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Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This week, we're going to give some hot takes on the news, highlight the stupid because, you know, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. And then we'll phone a friend. This time, we're going to have a conversation with Leo Terrell. Anybody who watches Hannity knows who Leo Terrell is. And, you know, he's one of the most popular programs and has been on cable news for, I don't know, a couple of decades.
But Leo, Leo 2.0, we're going to have a good conversation with Leo. I've just known Leo from Fox. I've had a couple conversations with him in person.
But then when I saw him last, I said, hey, Leo, I need you to come on my podcast. Be a lot of fun. He's like, absolutely. So look forward to dialing up Leo Terrell, civil rights attorney based in California. It just gives a great take on politics in the world of the world that's around us. So look forward to giving a call to him.
But I also want to give a hot take on the news because, you know what, coming up here, we have Memorial Day. And Memorial Day is really a special time. It was originally known as Decoration Day, as I learned.
But Memorial Day is more than just a federal holiday to kind of kick off the summer and bust out those short pants, maybe unzip those jorts, you know, those ones that zip down. You know, it's more than that. It's a great time to, you know, open up the grill and start cooking some dogs and some burgers and be together with family or friends or maybe go to the beach or hang out at the park or just have a good old time in your backyard. No doubt about it. It's one of the great...
Great markers for the transition to what will hopefully be a good, fun summer, given the garbage we went through with COVID. It's much bigger than that. It's time to sit back and contemplate and mourn and remember the sacrifices of all the United States military personnel who have died serving in the United States Armed Services.
I mean, this goes back from the Revolutionary War to the Indian Wars to the Mexican War to World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, the Global War on Terror. I mean, there are a number of wars that we have been involved and engaged in. We lost the most number of lives in the Civil War when this country was trying to figure out what it should be. And thank goodness we had the conclusion that we did have.
But there are literally millions of people who have given their lives serving this nation. You know, I'm very fortunate to, he's still with us, but my father-in-law who served, but again, Memorial Day is to think about those who gave their lives and sacrificed their, their lives. My father-in-law served in the army, but he was working triage and working in a, in a mash unit, so to speak, um,
where just literally hundreds by the hundreds kept coming through this unit and not everybody made it. They were able to save innumerable numbers of lives, but there were some lives that weren't being able to be saved. And those people who have sacrificed and served their country and passed away at a young age, it's time to kind of take off our hat, bow our knee, plant a flag, visit them, think about them, pray for them.
And their families. But Memorial Day is really a time to reflect back. You know, we enjoy these freedoms as a nation. We enjoy these freedoms as a country. We enjoy the prosperity of this nation because we've had the biggest, baddest, most effective military on the face of the planet for a long time now.
And when things weren't so certain, think of World War I, think of World War II, it wasn't for certain that the United States was going to prevail. But there were people who stepped up, every single state, every single nook and cranny of this country, who actually stepped up, served, got over there, some as teenagers, some as in their early 20s, some a little bit older, but who went overseas and fought a fight together.
We were exceptional with logistics. We were exceptional in innovation. We had pilots that were able to do things that we couldn't do otherwise. We had people who were willing to take that bunker, go up over that hill, knowing for certain that they'd probably get shot. And we see it in reflection of movies. Think of Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. There's some really good quality productions out there.
But try to think, as I do, the individuals who sacrificed their lives. And if there's a time that you can go visit that cemetery, get down on your knees and pray. I just think this country needs that time of reflection. And I hope we don't do it just on Memorial Day, just on the 4th of July. That surge of patriotism, I wish, was more prevalent all the time. Because you know what? The United States of America is the greatest country on the face of the planet. I believe we're an exceptional nation.
and that we have been given some tools and some inspiration by God that maybe some others haven't. And we can use that for good, real good, and be a force for good. But let's all pause and remember this Memorial Day. But I hope you also enjoy this podcast. And it's kind of a tough transition, but I'm going to go from that hot take on let's remember Memorial Day to bringing on the stupid, because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. ♪
All right. Again, I have to go back to this Operation Fly formula, you know, for months and months and months and months and months. And I talked about this previously on a podcast. There was a problem with the production of Baby Formula.
Now, Joe Biden stood up recently and said, boy, how would I have known? What, am I supposed to be a mind reader? Well, yeah, you got a bureaucracy. You've been the one that's advocated for bigger government, more government. And guess what? That government failed you and failed the American people because as they worked to shut down
the production of the biggest purveyor of boy, baby formula. There was no plan to figure out how to a, get it back online as fast as possible and be fill the supply chain so that we can get it. I mean, these poor moms who are trying to feed these young babies, there aren't many solutions. If you don't have the baby formula and it's some of these States, the way they've set up these contracts for sole source providers is
It's just devastating. And you have states where it is really, really hard to get this baby formula. So the president's trying to tout Operation Fly Formula. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm glad we're bringing in some formula. But they went to great lengths to tout the 132 pallets of Nestle Health Science Alpha Mino Infant and Alpha Mina Junior formula.
that left out of the Ramstein Air Force Base there in Germany for the United States, and then they're supposedly shipping in another 114 pallets of Gerber Good Start Extensive HA formula that were supposed to arrive. That's great. I mean, 132 pallets and then 114 pallets. I'm sure we'll give it to relief to some somewhere. But this is not a solution. This is a band-aid. This is a panic. Hey, how are we going to do this?
And if the FDA would get its act in order to deal with the labeling issues, the importation issues, the tariff, come on. The Biden administration has totally dropped this. And yet you have Pete Buttigieg and others, the secretary of transportation, try to go out there and tell that, hey, we were on this since day one. Meanwhile, the president's saying, we're supposed to be mind readers. We're just hearing about this.
Huge total disconnect. Another cluster from a group of people. This is what really makes it stupid to me who believe that big government, more government is the better, smarter way to do this. And obviously not. It's failing us. Operation Fly Formula. Keep bringing it in, I guess. But what a complete disaster and a totally stupid approach from government that's supposed to be the solution, according to the Democrats. And that's bringing on the stupid.
All right. Time to get to our guest here. And I got to tell you, I look forward to having this conversation. Leo Terrell, civil rights attorney. You see him on Fox. He's always passionate. He's always fired up. He's always got something good to say. And, you know, he used to be a Democrat.
And I think he comes with a lot of credibility because now he's like as pro-Trump as could possibly be and really believes in the America First agenda and the MAGA agenda. And so let's give a shout out. Let's let's give a call to Leo Terrell.
Hello. Who is this? Hey, Leo, this is Jason Chaffetz. Hey, thanks. Thanks for answering my call. Look, my pleasure. You know, Jason in the house. I'm privileged to call. I talked to you today. We bumped into each other the other day at actually a couple different of events. And one was to, you know, Sean Hannity, 25 years in primetime, just the leader there. And then, and now, so he saw you at that correspondence dinner and that was fun. And, and,
And but thanks so much for joining. I love seeing you on Hannity and, you know, we see on Fox, but I really like seeing you on Hannity. That's that's fun stuff. Well, first of all, you forgot the one time I also met your wife at the White House Correspondents Dinner, met her there. And then also, I love you hosting Hannity and I love to be a guest when you fill in for Sean. Look, it's a privilege to know you.
I mean, you've got a fantastic personality. We have a lot in common, and it's a pleasure to be invited to your podcast. Well, hey, listen, thanks. I wanted to get to know you a little bit better, talk some more about some things that are going on in the country. But, you know, I love it. You get on there. You wear that hat, Leo 2.0. But I want to talk about Leo 1.0. I want to go back on Leo. I want to go back to, like, little Leo, right?
Little Leo, like growing up when you were just, you know, my first memories. Tell me, tell us a little bit about what life was like for Leo when you were growing up. Little Leo was one of seven children. The oldest son of Eddie Terrell and Isabella Terrell. Born and raised in Los Angeles. Lived right next to what they call the Coliseum. Then we moved to what they call the South Bay Coliseum.
just really a fun family, a mom and dad who put tremendous emphasis on education. We grew up as Democrats. We were Democrats from day one. I mean, that was the major influence. And I think it guided me in my early years. I was very active. I love TV. I love sports.
But then I also wanted for some reason I wanted to be a leader. I wanted to do something. And when I was in elementary school, I ran for president or vice president or be the favorite of the teacher.
I'll tell you right now, I had a great, great childhood growing up. I attended public schools. I did become president of my high school in Gardena High School. And then, you know, I became president of my college at Cal State Dominguez. And I just put the emphasis on education. And that was because I had a tremendous, tremendous support from my mom and dad. My mom
finished eighth grade. My dad finished high school. They came from Mississippi. They moved to the West Coast in the early 50s, and they're not with me today, but everything I represent is from their hard work. Well, so what brought them from Mississippi? I mean, Mississippi, California, like my mom, you know, she was born
born and raised or it was starting to be raised in in Missouri um she was out there in Missouri and their their house caught fire it got got hit by lightning burned to the ground and they said hey we got to start over so they moved to California and I find that so many Californians have stories like that what was what was your parents story why did they move out good question I I know it very well uh my parents were from Jackson Mississippi and
And we had a very, very large family. I was born in Los Angeles, but the story goes very simply. Half of our family went to Chicago and half of the family went to Los Angeles. And during the '50s, Jason, a lot of Black Americans decided to leave the South and move for better opportunities. And my dad had a great job opportunity in Los Angeles.
At that point, he picked up the family and we moved to Los Angeles. The other half of our family, his brothers and cousins, they went to Chicago. And you saw during the 50s and early 60s, a great migration of black Americans moving to either the West Coast or the Midwest or the East Coast. And that's how our family got started. And I've been born and raised in Los Angeles. I've always been an Angeleno fan.
even though there's been some tough times here today. We'll talk about that later, but that's how I'm in Los Angeles. I'm very happy to be in Angelina. Well, I lived in Southern California, just not too far from you there in the Los Angeles area, just for a few years, seven, age seven to 11 or so. I can't remember exactly, but for about four years, we lived down there and
beautiful weather. I love the beach. It was, you know, but I didn't live out by the Coliseum, which I'm familiar with. I mean, was it is was it safe? Was it dangerous? Was it idyllic neighborhoods like the Wonder Years? What was it like?
- You know what, good question. And I think in my early, I lived in near the Coliseum. I can tell you right now, 337 West 60th Street. I was in that area. I remember that address.
It was nice. It was safe in the late 50s, early 60s. And I caveat that because I grew up, I attended elementary school near the Coliseum. And then Jason, and I can remember this very well, November 1964, dad got a better job and we moved to the South Bay area. It's called Carson Gardena. He bought a brand new house for us.
a four bedroom house because at that point there was five children and a mom and dad, so there was seven and he moved us there. And believe it or not, it was probably the greatest move of all time because in 1965, one year after we left, there was the Watts riot. Right in the area that I used to live in. And it never reached our new home.
So I'll tell you, it went from a very peaceful area to a very destructive area, unfortunately, because the Watts riots was a horrific and sad moment in the history of the city of Los Angeles. Was there like a cocoon in your house where you just felt impervious and safe compared to Los Angeles?
to what was going on in the world around you? Or, I mean, was that mom, dad, the, I mean, the family union was just tight and Hey, don't, don't let the ways of the world get to you. Or what was it like for you there? That was, again, these are just excellent questions. Brings back some, some very, very fond memories. Uh, to answer your questions, my mom and dad provided a,
a shield of protection. You know, we never in our young days were exposed to violence. We saw it on TV, but it was never, it never directly affected our family.
and i think our dad my dad and my mom made sure that that never happened we never had any type of violent act outside our house inside our house it was a a peaceful family yeah and it was it was peaceful times we had a very safe environment when we moved and it was sort of like a wonder years but we we knew there was trouble
Within the city, within the state, within the country, because in the 60s, turbulent times, riots, a lot of civil unrest. But in our home, we had peace. Well, what was your school like? I mean, you seem to speak favorably of it, fondly of it.
Was race an issue back then for you at school? You know, interesting. Yeah, it was. And I think I had a positive experience. I mean, you were elected the president of the high school. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, honestly, Jason, again, I want to be very clear to the listeners. I owe everything, every ounce of my success to my mom and dad.
and I gotta be very careful if I don't get emotional. Yeah, my mom and dad house was like the United Nations, people of all colors and gave me a good perspective. And I think I took that approach when I went to school and I think I was very likable. And that's how I became president of my high school and have very fond memories and stayed in contact with a lot of high school friends
Were you like the jokester? I mean...
people get along in different ways right Leo some can just be outright friendly some can be hey I got the quip of the moment right at the right time others are you know just can make the teacher smile and and hey if I really want this I could I bet I could talk my teacher into it and and help out the rest of the guy I mean there's different strategies right so what was your strategy what did you just naturally gravitate to well
I had a good personality, first of all, and that was because there was a lot of bantering inside the house. We have brothers and sisters, a large group, and then mom and dad. So I had a good personality. And I wanted to-- again, the education was very important to my family. So in the classroom, funny.
I thought I believe I was pretty smart. I wasn't the smartest person in the class, but I was funny and I developed always a fantastic relationship with my teacher. Sometimes I was considered the teacher's pet, but I wanted to do well in school. And I thought I felt that I overall did a good job. You're listening to Jason in the house. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Leo Terrell right after this.
So you're moving forward. You get through high school.
Um, well, what was your first job like away from home? Yeah. I don't know if you were, I don't know if you were like mowing the lawn or mom said, Hey Leo, you take out the garbage. I don't know what those jobs were, but what was your first job kind of away from mom and dad?
- Oh, you know what? It's funny, my mom and dad never wanted us to work. I think, again, they wanted us to stay home and study, but I'll tell you right now, I recall it well, it's probably the best experience I had. My first job was McDonald's restaurant in the city of Gardena. I made a dollar...
10 per hour. Plus they charge $1.10. I'm telling you 1970. I think it was 1971, 70 or 71. I know what they, and I'll, I'll, I'll confess. I think you had to be 16 to get a job. And I lied about my age. I wanted a job so bad. So I lied. I lied so I can qualify to get that job. But yes,
That was my first job, and it was the best experience I had. Gave me a lot of leadership and working with people. You know, I've done like 60-something podcasts so far. The number one answer I've had, what's your first outside job? McDonald's. A whole bunch of people that have gone on with great success have worked at McDonald's because I think they have a formula. I think they taught kids how to work and be responsible and give them –
Give him a job. And yeah, the compensation wasn't off the charts. It certainly wasn't $1.10.
I remember that so well. It's just a great question. And you're absolutely right. It gave you leadership. It taught you how to work. And it gave you responsibility, Jason, at an early age. I know when I was 16, I was what they call a swing manager. And I had responsibility over the shift that I worked. And it gave me a lot of leadership responsibility and how to be very, very efficient. And honestly, those life skills that I learned at McDonald's, I still have
those installed, instilled upon me as I speak to you today. Now, did you ever ascend to the position of making the actual French fries? Because I hear that's like the top of the top. What did they have you doing at McDonald's? Hey, let me tell you right now, this is so great. I
Hey, I did the grill, I fried, shake. You know, at that time, and people who are listening to this podcast may remember, McDonald's had what they call national competition. It was called the All-American McDonald's. And various stores would compete for the title of the best shake man, the best fry man, the best grill man. So, you know, I competed. Didn't get too far out of the regionals, but boy, those were some great experiences.
That is great. Well, first of all, I think I kind of lived on my age to to kind of get a job. You can do that back then. And good for you because, yeah, I mean, you got to work. OK, so you get a job at McDonald's. You got some income. You're you're focusing on school. But, you know, eventually high school runs out. Then you got to make some decisions. Leo, what was what you decide to do?
I'll tell you right now, after I finished high school, Gardena High School, I knew I was going to college. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, but I knew during the course of my undergraduate four years, I was getting tired of school. And so after I finished my four years of college,
I wanted to work and I wanted to become a teacher. And I took an extra year of teacher's ed, which gave me five years. I started teaching. What was your undergraduate? What was your undergraduate? My undergraduate was at Cal State Dominion Hills. I got a bachelor's in political science, a minor in geography.
I knew, like I said, again, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. I love politics at that time because my mom and dad would always watch the news. I was always sitting there in the living room watching the news with them. But I wanted to also work and I was tired of school. And so I
after I got my teaching credential, I started teaching for a couple of years. So I went to a university called Pepperdine university. He's got my master's in education administration. Nice. And then, and then it's pretty nice Leo. Oh, beautiful, beautiful. A lot of distractions in Pepperdine. Yeah.
you know jason in the house i'll tell you again education was something my parents stressed and pepperdown was a beautiful combination of a beautiful campus with a solid educational program very proud of getting that master's in admin education administration but uh
You know, I saw the writing on the wall because that desire to become a lawyer was calling. So I decided to resign as a teacher. I kept my teaching credential, Jason. I could teach still. I could teach today. And I decided to leave education, and then I went to law school at UCLA. Good for you. A lot of distractions at UCLA, too. You must have been focused because –
You get through UCLA and you got your law degree there, right? Absolutely. First of all, tremendous education at UCLA, just like at Pepperdine and even Cal State Dominguez.
And I'll tell you, it was very, very competitive because law school, I mean, there was undergrads from all over the country, from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke. It was very competitive. And I question my talent, my intelligence, because it was so competitive. But I am very proud to say on the Jason in the House podcast, I took the California State Bar, I passed it the first time, and I was off and running to become a lawyer.
All right. So you get that degree. Did you go work for a big law firm, small law firm? What'd you do? I'll tell you exactly. I knew Jason right when I finished law school that there was no way in the world I was going to work for somebody because I would get fired because I was very headstrong. I was very opinionated. You know, if you, if Leo, the Leo that I see on high entity, are you kidding me?
I'm not telling you, no lie. I knew for a fact that if I worked for a law firm, if I didn't agree with a partner or I got someone upset, I would be fired. So I took the chance and from day one started my own law practice. It was hard. It was grueling, but it was satisfying. And I ran my own law practice for like
30 years. No, excuse me. 24 years. And then I closed it up in 2014. You got it. You have a lot of gumption to go out there and hang up your own shingle when you're fresh just past the bar. I mean,
You're pretty young at that point to have somebody entrust you with all their legal work. What kind of law did you focus the 20 plus years you did that? What type of civil rights stuff you started focusing on, right? Yeah. Yeah. First of all, the reason why I was able to do it, Jason, was because I had tremendous mentors.
I think I spent a summer waiting for my bar results in Arkansas. I worked with a fantastic civil rights attorney named John Walker. That was the time when Boyd Clinton was governor. And I spent time down there, but I became a civil rights attorney. My mentor said, "You should do civil rights and I will help you." So I opened up my own shingle in Los Angeles.
And, you know, working 18, 19 hours a day, I was never afraid of hard work. And, you know, from one client to two clients. And yes, I focus on civil rights because I grew up during the 60s. I believe in what Dr. King said, judge a person by the contents of this character, not the color of his skin. And Dr. King was one of my role models during the 60s. And I was proud to be a civil rights attorney.
So you do that. You obviously had success because you're feeding yourself and you're making an income and you're paying the bills and enough to go out and spend some money at McDonald's along the way. And then – but how involved were you in the political side of the equation? I mean because you identified yourself as a Democrat. You got your degree in part in that. Yeah.
How involved were you in politics at that point? I was very involved.
First of all, when I opened up my own shingle, my own law practice, I decided to join various organizations. I was a member of the NAACP. I was one of their legal counsels in Los Angeles. And I have a story to tell you about that. I joined organizations trying to work together with the Korean community. I was chairperson of the Black Korean Alliance, trying to make sure there was greater relationship between African-Americans and the Korean community.
I was appointed on the statewide commission against hate crimes by a former Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy. So I was very active and I thought I was doing very good work and I took a lot of pride in what I was doing because my ultimate goal, Jason, even as a Democrat was to help people. And I only got involved in organizations and projects
that I felt that I could help people. And those projects that I did join, I thought I felt very successful. I felt very accomplished. Well, so tell me about the NAACP. You know, I'll tell you right now, this is back in 2000, early 2000. President Bush is the president. And this is something that even when I was a Democrat, even when I was, you know,
party line Democrat. I would have a independent streak. Nobody's going to tell me what to do. That's one of the reasons why I opened up my own practice. And when I appeared as a lawyer, I only wanted a judge who was fair. Well, here's the story. President Bush nominated a judge named Carolyn Kuhl. She was the L.A. Superior Court judge. I had appeared before her to the Ninth Circuit. She was a Republican. She was Catholic.
And I appeared before her and I wrote a letter saying, I'm going to support you. And so the White House got wind of that. They flew me back to Washington, D.C., because I appeared with some Republicans. I think one of them was Rick Santorum. I still have the videotape. I say, look, all you want as a lawyer is a judge who is fair and she is fair. I get back to my hotel.
The NAACP calls me and say, "Hey Leo, we just saw you on TV." "Yeah." "You're supporting Carolyn Kuhl." "Yes." "She's fair." "We don't support her." "Okay, no problem, I support her." "But we don't support her." I said, "Okay, but I support her. She's fair." "Well, we got a problem. If you're gonna support her, we have a problem with you being member of NAACP." I quit. That day I quit. There's a Wall Street Journal article that I'm very proud that they cover that story.
And that's the type of person I am. That's why I knew that no one's going to tell me what I believe. You had a judge who was fair, but the NAACP said no because she's a Republican and she was supported by George Bush. I don't play that game. She was a fair judge. I personally appeared before her. And all you want as a lawyer is a fair judge. No politics. Yeah, I mean, I...
I don't know what the argument is against that unless you're an organization, just pure partisan political flack. Good for you. Good for you. Yeah. Okay, so let's go back here to the transition, if you will, from Leo 1.0 to Leo 2.0.
I mean, Sean Hannity loves to tease you. And I mean, you have so much fun with Hannity on this. But explain to me that where you kind of decided, all right, I'm making that transition. And then I don't know where along the way you kind of bumped into Donald Trump. But explain all that. Oh, yeah. I'm more than happy to. And thank you for that question. It's June. I think it's May or June of 2020.
Joe Biden goes on a radio program. I think it's called Charlemagne the God. And he makes a reference that says, if you vote for Trump, something like this, you ain't black. Jason, I'm a civil rights lawyer. I'm a civil rights lawyer. And he is basically making one of the most racist statements ever that all black people have to vote Democrat. All black people have to think alike.
for some reason and I don't know what happened Sean Hannity's producer called me and asked me to appear on the show I think they honestly felt that I was going to defend that position right Jason I'm a person of values I have my sister is in law enforcement by the way that's very important uh and I'll tell that later on so so they're expecting me to somehow defend Biden's position I'm on the Sean Hannity show I remember it very vividly Ari Fleischer Larry Elder and myself
So, you know, they're setting me up to defend Biden. And I said, no, I went after Biden. I said, this is insulting. It's racist. It's offensive. And I cannot support this. And so everybody was shocked.
Everybody was shocked. That was, to me, was that really a transition, a transformation, or just good old common sense that the Democrats have assumed that black people will become Democrats automatically because of skin color. And I was offended by that. And that's how it started. That was the beginning. Well, tell me about your sister being a law enforcement. Sure. At that time, it was unbelievable. These two events, the Joe Biden racist statement
And then all of a sudden you had the rise, the summer riots. My sister was in law enforcement for 15 years, LA County Sheriff. And you know, the beauty of my relationship with my sister, Jason, I'm a civil rights attorney. She's a law enforcement. We would argue back and forth. We all agree that in every profession, there's bad lawyers, there's bad cops, but 97% of cops are good. They protect you and I at 2 a.m.
So back to the Democrats. They want to defund the police. They want to take away law enforcement. So you had the Joe Biden racist statement and you had a Democratic Party who had basically abandoned law enforcement. And then you had the summer rise. I couldn't support that. And with those two issues, I said adios to the Democratic Party. Those were the two issues that made me leave the Democratic Party.
Interesting. I'm very happy. You've been pretty vocal in your support of of Donald Trump, the America first agenda. Have you spent much time with the president along the way? Well, let me tell you, I am. It's funny. Your timing of that question was perfect because just two weeks ago, the president was in Los Angeles and he was, you know, greeting some people. He saw me. He said, hey, I know that guy. That's 2.0. That's Leo.
And then he said, that's the most famous guy in the room. I said, no, Mr. President, you are. And so I said, no, you're the most famous person in the room. So the president, you know, a couple of times picked up the phone and called me. I've interviewed the president as, you know, as a call of your question. I just...
uh ran into well i took some photographs from a couple weeks ago in los angeles yeah i'm a big donald trump supporter and i'm gonna do everything possible to get i got two goals uh to retire nancy pelosi this year she's out
I mean, our state is in just horrible. She's a horrific speaker. And I'm going to do everything I can to put President Trump back in the White House. This guy, you know, he puts country first. No one can argue with his success, notwithstanding the opposition from the left wing media and the Democratic Party. They're absolutely jealous. His endorsement means something. I am committed, Jason. I want your listeners to know this 100 percent to our president.
What? Well, I mean, you got friends, you got colleagues, you got. Did they just think you've gone off the rails or are they like are they like quietly saying, you know, we know you're right. We just can't say it out loud. There are vocals. There are vocal friends who have said sell out. Oh, you. How much do they pay you? You know, the classic terms house Negro Uncle Tom. You know what I told you from day one.
I'm a very independent person. The story I told you about, you know, leaving the NAACP, the fact that I knew, I knew for a fact I would be fired if I worked for a law firm. I am not going to let people tell me how to think, how I feel. My values have been instilled upon me by my parents. So, yeah, I got the criticism. Does it bother me? Absolutely not. And then there are people who understand. There are people who are very, very...
private and will call me, say, well, I support you. My family, my sisters and brothers, very supportive. But yeah, but the hecklers now doesn't have any any effect on me whatsoever.
So have you ever thought about running for political office? I mean, you know how to speak. You're well, you've got a great educational background. You're involved and engaged in politics. Have you ever thought about putting your name on a ballot and running? Oh, yeah. I have run before as a Democrat. Oh, you did? Oh, yeah. I ran in the early 2000s. I ran for Congress and for city council. Unsuccessful, like third or fourth place out of a field of eight or nine.
But I'll tell you right there, I knew that I would even have problems with the special interest groups like the unions. I have problems with union leadership. And so I didn't get those quote traditional endorsements. So I've run before, it was unsuccessful. What I consider running right now, honestly and truly, I like my current role.
I know. And would I ever rule it out? No. But right now I'm enjoying what I'm currently doing and speaking out on behalf of President Trump and Republican values. I mean, that's it's amazing, right? Because that's the one of the great things about being, you know, you and I are both involved and engaged with Fox is that you get this.
this big microphone and you megaphone, you can get out there and, and talk to millions of people. And, and there's a reason why Fox keeps bringing you on so much because you've got an amazing way to synthesize something down to a simple thing. I once heard Bill Clinton is something I, the one thing I probably agree with on Bill Clinton. He said, you know, for every topic, every issue, you got to be able to talk about it for 30 minutes. You got to be able to talk about it for three minutes, but then you also got to be able to get it down to about 20 or 30 seconds. And,
And the smaller the time frame, the harder it gets. And some people are good at it. Some people, maybe not so much.
But I think you do that. And it's because you get to the right of the heart of the principle and the matter. And you bring a perspective that maybe a lot of other people haven't heard of or thought of or seen before. That's one of the greatest compliments ever that I've ever received. And I appreciate that. And that has been out of a God given talent because I am I am able to do that. And I have been.
swamp with people saying, my gosh, you speak to the point, you get your message across quick and the, it resonates tremendously well. And, uh,
I sometimes just can't believe how successful it is because of the response I've received all over the country. I'm very happy, blessed by that. And I thank you for that question because it's been amazing. It's been amazing the last year and a half and the response and able to just get that point across in a very short phrase. People understand and can relate to it. And they know it's real. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's the thing is often.
This is a big part of, I think, Donald Trump, that those kind of elitists on the coast that just don't understand is the authenticity of which Donald Trump represents. I mean, authenticity, I think, wins elections. It wins the day. And people can sniff it out on television and everything else. When you get up there, you just can't fake it. You got to speak from the heart. And Donald Trump always did that, right? I mean, he always... And he could speak to people. You know, he's a...
ultra wealthy uh successful person who grew up you know he's in real estate i mean on paper you would think that the average person across the country couldn't relate to that but he knows how to talk to him how to communicate with him how to relate to him you you are 100 spot on and this is what people you know the you know the people the politicians the pr firms they don't understand it he
He resonates with the everyday person, the average person. And there's that disconnect. The establishment doesn't understand it because they don't relate. And here's an ex-president who can call
for a rally on a weekend bad weather cold weather and 60 70 000 people are going to show up that is unbelievable his endorsement means something he has like a 90 percent uh uh victory rate I mean it's unbelievable but that is unique and his ability to be Frank and honest
People can see it instead of the inside the beltway rhetoric that people just reject. The confession here. So I was during this 2016 race, I got out and supported Marco Rubio. I like Marco. I think he's a good guy. I think actually he'd be a good president. So I got behind him and was supporting him and went out on the road. And he was working hard in Nevada. You know, he was...
He was working hard in Nevada, and they had a team out there trying to get people to come out. You know, we went to Reno and Elko and amazing crowds, quite frankly. But, boy, did they have to really work at it. I remember all of a sudden –
Right as Marco was preparing and Ted Cruz was out there, too, doing the same thing. And then all of a sudden, one tweet from Donald Trump. I'll be in Las Vegas on this date at this time. And every other campaign, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, they all had to scramble. And, of course, Donald Trump had like.
Thousands and thousands and thousands of more people show up than any of those other campaigns. It's just they flocked to it with one tweet. It was unbelievable. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And that's unique to Donald Trump. And it's again, it's people, the average citizen, the people who are not involved.
They trust him. They believe him. And he sends a message to them that they can understand and believe. And that's why it is remarkable for an ex-president to be so successful as far as his ability to influence the American electorate. It's amazing. It's remarkable. It really is amazing. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be right back after this.
All right. Leo Terrell, we have you can't get out of this Jason in the House podcast without answering the rapid questions. So this is very good so far. Well, we're not yet. We're not done yet. So look out. All right. So here we go. You're ready. Ready. First concert you attended. Janet Jackson. That was pretty good there in L.A. But that was good. It was it was it was fantastic.
Your high school mascot. At that time, it was called the Mohicans. The Mohicans. All right. I like it. No longer. Yeah.
We talked about your first job. That was good. You probably get recognized now. Do you have any funny stories about, hey, I was at this place? The story I like to tell, I was in Nashville, and this guy recognized me, and he said, hey, Jason. He was insistent that I was his dentist. I could not convince him. I said, no, no, look, I was in Congress.
You know, I'm on TV a lot. I think it was actually while I was in Congress. You know, he's like, no, no, no. You're my dentist. I could not talk him out of it. Finally, we were laughing enough that he finally relented. But he was so convinced that I was his dentist. Anything like that ever happen to you? I will tell you, I mean, other than the fact, Jason, that I have received so many.
free dinners. This guy over here paid for your dinner. This customer paid for dinner. I mean, it's unbelievable, but I can only tell you one hilarious story. I'm going to a hotel to have dinner. And there's one man who have seen me on TV,
I've never been kissed by a man more than this guy. Congrats. I love you. I love you. I love you. I buy you anything you want. I love you. He kissed me at least five or six times. I could not shake him. He was with his wife and his daughter and we took pictures, but I,
I think that I had never been kissed by a man more than this guy. On the cheek, on the cheek, on the cheek. But he was just so happy. Yeah, whether you wanted it or not, that was going to happen, huh? Yeah. All right. I had no choice. That to me is the most remarkable and hilarious thing that I've experienced. But I've enjoyed the free lunches and dinners. All right. Very good. Did you have a pet growing up?
Uh, you know, my parents never let us have, uh, no, to answer your question, we never were allowed to have pets. However, I told my mom, my dad said, when I grow up, you know, when I leave the house, I'm gonna have pets. So did you do that? Oh, absolutely. I've had, I had, uh, I'm going through a long mourning period because I had two shelter dogs that lived to be 15 and 16 years. Oh, it is. It's, uh, it's just,
heartbreaking when you lose them yeah and family their family what kind of dogs are they oh they were one was a uh a german shepherd uh uh i think yeah there were one was a german shepherd another one was a german shepherd mix and if i can tell just this quick little story i went to the animal shelter they were rescued dogs they said okay we'll get the first one i called her uh
uh, but, uh, they said, you gotta get the shots and, uh, come back next week. And, uh, so I came back next week and, uh, there was somebody else who wanted the dog. And so we had to bid for the dog. This is the animal shelter. And we started off at $50 and then male Eagle got involved. I was able to purchase master for $1,400 to the animal shelter.
and boy the most expensive animal shelter dog i ever purchased well you know at least yeah i could see you doing it the bidding you're probably at 1200 like wait a sec this is getting expensive but it's but it but at least it's going to a good cause right you're helping to save these other dogs yeah no no regrets no regrets and one other point um you know one of the my
our Fox colleague, Dana, Dana Perino. I must text her every day regarding her beautiful dog, Percy. And so I love dogs. I just love pets. All right. Uh, unique talent. Nobody knows about what's something Leo can do that like, man, nobody knows I can do that, but I'm pretty good at juggling or something like that. I want to be honest. I'm a truth. Nothing. I have nothing. Yeah.
Nothing. I have no unique talent. I mean, I'm average at playing golf and playing sports, but nothing. No. I want to be truthful. No unique talent. Well, you're pretty good at making an argument. My guess is you can make French fries better than I can based on McDonald's experience. Oh, my gosh. I love making French fries and shakes.
There you go. All right. Well, that brings me to the next thing. Pineapple on pizza? Yes or no? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. You were on a roll.
Everybody was loving this interview, but you got that one wrong. No, no, sir. I love pizza, but that pineapple, when you bite into that pineapple, oh, with the – oh, I love – no. I'm going to be honest. Pineapple pizza, I'm in. I mean, I like others, but I love pineapple pizza. If we're together and somebody serves up pineapple pizza, you can have all of it. And I love pizza.
I love pizza, but you don't put a wet fruit on my pizza. That's just not what we're going to do. Bite into it. It's delicious. No, not going to happen. All right. So you have an opportunity. This is my hypothetical. You have an opportunity. You can invite anybody, anybody dead or alive to come on over, break bread, have a share a meal. Who would that one person be that you would invite over to to spend an evening with?
Good question. Very good question. The first person who just popped in my head was Dr. King. Yeah. Dr. Martin Luther King. That would be the first person. I mean, again, I mean, I love watching sports, but I just think that I can learn a lot. I like to learn and I think a lot I can ask him. So it would be Dr. King. Good answer. Good answer.
All right. What's that other thing for Leo Terrell? And what I mean by that is if you want to get out and like clear your head, just like, you know, been a tough day or a lot of my mind, or I just want to recharge my batteries. How do you do that? What do you, what do you do? I like doing wildlife photography, get out there, forget about the world. And I just love it. What, what, what's that for Leo Terrell? He,
You know what? Honestly and truly, my greatest activity, I used to love to jog. I used to love to run. I ran marathons. I think my best marathon was three hours and 35 minutes. Wow. I used to love to run. It cleared my head. And I used to love to do it in the morning.
I still, now I try to run. I still get up at about 4.30, 5 in the morning. And I'm telling you, Jason, when I'm just trying to jog and it's just cool air, there's no phones ringing. It is just, I can think well. I can just feel blessed. That's the best part of the day. And that's the best, that's my favorite activity. The only regret, I wish I could run like I used to. But hey, I still make that effort.
I jogged this morning before the show. I loved it. See, that's good. You know, my dad did that. He passed away a few years ago. But every day he would get out and go jog. And no matter the weather...
Yeah. And he had a little journal. He would write it all down, how far I went, what the weather was like, what he saw, you know, all that kind of stuff. And he did it for years and years and years. It's a comfort. It's a private comfort. It's amazing. And you feel better. You feel better when you have this stuff. Yes, that's the thing about it. It's a win-win all the way around. All right. Best advice you ever got. Oh, good question. I think the best advice I got was from John Walker. He said –
you need to open up your own law practice. You need to follow your own direction. And I think that was a brilliant move
He gave me great advice and I followed it. Starting my own law practice gave me a tremendous amount of independence, gave me the ability to set my own course and direction. I didn't have to compromise. And that's why I was able to walk away from things that I felt were not consistent with my values.
Yeah, I feel for the people that I think feel almost trapped. Yes. You know, because I think they want to do that. They want to set their own direction, but they just, you know, the more ingrained you get, the more obligations you take on with maybe with a family or a mortgage. And it's just tough. And so good for you because, boy, that's tough coming out of college. It is. You're young. You're young. How am I going to convince you? How am I going to find a client? How am I going to pay this? I got to get, you know.
and all this kind of stuff. I got to get a, you know, some office supplies and...
That's the beauty of this country, because you if you work hard and you commit yourself, you may have help along the way. You can do it. So, yeah. Yeah. Good for you. Well, your great American success story. I love seeing you and bump it into your Fox. I hope our our paths continue to cross a lot. But Leo Terrell, thanks for joining us on the podcast today.
Jason, I want to thank you very much for inviting me. It was great meeting you in person. The questions today were
Made me think a lot. And I thank you very much. I hope your listeners enjoy it. Well, I did. You know, it touched my heart when you think about your parents the way you did. And, you know, we've got Memorial Day coming up. And there are a lot of people out there that, you know, lost a loved one along the way serving in our military. And it's just a good time to reflect. And I just hope all Americans, we just don't on Memorial Day, we just don't stop and do that, you know,
on Memorial Day or 4th of July. We got to be, we can remember those people. And I just, you know, this whole interview, I'll probably remember that the most and how much you appreciate it. I'm glad you asked the question. I'm glad you asked the follow-up question to get me out of that.
That feeling is a great feeling. I think about my parents every day, but I appreciate the question and I appreciate you leading me out of there so we can continue the podcast. Thank you very much. Thanks, Leo. Leo Terrell, join us. I'm sure we'll see you soon on Fox TV and talk to you again. Again, thanks for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Thank you, sir. See you later, Jason in the House.
All right, wasn't that a fun conversation with Leo? I love Leo. Leo's a good guy, you know. Totally different.
and upbringing than me. I love having those kind of conversations with people like that. People are fired up, love this country, and want to see her get back on track. So Leo Terrell, can't thank you enough for joining us. Look forward to seeing more of him on Hannity and the other shows as well, but particularly Hannity. He's on there quite a bit. Thank you again. I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend or holiday and remember it for all the right reasons. Thanks for listening to the Jason in the House podcast. Need you to rate it?
Give it some stars. Subscribe to it. And we look forward to having you back next week with another exciting guest. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House.