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Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz and thanks for joining us because we're going to give some thoughts and hot takes on the news and then highlight the stupid because, you know, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. And then, of course, we're going to phone a friend. This time we're going to talk to Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee State.
I served with her when she was in the House of Representatives and I was in Congress. But now she's gone on and she's the senator from Tennessee. And she's broken through a lot of barriers and artificial ceilings that were out there for women in politics through the years. And I got to tell you, she she's.
She's done an amazing job and she's steady in her conservative principles and I think she'll be somewhat illuminating and fascinating about what she's gone through and shed some light on what it was like and what she believed in to made her so successful to be one of the leading senators out there today and one of the great conservative voices.
We'll get that call with Senator Marsha Blackburn coming up, but I want to give some hot takes on the news. And I got to start with Twitter.
I know it's been out there for a little while now with Elon Musk taking over Twitter, but I wanted to just share my personal experience. I had been Zooming on social media when I was first elected back in the 2008 election cycle. That's getting to be a while ago, right? 2008? Well, Facebook, Twitter, that wasn't so evident to everybody. In fact, when I beat a 12-year incumbent Republican election,
Our leader at the time of the Republican Party was John Boehner. He had me stand up and explain to one of these retreats for new members and the whole Republican conference at a time and explain what I did and how I used social media, which again at the time was such a new phenomenon. Well, I was Zooming. I mean, I had literally hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and
And I can't remember how high the number got, but it was really high. And then one day I came in and I don't I'm sorry, I don't have the date. And they clipped my wings there over at Twitter. They they cut me cut off hundreds of thousands of quote unquote followers. And they pretty much parked me at about five hundred and twenty five thousand.
That was where it didn't matter. If I added 800, suddenly 805 left. If I added 700 one week, there were magically 695 that had departed. It was amazing. And for years, I've sat at 525,000.
Then all of a sudden, Elon Musk comes along and he purchases Twitter or announces his intention to purchase Twitter. And all of a sudden, you've heard this story from others like Donald Trump Jr. and others where suddenly with the shadow banning and the suppression that was alleged to have gone on, suddenly their numbers were zooming.
And so I went and checked my own stats. And for the days, literally days after I had Elon Musk goes out and buys and seeks to acquire Twitter, guess what? I added 13,000 people. Are you kidding me? I mean, suddenly my numbers jump back up a little bit and continues to grow at a rapid rate.
You know, I put out a tweet about my wife, Julie, and I get, I don't know, thousands of likes. And you could see the impressions were in the tens of thousands. But if I said Donald Trump had a great game of golf, then guess what? We go to like 37 people.
Are you kidding me? If I have 525,000 people who follow Jason Chaffetz and I said something nice about Donald Trump, do you really think that less than 100 people would like that? There's no possible way. I think the suppression was real. I think the shadow banning was real. And I think what's really happening here is that the reason the left and that Silicon Valley and so many others are just...
up in arms, outraged that Elon Musk is suddenly going to come out and purchase this and control Twitter and all. It's because he's going to actually, when he gets in and looks at those algorithms, I think he's actually going to be able to expose the suppression, shadow banning, and the outright contempt that many have for the conservatives in this country and the uneven playing field. That's where I think the subtext is going. That's where I think...
that so many people are worried about Elon Musk. But boy, you know what? I just want a platform where we all can participate in the town square together.
And look, you got others out there, Getter, you got Truth Social. There are other ways to communicate out there, folks. But if we can break this open and expose what's going on in Facebook and Instagram and Google and those types of things, I think the world will be a better place. I just want everybody to understand what they're doing and how they're doing it.
All right, next thing in the news was I saw that Nancy Pelosi had gone out to Kiev and brought Congressman Meeks, Adam Schiff, James McGovern, the congressman out of Massachusetts. Hey, I think it's great. If she's going out there to meet with President Zelensky and talk about support for Ukraine and making sure that they get the assets, the military assets they need, I have no problem with that. I want people on both sides of the aisle to do that.
What I do have a problem with is that same group of people can't take the time to go down to the southern border where we, the United States of America, are having an incursion by the tens of thousands on a daily basis. And our country, I feel like, is under attack.
The number of deaths and drugs and human trafficking and rapes and things that are happening with the people, these are human beings that are coming across this border, is just absolutely stunning. And I guess, yeah, it's one thing for Jason Chaffetz to say it, but listen to the Border Patrol agents, listen to the ICE officers, listen to what law enforcement is dealing with down there, the local sheriffs and those types of people.
There's an absolute siege going on and it's unsustainable. They're overwhelmed and it's having an effect on our economy, on our livelihood, the drugs that are pouring in, like I said, human trafficking, rapes. Come on. Why can't these same people, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, right on down the line, why can't they also take the time and emotion to be concerned about our own borders? That's what bothers me about them.
All right, and then the last thing. We've heard a lot of talk about the disinformation board at Homeland Security. I'm not going to go rehash that. But I guess what I want people to consider are the opportunity costs.
Because government should not be infinite. But Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, 56 senators voted for him. Shame on them. You should have seen this coming. This is not a new character there that was suddenly brought on the scene and, whoa, we're all surprised by him. The exasperation I'm seeing from these senators about how bad he might be and people like Mark Kelly and
Kyrsten Sinema, they all voted to secure this person. They voted to confirm this person to his position at Homeland Security.
Really? Well, he was kind of the same character. In fact, he'd been on the receiving end of a really scathing report from, I believe it was the inspector general talking about the political calculations that and gyrations that were made in trying to secure visas for one particular party over another because somebody, you know, really wanted that done.
But, you know, this is not somebody who changed their tune. This is somebody who was incompetent in the Obama administration. So why did those 56 senators, which means there were six Republican senators, vote in favor of him and now only to complain, oh, he's doing terrible? Well, if he's doing terrible and you thought he was great before, then you should vote to impeach him. That's what impeachment's all about, taking out somebody who does not live up to the oath of office.
And if you don't think it's an impeachable offense, then what do you think he's done wrong? And at what point do you think he does step over the line? Because if he isn't competent and he is creating these untenable work conditions, what's it going to take to actually impeach him? Where is that line for these 56 senators? That's what I want to know.
And to the opportunity costs, what I wanted everybody to consider is that listen to what Homeland Security and this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, have said. White nationalists, they are the ones. That's the real threat. I've heard climate change is the biggest threat to the safety and security of the United States of America.
And now we're to believe that disinformation is the biggest threat to our sovereignty here in the United States and to democracy itself. If all of those are true, then what about people coming across the border at 18,000 a day? In fact, it's probably more about that. What about the rapid rise in fentanyl? What about death of police officers? What about the safety and security of our borders? Like,
What about the Secret Service, which is in meltdown? You know, you had these two Secret Service agents just totally got duped. Why aren't they spending time on that? All of that falls within the scope of Homeland Security. But if you're out there spending time on, I'm not saying don't spend time on white nationalists. Don't think about what's going on with our climate.
But if you're going to spend your time, resources, and testifying and securing funds on all these other things, you're doing it at an opportunity cost that excludes all these other things. That's my point. How about actually securing the border? How about having a competent Secret Service that stops having these just absolute wrong-headed
events. To me, it sounds like training has just gone awry and is not right. So that's where I'm really concerned about Homeland Security. And I think we should, I think we all should be worried about that. All right. Well, now it's time to bring on the stupid because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.
All right, I want to start here with... Now, some of these are visual, but, you know, podcasts, you can frame this picture in your mind. Okay, this first one came from the New York Post. There's a picture. They released these photos of this Russian security service who they're accusing the Ukrainians of an assassination attempt and to make their case against...
they release photos of compensated copies of different things. And I think what happened is somebody read, read the memo wrong because they were going to show, you know, different nefarious tools of the trade for assassination. But in that picture is the Sims video game. Now the Sims video game, for those of you that aren't familiar with it, uh, you could play it online on a PC, uh,
get on your Mac, you can actually get it on your Xbox and whatnot. And The Sims is a simulated family. So you make your own house, you make your own character, you make the avatars and they walk around and they have to go to the bathroom by a certain time or they have problems. They have to make money, they have to make food. And it's a never-ending game and it's called The Sims and it's been one of the most successful video games out there.
But The Sims is really close to SIM cards. SIM cards are very different than The Sims. SIM cards are what goes in your mobile phone and that can do tracking and carry all the data and information. You've seen it in the movies. They open up their phone. They pull out their SIM card. That's what they're really seeing because that's where all the data is. And it just appears as if
What happened was, to make their point about the Ukrainians preparing an assassination attempt, the Russian security services, somebody got the memo, hey, put SIM cards out there. And so they've got the SIMs and put it out there as opposed to like SIM cards for mobile phones. It looked like a totally staged event. And it just absolutely is the funniest thing you've ever seen. You kind of got to see it. But are you kidding me?
The Russian federal police claim to recover, quote, an improvised explosive device, eight improvised incendiary devices of the Molotov cocktail type, six PM pistols, a sawn off hunting rifle, an RGD-5 grenade, more than 1,000 cartridges of various calibers, drugs, and fake Ukrainian passports from the would-be assassins.
as well as the Sim cards, the Sims video game. Oh, it's just such a joke. All right, next one I found for my friend, Brett Tolman. He's the U.S. attorney from Utah. He's a good friend of mine, and I follow his Twitter account, and you probably should too. Brett Tolman. Anyway...
He forwarded and put out, he wrote, um, sir, that's not, oh, never mind. Because we have this person, and I'm going to slaughter his first name, Pedreg Belton, who's obviously not from the United States of America. Now, what I want you to picture is the guys at Walmart, and there's a picture he's taken, and it's behind this glass case. And it's of a Red Ryder carbine, and it looks like a rifle.
The Red Ryder. Then he has a daisy with a scope on it. And he's got these, essentially, BB guns. And he writes, Hi from America, where Walmart doesn't have a plug adapter for my UK laptop, but on the other hand, I can buy a rifle and ammunition. As if he's caught us red-handed here in the United States. Look how crazy these people are. You can just...
Go over to this case, pick up this rifle, and walk out of the store. No checks, no balances, no nothing. They're BB guns. He didn't recognize that these things, I mean, don't want to shoot some kid in the eye, but they're BB guns. Well, folks, that's bringing on the stupid.
All right, now it's time to dial up Senator Marsha Blackburn. Like I said, I served with her in the United States Congress. Wonderful, wonderful person. Works as hard as anybody out there. She cares deeply about this country. I've seen her behind the scenes. I've seen her on the floor of the House and in the Senate. She is just a hard worker, tenacious, but she's patriotic and she loves this country. So let's give a call and a shout out to Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Hello. Hey, Senator, this is Jason Chaffetz. Thanks so much for joining us on my podcast today. Appreciate it. I am delighted to join you. Thanks so much for giving me a call. Well, listen, I got to meet you when I ran for Congress and I got there and you were there and suddenly our paths crossed and you've gone on to do just amazing things. I just, I love you. You're just, you know, rock solid and
You knew what you believed in, and there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And you were driven by principle, and then you went on and ran for the United States Senate. And I think I read kind of as I was getting ready to call you here, you won by like the biggest margin ever for an open seat. And there to become the senator from Tennessee, that's a pretty remarkable feat.
Well, it was pretty remarkable, especially when all the pundits gave me no shot at winning. So, you know, I think the thing is, though, as you know, Jason, I believe in hard work and giving your best effort. And nobody's going to do a job if you don't do it. And so show up and ask for the vote. Do your job well.
Stay true to your word. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you say you're not, then don't. But it's pretty simple in that regard. Well, but it's that simplicity that's so rare. And you know that. You've been around. I mean, it's so funny because we'd be there on the floor of the House of Representatives, and you look around and you're thinking, wow, it's amazing that I'm here. But how did they all get here? I mean, has anybody met some of these people before?
All right. So let's go back. Let's go back there. Because growing up, you know, not every little kid grows up and thinks, oh, I'll be a senator, nor do they become one. So walk us through your journey, because you you broke through a lot of barriers in your time.
And of course, you do have to break through some of those barriers. And indeed, I spent a good bit of time pushing those barriers aside. But I had wonderful parents, grandparents, extended family, and we were all taught the value of hard work.
And it's so interesting, my grandmother, who had been a musician and a school teacher, she learned to play piano. She was really kind of a Renaissance woman in her day because she loved music and she played piano beautifully, played for churches and revivals. But she also loved to be a farmer.
And she was a teacher and going to college in her day, which was highly unusual for women. But she would always say to all of us of her grandchildren, you never appreciate a gift as much as something you have to work for and earn. And it was one of her life lessons to us.
And my parents would always say, leave things in better shape than you found them and give back more than you take. So those are the formative statements that kind of wrapped around me and really pulled kind of pulled my early life together.
And I like to say because of that, when it comes to making decisions or having that political philosophy and philosophy of life, I say there are five big things I work to defend every day. Faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity. And if you use that as your filter, do the decisions I make
help us to have enduring faith, families, and freedom? Do the decisions I make provide hope that America's best days, our pursuit of that perfect union, are in front of us? Do the decisions that I make provide opportunity for each and every American?
Those are things that really guide how I work and how I go about doing my job. And, you know, really it is pretty simple and it does find its basis in those early life lessons. Well, you know, it may be simple for you and it sounds like just picture, you
perfect. I mean, that just seems like as apple pie and as American as it gets. And I know you recently lost your mother, and I'm so sorry to hear about that. But those, you know, not everybody grasps those principles. Mom, dad, they may be teaching those things, but kids kind of have a way of saying, you know, I'm going my own way.
But how did they do that? What were you doing? Like, what was your first job? Like, how did you learn those principles other than, you know, good parents who cared, worked hard and just did everything they could instill that? But how did that happen for you, Marsha Blackburn? Yes. And for me, it began by doing those chores on the farm, going out and
You know, my grandmother always had a really big garden. So my cousins and I would be out there hoeing the beans and peas and tending the tomatoes or growing beautiful chrysanthemums or in the fall picking up pecans.
And those were all jobs and tasks we had. And then I went to work in a dress shop when I was 16 years old and worked.
Then when I was in college, I went to college on a 4-H club scholarship. And, you know, Jason, you get to college, you realize a scholarship is not going to pay for everything. So you better go find a job. And I didn't want to work during the academic school year. So my brother had this wonderful summer job. He was selling books door to door for the Southwestern Company.
which was headquartered in Nashville as one of Tennessee's oldest companies and in business today. And, uh,
At that point, back in the 70s, the Southwestern Company did not recruit women to be student salespeople. They only had guys. So my brother and I convinced them that I would be able to do this job, even living at home, even working by myself.
So they allowed me to do that. And I sold books door to door during the summertime, sold educational books. And then as I worked with this company, we created a cookbook that we sold, which, by the way, is still in print today.
And that's how I worked my way through school. But I learned a lot about going up, knocking on somebody's door, establishing that rapport and talking to them about what their hopes and dreams were for their families and then learning.
I learned how to work with people, how to build an organization and bring people together
and help people to better their lives by taking responsibility, doing a good job, learning how to work on straight commission and build their team and their organization. It was absolutely an impactful experience on my life. And, you know, I believe we all should be intentional in, in,
how we build relationships, how we encourage people. That should be a portion of the intentionality of the way we live our lives. And what are some of the main lessons that people do need to learn, whether they're in the private sector, the public sector, or in politics, where you and I have spent a lot of our time?
They need to learn how to take responsibility. They need to learn how to keep their word. They need to learn how to deliver when they say they're going to get something done. Because that timeliness, that trustworthiness, that accountability is key.
So, you know, as you learn those skills, as they're going into your life, as you're growing up, as you're having that job working in the garden or working in the dress shop or building a business when you're in college or going out and beginning your career, all of that plays into your career.
who you are and what you have to offer. And, you know, Jason, a lot of times I'll, and I know you've had this too, you'll have young people come to you and they'll say, oh, I'm going to go to college. I'm going to major in political science. And then I'm going to run for office. And I'll say, that's great. And tell me what you're going to do to build a life. Tell me what you're going to do to learn some skills. Yeah.
What is going to make you valuable to people that you would choose to represent? Because people want to vote for people. They want to be represented by people who are like them, who know how hard it is to earn a paycheck, who appreciate the value of a good, solid day's work and giving your best effort. Right.
You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Senator Marsha Blackburn right after this.
Well, you're exactly right. You know, I've had the same experience you have, have had multiple times. And people, if I give them a really good candid answer, I say, well, if you want to get into politics, don't get into politics.
actually go do something in society, contribute, have an outside experience. Then you bring something to the table when you actually run for office. I worry about people just being perpetually, you know, in the bubble and not actually having some real life experience.
Oh, totally. You know, and it's so interesting to me. One of the things I enjoy so much about being in, especially when I was in the house, is the varied lifestyles of people and career choices of people that come from
to represent their constituents. You know, in our conference in the house, we had farmers and teachers and healthcare professionals of many different types. We had attorneys, we had small business owners. We had people that were big business. We had individuals that came from every single walk of life and
and brought that perspective to bear on the policies that were being made. And it's always interesting to get their take. It is. It is. It really ends up, it does end up being a cross-section of America, as it should. So
All right, but let's go back. So you're going through school. You've obviously very principally driven. It's providing success in business and whatnot. But at some point, you got to sit down and you say, you know,
I think I'm going to run for political office. Like, where did like, when did that happen? How did that decision go down? And you've made that decision to run for a couple different offices. But I mean, you broke barriers. I believe you were the first female state senator in Tennessee. Did I read that right?
Well, I was the only Republican female in the state Senate. Ah, okay. Well, I mean, but what do you say? Yeah. So, but what makes you sit down and say, yeah, you know, I think this would be a good idea because you've obviously been very successful at it.
Well, and I had been the party chair and we had an open state Senate seat and we were trying to recruit somebody for that seat. I was still involved with the party, even though at that point I was past my chairmanship. And the group that was trying to recruit somebody said, hey, Marsha, you should run for this. I said, I don't have time. I've got my business going.
We were really involved with our church, with our community. I don't have time. And I was always complaining about state regulation and how it impacted small business. And
Everybody said, no, you need to run for this. And so I got into a seven person primary and got over 50 percent of the vote. Wow. And, you know, it was a great race. And when I was there, I had our governor at that point in time, a Republican, and I had helped to run.
and chair his campaign here in Middle Tennessee when he ran and not having a state income tax was a big deal in Tennessee because we had a governor who had tried to put one in. Tennessee had never had, still never has, a state income tax. But Jason, what had happened was
was this governor who had promised no state income tax came along and said, hey, I've decided we need a state income tax. So I went to him as a newly minted state senator and I said, hey, you know, you made a promise you would never go for a state income tax. And I've made a promise I would never support a state income tax. So I can't break my word that
And he said, well, I've decided we really need it. So I'm going to push for it. We're going to try to get this all over and done within four months. I said, no, if you want to overhaul the state's taxation system, I'll work with you on that. But no state income tax.
So he pursued this state income tax. I told him it's not personal. It is me keeping my commitment. I will lead the opposition to this, which I did. And it turned out to be not a four hour or four day or four week or four month. It was a four year battle. Yeah.
You know, thousands of Tennesseans rallied to my side and we defeated that state income tax. We will never have a state income tax in Tennessee.
But what a great lesson for me about the importance of keeping your word and being true to the commitment you made and doing it in a responsible, timely manner. You know, every time they tried to push something, I stood up right then and said, no, you can't. And here is why.
Because when they're trying to push something like that, and we see it with the Biden people, too, with the agenda that they're pushing. But when they're trying to push something, they only need to win once. And those of us that are fighting it have to win every single day.
No, it's absolutely right. And that's where it takes people of principle to stand up and say no. And I think your approach has been the right one. And I've seen this up close and personal, too. It's just like, look, this is not personal. It's just, you know, we get elected on public policy and this is something I campaigned on and I just can't go there. And yeah.
And that happens on a regular basis. That's why if you don't elect people of principle, you end up with this wishy-washy, well, okay. And then you end up with something and you're like, wait a sec, I voted for this person. That's not what they ever talked about. And so you're moving forward. Then you're in the House of Representatives. You run for the United States Senate. Yeah.
Like I told you, like I mentioned before, you won convincingly. But right in the midst of that campaign, there was something that was very interesting where you had one of your constituents there. I believe she is Taylor Swift. Come up and say it takes some pretty aggressive stances against you. And that that tended to get a lot of national attention.
Oh, it did. And I she Taylor Swift was against me for things that she thought or had been told that I had done or said. But isn't that the way it goes? There's always political rhetoric, which there may be one grain of truth in it and a lot of misinformation. So I said Taylor should just shake it off.
One of her songs. You know, as I recall when this was going on, because I had a teenager who just adored Taylor Swift, and I would get asked questions about this, and I'd say, well, listen to what Marsha Blackburn sang. She sang, let's meet and talk about it. And like, isn't that the fair way to do it? Like, if you have a criticism and she's opening the door, say, well, come on in and let's talk about it. But she never did do that, did she?
Oh, no, she did not. And I, of course, had said many times I'd be happy to meet with her. And I would she thought I had completely voted against a bill that we had one version in the House that we had all voted for. And there was another version in the Senate. And when that came back across, no, I wasn't for it. Yeah. So anyway, there you
It was just kind of an interesting thing along the way, but I thought you handled it just well. And obviously the people at Tennessee thought you did because they overwhelmingly voted for you. Now, you're there. You see things up close and personal. If you had to kind of step back and say, all right, for our country, this is what I really worry about. What's at the top of your list as you worry about the concerns that are facing America?
I worry a lot about the open border. This is something, this southern border is
And what we see coming across, how this border is just wide open. And the fact that you had people from 160 different countries, the drug trafficking, the sex trafficking, human trafficking, the gangs that are coming across. Jason, this has turned every town into a border town in every state into a border state.
That concerns me tremendously. Cartels are now global organizations. 160 different countries last year, between 35 and 40 known terrorist names coming into the country. And those are what we know about. This is making its way into our communities today.
And I worry about how that is going to change communities with concerns over crime, over drugs that are affecting our children and grandchildren, over gangs that are making communities less safe. I also worry about what we see happening from the radical left.
with this push to socialism. For much of the far left, climate change is their god.
And environmentalism is there, this push to socialism to take away your rights and freedoms and give that to the government and let government make those decisions for you and take away your freedom for your family, your freedom to live your life.
That trend to socialism bothers me a lot. Yeah, there are some scary things going on. And we need good principled people who are involved and engaged. And I tell you, your story of being able to overcome that.
odds and be in a position that you are. It just says a lot about the approach that you've taken. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back right after this. Now, at the end of our podcast here, Senator, we always do this rapid fire question. So I hope you're up for this because, you know, you may have dealt with the likes of Taylor Swift and some other things along the way. But, you know, I don't know that you've ever tackled these questions. So are you ready?
I'm ready. All right. Just want to get to know you a little bit better. So first concert you attended? Chicago. Oh, all right. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I've heard this. I've been to a Chicago concert way back in the day. High school mascot. What was your high school mascot? Tigers. There were a lot of tigers in Tennessee, I guess. I guess that makes a lot of sense. Now, do you have pets growing up?
Yes. I mean, you were doing a lot of farming, so my guess is there are a lot of animals out there. But do you have a favorite pet? A horse named Molly. Do you still ride? No. But you did when you were younger and a horse named Molly. Yeah.
Yeah. All right. So, uh, next one is if you could have anybody over, you just like, all right, we're going to have dinner tonight. And, um, any person dead or alive, any person that you want to come over, break bread with and get to know and have a conversation, who would that person be?
Oh, I would love to have Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Can you imagine how fabulous that would be? Now you've met. I mean, I've seen a picture with you and Margaret Thatcher. Yes, indeed.
And I met Ray also. But wouldn't it be wonderful to get their insight into what is going on today when you look globally at the issues with Russia, with China, Iran, North Korea? I call them the axis of evil. And to get their take on that, to get their take on this push towards socialism that they all fought pushing back against Marxist ideologies.
Yeah, they had the foresight to understand how evil and how bad and how difficult. And they fought. And, you know, it wasn't as certain back then. And, boy, that would be a fascinating dinner. All right. Unique talent that Marsha Blackburn has that pretty much nobody knows about.
Oh, I play the piano. I taught ukulele lessons when I was a kid. Yeah. Teaching ukulele lessons. All right. That is something I had no idea. I do needlepoint. I'm pretty good at needlepoint, too. And I love to cook. Oh, good. And I like to read books. Yeah. Well, I'll look forward to an invitation to come have some dinner. So that's it. Okay. So if you're a big cook, a big question we always ask. Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?
No. Good answer. The judges love that answer. You get security glances, so you get to see some of this stuff that the rest of us don't anymore get to see. What's your take on UFOs? UFOs are probably out there, and we probably will never solve the mystery. I know. It is fascinating. You know,
Our friend and former colleague, and I've mentioned this a few times, John Ratcliffe, who was the director of national intelligence. After he left that, you know, he's the senior most spook in our country, right? He gets to see all the intelligence. I said, John, come on, you got to tell me. And he's like, no, can't do it. I won't tell you. I'm like,
killing me that he won't say or fess up about this stuff that's a guy who won't break but i'd love to pick his brain because i think if i was ever in that role and i'll never be in that role i would want to say all right bring me those files those are files i want to review so anyway um favorite childhood toy oh my favorite childhood toy probably my baby doll's
Yeah, I look at the way our daughters and our granddaughters, I got grandkids now, and how they just grab onto that doll and they will always love those dolls. I totally get that. All right, last question because I know our time is tight here. Best advice you ever got? Oh, leave things in better shape than you found them. You know, it's such a simple principle. I love that book. What is it? All the...
All the things I needed to learn in life, I learned in second grade or whatever that book name is. It's so true. You learn those things when you're young, and it's amazing how the principle rides through the rest of your life. If you just apply it and leave things better than you found them, good words to live by. You got it. Very true.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee, thank you so much for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Thank you for your service and your dedication and really do appreciate your time today. Thank you. Glad to be with you. Thank you. All right. I cannot thank Senator Marsha Blackburn enough for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Watch what she does. Watch the positions she takes. And I think you'll see that
She has just got this consistent conservative bent to her and she will as long as she serves in the United States Senate and appreciate her willingness to stand up and serve. She's been through a lot and she's accomplished a lot and I think she's an inspiration to a lot. Well, thanks for listening to the Jason Ellis podcast. You can find more podcasts over at foxnewspodcast.com. Hope you can rate this, subscribe to it. We'd really appreciate it if you rate it and subscribe to it.
And we'll be back with more next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House. This is Jimmy Fallon inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at foxacrossamerica.com.
