WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:06.280 Fifteen eighty. We always ultra blacker out here. Yes, indeed, 2 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:08.240 who said the East Coast and the West Coast can't 3 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:10.039 work together? Ultra black? 4 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:11.320 That's ultra black right there. 5 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:14.800 Okay, So speaking of black, one of the things I 6 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:16.920 would like to focus on this hour is what I 7 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:20.679 call the mystery of the Black Republican, the mystery of 8 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:28.079 the black Maga. And we have an African American Republican 9 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:32.320 joining us this hour who is He doesn't consider himself MAGA, 10 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:35.840 but yet he doesn't abandon his party. It's a conversation 11 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.920 we've had many, many times, not just with him, but 12 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:44.759 with other African Americans who continue to stay in the 13 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.359 party even though we are firmly and undeniably in the 14 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.679 Maga era. He's a senior Fellow with a Commonwealth Foundation. 15 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.479 A Pittsburgh native, he's been an op ed writer, of 16 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:01.439 political analyst, and a media staple on outlets from Radio 17 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:05.920 New Zealand and Serious ex Am to CNN, MSNBC and 18 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:12.879 Fox News. Lenny McAllister has a brand new book venn 19 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.239 Diagram of One Lenny McAllister. 20 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:18.519 Welcome, Dominique. 21 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:19.760 It's always good to talk to you, ma'am. 22 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:22.680 How you doing today, I'm blessed and highly favored. 23 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:23.200 How are you? 24 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:26.120 I am the same, and thank you for having me 25 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:26.719 once again. 26 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.159 Indeed, indeed, so congrats on your book. 27 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:32.159 I know that thanks you more than a notion. 28 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:37.319 Getting a book published, getting a book written is a lot. 29 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.439 It is, and it's also what you write. You Know. 30 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.519 What I've learned throughout the process now is there are 31 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.239 plenty of people that write books and have nothing really 32 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:51.079 to say what I wanted. I mean, you and I 33 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.280 both know this, right. 34 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.400 Yes, indeed it comes with being on the radio. 35 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.359 There you go. But what I really wanted to do 36 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.760 was highlight some of the things that we can do 37 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:03.920 to turn things around. I mean, to make sense even 38 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:06.519 for people that would read event diagram of one, to 39 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:08.800 be able to look and say, oh, this is why 40 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:12.439 this guy won't leave the Republican Party, even the party, 41 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.439 even though the party is acting in a particular way. 42 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.199 He is true to his principles. He was like he's 43 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:20.719 in a fight for the next twenty years, not necessarily 44 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.439 trying to be popular over the course of the next 45 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.919 twenty minutes. And the book is the very first time 46 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:28.919 in my life where I've had longer than an hour 47 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:32.080 segment on the radio, or my radio show in Pittsburgh, 48 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.159 or little segments on CNN and the like where I've 49 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.960 been able to explain my story, my principles, why I 50 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:43.039 take stances where I do, and how people gravitate to 51 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.120 those stances, even within the Republican Party, because as we 52 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:48.560 well know, there are more and more people jumping off 53 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:51.039 the MACA ship and they're going to be looking for 54 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:54.199 a place to go again that is full of principled 55 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.439 ideas and has principled leadership. I'm trying to provide that 56 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:00.120 where I can. 57 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:02.840 Well, you said a lot right there. 58 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.719 What is since we're on origin stories, we were on 59 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.599 hip hop origin stories earlier in the show today, what's 60 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.280 your Republican origin story? What landed you there? In the 61 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.520 g OP, the Grand Ole. 62 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:22.520 Party, the principals were always there as a Western Pennsylvania Democrat, 63 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.960 conservative Democrat. In fact, my dad, who was a lifelong 64 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:30.520 Democrat growing up in Pittsburgh, he switched his registration to 65 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:34.520 Republican this year. Now, did he do it because he's 66 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:37.080 a Donald Trump? Sam? No, don't even say Donald Trump 67 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.599 around my dad and without him giving you a look 68 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:41.639 and wondering if you have something wrong with you. Mentally. 69 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:45.240 Why he changed to the party is because one, he said, look, 70 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.680 we've always had these principles. Number two, we need other 71 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.560 people representing the Republican Party that are not on the 72 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:54.599 fringe and doing some of the things that have been 73 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:57.360 detrimental to this country. And he wants to see a 74 00:03:57.560 --> 00:03:59.479 change back to what he saw. He was a big 75 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.039 Frederick this person, he got us on the Frederick Douglass 76 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:03.800 when we were young. He wants to see it go 77 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:06.520 back to that vein. Now, did I expect an eighty 78 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:10.840 four year old to switch registrations. No, but my origin 79 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.400 story in switching because of those values lead to people 80 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.240 like that including believe it or not, my name, well, 81 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:20.240 I'm his namesake. My dad him doing that as well. 82 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.600 And I've heard plenty of stories like that from people 83 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.279 that had been in a Tea Party movement to conservative 84 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.319 moderate Republicans saying we need somebody that really understands principles, 85 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.279 not just going along for the MAGA train. 86 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.519 I mean, of course, when I hear that story, I 87 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.079 hear you know a lot of things. One of them 88 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.279 is Lenny McAllister convinced his dad to switch over to 89 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:43.560 the republicas Oh, I did not. 90 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:44.319 He did. 91 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:44.560 No. 92 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.279 Here's the thing, Dominique, this is the guy you got 93 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:50.959 to understand. Twenty years earlier, this guy walked two and 94 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.759 a half miles in the rain to vote for Barack 95 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:56.000 Obama because this car wouldn't start. This guy was not 96 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.040 thinking about switching parties, and I hadn't even tried to 97 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.240 even convince him this week party. That was not something 98 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.120 I thought I should even do. In fact, much of 99 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.360 the work that I do is not to tell people 100 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:10.120 to switch parties or vote Carte Blodge for the Republican Party. 101 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:14.839 My goal was to show principles, be principled in my leadership, 102 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.040 and then show how to love people through leadership. Doctor 103 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.120 Cornell West was here in Pittsburgh just last week, and 104 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:23.040 he and I always have a good time when we 105 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:25.680 interact with each other. And one of the things he's 106 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:28.120 always said is you've got to love the people you 107 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.439 want to lead, and that always stuck with me ever 108 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.399 since I met him. Had stated a Black Union actually 109 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:36.040 out in Los Angeles in two thousand and nine. I've 110 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.959 tried to take that ethos and let that be part 111 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.959 of my public life always. I think those examples, those 112 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.560 type of sentiments are the ones that might get somebody 113 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.079 to switch political parties. But I'm much more focused on 114 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.839 that than I am ever focused on Hey, can I 115 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:52.000 see your registration car? 116 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:53.639 Yeah? 117 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:56.399 And speaking of doctor West, he'll be on this radio 118 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.759 station next hour, so that there's something to look forward to. 119 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:02.319 I get that. 120 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:09.000 And when I hear black Republicans like yourself talking about 121 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.000 Frederick Douglas, Frederick Douglas, Frederick Douglass, of course, we all 122 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.279 love Frederick Douglass, the formerly enslaved person who rose to 123 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:21.480 be the highest levels of power and influence and intellectual 124 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:27.519 vigor in this country and globally, and Republican black Republicans 125 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.040 love to say he was a Republican. Yeah, but back 126 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.800 then Republicans were not the racist party. Today, the Republican 127 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.759 Party is the party of white supremacy. So it is 128 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.759 totally it's like saying, you know, well, yeah, I'm team 129 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.240 horse and buggy. Okay, are you gonna take your horse 130 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.800 and buggy on the freeway. That's not what we're doing now, 131 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:48.639 That's not what the Republican Party even is now. So 132 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:54.199 to me, that's like it's almost like intellectually dishonest. When 133 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.160 when black Republicans say Oh yeah, we're the Party of Douglas. 134 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:01.519 Were we're the Party of Douglas. 135 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:03.639 I understand where you can come from with that, and 136 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.839 I do think, to be fair, a lot of black 137 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:10.879 Republicans put their arms around Lincoln and Douglas and say, see, 138 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:14.519 we're the party of this. When I bring up Frederick Douglass, 139 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:19.560 I bring up the spirit of pushing back, agitate, agitate, agitate, 140 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.360 and that means you push back against injustice, regardless of 141 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:25.519 where you see it. Folks. That will go by a 142 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.720 then diagram of one and you can get it audiobook, ebook, 143 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.800 or hardcover. They'll see me pushing back directly the Vice 144 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:37.759 President Mike Pence on stage eye to eye about the 145 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.399 coded language of law and order during twenty twenty. They'll 146 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.680 hear me push back in print with a statement against 147 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.079 Donald Trump in twenty sixteen when he was playing with 148 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:52.439 the idea of nationalizing stop and frisk. How I can't 149 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:55.360 decide a lot of different things as a Republican. To 150 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:59.199 try to remind people of what true Republican values are, 151 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:03.800 that's the true spirit of Frederick Douglas, agitating and being 152 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.639 in position where you can push back with a sense 153 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:09.560 of moral authority and history to get people on the 154 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:13.519 right track. If you're just claiming Douglas or Lincoln or 155 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.399 MLK used to be a Republican and then you don't 156 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.759 live that life, then you're a fraud. The one thing 157 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:22.519 I'm trying to do is not live my life publicly 158 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.680 and privately as that partisan political fraud. And I think 159 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.120 that A ven Diagram of one has enough stories for 160 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.680 my life to illustrate that I live the life that 161 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:32.799 I profess. 162 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:36.000 Lenny McAllister is my guest, and we are on the 163 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:41.600 topic of black Republicans, most especially in my view in 164 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:47.120 the Maca Area era Black Republican MAGA era, make it 165 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.960 make sense. Lenny mckellister will try that's what he's doing, 166 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.240 and you're invited in if you'd like to comment or 167 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:56.120 have a question. At eight hundred and nine two oh 168 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:00.639 fifteen eighty I'm dominating Taprema for KBLA Talk fifteen. You're 169 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.679 waking up with me. But also Lenny McCallister is the 170 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.480 author of A Then Diagram of One, an American story. 171 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:14.080 It's a memoir. I suppose it's a memoir, and it's 172 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:18.600 very very relevant to the conversation today about how does 173 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:24.559 a black person, especially one who, as Lenny McAllister just mentioned, 174 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.639 lives his life by a set of principles. 175 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:29.600 How do they. 176 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.840 Remain in the Maga party of today even if you 177 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:38.840 don't vote for Donald Trump? Now, the Republican Party is 178 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:40.679 clearly the party of white supremacy. 179 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.159 And it's not just hyperbole. I mean we're talking about. 180 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.720 Partying the people who stormed the Capitol and tried to 181 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.879 overturn the election results, who threatened to lynch the vice president. 182 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.679 You know, it's not it's not subtle at this point, 183 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.440 and we're to talking about an administration who has admitted 184 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:09.679 not one single black refugee since taking office. The racism 185 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:13.360 in the party is not not subtle anymore. How does 186 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:18.440 that square with the principles that you live by, that 187 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.399 you know that you describe in a Venn diagram of one? 188 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:25.559 Well, I will go with two things, and there's two 189 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:27.759 separate things. I'll talk about the book second, but I'll 190 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:30.480 answer your question first, Dominique, and again I appreciate being 191 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.279 on and everybody that's woman buy the book, ebook, audiobook, hardcover. 192 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.399 America is a history of second acts and we can 193 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:42.000 I can. I don't want to do it. What about 194 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 it isn't, but we can very easily ask why did 195 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:51.039 African Americans flood the Democrat Party to become elected officials 196 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:54.639 in the nineteen sixties, literally in the shadows of one 197 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.879 hundred years of Jim Crow and the Ku Kux Klan 198 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.000 running the Democrat Party in most sections of the country, 199 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.559 including Indiana in the Midwest as well as the South, 200 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.039 where a lot of our people have come from, included 201 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.840 a lot of Angelino's. The bottom line is we have 202 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.039 to play the long game. We have to stick to 203 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:13.639 our principles and make sure that both parties are meeting 204 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.039 our needs, and when they don't, there has to be 205 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.519 change agents that are inclined to stay where they are 206 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:24.120 and make sure that we bend history back towards justice. 207 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.159 That's just how that is. We've seen it happen before 208 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:31.159 on multiple occasions. We have to go through that era today. 209 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:33.480 That's part of what my role is in my career. 210 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.519 Now back to a then diagram of one, It's more 211 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:40.000 than just a political borglory a public policy book. In fact, 212 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.639 I would argue that it's more of a love story. 213 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.720 I mean, I talk a lot about what my parents 214 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.480 overcame as a couple that first met when they were 215 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.000 twelve years old, and how they had to overcome racism 216 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:54.039 in the fifties and the sixties to go from sea 217 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:58.519 students at an urban school to raising three college graduates. 218 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.960 I definitely think it's that black love story, talking about 219 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:03.720 the bond that my wife and I have as she 220 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.559 overcame domestic violence, as we both overcame being college dropouts, 221 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:10.559 for me to graduate from Davidson, for her to graduate 222 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:13.080 as an honor student with a biology degree of fifty three, 223 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:16.960 there's something to be said about living your principles that 224 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:21.039 say so much more than partisanship. And for those that 225 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:24.639 are looking for the political or partisan aspects of a 226 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.919 Van diagram of one, they will see critiques both of 227 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:31.480 the Republican Party but also the Democrat Party. Because the 228 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:33.879 book is about values and getting back to a certain 229 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:37.799 American way of life, regardless of our ethnic backgrounds. It's 230 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:40.639 a lot more about that and those type of stories 231 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:43.440 of hope than it is about partisanship and why somebody 232 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:44.840 should vote this way or that way. 233 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.559 Well, you know, we can boil it down to partisanship, 234 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.840 but there's also a reality here, you know. So are 235 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:59.480 you saying that you think that black people or black 236 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:05.639 people of principle, let me qualify, that will flood back 237 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.480 into the Republican Party. Are you saying that that's something 238 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:10.360 that you would like to see, would like to see 239 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:19.519 us reversing that exodus from the Republican Party, in reversing 240 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:22.759 the balance within the party itself. 241 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:27.399 No, what I'm talking about is I want black people, 242 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:30.559 and let's talk specifically about our folks, our people. I 243 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:34.519 want black people to fully enjoy security, empowerment, and opportunity 244 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:37.440 once again An America have that in a way where 245 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.919 they can enjoin those rights fully. Now, if that empowerment 246 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.360 means they stay democrats, I still love them as children 247 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:45.799 of God, and we still got to find a way 248 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.720 to work together, and we will. If that empowerment means 249 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:53.120 that they consider voting for one Republican candidate, five Republican candidates, 250 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:55.840 a bunch of Republican candidates, so be it on that 251 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.399 as well, we still have to work together and love 252 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:02.960 each other again. Diagram of One is not a book 253 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.480 to persuade people to become Republicans. It's nothing of a sort. 254 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.840 It is a book. It is a book that encourages 255 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.360 people to go find their values and their empowerment once again, 256 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.039 so that we can start healing our country and then 257 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.600 find the best ways to be able to make the 258 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.240 country better understood. 259 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.919 The topic that I chose for today is the mystery 260 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.279 of the black Republican under the MAGA world. So I'm 261 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:29.480 not meaning to imply that that's what your book is about, 262 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.919 but certainly, you know, we want to let people know 263 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:38.480 about the book. And you keep referring back referencing these principles. 264 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.159 And morals really that you have. 265 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.759 And you said that your father reference when he was 266 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:51.919 explaining what made him come back and register as a 267 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:55.480 Republican in the middle of a Trump era. That's baffling 268 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.039 to me. What are those principles? 269 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.200 Well, I think those principles number one or empowerment. And 270 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.279 let me clarify my dad's position. He was less saying 271 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.600 that he was leaving the Democrat Party because he thinks 272 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.279 they're koops. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying 273 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.240 is there are too many people that have lost their 274 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:16.240 ethics and their moral compass in the Republican Party. He 275 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.519 sees his position, as a Catholic of over fifty sixty 276 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.120 years as being one that does align with many things 277 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.360 that the Republican Party does. Being a pro business individual, 278 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.799 even at eighty four years old, he sees that as well. 279 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:32.519 But he also sees a need for balance, and he's 280 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.039 saying that there's no more balance from the Republican Party. 281 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.840 He's seen me profess that level of balance and stick 282 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:40.919 to those principles over the course of twenty years, and 283 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.080 that's what persuaded in switch. Less about trying to make 284 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.559 a judgment or the Democrat Party, but making a judgment 285 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:49.279 in regards to the lack of balance that we as 286 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:51.639 black people have politically moving forward. So I want to 287 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:53.200 make sure I clarify that, because it's not as though 288 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:57.879 he was making the Democrats when he made that move. Yeah, 289 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:59.440 I was, to your point in regards I. 290 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:02.399 Wasn't ald On, I wasn't implying that your dad was 291 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:05.200 saying we were koops. But what you referenced was the 292 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:10.840 foundational uh, you know, the foundational moral compass or the 293 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.720 foundational principles that you live your life by, which you 294 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:16.360 have described in your book and which your dad says 295 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:19.399 he's lived his life by. And so I'm trying to 296 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:21.399 figure out what those are and where they are to 297 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.279 be found within the Republican Party. I mean, it's hard 298 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:26.519 for me to even imagine. And I understand you're saying 299 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.159 you can change it from within. But at the same time, 300 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:32.279 if we just forget about partisanship, and we forget about 301 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.159 even like our platforms, and we just look at the 302 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:39.799 grifting alone, that the corruption alone within the party at 303 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:44.000 this moment, how I don't know how that what moral 304 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.480 principle does that line up with? 305 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:50.720 But here, because this is what's happening, Dominique, you're combining 306 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:54.159 me saying I'm living by certain principles and that's the 307 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:56.440 reason why I'm a Republican. I might be a Republican 308 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.159 because there's certain public policy positions. You and I disagree 309 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.240 on the whole school aspect, but that's one of them. 310 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:06.720 You know, that might be something. Principles are non partisan issues. 311 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.759 You mean the school private value to shoot. 312 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.599 Yeah, well, let's see, we disagree on that. We're not 313 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:14.079 gonna go down there, but we love each other when 314 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:19.039 it comes to when it comes to principles, principles are nonpartisan. 315 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.200 I'm not you know, I have never ascribed to saying 316 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.480 that the only way you can have a moral compass 317 00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:26.640 is if you're a conservative, and thus you're a Republican. 318 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:29.640 I know that there are people that say that I 319 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:33.480 have never abscribed to that, you know. You know, God 320 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.640 doesn't walk around with a maga had on so and 321 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:40.279 wasn't a Republican before we got to this point in time. 322 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:43.279 So the point is, there are certain principles that we 323 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.960 should live as Americans that allow us to move forward 324 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:48.920 with what we do on a daily basis, and then 325 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:52.720 from there we can each determine what political party, or 326 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.119 if they're other than the Big two, that match our values. 327 00:17:56.359 --> 00:17:58.519 Then we move forward with that and belong to that 328 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.160 party and try to do the best we can can 329 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:01.440 to mold it with our actions. 330 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:04.119 We only have a minute before news, traffic, and sports, 331 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:05.759 so you may have to answer this more on the 332 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:12.920 other side, but I understand what you're saying. Principles are nonpartisan. 333 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.480 Sounds good, It's very catchy. 334 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:14.960 I love that. 335 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.839 However, certain principles are you know, pretty scarce in the 336 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.759 GOP right now, and one of them is honesty. You know, 337 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.359 I mean straight up with that, non prevarication. So how 338 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.359 does an honest person stay in that environment? 339 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:35.119 With prayer and persistence, That's a pretty short answer. We 340 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:36.480 can get to that before the commercial break. 341 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:40.160 That's a very short answer, Lenny McAllister dot com. That's 342 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.960 where they find the book, right, Lenny McCallister dot com. 343 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:45.559 They can go there, they can go to Barnes and Noble, 344 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.960 they can go to Amazon wherever books are sold. You 345 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.680 can get an ebook, audiobook, hardcover of and diagram of 346 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:53.519 One in American Story wherever books are sold. 347 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.920 Lenny McAllister's here, we're talking black GOP, Black Maga when 348 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:01.359 we come forward on KBLA talk fee eighty. He is 349 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:06.559 an author, a Senior Fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation, a pundit, 350 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.319 and his new book is A ven Diagram of One 351 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:14.480 in American Story. Lenny McAllister joins me this morning speaking 352 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:19.119 on the mystery of black Republicans in the Maga era. 353 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.240 And you going back to these principles, you said, these values, 354 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.279 you said empowerment. 355 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:24.799 What else? 356 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:30.759 Security, empowerment and opportunity and these are things that let's 357 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:34.000 just be real, Republicans use to stand for a long 358 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.160 time ago. Constitutional protections. You know, one of the things 359 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.000 I talk about with security is security of self, security 360 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:45.160 of citizenship, are you an equal citizen? And then security 361 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:49.440 of potential. Do you have the same opportunity to fulfill 362 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:52.599 your potential in America than others do. That's something we 363 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:55.880 don't do as much as Republicans anymore. And you talked 364 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:59.680 about the grifting. Grifting goes back to the whole prospect 365 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.440 of I'm going to get something just because I'm connected 366 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.240 to power. It's the same thing with the DEI quote 367 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:08.680 unquote didn't earn it. Well, what was Jim Crow? It 368 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.680 was one set of people getting advantages over a different 369 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.720 set of people, and those individuals got the advantages that 370 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.240 they didn't earn. They got it by way of racist laws. 371 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.880 That security has to be put back in place. We 372 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:25.759 start talking about empowerment. Empowerment through education, entrepreneurialism, and not 373 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:30.519 just making a business dominique, but being able to reinvent yourself, 374 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.200 being entrepreneurial with your personal brand on a regular basis. 375 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:36.960 Do you have the empowerment to do that? Many people 376 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:40.559 oftentimes they want power for themselves. Again, let's go back 377 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.920 to the grifting. But I can get power for myself. 378 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:45.839 I don't care if you're empowered. If you're truly about 379 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:51.720 constitutional protections, if you're a constitutional conservative, you want every 380 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:56.799 American to have constitutional protections, to be empowered, not just 381 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.759 have power over them. Again, these are things that constitutional 382 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:04.079 conservatives say that they're about until you watch how they've 383 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.680 been over the last fifteen to twenty years. 384 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.759 That when I would argue, I mean I would argue 385 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.640 longer than that, But I understand what you're saying. It's 386 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.400 more blatant now. But among the values, I. 387 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:18.559 Don't see justice. 388 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:24.319 I don't see equity or equality. I don't see truthfulness. 389 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:29.160 I don't see compassion. I don't see fairness. I don't 390 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.480 see a lot of the things that you know I 391 00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:37.720 would think of as from my perspective as a progressive patriot, 392 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.680 I don't see to me, those are American values also. 393 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:44.920 Ya, But you don't list those. 394 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:48.839 You list empowerment, security, and opportunity, which you know could 395 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:55.359 I mean that could be you know President Bouque's list. 396 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.519 If you're if you're secure in your citizenship, you cannot 397 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.160 have the will pulled over your eyes. You cannot have 398 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:05.400 the law put against you. If you're empowered through education, 399 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.480 you not only know the laws, but you know yourself. 400 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.599 If you're empowered as an American citizen, you're going to 401 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:14.039