I am. I'm I'm on the side of the people that wanted to see this all released, mostly to just get it over with, right. They've been talking about all of this for so long, so much stuff, and I wanted it to just all, you know, be out there and let everybody absorb it and digest it and just be done with it. But now there's a whole bunch of hoopla about the information that was released or not released on Friday, which we'll talk about in the next hour. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.