Are We Headed Toward Civil War?

[00:00:00] All right, folks. Stop what you're doing [00:00:01] because what's happening in Minneapolis [00:00:03] right now [music] and the federal [00:00:04] government's potential response could [00:00:06] turn into one of the most [00:00:08] constitutionally significant domestic [00:00:10] confrontations in [music] decades. Right [00:00:12] now, protesters in Minnesota are trying [00:00:14] to prevent ICE agents from enforcing [00:00:15] federal immigration law. They're being [00:00:17] encouraged by top level Democratic [00:00:19] politicians to do so. Minnesota Governor [00:00:21] Tim Walls, Attorney General Keith [00:00:23] Ellison, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry [00:00:25] are now casting federal agents as the [00:00:27] enemy, law enforcement as a source of [00:00:29] chaos, and protesters who obstruct the [00:00:31] law as righteous dissident. The results [00:00:33] have been hideous, roving groups of [00:00:35] agitators attempting to obstruct federal [00:00:37] law enforcement, acts of violence [00:00:39] against ICE and Border [music] Patrol, [00:00:41] and the tragic deaths of two American [00:00:43] citizens in confrontations with federal [00:00:45] law enforcement, Renee Good and Alex [00:00:47] [music] Prey. All of which has now [00:00:48] escalated even further into more [00:00:51] confrontations with federal agents, a [00:00:53] coordinated network of activists [00:00:54] attempting to block IC's every movement [00:00:56] in Minneapolis, a partywide push to [00:00:58] abolish ICE altogether, and the usual [00:01:00] cast of radical left characters freaking [00:01:03] out that immigration and customs [00:01:04] enforcement is literally white [00:01:06] supremacy, or the peaceful churchgoers [00:01:08] are somehow in a front to your civil [00:01:10] rights. This is a left-wing chaos [00:01:13] operation and it could work because [00:01:15] they're hoping you won't know the [00:01:16] history that they can recast the [00:01:18] enforcement of the law as a unique evil [00:01:20] wrought by President Trump that you'll [00:01:22] believe them when they decry President [00:01:24] Trump as a dictator. And the fact that [00:01:26] we're seeing so much chaos out of [00:01:27] Minneapolis time and time again and not [00:01:30] out of other American cities or in red [00:01:31] states is [music] not an accident. Which [00:01:33] is why President Trump should use the [00:01:35] Insurrection Act in Minneapolis if [00:01:37] widespread resistance to federal law [00:01:39] enforcement continues. We're going to [00:01:40] take you through every scenario, the [00:01:42] history, the law, the potential [00:01:44] applications from the founding fathers [00:01:45] to a section bysection breakdown of [00:01:47] existing American law to the presidents [00:01:49] set by presidents Lincoln, Grant, JFK, [00:01:51] and more. [music] So, should more [00:01:53] stupidity abound from Minnesota's [00:01:55] political leadership, you'll be armed [00:01:57] with the facts. Welcome back. [00:02:03] [music] [00:02:04] The Insurrection Act is not new. It's [00:02:06] not even all that unusual. It's a [00:02:08] foundational safeguard passed by [00:02:09] Congress in the very early days of the [00:02:11] American Republic to preserve federal [00:02:13] authority. Let's wind back the clock. [00:02:16] The year is 1807. The president is [00:02:18] Thomas Jefferson. Now, the modern left [00:02:20] has kind of a complicated relationship [00:02:21] with Jefferson. They tear down his [00:02:23] statues because he was a slaveholder, [00:02:25] but they do love to quote him about a [00:02:27] little rebellion now and then being a [00:02:28] good thing. Thomas Jefferson in 1807, [00:02:31] however, was not interested in [00:02:32] rebellion. He was interested in the [00:02:34] survival of the republic at a time when [00:02:36] America was surrounded by enemies. [00:02:38] Europe was occupied by the Napoleonic [00:02:40] wars. The British were harassing [00:02:41] American ships on the high seas. The [00:02:43] Louisiana territory freshly purchased [00:02:45] just 5 years earlier was basically a [00:02:47] lawless frontier. In the grand scheme of [00:02:49] things, the command of Washington DC [00:02:50] [music] was weak. Enter Aaron Burr. Now [00:02:53] you know him as the guy who shot [00:02:54] Alexander Hamilton in a duel. But Burr's [00:02:57] real villain came years later when he [00:02:59] began plotting an armed rebellion [00:03:01] against [music] the United States. [00:03:02] Conspiring with General James Wilkinson, [00:03:04] the head of the US Army at the time, who [00:03:06] was later found to be on the payroll of [00:03:07] the Spaniards, Burr planned to raise a [00:03:09] militia to seize parts of the Western [00:03:11] Frontier and form a breakaway republic. [00:03:13] The episode coined the Burr conspiracy [00:03:16] is nothing short of cinematic. The [00:03:17] former vice president of the United [00:03:19] States allegedly planning to form his [00:03:20] own empire in the Mississippi Valley. [00:03:22] The threat was existential. So as [00:03:24] President Jefferson received reports, [00:03:26] [music] [00:03:26] intimations, he called them, that [00:03:28] unlawful designs were an agitation in [00:03:30] the western country, he realized the [00:03:32] existing laws would be insufficient to [00:03:34] stop the rebellion. Even as a staunch [00:03:36] believer in limiting government, [00:03:37] Jefferson knew that if Burr succeeded, [00:03:38] [music] the United States would [00:03:40] fracture. In order to circumvent the [00:03:42] sedicious militias in the Western [00:03:43] States, Jefferson called upon Congress [00:03:45] to pass the legislation he would need. [00:03:47] The US president needed the ability to [00:03:49] command the Standing Army of the United [00:03:51] States [music] against American citizens [00:03:52] on American soil. The Insurrection Act [00:03:55] passed in March 1807 with clear [00:03:57] language. quote that in all cases of [00:03:59] insurrection [music] or obstruction to [00:04:00] the laws either of the United States or [00:04:02] of any individual state or territory [00:04:04] where it is lawful for the president of [00:04:06] the United States to call forth the [00:04:08] militia for the purpose of suppressing [00:04:09] such insurrection or of causing the laws [00:04:12] to be duly executed. It shall [music] be [00:04:14] lawful for him to employ for the same [00:04:16] purposes such part of the land or naval [00:04:18] force of the United States as shall be [00:04:20] judged necessary. The insurrection act [00:04:22] was explicitly not designed with an [00:04:23] intent [music] to crush peaceful [00:04:25] protest. It wasn't designed to stop [00:04:26] people from writing mean op-eds about [00:04:28] the president. [music] It was created to [00:04:29] stop the upending of the American [00:04:31] government altogether. The federal [00:04:33] government, however, begrudgingly, must [00:04:35] be able to preserve its own authority at [00:04:36] the end of the day. Sound familiar? [00:04:39] Aaron Burr wanted to carve out a [00:04:40] territory where the laws of the United [00:04:42] States didn't apply. What is a sanctuary [00:04:44] state in practice? It's not just a place [00:04:47] that refuses to do the work of federal [00:04:48] law enforcement. In Minnesota, it has [00:04:51] become a place that actively encourages [00:04:52] the obstruction of federal law. When Tim [00:04:54] Wall says, quote, "Ice has no business [00:04:56] here," he is echoing those who thought [00:04:58] the Western territories should be free [00:05:00] of Jefferson's control. When a mob [00:05:01] surrounds a federal building and [00:05:03] prevents agents from leaving, they are [00:05:04] dangerously challenging the sovereignty [00:05:06] of the American government. In 1807, [00:05:08] Thomas Jefferson didn't hesitate. He [00:05:10] signed the law, deployed the military, [00:05:11] and Aaron Burr was arrested and tried [00:05:13] for treason. You might also note the [00:05:14] United States remains one continuous [00:05:16] country today. Now, the media will say [00:05:18] that was 200 years ago. It's archaic. [00:05:19] It's never been used. That is not true. [00:05:22] Since 1807, the Insurrection Act has [00:05:24] been used over 30 times by presidents [00:05:26] from both sides of the aisle, including [00:05:28] Andrew Jackson in 1831 to resolve a [00:05:30] border dispute, Lincoln in 1861 to fight [00:05:32] the Civil War, and Ulissiz Srant, who [00:05:34] used it no less than 10 times during [00:05:36] reconstruction [music] to fight the KKK. [00:05:38] Was Ulissiz Srant a fascist for using [00:05:40] the military to crush the KKK and [00:05:42] protect the rights of black Americans? [00:05:44] Was Abraham Lincoln a tyrant for using [00:05:45] the Insurrection Act to stop the [00:05:47] Confederacy? Of course not. They were [00:05:49] enforcing the law. They were ensuring [00:05:50] the US federal government maintained its [00:05:52] authority. Grover Cleveland used the [00:05:54] insurrection act in 1894 to break up the [00:05:56] Pullman strike and restore railroad [00:05:58] operation. FDR used it to quell the [00:06:00] Detroit race riot. Eisenhower used it to [00:06:02] enforce school integration in Little [00:06:04] Rock, Arkansas. JFK used it to protect [00:06:06] black students in Mississippi and [00:06:07] Alabama. LBJ used it to stop violence [00:06:10] three times in 1968 alone. The last time [00:06:13] the insurrection act was invoked was [00:06:14] 1992 when George HW Bush sent in the [00:06:17] Marines to quell the Rodney King riots [00:06:19] in LA. So when President Trump says he [00:06:21] reserves the right to do the same, he's [00:06:22] not pulling a rabbit out of a hat. He's [00:06:24] reaching for a tool that sits on the top [00:06:26] shelf of the presidential toolbox right [00:06:28] next to the veto and the pardon. It's a [00:06:30] heavy tool, but it is a lawful tool. [00:06:32] Getting a wide variety of whole food [00:06:33] ingredients into my diet, that's a big [00:06:34] priority for me this year, especially [00:06:36] with constant work travel. Our sponsor, [00:06:38] Balance of Nature's Whole Health System, [00:06:39] makes it simple. 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The next objection you'll [00:07:43] hear is that President Trump can't [00:07:44] invoke the Insurrection Act unless the [00:07:46] governor of a state asks for help. [00:07:48] That's wrong. [music] It's legally [00:07:49] illiterate. Repeated adnauseium by our [00:07:51] blue check commentariat. This argument [00:07:53] is a conflation of two different parts [00:07:55] of the insurrection act, sections 251 [00:07:57] and 252. Each section represents a [00:08:00] different path toward the invocation of [00:08:01] the insurrection act. Let's start with [00:08:04] [music] section 251. That's the one the [00:08:06] left likes to site. It's also known as [00:08:07] the cooperative model and it reads, [00:08:09] quote, "Whenever there's an insurrection [00:08:11] in any state [music] against its [00:08:12] government, the president may upon the [00:08:14] request of its legislature or of its [00:08:16] governor call into federal service such [00:08:18] of the militia." The key words here are [00:08:19] upon the request. In this scenario, the [00:08:22] state government [music] can ask for [00:08:23] help. The government responds. Like the [00:08:25] 1992 Rodney King riots, for example, LA [00:08:27] is burning. The LAPD is overwhelmed. [00:08:29] Governor Pete Wilson realizes he's lost [00:08:31] control. So he writes to President Bush [00:08:33] and asks [music] for help and Bush [00:08:35] responds and troops arrive and order is [00:08:36] restored. That's section 251. The state [00:08:39] in that scenario cries uncle and calls [00:08:41] in the feds. [music] That's not what [00:08:42] we're seeing in Minnesota right now. The [00:08:44] problem is Tim Walls thinks there is no [00:08:47] problem. He's acting in defiance of [00:08:48] federal authority. And that brings us to [00:08:50] section 252, also known as the hammer [00:08:53] clause. Tim Walls would do well to read [00:08:55] this one more carefully. Quote, [00:08:56] "Whenever the president considers that [00:08:58] unlawful obstructions, combinations, or [00:09:00] assemblages, or rebellion against the [00:09:02] authority of the United States make it [00:09:04] impracticable to enforce the laws of the [00:09:06] United States in any state by the [00:09:08] ordinary course of judicial proceedings, [00:09:10] [music] he may call into federal [00:09:11] service, such of the militia of any [00:09:12] state, and use such of the armed forces [00:09:14] as he considers necessary to enforce [00:09:16] those laws or to suppress the [00:09:18] rebellion." Let's break that down line [00:09:20] by line for the situation in Minnesota [00:09:21] right now. So section 252 begins quote [00:09:24] whenever the president considers that [00:09:26] would be the president's authority. [00:09:27] There's no clause indicating local or [00:09:29] state consent. It continues [music] [00:09:31] quote unlawful obstructions combinations [00:09:33] or assemblages. You mean say mob [00:09:35] surrounding federal buildings or [00:09:36] attacking federal agents with deadly or [00:09:38] improvised weapons or forming human [00:09:40] chains to block [music] arrests. That [00:09:41] would be textbook obstruction. The [00:09:43] clause specifically indicates these acts [00:09:45] must be quote against the authority of [00:09:47] the United States. Immigration agents [00:09:49] are federal officers. They carry the [00:09:50] badge of the United States. Interfering [00:09:52] with them is quite literally interfering [00:09:54] with federal authority. Section 252 also [00:09:57] specifies it must become impracticable [00:10:00] to enforce the laws by ordinary course [00:10:02] of judicial proceedings. That part is [00:10:03] key. What happens when Minnesota PD [00:10:06] stands back when riers aren't arrested [00:10:08] because Tim Walls says they're peaceful? [00:10:10] If federal agents can't leave the [00:10:11] building to make arrests or serve [00:10:13] warrants, the legal system has broken [00:10:14] down. Law and order have collapsed. Now, [00:10:17] if those conditions are met, [music] the [00:10:18] president doesn't just have the right to [00:10:20] act. He arguably has the duty to act. [00:10:22] The Constitution requires him to take [00:10:24] care that the laws be faithfully [00:10:26] executed. If he allows a mob to nullify [00:10:28] federal law in Minneapolis, he's failing [00:10:30] in his constitutional duty. Beware of [00:10:32] [music] those who say, "These are mere [00:10:33] technicalities. The Insurrection Act is [00:10:35] crystal clear. Section 251 says, "We [00:10:38] need backup." Section 252 says, "Get out [00:10:40] of the way." Now, an MS Now anchor or a [00:10:43] Tik Tok professor might throw up one [00:10:44] more legal hurdle here. It's ultimately [00:10:46] a red herring. It's called the Posi [00:10:47] Commatatus Act. The statute itself was [00:10:50] passed in 1878 in the aftermath of [00:10:52] reconstruction and it reads, "Whoever [00:10:54] except in cases and under circumstances [00:10:56] expressly authorized by the Constitution [00:10:58] or act of Congress willfully uses any [00:11:00] part of the army or air force as a posi [00:11:02] commitatus or otherwise to execute the [00:11:05] laws shall be fined." In other words, [00:11:06] the posi commatatus act strictly [00:11:08] prevents rogue actors from turning the [00:11:10] military into a personal police force [00:11:12] unless or until Congress authorizes [00:11:14] action. It was designed to curb the [00:11:16] long-term use of the US Army to enforce [00:11:18] civilian law in the South, but even [00:11:20] then, Congress left the door wide open [00:11:22] for future exceptions. This is not a [00:11:24] blanket ban on the use of the military [00:11:25] on American soil. It also doesn't [00:11:27] override the president's constitutional [00:11:29] duty. In fact, the Posi Commitatus Act [00:11:31] has a built-in eject button, a cause [00:11:33] specifically carving out circumstances [00:11:35] expressly authorized by an act of [00:11:37] Congress. [music] That would be like the [00:11:38] Insurrection Act. Posi Commamatus and [00:11:40] the Insurrection Act are not in [00:11:42] conflict. They are [music] statutes [00:11:43] designed to work in sequence. Here's how [00:11:45] it works in practice. A crisis erupts. [00:11:47] Riers obstruct the enforcement of [00:11:49] federal law. Next, [music] local [00:11:50] authorities stop doing their job or side [00:11:52] with the mob. After that, the president [00:11:54] invokes the Insurrection Act through [00:11:55] either the cooperation clause or the [00:11:57] hammer [music] clause. At this point, [00:11:59] Posi no longer applies. The Insurrection [00:12:02] Act has been wielded. The military then [00:12:04] steps in and takes action to bring back [00:12:05] law and order. When Tim Wall [music] [00:12:07] says ICE agents are unwelcome invaders [00:12:09] or that ICE is Trump's secret police [00:12:11] force, [music] he's not exercising any [00:12:13] sort of state right. He's not protecting [00:12:14] the people of Minnesota, he's lighting a [00:12:16] constitutional fuse that the [00:12:18] Insurrection Act was specifically [00:12:19] [music] [00:12:20] designed to extinguish. So, let's get [00:12:22] one thing straight. When President [00:12:23] Eisenhower sent troops into Little Rock [00:12:25] to enforce Brown versus Board, the left [00:12:27] called him a civil rights [music] hero. [00:12:28] When JFK sent troops to ensure black [00:12:30] students could enroll at Miss, the left [00:12:32] cheered him on. When LBJ sent troops to [00:12:34] suppress race riots three times in the [00:12:36] same year, the left said he was [00:12:37] protecting democracy. When President [00:12:39] Trump threatens to use the Insurrection [00:12:40] Act, the left calls him a fascist [00:12:42] dictator who is conspiring to destroy [00:12:44] our republic. Give me a break. Now, the [00:12:47] height of this irony is January 6th. If [00:12:49] there ever was [music] a moment when the [00:12:50] left was salivating for the insurrection [00:12:52] act to be invoked, it was January 6th. [00:12:53] Now, don't get me wrong, the breach of [00:12:55] the Capital Building that day was very [00:12:57] not good. But while Trump authorized the [00:12:59] use of the National Guard before the [00:13:00] rally on January 6th on the mall, DC [00:13:03] leadership declined the support. [00:13:05] Regardless, when the capital was [00:13:06] breached, Capital Police regained [00:13:08] control within [music] just a few hours. [00:13:09] Trump didn't need the insurrection act [00:13:10] on that day. Law and Order was already [00:13:12] established by 8 p.m. that night. [00:13:14] Instead of acknowledging that fact, [00:13:15] Democrats then moved to redefine the [00:13:17] Insurrection Act after J6 to make it [00:13:19] even harder for the president to deploy [00:13:21] the military domestically. The left [00:13:23] wanted to retroactively claim that Trump [00:13:25] was [music] trying to commit sedition [00:13:26] himself and was going to launch some [00:13:28] sort of coup. Courts and Congress have [00:13:30] since litigated this out, and Trump's [00:13:31] indictments have all either been [00:13:32] delayed, dismissed, or acquitted. The [00:13:34] law doesn't work to benefit of either [00:13:36] political party. Neither the left nor [00:13:38] the right gets to demand a [music] law's [00:13:39] use in one case and then shriek fascism [00:13:41] when it's used in another similar case. [00:13:44] You either believe in our constitutional [00:13:46] republic with enforceable laws or you [00:13:47] [music] believe in mob rule masquerading [00:13:49] as resistance. If your worldview flips [00:13:52] depending on who's president, you're not [00:13:53] defending democracy. You're just playing [00:13:55] for your partisan team. So what happens [00:13:57] next? There's no question federal agents [00:13:59] are dealing with an incredible amount of [00:14:01] obstruction in Minneapolis. ICE vehicles [00:14:03] are routinely [music] surrounded and [00:14:04] vandalized and now two people have been [00:14:06] killed. The people who are supposed to [00:14:07] maintain order, Governor Tim Walls, [00:14:09] Attorney General Ellison, Mayor Fry have [00:14:11] been nothing short of defiant. If [00:14:13] Minnesota continues to up the ante, the [00:14:15] question becomes [music] when, not if, [00:14:17] the federal government will have to step [00:14:18] in. Meanwhile, both President Trump and [00:14:20] Vice President Vance have simply [00:14:22] encouraged motans to do the right thing. [00:14:24] But history is watching. From Thomas [00:14:26] Jefferson to George HW Bush, presidents [00:14:28] have wielded the Insurrection Act [00:14:29] without hesitation in order to preserve [00:14:32] American liberty under the American [00:14:33] system. The Constitution and federal [00:14:35] statutes are not merely a set of [00:14:37] suggestions. They are the supreme [00:14:38] [music] law of the land. And when [00:14:39] governors abdicate their own mandate to [00:14:41] maintain order, the Insurrection Act [00:14:43] becomes the last firewall between order [00:14:45] and chaos. In many ways, [music] the [00:14:46] moment is not about ICE or even about [00:14:47] President Trump. It's about whether or [00:14:49] not Americans still believe in the rule [00:14:51] of law at all. If one political party or [00:14:53] one state can effectively nullify entire [00:14:55] swaths [music] of the federal [00:14:56] government, we don't really have a [00:14:58] country at all. Entire portions of the [00:14:59] United States of America could [00:15:01] theoretically be conquered by partisan [00:15:02] mobs. A country that cannot enforce its [00:15:04] own laws is not a country. It's just [00:15:06] [music] a geographic area waiting to be [00:15:08] conquered. At the same time, nobody [00:15:10] wants to see anyone else get hurt. The [00:15:11] cycle of harassing federal agents, [00:15:13] tragedy, rioting, it's got to stop. I [00:15:15] know no American wants to see our [00:15:16] country fracture. America won't enter a [00:15:18] civil war over the enforcement of basic [00:15:20] immigration law. But if we do get to [00:15:22] that point, the president has a clear [00:15:24] legal and historical mandate to say no [00:15:27] more. Those are the facts. [00:15:32] [music]