Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed to the newsmaker line Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and columnist for The Washington Times, to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, the America First movement, and the possibility of Republicans regaining a majority in the U.S. Senate.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line now by my very good friend, Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder and CEO of Tea Party Patriots. Good morning, Jenny Beth.
Martin: Good morning. It’s so good to be with you.
Leahy: Jenny Beth, I was just looking at the calendar. You and I first met in person about 13 years ago today. You may recall you and Amy Kramer had flown in to Los Angeles. I was out there temporarily working with Roger Simon at PJTV.
We did some programming there around the Tea Party. I drove my little rental car up to the LAX Airport and you and Amy got in and we went right to the studio and started doing some shows about the Tea Party and the big Tea Party event that was held across the country in a thousand locations on April 15, 2009, to support constitutionally limited government, free markets and fiscal responsibility.
That was the first time we met.
Martin: It was the first time we met face to face. But, of course, we had communicated on Twitter and social media because you started Top Conservatives on Twitter and organized that first conference call that launched the Tea Party movement. So I’m glad we got to meet face to face. And so thankful for your contribution to the Tea Party movement.
Leahy: And the same to you Jenny. And interestingly enough, you know, Roger Simon, who was the CEO of PJTV, Pajamas Media at that time, moved to Nashville here about four years ago.
And now every Thursday at 7:00 am, he is an all-star panelist on The Tennessee Star Report in-studio with me. How about that?
Martin: That is excellent. That is very good.
Leahy: (Chuckles) You have a piece at Town Hall. Cruz Says No to Biden’s Iran First Policies. This is very troublesome to me.
You’re a big supporter of America First to Make America Great Again. This looks like the exact opposite of America First. Tell us about your article, Jenny Beth Martin.
Martin: It looks like the Biden administration has been doing everything they can to get back into an Iran deal. And the fact is we know that this kind of deal is always going to be more beneficial for Iran than it is for America.
And Ted Cruz is a person who is in favor of not having the deal. He does not want to lift sanctions on Iran. He has been opposed to the Iran deal even back when Obama was President. And we held a rally against the Iran deal.
And I’ve had people, Michael, who are in Israel right now, who are friends, who are Jewish, who are thanking us for standing up against this because they know that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, Israel is in trouble.
Leahy: Senator Cruz has taken some aggressive action to kind of stop the movement or the confirmation of several nominees to the State Department who I would say are sort of pro-Iran deal.
And the Iranians now are trying to ask for the State Department’s prior designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.
They want that lifted as part of this new nuclear deal. What about Cruz’s tactics? And what about the Iranians trying to get that terrorist organization label lifted from a terrorist group?
Martin: Yes. I think that designation absolutely should not be lifted. It is amazing to me, when you think about it, that our Department of Homeland Security wants to label doctors and nurses terrorists for disagreeing with the administration on COVID or people complaining about what happened in the election in 2020, all of these people labeling them as domestic terrorists.
And yet they want to lift or are willing to lift the terrorist designation of a real terrorist organization. So the administration clearly has its priorities completely backward, and they’re not putting what’s best for America first.
I think that Cruz’s efforts to block the nominations, which he has been able to do for an entire year for Barbara Leaf, who would be the assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
This is a smart strategy because we don’t want people in those positions who are not going to be looking out for America’s interests first. But also it puts pressure on the administration to pay attention to a Senator such as Cruz, who is in the minority right now.
Leahy: Let me ask you this. It’s been 13 years since the launch of the Tea Party movement. Lots of ups and downs since then. Are you optimistic or pessimistic or neutral about the future of America as we sit here today, April 5, 2022?
Martin: Michael, I think it depends on the time of day you ask that, because sometimes late at night and in the middle of the night, I’m not very optimistic. But I get up every single day and keep on fighting and keep on standing for America.
And I think the only way that you can do that is to be optimistic and hopeful that we can make a difference. And I think the thing that gives me the most optimism about the future of America is the fact that there are so many people across this entire country who love America and would do anything for the best interest of our country.
And those people, you’ve met them, you interview them all the time. Those people are what give me hope for America because we’re not going to just stand by and let the light of liberty fizzle out on our watch.
We’re doing everything we can to keep that light going and to hand that torch to the next generation. So that gives me optimism. I’ve given 58 speeches this year and have met with thousands of people around the country, and those are the people who give me optimism.
Leahy: Fifty-eight speeches in a little over three months. You are very busy, Jenny. Here’s a question for you. I’ve been contemplating this and I’m curious about your thoughts.
You recall the Tea Party election of 2010 where the Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives by obtaining a net gain of 63 seats in the House of Representatives.
Right now, Democrats have a narrow margin of about plus-five seats in the House. Where do you think the midterms are going to go in November?
Martin: I’m always hesitant to answer this question, because I don’t have a crystal ball and you never know what can happen that affects voters’ opinions. But I think that at the moment we have the opportunity to win back the majority in both the Senate and the House.
It’s going to take a lot of work both to ensure that the elections are secure and fair and then also that we get the vote out. At this point, I’m very cautiously optimistic about that.
I think it’s critically important we get the Senate because that provides the fastest insurance check and balance on the administration because of the ability to block nominations.
Listen to the full interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
