American Audacity
Show focused on how big and small issues affect the daily lives of Americans through conversations with elected officials, business owners, and exploration.
American Audacity
Abraham Enriquez - Congressional Candidate for Texas' District 19 - Republican Primary
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Abraham Enriquez is running for Texas' Congressional District 19, which covers Lubbock and Abilene and most of rural West Texas. We do 20 Rapid Fire Questions right off the bat, from best BBQ to the Iran War, and then dive into Data Centers and Ukraine. His answers are quick and concise so we are able to cover other issues: student loan debt; foreign affairs; and immigration. Early Voting is May 18 through May 22, and Election Day for this Runoff is May 26, 2026.
Abraham, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_01Councilman, thank you. It's so good to be with you.
SPEAKER_00This is gonna be fun. So we're gonna jump right into it. We're gonna do a rapid fire segment. It's gonna be uh 24 questions, three seconds to answer each, no context allowed, just your gut reaction, no campaign speeches at this time, anyway. Um you ready? Let's do it. All right, so we're here with Abraham Enriquez, a candidate for the Congressional District 19. And uh we're gonna jump right in. Rapid fire questions, uh three seconds to answer each. Here we go. What's the best barbecue in West Texas?
SPEAKER_01Uh Sharon's Abilene, Abby Maze Lubbock.
SPEAKER_00What is the mascot of Wiley High School?
SPEAKER_01Uh Bulldogs.
SPEAKER_00Very good. Abilene is known as the storybook capital of the world. What is your favorite storybook statue in downtown Abilene?
SPEAKER_01I love the Lorax right outside, I think right across the street from Monks.
SPEAKER_00What's the best college football team?
SPEAKER_01Uh Texas Tag.
SPEAKER_00Name the three private Christian universities in Abilene.
SPEAKER_01ACU, Meg Murray, Hardin Simmons.
SPEAKER_00What is your favorite, or I'm sorry, what is what was your first paying job?
SPEAKER_01Uh drive-through cashier at Chick-fil-A.
SPEAKER_00And how old were you at that time?
SPEAKER_01Uh I think I was 18.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Are you early, late, or always on time?
SPEAKER_01Uh these days a little late.
SPEAKER_00Inbox. Is it zero or five thousand unread emails?
SPEAKER_01I think it's a little closer to three thousand. Okay.
SPEAKER_00How hot do you eat your wings?
SPEAKER_01I'm a traditional sp traditional mouth.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Dogs or cats? Dogs. Movies or books? Books. Favorite movie?
SPEAKER_01Uh 007 Spectre.
SPEAKER_00Are you more afraid of failure or regret?
SPEAKER_01Regret for sure.
SPEAKER_00What's one word that differentiates you from your opponent?
SPEAKER_01Experience.
SPEAKER_00What's one thing that Americans do better than Europeans?
SPEAKER_01Uh everything.
SPEAKER_00Any more specific?
SPEAKER_01Uh I would say um our parades.
SPEAKER_00Debt crisis. We get out of it by increasing taxes, cutting spending, or both?
SPEAKER_01Uh cutting spending.
SPEAKER_00Ukraine war. Keep supporting or cut loose? Cut loose. Gut reaction. Iran war.
SPEAKER_01Uh Obama's fought, nuclear deal, Secretary Rubio's kicking butt.
SPEAKER_00Say one genuine compliment about either your opponent or a Democrat, your choice.
SPEAKER_01I love my opponent's family.
SPEAKER_00What is something people often get wrong about you on a first impression?
SPEAKER_01Uh age, therefore experience.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Term limits for Congressman? Super. In support. And then we'll end on an easy one. What's the best NFL football team?
SPEAKER_01The Chiefs.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Okay, so you were close. You were close. All right. Very good. All right. Well, that was fun. Now hopefully the listeners get a little sense of who you are, but we'll um we'll jump right in into the world.
SPEAKER_01I think those 20 questions did a better job of who I am as a candidate than I think any long form interview or debate stage forum. So thank you, Blaze, for it.
SPEAKER_00That's a I I like doing that. I think it grabs people's attention and it kind of lets lets a little inside, but it also kind of uh makes it fun. So uh before we jump into those those bigger issues though, um just real quick, maybe in like a one paragraph, I know that's hard to as a as a on a campaign trail to keep yourself you know within one paragraph, but tell the tell the viewers uh or the listeners what uh what's your story and uh why are you running?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my story starts before I was even born, Blaze, because in the early 70s, my grandparents they immigrated here under the Bracettos program that President Reagan, a Republican, expanded when uh they came to West Texas. And right here in this very same land, they picked cotton, grapes, cantaloupes. Two generations later, their grandson now has the privilege of hopefully representing that very same land as uh one of the first uh congressmen to be an immigrant uh grandson or grandson of immigrant farm workers. But born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, and a graduate of Abilene Christian University. This community blaze has been my home my whole life. And from right here, uh I've expanded experience the American dream, and those are the kind of values I want to take to DC.
SPEAKER_00So, what's an issue that you didn't know was so important to West Texans, but that you've kind of discovered along the campaign trail? I feel like everyone going into a campaign, you have a sense of okay, these are gonna be the top five or ten issues that we're gonna deal with on a campaign. But what's an issue that's kind of sprung up or that you've discovered over the campaign trail?
SPEAKER_01100% AI data centers. You know, before the campaign, I saw AI on a personal stance of something that it's exciting to come to West Texas. I still believe that. Uh, but as something that I think the everyday voter uses almost every day, I thought that it was gonna be a positive conversation. Uh, not saying it's a negative conversation, but it's definitely 50-50. And I'm surprised at how that conversation is is uh different uh in every single county that we visited.
SPEAKER_00So we'll we'll jump into the the data center issue. So a lot of those issues that people are concerned about with data centers are you know, water, power, um, and and jobs. Um of those are not under the congressional purview, or they're not currently, right? They're you know, water is typically a state issue. Um, the jobs and the deals that are made with these data centers to come in and build are typically local, whether it's a city council or a uh uh a county making those deals. Where do you see the role of Congress on the federal level in addressing the concerns of um the local residents wherever these are going in without infringing on state rights?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I think one of the first things that comes to mind is uh a conversation I had when I first announced was with Secretary uh not Secretary, Senator uh Perry and Senator Sparks, who I think are leading the conversation and how to safeguard the water that we that we do have. And uh they're putting forth policies that I think the state has the opportunity to invest in that security of of our water. Uh and there's opportunity for the federal government to just simply come in and match in appropriation the investment that the state uh has. Uh but there is a little bit of state and federal uh misguide when the very same policy that our state senators are putting forth into place are in conflict with some of the unregulated super PACs that are trying to bring in that AI investments into Texas on the federal level. So you have these special interest groups from DC trying to push their federal candidates in Texas that kind of directly conflict with some of the policies that our state lawmakers are pushing forth. And I'm a believer that the state should handle those conversations, federals should stay out of it.
SPEAKER_00So where do you see that balance with with those issues when they come in conflict with, say, a national security issue? Because a lot of people will use uh national security as as a reason to kind of bulldoze through a lot of other issues, and there's there's a balance, hopefully, that we reach. Where do you where do you come down on well, national security overrides all these other concerns uh versus you know addressing some of the concerns?
SPEAKER_01Well, Blaze, I think you and I can both agree that when it comes to national security, the state also has a conversation in that or has a seat at the table. And just because uh a state lawmaker is at a different level than maybe a national federal uh lawmaker doesn't mean that they can't have oversight on what national security means to them. What I'm deeply concerned about, Blaze, is we visited a mayor uh from one of the counties in our 33 counties, and they said about 10 years ago the conversation of these data centers was uh uh was when was when it actually started. And what they were promised was these data centers were gonna bring X amount of jobs to their district or to their community. Who doesn't want to bring investments into their community? Today, as we speak, um almost no uh jobs uh have been uh you know filled by the people from the people that actually live in that community. It's actually people that have been imported from California, Florida, and New York, mostly under these H1B visas. When you're talking about that and how these uh population growths from these data centers will actually change the very fabric and culture of West Texas, to me, that is a national security conversation that should belong to uh state and local. We're talking now even city council, commissioners, and mayors, right? Um so I believe that as a federal candidate, uh someone that's a lawmaker in DC, uh, you should have a direct conversation and have access to not only just your state and and and uh uh state house and state uh senator uh lawmakers, but going down to the municipal elections, your city council, your commissioners, your mayors, uh, and your national uh I would say national security conversation should actually come down from the bottom to the top, not from the top to the bottom.
SPEAKER_00So would you push back on some of the H1 um visas that are um being applied for in order to serve the data centers? Or what what are you saying? I would, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think Secretary Rubio has started that conversation. Well, I think uh you know, the fact that uh you have big tech that's kind of taking advantage of some of the gray areas in our immigration system uh should worry every everyone, especially West Texas, when we know that the other side has used every tactic in the book uh to try to overflood red districts, not in the sense of people that they know could vote, but just in population control, in the sense of how we redistrict our communities uh are by population, not by voter uh identification.
SPEAKER_00Shifting just a little bit but still on the people of Abilene. So I think on Facebook and social media, people love to discuss national issues, whether it's immigration, whether it's abortion, whether it's a war, whatever it is, they're all about it. Um but on a practical level, the local government, uh whether it's county, city, or even state, has more of an impact on uh an average citizen in Abilene, Texas. Um how do you kind of bridge that gap where you what would you tell people here in Abilene, hey, you should this this election is important, and this is why you should vote for me because I will have an impact on your life as an Abilene resident in this specific way, if you have specifics that you can throw at.
SPEAKER_01I love this this question, Blaze, because I got asked, you know, being being the age that I that I have, having the age that I have in this race, they're like, why didn't you start as something a little bit more local, city council, mayor, maybe even a state house race? And I said, those roles actually dictate the everyday life of the people in our community. I believe that Congress, while many believe it doesn't work, and I'm I'm in agreement there, it's actually pretty simple because the 10th Amendment is very clear. If it's not in the Constitution, Congress shouldn't touch it. In fact, it should return back to the states. Again, that's why these local elections matter. Uh, but to the people of Abilene that say, okay, if you're in DC and you're on the federal side, then why should I care about this? I think it's because, again, one of the first rapid-fire questions was what differentiates you experience, right? I'm the only candidate that is a partner to not only this Trump administration, but the first Trump administration as an official vetted partner to the domestic policy council of the White House, right? When you have access and a friendship to what is a Secretary Rubio, what is a Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, what is Administrator Leffler of SBA, the fact that these people aren't just people that I see on TV having press conferences, these were leaders that I was in the trenches with campaigning for a president in 17 different counties while the rest of the country turned their back on the president, I think is a short window of access that the people of West Texas, quite honestly, have not had in I think over a decade. And so the fact that we get to put West Texas at the table of some of the biggest policy discussions should excite everyone. And that is the main reason why I decided to run for Congress.
SPEAKER_00So dovetailing on that a little bit, what's the um what's the biggest difference between between you and your opponent? You're both Republicans. Um I think on a lot of the main issues, uh, you know, Republicans 99% of the time agree, you know, typically whether it's, you know, uh abortion, immigration, uh, foreign policy, for the yeah, I mean, there's nuances, but in general, if you're on the Republican ticket at this level, mostly the issues are in agreement. Where do you see the biggest difference if if you're making the pitch to the Abling residents and they don't know you or your opponent and they just hear this one interview, what would you say? Hey, this is why you should vote for me.
SPEAKER_01Listen, I want to be very, very clear. I think that my campaign has um the experience, has the message strong enough to not believe that we're really running against anyone else. We're running for our own vision of uh for West Texas. Uh but it's important for you for a candidate to differentiate himself. I think the first primary race was pretty intense. Trying to do that in less than a month and a half against six other uh candidates was pretty tough. Now that it's just 1v1, we can talk about that, right? Um I've already said how I'm the only candidate that has been uh you know partnered to both uh Trump administrations. Um I think let's bring this back down a little bit. On a radio debate just the other day, I think my opponent said it clearly. This is about inside versus outside. My opponent has spent the last three decades of his life inside the DC machine, right? Uh and I think voters can can uh you know ask themselves, what have we gotten from someone that has been in the DC machine for 30 plus years of his life? Me, on the other hand, I've been able to shape policy and culture from the outside in, exporting West Texas values to the White House. But more importantly, let's talk about local issues. Uh, I said, born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. By no means do I say I'm the Abilene candidate because I think that people here are very territorial about that. I understand that. Uh, but I I I'm not distant from being an Abilene candidate. For four years in my life, Blaze, this was home. This is where I went to school as a student at Abilene Christian University. This is where I went to church, this is where I lived. I loved it so much. I recruited my youngest brother who's finishing up his freshman year, who finished up his freshman year as the uh freshman kicker of the ACU football team. This this is home, right? And so when voters go to the ballot box, I think they need to ask themselves who has been in the fight on these local issues? When life was on the ballot, both in Lubbock and in Abilene, only one of us rolled up our sleeves to talk to voters, to phone bank, to knock on the doors, to drive people to the polls, right? When the decriminalization of marijuana was on the ballot, only one of us uh rolled up their sleeves, knocked on the doors, drove people to the polls. I was two days out of a uh foot fracture in a boot, knocking on the doors. Not because one day I knew I was gonna run for office plays. This has been the craziest experience of my life, but because I love this area. This is where I want to start a family, this is where I want to do life. I did it because I wanted to safeguard our values. My opponent during those two fights, nowhere to be found. Not a single dollar, you know, out of the $20 million that he's made from special interest lobbying the past 30 years, our local issues couldn't even uh didn't deserve a penny from from him. Um no door knocking, no phone banking. More importantly, he didn't even cast a vote for those issues. I think that says something about how you're gonna vote, how are you going to legislate when you get to when you get to DC? Uh, but this is this is where I've been. I've been in the fight. June of 2023, and I'll rub that question up with this story. June of 2023, I woke up in the you know at 3 a.m. and took the first flight from West Texas to Miami. That was the very same day that President Trump was indicted in Miami from a politically prosecuted, uh, you know, uh politically motivated uh uh Is this the classified uh documents? Yes. Uh uh then and now I believe it was politically motivated. And he comes out of the Miami courthouse and you know he he gives a big press conference, he gets into his Secret Service detail and he drives five minutes down the street to where I was at in a little small coffee shop where I was waiting for him with over a hundred pastors ready to pray for him. And at the time, I'm gonna be honest, I thought that DeSantis and Nikki Haley had, of course, they had all the money, they had all the media behind them, and I thought that they had some pretty serious weight to carry uh across the finish line. And yet I stuck with someone that the entire mainstream media and the entire uh establishment, you know, turned their back on. I rolled up my sleeves and I signed up and I was a national surrogate to President Trump's campaign, leading his Hispanic voter operation, campaigning with him in over 17 different counties. That same day, Blaze, my opponent went on a podcast and tried to distance himself from the president and said that every Republican that voted for the president was a radical far-right Republican. That's what this race is about. Someone who truly has been in the fight. When the main when when the world just turns their back on the fight, uh only one of us has truly been in uh knee deep uh and what West Texas values are.
SPEAKER_00On the district compensation uh uh composition, uh you know, it's a huge district, covers a fair portion of West Texas, but the main two cities are Lubbock and and um Abilene, and they're about two, two and a half hours apart. What have you seen on the campaign trail um as the differences in issues or or priorities between the two cities that you're as as uh you know in Congress, you would have to address? Well, this is a higher priority for Abilene, and but this is a higher priority for Lubbock. How do you reconcile those two and what have you recognized?
SPEAKER_01Look, 33 beautiful counties make up what is Congressional District 19. Majority of them are rural, right? I love you know spending some time out in Andrews and in Big Spring, out in Throckmorton. It's been such an incredible experience. You think you know a place where you live, and then you run for Congress and realize, wow, this is a world different than what I thought.
SPEAKER_00Or you think you know a lot of people, and then you realize, man, I just know a fraction.
SPEAKER_01I know a fraction, right? I I love that. Lubicking Abilene, wow, night and day, Blaze, night and day, in the best way possible. On the surface level, something that I I think some of the issues that are are are just quick, uh, you know, top top of mind is Abilene housing market. Uh, you know, I'm talking to a lot of young voters, uh, a lot of young families, and they're saying that this investment coming in from the data centers, it's like, are we gonna be priced out of our homes? Can we, you know, can we even buy purchase our first home? That's a very serious conversation to have if we want to retain young talent here in our community. We know that young uh leaders start businesses at a faster rate than anyone else, but is you know, is our housing crisis here in Abilene going to be able to uh expand that? And Lubbock, Texas, I think, you know, water, water is really, really uh a big, a big conversation, especially with the Texas Tech and the FBI coming together to do that security um uh security center that takes a little bit of water supply. Uh so water in in Lubbock, I mean water everywhere, just quite honestly, but hyper focused in Lubbock, housing out here in Abelee.
SPEAKER_00What are your thoughts on the proposed bill, I believe it's currently in Congress, about banning big big national companies from owning uh single family homes as rentals. What are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_01So I, you know, I want to lean into that a little bit more. I want to uh kind of uh investigate a little bit more of what that does because I think it's a slippery slope once you start trying to regulate what is supposed to be free enterprise and capitalism. We are the party that's supposed to be about investment, about growth, about letting people do what they gotta do. Uh so I I understand where that policy is wanting to go, but I want to see what long-term impact it would do. Uh, because the last thing we need is is to hand the other side a piece of policy that they can later on turn against us. And next thing you know, uh we are putting forth policies that actually expand socialism and Marxist ideology. I'm free enterprise all the way, right? Capitalist guy. So I want to make sure that we never put um buffers or we never put uh you know uh boundaries uh on what free enterprise is in America.
SPEAKER_00So uh if you're in Congress, uh maybe a freshman, um what's two questions. What's the first issue you'd like to tackle that you're passionate about? This is hey, this is number one priority. I've got 20 of them, but this is number one, and I'd I'd love to tackle it day one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we're gonna codify President Trump's border wall on day one. I think that's really important.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00And then what's your dream committee to sit on in Congress? It's tough as a freshman, but Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um I'm gonna have to add a little bit to that question. Let me tell you why. We definitely need to be on the agriculture committee, no doubt about it. And we're gonna do that. In fact, I've built a relationship with every single member uh on that committee. That's important. But personally, uh, I'll tell you, I love, I'm passionate about the building of the Made in America brand. In fact, for the past four years, plays I've built a trade association that has brought in over a hundred billion of investments back into the United States. I led the very first White House North American investment roundtable May of last year when 10 of my clients pledged out $100 billion. Why? Because I believe America is the best place to do business and Americans just do it better. So, for that sense, anything with the mainstream uh committee and also the foreign affairs committee kind of you know entices my my interest a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um let's see. What's um what's an issue that you have changed your mind on over, let's say, the last five years that you've you know that yeah, that you've changed your mind on.
SPEAKER_01I don't I don't really think I've changed my mind over the past five years. If anything, I have become much more uh strong in them. I I will say this. Um you know, my opponent the other day on the radio said uh we need to secure our borders. But we need to discuss some type of immigration. Um, and I'm gonna butcher this, but he said our farming, our our ag industry should have some kind of pass right on as we speak to immigration reform. I think five years ago I probably would have agreed with that of let everyone else, you know, have some kind of standard of immigration reform, but we should um kind of do something different for our ag industry. Now, you know, speaking to Pau Perez, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, who by the way endorsed his campaign and campaigned with me just two days ago, he said 300, 300 that we know of of uh individuals that were on the US terror watch list crossed over our border, right? Um I believe that we are such uh in a national security uh phase of our uh of our political history that we just need to not even have conversation of who can have illegal immigration reform and who can't, because for the sake and the security of all Americans, we need to close our border and we need to be able to do mass deportations in a way that families feel safe in our communities. So I think maybe that I would say, you know, that that comes to top of mind of how maybe I've changed my mind over the past five years.
SPEAKER_00The uh Republican base, certainly the the ones that come out and vote in the Republican primaries, I would say, and this is just me, my personal opinion, tend to be uh more against foreign wars. Uh and so uh now we see some exceptions, but in general, that's that's kind of the thinking I would say over the last five years or so. Um we're seeing some consequences of that. Um you know, we had Venezuela success and we're now dealing with Iran, and I think people are more cognizant of it because obviously they're feeling it at the pump. So um now this hopefully is all over by the time you would be in next January, but if you were if you were elected and you went to Congress right now, what are you what are your thoughts on the Iran war? Um how does this how do we end this on terms that are worth it to us? Yeah. And then two, um, how do we address this moving forward where you know over two months the price of gas has doubled, and that's a huge pain point for a lot of Americans, really slowing down a lot of of business uh investments on the small business level. How do you how do you address that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, big question, boys. Um that I'm I'm I'm still leaning on my community for for for those answers. But uh I I'll say this policy matters, right? And people should be uh paying attention to policy because uh what we're seeing in Iran today was not uh um a result of what happened in the 2024 elections. It is a direct result of when we had an administration, the Obama administration, that was so lenient on just giving hundreds of millions, billions of dollars to a country that hates us, but also we're paying a country that hates us to build a facility that that could quite honestly you know come against us. And then we see under the Biden administration that you know just transparent uh pull-out negotiations to a country that hates us led to you know our fallen soldiers and our allies in in the Middle East to be just completely uh disrespected. Because of those two failed administrations, uh, we now have to deal with the results of that. And I sleep peaceful at night, um, first and foremost, because I pray and I leave everything to God. But also the fact that we have a bulldog of what is President Trump, what is Secretary Hexett, what is Secretary Rubio really leaning into uh uh foreign affairs policy that is peace through strength. Uh and I have total, total um confidence that President Trump is doing what he knows is best for the country. Now, sideline on the on the on you know uh what we're filling at the pump, uh I've heard it loud and clear from our producers. I think we need to be advocating for 70, uh, what is $70 for per barrel, right? And then I think the president and secretary right could get there. It definitely need to get there before midterm elections, right? We know that midterm or yeah, midterm voters uh are kitchen table issue voters. And so I'm confident with what President Trump is doing in Iran, and he's cleaning up the mess of two failed Democrat administrations uh while while being peace through strength. And then also I have confidence in this administration and the backing of Congress to ensure that by midterm elections, you know, we're not feeling that pain the pump.
SPEAKER_00Is there uh let's say you get on the foreign affairs, and in this scenario, you're in Congress right now, and Iran war is still happening, and the proposal is put forward to foreign affairs, um we've got a deal, but Iran does not have to give up nuclear ambitions, or Iran can toll can put a toll booth on the on the strait, right? What's a what's a what's a must-have for you um exiting that that Iran deal if you are uh on the foreign affairs committee?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell So let's let's break that down a little bit more. So you said those are two options, right, that are on the table. Examples.
SPEAKER_00What are your what are your like, hey, we've gotta we've gotta end this war with this, otherwise it wasn't worth it, right? What's the must-have?
SPEAKER_01You know, I think we need a complete takedown of any nuclear facility or investments that Iran has. And and I'm I'm a little bit um biased of that stance in the sense that during president's re-election campaign, this last cycle, I was a surrogate to to his campaign. Therefore, I saw the strenuous attack from Iran on this uh on the leader of the free world. We were talking about not one, but at the time, two assassination attempts uh from a country that just didn't want to see him in the Oval Office. Uh and part of that was because he was campaigning on the complete deconstruction of nuclear facilities that Iran has. So this country is putting so much effort into taking a candidate out that is campaigning quite literally on no nuclear facilities or no nuclear investments in Iran, then why hasn't that been done? So I'm I I think that is kind of where I stand on on for for a foreign affairs perspective policy. It's only worth it if we're if we're you know taking all nuclear facilities off the table for Iran.
SPEAKER_00Is there uh another issue out there that you think um abeline residents or West Texans aren't uh aware of, that they should be paying more attention to, um, that either you're passionate about or that you see on the horizon of, hey, this is going to be an issue and I'm trying to raise awareness, or this is what I'm passionate about? Anything come to mind?
SPEAKER_01Uh I mean, I think when President Trump is rightfully so dismantling the Department of Education because it's gotten too bureaucratic, it's gotten too big, it's gotten too focused on what special interest groups want to be teaching in our education system. And as a community that is so in tune to education, I mean, look at the you know, the heritage uh square uh opening and the fact that this is a storybook capital of the world. Uh, I think Abilene is great because from its early beginning stages of its community, it's taught to lean in on education. When I sat on the 1776 Commission that President Trump established, so so during his first administration, he saw that there was this really this big push for anti-American groups to put anti-patriotic education in school systems. He set up the 1776 Commission. And Blaze, what we thought that was gonna be was defunding uh curriculum-based organizations that were pushing anti-American policy or anti-American education curriculum in public schools. What we didn't realize was that I would say a third of all C threes, C4s, NGOs that were receiving taxpayer funded money uh to be able to put education curriculums were all Islamic-based NGOs, C3s, and C4s. Right. So if we are dismantling parts, because I don't think we're gonna be able to do it all in its entirety during this administration, if we're dismantling parts of the bureaucratic state of the Department of Education and saying this should be a state's issue, is Texas, is Abilene ready for that fight? I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't think we are because guess who is these radical um Islam Sharia law styled organizations that I have seen on the national level wanting to take advantage of that and put their curriculum into our school system. So as that fight comes back to the to the to the states, I think Abilene should be should be kind of on high alert of okay, who are the organizations that are going to be ready to take on this fight at the ballot box? Um, because I think our church network, our evangelical groups, and just our our our pro-teacher organizations uh should be ready for that fight as it comes back to back to Abilene.
SPEAKER_00Speaking of uh education, uh student loan forgiveness, uh that really hasn't been a hot topic. I feel like this this election, I feel like maybe under Biden it was it was talked about way more. Um what are your thoughts on um student student loan forgiveness and and what form that should take and what we need to scale back or ramp up?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, look, as someone that went through that process, ACU is not a cheap college to go to, right? Uh I I am very empathetic to students who are either going through that process now, went through that process, or are looking at can I can I even go to school because of just the the weary of can I pay these student loans back. You know, under Secretary McMahon, who's who's also a great friend, I was a I was a visiting fellow of her of her organization, the America First Policy Institute, got to got to really uh bond with her. Um I think that the Department of Education is returning that student loan uh program to the Department of Treasury is a good step to investigate uh in kind of the systems that that take advantage of that young uh student that is um you know uh taking sometimes upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a system that later on doesn't return on that investment. Uh and so I think it's it's more so let's rein in on on the actual public education systems that are charging students thousands of dollars to take a course that has nothing to do with their actual uh you know degree plan.
SPEAKER_00What does that look like in practical practical terms? So if uh if a private college says, hey, we're gonna charge you $60,000 a year to attend for tuition, government should the Fed should only say, hey, fine, you could charge $60,000, but we're only gonna give a student $10,000 in loans. And so uh hopefully that would force the the private university to lower tuition, or how does it how does it be? You just gave me the best policy planner up there, Blaze.
SPEAKER_01I think that's a good first step, but I want to take more, I think when you're talking about private institutions, that's a a a steeper, a steeper uh path. I'm just talking about public education, so universities that are public. Uh I I think that it should be kind of uh uh, for lack of better words, kind of a buffet style of pricing. Like if if if a curriculum or a class is on your track record for your business degree or your finance degree, your political science degree or your medical degree, then obviously maybe that makes sense to put a little bit more money there. But if you're having to take a fine arts credit simply because you have to take the fine arts credit, why are you paying for that as much as a class that actually pertains to your degree? Right. So I think it makes sense if you are wanting to be um uh you know a doctor for your medical degree uh plan to look a certain way, uh, but maybe exclude uh classes that you don't need and if you need to take them at a lower rate than what your actual classes that pertain to your degree plan or look like.
SPEAKER_00You're saying the feds wouldn't pay for that uh elective elective uh class. But then wouldn't that put more of the burden on that student to go, well, now I've got to pay out of pocket uh for this elective class that the university is requiring me to take?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Well, I think what it really actually does is you know, for for the sake of retention and for enrollment, I think it would make the universities have to tailor the way that they they you know uh allocate their curriculum, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I see. Okay. Speaking of of debt, and we'll we'll go to this one and then and then one more question, but on uh national debt, so um you know historically nations don't fall um well they they fall for war, but they also fall because of of internal uh problems, mainly financial. And so, yes, we have the threat from China, we have the threat from AI, Russia, you know, we always have those type of threats, but I think the growing threat, and this is being discussed, is is the threat of the national debt uh really hampering our ability to stay number one in the world. So in practical terms, I think everyone's always, whether it's a candidate or a resident, everyone's always for, well, we gotta, you know, we're gonna be able to do that. Reign. Cut government, cut government. But when it comes to practical terms, that's typically where the conversation ends. And and there's no specifics done after that, right? We had Doge and went through that process, and and you you could argue there were some merits to it. I I don't think it had the massive, hopeful impact that a lot of people were were hoping for. Um how do we rein this in before we go into what they call a death spiral?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, look, I love the Doge Pet Project. Uh um and and unfortunately, because of moderate Republicans that love spending, they're just addicted to spending, uh, it became a pet project and they weren't able to codify some some of that into law. Uh and I it I think the conversation just really even starts at who we're electing place because I think that most people go there to retire, not to actually serve. So when you go there to retire and you lose touch of what it feels like to be in a generation that knows that you are having to face trillions of dollars in debt, it's a sobering thought. And I think that that really does differentiate me from my opponent is that I come from a generation that's seen that as a very serious threat. Practical terms, something that I worked with with the with the White House was just expanding the Congressional Review Act, right? To ensure that some of the worst offenders, uh EPA, um the uh OSHA, the Department of Labor, that actually put in their request in every you know, spending bill that actually puts more spending on their side because of their federal government, Congress refuses to touch it or to actually question it, expanding the Congressional Review Act, expanding the Regulatory Flexibility Act to ensure that you're actually defunding the departments of three-letter agencies that want to increase spending is the first good step. Uh so when you're actually defunding three-letter agencies, then I think people are gonna think twice before uh they put in more requests to increase funding. But also, this is a bigger conversation, right? But I'm I'm I'm bold enough to say this. I want to be one of that young generation of congressional leaders that I think a lot all over the country are coming in and saying we want to turn back Congress in a way that that works for the American people. What does that mean? I'm a big proponent of term limits. I've signed and the only candidate that has signed the term limit pledge. Uh now, this is a big, big step, but I actually think that uh Congress should work in a one-term session, right? One term for each person, about six years. Uh no fundraising, no campaigning while you're there. You are just legislating, right? Because oftentimes what really happens is people get elected, they go to DC, their office staff is the one that are that are writing the pieces of legislation. The the actual lawmaker is busy fundraising for their next re-election campaign. No fundraising, no re-election, just writing the laws of the land for six years, then you go back home and you live under the laws that you wrote. You're gonna watch how quickly uh our spending looks in D.C.
SPEAKER_00Now, uh six years uh under that proposal, six years for both senators and uh House? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, just equal.
SPEAKER_01One term and then go back home and live under what you wrote and and voted on.
SPEAKER_00We don't have to go down the rabbit hole in this, but I'm curious uh what do you think the consequences of that would be if you can only serve one term, let's say six years, uh that would most likely remove the threat of, well, I've got to do something in order to get re-elected, right? That's a big motivation for elected officials. Is well I I've got to answer to my voters, uh, otherwise they won't re-elect me. Um now, as an incumbent, that barrier is a little lower, right? Because you have access and you have name recognition. But that that threat of not being re-elected is oftentimes the only motivation for an elected official to do things. If you remove that, do you think they'd still be motivated in those six years to do a good job?
SPEAKER_01I want to counter that just a little bit. Sure. And I'll tell you why. Because um Congress, it doesn't work. It really doesn't. And they're there with no um term limits, or there are no expiration date, there's no deadlines. Uh I'm so honored to have uh a front row seat at how a White House works when there's a businessman that says we're putting a deadline in this uh in this policy. Uh right, you have the office of the first lady who said she's gonna sign on to the Take It Down Act, which protects minors and individuals of online um harassment and slander, something that I in this campaign I am so happy that I leaned heavily on that act, right? Uh, but also allocates millions of dollars to the foster care system, rightfully so, uh that it pertains to the foster care system. Uh in Congress, they said, oh, this is gonna take about three to four sessions for it to actually get done. But because I worked uh I partnered with uh uh an administration that functions through deadlines, not worried about am I gonna get re-elected, it got done in two months, please. So I know uh what it's like to you know partner with someone who's not worried about re-election, having to go back to the constituent and say, re-elect me because I did this. I know what it's like when it's uh when it's uh partnering with uh an administration and policy leaders who are like, we only have this amount of time to show how much work we've done, so let's get it done. Also, to wrap that up, uh special interest groups and corporate lobbying packs have a lot to do with how candidates seek re-elections. Let's take this campaign, for example. I have accepted zero doll from special interest and corporate lobbying pack money to come into my campaign. You want to know why? Uh, because on day one, I want to be accountable to only the people of West Texas. I have seen far too many great candidates who say the right things, campaign on the right issues, they get to DC, and that fight that they're ready to have gets sidelined, their community gets sidelined because that those packs that help them come knocking on the door and say, Hey, you remember how we helped you? Now you have to vote this way, you have the right legislation this way, and you got to sound this way. Um, my opponent, to the tune of uh $700,000, accepted corporate uh unregulated AI super PAC money to kind of dictate how we're gonna buy this West Texas seat. Now I'm not too far behind. I raised half a million dollars, all from individual donors from this district and in state, a few family members from outside of Texas, right? But all individual contributions because I think that that's how you actually start shaping DC in a better way when you get special interest money out of the conversation.
SPEAKER_00We'll end on this last question. Um so I think people in the abstract, they hate division, they want to see America united. You know, you always see the polls, oh, America's headed down the wrong road, regardless of of what Congress is doing, regardless of who who the president is, it's always that, well, we're we're divided and and um heading down the wrong road. Um but when you get to speak on five or ten issues that are passionate about you as a as an individual, right? You don't want to compromise. This, you know, I'm clearly right, and the other person is wrong and an idiot, and this is these are issues that we can't compromise on, right? So it and that's where the the really the hate rhetoric ball starts and then it rolls and cascades into everything else. Um so how do you combat that? You know, what what's allowed in Congress is really set by the people, but I would say congressmen do set the tone because they have a larger platform and they're the ones speaking. And when you hear Democrats, you know, uh go in personal uh attack and and and um really hate-filled against Republicans and Republicans doing the same against Democrats, it it may stem from five or ten issues that the general populace is is passionate about, but it tends to bleed into the other thousand issues that Congress deals with. How do you balance those two of being passionate about the issues that really need to be fought for and take a hard stand on, but still uh keeping the country and and not just keeping, but actually growing the country more united on the other 99% that we agree on.
SPEAKER_01Scripture to lays this out pretty clearly, Blaze, that the love of power and the love of money is a root of all evil and corruption. And that is the prime example of what's going on in DC. You have people that get to DC, and I want to say that everyone that gets to DC at the fresh start, at the very first early stages, they really do want to do good for their community. But I personally have seen when just a little bit of power, just a little bit of money gets in your way, you get completely blinded and sidetracked. And it was the honor of a lifetime to campaign with the president and be on his campaign team as a national surrogate because I saw a man that didn't didn't waver to power and didn't waver to money, he truly cared about the everyday American. And for that reason, and because he campaigned on that reason, he won every single swing state and he won the popular vote. Areas that had not been under Republican control for over 120 years flipped over to President Trump. And you wonder why? Because he Campaigned on the issues. He didn't want to sidetrack. And of course, when you're in a presidential campaign, things get a little testy, things get a little heated. But when you stick to what the community is talking about, the community responds very well. Which Republican presidential candidate has passed out McDonald's fries in a drive-thru or has it driven a garbage truck? I think it's just getting back to basics and listening to the everyday American that has been left out of the conversation. And when DC starts looking more like the community, when policy is being shaped by the gatekeepers and watchmen of our community, I'm talking about our pastures, our entire country is going to look very different. So I can talk to you about all my platforms. I can talk to you about how I'm going to work with the other side to ensure that we're going to bring results back to our community. I've done that. I've been doing that. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be a registered lobbyist or donate to Democrats to get things done. Over dozen pieces of legislation, I've been able to do that. But my platform comes down from to this. I'm not a perfect person. I've had a lot of flaws, but I have found perfect salvation at the altar. Um, and I think that when it comes to why I decided to run this campaign, it comes down to this scripture. Hosea 12.6. It says that we shall return to our God. We shall maintain love and justice, and we will wait on our God always. If the people of Congressional District 19 ever want to know how I'm going to vote on a piece of legislation, they want to know how I'm going to dictate legislation, write legislation, it's that scripture. We shall return to our God. What does the Bible say about how we're going to vote on certain things? We're also going to legislate pieces of policy that is based on love, but justice, my friend. There's a lot of justice missing out in DC. And we're going to wait on our God always, which means that there is nothing that the government can do. There is no piece of law the government can pass. There's no advisory commission that the government can form that the people of West Texas through the church can do better. That's my policy platform.
SPEAKER_00All right. Election day is May 26th, 26th day. Yeah. This is a runoff, and so the winner of this runoff will go to the general and and people will get to vote for at least a fifth time uh this year here in Avalon in uh in November. So it's a it's a popular year for elections. So um Abraham, thank you so much for being on the show and and sharing a little bit of uh your insights with the listeners. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Blaze. I appreciate you.