Is that some of what you heard from constituents on the campaign trail?

That's exactly it.

Sam Graves told me this years ago, and it always stuck with me.

I worked for him in his third term, and he was a farmer in Atchison County, Missouri, still is.

And he said to me once, Chris, the thing about farming is we're the only business, we don't control the cost of things we put into it and we don't control the cost of what we get out of it.

And that always hit me that it is the most unique business that way.

And so any certainty, that Washington can provide our farmers is so important.

What are some thoughts you have when it comes to the rural health care issues we have right now in this country?

What was it about Missouri voters in the ag community that, and I'm not asking you to speak for Iowa voters because obviously you're concentrated in Missouri, but somehow you, Chris Stigall, navigated this differently and more successfully than it appears as though other members that had heavy ag communities did.

Well, it would be less than honest of me to say I didn't have a very successful predecessor in Congressman Sam Graves, who for 26 years led this district well and was a farmer himself.

And I had his early endorsement and his trust.

And I assured the ag community that I was going to continue to lean on the outgoing congressman's expertise in the field.

and continue to listen.

He was a real voice.

I got to know GT Thompson, the chairman of the House Ag Committee, and I said to the chairman, would you please come back to Missouri and tour with me a little bit and meet with some of our farmers? I spent a lot of time in the fields, both literally and in the field of politics in the 39 counties that make up the 6th District, looking them in the eye and saying, I get it, and I hear you, and I know why you're concerned, and I know why you're upset.

If you get asked, because obviously this now affects you as a representative for Missouri, whether Missouri should try again or keep going, what would your advice be to state leaders?

But when you were on the campaign trail, meeting with voters, face-to-face, knocking on doors, did you detect the sentiment that showed up on Tuesday? Were you shocked by these results, or did you feel that, oh, I recognize that, I've seen that out on the streets?

Do you remember when Joe Biden would say about Ukraine, we're going to continue to shovel money there, as he would say, quote, as much as it takes, as long as it takes? That used to drive me nuts as a talk show host because I always said to the audience, what does that mean? I don't understand that as much as like, okay, Russia's the bad guy, Ukraine's the good guy, but what does victory look like? How does this end exactly? I'm in for a penny, in for a pound, whatever, all that stuff.

So my point in bringing that up is that started to seem to be what I was hearing about Iran.

This is a 50-year problem the president's trying to tackle.

You're not going to turn that battleship around overnight.

But to tell the American people, I just need you to ride with $6 diesel, farmers, ride with $6 diesel, and just keep riding with it.

And we'll get there when we get there.

Do you think it's possible that we can build a deep bench of great patriots who are ready to fight for the next cycle?

great.

Yeah, that wasn't that fun.

And didn't you feel like we were winning and it was like we were on offense and it was like, all right, finally, you know, we're scaling back on NPR and PBS and we're doing all the right things for the taxpayers.

And then there was talk about more rescissions bills and where else could we claw back some more money? And then it just ground to a halt.

And that conversation stopped.

Now, look, the no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, all good.

But that's where it stopped.

If Democrats show up on day one and they want to rein in at least the spending on the war to try to bring it to an end, how do you handle that now?

So what do you think caused this onslaught, you know, that happened on Tuesday, man?

Yeah, I explain it this way.

J.D. Vance had it right.

You don't ignore the fact that diesel was $6 a gallon for our truck drivers and our farmers.

You don't ignore that gas is $4, $5 a gallon, depending on some of the blue states with their taxes and groceries.

Those costs are high, and so I think the tendency sometimes is to say, ah, it's not so bad, or suck it up, or whatever.

You never want to be on that side of that message to begin with, but...

it's like a whole nother world down there correct

Here, take a look.

Over the past several months, I've traveled thousands of miles across the 39 counties that make up Missouri's 6th Congressional District.

I've loved the handshakes, the visits to your farms and businesses, and the parades and festivals that all make North Missouri such a special place we call home.

But the most important thing I've done is just listen.

I've met with thousands of good people who care about their families, their communities, their business, and this country.

It's been an honor to spend time with you and to listen.

And by listening, I've heard real concerns.

And now this journey, this seven-month journey and how – much effort you've put into actually being in the game being the man in the arena as teddy roosevelt would say can you just pause as an american i'm getting emotional myself and just uh tell us what this has been like and what you've learned about our country

Are you hearing concerns from the people that you talk to regarding the tariffs and diesel and prices? And what are you hearing from the people?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, listen, $6 plus a gallon diesel is untenable.

It's just not something anybody can live with long term.

What I do know, most farmers and ranchers certainly understand that we've been taken advantage of for a very, very long time.

And the tariff policy, while it hasn't been a comfortable thing, it's the gas prices that are really very frustrating.

And the problem with all of it, Chris, really is whether you're talking about the unfair trade practices or whether you're talking about fertilizer costs or whether you're talking about gasoline and diesel costs.

You know, we'd love to know, you know, I'm sure those voters would love to know, you know, how you can help improve some of that for rural Missourians.

So talk about that transition of going into talk radio and then doing it on a national level.

That's what's sort of funny about this story is I had always dreamed of a nationally syndicated broadcast.

I, as I say, became a Rush Limbaugh fan really after 9-11.

That was the first time that I ever really thought deeply about politics, to be honest.

I was there in Kansas City doing a horrible, horrible classic rock morning show.

I had no business doing it.

It was just an abomination.

How do you see your representation of that district?

My gosh, you're going to be a congressman.

You know, Colonel, it's one of those things that I just – you're a very, very accomplished attorney.

You're a brilliant author, commentator.

Your voice is heard by millions all over the country annually, you know.

And I did my best for a long while to do that.

But my congressman, Sam Graves, who represents the 6th Congressional District, he's been at it for 26 years and done it very well.

But I just got to a point where I finally felt like – You know, he's he's stepping down.

And I'd like to throw my hat in the ring.

Well, that's pretty revealing, isn't it, Chris, that cynically his job is to get these young men out to vote, but only a certain kind of young man, I think, if they're watching and agreeing with Hasan Piker.

Yeah, it's striking, actually, to watch him.

He's kind of like the evil twin of Matt over there at the Daily Wire, isn't he? I mean, it's like he's the whacked-out version of Matt Walsh.

It's weird.

He thinks he's appealing to young men, I guess.

But you know what's strange? It seems it's left-wing young women that gravitate to this noise.

Young men, I don't see any evidence that there are young men en masse trending hard left.

What else did you see there that you want to throw out?

No, quite the

opposite, as a matter of fact.

People were as energized and as...

And look, I won't deny that I think a lot of people were wondering when they got there, what will this be? In fact, as I was even speaking with some people coordinating, I said, what are you expecting? They said, we're not sure.

And they weren't.

I mean, look, when you throw the first of its kind party and you invite people, you hope they'll show up.

But like many a party I've thrown...

Yeah, it's the

Uh, one year later, what's on your heart? What's on your mind right now?

Pete, it's good to be back with you.

This is a strange week in many ways, a heavy week, a solemn week.

Of course, what you just mentioned with Charlie, 25 years since 9/11.

Uh, we're looking at a midterm election that is, uh, consequential at the same time, and, and quite frankly, you and I have worked together through most of that on the air.

I was on the air for, uh, both of those events, both 9/11 and for Charlie's assassination, and watching many, many different elections.

And, uh, it also ironically happens to be, it was this very week, Pete, that I launched my first full-time morning talk show in Kansas City, right there where you're sitting today.

Yeah.

I gotta ask you because of how contentious this, uh, primary was, the phone call between you and Nathan Willett, how was that?

You know, he was a gentleman.

He called and, uh, congratulated me, and said that he was eager to work with me for, uh, the good of the folks that we both will represent.

I know the councilman still has l- uh, time left to serve his constituents, and he does so well.

And look, Pete, here's the thing.

In a primary, what I understand is when you look at the math, there, there's a, a good chunk of people that did not vote for me in the Republican primary last night.

A lot of them voted for Councilman Willett, uh, and the other three gentlemen who ran, and I'm profoundly aware of that, and I wanna earn their support, too.

What do you think the connection is between the ability to communicate and then how that translates to the job that you hope to have in November?

[laughs]

[laughs] Thank you, buddy, so much.

I love you.

And, uh, may I just say to you and, uh, your entire audience, uh, I hope some of whom, uh, maybe enjoyed the show that we did for, for a while before, uh, you took over the microphone, how, how, how blessed, uh, I feel to have received such warm well wishes and prayers throughout the entirety of this campaign.

Uh, th- this, this...

Y- you know, I know how much you love this audience, and so do I.

Mm.

It is all anybody wanted to talk about in this part of the country, data centers and whether they wanted them or whether they didn't, and I can tell you most people do not.

What was that text message all about? What's going on here?

[laughs] Morning, Pete.

Welcome back from vacation, by the way.

I hope you're rested.

Deep knee bends, brother, 'cause here we go.

Uh, yeah, this is w- this is nuts.

Uh, pretty funny, actually.

So Chris, tomorrow, you know, when people are going to the voting booth, for you, in what has been, um, you know, one of the nastier primaries we've had in the area, what, what do you, from your perspective, believe this primary should come down to in what appears to be a two-person primary between yourself and Kansas City Councilman Nathan Willett?

But do you kind of see it that way? And we- the struggle for America, is it like the urban core and the people that run that against the rest of us?

Yeah, almost every major American city has seen flight out.

People don't want to live under Democrat rule.

What that often means, though, as you know, is major metropolitan cities drain of their population.

People flee it, and then they move into the suburbs, and sometimes the rural communities, and often, for some inexplicable reason, drag their politics with them.

And that's why you see suburbs that used to be ruby red and conservative start to turn purple.

And, you know, that is undoubtedly happening in the Kansas City metro area.

What does that mean for many people in your district, and how is Trump and how are Trump and the Republicans doing for our farmers right now?

The struggle for America, is it like the urban core and the people that run that against the rest of us?

Yeah, almost every major American city has seen flight out.

People don't want to live under Democrat rule.

What that often means, though, as you know, is major metropolitan cities drain of their population.

People flee it, and then they move into the suburbs, and sometimes the rural communities, and often, for some inexplicable reason, drag their politics with them.

And that's why you see suburbs that used to be ruby red and conservative start to turn purple.

And, you know, that is undoubtedly happening in the Kansas City metro area.

What does that mean for many people in your district, and how is Trump and how are Trump and the Republicans doing for our farmers right now?

The struggle for America, is it like the urban core and the people that run that against the rest of us?

Yeah.

Almost every major American city has seen flight out.

People don't want to live under Democrat rule.

What that often means, though, as you know, is major metropolitan cities drain of their population.

People flee it, and then they move into the suburbs and sometimes the rural communities, and often, for some inexplicable reason, drag their politics with them.

And that's why you see suburbs that used to be ruby red and conservative start to turn purple, and, you know, that is undoubtedly happening in the Kansas City metro area.

What does that mean for many people in your district, and how is Trump and how are Trump and the Republicans doing for our farmers right now?

Just to remind our listeners why you thought rural hospitals were struggling.

In my travels through North Missouri, everywhere you find a rural hospital, I think...

I, I don't remember over the last decade the number exactly.

I feel like it was seven or eight rural Missouri hospitals have closed in the last decade.

And when most of North Missouri is, in fact, rural, and you're talking about maybe sometimes hundreds of miles from homes to hospital, those seconds can count in emergencies.

These rural communities that still have small rural hospitals, they're scared to death that they're gonna lose them.

And one of the things that I know is all of this fraud that we've been seeing, and you've heard it covered.

Where do you fall on this continuum, given that this is absolutely something that is gonna come before you if you get elected to Congress?

Chris, um, what compelled you to go down this road and, and share this video that you just posted on YouTube?

Hey, Pete.

Good morning to you, my friend.

19 days to go, and, uh, yeah, we're, we're getting ready to run through the tape, and we've got some, uh, huge momentum to talk about.

I do wanna talk about it.

But look, uh, as you close in on 19 days, panic starts to set in, uh, by lesser candidates who don't know what else to do but just make things up out of whole cloth.

And the city councilman, um, because I guess he has absolutely nothing else to discuss and no other issue to stand on, has decided to take old, uh, radio shows of mine and clip them up to make me say things I never said.

I mean, that's not really something you've shied away from.

So just tell our viewers, why are you running? Why did you decide to hit the pause button on radio and jump into politics?

Yeah, thanks for the question because it's one that I get probably more than any other after a long time doing this.

Why would you leave this and go do that? Honestly, and it was a conversation that you and I had when my wife and I were with you, and it's the whole reason we got into the school choice discussion and Christian school and homeschool and started talking with families, and that was all born out of the COVID era.

That insane period of time.

So insane.

Yep.

For me, I'll just speak personally, kind of broke me.

I'm like, some of these people I had respect for, all of a sudden they've turned and I don't know what to believe anymore.

What's been the biggest surprise to you?

Yeah.

It's, it's that there are obviously very, very diverse needs depending on where you go.

I...

And you know, those of us in this part of the state, uh, don't really know a whole lot, if you haven't been out that way, don't know a whole lot about the Great Northeast.

And those folks similarly, when you travel out east, you know, and, and just so folks know if they don't, that the Sixth Congressional District, all of North Missouri is basically what it is.

The- it's the top half of the state of Missouri, and it goes all the way over to the Illinois border.

How, how would you respond to what's gone on so far in the primary and the back and forth that you've had with one of the main opponents in this race?

You know? People ask that a

lot.

And I say because I genuinely believe what I just said.

We were at a, this is the 250th anniversary of the country.

I think Donald Trump, and I don't say this again.

I always like to say this from the stump.

I don't worship Donald Trump.

Tell us why you're running and what you see for North Missouri.

Would you say that describes your district as a whole?

Bingo.

Uh, I couldn't have said it better, Kietz.

That's exactly it.

They are, um, conservative through and through.

They vote that way consistently.

North Missouri has only become more conservative and, and more red, more traditional.

Don't you think?

I don't know that much about primary politics like this, but it seems to me this is just about as competitive as things get, isn't it?

You know, it's, um, always uncomfortable, primaries, because in theory you're in the same family, and that means there are split differences and, you know, you're asking people to choose a family member over another family member.

I mean, in theory, Republicans coalesce around the winner after the primary and go on about their day.

But, um, primaries are uncomfortable, and the fact is Sam Graves in, um, North Missouri, the Sixth Congressional District, he has represented this district, uh, well for 26 years.

That's a long time.

And so North Missourians have not had a competitive primary for this seat in a long time, and so we're all kind of remembering for the first time in a long time what it feels like when multiple people would like that seat, uh, to represent North Missourians.

Uh, I, I think I'm the best candidate to do that, but I'm also mindful that it's gonna require sharp elbows.

I, I suspect Willett would have some votes in, in the populated North Kansas City area, uh, where there's a lot of rooftops, and, and you're gonna own the rest of the state, [laughs] which, uh, this district runs from Kansas to Illinois, doesn't it? Is it the whole state?