Republican attorney John Deaton is running against Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in November. Deaton relocated to the commonwealth early this year from Rhode Island specifically to challenge Warren as she seeks a third six-year term. While he’s described her as a government overreach hack, she calls him a stooge of the cryptocurrency industry. Warren has advocated for greater regulation of the sector, and the former Marine is an advocate for the industry and his campaign is backed by some of its major figures. As he challenges a popular politician in a deeply Democratic state, Deaton tells WAMC that he’s not like other Republicans, and that Warren hasn’t done enough in office to help the most vulnerable in Massachusetts.
DEATON: It really comes down to love for country. I know that may come off corny, but I represented Massachusetts and I achieved the American dream here in Massachusetts when I graduated law school at New England School of Law. And I see that dream basically dying. And when I say represent Massachusetts, let me be clear- In 1994, I was awarded the Judge Advocate law contract and chosen by the Marine Corps to represent the commonwealth. In other words, all the other law schools had students competing in, and I kind of take pride in the fact that I couldn't afford Harvard Law, but I beat out a student from Harvard Law and BC and BU and Suffolk, and was chosen to represent the Marine Corps, the commonwealth and the Marine Corps. So, when you take all that and the fact that I've been a lawyer here representing regular people against major corporations, insurance companies, that's really was what was driving me, and I think Senator Warren is – you know, nothing against her personally – I think she's the epitome of what happens in Washington, DC, when we don't have term limits. She promised to go hold the banking industry accountable, she was outraged that the bankers didn't go to prison from the financial crisis. Well, 10 years later, 12 years later, those same bankers are now writing her bills and financing her campaigns. That's what happens in DC. Couldn't beat them, she joined them, part of the broken system. And I really do question, could a kid accomplish what I did? All those years later, could a kid in Springfield or Brockton or Roxbury, could they achieve the American dream like I did? I question it. I don't know if they've been priced out of the economy. Is it possible to do what I did? and I just want to go to DC and do something about it.
WAMC: So, let's get into that. When you think about solutions that you feel like Liz Warren has not accomplished for Massachusetts, can you sort of spell out what route you would take to respond to these dire economic conditions that some folks are facing? Or would you stand up more strongly to bankers? Is that what you're advocating for here?
Well, that's just one facet. But listen, her policies do not help poor people and they do not help working families. And that's a fact. I mean, Senator Warren, just to give you an example, Senator Warren favors the accredited investor rule, which requires you to be worth a million dollars, not including your home, in order for you to own private equity or appreciable assets. Well, that's the only people that have benefited in the last 30 years are people who own assets, whether it's real estate or stocks or bonds or whatever, or Bitcoin for that matter. And so, she, her policies exclude that. I genuinely want to lift people out of poverty like I lifted myself. And so, we have to educate them on finance, we have to give them opportunities to own appreciable assets as we move forward. And so, here's an example I can give people- Senator Warren reminds me, in 1980, Apple was going public as a publicly traded company, and the regulators here in Massachusetts said, you know what? We think that's too risky for regular people, so we're not going to allow unless you are a hedge fund person or a stockbroker or wealthy, we're not going to allow you to buy Apple stock and exclude, literally, over 90% of the people in Massachusetts. Well, $1,000 invested in Apple stock in 1980 is worth $1.5 million today. That's an example. Senator Warren likes the government telling you what you can own and how to live. And I believe in self-determination. I'm standing on here in my living room in Bolton, Massachusetts, talking to you and talking to your listeners because of self-determination.
Well, I want to lean into that for a second. Certainly, when it comes to the Republican Party, tax cuts for the wealthy have been a long-standing policy point and one that's expressed by the current Republican Party in Washington. It certainly was one of the major accomplishments of the Trump administration to pass tax cuts for the wealthy. So, some would say that, well, you know, you're criticizing Warren, she has pushed for greater regulation and higher taxation of the ultra-wealthy, and the Republican Party seemingly differs with her very sharply. So how does that square with your message?
Well, it's squares that I've been equally critical of the Republican leadership as I have been the Democratic leadership, including Elizabeth Warren, and it takes about a five-minute search on social media to see that that's true. Listen, we can't – and let me go on record now, I already have – the wealthy should certainly pay their fair share, but Senator Warren is engaging in class warfare. I'll give you an example- her solution, look it up, her solution to every problem, climate change, let's tax the rich. Public education, tax the rich. Immigration, tax the rich. Well, there's 759 billionaires in America. Their cumulative wealth is worth $5 trillion. So, I'm going to stand on that debate stage and I’m going to look at Senator Warren and say, you know what, Senator, let's just take all their money from them, $5 trillion. Guess what we get to do? We get to pay the interest on our national debt for 4.5 years alone. That's it. Not $1 goes to public education, not $1 goes to immigration, not $1 goes to climate change. It's just class warfare. That isn't a real solution. And as far as the tax cuts, I would not support anything that increases our national debt that doesn't also include a policy that's promoting growth, creating jobs. We are going off a financial cliff. It is absolutely shocking to me that in the debate last night, not one question was asked about this debt crisis that we're facing in this country. $35 trillion in debt, credit card debt is at $1.1 4 trillion, student loan debts at $1.7 trillion. We paid $3 billion in interest alone a day in this country. We can't tax our way out of it. We can't just cut spending. You know, if we cut every single dollar in discretionary spending and only allowed mandatory spending, which is Social Security, healthcare, Medicare, defense spending, and paid our interest, we operate at a deficit. So, if we cut all the spending on discretionary levels, we’re still at a deficit. You can't tax your way out of it, you can't cut your way out of it, you got to implement pro-growth legislation and allow a pro-innovation environment, and Senator Warren is against all that.
So, I want to jump in there- So, you're sort of painting a picture where you're not fully in line with the National Republican Party on some issues, and you're you differ sharply from Warren as well. You know, it seems like it's going to be a hard sell to Massachusetts voters who are fairly faithful to the Democratic Party in this office to take a risk and swing a seat in a very tightly divided Senate. It seems like a difficult argument to make. How do you think you're going to shoot the moon there?
I think that's the exact argument for me to make, actually give a voice in the United States Senate to Massachusetts. If you're talking about a 50-50 Senate, that's the reason to vote for me, because I am not a partisan person. I have loyalty to Massachusetts and America. That's it, not to a party, not to an agenda, and not to a person. That independent voice will actually be the absolute best thing that happens to the Senate in Massachusetts. Senator Warren, you know, respectfully, is just another partisan hack from the other side, and there's Republican partisan hacks too. So let me make sure that people understand that it's an equal thing there. And so, we need someone who's an independent voice. If I get to the US Senate, I'll be one of the most important votes, if not the most important, because I am not loyal to the Republican Party, I'm loyal to my country. So, there will be issues where I caucus with the Democrats. Let's take abortion. I'm pro-choice, father of three daughters. If the Republicans try to offer anything related to a federal ban on abortion, I will 100% be caucusing with the Democrats, and I will stop it in its tracks as one of their own in that party, someone inside that party fighting them is a much powerful voice than someone who's just going to be cast as another partisan person from the other side. And so, that's the very reason- You know, Senator Warren's out there using this argument. She's so blinded by partisanship that she doesn't realize she's actually making the case for me.
Now, Warren has framed you as being beholden to the crypto industry, and certainly, you have robust ties to that world. Can you sort of speak to that? Are you speaking for yourself, or are you speaking for a group of folks with a lot of interest in making sure that crypto can continue to be profitable?
Let me- I'm glad that you asked that question, because if you actually do your research, you will see that I have upset the billionaire class in crypto more than anyone. I represented free token holders. These are small-time investors, and I went after the United States government. I literally sued the Securities Exchange Commission because they were hurting regular people, and I won. A lifelong Democratic judge appointed by Barack Obama agreed with John Deaton, cited John Deaton's work and ruled in favor of those small investors, and so that's my tie. But if you look it up, I'm the one who helped lead an IG investigation report against hedge funds, billionaires who had coordinated with SEC chairmen and directors and basically, regulatory captures, what I exposed, I've been blocked on social media by these billionaire crypto people. So, listen, is crypto invested in the race? Objectively, sure, because Elizabeth Warren is trying to ban the industry. Her bill bans self-custody of Bitcoin in America. I can't help it that she has earned their attention, but it's got nothing to do with me. I call her the crypto candidate. Why did she, when she announced her reelection for a third term with illegal immigration, debt crisis, inflation, foreign wars, opioid addictions, with all those things going on in the commonwealth, why did she get up and say, I'm going to build an anti-crypto army and focus on crypto? Crypto is not an important issue for Massachusetts voters. She's the one hyper focused on it, not me.
Lastly, I wanted to ask you about your relationship to the national Republican Party. We're in the midst of this very, very divisive election. Certainly, Donald Trump as a candidate poses a lot of major questions to folks about where you know your beliefs and loyalties lie. You've talked about hoeing your own path as an independent Republican voice- How would you describe your relationship to the to the MAGA movement that is seems to really have taken over the heart of the Republican Party at this point?
Well, listen, I would tell you this- The former chairman of the mass GOP was out there telling people not to vote for me because I am not called, and I hate these labels, but I understand what you're getting at. You know, I'm not a MAGA Republican, right? And so, they were out there saying, don't vote for me because I'm not aligned with that movement. Yet I still got 65% of the Republican and unenrolled voters in the primary, because they're ready for common sense, an independent common sense voice, a centrist common sense person, leader. That's what people are ready for. And it just goes to show you, when I announced, Elizabeth Warren knew that I didn't support Donald Trump. She knew that I had been extremely critical of that movement and divisiveness, yet she called me, she lied to the public, and called me a MAGA extremist. She's part of the problem. We got to get past this. This country is headed off a cliff. I got in this race because I love my country. I wouldn't be on this phone if I lived in any other country. My birth would have dictated my fate. I want to do something about it, and we’ve got to get rid of politicians who only fuel division and say that there's two tribes and that the other tribe doesn't love the country the way we do. That's nonsense. We have so much more in common than we do not in common, and we need somebody who is not beholden to a party, and that's me. 100% my loyalty would be to Massachusetts and America. If it's good for Massachusetts and America, I don't care who the president is, I'll support it. If it's not good for Massachusetts and America, I don't care who the president is, I won't support it.
