Speaker 1: Bill cunning into Great America. Welcome this Thursday afternoon. The
Speaker 1: triesday Rech Baseball kicks off, shall we say, on Friday, Saturday,
Speaker 1: and Sunday. They fortunately have a day off today on Thursday.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens with the snakes over the weekend.
Speaker 1: They need to start winning some baseball games. But in
Speaker 1: the meantime, we have more important matters we concern ourselves,
Speaker 1: which is the state of the nation, especially when it
Speaker 1: comes to anti Semitism, and so much more. As you
Speaker 1: know yours truly, about two and a half years ago,
Speaker 1: as part of a group that went to Israel, had
Speaker 1: a fabulous time. I considered it to be maybe my
Speaker 1: last trip outside of the country, and I had spent
Speaker 1: time in the Palestinian controlled areas I went to. Of course,
Speaker 1: I spent time a little bit of time in Gaza,
Speaker 1: went to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and elsewhere, and I came away
Speaker 1: so impressed with what the Israeli people, the Jews, have done,
Speaker 1: starting about thirty five hundred years ago, but really beginning
Speaker 1: in nineteen forty eight, calls the desert to flower and
Speaker 1: have more respect than I had before. But nonetheless, Congressman
Speaker 1: Greg Lansman is one of our own congressmen. I think
Speaker 1: I think I think you're my congressman. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: I voted for you. Maybe the next time I will.
Speaker 1: But nonetheless, Greg Lansman, I don't know if you want
Speaker 1: my vote, but welcome to the bill cunning in your vot.
Speaker 2: Sure.
Speaker 1: One thing that really impressed me is your comments might
Speaker 1: have been to the inquiry or elsewhere about when you're
Speaker 1: in public, you have your eyes on a swivel, and
Speaker 1: you think you're going to be assassinated. Can you put
Speaker 1: tell us what's going on with Greg Lansman, not as
Speaker 1: a politician, as a father and a husband.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I first of all, I think a
Speaker 2: lot of people feel this way, So I'm not I'm
Speaker 2: not unique, right, and and and this goes beyond the
Speaker 2: Jews community. We're just living in very unsettling times in
Speaker 2: that regard.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, look what happened to or almost happened to
Speaker 2: President Trump last summer. This is this is a highly
Speaker 2: charged political environment a b for Jewish you know, Americans
Speaker 2: and and particularly members of Congress. You know, we're seeing
Speaker 2: a ton of very vitual anti Semitic hate on our
Speaker 2: on our social media pages, and people come and protest me.
Speaker 2: Uh if they know I'm in public. It's almost every time.
Speaker 2: And and and they slept outside my house for for
Speaker 2: three days. They wouldn't leave. And you know, they show
Speaker 2: up and they're fully masked and and and their dress
Speaker 2: had to tell them black uh. And and you know
Speaker 2: they're saying, you know, I'm a I'm a war criminal,
Speaker 2: and that I'm part of this genocide. And and you
Speaker 2: know I've been in target the parking lot, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: out with my kids and have you had a guy
Speaker 2: his wife had to pull him away from me. Uh
Speaker 2: and he said, you know you're going to pay for this.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: And so there's that threat. Is And I was on
Speaker 2: Fountain Square a couple of days before Sarah and your
Speaker 2: own were shot and murdered in DC. They're the two
Speaker 2: embassy staffers, Israelly Embassy staffers that were shot killed up here.
Speaker 2: A couple of days before that. I was on Fountain
Speaker 2: Square and I had decided not to have police protection
Speaker 2: just because it wasn't my event. And I had this
Speaker 2: I couldn't see behind me, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: I had this really vivid image of being shot and
Speaker 2: there My body was on the you know, on the
Speaker 2: on the ground, and I was immediately dead. And it's
Speaker 2: an image I haven't gotten out of my head since.
Speaker 2: And then a few days later, it's what happened to
Speaker 2: your own He was shot, immediately killed. And then Sarah.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you saw this, but based on
Speaker 2: the police reports, she had tried to crawl away. She
Speaker 2: was trying to crawl away. He just opened fire on her.
Speaker 2: And you know, it's entirely because they're Jewish, uh. And
Speaker 2: you know, there's a in anti Semitism, there is this
Speaker 2: history of blood libel, which is that we you know,
Speaker 2: some lie about us, you know, intentionally demonically killing innocent people, right,
Speaker 2: And that's been in play for the last eighteen months.
Speaker 2: And and and then there's this other part of anti
Speaker 2: Semitism called dual loyalty, where people just assume that we
Speaker 2: can't be uh, you know, we're biased because we're so
Speaker 2: loyal to to Israel and and and and there. He
Speaker 2: just gets so complicated and awful and violent very quickly.
Speaker 1: And you know, reason has no no place. It's rage.
Speaker 1: It's unspeakable. I look at Governor Josh Shapiro, who's uh,
Speaker 1: he has a life. He's got a wife, he's the
Speaker 1: governor of Pennsylvania. He's got children. He lives in the
Speaker 1: governor's mansion. Somehow somebody made it over a fence and
Speaker 1: fire bombed is home and his kids are upstairs smelling
Speaker 1: the smoke. And it's something in DC and Sarah's case.
Speaker 1: The assassin, the murderer who looked for Jews to kill.
Speaker 1: She was crawling away in blood. He reloaded and shot
Speaker 1: her up to six or seven more times in the back.
Speaker 1: Ye in Boulder, Colorado, This crazy anti Semite Hamas supporting
Speaker 1: criminal wanted to burn and he did burn up to
Speaker 1: fourteen people with this Molotov cocktail and a flamethrower. I'm
Speaker 1: looking at that. I'm looking at what's happening on college campuses.
Speaker 1: We can I don't think you're a great Trump supporter,
Speaker 1: but I am. But he's on the right track when
Speaker 1: he tries to tell colleges universities, you can't have anti
Speaker 1: Semites and pro Hamas supporters taking over college facilities, disrupting
Speaker 1: classes and making it impossible for Jewish students to go
Speaker 1: to school. And we can argue and debate whether or
Speaker 1: not the credit accreditation should be taken away, or no
Speaker 1: foreign students should be allowed. But the separate matter is
Speaker 1: it is not safe to be a Jew anywhere. In fact,
Speaker 1: I would think as a Jewish coin. I'll give you
Speaker 1: a little story a congressman about ten fifteen years ago,
Speaker 1: Congressman Jeanie Schmidt, whoever she showed up in public, there
Speaker 1: was somebody assigned for, she thinks in the DNC, which
Speaker 1: would follow her with a smartphone to record everything she does.
Speaker 1: And she was I won't stay scared. But she couldn't
Speaker 1: go anywhere without being tracked. And that was for political
Speaker 1: purposes to have her say something that might be perceived
Speaker 1: as being stupid politically to be used. But this is
Speaker 1: of a different category. You ever reasoned a fear of
Speaker 1: being shot because of your faith and you and your
Speaker 1: non support I guess for Hamas. And so I also
Speaker 1: would point out that if somebody would call this weekend
Speaker 1: for a day of rage, the mobs would show up
Speaker 1: at Washington Park, the six hundred strong from river to
Speaker 1: the sea. Palestine must be free, which means kill all
Speaker 1: the Jews, whoever they might be located. That is again,
Speaker 1: I could not imagine Congressman if there were five hundred
Speaker 1: to one thousand Neo Nazis showing up in Washington Park
Speaker 1: saying using the N word in some way that there
Speaker 1: wouldn't be some stronger reaction. Is there a government? Is
Speaker 1: there government that can stop some of this or not?
Speaker 2: You know, it's a great question. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: it gets that the difference between free speech, what's protected speech,
Speaker 2: and what's not. And when the neo Nazis showed up
Speaker 2: near Lincoln Heights, I said, look, not all speech is protected.
Speaker 2: You're not just you can't just show up and say
Speaker 2: whatever you want. I mean, for example, we all know
Speaker 2: that you can't run into you know, you can't go
Speaker 2: into a movie theater and scream fire. Right, there are
Speaker 2: things that will hurt people, that incite fear or violence,
Speaker 2: and those that's not protected speech. And so yes, I
Speaker 2: do think that that elected officials need to appreciate that
Speaker 2: there's free speech and there's protests, but there's also hate
Speaker 2: speech and chaos. And if you believe that something is
Speaker 2: veering into you know, from protests to chaos, or from
Speaker 2: free speech to hate speech and violent speech or speech
Speaker 2: that will incite violence or unrest or you know, infringe
Speaker 2: upon the rights of others. You have to engage. You
Speaker 2: have to engage, and you can do it thoughtfully and
Speaker 2: you can and you can talk to lawyers and all
Speaker 2: these things, but you've got to go and engage and
Speaker 2: say you can't do that. And so like when people
Speaker 2: are outside my house, I said, look, this isn't all
Speaker 2: protected speech, and you know, and then those folks, you know,
Speaker 2: some of them think, you know, I am trying to,
Speaker 2: you know, end the suffering. I'm of course, that is
Speaker 2: a normal human reaction to seeing the pain and suffering
Speaker 2: of war. But they're could be one or two people.
Speaker 2: It only takes one who is not well. And it's
Speaker 2: hearing that I'm more criminal and they have a weapon,
Speaker 2: and it's like they're you know now they're like, oh, well,
Speaker 2: I'm justified. This is a war criminal. This is a
Speaker 2: person who's participating in genocide. But you know, and so
Speaker 2: it's very dangerous and I do think that people have
Speaker 2: to appreciate that. You can say to folks, look, you
Speaker 2: can protest, but you got to get a permit, you
Speaker 2: got to do it over here, you got to do
Speaker 2: it in these designated areas, and here are the things
Speaker 2: that we are looking for that will suggest to us
Speaker 2: that this is not protected speech. And I don't know
Speaker 2: why that's so hard. When when college campuses told their students, look,
Speaker 2: you can protest, but you can't cause chaos. You can
Speaker 2: do free speech, but you can't do hate violent speech,
Speaker 2: they were fine. What Columbia did was to say no, no,
Speaker 2: do whatever you want, and that was chaos and you
Speaker 2: can't do that. It's just, you know, it's it puts
Speaker 2: people in danger and it makes you look like you
Speaker 2: can't run an organization.
Speaker 1: Have you reconsidered public service after these incidents? Have you thought,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'd rather be a live husband and
Speaker 1: father than a dead former representative because if this continues,
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what occurs if the IDF or others
Speaker 1: attack Iran, which I think is given at some point,
Speaker 1: you have to take out a deaficult committed to the
Speaker 1: destruction of Israel that has said hundreds of missiles already
Speaker 1: from Iran into Israel. Some hit, most didn't. And when
Speaker 1: that happens, then all hell is going to break loose again.
Speaker 1: Have you considered public service? Reconsidered?
Speaker 2: No? I have a deep, deep faith. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: my jusness is a big part of my identity. You know,
Speaker 2: that's the connect my community, that's my family, that's that's
Speaker 2: who I am, and say who God made me. My
Speaker 2: faith is, you know, is bigger and it it includes
Speaker 2: my understanding that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Speaker 2: That that yes, it makes things more dangerous for me
Speaker 2: to speak out and to be as vocal about this.
Speaker 2: But I have this platform and my goal is to
Speaker 2: help folks better understand like if you want to, if
Speaker 2: you want to, you know, protest the world. Obviously, you
Speaker 2: know that's a normal human reaction. Sure, here are here
Speaker 2: are the things that are that that would bear into
Speaker 2: anti semitism. I have this platform. I should use it
Speaker 2: and I should stick around. I think, not be afraid,
Speaker 2: keep my head on a swivel to be sure, but
Speaker 2: to stick around and try to get as much good
Speaker 2: done as humanly possible. And I can't get deterred by
Speaker 2: the fact that, yes, somebody may do something horrible, but
Speaker 2: that that you know, that could happen no matter what.
Speaker 2: And either way, I think this work matters. I think
Speaker 2: public service matters.
Speaker 1: Are you do you counsel with AOC and the radical
Speaker 1: elements of the Liberal Democratic Party, the squad so to speak.
Speaker 1: They have the democratic banners, but they don't think like
Speaker 1: you think when it comes to anti semitism. I won't
Speaker 1: say it's encouraged, but it's not criticized. The idea of
Speaker 1: Hamas chapters being on major college campus is the idea
Speaker 1: the Jews are gunned down in the streets of the
Speaker 1: nation's capital, set on fire and Boulder, Colorado, that the
Speaker 1: Jewish governor of Pennsylvania's home is firebombed, and you, the
Speaker 1: radical left in your party tends not to see that
Speaker 1: as serious anti semitism, and they quickly go, but what
Speaker 1: about is? What about that? What about this? Have you
Speaker 1: counseled with AOC and others to say, tell me those conversations?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean she, she and I surround a committee together,
Speaker 2: so we have you know, we have a good chunk
Speaker 2: of time each week. Uh and and and you know,
Speaker 2: I'm an honest guy. I want to have these conversations.
Speaker 2: There there have been times where she has tweeted something
Speaker 2: or said something where I've just pulled her aside and said, like,
Speaker 2: I'm not I don't want to get into a Twitter fight.
Speaker 2: That's not that's not my personality. But let me tell
Speaker 2: you why that's so deeply disturbing. And the conversations have
Speaker 2: been good. She you know, she listens. You know, I
Speaker 2: hope things we've made some progress. But what I've tried
Speaker 2: to explain is that if you you, you can be
Speaker 2: critical of the policies of Israel. I mean, Israelis do that,
Speaker 2: and you you can say I hate this war, I
Speaker 2: hate this war. You can say all kinds of things.
Speaker 2: Let me just be because I want to be helpful.
Speaker 2: Please don't please don't call genocide because you can say
Speaker 2: that this there's way too many innocent lives and and
Speaker 2: but you say genocide, genocide means that these folks are
Speaker 2: evil and that they're they're going out of their way
Speaker 2: to kill innocent people. That leads that that that leads
Speaker 2: to all kinds of violent behavior against Jews, the free Palestine.
Speaker 2: I understand. You may think, oh, I get that sounds
Speaker 2: like oh that you know we want to make sure
Speaker 2: that Palestinians are free. Listen, I do too. I want
Speaker 2: I want Hamas out of there. I want Palestinians to
Speaker 2: be able to run their own lives, to live free
Speaker 2: from fear and violence. So do most Israelis. All it,
Speaker 2: I mean almost all Israelis. But when you say free Palestine,
Speaker 2: Palestine suggests that that's Israel, that means get the Jews out.
Speaker 2: And when you say global Intofauna, or or you're at
Speaker 2: a rally when someone says that the Intofada included wasn't
Speaker 2: all about it, but it included suicide bombings and killing
Speaker 2: in the killing of Jews. And if you want to
Speaker 2: globalize that that means that we're going to die. And
Speaker 2: so I you know, I do think I make some progress.
Speaker 2: But you know, the Internet has this this pull on
Speaker 2: people and they they they there's so many people on
Speaker 2: the Internet, on these social media platforms that want, you know,
Speaker 2: some of their folks to say you have to say
Speaker 2: that you've got to stand in solidarity. And I think
Speaker 2: there is this urge to stand in solidarity with people
Speaker 2: who are suffering. And I'm there, you know, in terms
Speaker 2: of the suffering part. But I do I do think
Speaker 2: that talking directly to these folks that I have done
Speaker 2: is the best way. I don't I don't think of
Speaker 2: online Twitter battle. I do think I'm making some progress,
Speaker 2: but you know, even my staff kind of rolls their
Speaker 2: eyes sometimes and say, well, you're not gonna make as
Speaker 2: much progress as you think. But I'm gonna try. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna try. I'm gonna try now the social media stuff
Speaker 2: because I don't I don't want to, I I do think.
Speaker 2: You know, Trump has this good relationship with these big
Speaker 2: tech CEOs, and so much the proliferation of anti Semitism
Speaker 2: and the violent stuff is on these platforms, and so
Speaker 2: you know, I had been asking the administration. I'll do
Speaker 2: it more formally next week with a letter and some
Speaker 2: phone calls to just say, hey, can you can you
Speaker 2: talk to these CEOs about a coordinated effort to crack
Speaker 2: down on the violent anti Semitic rhetoric that you see
Speaker 2: on these platforms.
Speaker 1: You know, Trump's Trump is the only president ever to
Speaker 1: have numerous Jewish grandchildren, and he loves them dearly. Lastly,
Speaker 1: I would say this Hamas doesn't want to surrender. They've
Speaker 1: lost the war. But they've said and cut her and
Speaker 1: elsewhere that they use the living bodies of men, women
Speaker 1: and children who live in Gaza as a weapon for
Speaker 1: public relations against the Jews, because instead of surrendering and
Speaker 1: saying here's the hostages, we lost you one put down
Speaker 1: our arms, they don't want that. They want more Palestinians killed.
Speaker 1: They want Palestinian children to starve to death. If you're
Speaker 1: with Hamas, it fits some political purpose and that's not
Speaker 1: gonna change because they're in a blood lust against Jews,
Speaker 1: irrespective effects.
Speaker 2: So it's really you know, Hamas and Hesbela are different.
Speaker 2: They're both funded by Iron. Hamas is in Gaza and
Speaker 2: Southern is you know, in the southern part of Israel.
Speaker 2: Hesbela is north in Lebanon. When when they when they
Speaker 2: Israel approaches both almost identically, which is when they are
Speaker 2: trying to go after hes Below terrorists or their munition,
Speaker 2: you know, dumps or whatever. And the same with Hamas.
Speaker 2: They they put out messages to civilians, Hey, this is
Speaker 2: where we're targeting, please leave, you know, you know twenty
Speaker 2: four hours. The difference is Hesbela lets people leave, and
Speaker 2: so the war and you know against Hesbela has been
Speaker 2: incredibly successful with very little civilian casualty casualties because Hasbilus
Speaker 2: is different. Hasbulus is fine, Yeah, they can leave. Hamas
Speaker 2: won't let them leave, and Israel still waits and tries
Speaker 2: to do everything they can to get these frosts out,
Speaker 2: and sometimes they decide not to target those places because
Speaker 2: there's too many civilians. But that's the difference. Hams is
Speaker 2: the difference. Look at what's happening and Lebanon and you
Speaker 2: will see the very a very different situation because Hasbil
Speaker 2: is different than.
Speaker 1: Hamas Greg Lansman, we got a run. But I'll stand
Speaker 1: with Israel one thousand percent at civilization against the barbarism
Speaker 1: and I get it. And Greg Lansman, once again, thanks
Speaker 1: for coming on the Bill Cunningham Show and Congress. We'll
Speaker 1: do it again. God bless you, thank you. Let's continue
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