Chip Roy on the cause of America’s divisions and how the Constitution is the ‘path to unity’
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) appeared yesterday's episode of the "Kibbe on Liberty" podcast with host Matt Kibbe. During the interview — which was taped in the aftermath of the January 6 attack — the congressman discusses last week's violence, his vote to accept electors, his views on the roots of America's deep political divides, and his vision for uniting the country moving forward.
Below are some quotes and approximate time stamps from the full episode available here:
On the source of tensions in the United States:
"I used the phrase that we were in a cold civil war [a week earlier]. And some are obviously now going to try to view that as being part of the — I don't know, you know — increasing the temperature. In fact, it's kind of just a recognition of the reality of what we're feeling in this country. And it's cold, but obviously on Wednesday we saw some of the heat from that. And we can talk about what caused some of that and so forth, but the bottom line is we have some deep divisions.
"We have American people who are frustrated, and understandably. We have small businesses shut down — people's livelihoods they've invested in and they're not about to carry out their lifelong dream of owning a restaurant or a coffee shop. And they're mad. And a lot of that has bubbled up in a number of different ways over the last year or two and then we saw it get really intense on Wednesday. And it was wrong; people shouldn't have stormed in and broken into the Capitol. And I wish the president hadn't spun up people in many of the ways that occurred in the preceding weeks, but the Republic shall endure. And we went back and we did our job on the floor of the House and I'm glad we did."
On Congress' Constitutional duty to count electors:
"It is an important piece of the fabric of our country because it reflects the very fabric of our Union that began the Republic when states came together, and it respects the fact that those states choose the presidential electors. And if you turn that on its head and you empower Congress to do the choosing, then you fundamentally alter the bargain, you fundamentally alter that core founding principle where those states came together in Union."
"I was proud to be in the House chamber when the Vice President of the United States carried out his solemn duty and his oath to defend the Constitution by opening those electors finishing the job, and we approved the electors and moved forward."
On federalism as ‘the path to unity':
I think it's a part of our ethos; it's a part of who we are as Americans, but not everybody gets it or thinks about it. Not everybody nerds out reading the Federalist Papers like we might; not everybody goes and studies that history. But they do understand it, right? They understand that our nation was built on these ideas where we have communities, we have people with shared ideals and you start ripping apart the fabric of America if you're forcing everybody to accept one-size-fits-all-type solutions from faraway powers.
"Federalism respects those differences — allowing us to unite for common defense and unite for economic strength and security while allowing us to live peaceably apart with different ideals. If we do not accept that, if we do not embrace those founding core principles, then I do not have an optimistic view of the future of the country. Because we unite through that federalism. That's the path to unity."
How government overreach is tearing America apart:
"I think that some of the frustration about the elections is actually proxy for bigger frustrations, not to say those aren't enormously important. But they're proxy for all of those other underlying issues in which people feel like they're being told how to live their lives and unable to live their lives freely and according to the ways they want to.
"A family in my district, who wants to educate their children in an environment that respects the United States, teaches them core western civilization values, honors their faith, whatever that might be and they can't in the public school system … but yet they're paying taxes for the "privilege" of being able to educate their children in a way they don't want to. They're frustrated about that. They can't afford to have a parent stay home and homeschool or they can't afford to send a child to private school. That's central to their existence.
"Their business is now shut down because a local tyrannical government comes in and just declares ‘you will be shut down.' And that same local government will do nothing to make them whole for that taking of their livelihood. They will do nothing. They will look to Washington and say ‘write another blank check mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren.'
"And the people see that, and they're angry. And you know what? So am I. I'm really angry about that. But we as statesmen in this town — as godforsaken as this town might be at times — we have a duty to stand on that Constitution and to stand up and say ‘this Constitution affords us the way to unite together; let's go fight for it, and let's fight for it now."
On how government actions are ripping the fabric of our society:
"I just got an email right before we got on here: local business called Austin Pizza Garden — a few miles from where I live, where we used to go all the time, it's right across from the baseball fields where my son plays little league, to go eat pizza — it's shutting down. There's a restaurant, Shady Grove — I went there the day after my wife and I got married — it's shutting down. I could go after business after business after business. Threadgills in South Austin, where my wife and I had our rehearsal dinner, it's shut down. …
"They're not coming back and these are institutions that are the fabric of our society. It's where we go to have a beer and come together, which is also dividing us further. That's shredding who we are as a people, shredding the small businesses that are the backbone of an independent American spirit, all while enriching the very mega-corporations that don't give a rip about your local community and that have nothing to do with that fabric of your community."
"And Chili's survives on the corner and Google and Amazon get great? But every little mom and pop shop business that's been there for 30, 50, 70 years gets shredded? That's what I want to push back against. And I will be fighting as hard as I can — nonviolently — against the incoming administration and/or my Republican colleagues who want to perpetuate that."
On America's potential to unite:
"We should not have been in that position [on January 6]. Not we the Members of Congress: we the nation. … This is a moment that we need to use to spring forward to embrace the principles that unite us together and not incite the hatred and the violence against our institutions and our nation. And that's the path before us. And I believe that we've got that opportunity."
On the dangers ahead of us:
"I will continue [to admonish Republicans when necessary]. I'm doing it as we speak. I keep getting, you know, pushback. I'm also going to admonish my Democratic colleagues, that they have an obligation to turn down the temperature. They have an obligation not to walk in believing there's some massive mandate for them to start pushing their policies and their dreams on the American people. That will do a lot to increase temperature and not decrease it."
On the opportunity ahead of us as a people:
"We need to take a page out of the 2010-ish [Tea Party] playbook. We need to take a page out of how we take information to the people, get behind a set of ideas that we can push to change and demand they change. And we demand they change peaceably, like we did year after year after year over the last 20 years.
"If you're in the midst of a sea-change, which we are, then we need to embrace that peaceably to make the change. It takes time to reverse the ship. It takes time to get that shift."