That's a hard that's hard.

But, you know, Rick, it was a privilege because what I did is I had boots on the ground with the service members across all many of our partners and allies countries and really understanding what not just what their mission is, but did they have everything they need to do their mission? So it was my job to under uncover those any any gaps that might be existing.

And so I really felt very privileged to have had six plus, you know, six years of experience in that region.

And I can tell you firsthand and I'm not divulging anything.

I think anybody with a half of a brain here would recognize that we should have straight, you know, should have secured the Strait of Hormuz if we were if we had real reasons.

A clear strategic objective to go after Iran, we would have secured the Strait of Hormuz first.

So it's very clear to me that Hegseth is an unqualified frat boy.

But I think if we can do it, if we can execute on this, five years from now, voters are going to say, holy crap, that was a place where we started to turn the corner and get things back into control of the people, not just lobbyists.

Walk us through the details of those.

Absolutely.

Love to share that.

Let's really start with two areas that Congress has a direct responsibility, and that is the Iran war.

We need to stop the Iran war immediately.

It is a reckless choice of war that has cost this country service members' lives, injured and wounded service members, and their families are going to be suffering for that as well.

And here locally, this Iran war has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So with that in mind, can you speak to the details of how you would address corruption if you're elected?

How worried should the American people be about their military right now?

Well, thanks again for having me, Ken.

I really appreciate it.

And before we launch into the myriad of issues that we're facing as a country and our communities, too, I mean, these really these types of issues, while holistically are are very important nationwide and national security reasons that these communities are communities, right? Probably your community.

I know my community.

they're all really feeling a great deal of squeeze right now in a wide variety of reasons.

And many are worried about our national stature, our national security.

It's wild.

I, I wanna get your perspective on the outset about just, like, our military readiness and preparedness and just basic stuff.

There's a lot packed in there, Ben.

[laughs] Thank you for having me.

It is, it is really a pleasure to talk on these, you know, speak about these issues.

But let me just also say right up front that if you'd like to learn a little bit more about me and my campaign and join Team Gray, to go to our website, lilagray.com. Love to have you, love to learn more, love to get connected, love to earn your support.

The, the, the national security issues that you're sort of referring to or, or, or spoke about, directly about are of great concern to me.

You know, I did serve for 30 years in uniform and, and it wasn't the rank that I'm most proud of.

Here's what we should do now." How do you make that pitch, especially with everything that's going on in the 13th?

Are we closer to the beginning or the end?

It, I...

This has been a heavy toll, I think, on certainly the military and their family members.

We've lost 18 service members.

We've had over 750 wounded, and this is a heavy toll for them.

And if you assess where we were before we went into Iran, where we are today, I think you're gonna see a stark contrast that has achieved nothing but a cost-of-living crisis.

And right here in Florida, you know, those choices, that reckless choice to go to war with Iran, has created a, a situation for people that are unable to afford to live day to day.

If you were elected to Congress, would you vote for that?

So what does it mean to you to be put on this Red to Blue list and get this focus on you?

I think it's a reflection, Ali.

Thanks for having me.

I think it's a reflection of what I hear every single day with my boots on the ground and in the phone conversations that I'm having, and I'll give you an example.

I met Richard n- in person on the fourth of July, but he had already reached out to me when he heard I was running, and Richard is a retired Navy veteran caring for his 91-year-old Navy veteran father, and he is a lifelong, lifelong Republican.

And he said, "Thank goodness you're running in this race.

We need people that understand how to take care of others, how that, that already are, have lived a life of service." And I spent 30 years in the Army, you just mentioned that, and my entire time in service was always about in service to others, service over self, and that's what I think is resonating with both the independents and the Republicans and, of course, the Democrats.

Mm-hmm.

That's what you're talking about, right?

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

On top of the fact that I remember him testifying that he was not going to get rid of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, if you recall.

Right.

so he lied right up front and so he's just not to be trusted and so but i try to give people benefit the doubt early on until they prove me wrong that's that's something that i've generally done my throughout my career um even when people tell me otherwise i try to let okay let people's you know the work speak for themselves well the work has spoken We have gotten rid of, he has removed so much talent for no reason.

And having been a general, we know that in the system, if there's something going on, there's an investigation done, then you're apprised of the investigation and your rights to rebut, and then you're removed if there's just cause.

And yes, we know we serve at the pleasure of the president, but there's still due process for that because there's so much invested in these senior leaders.

How do we fix that?