Former Congressman and Interior Secretary Zinke on Talk Back

Former U.S. Representative and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke appeared this week on the KGVO Talk Back show as part of his campaign for the newly established western district Congressional seat.

Zinke was asked about supply line issues and how inflation has eroded the U.S. dollar.

“You know, the America First policy means you don't want to be dependent upon a foreign entity for critical minerals. Such as our oil and gas or energy or our food and other commodities,” said Zinke. “You know, over time, they get more valuable, things like food. Of course inflation is tough on everybody. But yeah, I think it is a concern.”

One caller asked Zinke specifically about his time as Interior Secretary and the care of national forests.

“You know, I spent a lot of time as Secretary of Interior in the field talking to superintendents, and you are absolutely right in that most of the plans have sustainable yields, and they have prescribed burns, but they're not being executed,” he said. “Some of it is the staff themselves. I enjoy talking to the Forest Service, they have a lot of talent within the Forest Service itself, but they don't have a lot of foresters anymore.”

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When asked about the effort to enable free and fair elections, Zinke said social media has had a deleterious effect on the American election system.

“Most of America is now getting their media, from social media such as Facebook and from Instagram,” he said. “All of these platforms have emanated from San Francisco, and there's no question that it’s being manipulated. It's being censored, so what America is hearing is oftentimes one side of the argument, and that bias translates into votes.”

Zinke said the 2020 election may have been manipulated by media giants such as Mark Zuckerberg.

“You had in many cases states because of COVID that changed their election process,” he said. “They changed how voting was done such as mail in votes, etc, and then you had the cheating. I think the focus just on the cheating part undervalues the bias in the media; the Zuckerberg effect and the COVID effect, and it was well planned and organized.”

To hear the entire Talk Back conversation with Zinke, click here.