[Lemon:] The great debate in this country. Which fast food franchise has the greatest fried chicken sandwich? Well, we probably won't settle that tonight, but my next guest took advantage of the frenzy and showed up at his local Popeyes in Charlotte, North Carolina to encourage people waiting in line to make a difference in their community and register to vote. He's 17-year-old David Ledbetter, and he joins me now. David, thank you so much. You were reading my mind. I put on Instagram, I said, "All these lines of people, is anybody registering?" Sure enough, everyone said, "Yeah, there's this guy in Charlotte and he's doing it."
[David Ledbetter, Registered Voters On Line At Popeyes:] Yeah.
[Lemon:] So tell me how you came up with this idea to register voters at Popeyes.
[Ledbetter:] OK. So, it initiated when I was working on a campaign with Ms. Stephanie Sneed. I was just trying to get engaged with the community, specifically in politics. And so we came with the idea of, you know, trying to get, you know, more voters and more people involved. And so I attended a caucus meeting, like a political caucus meeting here, you know, locally in Charlotte. I've seen it was like there weren't enough young people in there. So, I looked around. There were older folks. You know, I was just wondering, like, why was that? And so we've been seeing like the trend of, you know, Popeyes, you know, the debate, and individuals just going up and in the lines, you know, massive, and the waiting times are very long. And so I thought we thought that, you know, we should engage them. We should engage the community.
[Lemon:] Captive audience.
[Ledbetter:] Right, yeah. It was a good audience because I saw a lot of my peers and just a lot of younger folk, you know, going there. And I thought, you know, we should follow the trend, just register individuals to vote.
[Lemon:] Were they receptive to the information you were giving them?
[Ledbetter:] Yeah, like majority of them were, or they were either registered to vote, which I found was very good. But, you know, some individuals, they weren't as receptive. They were just like, "Nah, I'm good. I'm fine with it." A lot, you know, they were interested. We handed out a lot of information on early voting, you know, who is running for ballot here in Charlotte. And so, yeah, it was a good. It was good, positive feedback.
[Lemon:] How many people were actually registered to vote, and how many did you sign up? Do you remember?
[Ledbetter:] OK. So we didn't exactly, you know, tally up who we registered. It was more like it was more than 10 individuals, I believe, but we didn't exactly tally up the amount of people that, you know, we registered. So we don't have that exact count.
[Lemon:] You're only 17, David, but you are you're pre-registered to vote when you turn 18.
[Ledbetter:] Yes, sir.
[Lemon:] What are you looking for in a political candidate?
[Ledbetter:] What am I looking for? That's a good question. I'm looking for a candidate who is, you know, able to advocate for, you know, the less fortunate, all masses of people, every individual in America specifically and all over the world as well. I think just providing that extra support for those individuals who don't have the same opportunity as other individuals around or just other individuals like me. I think, you know, candidates who are, you know, for the betterment of society as a whole. That's what I look for in a candidate, someone who is willing to improve the economy, stimulate the youth, especially the youth because the youth is the future. That's what I stand on. That's what I firmly believe. I feel like we should be putting things in place to allow younger individuals to grow, be successful, and provide them with these resources and opportunities, you know, just to be great. And so, yeah, I look for candidates who are willing to stimulate people who don't have
[Lemon:] The young folks, the young folks and the people who are disenfranchised. But listen, you're already doing great things
[Ledbetter:] Right.
[Lemon:] in your community. I mean, as I said, you're 17 years old, you co-founded an organization called "Imagine This."
[Ledbetter:] Yes, sir.
[Lemon:] Tell me about that.
[Ledbetter:] So "Imagine This" is a non-profit organization geared towards high school students, and its main focus is on students from disenfranchised communities. And so me and co-founder, Jamie Bins, we founded it on four pillars: community engagement, health and wellness, peer mentorship, and education. So around those four pillars, we design activities and program activities for the students that, you know, we give them for them to engage on, you know, ultimately give back to the community. And so the mission of our program is to, you know, develop these students and to, you know, college-bound individuals and have them, you know, go to college, experience, develop their passions, and then come back to the community they're from and begin to serve it. And so that's, you know, the initiative of our organization and so that's the mission that we try
[Lemon:] You're a high school senior. You're going into your senior year right now, right? You're a senior?
[Ledbetter:] Yes, sir. I just started.
[Lemon:] So you'll graduate in May of 2020?
[Ledbetter:] Yes, sir.
[Lemon:] When I When I was a senior, I don't know I was who knows what I was doing. Probably just I don't know. So what do you plan to do after you graduate?
[Ledbetter:] So after I graduate
[Lemon:] Politics? Are you going to have politics in your future?
[Ledbetter:] I do, but that will not be my main focus. So my main focus is helping individuals, but I have a passion for science. So I want to go into medicine. Me personally, I just love science, and I think medicine and, you know, being a doctor is one of the best ways I could help people while still being engaged with my passion. I do plan on, like, you know, having some type of authority in politics. I don't know if that will be like my main career, but, yeah, I do plan on having a presence in that industry.
[Lemon:] So, when you're president one day, just make sure you invite me to the White House.
[Ledbetter:] I will. That will be yeah, I'll make sure I invite you to the White House.
[Lemon:] All this over a as we say, sandwich. By the way, did you get a sandwich?
[Ledbetter:] I did get a sandwich.
[Lemon:] And?
[Ledbetter:] A spicy chicken sandwich. You want me to tell you which one was better, don't you?
[Lemon:] Just tell me if you liked it. What did you think?
[Ledbetter:] Pardon? I'm sorry.
[Lemon:] Just tell me if you liked it.
[Ledbetter:] I liked it. I definitely did like it. I enjoyed it.
[Lemon:] You didn't think it was the best?
[Ledbetter:] No, it was. It was the best out of the two. It definitely was the spicy one.
[Lemon:] All right. David
[Ledbetter:] How do you feel about it?
[Lemon:] I haven't had it. I've gone to like five or six Popeyes and I can't get my hands on it. So, I'll let you know when I know. Thank you, David.
[Ledbetter:] Yeah, let me know.
[Lemon:] Best of luck to you.
[Ledbetter:] No problem.
[Lemon:] You're a good guy and be in touch, OK? Thanks so much.
[Ledbetter:] Thank you.
[Lemon:] We'll be right back.