Editor’s Note: The interview took place via Zoom on 12/27/21.
Garrit: Can you introduce yourself?
Dan: Sure. I’m Dan Thomas. I was a news broadcaster for about 21 years and ended up as the evening anchor at the number one rated CBS and Fox affiliate in Sherman, Texas. I got fired because of the vaccine mandate, so now I’m in politics. I’ve been a politician now for about 12 days. Hopefully, it’s lucky for us, and I’m looking for ways to bring a little bit of sanity back to this country.
Garrit: Could you speak more about your firing due to the vaccine mandates?
Dan: Sure. I worked for Gray Television. It was a small station in Sherman, Texas. We covered parts of North Texas and southern Oklahoma along the Red River—it’s a little region we called Texoma. Our viewing area surrounded Lake Texoma. So, it was a fantastic opportunity at a time when television was taking a nosedive in a lot of markets. People were not quite watching television news the way they used to. We were a little island where we had fantastic ratings and great success. We were building an audience, had better ratings every year, and were hit with a vaccine mandate. The company based out of Atlanta, Georgia, came up with this rule that they would require everyone to get vaccinated, but they were also going to give exceptions for everybody. So, people filled out these accommodation forms and turned them in. In my case, I went to talk to my doctor—I had already had COVID and, therefore, I have natural immunity. So, I wasn’t super worried about infecting my coworkers or spreading it. Based on all the latest studies, it shows that natural immunity is pretty good. So, I felt like I wasn’t a danger to others. So, I had not gotten the vaccine. I went to talk to my doctor, who advised me that I should not get the vaccine because I have an existing allergy to some ingredients in the vaccines—it’s two types of preservatives. So, my doctor filled out the form, and I turned it in on the day that Joe Biden came out with his vaccine mandate—any company with 100 or more people had to enforce this ridiculous vaccine rule where you had to either be tested weekly or get the vaccine. My company said they couldn’t afford the testing—they have over 5,000 people in the company. They’re the second-largest television ownership group in the country. So, they rejected my accommodation and the accommodations of several other people I worked with, and we were all out of a job.
Garrit: So, outside of running for Congress, what have you been doing since your firing?
Dan: Well, I am looking for work, and running for Congress is probably like two full-time jobs. So it’s been pretty busy. I have like a 17-hour day every day. There’s a lot of people very interested in bringing some sanity back to this world. We’re getting new contacts every day. You can go to danthomasforcongress.com to find a little bit more about my story and contact us. If you’re up here in the North Texas area (Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar, Hopkins, and Rockwall, to name a few of the counties in this district), give us a buzz and see what we can do. It’s going to take a lot of people. The thing I found out about running for Congress is that it isn’t just a one-person job—it’s a team effort. So, we need a lot of people on our team. We’ve already got a lot of good people and are looking for more.
Garrit: How do you think your experience in journalism and with never holding elected office will transfer over to Congress?
Dan: Well, I hope it doesn’t transfer over. A lot of people talk about, “oh, you’re not experienced. You can’t go into Congress.” We need our representatives to bring a wide range of experience. If we keep relying on these experienced politicians, we’re going to keep getting what we’ve always got. I think that’s a big problem. We don’t have a lack of people that talk a good game on the campaign trail, and that tell us all the conservative things that we want to hear. I adamantly believe in the Constitution. If we can get back to the fundamental, God-given rights you have as an individual and keep the government from infringing on those, 99% of the problems that we all argue about every day are going to go away. We have to return this country to constitutional values, but that’s something you’ve probably heard before from a politician on the campaign trail. We don’t have a shortage of politicians that can talk that way on the campaign trail. What happens is they go to Washington, and through some backroom deal, they’ve got some way to profit off the system the way it is—not the system they told us they would make it when they got up there. We need to return this country to constitutional values. I have a proven record of standing up for rights—for my individual rights. I’ll stand up for the rights of people here in District Four in North Texas, we’ll make sure that our conservative voice is actually heard in this debate going on right now in this country, and I’ll stand up to it no matter what it costs me. I have a proven record of that, and I’ll do it in Washington too.
Garrit: With that, why are you running for Congress? Specifically, why are you challenging Congressman Pat Fallon?
Dan: Pat Fallon, he’s been up there a little bit less than a year. People can Google his record if they want. That’s about all I’ll say about him. I’m running for Congress for every reason that I just told you. We need someone that can actually follow through on the things they talk about on the campaign trail and isn’t up there to personally profit. I’m for fundamental constitutional rights—your unalienable rights as an American. That includes your Second Amendment rights. I’m against Red Flag laws 100% of the time. You shouldn’t be labeled as a person that’s not able to have a gun just based on some medical diagnosis—that’s completely unconstitutional. So, I’ll be against that in every form. My basic promise to the voters is that I’ll read every bill. If they don’t give me enough time to read it, my vote will be no. It’ll be just that simple. So, I’m not going to bow to the Washington pressure because I’m not up there to profit off of it. I think that’s too often what we have in Washington. We have these representatives that go up there, and they end up profiting off of the system the way it is. I don’t believe that our system was ever meant for people to go up there and stay forever. It’s not meant for people to go up there and self-deal. I’m an independent voice, I have conservative values, I’ll go up there and represent this district, and I’ll get done what I say I’m going to get done. After that, we’ll return and go on with life. I don’t plan to be up there for the rest of my life.
Garrit: So, President Trump has endorsed Pat Fallon. He is also an incumbent congressman. How do you plan to defeat him in the primary, and how do you convince Republicans to support you?
Dan: Yeah, sure. I think that people who do their research on both of us…there are actually three people in this…it will be a matter of people doing the research and learning about each candidate. I think they’ll like what I have to say when they do. You know, everybody’s got to stand by their votes. So, I believe in basic things that he (Fallon) would probably disagree on. One of them is that I don’t think that we should force women to register for the draft right now. We’re just not at that point. That’s a vote that he made to require women to register for selective service. I don’t think we’re at that point in this country. Now, if there came to be some apocalyptic scenario where China is invading the country, and we need everybody we can get, I would hope that Congress will still be on the job at that point and change the laws as necessary. But at this point, to vote for making women register for selected services is just some sort of signal to the woke Washington elite that you’re “not really like the rest of those conservatives.” I’m not too fond of those kinds of votes. It’s a statement vote. We’re simply not at that point in this country where we have to require…now if women want to serve in the military, they’re welcome to sign up voluntarily. It’s a vote that he (Fallon) defends. That’s something where we differ. I think everybody should do their research on this, look up each candidate in this race, and decide for themselves.
Garrit: Moving on to some specific policy positions. With your experience with the vaccine mandates, what specifically do you think Congress needs to do or what would you do to fight against President Biden’s vaccine mandates?
Dan: You know, I think that when the Republicans take the majority in the House, we’re going to be able to do a lot of things that maybe they’re not able to do right now. What has to happen is individuals have to stand up. If we all stood up and said, “we’re not going to work for a company that does this,” it would end. It would be just that simple. If you look at all of the supply chain issues that we have right now, a lot of that has to do with the ridiculous vaccine mandate. There are a million other factors that the Biden economic crisis has caused with this supply chain issue. It’s not just the vaccine mandate, but that’s a massive part of it right now. So, people need to wake up. Just because it hasn’t hit you or you already got the vaccine doesn’t make it okay. Everybody can do their part to stand up to this. We all have an individual right to our bodies. Now, if your boss wants to require you to wear a particular uniform while you’re at work, that’s fine, but he can’t require you to wear that uniform in your sleep, on the weekends, on the holidays, or while you’re on vacation. He can’t require you to do that. If he did, you’d say, “oh, that’s ridiculous.” But that’s exactly what they’re doing with this vaccine, and people wouldn’t for one-second work for somebody that required them to wear a uniform all day long, every day, even in their sleep. That’s what they do when they require you to take a medical procedure. Your body is your body every day, all day long. So, people need to wake up in this country. They need to understand that your liberties are being taken away from you right now. So, a lot of this is admittedly outside the grasp of Washington. It needs to be where the people take back ownership of their rights in this country. That’s a big part of being a representative. Even if your political party is in the minority, we need representatives that can stand up and articulate that to everyone and give everyone a little bit of courage out there to stand up for themselves and stand up for the Constitution. As an individual, you have a right to say what medical procedure you put in your body—that’s a fundamental right that we have in the Constitution.
Garrit: Do you think we are reaching the point where most people will actively stop following these mandates?
Dan: I sure hope so. Some days, I’m encouraged. Some days, I’m not. It’s funny when I get out and talk to people here; I’m very encouraged. You don’t have to look too far to find people, at least here in Paris, Texas, and all over District 4, that believe in their constitutional rights as individuals. They believe in individual liberty. This country was founded on the idea of a rugged individual. We’re losing that in so many ways. I think it’s time that we had a strong voice to stand up for that and return this country to its constitutional values. I see a lot of support around here, and I hope that translates at the polls. We’ll find out. So, I’m very encouraged by the people in this area. On the news, though, it seems like some parts of this country have completely lost their minds. So, it’s hard to say. One thing is for sure; I think that in District 4 here in North Texas, we’re going to have a strong voice added to this debate.
Garrit: Moving on to the issues of inflation and the national debt. Inflation, in particular, has gotten pretty bad these past few months due to the Biden administration. In what specific ways would you curtail the spending going on under this administration?
Dan: The spending is one obvious thing, of course. But the more significant issue with inflation is the money printing—the quantitative easing, as they call it. It’s beyond theory. I mean, Garrit, it used to be that maybe five years ago, a liberal tried to tell us that, “oh, we can print our way out of this,” and it used to be that conservative-minded people would say, “no, this can’t last forever. There will come a day where this endless money printing will cause out of control inflation.” Well, wake up everybody, this is the day the endless money printing has finally hit home. These inflation numbers that we’re seeing are downplayed. People would be alarmed if we still use the same inflationary standards they had back in the late 70s. There’d be widespread panic in this country. Over the past several decades, they’ve carefully manipulated those numbers to lull us into believing that inflation is under control. I’ve got news for you; it is not. So, people have to wake up. They can’t keep doing this trillion-dollar spending bill after trillion-dollar spending bill and printing money to pay for it—money that our grandchildren aren’t going to be able to pay back. The endless money printing has to stop in Washington DC—that’s the root of it. Part of that is spending because they don’t even tax anymore—they just print more money. I mean, they do plenty of taxing—but the money printing is the key part of the inflation equation.
Garrit: Do you think there’s room for reform with programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which are significant drivers of the debt?
Dan: Absolutely. It’s funny, we passed these entitlements, and it’s a debate in one generation, and then it becomes the norm in the next generation. We’re expected to go along and keep them in place. There’s a lot of opportunities there, especially for Social Security, to allow people the option to privatize it. That would help the entire country if you could manage those funds yourself in some controlled system. As far as Medicaid and Medicare, it’s the thing where we keep expanding the role of government. It’s becoming ever more intrusive into our lives. At some point, somebody just has to say no. That’s really what it’ll take is representatives that have the courage to go up to Washington and say, “no, we’ve got enough government spending programs. We need to curtail it and think of ways to get the government out of these programs.” So, that would be the way to do it.
Garrit: Continuing with the federal government’s role, you talk about critical race theory on your website. This is a multiple-part question, but first off, what do you think is the federal government’s role as it pertains to education?
Dan: Federal government, I think it’s a role that’s duplicated 50 times over? It’s just a pass-through. The role of the Department of Education can be pared down. It could even be eliminated. That’s the direction where we need to be headed because the federal government is duplicating a job done 50 times over by 50 different states. So, each state knows what’s best for them. They know how to best educate their children. Education is best done on the local level. We need to do things to re-empower parents—not continue to power the federal government for a one-size-fits-all education system. What may work for kids in Hawaii may not work for kids in Texas. So, we can’t keep enforcing this exact one size fits all education system for the entire country. That’s what we need to do. We need to figure out a way to pare down the Department of Education. I’d be in favor of eliminating it and, maybe, leaving a couple of dozen people there to do some paperwork. Other than that, it needs to be dramatically limited.
Garrit: Do you think the federal government could play any role in stopping critical race theory in schools, or do you think that should be strictly managed at the state and local levels?
Dan: I think that probably the most important position that you will be voting on this year will be your local school board. That’s the place where you need to start to stop critical race theory. That’s where it’s coming in. Too many of these school boards believe that they work to serve the school administrator—no, they work to serve the taxpayer. So, the school boards need to realize that they have a duty to the students and the taxpayer and not indoctrinate children on nonsense. It’s not going to yield any positive results in their life at all. It could lead to a very negative outcome in society, teaching children to judge each other based on race. Who would have thought this would be the debate that we’re having at this day and age, and it all starts with your local school board? So yeah, the federal government primarily has been driving this. I wouldn’t look for them to help stop it now. But I know that if you take control of your local school board, you can stop it. That’s the first place to start.
Garrit: You also talked on your website about ending corruption. Can you speak more on that and what exactly that means?
Dan: If you look up STOCK Act violations (the insider trading law for Congress), for instance. When congressional representatives trade stock based on insider knowledge that the public doesn’t have, that’s called a violation of the STOCK Act (Stock Trading On Congressional Knowledge). If you’re trading on private information that you learned in the office of a private business that you worked for, you’d be in huge trouble. There’s a massive fine (you can look up the fines for insider trading). When Congress does that, it’s not millions of dollars in fines and federal prison time like it would be for you at your private job; it’s a $200 fine. So that, to me, is an example of basic corruption. That’s one example. People can learn more about that for themselves. Just Google, your congressman, and STOCK Act violations—you can see how widespread that is right now in Congress. Another thing that I think people should look at is what our congressmen do for their private jobs outside of Congress. Do those jobs contract with federal government departments? That’s a very important aspect as well. So, you’ve got a lot to learn about your congressmen and what they are actually up to when they’re not in Congress. So, I think you can see the picture for yourself. Once you start doing a little bit of research…and I think that’s what this election will all be about, are people learning about some of the things that are going on up there…all of a sudden, things start making a lot more sense. How did we get to this point in society? Well, it happened because we have representatives tell us everything we want to hear on the campaign trail, and then they go up there, and it turns out that they’re profiting off of the system.
Garrit: Republicans are poised to win the House in 2022. Would you support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House if you are elected?
Dan: I don’t know. We’ll have to look at who else is running. It’s probably something I would look at. Yeah.
Garrit: If you are elected and given the opportunity, would you join the House Freedom Caucus?
Dan: Yeah, I would like to. Yes, I would. I’m very much aligned with the ideals of the Freedom Caucus.
Garrit: If you are elected, how will you take on the establishment?
Dan: Well, I think by reading every bill. I think that’s where we get into a lot of trouble. A lot of representatives are like, “oh, I didn’t realize they slipped that in.” Well, I think that’s something you have to be expecting. So, conservatives, for whatever reason, get up to Washington, and they stop reading these bills while these liberals are always looking for an opportunity to insert something about critical race theory, red flag laws, or attacking our Second Amendment into the bills. So, we should do the same. We should never take a bill off. That would be my promise to the voters that I’ll read every bill, and if I don’t have enough time to read it, the vote will be no.
Garrit: My final question to you is, do you have any final thoughts or words as we end the interview?Dan: Yeah, go to danthomasforcongress.com and find out a little bit more about me, and do your research on who you’re voting for this time around. Let’s see if we can talk. If our ideals align, you can pop your email into that, and we can stay in touch.
