Joe Rogan Experience #2251 - Rick Perry & W. Bryan Hubbard

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The Joe Rogan Experience. (rock music plays)

Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day.

Well, Governor Perry, thank you very much for being here. It's a, it's a pleasure and honor to meet ya. And, uh, Brian, would you explain your relationship and how you guys know each other? And ...

(inhales deeply) I had a public service career in the state of Kentucky, and the last stint of it involved my role as the chairman and executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. (inhales deeply) Within that role, I designed for what, by lack of better term, was the Kentucky Ibogaine Initiative. The state had received $842 million in settlements that'll be paid out over the next 15 years by opioid distributors and manufacturers for their role in the creation and perpetuation of the opioid epidemic. And as the Kentucky Ibogaine Project was developed and executed, I was introduced to Governor Perry as someone who was a believer and advocate in the medicine. He and I developed a professional relationship. He was a vocal supporter and participant in the initiative itself. He appeared by video to give a testimonial about the immense potential around the development of ibogaine. And he also was so wonderfully helpful as to procure an op-ed in Newsweek Magazine in October of last year endorsing the initiative. He has been a tremendous supporter, mentor, and I am privileged to call him my friend.

And Governor, how did you get involved in this?

It's kind of a long story, so, uh, we got the time, if you don't mind-

Sure. We have plenty of time.

... I'll just, uh, take you back. 2006, uh, my wife made me go on vacation, which I don't necessarily do very good, 'cause I have a little bit of ADHD, and-

(laughs)

... uh, vacations are sitting on the beach, uh, some place. It's not high on my list of good things to do. But, uh, anyway, I went with her, and she took me to, uh, Coronado Island and, uh, the Hotel Del, uh, which is a fascinatingly interesting place. But my security detail went out early, and they were stopped there, I think, on, on Orange, um, and, uh, Orange Drive, the little b- breakfast nook, and they had walked in where they were supposed to meet the California Highway Patrol, uh, to do our advance. And there was this big guy, looked about like you, all buff and slicked-off head, and pretty healthy-looking boy, and they thought that was the patrolman they were supposed to meet. They went over, introduced themselves and said, "Are you here to, uh, meet Governor Perry?" And the guy went, "No, but I vote for him every chance I get." (laughs) And this kid happened to be a JTAC with SEAL Team 5, uh, who was a farmer, or was an F/A-18 driver who was assigned to SEAL Team 5 to go out on their next assignment. And, um, they just met him by the grace of God. And the kid gave him his card and said, "Hey, if the governor would like to go on a tour of the Special Warfare Center, I'd love to give him a tour." Well, the detail shows up next day, says, "Hey, we met this kid." And that's right down my alley, right? I, rather than sitting on the beach, take me over and show me what the Special Warfare Center does. And on Saturday morning, we went over, got that tour, and this young man led the tour, and he had a big old tall drink of water with him in his cammies and that assisted with the tour. Took about three hours to finish this tour. We finish it, and this young man says, "Did Marcus tell you where he was last weekend?" I said, "No." He said, "Yes, sir" once and "No, sir" once. He said, "Well, he was at the White House receiving the Navy Cross." Well, I know what the Navy Cross is, and, uh, I went back to the hotel room, looked it up on my computer, there's no mention of this Marcus Luttrell anywhere on my computer. And, uh, we had asked them to go have dinner with us the, uh, that night just to s- say thank you for their time and what have you, and that evening as we get back to the restaurant, friend is asking him all questions about what was it that he did. And the, during the conversation, Operation Red Wing came up, and, uh, and we finished dinner. I tell him, I said, "Look. Give me your mom's phone number. I'll call her when we get back to, to Texas, and if you're ever through Austin, come by and see me." Right? Which I would tell to, I probably told to hundreds of people, Joe, um, if, if we had known each other in those days. I would have said, "Hey, Joe. If you're ever through Austin, come by and see me." Fat chance you're going to come and knock on the door of the governor's mansion, right? Can't do it. So it's a nice thing to say, but realizing that you, they're not gonna show up. Well, I went back, looked up Operation Red Wing, and that's when my computer kind of blew up and I figured out who this young man was. And you remember in 2006-