we're back now with overtime with the attorney general, former Attorney general Mike Cox running for governor as a Republican.

Did ice overreact in Minnesota?

To the fact that there was hundreds of protesters?

No.

Two people dead?

Now, you know, when you when you have that amount of conflict, you know, there's going to be tragedies, unfortunately.

So that was just collateral damage?

No, of course not.

You know, I'm not going to le you frame the question that way.

My wife was in ICE for 13 years.

When I met her.

She was undercover.

And, you know, she encountere a lot of dangerous situations.

Do members of police forces sometimes overreact?

Yes.

Does that make the tha we shouldn't have a police force or that we should not attempt to get illegal felons, Off the street?

Illegal aliens felons, you know, my in Livonia, in Livonia, the Livonia mayor, shot off her mouth last week that we're not goin to cooperate with ICE anymore.

And they just picked up a gu a month before an Israeli dude who is a B and E man and, had a drug felony drug offenses.

And it's like, that doesn't help make Livonia safer.

Of course it does.

So should they be wearing masks and the body cameras?

Body camera they already said they would do.

And I think that makes sense for ordinary street cops do.

Masks?

General.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Masks?

Well, if they're going to be doxxed, yes.

General.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, if I ra the show, I'd have body cameras and maybe I'd have some numbered ID, right?

General, speakin of, Michigan's putrid economy.

Right.

It is putrid.

What about Michigan' economic Development Corporation and the approach that that has taken?

how would you change that?

I mean, that is a big, big issue in this governor's race or should be.

It really is.

I'm glad you asked.

So I think about Matt Ishbia, right.

I met him in 2008.

He was employe number 15 in his dad's company.

Great recession comes along.

He figures out, I'm gonna go online like Dan Gilbert.

He now has 9000 employees in a beautiful facility.

No one could have predicted that, right?

No one could have predicted what your grandfather did.

No one could predict what?

Larry Ellison at Oracle or the guys at Nvidia or Meta or Google, the biggest companies in the world.

No one can.

And in a governor can't predict that.

I mean, that's ludicrous.

Or some 30 year I was a economic development guy in Calhoun County, and the I went to the city of Lansing.

They don't have the ability.

So it's to me, you know Rick Snyder had the right idea, which is lower the burden on everyone.

And then let the flowers identify themselves in the weeds will die off.

Is that that's, you know, when I built my business, no one gave me money to pay the lease.

No one gave me money for jobs.

I had to figure it out.

And and most business works that way.

We have 900,000 small business men and women.

That's 99.6% of all the businesses in Michigan.

And they provide the most growth, you know, throwing money to legacy companies, whether it be Buick or GM or Ford, isn't the way to go.

Emily So do we need the MEDC at all?

Not in its current configuration.

I mean, it's a failure.

No one has confidence if I'm if I'm a business man or woman or a corporation, you pick the town.

and I know that the MEDC is viewed in Michigan as a failed and corrupt institution.

And why do I want to deal with it?

One thing we've incentivized in Michigan recently is data centers.

They get a specific tax break.

they also have gotten some swift treatment from the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Do you agree with that course of action?

Should we be courting these facilities?

But, you know, don't have high jobs numbers, but do bring new industry to Michigan?

Well, part of the I, I hat the fact that we're willy nilly.

So I'm not you know, two years ago, the governor in the in the legislature, including Republicans said, we want to do this tax break.

I'm not going to be the guy says two years later, let's rip that tax break out.

but what I am about is number one, keep local control.

I mean, people forget or don't know.

We have 70 data centers in Michigan right now, and a lot of communities have welcomed them and they've cut good deals.

So my I have two rules.

Number one, if your community wants it, cut a deal.

If your community doesn't, you have to keep local control.

And the other piece is, if they want, if they want a piece of the pie, they have to build their own.

I mean, they have to build their own energy generation.

Mr.. Attorney general, if elected to be the chie executive officer of this state, would you want the presiden to continue his tariff policy?

Federal reserve just came out with the report that said 90% of the costs are being borne by Americans.

Well I haven't seen that, but I saw, the day that the president was in, there was a panel last time is at the economic Detroit Economic Club where a skeptical of M research economists said, in fact, tariffs are starting to pay off for Michigan.

so, Chuck I can't really comment on that.

On the Federal Reserve, I just view the numbers as the right thing.

And and just on a personal level, I had four uncles and aunts that were for UAW.

My dad worked for Ford amongst my cousins and amongst my nephews and nieces.

That's not the case.

I have one brother in law who builds F-150 trucks, the UAW guy.

And, and I go, when you travel overseas, you don't see F-150 trucks, which everyone in the world would want.

But I can drive around my neighborhood and I can see beamers.

Well not in Livonia.

But other people's neighborhoods, I can see Beamers and Mercedes and, Hyundais.

And there is there is a rig rule or there has been and the president's just moving the needle on that.

But generally speaking, you'd think tariffs are a good way to be able to, use as a negotiating tool to be able to do business and have a good economy.

Or is there's something that you feel it should be a last resort and not a first resort?

I favor governors and presidents who use all, especially if they're of my side, who use all the tools available to them.

And that's what Trump's doing.

And, you know, I intend to do the same thing as governor.

I'm going to use every single powe the governor has in order to fix education and fix our economy.

Do you want the president endorsement?

Of course.

I'd be a fool not to.

And then if you got the endorsement, would you have to change colors in order to run in a general election?

No.

Look, Tim, I ran, I'm the guy who tol a Republican secretary of state you can issue driver's license to illegals anymore.

A lot of the things the president talks about.

I talked about his AG.

Yeah, I here's how I govern.

I think of the people I grew up with in Redford and 950 square foot houses, and everyone was a working man or woman, and no one had a college degree in my neighborhood.

That still shapes how I view the world.

So and that's that's who Trump wins with.

You need to get the up who' your running mate going to be?

I have no idea.

I won't think of that until the day after the.

It's going to be woman, is it not?

Are you suggesting I run with my wife as lieutenant governor?

I don't think I said that, but.

She's already turned the job down.

She has.

Do you feel you're a stronger candidate now than you were in 2008 for governor?

I am.

Why?

Because I've had, look I spent, and people don't realize I spent 13 years as a homicide prosecutor in Detroit.

I ran all the homicides under Duggan.

He promote the one Republican in the office to run the most sensitive unit.

And, but I never been in the private sector.

And, like there were times when I had $1 million loan out as signed over everything my my pension, my house, everything.

And I had to make payroll.

The 15th and 30th.

And I remember one time Laura came to me, it was like Tuesday the 12th and our payroll was like 77,000 and change and we had $31,000 or $28,000 in our account.

It's like, what the hell are we going to do?

Right?

And I had to figure it out.

And those experience is just make you stronger, more resilient and more creative over time.

Mr.

Duggan being in this race is that helping or hurting you?

you know, I like I'm ready to take on Jocelyn Benson one on one.

But him being in the race, if it's like every other independent race, he's going to be like a souffle.

He's going to rise and he's going to fall.

And that will help Republicans.

So you win with Mike Dugga sucking away Democratic votes?

I win whether it's Mike Duggan, Jocelyn Benson and I or whether it's Jocelyn Benson and I. Look, I beat the one of the most resourceful Democrat politicians of the past 35 years.

And I did it when he spent more money and and when I didn't know boo about politics.

And Jocelyn Benson is afraid of her own shadows.

Afraid to take any position that's different.

afraid, you know, she is so far removed from the averag working person here in Michigan.

whether it's one on one or the three of us together, I don't really care Tim.

Alright say hi to all our fans in the U.P.

okay?

I will I will.

All three of them.

I don't think on a good day.

On a good day.

Good to see you.

Mr.

Attorney General.. Thank you.

I appreciate it.