Sen. Brent Taylor on the Hot Seat!

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Good morning, Memphis. Day three. Day three with Luke Simbel and Kristen New on Starn's Country. Todd is traveling the country, signing books, speaking at conferences. And he won a big award yesterday, so we're going to talk about that a little bit later.

Kristen. All right.

Well, we are here on Hump Day, Wednesday. I've always answered that term. And I have the honor to be in the studio with two amazing firebrands. I have Luke Symbol, who is the spokesperson for the Republican Party, and he is making a lot of friends on the local news channels. And I also have Senator Brent Taylor.

And what I love about both of these guys is they do not hold back.

So tonight, today, It's a morning. We are not going to hold back. We are going to answer all of your questions about what is going on in Memphis with these two firebrands right here. Good morning, Senator Taylor. Good morning.

I just want you to know one thing. How much I must really like y'all to get up this early to be in studio. I don't even get up to pee. And much less get up to come come into a studio.

Well, you're You walked into the studio this morning, and I'm a morning person. I get up at 4:35. I do all my best work before noon. I'm just ready to go. You are the opposite.

I mean, it's like your brain is really starting to fire at like 10 p.m. That's me. Is that you, too? I'm a night owl.

Well, you came into the studio this morning, and you were awfully perky.

So you're ready. It's because he's with us. That's right. I had to be ready. All advertised that I was going to be on the hot seat, and I'm fully expecting my detractors to call in and try to Throw you off your game a little bit?

Throw me off my game. They're good keyboard warriors. They love hiding behind the keyboard. This is their opportunity to actually call in and say.

Well Kind of to my face, but at least say in person on the telephone what they are. Brave enough to say behind a keyboard. We'll see if they're if they'll see if they're away. Great point. We'll see if they have that intestinal fortitude to do that.

You have advertised this on your social media, and any question is allowed, no cursing. But no topics are off-limits. Who are you saying can't curse?

Well, them and me. I told Todd we would not get him any FCC violations. I actually promised him that.

So let's see if we can make it through. Cassie is ready to drop your call if you sit. But 901-260-5926, no question is off limits. We are not screening these questions.

So, like you said, Senator, for those of you who like to comment. Every post, and you know what's amazing is I swear they get notifications every time you post.

Well, they follow it, yeah, they have it set to where. Because within 10 seconds, it's the same people saying the same things.

So they're a little obsessed with you. They are TDS stands for Trump Derangement Syndrome. But for some in our community, I think it also stands for tailor derangement center. I do, you know, every now and then I'm on ABC 24, and I teased Otis Sanford off air the other day about not having, you know, Trump derangement syndrome or tailored derangement syndrome. It's kind of like there's been a mutation in the syndrome here locally, and some people, it's tailored.

It's that personality trait that you guys have where you know that facts don't have feelings and you just bring it. Yeah. T D S also could stand for Taylor Dew and Stuff. Stuff. Taylor doing stuff.

Well, as Commissioner McWright would say, do your job, which we know you are doing your job. And You know, here on Storms Country, actually, Todd said the other day, um. That you were taking the fight directly to the opposition. And so, Cassie, if we can go ahead and play.

Sot Four. Senator Brent Taylor has really been so transformational. And I don't mean to elevate here. And we actually have some good, solid Republican lawmakers that are doing a great job for us. But Senator Taylor is breaking out of the mold.

And the reason why is because he is taking the fight directly to the opposition. And that's what you have to do here. This is not country club politics. We're in a street fight to save not just Memphis, but to save Shelby County. And I so appreciate the stances that Senator Taylor is taking here and the language, the approach that he's using.

This ought to be emulated by every other Republican lawmaker in this region. What do you think about that? This your Effort should be emulated by every other Republican lawmaker in this region. I need to record that and play it for my wife. She she does not necessarily think everything I do should be emulated.

But I look, Todd is very kind to say that. I like y'all. I I just want what's best for Memphis. I want to make Memphis matter. Uh, and that's M-A-T-T-E-R, Luke, not M-A-D-D-E-R.

I want to make Memphis matter. And the best way to make Memphis matter is to make Memphis safe. Sure.

So, folks, we want you to call in. No question is off limits, 901-260-5926. Do you have any questions for Senator Brent Taylor? And naysayers, go to the front of the line.

So, if you have a critique or are upset about something, front of the line, here is your opportunity to ask Senator Brent Taylor directly live on air. He cannot prepare. And I'm not screening any topics or calls, but. What would you say? has been the biggest surprise for you being in the Senate?

You know, this is you're still in your first term. You're I don't know if you're still considered a freshman senator because there have been some new senators that just ran last year. But what is your biggest surprise since being in the Senate? That's a really good question. And this is a pleasant surprise.

And when I was elected to the Senate, you learn very quickly that the Senate operates on two things, leadership and seniority. And They don't make Freshman senators, they don't put them in leadership. You're not chairman of a committee. And if you're a freshman senator, you don't have any seniority. And I was elected with two other senators back in 2022.

And There are 33 senators, so that meant I was in a three-way tie, Kristen, for seniority, 31st in seniority. And so I had to work to try to figure out if I'm going to make Memphis matter, I need to figure out how to how to do that. And so I started bringing senators to Memphis. And the biggest surprise, to answer your question, Luke, the biggest surprise was once I started bringing people to Memphis, And meeting Memphians, meeting the political leadership, the faith community, crime victims, law enforcement, business owners. Once they.

Experienced Memphis and met Memphians, I was surprised at how quickly they were to get on board. To help Memphis with a lot of our challenges. And that played out. from Making Memphis Matter with just being me to it also including my colleagues in the Senate. It included the Governor, Senator Blackburn.

And more recently, we saw it included the President of the United States getting on board with Make Memphis Matter by sending the federal agencies of the National Guard to Memphis.

Well, folks, we do have some callers here. We are going to take your calls in the next segment.

So, we're going to take a break here in just a few seconds. But again, that number is 901-260-5926. We have a couple folks on hold. Again, if you have a question for Senator Brent Taylor, we want to hear from you. Very quickly, I just got a text message.

What is your favorite Place to eat in Memphis? Do you have a favorite restaurant? I kind of like that, that's an unexpected question. It has nothing to do with being senator. What is your favorite place to eat in Memphis?

I will. I will tell you my favorite probably my favorite place to eat is uh the rendezvous downtown. John Vergis, he and I served on the city council together. He is a longtime friend. I enjoy going down and and you worry about your car getting broken into?

Um I well, I do, all of us do. Fortunately, that has not happened yet. They've got valet, and I always tip the guys an extra few bucks to make sure they watch my car. And so I've never had a problem downtown at the rendezvous. Another one of my favorites is Pete and Sam's on Park Avenue.

That's a classic. The two Memphis Classics. And so those are probably two of my favorite restaurants, but we have a lot of really good restaurants. You know, one that I really enjoyed going to was Buckley's. Buckley's.

Jeff Aaron Elliot. And when Jeff closed the restaurant, I was heartbroken that he had closed the restaurant. Me too. That was one of our favorites for our family. All right, folks.

So we're going to take a quick break for traffic update. You're listening to K-When. We have Senator Brent Taylor, Kristen New this morning. And stay tuned for your questions. Call in 901-260-5926.

And also stay tuned to hear about Todd Stern's big award he won yesterday. We'll talk to you on the other side. All right, folks, Luke Symbol here. I'm filling in for Todd with Kristen New on Starns Country, and we have Senator Brent Taylor here for the whole hour. Taking your questions.

No question is off limits. Just no cursing, please. 901-260. Five nine two six. All right.

Folks, we need to have snappy questions. The first time I hosted the show, I got a text from Todd. He said, You did great, but you need to have snappy questions.

So let's get to your question quickly. We have a lot of callers calling in, and we want to get to as many as possible.

So, Mike. In Memphis, you have a question about the Second Amendment. What is your snappy question? Green. Senator Taylor, you take an oath to uphold the Constitution.

For the state of Tennessee. And um United States. And in there, the Second Amendment clearly is uh requirement that the government not infringe on the rights but the state of tennessee has multiple statutes infringing on the right of the people to bear arms for their defense. I need you to know with the supermajority, will you immediately force them to start addressing these and remove these statutes so that the people can freely defend themselves without being uh railroaded in the prison for Simple act of defending their rights. All right, Mike, that's a good question.

Talk about, now he didn't list anything specifically, but what are you hearing about the Second Amendment's Tennessee laws and what are you doing to fix it? Yeah, so the time I've been in the Senate, when those kind of statutes have come up, I have always supported people's Second Amendment right and allowed people to carry firearms. Matter of fact, the long gun, which has been a big issue in the legislature, is whether or not to treat long guns as firearms. I supported the long gun. legislation also supported in the last session allowing people to use deadly force to protect their property, which under Tennessee law Currently, we can't do.

Uh and also the court, Luke, they just ruled in Gibson County, a chancery cler a chancery court, they ruled two statutes unconstitutional. One was the statute that prohibits someone from going armed. or carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed, and then also the guns and parks. I was the first lawmaker to send a letter to the Attorney General asking him not to appeal that decision.

Now that AG ultimately did appeal that decision. But But that I was the first lawmaker to go on record supporting uh or opposing the appeal uh of that Court decision.

So I agree that the Second Amendment is not about hunting. It's not about Sportsmen shooting clay pigeons. It is about the right to protect yourself and the right of citizens to hold a tyrannical government in check. And all the other, the Constitution and all the other amendments are there. That are protected by the Second Amendment.

All right.

There you go, Mike. There's an answer to your question. We are now going to go to Chris and Hernando. His brother was killed. And again, we are asking for snappy questions.

So let's get to your question quickly so that Senator Taylor can answer Chris. I wanna know why Uh Brent. Tyler Ditton. support me and help get justice. him 39 days ago when he was killed.

And they Why hasn't there been an audit of the Memphis Police Department? I really need the first question. All right, Chris.

So two questions there. He is saying his brother was killed about thirty nine days ago and he feels like you have not supported him. And then, number two, why has there not been an audit of the Memphis Police Department in the I guess in the past 39 days.

So thank you. And Chris, thank you for that call. As you recall, you and I have actually talked on the telephone and you told me the the circumstances of of your brother's death. And the police department is investigating that. And I support you.

I mean, I have followed your social media. I know what you have, I've seen you interviewed on local television stations in support of looking for your brother's killer. All of us want that person brought to justice, and I support your efforts in that. What I can't do is I'm not allowed to dictate to the police department what they can and can't do in terms of investigating crimes. I can apply pressure.

I can make sure that all the statutes, state laws that we have give the police the latitude that is constitutionally permitted in investigating crimes, and we support that. As it relates to the second point, the audit of the police department. Representative Gillespie and I actually sent a letter requesting the TBI to audit the stats that they send to the TBI. Which ultimately goes in the national database. We had questions on the veracity of what the police department is sending, and we sent a letter.

The TBI is actually going to do an expedited audit of the information going into the The TBI, and hopefully, we will be able to get that audit soon. And my hope is it will confirm what the Police Department is saying, that everything is accurate and our crime is actually down. But if it's not, we need to know that. All right, so we are taking your questions. Kristen new, do we have any questions?

I was just listening to what Senator Brent Taylor was saying. And I think a lot of these questions have to really just stem from the lack of trust that the citizens have right now with the police department, with the police chief.

So some of these issues we are going to have to take care of in order to get the citizenry to get back on board with listening to what the police tell us and us actually taking their word for it.

So I think you're doing a lot to kind of maybe Kind of ease those tensions between the people and the police. And I think that is really helpful for getting people to actually believe. What the police are telling them because there is a lot of mistrust here that we do need to heal. And how can we go forward? And what can you do as a senator to help kind of facilitate that trust between the people and our police?

Well, I think the Yeah. The one thing that's probably the the most important and that is we have to have the public trust when the police department says crime is down. Because Perception always lags reality. And That's why I sent the letter asking the TBI to do this audit. stats that they send to the state.

Hopefully, as I said In response to Chris's question, hopefully, the stats will, the audit will come back and say, nope. Everything is entered into the the system correctly, and what the police department is putting out is accurate. You know, the the crime commission, the police department, the district attorney's office, They all say crime is down, but they have a vested interest. in the uh in crime actually coming down. Right, and then people when they go out, they're not really feeling that.

That's right. The best way to get Perception to catch up with reality, if in fact it is real, is for a third party to audit it and say, nope, everything that went into the TBI system is correct. And but because the police, the crime commission, the DA's office, they all have a vested interest in showing that crime is down. Kristen, it'd be just like if I was the only person. In the world They had a watch.

If I were the only person in the world that had a watch, I'd be on time everywhere I go. Nobody could prove me wrong. But that's where we are now. We've got the police and the crime commission and the DA's office all saying crime is down, but there's really no way to verify that. And that's why Representative Gillespie and I asked for that audit from the TBI.

You really want an independent group looking at the stats, just getting the raw data that, like you said, does not have a vested interest. And right now, the folks who are really pushing the data, you know, there are a couple groups. A Memphis Crime Beat is one that I think is trying to be honest with the data, but they're having a problem getting the data. Getting the data. And I know you're working on some legislation to maybe help them be, or at least help other groups get data in a transparent way so that we can have a little bit of accountability with some of this.

But all right, folks, we are here with Senator Brent Taylor and the Memphis Toyota, Principal Toyota Memphis studio. We're going to take a quick break on the other side. We're going to talk about Tot Star and big award he got yesterday and answer more of your questions. Remember those endless summer days that felt like they just last forever? Sun rays kiss your skin.

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That's code INDOLGE20 at liquidiv.com. All right, Mid-South, welcome back to the principal Toyota Memphis studio. You're listening to Starns Country on K-Wham. Luke Symbol and Chris Senu filling in for Todd. And we have Senator Brent Taylor here for the whole show.

We are holding him hostage and asking him tough questions. That's right. No question is off the table. I want to open it up first. You know, Todd is traveling, he's been in California speaking at some various conferences, and he won a big award yesterday.

And I think it's really timely given the assassination of Charlie Kirk and just the national conversation that we're having. Right now, Todd Starnes won the 2025 Christian Courage Award at West Coast Baptist Church in California. There were more than 3,000 people gathered for the spiritual leadership conference. And the Christian Courage Award, congratulations, Todd. And on that award, it's a beautiful glass kind of placard, and it says.

That's the verse Joshua 1.9. Have I not commanded thee, be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee wherever thou goest. And uh You know, Charlie Kirk said he wanted to be remembered for courage, for his faith. Todd certainly is courageous. He unashamedly speaks out about his faith.

He uses his platform to share his faith and to weave that into the national conversation. And, Senator Taylor, you're somebody that I think has the courage and is unafraid to say what he's thinking. But what do you think about Todd's big award?

Well, in the case of Charlie Kirk, is truly courage. I mean, he literally. Took a bullet in the neck, and it cost him his life for his courage and his faith. Um Todd Starnes. truly has courage.

He talks about his his faith. Um I would characterize mine not necessarily as courage, as maybe I'm just too stupid to necessarily understand. Stupid people can appear very courageous. And so I don't know that I would characterize me as necessarily courageous. The award is certainly deserved.

uh for for Todd he is uh he's done a good job and and uh and I I feel his pain as a small business owner trying to do what he can. To be the conservative blue torch of the Mid-South, but also, like Charlie Kirk, weaving his faith into what he does. And that's important work, and he's certainly deserving of that award. All right, folks, we're taking your questions for Senator Brent Taylor, 901-260-5926. A question coming in was just sent to me.

Ask him what he thinks about party registration or closed primaries. This is coming from a listener in Arlington.

So, what do you think about party registration in the state of Tennessee? We don't currently have it. Do you support it? Yeah, that's just what I was going to say. In order to answer that, I think it's important for everybody to understand that in Tennessee, we do not have party registration.

So many people I talk to, they'll say, I'm a registered Republican or I'm a registered Democrat. I don't know where the hell they're registered, but it's not in Tennessee. Tennessee has open primaries, and what that means, Luke, is that any voter On primary election day, can walk into the voting location. And ask for A Republican ballot or a Democrat ballot, regardless of how you may have voted. In previous elections.

So that's an open primary. And what it allows, it allows for Democrats to come in and meddle in our elections. And so There was a bill last, I believe it was last session, that would have Closed the primaries. And what that means is that you would have had to have registered as a Democrat or Republican. And you would not be able to vote in the other party's primary unless you changed your party registration and you had to do it within 30 or 60 or 90 days before the election.

And it was really clever the way that we're we were going to do this is that new party registration, when people registered to vote, they would have to register then as a Democrat or Republican. But for people like all of us who had already Have already been voting.

However, we voted in the last primary election, that would have been our de facto party registration. And if we didn't, if we wanted to change parties, we'd have to actually change it with the Election Commission. It did not pass. I supported it in the Senate. It did not pass.

But I think we need closed primaries because the primary elections belong to the parties. It's their election, it's just administered by the state. And so we need to make sure that the parties in the primaries, that only people who are Democrats or only people who are Republican are voting in their respective primaries. And speaking of that, the importance of primaries belonging to the party, both the Republican and Democrat party now in Shelby County, has passed partisan school board elections. And I know, Kristen, this has been a fight for you.

You've been a leader in the Moms for Liberty movement, and Senator Taylor kind of got involved. But why don't you share about what your thoughts are on that as a proponent for partisan school board primaries and kind of share how Senator Taylor has helped with that effort?

So that's how we all met, actually. That's how I met Luke Simbel. That's how I met Senator Brent Taylor. That's how I met a lot of the other moms that I am currently friends with: is that we were fighting together for the same common fight of trying to get the school board elections to be partisan so that we know who we are electing onto our boards because we are have during COVID when everything came to a head, we were seeing. That our elected representatives were not.

Um operating Based on good faith, based on the people who were in that room saying, I need you to vote this way, they were ignoring us. And then so we went to our local party, our local Republican party, and we said, We need help with this. We need you guys to help us get partisan school boards. And that's when you came to that meeting. And that meeting was very contentious.

It was so contentious, I got removed from a room. That's right. Well, we, you know, none of us were invited into the room where they like to operate and govern in closed behind closed doors. Senator Brent Taylor was, of course, on our side, but he was actually one of the only. Local leaders on our side.

Everybody else was not on our side. And we were kind of villainized through this whole thing because. Yeah. I was really surprised on how we were treated as moms and by some of the leaders in our local party. We actually, a group of moms and a Marine, went into a room with one of the leaders of the local parties and It was a terrible meeting.

They were basically told us that we don't know what we're talking about and that we don't matter. Moms don't matter. That's what came out of that.

So we actually went to Senator Brent Taylor, and we had been fighting for that for years. And actually, we were successful in that.

So the message of that is that you just can't give up. And I don't want you also to give up on this call. Closed primary deal. We got to keep pushing for that because that is super important to getting our elections back and letting us have control over our own elections. Yeah, and I'll just say that.

What played out, what Kristen talked about playing out at the county party level also works the same way in Nashville. That no today does not mean no forever. It just means no right now. And you just have to keep pushing. And sometimes it takes an election.

to get everybody's attention of what's important. And that's what happened with the CEC. The the previous party, they majority was opposed to the partisan school board elections. We had an election, Worth Morgan, the new chairman and the Luke Symbol, the vice chair, and all the CEC members, they had a different opinion, and ultimately. A GOT partisan school board election.

So, next year, everybody in Shelby County will have an opportunity to go to the polls and vote for a school board member, and more information is always better. And you'll have an R or a D by your name. And although that does not mean that somebody with an R is automatically going to be the perfect person every time. But it's just more information. It gives you an idea of the mindset.

And the last thing I'll say. In these smaller communities like Germantown, in Carrieville, Arlington, Lakeland, When you try to run as nonpartisan, it is so easy for the other side. Because You take caraval for example. Just about everybody that runs is going to be a Republican. But there are a few Democrats out there, and if they happen to wander in a race where there are four or five Republicans running for a school board and they're the only Democrat, they can actually win with a plurality, and that's how you begin to change your school system for the worse.

And that's why partisan school board elections are so important and why I was willing To be like, what is it, Alex Padilla that got tackled by the ICE agents or Secret Service or whoever it was out in California? Yeah, he got taken to the ground. I did not get taken to the ground, but I was asked to leave a meeting. It comes where, but we got to get back up. And that's where my point is: it might take several election cycles to replace your school board, but you need to start voting the way that.

With the information that is given to you, you also need to take that information and do more research yourself. Let me tell you one election cycle where you're not going to have to wait to replace the school board. That's the Memphis Shilby County School District. That's right. I sponsored a bill last session that allowed the county commission.

to pass a resolution. to have all of the school board members sync up with their elections, which means Half the school board that were elected two years ago, they thought for a four-year term, they're going to be re-elected or have to be re-elected now with just a two-year term.

So they're actually going to be forced back on the ballot and The voters in Memphis. And the voters in Memphis and Shelby County, they will have an opportunity to vote on the entire school board next year.

Some have said that this really is a de facto recall of the school board, who are some of the most dysfunctional Uh group of people. Um but ever A simple donut. But you guys did your part, but now it's up to the voters to do their part. Yeah, I mean, the Memphis-Shelby County School Board, their meetings are about as organized as a $5 bin at the Walmart store. And we need to the voters need to take that into account and decide who they want to put on the school board next year.

This is a big deal, and I don't think most people realize it. All right, let's go. Dean, we just have like 30 seconds for your question or comment. What would you like to share with Senator Taylor?

Well I don't think that a lot of people may realize this, but Senator Brent Taylor does have the courage because he was the, as far as I've been told, the only senator from our area representing Shelby County and Memphis to stand on the floor in Nashville and tell Governor Bill Lee and A.G. Skermetti to not appeal the three judges' decision. To go armed with the intent to go armed and carrying in parks.

So, thank you, Senator Trump. Taylor. All right, Dean, thanks for that comment. We just have like a few seconds, Senator, but if you want to respond. Thank you.

And Dean, I appreciate that. And I will tell you, I will never vote to disarm my constituents, particularly in a city that is unsafe as Memphis has been. Although If you're concerned about the safety in Memphis, the cavalry is literally on the way. We're going to talk about that. Yeah, we'll talk about that on the other side, folks.

Stay tuned. Senator Brent Taylor is with us for the entire hour. This is Luke, Symbol, and Kristen New filling in for Todd on Starns Country. Fall is all about cozy comforts, but when you're prioritizing your health, it's easy to feel like you're missing out. With Hero Bread, you can enjoy all your fall favorites because they're made with Hero Bread sliced breadloaves, tortillas, bagels, dinner rolls, and more.

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All right, Mid-South, welcome back to the Memphis, Principal Toyota Memphis studio. This is Luke Symbol and Kristen New filling in for Todd. We have breaking news this morning. Three people shot in an active shooter situation at a Dallas ICE facility. What we know is that, according to police sources, the suspect was a sniper on a roof.

He was armed with a rifle. The shooter, police have identified as a white man, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head as agents approached. But we do know that there are multiple victims. We do not know the total number that is currently unclear, but it is multiple victims. We will have continuous updated coverage on KWAM.

So stay tuned in: 1079 FM 990 AM and on the app. Stay tuned. We will get you that updated coverage as soon as we hear it. Folks, we have Senator Brent Taylor in the studio this morning. He's been taking your questions, and we just had somebody write about what is the latest with our district attorney, Steve Mulroy.

So, Cassie, let's go to SOT 3 to set up that conversation. The bulk of the cases are going to be coming through 201 Popular Jail and prosecuted by our office in the state courts. And that of course is going to exacerbate an already existing jail overcrowding problem and I think all of us need to get our heads around how we're going to deal with that. We do have a jail issue, and the county commission is working on that, but It seems like the only way that the restorative justice schemers. Want to try to lower the population in the jail is to keep from putting people in the jail.

So Senator Number one, do you think our district attorney Is a restorative justice schemer, and what are your thoughts on what he's going to be doing with the Memphis Safe Task Force? He's going to be in charge of prosecuting a lot of these criminals. Yes, I do think he is a restorative justice schemer, along with Just City and Decarcerate Memphis. And what you heard in that sound bite. Just think about this.

This is the best news Memphis has had in years. that the President of the United States It now has his attention, and he is sending a dozen federal agencies, law enforcement agencies, to Memphis. Along with the National Guard, to finally clean up the crime in Memphis. And what you heard was from our people in the jail, he was layin' the groundwork, For him not doing a damn thing, with these state prosecutions. Operation Viper.

Had 500 arrests. North of a hundred. Federal indictments, which means all of those other arrests are going to fall to state court. And my fear is that he is the weak link when it comes to President Trump's efforts. Because as soon as the spotlight is gone and the National Guard packs up and leaves, and all the federal agencies leave after they've brought our crime level down.

You mark my word. He will go into court, Systematically and start reducing, downgrading, and otherwise dismissing those cases and putting those people right back on the street. We have to hold our district attorney accountable. If I could just say one other thing. For a year and a half, I have led the effort to hold him accountable, and he has moved.

He responds to stimuli. And that is, we have applied pressure, and he's gotten more muscular in his talk about. Uh about crime. Um The Supreme Court. I passed Senate Resolution 120.

The Supreme Court is reviewing his case along with two other district attorneys, and they'll hopefully make a recommendation either to the General Assembly about what to do, but more importantly, they will put in place a disciplinary arm so that citizens will have an opportunity to file complaints against the DA, public defenders, and court clerks, which currently you can't do. And so those are the things that are coming out of my effort to hold our DA. Accountable. Yeah, folks forget that these are federal arrests, right? The FBI is coming in, the U.S.

Marshals, they're making these federal arrests, but the federal government has to determine who's the best person to prosecute this.

So we want as many federal prosecutions as possible. There's no parole in the federal system. We've seen the dysfunction here locally, but the feds they can't prosecute everything. And if they arrest somebody where there are more state charges or really the only charges are state charges, they have to go through the DA.

So I think that is something that we have to And it is discouraging to have our capital. County's top prosecutor really did not take an aggressive or muscular stance on crime. I mean, you don't hear him in the media saying crime is unacceptable. You are not allowed to do this in our community. It's discouraging.

I think it's even worse because he's not only not taking responsibility, he's making excuses for it. And that is just disgusting to me as a citizen. The only acceptable response that the DA should have had was: I am ready, I am prepared, and we will prosecute people to the fullest extent of the law. That's what people want to hear. That's what Memphians want to hear.

That's why 80% of Memphians want the National Guard here because President Trump. Has said that. He has said, I'm going to clean that mess up in Memphis. And people have responded to it. They don't respond to the mealy mouth.

Making excuses, why it's not going to work. You know, when I had my business, when I gave my employees a directive, All I wanted to hear was, yes, sir, we'll get it done. Figure it out. The governor has just recently come around has just recently come around to talking about crime in Memphis. If you were governor, what would you do to clean up our crime?

Uh well uh That's pretty easy because you could track my record as a senator with what I have been doing about changing bail laws, about having a large law enforcement presence in Shelby County. You know, Senator Blackburn and I worked together on this Operation Viper. I was in the FBI briefing when they rolled that out. She is the one that she and I talked and became convinced the National Guard was the right thing to do to send to Memphis.

So everything that is happening now, I would have done as governor. Perhaps I would have done it a little bit sooner. But look, It's like the parable in the Bible. The vineyards the people who worked in the vineyard at the 11th hour got the same credit as those who did it from the first hour. And I'm just glad Governor Lee is sending the THP here and working with President Trump on the National Guard.

Well, thank you, Senator, for joining us today. It's been a fun hour. Can I just say one other thing real quick? Very quickly. It's interesting that you talk about the snipers.

That seems to be the way people deal with things. I noticed my weathered, purple-haired social media snipers did not bother to call in. They don't want to face me where I can talk back. Yeah, they're scared of Senator Taylor. Folks, thank you for joining us today.

Stay tuned to K-Wham about this active shooter situation in Dallas at the ICE facility. Stay tuned, breaking news. Don't go anywhere. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks so much.

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