André Bauer: Up Close and Personal with the Former Lt. Governor | EP 27

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Today on the Carolina Business
Leaders Podcast, we are joined

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by former Lieutenant Governor
Andre Bauer, the 87th Lieutenant

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Governor of South Carolina.
Andre has LED an exciting and

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dynamic career not only in
politics, but also as a real

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estate developer, investor and
entrepreneur.

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From owning furniture stores to
investing in speedways, his

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ventures reflect a spirit of
grit and relentless pursuits of

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excellence.
His achievements in business has

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have translated well into
success in public service, as he

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was recently nominated by
President Trump to serve as the

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US Ambassador to Belize.
Former Lieutenant Governor,

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thank you so much for joining us
on the ship.

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Yeah, thanks for having me.
So you recently visited Mar a

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Lago.
Do you have any cool experience

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or any cool?
Stories.

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I was hoping I'd see the
president and kind of crazy.

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They announced he was getting
ready to walk in.

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Byron Donald did.
He was kind of the MC in it.

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And then every they played the
music.

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Eye of the Tiger got everybody
fired up.

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And then they said, ladies and
gentlemen, he's not been able to

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make it.
And I walked outside and the

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beast was there, the motorcade
was there.

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He had just come in.
I don't know what diverted him.

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That was a couple weeks ago on a
Friday night.

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But evidently something came up
because he was getting ready to

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walk through the door and he got
diverted not to, so I didn't get

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to see him.
I'm sure there's a good reason

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for that.
Yeah, because it was.

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You can only speculate.
And, you know, he loves the

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crowd, and this was his crowd.
I mean, it was a Palm Beach

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crowd and it was a conservative
crowd.

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And so if he could have made it,
he'd have been there.

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If you're running a small to mid
size business, you know there's

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simply not enough hours in a day
to take care of all your

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business needs.
From managing health insurance

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to pay your role, procurement,
advertising, you're going to

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need some help to get that
initial momentum going.

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That's why I would partner with
Questco.

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They take care of all the behind
the scenes administrative and HR

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work, letting you focus on what
truly matters, which is running

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your business.
That's QUESTCO Quest, Co Visit

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questco.net or call your local
Questco representative Thomas

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Owens at 864-477-0843 to get
started today.

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Do you have some fun stories of
President Trump at Mira Lago

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outside of this visit?
That was my first visit to ever

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go in.
I've walked by there lots of

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times.
I've actually never been in

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there.
I've met with him a lot of

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times, but never on his home
turf.

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Usually it was our home turf.
It was somewhere in South

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Carolina football game or
Pickens or actually Charlotte

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Motor Speedway is always places
like that.

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Myrtle Beach.
So how did a guy, just a common

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guy from Irmo SC end up being
just around all the big time

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politicians in the country make
his way up the ladder per SE?

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It's a lot of decades.
So mom, that goes back and says,

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I was at South Carolina just
trying to make enough to pay my

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tuition can get through school.
And back then they had school

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newspapers and I tried out to be
a cheerleader.

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And so two years I did that.
In two years, I was a guy on the

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microphone.
So she says, look, you got

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confident being in front of the
whole student section out there

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jumping up and screaming.
And then after I graduated from

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school, I moved right back to
the neighborhood, same

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neighborhood my mom lived in,
where I'd grown up, bought my

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own house, started hustling, and
I had a little company.

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If you went into anything from
an Abraham's bookstore to the

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bookstore at Georgia Tech, 250
something.

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Walmart's at one time wasn't
much spread, but I sold a lot of

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product.
And if you walked in, for

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example, a Walmart department
23, that's men's and boys.

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I had a spinner rack in most of
the Southeast stores that sold

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license.
Plates.

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You were already in Walmart.
So I was selling a bunch of

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stuff.
Well, originally when I started

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Walmart, they did what they
called 70 typing, so you didn't

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have to have a vendor number.
It was a lot lower key back

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then.
The manager would come meet with

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you and eventually I got enough
of them that they got me a

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vendor number.
And so my college roommate ended

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up buying it from me when I
became Lieutenant governor.

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He still runs it today.
It's now under different names

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called Bob Novelties.
But if you walk in there, he's

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got the little, he sells them
everything from the car flags to

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whatever.
And so, and I originally I was

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doing it a little mom and pop
sporting goods stores because

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you used to be able to walk in
the, the mall, there'd be 4 or 5

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sporting goods stores that were
just the local people that had

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it.
And then the big boys kind of

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pushed them out.
But anyway, so from that I got

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mad at a homeowners meeting and
said we need to get somebody to

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run against a sitting incumbent
and nobody.

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Would run the homeowner
association.

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And so I just decided I'd run
and didn't know if I could win

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or not, but a new marketing and
a new people and so so.

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Your political career started in
HOA.

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It did well it it it, it started
the conversation and eventually

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I ended up getting sued for
being at the homeowners meeting.

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What they did was they built a
low income housing project on a

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golf course in the neighborhood
we were in and we were all

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trying to stop it.
They put a pool and they put it

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on the golf course.
I said, well, why would anybody

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try to improve themselves if you
make it this nice?

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And that's the problem with so
many well intended government

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benefits is the intent may be
great, but if you make the

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system so good that there's no
reason to get off the dole, then

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you and I forever continue to
support this, these programs.

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And it doesn't give them the
opportunity to grow and prosper

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and create a better opportunity
for themselves.

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It keeps them stagnant.
It's not a healthy process.

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I'm all about for a hand up, but
this hand out stuff I don't, I

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don't believe that most people,
I'm not the only person.

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I think it's very unhealthy.
And so I was opposed to it.

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I said, look, if you're giving
away housing, it needs to be the

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basic housing.
It doesn't need to be on a golf

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course, doesn't need to be a
pool anyway.

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Who sued you?
The developers sued us all just

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to scare us.
It's a big money tactic.

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You do it to the little poor
people that don't really have a

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voice in a minute you get a
lawsuit that says, so we're

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suing you for $30 million.
Everybody runs everything.

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That's what happened.
Everybody in the homeowners

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meeting that was fighting them
scrambled and they all signed

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the waivers just to get out of
the lawsuit because they didn't

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want to have to go hire a
lawyer.

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And so it's, it's everything I'm
against the big one.

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I, I think I ended up doing it
too.

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I don't, it's been so long.
But what I did do was I decided

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I was going to run for office.
And so I had a guy that was kind

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of helping me.
That was an old friend actually,

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from when I sold stuff at ball
games.

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I used to sell the scorecards,
and he was the guy that printed

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the scorecards.
And I was always one of his top

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sellers.
And he had gone in the newspaper

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business and I kind of reached
out to him and he said, yeah,

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you can win this.
And he was the only person that

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thought so.
And he said, get your friends to

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come together.
We came to my house and I was

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unmarried.
I didn't her wife didn't have

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kids.
We probably had 100 people show

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up real young.
And so most of my friends didn't

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have any money.
They had a lot of time.

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And we were able to harness that
time into getting elected.

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And we ran a masterful campaign
because we got to know people

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and we knocked on doors and we
did unconventional things.

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And it was really marketing 101.
We were marketing a young person

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that if I had debated him, he'd
have made me look not not

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seasoned.
I mean, he was a very smart guy.

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I like him to the guy running
against.

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He has been in the House for
eight years.

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He's been the mayor before that.
And actually President Trump

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appointed him recently to a big
position in the administration.

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And we've always been friends
after that.

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But he took it a little bit for
granted.

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And I worked as hard as I
possibly could.

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And we pulled a huge upset.
And then I got re elected two

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years later and three months
later there was a special

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election for a Senate seat.
So I got catapulted pretty

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quickly into the Senate and
still it was same same deal as

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before just outwork your
opponent.

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You may not have the looks,
talents or skills but out hard

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work will off offset a lot of
things.

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So how old?
Were you when you first ran for

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SC House?
I got elected at 27, the Senate,

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I had been 30 for 10 days and
then Lieutenant governor 33.

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Wow.
So I got.

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Yeah.
So to rear back in a little bit,

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before you embarked on that
political career and you

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graduated college, did you
consider looking for like other

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job opportunities or was it
just?

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Like, you know, I never
considered getting a job.

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I really haven't had many jobs
in my life.

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I always wanted the independence
of working for myself.

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I never worked for the money.
I worked because I didn't want

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to have to answer to anybody.
And so anytime I made any money,

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I wasn't one of these people
that bought a lot of stuff.

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I bought assets and I always
bought real estate.

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And back when I got out of
college, I could buy a nice

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house near Irmo High School in
the $30,000.

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I could buy a little 3. $30,000.
They were 30 something and they

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needed work but they were three
bedroom usually 1 bath that.

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Sounds.
Great.

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And you could buy them for 30
something grand.

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I'd go in there and do the yard
work.

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I'd paint them, I'd clean them
up.

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My granddaddy was a Carpenter.
He was my hero back then.

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He would come and he'd help me.
Old school, we'd cope molding.

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Nowadays they do it with a miter
box, but back then you cut it

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with A and anyway.
And so he taught me how to, how

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to doll them up, how to fix
stuff.

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And eventually I got friends
that could come help me do some

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tile or, and, and I'd rent them
out for a while.

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And then when I needed some
cash, I'd sell a few and it

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became a good system.
And so even when I've had, you

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know, opportunity to make some
money, I always went back to

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real estate.
It was what I knew and any time

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I didn't do the real estate,
most of the time you reminded me

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that furniture store, it did
well, but I bought that in

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foreclosure from the bank.
That was a weird time.

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That was 2012 thirteen.
It was when the banks were

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really, they were taking a lot
of stuff they shouldn't have

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been taking, quite frankly.
People were up to date on their

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payment but couldn't pay the
debt off and they would come to

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them and they'd say you got to
pay it off now.

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Well, they didn't have the
ability to do that.

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It's really a bad, bad system.
But anyway, so I bought a lot

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of, I mean, I bought boats and
all kinds of stuff back then.

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And what do you think sparked
your interest in real estate

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outside of your grandfather
being a handyman and teaching

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you those ways?
So when I was at South Carolina,

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I was paying rent, $250 a month,
all included.

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And my dad said you need to buy
a house, you need to, you need

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to quit renting.
And I said, well, how do I do

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that?
He said getting the paper, da,

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da, da, da, da, and then what
was called an assumable.

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So if you want to sell me a
house, I could just assume

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you're alone.
So the first house I bought, I

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think I had to come up with five
grand.

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And I was hustling all the time
back then.

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Maybe if anybody that's been to
Carolina games, they were 20

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years ago.
They Remember Me be outside the

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stadium selling stuff.
And so I would hustle all the

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time.
In 1984, the Gamecocks went

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12:50 in regular season.
And so when they started out

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00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,360
with The Citadel, Georgia, Duke
Pit, Notre Dame was on the road.

227
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,040
All those games, I was out there
selling a bumper sticker that

228
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,400
said this is next year.
And if you're a Gamecock fan,

229
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,720
you remember, oh, wait till next
year when 84 we start off, and I

230
00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,280
mean 10, we went there and holed
through a pass.

231
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,240
We win 10 to 17 to beat Georgia
at home.

232
00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,960
Huge victory.
And I go through the whole games

233
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,440
because I was such a fan the
year before, I wasn't old enough

234
00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:25,920
to drive.
My mom dropped me off to sell

235
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,080
peanuts at the stadium if I sent
a bag, but it got me in the game

236
00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,520
so I got to watch the game and
so.

237
00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:34,120
Hard work never gets.
Old.

238
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:35,040
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So.

239
00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,640
You're just always hustling.
Always, always, always, always,

240
00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:42,520
always.
Even now I have so many things

241
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,280
going and it keeps me going.
It keeps me young.

242
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:47,840
Yeah.
What are some of the, I guess

243
00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,000
the ventures or real estate
developments you're working on

244
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:51,520
now?
So I got a mountain up in

245
00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,200
Landrum that's 160 acre tract
that they're timbering right now

246
00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,000
and get me some roads in.
I've moved a house from

247
00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,720
Cleveland Park there that's
getting ready to get a roof put

248
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,680
back on it and they're supposed
to be doing the foundation.

249
00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:05,240
It quits raining.
I've got a tiny house, one of

250
00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,120
those small little tiny log
cabins that's getting moved to

251
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:09,760
the property.
It was supposed to get done last

252
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,160
week with the rain held it off
just sitting down at Lake

253
00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,320
Murray.
And then there's a 19O2 cabin

254
00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:19,320
that doctor Thomas Earl that had
Earl Stream had the pharmacy

255
00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,000
right there.
The fork in the road at at South

256
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,680
Main and Augusta.
He built that build in 1872.

257
00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,480
It looks newer than it is
because it's got a new facade.

258
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,120
If you look at the backside
facing like Augusta 20, you'll

259
00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,160
see it still brick and that's
from the 1872 build.

260
00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,000
He was only there about 10 years
and you'd go to Greenville

261
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,520
Historical, but he became the
surgeon for all of your

262
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,280
railroads.
So you can imagine the kind of

263
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,320
money you were making turn of
the century being the surgeon

264
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,240
for all three railroads.
But he had a track there.

265
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,480
He builds his dream home up at
the top of that mountain right

266
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,680
outside of Landrum.
And so that's my biggest

267
00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:52,400
project, getting ready to
probably build a couple spec

268
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,000
homes on some lots I bought
years ago.

269
00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:00,920
The one downtown Greenville I
got a track in in Orangeburg

270
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:02,400
that I'm trying to come up with
something on now.

271
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,040
Still need some ideas all over
the state.

272
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,640
All in real estate, any ventures
outside of real estate that

273
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,160
you're working on or all?
Not much.

274
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,680
I mean, once in a while I'll
dabble in something, but for the

275
00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:15,640
most time I stay in the real
estate world.

276
00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:17,640
Once in a while somebody will
bring me something.

277
00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,640
For a year I worked with some
private equity guys here in

278
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:24,200
Greenville that were great, had
a wonderful relationship with

279
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,840
them.
But I peeled it back to begin

280
00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:29,600
this year and went back to just.
I wasn't spend any time on that

281
00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,360
mountain.
And so I've been really focused

282
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,120
on that because when I move back
downtown, it's going to be

283
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,040
double the drive time each way
and I'm up there 3 or 4 * a

284
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:37,680
week.
I.

285
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:39,160
Think you're a mountain guy or a
beach guy?

286
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,840
You know, I think I'm I don't.
Neither one of them blow me

287
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,120
away.
I'd rather look at the views of

288
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,840
the mountains.
But my kids love the beach, so

289
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,680
we did Seaside a couple of weeks
ago in the Panhandle, which was

290
00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,560
fun.
But I South Carolina is very

291
00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:57,280
scenic and it's fun.
As I go past from my house to

292
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,040
the mountain, I pass the fencel
which way I go to Poinsett

293
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,640
Bridge and said there's a lot of
fun stuff in there.

294
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,200
And I actually like look at the
mountain more on the beach.

295
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,040
Well, back to that hard work and
your work ethic.

296
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,400
Rumor has it that you knocked on
every door in the county when

297
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,520
you were first running for the
South Carolina house.

298
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,840
How true is that?
And what sparked your?

299
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,200
So I didn't do the whole county.
I did a bunch.

300
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,120
I did a bunch.
I mean, I can't imagine how many

301
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:26,360
I did.
And I think they were highly

302
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,000
fruitful.
It would be like, have you ever

303
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,840
seen that that guy that sells
the window washing online and

304
00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,880
he's like amazing, like he could
talk you into it.

305
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,720
It's like, what's the guy with
the pen?

306
00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,040
It you know it it if you're
willing to put it out there and

307
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,080
you're willing to make enough
attempts, you're going to be

308
00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,360
successful period.
You may get shot down.

309
00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,840
It's kind of like dating.
It took me 49 years to get

310
00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,880
married, but eventually somebody
will say yes.

311
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,320
And so it was knocking on those
doors.

312
00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,200
Not everybody wanted to talk to
me.

313
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:00,440
Some people didn't want to talk
to me.

314
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,520
Some people like my opponent,
which was highly understandable.

315
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,600
But knocking on those doors and
when they didn't answer the

316
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,840
door, writing a note saying,
sorry, I missed you.

317
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,360
Here's my cell phone number.
If you have any questions, I'd

318
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:12,960
like to serve you at elected
office.

319
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,280
All that stuff made a difference
for Memorial Day.

320
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,120
I left flags actually for
Mother's Day, I left pine tree

321
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,080
seedlings from the Forestry
Commission in their yard with a

322
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,320
sappy note, pun intended.
Memorial Day.

323
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,680
I can remember taking going back
by somebody's house, give them a

324
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:32,840
plague and they said, look, I'm
watering the tree.

325
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,400
You left me.
And it was marketing 101.

326
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,600
It worked and I was marketing a
product me and it made people

327
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,080
like it.
And so it never really the first

328
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,080
election, it didn't get deep
into politics.

329
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,160
I mean, I was always
conservative, always thought

330
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,040
government had its fingers and
two many pies and really ought

331
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,880
to handle the fiduciary
fundamental things like making

332
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,880
sure we had safe roads and
bridges, fire and police

333
00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:59,200
protection.
All those were much more

334
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,640
important to me that all this
other fluff that every that so

335
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,960
many government agencies
continue to do.

336
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,880
And I just don't think that's
the role of government.

337
00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,720
But anyway, so that was kind of
the the door knocking.

338
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,680
It was powerful.
It was like standing in the car

339
00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,280
pool line at this elementary
schools, which I did, and the

340
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,120
people would come up.
Well, we told a couple people

341
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,360
that you'd be on the podcast
this week and people in town and

342
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,840
we heard from more than a few
that they remember the days when

343
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,400
you would be at busy
intersections waving at people

344
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,720
as they drove by.
So it was memorable.

345
00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:35,240
It was memorable.
It's.

346
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,200
Advertising.
Yeah, that's right.

347
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,000
Most people look, if I, if I see
somebody running for office,

348
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:47,320
let's say Comptroller general
and I see you standing on the

349
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,240
side of the road wanting the job
waving and nobody else out

350
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,800
hungry for it.
I'm going to vote for you every

351
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,280
time.
It's going to be like, at least

352
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,680
he showed that he had some
initiative or he wanted the job.

353
00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,720
And in most things, people
aren't willing to put it out

354
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:01,200
there.
People.

355
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,000
I say so many people now, I
think I don't want to put the

356
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,920
effort, time or energy in.
And so I have have been very

357
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,760
fortunate that hard work allowed
me to to overcome some

358
00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,200
obstacles, some of them
self-inflicted, but against

359
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,880
people that were much more
talented than myself because

360
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,079
they didn't just they didn't
want to put the extra work in.

361
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:26,040
Bear Bryant calls it the extra.
Google it, it's worth watching.

362
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,160
So did you envision yourself
becoming Lieutenant governor six

363
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,520
years later?
Did you have an end goal with

364
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:32,000
that?
I didn't.

365
00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,800
Have any goal in politics I
didn't take a law class.

366
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,160
I didn't take a quality side
class.

367
00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,600
My whole thing was I was going
to be a businessman and

368
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,520
somewhere along the lines, the
politics got in there and it

369
00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,920
kind of got in my blood.
And I loved helping people.

370
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,360
And so our goal was to provide
the best constituent services

371
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,080
you could possibly provide.
By the time we checked out a

372
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,160
Lieutenant governor, I ran all
the aging program, Meals on

373
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,720
Wheels, senior transportation,
nursing home investigations.

374
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,840
And we had a session every year
during the summer when the

375
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,360
legislature, I was called the
Silverhead Legislature, and we

376
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,480
let the seniors come down and
talk about what they wanted to

377
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,040
be addressed.
And we had the senior of the

378
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:11,640
day.
And back then you had Lieutenant

379
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,640
governor's writing awards.
And so back then, the Lieutenant

380
00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,160
governor had duties.
I hate that they changed the

381
00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,640
role through statute.
They changed it.

382
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,920
They did a constitutional
amendment and make it now where

383
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,040
it's just an appointed job that
really has no duties, nothing

384
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,600
against Lieutenant governor.
They've stripped that and it

385
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,600
really it, it, it wastes the job
when you got a talented business

386
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,360
person in there right now, for
example, that they should give

387
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,080
some duties to I, I don't know,
it bothers me that they did

388
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:37,240
that.
That's crazy.

389
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,200
You didn't have a 5 or 10 year
plan, you were just running and

390
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,280
just see what happens.
Just kind of God sometimes opens

391
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,760
doors and I have a lot of times
I decided to take those

392
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:48,960
opportunities.
Nice.

393
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,880
Well, obviously politicians face
a lot of public scrutiny.

394
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,680
How do you maintain your
composure when you feel like you

395
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,320
might be under fire?
I think it's kind of like in

396
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,040
athletics or anything else you
evolve into that you get if

397
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,080
you're going to be in politics,
you better have some skin like

398
00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,000
an alligator.
It just, if not, you can get

399
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,400
your feelings hurt real quick
and you're not going to be very

400
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840
successful in that job.
It just it now more than any

401
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,000
time people can get behind a
computer and they say all kinds

402
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,560
of means nasty stuff they never
have to be there for they'd

403
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,200
never come up in your face and
say it.

404
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,600
But it allows a lot of lot of
folks to say a lot of stuff that

405
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,680
really don't have any, any juice
themselves or haven't done

406
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:31,760
anything they haven't had to
prove.

407
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,000
It's terrible, yeah.
So they're they're coming from a

408
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,800
standpoint that that that that's
where they flex and so.

409
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,680
It's just too easy and they have
no credibility.

410
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,440
And that is very easy.
And so if you're swayed by stuff

411
00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,400
like that and you're trying to
run for office, you'll be very

412
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,720
ineffective.
Do you think you're naturally

413
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,880
had that thick skin?
No, I think I, I think I

414
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,200
developed it over time too.
I mean, I think it got you.

415
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,880
There were days when it got
tough to get up and turn the TV

416
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,600
on or listen to the news or look
at the newspaper or listen to

417
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,640
the radio.
So it affects, you know, like it

418
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,400
bothers my wife way more than it
bothers.

419
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,760
Me understood.
Before we got on the podcast, we

420
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,560
talked about your experience
with CNN.

421
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:17,680
So how do you best prepare for
appearances on live TV like CNN

422
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,080
or any other news channels?
I don't really prepare.

423
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,520
Do they give you a script of
questions I'll ask?

424
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,520
No, really.
No, that was a you know, that

425
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,800
was like WDW wrestling, which
I'm taking my boys to tonight

426
00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,120
against promising the last time
I would never do it again.

427
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,080
You know, everybody knows what
the the, the the drill for.

428
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,320
You get there when you put five
on one, you kind of know the

429
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,960
outcome.
You may get a punch in there

430
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,320
time or two, but they're going
to get the best of you most of

431
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,000
the time.
They were very respectful of me.

432
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,960
I always felt like they treated
me fair.

433
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,760
They put the double whammy on me
most of the time, but I knew

434
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,360
their perspective.
I knew their audience.

435
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,360
I was there for a certain
purpose and they hired me

436
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:00,800
because they wanted a Trump
defender is essentially what

437
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,400
they wanted.
This was in 2016 and they wanted

438
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,160
a perspective from somebody that
would vote for Trump because he

439
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:07,560
was anomaly.
They couldn't figure it out.

440
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,640
When they hired me, there were
16 people in the race on the R

441
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,320
side.
I see at the very beginning.

442
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,040
I endorsed Trump.
Henry McMaster endorsed him on

443
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:20,880
January 27th, 2016 and I think I
was February 16th of 2016 and we

444
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,320
were the first two in the
country that I know of.

445
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,080
So I was there early on.
And look, he didn't, there

446
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:30,680
wasn't.
I'm not one of these that I'm

447
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,560
all in on every.
I look, I'm an independent

448
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,200
thinker.
I don't really, I don't have to

449
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,720
agree with somebody on every
issue.

450
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,040
What I want is where they come
from, where they going and what

451
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:45,360
are they planning to do.
And so independent thinkers are

452
00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:47,920
not always going to agree on
every issue.

453
00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,160
But if I think you're there for
the right reasons, I think you

454
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,160
got a good vision and I'll
overlook some some things that I

455
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,480
may disagree with you on for the
greater good.

456
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,080
With that being said, did you
ever find yourself agreeing with

457
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,440
the people on CNN?
Sure.

458
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,520
There are a lot of people that I
actually like and respect that

459
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,320
have a far different viewpoint.
Look, if I was raised in rural

460
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,640
South Carolina as a black
individual versus somebody who's

461
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,040
in the suburbs as a white
individual, I'd have a vastly

462
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,960
different perspective on life,
on politics, on the role of

463
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,440
government.
And it could be geographical, it

464
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,040
could be racial, it could be
where I went to school, it could

465
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,360
be the friends you hung out with
or your parents.

466
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,840
All that is going to have some
bearing on how you look at

467
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,800
things and what you think
government's role is, an elected

468
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,120
officials role.
So I don't begrudge them.

469
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:42,240
Actually, Bakari Sellers, who
comes from much that background,

470
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,920
is the one that recommended to
them that I was fair and

471
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:47,680
reasonable that I'd be a good
hire for them.

472
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,120
OK.
I, I went back to some old

473
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:54,080
papers the other day and several
minority members on the other

474
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,640
side of the aisle endorsed me
for re election, Lieutenant

475
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,880
governor across party lines.
I mean, you don't ever see that

476
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,160
today, but I was looking at a
Mailer I had done and, for

477
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,320
example, Senator Darryl Jackson,
black minority senator outside

478
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,160
of Columbia, he openly endorsed
me because he said, hey, this

479
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,320
guy works with everybody, which
I took as a real badge of honor.

480
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,760
Yeah, definitely.
That's encouraging.

481
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,800
I just always curious, how do
people prepare for the CNN

482
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,760
stuff?
Because I think a lot of them

483
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,120
do.
And you really just don't.

484
00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:24,560
You just kind of go on.
And it's not my thing.

485
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,160
Yeah, you just have your.
I was never trying to get to

486
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,600
another network or get a PR job.
It wasn't what I was doing.

487
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:33,400
They were.
Fighting for TV time, which a

488
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,560
lot of.
People are if they called me and

489
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,520
wanted me to go on, I was cool
with it, but I wasn't looking

490
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:39,920
for it.
I never hired an agent.

491
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,640
I wasn't out there.
It didn't help me make money, so

492
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,080
there was no angle for me.
And they finally put me on

493
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:46,840
salary.
And so I was there when they

494
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,840
needed me, but I wasn't
jockeying to get my face on TV

495
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,480
anymore because it just wasn't
my thing.

496
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,240
Do you think that they provided
questions to up the opposing

497
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,720
viewpoints?
I know they did, Donna.

498
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,000
I got caught giving Hillary the
questions before.

499
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,480
So they are the they knew how to
prep, whereas you did not.

500
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,920
I feel like my preps, my life
experience, I don't come from a

501
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,680
background where I'm trying to
to convey something that I'm

502
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,080
not.
Sometimes I step on my own toe,

503
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,320
but I am who I am.
I'm a real person.

504
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,280
I've made mistakes.
I've been very blessed in life

505
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,120
and that's perspective I come
from.

506
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,840
I hope people respect that and
and appreciate that.

507
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,160
But if they don't, you know that
that that falls in their domain

508
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,200
of what they have to deal with.
With me, I don't let it.

509
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,400
Again, it's that alligator skin.
So back in 2020, President Trump

510
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,800
nominated you to be the
ambassador for Belize.

511
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,680
What is next for former
Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer?

512
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,240
You know, that was the dream, my
hope for years, my dream was to

513
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,680
be United States ambassador, to
go serve in another.

514
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,160
I've never lived anywhere with
South Carolina, so I would have

515
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,400
liked to have really had the
opportunity to go to another

516
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,960
country to represent the
president and to really push his

517
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,400
agenda, because most of it
aligns exactly with my politics.

518
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,640
And I thought with an executive
background, with a legislative

519
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,000
background, I've met with a lot
of world leaders from Thatcher

520
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:06,560
to Castro.
I mean, you name it, I've met

521
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,840
with a lot of them because most
of the time I would go in

522
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:11,920
Sanford stead when he couldn't
make something.

523
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:13,720
There were different people
they'd send, but a lot of times

524
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,000
they would send me.
And so I had a lot of that, not

525
00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:20,880
training is not the right word,
but life experiences.

526
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,080
So I thought that really go
well.

527
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,920
So I actually went to ambassador
school for a month and

528
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,760
graduating from the Foreign
Service Institute, but the

529
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,440
Senate never took up the
confirmation.

530
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,400
So I never got to go.
Nope they never took.

531
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,160
There were 25 in our class
total.

532
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,680
Again, if they knew they weren't
going to take them up they

533
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,120
shouldn't have wasted the
taxpayers money because it was

534
00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:43,720
expensive.
Because they took my whole

535
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,640
family to DC for a month.
Wow.

536
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,800
And housed us and fed us.
And it just.

537
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:50,880
And none of the 25 they took up
what?

538
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,800
None of the politicals, they
took up the career diplomats.

539
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,240
They did not take them to
politicals.

540
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,680
And so, you know, and gosh, it's
sad to see how partisan

541
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,120
everything's gotten because I
never, I never worked like that

542
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,120
when I was in Colombia ever.
I never operated like that.

543
00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:13,280
Clearly I had my beliefs, but I
worked with everybody because

544
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,720
people looking for help as a
senior, they aren't worried

545
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,560
about whether you got an R or D
in front of their name.

546
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,560
A pothole can't tell you whether
it cares about if it's an R or

547
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,360
DA.
Kid winning a Lieutenant

548
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:25,400
governor writing award.
Most of the time they can't tell

549
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,880
you about AR or D.
So when somebody called and

550
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,920
needed help or they need to get
their loved one home because

551
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:35,360
they were stationed overseas and
somebody had passed or there was

552
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:39,000
an issue, we never asked
somebody who they voted for, how

553
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,880
they voted.
And so I I hate to see how

554
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,240
partisan it's gotten now, but
such is life.

555
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,600
So it's, yeah, obviously very
divisive at the federal level,

556
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,440
at a national scale.
Do you think even at like the

557
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,120
more local level, it's very more
divisive?

558
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,840
I've heard that Columbia has
changed too.

559
00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:00,120
I haven't I one of my roles as
Lieutenant governor was to

560
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:01,960
preside over the South Carolina
Senate.

561
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,000
And I can remember these folks
that every single week that had

562
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,600
been in public office and then
stepped down or gotten beaten,

563
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,760
would come back and we'd say,
I'd say, ladies and gentlemen,

564
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:13,480
please rise for the honorable so
and so.

565
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,360
We're so glad to have you back.
Thank you for your years of

566
00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:17,800
service.
And I thought, there's nothing

567
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,080
wrong with coming back, but I'm
not going to be back here all

568
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,840
the time.
This has been a part of my life,

569
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,440
but it's not my defining part of
my life.

570
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,520
So I've been back twice.
When the governor got sworn in,

571
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,320
I wanted my children because we
homeschool them.

572
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,400
I wanted them to see what what
it was like.

573
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,720
So I took them back for a
swearing in ceremony of a

574
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,520
governor.
And then I had to go.

575
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,480
The speaker put me on a
Commission that allocates where

576
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,080
we spend some of our state's tax
dollars to fix some of the road

577
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,000
infrastructure projects we have
in the states.

578
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,400
So I went back for that.
I actually went down there to a

579
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,760
meeting last week for that, but
everybody's out of session now.

580
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,400
But I haven't gone back in the
State House and shaking hands

581
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,520
and had them recognize me.
And I've been gone 15 years.

582
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,920
Wow.
It just I just thought you need

583
00:27:57,920 --> 00:27:59,840
to let it go and move on.
Good for you.

584
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:01,640
Yeah.
So when you reflect on your

585
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,360
career, all the ups and downs,
what would you say are the

586
00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:07,880
biggest challenges that you
faced and how did you overcome

587
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,640
them?
That's a great question.

588
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,600
I don't know what the biggest
challenge is.

589
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:21,520
I mean, I probably created the
biggest problems because I was

590
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,920
followed, watched, I had a lot
of races and from 26 to 40 I

591
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,560
held public office and I never
got caught doing something

592
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,000
inappropriately.
I never, I never, I've tried to

593
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,800
really watch everything I did,
but just a few little missteps

594
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,440
to find me giving up 14 years of
my life.

595
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,720
Some of your best income
producing years.

596
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,560
I messed up just by speeding and
trying to get somewhere on time.

597
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,280
They stripped me of the details.
So I was the only Lieutenant

598
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:51,880
governor ever not to have
security details.

599
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,720
So I was running all over the
state.

600
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,960
Back then, you didn't have GPS.
Driving on my knee trying to

601
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,760
read a road map, trying to make
it to every event under the sun.

602
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,160
And yes, I was guilty of it and
yes, they let me go and it was

603
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,040
fully accept responsibility.
But what I try to convey is

604
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:12,560
those missteps have left a
legacy so that that I hate it

605
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,480
for my kids more than anything
because I gave 16 years of my

606
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:20,600
life with a very meager salary
and I worked what was a part

607
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,960
time job.
I took on running an agency that

608
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,000
was $40 million, being on the
hook for that, appearing before

609
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,120
Congress multiple times.
I made it a full time job.

610
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,000
That's all I did.
I didn't take the reimbursements

611
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,480
for my mileage.
When I flew myself, when I

612
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,960
stayed in a hotel, I ate it all.
When the state had budget cuts

613
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,280
and we didn't have enough to pay
the Lieutenant governor, I ate

614
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,080
it all didn't take a pay.
And so the fact that I did all

615
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,560
that and I have a legacy that
when you Google me, it's he got

616
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,400
pulled for speeding it.
It bothers me that I did that

617
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,480
my, my mess up.
And you, you can't fix that part

618
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:56,480
of my legacy.
And it's not hey, he's one of

619
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:57,840
the hardest guys to ever hold
the job.

620
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,520
Hey, he won with numbers that
nobody ever dreamed of.

621
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,560
He got a leg.
He was for eight years, for

622
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,120
eight years.
I was the youngest Lieutenant

623
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,800
governor of the United States.
Think about that.

624
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,320
And all they got on me is I, I
was speeding.

625
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,760
But that because an opponent
who's a friend of mine had

626
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,600
millions of dollars, they ran
commercial after commercial

627
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,040
after commercial, and it just
drilled that message in.

628
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,560
And it's hard.
And so when you're doing stuff,

629
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,160
you can make one little thing,
one little mistake, and it can

630
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,000
be your legacy.
And so I hate that a little bit

631
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,160
of my legacy will always be a
stupid misstep or two I made

632
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:35,680
along the way.
Such is life.

633
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,600
And I say that so that people
listen to us, can think twice

634
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,560
where you do something dumb.
So you shared that.

635
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:45,080
That was 15 years ago, so it was
more. 2005 is actually when I

636
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,600
got. 20 years ago 20 years ago
20.

637
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,800
Years ago and so, but that
legacy, you know, it's, it's

638
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,480
left on.
So that's one of the biggest

639
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,880
regrets I have.
So how do you overcome that

640
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,440
blemish?
How do you make?

641
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,320
I think you just got to keep on
doing your thing and hope that

642
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:01,920
other things you do in life.
I mean, I hope my kids will be

643
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,200
my biggest legacy.
I, I met someone at 49.

644
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,240
That was my dream come true.
And I've married her.

645
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,640
And I hope that not only being a
father, but a husband, a loyal,

646
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,440
devoted husband, that, that,
that I really care more about

647
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,160
what they think than anybody
else.

648
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,880
They're the ones I can truly
influence a lot more and I can

649
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:25,160
leave them as as people to, to
carry on whatever we do in life.

650
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,600
So they they, I spent almost all
my time with my family and we

651
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,800
are, we are a very close knit
group.

652
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,160
There's three sitting outside
right now waiting on me to take

653
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,240
them somewhere tonight.
And so I got all the boys

654
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:41,560
tonight.
We're going to dinner and then.

655
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,200
Going well, we will be hurrying
this up.

656
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:49,720
And so, you know, you keep on
keeping on and I kind of keep my

657
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,560
head down.
I don't try to get PRI, don't

658
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,120
try to get news.
I, I even, you know, a lot of

659
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,840
people have to have
gratification through fancy cars

660
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,240
or flexing.
And there has been my thing.

661
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,560
I just, I kind of, even when I
meet contractors and stuff, I

662
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,800
try to drive the, the old car
and just tone it down because I

663
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,360
don't want them to think that I
think anymore myself.

664
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,880
I try to treat everybody the
same and try to be fair and

665
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,200
reasonable.
And I have been very blessed

666
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:23,400
beyond my wildest dreams.
And so you try to stay in a

667
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,440
little bit humble because it can
be very easy that, you know, you

668
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,320
get this image that well, he
thinks he's this because of and

669
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,680
I just got that ain't me.
So Speaking of your kids,

670
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,800
they'll be in their 20s soon.
What advice would you give them

671
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,320
or yourself if you were in your
20s?

672
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:44,360
So I'm hard on them every day.
I've had a handful of friends

673
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,560
who've lost their children of
fentanyl in the last couple

674
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,600
years.
And so I am really, really, I

675
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,640
mean, I'm lecturing them all the
time about it's very easy to get

676
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,920
caught in this trap, peer
pressure, people talking into

677
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,120
stuff, have a backbone, stand
up, don't do it.

678
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:00,800
It can change your life like
that.

679
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:05,240
And so we're all big on I saw
your gym when I walked in.

680
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,280
We're all, we're health nuts.
We eat super clean.

681
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,920
We try to do something everyday,
physical fitness, down to even

682
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,240
stuff.
I'm 56 now.

683
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,480
I mean, I still, I go and do
yoga with my wife because I'm

684
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,320
getting a little stuff's getting
a little.

685
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:22,400
So we try to, we've made it a
priority in our life to really

686
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,840
worry about our spiritual
Wellness, our physical Wellness

687
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,480
and our financial Wellness.
And those are the things that we

688
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:32,240
consider first and foremost.
And we so we vacation, we

689
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,800
vacation together.
Everything we do, we do as a

690
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:38,520
close knit group, because as
long as I can have an influence

691
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,680
on them.
And we're talking about college

692
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,160
now.
And the oldest one is talking

693
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,960
about still living with us while
she's in college.

694
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:46,360
And we're talking about business
plan.

695
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:50,040
And I've already started started
them investment accounts that

696
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,760
the dividend gets rolled back in
and you know, they either can

697
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,880
use for a house or business and
that's it.

698
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,920
And so and so they're, they're
getting to watch their numbers

699
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,280
grow each year.
And I gave them an option a long

700
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,280
time ago when I started paying
for doing chores.

701
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,520
If you save it, I'll double it.
If you spend it, you're out of

702
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,040
it.
And so since the three

703
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,639
stepchildren came into my life,
I don't think they ever spent a

704
00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:15,440
paycheck.
I gave them, I always wrote them

705
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,080
a check because I wanted to get
the check.

706
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,440
I wanted them to sign the back
because it's real easy to make

707
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,480
decision when you're signing
somebody else is signing the

708
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,480
check.
But when you're signing the

709
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:27,320
check, all the sudden it's a
whole different animal.

710
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,440
And so in government, it's easy
for these people to give

711
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,760
somebody else's money away.
I was always stingy, like I was

712
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,560
my own money.
I was not going to give away the

713
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,600
taxpayers dollar without
thoroughly vetting what it was

714
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,760
being spent on, and I want to be
able to defend it.

715
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,560
So that's kind of what I'm
trying to put on them.

716
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:45,520
Yeah, that's.
Great.

717
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,560
And as someone that has lived in
South Carolina your whole entire

718
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,560
life, you've seen it grow and
change.

719
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,679
There are people coming here
from all over the place.

720
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,679
So what do you see in the future
of this state and specifically

721
00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:58,560
Greenville, which is home to us?
How do you see Greenville

722
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:00,680
growing and how do we manage
that growth?

723
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,080
I don't know that we're managing
the growth.

724
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:09,640
The growth is all over.
I I would like to have a

725
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,320
conversation with somebody to
tell me because I'm not sure

726
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:16,520
we're managing the growth.
However, that being said, when I

727
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,120
look at Greenville as a whole
compared to, and I've lived in

728
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:24,200
several other cities in South
Carolina, the traffic for the

729
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:29,720
size of the city actually is
more well laid out than than a

730
00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:31,520
lot of the other cities in South
Carolina.

731
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,080
So there are some great.
Look, Greenville, there's a

732
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:35,440
reason why people are moving
here.

733
00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:38,520
We can, we can pontificate and
talk about some of the bad

734
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,720
things, but there's a lot of
amazing things.

735
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:43,480
I mean, look, I chose to live in
Greenville.

736
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,600
I wanted to live in Greenville.
I'm excited about living in

737
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,840
Greenville and we're building
our dream home right now in

738
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,920
Greenville.
And so we're very impressed with

739
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,200
what's going on.
I had a lunch two weeks ago with

740
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,120
one of the members of County
Council and we're talking about

741
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:57,200
some of the stuff that's going
on.

742
00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:00,520
And when you look at things that
have been revitalized, had

743
00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:05,960
revitalization like the Swamp
Rabbit Trail or the new park.

744
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,320
I was with Velda Hughes last
year and trying to help her

745
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,200
finish her her goal of getting
that thing finished.

746
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,280
And she's talked about her
journey and how she'd like to

747
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,160
see that finished and went to
the ribbon cutting ceremony a

748
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,840
couple of months ago to see the
part get finished.

749
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,920
I mean, there's a lot of special
things going on in Greenville.

750
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,840
And it, it's one of the best
places in the country to move.

751
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,640
And we, we're seeing that and
you're seeing it all over.

752
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,920
When I bought that property in
Landrum 2 two years ago, it was

753
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,080
kind of still quiet.
You know, now Dr. Horton's out

754
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:37,640
there, I mean, everybody's
figured it out.

755
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,880
The big boys are figuring out.
Yeah.

756
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,120
Well, cool.
Well, formerly Senate Governor,

757
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:43,240
thank you so much for joining
us.

758
00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:45,480
We know you have WrestleMania.
Yeah.

759
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:45,880
Thank you.