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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

#BecauseMiami: Escape From (Alligator) Alcatraz

19 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What led to Arianne Betancourt's father's release from Alligator Alcatraz?

0.065 - 20.111 Husto Bentancourt

Husto Bentancourt is coming up on three weeks since he was released from Alligator Alcatraz. And now, President Donald Trump is singling out Husto and his daughter, Arianne. In a Truth Social Post Sunday evening, Trump writes, Welcome home to Husto Bentancourt, whose daughter, Arianne, fought very hard to free her father from Alligator Alcatraz. Enjoy your freedom together.

0

20.271 - 29.683 Husto Bentancourt

Husto, a Cuban national, spent six months in Alligator Alcatraz. A few weeks ago, a judge decided through a habeas corpus ruling he was in the detention center too long.

0

39.603 - 44.071 Steve Dangle

Pero, like, what the f***, bro? I've always wanted to open an interview like that.

0

44.672 - 46.536 Brandon Johnson

With an F-bomb? Yeah. Literally.

0

46.936 - 70.994 Steve Dangle

Like, literally. Pero, like, Ariane Bettencourt is here, whose father mercifully was released from the concentration camp in the Everglades, known humorously, because concentration camps should be known humorously, as Alligator Alcatraz. This message from the president giving you a Magatav, a congratulations, where did that come from? Do you have a relationship with the president? Are you a fan?

71.054 - 73.096 Steve Dangle

Are you a voter? Are you a fan? What is that?

73.296 - 88.354 Arianne Betancourt

Definitely none of the above. I've never been a Trump supporter. I've never voted, would never vote for Trump. I don't, you know, I'm not a conservative or a Republican. I am living below the poverty line, so tax breaks don't really apply to me.

89.335 - 105.748 Steve Dangle

So... So where did this come from? The President of the United States is posting on Truth Social basically a congratulations to you for a hard fought victory, which it was, to get your father out of Alligator Alcatraz. Do you have no idea how that happened?

106.028 - 118.227 Arianne Betancourt

Well, I made a very public campaign and I kind of became one of the few family members of a detained person who was going public with what we were being told.

Chapter 2: How did Arianne's public campaign influence her father's situation?

151.64 - 153.242 Brandon Johnson

I want to get back to the dildo thing.

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153.282 - 156.666 Steve Dangle

I was going to guess that Roy was caught up on the dildo thing.

0

156.686 - 161.232 Brandon Johnson

Roy! This was at a Minnesota Timberwolves game. You guys threw dildos on the court?

0

161.552 - 190.04 Arianne Betancourt

No. no um federal building so my aunt is a homophobic lesbian republican trump supporter and when my dad was detained she had a problem with me being vocal on my opposition on the immigration policies so my dad told me not to argue with her so i chose to just put a dildo on her door Like, you know, go F yourself. So I wasn't arguing with her.

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190.181 - 191.362 Steve Dangle

On her door.

191.382 - 198.413 Arianne Betancourt

You made a sort of like a psycho knife. No, I got a suction cup one on Amazon. It was like five bucks. The best $5 I've ever seen.

198.494 - 200.998 Brandon Johnson

Not at a Minnesota Lynx game. Not a WNBA game.

201.018 - 205.184 Steve Dangle

This is very important because Roy keeps track of all the dildo activity in the country.

205.485 - 208.029 Brandon Johnson

Yeah, I mean, a lot of it's in Buffalo, you know, during the Bills game.

Chapter 3: What unexpected attention did Arianne receive from political figures?

282.836 - 292.315 Arianne Betancourt

And then I told a few people about it. And then it became this whole thing. I left Minnesota, got home. I look on Instagram and I'm like, what? I'm like, what?

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292.576 - 318.442 Steve Dangle

This is not where I thought this conversation was going. You're a silly goose with a dildo. And by the way, how fast did Lewis dial up that footage? I've never seen him. He was just like, you had me a dildo. Did somebody say dildo? Boom, I've never seen him bring up footage like that. I've never seen it. Like, this is, like, I never even thought to say.

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318.462 - 319.904 Brandon Johnson

This looks like a job for me.

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320.044 - 344.564 Steve Dangle

I never even thought to say, hey, Lewis, can we dial that up? I've never even thought all these years. I've never thought to do that. And here he is just with the footage like that. Incredible. I guess we'd call it D-roll with the D-roll. The D-roll. Oh. Who is with the GIF faces today, too? Holy shit. Anyway, thank you for just completely derailing the show like a Bright Line train.

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344.785 - 346.408 Steve Dangle

Really just unbelievable.

346.608 - 350.055 Arianne Betancourt

But I think that that's one of the many things that I did.

350.035 - 366.964 Steve Dangle

But you have a really interesting path here, too, to we'll call it activism, for lack of a better term, because you like got I guess there's been a calling now with what happened to your dad. So what did you do before and what do you do now? Because it's been quite a transformation in your life in just the last several months.

367.012 - 384.328 Arianne Betancourt

I had a tour business. I was a tour guide right across the street at Bayside. I managed two boat operations. I did walking tours, private tours, the bus tours. Since I freelanced, I pretty much worked for everyone. I had like a pretty busy schedule.

384.308 - 398.912 Steve Dangle

So classic hospitality, like your job is to make everybody know how beautiful and wonderful Miami is and the United States is because people are coming from all over the world, presumably to Bayside to take tours. And now you're kind of on the flip side of that now. What do you do now?

Chapter 4: What unique protest methods did Arianne discuss?

399.212 - 401.035 Steve Dangle

And how did that happen?

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401.015 - 413.068 Arianne Betancourt

So in January, I quit my job. I went to Chicago to a protest outside of Broadview. My dad was taken to Mexico in those days. That's when I quit my job.

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413.769 - 416.171 Steve Dangle

So he was actually like deported. He's Cuban though, right?

0

416.211 - 438.289 Arianne Betancourt

They tried to deport him. But when he got to Mexico, they had denied his insulin already for a full week. So when he told the Mexican officials he hadn't had insulin in a week, they were like... We can't accept his entry. We have to deny his entry because it's a liability. It's a three day commute to where he has to go on different buses and there's walking involved.

0

439.272 - 459.456 Steve Dangle

So he's diabetic? and he did not have his medicine. I can see you getting a little emotional about this now, understandably so. But he's Cuban and they sent him to Mexico, a country, has he ever been to Mexico before? Never. So they sent him to a country he's never been before without his medicine, which they've also deprived him of for an entire week. And what are you doing during this time?

460.197 - 460.998 Arianne Betancourt

I went to Minneapolis.

462.559 - 463.1 Steve Dangle

With the dildos?

463.681 - 478.732 Arianne Betancourt

No, the dildos happened a few days into being in Minneapolis, but I went to Minneapolis and I got to see like ice on the streets. I saw, I saw the terror, but I also saw the solidarity. I saw people coming together.

478.753 - 507.497 Arianne Betancourt

I saw moms walking around with a trail, like a, a line of kids, kids that aren't even their kids, but they're like, they're gonna be safer with me than having their own parent come out. And when I went to Minnesota right after Renee Good was killed, You know, when you see the government attacking civilians for trying to protect their neighbors, it triggers something inside you.

Chapter 5: How did Arianne's previous work experience shape her activism?

714.54 - 715.821 Steve Dangle

How old is the criminal record?

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716.611 - 718.994 Arianne Betancourt

Ten years. Okay.

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719.095 - 719.575 Steve Dangle

Violent crime?

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719.976 - 720.216 Arianne Betancourt

No.

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720.236 - 720.977 Steve Dangle

Drug-related crime?

720.997 - 742.669 Arianne Betancourt

Drug-related. Okay. But they told him, stay in line for your next appointment next year. And he stood in that line for two hours, and then they brought him into a room, and they told him, oh, you're detained because you came into this country illegally. My dad got here in 1990 because the American Red Cross and the Cuban American Organization rescued him and my grandparents out of a war zone.

743.408 - 745.512 Arianne Betancourt

So he was brought here by the U.S.

746.453 - 747.876 Steve Dangle

Illegally, according to the U.S.

747.916 - 748.156 Arianne Betancourt

now.

Chapter 6: What challenges did Arianne face during her father's detention?

1090.097 - 1097.789 Arianne Betancourt

So they are political prisoners in this country, and our elected officials are watching it happen and concerned about what's happening behind them.

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1098.771 - 1104.38 Brandon Johnson

And Roy, you'll bring the dildos. I do not have any on hand right now, so no.

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1104.4 - 1105.221 Arianne Betancourt

I might have one in the car.

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1105.601 - 1127.229 Brandon Johnson

Oh, okay, well, you can throw it in. Traveling used to mean I completely abandoned every good habit I had. Sleep, gone. Nutrition, terrible. Next thing you know, I'm in an airport eating chips for breakfast while trying to convince myself that this is somehow part of a Stanley Cup playoff diet. That's why cachava travel packs have become part of my routine this summer.

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1127.529 - 1136.92 Brandon Johnson

They make it ridiculously easy to stay consistent when you're on the go. I just throw a couple of packs in my bag and I'm set. Just quick, all-in-one nutrition wherever the day takes me.

1136.9 - 1158.443 Brandon Johnson

and honestly i feel the difference cachava is packed with plant-based protein fiber vitamins and minerals greens probiotics electrolytes and more i've had better energy during the day and i don't feel like i'm trying to recover from terrible travel eating decisions afterward Plus, it tastes good. Chocolate, vanilla, matcha, coconut acai, they've got options. I have chocolate and vanilla.

1158.663 - 1177.926 Brandon Johnson

I take one scoop of chocolate, one scoop of vanilla, mix them together, boom, delicious. No artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, no fillers, no nonsense. Take your daily ritual with you. Go to cachava.com and use code DAN for 15% off your first order. That's cachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A.com, code D-A-N.

1178.986 - 1198.767 Mike Ryan

Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks? I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy. Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. I walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is the thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people.

1198.747 - 1211.693 Mike Ryan

It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it Cuervo. Keep it Cuervo, baby.

Chapter 7: How did Hector Mujica's congressional campaign come to an end?

1497.721 - 1503.795 Steve Dangle

We've had a lot of ex-candidates who lost races, I suppose, but never who just dropped out of the race and came on to talk about it.

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1503.815 - 1513.637 Hector Mujica

There's always a first. Well, listen, I'm incredibly proud of the race that we ran. I'm really proud of the reasons why we got into the race in the first place. I've come to believe that...

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1513.617 - 1534.715 Hector Mujica

Politics have become incredibly performative and politics have become incredibly tainted with people that are in it for themselves, that are in it for reelection, that are in it for self-serving reasons, for ego, and not for ultimately serving the people of Florida. And I also got in it because we're going through quite a range of inflection points in this moment in time.

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1534.755 - 1551.568 Hector Mujica

We're going through an inflection point socially. Do we see each other as fellow human beings, fellow Miamians first and foremost, or do we see each other as political enemies if we happen to fall on different sides of the spectrum? Do we believe in the American dream that it's still within reach or is it getting further and further out of reach for the average Floridian?

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1552.088 - 1568.076 Hector Mujica

And all of this is getting deeply accelerated by technology. Artificial intelligence is going to change the rules of nearly everything. And that's what got me into the race in the first place. What got you out of the race? What got me out of the race on May 29th.

1568.056 - 1587.533 Hector Mujica

We learned that there was a discrepancy in my voter file from 2025, that there was a period of a couple of weeks, three, four or five weeks that had me no longer being a registered Democrat and had me as a no party affiliation and then back into the Democratic Party a few weeks after that.

1587.513 - 1604.682 Steve Dangle

So there are two party affiliation changes about nearly eight weeks apart from June to beginning of June to end of July of 2025. And there is Florida law that says that you have to be registered and affiliated with a party for 365 consecutive days in order to run as a member of that party. Correct.

1604.903 - 1618.858 Hector Mujica

Yeah. And that and that. important piece here, the legal landscape shifted a bit in the midst of me running, right? On April 1st, that word consecutive, the word that you just brought into this room, that got added into the law.

1618.878 - 1633.614 Hector Mujica

I think prior to, from what I understand in speaking to our attorneys over the past couple of weeks, there was a fairly weak law that's been in the books for about seven years now. And that law stipulated 365 days, not consecutive, and then it had no enforcement mechanism.

Chapter 8: What insights does Hector provide about the political landscape in Florida?

1994.289 - 2008.748 Steve Dangle

I think that would have been an interesting challenge. I don't know that it would have gone a Democrat's way in this legal system. But it's an interesting legal theory of the case that if everybody just kept their heads in the sand for a little bit longer, you could have made it to the general election ballot.

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2008.768 - 2018.199 Steve Dangle

But again, my concern here is that Democrats, especially in Florida, have limited resources. Right. whether it's donors, volunteers, campaign staff.

0

2018.58 - 2044.152 Steve Dangle

And so when an ineligible candidate diverts those resources away from eligible candidates, again, not casting aspersions on the quality of said candidate, but that to me, if you're representing that you're raising money from someone, you're saying, give me money, and with this money, I am going to do X, Y, and Z, but you are not eligible to do X, Y, and Z. That's a little fraudy, dude.

0

2044.834 - 2051.929 Steve Dangle

And do your donors have concerns about that? Are they going to be reimbursed? Is there fear of litigation from your donors for that?

0

2051.949 - 2071.133 Hector Mujica

If we had this knowledge the entire time, then I could completely agree with that assessment. If we're finding out about this on May 29th, why, if we, listen, I am the first person to tell you that I wish we had known about this challenge before May 29th. We would have fought this in court from the beginning. But who knew what and when?

2071.193 - 2089.09 Steve Dangle

Presumably, by the way, there's a lot of grifters in this town, a lot of, you know, the consultant cabal who prey on, you're a first-time candidate. I am. Okay, who prey on first-time candidates, particularly those who have the ability to fundraise, as you clearly do, you know, with your background and your friends. I call it the consultant industrial complex. 100%.

2089.751 - 2107.333 Steve Dangle

But, like, presumably they should have known. Now, they should have come to you and said, hey, Hector, I don't think you're eligible, but, you know, I call it consultant calculus. Candidate equals campaign equals cash. Therefore, no candidate equals no campaign equals no cash. So, obviously, they'd prefer the form and the latter.

2107.413 - 2111.598 Steve Dangle

Were you taken advantage of here by the consultant industrial complex?

2111.678 - 2116.885 Hector Mujica

I don't want to speculate onto who knew what. What I can tell you is

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