Well, it's Friday. If I can do it on Fridays, I try to get somebody from the Freedom Caucus come on. And joining me now is, well, he's my favorite Freedom Caucus guy. Representative Jake Hill Martin from District 85, which is, what is that? That's Columbia, Chapin, and Irmo.
Yeah? You're you're killing me, Bill. I've had people on the other side of the aisle say I'm the favorite Freedom Caucus guy, and I'm like, I must not be doing something right if I'm your favorite. So Yeah. But how many of them how many of them be in your favor.
Yeah. Well, how many of them introduced you to Hickok forty five? Oh, that's right. That's right. See, my sister Whenever whenever you get discovered Yeah.
Oh, go ahead. No. I was gonna say whenever you get some whenever you do somebody a favor that has a little power, you gotta constantly remind them of that favor. Yes. So so when my sister got in her CWP down in Florida, she goes, I discovered this guy online, Hickok forty five.
So I send my the picture of me with him Yeah. Thanks to you when we were at the, NRA convention. Yeah. Jay's tall enough to where Hickok didn't look that tall. When I stand beside the Hickok, you're just looking at him thinking, maybe he takes long walks in the woods and that's just who they think Sasquatch is because Hickok is a tall guy.
He and his he and his son are are very tall people. Yep. Yep. Yep. So tell me about this family caucus drama.
So so I'll give you my version. I've been in the family caucus for about three years now, and and I don't know how much of the backstory you need, but, basically, probably, you know, along with the members of the Freedom Caucus, he's very, very pro life and, the big issue has been abortion and trying to get stronger abortion laws passed. So an activist group called Students for Life went to the church parking lots on Easter Sunday and put pamphlets out against House Speaker Merle Smith and Weston Newton who had the judiciary. Right. And I think they hit a nerve because they blamed, you know, people politicians, we're not allowed to work with packs and super packs.
So he can't direct them to do that, but they blamed him and then they blamed him for not being strong enough in his rebuttal of it. So we've had in the middle of all the busy end of season stuff, just complete chaos, with the family caucus. Supposedly, the speaker of the house was personally calling people because he was so butthurt over this and telling them to leave the family caucus. And when the, your dear leader speaks, when you're in the Republican caucus, you do as he says or he will punish you. Oh.
He will he'll take away your parking space. It's it's all it's all so silly, but, you know, the people down there take it very seriously. They wanna climb climb the ladder. They wanna stay in his good graces. So, the manufactured outrage I saw from some of the family caucus people defending the speaker, you just don't go into a church parking lot.
That that's off limits. I'm like, I think that was pretty good strategy whether or not John had anything to do with it. Right. You know, it's it's not his fault, but it but it happened. And they work with, you know, they work on the same issues as John.
They don't work with John, but they support John. So, yeah, it was a a little bit of drama in the middle of a busy week. Yeah. And, I I I got into a little tuffle with a couple representatives who are, I would say, are not Freedom Caucus, but they call themselves Republicans. Oh.
And I said it's not where they got attacked, it's who they attacked. And it is the two guys that could easily get some abortion bills taken up, and they decided not to. You know, we passed that $1,300,000,000 VW Scout deal in twelve days. Right. All three committees I'll send it on the governor's desk.
They can they can take up an abortion bill. I I just don't think they have the intestinal fortitude to fight. Well, while I got you here, since you were at the SC GOP convention the sa ...