Eastern Europe is looking for strength from the White House, and instead, they’re getting weakness, Starnes Media Group CEO Dalton Glasscock said on the Todd Starnes Show.
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The international relations chair for the National Federation of Young Republicans spoke with host Todd Starnes after a trip to Eastern Europe to see the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The following is a rush transcript from The Todd Starnes Radio Show. Listen to the program live Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. Click here to listen to the full interview.
TODD STARNES: [00:43:45] I Want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. The fellow who runs my company is with us. He’s also the international relations chair for the National Federation of Young Republicans, and he just got back from Eastern Europe – Dalton Glasscock. Dalton, welcome back to America. [00:44:04][18.8]
DALTON GLASSCOCK: [00:44:06] Todd. Glad to be here and glad to be back in the United States. [00:44:08][2.8]
STARNES: [00:44:09] Alright. Yeah, I bet you are. I want you to tell our listeners where you were in Eastern Europe. [00:44:15][6.1]
GLASSCOCK: [00:44:16] Yeah, so the original trip was planned for Albania, and we did end up spending three days in Albania. However, we added a three-day extension to the front side of our trip to visit the Polish Ukrainian border. So, I spent three days in Poland at the border at a train station that was welcoming refugees in, and then we flew from there over to Albania. [00:44:39][22.4]
STARNES: [00:44:40] So I’m curious, Dalton, if you could just explain – Can you tell us who was a part of the delegation, and what did you guys see when you were there? [00:44:48][8.6]
GLASSCOCK: [00:44:49] Yeah, so we went over with a few members of the Polish Parliament; They were the ones that invited us, and they wanted us to see firsthand the consequences of Putin’s war and see really the faces that are crossing the border firsthand as well. So, it was myself, I went over there with Rick Loughery, the national chairman of the Young Republicans, and again, we went over with a few members of the Polish Parliament. We really saw the most devastating situation that Europe has seen since World War II. Seeing people come across the border, you saw young families, you know, walking across the border carrying whatever suitcase they might have had. You saw older women being pushed across the border in wheelchairs, and we were at the walking border, so every person that we saw came across the border walking. So, whatever they could carry with themselves, they didn’t have any transportation, and they were being picked up in Poland and taken either somewhere else in The European Union or deeper into the Polish territory. [00:45:49][60.0]
STARNES: [00:45:50] So Dalton, the reporting we have been seeing in the media is that men, grown men, are not allowed to cross the border. They’ve got to stay and fight. From your eyewitness accounts, did you did you notice it was primarily females and children? [00:46:04][13.3]
GLASSCOCK: [00:46:05] I did not see one man cross the border. It was only women and children crossing the border, not one man came across. I actually saw men cross from Poland into Ukraine, and that was the only people crossing back across the border, which I found very fascinating. [00:46:21][16.1]
STARNES: [00:46:22] Oh, that is interesting. And as far as the Polish government, they have to be getting concerned, because Russia could be sharing a border with them. And I mean, if the Russians decide to go ahead and, you know, throw down. [00:46:38][16.0]
GLASSCOCK: [00:46:39] Well, I think that’s something that we’ve missed as Americans. We spend a lot of our time and energy focusing on humanitarian aid for Ukraine, which is needed and must continue. However, Poland is facing the brunt of millions of refugees crossing their border and their handling it firsthand. What I found fascinating as well is there is not one refugee camp in Poland. The Polish are opening their actual homes to welcome these refugees, and they know firsthand what war in Europe looks like. Poland was one of the most devastated countries in World War II, so they’ve taken it upon themselves to open up their homes to people. And that’s what I found incredible is that there’s not one refugee camp in the entire country of Poland, and they’ve had nearly four million refugees flee Ukraine at this point. [00:47:26][46.5]
STARNES: [00:47:26] Our Dalton Glasscock on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line spent some time over in Eastern Europe, Poland, and Albania. I’m curious about this: I know you’ve had some high-level meetings there. What were they saying about how Biden is handling all of this? Because we’re hearing a lot of horrible stories coming out of the White House and coming from our allies, and everybody’s pretty concerned about the messaging. [00:47:56][29.4]
GLASSCOCK: [00:47:57] The theme that I heard really whether I was in Poland or Albania, is that America has done a lot of talking about what we’re not going to do instead of talking about what we will do if certain lines are crossed. And I think that they miss the defiance that you saw in a Trump presidency in somebody that was willing to stand up. And again, Biden keeps telling Russians what we’re not going to do. We’re not going to do this; we’re not going to do that. Instead, he needs we say if you do this, this is how we are going to retaliate. And I think they wanted to see force and strength from the American government. [00:48:29][31.8]
STARNES: [00:48:30] And I remember if you go back during the Trump administration, Dalton, the Polish really did embrace Donald Trump, I think probably more so than any other country in Europe. They love that guy. [00:48:41][11.5]
GLASSCOCK: [00:48:43] Well, yeah, if you look at Eastern Europe, their conservatives are far more similar to the conservatives in America than those you see in Western Europe, so France or the U.K. And so, we found a lot of similarities when we were visiting, again, whether that be in Poland or Albania. Those conservatives feel the brunt of communism and fascism firsthand, so they know what the consequences without strong conservative policies, and without a strong America look like in real terms. [00:49:10][27.6]
STARNES: [00:49:11] Alright, you got to see all this firsthand. Did your opinions change at all in and how we should be handling all of this and how involved we should be? [00:49:21][10.0]
GLASSCOCK: [00:49:22] I mean, I think America should continue to be the leader of the free world, and I think we’ve abdicated that responsibility time and time again. People look up to America and especially in Eastern Europe, they look up to America. When we were visiting, again, whether it was Albania or Poland, we presented flags flown over the United States Capitol to some of the members, the high members of the delegation that we met. And in almost every single instance you saw people get emotional, and it’s just making me emotional thinking about seeing their reaction. Probably the most memorable moment was when we presented a flag flown over the Capitol to a member of the Border Patrol in Poland patrolling the border between Poland and Ukraine, and he was getting choked up. He said that words can’t describe how much this meant to him. To see how much the flag means to people outside of our country was something that I took away, that people still look up to America. When we were driving through Albania, I saw almost as many American flags flying in people’s yard as Albanian flags. You go to the rallies and they fly American flags with Albanian flags. The fact our flag means something, and that America is more than just a country, it’s an idea to people across world, and we can’t lose sight of that at all. [00:50:35][73.3]
STARNES: [00:50:36] No, we can’t. And I’m glad you were there. We didn’t pay for this, did we? I hope the Republicans picked up the flight for you. [00:50:42][6.2]
GLASSCOCK: [00:50:44] Starnes Media Group did not pay for the trip abroad. [00:50:46][2.0]
STARNES: [00:50:46] All right, good. I was about to say; I can barely get a flight out to Dallas. [00:50:51][4.6]
GLASSCOCK: [00:50:54] Well, you will have to ask HR about that. [00:50:56][1.5]
STARNES: [00:50:56] Yeah, wait a second. I think I am HR. Alright, Dalton, we’re glad you’re back, and I’m shocked they let you back in the country, but I’m glad they did. So that’s good. [00:51:05][9.3]
GLASSCOCK: [00:51:06] Quick thing; The COVID regulations are extreme over there, and I was told twice that my vaccine had expired when I was trying to coming back to America. I didn’t know vaccines could expire. So, hopefully we’re going to get over this very quickly, not just in America, but across the world too. [00:51:21][15.3]
STARNES: [00:51:22] Was everybody masked up crossing the border? I’m curious. [00:51:24][2.7]
GLASSCOCK: [00:51:27] No. On the Ukrainian border, there were a few masks here and there. What I found very interesting was while I was leaving Albania, not one person, in the Albanian airport was wearing a mask. [00:51:36][8.7]
STARNES: [00:51:37] Good for them. I don’t know anything about Albania, but I like them. Alright, Dalton Glasscock, our world traveler. We’re proud of you. You’re representing the company, and you represented the Country and the Republicans quite well over there. So, we’re glad you’re back and you’re safe. [00:51:55][17.7]
GLASSCOCK: [00:51:56] Well, thank you for giving me the chance to tell the story of the people I saw over there. [00:51:59][3.2]
