Who?

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) — leading Alabama gubernatorial candidate

Transcript: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (9-23-2026)

SCENE: Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo’s been staking out the Capitol’s basement all morning on a slow day on Capitol Hill when he spots Sen. Tommy Tuberville and an aide walking toward a bank of elevators.

ICYMI — Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo’s write-up…

After they greet each other, Laslo hops on as they ride an elevator up to Tuberville’s office in the historic Russell Senate Office Building. He then proceeds to ask the leading Alabama gubernatorial candidate what he makes of the news that Vice President JD Vance’s fraud task force was booting 750,000 people out of Obamacare (aka, the Affordable Care Act).

Matt Laslo: “Do you think JD Vance did a good job?”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville: “Yeah. I mean, good job; this is the first group that ever tried to clean it up. We’re losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day to fraud. We can’t afford it.”

Laslo: “Some people say your party’s, you know, punishing the ‘least of these?’”

Tuberville: “Punishing what?”

Laslo: “‘The least of these’ — biblical reference.”

*Bible Reference: “’Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” — Matthew 25:40

Tuberville: “The least of these?”

Laslo: “The least of these — the poor people — that they’re getting punished.”

Tuberville: “Well, we’re all getting punished. We’re all in the same boat.”

Democrats wept.

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Who?

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI)

Ask a Pol asks:

How do you feel about canceling the early session early?

Key Van Orden:

“I work. I will be here tomorrow,”* Rep. Derrick Van Orden exclusively tells Ask a Pol.

*Interview was conducted Wednesday; Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the previously scheduled Thursday legislative session.

Caught our ear:

“I will f****** punch someone in the face for talking about Hegseth,” Van Orden tells us.

Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), slightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (9-16-2026)

Laslo: How do you feel about canceling the early session early?

Van Orden: I work. I will be here tomorrow.*

*Interview was conducted Wednesday; Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the previously scheduled Thursday legislative session.

Laslo: Some folks are saying it’s because of [Republican Rep. Thomas] Massie’s impeachment against [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth.

Van Orden: I have no idea.

Laslo: But wouldn’t a lot of you want to stand up for Hegseth?

Van Orden: Yeah. I will f****** punch someone in the face for talking about Hegseth.

Laslo: Yeah?

Van Orden: He just changed the culture of the Department of War to focus on war. And anybody that’s talking s*** about him doesn’t know what they’re talking about. I’m talking about [the June 2025 Iranian Operation] Midnight Hammer. Absolute resolve. The greatest special operations mission in the history of special operations.

Laslo: Yeah?

Van Orden: And they prevented Iran from having a nuclear weapon by pulling off the most amazing air raid in the history of air raids. So it’s incredible. The amount of effort that Pete Hegseth has put into this job is absolutely, it’s insane how good it is. And I still have a ton of friends on active duty.

Laslo: Yeah?

Van Orden: And they were just demoralized. Look at the recruiting numbers. They’re meeting and exceeding recruiting numbers, you know, by months and months and months. You know why? Leaders.

Laslo: Huh?

Van Orden: So if these morons are talking s*** about Pete, you know, they’re barking up the wrong tree.

Laslo: Why were they demoralized?

Van Orden: Because of Biden. Oh, my God, are you kidding me?

Laslo: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Van Orden: You got a corpse as commander-in-chief who abandoned thousands of American citizens and our allies to the Taliban. Abbey Gate never had to happen. Any of that stuff. Gutted the military. The reason you didn’t hear them talking smack is because members of the military are professional.

Laslo: Would you...?

Van Orden: Publicly.

Laslo: Yeah?

Van Orden: Privately, oh my gosh!

Laslo: What’d you make of your boy Massie — fellow Republican — dropping it?

Van Orden burps.

Van Orden: Excuse me.

Van Orden: Thomas Massie has lost the bubble.

Laslo: Lost the what?

Van Orden: Lost the bubble.

Laslo: The bubble? What’s the bubble?

Van Orden: Thomas Massie has done more damage to the Republican Party than any Democrat in Congress.

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