DID YOU GUYS HAVE ENOUGH WARNING, ENOUGH TIME TO PREPARE, AND DID PEOPLE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO GET OUT?

Yeah, there's been plenty of time to prepare.

You know, there's a little bit of a state of, you know, hey, we've seen every hurricane before in Florida sometimes because we get hit so many times.

But, you know, we've been very aggressive in telling people, look, you got to listen, leave, and you'll live.

If you're told to evacuate, it's important to do that.

But as a state, look, we got 400 state guard up and working already, 5,000 National Guard on standby, 6,000 utility workers ready to go, over 1,000 generators, over 250 pieces of equipment If you want to find more information, what's in the area, go to floridadisaster.org for up-to-date information.

We know we have evacuations from Escambia all the way over to Walton and Okaloosa, Taylor, Wakula, Franklin Bay, and Gulf.

Have you been able to reach out to any teams that are either in Pensacola or Destin tonight, any of those mayors?

Does that encourage you to stay in politics?

Yeah, I'm happy to stay in politics.

I think that if you look at what drove that, I really believe it's the fact that we were in communities, that we were talking to people, that when I showed up in a room of 400 or 500 people, I shook everybody's hand, we had conversations, and we addressed specific issues head on.

I didn't duck hard news.

I didn't duck the issues.

If it's something they wanted to hear, great.

If it's something they didn't want to hear, I was still honest.

Lieutenant Governor, I know we're running out of time here, but as you and Governor DeSantis are obviously getting ready to end this process of leading us through some of the hard times we've had in the state and also just continuing to keep the momentum going, what are some things that you and the governor you're hoping to see accomplished here in the next few months that we may not be aware of or we may be aware of and you just want to see them through the finish line?

Are you going to win all five?

Well, I think it's going to be tight.

You know, there's a lot going on historically in a non-presidential year.

You know, you see a little bit of leveling out.

But I can tell you this.

The money is there.

The support is there.

What was that whole thing about?

I think that second one's even more significant.

Well, the first one, uh, it was very kinetic back in '06, '07, '08 in Afghanistan.

It was just go, go, go.

Uh, movement to contact.

We had, like, a 95% troops in contact rate.

It was pretty wild.

And, uh, you know, we were on a, uh, movement to, uh, jokingly what we called a movement to ambush, a presence patrol, meaning we would drive through and then they would ambush us, and we would have to fight our way through the ambush.

On the second one?

Well,

I'll tell you what, my life has been a series of setbacks.

I was born into a broken home.

My birth mom was 16 and had issues with alcohol and drugs.

My grandparents adopted me.

We lost our farm.

We moved to town.

Give us a clue of what

H- how do we, how do we get that so that it's more under control and, and more aligned with letting people pay their bills while also being covered when we could have a major weather event?

Well, I'll, I'll tell you what, you, you're walking around one of my secret love languages here, which is deregulation, right? [laughs] Uh, I think it's always important to say a few things up front and clear.

Our freedoms come from God.

They're upheld by our Constitution.

It's not the government's money, it's the people's money, and less government actually works better.

When you deregulate, you get the government out of the process, things work well.

But when we talk about insurance, look, we are, uh, this state, we are smack dab in the middle of hurricane territory, and they're going to keep coming.

How do you differentiate yourself from, according to the polls, the front runner right now, Byron Donalds, who does have President Trump's endorsement? What are the differences between you two that people should know as they're going to cast their ballot, uh, coming up here, or if they've already, you know, about to cast their ballot if they go early voting?

H- how do we, how do we get that so that it's more under control and, and more aligned with letting people pay their bills while also being covered when we could have a major weather event?

Well, I'll, I'll tell you what.

You're, you're walking around one of my secret love languages here, which is deregulation, right? [laughs] Uh, and I think it's always important to say a few things up front and clear.

Our freedoms come from God.

They're upheld by our Constitution.

It's not the government's money, it's the people's money, and less government actually works better.

When you deregulate, you get the government out of the process, things work well.

How do you differentiate yourself from, according to the polls, the front-runner right now, Byron Donalds, who does have President Trump's endorsement? What are the differences between you two that people should know as they're going to cast their ballot, uh, coming up here, or if they've already, or, you know, about to cast their ballot if they go early voting?

... plan to beat him and actually become Governor Collins in the fall?

Well, I'll tell you what, 18 August is our primary.

We are eyes on the prize focused on this.

We are going door to door, city to city.

We're maximizing our media, and I have a novel idea.

This is how we're winning it.

I say what I mean, I mean what I say, and I get things done.

What, when, when people go in, uh, uh, the early voting or when they go in on Tuesday, uh, the 18th and pull the trigger, what do you think is top of mind for them, and how are you answering that?

How do you plan to beat him and actually become Governor Collins in the fall?

Well, I'll tell you what, 18 August is our primary.

We are eyes on the prize, focused on this.

We are going door to door, city to city.

We're maximizing our media, and I have a novel idea.

This is how we're winning it.

I say what I mean, I mean what I say, and I get things done.

When people go in, they're early voting, or when they go in on Tuesday the 18th and pull the trigger, what do you think is top of mind for them, and how are you answering that?

What's your vision? What are the two or three things that Governor Collins feels he has to accomplish to be successful?

Well, first off, if you're gonna come in the shoes of the greatest governor in our state's history, uh, you gotta be willing to be bold, innovative, and solve problems as they come up.

Governor DeSantis wasn't, uh, America's governor until COVID happened, and he stepped into that breach to protect our people and our way of life.

First off, I'm day-one ready.

That was said by DeSantis himself.

Uh, my moral compass was trued in c- in combat all around the globe.

I know where right is, where wrong is, I know how to get things done, and that cannot be understated.

What is your position on artificial intelligence, particularly since the tech bros are writing massive checks? What is a Governor Collins gonna do about artificial intelligence in the Free State of Florida, sir?

How will you govern differently than Governor DeSantis?

Well, look, Governor DeSantis is the greatest governor in our state's history.

He's done an incredible job from COVID on.

You know, he has stepped in, he's protected our people, he's made a difference.

But don't forget that he really became prominent and became America's governor as a term during COVID.

Every governor is going to have something that rises up and defines their time, their term.

And who knows what that's going to be? What I'll tell you, I come from a little bit different background.

you mean by that though Florida does not have a long history of factories for instance like the old Rust Belt or the Midwest where I grew up right there's light industry here there's certainly aviation, but what specifically kind of targets would you go after.

So what was the connective tissue that brought you to politics from such a strong military background?

Well, after I re-qualified, it was nonprofits that were there for me.

It wasn't the Army.

It wasn't the VA.

It was nonprofits and people I didn't know from places I'd never been.

They took care of my family, Tyrus.

And you've got to give back, right? The gratitude I have to some of those people is beyond anything I could explain, because they really helped motivate me.

so uh and we should be and it's it's really laughable there's a lot of questions in there but it's really laughable yeah yeah when when you see how our our men and women ice are treated

Jay Collins.

Well, good evening.

And of course, I want to say thank you to Layla and my son, Gabe.

Great to see you here.

Love you guys.

And thank you, Patrick, for hosting us.

It's incredibly kind of you to open up your channel like this.

What we're

Agreed.

Block budget the money to the states.

Let us in Florida lead.

I would love to do a proof of concept where you block budget the money, let us take over the hospitals, let us lead, and combine all that.

I promise you, you can save money.

I am a huge proponent of, uh, shifting how we utilize the VA hospitals.

They are trillions of dollars underwater.

Yeah.

But is there a way from your perspective, having gone through the process, you know, multiple times now to conduct a campaign where you're really only singularly focused on what you bring to the table and not blowing the other guy's candle out to make yours shine brighter kind of thing?

I would love to get there.

I will tell you that's where I want to get to.

You know, we're the United States of America.

We, the people, the American people, those words have meaning to me.

Like you like me, man.

I fought with people who I didn't agree with politically.

Can you clarify number-wise what constitutes a hyper data center versus a traditional one?

What do you think makes sense? I think

your base load from FEMA should be block budgeted to the states.

I think you should let us use those dollars how we need to do in Florida.

You've got to have guardrails, right? Otherwise, you're going to have crazy states that spend it on gas.

Lord knows what.

I don't even know what California would do with it.

It certainly wouldn't help with the wildfires because they don't do any controlled burning.

Are there other big state issues that you plan on tackling that would also accomplish that same goal federally?

Agreed.

Block budget the money to the states.

Let us in Florida lead.

I would love to do a proof of concept where you block budget the money, let us take over the hospitals, let us lead and combine all that.

I promise you, you can save money.

I am a huge proponent of, uh, shifting how we utilize the VA hospitals.

They are trillions of dollars underwater.

Yeah.

What are a few other things that, you know, are the biggest issues you think are facing Florida right now? Some of the main pillars, if you're elected, that you want to focus on when you take office? Well, look,

the number one thing we could talk about is affordability.

And as a Republican and as a conservative, we have to grab the narrative on this.

We have allowed the left to define the terms.

Affordability, the American dream, can never be predicated on just getting by.

and just having enough.

You've got to blow the roof off this.

recent years we've seen so many people thousands upon thousands moving to florida you know leaving these blue states with high crime high taxes moving to florida where there's no state income tax it's a law and order state so many people consider governor desantis to be such a strong effective conservative governor and people are flocking to the sunshine state if you're elected and you succeed governor desantis how do you how do you plan to maintain that momentum

What are a few other things that, um, you know, are the biggest issues you think are facing Florida right now, some of the, the, the main pillars if you're elected that you wanna focus on when you take office?

Well, look, the number one thing we could talk about is affordability.

And as a Republican and as a conservative, we have to grab the narrative on this.

We have allowed the left to defi- define the terms.

Affordability, the American dream can never be predicated on just getting by and just having enough.

You gotta blow the roof off this.

More opportunity, better jobs.

For any Floridians who are listening to this or watching this right now, what's your message to them?

For that Afghan deployment, can you walk us through kind of the operations that stand out and ultimately... you know what led to the injuries and purple sure

sure so fire base anaconda is like in the worst defensible place you could put a fire base in you had the mountains all around it and you were right up against this little village that could share a wall with you so you had plunging fire from all over the place and it was there to protect this radio tower That's it.

But what's funny is two miles down the road, you actually have this giant old Soviet base with fields of fire, completely defensible.

At the time, they were like, no, you got to stay right where you are.

You're going to defend that radio tower.

Why don't we just move it with us and put up a tower? Because this place sucks.

But whatever.

Once you did have the leg removed and now you're pain-free, was the recovery still a rough path?

Yeah.

[laughs] But, uh, whatever.

It is what it is.

And, uh, it was pretty kinetic.

It was like a 95% troops in contact rate.

There was one way in, one way out, and, uh, it started off very, very simple.

Just little skirmishes, pop shots, you know, pray and spray, right? Uh, let it rip, and then they'd run off in the, into the woodwork, right? Uh, that changed.

[laughs]

Why should it be you?

Well, first off, good to be on, guys.

I really appreciate it.

And, and look, in this race, I'm the only one with executive office of the governor experience.

I don't have to talk about leading the state.

I'm in Ron DeSantis' team.

I am part of his administration, the lieutenant governor of 23 and a half million people.

How would you overcome that, and what would you say to people who might be inclined to just say, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna roll with Trump's guy on this one, come what may"?

I wish the Supreme Court would have saw that and start taking these blue states to task for giving people licenses to move that much steel down the road when they can't even read a street sign, Jay.

Yeah, Dan, it's absolutely ridiculous.

You know, first off, much appreciation to Justices Thomas and Alito for their dissent on this.

Look, where are we supposed to go? If you have states who are openly putting people at risk, like California and Washington, letting folks drive an 80,000-pound truck down the road illegally where they can't read the signs, it puts our people at risk.

This is how federalism is supposed to work, right? That's what they keep saying.

So where do we go for this? Here in Florida, to your point, we don't play games.

You picket, you riot, you play games.

But we'll take the wins where we can get them, right, Jay?

Why should it be you?

you?Good to be on, guys.

I really appreciate it.

A- and look, in this race, I'm the only one with executive office of the governor experience.

I don't have to talk about leading the state.

I'm in Ron DeSantis' team.

I am part of his administration, the lieutenant governor of 23 and a half million people.

How would you overcome that, and what would you say to people who might be inclined to just say, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna roll with Trump's guy on this one, come what may"?

Absolutely.

I am not here for that.

I want to have the checks and balances.

State leadership matters.

Having a governor who's willing to step in there and do the hard right, like Governor DeSantis showed and modeled during COVID, is incredible.You want people who have been broken and rebuilt, who've come through fighting and gotten things done.

The best indicator of future potential is past performance.

You want people who have a track record of being successful despite not having everything.

Right.