Paul Rieckhoff (00:00) Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to a very big episode 433. I'm your host, Paul Rieckhoff, and I'm coming to you from New York City, USA. It is Wednesday, February 4th. It is hump day. It is still Super Bowl week. Last night was the Pro Bowl, and the weather here in New York is a little bit steamier, a balmy 35 degrees or so. And I told you every day I'm going to pick a different musical artist to introduce my kids to. Today's artist is John Denver. Because we all need a little more sunshine on our shoulder right now. And our guest coming up is going to bring sunshine and then some. But first, I'm going to bring you the five I's I bring in every single show to you new folks. It's independents, integrity, information, inspiration, and impact. And if you want to talk about impact, our guest today is going to bring it. The OG. of independent veterans. The former independent governor of Minnesota, Jesse the body Ventura is exclusively in a national conversation with me and extended conversation and he is not holding back. This is Jesse in vintage form. He's going to issue a call to action. He is not pulling any punches on Trump and he reacts to the news that's happening right now in Minneapolis and also tells you some really good stories. But first there's a ton happening today. And when it comes to ICE, they continue to run rampant across America. Don't believe the government, believe your eyes. And there was powerful testimony yesterday from people brutalized by ICE. Citizens, disabled people, ordinary people, brave people who sat before Congress and told their stories, including Miramar Martinez, who talked about being shot by Border Patrol. Check this out. All right, so they fired five shots into her and she had seven holes. And there was this disturbing clip from Congressman Robert Garcia reading a text message of an agent bragging about shooting Marimar. Check this out. They're fucking animals. This is absolutely unacceptable. And yesterday we heard testimony after testimony, unacceptable, unlawful, unconstitutional, un-American, and so far unaccountable behavior. This is animal behavior. It's terrible and unacceptable and all of us need to say hell no. And there was a lot of it. Let me continue to make your blood boil. This will get you ready for when Jesse comes in. But I want you to hear testimony from another person. A disabled person who was on her way to a traumatic brain injury center. This powerful testimony from Alyah Rahman, who ⁓ maybe gave some of the most riveting testimony of the day. Check this out. So she had a brain injury. She was disabled. She was on her way to get treatment and she was telling them that. And they still treated her like this. And it was It was not the end, there was much more, including the brothers, the brave brothers of Renee Good. Brent Ganger shared some thoughts and shared part of his eulogy and bravely spoke out in honor of the legacy of his sister Renee Good. Check this out. Now here's what you need to know. Most of all, as we continue to focus on this because it is the top topic, it is rampaging across our democracy, if they can do it to these people, if they can do it to Alex Pretti, if they can do it to Liam, little five-year-old Liam, they can do it to you. And the bad news around ICE just continues to flood out. Now we have news that they have halted all movement at a Texas detention facility, a DHS facility, because they have a measles infection. What do you know? Don't inoculate people for measles and now we have measles infections. I don't think they assumed that it would start at a DHS facility, but here we are. A disease that we had eradicated has now appeared at one of their for-profit jails that look like a concentration camp. And I want to underscore that we are watching, more and more people are watching, and the world is watching. And the world is outraged. Check this out. Hundreds of protesters were opposing and speaking out against ICE in Milan, Italy. Because if they couldn't possibly think about how to make things worse, if sending in Tom Homan wasn't bad enough, if sending in JD Vance isn't bad enough, they want to send ICE agents, and they have sent ICE agents, to the Olympics in Italy. Because they want to totally disgrace even more Americans by sending these thugs into another country. Well, the Italians are saying hell no. They're blowing whistles. They stood in the grand arch in the piazza and they expressed their horror in the fact that ICE is coming to their city and they are speaking out and saying, hell no. Don't believe the government. Believe your eyes and believe the resistance that's happening now worldwide. We must defund and disband ICE because if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. And every day, more and more by the day, ICE is ripping our country and the world now apart. Put him on trial and shut him down. More coming up with Jesse Ventura. You do not want to miss Jesse Ventura on the latest information about ICE, including breaking news that says that they are removing as many as 700 ICE agents from Minneapolis. Don't go spiking the ball just yet. This may be good news or it may be more toggling. Stay tuned for that and stay vigilant. All right, Trump continues to be all gas and no breaks and nothing is slowing him down. He continues to wage a relatively effective war against the free press as well. And there's important media news that you need to know about. There's news that will have Trump celebrating and it involves one of his top targets. The Washington Post announced today sweeping layoffs. Layoffs across multiple divisions, ⁓ potentially hundreds of folks are being laid off. This could impact people who cover foreign affairs and national security. The sports department is getting annihilated. But this is a big, big piece of news. And I think it's good news for Trump. Another key leader of the fourth estate has been weakened. And it's bad news for America. And I want to note that our enemies especially are celebrating any decreased coverage especially around national security and foreign affairs. And we need that kind of coverage now more than ever. We need it holding Trump accountable. And we need it informing people about what's happening from Venezuela to Israel to across the Middle East to everywhere else to including National Guard deployments in the US which continue to take place. And this morning below the radar, the suspected gunman accused of ambushing two National Guard troops is set to be arraigned. And also an update on one of those National Guard troops that survived. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf is about to undergo skull surgery. So don't forget that those two ⁓ Folks were shot brutally by ⁓ Ramanullah Lakhawal, a 29-year-old Afghan who's facing nine charges. This is happening below the radar, but underscores that our national guardsmen continue to be deployed in D.C. and around the country, often not by their governors, but activated federally by the president as he continues to march toward what could be an invocation of the Insurrection Act, as we've covered. many times before. All right, there's some Iran news, also national security stuff that we need the Washington Post and we need the Stars and Stripes to cover. Stars and Stripes had the headline that a US Navy fighter shot down an Iranian drone that was unnecessarily maneuvering toward the USS Abraham Lincoln. Because in the midst of everything else, you may not remember that the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln is in the Middle East. Hours later, the guided missile destroyer McFaul escorted a US merchant vessel harassed by Iranian forces, but the US is shooting down Iranian drones. Tensions continue to be high, and we're going to need the Washington Post and Stars and Stripes and others to cover it. And we're also going to need them to cover Ukraine, where today is day 1442 of Russia's full-scale invasion, and it just never ends. Every night they continue to be hit, they continue to be frozen by Putin's brutality, and we have to continue to stay focused on Ukraine, and we need reporters who do that. There was one Washington Post reporter who put out that she was actually fired from Ukraine. She was in Ukraine covering this when she was fired. We're gonna need her and other voices more than ever. We're also gonna need them in politics because the House yesterday passed a bill to end the shutdown, which is some good news. The fight over ICE continues, but we may have another shutdown in 10 days. In Texas, Democrats are fighting amongst themselves. We talked about that yesterday. ⁓ And there will be more in the days to come. But if you didn't see my episode yesterday with Keeva and Shroff, go back and check it out. We talk about how the Democrats are not gonna save you and are eating their own in Texas and beyond. All right, also, let's talk about independent candidates. We talked yesterday about how the Democrats are continuing to drive away more and more Americans. Of course, we've talked about the Republicans. But then there are the independents. And we are the people's champion. We are not moving the needle. We are the needle and there's no better example than Jesse Ventura coming up. And yesterday, I had a great Zoom conversation with John Uftyke of Open Primaries. Many of you joined us and Todd Achilles, who's running for Senate in Idaho and Ty Pickens, who's running in Mississippi. More and more independent veterans are stepping up. And after my conversation today with Jesse, there's gonna be even more. Remember, he won over two decades ago. He won in 1996, right? That was a time. when folks said independents couldn't win either, and he won. And many more can win, and we have the man coming up to talk to you about how he did it and what he wants to do next. He is not checking out of politics, and he has a lot of breaking news on this show that you're gonna wanna hear about. All right, and culture. Let's talk about something nice. ⁓ Penny the Doberman Pinscher won the Westminster Dog Show. Yes, the four-year-old beauty was crowned best in show last night in New York. She had a perfect stance and an arched neck. There were over 2,500 dogs and 212 breeds. And I think a Doberman is the appropriate type of dog to think about because Jesse Ventura's about to go Doberman on Trump and ICE and much more. All right, finally, sports. If you haven't heard, James Harden has a new team again. Yes, James Harden is going to another team. The Clippers have traded him to the Cavs for Darius Garland. Darius Garland is a great young player. He's about 26 years old. And Harden's going. to a fifth team after being in Oklahoma City, Houston, Brooklyn, Philly, and he was in LA, and now he's going to another team. That's what the NBA is like nowadays, folks. He wants a title, he's going to the Cavs, that's bad news for my Knicks, but I still feel confident about our chances. The NFL Pro Bowl was last night, and I picked it right. The NFC won, it was a flag football game, and it was kind of fun. ⁓ Antoine Winfield and George Pickens led the NFC. ⁓ And a great offensive lineman named Garrett Bowles playing his first Pro Bowl caught a pass from Shador Sanders and the big guys got a touchdown. We're gonna talk with Jesse about football. He's gonna tell you which Hall of Fame athlete he played against in high school. All right, and finally LeBron James is expecting to stay with the Lakers at least through the end of the season. We'll see where he goes after that. I don't think he's gonna be done. And one thing is for sure, the man you're about to hear from is far... from done. It is hump day and if there was ever a person we needed to get us over the hump, it's the great and powerful Jesse Ventura. If you don't know him, if you're young, if maybe you're older and you haven't heard from him in a while, get ready because he is the original independent veteran. He is one of the most important independent Americans and he is bringing the thunder to help us get through this Wednesday. So let's fucking go people. It's time for us all to stay vigilant. Paul Rieckhoff (16:08) Alright folks, helping us stay vigilant in this time where vigilance is so badly needed. A man who I've wanted on this show since I first created it. He's the OG of Independent Veterans of America, the original Navy SEAL veteran, powerful, candid, patriotic voice. He was a former governor of Minnesota serving a term from 99 to 2003. The original Independent American, the great and powerful Governor Jesse the body Ventura is finally on independent Americans welcome sir. Jesse Ventura (16:42) Paul, great to be here. It's my pleasure. Yeah, I was the 38th governor of Minnesota, but a lot of people don't realize that prior to that, in 1990, I became the mayor of the sixth largest city in Minnesota, which was Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. So my foray into government, it wasn't that I wasn't prepared. I had already been a mayor. in the sixth largest city for four years. In fact, I had as much experience as my opponent, Norm Coleman, did, except he happened to be mayor of St. Paul, a little bit bigger, but not, you know, still the same problems as a first ring suburb. So I did, I was a mayor first, and then I won a course and became governor. And the most unique thing I'll say about that, Paul, is this, the money. When I ran in Minnesota, and now this is back in 98, you know how much money I raised to become the governor? 300,000. You know how much the Democrats and Republicans combined spent to beat me? 12 million. And I won. So you can see I was a very irritating person to them. You know, they spent all this money to win the governorship and then they lose it to a guy who spent nothing. Paul Rieckhoff (18:10) Well, it also shows that independents can win. And I want to talk more about that coming up because there's this slander against independents that we're all going to be spoilers and they forget recent history. They forget your history and even history before that. But I want to get into that. I want to get into ICE. I want to get into Trump. But also, I just want to set the table for folks. You and I met over 20 years ago, man. I want folks to know that Jesse Ventura (18:35) You know, it's hard to believe it's that long. ⁓ Paul Rieckhoff (18:38) Yeah, I mean, don't know if you remember when we met at a truck stop, you know, in Minnesota that was set up through our mutual friend Bill Hillsman, because we were starting this vets group in 2004. And we wanted somebody who was a veteran, who had some power and a voice, but also who was independent. And you know, that led us to you. And when we first met, man, I remember you came in the back door, I think you had a gun in your waistband and your motorcycle. And I said to you, hey man, you know, this is what we want to do. And you said, if it's going to help veterans, I'm in right there on the spot. You put your hand on the table and you said, I'm in. And a lot of folks didn't want to support veterans back then. was 2004. People thought the war was going well. They thought Bush might just be riding high, but you were the first guy of any notoriety to step up and support us. And I want folks to know that. And I want you to know how much I always appreciate that. Jesse Ventura (19:30) Well, it's because of my experience. You know, we go back a few generations and I'm a Vietnam veteran. And the thing I like to tell people is we weren't welcomed home. You know, there weren't any parades for us. There weren't people out there patting us on the back saying, thank you for your service. In fact, we got the opposite. We were turned into the villains. We were the ones that went over and fought this war in Vietnam. And today, when I look at it in hindsight, we were the villains. You know, my view is today we were on the wrong side, personally. But, and I'm not alone in that viewpoint, but it is what it is. It still didn't make us villains. We were the military. You're asked to do what you're supposed to do by your people in charge. and you do not have, unless it's a morally illegal order, you do not have the right to not obey them. And you know, and that's what led me to my outburst, we'll tie that in, a couple weeks ago when the Gestapo hit my high school. You know, with this ICE operation. It hit Minneapolis Roosevelt High School, that's where I graduated, 1969, and I was angry. And so I called out the draft dodging coward and we know who he is. Paul Rieckhoff (21:00) I wanna go deeper on that for sure and let you run with the ball. Let me ask you a question I ask all our guests, because I think a lot of folks are really excited to hear from you, especially after that speech you gave outside of your high school. I think this is a moment where people need to hear from Jesse Ventura. A new generation needs to hear your voice probably for the first time, but a very basic question, where are you and how are you? You haven't been out in front in a while and I know you've been. Jesse Ventura (21:05) Sure. Yep. Paul Rieckhoff (21:27) you know, keeping yourself out of the news. But how are you now in this last couple of weeks where it's all kind of bust open again and you're really fighting for the community you grew up Jesse Ventura (21:33) Yeah. Well, I'm angry because after the last election, I stopped watching the news. I didn't watch the news from November until they attacked my high school. And now I've had to start watching it again because they're right in my backyard. Now, why did I stop watching the news? I'll tell you why, the last election. Whether you liked Ms. Harris or not. This last election was a choice, a very simple one, in my opinion. You had the choice between the Constitution and the criminal. And this country chose the criminal. And now they're all appalled at what's happening? What would you expect a criminal to do when he gets in there? He's going to hire other criminals to work with him. They all will be an ilk together. A big group. You put a criminal at the top of America. A convicted felon. And you know who's to blame for all this? Mitch McConnell. Why? Because I don't know about you, Paul, but I'm still not over January 6th. That was treason. All of the people should have been arrested and put in prison all the way to Trump because he and Giuliani and all them orchestrated the whole thing. And he tried to violate the constitution, win the election the way he did with violence and everything else. And now, and I've heard this. You know, all the people he pardoned for January 6th, I hear they're the most ones that are part of the ICE. That they're the ICE people now. They did do the Capitol and now they've turned them loose on all our cities. Because isn't the behavior pretty much the same? What you saw happened January 6th at the Capitol and to what you're seeing on the streets of Minneapolis. And by the way, let me throw in there. I did shed some tears the other day, tears of joy. I got to see Springsteen perform the Streets of Minneapolis, the very first performance in the history. He released it Wednesday and on Friday, he sang it in front of us at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Prince's Palace. The boss came there. along with Morella, one of the greatest guitar players on the planet. And you know what else I found out? They marched with the marchers when it was over. Paul Rieckhoff (24:30) Yeah, you were you were going to join me on Friday, but you had a good reason to miss it because you were with Springsteen, you were Morello, and it was also a fundraiser for the family of Renee Good ⁓ and for Alex Pretty. And I'm glad you talk about January 6th, because it's part of what they're trying to whitewash. And now it's kind of come full circle where the insurrectionists and the folks who violated the Constitution and broke the laws are now trying to flip the table and call people like Renee Good. and insurrectionist to call Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist. You are a master of language and you've been, nobody cuts the promo like Jesse does, right? And you've been able to communicate so effectively to the world. And this is a moment where the world is looking for alternative voices to Donald Trump. Can you talk about how they are flipping the table here? I don't know what the wrestling move would be, but this is a total turnaround. where now the criminals are trying to criminalize journalism and criminalize protest and criminalize recording people. Can you talk about and take on that broadcast that's now coming from the White House where the insurrectionists are calling patriots insurrectionists? Jesse Ventura (25:42) Yeah, you know, give me a, you know, this guy, this czar, as they call him, they give him this title of czar. Well, first of all, I said to myself and the public, said, what in the hell is a czar in America? That's some sort of Russian term, isn't it? Yeah, but he's our czar. What makes him a border czar? What, he has some knowledge no one else has? makes him above all of us, he's gonna come in and fix it all with a magic wand. And the thing that works me up and gets me going is that they sit, he basically blamed us for the deaths today. And he said, if we would follow them, well, excuse me, if I'd have been in that room, I would have said to him, you're telling us that we're not following immigration laws. when you're not following the Constitution. So you're telling me in your opinion immigration laws are higher than the Constitution? We're supposed to follow immigration laws and violate the Constitution to follow those laws. And that's what they're in essence telling us, that we in Minneapolis are out of line while they sit and violate the First Amendment, they violate the Second Amendment. They violate the Fourth Amendment and they violate the Tenth Amendment. And yet we're supposed to be hanging our heads that we're some sort of lawbreakers? Since when does immigration law trough the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? And I'd like to, you know, I wanted to say to Holman today, will you leave if I offer you a $50,000 bribe? Paul Rieckhoff (27:35) Hmm. Let me ask you. Go ahead, go ahead. Yeah, I do. I do. mean. Jesse Ventura (27:37) You know that story, don't you, Paul? Well, apparently this guy got caught in a sting operation, accepting a $50,000 bribe, and then was pardoned. That's the story I've heard. Now, am I wrong? Paul Rieckhoff (27:52) Yeah, I mean the corruption with these guys is so widespread it's almost hard to keep track. Jesse Ventura (27:58) And why would you expect anything different? You put a criminal in the White House, he's going to surround himself with more criminals. So in a way, I'm telling America, you know what? You're getting what you deserve. You chose this guy over the Constitution, and you know who else is to blame a little bit? This is going to be controversial. Women. Paul Rieckhoff (28:27) Explain why, Jesse. Why do you think that? Go ahead. Jesse Ventura (28:27) And I say, why? Because the last election, like it or not, they had the opportunity to elect the first woman president and they dropped the ball. The nominee was a woman and they didn't elect her. They listened to their husbands. They listened to the men. We've screwed it up for hundreds of years. Wouldn't it be about time for a woman? That's how I viewed it. And yet the women of America had the opportunity to elect the first woman president and they failed. Paul Rieckhoff (29:13) Yeah, I think a lot of people failed to understand the truth here on this one, Jesse. Jesse Ventura (29:21) And I know you shouldn't vote for that reason, Paul. You shouldn't just say, well, I'm voting for the woman because I want a woman. the better her than him. Paul Rieckhoff (29:32) Yeah, I think that's the truth and that for sure. Let me ask you this, Jesse. I'm looking, you know, I think you're your place in Minnesota. I see an old action figure over your shoulder. I think of yourself. I think I see a Californication poster behind you, which I give you credit on that because it was a great frickin' show. But let me ask you, because you've been around for a long time. You've been in these different worlds. Have you ever met Trump? Have you ever met him in person? Did you guys ever tangle in any way over the years, decades before he's Jesse Ventura (30:01) Are you kidding me? Donald Trump flew to Minnesota in his plane when I won in 98. And we were interested in him because at that time we were the, we were the independence party who aligned with the reform party. We were looking for candidates. You know, we were, and here's Trump, multimillionaire, possible presidential. He had the opportunity to establish a third party. Right there. And that's why, no, he flew all the way to Minnesota to meet with me. There's pictures of me and him shaking hands, being friendly. I get them in the mail. You know what I do with them? Throw them, I don't sign them, I put them right in the shredder today. So everybody out there, don't send me a picture of me and Trump to autograph, because it's going to go in the shredder. Guaranteed, that's where it's going. But no. And then what he did, he copied my election, took my playbook, totally, except the difference was I took on the Democrats and Republicans at the same time. What he did, and he was successful, so I can't argue with him, it worked. He first conquered the Republicans, and the moment he conquered the Republicans, then he went after the Democrats and thus became the president. So he did them not all at once like I did it in one election. He did it to cover a couple of years to build up. He set the table for himself by stealing the Republican party. I mean, can you imagine this is the party of Abraham Lincoln. Does anyone here really believe that if honest Abe could be alive today, that he would be part of the Republican Party today? Does anyone believe that at all? If you do, you're in fantasy land. Paul Rieckhoff (32:12) Jesse, let me ask you to go, wait, what did you, you've stood across from some formidable foes, some of the most intimidating humans on the planet, know, in the ring. Well, yes, and when you met him, you know, if you could go back in your mind's eye, what did you think of him when you stood across from him? Yeah. Jesse Ventura (32:21) and I intimidate them. Trump? Well, he's friendly. you know, he's a fun guy to be with. The best story is this. I had dinner with him in New York City and I don't remember who his current squeeze was. You know, this is a couple of decades ago. I don't know. It wasn't Melania. So it was a squeeze before that. I can't tell you which one. I first met him at the, at a boxing thing. And then, but the fun one was out in New York. I had dinner with him. It was Trump, whoever his squeeze was, right, at the time, me, and who do you think the fourth was at the table? Paul Rieckhoff (33:16) I have no idea. Jesse Ventura (33:17) A classic. Woody Harrelson. Woody talked about it and he said he kept excusing himself from the table to go around the corner and smoke a joint. He couldn't take it otherwise. And I remember Woody did get up about three or four times and disappeared through the course of the evening. And he admitted later that he went around back and smoked a joint. came back. I just wish he'd offered it to me. I could have got through it easier. But no, no, no, no, no. Donald, Donald, me and his squeeze were left at the table. Would he just disappear? And I didn't know why at the time, but Woody talked about it years later and he said he was speaking, he couldn't take it, he said. He had to get stoned. Paul Rieckhoff (33:52) Did Trump smoke the joint? Trump smoke? No. Did you think he could you ever imagine that he would become president of the United States? Yeah. Jesse Ventura (34:19) Yeah. Yeah. Because here, ⁓ this country is always susceptible to a good con job. yeah. We go hook, line and sinker for somebody like him who's a complete con man. mean, look at every business he's ran. Do you want to know what I'm ticked off about, Paul? Paul Rieckhoff (34:44) Yes, definitely. Jesse Ventura (34:46) He's in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Paul Rieckhoff (34:48) AHHHH Jesse Ventura (34:52) Now you're smiling, but I'm angry over that. Very angry. And here's why. I have friends that are not in the Hall of Fame. One in particular, Olympian Ken Pitera, at one time considered possibly the strongest man in the world, competed in the Olympics, had a tremendous pro wrestling career afterward. Well, guess what? Paul Rieckhoff (34:55) Yeah, I'm angry for you. Jesse Ventura (35:22) He's not in the Hall of Fame and Trump is. And do you know how you get in the Hall of Fame? You do like what I had to do. Do you know what I did one time? True story. I wrestled 63 consecutive nights in a row without a day off. And there's people that would destroy that. There's guys that did more than that. But that's how you get in the Hall of Fame. Think about that. I wrestled 63 consecutive nights in a row. that included, this is in the territory days, that was driving to and from the town. My first new car, a Mercury Cougar 75, in two years, including carpooling, I had 128,000 miles on it. But it worked good. know why, Paul? Back then, they only had five digit odometers. And when I traded it in after two years, I didn't lie. The guy said, is the mileage accurate? I said, yeah. I just didn't tell him it had flipped over. And he wouldn't have believed it. Cause when I traded it in, it was a two year old car with 20 showing 28. I just didn't say there was a one in front of it. ⁓ 120. Paul Rieckhoff (36:24) Why just? Hahaha! Man, Jesse Ventura (36:52) But who would believe that? Paul, who would believe Paul Rieckhoff (36:52) we, we, we, we, I, I can't believe it. Jesse Ventura (36:55) you could put 128,000 miles in two years, including carpooling? That means I didn't drive all the time. Paul Rieckhoff (37:03) believe it. I believe it. this is, know, America's missed hearing more of this from you, Jesse. I mean, this is a really important time for you to be back on the mic again and telling stories and sharing wisdom and calling people out. ⁓ You know, of course, Trump got into the Hall of Fame in a shady way like he does everything else. But let me let me ask you to go to what is hard to pick one top topic today. Please. Jesse Ventura (37:24) Yeah. Well, you know why he got in? Because he provided us two buildings, I think WrestleMania 5 and 6 or something, where he probably made millions, you know, off renting us his buildings to hold WrestleMania. And for that, Vince McMahon puts him in the Hall of Fame. It's a disgrace. I've almost resigned, gone publicly and say I'm resigning from the Hall of Fame because of Trump is in it. And he doesn't quali- like everything he does, he's not qualified. Just like when he wants the Nobel Peace Prize. Paul, you know what I wanted to do? And I could let you know right now. I wanted to call a meeting with Trump and I was going to give him my honorable discharge. That way he'll have one. Only thing is his name won't be on it, but he can still hold it up. He can have a discharge from the United States Navy. I offered, I was going to do that, Mr. Trump, I'll offer you a discharge from the United States Navy so you can pretend you serve. Paul Rieckhoff (38:34) I think he said at one point he wanted to he wished he had a purple heart Maybe not fully understanding what's required in order in order to get that, you know It's hard to pick one top topic on a day like today You've hit so many things, but let me ask you to respond to one thing in particular There's news today that that ICE is saying and the czar is saying that they're 700 agents out of Minnesota. I have ⁓ urged people to beware before they celebrate or spike the ball because he seems to be toggling. He moves them away from Minnesota, moves them into Phoenix, moves them into Utah, moves them into Texas. But what's your reaction to the announcement that 700 ICE agents may be leaving Minnesota? Jesse Ventura (39:27) We in Minnesota do not believe a word out of that guy's mouth or Trump's. We don't believe it. He blamed all the violence on the protesters. He said it's our fault and that we should be cooperating with them completely. So we as citizens are supposed to violate our own constitution. to support their Gestapo tactics. And by the way, I'm gonna use the term Gestapo. You know why I think I've earned it, Paul? I didn't fight the Germans, but I am half German, but ⁓ my parents did. My mother and father are buried at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis right now. And how many people can say their mom is a World War II veteran. I can. And to this level, my mom served in North Africa against Rommel, the Desert Fox. She was with a mass unit. She was injured and sent back to the States. They wouldn't allow her to return to her unit. She tried to go back, but they wouldn't. They said, no, you got to stay here now. But my mom, that's why in their late years, every night my mom would watch the news and on 1030 at night in Minneapolis, what would come on reruns of MASH. My mom never missed those because I think they were very close. MASH was the Korean conflict, but that's only five years from World War II. so my mother, this is why I think I can say Gestapo, because my mom was full German. Paul Rieckhoff (41:06) Hmm. Jesse Ventura (41:25) She fought against her own country where she came from. With the United States of America, she was a lieutenant in North Africa, a nurse. Now I'll end with her and let's go to my dad. My dad had six bronze battle stars in World War II. He was with the 899th Tank Destroyer Division under General Patton. He fought North Africa, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge. Remagen Bridge, Anzio, and Berlin and lived. And lived. And I can assure you today, Paul, that if my parents were alive and they saw what ICE is doing in their hometown of Minneapolis today, I am sure that my parents would call that the Gestapo. That's why I, and you see I'm getting serious. That's why I have every right in my opinion. to call Trump's ICE the Gestapo. Let me ask this, do you know, has anyone in the Trump family ever served? Anyone. Paul Rieckhoff (42:28) Hi. Good. I'm glad you asked. I'm glad you asked. Not to my knowledge, and I would also underscore that Barron is of age right now. His son could serve. If he wants to bring troops into Venezuela or Cuba or any other number of places, his son is of age. And there is a rise of, I think, a new generation of chicken hawks that haven't had families of service and honor like your family. the chicken hawks are back, Jesse Ventura (42:57) You know, yeah, you know what I've always said? You know how you got to vote to go to war supposedly? I've always said we should pass a law that when Congress votes to go to war, someone in their immediate family has to begin immediate military service. If they vote yes to go to war, then someone in their family, because I'm sick and tired of the Vietnam stuff. Where not one elected official had a kid over there or you got Donald Trump and his old man Fred. You know, the other day they came out with his medical report. You hear that where they said he's healthier than Obama. Really? I would have said, well, what happened to the bone spurs? I mean, you had bone spurs that kept you from military service. They don't just disappear magically. You have to have them removed. I'd like to know when did you have them removed? Because you've never missed a golf game. And yet you couldn't go to boot camp. Paul Rieckhoff (44:00) Hmm. Jesse, can I ask you, this is a really important issue that we've talked about on this show, the power of veterans in particular to push back on things that are authoritarian, that are manipulations of our military, to be able to call their tactics authoritarian, to be able to push back on ICE, which is acting like a Gestapo. But let me ask you about what I think continues to loom overhead, which is Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act. He's threatened to send the 11th Airborne Corps from Alaska into Minneapolis. He may not do it now, but he's always threatened to use it. It was recently endorsed as a possibility by the Freedom Caucus. ⁓ Do you think he's going to invoke the Insurrection Act? And can you explain to people why you think that would be especially dangerous? Jesse Ventura (44:49) Well, first of all, let's take that part. It's especially dangerous because the Constitution of the United States says the US military is not to be used against its own people. Plain, simple, cut and dried. Now, he's going to send them into Minnesota. None of this occurred until they came. There was nobody on the streets causing trouble here. There was nobody running around putting families in terror, putting neighborhoods in terror, putting local businesses out of business and all that. None of that occurred until ICE arrived here with 3,500. Call them what you will. Stormtroopers, the Gestapo, whatever term you want to use. And right now, and they tell us they're making us safer. Paul, here's a statistic for you in Minneapolis in January. In January of 2026, there were three murders in the city of Minneapolis. Two of them were done by ICE. So ICE is the leading murderer in the month of January, 2026 in the United States in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ICE. is the leading murderer. And the best part is, apparently there's going to be no trial. Apparently there's not even going to be really an investigation about it, because after all, we the people caused it to happen. If you listen to Holman, it's our fault that there was violence here because we didn't go along with their immigration laws. Minnesotans felt the Constitution was higher. than immigration laws. And we're paying the price for it now because apparently it's not. Apparently immigration laws are higher on the scale than the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Paul Rieckhoff (46:58) Jesse, let me ask you to go to a section I call below the Every crisis is an opportunity. And one of the opportunities now is voices of rising up in Minneapolis and across the country. You talked about the energy around Springsteen and Morello and so many other young people especially who are pushing back. You got involved in this whole conflict because they came at your high school and these young people pushed back. There's a rise of also independence. saw last month, there's new statistics, 45 % of the country is independent. Republicans are only 27%, Democrats are 20%. They say we're spoilers, but I've said that's slanderous. got Mayor Yemi Mobiladi in Colorado Springs, Mayor Tim Kelly in Chattanooga, and you, right? There's you. You are an example of how independence can win. How did you win? Yes. Jesse Ventura (47:49) Let's not forget Senator Angus King from Maine. Paul Rieckhoff (47:52) Yes, Senator Angus King has been a guest on this show. I hope he can come back soon too. But let me ask you this. How did you win? And what do you think about the potential in this movement for independence and especially independent vets to do what you did? Jesse Ventura (48:08) I think the, of course, the difficulties name recognition. I was fortunate. I didn't have to go by name recognition. I didn't have to tell pretty much all of Minnesota knew who Jesse DeBate was. So that was a huge advantage, having that name recognition. So here's the deal. What we need to be doing to get independent candidates is to get people with that name recognition. That way you don't have to go buy it. So if we can recruit the right, call them stars, call them whatever, well-known people, people that you don't have to sit and spend a million dollars to let the public know who they are. That's the first obstacle to get over. The second is that ⁓ you don't have to have a lot of money to win. But you do need to raise enough money to do this. You must when it comes time to a big election, like statewide, you're talking governor, senator, congressman, anything of that level. You've got to at least raise enough money to do some TV ads because the public don't look at you as being legit unless they see you doing ads on television when it gets to election time. Do you know? We only had 300,000 bucks and we spent it all on TV ads. And you know what ad we got? And I extra I says, here's the ad I want Sunday afternoon before the Tuesday vote. I said, I want our ad. The last one before the Viking kickoff. Of the Vikings, everyone in Minnesota will be watching that opening kickoff Sunday. If we run our ad and we got it, we were the last ad that went on TV before the Vikings kicked off on Sunday with their game, whoever they were playing, I don't even remember anymore. Paul Rieckhoff (50:20) Jesse was at the ad with Jesse the Mind where you were basically naked. Jesse Ventura (50:25) I know I think it was a special interest guy with the little kids. Don't quote me. Don't quote me. Bill Hillsman did those. I left those up to Bill and Bill did an outstanding job. I don't recall. It could have been the thinker or it could have been the special interest man. I don't remember. Paul Rieckhoff (50:28) ⁓ yeah, yeah, yeah, yep, yep. Yeah, and shout out to Bill Hillsman who made the initial introduction between us and did the first ad we ever did, the opening ad for Operation Truth with Robert Acosta that sent shockwaves all around. Let me ask you, Jesse, are there any names that you, what about Woody Harrelson? Do you think he would run? Are there any other folks out there that have expressed interest or that you would want to run? Jesse Ventura (51:06) I don't know Paul because like I said, I went into hibernation for a year. I thought I was done, excuse my French, but I thought I was done with this shit. I'm 74 now, you know? ⁓ But when the Gestapo hit my high school, that was too much for me to take. I said, my God, I can't let them do this. I can't let them get away with this. Paul Rieckhoff (51:10) Yeah. Jesse Ventura (51:34) And so I guess I'm back in it full time. I don't know yet. ⁓ I threatened to run for governor again. Paul Rieckhoff (51:43) I gotta ask you because I think now we will see that you're throwing out, know, the flare is up. People are gonna be, I hope they answer the call. I've been issuing a call to people to run. Jesse Ventura (51:52) Well, I don't have to do it till June. June's when you file. So I can disrupt all I want all the way till June. And then June's when you got to pay the money and put your name on the line. But ⁓ there's also some interesting options. And that is this. Klobuchar wants to run the senator. Well, hypothetically, Democrat. Hypothetically, if she came back here, run and won, well, then she gets to name her replacement in Washington to fill out the remainder two years of her Senate term. Paul, you've been in the military, so I will give this to you from a military aspect, which is what I did to her. I said, in war, you always make sure before you do anything that your backyard is secure. That is the most first and utmost thing you have to do. if you go to war is ensure the integrity of your backyard. I can honestly say I think Minnesota's backyard now is secure. We're united. He picked the wrong state to mess with and he's going to find that out. Now, using the analogy, Paul, once you've secured the backyard, now it's time to go into the enemy's territory. Now it's time to wreak havoc a little bit with him or whatever you heard, whatever you deemed to call them. ⁓ Time for something to happen in their backyard and put them on the defensive time to hit them. I know that well because that's what seals do. Our job is to go get them in their backyard, at least in the era of Vietnam. I won't speak today. I'm, you know, but in our era of jungle warfare, Seals jobs were to go way in and cause trouble, hit certain individuals, kidnap it, blah, blah, blah. You name it. Right. Well, Minnesota is now at the point where we need to go on the offense, I think. So I floated the idea that maybe we should publicize that in order I battle with Trump, that What if she named me the interim senator? Then for two years, Donald Trump would have to face me out in Washington. The coward would have to look at the frog man. What do you think, Paul? No, you're neutral. Paul Rieckhoff (54:51) Well, the flare, the flare is up and the mission has been, I'll tell you what, look, we need disruption and we've talked a lot about the need for an independent fulcrum in the Senate. We just need one, one independent veteran who can be a fulcrum on everything from the War Powers Act to Venezuela to potential insurrection, any number of these things. We need an independent vet. And if we get one independent vet in the Senate, That senator will be the most powerful senator in the Senate, right? mean, Dwarf. Jesse Ventura (55:25) It's, well, tell me it's not sitting here waiting for us. Tell me that's not a good plan. Paul Rieckhoff (55:29) I love it. Hey, I mean, I think there's going to be, I think it's a good plan. I think the draft Jesse campaign was limited to governor until now, but I would love to have Senator Klobuchar come on here to respond because what we need is, and you've been great about focusing on, we need disruption. The system is broken. The politics are broken. The Democratic party is not going to save you and the Republican party is driving us in a ditch. So we need disruptors. Jesse Ventura (55:51) And And we need people who won't back down from this bully. He's a bully, plain and simple. And you know what the end result is, Paul, of a bully? Deep down, bullies are all cowards. Paul Rieckhoff (56:12) Yeah. Jesse Ventura (56:12) When you strip away their bullying, in the end, they're a coward. That's why they're a bully, to cover up for the fact that they don't have courage. Paul Rieckhoff (56:25) All right, well, we're gonna have to, this is gonna go out into the ether and we're gonna see a lot of response. We're gonna have to reserve draft, and get this going. But I do think, look, it's important for people to understand that this moment requires radical disruption. And it requires leadership and values and strength and truth and all of the things that you're talking about. And I think the really exciting part, Jesse, is not just you, frankly, but a new generation that is gonna be inspired by your example, because they're coming. Jesse Ventura (56:39) Yep. And it's time for us to not be passive anymore. Enough of this passive resistance. This guy doesn't understand that. In fact, he views that as weakness. The only strength he knows is to kick his butt. Plain and simple. right now, you know, to me, he's a hollow house. You know, he's a coward. Well, you know, you know the story about his draft, don't you? I mean, allegedly, I've heard that that his family, the family of the doctor said they submitted false x-rays. Have you heard that one? Well, that's what I've heard that they were some guy that did have bone spurs. Those were submitted as being Trump's feet. And so he got 4F. He didn't have Paul Rieckhoff (57:38) I've heard it now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse Ventura (57:52) And you notice he never missed a golf game. You'd think if he had these horrible, painful spurs on his feet that would, and I can assure you of this, Paul, what branch were you in? Again, can't remember, Army. I can assure you this, Navy bootcamp ain't shit. No, and I'm not doing it to knock, when I went to Navy bootcamp, I got out of shape. Paul Rieckhoff (57:55) Yeah. Army, Army, yep. Jesse Ventura (58:21) I was in better shape before I got there. You know what I used to do at night? Push-ups. I'd go off in the corner. I was working out because I was volunteering for buds. know, basic underwater demolition seal and Navy boot camp. All you do is march. There is nothing physically demanding at all with Navy. And there shouldn't be because other than the frogmen and the seals and certain Paul Rieckhoff (58:33) Yeah, yeah. Jesse Ventura (58:50) Elements like that most Navy men are thinkers. They're running a radar thing. They're on a ship They're sitting in a chair, you know, you don't have to run anywhere to shoot them big guns on a ship You know, you just sit in a chair and shoot them. Yeah, I guess Paul Rieckhoff (59:07) Jesse, you're a part of what we have to pierce is the fake tough guys and show the real tough guys. And that's where the contrast between you and Trump is so powerful. Let me ask you this. you mentioned that he's in the WWE Hall of Fame. What do you think about him having a UFC octagon fight at the White House? I mean, is this kind of like over projection of fake masculinity? He and Hegseth and Cash Patel and all these guys are going to have an octagon in front of the White House for A UFC fight, what do think about that? Jesse Ventura (59:38) I think it's publicity again for Trump to try to pretend he's a tough guy. You know, he'd never get in there ever. In fact, I would challenge you this, Paul. I'll bet Donald Trump has never been in a fight. In his whole life. I mean, even as a kid. You know what he is, Paul. I'll describe him to you and you tell me if I'm wrong. And we all know them. all had in a group of friends. There's always one guy and that would be Donald Trump. And I'll use it in two courses here. The first thing is this. He's the kind of guy in a group that will start the fight and then he'll hold your coat. yeah. No, he's, he's going to smart off and he's going to start the fight. But then yeah. Yeah, and then he's gonna hold your coat when it comes time to do the act. Paul Rieckhoff (1:12:27) Yeah, there you have it. The great and powerful Jesse Ventura. He is not holding back. This is a bit of a reintroduction of Jesse Ventura to many of you who've never heard him or haven't heard him in a while. He is bringing the thunder. He is answering the moment and he will be back. I hope Jesse can be a regular on this show, but this is the kind of information and independents and integrity we want to bring on this show. To those of you that are new, welcome. We're glad you're here. I just want to give you an update on other stuff happening. I will be on News Nation today for my weekly television appearance with Connell McShane. I'll be on CNN with Erin Burnett continuing to challenge ICE and probably talk a bit about some of the news we're breaking today on this show. A big week will continue. Tomorrow, we've got Chuck Todd to go deeper on politics and he'll give us his Super Bowl prediction. And Friday, a very big show. Rachel Maddow will be here for football. Friday, we will go deeper on the latest breaking news and she'll talk about her patriots. And I want to send something else out. If you are a veteran who wants to run for office, we have created an organization to help you. Independent Veterans of America is that organization. We want to run a hundred veterans in Jesse's legacy this fall. And maybe Jesse will be one of them, but a hundred veterans are our bottom line number. We want to get many more, but we've already got dozens who've reached out. You've heard from many of them on this show, answer the call. And if you can't run, if you're not an independent veteran, You can share, you can donate, you can spread the word. Go to independentveteransofamerica.org and help us send hundreds of Jesse Venturas, not just to Washington, but to communities all the way down to the school board nationwide. All right, and if you're new to this show, welcome. We are now daily, we hit number 36 last month on the charts and we continue to push forward. Follow us everywhere, especially on YouTube. If you wanna see something, go over to YouTube, hit subscribe and watch my conversation with Jesse because He looks as interesting as he sounds. is always the case. But subscribe. You can go to independentamericans.us for more. Go to Apple Podcasts and rate us. You can find us on Spotify. It is a big, big week ahead and a big time for us to meet this moment because America is more divided than ever. But here at Independent Americans, I'm working to change that and bring in a heat and a fire and a light that is different from all the other shows that can bust through the ICE in this moment. And if you're among the now 45 % of Americans who are independent, a number that's probably going to grow after they hear from Jesse today, this is your show. Our independent movement is hope for the future country over party, people over politics, light instead of the heat of so many other places. And our movement is growing. It's going to take a big step forward today with Jesse Ventura. Even if my voice is still struggling, Jesse and our movement are growing and we're bringing hope, which is the oxygen of our democracy. If you liked this episode, Do me a solid, do us a solid, fuel the movement, share it far and wide, and invite others to declare their independents. And stay vigilant, my friend, because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. And no, you're not alone in your vigilance. We're all vigilant, and we're all in this together. And Jesse today gave you some motivation, I hope, and some hope, and some energy that you can spread. Make that energy contagious and spread it far and wide. I'm your host, Paul Rykow. Thank you for tuning in to Independent Americans. Happy Hump Day! Get out there and spread the light. Tell them about Jesse. Tell them about what we're doing. And of course, especially right now, stay vigilant. I'll see you tomorrow.